Updated: 11/21/2018

What a beautiful day it was in the town of Karakura. There was not a cloud in the sky, the birds were tweeting, and the cicadas were chirping away as their usual summer routine. Nothing seemed to be wrong in the world. Boy, how little did the outside world know what was going on below the surface.

"AAAHHH!"

Well that's rather obnoxious. Just annoying for use to be interested I bet nonetheless. Let's go see what's all the ruckus is about.

Oh, well if it isn't our favorite orange haired teenage protagonist back at it again with his shenanigans. Looks like he's about to die. What's this like the third time this year?

Now to the actual story:

Ichigo was experiencing the wildest rollercoaster of emotions he had ever experienced in his life as he watched the first few links at the end of his chain quite literally devoured themselves into oblivion. It was a grotesque and frightening sight as watched, powerless to the situation. His arms were sealed behind his back with some form of Kido preventing him from trying to stop the process.

At the top of the deep dark pit stood a tall man who wore a moldy avocado green haori. His eyes were overshadowed by his dry blonde hair and a striped green and white hat that did not fit his choice of clothing well at all. "The chains of fate that I cut off is starting to consume themselves," he called out. "This is the process of 'corrasion'."

Ichigo paid no attention to the words coming from the poorly dressed man at the top. All that was running through his mind was his intense will to survive. He quickly stood up from his knees and charged full speed into the dirt wall, smashing his chest into it having some form of hope that it would magically stop the process. "Damnit! Take it off!" shouted the teen. "Hurry up and take this disgusting thing off Kisuke!"

The green hatted man stood silent for a moment and shook his head. "No," he finally said, a dark and unsettling overtone in his voice. "If I try to stop it…" A sharp pain suddenly tore into the side of Ichigo's abdomen. "Even I will be consumed." He quickly fell over in both shock and pain only to see blood and flesh spewing out of the end of his chain. It was from his stomach. The moment his came into physical contact with the chain, literally ate him.

The teenager collapsed to the ground with a thud. A pool of blood took form underneath his laying body. His breaths became rapid. He was panicking because he knew that it was only a matter of time before he'd transform into a Hollow. A dark and cynical feeling began to take root in his despair. Once again, he could do nothing. Once again, he was nothing but a helpless child. "Shit," he gritted through his teeth as his body stiffened.

"Usually, after cutting the chain, entering this stage of the process would take months to years. However, at the bottom of the 'Hole of Despair', it's filled with a gas that will speed up the self-consuming process. When you're at the bottom, the time left until the end of the process…" his expression became dead as he looked down from his high position with a look of both pity and emptiness, "is at most seventy-two hours. In other words, you only have three days."

Ichigo glared at Kisuke with unadulterated rage. A new thought sweltered into his head that almost blocked out his searing pain. If he could survive through what the shitty shopkeeper was throwing at him, he swore to whatever being that was watching over him that he was going to kill Kisuke.

"Before your time runs out, please transform into a Shinigami when you climb out of the hole. If you don't, and you end up becoming a Hollow. We will have to destroy you." There was no emotion in the blonde hair's voice. Not an ounce of sympathy, or even worry. Just a cold and empty feeling.

"Asshole," Ichigo managed to iterate through his clenched teeth. "Are you trying to kill me?"

It was a rhetorical question but was still met with an answer from the man at the edge of the pit. "If you give up, then that is what I must do." With that everyone, except Tessai had left the boy to rot in the deep and miserable hole.

The Next Day:

It was a mystery to Ichigo as to why he felt so exhausted. He hadn't done anything all day except lay face flat on the ground and watch as his soul quite literally at itself away. Hearing the sound of teeth gnawing at chain, Ichigo looked down to see yet another one of his links get eaten away. "That's the fifth one," he thought to himself. "Seems like it's only active for a few minutes before going back into dormancy for the next few hours."

Finally, Ichigo began to get some feeling in his body that wasn't complete agony. "When it's active, it becomes too painful." He then mustered all the strength he could as forced himself onto his feet once again. "Gah," he hissed as he managed to get himself up on his knees. "So I can only try this while they are sleeping."

Practically out of breath just through the effort of making himself stand up again, he stared tiredly at the wall keeping him trapped. He needed to get out, that was the only thing that was going through his mind. He couldn't let himself become a Hollow, not while he had to save Rukia. If he did, all this time and energy would have been for nothing.

Ichigo stared at the wall for a good few seconds before coming up with an idea. He positioned himself in a ready posture and charged at the wall at his top speed. "HAAAAAHHHHHH!" He ran with all his might, going as fast as he possibly could. Once he reached the wall, he dug his feet into the dirt, making an attempt to run up the wall. However, it was nothing more than an attempt. Managing to make it only nine feet at best before his foot slipped allowing gravity to take him down back to the bottom of the pit.

"AAAHH!" His scream was uncharacteristically girly as he fell with a loud thud. All of the people at the top heard this as they peered over the edge in curiosity.

"This guy is crazy," said a young, bright red haired boy by the name of Jinta. His expression was filled with that of annoyance. "With that method, he can't even climb three meters up this vertical wall."

"Oh, let me see." Said Kisuke in his typical carefree attitude.

Ururu said, "… Baka…"

(Thank you for that amazing contribution to the conversation, now back to the strawberry)

Ichigo laid collapsed on the ground, panting heavily from his… effort to run up the side of a one hundred fifty foot wall. "Damnit," he said to himself, "so close."

"Oi!" called a voice from the top of the hole. This caught the orange hair's attention because either Kisuke had suddenly regressed to the age of twelve or it was finally someone else who was willing to talk to him. He turned his head to see a young red head staring back down at him from the top of the hole. "Are ya hungry?" Jinta's voice echoed down.

Despite there being no ill intent in the boy's words, for some odd reason the question just pissed him off, "How can I be hungry!" Ichigo yelled back. "I'm a soul right now! There's no such thing as hunger!"

A devilish grin quickly took form from the response. "That's good! Let me tell you something! If you feel hungry in your state, that's a dangerous sign." He paused. "That means you're turning into a Hollow."

This information hit Ichigo like a bus. It probably would have held more significance if it hadn't had been for the next comment. "But if your thirsty, then it's all right! You can just drink my drool!"

"YOU LITTLE SHIT!" the teen yelled angrily at the boy's mischief.

"Oi, Ururu, do it too," he told the innocent girl to join in.

"Okay," she responded in her usual passive voice. They both made disgusting wads of spit and mucus and dangled from their mouths.

"What the actual fuck!?" Shouted Ichigo as the two kids drooled over the edge. "If you got the nerve to drool on me, why don't you come down here and see how you like my fist in your face!" The two ignored the threats as they continued their acts of villainy. One of the wads of spit fell next to Ichigo which caused him to panic. "Shit! The drool dripped down! Quit joking around! If you guys don't stop, I'm gonna kick your ass!"

Meanwhile, as the two children continued to terrorize Ichigo, Kisuke stood on the sidelines looking up at the ceiling. "It should be dark by now." He flicked his fan open and began waving it in front of his face. "Darn, you can never tell the time in this room."

Many Seconds Later (Probably…):

Ichigo continued to lay motionless at the bottom of the deep dark hole with his hands strapped behind his back. He gritted his teeth in frustration. "Damnit," he thought to himself, "I can't climb up." The orange haired teen looked up to the top of the pit. Questions began appearing in his head as he stared blankly up to the place he couldn't reach. "How long has it been?" he questioned. "I can't figure it out. What do I have to do to get out of here?"

Meanwhile at the top, Jinta was up to something again which which did not go unnoticed by Ururu's attention. In front of him was a plate with a variety of different fruits. There were bananas, cantaloupe, apples, even a watermelon. "Jinta?" the innocent looking girl called, "what are you doing with all those fruits?"

"I'm giving them to Ichigo," he said with his evil grin.

Ururu was confused by this action. It wasn't normal for Jinta to do something nice for someone. "What for?" she asked.

The smile widened on the boy's face, "Because they all require hands to eat."

Ururu just stared at him with her usual expression as she thought to herself. "But can't you just bite the apple?"

Once finished Jinta ran to the edge of the pit and stuck his head out to see the condition of the poor teenager. He then ran down the side of the wall in a full-on sprint to jump safely to the bottom. Ichigo looked at him curiously before the red head spoke.

"I brought you some food," he said with a smug grin basically permanently stuck to his face. "I figured you'd be hungry."

Ichigo gave a small laugh of confidence. "Ha. What are you talking about? I'm not hungry in the slightest." He lifted his chest off the ground to show his chain to Jinta (that could have sounded better). "Look, the chain is still long."

A serious look fell upon the boy as he analyzed the chain. There was silence which caused Ichigo to worry. "Whatever, I'll just leave the food here. You obviously don't know what time it is down here."

"Time?" the teen asked.

"There's one other thing you need to know Ichigo." He turned to face the other direction. "It's already been seventy hours since we put you in this pit. If the procedure goes well, a certain someone should have become a hollow by now."

Ichigo became nervous as he now heard just how long he had been in this unbearable place. "Damnit," he thought to himself. "I'm running out of time."

"And one more thing." The orange haired teen brought his attention back to Jinta. "The strength of the last stage of 'corrasion' is stronger than any from before it."

Within that moment, a strange sound shrilled from the chain. Looking down, Ichigo saw all the chains attached to his chest grew mouths as each one began to devour each other and fall apart. He once again started to hyperventilate as his heart rate suddenly jumped. One by one, they fell off like dead flies and landed on the ground.

"No…" said Ichigo.

"No no no no no no," he repeated at a faster pace.

"SOMEBODY STOP THIS! STO…" At that instant, the last chain had been devoured, the metal plate attached to his chest shattered to reveal a gaping hole in the center of his chest. He fell silent at the realization. A feeling of deep regret suddenly over took him before a great pain invaded his system. Greater than any pain he had felt before.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" He let out a scream from the sheer agony he was experiencing as a surge of white liquid erupted from his face. Some of the liquid began to harden and took form, covering half the face with the design of a mask. The pain continued to consume his body as he suffered on his knees with no one being able to help them.

A sudden explosion of spiritual pressure encircled Ichigo screaming form. The dust around him began to form a miniature tornado with his soul being the epicenter. Jinta ran for his life up the wall of the pit for both his safety and out of fear. Once he reached the top, he was met by Ururu's permanently sad expression as she stared down at the hole. But there was something different about it. For some reason she felt… worried.

"Oi oi," said Jinta as he climbed out, "This guy is really turning into a Hollow!"

Ururu remained silent as she continued to hear the screams of sheer agony as more and more of the white liquid gushed out of him, putting Ichigo in a state of pain. "Preparing 'rescue operation'," she said as she lifted her fist, pointing it directly at the transforming teen.

"Wait." A hand reached out and rested on the young girl's shoulders. Ururu turned around to see her boss standing behind her.

"Kisuke," she said passively.

"You have to pay more attention Ururu. Look." He pointed his cane down the bottom of the hole towards the struggling teen. Ururu directed her attention back to Ichigo as Kisuke began to explain. "Usually when a person is turning into a Hollow, their soul would explode and then regroup. But his order is different, more random. Instead his body is remaining completely intact, as the process is starting by creating a mask." Both kids looked up at Kisuke, waiting to get more information out of his explanation. "This means he is resisting the transformation. There is still a chance for him to turn into a Shinigami."

He set his cane down, resting his body weight on it. "Let's observe a little longer and see if he's really transforming into a Hollow. Just need a little more time." Both of them listened to the blonde man as they sat down uncomfortably, watching and waiting for whatever happens next.

Ichigo's Mind:

All Ichigo could see was black. Every sense of his body was disoriented, but he could no longer feel any pain.

"Ichigo," echoed a bizarre, distorted voice. It almost sounded like it was mocking him

"Ichigo." The voice stretched the "ee" sound at the beginning of his name in a teasing, condescending manner. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Ichigo then opened his eyes to see himself in very unfamiliar, and very unusual place. There were long pillars stretching out from the side of the ground. Each of the buildings were oddly at a slant as he found himself sitting on the window of one. Was this his Hell? Last he checked he wasn't afraid of heights.

"What is this place?" he asked himself.

"Ichigo!" the familiar voice snapped.

"What! What do you want?"

His eyes widened with an audible gasp. He quickly realized why the voice sounded so familiar. It was his own. He knew because the very person standing before him was none other than himself, or at least an obverse version of himself. The person's skin was void of color, only possessing white. The same could be said about his shihakusho as well with the exception of his black sash around his waist. His eyes were an intense yellow that glowed in his black sclera. And to top it all off, the cockiest devilish grin Ichigo had ever seen.

His pale doppelganger rested his left hand on his hip. "Jeez don't have to be so rude, I was just trying to get your attention."

A confused look came across Ichigo as he stared at his alternate self. "Who… who are you?"

"Come on Ichigo you really don't know? It's me, -. Your zanpakuto."

A confused look took over Ichigo's expression. He could see his self-proclaimed zanpakuto move his mouth, but he couldn't hear what he was saying. "Who?" he asked dumbly once again.

A disappointed look came across the impostor's face, wiping the grin off his face. "He can't hear me yet, can he," he said to himself. "Well, if that be the case, that's a really disappointment, even for someone like you."

The last comment ticked Ichigo off as he shouted at the unknown person. "What the hell is that supposed to mean!"

The white man's smirk quickly reappeared on his face as he chuckled at Ichigo's retort. "Oh well, I guess you'll never know how to wield me then. Damn shame," his replica shrugged. "I was kinda lookin' forward to working with you." For some odd reason, he then fell flat on his back and laid there with his arms sprawled out on the window.

Ichigo stared at him quizzically as if the person had suddenly grown an extra head on his shoulders. "What are you doing?"

"Yah know," said the duplicate as he stared down at Ichigo. "It's quite amazing how you're still able to sit in that one place for this long."

It was then at that moment when Ichigo felt the sudden shift in force tug at his chest, pulling him backwards. He looked back to realize that the ground was in the direction that he was being pulled to. "Oh, this can't be good," he thought.

The spirit gave his wielder a little wave, "Bye bye."

Ichigo felt his body contact leave the side of building. He knew it was too late to try and grab a hold of something to prevent his descent, so he did the only logical thing that came to mind in this situation: scream

"AAAAHHHH!"

The spirit stood where he was, picking at his ear as he watched the teen fall from such a great height. "Man, seems like the only thing he's been doing for the past three days is yelling. I'm surprised that he even still has his voice," the counterpart thought to himself. "Color me impressed." He then decided that it was time for him to jumped down and talk to the falling kid. He leaned forwards and proceeded to nose dive with the assistance of some shunpo to help him reach his destination faster.

Once he caught up to the terrified Ichigo he decided that it was probably best if he tried to calm him down so that the teen would listen to him. "Don't worry Ichigo, Shinigami control death and spiritual energy. You won't die here, unless that's what you want."

"But I'm not a Shinigami anymore!" Ichigo retorted.

A sigh of disappointment escaped the lips of the zanpakuto spirit. "Just gather the energy under your feet, then you can use it to stand in midair."

"Are you even listening to me!"

"Come on Amateur, don't tell me you forgot how to use such a basic of a technique. You've used it some many times. I guess it was all subconscious, huh?" Ichigo then realized what his impostor was talking about. He recollected all the times he had used spiritual energy in order to stop himself in the air, but still remained clueless as to how to do it.

"God you are hopeless without help." The spirit then rested his chin on his index finger and thumb as he began to ponder about something. "Let's see what else did the old man want me to tell you? Dah! You know what, screw him! I'm gonna do things my way."

"Old man?"

"So, you know how Byakuya destroyed your Shinigami powers?"

"Y-yeah…"

"He actually didn't, it was Rukia's reiatsu that was manifested in you that got destroyed." Ichigo's eyes widened. He figured out exactly where this conversation was going. "That's right, you had Shinigami powers of your own. Can you guess who that power is?" The spirit arrogantly pointed his thumb and placed it on his chest. "This guy."

"Y-you? My powers?" Ichigo questioned the idea that he had always had Shinigami powers.

"Yup, your power was awoken when Rukia gave you her own, but the power you search for was hidden deep within your soul long before 'Brother Issues' came along." The pale man crossed his legs and took a relax, laid back position as the two fell. "You know, you should probably thank him when you meet him again. If it wasn't for him, you would be held back by that icy bitch of a zanpakuto spirit. Now…" the playful demeanor subsided as the pale counterpart gave a menacing death glare. "go find your powers before I consume your soul."

"What!? What's that supposed to mean!?" Ichigo shouted in a panic.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, I'm also the hollow that resides inside you. As you probably already know, I am in the process of taking control of your body. I'm your double-edged sword; you will use me in battle and destroy your enemies, but if you show weakness, I will not hesitate to cut you down. If you accept me, that means you have to accept this responsibility. If you cannot find me in time, I will have to take over your body, then there will be no coming back. Now hurry up, your world is already starting to decay. Don't be a disappointment to me, Amateur."

Boxes suddenly started to fall from the deteriorating world around him as he continued to fall. The ground around him shattered the moment he made contact, shrouding him in a world of pitch black and cubes.

"My zanpakuto… is a hollow?" he said to himself. "I know I am willing to risk everything to save Rukia, but what consequence will this bring me? How will this affect my friends? Will I end up hurting them?" His mind went awry with questions as he tried to list every probable outcome that he could come up with. "Argh!" Realizing he didn't have enough time to contemplate the matter, he did what he does best. "You know what? Screw it. Hollow!" he shouted out with a resonating voice. "I accept the consequences of your power! Now, lend me your strength."

Once he said this, his view was suddenly flooded with white ribbons, each one trailing back to one of the thousands of boxes in the black world around him.

"Ribbons?" he asked himself. He then remembered that piece of information that Ishida once said in their last conflict with each other.

"The color of a Shinigami's reiraku is red," flashed Ishida's voice in his head as he recollected a flashback to remind himself.

"That's it!" shouted Ichigo. He then spotted in the mixture of cloths one single black one floating towards him. At first glance, he was unsure of whether it was the right one, but due to seeing no other color in sight, he decided to make a go for it. Moving as quickly as he could, he snatch the ribbon and gave it a hard tug, opening the box in the process. What he saw inside was the hilt of his once broken sword that he used before losing his power.

"Congratulations, you found it," said the pale replica as he appeared behind Ichigo. "Now, after all these years, I can finally tell you my name."

Ichigo turned to see his inner Hollow right before the world around him started to collapse. "Well looks like you decided just in the nick of time. Now. Hurry up and pull me out before it's too late!"

In a panic, the orange haired teenager spun around and grabbed the hilt from the box and pulled it out with all his strength.

Real World:

There was a great build up of pressure that was exuding from the screaming teen. The shopworkers watched intently as the event unfolded, waiting to see if Ichigo could pull through or not. But to Kisuke, something didn't feel right. He was sensing a great deal of reiatsu being built up, but none of it being released. That only meant one thing. Kisuke quickly grabbed hold of Jinta's collar and pulled him back. He did it just in the nick of time.

An unrelenting explosion of reiatsu burst from the bottom of the pit, launching dust and gravel hundreds of feet up into the air. Once everyone was a safe distance away, they stared starstruck at the consistent amount of energy being release. Even Kisuke was dumbfounded.

Ichigo's Mind:

"Ichigo! This is no time for joking around, hurry up and pull me out!" The zanpakuto spirit rushed his user. The world around them was falling to ruins.

"God damnit!" he yelled as he struggled to pull out the seemingly stuck swords. "I can't get it out!" In a comical fashion, Ichigo's zanpakuto spirit got behind him and began to pull with all his strength on the back of Ichigo's shirt.

"Come on Ichigo, put your back into it!"

Real World:

Ichigo continued to shout as the transformation into his hollow form ensued with everyone watching in anticipation and readying themselves for the events to follow. A tearing sound could be heard as the teen quickly began to over powered the kido that restrained him.

"Kisuke!" shouted Tessai, "It's been too long! I'm going to have to eliminate him!" With that, he slammed his index and middle finger on both hands into the ground. "Bakudou: number ninety-nine! Manjikin!" A burst of white cloths erupted from both sides of the man to wrap around the struggling teen. "First song! Manjikin!" The clothing then tightened around his body in order to restrain him once again. "Second song! Manjikin!" Dozens of needles appeared from nowhere and stabbed into the teen to further restrict his movements.

Jinta peered over the edge once again. "Oi, Tessai! What the Hell are you doing! If you use that then the kid will die for sure!"

"That can't be avoided! I must restrain him! I have to destroy him before he becomes a Hollow!"

"Tessai!" Jinta shouted.

"Final song. MAJIKIN FUTOSHIFU!" A massive pillar of stone, suddenly appeared over the struggling teen and quickly began to make its descent.

Just then, a hole burst from the teens chest destroying the white cloth revealing a haunting sight. A fully formed hollow mask with red gash-like marks that went down from the top to the eye of the cover.

"It's over," shouted the large man. The large pillar slam down on top of Ichigo. Yet another massive explosion erupted from the pit forcing Kisuke to cover for the young kids near him. From the explosion, something shot out from dust.

"Something came out!" shouted Jinta. He was then promptly silenced when said object landed directly in front of them with a great amount of force unleashed from impact

"What the hell is going on?" asked Jinta. "Is that you kid? Answer me triangle eyes! If you're still alive, then answer me!" A low growl could be heard from the dust that covered the figure from head to toe.

With a swipe of his arm, the person cleared the dust around him revealing it to be none other than Ichigo, but he was different. His attire was similar to that of a normal shinigami, but was a slight shade lighter making it look gray as opposed to black. He wore a mask with two red lines that leading from the top left of it down to his left eye. His eyes had also changed; the whites of his eyes were now pitch black, and his iris practically glowed an intense yellow.

"A mask and a shinigami outfit? But why is it gray?" commented Jinta.

Everyone was confused and worried at the new unveiling of Ichigo's form. In his hand was the remanence of his former broken sword. They couldn't figure out what he was or whether he made it out the same Ichigo as they once knew. Without any form of a warning, Ichigo suddenly disappeared form sight giving a minor heart attack for the three on guard. The teen suddenly appeared before Kisuke with his fist clenched into a ball and launching it into the direction of the shop owner's face.

Moving as quickly as he could, Kisuke raised his cane and blocked the oncoming strike. The force behind it was incredible and had almost caught him off guard. He hadn't felt such physical strength in a very long time.

Ichigo jumped back to give himself some distance. The two stared each other down for a few seconds before Ichigo stood in a relaxed position. Kisuke watched curiously as the teen reach up and grabbed the bottom of his mask and lifted it up to reveal his face. "Alright Kisuke, time to pay up."

"What the hell!" shouted Jinta. "So did this guy turn into a Hollow or what?!"

"Shut up you're so damn noise, brat!" Ichigo shouted back.

"What was that?!"

Kisuke let out a sigh of relief as the two argued with each other. Despite the new form, it was still the same old Ichigo Kurosaki. "Congratulations Ichigo. You've successfully lived through the process, which means," he opened his fan and gave his signature comedic, happy-go-lucky smile, "You've passed the second test!"

"Shut up," said Ichigo angrily as he hit Kisuke in the face with the bottom of his hilt.

"Ah! My eyes!"

"Since I've come back alive, that means I'm gonna have to fulfill my promise in killing you!" shouted the pissed off teen as tick marks ran along all over his face.

"My, what energy you have," said Kisuke in a sarcastic fashion. "Very well, with that attitude we can immediately move on to the next lesson. This time there is no time limit." He pointed to his hat atop his head. "If you can use your sword to cut down my hat, you win!"

Ichigo suddenly disappeared again from sight which mildly surprise the shop owner once again. Suddenly the surrounding area got a little bit brighter. "You mean this hat?" Ichigo's voice suddenly appearing from behind him. He turned around and saw Ichigo holding his prized hat in his hand and with a cocky smile on his face.

"Hey, that's pretty good!" The shop owner said nonchalantly as he scratched the top of his head

"Of course it is," Ichigo said arrogantly, "And I will be much stronger than what I am now once I start getting serious." He lifted his hand to show all five of his fingers raised. "You don't have to say there's a time limit, because I will only need five minutes to kick your ass."

Kisuke's eyes suddenly became dead and emotionless. "Is that so?" He grabbed his cane with both hands and slowly pulled out a sword from the sheath. "Then I will give you five minutes to try and win."

Ichigo gave a wide smirk to the shop owner's challenge. "Bring it."