Blind are the masses

To whom your threat lies

While one Devil slew

Another lurks among your crew

Beware the Predator

Chapter 13 - Advance to the Battlefield

It was quiet.

The scene of an enormous detonation of excess Reishi had split the sandy sea apart, leveling its grained under bed till a generous hole had formed within the Menos Forest's canopy. Steam still rose up from cooked beads, the air a miasma of heat and ozone. But from within its epicenter revealed not one but two figures.

One held the other by the throat, clad in ragged onyx apparel with chalk complexion that was accented by striped lines of the abyss to be parallel with a horned skeletal mask. The red tufts around his neck and wrists symbolized an almost barbaric warrior tribute, giving the honorable man of noble qualities a true decadent visage. With sword in the free hand clenched tightly, so too was the other set of digits clenching mercilessly at the still throat.

Such a neck belonged to the Arrancar, one who did not look so different from his once Shinigami opponent. One horn had been severed while the rest of his body had been marred by the wave of heat and spirit energy. Eyes hidden by the bangs with a mouth slightly agape, his remaining right hand and leg didn't even as much twitch. Burns charred his left side completely giving him the look of a cadaver yet to be deposited in a tomb.

With a dismissive toss, Ichigo deposited down the hole he had crafted. Not one to admire the handiwork of his power, he turned and zoomed straight to Orihime's vicinity. When his feet touched the ground he saw Nelliel's injuries all but disappeared. He sighed a ragged breath of relief as the light was disappearing. Looking over at his friends behind her, they too were recovered but still unconscious. Smiling be hind his mask he turned to look at her and noticed a twinge of apprehension on her brave face.

"Oh, sorry," He spoke in a graveled voice, his hand reaching up to unmask himself. "I guess seeing me like this is still a bit jarring-"

It wasn't until he felt his wrist caught by her hand that he looked at her with surprise. Her brows were knitted into a face of determination. With her free hand she reached out and hesitantly placed it over the painted outline of his hollow hole. Her breath hitched and her face softened, her head leaning in to press against his chest. The steady beat of a heart was lacking and as she deduced he truly was heartless in this state.

"Ori...hime?" Ichigo asked with a quizzed expression behind his mask.

"I can't hear your heart," She whispered, looking up with tears welling up in her eyes. "But...I can still feel the warmth coming from your chest. You...you really are Ichigo."

"You're not making any sense!" Ichigo barked, his eyes glaring at her from behind his mask, his sword hand flailing with confusion. "Of course I am me! Just because I don the mask of a Hollow or have a hole in my chest won't change what I am!"

Giggling, Orihime wiped her eyes as she embraced him fully, her face now a flushed grinning expression as she nuzzled into the crook of his neck. Despite the man remaining tense for a moment he slacked and smiled behind the mask. Using his free hand to hug her middle he could hear her breathing with relief by his ear.

"I was worried that you wouldn't be yourself," Orihime explained in a hush tone, holding her dearest friend and unrequited love in her arms. "Forgive me for being so silly."

"Nothing to forgive," Ichigo replied gently. "Your faith in me is what keeps me going, grounds me and reminds me who I am. No matter what form I'll take, I'm still that guy you know in high school. I'll always be your friend."

It was then that the pang in her heart gave her a mixture of conflicting feelings within her chest. Even as she held the man she felt dearly for there was a part of regret; a part of her that wanted to scream to him how much she cherished him. While he thought of her as a friend she wanted more than that and felt just as strongly for him. The once resigned part of her now was subdued for her strong attraction.

"Uh, Orihime?" The Hollowfied man asked with a tilt of his head. "You going to hang onto me for much longer?"

"Just wait."

"For?"

"I...I need to tell you something important," She let out with a ragged hitch in her tone, emotions threatening to come out the flood gates. Opening her eyes, she caught the sight of Hueco Mundo's moon in the night sky. Shivering as she spoke, a single silhouette caught her eye as the words fumbled out. "Ichigo I...I..."

"You-?"

"-...Ulquiorra?!" She gasped, just in time for the ignorant Substitute Shinigami to feel a sudden pulse of Reiatsu.

Turning on his heels he held onto Orihime tightly with one arm, pulling her tightly to his chest. Using his sword arm he swung it at a lance of Reishi zooming towards him, black meeting turquoise. The result was a shattering shockwave, the result of which a partition of the weapon streaked out and managed to blast close to his head. With enhanced reflexes he leaned to the right, only receiving a loss of the mask's left horn along with a gash to the jaw.

The result had caused the rest of his Hollowfication to destabilize and with widened eyes, the Reishi dispersed before swirling straight back into his chest. Breathing raggedly with shock, he looked down and saw his normal complexion along with a less detailed Shikhakushō in tatters still clinging to him. With a single cut dripping of blood to his left cheek he looked up with a glare and saw his enemy, still breathing despite what he had felt moments ago.

"I swore I felt your Reiryoku plummet just a minute ago," Ichigo growled as he held his blade upright in a defensive posture. Orihime looked on with fear and shock but couldn't help but feel safe in the man's strong grip. With eyes that blinked at him she saw what he did; a frail shadow of his former glory.

"I must have been too stubborn to die just then," The Cuatro Espada declared in a firm monotone, refusing to acknowledge the damage that had taken place. At least, on the outside. Within he felt as if half of his organs were vaporized, leaving him internally struggling to keep together. If anyone could eye the stumps of his left limbs they'd view nothing but branches of shadow were hanging or resting on the sandy bed limply. His eyes stared coldly ahead, while only raising one remaining wing on his right side. "Unfortunately I must have received that annoying trait from you, Ichigo Kurosaki."

Gritting his teeth, he thought of donning the mask once more to eliminate him. But as he looked on he didn't even see a threat. From the way his Reiatsu felt, the enormous presence was sacrificed for one last surprise attack. It was barely there from what his Reikaku told him.

He was a dead man walking.

"To think I'd be reduced to this state," Ulquiorra closed his eyes as he breathed out with a smooth exhale of annoyance. "You infuriate me, human. The idea you embraced Hollowity yet kept your soul intact is nothing short of blasphemy."

"Who are you kidding yourself?"

It was those words that made him open his eyes, looking on with surprise at Ichigo as he listened to his enemy speak.

"Arrancar? Shinigami? Quincy? It's all bullshit," He declared pointing his sword with emphasis at him. "I've fought quite a few of all the above. Do you know what I've found out? We're all the same. Despite all that talk of duty or instinct or living the way you're told is just crap. We have ideals, morals, identities and experience emotion no more than the other. Not even you, mister empty, is exempt.

"You hated my guts to the very end, and were obsessed with the idea of what a heart is. Guess what? You can never see or grasp it because it is the thing that just brought you back from the brink. You, a man who said you're the embodiment of emptiness, had a will so strong you refused to die until you found your answer," Lowering his sword down, his pointed glare made the broken Shinigamified Hollow look down in thought. "Isn't that right, Ulquiorra?"

A quiet breath was released from the Arrancar as his head bowed. For awhile it seemed like he wasn't going to move, let alone speak. But then, surprisingly a slight emotion was finally expressed on his permanently stoic visage. A smile, one of resigned submission and admittance was revealed that made even Ichigo look on with surprise with Orihime.

At the same time, his wing began to wither, splitting apart while turning into ash. Like a cancer it spread down slowly to his back, his left side beginning to shift into the same substance as his protruding appendage did. Despite all of that his expression was held strong as his words came out, with eyes becoming a solid green instead of a shimmering yellow.

"The fact you can see something in me what my eyes can't is just absurd. You and that woman have baffled me from the start, but only now do I realize why," He almost whispered, his words coming out with no hint of remorse or fear. Reaching out with a hand as if to grasp a hold of something, he watched with a flicker of light in his eyes as the fingers began to dissolve down his wrist. Locking eyes with Orihime he kept his gaze even as his form began to be erased. "It's such a pity. Just when I find the essence of a heart in my grasp...I lose form. What a strange thing..."

Evaporating into the wind, the ash of his remains fluttered away, leaving the pair to ponder his final words and let his passing truly sink in. But one thing did cement their victory in this desert world was clear. The Cuatro Espada and last Arrancar defending Las Noches, has truly fallen.

Byakuya found her. The body of Rukia was retrieved with her Zanpakutō from the enclosure of a liquid filled flower. Endowed with lubricant of a pungent yet sweet smelling fragrance she still had a steady pulse and her Reiryoku seemed to be unwavering. Whatever had caused this incident to befall his sister was deduced to have done something similar to Lieutenant Sasakibe.

But the absence of his remains made him believe the creature was still lurking in the shadows.

Leaving Isane to do a thorough check on her unconscious frame to ensure she wasn't ill or had something festers within he checked the perimeter with the others. When no other Hollow was in sight for a good distance he felt something off. Regardless, he did feel a measure of relief outweigh the regret that the missing Lieutenant indeed had met his untimely demise. The report to the Captain Commander truly will be a regrettable one.

Returning to her side, he silently watched her rise up from Isane's proximity, raising a hand to clench her scalp. Groaning she looked around to see a tearing up Kiyone and Sentarō lean closely to smile with happiness. Momo sported a grin of ecstatic glee while Nanao simply remained inwardly relieved. Seeing the group of faces made a startling warmth of joy bubble within her as well.

"Hello," She lamely said, laughing nervously at all the attention around her. "I'm sorry I troubled you all-"

"We were worried sick, Miss Rukia!" Kiyone adamantly said as she leaned a bit too awkwardly close to her face. "What happened?! What did the monster do to you?!"

"Monster?" She inquired with a lean of the head.

"Yeah, this creepy flower was holding you hostage," Sentarō expressed with a hand gesture of a bulb shaped plant. "It was weird and you were inside. Good thing it didn't, er, digest your clothes. Hope they aren't too wet, haha!"

While Kiyone chastised her fellow third seat for the possibly lewd comment the raven-locked woman looked down at herself. Her shapely form was still embraced in the Shikhakushō and desert wrapped cloak. Damp over her skin it made her shiver but not in a unpleasant way. The sight of nothing seeming to physically change about her was intriguing...and pleased her secretly within.

"Are you able to stand?" Captain Kuchiki inquired as he looked down at her from behind. With her eyes fluttering and looking up with shock at the older brother she dumbly nodded in return. Closing his eyes he nasally exhaled and turned his back at all of the officers including his sister. "Do keep up. We're going to meet up with Captain Kurotsuchi and the Substitute Shinigami to devise a way to enter the World of the Living. I wouldn't want you to be left behind, Rukia."

"Y-Yes," She replied with a firm expression of acknowledgement. Standing up, she felt surprisingly light on her feet. The Reishi flowing through her body was far more composed, natural and hers. As everyone looked on with acceptance she was alright, they all began to play catch up to Byakuya's superb bursts of Shunpo. The shaving of space left only small imprints of their form as they moved rapidly out of the Menos Forest to the desert sea above.

All the while, a subtly grinning Aaroniero Arruruerie couldn't help but wonder why her feelings came as a shock. Either she was such a talented actress at this moment she could easily fool them. Or more disturbingly, she was starting to embrace her own absorbed identity far too well. With a mental shake of the head she dismissed that as a hinderance. The only thing left now was to return to Lord Aizen's midst...and cherish the look of shock on his face when she reveals her true colors to him far too late for the mastermind to react.

"Soon, I'll be without equal and my ascension will be perfect!"

It didn't take long for everyone to awake and get moving. The fact they had passed out from the pain of their injuries came as a surprise as none. What did surprise them all was Ichigo's new look. While he retained familiar spiky tresses of orange color the bangs and flecks of hair were quite longer around the brow or ears; in addition to a waist-long smooth curtain of dyed follicles caressing his backside over the shoulders.

"Stop staring," Ichigo grumbled with an annoying twitch in between a high speed leap.

"It's just so...so...gorgeous!" Nelliel squealed with a star-eyed expression, one that made him feel uncomfortable and uncertain.

As the Arrancar seemed to be in awe and captivated by his long locks, thanks to his previous Hollowfication, the sight of Renji and Uryū snickering couldn't be ignored. Even the barrier sailing Orihime couldn't help but stare with a blush on her face at the long hair flowing behind him. All of it was unwanted attention thankfully not added by the ever-silent Chad flickering along side them.

"It's not like I asked for an extension in my hair," He huffed with a roll of his eyes.

"Well-Well, it seems you really got in touch with your feminine side, Ichigo Kurosaki," Uryū mocked with a faux analyzing attitude. To boot he adjusted his glasses in between a Hirenkyaku, making him scowl at his disappearing and reappearing face.

"That, or you decided to become a hardcore rocker," Renji jeered toothily, causing Ichigo to outright snarl with annoyance.

"How do you even know about rock music?! And I am not!" He retorted back brashly with a threatening upright fist.

"I don't think it really matters either way," Chad replied with a raised thumb's up. "I stand behind any fashion choice Ichigo has, tacky or otherwise."

"...that's not helping me," The Substitute mumbled with a deflated countenance.

"It's not so bad," Orihime tried to assure him, smiling as she held her hands up near her beaming face. "Now we have matching hair lengths, I can help you find ways to style it along with mine! It'll be so much fun!~"

"Wheeee," He droned on as he hung his head down with agony.

"You know I could cut it for you, if its that bothersome-"

"Stay away from my scalp, Uryū!" He snapped quickly while holding his head with emphasis. "I get to choose what I do with it. Besides, my living body has short hair, so this isn't even a permanent thing. It's not like my long-hair of my Shinigami body will automatically make my real one have hair like this anyways...right?"

"Who knows?" Renji mused with a dry expression.

"Oh! I bet Tatsuki would love to see your hair if you keep it long in school!" Orihime squealed with glee.

"LOOK! ANYTHING BUT THIS TOPIC NOW!" Ichigo exclaimed as he finally stopped moving swiftly, followed by everyone else coming to a halt. Breathing a sigh of relief he also saw the conglomerate of Shinigami was accompanied by Rukia. What he raised his eyebrow at was a monstrous loaded cart being hauled by an effeminate Arrancar while being pushed by Nemu from behind. "...what did I miss?"

"Captain Kurotsuchi decided to raid the late Espada's lab for things he can salvage for his own uses," Rukia explained with a rise of her shoulders before lowering with a shrug and a shake of the head. "Honestly, I have no idea where the Arrancar he's got came from, so you should ask someone else about that."

"Uh-huh," The young man turned to look at the three, noticing Mayuri was sitting atop the cloth wrapped cargo. With his cobra-headdress strapped around his head he looked like some self entitled king rather than the head of a science division. Staring blankly at the scene he just shrugged himself at it. "Whatever floats his boat."

"Speaking of which," Rukia began, her face trembling with a barely controlled sputter. She pointed while holding her mouth, just as some of the other officers began to snicker and giggle at Ichigo's expense. She, however, was the only one voicing it. "Why the long hair, Ichigo?"

"I Hollowfied and my scalp decided to lengthen several fold," He replied blankly with a twitch to his right eye. "How about, we drop the subject here or I'll just stop talking to any of you?"

"H-Hey, no need to be ashamed," She defensively raised her hand as she pulled her composure back together. Tilting her head side to side she admitted with a smile that surprised herself. "It's not that bad. I may start to like it, with time."

With raised brows, the Substitute blinked with surprise before it dispersed into a relieved spread of his lips, "Heh, if you say so."

"If you're all done talking about fashion," Byakuya coldly interjected, looking at Ichigo and then the other officers. "We have the issue of transportation. Currently Sōsuke Aizen is assaulting the World of the Living's Karakura Town...a city that we replaced with a mock duplicate to prevent him from creating the Ōken."

"You did WHAT to Karakura?!" Uryū cried out, now being the one to react more brazenly than Ichigo's own eye-bulging stare. Even the officers, along with Renji and Rukia, looked on with an aghast expression.

"Stop panicking you lot," Mayuri chastised from above his steep perch, turning to look straight at their midst over his shoulder. "The Twelfth Division used the R&D Department's resources to create a perfectly stable environment to preside both in the World of the Living and the Soul Society. All humans are rendered unconscious so they should be unharmed in the space we placed them in, despite retaining physical bodies."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Renji asked sharply at his Captain.

"Captain Commander Yamamoto ordered this to be a secret only to be known by a select few individuals," He coolly informed them without batting an eye. "Given how easily Aizen had been able to outmaneuver us within his initial betrayal, we split up our forces to convince him that we were under prepared. He along with the bulk of the Gotei 13's strength are protecting a duplicate that will retain its placement so long as they keep fighting."

"How do we get there without Kisuke's Garganta?" Ichigo asked.

This followed by a slap to the back of his head, causing him to whip his head around to look at a pointed glare by Nelliel.

"You really forgot I was still standing here?" She inquired with a scowl, hands resting atop her hips.

"Uh-Uh, no?" He answered with a distracted smile.

"If you need a way to the World of the Living," She informed, turning to extend a hand towards the space in front of Mayuri's cart. With a twitch of her hand, space shifted and then split apart, opening like a row of blocky teeth. Before them now was an abyss with a faint light at the end of the tunnel of darkness. "I can deliver."

A loud harumph could be heard by the cart straddling Captain, muttering under his breath how he wasted time and effort to copy the technique more scientifically. Regardless, the path was now open to all of them with only a minor tweak set by Nelliel to open the gateway a semblance of distance away from the city. If they were to take advantage of arriving late, they may as well do it as a surprise.

"Very well then," Byakuya declared as he took the lead towards the black gateway. "Let us go to this Fake Karakura Town and reinforce their efforts."

"Yessir!" Renji, the officers and Rukia all answered unanimously. As the Captain began entering to create a path for them to walk behind him quickly, Ichigo took the time to briefly pull aside Rukia. With only a few hushed words spoken and a look of understanding shared between them she'd join the rear of the rushing officers while he lead those who he called friends.

Treading through the darkness, Nelliel caught up with Ichigo while Orihime sprinted with Uryū and Chad.

"Are you alright?" The Arrancar asked as Ichigo flashed a smile to dissuade her concern for him.

"I'm fine, really. Orihime managed to help restore my Reiryoku back up after my Bankai was torn. I'm going to keep my power suppressed in the meantime so I can save up my power for Aizen," He declared casually.

"You intend to fight him?" She queried with a wary tone.

"Yeah," Ichigo answered readily, his features becoming firm and determined. "He hurt Rukia, intends to destroy my home and even kidnapped Orihime. I'm going to make him pay with blood for everyone he's hurt and bring him to his knees. That's the least he deserves for what he's done."

"You should know then," The former Tres Espada elaborated sagely, bringing his attention at the fullest to her. "That his greatest strength isn't in his combat ability with the sword, spell or speed. His Zanpakutō is what has bound us Espada to him as much as it entangled his enemies of the Soul Society. Did you ever witness him release it before your eyes?"

"Huh," Ichigo soaked in what she said while looking up with a furrowed expression. "No, he didn't even bother. I guess I was so beneath him, exhausted I was as he was strong, to have him use it. Never even heard him say its name."

"It's Kyoka Suigetsu," Nelliel answered in kind, looking at him seriously. "It's his greatest power, apart from the Hogyoku. If you let him release, no matter how strong you are, the fight will be over. It's flawless hypnosis and will break you if he wishes it. So promise me whatever happens when you fight him do not let him release or look at his sword."

"Trust me, Nelliel," Ichigo assured her with a smile as he looked forward down the long dark path. "It's him who should be worrying about the last look of my sword, before I run it between his eyes!"

A/N: And done! Wow this was shorter than usual. Not much happened but a lot of set-up is built into the next section of my story. The Redux of the Fake Karakura Battle (also known in Canon as the Gentleman's Fencing Sport). Some even called it the, "White War," but I don't even qualify it even being a war. So I'll do it justice. What does that mean for the narrative? Expect there to be a small gap of time between when Aizen sealed off Hueco Mundo and when Nelliel opened a new Garganta (expect it to be close to where the Fake Karakura is)...so, maybe 3ish Chapters before we see the main cast again? I'm sorry if I disappointed you Aaroniero fans (after all this IS an Aaroniero story) but I'm a man who likes to go the full nine yards and not take shortcuts. In this way, I'll show a genuine battlefield and the chaos that goes with it. I hope you'll stick around long enough to see its conclusion and Aaroniero's arrival with the other Shinigami.

Until then, see you all later! ^^