Emperador
A/N: I'm an idiot. Requiem isn't going to be updated until I can get my literal head out of my proverbial ass and get some more typing done… which makes me wonder why I'm writing this in the first place… Well, I'm on break at work and have nothing better to do… and this is still fresh in my mind, because my short (I mean fun-sized) raven-haired muse delights in giving me an awesome idea, allowing me three or four chapters worth of work for it… and then cutting me off. Then she gives me an awesome idea, and when I demand loudly to know why she won't inspire me to work on one of my older stories, she randomly squeals about Chappy and runs away before I can stop her. : P So here's this thing. The OC is of my own design; his debut was in my good friend Theresa Crane's BlacknWhiteIchiRuki2.
Damn, I hate the rain.
The downpour had been going on for hours… and rain wasn't the only thing falling. Scarlet mixed with the water that seemingly fell from the void. The Cutting Moon and the Sleeve of White Snow were dancing, even as their masters panted, exhausted from their futile efforts to slay the never ceasing horde of Hollows. For each one that had its mask cleaved in two, four would appear behind it to take its place.
Bankai wasn't enough, as Ichigo discovered. His unrivaled speed and power still could not keep up with the massive influx of the Hollows. Even his mask couldn't give him enough power to wipe them out. Rukia had reached her limit. Her dances were becoming weaker with each use, and her kido skills were losing effectiveness. Her vision blurred.
Ichigo picked up on this quick and rushed to her side. "Dammit, Rukia, you're not allowed to pass out on me! We're gonna get through this!" He gave the Zangetsu another mighty swing and cried out, "Getsuga Tenshou!" as a great black moonfang shot out and obliterated another wave of Hollows. Even that wasn't enough, as evidenced by the arrival of even more adversaries. And what Ichigo saw next made his breath catch in his throat.
A garganta had opened. A masked figure stepped out from it, clothed in white, a sword girt at his side.
"Kuso!" Ichigo swore. "Arrancar!" Rukia panicked and clung to Ichigo.
"What do we do?" she asked, shaken by this seemingly disastrous turn of events.
"I'll beat him down and get us out of this," Ichigo grunted.
"My, aren't we being a little presumptuous?" the masked figure said, loud enough for the shinigami to hear. He raised a hand and extended his thumb, fore and middle fingers, as if holding a curveball. A red orb of energy began to charge.
"Cero!" Rukia cried out. Ichigo reached instinctively for his mask, but he needn't have bothered, as he was about to find out.
The doom blast was discharged in an arc, obliterating all of the Hollows in the immediate vicinity. The shinigami were stunned. Did he… just save us?
As the Arrancar began to walk closer to them, stepping on the air as if it were solid ground, the pair of them took notice of his features. He was a little shorter than he had seemed, only about halfway between Ichigo's height and Rukia's. He had short black hair that extended toward the back into a short kind of plume, as if he were royalty. He wore a variant of the traditional Arrancar uniform: white hakama, white sandals over black socks, black obi sash, and a tight muscle jacket, halfway zipped up to reveal the Hollow hole in the center of his chest, between his pectorals. The collar was high, and flared up, as if he were mimicking a vampire from an old-fashioned horror film. A white cape with a frayed black lining was fastened to the coat, which reminded Ichigo of his own bankai duster.
The mask was intricate: a line came down from the top to a circle that sat where his forehead would be. Two parallel lines ran from just above his eyes, down through them and stopping at two large fangs. Between the fangs ran teeth that reminded Ichigo of the teeth on his own mask. There was no chin on the mask, as it seems that the chin was the part of the mask that the Arrancar chose to remove. The yellow eyes that were the definitive trait of all Hollows (beside the mask and hole) had faded to reveal deep green orbs, matching the colors of the markings on his mask. On his right exposed bicep was a tattoo of the number 118, with the second one being slightly higher than the other two numbers.
The sword at his side was slung off of his right hip, and extended past his left leg. The tsuba guard was intriguing: it looked like part of a Spanish cross, missing two opposing sides, and the hilt grip wrapping was colored a dark green.
The arrancar tilted his head, as he folded his arms over his chest, unsure of what the shinigami would do next.
Finally Ichigo spoke. "Who the hell are you, and what do you want with us?"
Holding his head high, the arrancar answered.
"Ore wa Esteban Gobernadorro, ex-Arrancar Numero 118. And all I want... is to exist."
--
"Aizen-sama…"
"Yes, Ulquiorra?"
"I have received a report from the Exequias."
"And, what did they say?"
"Arrancar Numero 118, Esteban Gobernadorro, of the Privaron Espada, has left Tres Cifras and opened a garganta to the human world. This was not authorized."
"I know. I felt Esteban's reiatsu vanish a short while ago. I guess he grew tired of being used for a purpose beneath his talents."
"Sir?"
"You know, Ulquiorra, that Esteban was the Segundo Espada before Halibel-kun. I believe you served with him once?"
"With all due respect, Aizen-sama, among all of the trash you threw out when you brought us to the Espada, I was the most displeased at the removal of Esteban-dono. He was a pleasure to work with."
"But still trash?"
Ulquiorra thought for a moment. "No. I do not believe he was."
"Do you realize why I threw him out?"
"Of course," he said, as he looked out over Las Noches. "An Arrancar with a conscience is the most dangerous entity ever devised."
A/N: Ooooooooooh, what now? So how was it? Hope I put enough in to tantalize and tease. Esteban has been my pet project for some time now… it all started one day at work when I was doodling a Hollow mask. I liked the look of it and then started sketching out an arrancar to fit with it. Yeah, he'd make more sense as a Vaizard, but I wanted an Arrancar who chose to wear his mask. He can take it off when he wants to, as you'll see in the next couple of chapters. The reason for this being that Esteban was one of the few natural Arrancar born through a Vasto Lorde removing his mask. In fact, in this story, he's the ONLY one to have removed his mask in such a manner… the only reason he wasn't Primero Espada was… well, I'll save that for character developmental purposes down the road… wait 'til you get to see him release… too bad you won't get to see it until later down the road!
R&R pretty please?