As Toshiro was slowly pulled into what would become a nightmare, the others remained unaffected, unaware the spell had even been cast before the fight could even start, too distracted as they were by the approaching monsters they failed to notice the haze that overcame the expression of the small Soul Reaper in their group.

"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!" With a charge, a bull-like Hollow got between Brook and his crew mates, causing the musician to give a startled shriek and jump away. He brought his sword up quickly, however, though was upset to find he'd been cut off from his friends.

"I'm particular to the bright souls of children…" Utilizing the same tactic, a lizard type Hollow slithered between the Heart Pirate children and their crew. Dextra responded with a hiss of her own, dangerously close to switching into her harpy personality as Thursday brandished her knife at the creature. Bepo backed off the beast with quick martial arts, Law hurrying over to the children as more creatures made to separate all the pirates.

Nami reached for Toshiro, not wanting him to get separated from everyone once she realized their intent to do so, knowing it couldn't be good for him. He shifted just enough to avoid her grasp, looking around him in concern at the surrounding Hollows. She briefly caught his gaze.

He didn't see her.

"The hypnosis…" She muttered under her breath, realizing what had happened. The spell was already cast; he no longer knew what was reality or not.

She let out a shriek as a Hollow jumped towards her, releasing Zeus from her staff. The Hollow was intrigued by the thunder spirit, pouncing for it, but a strong strike of thunder knocked it away.

"Aim to shatter their masks!" Toshiro shouted. Trapped in an illusion as he was, the information was still helpful. Those not already striking at the head switched their targets to do so, knowing the Soul Reaper would best know how to kill monsters from his own world of origin.

With spine-chilling roars, the corrupted souls went for the kill, successfully separating everyone. 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. Nami managed to get to Usopp and they kept back to back, using their ranged techniques to fend off the creatures, Zeus over their heads, his energy kept up by the occasional cluster of thunder eggs.

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, finding himself cut off from the Hearts and pushed towards Chopper, got an idea and slid over next to the reindeer, offering 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 seem bothered at being cut off on their own, 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 be dissuaded either. Sparring with Toshiro and the Straw Hats when possible 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. Penguin and Shachi worked together to take out each Hollow that approached while attempting to return to their crew. Thursday had tried to calm Dextra… but 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, needing more of his sword skills for the Hollows, though he could temporarily confuse them with a personality swap transplant. His other abilities didn't seem to bother them besides Tact creating obstacles in their way.

Luffy turned to Aizen with a fierce scowl, the fog keeping back with all the fighting and Nami using her weather science to clear the air, allowing the man to be seen. He stood before Toshiro with a cruel sneer, making no move to attack the smaller figure, just watching. Toshiro seemed to react on his own, Hyorinmaru rising from his shadow in a protective stance. Aizen turned his attention to the dragon, knowing the Heartless would not be so easily dragged into the illusion. Worried for his friends, Luffy darted over just as Hyorinmaru snarled and pounced Aizen.

Toshiro continued to remain still, seeming to mentally fight with himself over something none of them could hear, and since only the dragon attacked Aizen had little trouble dodging away. Hollows leapt at the Heartless, forcing him up into the sky and away from his master so he couldn't snap him out of the spell. Not wanting to give the Reaper a chance to hurt Toshiro, Luffy launched a steaming punch.

Aizen did not bother to dodge this, simply holding his hand up to block. The impact felt like hitting Haki-imbued steel. Luffy pulled back his arm with a pained yelp whereas Aizen had barely twitched, reaching up to smooth his slightly disheveled hair with little concern to the pirate's presence.

"I applaud you humans for not crumbling under my presence alone." He spoke, the apathetic stare he gave Luffy only infuriating the rubber man even more. "The powers that all of you have are fascinating, and given more time I would enjoy studying them. However, I have other matters to attend to."

"Not until I kick your ass!" Luffy growled, arms turning black as he used Armament Haki.

Aizen simply chuckled, not giving the color change a second glance.

"Red Hawk!" His arm almost seemed to light ablaze as he sent another high speed punch. Aizen blocked again, frowning as the impact moved his arm back slightly. He should have been able to deflect it as easily as the first. Did this odd armor add that much power?

Curious as he was, Aizen didn't have time to play, taking a few slow steps back with a smile.

Just before Luffy could follow, his Observation Haki kicked in, allowing him to jump away from an almost fatal sword strike.

"Hey, what was that for?!" The pirate shouted at Toshiro once he looked to see who had tried to attack him, startled to see the Nobody looking his way so angrily. Something was off in his eyes, however, making Luffy tense. Toshiro was definitely not himself right now. What was it he had mentioned? Some kind of hypnosis? He hadn't understood at the time, but seeing the other attack him helped him realize why Toshiro had been so afraid of the ability. "Wake up dammit!"

"Oh it won't be so simple." Aizen chuckled from where he had moved away from them

Luffy dodged a second strike, jumping over Toshiro and trying once more to get to Aizen, a Hollow leaping out at Toshiro. Thankfully the Nobody had enough of himself to deal with it. Normally taking out the one with the ability cancelled it, so Luffy just figured he had to take this man out. Simple, right?

"Leave him alone!" The rubber man sent another fiery, Haki-imbued fist out. Aizen chose to dodge this time, his speed better than even Second Gear, his movements effortless.

"Would a pirate give up a treasure so willingly as it stands before them?" Aizen asked the other.

"He's a friend, not a treasure!"

"Treating him a living being is a mistake… he is only a key."

"You're wrong!" Furious, Luffy tried a barrage of attacks, hoping one would hit. Unfortunately, Aizen had little trouble deflecting any that came right at him, the high-speed rain of fists lacking in their earlier power and once more simple to block with a palm. The condescending smile remained.

Suddenly Aizen lifted his other hand. From it, a burst of blue fire launched at where Luffy hung in the air, startling him. The attack sent him flying back, right at Toshiro. The Nobody lifted his blade as if to defend a strike, and Luffy had to flip around and cover his arms in Haki to avoid getting hit by the long katana.

"Sorry!" He shouted to the other, though it became clear he was not heard, Toshiro moving to counter what he assumed was an enemy attack. Reacting on reflex, Luffy sent a swift kick to the gut, not hitting too hard but enough to push the other away again.

He turned back to Aizen to start their duel again, but the Reaper was out of sight, tired of playing with him. Yelling angrily, Luffy rushed off to fight off Hollows trying to pin down his crew.

Sanji finished off a particularly annoying bat-like Hollow just as Toshiro ran up to him, pulling to a stop with a suspicious look. The cook returned the look with one of confusion before noticing the haze in the other's eyes.

"You're not looking too good; this isn't that hypnosis you mentioned right?" Sanji asked, tensing when the other lifted his blade as if to fight.

"No one said I had to be part of the light to do what needs to be done." The Nobody spat.

"I'm going to take that as a yes, it is." Sanji scowled. He could only assume he was under the guise of an enemy in Toshiro's gaze, which meant he needed to be ready to defend himself. Like Luffy, he assumed the only way to stop the ability was to stop the user… so his first priority was to get around Toshiro and find Aizen.

"All I need are my friends." Toshiro answered to whatever he thought he was being told.

"Don't worry kid, we'll help you." Sanji smirked before using his powerful legs to jump over. Fortunately, Toshiro didn't chase, looking ahead with a scowl and running off again, leaving Sanji to head off to look for Aizen with Luffy.

Like in his vision, Toshiro did run into Robin, Chopper and Brook next. However, while starting to get worn out, they were in no way hostile as he approached. Robin even smiled, glad to see him safe, though it faded when she saw the look in his eyes.

"Is everyone okay?" He questioned, looking between them. She hoped for a moment he might have slipped out of the hypnosis.

"We're quite alright, but how about you?" She responded, offering a hand so as to include him in their small group, knowing they needed to stick together as much as possible with the Hollows trying to isolate them, especially one so vulnerable as Toshiro. He didn't accept it, however, flinching back as if she had said something hurtful. Not noticing this, being on watch, Chopper added on his own answer to the question.

"We've all been split up, but no one looks too hurt." He said, taking a quick check of everyone he could see, evaluating their state quickly. Hyorinmaru flew past, trying to get down to his master, but a flying Hollow knocked him away, continuing to swarm him in the air with its comrades.

"I'm sorry for bringing you into this… it should be over soon." Toshiro promised, though sounding a bit unsure, as if feeling pressured when they were just reaching out.

"Listen Toshiro, once we regroup, we'll do what we always do and help our friends, so just try to hold on." The archeologist promised him, though doubting he heard her as he began to back away.

"Wait, don't go, we need to stick together!" Brook called out as the Nobody turned and took off, vanishing in a flash with the quick movement he always used.

"It has to be that power he mentioned, he can't see the real us." Robin explained to the skeleton. "We need to hurry, before he's forced to do something that costs him the rest of his will. If he snaps, we may never get him back."

"We're close to Nami, Usopp and Jean Bart, that's a step closer!" Chopper reported, pointing over to the three he mentioned. As they spoke, Penguin and Shachi joined them with Book, as well as Franky and Jimbei. Zoro, Sanji, and Luffy were still out of sight, as were Law and his two girls.

"Let's hurry then, we need to come up with a plan." Robin said to them. Nodding, the two males hurried alongside her to the others.

The larger group welcomed them quickly, several keeping an eye on the ever lurking Hollows.

"I think Captain is planning to have Dextra help out Hyorinmaru." Penguin said to them, ducking as Usopp fended off Heartless coming from one direction with a wall of plants, giving them a little breathing room as they controlled where they would be attacked. "That is if she'll follow it over her drive to protect the crew. She's in her harpy state so she might even attack Hyorinmaru if we're not careful. It won't be easy."

"Zeus can lend a hand." Nami replied, turning to the thundercloud. Understanding, Zeus gave a swift nod and hovered up higher into the air, his protection not as necessary now that most of her crew was back by her side. Chopper and Brook fought off another set of Hollows and Heartless before turning back to their plan.

"If Hyorinmaru can keep his master occupied and safe, we can get to that jerk and take him down." Chopper stated, looking around with an angry scowl for their main enemy. They spotted him, watching casually from a safe distance, easily distracting the more troublesome monster trio of the Straw Hats from reaching him – unfortunately Zoro made that a little too easy, always managing to turn the wrong way and never catching sight of Aizen himself to move onto target. His gaze was focused on Toshiro, his expression pleased as the Nobody seemed to internally struggle with himself, no doubt realizing he was trapped and trying to get out of it, completely unaware as his enemy approached him with the casual manner of a friend.

Seeing Aizen so happy about it made them all bristle, a pack of wolves furious that one they now considered among their own was in distress. They started making their way towards Toshiro; even if he didn't know it was them, or if they were helping him or not, they would at least stand a better chance keeping him away from Aizen if they were nearby. Sanji and Luffy headed that way as well when they saw Aizen approaching. Zoro got lucky and managed to find himself heading their way as well. Law and Thursday rejoined their crew, Dextra up in the air tearing at the Hollow masks she could, at worst shredding them and therefore killing the Hollow, at the least distracting them long enough Hyorinmaru could finish the rest. She thankfully did not try to attack the dragon himself, her instincts still recognizing him as an ally after the long weeks together, remembering him placing himself on top of the hierarchy last they interacted.

Finally back to a full group, the pirates attempted a pincer, going around to either side of Aizen to hopefully keep him from escaping again. He did not even try, standing calmly in the snow and not even glancing at them, though clearly aware of them as he stopped approaching Toshiro.

"You better get rid of that hypnosis you put on him, gimp-suited creep." Sanji scowled fiercely, a warmth exuding from his form that started to melt the snow at his feet.

Aizen's smile twitched briefly into a frown at the insult, but his tone didn't give away any irritation, calm and unassuming as always.

"He told you about my power, did he?" He chuckled. "Well, it's not so simple as to just remove it. I can no longer control the visions without Kyoka Suigetsu, so everything he sees is a product of his own doubts and uncertainties. It will end when it reaches its finale, and even I don't know what that will be."

"Fine, then we'll make sure you don't hurt him until then!" Nami shifted the staff in her hand, Zeus rumbling above her ready to strike, coming back to her from above at her call. The thundercloud was not as sure as he seemed, a spirit sensing a much stronger spirit, but he would still try his best. Others readied their attacks.

"Hitsugaya has an unfortunate habit of bringing pain upon himself." Aizen replied with a light shrug, as if that forgave him of any responsibility for Toshiro's suffering.

"Just stay away from him."

"That is up to him in the end, isn't it," here Aizen raised his voice to be heard by the confused Nobody not too far away, muttering to himself, "Hitsugaya?"

As if responding to the call of a friend, Toshiro stiffened and hurried over, stopping right in front of Aizen. The pirates all tensed as he looked around at them as if THEY were the enemy, ignoring the one right in front of him to scowl angrily, his zanpaktou appearing in his hands. Aizen seemed to know what he was up to, his grin becoming wider as he lifted a hand and drew a symbol in the air, a red aura appearing around him.

"Toshiro, wait!" Robin called out, hoping to be heard before it was too late, feeling the pressure in the air intensify, seeing the glow around the Nobody's body as he used his power. Zoro was about to charge forward to at least hold off Toshiro's attack while Luffy and Sanji turned to focus on Aizen, but before they could shift from their spots…

"Bakudo Number Nine, Geki." Aizen said the name of the Kido for the first time. The more of the Kido you spoke aloud, the stronger it was, and until this point he had not needed them to be very strong.

The red aura around Aizen flashed, enveloping all the pirates around him, paralyzing them in place. Startled and angry shouts went up through the group, unable to get out of the bind fast enough. Toshiro was free to continue his attack.

The snow beneath their feet shifted, turning black and rising up their bodies quickly. The sharp cold helped further prevent any movement to escape the binds, and the fear that pervaded the darkness inside the ice made their minds go blank, having to focus on fighting it off first. The air bit into their skin as they felt the full force of Toshiro's ability overwhelming them, even causing Zeus to go small as he lost to the stronger weather power, diving back into Nami's staff. The Kido and blizzard together was too much, and they could only scowl as they become fully enveloped in darkness. Nami, closest to the Nobody, tried to reach out for him, to wake him up before it was too late, but she could not twitch a muscle, and like her friends she was buried under black ice.

Silence fell over the island. Two figures approached the grouping of icy statues with fear in their expression, shocked. The one who caused the freeze didn't seem to realize what he had done, his stance momentarily relaxing as if he had come out victorious. Aizen was the one truly sneering in victory… and another shadowy figure was approaching the unaware Nobody.

"That takes care of that… we better find the-" Whatever it was Toshiro attempted to say to whichever ally he thought was behind him was abruptly cut off. The shadowy figure had approached after passing Aizen harmlessly, clearly an ally, and had brought forth a strange weapon to his hand that he proceeded to use to dig into Toshiro's side from behind the smaller figure. It had to be a Keyblade with its odd shape, though unlike the simple Kingdom Key and Toshiro's unique Frozen Heavens, this one was built of twisted black metal, a bright gleaming blue eye at the teeth end, said teeth twisting into sharp, cruel spikes of blackened spikes, sharp enough to cut through the small Nobody despite being a weapon for blunt attacks. A demonic looking head of silver metal rested at the base of the cruel weapon, more black metal twisting around the handle. The keychain was a wrought iron design with another, smaller eye at its center.

The two figures who had run to help from the shores watched Toshiro turn around after the attack, his expression shocked but his eyes still unseeing to the truth, not even noticing as the elderly looking Keyblade Wielder walked back around to be behind him again, standing next to Aizen. Coby and Tebliel looked to Aizen and this new man in fear, recognizing these people as the absolute powers on this island, the ones who had the entire place smothered under their presence, further recognizing Aizen as the man who effortlessly took out their Marine warships with Kido.

"Dextra?" Toshiro spoke up, bringing their attention to him. He seemed to be under the impression that the pair in front of him was the eagle girl of the Heart Pirates even though she was still up in the air with Hyorinmaru. He backed away from them with a betrayed look.

They did not approach him to help, even as the snow turned red underneath him, for fear of being frozen in ice like the others.

Aizen let out a slight chuckle, understanding now why it had been so easy to fool the Nobody into approaching him.

"So that's what you see…" He said with a sneer.

The sound of shattering glass echoed in the air, and with it, the haze in Toshiro's eyes vanished. His eyes widened as the truth before him was revealed. Around him, the frozen images of those who had treated him kindly, doing what they could to help him, to save him, now trapped in black ice. In front of him, the frightened expressions of a Marine and a Human-Mink recognizing a monster before them. As he took in the damage around him, he fell to his knees, his body shaking.

"What have I done?" His voice sounded broken.

If things look really similar, yes, I basically copied back in a lot of the beginning for ease of writing, cause a good illusion always pulls from reality, this chapter is just to show what actually happened.