"Did you locate her yet, Tousen?" Aizen asked. He stood on the balcony of his tower, wearing a white suit while overlooking the ruins of the world he owned. Tousen moved to stand behind him.
"No. It appears she attempted to create a garganta from within a garganta," he said. Aizen, smiling, took a sip from his glass.
"Ah, so we couldn't track her to the base of the 'resistance'," he said, the last word lightly mocking. Tousen was silent a moment.
"It seems she was successful."
Aizen paused, then slowly turned. The pleasant smile didn't falter.
"Go on."
"We do not know the full details, but at the moment she activated her brace, there was a surge of power inside the garganta," Tousen said. "Ilforte reports seeing the other side for a few seconds before being repelled by the power of the garganta."
"And what did he see?" Aizen asked, taking another sip of his drink.
"…Kurosaki Ichigo as he was before your reign," Tousen said. Aizen froze. Then he chuckled, letting the drink rest in his hand. There was no rail to the balcony, or he might have set it down.
"And you believe this?" he asked. Tousen shook his head.
"No. But the recording device he was wearing caught the image as well."
"I want to see this footage."
"Of course," Tousen said, pulling a small screen from his robes. He handed it over to former captain, and Aizen watched without comment. Indeed, the few seconds of film showed that idiotic revizard activating her brace, and there was a surge of darkness. The very air around the girl seemed to shimmer, then rip as if being clawed apart. The light was blinding for a moment, but then it toned down enough to see as the girl fell through the hole, a teenaged Kurosaki Ichigo standing with a shocked expression. However… Aizen replayed the tape, face blank. Yes, the second time through confirmed it. His shihakusho was different, and not even the Ichigo currently resisting him wore a robe like that.
Suddenly, Aizen smiled.
"Tell Ilforte he is to report to me right away," he said. Tousen nodded, then turned to enter the tower. Aizen turned, once again admiring the view of his world. He didn't have to wait long before the nervous Arrancar forced himself to walk onto the balcony.
"You asked for me, Aizen-sama?" he asked. Aizen decided not to look at his minion. Ever since his ascension, the vast majority of them acted pathetically skittish around him, and he wanted his questions answered swiftly as possible.
"Yes, about your report on the revizard girl going through an alternate garganta..." Aizen started. He heard Ilforte gulp. "Tell me, what did you sense about the Kurosaki Ichigo in the portal?"
"Ah, what did I…? I don't understand, Aizen-sama," he said. Aizen shook his head. Of course not, he wasn't at that level.
"Was there anything different about him? Besides his age," the overlord asked. Ilforte looked to the side, thinking.
"Not really… stronger. More like… weaker, if I had to say anything, but it was hard to tell with all the energy flying around," he said. Aizen nodded.
"That is all," he said, turning to dismiss the Arrancar. Then he tilted his head. "Ah, you're Szayel's brother, aren't you?"
"…y-yes, Aizen-sama," Ilforte said, taking an involuntary step back. Aizen tossed his drink over the edge of the balcony, taking a step forward to match. Ilforte stared in horror, sweat forming at his temples.
"Did you know there's a mole in this tower, Ilforte?" Aizen asked. Ilforte was frozen in place as the former shinigami moved to stand only inches away from him. His breath was shallow; Aizen was letting some of his reiatsu leak, and it was suffocating.
"…n-no, Aizen-sama," he said. Aizen kept his pleasant smile, and Ilforte gasped.
"How unfortunate," Aizen said casually. Blood leaked from one corner of Ilforte's mouth; a bloody gash went from his sternum to his naval. "I was hoping you would be of more use, since you're the most obvious member of the group. But no matter, I'll weed the rest of you out soon enough."
Ilforte's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell backwards. Aizen sighed, smiling as he adjusted his tie.
"Tousen, throw him into the void, would you?" he asked the air. Tousen appeared from the shadows, noncommittally kicking Ilforte's body over the side of the balcony. The man then approached Aizen, who leaned against his desk, fiddling with one of the resistance brace's. There were three more on the desk.
"These braces are really quite remarkable," Aizen said. "The combined efforts of Mayuri Kurotsuchi, Urahara Kisuke and Szayel Aporro Grantz. Even we haven't uncovered all their secrets yet."
"Aizen-sama?" Tousen said. Aizen turned the brace in his hands.
"We have discovered how to use them to create garganta, however, we still have yet to uncover the coordinates of their little dimension. No matter," he said. "Tousen, gather Nnoitra, Halibel, Tesra and Vega. I'm intrigued by what happened to the revizard nuisance, and would like to see if the experiment can be repeated."
"… yes, Aizen-sama," Tousen said, flash stepping from the room. Aizen waited patiently. It was Nnoitra and Tesra that arrived first; they must have been close.
"Tousen said you called?" Nnoitra asked, looking bored. Aizen thought nothing of it.
"Yes, I have a special mission for you," he said.
"Yeah? What's so special about it?" Nnoitra asked. Aizen tossed the brace to the Espada, and then a second one to his fraccion.
"Put those on. Your mission is actually twofold," Aizen said, watching as Nnoitra looked the brace over before slipping it on. "First, you are going to perform an experiment for me. You are going to activate a garganta from within a garganta. Don't worry, I've already set the coordinates."
"And the second part?" Nnoitra asked. Aizen tilted his head, still smiling.
"After completing the first task, you are going to eliminate Halibel and your fraccion," he said. Tesra flinched, but then composed himself. Nnoitra grinned.
"Fine with me," he said. Aizen nodded, and then Ggio Vega appeared. The Arrancar was given the primary mission, as was Halibel when she arrived.
"Now, Aizen said, leading the four unto the balcony. "Tesra, when you have completed your first mission, you are to kill Halibel and Vega. Vega, you are to kill Nnoitra and Tesra. Helibel is to kill Vega and Nnoitra."
"What? What bullshit is this?" Nnoitra asked. Aizen smiled, opening a garganta.
"Of you four, only two are loyal. However, at least one more is a sympathizer, and the other is a smuggler. This is a test of your loyalty. Whoever survives, wins," he said. Then he waved them to the garganta. "Now, on with your mission."
"… che, fuck," Nnoitra said, storming into the garganta. Tesra followed after.
"This seems like fun!" Vega said, skipping behind. Halibel gave Aizen a long look, then walked into the garganta. Aizen watched as they activated the garganta on the braces. No one bothered to hide their familiarity with the item. This was no test of loyalty; it was a death sentence. Aizen was not expecting them to return… at least not together, if at all.
Power poured out of the garganta as four holes ripped through like the inside of a thunderclap. He watched as the four Arrancar were pulled into their respective holes, all views of the world before he had taken over. Or so it would seem.
As the rips in the garganta closed, Aizen closed the original garganta. He turned and strode to his desk, sitting elegantly. He pulled a screen from the surface of the desk. When he powered it on, it showed four separate cameras. Aizen leaned back, watching the show begin.
Nnoitra sighed as he looked around. It looked like he was in Heuco Mundo. How. Wonderful.
"…what?"
Nnoitra flinched and whirled at the soft exclamation. Standing a ways off were a group of three he recognized. He narrowed his eyes. Something was… off. It was definitely Rukia, Urahara and Rangiku, but they seemed… weaker. And almost… younger?
And then they pulled out their swords. Oh, wonderful.
Halibel landed lightly on her feet. She looked around with a critical eye. She had no idea where she was, but it was next to a river. And… she took deep breath. Human world. She sighed, then started walking. She at least needed to get out of the open…
Vega landed in the middle of a dojo. He looked around, glad it was empty at least. Well, not really, since it was kind of boring, but it was probably better no one saw him… or that he hadn't landed on anyone. Except it was then the door to the dojo opened. Vega sighed in relief when he realized it was just some human.
"Hey, you!"
Vega flinched, then looked at the black haired chick again.
"I don't know what you think you're doing dressed up like that, but the dojo is closed, so scram!"
Vega blinked, then titled his head.
"You can see me?" he asked. The girl blinked.
"Of course I can, weirdo!" she said, aiming a kick at his head. Vega dodged.
"Huh, interesting," he said.
Tesra felt like he had been shot from a gun, and fell straight through a roof. He panted a moment, and sat up. Only to be greeted with a sword to his throat. He looked up to see Kenpachi-taichou grinning down at him.
"Huh, I could've sworn I killed you…" he said. Tesra felt his blood run cold. "And yet here you are, breaking into my office…"
so... guess i'll put this to a vote. who do you want to have the next chapter; nnoitra, tesra, vega or halibel?