The Means to Fight

Alarms blared loudly in the 12th Division, and almost everyone there looked panicked, rushing to send messages and analyze the data being input. Only two were unhurried – Kurotsuchi Nemu-fukutaicho and Kurotsuchi Mayuri-taicho. Mayuri's smile widened as he read the data flowing down the enormous screen at high speed. "Good, good, good! Nemu! Fetch Amagai and see if he has that hunting party ready – I want one of these Togabito on my slab tonight!"

"Hai." Nemu bowed lightly and walked purposely away, unperturbed by her father's wicked grin and the chaos around her.

A few moments later, Mayuri frowned, seeing something unexpected. "Hmm? What is that Kurosaki doing? Why can my machines still detect his reiatsu, and why is he not fighting? There is a Togabito right next to him…" He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Did he capture one already? He does have Urahara nearby… But if he captured that one, why hasn't he gone to help the others? Two test subjects are better than one, after all…"

Mayuri's frown descended into a scowl. "This is pointless. If neither the Togabito nor the transcendent are fighting, then I should pay attention to the Togabito that are." He directed his attention to another part of the screen, carefully searching for some weakness that he could exploit. "This could be interesting… a Quincy and that woman against a Togabito." His smile returned. "Ah, I could not have asked for a better experiment. The effects of a Quincy on Hell's minions, and that woman's barriers… Come now, make this a nice, drawn-out battle. I need all the data you can provide."

Kon watched his true opponent carefully – thus far, Zommari had been content to use Isshin to attack. Thankfully, it seemed that while Isshin's movements were controlled, he still retained some measure of control over his reiatsu, as evidenced by his slower-than-usual Shunpo and having not released his Zanpakutō.

With that sort of handicap, Kon was able to narrowly avoid every attack so far, but he had yet to get close to Zommari. He ducked under a telegraphed swing of Engetsu and dodged to the side. Damn it, I can't keep this up forever! But at the same time, he loathed the idea of using his power on Isshin… He acknowledges me. He and Ichigo… He danced out of the way of a flurry of swipes. ... They see me as a person!

"What are you doing?" Isshin demanded. "It's not easy to hold back Zommari's commands, you know! Hurry up!"

Damn it, I don't want to hurt you! But Kon knew he had no choice – it was either attack someone he held dear, or lose those he was entrusted to protect. "DAMN IT!" he screamed as he finally called on the supernatural strength he'd been gifted with upon his creation. Rushing up to Isshin, he twisted around a stab and unleashed a powerful kick to Isshin's ribs, sending him flying back into a nearby streetlamp, which promptly crumpled.

There was no time to check if Isshin was alright. Kon dashed at Zommari with all the speed Ichigo's body combined with Kon's leg enhancements could muster. Seeing Zommari point a finger at him, he threw himself to his left, feeling a burst of spiritual energy breeze past him. Can't stop now! I have to get him! For Karin! For Yuzu!

Pausing for just long enough to take a breath, Kon launched himself at the puppet-master again, bitterly satisfied when the Togabito adopted an expression of slight panic as he pointed all five fingers of his left hand in Kon's direction. Sensing the incoming invisible attack and giving thanks for the heightened abilities that came with being a Mod-Soul, Kon leapt up and over the attack, landing on the other side of Zommari. Close enough that one kick would finish it. He twisted as he hit the ground, converting his forward momentum into rotational, his right leg charged with all the power Kon could muster. It was a kick that Kon was sure would end this fight.

"Look out!" Hearing Isshin's voice right behind him, Kon abandoned his kick and instead used his left foot to leap up off the ground into the branches of a neighbor's tree just in time to avoid being stabbed from behind with Engetsu.

Damn it… I was close. Kon took a moment to quiet the pounding of Ichigo's body's heart. I'm lucky that Ichigo's been training in this thing – my powers enhance what's already here, and Ichigo is already pretty damn strong.

"Not so easy, is it?" Zommari taunted, looking around but unable to see Kon as he hid behind the trunk of the tree. "That was a good try – I did not anticipant such a burst of strength and speed. But now that I know of it, I will not let you get that close again." With a mere twitch of his finger, Isshin moved into a guarding position. "Or have you run away?"

Kon grit Ichigo's teeth. Karin…! Damn it, what I wouldn't give for a good long-distance attack right now! He looked around for anything he could use, and something black and white caught his eye. A soccer ball… Karin's soccer ball! Almost against his will, Kon began to smile, the makings of a truly delicious plan taking shape in his mind.

"Santen Kesshun!" Inoue's barrier came into place just in time to protect herself and Ishida from another onslaught of tentacles. "Uryū!"

The Quincy threw himself to the side, bringing his bow to bear. "Licht Regen!" he clipped out again, once more firing a volley of hundreds of arrows.

"That's not going to work," Gunjō reminded, shielding himself with a wall of tentacles before sending three to snake out at the humans.

"Tsubaki! Kōten Zanshun!" Without hesitation, Inoue's attack sliced through the incoming attack. "Uryū, do you have another attack that can strike from below?"

Ishida hid behind Inoue's shield once again. "Yes. But it needs a little preparation. Can you keep him occupied for a moment?"

Inoue nodded. "Go."

Ishida promptly vanished with the speed of his Hirenkyaku. "Foolish, you shouldn't have left the girl's shield," Gunjō mocked as he immediately attacked the vulnerable Quincy with dozens more appendages.

Inoue bit her lip in determination and threw her hands up towards Ishida. "Go! Santen Kesshun! Kōten Zanshun!"

The fairies that made up Inoue's shield flew into place and materialized the shield in front of Ishida without a moment to spare, while Tsubaki attacked Gunjō directly.

"Hmph. Annoying woman." Gunjō maneuvered his tentacles to attack Tsubaki in every direction before he could slice the Togabito. And then, he struck, obscuring Tsubaki from Inoue's sight.

An audible crunch was heard, and Inoue froze. No…! The appendages withdrew, and Tsubaki's broken form fell to the ground, reverting into a part of Inoue's hairpin before breaking into three pieces "No! Tsubaki!"

"Such a fragile attack," Gunjō taunted. "That edge is certainly sharp, but it was all too easy to crush it from the sides. Now then, be a good girl and die."

"I think not." Ishida reappeared next to Inoue, stabbing a Seele Schneider into the ground. "Thank you, Orihime. You bought the time I needed to complete my technique."

"What technique?" Gunjō looked around. "All I see are five of those things around me. And what are they supposed to do?"

"This is an ancient Quincy technique. You may not have noticed, given how you haven't left that spot since we began, but you can no longer move."

"So? I can attack from here."

Ishida took out a single silver tube. "Perhaps. But what you don't know is that those items are Seele Schneiders. They absorb the reishi in the environment around them, gathering them for a simple, fitting purpose." He uncapped the tube and slowly began to tilt it over the Seele Schneider in the ground in front of him. "Everything within this pentagon is subject to a single, powerful attack." A single drop of sparkling silvery liquid fell from the tube and landed on the weapon. "Sprenger."

"Tsubaki!" Inoue cried out. "Lily, Hinagiku, Baigon! Get Tsubaki out of there!"

Inoue's shield dissolved into the three fairies that maintained it, who then flew into the pentagon as the Seele Schneider lit up and formed glowing blue pentagon with the others. Each fairy grabbed a piece of the hairpin that Tsubaki formed from, and rushed outside just in time to avoid the blue rush of power that traveled from each Seele Schneider to the center, where Gunjō stood.

And then, a pillar of light erupted around the Togabito and he began to scream. Several seconds later, the light faded and Gunjō fell to the ground, his eyeless sockets exposed to the light, his clothes burned almost completely off. No tentacles remained, not even Gunjō's arms. "Damn you. I'll be back, and I will return this humiliation upon you, humans." And then he crumbled to ash.

But Inoue paid no attention to that, her full concentration on the broken hairpin. "Sōten Kisshun!" She materialized her healing barrier around the hairpin. She bit her lip when she saw that the hairpin was very slowly repairing itself.

"It will take some time, Orihime," Lily warned her sadly, flying up to her face with Hinagiku and Baigon. "It's more difficult to reject damage to our own power."

Inoue nodded acceptance. "Alright," she whispered, wiping tears away from her eyes. "At least he'll be ok."

Chad breathed heavily – Akane was very good at dodging his attacks and had been slowly wearing him down. She's too fast to hit normally, he thought to himself. Then let's try my Paso del Viento.

Chad brought up his right arm just in time to block another long scratch, and then used his high-speed technique to get behind her. "La Muerte!"

The gentle giant had trouble following what happened next. One moment, he was unleashing his most powerful attack, the next he had Akane's legs tightly gripping his neck while she performed a handstand.

And then he was impossibly lifted off the ground, in an arc above the Togabito, before being painfully slammed head-first into the roof of the school. Ow. Chad had had some painful experiences in his life, but apparently his head and neck was not quite as durable as the rest of his body. It was lucky that his unleashed powers helped that, or else he might well have had his neck broken right there.

Even so, this was an opportunity. Chad's left hand gripped one of Akane's legs and pulled it just away enough for him to breathe, while his right hand lashed out at the Togabito. "El Directo!" he choked out.

Akane covered her face with her arms just before being engulfed in the light of Chad's technique. After several seconds, the light faded, and Chad was astonished to realize that she was unharmed. "What?"

"The chains…" Akane whispered. "Your power isn't enough to break these chains."

"No. But it's enough to break your leg." Chad sent power to his left hand and with a single forceful clench, crushed the leg to pulp in his hand.

Akane screamed in terrible pain and jumped away with her remaining leg before falling to the ground, helpless as blood poured beneath her. Chad got to his feet and made his way to her, listening to the Togabito cry and whimper at the injury. "Sorry," he offered, staying a safe distance away in case she pulled out some other technique to use.

Akane turned her head towards him, her face tear-streaked and regretful. "Don't be," she replied, sniffing. "You only did what I asked. Hurry and kill me. Don't leave me in this agony."

"As you wish." Chad charged his left hand one last time, approaching her. Akane didn't move in response. "May you have a better life when you awaken. La Muerte." He plunged his fist into Akane's chest, punching through her ribs and pulverizing her heart. Chad kept his power tightly reigned enough that the skull pattern did not appear on the school rooftop – that would be difficult to explain.

Then, Akane's body and chains glowed with a dull red light, and below her a portal opened. Her corpse fell through it, and before Chad could do anything about it, the portal closed. Damn. Chad closed his eyes in mourning as he deactivated his arms. She is still trapped. Hell… still has her. "All she wanted is to be free, to start over in a new life…" His fists clenched in suppressed fury. "Hell took her for rejoicing in the end of her slavery. No soul should suffer so, no soul should be forced into one torment after another! No soul should be a mere slave both in life and in death, when all it desires is freedom! Akane, I will help you reach that next life! I swear it!"

Renji breathed out and relaxed as the Togabito he and Rukia were fighting finally went down. "That was Shrieker?" he asked, wiping some blood from his forehead.

Rukia nodded, taking a moment to catch her own breath. Shrieker had focused almost exclusively on her, and she was already tired from training against Sode no Shirayuki. Combined with Shrieker's use of Hell's chains to block and tangle Zabimaru and his sound-activated explosives, it had proven a long and difficult fight. Renji had gotten hit by those bombs twice, when Rukia hadn't been quite fast enough to freeze them all with one of her dances.

"Tough bastard," Renji admitted. "You said Ichigo took him down when he was a newbie?"

"Yeah. Shrieker got a little too close, and Ichigo ripped his tongue right out of his mouth to prevent him from being able to blow up his artillery."

"Yeesh. Brutal. But he didn't have to deal with those chains."

"True." Rukia took another deep, steadying breath, reaching out her reiatsu senses. "Ishida and Orihime are done, it feels like. So's Chad. Ichigo's dad seems to still be busy, and…" she frowned. "Something's not right where Ichigo is."

"What about Hitsugaya-taicho and Tōsen? They should be out here fighting too."

Rukia concentrated harder. "Tōsen is… still in Urahara's basement. That's strange, he's been there since yesterday. If he's been meditating the whole time…"

"What about Hitsugaya-taicho?"

"He's with Tōsen. So are Urahara, Tessai and the Vizard actually." She shook her head. "What's going on there?"

"I'm telling you, it's not a good idea for you guys to go out right now!" Hitsugaya yelled.

"Why not?" Hiyori demanded. "There are Togabito out there, and we're supposed to help guard Karakura, right?"

"Because," Urahara commented as he approached the others. "This is a test."

"What?"

"This is a test," Urahara repeated grimly. "This is an information game, Hiyori. Hell is testing us, testing our ability to defend ourselves. You are all aces in the hole, just as Ichigo-kun was against Aizen. We shouldn't let Hell find out our true strength, not yet."

"But we were in Hell," Kensei pointed out. "Wouldn't he know about us anyway?"

"No. Remember, Ichigo was there, and he was the only one he paid attention to," Yoruichi disagreed. "But this test works for us as well. It tells us how strong Ichigo's human friends are, and where they need their training. If we just crushed this incursion, they wouldn't learn anything, which would prove lethal against later invasions."

"Exactly," Urahara agreed. "All of us need to get stronger. The only time we bring all our forces out is in the final conflict, and now is not the time. You all have only had a day to get used to being Arrancar, and using Resurrección. Use this time wisely!"

"Much as I hate to use him as an example, look at Tōsen!" Hitsugaya pointed out the meditating man. "Even now, he's trying to get stronger through Jinzen!"

"Damn it." Everyone quieted as Shinji stepped to the front. "Guys, they're right. Think about it. We're acting like rookie Shinigami who just got their Shikai. 'Oh, lookie, I have Resurección! Let's go kick some ass and take names!'" he mocked.

"Well, Ichigo did pretty well," Love muttered.

"And you'll notice he doesn't know any of his unique Hollow powers besides high-speed regeneration," Shinji replied scathingly. "We need practice, and there's only so much practice we can get on each other."

"What are you suggesting?" Rose asked.

"We fight our Inner Shinigami. Who better to fight than ourselves? Who knows, we might even get their swords and be able to use Shikai and Bankai while in Resurrección."

There was a moment of silence as everyone tried to digest that idea, before Kensei spoke up. "That's a good idea. Fine."

That seemed to be the trigger, as one by one the other Arrancar assented to the plan.

Upon hearing Ichigo's agreement, Shūren nodded once, though he kept his fire sword activated. "Alright, we have to move quickly. Cut my chains before Hell realizes what's going on and takes control of me."

Ichigo grimaced. After he'd viewed Cazador's memory of watching Kōkuto be strangled by Hell's chains with merely a thought, Ichigo knew he couldn't put it past Hell to have that power. But he still didn't like the idea of letting Shūren loose before the Togabito had resurrected his family. Then a thought occurred to him – "Neither of us know whether you'll be able to work the pool without Hell's chains. We'll have to risk it. I'll cut your chains after they're revived."

Shūren scowled but nodded in reluctant assent. "Fine, then, but the plan will need to change a little to minimize risk."

"What do you mean?"

"If you cut my chains, Hell shouldn't be able to sense me," Shūren explained. "We could take your family with us and let Hell's reiatsu finish readying their souls for the reincarnation process. But you've got a good point. So I need to bring Hell's reiatsu to your family. And we should fight, just to keep up the façade so Hell himself doesn't step in."

"Fine." Ichigo stepped back inside Urahara's shop and came out a few minutes later with Yuzu and Masaki. He sat them down, and Shūren quietly opened a portal to Hell. Then, the fighters looked at each other, and in unison flared their reiatsu and lunged at each other. Hachi, who had followed Ichigo, quickly flung up barriers around the pair of fighters and Ichigo's family so that Hell's poisonous miasma would not impact anyone else.

Ichigo swung Zangetsu at Shūren viciously, who flung his fiery sword up to block. A moment later, the Togabito lashed out with a fire orb, but this time Ichigo was ready for it, having fallen victim to that same tactic in Hell.

The Vizard jumped up and over Shūren before lashing out at the Togabito's back. "Getsuga Tenshō!"

Twisting around, Shūren thrust both hands in front of him and unleashed a torrent of fire to combat the Getsuga. The flames managed to overwhelm the crescent attack, but Ichigo was no longer in their path.

Ichigo flickered beside the Togabito, Zangetsu in mid-swing, making Shūren leap awkwardly to his right to avoid it. The Togabito was unable to avoid it entirely, though, and took a cut to his arm.

A weak cough caught Ichigo's immediately attention, and he nearly got speared through the chest for his distraction. Luckily, Hachi threw up a barrier just in time between them, and the fire spear dissolved. "Ichigo, Yuzu…!"

Ichigo appeared by his sister's side with a flicker of Shunpo, kneeling. Yuzu was coughing, but was definitely alive! Holding Zangetsu to the side, he wordlessly entered Bankai and drew his Adjuchas mask, flipping his reiatsu to its evolved state. "Hachi, hold the chain out away from her chest."

"Of course." Hachi clapped his hands together, concentrating. A few moments later, Yuzu was being held upright by a few barriers, and her chain, short though it was, was being held taut as far out as it could go.

Tensa Zangetsu suddenly seethed with the power of a Getsuga Tenshō, and Ichigo prepared himself with both hands. Yelling, he brought down the sword of his soul.

Chain links fell to either side, and Ichigo watched carefully as the Chain of Hell dissolved away, leaving only Yuzu, though her chest was bloody from where the Chain had emerged from her physical body. Hachi immediately began healing her, and only a minute later, Yuzu opened her eyes. "Ichi… nii?"

Ichigo had taken off the mask and reverted back to Shikai immediately after cutting the chains, and kneeled down next to her, carefully shielding her from the reiatsu coming out of the portal to Hell. "Yuzu," he whispered. "You're ok now. Just rest."

Yuzu shook her head no. "No, Ichi-nii… I have to tell you something…!"

"What is it?"

"Hell… When I was… I could feel Hell! He touched my soul…!"

Ichigo barely held back from growling angrily. "What did he do?"

Yuzu began to cry. "He… He made the chain hurt so much…! When he touched my arm, it burned! He said I would die soon and be damned to Hell! And then he laughed!" She shivered and drew in on herself. "I told him you would save me, that you had beat Aizen and you would beat him too. He smiled, and said that he'd met you. He has plans for you, Ichi-nii! He wants to use our family against you, and force you to join him!"

Ichigo gave his sister a hug, pulling her close. "I won't let that happen, Yuzu."

"Don't go to Hell, Ichi-nii! Please!"

"I have to, Yuzu. Mom still needs to be saved."

Yuzu clutched her brother harder. She knew there was nothing she could do or say that would convince Ichigo to stay. And she wanted Masaki to be revived too. "Just… Just don't die, Ichi-nii. Not for her. Mom wouldn't want that."

Ichigo's eyes closed for a moment. "I know. I won't die."

"If we're done with the touchy-feeling reunion, can we get on with this?" Shūren cut in. "Look. The woman has finished dying."

Ichigo looked. Masaki's chain was glowing, and only a moment later she fell into a portal that opened beneath her. He locked eyes with his little sister. "Time to go, Yuzu. I need you to stay with Hachi here until I get back, alright?"

Yuzu wordlessly nodded and stepped back to stand next to the barrier user. "I'll keep her safe," Hachi promised without prompting.

The transcendent nodded as well. "Let's go."

"About time," Shūren snarked.

The two of them stepped into the portal, which promptly closed behind them. Emerging in Hell, Ichigo looked around. They were on the top level. "Why here?"

"We're trying to stay discrete. One of the standing orders Hell gave is to capture as many souls as possible and to try and draw out the Kushanāda on this level," Shūren explained. "Hell will have thought that I created that portal to throw in any humans who came by. But we have to act quickly. Let's move."

Nodding in understanding, Ichigo followed Shūren as they found a point to jump down to the next level. Doing so, the pair of them didn't bother to stop and just dove straight through the water separating them from the third level down, delving deeper into the Hell dimension until they emerged in the desert area. Landing lightly, Ichigo and Shūren promptly took off at high speed towards the lava-like pool. Just like Shūren had said, it was being guarded by four black-hooded figures.

"Keep 'em busy," Shūren ordered.

"Just hurry up and revive my mother," Ichigo shot back, drawing Zangetsu. He flickered into Shunpo and appeared right in front of one of the figures, who was obviously surprised by the sudden attack. "Getsuga Tenshō!"

Caught completely off guard, the figure was promptly bifurcated by the crescent attack. But the Vizard had no time to celebrate – two of the three remaining guards were closing in on him, and the last was backing away and…

Ichigo's thoughts were interrupted with the need to move. He leapt backwards and promptly deflected a downward sword strike with Zangetsu, before flickering away just in time to avoid being crushed by a large, spiked war hammer. Two on one, huh? Then let's even the odds. With a twist of his left hand, he manifested the white Zangetsu.

… which was lucky, as a split second later, the white Zangetsu inadvertently blocked a bolt of some kind that had been fired from the long-range assailant. He glanced that way and stiffened in surprise. That's a Quincy bow!

Oooh, tricky. You got the fast slicer, the slower crusher, and the long-range archer. Who are you going after first?

Ichigo scowled. Archer first. If he's got Quincy powers, it's probably going to be like fighting Ishida. Best to get him out quickly so he doesn't come up with a very irritating strategy.

You'll need someone to keep the other two off your back and you don't got your friends with ya this time. Manifest me; you don't want to use your mask here in Hell anyway.

The Vizard was about to reply, but had to take a few moment to simultaneously avoid another round of bolts and kick the sword-user to a slightly safer distance. Slightly safer meaning a dozen meters away or so. Why don't I just use Bankai?

Do not use Bankai, or release your seals, now, Ichigo. You'll attract the attention of the remaining Kushanāda, as well as Hell himself, if he is not already on his way. It would be best to remain discrete.

Ichigo had to concede that Zangetsu had a point, though he thought discrete was hardly the word considering the fight he'd gotten into. Sensing Cazador's impatience, and admitting that he couldn't deal with all three fighters at once, Ichigo pulled.

Cazador de la Luna materialized with a wicked grin, eyeing the two melee fighters as he drew his own black and white Zangetsu. "Oooooh yeah," he breathed, his smile growing impossibly wide. "This'll be fun. I've got this, King. Go deal with the Quincy."

The Vizard didn't bother to respond – instead, he flickered into Shunpo and threw his white blade at the Quincy, who dodged easily. Ichigo continued to charge right for him, using his black blade to block and deflect the flurry of shots that the Quincy delivered, and then yanked on the cloth that had wrapped around his left arm.

Ichigo's opponent evidently saw this coming and leapt up and used Hirenkyaku to try to put some distance between them, moving to fight in the air. Ichigo paused for a moment to see how Shūren was doing – he was standing in front of the pool with his materialized chains dipping into the pool, and saying something that the transcendent couldn't hear. Satisfied that Shūren seemed to be doing his part, the Vizard gave chase to the Quincy he was fighting.

As he approached, the Quincy drew his bow back and said the first words that Ichigo had heard him utter."Licht Regen."

"Shit!" Ichigo flickered into Shunpo, trying to dodge to the side of the onslaught of arrows. He succeeded for a moment, but then the Quincy followed him and it was very clear that Ichigo could not evade forever.

Well, if I can't dodge, and I can't block my entire body… then it's time to punch through! Holding both Zangetsu above his head, he swung down as hard as he could. "Getsuga Tenshō!"

A purplish-blue Getsuga, twice as tall as Ichigo and three times as wide, roared out, eradicating hundreds of spiritual arrows as it sought out the Quincy. Ichigo took the brief respite to concentrate and control his power; he needed to keep the enemy from firing on him. Lucky for him, he knew the perfect spell for that.

The Quincy materialized mere feet behind him, a powerful arrow cocked and ready, but Ichigo smirked. Mentally giving thanks to Hachi and Tessai, he pointed the right Zangetsu at his opponent and quickly incanted "Bakudō 4: Hainawa!"

Glowing chains materialized and promptly bound the Quincy's arms to his sides in a way that Ichigo had struggled to do during his Kidō training. The Vizard immediately lunged for him, but was surprised when the chains seemed to dissolve, leaving the Quincy able to instantly fire the arrow he'd saved. Ichigo had barely been able to bring the blade in his left hand up to deflect it away. "What the hell? How did you get out of my chains?"

That prompted a stifled laugh from the hooded figure. "I am a Quincy, foolish boy. Those chains were merely constructs of reishi. I merely absorbed the reishi that comprised them, and your spell fell apart. There is a reason we were able to fight the Shinigami so well in the war – only their highest levels of binding could keep us bound."

Ichigo blinked. "You must have been a very powerful Quincy when you were alive. Who are you?"

"I?" The Quincy lowered his hood, revealing strikingly familiar features. "My name is Ishida Haken. In life, I was a highly respected elder. Now, who are you, and why did you come to Hell?"

Ishida? Ichigo made a mental note to ask Uryū about Haken later. "I am Kurosaki Ichigo, Substitute Shinigami, Vizard. I'm here to revive and rescue my mother, who was banished here by Shinigami nobles to hurt me. What sin sent you to Hell?"

Haken chuckled, and there was some quality to it that gave Ichigo's arms goosebumps. "I assure you, I deserve to be here. I was one of the elders who refused to see reason regarding our arrows destroying the souls within the Hollows we slay. I was one of those who forced the Quincy Massacre to occur. The number of souls I killed with my arrows…" He shook his head and laughed lowly. That strange quality had gotten stronger, and sent shivers down Ichigo's spine. "And it turns out that neither side was right!"

"What?"

"Our arrows don't destroy their souls!" Haken cried out. "But neither do they become purified! No Hollow killed by a Quincy arrow returns to being a Plus soul and sent on to the afterlife!"

"Then what happens to them?" Ichigo had a sinking feeling that he knew the answer.

"You wanted to know my sin, boy?" Haken laughed again, and now Ichigo could recognize the madness in his eyes. "My sin was not forgiving the dead for that which they are not at fault! My sin was damning them all! Because every Hollow cut down by a Quincy, and all the souls they consumed, end up here in Hell! Every last soul comes here to Hell, to stay!"