"Has the tea made its way around to everyone?" Aizen asked lightly, eyeing the room around him, a collection of the most fearsome threats to the Soul Society ever gathered, including Yammy, Ulquiorra, Grimmjow, Mollow, Visera and the remaining Espada sitting around a large black table with a cup of tea
"Now then, please listen while you drink" He continued, before taking a sip of his own tea
"Kaname, Visual please"
"Yes sir" Tousen acknowledge, pulling a lever and causing a visual to display, bringing up an image of Ichigo, Layne, Chad and Ishida running through the white desert sands of Hueco Mundo
"There are three intruders" Aizen began, explaining the image they saw in front of them "Ishida Uryu, Sado Yasutora, Layne Trell, and Kurosaki Ichigo"
"These are our enemies?" An Espada asked, his face concealed by an elongated white mask, covered in holes, presumably to see
"What the?" Another one added, this one had the appearance of an old man, withered with age and covered in scars "When you said we were under attack, I wondered what kind of people they were, but they're still just youngsters"
"They're not the least bit arousing" A third one added, with pink hair, and a hollow mask in the shape of glasses
"Do not take them lightly" Aizen chided "These are the humans formerly known as Ryoka, who with just five people marched into the Soul Society and challenged the Gotei 13 to battle
"Four people… they're short one, who's missing?" Another one asked, tall and muscular, dark skinned with skull earrings, he was bald but the remains of his hollow mask formed a sort of bony Mohawk
"Inoue Orihime" Ulquiorra replied curtly
"That's great" Yet another one of the Espada chimed in, a tall man with no meat on his bones, wearing an eyepatch over his left eye "That means they came to save their friend, but they look so weak"
"Did you not hear Aizen-sama?" A female espada replied, olive skinned and golden haired, glaring at the previous Espada to speak with her eyes the only thing being visible over her high collared jacket "I believe he said not to take them lightly
"That's not what I meant, you scared or something?"
Forestalling a confrontation beween the two Espada, Grimmjow rose abruptly, and started walking towards the door, his newly restored hand in his pocket
"Grimmjow, where are you going?" Tousen asked
"To kill them" Grimmjow replied "It's best to crush insects quickly once they've gotten inside right?"
"Aizen-sama has not given any orders yet, go back"
"It's on Aizen-sama's behalf that I'm gonna going crush them!"
"Grimmjow" Aizen interrupted, turning on the full force of his spiritual pressure and bringing Grimmjow to his knees "I'm pleased that you would mobilize on my behalf, but I'm still in the middle of talking, so for now would you please return to your seat?"
Grimmjow complied, reluctantly and fell back in line
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Espada, as you can see there are three enemies, underestimating them would be foolish… but there is also no need to make a fuss, each of you return to your chambers and behave as you would normally, just sit and wait for the enemy"
Ichigo collapsed in the sand with a loud exhalation, exhausted from his run, with Layne, Chad and Ishida sitting around him, also panting from their exertions
"Damn, we run and we run, but it doesn't feel like we're getting any closer, is that palace even there, it's not a mirage or something is it?"
"It's not a mirage, there's no way we could see one here" Ishida shot back "Shall I explain the theory behind mirages so that it's easy to understand?"
"No thank you" Ichigo said quickly
To Layne's left he noticed a small lizard like hollow stealthily creeping across the ground, but when it became aware of Layne's scrutiny, it dug itself a hole and disappeared beneath the sands
"You know, there are more small creatures here than I expected" Layne said, referencing the lizard hollow "But how can these small ones get enough food to survive, there wouldn't be many human souls here I'd imagine"
"Hueco Mundo has a high level of reishi in the atmosphere" Ishida explained "Maybe the small ones get all the nourishment they need just from breathing"
"I'm calling bullshit, how can you know about the atmosphere reishi concentration" Ichigo muttered
"Because the Quincy are a clan that fight by using the spirit particles around them, so we do a lot better when the concentration is high, I noticed it in the last fight, If I get the hand of it, I should be able to use my powers much better here than in the human world or Soul Society"
Layne stared at the sky as Ichigo began ribbing Ishida about the similarity to a hollow; while it was true he felt a lot better here in Hueco Mundo than he did, that was also cause for concern because it may also be because of the Hollow inside him
Idly, he glanced around, ignoring Ichigo and Ishida still arguing and noticing that Chad seemed lost in thought as he contemplated his arm
Ishida stood up, attracting all attention to him again
"Anyway, the fact that the spirit particle concentration is high is something that not just I, but also the Arrancar will take advantage of"
Layne, Chad and Ichigo also stood up while Ishida continued to monologue
"We don't know to what extent Aizen is making Arrancar, or his level of control over them, but even if they're not affiliated with Aizen, we're both foe and food, so even if it looks like a normal hollow, we should be wary as they likely have a huge increase in power due to the nature of Hueco Mundo"
"So we're the away team playing against the home field advantage eh?" Layne asked
Ishida nodded and began to answer before Ichigo cut him off
"You talk too much, I'm going on ahead"
"Again you rush ahead, even though I warn you"
"Can it, we'll be fine, let's go Chad, Layne"
A low rumbling began suddenly and rapidly increased in volume, stopping them in their tracks, as they slowly turned around to see a gigantic Hollow worm burst through the sand explosively and start pursuing a small figure cloaked in brown clothoHHOHHHH, flanked by two other hollows whose features were more difficult to discern at the distance
"What the…?" Layne asked quizzically "Is that a human?"
The figure was unmistakeably human-like and that caused a change in the demeanor of the group as they began to react to the situation
"There can't be humans other than us here… there's no way" Ishida said in disbelief as Layne, Chad and Ichigo sprinted past hum
"Think later, let's save them!" Ichigo shouted
The small figure panted and eep'd as she ran from her pursuers, who oddly all had specific sounds as they ran, or wiggled in the worms case
Ichigo leapt down in front of the larger one, a hollow that kind of looked like Humpty Dumpty with thicker arms and legs in Layne's opinion, yellow with black polka dots of various sizes, and smacked him right in the middle of his oversized pink and white face using Zangetsu, still wrapped in the cloth sheath, sending him flying with a large groan to the surprise of the smaller hollow, a lanky humanoid hollow with a mask that resembled an ant, and one of his yellow eyes covered by a purple eye curtain
"Big Bro!" The smaller hollow shouted as the larger one slid along the ground, kicking up sand and dust in his wake before Chad and Ishida jumped on him and the worm, and started beating the living crap out of them
Layne meanwhile approached the small figure who was watching the carnage with what seemed like horror on her small face
Layne raised his eyebrow at her reaction
"Qui…quit !" She started weakly, before seeming to gain strength, letting her hood fall backwards and shouting "What did we ever do to you, quit being mean!
It was a small girl with a cracked hollow mask on the top of her head, worn like a hat over a shock of green hair
"A mask?" Layne asked, taken aback
How did it end up like this?
The thought resounded through Layne's head as he observed the scene in front of him with his arms crossed
The four hollows were bowing in front of them four of them
"We is offering you our most humble we sorries" the small girl begged
What the…?
"We never thinked out maked-up game of endless pursuit would cause such a missed understanding, It can't be helped though since there's aww most nothing to do for fun in Hueco Mundo"
"Made up… but weren't you crying a little bit?" Ichigo asked
"Of course, Nel is a total masochist, it's no fun if they's don't chase me around until I cry"
"What kind of words are you teaching this kid!" Ichigo growled, clocking the large hollow with his fist again
She knows the words and uses them properly, but can't pronounce them correctly… what is going on here?
"This 'Nel' is that your name?" Ishida asked
"Yes sir!, Nel is the Arrancar Nel Tu! She replied
"I'm Nel's older brother, Pesche" The ant hollow cut in
"And I'm his older brother, Dondochakka, Yo." The large hollow added
"And the big guy behind us is our pet, Bawabawa" Nell introduced, the four of them striking a pose with the worm as the centerpiece
I have absolutely no idea as to the sequence of these events and how we got here, and the frequency at which this is happening is fucking alarming.
Layne shook his head as he tipped sand out of one of his olive shoes, the hazards of wearing socks and shoes in the desert
Riding on a gigantic worm certainly was making the trip to Hueco Mundo a lot easier however; somehow they'd managed to work a lift out during the period Layne had tuned out after Dondachakka said "Yo"
Layne replaced his shoe and removed the other one, proceeding to tip out what seemed like another desert as Ichigo began talking to Nel, who was sitting on his lap and pointing out and naming random quartz trees
"Are you guys really Arrancar?"
"What is yous talking about, can't yous see the finely split mask?"
"How do I put it… you guys feel different to the guys that came to the human world…"
"Ah, the ones that went to the human world are the Numeros"
"What's a numeros?"
"The Numeros are the guys who was Menos Grande or better when they became Arrancar, They's given two digit numbers and ruled directly by the 'Spada"
Nel hopped off Ichigo and began spinning around, oblivious to the fact that everyone was paying full attention to her
"Naturally they is combat experts, Them and filthy bugs like Nel are as different as heaven and earth, though you know when you say things like that yous seem a lot less like Arrancar, you doesn't got a mask and you got those weird black cloths almost like a Shini…."
Nel trailed off as the realization smacked her in the face
"Umm…yous guys… what do yous do for work?"
"Kurosaki Ichigo, Substitute Shinigami"
"Ishida Uryuu, Quincy"
"Sado Yasutora… Human"
"Layne Trell…Shinigami, I guess"
Collectively Nel, Pesche and Dondachakka gasped
"A Shinigami, them's a bad thing… I thought you was weird, A normal Arrancar doesn't say he wants to go to Las Noches, we's gonna get killed"
"Not by us" Layne said quietly
"Even if the Shinigami doesn't kill you, I Lunuganga, Guardian of these White sands will torture you to death"
The voice startled all of them, and as one they whirled around to see a colossal Hollow towering over them, seemingly made of the sands that surrounded them endlessly in all directions, with a mask and head that resembled a sandcastle
"Okay, does anyone else see how ridiculous this guy looks?" Layne asked
Everyone ignored him
"A moment ago I received information from Las Noches about intruding ants, though filthy bugs such as yourselves traveling with intruders is unforgiveable, as penance I will grind you all into the desert sands"
Nel, Pesche and Dondachakka began to protest feebly but were interrupted by Ichigo
"Move"
They moved
"Getsuga Tensho"
The familiar blue-white crescent of energy shot forth from Zangetsu's arc and flew forwards, slicing clean through Lunuganga's funny looking head
"A surprise attack! That's tricksy you bad words!" Nel admonished
"It's fine, since I rescued you guys" Ichigo shot back "Besides, I cut him from the front so it's not a surprise attack…
Ichigo trailed off at the hissing sound of Lunuganga's face and upper body resealing itself, like a giant blue crescent of reiatsu hadn't just torn it apart seconds ago
"You use a sneak attack" Lunuganga snarled "And show no remorse…intruders now you are even more unforgivab-
"Riptide Strike: Rain!"
Layne's green energy crescent impacted Lunuganga's face in nearly the same place Ichigo's had, with much the same result, although Lunuganga kept resealing himself
"Well, I guess we now know that won't work" Layne said absently, sealing his Shikai
"ANOTHER SNEAK ATTACK!"
Lunuganga sound positively outraged and didn't even bother attempting to reprimand them, just swinging a giant forearm down in an attempt to crush them, but Bawabawa narrowly dodged left, causing the only negative to be Layne getting sand in his mouth, causing him to sputter and curse
"Shit, can't you guys do something? Ishida?!"
"It's no use, with arrows I'll just put holes in him"
"Chad!"
"I don't think I'm much use against a sand opponent, but I could take a shot…"
"Screw it, let's get out of here, it's time for some strategy"
Nel started slapping Bawabawa's head, attempting to give some directions
"Bawa, turn around Bawa!"
"Like I'll let you escape" Lunuganga scoffed
The giant sand Hollow seemed to unhinge his jaw and suddenly there was a great distance between him and the group as they were forty feet down in a huge sand trap
"It's an Ant Lion sand pit!" Ishida shouted, stating the obvious
"Nel, doesn't he have some kind of weakness or something?!" Ichigo shouted at the small hollow he currently held under his arm
"There's no way I could tell stuff to the bad things…" She blubbered
"Don't be stupid, at this rate all of us are going down!" Ichigo shouted back at her
"Water! We need Water"
"WATER!? WATER IN THE DESERT!? WHERE ARE WE GOING TO FIND WATER IN THE…."
Ichigo trailed off and suddenly all eyes were on Layne
"Layne, it's the sand, make it rain!"
"Are you fucking kidding me, I know water is kind of my thing…but we're in the middle of a goddamn desert, there's no water in this air, I can't just make it rain whenever I goddamn feel like it" Layne growled, the prospect of being swallowed up under the rapidly sinking sands causing him to snap a little
"Tsugi no Mae, Hakuren!"
A wave of ice torrented forwards and enveloped Lunuganga, shocking all the riders on the worm as they watched the huge Hollow iceblock topple backwards with a mighty crash, kicking up sand and dust with it's impact
Ichigo whirled around again, towards the source of the attack and saw Rukia and Renji standing on a dune wearing brown cloaks in addition to their normal shinigami uniform, looking down at the group with the crescent moon behind them, Renji holding the cloak up to his face, but Rukia just standing there, with a wide smirk
"Reporting In!"
Three of the faceless messenger corps knelt before Ukitake and Joel, Byakuya and Yamamoto, simultaneously relaying the same message in three different headquarters
"Abarai Renji-dono, Vice-captain of 6th squad and Kuchiki Rukia-dono of 13th squad have disappeared from their squad headquarters!"
Joel smirked at the news
"Currently the Second Division of the Onmitskido and the Patrol division is expanding the search area to the entirety of the Seireitei"
"Do you know anything about this Joel?" Ukitake questioned, having noticed his subordinates smirk during the message
"I'm innocent Captain, I have no idea where they went"
"Damn kids" Yamamoto muttered
"Rukia! Renji!" Ichigo called out in a mixture of surprise, relief and joy before leaping off Bawabawa and rushing over in the direction they were walking from with Layne, Ishida and Chad right behind him
"You guys…"
It was all smiles, until Rukia smacked Ichigo with the blade of her hand, before hi fiving Renji, who proceeded to deliver a solid punch to the right side of Ichigo's face as he was still reeling from the first hit
Ichigo lay in the sand as Layne, Ishida and Chad weakly asked if he was alright
"FOOL!" Rukia shouted "Why did you enter Hueco Mundo on your own!? Why didn't you wait for me to return!?"
"But you left so suddenly, I didn't know if you were going to come back or…"
"Of course I was going to come back! BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY… Renji, Joel and I planned that from the start… why didn't you wait for it… why didn't you have faith in that?"
Rukia took a deep breath before continuing
"We are your allies aren't we Ichigo?"
"Yeah… you're right"
"It's good that you know that, do not make me confirm such a foolish thing ever again"
Ichigo nodded and she rounded on Layne
"By the way Layne" Rukia said as she rotated towards him, "We've got a message from Joel and Moll"
"Awesome, fire away" Layne replied
Rukia punched Layne in the face so hard he lifted off the ground, span around once in midair and then landed face first, kicking up sand all around his impact point and creating a Layne shaped imprint in the ground
"Oh, that kind of message" he said, lifting his head and spitting out sand.