BEN 10 DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. YOUNG JUSTICE DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. JUST TO BE SAFE, BLEACH DOESN'T BELONG TO ME, THOUGH I DO LIKE NOT HAVING STAINS IN MY CLOTHES.

All right, back to this one! Now, where was I?

Bigby: Getting back to work, that's what!

TIM: Yes, sir!

Unlimited Justice, Part 2

Chapter 12

Ultimate Heroes, Part 3

Karakura Town

As Ken saw the aftermath of the battle, he grimaced. "If this is what victory looks like, I'd hate to see a defeat."

Urahara nodded. "Indeed. Then again, it could have been much worse."

Ken did his best not to imagine that. The Soul Reapers were all a mess; the only one not injured was Yumichika, while the rest ranged from having concussions to broken bones and massive blood-loss. The only upside was that Orihime's incredible healing powers would have them all back on their feet in a day or so.

"I had to use more of my abilities in that fight," Ken said; when talking to Urahara like this, it felt like he was reporting to Batman. "I wouldn't be surprised if Aizen knows about them already."

"I'm actually hoping that he devotes more time to you," Urahara admitted. "The more he plans to counter an unknown factor, like you, the less time he'll have to focus on the rest of us."

"Not sure how much I like being the distraction," Ken muttered.

Urahara only smiled.

"Hey," Ken said, looking around, "where's Ichigo? He was just here."

"I believe that he's… considering his options." Urahara's smile never wavered, despite his cryptic tone. "I'm sure he'll be back before he makes any decisions; he might not show it, but I think he wants to hear some of those stories you promised."

Ken nodded. "And considering that some of these guys aren't in any shape to move, they'll want something to keep them occupied. But I think we should wait a few minutes, so that Ichigo doesn't miss anything."

Sure enough, Ichigo did come back; he looked less upset than before, but he did seem thoughtful. Ken made a note to check on him later.

"So, everyone comfy?" Ken asked, and received dirty looks from the most injured of the group, since they could barely move. "All right, what do you guys want to know?"

Orihime's hand shot up into the air. "Ooh! Tell us about the superheroes in your universe!"

Ken grinned. "Sure thing." He waited until everyone settled down before speaking again. "First of all, there are basically two teams of superheroes on my Earth—there's the Justice League, and my team. We're just called the Team."

"Why?" Ikkaku asked.

"I'll get to that." Ken gave him a look that told him not to interrupt again. "Anyway, some other teams pop up now and again, but they're usually just members of the League who strike out on their own for a while, and then join back up. It hasn't happened in a long time, though.

"The Justice League was formed over twenty years ago by seven members." Ken paused to consider something. "For the sake of security, I can't tell you anyone's real name, just the name they use when they're on the job. Anyway, the seven members were Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, the Flash, and the Martian Manhunter.

"It actually started over a thousand years ago, on Mars." Ken grinned at the synchronized blinking he received, but then sobered. "You see, Mars was invaded by these other aliens, the White Parasites. They destroyed the native Martians, and stole their powers. The last members of the resistance used a nerve toxin to paralyze and seal the Parasites away, but only one was left alive." There were varying expressions of sadness, but some of the Soul Reapers looked a little impressed; Ken hoped that J'onn would appreciate the sentiment. "That Martian stood guard for a thousand years, but couldn't stop Human astronauts from accidentally waking the Parasites up. I'm going to speed up a bit and just say that the Martian was captured, the astronauts were killed and replaced by the shapeshifting Parasites. They infiltrated Earth, and prepared the way for an invasion. Earth's militaries weren't able to do squat, honestly; if the superheroes hadn't been around, the planet would have been taken in days.

"The seven founding members of the League all found each other; they were led to the Parasites by different means, but they all wanted to do the same thing: stop the invasion and save the world. They tried to fight the invaders head-on, and that didn't work. Batman suggested that they look for the aliens' weakness, but it's kind of hard to hide what you're doing from a race that can read minds."

"Seriously?" Ken was a little annoyed at Renji for interrupting him, but didn't stop him. "They can shapeshift and read minds? What can't they do?"

"They also had super-strength, and the neurotoxin that the Martian Manhunter used the last time was destroyed," Ken added wryly. "But I'm getting there. Batman was wondering why the aliens were using towers to create clouds that blocked out all sunlight, but he needed time to investigate. Batman actually faked his death, while the Martian mentally shielded him from detection. After a while, he found out why the Parasites were doing all that: they had no resistance to Earth's ultraviolet radiation. Think of a sunburn, but it fries you into a crispy puddle."

"That's dumb," Rukia commented. "Why would they try to invade a planet that could so easily kill them?"

Ken shrugged. "It was all they knew, I guess. They were better conquerors than anything else." He went on with the story. "Anyway, the rest of the League got captured, and Batman waited until the Parasites' leader, the Imperium, arrived, and then found the crystal-computer thing that controlled the tower the League was trapped in. He reversed the ion charge of the crystal, and the tower cleared away the clouds, instead of making more."

Now it was Urahara who interrupted. "How did he reverse it?"

Ken opened his mouth to answer, then stopped. "I… don't know, actually. I mean… he's Batman."

Urahara sulked. "That's not an excuse."

Ken ignored him. "Well, the League broke free, destroyed the Imperium, and gave the rest of the Parasites the worst tan ever. After that, they helped the rest of the world beat the last of the Parasites. Batman then built the first Watchtower, a space station that monitored Earth for other threats, and they officially formed the Justice League." Then he thought of something funny. "Oh, by the way: Batman, the guy who did all that stuff to stop the Parasites? Yeah, he's the only founding member of the League with no powers. At all. He's an ordinary Human."

There was a moment of silence, followed by dropped jaws, as the group absorbed that.

"Sounds impressive," Ikkaku admitted. "What happened after that?"

"Well, the League fought supervillains, monsters, and all kinds of other stuff." Ken smirked. "Heck, some of those threats couldn't even be faced with the entire League every time. But they saved the world more times than I can count. And that was before they expanded; now, the League has dozens of heroes, and I'm pretty sure each one has saved the planet at least once. Everything from government conspiracies to an invasion by gods, they handled."

Ken knew that he had skipped over a lot, including why the League expanded in the first place, and how his father ended up joining. But going into the Thanagarian invasion wasn't fair to Hawkwoman, and it wasn't his place to explain his father's painful past from just before that point.

"Gods?" Ichigo looked skeptical. "How did they beat that?"

Ken gave him a pointed look. "By working together. That was why the League was formed: to deal with the threats that no one could handle alone."

Ichigo scowled, but didn't say anything.

Rangiku, now fully healed and sitting up, had her own question. "Where does your team come into this?"

"It started about six months ago," Ken said, gathering his thoughts. "See, some of my friends and I had been the protégés of heroes—our mentors—for a while, and they decided it was time that we could join the Justice League."

"Protégés?" Renji grinned. "You mean you were a sidekick, right?"

Ken smiled, while his eyes glowed green; a moment later, a band of Mana slapped across Renji's mouth.

"A bit of advice," Ken warned, "don't call us sidekicks. Anyway, we were all ready to fight alongside the League, but… well, they didn't think we were ready. We were annoyed about that, but we overheard Batman wanting to investigate a genetics lab called Genesis. When the League went out to stop the sun from getting extinguished—" Ken rolled his eyes at the startled reactions. "Yeah, that almost happened. Moving on. Anyway, my friends—Robin, Kid Flash, and Warhawk—went to investigate Genesis on our own.

"We found quite a bit. A part-time member of the League, Guardian, was being mind-controlled, and Genesis was creating an army of living weapons, called Genomorphs. The deeper we went, the more we found, but the biggest surprise was near the bottom. There was a clone of my uncle, Superman; he was called Superboy, and he was created to either replace Superman if he died, or kill him if he became a threat." Ken scowled at the memory. "It wasn't the first time that someone made a Kryptonian clone, but I hope it's the last."

"Breeding weapons…" Urahara tapped his chin. "The similarities to Aizen are disturbing, to say the least. I'm positive that he's turning Hollows into Arrancars."

"Huh. Didn't think of that." Ken shook his head. "Anyway, we thought we could set Superboy free, instead of being a slave, but Genesis woke him up before we did, and… well, he beat the snot out of us." While everyone looked startled, Ken tried not to think about how he hadn't wanted to fight, while Conner hadn't held back at all. "We got knocked out, and almost cloned; the clones would have infiltrated the League as sleeper agents."

Ken smiled as the memories became more positive. "Thankfully, Superboy decided he didn't want to be a weapon, and saved us. We fought our way out, through a monster called Blockbuster that used to be a scientist, and, uh…" Ken laughed sheepishly. "Well, we dropped the building on top of us."

"Sounds painful," Hitsugaya said.

"Eh, not for me." Ken grinned. "Wouldn't be the last time a building collapsed on top of me."

"Secret." Everyone jumped; they hadn't realized the Secret was in the room.

Ken recovered fastest. "Yeah, I know, that night sucked for everyone involved." He spotted the confused and curious looks from everyone else. "Sorry, that one's not my place to talk about."

That got grumbles, but after a warning look from Secret, they quieted down.

"Anyway, after we got out of Genesis, the League showed up." Ken smiled at the memory. "They tried to lecture us, but we basically told them that we were our own team now. The League helped us get on our feet, and now a lot of our missions are ones we give ourselves."

"What, that's it?" Ichigo crossed his arms. "That seems too easy."

"Well, it was either they helped us, or they could get out of the way." Ken chuckled. "We really didn't give them much choice."

Ken spent several more hours talking about a few of the missions that the Team had gone on that he was comfortable discussing. He avoided the Injustice League, for instance, because he didn't want to relive what happened to Batgirl. He did the same thing for the mission that had Zatanna becoming possessed by Doctor Fate. Some of the more lighthearted events, like when the Team met Starfire, or when they rescued Red Tornado from Red Volcano, were enjoyed by the others.

By the time he was done, the Soul Reapers and their allies realized that Orihime had finished healing them, but they were having too much fun listening to Ken's stories. They only stopped when they realized that it was almost three in the morning, and the Humans among them were getting too tired. Reluctantly, they all decided to get some sleep, and parted ways. Chad and Orihime were escorted home by Soul Reapers who would stay with them for the rest of the night.

Ichigo, however, lingered behind. "Hey, Ken? Can I talk to you for a second?"

Ken glanced at Secret, who nodded at him. "Sure. What's up?"

After taking a deep breath, Ichigo looked him in the eye. "I'd like your help with something." Ken said nothing, but gestured for him to continue. "A little while ago, I met a guy named Shinji; he said he could help me with a… a problem that I have. He's strong, and I think he could help me get stronger."

Ken raised an eyebrow. "Wait, let me guess: you don't trust him."

"Not at all." Ichigo scowled. "The guy's a jerk, and I've talked to him twice. He also said that he wasn't alone. I'd, uh…" he sighed. "I'd appreciate it if you came with me to meet him, just in case."

Ken was surprised; he had pegged Ichigo as a 'go it alone' kind of guy, and that it would take a while for that to change. Maybe his words were having a greater effect than he'd thought.

"Sure thing," he said. "Do you know where to go?"

"Yeah." Ichigo looked relieved, and also a little surprise that Ken had agreed. "I'll meet you back here tomorrow, and we'll go."

Ken glanced at the clock on the wall. "Don't you mean 'later today'? It's technically morning."

Ichigo tried to scowl, but yawned instead. He quickly headed home after that, leaving Ken alone with Secret.

"Would he be in trouble if I didn't go with him?" he asked.

Secret shook her head. "Secret."

"So I'm, what, extra insurance?"

"Secret."

Ken sighed. "It's nice to know I'm loved."

Secret giggled, then floated up so that she could mime patting Ken on the head. With a scowl highly reminiscent of Ichigo's, Ken walked off, with the excuse that even he needed sleep; in reality, it was because he knew he wouldn't get the last word in.

…

It was in the late hours of the morning that Ichigo returned to Urahara's shop, where Ken was waiting. The two quickly left before Urahara or anyone else saw them off; Ichigo walked stiffly, as if he was expecting trouble at any second, while Ken kept the hood of his borrowed hoodie low over his face.

"You said that this Shinji guy was strong," Ken said quietly. "How strong are we talking?"

"He didn't even release his Zanpakutou, and I still knew he was stronger than me," Ichigo replied. "But he did put on his mask."

Ken blinked. "Mask? What mask?"

Ichigo grimaced. "He summoned this mask, kind of like a Hollow's, and it made him a lot stronger. I… have something like that, but I can't control myself when it happens."

Ken had a feeling that he was missing a few details, but didn't press; it was obvious that Ichigo was uncomfortable revealing what he already had. "And this guy offered to help teach you?"

"I think so." Ichigo gave him a look. "You're taking this well."

"Dude, I'm half-alien, my cousin is a clone, and one of my best friends has wings. Ghosts and weird masks barely register on the radar anymore." Ken frowned. "Still, I can't believe that you were considering going off to meet a bunch of strangers by yourself. That's just dumb."

"I asked you to come with me, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but what if I wasn't around?"

Ichigo only scowled; Ken noted that he tended to do that when he didn't have a good answer to a question.

After a few more minutes of walking, they stopped outside what looked like an old warehouse. There was no one else around, but Ken was still suspicious. He stopped Ichigo before he reached down to push up the door.

"Hang on a second," he said, "let me check it out first."

Ken scanned the building with his X-ray vision and immediately noticed that something was off. There was something partially blocking his vision; he could see vague shapes inside, but no details. Still, whoever was inside didn't appear hostile; they were just waiting.

"Okay, let's go," he said quietly, "but be careful."

Ichigo nodded, then hauled open the door and the two walked in. Ken stayed a few steps behind; far enough to make it clear that Ichigo was taking the lead, but close enough to act if he had to.

Waiting for them were eight people; even if Ken hadn't known about Soul Reapers and Hollows, they would have been strange. At the center of the group was a skinny blonde-haired man who wore black pants, an orange shirt, a tie, and a paperboy hat. There was a short blonde girl with spiky pigtails who wore a red tracksuit and sandals and had a katana slung over her back. Another girl, taller and curvier, wore a schoolgirl outfit that was clearly too small for her; she had glasses and had her hair in a braid. The last girl of the group wore a white bodysuit, and goggles on top of her green hair. Near her was a muscular man with combat fatigues and boots, who stared down at the newcomers with his arms crossed. There was another man with a fancy suit, aristocratic features, and long, wavy blonde hair. Next to him was another man; he wore a green tracksuit and sunglasses, and his hair was shaped kind of like a star. Lastly, there was a very large man in a green suit, with pink hair and mustache.

It was certainly a colorful group, Ken noted, even discounting their hair. Pink hair? Really?

"Well, Ichigo, it seems ya made your way here." The man in the hat grinned widely. "And ya brought a friend. I thought ya were here ta accept our offer. Don't ya trust us?"

Ken gave his best disarming smile. "Oh, don't mind me. I'm just the insurance."

Clearly, the man didn't buy it, but settled for focusing on Ichigo. "But ya are here to join us, right? I mean, that's why you're here."

To everyone's surprise, Ichigo smirked. "Bite me!"

"I'm not here to join you; I'm not that desperate," Ichigo continued bluntly. "I'm here to use you, Shinji. You're going to show me how to control the Hollow inside of me. After that, I'm outta here."

Ken was torn between wanting to facepalm, and smacking Ichigo upside the head. Did he have no subtlety at all!?

"Is that so?" The man, Shinji, looked unimpressed. "Ya must think we're a bunch of pushovers."

"I'll make you teach me," Ichigo growled.

"Oh, yeah?" Ken could see Shinji minutely tense. "How are ya gonna do that?"

Ichigo grinned. "I guess I'll beat it out of you."

With that, Ichigo reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge with a stylized skull on it; a moment later, his Soul Reaper form emerged from his Human body, which Ken only barely caught before it hit the ground.

"Dude, what the heck are you doing!?" Ken demanded, but Ichigo was already flying towards Shinji.

In an impressive display, Shinji flipped his sword up with his foot, caught it, and drew it from its sheath in one quick motion. He and Ichigo began swinging at each other, neither able to score a hit, but it was clear that both of them were holding back.

Ken glanced at the rest of the group, who had gathered nearby. "Um, are we going to fight?"

They ignored him, and whispered amongst themselves. After a minute, the short blonde girl stepped forward.

"Hiyori, what are you doing?" the green-haired girl asked.

"Hachi!" the blonde, Hiyori, barked, ignoring the girl. "Add on another five layers to the barrier."

The large pink-haired man started, but before he could say anything, Hiyori took off one of her sandals and flew towards the fighting.

"SHINJI!" She roared, slapping him in the face with her sandal. "TAG OUT!"

Shinji, taken by surprise, was hit with enough force to send him flying through the window, much to everyone's surprise. Ken noticed the big man, Hachi, clap his hands together; a moment later, an orange rectangle surrounded both Ichigo and Hiyori. The two of them were talking, but the barrier somehow distorted Ken's super-hearing.

Then Hiyori's spiritual pressure ramped up, and a demonic-looking mask with a single horn appeared on her face; a moment later, she attacked. Unlike Shinji, it was obvious that Hiyori was aiming to kill, or at least badly hurt.

That decided it for Ken; he jumped into the air and turned intangible just before he touched the barrier. When he passed through, he landed on a platform of Mana and deflected Hiyori's sword with his arm.

"Hey!" Hiyori's voice was distorted and full of malice. "What's the big idea, kid!?"

"Um, you were trying to kill the guy," Ken pointed out as he rubbed his sore arm, then gave Ichigo a dark look. "And you are an idiot."

Ichigo huffed, and said nothing.

"For your sake, you'd better get out of the way," Hiyori growled, then slashed at Ken's face.

Just before the blade connected, Ken opened his mouth and let out a sonic howl. The roar sent Hiyori flying back into the barrier, but before she could recover, Ken blasted her with lightning. Hiyori tried to block it with her sword, but the metal weapon only made it worse.

"Now, are we going to talk about this like intelligent people, or are we going to keep fighting?" Ken gave Ichigo another pointed look. "Because, honestly, this is really stupid. And pointless. And did I mention stupid?"

Hiyori only growled, then vanished, only to reappear behind Ken; he turned, but before he could do anything, Ichigo was there, doing his best to block Hiyori's sword with his own. However, Hiyori was much, much stronger than Ichigo with her mask on, and her sword not only took a chunk out of Ichigo's she also left a nasty gash on his chest.

Okay, now I'm annoyed. Ken jumped off his platform and kicked Hiyori the chest; this time, he used a lot more strength than he normally did, and the result was dramatic. Hiyori was sent hurtling through the barrier and into the far wall of the warehouse. She wasn't knocked out, or even close to being done, but she was clearly surprised, and maybe even a little scared.

"You know, Ichigo," Ken said casually as he landed on the floor, "I think we can at least be sure that these guys aren't with Aizen. I mean, the Arrancars at least knew about me, but these guys don't."

Ichigo was breathing heavily from the pain, but he nodded. "Yeah, I kinda figured."

"You okay?"

"I've had worse."

"I wouldn't brag about that." Ken frowned. "What's up with your eye?"

Ichigo's left eye had turned black, while the pupil had turned yellow. His hand went over it, and after a few seconds, he relaxed, and his eye returned to normal.

"The Hollow tried taking over," he muttered, not looking Ken in the eye.

"So much for that plan." Ken and Ichigo turned to see that Shinji had returned; his sword was sheathed and he looked almost bored. "Thanks for messing that up, kid."

Ken looked at Shinji, then at the rest of his group, his enhanced mind quickly working it out. "You wanted Ichigo's Hollow to take over, didn't you?"

Shinji smiled, while Ichigo blinked. "Yep, that's what we wanted. The plan was for Ichigo to lose control and see just why he needed to learn." His smile turned a bit evil. "And it was kinda fun to mess with him."

Ichigo scowled, but Ken spoke first. "Okay, so you're going to teach him?"

"Yeah." Shinji looked over at Ichigo. "We should probably get the kid fixed up first."

Ken nodded, then realized the rest of the group was staring at him. "Um, hi? I guess introductions are in order."

…

While Ichigo was fixed up and his training was worked out, Ken got to know more about these strange people. They introduced themselves as Visored, a group of Soul Reapers that had acquired Hollow powers and existed outside of Soul Society. Ken noticed that they were being vague about how they got the powers of Hollows and why they wanted nothing to do with Soul Reapers, but he had a feeling that it was a sore subject, so he didn't press.

Ken also introduced himself. Some of the Visored were more restrained in their reactions, but finding out that he was an alien superhero from another universe clearly surprised them. The only one who didn't let any sort of reaction out was Shinji; if anything, he looked amused by the whole thing, but Ken suspected he kept that expression for almost everything.

"So, Ken, what's your universe like?" The green-haired girl, named Mashiro, was the most enthusiastic about meeting Ken.

Ken shrugged. "Not too different from this one, actually; I've noticed that some cities and countries don't exist, though." He paused. "Actually, you don't have a lot of cities. No Gotham, Metropolis, Central City, Star City… it's a little weird for me. Then again, we don't have Soul Reapers and Hollows. We've got ghosts, though; I've met a couple."

"And you've got superheroes," the grey-haired man, Kensei, pointed out.

"Well, yeah, but someone has to step up when crazy people attack cities in giant robots." Ken thought back to when the Team met Raven. "I had to deal with that a few months ago."

"How are you so calm about stuff like that?" Hiyori was still sour about how easily Ken had tossed her around, but at least she didn't try to attack him again.

"Because I grew up in a family of superheroes," Ken said. "I mean, I was learning how to use my powers almost from when I could walk." He grimaced. "I kinda had to, or else I might have accidentally ripped someone's arm off when I shook their hand."

Lisa, the girl with glasses, raised an eyebrow. "How much of your strength do you normally use?"

Ken thought about it. "In a fight? I don't know, maybe five percent against normal Humans; just enough to knock them out. Against someone tough, like, uh…" he glanced at Hiyori. "Well, like you guys, I have to ramp it up to about fifteen, maybe twenty percent."

"Oh, geez." Kensei actually looked scared. "We're looking at Mashiro if she had restraint."

"Hey!" Mashiro pouted at him. "I can show restraint! Don't be a jerk, Kensei!"

"No, you don't," both the star-haired man—named Love, of all things—and the blonde man, who asked to be called Rose, chorused.

Ken laughed; for a moment, he felt like he was back with the Team, teasing Kid Flash about something he did. The Visored were just as entertaining.

A loud squeak caught his attention, and he turned; to his surprise, Ichigo was using an old workout machine, of all things, and seemed extremely annoyed about the ordeal.

"I… what?" Ken looked at the Visored for answers.

Hachi, which was short for Hachigen, leaned in so that Ichigo wouldn't hear. "Part of the training involves exhausting Ichigo's spiritual energy. We can measure his reserves by seeing how long he can use that."

Ken blinked. "There has to be an easier way to do that."

"Maybe," Shinji said as he joined them, "but this way is more fun."

"He'll probably snap before he runs out of power," Ken commented.

Shinji only shrugged. "Then we'll do it the hard way. At least now we have some time ta plan." He raised an eyebrow at Ken. "And by 'we', I'm not including you. We know more about what's going on with the kid than ya do."

"I know the basics at this point," Ken said. "Ichigo has a Hollow inside him, and it's taking control. You guys are going to help him with that, and when he's done, he'll be more powerful. Do I have it right so far?"

"At least ya pay attention," Shinji muttered. "Look, Inner Hollows are worse than that. Ya have to struggle with 'em all the time, and they'll eat away at your sanity if ya don't keep 'em locked up."

"Sounds… yeah, I can't come up with a polite way of saying it. That sucks majorly." Ken glanced back at Ichigo, who was already looking more irritated. "How long have you guys been dealing with this?"

"A hundred years," Shinji said bitterly. "All thanks ta Aizen. He did this ta us, and the only reason we're helping Soul Society is 'cause we want payback."

With that, the Visored all walked off; clearly, just that brief summary was enough to dredge up painful memories. Ken took that as his cue to leave, since it didn't look like Ichigo was in danger anymore; after a quick goodbye and a promise to come back the next day, Ken left the Visored hideout.

…

Ken returned to Urahara's shop to find an argument going on. Chad and Orihime were obviously upset with Urahara, who only looked resigned. Actually, it looked more like Chad was arguing with Urahara, while Orihime wanted nothing to do with any of it.

"What's going on?" Ken asked. He might not have known Chad for very long, but he was pretty sure that the anger on his face was unusual.

"Kisuke told Orihime that she should stay away from the fighting," Chad growled, shooting Urahara a dirty look. "I think she has the right to fight if she wants to."

"Chad, it's all right!" Orihime's bright smile didn't fool anyone. "I'm not upset at all!"

"Sorry, Orihime, but you're a bad liar." Ken crossed his arms and looked at Urahara. "Why can't she help out?"

"Her only attack-based spirit was destroyed," Urahara explained. "She'd be a liability in combat."

Orihime flinched; behind her, Ken saw Secret frowning and nodding at him.

"She can heal," Ken pointed out.

"And she can create barriers," Chad added.

"But she can't—" Urahara began, but Ken cut him off.

"Fun fact about my universe: there are heroes with no powers at all, and they not only fight people who do have powers, but they also win." Ken thought about Seeker, Robin, and Artemis, and how they had saved most of the Team from Red Inferno and Red Torpedo. The idea that Urahara was excluding the girl because she wasn't a great fighter annoyed him. "All it takes is training, and if you're not going to help, then I will!"

Orihime blinked. "You will?"

Ken glanced at Secret, who was giving him a thumbs-up. "Yeah, I will; at the very least, I'll teach you how to keep yourself safe until someone else can help."

Orihime beamed. "Thank you!"

As Ken led her outside, he saw Chad nod in thanks, while Urahara pulled his hat further over his face.

…

It turned out that Orihime wasn't a bad fighter at all; she had been taught martial arts by a close friend from her school. She wasn't on Seeker's level, but she could definitely beat the average thug. The problem was that Orihime was a pacifist, and it took a lot to provoke her to violence. As much as it bothered Ken to teach a peaceful person to fight, it had to be done, or she would never be able to help in the field.

"You know, you don't have to hold back," Ken said, as Orihime threw a series of punches that he casually batted aside. "I mean, I literally don't think you can hurt me; I'm bulletproof."

"Sorry." Orihime ducked her head. "I want to help Ichigo and my friends, but I don't like fighting."

"That's fine," Ken said. "In fact, that's a good thing. You hate fighting, which makes you a good person. The thing that makes all the difference is your motivation. Why do you want to fight?"

Orihime bit her lip. "Well… my friends are putting themselves in harm's way. I can help them, and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I sat back and did nothing."

"Then stop pulling your punches," Ken said sternly, then created a thin barrier of Mana. "Imagine this wall is the enemy. If you don't stop him, he's going to kill you. He's going to kill your friends, and he won't stop, unless you do something right now. So, what are you going to do?"

Orihime looked at him, then at the barrier. She drew back her fist, and punched with her whole body behind the blow; with the sound of breaking glass, the Mana shattered. Orihime looked at Ken, then down at her fist.

"I… I did it!" she jumped up and down. "All right!"

Ken was impressed; he had purposely made that barrier strong enough to give an ordinary Human a hard time breaking it. Orihime had done it with a single punch, and he had a feeling that she hadn't used her full strength.

"Okay, let's try sparring again," Ken said, raising his fists. "You wanna help your friends? Then I want to see you hit me at least ten times before the day is over."

Orihime nodded, resolve hardening her features. "Fine!"

…

The next morning, Ken woke up feeling pretty good about himself. Orihime had left their impromptu training session exhausted, but enthusiastic to continue; even better, she had more confidence in herself. Even if she wouldn't do much damage to an Arrancar, she wouldn't be helpless.

"Secret?" Ken saw that Secret was in his room again, tapping her wrist urgently.

"I need to be somewhere," Ken translated. Secret nodded. "Well, Orihime's training is in the afternoon, and I don't hear anything happening in town. Is it Ichigo?"

"Secret."

"All right, I'll head out now." Ken stretched for a moment, then dashed out of the shop in a blur of super-speed and intangibility. He reached the Visored hideout in less than three minutes, then simply walked through the wall, much to the surprise of Hiyori.

"Hey, we've got a door, dumbass!" The tiny blonde shook her fist in Ken's face. "You could have knocked!"

"Yeah, because knocking on the door to what looks like an abandoned building isn't suspicious at all," Ken said, then jumped over the fuming Hiyori and fell into the lower level of the warehouse, landing next to Shinji. "Good morning! What did I miss?"

Shinji, for his part, didn't even react to Ken's abrupt appearance. "Not much. Ichigo's still going on the stupid walker."

Ken almost laughed when he saw that, yes, Ichigo was exactly where he'd left him. "Did he even stop?"

"Nope." Shinji grinned a Cheshire cat grin. "I've got a bet going on that he'll snap before noon."

"Argh!" Ichigo growled in frustration and kicked the walker into a wall. "I can't take it anymore!"

"Man, you called it," Ken remarked, and shared a low-five with Shinji when Ichigo wasn't looking.

Ichigo then got into a shouting-match with Hiyori that quickly escalated to her slapping him with her sandal, tossing him into a lower level of the warehouse, and then throwing the exercise machine at his head.

"Look, I know what you're trying to do," Ichigo said, after he calmed down a little. "You want to measure my spiritual energy by seeing how long I can go on that stupid thing before I collapse. I'll tell you right now, it's pointless! I could go a whole week before getting tired! Just teach me how to suppress my Inner Hollow already! I don't have time for all this crap!"

Ken wasn't sure what he was more impressed by: that Ichigo had figured out what the Visored were doing, or that he'd been able to make all of his points while shouting.

"Is that right?" Shinji's smile had vanished, replaced by something more menacing. "Ya say ya don't 'have time for this crap'? Do ya even know what Aizen is doing with the Hougyoku?"

"How… how do you know about Aizen and the Hougyoku?" Ichigo stared in shock, but Ken felt lost. What was this Hougyoku? He figured that Shinji and the other Visored knew about Aizen because they had once been Soul Reapers, though it seemed that they hadn't shared that with Ichigo.

"That's a story for another day." Shinji was suddenly in front of Ichigo, an open palm inches from his face. "I thought it'd be a good idea ta start at the beginning, so you could get used to us. But, now that I think about it, ya can already turn inta a Soul Reaper, ya have a Shikai and a Bankai."

Ichigo was clearly unnerved, and Ken didn't blame him. Shinji was listing off information that Ichigo hadn't told him, which meant that he had either been spying on him, or someone else had told him.

"But maybe we should just jump straight ta helping ya suppress that Inner Hollow, like ya asked us ta do." Shinji's hand glowed. "Are ya ready?" Ichigo collapsed. "I hope ya don't regret it."

"That… was excessive," Ken said. "What are you going to do to him?"

"Like I said, we're gonna suppress his Hollow." Shinji glanced back up at the others. "Hachi, set up a barrier strong enough to hold him."

Hachi nodded and clapped his hands together. Ken heard a slight hum, and assumed that the barrier had been created. Then a section of the floor opened up, revealing a staircase. Love slung Ichigo over his shoulder, and then he and the other Visored headed down the stairs; wordlessly, Ken followed after them.

There's no way they built this place with normal equipment, Ken thought as they walked down a dark hallway, and then entered an area that looked exactly like Urahara's basement. Hmmm… they know things about Ichigo that strangers shouldn't, and have a training area just like Urahara. Yeah, I'd bet money that he's working with them.

Ken made a note to have a 'chat' with the shopkeeper later, but set the matter aside when Love put Ichigo on the ground.

"Hachi, set up a barrier around Ichigo as well, and restrain his body," Shinji ordered.

"Whaaa?" Hachi gasped.

"Don't 'whaaa' me," Shinji snapped. "Just do it!"

Hachi clasped his hands together and began muttering an incantation. To Ken's ears, the phrases were nonsensical, but they apparently held power, because five enormous pillars appeared and pinned Ichigo in place, followed by a transparent orange box.

"All right, now what?" Ken asked.

Shinji smiled grimly. "Well, half the work is Ichigo's; he has ta fight his Inner Hollow inside his mindscape. If he wins, he'll get control. Until that happens, his body's gonna go berserk, and we'll have ta contain him."

Ken looked at the huge pillars on top of Ichigo; he wasn't sure how heavy they were, but even Ichigo's strength would have a hard time lifting them without any leverage. Suddenly, there was a huge influx of energy, and the pillars cracked and shattered.

Never mind, Ken thought, as Ichigo stood up. Half his face was covered by a white mask with red stripes, and his eyes were like Hiyori's had been when she'd used her mask.

"Like I said, Ichigo's body is gonna go nuts," Shinji called out over the sound of wild shrieks from Ichigo. "The plan is for each of us ta take ten-minute turns fighting him; if Ichigo can't get control before we've all fought… we're gonna have ta kill him."

Ken frowned. "Maybe I can buy Ichigo a little more time."

"How's that?" Kensei asked.

"Not to brag, but I've fought gods," Ken said. "I can go a lot longer than ten minutes, and if I have to tag out, you guys will still be fresh."

The Visored shared a look, and then Shinji shrugged. "I don't see why not, kid; no skin off my back. Hachi, let him in."

"No need." Ken grinned, then simply walked through the barrier. "I love that power."

"Showoff," Hiyori muttered.

Ken would have replied, but he was suddenly too busy deflecting Ichigo's sword with his arms. "Come on, man, don't make me hurt you!" Then Ichigo's Zanpakutou connected with the side of his head. "Ow. All right, maybe I'll hurt you a little bit."

"Why doesn't Ken just go intangible?" Mashiro asked. "Then Ichigo wouldn't even touch him."

"Ichigo is a creature of pure instinct now," Shinji said. "He'll eventually realize that he can't hurt Ken, so he'll try to escape the barrier and go after the people he can hurt; namely, us."

Ken ducked under another swing, then popped back up to deliver a wicked uppercut that sent Ichigo flying into the roof of the barrier. Before he landed, however, there was an increase in spiritual pressure, and then Ichigo's sword transformed into its Bankai state. Ken was then back on the defensive, as Ichigo was suddenly much faster. He was also starting to physically change; his mask was spreading further across his face, his feet now resembled talons, and a Hollow hole had appeared on his chest, with white hide spreading out from the hole.

Still, Ken was far from outmatched. As Ichigo tried to stab him, Ken leaned out of the way and grabbed his sword-arm.

"Sorry," Ken said, then hit Ichigo with as much electricity as he dared. Ichigo screamed and twitched as his nerves were shocked; Ken took the opportunity to lift him up, and then slammed him into the ground. He drew back his fist, but Ichigo reacted first, smashing Ken in the face with his own fist.

The fight went on and on. Every attack the two landed was either shaken off, or quickly healed. The upside, for Ken, was that because Ichigo could heal even faster than he could, he didn't have to hold back as much. Punches and kicks that would have shattered tempered steel rained down on Ichigo, and though the hits broke bones and made the room shake, Ichigo recovered in seconds.

This must be how bad guys feel when they fight Swampfire, Ken thought, then grimaced as one of Ichigo's injuries not only healed, but was covered in more white flesh. But I don't think any of them had to deal with this.

"Hey, how's the time?" he asked as he blasted Ichigo with radiation.

"We're about forty minutes in!" Kensei called back.

"Already? Wow, time flies, huh?"

"Just stay focused," Kensei ordered. "He's not done transforming, and he'll only get stronger!"

Sure enough, Ichigo grew more and more bestial; his shoulders grew spikes, his fingers became claws, his hair grew down to his waist, and he even had a tail. He pointed his hand at Ken, and a red ball of energy gathered.

"Look out!" Lisa shouted. "That's a Cero!"

To the surprise of the Visored, Ken didn't try to avoid the Cero; in fact, he only grinned. Ichigo unleashed the attack, and the inside of the barrier was engulfed in fire and dust. When it cleared, Ken was still standing; in fact, he looked better than he had moments earlier!

"Did I forget to mention that I can absorb energy?" Ken looked over his shoulder at them and laughed. "Yep, I must have."

"Yeah, yeah, we're all impressed," Hiyori grumbled. "Just get back to fighting!"

Ken rolled his eyes. "Fine." He used his intangibility to walk through Ichigo, then turned and delivered a rapid one-two punch to his back. "Happy now?"

With Ichigo's Cero reenergizing him, Ken was doing much better; now it was Ichigo who was being forced back. Every time he swung his sword, Ken would shock the blade with lightning, stunning Ichigo for an instant, but long enough for Ken to blast him with fire, radiation, Mana, and an occasional sonic howl. The power-up didn't last long, but at least it bought Ichigo more time; Ken really didn't want the Visored to fight him and decide that he was too dangerous to live.

Finally, just as Ken had been knocked on his back by a vicious kick, something changed. Ichigo froze, and then cracks appeared over his body; blood spurted from the cracks, and then he began to scream.

"Kid, get out of there!" Shinji yelled.

Ken immediately jumped through the barrier again, and just in time, because it looked like Ichigo had exploded! The barrier kept them all from being hurt by the blast, but the explosion was still enough to make it collapse.

"Oh my god!" Ken was about to run back in, but Kensei and Lisa blocked his path. "Seriously? What is wrong with you people!?"

Kensei rolled his eyes. "Shut up and wait."

After a moment, the dust cleared, and Ken saw that Ichigo was still standing. However, he seemed 'empty', somehow; then his skin began to crack and fall away, until he had returned to his Soul Reaper form. He was hurt and covered in blood—all from injuries that hadn't come from Ken—and his face was covered by a skull-like mask, completely white on one side, and decorated with red stripes on the other. Ichigo then collapsed on the ground, and Ken had to check to make sure that he was still breathing; thankfully, he was.

"Did you know this was going to happen?" he asked, to no one in particular.

"We all went through the same thing," Shinji said nonchalantly, then lightly tapped Ichigo with his foot. "So, how do ya feel now?"

Ichigo weakly turned his head to look up, and then smirked. "Fine. Not bad at all."

Shinji smiled, and it was more genuine than anything Ken had seen before. "Very good. Now the real work begins." He looked over at Ken. "Ya wanna help out? Ya might be useful."

Ken grinned back. "Funny, I was going to say the same thing about you guys."

…

Across town, Professor Paradox glanced at his pocket watch, and then nodded at Secret. "How is he doing?"

"Secret." The little girl crossed her arms and glared.

"I know, but there is a limit to what we can do in these situations." Paradox sighed. "Well, he was able to make a few changes, and you know what they say about small stones and avalanches and whatnot. Perhaps those changes will strengthen them."

"Secret?"

"Don't worry, young Ken will be fine. His task here is almost done. There is only one more thing he needs to do to keep Ben safe. Well, as safe as I can hope." He closed his watch and put it away with a nod. "Come on, then; there's work to be done."

Well, that was fun! Sorry if the exposition stuff was cut a little short, but since Ken isn't going to be here much longer, it felt like it would be a waste of time to tell the Bleach characters his life's story, so I glossed over it a bit. Besides, I don't have the patience to write that sort of thing via dialogue.

Bigby: Then why did you do it at all?

TIM: Because if someone showed up from out of nowhere to help me, I'd like to know a bit more about them before I offered my trust.

Also, I added that bit with Orihime because it bothered me how useless she became to… everything. Even the reason why she got kidnapped turned out to be a colossal red herring. For someone who's bound and determined to help her friends, she really doesn't do a lot of that. And for those of you who think she's not that physically strong, during the Soul Society arc, she took down two Soul Reapers, by herself, and using only martial arts. Soul Reapers are supposed to be stronger and tougher than the average Human, so… yeah.

Bigby: Okay, I think you proved your point. And, personally, I approve.

TIM: Really?

Bigby: Yeah. It bothered me that Orihime was tossed to the wayside so easily. Why bring her in, or at least give her powers, if she's barely going to do anything?

TIM: Glad to know I'm not alone. Anyway, on to the preview!

Next Chapter: Ken prepares for the next battle, only to be confronted by the one person he doesn't want to fight…

Bigby: Ominous.

TIM: It's meant to be. Muffin quote?

Bigby: Muffin quote.

We're gonna need a bigger Muffin.