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Chapter 8

=DA=

Part 3

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Las Noches

Hueco Mundo

Early in the afternoon almost everyone in Las Noches gathered within the huge open area within its walls. There were three distinct groups – my Shinigami, complete with Retsu and Tosen stood to the right, with the Espada, distinct with their little cliques took center stage. A horde of assorted Arrancar milled around in a mob to the left, corralled by the Nuevo Espada, those who could simply not compare with my current generals power wise.

They all looked at me as I made my appearance, my loyal Lieutenant Hinamori at my side. What a pair we made – I wore the white Espada like uniform Aizen tended to use when in Hueco Mundo, though I had my Captain's Haori over it. As far as I knew right now, no one had bothered to kick me out of Gotei 13, much less strip my rank, though I had no doubt that would change sooner rather than later. In contrast, Momo stood proudly in her Shinigami attire.

Any expression someone could think of, and some that would be impossible on regular humans thanks to masks and Hollow holes, greeted our appearance. People were anxious, afraid, angry, a few even looked star struck at seeing me in person, and anything in between.

"My fellow Shinigami and Arrancar, I'm glad you deigned to be here today and gave me the opportunity to tell you the whole truth!" I declared proudly.

The crowd shuffled, their mutters and grows carried all over Las Noches. I've spent hours with Kyoka crafting a plausible sounding line of bullshit that while unlikely to make everyone happy, might just keep them aligned with me. Well, most of them anyway, if for different reasons. No matter what I said, my power demonstration last night would be as vital to keeping the Hollows in line, if not more. Words were wind, power and actions, in that order, mattered most as far as the great majority of the Arrancar were concerned. Yet, they weren't going to like what I was about to tell them.

"I'll put the rumors spreading around like wildfire. You my dear Arrancar, aren't the first time I've experimented with granting people both Shinigami and Hollow powers. I did it first over a century ago under the direction of Central 46, Soul Society's government. Said experiments weren't conducted upon Hollows but on Shinigami, without their consent. The purpose was obvious – to make them at least an order of magnitude more dangerous combatants by breaking the plateau one might reach when they've mastered all Shinigami arts."

A lot of grumbling came from my Shinigami, even if they already knew the cliff notes version. The Hollows? Most of them were either amused that we Shinigami would seek to become more like them in order to gain power, though some were outraged, even if they were the other side of the same coin. Hypocrites, the whole lot of the, though I wasn't one to speak on that front.

"That experiment was partially successful – said Shinigami did gain an Inner Hollow, however they couldn't control it at the time. That entity would take control manifest a Hollow mask over the Shinigami's faces, giving them access to Hollow powers and they would go on a rampage. Needless to say, Central 46 saw the lack of control as liability that simply wouldn't do. Some members of our government declared the newly created hybrids abominations that could not be allowed to darken Soul Society's step and ordered the experiment and its participants terminated. Needless to say, I wasn't about to let myself removed as loose end and it took a lot of bribery and blackmail so I could keep my head. The Shinigami among you should know what happened next – a fall guy was needed and due to some unrelated issues, my contacts in Central 46 offered the Captain of Gotei 13's Research and Development Division, the Twelfth Squad as a convenient target, thus one Kisuke Urahara took the blame and was exiled for it."

I paused to let my audience digest what I told them and judge their reactions. The Shinigami weren't happy at all. More than a few looked outright mutinous, though I hoped that their ire was aimed at the now dead government. Generally, my Hollows were greatly amused by seeing Soul Society's dirty laundry on display.

"The obvious question here is why I was the one approached to conduct research in Hollowfication, instead of Twelfth Division, who in their brief existence at the time had proved they would follow all lawful orders. Well, the answer is simple, my orders were off the official record. Understandably, Gotei 13, Soul Society's military force would have had qualms with having their members be experimented on, turning them into a hybrid with the enemy. Them being the military, they were well placed to do something about it if the experiments ever became public and the responsible parties weren't appropriately punished. That's especially important, because the possibility that I didn't keep my mouth shut and fall on my sword as a good little soldier and instead when forced into the spotlight, I told the truth – that all I've done, all my crimes, were committed under orders by Central 46. Why, such a revelation could prompt Gotei 13 to look very close at our government and perhaps replace it, which simply wouldn't do as far as Central 46 was concerned." I smiled coldly at that.

Tosen and Unohana had looks of dawning realization on their faces. While they didn't necessary buy my version of events at a face value, it at was at least plausible given their history with our government.

"That's where you, my Arrancar, come in. While Central 46 deemed Hollowfied Shinigami abominations unworthy of keeping them safe, they had no such qualms in ordered the experiments expanded and conducted upon Hollows in order to create a contingency in case Gotei 13 ever turned upon them. I suspect that this isn't the only such contingency they had prepared over their long existence. That's how you originally came to be – as a weapon meant to strike at Gotei 13 if it ever got rogue or Central 46 had to remove and replace its military. Naturally, they had no intention for you to be said replacement, you were meant to be mind-fucked to obey orders and be disposable weapons to be discarded once you fulfilled your purpose. That's where I finally drew the line, instead much earlier to my chagrin. You aren't compelled to obey my every directive, neither those of Central 46."

This part of the story earned me many disgruntled glared from the Hollow gallery. Neither were my Shinigami particularly pleased with me.

"The reason why the great majority of you obey me and will continue to obey me, is simple. No matter how much more powerful turning you all into hybrids with full control of your faculties and both Shinigami and Hollow powers, made you, my Arrancar, I am still the strongest, the scariest being in Hueco Mundo as my Espada can attest." With those words, I turned my attention to my Shinigami. "As I told you back in Soul Society, once you've learned the whole truth, those of you who wish it will be free to return. I won't coerce even a single one of you to follow me in a path that I myself was forced to follow. If you believe that you can still serve Central 46 in its next iteration, knowing very well that while the faces will change, the organization won't, then I wish you the best of fortune. If you want to follow a different path, one that we'll forge together for ourselves, then remain by my side. I am still loyal to the core tenets of Gotei 13. The balance must be maintained or we all will die as the three dimensions, the living world, Hueco Mundo and Soul Society crash into each other and obliterate themselves."

I went on, speaking about more recent events, the Ryoka invasion, of how elements within Soul Society destroyed Central 46's compound and the Central Archives, thus tying up lose ends and leaving me as the only threat that could expose the previous government's actions that made Gotei 13 suffer. I explained in detail that if I had consented to being arrested, I didn't believe I would live long enough in Gotei 13's custody for Yamamoto to conclude his investigation, thus casting as much of a blame and shadow upon the Noble Clans who formed and ran the government. It was they who were my enemies in Soul Society, not our comrades in Gotei 13.

It was a long damn speech and I was sure that the only reason people listened as attentively as they did was Aizen's natural charisma. My audience was disturbed, angry and appalled, yet they kept on hanging upon my every word.

=DA=

Part 4

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Las Noches

Hueco Mundo

I was among the people most surprised that the meeting happened without outright bloodshed. Nevertheless, it was close and many of the Shinigami and Arrancar were royally pissed off, not necessary for different reasons as the crowd began to disperse. Predictably, the Shinigami left in a single large group and headed straight to their part of Las Noches, taking no unnecessary risks. The Hollows on the other hand were already bickering and it took some descriptive threats and pulses of Reiatsu to get them to disperse without blood and torn off appendages flying around.

Only after the Shinigami made it safely back, Retsu came to speak with me.

"Sosuke, that wasn't a half bad speech. It did serve its purpose if I'm any judge of character. I'm sure most of your people will stand by you now." Unohana said, all the while starring at me with a hungry smile. "I especially liked the way you have your Hollows firmly in hand." She licked her lips.

"That's the only way which really works with them." I stated the obvious. "Learning at the Academy that they're creatures of instincts and actually living with them are two different things. I've got better understanding on how their minds work than most."

"That's probably true." Retsu shrugged her shoulders. She had somehow restored her hair and once again had it in twin linked braids covering the scar in her chest. "While everything you said is plausible, especially to someone who is intimately familiar with how Central 46 really works, you still lack any shred of evidence to back your version of events. No matter if it was you or Urahara who arranged for those two attacks in Soul Society, the mere fact they happened is very convenient to you. I don't trust coincidences."

"Neither do I, however this is the situation we find ourselves in. You either judge me by my actions and take my words into account, or you don't. All I ask of you is to give me an opportunity to prove to you who I really am." I said and returned her hungry look. "Besides, I do look forward to facing you when we're both at our best, and not as an enemies across the field." Truth to be told, there was enough of the Sith Warrior I used to be left in my heart to make the thought of going all out against such a worthy and delicious opponent simply irresistible.

Retsu laughed merrily at that, a sound that made my heart skip a beat. This wasn't her bloodthirsty laugh, it was one of pure, almost childish joy.

"Aizen, I've got your science project properly secured in my lab. To come in to demonstrate your miracle as soon as you can!" Granz's voice echoed throughout Las Noches, utterly shattering the moment.

Unohana narrowed her eyes dangerously at me. "Do I dare ask what you're up to this time?" She demanded.

"Do come and join me. I did promise Granz a miracle if at all possible. If it works, it will be something memorable, and a proof that I'll be able to fix up some of my past mistakes. I do regret how some of my projects for Central 46 turned out."

"Some but not all?" Retsu looked intently at me.

I nodded, thinking about Yuriko, who was simply a delight for both obvious and not so obvious reasons. That said, her new pet was a bloody menace and I was glad it was stuck within my Inner World.

"Curious. Do you care to enlighten me?"

"It's a surprise. Not come on, we've got a lab to visit."

"Is it anything like the Twelfth?" Retsu inquired.

"More or less, just less crazy scientists. Granz does try to make up for it with enthusiasm." Knowing our R&D division, I doubted that we would run into anything that might be worse. As far as I knew, there were no Shinigami Granz was working on, just unfortunate Hollows.

"Do you really intent to go against the Noble Clans and the government when it reforms?" Retsu asked. "Doing so will place you on a collision course with Gotei 13."

"While I'm content to live and let live, even come to Gotei 13's aid if our friends manage to fuck up by the numbers again, I doubt that the next iteration of Central 46 will simply let me be. I'm a living affront to their authority and they won't know for certain what other secrets I might be able to expose. Our Nobles don't take lightly to a Clan-less nobody like me going against their wishes, no matter the personal power I wield. In fact my powers and skill are likely to make them double down. Then again, sanity might prevail for once."

"I didn't take you for such an optimist." Retsu chuckled throatily. "You're right, Central 46 doesn't take lightly to people trampling their authority. Having an army created as contingency to use against Gotei 13 sounds precisely like something they would do if they thought about it. The same goes for at least some of our Clans and I'm probably giving too much credits to the others by not lumping them all together."

We soon arrived at Granz's labs, still discussing the various failings of Central 46 and the Noble Clans whose members filled up its ranks. The research complex was chock full with equipment, from computer systems to large vats holding specimens who had the misfortune to end up in Granz's clutches, at least a few of them, because they displeased my previous self in one way or another.

A bunch of low level unfortunates ran around, trying to be inconspicuous – those were the sore bastards who drew the short straw to be my mad scientist's assistants.

"Aizen, this way! I've got him all nice and secure, waiting for you!" Granz appeared from a nearby room in his full glory – wearing a blood stained lab coat over his Espada uniform, complete with a smile that wouldn't be out of place on Kurotsuchi's face.

"The more things change, the more remain the same." Retsu concluded after looking around. "It strikes me that no matter if you were ordered or not to do your crimes in Soul Society, you aren't beyond authorizing questionable research yourself."

"I did fulfill my orders with little qualms at the time. I didn't regret I pursued the goals I did, though sometimes the results let a lot to be desired."

The Grand Fisher was in the next room, stuck into a thin transparent tube full with purple viscous liquid. The only thing he could move were apparently his eyes, which were terrified. There were five more similar tubes in the room, all attached to all kinds of equipment and contained partially cut apart Hollows, who were still very much alive. This was where Granz experimented with better understanding and attempting to enhance High Speed Regeneration.

"And what is the purpose of this?" Retsu demanded in a frosty tone.

"Medical research. As you know, many high level Hollows possess regeneration abilities."

"High Speed Regeneration for us Arrancar. I'm trying to perfect it – for most entities it takes a lot of Reiatsu to fuel it, not to mention often it isn't fast enough to be useful in combat." Granz began to happily explain. Really, it was just Tosen and me who gave him the time of day when he wanted to show off or just speak science. "If we can do it and then implant it in every Arrancar, well I think you're both bright enough to get the picture!"

"I can see the benefits. That said, your methods leave a lot to be desired." Retsu fixed Granz with a death stare, giving him a pause.

"Well, those fools already messed up trying to play lab assistants, so they deserve everything they get!"

"It's not exactly like we have many Hollows with the temperament to be scientists, or even lab assistants." I pointed out. "However, that's not why we're here. "Yuriko, are you up to doing your magic trick?"

"I'm ready and raring to go!" The Hogyoku exclaimed cheerfully.

I walked towards the tube, while molding my Spiritual Power and spiked it up as much as I could without releasing my Shikai. "Remember, Grand Fisher, this is for science," and ensuring that Ichigo would owe me a huge debt. Beside it was the decent thing to do and when that became a consideration in any way, shape or form, I was still trying to figure out.

I slammed my Reiatsu encased hand through the glass and put my palm on the Hollow's chest. His eyes did their best to pop out of his skull as he felt my power enter his body and the Yuriko began working her magic. I could feel the countless souls that made up the Grand Fisher as we began to browse through them, looking for an orange haired woman, whose very being was Masaki Kurosaki.

Spiritual Power rolled in waves around us, motes of blue energy dances in the air and I was sure my eyes glowed with the power I shared with Yuriko. There, as we sifted through the souls, one flowed blue, responding to our shared desires.

Masaki Kurosaki. I smiled and stretched our shared awareness until it enveloped the woman and we gently began to pull her out. At the same time the moths of power surrounding us began to condense into a single cloud, which in soon turned into liquid sphere. The condensed Reiatsu bubbled, stretched and began to reform into the building blocks of a body – from cells, bones and tissue, to organs, skin and finally, a long, orange hair, just a shade darker than Ichigo's.

Within moment's the naked body of one Masaki Kurosaki stood in front of us staring with empty eyes into eternity. Then we pulled out her soul from the Grand Fisher, who screamed bloody murder as we tore out a part of his very essence, before slumping unconscious in the cracked vat. We gently put Masaki's soul into her body and I could actually feel Yuriko exerting herself to properly bond them into one being. We had to dump a significant amount of my Reiatsu reserves to fuel the process yet with a flash of burning Reishi, Kurosaki gasped and her empty eyes slowly came alive.

"Welcome back, Masaki Kurosaki." I smiled gently at the woman, while Granz stared at us with his mouth hanging open and eyes shining with unholy light. Even Retsu was left speechless by the miracle she just witnessed.

"Ichigo!" The woman gasped, voice raw with disuse. "Where's my son?!" Masaki looked wildly around, making an impression of a caged animal and stumbled as her feet refused to cooperate. I had to grab her right arm in order to hold her from collapsing to the cold floor.

"As far as I know, your son should be all right for the time being. The last I saw him, he was in Soul Society playing a knight in shining armour."

"What?!" Masaki exclaimed and stared at me in conclusion.

"Introductions and some explanations are in order, I think. However, first we should find you some clothes, Mrs Kurosaki."

At that Masaki looked down at herself, gasped and did her best to hide her assets. What could I say, I could see why Isshin Shiba decided to ditch Soul Society for her.