Maw of the Void

Upon reaching Urahara's place, Ohta's group found Tessai waiting outside for them, the burly, mustachioed man revealing, "Everyone else is already inside. Please, follow me."

Though they already knew the way, everyone followed behind Tessai as he led them to the underground study chamber. There, they found Ichigo, Chad, and Uryu waiting for them, the former huffing, "It's about time you guys showed up..." with a pouty yet determined look on his face.

"You could have gone alone," retorted Ohta. "So could I. The reason we're going together is to better your sister's chances. Now, let's get this show on the road."

With nearly everyone turning their attention to him, Kisuke rose to his feet with the unnecessary help of his cane, his usual smile nowhere to be seen as he said, "Just like last time, you're only going to have one shot at this. Make it count." before leaping up to one of two wooden posts sticking out of a pair of similarly sized rock formations.

Tapping his cane against the post, Kisuke chanted, "In my right hand, the stone that connects the worlds. In my left hand, the blade that binds all existence. The black-haired shepherd. The chair of the noose. I strike the ibis when the clouds gather...!"

As Kisuke spoke his chant, the space between the two wooden posts began to twist and distort, eventually opening like a mouth or a large eye, accompanied by a powerful reverberation that shook everyone present to their cores.

Almost exclusively for the uninformed Ichigo's sake, Kisuke explained, "This is the Garganta, the 'throat' Arrancar use to trespass other worlds. Unlike the Senkaimon, there is no pathway or solid ground beyond here, only a chaos of temporal distortions and Reishi. You'll each need to create a path using that Reishi if you want to avoid falling for eternity. Now, any last-minute questions before you go? I also have a pen and paper if you want to leave behind a last will and testament."

"Just one thing..." said Ichigo, staring up at the mouth-like gateway as he said, "If we don't make it back, apologize to everyone for me. I know this is incredibly selfish, but..."

Interrupting Ichigo's solemn remark, Ohta slapped the former's shoulder, saying, "You talk too much..." before taking the initiative to leap into the Garganta, giving everyone else present a very limited time to follow. As a result, Ichigo had little choice but to discard his apprehensions, shouting, "Let's go...!" with a resolute expression before leaping into the Garganta alongside everyone else...

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"I swear, everything you do pisses me off..." groaned Ichigo, staring at Ohta as he sat with his legs crossed, Rukia and Orihime seated atop his lap as they floated effortlessly through the void.

Though he didn't say anything, the look on Renji's conveyed he wasn't particularly enthused by the present situation either. Ohta could easily use his psychic power to carry everyone through the Garganta, but he refused since he hadn't 'made' them come and didn't want to waste his energy.

Bringing a smile to Ohta's face, Rukia retorted, "Stop whining and stay focused. If you slip and fall, you're going to feel like an idiot when Ohta has to rescue you."

Though she truthfully felt a little guilty about everyone else being forced to run, Rukia knew they were putting a burden on Ohta just by wanting to come along. She also didn't like when others spoke ill of him 'unprovoked,' so she gave both Ichigo and Renji the stink eye for glaring at Ohta like he was doing something wrong by carrying them.

Clicking their tongues simultaneously, Ichigo and Renji looked like they wanted to retort but promptly decided against it. Instead, they sped up their momentum, barreling toward the darkest point in the void until they burst through an invisible membrane that happened to be a solid wall in the spiritual world of Hueco Mundo.

While everyone got their bearings, Ichigo asked, "This is Hueco Mundo? I kind of expected a wasteland filled with skeletons and stray bones..."

"If we can't find any, there's always the option of making some..." replied Ohta, turning his head toward the sound of something large approaching them from one end of the corridor.

"Me can smell yooooooooooou~" said a creepy, dull-sounding voice as a massive figure with dreadlocks and a bone mask covering the upper half of his face contorted his body to fit through the corridor, crawling through it like a demon in a cheap ghost flick.

"What the hell is that thing!?" screamed Ichigo, prompting Uryu to grab the back of his Shihakusho as he shouted, "Worry about that later, you idiot! We need to run...!"

While Uryu's words prompted Ichigo, Chad, and Renji to begin running, Rukia and Orihime elected to stand their ground next to Ohta after seeing the calm yet intense look on his face. He hadn't come to Hueco Mundo to be chased around by a behemoth whose IQ could probably be counted on his fingers and toes, so he raised his right hand, releasing an invisible force that filled the entire corridor.

As the vaguely humanoid Arrancar crashed into his barrier, Ohta turned to Orihime and said, "Close your eyes or turn away..." in a faint tone. Instead, Orihime forced a resolute expression and replied, "I'm okay...I need to get used to things like this..."

Nodding in approval, Ohta waited for the chickenshit group to turn around and see what was going on before slowly closing his hand, forming it into a fist as the colossal Arrancar was reduced to a mangled spheroid of flesh and white clothing.

"Holy shit..." muttered Renji, having never before seen Ohta's 'patented' method of dealing with fodder. He hadn't thought the colossal Arrancar was a serious threat, but seeing Ohta compress a 15m behemoth into a sphere less than 3m across was jarring...

"Just what is your power...?" asked Ichigo. He had never seen Ohta using his powers for anything other than flying or strengthening his attacks, so he had no idea his former classmate was one of, if not the most powerful psychics in the world.

"Worry about understanding your power before concerning yourself with the powers of others," responded Ohta, flicking his finger to send the ball of flesh rolling in the opposite direction so they wouldn't have to see or smell it once the barrier around its body vanished.

Turning to face the orange-haired youth, Ohta added, "Let's go," before taking the initiative to lead at the front of the group, his movements slow but filled with purpose as he spread his senses through the area, ready to unleash his barely suppressed fury on anything foolish enough to try and bar his passage. Fortunately for Ichigo, Renji, Chad, and Uryu, Rukia soon caught up to him, using his previous comment about conserving energy to persuade him to allow her and the others to deal with the weaker enemies in his stead...

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After several minutes of traveling through what seemed to be a spiraling underground passageway, the group eventually found themselves at the entrance to a circular chamber more than 300m across and approximately 50m from floor to ceiling. A tall staircase could be seen at the other end of the room, causing Uryu to openly speculate, "Those stairs could be our ticket out of here...!" before entering the suspicious-looking room without an ounce of caution.

Turning his attention to Orihime, Ohta said, "Stay close to me..." in a faint but authoritative tone. He had barriers protecting both her and Rukia, but while the latter was nearing Captain levels in terms of strength, Orihime would struggle to become a Seated member in any Division outside the 4th, at least in terms of combat potential. Her healing and support were quickly reaching a league of their own.

Nodding her head, Orihime moved a little too close to Ohta, grabbing his sleeve and unintentionally pressing her right boob against his arm. The air in Hueco Mundo was contaminated with something Yoruichi referred to as the Aspect of Death, so Orihime, possessing an intrinsically pure Reiyroku, was more affected by the tense, pervasive atmosphere than anyone else in the rescue party...

Though he shook his head, Ohta didn't say anything or attempt to pull away from Orihime. Instead, he allowed her to cling to him as he looked to the ceiling just in time to see a gap open up, followed by an emaciated figure with four incredibly thin arms descending into the room to intercept Uryu's path. He had clothing that vaguely resembled the outfit worn by an Arrancar, but the only thing human about him was the left side of his face, revealing a section of pale white skin, a beady yellow eye, and ashen hair that spiked away from his scalp. The rest of his face was covered in what could best be described as a plague doctor's mask, comprised of a large beak with four spikes sticking out of his head and running down his back like spines.

"And just where do you think you're going...?" asked the incredibly weak-looking Arrancar, exuding smugness and arrogance despite the fact even Orihime should have no trouble killing him.

Sticking out his left hand as if he were blocking off the rest of the group, Uryu shouted, "Leave this one to me! You guys stand back...!"

Resisting the urge to rub his forehead and massage his temples, Ohta muttered, "Whatever..." before taking a seat atop a squishy membrane of psychic energy, surprising Orihime quite a bit as he pulled her to sit in his lap. His actions drew the attention of everyone but Uryu, but only Rukia dared to ask, "What's this...?" while poking the barely perceptible blob of psychic energy.

"It's a beanbag," replied Ohta, waving his hand to draw the diminutive Shinigami to join Orihime atop his left, sitting comfortably with his hands on the two girls' waists while Ichigo, Renji, and even Chad goggled at him with mouths slightly agape.

"What?" asked Ohta. "If it were up to me, I'd blast through the ceiling and make a beeline for Las Noches. Since that apparently isn't an option, don't blame me for taking a more leisurely approach to things."

After blinking in surprise, Ichigo abruptly asked, "Wait, you can do that? If so, we shouldn't be wasting time with these clowns...!"

"Calm down, Ichigo," said Rukia, feeling slightly embarrassed as a result of Ohta's actions but maintaining a calm and serious look as she said, "If we were going to leave everything to Ohta, there wouldn't be any reason for us to be here. Focus on conserving your strength and doing things at the group's pace. Ohta's actions might seem a bit...standoffish, but this is his way of showing that he trusts everyone to carry their weight..."

"Looks to me like he's carrying the two of you..." muttered Renji, earning a warning look from Rukia. She had initially refused to let him come with them, but as he and Ichigo had formed a kind of 'brotherly' bond after trying to kill each other, she permitted him to assist in Karin's rescue on the condition he didn't go out of his way to antagonize or butt heads with Ohta.

Clicking his tongue, Renji promptly decided to intrude upon Uryu's game of cat, mouse, and projectile spam against the bird-beaked Arrancar. The raven-haired Quincy wasn't particularly happy about the intrusion, but as they hadn't come there to take turns showing off to one another, he didn't say anything as Renji's actions allowed them to take out the decently fast Arrancar in a much shorter period. Doing so caused the chamber to start shaking, seemingly on the verge of collapse, but the group had no trouble fleeing to the surface as Ohta held the dilapidating structure in place until they were well out of harm's way...

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(A/N: Ohta flexing on people by relaxing...)