Story of the Cero Espada

by CoOkIe MoNsT4Z

Ichigo dies at a young age, becoming a hollow and spending nearly eight years by himself in Hueco Mundo. This is until he meats a certain teal haired hollow, now he finally isn't alone anymore. Forging a bond with her and making even more friends along the way, but life is never that simple.

11. Change of Plans & Leadership

Okay guys here it is. I ended up changing basically the whole chapter after an Idea came to me. This basically changes most of the ending or build up to it rather. I'm talking about the War, it will be very different from canon. Some of you might really like that others might not, let me know though. I hope you do enjoy this chapter debated over several things in it for a while, just hope it's good.

"Normal Speech."

'Ichigo Talking in his head/to Miquel.'

"Miquel Speech."

"Voice From Illusion."

"Text"

"We should probably join them, this match is supposed to start any minute now." Grabbing Nel's hand we left in a buzz of sonido, followed suit by everyone else but Szayel and Aaronierro. Landing on the same tower as Aizen, we found a nice spot near the edge to watch the battle.

Szayel and Aaroniero were already getting ready, facing each other about twenty feet or so apart. I wasn't paying attention to what everyone was talking about until I heard my name. Looking up I saw Aizen looking over at me. "Yes?"

"I asked who you think will win this one?" Why does he care what I think all of a sudden?

"I think that it will be very close to the end, however I feel Szayel will win. Aaronierro has great strength, speed, abilities, and intelligence but Szayel beats him in some of those. Szayel might have less physical strength and speed, but his intelligence and battle planning are far superior to Aaronierro's."

"I would have to agree with you there Ichigo. Szayel will most likely win this one, I do wonder how it will happen though." Yeah I do to. Neither of them are going to go rushing in for all out attacks, it just doesn't suit either of them well. Szayel will most likely try and set a trap of sorts, maybe even use the architecture to his advantage. On the other hand Aaronierro will most likely scout out all of Szayel's moves, then form a plan and execute from there.

"Now then, Szayel, Aaronierro you may begin." Like I was expecting neither one rushed in, both quietly drew their swords and took defensive positions. Szayel just shifted his left foot, I wonder what he is planning? It appears that Aaroniero didn't catch that shift, or maybe he wants Szayel to think he didn't.

"Did you catch Szayel's shift in weight Ulquiorra?"

"Yes, I have a feeling he is going to try and take this battle on the move. Most likely leading Aaronierro into a corner." That does make sense, he might lead him around until he gets him to a position where he has the advantage.

Before I could ask Ulquiorra anything else Szayel was gone, reappearing to Aaronierro's right side and delivering a quick horizontal strike. It was blocked, but not without some effort.

"It seems that he is wanting to do a test of his abilities first."

"Yes, it does look like he is trying to get a feel for his opponent first. I'm surprised I didn't think there would be any actual sword play yet." I was actually fairly surprised, I didn't think either one of them would try and attack the other for a couple of minutes it least.

Looking back at the fight, the two of them were in a sword lock. Neither one of them putting a lot of force into their blades, but neither one letting up. This is rather interesting, I wonder how long they will keep it up?

They were both gone in buzzes of sonido, both appearing on different sides of the field. "They must have gathered enough data on the other, now let's see how they use it against each other."

"It does seem they have Ulquiorra, now they are just waiting for the right time." Looking back at the two, they were both still waiting just looking each other over. In another flash Szayel was gone, closing the distance between them. He tried delivering a downward strike, however it was blocked quickly. Once again forcing them into a stale mate.

I was surprised by this but Aaronierro ducked down and kicked the legs out from under Szayel. It worked to, causing him to crash down and gave Aaroniero an opening. Before He could actually deliver his strike, something hit his chest. It looked like Szayel threw something and it resulted in a pink cloud of smoke engulfing Aaroniero.

It took a good minute to dissipate, the whole time Szayel was just stairing at his opponent. Once it did clear, Aaroniero was crouching down, breathing heavily, and in all looking worse for wears. 'What do you think that was?' 'I don't know, I have never seen anything like it before.' 'Yeah me either, whatever it is, it must be something fairly strong to do that to him.'

"Ulquiorra, do you know what that was?"

"No, I don't actually. If I had to guess though, I would say it is most likely some kind of hallucination gas. Maybe even something that attacks your body, but it could be anything."

"Yeah, that is what I'm afraid of."

Aaroniero was slowly getting up from his crouching position and glaring right at Szayel. It looked like he was still having trouble breathing, but other than that he looked pretty pissed. "So you try to use something like that against me, I should have figured. I have tried to keep my power a secret for a while now, but it seems you picked up on it."

What does he mean by that? "I hope you are willing to see the magnitude of my power now Szayel. You have brought this upon yourself." He brought up his sword holding it right in front of him and his body started to change. Large tentacle like things started running over his head and hands. Once his body was covered in them, they slowly fused together and changed in color. His appearance slowly started to resemble a person, well to be more specific almost like me. The only real difference I could see was the hair color, his being black.

"Now then let's get the real battle started, shall we Szayel?" Then he was gone, faster than he was moving before. Appearing right in front of Szayel delivering a strong horizontal strike. It pushed Szayel back several feet and Aaroniero just kept going after him. Time and time again, he would deliver a strong strike and send Szayel back. 'Why would he be toing with him so much?' 'He must be trying to push him to use his abilities.' 'He must be, because this isn't how Aaroniero would normally operate.'

"Come on Szayel, why do you hold back so much. You wanted to see my true power and that is why you used that gas on me. Wanting me to absorb it and force it out of me. Now that I'm asking you to show me yours you hold back."

"I'm not holding back Aaroniero, you know very well that my strength doesn't come from my attack power. I have been using my true power as you call it the whole time, I'm a scientist after all. I can't tell you how I have been using them, I can only show you."

Szayel lifted both of his hands up above his head, quickly bringing them down. It was like starting a race, and then the engines roared. Loud explosions sounded throughout the battle field, one after another went off. The smoke they created covered the entire field, nothing was visible but the fire that was roaring. 'What the hell just happened?' 'I'm not certain, I never expected anything like this to happen.' 'Yeah, no shit.'

"Is everyone okay, and does anyone know what the hell happened?"

"I'm sure everyone is fine Ichigo, don't worry yourself about that."

"Really Aizen don't worry myself."

"That is correct, if anyone was harmed by something like that they don't deserve to serve me." 'Oh man he is asking for it.' 'Don't get carried away here Ichigo.'

"Whatever Aizen, a real leader should actually care about their soldiers."

"Real leaders lead their armies to battle, victory, and eventually death. A real leader is someone that is willing to make the decisions necessary to win the battle at hand. A real leader is someone with enough knowledge to understand the importance of control. A true leader is someone that can actually bring about change to the world. That's why I'm a true leader Ichigo, and why you are nothing but a pawn."

"I'm no pawn Aizen."

"Oh but you have been from the very start. Now I think this is a good time to wrap all of this up. Make sure to meet me at the throne room once this is over, I'll let you have a couple of minutes to say what you will to who you will."

General POV

Everyone heard what Aizen was saying to Ichigo, but no one expected it. To hear Aizen talk like he is in complete control here, and that he doesn't care about anyone in his army. It was hard for people to take.

Nel, Ulquiorra, Stark, Harribel, and Grimmjow were the closest to the two of them while they had their argument. None of them happy with what was said, but none of them wanting to take any action yet. If they did it might throw the fact out there for Aizen. Before any of them had a chance to Ichigo already made his own move?

He drew one of his swords and sonidod right at Aizen, appearing on his left side and sending his blade crashing down. Aizen blocked but quickly was brought down to a knee from the pressure behind the attack. "I should have known better than to try that, you are as strong as I thought Ichigo."

"Shut the fuck up Aizen!" Kicking Aizen in the chest with his right leg and sending him flying, Ichigo quickly disappeared again in a buzz of sonido.

Nel was frantically looking around to the others and said, "Guys why is Ichigo fighting him?"

"I'm not certain Nel, It must have been their little argument that finally pushed him over the edge."

"But Ichigo wouldn't be pressured into doing something like this Stark."

"I'm sure anyone would Nel. He has been going on missions constantly, having to do special things for Aizen, has probably seen some terrible things lately, and most important to him is he has had time with you taken away from him."

Nel was basically in tears at this point and trying to keep herself together, "But why would he go as far as attacking him?"

"I don't know what else he could have done Nel. Don't worry though, I'm sure this won't last too long. If he does end up killing Aizen in the end than we will figure a way to work it out."

"Okay Stark."

The whole time Nel and Stark talked, Ulquiorra was analyzing the battle before him. Ichigo was dominating the fight on every level, and he was being down right monstrous. Every strike either sent Aizen flying or if dodged destroyed large amounts of the dome. The fight had wandered off into the distance a ways and you could really see the reishi Ichigo was producing.

It looked like a cloud of black and purple reishi just hung in the air around the two. Stretching for a couple hundred yards in each direction. The pressure from this reishi was starting to crumble pillars and crack the ground, all while picking up speeds close to fifty miles an hour. "Everyone come over here and look at this."

Ulquiorra was the only one actually watching the fight, everyone else was busy talking and trying to calm down Nel. Once they heard him call, they all walked over to him and gazed at the battle. The expressions among them varied greatly, Grimmjow was somewhere between thrilled and ecstatic. Stark was about normal just looking a little bit deep in thought? Nel only glanced at the scene once and quickly looked away, her crying getting even worse. Harribel took the job of helping Nel through this anyway she could.

Wrapping an arm around her shoulder and holding onto her lightly. "Nel he will be fine. You don't have to worry about anything okay."

"No this isn't supposed to happen, Ichigo might get really hurt. If that happened than it would be all my fault."

"Nel even if he somehow managed to get hurt, he would never blame you for it. You and I both know that he would just be happy that you're okay. That's just how Ichigo is, he seems to only care about you. He puts his life on the back burner, because yours is so much more important, special, precious, and valuable to him. Right now you just have to stay strong for him and wait for this all to be over."

"Your right Harribel, I can't be worried about him right now. Even if I really want to be, he will be alright. I need to stay strong for him like he does for me, I'm the only one that can do it for him."

"That's right Nel. Are you ready to get back to the others, I'm sure they are wondering if you're okay as well."

"Yeah let's go." The two of them slowly started to walk back to the others and closer to the battle that was tearing about the dome. Well it appeared to be more like a massacre, Ichigo was still dominating Aizen, maybe even more so than before.

"What happened while I was gone Ulquiorra?"

"The fight has been very similar to how it was. The only real different is it seems Ichigo is using even more strength. To be honest with you, he is becoming rather terrifying. He hasn't even gotten to his strongest yet, even second it seems like he lets out more and more power. The reishi surrounding them has increased greatly, and the physical power behind his strikes has also increased."

"Why would he be going so far with this? I thought he wanted to do this later, and hopefully not like this."

"I couldn't tell you why Nel. His tolerance to just sit back and take everything probably just ran out. I'm actually very surprised he has always been a very level headed and restrained person."

"Yeah I know, that is what is worrying me."

*Boom* one of the remaining towers was just destroyed, sending tons of stone rocketing down. Floating where to tower used to be was Ichigo. Looking very different than what he normally does. He was slowly being engulfed in solid black reishi, currently his legs, abdomen, and shoulders had this. It looked almost like armor, but it looked like it was constantly moving.

His cloak has completely changed. It has a piece of this black reishi on it, which acts as a sort of collar holding the cloak on. The rest of it has turned into what could only be described as black flames. They seemed to flow down the whole cloak and come of the end. You could see the different flickers of light throughout it, these where made from the ends of flames flickering.

Nel fell to her knees and just stared at him. "Ichigo?"

Two different buzzes of sonido could be heard, Szayel and Aaroniero appeared next to the group. Aaroniero looking at the two fighters with interest. While Szayel gave one quick look and shock his head.

"It appears it's starting to come out?"

Ulquiorra gave Szayel a quick glance and said, "What are you saying Szayel."

"I never told anyone, but I took data on all of the Espada. Not just your typical, reishi and strength sort of thing either. I'm talking about very in depth information. From the framework of your reishi, to the true nature of you zanpakuto."

"Still what does that have to do with this Szayel?"

"I'm talking about his resurrection."

"What, how can it come out? You have to call upon it with your release command to use it."

"Normally yes you do Stark. However with Ichigo it is different, it is all because of the nature of his zanpakuto and his aspect of death."

"So does this mean we can stop him from releasing?"

"I highly doubt any of us could stop him at this point but Nel. Even then the chances of that actually working are slim."

"What, Why?"

"The nature of his zanpakuto is Annihilation while his aspect of death is Desperation. I have theories for why these are the ones that were chosen for him. His aspect of death being Desperation is most likely from the event of losing his parents just before his death. While Annihilation most likely started to form during that time. I think it was solidified once he and Nel connected their reishi's. It was most likely done to use against anyone who harms the person that means everything to him, since he wasn't able to protect the first two important people to him. I think this was the will that his zanpakuto connected with."

"How can his resurrection being slipping out though?"

"He is probably doing it subconsciously, because his soul deems Aizen as the biggest threat to what he holds dear." Another big crash was heard throughout the dome, while several more of the towers in the distance were destroyed.

"His spiritual pressure is starting to become too much for the dome to handle." Right under Ichigo the dome was destroyed in a 200 to 300 yard wide circle. The surrounding area was slowly disinigrating or breaking away, falling to the sands of Hueco Mundo. "If we don't stop him from releasing completely then the dome is going to be destroyed, along with it most of Las Noches."

"I know Ulquiorra, Szayel do you have any idea what we can do to stop him?"

"The only chance we have is Nel, Stark. If we can somehow get him to see that she is safe than it might be able to stop him. She will need to be seen by herself, if anyone is seen near her he might think they are a threat. Even though he knows all of us, his resurrection might alter him more than ours do."

"Okay, Ulquiorra, Harribel, Grimmjow, Nel, and I will go. The reishi he is giving off will be too much for you or Aaroniero, it might even be too much for us. This will give us the best chance to get Nel in a position for him to see her though."

"Very well, you need to get her onto the closest pillar that is still standing. It will give her the best chance of being noticed by him. Once she is there all of you must leave the area immediately, he should sense her reishi and look for her. Make sure not to get caught up in the battle."

"Okay every let's get going, we need to do this fast. We will head right to them, there are still a couple of different towers scattered around. Everyone follow me." Stark gave everyone one last glance and left, followed suit by everyone else.

"So Szayel, what exactly is going on with him?"

"I do believe this is his resurrection slipping out, it is just the fact of how much power he is releasing without even fully releasing yet. He definitely is the strongest being I have even seen, if we were any closer I don't doubt we would be on our knees trying to breath."

"Yes, he is quit the powerhouse isn't he. I just can't believe that you think that's what his nature and aspect of death are. It does make sense though, becoming to ultimate weapon to defend what you love."

"Yes indeed, let's just hope that they can break him out of this before his power destroys everything here."

With The Others

Stark was still leading the way into the battle field. The reishi was weighing down on all of them though. Grimmjow was having the most difficulty, he was only just able to keep moving with everyone else. Ulquiorra and Harribel were both slowed down greatly, but seemed to be holding together better than Grimmjow. Stark was faring better then all three of them but just barely. Lastly Nel didn't have any effect to the reishi at all, if anything it was making her look even better.

Every couple of seconds a huge shock wave would push down on them, pushing them further from their objective. These shock waves were starting to create a tornado like effect on the wind in the area, creating violent gusts. The closer you got to the actual opponents the more you could see the absolute destruction.

Ichigo was almost completely surrounded in his solid black reishi like armor, only leaving his chest and head open. He had both swords drawn and they had a similar affect to his cloak. The reishi that was coming off of them doubled the size of the blades and they seemed to roar every time he swung one.

Aizen was barely standing at this point, he was covered in hundreds of lacerations and his body was bloodied. Every time Ichigo would swing the only choice he had was to try and dodge, because if he didn't there is no doubt it would kill him.

"You still push so hard against something you can never beat. Oh you are such a clueless animal Ichigo, the only thing that drives you now are instincts. You think you can keep all of them safe, protect them from the world. Well you can't, it is impossible! They are all hollows, the world hates them! Then there is Nel, you want to shelter her from everything. Take away all of her pain and put it all on your shoulders. To think that you would throw away your own life away for hers, it is such a pity Ichigo. You can't keep her safe, you can't shelter her from this world, and most importantly you could never keep me from killing her!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Ichigo just let his head lay down and let out a deep breath and grasping both of his swords tighter.

The group finally made it to the closest tower and had a perfect view of the whole scene. "Ichigo." Nel barely whispered out.

"It seems Aizen has been playing mind games with him the entire time."

"It would seem so Ulquiorra."

Gazing back at Ichigo he still hasn't moved, just standing there gazing towards the ground. Aizen was still at the same spot he was, trying to stay on his feet. He let out one last breath and said, "I'm Sorry, Nel." He switched the grip on his swords so now they are pointing towards the ground and slowly lifted his head up. The torrent of reishi flared to life once again, even stronger than before, starting up wind gusts. "Annihilate." He was cut off before he could finish though.

"ICHIGOOO!" Nel screamed out as loud as possible and sonidod towards him.

Ichigo's POV (Start of Battle)

"I'm no pawn Aizen."

"Oh but you have been from the very start. Now I think this is a good time to wrap all of this up. Make sure to meet me at the throne room once this is over, I'll let you have a couple of minutes to say what you will to who you will."

"I'm in control of every part of your life Ichigo?"

'What, Miquel is that you?'

"I'm not that unknown inside your head Ichigo. I'm not even here right now."

'What do you mean, you aren't here right now. That doesn't make any sense at all.'

"Oh but it should, because I wasn't there during your dream either."

'Aizen! How the fuck are you doing this, you haven't moved at all this whole time?"

"I can't give away my secrets Ichigo, just now that what you are doing is foolish. You will never be able to keep them safe, to keep her safe unless you follow me."

'No, that isn't true Aizen. I will keep them all safe, if I have to kill you to do it then so be it.'

"You cannot kill what you do not understand Ichigo. You may be stronger, faster, have larger reishi reserves, and skill, however none of that can win against intellect. Mine is far greater than yours and that isn't the only thing I have, but if you persist on doing this I won't stop you. Come forth and let me show you why I'm the leader and you're the pawn."

I sonidod right to him, stopping on his left and bringing my sword down. I put as much force as I could into that strike and it sent him to his knee.

"As I said you have superior strength Ichigo. Is that your plan to kill me, use your strength and crush me? That is nothing different than another low class hollow, or a beast like Grimmjow."

"Shut the Fuck Up!" Kicking him dead in the chest sending him flying back, but I wasn't going to give him any time to breath. I vanished right away sonidoing directly towards him. I would strike him and either send him flying or down to a knee, where I would kick him again. I kept doing this over and over but Aizen never seemed to take any real damage from it.

"You are turning into a beast Ichigo, running on instincts. Fighting with no strategy, using plain power alone. Even with all the power in the world you would never beat me. This is because I'm a true leader, and you're nothing but the pawn in my plan."

'I said, Shut The Fuck Up! I'm going to destroy you Aizen." Without even thinking about it I directed cero's into both of my swords and starting swinging them like made towards Aizen, occasionally firing off a Cero Arco. I wasn't even holding back anymore. Everything in my mind was screaming for me to annihilate this person in front of me. Over and over again I kept hearing "Annihilate." "Desperation." "Protect." Over and over again, they just played in my mind like a record.

Unknowing at the time I was letting everything slip, for the first time every I let out one hundred percent of my reishi without my resurrection. The stone that made up the dome and the towers themselves started to shatter and dissinigrate from the pressure. Yet Aizen was still standing looking at me, almost laughing.

"Yes, Ichigo show your power to the world, that way everyone will see just how strong you were when you fell."

Quickly charging towards Aizen, he dodged my swing yet again. At this point it he was toying with me, just proving to me that he in fact had the advantage. 'FUCK, I won't let you beat me Aizen. I won't let you harm any of them. You won't get anywhere near any of my friends, you won't even live to see them again.'

I pulled back both of my swords and charged two Cero Oscuras's into them, I haven't even done this before yet I didn't care. I didn't care if it killed both of us at this point, nothing mattered except making sure he couldn't touch any of them. Making sure he couldn't touch Nel.

"CERO ARCO!" The wave of reishi flooded the area, soaring for as far as I could see. Destroying all of the dome in its path, and anything that didn't disinigrate fell to the sands below.

"I barely escaped that one Ichigo, now it's my turn."

Before I could even react a sword plunged through my chest. 'How?' All I got for an answer was it being ripped out of me, and a kick to the knees. I fell down to both knees and could barely look up. In front of me was Nel. Tears were rolling down her face, and barely holding herself together. 'Nel?'

"Good your still with us, now it's time for you to witness true disappear."

Aizen slowly appeared behind her, walking towards her. 'Stay away from her." I could barely say it without coughing up blood.

"How will you keep me from her, your obviously not in any condition to challenge me anymore."

'I don't care if I can't stand a chance against you, I still have something to put the odds in my favor.'

"Oh there is no need for you to use that resurrection of yours Ichigo. This will all be over for her soon, and then it will be over for you as well."

Faster than I could see him move, he appeared right behind Nel. I saw a flash and then his sword was sticking through her. She slowly looked up at me with a little smile on her face. Tears still rolling down her checks, "I love you."

'NEL!'

He put his foot on her back and ripped the sword from her chest, causing her body to fall limp onto the ground. How could I fail her, the only point of my life was to keep her from harm. Yet I failed.

"Don't be to depressed Ichigo, it's just one person after all. Look at the big picture here, as long as we work together than we can safe this world from itself. You and I could do it alone, all you have to do is fight alongside me."

'Nel?' Yet her body just laid there not moving.

"It a new beginning for us Ichigo, let's use it wisely. Now that she is out of the way for you this will all work much better."

'I'm Sorry, Nel.' I slowly picked myself up and looked at Aizen. 'I guess this is it after all huh.'

"What are you saying Ichigo?"

'Annihilate.'

"ICHIGO!" Someone crashed into my back and wrapped their arms around me, once they did everything went dark. "Ichigo, Ichigo." That was all I heard over and over again, until I eventually passed out.

General POV

Nel sonidod right to Ichigo and wrapped her arms around him, causing him to drop his two swords. At the same time his reishi was cut off, all of it in the atmosphere disappeared. The Aizen that was floating in the air in front of the two disappeared, leaving no traces.

A second later everyone was standing around the two trying to figure out what just happened. The only things that could be heard was the crumbling of the dome, the sound of the fire, and Nel trying to wake up Ichigo.

"We need to get him back to your palace, I think we are going to have to come up with a new plan."

"Yes we will Stark, Let's all head to their palace than."

Everyone but Ulquiorra, Nel and Ichigo left. "It will be okay Nel, we just need to wait until he wakes up."

"I know Ulquiorra, I'm just still trying to figure everything out. Can you help me with him?"

"Of course Nel." Each one stood on one of his sides and slung an arm over their shoulder. "Let's go, don't want to keep everyone waiting." With that they were gone, leaving the destruction behind.

Back at Ichigo and Nel's palace everyone had already found places to sit, before Nel and Ulquiorra made it with Ichigo. Harribel's fraccion, Tosen, and Gin had already made it. They just sat in silence and waited for everyone to arrive. This discussion is going to be the most important of all of their lives. All of their plans are going to have to be changed.

After about five minutes the three in question made it, Ichigo still unconscious and being held up by Nel and Ulquiorra. "Let's set him right over here Ulquiorra." The two of them walked over to the open couch and sat him down, then both taking a seat on either side. Nel was still holding onto him rather tightly and still holding back tears, while Ulquiorra looked around to everyone.

"There are several important topics we need to discuss right now. The most important being what we will do now, but I would like to start with you Szayel. You finished the project you were working on correct?"

"Yes, I did Ulquiorra. I found a way for us to communicate between each other. It only needs your reishi and for you to pour it into the device, once done just whisper what you want to be transmitted into the device. It will then relay the message to all of the selected individuals. When we are done here I can get one for all of you."

"That would be best, now I want to know what all of your thoughts are on what just happened."

Harribel was the first to answer, "I think that this changes everything for us, until we hear what Ichigo has to say we won't know for certain what happened. He might have a plan for us when he wakes up, but for now I think we need to think about leaving Las Noches maybe even Hueco Mundo all together."

Grimmjow looked over at her and just shook his head. "I hate to agree with you, but it makes sense. It's the only we will be able to know for certain we aren't being watched over by that bastard. We need some time to make a plan and organize it, this would be a good way to do it."

Everyone just stared at him and had questioning looks on their faces except Ulquiorra. "What, I'm not always rushing into things like a moron. I know that if we don't do anything and stay here than everything is fucked. This itleast gives us a chance, maybe in the end we can still fuck up Aizen."

Aaroniero gave a quick glance around the room and didn't say anything, but it seemed like he agreed with what has been said.

Gin stood up and said, "I think that leaving Hueco Mundo now might be a good plan, it's just figuring out where we will go. We could go the The World of the Living and try and find a place to bunker down for a while. Soul Society is definitely a no, so The World of the Living is the best choice."

The entire room was overtaken by a silence, and everyone looked very deep in thought. The silence was broken suddenly by Ichigo screaming out and pushing himself up. He started gasping and the look in his eyes was rather terrifying to look at. His normal chocolate brown eye was full of sadness and shock, which made no sense coming from him. He had to take a second to catch his breath and then started screaming out, "Nel." Looking around frantically until he caught her in his sight.

He grabbed her and wrapped his arms around her shoving his head into her neck. "Oh god I'm so sorry Nel."

Everyone just watched as Ichigo started to break down. It's hard to believe someone like him would end up doing something like this, it even weirder not knowing why he is doing it. "What are you talking about Ichigo?"

"When he, no I'm never going to let Aizen do anything like that to you. I now know it wasn't real, but it felt so real at the time I wasn't able to tell."

"Ichigo what are you talking about?"

"During our battle, somehow he was able to talk inside my head. I don't understand why, his body wouldn't even move and I could hear him talking. It felt like it came from all around me, not from a single point. Near the end he disappeared and stabbed me through my chest. I fell to my knees and when I looked up I saw you. Sitting there crying and trying to hold yourself together, after that Aizen killed you and I started breaking down. I just gave up on everything and was about to call upon my resurrection when it all stopped."

Taking a minute to catch his breath Ichigo continued, "I heard you call out my name and then someone was holding onto me from behind. After that I don't remember because I passed out." Ichigo still had his arms around Nel in a very protective hug, and gave a look over the room. "So what did you guys see?"

Everyone just stared at him, how he could have witnessed all of that when none of them did. Ulquiorra spoke up first, "We didn't see any of that Ichigo, just a battle between the two of you that you dominated. We heard some of the things Aizen said to you and it was shocking. The entire time though you were releasing huge amounts of your reishi, Szayel theorized that you were leaking out the power of your resurrection."

"Really I was winning? From what I saw I never even put a scratch on him, he just kept mocking me. I also don't know anything about leaking the power of my resurrection, I never even tried to call upon it until the very end. Gladly though Nel stopped me, I wouldn't want any of you to witness it. In my released state I'm way too dangerous for anyone to be around."

"Nel did end up going after you and stopping you. Once she did though you passed out and collapsed in her arms. The Aizen that you were fighting vanished and we all rushed her as fast as possible. It seems that Aizen knows about our plans, so we are trying to figure out what to do. Maybe you could be able to help us in that department Ichigo."

"Actually I do have an Idea Ulquiorra." Ichigo finally let Nel out of his arms and locked eyes with her. Leaning in and giving her a long and passionate kiss. "I love you Nel, and I'm sorry." He got up and walked into the middle of the group.

"Firstly, I want to know if any of you want out of this before we start. I'm not going to sugarcoat this, my plan might not work, it might cause us to get into an even worse situation. So with that said if anyone doesn't want to be a part of this you can go."

Stark looked over at Ichigo and just shook his head, "Ichigo if none of us was willing to follow your leadership and plans then we wouldn't be here. I think I can say this for all of us, we all trust our lives with you."

"Okay than, Szayel we are all going to need a cloak to conceal our reishi with, also make an extra one."

"I can do that Ichigo, but why would we need an extra?"

"I'll get to that in a minute, for now let's get back to the plan. I think that our best chance is to find the man named Kisuke Urahara, and his acquaintances. That is why we are going to need the cloaks, being in the World of The Living for too long will no doubt attract attention. Ulquiorra since you have been to the World of The Living then I want your help leading us around when we get there."

"Of course Ichigo, I would gladly to that."

"Good, now I don't know exactly what will happen when we get there or how everything will work out. I do know that if we stay here, than Aizen is going to find a way to kill us. I don't know how he did that trick of his, but I'm sure he can use it again. I think that Kisuke would be able to help us with that problem. Oh, Szayel did you ever finish making the devices for us to communicate over distance?"

"Yes I did, I actually was going to get one for all of us when we are done here. I'm sure you would like to have one as well?"

"Of course Szayel. That is what my plan is right now, do any of you have anything you would like to add?"

Everyone sat in silence for a second just observing everyone else. Finally Aaroniero stood up, "I believe this is going to be the last chance that we have to actually sit down like this. So I would like to do this now before everything gets out of hand. I wish to appoint Ichigo as the new Leader of the Espada, and Ruler of Hueco Mundo. If any of you support this please make yourself known."

Ulquiorra silently stood up and gave a quick look over to Ichigo. "I will definitely support this, he is more than qualified to lead us and rule this land."

While he sat back down Stark stood up, "I have to agree with the two of you. I'll follow you Ichigo."

Szayel said, "Of course I will follow you as well Ichigo."

Grimmjow got up and looked around at everyone one, after a second he started with what he had to say. "I have never seen anyone fit to rule over me. But over the past couple of days I think I can make an exception. I'll follow your rule Ichigo, you have proven yourself to me."

It was still somewhat shocking to see Grimmjow of all people to show respect to someone. There are crazier things out there though. Lastly it was Harribel standing up, "I and my fraccion will follow you Ichigo, and we will also be there for you as well Nel." Giving the two of them a slight bow she sat back down.

"Okay than I guess its official than huh, well let's get ready to go then. Szayel you need to get the cloaks and devices ready."

"Of course Ichigo, I will leave right now and prepare them." Getting up he was gone in a buzz of sonido.

"Stark, Harribel and Aaroniero I would like for you to gather anything that we can use, it might be a while until we can make it back here. So gather any data, information or anything that we could use against Aizen."

They all nodded in return and left in the same manner.

"Grimmjow I need you to keep an eye out for Nnoitra or Baraggan, I haven't seen either of them for a while and they might be up to something. I don't want you to attack either of them just observe for now, and report back to me with any information you find."

"Of fuck yeah, I'll talk to you once I find something." He didn't even stand up before he disappeared in a buzz of sonido.

"Gin and Tosen I need you two to find a way we can get communication with Soul Society. It doesn't have to be ready now, but in a couple of days at the latest."

"Oh that won't be to hard Ichigo, especially one we find Kisuke."

"Good I'm glad I can count on you two. Lastly, Ulquiorra would you please accompany my, there is something very important we must do."

"Yes, of course Ichigo."

Ichigo then walked back over to Nel and helped her up from the couch. "I need you to keep Aysu out of trouble for me, Nel. Also I want you to stay safe, I'll try and make this as fast as possible but it has to be done before we leave."

"Okay Ichigo, just don't do anything to dangerous please. I'll be waiting for you here, I love you."

"I love you to Nel." Giving her a quick kiss and motioning for Uluqiorra to follow he was gone. Ulquiorra followed suit leaving Nel and Aysu by themselves in the room.

"Stay safe Ichigo."

Ichigo's POV

Again I really hate leaving Nel but I am the only one that knows where he is, I also want Ulquiorra there just in case anything happens. We covered the distance to the small stone building rather quickly, only taking about five minutes or so. "What are we doing here Ichigo?"

"It's what is inside this building that is important Ulquiorra, It is hard to explain so let's just go." I have no idea how to open the door like Aizen did so a Cero will be the next best option.

The door was quickly destroyed and left a hole for us to make our way inside. "Follow me Ulquiorra, these stairs go on for a very long time." I then slipped into the building and started down the long set of stairs.

We made it down about three flites and Ulquiorra asked something. "What exactly are we doing down here Ichigo, I don't see what would be down here that we need?"

"It isn't really something more like someone Ulquoirra. After I came back from Soul Society with the things Aizen needed he brought me down here. I was very surprised with what he was doing here. He used the energy from the Hogyoku and manifested it into an Arrancar. One that might have limitless strength, reishi, and defenses. That is why we are here, to free this Arrancar and try and get him on our side, I just hope that he is still locked up."

"That is insane Ichigo. I understand your reasoning for coming down here now. Hopefully this will all go smoothly."

"Yeah that would be nice."

Finally close to the bottom and to be honest I'm freaking out a little bit. This Arrancar could have several different reactions to us if he is here. He might just out right attack us, or maybe he'll just refuse to come with us. I really do hope I will be able to convince him though, if anything to make his life better than what it is.

"This is the door, stay behind me Ulquiorra." I got a nod for him and I quietly opened up the door. Looking inside no one was there and the lights were dimmed down, with the only light coming from the monitors in the room. One of them appeared to be showing vital signs, which all looked okay. The only sound from the room was the quit noises from that one screen.

I opened the door all the way and slipped in, gave a quick look around and motioned for Ulquiorra to follow. "Okay, I'm not really sure how to get him out of there but I'm going to give it a shot." Walking up to one of the big keyboard like screens connected to the big container. I saw several different buttons and most of them didn't have any kind of markings on them. 'Come on one of these be the button that opens it.'

I looked over all of them though and not one said anything about being the one to open, or any kind of emergency open. 'Damn it.' Something caught my eye, a small yellow cover. 'Maybe this is it.' Opening it up, it was. On the bottom of the cover it said, 'Emergency release.'

Awesome, let's give it a try. Pulling the small lever and pushing the button that was tucked underneath it. Nothing seemed to happen though, until I heard what sounded like a crack. The door on the container broke open slightly breaking the seal. It then pushed open a little more and rotated back around the machine. Smoke and small traces of reishi flowed out, creating a cover for what was inside.

"It seems to have worked Ichigo."

"Yes it did Ulquiorra. Stay here I'm going to go and see." Slowly walking up I could start to see several small purple lights reflecting out. All of them about shoulder level on me, and all of them the exact same color. 'That is weird.'

The smoke started clearing more and I got a good look at his head. It wore a mask that had six eye like holes, this is where those purple glows were coming from. The mask was made out of the white bone material that makes up all of our mask fragments as well, it is just weird to see someone with a full mask. The top of the mask had two ram horns, the rest of the mask looked plain.

Giving the rest of his body a look he was already dressed in a normal Espada outfit, nothing being personalized on it. Lastly supporting an average sized katana on his right hip and overall looked plain but mysterious.

Neither one of us did anything for quite a while, just staring at each other. He finally spoke and sounded almost like me just not as deep voiced. "You have the strongest reishi signature in my sensory range, does this mean you are my master?"

A little different than you expected it to be? Maybe, anyway thanks for reading. I like what I have planned for the rest of this story now, and I hope you like the direction its taking. Now let's talk about the chapter a bit.

Firstly Aaroniero changed into Kein like he did in canon. I'm planning on having him look like Kaine for the rest of the story as well, including using his zanpakuto at some point.

I'm making Aizen's zanpakuto work a little differently than in canon. He can't just hypnotize anyone and make them see illusions, there are certain things that have to happen. Firstly, he can be fighting with the person and then he can use the power of his shikai. Second, someone that is watching the battle will also be affected by the shikai, but he can make them see different things than the one he is fighting. Lastly, he can use illusions on someone that has seen his shikai, but only if they are under distress, severe pain, in a battle, or watching the battle of someone that has seen his shikai. I think that this makes it a little better and not as crazy OP as it should have been in canon. I will have a couple more illusions happen just not saying when yet.

Next with Ichigo's resurrection. He didn't have any control over its power starting to leak out. It was all happening subconsciously, and only a part of its actually power came out. His release will have something to do with the black reishi armor that was forming but I'll let you guys guess what that is. It will be revealed in the future, hopefully not too distant.

Now the plans for the "team" per say is going to the World of the Living and finding Kisuke. What happens when they do I won't say, just know it will be something interesting with Kisuke involved. They will be going to Soul Society eventually, and I won't say how that will work out either. I just want everyone to know I'm planning on some major deaths to happen in this last third or so of the story. I'm going to try my best to make them all special and interesting, hopefully you guys won't want to kill me for them either.

Now the last topic, my next story! The girls have been cut down yet again, this time Meninas is on the chopping block. Sorry to anyone that likes her, she is still going to be in the story though. Just not in the pairing, so that leaves Giselle Gewelle, Candice Catnipp, and Liltotto Lamperd. Well that's all I have to say this time, hope you all enjoyed. Thanks to everyone that has read, followed, reviewed, and favorite this story.