Author's Note: Sorry this took so long. I wanted to do more stuff with Ichi and Grimm and the Soul King's realm but it wasn't working out so I finally said, fuck it. Enjoy!
"Starrk, wake up." A hand gently ran through his hair and the Primera Espada snuggled closer to the warm body beside him. "It's time."
"Just a few more minutes." He murmured, burying his face against warm skin and breathing in Shunsui's comforting scent. But Juushiro's was missing. That, more than anything, finally roused him. He blinked, looking at his mate. Shunsui was smiling at him gently, still touching his hair. "Ah. Time?"
"Yes. The Visored are assembling. We need to get started." He said and Starrk nodded before pulling himself to his feet and gently waking Lilinette. They'd resealed before finally going to sleep, but now it was time to assume their resurrection again. Then they would land the first blow in what would be, one way or another, their final battle.
They were both afraid, of course. They'd been afraid before they had fought in the winter war, too. But it was a measured, carefully controlled fear. Starrk knew it was only human to feel it. Taking a deep, steadying breath he spoke.
"Kick About, Los Lobos." They assumed their resurrection again and began to search for Yammy.
He wasn't hard to find. The big idiot was lounging at the second tower, doing nothing but sleeping and eating. That was absolutely typical of him and the primary way he gathered his energy. That energy wouldn't do him much good if he didn't get a chance to use it, though.
"Yammy!" Starrk called and he looked over, curious. "Get up. Something strange is going on near the first tower."
"Oh yeah?" Yammy hoisted himself to his feet. "Some action? That sounds great!" He grinned and Starrk smiled. It wasn't a nice smile but Yammy was too self-absorbed to notice.
"Yes, look over there." Starrk pointed and Yammy followed his finger. What happened then was an execution. While Yammy's attention was momentarily distracted, Starrk lifted his gun and jammed it against the back of his head. The other Espada only had time to widen his eyes before the Coyote fired.
The cero of brilliant blue incinerated the Cero Espada. Starrk watched, feeling grimly pleased as the body collapsed. That would be Byakuya's cue to go to Juushiro and they would see about ambushing Szayel in an effort to follow Aizen and the others through the senkaimon. For now though…
Starrk watched as several towers went up in explosions. The Visored were busy… as they did that he placed an urgent message to Aizen. He kept his tone completely even and emotionless. That was how he always did his reports when something was going extremely wrong.
"Aizen-kami, we are under heavy assault. A rift is forming…" He gave a good description of several of the Red Queen's minions. Aizen wouldn't know that he'd read about them in the Kuchiki archives. No, to him this would sound like an invasion. He was promised backup and Starrk closed the connection before Shunsui spoke.
"I hate to tell you this, Starrk, but I think your story is about to become reality." He said and Starrk followed his gesture before wincing as Lilinette growled. A rift of red was forming very quickly, with the towers out of the way. It seemed to be churning.
"…Just ignore it and hope it takes a while to open." He said. Shunsui lifted his eyebrows in eloquent disbelief, but nodded. They really had no other option, Aizen was going to take their full attention, if he came. To Starrk's intense relief, the first one through the senkaimon was Aizen himself, followed by Gin and Tosen. They were followed closely by Halibel, Barragan and Ulquiorra.
None of them were expecting an ambush. Starrk's treachery took them completely by surprise. The first one they eliminated was Ulquiorra, although only temporarily. Starrk made use of the same tactic Grimmjow had employed, using the advantage of surprise to put him into a dimensional space. He honestly didn't want to kill the Fourth, and he knew they would have to, if they were forced to fight him. Halibel screamed as her power was suddenly drained.
"Lisa, no!" Starrk completely lost track of what was going on, though, as he dodged a slash from Tosen and retaliated with cero's. As he fought he called to Barragan.
"Barragan! You know what this is! The Red Queen is returning and it's all Aizen's fault! He hasn't taken the Throne of Heaven! Help us, fight him!" He urged the rather confused, elderly Espada. But Barragan was already noticing the red rift forming. Aizen's influence on his mind was powerful, but not quite powerful enough.
"Respire!" The inky blackness of Barragan's attack went for Aizen. Their lord and master responded with a movement too swift for Starrk to follow. His eyes went wide as Barragan was suddenly falling from the sky, bits of bone in his wake.
The pain that followed was shocking. Starrk stared into Aizen's face, the amused smile on his lips and wondered how it had happened. How had his pesquina been completely bypassed? No one should have been able to do that, not even Aizen. Starrk looked down at the blade protruding from his stomach and vaguely heard Shunsui yelling something. Then the weapon was being roughly extracted and Starrk felt a tremendous weakness running through his body. He was still trying to figure it all out when he fell from the sky.
He hit the ground hard, raising a cloud of dust, and grimaced at the pain as he rested a hand over his belly. How had Aizen done this? All their plans undone before they could even begin…
"Starrk! STARRK! It's an illusion!" Lilinette yelped and he blinked, turning his head to look at his guns. "Use that funny eyesight! It's not real! He never stabbed you! He just made you think he did!"
"I… wait, what?" Aizen could do that? But then, he could control their senses utterly. "…" Looking down, Starrk found that strange way of looking at things that revealed the truth and his eyes widened. His abdomen was completely untouched. The pain abruptly vanished as he sat up. "…Clever." Aizen's way of getting him out of the battle, likely so he could be properly punished after the others were disposed of. Starrk's lips thinned at the thought. "Let's do this Lilinette." He said firmly, keeping that odd eyesight. It hurt his mind after a while but he was going to need it.
Lifting his gun he sighted on Aizen and released a cero. Then he leapt into the air, following the path of his beam. Shunsui had been trying to fight Aizen and his eyes went wide as he saw the Espada.
"Starrk?!" He called and Starrk just grinned.
"It was an illusion!" He called back. "Tell them to pull back!" Tosen was down and Gin was still fighting but Starrk didn't want to waste anymore of his energy. And the Visored would need to protect themselves. His unleashed power would kill them. Glancing at Kisuke, he received a nod. The man had gotten off his binding spell, then.
"Maa, what are you up to Starrk?" Gin asked as Hachi began finalizing his kido and the Visored pulled back to it. Aizen let them go with a slightly puzzled air, clearly interested to see what they thought they were doing. It was typical of his arrogance. Starrk just looked at the silver haired man for a moment before kneeling.
"Gin, despite everything, I still like you." Starrk said calmly as he cradled his guns to his chest. Aizen and Gin were both looking at him curiously, Aizen with a small smile. He was confident in his power and amused by the Primera's actions. No doubt he was anticipating a very pleasant time taking care of him, too. "So I'm going to warn you… if you don't find some kind of cover you're going to die." Then he concentrated on Lilinette, on returning his power to its original form. "One body, one mind, one soul." He murmured as he felt dark power welling up inside. Yes, they could do this. "Segunda Etapa." Second stage.
A corona of absolute darkness, threaded with baleful green, erupted around him. It went directly upwards, blotting out the brilliant sun. At first it just looked like ink, spreading across the sky. But then it became the sky and a crescent moon suddenly shone down. Below, the power also spread and ruined buildings and greenery shifted, becoming the dunes of Hueco Mundo. This power was too strong to exist in the Living World. In the past, that had prevented it from using a garganta, but now it brought Hueco Mundo to the Living World, instead.
Power flowed around the form that was emerging, dark and unrestrained. The dampening Aizen had placed on the power that had once been Coyote Starrk and Lilinette broke like a rotten twig. As it shattered, the spiritual pressure condescend into a new being. Or rather, an old one. One that had not been seen or felt for centuries.
"I… uh…" Gin wavered on his feet, looking sick as the spiritual pressure he couldn't even sense bore down on him. Aizen placed a hand on his back, his expression suddenly serious as he registered the power in front of him. His own power steadied Gin, keeping the force from devouring him, but nothing else could have. "…The fuck is this?" Gin's eyes were open as he looked at the person in front of them.
It was female. That much was clear. And the clothing it was wearing did not fit well. A tiny burst of black power shredded the trailing arms and sleeves, keeping the clothing from being an impediment to movement. But she didn't bother to fix the shirt, which slid and gaped, teasingly revealing beautiful breasts. Chestnut hair brushed her shoulders and her eyes were grey. Her helmet was quite familiar… it was Lilinette's. Her body was lightly furred in places and her hands were black. In one hand she held a large gun, in the other, a curving sword.
She did not give them much time to examine her, forever. She simply levelled that gun and fired without a word. Gin and Aizen both managed to dodge the insanely swift cero, but they were not expecting it to bounce back. The power, which was greater than most vasto lorde could claim, split in two and bounced twice before screaming back. Aizen blocked it this time but Gin was hit and fell out of the sky, his clothing smoking.
"You… how can any hollow hold such power?" Aizen was actually upset now. The hollow facing him just smiled.
"Fuck you, that's how." She said succinctly before attacking. Her blade clashed against Aizen's as they met in midair. The Visored and shinigami watched as they clashed, repeatedly. Kisuke was holding a new camcorder, recording it all for posterity.
"We got off that binding, right?" Shinji asked worriedly. The whole thing had been going so fast, he wasn't sure. Kisuke nodded.
"Aizen didn't even try to avoid it. If Starrk and Ichigo can do their parts, we have this." He was even feeling relatively confident. He couldn't sense the reiatsu of either of the combatants. That indicated that Starrk and Lilinette were at least close to equaling Aizen's power.
"Starrk…" Shunsui murmured as he watched the battle unfold. It was titanic and Starrk's practicing was finally paying dividends. The new hollow they had become was fighting as well as any taichou. "Be safe." He could only pray the new force would prevail.
If they had known what was going on in other realms, they might have been panicking…
"WHY isn't this working?!" Grimmjow snarled as Ichigo looked helpless. He was sitting on the throne of the heavens. And not a single thing was happening.
"Oh kami he put some kind of shield on it!" Isshin was quietly panicking. "Ichigo, get up, we need to break this." If they didn't, Starrk was inevitably doomed.
"Is it kido?" Grimmjow asked, trying to calm himself. "Ichigo's no freakin' master but he can use it and he's strong as fuck. Maybe if you can figure something out and coach him?" Isshin had more skill but absolutely none of the power Ichigo held. Ichigo got off the throne and they went to work.
"Why didn't we anticipate this? Oh kami oh kami…" Isshin was muttering as he tried to decipher the kido shield on the throne. "We should have smuggled in Kisuke and gotten Hachi to cast the binding… I don't know if I can do this."
"Dad, stop panicking. You have to do it. Now, just calm down and keep trying." Ichigo said, holding back his own panic.
If they couldn't make this work, it was all over.
"What is going on over there?"
"Don't know and don't care!" Vandular was having a spectacularly bad day. But then, any day that was definitely going to end in being eaten alive was, by definition, a very bad day indeed. "If you can pay attention to anything else you're not fighting hard enough!"
"It feels like the celestial realm!" His fellow vasto lorde, the minotaur, called. He knew the taste of that thanks to one incredibly wonderful meal that had happened to fall into his lap. Not even a person. The man in question had already been dead, his soul largely fled. But he'd had some absolutely marvelous fruits in his bag and they had been impregnated with incredibly powerful, pure reishi. The minotaur had savored them and remembered the flavor. He knew where they had come from due to some of the other things he'd found, the letters on the man. How he'd come to Hueco Mundo was anyone's guess. Vandular's head whipped around as he caught the scent in the air.
"It's the traitor king!" Although what he was doing in Hueco Mundo… but was he in Hueco Mundo? Something strange and very bad was going on, to Vandular's senses. Some form of reality warp? Although this entire thing stank to high heaven, as far as he was concerned.
"Yo motherfuckers I have a fucking IDEA!" The demon screamed as they all turned back to the battle. The sea monster saved his human minion, slicing apart a tentacle that had almost grabbed him. "Let's move the bitch!"
"…Excellent idea!" Vandular thought that was a lovely plan. For one brief moment, he loved the demon. "Everyone! Pull towards the lights!" The green and purple lights were not that far away. Although, in a sense they were extremely far… but that didn't matter at the moment.
Right now, the Living World and Hueco Mundo were very close.
The battle over the ruins of Karakura town was not going well for Aizen.
He tried various kido attacks. The black box of death, as Lilinette would have called it, was shattered with internal pressure. Green light seeped through the cracks before the hollow finished it with a swipe of her sword. Other kidos were evaded or blocked. She managed to inflict several injuries on him, although Aizen was returning those. They were both bloodied and Aizen was feeling absolutely murderous now. Truthfully, he wasn't losing… but he also wasn't winning. For someone who thought he was a god, that was cause for rage.
"Tell me! Tell me how a hollow can have such power! Who are you?" He demanded as they both took a breather. She tilted her head to one side before sniffing.
"Oh fine. I hate to boast but Kisuke is recording this, the wanker." She said and Aizen actually looked, spotting the scientist with the camcorder. His expression was less than amused. "I might as well be immortalized. My name is Coyote Gingerbuck and I am the true power in Hueco Mundo. The King was meaningless… all that ever mattered was the Queen." She stood straighter, staring challengingly at Aizen. "My subjects are the dead bodies that surround me. My minions are the souls within me. I am death, nothing more, nothing less. Now… arise, my subjects!" Baleful green light erupted from her. Dozens of little meteorites of green fire flowed to the ground, finding the scattered bones. As they did, the remains of the dead stirred.
Hollow after hollow stood. Deceased adjuchas, their bodies were lit from within by the green fire that was Coyote Gingerbuck. Then a thicker, heavier bolt of power flowed into the sands. And they stirred.
The great dragon hollow had died long before anyone on the battlefield had been born. And now it returned, claws rending the sand as it pulled itself free. The tiny form above it floated, unconcerned, as that great form rose behind her. Then it roared. All the Visored covered their ears in pain as the sound seemed to go into their bones. Then it launched itself in the air, flying high in the sky with blinding swiftness. Then it dove, going for Aizen.
He shattered it. The power of the hogyoku pulsed and the bones flew in random directions, some of them bouncing off the shield Hachi had set up. The other hollows vanished as well, overwhelmed by that pulse of power. But Gingerbuck was not deterred. She used the destruction of her minions as a distraction and that curving blade sliced across Aizen's chest, raising another line of blood before she fired on him with her gun. He blocked with the power of the hogyoku and the battle continued, raging fiercely.
As that was happening the senkaimon reopened, admitting Juushiro and Byakuya. That was nearly fatal to Byakuya, but Juushiro managed to help him long enough to reach the protection of Hachi's shield. The Visored was able to open a door for them although the lash of power that hit was painful. Soon they were safely inside and watching the battle with the others.
"What is that…?" Byakuya asked. He'd not been informed of their plans. Shinji gave him a quick explanation as Juushiro and Shunsui both watched. They were terrified for Starrk, but there was little they could do. As old and as powerful as they were, they would only be liabilities to him… her?... right now. Even worse, if they tried something they might remind Aizen of their presence. He hadn't struck at them yet but he might. And then Gingerbuck would be forced to save them.
"ENOUGH! Let's end this!" Aizen said before calling on the full might of the Hogyoku. Lilinette Gingerbuck responded in kind. Her green and black power formed a corona around her before taking the shape of a skull. Similar to Ichigo's hollow power, it blazed towards the purple fire of the hogyoku. The two powers battled back and forth and they both knew that this would be the decisive blow. There was no turning back.
The explosion that followed was massive. Sand and dust flew through the air and no one could see what was happening. The black sky gradually vanished as the connection to Hueco Mundo was severed… although not completely. The Red Queen saw to that. But to those in the dust cloud, it didn't matter.
"Did we… do it?" Lilinette coughed as she pushed herself up on her arms. "Hey… we went back!" They hadn't been expecting that. They'd thought it would be a fight to go back to Starrk and Lilinette, but it had happened naturally when their power had depleted. Starrk also coughed as he pushed himself up.
"Yes… it seems that truly is our second stage. We can use it without fear." That was a great relief. "Did we get him…?" Starrk was pretty sure they had. Their power had overmastered the hogyoku's. Lilinette nodded.
"We felt it hit. Here, let me help you up." Starrk was more badly injured than Lilinette. His body was crossed with ugly wounds, although they were healing. "Hey, does this make us the saviors of Soul Society then? Isn't that cool?"
"Heh. Yes, it's rather…" Starrk trailed off, staring into the dust in front of them. Lilinette followed her gaze before staring, her single eye widening in shock and horror. There was a shadow there…
"No way." She whispered as the dust died down a bit and revealed Aizen. His uniform was pretty much gone and he was looking badly hurt… and extremely, incredibly pissed. Starrk went dead white before letting go of her and drawing his sword. He infused it with every bit of power he had left before pressing it against his chest –
And crying out in pain as a hard hand closed over his wrist. The bone snapped with a wet, ugly sound and the sword fell from his hand. Starrk stared into the face of the man he'd betrayed and saw his doom there.
"STARRK NO!" Lilinette leapt at Aizen and he brought his elbow down on her helmet. Starrk cried out in sympathetic pain as he felt the bone shatter. She went down in a boneless heap, her helmet suddenly spider webbed with cracks. She was unconscious, which was a mercy… she would at least be spared feeling her other half's pain. Then Aizen turned his attention back to the man in his grasp.
"You won't die that easily, Starrk." He said just before he rested his other hand in Starrk's hollow hole. The flow of purple energy made the arrancar arch with an agonized scream. The hogyoku's energy was recovering quickly, although it would be days before it went back to full power. That didn't matter for this, though. Starrk was completely drained and Aizen still had the Soul King's throne at his command. Eventually, Aizen released him and let Starrk fall to the ground. He was left gasping and trembling, unable to move. Then he rolled over, trying desperately to push himself up. It was hopeless but he had to get away…
Then a hand went into his back. Starrk cried out in pain but then his voice abruptly cut off as a burst of power erupted inside his body. His eyes went wide as he felt a pain like nothing he'd experienced in his life. It was unbelievable, all encompassing, a violation beyond any he'd ever imagined as his internal organs, guts and lungs both, were shredded. Then the power recoiled and Starrk vomited as he felt the power forming a lattice? Something to hold him together, just enough to keep him alive while still experiencing the pain. Bright red blood and black bile splattered the ground and Starrk looked at it with blurry eyes, vaguely understanding that he was looking at bits and pieces of his insides. Then the hand withdrew from his back and he whimpered, an animal sound of agony.
"Get up Starrk." The command was irresistible. Starrk lurched to his feet, wavering but forced to stand by the power still inside him. "Walk." He began to stumble towards the place he sensed the others waiting. He was vaguely aware of Aizen picking up Lilinette, carrying her under one arm as he followed. I failed. I failed. I'm so sorry everyone. I'm so, so sorry..
Starrk had to pause twice more to vomit. Aizen let him, just watching as he threw up that slurry of blood and organs. Then he forced him onwards, making the dying arrancar move when he should have just been breathing his last. They broke through the dust and sand and finally faced the people waiting. Starrk's fading gaze immediately fell on his mates. The smiles on their faces quickly vanished as they saw the blood and the tears on his face.
"I'm so… sorry…" His voice was a fading rasp but clear enough. He fell to his knees and threw up again, more blood and hideous things leaving him. But Aizen's command finally stopped and he was allowed to collapse, his chest heaving as broken lungs functioned just enough to keep him alive and suffering. Aizen tossed Lilinette after him, her broken little body hitting the ground with a sad thump.
"Your little plan came very close to working." Aizen said conversationally as everyone stared at him in shock and horror. "He managed to completely drain the hogyoku. I never would have imagined one of my Espada held such power… but as long as I hold the throne of heaven, no force in the three worlds can bind me." Even as his awareness faded, Starrk felt a little better hearing that. He hadn't failed… Ichigo, Grimmjow and Isshin had failed. It made little difference to his fate but he did feel a bit better, knowing that. "I would like to take my time with him but time is running out… so watch as I completely destroy this pathetic soul." Starrk felt only resignation as he heard his fate. He was going to cease to exist… a hand gripped his hair, pulling him up and he heard his mates cry out.
"Cero!" That voice was completely unfamiliar and Starrk felt Aizen's hold on him slacken as he looked over his shoulder, vaguely annoyed.
"Wrangle the bitch! Wrangle the bitch!" Someone sounded very excited and Aizen released him completely as forms streaked out of the clouds. "Oh yeah! Oh fuck yeah! Move you bitch!"
Three forms abruptly landed on the ground in front of Aizen, between him and the Visored. Fire, water and lightning all blazed in their hands before hitting the surprised usurper. That might not have been enough but the lesser combatants added their powers, too. More vasto lorde and a single human all landed and chained their ceros and other powers together. Aizen was slammed backwards, unharmed but surprised by the attack. And behind him, the final vasto lorde led his charge out of the clouds.
Everyone stared as the vast form, red and looking like a giant amoeba, emerged from the clouds. It had dozens of huge tentacles with giant, fang filled mouths. As always, the Red Queen went for the person with the greatest power… and even with the hogyoku close to drained, that was Aizen. A tentacle landed on him, sucking him in with a peculiar, masticating sound.
"Oh yeah! Eat him you bitch! Swallow him DOWN!" The demon landed in front of the other vasto lorde before doing an obscene victory dance. Vandular regarded the scene thoughtfully. The Red Queen seemed a little puzzled by her meal but was working hard at absorbing it.
"We're probably still about to die, but now I'm far more cheerful about it." He said as two shinigami streaked past him, going to the fallen arrancar and gently turning him over. Starrk lifted his head weakly, wanting to see what was happening.
None of them could know it, but part of Aizen's logic in keeping the throne had been his conviction that with the Hogyoku at his beck and call, he could likely overmaster the Red Queen and take control of the new world that would emerge. And quite likely he'd been right. But she'd just taken him at a weak moment, when the hogyoku was almost drained. And she was not a thing of the three worlds. His connection to the Soul King's throne was completely severed and elsewhere, something happened…
"The binding is gone! Sit on the throne!"
"Right!" Ichigo took his place and power flared…
The Red Queen's distraction did not last long. Then she turned her attention outwards, still intent on becoming real. Then a silvery light flared and everyone had to shield their eyes. When it was over, the thing in front of them was gone.
"…What just happened?" The minotaur wondered.
"Dues ex machina." Vandular said thoughtfully and everyone looked at him.
"What?" Nngato asked and the dragon hesitated.
"…Nevermind." His thought process would just be too much trouble to explain. "It appears to be over." He said and turned his attention to the small drama unfolding before them.
"Starrk, hang on. We'll get you to Orihime." Shunsui said, holding the stricken arrancar's hand. Hachi was beside them, his expression hopeless as he touched the battered body. Starrk shook his head. He could feel the power holding him together and with Aizen's 'death', it was fading rapidly.
"There's no time." He whispered before turning fading eyes on Hachi. "Is there?" He was very sure. The Visored looked down before shaking his head.
"No." He said sadly and Starrk coughed, bringing up more bloody froth. He managed to stifle the urge to vomit. He was sure that doing that now would finish his life.
"Shunsui… Juushiro… please. Give me konso." He whispered. Shunsui immediately shook his head as Juushiro looked tearful. "Please. I… rejected it so long ago… it's time now. And… maybe… you'll see me again." Would his soul appear in Soul Society? Perhaps he would. He was very powerful, he always had been.
"You won't remember us. You won't be the same… Starrk…" A warm hand caressed his forehead and Starrk sighed, comforted by the touch. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again. It was getting so hard to see. Everything was fading…
"If you don't, I will be gone." He had no idea what happened to soul collections destroyed without konso, but he was sure they did not go directly to Soul Society. "Please… Juushiro…" He had a feeling he would be able to do it. A hand cupped his cheek and then he felt the press of something cold on his forehead.
"Konso." Starrk was vaguely aware of a moment of wonder before his world dissolved in beauty.
To everyone watching, the eruption of souls was like a gorgeous tsunami. Starrk's body vanished in a torrent of blue. Souls escaped by the hundreds, the thousands, winding through the air in trails of light. The continued to flow up, vanishing to whatever fates they deserved. As they flowed, Lilinette's body also vanished in the blue light. And last, but far from least, was a brilliant point of light. The powerful soul that had started it all, it orbited with a much smaller, but still bright spark. Like a pair of conjoined twins, they circled each other as they rose through the air. And finally, they vanished. Awed but still holding his camcorder, Kisuke caught every moment of it.
Nothing was left but bloodstains and a tiny piece of glitter. Shunsui carefully picked up the little pin, recognizing the pinwheel barrette he'd given to Starrk, so long ago. Tears were streaming down Juushiro's face and then they hugged each other, giving one another comfort.
Nothing else remained.
