I would like to take a moment and thank all the people who Favorited and reviewed this story during its extended hiatus. If were not for you all sending constant reminders to my email address I probably would've completely forgotten about this.

Chapter 9: Salvation

Round 2: Revelation.

The darkness encompassed everything. There was no light, no sight and few sounds in the depths where the hollow laid down and licked his wounds. The crash had crushed his bones and he had been cut in several places by the Death Gods. Worse still, the lesser wounds he had taken while advancing through the court were opening back up as his attention was diverted to healing the more serious injuries. Even a Death God would've needed months to recover from such a devastating battle, and anyone else would never had recovered at all.

The hollow was almost done though. His powered poured through his body as a he willed himself healthy. He gathered the souls he had consumed and transformed several of them into bone and flesh to replace what he could not re-grow. Most of his major injuries were already healed, taking care of all the lesser ones would take time, but that was all. In an hour or two he would be back on his feet. While he waited for his body to put itself back into good order he brooded over the event of the day.

"Well, I think that went rather well." The instincts surmised to the voice who was sitting silently on the side of a building. He had been there so long that the vines were climbing over his legs. "All things considered."

"You damn near left us to die out there." The voice answered.

"But you didn't and were both stronger for it."

"I suppose, that still could've gone better if you ask me."

"I didn't," the instincts scoffed. "Besides, we lived and hundreds of Death Gods didn't, how is that not a victory?"

"That red haired one got away, I need to kill him."

"You ripped his arm off, that's good enough."

"Not while he's still breathing. Once we're healed we need to find him and rip him to pieces." The voice demanded.

The instincts smiled, though he knew better. "Hey I'm all for random violence, but don't we have something better to do?"

"Just barely." The voice admitted, "I'm surprised to hear that you care at all. Are finally willing to admit that we're doing the right thing?"

"Not on our life," The instincts objected, "This is still badly thought out, absurdly dangerous, and grossly short sighted. You're lucky I'm having so much fun right now, or else we would be out of here."

"Lucky me. Are we ready for some more fun yet?"

"Just about."

"Well then what are we waiting for?"

The hollow was up in a flash and out of the tunnel second later. The court yard where they had fought before was deserted, there was no sign of any of the bodies of the Death Gods he had slain, though the area was still wrecked from the fighting. The hollow sniffed the air to be sure he was alone and once satisfied that he was he took off towards the tower in the distance. Ikkaku's memories guided him to a long stair case that ran up the side of the central keep. The hollow was up them in a flash, taking the massive steps in long strides he reached the top and the citadel itself in seconds.

He almost regretted the speed he had used to climb, it meant that he ran into the pressure at the top like a wall. He was almost knocked back and off the stairs by it. The spiritual energy that greeted him was vast and overwhelming like stepping out into the bottom the ocean, yet was also sharp and made the hollow clutch his throat to make sure there wasn't a blade against it. Then a moment later he felt those eyes.

They cut through the pressure around the hollow as easily as they cut through the hollow himself, and gazed into his very soul. Those eyes saw in him a madness that was almost a mirror image of the madness in them. And those eyes were filled with madness. They radiated insanity, aggression, and lust. But the hollow was no stranger to such eyes, Grimmjow had an identical pair, and the hollow had seen these eyes once before when he first entered this god forsaken place.

For a second the hollow considered his chances of escape, echoes of the souls he had consumed demanded that he flee from such eyes. But the hollow ignored those old dead souls, he could see there was no escape from that gaze, and truth be told, he didn't want to. The voice had respected and even admired Grimmjow and what he had done for him, but the instincts had hated that sadistic old bastard. And now that chance had appeared to beat the living hell out of someone just like their old master, the instincts couldn't have been happier.

The eyes were not hard to miss even in the midst of this overwhelming pressure. It only took the hollow a moment to find their source, and another one to leap there with a quick sonido. The owner of the eyes was sitting on top of one the tall buildings that turned the citadel into a huge maze of alley ways and dead ends. Even sitting down he was a mountain of a man, with a cut across one eye and a patch across the other. His hair was done up in several spikes that were tipped with small golden bells, and he was already smiling.

He turned to greet the hollow and stood up. He was about as tall as the hollow, and therefore would've dwarfed most men. His smile grew all the larger as he slowly drew his sword from his side. It was a long blade, clearly meant as a two handed sword, though the man only held it in one. The blade itself was chipped and ragged, it looked like it was serrated, but the rust on the edges told a different story. The man held the blade before him with the tip pointed at the hollow. Then he spoke.

"My name is Zaraki Kenpachi. I'm the strongest man in all of soul society. Ikkaku died because of you, so this better be one hell of a fight."

Skip

On the other side of the citadel, Inoue, Chad, Ganju and Ishida were also making their way into the inner court. They were all now dressed in black though, and they had picked up young Hanataro who was desperately trying to keep up with them as they climbed the ridiculously long stair case that stood in their way.

"Do you think it was a good idea to leave the cat behind to deal with that captain?" Ganju asked as they climbed.

"He was very insistent that we run from that fight." Ishida answered. "And with good reason, that drunkard was a lot stronger than you might have guessed.

"Besides, I'm certain that Yoruichi can handle himself." Inoue reassured.

"Of course I can." The black cat added as she dropped back down to join the group. "Don't worry about the captain, he'll never catch up to us now. Where did you all find those uniforms anyway?"

"Hanataro found them for us in one of his squad's store houses." Ishida answered. "They seem to be working, no one's tried to question us so far."

"Very good. Once we get to the top of the stairs, we will just have to the center of the citadel. Rukia should be in the tall white tower."

"And hopefully Ichigo will be there as well." Chad added, and as he finished talking they reached the top of the stairs and felt the pressure fall on them all. Hanataro fell to the ground, and Ganju fell to his knees. Ishida, Chad and Inoue all stumbled but stood tall. The power they felt consumed to senses.

"What the hell is this?" Ishida asked as he struggled for breath.

"It's one of the captains," Yoruichi explained, "Of the eleventh squad if I'm not mistaken."

"And Ichigo!" Chad exclaimed.

"Are you sure?" The cat asked.

"Yes, it's hard to tell since the captain's is so great, but I can definitely feel him."

"So can I," Inoue confirmed as Ishida nodded. "We have to go help him."

"No we must not!" Yoruichi ordered.

"Why the hell not?" Ishida demanded to know. "He's facing a captain we should be there for him."

"Were it any other captain I would agree," The cat explained, "But Kenpachi is a little different. He's a masochistic, battle loving madman. Whenever he fights he lowers his power to be as equal as possible with his opponent and drag the fights out. If we attack him as a group he will raise his power to match our groups and will over power anyone he attacks. Ichigo's only hope is to hold back and time his attack properly. If he catches Kenpachi off guard he might be able to escape."

The group went silent as they saw what she meant. The struggled with idea for a little while, they were so close to finally seeing Ichigo and now they had to ignore him for his own good. Yoruichi drove on, unwilling to let all her hard work to keep them apart be wasted now.

"Besides, look at Ganju and Hanataro, they can barely breathe even at this distance, if get any closer to that fight, they'll die from the pressure alone. Also, we can't waste this opportunity. We're so close to getting Rukia, and while those two are fighting no one will notice us as we advance, we can't allow all of Ichigo's hard work be wasted now!"

The rest of the group agreed, Chad picked up Ganju and Hanataro and together they all pushed on.

Skip

"This could be problematic." The instincts unwillingly admitted. "I really wanted to avoid this bastard."

"We can take him though right?" The first voice asked, "He doesn't seem much stronger than that Ikkaku guy."

"Because he's holding back. A lot back. Think he's at least as strong as Grimmjow, maybe stronger. "

"Damn, really? Well what do we do?"

"I need more power."

"Well obviously. How do we get that though?"

"Like this." The instincts responded and pushed to first voice off the building, and yelled at him as he fell. "I really didn't want to do this so soon, or while in Soul Society. But we're running out of options, so get that old bastard to help us out, or we're all going to die."

After the first voice fell into the water he turned back to the task at hand and said, "So this one eyed punk wants a fight aye? Well I'm more than happy to oblige him."

Meanwhile Kenpachi was getting tired of the awkward silence as he held his blade pointed at his foe. "Hey man are you going to do anything or stand there all day. If you want I can give you a freebie-"

Before he could finished the hollow leapt at him, and grabbed the captain by his face and pushed him out into the air. As he did, the hollow twisted in the air and threw the captain down off the building into the ground with a resounding crash. The captain looked up from his hole in the ground and watched as the hollowed roared and challenged him. All he could do was smile while his head shook and his nose bled.

"Yachiru?" He called to the world.

"Right here Ken-chan." The small pink haired lieutenant answered.

"Do me a favor and back off a bit." Kenpachi commanded as he stood up, "And make sure no one disturbs me till I'm done."

"Sure thing Ken. Just be sure to have some fun with this one."

"Hahahaha," Kenpachi laughed, "That won't be an issue this time." And with that he cut the building down.

The hollow jumped off the building as it fell and flew around to the opposite side, so that it blocked his view of Kenpachi as it descended. When it landed, the both charged into the still collapsing debris, trying to catch the other blind. They met in the middle and both reacted perfectly, Kenpachi swung a perfect strike as the hollow swung with his claws filled with hatred and energy. The blade and claws collided and the building shook from the impact. A rock fell between so they both fell back. The hollow circled the stone first and caught his foe with a quick kick knocking back three floors.

The hollow roared and followed up his kick with a punch at the air as his arm glowed white and a great grey mouth shot out at the captain. Kenpachi smiled as the jaws came flying at him, but he knocked them away with an almost casual flick of the wrist and charged the hollow. His foe tensed his arm and sent white energy flowing through the now petrified mouth causing dozens of smaller mouths exploded and attacked the captain from the side. None of the mouths could bit through the captain's skin though, and with a quick burst of golden energy the captain was free from their grasp and slashed the retreating hollow cutting him lightly across the chest. By the time the hollow regained its footing his wound had closed, Kenpachi smiled at his foe's resilience.

"So you're a regenerator on top of everything else eh? Boy this just keeps getting better and better." Kenpachi declared as he charged his foe again with a vertical slice. The hollow turned sideways to dodge, allowing the sword to slice through the ceiling behind him. He then lashed with his claws and caught Kenpachi across the shoulder and drew some blood. Kenpachi grabbed the hollow's head and then threw him through the wall and out of the building.

The hollow skidded across the ground and into the wall of another building as Kenpachi exploded out of the rubble with his sword raised for a devastating cut. The hollow flipped away from the attack, twisted in the air and round house kicked his foe in the face to send him flying back. Kenpachi drove his sword into the ground to slow himself down, and when he stopped the slashed the air and sent a wind blade flying at his enemy. The hollow batted it aside and threw another grey mouth. The captain sliced in half and leapt over the long snake to reach the hollow stabbing at him as he came down.

The hollow rolled out of the way and kicked Kenpachi in the side. After the blow landed, Kenpachi grabbed his foe's leg and locked him in place while he tried to slice it off. The hollow leapt towards Kenpachi, so the was now standing in the hold and snapped kicked the captain's head, stunning him, so that he let go. As the hollow fell back to the ground the captain slashed wildly and caught the hollow across the back as it leapt away.

As the wound closed up, three small grey mouths shot out from the wound and launched at the captain, but these had fangs instead of teeth. The captain cut one into pieces, batted the second aside as the third bit into his leg and drew some blood. The captain took its head off and smiled again.

"You sharpened their teeth, clever bastard." The hollow glared in response and the two charged again. The hollow struck at the captain's head, but Kenpachi caught the blow, pulled him forward and stabbed at his face. The hollow jerked his head to the side to dodge the blade and kneed the captain in the gut, as he punched his kidney's with his free hand. The captain pushed his foe back enough to kick him in the chest and send the hollow careening back into another building. The captain charged after his quarry, only to see his target jump out of the debris, off a wall and spin a kick at his head. Kenpachi caught the blow with his sword and drew a little blood from his foe's calf.

The hollow landed and clawed wildly at the captain's head, but the madman ducked from side to side dodging them all while backing up. Then Kenpachi slashed down at the hollow's head, making him jump to the side, the captain followed this up with a quick cut across at the hollow's gut, but his target ducked it and rolled under the captain's guard, he then did a handstand kick and knocked Kenpachi high into the air.

The captain steadied himself as the hollow righted himself and the two jumped and fell at the other. As the met in the middle they both sliced at the other. The hollow took a deep gash to the shoulder as he raked his foe's chest with both claws. Their speed carried them past each other, so Kenpachi fell to the ground and the hollow steadied himself in the air. They turned and fired their ranged attacks at each other, air blade on grey mouth. Both attack canceled each other, so the hollow charged the ground with a flying kick.

The captain blocked the kick with his sword, and the hollow grabbed the blade with his feet's talons, pulled himself over the sword and kicked the captain in the head. Kenpachi grabbed his foe's foot and dragged him to ground and then into the side of a building. As he did, he plunged his sword in to the hollow's gut. The hollow cried out in pain, but gritted through it, and plunged his claws into Kenpachi's side. The hollow growled as the captain laughed hysterically, turned the blade and slashed it out of his enemy's guts while the hollow fell back, his wounds vanishing as they went. The two paused for a moment glaring at each other.

"Damn it." The instincts thought as it did everything it could to hold their body together. "Hurry it up you damned annoying voice, I can't hold this bastard at bay for much longer." And then he charged again.

Skip

Under the waters of his soul, the voice could only think of one place to go. So he felt the currents of power in the water and made his way to the bottom and the great barred door that lay there. He opened the locks with ease and stepped inside to see the old man once more. The man was only, with a well weathered face and bad case of five o-clock shadow. He wore along black robe and floated in the water like it was waving in the breeze, and he also had an awesome pair of shades. Before the voice could speak the old man looked up and him, and froze him with his gaze.

"So you have come to me a last my king." The old man spoke in a heavy and slow voice. "A pity it is to see you like this."

"Says the man in chains at the bottom of a lake." The voice retorted, "Listen man, we're having one heck of a fight up there and if you don't help us out we're all screwed."

"None of that matters now my king. Here the outer world does not exist, it is only us."

"Fine let's talk about us. Will you help me?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I cannot bring myself to preserve you as you are. Death is preferable."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I call you my king, but in truth are no longer the king of this world. You once had the power to command my respect. You once had the power to shake the heavens and cut down the moon itself if you wanted to. You were once such a beautiful creature, worthy of my affections. But now you are nothing but his play thing."

"Listen man, I don't have a clue what you're talking about. What do I have to do to get your help?"

"Die." The old man finished and in a moment all the chains that bound him up shattered, and there was a sword in his hand. In flash the old man was on top of the voice trying to cut him down. The voice sonidoed out of the room and slammed the door behind him, but it exploded as the old man tore through it.

"Look at what you have done to this world. These tall buildings once so proud and grand are all but dead. They are overgrown with decay and buried in the water." The old man declared as he charged and slashed at the voice. The voice ducked and dodged and flew through the water trying to escape, but the old man dogged him constantly, and soon he was cornered.

"Even this water is a sign of your decline. Don't you know what this water is? This is your regrets, your despair, this is the sum of all that you despise about yourself. See how it consumes your world. You are better off dead, and you know it. This world is better off without you. The world beyond will be glad to see you gone. You have become an abomination against all things that have been made by God or men. And I am here to purge you."

The old man sliced at the voice who was stunned by what he had heard. Deep within him thousand of voice told him that it was all true. Thousand of voices told him that he didn't deserve to live, that it would've been better if he had never lived. That the world should forget about him. Then he remembered, the first voice to tell him that. He remembered that tall proud warrior who had come and taken everything from him. Who had told him that the black haired girl was better off without him and would be punished for ever meeting scum like him. More importantly, he remembered the pure rage he felt towards that man. And he remembered that as terrible as this world was, without that black haired girl was doomed.

"SO WHAT!" He screamed as he smashed the on rushing blade into a million pieces. "So what if this world is decaying? I don't need it, I can rebuild! So what if these waters are so high? I don't care what you say I regret NOTHING! All I have done I did for her! And I will do it all again and worse still to see her MINE!"

The old man glared at him and answered. "Deny it all you want, but the truth is the truth. You hate what you have become, as you should for you have become evil a force of destruction."

"The world needs destruction! Nothing is innocent. Nothing I have done was undeserved. She is the only victim in the story. I will destroy everything if it means saving her!"

"I will not sit by and see you destroy yourself! I will not see you become anymore of a monster!"

"You have no right!" The voice declared, and the old man was silenced. "This is not your world, IT IS MINE! These are not your powers, nor are they his: THEY ARE MINE! I will do with them as I please AND YOU WILL NOT STOP ME!"

As he spoke the waters around them were driven back. The old man and the voice stood in the midst of an expanding bubble, nothing could touch them. Nothing not even the voice's sorrow could stand in the presence of his wrath. Still the voice spoke.

"I alone am master of this place. I alone shall do what I want. I can unmake the buildings or see them restored as I see fit. I can drive these waters away. Now you can help me do it, or you can get out of my way. Either way I have a madman to stop and woman to rescue, So what do you say to that?"

"You think this world can be changed so easily?" The old man ridiculed. "Then show me. Face these regrets of yours make this water receded. Then I might see that you are fit for the throne."

"Is that all? Then bring it on."

"Foolish boy, You don't know what you're asking for."

Then the waters fell on him once more, and they brought absolute horror with them. The voice relived it all, in an instant and in absolute clarity. He felt the pain he had inflicted on others. Every cut he had made on an Death God, every bite he had taken out of a human soul. Every ounce of terror he had given to bystanders and wandering souls. He felt the sorrow of the lives he had stolen. The crushing loneliness of a lost soul. He felt the pain of their sudden deaths, the loss of their unfulfilled lives. He felt the despair of their lost dreams of the futures they would never have. Then at last he felt his own life.

He watched as his own foolishness led his mother to her death. He watched as his family struggled on to survive without her. He watched as his sister was held in the hands of a hollow and how there was nothing he could've done to rescue her. He watched as his mother's killer escaped him when he did have the power to kill him. He watched as his pride put his whole town at risk. And last of all he watched as they came to take her away. And he felt that horrible pounding driving rain washing his very existence away. He felt death.

"NO!" The voice screamed. "I AM NOT DEAD! I did not die. And I will not die now. The sorrow, this suffering. IT WILL BE WORTH IT! I WILL MAKE IT WORTH IT! I REGRET NOTHING!"

As he cried the waters swirled around him, soon he was standing at the base of a huge whirl pool. And then the water receded. All the pain and despair that he had ever felt, that the souls he had consume had ever felt poured into him, and the voice changed it all into rage. The water were all gone. The old man and voice were standing on the streets that were now as dry as a bone. Then the buildings exploded.

They did not burst or fall, and their glass walls did not break, but now they were filled with fire. Great golden flames ran through cracks from the voice's feet into the buildings lighting them up with red, blue and yellow flames. Mighty dancing tongues of fire the filled all the buildings and died the sky above them. The old man fell to his knees and wept at the sight of it.

"Never have I seen anything so beautiful my liege. Truly you are worthy to rule here. Forgive me for doubting you."

"So you will help me then?" The voice asked, as he calmed down.

"After this you do not need it" The old man answered. "I will come to you in the hour when you do till then take this rage of yours and light the world on fire."

The voice nodded and returned his instincts side, bringing his full power with him.

Skip

Kenpachi slashed at his foe and caught him across his the chest leaving a deep wound there. The hollow fell to its knees. This wound did not close up just like the last four wounds Kenpachi had made. The captain smiled to himself. This had been a great fight but it was just about done now. Soon he would have to kill this hollow.

"Damn man, Ikkaku picked a good death to have fallen at your hands." Kenpachi said as he held his blade ready for the next blow. "Still it is about time that we ended this."

"Heh, ha, ha, hahahahhahahhahahah!" The hollow suddenly cried out as he staggered to his feet. "Yeah... I think... it is"

The air shifted in an instant, and Kenpachi suddenly felt a massive spike in the hollow's power. The monster was glowing white, as deep black lines poured from his skin. Then those black lines began to dance around the hollows body, like flying snakes, bighting at his wounds and closing them up, and curling around his arms.

"What the he-" Kenpachi started but was interrupted by burst of sound as the hollow vanished and reappeared right in front of him in mid swing. The captain took a punch straight to the gut and was sent flying back for hundreds of feet. As he flew the hollow appeared right in front of kicked him sent him flying up into the air where he was intercepted again and sent smashing into the ground. The hollow released a grey mouth at the captain, but this one was large that the others, with sharp fangs and serpentine through the air at its target. It caught Kenpachi and swallowed him up in one bite.

A second a sword tour the mouths head and sliced it apart as the captain staggered out from the wreckage. He looked at the hollow which now simply stood in the air glaring at him. Yet still the captain smiled he even laughed a little.

"So what the hell are you waiting for?" The captain demanded to know.

"Name it." The hollow ordered. "Name your sword."

"Can't." Kenpachi answered silencing the hollow in one word. "I don't know it. Because I never needed to. People like you and me, we don't need any cheap little magic tricks to fight. But if you really want a good fight, I'll be happy to give one."

Kenpachi then reached up to his face and tore the black eye patch away from his left eye. The moment it left him it looked like a golden lightning bolt struck him from the heaven and his spiritual pressure increased tenfold. The hollow smiled. Then he attacked with everything he had, and Kenpachi caught that blow with everything he had. Every building around the two of them crumbled into dust as they resumed their dance.

Skip

Ishida was completely surprised about how easy it was to reach the prison tower. He would expected that a captain would be watching over it at the very least. But no only a pair of guards stood in their way, and Ishida was able to take them out at point blank range thanks to his stolen uniform.

The door to the tower had been locked but Hanataro had a key to unlock it. Rukia had been grateful to see them, and there was no sign that opening the tower had triggered any kind of alarm. So far it seemed that the only problem they would have was that Rukia and Ganju had a history together.

Apparently Rukia had killed Ganju's bother or something like that, and now she wanted to do the honorable thing and die by his hand. It didn't matter really. Ganju didn't have the stomach to go through with it, and Chad wouldn't have let them anyway. Ishida wasn't really paying attention to what was going on now. He was more interest in 'Ichigo' fight in the distance. Somehow the fight had gotten worse when Ichigo suddenly pulled a massive power boost out of his ass and now the two were fighting at a level that Ishida could barely comprehend much less match.

More than anything the power he was feeling now convinced Ishida that the man fighting out there was not the same man he had fought with back on earth. The power was not only greater, but much more sinister, it bordered on evil and oppressive. Ishida didn't know exactly what that crazy shop keeper had done to Ichigo but it couldn't have been good to produce a power like this. Still at this rate he may never find out exactly what had happened to Ichigo as they were likely to get out of here without ever meeting him.

"Whew. " Orihime sighed as she exited the tower behind them, "Glad that's finally over with."

"Have you all finally worked out Rukia's issues?" Ishida asked.

"Yeah. She's ready to go. Yoruichi just putting some spells on her so that she can move more freely in this vast pressure." Inoue explained as she gazed off into the distance with Ishida. "Hard to believe that Ichigo is really in the midst of all of that."

"You have no idea. Still, we would never have made it this far were it not for him."

"That's true. If those two weren't fighting each other I would've sensed you all hours ago." A new voice offered from across the bridge that connected the prison to the main citadel. Inoue and Ishida turned on a dime and felt their mouths turn to ash as two men in Captain cloaks approached them from across the bridge. One was a handsome man with a beautiful scarf wrapped around his neck and an elaborate head piece on his head. The other was a man with pure white hair and a pleasant look on his face.

"Crap." Ishida said as he drew his energy bow and stood in front of Inoue. Chad and the others came out of the tower when they heard him and froze at the sight of the captains approaching.

"Captain Kuchiki!" Hanataro exclaimed, "Captain Ukitake! What are you two doing here?"

"Hello there Hanataro," The white haired Ukitake answered, "We came here when Byakuya here sensed several sources of low unknown energy approaching the prison."

"I must ask though," Byakuya interjected. "What are you all doing here with my sister?"

"We're here to rescue Rukia!" Inoue declared.

"Why?"

"Because she's our friend and we want to take her home."

"How childish." Byakuya scoffed. "I am sorry, but I can't let you do that. My sister has been condemned to be executed and the law must be upheld."

"You heartless bastard." Chad chided.

"Be that as it may, I also can't let you all leave. You have broken the piece of Soul Society and you must be apprehended before any more damage can be done."

While they spoke Ishida leaned over to Yoruichi and whispered. "I don't suppose you could distract them while we escape?"

"If it was just Ukitake, maybe. But not Byakuya, and definitely not both of them."

"What are the chances we can win this fight?"

"Not good. Our only hope right now is that something really distracting happens." Yoruichi explained, just as Kenpachi exploded through the ceiling of nearby building, without a shirt on, with blood pouring from a dozen open wounds and while laughing like a madman.

"Captain Kenpachi? Is that you?" Ukitake gasped.

"Oh is that you Ukitake." Kenpachi lazily answered as his eyes scanned the area around him. "How are you doing? Are those the intruders? Perfect! Could you keep them all there for a few more minutes. I'll be finished here in a bit then I'll have time to fight them as well."

"Are you really still fighting?" Byakuya inquired in a high and mighty tone. "How much time does it take to kill one hollow. Though I can't expect a meat head barbarian like you to hold to the same standards of a real warrior."

At that moment a white hand ripped through the floor underneath Kenpachi and pulled him down into the building. A second later that was a large bang as golden and black light poured out of the building. Followed by a white shape blasting past them under the bridge, before jumping off another building and back into the fray. There were a few more explosions before finally Kenpachi flew out of the building over the other captains heads were he was intercepted by something that sent him flying into the top of the prison.

Kenpachi regained his footing on the top of the tower as he stared his foe who was hovering in the air over the two captains. Ishida's mouth fell open as he saw the hollow standing over them in its awful glory. They saw the sharp teeth set in its mask. The red marks on the mask and running down its arms and tail. They saw the great spikes on its back, with white and black fire radiating off of the monster. Then they heard it roar as it challenged Kenpachi to another clash. Kenpachi raised his sword and the monster charged him with black energy swirling around his hands.

"You idiot!" Byakuya cried. "You can't fight him he-"

Then they met and there was a simply awful explosion. All spiritual particles are equal. They have the same mass, if that makes any sense, they move at the same speed with the same force. When two particle collide they transfer their energy perfectly into each other and fly off in opposite direction. Thus any clash between two spiritual forces is not measured in the quality of their power, but by the size of their power. The greater pressure always wins, because the smaller pressure runs out of particles to block with before the greater pressure runs out of particles to attack with.

If two totally equal pressures meet they are both totally thrown away from the point of impact, creating a spiritual vacuum as both pressures fly off in opposite directions creating a large explosion that is harmless to the warriors but devastating to everything else around them. There is not really a good place for this to ever happen at, since it will destroy almost everything around the point of impact, but there is a very bad place for it happen at, anywhere around Destruction stone.

Not only does Destruction stone perfectly reflect all incoming spiritual energy, but if hit by a dense enough pressure it releases a new wave of its own twice as powerful as what initially hit it. This means that if two great forces, like a very power hollow and captain crash with equal power near a wall of Destruction stone there will not be just one shock wave but three. An initially shock wave will be released from their clash, followed by a second shock wave bouncing off the Destruction stone then a final third blast from the destruction stone itself.

Oddly enough the best place to be standing during these awful explosion is right next to the destruction stone itself. As the first shockwave passes over the destruction stone its often struck and disrupted by the second shockwave bouncing off the stone. Lessening the force of impact directly around the stone. Thus even though this explosion was enough to make two captain black out, Ishida, Inoue and Chad were almost completely unaffected by it.

Rukia, Ganju and Hanataro were still inside the tower when the explosion happened and thus weren't affected by it at all. Ishida and Inoue were just outside the door way and Inoue had the good sense to put her Sacred Tri-Shield up to protect them, so the worse that happened was that they fell to the ground as the bridge disintegrated from the blast. Chad was standing a few feet in front of them so he was thrown away from tower into a nearby building.

Ukitake and Byakuya were both blasted to the outer parts of the citadel were they briefly blacked out. Kenpachi was slightly above the epicenter of the blast and thus was harmlessly thrown up into the air by. He would return safely to the earth, about thirty minutes later. The hollow took the worst of the blast though, and was smashed down into the ground by it. And, due to the complex laws of force and vector physics, he landed almost right on top of Chad.

While his mask was broken.