Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

The Primera

A creature with a white mask on screams in pain. The head thrashes while limbs flail in a whirlwind of bluish skin. As it writhes in agony it gives one last roar before falling to the ground, beaten, dead. The body splashes the sand around it in the desert covered by eternal night.

I am alone.

A young girl sitting next to a forlorn man looks on emotionlessly. This was one of the many hundreds already that had died just from their presence. The man, with scraggly shoulder length hair had covered them both up with a ragged remains of some clothing, had the same blank, emotionless expression on his face. In their many years of wandering the desert, their own companionship was the only company they could find.

"Look, Starrk. There's a guy coming…"

Starrk, the long brown haired man, turns his head to find another smiling individual with a clean white robe. A single lazy strand of hair hung from his face. He has a sword attached to his belt.

Hands in the folds of his robes, he casually asks "Impressive. Did you kill all these hollows?" he gestures nonchalantly to the mountains of creatures lying dead around them.

"No…they just died on their own." Starrk responds.

"You seem strong. We're looking for some allies."

"What a coincidence...so were we. Are your friends strong?"

"Come and see for yourself".

Starrk and the girl share a glance. They both knew that this could be their one chance to find some friends, to find companions and to escape their loneliness.

"Alright. You don't seem like you'll die from being around us."

The man smirks, and turns away.

"Come on, let's go Lillynette." He says as he walks into the empty, infinite desert.
:

-Five years later—

"The Primera"?

Starrk stared at his tattoo, etched onto his left hand.

"Ha! That means we're the strongest?" Lillynette bounced around the colorful room that the two shared. Suddenly, she stopped and stared at him seriously. "But that means you have a big responsibility. Lord Aizen's placing his faiths in you."

"I know." Starrk said lazily. "I think it's just a pain in the ass…just like our release."

"And that fat and ugly old man! Plus the blue haired psycho and the long haired freak. They're going to be Jealous." A sly smile spread across the girl's face. "Maybe you'll have to fight them, Starrk!"

"I'd rather not" with that he gave a big yawn and rolled over on his bed.

"Hey!" affronted by Starrk's terrible attention span, Lillynette sped over and tackled him as hard as she could. "Listen to what I'm saying!"

"Aaaagh!" Starrk gurgled. "Lillynette, let me get some rest!" he weakly tried to fend her off, but in vain.

Lillynette froze, and the reason why soon became clear. Starrk was surprised at her stopping, although he didn't show it. He cracked open one eye, and in the doorway, was the 'fat and ugly old man' she had made reference to earlier.

The tension in the air remained for a few minutes, as the newcoming glared at the pair. It seemed that his eyes were radiating with such intense spiritual pressure that they were heating the room up. Lillynette shuddered a bit. Starrk, however, paid him little respect and shut his eye, turning over again.

The silence lasted for a few more seconds, after which followed a vicious grunt and the sound of empty footsteps echoing across the halls of the fortress. Lillynette stood frozen in fear, paralyzed by the intensity of the spiritual pressure in the room for a few more moments before collapsing into a pathetic heap at the base of his bed.

"Lord Aizen!" A dark skinned man with braids and a blindfold asks his smiling superior. He never seemed to have frowned at any point in time. "Barragan Luisenbarn is requesting an audience with you." The same old man from before emerged from the shadows.

"Why did you demote me to Segunda Espada?" He growled menacingly through clenched teeth. "Is the new pathetic excuse of an Arrancar really that impressive? Or is this one of your cruel tricks?" He pounded his battleaxe into the ground, creating minor tremors in the open room. "Answer me!"

The one named Aizen seemed to peacefully ponder this question in his chair set upon the pedestal before softly saying. "You will soon see for yourself." Aizen's smile widened. "If you have a problem with it, I suggest you resolve it with the new primera."

"Then that is exactly what I will do." Barragan turns to leave, but booms once more before he takes a single step. "I will allow no one to disrespect me. Not even you, Lord Aizen" he says with contempt. "I am the King of Hueco Mundo, and Ruler I shall be once again. You will be usurped, and I suggest that you watch your pathetic back before you go to sleep ever again." With that, the whirlwind that is his spiritual pressure and him exits the room in the most pretentious manner possible, even for Barragan.

Aizen's smile simply got wider.

"So, Ulquiorra, what do you think of the new espada?"

"He's a weakling! Aizen just made him first to piss Barragan off!" A blued haired and muscular Arrancar cracks a laugh. "I bet one of these would kill him easy!" he began charging a cero towards the black sky of the night desert.

"I wasn't asking you, Grimmjow. I was asking Ulquiorra." The long haired man walking next to him spat.

"Ah, don't get your panties in a twist, Nnoitra. We all know why you act like that." He cracked up again, while the red cero in his hand got larger.

The sullen yet meditative looking Espada, with an emo face and a shell covering his medium length length black hair, flicked two of his fingers, sending a bolt of energy at Grimmjow's fist. The cero dissipated and disappeared.

"Do not fire that." Were the simple words he gave. His expression nor his body posture changed.

Grimmjow scowled. "And just who are you to tell me what to do?" he asked, putting his hand behind his back.

"I am the five. You are seven. Do you wish to contest that?" Ulquiorra opened his eyes very narrowly and stared at Grimmjow.

The latter said nothing for a few seconds, and then his face cracked into the same maniacal smile as before. "Sure thing…uLQuiOrrA!"

His hand came from behind his back to reveal a charging red cero. His other hand went to his sword which he quickly drew to cut the top side of his wrist with. Blood splashed onto the charging cero, turning it blue. Within an instant, he pointed it at Ulquiorra and screamed. "Eat it! GRAAAAAAAAAAAN REEEEY CEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Ulquiorra's eyes widened in surprise and his right hand quickly flickered to his own zanpakuto. A light blue cone of energy engulfed the three espada in the black shadow of Hueco Mundo, rivaling the size of the fortress Las Noches in the distance.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Grimmjow laughed maniacally. "Have you had enough? Ulquiorra?" He was still continuously pouring a stream of spirit energy out of his right hand. "I can keep this up all night!"

A hand emerged from the energy blast, a pale, white hand. It reached towards its assailant and clenched across the skull, the skull of Grimmjow. The blue light disappeared. Ulquiorra, somewhat worse for wear after enduring a head-on Gran Rey Cero, materialized from the scattering light panting slightly. Meanwhile, in the hand holding Grimmjow, a green cero begins to charge.

"Submit. You have lost. What a pity that even your most powerful cero barely scratches me." His hand slides down to the center of Grimmjow's chest, and releases its contents, sending a surprised Grimmjow plunging across the desert. "Learn your place."

Ulquiorra turned abruptly and began walking towards Las Noches, leaving an engraged Grimmjow clenching his teeth and vowing revenge, in the sand.

The espadas had been taking turns out on patrol, searching for the remaining possible Vasto Lordes. Starrk knew his turn was up, but he was unenthusiastic about his role.

"What if one of them tries to fight me?" he complained.

"Don't be such a baby!" Lillynette almost scolded. "Aizen says that we're Vasto Lorde too! And plus, we got that sword thingy." She laughed and toyed with the zanpakuto on his belt. "And you're number one remember?"

"Lillynette, stop it! It's not a toy." Starrk reproached her. "Fine. I suppose this is a fair price to pay for friends." he sighed. "Well then, come on, let's go."

"I'm two steps ahead of you! You snooze you lose!" she giggled from afar.

"Kenpachi? What kind of name is that?" Stark wondered.

"Starrk!" Lillynette shouted in concern. "Are you all right?"

"Ow..." Starrk groaned halfheartedly. Although he really wasn't hurt, he decided to feign something like it, possibly to avoid an altercation.

"Starrk! get serious! These guys have some serious reiatsu going on!"

"So what? It's not like we have to fight." He thought.

About 20 or so meters away, two Shinigami were discussing the Arrancar that they had just attacked.

"That's impossible! My zanpakuto should have sliced cleanly through his neck!" the younger one complained. He had long black hair neatly arranged at the top.

"Don't worry. He's obviously one of those...Menos grande. Shouldn't be too hard to kill." The captain Kiganjo said. This man was a hulking brute, who preferred not to wear his captain's robes. When he spoke it sounded like he was perpetually clearing his throat.

"Perhaps he's a Vasto Lorde? I can't think of any other reason my blade would have been stopped!"

"Be serious Lieutenant. What are the chances of that?"

"It's not impossible."

"Lieutenant, I swear one of these days you'll actually meet a Vasto Lorde." Captain Kiganjo laughed deeply. "I suggest you stand back, Lieutenant."

"Tanking a zanpakuto like that. Is he strong or stupid? It doesn't matter. My job is to kill hollows, and as Captain Kenpachi Kiganjo of the 11th division that is exactly what I will do!"

"Starrk! He's coming! And he's fast for such a big guy!"

"Doesn't seem that fast to me. Maybe Lillynette's just imagining things." Nevertheless, she was right. The stronger of the two seemed to decided to follow up on the attack. In nearly an instant he had bridged the 20 meter gap and was retracting his sword for a deathblow.

Starrk backstepped with a neat sonido. He had no intention of drawing his blade at any point in time yet. "Must we really fight?"

"Oh ho!" the shinigami exclaimed. His voice was gravelly; as if he had an everlasting amount of phlegm caught in his throat "This one can talk!" he rushed forward for another swing, which Starrk easily dodged again.

"Oh, what a bother"

"Come on! Are you weak? Crippled? Otherwise fight me!" A small combo, again, which was dodged by Starrk. Except this time, a ripple appeared in the air. Before he knew it, currents were flying at him.

His eyes widened, but his reflexes automatically twisted his body to dodge the oncoming projectiles. "Hmm, not bad"

The currents sailed past him and hit a dead tree. His eyes averted for a brief moment to watch as the tree was ripped in half.

"Like it? That's my Shikai, my first release." The Captain commented. "It amplifies the power of my sword blows, so that it can send..." followed by a quick collection of slashes at the ground in front of Starrk's feet. "my reiatsu straight at you!" The sand blew up in front of Starrk's feet, creating a smokescreen. A moment later, Kiganjo appeared through the smoke with his Zanpakuto in hand, ready to deliver another killing blow.

Starrk choked from the smoke, and appeared as if he were incapacitated by the smokescreen. It was late, that he realized the Captain had bridged the distance between him. The sword fell upon his unprotected skull

Sonido.

But he was faster than any Shinigami. There was no way Shunpo could possibly defeat Sonido.

Boom.

An enormous explosion warranted by the last blow erupted. Lillynette and Kiganjo's lieutenant stared in horror, as their superiors were engulfed by the colorness, bleak sand.

When the dust cleared, the image it presented was that of any fight. Two swords crossed, occupants staring at each other with intent.

"Ha! Finally motivated?"

"Not quite." Starrk responded. "Can't we pretend to fight instead?" His head appeared completely unharmed, save for the few cut hairs from Kiganjo's technique.

His opponent scowled. "Then perhaps I should show you more?"

"There's more?" Starrk asked, a little interested.

"Of course. We captains, the best of the best Shinigamis, have two releases each! Perhaps you'd like to see mine?" Kiganjo mocked.

"I wouldn't mind." Starrk answered.

With a mighty heave, Kiganjo swung his sword and parried Starrk backwards.

"It's too early for you to see my Bankai. Defeat my Shikai first, if you can!" With that another combination fired at where Starrk was just an instant ago.

"Wait! Where'd he go? I could swear he was just..."

"Please, don't be startled." Starrk appeared to have teleported right behind Kiganjo.

"What trickery. Well, a quick backhand..." however, before he could finish the thought, Starrk was already above him.

"I simply want to see your Bankai." was the simple comment. He instantaneously fired a large blue cero at Kiganjo. "And you will show me your Bankai."

A huge cloud of dust erupted where Kiganjo was visually apparent just a moment before. The shockwave created a mini-tsumani that moved outward, like a huge pebble splashing into a lake, catching both Lillynette and Kiganjo's young Lieutenant and forcing them backwards.

"Captain!" the young Lieutenant shouted. "Senbonzakura!" he exclaimed. "Clear up the dust!"

"That's quite all right, Byakuya..." Kiganjo emerged from the cloud, panting slightly. His skin seemed to be covered with burns, and his captain's robes had been torn in several places. "That is a cero, but much more powerful than any from a Gillian."

"I believe it's a Vasto Lorde. I have not been wrong often." Byakuya exclaimed.

"Don't be silly" Kiganjo dismissed. But he could not dispel the thought as easily as the comment. "Is it possible? He's intelligent, he's powerful, he's human sized. But the chances of meeting a Vasto Lorde." he began to speak without realizing. "Tell me, are you a Vasto Lorde?"

Starrk blinked twice, and then answered. "I'm not sure what I am."

"Well then, you've earned it. I guess I'll show you my Bankai. But be warned!" Kiganjo began to laugh. "Baaaaankaaaaai!" he roared. His spiritual pressure, orange in color, flooded the vast, empty savannah. Lighting it up like a sunset.

Suddenly, the spiritual energy seemed to be sucked right back into his body. He smiled, apparently untransformed, and swung his blade.

In an instant a glowing humanoid appeared in front of Starrk. It swung its blade, glowing orange as well. Starrk easily parried it with his hand, when two more humanoids appeared. Starrk's eyes widened.

"Are they made of his spiritual energy?" he wondered, as he sliced through all three clones. They dissipated, but not before being replaced by six more blobs of spiritual energy. Meanwhile, Kiganjo just sat back, watching, while his Lieutenant tended to his wounds made from the Cero.

Starrk was beginning to grow tired of the charade. He continued to dodge and parry, but did so in a way as to gather the ever increasing number of clones right in front of him.

"Cero" he lazily announced.

A bright blue blast of energy roared across the flat desert, starting from the center of his chest, obliterating any trace of Kiganjo's proxies. The sand kicked up around the wave of glowing lights that washed over the four people present.

Starrk sighed, not impressed with Kiganjo's Bankai. He prepared to unleash another instantaneous cero, one of his unreleased specialties.

"Cero" he announced again. He wondered why he even went through the trouble of saying what kind of attack he was about to perform. Ah well, he thought, it's not like I could possibly be killed by him.

A wide blue beam of light emerged from his left shoulder, bridging the gap between the new espada and the two captains in an instant and creating a spectacular show of light both deadly and aesthetically pleasing. The captain's eyes widened, but he was too slow to avoid the bolt of death that was shot at him.

The dust settled again for the third time, as the landscape changed from regular waves and small dunes to a giant crater and two ditches as results of the ceros.

"This is growing dull, Captain. Are you trying to mock me?" Starrk inquired. "I'd ask you to not underestimate me."

Kiganjo growled menacingly, his eyes laced with a fury of humiliation. His spiritual pressure began to flail around in the same manner, causing Lillynette to complain.

"Starrk! He got sand in my eyes! Do something!"

"Stay quiet Lillynette!"

"Hey, you'd better no be mean to me! After all, you need me to release!"

Will I need to release against this guy? I doubt it, but she has a point.

Muruma cried at the top of his lungs and prepared to unleash a straight downwards kendo strike, one infused with massive spiritual energy, one that resembled a steroid version of his shikai.

"Get ready Starrk!" Lillynette warned him.

I can probably tank this…should I?

"What are you doing?" a voice came from behind him. In an instant, the owner had disappeared and appeared in front of Starrk's opponent, drawing his sword and wounding Kiganjo in one strike. He then used a quick sonido to appear in front of the terrified boy, using his hand to swiftly knock him unconscious.

"I suggest that you do not toy around with your opponents in the future." The voice's owner, who Starrk recognized as the fifth espada Ulquiorra, sheathed his sword and used his hand to distort the space around him, opening a garganta. "These characters come from the soul society. We do not want them to catch wind of our plans. You will finish them off next time." He tossed the now unconscious Captain into the Garganta, closing it. But before it closed, Starrk could swear he heard dialogue.

"Hey! I think that's the 11th division Captain!"

"Ya think so? Then this is my lucky break!" the voice laughed harshly. "Kenpachi Zaraki has a nice ring to it, doncha think?"

Ulquiorra opened up a second garganta while Starrk watched silently. He tossed the boy to what seemed to look like a peaceful place with a bright blue sky, in contrast to the bleak black sky of Hueco Mundo. He's showing mercy? He thought.

"Your shift is over." Ulquiorra announced, and almost as if on cue the old man who had stormed into their room before appeared next to the pale and diminutive Cinco Espada.

Starrk took the hint very quickly, grabbed a still protesting Lillynette who was invariably about to suggest that he fight the old man right there and then, and using a quick sonido, almost teleported back to the fortress in the distance.

I need some sleep.