AN: So here we are - wrote this one in 4 hours. Is it just me or am I that good? XP Anywho - here's a quick yet important update. This chapter will be a bit "darker" than most and I was a bit sick when I wrote one part of it tbh. It's one thing reading it - a whole another actually writing it, and especially for me, who has a rich and wild imagination. So - enjoy, and review! *roars*

The music theme plays an especially important role in this chappie, so listen to it! Easy to find on youtube, really.

6th chapter's theme is - Tactical Sekt, Catatonic.

Chapter 6

"Almost Catatonic"

The light slowly returned. It carefully made its way into the man's consciousness and the darkness slowly creeped away, as if some misshapen horror that had been banished by the forces of light. The man tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt as if each weighed a whole ton or two and it was nearly impossible to move them even a bit. Even so he persisted, never giving up, trying to open his eyes. Finally after an unknown period of time passed his eyes slowly opened and the man could feel as if a huge weight has been thrown off him.

Hitsugaya Toshiro found himself looking at a small window. The window had no glass, but three vertical steel bars in it, through which he could clearly see the moon, its light shining straight into the man's eyes. The memories started coming back, as if reluctant to do so, entering his mind while increasing his headache that he started feeling when he opened his eyes, which hurt too by the way. The Captain of the 10th Division had escaped prison, entered Hueco Mundo and found his way into the ruins of Las Noches… where he met Aizen and Szayel Aporro Granz who was supposed to be dead! And not only that but he was bested yet again and he died.

No – it wasn't death… it was something else. I've been unconscious for some time it seems.

The white-haired boy looked down, only to see that he was lying on a table, strapped to it by chains. The chains were tightly holding down his hands, legs and his neck, so the man had no way to move, aside from slightly turning his head to the sides and looking down, with the use of his eyes mostly. The table itself was made out of cold, hard stone. Suddenly a feeling of being cornered washed over the Captain's mind – he was helpless, take prisoner and God know what his captors were going to do to him! The boy was always in control of the situation one way or another or at least had a few choices of actions, but right now he was in this kind of situation for the first time in his life and he could feel something he had never felt before. Fear.

He jolted up a bit as he heard the door behind him open, but the chain holds kept him down, constricting his movements and not letting him to see who had entered. The neck chain also strangled him a bit, making him cough, so he quickly lowered his head and body down. As he did this he heard a definite chuckle behind him. Toshiro felt anger boiling inside him, replacing the previous emotion of fear.

The next moment he saw his captor, as the latter moved into sight. It was none other than Szayel Aporro Granz, who was wearing an arrancar uniform similar to Aizen's, but it was a bit more form-fitting, underlining the Arrancar's thin body shape and long flexible arms. The amber eyes looked straight into the turquoise ones.

Szayel: "Good night, Captain-kun. I am pleased to finally be able to greet you and talk to you at all, since I've heard so much about you from Aizen-sama. He spoke highly of your intellect and somewhat misdirected obsession coupled with determination. You are truly an interesting specimen… especially after I found out what made you tick… so to speak." – the Espada's wide smirk was like venom that splashed into the white-haired boy's face and mind.

Toshiro: "You… you experimented on me? How long was I out? What the hell happened?" – the boy wriggled around on the table, which resulted into a waste of effort – he could not break loose no matter how he tried right now. He also started feeling his body a bit better by now and understood that he was very weak right now. He wouldn't be able to do anything – even if he were to break loose.

Szayel(chuckling): "Of course. You were out cold for about… hmm… five days or so, so I had a lot of time to examine you, your zanpakuto and do a little something else, with the approval of my master. It was so very exciting and it is a great accomplishment for me. For science as well as me, to be completely honest."

Toshiro could hear that Szayel was extremely happy with whatever he did to him, but the boy could not feel anything different about himself aside from being drained of most of his reiatsu there seemed to be no effects on his body and spirit.

The arrancar looked at Toshiro and smiled wider, his pupils growing smaller.

Szayel: "Oh, I bet you're wondering as to what I did to you Captain-kun! Hahahaha, I can see the fear and confusion in your eyes… but worry not – you'll find out soon enough. But for now I am simply here to take some samples. Blood, reiatsu, skin tissue and a bit of your saliva if you don't mind. And its best you don't try to bite… or I'll make the experience worse for you and much-much more enjoyable for me!" – Toshiro could clearly see that this man was as mad as Mayuri, if not worse in fact.

The mad scientist's hand reached into a small white bag he had brought with him and from within he pulled out a set of instruments. A scalpel, a syringe, a small weird rod, which had a small sphere on its end, and a few different empty vials. Toshiro noticed that there was something else in the bag, which the arrancar did not pull out, and could only guess what it was. Then the man moved closer to his patient with scalpel in hand. He then proceeded to cut off a bit of skin from Toshiro's arm, which was a bit painful. It felt entirely different from a sword wound and while Hitsugaya was used to wounds that came from fighting – this pain was unbelievably sharp and unusual, and there was way to resist without making it worse. Naturally the boy shook his body, trying to evade the sharp tool, which ended up in Szayel taking off a bigger skin sample than he intended in the start. The scientist smiled as he saw a small wound on the patient's arm.

Szayel proceeded to put the skin into one of the vials and then filling it up with strange, liquid which seemed to be used to preserve the skin from going dead and necrosis appearing on it.

Next Szayel picked up the syringe and came up to Toshiro, his smirk still lingering on his face.

Szayel: "Better be carefly Captain-kun. If you try to move around with this it may get ugly. I'll be injecting here." – the hollow touched the side Hitsugaya's neck with his index finger, slightly pressing it in, as if actually trying to pierce his skin with his finger alone… which would not be too insane to assume if it was Szayel he was thinking about here.

This time the Captain had not moved, afraid to lose too much blood if he did. The arrancar injected the syringe into an artery and drew some blood, and as weird as it was – no blood came out from the wound afterwards. The pink-haierd man still disinfected the wound anyway, and with a satisfied expression proceeded to place the blood into the second vial. Then he turned back, the rod in his hands. Without much warning the man forcefully opened Toshiro's mouth and put the rod in his mouth, almost breaking one of the teeth. The Captain could feel the sphere buzzing for a bit as he tried to struggle out of the scientist's grip, and after a few seconds Szayel pulled out the instrument, letting go of Hitsugaya.

Toshiro(spitting): "What the fuck did you do to me? Why the hell are you doing this, dammit? Answer me, goddamn Arrancar!" – if a glare could kill Szayel would be a pile of burning ash right now.

Szayel: "Don't worry you pretty little white head much. I've simply taken your skin tissue, saliva and blood as I told you before. As for why… that's a secret that you might find out in the future, or not find out at all. It all depends on how long you will live, really." – the Espada shrugged and opened the sphere, by pressing a small round button on the rod, after placing the tool above the third vial. The gathered saliva was stored into the last vial and Szayel quickly packed all the instruments back as well as the experiment materials he had gathered. Then he turned back to Toshiro and spoke again. – "You see… if we had no use for you – you'd be dead already. No matter how much of a good specimen you are – I'd rather study your corpse than let you live. That, however, is not what Aizen-sama wants and therefore I must keep you alive and continue with my work." – the slim man stepped towards the door but then stopped, looking back at Toshiro, their eyes meeting again. – "Oh and welcome to Imperio Las Noches."

Granz was gone as the door behind him closed, leaving Toshiro alone with his thoughts and feelings. This was low… this was unfair and humiliating – the things they did to him. Toshiro was overwhelmed with two feelings – disgust and hate. He hated them so much and was so disgusted at both himself and his captors – Szayel and Aizen. Hitsugaya clenched his teeth and growled.

Two days had passed and Szayel came back once, taking more samples of his blood. His servants also fed the boy so that he would not die out of starvation. Anger kept him going, the thoughts of vengeance burned from inside him, aimed at Aizen. Toshiro was going to murder the traitor Shinigami in a way most gruesome and painful when he would get the chance to.

After these two days they came, a convoy out of 5 Arancar who took him away, and he was too weak to resist, as well as immobilized by some weird wrist bracelet device which seemed to be controlled by a remote control. He was dragged down the halls and corridors, he could feel and hear the Arrancar and Hollows around him, since he could not raise his head to see them. The Imperio Las Noches was a lot more populated than the first fortress it seemed. But the little man had too little time to think this over, his mind too sluggish and possibly drugged to operate as it normally would. He was thrown into a big room; the guards fastened him onto a chair and lessened the energy output from the device that kept him under control.

Toshiro finally raised his head, examining the room. There were a few figures in front of him, not too far away. He recognized them all, even though he had not seen some of them in person, since he had seen the reports and heard the descriptions from others who battled them during the clash of the forces of Seiretei and Aizen's Arrancar Army.

He saw Rudbornn Chelute – the leader of the Exequias unit, who was standing closest to him. His bull-shaped skull mask was the only thing Toshiro could see when he laid his eyes on the man's head. The next one further away was Lilynette Gingerback, which seemed to have changed a lot. She was now looking around eighteen years old and had a more mature body, although her outfit virtually remained the same, only with a white hakama on her legs. Her single pink eye was drilling into Toshiro and her expression was stern and cold. The furthest away was Grimmjow Jaegerjaques who was sitting on a table behind the others. His expression showed only boredom and the man seemed to be utterly uninterested in the captive. The last here was Szayel Aporro Granz, who was doing something over at the table.

Time passed by, but nothing happened – no one broke the silence, until after about ten minutes the door had opened and man came inside. Aizen Souske stepped inside the room and walked all the way towards the prisoner. He stopped in front of the chair and smiled at Toshiro.

Aizen: "It's good to see you rather intact, Shiro-kun. I hope my faithful and diligent doctor kept you fed and attended to your health, yes? So – seeing that you are well and sane I should tell you why you have been brought here. You see – we, and by "we" I mean these fine gentlemen here – the members of my former and new Espada." – Aizen gestured with an open hand towards those standing behind him and continued. – "This will be like a game – we will ask questions and every unanswered question and a lie will be punished." – the man's eyes showed a hint at his cold nature as his smile grew wider. – "And believe me when I say that a beating will be the easiest thing you will experience, if you decide to lie or remain silent."

Aizen then walked behind everyone and sat in a chair at the table, nodding to Szayel so that the man could begin. Szayel smiled and came up to Toshiro, putting a small collar on him with a gemstone in the center.

Szayel: "Captain-kun, I must warn you that this little device here is actually a lie detector. It won't determine the truth, but the gemstone will flash with green light if you lie. Be sure to answer truthfully, for your own health."

Toshiro tensed up since he was not ready for this kind of a turn of events. He never actually thought that he would be interrogated like this… and for these few days he expected himself to be some kind of expendable material, but now he understood – he was their main source of information. And he couldn't lie… or could he?

In the meantime Rudbornn came closer and stood beside Toshiro, while Szayel pulled out a file and cleared his throat.

Szayel: "Are you Hitsugaya Toshiro – Captain of the 10th Division?" – the white-haired boy was a bit surprised by the question, but decided to answer truthfully.

Toshiro: "Yes, I am."

Szayel: "Good. Have you come here alone?"

Toshiro: "No." – the gemstone flashed green and Szayel looked back at Aizen, who nodded.

Szayel: "I see, a lie then. It wasn't the smartest decision, but next time you lie – be prepared."

Toshiro: "Alright." – he cursed in his mind. So the detector was working after all – Hitsugaya had to be careful.

Szayel: "Let's proceed, shall we? You came here alone, without any reinforcements – why?"

Toshiro: "I… had no choice but to go here alone." – Toshiro noticed that the gemstone did not flash, hence he could still lie his way around, simply by keeping some facts in and evading lying directly.

Szayel: "Hmm. Interesting. Why did the others not go with you?"

Toshiro: "I hadn't managed to talk to others before my departure." – Toshiro wandered why they were asking these questions? He assumed Aizen was the one who framed him… so why ask these stupid questions?

Szayel: "Rudbornn, if you please."

The arrancar punched Toshiro in his face with a single powerful movement. The Captain straightened his head and screamed.

Toshiro: "Why the hell did you hit me? I didn't lie!"

Szayel(frowning): "You did not, but we perfectly know that you were been under suspicion of helping Aizen-sama escape, and your loyalty was in question. It seems you decided to lie anyway."

Toshiro: "Damn you. Why all these useless questions? Just to see if I try to lie? Well there you have it – I will never tell you anything. Punch me, kick me, but you won't get a single word out of me!"

A deep sigh could be heard throughout the room. Everyone turned to see Aizen standing up from his chair casting surprised looks at him – this wasn't part of the plan. The man came up to Toshiro again, after Szayel moved out of the way, and held out a small data storing device in front of Toshiro.

Aizen: "What you see in my hand is a recording of a Captains meeting after you left Seiretei using a Garganta, which you created with the help of the portable Garganta device you had in your possession. Watch." – Souske clicked his fingers and two Numeros walked inside with a projector in their hands. Once it was placed, Aizen inserted the film inside.

What Toshiro could see was the hall where the Captains had met – everyone present except for him – his Lieutenant in his place. The conversation was somewhat muffled, but Toshiro could hear it. The Captain-Commander had spoken, executing the verdict on the case of Hitsugaya's escape – the Captain was labeled an outlaw and renegade, his position stripped from him and his name forever branded as a traitor, along with Aizen Souske. All because of his escape while he was put under guard. He could see and hear all the Captains agreeing without as much as a word in his defence… even Matsumoto kept silent, with her head hung.

Toshiro grunted as the recording stopped, he could not believe it. But he knew that the recording was not a fake… somehow. He know understood that someone was actually working on the "inside" of Seiretei and supplied Aizen with information… but still – he felt betrayed and hurt to a degree he had not expected. Meanwhile Aizen smirked and held up Toshiro's head with his fingers, so that the shorter male could see his face.

Aizen: "You see now? You were cast aside as soon as you ceased to be useful. Branded a traitor for all your hard work… and no one even dared to speak up. You are now to be killed on sight by those you fought for so hard and for so long. This is what Soul Society is – a rotten system, a worm feasting on an apple, a parasite on the face of this universe. You are now free – free to choose your own destiny, no longer bound by rules of Seiretei." – the man let go of Toshiro and stepped back. – "I give you a choice. You can go back and be executed by those you loved… or join me and make all wrongs right. I know you hate me, but I do not ask for your sympathy – what I ask is that you do what's right and see that what I do is not evil. I can help you, I can make you stronger." – Aizen watched as Toshiro's eyes widened in disbelief. – "I will personally train you and make you stronger than you ever were, in return for your loyalty. And once we are victorious you will be rewarded – I will make all your desires come true. Power, a home, a family you longed for so long. I can make amends, if you're willing to give me a chance."

Toshiro was dumbstruck and speechless for some time. He could never forgive Aizen and yet… he could feel that his hatred was directed not only towards Aizen alone, but also towards Soul Society. As weird as it was… this was his chance. The white-haired man could see no other way out of this. He would be executed either here or in Seiretei. But in joining Aizen he would be able to crush him from the inside.

Toshiro: "I… agree. I will serve you if you make me stronger, but don't expect me to like you. I hate you more than ever." – the gemstone on his neck remained lifeless and AIzen smiled, showing his perfect teeth.

Aizen: "Excellent." – he turned around towards Szayel and nodded. The scientist pushed a button on some remote control and the chair fasteners on Toshiro's seat unlocked. He was free to stand. – "Together, Shiro-kun, we will ascend into a new world that we shall create. One where all our desires shall be fulfilled. And soon you will see thins my way. Now get some rest – tomorrow you shall be witness to the resurrection of the Espada."

Aizen's smile faded and turned back into his usual smirk as the man lowered his hands after his pompous declaration and turned around, walking towards the exit from the room. Toshiro shuddered… it was weird, but he had caught himself somewhat believeing the man's words. This was beyond weird, but Hitsugaya brushed off these thoughts as simple stress. He had a goal of his own.

He would train, he would know all AIzen knew, he would best all of them and he would kill Aizen when the time would come.

AN: Dun-dun-dun. Now we finally got this thing goin'! I admit it was a bit tricky... this part here... but I think I managed to pull it off, huh? Or is it crappy? Tell me! And thanks for reading so far. Expect an update soon. *evil laughter*