//------------------------------//
// Substitute: Menos Grande 
// Story: Bleach: Heart of a Hero 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

Despite the fact that he was carrying Chad, and thus had to lower his speed to make sure nothing happened to Ichigo's friend, Sombra was able to make good progress as he flew over Karakura Town and eventually touched down outside Kisuke's shop. It was there that he found Rukia, who must have come here to talk with Kisuke about her phone and whatever else was bothering her, maybe even to find out what a Quincy was for herself, standing in the middle of the aisle with her phone in her head, though the shocked look on her face told him everything. Soul Society must have picked up on the fact that there were a number of Hollows around the town and were sending her orders to take care of them, since that was her job, though the sheer number of targets that her phone was detecting must have really stunned her, as she barely noticed Sombra as he walked into the shop with Chad. A few moments later Tessai carried Chad off to a room where he could rest and heal from his battle with the Hollow that had attacked him, though at the same time Sombra stood nearby and told Kisuke what was happening.

He made sure to tell Kisuke everything, not leaving out the fact that Uryu was behind the Hollows appearing all over the town, thanks to the anti-Hollow bait that he had been carrying on him, and described, to the best of his ability since he had been distracted at the time, the battle that Chad had been in. Kisuke, throughout the brief retelling of everything that Sombra had seen, kept the same straight face up the entire time, indicating that he was thinking about something, before a slight smile replaced him gloomy appearance. Rukia, on the other hand, was shocked at what Sombra had to say and, once he was done talking, she bolted for the door so she could try and find Ichigo, to see if there was a way to stop this before someone got hurt, to which Sombra sighed as she disappeared, as he wasn't about to chase her down and remind her that there wasn't much she could do in her present state. Not even a few seconds after Rukia charged out into the town Kisuke told him that he and the others would begin their preparations, for what Sombra had no idea, and that they would be ready in time for the main event, which only served to confuse Sombra more than he already was. In the end Sombra decided that he might as well just leave Kisuke to his business while he went out to deal with more of the Hollows that were responding to Uryu's bait... though before he left he found a reiatsu signature coming from where Orihime was, and it wasn't the power that he felt from Sora.

The moment he determined that Orihime was going to be the next target, thanks to Uryu, he apologized to Kisuke and headed outside the shop, to which he flashed into the air and started heading towards the high school, which was where Orihime's energy was coming from. Without carrying Chad around he was able to make even better progress than before, as he flew over the town and occasionally touched one of the roofs that were around him, though when he reached the high school he slowed down and descended towards the area that Orihime was in... where she, Tatsuki, and a student named Chizuru Honsho, if he was remembering it correctly, were sweeping up the scattered glass from some broken windows that were around them. Sure enough he found Sora standing nearby, keeping an eye on his sister, who was currently staring off into space with a slight frown on her face, though at the same time Sombra couldn't sense the Hollow he had felt moments ago, to which he walked over to the other Arrancar and faced the girls.

"Lord Sombra, is something wrong?" Sora asked, surprising Sombra for a moment, as he had no idea why the other Arrancar decided to call him 'Lord', nor did he understand why such a term, when spoken with his name attached to it, brought up a strange feeling of joy and pain, "I've felt a few Hollows enter this world, but before I can move to check them out something or someone takes them out and they disappear from my senses."

"Uryu Ishida, one of Orihime's classmates, is having a Hollow killing match with Ichigo," Sombra explained, though at the same time he decided to dismiss the strange feelings that he had felt when Sora called him 'Lord', as he was going to put a stop to that as well, "and I felt one of them in the immediate area around the high school, so I decided to come and see what was happening, as well as warn you that Hollows might be coming for your sister."

"I see." Sora said, to which a pained look appeared on his face, as he remembered when he had been a Hollow that was only following it's instincts, until his mask had been shattered and a new path had been revealed to him, before he sighed and looked over at his sister, "Thank you for telling me that she might be in danger. I'll do everything in my power, as an Arrancar, to protect her from the dangers that might come after her."

"You're welcome." Sombra stated, though as he turned to leave the area, since his work here was apparently already complete since the Hollow either moved on or had been destroyed by Uryu, he stopped in his tracks, as there was one thing he wanted to figure out before he left, "Hey Sora, why did you call me 'Lord' Sombra?"

"Well, you are the first Arrancar to call Karakura Town home, and you are the strongest of the two of us," Sora replied, though at the same time he had no idea why Sombra seemed a little put off by the word, as he was being respectful towards the one he considered his senior in every way, "I just felt that you might take offense to me, a weaker Arrancar, calling you anything other than 'Lord' when I was talking to you."

"Sora, I have no desire to rule over anything or anyone," Sombra said, as he had decided to snip this before it grew into an obsession for Orihime's brother, though at the same time he hoped that Sora understood what he was saying and took it to heart, "you don't have to call me 'Lord' whenever you talk with me. Using just my name is fine."

"I see. Then I shall endeavor to do just that." Sora stated, with a look of determination in his eyes, reminding Sombra of the night that he had been determined to take his own life, to protect both his sister and the other people that lived in the town, before the stranger had helped change his life around for the better.

Sombra nodded, pleased to find that his time wasn't wasted in this area, and turned to leave so he could take out some of the Hollows that were gathering some distance away from where he and Sora were standing, though as he got ready to leave he felt a shift in the air, one that Sora felt as well. Sombra glanced at the sky above them and watched as another large group of Hollows, roughly ten of them at least, were gathering in the air above the high school, though at the same time he knew who they had come for and found that, when he glanced over at Sora, the other Arrancar knew what was going on this time. Together the two of them raced towards the sky and drew their Zanpakutos, to which both of them avoided the incoming claws and tentacles that were coming their way while hacking the limbs apart, though at the same time Sombra made sure to cut the masks apart when an opening revealed itself. Sora, not having very much skill in actually fighting Hollows, followed his led and tried to mimic his actions to the best of his ability, though from time to time Sombra heard the sound of a Hollow scoring a lucky hit and hurt Sora in the process... but he couldn't assist him, not when the number of Hollows was starting to increase around him and he found that they were all focused on him and Sora, just like the group that had stopped him from assisting Chad earlier.

As the two of them started to deal with the Hollows, and purified them, Sombra noticed that Tatsuki and Chizuru were arguing over something and that Orihime's excuse was that she wanted to get the job done so she could go home and watched something on her television... though as she tried to get her friends out of the area, however, it was Tatsuki that broke rank, which was followed by Sombra spotting the jellyfish looking Hollow, with six appendages, that was how above where she was standing.

Sora, seeing that his sister was now in danger, tried to bypass the Hollows that were attacking him, but at the same time his opponents refused to let him leave the area and kept him up in the sky with Sombra, essentially forcing them to pick when they wanted to attack as they waited for an opening to reveal itself. As they were doing that, and Sombra dodged the incoming claw before splitting the Hollow that attacked him in half, the Hollow that was below them started firing seeds from it's mask, one of which hit Chizuru in the shoulder and left some green liquid on her shirt. It was in that moment that Sombra noticed something odd about the Hollows, they were actually attacking to kill them, like all of the ones before Uryu scattered the bait he had been holding, but rather they seemed to be following the orders of a superior being, one that wanted them to stay away from Orihime and let her suffer through whatever was going to happen. This was further confirmed when the Hollows that were attacking him paused when they saw that he was standing still, though he assumed that they would attack again if he moved towards Orihime... to which he cursed the fact that he wasn't as fast as Yoruichi was, otherwise he would have gotten around these Hollows and been at her side, though right now he guessed that he and Sora were being reduced to observers, as much as he hated that thought.

In the following seconds Chizuru got up and everything seemed to be find, until her left arm moved on it's own and grabbed Orihime's arm, painfully moving it in the process, while at the same time Orihime turned towards the Hollow that had done this and asked what was going on. Sombra learned, in that moment, that the seeds that the Hollow had fired from it's mask allowed it to control it's target's bodies, indicating that it wasn't much of a fighter like most of the Hollows he had taken care of so far, and that it loved to make Humans fight each other. That was when the Hollow revealed that it had some of the other students under it's control and sent them at Orihime and Chizuru, only for Tatsuki to join in and start beating the daylights out of the students that were trying to get at her friends. Of course things immediately went wrong when the Hollow forced Chizuru to stop holding Orihime, who the other students grabbed onto, and surprised Tatsuki, which was when the jellyfish Hollow hit her with one of it's seed in the shoulder as well... though when the Hollow landed beside her, to taunt her, Tatsuki did something that Sombra wasn't expecting, she stood up and bit into the appendage that the Hollow was using to touch the side of her face, causing pain to shoot through the Hollow's body.

"That's... an interesting tactic." Sombra commented, where he rested one of his hands around his chin, making it look like he was thinking about something, while also sheathing his sword so he could watch the fight unfold, to which Sora, finding that the Hollows wouldn't attack them if they stood still, did the same thing and floated beside him... though he knew that Sora didn't like this one bit, which he had to agree with, as that was why he was actually studying the Hollows and looking for a path they could take to get down to Orihime.

Not a few seconds later the Hollow, deciding that Tatsuki wasn't worth controlling since she was resisting it, shot three more seeds into her body and knocked her to the ground, causing Orihime to free herself from the students that were holding onto her and run towards her fallen friend... only for Tatsuki, her body now seized by the Hollow, to kick her in the chest and caused her to fall to the ground, while her body got up as well. Sora looked ready to destroy something the moment his sister was hit, but Sombra held up a hand and stopped him, because Orihime's reiatsu had increased quite a bit as she reached some truth that only she knew, though that was before he noticed that her hairpins were starting to glow on their own. That was followed by the wind picking up and shrouding her as her hairpins became active, or at least that was what he assumed was going on, and even the Hollows that had gathered around him and Sora were looking down at the battle that was happening below them... but even though the perfect opportunity had appeared, as their foes were distracted, Sombra found that he no longer desired to interfere with this fight, so he crossed his arms and continued to observe the fight.

"Tatsuki said that you chose the wrong person to pick a fight with." Orihime said, her silhouette appearing in the tempest that had formed around her, though at the same time her opponent stood there in shock as the students were blown away from where she was standing, "But that's not it. You chose the wrong person to hurt. I won't forgive anyone that hurts Tatsuki!"

As the wind and smoke cleared Sombra raised an eyebrow, because at first he didn't see anything that was different about Orihime, as Chad had an armored arm when he was fighting his Hollow, but that was before he spotted what appeared to be six different styled creatures, all about the size of a hand, flying around Orihime like fairies... and yet, when he observed them, he could tell that when they were flying they looked like projectiles of some kind. As the Hollow made a comment on Orihime's strange power she seemed confused as to what was going on, only for one of the fairies to land on her shoulder and smile at her, before floating in the air as the other five came close to her as well, where the female looking fairy introduced them as the Six Flowers of the Hibiscus Shield. That caught Sombra's attention, as it appeared that Orihime's power was to put up shields and reject things, which required her to speak certain phrases so they knew exactly what they were doing, though one of the six seemed to know exactly what needed to be said to get the job done and proceeded to coach Orihime as the Hollow launched a cluster of seeds at her.

"Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily," Orihime repeated, naming three of the six fairies that were around her, to which the three named ones readied themselves for what they were about to do, while she learned the rest of the incantation that she was being taught, "Santan Kesshun! I reject!"

It was in the following moment that the three named fairies turned back into their projectile nature and flew forward, where they formed a upside down triangle in front of Orihime and a shield of sorts, in the shape of the same triangle that the fairies had made, formed between them, protecting her from any sort of damage in the process. The same fairy explained that the power of those three was to reject anything that was outside the shield, protecting her from harm in the process, and went on to explain that the power that she and a second fairy commanded was the power to reject things that were inside a shield, restoring damaged objects to a state before they were damaged. In the moment after that information was dropped Orihime called out 'Shun'ou, Ayame, Soten Kisshun! I reject!' and the two fairies formed an oval shield that completely covered Tatsuki, where the damage she had taken was reversed before their very eyes, much to both Sombra and Sora's surprise. Before Orihime could get distracted the final fairy, the one that wouldn't let Orihime understand where the six of them had come from and seemed like a brat, revealed that he had the power to reject both sides of the shield, meaning that he could split his foes in half... which was followed by Orihime declaring 'Tsubaki, Koten Zanshun! I reject!' and the fairy turned into it's projectile form and flew forward with some reiatsu gathered around it, where it struck the Hollow square in the head and cleaved it in half, purifying it somehow.

As Sombra stood there, with shock written all over his face at the astonishing power that Orihime, a Human, had inside her, the Hollows that were around him and Sora headed towards the sky and disappeared as quickly as they had appeared, allowing them to move once more... to which he remained where he was while Sora went down to check on his beloved sister, as he was surprised by what he had just seen, as Chad's power didn't compare to this. Once the Hollow was no more Orihime collapsed as Sora landed beside his sister, where he smiled and said that he was proud of her, but at the same time Sombra knew that she was exhausted from her ordeal, to which he called for Sora to carry her so he could take them to the Urahara Shop, and he made sure that Sora collected his sister's hairpins as well. It didn't take them long to reach the shop, as Sora moved faster than what Sombra was expecting, though he should have expected some good speed since his sister was exhausted, though when they arrived at the shop he found Kisuke waiting for them... though the disappointed look that the store manager gave him, when he noticed Sora standing behind him, told Sombra that he'd be talked to about lying about something, but for now Kisuke didn't press the issue as they brought Orihime to where Chad was resting at the moment.

What Sombra wasn't expecting, however, was for both of the Humans to move again, especially a few moments after they had set Orihime down near Chad, though as Sora decided to stay behind, and make sure his sister was alright, Sombra excused himself and departed from the shop... because right now he wanted to find Ichigo so they could bring an end to what Uryu had unleashed upon Karakura Town, as the number of spots that the Hollows were coming through was increasing and there appeared to be no end in sight. He was sure that some of them were being drawn to the town by the bait that Uryu had broken, as that was it's purpose after all, and some of them must have been pulled by Ichigo's reiatsu, just like the first few instances that he faced, though that didn't explain the ones that went after him and Sora. He was still convinced that the robed stranger was behind the Hollows attacking him, how he wasn't sure, but if that was the case he needed to be careful about how he moved through the town, though it wasn't hard to find the direction that Ichigo was in, not with his extraordinary power pulling him right towards his destination.

Thanks to his speed, and the fact that it was easy to find Ichigo, Sombra soon reached the area that his friends were gathered in, because he found Kon, Rukia, and Ichigo standing near Uryu, though it looked like another Hollow had been purified moments before his arrival, but he pushed that to the back of his mind as he landed next to them.

"You finally caught up with us, Sombra." Ichigo said, to which he smiled for a moment, because he felt better now that the Arrancar was by his side again, especially after Kon told him that both Karin and Yuzu were safe, before he turned his attention back to Uryu, "Good timing, I was getting ready to beat the daylights out of Uryu for the mess he's created."

Uryu, however, responded by engaging his bow and pointed the arrow right at Ichigo, which was because a Hollow crashed on the ground behind Ichigo and prepared to strike him, though when Ichigo turned around to face the creature Uryu accidentally released the arrow and let it fly at Ichigo's head. Ichigo then turned around and swung his sword, where he smashed the arrow into pieces, before he turned around again and cleaved the Hollow in half, purifying the soul that was hidden behind the mask, which only caused him to turn back towards Uryu once more.

"That's right, you do understand." Ichigo commented, taking the fact that the arrow had come towards him to be some sort of challenge from Uryu, who was simply staring at him with a look of shock on his face, while at the same time pointing at himself for a moment, "This fight is between you and me. So quit talking about who took down more Hollows! Let's settle it between the two of us."

"Hey, Ichigo." Kon said, interrupting what was going on, as he, Sombra, and Uryu were focused on something else at the moment, because their eyes were on the sky that was off in the distance, something that Ichigo hadn't noticed since he was busy talking to Uryu.

"What? I'm a little busy he..." Ichigo started to say, but when he noticed the look on Sombra's face, as he was more focused on whatever Kon and the others were staring at, he knew that something was up and that he needed to turn his attention to something else, to which he turned and looked in the direction that they were looking in, where he found a large number of Hollows gathered in a single spot, "What's going on?"

"The Hollows... they're gathering in a single spot." Uryu stated, though the look on his face told anyone that was looking at him that this wasn't a good thing, even if he himself might not know what was going on at the moment, but at the same time he was focused on something else.

Sombra glanced at Uryu as he charged forward, only for Ichigo to stop him with a comment about how may Hollows there were, in the sense that one person couldn't take out that many enemies by themselves, before Uryu asked him if he was scared about the number of foes and then declared that victory would be his... though as he headed up to the top of the stairs, and started firing at the Hollows, Rukia explained the situation to Ichigo while Sombra, already having heard this from Kisuke, drew his sword and started dicing the Hollows apart while Uryu worked. What he discovered was that there were a large number of Hollows in the area, where the majority of them gathering together around the strange crack in the sky, though while he targeted those ones he also noticed a large group of them were standing around Uryu, who was slaying them as quickly as he could. Sombra could tell, from just a glance, that Uryu was pushing himself too far for this challenge, as some of his fingers were bleeding from constantly pulling on the arrows and loosing them at his targets, but it seemed that the pain was the last thing on his mind at the moment, as he was concentrating on the Hollows that were around him and Sombra did the same thing.

What worried Sombra was that he flashed around the area and cut down fifteen Hollows in a row, and he counted them because he was curious as to how many there were, only for fifteen new ones to suddenly join the battle that was raging around them... though as he dodged the attacks that were coming his way he spotted Ichigo charging towards Uryu, where he hacked and slashed his way through the Hollows until he was standing near Uryu once more.

"Uryu, I heard your reason for fighting," Ichigo said, though at the same time he stood on top of a pile of Hollows with a triumphant look on his face, but while Sombra saw that he also noticed that he was serious, which was good considering that they needed to be ready for anything, "Whether the Shinigami are right, or the Quincys are right, I dunno about all that and I don't mean to say that I'm one way or the other... but there is one thing I know, your way is..."

"That's ancient history." Uryu stated, though as he turned towards Ichigo, and turned his focus away from the Hollows that were around them, which Sombra noticed were simply observing them, he simply pushed his glasses into pack into place as Ichigo frowned for a moment, as he was caught off guard by Uryu's uncaring attitude towards the Quincys that were killed all those years ago, "I have no interest in the extermination two hundred years ago. I've only heard about that event from Sensei's stories. In fact, as far as that story goes, I even feel that the Shinigami's side was more just than the Quincy's side was... until my Sensei died right before my very eyes. Furthermore, I believe that the Quincy's were wrong for turning a deaf ear to what the Shinigami were trying to tell them."

Uryu seemed to pause for a moment, as if he was thinking about something, but at the same time both Sombra and Ichigo looked at each other for a few seconds, as both of them were caught off guard by how uncaring Uryu was towards the Quincy's that the Shinigami were forced to kill, since they were a danger to the entire world being destroyed... but before they did anything Uryu seemed to snap out of his memories and stared at the two of them again, where Sombra found his calculating eyes were focused on Ichigo once more.

"Sensei was a kind person that didn't hate or despise anyone!" Uryu stated, to which he raised his bow and pointed it in Ichigo's direction, with an arrow ready to be fired at a moment's notice when Sombra noticed his other hand was pulled back, before he loosed the arrow at a white skinned Hollow with black stripes, "As the Last Quincy, Sensei was under strict observation by the Shinigami... and yet, he continued to appeal to them, to combine our strengths and fight together. But the answer was always the same: Don't interfere with our work. Then, on that fateful day, five huge Hollows appeared. It was obvious that he couldn't fight them alone, not without assistance from the Shinigami... but when they finally arrived, to offer some aid, it had been two whole hours since he started fighting and it was too late to help him. If they had only recognized his power, his ideas, they would have come to help sooner... and then Sensei wouldn't have died like he did! Can you understand my words, Ichigo Kurosaki? I must prove the power of the Quincys before the eyes of the Shinigami no matter what!"

Uryu stood there for a second or two, staring at Ichigo's face, which still had the same frown that he had been wearing since the moment he started talking, before sighing as he turned around and faced the Hollows that were behind him, while at the same time finding it odd that they had simply been observing them, which was something to look into later since this was new to him.

"I know our ideals are completely opposite." Uryu said, not even bothering to look back at Ichigo, who was frowning at him, or even taking a moment to look to his left, where Ichigo's mysterious friend was standing, as he was now focused on his mission once more and readied another arrow as he sought out a target, "If either of you think I'm mistake, then stand where you're currently standing and watch me. With my own power, I'll..."

It was in that moment that Ichigo, who was frustrated with Uryu, rushed forward and kicked Uryu in the back of the head, though while Uryu was surprised by the sudden attack, and Sombra wasn't too surprised as he noticed that some of the Hollows were caught off guard as well, Ichigo stood there and stared at Uryu for a few seconds.

"When are you going to shut up?" Ichigo asked, though as Uryu got up, and started to demand what he thought he was doing, Ichigo stabbed his Zanpakuto into the ground and glared at Uryu, in the same manner that Sombra recognized from when he beat up those teenagers over the spilled flower vase earlier, "What you said makes no sense. Basically, your Sensei's hope wasn't to make the Shinigami recognize the powers that he and the other Quincys possessed, but to combine our strengths and fight together, right?! In that case, if you don't do that now, when the Hell are you going to?"

Sombra smiled as Ichigo pulled Uryu to his feet and stood with his back to the Quincy's back, while at the same time opening up a slot for a third person to stand near them, which was when he flashed down and joined his friend, who pulled his sword from the ground and readied himself.

"Ichigo's right," Sombra said, to which he readied himself as well, as he knew that this fight was far from over, because there were a lot more Hollows than there had been when Uryu and Ichigo started talking to each other and knew that it would take all three of them, working together, to stop them, "in a battle such as this, where we are faced with such overwhelming odds, the best thing we can do is fight back to back and combine our strengths."

"Creature that follows Kurosaki around," Uryu spoke up, as while part of his voice revealed that he was surprised by the fact that both of them wanted to work together with him, after both of them had been angry with him for using the bait in the first place, the other part of his voice indicated that he was curious about something, "might I ask you what your name is?"

"First off, I'm not a creature, I'm an Arrancar," Sombra replied, though at the same time he was pleased to hear that Uryu was at least willing to work with them, at least that was what he assumed based on the Quincy's voice, before he turned towards the Hollows that were getting ready to attack them, "and secondly, my name is Sombra. It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Uryu Ishida."

Uryu wasn't surprised that the creature, Sombra as he called himself, knew his name, since he had introduced himself to him when he confronted Ichigo and Rukia, but at the same time he knew that his questions about who he was and what he was would have to wait, as there were Hollows to defeat and he loosed the first arrow that signified the start of their assault. As the three of them stayed close to each other, where Ichigo and Uryu exchanged turns taking out the Hollows that were charging at them, and Sombra used his Shunpo training to their advantage, all three of them glanced at the crack that was in the middle of the air nearby, as that was the only thing that truly worried them at the moment. As they fought the Hollows Sombra overheard Uryu stating that he wasn't doing this because of what he and Ichigo had said, rather it was because he would have been killed if he didn't fire at the Hollows he had killed, though Sombra smiled when Ichigo said it was just fine, as kill or be killed was more than enough for him at the moment. Then it got personal for a moment, as Ichigo decided to tell Uryu the reason that he wanted to defeat Hollows instead of outright killing them like the Quincys did... and that was because his mother was killed by a Hollow, where Sombra noticed that this specific piece of information was enough to shock Uryu for a moment.

When Ichigo said that he didn't want to create more people like him and his family, who were all sad in their own ways and suffered because of his mother's passing, Sombra noticed a faint light appear in Uryu's eyes, no doubt because Ichigo's words reminded him of something that his Sensei had told him... though that was when Sombra smiled, as the next words that Ichigo spoke were the same words that Rukia had told him the first day he was a Shinigami, that he had to protect others and not just those that were dear to him.

As Sombra started to flash around the battlefield that was around them he couldn't help but smile, as despite their differences and their individual beliefs both Ichigo and Uryu understood each other completely, even with Uryu making a comment on not knowing when Ichigo was going to shut up, before they started attacking the Hollows around them once more. He was sure that this was good news, as both of them, while swearing to protect the people of Karakura Town in their own ways, were agreeing to focus on protecting the people that shared the town with them and actually put the contest behind them, as there were too many Hollows for such a thing to matter anymore. At the same time he was sure that, when Rukia heard the news, that she would be overjoyed to learn that Ichigo had taken to his role as a Substitute Shinigami and had accepted everything she had been trying to teach him since he took her powers, even going so far as to be on friendly terms with the local Quincy.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the sound of something breaking and looked towards the crack in the sky, which was now much larger than it had been moments ago and knew that something was wrong, especially since he was sure that the situation was going to change.

"Ichigo, Uryu!" Sombra said, turning to look at the duo that was fighting Hollows at the moment, though when they stopped, and the Hollows paused as well, he could see a look of shock appear on Uryu's face and an unsure look replace Ichigo's frown, as he wasn't sure what was happening at the moment, "Something's happening to the sky."

"Yeah, we can see that." Ichgio replied, though he was fortunate that these Hollows were being polite enough to wait for them to stop talking before they attacked again, otherwise he was sure that they would have been walking away with more cuts and bruises than they normally did, "The question is, what is what?"

The moment Ichigo said that two large white hands, with large nails that were sharp on all of the fingers, grabbed two sides of the cracked sky and started to pull them apart, like someone was pulling a curtain or something, before a massive Hollow, whose mask was larger than any Sombra had seen before and had an elongated nose, moved it's head into view as it looked out at the area around it. This time around all three of them were shocked by the arrival of such a creature, as none of them had seen anything like it, and yet, in the background, Sombra could hear a shocked Kon gasp as he saw the creature and heard the terrified part of Rukia's voice as she identified the creature as a 'Menos'. From what Sombra heard, as she was explaining all this to Kon for some reason, a Menos was supposed to be created when hundreds of Hollows pile on top of each other and intermingle, before referring to the Hollow by another name, Menos Grande. At the same time, while he was listening to what Rukia was saying, Sombra heard Uryu state that it was impossible for the bait to have called something this massive to Karakura Town... though, at the same time, that only confirmed Sombra's beliefs further, that someone else was behind part of what was going on at the moment.

This time around the Hollows changed tactics, as if the Menos Grande's arrival was a signal of some kind, and readied themselves and they prepared to attack the trio, though that was followed by Ururu appearing with some sort of projectile based weapon, that punched holes in her targets, Jinta used his massive metal bat to beat his targets, and Tessai used his hands to pretty much erase a Hollow's head... and, as Sombra expected, Kisuke was standing nearby with a smile on his face, showing that he was pleased with what was going on, even if the town was in danger.

"Kurosaki-san, we came to assist you and Sombra." Kisuke said, though that was followed by the trio that had accompanied him continuing their assault, turning the tide against the Hollows that were around them, while at the same time both Ichigo and Uryu stared at him with a look of shock on their faces, while Sombra smiled, "We'll take the small fry, so you two can focus on fighting him."

Sombra glanced at the Menos Grande that was slowly pulling it's way into the World of the Living, where he found that it was easily sixty feet tall, was wearing a black covering that looked like a cloak, and around it's neck was a series of white spikes that were level with each other. It was a menacing looking creature, that much Sombra knew from seeing it for the first time, and yet, to keep the town and it's people safe, he, Ichigo, and Uryu needed to work together to find some way to take care of the Menos Grande before it destroyed something or killed someone.

"How insanely huge." Uryu commented, where he adjusted his glasses for a moment, because for the moment it appeared that he was the brains of the group, at least between him and Ichigo since he had no idea about Sombra, and someone needed to come up with a plan for them to use to take the creature down, which was why he was currently observing the massive creature.

"Yeah, it's taller than anything I've seen so far." Sombra admitted, though at the same time he tightened his grip on his Zanpakuto, as he knew that it was only a matter of time until they had to engage the Menos Grande and was looking for any weaknesses they might be able to use when that happened, but for now he wasn't seeing anything that would allow them to bring down the Hollow in a timely fashion.

"There's no point in trying to come up with a plan to fight a monster like that," Ichigo said, to which both Sombra and Uryu looked at him for a moment, because both of them thought that he had lost his mind, as this wasn't something that someone attacked without a plan, especially since Sombra also heard Rukia tell Kon that this wasn't something that a Shinigami fought alone, to which he lifted his sword into the air for a moment, "Things like that you just slice and dice and cut it down as best as you can. There's nothing else we can do! Now then, Sombra, Uryu, follow me!"

Before either Sombra or Uryu could react, as they were still surprised that Ichigo was acting the way he was, Ichigo charged forward and rushed towards where the Menos Grande was entering the World of the Living, forcing both of them to follow after Ichigo while Rukia, who tried to stop them from attacking the Menos Grande, was restrained by a binding spell and was forced to watch what was happening. Ichigo, reaching the area that the Menos Grande was stepping into, jumped up and swung his Zanpakuto at the creature's shin, only to find that it barely went into the creature's skin, before he was knocked backwards by the Menos Grande moving it's leg and fully entering the world. Sombra, using his speed, caught Ichigo after he hit the ground once and bounced off the ground, though as he landed near Uryu, however, the Quincy readied an arrow and loosed it at their opponent's face, where it simply hit the side of it's mask and did next to nothing, which caused Uryu to growl in annoyance.

"Ichigo, are you alright?" Sombra asked, as he knew that there were times, since he had first been introduced to the Human turned Substitute Shinigami, where Ichigo could be a little reckless, though this time around he wasn't thinking about the creature that they were fighting and had likely gotten himself hurt in the process.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ichigo replied, though at the same time he felt his forehead and withdrew his hand, where he discovered blood on his fingers and knew that, from hitting his head on the ground, that it was his fault that he had been injured in such a manner.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Uryu demanded, as this wasn't the time for them to be doing stupid things like this, as it was clear that none of them had seen a creature like this before and had no plan for dealing with it, though he was more upset over Ichigo rushing in without thinking than he was about him getting hurt, "How did you intend to beat a creature like this with that attack?"

"I thought that if I could cut it away, piece by piece from the feet up, the head would come down," Ichgio explained, to which Uryu let out a sigh that indicated that he was annoyed with Ichigo and Sombra, who had known him for such a short period of time, brought his empty palm to his face, as he couldn't believe what was happening, "like a kid's game."

"Your brain must have been constructed unbelievably wrong." Uryu stated, to which he knelt beside Ichigo while both he and Sombra glanced up at the Menos Grande for a moment, clearly showing that at least one of them was trying to form a plan in their minds about what they could do to defeat it, "Now get up, let's form a new plan an..."

Uryu had intended to touch the blade that Ichigo was carrying and get him back on his feet, that had been the plan, but the moment he touched the weapon he felt a surge of power rush into his body and his bow immediately rapidly increased in size, where he was sure that he caught it vibrating under the sheer power he was feeling. As he thought about what this meant for them, as he now had a clear method to actually deal some sort of damage to the Menos Grande that was starting to make it's way towards them, Sombra turned his head and looked at him with shock written all over his face, as he had no idea what was going on. When Ichigo noticed Uryu's bow, however, he was equally shocked by what he was seeing, though his shock turned to annoyance when Uryu revealed that the best way for them to tackle the Menos Grande was to tie the handle of his sword to Uryu's head, with Ichigo touching the handle so he could channel his power into Uryu and unleash a powerful attack in an instant. Sombra felt that it was a decent plan, and it went along with the fact that they both wanted to join their strength together to defeat a common enemy... but just as Ichigo let go of the handle, and started to say something about how stupid this plan was, all three of them felt the air shudder for a moment.

Sombra, flashing into the sky for a moment, could only stare in shock as a second crack formed not too far away from where they were standing, one that they must have missed when the Menos Grande revealed itself, as it was in the stages of another Menos Grande breaking free... and, if that wasn't bad enough, the first one had grown tired of Ichigo and Uryu arguing, as it was starting to gather it's spiritual energy into a spot in front of it's mouth, forming a small sphere of some kind that had four spinning particles surrounding it. As the first Menos Grande charged it's attack, as Sombra was sure that it was an attack, Sombra heard Rukia mention that this particular attack was a Cero, something that she was surprised to see happening and even called out for both Ichigo and Uryu to run before they were caught in the blast. Sombra would have flashed over to them and moved them out of the way, so they could fight the creature without getting caught in the process, but the one that was near him was starting to do the same thing, only as Sombra followed the creature's gaze he found that he was the Menos Grande's target... which only made him wonder if this was a simple coincidence or if the robed stranger was behind all of this.

Even from this distance Sombra could tell that Ichigo was slightly terrified of the situation that was happening all around them, Rukia continued to call out for them to flee before they were erased from existence, and Uryu was having a hard time believing that this was even happening, as this wasn't what he intended when he broke that piece of bait earlier, when he challenged Ichigo. As Uryu finally regained himself, and turned towards the man beside him, Ichigo grabbed his weapon from where it was resting and charged at the Menos Grande that was close to them, causing Sombra to stare at this in shock, as he was sure that Ichigo had finally lost his mind or something. The next thing that happened was that the first Menos Grande stopped charging the attack when Ichigo got close and opened it's mouth, to which a beam of energy erupted form it's mouth and raced down towards a shocked Ichigo, who raised his sword and let the attack hit the side of it while he reached deep down into the core of his being. Uryu was knocked back by the force of the Cero hitting Ichigo's blade, and even Sombra had to take a step back in the process, but both of them stared at Ichigo in amazement as he reached for his inner power, the same one that Uryu had asked him to harness for the destructive arrow he had planned to use against their opponent.

The air around them vibrated as the two conflicting powers battled each other for a few moments, with neither of them seeing to gain any ground, though that was before Ichigo shifted his stance and swung his sword diagonally upwards for a moment, resulting in the Cero being cancelled out and a wave of energy lashed out at the Menos Grande that he was fighting. That left a gash in the creature that went all the way from the base of it's clock and raced up towards the area that was near it's mask, diagonally like Ichigo's swing was, and the Menos roared in shock for a few seconds, clearly caught off guard by what was happening, while Ichigo stood there with a triumphant look on his face, while at the same time everyone else experienced a shockwave of sorts from what he had just done. That was followed by his opponent taking a few steps back before it was near the crack that it had used to enter this world, to which it pulled on the sides of the crack and pulled on them like curtains as it disappeared back into the world it had come from, likely Hueco Mundo, though Ichigo stood there and smiled at his victory. Of course the victory was short lived as Ichigo fell to the ground and his sword started to deform, like his power was going crazy and was about to explode or something, to which Uryu did the best thing he could think of and placed a foot on the weapon... to which his bow snapped open, even larger than before, and, as his arm was cut in the process, he started to loose arrows containing Ichigo's energy into the sky, to prevent him from dying so they could beat each other up later on.

While all this was happening, however, Sombra had one last problem to take care of before the contest was officially over, he had a second Menos to take care of, one that was now turning it's head towards both Ichigo and Uryu, as if it was going to try and stop them. Sombra growled in annoyance as he sheathed his Zanpakuto and moved between the Menos and the others, as he wasn't actually sure if he could replicate what Ichigo had done, though as he moved in the way of where the blast was going to go he noticed something standing near the second Menos, or rather someone. Standing close to where the second Menos was located was the robed stranger from earlier, immediately confirming everything he had thought about since this contest had started, though before he could do anything the stranger waved a hand and the second Menos loosed it's Cero right at Sombra. Since it was a decision between taking the attack, letting it vaporize Ichigo and Uryu, or letting it hit the town and kill who knew how many people in the process, Sombra braced himself and raised his hands as the blast barreled into his body, surrounding him in the Menos' energy as he kept it from going by him. He knew that the Cero would have been strong, as it was able to keep Ichigo at bay, but his opponent had a few more moments to charge it's attack and it was really showing, as Sombra could feel the energy cutting into different areas all over his body and causing pain at the same time... and yet, despite that fact, he pushed himself to keep the blast from reaching his friends and the people of the town that were directly behind him.

A few moments later, however, Sombra pushed back against the Cero and, to his surprise, shattered it with his own energy, though instead of wasting time, as he was already starting to feel slightly weak from the number of cuts the attack had inflicted on his body, and the top part of his clothing appeared to have been ruined by the attack, he raised his right hand and leveled it with the Menos. Now that he had seen how they used the Cero attack, twice he mentally reflected, he wondered if he, an evolved Hollow, could do the same thing that a Menos Grande did, to which he focused his own spiritual energy and a sphere of energy, entirely black colored for some reason, formed with four strands of energy being pulled into it's center.

"Eat this!" Sombra shouted, to which he rested his left hand on his right arm, to brace himself as best he could, and launched the energy the moment it was only the sphere remaining, to which a beam of pure black energy surged through the air and struck the Menos square in the forehead.

The resulting collision ended in the Menos' head being erased from existence, causing the body to fall to the ground and disappear like it had never existed, though as Sombra staggered, as both his wounds and the successful Cero attack had drained him more than he was willing to admit, he looked for the robed stranger and found that it had disappeared from the area once more. Sombra floated there for a moment, just as Ichigo and Uryu were tended to by Tessai and the others, before he floated down to the ground and fell to his knees, as his body was in more pain that he had been in, more than when he had been training with Kisuke and Yoruichi. He huffed for a few seconds, trying to work based the headache that the pain had brought on, until he collapsed on the ground and his body refused to move for some odd reason, where he eventually closed his eyes and tried to make the pain go away in a different manner. He was barely aware of the sounds of the others being moved out of the area, to head home while Kisuke tended to him, though when someone lifted him up he could have sworn that he heard Yoruich's voice for a moment, but in his current state he wasn't sure what was even going on anymore... and, at the same time, he barely noticed as he was carried away from the battlefield and was taken someplace where he could rest.

The only things he remembered, before actually passing out entirely, was the feeling of being submerged in water, where he could float, his head resting on someone's chest as they cleared the cuts and burns from his face, and the sound of Yoruichi's voice as she said that he'd be better in no time... and then he slipped into unconsciousness as he finally succumbed to his injuries.