He brushed his strawberry orange hair out of his eyes, almost tripping backwards as he did so.
For a second he felt dizzy and wanted to throw up, even falling on the ground with his hands by his sides, ready to puke. But nothing came up, and after a while, Ichigo felt stupid and got up.
Ichigo…That's my name, I believe.
I also believe that this is stupid and makes no sense. Where am I, why am I wearing these weird robes, and why do I have a huge stinking sword on my back! What the heck is going on here?!
The confusion caused him to tear small tufts of his hair off his head. Taking a breath, he tried to calm down. There has to be a logical explanation.
He got up from the stark white floor and stared at the huge door down the corridor that he was standing in. Ichigo started to walk down towards it, all the while glancing around at the spotless building he seemed to be lost in. After reaching the door, he hesitated, unsure of what he might find.
Shrugging, he placed his hand on the door, grunted, and pushed it open.
Standing in the middle of the gigantic doorway, Ichigo blinked, surprised to see ten figures of varying genders and appearances, all of whom radiated power, sitting around a table. Ichigo wondered if he hadn't done the smartest thing. The room that housed them was dark and didn't seem to have any other exits besides the one he had just used to enter the place. If these people weren't friendly and got him away from the door, he would get killed by the…whatever they were.
A blue-haired man with some sort of blue eyeliner and hard muscles in his arm noticed him and, with shock on his face, stood up, knocking his chair back three feet.
Pointing a finger at Ichigo, he yelled, "Isn't that the kid who just entered Hueco Mundo? Isn't it? How is he already here, and where are the other intruders….Aizen?!"
A man sitting near the back of the elongated table spoke calmly, leaning back in his chair. "It seems we underestimated this one, my dear Espada." With a careless toss of his hand, he ordered, "Kill him, Yammy. Now's your chance to prove how strong you are."
At this, a hulking brute stood up, cracking his knuckles menacingly. With a booming voice, he projected, "Thank you Lord Aizen! I shall have fun with this little runt."
Ichigo frowned, puzzled at all their antics. Kill him? How would they kill him? He had the power of a Shinigami-
Shinigami? Where did I get that twisted word from? Sounds weird…
Ichigo had little time to think more on that, as the one called Yammy jumped onto the table and hurtled towards him. Ichigo smirked, knowing he could easily move out of the way. Sidestepping Yammy, he attempted to strike Yammy with his fists. Yammy turned around, not feeling a thing.
He put his hands together and tried to slam Ichigo into the floor. Ichigo just barely got out of the way, but was tiring. This sword is too freakin' heavy. Wait a minute… Ichigo did not have any more time to think. Yammy barreled towards him, yelling a battle cry. Ichigo knew he had no time to move, so he didn't.
He felt a surge of power, picked Yammy up by his arms, and flung him into the wall. Yammy flew into it, shaking the entire room and causing some of the Espada to say, "Yammy, come on! I'm trying to sleep!"
Yammy did not respond. He only glared at Ichigo, who stared at his hands, upset.
Ichigo gripped the sword on his back, weary, and tried to pull it out. However, instead of slowly pulling it out, he accidentally threw it at Yammy, who batted it aside. Once again, Yammy ran towards Ichigo, but Ichigo slid through his enemy's legs. Standing up and holding the huge sword behind Yammy, he lifted it easily. Ichigo frowned. How was he able to lift such a huge sword? Had he taken martial arts classes before he lost his memory? Yammy turned around and drew a slender sword. "Shall you taste the blade of my zanpaktou?"
Ichigo, at first puzzled, shook his head and settled into an offensive stance.
Yammy laughed.
That face of mirth soon turned to one of surprise as Ichigo dashed toward him and sliced his arm off. Yammy tried to land a blow on Ichigo as he landed, but Ichigo kicked off from Yammy's only arm and hit the ground rolling. Ichigo swung his sword – Zanpaktou? – and severed the tip of some bone-like structure on Yammy's face. Enraged, Yammy attempted to tackle Ichigo. Ichigo tried to sidestep, but at the last possible second, Yammy's arm outstretched, and he caught Ichigo in a bear hug. Throwing him to the floor, Yammy proceeded to beat the life out of Ichigo. His fist first hit Ichigo's esophagus, causing Ichigo to gag. A fist ran into his stomach next, and Ichigo found that he was on the ground, curled up.
Yet still, the punches kept raining down. Instead of being sad and starting to cry, Ichigo grew angry. What gave this brute the right to hit him? Him, he who was and is a Shinigami and a…Ichigo frowned. Then the word came to him: …hollow.
Immense power flooded his whole being and pushed Yammy back purely through spiritual pressure, forcing the Espada to stop in the midst of his attacks. Yammy expressed his surprise with a gasp as he felt the vast amounts of energy pouring out from the boy before him. Bracing himself for the inevitable attack, Yammy hunkered down in a defensive stance, but he was too late. His head hit the floor with a thud and rolled around and around like a quarter, finally resting in the middle of a huge pool of blood.
Ichigo had flash stepped past his adversary and sliced Yammy with his hand so fast, Yammy didn't see it coming. Now Hollow Ichigo kept on walking, hoisted a leg up, and stood on the table defiantly. It was silent.
The Espada all stared in disbelief at the body of, while not necessarily their friend, a comrade. Only the one named Aizen, who, it was apparent, was the leader, seemed dispassionate.
"Well. I suppose we overestimated Yammy and underestimated you. A pity, too. All of this even after I was careful to mention that you Shinigami have incredible luck." Aizen's face hardened. "No mercy, Grimmjow. Kill it."
Grimmjow grinned. "As you command. Hey you there!" He motioned to Ichigo. Hollow Ichigo looked at him stoically, its face not betraying any emotion. "Yeah, you! Ichigo…you're going to die. I'm going to give all I have. You are so dead, Shinigami."
Hollow Ichigo's mask flickered.
"Oh sorry, you're not a Shinigami…you're a Hollow. Like me, Espada Six, Grimmjow Jeagerjaques!"
Grimmjow drew his sword, inching it out of its sheath. He flicked it, then licked his lips. The air rippled just for a hundredth of a second, but in that time, Grimmjow materialized behind Hollow Ichigo. He swung his sword, laughing with an expectant face. At that moment, a tall and spidery-looking man stalked towards Hollow Ichigo angrily. With a glint of hopelessness and madness in his eyes, he raised his spear-like weapon and lunged toward Ichigo in unison with Grimmjow.
Both Espadas' weapons only took a bite out of the ground, as Hollow Ichigo had easily dodged their strikes. It had leapt over Nnoitra and Grimmjow, seemingly suspended in the air. A mass of reddish black energy coalesced into existence and enveloped Ichigo's sword in mid-air, and as he dropped back to the ground it suddenly hardened, and Hollow Ichigo swung.
Grimmjow's eyebrows came together just before he died. What? That's a cero.
Ulquiorra stepped forward, incensed that this creature had killed some of his fellow Espada, and unleashed his release form. "Enclose, Murcielago."
A bright flash of green energy illuminated the dark room, blinding all its occupants. Hollow Ichigo roared, cackling.
The light finally faded, revealing Ulquiorra with long, slender horns and feathery wings, which had a wingspan of five feet each. He wore different clothing as well: some sort of gown.
Hollow Ichigo stepped forward.
Ulquiorra came forward to meet him.
They began to fight at lightning speed, throwing ceros and green spears of energy at each other as they teleported this way and that, trying to throw each other off. However, Ulquiorra was tiring. Hollow Ichigo gained the upper hand, and when Ulquiorra seemed out of breath and about to pass out, Ichigo formed a cero at the tips of his horns. He fired.
And Tier Halibel intercepted, firing her cero to negate the effects of Ichigo's. She looked back to Ulquiorra, who nodded, got up, and joined the table of Espada. Staring at Hollow Ichigo, Halibel uttered her release command: "Destroy, Tiburón!"
Halibel was then enveloped by a heart-shaped surge of water, which formed around her to create a cyclone. A moment passed, and then Halibel burst out of the cyclone. Her appearance changed from before. She had gained spaulders on her shoulders, which were akin to shark fins, and two ribbon-like protrusions on her back. A thin, spine-like structure formed on her stomach, and her weapon took the form of a broad pata.
She charged Ichigo, yelling, "La Gota!" As she ran, water blinked into existence, condensing in great amounts around her sword, and when she raised her sword and swung it, it fired towards Ichigo in a blast.
Hollow Ichigo turned his back on it and unleashed three of his cero behind himself.
Tier Halibel only had a moment to stand with her mouth agape before she and everyone else was incinerated.
Hollow Ichigo walked away, bored of the game it had been playing, and had just stepped out the door. It stood there. Pieces and bits of its mask fell off, shattering as they struck the floor. As more and more time passed, Ichigo's face revealed itself. Ichigo let out a sigh without meaning to and hit the floor, beyond tired. Then he heard a voice and let out a groan.
"What's wrong? Aren't you going to kill me, too?" Aizen stepped out of the shadows.