A/N: On the uses of "it" and "him"….

"It" implies that something is not sentient. "Him" does. That's all I have to say.

The Coin Flips

Tatsuki entered Ichigo's room apprehensively. "Ichigo?" she asked. "You alright?"

Ichigo said nothing.

Urahara had explained everything to Tatsuki. She still hadn't completely absorbed the torrent of information Urahara had told her.

"You… haven't shown up at school for a week," Tatsuki said.

"I'm weak, Tatsuki," Ichigo said lifelessly. "I let her die."

Tatsuki's hands balled into fists. "You did not, Ichigo. Now get up!"

Ichigo didn't move. Tatsuki grabbed Ichigo by the neck and slammed him into his bedroom wall. "You think Orihime would want you to just lounge around and do nothing?!"

"I…," Ichigo murmured. "Don't deserve to live."

Tatsuki drew her fist back to pummel Ichigo senseless. Surprisingly enough, her fist was caught in midair.

Ichigo straightened up, smiling. "No," he said. "You sure as hell fucking don't!"

Tatsuki backed up. "Ichigo?"

Ichigo's face twisted into a very inhuman smile. "You talking to dead people, girlie?"

"What…," Tatsuki breathed. "Ichigo, what the hell?"

Ichigo frowned. "My name is not Ichigo," he muttered. "I have no name!"

Rukia ran into the room, sword drawn. She quickly scanned the room. "What the," she murmured. "I was sure I felt some hollow reiatsu…"

"R-Rukia," Tatsuki gasped. "Get… back…"

Ichigo's reiatsu boomed. Rukia's eyes widened. "I-Ichi-"

The hollow grabbed Rukia by the neck and slammed her into the wall, knocking her unconscious. "You're in the way," he seethed. Reaching into Ichigo's back pocket, he withdrew the Shinigami "Seal of Approval" and hit his forehead with it.

Initially, Ichigo's Shinigami form popped out. Then, as if getting used to the idea that a hollow was in charge now, the black robes melted away. White skin coated his body as a tail sprouted out of his back. Ichigo's posture changed as he hulked over, exposing a heavily developed torso and clawed hands and feet. His hair, usually kept spiky, grew long, flowing over his back. Finally, white liquid spread over his face, forming his mask.

"Well," the hollow growled. "I'm off!"

----

The Vizards , Gotei 13 Captains, Urahara, and Yoruichi had assembled before Yamamoto in Soul Society.

"Following the death of his close friend Inoue Orihime, Kurosaki Ichigo has hollowfied," Yamamoto declared.

"But that's impossible!" Shinji exclaimed. "He had already defeated his inner hollow. And even if it did somehow manage to take control of his body again, he would go on a rampage. He wouldn't be capable of thought- he would just be another rampaging hollow. There would be no way he would have thought to escape to Hueco Muendo."

Urahara cleared his throat. "Ichigo's hollow is… special."

Shinji narrowed his eyes. "In what way?"

Urahara sighed, trying to remember his own work. This was why he brought notes to meetings. Kurotsuchi stepped in.

"Immediately after I became captain I hacked into Urahara-san's files and-"

"What the hell?!!"

"-found some interesting research that he was doing on souls and Zanpakutos. Urahara-san had devised a theory about the nature of souls."

Kurotsuchi held the attention of everyone in the room, except for Urahara, who was looking rather disgruntled.

"Urahara-"

"I-," Urahara muttered.

"Hypothesized that a human soul is comprised of two halves: the 'human' half and the 'hollow' half. He went on to say that the human half is comprised of an infinite number of facets that every single person on earth has in common. Some of these facets are displayed more prominently on some, less on others. This, Urahra realized, is a person's personality. In fact, the Zanpakuto itself is the spiritual manifestations of one of these facets. The hollow half, in contrast, was only comprised of one facet: a primal, carnal, instinct to kill. When a soul becomes a hollow the two sides are essentially flipped, like a coin."

Kenpachi nodded. "Makes sense."

"Now, when I thought about his theory, I wondered about the arrancar. What where they? So I devised-"

"You son of a bitch, I drew one up also!" Urahara shouted, flustered.

Kurotsuchi smiled sadistically. "Oh? And do you have dated notebooks on the subject?"

"Fuck you! I was collecting data for over fifty years on that and-"

Kurotsuchi continued. "When a hollow removes his mask the previously one-dimensional soul fractures, again into the infinite facets of a normal human soul. This is how the arrancar achieve a personality. The hollow sides of Vizards are left untouched- that's why they go berserk when the hollow takes control. This would also explain why an arrancar cannot evolve. Evolution can only be achieved with a one-dimensional soul. When the hollow part of the soul fractures, evolution becomes impossible."

Urahara stepped in. "But Ichigo's hollow also has infinite facets. It was created at the exact moment his shinigami side was. The two are mirror opposites of each other. The hollow has had a personality for its entire life, and so the hollow yearns for freedom. And it took the first opportunity, the first major mental weakness that Ichigo encountered, it got."

Unohana spoke up. "Is this change permanent?"

Mashiro scoffed. "Berry-tan's strong. He'll take back control."

Love sighed. "I don't know, Mashiro," he responded. "We've never seen anything like this before."

----

The hollows in Hueco Muendo who fell before Ichigo's hollow hadn't seen anything like it before either.

"Three hours," he muttered to himself. "That's how long I'm giving myself to become a Gillian."

A hollow leapt at Ichigo's hollow. Flexing his tail, the hollow whipped it forward and grabbed the attacker by the head. Another lazy yank later and the hollow was spurting blood from its neck. Wasting no time, Ichigo's hollow tore out as much flesh as he could out of the hollow's body before it disintegrated.

A Gillian loomed over the hollow. Wasting no time, Ichigo's hollow leapt up onto the Gillian's body. The Gillian, too late to stop its impending demise, tried swatting the hollow off of its back. It failed miserably.

Ichigo's hollow took a large chunk out of the Gillian's neck. The Gillian screamed in agony, collapsing to the ground. Roaring in victory, the hollow began to grow taller. Black robes began to encircle its body.

Then the evolution abruptly stopped. The hollow froze, surprised, as the evolution began to revert and the black robes melted away. He grasped his head, shrieking in pain.

"Damn you!" he screeched. "Damn you to hell!"

The hollow was sucked into the depths of his own soul. When it awoke, it saw a blue sky. Shakily getting to his feet, the hollow looked around. Buildings tilted the wrong way surrounded him.

"Damn it!" he shouted. "Fucking damnit!"

Suddenly, something caught the hollow's eye. "You," he hissed. "You ASSHOLE!" The hollow drew Zangetsu and charged.

"I finally get full control!" he shouted as his and Ichigo's blades clashed. "I get a chance to live outside these walls without worrying that I'll be taken back in a few minutes and you fucking bring me back inside!"

Ichigo growled. "Banaki: Tensa Zangetsu!"

The hollow looked at its sword. "Zangetsu," he muttered. "A part of Ichigo's soul. A part of my own soul."

Ichigo raised his black sword, charging up a Getsuga Tensho.

"I don't want anything to fucking do with it!"

Zangetsu flew out of the hollow's body. "What the," the old man gasped.

"I am my own fucking person, Ichigo!" the hollow declared. "And I'm going to kill you!"

----

The Espada meeting began when Aizen entered the room.

After serving tea, Aizen sat down and smiled. "Well," he said amicably. "To business."

Aizen turned to Szayel. "Can you replicate the girl's powers?"

Szayel smiled. "But of course. The girl's survival, however, is... doubtful at best."

"Irrelevant."

"So, how well can Karakura defend itself?"

"Grimmjow's fraccion could barely hold off a lower-level Vizard," Alacran said. "One of the former captains in the Vizard ranks could probably defeat all Espada from seven up with minimal difficulty. Even worse, with the Vizard's support Karakura's defenders greatly outnumber us."

Aizen nodded. "We need to capture one of them. Find out their weaknesses. Having a hollow inside your soul must have some sort of cost."

Aizen turned to Uliquorra and Grimmjow. "And what of the Shinigami captains?"

"They are not a major threat. Any Espada six and below could handle the ones I fought."

Grimmjow nodded. "The same for me."

Aizen smiled. "We complete the Hogyoku before any more major offenses. We cannot afford to lose any of your lives. We will keep the Shinigami on their toes with constant offensive forays into Karakura. Send fraccion to harass the captains on a daily basis, throw in some Espada from time to time as well. We can't let them attack Las Noches itself. We need time to prepare before we attack."

The gathered Espada nodded in agreement. Grimmjow grinned madly.

"And when the Hougyoku is completed, we storm Karakura and then take Soul Society itself."

----

The minute Ichigo dragged his hollow back into his inner world by sheer willpower, the hollow's body suddenly felt itself soulless. With no guiding force or direction, the hollow went berserk.

Roaring, the hollow fired a Cero at an oncoming Gillian challenger. The blast of reiatsu tore through the Gillian's body, killing it instantly.

Other Gillians swarmed the area. The hollow looked around desperately. Its primal instincts told it that it couldn't possibly fight all these enemies at the same time.

Blindly, the hollow swept a hand at one of its attackers, cutting it in two. Another Gillian charged up a Cero. The body of Ichigo's hollow turned around too late.

The cero blasted through the reptilian body. Roaring in pain, Ichigo's hollow collapsed the ground. The other Gillians were on it in seconds.

A clawed hand burst through one of the attacking Gillians. Ichigo's hollow unsteadily regained its footing. Slowly, the hole in its chest began to regenerate.

The hollow knew that it was exhausted. Regeneration took a lot out of its power. And of course, it was much harder to fight when there was an epic battle taking place in your soul.

----

"Grimmjow," Barragan growled. "What is it?"

The Sexta Espada had entered Barragan's room without announcing himself. Grimmjow breathed deeply, calming himself. Originally, the Espada would have attacked Karakura the moment the Hougyoku was complete. However, with the complications Aizen's thwarted escape presented, the plan had been altered.

The arrancar in general believed the unexpected delay to be a blessing in disguise. The Shinigami thought that Aizen was dead. They would have no idea what would hit them when the final assault was launched.

For Grimmjow, the unforeseen delay in any Espada offensive meant time to think. Thinking had never been a favorite of Grimmjow's, but it made him realize something.

That the Espada were pathetic little toys.

Grimmjow stared into Barragan's eyes. "You used to be king of Hueco Muedno, right, Barragan?"

Barragan's eyes narrowed. "If you're trying to inspire me to rebel against Aizen-"

"No, no, Barragan," Grimmjow said quietly. "I was just wondering. After all, Aizen's the king now, isn't he? With Kyoka Suigetsu at his side. 'Perfect Hypnosis'. You know, I always wondered if the pawns in a chess game ever actually realized they were the most expendable piece on the board."

Barragan froze. "What," he hissed. "Are you insinuating?"

Grimmjow's eyebrows rose in mock surprise. "I'm not insinuating anything, Barragan," he said, smiling. "Do you need to get your hearing checked?"

"Go," Barragan commanded. Grimmjow left the room with a smug expression on his face. The moment he exited the doorway he began counting seconds. "1…2….3…"

On four Barrragan stepped outside of his room. "You know," he muttered. "I never willingly gave up the throne."

Grimmjow laughed. "Of course, Barragan!" he exclaimed. "We Espada declare absolute loyalty to Aizen-sama! To refuse Aizen-sama his rightful throne would be a crime!"

A dark expression crossed over Barragan's face.

"And to not want it back when it was yours in the first place would be ridiculous! Never mind the fact that every single hollow in Hueco Muendo, no matter how weak, wants that throne. And now they're all bowing down before Aizen-sama," Grimmjow said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Barragan sighed. "I get your point. And just so you know, you don't have a chance of beating him."

Grimmjow smiled. "Oh really? The only reason Stark follows Aizen is out of some misguided sense of loyalty."

"And how do you plan to remove that sense of loyalty?"

Grimmjow shrugged. "We have time. We'll think of something."

----

"I reject anything to do with Ichigo," the hollow thought. "I reject his body, I reject his sword, I reject his fucking soul! He's fucking weak, and I don't want anything to do with him! I don't want a Shinigmai's Zanpakuto, I don't want a Shinigami's wimpy thoughts on mercy and sacrifice and willpower! All that matters in this world is strength, and Ichigo doesn't fucking have it!"

The hollow growled. "Hollows don't have Zanpakutos, you know that, right, Ichigo? Makes me wonder why the fuck I kept wielding Zangetsu when I'm a hollow myself!"

The hollow searched his soul. "Give me strength," it thought. "I want to find something powerful in my soul!"

He found what he was looking for.

"Houttsu, Caballero Lagarto!" (Free, Lizard Knight!)

Ichigo's eyes widened. "Zangetsu told me that the hollow was part of me… so how is he doing this? How did he get a new sword?"

White medieval plate armor, pure as snow, covered the hollow's body. A mask began to cover his forehead, but it jutted out at an angle, not touching his face, like a visor. It had a symmetric design of red lines on both sides, and horns adorned the top of the mask. A perfect circle appeared in the hollow's chest. It was the only area of his body not covered by plate armor. A tail sprouted out of his back, curling gracefully around his body. Bladed gauntlets covered his hands. Ichigo noted, with some apprehension, the sharpened tail, glinting in the sun.

The hollow flipped his visor down, covering his face. The mask's menacing eyes seemed to stare straight into Ichigo's soul.

"Come, weakling!"

Ichigo use shunpo to maneuver behind the hollow. He raised his black sword, aiming for the hollow's neck. He thrust his sword, but struck an afterimage.

The hollow's tail wrapped around Ichigo's body, restraining him. The hollow thrust his hand forwards, impaling Ichigo in the stomach.

Ichigo stumbled backwards, coughing up blood. The hollow raised its armored hand, gathering reiatsu at his fingertips. "Goodbye, King!"

The purple cero raced towards Ichigo. Cursing, Ichigo shunpoed out of the way. His hands curled above his forehead.

Ichigo's eyes widened. The hollow reiatsu refused to gather. His mask, for some explicable reason, would not come down.

The hollow chuckled to himself as Ichigo tried to call upon his power. He had severed all ties with Ichigo. The only common thing they had now was a body, and that problem would be solved soon.

"Why… didn't I ever do this before?" the hollow thought. The hollow knew why. It was because he had always felt, despite anything he ever said, loyal to Ichigo. Ichigo's soul had given birth to him, and Ichigo always seemed competent.

But why didn't he do it after Ichigo stormed into his soul for the sole purpose of trying to kill the hollow? Ichigo never gave him a second thought. The hollow was a monster in Ichigo's eyes.

To Ichigo, the hollow wasn't a person. It took the hollow several hours of thought, but he finally realized this. He had always thought that Ichigo had some decency, but he was wrong. Ichigo trapped him in the walls of his soul, and never let him out.

So the hollow would kill Ichigo.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

The black reiatsu raced towards the hollow. The hollow lazily stepped out of the way. Suddenly, his eyes widened. He turned around and faced another crescent of reiatsu.

Ichigo's attack slammed into the hollow, but it was too weak. The hollow remained uninjured.

"This is why I won't stand for this, Ichigo! You're weak!"

Ichigo's eyes narrowed. The hollow would take over his body if he didn't fight it. It was a monster, plain and simple. He had two sisters to take care of. He had to protect Tatsuki and Keigo and all his other friends from the impeding arrancar invasion. The last thing he needed was his hollow to start a fight again.

He had to protect his family and friends.

So Ichigo would kill the hollow.

"Getsuga Tensho!"

"Again and again," the hollow muttered.

The hollow raised his hand and blasted the Getsuga Tensho out of the sky. Suddenly, his eyes widened. Ichigo was crouching behind him, sword raised to impale the hollow. Resolve burned in the Shinigami's eyes. Ichigo's reiatsu exploded.

The black sword ripped through the hollow's white armor and tore through his stomach. It protruded from the other side of his torso, dripping blood.

"Fuck… you…," the hollow gasped. He leapt backwards, freeing himself from Ichigo's blade.

"Shit," the hollow thought. "Regenerate, damnit!"

The wound began to heal just as Ichigo sliced his sword across the hollow's chest. Blood spurted from the deep wound. The hollow noticed the black glow around Ichigo's sword. "He's holding the Getsuga Tensho in," he realized.

The hollow grinned weakly. "Well, King," he said. "Looks like you're not giving me much of a choice, eh?" The hollow raised his hand as his eyes narrowed in concentration. Glowing white reiatsu gathered around his hand.

"Maza de Sol!" (Mace of the Sun!)

An ornate white mace materialized in the hollow's outstretched hand. The shaft was about four feet long, and terminated in a large club. Four equally spaced prongs sprouting from the base of the club surrounded it, jutting up above the surface of the club by about half a foot.

The mace glowed, almost blinding Ichigo. The hollow swung it around his head a couple times.

"Let's go, King!"

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