Hey guys. I couldn't get enough of writing about Arturo Plateado, so I started writing a new fic about him. So far, he's the only main character, but I'm planning to insert various other characters that you know and love from "Hollowed". Although the story is different and nobody's related (thankfully), I hope to bring everyone back together. Enjoy!

Introduction

I don't even want to think about how long I was down there, trapped in the depths of the void that is Central 46. It's dark, cold, and unpleasant down there… the typical prison setting, only 100 times worse. Spread the prisoner's sentence out over a millennia or two, and your typical soul would go insane very quickly. However, me being an Arrancar, I didn't mind. In fact, it gave me the perfect place and state of mind to plot how to get out of there, and when. Several hundred years, although a little long and boring, is the perfect time span to think out a very nice plan for revenge, and after doing so, I could finally see that the only way that Aizen Souske could carry out his amazing plan is because he planned it from the very beginning, tactfully.

But where he got the idea to do it, I have no knowledge. He may have his own, twisted reasons for betraying everyone in the Soul Society and then running off to create an Arrancar Army, but whatever reason it was, it fit quite well into my own plan. I might have been trapped underneath that wretched place for what seemed eternity, but the old equipment down there allowed me to follow his events closely, and therefore I learned everything about the entire situation right along with the Shinigami – although they are extraordinarily dumb-witted and slow. It took them several months to figure out what Aizen was doing, when I spotted his plot much, much sooner.

Anyway, the real reason that I followed Aizen so closely was because I knew I could use him. I had the perfect plan for the perfect escape, and all I needed was the right time and the right person. That right person was coming here now. That right person was Ichigo Kurosaki.

He was arriving in the Soul Society now. I could tell because I was standing in front of those old, dilapidated screens that showed me what was going on up there. I had heard the other shinigami talking of it unceasingly throughout the previous days, and I knew that the time had finally arrived for me to get out of here… almost, anyway. I watched, satisfied, as the Senkaimon opened slowly and a Hell Butterfly came through, followed closely not only by Kurosaki, but four of his friends; an orange-haired human girl, a black-haired shinigami, a Quincy, and a brown-haired, tall human boy. I sighed. What a strange arrangement. Nevertheless, I watched calmly as lieutenant Abarai, who had been waiting, greeted them.

"Hey there Ichigo," said the red-haired lieutenant offhandedly as the group stepped through the tunnel. "Long time no see, eh?"

"Yeah," replied the orange-haired substitute, in his spirit form. He looked around for a moment, and then greeted his friend. "So how've you been, Renji?"

"As good as ever," replied Abarai. He spotted the short, raven-haired shinigami as she stepped out of the Senkaimon last. "And hello again Rukia. The human world nice?"

"Not with Ichigo yelling in my ear about every last Hollow on planet Earth," she scoffed, rolling her eyes and stepping beside the red-haired lieutenant. Kurosaki shot her an annoyed look, but remained quiet.

"We came because we heard there was trouble," the Qincy spoke up suddenly, pushing his glasses farther up the bridge of nose. This one was more sensible – getting to the point faster was always better.

"Ah yes," said Abarai, rubbing the back of his head as the two humans stood back quietly. "You'd better come see Captain Kuchiki. He'll be taking you to the captain's meeting. Come on."

"What's the trouble, exactly, again?" the orange-haired girl suddenly piped up, looking nervous. "Something to do with Aizen?" Abarai nodded as they walked through the Sereitei towards the captain's meeting place. I peered at them without their knowledge.

"Unfortunately, yes," replied the lieutenant nervously as they walked. "Shinigami everywhere around the Sereitei have been reporting that they heard Aizen talking to nobody about all sorts of things, but only in the late night hours, when they were only half awake. We would discredit them for crazy insomniac statements, but unfortunately, everyone's been hearing it. Even me, and a few of the captains."

"Aizen's voice you say?" Kurosaki asked loudly as they walked. "At night, in the Sereitei?"

"Yes, that IS what I said," replied Abarai, rolling his eyes. "We don't know yet if this is good or bad, but it appears that he is laying out another plan of some sort."

"Eh?" the group asked, as I smirked.

"Yes, he's apparently planning to attack the Soul Society somewhere around tomorrow, which is why you're all here," said the lieutenant. He glanced at the human girl. "Except you. I don't really know why you're here. I mean- OW!"

"Renji you idiot!" the younger Kuchiki roared, kicking her friend in the face heartily. "Don't say things like that! Orihime's here to help, and she can probably do a better job than you, so apologize!"

"N-no, it's ok Rukia-chan!" the girl laughed nervously, holding up her hands in protest. "I'm not really-,"

"Go on, apologize!" Kuchiki shouted, pinning Abarai to the ground and holding his arms behind his back.

"Ow! OW! Fine! I apologize! I apologize! Sorry!" the lieutenant cried, struggling to get up. Satisfied, the younger Kuchiki kicked him in the back of the head strongly and then leaped back to stand by the group, all of which were now facepalming, except the girl.

"That was nice Rukia-chan, but did you have to hurt Renji-kun?" the human girl asked.

"No, I'm fine," replied Abarai, wincing, as he rose. Kurosaki began laughing heartily at this point, but was quickly silenced by the short shinigami with a swift kick.

"Ow," he said.

"Right… come on then," Abarai said, turning and limping in the direction of the captain's meeting place once more. "Captain Kuchiki's waiting for us, and we can't keep him like that for much longer."

"Right," they all said in unison, falling into step behind him and heading in that direction as well. I watched them for another moment, and then finally turned my gaze away and walked towards another part of the room. I could wait until they were done with their petty captain's meeting, and then wait for tonight to strike. They would all be waiting for it, I knew.

This voice of Aizen's that they were hearing wasn't actually Aizen's at all. It was mine, doing my best to impersonate the ex-captain to put everyone on edge by laying out a plan. This interesting little sub-plan was also mine too, and it fit quite well into my main one, but really it wasn't anything but a bunch of senseless babbling about Hueco Mundo and the Arrancars, and the occasional insert about attacking the Soul Society. It's so easy to confuse people who are half asleep.

Grinning, I turned and started slowly pacing back and forth along through the dark room, listening to the group's careless banter through a thick fuzzy static, and waiting for them to end their little chat and get to where they were going. I was eventually rewarded, and I heard them be greeted by Kuchiki Byakuya, and then led off towards the meeting minus Abarai and the younger Kuchiki. The meeting itself was brief, simply retelling Abarai's words to Kurosaki's group in a more serious manner, and then telling Kruosaki that since he was becoming more and more powerful, he would help them try and find where this voice was coming from, and to capture or it.

And that's just what I wanted.

I chuckled to myself and waited – waited for darkness to arrive.

Many hours later, I was ready. Darkness had come and wrapped itself around the Soul Society thickly, the perfect asset in trying to give less hardy souls a good scare. I laughed under my breath and walked over slowly towards one of the pieces of equipment that I had found able to communicate to the Sereitei with. It was old, and hardly used, but I found that this made the effect even more believable to the outside world. The only downside is that it came over a set of old wide speakers that the Soul Society used to use to transport messages, but now the system was too old and out of date to use, so I had taken use of it. However, none of them had found its source yet.

I went over all the aspects in my mind quickly once more as I stood before the old broadcast system. If all went according to this early stage of the plan, this would be the second to last time that I would have to use the equipment before I got to escape from this wretched place. My lips twitching into a smile, I finally reached forward with my hand, cleared my throat, and then pressed the broadcast button. They were all waiting for a show, so I would give them one.

"…attacking soon in the Soul Society," I started with, although half of my sentence was cut off by the old faults in the system. No matter, it added to the effect. I glanced up at the screen and saw the group, all waiting and tense, perk up immediately at the sound of my voice.

"I heard it!" Kurosaki whispered harshly, sitting up straighter. Everyone else sat up too and became silent. I laughed inwardly.

"The mission…. Murder those who…. Unworthy…," I continued, my accent completely covered up and replaced with my best replica of Aizen's calmer voice. The group's reaction was to rise, and start searching the room, talking in low, worried whispers. I smirked and continued. "…kill… Society under cover of…. Then Kurosaki and…" I stopped again, fully enjoying the shocked look on Kurosaki's face.

"Now that didn't sound good," he muttered. His eyes suddenly found one of the old speakers, resting in the corner of the room, cackling slightly with static, but very quietly. "Hey Renji, who uses these speakers?"

"Nobody," replied Abarai, looking up and then scratching his head. "They went out of service 50 to 100 years ago."

"Then why are they on?" asked the human boy, tapping it. He was quicker than the rest, and I was impressed to a certain degree.

"I have no idea," Abarai said.

"…my plan is complete." I finished. I removed my finger from the button and turned to watch the unfolding scene with my arms crossed, my eyebrow lifting as the human Kurosaki figured it all out step by step.

"Hmm…" said the boy. "Renji, where do the original lines lead to?"

"Anywhere," replied Abarai. "But the main broadcast system is in the old headquarters for Central 46."

"Central 46?" asked the Quincy suddenly. "Isn't that where Toshiro said Aizen fought him the first time?"

"Yeah, but that was the newer addition," replied Abarai after a moment. "These speakers were connected the old section but nobody bothered to replace them."

"Then that's where we're going to have to go!" Kurosaki announced, hurriedly heading for the door. "That's the only place Aizen could be broadcasting his messages from to scare the Soul Society!"

"Ichigo wait!" the Quincy called suddenly, leaping up and shouting at him. "Aizen is in Hueco Mundo!" For a moment Kurosaki paused in the doorway, but then he turned.

"Or maybe that's what he wants us to think," replied Ichigo. The Quincy snapped his mouth shut, not sure of how to responded. Kurosaki continued. "Renji, get some of the captains. If Aizen is down there, we'll need to catch him off guard… and finish him off."

"Right," Abarai nodded slowly, as if not sure what else to do. He ran off in one direction towards the captain's quarters, but after a moment, Kurosaki kept heading in the direction of my prison.

"Ichigo, where are you going?" The Quincy and the others shouted, racing after him.

"I have to face Aizen," he replied through gritted teeth. I laughed outright.

"Come, Kurosaki, come," I sneered at the screen. "It's not Aizen waiting for you though… not yet." I turned and started to slowly pace again, my mind at rest. So far, it was all working.

My plan? To escape this wretched place and then gather the army I need to complete my mission to erase all Soul Reapers.

My name?

Arturo Plateado.

I'll start writing Chapter 1 as soon as I can.