Time was not Ichigo's friend.

Currently he was above Tsukishima's mansion fighting the man in question, locking blades now that he's managed to get him away from the rest of the fullbringers. He grit his teeth and broke the lock, quickly charging up a getsuga and firing it off. It did its job, creating a bit of space between the two swordsmen and giving Ichigo time to back-pedal and breathe.

'I gotta try and end this quick. I still have a bit of time before Ginjo turns on me so hopefully I can take him out before then. If I can't I'm gonna be screwed.'

Green light burst to life beneath his feet as he used bringer light to lure Tsukishima further away. He wasn't sure how long Ginjo could hold everyone off, but in case he didn't have long he needed to put more distance in between them all so he could avoid being jumped by everyone at once.

He started to bring him out into the middle of the woods as he thought, 'I can win this. I just gotta take this asshole out, then I'll have my friends with me again to help. With any luck I-'

It was brief. The slightest feeling as the hair on the back of his neck rose on end. It was all the warning he had as his mind briefly screamed one thing to him.

'BEHIND! DANGER!'

Ichigo glanced from the corner of his eye just in time to see what was coming for him.

Ginjo loomed over Ichigo from behind, his massive blade poised to pierce Ichigo from behind. His eyes widening as it inched closer. Just as it was about to run him through, he moved. Bringer light sprung to life beneath his feet again and Ichigo moved aside, keeping both Tsukishima and Ginjo in front of him rather than allow either to leave his sight.

His heart raced at the close call as he stared at Ginjo in bewilderment. 'What the hell is going on?! How did he already turn against me?!' His grip tightened around the hilt of his sword, gritting his teeth together as he looked between the older fullbringers. 'Something doesn't feel right here!' "What the hell is going on Ginjo? Answer me!"

'It just has to be Tsukishima, right? He has to have put in more effort to turning Ginjo faster. That's the only thing that makes sense!'

Ginjo brought his sword up before thrusting it into the earth. He began a slow clap as he looked at Ichigo with a sneer, "Gotta say, I'm impressed you made it this far kid. Thought I finally had my opening there, but guess I underestimated you. Eh, no matter though, it won't happen again." Tsukishima closed the difference between himself and Ginjo, planting himself by his side with a satisfied smile on his face.

"Finally had your opening...? What...?"

"Oh come on Ichigo, don't play dumb. You're many things but an idiot isn't one of them. I think we both know that."

"Think the kid is just in shock is all, Ginjo, just give him a moment."

"That's not it!" He yelled, his knuckles white as his grip tightened around his swords hilt, "That's not what I mean at all damn it and you know it! How fast did you turn? I thought you said you were fine after he cut you!"

The older man rolled his eyes while Tsukishima wore an amused smirk. An unpleasant grin made its way onto Ginjo's face as he stared Ichigo down, "That's because I lied, dumbass. I felt the effect the moment he made the cut. Though that's not because Book of the End changed my mind."

Tsukishima rose an eyebrow as he looked at Ginjo, "Feeling like throwing him a bone? That's not like you."

He shrugged at Tsukishima's comment, removing his sword from the dirt and placing it across his shoulders, "I'm feeling generous. We put a lot of time into this little project, think it will be fun to watch what's left of his world crumble around him. Besides, why not throw him a bone here? He's done."

He turned back to Ichigo with that nasty grin still plastered on his face as he began to speak, "Tsukishimas Book of the End is not exactly a one trick pony. His blade alters the mind, but it's not a one way street. He can insert himself into your memories and alter them to make you see him more favorably, yeah, but he can also remove himself from your memory or turn himself into an enemy in your head if he was a friend."

Ginjo rose his blade up from his shoulders after his explanation and pointed it at Ichigo, "We cut down Uryu to help motivate you to work harder on your powers. Tsukishima cut me to make sure I was convincing as an ally and to make sure I didn't slip up. The moment he cut me again, I was just returned to my old self. It's that simple. Though as for the why, well." He shrugged. "My fullbring, Cross of Scaffolds, has a few nifty abilities of it's own. One of those includes taking the power of other fullbringers for myself. With how powerful you were as a substitute, we felt you'd offer quite a bit of juice for the rest of us."

Ichigo's mouth had gone agape as he spoke, only for him to feel cold as he thought of what Ginjo was saying. "The rest of us? So the others before... Do you mean that they-"

"Were in on it?" Ginjo asked, "From the very beginning. Had to give em the same treatment I got so that we wouldn't let the game up, but yeah. They were with me and Tsukishima from the start." Ginjo's eyes narrowed as he bared his teeth in a wide grin, "No one at Xcution was your friend, Kurosaki. They were all just waiting for a chance to stab you in the back and take your power for themselves. And now, you have nothing. All your friends, your family, your allies? They're ours now. You got nothing left."

Ichigo stood in a stunned silence for a moment as he stared at Ginjo. He hardly processed that the older man was still speaking, "Of course, that could all be changed. If you give up here and now and drop your sword. Let us take your powers without a fight, and you'll have everyone back as if nothing ever happened. You gave up your powers for your friends and everyone you love before, right?" He spread his arms out wide, "Hahaha! So why not do it one more time?!"

He was still silent even after Ginjo was finished with his offer. Tsukishima frowned and rose his sword a bit, narrowing his eyes as he kept his attention on Ichigo, "I don't think he heard a word you said. Not too sure he's all there either."

Ginjo hummed in agreement, shrugging as he lowered his sword, "Think you may be right. Looks like he had a mental breakdown or som-"

He barely got his sword back up in time.

Ichigo was on top of him in a moment, spirit energy leaking out as he tried to cut down Ginjo. A fierce snarl was on his face as he continued to try and put pressure on the older man. His spiritual pressure fluctuated wildly, at times resembling his shikai in strength, and others his bankai. Ginjo's eyes widened as the ground beneath him cracked before his sword was forced away from his torso and a heavy kick was levied into his gut, sending him flying through a tree before crashing somewhere in the forest.

Ichigo's energy continued to fluctuate as Tsukishima made an attempt to catch him from behind, a fruitless effort after Ichigo grabbed his sword arm and ended up throwing him into a tree trunk. He was sent crashing through it after a getsuga tenshou was sent ripping towards him, carrying him through the tree and sending him crashing through the next few as well.

'Can't let him cut me or this game is as good as done. I don't know how Ginjo's power to steal works but I'm guessing he needs contact of some sort with my body and not just my fullbring.' Rational thought returned to him gradually, getting a grip on his anger rather than letting it control him. He turned and used bringer light to dash back for where Ginjo had landed to keep up the momentum and allowed his rage to fuel his strength as he came down on the older man with a heavy strike just as he tried to back up, blocking his sword while his knee dug into the earth beneath him.

Ichigo allowed the blade lock to continue for a few moments as Ginjo made an attempt to force Ichigo off of him, or to at least get a chance to get back on his feet. He froze as Ichigo charged a getsuga along his blade while they were right in front of each other. He grit his teeth as only one word managed to come to mind.

"Shit."

"Getsuga Tenshou!" The charged getsuga was fired point blank, Ichigo's blade making a crack in Cross of Scaffolds before sending Ginjo flying again. The getsuga traveled with Ginjo before it detonated on top of him, a small tower of explosive flame bursting to life around him. Ichigo turned in time to clash again with Tsukishima, operating on instinct as he used one hand to keep his hold on his hilt. He used his free hand to grab Tsukishima's arm and throw him into a tree, taking the momentum and charging at him with a getsuga already alight on the edge of his blade.

Ginjo slowly forced himself back up to his feet as smoke rose from his back and shoulders, eyeing Ichigo as he moved to engage his partner. 'Looks like I got a bit too eager there. Don't know where the damn burst of strength came from but he isn't at the level he was at before, that damn getsuga alone has gotten a lot stronger than it used to be.' Ginjo clenched his fist as he leapt forward, making his way to rejoin the fight.

Ichigo was just able to catch Tsukishima's eyes widening just a moment before the new getsuga made impact, detonating in his face rather than give him a chance to deflect the attack. Ichigo panted for breath for a second as he watched smoke gather where he had thrown Tsukishima. 'Maybe I was wrong. If I can keep this up they'll both be done for soon.' A tinge of yellow entered his iris, slowly changing from brown to gold. 'I'll make them let my friends go, and then I can finish making them pay!'

A green light comes from deep in the forest, emerging as an energy blast that slams into him, driving him further away. Tsukishima appeared where he had been, followed shortly thereafter by Ginjo. Both men looked worse for wear with torn clothing and several scrapes and bruises. Ginjo in particular was holding his arm out at an odd angle, grimacing as he planted his sword in the ground before grabbing his injured arm and popping it back into its socket with a crunch. "God damn it! It wasn't supposed to go like this. His fullbring wasn't supposed to be so strong either."

Tsukishima grunted at his old partner and wiped a bit of blood from the corner of his lip with the back of his hand. He eyed the blood smear with disdain before glancing back over at him, "I assume everyone else is going to continue to keep their distance?"

"They will," Ginjo sneered, "Won't get their hands dirty till they know its safe. Bunch of useless cowards. Do you have the other two on their way here?"

"I do..." He stared cautiously out to where Ichigo had been sent flying. He should have re-engaged by now. "But I don't know if they'll be enough. They still care about Ichigo and they'll be holding back. So will he, but I'm not quite sure they can push things in our favor. Only way I can make them go full force is if I push my influence too far, but all that will do is make them useless to us. And if he keeps getting stronger throughout this fight..."

Ginjo frowned, "We'll be fucked, and it won't matter what extra help we have. Got any ideas or are we fresh out?"

Tsukishima shrugged, "That depends, are you still deadset on trying to steal his power? Or is survival the main priority now?" His voice remained deadpan as he looked at his partner, his nonchalant demeanor from earlier now long gone. "Or is now the time for us to try and run? If you couldn't tell, I'm open to any suggestions."

"Well..." Ginjo grimaced as he thought it over. He knew they likely didn't have all that much time left. He would be remiss if all this effort would be for nothing, but it would be worthless regardless if they all ended up dead. He sighed and gripped cross of scaffold. "You remember that soul reaper I killed? Pains me to say it might be time to use that one time key."

Tsukishima frowned and pondered their current predicament before he sighed as well. "It would seem we have no choice. The Soul Society will be on us soon for opening a senkaimon, so we'll need to get out fast and make a run for it. And that's assuming they haven't kept an eye on his badge and sent other soul reapers to assist anyway. The plan isn't just to drop him in the precipice world and run though, right?"

"No, its to use your fullbring to make the precipice world go mad and leave him there. Best case scenario, Kurosaki isn't gonna be a problem ever again and it buys us time to get away before the soul reapers can show up. Absolute worst case, we die." He gave the younger man a wry smile. "Worth a shot either way, am I right?" Both men tensed as they felt a spike in spiritual pressure, both of them being slightly weighed down as they turned to where Ichigo was last sent flying. "Shit, here goes nothing then."

Ginjo turned away from the direction Ichigo would be coming from and stabbed Cross of Scaffolds into the air. He scowled as he began twisting the large blade, meeting clear resistance as he slowly turned it and and forced it parallel with the ground. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he finished turning the blade, a senkaimon slowly opening up before the two fullbringers. "Was hoping to save that for a special occasion... damn shame. Now, c'mon, let's... ah, hell."

Ichigo hadn't come with a burst of rage like he had expected. He thought they were gonna get a more hollow like reaction with how he was starting to act, only now it seemed he was still in perfect control of himself. He had Tsukishima up by his collar, with one hand keeping a firm grip on the hand wrapped around Book of the Ends hilt with a scowl on his face.

"How the hell did you open a senkaimon Ginjo? Got a few more secrets you were waiting to share with me?" His grip tightened on Tsukishima's hand, Ginjo's old protégé gritting his teeth as his hand was crushed in Ichigo's fist. "May as well spill 'em now while you got the chance after all. Might not get another one after this." More of the brown in his eye had turned to gold by now as he glared at Ginjo.

He gave the teenager a smirk as he hefted his sword onto his shoulder, ignoring the bit of sweat that trickled down the back of his neck, "Ain't a whole lot to tell. Remember that little story I told you 'bout those other fullbringers we used to have and the soul reaper that was supposed to help us? Yeah, I made sure to take his powers before I put him down. Didn't get a whole lot out of it, he was pretty weak in the first place. But I did get a ticket to the Soul Society. Sadly I can only open up the senkaimon once, so be flattered! I've decided to go and waste it on you."

Ichigo looked at the open gate with some intrigue. 'Squad twelve probably already knows the gate is open, so chances are someone is gonna be sent to investigate. Clock is ticking for them, and if I take the fight in there like they want, I won't have to worry about anyone else getting in my way. It'll just be me and them...' With a steely glare, he drew Tsukishima back before throwing him into the precipice world. Ginjo turned and looked over his shoulder as he was sent flying in before shaking his head.

"So eager to get back to it. If you so insi- URGH!" He was slammed into the gate he opened by another kick from Ichigo. He stopped where he kicked Ginjo in with the glare still on his face. He looked back at the mansion that he had been lured to and thought of just leaving for a second, perhaps going to get help. Yet as he thought about it, he imagined Kisuke and Yoruichi having already been cut.

Waiting for him to come to them. Expecting him to seek help, safety. Feeling secure again only for both his old mentors to turn on him as well like everyone else. To be cut down and brought to Ginjo to use for his ambitions.

The thought of his father having already been influenced and turned against him like everyone else as well.

For a moment, he felt fear at the thought. He swallowed, his grip on his sword loosening for a few precious seconds as he considered the possibility of his mentor and father being enemies now. All the same though, he tried his best to banish those thoughts. To shake his head and leave them to the wayside while he finished the job.

He had to.

He had them on the backfoot now and they both had a hell of a lot to answer for. There was no point in looking for help that he may not be able to get, he had to end this here and now.

He'd make sure to take the chance to make them pay for all the bullshit they'd put him through. For all the mindgames, for screwing with everyone he cares about. He'd make sure they paid for every last bit of it. They deserved everything that they had coming to them and more.

That fear couldn't fully subside no matter what he did as he went through the senkaimon.

With a burst of bringer light he was after them. A blast of energy was greeting him already, smashing into him and sending Ichigo careening into the walls of the precipice world. With great difficulty he forced himself out of the current, shaking himself off before glaring at his opponents. Ginjo had a smug grin on his face, while Tsukishima wore a pleased smirk.

"Go, get it handled. I can handle Kurosaki for a bit." Without another word he charged at Ichigo, swinging at the former substitute as he did. Behind him Tsukishima impaled Book of the End in the ground of the precipice world and closed his eyes, ignoring the fight going on in front of him.

Ichigo and Ginjo clashed for a few seconds, Ginjo using his superior size and heavier sword to try and push Ichigo back to no avail. The smaller swordsman was still seemingly growing in strength as black and red spirit energy erupted around him. "You're gonna pay for everything you did Ginjo! You'll never get a chance to touch my friends ever again you bastard!"

Ginjo kept the smug look as he tried not to overpower Ichigo, but to simply keep himself from being overwhelmed. "What, you think you're gonna stop me? Ichigo, you've failed to protect everything you cared about this entire time. The only thing you're good at is failure." Ichigo faltered for a single moment, giving Ginjo the chance to push him back. Ginjo loomed over him as he laughed in his face, "You couldn't even keep us away from your sisters. I mean, hell, you understand that we had gotten the chance to kill everyone you care about, right? And you wouldn't have been able to do jack shit about it!"

Doubt. It rang clearly in his mind as Ichigo thought about what could have been. 'No... with Kisuke and my dad around they never would have gotten to actually hurt them, right? They would never..' Yet the thought of Kisuke and his dad being caught unawares flashed through his mind again. Everyone else he cared for had been caught off guard, and even Kisuke could be caught with his pants down with the right situation. Yet even if that wasn't the case, if Kisuke and his dad were still themselves, they'd still had the chance to kill them. His friends, his sisters could have all been killed.

He could have lost everyone!

'Stop! It doesn't matter either way now. I'm strong enough now to make sure they can't fuck with them ever again! No matter what it takes!'

Rather than allow poisonous doubt to continue clouding his mind, he instead let rage take the wheel. Doubt would do nothing but serve to dull him. A getsuga charged on his blade as he snarled, rushing towards Ginjo with more black spiritual energy wafting off of him. He'd just need to make sure he nor Tsukishima got a chance to go near his friends again. He'd just need to stop their hearts and tear them apart, to render their corpses unrecogniz-

He let his guard down.

Tsukishima's eyes glinted as he stared at Ichigo from a few hundred feet away, pouring the rest of his power into Book of the End. Green light began to crackle all throughout the world and erupt from the ground and walls, while the current slowed. It was, in essence, exactly what Ginjo had been waiting for. "Ginjo we gotta go! I can't maintain this for long and I had to let go of everyone else to do this!"

Ginjo paused mid-charge now that he found Ichigo currently being assaulted by the precipice. He smirked and allowed his fullbring to return to his cross form, bringer light coming to life beneath him as he moved back over to Tsukishima. "It's been real Ichigo, but I think it's about time we take our leave. Don't worry, we'll be taking good care of your family when you get back! Count on it!" Ginjo had no intent to waste his time killing them when Ichigo wouldn't even be around. It was needless, especially when they'd have to focus on running the moment they got out.

'Doesn't mean that little punk has to know that.' Ginjo thought to himself as he ran with his partner.

Ichigo found himself stuck again as the current began to latch onto him from all around, the fullbringer frantically trying to free himself to get after them. Ginjo and Tsukishima fled back through the open gate they came through without so much as a second glance while the precipice went mad. The current acted bizarre as it came searching for him from the walls, trying to bog him down. Ichigo managed to fend it off at first, freeing himself and charging for the gate to finish them off. Just as he neared the open senkaimon though a wall of current grime formed in front of him.

It took only a split second.

He found it latching onto him again. It covered more of his body, and even more began to crawl up his legs and back as he tried to force his way back out again. He began panicking as he quickly charged up a getsuga and fired it off, momentarily freeing his arm up. Yet it was back on him again before he could attempt to free himself fully a second time and moving even faster than the last time. He tried to charge up another getsuga to get an attempt at freedom as he grit his teeth.

Only for it all to be for nothing as the gateway shut.

He stared into the darkness of the precipice world in shock. Sparks of green spirit energy continued to linger while the golden tint to his eyes slowly began to fade. 'Damn it, no! I can't be stuck here! Someone from squad twelve, they gotta notice! Someone's gotta get me out!' He kept struggling, but soon the current encapsulated his torso. He tried to raise his spirit energy to it's maximum but he was nowhere near as strong as after he had trained to beat Aizen. He couldn't brute force his way out of this, not now.

He couldn't escape.

His struggling slowed, his teeth gritting as he came to terms with his situation, 'I can't get out... Karin, Yuzu, everyone... he's gonna kill them!' He thought back to everything that Ginjo had said to him. His breathing got heavier as he renewed his struggles even as his eyes almost became covered.

He couldn't stop. 'My friends my sisters they were in danger hehadtokeepgoingortheyweregonnagetkilled-'

His thoughts were cut off as the current finished consuming him. He was brought lower into the ground and before long no trace of him could be found. It took several minutes for the last traces of Tsukishima's spiritual energy to dissipate and leave everything the way it was before.

He was already long gone.

Falling.

He was... falling?

'What the hell happened?'

It took him a few more moments still for him to regain coherent thought, his eyes widening as he hurtled to the earth below at a breakneck pace. Confident he may be in his own durability, he'd still rather not end up smashing into the dirt like a orange topped meteor if he could help it. He righted himself in the air and used bringer light, ending his free fall before he could go splat and stopping himself in midair.

'Well I'm not dead at least,' He thought to himself, looking his body over. He was still clad in his fullbring and in the same state as he had been when-

"The fucking precipice world... ate me?" He was bewildered. He thought he would've been as good as dead if he was caught in the restrictive current, yet he was seemingly fine despite what he had been told. But as he spread out his senses he began to look around the sky in a panic. Everything felt more rich in spirit energy, and for a moment he thought he had still ended up back in the Soul Society somehow, only to look down and find an absolutely gigantic metropolis sprawling beneath him.

He nervously licked his lips as he looked down, 'Alright, maybe this is just a spiritually rich city. I could still be back in my world. It could just be a city I don't recognize. It-'

His own thought process cut off as he looked up, catching a glimpse of the moon. That only made his situation feel that much more complicated, dashing whatever hopes he may have had of somehow having ended up back home.

"What the hell is this?!"

The moon was broken. Shattered. Pieces of it floating free while it remained above the... world he was on while it's light continued to put a silver glow on everything below. He couldn't even begin to understand how that worked, much less how the planet hadn't been oblitered by pieces of moon debris by this point.

He continued to stare at it however is confusion roared in his head, trying to think of what to do. If anything was clear to him it was the fact this wasn't a world he knew of. The fact that Kisuke had yet to mention it while he still had his soul reaper powers though and how spiritually rich it was lead him to believe it wasn't a known world in the first place. Not unless Kisuke had kept it a secret from him which... well, would admittedly be a possibility.

Unfortunately in this instance, he didn't think that was the case. Unless this was actually Hell, but he had his doubts that Hell would look or feel so pleasant in the first place which, unfortunately, still left him with the same question. That and he was fairly certain he hadn't done anything deserving of him being labeled a sinner.

That and despite the situation, he was certain Hell wouldn't look anywhere near this nice if he were to ever visit it.

His arms went limp at his sides as he looked down to the ground below, his sword loosely held in his grip and barely held. Ulquiorra's voice passed through his mind as he looked down at a world not his own. 'Ichigo Kurosaki, those are the words of someone who does not know true despair. So I will show you. This is what true despair looks like.'

...what was he supposed to do?

Lost and confused all he could do was begin to float down to the ground.

He began to pick up more details of the city below as he got closer, as little as he was paying attention at the moment. If he had any observational skills to speak he'd have wagered that he was down in the seedier part of town. It was a bit darker than further out and the closer he got the more dirt and grime he could make out.

Though that would rely on him actually paying more attention to where he's landing to realize this.

He ended up lightly touching down next to what appeared to be a warehouse. He tightened his grip on his hilt again for a moment before sheathing his blade. He stared down at the ground, lost in thought. For a moment though he thought of Rukia and what she'd say if she found him in such a state.

"Oh what are you moping for? So what, you let your guard down like an idiot and got yourself stuck here, big deal. Is acting all pathetic gonna do anything to fix things? No, it isn't. So how about instead of moping about with that sad look on your face, you get moving. Start hauling ass so you can try and make the best of your current situation and try to find a way back home. The Ichigo I know would never give up so easily."

A smile tugged at his lips for a second as he thought her. He could save time for moping later when he had a plan figured out, but right now he actually needed to get this situation handled. As thoughts of Rukia faded from his mind however, frustration began to bubble up within him. 'I can't believe I let myself get lured into such an obvious trap. I actually fell for all their crap.' He clenched his fist as he thought about it, forcing himself to release it as he took a deep breath.

The anger, the despair. That all could come later. Now came making a plan.

'Someone has to be able to find me.' He thought to himself, 'I know squad twelve had to have monitored everything that happened there, so hopefully they can figure out what happened and how to bring me back.' He wasn't too sure of the likelihood of a rescue however. As far as he knew everyone thought you were supposed to die when you were lost to the current, not be transported to a different world entirely. So if he wanted to get home and make sure everyone stayed safe, he couldn't necessarily rely on anyone back home figuring things out for him while he waited.

He'd have to see what he could do from his end of things.

He felt more alert and pulled himself together, frowning as he looked over at the grimy warehouse. He was about ready to turn away and find out where the fuck he was when a shotgun blast went off from inside. He rose an eyebrow at the noise, a frown forming as more shotgun blasts continued to sound off from inside as he turned to watch the building. He thought about what to do before he shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh screw it, I haven't exactly got anything else better to do." He spoke to himself, no one nearby to hear his muttering. He moved over to the sliding doors that made up the entrance of the club and slid them opening, an eyebrow raising at what he found inside.

"Well that's new." He mumbled. A blonde woman was in the middle a white dance floor in what he was now pretty sure was a club, taking on a small army of thugs dressed in black suits, bright lights brightening up the building and music blaring. His first thought considering they were all wielding either bats or fists was that they looked like this worlds discount version of the mob. Though, what had him more interested was what she was using to fight. "Are the gauntlets she's wearing shotguns?" He asked incredulously.

'Are there more fullbringers here? She ain't just a regular human with the way she's fighting.' He thought to himself, stepping aside just as a wannabe mobster was sent flying past him. As more men kept coming her way and surrounding her he couldn't help but narrow his eyes. Though she was holding her own, he didn't know what her limits were, or what else the club owner may have up his sleeve.

And, well.

If he were being frank, he was starting to feel pretty pissed off from what had just happened. He needed to relieve some pent up frustration, and a couple of d-list thugs felt like the perfect way to do it. Still clad in his fullbring he sheathed his blade, not feeling that he was gonna need it to handle a group of amateurs, before he shot forward in a burst of bringer light. He slammed hit foot into the side of someone's face just before they could try to swing their bat at the blonde, sending them flying off the dance floor and into unconsciousness.

Everything paused for a second. The guys that were attacking the girl were staring at him with open mouths, while the girl in question had a quirked eyebrow. Her fists were still raised, with her shifting her feet to face him in case he was a threat instead.

'Not an idiot at least.' He thought to himself.

"Who the fuck are you?!" Some guy in a tux yelled. He didn't have a hat or a pair of red sunglasses like the rest of them (God the more he looked at these guys the more douchey he realized they looked.) and looked like he was struggling to stand up straight as he stood away from the fighting on the opposite side of the room, "This is a private matter with that blonde bimbo, so beat it kid!"

He rolled his eyes and dropped his guard, crossing his arms as everyone stared at him, "Look prick, I saw a bunch of assholes ganging up on some random girl and decided to step in, so forgive me if I don't really give a damn how private this is. Besides," He dashed forward too fast for any of them to react to for a moment as he grabbed one of the thugs by his collar before anyone could react, "None of you are strong enough to stop me and I need to let off some steam, so you guys get to be my punching bags." He threw the thug at his boss, sending them both crashing into the ruins of a glass crystal behind him.

He turned back to the blonde and raised an eyebrow, "Well? Get those weird ass gauntlets to work and start throwing punches blondie!" He spun and threw a kick into the torso of a man before grabbing another and headbutting him in the face, dropping him like a sack of potatoes.

She grinned back at him and spun back to work, blasting a man in the stomach and sending him crashing through several of his cohorts, "I got a name stranger! I'm Yang!" She turned and slammed an axe kick down into a man that got a hair too close before spinning back around to roundhouse someone towards Ichigo. He dropped a kick on the guy in turn, making a small crater underneath him.

He grunted as he dodged a thug that tried to slam a bat into him from behind, grabbing him by the back of his head and slamming his face down into the floor, "I'm Ichigo! So how the hell did you piss off this bunch?" He put a hand on the hilt of his sword and withdrew it slightly, catching a bat on the exposed part of the blade as someone else tried to attack him from behind. He dashed away with bringer light and came right back, slamming a knee into the guys gut and making him double over, vomiting up whatever was in his stomach before collapsing.

She shrugged, dancing around more thugs as they kept trying to pin her down, "Eh, came for a bit of information and the owner was a bit of a fuckin creep, so I thought I'd wreck shop while I was here."

He used bringer light again. Rather than avoiding another thug he used it to put himself back to back with Yang, grabbing two different men by their forearms before slamming them into each other, "Tch, guy sounds like he's getting off light."

"Right?! Jerk deserves everything he's getting tonight!" She yelled out. He and Yang stayed back to back as they fought off more thugs, the crowd around them quickly thinning out as they ran out of people to beat up on.

Up in the DJ's stand a guy rose up with a tommy gun and wearing a giant bear head. Ichigo's eye twitched as he looked at the choice of weaponry. 'Okay, seriously, are these guys just knock offs from the fifties or something?' Just as he started shooting into the dance floor Ichigo shot forward. He arrived right at the DJ's booth with a smug grin, grabbing the gun and yanking the man forward with it. He grabbed him by the collar and gestured behind him, "This is gonna hurt." He tossed the guy into the air and kicked him towards Yang, who proceeded to send him flying into a wall.

The little bear head came rolling across the dance floor as two girls came out. They were both wearing dresses, one in red and blades attached to her arms while the other was dressed in white with bladed heels. They were twins if he had to guess, watching with crossed arms as they strutted onto the dance floor, "Melanie, do you know who these two rando's are?"

"I dunno Miltia, but we need to teach 'em a lesson." The girl in white responded. Both girls seemed bored with the concept of a fight, making Ichigo and Yang both raise an eyebrow.

Ichigo appeared back next to Yang, pulling his sword out of its sheath now that they were faced with (seemingly more competent) bladed opponents. "I'll take the one in red, you get the one in white?"

Yang thrust her arms out to her sides, the gauntlets opening up and ejecting empty shells. She slapped in new belts of ammo into each gauntlet and cocked them with a cocky grin on her face, "Sounds like a plan to me!" Turning to nod at each other, both teenagers launched at their individual opponents. Melanie engaged Yang with her bladed footwear, trying to dance around the brawler and trip her up.

Ichigo's blade clashed with Miltia's arm blades on the other hand. She kept trying to keep his sword locked in place with one blade while getting around his defense with the other, only to consistently find herself blocked off as he kept her on the backfoot. She blade locked him again and tried to jab her spare arm towards his gut, only for him to let go of the hilt with one hand and to grab the offending arm.

"Think that's enough of you," He told her, charging up a getsuga on his sword. Her eyes widened as she tried to get away, only for him to tighten his grip on her arm. He let the energy attack rip at point blank, letting go of her arm the moment the getsuga made contact with her body and sending her flying. She crashed through a wall, collapsing into one of the clubs backrooms without getting back up.

He turned and watched Yang as she finished up her fight, not interfering now that she was in a one v one situation. She danced Melanie around her before slamming a kick into the girls face, making her crumple down onto the floor. He sheathed his sword once he figured that just about everyone in the club was done for, some of his battle lust having been satiated.

'Well, that was something at least. Not a great fight but it helped.'

He was about to walk over and check her over when he took notice of the club owner aiming a giant rocket launcher at her from behind. He fired off while she wasn't looking, rage on his face as he tried to take out the blonde that had brought so much trouble to his place of business. Ichigo moved with a buzz of static, grabbing Yang before buzzing away again. He threw Yang at him and flew after her, the blonde not missing a beat and making contact first, crashing into the floor in front of him and slamming a fist into his gut.

When Ichigo got down he dropped a kick onto his shoulders, smashing the guy down in time for Yang to throw an uppercut into his descending face and send him flying to the opposite side of the room. Yang dashed after him as his rocket launcher transformed into a bat, stumbling out of Yangs way before trying to take a swing at her. She dodged under it, her hair starting to light up as she decked him again and sent him into a wall.

Ichigo thought that the guy was done for as he struggled to stumble his way back to his feet, only raising an eyebrow as he noticed the clump of hair held tight in his fist. He walked up next to Yang and crossed his arms, "Well, looks like he managed to get ya after all." He turned to Yang when he didn't get a response, a frown etched onto his face as he saw a look of shock on hers while she eyed the lost strands of hair. It was quickly replaced by fury, Ichigo only just now noticing that her lavender eyes had changed to a more harsh crimson.

She launched forward like a rocket and firmly stamped her foot down into the club floor, making a small crater beneath her foot in the process before smashing a fist into his face and sending him flying through a window, crashing in front of his own building. Ichigo had slightly widened eyes at the extreme reaction before tentatively stepping up next to Yang, laying a hand on her shoulder with a bewildered look, "So, gonna explain what that was about?"

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye and narrowed them at him, "Not a fan of people fucking with my hair. We gonna have a problem?"

He only rolled his eyes at the response and took his hand back, "Can't say I could care less about how you deal with people touching your hair, I was just curious." He looked outside and saw a girl in blade and red with a cape waiting outside in front of the collapsed man. Ichigo pointed at he and looked at Yang, "Looks like we got someone waiting outside. Wanna see who it is? And if that guy is still alive for that matter."

Yang turned her attention from him to the girl, the red slowly fading from her eyes as she did. Her demeanor noticeably brightened as she looked, a grin growing on her face as she chuckled, "Oh it's just my little sister. C'mon, let me go introduce you two. Also, I'm pretty sure Junior over there is still alive. I don't think he'd be a reputable crime boss if he was that easy to kill." She walked out of the building, leading the suitably confused fullbringer out of the building.

"Yang, what are you doing here? Please tell me you didn't start the fight this time!" Yang's apparent sister said. If it wasn't for Yang, Ichigo never would have guessed that the two were siblings in the first place. Her eyes were silver and her hair was black with red tips, she was also a good bit more petite and pale compared to Yang, though he figured that may be more due to age.

Though he also knew he wasn't exactly one to judge, he and his own sisters all looked wildly different from one another. Though the thought of the twins brought him to a more sour mood despite his recent effort to let off some steam.

"Hey Rubes! I may have started this one, but hey! The guy in charge was a total jerk and deserved it! Besides, at least I finished it." She hand-waved the issue as she spoke, ignoring Junior's groaning body before pointing a thumb at Ichigo, "But hey, gotta introduce you to my new friend here! This is Ichigo, he helped me take out a bunch of the goons that tried to fight me. Ichigo this is Ruby, my baby sister!"

Ruby rolled her eyes at Yang before waving a hand, "Hi, it's nice to meet you! Sorry if Yang ended up causing you any trouble, but you don't look too banged up at least! Hehehe...he...sorry."

The fact she was so painfully awkward helped with his mood, putting a small smirk on his face as he put a hand out, "Nice to meet you too Ruby. She didn't cause any problems for me at all, don't worry. I was actually outside when I came in and decided to give her a hand, and frankly the guys inside were pricks. They had it coming."

'She's got a strong grip,' He thought to himself, mildly surprised at her grip strength when she shook his hand. He expected a bit less due to her petite stature.

"Oh, well that's good to hear I guess. The fact that they were jerks that is! Not, you know, Yang not causing you trouble or anything like that?" She sighed before she looked him over, tilting her head as she examined his armor. Her eyes came to a stop at the hilt of his sword peeking out just over his shoulder, "Soooo... are you a huntsman or something by any chance? What's with the armor you're wearing by the way, are you on a job? And what about that sword?! What sort of sword is it, does it have any mechashift functionality?!"

Ichigo took a step back and rose his hands up in front of himself, slightly taken off guard by the sudden switch. 'What's a huntsman supposed to be? And what the hell does she mean by mechashift and why would my sword have it?' Wherever he ended up started to seem more and more bizarre the more time he spent there, and he hadn't even been there an hour yet.

"Ah, no I'm not a huntsman, and I'm not on any kind of job. Actually I'm a little bit lost right now believe it or not, and as for my sword..." He took it out of its sheath, showing the blade off to Ruby, "It's just a short sword. I can't say I really know what mechashift is though, to be honest. I'm guessin that's what allows Yang's gauntlets to be shotguns?" He deliberately skipped past the question about armor for now, not sure how to explain it yet.

Ruby gasped at his apparent lack of mechashift knowledge, taking his sword from his hands in a flutter of rose petals as she looked it over, "How do you NOT know about mechashift?! It's what allows all our weapons to have multiple functions! Nothing wrong with a classic like this but how could you NOT KNOW?!" She started to examine his sword more closely after her slight rant, giving it a careful once over as she did, "What sorta metal is this made of? It's not any kind that I've worked with, and what's with the weird shape of the crossguard? I haven't really seen a design like this."

Ichigo gently took the sword back from her, spinning it before sliding it back into its sheath, "I'm uh, from a more rural area I guess. We never really had much need for anything too fancy like that, y'know? The shape of the crossguard is just something personal to me, that's all."

"Oooo! Okay, oh the people where you're from must be REALLY strong if you guys don't have any mechashift weapons!" She disappeared in a cloud of rose petals and circled him while Yang stood back with her arms crossed, watching her sister interrogate Ichigo with an amused smirk on her face, "So how did you end up in Vale then? You said you were lost, so its a weird part of town to get lost in. And what sort of semblances do the people where you're from have?"

'Semblance?' He paid attention to Ruby flitting around in bursts of pedals before nodding to himself, 'It must be what Yang used inside the club, and what Ruby is using. They call their powers semblances. So I wonder...' He at least came up with an idea on how to explain his armor away.

He shrugged his shoulders and tapped his sword to his chest, "Yeah, you could say that people where I come from are pretty strong." At first he thought of Kenpachi and shivered, though he then thought of why Ruby said they must be strong. 'I wonder what makes mechashift so important though. Are the people here at war or something?' He'd have to try and find out the relevance later. Maybe it was just a weird cultural thing.

"As for how I ended up here..." He winced, "I'm not too sure. I was already in the middle of a fight when I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I was dumped in the middle of this place. I got no clue how long I was out to have ended up here. Though, as for semblances."

He tapped his sword against his chest again, and the armor from his fullbring began to get absorbed back into the combat pass that formed the hilt of his weapon. He kept control and kept the sword and sheath active rather than letting it fully revert to the combat pass. He was left in a dark long sleeve shirt with two yellow circles on the sleeve just below his left shoulder, a pair of grey jeans, and sneakers to match his pants. Though Ginjo trained him to improve his stamina and increase how long he could hold onto his fullbring he didn't exactly fancy keeping it up twenty-four seven. Dismissing the armor greatly reduced the strain on his body and spiritual pressure, allowing him to give the sisters an easy smile.

"My armor is my semblance. It helps improve my speed and strength, and obviously my durability. There's more to it, but I'm essentially at full strength when I have the armor on." He hoped that was a sufficient enough explanation considering his own lacking knowledge of what exactly a semblance was to begin with.

"Oh. My. GOD! That is so coooool! Semblance ARMOR?! You gotta show me more of what you can do with it sometime!"

Yangs eyes roamed Ichigo's body now that he was without armor, traveling up and down his form as they did. 'Oooh, he is a LOT better looking out of that armor, and he wasn't bad looking to begin with. Me likey.' She shook off those thoughts for the time being however as she frowned, thinking of what he said, "Hey, Ichigo, you said you were in a fight when you got knocked out and woke up here. Do you even know where Vale is, or the guys that knocked you out for that matter?"

Ichigo hesitated. He opened his mouth for a moment then closed it. He thought of what to say before sighing, crossing his arms. "I've honestly never heard of Vale up until now. I didn't know where I woke up when I did, just that it had to be downtown of some city. As for the guys that knocked me out, I gotta assume they're back home. I just don't know how to get back home in the first place..."

Ruby frowned as well and backed up, going to stand next to her sister as the blonde crossed her arms too, "Do you have a scroll to call home or anything? Call your parents or someone you know to help find you?" She took out her own scroll for emphasis, shaking it as she did.

'So they have melee weapons that double as guns, and see through phones that they call scrolls. Okay then.' He thought, grimacing and looking down, "We don't use scrolls, and I don't have my communication device anyway. I checked when I got here. So I don't really have any way of contacting home." Most of what he said wasn't, technically, a lie. Most of everything that he said was the truth, though as things were it didn't change that he was essentially stranded.

He was stranded.

He didn't allow despair to get a grip of him. Not yet. That could come later.

Yang looked to be deep in thought as she looked him over again. She nodded to herself after a bit as she looked him back in the eyes, "So you don't really have anywhere to go then? And I'm guessing you don't have any money to get a roof over your head for the night?"

"Ah, not really, no. At least not any currency that I think would be used here, considering I've never even heard of Vale in the first place."

"Well, that just about settles it then doesn't it sis?" She looked over to her little sister with a grin, having seemingly come to a conclusion. Ruby apparently knew what she was thinking as she grinned back at her, both girls turning their smiles on him, "I guess you're gonna have to come and stay with us till you figure out what to do. After the help you gave me tonight and everything its the least we can do, and it wouldn't feel right to just leave you hanging here. I'm sure our dad won't mind either!"

Ichigo was surprised at the offer, his eyes widening as he looked between the two sisters with a bit of concern, "Are you guys sure? I don't wanna impose or anything, and I'm sure I could figure something out."

Yang waved away his concerns, Ruby nodding along with her sister as Yang spoke, "Pft, oh yeah I'm sure. Dad's an ex huntsman and we're in training. If we just left someone in need to fend for themselves especially after they gave us a hand, well, I'm pretty sure he'd be a lot more upset if we DIDN'T bring you home and give you a place to stay. Of course its up to you whether or not you go in the first place. But I think its better than wandering around till you figure something out, don't you?"

'Huntsman have to be some sort of hero business or something if this is the kinda thing they're all about.' He thought to himself. A small smile grew on his face despite his situation, the teenager nodding, "Alright, if you say so. You lead the way, and give your dad a call ahead anyway. He should probably have a heads up at least that you're bringing a guest over."

"Yes! This is gonna be awesome!" Ruby pumped her fists into the air, turning into a cloud of pedals as she dashed over to a yellow bike.

Yang gave him a wide grin before taking her keys out, "Sounds like a plan. Try not to fall too far behind if you can, I saw how fast you could move in that club."

Ichigo smirked, allowing his armor to form back around himself so he could use the full range of his fullbring again, "I'll try not to get ahead of you if you move too slow either."

So. Been a while ain't it folks? And to get to it I ended up with I think the longest starting chapter in anything I've written at just over 9,800 words. Do NOT expect chapters to be this long on the regular if I even do update regularly lmao.

So, a few things I feel need to be covered though first and foremost.

1. For anyone coming from any of my prior stories (As doubtful as that is but hey) Welcome back, good to see y'all again. I need to clarify that I will not be updating my old stories, or at least I still have no intention to do so any time soon. At some point in time I might go back and rewrite them and then continue, but as it is I do not have any plans to do so. So please do not review with the intent of just asking "Pls continue X story." As for where I've been, I had a lot going on in my personal life and I'd like to just leave things there.

2. I cannot promise a consistent update schedule. I will be moving soon and as it is I'm busy with raising a pair of puppies and a full time job, this is something I do in my free time if I have the motivation to do so. I'm hoping that I can get pretty far with this story, but I honestly cannot make any promises. I'm sorry.

Otherwise, hello! Welcome to Desperate Measures. I wanted to return to the RWBY/Bleach scene and this plot bunny smacked me in the face like a mobster with a baseball bat. I've been workin on it for a bit, and a good bit of it has been rewritten and changed a good bit. In fact the original version of chapter 1 completed was closer to 8300 words. A part of the credit for this story, however, I would like to give to Spriggy13.

Now if you really adore RWBY/Bleach crossovers, chances are you already know of him, but he helped me brainstorm some ideas for this story which actually did help me consider story elements for the future and make some changes here. He's got a great story if you HAVEN'T read it called To Shatter Fate, and I very much recommend giving it a read if you haven't already. It's a great crossover that's well written, interesting, and still being actively updated at over 250k words if ya like the longer stories.

Also Spriggy, if ya reading this and actually did enjoy the chapter, thank you. I really do appreciate the help.

Now I may come back and change things to make the writing flow more smoothly, I already did a good bit of that as is, but if I make any actual plot changes I will be letting y'all know. However on that subject, if there are any experienced beta readers I would very much like some help. As said I cannot promise consistency so I will understand a lack of interest but hey, here's to tryin!

Alright, anyway. This note is too long. I've already started work on chapter 2, so hopefully it won't be too too long before that, and hopefully y'all enjoy what I got planned!

Also if anyone has any good ideas for a cover image, again greatly appreciated xD