Previously

The creature had a huge, gaping hole where its heart should be, in the centre of the first body part. The most disturbing thing about it by far was the bone white mask which covered its entire face, leaving eight holes for its glowing red eyes.

When it was close enough, the creature opened its huge mouth and roared. The chilling sound which shook the earth was one of the most pain filled, anguished cries that the spirit had ever heard. For a very brief moment, all he could think was: 'I understand you. You are hurting so you lash out at the world.'

Though the sympathetic thoughts would not save him when the beast charged as him, screaming all the while.

What would save him was the giant blue arrow which came out of seemingly nowhere, piercing the bone-mask, shattering it into a thousand pieces. The creature reeled back, clutching its front legs to its face, screeching before a loud tearing noise was heard. Behind the monster, a huge black space opened up, allowing it to step back and escape. The rip in the sky closed like a mouth, vanishing after the spider.

^_-x-x-x-_^

Beta is QuatroPuppy


Evolution


Hueco Mundo was a desolate place. To say that would be an understatement in fact. Vast deserts covered the surface, the white sand somehow visible in merely the cold light of the giant moon that always hung in the sky, making there be no day or night. That was what Hueco Mundo was like: never changing, always night, the only colours white and black.

The only colour provided was from the creatures that lived there. The only structure was Las Noches. The gigantic palace was recently abandoned; all its inhabitants dead or gone to live in a cave somewhere.

Below the surface, where giant quartz pillars rose from the ground, their tips making up the white trees which dotted the Hueco Mundo landscape, and where the huge Gillians wandered aimlessly, a newly opened gargantua was just closing. The hollow who had stepped out of it was writhing in pain, screaming at the top of its voice, drawing two curious hollows to its thrashing form.

"Hey, why don't we just eat it?" one of them asked its companion, whilst narrowly dodging a flailing leg. It was a red hollow and human shaped, but its arms were oversized so it stood hunched over, its hands resting on the ground.

"Yeah, okay," the other replied. It was dark blue and was also human shaped but stood upright unlike the red hollow.

Satisfied with the response, the first waited for another leg to come its direction. When one did, it leaned forwards and caught the end in its teeth.

Before the hollow could bite down however, the other hollow stopped moving. The hollow, still with a leg in its mouth, looked down confusedly, wondering if the other was dead. It wasn't able to anticipate the quick movement of the still hollow and suddenly found that one of the other seven legs was now embedded in its head, the sharp end of it poking out of the back. The hollow was dead before it could even register the removal of the appendage.

The slain hollow's companion watched with a smile as the spider like hollow withdrew its blood covered legs, producing a sickening crunch as the mask broke into even more shards. 'Now I don't have to share,' it thought.

The black hollow's mask was newly formed, exactly like it was before except for the two long fangs which now jutted out from the sides of its mouth, like a spider. The creature turned to face the second hollow who was still grinning about the first's death.

The spider-hollow stalked towards the other slowly. With a burst of speed, the spider rushed towards its enemy, sinking its new fangs into the neck of the other before it had time to react.

The spider released its victim even though the fangs had actually only broken the tough skin of the other. It crawled back a few steps to admire its handiwork.

"That didn't hurt at all." The confident blue hollow couldn't tell it was being played with. A sharp pain shot through its body stemming from the bite wound. The hollow howled and dropped to its knees, clutching its hands to its neck.

The spider was silent and made no movement. The other hollow fell face first onto the cold hard ground. Its dying thought was: 'Poison, but how? It's only a low level hollow like me.'

^_-x-x-x-_^

For once, Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi was trying to listen to the Head Captain's ramblings (In his opinion) at a captain and lieutenant's meeting which was not actually boring. Quite the opposite, really. He was interested in what Yamamoto had to say about the seven mysterious figures, but not about the mundane things that everyone already knew or were covered by the last meeting that morning.

Currently, the head captain was just stating why he had summoned them there and he could not have possibly have been more slow with it.

'Get to the point already!' Every captain probably shared Kurotsuchi's thoughts. He could clearly see the signs of impatience present in the expressions around the meeting hall. Curiosity too, even on Kuchiki's face - although he was trying to hide it.

Of course the fact that the source of the explosive spiritual pressure felt earlier standing at the front would raise a few eyebrows.

Kurotsuchi's fascination was the most expressed. The researcher was leaning so far forwards that it was a miracle he hadn't stumbled over already. His eyes were solely focused on the seven and Yamamoto.

"... district seventy. Captain Soi-Fon will now give a summary of her report." This snapped Kurotsuchi out of his thoughts of exactly what experiments he perform on the guests.

The woman stepped forwards, her hands kept perfectly still by her sides.

"As we got closer to the general area, we were able to pinpoint the location of the spiritual pressure to district seventy three. When we arrived there, there were these seven people speaking to a resident. Captain Zaraki provoked them into a fight while I restrained the girl. One of them attempted to free her by attacking me. This allowed her to unsheathe her zanpakuto, which released a mass of air, ending the battle. Afterwards, she healed our injuries and both groups explained our situations to the other. We then headed back to the Seireitei."

'Well, if that was a summary,' Kurotsuchi thought, 'I don't want to hear the full version.'

But the report certainly intrigued him. If the little blue-haired girl could summon that much power from simply drawing her sword, how powerful were her companions? He would definitely request to dissect them later.

The other captains also seemed surprised by this news. After all, the fact that they even owned zanpakutos was amazing. The head captain didn't allow any questions, his sudden and powerful voice silenced them before they could even voice their concerns.

"Now then, we will hear another summarised report from the people in question - their life story."

Kurotsuchi almost groaned. He didn't care for anything they had to say, he just wanted to skip to the research and experiments.

"You there," Yamamoto pointed to the one with yellow spiky hair and a lightning bolt shaped scar running through his eye, "Tell us everything we need to know about who you are and where you came from."

Said man stepped forwards. He was extremely tall and wore a heavy fur trimmed coat.

"My name is Laxus Dreyar." He then began to explain all about how they had ended up in the Soul Society.

^_-x-x-x-_^

Latrodectus Mactans crept towards its meal. The first hollow it had killed was only a few feet away so it would be eaten first. Unlike a real spider, it didn't need to predigest its food but it did make it easier. The second hollow had been injected with a lethal dose of venom so it would be lovely and mushy by now. If the hollow had had a tongue it would have been licking the place where its lips should be.

But before it had the chance to approach, a collective roar echoed through the small clearing. Several hollows with small wings descended upon the spider-hollow while more hollows ran towards it on the ground.

When the advancing hollows met the spider, they swiped with their claws and snapped with their teeth. The flying hollows reached out with their talons, attempting to snatch it away for themselves. Latrodectus Mactans fought back of course. It used its long front legs to sweep away enemies in front of it while using the sharp ends of its shorter second pair to shatter masks.

The battle had raged on for quite some time, the attacking hollows had long since given up team work and were now striking anything that moved, until a strange thing started happening. Whenever two hollows touched, they would get stuck together. The joined parts would then melt and the hollows would become one entity.

Eventually, every hollow had been reduced to a quivering mass of flesh, masks detached and floating on the surface. The stuff started bubbling, turning black and viscous like tar.

The individual masks grouped together to form a huge white slab.

The tar like substance began to rise and a figure emerged. Its head almost reached the top of the Menos Forest and it was wider than the pillars which formed the quartz trees. It wore a huge black cloak that obscured its hands from sight. The creature stood on two white feet resembling like boots, with small heels and pointed, curled toes. A ring of spikes ran around the chest and below it was the hollow hole.

The mask also began to take shape. The mask covered the entire face and had a long beak-like nose, the same as every other Gillian, but instead of having two small eye holes, the new being's had a rectangular hole that covered the entire space where they should have been. Running across the black space was a thin diagonal cross.

The different mask reflected this one's individuality, for one of the hollows which had formed the Gillian had already taken control of the body. Latrodectus Mactans had a much stronger mind and was far more powerful than the others. It really was easy for it to seize the should be shared power for itself.

^_-x-x-x-_^

"Well, I suppose I should start by saying that we came from a different world to this one. Ours is called 'Earthland'. It is a world full of something called 'magic', which I am told this world doesn't have.

"Magic is a sort of energy, I suppose like your 'spiritual pressure', and people called 'mages' have it in their bodies. It allows us to perform 'spells'. Spells are manifestations of magic and they can come in many different forms. For example, my magic is lightning but some people can use more than one.

" There are two types of magic: caster magic and holder magic. Caster magic is expelled through the body. Holder magic uses an external source but still uses the mage's

magic energy.

"As well as being contained within people there is also a crystal-like substance called Lacrima. These can be used in 'magical items' – anything from weapons with added effects to tools such as magic air pens and devices which can change the colour of one's attire."

Most of the captains and lieutenants around the hall appeared to taking this information in but a few such as Omaeda and Yachiru looked slightly confused. Kenpachi didn't even seem to care.

"So, our zanpakutos would be 'holder magic' then?" Hitsugaya asked Laxus.

He thought back to the explanation of the weapons from Soi-Fon. She had given the dragon slayers a very thorough overview of the Soul Society.

"Yes. In fact, our own magic was transformed into these swords when we tried to use it, but only Wendy can use her magic through it.

"Anyway, mages group together to form 'guilds' and people request jobs from them such as slaying monsters. Members of a guild bear a special emblem on their bodies to show which one they're in."

He paused for a bit and rolled up his shirt to show the black Fairy Tail mark. This was probably the most he'd ever spoken in his life - asides from arguing with his grandfather - and he still wasn't done yet.

"Long ago, huge creatures called 'dragons' roamed the earth. To defeat them, people learnt their own magic to use it against them. It was called 'dragon slaying magic'. There were three 'generations' of dragon slayers: first generation - those who were raised and taught by a dragon, second generation - those implanted with a dragon lacrima and third generation - those who were both raised by a dragon and contain a lacrima.

"All of us are dragon slayers." Laxus pointed to each person he mentioned. "Natsu, Gajeel and Wendy are first generation. Myself and Cobra are second generation. Sting and Rogue are third generation."

"Seven years ago, the dragons disappeared without a trace. However, a portal was opened recently and ten thousand dragons came through, destroying everything they came across.

"To save everyone, us seven grouped together and used a spell which banished all anomalies. I'm guessing that's why we are here in another world. I don't know where the dragons and the one who was controlling them ended up.

"However, what's been troubling us is that the one who taught us the spell in that exact moment was the dark wizard Zeref – the most evil wizard in history. He used his powers to create many demons which plague our world."

"Why did you trust him?" Komamura inquired.

Laxus stared at the high ceiling while he thought about his answer, "I guess when all of your comrades are dying before you tend not to think straight. But even so, Zeref is a mysterious bastard and we don't really know if he is the all-evil killer we think him to be."

'Finally,' he thought, "and by the way, I kept that to the bare minimum."

"If the dragons and the person controlling them were evil," Unohana spoke up, "then they could be in Hell, but I suppose since you claimed that the spell 'banished' them rather than killed them, I suppose they'd more likely be in Hueco Mundo."

^_-x-x-x-_^

A group of Menos Grande filled a huge clearing. Above them, from the roof and bottom of the desert on the surface, many stalactites had formed. Many of the grey rock formations were only short but others almost touching their ground opposite, the stalagmites.

Sometimes this caused the giant hollows to walk right into them, simple beings as they were. Most of the time this happened, the rock would instantly be decimated with a cero, as it was perceived as a threat. The multiple craters which shaped the clearing's floor were proof of this.

The Gillian swayed back and forth in their little huddle, occasionally knocking into others, which gained them angry roars from the one bumped into before the harm was soon forgotten about.

The ground started shaking. Only lightly at first so it didn't disrupt the hollows immediately. The tremors progressively got bigger and many of the Menos became distressed, some roaring at the unseen cause.

After a few moments, said cause could be seen. It was a Menos Grande like them, but it had a cross instead of eye holes. It was sprinting towards the group.

As it was the same type of hollow as them, the Gillian did label it as dangerous straight away. However, as soon as the newcomer took a bite out of the nearest hollow they became angry.

Almost all of them opened their mouths to charge a cero between their teeth. When they tried to fire it at the hostile being, though, they had disregarded those in front of themselves. This meant that instead of hitting the target, the ceros hit each other, initiating a fight between the giant hollows.

Latrodectus Mactans took advantage of the confusion and tore chunks out of every nearby Gillian, swallowing everything even parts of the black cloaks which apparently weren't made from fabric of any description.

Ceros were being fired in every direction so of course some would hit and destroy those annoying stalactites and stalagmites, also those quartz pillars which actually held the sand roof up. Without support, the hard layer of sand at the bottom of the desert cracked then shattered, the sand previously resting on it falling directly on top of the chaos below.

^_-x-x-x-_^

Far below the final level of Hell was a place that so far no one had ever even imagined let alone seen. Not even the guardians knew of its existence.

In every direction there were unending mirrors, where they joined up was unknown. The mirrors formed a dome around a black castle, so tall one could not see the summit if stood at the base and vice versa. Not that anyone knew if there was a base or not.

The surrounding mirrors did not have smooth surfaces. Cracks that ran on forever created lots of tiny mirrors, each distorting images in its own unique and disturbing way.

The cold stone corridor of the castle echoed with the footsteps of a man with a teenage appearance striding towards a massive black dragon with blue tribal patterns and a white underbelly.

The man's gold trimmed black cloak and white sash blew but his midnight black hair, however, remained still, for he was Zeref and could do that.

"Acnologia," Zeref greeted his subordinate, "How are you finding your new home?"

Acnologia breathed deeply before replying. "Constantly seeing my own twisted reflection…. unnerves me."

The black dragon of the apocalypse was perched on a perfectly sized beam overlooking what it assumed was the floor of this prison on the outside of the castle.

"It's fitting though, don't you think?" Zeref didn't wait for a reply. "For our own personal hell, I mean. It makes it so that we can't hide from our sins; we can't hide from ourselves."

"Ever the depressing guy. I see your point though. So this is where we are eternally punished then?"

"We can only assume that this isn't purgatory: a place where after we are cleansed we will depart to heaven. No, this is hell, where we will remain because we can not be healed, our sins were too great."

^_-x-x-x-_^

The desert of Hueco Mundo should have been the same everywhere: just vast, vast white deserts under a black, moonlit sky. But now there was another inconsistency apart from Las Noches which happened to be a giant sunken part of the sand.

The sunken hole had been created when the supporting quartz pillars had been destroyed. The pressure on the hard bottom layer of sand had been too much and it had crumbled, allowing the mass of sand on top to fall in and fill the small clearing beneath.

If one was watching the sand, one would see a leg break through, trying to find purchase on the desert floor. The leg itself was very long and thin. It was completely black except that the end of it, about a foot was coated in a white bone like substance and it ended in a sharp point, like giant barbs. Seven more identical legs burst from the sand. The white ends dug themselves into the desert ground, allowing the huge body to haul itself out of its sandy confines.

Small streams of sand poured off Latrodectus Mactans' body, following all of its contours. Its Adjuchas form was very similar to how it looked before it became a Gillian. It had shrunk, about the size of a large room now rather than a small house and its body was still almost completely black. The once red pattern on its back was now white and instead of the pattern being one big hourglass, there were multiple version of this but much smaller in size. Each leg was now tipped with a white barb, the long side as sharp as a razor blade and its body now had a huge stinger made of the same white substance.

The mask was strikingly similar but the fangs were much longer and the eight eyes glowed white. Also, around the four eyes on the left was a black pattern, sharp but curved, split into three segments. The weirdest of the new features was that above the mask, there was hair. It was split into two halves; one side was black and the other was white, the black half covered the four eyes on the right and the white side was long, almost touching the ground.

^_-x-x-x-_^


End of chapter


Yes, I lead you on; the spirit wasn't significant at all, it was just a random ghost.

Actually, I had originally intended to make him the important one but because I was going to make him turn into a hollow, I just decided to use the pre-existing one instead.

'Latrodectus Mactans' is just the scientific name for 'black widow'.

By the way, so people don't annoyed, it's not an OC. I know that's a big hint but I don't really care if it makes people want to read and find out who it is (even though its pretty obvious.)

^_-x-x-x-_^

The reason why I included Zeref x Acnologia in the poll was to just hint about this chapter.

Also, remember to vote in the poll on my profile – please don't write your preferences in a review if you can help it.

^_-x-x-x-_^

Top ten poll results:

1) Natsu x Yoruichi

2) Cobra x Soi-Fon

3) Wendy x Hitsugaya

4) Laxus x Matsumoto

5) Rogue x Hinamori

6) Gajeel x Matsumoto

7) Natsu x Rukia

8) Wendy x Karin

9) Laxus x Yoruichi

10) Cobra x Unohana

If you don't like any of those, then vote for others. (On the actual poll, that is.)