I'm back with a labor day update. I was laboring over this chapter to get it done? To soon? Anyway I hope you lovelies like this nearly 9,000 word chapter. This was really hard to write being so busy. Right, anything else I'm missing? Oh the disclaimer! And my shout outs!

Thanks to AbsoluteReader1995, Dahlia'sdream, Phantom Claire, and Kurai Kage for your reviews and your support!

DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN BLEACH ONLY THIS PLOT AND SOME OF THE OC's!

See you at the bottom!

Urahara was panting, he had been fighting some unknown force for the latter part of the hour. He knew that it had taken them a day to get to through the tunnel. He had been up watching the little blips on the screen but the moment the first person stepped through to the other side he had lost control of the doorway. He had been hoping to get them a few rooms away from each other at the most but whatever had high jacked him had been skilled in manipulating the doorway the second person wasn't anywhere close to the other person. He didn't get control back until the last person went through.

He could only assume that the first and last person were the only people that the manipulator didn't know. He was thankful for that at least. He had only had time to plant a tracker on each of the away team so he could only see if all of them were alive and where they were located.

At least he had that, he hoped that the team would be able to fend for themselves.

Ikkaku was trying to be as silent as possible, which was a challenge for him. Sneaking around was for the weak, but he also was smart enough to know that he could possibly have twenty or so nut jobs on him at the slightest noise that he made.

Turning a corner, since he wasn't sure where he was supposed to go, he guessed he'd wander around until he met up with someone. Not knowing the design of the castle had severely limited their plans, and they had only one chance to get out of here, mostly alive, and he wasn't anywhere near the captain.

Finishing the turn he stared straight ahead. Yuna was leaning against the wall looking bored. She lifted her head when she heard footsteps. She smiled creepily.

"It's been awhile third seat!" She clapped her hands together.

Ikkaku grinned feral look to it. "I'll say. We have a score that needs to be settled."

Yuna nodded and reached for her blade. "I agree."

If not for the years of training, Rangiku would've gotten impaled by the large spike that seemingly came out of nowhere. She leapt back one beam and quickly evaluated her surroundings only having to dodge yet another spike. But this time she when she jumped, the spot she just vacated had been taken by a female that looked like she was wrapped in shadows.

Rangiku knew with certainty that this was a premier. Which one she didn't know, they hadn't gotten information on all of the premiers. It was a long shot but she guessed since they called themselves the Neo-Gotei that there was thirteen premiers as well.

The girl in front of her, seemed to be studying the bustier woman. Making Rangiku skin crawl with nervousness. "Who are you?" She called to the slighter woman.

The shadowy woman said nothing for a while, Rangiku figured that she wouldn't get an answer. The tenth division Vice-Captain removed the heavy Zangetsu from her back and leaned it against the wall, she then slowly moved her hand towards her own blade. Again the Premier looked disinterested.

To Rangiku's surprise the other woman spoke. "I am Kurai Kage. Premier of the Justice Cell."

"Rangiku Matsumoto, Vice-Captain of the Tenth Division."

Kurai looked like she wasn't impressed, or if she was the Premier was very good at hiding it.

"Let's begin." The shadowy premier removed the scythe from her back.

"I agree, we shouldn't drag this out." Matsumoto pulled out Haineko and got into her ready stance.

Renji spun around when he heard the large doors opening. He attempted to dive behind the large throne, not wanting to be seen just yet. But as his luck would have it, the newcomer had sharp eyes.

"So far I'm convinced they let anyone become a Vice-Captain in your order." Renji winced when he heard the superior toned voice. "I mean you have terrible skill in hiding your reiatsu. Not all that bright, and your sneaking skills are deplorable."

Renji growled and shoved himself out from behind the throne.

"But I guess you make up for it in your idiotic courage." Osamu shrugged.

Renji reached for his blade. Osamu just watched him and sighed. "Not coming easy then?"

Renji bared his teeth. Osamu created his bow. Both waiting for the other person to make the first move. Neither was willing to until they had evaluated their opponent and whether or not the need to go all out was there.

Ashido heard his opponents before he saw them. He drew his blade, getting ready to ambush his foes like they were trying to do to him. He leapt up into the beams, waiting for the large group he assumed, to come stampeding down right into his trap.

A minute later he wasn't disappointed when ten "guards" came to a halt, weapons drawn, right where he had been. They looked around confusedly trying to figure out what had happened to their target.

"Looking for me?" Ashido called half-serious.

That caused the guards to look up, and they looked surprised. Ashido mentally patted himself on the back for that one. He leapt down far enough away that the guards couldn't get in a cheap shot but close enough to let the guards know that he was planning to stand and fight. His blade hung lazily at his side, and one guard thought that it meant that he wasn't skilled, and foolishly rushed the shinigami.

Ashido stepped to the side slicing with his blade, the impatient guard took three steps before falling into a bloody heap. The loyalist shinigami looked at the body and then glanced up at the others who had found him.

They looked a little more hesitant since they had seen their comrade be taken down in one sword strike. Ashido didn't look like he was bothered by this fact. He raised his blade, after flicking off the blood and staining the wall with the crimson liquid.

"Who's next?" He asked in a conversational tone.

Yumichika was impressed that no one had noticed the entry of seven new figures in random places. He walked down the hallway, not sensing any presences near him. The hallway he was in was tastefully decorated with similar style art as the ones he saw originally. The color schemes even carried over through everything.

When he stopped to gaze at one portrait of a woman with straight black hair that wasn't at all like the common Japanese hair. Her skin was sun-kissed, and it being a full body portrait he could see that she wasn't just a pretty face. There was a smoldering look in her eyes that seemed almost realistic.

"It a long time to find a painter skilled enough to capture my beauty without making it look like I was beautified." Came a voice with a foreign accent to it, but the words were spoken perfectly otherwise.

Not expecting the voice Yumichika whirled around to stare at the new comer. It took him all of three seconds to realize that the gorgeous woman in the painting was standing directly in front of him, looking even more stunning in real life.

"The picture doesn't do you justice." Yumichika shrugged.

"The report Yuna gave doesn't do you justice, then again Yuna is only good for fighting." The female sighed as if she was annoyed.

Yumichika arched an eyebrow. "So you're part of Neo-Gotei?"

"Among other things. I'm a premier, and according to my King's orders I am to eliminate you." The female shrugged eyeing Yumichika up and down.

"But I suppose I could extend a welcoming hand to a beautiful man such as yourself."

Yumichika was flattered by the complement but offended that he would think that he was so cheap to by bough by flattery that he got every day, even if he forced Ikkaku into it.

"I'll pass." Yumichika said. Figuring the next step would escalate to them fighting he reached for his blade.

The female straightened up, Yumichika finding that he was two inches shorter than the female, making her tall for being a woman.

"I had figured as much. Fighting an opponent with such an obvious disadvantage is something Yuna does."

Yumichika leapt back when the female drew her blade. The girl twirled it around the air. "We haven't been properly introduced. I am Enyo Marvos, Premier of the Shadow Cell."

Yumichika nodded, he had figured that this female was going to be someone strong, now it was his turn to test the strength of a Premier.

"Yumichika Ayasegawa, fifth seat of the eleventh squad."

Enyo didn't look impressed. "Only a fifth seat, damn that Yuna."

Yumichika heard that mumble and was insulted. "The eleventh squad is the strongest. Being a seated officer in Captain Zaraki's squad is showing just how strong you are!"

Enyo looked up, her dark eyes displaying no emotion, looking annoyed. "Very well. Let us test the Zaraki's evaluation of your strength."

Yumichika grinned, like all members of his squad he had a passion for fighting, and he wasn't going to hold back just because he was fighting a beautiful woman.

"Let's also make this a challenge of beauty. Whoever dies first is the uglier one in this hallway." Enyo said.

Yumichika nodded, now there was no way he wouldn't take this seriously. He would never lose in a contest of beauty.

Rukia stuck close to the wall, hoping that she could use it to head back to the room she appeared in, also she hoped that it would be easier for her to go unnoticed. She could hear the muffled sounds of battle and she prayed that they wouldn't get near her.

The badge thumped against her thigh, giving her the motivation to move on. Even if some of the areas she came to weren't exactly friendly. She was also completely loss and she wasn't fond of wandering around without knowing where she was going.

The palace's lay out, from what she had seen wasn't normal by any standards. There were hallways that were dead ends with no rooms and then there was the complete opposite where there was a door every twenty feet or so and then the hallway itself seemed like it was endless.

There were rooms that seemed suspicious and they were only storage closets and naturally there was the reverse of that. It was confusing, and slightly infuriating. There was no way an undercover operation could get in and find the room they needed to be without a map, and Rukia wouldn't doubt it if the layout changed daily.

She looked into another room that looked like it held answers, but instead she had to jump back to avoid getting a broom handle to the face. The raven-haired shinigami huffed in annoyance as she placed the broom back into the closet before setting off. She couldn't find Ichigo's' reiatsu ribbon, which knew could only mean one of a few things, such as he was surrounded by Seki rock, he was exhausted and can't replenish it, he was suppressing it(not that he had that much control but it was still a possibility), or he had been killed.

She didn't like to think the latter was the answer but at the moment everything was a possibility. She realized with horror that Ichigo, being the stubborn man he was, might've escaped. She thought she felt Zangetsu earlier, but then again it had been so fleeting that she had figured she imagined it.

Lost in her own world she hadn't realized that the sounds of battle had been drawing closer, until she had to duck as a body went soaring towards her. Peering down the hallway, she saw the familiar form of Ashido fighting with odds that didn't look that good to her.

Without much thought, she pulled her blade and jumped into the fray, attempting to go back-to-back, which was amusing in itself considering the height difference between the two of them.

The blood trail hadn't lessened any, or looked like more blood had been spilled. Toshiro wasn't sure which he should be happier about. The amount of blood it would take to make a path that was clear enough to make drag marks had to be a lot of blood. But the fact that it hadn't sped up any was promising but it also wasn't clotting. Even when shinigami were able to withstand a lot more than humans, they could still die of blood loss.

Toshiro was afraid that he'd walk into the room that this trail of blood lead to and he'd find a dead or about to die body. The white haired captain had witnessed a lot of death in his years, but he still got weak knees every time he saw someone's mangled body desperately clinging to life.

He could vaguely hear the sounds of battle. It had been too much to hope for seven powerful shinigami to go unnoticed. Toshiro looked up and observed his surroundings. He was in a hallway, darkened due to the lack of light. He could tell that it was made out of roughly carved stone, the ground itself was lose cement. The young captain had to wonder why this place was here when the palace was lived in. He shuddered as he thought about the person being taken to another torture room.

The walls narrowed, and he could tell that there was only room for one to squeeze through at a time. He also saw the blood smeared on walls. The young captain hoped that the person whose blood this is was unconscious through the transfer.

He paused when there was a particularly large flare of reiatsu that felt familiar, but not the person he wanted it to be.

Ikkaku was panting. He wiped away the blood that was beginning to trickle down from the cut he received, and grinned viscously. Yuna was leaning against her axe, looking like she was bored. He hadn't even released Hozukimaru yet, but he had pushed the premier to. He had to grin at that.

Yuna on the other hand didn't look at all impressed. "You call that fighting. Come on! Let's get serious, if you don't you'll die."

Ikkaku gripped the hilt of Hozukimaru. He was tempted to go full Bankai on this bitch, but he wasn't sure when one of his comrades would come around the corner and see him. But that didn't mean he couldn't release his blade, he had held back because he wasn't sure that flaring his reiatsu around would
be good for him keeping himself hidden incase these people don't fight fair. But from what he had seen this premier she wasn't the type that would fight unfairly. Which made since considering she was in the eleventh squad and all warriors want to fight in fair fights most of the time, unless it was to prove their strength, then it was alright to come at someone with five other people.

He touched the hilt of his blade and his sheath together. "Grow, Hozukimaru!"

Yuna waited until the release was complete. The she launched herself at her foe, blade creating a long gash in the hallway wall. It didn't seem to slow her down any, and she was moving quickly. Ikkaku jumped out of the way, knowing that if he blocked that strike Hozukimaru would be shattered. Even if they were enhanced weapons, blocking an axe with a staff still didn't work.

Ikkaku saw that he now had an opening, because when Yuna had swung the axe the force of the swing had made her have to continue with the blade, leaving her shoulder open for a strike. He stopped himself and thrust foreword. He waited to see the blade penetrate the flesh of the shoulder. He was rewarded with seeing blood fly out of the new cut.
But he felt no resistance when he pulled back. The two warriors leapt away from each other, Ikkaku evaluated the shoulder that he struck. There wasn't a whole where there should be one, instead there was a long cut, dragging from one shoulder to the other.

She dodged it? Ikkaku thought in his head, his eyes surprised. The reaction time that was needed was incredible but not to mention able to see it and respond was something that was hard for any non-captain class shinigami. Even the sixth division captain would have trouble dodging an attack like that, if he ever let himself become that open.

Yuna herself looked surprised that she had been injured. "Impressive. It's not often I get a scratch in battle. But was that a lucky shot I wonder?"

Ikkaku, from years of training, knew what was going to happen next. Yuna vanished, Ikkaku saw a glint of metal out of the corner of his eyes and he spun towards it, already beginning to thrust his spear foreword, ready to meet the oncoming threat. He knew he was going to hit. There was no dodging such a high speed attack. He felt like everything was going in slow motion, but he knew that the speed they were at was well beyond what mortal eyes could track.

There was a second where pinpoint-brown eyes met the color of tried blood, both not backing down in their staring contest. Then he heard a sound that he was familiar too, the sound of flesh being sliced and penetrated. He could see the specks of blood soaring through the air, and there was some emerging from the back of his opponent.

Suddenly everything became real time as he flew backward, his spear following him, not having time to make sure it remained in the torso of his opponent. He crashed through a wall, and made a crater in another.

Somehow, Yuna was still up right, but there was crimson cascading through a vertical hole where her spleen was located, and he knew since the staff of the spear had blood on it, he had pierced all the way through her back, so he had hit several organs he knew. So how was she still standing?
Yuna laughed and then cough blood up. "Maybe it wasn't luck."

She returned her axe to its dormant form, and walked away like normal. Once she was out of the view of the soon to be dead Ikkaku. She stumbled, grabbing a hold of the wall. Knowing that her knees were likely to soon give out if she didn't hurry towards the medical area. Not that they were the best healers, but she couldn't just rely on her own healing ability when she knew at the very least there was three organs bleeding.

Ikkaku was panting against the wall. He could look at his torso and see that the wound that Yuna left was deep and long. He'd die of blood loss if he didn't get any medical treatment.

He couldn't stand even if he wanted to. Hozukimaru returned to its sealed form. He shakily reached out, and grabbed his blade. Popping open the bottom, seeing the full container of medical coagulant. He put some on his finger, wincing when he touched his wound. It wouldn't be a hundred percent, but hopefully they'd be out of here by the time he needed a second dose. The gash was narrower, but it cut deep and he knew that it had nicked most of his internal organs. He might be able to stop the surface bleeding but internally he couldn't do a thing. It'd be a miracle if he stayed conscious long enough to finish applying the coagulant.

Renji dodged another super-charged arrow blast from the sword. Osamu hadn't moved from his spot since he walked it. Renji whipped Zabimaru towards him. The former Quincy raised the blade and blocked the strike, giving Renji a sense of déjà vu. It was almost identical to the first time that the met on the battle field.

Renji leapt down from the ceiling beam, landing in front of Osamu. The man was starting to irritate him.
"Where are you keeping Ichigo?" Renji growled out.

"Hmmm? You really came all this way for that brat?" Osamu chuckled. "How adorable. You're devotion will be noted when we rewrite the history of the Gotei-13 the way it's supposed to be!"
Renji grit his teeth. "You won't win."

"Won't we?" Osamu's eyes widened. "Premier!"

Renji took the advantage of Osamu's distraction and surged ahead. He swung the whip like blade towards the second in command. The blade was arcing around Osamu and Renji tugged Zabimaru back making the spiked edges plunge into the flesh of the Quincy. Knowing that it was a guaranteed kill.

Osamu's eyes widened as he collapsed onto the ground. Renji stormed over to the Quincy, watching as a crimson puddle started to form around the male's knees.

Renji bent down, where he was eye level with Osamu. The dark eyes stared at him, little light left in them.

"Listen, you're going to tell me what I want to know." Renji commanded.

Osamu panted before replying with much effort. "Rot in hell. I don't know where that idiot is located. The king couldn't use him, so they forgot about him."

Renji slammed the other onto the ground. Anger filling his vision. How could they forget that they have a captive? Renji left the soon to be deceased Quincy behind. There was nothing left to discover in this room. He'd have to find Ichigo without any help.

Osamu stared out, looking at the place where his Premier generally stood. He had failed her. She had been severely injured, and he didn't have a lot of time left in this world. He was surprised that his shinigami opponent would've been fast enough to use his momentary distraction to his advantage.

He wasn't able to finish his revenge, but he knew that he had delayed the shinigami for a little longer. All the tops and seconds knew where the prisoner was located, it just took an ability to see the small details, and not be a complete idiot like most of the shinigami grunts were.

Renji walked out of what he was considering the main room. The first thing he saw was the three hallway branching out from the room. Each identical, and he wasn't able to sense any of his teammates. But he did know they were fighting as he heard the sounds of battle raging through the palace.

Picking the hallway to the right, he headed down it. Not sheathing his sword, knowing that in the palace he could be ambushed easily, and he'd rather have some sort of fighting chance other than just having to die because he forgot one an important part of common sense. When in enemy territory make sure you can defend yourself at all times. It was a lecture at the academy that he had to sit through.

He wasn't about to die before he gave these bastards a taste of the true shinigami power.

Yumichika dodged to the side when the whip came close to his face again. Enyo wasn't a combat expert by any means. The fifth seat could tell this because of her used muscles, but they weren't harden like a warriors. She had excellent reaction time, but couldn't fight close range, but she was nimble.

Yumichika had found out that she was able to dodge most of his attacks by flipping, ducking, and arching to one side or another. She made it look graceful. The beautiful man could appreciate someone who thought of battles the same way as him.

But he couldn't stand that someone like this had such a cold heart. She had cheered when she felt one of her comrade's reiatsu dip. She was even more joyous when another's disappeared altogether. Yumichika couldn't let someone like her taint the word of beauty. She only had looks.

Yumichika was seriously debating on whether or not he should use the true form of his zanpakuto.

"You withhold something beautiful. I can see it." Enyo mumbled in that accented voice.

"A good guess but no." Yumichika countered.

"Hn? Don't believe me? Most people don't at first. But how do I know that your pride as an eleventh division member, such an ugly squad by the way, is bigger than the pride of such a glorious weapon." Enyo said, her eyes smoldering.

Yumichika's jaw dropped in shock. "How could you possibly know that?"

"My power, it lets me see the mind of whomever it strikes. It works better on the weak minded. That orange haired kid, he was perfect for me to play with." Enyo chuckled.

Yumichika gripped the hilt tighter.

"What? You care for the boy?" Enyo laughed bitterly. "You're nearly two weeks too late. He can't be saved."

"Lies." Yumichika stated plainly. "Anyone who can win against Captain is someone who won't be taken down by a group of ruffians like you!"

"Ruffians? Most of yes. Me? No." Enyo cracked her whip, and it turned from a golden color to a black, and went from solid to a gaseous form.

Much like a fog rolling in, the black gas, which was more gray in the proper lighting, crept towards Yumichika. The feathered man leapt up towards the ceiling. The fog followed after him, streaking after him like a rocket, and it slowly billowed out from the main source.

Soon most of the hallway was coated in the thick gas. Yumichika had nowhere to run. Enyo leapt up on the beam across from him.

The space around her suspiciously clear. He kept his gaze locked onto Enyo in case she had been just toying around with him earlier, and she really could fight. But the whip was gone, and Yumichika couldn't see any sign of her sword.

He hadn't realized that the fog started to curl around him.

"There's an advantage to joining the Shadow Society, you know." Enyo's eyes flashed.

Emerging from the fog was solid black masses, they were human shaped but they had no features.

"I know who you were, and I can reduce you to nothing more than a janitor." Enyo waved her hands the fog forming the visions she just described.

"Where light is cast, there is always shadows." Enyo twirled her hand, making the sliver bracelet fall down her arm.

"I'm surprised that Premier Kage never joined, she'd be perfect."

"But there is no one more valuable than someone who knows all about the enemy from just a…" The Grecian woman suddenly vanished and appeared next to Yumichika. "Touch."

A tanned hand shot out and wrapped around Yumichika's pale neck. His eyes widened.

Enyo stared at him, the dark eyes looking frightful instead of exotic. He knew then that this was not a woman to be taken lightly, he felt the fog reach his arm and bat away his zanpakuto. He watched as it fell to the ground. He was going to hear about that later. Providing that he lived through the next thirty seconds.

Enyo's lips curled into an ugly smile, which she still somehow managed to make it look appealing.

"You're life… hmm. Not as glamorous as you look." Enyo pursed her lips. "Those with the ugliest lives tend to be the most beautiful."

Yumichika stopped his struggling, aware of how lightheaded he was becoming. There was truth in her words, but he wondered if she meant on the outside or the inside. He would've made a comment had he been able to speak.

"Never mind that. This has become too tedious for me." She released her hand, and Yumichika coughed before inhaling gulps of air, trying to steady his breathing. He had managed to calm his chest heaving slightly when the gaseous cloud wrapped around his neck and solidified. He noticed the more solid it became the harder time he had with breathing. Enyo's grasp was nothing compared to this.

The Grecian woman had jumped down from the beams. Landing and walking away like nothing happened. She waved behind her and kept on walking. The smoke flung Yumichika down by his neck. He landed hard enough to break bones. Whatever air he had left in him was forced from his body. He was powerless to do anything, the smoke still tightening around his neck. He could see his now sealed zanpakuto laying a few feet away.

He wondered if he stretched if he would be able to reach it. The smoke didn't seem to have that much intelligence, it was only following Enyo's will. So it probably wouldn't notice if he started to squirm a little. He stretched his hand out as far as it could go, the burning in his lungs growing more and more intense with each passing second. He didn't have much time.

He was about five inches too short to grab the hilt of his blade.

Come on. He tried. Summoning his reiatsu reaching out to the blade. Hoping that he'd manage to somehow move the blade. It was almost a physical impossibility. He knew that most of the time a disarmed shinigami was a dead shinigami.

The minute that black seemed to encroach on his vision, something akin to a miracle happened. His blade flew into his hand. Not having enough time to wonder how it happened. He gripped the hilt with a tight fist.

He rasped out. "Bloom, Fuji Kujaku!"

The katana glowed and split into four different blades. He would've used his zanpakuto's true form if he was sure that it would work against this smoke cloud. But as fair as he knew the cloud didn't have any reiatsu. He was also unclear about where Enyo had went. He couldn't sense her, but he couldn't sense her beforehand either.

He also wondered if she was waiting for him to release his zanpakuto, if she had the power that she said that he did.

He swung the blade at the "arm" of the smoke, cause it to dissipate long enough for him to shunpo out of its range. It came racing towards him. Because he was out of ways to fight something that couldn't he started to use his zanpakuto as a fan. Waving it wildly, it would've been amusing to watch, but the smoke was being scattered faster than it could reform. Soon his arms would get tired, he knew, and then he'd be at the mercy of the smoke.

Not a very heroic way to go.

But once again it seemed like faith was on his side, as something came crashing through the wall behind him. He dodged out of the way, and it seemed like the other figures that had crashed through the wall, had the same idea.

"Flaying wind!" A male voice yelled out.

A wind storm was summoned, and the fierceness of the wind was impressive. Yumichika could feel it from where he was standing. But it also served to give him a respite to catch his breath. Once he was able to somewhat regulate his breathing he saw that the wind attack was also affecting the smoke. It was being blown around so fast that it was truly unable to reform and it kept getting ripped apart until there was nothing left of it.

That's when he heard the growl next to him. It was Enyo, looking livid.

"You idiot! You made me lose my kill!" She yelled at the man, who had now come into sight.

"S-s-s-s-sorry Premier Enyo!" He bowed hastily.

Enyo said nothing as her katana returned into the golden whip. She raised it and cracked at the newcomer. It slit his jugular.

"Foul smelling idiots. Even with a normal nose I do not understand how Yuna-idiot can stand you."

Enyo glared at Yumichika before vanishing in a puff of smoke like she hadn't even been present. Two figures shunpoed next to him, and he registered them as Rukia and Ashido. All of that happened before the body fell to the ground.

"She killed her own subordinate?" Yumichika asked bewildered.

Rukia shook her head. "No, I don't think that was the case. I think he was from Yuna's cell."

"So you can kill another's subordinate?" Ashido clarified.
"I don't know." Rukia shrugged. She knew how it worked in the Gotei-13 but she had no idea about what these people were capable of.

"I think Enyo doesn't like Yuna." Yumichika shrugged.

"That might be the case." Ashido shrugged, he hadn't met any of the premiers here and all he had was what the others had found out when the encountered them.

"Either way… let's continue our search, for Ichigo and the others." Rukia said. She had cuts and bruises lining her body from the large group of followers that she had helped Ashido deal with. The older male wasn't in much better shape and she could see Yumichika had a cut on his face and a purple bruise forming around his neck. The others nodded.

Rangiku and her opponent, while having said that they'd get the battle started hadn't made a single move towards each other. Rangiku was starting to get impatient and her opponent wasn't giving anything away. It didn't help that she could only see one eye.

Her training had told her to always wait until her opponent had made their move. The strawberry blonde knew next to nothing about the foe, and therefore had no idea what to expect when they began to fight.

Long range seemed to be her best bet at the moment.

She got into the release stance. "Growl, Haineko!"

The blade turned into ash and Rangiku thrust it foreword. The cloud of ash followed her command and surrounded Kurai. She launched the ash, hoping that it would be enough to do in the premier, and knowing that it wouldn't hardly leave a scratch on her.

As she pulled back the ash cloud she saw that the premier had jumped over it, and was hanging from something on the ceiling. Rangiku's eyes widened. How…? She wasn't even in a battle stance!

The premier landed soundlessly on the beam. Looking slightly more alive as there was a small passion burning in the red eye. Rangiku didn't know what to expect.

The premier raised the scythe, she spun it around, almost unhindered by the shape of the scythe. She moved at an impressive speed, spinning it with both hands like a bow staff.

"Show them the darkness, Daku aimai!" There was no doubt that it was a release phrase.

The spinning stopped abruptly, and Rangiku could see that the scythe was no longer a scythe. But instead a set of claw like weapons. The previously bare hands were now clothed in black gloves.

That's where the claws are attached! Rangiku realized.

Just as she realized that, she heard something come from beside her, she leapt backwards, getting nicked in the arm from the claws. She landed and the ash remained around her. Kurai stood where she had been previously, studying her claws. She flicked the bloodied one off to the side, splattering the small amount of blood onto the beam.

Rangiku leapt towards her and made some of the ash become her blade again. Having the rest of the ash scatter so thin that you couldn't see it with the naked eye.

Kurai easily blocked the strike. Rangiku had the ash swell up behind the premier. She caused it to come forward and she pushed off of the premier, getting a surprise kick in. The ash made a sphere around the premier and Rangiku closed it fast.

She summoned it back to her, and she saw that another sphere had been summoned inside of her ash sphere. The black sphere dissipated, leaving an almost inky residue in its wake.

The Premier however seemed unharmed. Rangiku struggled to keep her composure. It was impossible for the premier to walk away from the attack with no damage. Unless that inky sphere was shield. Rangiku cringed inwardly. This fight just got a whole lot tougher.

Kurai lunged again, into the shadows. Rangiku summoned back most of her ash into blade form and parried the strike.

The blades suddenly grew longer and Kurai pulled away. Leaving four deep scratches in the Vice-Captain's cheek. The two leapt apart.

Rangiku whipped at the blood pouring down her cheek, wincing at the sting. So it had been deeper than she thought, one of the claws must've hit her cheek bone, she figured, if the pain was anything to go by.

Without giving anything away she caused her ash, what wasn't making up her blade, attack her foe. Rangiku forced the ash into a spinning attack, where the tip of it would certainly penetrate flesh when it made contact, not to mention all of the follow up attacks that would happen afterwards.

The attack in theory would be deadly. But Rangiku wasn't expecting a black cero to cut through her ash torpedo.

The Vice-Captain barely got out of the way. Though her uniform got torn. She was forced to pull back to another beam. Kurai lowered both of her hands.

She looked at Rangiku and vanished. The shinigami had adapted to her opponent's speed and readied herself. When she saw the other emerge from the shadows for a split second Rangiku lowered the ash cloud. Hoping that she'd at least do some damage this time.

Kurai was able to dodge most of the attack, but Rangiku had reacted fast enough that it left a shallow scratch in the premier's arm.

Rangiku waited for the next attack. Knowing that the Premier would have to come in close range again.

Rangiku lost her balance when she dodged a large inky spike. She stumbled back in slow motion. She saw now that there were two spikes, one coming from the side, that she manage to dodge, and the other one came from the floor right where she was standing it had impaled her shoulder. The spikes didn't look solid, they looked inky and wispy, but they were solid, she could feel where they hit.

She looked down to see if there was anything that could slow her descent any so she didn't get the full impact and be left with wide opening. But instead of the ground she saw another inky spike coming towards her. She knew it was going to be fatal, and there was no way to dodge the attack.

Not knowing what else to do, she gasped. Feeling the spike as impaled her straight through the chest, near enough to her heart for it to be fatal. It had nicked an artery or vein because she could feel the amount of blood leaving her body. She could actually her the spike penetrate her, her the crushing of bone as it went through either a rib or vertebrate. She smelled the thick coppery smell of blood and taste it as well. Rangiku could also see the giant inky spike burst through her chest. Which was an eerie sight and see the blood splatters.

She knew the spike widened at the base and she was sliding down it.

Finally both the spike and most of the feeling in her body disappeared. Though in her fading vision she saw Kurai standing over her. Nothing was betrayed in the premier's face, but Rangiku could feel the victorious aura surrounding the mysterious premier.

"One justiceless dog down." It was barely whispered but Rangiku heard the words loud and clear.

The premier vanished in the same instant, almost like the shadows wrapped themselves around her.

Rangiku was left alone. Staring up at the darkening ceiling. She looked to the ground next to her and saw the crimson spreading out from her. She moved her gaze from the puddle of crimson to her zanpakuto.

She could here Haineko's whines and protests as well as pleas and begging. She saw a hairline crack began to form. As she goes to gasp, blood bubbles past her lips, she attempts to spit it out but it didn't go how she planned, so instead it was no running down her face.

Her reflection stared back at her tiredly, showing the trail of her lifeblood as it vacated her mouth and dripped onto the floor, and what was coming from the gashes in her cheek. One even went across her eye towards the bridge of her nose, and they were spaced about a knuckle's width apart from there.

Her reflection shimmered and revealed Haineko, the cat like woman was throwing insults at her age, about anything really, trying to keep her wielder alive long enough for help to arrive.

Rangiku flashed her blade a tired smile.

"Huh? What was that sound?" Renji asked no one in particular. There must've been a battle going on in the hallway next to him. He felt a sudden increase in an unfamiliar reiatsu, and then the drop of Vice-Captain Matsumoto's. Without thinking, Renji swung his blade and tore through the walls, which were sturdy but thin.

He walked into an oddly lit hallway. It was lit so that everything that could possibly have a shadow did. But the stench of copper and ash reached his nose. He hurried towards it, the scent growing stronger with each step.

The vice-captain gasped when he saw the state of the other vice-captain. Rangiku splayed out on the floor, her eyes fighting to stay open. Her hair was laying at all sorts of angles and her skin was pale with blood loss. She looked like an angel; with four large gashes in her face and blood around her mouth. So a vampiric angel.

Renji knelt down, oblivious to the blood that would be staining his knees. "Matsumoto!"

The good thing was that she was responsive, the bad thing… she took at least a minute for her to respond.

"Ren…ji?" Rangiku rasped out.

"Yeah, it's me. What happened?" Renji asked as he applied pressure to the hole in Rangiku's chest.

"Stabbed by a spike. Fought a premier." Rangiku mumbled out.

Renji gaped at her. Was there someone that strong that could actually get through Rangiku's defenses and actually kill her? He knew she had gotten half of her side removed during the fight with the Espada. How was a single blow to the chest going to kill her?

In his frantic mind Renji almost didn't hear what Rangiku said next.

"Ichigo's zanpakuto should be on that beam."

Renji looked up to the three beams that she could be talking about. Not wanting to really leaving the Vice-Captain alone, and wanting to make sure that when they found Ichigo he'd have his zanpakuto. No matter how they found him.

Renji decided that he wouldn't be gone long enough for something serious to happen. Renji shunpoed up towards the beams that were indicated. On the first one all he found was blood, on the second one he found a lot of ash, blood, and possibly ink? The third was the one that held the treasure. Zangetsu was glinting in the low light. Almost as if it was accusing Renji for something. He grabbed the heavy sword and slung it from his back.

He leapt down to join Rangiku. Renji wished that he knew something about healing kido, but he couldn't even perform the most basic of kidos, and he didn't want to risk something bad happening when he used healing kido on someone.

Again torn between hurrying and finding their goal and leaving Rangiku alone, Renji chewed on his bottom lip.

His captain would say something like; "A successful mission is more important at the moment. Make sure your comrades don't die in vain."

But Ichigo would say something like; what is more important than your friend's life? I won't forgive anyone who thinks life is so expendable. I'll support my friends and myself!

Renji sighed. There were still five other shinigami that would be able to carry out the mission faster than him, and just because he was carrying someone didn't mean that he wouldn't stop searching. But he wasn't sure what happened with Ikkaku, he could feel the weakest amount of the bald shinigami's reiatsu but that was it.

His mind made up; Renji lifted the busty shinigami onto his shoulder. He had to sheathe his blade, and he was already hindered by the large blade on his back. It was awkward, but Renji would struggle through it. He didn't want Captain Hitsugaya on him because he let his Vice-Captain die, and if Ichigo found out that Renji left someone on their death bed alone to find him, no matter what the circumstances were, Ichigo would still be angry with Renji and most likely never be forgiven. Stumbling down the oddly lit hallway, Renji chose his directions at random.

Ashido, Rukia, and Yumichika were wandering down random hallways. They had no idea where to go, nor did they know what was happening with the others. They felt Ikkaku's and Rangiku's reiatsu disappear, they weren't really sure what to expect, but Yumichika was chewing on his bottom lip, with a slight worry about his friend.

The turned a corner and the smell of sulfur and charred flesh assaulted their nose. Yumichika was the first to notice a giant crater in the wall.

"We should proceed with caution." Ashido recommended.

The others nodded. Rukia and Yumichika carefully navigated the debris towards the wall, while Ashido covered them from behind.

Once they reached the hole, the saw the large creator in the other one, and the blood smear that went all the way down. The next thing that they saw was the shinier than normal bald head, it was only shinier because of the quickly cooling sweat.

Rukia was the first to be able to react, Yumichika was staring in shock at his best friend. A green light was emitting from Rukia's hand.

Yumichika jumped over the debris and knelt on the other side of Ikkaku. "Can you heal him?"
Rukia shook her head. "His wounds are beyond my level. I can lessen the bleeding, but I can't risk healing them, as there is a high chance I would heal them improperly."

Yumichika sighed. "Is there a chance that he'll…?"

"Die?" Ashido supplied helpfully, or unhelpfully depending on your point of view.

Yumichika nodded.

"Yes." Rukia didn't want to say any more. There was a higher chance that Ikkaku would end up dying before they got back to Soul Society. Only the fourth division captain and vice-captain would be able to heal wounds this serious.

The three shinigami fell silent, it was like that for another ten minutes before Rukia pulled away, her brow drenched in sweat.

She wiped at it. "That's all I can do for now. I at least stopped him from going into shock, but it all really depends on how fast we can find Ichigo and Captain Hitsugaya."

The two men nodded grimly.

Ashido blew air out of his nose. "We all are pretty tired from our fights and injured. I don't think staying in one place for very long is a good idea. We should keep moving."

Rukia nodded in agreement hesitantly. But Yumichika was against the idea. "If we move Ikkaku then he'll most likely die! The healing Kuchiki-san just did will be for no reason!"

Rukia looked at Yumichika silently. "Don't worry so much. I can heal what damage I've already healed. But if we fine Captain Hitsugaya, and then find Ichigo then we'll be able to get him treated by the fourth."
Yumichika sat back on his heels thinking the words through.

"Fine."

Ashido and Yumichika each put one of Ikkaku's arms around their shoulders and followed after Rukia who was at least acting like she knew where she was going. They knew that she really didn't, but it was better than being uncertain in their opinions. Not like it really mattered if they got lost in the place anyway. They were just looking for one person and hopefully their groups will eventually meet up with other people.

Toshiro noticed the faintest smell of something foul. To him it smelled like rot, sickness, or a little of both. Either way, he'd follow to where the blood was leading him.

The young captain had noticed that Matsumoto's reiatsu disappeared. He couldn't say he wasn't a little worried about her. His Vice-Captain was strong, but there was no clear cut level of strength among the premiers.

The trail was starting to lessen slightly, and he was worried that he was going to lose the only clue that he had so far, but when he glance up he saw that there was an ominous hallway ahead of him.

Toshiro cringed slightly. He felt bad for whoever this was. He couldn't see any doors and it was nearly pitch black except for two pinpoints of light that had to be nearly a thousand feet away.

The white haired captain ran a hand through his hair. "Man, who the hell designed this castle?"

He trudged off down the hallway. One hand on the hilt of his zanpakuto, the other hand dragging against the wall, hoping that in the low light he'd be able to feel a door, if not he'd walk back doing the same thing.

He hissed when a sharp part of the wall cut his palm.

He was nearing the pinpoints of light when he saw that there were two guards ahead, and only one door. The foul order was originating from that door.

He drew his katana and took out one guard before the other had time to react to someone attacking, Toshiro had the blade pressed against his neck.

"What's behind this door?" Toshiro growled, frightening the guard even more so.

"U-u-uh I'm not sure." The guard spluttered out.

Toshiro pressed the blade deeper into the soft flesh of the guard's neck.

"Some say it's a traitor. There are rumors that it's one of the Gotei dogs!" The guard gasped out.

Gotei dogs… Ichigo? Toshiro felt his heart soar at that thought.

"I can go right?" The guard pleaded.

"You'll tell the first authority you see." Toshiro shrugged. "Why should I?"

"Because you won't kill an unarmed man!"

To prove his point the guard dropped all of his weapons. Toshiro grit his teeth, knowing that he couldn't in good conscious. "Fine."

He shoved the guard away who in turn bolted down the thousand foot hallway.

Toshiro turned towards the door. Wondering if it really was a traitor or Ichigo. Steeling his nerves for the worse, and ignoring the foul scent. He pushed open the door.

What he saw will stay with him for the rest of his life.

*Casually walks away from cliffhanger.*

Come on did anyone honestly expect me to not have a cliffhanger? Hehe. Dear me, this was a long ass chapter. Good for you, and this was so difficult to write, I honestly was afraid that I wouldn't be able get it updated on time. *Phew* So right, I think I'll just leave you with the preview. And finish my rambling later.

Oh and to Kurai, I do hope I did your character justice in the fight?

Renji was carrying Rangiku on his shoulder. He didn't fail to notice that her body temperature was steadily lowering. While his knowledge was limited to what he picked up from the fourth he knew for a fact that a cooling body had a tendency to not mean good things, unless the person was coming down from a fever. Either way Renji knew now that they needed to finish their mission and quick. He wasn't sure how much longer Rangiku could survive without medical attention. Not for the first time today Renji found himself wishing that he had learned some form of medical kido. Renji felt useless, and he was quickly finding that he didn't' appreciate the feeling.

Okay there you all are and yes I'm making you wait, and now I'm doing something that I haven't done in quite some time. You all get to choose if Ikkaku or Rangiku or both die or live! And if no one gives me a clear cut opinion, well let's just say I warned you!
Also due to something that will be happening later, sequel later, I'm once again requesting OC's. For the "Vice-captain" position of the premiers squads twelve spots open!

Here's what I want.

Name:

Zanpakuto power/name:

Personality:

Backstory:

Description:

Preferred cell:

Other:

Now I'm off to go and continue chapter 25 and send me them OCs! I'll be posting this request on my Instagram as well, which reminds me I'm posting most of my fanfiction related things on there! Later! ~IF