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Tenebris turned to look behind her and saw a projection screen floating above Kon's head. On the projection was Urahara, along with Chad and Uryu.
"Hey, everyone! Long time no see!" greeted Urahara cheerfully, but everyone stood there staring at the man blankly. "Um… This is not the reaction I had in mind," he said, sounding disappointed.
Tenebris grabbed Kon and shook him. "How is this working?" she asked as she squeezed the lion plushie, but she felt nothing hard trapped inside as she expected.
"Ah, the projection is in the eyes, but don't try to switch them off. I have a way to stop people from doing that," said Urahara, making Tenebris drop Kon while muttering in annoyance.
Nemu stepped forward. "Captain," she said, surprising Ichigo, Shiro, Tenebris, Chad, and Uryu.
"Wait! Urahara was given his old position back?!" Ichigo exclaimed.
"Indeed, I did!" cheered Urahara. "It's a long story that we'll return to later."
"They asked you to fill the position, and you agreed in a heartbeat," stated Tenebris.
"Party Pooper," Urahara mumbled.
Ichigo rolled his eyes and turned his attention to Chad and Uryu. "So, how are you two doing?" he asked.
Uryu pushed his glasses before answering, "We're fine but a bit traumatized because of what Tenebris did to Quilge. Don't ask!" Ichigo raised his hands in surrender, muttering how he didn't want to know. "Anyway, thanks to her throwing so much reiatsu around, two old friends of yours showed up."
Shiro tilted his head. "Let me guess: kitty and batty, right?"
"WHAT'D YOU CALL US?!" Tenebris saw a young man with bright blue hair and a mask fragment of a jawbone clinging to his face. Grimmjow was grinding his teeth as his blue eyes glowed in fury as they pierced through Shiro. When Tenebris looked at Shiro, he showed zero interest, but she could feel the smirk hidden under his mask.
"Please be quiet, Grimmjow," said another young man with black hair, pale skin, and bright green eyes. "You know Shiro will call you whatever he wants, and there's nothing you can do to stop him."
Ichigo blinked in surprise. "Hey, Ulquiora. What are you doing there?" he asked.
"I followed Tenebris' spirit energy and found a giant puddle of blood on the sand and your friends, but you, Shiro, and Tenebris had already left for the Soul Society," Ulquiora replied.
"That reminds me, Tenebris, what did you do to that Quincy?" asked Grimmjow.
Tenebris morphed her face to reflect innocence. "I just caused his blood to boil until he popped."
Ichigo and the rest of the shinigami shivered except for the Zero division; Grimmjow grinned, Ulquiora remained blank, and Shiro chuckled darkly when they heard Tenebris' words.
"Good, we've been hunting that guy down for a while," said Grimmjow.
Ulquiora turned back to Ichigo. "This brings me to a question I must ask you, Ichigo," he paused while meeting his green eyes with Ichigo's brown orbs. "Are you sure you want to fight this enemy? They are more powerful than Aizen ever was."
Tenebris shrugged. "They may be stronger, but in case you missed it: I killed Aizen," she said.
Shiro rolled his eyes, but it was for Ulquiora's question. "Also, King will continue to protect those he cares about, even if ya ordered him not to."
"Which he did a year ago to save Orihime," Tenebris said softly, not wanting Ichigo to hear her words, but Shiro still heard her.
Ulquiora ignored them and waited for Ichigo to answer for himself. The orange-haired hybrid gave the arrancar a fiery look and said, "What Shiro said is true. I will fight the Quincies because if I don't, the world will be in danger," he said. "I can't run away from this one. Not when I'm already a part of it."
Ulquiora nodded his head in acceptance. "Very well, I will join you in this battle, my friend."
"I'll join too. These guys invaded my home and recked the place. Besides that, I think it will be fun. I haven't had a good fight for a long time," said Grimmjow before he turned around, heading for the tent's exit. "I will ask her if she wants to join us."
Ichigo raised a questioning eyebrow. "Her…?"
"I think they mean Nel," said Tenebris.
"How? She can't stay in her adult form for long," said Shiro.
"Oh, don't worry about that," said Urahara, returning as the main focus of the call. "I'm creating something to help her with that. Also, we found her missing brother. He was trapped under some rubble at Las Noches."
Ichigo's eyebrow twitched, causing Tenebris to almost choke on a laugh. "We went there to save him, and he wasn't even in danger?"
"Besides from starving to death? No, Dondochakka was in no danger," replied Urahara, followed by the sound of Ichigo grinding his teeth. "Anyway, I must be going now. Bye-bye!" The projective screen vanished, allowing Kon's head to close. Tenebris stared at the lion for a moment and made a decision.
"You are coming with me," she said as she turned to stand next to Ichigo with Kon now trapped between rows of sharp teeth.
Ichigo turned to the leader of the Zero Division. "Hey, bald guy." The leader made a surprised face at Ichigo's choice of name for him. "Take me to the palace. I'll learn Muramasa's Bankai and beat this new enemy."
The man grinned. "Alright then! Follow me," he said as he motioned for Ichigo to follow him.
Tenebris, Ichigo, and Shiro stood before a very familiar house. "They replaced the arms with giant Ganju statues," stated Tenebris.
"No, Ganju grew and became stone. So, I made him hold the banner," said a dark-haired woman with a fake arm.
"I hope she is serious," said Shiro, earning a smack to his head by Tenebris' tail.
"Why are we here?" asked Ichigo.
"What? Don't you miss me, Ichigo?" asked Kuukaku with a nasty smirk.
Ichigo felt a cold sweat form on his neck. "No, I missed you. It has been a while, hasn't it?" he said, causing Tenebris and Shiro to roll their eyes.
"You better have. Now then, are you all ready?" Kuukaku asked.
"Ready for what?" Ichigo asked.
The leader of the Zero Division answered, "The Shiba Clan is going to help launch us in our Tenchuuren."
"Why do you need a pillar?" asked Shiro.
"It's to punch through the barriers safely," said Tenebris, gaining looks from Ichigo and Shiro. "What? If it were that easy, Aizen wouldn't have to try and make a key to get there."
"I figured that," said Ichigo. "I was wondering how you know all of this?"
"Oh, I've been there before…1,000 years ago…I think?"
"Just how old is your soul, Tenebris?" asked Shiro.
"I'm 2,000."
"Didn' ya say your 20 in soul years?"
"I did. My kind just ages slowly. Every 100 years for humans is a year for me."
"I thought you were 16?" asked Kuukaku.
"In human form if I had one."
Ichigo sighed, "Enough. We shouldn't waste time."
"Well, you're in luck. While you were learning about Darklings, we loaded the Tenchuuren," said the leader of the Zero Division.
Tenebris looked up at the cannon. "I didn't know this thing was strong enough to fire that high," she muttered.
"Everyone, get in," ordered Kuukaku. "I'm about to fire."
The Zero Division got in, and just before Ichigo entered, he noticed Tenebris wasn't following. "Aren't you coming?" he asked.
The Dark Dragon shook her head. "I need to go to the World of Darkness to find a way to defeat the king."
Ichigo nodded in understanding, remembering Tenebris mentioning that an hour ago. He fully entered the cannon, and Tenebris heard Ichigo ask where the seatbelts were, only to be answered with, "There are no seatbelts." Kuukaku's firework launcher fired, sending the pillar high into the sky while Ichigo screamed bloody murder, and Shiro cackled.
The surrounding area grew silent; only the wind whistling through the air could be heard.
"Are you sure letting him go was a good idea, sis?" Tenebris heard Ganju's voice behind her. She turned and was surprised at what she saw. Ganju had changed. His hair was long and wild, his muscles more defined, and his spirit energy had grown.
Tenebris felt proud of Ganju, but something behind the man caught her eye. The was another man with dark, shoulder-length hair and brown eyes with a thin scar next to one of them. A growl escaped Tenebris' throat. She killed this man the day she was free of her crystal: Tsukishima.
"Yes, we had to let him go, even if Uncle would be upset," replied Kuukaku, not bothering to turn to look at her brother.
Tenebris stopped growling and snapped her head up to look at Kuukaku. "Who's Uncle, and why would he care if Ichi left?" she asked.
Kuukaku turned to face her. "Isshin didn't tell you and Ichigo yet?" she asked.
"Isshin? Are we talking about my dad? No, he hasn't told me, and I doubt he told Ichigo." Tenebris signed in frustration. "I'm going to kick his butt for this."
"Well, nice to meet you officially, cousin!" said Kuukaku with a grin, and Ganju joined in with his thumbs up.
"Why didn't he tell us!?" Dark Dragon demanded.
"That is something you will have to ask him."
"Of course it is…."
TBC
Well, at least this chapter is longer than the last one. I may pause here and work on 'Master of Death in Fairy Tail' for a while. But first, I need to plan that. So, no updates for a bit.
Ichi: When do you think you'll pause in that fanfic?
Enj/Dark: No clue. I have to rewrite everything for the Tartaros Arc.
Shiro: So you're not following it?
Enj/Dark: The plot is similar, but I can't say any more.
Ichi&Shiro: Oh.
Ichi: Well, at least you're almost down that fanfic, right?
Enj/Dark: *giggles evilly* Finally…! It has been years since I started that fanfic, and the light is in my grasp! I can taste it!
Ichi: …Um…
Shiro: …PLEASE REVIEW!~ XD
