Ichigo Awakens

(Karakura hospital rooftop)

It was like something from a nightmare. Every passing second brought more and more of those mindless beasts. Tens turned to hundreds and hundreds to thousands as they continued to pour through holes in dimensional space, driven by their hunger to seek and devour. From partially humanoid to completely beastly and monstrous, each wearing masks that one would see in nightmares. The cousins could only stare in horror as they descended on the city. As they finally began to register what was happening, they began to panic.

"Oh god." Ichigo managed to finally speak. "Yuzu! Karin!" His worry immediately going to his sisters, still young, still fresh, still weak. An appetizing treat for a hungry hollow should one find them. "We have to go get them!" He was about to run off before Uryu held him back.

"Ichigo!" He yelled out, barely restraining himself from rushing off to save the twins. "I'm just as worried about them as you are but you have to stay calm!" Always the thinker, always the planner, always looking out for his hot headed brother in arms. "You are still in your human body, and unless you can control your bow immaculately, you can only use kido and those incantations take quite some time. Where is Rukia?" They had to get him in spirit form and fast, he was stronger then, more powerful. Ichigo took a few deep breaths to calm himself and to focus on his wayward partner.

"She just left Urahara's," He said as he noticed her speed, "and she's already in spirit form." They sighed in frustration. They had to ensure that Ichigo's body was safe and Urahara's shop was quite the distance away, time was not on their side at all. "What's really bothering me is who used the hollow bait." This surprised Uryu as both he and his father disposed of all the hollow bait they had years ago. Did Aizen get the formula or was the Vandenreich making a move?

"Our enemies are probably trying to test us. See how strong we are." He hypothesized. "Which means we can't afford to go all out."

"But this still exposes us." Ichigo said as he remembered a few others. "Chad and Rukia can handle themselves, Kon's with Karin and Yuzu, and I can only hope they'll ignore Tatsuki and Orihime." He had faith in his allies in battle and Kon was designed to bodyguard the girls in that body, but Orihime and Tatsuki had greater Reiatsu than most people so there was still a chance they could be targeted. The two warriors felt trapped. No matter what, there was loss on their end. Trying to figure out the best plan, left the boys paralyzed. This was their first real battle. Not some random weak and stupid hollows that are spread apart, but a veritable army coming against them. They realized that all the training they did, did nothing to account for the very real fact, that they might fail this day.

"Standing around moping is not going to help anyone." A familiar firm and deep voice. The boys turned to see their Quincy teacher stride out to join the boys in witnessing the terror before them. "Yes, if you fight you will give your enemies the chance to study you, to learn your strengths and weaknesses." He said, voicing one side of their dilemma. "However, you can just stand back and let this carnage happen." He said, as fact. Not possibility, fact. "Doing so will keep you both under the radar for some more time. But such an act will leads to many injuries and death to the living and the dead." He readjusted his glasses as his two students turned to face him. "None of us trained you to second guess yourselves. Yes, your enemies will learn valuable information on you, but this will teach you something about yourselves as well." He glared at the boys, making them feel the weight of the next decision they would have to make. "Will you be cowards. Or will you fight?" Neither teen moved for seconds that passed like hours. Suddenly the two threw themselves over the side of the building, skating away on a flow of Reishi. He smiled in satisfaction. 'Those two will be your downfall Ywach.' He thought as they disappeared. 'They've gotten much faster.' He turned and began preparations for the influx of new patients he would be having.

(With Uryu and Ichigo)

"So what's the plan you're going for?" Uryu asked as he followed his cousin, flying through the air on the flow beneath their feet. Ichigo had general ideas, Uryu did the fine tuning.

"We're heading to Karin and Yuzu." Ichigo replied as they skirted past some hollows, occasionally striking out with fists or small scale kido. "Kon's current body is strong but mine is better. He'll take them and my body back home so we can focus on the fighting." Ichigo felt his phone vibrating in his pocket, despite the pressure and friction pressing on him. He looked at the screen, slowing down only slightly to prevent destroying the small device. It had only one message from Kisuke. 'Level 1 restraints, lifted.' Ichigo was just given permission to use higher level kido and attacks. He knew just the set to use for this.

(With Chad in the market district)

'This isn't good.' The muscle bound giant thought as he sensed all the hollows pour in like rain in a storm. Despite the coming battles he would face, Chad remained very calm about his situation. 'Ichigo and Uryu are already on the move. If I had to guess, they're going to Yuzu and Karin.' He guessed, knowing his best friend's protective brotherly instinct would push in to defend his precious sisters and Uryu would watch his back. 'Guess it's up to me then.' He decided as a group of hollows surrounded him.

"What a tasty looking soul you are!" He heard them speak amongst themselves. A large pale purple one with a mask like swirling wind currents reached out crush him in its massive hands. Sado grabbed onto the hollow's hand, turned, and threw it into one of it's comrades around him. The explosion of dust and debris scared what remaining bystanders there were into running for there lives. While the hollows themselves tried to figure out what had happened, Chad jumped up to one of them with his empowered arm and smashed the beast's mask, killing it without a blast of Reishi.

"You want me?" He asked, glaring at the hollows as they managed to get back on their feet. "Come and get me." He growled before turning and running away. The hollows just stared in confusion before Chad flared his Reiatsu, making them act on instinct to catch their prey. 'I have to get to a safe place to fight.' He thought as he remembered what Yoruichi and Urahara told him.

'Your fists have a lot of power in them Sado.' He heard the voice of the shopkeeper repeat in his mind as he stopped running once he reached the empty park. 'Great heavy attacks, but you must be careful using it in the city.' One of the hollows reached out to grab him and Chad caught its hands in his own before tearing its arms off and slamming his head into the hollow's mask, crushing it.

'All it takes is one mistake.' Yoruichi's voice rang out in his ears as he fired a shot at another hollow, destroying it's head. 'And you could cause great damage to a lot of innocent people.' He jumped onto another hollow's beastly mask and jumped off with enough force to shatter the white boney structure. 'So you should learn to control the amount of power you put into it.' He charged up his arm again, making it glow in bright light, before shooting his fist out rapidly, blasting out a rain of his Reishi blasts like a machine gun. The ground beneath became littered in small craters and the dissolving bodies of hollows unfortunate enough to get caught in the blast. He landed on the ground just in time for more to show up, drawn in by his still flaring Reiatsu.

'Ichigo, I'll draw as many as I can to me.' He thought to himself, possibly trying to send a message to his friend. 'Get to your sisters, then come here. I'll hold out till you show up.' He charged at the next hollow, ready to continue the long fight ahead. Unaware of the growing tear in the sky.

(Back at Karakura High)

Tatsuki was still thinking about what Ichigo said to her. She was a normal girl. She was always more into guy things, standing out from the girly girls but never fully one of the guys. Compared to Ichigo, her boyfriend she's sharing with Orihime, she's normal. A normal human with nothing to prove otherwise than seeing spirits. Sure she was stronger, faster, and more skilled, but only because she was being taught by Yoruichi. She wanted to prove him wrong, that she's not some helpless girl. But how?

"Tatsuki! Break's over!" She heard a voice yell out inside of the karate club's room, telling her to return for her next match. She wanted to help him, help carry that burden he put on himself, but she remembered how she felt seeing her first hollow. She was afraid, frozen with unease. She put on a brave face with Ichigo because she refused to let him see her as weak. That same feeling she had now.

"Tatsuki!" She turned to see Orihime, still around after her own club activities finished. After their date with Ichigo, they had a private talk over the phone and she told her about what happened with Ichigo. Orihime had that way with people, she could tell when something was wrong and no one could hide it from her. That was also the first time she ever seemed mad at anyone. She never raised her voice and never said a mean thing, until that day.

"What is it Orihime?" She asked her oldest friend before they heard glass breaking. They rushed to find the source, but there was nothing. Just broken glass and people arguing. They and a classmate named Chizuru ended up being the ones that had to clean up the mess. She kept complaining about having to help clean, while Tatsuki and Orihime couldn't shake off the unease they were feeling.

"Why do I have to help?" The perverted lesbian whined while she and Tatsuki swept up the dangerous shards of broken glass that littered the area. She received no response as Orihime was watching the sky tear and Tatsuki was on guard. "What is up with you two?" Again nothing. "Tatsuki~. If Orihime keeps spacing out I'm going give her a nice rubdown~!" She teased, knowing she'd react furiously to keep her from Orihime.

"Chizuru." Tatsuki said as she got up, looking toward the open field. "Why are you here?" She had to get Chizuru and Orihime out of there. "Why don't you and Orihime leave early?" She tried, but the monster was impatient. There was an explosion of dust as it dropped down before them. A spider's body with large crab claws and a snarling mask was the beast's appearance. "Orihime run!" Tatsuki yelled out as she grabbed Chizuru and bolted. They managed to get Chizuru through the door and into relative safety, but the hollow shot out a mass of webs and barricaded the door, trapping Orihime and Tatsuki alone with the hungry monster. All unaware of the more dangerous creature watching them.

"Tatsuki." Orihime was terrified. Here they were, face to face with monsters people have trained for years to decades to prepare to fight these monsters. Ichigo was already fighting them and treated the beasts as an annoyance. "What should we do?" All Tatsuki could think of at that moment was how right Ichigo was. She saw Chad's arm and she watched Uryu and she knew Ichigo's power. She had none of these. She kept hearing Ichigo's voice in her head, saying those words she hated.

'You're a normal girl. You're powerless.' Over and over like a mantra chant of insanity. 'Not fast enough. Not strong enough.' Fear became doubt, doubt in herself and her abilities. But doubt gave way to annoyance and annoyance gave way to anger. She growled as she clenched her fist, nails digging into her skin and drawing blood. 'Normal. Powerless.' She shot herself forward like a bullet, charging headfirst at the monster that was set on eating them.

'Shut up.' She growled in response, narrowly dodging a swipe from the hollow's claws. 'Shut up.' She slammed her fist into the hollow's mask. 'Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!' She kept punching away at the hollow, Orihime screaming at Tatsuki to run away while the beast tried to understand what was happening. This was still a fairly fresh hollow, not smart enough to recognize a growing threat as the girl continued to punch away at it, or was there something else about it? 'Yes, I'm normal! I want to hang out with my friends, worry about my grades, and get a little lovey dovey with my boyfriend!' She raged, her knuckles bleeding from punching the hollow's boney skull with no protection. 'And yes, I'm powerless! I don't shoot things out of my hands like Chad and Uryu!' She felt a fire build up inside of her, something she felt after a brutal spar against her teacher, Yoruichi. 'But I!' She punched it again, cracking the mask. 'AM NOT!' Another punch, cracking it further. 'HELPLESS!' She threw a final punch at the hollow, covering it in a burst of fire. The air was filled with it's sudden death cries as it dissolved into nothingness.

"...suki." She couldn't hear Orihime's voice. She did it. By some miracle she actually did it. She killed a hollow. "...atsuki." She wasn't naïve enough to think that this meant she was anywhere near to equal foot to Ichigo, but this was a first step. Now she had to train it, and survive the day. "Tatsuki!" She finally heard her ditzy friend call out her name. "Tatsuki~!" Orihime wrapped her arms around her tired friend and began crying, letting go of all of her worry and relief.

"Can you lighten up Orihime?" Tatsuki groaned out, the rage and adrenaline seeping out of her as her exhaustion took over. "My arms are killing me." She didn't really care. Orihime was safe, they were safe.

"Looks like I made the right decision." They heard a withered, vile voice speak out. "I felt that girl's strength and wanted to she if she was a threat." The two friends looked to see some strange tentacled hollow, floating above them and watching them, hungrily. "Now that's she too tired to fight, this will be easy." The hollow flared out her tendrils and shot things out of her forehead, breaking through the glass with ease. Seconds later Orihime and Tatsuki were surrounded by the other students, each one with a seed sticking out of their bodies. "Now die and feed me your souls!" She screeched before laughing. Tatsuki could only glare at the hollow in rage.

"Orihime." She called out to her fried, getting between her and the hollow as the zombified students closed in. "Run. I'll hold them off." She said, despite the feeling that she broke her hands.

"Don't be crazy Tatsuki!" Orihime pleaded with her friend. "I can't just abandon you!"

"But you can't fight either, can you?" Tatsuki stated. She could feel Orihime's power for herself, and if anger brought out her's it might just help Orihime. "Just run. You'll only slow me down." Orihime was staring at Tatsuki in shock. Her best friend just said she's useless. Is this what she felt when Ichigo told her that? Is Tatsuki really going to push her away? 'That being said, I'm not sure how long I'll last.' Tatsuki said as the possessed mob got closer and closer.

"TATSUKI!" There was a yelling. They all looked up and saw the red headed lesbian yelling out to them. "After you pass out, I'll teach Orihime all sorts of naughty things!" She yelled out in a perverted tone. Tatsuki forgot about her immediate danger and vented her annoyance, throwing rocks and knocking out the zombies that got too close. "That should do it. Good luck you mannish freak." She whispered from behind her cover as Tatsuki kept throwing things.

"Chizuru! You keep your grubby hands off Orihime! You hear me!?" She yelled at the lesbian while the hollow was shocked that it was being ignored.

"QUITE IGNORING ME!" It howled as it pelted Tatsuki with her seeds, striking her in her thigh, shoulder, and stomach. "You're supposed to be wallowing in fear and hopelessness! How dare you ruin my fun!" It cried out indignantly. "The question now is to how to make you pay for this." Tatsuki glared at the monster before her, filled with defiance to the creature. "Why don't you strip naked and let these boys have their-" The hollow was interrupted again as Tatsuki slammed her free fist into her shoulder, just below the sprout on her body. The result caused another blast of fire to pass through her and destroy the hollow's seeds, she also broke her bones in the process but she made her point. She refused to let that freak have it's way.

"Like I told so many others." Tatsuki said, glaring at the hollow, making it worry. "I will crush anyone who hurts my friends!" Orihime watched her best friend and remembered each time Tatsuki helped her, how everyone else helped her when she couldn't help herself. She relied on her brother, she relied on Tatsuki, she relies on Ichigo, but no one relies on her. She doesn't have anything to offer her friends. She hates that, and she's sick of it.

"Well maybe I want to protect you once in a while Tatsuki!" Everyone was now watching the auburn princess stand up. "I'm tired of always being protected! I'm tired of always having to hide behind you! How about I do the protecting for once!?" The hollow became livid.

"I said, STOP IGNORING ME!" It shot off more of it's seeds before a flash and whirlwind appeared. By the time the dust settled, something cut through one of it's tentacles and there was a glowing triangular shield.

"I'm talking to my friend." She growled, glaring at the monster that attacked them. "Shut up you disgusting freak!" Tatsuki was surprised by the level of aggression Orihime showed. Earlier she was just passive with Ichigo but this was something else. She could only stare at Orihime like she was a completely different person. Orihime turned back to fighter and was about to continue. "Now I'm-"

"Orihime, where did that shield come from?" Tatsuki asked, directing Orihime's attention to the glowing barriar. There was a silent pause as Orihime seemed to finally notice it.

"Oh wow!" She exclaimed in child like wonder as the points separated and joined their flying siblings. "What are they?"

"How should I know?" Tatsuki asked as the sprites flew around them.

"Of course you wouldn't know." One rough voice spoke rudely.

"We are Orihime's powers after all." A more gentle one said. A pale green sprite landed on her shoulder before revealing the small fairy girl inside. "Hi Orihime!" She cheered happily as the rest revealed themselves, each dressed in a variety of ways.

"Ah!" Orihime cried out, realizing something. "You're the Shun Shun Rikka! Aren't you!" She remembered, a long time ago when a certain strawberry told her to make a wish on her precious present, she dreamed. In that dream, there was a field of flowers inhabited by six fairies. They told her they were watching over her, that they were with her, that they would protect her. "Shun'o! Ayame! Tsubaki! Baigon! Lily! Hinagiku!" She cheered, wanting to hold each one to her chest after not seeing them for so long. "It's so good to see you all again!" Tatsuki could only watch in confusion.

"Wait, if you were with Orihime all this time then where were you?" She asked the flying spirits.

"That's easy!" Shun'o chirped, pointing at the now missing hairpins on Orihime's head. "We manifest ourselves from her hairpins." There was another pause of silence as Tatsuki digested the information. No expressions changed in this time.

"So magic wish granting hairpins?" Tatsuki summarized from a long past conversation.

"Yep! Wish granting hairpins!" Shun'o chirped. Orihime was estactic.

"Yay! Wish granting hairpins!" She yelled, throwing her arms around her old friend. The hollow grew more and more furious!

"I WILL-!"

"Koten Zanshun, I reject." Orihime said with a cheery smile that felt surprisingly dark as Tsubaki silently split the monster in half that his master was pointing at. She turned to the monster with that same dark smile as she said in a chillingly sweet tone. "Don't ruin the moment." The hollow faded into nothingness shortly after. Tatsuki felt a newfound respect and fear for her friend. But mostly, she was glad that Orihime was safe, and now she could prove Ichigo wrong. She winced as the pain came back, which Orihime noticed. "Souten Kisshun, I reject!" She said, enveloping Tatsuki in a glowing shield and undoing the damage done.

"Now that's useful." Tatsuki admitted, testing her arms a little. She noticed Orihime pouting at her and she knew what the girl wanted. Tatsuki sighed with a smile. "I'm sor-" she couldn't say as Orihime immediately hugged her friend fiercely.

"Now I can help protect you." Orihime said, crying in joy a little. Tatsuki returned the hug in earnest. "And we can both help Ichigo."

"If that's the way you feel then you should get moving." The girls heard a familiar voice yell out to them. They looked up to see Yoruichi walking toward the girls with a proud smile. "You did good for your first time, but this is nothing for beginners like yourselves." She said pointing at the growing swarm as the hollows seemed to start converging on two places. "If you really want to help, then drink these." She said before tossing the girls several water bottles. "Those will help replenish your Reishi. And Tatsuki, here." She handed her student a pair of armored gauntlets. "Those should help you with those thick skulls, and you should be able to shoot fireballs if Kisuke did everything right." The girls looked excited at the prospect of proving themselves to their boyfriend.

"Let's do this!" They cheered before attempting to drink their own refreshments.

"But this isn't a game." Yoruichi said, gravely seriously. "You have to be very careful out there." The girls looked at the noble with a sense of recognition of the danger they recently faced. "If you slip, you could die, or get someone else hurt. Are you ready to risk that?" She asked, making the girls question their resolve. They thought about how Ichigo must be out there, putting his life on the line to fight this infestation, and here they were, celebrating beating one hollow each. They swore to help Ichigo, and that's what they were going to do! They chugged their drinks fearlessly and felt themselves go back to one hundred percent. Yoruichi smiled. "Get to the park. We're watching your back." The girls ran off without another word.

"They should make things interesting." Someone said, finally making their presence known. "Kisuke is already working on thinning the herd where he goes."

"And you guys?" Yoruichi asked her companion. "Staying under the radar?"

"And helping where we can." He said, lazily. "Ichigo has grown since the last time we've seen him. Maybe he can bring that Chad fella next time. We might be able to help him." He said as they continued to watch the gathering swarm and the growing tear in the sky.

(Back with Chad)

He kept crushing skulls, blasting them to nothing, and overpowering dozens of hollows with no rest. The monsters only seem to get stronger as more came up, and more intelligent. Chad was starting to feel the strain, the area around him was being torn apart by his blasts and the hollows' attacks.

'This is bad.' He thought to himself, trying to reassess the situation. A hollow tried to swipe at him but he caught it and threw the corrupted soul around, smashing into other hollows before letting go, letting the force take them away. 'I'm getting closer and closer to my limit.' A hollow with a bull mask charged at him, making Chad struggle against keeping the beast at bay. With a defiant roar, he headbutted the creature before slamming his empowered fist into it's skull, wiping out several more hollows in the process. 'I could really use some help about now.' He thought, as the hoard showed no sign of decreasing. He was so focused on standing his ground, he did not notice the petite Shinigami's chant.

"....wrath of your claws!" He heard the familiar voice and chant just in time to duck. "Hado #33! Sokatsui!" Rukia yelled as a torrent of blue fire blasted from her hands, clearing a number of hollows. She, again, cursed her weakness. If Ichigo didn't drain her powers, she could use her shikai to help out tremendously. But she knew that would be insane in this situation. Where did all these hollows come from? They never did something like this before. "Sado! You alright!?" She asked her ally.

"I'm grateful for the extra room to breath, Rukia." He said getting up. "Any idea what that tear in the sky is?" He asked punching another hollow into oblivion.

"If I had to guess." She grunted, dodging hollows swinging at her while she slashed them. "I'm not sure I want to be right. Where's Ichigo?" She asked.

"At his sisters' school." Chad grunting, holding another monster at bay. "He wants to make sure they're safe!" He smashed the hollow's skull before slamming his foot on another one.

"Can he hurry up?" She asked, cleaving through another hollow. "There is nothing good beyond that tear!" She yelled out as the duo kept the hollows at bay.

(Karin and Yuzu)

The twins waited, huddled close together behind the protection of the barrier Yuzu erected between themselves and the hollows drawn to them. A barrier designed to keep hollows out, but others could pass through. Karin took this chance to help out their mod soul bodyguard with hado blasts.

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hado #31! Shakkaho!" She yelled as a ball of red flames shot from her hand like a cannon, disintegrating another hollow while Kon continued to tear through the masses. He went through numerous modifications after he joined the Kurosaki family, particularly when it came to protecting the twins. Kon currently was a tall, lean, and ripped man lion, with razor sharp claws and strength to rival Chad's. The downside of this was that it only works when the girls were in immediate danger.

"Karin!" Yuzu cried, trying to maintain the barrier as some hollows banged against it before being pushed back. "Where's Ichi-nii!?" Karin kept shooting off kido blasts while trying to keep her sister calm.

"He'll be here!" She yelled out, having full faith in her brother. "Ichi-nii promised to protect us remember?" She asked, trying to reassure herself as much as her sister Suddenly she felt herself and her sister being pulled together as Kon seemed to grab them, just as he reverted back to that lion plushy. She locked eyes with Yuzu's in terror as a flash of glowing silver dropped in front of them directly at Kon's head.

"A silver rod strikes the five-fingered stone bed! Gritz!" They heard before being enveloped in darkness. They listened to the angered roars of the hollows before they heard the unmistakable tone of their protective brother.

"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws. Hado #33! Sokatsui!" They could feel the heat from Ichigo's kido spell through the Quincy barrier only one other person could of done. The seal fell apart and before them stood the ones they were waiting for.

"Ichi-nii! Uryu-nii!" They twins cried as they ran to their brother and cousin. Ichigo knelt down to better hug his precious sisters while Uryu opted for a reassuring pat on the head. All the while ignoring the scorched school yard behind them.

"You two did great to hold out for this long." Ichigo said, giving them a congratulatory smile with the intent of calming their nerves.

"But you should head home and let us handle the rest." Uryu said as Ichigo extracted the soul pill to swallow. Now that he was in soul form, it was time to clear out the hollows. Kon, now in Ichigo's body, grabbed the girls and made his way for their home.

"You should've let Yuzu heal your hand a little." Ichigo said as Uryu looked at his bleeding hand. The rate of the hollows were increasing and his new bow was more than a little taxing on him.

"You'll just have to pick up the slack then." Uryu said while readjusting his glasses. "Seems fitting since all you did was run while I covered you."

"Don't worry." Ichigo turned to his ally, one eye black and gold. "There will be no rest till they're all dead." He said before the disappeared in a burst of speed, their destination obvious.

(The Empty Park)

The fight continued as the two defenders became more and more exhausted. Chad was breathing rather heavily with a few notable injuries on him, testing his endurance for the first time in a long time for the man. Rukia was faring no better as she did not have the same physical limit as her ally and her already weakened state wasn't leaving her too much room for error. The next wave was about to commence when they heard backup arrive.

"Koten Zanshun I reject! Souten Kisshun I reject!" Orihime yelled out as her healing shield enveloped her two friends, fixing their injuries, while Tatsuki was riding on top of Tsubaki's shield. Once she got close enough she jumped off the black sprite and began shooting fireballs at various hollows, each one burning away the corrupted soul. After Tatsuki disembarked, Tsubaki continued his attack and cleaved through many hollows as well.

"Looks like we showed up just in time." Tatsuki said, standing to her full height after landing next to her allies. Orihime sat above them on her defensive shield and sitting in a meditative pose, trying to focus her energies on the battle. "Here, drink these. They should replenish your Reishi." They gratefully took the drinks as the new arrivals held off the swarm for a bit. After consuming the potions, Chad fired multiple rapid blasts to the hollows while Rukia shot out more kido spells. Then a sudden burst of blue flames erupted in the distance.

"Ichigo's coming." Chad said casually, greatly relieved that his friend is finally ready.

"Tch. It's about time!" Tatsuki said, planning on giving her boyfriend the tongue lashing of a lifetime. Whether verbal or physical was up for debate.

"How long before he gets here?" Rukia asked before being pushed to the ground by Sado.

"Hado # 32. Okasen." She heard as a massive blast of yellow energy obliterated many of the hollows, removing their forces by half. They looked up to see Ichigo shrinking his zanpakuto back to the normal large katana he usually wields, smoke coming off his blade from the kido spell. Next to him was Uryu, still bandaging up his hand. "You guys alright?" He asked, resting his blade on his shoulder.

"They seem fine Ichigo." Uryu said, preparing his bow for another onslaught. "Though it seems you owe Arisawa-san and Inoue-san a couple of apologies." Ichigo noticed his girlfriends among the fighters.

"Guess I do. But before that," He lifted his blade and swung two arcs with energy blasting off the edge, "we're going to kill every hollow here." He said before flaring his Reiatsu, making every hollow quiver in primal fear as an apex predator appeared before them. Before they could flee, a barrage of black arrows found their way into masks and bodies. Chad smirked and continued to fire multiple blasts from his fist to the densest groups of hollows, Tatsuki and Rukia swerved through the beasts, striking them down with sword swings and blasts of fire. Uryu joined Orihime atop of her perch and struck down the beasts from a safe distance, and Ichigo cut down swaths of hollows down with every swing. That's when they finally noticed the tear finally opened, and with it the creature Rukia feared. The hollows sang a macabre song of praise to the titanic hollow coming. The Menos Grande.

"Ichigo?" Uryu asked his companion as the towering black hollow came forward with it's freakish, long nosed mask.

"Yeah?" The hybrid responded, glaring at the behemoth.

"Where are the other Soul Reapers?" The Quincy asked. Ichigo looked at Rukia, who looked at her cell and just shrugged.

"Apparently proving the Quincy's point about them being late." Ichigo surmized.

"That's disappointing." Uryu said, walking toward the massive hollow. "So, this is a Gillian?"

"Biggest, dumbest, and weakest of the Menos Grande class. How droll." Ichigo said as he joined his cousin. "You guys finish off the small fry." Ichigo shouted over his shoulder. "We've got this." His friends were about to protest before hearing something like machine gun fire and the cracking of bones and skulls. Urahara's group had arrived.

"You heard him." The ex-captain said to the group. "Let's get cracking."

(Closer to the Menos)

"So how should we do this?" Ichigo asked his cousin as the gillian devoured it's surrounding hollows with a quick lash of it's tongue.

"I can only think of one way." Ichigo looked at his cousin and saw a familiar glint in his eyes he hasn't seen for years.

"No." Ichigo quickly said. "No way, not happening, we swore we would never do that again ever." He remembered the last time they did that particular thing, and he still regretted the decision to have done it.

"Ichigo, we don't have a choice!" Uryu pleaded while the towering Menos drew closer to them.

"You know damn well why that technique is forbidden!" Ichigo yelled at his cousin, refusing to yield.

"I will never forget, nor forgive myself, for that." Uryu glared back, remembering an old shame. "That's why I've agonized over how to fix it. That's why I suggest it now."

"You mean?" Ichigo asked, feeling slightly hopeful.

"Yes, I've made it so it doesn't have that ridiculous name and pose anymore!" The Quincy declared proudly.

"Perfect!"Ichigo met his ally's enthusiasm. Uryu held out his bow, horizontally.

"Grab on and manifest yours." Uryu said. Ichigo took hold of the black bow and worked to manifest his own. The bow doubled in size and length while pulsating with power. "Now turn." They turned their hands so that their bows were now perpendicular to the connecting base between them, forming an H.

"Pull back the arrow?" Ichigo guessed as the reached to the middle and pulled back a massive harpoon of their mixed Reishi. "And now..."

"Heilig Balliste!" They shouted and let the missile loose. The top half of the Gillian was blasted away completely. The remains dissipated as the two Quincy reflected on their victory.

"Yeah, much better than last time." Ichigo admitted as their spirit weapon dissolved. "Man that was embarrassing."

"Indeed." Uryu agreed. "I'm glad my father never reminds me of it."

"Good for- oh crap." Ichigo said as he saw a bright red light grow bigger as it came straight for them. Acting as fast as he could, he shoved his cousin out of the way and brought up his blade to block the oncoming blast.

"Ichigo what-?" Uryu watched as Ichigo was forced back a few yards from the cero attack. "What? Was there another Menos?" He traced the blast back to it's origin and saw a larger hollow, smaller than the Gillian but still huge, serving as the source of the blast. He turned back to Ichigo, trying desperately to think of a way to help his family, when he saw something weird. Some of the deflected energy of the cero was being absorbed into Ichigo's blade, glowing with red and blue Reishi as the blade turned black.

"I've had enough!" Ichigo yelled, pushing back against the blast. "Of this crap!" The cero ended and he swung his blade. "FOR ONE DAY!" The power he released overshadowed the cero by a great margin, carving a trench in the ground with scorched earth and shattered glass. "Tell Urahara I'm skipping training tomorrow." Ichigo said to Uryu before falling flat on his face.

"Yeah." Uryu responded, looking at the damage Ichigo caused which surely killed whatever hollow that was. "I'll do that."

(Atop a tower)

It watched the final scenes play out before it. The display was as impressive as his Majesty predicted. However it was unexpected that the Ishida boy would so willingly side with the Shinigami. Ichigo was definitely the greater subject of interest however.

"Mission objective; data retrieval, complete." The white clad, masked figure said. "Further research is recommended." It spoke, turning to a hole in the air. "Returning to Silbern." It said, light reflecting of the gold armor as it returned to a world of shadows.