Extinction

Chapter 11: Red One


It was Grimmjow who had yelled from outside the dome. He was looking down at everyone as they looked up at him.

Ichigo squinted. Grimmjow was carrying someone; someone blond. "Grimmjow, is that Kira?"

"Huh?" Grimmjow jumped all the way down. "Him? Yeah. He's losing some blood. I made it back as fast as I could, dodging some huge roaming beast. Reminded me of Yammy, actually. But, they got the red pineapple."

"Renji? They took Renji? Why?" Rukia asked.

Grimmjow shrugged. "Dunno. Didn't ask. This one is unconscious and will BLEED TO DEATH if someone doesn't do something about it. Where's Ulquiorra's woman?"

"She is not my woman and she too is unconscious. She is in my room, asleep. You will have to make due without her for now," a rather cool voice said from behind the group.

Ulquiorra approached them in new, crisp clothes. He looked as if nothing had ever happened; like no battle had even taken place. He stopped and looked around at the group. He noticed that Halibel had been forced into her resurrección. Nel and Nnoitra had already reverted. Grimmjow looked like he'd been in a fight, but when did he not? The only sign that the other captain had been in a fight was that his haori was a bit torn. Other than that, he was fine.

"We are missing one," Ulquiorra noticed.

"Yeah. These two came and took the redhead," Grimmjow said.

"Why is Orihime unconscious? What happened to her?" Ichigo asked.

Ulquiorra glared at him. "She took it upon herself to intervene in my fight with her kido. She simply exhausted herself. She is in no danger. However, it will be a while before she wakes."

Halibel nodded. "I suggest we leave this area while Las Noches heals," she said.

"Las Noches HEALS?" Rukia asked.

"You didn't think we rebuilt this place by hand, did you?" Nnoitra asked.

Ren sighed. "Well since we don't have Orihime's services readily available, it looks like we'll need some other way of healing Kira. He can't very well heal himself, can he?"


"How do you think they get these rice cakes wrapped like this, Rangiku?" Yuri asked. She was in Urahara's underground training space. She was simultaneously examining a wrapped rice cake and dodging blows from Ikkaku.

Rangiku was sitting on a rock, cleaning her sheath. "I don't know. Maybe some kind of factory," she said. "I doubt they wrap them by hand."

Yuri dodged a punch with ease. Even in her gigai she was still very fast, strong, and flexible. Well, faster and stronger than the average human. She was dodging every blow without looking. She finally jumped up backwards on a rock to open her snack.

"Just eat it, Yuri. I'm sure it tastes fine," Rangiku said.

Yuri did so. She chewed for a moment. Then she nodded. "It's okay. Nothing like in Soul Society, though." She set her eyes on Ikkaku. Rolling them, she continued to eat.

"Would you get back down here?" Ikkaku yelled.

Yuri finished her snack. Then she stood up, dusting herself off. Before Ikkaku could guess what she was going to do, he was eating her loafer. Her form was perfect. Ikkaku flew back and landed on his back. Yuri landed on her feet.

"Enough. I'll just kick your ass and you know it," she said.

Ikkaku sat up. "Should you fight like that in that little outfit of yours?" he asked snidely, referring to the school uniform she was wearing.

Yuri's eye twitched. "What was that, Madarame?"

Before she could attack again, Hisagi's voice interrupted her. "Yuri, Ren is here! He brought Kira along with him!" he yelled.

Yuri turned and looked at Hisagi. Then she took off running for the ladder. Rangiku and Ikkaku followed quickly.

Ren was talking with Urahara when Yuri and the others arrived upstairs. Hanataro was already hovering over Kira, working his healing kido over the other shinigami.

"What happened?" Yuri asked.

"An attack. The only one seriously injured was Kira. However, Captain Abarai was apprehended by the enemy," Ren said.

Toshiro raised an eyebrow. "Apprehended? You mean kidnapped? Why would they want Abarai?"

Ren could only shrug. "No idea. We aren't really in a position to ask that question, either. We can't exactly go waltzing into the forest and demand that they hand him over. But there are two things I noticed," he said.

"What's that?" Urahara asked.

"One, this Sangre appeared exhausted after her fight with Ulquiorra. She blocked an attack of mine. The attack didn't do much, but it did singe her hand and arm. From what Kurosaki has told me, she heals quickly. She was healing slowly. Ulquiorra confirmed this when she told him that she had been too weakened to shoot a cero. Something weakened her drastically during that fight," Ren said.

Urahara tapped his fan against his chin. "I see. I can't imagine what it could possibly be, though. Hollows tend to react better in their natural environment; Hueco Mundo, I mean. What is the second point?"

"The second thing is that I was under the impression that Vasto Lorde were at or above captain-class power. The one I fought was not as powerful as I assumed he would be," Ren said. Then he thought about his words. "Then again, Halibel did say that it was all just a ruse..."

"They were only testing you all?" Hisagi asked.

Yuri shrugged. "It would make sense. The one I battled obviously was the weakest and was probably sent to die rather than actually be effective. Still, he was as powerful, if not more powerful than me. I got extremely lucky that he was so arrogant," she said.

"I doubt the rest of them will be that way. How many are we dealing with? Do you know?" Toshiro asked.

Ren shook his head. "No idea. We need more information on Sangre. How to kill her would be a good start."


Sangre looked up at Yammy. "So they say his name is Yammy, huh? That's a stupid name. Still, he serves his purpose. He's pretty tough to take down," she said.

Hielo nodded in agreement. "Yes, he is." He looked down at the long gash across his body. He touched the blood as if he had never before seen it. "It's been so long since I have bled..."

Sangre glared at him and shook her head. "When I said to test them, I didn't mean hold back until the point of your own death, idiot. Heal yourself, Hielo. Truenos?"

Truenos came up to her. "Yes, Sangre?"

Sangre held up her still healing hand. The skin was almost completely replenished. "The shinigami who did this to my hand was a captain. I don't doubt he realized that I was weakened from fighting Schiffer and his shinigami woman," she said.

"Maybe you are not yet used to the reishi of Hueco Mundo," Truenos said.

"Maybe. Being in that other realm for so long might've had something to do with it. However, I will be normal soon. I cannot risk transforming while still weakened. I believe they might've realized that we were just toying with them." Sangre glanced around. "Where is the red one?" she asked.

"In your tree, Sangre," Ventisca said. She was rubbing her newly regenerated arm.

Sangre nodded and jumped over to what had been dubbed "her tree." Laying on a branch, unconscious, was the redheaded captain from before. She kneeled not too far from him, watching him sleep. Then she crawled across the branch towards him. She picked up Zabimaru and looked it over. Sangre stuck the zanpakuto in the branch a little ways away and straddled Renji. She leaned down towards his face.

Odd. He has the most curious markings I've ever seen, she thought. She traced the tattoos on Renji's face with her index finger. In place of eyebrows, just like me...

Renji's eyes began to flutter open. Something rather light was on top of him. Something soft was touching his face. It tickled a bit. When he opened his eyes completely and blinked the blurriness out of them, he paused for a moment. It took him a moment to realize that the being on top of him was the very, very powerful hollow from before. He sat up quickly. She only brought her right leg forward, placed her foot on his chest, and pushed him back down.

Sangre grinned at him. "And just where do you plan on going?"

"Why am I here?" Renji asked. "And why are you on me?"

"Because I like your hair," Sangre answered plainly.

Renji reached around him, searching for Zabimaru. He began to get a little worried, seeing that his zanpakuto was not within reach. Then he noticed Sangre holding it up. When had she moved from on top of him?

"Looking for this, Rojo?" she asked.

Renji narrowed his eyes. "Give it here."

"You are in no position to be making demands, Rojo. You have an inkling of how powerful I am. I could crush your bones with my reiatsu alone," Sangre said.

"Is that so? Then why haven't you?" Renji asked, raising his head a bit.

Sangre frowned. She placed Zabimaru at his jugular vein. "Because I like your hair." The grin returned to her face.

"My friends will come for me," Renji said.

"Oh, I'm sure they will. It's hard not to notice when that hair of yours goes missing," Sangre released Renji and sat back on her legs.

Renji watched as she continued to play with Zabimaru. He hesitantly sat up. She did not seem to be paying attention to him at the moment. He sighed and watched her. She did not seem like the type to fight with swords. She seemed more like a hand-to-hand combatant.

"So why am I here?" Renji asked again.

"Because..."

"And if you tell me it's because you like my hair again, I'll strangle you."

Sangre smirked at him. "I highly doubt that you would even be able to touch me, let alone get past my foot. Seriously, I do like your hair. I also like your markings. You're also the first shinigami I didn't hate upon first glance. I'm trying to figure out why that is. Maybe it is because you entertained me so much when we first met," she said.

Renji did not quite know what to say to that. So he said nothing at first. Instead, he went for his zanpakuto. Sangre was right; he did not make it past her foot. She simply put her right foot up, nailing him right in the face. Renji recoiled immediately, holding his aching nose. Sangre hid a smile and looked at him.

"You said you like my tattoos?" Renji mumbled through his hands.

Sangre nodded. "They remind me a little of mine."

"I doubt anyone will ever be able to top you in that department. You are an odd hollow. You don't even have a hollow hole," Renji said.

Sangre appeared confused for a moment. She stood, sticking Zabimaru in the large branch. Renji watched her warily as she faced him completely, towering over him. "I'll have you know that I have a hole, Captain Abarai," she said.

"Oh? Where is it? I don't see it," Renji asked.

Sangre smirked. "Sorry, but I can't show you in this form," she said.

"This... form?" Renji whispered.


Orihime was sitting up and rubbing her head when Ulquiorra returned to his room. He shut the door behind him as silently as possible but she still flinched. Ulquiorra made his way around to her and looked down at her.

"What happened? I don't remember much after that hollow left," Orihime said quietly.

"You fainted from exhaustion. I advise you never to exert yourself like that again," Ulquiorra said.

Orihime glanced up at him. He did not appear to be looking at her any differently. She did remember one tidbit from before: she had admitted that she loved him. Apparently, this revelation had no effect on Ulquiorra. Sighing, she looked away from him.

"Is something wrong?" Ulquiorra asked.

"No."

"You are lying."

"How would you know?"

"Because you are a horrible liar." Ulquiorra stepped forward and made her look at him. "And you cannot lie to me. You've never been able to lie to me."

Orihime knew he was right. She was a bad liar and she could not lie to him. "I'm probably in a lot of trouble with my captain. I attacked both my lieutenant and Rukia. It was against orders for me to go to you..."

"I told your captain to keep you there. You should not have come," Ulquiorra said.

"Ulquiorra, she was going to kill you. If I hadn't come, you'd be dead." Orihime stood up. She stumbled forward towards him, her legs still feeling relatively weak. "If I hadn't tried, you would be gone, again," she said.

Ulquiorra stared at her. "Even at the expense of your own life, you would've stayed to try and save mine?" he asked.

Orihime nodded. "Yes."

Ulquiorra continued to stare at her. Then he shook his head. "Foolishness." He walked around from her. Orihime turned and watched as he motioned towards some clothes folded on a chair. "You have successfully ruined your shihakusho. Feel free to change into that. It is all that I could find that was suitable." With that, he was gone from the room.

Orihime sighed and sank to her knees. Suddenly, she felt as if she had just had the fight with Sangre all over again. I'm foolish for wanting to save such a dense idiot like Ulquiorra. Foolish indeed, she thought with a sigh and a chuckle. Does he even remember what I said out there?


Nanao worked tirelessly in the Spirit Library. She had gone through the records of Hell. She had come up bare. Nothing had even shown up as out of the ordinary within the records. There was no trace of anything resembling Sangre. She had looked through Soul Society's records and no shinigami had ever come through the Seireitei's walls with her description.

There's only one place left to look, Nanao thought. She hazed towards the immaculate collection of records that belonged to the Spirit Realm.

Not many ventured to that section. There were a few reasons for this. One was that no one simply had any reason to. Two was that it was mostly just painfully boring history. And three was that the interesting stuff was all top secret. Naturally, Nanao went for the top secret stuff.

If I want answers, I have to play a little dirty, she rationalized as she flipped through the pages of several records.

"Hey, Nanao!" Yachiru said loudly, suddenly appearing behind the lieutenant.

Nanao let out a yelp. She calmed down and straightened her glasses. "Hello, Yachiru. We are in a library. The rule of thumb is that you should speak quietly," she said.

Yachiru looked around. "But we're the only ones in here." Yachiru shrugged and looked down at what Nanao was reading. "What'cha doing?"

"Researching," Nanao mumbled.

"Researching what?"

"The hollow named Sangre Negra."

"Ooohhh..." Yachiru picked up some more of the history books. "Find anything interesting?" Yachiru asked as she read a little of a book.

Nanao sighed and sat back in her chair. She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. "Nothing useful." She noticed that Yachiru had gone quiet; something which was very odd. She looked up and saw that Yachiru was still reading. "What are you reading?"

Yachiru hummed to herself. "Nanao?"

"Yes?"

"Doesn't time pass differently in the Spirit Realm?" Yachiru looked up from the book.

"Supposedly. I don't know how exactly, though." Nanao raised an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"

Yachiru handed her the book. "I think I might've found out where little miss hollow was hiding out for a few centuries."

Nanao looked at the passage that Yachiru had been reading. Her eyes widened considerably as she scanned the page. Then she looked up at Yachiru. "Come on, Yachiru. We have to go tell Captain Unohana."


Renji watched Sangre. She was laid out on her back across from him on the thick branch. Her eyes were closed and her arms were behind her head. Her face was calm. She appeared to be resting in some way. It was now that Renji took this time to really look at her.

If it were not for the ibex-like horns coming out of her head, she could pass for human. A human with a lot of strange tattoos, but a human nonetheless.

When she isn't spewing death threats she's kinda cute, Renji thought. He blinked a few times. In an evil, maniacal, hollow kind of way. Shit! What the hell is wrong with me? Since when do I think hollows are cute?

Renji had not realized he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he saw that Sangre was still in the same position. Gathering some courage, he silently moved towards her via shunpo. That was when he heard a soft snore.

I can't believe it! She's ASLEEP! Hollows don't SLEEP!

Renji looked at the black star on her right eye. All of her markings were extremely intriguing. He traced them with his eyes. There was one thing about the markings, though. They seemed more like...

"... engravings," Renji whispered as he hovered over her. He looked up at Sangre's face to see if she had awakened. His answer was another snore. Renji's eye caught a curious snaky black mark along her collarbone and chest. He inched closer to her and raised his right hand to touch her.

She smells spicy; like cinnamon, he noticed.

Right before his fingers made contact, he was being tackled off of the branch.

"VERMIN!"


Sangre sat up immediately, rubbing her eyes. She blinked the sleep out of them and looked around. The area around her was clear. Was that Truenos? she wondered. She touched her chest. Why do I feel HIS reiatsu on me?

"How dare you touch her, you filth!" Truenos yelled from the forest floor.

Sangre rolled her eyes. Well, Truenos isn't in a good mood, is he?


Renji tried to get the strong hollow off of him. He could not talk to defend himself in this situation. He was actually hoping all the mayhem had woken Sangre up.

I'm actually relying on the enemy to save my ass, he thought morbidly. Someone kill me now.

"Truenos, just what the hell do you think you're doing?" Sangre was suddenly behind Truenos. She was yawning and she appeared annoyed with the whole situation. "Did I not say that Captain Abarai was NEVER to be harmed?"

Truenos scoffed. "This trash tried to put his hands on you, Sangre," he said.

Sangre blinked. She walked up beside them. "Did he now?" she asked, smiling wide at Renji.

Renji rolled his eyes. Now I'm positive I'll never hear the end of it, he thought dismally.

"And just what were you so interested in, Rojo?" Sangre asked. She placed a hand on Truenos, making him slowly release Renji. Truenos stepped to the side and Sangre took his place. "Something about me had you captivated?"

Renji swallowed. He glanced to his left and saw Truenos eyeing him evilly. Then he looked back down at Sangre. "That line across your chest," he said quietly.

"Which one? There are several of these 'lines' across my chest, Rojo." Sangre's smile remained on her face. She grew closer to him. "Go ahead and show me. I promise I won't bite. Neither will Truenos, no matter how vicious he tries to make himself look," she said.

Renji sighed. She's not gonna let this go, is she? he thought dismally. He raised his right hand slowly and pointed to the curvy mark along her collarbone that dipped down along her sternum.

Sangre looked down. Her smile wavered for a moment. Then she glanced back up at Renji. "Touch it," she said. His eyes widened for a moment. "You have my permission. Your fingers won't singe off if you simply touch my skin, Rojo. That would almost make killing you shinigami too easy. Don't tell me you're SCARED."

Renji frowned at her. Gathering some resolve he thrust his index finger forward a little harder than he meant to and jabbed her. Sangre wobbled back a bit. Renji stumbled forward, grabbing her around the waist so she would not fall. She seemed shocked that he bothered to catch her and it showed in her facial expression. Renji did not catch it, as he was too interested in where his finger was.

The mark was indeed like an engraving; there was a slight imprint on her skin. The mark was the only black mark on her chest while the rest were a violent red color. Renji curiously traced it down her sternum. Then he felt something strange.

"You have a heartbeat." He glanced up into her eyes. "That means you have a heart."

Sangre nodded. "Yes, I believe it does. Smart you are, Rojo." She looked down. "You can release me now," she said.

Renji glanced around them. He was holding her off her feet. "Sorry." He let her down. "What the hell does that mean, anyway? Rojo?"

Sangre smirked and brought Renji down to her level by his haori. "It means red." She swiftly popped him on the back of his neck, rendering him unconscious. He began to fall past her, but she caught him with her right arm. "Truenos, drop him back off at Las Noches. I'm going to the transient world. The others should be ready by now."

Truenos took Renji as she handed him off. "Are you sure, Sangre? You're not fully healed yet," he said.

"Do not concern yourself with my safety, Truenos." Sangre walked a little ways past him. She opened a garganta. "I am healed enough for this. Besides, I don't plan on doing any fighting; just disrupting the peace." She stepped through the rip and disappeared into the darkness.

Truenos stood there for a moment. Then he heard Renji mumble gibberish and sighed. He jumped up to retrieve the captain's zanpakuto and then headed for Las Noches.


Orihime adjusted the black sash around her hakama as she walked towards the room where everyone had congregated. She kept feeling like it was going to fall off. It was odd to be dressed in the clothes of an Arrancar again, but strangely she did not mind it. She was glad it was something totally different, though. The only problem she had with it was that while it was different from her previous uniform, it was definitely more...

... revealing. Why did Ulquiorra give me this to wear? Her mind drifted back to his words. If this was suitable, then what wasn't? Her mind drifted to what Loly had been wearing and she shuddered.

"Wow. You could definitely pass for one of us now," Grimmjow said as Orihime entered. She gave him a frown and he just shrugged. "Just telling it like it is."

"Ulquiorra, why is Third Seat Inoue dressed like that?" Momo asked, looking over at Ulquiorra. "She's dressed like the Second Division captain; only it is white."

Ulquiorra glared at Momo. "Her previous attire was ruined. I gave her more attire. Unless you prefer her to walk around without proper clothing I could easily have her go and put them back on."

"Orihime, why didn't you just fix your clothes?" Rukia asked.

Orihime laughed nervously. "You know, I didn't even think of that, Rukia," she said. "Where's Ren?"

"He's not back from the transient world ye..." Nel stopped talking. She stood up and disappeared.

"Huh. Wonder where she's..." Ichigo was silenced as Ren came through a garganta. He was holding a limping Kira. Orihime rushed over to them to help. "Well, there's Ren and Kira," Ichigo said.

Ulquiorra looked off in the direction that Nel had disappeared. "That still doesn't explain where Neliel has gone..."


Nel made it outside of Las Noches. A sandstorm had arisen. She squinted in the darkness. Staying close to the fortress she walked along, following the reiatsu that had drawn her outside in the first place. She caught sight of a small blue light. Carefully approaching it, she readied her own cero discreetly. Then she stopped as a zanpakuto landed at her feet.

Is this... Nel looked up.

"Who's there?" she yelled into the howling wind. She jumped when the static sound of sonido passed her ear and a body was hurled into her chest. She managed to stay on her feet as she slid back several yards in the sand. She looked down, seeing the head of red hair. "Renji?" she whispered. Then she suddenly felt as if every bone in her body was being crushed. She struggled to stay on her feet and hold Renji up at the same time.

"Take the red one and stay out of the forest. We had nothing to do with the death of the shinigami commander," the low voice said from behind Nel.

Nel turned her head to the side slowly. "Really? How do you know he's dead then?"

"I only said he was not killed by hollow hands."

Nel's eyes widened. She tried to turn around completely but the pressure her body was under was too much. She heard Renji groan as if he was in pain. "Stop it. You'll kill him," she said quietly. Miraculously, the hollow behind her stopped. "You listened..."

"I was ordered never to hurt the red one," the hollow appeared in front of Nel, "no matter how much I WANT to. He lives for now, as shall you." The hollow turned and disappeared from her sight.

Once he was gone, Nel collapsed to the ground on top of Renji. She was spent from trying to stand and hold a heavy shinigami at the same time. Her pride would not allow her to buckle before the other hollow. She felt as though she had been in battle when all she had done was simply stand.

His reiatsu was different from those others. The others were powerful in their own right, but he was... something else. They weren't even in the same category as him and it was obvious the others had been holding back. She started to stand. And the sad part about it is that Sangre is still even more powerful...


Sangre came through her garganta in the human world. She was right on the roof of a building in the middle of Karakura Town. She looked out towards the river that ran through the city.

"Well someone took their sweet time getting here," an annoyed voice said.

Sangre turned her head and glared at the short, snaggle-toothed, pig-tailed blonde. She looked away and put a hand to her chest. "I was distracted," she mumbled. "Anyway, you guys sure know how to cause a ruckus." She looked at Shinji.

Shinji smiled down at her as she approached. "We like to aim high," he said. "Figuratively and literally."

"I see." Sangre looked towards where the Urahara Shop was located. Then her eyes traveled to where Orihime's old apartment was. "Seven are in that direction. Three worth fighting are in that direction. That makes an even ten. Let me see..." Sangre took hold of her right horn. She closed her eyes and broke about three inches off.

Love frowned. "That didn't hurt?"

Sangre's eye was twitching. "The pain was excruciating," she murmured as she broke the piece of her horn into seven different pieces. "Since Hirako over here already had some, the rest of you can partake." She held out her hand.

"What the hell is that?" Lisa asked.

"Don't ask questions. Just eat it," Shinji said. Everyone glared at him. He rolled his eyes. "Listen. There's not enough time right now to go into details. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now, just eat the disgusting little woodchip so we can get this shit over with."

Sangre kicked Shinji in his shin after everyone had taken a piece. "My horn is not made of wood, asshole." She walked to the edge of the roof.

Hiyori looked up after swallowing. "Hey! I don't feel any different!"

"Me neither," Mashiro piped.

"Oh, you will," Shinji said cryptically. He watched as Sangre sliced her wrist open. "What are you doing now?"

Sangre hung her arm over the ledge. "Just setting the playing field." She watched as her blood dripped from the wound. "Do you know what my favorite aspect of death is?" she asked.

"No, I don't. How do you even know about the aspects of death?" Shinji asked.

Sangre just shot him a lopsided grin. "Don't let my young appearance fool you. I'm far older than I look." She retracted her arm and looked at the sky. She frowned for a moment, seeing that nothing was happening. "But I'll see if you can guess what it is." Sangre took hold of her left hand.

The Vizards watched with wide eyes and open ears. There was a series of pops and cracks as Sangre wrenched her own hand around violently. Then she completely pulled it off, severing it from her arm completely. She let out a sigh and tossed it out in front of her. With her remaining index finger, she shot a small cero. Her severed hand exploded, sending blood everywhere.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Mashiro said.

Sangre glanced up at the sky. There were several tears starting to form around. She smirked and looked behind at the Vizards. They were also beginning to notice the influx of garganta forming around Karakura Town.

"That's what you were doing?" Hiyori asked. "You used your HAND as bait? That's sick!"

"Why whenever you speak do you have to yell?" Sangre asked. She looked at Shinji. "I suggest you get going." She opened her own garganta and left as quickly as she came.

Shinji smirked as he belatedly realized what her favorite aspect of death was. Sacrifice.