a/n - Once more, another new chapter =D, enjoy
"One…hit…k.o" Kon muttered in awe, staring at Isshin's back
"This is ridiculous… is that really Ichigo's stupid dad?"
"Did you have your revenge?"
Isshin looked up at the newcomer
"So you came… Urahara"
"Long time no see, Isshin-san, looks like you are as good as ever"
"Why so serious?" Isshin asked
"Well, I figured if you'd become weaker… and you decided to blame me… it might be a pain"
"Pfft" Isshin sounded derisive "If I'd become weaker I wouldn't blame you, I'd just accept it and move on"
"So, how does it feel… being back in that body, the Shinigami form that you abandoned twenty years ago?"
Isshin sighed
"So-so"
"Are you free from guilt now?" Urahara asked lightly
"I guess so… it was less about the hollow itself as it was, my lack of ability to save Masaki on that night"
"With that attitude… you look like your son"
"Hell no I don't" Isshin said, adopting a grimace
"Speaking of which… did you notice?"
"Yeah"
"It's just like you said…they contacted him and Trell-san as well"
"The Vizards huh… a group of criminals that gained hollow powers"
"To contact Kurosaki-san and Trell-san then it must mean"
"Yeah, they're probably preparing as well… just like us, then they felt it too, the sudden growth of the Arrancar"
"Then that hollow you just killed, it was an Arrancar wasn't it" Urahara asked, tipping his hat down
"Yeah, but compared to all the fake arrancar we've seen before, this one was much… much more powerful, the mock arrancar had gotten nowhere near that level…in the past few decades?"
Urahara nodded
"You know as well as I do, that Sousuke Aizen is responsible for this… after contacting the fake arrancar… he is using the Hogyoku to create real arrancar, That one was powerful… but confused, I believe it was a prototype… very soon he'll lead proper arrancar to take over the Menos Grande and emerge from the darkness to swallow our world"
Isshin stopped, and glanced at Urahara
"What are we going to do then?"
"We'll think of something, both of our friends and foes will take action… Us, Kurosaki-san and Trell-san, The Vizards and of course… Soul Society"
In class the next day, the thoughts running through Ichigo's heads could not be slowed
"We are the Vizards"
Shinji's face appeared in Ichigo's mind, along with images of His and Layne's transformations
"And you are one of us… you don't belong with them"
Sitting over in the corner, similar thoughts were going through Uryuu's head
"You have to swear to forgo all dealings with the Shinigami, now and in the future"
Behind Ichigo, even Layne's head was too messed up enough for him to forgo having his head down on the table and sleeping
"Do you know… what this is?"
"Yeah" Layne replied mentally in his own head "It's the mask of a murderer"
"You seem to dislike me more and more as the days go on"
"I thought my head talking back to me had finished already"
An enthusiastic greeting shook both Layne and Ichigo from their reverie
"Good morning Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime and Shinji greeted almost in union
"Hirako… he came to school like nothing happened"
Layne noted it as well
"I wonder if that girl will also turn up"
"Ah morning…ah Hirako-kun?" Orihime said tentatively
"You remembered my name!" Shinji said excitedly, he hugged her "Morning Orihime-chan!"
"WHAT WAIT A MINUTE YOU!" Keigo instantly yelled out
"What? You're noisy"
"I'm going to forestall this whole argument here" Ichigo muttered, grabbing Shinji by the shirt and dragging him outside "Let's take a walk"
"What's with Ichigo… he doesn't usually do anything in these types of situations" The classes general discussion was
Orihime was surprised, but she quickly glanced at Chad, Uryuu and Layne
Chad nodded, Layne got up and left the room, and Uryuu purposely avoided her gaze
Ichigo slammed Shinji into the wall
"Ow!, that hurt" Shinji complained "Why are you getting all defensive, it's not like you could get a chick like Orihime"
"That's not it" Ichigo said "But you should apologize to her later… I want to know why you are still coming to school, if I've said no, and then you have no reason to be here"
"What the… you actually thought I'd give up after just one attempt? Ichigo, I'm a very persistent person, I'll keep bugging you about it until you say yes"
Shinji pushed Ichigo off him and stood up "It's too late anyway, any choice you had in this matter was eliminated when your hollow mask showed up… once a Vizard, always a Vizard"
Ichigo was silent
"You think that your friends are with you… as soon as the hollow takes over, he'll destroy them, along with your family and your future"
Shinji adopted a wicked grin
"I believe you can feel him getting stronger every day… so come with me, Ichigo… I'll teach you how to keep your sanity in check"
"What about Layne?" Ichigo asked
"What about him?" Shinji asked "If he doesn't come too same fate is in store for him… come with me Ichigo, I'll teach you how to keep your sanity in check"
Around the corner, leaning against the wall, Layne let out the breath he was holding
"I'm glad I was listening from here" he muttered to himself "If he'd told me that straight out I probably would have shat myself"
After school, Shinji was walking by himself down the side of a road, when suddenly he was kicked into the wall
He turned around swearing angrily, to see a small girl in a red tracksuit, wearing a large katana slung over her back
"Hiyori!"
Hiyori removed a sandal from her foot and caught it in her hand
Shinji went pale with fear
"How long do you want to take on this dumbass!" she yelled at him, emphasizing each syllable with a sizeable sandal slap
"Sorry!" Shinji replied
"Where is Kurosaki Ichigo!"
"Not yet!" Shinji replied hastily
"What the hell do you mean not yet, I told you to say whatever was necessary to get him"
"I can talk all I want, but if he's not listening, he's not listening… same goes for the other one"
"I don't give a shit about the other one" Hiyori snarled
"…found you" Orihime said quietly, approaching them from behind with Chad
"Orihime-chan…" Shinji said, as he and Hiyori turned around to look at them
"Shinji" Hiyori said calmly, beckoning him with one finger
Shinji approached carefully, surprised she hadn't started yelling yet
She grabbed him and headbutted him forcefully
"IDIOT! YOU WERE FOLLOWED!"
Unaffected by her outburst, Orihime began speaking
"We asked Trell-kun… and he said "Don't worry about it, I got it, and I think that if I asked Kurosaki-kun, he'd say it's nothing…so I thought I should ask you directly Hirako-kun… Who are you, and what do you want with Kurosaki-kun?"
Hiyori snorted with derision
"Did you think we'd actually tell you?"
At the Karakura Hospital, Uryuu walked into the director's room, without bothering to knock
Ryuuken looked up from his desk, unsurprised that he came
"There you are, now tell me your answer"
Uryuu instantly replied
"I want my powers back"
"And?"
Uryuu paused "…And I swear that I will never have anything to do with the Shinigami…or their friends ever again"
"Hiyori Sarugaki" Hiyori announced boldly
"Huh?" Orihime and Chad replied, taken aback
"What do you mean huh?" Hiyori asked "That's my name, what are yours?"
"Orihime Inoue" Orihime said
"Yasutora Sado" Chad followed suit
"HA!" Hiyori burst out "A princess and a tiger huh? Those are some pretty fancy names; we only have an Ape and a Hira… I'm really jealous of you two"
"What the heck is a Hira?" Shinji asked "So I'm the only one that isn't even a thing… don't include me if you aren't going to make it make sense"
Hiyori slapped him
"Also… what is with those huge boobs and long silky hair, looking at you makes me want to be sick"
"You have short hair and small boobs, your bias is beyond measure" Shinji said behind her "And your only targeting Orihime-chan"
Hiyori slapped him again
"Ah well" she said, reaching for her zanpakuto "I got nothing else to say now… so I guess I'll just kill you"
Before she could draw her Zanpakuto, Shinji grabbed her and started running
"Excuse us!" he called as he bailed
"Wait!" Orihime shouted desperately
"Inoue… stop" Chad said slowly
"Sado-kun"
"If we chase after them… we'll really get killed"
Ichigo crashed on his bed, deep in thought
"I can hear it… and I've seen it on another person as well, after I kicked him out during the fight with Byakuya… that mask that kept appearing disappeared and I heard that guy talking to me… egging me on, urging me to go further… taking over again in the fight with Kira for a short moment… and he's getting louder, I don't need Shinji to tell me that… if this keeps up, then he's devour me… and what should I do… about that?"
A similar train of thought had occurred to Layne
"I know what you are now"
"Feel like an idiot because it took you so long?"
"I never feel like an idiot"
"Well, I feel you are an idiot… and when this body is mine, there are going to be some serious changes around here… starting with the earrings"
"What makes you think you're getting the body?"
"Simple… you can't do a thing to stop me"
A sudden blast of reiatsu shook Layne from his reverie
"Whoa, what the hell is that?"
Layne knocked himself into Shinigami Form, and sprinted towards the direction of the pressure
Chad and Orihime were heading home, when they felt it too
"This is…"
The smoke rose from a large crater in the middle of what used to be the East Karakura Oval
Three figures emerged, all wearing wearing white and carrying swords hung at their belts
One was monstrously tall, dark skinned and wearing his vest open, exposing the unnaturally muscled chest and huge hole through it. What looked like the remains of a jawbone was around his neck and he had red markings from the corner of his eyes
The second stood in between the first and final one for height, with a closed shirt and a pale skin tone. He had a band over his eyes, touching the front of his ears on both sides and completely covering both eyes and he had dark green patterns on his forehead, additionally, his right hand, resting loosely over his sword… was a different color to his face and left hand
The final one was the shortest, with half his hair covered by a half rippled hat of some sort, and he had aqua marks around his eyes, which tracked down his face, making him look like he was permanently crying
"Man, I came here a few times with a mask on" The big one commented "But this is far more boring that I remember… and it's hard to breathe too"
"Quiet Yammy" The final one said "You insisted on coming, when I repeatedly said it would be fine with just the two of us"
The visored one said nothing, just began moving his head around
"Yeah yeah" Yammi brushed off, climbing out of the crater and looking around in confusion at the people milling around, wondering what had happened to cause such a large crater
"What's with all these people, why are they staring at me… I guess I'll just eat now"
Yammi made a motion like he was taking a deep breath and white things began soaring into him from all over, and the people who the white things exited from simply fell to the ground… dead"
"Yuck" Yammi commented, rubbing his gut
"Of course" The third one replied "How could such weak spirits have a good taste to them?"
"Well, they kept staring at me like I was a freak"
"They couldn't see us"
"Either way… how many more do we get to kill, Ulquiorra?
"One between you and I, Aizen has reserved another for Viisera…everyone else can safely be ignored"
"We have to find one bug…in this whole nest of them?
"I'm informed that in the human world, there are only four people of significant strength… it shouldn't be too hard to spot one"
Ulquiorra took notice of one person still breathing
"What a surprise" he commented, not sounding surprised at all "We have a survivor"
Tatsuki pulled herself up on her arms
"Is everyone dead… and who are they?"
Yammi approached her, grinning widely with malice
"You got hit with Gonzui… but your spirit didn't fly away… so I know you have a strong spirit"
"I'm going to faint" Tatsuki thought
"Ulquiorra!" Yammi yelled "Is she it?"
"Look carefully fool" Ulquiorra replied "She can barely stay conscious from being near you… she's trash"
"So it was only coincidence you survived the Gonzui" Yammi said, sounding disappointed "Bye then!"
Yammi aimed a light kick at her, which would have killed her, had Chad not appeared from nowhere and blocked the kick with Right Arm of The Giant
"Huh?" Yammi said "Who the hell are you?"
"Crap" Chad thought "Even though it was only a half hearted kick… it had so much power, I was right, Inoue wouldn't be able to stand against this guy"
To Orihime behind him
"Inoue, take Arisawa and run, just like we planned"
"Ok… Sado-kun, be careful" she replied
"Ulquiorra!" Yammi shouted "Is this guy it?"
"Yammi… if you actually bothered to train your observational skills, it would be clear to you that… he is trash too"
"Alright then!"
Chad charged up a blast
Orihime turned around, with a look of horror on her face
Yammi dropped Chad, his right arm ripped in two, and from his arm socket
Orihime dropped Tatsuki and ran back to Chad
"Ulquiorra" Yammi said slowly, enunciating every syllable "Is this girl… trash too?"
"These two are too strong… Sado-kun must have known we couldn't do a thing… so he chose to stay behind and protect Tatsuki-chan and I"
"Yeah" Ulquiorra confirmed "She's trash as well"
"Oh yeah!" Yammi said with jubiliation, poking straight forwards, intending to kill Orihime with a single finger
"Santen Kesshun" Orihime muttered
The triangular golden shield blocked Yammi's finger, but cracked at the point of impact
Orihime stood up behind it
"What's the deal with this one?" Yammi muttered in confusion
"Soten Kesshun" she muttered, and another golden shield extended over the remains of Chad's arm, slowly causing it to reform
"Whoa! She can heal too… come to think of it… how is that guy still alive? he's fairly durable"
Ulquiorra took another look at Orihime
"Heal… no, that is not healing… it's more like the reversal of time… or the replacement of space, I've never seen such a technique before"
Out loud he said "What a strange human"
Beside him, Visera nodded, his messy brown hair falling slightly over his visor
"I have to think of something to hold these three off… until Kurosaki-kun can get here… no, why am I thinking about falling back on him already… I need to get rid of them before Kurosaki-kun can get here… then he can have a little peace of mind"
"Tsubaki!"
A golden streak flew around her
"I will protect everyone"
"Koten Zanshun!"
The golden streak of light flew at Yammi, who raised an eyebrow in confusion, and caught Tsubaki in his giant hand, crushing it and dropping the fragments to the ground
"What was that, a fly?" Yammi asked, grinning
"Tsubaki-kun… how?" Orihime despaired
Yammi approached her
"What should I do with this one Ulquiorra… she knows some strange tricks, should we bring her to Aizen-san"
"That's not necessary, Kill her Yammi"
"Ok then"
Yammi brought an open palm down, this time with enough force to ignore her shield if she used it again
He was stopped by a sword point
"Who the hell are you?" Yammi asked Ichigo
Next to Ulquiorra, Visera put a hand on his sword, as if to charge forwards, but Ulquiorra threw a hand up
"This one isn't yours" he warned
"Kurosaki-kun" Orihime said behind him
"Sorry, Inoue… I'm late" Ichigo said, looking her in the eye
"No… I'm sorry, if I was a little stronger…"
"Don't apologize Inoue… but don't worry either, everything will be fine after I beat up all these three!"
Ichigo pointed Zangetsu forwards, holding it with both hands
"Bankai! Tensa Zangetsu!"
The familiar black long sword appeared in his hand
Ichigo took a few steps forward
"Inoue… run"
"Did he say Bankai?" Yammi asked, scratching his head "Ulquiorra, is this our one?"
"Yeah, I'm amazed that your senseless rampage brought him our so easily, Orange Hair, and Black Bankai…he is our target Yammi"
"Lucky! Yammi said "I've saved us the trouble of tracking you down!"
Yammi closed his fist and made a straight punch
Ichigo brought Tensa Zangetsu up and stopped it easily
"Are you the one… who ripped off Chad's right arm?"
"So what?" Yammi asked
"Then… I'm going to take your right arm too"
Ichigo pushed Yammi back, and leapt up, slicing through Yammi's arm easily
Ulquiorra opened his eyes wider, and Visera made a small noise of surprise
"Strange that he cut through it so easily" Visera commented, speaking for the first time, revealing a tenor tone, with a slight Canadian accent
Ulquiorra nodded
a/n - Annnnd thats a wrap (at least for this chapter (h))
Visera, OC Arrancar of my own design, with probably a few more to come
Proceeding apace, good amount of speed in between chapters (i think so)
Cheers for the reviews for the last chapter =D