Urahara sat in silence while the three men regarded him curiously, awaiting an answer. "You want a Hōgyoku…" he finally said. It wasn't a question, the look in his eyes said that much.

"In the battle against Aizen, he will fuse the Hōgyoku with his own body, giving him immense power," Lord Mu said. The air felt cold and stale in the room now. Although Urahara was close to collapsing from exhaustion, the mere mention of the Hōgyoku had put a look in his eye that was full of strength, and of anger. "As we've already said he survives in this world, and with the Hōgyoku he should make a full recovery in time. We can't let that happen in your world."

"So then you know what you're asking for," Urahara let out a slow, strained breath. "You know more of its power than I do, and yet still you ask me to make another?" Kisuke Urahara stood suddenly. Everyone's faces were painted with shock, excluding the masked man's hidden features. Urahara grabbed his chair for support. "Creating the Hōgyoku was my greatest mistake in life. If what you say is true, I may never be able to atone for the damage that is had caused…"

"This is your chance, don't you see?" Captain Kenrokuen exclaimed. He reached out a hand to Urahara. "You can fix everything, right now. With this, you can save everyone. You can save yourself."

Urahara glared at the extended hand. "Save myself? You think I'm that selfish…?" He swatted the hand away, and fell to a knee. I'm weaker than I thought… Gripping the chair tightly with both hands, he climbed to his feet. "The Hōgyoku has brought nothing but misfortune since I created it."

"Don't be an idiot!" Benjiro Natsumi said, looking almost as bad as Urahara at this point. "Don't you care about your friends? Don't you care if they die?!"

"Of course I do," Urahara was standing tall and strong now. "And that's exactly why I refuse. I won't do it."

"I see…" Lord Mu turned abruptly and walking away, beckoning the others to follow him. They went through a small door and ended up in a stairwell. Going two flights up, they came to a small room with a large window overlooking the larger room Urahara was in. On the walls were three small screens that were displaying the activities of the three arrancar in the human world.

"Well, that didn't go as well as I'd hoped…" the captain said with a nervous laugh.

"He'll change his mind," the masked man said. "Just give it time."

It was after dark when the bald man finally stopped walking. He and Uryu stood in front of a large rusted garage door. "We have arrived," DiAnglez Spenzir said, bowing low.

"Where are the others?" Uryu asked.

"They should be here momentarily," the man said with a smile. "Perhaps we should wait for them?"

Uryu sighed. "No need." The Quincy Cross around his wrist twinkled blue, and then Uryu's Ginrei Kojaku was in his hand. He drew the bow and pointed it at the man. "You can explain yourself now, and I'll relay the message after I've dealt with you."

The bald man's smile didn't fade, but it faltered slightly. "Sir… What is this?" he said, sounding apologetic. "If I've offended you in some way…"

"I don't like being lied to, for one," Uryu said, his eyes narrowing. He had felt them getting farther and farther away from Ichigo's faint energy signal since he let the man lead the way. "Now tell me what you really want. Who are you, and how do you know the others and me?"

Now the smile faded. The man's expression changed to one of seriousness. "I'd rather not talk," he said, his voice a deep monotone. "I think it's time for us to make our move." DiAnglez reached into his pocket and pulled out a small caplet. He put it in his mouth and swallowed it.

"What was that?" Uryu demanded, drawing his bow in a threatening manner.

"A gikongan. Did you expect me to fight in this gigai?"

So that explains why I couldn't feel his reitsu. "Where did you get those gigai from?"

"I told you, I'm not…" The bald man trailed off. He grabbed his stomach. "What's… going on…?" he muttered.

Uryu lowered his bow slowly. "What are you doing?" he asked. When he got no response, he raised his bow again. "Answer me!"

The bald man was visibly sweating now. "This heat… What is this heat…?" he murmured weakly. A pained expression went across his face, and he looked close to collapsing. His breath was coming in short, raspy spurts, and he began clutching at his chest. Uryu could now see what looked like black smoke sizzling from underneath the hand that was clutching the man's chest. DiAnglez seemed to realize it, too, and with a cry he tore open his hoodie. The black smoke was coming from his bare chest, where the skin was red-hot and smoldering like a burning ember. At first it was just a small spot, but it quickly began to take shape and grow until it was a large blazing kanji on the man's chest. NIGERU. RUN AWAY. Uryu jumped back just in time to avoid the blast as DiAnglez's body exploded in a massive blaze of fire.

Lord Mu stormed into the large room and grabbed Urahara by the collar. "What the hell did you do?!" his voice was a whisper spiked with venom.

Urahara gave a weak laugh. "You thought… I was just going to obediently comply with a man who stabbed me? I'm just lucky you didn't realize what I was doing during the creation process…" He laughed again. "Exploding gigai. Rather brilliant, I must say…"

The masked man threw him to the ground. "Bastard…" He turned to the other Shinigami standing behind him. "Go and make sure nothing else goes wrong," he said to them. The two nodded and exited the large facility. The man turned back to Urahara. "That was a foolish move on your part, Kisuke Urahara," he said. His tone eerily lacked emotion.

"It was foolish of you to assume I'd knowingly put those children in danger," Urahara shot back. He got to his feet and sat down in his chair, panting. He felt like all of his reitsu would be gone within the next few hours. The facility strange draining-effect was going to kill him before long.

Ichigo slowly opened his eyes. He had been sleeping, for how long he didn't know. His vision coming into focus, he saw a large figure standing over him, their faces almost touching. With a yell, Ichigo scurried back and sat up abruptly. "Mr. Kurosaki, thank goodness I've found you!" Tessai Tsukabishi stood wearing his usual apron and square spectacles, but he looked distraught about something.

Ichigo took a deep breath to recover from his near-heart attack. "You've gotta stop doing that, man…" he said, standing up. It was nighttime now, and Karakura Town was beginning to quiet down. Dark, foreboding clouds covered most of the sky, but thin rays of moonlight still shone through. "What are you doing here?"

"I should ask you the same thing," Tessai said, gesturing to the roof Ichigo had currently made his home. "We've been looking for you for days. You haven't been home in who knows how long, and the way you've been suppressing your reitsu made it even harder to track you down. What's going on?"

Ichigo lowered his gaze. "It's nothing. Just leave it, and me, alone," he turned away from the shopkeeper's assistant and walked over to the metal railing surrounding the rooftop. What was he supposed to say? It's not like Tessai could do anything for him. He had already gone to the experts on Hollowfication for help, and they had turned him away. Who else was there to look to? The man who created Hollowfication in the first place… A voice somewhere in Ichigo said. He turned back to Tessai. "Actually… I need to talk to Urahara,"

Tessai frowned. "That's just it, though. That's why we've been trying to find you," he said, moving closer to Ichigo. "Mr. Urahara's gone missing!"

"What? Since whe-" Before he could even finish his thought, a large explosion went off in the city. The two men turned in its direction. "What the hell was that?"

"Hollow activity, perhaps?"

Ichigo pulled his Shinigami badge from his pocket. He hesitated for a moment, staring at the Hollow-looking mask on the badge. Hollow… My Hollow… He had no time to worry about that now. He had to do his duty as a Shinigami. He pressed it to his chest, and his Shinigami soul erupted from his body. Tessai caught his body before it hit the ground. "Take that back to the shop. I'll meet you there once I deal with this."Tessai nodded, and the orange-haired boy sprung from the rooftop, Zangetsu in hand.

Chad saw the flames erupting from behind a building just a few blocks away. "What in the world…?!"

The little girl with him gasped. "That's where Mommy went!" she cried. "We have to go help my mommy, mister! Please!"

It could be a Hollow… Chad set the girl down on the ground. "You wait here," he said as he began to run towards the explosion. Whatever it was, Chad hoped he'd be able to handle it alone.

"No way!" the little girl screamed, chasing after Chad. I'm coming too, you dickhead! You can't leave me behind!"

"N-no, Tinlinn. It could be dangerous," Chad tried to reason with her, but she just kicked him in the shin.

"I'm coming, you dickhead pervert!"

Chad sighed, but he didn't try to stop the foul-mouthed youth.

Orihime and Yeltz heard a loud boom, and felt a wave of heat wash over them. "That was really close by!" Orihime cried, looking around frantically. She could see a large smoke cloud rising nearby.

"Hey, hey, we gotta check that out!" Yeltz yelled with excitement.

"B-but what about Ichigo and Urahara-"

"Shaddap, they can wait! Le's go!" The tall girl grabbed Orihime firmly by the wrist and ran in the direction of the smoke.

When they arrived, they found Chad just getting there with a small girl at his side. Uryu was also there, his Ginrei Kojaku summoned and in hand. "Chad, Uryu," Orihime cried. "What's going on? What happened?"

The tall girl smirked. "I guess the party's about t' start, huh?" she said. She pulled a caplet from her pocket and swallowed it.

The little girl with Chad jumped up and down. "Yay! Fun time!" she pulled a similar caplet from her sleeve and swallowed it.

"What are you doing?" Chad asked the girl, but she just smiled. "We're gonna fight now, mister!"

"Get ready t' get yer ass ki…" Yeltz trailed off. She grabbed her chest. "…The hell's… going on…?"

The little girl looked agitated. "Ow… This huuurts…" she whimpered.

Uryu turned to his friends. "Get away from them, now!" he yelled. He ran to Orihime, grabbed her, and ran past the two girls with Chad right behind him just as the two of them exploded in a surge of fire.

Rukia Kuchiki was sitting alone in her room in the 13th Division barracks when the door burst open. "Did you get the Jigokuchō?" Renji Abarai asked abruptly.

She turned to him, frowning. "It's rude to come into a girl's room without knocking first, you know," she said, standing up. She saw Renji's serious expression. "What's the problem?"

"There were explosions in Karakura Town," Renji said, "and now three strong arrancar energy readings are being felt there."

"How strong?" Rukia asked.

"Reports say they could be at least as strong as the Espada you fought in Las Noches," as he said this, a small black butterfly fluttered in through the open door. Rukia extended her finger, and the Jigokuchō landed on it. "They might be too much for just Ichigo and the others alone, so we're supposed to go and help him."

Rukia moved towards the door. "Alright then," she said. "Let's go."

Ichigo found Orihime, Chad, and Uryu standing right where he'd seen the three explosions go off. Landing in front of them, he approached Uryu. "What happened over here?"

"Where have you been, Ichigo?" Uryu asked, ignoring the question. Ichigo saw that Uryu had his Quincy bow drawn.

"We've been really worried about you," Orihime said, her eyes full of sadness. "Are you okay?"

"It's complicated," Ichigo shrugged off their concern. "But now's not the time for that. Just tell me what's going on."

"To be honest, I'm not sure," Uryu was staring intensely at the smoke flowing from the alleyway. "There are some people using gigai here…"

"Gigai?"

"Yeah, I don't know where they got them from, but they must have been faulty. When they tried to leave them they just exploded. Although right before they did a warning appeared on their chests. Whoever made those gigai for them was not on their side, and that person knew they would come for us."

That explains Urahara's disappearance… "Mr. Urahara went missing a few days ago," Ichigo said. The other three looked shocked, but Uryu recovered the fastest. He seemed to understand Ichigo's reasoning.

"So then, do you think Aizen kidnapped him?" Uryu asked. But before they could finish their conversation, a massive reiryoku made them all turn to the smoke.

A bald man stumbled from the cloud into view, his body covered in soot. His face was covered in piercings, and he looked visibly weakened. He coughed, and a cloud of smoke exited his lungs. "Damn him…" he rasped, steadying himself. His white clothes looked disheveled, but intact. His high collar was unzipped down to his chest, and in the center of his neck was a small gaping hole.

"Arrancar…" Ichigo uttered, his voice a whisper.

There was a flash within the smoke, and a large green blast erupted out, flying past the bald man and at the four teens. Orihime ran forward. "Santen Kesshun, I reject!" she cried. Her blue hairpin blinked with light, and a large triangle of light formed in front of the group. The blast smashed into it, and although the shield cracked it held. Orihime was panting when the attack was over.

The blast had cleared the smoke, and now they could see a tall green-haired girl standing, also covered in soot. She was also wearing white garb, and had a hole in place of her bellybutton. She also had a shark jawbone around her neck, which seemed to be the remains of her Hollow mask. She had her hands outstretched before her, with her index fingers and thumbs forming a triangle. She laughed, and then coughed. "That flimsy li'l shield was enough t' block my Cero?" she said, her pointed teeth showing as she caught her breath. "I'll admit I'm a bit impressed."

"Why did we go boom…?" a small voice weakly asked, and a little girl with long purple hair stumbled from behind the taller girl. She had on long white robes too big for her body, and had a small square hat on her head with a broken star adorning it.

"Urahara must have rigged the gigai he gave us…" the bald man said, finally regaining his composure. He dusted himself off. "A clever trick, but he underestimated out strength."

"So you do know where Urahara is, then?" Ichigo stepped from behind Orihime's shield and walked forward. "Just who the hell are you guys? I thought Aizen said he was going to wait to attack!"

The bald man shook his head. "We are not aligned with Aizen, Ichigo Kurosaki."

What the…? As Ichigo pondered this, they felt another presence above them. Looking to the sky, they could see a small shoji materializing, and when it opened they found two familiar Shinigami stepping out. "Renji, Rukia," Ichigo called up to them.

Seeing their companions, the duo dropped to the earth. "Ichigo," Rukia said. She nodded to the others. "We've come to help. These guys are strong."

"I can tell," Ichigo said. "Are you Espada?" he directed that question to the three arrancar.

"This is a ranking system designed by Aizen, so we have no such titles," he replied in a low monotone. "However, we are not to be underestimated, I can assure you of that."

He's definitely the strongest one. Ichigo looked to the green-haired girl. She's the second, and the little one's the third. They all felt like they could be Espada, but they were nowhere near Ulquiorra or even Grimmjow's level. "I should be able to take all of them, no problem," Ichigo said to his friends, stepping forward.

The green haired girl laughed. "Try me," she said, beckoning the orange-haired boy forward.

Before anyone else could make a more, the rusted garage door behind the arrancar began to clatter loudly and then it slowly opened. Inside it was dark, but two men soon stepped from the shadows. The shorter of the two had on Shinigami robes, and he had a lieutenant's badge on his arm. The taller one was an effeminate looking man wearing a white rose in his long hair, a cream-colored cloak on, and a captain's haori over that.

"I didn't know the Gotei 13 was sending a captain, too," Ichigo said, smiling. "Rukia, who are these guys? I've never seen them before."

Rukia was silent for a moment. "I… I don't know. I've never seen them before in my life…" she stammered, clearly alarmed.

"My, my, my," the captain said, flashing a dazzling smile. "It looks like the gang's all here."

Thanks for reading. Comments are greatly appreciated!