It didn't take long for the Team Shinigami, together with the Team Natsu, to get ready and set off towards the Human Eaters guard, not only with the intention of finishing off all the hollows in the place, but also to save all the people they had locked up in the place.
Thanks to the indications of July, who had to stay behind due to her condition, they were able to travel without problems.
They walked for hours until they finally reached the barren field.
"This place gives me a bad feeling." said Ichigo.
"Yes, worthy of an organization that kidnaps people and feeds them to the hollows." said Gajeel.
"No doubt this is the place July told us about. We must be very close to their lair." said Erza.
"Alright! Let's go there!" exclaimed Natsu about to run forward.
"Hold it right there!" exclaimed Toshiro making the fire dragon slayer stop. "We're not going to go on the attack without a plan."
"Oh, come on. Where would the fun be in that?" asked Ikkaku.
"Yeah, Toshiro, don't take it so seriously." said Natsu.
"For you it's Captain Hitsugaya and it's necessary to take it seriously given the situation." said Toshiro.
"I agree. After all, we are dealing with an organization." said Lucy.
"And according to July, there are those dreaded four who are quite strong." said Lily.
"Not to mention there's a vice-captain and a captain who is stronger than all of them." said Rangiku.
"Plus those hollows that they could send to attack us like dogs." said Charle.
"I don't like dogs." said Happy shaking with nerves.
"What do we do then?" asked Wendy.
"Luckily, Captain Hitsugaya and I made a plan while we were on our way." began Rukia before pulling out a notebook. "As soon as we get to the base, we'll sneak inside and once there, we'll split into groups. While scouting the interior, we'll take down any guards we come across as we go about freeing the prisoners. In case we run into any hollow or one of those dreaded four, we'll just fight" explained Rukia while showing drawings of everyone in the shape of bunnies carrying out the plan she told. "Did you understand?"
"The only thing I understood is that you're the worst drawer I've ever seen." said Gajeel.
POW
POW
The next instant, Gajeel was on the ground with two whips on his head.
One on top of the other like ice cream cones.
"That's what you get for opening your mouth." commented Lily with a bead of sweat.
"Does anyone have anything else to say?" asked Rukia with an anime streak running through her head.
"N-No, nothing. Nothing." said Lucy nervously as she shook her arms in denial. "Geez, she draws a little better than Erza, but she has an almost worse character than you. Almost."
"The teams formed will be: Erza with Rukia, Lucy with Rangiku, Gajeel with Renji, Natsu with Ichigo, Gray will go with me, and lastly, Wendy with Ikkaku." said Toshiro.
"Huh? Why do I get to babysit the brat?" asked Ikkaku loudly, making the young dragon slayer nervous.
"I formed the teams based on everyone's skills and personalities. You tend to throw yourself into combat without thinking about anything else and that causes you to take more damage than expected and since Wendy possesses healing and enhancement spells, she could be useful to you." said Toshiro.
"Tsk. Whatever." said Ikkaku.
"I would have preferred Natsu to touch her instead of this guy." muttered Charle.
"What do you mean by that, kitten?" asked Ikkaku.
"I'm an exceed." said Charle.
"Wait, what about Captain Unohana? Aren't you part of the raid?" asked Wendy.
"Of course I am. However, I prefer to stay out of the fights. I'm more at ease healing you from any injuries." said Retsu.
"That's fine. If you say so." said Wendy.
"All right, everyone, listen up. We're going into the enemy's lair. We know there are hollows inside, but we don't know what those dreaded four can do, as well as the higher-ups, so I recommend caution. Is everyone ready?" asked Toshiro, getting a nod from everyone else. "Okay. Here we go!"
Meanwhile, in the throne room, the dreaded four stood before their leader, with the hooded man standing at his side.
"I suppose you know why I called you, don't you?" asked the man on the throne.
"You mean about those guys coming here to screw everything up?" asked the fat man.
"I say let them come! It's been a long time since I've been this excited about something!" said the man with the scar.
"Same here. Punishing prisoners is one thing, but punishing those who want to fight us sounds a hell of a lot more fun." said the dominatrix woman.
"Whatever you ask us to do, we will do it as it should be done, captain." said the bald man bowing in respect.
"I'm glad to hear that. If I know them well enough, they'll probably get into our base through some conduit or something. Therefore, you will have to scout the place from top to bottom. If you come across any of them, dead or alive, I don't care, deal with whoever it is." said the man on the throne.
"Oh, so it will be like the game of hide and seek, eh? I like that even better." said the man with the scar with a mad grin.
"Of course, before you leave, first I'd like to… send you a welcoming committee." said the man on the throne.
"Wait, you mean you're going to…?" asked the dominatrix woman in surprise, as she knew what he was referring to.
"Normally I wouldn't mind, but are you sure it's a good idea given theirs… nature?" asked the fat man.
"If it's the fact that you're being attacked that worries you, don't worry. I made sure to tell them not to do anything to you. It would be a shame to lose such loyal subordinates." said the man on the throne.
"Your words fill me with joy, captain." said the bald man.
The man on the throne turned his gaze to the hooded man.
"I believe there was someone who used to say… Release the hounds." said the man on the throne.
"As you wish." said the hooded man before making a sweep with his arm.
That caused the gates to go up as yellow eyes peered into the darkness and bestial growls could be heard.
"Go ahead, my little pets. Go and greet our guests as they deserve." said the man on the throne with a toothy, evil grin.
In some hallway, all was quiet, until a hole suddenly formed in the floor.
From that same hole, Virgo emerged, followed by Lucy, who was in her Virgo outfit, and the others.
"Good job, Virgo." said Lucy.
"Thank you, princess. Can you punish me as a reward?" asked Virgo.
"Maybe later." said Lucy making the spirit disappear.
"Wow. We're in. That really was handy." said Rangiku.
"Thank you." said Lucy.
"Alright. We'll split up here. Remember, our main objective is to eliminate the hollows and free the prisoners." said Toshiro.
"And what if we run into one of those dreaded four?" asked Natsu.
"In that case, we'll make sure they don't hurt anyone again." said Ichigo.
"That's right. if we let them escape, they might regroup again and go back to their old ways." said Erza.
"That is something we can't allow." said Renji.
"I'll stay here to guide the released prisoners out, as well as treat their wounds and so on." said Retsu.
"Are you sure? What if one of those hollow ones suddenly appears?" asked Wendy.
"Don't worry, Wendy. Even if I prefer to avoid fights, I'm able to defend myself just fine." said Retsu.
"She's right, Wendy. After all, she wouldn't be a captain if she wasn't capable of fighting." said Charle.
"Right. Let's get going." said Toshiro.
"Wait. Before we leave, we should swear an oath." began Renji stretching his fist forward.
Understanding what he was saying, everyone stretched their fist so that they connected at one point.
"We at this moment head into the decisive battle. Have faith that our blades will not shatter. Have faith that our hearts will not waiver. And even if our paths should diverge, we all share a heart of iron. Swear that even if the ground beneath us should be rent asunder we will live and return to this place again." said Renji.
After nodding to each other, the established teams split off in different directions, leaving Retsu behind.
"Take care everyone." said Retsu.
Ikkaku and Wendy ran down a hallway, with Ikkaku running far ahead of Wendy.
"Hey, you. You could slow down a bit, couldn't you?" asked Charle.
"No way. Either keep up with me or get left behind, brat." said Ikkaku.
"O-Okay." said Wendy trying to increase her speed, but she couldn't manage to catch up with the shinigami.
That's when she felt something grab her from behind and lift her above the ground.
Turning her head, she discovered that it was Charle.
"Look at you touching someone like that. What was Captain Hitsugaya thinking?" asked Charle.
"S-Surely he had his reasons, besides the ones he told us about earlier." said Wendy defending the captain's decisions.
Thanks to Charle, Wendy managed to move forward at the same speed as Ikkaku and the two continued on their way until they reached a large room full of cells with people inside.
"What bad luck. I was expecting to find hollows, not this." said Ikkaku.
"My goodness. All those poor people." said Wendy feeling sorry to see the state of all the people locked up.
"They have to be freed. And you're going to help too." said Charle looking at the shinigami.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, kitty." said Ikkaku.
Thanks to the shinigami's brute strength, the cells were opened.
"We have come to rescue you. If you keep going that way, you'll find a tunnel and someone to take care of you. Hurry." said Wendy.
Hearing that, not one person hesitated to follow her instructions and quickly flee where she had indicated, leaving the room completely clear of people.
"Okay, we're done with this. Let's keep moving." said Ikkaku.
"Wait." said Wendy.
"What is it now? Don't tell me you want to go to the bathroom now." said Ikkaku.
"Don't be rude, you energumen!" exclaimed Charle.
"What did you call me?" asked Ikkaku with an anime streak in his head.
"That's not it. I hear something coming towards us." said Wendy.
"Huh? What do you mean something?" asked Ikkaku confused.
That's when they all heard several roars and turned their gaze to the exit of the room.
At first, they saw nothing but darkness, but then, red eyes began to appear in the darkness and soon after, several hollows came out of the darkness.
"W-What are those things?" asked Wendy nervously.
"They're hollows. I see they've finally appeared." said Ikkaku.
"They're uglier than you were saying." said Charle.
"Hey, brat. If you decide to fight or flee I don't care, but don't get in my way." began Ikkaku before placing his sheathed zanpakuto in front of him. "Extend, Hozukimaru!" shouted Ikkaku transforming his sword into a naginata.
As nervous as she was at the terrifying appearance of the hollows, Wendy stood bravely and prepared to fight.
"I won't run away. I'll fight those creatures too." said Wendy.
"Ha. You have guts, but let's see if you have the strength to fight them." said Ikkaku with an excited smile.
It didn't take long for the hollows to pounce at them like wild beasts.
Ikkaku started to run towards them and the moment a hollow approached him, he cut it with the blade of his naginata.
Another hollow tried to attack him, from the side, but Ikakku swung his naginata so that the part containing a red feather hit him directly, staggering him long enough for Ikkaku to turn and stab it with his weapon, killing it in the process.
He then saw several hollows charging towards him, but that only made his toothy grin increase at the thrill of a good fight, so he lunged towards them with his weapon ready to kill.
"Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" shouted Wendy launching from her arms two tornadoes that hit several hollows, destroying them in the process.
"Wendy, watch out!" shouted Charle due to a hollow trying to attack her from behind, but then…
"Sky Dragon's Claw!" shouted Wendy spinning around while covering her leg with a stream of wind to then, give the hollow a powerful kick that sent it crashing into the wall, being destroyed in the process.
Before long, all the hollows in the area had been exterminated.
"Damn it. It's over now." said Ikkaku.
"And you fight those things every day? You sure have a hard job." said Charle.
"Not every day, but yes." said Ikkaku.
Suddenly, Wendy let out a gasp of horror as she felt something.
"What's the matter Wendy? Are there more hollows coming?" asked Charle.
"No, but I feel someone coming. Someone strong." said Ikkaku.
"N-Not only that. That power… it looks so familiar. Could it be…?" asked Wendy frightened by the answer to that question.
That's when they heard footsteps and turned towards the exit to see the hooded man enter the room.
"You know? Part of me really knew you could handle those creatures." said the hooded man.
"Judging by your power level, you must be the leader of this crazy group, right?" asked Ikkaku.
"Oh, sorry to disappoint you, but despite being strong, I'm only second in command." said the hooded man.
"So you're the vice-captain I've heard about, huh? I'll have to settle for that." said Ikkaku with a toothy grin.
"I-Ikkaku, be careful. I sense there's more to him than meets the eye." said Wendy.
"So what? A fight is a fight." said Ikkaku.
"You should listen to your friend. Underestimating me will be a mistake on your part." began the hooded man before pulling out a pair of scythes. "A mistake that will cost you your life."
In another part of the place, Erza and Rukia were in an area freeing the prisoners, removing their chains and opening their cells with the help of their swords.
"Quickly. Get out of here as soon as possible." said Erza.
"Keep going that way and you'll find a way out." said Rukia.
Without hesitation, all the prisoners quickly escaped from the place.
"We should keep exploring. There may be more prisoners in this place." said Erza.
"Right, as soon as we're done with this area, we'll… Watch out!" shouted Rukia.
Hearing that, Erza quickly moved out of the way, managing to dodge a swipe from a hollow.
Soon after, the two watched as several hollows arrived on the scene, surrounding them in the process.
"So those are the hollows." said Erza.
"Yeah, it looks like they've decided to let them loose to take us out." said Rukia.
"Well we won't let them do that. Requip! Heaven's Wheel Armor!" shouted Erza changing her armor completely.
"Same here." began Rukia placing her zanpakuto in front. "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" shouted Rukia as she spun her sword that was getting longer, white and with a ribbon tied to the hilt.
A hollow roared as it lunged towards Erza, but she took flight to avoid it.
Once there, she made several blades appear around her, all aimed at the hollows.
"Dance, my blades!" shouted Erza causing the swords to shoot out.
The blades slashed into the hollows, who screamed in pain before falling dead and fading away.
After that, she descended to the ground and with two swords in each hand, she launched herself to fight the hollows.
Rukia remained calm as several hollows gathered around her and rushed forward to attack.
"Some no mai, Tsukishiro!" shouted Rukia forming a glowing circle around her and the hollows that were closest to her.
Before they could reach her, Rukia quickly stepped out of the circle just as a pillar of light erupted from it and turned into a pillar of ice in which several hollows were trapped.
The hollows that escaped from it rushed back to attack her, but Rukia used her speed to move quickly and cut them down with her sword, killing them in the process.
Soon after, the area was completely clear of hollows, with the two swordswomen being the only ones left.
"Those were the only ones?" asked Erza.
"Yes, I don't sense any more in the vicinity. I couldn't say the same for the others though." said Rukia.
"You're right. Surely they're probably… Look out!" shouted Erza moving quickly, managing to whip Rukia away.
The two quickly turned their gaze to the source of the whip to see the dominatrix woman.
"Hey, why did you have to dodge it? I would have loved to hear her screams of pain." said the dominatrix woman.
"You… Are you one of the dreaded four?" asked Rukia.
"The same thing that dresses and fits. I am known as Wilzard, the punisher." said the dominatrix woman introducing herself.
"You mean you're the one who gave those people those wounds?" asked Erza.
"Of course I am. I loved hearing their screams of pain, but you had to release my beloved toys." said Wilzard.
"They aren't your toys! They are people!" exclaimed Erza angrily.
In fact, that reminded her of her time as a slave in that tower with her friends.
"Oh, well, that's all right. You'll replace the ones who escaped." said Wilzard cracking her whip as the two swordswomen prepared to fight.
"Come on, quick! We haven't got all day!" said Gajeel as he and the others helped the prisoners escape.
"Go that way. You'll find a woman by a hole. If you go through it, you'll reach the outside." said Renji.
Lily, in his warrior form, pulled apart a couple of bars, leaving a gap through which the prisoners could exit.
"I think those were the last of them." said Lily.
"It's amazing that they had so many people imprisoned and no one noticed." said Renji.
"They must have gone to great lengths to prevent anyone from discovering them, though now it seems those efforts have been in vain." said Gajeel.
"We're done around here. We should get moving before…" began Lily before they all began to hear roaring and turned their gaze towards the exit of the area to see several hollows emerging from the darkness.
"Hollows!" exclaimed Renji in surprise.
"Looks like the beasts have escaped their cage." said Lily drawing his sword.
"Fine by me. I've wanted to fight those things ever since I heard about them." said Gajeel with a toothy grin as he pounded his fist with his palm.
"They may be like wild beasts, but I recommend not underestimating them." began Renji placing his unsheathed zanpakuto in front of him. "Roar, Zabimaru!" shouted Renji running his hand across the blade of the sword, causing it to transform into a machete split into 6 fragments with tips protruding like fangs.
In the next instant, the hollows rushed into battle.
"Iron Dragon's Club!" shouted Gajeel turning his arm into a metal pole which he extended until he impacted it against a hollow, pushing it until it impacted it against the wall in the process.
He then performed a sweeping motion with his arm, causing the pole to hit several hollows in the process.
Then he saw several hollows charging towards him.
"Iron Dragon's Roar!" shouted Gajeel shooting a tornado of metal pieces from his mouth that annihilated all the hollows.
Lily moved from side to side to dodge the claws and bites of the hollows.
When he saw the right moment, he attacked them with his sword, killing them in the process.
Two hollows charged at him from both sides and when they were very close to him, Lily returned to his chibi form, causing the two hollows to collide with each other.
Quickly, Lily returned to his warrior form and slashed at the two hollows who vanished because of it.
Renji dodged a hollow attack before slashing it with his sword.
He then swung his sword like a whip, causing it to stretch out and swing towards some hollows charging towards him.
With a swing of his arm, Renji made the blade, as well as the blades, hit the hollows which disintegrated in the process.
After a while of fighting them, they finally eliminated all the hollows in the place.
"Tsk. And they're supposed to be a threat. They're not so different from the beasts I fight every day." said Gajeel.
"Maybe, but they have a large number, not to mention some of them can be a real challenge." said Renji.
"He's right. After all, there are those arrancar, who can use shinigami-like powers." said Lily.
"Whatever." began Gajeel heading for the exit. "Let's get the hell out of here…" began Gajeel before, just as he was about to cross the exit, he collided with a transparent wall, causing him to back up a bit as he rubbed his face. "What the hell…?"
"A barrier?" asked Lily.
"Ugh. This is really a drag."
The three of them watched the barrier come undone before the fat man entered the place.
"I was really hoping not to run into anything or anyone, but it looks like today isn't my lucky day." said the fat man.
"Who are you?" asked Renji.
"My name is Granvaiser, of the dreaded four." said the fat man introducing himself.
"Well, you don't give the right image, shall we say." said Gajeel.
"I know. Honestly, I'd rather rest, but work is work and mine now is to stop you from leaving." said Granvaiser as the three prepared to fight the fat man.
Gray used his magic to freeze the bars of a cell before breaking it.
"You can go now. Don't worry. We'll take care of the rest." began Gray before a couple of prisoners stepped out of the cell and left. "Anything yet?" asked Gray turning his gaze to the captain.
"No and it's a little weird. By now, they would have sent someone to arrest us or something by now." said Toshiro.
"Well, this place is pretty big, surely even they don't know where we are." said Gray with a shrug.
"Maybe, but we shouldn't let our guard down in a place like this, so stay alert." said Toshiro.
"Understood." said Gray.
It was then that the two heard beastly roars and turned their gaze towards the exit of the place, through which several hollows came out.
"Didn't you want someone to come and stop us? Well here they are." said Gray.
"That doesn't matter now. We have to finish them off as soon as possible." said Toshiro unsheathing his zanpakuto. "Reign over the Frosted Heavens, Hyorinmaru!" shouted Toshiro as a crescent blade formed attached to a chain to his hilt as an ice dragon emerged from the blade of the sword.
At the sign of defiance, the hollows roared fiercely before charging towards them.
With a sword swing, Toshiro caused the ice dragon to strike several hollows, sending them flying as they froze completely.
By the time they hit the wall or the ground, they shattered into pieces like glass.
Next, Toshiro used shunpo to position himself between some hollows and did a quick spin, which caused the dragon to hit them all, freezing them in the process.
"Ice-Make: Floor!" shouted Gray freezing the ground, catching several hollows in the process. "Ice-Make: Lance!" shouted Gray causing several ice spears to shoot out towards the hollows, stabbing into them and killing them in the process.
Suddenly, a hollow lunged at him, but then…
"Ice-Make: Ice Hammer!" shouted Gray, creating a spiked hammer with which he struck the hollow with force.
After a short time, the room became as cold as a fridge, plus there was ice everywhere and some of the hollows that were there ended up frozen while others were either wiped out or destroyed.
"There don't seem to be any of them left." said Gray.
"True, but there are most likely more on the loose out there. We must find them before they escape from this place." said Toshiro.
Just as they were about to take a step, from the area where the exit was, there was a huge blast of wind that sent all the ice there flying, forcing them to use their arms as shields to protect themselves from both the ice and the wind, though they ended up sliding backwards a bit.
As they lowered their arms, they saw that the smokescreen caused by that explosion was dissipating, allowing them to see the bald man walking calmly toward the site.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but this is where the road stops for you." said the bald man.
"Are you one of those dreaded four we heard about?" asked Toshiro.
"That's right. My name is Nagchico and I will be your opponent." said the bald man introducing himself.
"Well you have made a mistake in coming to challenge us." said Gray preparing to fight alongside Toshiro.
"You will be judged for your crimes." said Toshiro.
"We will all be judged for our deeds someday. I don't mind you being my judge, as I will be the one to judge you as well." said Nagchico.
"This way. Nice and easy." said Lucy leading the freed prisoners down the right path.
"If you see a woman with long black hair, she is a friend of ours. She listens to everything she says." said Rangiku.
Soon after, the entire room was free of prisoners.
"I feel sorry for what those people had to suffer." said Lucy.
"Well, you don't have to worry anymore. We've freed them and I'm sure the others have too." said Rangiku.
"Yes, you're right. We'd better get going. There may be more prisoners out there." said Lucy.
Before they went to take a step, they began to hear roaring and as they looked ahead, they saw that, from the exit of the place, several hollows came out, their gaze pointed at them.
"Great. Just what was missing." said Rangiku.
"T-Those are… hollows?" asked Lucy a little frightened by the appearance of those creatures.
"Yes, they are. I recommend you put that fear aside and fight." said Rangiku pulling out her zanpakuto.
At that, Lucy quickly stopped being scared and concentrated on what was going on.
"Okay." began Lucy pulling out a golden key. "Open the Gate of the Archer! Sagittarius!" shouted Lucy causing, out of a bright light, a man in a strange horse costume to emerge.
"Here I am as you requested. Moshi moshi" said Sagittarius.
"Star Dress! Sagittarius Form!" shouted Lucy changing her attire completely as she obtained a bow and arrow.
With a battle roar, the hollows charged towards them with the intention of devouring or killing them.
Using shunpo, Rangiku moved quickly between the hollows, dodging their attacks while slashing at them with her sword, killing them in the process.
A hollow tried to attack her from behind, but Rangiku saw it coming and used shunpo to get behind the hollow and stab it in the back.
"Sagittarius, we have to finish those creatures off!" said Lucy preparing her bow to fire.
"As you wish. Moshi moshi" said Sagittarius preparing to shoot.
With great speed, Sagittarius shot arrow after arrow to the point where it looked like a machine gun.
Each arrow hit the hollows in various parts of theirs body until they fell to the ground before fading away.
"Star Shot!" shouted Lucy shooting the arrow which split into several energy arrows that hit the hollows, killing them all in the process.
By the time it was all over, there were no hollows left in the area.
"That was it?" asked Lucy.
"Yes, I don't feel any hollows around anymore." said Rangiku.
"Thanks for the help, Sagittarius. You're free to go." said Lucy.
"My pleasure to help you. Moshi moshi" said Sagittarius before disappearing.
"Well, come on…" began Lucy before noticing something out of the corner of her eye, as did Rangiku.
It was two chains with kunais attached to the end flying straight towards them at high speed, forcing them to jump backwards to avoid them.
The chains hovered in the air, as if they were alive, when then…
"Hahaha. Splendid. I'm glad you dodged them." began the scarred man entering the place. "Everything would be boring if that hadn't happened."
"Who are you? Are you one of the dreaded four?" asked Lucy.
"Of course. I am Salivchi and it is an honor for me to have such beauties in front of me." said the scar man.
"If you are looking to cajole us, go find someone else." said Rangiku.
"Cajole? Haha. Oh, no. I'm not at all interested in that love-at-first-sight nonsense and such. No. What I'm more interested in is making you suffer and if you're beautiful, all the better for me." said Salivchi with a demented grin.
"That guy is crazy." commented Lucy.
"Well, enough talking. Let's start with the fun" said Salivchi getting ready to fight, just like the two girls.
Ichigo, Natsu and Happy were moving down a hallway, intent on looking for prisoners to free, hollows to eliminate or bad guys to defeat.
"Natsu, can you notice anything with your sense of smell?" asked Ichigo.
"What do you think I am? A dog?" asked Natsu.
"No, an idiot. Can you do it or not?" asked Ichigo.
"Of course I can!" began Natsu before sniffing the air. "Hmm? I notice a familiar smell." said Natsu with a confused look.
"Familiar?" asked Happy.
"Follow me. It's this way." said Natsu leading the other two down another path.
They kept moving forward until they reached the courtyard where the prisoners usually had their breaks.
At first, it looked like no one was there, but then…
"Look over there!" said Happy pointing to the front.
The substitute shinigami and the fire dragon slayer looked ahead to see a small girl with short white hair sitting on the ground with chains around her body.
Quickly, the two ran over to her, catching her attention.
"W-Who are you?" the girl asked nervously.
"Easy. We came to rescue you." said Ichigo using his strength to break the chains holding her.
"R-Rescuing me? That means… My sister asked you to come?" asked the girl hopefully.
"Your sister?" asked Happy.
"Your sister's name is July, right? You both have the same smell." said Natsu.
"Do you know my sister? Where is she? Is she ok? Please tell me she's okay." said Ruby.
"Don't worry. Your sister is in our guild. She told us what was going on here and we came to help you all" said Natsu.
"We're sorry she wasn't here. She had to stay behind because of how tired she was." said Ichigo.
That brought tears of joy running down the girl's face as she heard that her older sister was okay and had achieved her goal.
"You made it, sister. I never doubted you. I knew you'd make it." said Ruby.
"Well, we'd better get you to Retsu. It's possible that the others…" began Ichigo.
"AAHH!" shouted Ruby.
The next instant, the two boys turned around to see the cause of the scream and were surprised when they saw many hollows entering the courtyard from various entrances.
"Are those hollows?" asked Natsu.
"Yes, but there are a lot more of them than we thought." said Ichigo.
"What do we do now?" asked Happy.
"Happy, you take the girl away from here." said Natsu.
"Aye, sir." said Happy before taking out his wings, grabbing the girl and flying out of the place quickly.
"I hope you're ready to fight hollows." said Ichigo pulling out his zanpakuto.
"Ha. Are you kidding? I have been ever since we came to this place. I'll finally show the fruits of my training." said Natsu pounding his fists wreathed in fire.
"By training, he must mean losing soundly to me and Toshiro." thought Ichigo with a bead of sweat, but he put those thoughts aside as the hollows threw themselves into combat.
Using shunpo, Ichigo was moving between the hollows and killing them with his huge sword.
One hollow tried to attack him from the side, but Ichigo quickly dodged the attack.
It was then that he saw several hollows charging towards him.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" shouted Ichigo launching a wave of energy that annihilated all the hollows.
After that, a hollow emerged from the ground to try to catch him by surprise, but Ichigo took a big leap upwards and then, swiftly came down with his sword held high, performing a powerful vertical slash that split the hollow in half.
Natsu stood with a toothy grin in front of a horde of hollows charging towards him with murderous intent.
"Alright, you ugly beasts, you want some of me? Well I'll give it to you." began Natsu before puffing out his cheeks. "Fire Dragon's Roar!" shouted Natsu shooting a huge blast of fire from his mouth that engulfed the hollows, charring them all in the process.
Shortly after that, a hollow suddenly appeared behind him with its mouth open ready to devour him, but then…
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" shouted Natsu turning around quickly to give the hollow an uppercut, slamming its mouth shut and cracking its mask badly.
He then noticed more hollows charging towards him, so he grabbed the hollow as he engulfed it in fire.
"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" shouted Natsu throwing the fiery hollow towards the others and when it impacted against them, a huge explosion went off taking them all out. "Ha. Is that all they have? This will be over in a jiffy." said Natsu wrapping his hands in fire before charging towards the battle.
With fire and sword slashes, the two finished off all the hollows quickly.
A couple of minutes later, there were no more hollows left in the place.
"How about that? Those things had no business facing us" said Natsu.
"There's something wrong with all this." said Ichigo suspiciously.
"What do you mean? We just took down all those hollows" said Natsu.
"Don't you find it strange the fact that that girl was alone in this wide place and that, shortly after we arrived, the hollows showed up?" asked Ichigo.
"Well…" began Natsu before realizing the point. "You're right. Why would they do something like that?"
"Probably because…" began Ichigo before realizing something. "IT'S A TRAP!"
In the next instant, a huge red beam struck the area, causing a massive explosion.
As the smoke cleared, Ichigo found himself off to the side with Natsu under his arm.
"Are you okay?" asked Ichigo.
"T-Thanks for saving me, but… Ugh. Could you put me down?" asked Natsu with a sick look on his face.
The reason for that was because Ichigo had to grab Natsu and use shunpo to quickly move away from the impact zone of that beam, although, due to the dragon slayer's transport dizziness, he ended up dizzy.
Ichigo let go of Natsu, allowing him to stand up after breathing heavily for a few seconds.
It was then that he noticed something in the sky.
"Uh… Ichigo, do you see the same thing as me?" asked Natsu.
Ichigo looked up and what he saw made his eyes widen in horror.
With the smoke cleared completely, he could see standing in mid-air a man in a completely white suit, wearing glasses, gray hair tied into a ponytail, hands in his pockets and a sword at his waist.
But most striking of all was the bone mask on his face.
"It… It can't be." said Ichigo.
"At last we meet face to face, shinigami." said the arrancar.