Chapter 8: Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter...

The cold rain poured down on Ichigo as the young child ran along the road overlooking the river. The raindrops continually seeped into his eyes, making it hard for him to see ahead. He moved his arm over them to wipe the rainwater off, only to lose balance and tumble down the slope toward the river. On the verge of tears, Ichigo started to pick himself up and it was then that he noticed a shape laying down beside the river, a red puddle surrounding it. The child slowly got back to his feet and reluctantly shuffled toward the shape, unable to shake this feeling of horrible Deja vu welling up deep inside of him. He tried to recall where he had seen this all before but could not. Not until he stood over the shape on the ground. Not until the red liquid soaked into the bottom of his shoes. Not until a flash of lightning illuminated the area and revealed the true nature of the shape to Ichigo. Then the truth hit Ichigo like a ton of bricks and he screamed.

Crumpled against the ground before the river lay his Mother.

"Mom!" He cried as he desperately shoved her limp shoulders. "Mom! Wake up! Please wake up!" Water filled his eyes again, only this time it was from his own tears which became indistinguishable from the raindrops as they fell onto the lifeless body of Masaki Kurosaki. Unbeknownst to Ichigo, the river began to overflow and flood both of the surrounding sides. As he was already knee-deep in blood, he barely felt the water surround him and his mother nor did he care as it rose up, threatening to drown him. No, Ichigo was too busy sobbing over his mother to worry about such things, even as the water engulfed them completely.

"Mom! I'm sorry I couldn't protect you!" Ichigo continued to weep into his mother's chest, almost not noticing the arms wrapping around his torso.

"It's alright Ichigo." His mother's voice cooed. "I'll forgive you if you do something for me."

"O-Of course!" Ichigo shouted, too relieved to hear his mother's voice to consider how strange the situation had become. "Anything!" The two arms lovingly embracing him slowly made their way to his neck and before he could realize what was happening, Ichigo felt the hands attached to these arms firmly grip his throat. He tried to pry them off with his own hands but as they were the hands of a child, they did not possess the strength to free him. Horrified, Ichigo looked up at the figure strangling him and although he could not scream, he still opened his mouth to try as the rotting face of his mother looked back down at him and laughed.

"Die with me Ichigo!" It rasped. "Die with Mommy!"

"Gahhhhhhhhhh!" Ichigo suddenly shot up from the floor screaming. It took the Substitute Shinigami a few seconds to comprehend that the horrible event he had just gone through was a dream and once he did, he began inhaling and exhaling slowly and with intent, trying to calm himself down.

"You ok Ichigo?" A voice to his left asked him. "You look like you had quite the nightmare!"

"I'm fine," Ichigo reassured the voice as he turned to see who it belonged to. "It was just a bad dream. Nothing to worr..." He trailed off as he found himself staring into the yellow almost lifeless eyes of the much too close for comfort Dondochakka

Ichigo's screams were loud enough to shake the entire tunnel and the kick he delivered to Dondochakka's face was hard enough to send the poor bastard flying into the nearby wall. Of course, being Dondochakka, this served to do little else besides make the tikki-like Arrancar bawl. "Why did you do that Ichigo!?" He tearfully inquired. "I was just checking up on you like real friends should and you repay my kindness with a kick to the face!?"

"I wouldn't exactly call staring at someone while they're asleep a kindness!" Ichigo defended. "Especially someone with your face! You freaked me out more than the damn nightmare!"

Dondochakka doubled up on the tears. "Ok! Now that's going too far! I can't help the way I look! You of all people should know that!"

"What's going on here!?" Dondochakka's partners in stupidity, Pesche and Nel, slid into Ichigo's section of the sewer. Well, they tried to at least. As the ground was too slippery for him, Pesche slipped into the nearby water, taking Nel, who was riding on his back, with him. They both popped out of the water screaming and flailing about. "Help!" Pesche cried. "I can't swim!"

"Nel can't swim either!" The tiny green-haired Arrancar cried. "Nel's gonna drown!"

Seeing his friends in trouble, Dondochakka frantically wiped his tears away and struck a heroic pose. "Don't worry guys! I'm coming to save you!" Before Ichigo could stop him, the tikki-like Arrancar dove into the water near his friends. After a few seconds passed, he remerged, screaming and failing about like them. "Oh that's right! I can't swim either!" The three Arrancar continued to panic in the water, screaming about how they were most certainly going to die as Ichigo calmly walked up to the edge and made an observation that caused him to sigh.

"You guys know that water's shallow right?" He finally asked.

As if his words made something click in their brains, the Hollow trio suddenly stopped panicking and realized he was right. An amazed "oh!" was all they could respond with as Ichigo placed his face in his left hand and shook his head.

"So where is everyone?" Ichigo asked as he and the Hollows walked along the water. After the chaos, he was able to recall this place as the sewers he, Ganju and Hantaro had walked through during his first time on Soul Society, back when he was trying to save Rukia from execution. It was almost nostalgic to be here again and from what Nel and the others had told him, everyone was currently hiding out here. Despite this, Ichigo had woken up by himself aside from the hollows, his wounds already gone, most likely thanks to Orihime.

"They're just up ahead," Nel explained. The little Arrancar hung to Ichigo's back as they walked. "They needed a lot of room for all the sleeping people so they asked us to look after you in that corner over there until you woke up."

"But I don't get it." Ichigo spoke. "I remember being fully awake when we were escaping from Freddy and his army so why did I suddenly lose consciousness?"

"Oh! I know!" Dondochakka rose his hand up. "Me and Pesche had been separated from Nel during that giant fall and I had finally managed to yank him out of the ground when you guys showed up on that manta ray and giant armor guy. They stopped abruptly, and you fell off the armor guy's shoulder and landed right on top of me!"

"You hit your head on Dondochakka's mask pretty hard!" Nel added. "We thought for sure you were gonna turn small like Nel!"

"That's not how humans work Nel." Ichigo corrected, slightly blushing as it all came back to him. He recalled getting into a heated argument with Grimmjow over something and losing his footing when Tenken stopped in his tracks. He rubbed his head which was still a little sore. "Well, thanks for taking care of me guys."

"It was no problem," Pesche assured him. "We should be thanking you for reuniting us with Nel!"

"We were so worried she was killed. I could barely control myself." Dondochakka began to weep again.

"You can barely control yourself now," Ichigo muttered with a sweatdrop.

"There they are!" Nel shouted.

Ichigo looked back ahead and saw the entrance to what looked like a giant room. Inside the room, almost everyone that rode on Minazuki and Tenken was gathered. As Ichigo entered the room, he could see that half of the floor was taken up by those hit with Akumu No Otome, white blankets draped over them. Some were silent but others were murmuring in their sleep, whimpering even. Ichigo grunted, feeling his anger toward Freddy return. Before it could take complete hold of him, Orihime's voice forced it back down. "Ichigo! Over here!"

Ichigo turned around and was pleasantly surprised to see her, Uryu and Sado approaching him. "Guys! Are you all alright?"

"We should be asking you that." Uryu retorted. "You took quite a fall earlier."

"Yeah. I know." Ichigo rubbed his head again. "So I take it we've decided to hide out in the sewers huh?"

"Correctamundo." Kisuke walked through Ichigo's friends to stand before him. "It's not the most ideal place to house the injured but given the situation that we're in, it's the safest. Luckily, we were able to find this room stowed away from the sewer water. Sorry about putting you outside," Kisuke paused to look at the dreaming Shinigami. "But we barely have enough room as it is."

"I understand," Ichigo replied. The orange-haired Shinigami looked around once more and noticed that Sajin, Kensei, Zaraki, and Shunsui were gone. Their Lieutenants were missing as well. "Hey, I can't help but notice that we're short some people. Where are they?"

"Captain Zaraki and Captain Mugurama are standing guard by the entrance as we speak. As for Captain Komamura and Captain Kyoraku, they're on a scouting mission, looking for supplies as well as any surviving Shinigami out there. They should be back within the hour."

"How's the situation up there?" Ichigo asked. "Have the Arrancar left yet?"

Kisuke shook his head sadly. "Afraid not. In fact, from what Captain Komamura's group told me via Jigokucho, they seem to be preparing to make the Seireitei their new base of operations. Apparently, they're calling themselves the Fred Heads and regarding Krueger as the new Aizen."

Ichigo blinked. "Fred...Heads?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Kisuke admitted. It was around this time that Captain Unohana walked up to the group. "Sorry to interrupt but Captain Komamura and Kyoraku just got back and they've brought more injured with them. We request the help of Inoue Orihime at once."

"O-Of course!" Orihime looked back at Ichigo. "Sorry, Ichigo. I have to go. I'll be back as soon as I can!"

"Sure! Take your time." Ichigo smiled warmly. It put his mind at ease to know Orihime was still able to smile despite everything that had happened.

"We should help out too." Uryu suggested. "Ichigo, you still need to rest for a while. After all, that was quite a fall you had." He pushed up his glasses as he spoke.

"Hey! Shut up!" Ichigo growled as Uryu and Sado followed Orihime and Retsu out of the room. Deciding to let Uryu's comment go for the time being, Ichigo turned back to Kisuke. "By the way, where's Rukia?"

"Last I saw her, she was with her brother and Renji." Kisuke pointed to the Akumu No Otome victims with his cane. "You should be able to find her quickly enough although I'm not sure if she's in the mood to talk." Ichigo turned around to face the sleeping Shinigami as Kisuke began to walk away. "I still have some stuff to take care of but once I'm done, we should discuss our next course of action."

"Shouldn't we discuss it now? Hey! Hey!" Ichigo shouted. But Kisuke was already lost in the crowd. Ichigo would have to wait until later to find out what their counterattack would be. He focused his attention back on the comatose Shinigami and scanned the floor for Byakuya or Renji. Instead, his eyes landed on a brown-skinned woman standing over three other females, all of them Arrancar. Ichigo instantly recognized Harribel and her fraccion. Debating whether he should let her be and continue his search for Rukia or try to talk to her, he decided on the latter although he was not sure why. Perhaps, knowing how tense things must be between the few Arrancar trapped in the sewers with them and the Shinigami, Ichigo wanted to make sure Harribel was an ally and not a threat. Regardless, he found himself approaching her.

"I-I'm sorry about your fraccion." He stared uneasily, unsure if talking to a former Espada so casually was really such a good idea. His uncertainty only increased when she turned toward him, her narrow eyes seeming to glare at him as if she couldn't believe this mere human had the audacity to talk to her. Ichigo was sure he could feel himself gulp. To his relief, however, Harribel's eyes softened and she held out her hand. "I don't believe we ever properly met." She said. "My name is Tier Harribel, Queen of Huceo Mundo."

Ichigo smiled and shook her hand. "I'm Ichigo Kurosaki. Substitute Shinigami." After the handshake, both Harribel and Ichigo turned back to the former's fraccion. "So, you really became Queen of Huceo Mundo huh?"

"Indeed." Harribel nodded. "After Aizen was defeated and Barragan and Starrk killed, there was no one left strong enough to take the throne aside from Grimjoww."

"Why didn't he take it?" Ichigo asked. "I mean, wasn't that guy always going on about how he wanted to be king?"

Harribel nodded. "He said that was still the case but he didn't want the throne just handed to him. He would never say it out loud but I choose to believe that was his way of saying he didn't feel strong enough yet." She turned to Ichigo. "I suppose I should thank you for defeating Aizen. Now that he's gone, me and my girls have been able to fix up Huceo Mundo quite a bit." Her eyes became sad. "At least, we were until he showed up."

Ichigo ignored her thanks as his eyes remained glued to the suffering Arrancar before him. "I'm sorry about your fraccion." He repeated. "I should have defeated Freddy before he formed Akumu No Otome."

"It's not your fault," Harribel reassured him. "No one could have predicted that monster would actually do something like that. What matters now is finding a way to break the spell and I think the key lies in destroying Freddy for good."

"Yeah." Ichigo glanced upward and noticed a familiar head of short black hair a few feet ahead of him, sitting between two bodies. It was Rukia.

"Rukia." Ichigo softly spoke. As if needing to ask if it was ok to leave her side, he turned one more time to Harribel.

"It's alright Ichigo." She said. "Go to her. We'll talk later."

"Right!" Ichigo agreed and made his way toward Rukia. She kneeled down between Byakuya's feet and Renji's head, her head tilted toward the floor. "Rukia!" Ichigo called out as he stood at her side. "I guess that bastard got Renji and Byakuya too huh?" Ichigo sat beside her. The lieutenant of the 13th Division said nothing to Ichigo. She didn't even move. It was as if she didn't even acknowledge his presence.

"Rukia?" Ichigo felt worried. Had he bothered her while she was busy grieving? No. Rukia would have smacked him into the floor by now if that were the case. But she wasn't even moving. What was going on?" Ichigo's mind was racing with these questions when a single word managed to bring him back to reality, only that word did not come from Rukia but from her unconscious brother.

"Hisana."

Ichigo let his eyes follow up from Byakuya's feet to his face as his lips continued to murmur.

"Hisana. Please forgive me. I know I failed in protecting your sister. If only I hadn't made that promise to my parents. Please forgive me Hisana. Please forgive me Rukia."

"He must be dreaming about Rukia's execution." Ichigo thought to himself. Once again, his thoughts were interrupted by murmuring, this time from Renji as he turned his head side from side as if shaking it, as if refusing to accept whatever reality Akumu No Otome had placed him in. "Why? Why did Rukia have to die?" He whimpered. "If only...if only I had been stronger!"

"They're both dreaming about the same thing." Ichigo thought. "About failing to protect Rukia." Ichigo thought back to his nightmare from earlier. "I wonder..if I had been hit by Akumu No Otome, would I be having a nightmare like this or like the one with my mom? Maybe even both?"

"They've been talking like this for hours."

For the final time, Ichigo was pulled away from his thoughts by the words of his friend, and this time, they were from Rukia. He turned his attention back to the tiny Shinigami, her face hidden from view by her raven-colored hair.

"They've been constantly talking as if they failed to protect me. As if I had actually died that day." Her voice sounded as if it was breaking and her fingers curled into her thighs.

"Rukia?"

A single teardrop fell onto the floor under her face. "And no matter how hard I try, no matter how much I try to tell them that I'm fine and that they're just having a bad dream." Rukia suddenly looked up to Ichigo, her violet eyes overflowing with tears. "I can't wake them up from their nightmares!"

Ichigo's own eyes widened to see his usually calm friend openly weeping. Rukia was usually only either stoic or happy. The first time he had ever seen her cry was at yesterday's funeral and even then only a few tears had managed to escape her eyes as she fought to keep her composure. Now, she had lost that battle entirely and before Ichigo could think of what to say, Rukia suddenly burrowed her head into his chest. Her hot tears soaked through the black fabric of his robes and with her left hand, she clutched at them as if trying to keep Ichigo from leaving, as if she was scared that somehow she would lose him too. But that wasn't necessary. Ichigo, surprised as he was by this display, had no intention of leaving his friend alone in her time of need. Instead, he slowly wrapped his arms around her tiny frame and held her close.

"Rukia." He whispered. He went unheard thanks to Rukia's cries. Nevertheless, he held her close for the next hour and a half, never once thinking about needing to get up or trying to stop her crying. The only thought that occupied Ichigo's mind during that time was that Freddy was responsible for not just Rukia's but all of his friend's pain and that, one way or another, he would make him pay.

Eventually, Rukia became exhausted due to her weeping and fell asleep in Ichigo's arms. Ichigo felt himself dozing off around this time but didn't want to sleep as the memories of his nightmare from earlier were still fresh in his mind. That, and he wanted to be ready for when Kisuke was ready to discuss their next move. His wait ended when he heard Kisuke's voice speaking from behind him. "Maybe I should leave Ichigo out of this." It pondered. "Poor kid must have been exhausted."

"H-Hey! I'm awake! I'm awake!" Ichigo quickly turned his head to Kisuke, widening his eyes as much as possible so that the man in clogs would know on no uncertain terms that he was indeed awake. "Are we ready to talk?"

Kisuke nodded. "A few of the Captains as well at the Arrancar will be joining us." He walked up to Ichigo's side with his fan over his mouth. "I'm not too confident about it but I think I just might have a way to beat Freddy once and for all."

"That's great!" Ichigo beamed. "What is it?"

"I'd rather wait until we're at the meeting but since it's you, I suppose I can...give you...a ...hint..." As he was speaking, Urahara happened to glance down at Ichigo and Rukia, causing him to trail off and quickly look away. From just above his fan, Ichigo could make out the slightest hint of a blush on the former Squad 12 Captain's face.

"Hey! Why'd you stop talking?" Ichigo asked. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry Ichigo. I didn't mean to interrupt. See, I could only see you from behind so I figured you were by yourself."

"What are you talking about?" It was then that Ichigo suddenly remembered comforting Rukia and looked down to see the raven-haired Shinigami curled up in his lap, her short stature making it easy to mistake her for a child. Whatever dream she was having seemed to be a good one as she wore a small smile on her face and her tears had all but dried. Suddenly realizing what this must look like to Kisuke, Ichigo slowly looked back up at the humble shopkeeper, a line of red appearing on his face as well.

"Congrats by the way." Kisuke chirped. "Rukia's quite a catch."

"No-Now hold on a damn minute!" Ichigo defended. "It's not what it looks like!"

"Oh dear!" Kisuke waved his fan playfully. "Were you two hoping to keep it a secret for a while longer?"

"That's not it and you know it, you bastard! Rukia was sad so I was just trying to comfort her and then she hugged me..." Ichigo trailed off as he began to realize that he was only making things seem worse.

"Oh don't be embarrassed Ichigo," Kisuke replied in a somewhat mocking tone. "It's perfectly normal for a boy your age to have a girlfriend. About time too."

"I told you this isn't what it looks like!" Ichigo shouted. "And what was that last part you said? Tell me!"

The fact that Rukia managed to sleep through all the shouting served as a testament to how tired she was, one no one really noticed or cared for.

"As the Head Captain had said earlier today at this morning's meeting, the situation with Freddy is dire. Actually, dire may not be a strong enough word for the mess we're currently in." Kisuke spoke from on top of some wooden boxes. Gathered around him were Sajin, Shunsui, Harribel, Grimmjow, Nel and her brothers, Marechiyo for some strange reason and of course Ichigo. Everyone else was either standing guard at the entrance or tending to the injured. Once he had successfully managed to free his legs from under Rukia's head without waking her, Ichigo found a blanket and draped it over the sleeping Shinigami before following Kisuke down the tunnels. Now he was in yet another room similar to the one from before, only this one had a stack of old crates which Kisuke promptly took a seat on. The others were content with sitting on the floor. "The fact of the matter is, we need to do something Freddy and fast."

"I think we can all agree on that." Shunsui replied. "The question is how?"

"It seems pretty simple to me." Grimmjow growled. "We march over to that bastard and tear his lungs out. Piece of cake."

"Have you forgotten the power he possesses?" Harribel challenged. "Akumu No Otome?"

"Tsk. I'll just break the damn Zanpakuto before he has a chance to cut me with it." A grin Ichigo could only describe as shit-eating crept on the Arrancar's face. "Hell, better yet, I'll just launch a Gran Rey Cero on his ass and problem solved."

"Have you forgotten about his fraccion?" Sajin cut in. "If I remember correctly, I was told the female had the power to control Reiryoku with her Zanpakuto. Wouldn't that render your Cero useless?"

"You got a problem with me Dog-boy!?" Grimmjow got up and stared down Sajin. "Because I'm starting to have a problem with you!"

"I was merely stating the possibilities," Sajin responded calmly. "There's also the male Arrancar and his ability to deafen Zanpakuto. Not to mention all the other Arrancar that now follow Freddy. There's no telling what kind of power they might possess."

"The Shinigami is right Grimmjow." Harribel agreed. "All we're saying is that it would be foolish to come at Freddy without a plan."

Nel and her brothers shuddered at the talk about Freddy. "Man, this Freddy guy sure sounds scary!" Dondachakka whimpered.

"Not to mention greedy! I mean, why's he hogging all the chicks for himself huh? Save some for the rest of us, you bastard!" Pesche declared.

"As if you ugly assholes could even get a woman," Grimmjow growled, causing the two to turn to stone.

"Waaah!"

"Personality-wise, they still stand a better chance than you." Harribel commented.

"What was that!?" Grimmjow snapped.

"Now now," Kisuke waved his arms in an attempt to defuse the situation. "Let's not help Freddy along by killing each other. I do have an idea."

"About time." Ichigo commented.

"Well it better be good." Omaeda finally added. The Squad 2 lieutenant was gorging himself on chips, covering his clothes in almost fine crumbs.

Kisuke reached into his robes and pulled out a small marble-like object. It was white with a small black formation on it resembling a cross. "This is Kyujurokkei Kakafumestsu. The Kido spell I tailor-made to seal Aizen with."

There were murmurs and grunts of surprise from the group, especially from Ichigo. "That's the seal he used on Aizen?" Memories of seeing Aizen consumed by the mess of crosses erupting from his body flooded his mind. "The power to seal a being as powerful as Aizen, could it really be inside that little ball?"

"Tsk. How the hell is a tiny little rock supposed to help us?" Grimmjow challenged.

"You fool!" Marechiyo spoke up. "Didn't you just hear him say it's the Kido he used to seal Aizen with?" The heavyset man smiled. "This is great! With a Kido that powerful, we'll defeat Freddy for sure!" Marechiyo's look of happiness quickly replaced itself with confusion. "But wait a minute, if that's a Kido, why is it a marble?"

"Well to be more specific, this little marble contains the instructions for the Kido." Kisuke explained. "Don't bother trying to figure it out. I'm the only one who knows how to extract the info and how to use it, although I have to say, I was really hoping never to have to use it again." He placed the marble back into his robes. "But the fact of the matter is Freddy is much too strong an opponent for anything else."

"Well then it's settled!" Marechiyo cheered. "Well just march right up to that fedora-wearing bastard, seal him away and then when his cronies are all panicked and confused about their boss being defeated, we'll take them out one by one!"

"What do you know?" Grimmjow sneered. "The lardass is actually making some sense."

"Who are you calling a lardass!?" Marechiyo barked. "Don't forget you're an Arrancar too! You better be careful or I just might kill you by accident out there!"

"Not if I kill you first!" Grimmjow growled. "And believe me, it won't be an accident!"

"Enough!" Harribel demanded. "Can't you see Urahara was still talking?"

"Huh?" Marechiyo and Grimmjow said in unison.

"It's true." Kisuke confirmed uneasily. "On paper, sealing Freddy with Kyujurokkei Kakafumestsu sounds easy enough but the reality is a little more complex than that."

"W-What do you mean?" Marechiyo asked.

"Well for one thing, Aizen had to be considerably weakened first before the Kido could activate." It was Ichigo who spoke as he looked up into Kisuke's eyes. "I'm guessing it'll be the same with Freddy right?"

"As astute as ever Ichigo." Kisuke once again held his fan over his mouth. "Yes. Before Kyujurokkei Kakafumestsu can seal Freddy away, he'll have to be brought to a vulnerable state which will be difficult given the nature of his immortality. Not to mention that troublesome Shikai of his. Simply put, we'll need to fight Freddy and force him into that state."

"What about the Fred-Heads?" Shunsui chimed in. "Even if they don't know about the Kido, it's not like they're just gonna sit back and let us gang up on their new leader. Especially those two fraccion of his."

"Yeah. They'll be a pain alright." Kisuke agreed. "Unfortunately, I don't have the time nor the materials to create counters for their Zanpakuto. Well just have to try and separate them from Freddy somehow and hope we can take them down quickly." Kisuke grabbed a small folded piece of paper from his robes and began to unfold it. As the others watched, the paper became a map of the Seireitei. Using some sort of all-purpose magnet to adhere it to the wall, Kisuke took out a marker and began drawing out a formation. "Right now, we're all under the sewers between the barracks of Squads 3 and 4. Freddy is more than likely still on Sokyoku Hill along with his fraccion and from what Captain Komamura's report said earlier, the Seireitei is crawling with Arrancar. Our best bet is for the strongest of our forces to ride Minazuki over to Sokyoku Hill and confront Freddy while the rest engage with the Fred-Heads. And just let me stress this one more time, there are a lot of them."

Sajin nodded. "It's amazing that we managed to get as many supplies and survivors as we did without alerting too many."

"And the ones that did notice us, we destroyed immediately," Shunsui added before remembering that Harribel was in the room with them. "Oops. Sorry."

"It's fine," Harribel replied. "It can't be helped if these Arrancar have chosen a path of violence with Freddy rather than a path of peace with me." The former Espada looked sadly down at the floor. "That fact is, Freddy must pay for what he did to my fraccion and that makes anyone who follows him my enemy as well." She looked up toward Kisuke, the glow of resolve in her eyes. "I will lend you my strength for this fight."

"That's good to hear." Sajin smiled. "We can use all the help we can get."

"Especially if it's from someone as beautiful as you." Shunsui turned toward Grimmjow. "What about you? Will you help us out as well?"

Grimmjow turned away with a scoff, his arms folded. After a few seconds, however, he sighed and faced the group once again. "Alright! But only because I wanna see for myself just how strong this Freddy asshole is." He once again gifted the group with one of his trademark sneers. "If he disappoints me, I'll have to kill him before your stupid seal kicks in."

Ichigo couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. "Grimmjow."

"We'll help too!" Nel, Dondoccakka, and Pesche tried to form a pose they thought was cool but simply made them look like they were all about to fall over instead. "Nel just has to make herself bigger again and then Nel can fight!"

"I might be able to help with that." Kisuke offered.

"All right!" All three cheered

"I think we have our lineup for facing Freddy." Ichigo noted. "Who else should we bring?"

"Zaraki would certainly be helpful considering he doesn't even have a Shikai." Kisuke mused.

"Umm...excuse me!" Marechiyo interjected nervously. The Lieutenant of Squad 2 was sweating bullets and it was clear to everyone that he was scared out of his mind.

"Yes Omaeda?" Kisuke asked. "What is it?"

"Well...it's just...I wanna come too!" He bowed his head as low as he could, shocking the other Shinigami.

"Oh?" Kisuke fanned himself a little. "This is strange. I thought for sure you'd of all people would want to stay behind with the others."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm scared out of my mind of Freddy and under any other circumstance, I'd happily leave the fighting to you guys." Marechiyo admitted. "But...But that bastard...hurt Captain Soi Fon! Probably even killed her! I can't just sit back and not try to get at least one hit on him in revenge. Please grant me that opportunity Kisuke!" He lowered his head again, this time rubbing his scalp against the ground.

After a few moments of silence, Kisuke answered him. "Very well, but the minute you feel like it's too much for you to handle, get out of the other's way. Alright?"

"I..I will!" Thank you Kisuke!"

"I think it's time to tell the others about the plan." Shunsui got up and tipped his hat. "Afterward, we should get some rest for tomorrow, I'd imagine it's already dark out."

"Indeed." Sajin agreed as he also got up. "We'll need our strength for tomorrow if we are to crush Freddy's forces. I bid you all goodnight." One by one, the occupants of the room continued to leave until only Ichigo and Kisuke remained.

"I guess I better get some shut-eye." Ichigo stretched and got to his feet. "Good night Kisuke." Before he could step out to leave, however, Kisuke's voice stopped him. "Just a second Ichigo. There's one more thing I need to tell you and you're not gonna like it."

Feeling his anxiety go up, Ichigo slowly turned to face Kisuke. "What is it?"

"It's about Freddy's Zanpakuto, Akumu No Otome." Kisuke began. "As you saw along with everyone else, this Zanpakuto was forged quite differently from a normal Zanpakuto. It was powered up not just with Freddy's own essence but half of the souls he had consumed as well and despite never going into Jinzen, Freddy already knew its name and how to call it out. All and all, it's a very different kind of weapon than our Zanpakuto and it would be foolish to expect it to play by the same rules."

"What are you getting at?" Ichigo asked, although, in his mind, he could already guess where Kisuke was heading.

"I'm saying that even if we succeed in sealing Freddy away, there's no guarantee that the effects of Akumu No Otome will be undone."

Ichigo felt his heart freeze.

"Now I'm not saying that it also can't happen. And honestly, our best bet in saving Byakuya and the others would be in destroying Akumu No Otome or sealing Freddy away. I'm just making you privy to the fact that accomplishing either of those goals does not guarantee that we will save those who are trapped under Freddy's spell. There's a very real chance they may be trapped in their own nightmares forever. I know this isn't something you wanna hear and knowing you, you probably refuse to believe me but nothing hurts the spirit quite like false hope so I just need you to be prepared for the worst possible outcome."

There was a full minute of silence before Ichigo replied. "I understand Kisuke. Goodnight." With this solemn reply, Ichigo stepped out of the room. As he did so, he caught a flash of black out of the corner of his eye and turned to face it. Standing just outside the entrance, the blanket Ichigo had found for her still draped over her shoulders, was Rukia. Despite her face having recovered its usual stoic expression, the sadness in her violet eyes betrayed her true feelings and confirmed Ichigo's fears even before she spoke. "Is it true?" She asked weakly. "Is there really no guarantee we can save Nii-Sama and the others?"

Ichigo tried to meet her gaze and could not. Instead, he found himself staring down at the ground, the true weight of Kisuke's words beginning to crush him from the inside. "Nothing's for sure yet." He replied, trying his absolute best to sound hopeful despite his own crippling doubt. "We just have to defeat Freddy and hope for the best."

"And what if that doesn't work!?" Rukia suddenly shouted, startling Ichigo. "What if they're still trapped in the nightmares even after we destroy Freddy? What are we supposed to do then!?" The tears once again flowed freely from Rukia's eyes. "What do we do?" She looked down to the floor herself, the weight of Kisuke's beginning to bear down on her as well.

Ichigo watched as the Shinigami who had once given him the power to save his family at the cost of her own before began to openly weep in front of him, He was unsure as what to do for he had never seen Rukia in such a sorry state. From what he had heard from the others after Aizen's betrayal, Rukia never so much as shed a single tear during her time in confinement when she was awaiting her own execution. That's how strong a person Rukia was and yet, here she stood, sobbing over the potential fate of her brother and best friend and all Ichigo could do this time was watch her suffer helplessly.

No. That wasn't entirely true.

Slowly, he stepped forward and wrapped his arms over her. Something in his mind expected her to resist and maybe even shove him to the ground but to his surprise, she simply sank into the embrace, wrapping her own arms around his torso and squeezing tightly. Once again, she sank her face into his robes and once again he let her, sitting them both down and leaning them against the wall. There, outside the room where Kisuke would finish planning out the morning's attack, Death and the Strawberry would remain the rest of the night, the blanket draped over the both of them as they slept in each other's arms.

A few hours after the woman who introduced herself as Nancy Thompson left the tent, Soifon finally got up. She had been in and out of consciousness during that time, never being asleep long enough for dreams to appear. A good thing, as far as she was concerned as she figured they would only be more nightmares. To her right side, the bowl of stew Nancy had given her sat half-eaten for she couldn't muster much of an appetite in her current condition. As Soifon slowly got to her feet, she noticed a set of clothes next to the bowl and picked them up.

As she inspected them, she quickly realized that they mostly comprised of her Keisen uniform, washed and stitched up where it apparently had torn. "Didn't expect to get this back." Soifon thought as her fingers rubbed against the extra piece of cloth folded behind her uniform. She pulled it away from her clothes and saw that it was a light blue kimono, much like the ones Nancy and the blondies were wearing. Looking back at her Keisen uniform, she realized that these people must have thought her own clothes were too revealing and gave her an extra kimono to cover what the uniform didn't. Soifon wasn't much of a modest person but decided to put it on anyway. After all, it would be rude not to accept this apparent gift, and the more she complied with their customs, she theorized, the faster she would get the answers she sought.

Remembering her sword, she looked around for it but couldn't find it anywhere. Perhaps she lost it in the fall? No, it was more likely they had taken it when they recovered her. Not that she could blame them. She was a newcomer and therefore a potential enemy. She would have to get it back later regardless. It would not be wise to let people of the Rukon District possess a Zanpakuto, even one without its soul.

Once she was dressed in her Keisen uniform and the kimono, she uneasily stepped outside. The sun was already beginning to set, its dying light giving the village before her a warm orange glow. For the most part, it looked like any other village you would find in the Rukongai with the people walking about dressed in poor clothing and the huts and tents they lived in being in poor condition. Soifon tried to take a step forward and was nearly knocked down by a group of running children. The children took no notice of the Shinigami for they were far too engrossed in their game of soccer and while Soifon felt the urge to yell at them to watch we they were going, she decided to bite her tongue for now. They were just children after all and Rukongai children to boot.

"Look who's finally awake." Soifon turned in the direction of the familiar voice and saw Nancy approaching her. To her left was a girl with green eyes and brown hair dressed in a black kimono with a white flower design on it. Sitting in the wheelchair she was pushing was a skinny boy with glasses and a plain blue kimono. Both the wheelchair and his glasses looked makeshift, having been fashioned from wood and whatever else they could find. Soifon never gave much thought to the people living in the Rukongai before but she had to admire their ingenuity. "How are you feeling?"

"A-Alright I suppose," Soifon answered as she rubbed her spine. "My back still hurts a little."

"With the kind of fall you had, I'd imagine it would." Nancy chuckled softly before turning to her companions. "This is Taryn and the one in the chair is Will. They're close friends of mine."

"Hi." Taryn greeted with just the tiniest hint of venom in her voice. Welcome to the Snake Pit."

"The Snake Pit?" Soifon asked. "So is that the name of this district? I've never heard of it before."

"That's not the name." Will butted in. "Taryn here isn't the most friendly to newcomers."

"I am!" Taryn defended before muttering. "Just not Shinigami."

Nancy furrowed her brow. "We've been over this Taryn. Just give her a chance."

"I just don't see why we need some pompus ass Shinigami!" Taryn argued. "We stopped him ourselves once and we can do it again!"

"Um, correct me if I'm wrong Taryn," Will spoke up. "But didn't the both of us die the last time we stood up to him?"

Taryn gave her wheelchair-bound friend a death glare. "You know what I mean! Besides, why would a stinking Shinigami even be interested in our problems anyway?"

"Enough!" That was the word that Nancy was about to shout before Soifon beat her to it. All three-human souls stared wide-eyed at the Shinigami, unable to move in her own death glare, one that put Taryn's to shame. After a few moments, she turned to the brown-haired girl and asked: "Let me just ask you one thing. The problem of yours, it wouldn't be chance be a soul called Freddy Krueger would it?"

The two teens opened their mouths agape, their faces displaying intense fear just from hearing the name of the man that had taken their lives away. Nancy also seemed shocked but was able to recover much faster than the teens, replying to Soifon's question almost immediately. "Yes."

"How do you know him?" Soifon asked aggressively, using the tone she would use in an interrogation. To her surprise, however, Nancy didn't seem the slightest bit intimidated by her.

"Because I was one of his victims. So were they." She motioned to Taryn and Will who were now glancing at the ground sadly. "This place is known as Beautiful Dream and everyone living here, at one point or another, was killed by that bastard Freddy. We are the past victims of the Springwood Slasher."

Soifon was at a loss for words. "Everyone here...was a victim of Freddy?" She thought. "How is that possible? It's extremely rare for people who knew each other in life to reunite in the Soul Society and yet this entire village is made up of the victims of a single murderer? This is unheard of!"

Nancy turned back to the teens. "Go get things ready. I wanna give our guest a tour of this place before we begin our little chat."

"Right!" The teens took off, Will's makeshift wheelchair surprisingly sturdy despite its makeup. As they left, Nancy approached Soifon. "But before that, I don't believe I caught your name."

Soifon gave Nancy a bewildered look, still struggling to process everything she had just heard. Deciding that such a task would be better left for later, she replied: "I am Soifon. Captain of the Second Division of the Gotei 13."

Nancy led Soifon through Beautiful Dream at a leisurely pace, allowing the Stealth Force Captain to fully take in her surroundings. It was a small village for sure, most likely only housing around 40 to 50 people. From the way they talked and acted, as well as the names that they referred to each other, it was clear to Soifon that they were indeed from America. Not that it surprised her of course. Souls from all times and places ended up in Soul Society. What confounded her was what Nancy had told her earlier about them all being past victims of Freddy.

Freddy.

The sudden recollection of that monster's name brought with it vivid memories of Soifon's nightmares. Her precious mentor's rotting corpse condemning her. Her fellow Captains crushed against the ceiling of the Meeting Hall. Her own family rising from the grave to tear her apart. The horrid mental images were too much for Soifon and she fell to her knees with a grunt, squeezing her scalp between her hands.

"Soifon!" Nancy quickly joined her on the ground and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" Soifon rudely brushed Nancy's hand away, the shame of appearing so weak in front of a mere soul forming a line of red on her face. "I just had a headache. That's all."

Soifon's personal indignation was furthered by Nancy giving her a look of disbelief, completed with a cocked eyebrow. Somehow, it reminded her of Yoruichi. "Must have been some headache." She muttered.

The light yet thunderous sounds of footsteps heading toward her stole Soifon's attention and she glanced forward to see a small group of children running up. Most of them were girls, the sole boy in the group lagging behind. Leading the bright-eyed bunch of youths was a girl who looked no more than 8, her golden curls swaying in the breeze as she ran. "Are you ok Lady?" She asked as she and her group ceased their movement, a lot of the others staring at the black-haired Shinigami with either wonder or fear.

"I already said I'm fine." Soifon repeated in a quiet yet firm voice. She was never really great with children and why would she be? She barely interacted with any besides Yachiru and occasionally, Yoruichi's little brother, Yushiro whom she doted on but only because of his lineage. Nevertheless, she figured it would be best not to raise her voice to these children despite her annoyance. Yoruichi would have told her likewise.

Yoruichi. The master that she lost to Freddy. Along with her Zanpakuto.

Her face betrayed her feelings, her eyes losing some of their light, and her lips beginning to quiver. The girl in front noticed this and repeated her question, only for Nancy to interject. "She's told you she's fine. I'm helping her right now. So why don't you guys take this," Nancy reached inside her kimono and took out a small brown bag tied with a red ribbon, and handed it to the little girl. "And go play somewhere else."

Her eyes shining brighter than ever, the girl eagerly untied the bag and was joined by her friends in gasping at the colorful candies inside. "Candy!" They cried happily. "Thank you, Miss Thompson!" They ran off giggling uncontrollably

"Make sure you share!" Nancy called after them as she once again placed a hand on Soifon's shoulder and helped her up. "Sorry about that. You know how curious kids can be."

As Soifon watched the pack of children vanish into the horizon, she was reminded of what Kisuke had told her and the other Captains at the Meeting Hall. About Freddy's original crimes in the World of the Living. "Those kids." Soifon uttered. "Are they victims of Freddy as well?"

Nancy seemed taken aback by Soifon's question, her face first displaying an expression of surprise and then sorrow as she looked to the ground. "His original victims." She finally answered. "The kids he killed back when he was just a normal human."

"Back when he..." Now it was Soifon's turn to look surprised. "Are you saying that he killed the rest of you...in your dreams?"

Nancy nodded sadly. "It looks like you Shinigami did your homework on Krueger huh?"

"Well considering he's been devouring souls in our territory for the past month including some of our comrades, it only makes sense that we would find out all we can about him."

"I'm sorry." Nancy uttered. "Did they die in their sleep too?"

Soifon shook her head. "They died in combat. Apparently, The Dream Realm where Freddy came from and the Soul Society have similar properties of existence."

"So Freddy's just as strong here as he was in the Dream Realm." Nancy sighed. "Dammit. I was afraid of that."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know how to explain it but a lot of us, myself included, were able to somehow sense Freddy's presence in this realm. We tried to pass it off as trauma from when we were still trapped inside his body but deep down, I think all of us knew it was him. And once we got word of a burnt man with steel claws killing and eating people from the surrounding districts, we couldn't deny it any longer." Nancy suddenly gasped and covered her mouth as if she said something she shouldn't have and turned to Soifon with a sheepish look on her face. "I'm sorry." She chuckled nervously. "What I'm saying must not make any sense at all."

"On the contrary," Soifon replied. "I can explain it. At least, the reason why you were able to sense Freddy."

"Oh?"

"When beings have a strong enough spiritual pressure, they're able to sense the spiritual pressure of other beings as well. We Shinigami are able to assess the well-being of our allies and even the strength of an enemy by their spiritual pressure. Not that it's any interest of mine, but if you really were able to sense Freddy by his spiritual pressure alone, you have the potential to become a Shinigami as well."

"Really?" Nancy rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "I really don't know if I'd be up for the job. Heh heh."

"But as for the other things you said, you were right in saying they don't make sense."

"Huh?"

"What do you mean when you were inside of Freddy? And come to think of it, there's no way in hell that a new district could just form overnight without us knowing. What exactly is going on here?"

"Easy, easy!" Nancy put her hands up defensibly. "As I said before, I'm sure you have plenty of questions and frankly there's something I want to ask you too but first-

"Nancy!" The girl from earlier, Kris, ran up to the two women. "The feast is ready and everyone is waiting!"

"Great! Thanks!" Nancy beamed before turning back to Soifon. "As I was trying to say, I think it's best if we saved our talk for the feast."

"Feast?" Soifon asked quizzically.

"That's right!" Nancy's enthusiasm died down a little. "Well it's really just more of the stew from earlier but there's a lot of it and a lot of us will be there. Oh will you join us?"

"I don't know," Soifon resisted. "I'd prefer it if we could talk in private." She recalled her experiences with Mark, Will and Taryn. "Besides, I'm not really hungry."

Just then, a loud grumbling sounded from Soifon's stomach, immediately catching Nancy and Kris's attention. Mentally cursing her appetite for returning at the worst possible moment, Soifon turned away from the now giggling human souls, trying in vain to obscure her pink cheeks.

"Hehehe. I think your body says otherwise." Nancy laughed.

"Come on! It'll be fun!" Kris grabbed Soifon's hand. The Shinigami felt the urge to pull it away but decided to let it stay. There was no point in fighting their hospitality. They had yet to answer her questions after all and what little of the stew she had tasted earlier was delicious, not that she'd admit it.

"Very well. But only because I need to hear what you know about Freddy."

"Believe me." Nancy replied in a serious tone. "There's a lot to tell."

"When Freddy kills someone, he doesn't just end their lives. He devours their soul as well." Nancy began. She sat cross-legged across from Soifon, a tarp covered with bowls of stew between them. At either side of the tarp sat men, women and children of all ages helping themselves to the bowls. As she ate, Soifon could feel a few cold stares on her every now and then, most likely from people who shared the same opinion of her as Taryn and Mark. It didn't bother her all that much, although she did make it a point to glare into the crowd every now and then just to let them know she was aware of their staring. It was around 15 minutes into the meal that Nancy finally began speaking and Soifon listened in earnest. "I don't mean figuratively either. He actually absorbs the souls of his victims and uses them as his power source."

"That explains a lot." Soifon replied. "Freddy was able to fashion a Zanpakuto by using 50% of the souls he had eaten."

"Zanpakuto?" Kristen, who was seated to Nancy's right, asked.

"Our main weapons," Soifon explained. "We Shinigami use them to slay our enemies and purify Hollows."

"You mean those giant monsters in the white mask right?" Taryn asked. "The ones stalking around in the woods?"

Soifon nodded as she slurped more of her stew. As she watched, Kristen got up from the tarp and left the tent, coming back with her sword in her hand. "Would this by chance be your Zanpakuto?" She asked innocently.

Soifon coughed up the stew in her mouth in surprise, quickly wiping it away with her sleeve. "Give that back right now!" She demanded.

Kristen looked to Nancy who nodded and slowly approached Soifon, concern but not fear in her eyes. Mark, who happened to be sitting next to her, lightly grabbed her robe to stop her. "What are you doing?" He whispered loudly enough for everyone to hear. "Are you trying to get us all killed?"

"Will you relax!?" Kristen pulled her kimono away from Mark's hand. "It belongs to her anyway." With this, Kristen continued toward Soifon and handed her the Zanpakuto once known as Suzumebachi. Soifon hesitated at first and then gently removed the sword from the girl's hands. She felt a sense of relief as she looked down at her Zanpakuto, glad to have it back in her possession even if it couldn't go into Shikai. "Thank you." She finally said to Kristen.

"I'm sorry." Kristen bowed. "We couldn't be sure how you would react once you woke up so to be safe we..."She trailed off, uncertain if she should be trying to justify taking the Zanpakuto.

Soifon shook her head, a small smile on her lips. "I understand. You had to take precautions to protect yourselves and had no reason to trust I wouldn't use my blade against you. Rest assured, I have no intention of doing that." She looked up into Kristen's eyes. "Thank you."

Kristen's own eyes seemed to sparkle at Soifon's words. "Y-You're welcome!" She took her seat back by Nancy's side. Nancy gave Kristen a smile as well, A smile that faded once she turned back to Soifon. "Now where was I?"

"You explained that Freddy keeps the souls of his victims imprisoned as a power source," Soifon answered, her own smile gone as well. "I'm guessing that's where you all were before coming here to Soul Society right?"

Everyone looked uncomfortable as Soifon spoke, a few of them even whimpering. Nancy herself looked forlorn, staring down at the now empty bowl in front of her before confirming Soifon's suspicions. "That's right. Before coming to Soul Society, we were all trapped within Freddy's body." Her hand trembled as it clutched a cup of water near her bowl. "It was hell. We were all in pain, unable to see or hear but somehow able to know that Freddy was using our energy, our power, to kill our friends and family. Perhaps he made it that way on purpose." Nancy tried to tilt the cup against her lips but with her hand shaking as it did, the water splashed out all over her face. Despite such a sight usually eliciting laughs in other situations, nobody laughed as Kristen wiped Nancy's face with a small towel. Once her face was dry, Nancy offered a quick thank you to Kris and set the now empty cup down.

"How did you ever manage to escape?" Soifon asked.

"It was all thanks to my friend Alice." Kristen answered. "She set us free."

"How?"

Kristen and Nancy looked at each and then back to Soifon. "Well, it's a little hard to explain. You see, when I was alive, I had the ability to pull other people into my dreams. When Freddy attacked us the first time, it was Nancy who taught me how to use it against him."

"The first time?" Soifon asked.

Kristen nodded. "We actually managed to fend him off that time, although not without casualties." She turned sadly to Nancy. Will and Taryn also looked down sadly, once again lamenting their lost lives. "But that's the thing about Freddy. No matter what you do, somehow, someway, he always comes back."

Soifon recalled her and the other Captain's fight with Freddy, how that monster brushed aside every Shikai and Bankai thrown at him. "He's hard to kill alright." She thought. "No, more like damn near impossible to kill."

"The next time he came back, I wasn't able to fight him off," Kristen continued. "And if that wasn't bad enough, he made me pull Alice into the dream. She was able to get out alive but me on the other hand," Kristen teared up. A stocky black boy sitting next to Soifon got up and wiped Kristen's tears with his hands. "Thanks Kincaid," She sniffed. "I'm ok." Kincaid nodded and took his seat as Kristen resumed her story. "Before I died, I tried to transfer my power to Alice but Freddy got hit by the energy as well. They became connected that way. I don't really understand the specifics myself, but as Freddy devoured souls and became stronger, so did Alice and when she eventually confronted him, she lent that very power to us."

"We didn't waste any time." Nancy smiled. "We ripped and tore our way out of that bastard's body, gave Alice our thanks and next thing you know, we're here in Soul Society. I'll admit it took some getting used to, what with all the Hollows and what not."

"That to mention you Shinigami suckas either not giving a rat's ass about us or threatening to keep us in line." Kincaid muttered.

"Kincaid!" Kristen scolded.

"You'll have to forgive him." Nancy spoke up. "Our past encounters with Shinigami have been, well, less than good. I'll just leave it at that."

"How have you managed to keep this village hidden from the Seireitei?" Soifon asked.

"It's all thanks to Kristen!" Nancy patted her friend on the back. "Remember the power she mentioned earlier? Turned out she still had some of it left and she's been using it to keep Beautiful Dream under wraps."

"I'm not sure how I got it to work this way," Kris admitted. "But basically I can do the opposite of my original power and push people and even Hollows away from this place."

"But if that's true, how come I was able to land here?" Soifon asked.

"Well to be fair, I have to focus on who or what I let into the village and I never imagined one day a Shinigami would just fall from the sky."

"I see." Soifon took a sip of her own water. "How many times has Freddy come back since then? Do you know?"

"Not an exact number but we do know he's come back at least a few times." Kristen motioned to three other teens sitting a ways from her. "Those three for example arrived a few years after we showed up. Turns out they were Alice's friends as well."

"Actually, I was her boyfriend." The handsome teen corrected. "The name's Dan Jordan."

"Do you really few the need to bring that up every time?" The lanky teen next to him argued.

"Oh let him have this." The girl next to him kissed him on the cheek. "After all, he's gonna have to wait 40 or 50 years before he sees Alice again." She turned to Dan Jordan "No offense."

"None taken."

"A few years later, we got a surplus of victims, including children, coming through here." Kristen continued. "Apparently, Freddy returned and managed to kill every youth in Springwood this time. Thank God Alice moved out."

"Yeah. Lucky Alice!" A Hispanic boy messing with his ear muttered. There seemed to be some sort of crudely taped-up device in it.

"And then just last month, we got one more new arrival." Kristen motioned to the blonde boy who was sitting next to her earlier, the one named Mark. "He's been looking for his brother who he says was killed by Freddy as well."

"This place seems to be a magnet for the souls of Freddy's victims once they get released," Nancy spoke. "Given how it happened with us, we can only guess that whenever Freddy is destroyed somehow, temporary as it may be, whatever souls he's consumed up to that point pass over to this realm."

"But now he's here in that very realm," Soifon interjected. "And he's consumed so many souls that not even we, The Gotei 13, were able to stop him." Soifon looked back at her Zanpakuto and picked it up. "Is there no way to kill this monster for good?"

All eyes fell on Nancy who stared at Soifon with longing, knowing what she was planning to say and either impatiently waiting for her to say it or hoping that she would change her mind. The former got their wish when Nancy opened her mouth and said: "There might be one way."

Soifon looked back up at her quickly but Nancy continued before she could say anything.

"I mean, I really should stress that this is only a theory and frankly, I have nothing to base it on, but I really feel like it's worth a try at least. In fact Soifon, it relates to what I said to you when you first woke up. Remember?"

Soifon immediately recalled Nancy saying as much. "Yes I do. You said I was the key to stopping Freddy. What did you mean by that exactly?"

"As I mentioned before, our past encounters with you Shinigami haven't gone too well so we usually keep our distance. But quite a few of us, including me, have seen you guys in action before. "I've seen the way you fight, the amazing powers you hold within those Zanpakuto of yours!"

"Apparently not amazing enough to actually kill Freddy." Soifon sighed.

"Maybe not by themselves but if we combined them with Dream Skills, they might just have the strength to destroy Freddy once and for all!"

Soifon cocked her brow in confusion. "Dream skills?"

"Me and my friends met Nancy when we were institutionalized at Westin Hills." Kristen explained. "Our parents thought that Freddy's attempts on our lives were our own if you catch my drift."

Soifon nodded despite not really understanding what Kristen had just said. She was far more interested in Nancy's theory.

"Anyway, when Nancy discovered that Freddy was the one after us, she taught us how to use Dream Skills to defend ourselves. Dream Skills are the powers and abilities that you possess in your most wonderful dreams!" She pointed to Kincaid. "For example, Kincaid's Dream Skill was super strength. He could punch through walls with ease!"

"Most Shinigami back at the Seireitei could do that." Soifon replied blandly, causing Kristen to sweatdrop.

"Umm right...Oh! What about Will!" She pointed to the boy in the makeshift wheelchair. "He could use magic just like a wizard!"

"We Shinigami have something like that." Soifon held up her hand and produced a small ball of light with her spirit energy. "We call it Kido."

"Amazing!" Will gasped, his eyes glowing through his glasses at the sight of Soifon's Kido.

Kristen on the other hand seemed frustrated. "Look! The point is that we used these Dream Skills to fight off Freddy in the past and we think you can do the same!"

"We're just normal humans without any special powers aside from Kristen." Nancy added. "But if you, a Shinigami, were to find your Dream Skill and merge it with your own power, maybe, just maybe, you'd have the ability to permanently destroy Freddy Krueger!"

"I see." Soifon replied as she put out the Kido. "It does make sense when you put it that way. After all, Freddy did originally come from the Dream Realm so it's only natural that a power born of that same realm would be the key to defeating him. I understand your point completely." Soifon sighed again, this time with much more sadness in her voice. "That being said, you should really look for another Shinigami."

There was a collection of surprised gasps from the crowd as well as a few scoffs of unsurprised contempt. Nancy didn't gasp but her eyes did widen in surprise. "W-What!? Why?"

"Your theory, sound as it may be, requires the existing power of a Shinigami right? But I no longer have that power."

"What do you mean?" Kristen asked.

Do you recall when I mentioned that Freddy used half of the souls he's consumed so far to create a Zanpakuto of his own?"

"Y-Yeah?"

"The Zanpakuto he created is called Akumu No Otome and it's power is as terrifying as its master. It devours the soul of one's Zanpakuto and then seals them away in neverending nightmare. At least that's what I come to understand." Soifon looked back down at her dead sword and held it up to her face. "My Zanpakuto, Suzumebachi, had its soul eaten by that monster. Without it, I'm as good as powerless. At least, as far as your theory's concerned."

"That's not true!" Nancy shouted. "Just right now, you showed us that Kido."

"That's completely different!" Soifon shouted back. "A Zanpakuto is not just some magical weapon you can buy at the store! They're created using the essence of our very own soul and communicating with it. A Zanpakuto is born from our soul and yet they possess their own consciousness! They are the core of a Shinigami's strength and while I could still fight any normal enemy without one, I can't cooperate with your theory as I am!" Breathing heavily as a result of her sudden outburst, Soifon lowered her head once more. "I'm sorry."

There was only but a half-minute between when Soifon apologized and Nancy answered. "You said your Zanpakuto is created with the essence of your own soul right? In other words, that power comes from within you. Dream skills are exactly the same!"

Soifon slowly looked back up at the brown-haired woman.

"Look Soifon, I'm not a Shinigami and I can't claim to fully understand how your Zanpakutos work. But from what you said, it sounds to me like they and Dream Skills are one and the same."

"What are you getting at?"

"You say Freddy's Zanpakuto stole your power but I don't think that's completely true," Nancy explained. "He only stole the power that was in your sword. Your real power, the power that gave birth to your Zanpakuto, is still deep inside of you!"

Soifon's eyes widened as she began to grasp what Nancy was saying.

"That power is something Freddy could never take from you, even if he killed you and enslaved your soul like he did to us. That's the power I wanna combine with your Dream Skills! That's the power I think...no...I know can destroy Freddy Krueger once and for all!"

Soifon opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She wasn't sure what she wanted to come out.

"So what do you say? Will you at least try?" Nancy pleaded. She was backed up by more than half of the crowd although some such as Mark still kept their silence.

"Is she right?" Soifon thought as she looked down at her hands. "Could I really use the essence of my soul in such a way to defeat Freddy?" Soifon remembered everything that had happened over the past two days. She recalled the look of terror and sadness in Yoruichi's eyes as Freddy dug his blades into her stomach and devoured her soul. She remembered Arrancar raining down into the Seireitei, waging war against the Shinigami on Freddy's behalf while she and the other Captains tried in vain to kill him. She remembered the all too brief moment of victory she felt when she thought she had destroyed him with her Bankai and the soul-crushing terror of becoming the first victim of Akumu No Otome. And any moment before this one, these memories would have filled Soifon with fear and made her that much more hesitant to go along with Nancy's plan. But at this moment, remembering all that this monster took from her, they brought up only one emotion.

The desire for revenge.

"Very well." Soifon finally replied. "I will go along with your plan." Soifon allowed the group to get their cheering out of the way before continuing. "What do you want me to do?"

"What else?" Nancy chuckled. "Dream!"

(Sometimes it's just kinda hard to get from point A to point B in writing. But regardless, we are nearing the end of the first arc. Thank you for what attention I've managed to get so far.)