From the side of the ninja and Shinigami

-Back in Konoha-

Within the office of the Hokage, Tsunade was with Sakura, waiting for Naruto, as the Fifth Hokage had decided to send them on a low rank mission, as after the events of Nagato, Naruto and Sakura had spent very little time together and Tsunade knew they would both like to be by the other's side, but only as friends.

However, Sakura was getting impatient and thought to herself aggressively. *'Naruto better have a good reason for being late, or he's going to get it!'*

But it was then the pair was interrupted when Ayame quickly stormed into the room and said in a panicky tone. "Lady Hokage, Naruto and Hinata have been taken."

"Taken?" Tsunade questioned in bewilderment, before she asked. "By who?"

"By me." A dark voice called out, which confused Sakura and Ayame as to where the voice came from, while Tsunade knew and pulled out the crystal ball, which the Third Hokage had used to maintain public order in the village and to watch Naruto's growth into a true ninja, before his end at the vile hands of Orochimaru, and was confused to see a figure hiding in darkness, as they sat in a chair, before he stated in an amused tone. "Let's skip the pleasantries, Tsunade. I have the brat and his little Hyuga girlfriend. And if you want to see them again, I suggest you sit back and get ready for the show of a lifetime."

It was then the scene on the crystal ball changed to show Naruto and Hinata, who were both unconscious, but then stirred and quickly got up, looking around as they were confused as to where they were, who all the other people with them were and what kind of Summoning Jutsus were used to get creatures such as an amber colored lizard and a small blue colored dragon with carmine colored eyes and a 'V' shaped mark on his forehead.

-Around the same time in Karakura Town-

"Rukia!" Kon called out, as he opened up the closet in Ichigo's room to tell the wielder of Sode no Shirayuki about what happened to Ichigo and Orihime, but was confused to see she wasn't in there.

"What's going on?" Kon questioned himself in a worried tone, before he asked out loud. "Is everyone close to me disappearing?"

But it was then a familiar female voice said from behind him. "Keep it down, Kon."

Recognizing the voice as Rukia's, Kon quickly turned around and exclaimed happily, as he prepared to hug her. "Rukia!"

But it was then Rukia ceased Kon's actions when she slammed him in the face by the hilt of her Zanpakutō, before she then asked in an annoyed tone. "Alright, Kon, what's with all the noise? I was in the middle of work."

"Ichigo and Orihime have been taken." Kon replied, which caused Rukia to question the Mod soul that was borrowing Ichigo's body. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not too sure. One second Orihime was healing Ichigo's injuries, the next they were both pulled into a dark red hole." Kon replied.

"Like that one?" Rukia asked, as she pointed behind Kon, which astounded him, but not as much as when a mysterious figure, which was wearing a long trench coat and hat, emerged from the dark red vortex.

"If you wish to see subjects: Ichigo Kurosaki and Orihime Inoue, then turn on your television set and watch the latest episode of 'Death Zone'." The unknown character told them, in which Rukia brought the tip of Sode no Shirayuki up to the shrouded figure's throat and demanded. "What have you done with Ichigo and Rukia!?"

However, the unidentified individual simply repeated. "If you wish to see subjects: Ichigo Kurosaki and Orihime Inoue, then turn on your television set and watch the latest episode of 'Death Zone'."

Kon then slowly made his way over to the figure in the hat and cloak, in which he then waved his hand in front of them, and was confused when the individual didn't respond.

It was then Kon removed the unknown person's hat, which left him and Rukia speechless, as the mysterious individual wasn't a man, but a machine, which then lowered its head and weakly said, as its body went limp, before the same dark red vortex opened up beneath the robot and pulled it in. "Systems going offline. Returning to Death Zone headquarters as mission has been completed..."

After the dark red vortex closed up, Kon and Rukia knew their only lead to knowing if Ichigo and Orihime were unharmed was to watch the show known as 'Death Zone', in which they both went into the lounge room, turned on the TV and awaited to see what was to happen with their friends.

-In an unknown location-

Ichigo let out a groan as he opened his eyes to see Orihime using her Shun Shun Rikka to heal the wounds on his body, in which he then smiled and thanked Orihime for her help, before he got up and looked around to see he and Orihime were in an unknown area, alongside a group of eight individuals, who each had a unusual high-tech device full of cards attached to their left arms, other humans and unknown creatures, which included a yellow mouse, a rabbit with fluff at the end of her ears and a red coloured dragon, which had wing-like ears and black markings across his face and body.

"I'd watch what you'd say. Because you never know when your new friends become your enemies." A dark voice then said, in which Naruto, Hinata, Ichigo, Orihime the other humans and the strange looking creatures turned towards the source of the voice to see a large monitor, as a dark figure sat in a chair.

"Who are you?" The 'V' marked dragon asked.

"My name is of no importance to you. But you can call me the Champion Hunter." The Champion Hunter replied.

"So what do you want with us?" A girl with orange hair, which had been tied up into a spiky ponytail, who was standing beside a humanoid fox, questioned.

"What I want is the greatest male and female champions the countless universes hold to become my new champions. Seeing as how my last champion popularity decreased after my audience grew tired of watching the same fight play over and over, and so they 'retired'." The Champion Hunter replied.

"And what if we refuse?" A teenager, who had black hair and 'Z' shaped marks on each of his cheeks questioned, in which the Champion Hunter let out a wicked laugh and then replied. "You cannot. While you were all unconscious I had my robotic drones, SK-5, SRE-4, TR-4 and SF-30 each place a device known as a 'Discipline Collar' on your necks, which will automatically shock you whenever you refuse to listen to my commands. And there are two more qualities that make my Discipline Collars so effective."

"And what are they?" The white furred feline asked.

"I'll show you. I dare any of you to try and remove your collar." The Champion Hunter replied, in which a young male with black and red spiked hair then placed his hands on the collar and started to tug at it, but the second he did, he then let out a small cry of pain as a small current of electricity surged painfully though out his body.

"Yuma!" A girl with green hair and hazel eyes called out in concern, before the Champion Hunter laughed and stated. "Oh, how I love it when my latest contestants are foolish enough to try and remove the collar. You see my Discipline Collars have an anti-removal feature, so no matter what; you will remain under my control. And the more you disobey the more lethal the voltage will be dealt to you."

"And the second feature is that whenever the Discipline Collar activates, it sends a direct jolt to your amygdala and will cause the level of your aggression to increase. Now that you know you have no chance of escaping my clutches, let us begin the survival rounds." The Champion Hunter declared, in which a girl with blond hair asked in a somewhat worried tone. "Survival rounds?"

"That's right. Each of you will face against two random opponents and the team who wins moves on one step closer to the grand prize." The Champion Hunter replied, in which Ichigo asked. "And what's this prize?"

"Freedom. And the title as the universe's Supreme Champion of Death Zone!" The Champion Hunter exclaimed proudly, before he snapped his fingers, in which four blank screens appeared on the monitor and started to spin, cycling through the various heroes, before the owner of Death Zone said. "Now then, let's see who's up against who."

It was then the four screens stopped spinning showing an image of a young man with brown hair and brown eyes and a young woman with dark blond hair and Naruto and Hinata.

"Well isn't this interesting?" The Champion Hunter commented, before he said. "Jaden Yuki and Alexis Rhodes shall take on Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga."

After the Champion Hunter's declaration, dark red energy engulfed Naruto, Hinata, Jaden and Alexis and seconds later; the darkness was gone, as were the four aforementioned heroes.

-With Naruto and Hinata-

Both Naruto and Hinata were confused as to what had just happened, as they were now in a large stadium, while the ones known as Jaden and Alexis were on the other side.

"Welcome to one of my many 'Death Zone Stadiums'. Here you will fight in order to get one step closer to winning the title as 'Supreme Champion of Death Zone' as well as your freedom." The Champion Hunter's voice announced, before he said, which made no sense to Naruto or Hinata. "And to make things more fair, Jaden and Alexis, both of you can Summon any Monster, ignoring any requirements. And play any Traps you draw right from your Hand."

It was then Jaden told Naruto and Hinata. "Don't take this personally you guys. But it's time to get your game on!"

"I Summon Elemental HERO Sparkman in Attack Mode!" Jaden announced, as he placed an unusual looking Card on the strange looking device fastened on his right arm, which then stunned Naruto and Hinata, as a blue suited humanoid appeared before him.

Naruto and Hinata then charged at the unknown entity of electricity, however, Jaden then called out. "Next, I equip Sparkman with Spark Blaster."

It was then Naruto and Hinata were stopped in their tracks when the device known as the 'Spark Blaster' appeared in the blue suited Warrior of lightning's right hand and fired two blasts of electricity at the pair, which forced them both on their knees.

'What's going on? I can't move!' Naruto questioned.

"I Summon Cyber Tutu!" Alexis then announced, in which a female in a carmine and honeydew colored suit with coral pink hair appeared just like Jaden had done with Elemental HERO Sparkman, before she then commanded. "Now, Tutu attack with Pounding Pirouette!"

The girl known as Cyber Tutu then jumped at Hinata and kicked her in the chest, causing her to cry out in pain as she was kicked back, which caused Naruto to call out in a concerned tone. "Hinata-chan!"

Not wanting to see Hinata harmed again, Naruto summoned all the strength he could, in which he slowly regained control over his body as he slowly began to get up.

It was then Naruto could see Jaden's unusual Summoning Jutsu creature was going to shock him into submission once again, but acting as quick as he could, Naruto managed to pull out a Kunai from the holster fastened on his right leg and just as the lightning wielder was about to blast him again, threw the Kunai into the barrel of the 'Spark Blaster', causing it to explode and destroying Jaden's creature, which freed Hinata from the paralysis, who then countered against Alexis' creature and shattered her into pieces, as she slammed her palm into Cyber Tutu's chest.

It was Jaden and Alexis let out a small cry of pain, as their Discipline Collars shocked them, in which they both fell onto all fours, giving Naruto and Hinata their turn to strike back, or so they thought, when they ran head first against Jaden and Alexis, but it was then Jaden called out. "I play the Trap Card: Zero Gravity!"

Naruto and Hinata were stunned as they were then trapped in midair, which gave Jaden and Alexis another shot to take down the trapped ninja and kunoichi.

"I now use Polymerization to fuse Elemental HERO Avian and Elemental HERO Burstinatrix in my Hand to create Elemental HERO Flame Wingman!" Jaden announced, as a man in a dark green suit with wings and a woman in a red suit, black hair and a gold colored helmet appeared in front of Jaden, before Naruto and Hinata watched in awe as the two fused together and created a green skinned behemoth, with a large white wing on the left side of its back, a long red tail and what looked like a dragon's head for a right arm.

"Infernal Rage!" Jaden then called out, in which the dragon-like arm opened up and unleashed a wave of fire, which went directly for Naruto.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata called out in a concerned tone, as Naruto was consumed by the torrent of flames, but acting as quick as he could, Naruto put his fingers together and called out. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

It was then a wall of Shadow Clones appeared in front of the original Naruto, protecting him from the blaze, while a Shadow Clone also appeared on each side of the original, in which the one on Naruto's right began to form another Jutsu Naruto was well known for, the Rasengan.

It was then the inferno subsided, that Hinata was relieved to see Naruto wasn't hurt, before the Shadow Clone on Naruto's right vanished in a puff of smoke, while the left one grabbed Naruto's left arm, spun him around and then threw him at Jaden's dragon man.

"Rasengan!" Naruto yelled out, as he tore through and destroyed Jaden's Monster, before he headed straight for Jaden, but it was then Alexis called out. "I Discard Doble Passé from my Hand to my Graveyard, so I can play my Trap: Hallowed Life Barrier!"

It was then a light blue shield of energy circled around Jaden, protecting him from Naruto's Rasengan, in which Jaden called out. "Thanks, 'Lex."

"No problem, Jaden." Alexis happily replied, while Naruto and Hinata were freed from Zero Gravity's effect and planned to attack, as they could see Alexis' shield had worn off too, but could tell they had more creatures, tricks and traps in their arm mounted devices, the question was what though.

"I play Polymerization and fuse Elemental HERO Flame Wingman and Elemental HERO Neos in Jaden's Hand in order to Summon Elemental HERO Neos Knight!" Alexis called out, in which Naruto and Hinata were astounded when a muscular being appeared beside Elemental HERO Flame Wingman, before the pair began to swirl into one another, in which they both began to glow brightly, before the light died down and standing before Alexis was the white skinned humanoid who was now wielding an impressive shield and sword.

"Now, Neos Knight attack!" Alexis commanded, in which the sword-wielding creature lunged at Hinata and tried to strike her down, but with every strike she would block, dodge or counter.

Meanwhile, as Hinata fought against the being known as 'Elemental HERO Neos Knight', Naruto had prepared another Rasengan, in which he charged at Jaden and exclaimed. "Rasengan!"

But as Naruto was approaching Jaden with his Rasengan ready, Jaden said to himself 'You bet.', before he called out. "Go, Yubel!"

It was then a demonic female creature, dressed in black with sickly-pink skin, large black wings, wild hair, which was purple on the left side of her head and white on the right, heterochromic eyes and a third vertically placed eye on her forehead appeared in front of Jaden, which astounded Naruto, but not as much when he slammed his Rasengan into the demon's chest, but was then repelled, as it felt like he just hit himself.

As Naruto got up, Jaden's creature known as Yubel's eyes turned bright orange, in which Naruto's did the same for a moment, and before he knew what was happening, he had created another Rasengan, before he charged at Yubel, only to be struck and knocked back by whatever dark power the demon woman possessed.

Naruto then got up again, only this time he had his eyes closed, as he guessed Yubel couldn't control him from attacking if she couldn't make eye contact with him, and he was right.

It was then Naruto reached into his holster and threw a smoke bomb onto the ground, concealing him, which gave him time to come up with a plan that would hopefully defeat both Yubel and knock down Jaden.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto called out, in which three Shadow Clones appeared beside the original, before one of the Shadow Clones held out his right hand, while the other two began to form another Rasengan with his hand, only its size was greater then that of the previous Rasengan attacks Naruto had used.

It was after the Rasengan was complete that the Shadow Clone jumped out of the smoke screen, before he yelled out "Big Ball Rasengan!"

As the Big Ball Rasengan clashed with Yubel, she could feel something was wrong, as normally any attack would've been repelled by now, but this attack was too strong, even for her, in which she was destroyed, as the Shadow Clone disappeared in a puff of smoke, before the real Naruto shot out from the smoke with a fully charged Rasengan in his right hand, which he then yelled out. "Rasengan!"

Unable to defend himself, Naruto slammed the Rasengan into Jaden's chest, which caused him to cry out in pain, as the Rasengan tore through his jacket, hit his body and slammed him against the wall.

"Jaden!" Naruto heard Alexis call out in a tone of utter concern, in which he and Hinata watched as she called back the sword-wielding white knight, before she made her way over to Jaden, took off his jacket and placed her right ear against his chest, in which they could see her smile as she could hear his heartbeat and could feel his chest rise up and down, however, the same couldn't be said for Naruto, as he felt like a jerk for harming someone precious to another one who considered them precious.

"And it looks like the winners are Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga." The Champion Hunter's voice commented, before he ordered in a dark tone. "Now then, finish them off."

"What are you talking about? I thought you said 'who wins moves on one step closer to freedom'." Hinata questioned, in which the Champion Hunter laughed in an amused tone, before he told them. "That's right. But in order to advance you MUST end the lives of your opponents. Why do you think these are called Survival rounds?"

Naruto then stated, as he didn't want to cause Jaden or Alexis anymore harm by his hands. "I won't do it! I may want to get back to Konoha, but not if it means killing people like me and Hinata."

"I think you will." The Champion Hunter replied in a sinister tone, before Naruto's Discipline Collar violently shocked him, which caused him to fall on all fours, as Hinata called out in a concerned tone. "Naruto-kun!"

Naruto was then surrounded by a familiar ominous red energy, which took form of a fox, while his whisker marks grew thicker; his eyes changed dark red and became slits and two tails, formed out of the Kyuubi's Chakra grew out of his tailbone.

"It's only a matter of time. When the forth tail is complete, the bloodshed shall begin!" The Champion Hunter exclaimed, as a third tail appeared alongside the other two.

" **N...No... I won't let the... Kyuubi... Take me over... Again...!**" Naruto groaned out, before he let out a mixture of a loud yell and a roar, before all the darkness faded away, returning Naruto back to normal, as he began to breathe heavily.

But it was then all, but Jaden, who was still unconscious, cried out in pain as the Champion Hunter turned up the Discipline Collars, and shocked Alexis, Naruto and Hinata, with more pain then before.

"That's what you get when you don't follow the Champion Hunter's rules." The Champion Hunter told them in a bitter tone, before the four of them were enveloped by dark red energy, as he could tell neither side would continue to fight regardless of what he did.

-Back to the other heroes, after Jaden, Alexis, Naruto and Hinata vanished-

Everyone was left speechless as to what just happened, one second Jaden and Alexis were selected to fight against Naruto and Hinata, but then vanished in a swirl of dark red energy.

"Hey, what did you do with them!?" A boy demanded, in which the yellow mouse agreed with him, with a 'Pika Pika', which Ichigo and Orihime guessed that the creature was owned by the black haired boy and couldn't speak English.

"Relax, Ash. They are fine, for now. All I've done is sent them to one of my many 'Death Zone Stadiums'. But let's not waste anymore of my audience's time, there are still so many potential champions and so little time." The Champion Hunter replied, before the four screens with the images of Jaden, Alexis, Naruto and Hinata began to spin again, as they cycled through the remaining heroes.

It was then the four screens stopped spinning showing an image of the boy known as Ash and a girl with dark blue hair deep blue eyes and a white colored beanie, were to take on a boy around the same age, with spiky maroon colored hair and a pair of goggles and a girl with shoulder length chestnut brown hair.

"Ash Ketchum and Dawn against Davis Motomiya and Kari Kamiya. Pokémon against Digimon?" The Champion Hunter commented, before he said in a sinister tone. "This should be entertaining."

It was then the same dark red energy engulfed Ash, the yellow mouse, the girl known as Dawn and a small brown rabbit, along with the goggle wearing teen, the blue dragon, the other girl, Kari, and the white furred feline, before they all vanished.

The four screens started to spin once again, until they all came to an immediate halt, showing an image of a young man with extravagant hair featuring multiple layers, including long blond crooked, pointy locks for a fringe, the rest featured a set of five large spikes and two smaller spikes colored black with a magenta sheen along the edges, a young woman with shoulder length brown hair and blue eyes, the boy known as Yuma and his female partner with the green hair, in which the Champion Hunter stated. "Yugi Muto and Tea Gardner, you shall Duel against Yuma Tsukumo and Tori Meadows."

And just like the other four groups before them, so too were Yugi, Tea, Yuma and Tori were taken.

It was after the four newly selected heroes were enveloped by dark red energy, the four images on the screen had began to spin again, cycling through the few who had yet been chosen, until all four screens came to a stop, in which the first two screens showed Ichigo and Orihime and the second screens showed a boy with brown hair and eyes, a light brown cap and a pair of goggles and a girl with blonde hair, green eyes and a pink cap.

"Ichigo Kurosaki and Orihime Inoue, you shall take down, err... I mean take on Takuya Kanbara and Zoe Orimoto." The Champion Hunter said, before he told the boy and girl. "Better bring out the big guns, kids. As Ichigo has killed countless monsters and I don't think he'll go any easier on the Legendary Warriors."

It was then the Wielder of the Spirits of Flame and the Wielder of the Spirits of Wind were both consumed by dark red energy, as were the ones known as Ichigo and Orihime, before the four were taken by the dark red energy to fight in a match that would provide a challenge for both sides.

-With the four heroes-

Ichigo, Orihime, Takuya and Zoe were taken to a large stadium, with the brown haired boy and blonde haired girl were on one side of the stadium, Ichigo and Orihime were on the other side.

"Welcome to one of my many 'Death Zone Stadiums'. Here you will fight in order to get one step closer to winning the title as 'Supreme Champion of Death Zone' as well as your freedom." The Champion Hunter's voice announced, before he stated. "And unless you want your Discipline Collars to give you a 'small warning', I suggest you begin the 'entertainment'."

"But what can we do?" Takuya questioned.

"Takuya has a point." Zoe replied, before she stated in a worried tone as she looked at Ichigo's Zanpakutō. "He has a sword and we have nothing."

"Not any longer." The Champion Hunter replied, before Ichigo and Orihime watched as a bright red light shot out from his pocket, while a bright pink light came from Zoe's, in which they both reached into their pocket, before the pair each pulled out a small electronic device.

"My D-Tector?" Takuya exclaimed in an amazed tone, before the pair then looked at each other, nodded their heads and held out the devices, as rings of data then formed around their left hands.

"Execute! Spirit Evolution!" Zoe exclaimed, as Ichigo and Orihime watched in awe as Zoe transformed into a winged creature, which had short light-blue hair with bird wings on it, lightly tanned skin, light blue eyes, two black stripes on her face, while a long black scarf that resembled a strap, and a pink mask covered her nose and mouth.

A pink top with detached sleeves, and metallic shoulder pads covered her chest, while long metallic gloves adorned her arms and a pair of brown wings grew out of her back.

A pair of pink coloured panties covered Zoe's lower region, as boots with metallic kneepads adorned her legs, in which her boots were connected to her top by pink straps that passed through the inside of her panties, before Zoe exclaimed. "Zephyrmon!"

"Unity Execute! Unified Spirit Evolution!" Takuya exclaimed, as he used transformed to a dragon knight adorned in dark red and gold coloured armour, before he announced. "EmperorGreymon!"

Seeing the two new forms Takuya and Zoe had taken, caused Ichigo to charge at EmperorGreymon and Zephyrmon with his sword drawn back, in which Zephyrmon took to the skies, while EmperorGreymon withdrew the sword on his back and sliced forward, causing his Ryuugonken to clash with Ichigo's Zanpakutō.

As Ichigo and EmperorGreymon continued to hold the other's blade back, while trying to dominate their enemy with their own weapon and all the strength they could summon, Zephyrmon then exclaimed. "Hurricane Gale!"

It was then Zephyrmon launched countless barrage of Throws blades of pink energy at her foes which took the form of a pink tornado, as she planned to strike Ichigo while he was in his stalemate with EmperorGreymon, but it was then Orihime quickly ran in front of Ichigo and exclaimed. "Santen Kesshun!"

Orihime then used her Shun Shun Rikka to create a barrier of orange energy in front of her, which negated Zephyrmon's attack and protected Ichigo.

"Thanks for watching my back, Orihime." Ichigo happily told Orihime, before he jumped back, turned back to EmperorGreymon and exclaimed. "Getsuga Tenshō!"

It was then Ichigo launched a dark crescent moon shaped slash of straight at EmperorGreymon, who, in turn, astounded Ichigo when his Ryuugonken transformed from its sword form to a crossbow form, before EmperorGreymon roared out. "Dragonfire Crossbow!"

EmperorGreymon then fired a massive burst of fire from his newly formed crossbow, which collided with Ichigo's Getsuga Tenshō attack, in which a massive atomic-like explosion of darkness erupted from the combination of such power and created a massive cloud of smoke.

But it was without warning that Ichigo emerged from the smoke, with his sword drawn back, in which Ichigo slashed down EmperorGreymon's body in a 130 degrees motion, in which EmperorGreymon fell onto his stomach, before Zephyrmon called out in a highly concerned tone. "Takuya!"

However, when Ichigo approached EmperorGreymon to see if he had defeated, but hopefully didn't kill the kid, but it was without warning that EmperorGreymon suddenly shot up and punched Ichigo in the stomach, which knocked the wind out of his chest and forced him to collapse onto his knees, as Ichigo had fallen right into EmperorGreymon's trap.

"Pyro Dragons!" EmperorGreymon roared out, as he then Plunged his Dragon Soul Sword into the ground, in which Ichigo was stunned to see nine dragons made of fire burst from the ground, surround him, before they all shot down at the Substitute Shinigami and engulfed him in a fiery explosion.

"Ichigo!" Orihime called out in concern, just like Zoe had for Takuya, but was then distracted when she heard Zephyrmon call out. "Hurricane Gale!"

It was then Zephyrmon launched another pink tornado, in which Orihime exclaimed. "Santen Kesshun!"

However, as the razor wind continued to slice at Orihime's shield, it was beginning to crack, and seconds later the shield was destroyed, knocking Orihime to the floor and allowing Zephyrmon the chance to strike down Orihime.

"Plasma Paws!" Zoe called out, in which red energy orbs formed around her hands and feet, as she headed straight for Orihime, but it was then Ichigo shot out from the flames, in which clothing had been badly burnt, as he drew his Zanpakutō back and planned to wound one of Zephymon's wings to stop her from harming Orihime, but what happened next was not what anyone would see coming.

"Zoe!" EmperorGreymon called out, in which he got in between Zephyrmon and Ichigo's attack, which caught the Substitute Shinigami off guard and accidently pierced his Zanpakutō through EmperorGreymon's chest.

"Takuya!" Zoe cried out in horror, as she reverted back to her human form and watched EmperorGreymon fall to his knees, before he revered back to Takuya and could see blood pouring down his chest where he had been stabbed.

After Ichigo removed his Zanpakutō from Takuya's body, Takuya fell forward, in which Zoe managed to catch him, not caring that her shirt and vest were now covered in Takuya' blood, before she slowly lowered herself and Takuya, until she was sitting on her knees as Takuya's head was resting on her legs, before she pleaded as tears trailed down her face. "C'mon Takuya. You'll get through this; you always find a way to overcome and survive things like this."

Takuya then couched up a lot of blood before he replied in a weak, but loving tone. "I'm sorry, Zoe... But it looks like my Flame has been extinguished... But no matter what... I'm glad we met and will never forget you... I love you... Zoe Orimoto..."

It was after Takuya finished his last words, that Takuya slowly closed his eyes, in which Zoe began to gently shake him, as she called to him. "Takuya? Takuya, please wake up! Takuya!"

"Zoe I..." Ichigo began to say, as he wished to apologize and inform her with Orihime's assistance, Takuya could be saved, but was interrupted when Zoe snapped back in a tone filled with aggression and hatred. "Shut it! You took Takuya away from me and for that I will make you pay!"

It was then Zoe held out the device, known as a 'D-Tector', as rings of black coloured data then formed around her left hand.

"Unity Execute! Unified Dark Spirit Evolution!" Zoe yelled out, as transformed to a figure, which looked similar to Zephyrmon, except her light-blue hair had turned dark violet.

Her wings had changed from brown feathered to a creepy bat-like shape and were now onyx colored, while her clothing had changed from its regular pink to jet black, as her fingers and toes transformed into claws, dripping in dark crimson at the tips.

The mask that covered her nose and mouth had turned dark crimson too and now had a radiation symbol on it, only it was colored dark violet.

And to complete her transformation, Zephyrmon's gentle light blue eyes had turned to a dark crimson, however, she was no longer Zephyrmon, but a Digimon of darkness known only as... "ShadowZephyrmon!"

"Hurricane Pain!" ShadowZephyrmon violently exclaimed, as she crossed her arms and wings, before unleashing an intense wind of darkness, in which Ichigo went into a defensive stance, but groaned out, as he could feel the wind slice deeply through his skin.

And it seemed as though that one attack was just a fraction of ShadowZephyrmon's power, as shown when the corrupted Zephyrmon shot forward as her claw began to glow an ominous shade of crimson.

"Nightmare Nails!" ShadowZephyrmon yelled out, before she managed to slash away Ichigo's sword, breaking his defense, before she plunged her right nails into his chest, which caused him to groan out in pain.

Meanwhile, Orihime was kneeling beside Takuya, in which she then called out. "Sōten Kisshun!"

In which she smiled, as she could see Takuya's wound begin to close up and him to start breathing again.

Back with ShadowZephyrmon and Ichigo, who was groaning out in pain, as ShadowZephyrmon's claws were digging deeper into his body.

"Zoe... Ugh... Please stop... Takuya is... Ugh... Still alive..." Ichigo managed to groan out.

"No! I saw Takuya die before me." ShadowZephyrmon snapped back, before she stated in an enraged tone. "You're nothing but a lying murderer!"

"That's enough." Superman stated in a strong tone, before forcing ShadowZephyrmon's claws out of Ichigo's chest.

"He's telling the truth." A familiar female voice then told her, in which ShadowZephyrmon asked in a confused tone. "Ophanimon?"

"Legendary Warrior, you must fight the darkness that is attacking your heart. Not only for yourself, but for your friends, family and for Takuya." The woman known as Ophanimon said.

Upon hearing the Legendary Warrior of Flame's name, ShadowZephyrmon's eyes widened, before she said as her eye color turned from their hate filled red back to blue, "T...Takuya?"

It was then the darkness dispersed from the corrupted Digimon's body, returning the Beast Spirit of Wind back to her original form, before she turned back to her human form and then said to Ichigo in an apologetic tone. "I'm so sorry."

"It's alright." Ichigo replied, as he placed his hand over the bloodied area ShadowZephyrmon's claws had struck, before Orihime called out to Zoe, as she had finished treating the damage done to Takuya's body, in which Zoe turned around to see that Orihime was kneeling beside Takuya and was amazed to see that Takuya was back.

Takuya then let out a small groan as he slowly opened his eyes to see Zoe's smiling face staring down at him, as tears of happiness trailed down her face.

But before Takuya could say a single word, Zoe said happily, before she wrapped her arms around him. "Oh, Takuya."

It was then Takuya couldn't help but to smile back, before he wrapped his arms around Zoe's back and closed his eyes, before he began to happily cry too, which made Ichigo, Orihime and Rukia and Kon back in the Kurosaki household happy to see Takuya's life had been saved and thanks to their efforts, managed to help Zoe resist giving into her darkness, however, the heroes were all interrupted when the Champion Hunter's voice told them. "Ichigo, Orihime, I can see you're not following my rules anymore, but I am willing to spare you a painful 'lesson' from your Discipline Collars and look the other way if you do what you did to Takuya before, only this time to the both of them, more painful and permanent."

"You expect me to kill them after Orihime just saved Takuya's life!?" Ichigo questioned, before he told the Champion Hunter. "Go to hell!"

"I'm already there, seeing as how none of you seem to obey me!" The Champion Hunter snapped back, before he said. "And I can tell that any levels of voltage from your Discipline Collars won't make you submit to me, so I'll send you back to the other contestants. Count yourself lucky for now, but rest assured, Ichigo Kurosaki. You, Orihime and everyone who has refused my words will suffer, one way or another."