Phase One

Ichigo

It had been a week since the incident. My hollow wasn't talking even when I egged him on. At first he was gloating about his encounter with my girlfriend and was pissed that I had regained control. That ended within an hour. I had entered my inner world with the help of Shinji keeping an eye on my body, and let him have it.

"What the fuck were you thinking?"I screamed at the silver haired version of myself.

"Hmmm…well that's easy…I was thinking 'I wonder how she tastes, smells, and feels….and i was surprised with the results. She's wonderful."

I raised Zangetsu. He wouldn't get away with this. "I'm gonna make you pay hollow!"

His black eyes became slits as he smiled and raised his own blade. "You think so? Because I think you can't beat me."

"We'll see about that."I lunged at him swinging my blade at his shoulder.

He ducked and appeared behind me. "Ya wanna know something about our Kari."

"She's not ours! She's mine."

"Not anymore. She belongs to both of us now". He laughed.

He was just trying to piss me off. Our blades crashed together over and over again. Laughter filled the air as he mocked me. He may have had a lot of big talk but so far neither of us had landed a single blow on the other.

"I can't believe you fucking did this!"

"It wasn't my intention. I was being spontaneous. When I saw her in the little skimpy skirt I couldn't help myself. She looked so delicious. I had to have a piece."

"You bastard!"I came after him harder. He wasn't going to get away with attacking her. Even if she did comply.

"Ya shouldn't be getting so mad at me. She told me to do it. She wanted it." He swung the blade and it almost sliced me in the stomach.

"Like hell! She'd never want that!" I counter attacked. But he came swinging back with intensity. A loud clang sounded as my blade met his.

He pushed the blade close to my throat. "Then why'd she get so wet when I touched her?"

That's when I lost it. I flung him backwards. The anger swirled around me and my spiritual pressure increased. I raised Zangetsu. "You're gonna wish you never said that! You'll never put your hands on her again!" I yelled. He smiled and raised his version of our blade as well. "Bankai!"

The fight erupted and it took everything in me to make him understand. Kari was off limits and if he ever touched her again there would be hell to pay. It had taken a long time but I had finally beaten him into submission. I rested the tip of my black blade to his throat.

"If you ever hurt her again….this will be much worst." I hissed just before I impaled him through the stomach.

"Next time you won't be able to stop me." he smiled. But I knew he wouldn't be trying to take control for awhile. And when he did I'd be prepared.

After I came back I felt somewhat better. Beating the shit out of him didn't take back what had happened but it did help with the anger. I had gone home and tried to sleep, which didn't work. Rukia repeatedly asked me what was wrong but I kept what happened to myself. I didn't need any more 'I told you so's.' I couldn't really talk about it anyway. Even though it was my hollow that did it, it was my body he used. When i had gained control i could taste her skin on my tongue, not to mention the fact that he had been in the middle of having sex with her, so i was feeling the impact of that as well. No matter how you looked at it...it was in a sense me that had done that too her. She had insisted that it was in no way me or my fault so I tried to get past it.

Kari really seemed okay for the most part. She was strong. I didn't know if it was just her being strong for me…or her being strong for herself. Either way, I was surprised when things didn't change between us. In fact it may have just brought us closer together now that she knew my secret as well. The only thing that made me feel uneasy was when the atmosphere began to change. I had this weird feeling in my gut that told me something bad was going to happen. And it was going to happen soon.

Grimmjow

Aizen tapped his foot on the floor. I yawned. I was so fucking bored. Shit, who was I kidding…Everything was boring lately. We were waiting for Curtis (last name). That cocky little shit. He told Aizen that Kurosaki was with Hikari. This bit of information had him smiling. It was a creepy ass smile. One that I couldn't place. I didn't really care too much for my leader. But he was powerful so of course there was nothing much I could do about it. He didn't get mad at me for not giving up that information. But that was because I had told him about Izuma's powers. Great. I had stooped so low that I was trying to keep out of trouble. That wasn't like me at all. I hated being told what to do. But yet here I was following orders like that fuckin kiss as Ulquiorra. I didn't miss him one fucking bit.

When the blonde nuisance finally showed up we were down to business.

"So Grimmjow, you said that Izuma showed her powers the other night?"

"Yeah."

"And Hikari is involved with our favorite little shinigami?"

We nodded. What was he getting at?

"This will work much better than I thought." He said as he took a drink of his tea.

"What are we going to do now?" Tousen asked from behind me.

"We'll move into the first phase of our plan." He smiled.

I knew what this meant.

"Grimmjow you know what to do."

I nodded and turned to leave.

"Take Kuutso Karayan with you."

I sighed. Why did I need to take that bastard? I didn't like Szayel Aporro'sscientific replacement at all. "What for?"

"Are you questioning me?"

I held back a growl. "No."

"He's going to take car of the girl's guardian. We don't want anyone to know about our plans yet."

I didn't even know too much about his fuckin plans. Only that I was in charge of the brat. I nodded to Karayan and he followed me out of the room.

"What's that?" I nodded at the vile and syringe he had in his hand.

"It's a little something I call The Sleeping Beauty…" he smiled, showing the remnant of his mask in the form of fangs. It suited him all right. He was a snake.

I rolled my eyes. "Come on. We got work to do."

I moved silently through the house. Kuutso disappeared with his sleeping tonic and I headed up the stairs. I turned the doorknob and slipped in her room without making a sound. I could see her sleeping in her bed, her back to me. She stirred slightly as I came closer. I knew she could feel my reiatsu but so far she wasn't awake. I took a step and her eyes flew open.

I slipped my hand over her mouth before she could protest.

"Told ya I'd be back." I said as I pulled her up off the bed. I held her so her back was against my stomach, with one arm set firmly around her waist.

She tried to elbow me and kicked her legs. She tried to scream but her cries were muffled by my hand.

"Don't struggle. It'll just make this worse for you." I ordered. She wasn't listening. She kept struggling against me. Her hand scraped against the bone remnant on my face. She wasn't giving up.

"Fine have it your way." I huffed and flung her over my shoulder.

"Owe!" she cried. "Let go asshole!"

"Shut up kid! I'm not lettin ya go."

"What are you doing?"

"What the fuck does it look like I'm doin? " I asked, holding on tighter to her legs to keep her from kicking me. She was surprisingly strong for her size.

"Mom! Aimi!" she screamed as I kicked open the door.

"No use trying to call to them. They won't be hearing anything for at least a week." I laughed. If Karayan was good at anything it was experiments.

"What have you done to them?" She pounded her fist into my back.

"I didn't do shit to them. My assignment was taking you."

I let it sink in for a moment before I continued down the stairs. "What? Where are you taking me?"

"Someplace you're not gonna like."

She continued to hit me. It was becoming increasingly annoying. "You'll never get away with this you creep! Who do you think you are?"

"Wow…you didn't tell me she was so fiery Grimmjow." Kuutso spoke from across the living room. "It's refreshing."

"Yeah well…it was a need to know basis and you didn't need to know." I didn't like the way he was looking at her. He looked at her like she was his prey. Maybe she was.

"Ouch. I'm offended." He smiled.

"Good."

The girl on my shoulder seemed to struggle less as he spoke. Only now did she open her mouth again. "Who the fuck are you?'

"My name is Kuutso Karayan." My dark haired comrade answered. "We'll be seeing a lot of each other when we get back to Hueco Mundo."

Why would he be seeing a lot of her?

"Hueco mundo?"

I shifted her on my shoulder. "It's were I'm takin you."

"I'm not goin anywhere!" she yelled and planted her foot in the hole in my abdomen, using it as leverage to propel herself over my shoulder and out of my hold. She must have been planning this while he was talking.

"Oh no you don't!" I shouted and yanked her backwards by her shirt. "Fuckin brat. I've got you now."

"Let go!" She cried, trying to get out of my grasp. She was fighting like hell but it did nothing to help her situation. I was stronger.

I pulled her back into my chest. I clamped one hand over her mouth and the other one pinned her arms across her stomach. "It's no use kid. You're coming with us….whether ya like it or not."

Izuma

I was in trouble. This was bad, really bad. I struggled against his grip but it was futile. He was a hundred times stronger than me. Every blow I laid on him didn't even seem to hurt a bit. It was like an ant trying to win a war with a spider. I was the ant. I wasn't going to win. The only smart thing I did was pushing myself over his shoulder by using the hole in his stomach as a foot hold. It didn't end up as I had hoped though. He retrieved me less than a second later.

I stopped struggling when we got outside. I was too frightened to fight back. We weren't on the ground anymore. We were running on thin air. Who the hell was this guy? The other one with the weird ass fangs, Kuusto, had said his name earlier. Grimmjow. What the hell kind of names were those?

I couldn't believe this was happening. I mean I had thought it was weird, him showing up all the time but I'd never expected to be kidnapped out of my own freaking bed! And by a spirit of all things. Well not a spirit exactly. These guys were something totally different. I closed my eyes and held onto his jacket tightly. I didn't want to look down.

"Hey kid. You're quiet all the sudden."

"I don't like heights." I muttered.

He laughed. "That so?"

"What you're going to mock me now?"

"Nah. Just thought you weren't scared of anything."

I remained silent. I heard a loud zipping sound and when I opened my eyes we weren't in my world anymore. We were someplace totally different. My eyes adjusted to the brightness of the walls and floors surrounding me. I was carried down corridor after corridor. My captor's footsteps echoed through the empty space.

We came upon a doorway.

"Well I'll leave you to your business." Kuutso said to the man holding me. He then came around and smiled menacingly at me. "And I'll be seeing you later my dear."

"Whatever creep."

His eyes flashed. "You won't be so mouthy when I'm through with you." His words gave me goose bumps. What was that supposed to mean. I didn't really want to find out.

"Don't you have someplace to be Karayan?" Grimmjow asked. His tone sounded impatient.

"Indeed." He stated and left down the hall.

The door opened and I was taken into the dark room. I found myself being tossed onto a bed. "Hey! Watch it jerk!" I didn't know why I was acting like this. I should be shaking and crying in a corner by now. Especially after the last encounter I had with him.

"Shut up." he said rummaging through a small dresser in the room. He pulled out a weird looking dress and tossed it to me. "Put this on."

I looked at it. It was white with black lacing around the waist and along the length of the skirt, which wasn't that long. I looked back up to him. "Why do I have to wear this?"

"Don't ask stupid fucking questions. Just put it on." He said annoyed.

I wrinkled my brow. What the hell was this place? I just sat there looking at him for a minute. I really hadn't noticed it before but he was kind of scary. He had to be a little over a foot taller than me with the strength of a freaking ox. And his eyes…they looked right through me…but then again mine were looking straight through him as well.

"Well aren't you going to leave?" I finally asked.

"No."

"Well I'm not changing in front of you."

He rolled his eyes. "Kid it's nothing I haven't seen before."

"Still…" I really didn't expect him to leave, after all he had kidnapped me, but I still kind of hoped he would.

"Tch whatever." He said turning around. "I aint leaving but I won't look."

I smirked. Well….it was better than nothing. I quickly undressed and put on the outfit he had given me on. It fit snuggly around my body, making me feel a little too exposed. But what could I do? When I was done I sat back down on the bed. "So why did you bring me here?"

He shrugged. "I'm not really sure myself."

"You mean you don't know why I'm here?" I asked shocked.

"Not really."

"But you fucking kidnapped me!"

He laughed and came closer to the bed. "Boss's Orders."

I backed up. Last time he had gotten this close I found myself being pinned to my bed. I wasn't going to let that happen again. It brought back all the nightmares. He was right on me then, his hands on either side of me on the bed. His face was level with mine.

I got a good look at him then. I had ignored his strange look when he had shown up at my house. I partly believed it to be a costume…but my contact with the jawbone on his face and the hole in his stomach stated otherwise. Whatever he was…..he was real.

"What are you?" I asked.

"Hmmm. Let's see…I'll use terms you might understand….You know those spirits of yours? Well there are bad ones….and good ones…The bad ones are hollows...I'm a much stronger, faster, better, upgraded version. I'm what they call an Espada."

"An Espada huh? So you're like a demon?"

He laughed. "Guess you could say that….considering." He pushed himself away from the bed.

I looked around the room. It was actually quite nice in a way. There was a couch, a table and chairs, a dresser, a closet, a bed and a bathroom. It had everything anyone needed if they were staying someplace for awhile. When I thought about what this meant my heart faltered. "I'm going to be here a long time aren't I?"

He nodded. "Scared?"

"Hell no." I spat. "Just…confused."

He sat on the couch. "You and me both." He muttered.

What on earth did he mean by that? I looked at him. He was leaning back so his head was resting on the top of the couch.I thought about the times I'd talked to him. In truth I hadn't thought he was dangerous really. But now I thought otherwise. Had he been ordered to take me from the beginning? If so why talk to me?

"So you were planning on taking me all along weren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Then why did you talk to me?"

He leaned up and rested his elbows on his knees. "I just wanted to fuck with you."

I sighed and leaned back against the headboard. "Mission accomplished."

I hadn't even realized I was asleep until I was woken up by strong hands grabbing me.

"Time to go kid,"

"I'm not a kid!" I replied angrily. I wasn't quite in the mindset of a prisoner. I was still giving him attitude. The strange thing was, that he seemed to like it.

"Whatever. It's time to get your ass up. I let ya sleep long enough."

I sat up and looked around. There was nothing to indicate what time it was so I could have been out for awhile. I looked up at him. he was frowning and lifting me to my feet. "Where are we going?"

"Boss man wants to see you."

"Ohh."

He grabbed my wrist and took me out into the hall. "Don't talk unless he asks you a question….and don't be a smart ass."

"Who me?"

"That's exactly what I'm fucking talkin about!" he scowled.

"Sorry.," I apologized. I really should think twice about trying to piss my captors off. There was no telling what they might do to me.

"Come on." He lead me through the….palace I guess it was…and to a huge room. There were many other people like him…espada he called them. There were at least eight there besides him. although two other men looked normal. I guessed they were the ones in charge because on of them was sitting on this throne thing.

"AHHH Izuma. It's lovely to finally meet you." The guy with slicked back hair said.

Grimmjow pushed me forward.

"I'm sure you've been handled with care?"

what the hell was that supposed to mean. "Sure." I replied.

"That's good. I'm sure you are wondering why you are here."

"Duh." I whispered and then put my hand over my mouth. I was already screwing this up.

He smiled. "Well it has come to my attention that you possess a very unique power and are also a very important piece of a much bigger puzzle. For now you will stay here in Los Noches. Grimmjow and Chiara will be keeping their eyes on you. You will listen to them and come to me when I summon you. You will also be undergoing a few experiments. You've already met our leading scientist, Kuusto."

I nodded absent mindedly. "Well then. That's all for now. You can take her back to her room."

I felt his hand wrap around my wrist. "Let's go kid."

I followed him back into the hallway. "Experiments?" I whispered. What the hell kind of experiments?

"I figured they'd do something like that." he said. "I shoulda kept my mouth shut."

"What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing."

When we reached my room he shoved me inside. "Alright I'll be back later to feed ya." He said and shut the door. I heard it click as he locked it.

I punched the door as hard as I could. The pain of the impact didn't even register in my mind. What was I doing here? I was taken because I have some kind of power and they were going to do experiments on me? Really? Was this some kind of sick joke? This couldn't be good. I shivered. This couldn't be good at all. Especially since that creep was the scientist.

I felt sick. What was I going to do? I slid to the floor. Up until now I had thought that maybe this was a dream. But I knew better. It wasn't. I was here in this place and no one was going to come to my rescue. No one even cared that I was gone. And if something bad happened while I was here, no one was going to come running. I felt tears spilling onto my cheeks as I realized…I was alone.