Chapter 14 - Battle at Karakura - Part I

Hueco Mundo - Menos Forest

Gin, Tosen and Harribel stood silently in the middle of a small clearing as Sosuke Aizen emerged from the garganta. He looked like a different man, with his hair slicked back and without his glasses. This Aizen appeared more present, sharper and more dangerous. This Aizen looked the part as Lord of Hueco Mundo. As their leader touched down upon the Menos Forest floor, all four of them wordlessly looked back at the garganta Harribel had opened for Madara.

Tosen and Harribel had their zanpakuto drawn, ready to take immediate action if any other captains decided to follow, or if Madara decided to get violent.

Without warning, a wave of fire erupted from the garganta, accompanied by remnants of Captain Commander Yamamoto's unmistakable reiatsu. When the flames subsided, and Madara still could not be sensed or seen, Aizen waved a hand and closed the portal with a light scoff.

Gin shook his head dramatically. "Looks like the captain commander got him before he could escape."

Tosen nodded, but frowned slightly; "He was not pleased to discover that you put him under your hypnosis, Captain Aizen. If such a man who can break your illusions were to side with the Seireitei…"

Harribel spoke next. "Lord Aizen, why did you find it necessary to put him under hypnosis in the first place? Did you two not agree to work together when you spoke to us in the Muken?"

Aizen sighed with a small smile; "You are far too trusting, Harribel. I had the intention of working with him once we were all safely here in Hueco Mundo. Once I determined where his allegiances truly lay, and discovered what made him tick, I would have let him in on more secrets… Alas, we must assume Madara will be working for the Seireitei now, and there is no use debating the efficacy of past decisions that cannot be changed.

Harribel nodded, although a part of her felt unsatisfied by Aizen's explanation. I am too trusting? Could there have been truth to Madara's words, after all? Could Lord Aizen be exploiting my sense of honor? She shook those thoughts from her mind, replacing them with the anticipation of finally seeing her fraccion again after weeks of absence. She was going to have hours upon hours of stories to tell them. She smiled as she imagined what their reactions would be when she recounted the stormy water dragon that had forced the Captain Commander of the Gotei 13 into Bankai.

She focussed her attention back on Aizen, as he resumed speaking: "I am quite interested in that Orihime girl. She seems to possess the power to reject or change reality itself…" he mused.

Gin turned to look at Aizen at that. "Orihime? She demonstrated the ability to use some kinda barrier against me, but I didn't see anything that suggests reality warping powers." He frowned, then added; "Although, her hair clips did seem to possess strong healing abilities. She reattached Jidanbo's arm after I severed it at the White Road Gate."

Aizen shook his head. "I don't believe it's simple healing, like Isane or Unohana's kaido. You were all inside the garganta at that point, but when I extracted the Hogyoku from Rukia's soul, it left her in a state nearing soul suicide. In fact, I doubt even Captain Unohana's skills could have saved her. Orihime, however…" He brought a hand up to his chin, deep in thought. "She seemed to be able to essentially undo the damage that was done to Rukia's soul, as if it had never been there in the first place."

The lord of Hueco Mundo nodded to himself. "Yes, I will send an Espada to retrieve her. Her ability is certainly worth further study, and if it truly is what I believe it to be, she will be an invaluable resource to us - perhaps more valuable than even Madara."

Harribel stepped up, but Aizen held up his hand before she could speak; "Your talents are numerous, dear Harribel, but I am afraid infiltration and stealth do not rank among them. Plus, you have endured enough of late. You deserve a well earned rest."

She hesitated, before nodding and stepping back again.

Aizen looked around him once more, before resting a hand on the hilt of Kyoka Suigetsu and taking in a deep breath. "So it has begun at last - the final act. Let us return to Las Noches. Gin, Tosen; there is much to discuss. Harribel, do not hesitate to avail yourself to any and all amenities of the palace. We shall be gathering the Espada to delegate assignments once we have decided on a course of action in the coming days."

Soul Society - Seireitei, Squad 1 Barracks

Two weeks later.

The atmosphere in the captain's meeting room was tense. The room was uncomfortably empty, as aside from the head captain seated at the front, only seven other captains were present.

Gin, Aizen and Tosen had defected to Hueco Mundo, and Kenpachi was still comatose. Additionally, squad 10's captain Hitsugaya had been dispatched along with his vice captain Rangiku and a team of other seated officers to Ichigo's hometown - Karakura Town. The Gotei 13 had uncovered Aizen's plans of creating an Oken through the sacrifice of 100,000 living souls, and had reason to believe Karakura was going to be ground zero for his attack.

The room was silent as Captain Hitsugaya delivered yet another somber debrief. To his left stood Ichigo Kurosaki, and to his right was Kisuke Urahara.

"The attack led by the Espada known as Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez wounded most of our forces here in Karakura town. It was only through the combined efforts of Ichigo Kurosaki and my own Bankai that we were able to repel the Arrancar…" Hitsugaya began.

That was another sudden development; one of very few positives for the Gotei 13 in the past few weeks. Since bestowing upon Ichigo a substitute Shinigami status, he had gone underground with Yoruichi and Urahara, and somehow achieved Bankai release in less than two weeks.

Additionally, the two former Captains, along with Tessai - former head of the Kido Corps - had agreed to aid the Seireitei in protecting Karakura town. Each of them had a personal score to settle against Aizen. However, they refused to divulge any information regarding the other hollowfied captains and lieutenants.

"How many Arrancar participated in the attack?" Yamamoto asked.

"Six, including Grimmjow," Hitsugaya answered; "Although the other five were all killed."

"Why did you allow Grimmjow to escape?" Yamamoto asked again, matter of factly.

It was Ichigo who replied this time, his voice low; "We didn't… He was a monster… strong enough to keep up with Toshiro and my combined assault when we were both in Bankai." He grit his teeth in anger. "We were definitely winning, but it looked like he had some other trick up his sleeve before he was recalled by your former captain Tosen. He said something about most of his power being sealed in his zanpakuto. If it's anything like a Bankai, I think he would have killed us all had he gotten the chance to release it."

Captain Ukitake drew a sharp breath. "Just one Arrancar…how powerful are these things that Aizen has conjured?"

Sajin Komomura growled in frustration as he listened, and Byakuya narrowed his eyes. No other captain displayed any outward reaction to Ichigo's words.

"About that, Captain Ukitake, we managed to learn something important regarding the hierarchy within Aizen's army," Hitsugaya continued, while nodding to corroborate Ichigo's deduction. "Grimmjow had the number 6 tattooed on his back. Apparently that marked him as the sixth ranked Espada, which he claimed meant that he was the sixth strongest Arrancar in Aizen's army."

"Harribel had the number 3 tattooed on her chest." Yamamoto said, recalling the battle in Konoha forest. "How do you gauge this Grimmjow against her, seeing as you have fought them both, Captain Hitsugaya?"

The squad 10 captain fidgeted uncomfortably, swallowing hard. That night in the Land of Fire had been the single greatest humiliation of his life, and he was still coming to terms with it. "It's hard to say. The Harribel I fought was already injured by captain Komomura's Bankai, and she had also apparently just fought against Madara Uchiha before we initially confronted them."

The tension in the room grew oppressive at the mention of Madara's name. The hollow had all but disappeared. They saw Ryujin Jakka's flames intercept him before he reached the garganta, and they saw him split into at least two dozen copies of himself, each darting in a separate direction. The captains had given chase, but not a single copy, nor the original had been found since.

The fact that one hollow - especially one whose hands and feet were bound by the reiatsu sealing sekkiseki stone - could evade capture for two entire weeks was a constant reminder to the Gotei 13 that they did not have the reach they once thought they had.

Hitsugaya continued his report. "I would have to say that, compared to the Harribel I fought, Grimmjow was more dangerous. I don't think he was quite as fast, or as strong, but his demeanor is completely different to Harribel's. He is as hollow as hollows come. Bloodthirsty, vicious, and sadistic."

Yamamoto nodded; "So we can assume for now that a few numbers in Espada rankings do not constitute a significant difference in power. Do you believe Gin and Tosen could be Espadas 1 and 2?"

Hitsugaya shook his head at that; "It's possible, but I don't believe so. Harribel cut down Tosen within seconds. Even if they had planned for that, she was still fast enough to blitz past myself and Captain Komomura, and strong enough to deal Captain Kenpachi a mortal blow. There might be two more above her that have yet to reveal themselves."

Yamamoto heaved a sigh at that. "Thank you for the report, Captain Hitsugaya. We will be sending some members of squad 4 as well as Orihime Inoue back to Karakura town to assist the wounded. She has made significant improvements in her reiatsu control since training here." With that, he turned to the man in the white and green hat.

"Former Captain Urahara, how is the development of the Tenkai Kecchu tracking? Our 12th division's replica of Karakura town is almost complete."

Some distance away, Madara Uchiha was eavesdropping on the conversation. Using his rinnegan, he was able to read the lip movements of the captains in the room and decipher their words. He tuned out after Yamamoto mentioned sending Orihime back to the world of the living. As far as he was concerned, he finally had a ticket out of the Seireitei, and he was going to have the opportunity to obtain Orihime for Hashirama, too.

The day of Aizen's defection, after Yamamoto burned Harribel's garganta, he had hidden himself with a camouflage jutsu and suppressed his chakra to undetectable levels while he waited beside one of the Sokyoku's pillars. He didn't know how to control his reiatsu, but he was glad, for once, for the sekkiseki around his limbs that suppressed it for him.

The wood clones the shinigami had all scampered off to chase after had served as an even more effective distraction than he had hoped. It didn't take long at all before Sokyoku hill was fully vacated, and he discreetly made his way to its base, creating a hideout for himself using a small-scale earth release.

He had been disappointed when he had learned, too late, that a contingent of Shinigami had been dispatched to the world of the living. He had hoped to make use of the next senkaimon, and kept tabs on all the Captain's meetings since then, using his rinnegan to lip-read. He was beginning to be able to use his left eye again, though the vision was still extremely blurred. He was grateful that it was recovering, though, as he had thought the price of using Izanami was the permanent loss of a sharingan.

Seeing the captains exiting the meeting, he kept track of Orihime's unique reiatsu signature as she made her way to the 13th Division barracks. She was flanked by a duo of shinigami healers, but their reiatsu signatures were so feeble that Madara did not spare them a second thought. Quickly analyzing the fastest route to intercept them, he left his hideout, activating his camouflage jutsu.

Seireitei - 13th Division Barracks

"Thank you, Captain Ukitake, for taking care of me and supporting my training with Rukia. I'm off to help my friends now!" Orihime beamed at the white-haired captain of squad 13, before turning to the two Shinigami waiting for her by the senkaimon. "I'll be sure to pass along just how sweet of a host you've been!" She said as she waved goodbye one last time, stepping into the portal with her escorts.

As Captain Ukitake waved back, laughing, he thought he saw a few blades of grass move somewhat erratically, but as the evening breeze picked up, he dismissed it, turning and making his way back into his office.

Dangai - Precipice World

Orihime looked around herself, apprehensively observing the Dangai world. She definitely did not miss this place. Just like when she first came through here with Ichigo and the others, she was in some kind of tunnel. The ground was littered with ancient bones of various shapes that she did not recognize, and the interior of the Dangai was coated in a sinister, fleshy purple ooze. Suppressing a shudder, she steeled her resolve and began running forward. Her friends were waiting for her. Ichigo was waiting for her.

The senkaimon behind them closed, and they ran for a few minutes before they heard the unmistakable sound of a garganta opening, forcing them to stop.

The reverberant corridor made it hard for her to identify where the sound was coming from, but she eventually saw it. "Behind us!" She cried, prompting the two Shinigami to take their positions between her and the garganta.

Orihime squinted, and saw, to her horror, that the jagged teeth were in fact tearing an opening in the Dangai not twenty paces from where they had stopped.

From the garganta stepped a slender, pale Arrancar with a hollow hole at the base of his neck. The remnants of his terraced hollow's mask rested atop the left side of his head, curving in a half-crown that extended down the side of his face. "Only two guards…the Seireitei must be critically undermanned, indeed," he observed.

"Stand back, Lady Inoue, we will prot-" One of the squad 4 shinigami began, before he was silenced with a swift blast of red energy from the Arrancar's fist. Before the other could react, he too fell to a similar blast.

"Come with me, woman," the pale Arrancar said, walking leisurely toward her.

"Wha-"

"Don't talk," he interrupted, causing her to clamp her mouth shut. "Don't ask me anything, and don't tell me anything. Right now you have one choice - to come with me without resisting, or all of your friends are going to be slaughtered."

"You took the words right out of my mouth, Arrancar." Another, much deeper voice spoke out as a figure materialized from the shadows of the Dangai. The man moved to stand guard in front of Orihime, who had knelt beside her downed escorts and began trying to heal them.

Madara Uchiha had thought to only reveal himself once they had reached their destination, or at least had made their way out of this tunnel. He couldn't place his finger on what exactly, but something made him feel that staying in this hellish intermediary between the living and the dead for too long was not a good idea. However, the arrival of this Arrancar had forced him to show himself sooner. He could not let Orihime's power fall into Aizen's hands.

"Who are you?" The Arrancar's melancholy face remained impassive, and his voice was absent any hint of inflection.

"Madara Uchiha. Did your Lord Aizen not tell you about me?"

"Ah, so you are the hollow known as Madara… We were informed that you were likely working with the Shinigami, now. It would appear Lord Aizen was correct in that assumption."

Madara raised an eyebrow. "I work for myself, and right now, I am going to be taking this girl. Unfortunately for you, you will have to report back to your master empty-handed."

Orihime gulped, helplessly darting her head between the two powerful hollows that looked ready to fight over her. She took a deep breath, before mustering enough courage to ask in a small voice; "Mister…Uchiha? What could you possibly want with…me?"

Madara spared her a glance. "I need your help to heal a dear friend of mine. His name is Hashirama, and Aizen used his illusions to trick Yamamoto into grievously injuring him."

Orihime gasped; "That's horrible! I'm so sorry…but I can't help you right now." She glanced behind her, looking longingly past the emptiness of the Dangai, to where she knew it led.

"I have to go to my friends in Karakura town, first. They've also been injured by Aizen's Arrancar. Once they're better, though, I guess I will be free to help you then…?" She trailed off, uncertain as to what she was even saying, at this point.

"Unacceptable. You will come with me right now," the pale Arrancar interrupted. "The defenders in Karakura town are spent after their recent battles. Our forces are descending upon them in earnest as we speak. It would be child's play to kill them all." He drew his zanpakuto as he spoke. "You alone hold the rope to the guillotine your friends have found their heads in. If you wish for them to live, then you will return to Hueco Mundo with me."

"Orihime," Madara muttered softly, without taking his eye off of the Arrancar before him. "Can you heal my left eye? Do that, and I promise I will protect you and get you to safety."

Orihime did not move. She had learned how to sense reiatsu and gauge the strength of an opponent by the weight of their spiritual pressure, and the Arrancar in front of her exuded more than even Captain Ukitake. She had heard of Madara Uchiha, as well. The aberration that had survived Ryujin Jakka's flames and evaded the entirety of the Gotei 13 for the past two weeks, but she couldn't feel any spiritual pressure from him. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place, but if she had to choose…

"Did you not hear me, woman? Or do you not understand?" The Arrancar spoke again, his voice maintaining its dull monotone. "Come with me, and I will call off the attack. Resist, and you condemn your friends to death."

"I…I…" Orihime clutched her hands tightly together against her chin, eyes glistening with tears. She took a step toward him.

"Orihime." Madara spoke again, firmly. His deep baritone commanded her attention and halted her steps. "Heal my eye, and swear you will help Hashirama. If you do that, then I guarantee I will protect you and your friends."

"Y-y-eah I can try. I promise," the girl stammered out, a slight quiver to her voice as she enveloped Madara's head in the orange glow of her Soten Kisshun.

Ulquiorra watched curiously as he saw a purple pupil slowly take form in Madara's left eyeball, followed by a black iris solidifying in its center. Finally, as the orange glow from Orihime's ability subsided, a series of rings expanded out from Madara's new left iris, and he felt the hollow's killing intent rise.

He dipped into a defensive stance. "That is quite the ability you have there, Orihime Inoue. I see now why Lord Aizen has ordered me to personally oversee your capture."

Madara chuckled, closing his right eye experimentally. He felt immense satisfaction as he saw his enemy before him in crystal clarity with just his left. His chuckles grew until the Dangai rang with bellowing laughter. "Hashirama!" He roared into the abyss, "Hang on, old friend. You shall be restored presently!"

He flared his chakra, but, to his dismay, still could not crack the sekkiseki cuffs binding his wrists. Flexing his legs, he confirmed that his ankles were still similarly bound. Finally relenting, he spoke to the Arrancar, his mirth having been replaced by annoyance all over again. "What rank are you, Arrancar? Judging by your demeanor…are you the primera Espada?"

The pale Arrancar stared at him blankly for a moment, before pulling his jacket open with his left arm, revealing the number 4 tattooed above his heart. "I am Ulquiorra Cifer, Cuatro Espada."

Madara's eyes narrowed in what appeared to be the ghost of a smile beneath his hollow mask. "Ahh, you have my sympathies, then, Ulquiorra. Even Harribel and Barragan together in their resurreccion are not my match. To avoid any undue humiliation, I will allow you one more chance to leave this girl and be on your way. If you interfere, you will die."

"Perhaps you were a credible threat when you had unencumbered use of your limbs, Madara," Ulquiorra mused, increasing his spiritual pressure in response to the threat. "But just what do you expect to do to me in your current state?"

Scowling, Madara glanced behind him at Orihime; "Can you get these things off of me?" He whispered urgently, shoving his bound hands into her face.

"I-I-I'm sorry! I don't know how," she squeaked, recoiling and hugging herself protectively. She was finding it hard to withstand the amount of spiritual pressure Ulquiorra was releasing, but she forced herself to stay on her feet.

"Very well. No matter - I gave you my word, and I don't need my limbs for small fry like him," Madara said, before channeling chakra into his rinnegan. "Amaterasu."

Ulquiorra instinctively lifted his left arm in anticipation to block Madara's attack, and his eyes widened in pained surprise as the limb was engulfed in scorching black fire. Thinking fast, he tore it off at the shoulder before it could spread, and promptly regrew a new arm. He threw the burning limb toward Madara.

Madara raised an eyebrow as Orihime screamed, but he batted away the burning limb by manifesting a skeletal susanoo arm. "Stay here. My susanoo will protect you," he said to Orihime as he summoned a susanoo ribcage to envelop her with.

Madara gazed back toward Ulquiorra. "Amaterasu!" He tried again, aiming for the Arrancar's head, this time. The Arrancar disappeared, and the black flame passed harmlessly down the tunnel of the Dangai. To Madara's mild surprise, it latched far in the distance onto what appeared to be a train made of the same purple material as the walls in the Dangai.

Ulquiorra reappeared with a sonido before Madara, who raised his arms, using the sekkiseki to block his strike. The Arrancar checked behind him, seeing the approaching train. "We are out of time."

Orihime, upon seeing the Kototsu, also pounded on the susanoo ribcage, trying to grab Madara's attention, shouting; "We have to get out of here before that thing touches us! It'll throw us into a completely different point in time if we don't!"

Madara, too, looked at the Kototsu. "A different point in time?" He muttered, a glint in his eyes. A series of swift red balas shot out from Ulquiorra's fists, splattering harmlessly against the susanoo's ribcage. The Arrancar did not seem perturbed by the ineffectiveness of his attack, however, pointing his finger toward them and charging up a cero.

Madara sensed the much larger gathering in reiatsu in Ulquiorra's fingertip, and had no intention to let him launch the cero in such an enclosed space. He slammed his palms against the fleshy wall of the Dangai, and a large root emerged beside Ulquiorra's head, knocking his arm aside.

Taking advantage of his enemy's momentary loss of balance, Madara took a swipe at Ulquiorra with his susanoo's skeletal fist. Ulquiorra was fast, reacting in time and leaping away. As the Arrancar was mid-jump, however, Madara shoved his palms out toward him. "Shinra Tensei!" He bellowed as he directed the almighty push against the Cuatro Espada.

Ulquiorra suddenly found himself hurtling out of control directly toward the Kototsu, having collided with some colossal, invisible force. He tried to right himself but could not find his bearings. Left with no choice, he held out his Zanpakuto before him, and muttered: "Enclose, Murcielago."

Madara's lips curled into a scowl as the Espada unleashed his resurreccion, sending a torrent of greenish black reiatsu howling through the Dangai. This reiatsu was very different from Harribel's. It was noticeably less dense than hers, but held within it a heavy emptiness. Whereas Harribel's released spiritual pressure was thick with a golden warmth, the quality of Ulquiorra's reminded him more of Barragan's. It felt sparse, oppressive, and much more sinister.

The Cuatro Espada had sprouted a pair of leathery, black wings from his back, and used them to slow his momentum. In place of his Zanpakuto, he held a glowing spear of condensed emerald reiatsu in his right hand. Twisting in the air, he kicked off the side of the Dangai back toward Madara and Orihime, pointing a finger toward them. "Cero," he said, and the Dangai's tunnel ignited in blinding green energy, bright enough for Orihime to shield her eyes in response.

"Shinra T-" Madara began again, trying to contain the cero blast, but Ulquiorra beat him to the punch. From within the cero, his rinnegan identified Ulquiorra's glowing spear hurtling toward them, too fast for the almighty push, and Madara called upon his armored susanoo to block. He tried to increase the susanoo to its perfect form, but found he was unable to expand his chakra due to the confines of the Dangai's walls. Sending a wood clone forward to confront Ulquiorra, Madara grabbed Orihime by her wrist and set off in the opposite direction. He was at a disadvantage fighting in such a tight space, especially without access to taijutsu. He also did not want her to accidentally get killed during their fight.

World of the Living - Karakura Town

"Hey…I've been looking for you, Shinigami," Grimmjow sneered at Ichigo. His right hand was tucked casually in his pants pocket, but his left arm had been severed at the shoulder, leaving the empty sleeve fluttering in the wind.

"And I've been waiting for you, so I can show you just how much stronger I've become since we last fought!" The substitute shinigami shot back, putting both hands on Zangetsu and unwrapping its hilt. "Bankai."

A dark crimson reiatsu radiated out from Ichigo as Zangetsu shrank to the form of a sleek, black longsword.

"Bankai again, huh? You and that other pathetic captain's Bankai together couldn't even slow me down last time we fought. What makes you think it'll be any different now, especially on your own?" Grimmjow taunted, still not drawing his zanpakuto.

"You're going to see in a minute…but before we fight, tell me - what happened to that left arm of yours?"

Grimmjow suddenly curled his upper lip in disgust and rage, remembering Tosen's punishment. "It was bothering me so I chopped it off and threw it away!" He spat, flaring his reiatsu with a guttural roar. "I only need one arm to kill you!" With that, he rocketed toward Ichigo in a shunpo, drawing his zanpakuto as he saw the orange-haired shinigami bring his left hand toward his face, fingers curled into the approximation of a claw. Even as he watched, a hollow's mask appeared on Ichigo's face.

He barely brought Pantera up in time to save himself from being bisected from head to groin by Tensa Zangetsu. His eyes bulged out in shock.

"Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo cried in a two-toned voice, firing a point blank getsuga into Grimmjow's guard before the Espada even had time to process what was happening. Grimmjow felt his arm give way, and pain erupted from his chest. He maintained his balance in the sky, however, blinking the stars out of his vision and sparing a glance down at his chest to see that his wound was deep, but not fatal.

"This power…is not that of a shinigami," he forced out between heaving breaths.

Ichigo said nothing, but launched another horizontal getsuga, which Grimmjow caught on Pantera. Before he could react any further, he felt the substitute shinigami's presence behind him, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as another cry of "Getsuga Tensho!" saw him caught between the two blasts.

Hardening his hierro, he grit his teeth as the two Getsugas broke through his guard again, sending him sprawling out of the sky in a huge explosion. Forcing his eyes open, Grimmjow saw the hollow-masked Ichigo diving through the resultant cloud of dust, winding up with a two-handed thrust toward him.

Grimmjow desperately fired a cero up toward Ichigo, who dissipated it with a powerful slash of Tensa Zangetsu. Using the light of his cero as a cover, Grimmjow appeared beside his foe with a sonido, launching a barrage of strikes against Ichigo's parries. None of them broke through the substitute shinigami's masterful swordplay. Unwilling to back down, he pressed toward the Shinigami, locking swords with him, but found himself swiftly losing ground. Ichigo's physical strength definitively exceeded his own.

Unable to hold on any longer, he twisted away before he could be overwhelmed, but froze as Ichigo shunpoed in front of him, within arm's reach. With his left hand, Ichigo grabbed his wrist, immobilizing his sword arm, before bringing down Tensa Zangetsu for the finishing blow.

Grimmjow glared up toward his death, facing it head on. It could not have been more than ten seconds since Ichigo had donned the mask, and he had been soundly overwhelmed without even having had the chance to release Pantera. Damn was the last thing Grimmjow thought as the sky behind them shattered with a terrible, grating howl.

Two things happened at that instant.

Ichigo's mask cracked, and crumbled away, and an unstable garganta screeched open directly above them. The two combatants barely had time to disengage before the garganta deposited a screaming orange-haired girl into the open sky. She was enveloped protectively by what appeared to be eight sets of blue skeletal ribs, but that didn't stop her from flailing uselessly in the air as she fell. Ichigo moved to catch her, but found his hands were stopped by the blue ribcage. Nonetheless, he shouldered the entire weight of her spiritual armor, slowing her descent and setting her down gently onto the ground.

Orihime was in shock, wide-eyed and drenched in sweat. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, but her voice failed her. Ichigo wasn't even sure she recognized him right now. Before Ichigo could do anything else, an immense, stifling reiatsu emanated from the garganta, followed by a bat-like Arrancar shooting out of it, leaving behind a trail of dark green energy.

He glanced back at the garganta, before it shuddered, belching forth a skeletal torso enveloped in the same blue glow as the ribcage surrounding Orihime. Even as he gawked at the new arrivals, a mass of muscle fibers and tendons erupted from the skeleton's joints, snapping tautly around its bones, reminiscent of a gigantic humanoid form.

Ichigo's mouth hung open as huge plates of flaming blue armor materialized into place around the humanoid construct. Its head elongated into what Ichigo recognized as a tengu from his history classes, and its torso began to expand. As it fell toward the earth, a pair of thick, muscular legs emerged just in time for it to land with an enormous quake. A second pair of arms folded out from its chest, coming to a rest upon the hilts of two skyscraper sized katanas sheathed at either hip.

The battlefield was silent as the bat creature turned in the air, comparatively diminutive in size as it faced the mountainous blue being, an emerald reiatsu spear gripped tightly in its black claws.

The creature flapped its wings to gain altitude, and Ichigo identified it as the origin of the immense reiatsu. The bone-crunching spiritual pressure he felt, even at this distance, made Grimmjow's seem like a gentle massage. And then, as if fate itself was mocking his own insignificant power, the blue tengu construct sprouted a pair of armored wings. Ichigo crouched protectively over Orihime, bracing against the tempests generated by the titanic wing beats as it took off after the bat creature.

AN - it's about to get chaotic in Karakura town! Stay tuned ;)