THE HITS KEEP COMING

It's the End of the Road

Karin is getting on Ichigo's nerves faster and faster than it should be possible. She was never this annoying before. Why is she now? God, all he wants to do is scream from utter frustration.

While no longer hunched over behind rubble of past battles, the group still remains silent and stays as close to the wall as possible. The camp is just up head now and there's a certain terrifying ruckus happening. There's almost violent cheering. Ichigo doesn't know how else to describe what it sounds like to him. His lack of words don't stop the pit in his stomach from growing bigger.

The group shuffles quietly upon the camp. There's a crowd of Quincys sitting upon makeshift bleachers of debris and chairs. In front of the small crowd are two Arrancar fighting each other. They're using their fists and beating each other, reluctant and bloody. That explains the pit in Ichigo's stomach.

The smaller Arrancar is very familiar to him. The muffled gasp of Nel confirms that he knows the Arrancar from their Las Noches days. He doesn't remember where he saw her. She's probably from an Espada's fracción. Well, she could be from Tier's fracción since they were all girls.

"Sung-sun," Ichigo finally remembers her name.

"She's supposed to be dead," Ulquiorra mutters softly.

"Doesn't matter. Ulquiorra, take Inoue, Nel, and Chad to the other trapped Arrancar. Karin and I will handle this."

"What? There's at least twenty Quincys," Karin yells a whisper.

"We're the distraction."

"We'll free the Arrancar quickly so we can help," Inoue whispers.

With nods of agreement, the three split off once again from the Kurosaki siblings. Ichigo regards his sister for a split second before deciding against it. She's just going to give him shit and tell the whole realm where they are.

There are two Quincy serving as guards along the side of the arena where the crowd isn't. The crowd is small, yes, but Ichigo counts seventeen people. That's a lot of Quincy to fight. The ginger continues to survey the arena. There's cages that line the outside of the arena that seem to be hooked up to a mechanism of some kind. So, stay away from that is what he's understanding. He doesn't like the way the entire thing looks.

"Okay, I need you to stop the fight and keep away from the cages," Ichigo whispers.

"Fine," Karin snorts.

He takes a forceful yet cleansing breath. They can do this. She's just acting difficult. Surely Chad wouldn't be okay with bringing her out here if he didn't trust in her abilities. Nel seems to have high expectations of her, too.

Without another word, Ichigo shunpos into the arena. He slugs one of the two guards in the face, taking everyone by surprise. The other guard reaches for his belt. Ichigo kicks out and strikes him in the jaw. The guard tumbles and lays unconscious beside his fellow guardsman.

The fighting Arrancar have stopped, but not because it was Karin's job. Every breathing thing in the room gawks at Ichigo like he has two heads or something. To Karin's credit, she is trying to get Sung-sun's attention. The Arrancar snaps out of it, grabs the larger male Arrancar she was brawling against, and they follow Karin out of the arena.

"My name is Kurosaki Ichigo. I am Hell's Prince and a retired Espada. By order of Hell and Hueco Mundo, your presence is no longer welcomed. Leave now or face the consequences," Ichigo commands, his voice booming throughout the room.

No one moves. No one so much as blinks. Finally, someone stands. A man with glowing blue eyes, like the rest of the Quincy, and shaggy blond hair. His cross dangles on his wrist like a quiet threat.