I Breathe Life

Exhale Death

For the One Alone

His Blade Sharpest Honed

A Predator Among Us

White Deicide VIII

Fade The Black(ened)

A gesture.

That's all it took to change its shape.

The brush in the hand of Ichibei Hyosube bore no significant quality difference from the stave blade to the now harmless looking artist instrument. Not even reiatsu could be felt changing. Just a distinct blackness that dotted the edge of the hairs making up its head.

Yet, Senjumaru Shutara is afraid of this man and his powers, She wondered, eyes peering at the brush. Strange she doesn't have an inkling of his abilities other than they have the power over whatever it brushes. I assume she may have been kept out of the loop, for sure in case someone like me came across her mind.

"I'll be courteous, Hollow," Ichibe said, taking a step forward. "I'll be the one to initiate the next blow."

Wait, what-?

Before she could even respond, his nearly six foot long brush swept the air. An arch of black ink crossed the space between them, aiming to hit him akin to any other weapon.

On reflex, her reiatsu erupted, Angelle's Aspect utilized to adeptly deflect the brush along with the spray of oozing substance. It gushed all over her barrier, painting it and the many writhing tendrils linked to her very being. For the first time, she realized, her reiatsu shaped by her mind became visible to outside observation.

"Very wise," Ichibei intoned with a smile, eyes oblong and shining with glee. "You made the correct choice, using your bountiful energy to deflect my brush's blow!"

"And you're the fool," Aaroniero replied, her left hand raising to aim at his head. "For getting so close."

A sudden thuum burst from the shell of protective reiatsu, a rocketing blast of purple crashing against Ichibei. He skid back on the heels of his tower clogs, his coat and necklace of prayer beads whipping about him.

Inhaling, deeply, the Eyeball Monk breathed outwards.

Dispelling the wave of monstrous light pressuring him.

Aaroniero looked on with a stunned expression. She had intended in destroying him at point blank, and failing that, sending him flying off into the abyss below. Counting the distance, she saw something else unsettling.

The painted mark he set up wasn't the only one. The first one he had skidded past without marring the brushwork of the immaculate line. The second he had only made a third the distance to; approximately ten meters.

That blow would have thrown the Captain Commander across Karakura Town. Yet not only does he look unbothered, he used his own breath to undo it!

"You look troubled, Aaroniero," Ichibei said, as if reading her emotions with ease. His smile thinned, eyes narrowing at her with a twinkle in his eyes. "Did you figure that kind of power would work on someone like me? You have to be more creative if you wish to do more than give me a playful push."

Aaroniero grinded her teeth, feeling her rage bubble to the surface. Violet light flashed, crackling violent bolts of white around the sky. Her body swelled up, muscles bulging outward and her overall physique making her rise up till she looked down at Ichibei. Her shadow looked over him, violet eyes glaring seethingly at him.

"Don't get cocky, Ichibei Hyosube!" She snarled out, her voice booming out with a mighty shout. A blaze of light discharged from her eyes, flaring out a pair of massive orbs of Cero Córnea.

CRACK!

"Lower your voice," Ichibe said simply, a massive spectral hand colliding into the side of Aaroniero's face; derailing the twin beams of light, spearing the rim of Kirio's Palace nearby in a conflagration of purplish flames.

Staggering from the blow, another came in the form of massive fist bulldozing into her. Shrieking off the platform in a slew of sparks and dust, she spouted blood with whited out eyes of disbelief.

Trying to speak out, she'd find herself unable to say a word. Feeling her neck, she realized only too late that something happened. Her throat has been crushed!

"This is what happens to those who speak my name in vain," Ichibei said, blurring into space above her with a plain expression on his face. "Ponder your words more carefully on your way down."

Urahadou: Hakkeryuukou!

The outline of a massive draconic blaze of golden reishi formed along with the fist of Ichibei. Swinging it, the light of the dragon hit Aaroniero instantly, leaving no room to avoiding it. The maw clamped down, engulfing her in fire and pushing her downward in a rush of pressure and brilliant light.

Flipping over his head, Ichibei landed back on the platform. Hefting his brush over his shoulder he hummed something under his breath, his clogs clacking as he made his way over to where he stood earlier.

A distant illuminating boom, followed by a rushing gale of purple wind rose up into the Soul Palace. Coloring the blue expanse pinkish-red, a halo of crackling light zoomed back upwards, a spread of skeletal wings formed from the back with vibrant strings of rosy light. To Ichibei's eyes, it looked as if she produced dragon wings out of skeletal white branches of a dead tree.

"I should really thank Rudborrn for Arbol, as it is the gift that keeps on giving," Aaroniero muttered to herself, a trail of blood ebbing from her neck. Ichibei could tell she stabbed her own throat and regenerated over the wounds; restoring her voice.

"You overcame that quite quickly-" He began to say, only for her to appear in a blur in front of him. Sweeping a clawed hand out at his face, he bent backwards, sweeping his brush around to hit her head. Her left arm deflected the instrument on the wooden oblong head, suddenly realizing her error a moment too late.

A spray of ink had landed upon her hand, along with her cheek and even upon her thigh.

"So, you sacrificed your left side?" Ichibei asked.

Stepping back she lunged a kick out. The problem only happened as she felt it move far slower than she had intended. In fact, her whole left side, not just her arm, felt heavy and laboring just to move how she wanted.

"It feels like a burden, doesn't it?" Ichibei asked, jumping with ease over her foot. Kicking her in the jaw, she skidded back on her heels, a gout of blood spurting out between clenched teeth. Stomping the ground, she lunged a palm and released a massive surge of reiatsu; only to see him spin around it and backhand her with another spectral hand, nearly knocking her off the platform once more.

"That's because my brush has cut the name of your left side in twain," He explained, clacking audibly forward as she dizzily righted herself, the blows to her head making her vision spin, Ichibei multiplying and converging all around in a spiral before her gaze. "Anything that it touches, the ink cuts the name in half. Your left side is now a mere shadow of what it once was; rendering your abilities a mere half of what they once were."

BOOM!

Another spectral hand chopped over her body into the ground with a cracking impact. Blood spouted from her mouth and nostrils, eyes refocusing from the earlier head trauma. Unleashing a salvo of Bala from her right hand, seeing it unaffected by the earlier brush strike, caused Ichibei to leap back and use his brush to deflect the blows.

Landing back, he grinned and asked out mockingly, "How does it feel, for me to best you with a mere half the effort?"

"You think you can dictate how much power I possess, Shinigami? As if you are God?" She sneered, closing her eyes as she jerked herself to the right, and left all at once.

"Don't underestimate me!"

As she shouted, Ichibei stopped, watching in amazement as a grotesque series of snaps and gushing spurts of blood is produced. Her left arm up the shoulder, her thigh down to her foot and even her midsection up along her head. Every part of her is being split in half of her own accord.

Screaming out, Aaroniero felt pain unlike anything she experienced. Not even the flames of Ryujin Jakka compared to this macabre act of self mutilation. Yet she persisted, tearing herself away from the weakened half of her body, bathed in blood before the shocked Shinigami.

The Hōgyoku suspended in the air, free from the gory severing that took place. Pulsing ominously, a line of flesh, nerves and bones strung out a hand along with organs, limbs and her face. As quickly she had destroyed half her body, a fresh half along with organically grown black fabric restored her appearance and immediately her power in a purplish flare of darkening pressure.

Sweating, she breathed heavily as she regained composure and the Shinigami lowered his brush while staring ahead at her.

Gritting her teeth, the fiery branches of bleached white arched upwards, shooting high into the sky till it formed a shadow that loomed over the platform. Arms sprouted out like fruit, stretching out hundreds of pale skinned limbs with black nailed fingers. Erecting them towards Ichibe Hyosube, a multitude of black spheres swelled into being, casting a menacing backdrop of monochrome over the tree down to the silhouette of Aaroniero that the deadwood is connected to.

"You don't get to decide if I lose or gain power," She said, a cruel grin forming across her face as she raised a hand to point at him. "I am Aaroniero Arrururerie, and I am the one to decide my fate!"

Then, all several hundred Cero Oscuras fired.

"Dark Art: Gate of Hell!" Ichibei yelled as he swung his brush in a circle, drawing a series of letters that formed a whirlpool of pitch darkness. All the firing Cero became swept up in a howling void, the space in front of him too also became vacuumed into it, the tree peeling away and the many arms with the branches swept up into its hungry maw to be crushed to dust.

A sudden buzz from behind tipped him off, causing the old Shinigami to spin on a clog to parry an incoming white blade. Another came from above, his eyes wide as he kicked the Aaroniero in front of him, sweeping an arch of black ink to hit the downward cleaving transcendent being.

Two others appeared by his sides, swinging their blades, casting Tsukishiro to envelop him in two directions. Palming the ground he flipped forward, slamming two feet in a spin that sent them, and the forming ice, in a shattering boom off the edge.

Another pair fired Hakuren on either front and back flank, aiming to hit him on the floor he rolled forward to. The howling tidal waves of snow rushed to claim their target in a roar of reiatsu.

"Dark Art: Claws of the Damned!" Ichibei growled out, thrusting the brush into the floor and drawing a series of old words around him in a blur. Just as the cold could envelop him, a massive writhing hail of black arms attached to wailing ghoulish faces stretched out, tearing the snow away and reaching the pair of Aaroniero copies.

Aaroniero speared through a gout of the ink that claimed a Sonído Clone, washing the blackness away with the release of Nejibana. Spinning the trident around with a single arm, she stoically walked ahead while cutting a swathe through his enchanted ink.

Ichibei bent his knees and leaped forward, his hulking figure appearing in front of her in an instant. She slashed her trident, he arced his brush, the pair connecting in a blast of water and ink that sprayed in an elliptical shockwave across the blue infinite. Gripping the spear with both hands, Aaroniero stepped back and forth, sliding her torrential waves of reiatsu in swift and building momentum against Ichibei.

He matched her, blow for blow, each one a massive shockwave that shook the ground beneath him. Cracking sounds followed by splashes of ink that is washed away by water. Gushes of liquid reishi discharged with each collision of theirs weapons, neither one giving an inch as they continued to trade blows.

Aaroniero's violet eyes with slitted pupils continued to stare ahead, while Ichibei's cold dark eyes glowed with excitement. Their reiatsu billowed around themselves, a concert of destructive desire and eager to challenge against one another.

And then, a sudden change to the trident happened. It shifted in shape, shrinking instantly in favor to a katana that became wreathed in a swathe of flames.

"Turn All to Ash," Aaroniero intoned lowly, swinging the blade around to crash against Ichibei's brush; sparking past and blasting him along the chest in a blast of crimson-golden fire. "Ryuujin Jakka!"

"GAH!" Ichibei grunted out in pain. Sliding back a good several meters, he swiped the brush over the fire, dousing it with an audible hiss, steam rising from the cut made through his kosode on his brawny chest.

After seeing Aaroniero lower the fiery blade to her side, the Eyeball Monk breathed out with surprise.

"I didn't know you had Ryuujin Jakka in your arsenal," He admitted, his brow sweating down across his jaw, his smile vacant in exchange for alarm. "I recall you destroying it with that Hollow technique of yours. When you consumed Genryusai, you shouldn't possess his Zanpakutō-"

"Oh but you misunderstood what Metastacia's Aspect actually does," Aaroniero interrupted, raising the flaming blade, darkening half of her face while the other is illuminated by the wafting orangish tongues. "You see, Metastacia doesn't actually destroy Zanpakutō. It breaks them down, and copies them into itself. Aizen has went to great lengths to conceal that fact. Even in death, it had been able to maintain its form for prolonged periods along with whatever Shinigami it ate, possessed and 'destroyed' remains of any Zanpakutō it has. It's how I, after eating Metastacia's corpse, gained Kaien Shiba's powers, along with the copy of the Zanpakutō it had in its body."

Ichibei felt foolish. He had made an assumption that she could only replicate abilities of what she's eaten literally. Yet, through another Hollow's ability she's had for centuries, she can still extract Zanpakutō without ever needing to eat the Shinigami it has been bonded to!

"Of course, there is a gestation period," She admitted, lowering the flaming blade to her side while walking ahead towards her quarry. A smile armed on her visage, she trailed a line of fire as the edge of the blade grounded against the floor, her feet echoing with every step she took. "I just now had the opportunity to use it. And what do you know? It actually burns away even that power stealing ink of yours."

"I see I had been treating you too lightly," Ichibei admitted, his face bowing as his brush shifted in shape in his hands. Gripping it in a vein throbbing fist, his voice changed and his eyes whitened as his visage raised up. It looked frightening to even Aaroniero, his jovial attitude replaced by one of an ogre or a demon that stared maliciously at her.

"I had wanted you to be thrown off, rethink your actions with your powers reduced. But now it is clear: I must destroy you, completely and utterly!"

Swinging the brush, it swelled up in size and cut an arc through space, leaving a trail of darkness in the path of a broad blade. Too fat to be a spearhead, yet too short to be considered a halberd or a sword. The handle long and round, it looked to be a weapon befitting only to someone like Ichibei Hyosube.

"Blacken, Ichimonji!" He declared out with an ominous tone. "The games end here, Aaroniero! Now you will know true despair!"

Kirio Hikifune felt it.

The ominous presence of her comrades all releasing their Zanpakutō. Nimaiya using Aisubeki Gādian, a specter of love, devotion and jealous spite, and Ichimonji, a blade of pure darkness. She hadn't seen or felt Shutara use her own beautiful yet deadly blade, knowing it must have been futile in the face of their most dire threat yet.

However, this new creature that emerged troubled her. This self proclaimed Hollow, Szayelapporo Granz, seemed to be one of Aizen's Espada. Yet, from the feel of his reiryoku, he appeared to have similar properties to that of Aaroniero when she had made earlier contact with the transcendent Arrancar's reiatsu.

Thankfully his attacks had been simple and experimental. Bala, Cero and physical attacks with his hands or feet. She countered or dodged most of them, yet found his Hierro the most troubling. No matter the angle, force or position of her strikes, none could get past it save for his sleeves and tight top detailing his muscular yet slim body.

"I think you should understand that your attacks are futile, Captain," Szayel began to say, brushing locks of his hair aside while smiling thinly at her. "I appreciate the effort, for sure. You do prove an entertaining specimen, and seem to keep up with me adequately. But is running around and swinging the sword all you're good at? Do you even have combat experience or the capacity to kill anything? What do you even do here?"

"You certainly love the sound of your own voice, Arrancar," Kirio airily spoke, raising her blade up with both hands with a black lipped smirk. "Did your colleagues in the Espada ever find you insufferable, or are you knowingly this pretentious?"

"My my, you certainly have better barbs for dialogue. If only your blade is as sharp as your tongue," He responded with a chuckle, waving his arms around emphasis while looking around his surroundings. It seemed to be a massive dining hall, well kept and devoid of damage, despite their intense battle. Clearly showing care in the make of the flooring to the seats, utensils and even the dishes used to prepare foods of all kinds.

"To answer your last question, I'm the cook for the Zero Division. Kirio Hikifune, designated as the Grain King," She answered lightly, pointing to a nearby seat with a hospitable smile. "Would you care to stay awhile? I had prepared some dishes in advance for my companions' expected victory over yours. Though I always make room for guests, so why not take a seat?"

"Enticing as that sounds, I don't think our sense of palates align, Captain Hikifune," He shrugged with a false air of politeness. "Unless you're putting in a dense amount of souls in there, I doubt I could even find my appetite whetted."

"You might find yourself surprised," Kirio said, gesturing with an upraised finger. "I never served a Hollow before, let alone an Arrancar. This may be an experience we both could learn from."

"Hmmmmm," Szayel pondered, clenching his chin while furrowing his brows.

After an uncertain amount of time passed, Espada Octava Szayelapporo Granz found himself taking a seat. Resting his Zanpakutō next to the chair, he placed a napkin on his lap and took out the utensils as if he had used them before; in truth, he had dined with Aizen before but only played at enjoying the food he ate as it never truly felt appetizing to him.

As the dish of curry is placed in front of him, he stared skeptically. The rising waft of steam coming off the broth smelled of spices and the sauce looked dark. The meats had a nice assembly with the rice, with a slew of vegetables placed for a balanced meal of nutrition. All these things well and good, for any soul not a Hollow.

Looking at Kirio, then at the plate, back to her and then the plate.

"Go on! Try it!" She enthused.

"I don't see why I agreed to this," He sighed.

Taking a pair of chopsticks he grasped a piece of meat, raising it tentatively up to his mouth. Placing it into his mouth, something happened.

A waft of heat, a stirring trail of spice and the texture of the protein flowed over his tongue. His eyes widened, tears forming in them and his mouth gushed with saliva. Swallowing it, a rush of reishi filled his gullet, a tantalizing sensation cascaded into his very being.

"It's…it's…GOOD!" He exclaimed with sudden, rising jubilation. Eyes showered with tears, an ecstatic smile stretching ear to ear, desperately putting more and more into his mouth in a feverous rush to eat the whole bowl. "I can feel everything! The texture of the meat, the sauce complementary to the spice, the substance of the rice and vegetables! What's more, the reishi within is more nutritious, more satisfying than any concoction of Hollow I've dined upon!"

"I'm honored to hear such praises," Kirio gushed with a hand placed over her chest, a smile genuinely spread across her face. "Would you like more?"

"YES!" He exclaimed excitedly.

What followed came as an ensemble of voracious consumption. The serving sizes were large, the quality substantial and the sounds Szayel made were unrestrained glee. To him, this truly is a once in a lifetime experience to enjoy such cuisine made in the Royal Palace of the Soul King.

But to Kirio, this simply isn't all as it seemed.

Finishing his meal, he wiped his mouth with the napkin and dabbed the stains his eyes made over his face.

"So, what did you think? You feel sated, even for the moment?"

"More than that, I feel…content?" Szayel pondered, placing the napkin onto the plate while eyeing her curiously. "Tell me the recipe. I must know how you brought about a dish both pleasing and filling."

"The food is all grown, butchered and served here," She said with a wave to the dining hall and the rest of her floating city. "I'm charged with cooking for not just the servants employed here, but also the Captains of the Zero Division. Each of them need to keep their strength up since we are all responsible for the safeguarding of the Royal Palace of the Soul King."

"I understand that part, but the ingredients," Szayel emphasized verbally with insisting. "I must know. Did you use souls? Not even the FEED pills I used out of Menos give off such a weight of satisfaction."

"Ah, that," She waves off with a cheery smile. "That's all me."

Szayel stopped.

His eyes widened behind his spectacles, his smile dropping.

"You…must be joking," He slowly stuttered, his face paling with a dawning realization. "You're solely responsible for…all the energy I can feel flooding my veins?"

"Not just you, but every Royal Guard here," Kirio implored with a gesture to her bosom. "I'm normally a lot more plumper than you see me now as. I use a great deal of reiatsu when I put these wonderful dishes together. Every strand of this energy, this super reiatsu, is coming off me and me alone."

"Impossible!" Szayel stood up, his hand grasping his sword in alarm. "You need a legion of Menos to compare to one of your dishes. Yet you have enough energy to spare for a buffet of these large portions for me, and the rest of the Guard?!"

"Is it that strange to comprehend? I've been here a mere hundred years, yet my growth to this level is only thanks to my research in Soul modification," She explained. "Manipulation of spiritrons yields many interesting results. An example, the way you take dead bodies still retaining reiatsu, to twisting its shape and even reinvigorating it to create life from rebirth. That's my area of expertise: Modular Souls."

Mod Souls? Szayel pondered, his hands clenching his sheathed Zanpakutō. She's a scientist, then. And if she's a Royal Guard, who empowers the Zero Division, and can produce energy of this scale so effortlessly…

Shiiiiiiink!

"If you're as intelligent as you claim, then my only reference for dabbling in modification of souls are myself, a Captain I unfortunately had an altercation with not long ago, and Sōsuke Aizen," He proclaimed, unsheathing the blade in a slow, gradual sound as he eyed her warily. "I thank you for the hospitality, but I just can't let you live. A vital member such as yourself can't stand in my way at this point; not when I have more to lose at this point than any further."

"Then it's a shame," Kirio said, a soft tone escaping her smiling face. "I hope your last meal was worth it."

Reave.

Szayelapporo Granz felt it too late. His eyes widened, his skin cracking, and his body convulsing. He felt his nerves inflamed, cells destroyed and something spreading throughout his system.

"I-Impossible!" He exclaimed, looking down at his crumbling hand that dropped his blade. "Your food didn't have poison! I'd have detected and purged it!"

"There indeed wasn't poison in any of those dishes," She affirmed, raising her sword upright. It caught his eyes that it changed in shape, no longer a katana but something with a pair of forked tips; it looked to be a cooking instrument, but longer and having something ebb off its edges. "This is my Zanpakutō, Ginbatta. It releases a slew of organisms any time my blade makes contact with a living being. These are benign until I activate it, awakening themselves and feasting on spiritual bodies. The food you ate merely excited them, speeding the process of your destruction."

"You bitch-!" He snarled out, swinging an arm to claw at her. It turned to dust before it touched her, her face smiling and staring at him. Even as he felt his body wither away, he couldn't help but scream out in terror.

"I can't die here! I'm so close! I can't just-!"

"Don't cry, Hollow," She said, watching him fall to his knees and turn to dust before her gaze, drifting away from her sight. "You'll be reborn anew in the cycle once more."

Sealing her Zanpakutō and putting it back into its scabbard, she turned and walked away, heading to the front entrance of her Palace. She'd feel a shake rumble the city, a beam of reishi slice through the outer perimeter from above.

"I should head to Nimaiya, the strength of his foes are starting to exceed what we planned for," She surmised aloud, bending her knees to jump.

Only for a blade to thrust through her gut from behind.

"Guh!" She gasped, jumping forward and forced the blade out while turning around with her blade in a brandished arc at the source. Connecting with Szayel's sword, she saw him smiling thinly, his eyes concealed by a glare of light of the blue canopy heavens.

"Did you think me a fool to not study you ahead of time?" He asked belligerently with a deep throated chuckle. "The body you so caringly dispatched was a mere stand-in. I used the shadows to conceal myself, watching you and puppeteering my double from the cover of darkness. You know it as an imitation of Aaroniero's Calavera, but I lack Aaroniero's finesse. I can only manage one double per use, but it works wonders for disguise, doesn't it?"

She stepped back, swinging her blade around, whiffing past Szayel as he maneuvered adeptly around her strike. Stabbing her arm, he tore it off in a bloody stroke, his other arm surging out to grasp her neck and lift her off the ground with ease.

"Your Zanpakutō may have been a threat before, but now I know how it functions, it's useless against me," He said, his smile stretching his teeth open, bared before her in a menacing display. "And now I'll consume you, taking all of that delicious power of yours for myself!"

"You really do like to talk, don't you?" Kirio scoffed with a smirk, eyes sparking blue as she jabbed a finger at his chest.

"Bakudo #60, Rikujokoro!"

"What?!" He cried out, feeling six prisms of golden light jab into his body from multiple angles. Paralyzed in place, she grabbed his arm and smiled, her body lighting up with a revving shriek.

And then, everything exploded in the Grain Palace. An enormous dome of swollen fire with every piece of flotsam and jetsam spreading out in fiery shrapnel that hailed across the empty blue-turned-red vista of Heaven.

Emerging from the center of the floating city, within a crater, stood Szayel. His arm gone but the rest of his body hissed from the intense heat of the explosion that burned away around him. Regenerated in a gesture of his stump, he looked over his shoulder, he eyed Kirio stepping into the charred center of the blast site.

Sword in hand, a smile playing at her dark lips, eyes glowing a menacing stare as her hair undulated like water as her Haori billowed with her kosode and hakama. Her reiatsu swept by, dousing the flames and blowing past his glaring visage.

"I, too, can make doubles using Mod Souls," Kirio confessed with a deeper, melodic tone compared to her earlier airy, innocent sounding lilt. "I call it, Reigai. A sample of my own reiatsu, and my Zanpakutō, creates the most convincing replica of the authentic article. Though not as strong and prone to bloodlust, I can alter the degree of strength depending on the sample I'm working with. Who knows," She paused, raising her katana up in a presenting manner, "maybe I'm still just a replication of the real Kirio Hikifune?"

"Interesting technology you have, Captain," Szayel complimented, a smile of his own working its way up begrudgingly to his own face. "But I wonder just how many tricks you have at your disposal before I catch you for real?"

"Time will tell, Arrancar," Kirio replied.

In a flicker of space shunting, both crashed against one another. Pinkish Hollowified Reiatsu crashing against Amber Shinigami Reiatsu, the pair sharing deranged smiles as their eyes glared manically at each other. Sword against sword, their battle reignited with furious fervor.

Just as a golden light erupted from the long entrance platform to the Soul Palace.

Ouetsu Nimaiya and Aisubeki Gādian. The pair were considered to be unparalleled in battle, second to only the likes of Ichibei, and just below them are their colleagues in the Zero Division under favorable circumstances. Aisubeki herself is considered such a powerful Zanpakutō that she nearly destroyed the palace in a fit trying to find Nimaiya.

Now united against a pair of enemies unlike any from the last thousand years, they found their complete attention taken up by one of the pair in particular.

Coyote Starrk, joined with his other half, Lilynette Gingerbuck. In their Resurreccion, they went from being a decent distraction to taking all their concentration to focus on them.

He blitzed across the air in rapid bouts of Sonído, bearing two elaborate designed pistols. Firing off deep blue Cero, each one packing enough punch to level buildings on their own. On their own, nothing to worry about.

But Aisubeki's top arms, the Hands of Enlightenment, were deflecting a multitude of blasts heading her way. The middle arms, the Hands of Mortality, were swinging aggressively at him while he dodged and wove around her counterattacks with expertise and nimble grace. Leaping over one, kicking off another, spinning away from another, all while firing Cero after Cero from his guns at her. Even with her lower arms, the Hands of Judgement, he moved too quick to be nabbed by her Reishi Cage or be struck by the eruption of flames she sent his way.

He's too fast! Aisubeki said to Ouetsu in his mind, her blades spinning around at Starrk, cutting through the air as he Sonído away from each counterstrike she made as he continued to fire Cero at her. I've never seen a Hollow move so quickly before!

Only a few I can count on one hand, baby, Nimaiya affirmed, his smoke handle sweeping about as Gin pressured him from the side, discharging his sword with streaks of light with every slash and thrust. This Shinigami guy is also real tough. He's keeping me from backing you up, and I think he's starting to gain ground!

I don't know if we can take both of them at once! We might have to-

"Absolutely not!" Nimaiya suddenly shouted out loud. He blocked another faster than sight thrust of Gin's Zanpakutō, spinning around and launching a Kidō of gold straight at him. He saw him Shunpo away, suddenly above him, sword held against his chest while aiming down; Nimaiya's face paled and eyes wide with alarm at this.

"Butō Renjin!" He said with a leering grin, unleashing a storm of light like rain down upon him. Nimaiya spun his smoke wreathed weapon, avoiding the vast amount of blows, while some pierced the vaporous trail and slashed across his arms in spurts of red.

"Ngh!" He grimaced, slashing up in an arc of blue, Gin bowing back in a graceful flip away from him.

"Tsu-Tsu!" Aisubeki cried out.

Click!

Realizing too late as Starrk stepped past her arms and placed a gun into her chest. Her eyes looked on aghast, seeing a black orb swell within the barrel, poised to discharge into her soft flesh.

"Cero Oscuras!" He whispered, a massive surge of darkness that howled over her person. The pillars lined up behind her were reduced to dust, and the top half of Kirinji's distant city became carved over the top, the darkness of the Cero shooting into the far away infinite distance.

In the surge of reishi that poised to erase her, Starrk saw something had stopped his most powerful attack. A golden gleaming pagoda had formed, cracked around the seams from where he fired. All six hands had clapped together, and Aisubeki looked flustered behind the overcast of yellow shining over her blue skinned physique.

"Sorry I had to take control, baby, but this is going south real fast," Ouetsu intoned, his offhand pushing himself upright, while his dominant arm held the blade at his side. He had a forlorn expression, his eyes unseen with a melancholy he normally didn't express. "It's not that I don't want to. But I know what's going to happen if we do it."

"It's okay," She responded, her voice gentle and her face looking down at him with a contented look in her eyes. "My purpose is for you to use me, and to defend the Soul Palace. Nothing would give me greater joy than to fulfill that purpose I was created for."

"Push come to shove, I'd rather I die than put you through this. But, the stakes are too high right now," He admitted, jumping up to be face to face with the large Zanpakutō woman. Looking at her in the eyes, he stroked her cheek and brushed her hair softly. "I love you, Aisu."

"And I love you, Ouetsu Nimaiya," She sighed, her mouth embracing his in a tender embrace.

Bankai

Ein no Koibito

A column of light erupted from the pagoda, shattering it and blowing a massive thuum of blue smoke across the empty sky. Starrk backed up, raising an arm to shield his visible eye of the brilliant flare of light. Gin opened his eyes, seeing something behind the smoke, swirling around and shaping into being.

As the smoke unveiled the figure, the shine of gold dimmed, revealing a divine form. Violet skin enamored over a smaller woman, taller than both men, with her ponytail now a curtain of waving black locks. The golden bracelets on six arms are replaced by two with intricate markings of lines and bars leading up to a pair of bare palms clasped together. A sleeveless tunic bearing the Zero Division wrapped over her shoulders, unbound to reveal two bountiful breasts with golden caps placed over the tips. The red tattoo over her forehead has opened, revealing the third eye that resembles Nimaiya's, save for the violet rings swirling within that had six tomoe dottint the lines; a nice complement to the red swirling eyes she still possessed. Her skirt lapsed ghostly over thick thighs and muscular calves to golden ringed toes.

Cross-legged upon a cloud of blue smoke, what looked like a blooming golden flower emerged behind her back. Yet, on closer inspection, both could see it: hundreds, no, thousands of golden as swaying like reeds in the wind. Fanning behind her like the tail of a peacock, she smiled and spoke; her voice a double timbre of both Nimaiya and herself.

"Feel honored, to having the privilege of seeing a Bankai the likes of which none alive have seen," They spoke in unison, Aisu's right hand separated from the solitary still left praying hand.

Pointing forward, Starrk gasped. A flash of light and he disappeared in Sonído, dashing to the far right next to the tower of fabric. Turning to look back, he saw her right behind him, hands in the praying stance it had been before.

"Cero," He began to growl, twisting on the ball of his feet and launched a massive spread of compact Bala from his right pistol; aimed straight at her face. "Escopeta!"

A singular finger raised up, stopping all the blasts, dispelling them in a spray of sparks. Starrk's eye widened, seeing swell of whirring light emerge from the finger.

SHEEEEEOOOOOOOOW!

Blasting the Primera in a streak of gold straight through the fabric tower, toppling it in a shrieking shockwave. As it toppled in gored strings, a beam of light shot towards the back of her head. A blur of motion came as her body spun along the cloud seat, a single hand shooting up and snatching the elongated blade.

"Your Kamishini no Yari can't reach me any longer, Gin Ichimaru," They said, her three eyes glaring at his surprised blue orbs. "Prepare to return to the cycle, traitor."

A wraith of motion came from above, casting a shadow overhead. Pistol poised at where she hovered, a swell of blue came at the barrel, and a deep mutter.

"Cero Metralletta!"

Rainfall of blue came in the form of streaking bluish white. It met a rising wave of golden arms, brushing each destructive blast aside, sending a series of whistling discharges cascading wildly across the Royal Palace's cloud filled canopy. During this, the blade she caught slipped from her grasp, causing one eye to look Gin's way while deflecting Starrk's storm of Cero.

He lurched forward, low to the ground, gliding swiftly like a snake up to her with wakizashi in hand. A barrage of lightning quick slashes struck at her, meeting a myriad of phantom golden arms that parried his attacks effortlessly.

A faint tap of feet reached the downed tower, surprised that she still felt the storm of thundering Cero from above. Starrk raised his gun, pointed with another swell of blue from the barrel.

"Cero Metralletta," He breathed, unleashing another storm of rapid firing bluish white at her.

Clapping her hands together, the flower bloom of arms behind her spun around, becoming two enormous golden fists. The Primera saw her speed up, his Cero slowing in his Pesquisa's sight. Throwing her hands out faster than either could see, they rammed into the Cero and slashing Zanpakutō, all while thrashing the last of the downward firing Cero.

Gin felt himself pushed back as he leaped on instinct away, caught up by a bludgeoning burst of reiatsu that sent him streaking off the platform into the cloud filled abyss beyond. Starrk saw it, leaping up and above the fist, using Sonído to reach Gin in a single leaping bound. Grasping him by the sleeve, his eyes opened wide as he looked up what looked behind the Primera.

Starrk looked back, and saw a multitude l arrangement of golden palms formed from both hands aimed at him by the hovering Zanpakutō-Shinigami.

"Fist of Enlightenment: One Thousand God Palms!" They both shouted, raining thunderous blows down towards them. Starrk swung a pistol around, firing a Cero into the first dozen; only for several dozen more rammed straight into his body and swept past to bash into Gin as well.

The pair throttled across the sky, repeatedly battered by the massive spectral limbs. Throwing them across the expansive vista, the pair found themselves hit mightily overhead into a deep ocean below the clouds.

Distantly, a number of scraggly dressed women watched on with scrutiny at the battle unfolding. Seeing Ein no Koibito float downwards, they knew of the stakes if she's being used. Stopping just above the ocean's surface, a ripple fluttering beneath across the vast sea, they peered with skeptical eyes.

Gesturing a finger to the left, a horde of golden fingers fired like bullets across the length of the sea. Blowing upward in large plumes of water, a pair of silhouettes leaped out and streaked around the many shots headed their way.

Skating across the water, Starrk fired a slew of Cero Metralletta with one hand, cancelling out the horde of finger bullets. Gin sped through the blasts, slithering in between the explosions while aiming to get closer to the Bankai incarnation.

Slicing a palm upwards, a massive rift of slicing pressure tore straight at Gin, forcing him to skate dangerously close as it tore the front of his white cloak and his teal obi. Reaching her proximity he swung his blade in a blur of expanding light.

BLAM!

Only to be slammed by a large golden palm from overhead, throttled deep into the sea below in an explosion of reiatsu and water.

"Futile," They said, turning to punch the air, denting a buzzing image of Starrk as he Sonído into the predicted strike. Blood spouted from his mouth, followed up with a thunderous slap that bodily skipped him across the sea like a stone. Rolling over the surface of liquid, he growled, clawing at the top while forcing him to stay above the water's precipice.

"Starrk!" Lilynette yelled out in fright.

"I'm not done yet!" He snapped, raising a pistol up, revving it with a whir. "I won't stop till we both get what we came for!"

"I don't mean that, I mean-!"

Before he could catch on her meaning, Gin emerged from the water, thrusting at Ein no Koibito from the cover of blasting vapor. The blade's tip is clapped by both hands, stopping it an inch away from the third eye. He looked bloody, not showing his usual smile, and squinted open a blue eye defiantly at the large Zanpakutō woman.

"You're sturdier than I thought," They thought aloud. "I commend your tenacity as much as your skill to get this close to wounding me in this state. However, your fight ends here," they said, letting go of the blade.

"Don't!" Starrk howled out, coughing blood more as he clutched his chest.

"Fist of Enlightenment," They said, a radiant glow covered both separated hands.

SKKKKLRT!

"God's Blessed Blade!" They shouted, thrusting in an instant straight through Gin's chest.

"GULK!" He choked out a wafting flood of blood out of his mouth, feeling a searing heat slice through his insides like butter. The image seeped into Starrk and Lilynette's minds, having seen it with painful clarity.

A deep understanding unraveled in their minds. In the search for strong comrades to fill the void of loneliness, all they come across are more people important to them falling dead at their feet.

From Espada, to common Hollows, Kaname, Aizen, and now Gin.

Where did it end?

When will they break the curse?

Starrk, we can't keep doing this

I know, Lilynette. I'm just afraid…

Of death?

Of being alone, without you. I can't go through that again.

I know, Starrk. I know cause I feel it too. I'm afraid as well.

But we have to be strong now. We can't let our fear limit us anymore.

I know. Just know, I'll always be here for you, even if you can't see me.

Same here. No matter what happens…I'm glad to have been your friend.

VMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

As Gin's body hit the water, a sudden boom rushed across the sea. Ein no Koibito widened all three eyes, feeling an ominous rise of reiatsu followed by its erasure. The water below, followed by a point to the far left, became vaporized by a rolling wind of steam, stretching to every corner of the massive island sized basin.

A silhouette hovered in the air, long mane sweeping behind with a pair of red eyes glaring from the shadow swathing over it.

Ein no Koibito gestured, sending a storm of golden finger bullets at them. Fading away like a mirage, the merged pair heard a rustling of cloth, following Gin's body being caught. They swung a hand around, slicing into the vaporized sea floor and whiffing through another afterimage.

Landing a dozen meters away, a hand placed over Gin's chest. Bluish white energy poured into his wound, sealing it shut in seconds and breathing life back into him. As Ein no Koibito stared wide eyed, Gin cracked his eyes open, seeing a strange sight.

"Starrk?" He croaked out.

"You're partly right," A soft voice, deep yet familiar, responded. Gray fur wafted between a set of well endowed breasts and a hole just over the sternum, broad shoulders naked at the collarbones to the top of furry arms down to white haired forearms to black gloved hands. A smooth waist merged to a furred back, leading to muscular hips to furred gray thighs that complemented a sleeve of white fur over calves and shins down to a pair of black socked feet. A deep emerald head of hair, arching up at the top like a spiking frock swept back in a thigh long curtain of smooth locks. A strong jawed face with soft cheeks, a short nose and deep red eyes shined compassionately at Gin.

"My name's Lilia Starrk," She introduced herself with a genuine smile. "I'm the Primera."

A/N: Whooooooooooooooooooo!

Loved writing for this Chapter. First thought of making it solely about Aaroniero vs Ichibei, but I'm going to be honest, Ichibei's hax abilities in Canon kinda make it hard to make a legitimate back and forth between Aaroniero and him without it being a game of Asspull Keep Away. I do like what I came up with, but you can see I became far more involved with Szayel vs Kirio, and more importantly, Nimaiya/Aisu vs Gin/Starrk & Lilynette.

Szayel to me is a fun character in the sense his haughtiness demands comeuppance of some kind. Unlike where Aaroniero has an entertaining sense of ego and narcissistic demeanor that you can argue is justified, Szayel is built completely on Hax Cheats. Even compared to Zommari, Szayelapporo Granz can hardly hold a candle to any opponent he hadn't already spent weeks or months prepared to fight and negate their abilities. I'd love to see him run his mouth on Kenpachi Zaraki and see how far that gets him. But just as well, I wanted my favorite of the Royal Guard get a chance to shine and show off her intelligence and what I'd argue is likely blasting the most raw reiatsu of the five next to Ichibei. (And yes, I reference the Reigai, cause fuck Kageroza's Filler Ass, Kirio should be the one to come up with any kind of Mod Soul since she's the inventor of the concept.)

Ouetsu Nimaiya's Zanpakutō is one of my most favorite creations in Fanfiction. Not just because I get to have a Djinn from Magi as a basis for appealing design, but also give a lot of wild and crazy abilities that can feasibly function as a Zanpakutō. And since Zanpakutō Fusions, or Mergers has been a concept for awhile (all the way back to the First Filler OVA about the renegade Captain who fused with his Zanpakutō) I thought this rare idea could function as a Forbidden level of power not sought after for a series of reasons. Reasons I'll get into the next chapter.

But yeah, the moment the Bankai is released, it became obvious that the two were outmatched, so something had to give. And since I see Starrk as one of those wells of boundless untapped potential, I decided them awakening is the best path for their triumph over their curse of Loneliness. But to anyone in doubt, yes, Lilia Starrk is a woman.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I did writing it! See you all in the next update!