(Both men emerge from the escape pod)

Ron: Ok, beginning to regret these theater things. They cause me nothing but pain. Hmm...Yuuzhan Vong Embrace of Pain…

DKR: If you end up causing another Vong Invasion, I won't lift a finger to help you fix it.

Ron: Nope, just another fic idea for another day. But for now, Ichigo and Ryu have a bitch to kill.

Fear. The one emotion you can't escape, no matter how hard you try. It tells you of your limits, warns you of danger.

Nui Harime did not know fear. She knew spite, she knew love, twisted as it was, and she knew happiness.

Fear was a new one. And when she stared at Ichigo Kurosaki and Ryu Hisanaga, she learned that she was just as human as everyone else, because she was afraid of them.

Ryu was restraining himself from charging in full throttle as he stood alongside Ichigo facing the blonde haired abomination. "Ichigo," he said softly to the orange haired teen. "Careful… this… thing doesn't have a soul."

"The fact that she practically reeks of all kinds of wrongness kinda told me THAT." Nui didn't know it, but she felt slighted. Insulted. NO ONE did that to her. "I was going to play with you, but you're not very nice." Her grin remained innocent, though she was anything BUT. "But I gotta go catch up with Ryuko, so I'm gonna have to kill you fast!" She struck at Ryu first, giggling all the while as she flew at him at nih-supersonic speed.

Unfortunately for her, Ryu was used to dealing with speeds faster that hers as he blocked her sword with his own, throwing a punch right into her face as their blades collided. "No," he declared plainly. "You won't."

Nui was sent flying back, impacting the ground and the wall at a much higher rate of speed. When she came to a stop, she felt a liquid drop from her nose. Nui wiped it, finding it to be red and warm.

It was blood. Nui's blood to be exact. Ryu had made her bleed for the first time.

She was not exactly pleased with that.

"I know your type," Ryu called out as he retook his informal stance. "You've steeped yourself in something outside of humanity, and as such you lost the one thing that separates humanity from the world around it… the soul, creatures like you, that lose yourself in death, murder and destruction deserve only one fate: Death."

Nui's remaining eye twitched. "Of course I'm not human!" She ran out of the ruined building, getting angrier and angrier. "I'm beyond you pathetic meatsacks! And when you die, I'll even prove it!"

Mirthless, mocking, laughter echoed through the area as Ryu threw his head back. "You're mistaken," he told her, a grin adorning his face as he lowered his head to face her once more. "True, the average human is weak," he laughed again as he began to loosen his grip on his power, allowing it to increase the pressure of the area around them. "But within each human is a bottomless well of potential that dwarfs even that of the Father of Heaven, believe me, He confirmed that to me Himself."

Nui snarled. "Potential?! The only things with potential are things with life fibers!" She charged at Ryu, momentarily locking blades with him before the life fiber being was shot away like a railgun projectile. She was also getting tired of that. She was their infinite better! She could conquer them!

So why weren't they falling down and DYING ALREADY?!

She was forced to roll away as Ryu's sword nearly gored her as it flew, looking back at the brunette her eyes widened as she saw him somehow controlling his sword by a length of chain that was attached to the handle and seemed to continue extending without limit as he swung the blade towards her.

"Why can't you just-" A hand gripped Nui's face, and the one good eye found it attached to Kurosaki, who had been sitting on the sidelines.

"I think..." Ichigo seemed to get ready for a leaping jump. "You need..." His left arm went back, and Nui realized he was going to THROW her. "To shut the hell up!" Ichigo threw Nui into the air at a similar speed as Satsuki was.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

Ryu smirked from the ground as the black reishi exploded in Nui's face and retracted his sword back to his hand and began to spin it at a high speed. "If only it was that simple to kill her," he mused quietly to himself. "But, what can you do other than hit it till it dies?"

Ichigo unleashed more black crescents of death, impacting Nui as he fired them off.

Inumuta was broken again.

Satsuki was not amused. She wanted answers as to WHY Hisanaga and Kurosaki were beating the shit out of Nui Harime, and she needed Inumuta to stop freezing like his computer when Nanon used it for...certain activities.

Sanageyama - oddly enough - was the one who solved the situation… by hitting it. "Wake up Inumuta!" he shouted as he slammed his shinai on the hacker's head.

"Gah! What happened?!" Gamagori barely spared Inumuta a glance as he continued watching the ultimate asskicking and answered his question. "Things stopped making sense and you froze again. It stopped being amusing a LONG time ago, Inumuta. Now, I suggest you start figuring out how those two rejects can kick the living tar out of Nui Harime while Satsuki-sama can't even touch her!"

Another explosion was followed by a scream and a falling object, which crashed into the clubhouse. Nui was, of course, the object in question. And she was laughing.

(In Ichigo's reality, a certain man with formally spiky and formally belled hair grinned at the prospect of battle.)

"What is this feeling?" Nui questioned herself aloud as more laughter bubbled from her throat. "Is… this pain? Yes… this is what I felt when the stupid ape took my eye…"

"Oh, dear sweet God, she's going mad." Nui shot up, giggling as she cut into her leg. "More... I need more!"

Satsuki was becoming VERY disturbed. Nui had somehow become a masochist. She was ENJOYING the pain Hisanaga and Kurosaki were inflicting on her. "Those two...THEY can give me more! MORE!"

Ichigo heard her shouts and felt vaguely disturbed. "Ryu, did she just scream for more?"

"Ayup," Ryu affirmed with a nod. "Well, not the worst thing I've heard shouted in the middle of a fight… but it's still up there in the disturbing factor."

Ichigo was reminded of aforementioned Zaraki, who seemed to get off on pain. "What is it with me and running into combat masochists?!" Ichigo's demand wasn't answered, per se, as Nui flew out of the building, screaming only one word. "MORE!" Ichigo looked to Ryu, who looked somewhat amused and disturbed. "Any ideas? Because getting her off on my Getsugas is not exactly appealing to me right now!"

"Well, I got several," Ryu informed as his sword shrunk back down to pendant size and put it back around his neck. "All save one would cause countless deaths in the surrounding area… the last one…"

"Ryu, we have a psychotic 17 year old that just learned she's turned on by pain trying to kill us. I think I like whatever it is you're thinking of!" Nui landed on the ground, and ran at them, giggling like mad. They would have to deal with her quickly.

"Them start evacuating people if you don't want to end her," Ryu announced coldly as he stepped between the blond and the orangehead. "Because the last option is… unforgiving."

Ichigo did not need any further prompting, rushing off at speeds that could not be matched.

Mikisugi was in the middle of his lecture on the Battle of Kursk when his class disappeared en masse, followed quickly by himself being placed outside the school by Ichigo. "Uh, Kurosaki?" "No time to explain! Crazy bitch in a pink dress!" He disappeared again before Mikisugi pulled out his phone, walking away from the student as to not be overheard before calling Tsumugu. "Come on, you mohawk-headed bastard, pick up."

"What?" Tsumugu questioned - obviously annoyed - as he picked up the phone.

"Tsumugu, Kurosaki and Hisanaga are fighting Nui Harime at Honnouji. And winning."

"What?! How the hell do you know it's Harime?" Tsumugu question in shock.

"Kurosaki said, quote, 'crazy bitch in a pink dress'. I don't think there are many of those."

There was an unintelligible noise on the other side of the phone. "This… is unprecedented," Tsumugu whispered. "It was a miracle to see her and live, let alone beat her."

The entire school had seemingly been evacuated, including the student council, whose president was blushing for reasons Mikisugi didn't know.

But he could imagine. He he.

"I'd better go. The Wicked Witch and her flying monkeys are here."

"Ha! Don't get killed, Mikisugi. Last thing we need is you kicking the bucket thanks to Harime."

"Same to you," Mikisugi returned before handing up and look up at at the school where he could feel something building up, forcing the hair on the back of his neck to stand up on end. "What the hell is going on up there?"

"Did you know… that while the bible did get a couple of things wrong, the Father of Heaven did create something in seven days," Ryu stated conversationally as Ichigo disappeared in a blur. "For seven days is how long it took, for him to set up the Big Bang, leading to the creation of the universe."

Ryu rolled his neck, cracking out a couple of kinks as he did so. "He also did create Adam, Eve and Lilith, but there were other gods who created their own humans, and there were those who evolved naturally over the course of centuries," he continued, uncaring about the fact that his audience of one didn't seem to listen. "Eventually, all of them intermingled, and everyone can claim heritage to Adam and Eve, to the humans who were created by the other gods, to those who evolved.

"Personally, I was actually able to trace my own lineage back to Susanoo when he took human form," Ryu boasted. "I probably could lay claim to Kusanagi no Tsurugi if I wanted to, but… I actually have something better, forged by the hands of the Father… and wielded by the General of His Legions."

Ryu extended his right arm to his side, jagged lines of light - looking almost like circuits from electronics - sprouted forth upon it, glowing with a power that almost seemed to burn Nui's skin from the proximity. "It has a name, but… I'm afraid no one but those who wield it can comprehend it," he informed, a cold grin on his face. "God's Wrath… given physical form."

With those words, a second sun dawned within Honnouji Academy, sprouting forth from Ryu's arms as the lines of light gathered into the palm of his hand and began to form into the shape of a sword.

Nui began to scream, the blade tearing her body apart. She might've had not had a soul, but those life fibers were making up for it as their unholy makeup was torn apart thread by thread, and he hadn't even swung the damn thing yet.

If proximity was bad, actual contact had to be damningly painful, if the pun was pardoned.

"What...WHAT ARE YOU?! ANSWER ME!"

Ryu laughed in response as he allowed the sword of holy light come to a rest at his side. "I am Human," he informed proudly. "One who has tapped deeper into their potential than any before. Some have called me the Ultimate Fullbringer, others have called me the Ascended One, Emissary of the Gods, Defier of Heaven, and so much more, but the one that I am most proud of is Human."

Nui only realized she was going to die seconds after he said that. And even if she DID survive, it wouldn't be for long. So she began to cry. Try to gain Ryu's mercy.

It may have worked on Ichigo. May have. Ryu was not going to fall for it.

"Yeah, that's not going to work," Ryu told her in cold amusement as he lifted the sword above his head. "Once I called forth this sword, your fate was sealed… but, know this, I don't do this out of hatred, for there are those without souls that I have, and still do, call my friend, and they would never be burned by this sword, for their are righteous beings who casted their soul away to protect something precious to them. I do this, to free you."

It was not cruelty. It was mercy. A brutal mercy, but it was kinder than any fate her unlife had in store. And so, the blade fell. Nui Harime may have been a servant of evil, but that did not mean she was true evil. True evil chose to act like a monster. Nui was only following Ragyo's example.

SHE was the evil bitch.

"I do hope you find a measure of peace within the Flames of Purgatory," Ryu told her, an odd note of kindness filling his voice right before her world was consumed by fire of the purest white, and Nui Harime was no longer within this world.

Ryu let out a breath as the sword of light dissolved into his body once more, its power and light fading from the world.

Ragyo was not going to be pleased. Nudist Beach was. But not that rainbow-haired soulless witch.

But Ryu didn't care about that.

He just had to break the news to Ryuko. He DID just kill the one who killed her father.

"For some reason, I'm not really caring all that much." Ryuko's flat and no-nonsense sentence was uncharacteristic of her. On the other hand, she wasn't the hothead that entered Honnouji months before.

Ryu gave her a smile. "You have come a long way, Ryuko," he told her proudly as he handed her a wrapped package. "I did find this for you after the battle though, take it, it belongs to you anyways."

The long, unconventionally shaped blade was the other half of her scissor, meant for the thumb had they been normal sized. "Guess I'm gonna need a screw or something, or dual wield them." Ichigo, who was standing off to the side, noticed something missing.

That being pink. "Where the hell's Jakuzure? I thought she was with you." Ryuko shrugged, honestly not caring about the pinkette. "Don't know. For all I know, the bitch s back with Satsuki." And she probably was.

But that wasn't the biggest problem. That was Mako. She'd argued with Ryuko, then had a fight with her, which the Fight Club president won, as Ryuko LET her. Now the girl was depressed, mostly about being guilty towards Ryuko, treating her like a tool.

Ryu let out a loud yawn as they walked down to the very familiar slum clinic of the Mankanshoku family. "Damn… even after all this time it still drains me," he muttered as he looked down at his arm to see the vague outlines of light encasing it.

"So, you used...God to kill Harime. I'd ask if you had any other powers, but Ichigo's the weirder of you both." the Kurosaki lightly glared at Matoi, who was unrepentant.

Ryu was going to need to find out how to get Ichigo back before the Quincies decided to throw caution to the wind and look for the shinigami. Ragyo, he could handle, same with the Sternritter. Both at the same time? THAT was begging for trouble.

"Eh, not quite like that," Ryu denied. "In a metaphysical manner perhaps, but no, the best way I could think of to describe it, is the Flames of Purgatory given physical form, purifying you of all your sins in a single instant."

"Isn't purgatory a level of Hell? Or was that limbo?" Ichigo wasn't exactly knowledgeable about Christianity. He knew the basics, but other than heaven and hell, he didn't know much. Mako, meanwhile, decided to show off that she actually knew something.

"Actually, purgatory's a place where people too nice to go to hell and too bad to go to heaven go when they die! Like my dad! He steals to make people better, but makes them pay out the wazoo to actually patch them up and..." And now Mako was rambling as usual.

Everything was back to normal. Ish.

REVOCS HQ

Ragyo was mad. VERY mad. Nui, her precious, precious Nui was gone.

That Hisanaga bastard killed her! If that wasn't bad enough, there wasn't even a single thread of the Life Fibers within her body left, whatever the flames that the bastard had used, were far too effective.

"So… Hisanaga started to stop playing around, has he?" a male voice questioned in amusement.

"Nui's gone. He killed her. My treasonous daughter sheltering them in that school are bad enough, but now that my girl is dead?! He murdered her!" She had no clue how much of a kindness Ryu did for Nui.

She also didn't care.

"Do you wish for revenge?" the voice whispered seductively into her ear. "For one who has casted their soul away much like you have… I can give great power…"

"Yes. I want Hisanaga and Kurosaki to die." She wanted Ryu to die as painfully as possible. She wanted to turn Kurosaki's blade against him and bathe in their blood.

"Then all I need…" the voice whispered quietly. "Is you to give yourself to me, and I will remake you into a being of pure perfection."

Ragyo wondered who he was. But realized her ability to care no longer existed. All she wanted was vengeance.

"Take me. I am yours."

The voice chuckled as a circle of dark flames surrounded her in a reversed pentagram. "Then I shall begin," he told her. "My newest pawn."

Hueco Mundo

Books. Books, books and more books. If there was anything the liberian enjoyed, it was a good read.

As, unlike the REST of the idiots, she understood the value of knowledge. Sure, they were the embodiment of emptiness, but they didn't need to be empty-headed. Which was why this substitute shinigami situation was giving her a hard time.

"Stupid Shinigami and their self absorbed supremacist attitudes," the female Hollow muttered to herself angrily as she closed a book and returned it to its proper place before taking out another one. "Things were so much simpler before the Spirit King showed himself and created those Shinigami, I could research this in peace if they weren't around, but then again this situation would not have happened had they not appeared… still a completely new dimension… this opens so many possibilities."

She would have to meet Kurosaki in person, ask questions. But that posed problems.

Would he act like an atypical shinigami and kill without question? If not, would he have problems speaking to a hollow?

"Perhaps I should pose this question to Ryu?" she muttered to herself as she tapped her finger on the spine of her book. "Yes, that would be the prudent course of action, I shall send a message to him first," she picked up a loose leaf of paper and muttered a few words causing it to fold up into an Origami that then began to somehow fly under its own power. "Take this message to Ryu: I wish to speak to the substitute, but would be adverse to being attacked, is this possible?" With her message complete she opened a miniature Garganta and allowed the paper bird to fly through before closing it.

"I do hope that I will be able to talk to him," she mused to herself. "It would be nice to meet a polite Shinigami."

The shinigami in question was watching as the school began preparations for a so-called 'raid trip'. He had no idea WHAT the hell Satsuki was planning, and judging by the madness surrounding the school, he wanted nothing to do with it.

"So, the queen bitch is doing something stupid. Again." Ichigo scoffed at Ryuko's blunt appraisal of the situation.

"Tell me about it," Ichigo muttered in agreement as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Where the hell did Ryu get off to this time?"

"Something about Stern writers or something," Ryuko informed with a careless shrug. "Hell, after seeing that over there, I'm quite surprised people actually want to fight him."

'That' was what could have only been where Nui Harime's funeral pyre was, even a week after the fight with most of the damage repaired, people avoided the massive scorch on the ground, citing something about feeling a small burning sensation on their skin whenever they were near it.

Ichigo, while not well-versed, knew German when he heard it.

He had to deal with Uryu, whose pride could eclipse the sun. And that was something very few things could do.

"Probably something involving Quincies. Sounded German, and all their crap is German."

Ryuko snorted as Ichigo said this. "Not gonna be surprised if he says something about an SS or something."

"Spiritually empowered Nazis…" Ichigo muttered. "Yeah, I think that's the last thing anyone needs."

"Yeah, Nazi vampires were bad enough."

Both of the shared a brief laugh at that before Ryu arrived, carrying a paper bird. "Hoi, Ryu. Where'd you get the origami bird?"

"The same person who gave me that Kido book," Ryu informed, looking at the paper bird. "She wants to meet you, but there just one thing, she's a Hollow, a Vasto Lorde Arrancar to be exact."

"And? Clearly you're friends with her. Arrancar are like humans: some are nice, some are complete assholes. I've actually got an Arrancar in Hueco Mundo that I worked with. Her name's Nel." THAT was a good sign for Ryu.

If Ichigo judged by action, rather than by race, he and the liberian would get along just fine.

"Alright then," Ryu nodded in approval. "We can go after classes tonight, what is all the commotion about then?"

"Somethin' about a raid trip or some shit." Ryuko shrugged, honestly not caring about the trip. Besides, she had to deal with Mako's crazy, which was a lot better then dealing with Satsuki, who had little to do, it seemed, with her father's death. "And cause of that, classes were sorta cancelled in favor of loading up for a freaking invasion of Normandy!"

"Raid trip, huh?" Ryu muttered with narrowed eyes. "Well, let's get going now then," he suggested, shrugging. "My friend is anxious to meet you."

"Sure. Let Ryuko hold down the fort." The duel-haired girl 'oi'ed in protest, but if anyone really gave a shit about Honnouji at the moment, it wasn't them. Nui was dead, Satsuki wasn't planning on doing anything to them and the only thing they had to worry about was the commando going commando with the mohawk and their WW2 history teacher that had an odd obsession with stripping in front of Ryuko.

"If you do need help," Ryu said holding out a tag for her. "Just channel your Reiatsu into this, it'll summon a member of the Tamamo clan to help you."

Ryuko took the offered tag, continuing to watch the idiots load 'supplies' for the raid trip as Ryu tore open a garganta and her two more seasoned spiritual companions went into the Hollow realm. "RYUKO! HELP ME!"

Senketsu chuckled, looking up at Ryuko's face. "Looks like Mako has been drafted."

Ryuko scoffed in response. "Not for long. I'm takin' her back home," she declared before resolutely stepping forward.

Hueco Mundo

"Gray's Anatomy, Encyclopedia Britannica volumes one through ten, How to Setup Windows 95 For Dummies..." The librarian continued to count off and name all of the books in her collection, sans Kido for Beginners, which was in Ichigo's possession.

"Hey!" a familiar voice called out. "Brought our visitor in for a visit!"

The librarian blinked before turning to face the duo. "Welcome, Ichigo Kurosaki," she greeted calmly. "Many call me the Librarian."

Ichigo looked at the massive library he now stood in. "I wouldn't know how you got that nickname. Thanks for the book, by the way: it's been a great help. Can't do kido for shit, but I'm getting better at controlling my reiryoku."

"I am glad to be of assistance," Librarian nodded, before peering at Ichigo intently. "I must say, it is rather strange to see a Quincy Substitute Shinigami."

"...Wait, what? I'm human. Just human, if the substitute thing wasn't a factor. My dad's a shinigami, my mother was human. And she didn't show any signs of Quincy wackiness." By that, he meant 'shit Uryu did to show off'.

Point was, she had no cross and only saw the dead, so, by that logic, she wasn't a Quincy.

The hollow narrowed her eyes at him dangerously. "I have been alive since before recorded history child," she announced. "I know the feel of Quincy, Fullbringer, Hollow, Shinigami and several other species Reishi by heart."

"My mom didn't have a Quincy cross! If she did, that fucking bastard Grand Fisher would be dead instead of her!" While the Liberian was moderately confused by the 'grand fisher' - likely a relatively powerful low-ranking hollow - Ichigo's refusal to say that he was a Quincy meant two things.

One, he was lying, which was unlikely.

Or two, he honestly didn't have a clue.

"Choose to believe me if you wish to or not," Librarian informed with a shrug. "I honestly do not care which, but you have Quincy blood running through you," she studied him closely. "I am curious about a person from another another dimension, can you tell me how you arrived here?"

"I was on my way to the Soul Society using some new invention my mentor made when I was sent here. On that note, the second I get back, I am whooping his ass ten ways to the Seireitei and back for getting me stranded here." Ichigo did sound moderately annoyed at being stuck here, but the Arrancar figured he was worried about his family and whoever was in the Soul Society.

From what Ryu had told her about Kurosaki, events seemed to happen around him.

"Interesting, it may have something to do with the space between realms," the Librarian mused curiously. "There has not been much learned on the realm…"

Ichigo drawled out his thoughts on the situation. "Personally, I think God just likes to shit on my parade." And that was amusing to think about. Ichigo Kurosaki, God's personal chewing toy.

If Lucifer didn't already have that title, it would be fitting. "What makes you think the Gotei aren't looking for you?" "If they were actively looking for me, lady, I wouldn't be here, and I wouldn't be returning your book to you." Ichigo reached into his bag, handing back the book in question. "It's not Shakespeare's sonnets, but it helped. Here you go."

The hollow nodded as she accepted the book and slid it into a shelf. "Thank you," she replied. "Feel free to browse the shelf, it is all related to Kido."

"Thanks. Probably gonna need to, knowing my luck." Ichigo began looking at the book spines before the hollow turned her attention back to Ryu. "Shinigami, Hollow AND Quincy. I must say, Ryu, you've found a living contradiction. the latter two are complete opposites. I'm surprised he isn't dead."

"I think the Hollow and Quincy part cancel each other out, while the Fullbringer and Shinigami parts cancel out as well," Ryu speculated. "Other than that, I ain't got no idea."

"It may explain his control problems. Hollows in general run on instinct and don't need it while Quincy, Fullbringer and Shinigami abilities need actual instruction." It made sense, as the hollow powers were clearly giving him problems with his reiatsu control. Hollows didn't need to hide. Running was pretty much their only real defense against a stronger hollow.

"That could be it," Ryu mused quietly. "I can't think of any better explanations. Do you think you would be able to send him back?"

"It is… possible," she mused quietly. "I will need to do some research and speak to some compatriots."

Sending Ichigo home was going to a mammoth undertaking. To use a sci-fi comparison, like trying to get John Crichton back to Earth. With a bicycle. "Still it is good you brought him here. I haven't had a mystery like this to tackle in a long time."

"Glad to be of help," Ryu replied with a grin. "Not very often I see you stumped about something, that's for sure."

Satsuki had long since given up figuring Kurosaki and Hisanaga out.

Any answers they gained made no sense and only caused more mysteries. And breaking Inumuta was not on her to-do list. They had a raid trip to begin and more soldiers to conscript in their fight against Ragyo. "What is the status of our attack teams?"

"We are just about prepared, Satsuki-sama," Inumuta confirmed. "All that is left is the Osaka team to finalize their preparations."

Osaka was likely to be the largest area of resistance. Nudist Beach had a base in the area, but FINDING it was a royal bitch. Sanageyama was going to have a hard time with the yakuza idiots, but he would be victorious, that she had no doubt of.

And after that, Ragyo was going to get a knife to the face. And after that, they would have cake.

"Satsuki-sama, Osaka team has reported their readiness,"a peon announced over the din of the preparations. "Shall I deploy the teams now?"

"Begin the attack."

"Do you think we should do something about this, Senketsu?" Ryuko asked her Kamui as she watched the trucks full of students drive away from Honnouji.

"Seeing as Ichigo and Ryu are probably going to get involved anyways, I think that's a really stupid question, Ryuko." And Satsuki was probably going to get those two involved in some stupid way.

"Good point. Question is, how the hell are we gotta get and beat them there? We can't fly." While in the canon timeline, Ryuko and Senketsu could do the flight thing, this was not the canon timeline. The times she'd gotten to actually using Senketsu could be counted on one hand: the boxing jackass, the tennis match, Sanageyama and, of course, the nude commando incident.

In short, not many opportunities to synchronize with her blood-sucking partner.

"Hey… doesn't Mako's dad have a motorcycle or something?" Ryuko mused curiously as she tilted her head.

Well, it wasn't much, but bikes were usually faster than most cars. As such, she rushed her ass back to the Mankanshoku Clinic. She had a few asses to whoop in Osaka, anyways.

In Hueco Mundo, Ichigo and Ryu were getting ready to leave, as their visit was as confusing as it was enlightening. Especially for Ichigo, seeing as he thought the only weird parts about him were having a shinigami for a father who was a complete tool 99% of the time and having hollow powers.

NOW he knew he was part Quincy. Screw waiting for Dad to come to terms with telling him: once Ichigo got home, the bastard was telling him everything. He was getting REALLY tired of not being informed!

Ryu scratched the back of his head as he opened the Garganta. "You're looking prissy there, carrot-top." he called out to the scowling Ichigo. "Really don't want to believe you have Quincy blood in you?"

"The only Quincy I know is a prideful jackass who could stand to have his pride taken down a few trillion pegs. My mom, because my dad's the shinigami, was a lot nicer than Uryu could ever be. So yeah, I'm having a hard time trying to reconcile 'kind as all heaven mom' with 'arrogant Quincy who would put an entire town in danger just to make himself feel superior'."

While Ichigo had little dealings with any Quincies besides the aforementioned retard Uryu Ishida, most Quincies from Ryu's experience DID have a massive stick up their ass. So if Masaki Kurosaki was a Quincy, she either didn't have it or pulled the stick out and beat people to death with it.

Ryu gave him a dry look. "Ichigo, you have to remember what Quincy's are," he recommended as he stepped through the Garganta, Ichigo following shortly after. "Human, and Humans are nothing, if not varied."

Ichigo shrugged. "Still think the superiority complexes of shinigami, hollows and Quincies should be beaten down a peg or twenty. When I started out, I ran into a hollow that put a kid's soul in a bird. And it was an arrogant fucker. I'm happy that he's rotting in Hell right now. Then there's Byakuya Kuchiki, who was arrogance and pride personified until I kicked his ass." Ichigo was silent for a moment before naming the most arrogant Hollow he could think of.

"Nnoitra. DEFINITELY that sexist son of a bitch."

Ryu chuckled slightly as he walked. "Well, you just gotta take it as it comes and remember, there are always the black sheep of every species," he commented. "Hell, Metatron - the voice of God? Yeah, foulest mouth you will ever meet."

"I like the black sheep. Black sheep aren't trying to actively kill my family."

Sanageyama may have been blind, but even he could tell Osaka was filled to the brim with money loving yakuza assholes. Seeing as those self-same bastards were somehow SHOOTING money at him, he didn't need to see them. And that Takarada asshole was mocking him for being born in North Kanto.

It was like an American mocking a Canadian for being born north of the border! And the second he found the son of a bitch, it was going to be painful.

"Club President Sanageyama! The other teams are reporting good progress in subjugating the other schools!" a random peon announced. "Satsuki-sama has ordered us to begin our attack!"

"Get moving, then! We've got a lot of work to do and Satsuki-sama wants it done fast!"

The plan was simple, but executing it wasn't. After fighting Hisanaga and Matoi and witnessing Kurosaki conquer Satsuki (there was no other way to put that one-sided affair) he was under no illusions that life fibers were the only power in the world.

"Yo, North Kanto monkey!" The swordsman's brow twitched at the voice of the Takarada Syndicate heir, who was on a black and white screen.

He randomly asked WHY all the screens were black-&-white instead of full color. This wasn't the beginnings of television back in the 1930s. Or the era of the Gameboy.

Sanageyama sighed as he looked up at Takarada in annoyance. "Why don't you make this simple for all of us and surrender," he called out in response. "You cannot honestly believe you can defeat us!"

"Cause I got the cash to back me up!" "Oh, screw this! Storm the place! Find that snot-nosed ass and take him out!" The student army swarmed into the school, but Takarada wasn't having any of that, as a similar force stormed out, pushing them back. "Ok, so you can repel goku uniforms. That's interesting, but nothing new."

After Matoi, Hisanaga and Kurosaki, the poor idiots of the student council were forced to accept that. There was also that nudist commando, but he used REVOCS tech against them.

"Club President," one of the flunkies spoke up. "Communication from Honnoji, Matoi is has left and is heading this way."

And cue Sanageyama beginning to panic.

The yakuza wannabe? he can handle the idiot and his moronic troop. Satsuki-sama when she's not in a good mood? He knows how to deal with her.

Matoi and her two boyfriends?

Run like a bitch, FROM the bitch!

But… as much as he wanted to run, he had to take Osaka for Satsuki-sama's plans against her mother. "Send a message to Satsuki-sama," he retorted - best way to avoid a beating is by hoisting it onto someone else. "Tell her we will need her support soon."

"Yes, sir!" Sanageyama decided to lose himself in the mindless beating of the idiots in the meantime. If Matoi was going to fist him again, he might as well try to keep himself entertained beforehand.

Ryuko's bike ride took a few hours, but the girl wanted to save her energy for the upcoming asskicking Satsuki was going to receive.

That, and if she used Senketsu, his vampiric nature (that being bloodsucking) would leave her unconscious on the ground.

"Are you ready for this… Ryuko?" Senketsu questioned in concern, his sole 'eye' turning up to look up at her. "Chances are… you will be fighting all of them at some point."

"Yeah, well, I can handle them. They aren't Fullbringers, and those goku uniforms can only get them so far against a spiritually-empowered human. THese guys might put up a hell of a fight, but they aren't Ryu or Ichigo. I can take them." Her confidence wasn't arrogance, but truth. Ichigo easily dominated Satsuki, and both of them conquered Nui Narime easily.

And she was trained by them, so logically, she was powerful enough to take on the Elite Four.

"Just remember, arrogance can be your downfall," her clothing warned cautiously. "I agree, we are a powerful force when we work together, but… one never knows what can happen in battle."

"I ain't gonna underestimate these guys. I'll be careful." The bike sped up at Ryuko's opening the throttle, closing in on Osaka. 'Satsuki, you're going to LOSE this time!'

While Ichigo was planning to relax, muse over his new-found ancestry and begin trying to find a way back so he could interrogate uryu's dad on all this Quincy bullshit, life, sadly, did NOT want to cooperate.

It all started to go downhill as Ryu froze. "DOWN!" he shouted, an odd note of panic in his voice as Ichigo reacted, throwing himself to the ground, barely avoiding the torrent of black flames that roared overhead. "Fucking HELL!"

"Quite literally," a voice echoing with several others called out as a pair of what could only be demons with their void black eyes and burning black auras.

One of them was vaguely humanoid with wings of flames sprouting from its back and a cloak of black energy enveloping its body, hiding it from view save for a single boney hand that held a leather bound book in its hand.

The second appeared to be female with deep red skin and long flowing black hair, a pair of bony horns that arched back across her scalp, leathery black wings and a spade tipped tail, looking like a classic Succubus as she floated a few feet of the ground.

"Ereshkigal, Abraxas…" Ryu growled out as he retook his feet, tension thick in the air. "So… Lucifer sent you two after me, huh?"

"Oh Ryu, of course he did," the female looking one cooed out in what may had been a loving tone had it not been for the demonic taint in her voice. "After all, you were quite rude to not fully accept the taint he bestowed upon you help in your battle with the Heavens."

"He wishes to collect upon the owed debt, Mortal," the cloaked figure hissed. "You do not make light of a bargain with the King of Hell."

Ichigo gave Ryu a look of 'oh, great, what did you do?' as he materialized Zangetsu. "Ryu, would you mind explaining to me what in the fuck you did to have a demon and some kinda prostitute from hell on yours ass?"

While not entirely...accurate, it was true enough.

"I was a desperate kid," Ryu responded with a grimace. "I needed the strength to fight an extremist faction of heaven, and Lucifer offered it to me."

"...Huh. Guess we're not so different after all. Still, I think we should tell the loansharks to piss off, don't you?" While Ryu wasn't surprised that Ichigo would help, he was happy for the help.

"How rude," Erishkigal pouted, looking put out as she looked at Ichigo. "You should go home, little boy, Lucifer has no interest in you, and you should keep it that way."

"Sorry, but I don't give a shit when it comes to protecting my friends. Heaven, Hell, Soul Society or Hueco Mundo: I'll kick all your asses if I have to." Ichigo entered a guard position, more than willing to take on the two demons that, by his rough estimation, were the same level as Aizen when Ichigo dragged his ass out of Karakura 20 months prior.

And if Ichigo used the Saigo no Getsuga Tensho again, Zangetsu would probably kick his ass once he could his powers back.

Next to Ichigo Ryu began to gather his own power, and something more. "Don't hold anything back on these two, Ichigo," he advised. "Give them the chance… and you will cease to be anything even resembling human."

"Didn't plan on it. BANKAI: TENSA ZANGETSU!" Ichigo quickly transited from shikai to bankai before rushing at the succubus, as she seemed to be the more melee-orientated of the two, if that book was anything to go by.

"How cute!" The demoness cried as she launched a wave of black fire in response to the attack, an explosion ripping through the air as the attacks cancelled each other out. "You actually have some strength! You will make a fine gift for Lucifer!"

Ichigo decided not to care about the succubus' lack of decency, continuing to strike at her with a combination of sword and hand-to-hand attacks, managing to actually stagger Erishkigal long enough to swing a full-power Getsuga into her face.

Probably wouldn't kill her, but it WOULD hurt like a bitch.

"Ahaha!" Erishkigal cried out in pleasure as the attack struck home, sending her flying back before she quickly recovered, flying back at Ichigo with claws of black flame roaring to life on her hands.. "Such power… yes Lord Lucifer will be most pleased with corrupting you!"

"Oh, great, another masochist. First Nel, now this bitch!" Ichigo had to use shunpo to dodge the demon's strikes, but all that did was make her laugh harder, like she was enjoying the chase. "What is it with me meeting the weird people?!"

"Who knows?" Ryu shouted in response as he dodged a blast of arcane energies from Abraxas as the cloaked demon chanted in a long forgotten tongue. "Kaminari Enko! (Lightning Arc)" Ryu called out as he underhanded a bolt of lightning that forced the demon to break off his chant in order to dodge.

"Tell me, human, what is your name? That way I know who Lord Lucifer will be corrupting to join our ranks!" "how about you go away..." Ichigo's sword glowed black and red before Ichigo fired off another half-powered Getsuga. "and leave Ryu alone instead?!" Hell was about to learn not to make Ichigo mad.

HIS hell had already learned that lesson from the debacle a few weeks before Aizen was fucked over. THIS one was going to have to learn.

Black flames erupted from Ryu's left arm as a black, organic looking, tattoo stained its way onto his arm, his entire left eye was pitch black. "Die!" Ryu shouted as he hurled a wall of the black flames at Abraxas who quickly teleported out of the way.

"Well, this should be interesting." Ichigo unleashed another Getsuga on the succubus, knocking her around again before he decided to force her toward the holy blade.

This would not end well for Erishkigal. And she knew it.

"I'm not finished with you!" she cried out as she corrected her flight to face him again. "We are not some foolish low class demon who are burned by the presence of that sword."

"And I'm still in my body, which limits how much power I'm putting out! Getsuga Tensho!" She managed to dodge this one, but only for Ichigo to close in and run Tensa Zangetsu through her torso, twisting the blade as he pulled the weapon out, the barbs causing as much damage as possible. And while she was no Hollow, a zanpakuto was still a purifying weapon and getting stabbed by it hurt like a whore.

She was gonna be feeling THAT for a while.

"Ah… yes… this is a great power that will well in Hell!" The Succubus cried out happily, even as blood poured from her wound. "Even now… the corruption will begin with my blood."

"Oh, hell." If Zangetsu and that Hollow of his were awake, they were going to be PISSED. The Hollow did NOT like intruders in Ichigo's soul (Muramasa being the ur-example) and Ichigo did not want to know what Zangetsu would do.

He needed to finish this quickly, as he had no idea how this was going to go.

Ryu glanced over to Ichigo and let out a low tsking sound, he wanted to go aid Ichigo and purify the corruption, however…

"You have gained an admirable control over Lord Lucifer's Hellfire," Abraxas commented as he launched a series of magical blasts at the transformed Fullbringer who raised a barrier of black flames to block them. "And I must admit, you have truly mastered that sword of the Heavens, it makes me wonder what other tricks you have and how well they ."

Oh, no, he was NOT serving that insane bastard. He wasn't a fan of Heaven, but Hell was just as distasteful. So, in the words of one of the wisest philosophers of all time, FUCK THAT.

Abraxas was going to be either back in hell or he was going to be wishing he was back in hell after this next one.

"You want to see another trick?" Ryu asked with a grin as white lines appeared on his right arm, his right eye turning pure white. "How about this one?" Ryu questioned, his voice distorting as white flames joined black in attacking Abraxas.

As the demon dodged the blasts of fire with a shocked look on his face Ryu began to move into a Tai Chi stance, his two hands engulfed in the flames of Heaven and Hell coming together before him, the two flames merging together into a single grey flame.. "Pingheng Dian: Sheng Yu Si (Balance Point: Life and Death)," he declared. "I unify Hellfire and the Flames of Purgatory into a single flame, one burns corruption into the soul, and the other purifies through flames," a grin made its way onto Ryu face. "I nearly died perfecting this form, and now, you shall bear witness to the fruits of my labour."

The demon was not looking forward to this. If Ryu could do what he said he could do, this was not going to be pleasant.

Or he could be obliterated. Whichever came first.

"Yongheng de Shunjian: Zuihou Beitan (Moment of Eternity: Final Lamentation)," Ryu announced as he gathered a ball of the grey flame between his hands and compressed it to the size of a marble. "Goodbye, Abraxas."

With those words he launched the flame at the demon who tried to intercept the flame with a blast of arcane lightning only for the magic to split before the fire as it expanded and engulfed the demon in a burning embrace.

Abraxas burned in holy-yet-unholy fire, screaming in agony. Fittingly, the only thing left of him after a minute or so was his spellbook, which quickly turned to ashes.

With that asshole out of the way, Ryu could finally turn to the succubus, and then tend to Ichigo. Thankfully, Ichigo did not need much help. Something much angrier was taking care of his problems.

Inside Ichigo's mind

"OI! ASSHOLES! ABOUT TIME!" A white washed being- "Look, I KNOW what I look like! EVERYONE knows what I look like!"

"Who are you talking to?" A bearded middle aged man in an overcoat questioned as he turned away from his current issue to stare at the Hollow/Zanpakuto. "We do kinda have an issue here other than your… questionable mental stability," he pointed out, gesturing to the Succubus-like creature that appeared in the soulscape not too long ago.

"If you knew, jackass, you'd be bitching, too!" The 'battle' as it were, had been going on for, in their terms, weeks. And Zangetsu, who happens to be bitching at the authors somehow, was REALLY getting tired of this shit. The Old Man CONTINUED to hold him back and in consequence, hold Ichigo back. Something needed to change.

And it would. Right now.

The manifestation of Ichigo's Quincy powers sighed as he focused on containing the corruption that was trying to leak its way into Ichigo's soul. "This would go a lot easier if you would help me," he called out in annoyance. "This... thing is strong."

"Then stop holding me back, damn it!" "If I don't, Ichigo will die." "If you keep going like this, then he WILL die! So let go of your chokehold and LET ME DO WHAT I'M MEANT TO DO!"

The Quincy couldn't argue with THAT logic. If he continued to suppress Ichigo's powers, he was going to die anyways.

Keeping him from being a shinigami was good and all, but he forgot the cardinal rule. When Ichigo Kurosaki wants power to protect, he GETS it or dies trying.

Case in point, the Ulquiorra Incident.

The old man sighed as he relented his hold on the Zanpaktou. "Very well," he relented. "But… see to it you do not harm him."

Zangetsu's sword glowed with power. The succubus-creature paled as Zangetsu grinned. "You've barely tasted what I can do. And you're not going to like what you're going to experience."

Erishkigal giggled as she felt the corruption in Ichigo's soul spread. At least until it stopped. And was purged. Violently. "Gah!" She cried out in pain as she backlash of the purging hit her. "Wh… what was that! No Shinigami's Zanpaktou is that powerful!"

Ichigo spin his massive daito around once, glaring at Erishkigal. "You won't be doing that again." The Psycho shower scene music was playing in her head. As most would guess, this is a sign of 'I'm going to fucking die'.

And Ichigo was going to make sure of that.

Erishkigal scowled. "INFERIOR APE!" She screeched out angrily as she summoned up a mass of black flames and launched it at the orange haired teen.. "YOU WILL BURN FOR THIS!"

Ichigo simply extended his glove-covered left hand and swung, batting the flame away. "I've burned before. Getsuga..." Black energy enveloped the blade while the succubus began to shit her pants.

Metaphorically speaking.

This was MUCH more powerful than that last one. In fact, this would do lasting, if not fatal, damage.

Note that there is a difference between 'fatal' and 'mortal'. The former means it could kill. The latter means it WILL.

"I WILL NOT LOSE TO A MERE HUMAN!" The succubus screamed as she gathered her Hellfire around her body and lunged for Ichigo in one last desperate strike.

"TENSHO!" Ichigo swung, putting out enough reiryoku to take out a high-ranking adjuchas or even a Vasto Lorde in one shot.

The wave made contact with Erishkigal's body, slowly eating away at the fire until it made actual contact with her skin. While she enjoyed pain and got off on it, this was not pleasurable. This was torture.

Sorta like the ball of murder that slowly killed Buu at the end of DBZ, only much, much worse, because she was surrounded.

"Lord… Lucifer," the Succubus whispered shortly before her body, much like a certain pink blob, disintegrated into nothingness.

"Well I guess you had that covered," Ryu called out as he released his hold on the power and allowed the flames to fade back into his body. "You alright?"

"Kinda...No idea where THAT came from, but the succubus is dead, so... Yeah." Ichigo's power was much more regulated. It wasn't the constant outpouring Ryu was used to, but more...contained, controlled.

But Ichigo had just killed a relatively high-ranking demon, which was rather difficult to say the least. This shinigami had a lot hidden up his sleeve, even from himself, it seemed.

"Look, Ichigo, would you mind giving me access to your soulscape?" Ryu requested with a concerned look. "Demon Lord corruption is… dangerous to play around with."

"Uh...sure. No idea how to-"

"I'll take care of the how. I just need a willing soul, otherwise this could backfire." Ryu cut him off as he reach out with a hand and 'touch' Ichigo's aura and 'pushed' himself into it.

Ichigo didn't resist the feeling as he felt himself drawn inward. Mostly from our pissy friend because it took until now to feature himself and his 'counterpart.

"A sideways city, is it… always like this?" Ryu asked as he tilted his head at the sight of the substitute shinigami's soulscape. "Because… I really don't know what this says about your mental state."

"Don't start. Yeah, it's been like this for as long as I can remember coming here." "..." "Look, from what I've heard, everyone's different. I didn't choose the sideways city, you know." Both paused as they heard something coming at them before Ichigo threw Ryu and himself to the ground. "Great, either Zangetsu's mad or it's that damned hollow!" "Right on both counts, King!"

Ryu stared at the bleached image of Ichigo. "You do know that your teeth aren't supposed to be black, right?" He asked dryly. "There's this amazing new invention that helps with that, it's called a toothbrush."

"Oh, haha, asshole. The last time someone got in here, they tried ripping Ichigo here away from his weapon. Didn't work as planned, because I said it before..." He placed the reverse-colored version of Ichigo's weapon on his shoulder. "I'm Zangetsu." "Bullshit. You reek of Hollow." "That's what happens when a hollow's transferred from one person to another and the transferee happens to become a substitute shinigami. Now that the asshole's finally let me off the leash, I can finally do my job!"

Ryu eyed the hollow for a few moments before nodding. "No Demonic Corruption on him," he announced as he scanned the area around them.

"Seriously? And here I was hoping I could get rid of him." "Get rid of me, King, and you lose your powers." Ryu's senses picked up traces of two things: shinigami and Hollow. As strange as it was...this was Ichigo's zanpakuto.

And not a trace of Quincy.

Ryu's eyes narrowed as he felt the area around him. "Where is the representation of his Quincy powers?" He questioned. "There is one, right?"

"What are you-" "He refers to me." A form landed behind them, standing on a flagpole. The ragged trenchcoat and the sunglasses threw Ryu off for a second, but he knew the Quincy leader all too well.

"And here, I thought you were older than this, Juuha," Ryu drawled, instinctively tensing himself for a fight.

"You know of him. But I am yet am not juhabach. I am simply the power Ichigo did not know he had." "You're my Quincy powers? Then why the hell were you screwing around, acting like my zanpakuto?!"

Ryu could understand Ichigo's confusion. Clear-cut and dry was how he liked to operate. Simple is best and all that.

This was confusing.

"Your primary is still sealed back in your universe, isn't he?" Ryu asked, walking in front of the Quincy representative. "You were trying to keep Ichigo off his radar."

"Of course. I want to keep him alive. Being a shinigami was...counterproductive." "Counterproductive?! You're telling me that protecting my friends, my town, was counterproductive?! Was inconvenient?!" "I wanted to protect you. So I held your powers back."

"I think it's kinda long past holding them back," Ryu spoke up. "If your Juuha is any like the one here… Ichigo is going to need to know how to use his Quincy powers, there are only a handful of humans that stand equal to Gods, Juuha is one of them."

"..." "Hey, you're part of my mom's life, too. I'm gonna be mad at you for a while, but I know how you feel." Ichigo wanted nothing more than to protect.

So the Quincy spirit's crap was partly forgivable. But Ichigo was still going to give him fifty kinds of hell.

"So...do you need to keep looking, because whitie's got a point: the last time someone got in here, it didn't end well."

Ryu shrugged before turning to face the buildings again and focused on a singular spot. "Right here," he announced as he spotted what he was looking for and summoned the barest hint of the Flames of Purgatory to cleanse the corruption. "Corruption from Demon Lords are a tricky thing, very insidious and damned hard to remove unless one uses a divine ability."

"So don't get corrupted again?"

"That would be a good choice, but that was scary. I have not seen anyone clean up that amount of corruption without divine help, complete or not." Ryu sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "It's a hard thing to do, cleansing a soul, because you just might end up destroying it."

"Yeah, that'd be bad."

Soul destruction was a generally bad thing. "We should get to Osaka. I think Ryuko is going to need a little bit of help." They HAD wasted over two hours fighting the two demons (the ruler of Hell was going to be PISSED they were dead) and Ryuko was probably in Osaka by now.

"Yeah," Ryu agreed as he began to pull himself out of Ichigo's Soulscape. "We should hurry, who knows what that idiot has done to fight them."

"A giant golden mecha crab."

If Sanageyama could see, he would claw his eyes out. Takarada was a gaudy bastard, to be sure.

"Like that, huh, asswipe? I'm king of Osaka!" "More like king of bullshit. That thing's ridiculous." "So's the idea of uniforms giving ya powah, yet they exist don't they, ya Northern monkey?!"

Sanageyama stared at the golden mecha in shock as Takarada began using his 'Takarada Dollars' to encourage the civilians to fight against him and the Raid group, off to the side he could see Ryuko's own dumbstruck expression. Huh, they were actually in agreement for once, this guy was an idiot.

That being said, she wasn't helping them. Or him.

She was here to deal with Satsuki, as the old saying goes, cut the head off the snake. Without her, the elites would be forced to engage her. Without them, the army had no leaders, and would lose focus.

She watched with bare interest when she felt two reiatsu signatures approach. Ichigo and Ryu were about to join the fray.

Ron: Nothing. Yet I'm reminded of Soulcalibur with all these swords sticking into the ground. I sense badness.

DKR: Meh, Unlimited Blade Works is infinitely more badass than Soulcalibur, Shirou Emiya for the win.

(Thunder sounds before they hear a demonic voice call out one word: SOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUULLLLLLLLSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!)

Ron: Oh, great, Nightmare. Where's Zaraki when you need him?

Ryu: *Pulls out phone and hit speed dial 2* Yeah, Zaraki, got another fight for you, demonic possessed sword, people say that he can totally kick your ass. *Hangs up* Selling all tickets, Zaraki vs Nightmare, 2:1 on Nightmare! Place your bets!

Ron: At least I have a cut on the take.

Ja Ne!