It was terrifying. There was no enemy to face here. There was no fight. It was worse than his nightmares. There was a fight and he could do nothing. Ichigo was unconscious and would be dead soon. His fellow captains were in equally poor conditions. He was fighting hard to keep his spiritual pressure contained, but it kept leaking out, and as it did, it was devoured.

The world around them was nothing but pulsating darkness. Somewhere in that darkness was an entity that devoured spiritual pressure fast enough to bring down Ichigo. The rest of them hadn't stood a chance. Maybe if Ichigo had made it into his Vasto Lorde form things would have been different, but he had thought he could fight the darkness. He had been the first to fall.

He felt another pulse of weakness as a ribbon of energy was devoured from him. He was going to die without ever seeing Isane or Yumichika again...

"I wanted to die fighting... This is cruel... The Spirit King will pay for this..." He hoped so, at least. Even if it was a hundred thousand years, someday he would be reincarnated, and his wrath would never rest.

"It's been an honor fighting by your side, Ikkaku." beside him, Renji Abarai grinned and extended a hand to him. Ikkaku took it and forced himself to grin.

"Likewise. You always had the heart of the Eleventh behind you." He panted, the creature in the darkness drawing more power from his moment of distraction. He was Renji jerk in pain as well. "This is no way for warriors to die..."

"This is no way for anyone to die." Soifon sat against the dark wall, eyes closed and her energy sealed off. If any of them would survive, it would be her. Her power and emotions were completely under control. She had succeeded in shoving Yoruichi out of the trap before it could close. She was at peace.

Another pulse made Ikkaku flinch. Then he froze. That was not the same pulse he had felt for the last hour. Here in the depths of the dangai, where even the Koryu and Kototsu could not reach, they had no hope for rescue. Ikkaku looked to Ichigo, who remained lifeless on the ground. If he had not been the source of the pulse, then what had.

"This is... Familiar..." Ikkaku knew the riatsu... It was as familiar as Yumi's, but it wasn't his... It wasn't Isane's either. His eyes widened. There was no way...

Another pulse came with such power that the walls shook and spider web cracks spread across the floor. The walls, though looking like shifting liquid, felt as hard as stone. Thousands upon millions of years piled onto each other until they became solid... What could have such power to crack even time?

Only two people in all of Soul Society's history could have unleashed such power, and one was a useless lump on the ground right now. But the other... The other was long dead.

The third pulse was more than the remaining captain's could stand. Soifon fell unconscious, followed immediately by Renji and Byakuya. The only ones still awake where Kyoraku, Ukitake, and Ikkaku. There was no longer any doubt in his mind. There was only one man capable of such an act.

A moment of silence. Stillness. Even the creature of the dark seemed wary.

Then the world was torn apart. It was like a garganta, but rather than the bleak landscape of Hueco Mundo, there was a shifting gray-white world. And one tall, thin man who's hands were holding the walls of the tear open as he stepped through.

"Captain..." Ikkaku grinned. "I can't wait to hear this story..."

The Kenpachi of Zaraki stood in the darkness in silence for a moment. Then he threw back his head and roared with laughter. The wave of riatsu that rolled off of him was more than even the monster could handle. It dissolved with a whisper as the walls continued to crack. Flecks of light began to peak through the darkness.

"Stand up, Ikkaku! A Kenpachi does not die quietly like a corpse!" Zaraki drew his sword and lunged, burying it to the hilt in the wall of the dangai. "BANKAI!"

Ikkaku collapsed under the weight of his captain's power.

- Line -

"How do you still exist?!"

"Well, I was judged unfit for reincarnation, but hell wouldn't let me in. I got lost in the Valley of Screams until I felt Ikkaku's spiritual pressure and came to check it out. Turned out to be a good choice."