Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo, meaning it does not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Bleach storyline (such as Aporro [in character, not name] and Vicenta Acere) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.
When Vicenta woke up, the first thing she did was bring both of her feet up and kick the person hovering over her square in their chin.
As the person let out a pained, gurgling groan, Vicenta flipped onto her stomach and jerked herself up into a kneeling position, scowling when she felt the tight bindings around her ankles and wrists.
Curling her hands in as much as she could, Vicenta clawed at the bindings that tied her wrists behind her back, cursing when she felt her gloves hinder her fingernails.
When the person she'd kicked grunted from right behind her, Vicenta scowled and flipped around, sitting on her butt so she could brace her hands against the cold, rough stone floor. Nearly bending her body past its limit, Vicenta yelled and snapped her legs up again, burying her feet in the person's body and pushing it away.
The form yelped and flew back, and as it did Vicenta groaned and allowed herself to go limp.
Her elbows had cracked unpleasantly at her move, and she felt so tired and gritty…
Vicenta flopped back, grunting when she hit a bumpy stone wall, and stared at the form she'd been struggling with, narrowing her eyes when it groaned and pushed itself up.
"D-Damn…" It grumbled, its voice that of a young girl, as it stood, a pair of skeletal wings on its back rattling like hollow sticks, "Did you have to wake up fighting, you stupid heathen…?!"
"Fuck you." Vicenta snarled, watching as the person stepped into the light.
It was clearly a Vasto Lorde, and frankly Vicenta was surprised it was. It— or rather, 'she', was about a head shorter than Vicenta, her light brown hair chin-length and choppily cut. Defeated-looking bright golden eyes glared at Vicenta from beneath her fringe bangs, and her thin but wide mouth was curled in a scowl.
Vicenta scowled back, but didn't fail to notice the various lacerations, bruises and inflamed joints that she knew she definitely didn't cause… Not that she cared. She was a bit more focused on a certain absent presence on her right hip.
"Where's Gavilan Pintado?" The young Arrancar growled at the young Vasto Lorde, her eyes darting back and forth.
The young Vasto Lorde frowned deeply, "'Gava'-what?"
"Gavilan Pintado!" Vicenta snapped, glaring at her, "My sword, you idiot! About thirty-nine centimeters of a shiny, shiny hard substance slipped into a hard case that keeps the sharp edges from cutting you!"
As Vicenta had spoken, the female Vasto Lorde's face had slowly contorted with rage, her cheeks turning red as she snapped, "I know what a sword is! I just didn't know yours had a name!"
Vicenta rolled her eyes, then snipped, "Why are you? Where am I? Why did you take me?"
"You talk too much." The Vasto Lorde grumbled, sitting down and crossing her legs.
Vicenta glared at her contemptuously, then swung herself up and tucked her legs under herself as she sat primly, holding her spine erect as she looked around.
They were in some large cave, the lighting extremely dim and pouring in in narrow slits from overhead.
When Vicenta thought back, she remembered being dragged down into the sand by a large hand, so…
…Was she in the lower layer of Hueco Mundo, the Forest of Menos?
"I thought the Forest of Menos was supposed to be a lot more… open." Vicenta mumbled, frowning.
"It is." Her Vasto Lorde captor mumbled back, "Out there."
Vicenta narrowed her eyes in irritation when the Hollow gave no indication as to which way 'out there' was.
Not that she could well leave without her zanpakuto, but she had to secure certain bits of information to help herself.
Knowing her father, he would have done the right thing and temporarily suspended the rights of everyone in the complex to leave, meaning that for the time being she was on her own. She had to find out everything she could…
"So, you're the one who controlled the black balls, huh?"
Vicenta glanced at the Vasto Lorde, quirking a brow. So, the Hollows didn't even know what the cameras were… "Yes, I am. I also designed them, built them and launched them."
The brunette looked at Vicenta and scowled, clearly trying to keep the slight awe off of her face but failing, "What were they for? Attacking?"
"Attacking?!" Vicenta scoffed, rolling her eyes, "Hardly! They were cameras!"
At that, the Vasto Lorde's face screwed up in confusion, "…What's a 'camera'?"
After staring at her for a moment to make sure the creature was actually serious, Vicenta sighed, "It's a device that can make a picture of a single moment in time or record images of what's going on in a certain area for a certain amount of time."
"…What would you make a bunch of cameras for?"
"None of your business!" Vicenta snapped, starting to find all of these questions from her captor irritating. Quickly, though, she managed to twist her lips into a smile and quirked a brow at the young Vasto Lorde when she turned her Hollow glare on her, "Unless, of course, you're up for a game of Quid Pro Quo…"
The young Vasto Lorde, whose attention had perked at 'game', frowned slightly at the Latin phrase, "…How do you play?"
"Easy." Vicenta shrugged, smiling disarmingly, "You ask me a question, I answer then ask you a question, you answer then ask me another question… And it keeps going back and forth like that."
"…That doesn't really sound fun." The young Vasto Lorde frowned, "You Broken Ones are really boring… and rude."
Vicenta glared at her flatly, her eyebrow twitching, "Ah, but we haven't even talked about the prize yet!"
"…Prize?"
"Why, yes! The prize!" Vicenta smiled, slightly giddy she'd reeled her back in and her mind working quickly so she could turn this creature's naivety to her advantage, "You see, Arrancar take Quid Pro Quo very seriously. Something of a tradition, actually… Whoever comes up with the most questions wins, and the prize is… a zanpakuto."
…Vicenta was really, really hoping this girl was as stupid as she seemed.
Even as she thought this, the young Vasto Lorde stared at her with wide eyes, "So that's how you guys get zanpakuto?! Jeez, and here Gillo had made it sound like some big atrocity!"
…Briefly, Vicenta wondered if she was really, really, even in just a small part, part Arrancar. Because there was no way she had ever been this stupid.
"Alright, so can I start?" The young Vasto Lorde asked, turning towards Vicenta and crossing her legs.
Vicenta nodded, "But of course."
"Okay…" The girl nodded, then asked, "What were the cameras for?"
"I was working on a map." Vicenta answered, then asked, "What is your name?"
"…Vaida." The young Vasto Lorde — Vaida — answered after a moment. She paused to think, then asked, "What's your name?"
Vicenta smiled slightly, her eyelids slipping down partway. This was going perfectly… "Vicenta Acere Grantz. Where are we?"
"One of the caves of Marccia Bones' Adjuchas, in the Forest of Menos." Vaida answered readily, clearly not suspecting a trap at all. Obviously, she was young… "What kind of Hollow were you before you were turned into a Broken One?"
"I was never a Hollow; I was born through biological reproduction." Vicenta answered, deliberately leaving her words ambiguous enough that she would leave the Vasto Lorde confused. "Who ordered you to attack my camera pods?"
"Marccia." Vaida was frowning in bewilderment, clearly still mulling over Vicenta's last answer, "Biological reproduction?"
"Sex. Who was the one who attacked the first camera pod that went down?"
"…" Here, Vaida paused, staring at Vicenta long and hard.
It was obvious she was thinking about not answering… Which was good. Vicenta was starting to wonder if she was dealing with a total idiot.
Still, she needed this to work to her advantage… If she could, by any means, get this Vasto Lorde interested enough to go back to El Sanctuario, then she would possibly be captured and Szayel would definitely be able to extract memories from her and track Vicenta down.
So, Vicenta gave Vaida her best, mildly impatient/irritated yet somewhat innocent look, as if she were waiting for the answer so they could get on with the game.
And when Vicenta could practically see what Vaida was thinking in that moment, the words written all over her prepubescent face, she barely stopped herself from cracking a dark smile.
Because the question was going to be the overly-curious girl's undoing:
What harm can a tied up Arrancar do?
"His name… is Daramos."
"Well," Vicenta sighed heavily, leaning back against the wall she'd scooted over to during the game and making herself more comfortable, "It would appear as though you've bested me. I can't think of a single question more to ask…"
"Really?!" Vaida grinned.
Vicenta had seen her plan actually working, the doubt fleeing the young Vasto Lorde's face the more questions were asked and the more curiosity seeped in, and it slowly got to the point where it seemed Vaida was actually looking forward to her 'prize'.
And now, after a few hours of exchanging questions and several frightening points where it seemed the game would end prematurely, and in Vicenta's favor, when Vaida would fall silent for five, ten, fifteen minutes at a time thinking of a new question, Vaida's curiosity had finally peeked and Vicenta had chosen to end the game.
Now all she had to do was see if the young Vasto Lorde would really become completely ensnared…
"Yep." Vicenta nodded, "And, as the rules dictate, you get a zanpakuto."
"So, what, do I inherit yours?" Vaida asked with a confident smirk.
"Pfft, hardly." Vicenta rolled her eyes, "Do you know what makes zanpakuto unique from other swords? Zanpakuto imprint themselves to their owners. No," She sighed, "I'm afraid you'd find it impossible to use Gavilan Pintado. You'll have to go get an unimpressed blade from the Arrancar headquarters if you really want one."
Vaida blinked, her face falling slightly, then she scowled and crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back against a rock and muttering, "Feh, cheat."
Vicenta smirked to herself when she saw the young Vasto Lorde looked genuinely put out, "What… you aren't even going to try?"
"No!" Vaida barked, glaring at Vicenta with more intensity, "How stupid do you think I am?!"
Here, Vicenta glared at her harshly, "And what do you take us Arrancar for?! Backstabbers?! I told you, we take Quid Pro Quo very seriously! Hell, even with me abducted, if you told them you'd won against me, they'd have no choice but to give you a blade." Vicenta paused to let her words sink in, then decided to end the game there, "Besides, if you do get it, think of how much easier it would be for you to impress Gillo…"
Vicenta had easily seen through Vaida's 'anger' towards the older Vasto Lorde, Gillo.
Even if the girl had convinced herself that she hated him, Vicenta knew that Vaida wanted nothing more than to impress him, to make him see her.
'It's all very pathetic, really.' Vicenta thought coldly, watching with half-lidded eyes and a grin as Vaida fought with herself.
Vicenta wasn't about to take it easy on the girl simply because she let herself get overpowered by the woman Marccia Bones; Vicenta was a captive, and her captors were Vasto Lordes. She didn't have the leeway to give pity.
She needed to be the Arrancar that she was and think coldly and rationally; she had to do whatever it took to survive.
And if that meant Vaida had to die… then so be it.
…Of course, Vicenta knew that the human in her would make her feel guilt and mourn the poor creature later (who wasn't all that bad, just stupid and easily stepped on), but for now her human side needed to be abandoned.
She needed to live…
"…Alright." Vaida nodded after several moments of silence, "What do I do?"
Vicenta's grin couldn't have gotten wider, "Well, first—"
"Well, well, aren't we getting chummy…"
Both girls looked over as the tall, proud redhead who Vicenta knew could only be Marccia Bones walked into the room, looking at them and smiling sharply.
"Hey, girls…"
Vaida fled the cave, pointedly ignoring the grunts and cries that followed her as she headed straight for the exit of the Forest of Menos.
She knew what Marccia was doing with that Arrancar, Vicenta, and despite the fact that the bitch was rude, treated Vaida like she was an idiot and had somehow tricked Vaida into doing… something… (she hadn't quite figured out what yet), she still felt bad for her…
Because no one, no one, deserved to get the shit kicked out of them by Marccia.
Still, Vaida wasn't about to stick around and help a Broken One; that was just… disgusting.
No, she was going to go get her zanpakuto!
…Now, Vaida hadn't completely believed Vicenta about the game and 'impressing' zanpakutos and all that, but it had gotten her curious… and she figured that, since Vicenta had made such a big deal about them, then maybe having a zanpakuto would be worth it.
Sure, security around the Broken Ones' compound would be pretty tight after one of theirs had been taken, but she figured that she could probably take advantage of the paranoia the creatures were probably feeling and sneak inside and get one… Or, better yet, trick one into coming outside and taking theirs.
Vaida grinned at the thought of Gillo being shocked and the image it made in her head, quickly shooting up out of the sand and setting foot back on Hueco Mundo topsoil as she flashed off towards the Broken Ones' compound.
Grinning when she saw the two halves of the giant black ball —or, as Vicenta had called it, a 'camera'— Vaida walked over and picked one half up, raising it over her head and slamming it back down into the ground several times.
She knew that, somehow, the Broken One's had built some kind of security system to hide their home in the sand, and it was the very fact that there was no obvious way for them to observe the outside that left the impression on her that, somehow, they had a way to do just that. Maybe more cameras…
Suddenly, the void beneath her rippled slightly, making Vaida drop the camera and flash a safe, long distance away, where she ducked down behind a dune and watched.
She watched as the sand shifted and a lone form in white (as the Broken Ones often wore) step up from below ground level, the form's shocking pink hair standing out in stark contrast to all of the white around it.
What drew Vaida's attention, though, was the sword a the form's side…
Vaida grinned, unable to believe her luck as the lone figure stayed alone, no one else walking out with it as it slowly wandered over to the half of the camera pod she had been slamming around.
Vaida lowered herself to the ground further and tensed, her fingers and toes working into the sand as she looked over and watched the door to the Broken Ones' compound close, the reishi in the area rippling again as whatever security they had in place started up.
After waiting to make sure that the Arrancar that had walked out wouldn't be receiving any backup any time soon, she turned her attention back to the camera pod and tensed to run, only to freeze, her eyes widening.
The Broken One that had walked out was gone.
"Well, well, well… what do we have here…"
Vaida's breathing stopped and her body tensed further, her head slowly turning to her right and her eyes looking up of their own volition to meet a pair of oddly glowing amber irises framed in pink hair, the lenses of the glasses in front of them flashing in the moonlight at the same time those lips split in a wide, sinister grin.
"Hello, dear…"
Fun in The Sanctuary~!
Wife Swap…?!
There is a very, very good reason Szayel and Mayuri don't work together, it turns out.
And, of course, knowing her luck Aporro has to learn this firsthand, ne?
Thus, though she is horrified, Aporro can't bring herself to be shocked when the two scientists in front of her reveal something rather startling…
"…I'm sorry, but could you run that by me again? I don't think my brain processed that correctly…"
'Szayel' snorts and rolls his eyes, his arms hanging limply at his sides.
'Mayuri' sighs patiently and crosses his arms over his stomach, speaking to Aporro in a 'soothingly calm' voice… If Mayuri Kurotsuchi's voice could ever get soothingly calm. "Aporro, dear, it seems the Captain and I have… accidentally made our consciousnesses switch bodies…"
Aporro blinks slowly, again horrified but not really shocked. "…Huh?"
"You dolt!" 'Szayel' snaps, baring and gritting his teeth, "The Perfect Being and I have switched spiritual bodies!! While I may look like him, I am Mayuri Kurotsuchi, and he is Szayel Aporro Grantz!! Do you get it yet?!"
"…Yeah… I get it…"
'Szayel' and 'Mayuri' sigh, relieved.
"…I GET THAT THAT TERRIBLE MAN IS IN MY MATE'S SEXY BODY!!" Aporro wails, throwing herself at 'Szayel' and latching onto his waist.
"Damn you, woman!" 'Szayel'/Mayuri shrieks, slapping Aporro's head repeatedly, "Get off of me!!"
'Mayuri'/Szayel watches them flatly, his eye twitching as he mutters, "Well, now I suppose I know which part of me you like…"
"I don't care about the rest of it!! Just give me back my mate's—"
"WOMAN!! GET YOUR HANDS OUT OF THERE!!"
"NO!! IT'S MINE!! GIVE IT BACK!!"
"…It would appear as though I stand corrected…"