A Predator Among Us

by Demod20

Aaroniero Arruruerie, the Novena Espada is perhaps the most unique and intriguing member of the 10 best Arrancars in service to Sosuke Aizen. In a surprising turn, Aaroniero finds itself thrust into a very much different war than what was perceived in the events of Canon. How far will the Novena go to get what he wants and who will be left standing in the ashes of battle?

6. Wrath of the Hollow Queen

50 Years Ago, Las Noches' Throne Room

---

"What do you mean our ranks are becoming null?!" Rana Zolinder, the Primera of the Arrancar Army's Espada shouted towards the occupied stone throne. Her white sleeved arms tensed underneath the smooth silken fabric, with white dyed pauldrons affixed to each of her shoulders rising and falling with every inhalation after a hasty exhalation. Everything, as per most of the building Arrancar army's ranks, were designated in white hued uniforms, a color that never set well for Rana.

But choice in clothing design wasn't primarily on her mind at the moment.

"Did I stutter or are my words not meant to reach your ears?" Sōsuke Aizen, acting leader of the Arrancars in Hueco Mundo's redesigned palace. Draped in Captain's garments befitting his current racial status as a Shinigami, he sat on the throne not as a modest protector of souls but as a overseer of the dark opposite of his ilk. His dark brown locks and glasses gave him a beguilingly convincing kindness that was all but sucked out when his disposition or his tone shifted to the immediate left. Narrowing his hazel eyes through the light refracting lenses, he said stoically without care, "your positions as Espada is being changed up. Most of you will not remain in your designated ranks but serve as guards and subordinates for those who will replace you. Is there a problem with that, Rana Zolinder?"

"Why isn't there a problem with that idiotic command?!" Rana snarled out spitefully, taking a few steps forward to approach the throne of her superior. The only thing that kept her from moving totally forward was a strong hand, grasping her left shoulder that restricted her movement. Looking over her shoulder, she vehemently glared at one responsible, "let go of me!"

"Señora Primera, I do believe Señor Aizen has the right to do as he says," Dordoni Alessandro Del Socaccio, the Tres, said with a stern look on his face. Despite being glared at dead in the eyes by the one who held far greater power than himself, he didn't look the slightest intimidated. "we are his blades. If he befits us to being not strong enough to be called Espada then we should gracefully step aside-"

"Well look who lost his pride!" Rana spat, turning on her heels and wrenching his grip easily from her person. Reaching out to grasp him by his collar, she lifted him up to stare straight into her red eyes. Eyes that sought nothing but vengeance for her perceived act of betrayal. "I thought you of all people would try to fight this...this...this IDIOTIC notion that these fakes could replace us!"

"They are no more false in design than you or I, my Primera! The act of unmasking, whether by coincidence, providence or through will itself doesn't make a Hollow less a Hollow. The fact they are strong and we are lesser means just that. We don't belong at Señor Aizen's side unless we are strong enough to contend with them," Dordoni said matter-of-fact, not a iota intimidated by his ferocious leader.

A sudden punch to his right jaw sent the proud Arrancar reeling back onto his left shoulder, skidding a good few meters away along the smooth tiled floor. Wincing, Dordoni opened his eyes as he struggled up into a crouched posture. Wiping away some of the blood trickling from his jaw, he saw it wasn't Rana but another who took offense to what he said.

"Are my words too true for your ears to listen to, Señor Soto?" Dordoni asked upon returning to a standing stance.

Soto Muerte, the Segunda, simply glared at Dordoni further. His alabaster colored hood sewed into the fabric of his bodily covering cloak showed little more than his basic facial features. But what could be seen of his face was nothing short of pure contempt for his comrade. "This isn't a matter of who's in the right. From the beginning we Arrancar united under the banner of a Shinigami for hopes that we were given what was promised. When a promise is broken, that is when we abandon all preconception of pride and honor for the sake of a false ideal."

"As much as it pains me to say it, I believe he's right, Dordoni," A melodiously smooth voice spoke in a sultry tone from the rear of the ranks.

Dordoni looked over and gritted his teeth at whom spoke. The scantily clad Sverrie Alessi, the Sexta, strutted forward to stand near but not beside Rana and Soto. Her black hair braided over her shoulders flourished with every step her creamy hued legs took. Eyes colder than ice regarded the two rebellious speaking Arrancars before disdainfully staring back at Dordoni.

"We are Arrancars, not Shinigami. The pact we formed was out of a mutual desire to see the Gotei 13 crumble and bring upon a new era ruled by Hollows. By dissolving us of our stations, we are now out of this pact and it was handed to others not our own. This is more or less taking action against a traitor. It's simple, when you think about it, don't you agree?" Sverrie said factually, taking the time to prop the back of her left hand on her hip while cocking a smile at Rana, earning a spiteful hiss from her.

"As much as it pains me to agree on anything with you, this time I can do so with clear conscience," Rana said with a bitter tone.

"I knew you had a beautiful heart under that ugly exterior of yours," Sverrie teased with a fluttering wink.

"Do you want to die?!" Rana snarled hatefully, this time fully restrained by Soto with both arms.

"Even for someone not as beautiful as I, that is quite cute of you to act so angrily," Sverrie giggled with a grin.

"Are you guys out of your mind?!" Cirucci Sanderwicci, the Quinto, tried to urge a few others from approaching Rana's ranks. She looked desperate and pleading, as if knowing going against someone like Aizen was suicide with or without numbers. She was kept from further intervening by Gantenbainne Mosqueda, the Séptima, as he placed a hand on her shoulder and gravely shook her head at her shorter frame.

"The only ones out of their minds are the ones who are ready to die for a Shinigami without any form of glory," Said Santo La Futuro, the Diez, his large muscular form striding forward with a cape flowing over his shoulders. A golden chain held it up, as only a pair of white vambraces covered his forearms with the rest of his body exposed in all of its glory. Even his lower body had skin tight leggings, with bare feet tapping against the chilling tiles as he walked beside other rebellious Espada.

On Santo's right was the quiet Odios Choque, the Cuatro, whom had a tall wiry body shape. Metal rings lined along his digits, clanging and jingling with ever swaying motion his arms had over his bodysuit variant of his own uniform. Fair complexioned face was partially hidden by a wafting V shape of bangs, covering his nose and separating his two parted lips. Violet eyes stared ahead with determination that spoke more than any words he had to say.

On Santo's left was the provocatively grinning Sedosa Belleza, the Octava, who competed as one of the more attractive Arrancars of the Espada. With an exposed cleavage of similar girth to Rana's, a unique black spider tattoo starting from her sternum and working its way up and around her barely concealed mammaries was viewed. A dark lipped hood concealed her upper features, leaving only a pair of glowing white eyes to pierce the veil of darkness while black lips smiled decadently. Her own voluptuous frame was covered in a long boot, flank covering skirt and long armed gloves matching the victorian styled corset top wrapping around her torso.

"We are the strongest force in Hueco Mundo," Sedosa said openly, joining the rest of the conspirators to stand in front of Aizen, crossing her arms over her bosom, "not your replacements."

"Why bother this open declaration to your subordinates? Where are these replacements of ours?! This ill conceived plan of yours is going to be the end of your treachery, Aizen!" Rana snarled openly, feeling even more confident with over half the Espada on her side. With hand thumbing her cutlass free, she began unsheathe it, just as the others began to respectively with their own weapons of choice.

Sighing, Aizen closed his eyes and shook his head. He had been patient enough to see how many could remain loyal amidst Rana's childish tirade. Clearly he hadn't picked the most loyal of Arrancars, as he had seen only four remaining on the sidelines. Drawing his gaze over to a helmeted individual, the Novena Espada Aaroniero Arruruerie, he saw that he remained adamantly away from most of the individuals. Even more, he kept into the shadows of a single pillar, near the back of the throne room.

"Does he know what's to happen or is he simply cautious? What a curious specimen you are, Aaroniero," Aizen thought with a smile.

"What's so funny?!" Rana shouted indignantly with a wave of her sword.

"Nothing of your notice, I see," Aizen responded smoothly. Raising a single hand up, he snapped his fingers, his eyes became obscured by a glimmer of light, creating a menacing visage over his handsome face. What sounded was a cacophony of figures appearing, uttering a number of buzzing echoes detailing their Sonidos, "and if you want to know who your betters are, here they are."

All at once, Rana could see exactly who challenged her. A tall man with the jaw bone of a wolf slung around his neck with a hollow hole present on his upper chest. A white crowned, fur collared dark skinned man hunched beside him. And the third being a ram crowned female Arrancar, draped in a bodily clad uniform unique in its own way.

"These are the first three I'd endowed with Shinigamification that I've deemed the new class of Espada," Aizen introduced from on high, his smile ever-present with his visible success, "the man in front is my new Primera, Coyote Starrk. You may recognize the other to his left as Baraggan Louisenbairn, the former God King of Hueco Mundo. I've named him the new Segunda. The last of these is Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, whom I decided on the rank of Tres."

"Barragan!" Rana shouted outright, her eyes locking on distastefully to the haughty former King who presided over Las Noches. Seeing him in such a Shinigami form made her want to retch. What's more is that he settled for such a lofty yet secondary title. "I thought you had more pride than this! Where is your hatred for Shinigami?! Where is your sense of Hollowity?!"

"That era is gone, Zolinder," Barragan said gravely, crossing his arms over his chest in a presumptuous manner, "my kingdom is now in the hands of Arrancars, not Hollows. If I can regain that power by bending my knee even to the likes of Lord Aizen, then I shall do so. Self preservation is preferable, after all, than annihilation."

"Bastard!" Rana shrieked, her bared teeth visible as much as the glow in her eyes was. Her gathering Reiryoku vented an immense Reiatsu, one that shook the foundation of the hallowed hall that their deified leader sat within. It was enough to send particles of dust and pieces of the ceiling to rain down as crimson tendrils of light danced around the Primera's body. Raising her sword over her head, she leaped forward, aiming to cut down the old Arrancar in a single bow, "YOU'LL BE THE FIRST TO FALL!"

It was in the instant of her attack that she saw her attacker. She moved like a wraith, overtaking the space between her and Barragan like it was nothing. Her hand was on her sword's hilt, bangs covering her silver-grey eyes, already on the move to unsheathe her weapon. When the sensation of a pommel crashing into her sternum's 1 etched tattoo, an audible cracking sound following a eruption of blood from the Primera's chest was witnessed by all.

Her breath escaped her as her eyes widened incredulously, her body overwhelmed by the force of the Iaido style bludgeoning. The rest of her frame hit by the concussive wave the sword pommel had produced, sending her sprawling across the air. Pillar after pillar collapsed as her red haired body shattered the support columns as if they were plaster. By the time she felt the wall halt her bodily retreat, her world was already descending into darkness.

Blood oozing out of the mouth, she could barely crane her head up to witness tragedy occur before her dizzying vision. Santo cried out a retaliatory shout of bloody vengeance, as he and Odios rushed to attack Nelliel. The two would find their chests impaled by two thin beams of light, created by Starrk's eyes, killing them both with a mere glance. As their bodies fell limply to the ground, Nelliel rushed forward and began to singlehandedly subdue the rest of the rebels, bringing them to their knees and beating them to a bloody pulp.

"D-Damn...you...N-Nelliel..." Rana coughed out, her vision vanishing just as suddenly as her consciousness.

---

Chapter 6 - Wrath of the Hollow Queen

---

The Present, Las Noches Interior

It had all been building up to this moment. The five decades of plotting vengeance against the Shinigami who threw her into darkness. Half a century boiling her anger to the breaking point. Fifty years awaiting the day her vindication of being the true power of Hueco Mundo. All that stood in her way was a crippled faction the Espada used to be and a handful of Shinigami.

So why couldn't she kill one of them?

Her eyes bore into the one that helped slay half of her Menos Grande minions; the very same one she punched a hole through. Had it all been a sleight of the hand? No, it was flesh she remembered ripping apart. It was a real sword that attempted to cut through her own skin. And it was real life escaping those eyes she saw go dim before leaving the corpse where it dropped.

"So what and who the Hell is she?!" Rana angrily though, her eyes boring into her head as she made casual dialogue with the Shinigami that sent her flying with a single gesture.

He was someone worth an ample amount of caution. Still, the way he and the others seemed to let their guard down from bringing down the Menos was something that caused her blood to feel like fire in her veins. Fists clenched, grip tightening around her weapon, a feral snarl working its way across her face with brows contorting into a lethal glare was all that it took for one of the senior Shinigami to notice her. Even as he vocalized to have their attention regained, she already had made up her mind. She's going to kill them all in a single swoop.

"Zolinder?" Sin queried out cautiously, turning to face the former Primera. He could see the Reiatsu sending off pulses of heavy air waves, quaking the refilled holes that the large bodies the Menos had dissolved into. What was to start as a blistering wind on a overcast day quickly became a torrential wind filled with bioenergy, blazing and roaring throughout the air as if it had a mind of its own. "calm down, Zolinder! We need to regroup and-!"

If Rana could hear the croc Arrancar, she didn't show anything resembling to care for his words. Instead, she responded with actions, starting with holding her cutlass up in a horizontally presenting fashion. A thin line of light glistened, projecting tongues of scarlet while the body of the sword reflected the energy that began culminating around the metal framework.

Pulling back the sword, Rana uttered in a guttural tone before swinging her blade in a perfect horizon cutting stroke, "Cero Espada!"

To the Shinigami, it looked like everything in their line of sight was cleaved in two. A hiltless blade of light zoomed forward, creating a thunderous roar of ruptured air in its wake as it cascaded quaking over the sandy ground. A blistering haze covered the scarlet overcast wind, glaring pointedly at the group of invaders, painting a crimson and white hue over their respective bodies.

It was an attack only measurable by Ichigo.

The Substitute narrowed his eyes, glaring at the impending virulent gleam of doom. He could count the millimeters it traveled forward like an ant crossing the earth, and thus was able to see every motion his allies made in an equally slow manner. Byakuya was already in the midst of moving his mouth, no doubt trying to cast another spell to defend them against the horde of Reishi like he had done earlier. Chōjirō held his Shikai in a dividing manner over his somber expressive face, violet tendrils of Reishi infused electricity undoubtedly gathering but looked like slowly moving arms of a puppet to the eyes of the young man. Momo practically shrank in horror at the wave of eviscerating energy, with Isane leaning over to protectively shield her while raising her sword to bear. Sentaro likewise did the same for Kiyone, while Nanao stood stoically out with hands outstretched, a small orb of Reishi pulsing in front of her palms with preparation. Chad's shield-formed arm raised in front of Rukia's form like a walled off shield; he could even see Nelliel spread her arms out in front of him, her body fully standing and keeping the wave of incoming energy from reaching him.

All of these actions that Ichigo took in a matter of instants proved one thing that Ichigo suspected: They didn't have enough time to stop it!

In a rush of hyper-speed only sounding like a sword cutting through grass, Ichigo's body moved under Nel's right arm and jettisoned forward. Like a streak of midnight carving through a scarlet dyed background, the Substitute reached the giant light blade. Coating his own Zanpakutō in a jetstream of crimson outlined dark flames of intense Reiatsu, two-handedly met the attack with a counterattack of his own. When the Reishi infused sword met the blaze of scarlet outlined white light, a mighty thoom of concussive force flattened the ground beneath his hovering soles, producing an earth lifting wave of pressure that struck both defenders and attackers alike.

"Ichigo?" Nelliel thought with a blink of surprise, finding herself taken aback by his sudden intervention. Looking over her shoulder, she returned her gaze at the growing horizon of dark reishi flames spreading across the blinding white scarlet blade. Seeing the back of the man who protected her so selflessly, she could only wonder one thing as his stance began to shift accordingly, "when did he move so fast?!"

"Getsuga," Ichigo began to utter, twisting his grip on his sword so its edge pointed down and his hilt was diagonally aligned to his upper right. With a magnanimously powerful pull, an abysmal crescent moon of severing energy left his blade, carrying the horizon directed Cero with it up into the sky. In the process it cut it in half, erasing the blinding light that scattered across everyone's vista of the desert, "Tenshō!"

But in countering his enemy's attack, he was left with the unexpected follow-up of an iron grip clamping over his left jaw and eye.

"You're in the way, Shinigami!" Rana said with a snarl, her palm briefly lighting up a scarlet hue before a deafening pop was sounded over Ichigo's head. Like a bullet from a gun, Ichigo violently jerked back in a pinwheeling motion, sailing over Nelliel's head and crashing into a dune. By the time it totally collapsed, a gust of wind that flowed through Ichigo's wake blew back Nel's hair just as Rana rushed past her to continue the assault.

A twist on Nel's left heel caused her body to spin swiftly to launch a Bala from a kick she aimed up at Rana's airborne frame. To her surprise, Rana halted her advancement to backhand the Bala away in an effortless display of grace and power. As the indigo cannon ball of Reishi barreled into the ground nearby, detonating with a voluminous upheaval of sand, Rana glared down at her nemesis.

"Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck. I haven't forgotten the score I have to settle with you," Rana growled, her free hand balling up as her sword raised to point directly at her, "I'll settle with killing you quickly. It's more than you deserve or what I wanted to do to you. But as I've said, I don't have time to screw around here!"

Kicking off the air with a exhale of Reishi behind her booted soles, Rana rushed down with sword in hand. As she swung down, her blade found its mark with another swinging up in a parrying rebound. Seeing the opposing weapon's gleam was momentarily surprising, but did little to cease the attack. Reaching around with her free hand to grapple Nel by her sword hand's wrist, she yanked her up hard enough to disorient her, allowing her to land a knee kick into her gut. Followed up by another point blank Bala, Nelliel's eyes widened and found her mouth choking out lost breath as her body careened back into the ground with a thunderous crash.

Raising her sword, a sphere of scarlet Reishi began to gather at its tip, thrumming with ominous pressure. As the Cero grew in volume, its mass easily became twice as large as Rana's own body. Once again painting the scenery in a damning gleam, the Arrancar twisted her wrist, shouting out loud vehemently, "DIE!"

"Hadō #31, Shakkahō!" A unanimous shout from the Lieutenants cried out, discharging a number of crimson pillars from around Nelliel's impact crater, having appeared beside her in a rapid display of Shunpo. With all five Hadōs firing at once, a singular pillar of energy crashed into the Cero, causing a volatile reaction of two aggressive masses of Reishi to occur. An elliptical flash of light later and the shockwave forced all the defenders to cover their eyes, shielding their faces from the blistering sand carried by the wind.

"One after another they keep interfering! Why can't you wait your turn to die after I'm done with this traitorous scum?!" Rana shouted angrily, waving the smoke away and looking more livid than ever.

"Any ally of Kurosaki's is our own," Nanao said decisively, looking up with a stoic glare at Rana as wafting steam carrying up from her crossed palms, "of course we'd intervene. We didn't come here for our health, after all."

"Why you-!"

Before she could continue speaking herself, a streak of black rushed by her, grappling her by the hair. Even as she howled with pain-filled rage, she felt herself thrown back where she had leaped from, causing her to bounce repeatedly across the sand. Clawing at the ground to slow her backward momentum, she briefly saw the Shinigami in question thrust towards her, sending an arrow of sword-shaped dark hued Reishi. It was all she could do to raise her sword to deflect the attack, causing it to expand upon contact, creating a concussive explosion of compressed Reiatsu.

"I've been watching you use that technique, the speedy Cero of yours," Ichigo began talking casually, using his free hand to crack the joints on his neck as his feet touched down a handful of meters in front of her. What was revealed was only a slight scuff mark across Ichigo's face, as if the damage had been nullified by his own Reiatsu despite being thrown back. Hazel eyes looked casually at Rana's burning orbs as he raised his sword purposefully at her direction, "it's like Byakuya said, my Getsuga Tenshō is too slow when I slash it. Even if I minimize the size and hasten its firing speed, it can still be blocked or evaded by an opponent of equal or greater caliber. But what about a thrust? I think that greatly increases the speed and physical power of a Getsuga Tenshō, don't you think?"

"You bastard!" Rana snarled out, crawling out of the crater she had been knocked into. With her free hand, she clutched at a grazing wound on her right shoulder, inflicted by the hyper compressed Getsuga that was barely dispelled by her own sword. With sword in hand, she bared her teeth at him, her aura blazing brightly around her enough to send more concussive pulses that shook the landscape around her. Raising her blade over her head, she shouted directively, "Vanguard! Kill them all! Wipe them off the face of Hueco Mundo! Do not let a single one of them escape! I'll ensure this one dies so make sure to do your part!"

"You can try," Ichigo said, levelling his sword towards Rana as a vibrant aura of pale cerulean Reiatsu discharged around his body. With eyes glowing a bright light blue, the Substitute declared openly, "but you're going to lose, Arrancar!"

---

Upon hearing the Arrancar's command, the Vanguard rushed forward and returned their attention to the collaboration of invaders. Still outnumbering them at a higher margin than them, they still felt confident about engaging them in combat. What was one or two Captains among six Lieutenants and a single human? That was their thoughts, anyways, when they hailed their numbers against the enemy.

The first one to take advantage of the command to attack was Duro.

"HAAAAA!" Duro cried out in a battle hearty shout, his armored carapace rolled up into a highly rotating sphere, crashing into the midst of Shinigami and allies alike. The impact was enough to send an omnidirectional wave of sand, forcing the defenders scatter away from his charge. But like a spinning top, the armadillo Arrancar spun across the sand, carving a trench wherever it went as it pursued its enemies.

"Tsugi no Mai, Hakuren!" Aaroniero shouted from a crouched posture, hastily firing a line of freezing snow in the path of which Duro was spinning towards. The pillar of snow roared forth, creating a trail of flash frozen sand in its wake as it rumbled across the air. Reaching its target, it found itself missing narrowly as the spinning sphere jumped unexpectedly in the air, lurching away from its former trail of momentum.

"That's strange," Aaroniero thought as the Rukia Calavera looked up agape at the spinning armored being, "those movements are too versatile for such a lumbersome being. Is some other force empowering him so he can change directions so suddenly?"

Her thoughts were cut short as a ring of sakura petals swarmed into the spinning Arrancar's trajectory. Looking to her left, she noticed the subtle nuances in Byakuya's sword wrist, keeping it at his side as he stared on at the aerially hovering target. Swinging his arm to the right caused the entire flowing ring of razors to increase their speed along the rotating and levitating creature, grinding into the thick armor hard enough to produce a shower of sparks as they cut grooves into the thick hide.

That was, until the being shot out like a bullet towards Byakuya himself.

Aaroniero had to maneuver the Calavera in order to keep her from being caught up in the sandy shockwave, noticing that the Captain had long since predicted the counterattack. Casting her gaze over the horizon she noticed that Angelle was still gesturing her arms in front of her. What intrigued her was that she didn't seem to be doing anything but move her arms while her comrade attacked.

"I wonder..."

As Aaroniero began to investigate the oddity, the other Shinigami continued to leap to and fro across the battlefield. Duro's rampage made it hard to even aim an attack, let alone brave a physical encounter. Cleaving through the top of a dune, a shower of sand cascaded over the heads of the gathered Lieutenants, having remained adamantly together so not to be picked off.

Coughing, Sentarō rubbed the sand out of his eyes as he looked at the various silhouettes lingering outside of their battlefield, "I don't get it. Why aren't the others attacking?"

"For one of two reasons," Nanao responded astutely, rubbing sand out of her glasses as she remained crouched and observing the flight pattern of the Arrancar, "they either have no obligation to attack us all at once or they are afraid of the two who are taking main stage."

"Wait, they're afraid of those two?!" Kiyone exclaimed incredulously, pointing to the hovering little girl Arrancar and the bouncing armored giant that darted to and fro, creating a series of explosions from every impact.

"Think about it. It took Captain Kuchiki to use a high level Kidō to repel that Bala of that girl's. And from what we've seen since we arrived, that big one is tough enough to power through Captain Class attacks. Perhaps the two are the only ones who work well together and the rest are more or less a band of thugs who are less than likely true soldiers in Aizen's army," Nanao deduced, shortly before she leaped upwards, cueing the other Lieutenants to follow her lead. Shortly before that Duro spun horizontally underneath their footing, blasting away what was left of the dune before arcing up to catch them in the middle of the air.

"Bakudo #45, Niji Shōheki!" Momo called out, swinging out both hands to pull apart the space in front of her, creating a ten meter by ten meter wall of vibrant colors. The transparent veil of reishi distended upon the pressure caused by Duro's charge, stretching it till it almost touched the airborne Shinigami Officers. Then with a loud twang, the wall sent the Arrancar flying backwards across the air.

"Nice save, Momo!" Sentarō called out with a fist pump.

Any sign of acknowledgement would be cut off as the spinning Arrancar seemed to jerk in the air and return back towards the wall. Any sign of the cause of such a change in trajectory and velocity remained unknown as it barreled towards the Kidō protected group twice as fast.

"He's coming back!" Kiyone pointed out with a look of alarm etched on her face as her free gloved hand pointed in emphasis.

"Down!" Nanao ordered.

As the four Shinigami Officers lunged down to avoid the rotating sphere of thick armor, Isane stood her ground, intending to bait the attacker. Expectantly, the armadillo Arrancar bull rushed towards her, tearing through the wind like a high powered cannon ball. Bare meters away the Lieutenant's body shimmered to the left, employing Shunpo to avoid the attack while slashing the air as she "stepped" aside from the attacker. With sword extended in front of her appearing form, misty vapor exuded from the metal as she spoke in a hallowed tone, "Fubuki Hitōchi!"

In accordance to her words, Duro's right flank seemed to indent and explode in a shower of ice. Such force was employed into the attack was enough to send him skidding down to the sandy ground, bouncing a few times till it jerked to a halt.

"Alright! You got him!" Kiyone called out with a laugh.

"I didn't," Isane reprimanded lightly, dropping down to their midst with a forlorn stare towards the distant enemy, "the damage I made is only superficial. I didn't cut into his flesh with that attack."

"Dammit! Is there no way we can beat this guy?!" Sentarō exclaimed with balled up fists.

"Perhaps," Nanao adjusted her glasses, her eyes peering at the Arrancar. Seeing it slowly pick up speed again while suspended in the air, it was clear that the Arrancar was using some unseen force to manipulate its large and dense body. Looking to the creature's left, she smiled as she saw Chōjirō approaching the entity, sword in hand and left hand lifted underneath his chin. "though I think Lieutenant Sasakibe has found his own method."

"Banish into the nether, ye of lost pride. Strangle yourself with knowing that you are at the mercy of the abyss. Blacken, Encroach, and Swallow! Begone, to oblivion where ye will find no slumber nor wakefulness from an eternal nightmare!" Chōjirō chanted, his left hand glowing a dark black flame while his forefingers bristled with a purple light. Just before the Arrancar could jettison across the air to renew his maddening string of attacks, Chōjirō impaled his glowing fingers into the sand before his feet. In that moment, he called out the name of the Kidō, "Bakudo #90, Jōshōkage Kakusui!"

In the passing moments the Arrancar spun across the air a trail of black flames crawled along the sandy soil. When violet light emanated in a triangular area around the swiftly rotating being, shadows itself seemed to be pulled up out of the golden grains. Grinding across each other, three masses of glittering darkness emboldened metal of compressed Reishi currents. With each section sliding up to meet at the top, six rings of purple light blistered out from the pyramid of twenty meters in height, with its considerable girth expanding across the ground that captured the Arrancar.

At that moment, any hint of noise or movement was silenced from within the Bakudo.

Extracting his fingers from the ground, Chōjirō turned his face to scowl in the direction Angelle held her hands towards, "Your partner is sealed away. You cannot manipulate him any longer."

"Manipulate?" Isane queried aloud.

"It's as I thought," Nanao commented, earning the looks from her fellow Shinigami Officers, "that girl was somehow using some form of force to puppeteer the bigger one. While some rules may be bent with the right kind of Reiryoku and Reiatsu empowering it, it's obvious the larger Arrancar couldn't move so dexterously or swiftly. With the additional fact that he couldn't use sight or spiritual sense, the only possible person that could steer him accordingly was the girl. Her maestro equivalent gestures were already a dead giveaway she was involved on some level."

"But how is she doing it? Can she manipulate anything at will or is there some form of trick to it?" Momo asked with furrowed brows of her own.

"Hadō #4, Byakurai!"

A distantly voiced Kidō was heard, just shortly before a flash of cerulean electricity crossed the air in a moment's notice. Having kept visual sight of the levitating Arrancar, no one but Isane and Kiyone noticed the steam trailing from Byakuya's extended left forefingers. What they all saw caused them to gape and widen their eyes with incredulous disbelief.

Without so much as casting a caring glance, the bolt of Kidō lightning seemed to snap and pop a good five meters before reaching its mark. This caused, consequently, for Angelle to look down at the Captain. Her eyes were twitching with annoyance, a look of clear frustration etched by the intermittent facial contortions of barely restrained anger kept back by her desire to kill them expeditiously.

"Congratulations, you actually managed to keep me from moving Duro. I literally have no way to move him with that barrier cutting him off from me," Angelle confessed, her eyes narrowing at them. Looking back at the Bakudo, a devious grin spread maniacally across her face. With her plan enacted in her mind, she reached out with both palms at the barrier enclosing her partner, she began to claw her digits and slowly pull them in either direction, "might as well make do with what I got!"

The audible sound of metallic groaning could be heard. As the rattling vibrated the air and desert floor near the conglomeration of defenders, Chōjirō in particular looked over at the large pyramid of dark steel with awe. Splitting apart at the seams, the mass of sealing Reishi lifted up into the air, revealing the irritated Duro from within on his haunches. Rising above the armadillo Arrancar was the three parts of the pyramid, spinning around like saws, creating a mock whirlwind as the force sent grains blistering amidst the Shinigami.

"She's using the Kidō as a weapon?!" Nanao uttered out with shock, taking a step back in emphasis of her alarm.

"Shit, this is bad!" Sentarō swore.

"What do we do?!" Kiyone asked fearfully.

"We need to regroup! This kind of enemy we need to beat altogether-!" Isane began to suggest.

That was, until the three Kidō saws were sent propelling in three directions.

One of the dark blades was sent in the direction of the Shinigami Officers, moving at a pace that made all of their movements seem sluggish and unresponsive. Another was sent towards Byakuya and Chōjirō, whirling in a manner that was noticed by the stoic Captain and Lieutenant. The last was sent towards the Rukia Calavera, aiming to cut her down at the same time with the others.

"Be cut to ribbons, Shinigami!" Angelle declared with a gleeful laugh, arms outstretched as she watched her enemies be plunged into their demise.

What happened next caused all but those acting in these split moments to be taken aback.

Rushing to appear in a dauntingly sized blur in front of the Shinigami Officers was Aaron-Chad. With the Brazo Derecha de Gigante upraised, the red and black shield arm blocked the incoming projectile. Impacting in a grinding manner, sparks followed by pressure waves billowed the Shinigami, causing the dark locks on the tall Hispanic to fly across his scalp along with his meager clothing. With a strained grunt, he pushed back against the spinning wall of dark hued Reishi, sending it spinning awry. Taking a left step forward, Aaron-Chad pulled back his right arm, discharging a wafting wave of Reiatsu from his shoulder before thrusting it forward with a powerful punch.

"El Directo!" Aaron-Chad ruptured the Kidō wall in a single attack, causing it to explode and sending the fragments to clatter to the ground like heated glass.

At the same instance appeared Nelliel, arriving just in front of Byakuya and Chōjirō. Freshly healed by her liquid secretion, she held up her sword in a defensive posture to catch the Kidō in the path of her blade's edge. With a magnanimous crash of a powerful force meeting a resilient object, sparks scattered in the shockwave of Reiatsu combating each other. Ultimately, Nelliel had only used one hand, rearing back her free hand into a compact sphere of condensed Reishi.

"HA!" Nel cried out as her fist struck the rotating triangle, releasing a cannonball of energy that tore through the spinning Kidō steel like it was stained glass.

The last place to have received aid was Aaron-Rukia in the form of an over the shoulder attack. Coming out of nowhere was the blade-shaped projectile of wafting burgundy-black tongues of Reishi, causing Aaron-Rukia's bangs and cloak to flourish with the high speed deployment of the technique. When it collided with the incoming whirling razor, it split the triangle in a seared half, causing the rest of the Kidō to clatter scatter in the wind in brittle fragments.

While grateful that she didn't have to lose her head or use a technique out of her deep proverbial pocket, Aaron-Rukia couldn't help but turn on her heel and shout back at her benefactor.

"You idiot! Do you realize how close to my head that was?! Are you helping or attacking me?!" Aaron-Rukia shouted with visible frustration at the distant Ichigo, whom she saw was parrying his blade with Rana at an even level.

"Sorry, I didn't think you could dodge it so I-whoa!" Ichigo began to say, finding himself narrowly avoiding a axe kick that split the sandy earth beside his feet. When Rana kicked off the earth to send an elbow jab his way, he reached out with his own forearm, causing a jettisoning wave of Reiatsu to produce a shockwave that distended the sand underneath their feet for dozens of meters. With sand flourishing around their locks as they locked their gazes at each other, Ichigo continued where he last spoke, "I did the best I could, Rukia! Give me a break!"

"Tch, idiot," Aaron-Rukia said with a sigh, smiling with resignation. "at least you kept this body safe, Substitute Shinigami. For that, I thank you."

Others were more grateful...

"H-He stopped it?!" Isane thought with dilation of the eyes, still pale at what she witnessed.

"A Level Ninety Kidō was stopped and shattered by...a human?" Nanao realized silently, unable to suppress a bead of sweat from nervously crawling down her scalp.

"W-Wow!" Sentarō uttered, his body falling onto his buttocks with his hands resting on the sand behind him, "I-I didn't even have time to react!"

"Th-Thank you," Momo meekly thanked Aaron-Chad, bowing her head gratefully while the others just stared on with jaws open, unable to produce words of their own.

Raising a hand to give a thumbs up, Aaron-Chad smiled over his shoulder at them, "Don't...mention it."

Others were even less grateful...

"Arrancar," Byakuya spoke evenly, earning a slight turn of Nel's head, "there was no need to assist us. We could have easily dodged that projectile."

"Then, why didn't you?" Nelliel asked pointedly, looking over her shoulder with a coy smile.

"Well..." Chōjirō began to say, but fell silent, finding himself looking uncomfortably to the side while Byakuya did likewise in an opposite direction.

"You couldn't dodge it, is what you mean," Nel chirped with a giggle. Turning away while tapping the flat of her Zanpakutō on her sword arm's shoulder, she chided in a lighthearted tone, "you should learn to appreciate help, Shinigami, whether it was asked for or not. You'd make friends easier that way, ya know?"

"Friends? With an Arrancar?" Byakuya thought with a pensive frown, his eyes staring at her ram-crowned turquoise covered head with disbelief. "ridiculous. How can you call yourself an ally of Ichigo Kurosaki, human and Shinigami, let alone a friend? What kind of creature are you?"

"Apologies, then," Chōjirō humbly bowed his head, earning a sidelong glare by Byakuya at him, "you have my sincerest thanks. It is hard for someone like myself to admit needing aid, if you can understand."

Hearing that caused Nelliel to smile and return her gaze at their airborne enemy. With her attention off them, the Captain took a chance to glare openly at his associate, earning a nervous look back at him.

"You're too quick to bow your head, Lieutenant," Byakuya rebuked in a low voice.

"She did assist us, didn't she?" Chōjirō asked quickly.

"Regardless of that, you need to keep more value of your pride, lest you become indebted unnecessarily to another," Byakuya huffed, turning his gaze back towards the enemy.

"I'll remember that, Captain," Chōjirō acknowledged with a sigh.

"SHINIGAMI!"

The sound of a shrill scream caused everyone to recoil with shock. The unsteady giggling mingled with snarls coming out of Angelle's mouth caused onlookers to stare incredulously at the disturbing cross of facial features panning over her visage. Swinging her hands up, she orchestrated similar movements visible to the more astute observers, causing a nearby Duro to roll back up into a ball.

"Hahahaha, she's pissed! You guys are all so dead!" Duro cackled within his rapidly spinning frame, the armored sphere quickly picking up speed to create a miniature vortex of swirling air currents. It was enough to drag the sand around his hide, creating an intimidating display of momentum and force to be employed.

"Which one should I kill first? Oh, I know!" Angelle squealed with deranged joy, her eyes narrowing to half mast, a murderous gleam escaping her orbs as she swung her arms to her left, "I'll kill the human who saved those Shinigami Officers!"

In the wake of a sonic boom, Duro was sent rampaging towards Aaron-Chad.

Standing firmly in place while the other Shinigami stepped back and recoiled at the unstoppable rotating sphere of dense dermal plating, Aaron-Chad's eyes narrowed behind the flowing bangs that whipped around his crown. Raising up his right arm, he opened the palm just a split instant before Duro struck their vicinity. What happened was nothing short of awesome to the Shinigami he defended.

Not only was Duro halted but his rotation ceased in the firm grasp his dark red-black hand held over the barely visible head. Hidden eyes opened with shock as Aaron-Chad's strength overpowered Angelle's control over his form, paralyzing him in the middle of the air. The grip over his skull, and by extension his whole body, was so painful it felt like knives were digging in between his joints.

"Time to take care of you for good," Aaron-Chad said with a violet glint of light emanating from his dark brown orbs. Rearing his right arm back, a jetstream of cerulean Reishi spewed back from the shoulder. Empowered by the magnified strength his Brazo Derecha de Gigante was giving his limb, he slammed the curled up Duro into the ground with a heave, pushing him deep into the sand with an uproar of parting grains. Rearing back his left arm, viscous liquid-turned-tissue crafted a new limb of pale white-red coloration. With particles of high pressurized Reishi forming over each digit, Aaron-Chad curled the hand into a fist, murmuring in a morbid manner, "Brazo Izquierda del Diablo, La Muerte!"

When his punch struck, the entire battlefield became deafened for what came next. The sand parted in the span of instants, created through the visible warp of the air as the fabric of what held solid matter together was ripped apart. The Shinigami Officers were sent sprawling head over heels from the mere proximity of the shockwave, causing the more experienced fighters to take flight and brace themselves from the blistering wind that struck them head-on with their arms. Upon the end of the attack's end, one could see the length of a football field indented in the shape of a skull, indented a good dozen meters inwards.

Extracting a blood-soaked fist from the center of the crater, Aaron-Chad saw nothing but dark ichor soaking the soil before his stained slacks and shirt. Not a piece of the durable hide of the feared Duro remained. Ripped apart from the pressure of Aaron-Chad's attack, the Arrancar was obliterated in every meaning of the word. Looking around at the extent of the technique's attack, the Hispanic murmured aloud, "Hm...I guess I overdid it."

"You think?! Who side are you on anyways?!" Sentarō shouted, climbing up from his haunches to point accusingly at his rescuer.

"Sorry," The young giant responded curtly.

"Don't apologize so quickly!" Sentarō exclaimed with frustration, "what kind of man are you?!"

"Give it a rest, Sentarō," Kiyone admonished with a slap to the fellow 3rd Seat's back, smiling wryly at him, "we were all taken by surprise. But it's one enemy down, so we have nothing to complain about, right?'

"I...guess you're right," Sentarō huffed, crossing his arms as his lips pinched together like that of a fish, "but don't get used to that happening. It's a rarity you're ever correct about something."

"You never change," Kiyone sighed with a facepalming gesture to herself.

"Incredible power," Nanao thought with a twitch as she helped Momo to her feet, with Isane staring with just as much bewilderment at the stalwart companion of Ichigo's, "to think that a human had so much power. It's no wonder this is the one who helped fell so many Menos Grande in a single attack. He's a monster of undeniable strength!"

Meanwhile, in the air, Nelliel couldn't help but sigh with relief.

"That's one headache gone," She replied with a smile.

"An attack of that scale seemed...excessive," Chōjirō commented offhandedly.

"One enemy down hardly seems like it was worth the effort," Byakuya sighed, looking over at the clumps of Arrancars lingering outside of the skull engraved battlefield, "the enemy's numbers still outweigh our own by a large margin. If a pair of Arrancars gave us this much trouble, the real elites will be all the more challenging to defeat."

"Not to mention the Espada waiting in horizon," Chōjirō grumbled lowly.

"All the more reason to finish this battle as quickly with as minimal effort. We need to conserve strength, after all, to combat our true enemies," Byakuya said with finality, gesturing his sword hilt up, causing the scattered petals making up his Zanpakutō to rise and circle around himself and Chōjirō, "let's try and ensure we remain as close together as possible. Our attacks sync well together and this will keep our use of Reiatsu down to a minimum."

"Agreed," Chōjirō remarked with a nod, raising up his electric imbued Shikai to visibly divide his face.

In the outskirts of La Muerte's impact site, was Ichigo and Rana, still battling in earnest. It was during a moment that Ichigo crossed blades with Rana that he took a moment to think on what happened mere moments ago.

"Chad's gotten so strong. He seems like a completely different person than the guy I used to help bail out," Ichigo thought as he himself dealt with Rana. They too had to deal with reverberating force of Aaron-Chad's attack. It was on such a scale that Ichigo almost felt the wind knocked out of him from bracing against it. Had it not been for the red haired Arrancar out for his blood, he'd take more stock in observing the detailed skull engraved across the sandy wastes, "glad you're alright!"

"Why do you look so relieved?" Rana asked with a growl, her vividly angry red gems clashing with Ichigo's hazel marbles.

"My friends are a lot stronger than you give them credit for. You guys don't stand a chance!" Ichigo spoke with a smile, pushing harshly against the cutlass of his enemy with his katana.

Only making her give a step, Rana harshly pushed back with a lean forward, smiling in a sneering fashion, "You fool! You're forgetting that Angelle's still on the battlefield. Because you are calm, that means their guards are down...making them good as dead!"

It was in this moment that each of them felt a powerful force hit them from over their heads. Nelliel and her two allies felt their eyes widen as their bodies crashed into the ground below, followed by Aaron-Chad and the Shinigami Officers fall face flat into the ground. As the conglomeration of allies struggled to rise up from their impact sites, they looked up at the livid Angelle, her eyes practically pins in a sea of white framed in red veins.

"Guys!" Ichigo shouted with alarm, his head veering over to see all of his friends in peril.

"Don't take your eyes off your enemy, dumbass!" Rana snarled as she reached around with a free hand, gripping on Ichigo's sword wrist. Pulling him forward she planted a knee kick into his gut, causing his eyes to widen and his mouth to be agape. With a Bala detonation at the base of her kneecap, she sent the Substitute hurdling away from the battlefield, crashing through a number of half risen sand dunes. Casting a last smirk at the allies of Ichigo, she charged with sword readied, eager to return to battling her avowed enemy.

"Taking your eyes off me will be your last mistake," Angelle growled, her outstretched claw formed hands tightening into fists, causing all of the downed Shinigami to writhe in place by invisible tendrils that squeezed them to a point where it'd feel excruciating, "just stand there and d-"

The Arrancar cut herself short when she felt something penetrate her Pesquisa from behind. Turning her head around, she saw a white blade cutting through the air, aiming straight for her neck. Bending her head down, her pigtails bobbed up, causing a few frays of hairs to be sliced off at the ends. Twirling in the air in a acrobatic manner, she clawed at the air with her fingertips as she returned attention to her enemy.

It was the one person she saw that wasn't among the ones she paid attention to. Through all of the mass of people communicating with each other, it was the one that was the quietest and most tactful that she forgot to consider. The mere sight of her made her forget her livid disposition, giving her a newfound interest in her newfound prey; that prey coming in the form of Aaron-Rukia.

"I can see through your trick, Angelle Cooney," Aaroniero spoke through the Calavera's lips, raising her sword in a challenging manner, "your arms won't touch me like they had for the others!"

As she engaged Angelle singlehandedly, the others were freed by the invisible tendrils of force. With all of them rising up to their feet, distant silhouettes marking the rest of the Vanguard began to slowly move in, drawing weapons and raising their Reiatsu to overlap the skull emblazoned landscape. Seeing this put them all on the defensive, but couldn't help but keep their attention on the two airborne women.

"Nice going, Rukia!" Kiyone shouted up with a smile.

"Kick her ass!" Sentarō concurred in his own yell.

"Focus, you two! Don't waste Rukia's chance she gave us," Nanao said firmly, raising her hands up in a defensive posture, her back already nudging against Isane and Momo's.

"There's so many," Momo whispered.

"Stay close," Isane insisted with a smile, looking over her shoulder as she nervously glanced to them all, "I'll try to heal your injuries when we get breathers. Just make sure we all stay together, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Kiyone and Sentarō agreed in sync.

Byakuya returned his blossom blades to circle around himself, just as Chōjirō rose back up in a dignified manner. With both of their weapons raised and ready to face the incoming horde of enemies, he couldn't help but glance up at where Rukia stood. A rare smile crossed over his face, disappearing as the first wave of enemies rushed to attack them head-on.

Beyond the battlefield, Rana rushed to catch Ichigo off guard, galloping across the ruptured dunes she sent him flying through. Surprisingly the trail went cold at a distended sandy crater, causing her to skid to a stop. Looking around with her red eyes, she snarled with frustration, her Pesquisa still muddied by the plethora of Reiatsus generated not but a kilometer away.

"Where did you hide, Shinigami bastard?!" Rana hissed under her breath, her cutlass in hand as her cape flapped behind along with her crimson locks.

In an instant, a black figure erupted from the sand to her right. Spiraling forth, she could tell it was the black edge of the Shinigami's Zanpakutō. Turning on her heel she swung her sword around, deflecting the sword, scattering the shower of sand it pulled up with it in a single thunderclap of colliding metal. What she didn't see, however, was the Shinigami himself.

It was during the deflection of said weapon that she heard another explosion of parting sand before a super-sped object. Before she could turn her head fully to the opposite direction a fist crashed into left jaw, carrying with it a vibrant plume of cerulean colored Reishi. Tasting copper with the freshly cut wound her teeth unintentionally made on the inside of her mouth, her entire body took flight with a pop of cracked air pressure, the Reiatsu released causing a pulse of wind to push the sand down a good three meters inwards.

As she pinwheeled across the air, Ichigo kept on the pursuit, his body becoming a whirlwind of momentum. Even as his enemy caught sight of the sword dangling in midair, still moving backwards from her parrying strike, she saw the boy's hand reach forward and grasp it back into his right hand. Pulled back, he swung it around in an unforgiving right-left downward arc, meeting a twirling return swing by the Arrancar. Discharging a bodily burst of Reiatsu, Rana reattained her upright posture, her body bristling with blistering currents as her Reiatsu crashed with the Shinigami's. With both of them holding their individual weapons with their right hands, eyes bored into each other with mutual dislikement.

"My friends are going to win, Arrancar," Ichigo growled, his hazel eyes glowing a bright blue as he pushed his ebony hued weapon against her white steeled sword, "and so will I!"

"We'll see about that, Shinigami!" Rana shouted back, her red eyes becoming an opaque scarlet as her hair rose up like a curtain of flames.

---

"My-My, they certainly are causing a racket," Szayel commented idly, his eyes glancing upon the sandy horizon. He could feel so many familiar, nostalgic signatures among foreign ones. He could place each of them as they were. Shinigami, human, and Arrancar. He only wish that he could watch closer, but that could put him at risk. No, he had far more entertaining things to do: choking the life out of his victims, for example.

"Let's see here...Dondochakka was it? I think I tore your thoracic vertebrae in five places. I think you almost made a musical sound after the fourth snap. Sorry for my rambling, but what I'm asking is," Szayel continued, leaning forward to the bloodied figure that lied in a heap before him, rasping heavily, "are you still conscious?"

"Ah...gul...nah," Dondochakka wheezed out.

"Hm, I think tearing your tongue out might have been a mistake. Now I can't understand what you're saying," Szayel frowned, tapping his chin as he held both Arrancar voodoo dolls in between his spare hand. Looking over at Pesche, whom gave nothing but a one-eyed scowl, was the only one truly defiant other than the Shinigami and Quincy he incapacitated. Using his right index finger, he flicked the side of the Pesche doll, causing Pesche's head to jerk to the left, "you're surprisingly quiet. I've only ripped apart your leg and arm muscles. Your bones and respiratory tract is still very much intact, so why aren't you speaking?"

"I've got...nothing...to say...to the likes...of you!" Pesche snarled in between heaves, his lungs laboring to bring oxygen in while under so much pain.

"What a boring thing to say, if not entirely expected of Nelliel's Fraccion," Szayel retorted in a dry tone, juggling the two dolls in between his fingers. "it pains me to admit it, but you were at least more capable than those other two. You destroyed my strongest of underlings and were able to make me lose my grip on their dolls. With all of this debris I don't think I can find it without dirtying my hands. What pests you two are to my plans. I wish Nnoitra killed you two rather than leave you both maskless and alive."

"W-What?!" Pesche uttered aloud with surprise, craning his neck up to look at Szayel with shock behind his faux mask.

"Oh, that's right. I wasn't supposed to talk about that. Silly me, it seems...what do humans say? The cat is out of the bag? Yes, I believe that's right," Szayel said with a snap of his finger, grinning maliciously down at Pesche, "I was the one who helped former Octava Nnoitra Gilga defeat former Tres Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck. It was probably one of my most unorthodox invention, being able to cast mist particles to take on the appearance of whoever enters it, leaving the observer completely dumbfounded. Meaning that, thanks to me, you and your beloved superior were cast out of Las Noches."

"B-B-Bastard!" Pesche writhed on the ground, his voice projecting the lividness from his throat as he tried to right himself up, "I'll kill you! I'll tear apart that smug face for what you did to her!"

"Oh? That's strange. I thought you'd be more angry at Nnoitra for ripping your masks off. That must have been excruciating to experience-"

"Of course I am! But...even still...Nelliel was a kind, compassionate and wonderful person," Pesche's eye hole became misty, watering up with moisture from the eye that was hidden behind the false mask, "anything that happened to us seemed abysmal in comparison to what happened to her. She was wholefully loyal and wise. She didn't deserve what happened to her. I'd rather experience my mask being torn apart a thousand times than see that happen to her again!"

"HAHAHAHAHA! You see? You can be talkative when you want to be!" Szayel laughed aloud, raising one hand up to his face to stroke it down his skin, while the other kept hold of the two dolls. After calming down from his cackling state, the Espada looked down at Pesche with a cruel smile, "so, you think having your mask ripped off over and over is meaningless compared to the emotional pain of seeing your beloved superior wounded? Well, how about we put that to the test?"

"I agree. That will be fascinating to test on this eager specimen."

Szayel blinked, expression frozen on his face. With his smile slowly retracting, he looked over his shoulder, turning his fleshy wings around to look at the source of the voice. What he saw caused a humorous smile to stretch across his visage, emphasized by a query, "And you are?"

"Who am I?" Captain Kurotsuchi asked in a bewildered tone, a golden-plated smile spread ear-to-ear as he stood confidently before the Espada. Standing but a meter to his right-rear flank was his Lieutenant, Nemu Kurotsuchi, the artificial daughter and closest confidant. A sleeveless white labcoat atypical of those of high ranking within the R&D, was affixed over her Shikhakushō, flowing behind her through a gust of wind lapping over her dark raven tresses. With her Captain enamored in a cobra stylized motif, from a serpentine chin-piece made of gold, with his blue hair rolled up to frame his forehead cobra golden piece, the two were definitely a unique kind of imposing pair.

"Yes, I said that," Szayelaporro Grantz said, his smile starting to diminish as was his amusement, "what is it?"

"I have no obligation to answer that," Mayuri said pointedly, raising his hands with dramatic emphasis.

"Oh?" Octava Espada responded with a raise of his left brow.

"It's so obvious! Test subjects don't need to know the name of the one who's performing experiments upon. It's common sense, don't you agree?" Mayuri asked in an almost irritated tone, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Tch, like it matters. I've already lost interest in your name," Szayel, raising his purple colored digits to stroke the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes and sighing in a complementary expression of his boredom, "by the time I'm done with you, I'd rather not know it, least of all give my own to you."

"Why? But I want to know your name," Mayuri leaned forward as he inquired.

"You do?" Szayel opened his eyes lazily, keeping his bored pose as his eyes turned to look at Mayuri's smiling face.

"Oh of course! I want a name to plaster on the jar that I stick you inside of, after all! I don't want to confuse you for just any other specimen, after all!" Mayuri raised a hand up in a holding posture with his right hand, his claw-like middle nail brushing against his palm as his grin spread further than possible.

"I don't believe in introducing oneself unless hearing the other's name. It's common etiquette. But since you lack the decency to even do that, I'll treat you like anyone treats a barbarous creature. With absolute contempt," Stretching out a hand in emphasis, Szayel grinned toothily himself, holding the dolls idly in his left while his right pointed in a menacing fashion. "prepare yourself, Shinigami Captain!"

Silence.

It was an awkward silence that elapsed after Szayel's declaration of war. Mayuri's smile had vanished into a dumbfounded look of blatant curiosity. Cocking his head to the side, his body tip-toed forward, leaning down as if something about Szayel caught his eyes.

"W-What? What's the matter with you?!" Szayel asked in a recoiling fashion, not liking how the Shinigami was approaching him.

"What is that?" Captain Kurotsuchi inquired.

"What?" Szayel narrowed his eyes with dry unamusement.

"This," The face-painted Shinigami said pointedly, his body seemingly appearing instantly in front of him. Raising his hand with emphasis, the Captain bore forth the voodoo dolls that the Espada had flaunted. Not only were they the missing pieces that he lost his grip on, but the two that were in his possession. Continuing on while the items' significance dawned upon the dazed Arrancar, the Captain asked, "what are these, precisely? You only said they were controllers of the five senses, but you never said how could have made them or how they work-"

"How did you-?! When did you-?! GIVE THOSE BACK!" Szayel exclaimed with widened eyes of frustration, thrusting a open palm to snatch them back.

In a movement that once again surprised Szayel, the Captain employed Shunpo to slip away from his grasp. Juggling them in his palm, the Shinigami grinned cheekily as he continued to speak, "How did I get these, you may ask? You were so busy flapping your gums that you didn't bother detecting my Reiatsu. Granted I had subdued it to a level no Hollow or Arrancar could sense it. If you had used those five senses you liked to toy your prey with...well, you could have seen me fishing the other two dolls out of the debris and watching you tortured those pathetic worms."

Gritting his teeth, Szayel waved his hand around in an arc of frustration but also disconcertion, "Of course, you can sneak around like a rat and steal things like a thief. While you may laud your accomplishments now they mean naught. Your powers are insignificant before my own, testified by your unwillingness to engage me openly! Let it be known before long, all will come into my possession! Shinigami, Quincy, Arrancar...all of your lives are forfeit to me!"

Mayuri's response to such bold declarations were less than amused. In fact, Mayuri narrowed his eyes, staring piercingly at his natural enemy. Raising up the hand that held the dolls, he tossed them over his shoulder, allowing them to be caught by his subordinate.

"Nemu! Put those away in a safe place!" Mayuri commanded in a sharp tone.

"Yes, Captain," Nemu said quietly, dutifully taking all four dolls and putting them underneath the folds of her kosode, between the spacious area between her bosom.

Reaching down, Captain Kurotsuchi began to pull on his Zanpakutō, readying to draw his sword from its scabbard. All the while keeping a demented grin plastered on his face, "Arrancar, Arrancar, Arrancar...a treasure trove of test subjects waiting for me to dissect them all, one by one. I'll make sure to take my time with you. My lab will be very accommodating, I assure you. Plenty of shelf space for your organs and tissue samples, haha!"

"Hold it!"

"Oh great, here it comes," Mayuri responded immediately, hearing the voice of the nearby Quincy. He saw him, lying there, blood ebbing out of his mouth and staining his chin. He looked to be in terrible pain, unable to move from his prostrate posture. Yet he looked as indignant as he ever did the last time they met. "what? You have something to say?"

"You're damn right I have something to say!" Uryū shouted out at the hated nemesis of his. The last time they parted, the Shinigami wormed his way from death while leaving him to die of poison. Now with his power reclaimed, he can't do anything to strike the man once again. Balling up his fists, he pushed himself a little higher so he could glare directly at the Captain, "what the Hell are you doing here?! We don't need saving from the likes of yo-guk...kaff-kaff-kaff!"

"Save your energy, idiot!" Renji scolded from beside him, wincing at his own array of pains arresting control of his body. Seeing the man cough up blood reminded him how busted up his stomach must be. The fact he was still alive right now baffled him, but was relieved nonetheless.

"Of all people to come to our rescue...why did it have to be...that...monster?!" Uryū choked and gargled, his gut becoming a maelstrom of returned pain that had since dulled earlier.

"Be thankful that anyone came to our rescue, dumbass. We should be dead, all things considered," The Lieutenant reminded dryly.

"Rescue?" Mayuri voiced out loud idly, catching the word while he noisily unsheathed sword in a grating manner. Cocking his head to the side, his eyes blinked in a way that depicted the lack of compassion and sheer excitement. Sadism dripped from his tongue as he smiled anew, "whatever gave you that notion, Lieutenant? I'm the Head of Research and Development, Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi of the Twelfth Division. I don't go save people from certain doom. That's the job of heroes. No, you two shall become subjects of my research, along with those I dissect that happen to be classified as enemies! So please shut up and wait patiently while I work on eviscerating the first specimen that interests me."

"On second thought, I wish someone else came to save us," Renji said with a comical sweatdrop crawling down his crimson tressed head.

A finger snap took everyone's attention off each other, followed by an ominous rumble within the debris. Eyes darted to and fro, searching for the source of the visible movement that caused the boulder sized pieces of the palace to rattle ajar. Only when four bursts of sand blew away said gargantuan of wrecked plaster and concrete that one could see a number of silhouettes stampeding over the landscape over by Szayel's side.

"Say hello to my Fracción, Captain," Szayel said with a hand wrapped around his chin, the other propping the other elbow, giving him a truly confident posture. Two Arrancars whose bodies seemed be physically attached by their torsos, arched over his head, their hands substituting for feet as they hobbled on either flank. Another looked to possess dreadlocks and a V-shaped mask, being at least eight feet tall with a hulkish height that stood to Szayel's far left. One jiggled back and forth, possessing eight long arms of identical appearance that were attached to his wiry long body, possessing an oval designed head and mask that obscured all but his lower face. The last was a rotund, egg shaped Arrancar that had a ghastly face, though looked quite melancholic for whatever reason.

"Those guys," Renji stared agape as he whispered, "they didn't die from the building's collapse?"

"They must be the sturdier ones," Uryū surmised grimly, his eyes narrowing as sweat beaded across his forehead.

Taking the time to observe the obedient demeanors of his Fracción, Szayel looked over at the shortest and less powerful Verona. Arching a brow, he spoke in a whisper too lower for any of the observing parties to hear, "Is Project MEAT in its final stages of stewing?"

Verona nodded grimly, looking nervously up at his Master, "Stewing almost done, almost done..."

"Good," Szayel said with a smile, reasserting his commanding authority as he gazed at the Captain and Lieutenant, "if worse case scenario comes to past, I can activate it and use that power against them."

Stretching his arms forward, Szayel shouted aloud, "Tear their limbs off, painfully, and bring their bodies back to me! I want to make sure they feel every experiment I perform on them while they squirm to hold onto their pathetic lives!"

"RAAAAAAAAAAWR!" All the Fracciónes roar out in unison, save for Verona. He stays by his Master's side while the other four rush forward, scrambling madly to get to their newfound prey.

"Oho, this IS intriguing! Modified Arrancars! Your laboratory must hold a bounty of documents and chemicals that will aid my Gigai research!" Mayuri cried out in an ecstatic tone.

"Should we keep these intact?" Nemu inquired politely.

"Of course not!" Mayuri waved a hand in a dismissive tone, "these are tarnished with someone else's hands! Don't bother to hold back either, Nemu, or I'll have you disciplined for your mediocrity in the field!"

"Yes, Captain," Nemu responded calmly, just as the four behemoth Arrancars barreled upon their vicinity.

Just as quickly as their fists and limbs tangled into the sandy debris ground they stood on, they just as swiftly vanished. While the Captain appeared behind them, with his back facing the Mod Arrancars, he continued his trek towards the Espada. Nemu, appeared within their midst, a mere dark silhouette that they missed from her rapid evasion of their assault.

Then, she attacked.

The twin-torso clad Arrancar found its body ripped in a clean half as Nemu's arm swung in a vertical manner, imitating a sword strike. As the two writhed in agony, thick bile exuding their mouths and dark ichor out of their stump clad wounds, the Lieutenant turned on her heels to face the larger of the Arrancars.

Balling her fist up as she thrust it into its gut as it staggered with surprise, a large rupture in the air pressure occurred within the contact of her knuckles to its thick skin. Shortly after the punch was executed, its back split open and spew out a messy wave of blood and innards, the body shortly following the trail with a thunderous plume of velocity as it screamed in its blinding ascent into the air.

By the time the multi-armed Arrancar regained its bearings from the all-arms posture it gained from being sent flying, Nemu was upon it as well. A vicious rising knee kick connected with its craning chin, causing the back of the head to perform a complete slant to crack against its back. With its throat split, a thick gout of blood sprayed in the air as it twitched and spasmed to the ground onto the sand below.

"They're all dead, Captain," Nemu called out to her Captain.

"I'm quite busy, Nemu," Captain Kurotsuchi said, his casual approach to the Espada not interrupted by the brief engagement his Lieutenant had with the Arrancar underlings. His smooth walk was so calm that it appeared eerie. With a canvas of death and merciless carnage painted by his pseudo-daughter, it created the perfect backdrop for just what to expect from the Captain of the 13th Division. "if you have so much time on your hands, please gather the bodies into a pile. We'll need to burn them to dust to ensure nothing remains of this one's experiments that I don't find usable."

"At once, Captain," Nemu responded accordingly, setting off with a turn of the heel to accomplish her new assignment.

Only a handful of meters away, Mayuri smiled ear-to-ear, while Szayel glared thin-lipped with no amusement at what was witnessed. Raising a hand the Espada slowly brought it up towards the Shinigami's face. With a snap, Szayel forefingers briefly sparked a pink hued light between his digits. What followed caused a shimmering wave of transparent pink Reiatsu to discharge in an expansive manner, ripping apart the solid debris into dust while sending a voluminous wave of sand that followed the blast.

"My-My, that was close," Mayuri said from behind Szayel, causing the Arrancar to sneer, "you vibrated your own Cero to create a sonic wave of air pressure. That might have caused some serious damage, even to my body."

"I analyze the flow of Reishi in the air, and the individual characteristics of those who generate Reiatsu. It's a hobby of mine. Naturally I can manipulate my own Reiryoku in a way I see fit," Szayel said casually, all the while the flesh sac bearing wings extended to either direction, "to me, it's one of the most interesting thing in the world. I can tell a lot just by examining one's Reiatsu and determine their level of strength, not to mention the extent of their abilities."

"Is that what you're doing, Arrancar? Examining my abilities because I'm an unknown? What have you discovered thus far?" Mayuri inquired pointedly with a tilt of the head.

"Something quite simple, actually. Despite your speed, you don't seem very reliant on your technique on a habitual basis. You usually let others do the heavy lifting and try to exert as little effort as possible. Not only that," Szayel turned his head around to look over his right shoulder, adding with a sick smile, "you're not very observant to what's around you."

A quick-sped motion later, and the flesh sac wings cut off Mayuri's rear flank. With the Captain opening his eyes wide, he turned around just before the fleshy petals wrapped around his body. A sickly pulsing rhythm began, as the grotesque fluids flowed over his body, pumping over and around his Haori-coated form. Being spat out a few seconds later, Mayuri coughed, having fallen to his hands and knees.

"Despite someone of your status, falling for a trap like that was pretty sad," Szayel mocked, a idle hand reaching out to a swelling bloom over his right shoulder. When a gout of fluids spat out a voodoo doll replica of Mayuri, it caused the Captain's eyes to widen, for what Szayel assumed was horror of knowing what was going to happen. Holding the doll up like a trophy, the Arrancar smiled deviously as he stated, "your life is now in my hands, Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi. Where shall I begin in ending it?"

---

The battlefield of the Vanguard was madness!

A host of Arrancars that were originally waiting behind a field of sand for protection from their mad counterparts now took to the fight in earnest. Having observed the abilities of some of the Shinigami from a distance, they knew better than to throw themselves blindly into an attack, lest they be annihilated by the more experienced Shinigami. For all their dysfunctional traits as an acting military unit, they made up for sheer numbers and substantial strength.

Aaron-Chad leaped up into the air, a trail of discharging Reiatsu flowing out of his shoulder before his right fist thrust into a mass of Arrancars. The shot of blue-white energy, much like a Cero, exploded in a upheaving wave of fire and sand that swirled around in a glassed whirlwind. Only rattling the Arrancars, sending them skidding away or onto their haunches, Aaron-Chad landed on the edge of the crater with his body placed in a defensive posture.

If one were to look straight above Aaron-Chad's head, you could see Aaron-Rukia's body dancing in a series of aerial twirls as the space above seem to warp and ripple like pebbles striking a pond. Doing so she thrust her sword and slashed whenever she got close, causing sparks of repulsion as Angelle gestured in the direction of her bladed attacks, or simply evaded herself when she couldn't. It looked like a battle of cat and mouse, but no one could see why it was so significant from below.

"The Rukia-alike Calavera I have engaged with Angelle can't assist anyone at the moment. It's taking all I have to use Busqueda La Mente to see those psionic protuberances of hers. I'll have to use the Chad-alike for crowd control until one of the stronger ones come out," Aaroniero decided, as her Calavera fended off a number of the cloaked attackers with the shield shaped arm while batting them aside with the left horned arm.

Behind Aaron-Chad, Byakuya and Chōjirō continued to fight in tandem with each other. Spinning on their heels, they deftly employed Shunpo whenever threatened to be overwhelmed while dexterously swinging their sword arms around in Reiatsu colored arcs. While blossom colored razors transformed swiftly from shape to shape, being a drill one moment to a storm of star shaped shurikens, cutting and piercing a number of the enemies. Those that weren't dispatched immediately were shocked and cut down to size by the Lieutenant's Shikai, as curtains of violet hued tendrils blazed across the battlefield as the pair kept close to each other during the perilous fight.

Not too far away, Nelliel continued her acrobatic assault to her Arrancar brethren. With sword drawn now, curtains of blood showered whenever her blade found its mark, while casting sparks whenever deflected. Her earlier fights and the damage she taken she found has diminished her fighting ability to nearly half of what she wished to be at the moment. Even as she whirled her emerald tressed figure around an incoming attack, kicking the nameless enemy with a powerful jettison of her left foot, she knew she could do better. It was burden for having held herself back before, due to her own loyalty to Aizen and her comradery to the Arrancars now aiming to slay her and the one she wishes to protect.

"Can't hesitate now!" Nelliel thought as she flipped the scabbard of her weapon she had reclaimed during the battle royale, hitting the throat of one enemy while snap kicking an enemy in front while parrying another attack from her side. "I have to focus! I must defeat them in order to protect him! I can't let myself become a burden now, not when I'm needed so sorely!"

In the distance, the Shinigami Officers found themselves on the receiving end of a nonstop barrage of attackers. Bala exploded around their vicinity, creating pock marks within the indented sandy soil. Their bodies danced to and fro, trying to evade the wild shots, while also parrying off the physical ones sent their way by their enemies. It was pressuring, and putting them to the real test to fight in a real front of warfare.

"Snap, Tobiume!" Momo called out, transforming her katana into a double-edged sword, creating two jutte-prongs near the base on one side and nearer the tip on the other. Just as an Arrancar closed in on her person, she ducked under a broad swing of his arm, cutting her sword into its abdomen. In the aforementioned wound, the flesh seemed to ignite and shortly after burst out in a visceral explosion of subtly place Reishi into the enemy's gut. Turning away from the blast, she quickly used Shunpo to appear on the ground and land another such wound to an enemy attempting to attack Isane from behind.

"Thanks, Momo!" Isane said with a grim smile over her shoulder.

"No problem-look out!" Momo exclaimed, causing the grey-haired Lieutenant to return her attention to a particularly large Arrancar charging at her. With simian characteristics, it looked more intent on bludgeoning her with its enormous fists then draw the diminutive sized sword sheathed on its hip. This sight alone was enough to cause Momo's eyes to shrink at the enemy's statuesque build, feeling completely tiny before its-

"Tsumetai Yari!" Isane thrust forth, casting a billowing wind that funneled a channel of freezing Reishi. It impacted the monstrous enemy's chest, cutting the lower half of its exposed Hollow hole, and speared through on the other side. When the glimmer of light vanished, one could see the cerulean colored ice that formed a double-edged javelin that had skewered through his body. With such a wound, the beast fell to its knees and felt up its gaping wound that froze the tissue upon entry point.

Shaking out of her shock, Momo braced herself as she charged forward, sword gripped in both hands. Swinging her weapon in a brilliant arc of pink, a fireball of similar hue crashed straight into the wounded torso of the Arrancar, causing its skin and hide to be blown open, throwing it off its limbs to land with a crashing thud on its back. After several meters of drag, the body twitched before lying limp, causing Momo to breathe slight relief.

As before, that sigh was to be interrupted when a number of imposing figures rushed to meet them in combat, causing the two to tense up and leap back into the fray.

"Sai!" Nanao cried out, her own body a spiral of motion across the battlefield, as she picked off one at a time as quickly as possible. With the binding Kidō cast to one that attempted to swing its arms down with sword in hand, she positioned her other hand towards its forehead. A loud thunderclap of a Byakurai being cast was signified with a flash of cobalt light, piercing its skull and sending it falling to its back.

Just as a number of enemies leaped towards her from all angles, she quickly pressed both palms onto the ground, inhaling as she did so, "Bakudo #21. Sekienton!"

With a puff of crimson dyed smoke generating from the ground her palms pressed against, the three Arrancars aiming to stab her cleanly. Instead, a clatter of weapons mutually clanging into each other and sand being parted by their weapons' edges occurred. They looked around, coughing as the smoke caused them to gag on the foul taste it produced in the air.

"Hadō #48," She began to declare, the smoke swirling around in a circular manner to reveal her crouched frame with hands outstretched, forming a triangle with dancing light shimmering in between the spaces of her fingers and palms. Said refraction of a luminous glow cast a yellow gleam over her lenses, as she stared hard at the enemies who stood aghast at what was before them. The mesmerizing light before their demise, "Nenshō Akari!"

A wall of light seemed to travel instantaneously after being declared, wafting over the bodies of all three Arrancars. Flesh ripped off, turning into dust, with their bones and muscles crumbling before the might of the powerful Kidō. Even as the octagonal shape beam of light carried across the battlefield, it'd crash into a dune and carve a hole into its side, continuing its way before petering out in the horizon.

"I can't let up for a second! Skilled soldiers or not, these Arrancar are more powerful than any Hollow I've faced," Nanao thought with frown, rising back up to a standing posture once again.

Reaching into the fold of her kosode, she bowed her head gravely, feeling a malicious presence charge at her from behind as she withdrew the object from its container. By the time it reached her position, a click and swift unsheathing motion followed as she whispered under her breath, "Obstruct All Hostility and Cut Through Opposition!"

When a purple light arced around the point where an enemy's broadsword was cleaving downwards, the weapon found itself cut clean in half, including half of the skull through the Arrancar's eye sockets. Gurgling as it fell to the ground, Nanao's weapon was revealed in all of its glory. A gladius in her right hand, colored silver with an intricate cloud shaped guard; meanwhile her left arm was affixed with a shield, a scabbard holster held within its inner hollow frame.

"Kōken," She declared as she saw the enemy fall into a bloody heap before her feet.

Dozens of meters away, Kiyone and Sentarō found themselves back-to-back with enemies circling around them. They breathed heavily, having been pressured away from the rest of the experienced Lieutenants and to a place isolated from assistance. Even with the aid of Kidō, they weren't able to deal with the pack of Arrancars that decided to take them down.

With swords erect and gripped in their hands, it was Sentarō that took initiative.

"These guys...we can't hold back any longer," Sentarō said in a muttering tone.

"B-But Captain Ukitake says to keep from using our full strength unless the enemy shows their full hand!" Kiyone protested, looking over her shoulder up at the taller man.

"It's not like anyone else is watching! Besides, if we take them down quick enough, they won't know what hit'em, right?!" Sentarō urged on.

"Fine, but we better do it quick!" Kiyone relented, noticing the Arrancars were beginning to charge.

Stabbing his sword into the sand beside his right flank, Sentarō declared as a enormous seven foot tall Arrancar swung a mallet towards him, "Soar, Mōkin!"

Similarly, Kiyone brandished her sword in dancing gesture over her head, a spray of luminous rainbow light projected from the hilt and arced over in a circle. Twirling around in a pirouette, just as a handful of Arrancars charged her way, her Zanpakutō transformed in a blinding refraction of sparkling pink light, "Shimmer, Hanaji!"

In that moment, a brilliant blaze of lime hued Reiatsu erupted from the transforming sword. Just as quickly as the Arrancar had been approaching, a blinding blur of glistening solid steel crashed through the weapon as if it was brittle glass. Cracking the Arrancar's body, it bulldozed into his thick frame and sent him corkscrew into the swathes of enemies that had been behind it. Rising up into the air, it carried its body upwards before letting it drop, doing a spin to higher altitude before nosediving after the Arrancar. By the time the Shinigamified Hollow slammed into the earth below, the transformed Zanpakutō hit it with enough force to drill the body further underground, creating a expansive wave of concussive force to lap over the sand.

At the same instant, Kiyone twirled what looked like a transparent veil of glittering pink silk over her head, hanging on front of her body. When the enemy's weapons struck the surface, it didn't distend but rebound, perfectly repelling the attacks with a spraying shower of orange-crimson sparks. With a crossing of her arms as she took a graceful leap forward, the silk bent and shifted in appearance, forming what looked like a wide array of pointed threads. Becoming like drill-shaped spears, the silken blades cut through the startled Arrancars like butter, burrowing through their Hierro reinforced flesh, leaving their bodies marred and shredded.

When both weapons came back into each other's hands, the both looked over their shoulders at each other with grins of accomplishment.

A silver plated gauntlet resided over Sentarō's right hand, holding up what looked like an enormous V-shaped glider that was nearly as large as he was. With the colored painting of blue and black etched along its body, with eyes near the pointed section of the V and feathers upon its frame, one could picture it as a mock form of a bird. With retractable handles on either side running along each partition, two oval rises that looked to be exhaust ports of some sort lied on the farthest ends of the weapon.

For Kiyone, pair of golden bracelets were tied around her wrists just behind the gloves worn over her hands. Leading up to loop golden links of chains through two holes attached to the bendable fabric of pink colored silk, it fluttered and hung in the middle of space with no effort shown on Kiyone's part. With both of their Zanpakutōs unleashed, the two set out to continue the fight, of which showed sign of numbers on the Vanguard's part to be dwindling.

It was during this moment, that the real enemies revealed themselves to the Shinigami and their allies.

A high-pitched whistling could be heard, flourishing forth a near invisible projectile crossed the air, piercing Isane's right shoulder. Even as the transparent weapon passed through, the force of which it struck the sand before them was enough to cause an eruption of obliterated landscape. With the Lieutenant's mouth gaping at the sudden pain and attack, she stumbled forward and was narrowly caught by the nearby Momo.

"I-Isane?!" She cried out.

"I'm hit but...I'll be fin-NGH!" Isane insisted, placing her free hand over the shoulder wound, barely able to hear the secondary whistling of another attack. Jerking quickly to the side, she pulled Momo with her to the ground, avoiding a silvery arrow passing over their heads, once again carving through the air with precision and power. Offhandedly it cut through an Arrancar's head, causing it to fall limply to the ground with a blank look in its eyes from the fatal strike.

"Archer! Everyone stay sharp!" Nanao called out, her shield raising up to repel a projectile she had been able to detect heading her way. As she sprinted over, she could see the two 3rd Seats leaping in the air.

"Cover me, Kiyone! I'm going for the sniper!" Sentarō declared with a swing of his glider-adjoined wrist, sending his bird shaped weapon roaring forward. As it honed in on its trajectory, a series of twangs were heard as more silvery arrows were fired. Thankfully to Kiyone's protective woven shield, the arrows did little to disrupt the fabric, shattering the attacks upon impact.

"Got ya!" Sentarō cried out, swinging his fist to the right, causing the V-shaped weapon to spin in the air. Creating a brilliant lime hued drill of air pressure and Reiatsu, the weapon crashed into the vicinity of the attacker, forcing the Arrancar to reveal itself. Flipping forward, it spun through the air with two scimitars in hand. Before it could reach Kiyone's transmuting silk, a brilliant pink-hued fireball thundered upwards. Causing the Arrancar to halt its advance at the last second, it propelled itself down to the ground before the group.

With all gathered before the enemy, the Arrancar couldn't help but chuckle in a sultry tone, "What a batch of Shinigami you are. You truly are elites to have survived my long distance attacks."

"You're different from the rest," Nanao said pointedly, standing at the head of the Shinigami Officers, "what's your story? I saw you dropping your own comrades while trying to hit us. Don't you care if they're caught in the crossfire?"

"It was their mistake for not knowing when to pull back. If they die, they die for Lord Aizen, or so they'd say," The Female Arrancar said with a moist-black lipped grin, being the only thing the conglomeration of Officers could witness. With her upper visage obscured by the shadow of her white hood, white sharp silhouettes painting her eyes an intimidating glowing white was all that could be seen of her pupils. A dark spider shaped tattoo was engraved across her shapely bosom's top, with legs crossing over the mammaries and the body revealing a small hole at its center. With scimitars in either hand, brown threaded hilts with no pommels or guards, she brandished them in smooth circular arcs as she bowed before them, "where are my manners? My name is Sedosa Belleza, formerly the Octava Espada, now a soldier of the Vanguard. Please make this entertaining. I want to make this fight memorable before I gain the rank of an official Espada when this is over."

"An outcast Espada? Does that make her weaker or on par with the current Espada? Either way this doesn't bode well," Nanao deduced as she raised her sword and shield in a readied stance.

"Oh please, Sedosa," A nasal toned Arrancar spoke sarcastically, his form gracefully landing to the group's left. In between his fingers was a silken threaded arrow, one that looked that he caught during the flurry of rapid fire. Snapping it in between his fingers, his dark eye narrowed at her and the Shinigami, "that rank goes to someone far more ambitious and deserving of the rank. Not one who was fallen from grace."

"Patros," Hissed Sedosa, seething with displeasure at seeing the weasely Arrancar appear on her battlefield, "this is my fight. Back off if you want to keep that ugly head of yours."

"I don't think you have a choice. Besides, you are fighting five Shinigami, all of which possess significantly higher than average Reiryoku. Allow me to assist, unless you feel like your chances of beating them is still in your favor?" Patros grinned wryly in a shrewd manner.

"Tch, have it your way," Sedosa said with a twirl of her swords, returning her hallowed gaze back to her enemies, "but if you get in my way, I will kill you."

"Right back at you," Patros said with an amused grin, squatting down and gripping his katana with both hands, "Privaron."

---

"Did you feel that?" Chōjirō asked, his sword pulling out of a downed Arrancar to look at the distant group of Shinigami Officers.

"Yes," Byakuya said, his sword-hand held aloft, allowing the blossom petals swirl around in a predatory manner before a handful of wounded Arrancars, "it seems they have finally revealed themselves. The real enemies we should be concerned about."

"There's still some waiting behind our sight," Nelliel concurred with a rise up from a number of dead Arrancar, her eyes moving to her left and right as her head craned in the direction of her Pesquisa strongest sense, "they know the stronger members of this Vanguard are approaching. They're waiting this out until we're too tired or wounded to defend ourselves."

"Let them try," Byakuya pulled back his sword, before thrusting it at the barely recovered bounty of Shinigamified Hollows, "we'll cut them down all the same."

It was in this instant as the Arrancars steeled themselves for a quick death, that the projectiles were deflected by a speedy figure. What appeared was a dazzling sight before the trio's eyes. A voluptuous, well endowed woman of transcendent beauty smiled with hands outstretched, only covered by a translucent white cloak that lapsed over her bare yet very visible skin. The dark sash contrasted it but kept her minimally decent, holding her weapon on her hip in a dangling manner, while mask fragments forming a bone-crested crown formed her midnight dyed hair into a ponytail. Pink lips spread into a decadent, alluring smile, as her fists turned around and opened the palms to reveal handfuls of blossom razors.

"So beautiful, aren't they?" She asked coyly, blowing on the blades to dance mesmerizingly back towards the three while she stood in front of the wounded Arrancars.

Stoically glaring, Byakuya said nothing as the blades swirled around his vicinity once again, while Chōjirō took the initiative to ask where Nelliel was too aghast of what she saw and felt, "Who are you?"

"Sverrie Alessi, former Sexta of the Espada," She responded smoothly, brushing her hands enticingly over her beautiful frame, caressing her bosom and hips in a seductive manner while her eyes fixated on Byakuya in particular. A hungry smile worked its way across her face, a tongue slowly ebbing out of her lips to drag across the pink exterior, wettening them. Kissing the air with a puckering pop, she casually placed her palms on her hips and began rolling them in a circle, "though that hardly matters. Soon, you will either be begging to serve me or on the ground begging to live."

As she said such things, Nelliel's form pounced forth, pointing her sword to impale the prior Sexta straight through the barely visible Hollow hole at her abdomen center. Eyes widened and hair lapping at her back, she had abandoned her scabbard halfway to ensure she'd kill this one. For the things she had been said doing while in service to Aizen, she needed to be slain before-

But her blade's mark could not reach her. The face of a double-headed axe swing in a pendulum manner, repelling the thrust of Nel's, followed up with a ramming impact into her sprinting body. With her body flipping head over heels, she couldn't control her fall in time to avoid a follow-up right hook by a behemoth fist. With her body flying straight past the Shinigami, she was helpless to stop her back from crashing into sandy outskirts of the skull engraved crater.

"Wait-!" Chōjirō began to call out, aiming to go assist her as the hulkish attacker pursued after her. But he too was interrupted as an enemy of rapid speed closed the distance between him and his attack. A pair of sickles in hand, Chōjirō had to lean back to avoid the decapitating stroke, swiftly swinging his rapier around in a figure eight arc to catch his arms. It was only the fortunate displeasure to the Lieutenant that he pulled back with a Sonido, briefly allowing Chōjirō to stand upright before leaping back in a mad dash to attack him.

"Ngh! This one is strong, too!" Chōjirō realized vocally, parrying his sword against his nemesis's in a dizzying flurry of sparks and metallic collisions. From what could be seen, the Arrancar's dark hair mirrored his dark, soulless eyes. Grey skinned and fit, the man danced around with his cloak in a flourishment of rapid movement, aiming to swiftly take down his enemy in as short of a timespan as possible.

"What a bore, that Soto Muerte is. Guess it runs with him being a former Segunda, ugly inside as much as that Rana Zolinder," Sverrie commented in a disgusted tone. Sighing, she returned her gaze back to Byakuya, smiling in a way that'd make most men shiver with arousal but did little to move the Kuchiki, "But you're different, aren't you handsome?"

"Your attempt of flattery isn't amusing, Arrancar," Byakuya said coldly, raising his sword hilt to point at Sverrie's direction, causing the rose petals to form a compressed blade-shaped mass. Shrieking out, it rushed forward, missing the Arrancar but cutting down the one to her left. Adjusting his wrist to point to the left, the petals shifted in shape and transformed into a drill that spiraled after her. Shredding the other Arrancars, Sverrie frolicked away in a blur of motion, racing towards Byakuya till she arrived just a hair's breath away.

"You're all mine!~" She sang as her hand thrust out towards him, but felt nothing solid as her eyes blinked. His body evaporating from in front but behind her, she felt a pair of fingers touch her back and a whisper that made her heart skip a beat.

"Hadō #1, Shō!"

With a pulse of kinetic force at point blank range, Sverrie felt herself pushed off balance and forward, sent into a tumbling roll across the sand to land in a unceremonious heap on the ground. Barely able to pull herself off the ground as a storm of razors dove into the sandy grain, ripping apart the land to get to her, she had to twirl and leap farther away to avoid a number of lightning bolts sent her way. By the time the assault ceased, she smirked and crouched before her enemy.

"I like you," She said with a pur, "the ones that struggle are always the best ones to turn, after all!~"

On the far corner of the skull engraved battlefield, Nelliel had a far less attractive enemy to deal with.

"Sin!" Nel shouted, barely able to backpedal away from a double-handed swing of his axe, side-tumbling away from the cutting fissure that followed. Seeing it rip apart a half kilometer stretch of sandy wastes caused her to gulp audibly as she returned to a fighting stance. When the axe came back around, she barely repelled the cutting edge with her own, feeling her body skid back several meters from the exertion.

"Why are you assisting Shinigami, Tres Nel?! Why have you betrayed the Espada?! I thought you were better than this!" Sin snarled behind his croc fragment jaw, his eyes aglow with tangible anger.

"I've found someone to fight for, someone precious to my heart! I can't give that up, not even for Lord Aizen!" Nel admitted unashamed, even as Sin swung a fist over her head, returning a kick to his jaw before palming his chest.

Staggering only a meter, Sin shook his head as he rammed his shoulder into Nelliel's body. Sent awry into a trench of sand, she was helpless to halt the downward executionary blow sent by Sin. Before that stroke, he yelled with disappointment in his voice, "I thought you were different, but I was wrong. Farewell, Tres Espada!"

A loud clang of the metal hitting a solid wall of organic dense tissue rang out in the air. Blinking, Sin was surprised to see it was the human of the group blocking his axe with his shield-formed arm. The towering croc Arrancar strained his weapon but couldn't make him budge, even as Nelliel rose to her feet, sword in hand and readied to continue fighting.

"Sorry," Aaron-Chad murmured, his eyes barely visible behind his dark bangs, "but I'm afraid you're going to be fighting the both of us."

"It doesn't matter. In the end you all will be executed in the name of Lord Aizen!" Sin shouted, retracting the blade from Aaron-Chad's arm before pulling it back and raising a arm to prime a Cero in the center of his palm, "now stay still and die in his name!"

"El Directo!" Aaron-Chad thrust without hesitation, shooting off a plume of Reishi from his fist while his shoulder jet stream the excess force.

"What?!" Sin exclaimed as the cerulean pillar of energy met and matched his crimson blaze of Reishi. With both forces clashing and swirling into a maelstrom of negative currents, the two exploded, sending all three sprawling away from each other.

"That power...is like a Hollow's! What kind of human is he?!" Sin asked in bewilderment in his mind, his eyes blinking as he rose from the sandy trench carved in the ground. Shaking his head, he growled, discharging a thick aura of Reiatsu from him. Pulse after pulse shook the land, his garments and skin rippled as much as the sand did with the concussive shocks his power radiated within the land. Raising axe to bear with both hands, he declared openly, "in the name of Lord Aizen, I will vanquish all enemies and obstructions to his plans! You will perish by my hand, Privaron Espada and Human!"

---

A/N: 4:21AM...yeah, I wrote way too late on this, but I wanted to make sure it was done THIS WEEK and not procrastinate into the next one. I really hope it was all worth it cause I feel accomplished on some level.

Yeah, this Chapter was great to write out. My first shot at a real team brawl/battle. I tried real hard to capture the element of panning over from one perspective to the other, keeping everyone in the same battlefield without excluding them entirely. Even with the introduction of personal opponents I wanted to make sure as many people got a piece of the action as possible. Even Nel got a shot at fighting another baddie, with assistance, because she's too awesome to leave out!

I tried to make the first generation of the Espada's designs as original as possible. I know there are a lot of Fanon concepts for the Tertiary Espada, but I'd like to hear what you thought of their appearances, as brief as they were, and what you'd like to see from them.

Szayel and Mayuri. To tell you the truth, I had the most fun writing out their section. Just the whole reimagining of their contact with each other was just FUN to write. Even Szayel confessing to being part of the scheme to overthrow Nel and leave her for dead, I just liked having someone so arrogant as Szayel admit that. Hoped everyone enjoyed the additions I made to it, including Nemu kicking ass!

If anyone wants to know the names of the Kidō and Zanpakutōs revealed in this Chapter, please PM me, and I'll be happy to send the translations to you :)

Until then, I'll see you all in the next update of A Predator Among Us! Merry Christmas to you all! :D

SPECIAL NOTE: To people who may be wondering about Nelliel's organic clock that may or may not be ticking, I want to clear up something. The Character, Child Nel, is gone. She was a temporary form that Nelliel adopted to rejuvenate her Reiryoku and heal her old wound. The Character as of now, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, is the character that's going to remain until the end of this series. If anyone has a problem with Nellielx Ichigo, you don't need to read any farther. There's a Mario Cannon waiting for you at the exit to take you far away from this Story because no one wants to hear you bitch and moan in the comment section because you had nothing else to say about a story that focuses very little on that relationship dynamic.

For people who WANT to keep reading, please take heart what I say was for the best and that Nelliel will not sporadically, if not trollingly, jump back into a kid again. Cause that will be weird for everybody. Including me. So until then, I'll see you all concerned readers on the next update