The fog remained thick around them, giving them barely any visibility. The lack of sight and chilly weather made them all shudder nervously, the atmosphere not far off from a horror story. No one spoke, the sound of snow crunching under their feet the only thing they heard. There was no way to pinpoint where Aizen was as his Spirit Energy was so overwhelming it covered everything else.

Then, with no warning, the fog began to shift. As if pushed back by an unseen wind, the fog moved away, giving them their visibility back in moments. They all came to a stop, tense, knowing that no one in their group had done this. Nami was capable of doing so, but had let the fog stay in the hope they would not be spotted by their enemy. It seemed that hope was vain as the fog revealed the very person they had hoped to avoid direct confrontation with.

If not for everything Toshiro had told them, they might have thought he was someone else, completely unassuming, his stance similar to someone trying not to be a threat. The light smile on his face almost seemed friendly. But the black coat did look like it belonged on a prisoner, a few restraints still on it, with only a tan shawl over the shoulders. His hair was slicked back and the glasses were gone.

"Well, I must admit I was not expecting so many visitors." Aizen's tone was calm, inviting. He sounded for all the world like he was expecting company over for tea. Knowing what they did, his calm demeanor only made them even more nervous. "Hitsugaya isn't usually one to bring company."

The friendly appearance he had was shattered when he opened his eyes from the kind expression he'd had. His eyes were cold, uncaring, and malicious. They were beneath him. Remembering a similar feeling on the puppet version of Aizen when they fought the Chaos user, Nami realized it had not gotten anywhere close to the real thing. She wasn't just a flea in his eyes, she simply didn't exist. Others had a similar feeling wash over them. To someone with immortality, humans weren't worth his time.

"We're his friends, and we're going to help him stop you!" Luffy replied proudly, taking the belittling expression on the Soul Reaper as a challenge. His strong will did draw Aizen's attention, curious.

"Friends?" Aizen seemed amused by the word. "That's quite the dangerous position to be in with him. If I recall, he's been responsible for the death or grave injuries of several 'friends'."

"If I had a choice those moments never would have happened." Hitsugaya shot back with a scowl. "You were the direct cause of most of them."

"Yes, I suppose I did enjoy using Momo against you a little too much." Aizen had the audacity to chuckle as he said this. The chill in the air became bitter cold in response to Toshiro's rage.

"You're sick." Dextra spat, finding some of her courage despite the overwhelming power Aizen had, the screams of the Hogyoku still echoing in her mind.

The way the Soul Reaper looked at her made everyone nervous. Law stepped in front of her, daring the other to try anything, wondering what Aizen had noticed to look so amused and calculative. Thursday and Book huddled next to their sibling, wondering if the three of them should have stayed behind with little Daniel and the other pirates at the ships. Dextra could perhaps handle herself, but they didn't want to lose anyone else, and Aizen was strong.

"We've heard your pretty strong," Sanji paused to let out a breath of smoke from his cigarette, "but we've got you outnumbered."

"Oh? Is that what you think?" Aizen's smile seemed to increase a bit, not the slightest bit threatened by the cook.

After he spoke, there was an echoing roar through the fog. The pirates looked around, confused, not recognizing the noise.

"You found a way to bring Hollows with you?" Toshiro looked surprised. Unlike Heartless, Hollows weren't supposed to be able to move across worlds. Their home was Hueco Mundo, attached to the World of the Living the same as Soul Society.

"I only have one reason for coming here, I don't have time for marauders standing in my way." Aizen responded calmly as several large shadows approached through the fog.

"We're pirates!" Chopper shouted, morphing into his large 'human' form in an attempt to look bigger and stronger. His fur standing on end gave away his fear.

"So he brought in minions to deal with us." Law scowled as he looked around at the creatures approaching.

They stepped out of the mist, hissing and laughing, looking excited for a fight. The Hollows were all unique in shape, bodies black and muscular, their faces covered by bleached white masks of varying design, eyes bright yellow and a large hole through their body. They weren't terribly different from Heartless in how their aura felt, but the biggest difference they noticed right away was their intelligence. Heartless hunted blindly by instinct, but these Hollows all had calculative looks, thinking of the best way to take down their prey. They were even capable of speech by the sounds of their malicious laughter.

"As I understand it you have experience against the Heartless at this point." Aizen spoke up to the crowd of pirates. "Allow me to introduce you to the corrupted souls of my home world, poor souls never saved by the Soul Reapers and left to rot and consume other souls. I believe they will enjoy trying something new." He lifted his arms as if inviting the Hollows to enjoy a feast.

"I want the skeleton! His soul smells delicious!" A bull-like Hollow cried out, licking the teeth of his mask eagerly.

"I'm particular to the bright souls of children…" Hissed a large lizard-like Hollow on the other side, stalking towards the three Heart Pirate orphans. Bepo and Jean Bart stood menacingly in its way. Dextra had become hyper alert, a starting sign for her becoming her harpy self should the Hollows get too close.

As it was they had become completely surrounded. Hollows still lay hidden in the fog behind those approaching their group, eager for blood. To make matters worse, Heartless appeared from their shadows, like scavengers waiting for the bigger predators to leave them a free meal. In moments it was the group of pirates that had become vastly outnumbered.

"I will not be taken so lightly!" Brook pulled his sword from the sheath of his cane, skull set in a fighting expression as he took a fencing position. Following his lead, the others readied themselves for a fight.

The Hollows attacked.

"Aim to shatter their masks!" This was the only warning Toshiro could give before they had to focus on their fights.

With spine-chilling roars, the corrupted souls went for the kill, swarming the group. The pirates didn't hesitate to counter, using their own unique skills to fight off whatever creature came their way. Brook took the bull Hollow head on, practically dancing around the Hollow's charge with more grace than any matador. A few quick strikes proved even Hollows couldn't best these humans, even ones long dead themselves. If anything, Brook's spirit made his attacks more effective than his friends, and as if picking up on that the skeleton charged the next enemy with confidence. Helping him out, Nami and Usopp used their ranged abilities to support from the middle, Zeus returning once more to cover the field with bolts of lightning.

A lion Hollow along with a couple Heartless charged at Chopper, but the reindeer was prepared, shifting into Horn Point. Using his new enormous horns, Chopper went underground before slamming into his foe from beneath and knocking it back several feet. Startled, the Hollow took a little more care with his next charge, as did the other Hollows. Book, getting an idea, slid over next to the reindeer and offered some new bombs he'd made for Chopper to use, and as they teamed up they held off any charge with ease. Sanji and Zoro didn't bother staying with the group, taking the offense instead and tearing through the new enemies. They had a creepy appearance and aura, but being lower level Hollows they presented as much challenge as the Heartless did. Trickier, perhaps, but with the pair knowing what to aim for there was little the corrupted souls could do to defend themselves. Luffy as well, shifting into Gear Second quickly, was too fast for Hollows that couldn't use the Hollow version of Flash Step.

The Heart Pirates weren't about to fall behind either. They had taken to sparring with Toshiro and the Straw Hats when possible to prepare themselves for more attacks, and it had served them well. Bepo was briefly ignored by the Hollows, not realizing he was covered in white fur rather than a mask and momentarily mistaking him for one of them until he crushed one's mask beneath his fist. Thursday, Penguin, and Shachi worked together to take out each Hollow that approached. They tried to ignore Dextra… she had shifted into her harpy and was viciously tearing apart the mask of any Hollow that approached her and her family, not forgetting to take on the Heartless as well. Law wasn't happy, but she needed the strength of her harpy form in this fight, so with a scowl he kept an eye on her as she hovered near him like a guardian and focused on his own fights. With his ability, the Heartless were little threat, but the Hollows became a problem. They were spirits, a form his powers weren't familiar with yet, so he had to shift his tactics on the fly as he fought. He decided saving his energy and just using sword skills alone to cut through the masks was easier than trying to kill them in other ways.

Toshiro was about to step in and help them when a warning shot of Kido from Aizen stopped him in his tracks. Scowling, the Ice Nobody hesitated to attack. Fighting Aizen alone was not the best case scenario, but it looked like he had no choice, the Soul Reaper had made sure any allies he brought would be busy elsewhere. Perhaps it was for the better anyway; Aizen could fight all the Captains, Lieutenants, and other powerful Soul Reapers on his own on even ground, other than knowing nothing about this world and its people and the pirates not being under his illusions, there was little the humans could do that Soul Society hadn't already tried.

But it was those illusion powers that made him nervous. Even now he couldn't be sure what was real or not.

'Our best chance is just to fight.' Hyorinmaru assured his partner, rising from Toshiro's shadow and snarling at Aizen. The former Captain looked somewhat impressed by the menacing Heartless, almost… proud? It made Toshiro uncomfortable either way.

"Forever loyal to your master, even in the darkest of forms." Aizen spoke to the dragon. "If only that loyalty could be shifted…"

Hyorinmaru bared his teeth, furious at the mere suggestion of changing his loyalty to Aizen. The Soul Reaper only seemed amused by the reaction, expecting as much.

"For a spirit showing such loyalty, you put your master through quite a bit of grief when you didn't know who he was."

The words made a chill run up Toshiro's spine. It didn't take him long to understand what Aizen was getting at.

Kusaka.

With all the world traveling and fighting the darkness, trying to understand who he was, Toshiro had forgotten about his friend Kusaka. The only other soul to ever possess the same zanpaktou as someone else. For a brief time… there had been two of Hyorinmaru. It was such a rare possibility, such a bizarre anomaly, that the Central Forty-Six had deemed it unsafe and ordered the pair to fight to the death over who would be Hyorinmaru's true master.

He had been forced to kill a friend for Hyorinmaru. Twice. Kusaka had returned as an Arrancar still holding Hyorinmaru's power, fusing with it even, only to lose once more.

"I see you never had time to think about that, did you, Hitsugaya?" Aizen's smile had twisted into a sneer. "If you are indeed the true reincarnation of the Heavenly Guardian… why was dear Kusaka allowed the burden as well? Why did Hyorinmaru not choose him in the end? Or rather… why did he choose him at all?"

Toshiro took a step back, trying to put the pieces back together. With everything he had learned, the memories from the first guardian that he had seen, it didn't make sense why someone else would hold Hyorinmaru's powers. So why? Why did Kusaka obtain Hyorinmaru? Why did he have to die?

"If Hyorinmaru can be so bold as to choose two masters, what's to stop him from changing who that master is altogether?" Aizen continued, the sneer on his face growing as he watched Toshiro struggle to understand his partner's choices. "Perhaps you were not meant to be the Heavenly Guardian… or perhaps you're just not fit for the role."

Having heard quite enough, Hyorinmaru let off an angry roar and charged at Aizen, refusing to hear anymore nonsense about leaving his master. With a chuckle, the man vanished into the fog, the Heartless following after and leaving Toshiro on his own as the dense air converged back around him and the others, effectively separating them by sight. He could still hear them fighting all around, but he could see nothing but white.

'There are still a lot of questions I need answered… but I can't just stand here and let him confuse me!' Finding his resolve again, Toshiro spread his senses out to try and find Aizen, or at least Hyorinmaru. The issue of Kusaka still remained at the back of his mind, but he needed to keep his priorities straight.

He caught onto them. Turning that way, he Flash Stepped through the fog. Hyorinmaru had gone into the air, trying to clear up the fog somewhat with powerful wing beats. Aizen came into view, dodging Toshiro's first strike and jumping back. The other's sneer never faded, avoiding the icy blade with ease before vanishing back into the fog. Toshiro followed, trying not to lose track of him, summoning his Keyblade in time to block a Hollow coming at him from the side. Keeping back the teeth with the Keyblade made it easy to swing the sword around and destroy it before moving on.

Aizen came around behind him, a move Toshiro had not expected, fairly certain the other had been ahead in the fog. He still managed to block the strike, but the red flag was waving viciously. Was this really Aizen? Even if he had suspicions it wasn't, all of his senses would still tell him yes. He went for a counter, only able to trust his senses for now.

A Kido knocked him off his feet, landing harshly in the snow out of sight of the Soul Reaper. The cold hardly bothered him, but he had to take a moment to get his breath back. He could sense Hyorinmaru having to deal with a group of Hollows in the air, kept at a distance. Toshiro scowled at the tactic; so Aizen really was trying to keep him away from the others. How could he know which figure was truly Aizen? There was no doubt he was in an illusion, but he had no way of knowing the truth until it broke, and unfortunately knowing the illusion was there didn't get rid of it. His body would react to what he saw, heard and felt, not what he thought.

Hurrying to his feet, the Ice Nobody moved towards what he hoped were allies, before stopping short as Aizen stood in his way.

"Do you really think you can return to the light after what you've done?" The taller figure questioned, his smile still mocking Toshiro.

"No one said I had to be part of the light to do what needs to be done." Toshiro argued back, blade ready to attack.

"But do you think those of the light will accept you otherwise?"

Toshiro hesitated with this answer.

"All I need are my friends."

Aizen laughed menacingly and the Nobody tensed, waiting for some kind of attack.

"What friends?" He spread his arms out to the side before stepping back into the fog and disappearing again.

Frustrated, Toshiro attempted to follow, rushing through the snow to find his enemy and put an end to this farce. He was tired of being dragged around and mocked.

There were a few figures he spotted in the fog, none of them Aizen, and thankfully none were Hollow. Robin, Brook and Chopper looked a bit torn up, beginning to tire and weaken. They were using this break in the Hollows and Heartless to catch their breath.

"Is everyone okay?" He asked, looking to see if any of their injuries were serious. None of them seemed to be, but if they didn't have the energy to fight they would be in danger regardless.

"No thanks to you." Robin's tone was cold, startling him.

"Ah, I don't want to fight anymore creepy monsters!" Chopper looked like he might start crying, a mix of frustration and fear after fighting off the hordes. Brook said nothing, just kept watch for his companions.

"I'm sorry for bringing you into this… it should be over soon." Toshiro promised, though whatever end that was he couldn't say for sure. Their current attitudes were exactly what he had been afraid of.

"It's been one thing after another, there's no telling if you'll ever stop dragging in danger." The archeologist responded with disapproval. "My friends don't deserve this."

"I…" Unsure how to respond to the sudden hostility from the trio, Toshiro backed away, turning away to vanish back into the fog. What was with them? Robin had been the most supportive in helping him overcome his mental barriers, but now she seemed to have had enough, prioritizing her crew over the one who brought all this trouble to them.

'Was that even them?' He wondered to himself. It might have actually been them, but not their words, or maybe even other people entirely. Hollows playing around. That's why he felt like he had to move. At this point he couldn't trust anyone… but then how was he supposed to escape this nightmare? If he didn't know where the real Aizen was, how was he supposed to stop this?

Worse yet, what if it wasn't an illusion? He was running around trying to be cautious, but maybe he should have gone for the kill at first sight. Hyorinmaru had done so before getting distracted by Hollows, perhaps he had been able to see the truth the whole time. He remembered an old conversation about being able to overpower the Complete Hypnosis once his powers as the guardian matured, but had he reached that level yet? Was he actually immune to the illusions?

The more he tried to make sense of it and predict Aizen's plans the more confused he was. He stopped within the fog, still hearing the sounds of battle around him, his mind spinning with too many possibilities. He didn't know what to do… small wisps of darkness clung to his form, feeding on his rising panic, spurring on a feeling of powerlessness and despair that he couldn't do anything or risk hurting people who didn't deserve to be involved in this fight. The charm around his neck flickered with a dark cloud.

What was he supposed to do?

'What do I do!?' No one answered his thoughts of course, his hands releasing his weapons and moving up to his head, trying to calm the turmoil but failing. The same question repeated over and over with no answer in sight. Or rather, far too many answers to know which one was correct, if any of them even were.

"What am I supposed to do?" He spoke out loud this time, voice shaking, hoping someone, ANYONE, would have an answer.

"Toshiro!" A voice called out for him.

Something to focus on. Someone to help. Shoving aside the train wreck that was his thoughts, he hurried to the voice, spotting Dextra in her eagle form, injured and trying to fight off a crowd of Hollows, the fog mostly cleared here to reveal them all. She could not fight off so many at once, and her arms were injured, meaning she had no wings to fly away.

He acted almost reflexively, Flash Stepping to her side and returning his zanpaktou to hand. The Hollows all paused, looking irritated that their free meal had been stolen, but Toshiro gave them no chance to retaliate. He had to get rid of them all at once or Dextra would get hurt. The pressure in the air intensified and his form let off a glow as he released his Spiritual Pressure, utilizing it to his fullest to freeze the entire area around him along with the Hollows. Already covered in snow, the ground took easily to the freeze, the fog solidifying into a frost on the creature's bodies. With his most powerful move, taking direct control of the weather in the area, he had them all taken care of. It costed him, however, as without the boost of his Bankai this ability drained him quickly, his breath coming out in short breaths.

"That takes care of that… we better find the-"

His words were cut off as a sharp pain went through his side. Stumbling forward, red staining the white snow beneath him, he turned back to Dextra. Her expression was cold, dead even, her hands formed into talons now stained with his blood.

"Dextra?" Unable to believe what he was seeing, Toshiro backed away from her with shaky steps, eyes showing the hurt of betrayal. Had her harpy form taken over to kill what she saw as a threat?

"So that's what you see…" Aizen's words echoed sharply through the air.

Teal eyes widened as the world around him shattered.