Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Chapter Forty-Five

Las Noches; Aizen's Quarters

"Oh dear, Cap'n Aizen. Things aren't looking too good for your Espadas," noted Gin as he and his two cohorts watched the battles unfold. "With Barragan gone, Aaroniero dead and Szayelapporo a drooling mess, we've already lost a third of them."

Aizen remained silent. He was focused on two screens in general. The first was Halibel fighting Grimmjow and the second was Ichigo fighting Ulquiorra. It was clear that Halibel would not last much longer against her foe as she was brutally beaten by the fiend and Ichigo was lost in a wrathful frenzy, wrecking the halls of Las Noches as he attacked Ulquiorra. Finally he sighed in disappointment. "How troubling. I expected better of them."

Gin raised an eyebrow. "Wait, the Espadas or Ichigo and Halibel?"

The foxy rogue received no answer from his leader. On Aizen's opposite side stood Tosen, holding Asahi in his arms and feeding with a bottle. "This is becoming a problem. Between Ichigo's rampage, the Espadas going wild with the Mejorada Resurección and Szayelapporo's pet on the loose, Las Noches might be razed to the ground before we even set foot in the Soul Society."

"Aww! Why can't I hold her, Tosen?" asked Gin, a bit jealous of his friend. "She always cries when I try to hold her."

"Any infant would scream in terror around you, Gin," pointed out Tosen.

The two's bantering ended when Aizen spoke next. "Let's not make this too easy for them. Kaname, go inform Lilynette to wake up Starrk. Gin, go and fetch Yammy. He should be finished with his meal by now."

Tosen put Asahi back into her floating orb and left with Gin, leaving Aizen alone with the baby. Aizen tilted his head and focused his attention on Ichigo's fight with Ulquiorra, narrowing his eyes at Ichigo's enraged state. Asahi, seeing an image of her mother on the screen, cooed and reached out with her tiny hand to try to touch Halibel's image.

Smiling, Aizen put a hand on the orb, which began to gently rock the baby back and forth, Asahi's eyes drooping even as she kept reaching for her mother.

"Soon, Asahi…soon," Aizen promised. His eyes flicked over to the object on the left side of his chair: the Hogyoku. Picking up the small orb, he looked back at Ichigo before his eyes slowly turned back to Asahi.

Aizen smiled.

Meanwhile…
Pesche & Dondochaka vs. Tesra

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" screamed the hapless pair of Arrancar as they were endlessly chased by Nnoitora's subordinate.

"How annoying," growled the one-eyed Fracción. "How long are those two going to persist in this childish chase?" He fired a Bala at Pesche, but the thin Arrancar ducked and the attack flew back him, hitting the desert sands uselessly. "Enough of this." He drew his peculiarly-shaped sword. "I must return to Master Nnoitora so we can start cleaning up the rest of you vermin. Gore them: Verruga."

Panting, Dondochaka looked over at his friend. "Pesche! What should we do?"

Sighing, Pesche nodded. "I can sense Master Nel is in trouble. We've strung this loser long enough. Let's deal with him and go help Master Nel. I sense troubles afoot." He shivered from the diabolical spiritual pressures all around Las Noches. The two's mad sprinting came to an end and they turned around to face their opponent.

"And who is this loser you weaklings were talking about?"

Both Fraccións yelled in fright as Tesra loomed over them in his Resurección, having transformed into a giant warthog-man. Lumbering over the two, Tesra balled his fists. "You two traitors talk big but the only thing you're good at is running like cowards."

Tesra swung his massive fist, forcing the two to jump out of the way. A massive wave of sand stretched out in front of Tesra from the impact of his massive punch hitting the desert. Turning around, the warthog Arrancar focused his attention on the small Pesche, who quaked in fear. "You should have stayed out in the desert where you trash belong." His arm hauled back to throw another punch to the Arrancar.

But something bugged Tesra as he prepared to finish off Pesche. The fear and terror that'd been in the small Arrancar's eyes was gone now and he was no longer shaking in his boots. "You're the one who should be running. Dondochaka?"

So focused on Pesche, Tesra was blindsided when a large club smashed into the side of his head, snapping off a tusk while he staggered backwards. Blood dripped down the side of his face as he saw Dondochaka holding a large black club in his hand. "You dare-"

A flash of light entered the Arrancar's peripheral vision. Tesra had just enough time to turn his head before Pesche slashed at him with his own zanpakuto, glowing with Reishi. Though Tesra's Hierro was thick enough to prevent a serious wound, Pesche was able to cut off his remaining tusk and slash his chest, drawing more blood.

Dodging an earthshattering punch, Pesche jumped backwards and landed next to Dondochaka. "Weren't expecting that, were you?"

"How dare you…" growled the angry Tesra. He held out his hand, an orb of red energy forming in his palm. "I'll blast you to cinders!"

"I don't think so," said Pesche, jumping on top of Dondochaka's large head. His voice was far more serious than it had been before. "You thought we were just sitting on our thumbs out in the desert. But we never stopped training to protect Master Nel. We wanted to make Nnoitora pay for what'd been done to the three of us. And if you're going to stop us from helping Master Nel, we'll show you no mercy." He and Dondochaka formed Ceros of their own, Pesche's purple and Dondochaka's yellow. Before Tesra's stunned eyes, the two Ceros fused together.

"Cero Sincrético!"

Tesra fired his Cero but it was swept aside by the duo's fusion Cero. The pair's technique hit him square in the chest. All Nnoitora's subordinate could do was scream in agony before he disappeared into oblivion.

Panting for breath, the two let the dust settle and saw that their blast had completely destroyed Tesra. There was nothing left of him save for the large crater in the desert where he'd once stood. "Pesche, looks like we got him."

"Yeah. Let's head back and go help out Master Nel."

The two dashed back the way they came, spotting Nnoitora's palace. As they approached, however, they both gasped when the wall burst open in front of them. "Master Nel!" they both called out as a figure stepped out of the shadows.

"You wish."

From the darkness of the palace came Nnoitora, looking like a heavy metal nightmare in his Mejorada Resurección. The man's body was covered with a black armor-like carapace. His chest, arms and legs had multiple cracks that leaked out black and red spirit energy. With spikes on his knees and long, jagged black blades stemming from his forearms, he had become a living weapon. Two horns sprouted from the sides of his head, the left horn longer to make them look like a crescent moon that glowed yellow and black. Nnoitora's lower half was covered with black clothing that flared out to resemble a tail.

"Hello, ants. I believe you were looking for…this?" He held up a defeated Nel.

"Master Nel!" screamed the woman's subordinates when they saw the state of their master.

So close to death, Nel had reverted from her Resurección and was back in her sealed state. She was badly bruised and bleeding. To degrade his defeated enemy further, the wicked Espada had ripped away her tattered garments, leaving her dangling in his grip naked.

"Heh, that was easier than I thought. I wish Lord Aizen had given me this power-up sooner." Nnoitora tossed the beaten, battered and naked Nel to the sands in front of her Fraccións. "She barely put up a fight after I released."

"Get away from her!" Pesche screamed, sword in hand as he lunged forward. Nnoitora scoffed and raised an arm, blocking his shining sword's attack with his arm blade with ease. Screaming in rage, Dondochaka swung his club at Nnoitora's shoulder. But unlike with Tesra, the blow didn't even faze Nnoitora.

"I'm sorry. Was that supposed to hurt me?" grinned the malicious man. His blades glowed yellow while he shrugged off the pair's weapons. "Nel couldn't even scratch me. You couldn't even kill my boredom."

The sands under the dome became red as Nnoitora viciously and mercilessly attacked the pair. His sharp blades cut through Dondochaka's mace like hot butter and he stabbed the large Arrancar in the eye, slashing his chest repeatedly. Pesche valiantly tried to save his friend and slashed at Nnoitora's head. But the man's Hierro was tougher than ever and it merely bounced right off. Grinning as he beheld the terrified look in Pesche's eye, he moved like a wraith and grabbed the scared Arrancar by the throat.

"Santa Teresa Guadaña."

His forearm-blade glowing, Nnoitora stabbed Pesche in the stomach. A shrill, horrifying scream filled the air. Nnoitora twisted the blade in Pesche's guts, veins of corrupted yellow spirit energy spreading across the helpless man's chest and causing the Arrancar to feel nothing but sheer agony.

"You like? Nel screamed even louder. Imagine the worst pain you've ever felt."

"ARGHHHHHH!"

"Now imagine that pain throughout your entire body."

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The blade twisted further. "Now imagine that pain continuing throughout end."

"ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

"Oh wait…" Nnoitora grinned from ear to ear. "You don't need to imagine, do you."

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Tsubaki!"

A golden blur came out of nowhere and hit Nnoitora's arms, severing his hand at the wrist. Nnoitora whirled around to find the person who dared to attack him. He found a short Soul Reaper, white blade in hand, taking a stance in front of him.

"Tsugi no Mai: Hakuren!"

Out of the tip of Rukia's Shikai burst forth an avalanche of ice and snow. Caught off guard, Nnoitora was swept away by the white wave and left frozen solid.

"Nel! Pesche! Dondochaka!" cried out Orihime as she ran to them. She'd taken Aaroniero's discarded cloak and used pieces of it to create makeshift clothing so she wasn't running around in her underwear. As soon as she saw the state of the trio she wasted no time in summoning her healing spirits.

Running over to Pesche, Rukia grabbed the blade that was still embedded in the poor Arrancar's stomach and yanked it out, putting an end to his torment. "This is bad. They're all hurt pretty badly. Nel…"

Orihime ran over to the fading Nel and almost cried at the state of her. It was a miracle that she was even still alive. "Sōten Kisshun!" She put her healing barrier around the three, hoping she could heal what Nnoitora had done to them.

Then the two girls heard the sound of ice shattering.

Glowing yellow, Nnoitora burst out of Rukia's ice, shrugging off the cold of her Zanpakuto's power with little effort. "Please, you actually thought that was going to do me in? Your cold ice is a breeze for me." His eye narrowed when he saw who it was that attacked him, spotting Orihime "Huh, you're the one gave Aaroniero a serious case of heartburn."

Looking down at his stump for a wrist, he scoffed before focusing his attention back to the girls. "It takes a lot to be able to scratch me, let alone maim me. I can see why Lord Aizen was interested in your powers. But too bad for you, girl…" he leered at the teen, "that was the last time you'll hurt me." Out of his stump grew a new hand, the blade on his forearm growing back too. "Word of advice: next time aim for the head. Sadly for the two of you, there won't be a next time."

Rukia took a stance, sweat rolling down her face while Orihime put herself between Nnoitora and the barrier healing Nel, Pesche and Dondochaka. Both of them knew that Nnoitora was far worse than Aaroniero. Looking at Nnoitora felt like looking at the abyss.

Stepping forward, Nnoitora towered over the two like a giant. "Thinking you can win? Let me relieve you of that idea." The girls were horrified when they saw the tattoo of the number five on his tongue. "Aaroniero was the runt of the litter. I'm leagues above him. And you only killed him because of sheer dumb luck."

"Tsubaki! I Reject!" Orihime shouted, launching her spirit at Nnoitora again. But the Espada saw the attack coming this time and swatted Tsubaki away, much to Orihime's horror.

"You know what I'm sick of?" Nnoitora's blades glowed yellow again as he prepared to mutilate the uppity girls. "I hate it when a bitch thinks she's better than me. I don't care what Lord Aizen said. The only thing I'm going to hand over to him…is your head!" Licking his lips, Nnoitora raised a blade.

"Grrrrrrrrrrr!"

What happened next was too fast for Rukia and Orihime to process. They saw a streak of lightning flash in front of them and heard Nnoitora scream in pain. Blood spurted from his chest, shocking the Espada. "What the hell?!" Over the desert winds the three heard a bestial growl, one that hungered for blood.

"GRAHHHHHHH!"

Nnoitora whirled around, his blade sweeping through the air like a scythe but his attacker was much faster. A streak of white lightning swept past Nnoitora, drawing more blood. "What? How?" gasped an irate Nnoitora.

Finally, the attacker stopped on top of a large dune, letting Orihime and Rukia see who it was that rescued them. Or to be more precise what had saved them.

Everyone was shocked to see a white Hollow standing on the desert sands. Eyes brimming with bloodlust peered at the group behind a bloody feline mask with long cat-ears. But the mask looked fractured, with multiple bolts keeping it together. Its misshapen body was covered in white plated armor, although it like jagged and rough, like metal that had been grotesquely forged. There were several cords attached to its back that dragged loosely behind it .A large wicked mechanical tail snapped back and forth, whipping up a storm behind it. White lightning crackled around its powerful body. The creature crawled on all fours, its blood-red claws digging at the sands beneath it. But the most eye-catching feature was the Hollow's front-right claw. Unlike the other three, which looked natural, this one was huge and looked mechanical. The center of it glowed yellow with three glowing claws made of pure Reishi extending from the artificial paw.

"Who the fuck are you?" Nnoitora demanded.

But while Rukia was asking herself the same question, Orihime's eyes widened with horror when she noticed something else: the large mess of purple hair behind the mask. "It…it can't be…"

"Is that you…Yoruichi?"

To be continued