To anyone that cares to read this: its been a long time since I updated. Let's just say the reason was writer's block. I actually had the first part of this one done a long time ago, but I started procrastinating waiting for more chapters to come out so that this installment would match the canon better. Also, spoiler alert for what are now not recent chapters. Anyway, this one is a little longer than I've done in the past, but hopefully it holds together well.

Diclaimer: original characters belong to me, but Kubo Tite actually contributed alot to this chapter, as referencing his works allowed me to gloss over some things here. Call it laziness, but I didn't want to rehash scenes that didn't differ from his rendition, since he probably wrote the dialogue better than me anyway.

Chapter 10: The True Nature of the Dog

In the dark recesses of his mind, a battle was occurring. He knew what had to be done, and yet he was still hesitating.

"In order for my plan to work, I must leave her once more. I feel hesitant, however. I know what brutes the hollows living in this palace are, their organization and make-shift attempt at forming a kingdom under Aizen does little to disguise the underlying savagery of the creature known as Hollow. Especially that number 5… if it were just number 4 I was dealing with, I would not have to worry. He is sensible and restrained. But that other one is unpredictable and his blood-lust is barely restrained as it is. Those two are the only ones who visit her. Does that mean my chances are equal both ways?"

The question was answered for him as another, previously unconsidered party entered the room in the outside world, causing him to snap out of his inner retreat. Quickly, he ran behind the bed so as not to be seen by the intruder.

The voice came from the doorway, "Now look at that…you're alone, miss princess."

'Whoever it is at least is astute. Few people recognize that she is deserving of such a title.' His analysis of the intruding party was quickly overturned, as their behavior deteriorated into pointless and uninspired taunting.

"O—ri---hi—me—chan, let ussss plaaaay, o---kaaay?"

They proceeded to enter the room, and without any more words, began punching and throwing the girl around the room. If they were not so involved in their attack, perhaps they would have heard the none-to-subtle growl coming from underneath the bed in the room.

"Hah, that's what you get! Did you honestly think that human strength could compare to an arrancar's?"

To the noble woman's credit, she did not flinch under such an assault, but merely regarded her foe with a look worn by few people who were not monks or other devout individuals. It was the passive look that shows no anger, remorse, or judgement, and is designed to cause the enemy to lose interest in the target. He was not sure if she knew what she was doing, but his concern and displeasure with the situation was briefly replaced, leaving him feeling very impressed. 'I'm sure she has her own faith…'

At least, such a technique works on a reasonable opponent with a clear objective. The inexperienced arrancar now holding the young girl was instead filled with self-pity and a burning desire for some type of gratification, which led her to interpret the look incorrectly.

"…You…What's with that look on your face!" she screamed and hit the girl with renewed vigor.

By this point, the small white dog hiding under the bed was digging his claws into the floor and biting down hard on his hind legs as an ultimate, desperate measure to stop himself from leaping out and going to her aid.

"Hey, keep it down a little." This was said by the companion who had entered the room with the arrancar girl now assaulting Orihime, who was by this point worried that this unauthorized beating might be overheard.

"Geez… you're so annoying. Oh! I know! I'm going to rip her nails off!"

"Hey…Lolly…" her friend urged, worry and fear etched into her face after such a loud outburst.

The arrancar named Lolly turned to look at her friend and retort, but she had not the chance to open her mouth before a large explosion shook the wall behind them.

All three were thrown to the far side of the room, the small dog coming up onto the bed for a better vantage point.

The arrancars coughed. "What was that!?" exclaimed the loud one who had been doing most of the torture. As the smoke cleared, an ominous figure appeared before the three, accompanied by an oppressive spirit pressure. All regarded the new visitor; but the two girls who had been caught acting without orders had looks of pure terror on their faces.

'Grimmjow Jaggerjacques, I know this one well from Soul Society's reports on recent occurrences in Karakura."

"Grimmjow!" Both girls were sweating profusely by this point, due to both the overwhelming spirit pressure and their pure terror.

"Yo. Scampering in while Ulquiorra's not around and having some fun are we, hm?"

"D-Damn…" stuttered the quiet arrancar girl.

Continuing with the momentum of rage she had built, the abrasive one yelled, "W-What's with you?! And just what the hell are you do-"

She was interrupted as he used sonido to deliver a soft kick to her abdomen.

As the girl crashed into the wall, the other one charged him, but he merely brushed her aside with a small cero.

'With that confidence and those skills, he certainly is an espada. The movements are quite well-defined in their roughness." The dog had calmed himself, Orihime being temporarily out of combat. Still this espada just burst into the room for some reason, so there was no time for it to relax.

All turned their attention back to the noisy arrancar as she stuttered out her forced, painful words.

"A-Aizen-sama won't stay quiet about you doing this stuff to us, you know…."

Grimmjow just glared at her and grabbed her by the ankle.

"The likes of you…."

The girl started to panic; amongst her cries of "Hey, wait!" and "Stop it, I won't tell!" the espada relentlessly applied pressure to her kneecap with his foot.

"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah-"

Blinded by the pain of her newly formed stump of a leg, the arrancar yelled furiously, "I-I'll kill you! You're gonna get killed!! By Aizen-sama…"

He kicked her in the face to shut her up.

"…Dipshit. As if Aizen-sama would do anything for shit-heads like you guys…"

Now the room went silent, and Grimmjow turned to look at Orihime. The girl was shocked by the events that she had just witnessed, all of them seemingly dripping with altruism from this unexpected source.

All she could utter was a feeble, "W-…Why?"

"To repay you for my left arm." As her expression turned to one of surprise, he picked her up by the collar. She looked warily at him, "Wh—What are you doing?"

"What am I doing? Do you think I came here just to save you? How naïve. My debt's been repaid to you, so I'm not going to take any shit. Now you're going to accompany me on an errand."

As he practically dragged the bewildered girl out of the room, leaving the two arrancar girls squirming in pain on the floor, the dog noticed the espada glance back at him and scoff.

"Well at least she's taken care of now. He's too simple-minded to want to harm her, as long as he gets what he wants. Still, do not underestimate me espada, for my true mission begins now."

The dog stalked quietly out of the room and down the dimly lit hallways of Los Noches, blending into the shadows.

The throne room of Los Noches lay abandoned except for a barely perceptible shadow of a small animal, slowly making its way to the pedestal containing Aizen's treasure.

The small animal glowed and grew, and in a brief amount of time had assumed an entirely different form: that of the Spirit King.

"Ah, that's a relief. I don't like being cooped up like that." He reached into the folds of his robes and pulled out a small device.

"Time to check the mission status… it looks like they've already gone through the Garganta via Urahara Shoten … and as far as I can tell, Aizen, Ichimaru, Tousen, and 4 espada are in a room in one of the central towers. I don't want to set it off until Aizen heads to Yamamoto's ambush, so I should steal the crystal now and begin setup half an hour from now. Then I'll have another half-hour to make preparations. By that time Yamamoto will have engaged and have been fighting will Aizen for a little over 30 minutes. As long as they can stall him that long, it doesn't matter if he makes it back before detonation."

He moved forward towards the pedestal and applied as little spirit pressure as possible. He kept slowly increasing the pressure until he could do so no further without being detected, but to no avail.

"Damn. It requires average captain-level reiatsu to trigger the opening mechanism, which would surely bring all of Los Noches down upon me. No choice but plan B then. It may be noisy, but I'll take audio detection versus reiraku detection anyday."

His hand starting glowing, and he thrust it. "Heaven's sunder!"

The pedestal shattered leaving the main storage compartment open to the air. He reached in and grabbed it quickly.

His expression turned to one of disgust as he held it. "Man, was I right about this thing. Even through what's left of Urahara's suppressing shield, it smells just like them. This familiar reiatsu that feels like its going to strike me at any moment is certainly as much a threat as I had feared."

He regarded the small object and addressed it. "Well, you and your resting place for these last 6 months will soon feel the embrace of the void you are so at home with, so rejoice."

He clenched the object firmly in his fist and walked out of the room. He walked quickly through the halls and went down every staircase he came across, not caring where it lead him.

"Time to go to the core of Los Noches."

As the Spirit King walked nonchalantly through the lower halls of Los Noches, several events were occurring of which he was not aware. Uryuu and Renji had been cornered by Zaell'apollo Grantz and rescued by the 12th division captain. Grimmjow had temporarily disposed of Ulquiorra, allowed Orhime to heal his rival and been defeated by that same rival, Ichigo. Aizen had sent Nnoitora to check the spike of reiatsu near the throne room, but he disobeyed and instead went to fight the intruders he sensed on one of the nearby buildings. Captains Unohana and Kuchiki had arrived and rescued Chad and Rukia respectively, and Zaraki Kenpachi had done the same for Ichigo after Nnoitora had come.

Just as the 4th espada broke out of his prison and rendezvoused with Stark in the tower to guard Orihime, the Spirit King arrived at his destination, the lowest, most central chamber of Los Noches. As soon as he felt Aizen and his 5 adjutants leave through the World Gate, he released his reiatsu a bit.

He quickly made sure he had not been followed, then broke the subtly constructed kyoumon he had set in place upon his arrival in Hueco Mundo. As it shattered, an intricately carved summoning circle appeared on the floor, which he had taken care to prepare beforehand.

He walked into the center of the circle and raised his hand.

"Hadou no Rokujyuuni: Sublime Thunder, Grand Lightning Bolt!"

The blast of yellow light ascended rapidly, smashing holes in each of the floors above him until it finally pierced the dome of Los Noches.

"Time to begin." He walked out to the edge of the circle and began channeling his energy for the summoning ritual.

Ulquiorra was now on the dome of Los Noches, fighting Ichigo in his released form. Ichigo was just barely hanging on, taking several hits every time he thought he had blocked a single strike. He had to use Getsuga Tenshou just to counter basic attacks, and he was running out of energy fast. As Ulquiorra kept driving him further into despair, he stumbled over a piece of gravel. The next instant he saw the tip of Murucielago rushing towards his face. "Shit. This is…"

At that moment, an explosion shook the dome as a second hole burst through the roof with a rush of blinding yellow light.

"What. Who dares…" Ulquiorra turned his head and his pupil contracted as he witnessed the destruction of the roof of his master's castle.

"Ha. Just because you're faster now, you shouldn't let down your guard, Ulquiorra."

The espada's head snapped back to observe Zangetsu piercing his body. He looked up at his opponent, who had taken advantage of the lapse in concentration to move in and skewer him. "Don't forget that Tensa Zangetsu is pretty fast too," he smirked.

The 4th espada used sonido to distance himself. He placed his hand on his chest, and to Ichigo's astonishment, used Cero to cauterize the wound.

The arrancar removed his hand and took his stance groaning slightly. "My concern for this palace will not distract me further. Now resume feeling the wrath of unreleased form!"

The battle of shunpo versus sonido continued. Ichigo, however, noticed that the espada's reactions had slowed somewhat, allowing him to evenly block the attacks. As their swords seemed to stop mid-clash, the orange-haired boy smirked at his opponent and said, "looks like this won't be an easy win for you after all, eh?"

The 4th looked back at him with his usual vacant stare, "Don't get full of yourself, boy. You still haven't evolved to the extent where you can match the likes of me in combat."

The rather lengthy, 20-minute-long incantation in the basement was almost over.

"…4 corners, 7 elements

Light dominates all and pierces the darkness

Way of Summoning: Light Column Gate"

The Spirit King opened his eyes as the ground began to quake, and a device several stories tall began to materialize in the center.

Both warriors, now in a lower part of the citadel after Ulquiorra's attack on Inoue and Ishida, paused and tried to maintain their footing as the whole of Los Noches shook.

"Wh-What the hell keeps happening down there?!" cursed the orange-haired shinigami substitute.

"Damn. What is it now! This degree of reiatsu…I must investigate, it's top priority!" the black-winged espada thought as he stared with once-again contracted pupils at the pressure rising from the recently formed, mysterious hole in the roof.

"I don't have time to play with you anymore."

Ichigo turn to stare at him, almost gaping as he stuttered, "Wh-what the hell!! If you think I'm lettin' you cut and run now, just because it's getting a little tough, you've got to be kidding. There's no way in hell I'm letting you escape from here after what you put Inoue through."

"Foolish boy, I'm not fleeing. And to make sure you don't impede me…" Ulquiorra looked at Ichigo and glared, "You've scoffed at my power long enough. Behold the most powerful hollow attack, useable only by me in my second resureccion form: Cero Obscuras!"

Ichigo was too late to realize what he intended to do. Time seemed to stop for the boy as the blast went off as he was engulfed in darkness.

Ulquiorra looked on for a second, then turned away, "well, that's taken care of. Now let's see what's happening down…"

He never finished. His eyes widened as he realized something had happened without him being aware. He looked down at the bloody arm protruding through his chest, right past his soul bind…

The arm receeded and Ulquiorra spun around and jumped back, causing him to cough up blood. As his vision began to blur, he saw the two he attacked earlier as a diversion come over to Ichigo, as his beastly appearance vanished, leaving a very tired human. To his surprise, he saw the girl he had toyed with rushing towards him with tears in her eyes…

"Alright! All systems are go, now…", the Spirit King reached into his pocket and withdrew the detonating charge for the machine, the Hougyoku. He casually shattered the protective casing and flicked the gem with his thumb, so that it flew towards a circular hole in the front of the interface panel. As it made contact, it was sucked in, and faint clicking and whirring sounds could be heard as the machine locked it into place.

He was pushed backwards a little as the auto-protective barrier activated, with the new introduction of a power source.

"Success. Now to try and mitigate loss of life. He proceeded to perform a chantless Binding of the Sparrow.

A start ran through all Seireitei personnel as well as the humans from Karakura, who were now gathered together, facing Yami Rialgo in his espada form, as the Spirit King's technique psychically linked their minds to his.

"Attention all Captains, Lieutenants, 3rd and 7th seats of the Goten protection squads, as well as any living humans currently in Hueco Mundo."

Chad, Ishida, Ichigo and Inoue all looked at Rukia and Renji for some help understanding, since they had no idea who was speaking to them. Unfortunately the two shinigami could not help either, being just as confused as their living friends.

The Captains, however, took notice, having recognized the Spirit King's voice.

"To all incursion force members, the mission is now over. The pan-dimensional explosive device has been successfully set-up and armed. The following is very important, especially for all non-Captains, who will not have heard this before, as it concerns your lives. The bomb is timed for 30 minutes, at which time Los Noches and everything else in a 5-mile radius will be consumed in a blast that will rip it from the fabric of this dimension and transport it into a chaotic abyss in a distant inter-dimensional pocket realm. Basically, if you don't get out of here by then, consider yourself dead."

"Whaaaaaaat!" yelled Ichigo, coughing and twisting as his loud outburst irritated his internal bleeding. "Please Mr. Kurosaki, don't move!" pleaded Hanatarou, Ichigo's current medic.

By this point, all sturdy fighters were busy holding off Yami, while the medic team of Inoue, Hanatarou, Isane, and Unohana were busy healing the wounded in rounds, as they sustained more and more injuries from the enraged espada.

The telepathic broadcast continued, "All non-Captains please attach yourself to a Captain's unit if you wish to survive. The Captain's will momentarily open their sealed orders and use the homing beacon contained inside to lead as many people as they can to the rendezvous point located several miles outside of Los Noches. At this location is a World Gate that leads directly to a hospital in my outer palace. Please remember that it will take at least 10 minutes for an average unencumbered shinigami to reach this point, asuuming everyone can still use shunpo, so please don't dawdle. Spirit King out."

All non-Captains were looking at each other with puzzled looks on their faces, saying things like, "What, Spirit King?".

Captain Kuchiki, who was currently fighting off Yami almost single-handed at moment, looked over his shoulder and yelled, "Captain Unohana!"

The quiet captain nodded at him and began using Binding of the Sparrow.

"Spirit King!"

"Oh, is it Unohana-san? What is it?"

"The thing is, the 10th espada turned out to be the 0th espada and all shinigami here are tied up fighting him off."

"Really, 0th espada? So they number them from 0 to 9 instead of 1 – 10? That's kind of weird."

"Spirit King! We don't have timed for this now. As matters stand we can't escape at all!"

"Relax, relax. That's why I'm here. I'll be there in a minute, so begin preparations for evacuation. Relay the message to the other Captains and begin ferrying allies to the gate."

"But then… you intend to hold him off by yourself! Perhaps you don't understand how massive this reiatsu is… his size and reiatsu are both several times that of any other espada."

"I'll be fine. I can feel him pretty well from here, and he doesn't seem that tough, now go!"

"For fuck's sake, where is he, he said he was comin' right over," yelled an exasperated Zaraki, as his sword made a shallow wound in Yami's arm that quickly healed.

"Would you please shut up, Zaraki, some of us are actually fatigued and running out of biochemical weapon supplies, unlike you," screamed an irate Mayuri.

"Both of you, just… be quiet, it takes concentration to move this many blades at once," Byakuya said calmly.

"I agree with Captain, let's focus on the…" but Renji never got to finish his sentence as his bone cannon attack was pushed aside. Left vulnerable, Renji could only gaze at the oncoming giant fist that dwarfed his body.

A moment later he was sailing backwards. Someone had caught him. He looked over his shoulder to see Ichigo. To his surprise, none of his bones were broken. He looked up at Ichigo again and saw the orange-haired nuisance looking straight ahead, rather than at him. Renji turned his gaze to match, and saw the reason for his survival.

A lone figure was standing in the shadow of the mammoth fist, holding it off with one hand. He was slowly being pushed back and the ground beneath him began to shatter and collapse.

"That's our cue to leave." Unohana said as she released her Zanpakutou. The strange ray-like creature engulfed everyone in the area except the two locked in combat, and flew up, and continued over the distant walls of Los Noches.

"Hurry up everyone. We only have 2 minutes left to get through," instructed Captain Kuchiki.

It had taken them longer than expected to find the gate. Due to Zaraki and Yachiru's combination of flawed directional advice and hatred of being ignored, they had temporarily hijacked Minazuki before the other captains could get them back under control. When they finally arrived, they had to find the cloaking device and deactivate it. By this time there were only 5 minutes left.

Byakuya glared at Ichigo and his friends, who had just wasted three minutes carrying Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka up the stairs to the gate.

"Where do you think you're taking those hollows, boy."

"Through the gate! They're our allies in the fight against Aizen and more importantly our close friends!"

Just as Byakuya was about to retort, he felt a tugging on his sleeve. He looked down to see Rukia looking up at him with puppy-dog eyes. "Please Nii-sama, let's trust Ichigo."

Byakuya sighed. "Alright, bring them through."

As the last were entering Unohana paused and looked at the stationary 6th squad captain. "Aren't you coming as well?"

"It would dishonor the noble house of Kuchiki to abandon our king."

"But …"

"I will wait here until he comes, even if it means…"

He was cut off as he saw the Spirit King running towards him, followed by a limping behemoth.

He was yelling as he ran, "My bad. I didn't keep track of time and wound up not finishing him off, heh heh heh…"

The bewildered captains stood frozen as their superior ran up the steps, grabbed them both and jumped through. He looked back as he was going into the tunnel and slashed the gate with his sword after entering.

Yami roared as his hand surged after his escaping attacker and clenched only dust. He heard a loud explosion and turned around to look at Los Noches, after which he saw nothing but darkness.

To anyone who enjoyed that, I hope it will not be another year (or however long it was) to the next installment. Also reviews are appreciated and would certainly motivate me as well.