Ricky

Oh crap, oh crap. Loud noises never mean anything good, especially when they're coming from the direction of my best friends. I ran down the hallway towards where Tim's room was, hitting my shoulder against the wall as I tried to turn. I threw the door open. "Tim!" I was hoping to find them having some kind of tea party, maybe playing cards, but to my surprise...the room was gone. Never in my wildest mindset could I have imagined where a room could be this late at night, especially past its curfew. I stepped into the remainder of what was left, and...oh shit. Well the first thing I noticed was neither Tim or Jo were there. If they had been there, their corpses would've been littering what's left of the room. Then I thought to myself that they obviously escaped through that hole in the wall casually placed where the window once was. So without thinking, I jumped out of the hole and ran through the pathway...I guess you could call it a pathway, since there was rubble everywhere. Did a bomb go off out here? And how the hell did I miss that? Well I've slept through louder explosions, I guess. As I ran down the pathway there were people shouting. Corpses were everywhere. It was like that one time I was in a mosh pit all over again. And I was just running. Man, I didn't know where the hell I was going. The only thing on my mind was finding Jo. Not Tim. He can go fuck himself.

We spent HOW many days searching for him? HOW MANY? We could find him and just lose him all over again!

I'm gonna have to find that mini-medic man. Ah, mini-medic man. He probably knows what's happening now and what happened to Jo. Where the hell could he be? I wish they gave me a map of this place. Every building looks the same! Now do I turn right or left at the next body? And as my luck would have it, I ran into the very mini-medic I'd been seeking. The first thing I shouted to him was, "DOKTOR!" and he stopped and stood there all puzzled. "Where has ze medical man gone with the precious papers?" And he continued to look at me, puzzled and very stressed out. "Oh, right, I'm supposed to be speaking English to these people." I slammed my fist into my hand as if a 'eureka' moment struck. But wait. AM I supposed to be speaking English? Are we in dubs or subs? Or maybe it's the uncut version. I mean, look at all the gore!

"Ricky!" Hanataro yelled, his voice cracking. "This isn't the time to be joking! Are you hurt?"

"Only my heart, but I don't think you have the proper tools to repair that." He sighed and came closer to me, and just pulled up my shirt without warning. Whoa, whoa! My gaydar's in the red right now. Why's he coming on to me so suddenly?

"Well you seem to have no wounds," he said. Oh, so THAT'S what he was looking for. Gaydar back in the green. For now. But I'm keeping my eye on him. "That's a relief. I was worried you'd suffered the same fate as the others."

"Oh, you mean those guys?" I asked while pointing behind me to some poor lowly soul limping away.

Now he looked mad. "No! I'm talking about Jo!"

I guess it's time for me to be serious.

I grabbed him by the shoulders and gave him the most serious look I've ever given anyone before. "What? What do you mean? Bring me to her before YOU'RE the one who needs ze healing!" Before I could start shaking him like I wanted his lunch money, I saw the most depressed looking man make his way to us. All I could think was, did his dog just die? Did his wife leave him? Why did he look so glum? Mr. Gloom n' Doom took my hands off of the mini medic.

"Hanataro," Izuru started, "Captain Unohana has just come out of the operating room and is requesting your presence there immediately." Hanataro nodded and followed him, completely forgetting about me. As they left I followed them like a stray, hoping one of them would become my new master. They didn't seem to pay me any attention. We went through several more "pathways" until we approached another building that looked like every other building I've been in today. I didn't even notice that half the wall was missing when we got to the front door. So we guys go in, and the mini-medic and Mr. Doom n' Gloom just bolt down the first hallway, leaving me in the dust. If they thought they could escape my blue shell, THEY THOUGHT WRONG! I proceeded to run after them, keeping pace so I wouldn't get left behind. And the further down the hall we got, the more difficult it got to keep up with them because I kept bumping into nurses. Wait, I think I just passed a Nurse Joy. No, wait, her hair color was blue. Suddenly they banked left and I banked right while running backwards so I can catch them faster. I'm not gonna dodge nurses if I can't see them! And somehow, it worked! Well, it could've been because I was knocking down all the nurses, but hey, I'm not complaining. They can heal themselves.

They finally stopped in front of a wall – wait, let me turn around – a DOOR, and they're...well, they're just standing there. With nothing else happening. This was getting annoying. I forced myself into the space between them and put my arms around their necks, saying, "So, are we guys going to go in or what?"

And WHAM! The door opens. And out walks this mad generic tall chick – she's mad generic, look at her! Look how generic she is! And behind her was ...how do I describe her? She was a very cute younger looking woman. Or do my eyes deceive me? Could she be some old lady hiding her face behind a mask? Who really cares? Why am I having an intense inner monologue about her looks? I only fucking care where Jo is!

The tall one – I think her name is Isane, I guess. I mean that's one letter away from insane– had this horrified expression on her face. Her hands, arms and uniform were drenched in blood...maybe she spilled Kool-Aid, or maybe they were performing some Satanic ritual to summon the Kool-Aid man. So without thinking I asked, "Do you guys have any Kool-Aid? I'm quite parched from all that running." She didn't respond, and instead waited for the cute short one to walk out.

"Captain," she started, seeming out of breath. "Captain...Unohana..."

"Go rest, Isane," she replied. "You deserve a break." The tall one seemed hesitant, but she nodded and passed by the three of us, not even acknowledging that we were there. Typical generics. They're all alike. After she left us, the Captain walked past us, giving us each a nod, and stopped at Hanataro. "Come. I require your assistance."

"Yes, ma'am." I watched several more Soul Reapers come out of the room, each at the corner of a stretcher that had some kind of weird greenish ghost-box around the top. I glanced inside and couldn't believe my eyes. Laying on the stretcher was a bloodied up Jo, with bandages covering her all over and machines hooked up everywhere. They silently wheeled her down the hall and into a nearby room. I was frozen with agony. Seeing her in that state left me unable to move a muscle, or even say her name. It was then I felt Izuru's hand on my shoulder.

"He discovered her like that," he told me, "and brought her here. But Tim was-"

His words were cut off by another voice, much louder and more obnoxious. "Captain Unohana!" it yelled over and over again. Mr. Doom n' Gloom immediately dashed toward where the voice was yelling and I moved like a shadow past him. I saw Strawberry Boy struggling to carry two things Jo drew up. They looked as though they'd finally seen the light, or a squirrel in drag, because that's how I originally picture heaven. "Someone help me, dammit!" he screamed. More Grim Reapers took the unconscious drawings from his arms. Now was my chance. I crouched and got into a running position, then bolted straight for him. Ichigo had no idea what was coming as I drop kicked him, knocking him to the ground, and I landed in another crouching position on his chest.

"So do you know what happened to Jo?"

"Jo? What the hell are you talking about?

"Oh, I know you know what I'm talking about. Don't play coy with me."

"Shut up!" He pushed me off of him and stood up, going after one of the Soul Reapers that was a blond MILFish looking woman and was being carried into the nearest room with her comrade. "Something's wrong with Kuzeni and Hitori."

"What's the matter?" One of the nurses asked him.

"I don't know. They suddenly fell and were in extreme pain and-"

I went into the room and smacked Ichigo on the back of his head. "I keep telling you," I yelled at him, "something happened to Jo. Why else would her characters be in this state?"

And there you go, the wheels finally started turning in his head. "What? What do you mean?" We heard footsteps approach and saw Izuru walk in. Ichigo turned his way and saw the stern expression on his face. "What happened to Jo?"

"She was attacked," he told us. "By an arrancar. It somehow got through our barriers and rampaged all around. Jo saved Hanataro from it, but was brutally slashed in the process. She underwent surgery and is healing in the intensive care unit under Captain Unohana's eye." He turned away from us. "But we don't know her fate. She could die at any moment."

Oh boy. Great to know, Mr. Doom n' Gloom. "There's more bad news. Ichigo..." He seemed hesitant to continue. "Along with Tim, Orihime Inoue was kidnapped by several other arrancar."

I immediately grabbed his arms and started shaking the guy. "What do you mean, Ichigo's love interest got kidnapped? Oh, wait. I meant to say, where's Tim?" I had boobs on my mind.

Ichigo dropped to his knees. "Orihime...Orihime is..." He couldn't finish his sentence. His body was shuddering as he lay on his hands and knees, staring down at the floor. It was silent for a little while as the news sank in. How could all of this have happened right when the three of us reunited? We spent all that time searching for fucking Tim, and now everyone is dying. What kind of mess have we gotten ourselves into? I answered myself back, the worst kind of mess. No home. Nobody to talk to. We're just trapped: Tim in Hueco Mundo, Jo in the hospital, and me in Crazy Land.

"Why the hell are you so quiet all of a sudden?" Ichigo suddenly spoke, interrupting my intense monologue.

"Now is not the time for jokes, Ichigo. So don't even start with me. I don't wanna snap in this place and hurt everyone."

Ichigo stood up, glaring at me. "Don't threaten me like you're the only one in pain right now. You don't know everything I've been through with Orihime."

I returned his glare. "Oh, big whoop, Ichigo. Get off of your high horse. At least you have a home to go back to right now. At least you've got friends and people to talk to. But do you know what I have? I've got a corpse on a stretcher with everyone trying to heal her." My vision was being obscured as I tried to hold back my emotions. I tightened my eyes shut. Not now. I must remain calm. I can't let IT out now.

"Why can't I come out now? I feel how much you hate that man. Just let me out, and we can be rid of him."

"No. We can't hurt him. YET. But I promise, we'll see blood soon enough."

"Don't make a promise you can't keep. Because if I don't get what I want... You can't keep her for long."

Ichigo's hand on my shoulder pulled me out from my trance. His eyes were calmer this time, widening for a moment as if he'd felt something inside of me, but he ignored it. "Don't worry, Ricky. Jo will get through this. She's tougher than she looks. And we'll rescue Orihime." He gave me a smile, you know, the one assholes give to people when they say something nice. Then we heard one of Jo's characters waking up. We saw him push himself off the bed and look at us, heaving as if out of breath.

"Jo..." Hitori struggled to say between breaths.

"She'll be fine," Ichigo assured him. "If she were awake right now, she'd want you and Kuzeni to rest. You guys do all the fighting for her. You deserve a day's rest. We'll be right back." He started to walk toward the door. "Which room is she in?"

"This way," Izuru said, and led both of us down the hallway. The nurses seemed a bit calmer now, less stressed out than when I first arrived here. Hopefully they had Jo stabilized. The walk was short but silently awkward. Walking to see your nearly dead friend while accompanied by a man grieving for his obvious girlfriend and someone whose parents died long ago kind of puts a storm cloud above everyone's head. We arrived at the door to see the mini medic walking out, eyes wide and body shaking. He nearly bumped into Mr. Doom n' Gloom as he turned to walk.

"Oh, sorry."

Izuru shook his head. "It's alright. We've just come to see Jo."

Hanataro stared at the floor. "Captain Unohana isn't allowing her to have any visitors right now. She's in too bad of a shape, and the Captain thinks it'd be worse on anyone to see her in her current condition. Especially you." He laid his eyes on me.

"Bullshit. I'm the first one who's gonna see her."

"I'm sorry," he continued, "but honestly..." He gulped nervously. "It's for the best. Her body's so mangled that..." His sentence stopped there as he turned away from us. "Excuse me." Hanataro trudged down the hallway, vanishing around the first corner he came to.

Izuru huffed. "Well I'm sorry to say this, but I need to be on my way as well. I have to help the others with the repair work to the Squad 5 barracks. I hope everything works out for you two." He bowed his head and left Ichigo and I alone in front of Jo's door. Ichigo leaned on the wall next to it, crossing his arms and closing his eyes without a word. I sat against the door and slid to the ground.

"So, Ichigo... How do you think we can get Orihime back? I mean, haven't you been to Hueco...uh... Haven't you been to Dr. Mundo's place before?"

"No," he replied. "I've heard of it from the head captain, but I never set foot in that place before."

"I guess I know who we've gotta talk to then-"

"I doubt he'd let us go there by ourselves," he cut in, "or if they'd let us at all." He was quiet for a second. "But it's not like they're in a rush to go rescue her."

"So who's going to bring us there? Because we're sure as hell not gonna find a way there by ourselves."

Ichigo's mouth opened to reply, but he was cut off when we heard someone approach us. Tiny footsteps were followed by loud thumping and an annoyed groan. The most adorable little loli girl I'd ever seen was leading what looked like the man who'd kill me if I looked at him wrong. "There he is, Kenny!" she squealed. The giant one walked past the pink haired girl and came up to me. Without so much as a thought he reached down and plucked me up by the back of my shirt, lifting me effortlessly to eye level.

"So you're the bastard whose name's been floating around this place," Kenpachi said to me. "I can smell the spiritual pressure leaking out of you like sweat. You're such a weakling. Don't know why the higher-ups wanna talk to you, but they do, so let's go. And no funny business." He turned and I heard his hair jingle like the most beautiful of all wind chimes. He says no funny business to me? But I can't help to snicker at the bells in his hair. He didn't even put me down – in fact, he tucked me under his arm like a pigskin – and stormed off. Ichigo could only watch in disbelief as Kenpachi carried me to who knows where, hopefully not to the hell he seems to have spawned out of, with his adorable shoulder angel giggling and following us.