A/N: Here's where my contributions to the story begin! Yay! Thanks to all of you people who read. :) You're awesome.
Note: For the most part, this story is going to be in third person. If I change my mind, I'll go back and correct everything, but that would take a lot of time and effort and I just really don't want to have to do that. So I'll just stick to third person if that's alright with you guys.
Note II: I'll be switching back and forth between calling Ichigo's Hollow 'Hichigo' and calling him 'Shirosaki'. And no, I do not have to explain why.
~M.M.
Chapter 2: Hueco Mundo
Ichigo ran through the darkness on a rock-solid path made of strong reishi. He'd done it unconsciously; he hadn't been told to make a path, but there it was, clear as day.
Darting through the darkness of the gartanta reminded Ichigo slightly of dashing through the Senkaimon to rescue Rukia. But then he was being chased by that cleaner thing. Now, he supposed, he could take all the time he wanted.
But he didn't want to. So he kept running.
Oi, King. Shirosaki called from the recesses of Ichigo's mind.
What? Ichigo was a lot less hostile than he had been in the past. This was due mostly to the fact that Hichigo wasn't a sign of evil to him anymore.
I don't think that any of 'em are gonna go without a fight. What's your plan? Hichigo asked.
I'm considering just asking to join them. It's not like I need to challenge Aizen right now. In fact, that'd probably be a pretty bad idea. I need to get stronger. Ichigo replied. He could see a doorway-sized stream of light coming from somewhere in front of him.
Ichigo burst into the midnight atmosphere that was Hueco Mundo and grinned. He'd made it.
It was mostly a wasteland: sand, some scraggly-looking trees with no leaves and no color, and the only major landmark in sight was a giant palace in the distance.
"That must be Las Noches." Ichigo said to himself. "Dude! It's so fucking far away!" Ichigo put his head in his hands an groaned. His hands encountered his mask and he realized that it now covered his entire face, but he was still in control of his body.
I'm bein' nice to ya, King. Hichigo sniggered, but soon sobered. And anyway, can't you just use shunpo?
Ichigo paused in mid mental-rant.
Yeah. That's actually not a half-bad idea, Shiro. Thanks. Ichigo thought, and gathered reishi under his feet in preparation for a flash-step.
With that very helpful shunpo technique, Ichigo reached Las Noches in just a few minutes, which was a feat in itself. The former Shinigami realized that Las Noches was a hell of a lot bigger than he had originally thought.
Whoosh!
Clang!
Ichigo stared calmly at the zanpaku-tō that had come very close to severing his head from his shoulders.
"I assume you are here to retrieve the woman." The black-haired Espada stated. His emotionless green eyes would've unnerved any normal person, but, then again, Ichigo wasn't normal.
"If you are talking about Inoue Orihime, you'd be incorrect. I'm not here for her." Ichigo said as he stared at Ulquiorra. "In fact, I'd like for you to take me to Aizen."
The sound of soft footsteps made Ichigo turn his head. Striding casually out of a pair of huge white doors and dressed in white, red, and black, was Aizen Sōsuke.
"You're the Ryoka boy that I almost sliced in half, aren't you?" Aizen asked, his brown eyes boring into Ichigo's.
"That's correct." Ichigo said. He brought his knee up into Ulquiorra's stomach so hard the Espada's breath whooshed out of his lungs and he dropped his sword. Ichigo watched at Ulquiorra regained his normal oxygen levels. "Oops."
"I simply must ask," Aizen said, totally unaffected by Ulquiorra's little struggle, "why you have that mask on your face. You are not an arrancar."
"I have this mask because I am a Vizard. A Shinigami who has gained Hollow powers, the exact opposite of your arrancars." Ichigo explained. "Right now, the Hollow inside my head is at peace with me, and that is why my mask has materialized."
Aizen's eyes practically glowed with the fresh information. A slight smirk adorned his lips as he spoke.
"Why have you come to Hueco Mundo, Ryoka Boy?" Aizen asked.
"My name is Kurosaki Ichigo, and I would like to join you - as an Espada." Ichigo declared. He dropped his sword to the ground to show he wasn't a threat.
Without Zangetsu, Ichigo couldn't fire a Getsuga Tensho, and he most certainly couldn't fight anyone. He didn't know Kido, and his Hollow hadn't taught him how to fire a Cero.
I'll get right on it, King. Hichigo promised.
"Why are you suddenly changing sides?" Aizen was eyeing Ichigo warily. "The last time I checked, you were loyal to the Gotei 13."
"I was never loyal to them; I was only loyal to my friends. But I decided that they should learn how to fight for themselves because I was tired of doing it for them." Ichigo muttered flatly.
Aizen observed Ichigo for a long moment.
"Ulquiorra, please take Kurosaki inside to the meeting room. I wish for him to choose two of the Espada to fight." Aizen ordered, and then vanished.
'Choose two of the Espada to fight.' Ichigo mused as Ulquiorra started walking. Hm…so many different meanings to that one little phrase…
I'm pretty sure he wants ya ta fight 'em, King. Need help? Hichigo asked, his eyes shining with malicious intent.
You bet your ass I'm gonna need help, Shiro. Ichigo replied. I wasn't even able to handle Grimmjow. And he said he was only number six!
Ichigo followed Ulquiorra through the too-white halls of Las Noches and then into a huge room dominated by a gigantic rectangular table. Gathered around the table, filling all the chairs but three, were arrancars dressed in white.
All of them turned to stare at Ichigo when he walked in, making him feel slightly self-conscious. He hadn't changed out of his shihakusho - a telltale sign that he was a Shinigami. The dark shade made him feel out of place in the all-white room.
Ichigo stared at the Espada with his tea-colored eyes narrowed. They all peered skeptically back at him.
A hand on his shoulder made Ichigo jump. He looked up to the owner of the hand and saw the face of Aizen.
"My dear Espada. This fine young man is Kurosaki Ichigo. He has requested to join our ranks." Aizen stated.
"What!" A blue-haired Espada growled, standing up so fast his chair flew back into the wall. "This fucking Shinigami wimp? I practically handed his ass to him when we fought!"
"Grimmjow, sit back down and drink your tea." Aizen commanded. Ichigo marveled at how he had a threat in his voice, but managed to sound completely controlled at the same time.
But Grimmjow seemed to hear something that absolutely terrified him, and grabbing his chair from the dent it had made in the wall. He obediently sat back down at the table and snatched his teacup from its place, grumbling all the while.
"As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, Kurosaki-san wants to join us here, as an Espada." Aizen continued. "And as you know, there is a special sequence of events that has to take place before that can happen." Aizen turned to Ichigo. "Kurosaki-san, please choose two people from the table whom you wouldn't mind battling for their place among the Espada."
Ichigo's eyes widened. He had no idea who was the strongest, or the weakest. He began to look up and down the table at the different faces. To his intense surprise, they were all very different. He'd been imagining them all to look as insane as Grimmjow or as extreme as Ulquiorra. But some of them actually looked normal-ish.
At the end of the table, closest to Ichigo, there was a very tall white figure wearing a mask that extended too far for the Espada's face to be even relatively normal-shaped, and had a huge white collar that flared up almost halfway up said mask. Ichigo could hear small bubbling noises coming from behind the mask.
Next to the Bubbling-One (as Ichigo had affectionately dubbed him) there sat a large, dark skinned-man with red markings on his face, and his mask fragment sat on his lower jaw. He looked bored, his head resting on his hand.
Ichigo's eyes scanned the forms of all the Espada. There was another dark-skinned man (this one looked a lot more serious than the first one), one tan woman (the ONLY woman, Ichigo noticed, in the entire group) showing way too much of her chest and stomach, a man with black hair who was sleeping on the table, a man with bubble-gum pink hair and silver square-rimmed glasses, an aged man who appeared to be wearing a headband, and lastly another black-haired man whose shirt collar looked like a spoon.
King, need some help? Hichigo called.
…Yeah. I have no idea who to pick…I'm supposed to choose two of them. Ichigo thought back.
Go with the sleeping one and that huge one. Hichigo suggested. Their reiatsu is much larger than the other ones'.
Fine. Ichigo replied.
"I pick you," Ichigo pointed at the large Espada, "and you." Ichigo finished, pointing at the sleeping man.
Said man sat up, suddenly alert. His blue-gray eyes focused on Ichigo with a coldness that made a shiver run through Ichigo's body.
"Well, ya sure know how ta pick 'em, Strawberry!" Grimmjow laughed. He had his insane grin plastered all over his face, his sharp canines glinting in the light. "Ya go for the two strongest Espada!"
The hand that was still on Ichigo's shoulder squeezed gently, and Ichigo looked up at Aizen's amused face.
"Grimmjow is correct, Kurosaki-san. You've chosen the cero and primera Espada, my zero and first." Aizen mused, his chocolate eyes glinting.
Ichigo felt like he was going to die. He'd chosen the two strongest ones in the entire room beside Aizen himself?
Damn.
A/N: Alright, that was the second chapter! I hope you like what I'm doing so far with the characters and everything. Right now I'm focusing on the basic situation, and I promise that the action will pick up soon, just not at this very moment.
I'd appreciate it very much if I could get some feedback from you guys; I've gotten three people subscribing to this story, I have about a thousand hits, and I have zero reviews. It doesn't bother me too much - I know that people like this story enough. I would just be nice to hear it. Y'know, to feed my ego a little. :)
Thanks for reading! ~M.M.
