The Fallen Series: Part I - Victory Falls

by Seth's Kiss

Canon Divergent: 'They made the biggest mistake of their lives. They forgot Aizen always had a back-up plan, with it usually being far worse than the first'. DARK Fic. Rated M (violence, horror, torture, non-con), also has MxM, MxF, FxF and many unstable pairings (for now). Warnings in each chapter for safety. Proceed with caution. BEING EDITED: Chapters may vanish till completion.

8. Part One: Chapter 5 P2

The Fallen Series (a Bleach Fanfiction) by Seth's Kiss:

A/N: Hi! As promised, here's the other half of Chapter 5! Have a nice read! And Happy Halloween to all! Ha! I'm glad to have finished in time (didn't think I would as I fell really sick). In time for Halloween that is...since this part of the chapter is...slightly fitting for this exact date. B.T.W, I read somewhere that it was good to let readers/viewers know what music a writer listens to when writing. I wonder if you agree...

P.S: Question: Do you prefer long or shortened chapters like I did for this one? Let me know!

P.S.S: After rereading myself, I realized that I've got a very confusing logic. If anything, anything at all, I wrote is in any way confusing or complicated, tell me, ok? I'll try and fix it.

To ChizomenoHime: Hello! I really enjoy responding to your reviews! And I'm glad that you're anticipating everything and that you're still following this fic (flashes a million watt smile)! Thank you so much! It honestly means a lot! Yep, trouble is coming...Definitely so, and if Hinamori ever stops being eerie, let me know. Long live Grimmjow and his therapy...it has lingering side effects of a breach in personal space but hey, no one is perfect. And since when has Ichigo ever been right in his head or more specifically in his life? Not with all his been through (when he's just 15-16 years old in the official series) and not when being half-hollow somewhere in his mixed-up heritage (which is really mixed-up in my opinion: Ichigo is literally from every single race in the Bleach series!). Interesting thinking, wishful maybe, but very interesting nonetheless: I'll let you ponder on that, yeah? As for who still lives...Hm. Maybe this chapter will answer your question. I hope you enjoy it! Sorry for the cliff-hanger (which wasn't as terrible as the one in here, believe me) and see you next chapter! Bye!

To Guest 1: Thank you for your review! I'm glad you liked the former update because I was very unconvinced of it: I'm starting to block up a little so I was very afraid of botching the whole thing up as a result. Funny thing is, even for this chapter I was moving kind of slow...then I fell ill and my inspiration flew up a notch...Maybe I should get sick more often... Thank you for following and I hope you'll enjoy the rest! Bye!

Rating for this chapter: The exact same warnings as before, since it's the same chapter and all. Extra warnings wouldn't hurt though: it has two slightly horrific parts, one nauseating (it's a very brief scene but noteworthy because it is gross: it involves a mouth, then a hand and then a body (in that order) and no, not in the way you're thinking it...I don't want to spoil, but be wary around the Noveno) and the other gruesome (it's about what happened to the Divisions 2 and 12 in the Hueco Mundo). Also there's a lot of choking scenes in this chapter as well as a few more character deaths...And a lot of blood. On a personal note, I wrote this with a very high fever, so things might be weirder than usual... Once again, Happy Halloween...

Note: Some of you may or may not think that Soifon have an overall O.C.C reaction and I half agree to that, but I also have an explanation: Soifon is an assassin, so death is her repertory, only given the way she talks about assassinations, she views it as swift and blunt. So being a witness to a lengthy gory tortuous killing can be quite traumatizing...even for her.

I personally don't believe that there is a single human being who is entirely insensitive to death and/or torture...unless they're in fact robots (like Aizen)...or psychopaths (like Aizen)...

Part One: Victory Falls:

Chapter 5: Unexpected Treachery Amidst (Part 2):

Cautiously following the Noveno Espada and her two Fracción leading him towards his sister's location, Byakuya watchfully mapped out his surroundings whilst trying to anticipate how the following events were going to unfold.

The good news in all this was that Rukia was, apparently, alive: they wouldn't bother do all this if she wasn't...Well, he hoped that it was the case and that he wasn't being too wishful.

The bad news...was everything else.

He didn't know where he was going, let alone if he was truly being taken to Rukia's side: he might as well be actually being led straight into a trap instead. The problem was that he couldn't risk not following if he indeed was being taken to his sister. Worse than that, he remained totally oblivious to what would happen after that, let alone what awaited him once they reached their destination.

And given the fact that Byakuya was the one to bring the immortal the 'key' to his freedom as Aizen Sosuke himself had hinted to, it made it quite clear to the noble that the Espada would undoubtedly try to force him to do so in return for Rukia's safety...or in exchange of her life.

The Kuchiki noble had considered taking down the Fracción and subduing the Espada in order to turn things to his advantage...but there was one considerable problem: if he couldn't sense any given reiatsu from the female Espada before him, it probably and yet quite unfortunately meant that she was far stronger than him. Considerably so even.

In a battle, two individuals with the same level of reiatsu could clash endlessly to no avail. However, if one had a higher level of reiatsu than the other, even if the difference was slight, the one with lesser reiatsu would be easily taken down.

There were two ways to tell when another was of higher power: either when their reiastu had a crushing, suffocating effect, either when it was far beyond anyone's grasp that no one felt it.

Of course, absence of reiatsu would normally mean weakness, illness or incapacity, such as the souls from the Rukongai or someone that had overexerted his abilities, but this was different: she gave off a sense of foreboding with her presence alone.

There was something, but to the noble, it seemed almost clouded, near repressed in a way...

"We're almost there" voiced suddenly the Noveno Espada snapping the Kuchiki out of his thoughts and leading him to notice that they were coming to a halt in a darker part of a forest near the outskirts of the Rukongai's 78th District.

The Kuchiki Clan's leader frowned slightly at the familiarity of his surroundings, only he couldn't quite place the location he found himself in...Notably not with the Espada's next words disrupting his focus: "Now then, if you please, Kuchiki Byakuya: your zanpaktou."

Turning slowly to face the red-eyed blonde, the grey-eyed noble raised an eyebrow at her: "Pardon?"

"Your. Zanpaktou" she repeated effortlessly, not the least bit intimidated, shown by the sly smile upon her unperturbed features "You're not going anywhere further with it."

Truth to be told, the noble dreaded what being weapon-less would mean amidst a horde of Espada, and yet he reluctantly relented, not wanting to retreat now that he'd gotten this far.

Detaching the zanpaktou from his side with slow measured movements whilst keeping his eyes vigilantly locked on the enemy, Byakuya wordlessly held out the sword, now rested in his outstretched palms, towards them.

A nod towards the blonde Fracción was the Noveno's signal for her to go retrieve it, and so she did: walking up to the Kuchiki, she reached out and gingerly took hold of it, mindful of not letting it fall from her hands as she eyed it warily, before she fully confiscated it, now both holding Senbonzakura and Sode no Shirayuki when she returned to the Espada's side.

A discreet movement to his own side led him to notice that it was now the other Fracción's turn to approach him, albeit with less hesitance yet with as just much caution as her comrade.

The black-haired female, refusing to look into those piercing cold grey eyes trained upon her every move, carefully neared the Kuchiki noble before she slowly held out towards him what looked like a thick black leather bracelet. Upon looking at it more carefully, it appeared to resemble the much larger and longer bonds restraining the immortal within Muken.

Dismissing the black-haired Fraccion entirely, Byakuya turned an icy glare upon the Espada: "I was already quite sceptical when it came to surrendering my zanpaktou. I will not forsake my reiatsu."

"I know you think you know what it is, but it's not" yawned the red-eyed female with a forged bored expression, before she pointed at the bracelet as she explained "It's a modified version: this one guards you from another's reiatsu, in this case ours. Just so you know, all of the Espada now are Vasto Lorde and being around us unprotected, will crush you instantly."

"I can handle it" countered the Kuchiki clan's leader with narrowed eyes, not at all liking the understated insinuation of him being in any way frail or fragile...or, worse, weak.

"Sorry to break it down to you, but you can't" sneered the Noveno Espada scathingly with raised eyebrows "Aizen-sama doesn't want you dead, and if you don't wear that, that's exactly what you'll be."

When the 6th Division's captain still didn't make a move to take the offending bracelet, the black-haired Fracción tentatively reached out to take care of it herself only to let out a shrilly cry in startled pain when one of her wrists found itself encased in a firm unrelenting grip, halting her instantly in mid act. Disbelief painted her features at the fact she had actually been hurt despite her hierro, before she tried to pull her hand free...in utter vain.

Hissing half in anger, half in agony, the black-haired Fracción turned towards the Noveno Espada and whined pleadingly: "Please, Avaricia-sama, do something."

"Just enjoying the show, Loly. Funny fact is, when we did the same thing for his sister, she didn't bitch about it" remarked Avaricia deviously, smirking when the noble murderously glared in her direction before she once again pointed towards the bracelet, this time with her chin "Put it on, Kuchiki Byakuya. And before that, let her go."

Clenching his jaw irately at being ordered around, the noble relinquished his hold on Loly who immediately wrenched herself free before roughly dumping the bracelet within his hand.

With a vicious glare shining in her fuchsia eyes which spoke volumes of lethal resentment, she gritted out lowly: "I would have killed you for that...were it not for Aizen-sama wanting you unscathed."

Rubbing her slightly sore wrist, she turned his back on him and walked off back to Avaricia's side, where the blonde Fracción, whom Loly addressed to as Menoly, tenderly tended to the other's hand.

Frowning at the black-haired Fracción's words about him remaining unharmed, Byakuya undid the leather bracelet and moved it over his left hand, ready to lock it, before he paused when the Noveno Espada spoke up again: "It has to be in contact with your skin."

Resisting the urge to sigh in exasperation, the Kuchiki swiftly rid himself of his hand guard-like glove, letting it fall unceremoniously to the ground, before finally enclosing the bracelet around his wrist.

As soon as he bolted it closed, the black leather bracelet instantaneously fastened itself tightly against his wrist, bringing a brief stinging sensation to his skin, and Byakuya suddenly found himself incredibly lethargic, his body gradually going numb and his eyelids feeling so heavy, they threatened to close at any moment. The 6th Division's captain forcibly shook away the strange feeling, trying to retain awareness as he swayed dangerously, needing to find support upon the nearest tree.

Digging his nails slightly into the bark whilst he felt as if the force of gravity itself was intent on brining him down to the ground, he glared heavily towards where Avaricia stood, the Noveno Espada now but a blur to the noble's glazed eyes: "A modified version, was it?"

Though the Kuchiki clan's leader couldn't distinguish it due to his peculiar predicament, the red-eyed Espada was smirking jubilantly: "Yes, I said 'modified', not 'changed'. It still shackles your own reiatsu just the same. Can't have you trying to fight us, now can we? Another thing: it also camouflages your reiatsu. No one will find you anytime soon."

Disoriented, Byakuya was momentarily detached from his surroundings as he found himself unable to see or hear anything, the end of the Espada's sentence fading away along with every other sound, whilst he slowly sank to his knees, no longer capable of standing either.

Whilst he tried to gather his bearings, he startled slightly when he was taken hold of and hoisted up back on his unsteady feet, finding himself upheld by an unyielding bruising grip that began dragging him along, completely unmindful of his cumbersome lumbering steps.

At first, he offered resistance and tried to break form the hold but was quick to realize that he was in no condition to walk on his own, so he eventually gave in.

After awhile of trudging gauchely, the noble blinked repeatedly, as little by little his lost senses came back to him and his eyesight cleared again, before steadily taking in his surroundings just as he was brought to an abrupt halt: the Kuchiki noble now found himself standing within a barely lit cave of a damp atmosphere soaked in an eerie ambience, those who had accompanied him here having left his side in favour of standing behind a few steps.

And within the cave, patiently waiting, stood a small number of Espada and their Fracción, as well as a couple of cloaked individuals (1), and amidst them, Byakuya caught sight of Rukia.

Upon first glance and much to his relief, she seemed to be unharmed, though was firmly bound ankle and wrist whilst seated upon a roughly makeshift chair in the rock of the cave. He also was quick to notice that she appeared to be just as sluggish as he was, instantly locating the leather biding similar to his, only it was clasped around her neck, and that made the noble rage: it looked like a vulgarized dog collar and he did not like it one bit.

Sleepily lifting her purple blue eyes to meet his, she remained briefly unresponsive before her expression morphed into one of a mixture of shock and terror as she cried out: "Nii-sama?! No...No! You shouldn't have come here! They're going to hurt you!"

Face tightening at her reaction, Byakuya unthinkingly took a step forward with the intention of going to her side in order to comfort her, only to come to an instant halt when he found himself with a blade at his temple.

Glancing lethally to his side, Kuchiki Byakuya's usually calm and controlled expression instantly shifted to one of sheer disbelief upon whom it was that he locked eyes with.

Although he looked nothing like the one he had encountered and ended, it was undoubtedly Ginrei's long-time adoptive son, Koga, who stood arrogantly beside him.

Clothed in a blood red cloak with a black leather ensemble beneath, he looked incredibly youthful, his porcelain skin not a day aged nor in any way deformed by decay, whilst his green eyes glinted with malice and mirth tugged at his lips as he took in the Kuchiki noble's expression.

Using his zanpaktou, Muramasa(2), now slipped under Byakuya's chin, Koga gently yet firmly tilted the other's face towards him to have a better look at the various emotions flickering in those grey eyes and that the young clan's leader had a hard time containing.

"It can't be" uttered a shocked stock still Byakuya with lips that had gone abruptly dry: this man...was also Aizen Sosuke's father. The immortal was already a problem on his own and he was still in Muken. The Kuchiki noble dared not imagine where having two main antagonists to the Seireitei would lead to. That aside...How was he even alive? Last he checked, Koga was far gone six feet under water...

Letting out a dark chuckle that sent a shiver down the Kuchiki noble's spine, for it sounded far too much like his son's, the green-eyed's smile grew even wider: "But it is."

"Koga Ku...No. You're entirely unworthy of the Kuchiki name."

"I totally agree" nodded the other adamantly as he lowered his weapon after seeing that the Kuchiki noble proved to be reasonable enough not to retaliate given the hold they had on him and on his sister "It has terrible ring with 'Koga', doesn't it? Besides, now that I can say it out loud, I was never fond of that wretched rotten name."

At that, whilst his jaw clenched at the insult, the 6th Division's leader raised his eyebrows with incredulity: "And yet...you sought to become Clan leader?"

"Well, of course. To keep up appearances that is. It was all just an intricate ruse to destroy the clan from the inside" elaborated Koga with a smirk before his expression darkened at his next words "It unfortunately failed, and that's when my beloved wife had to come in play after my confinement."

"Aizen Sosuke's mother..."

"Yes" whispered the green-eyed with a momentarily choked tone of voice before his sinister smirk returned "And now, since you aren't aware of my true heritage, allow me to reintroduce myself to you, boy."

Byakuya had parted his lips to question the other on what he meant, only for his unuttered words to die a fantastic death within his throat at the sight what was beginning to unfold before him.

Koga's expression obscured, turning menacing, same as his smile, whilst his hair and eye colour suddenly though slowly shifted to auburn brown, with the exception of that pink fringe which never seemed to leave the man.

The young Kuchiki leader's eyes, along with Rukia's, could only widen in horrified stupor as they found themselves face to face with a man who now looked more like Aizen Sosuke than anything else, albeit a little older, but still: the resemblance was so striking and incredibly frightening that it was as if...

"It can't be" stammered Rukia as she repeatedly blinked her eyes in shock "Aizen...Sosuke?"

Calm brown eyes flitting over to her, Koga's smile widened even more: "Not quite, my dear. My name is Koga Aizen and I am Sosuke's father."

Whereas the younger Kuchiki sibling's eyes widened even more, Byakuya's racing thoughts did a double take at the new unforeseen information: Yoruichi had never mentioned that about Koga. Had she even known? Did his grandfather know? Or was it just one of those things he had deemed fit for his grandson to remain utterly ignorant to?

"You're..." faltered Rukia tentatively as she tried to wrap her mind around the astounding turn of it all "...originally an Aizen in name?"

"I am" confirmed the one in question, his smirk now impossibly wide.

"And..." spoke up the Kuchiki clan's leader with just as much hesitance and bewilderment as his sister's "As such...what was your exact relationship with Aizen Sachiko?"

"She was my younger sister as well as my wife" revealed Koga smoothly before he chuckled scathingly when Byakuya paled a little "That seems to unsettle you."

"That...That is frowned upon in the Rukongai, as it usually has the nasty effect of leaving the future descendants with a fairly deranged personality" stated the Kuchiki noble through clenched teeth whilst the horrifying realization that the immortal was a full-fledged Aizen steadily sank in "It is something only the noble clans are allowed to and, for everyone else, including for certain families from the Seireitei, it has been forbidden for generations."

Scoffing derisively, Koga shrugged calmly: "Not amongst us Children of Chaos, it hasn't. Do you think we would have survived this long by plainly following the rules set by you Kuchiki, foolishly like all the others have done? We may be proclaimed extinct, but we're still here. Ever since the massacre of the grand majority of the Children of Chaos at the hands of Purebloods, most of those who remained went through great lengths to go into hiding, using our...inherit skills to do so and reproducing in any way we could. And now, all we have to do, is avenge our losses...by eradicating every, single, one under the despicable name Kuchiki."

When the Kuchiki noble's eyes abruptly narrowed and his repressed reiatsu spiked to a threatening degree, for he was truly loathe to witnessing the Aizen's words ever coming to life, Koga effortlessly saw through the captain's actions seconds ahead of him undergoing them.

"Disperse, Senbon..." began Byakuya determinedly, but before he could finish, Koga's hand had forcefully covered his mouth, preventing him from ending the call for his zanpaktou, as the Aizen had moved with impossible rapidity to his side, now firmly holding the noble's right hand twisted behind his back.

As he earned a dark glare from the Kuchiki who struggled against him with a significantly reduced strength than what he already barely had before, Koga chuckled beside the noble's ear: "You're fast, boy, only not enough."

However, even though the 6th Division's captain had been unable to finish his incantation, Senbonzakura began to glow and pulsate on its own, heeding to the uncompleted command of its master, from where it was leaning against a wall of the cave, and slowly began converting itself into innumerable luminous pink bladed petals before swirling around in the compacted space, ruthlessly ready to attack.

"What the...?" uttered Szayel in complete fascination whilst the other Arrancars stood rigid and ready for any coming blow. The others present, including Koga and Hinamori, on the other hand, didn't even acknowledge the potential danger the zanpaktou had to offer, remaining completely unmoved.

"Is he doing this?" questioned Loly aghast as she pointed over to the noble "His reiatsu has been sealed, so he can't be doing this...right?"

"Logically, no, he can't" answered the Octavo Espada as he hummed pensively before he snapped his fingers as he thought of something "Unless the zanpaktou in person is attempting to protect its master."

This remark earned a dubious glance from Nnoitra: "You usually make more sense, Grantz. This is utter bullshit."

The released form of Senbonzakura's shikai continued to spin gracefully around the cave's occupants, not yet striking but drawing threateningly close to everyone it passed by, before it suddenly condensed into a single point and aimed for Koga's back.

Only, just before it attacked, Hinamori swiftly shunpo-ed to stand between the Aizen and the shower of petal blades, with her hands extended towards the zanpaktou's attack.

"Hado 31, Shakkaho (3)" she uttered slowly with a heavy tone of self-assurance before, instantly after that, drawing her own zanpaktou and swinging it upwards "Snap, Tobiume."

Thus the young brown-haired girl sent two magnificently coordinated orbs, one of explosive energy and one of pure fire, directly to counter Senbonzakura's shikai head on.

The force of the collision was enough to blow up Byakuya's zanpaktou and cause it to revert to its original state mid-air before it embedded itself in the ground.

"Well, I be damned" whispered Avaricia in awe before her red eyes darted over to Koga as he spoke up, an amused smirk playing at his lips.

"Careful: his zanpaktou has a mind of its own."

Sweat-dropping, the Quinto Espada muttered under his breath: "A little late for that, don't you think?"

"We'll just have to render it mindless then" voiced Tobiume's wielder frigidly as she moved passed the man she had just protected and headed over to Senbonzakura.

Reaching the sword, she grabs hold of the handle and forcefully bends the zanpaktou until it breaks in two, the blade shattering to splinters, with Byakuya watching on in horror.

"Hinamori-san!" cried out Rukia in dismay, appalled by the other girl's actions, whilst the petite Shinigami's elder brother widened his eyes at hearing that name: wasn't Hinamori the 5th Division's lieutenant?

Noticing the Kuchiki's reaction, Koga, as he now relinquished his hold over Byakuya now that he was officially powerless, gestured over to the brown-haired girl with one hand, whilst he let the other grasp tightly at the noble's shoulder, before announcing proudly: "So, I trust you already know my lovely young niece, Aizen Hinamori."

Said girl was now darkly glaring at the noble who could only stare back in disbelief and shock at the animosity directed his way, before she turned her back at him and sauntered off to sit by Rukia, letting her arms wrap up possessively around Byakuya's sister whilst the brown-haired man carried on speaking: "And in case you're wondering, she is Sosuke's second horseman."

The Kuchiki clan's leader couldn't believe his ears: as far as he knew, Hinamori Momo was one of the most dedicated Shinigami the Gotei 13 had to offer and if she chose to aid Aizen Sosuke's cause out of 'unconditional devotion' after everything he had done to her, Byakuya dreaded who the other three horsemen were in truth...and suddenly, despite having been trying to decipher their identities for that last few days, he honestly didn't feel like knowing at all.

Only it seemed like Koga had other ideas for him, for he just went on talking, now motioning towards to the Noveno Espada who waved brazenly at the noble: "The Arrancar who came to collect you is Avaricia Ygula, the first horseman."

The Kuchiki clan's leader frowned upon hearing that for it posed a certain contradiction: "Aizen Sosuke had said that it was someone pretending to be somebody he wasn't."

"I was impersonating someone who isn't what he once was" asserted Avaricia dismissively as she slowly transformed yet again, this taking the form of the 2nd Division's lieutenant before she continued speaking with her own voice "A dead corpse cannot lie. It allowed me to move freely in the Seireitei with an alibi. Also, I am the only Espada who has the means to hide my reiatsu, even if it's just slight, when disguised as another. And, as long as I am not in my release form, my reiatsu is scarce to detect."

"Now I understand. And how did you get to Rukia?"

Shifting back to her original appearance, the red-eyed female Espada elaborated her actions further: "By endorsing the role of a shinigami called Zenosuke Kuromadani, from the 13th Division. After that, I was on the lookout in Karakura, waiting for the opportune moment to collect your little sister."

The name seemed to mean something to Rukia because she then questioned with concern: "And where is he now?"

"Dead" Avaricia responded bluntly before chortling when she saw the petite Kuchiki pale at her reply "Where else did you think?"

Chuckling with morbid amusement at the Kuchiki siblings' reactions, Koga spoke up again: "Carrying on, the fourth is, the only one you got right, Inoue Orihime."

"The one to free Aizen Sosuke" uttered Byakuya with a tight voice, faintly stunned that, not only she really was one of the horsemen but she actually was the one - and not Urahara Kisuke - to hold the power to the immortal's liberation "And the third?"

"A surprise for later on" smirked Koga slyly before he began walking off towards an opening further down the cave "Though a little spoiler wouldn't hurt: it's one of the Gotei's captains, and no, it's not Gin. Now, boy, if you'd follow me."

Initially going to outright refuse, the 6th Division's captain eventually relented and followed closely behind when one of the Espada - whom he recognized as the Septimo - had flashed his blade threateningly close to Rukia's throat in warning upon the noble's obvious reluctance.

Wandering beyond the opening and down into a corridor-like path, the two males then found themselves in a sort of underground dim lit chamber, filled to the brim with weapons and explosives of all kind.

The Kuchiki's eyes widened as he took in all the artillery before him: "What's all this?"

"Ah, this?" voiced the brown-haired man nonchalantly as he cast a casual glance around "It all belongs to those who own this cave. It's not ours, that much you can know."

Grey eyes darting over to glare at the Aizen who stood behind him, the noble grounded out quietly: "Must you and your son always speak in codes?"

The Aizen chuckled with amusement at that: "It'd be boring not to."

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes at the Koga's typical way of responding without answering that seemed to be another trait shared with the immortal, the Kuchiki clan's leader looked back towards the sheer amount of stashed weaponry and inwardly cringed: it far more than enough to set off over countless wars over an unlimited period of time, wreaking endless chaos...

Byakuya instantly tensed when he felt Koga thread his fingers teasingly within his hair, in a mockingly tender gesture, before moving upwards to the kenseikan ornaments and leisurely retrieving them, letting every one of them removed fall and smash to the ground.

Taking account of his sister's wellbeing, the Kuchiki noble forcefully offered no defiance to the other's actions but allowed himself to question them: "What are you doing, Aizen Koga?"

"You look utterly preposterous in them" remarked Sosuke's father simply as he kept on with his ministrations, now smoothing out the completely loose black silky locks "Besides, it's not like you'll be needing them anymore."

Sensing it be bordering on delicate territory and probably upon something he didn't want to find out, Byakuya judiciously chose not to inquire upon that, despite it offending him, so he instead chose to pull back with a glare when the Aizen's hands drifted over to caress his face.

Not at all undeterred by the noble's reaction, which actually caused him to grin broadly, Koga disclosed bluntly as he swiftly rid the Kuchiki of his haori: "I can see why Sosuke wants to put his hands on you. You are quite something."

"Meaning?" inquired the 6th Division's captain with a displeased frown as he watched the fabric that determined his title and rank within the Gotei 13 fall to the dirty dusty ground.

"You'll see soon enough" said the Aizen mysteriously with an odd glint within his brown eyes before he gazed down at the scarf he had just removed from the Kuchiki clan's leader and, after running his fingers upon it for a moment, ripped it to shreds.

Closing his eyes in exasperation, Byakuya tightened his jaw irately both at the other's words and, though quite mostly, at his inexplicable actions of ridding the Kuchiki of all which identified him as a noble: "I keep hearing that."

Letting the last torn pieces of the scarf fall from his hands, Koga chuckled forebodingly at that: "Only once it will happen, you'll be begging for it to stop."

Incensed grey eyes flew back open with a dangerously lethal glare directed at the other: "I do not beg."

The brown-haired man's chuckling grew even louder and more sinister as he regarded the young noble with derision: "Yes, well...Many brave souls have uttered those same words before you, and not a single one upheld that declaration."

"I'm not them" declared the Kuchiki clan's leader haughtily, his pertinent pride coming into play and categorically refusing to be compared to apparent weaklings. Once again, Byakuya totally abhorred being seen or thought as weak.

"Clearly, otherwise Sosuke would have already ended you by now" smirked Koga with a shake of his head before he closed in and warped his arms around the noble, gone rigid, as to whisper directly into the other's ear "Believe me when I say that being kept alive by him is by far the worst possible outcome for anyone having caught his attention."

Closing his eyes and sighing, tired of all this turning around in circles, Byakuya demanded to know: "What do you want from me?"

"To do whatever you're told to do..." replied Koga with a wide unsettling smirk, as he continued to talk in the young noble's ear "No matter what it is and no matter when we demand of you to do so. You can do that, can you? I mean, it's no big trouble for you: you are Clan leader, after all. You can do anything."

Grey eyes flitted over to lock dead on with brown ones: "Why do I have the feeling that you're implying something?"

Letting go of the Kuchiki and taking a step back, the brown-haired man tilted his head: "Am I? Who knows?"

"Is this about my grandfather, when he was Clan leader, not lifting a finger to save Aizen Sachiko?" inquired the black-haired captain steadily, unconsciously feeling a lot better now that he no longer had anyone invading his personal space.

There was a short-lived shift upon the Aizen's face before his arrogant smirk returned: "How so?"

Instead of answering, the noble pointed out what he had just read in the other's brief change of expression: "She meant a lot to you."

"Of course she did" scoffed Koga at the obviousness of that statement: not only was the deceased Sachiko his sister, but she had been his wife after all.

"Then why did you abandon her in the first place? Why not stay by her side?"

At those words, Koga narrowed his eyes as he spoke in a low ominous tone: "Careful, boy, because it's sounds as if you're trying to say that her death was my fault."

Raising an eyebrow, the Kuchiki clan's leader argued prudently: "I am merely saying that had you chose her over leadership within the Kuchiki clan, it would have not ended this way."

"You know absolutely nothing, do you?" laughed Koga darkly, his expression menacing "We Aizen, as the rest of the Children of Chaos, are destined to ruin the purebloods, to ruin you Kuchiki, and to rule over everyone and everything else."

After staying silent for awhile, Byakuya stated slowly through tensely clenched teeth: "Your delusions of grandeur are ironically similar to Aizen Sosuke's."

"I am his father, aren't I? Still, his vision of things is way more refined and enhanced than mine, given who raised him in the end" trailed off Koga seriously with a far-off expression, momentarily lost in his thoughts, before he promptly snapped back to the conversation as if nothing at all "Besides, no matter how it would have played out in the past wouldn't have changed our fate as Aizen."

"You do this because you were fated to? Can you not draw your own path?"

"Can you? Had it not been for Kurosaki Ichigo, you wouldn't have fought your restrictions and would have let that Rukia girl die. A girl you had sworn to the one you loved the most to protect. Let me ask you: how is it working so far?" hissed out the brown-haired man viciously before smirking jubilantly when the Kuchiki wordlessly tightened his fists and lowered his eyes "Nothing to say, hm? I lost Sachiko to your bloody clan and I intend to avenge her."

Byakuya snapped his grey eyes back upwards as he said firmly: "You were the one to ask my grandfather to take her and her son in."

"All according to plan" revealed the Aizen meaningfully with a thrilled and rather wide grin.

"Excuse me?" blinked the Kuchiki with a baffled frown, his voice heavy with confusion.

"Let me tell you a little about the Aizen, boy: the female members of our clan are our foundations, our sacrifices. We live through them, thanks to them. They bow down to our will, cater to our every need and carry out our every demand, no matter the consequences, on themselves or on others. Sachiko was just like that. Hinamori is just like that."

Utterly unsettled by the other's words, Byakuya could not believe what he was being told: "You...You are basically telling me that...? You let her...Told her...To go...die as to fuel your hatred for us...even further?"

"In a way" shrugged Koga imperturbably as he turned and strolled back over to stand besides the opening from before, missing the look of complete revulsion that crossed the noble's face.

Nevertheless, it was quite transparent in the captain's voice: "You're an absolute barbarian."

Chuckling darkly, Sosuke's father glanced over his shoulder at the other: "Amongst other things."

"And now...you seek to avenge her despite it all being previously drawn out?"

Whilst Byakuya failed to see through the Aizen's logic, Koga seemed to be befuddled by the Kuchiki's puzzlement, whilst snapping his fingers for an unknown reason: "You're a little slow, aren't you? Is the bracelet draining out your brain as well?"

Ignoring the jibe completely, the 6th Division's captain inquired vigilantly, needing to know: "How many are you?"

"Hm?"

"How many of the Children of Chaos remain today?"

"I personally care not of the other clans, but as for the Aizen, there are three of us: Sosuke and I are the last two male members, whilst Hinamori, is the last female member of our clan" replied Koga smoothly, and for the first time clearly, before he sent a rather chilling leer the noble's way just as a few Espada entered the space they were in, leading the Kuchiki to grasp that the snapping of fingers from before had been a signal for them to come over.

Now presently standing beside the Aizen were the Segundo, Cuatro, Quinto, Septimo and Noveno Espada, staring fixedly at the Kuchiki clan's leader with very different yet undeniably nerve-jangling expressions: the first crossed his arms, the second remained still, the third leered viciously, the fourth rolled his shoulders and the fifth leisurely cracked her knuckles.

As Byakuya fought his first instinct to take a step back as a precaution, Koga smiled sinisterly whilst the Espada slowly advanced upon the noble: "That aside, boy, we need to make you a little bit more...presentable for the series of events that are to come...So, ready for a little pain?"

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Ever since his captain had made his abrupt appearance back in Karakura and left just as quickly without much of an explanation, Renji had been on edge. And no matter what he did to convince himself that he was being a little paranoid, it just didn't work.

It didn't take long for him to ask for the 10th Division's permission - which he had easily granted for he too had found Kuchiki Byakuya's behaviour to be odd to say the least - to go back to the Seireitei to clear things up...even if it was just by a little.

The first thing he did was head over to the 13th Division to check on Rukia. Oddly enough and quite distressingly so, just like he himself had told his captain, no one had seen her since she had accompanied him and the others to Karakura to watch over the Deserter Arrancars.

Then Renji rushed off to the 6th Division to seek out his captain, only for things to become even more worrying for him when he was told that the Kuchiki noble had been absent for the last few hours. And once again, no one knew where he was.

At that point, the red-haired lieutenant was beginning to question their security: it couldn't be that tip-top if two people, way within less than 24 hours, could just go on and disappear like that without any information whatsoever. Then again, given the times they were living...

Renji bit his lip as he exited the 6th Division's barracks and walked on without any particular direction, whilst vehemently wracking his brains: it wasn't like the captain to just go off like that with no justification...not that he needed to justify himself given his status, but Kuchiki Byakuya mostly liked to stick to rules, which included notifying his Division of any absences, especially if they were an emergency or just particularly important.

The captain had gone off with no warning only once and that was because he was undercover, after that apologizing to the soldiers of his Division, telling them that it was a one-time thing.

Which begged the question, right now, where the heck was he and Rukia?

Deep in his thoughts, the red-haired wasn't paying attention to where he was going and abruptly collided straight on with someone, grunting at the impact whilst the other gasped out quietly in pain.

Hastily straightening up to apologize, Renji's words caught in throat when he came face to face with his captain out of all people. The red-haired flashed the other a smile, ready to express his relief at the noble's safety, when all of a sudden he realized the state the Kuchiki was in, and once again he stayed silent, his eyes going wide as he took in the noble.

The typically elegant and perfect 6th Division's captain was an utter mess: he was missing near half of his usual attire, seemingly had a hard time breathing and was ashen pale with slight bags under his eyes, which overall were abnormally dim and hazed. But the most shocking in all this was the sheer amount of wounds marring his generally impeccable skin: it was like he had just come straight out of a warzone.

With a split lip, there were several sporadic gashes, some large others small, cutting right through his uniform and into his skin, some that were still bleeding slightly, and numerous purplish bruises were there as well contrasting against his complexion. In all this, the most notable wounds remained to be the ones on his bare blood covered hands, the knuckles in a terrible bashed state, as if they had been...stomped on by a particular large mass of a person.

As Renji's jaw slowly dropped in horror, the Kuchiki noble's grey eyes widened briefly as he caught sight of the red-haired before, not giving his lieutenant a chance to speak up, he inquired casually the other whilst reigning in his expression: "Weren't you supposed to be in Karakura, Abarai?"

The 6th Division's lieutenant instantly frowned at the...genuinely misplaced question but answered his superior anyway: "I...uh...Yes, but I...I came here looking for..."

"Paperwork?" completed the noble swiftly as he raised an eyebrow expectantly, bewildering the red-haired even further "You are a very dedicated lieutenant indeed. Thank you for your hard work."

At that, Renji's eyes blew wide open as his every gear in his head came to a screeching halt: Byakuya Kuchiki...was not only giving out a direct compliment but also openly expressing gratitude? He was either hallucinating, or the world was ending...or something was VERY wrong.

Before he could ask anything, a sound of someone shuffling towards them caught their attention. As the red-haired glanced over, he scarcely yet quite clearly heard the words of warning his captain whispered subtly to him: "Don't look surprised when you see Rukia."

Whilst frowning faintly at those words of caution, when Renji saw Rukia round the corner and walk up to them, he heeded to his captain's command all the same: "Hey, Rukia! What up?"

"Renji" the 13th Division's lieutenant acquiesced curtly as she reached them, barely sparing him a glance, which surprised her childhood friend: she usually always gave him a witty remark or at least graced him with a smile...unless she was mad with him, and last he checked, it wasn't him she was mad at, but Byakuya, ever since the locking up Inoue Orihime thing.

The red-haired lieutenant's surprise deepened even further when the petite black-haired girl threw at the noble an incredibly dark glare as she murmured icily: "Haven't I told you to wait for me, Nii-sama?"

Despite being usually blissfully oblivious and dense, Renji didn't miss the way his superior went rigid at Rukia's words.

Also, here was something very wrong about Rukia's glare: sure she was mad at her elder brother but that glare was far too chilling, even for her. It didn't look right on her face...as if it wasn't hers.

Clearing his throat, Byakuya nodded stiffly towards his younger sister, whilst the red-haired stared on too stunned by the sudden impact of bizarreness he just witnessed to mention anything: "Yes, you did. I apologize for that. It won't happen again."

"Be sure it doesn't" nodded the petite Shinigami with a smile that chilled Renji to the bone.

There was something very wrong with her smile too. What was with her being all...strange, for lack of a better word?

"Are you ok, Rukia?" inquired the 6th Division's lieutenant tentatively, drawing the petite Kuchiki's full attention, leading him to notice that her eyes were near vacant, cold...

"Of course" she confirmed effortlessly before she tilted her head "Why do you ask?

"You look...uh...I don't know, constipated?"

While the eldest made an odd noise of surprise at the other's brashness, the youngest Kuchiki took an openly offended expression: "You're being rude."

"Sorry, sorry" the red-haired apologized sheepishly with his hands raised in surrender.

"Let us go, Byakuya" said Rukia with a rather firm expression before taking off, without sparing her childhood friend a second glance.

Her elder brother glanced over to his lieutenant and nodded at him, before he hastily followed behind her, leaving Renji staring on with a frown as their retreating forms...before his eyes abruptly bulged out in disbelief: 'Since when did Rukia ever call Kuchiki-taichou by name?"

A few feet away, as they were alone and out of sight, Rukia swiftly stopped in her steps, before she swirled around with a demonic expression and pinned her elder brother with a disfigured arm, harbouring clawed fingers, to a nearby wall, robbing Byakuya of his breath as he brutally collided with the now broken bricks digging in his back.

Gasping in pain with all the injuries he had already acquired with the addition of the claws now sinking into his skin, he drifted his eyes over to his attacker before they widen in utter horror: despite being the perfect physical replica of his younger sister and still retaining said appearance, the Arrancar impersonating her was distorting Rukia's features to a horrifying degree.

Red irises upon yellowish sclera, fangs jutting out from a snarling mouth, peach skin gradually turning ashen grey and slowly rippling as if there were worms beneath the complexion instead of veins, bones and armoured plates protruding from the extended arm that had tripled in size despite the smallness of the girl's body: this grotesque imposture of Rukia looked like it came straight out of a horror movie.

Tightening her hold which caused the noble to grit his teeth in pain, Rukia, or rather Avaricia, growled out in a calm yet entirely inhumane voice: "I did tell you not to run off ahead, didn't I? Tch...Now I'm going to have to go on and kill your little lieutenant because of you."

One of the Kuchiki's eyes flew open at that as he urgently struggled to contradict the Espada's thoughts in order to save the red-haired's skin from this beast: "You're mistaken...I didn't...I didn't tell him...any-Argh!"

"I'm not dumb nor deaf, Nii-sama" sneered the fake Rukia scathingly, mockingly making use of the title given to the noble from his sister whilst she tightened her hand around Byakuya even more "I heard your whispering something to him. What did you tell him?"

Although he could now barely breathe at all, the Kuchiki clan's leader forced himself to utter out: "N...Nothing...Nothing at all...that...could interfere...with your master's plans."

"That'd better be true" threatened the Noveno Espada with an even tone before smirking as she viciously played with her next words, astutely reminding Byakuya of his predicament "For my sake, Nii-sama."

Though she kept her hold on the Kuchiki, she lessened the pressure upon his constricted chest in order to allow him to breathe. As soon as she did that, leading Byakuya to cough and pant whilst trying to regain his bearings, the fake Rukia pivoted her body slightly to the side before she hunched over and began making loud gagging noises through her widely parted mouth, which was stretched to an inhuman reality.

In confused curiosity, the Kuchiki noble stared on as the other continued to do so, seemingly trying to eject something lodged deep within her core when, with incredible gradual slowness, a pale hand with darkened nails made its appearance and grabbed at the corners of the disguised Espada's opened mouth before pulling, dragging, hoisting upwards the rest of the body that was hidden inside her.

Ghastly repulsed, Byakuya was quick to look away, the sight too nauseating to bear, especially when it was done using his sister's appearance...only his position didn't permit him to be deaf to the appalling retching and squelching sounds that had yet to stop as the ordeal persisted a little while longer.

When it was finally over, the 4th Espada stood in all his emotionless glory, drenched in saliva that coated him from head to toe, before he slowly turned to glare daggers at the snickering copy of Rukia, as he spoke in a faintly miffed tone: "You will speak of this to no one."

"No one much to tell" retorted the fake version of the noble's sister with a wide smile, still chortling at her fellow Espada.

Fervently ridding himself of the viscous matter on him, Ulquiorra spoke up methodically as he looked around: "Having successfully and subtly infiltrated within the enemy lines, our next step is to rendezvous with Loly and Menoly - who have the other Kuchiki captive - in order to liberate the 4th Horseman."

As both Espada turned to face their own prisoner, the fake Rukia gave Byakuya a chilling smile as she raised an eyebrow: "So, Nii-sama...Where to now?"

Brownish eyes going wide at the scene he had just been a witness to, Renji felt his heart race with trepidation as he couldn't bring himself to decide what to do: Go call for help? Free his captain? Draw the Espada's attention and run off, so they'll drop their guard on the captain? Follow them to wherever they were headed? Just what the heck was he supposed to do?

"Don't you dare fuckin' move" hissed out dangerously a voice all of a sudden that chilled the red-haired right where he stood...for it appeared that Rukia's doppelganger had found him...

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Orihime blew her nose as inaudibly as she could, not wanting to draw attention from those who were locked along with her in the 6th Division's barracks, both of them situated in cells adjacent to her left and right walls respectively.

Wiping at her tears with the back of one hand and dabbing at her reddened nose with her handkerchief in the other, the young human girl quietly kept her eyes steadfastly locked upon the sky beyond the window's bars.

Ever since it had started dimming, she had begun to dread when dark would finally come. And now, with night just moments away, she knew that the Gotei had already lost, that any hope of salvation they thought they had was crushed, that it was all over, game over even. Aizen's plan was terribly thorough: there was no loophole possible, no mistake, no escape...

She sighed softly as one last tear fell down her cheek: now it was her turn, to play her part and hope, with all her might, that she'd do it without a single slip-up for the sake of her friends.

She had no room for any error whatsoever. This was her one and only chance.

"Inoue-san?" called out a voice suddenly that startled Orihime a little, having been lost way too far in her own thoughts.

Smoothly clearing her throat and thus chasing the sadness that would have resounded in her voice, the human girl acknowledged politely: "Yes, Urahara-san?"

"How are you feeling?" he inquired gently, his words tinged with concern.

"Fine, thank you for asking" responded the orange-haired girl in a tone she hoped to be giddy.

It seemed to work on Kisuke but not on the other one locked there with them: "You don't sound that alright to me."

"Ichimaru-san..."

"Since there are no pryin' ears, perhaps you might want to let us in on what's goin' on, hm?"

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, Orihime absentmindedly glanced over to the left as she countered softly: "What makes you think I would know?"

"I'm not thinkin' it: I know you know" responded the 3rd Division's captain evenly which led the human girl to sigh jadedly, knowing that it was no use denying anything anymore.

"I'm sorry. I really am. I never wanted any of this. But there are many things I'm not meant to say. I just can't. This however I can tell you: I have only one shot in what's coming and, as soon as it's possible, I'm taking it."

"What are you talking about, Inoue-san?" asked Kisuke whilst frowning in puzzlement at her words.

After a moment of silence, Gin gasped out in what sounded to be horror: "Wait a freakin' minute. You don't mean that you...?"

The 3rd Division's captain was cut off when a loud but quashed cry resounded in the hall of cells and then a brief thump was heard, as if a body had fallen dead to the floor, before it went all dead quiet again.

Curiosity taking a hold of the three jailed individuals, they all neared the bars of their respective cells to catch a glimpse of what was going on when a figure abruptly made its appearance in front of the human girl's confinement cell after the sound of a sonido.

"Hello, Orihime-sama!" she called out happily with a broad smile and an enthusiastic wave.

"H...Hello" replied the orange-haired girl with wide eyes, whilst Gin and Kisuke remained in shocked silence when they saw the person was dressed in an Espada's uniform, before Orihime tilted her head slightly "And you are?"

The female's smile faltered a little before it grew wider: "Oh yes, we've never met! I'm the new 9th Espada, Avaricia Ygula."

"Ah, ok" nodded Orihime with understanding before bowing courteously "Nice to meet you."

"You too!" bowed back Avaricia animatedly before she grabbed hold of the jail's bars "Let's get you out now, shall we?"

Wrenching the bars apart as if they were made out of spaghetti al dente, the Noveno Espada stepped aside to let the human girl get out, the latter who gave her a small smile: "Thank you, Ygula-san."

"My pleasure" grinned the other broadly in reply before another sharp sonido resounded, leading both females to lay their eyes on Ulquiorra who stood with both hands in his pockets.

"Hurry up" stated the Cuatro Espada sternly as he addressed the female Espada with a reprimanding eye "We have a delay to abide by."

"Ulquiorra-sama" whispered Orihime softly with wide stunned eyes, for she honestly hadn't been expecting to see him, before she jumped a little when those large green emotionless of his darted over to her "You seem...well?"

It took a moment for the black-haired male Espada to reply: "That isn't the issue as of now."

Looking away awkwardly, the human girl nodded hurriedly as she fumbled with her words: "No, of course not, no."

Staring at her awhile longer, Ulquiorra shifted his gaze away as he held out a hand to her: "Let us go."

"Yes, Ulquiorra-sama" murmured the orange-haired girl meekly as she took his hand without resistance and gripped onto him tightly as he and Avaricia sonido-ed away right after that.

Utterly flabbergasted by what had just transpired for them to fully react, Gin and Kisuke remained silent for a moment before the 12th Division's captain spoke up: "They're gone. So Inoue-san really is...I can't believe it. By the way, what were you going to say, Ichimaru-san?"

It took awhile for the silver-haired man to answer and he did, his words were rather vague: "I'm not sure I know what's goin' on that girl's head, but I sincerely hope that she isn't goin" to..."

"Going to what?"

Instead of replying, the 3rd Division's captain asked a very different question of his own: "Tell me, Urahara-san, how in love is she with that Kurosaki kid?"

"With Ichigo-kun?" blurted out Kisuke with sheer perplexity at the change of subject "I...uh...To be honest, she confided to Yoruichi, not me. But according to what I know, she loves him quite deeply."

"Deeply enough to die for him?" inquired the other near inaudibly, so quietly that the sandy blonde man almost missed his sentence.

"What? No, I don't think she'd... Well, now that you mention it, maybe. Where are you going with this train of thought, Ichimaru-san?"

"Nowhere really...I'm just genuinely hopin' she won't try to do somethin' she'll accidently botch up or eventually come to regret."

Within the barracks of the 4th Division:

Whilst the entire division was bustling with life and diligently hard-working healers, it was dead quiet in the dimmed room where she laid, save for the machine monitoring her vitals...

She had not woken since she had been brought here: she was dead to the world around her, but not to the one saturating her cataleptic mind, a reality that had occurred...that had scarred.

Like swatted flies, the Shinigami of the 12th and 2nd Divisions fell, one by one, to the ashen sands of the Hueco Mundo, greatly outnumbered and drastically whitewashed by the Espada.

It had taken a long time and nearly four captain-levelled shinigami to defeat the Vasto Lorde Primera Espada, Coyote Star, during the war within the fake Karakura Town...so two captains alone were no fair match at all...against ten Vasto Lorde Espada.

As most of the Espada took sadistic pleasure in slaughtering the small fry, Mayuri Kurotsuchi and his lieutenant battled against the Quinto and Octavo Espada, the latter who seemed set with a particular vendetta upon the 12th Division's captain, whilst Soifon and her own lieutenant found themselves facing the Septimo who had a ghastly move which allowed him to take control of the many deceased Shinigami soldiers, exploiting them as mindless puppets. A macabre feat indeed.

As Omaeda Marechiyo cut incessantly through the zombie-like army, a sudden sonido which gave birth to an imposing presence drew the away attention of the 2nd Division's captain.

Turning to look over her shoulder, Soifon laid her eyes on a rather youthful but still strongly intimidating Arrancar, standing straight, tall and proud whilst staring at her with cold dark, near emotionless and yet undeniably ruthless, blue eyes which contrasted with his tanned skin, which harboured a gothic two upon the right side of his neck.

Yoruichi's apprentice inwardly scoffed at that: a Segundo Espada...again? This was getting old. Oh well...

Straightening herself and facing off the other, Soifon held her weapon at the ready, waiting for the other to attack first...only he didn't move, merely remaining there staring, before he finally parted his lips to speak, letting a chillingly cold voice reach the captain's ears: "You're the captain of the 2nd Division? How unfortunate for you, Shinigami, to have to face me out of everyone..."

"Is that so?" inquired Soifon smoothly with a raised eyebrow, restraining herself from pointing out that he was the one who came over to her.

"Quite so" responded the Espada evenly before he pointed at her with eerie gracefulness "If I'm not wrong, you're name is Soifon."

It wasn't a question but she confirmed it anyway: "You're not: that is my name. Yours?"

"Luisenbarne" he uttered unemotionally with a hand to his chest and a little bow, making it look like he was a gentleman asking a lady for a ghastly macabre dance on the battlefield "Luisenbarne Veneno. The Segundo Espada."

"Huh...If I'm not mistaken, the Segundo Espada encountered during the war was also called Luisenbarne."

His lips quirked slightly with sheer vindictiveness: "He was. That Espada you've met and killed was my elder brother."

The 2nd Division's captain decided there and then, that this Espada's venomous smile was worse than when his face was filled with blankness. For it was a smile that promised undying pain.

She whimpered in her distress, her nails clawing at the white bed-sheets. No one heard.

He was untouchable. Nothing she did, forced herself to attempt beyond her actual capacities, allowed her to get near him, yet alone land a hit.

He, on the other hand, every time he attacked, always was dead on. And, despite having a collection of cracked ribs, a crushed larynx and a broken left arm, not to mention all the cuts and bruises, she still couldn't grasp the nature of his abilities. It was as she was battling a ghost and that his strikes themselves were invisible.

And she had been battling him for no longer than only fifteen minutes.

A blood-curdling scream abruptly echoed over the white sands, drawing Soifon's attention before she realized, much to her sheer surprise, that it was Nemu's.

The 12th Division's lieutenant wasn't that good with emotions and she never was particularly loud with anything, so if she screamed, it could only be terrible beyond words. And it was.

She screamed with a voice far too hoarse and grated to be heard. So no one heard.

It was at this very gory vicious sight that Nemu, forcefully restrained by the Quinto Espada, had screamed in her captain's steed, whilst she attempted to break free in a vain desperate hope of rushing to her captain's aid.

Pinned to the ground by broken shards from a destroyed blade, Mayuri's face, no longer black and white, but painted red instead with all the blood gurgling and spilling out from his mouth wide open, unable to scream for his vocal cords had been violently ripped out, whereas his entire being was twisting in agony, beneath the body that sat comfortably over his, the body of the Espada relishing in the delicious torture he was inflicting upon the captain.

The Octavo had dug his clawed fingers in deeper beyond the ribcage cracked upon within the torn torso, deeper on in through the gushing blood and nestled one of his intrusive hands comfortably between the lungs and liver, whilst the other leisurely traced the intestines' course.

After a moment, he withdrew and then lazily caught Mayuri's face between his blood drenched hands with uncharacteristic alarming gentleness and, nearing his face to the captain's, whispered against his red-dyed lips that he had warned him prior to this gruesome ordeal that he'd make him suffer.

He then closed the distance that separated them, pressing their lips together briefly before pulling back with a crazed elated expression...as he crushed Mayuri's skull.

The machine's readings spiked as her heartbeat went wild with terror. No one heard.

As soon as her sight had fallen on the grisly scene, Soifon had been far too shocked to react, only able to stare on with unreserved horror, unable to shy her wide eyes away. And the Segundo Espada took full advantage of that.

Charging straight over to her, he firmly gripped her slackened body and forcefully pinned her to the ground, causing a burst of white sand to fly around at the brutal impact of Soifon's body, another sickening crack ringing in the air.

It led the staggered captain to see stars as she vaguely noted that, this time, it was her head, which knocked against a rock hidden beneath the sands - probably going to give her a wicked concussion later on - whilst she remained far too stunned to manifest the unrelenting agony she was in. Not that she could have actually made a sound with a broken larynx anyway...

As she raised a shaky hand slowly going numb to reach for the spot on her head which was blossoming an even stronger throbbing sensation with every fleeting second, the Espada caught her wrist in a bruising grip, preventing her from doing so, before he leisurely drew it upwards until it was on the same level as his lips.

Soifon's blurred eyesight vaguely made out the Espada nearing his mouth to her wrist, before she abruptly felt a piercing feeling of sharp fangs breaking her skin.

And then an excruciating agony coursed through her entire being, setting her insides on fire and chilling her to the bone, as she parted her lips and let out a soundless scream.

She began to trash violently, knocking down the lamp at her bedside. And yet, no one heard.

Soifon couldn't move. Couldn't struggle. Couldn't blink. She could only feel and endure. And God was it painful.

It felt like there were drills at each of her temples, digging in further with dreadful slowness, whilst her whole self was burning, blistering, then turning to frigid ice and then crumbling, before being put back together and going through it all again and again. It was maddening.

A vague voice reached her, every word injuring further her brittle state, like salt to an open wound: "Unlike my brother, my poison doesn't rot away at your body... It disintegrates your sanity...Whenever I want it to."

Her vitals were now off the charts. And still, no one heard.

Gasping out as Veneno eventually released her from his venom induced trance, she noticed that she had shed tears. That hadn't happened in a long time. Then again, she never experienced anything like this.

Soifon faintly heard the Segundo Espada address his colleague: "She's all yours, Zommari-san. And while you're at it, make it painful. I was too lenient with her since this was her first time."

As the Septimo kneeled beside her and set a hand over her wide blown hazed eyes, the 2nd Division's captain could only think one thing as she fell into a different world of darkness: 'Lenient?'

And it was only when the shrill scream of utter agony manifested itself from the nightmarish memory, was she heard and moments after that, a group of young medics came rushing, seeking to stabilize her.

Having been informed on the hectic state the 2nd Division's captain was in, Isane hurriedly made her way to the room of the patient in question.

As she drew nearer, she heard rather distressing sounds so she quickened her pace, only to come to witness the last living healer being coldly slashed and then fall into a heap onto the floor along with the others, fresh blood staining the white walls.

"S...Soifon-taichou?! What are you d...?!" she cried out in horror only to have the rest of her sentence cut short when she found herself with a blade wedged through her throat, perforating it.

As her wide eyes gradually lowered to take in the damage, the tall lieutenant chocked on the blood filling her mouth when the 2nd Division's captain pulled back her zanpaktou slightly before instantly pushing it back in.

Two strikes: Soifon always needed two strikes, within one single same spot, in order for her shikai to take on full effect and thus let the poison infiltrate her victim's entire system.

Blood splattered all over Soifon's already red drenched body as she swiftly withdrew her weapon, before the tall silver-haired girl fell face first to the floor and began to convulse dreadfully as Suzemebashi's poison ate at her, her death coming on agonizingly slow.

And the last thing the 4th Division's lieutenant saw before fully passing away was a strange large black sun like symbol stretched above Soifon's vacant eyes, right upon the centre of her forehead.

Moments later, as Ulquiorra's little troupe - having been joined by Loly, Menoly and the incapacitated Rukia - walked by the 4th Division, a most gory sight was offered to them.

Countless bodies littered the grounds of the 4th Division's barracks, blood thickly coating the ground in its dark dye and in the air with its coppery scent.

Whilst she forcefully restrained herself from rushing to save lives, Orihime shied her eyes as a tremor ran through her body, whereas Rukia and Byakuya could only look on aghast, as they both sensed something that chilled them to their core: there was not a single soul left alive within that division.

Suddenly, a figure emerged from the shadows near them, revealing it be Soifon, her eyes vacant and her breath hard due to exertion. She had long abandoned her haori and her zanpaktou - which was already at the ready in shikai form - as well as the rest of her body, was dripping with blood.

Whilst Orihime wordlessly regarded her with a slight frown and both Kuchiki siblings gaped at her in complete shock, Ulquiorra calmly addressed her: "Are you still connected to the 7th, 3rd Horseman?"

When Soifon responded, her voice eerily flat and empty, coupled with that of a male's: "I still am."

Nodding once, the Cuatro Espada then gave out an order: "Then transmit this message to him: they can move."

After remaining unresponsive for a few moments, Soifon spoke up again: "It has been done. This is the response: we are in motion."

"Good. Now go do the rest of your part."

"Understood" the 2nd Division's captain acknowledged before shunpo-ing away instantly after that, leaving the two Kuchiki siblings utterly taken aback, staring at the spot she had been standing in only seconds ago.

"S...Soifon-taichou..." stuttered Rukia in disbelief "...is the third horseman? Soifon-taichou?!"

"Not willingly, but yes, and she'll serve as a distraction along with the others so we can work on our end unhindered" elucidated Ulquiorra impassively, with his large emotionleess green eyes upon her before they swiftly shifted over to the noble "Now then, Kuchiki Clan leader, take us to Aizen-sama."

Grey eyes burning with icy defiance as he spoke lowly through clenched teeth, Byakuya's response was instantaneous: "No."

The black-haired male Espada narrowed his eyes faintly before he took a menacing step towards the 6th Division's captain: "This isn't a request. Take us to Aizen-sama. Now."

"Do your worst. I do not fear you" declared the Kuchiki noble staunchly as he initiated a showdown of deadly glaring with the bat-like Espada, whilst straightening himself as far as his injuries and the hold upon him allowed it.

"Very well, I believe you" uttered Ulquiorra plainly, his eyes never once leaving the noble's as he addressed Orihime, whose expression hardened at his next words "Do it, woman."

With her gaze glued to the floor, the orange-haired girl extended a hand shining with an orange glow in the petite Kuchiki's direction before lowering it back to her side just as Rukia's breath hitched, dark indigo eyes flying open wide as a violent tremor seized her entire being as she struggled to take in air, but could no longer inhale or exhale.

"What...?" voiced the noble in bewildered shock, anxiety seeping blatantly into the Kuchiki's features at was occurring to Rukia before he began to thrash about, intent on breaking free "Unhand me! Inoue Orihime, what did you do?!"

"You have exactly one minute to comply with Ulquiorra-sama's demand before she dies" stated the human girl bleakly, her vacant grey eyes devoid of emotion trained on the aghast noble whilst the latter's sister crumbled into a heap on the ground, as the two Fracción had renounced their hold upon her now that no escape was feasible "Fifty-four seconds."

"Wha...?!"

"If I'm not wrong, she rejected the existence of your sister's lungs" explained the Cuatro Espada much to Byakuya's total horror, whilst Avaricia noisily licked her lips with sick enjoyment at the sight "As such, she is now unable to breathe."

"Forty-nine seconds."

Gradual horror and terror inwardly eating away at his self-control, the Kuchiki noble rashly attempted to seek out the human's sympathy: "Hold on, Inoue Orihime. You and Rukia are friends, aren't you? She certainly thinks of you such. Please...Don't do this. This isn't you."

"You know nothing about me" whispered Orihime in a choked voice as a brief flash of anger mixed with remorse lit up her eyes, before it was gone the next instant and she resumed the countdown "Forty-one seconds."

Byakuya fiercely renewed his struggles, pulling and thrashing, despite the pain of his wounds, until he heard that his sister had no less than a half a minute left to breathe: "Twenty-three seconds."

"N...Nii...sama..." chocked out Rukia inaudibly with widely blown bloodshot eyes, whilst she extended a shaky hand towards him, completely shattering the noble's resolve.

"Alright, I'll lead you there" gave in Byakuya urgently as the black-haired Espada ushered for the Noveno to release her hold upon the noble, which led the latter to hastily kneel beside his suffering sister and hold onto her quivering hand "Just...Just stop this."

As soon as the 6th Division's captain uttered those words, the human girl hurriedly undid her spell, returning to the petite Kuchiki her faculty to breathe, before the orange-haired girl turned her back on everyone and her shoulders began to shake hard, causing the Noveno Espada to stare at her with uncertainty: "Orihime-sama?"

"Let her be" ordered Ulquiorra firmly before he stooped down to the two shaken siblings' level and addressed the eldest of them "Now. Which way?"

000000000000000000000000000000000000

A multitude of sirens went off in the 12th Division's scientific department, sending the whole personal to quell the cacophony of warning alarms, storming about like a horde of busy bees.

"What the heck's going on?!" demanded Akon pressingly as he rushed forward to stand beside his colleagues near the control table.

"Our defences are being shut down!" responded one of them whilst taking in the readings he had just translated for the others.

"The gates have been opened with no official authorization!" stammered a panicked Rin as she fiddled with the control table's buttons in order to upload images of what was occurring.

"The Guard Jidanbo has been neutralized!" called out another member as she hurried from one post to another.

"We're being invaded...by this much Espada?!" deadpanned Hiyosu (4) with a slackened jaw as he stared in horror at the screens.

"Shit!" cursed out Akon in alarm before he dashed over to a microphone and switched it on "To the Gotei 13 and everyone else in the Seireitei: we are under attack! I repeat: we are under attack! The Espada have bypassed the gates and our guard is down! Inhabitants, go into hiding! Everyone else, in position! Defend yourselves with everything you've got! And very crucially, do not let them get anywhere near Muken!"

The warning resounded throughout the entire Seireitei, causing the residents to panic and run for cover whilst the Gotei members fell into formation after a fleeting moment of disbelieving shock and shuddering dread.

The call for the Gotei 13 to assemble brought forward Ukitake Jushiro, Kotsubaki Sentaro and Kotetsu Kiyone, Zaraki Kenpachi and Kusajishi Yachiru, Hisagi Shuuhei, Kuna Mashiro, Muguruma Kensei, Yadomaru Lisa, Ise Nanao, Kyoraku Shunsui, Outoribashi Roujuurou, Sarugaki Hiyori, Hirako Shinji, Kira Izuru, Shihoin Yoruichi, Sasakibe Chojiro, Aikawa Love, Hachigen and Ganryusai Yamamoto, all of them to stand between Muken and the fast approaching enemy, not giving anyone the time to ponder on any absences.

As everyone drew their weapons and shifted into battles stances, the old Captain Commander ushered a last word of advice: "Be ready everyone, to give everything you've got. They will not get to Muken, even if we have to die to stop them."

As heavy suffocating reiatsu reached their senses well before multiple sonido rang in the air, Kenpachi grinned excitedly: "They're here!"

True enough, no less than seconds later, the sky dimmed over the shinigami as their foes arrogantly chose to appear above them, leading the Gotei to glance upwards.

The count was...more than a dozen Arrancars, Espada included, all harbouring an incredibly impressive power in presence alone, meaning that a certain struggle was to lie ahead in order to expect defeating them.

Beside the beings from the Hueco Mundo Aizen had so effortlessly at his whim, there stood three other individuals: one cloaked entirely from head to toe, a young auburn-haired female dressed exclusively in black, with a familiar and yet barely recognizable reiatsu, and a youthful brown-haired male, astoundingly similar to the immortal in appearance, standing in the middle of the crowd thus seemingly leading it.

Smirking sinisterly, the man in question addressed the Gotei with a deep, clear voice: "No need to for greetings, shinigami, as we know each other so well."

Making an appearance beside the Captain Commander, for he had been briefed on Byakuya's out of the blue disappearance and was thus given management over the 6th Division until further notice, Ginrei's old, worn eyes went wide before blinking repeatedly: "Impossible..."

"There are lot of impossible things is this world" sneered Koga spitefully before gesturing to himself up and down with his hand to emphasize his words "But this, old man, isn't one of them..."

"Koga?!" called out the old Kuchiki in bewilderment, leading the other clan's members to have accompanied him to either startle in shock or glare in loathing at the person in question, whilst he stared flabbergasted at the other: the boy he had raised and had chose to betray him looked so different and yet so familiar...

Ginrei soon had an answer for that, as the brown-haired man sinisterly smirked down at him: "Aizen Koga, but yes, if you want."

"You're an Aizen?! Wasn't it just Sachi...?"

Narrowing his eyes, Koga drawled out a deadly tone: "Do me a favour and don't speak her name. You're undeserving to do so."

"What do you want, Koga?" inquired Yamamoto steadily whilst giving Ginrei the time to gather his wildly racing thoughts.

The Aizen laughed out scathingly at that: "Isn't obvious? To kill you. All of you. But first, if you'd be so kind as to free my son, I just might consider leniency."

"His son...?" repeated Shinji slowly before his jaw dropped significantly upon the thundering realization hitting him "No way in hell is he talkin' about Aizen Sosuke!"

"He is" mumbled the 27th Kuchiki Clan's leader almost inaudibly, earning a few widely aghast stares, notably from his clan's side.

"And why the fuck are we knowin' of this only now?" yelled out Yaten viciously, decorum gone and buried.

"Let's wonder about that later" voiced a stern, sombre looking captain from the 4th Division as she shunpo-ed beside them "Right now, we have a problem. We're greatly outnumbered."

"How so?" the old Captain Commander inquired as he glanced in her direction.

This was her answer: "The 4th Division's gone."

It took a moment for the others to wrap their minds what she had just said, before Izuru swallowed nervously: "What do you mean gone?"

"I mean it's no more" stressed out the healer captain, faintly slighted at having to point out the obvious before she sighed sadly "All the personal is dead and all our medical supplies destroyed."

"HOLY FUCKIN'...!" blurted out an appalled Hiyori before she just went on in various flavoured expletives, whilst everyone else was shocked into silence instead.

"There's still the 12th Division" pointed out Love optimistically all of a sudden, hopeful to subdue the others' rising anxieties.

"But without Kurotsuchi-taichou it isn't the same. They'll be far less efficient" argued the 4th Division's captain reasonably and everybody knew she was right.

"Meaning any losses on our side will be done for" muttered Tetsuzaemon under his breath "Since Unohana-taichou can't heal EVERYONE all on her own..."

"And what of Inoue Orihime?" suggested Sasakibe suddenly before recoiling when he received a couple of furious glares.

"You fuckin' threw the poor kid in jail" pointed out Kenpachi angrily through clenched teeth, still very bitter about the girl's lock-up "Why would she help you now, huh?"

"Because we're in a dilemma" stated the old Captain Commander tactlessly, more concerned with the situation at hand than any emotional hurt the human girl might be undergoing.

"Well, I voice my adamant refusal: you so are not dragging her into this" stated the Shihoin princess fervidly, golden eyes narrowed disapprovingly for emphasis.

"She's right" stated the Vizard lieutenant of the 8th Division as she readjusted her glasses "Besides, we have a bigger problem on our hands."

There's worse?!" exclaimed Shinji and Hiyori aloud in simultaneous alarm, whilst staring at their friend with wide eyes.

"Since when is Aizen not a problem? It's hard enough restraining that monster where he is; once out of Muken and the seal broken, his powers will be amplified once more and...he'll be unstoppable all over again..." whispered lowly Lisa with a frown, sweat forming upon her brow.

"And we cannot allow ourselves to seek the Substitute Shinigami's aid or it will indisputably induce his death this time" voiced Retsu quietly with lowered eyes, stating clearly what everyone was thinking.

"Not like we could have anyway: he still hasn't recovered his powers" hissed Kensei behind clenched teeth as he tightened his hold upon his zanpaktou.

"In short, we're all screwed" deadpanned Shinji in utter horror, his hazel eyes going wider.

"Very eloquent, Hirako, as usual" voiced Yamamoto reprovingly as he closed his eyes tiredly "You always had a very colourful vocabulary..."

"What else am I supposed to say then?!" grounded out the 5th Division's captain as he glared slightly at the elderly man beside him "Wanna hear me say 'we're fucked'?!"

"Hirako-taichou!" exclaimed Jushiro in dismay whilst Yamamoto and a few others sweat dropped at Shinji's words "Let's not lose our heads!"

"Seems we've already lost them..." muttered Shunsui in a whisper as he lowered his signature hat to hide the grim gleam within his dimmed eyes, drawing everyone's attention before his next words shocked them to the core with downright dread "We locked up the only one having full control over the seal."

Biting her lower lip, Yoruichi winced at their small yet drastic error: "Someone has to go get Kisuke now."

"Like we'd let you" laughed out Koga maliciously all of a sudden, before an abrupt snap of his fingers on his part and the Espada came raining down on them, blades drawn and at the ready...

In the confines of Muken:

With peacefully closed eyes, Aizen Sosuke smiled victoriously to himself when he distinctly heard sounds of scuffling and struggling occurring far outside his confinement cell whilst drawing closer with every cry of anguish, until, finally, the door to his prison flung open.

"Aizen-sama" bowed Ulquiorra respectfully once he had entered the room and moved close enough to his master, whilst the others accompanying him followed closely behind.

"Ulquiorra, Avaricia, Menoly, Loly. Good to see you again" acknowledged the brown-haired man pleasantly before he raised his eyebrows whilst sighing in what appeared to be faint disappointment "Though you certainly did take your time."

"Forgive us, Aizen-sama" apologized Menoly hastily as she and Loly brutally shoved Rukia forward "We came as fast as we could."

"I see" commented the immortal offhandedly before his eyes flitted over to the Kuchiki noble, barely able to stand whilst having his arms securely restrained behind his back by the Noveno Espada, before the brown-haired man smirked at the evident damage inflicted upon the captain and the obvious pain he was in.

"Hello, my dear Byakuya. Feeling well?" inquired Aizen politely with mock concern, his smirk widening when the young noble glared at him venomously "Still think that you'll keep my stay here eternal? Must be shattering for one's expectations to not live on... Ah, Orihime."

"Aizen-sama" greeted the orange-haired girl emptily with a forced smile before she quickly lowered her gaze when his eyes bored intensely into hers.

"Haven't you been a good girl lately? I'm dreadfully pleased and surprised to be honest. Who would have thought you had it in you?"

Although the human girl remained silent, she tilted her head forward in a bow as a response.

"Right then, princess, free Aizen-sama" ordered Loly fervently as she glowered in the orange-haired girl's direction.

When Orihime didn't react in the slightest, the black-haired female shouted out hotly: "Oi, didn't you hear me, bitch?!"

Steady grey eyes locking with boiling fuchsia ones, the orange-haired whispered serenely: "When Aizen-sama isn't around, I take orders from his Espada. If he is present, I take orders from him only."

"Well, I...uh" faltered Loly, totally taken aback by Orihime's attitude, before she eyed the immortal apologetically "Sorry, Aizen-sama."

"It's quite alright, Loly. Though, Orihime, you surprise me yet again" voiced Aizen with a raised eyebrow "Must I tell you to liberate me?"

Regarding the prisoner of Muken briefly before she lowered her eyes once again, this time reverently, Orihime spoke up earnestly: "Before I do free you, Aizen-sama, please promise me that you won't involve my friends in any of your plans to come."

"The nerve!" hissed out both Loly and Menoly furiously, their faces red, whilst Byakuya and Rukia wordlessly stared on at the orange-haired girl with incredulity due to her boldness.

Even the immortal seemed, amongst his apparent displeasure, to be slightly stunned: "Are you bargaining with me, Orihime?"

"Never, Aizen-sama" promised the girl openly with a shake of her head before she clasped her hands together as she pleaded "I merely wish for your word. My friends: leave them be, I'm begging you."

The immortal's eyes narrowed at that: "Remember that if I am here, it is partially because of your dearest Ichigo."

"Partially, Aizen-sama..." she pointed out astutely in Ichigo's staunch defence whilst keeping her former position "Any anger you should have would be more rightfully directed towards the ones who have restrained you. Against those who have slighted you. Don't you think so?"

"Indeed. Alright then" agreed Aizen finally both to her words and conditions, after a moment of consideration, before he gave out a firm warning "However, since you have hold over Ichigo's powers, don't give them back to him under any circumstances."

"You have my word, Aizen-sama" vowed Orihime in an unwavering tone of voice as she bowed her head low in gratitude.

"As you have mine" smirked the immortal in triumph before he widened his eyes scarcely as the human girl raised her eyes to meet his "Now play your part, my sweet princess."

As she moved forward to comply with his command, Byakuya launched a final near desperate attempt to reason her: "Inoue Orihime. Don't do this. It'll be the end of us all!"

"No...Not all" said the human girl quietly as she carefully set her hands upon the immortal's bound form before she corrected the noble's statement "Just you."

And Aizen's black bonds shattered to endless pieces...Byakuya's self-confidence gone along with them as he could only helplessly watch on, his ashen face painted with absolute horror.

As Aizen stood, leisurely taking his time, whilst brushing off at his clothes to rid himself of the dust, the 6th Division's captain whispered in shock: "What have you done?"

"What I had to" retorted Orihime defensively with a tremble in her voice before she wrapped herself in her arms and looked away.

The immortal continued to wordlessly rearrange himself before his dark brown eyes shot over to where Byakuya was, causing the latter to freeze at the look he received: it resembled one he had seen before. One where Aizen seemed to want to devour him.

Not a second later, he was standing right in front of the Kuchiki noble, staring down in those wide aghast grey eyes with unconcealed derisive amusement in his own calm brown ones.

Aizen deftly dragged his fingers over the exposed pale bruised skin of the noble's neck, adding pressure upon the purplish marks as he passed them in order to earn a faint wince from the other, and then, all of a sudden and without warning, the Kuchiki leader was robbed of his breath as the immortal encircled a stray piece of black leather binding around Byakuya's neck, pulling it tight against the noble's skin with both hands.

"Nii-sama!" cried out Rukia aloud in complete horror at the sight unfolding before her whilst she thrashed in vain against the two Fracción's unyielding hold.

Though the noble struggled to breathe, he forced himself not to panic, compelled himself not to lose composure before this sick demon that was awaiting for that very moment in question, so he could take pleasure in it, enjoy it.

Byakuya remarkably managed to resist for a few seconds, but when Aizen tightened the restriction even further, which resulted in the noble to choke out against his will, he began fighting and striving for air, all the while being immobilized and forced to face the immortal's sadistically euphoric expression.

Nearing his face to Byakuya's until their faces were mere inches apart, Aizen's relaxed warm breath touching the noble's lips slowly shifting to white, like a teasing taunt, as the immortal began speaking in dangerously low relished tones: "Well then, my dear Byakuya. Now that I am free from this place, I have the most exquisite vision to offer you. The destruction of this world you hold so dear. The death of so many you came to attach importance to. The existence you will endure at my hands. All before I get to witness the expression you'll make as you wallow in utter despair. And I anticipate it all to be simply...breathtaking."

Aizen finally relinquished his hold, allowing sweet air to fill the noble's aching lungs and while the young Kuchiki gasped and coughed, the immortal locked the leather binding around Byakuya's neck, its true purpose far more sinister than just to block out reiatsu to the noble given he already harboured one upon his wrist: it was as if Aizen now owned him and that alone was enough for a shiver to descend his spine and then his entire body to shudder with apprehension at the mere thought.

As the former prisoner of Muken took a few steps back to address Ulquiorra, the Kuchiki noble, still trying to regain his bearings, quietly shifted his focus onto Inoue Orihime...and was met with a rather interesting if not odd sight.

She was breathing hard, eyes narrowed in concentration, fixated upon the glowing Hogyoku orb embedded within the immortal's chest, whilst one of her hands, rigid at her side and hidden from everyone else's sight, shimmered and tingled faintly with the yellow orange glow of her ability.

Byakuya's eyes doubled in size as he realized Orihime's intentions but a fraction of a second before she undertook them...and then everything happened so fast, no one so it coming.

Dashing forwards, bypassing the Cuatro Espada, the human girl lashes her arm out, now fully charged and pulsating with her energy, aiming straight for the Hogyoku.

As Aizen, utterly taken aback, locked his wide flabbergasted eyes upon the orange-haired girl who set the palm of her hand upon his chest, he witnessed all the hatred and fear merged into her expression as she shouted out, loud and clear: "I REJECT!"

Power surged and flowed intensely around the cell in a blinding bright radiance, determined on carrying out Orihime's demand to the fullest of its capacity, causing everyone else present to close or shield their eyes...

Only...in the end...nothing happened.

As the light gradually died out and the human girl saw that absolutely nothing had changed, that she was still staring at the Hogyoku, still intact, still existing, Orihime's lips went dry with undeniable fear at her distinct failure: "What...?"

Chuckling mockingly with dark amusement, Aizen reached out for the girl's head, with unexpected yet extreme gentleness, and held it against his chest before he spoke to her with soft condescension: "I have to admit that, while I did foresee your betrayal, I hadn't expected to witness you attempting a feat like this. So...brazen and direct. After all, you were far less obvious at this than Gin ever was. You went through all this by diligent obedience to my every command - even to point of nearly everyone seeing you as a traitor - and by masking your true intentions with an unconditional fear towards me, all the while furtively planning to exploit a moment of weakness of my part. Truly impressive, dear princess."

Smirking cruelly as the poor girl shook awfully at his words, he lowered his lips to her ear as to whisper unkindly: "Unfortunately, should you have wanted this to work...you should have done it before freeing me."

"No..." choked out the orange-haired girl quietly as she bit her lip, still unable to fully grasp how what occurred just happened.

"Oh tut-tut, dear" soothed the immortal with mock compassion as he patted her head tenderly "You tried your hardest. And that is highly commendable."

"No..." sobbed Orihime softly as she slowly sank to her knees whilst trying her hardest not to completely break down and hyperventilate, despite really feeling the need to: everything she did, all she had forsaken was so she could ultimately eradicate the Hogyoku's accursed existence. With it gone, Aizen would have lost his immortality, and all the Espada would have reverted to being mere Arrancars of a mild level, giving an incredible advantage for the Shinigami, and, in the end, the Gotei 13 would have have emerged victorious sooner or later...without having to resort to relying on Ichigo like they usually did...

This...This wasn't supposed to happen...Because now that it did happen...

"But, sadly, my dear, betrayal always pays its price."

"No" uttered the orange-haired girl in total terror, knowing exactly what those words meant.

"Ulquiorra" called out Aizen in a chillingly calm voice whilst he smirked sadistically at the human's dismay "After this, take whoever you need and bring Kurosaki Ichigo and his family to me."

Orihime's shrill cry of anguish was heart-shattering, as it echoed eerily deep within Muken and whoever heard it, could detect the unreserved pain within it, instinctively comparing it to that of a wailing ghost: "NO!"

To be continued…

Aizen...IS FREE! Bwahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! (Coughs) Ok... The next chapter is going to be a battle of survival and many are going to lose their lives (on both sides). My question is: Do you have anyone in particular you want to see live? I may take them into consideration. Only I'm not asking this question again: if a character you like dies in the next chapters, don't come crying to me, asking me why I did that and accuse me of being a murderer or the like. I did ask for your opinion. And I don't mind hearing it: you don't need to make it complicated, just write something like 'I wanna see X live' or 'I don't mind if X dies'. So...Ready a box of tissues if you're sensitive 'cause next chapters are going to be pretty angst-y...or I'll try to make them that way: I may totally suck at it. Bye!

Next Chapter: Countdown to Chaos:

(1) Have you seen the Volturi of the Twilight Saga? The cloaks are somewhat like theirs, shading the upper part of their faces with the lower part being barely visible. Also their eyes are surrounded by shadow of the upper part but you can still make them out.

(2) Muramasa is Koga Kuchiki's zanpaktou in the filler series: it has the power to distort reality, create illusions and influence other zanpaktou's minds, causing their loyalty to their masters to waver thus becoming quite aggressive and even murderous towards them. It's the distorting reality and illusion part that made the zanpaktou's powers interesting and made me find a slight similarity to Kyoka Suigetsu's in a way.

(3) You know that explosive red kido that Renji keeps messing up? That's the one. I had to look it up in since I watched the entire series in French who literally translate the attack, so it gives something (blandly) as: 31st Destruction Technique, Red Cannonball. Terrible, I know.

(4) Hiyosu? He's that frog-like member of the 12th Division's scientific department. Personally, I only knew Mayuri, Nemu, Akon and Rin; knowing about Hiyosu was thanks to a conversation I had with a friend that literally stalks more than I do (it's almost as if he lives there). Note to self: I sure do have some strange friends...

A/N: The New Espada (even if not all of them were officially presented yet: this is so you'll know what to expect), who are all Vasto Lorde for reasons that will be explained later:

1st Espada (Solitude): Queda Solitario;

2nd Espada (Age/Time): Veneno Luisenbarne; Fracción (3): Escarlata, Fleur and Apatico;

3rd Espada (Sacrifice): Larco Pérdida;

4th Espada (Emptiness/Void/Nothingness): Ulquiorra Schiffer;

5th Espada (Despair): Nnoitra Jiruga; Fracción (1): Tesla;

6th Espada (Destruction): Youli; Fracción (1): Wonderweiss Margela;

7th Espada (Intoxication): Zommari LeRoux;

8th Espada (Madness): Szayel Apporo Grantz; Fracción (1): Neveromina (or Nemu Kurotsuchi);

9th Espada (Gluttony): Avaricia Ygula; Fracción (2): Loly and Menoly;

10th Espada (Rage): Furia.

Those in bold are OCs and as you may notice, I didn't bother much with giving all of them Fracción as none of my are the main concern of this fic: I simply inserted them to make to story move along easier for me.

In Spanish (which I know only through Google Translation): the names reflecting their aspects of death or abilities:

Queda Solitario: literally means 'Remain Alone';

Veneno: literally means 'Venom';

Pérdida: literally means 'Lost';

Avaricia Ygula: literally means 'Greed and Gluttony';

Furia: literally means 'Fury';

Also, so you can visualize the O.C Espada/Fracción/Arrancars:

Queda Solitario: looks like Agni, from Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler...only a lot more severe.

Veneno: looks like the vampire Lessa from the Manhwa of the same name.

Escarlata: looks like Fisheye, from Sailor Moon...well, the hairstyle's way more elaborate.

Fleur: looks more like an androgynous version of Matt, from Death Note...with freckles.

Apatico: looks like a very androgynous Itachi Uchiwa (with loosened hair), from Naruto.

Pérdida: looks like Basil Hawkins, from One Piece.

Youli: looks like Sai, from Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro.

Avaricia Ygula: looks like Shirayuki, from Snow White with Red Hair...a lot scarier though.

Furia: looks like Maho-Ja, from -Man...Just try to imagine her with hair.