Bleach: Jigoku Files

by Bloody Simpson Chibi

The Shinigami of Soul Society are tasked with keeping the balance of souls in check. But what happens when outside forces work against this balance? Forces that are evil and violent by nature? Forces that push the Shinigami to question everything they've been taught? Forces that feed off horror and fear? Rated M. Alternate continuity from after the Lost Agent Arc

10. Dream Warriors (Side 1)

Chapter 10: Dream Warriors (Side 1)

The following morning, the Sun rose slowly over the destroyed Seireitei, its light revealing all the carnage and destruction that took place not but several hours ago as well as the Arrancar who caused it. The Fredheads, as they now called themselves, were surveying the area for any remaining Shinigami to destroy. A particularly large one with half of his face concealed by his ram-like mask led the search. "Have you found anything yet?" He bellowed to his subordinates.

"No sir!" A female Arrancar with violet hair and green eyes answered. "So far, we haven't been able to even sense their spiritual pressure."

"Dammit!" The ram-headed Arrancar growled as he marched toward his subordinate. "Why are all of you so useless? We're only looking for the entire Gotei 13 and their allies! It's not like I'm asking you to find a needle in a haystack or a drop of rainwater in the ocean am I?" He delivered a vicious kick to the female Arrancar's stomach, sending her flying against the nearby wall. This wall, all that remained of the Squad 5 barracks, crumpled to the ground as she fell through. The violet-haired Arrancar picked herself up and coughed up a few droplets of blood before turning toward her leader and bowing her head. "I'm sorry for my failure sir. I wish I was more useful."

"Don't apologize to me!" The lead Arrancar snarled. "Apologize to Master Freddy! He won't be able to create his new kingdom until every last one of those Shinigami's heads are on a pike! Now keep searching! We must find them soon!"

"Yes sir!" The violet-haired Arrancar bowed again and resumed her search for the Shinigami, completely unaware that they were all several feet beneath her, planning their counterattack.

---

"So let's go over the plan one final time just to make sure that everyone understands," Kisuke suggested to the group he had brought to the crate room. This group consisted of the remaining Captains, the Arrancar, Ichigo, and his friends. They all listened carefully as Kisuke spoke. "Now obviously the first step in the plan is to get to Sokyoku Hill and confront Freddy. I have the Kyujurokkei Kakafumestsu good and ready for sealing Freddy but once it's activated, Freddy will need to be brought into a weakened state in order for it to work. That's why we'll need our absolute strongest for this job. Ichigo, you're a pretty obvious choice for this endeavor."

"I'll do my best!" Ichigo promised.

"Besides Ichigo and myself, the team heading the Sokyoku Hill will comprise of Zaraki, Shunsui, Marechiyo, and the Arrancar.

"Hell yeah!" Zaraki roared happily. "Finally I get to fight that Freddy bastard and see what all the fuss is about!"

"Just don't get in my way!" Grimmjow growled. "Otherwise, I'll kill ya!"

"Oh yeah!" Zaraki shoved his face into Grimmjow's. "Maybe we should have a battle right here and now to decide who gets to fight Freddy!"

Grimmjow sneered. "Sounds good to me!"

"Knock it off both of you!" Harribel commanded. "This is no time to be fighting amongst ourselves!"

"That's right." Kisuke agreed. "I'm sure we all want a dig or two at Freddy considering everything he's done so far, but we must remember the ultimate objective of defeating him first and foremost. We can't afford to let personal feelings get in the way now."

Zaraki and Grimmjow continued to glare at each other for a few seconds before breaking the mutual stare down with a scoff. Almost everyone else in the room sighed in relief.

"Of course, there's also the trouble of the Fredheads as well as the two remaining Fraccion by Freddy's side. From what we've seen so far, the male Fraccion, Atama can deafen a Zanpakuto so that it does not respond to its user's commands while the other one, Harekuin, can control Reiryoku to a limited degree, allowing her to disrupt and cancel Kido spells."

Rukia groaned as she remembered experiencing Harekuin's abilities firsthand in battle.

"As for the Fredheads, while I don't think any of them possess powers nearly as annoying as Freddy's Fraccion, they'll still be a real pain in the butt for us trying to make it to Sokyoku Hill. So here's what I'm proposing." Kisuke turned to Retsu. "Captain Unohana, would you be willing to give us a lift to Sokyoku Hill with Minazuki?"

Restu murmured in annoyance as she did not appreciate her Zanpakuto being used as a taxi. However, given the situation, she decided to go along with it. "Very well, but only as far as helping you get to Sokyoku Hill. Afterward, I must return to the sewers to look after the wounded. I'm sure that's what the Head Captain would have wanted." She turned to Orihime. "Miss Inoue, can we count on your help tending to the wounded?"

"O-Of course!" Orihime answered. In truth, she wanted to go with Ichigo's group to help them out in the battle against Freddy. However, Hantaro had convinced her earlier that her powers would be of more use here. Seeing those affected by Akumu No Otome writhing in pain and fear was enough for Orihime to agree with him. "Even my power couldn't wake them up." She thought sadly. "Freddy's powers are unlike anything we've seen before. Even still, I do my very best to help out!"

Retsu then turned to Sajin. "Captain Komamura, will you please protect this place while I'm gone?"

Sajin nodded. "My Tenken will let no enemy through. I promise you that."

She smiled in response before turning back to Kisuke who continued with the plan.

"Not only will Minazuki allow us to fly over the Fredheads and straight onto Sokyoku Hill but the sight of it should provide enough of a distraction for our forces to get the jump on the enemy.

"Are you sure they'll be enough?" Harribel asked. "The Fredheads are practically an army in of themselves."

"But so are we." Kensei interjected. "And while I mean no offense to you personally, the fact is these Arrancar don't have half the fighting experience we do. Compared to what you guys have to pull off, I'd say we get the easy part."

The other Captains nodded in agreement, the sole exception being Mayuri who simply scoffed, still dejected that he wouldn't be able to dissect Freddy anytime soon.

"And as for Freddy's Fraccion," Kisuke continued. "I think our best course of action will be to bring two additional people along and have them lure the Arrancar away from Freddy. Any volunteers?"

There was chatter among the Captains at once, debating over who would take on Freddy's Fraccion. Before the argument could escalate, however, Uryu stood up and raised his hand. "I'll go!"

"Uyru?" Ichigo asked. "Are you sure about this?"

"As a Quincy, I do not side myself with Shinigami or Arrancar." Uyru explained. "That being said, It would forever stain my pride as a Quincy if I simply ignored a monster like Freddy Krueger. Plus, as I do not use a Zanpakuto, Atama's powers will be completely useless against me." He turned to Ichigo. "Allow me to take him out of the equation."

"Uryu," Ichigo repeated with a small smile.

"In that case, I wish to take on Harekuin!" Rukia declared, eliciting a few gasps from the others in the room.

"Rukia!?" Orihime cried. "Are you sure about this?"

"In truth I was waiting for an opportunity like this," Rukia confessed. "This monster, this Freddy Krueger, has invaded our home, killed some of our closest friends, made an absolute mockery of all that we stand for, and now has put even more of our loved ones under a horrifying power."

Everyone grimaced as they remembered Akumu No Otome's power and all their allies who, even now, were trapped in an eternal nightmare because of it.

"My brother, my best friend, even my Captain!" Rukia began to tear up and quickly fought them back with force. "They are all suffering right now because of that monster! I can't just stand by and do nothing. So please, let me take care of Harekuin at the very least!"

"Rukia." Ichigo uttered. Last night's memories of Rukia crying into his chest and curling up in his lap came running back into his mind, causing him to blush. He quickly shook his head in order to alleviate it and it seemed to work. Orihime noticed this and while she said nothing, she continued to watch Ichigo with quiet curiosity.

"Just to be clear, you do fully understand what Harekuin is capable of right Rukia?" Kisuke asked.

Rukia nodded. "I've engaged in battle with her before. I know I won't be able to rely on any of my Kido spells this time." She unsheathed her Zanpakuto and rose it above herself. "So instead, I will rely on Sode No Shirayuki to win this fight."

"Very well." Kisuke consented. "Uryu and Rukia. You two will be in charge of luring Freddy's Fraccion away from him, isolating them, and destroying them. There's just one more thing," Kisuke reached into his robes and pulled out a light blue candy. "Nel? Could you please come here for a moment?"

Nel, who had been sitting between her brothers silently as the conversation went on, nodded and hopped over to Kisuke.

"Here, eat this!" Kisuke shoved the candy into Nel's mouth, much to everyone's disgust.

"What the hell Kisuke?" Ichigo shouted. "You can't just-

*P O O F*

Where the tiny Nel was standing not but a minute ago, a fully grown Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck now stood, once again dressed in the same white leotard as before. Kisuke's hand was still in her mouth not for his lack of trying to get it out and it took Nelliel a few seconds to realize this and release it with a gag. "S-Sorry!" She sputtered.

Kisuke stared at his slobbered-covered hand in silent gloom. "It's quite alright. So tell me, how do you feel?"

"How do I feel?" Nelliel looked over herself as well as her surroundings. Fully taking in the fact that she was her old self again, she smiled and scooped Kisuke up in a giant hug. "I feel fantastic! Thank you so much, Mr. Hat Man!" She cried. "I'm finally back to my regular self!"

"That's...no...problem...but...please...don't...kill...me...with...gratitude!" Kisuke's strained pleas for mercy were drowned out by the sounds of his bones breaking.

"Nel! I mean, Miss Nel! Please stop!" Orihime pleaded. "You're going to crush Mr. Urahara to death!"

"Oh!" Nelliel released her grip, allowing a barely conscious Kisuke to fall back to the ground. "Sorry...again!"

"It's...quite...alright..." Kisuke managed to choke out before fainting.

"Crap!" Ichigo shouted. "We gotta revive him!" He and his friends rushed to Kisuke's side at once while Nelliel approached her fellow Arrancar.

"Master Nelliel!" Dondochakka and Pesche shouted in Unison. "Glad to have you back!"

"I'm glad to be back." Neillel looked over herself again. "Do you think it's permanent this time?"

"If not, let's just hope that it's long enough to defeat Freddy and save both our worlds," Harribel replied. "I'm glad we'll have you by our side in this battle."

"Thank you so much Queen Harribel." Neilliel bowed.

"Tsk. Whatever. Just don't get in my way!" Grimmjow groaned. His annoyance only grew when Nelliel's brothers proceeded in invade his personal space.

"Oh Come on Grimmjow!" Pesche nudged his right. "Don't be such a grumpy cat!"

"Yeah!" Dondochakka nudged his left. "Admit it! You think Master Nelliel is cute in her adult form don't ya?"

Grimmjow growled louder than ever. "WHO SAID YOU IDIOTS COULD TOUCH ME!?"

As Grimmjow chased Pesche and Dondochakka out of the room, Harribel and Neillel turned their attention to Ichigo and his friends as they worked to revive Kisuke. "I know this much," Neillel said. "With Ichigo by our side, there's no way we can lose!"

---

"Anything yet? The ram-headed Arrancar asked his underlings as they searched through the rubble of Squad 5's barracks. His violet-haired assailant was reluctant to answer him for she had found nothing since the last time he had asked and knew such an answer would result in a beating. Knowing that not answering him might mean death, however, she sighed heavily and opened her mouth to reply. That's as far she got before another Arrancar suddenly screamed, "Hey! What the hell is that?"

A huge shadow fell over her and her leader and they looked up to see a giant stingray-like creature flying high above the Seireitei.

"That's one of the Captain's Shikai!" The ram-headed Arrancar grunted. "The Shinigami are making their move!" He turned to his subordinate and viciously stuck her on the side of the head, sending her rolling into the ground. "See what happens when you don't follow my orders? If you had just done your job and found them before they were ready, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"I'm...I'm sorry...Master Rema." The violet-haired Arrancar passed out from the pain.

"Worthless piece of trash!" Rema turned to his remaining lackeys. "The Shinigami are no doubt heading toward Master Freddy! We must shoot that creature down before it reaches the hill!"

"I'm on it!" A male Arrancar declared before unsheathing his Zanpakuto." Flay them red, Rosa Espinosa! The sword in his hand glowed a brilliant green that encompassed the Arrancar as well. Once it dissipated, the Arrancar's left arm was now replaced with a thorny vine that ended in a giant curved hook. "I'll ensnare that creature and drag it back down along with anyone on it!" The Arrancar laughed manically as he threw the hook up toward the fleeing creature. Before he could hit his mark, however, the whip was suddenly snapped in two by a fierce gust of wind.

"What!?" The Arrancar quickly turned around to see where the wind had come from, only to be hit by a glowing orb that wedged itself into his stomach before exploding. The shockwaves of the blast sent the remaining Arrancar, including Rema, flying. Rema quickly returned to his feet and stared in horror at the remains of his subordinate before turning his attention to the fleeing creature that was already nearly out of sight.

"Sorry but we can't let you interfere with Minazuki"

Rema turned around and found himself face-to-face with a white-haired Shinigami Captain wielding a combat knife in his left hand. Behind him was a small army of Shinigami, all with their weapons drawn and released. Although their forces were small, they all had a look of pure determination in their eyes.

"I see." Rema replied. "I suppose you Shinigami are trying to take your final pathetic stand against Master Freddy, eh?" He drew his sword and whistled with his fingers against his mouth. At once, not only did his remaining men rush to his side and draw their own swords but a large number of other Arrancar hiding in the rumble did as well. "I suppose I should commend you for that. Instead of running away or surrendering, you'd all rather die fighting."

"You got a problem with that?" The white-haired Captain inquired.

"Of course not, in fact," Rema bought the sword to his face and pointed it at the Shinigami. "As the first-ever General of Master Freddy's army, I, Rema Nyuga, welcome the challenge!"

---

"We're almost there!" Kisuke shouted as Minazuki flew toward Sokyoku Hill. "Now remember, once we get there, I need to land the first hit on him. That way, I can plant the Kido. Once that's done, feel free to go nuts."

"Just hurry up with it!" Zaraki groaned. "All this waiting around is killing me."

Ichigo turned to Rukia and Uryu. "Are you guys sure you'll be alright?" The glare both of them gave Ichigo in response startled him so much, he almost fell off of Minazuki.

"Ichigo you fool!" Rukia scolded. "Have a little faith in us won't you?"

"Me and Rukia have already discussed a plan to separate Atama and Harekuin from Freddy's side. It's a simple plan but one that should work if all goes well."

Ichigo allowed himself a small smile. "I'm glad to hear that."

Uryu and Rukia both noticed this smile and returned the favor. "Just focus on your part of the plan Ichigo, remember it falls on you to end this."

"Doesn't it always?" Ichigo sighed.

"Hey! Look over there!" Nelliel shouted as she pointed to Sokyoku Hill. On the top of the hill, sitting in the exact same spot he had forged Akumu No Otome, was Freddy. The throne he was sitting on had been haphazardly put together with the various body parts of dead Shinigami and on either side of it, Freddy's two remaining Fraccion stood guard over their master, Atama to the right and Harekuin to the left.

"Gah!" Marechiyo gasped. "A..Are those Shinigami he's sitting on?"

"Sick bastard," Uryu muttered.

Shunsui adjusted his hat. "Freddy's got some unusual taste in home decor. That's for sure."

"What an awful insult to the dead." Harribel hissed. "We must destroy him at all cost."

"I agree," Retsu spoke as her Shikai lowered itself to the top of the hill. Freddy and his Fraccion were quick to notice the new arrivals, the latter drawing their weapons at once.

"Master Freddy, the enemy is here!" Atama stated. "What are your orders?"

"Stay put for now, " Freddy commanded. "Let's just size them up for a bit."

Atama and Harekuin exchanged a nervous glance but complied with Freddy's request and remained in place, watching with their master as all but the Captain of Squad 4 hopped off the flying creature.

"Once things calm down in the Seireitei, I'll be back with Orihime Inoue." She promised as Minazuki began to take off again. "Please try not to die before then."

"Don't say things like that right before we're gonna go into battle!" Marechiyo whined. It took all the willpower the lieutenant of Squad 2 could muster not to call back for Retsu as he watched her and Minazuki vanish into the sky.

"Well well well," Freddy cooed as the group approached him. "Look who finally worked up the balls to face me." His gaze focused on the Arrancar among the group. "I see we have a few traitors among the group." He got up from his throne as he spoke.

"Don't be full of yourself." Harribel retorted. "To call us traitors would imply that any of us at some point swore allegiance to you, and I for one do not recall such an incident."

"Me neither," Grimmjow growled. "I'd go back to Aizen, lick his boots and beg him to kick my ass before I'd ever even consider taking orders from the likes of you!"

"How dare you speak to Master Freddy in such a manner!" Atama shouted. "He is the new ruler of all and you will treat him as such."

Grimmjow sneered at the black-haired Arrancar. "Oh yeah? Then why don't you make me?"

"Bastard!" Harekuin and Atama both charged at Grimmjow. In their anger at the former Espada's disrespect to their master, they were deaf to Freddy's demands for them to stop.

"Now!" Both Rukia and Uryu shouted in unison. Using her Hoho and his Hirenkyaku respectfully, the two charged the Arrancar, grabbed their shoulders and used those same techniques to pull them out of the area, all within the span of three seconds. The force of the speed techniques being used so close to each other was enough to dismantle Freddy's corpse throne.

"What the fuc-" Freddy was not even given enough time to finish his exclamation before noticing Kisuke behind him and ready to strike. "Not so fast fucker!" Freddy raked the blades of his Zanpakuto through Kisuke, expecting to feel the Shinigami's blood splatter on his face and hear his pained screams. Instead, the body in front of him simply popped like a balloon, startling Freddy. "The fuck!?"

"Surprise!" Kisuke slashed Freddy's back before flash-stepping away back to the group, narrowly missing Freddy's blades in the process. "Haha! Portable Gigais!" He laughed. "They never stop amusing me!"

Ichigo was still reeling from the shock of what his close friends had just done. "So that was their big plan huh?" He thought. "Uryu was right. It was so simple it's stupid!" He turned to Kisuke and asked. "So did you do it?"

Kisuke quickly dropped his coy facade as he answered Ichigo. "Yeah. The Kido's in place. Now all we need to do is weaken him until it activates."

"Right!" Ichigo pointed Zangestu toward a seething Freddy whose newest flesh wound was already closing. "Good luck guys." He thought. "And please be careful."

---

Uryu took Atama to the bridge connecting the hill to the Senzaikyu, throwing the Arrancar hard against the floor of the bridge. "Sorry," Uryu uttered as he landed at the opposite end of the bridge. "With everything you and your master have put us through, I'm afraid I got carried away."

"Bastard!" Atama picked himself up and surveyed his surroundings. "We're at the other side of the hill." He glared at Uryu. "I see. You meant to separate me and Harekuin from Master Freddy right from the very beginning didn't you?"

"That's right," Uyru confirmed as he held out his hands as if he were going to shoot an arrow. At once, blue energy manifested within his hands and before long, Uryu held a bow and arrow of pure Reishi pointed at Atama. "And I'm afraid you won't be seeing your beloved Master again."

"Hmph! So you're a Quincy?" Atama burst into laughter, much the Uryu's annoyance.

"What's so funny?" He demanded.

"Oh I'm well aware of you Quincies and your vow to destroy all Hollows." Atama pointed his sword at Uyru. "I'm also aware of how your kind were so utterly destroyed by the Shinigami ages ago. To be honest, I thought you were all extinct. What a shame that I was wrong."

Uryu said nothing as he knew Atama was simply trying to provoke him.

"Oh well, I guess I'll have to do the Shinigami's job for them!" Atama held his sword over his head. "Cut them down, Sairentosodo!" The sword in Atama's hand suddenly sprouted wings, much to Uyru's confusion. As the Quincy watched, the wings slowly enclosed his opponent until he was completely concealed by the snow-white feathers. After a few seconds, the wings unfurled themselves, only now they were attached to Atama rather than the sword. The strange decoration he wore on his nose now covered the top half of his face as a tengu-like mask and black armor adorned his body. Dangling from the hilt of his sword was the bell that had deafened so many Zanpakuto.

"Just so you know," Uryu said. "Your Zanpakuto's ability will not work on my weapons."

"I'm well aware of that," Atama grunted. "The fact is, I don't need Sairentosodo's power to defeat you." Using Sonido, Atama vanished from Uryu's sight and reappeared on his right. Before Uryu could aim his arrow, Atama sliced his arm open, staining his snow-white clothes red with blood. As Uryu screamed and clutched his now-wounded arm, Atama returned to his original place on the bridge. "You'll find I'm quite the skilled swordsman myself."

---

Rukia took Harekuin to the other side of the hill, finally stopping in the middle of the white forest growing there. As she stopped, she released Harekuin's shoulder, allowing the bemused Arrancar to fly right into a tree with enough force to knock it down. "Ow!" Harekuin whined as she picked herself up from the tree while rubbing her back. "That hurt you bitch!"

"Oh spare me!" Rukia scoffed. "I intend to make you pay for what you and your master have done to our friends so don't expect any sympathy from me."

"Friends?" Harekuin rubbed her head as if trying to recall something and let out a loud "Aha!" once she had. "You must mean those assholes who got hit by Mistah K's Zanpakuto!"

Rukia grunted.

"How are they?" Harekuin mockingly asked. "Are they still screaming? Are they still crying out in their sleep? Are they begging for an awakening that will never come!?" She burst into a bout of insane laughter.

Rukia's blood boiled and for a single second, she felt the desire to charge at her opponent and ram her sword through her body while she laughed. Thankfully, as level-headed as she was, she recomposed herself. "I cannot give in to anger. Not now." She thought. "It's only natural that she would prey on my emotions in an effort to make me falter. She's no different than her master in that regard." Rukia unsheathed her sword. "But I will not give in. For Renji, Captain Ukitake, and Nii-Sama, I will defeat her!"

Rukia held out her sword in front of her and, while turning it counter-clockwise, cried out, "Dance, Sode No Shirayuki!" As it turned, the Zanpakuto turned a beautiful snow-white and a ribbon formed from out of the pommel. A rush of cold air blew from Rukia in all directions and Harekuin's laughter ceased once it reached her. "Brrr! How do you stand that sword!?"

"A Shinigami is never bothered by the element with which their weapon fights," Rukia explained. "In any case, I'd be much more worried about myself if I were you." Rukia pointed her blade at Harekuin. "Because this cold will be the last sensation you will ever feel."

Harekuin sneered upon Rukia's declaration. "Is that a fact? Well let's test it out then!" Harekuin unsheathed her own Zanpakuto and called out, "Disillusion 'em, Majo!" The tip of the sword began to glow violet. As Rukia watched, the glow traveled through the sword until it had reached the grip. Once the entire weapon was glowing, a cloud of purple smoke began to seep from it and engulf Harekuin. After a few seconds, the cloud suddenly and violently dispersed, revealing Harekuin's released form. The resulting wind caused the bladed hem of her tutu to sway to and fro as well as the blades at the end of her twin tails. "Shall we begin?" She cooed while making a beckoning gesture to Rukia.

"Lets!" And with that final word, Rukia and Harekuin charged at each other.

---

"As if I'd ever let you get near the wounded!" Sajin snarled as he slammed his sword down. Tenken, who was currently standing over the sewer entrance, repeated his master's action, taking out a small group of would-be intruders in the process. The entire Seireitei had once again become a battlefield, only this time it was on a much more even footing. The Shinigami, who were caught off guard and unprepared the day before, were now not only ready but willing, thirsting for vengeance for their fallen comrades and destroyed home. Despite this, there were still huge casualties on both sides and as the battle raged on, more bodies littered the grounds of the Seireitei.

"Mashiro Kick!" The lieutenant of Squad 9 cried out as she leaped toward a female Arrancar with her foot stretched out. Before the Arrancar could even draw out her sword, Mashiro's foot carved a hole in her skull, killing her instantly. "Where is that stupid Kensei?" Mashiro muttered as she landed, the rest of the Arrancar's head was crushed into a puddle underneath her foot. "Hey Baldy! Have you seen him anywhere?"

"No, I haven't," Ikkaku replied. "And don't call me bald. My head is shaved." The 3rd seat of Squad 11 was sitting on a pile of dead Arrancar. Despite not being able to call out his Zanpakuto, Ikkaku was still able to take them out thanks to his physical strength and swordsmanship. Regardless, he still did not feel the thrill of battle he once possessed and at some point in the fight, he had simply stopped. Mashiro seemed to notice this and approached him. "How come you're not looking for more Arrancar to kill?"

"Do you not see the corpses lying under my ass?" Ikkaku retorted. "I've done enough for today. At least, as much as I can do in my current situation."

Mashiro made one of her trademark pouting faces and kicked Ikkaku on the side of the head. The bald Shinigami was sent flying through the air until he collided with an Arrancar and smashed them against the nearby wall. Ikkaku slid down from the bloody smear that was once the Arrancar and quickly picked himself up again. "Hey! What the hell was that for?" Ikkaku shouted.

"Stupid baldy!" Mashiro taunted. "Feeling bad for himself just because his Zanpakuto doesn't work! I don't even need a Zanpakuto to kill the bad guys because I'm awesome and you suck!"

"What was that?" A vein protruded from Ikkaku's forehead. "Come here and say that to my face!"

"Aww. Have I stumbled upon a lover's spat?" A voice from the front asked Ikkaku and Mashiro. Both Shinigami turned to see a shape approaching them from the shadows. As the being came closer, they saw that it was Arrancar with a ram skull covering half of his face, the horn curled to twice the size of his head. He had black hair with a small mustache. and his outfit had a regal appearance with a cape flowing behind him. His hollow hole was located in his chest and he was dragging something behind him with his right hand. In his left, he held what looked like a pen. "I must say, it's not wise to have petty arguments in the heat of battle." He continued. "It could cost you dearly."

"Just who are you?" Ikkaku asked. Mashiro said nothing but poised herself for another deadly kick.

"You can call me Rema Nyuga and I believed I introduced myself earlier, did I not?"

Ikkaku thought back to when the battle had begun. "Oh yeah! Now I remember! You were spouting some nonsense about being Freddy's general to Captain Muguruma right?"

"Captain Muguruma?" Rema smiled sadistically as he lifted up the object he was dragging behind him. "You mean him?"

Ikkaku and Mashiro's eyes widened with horror. Dangling from Rema's hand was a broken and bloodied Kensei. The broken pieces of his Hollow mask were slowly falling away from his face shard by shard.

"Kensei!" Mashiro cried.

"I have to admit, he was quite the tough opponent." Rema continued. "In fact, if it wasn't for him trying to save one of his subordinates, I might have not been able to take him down." Rema broke into laughter. "You Shinigami are such sentimental creatures!"

"You bastard!" With a quick move of her hand, Mashiro materialized a Hollow mask over her face and leaped several feet into the air. As gravity called her body back toward the ground, she extended her leg toward Rema with the intention to decapitate him with a single kick. "Mashiro Kick!"

"Ah! So you are one of these Visored as well huh?" Rema asked calmly. "Do me a favor and stop trying to copy us Arrancar." Rema lifted up his pen and made a swinging motion with it as if it were a sword. At first, nothing seemed to happen and it looked as if Mashiro would be able to deliver her fatal kick after all. And then, with a small spray of blood, her outstretched leg suddenly separated from her body and flew up into the air.

Mashiro was too shocked to even cry out in pain as she found herself sent back up into the sky as well by a gust of wind. The blood from her severed leg splashed into her eyes and as she tried to wipe it off, she felt another flash of pain in her other leg and then, the horrifying sensation of it coming off as well. Mashiro felt more blood splash against her body and finished wiping the blood from her eyes just as she collided with the ground below with enough force to crack it. Her severed legs fell several feet from either side of her.

"Lieutenant Kuna!" Ikkaku screamed. "You bastard! What did you do to her!?"

"What are you talking about?" Rema asked. "Do you mean this?" Before Ikkaku could react, Rema whipped his pen again and sent a sudden gust of wind toward him. The wind knocked Ikkaku into the wall several feet behind him and sliced open his chest. "Gah!" Ikkaku fell back to the ground with a thud as Rema laughed.

"This is the power of my Zanpakuto, Viento Cabra! They say the pen is mightier than the sword and in this case, it is the cold truth! Why with just a couple of strokes," Rema made a few circles with the pen this time, causing the wind to spiral as it followed the tip. As Ikkaku watched, a whirlwind formed around the tip of the pen, picking up blood and other debris from all around. "I can create a whirlwind of power!" With yet another bout of maniacal laughter, Rema threw the whirlwind at Ikkaku.

"Dammit!" Knowing that he wouldn't be able to dodge in time, Ikkaku took a defensive stance with his sword stabbed into the ground and prepared for the impact. The wind ripped through Ikkaku, tearing the top half of his robes clean off. With his chest and back now exposed, the sharp wind was able to cut and slice into his flesh from all sides and while Ikkaku almost made it through the ordeal without reacting, near the end of the wind's rage, he couldn't help but cough out a few droplets of blood. Ikkaku slumped down to the ground as Rema laughed.

"Still alive eh?" Rema asked. "Well don't worry! You won't be for long! And once you're in Hell with your fellow Shinigami," Rema paused to hold Viento Cabra up to the sky before shouting, "You can tell them that it was the General of Master Freddy's army, Rema Nuyga, that killed you!"

---

"Come on!" Zaraki screamed. "Show a little more backbone!" The Captain of Squad 11 slammed his Zanpakuto down on his fedora-wearing opponent, cleanly cutting him in half. The two halves immediately rejoined themselves and the resulting being lashed out at Zaraki with his blades again. Once again, due to the sheer force of Zaraki's spiritual pressure, Freddy's blades bent backward before hitting Zaraki, forcing the shaken dream demon to jump back. "What the hell is this guy?" Freddy thought as he was bisected by Zaraki's blade. "No matter how many times I try, I can't make so much as a scratch on this asshole! Can spiritual pressure really make that much of a difference?"

Freddy rejoined himself once again and commanded the blades of his Akumu No Otome to straighten themselves out again. "It's a good thing Akumu No Otome inherited my indestructibility as well as my dream powers." Freddy outstretched his arm in yet another attempt to slice Zaraki. Undaunted, the Squad 11 Captain grabbed Freddy's wrist and pulled him toward his sword, impaling him on the jagged blade. Freddy cried out in pain as green blood sputtered from his mouth. "You...You're an even bigger pain in the ass than Hockey Puck."

"Hockey Puck?" Zaraki asked. "I don't know who the hell that is and I don't care! I've been waiting to fight you for a while now so quit dicking around and show me your true power!"

"My true power eh?" Freddy thought for a second." Oh, I think I got just the thing!" Freddy stared into Zaraki's eyes. "Hey Zaraki, let's trip out!"

"Huh? Trip out?" Zaraki meant to ask Freddy what he meant by that but was distracted by the sky and ground vanishing behind Freddy, leaving only inky blackness. Two purple walls suddenly formed at either side of Freddy and Zaraki and as the latter watched, his opponent suddenly flew back from his sword and into the darkness, smiling and laughing all the way. "Hey! Get back here!" Zaraki demanded as he chased Freddy through the newly formed hallway. He could just barely make out Freddy's mocking outline from the darkness.

"Come on Kenny!" Freddy called out. "Don't you want to fight me? Come and get me!" Hahahaha!"

"Quit running you bastard!" Zaraki called out. "You can't run forever! I'll catch up to you and when I do, you're mine!"

...

"Wh...What the hell is that thing?" Ichigo asked. Hovering several feet above Sokyoku Hill was a great black labyrinth-like object. He and the others had watched in confusion as the labyrinth formed around both Freddy and Zaraki and left the former behind as it rose into the sky. The labyrinth was constantly rearranging itself in ways that by all definition, should be impossible in the Third Dimension. Freddy howled in laughter as the labyrinth continuously changed shape. "You bastard!" Ichigo growled. "What did you do to Zaraki!?"

"Relax Carrot Top!" Freddy replied. "All I did was stuff ol' Hockey Puck 2.0 in a little pocket dimension to keep him out of my hair." Freddy sighed and shook his head. "I'd hate to admit it but that son of a bitch is tough! I couldn't even slash him with Akumu No Otome without the blades bending. So I decided to put him aside for the time being. He'll be running through that maze until I figure out how to kill him. Or he runs out of air and dies. Whichever comes first." Freddy erupted into another bout of evil laughter as Ichigo gritted his teeth.

"Easy Ichigo." Kisuke warned. "Don't forget Freddy's biggest weapon isn't Akumu No Otome but his ability to rile people up. We'll save Captain Kenpachi in due time but until then, don't lose your cool."

Ichigo tensed up, only to let out his frustration in a drawn-out sigh. "I know."

"Kageoni!" Shunsui's voice sounded from underneath Freddy's feet as his blade sliced through the Dream Demon's foot. Freddy uttered a surprised cry and jumped back, ripping his still-impaled foot in half as he made his escape. He landed on his good foot only for his leg to buckle under the weight of his body and allow him to fall. From the shadows, Shunsui slowly emerged. "You really should learn to pay attention in battle. I managed to hurt you with the same technique twice now."

"Fool me once, shame on you," Freddy grumbled as he gripped his injured foot and squeezed the sides together, allowing the split appendage to become whole again. "Fool me twice, shame on me." He hopped back on his feet and flexed his weapon. Shunsui followed suit and got into a battle stance.

"You know, in a way, it's actually a damn shame." Shunsui mused. "Had things worked out differently in your life, you could have become a very fine Shinigami."

"Thanks but I prefer to eat souls rather than save them." Freddy grinned as his gaze lowered toward Shunsui's weapon. "And I'm sure Akumu No Otome's gonna love the taste of your Zanpakuto's souls as well."

Shunsui looked down at his weapons for a moment before returning his gaze to Freddy. "Do you really think so? Because I'd have to disagree." Shunsui brought his weapons up. "You see, Katen Kyokotsu is a pretty fickle gal and doesn't really like to play fair. Not even with me. She'd most likely leave a sour taste in your Zanpakuto's mouth."

Freddy laughed. "So basically, you're saying your sword is a total bitch? Given her pedant for stabbing me through my own shadow, I can understand where you're coming from." Freddy rose his right hand and flexed his blades. "But I'm sure it's nothing Akumu No Otome can't handle."

"Then let's just test that out, shall we?" Shunsui spun around with his blades pointed in different directions. "Bushogoma!" The wind blades created from his spinning merged together as they were launched at Freddy. The Dream Demon slashed his finger blades toward the circle of wind, creating four powerful air slashes of his own. The two weaponized air currents crashed into one another, creating a shockwave that blew Freddy backward. By digging into the ground with his blades, Freddy was able to quickly return to his feet and even managed to catch his hat before it flew too far. As he put it back on, Freddy scanned the area for his opponent but couldn't find him. "Where'd that asshole run off to?"

A shadow loomed over Freddy from behind, prompting the dream demon to look up. Shunsui was now falling toward him, his blades poised to strike. "Takaoni!" Shunsui shouted as he brought the blades down on Freddy. Using his own blades, Freddy blocked Shunsui's attack and the two found themselves in a stalemate, both struggling to push the other back.

"What the hell's your deal?" Freddy hissed. "You must have called out at least five different attacks by now! I thought you Shinigami bastards could only have one Shikai!"

"We do." Shunsui explained calmly. "Mine's just a little more versatile than most." Shunsui started pushing Freddy back. "You see, my Katen Kyokotsu's ability is to make children's games real."

"Children's games? I've never heard of any fucking games like these before!"

"Well, I suppose American children play different games than those in Japan," Shunsui suggested. "In any case, Katen Kyokotsu decides on the rules and anyone caught within her spiritual pressure is bound by those rules. You win, you live. You lose, you die. She's a fickle one alright."

"So you've said." Freddy stopped resisting Shunsui's push and allowed the Shinigami to press his blades closer. "You know, My Akumu No Otome is quite the fickle girl herself. She loves the taste of souls, regardless of whether it's the soul of a human, Shinigami, Hollow, or even a Zanpakuto! You think you and your little friends came here to take me out and save your home but all you've done is offer Akumu No Otome a smorgasbord of souls! Hahahaha!"

"Is that right?" Shunsui pressed his sword harder into Freddy's blades, feeling relieved when he heard a crack. "Well sorry to disappoint Akumu No Otome but it looks like you won't be able to cut me after all."

To the Squad 8 Captain's surprise, Freddy simply cackled in response. "Who said I need to cut you to activate Akumu No Otome?"

"What!?" His composure lost to Freddy for the second time, Shunsui looked down at his swords and realized with utter horror that it was his Kyokotsu that was cracking. Akumu No Otome's blades were cutting into the tachi, slowly absorbing its spiritual essence in the process. Panicked, Shunsui flashed-stepped away from the still-laughing Freddy and returned to the group. No sooner was he back to a standstill that the tachi half of his daisho sword pair broke apart. The pieces fell to the ground and were followed by Shunsui's knees.

"Shunsui!" Ichigo shouted as he quickly knelt down to help the Squad 8 Captain. Nelliel quickly followed suit.

"His blade...it never cut me...it only blocked my Zanpakuto." Shunsui continued to pant for a few more seconds before lifting up his head to face Ichigo and the others. To their shock and horror, one of Shunsui's eyes had become blank and half-closed, as if he were under a trance. "It can steal our Zanpakuto's souls right from the blade."

"Scary!" Pesche and Dondochakka cried in unison as they held each other close.

"Well this is quite the pickle." Kisuke sighed as he fixed up his hat. "Not only do we have to avoid getting cut by Akumu No Otome but it would seem blocking its attacks with our Zanpakuto is out of the question as well. Our only choice is to avoid it entirely."

Grimmjow offered another annoyed "Tsk!" in response to this. Nelliel shot her fellow Arrancar a look but decided to let it go and help Shunsui up instead. "Are you alright?"

As Shunsui looked back toward Freddy, he noticed a shape to his left that seemed to fade in and out of existence. To his shock, it appeared to be Nanao, gutted and strung onto a small dead tree. Remembering what Kisuke and Freddy himself had explained about the latter's powers, Shunsui was able to reassure himself it was only an illusion created by Akumu No Otome. This realization did not make the vision go away but at least Shunsui was sure he was still semi-awake. "I'm fine." He lied. "I think...I think Akumu No Otome only devoured the soul of my Kyokotsu. That's why I'm still awake. Mostly anyway."

"Can you still fight?" Harribel asked.

Shunsui looked down at the remaining half of his Zanpakuto and gripped it tightly. "It'll be hard fighting at half-strength, that's for sure." Shunsui pointed the blade toward Freddy. "But I think I can manage."

"No!" Marechiyo suddenly shouted before stepping in front of Shunsui. "I'll take him on next!"

"Omaeda, are you sure?" Ichigo asked.

"I already said it didn't I? This bastard put Captain Soifon through hell and I intend to make him pay!" Marechiyo did his best to sound brave and determined and to some extent, he was as he was willing to put his life on the line for his possibly late Captain. That being said, no one was fooled by the Squad 2 Lieutenant's bold declaration. His shaking knees, profuse sweating, and constant shivering gave away his immense fear.

Freddy noticed how scared Marechiyo was as well and pointed at him while laughing. "Hey! I didn't know they made chickens that fat! They're really pumping chemicals into everything these days huh?"

"Who are you calling chicken, you overcooked Aizen wannabe!?" Marechiyo shouted. "I'll have you know that I'm the Lieutenant of Squad 2 and son of the noble Marechiyo house, Omaeda Marechiyo!"

"Squad 2 huh? Guess that means you worked for that ol bitch Soysauce huh?" Freddy taunted. "Hmmm. I'm sensing a vicious cycle here. Soysauce drove herself nuts trying to kill me because I killed her precious mentor. And now here you are, the fat fuck that's gonna drive himself nuts trying to avenge his bitch of a Captain! Is that right?"

"I'm sick of hearing you flap your jaws!" Marechiyo unsheathed his Zanpakuto. "It's time to put a stop to this nonsense once and for all! Crush, Gegetsuburi!" Marechiyo's sword began to glow pink and change shape in his hands. Once the light had vanished, Marechiyo was holding a giant flail-like weapon, using his left hand to swing the spiked ball around and around over his head. "Get a taste of this!" Marechiyo roared as he launched the ball at Freddy.

Freddy vanished in a ball of fire before Gegetsuburi could hit him and remerged a few feet to its left. "What's wrong, Tubby? Your weight throwing off your aim!?"

"Shut it!" Marechiyo whipped the chain to the left, only for Freddy to vanish again and reappear to the far right.

"Hey! Here's a suggestion! Why not throw yourself instead of the ball? Bet the impact wouldn't be even bigger!" Freddy cackled.

Marechiyo growled in frustration as he swung the ball to the right. Once again, Freddy vanished before the ball could hit its target, this time reappearing in the air. "Hey lard ass! Up here!"

"Quit moving will ya!?" Marechiyo brought the ball back to himself and threw it at Freddy once again. This time, Freddy didn't teleport out of the way. Instead, he simply held Akumu No Otome in front of himself, preparing to block the attack.

"That won't help!" Marechiyo smirked. "Gegetsuburi is way too heavy-duty for a simple block like that to work!"

"Omaeda! Stop!" Ichigo shouted. "Don't you remember what happened to Shunsui!?"

"Huh?" The Squad 2 Lieutenant turned his head toward the group and spotted Shunsui. At once, he remembered what Freddy had done to one of the Squad 8 Captain's dual Zanpakuto and screamed. "Oh no!" He thought. "What was I thinking? If Freddy's blades so much as nick my Gegetsuburi, it's all over!" With a strained grunt, Marechiyo forced the spiked ball to change direction to the right of Freddy, causing the Springwood Slasher to wheeze in laughter.

"What's wrong fatso? Scared of little ol' me?"

"I-I'm not scared!" Marechiyo argued, although his body language said otherwise. "I'm just getting warmed up is all!"

Freddy shifted his gaze toward Ichigo and the others. "You know, you guys really should have brought that wolf guy with you instead of this whale. Maybe then you'd stand a chance!" He howled in mocking laughter.

Marehciyo gritted his teeth in anger. "That does it! I'm sick of hearing you make fun of my weight! I'll have you know that this is a body sculpted from a rich lifestyle! You could never hope to be this wealthy!"

"He's really bringing that up now of all times?" Ichigo asked.

"Gotta work with what you got," Kisuke replied. "And let's face it, that's pretty much all that Omaeda's got."

"Ha! Why do I need wealth when I have this!?" Freddy rose up his gloved hand and whipped his arm toward Marechiyo as if it were a lasso. Marechiyo sweated bullets as he remembered when Freddy felled several Shinigami at once with this attack. He brought the spiked ball back into his hands and flash-stepped out of the way, just a few seconds before Akumu No Otome would have hit him.

Marechiyo reappeared behind Freddy and the dream demon whipped his weaponized arm behind himself. Marechiyo dodged again and reappeared to Freddy's right. Again and again, the Squad 2 lieutenant dodged Freddy's attacks with ease and before long, it was the Springwood Slasher that was grunting with annoyance. "How the fuck is this fatso so fast?" He called out.

"It's your own fault for underestimating me!" Marechiyo teased. "My opponents always assume that I'm slow or sluggish just because of my appearance But as I told you before, I'm the lieutenant of Squad 2 and in our squad, there's simply no such thing as slow!"

"Like I give a shit!" Freddy growled as he retracted his whip-like arm. He studied the speeding tub of lard before him for a moment, predicted where he would move next, and swung his arm in that direction. "Running from me only means you'll die tired!" Freddy once again howled in laughter as Akumu No Otome punched through Marechiyo's stomach and held him up to the sky.

"Omaeda!" Ichigo screamed.

"Stuck pig, anyone?" Freddy joked. His contentment was shattered once Marechiyo's body vanished off of his wrist with a fade. "Huh?" Before Freddy could begin to process what had happened, he felt something large and sharp tear through his body. Looking down at himself, Freddy watched in shock as Gegetsuburi decimated the entire right of his torso, including his blade-wielding arm. He cried out in pain and fell to his knees as he gripped the fleshy mess that was left behind. "What...the...hell?"

"Fooled ya huh?" Marechiyo taunted from above, pulling Gegetsuburi back to him, spinning it around, and sending it back toward Freddy. "It's a trick I learned from Captain Soifon herself! It took a lot of practice to get it just right but now I've perfected it! The Speed Clone Technique!"

Gegetsuburi slammed down onto Freddy's back, crushing the dream demon into a bloody pulp. Marechiyo chuckled as he landed beside Freddy and pulled back his weapon. All that remained of the Springwood Slasher now was his head and upper chest. His hat had been blown off and his long purple tongue was lolling.

"He actually did it." Harribel thought. "This fat Shinigami actually managed a hit on Freddy. I'm impressed."

"Alright!" Peshe shouted. "Go Uryu!"

"That's not Uryu!" Ichigo shouted.

"Heh! All that smart talk about my weight and now look at ya!" Marechiyo squatted next the Freddy and pinched his tongue between his thumb and index finger. "What's wrong Freddy? Shinigami got your tongue! Ha! Not so funny when it happens to you huh?"

"Is...Is he serious?" Ichigo asked dumbfounded.

"Hey Omaeda," Shunsui called out. "You might wanna step away from the body. Mr. Krueger's quite the resilient man!"

"Resilient?" Marechiyo scoffed. "Are you joking? Look at this guy! I'm pulling and pulling on his tongue and this guy's not doing a damn thing about it! He can't! He has no arms!" Marechiyo laughed as he continued to yank Freddy's tongue. "Look at this gross thing! Is this even a tongue!? It looks more like a piece of spoiled-

Freddy's eyes flew open and glared at Marechiyo.

"-liver." Marechiyo began to sweat profusely once again and he stared into Freddy's hateful gaze. "I...uh..." Marehciyo suddenly put the tongue in his hands to his cheek, wincing at its cold slimy texture. "I was just talking about what a lovely tongue you have! It's really awesome and to be honest, I've always wanted one just like it."

Harribel sighed. "It looks like I'll have to retract my earlier assessment."

"Ohh iws hat so?" Freddy's tongue suddenly smashed itself into Marechiyo's open mouth and started pulling his own. Marechiyo's eyes grew huge with fear and surprise as the now-merged tongues dripped with saliva. "In twhat vase, let'fs swap wongues!" Freddy suggested. The rest of Freddy's body began to regenerate from his shoulders and Akumu No Otome along with it, forming over Freddy's right hand while it was still in a skeletal state. Freddy raised his almost-formed arm up and dug the blades into Marechiyo's neck.

"Omaeda!" Shunsui shouted.

"Damn." Marechiyo thought as he felt himself sink into what he was sure would be an everlasting nightmare. "I almost had him. Sorry guys. You're on your own." The Lieutenant of Squad 2 fell to the ground as his Zanpakuto broke apart and returned to its sealed form. Freddy gave a chortle as he finished regenerating and got back to his feet. "Alright, who next on my shit list?"

"We are!" Pesche and Donddochakka proclaimed as they cartwheeled toward Freddy. To be more precise, Pesche cartwheeled while Donddochakka tried, failed, got the top of his head stuck in the ground for a few seconds, fell on his face, and just ran after Pesche until he was by his side.

"Be careful guys." Nelliel whispered.

Freddy seemed more confused than anything else. "What's this now...it...it's a stag beetle and some Tikki reject."

"Hey, he called me a stag beetle this time!" Pesche suddenly slapped himself and shook his head. "No! Now is not the time for that! I am Pesche Guatiche!"

"And I'm Dondochakka Birstanne! And together we're...The Two Huceo Mundo Double Trouble Brothers!"

"The Infamous Arrancar Eternal Tag Trio!" Pesche shouted at the same time.

Freddy was too dumbstruck to say or do anything for a few moments. Once he regained his composure, he responded with, "Make up your damn minds! And how can it be a trio if there are only two of you?"

"Huh?" Pesche and Dondochakka turned to stone.

"You know, for the first time in my life, I actually feel sorry for my victims," Freddy spoke with sincerity. "The Fredheads must have really fucked you guys up if this is the best you can do."

"Oh shut up!" Ichigo demanded. "Don't act like all of this isn't your fault!"

"Yeah! He's right!" Pesche removed the hilt of his sword from his loincloth. "You've caused us a lot of trouble Teddy Cougar!"

"It's Freddy Krueger!"

"But now it's time to put an end to it!" Pesche's hilt suddenly produced a blade of light-blue Reishi.

"Yeah!" Dondochakka agreed. "It's time to pay for your crimes!" The tikki-like Arrancar opened his mouth and reached inside, pulling out a giant kanabo. With their weapons at the ready, the two Arrancar struck a pose that in their minds, was not only impressive to their friends and allies but terrifying for the foe they were about to destroy. In reality, at least to everyone else, they looked as if they were in need of the bathroom.

Freddy sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well, a soul's a soul right?" He enlarged Akumu No Otome's blades and swung them at the two Arrancar who managed to jump back at the last second. The duo nodded at each other and raced around Freddy, Pesche to his left and Dondochakka to his right.

"Now!" Pesche swung his Zanpakuto, producing a purple Cero that raced toward Freddy at high speed. At the same time, Dondochakka opened his mouth and fired a yellow Cero at the same speed toward Freddy. With no time to dodge either of them, Freddy had no choice but to put both of his hands out in front of the Ceros and try to block them. The Ceros hit the palms of his hands with enough strength to force them back, breaking and then tearing his arms off before exploding. The now-armless Freddy fell to the ground blackened and smoking.

"We got him!" The two Arrancar cheered. "We got the bad guy!" They met each other several feet behind Freddy who was starting to raise his head. "We shouldn't get too cocky now!" Dondochakka warned. "Remember what happened to that fat guy!"

"Yeah! We better finish Cougar off now while we have the chance!"

"The name...Krueger..." Freddy strained before falling back to the ground.

Pesche jumped on top of Dondochakka and they both charged another Cero. The two Cero's slowly merged with each other, the yellow and purple swirling into each other and a giant duel-colored Cero formed. Freddy had managed to sit upright on his knees and his arms were once again growing back, Akumu No Otome already formed over the bit of flesh that remained from his right hand. Freddy slowly glanced toward the giant Cero whirling behind him and cursed, "Dammit."

"Bombs away!" Pesche cried as he and Dondochakka fired the Cero. The giant ball of destruction smashed right into Freddy and exploded. The force of the explosion sent Pesche and Dondochakka flying back while everyone else in the group struggled to remain on their feet. Once the explosion cleared, both Pesche and Dondochakka jumped out of the ground and approached the steaming crater left behind.

"Do you think it's over?" Dondochakka asked.

"I don't know." Pesche thought. "Maybe we should shoot another one, just in case."

But the chance for another Cero Sincretico never came. Two blades suddenly shot out from the dust cloud and impaled both Pesche and Dondochakka, lifting them off of their feet. As the dust cleared, a fully-formed Freddy showed himself, two of Akumu No Otome's blades extending far from the glove. These two blades lowered Pesche and Dondochakka to Freddy's eye level before he dropped them to the ground.

"Hahahaha! You dipshits really hurt me that time," Freddy sneered. "But you should know by now, There ain't no killing me!"

"We...We're sorry...Master Nelliel." Pesche rasped as the effects of Akumu No Otome began to take hold. "This is the most we were able to do."

"It's up to you now." Dondochakka breathed. "We're counting on you to save us."

Freddy grew confused at the Arrancar's words and planted his foot on Pesche's stomach. "Hey! Just what the fuck are you babbling on about?"

"You think you're so smart." Pesche coughed. "But the fact is, you fell right into our trap!"

"Wha?" At that moment, Freddy felt the presence of three more enemies above him. Snapping his head upward, he saw Grimmjow, Nelliel, and Harribel descending toward him, gripping the hilts of their swords tightly. All three Arrancar unsheathed their swords at the same time and called out their names.

"Grind, Pantera!"

"Praise, Gazuma!"

"Destroy, Tiburon!"

The resulting blast of spiritual energy from the three Zanpakuto being released at once nearly crushed Freddy underneath its weight and he was forced to release his own to counter it. A red glow enveloped him as the three Arrancar formed a triangle around him, Grimmjow and Harribel to his sides and Nelliel behind him. As the energy dissipated, Freddy recomposed himself and took in his opponent's new forms.

"Let's see." He pointed to Grimmjow. "We got the Cats reject." He turned to Harribel. "The stripper ballerina." Finally, he turned to Nelliel. "And the fucking centaur. You know, these powers of yours are starting to get a little ridiculous."

"Let's see if you're still saying that once I tear out your heart and shove it in your ugly face." Grimmjow growled. Harribel did not reply but narrowed her eyes at Freddy.

"I'm sorry it had to be this way, Pesche and Dondochakka." Nelliel stared sadly at her brothers as they lay at Freddy's feet, trembling and whining from the nightmares they were experiencing. "We promise to defeat this monster quickly and save you!" She turned to Freddy. "We're going to make you pay for what you've done. All four of us!"

Freddy's smug expression suddenly changed to a confused one. "Four?" Only then did Freddy feel a familiar presence behind him. He was only given enough time to turn his head before the giant sword sliced it off but from the sound of the voice screaming "You're done!" behind him, Freddy could tell who it was.

"Carrot Top."

---

"What's wrong Quincy?" Atama asked in a mocking tone as he flew around Uryu. "Didn't you say you were going to kill me?"

"Shut up!" Uryu snapped as he fired off another arrow. Despite his injured arm, Uryu was still able to form his bow and arrow and continued to fire at his opponent. So far, he had only been able to nick Atama's wings which did little to slow the Arrancar down as he zoomed through the sky. Atama, on the other hand, was able to slice Uryu three more times since their battle had begun, once on the back, once on the shoulder and once on his right leg. Now Uryu was down on one knee, bleeding profusely from all over his body. His arm throbbed in pain as he prepared to fire another arrow.

"This is bad." Uryu thought as he launched the arrow and watched Atama zoom out of its path. "If I don't think of something soon, I'll die here for sure." Uryu tried to get up but his wounded leg gave out. "If only I could leave this bridge, I might be able to end this. But this damn leg won't let me move."

"Are you done yet?" Atama asked as he landed in front of Uryu. "From the look of that giant puddle of blood underneath you, I would say you are." Atama started walking up to Uryu, dragging his sword behind him and cutting into the bridge. "It's too bad really. I'd love to drag this out a little further. Use some of the torture methods Master Freddy taught us. He was quite skilled in his field as a normal human you know?"

"Bastard." Uryu let his hands fall to the side, causing the bow of Reshi to vanish.

"Either way, it doesn't matter. What matters is that you're getting what you deserve for trying to interfere with Master Freddy's plans." Atama stopped in front of Uryu and raised his blade. "Any last words?" Not having any real interest in what a Quincy had to say, Atama swung his blade down at Uryu's head.

"Two words." Uryu quickly plucked one of the sliver objects hanging from his waist and held it out above his head. "Seele Schineider!" A blue blade suddenly materialized in front of Atama's sword, blocking the blade's attack. Surprised, Atama jumped back, allowing Uryu to attempt to stand up again. While his leg still ached, this time, he was able to stay on his feet.

"What the hell is that?" Atama demanded. "That's not a bow or arrow!"

"Oh, it is indeed an arrow," Uryu assured his foe. "This is Seele Schineider. It is the only bladed weapon in the Quincy's arsenal." He flashed Atama a smug smile. "Judging by the surprised look on your face, he had no idea I possessed such a weapon, did you?"

Atama growled in anger and clenched his fist. "So what? Do you think a glorified arrow is going to save you this time? You're surely mistaken!" Atama flew at Uryu and slashed at him once again. Uryu used his Seele Schneider to block the attack once more.

"Anhaufer!" Uryu called out. Blue particles of light began to swarm out of Atama's body and into Uryu's blade. Atama's surprise frustration only grew as he realized this was his Reshi.

"W-What is this?" Atama asked. "Are you stealing my Reshi?"

"Indeed." Uryu paused to fix his glasses before explaining further. "This is my Anhaufer! With this technique, I can absorb my opponent's Reshi until it becomes my own. It won't be long before your energy is all mine."

"You little parasite!" Atama hissed. "You dare siphon off my energy!? What a dirty way to fight!"

"That's rich coming from the likes of you!" Uryu retorted. "Your power nullifies the abilities of a Shinigami's Zanpakuto so you don't have to face it!" Uryu could feel himself becoming stronger as the Reshi flowed from Seele Schineider into his body. His leg, while still in pain, was able to stand upright again. The first part of his plan was completed and realizing this, Uryu shoved Atama and his sword away with all his might before readjusting the Seele Schineider.

Atama quickly regained control of his movement by flapping his wings and leveling himself. What are you doing now?" He inquired.

"What Quinces do best." Uryu replied calmly before pointing his blade at Atama. "Destroying Hollows with bow and arrows." Uryu manifested his Reshi Bow and placed the Seele Schineder inside. With a simple pull of the bow, he launched the blade at Atama faster than the Arrancar could dodge.

"Shit!" Atama thought. "If I don't block this thing, it'll destroy my soul chain!" Atama suddenly wrapped his wings around himself and hardened them, turning them grey then black in the process. The arrow collided with Atama's wings and the resulting explosion shook the entire bridge. A small crack formed in the middle of it but it did not break apart just yet. Once the dust settled, Atama slowly unfurled his wings and got back up. A few of his feathers were singed and fell away from his wings but that did not matter to him. In due time, they would grow back and in the meantime, enough of his feathers remained that his flight would not be inhibited. "Ha! Didn't think I could do that did you, Quincy?" Atama laughed uncontrollably. "My sword isn't my only weapon you know, my wings are perfect for offense as well as defense! Allow me to...show...you..."

It was at this point that Atama realized that Uryu was gone. While the explosion was rocking the bridge and keeping Atama at bay, Uryu had used Hirenkyaku to escape, leaving only the puddle of blood behind. Atama felt anger sweep throughout his entire body as it dawned on him that Uryu had planned this from the beginning and that he had fallen for it hook, line and sinker. The normally composed Arrancar let out a howl of pure fury as his spiritual pressure fluctuated. This pressure caused the already giant crack in the bridge to widen until the entire structure broke apart and fell to the chasm below. Atama fell too but quickly flew out of the chasm while still screaming, determined to find the Quincy and make him pay dearly for this humiliation.

"First, I'm going to rip his arms off!" Atama thought as he zoomed through the sky in search of his prey. "Then, I'm going to tear his legs off! Then I'm going to cut that annoying head of his off and present it to Master Freddy!" Atama tried to calm himself down and focus on Uryu's spiritual pressure. "I have to track him down first. He couldn't have gone far. Not with those injuries. Maybe if I'm lucky, he's already died like a dog from blood loss!" Atama giggled at the idea, only to stop once he detected the Quincy's spiritual pressure. Looking down, he saw Uryu at the base of what the Shinigami called the Senzaikyu. It was the building connected to the bridge that Atama had just destroyed, the one his Master Freddy wished to turn into a brothel once he had fully taken over. His anger renewed, Atama dived toward Uryu and landed several feet away from him with enough force to create a crater. "There you are, you bastard!"

"It took you long enough," Uryu responded without even the slightest bit of fear in his voice or on his face. "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting?"

"Don't play badass with me!" Atama snarled. "I know you were trying to weasel your way out of the fight once you saw that you couldn't win! I'll admit I was taken aback by that arrow of yours but such a cheap parlor trick will not work on me a second time!" Atama marched toward Uryu, once again dragging his sword behind him. "You're trapped now! All alone with no one around to cry out to for help! I bet you regret pulling that little stunt back on the hill now, don't you!?"

"I suppose to some extent," Uryu admitted. "It definitely would have been more convenient if I had more people with me." As Uryu spoke, he held up a small canister.

"What's that? Another one of your little toys?" Atama teased.

"No. It's more like a key." Uryu held up his other hand, this one holding another Seele Schneider. Before Atama could recognize it and react, Uryu planted it in front of his feet. Suddenly, Atama felt his feet lock, as if they had been bound to the ground somehow. Looking down, he saw that his legs were being held still by dense Reshi. "What!? What is this?"

"This is one of my strongest attacks." Uryu explained. "It's called Sprenger."

"S-Sprenger?" Atama repeated fearfully.

"It's a move that requires five Seele Schneider as well as some time to prepare. Normally, I'd have one of my allies distract you so I could set the Seele Schneider in place. When I said it'd be more convenient if I had more people with me, I meant I wouldn't have had to distract you myself with that faux attack."

Atama's eyes grew wide. "Y..You bastard! You intended to lead me here from the very beginning!"

"Don't look so surprised. You said it yourself, didn't you? We as Quincy have vowed to destroy all Hollows." Uyru turned the canister in his hand and dropped a bit of liquid onto the newly planted Seele Schneider. It began to glow at once, absorbing Reshi from the atmosphere as well as the ground below. Similar lights began to glow around Atama, from where Uryu had planted the other Seele Schneider. Desperate, Atama spread his wings and tried to fly away but could manage a foot or so off the ground before being pulled back into the pentagon of doom. "I'm simply keeping my vow." Uryu said.

"Damn you!" Atama screamed as the space within the Seele Schneider was suddenly filled with blue Reshi. He screamed as the rising energy burned him. These screams were only silenced by the following explosion.

---

Rukia blocked another one of Harekuin's blows only to be thrown back by the force of her swing. Digging her feet into the ground, Rukia was able to stop her momentum in time to dodge her opponent's scythe.

"Ugh! This is so boring!" Harekuin whined. "Why haven't you used a single Kido since we started?"

"You know damn well why!" Rukia barked. "Your Zanpakuto will just disable any Kido spell I try to use against you!"

"Well...you got me there!" Harekuin broke into a fit of insane laughter once again. "It's too bad really. I was really hoping to put you through the wringer by disabling even more of your precious spells."

"I do not need Kido to defeat the likes of you!" Rukia argued.

"Oh yeah? Then prove it! Show me what that icy sword of yours can do!" Harekuin used Sonido and reappeared at Rukia's right, swinging her scythe at her. Rukia tried to block it but was sent flying back once again. Her short stature was beginning to become a real nuisance in this fight. This time, she used her Zanpakuto to stop herself by digging it into the ground, shooting a death glare at Harekuin once she was still.

"Very well! I'll show you what Sode No Shriayuki can do! Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!" She ripped the tip of her sword from the ground and as she did so, tiny particles of ice followed the tip and flowed into the air. She dug her sword into the ground again, next to her first puncture, and again, ice particles were made to flow from the freshly-made cut in the ground. She repeated this action two more times, creating four holes in total in front of her and took a battle stance.

"What the fuck?" Harekuin asked as she tilted her head in confusion. "You're supposed to be stabbing me, not the ground."

"Stabbing?" Rukia asked. "Is that the only move you can think of? She pointed her blade at the Arrancar who watched in shock as the ice particles began to swirl around the tip. "I was thinking that freezing you solid would be a more fitting punishment for your sins against those I hold dear." The particles suddenly flew toward Harekuin at high speed. With no time to dodge, the Arrancar held her scythe in front of her and begun spinning it around to act as a makeshift shield. This "shield" only partially worked, sending some of the particles away while the rest hit their mark. Harekuin could feel her body temperature lower by the second and knew that she'd be dead soon if she didn't find a way to escape.

"Dammit! It's so cold!" She thought. I have to get out of this mess but how?" She looked down at her scythe. "Come on, you selfish bitch!" She mentally cursed at her weapon. You said you could control Reiryoku! There's got to be a way you can use that to save me from becoming an Arrancar popsicle!"

The scythe made no response whatsoever and Harekuin grew agitated. "You stupid fuck!" She shouted out loud. "Don't you realize that if I die, you'll die with me! That's how this whole Zanpakuto relationship thingy works! If you wanna live, you're gonna have to get over yourself and lend me your true power!" It was then that Majo began to glow a dark pink color. As Harekuin watched dumbstruck, this light completely consumed her blade, causing the ice particles coming near it to melt away into nothing.

"Could it be?" Her instinct told Harekuin what the glow was but she wasn't sure if she could really believe it. She looked ahead and was barely able to make out the shape of the Shinigami who had trapped her in this frozen hell. She would make a nice test subject for this new power and so Harekuin reeled back her scythe and swung it as hard as she could. The light inside the blade was instantly ejected as a giant Cero that burned through the ice particles as it flew toward Rukia.

"What!? A Cero!?" Rukia gasped as the light came toward her.

Harekuin laughed manically as the Cero suddenly exploded, the force pushing away all that remained of the ice particles and freeing her. "This is the best!" Harekuin planted a small kiss on Majo. "Now this is what I'm talking about! It all makes sense! Ceros are just condensed Reiryoku! Of course, I can fire them from my scythe! Just wait until Mistah K sees this!" She danced around madly as the dust settled and Rukia's bloodied body became visible. In front of her was the almost destroyed Danku she had formed in front of herself in a desperate bid to save her own life. It had worked as Rukia was able to force herself back upright as the Bakudo vanished. Harekuin noticed this but was in too much of a good mood to be bothered by it. Instead, she cartwheeled toward Rukia and stopped a few feet in front of her to gloat.

"Well well well, I guessed you couldn't help using your Kido after all." Harekuin pointed at her wounded enemy and laughed. "You're so pathetic! You were so gung-ho about not using your Kido before but won't you look at that!? I made you use Kido! I made you use Kido!" Harenkuin continued to dance about and openly mock Rukia as the tiny Shinigami struggled to get back on her feet.

"Was that Cero really strong enough to destroy the Danku?" Rukia thought. "No, it had to be her ability. It's starting to evolve and there's no telling how strong a power like it can get. I have to end this right here and now." Noticing that Harekuin was too bust taunting her to notice that she was standing up, Rukia held her Zanpakuto upside down. "Some no mai, Tsukishiro!" As her blade began to glow, she made a slashing motion toward Harekuin before drawing a circle with the tip of her sword. The ground around Harekuin started producing ice particles, chilling the air around Harekuin and causing her to cease dancing.

"Wha? What's going on?"

"There's a lot one must learn in battle." Rukia breathed. "But above all else, one of the most important lessons is.."

The area around Harekuin froze into a pillar of ice. Harekuin tried to jump into the air to escape it but was encased as the pillar grew far above the white trees that surrounded it.

"Don't get cocky." Rukia sharply finished as the pillar shattered into pieces.

---

"La Gota!" Harribel shouted as she whipped her sword toward Freddy, launching a shark tooth-shaped blast of water at him. Freddy jumped back to avoid the attack but was still caught by the force of it making impact with the ground and sent tumbling toward the side of the hill. "Bitch!" He growled as he jumped to his feet and extended his gloved arm toward her. Before it could get anywhere near her, however, Ichigo suddenly appeared and severed it with a single strike. Freddy roared in pain as he gripped what remained of his arm. Ichigo turned toward him and swung his sword. "Getsuga Tenshou!" He cried.

"Give me a fucking break!" Freddy grunted as he teleported out of the path of the attack and reappeared at the top of the field. No sooner had he done that, however, that Nelliel's lance suddenly drilled into his stomach, sending him flying once more while tearing apart his insides at the same time. "Lanzador Verde." She called out as he flew. "That's what you get for hurting my brothers!"

"Dammit all!" Freddy grunted as his arm grew back. He used the blades of the once-again revived Akumu No Otome to dig into the ground and stop the lance's trajectory. Once he had stopped, he ripped the lance out of his stomach and fell to his knees as he held his arms over the gaping wound in his stomach. "This is bullshit! Just the other day, I was handing you fuckers your own asses on a silver platter!" He paused to cough up some blood. "But now I can barely get an attack in edgewise. It's like my power is growing weaker somehow." Freddy turned his attention toward the only two men not attacking him, Shunsui and the man who had made the first cut on him not too long ago. "Could he have something to do with this?"

"Hey asshole!" Grimmjow called out as he jumped up into the air over Freddy. "I got something for ya!" As the Springwood Slasher watched, the Arrancar's claws began to glow blue. He made a slashing motion and the glowing claws extended, becoming long sharp blades of Reshi that Grimmjow then sent hurtling toward Freddy. "Desgarrion!" He called out. The dream demon tried to teleport again but the slashes were much quicker and impaled him from all sides before he could escape. Freddy let out another howl of pain as the resulting explosion engulfed him.

"Mr. Krueger sure is taking his lumps back there." Shunsui noted with a tip of his hat. "Are you sure we shouldn't be lending a hand?"

Kisuke shook his head. "It won't be long before the Kido kicks in and seals Freddy away. Besides, it'd probably be very hard for someone like you to fight with only one Zanpakuto."

Shunsui looked down at his remaining Zanpakuto and then back at Kisuke. "I suppose you have a point." He looked back toward the battle, trying his best to ignore the image of a dead Nanao that existed only in his left eye. "I just hope this ends soon."

As the dust settled, Freddy's mangled body parts quickly restructured themselves as Ichigo and the Arrancar approached. Once he was whole, Freddy quickly met the gazes of his tormenters, not with fear but with the same burning hatred they felt toward him. Tensing his muscles, Freddy let out a blaring battle cry. "THAT'S ENOUGH!" Red energy began to pour from Freddy and spread out toward the group.

"It's his Reiatsu!" Ichigo thought as the red energy hit him. "Gah! It burns! It's like I'm trapped in a raging inferno! I can feel my skin beginning to char. I need to get out of here." Ichigo flash-stepped backward out of the vicinity of Freddy's Reiatsu. His skin still felt like it was burning and for a few seconds, he considered asking Harribel if she would cool him down with the water from her sword. He then realized how stupid an idea that was and kept his mouth shut. In any case, the burning feeling was ebbing away.

Freddy stopped yelling and panted for a few moments, his burning red Reiatsu now swirling around him. "What a pain in the ass." Freddy growled once he was finished panting. "And I thought those Dream Warrior fucks were annoying."

"Dream Warriors," Ichigo repeated. "You've mentioned them before. Who were they?"

"Well if you must know, Carrot Top," Freddy hissed. "They were a bunch of stupid druggies that thought they could fight me with lucid dreaming." A sinister smile formed on his face. "Of course, I proved them wrong. Hehhahaha!"

"Lucid dreaming?" Nelliel asked.

"It means the ability to control your dreams," Ichigo answered. "Unfortunately, I don't think that's going to help us out right now."

"Why are you doing this?" Harribel butted in. "What do you hope to gain with all this death and violence?"

"What do I gain?" Freddy snorted. "Well, first of all, the death and violence is reward enough in itself, don't you think?" He began to walk back to the middle of the hill where his throne once sat, his eyes locked on Ichigo and the Arrancar as he made his way there. They returned the favor, gripping their weapons tightly and waiting for him to make any move that even resembled an attack. "But if you really need a motivation, how's this? I wanna return to the World of the Living."

The group became surprised, to say the least. "Return...to the World of the Living..." Ichigo became angry. "And just why the hell do you want to do that?"

Freddy slowly rose his gloved hand to his face and examined it. "Ever since I first gained this ability to control dreams, I've wanted to somehow bring them out into the real world. I got pretty close once. Slowly broke down the mind of this kid so I could use his body as a vessel. I think his name was Jessie or something."

"You monster." Neillel muttered.

"That little experiment ended up being a total bust but it did make it clear that it was possible to bring my dream powers out into the real world. I just needed a vessel." Freddy giggled to himself. "Or at least, I did until coming into this world." Freddy's giggles turned into full-on maniacal laughter as he held his arms into the sky. "This wonderful world of souls and power! All I need is a little bit more of either and I'll be able to tear open the Dangai and lead my new Arrancar army to the World of the Living!"

"So you want to invade the World of the Living? Is that what you're saying?" Ichigo pointed Zangetsu at Freddy. "I won't let that happen!"

"Neither will we!" Neillel added, pointing her lance toward Freddy as well. To both her and Ichigo's shock, Freddy just laughed even harder at their declaration.

"Do have any idea how many people have tried to stop me in the past? How many people tried to do what you assholes are trying to do now? Granted, you have all these powers with which to fight, but even with that, I've still managed to make you my bitches." Freddy used one of Akumu No Otome's blades to point toward the unconscious and shivering bodies and Pesche, Dondochakka and Omaeda.

"Bastard!" Ichigo growled.

"Not to mention that I got to help myself to some of these powers as well." Freddy flexed Akumu No Otome's blades as he said this. "So go ahead! Fight me with all your might! Keep spouting that bullshit about stopping me once and for all! It'll make it that much more satisfying when I completely crush your hope and devour your souls!" Freddy broke into one more bout of insane laughter. "And I'll make sure to squeeze every last bit of suffering out of you when that time comes or my name isn't Freddy-

A red beam of light suddenly stabbed through his chest.

"-Krueger..?" Freddy looked down at himself just as three more beams broke out from his chest. He felt his entire body begin to freeze up and cried out as more beams followed. "What...What the fuck is going on?"

"That would be my Kido." Kisuke answered as he and Shunsui nonchalantly joined the group. "Kyujurokkei Kakafumetsu. I know, it's a mouth full but it's also the same Kido that sealed Aizen away."

"A-Aizen?" Freddy asked. He had heard stories about the rogue Shinigami who had abandoned his life in Soul Society to rule over Hueco Mundo. He had never given much thought to him but figured that he'd have to be exceptionally strong to accomplish such a feat. Strong like he was. And yet, he was bested by this very seal? Freddy tried to move his legs but couldn't. The beams of light from within his body suddenly extended from his back into crosses, causing him to cry out once again. "Gahyah!"

"I planted this Kido that very first moment I slashed you." Kisuke continued as he placed a hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "After that, it was up to Ichigo and his friends to weaken you so that it would kick in."

Now it was Freddy's eyes that were wide with surprise. "Y...You planned this from the very start!" The Springwood Slasher gritted his teeth in anger. "You fucks had this planned from the very beginning! Gahgh! Stone began to form in a spiral pattern around Freddy as the dream demon struggled to get away. "You bastards! You cheating bastards!"

"Cheating?" Ichigo scoffed. "With everything you've done, I'd say we've played fair until the end."

"You did this to yourself Krueger," Harribel added. "Now pay the price for your sins and begone!"

"Noooooooooo!" Freddy howled as the light merged with the stone and with one violent movement, sealed Freddy inside a star-shaped prison. The barrier seemed much too small to be able to hold a single person but from the lack of Reiatsu around it, everyone could tell that Freddy had indeed been sealed inside for which they allowed themselves a sigh of relief.

"It's over." Ichigo breathed. "It's finally over!"

"Not quite," Shunsui spoke as he turned his attention toward the Seireitei where the war between Shinigami and Arrancar was still raging. "We still need to deal with the remaining Fredheads. Not to mention Freddy's Fraccion. If they're still alive, they most certainly will want revenge for their master."

"Big deal." Grimmjow growled. "I'll just tear both of their heads off and call it a day."

Nelliel walked toward her brothers and stood over them, watching in agony as they writhed in their unwanted sleep.

"Nelliel Please don't go!" Pesche pleaded.

"We promised to always be together!" Dondochakka whined. Both he and Pesche had tears flowing from their closed eyes. Nelliel started fighting back tears of her own. "What about Pesche and Dondochakka?" She asked tearfully. "And the others that were struck by Akumu No Otome? Freddy's sealed away but they...they haven't awakened yet."

Ichigo and Kisuke shared an uneasy glance with each other, both knowing that this meant the latter's theory was leaning on being correct. If that were the case, despite Freddy having been stopped, there was no way to save those he brought under his spell. The labyrinth containing Zaraki still floated above their heads as well. Was there no way to free him? Harribel thought back to her Fraccion while Shunsui pondered if he could still be a Captain in the state he was in. Grimmjow had no interest in such things and simply turned to the battlefield he longed to join. Finally, Kisuke fixed his hat into place and sighed. "It might take me some time and I can't guarantee anything but maybe I-"

Kisuke Urahara would never finish his sentence. At that very moment, inside the minds of everyone present on the top of Sokyoku Hill, Freddy's voice spoke. It was but a few words but these words were enough to completely extinguish their hope and replace it with unwavering fear and dread.

Bankai: Akumu No Megami No Osorubeki Hofuku

The star-shaped barrier containing Freddy suddenly burst into flame. The flames were dark red with specks of black forming screaming faces flickering within them. As the group watched in horror, the flames completely consumed the barrier until another, much larger shape fell out from where it stood. The shape slowly rose up as the flames began to disperse, revealing the figure in all its horrid glory. It was Freddy.

"No...This isn't happening.." Ichigo spoke.

Freddy's appearance had changed drastically. A black trenchcoat now covered his sweater and a dark green fedora rested on his head. His skin had a much more muscular texture, as if he had peeled out of the burned flesh he wore before. The most drastic change, however, was his right hand. Akumu No Otome had fused with his right hand completely, its five blades now growing out of his fingertips. His yellowed eyes darkened as they fell onto the group. Once again, he examined his weapon closely.

"What the hell's going on?" Grimmjow asked. "I thought you said that stupid Kido would seal him!"

"It did!" Kisuke answered, his frightened gaze still fixed on Freddy. "Somehow, he managed to escape."

"This Reaitsu." Nelliel thought as she started to feel herself sweat. "I can feel it from here. Somehow, he's gotten even stronger."

"How...What did you do, you bastard!" Ichigo shouted.

"What do you think I did, numbnuts?" Freddy growled. "If you recall, I forged Akumu No Otome by infusing my glove with 50% of the souls I've consumed since entering the Soul Society. That was enough to give me the Zanpakuto and its Shikai." A twisted grin formed on the monster's face. "So it only stands to reason that giving it the other 50% of my souls would unlock its Bankai!"

"This isn't possible!" Shunsui shouted, his composure once again lost. "Zanpakuto don't work like that!"

"Maybe yours don't!" Freddy gleefully brandished his new weapon. "But mine does!"

"That does it!" Grimmjow suddenly charged at Freddy on all fours. "I'm sick and tired of this stupid game! I'm ending this now!"

"Wait Grimmjow!" Ichigo pleaded to no avail.

"We don't know what his power does!" Harribel cried out. Her cries fell on deaf ears as well.

"Ohh! What a bad kitty you are!" Freddy scolded as Grimmjow leaped toward him. Slowly, he pointed his clawed hand at the attacking Arrancar. "Time to put you to sleep!" The dark red flames that freed Freddy from his prison suddenly reemerged around him and violently spread out from him in all directions. Grimmjow was the first one hit by the flames and Freddy casually stepped to the side as the Arrancar fell down with a roll.

"Grimmjow!" Nelliel cried. She as well as the rest of the group felt a brief moment of relief when Grimmjow started getting back up, the flames apparently not burning him. This relief was shattered once they noticed the horrified look on his face as he stared out into the distance. Nelliel even turned her head to see what he was looking at but could find nothing. And then, Grimmjow let out an ear-splitting scream.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The blue-haired Arrancar began to thrash about on the ground, holding his head in his hands and screaming relentlessly. "Grimmjow!" Nelliel cried out again. "What's wrong!?"

"Look out!" Ichigo shouted. The red flames surrounding Freddy were heading toward them at increasing speed. With no other choice, the group turned and fled, hoping to create enough distance between themselves and the flames to form a new plan of attack.

However, this was not to be.

The flames were faster and encompassed the group one by one, starting with Harribel. She was confronted with the form of her three Fraccion, all of them rotting corpses with their flesh falling off their bones. "Lady Harribel..." Apacci rasped. "You failed us!"

"This is all your fault." A one-eyed Mila Rose added.

"If only you'd been stronger, you could have saved us." An almost-completely skeletal Sun-Sung finished.

"Girls...no..." Harribel fell to her knees, her grief weighing her down like an anchor.

Nelliel noticed this and turned back if but for a second to call out to her new leader. "Queen Harribel!" This proved to be a fatal mistake as it gave the flames time to engulf her as well. At once, she was greeted with the vision of Pesche and Dondochakka hanging by their necks from bloodied chains. They reached out to Nelliel and called out for her. "Save us Master Nelliel!" They cried out in unison. "Please save us!"

"Pesche! Dondochakka!" Nelliel tried to launch her lance at the chains suspending her brothers only for another chain to erupt from the ground and wrap around her arm, pulling it back and keeping her from throwing Gamuza. As she struggled to break free, more chains ensnared her and her brothers continued to beg for rescue. "Please stop this!" She cried. "Please stop this at once!"

"What's wrong Nel?" A strange yet familiar voice rasped. A rotting hand punched through the ground in front of Nelliel and as the terrified Arrancar watched, an unwelcome figure of her past crawled out of the hole and sneered at her.

"Did you finally find an opponent you can't look down upon?" Nnoitra asked in a deep voice.

Unable to take anymore, Nelliel fell to the ground and screamed into the sky.

"Nelliel!" Ichigo forced himself to stop and face the flames. Kisuke and Shunsui also stopped, both with the intention of telling Ichigo to run. The flames quickly rushed through them before either had a chance to even open their mouths. Shunsui's left eye returned to normal but now both of them were forced to bear witness to not only the vision of a gutted Nanao but Lisa and Ukitake as well. Alongside them was the head of Yamamoto, impaled through a pike. In his left ear, Shunsui could hear the voice of Coyote Starrk speaking softly. In his right, he heard the voice of his other half, Liliynette Gingerbuck whispering. What they were saying to him, he could not understand but it chilled him to his very core all the same.

"Shit! Shunsui!" Ichigo waved his hand in front of the stunned Squad 8 Captain's face and found no response. He turned to Kisuke and did the same. "Kisuke! Speak to me!"

"...Yourichi..." Kisuke muttered with a blank expression on his face. "I'm so sorry."

"What the hell's going on?" Freddy's demented laughter caught Ichigo's attention as he looked ahead, he witnessed the Springwood Slasher slowly approaching him. "Like it? This is the power of my Bankai!"

"What are you doing to them?" Ichigo hissed. "What are you doing to my friends?"

"Isn't it obvious, Carrot Top?" Freddy asked. "The flames produced by my Bankai trap anyone they come into contact with in an inescapable waking nightmare!" Freddy once again examined his blades. "I can't devour the souls of their Zanpakutos in this state," He turned back to Ichigo with a vicious grin. "But as a trade-out, the effect is far-reaching!"

"What do you mean far-reaching?" Ichigo asked angrily.

Freddy pointed behind the substitute Shinigami. "See for yourself."

Cautiously, Ichigo turned around to see the red and black flames spreading over the hill and into the Seireitei. His spine chilled as he realized what Freddy meant. "Y-You bastard...you'll hurt your followers too.."

"Oh!" Freddy waved his hand. "Don't worry about them. Another neat feature of my Bankai is that I can pick and choose who gets sent off to Dreamland. Why do you think you're not affected yet?"

Ichigo snapped back to Freddy, his eyes wide with fear. "Far-reaching...But that means...

---

"Huh? Uryu felt a strange heat in the air and as he looked around for the source, his eyes fell upon the wall of red and black flame reaching down the hill toward him. "What the hell is that!?" Uryu tried to use Hirenkyaku to escape but the flames caught up to him as he was still running. "They're so fast!" He thought. "Hold on! I'm not burning. What's going on!?" Uyru stopped himself, now standing just opposite of his felled opponent. The flames now surrounded the both of them and yet he did not feel any pain. "Could this be Freddy's doing? But then why isn't it hurting me?"

Before Uyru could ponder this strange occurrence any further, a strange shadow formed in the flames in front of him. As he watched, the flames began to dissipate, allowing him to see the object more clearly. It was two men, one spread out on a medical table with his intestines hanging from his sides and the other standing over him while brandishing a strange cutting tool. The man on the table weakly turned to Uryu and held out his hand. "Uyru, my boy." He croaked.

"...G-Grandfather?" Uryu chocked.

"Quit your whining!" The man standing over Uyru's grandfather spoke. It was Mayuri Kurotsuchi, his usually unnerving makeup somehow even more disturbing now. "We still have a lot of tests to complete you know?"

"Bastard!" Uryu quickly manifested his bow and arrow. "Leave him alone!" He shot at Mayuri several times with the intent to kill but the arrows simply passed through the Squad 12 Captain. No matter how many shots he fired, Uryu could not stop Mayuri from tormenting his beloved grandfather right before his eyes. "What is this?" He asked through tears. "What the hell is this?"

The vision of Mayuri cutting into the elderly Quincy's brain was suddenly broken by Atama speeding toward Uryu with his sword held out in front of him. Before he had a chance to react, Uryu was impaled upon the blade and lifted off his feet. Atama, with his armor cracked and his nose mask once again broken, smiled sadistically as the Quincy's blood fell onto his lips. "Did you really think you won?"

Uryu tried to reply but only coughed up blood in response. His bow vanished from his hands as Atama gleefully lapped up the blood. "I have to admit, that attack was quite something else. If I didn't have these wings with me, I most certainly would have died!" Atama paused to look around at the flames surrounding him and Uryu. "I'm not entirely sure what's going on myself but it would seem my Master has gained even more power, most likely from killing and eating your friends."

Uryu tried to move his hands to form the bow and arrow again but only succeeded in sliding down the blade a few inches, causing him to cough up more blood.

"I guess you were wrong." Atama continued. "I will be seeing my Master again. I have to. He'll be needing my help in ruling over his new realm. But before that, allow me to finish you off." Atama lifted Uryu higher and curved his wings so that the primary feathers were touching the Quincy's stomach. "Had you not pulled your little escapist stunt back at the bridge you would have heard me explain that my sword wasn't my only weapon. My wings are perfect for defense," The primary feathers turned grey and sharpened into blades. "And offense."

With one swift motion, Atama spread his wings and sliced Uryu's stomach open.

---

"What is this?" Rukia had given herself a few moments to rest after defeating her foe. During that time, however, a strange fire spread out from the hill and into the forest. Strangely enough, the fire did not seem to burn her or the trees. And yet, she felt that something was inherently wrong with it. "Could this be Freddy's doing? Has he somehow unlocked a new power?" Rukia felt her heart chill at the thought as it would most likely mean Freddy had consumed more souls while she was fighting Harekuin. She pushed those thoughts to the side and got back to her feet, intending to flash-step back to the top of Sokyoku Hill and, if need be, help out Ichigo and the others. Before she could take off, however, she heard voices calling out from behind her.

"Rukia." They whispered over and over again. "Rukia."

"Huh?" Who's there?" The Lieutenant of Squad 13 looked around feverishly for the source of the voice but to no avail. Meanwhile, they continued calling her name, growing louder and angrier with each time.

"Rukia!" "Rukia!" "Rukia!"

"What do you want?" She finally screamed back, covering her mouth as she realized that she was giving into fear. In a more composed voice, she continued. "Show yourself!"

Three figures appeared in the flames before her, coming closer and closer as they chanted her name. Rukia mentally scolded herself for panicking earlier and made a vow to remain calm no matter what came out of the flames. That vow was broken as soon as her eyes fell upon the rotting corpses of Renji, Byakuya and Ukitake. Their eye sockets were empty and their jawlines visible and yet they were somehow able to convey a sense of overwhelming rage to Rukia. Rage that she knew was directed at her.

"You did this to us!" Renji rasped. "You let him kill us! Why Rukia!? I thought we were friends!"

"We are!" Rukia cried.

"I should have never accepted you into the Kuchiki clan!" Byakuya stated in his usual stoic voice which only served to unnerve Rukia even more. "If Hisana hadn't wasted so much energy looking for you, she'd still be alive and I'd still have my wife. It's all your fault."

"Ni-sama..." Rukia felt tears well up in her eyes and shook her head aggressively. "No! No! This is all just a trick! It's just a trick from that bastard Freddy! I can't let myself give in! I won't give in!"

"Of course you will." Ukitake spoke in his usually cheerful demeanor. As with her brother's voice, this acted as a source of fear rather than comfort for Rukia. "You always give in. After all, you gave in when Kaien got possessed."

Rukia felt her very soul freeze. "What did you say?"

"I mean, you were the one to kill him." Ukitake continued. "If only you had been stronger, maybe you could have saved him instead."

"He's right you know."

Rukia started trembling as the voice from above her spoke. Slowly looking up, she saw Kaien impaled on her sword in the same fashion she had once killed Aaroniero Arruruerie. But this was not Aaroniero. This was the real Kaien, the one that had taught her about the heart and helped her on her journey to become a Shinigami. "You just can't help but stab your friends in the back every time can you Rukia?" He rasped through bloody lips. "It's no wonder you had such a hard time understanding what the heart was. You don't have any at all."

This was the final straw. Rukia's resolve, which had survived the threat of execution and even fighting a foe who had passed himself off as Kaien in the past, shattered and left her screaming in utter fear.

"Ahhg! That was a close one!" Harekuin's voice called out through the flames. Had Rukia not already been trapped in her waking nightmare, she would have seen the pink-haired Arrancar standing where her ice pillar had shattered. She was surrounded by a pink-diamond shape shell which dissipated once the last of the ice had vanished. "I thought for sure I was a goner that time." Harekuin slowly approached Rukia. "But it's the damndest thing. Right when the ice was about to touch me, Majo started glowing again. That light came out of the blade like before and this time formed that pretty little shield around me. If I didn't know any better, I'd say I just performed Bakudo!" Harekuin broke into a fit of cruel laughter as Rukia continued to struggle with her nightmare.

Harekuin ceased laughing as she noticed the flames around her and her enemy. "I wonder where these flames came from? They're not burning anything." She inhaled their scent and sighed with contentment. "And yet, they reek with Mistah K's scent. It must be a new power." Her lips formed a monstrous grin. "And that means he must have eaten your friend's souls."

Rukia failed to respond to Harekuin's taunt. She was quietly weeping with her watery eyes staring into nothing. Harekuin noticed this at last and her demented smile grew even wider. "It looks like Mistah K's power got to you after all." She marched up to Rukia and once she was right in front of the entranced Shinigami, she lowered her legs and leveled her eyes with her. "The responsible thing to do would be to kill you now and return to Mistah K. But...for all the bullshit you put me through.." Harekuin suddenly and violently shook her head, whipping the blades at the ends of her twin tails across Rukia's cheeks and knocking the Shinigami down. "I think I'll play with you a little first."

---

The flames of Freddy's Bankai continued to spread across the Seireitei, engulfing Shinigami and Arrancar alike. The Arrancar were unaffected, at the most recognizing their Master Freddy's spiritual pressure from the flames. The Shinigami, on the other hand, were thrust into their worst nightmares as soon as they so much as made contact with the flames. Visions of darkness, monsters, death, and despair filled their eyes and they became helpless against the face of the enemy. The Arrancar were quick to notice and take advantage of this and sang their Master's praises as they cut down the spellbound Shinigami.

"W-W-What the hell is this?" Ikkaku cried as the shape loomed over him. It was not the Arrancar he was just fighting but his deceased friend Yumichika, horribly deformed with bulging, bloodshot eyes and an elongated snout. In his hand, he held a crooked, rusty Ruri'iro Kujaku that dripped with blood from the cracks in its blades. "What's wrong Ikkaku?" The thing choked out. "Don't you recognize your beautiful friend Yumichika!?"

"Y-You're not Yumichika!" Ikkaku cried. "He's dead!" With a scream of fear, he plunged his sword through "Yumichika's" chest. The grotesque bastardization of Ikkaku's friend only responded with insane laughter that sounded more like sandpaper being rubbed against itself. From behind the mocking entity, a sharp gust of wind blew, sending Ikkaku flying into the wall and cutting up his arms and legs in the process.

"HAHAHAHA!" Rema laughed. "I'm not sure what these flames are doing to you Shinigami but it seems to be just the edge we need to win this war. And I can tell from its essence, this is a gift from our master, no!, our God Freddy!" Rema laughed triumphantly as he held out his arms to the sky. "Quake in fear at the divine power of our God Freddy! Hail Freddy! Hail Freddy!"

The surrounding Arrancar joined in Rema's chant. "Hail Freddy! Hail Freddy! Hail Freddy!"

At this point, the fire had encompassed the entire Seireitei, even the entrance of the sewers where the injured were held.

"Gahhhh!" Sajin cried as he clawed at his body. "They're back! Those accursed insects are back!"

"Calm down Captain Komamura!" One of the Shinigami begged. "Everything's going to be al-aahhhAHHHHHHHHHHH!" As the flames engulfed him, the Shinigami was thrown into his own pit of despair. From the entrance to the rest of the sewer system, Orihime watched in horror as everyone around her fell victim to the flames. Even Sado was screaming uncontrollably and to her right, Orihime could see Retsu standing still. The utterly blank expression she wore on her face terrified her.

"What's happening?" She whimpered. "Is this Akumu No Otome's power?" The flames hungrily lapped at her Santen Kesshun, creating tiny cracks upon it. Orihime noticed this and willed her shield to increase its strength. Those who had been originally affected by Akumu No Otome rested behind her and she shuddered to think what would happen if this flame touched them.

"I have to stay strong." She thought. "I have to keep these flames from getting to the injured." Her courage beginning to waver, Orihime gulped and continued her struggle against the flames, silently praying to Ichigo that he end this soon.

---

"Y...You bastard!" Ichigo snapped. "How could you?"

Freddy laughed in his face. "Because I'm Freddy Krueger, the Bastard Son of 100 Maniacs! It's what I do!" Freddy brought his laughter up toward the sky. "This is great! This is just the power boost I was waiting for! Now we can begin our invasion of the World of the Living!"

"The hell you will!" Ichigo brought up Zangetsu and as he swung it down again shouted, "Getsuga Tensho!"

But nothing happened. At that exact moment, Atama flew above Ichigo, the sound of his Mimio Tsunzaku Beru deafening Zangetsu to Ichigo's call and thus canceling his attack. Without a moment's hesitation, Atama brought down his sword on Ichigo's back. Ichigo screamed in pain as blood splattered from the wound and Atama landed at Freddy's right side, bowing on a single knee as he did so. "I have returned Master Freddy."

"So I see." Freddy cooed. "Did you take care of Four-Eyes?"

"With swiftness and brutality," Atama answered. "Although I will admit I got a bit of help from your glorious new power."

"Like it?" Freddy giggled. "It's my Bankai! And check it out! It even comes with a snazzy new outfit!" Freddy twirled around to show off his new look as he continued laughing.

"It fits you perfectly Master." Atama agreed.

"U..Uyru." Ichigo struggled to get back up as the giant wound on his back continued to bleed. "You bastards! I'll stop you!"

Freddy and Atama stared at Ichigo, looked at each other and exchanged even more maniacal laughter. "You still think you can stop us?" Freddy replied as Atama rushed toward Ichigo and stomped on his hand, forcing him to release Zangetsu. "Face the facts kid! Your friends are gone! You can't use your powers with Atama by my side! You are completely and utterly fucked!" Freddy watched as Ichigo still struggled to get up, sighed, and held his unclawed hand up. "Guess I have to hammer this into your damn skull." He said as he snapped his fingers.

"Shut up!" Ichigo screamed. "I won't give in! No matter what! I won-" Ichigo had picked up his head to yell at Freddy a little more, only to be greeted by the sight of his mother's rotting corpse looming over him. Slugs and worms slithered into and out from her left eye socket and her hair was crawling with ants. "Come on Ichigo." She cooed. "Come die with Mommy."

"Mom?"

"You know, your Mom's quite a looker." Freddy purred. "And from your memories, I'd say the same about your kid sisters. Perhaps I should pay them a visit once we enter the World of the Living." Freddy burst into laughter and was joined by Atama as well.

Memories of his dream from the other day filled Ichigo's mind and for a moment, he was about to give in to fear and despair. Then he remembered when Ginjo had stolen his powers and what Rukia had said to him afterward. He never wanted to feel that level of despair again and so shook his head with a defiant scream and forced himself back on his feet. "How dare you use the memory of my mother like that! How dare you threaten Karin and Yuzu! I'll make you pay!"

Freddy was caught off guard by this. "Damn kid, you sure have a lot of guts." His composure quickly returned. "Too bad we gotta rip'em out of ya!"

"I've felt worse despair than this." Ichigo replied as he grabbed his sword and swung it at Atama. The winged Arrancar blocked the blade with his own and jumped back, creating distance between himself, Ichigo and Freddy. "You won't break me, even if you were to present the bodies of all my friends to me. I'll find a way to beat you, even if I'm reduced to just a head in the process!"

"Such insolence!" Atama cried. "You really think that you can defeat Master Freddy with such childish notions as never giving up and believing in yourself? Don't make me laugh!" Atama pointed his sword at Ichigo and took a battle stance to which Ichigo responded in kind. "Fine then! Say whatever sweet words you need to in order to convince yourself that you can somehow save the day! It'll just make it all the sweeter when you're finally stripped of that illusion and realize that there is no winning against Mas-"

Atama suddenly stopped speaking and both Ichigo and Freddy were quick to notice this. "Hey Atama?" Freddy asked. "The hell's wrong with you? Cat got your tongue?"

A red line formed on Atama's neck and trickled downward in little droplets. As both Ichigo and Freddy watched on, Atama's head was launched off of his body by a geyser of blood.

"What!?" Freddy shouted.

The Arrancar's head flew several feet into the air before plummeting back down to the ground and rolling away. The now headless body fell to its knees and slouched, the once snow-white wings now dyed red with their owner's blood as it rained back down to the earth.

"What the fuck was that?" Freddy gasped. "Did you do that?"

"No...I didn't." Ichigo softly replied, still trying to process what had just happened himself.

"Don't you dare compare Kurosaki's speed to mine." A female voice spoke from behind Ichigo. "It would take him a thousand years to master this kind of speed." Both men slowly turned to the source of the sound. There was someone crouching low to the ground, their back exposed and their sword held up in the air. It was still dripping Atama's blood. "And by the way, Freddy Krueger," The woman spoke as she got up and turned her fierce gaze toward the dream demon. "That was what's known as an assassination."

Ichigo could hardly believe his eyes. "S-Soifon?"

(I'm not gonna lie. I'm feeling pretty proud of myself right now. Not only did I manage to upload a chapter of Jigoku Files for October after all but I've also made it my biggest chapter yet at over 20,000 words. With this I can safely say this story has two more chapters before the first arc is completed. I'm sad that I haven't seen much love for this story but regardless, I will continue simply because I enjoy writing it. In any case, until next time, BSC out!)