Author's response to the unknown reviews:

To unknown reviewer known only as: DragonSlayer4554

Dear DragonSlayer4554,

I would like to inform you that if you are going to ask a direct question to me, such as 'When is the new chapter going to be released?', it would be appreciated if you left me some way to actually contact you, either PM or some other means, otherwise you will have to wait to till whenever a new chapter gets released (assuming I remember to address, though I'm pretty good about that.) Secondly, and this was more one that kind of irked me, was 'What is taking so long? Miss the story! Want it to continue.' Now while I can sympathize with enjoying a story and hoping that it get continued, you posted this 19 hours after your first review. So, needless to say, you lost a bit of my sympathy, but I'll be patient cause I care about my audience. Firstly, I am a bit of slow methodical writer, so it takes me time to create a story segment that I'm satisfied with enough to think it can entertain the audience. I love writing this story, but I'm not going to sacrifice quality for quickness. On the topic of quickness of update, considering how much I write per chapter, and my busy life as an adult, it's should be understood that things take time (although I did update the last two about a month apart, but that's neither here nor there.). So please, I beg for your patience and understanding. I hope the story continues to entertain you, please enjoy chapter 33.

(End of author's response to unknown reviews)

(Pre fic banter)

A dark castle is shown sitting atop a Cliffside, as a storm rages and batters the building with water. At the utmost window, a small light is seen.

Closing in we see a candle sitting on a cloth-covered table.

"Greetings dearie." Senna said with a fake Transylvanian accent (1) as she steeped her fingers together, an unsettling smile on her face "Velcome to the cursed tales of the Miko. I am your hostess: Senna Kurosaki." She turns and pulls a blank book. "In today's tale we'll view a passage from a story that was filled so much madness it drove the author insane until he killed himself." the woman's smile widened "Read on if you have the courage."


Chapter 33: Darkside of the Universe

(Same time: chapter 29)

Sosuke was hunched over, looking upon the twinkling lights of his kingdom's facilities from the overseeing balcony that had been built into his room. To most, he had his usual calm confident façade, but it was only skin deep. He was mildly worried that his soldiers weren't up to snuff, since the ones he had dispatched the human world hadn't returned from their mission, or reported in.

Now while he didn't particularly cared for the ones sent out and he had expected reasonable resistance, since leaving Karakura undefended would be tactical suicide on Soul Societies part, and given Grimmjow's tendency to overextend himself because of his love for fighting, the reason why he sent Ulquiorra as backup in the first place, the problem remained.

They hadn't returned.

Three -well two and an ex- middle class Espada and a small squadron of fraccion went in and seemingly disappeared, potentially destroyed while doing no damage to his enemies.

Not the most confidence instilling display.

The man straightened his back and ran a hand through his hair, as he fingered the hilt of his blade with his other hand. Reaching into his pocket, he was about to press a button ring up Szayelaporro on the monitor for a status update on Wonderweiss, just to distract himself from his current dilemma when a knock came from his door on the far side of the room.

"Enter." The man announced as he turned around to see who entered.

Stepping into his chambers was a tomboyish Arrancar with short yellow hair, green eyes and a bone like chocker and eye piece, the fragments of her Hollow self. The woman in white stood up straight and saluted her leader.

"At ease, Menoly." The man ordered as he fixated his gaze on her while she dropped her hand to her side. "What brings you here?"

"The away team has returned Aizen-sama and the Primera Espada is on standby in the throne room, awaiting further orders." His servant and fraccion reported.

Her leader bobbed his head grateful of the news. "Thank-you, Menoly. See to it that you and Loly, get the away team to the room at once. I need them to give an immediate debriefing."

"Sir!" the enthusiastic woman saluted again, before turning and heading out.

"Game on, Urahara." Aizen challenged, as he stepped towards his door to the throne room outside.

(Hueco Mundo: Away team)

Stepping out of the black gargantuan divide in space and time, the four surviving individuals were dumped in the hub that they had entered in from earlier that evening as opposed the sands outside. They quickly noticed that they weren't alone either. Sitting a few feet ahead of them was a small girl wearing a very revealing white combat suit and short shorts. She had green hair and purple eyes and a strange one horned helmet.

The girl who had been rocking back and forth for the past while perked up when she noticed them. "Oh, you're back." When the void closed behind them, she tilted her head to the side. "Wasn't there more of you?" she asked

"That's the way battle is." A sleepy voice called out from the far right hand side of the room. The voice's owner a young man with brown hair and white suit, who was laying on his side against the ground, a bone like jaw around his neck.

Another yawn escaped him, as he pushed himself off the ground, "Ulquiorra, I didn't know you left too." He said as he rubbed the sleepies out of his eyes.

"Someone had to baby-sit, Grimmjow." The stoic Espada replied, ignoring the death glare of said sexta, who was somewhat being tended to by his fraccion.

"I didn't need your help."

"And I wouldn't have given it to you, but I was ordered to because you had what Aizen-sama needed." He replied coolly, as he placed his hands in his pockets. "Remember you've just become expendable."

The blue haired man barred his teeth hatefully. He wanted to shut this pompous prick up badly, but he knew that it wouldn't change the truth. As he was now, missing an arm and bruised all over, he very well could be at the end of the line. The panther king's gaze soon fell on his only surviving fraccion, who was standing silently between the two of them, unsure what do aside from maintaining some pressure on Grimmjow's shoulder. A disgusted frustrated groan escaped his lips as he pried the stub of an arm she'd been tending from her grip. He didn't need to be cuddled, he still had his damn pride.

Seeing that the man was put in his place, the rescuing Espada turned to the other one who was in trouble, "Samurai." He called, getting the man's attention. "You didn't think you could get away did you?"

Taiga shook his head, "I wasn't trying to."

Ulquiorra turned back around to the front, placated. "Good. Perhaps Aizen-sama will go easy on you then."

'Fat chance.' The samurai thought to himself, as he knew the jig was soon to be up now, since now they'd probably be taken to his throne room, and there was no way he'd get out of being involved in the situation or explaining why how Ichigo survived aside from faking his death.

Although, it was something he had known upon doing so, that it was only a matter of time.

Entering into the large area, the two fraccion of Aizen, Loly and Menoly, looked over the sad ensemble before them. "Tch, wow." The black-haired girl with ponytail spoke in a condescending tone. "Take a look, Menoly. Mr. 6 got his team wiped out! And here I thought the Espada were supposed to be the best of the best."

Menoly smirked when she saw the barely clothed Espada shake in rage. They knew he wouldn't try anything, since Aizen had obviously sent them to fetch them. "Calm down Loly, we shouldn't kick him when he's down." She warned playfully, but soon tilted her head, cocky smile of her own. "Then again it is kinda sad when Mr. 'I stand alone' Ulquiorra, has to be a team player and save your sorry ass."

Despite feeling the absolute rage from the man behind him, the rescuing Espada remained emotionless, "If you two are done getting your pounds of flesh, can we move on to the reason as to why you are here?"

"Yeah, yeah." Loly said with obvious annoyance at getting her fun cut short. "Listen up, follow us, Aizen-sama wants to know how things went." She then looked at the two gateway slackers and fraccion of the Primera. "As for you two fraccion, your mommy wants you, so come on."

"She's not our mom!/Whatever…"

Their outcries were ignored by the group, as they started to walk away back to Aizen to give a sit-rep. So, without another word, but a good huffing on Lillinettes part, the two gate watchers got up and followed behind them.

Travelling through the dark hallways of Las Noches, the samurai of the group was absent-mindedly walking, trying to keep his mind and his nerves in check. He knew it was only a matter of time, when Grimmjow or Ulquiorra told Aizen, and it did scare him to know what he'd do to him, to his wife.

At this point, after already helping to create most of his army, they were practically expendable. The only reason they hadn't been dealt with before now, was perhaps because killing them was a low 'I can do that whenever' priority compared to the other things on Aizen's to do list. But, he could tell that after this stunt, and him finding out about Ichigo, that would quickly change. A groan escaped his lips as he grinded his back most teeth.

Unfortunately, for him, the spirit that materialized beside him preyed on his fears. "Foolish fencer." The warlord greeted with a cruel smirk.

"Oda Nobunaga." He answered back, a resigned look in his eye.

"Try again." He said, as he crossed his arms over his black battle-worn breastplate, silently keeping in stride with his adversary. A disgusted grunt was the answer he received. Letting out a self-assured laugh, he gave the samurai a brief once over, noting with delight that the young man's body reeked of trepidation. "You've certainly been desperate as of late, samurai."

"Your concern is touching." He answered bitterly; sparing a glance to make sure he was close enough to follow the group, but far away enough where his words wouldn't be heard and misconstrued. "What do you want?"

A loud high laugh escaped the demon, amused by the samurai's unusual venom. "I just wish to see more bloodshed, a world thrown into the endless pits of war. Perhaps, you would reconsider and swear you allegiance to Aizen, after all that is all his manipulation will lead to."

Shinjiro scoffed, "Swear allegiance to him? No thanks." He then glared at his murderer. "Anyway, you should remain silent. Despite my animosity to him, I'd sooner follow him over the man who killed my beloved Subaru."

"Over the man who killed your beloved?" he repeated mockingly, his hair swaying around his shoulder guards. "No, no, no. I believe you mean when 'WE' killed her." His cruel smirk once again spread across his lips "If you hadn't so naïvely believed that you could stop me without having to sacrifice one of your precious friend's lives…"

The warlord paused to enjoy the torment in the man's eyes in recalling the event. It only made him want to drive the knife harder into the wound. "A choice you couldn't make, so tell me foolish fencer what did you decide to do? You decided to face me head on, and despite your best effort you still sacrificed a precious life, your life, in an attempt to seal me inside you." A dark chuckle escaped him. "Lot of good that did, since I was able to make you watch as your precious wife died in fear, pain and agony, ahahaha!"

The samurai watched the monster laugh at its deeds, while a burning hot feeling began to rise in his chest. As he continued to stare, his fist started to shake and his teeth clenched together. Without warning, the group paused mid-step when a loud cracking noise pierced the air. Turning around they saw the Shinigami in there number's fist buried into a passing column, a large crater with extensive cracks ran up and down it.

They remained silent unsure of what caused this sudden outburst of aggression from the seemingly pacifistic Shinigami. After a few moments, the man pulled his hand out of the hard pillar, sparing them a glance from the corner of his eye. "Sorry about that. I was talking with my Zanpaktou." He apologized, as he rotated his wrist, the bone popping loudly as it fell back into place.

Loly and Menoly just nodded their heads nervously as they took a step back, not wanting to get too close to the volatile samurai. Grimmjow snorted his nose, he figured it was only a matter of time, before Boy Scout snapped and nearly killed someone; it was the reason why he stayed away from the guys that kept a calm façade and chocked things down, better to be vocal and aggressive then quiet and psychotic. Luppi nearly jumped in fright, once she heard smashing of marble, although she was quick to recover, she remained close by her Espada; she wouldn't let the samurai close to Grimmjow now. Ulquiorra remained indifferent and simply turned away after receiving and explanation, while the two tag-a-longs behind the samurai remained eerily silent.

As the group once again resumed motion, Nobunaga rematerialized with another hearty laugh that was only perceptible to his mortal enemy. "Such anger, such fury! A pity that you didn't show half as much resolve when I had control of your body, it might have been the difference that saved her life."

Shinjiro sent him a murderous look, but didn't rise to his bait a second time around. He knew he wanted him to give in to his anger and become some mindless berserker lusting for war, an addict whose only fix was murder. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't express his sentiments. "Fuck you." He cursed disdainfully. "I hate you. I hate you as much as I hate myself for my stupid decision back then. But, unlike you, I haven't lost my humanity." He turned away from him, a scathing look in his eye. "Away with you, if you show up again, I'll slit your throat myself."

The large armored warrior laughed as he took the threat in stride, finding amusement in the Myrmidons' dark promise. "Very well, but we will meet again, in this life or the next." As the warlord started to fade into the back of the samurai's mind, his words echoed in his head. "After all, it's my destiny to kill your wife, over and over again."

Shinjiro's fists clenched tightly at his side. "Not unless I kill you first." He muttered, as the group paused in front of the door that led into the throne room.

Aizen's fraccion walked forward, pushing and holding the doors open, allowing the group to pass by before stepping back outside, resuming their posts. Inside the throne room there was several more people instead of just Aizen waiting for them. On the bottom steps of the stairs that lead to the throne was the hidden visage of the Primera Espada, the flowing white burqa encasing her figure, only the small window around her blue eyes against peachy skin could be seen. Beside the Espada was her ward and the other prisoner of Aizen, Subaru Kujo, who was wearing an inverted color schemed version of her Onimitsukido uniform. The spy readily took note of Shinjiro's inclusion of the group and was now starting to figure out why she was called here.

Not too far away from the two of them were Aizen's Shinigami conspirators, Tosen and Gin, both wearing a white version of their old attire, but while Kaname had a stoic unfeeling expression, Ichimaru looked like he was having the time of his life. The last and most important person in the room was Aizen himself, sitting upon his marble throne, looking down coolly on the ones who entered his court, noting the causalities and the 'addition'.

The commander stood up and began to walk down the steps, most of the gathered bowing respectfully. "Welcome back." Sosuke greeted faux-amicably, his true feeling and intention hidden well. "Seeing as your arm is missing, as well as most of your clothes, I take it that things didn't go quite as planned?" he pointed out ever so serenely.

Grimmjow growled to himself at jab, but kept silent as he stood back up along with the rest of the group. "I still accomplished my mission." He informed through gritted teeth, he knew he was just patronizing him.

"Hmmm…." Aizen glanced at Luppi, then over to Shinjiro, before returning to Grimmjow. "You keep odd company, Mr. Jaggerjack." He commented, before turning to Ulquiorra, "Was the Shinigami with them, Ulquiorra?"

"Yes, Taiga was." The pale Arrancar answered.

Sosuke's eyes flickered over to Subaru, who was directing a questioning look to Shinjiro. That obviously meant that she wasn't aware of his actions tonight. "Very well. One problem at a time. Grimmjow," he called upon, "Tell me the situation in Karakura town and, if you know, the name of the one who inflicted such grievous wounds on you. I need to know what I'm dealing with."

Grimmjow held his anger in check, as he barely nodded his head in acknowledgement. "…yes, sir." The blue haired Arrancar leisurely slanted his body to one side, right hand raised level to his scarred chest. "My team and I left for Karakura. We split up and they engaged the Shinigami while I checked out what they were up to. They were building these towers."

Aizen raised a brow, "Towers?" he repeated,

Before Grimmjow could continue, Ulquiorra crushed his eye in his hand, creating a large image of the tower in question. Grimmjow spared his fellow Espada a glance, who merely gave him a nod to continue with his report. "Anyway, this what they look like." He jutted his thumb to the image, "Apparently they're setting up battle formation and were testing it out when we got there."

"Ah, I see." Sosuke confirmed to himself. Now it made sense, and explained why Grimmjow was hurt. Those towers were designed to allow captain level beings to be able to fight in that town without endangering the inhabitants.

It was clever, but still, something in the back of Aizen's mind was telling him that something else was off about it. If it was merely to protect the humans that same effect could be achieved by the department of research and development, which had the ability to create a temporary barrier for when Shinigami forces engaged particularly destructive Hollows and Menos-Grande in the world of the living.

'Hmmm… but then why go through all the effort to create more permanent means when the R&D can just create an infinite looping barrier system?' Aizen thought to himself. When no obvious conclusion came to mind he looked back at Grimmjow to continue his report. "Please continue."

The man shrugged, "Not much to tell. From the bitch Shinigami I killed, all it was supposed to do was conceal the Shinigami present, so that you wouldn't sense them when we arrived, like camouflage for an ambush."

'Wouldn't sense them?' he thought to himself. He could tell that was obviously what the Shinigami in question's superior officer had told them and, judging by the answer, it was certainly not something Mayuri would cook up, which left one other person. "Urahara." He muttered quietly.

It wouldn't be much of a stretch for him to have a fair idea with what he was planning, which only begged his next question. "What did you do with the tower?"

"I destroyed it of course."

"And what happened?"

The man rolled his eyes; it was a fucking tower that got blown up, plain and simple. Did he want to know if it had twin sister too? "I dunno. The air seemed to change just a bit, I didn't notice anything different."

"Unsurprising." Ulquiorra deadpanned, his words taunting the panther. He turned to Aizen ignoring Luppi and Grimmjow's glare. "On arrival, I noticed that the spiritual field encompassing the area had waned. The air was less dense with spiritual energy and, just before I rescued what remained of Grimmjow's group, a strange green webbing arced across the skyline before shattering." He reported the changes, while the image his eye created showed the details he described, before returning back to the image of the white tower.

Sosuke closed his eyes and nodded; now he understood. It was both very simplistic and clever, a hallmark of Urahara's designs. The towers were constructed to not only reinforce the town to allow multiple Captain Class Shinigami the ability to fight at full strength at the same time, but it also served to link the town to Soul Society in some indiscernible way, hampering his plans.

The only conclusion he could think of was that Urahara had been able to piece enough information with Yamamoto to figure his intention out and provide countermeasures. Kisuke's must have learned that in order to create the King's key, he would need the area to be in its natural state of integrity, something like being linked as an access point to another area defiled. Plus, with what he heard so far, Sosuke would presume that he'd have to face the might of Soul Society, who would defend the towers, before he could lay claim to the that would allow him to reach his goal: The throne of heaven.

Still while it was a stumbling block, he knew how to take away the advantage his opponent had. Judging by what they had done so far and knowing that the more time Aizen had, the more his army grew, they were planning to do the exact same thing as him: A pincer attack.

Aizen knew that if he went on the offensive, he wouldn't be able take out all of the Shinigami's might in one grand battle. Contrary to the saying, but quantity did occasionally beat out quality. However; if he played defensively enough and took the right moments to recover, he could take them out section by section until the mammoth sized army heeled. Conversely he also knew that Soul Society wouldn't commit all of their heavy hitter to his realm. If they were cut off or destroyed, taking the human world would provide him the ultimate front, bases in two realms that could offer unlimited support with one another.

The scenario was like two stag beetles locking pincers. The first to break their opponent's innermost horn would be the one that was likely to be the victor when the dust settled. Aizen briefly smiled, this would be a challenge worthy of proving his ascension. "Do you know who was heading the operation in the human world?"

Grimmjow paused and thought about it. He didn't really know who was in charge, just that one piece of shit he was gonna fucking murder. "Don't know." He replied, before turning to his fellow Espada, "Show him the guy."

The pale Espada said nothing, but the image of the tower changed revealing a Shinigami with bright orange hair and peachy skin, snarling back at the room's occupants, a thin black sword in his hand.

Aizen's eyes widened at whom he saw. It was…it was impossible. There was no way. He was dead, he did die, right before his very eyes! Swiveling around he looked at Shinjiro who had a stony expression with hinted defiance, turning over to Subaru, he saw underneath he fate resigned eyes was the traces of a smirk.

As he recovered from his shock, it then clicked to him why they had those smug expressions. His mind filled in the gaps at what truly had happened that day and only now did it make sense. They had played him for a fool. Their tears, their insistence to leave, it wasn't for themselves and their fear of being discovered by Captain Soifon, it was meant for him as bait, to draw him to the wrong conclusion, distract him as they departed Soul Society.

He had been beguiled for over two months while that man grew stronger, strong enough to challenge him, to destroy his plans. They knew this and smiled to themselves for getting what they believed was the last laugh in their defiant yet futile fifty-year slog.

Sosuke was livid. How dare they, how dare they try to destroy the dream that was on cusp of becoming reality. He was just about to order them to be detained and then be brutally tortured and maimed, before being slowly executed by Barragan's aging aura, but before the words could begin to form, he stopped when a low groan escaped the lips of the Primera Espada. Wheeling around he saw his top soldier pressing a hand over her covering, as if a sharp migraine had sprung up. For the first time, in a long time, emotion, fear was palpable in his tone. "Cut the feed now!" he ordered frantically.

The fourth Espada did as commanded and closed his fist, causing the images his eye created to vanish into reishi particles.

Everyone in the room went deathly silent as the master of Hueco Mundo returned his attention back to his top Espada who was working past the sudden attack. It was no secret that the man was particularly fond of this Espada, on a level that existed outside pure strength logistics. Even if the Primera was the weakest Arrancar in existence, he would show no remorse to whoever raised a hand to her and it showed.

The tension in the room was thick and stifling. They could all feel his barely restrained spiritual pressure. It felt like the very thing that held up the roof above them all. No one, not even the other Espada, dared to draw attention to themselves out of pure fear that the full weight of his strength might fall upon them and crush them where they stood.

Sosuke's posture eased when the veiled Espada raised one of her hands up, signaling she was okay. "My…my apologies Master Aizen. That feeling returned, but it's gone now." The Primera muttered with another shake of the head, throwing off the remnant of her strange sensory overload.

From beside her master, Luppi stepped forward tentatively. "Disculpe, señora." She called to the Primera, who turned her blue eyes to the woman. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but Grimmjow-sama requires your help." She then gestured to his left side where his arm was missing.

The cloaked figure pushed herself off her knees and walked over to them. When Grimmjow tried to move away, a quick scolding glare halted him, allowing her to examine the stub that had been crudely forced shut with rudimentary reishi manipulation. After a few seconds, a disappointing grunt escaped her throat. "I apologize, Luppi-chan. But I'm afraid I can't make something out of nothing."

"But what about your powers? Your Zanpaktou?" she begged know what she could create.

"It's fine." Grimmjow muttered as he removed himself from the doctor's grip. He didn't get a chance to walk away, when Luppi buried her fist into the man's stomach sending him to his knees.

A pained groan was held between clenched teeth, as he glared at his subordinate, who glared right back. "Luppi you-"

"You're badly wounded and missing an arm. You're incapable of anything right now." She scolded as she would a child, before turning back to the pitying Espada.

Said Espada glanced back at the fraccion and shook her head. "I'm sorry, but unless I were to be in my ressurreccion state for the remainder of my time here, his sand reconstructed arm will disintegrate upon my exiting of that state. As I said, I cannot make something of such sustenance out of nothing."

The dark-haired woman placed her hands on her hips and thought it over. "So, the problem isn't that you can't do or won't do it, it's because you lack a permanent catalyst." She asked

The Espada nodded, "Sí, ¿lo entiendes ahora?"

Now she knew what she had to do. "Entiendo."

Without another word, the woman pulled out her sword and cut off her left arm, her scream held in as she bit her lip as the roaring surge of pain coursed through her form. The horrified Primera recovered quickly and wasted little time healing the woman, clotting her wounds to prevent further blood loss.

Luppi spared Grimmjow a glance, who was just as shocked at her actions as everyone else in the room, minus Ulquiorra. Closing her eyes to steady herself, she tried to keep up a confident front despite nearly dying from shock-induced trauma. "There…p-problem solved." She muttered through pained breathes.

The working doctor sighed, "Very kind, very brave, very foolish." She reprimanded, before turning her attention to her leader. "By your leave, I will take these two down to Szayelaporro. Perhaps with his technology and my medical ability we can rework compatibility, resize it and then graft this to Grimmjow."

"Very well." Aizen said, as his eyes fell to the two traitorous Shinigami in his midst. "Take them and go, Ulquiorra join them. I have other matters to attend."

The Espada nodded and upon calling for her fraccion to join the group left, leaving the five Shinigami alone. As the door to his chambers closed, the two saboteurs felt the weight of Aizen spiritual pressure on their shoulders. "Now then." Aizen whispered deathly serious, "Care to tell me why Mr. Kurosaki is still alive?"

The duo said nothing having resigned and prepared themselves for this moment long ago. They just glared at him with a small feeling of accomplishment at being able to give the proverbial finger to his plans. "I see. You tricked me. You planned it. You counted on me buying it." He surmised with barely contained fury. It was the only explanation.

The man took a step forward, his chest and shoulders shaking as a smile emerged on his lips. Everyone watched him warily as a loud booming laughter escaped his lips, filling the hall. Coming down from his high, he sighed, as he looked the two of them over. "Well played."

That unexpected statement was the last thing they heard, before blood exploded from large sword wounds that suddenly appeared on their bodies, flaying clothing and blood falling around them. The husband and wife pair briefly saw the blood drenched sword that assaulted them at Aizen's side, before their heads collided against the hard floor.

Flicking his weapon of their blood, Sosuke sheathed his sword as he walked over towards them, making a small motion with his hand, calling Gin and Tosen to approach as well. The brown-haired man loomed over them, admiring his work, before he leaned down and placed his fingers against their neck, smiling cruelly when he found a pulse. Standing back up, he turned to his associates and pulled out from his pocket the reason for why he asked their approach.

Two caja negacions.

"Tosen, Ichimaru, I have a job for you."

"What's that?" Ichimaru asked, his gaping smirk widening, he could tell he was going to get a job he'd like.

"Sir?"

"I want the both of you to take this caja negacion and use it on yourself and them. Tosen, you take Subaru, Gin, Shinjiro is yours. For the next 72 hours I want you to teach them true pain," he spared the traitors a glance, considering how to finish them. "Don't kill them though." He finished with a cruel smirk of his own, they still had a use yet. "I have a different fate in store for them. Death will not come swiftly."

Kaname nodded as he grabbed his orb, "Understood, milord." He then picked up the woman and used the orb. A black encompassing light took both of them to a parallel dimension.

Gin took his orb and sighed, "Aww, I wanted to pay Su-chan back for destroying my old Haori. I was fond of it." He then walked over and 'accidentally' kicked the unconscious samurai, "Oh, well, I suppose this revenge enough. Three days, huh?" he tossed the orb up as it activated. "Perfect."

As the darkness of the trans-dimensional imprisonment field faded, Aizen was now alone in his throne room. Quickly turning around he walked back up the steps to his throne. He needed to think about what to do to succeed over this late breaking development. When he placed his rear onto his cushion, he leaned against one of the arms of his chair, biting his thumb as he looked at the vacant room below, freely showing his agitation now that no one was around.

He needed to come up with a strategy for dealing with that man quickly; otherwise, all of this was going to come to an end. The usually calm man's knees were shaking impatiently, "Damn it." He cursed himself. How could those two have tricked him? How could he be so blind? Now there was a person with power that could potentially rival his own coming straight for him and he had no way neutralizing him.

Another frustrated sigh escaped his lips, as his eyes swiveled around the room, trying to find a hidden solution that had somehow been hidden or overlooked until now.

Sadly, there was none.

"Grr…" the man angrily slammed his fist into arm of his chair. The dull thump reverberated through the room. His eyes wandered over to his clenched fist, he then let out a resigning sigh as he leaned back into his chair.

He hated to admit it since it brought back bad memories and feelings of helplessness, but he needed to admit it. Sosuke Aizen, Nanashi, the boy he had been, he was defeated today and embittered because of that loss. He let all the hate and anger inside him flow freely now. He knew there was no point in holding it in. He had to let this run its course, so that he could once again have a clear head to think with, to look at the situation again at later time and spot the important detail he'd miss otherwise.

Getting up from his throne, the man walked back down the steps and turned towards his bedroom. As he entered into his private quarters, he undid his sash and tossed his Kyoka Suigetsu onto his bed. In the midst of his stripping he pressed a button on his intercom that lay on his night stand.

In less than a second the voice of Loly spoke up. "Yes, Aizen-sama." She chirped from her post outside the throne room, feeling particularly enthusiastic since it was rare for him to use the device.

A habitual smile from his days in Soul Society appeared on his face, as he took his shirt off his lightly scarred body. "Loly-chan, I would appreciate it if you and Menoly-chan do not allow anyone into my chambers this evening. I've had a very trying day and I need to rest. Should Barragan or Rudbornn seek me, please inform them of such and take a message."

"Y-yes, my lord! May you sleep easy tonight!"

"Thank-you. Good night." He cut off the communication as he spared a glance at his large bed. He then kept walking forward to his bathroom for a relaxing shower. He'd sleep on the problem for now and tackle it with a clear mind later.

(Several hours later)

Pushing the soft blanket off his bare chest, Sosuke sat up on his bed, his hand absent-mindedly reaching for his nightstand and placing his old pair of glasses over his eyes. As the tips settled on the bridge of his nose, he froze momentarily when the world around him became fuzzy. When it clicked he let out a small laugh.

After so many years of wearing them, both out of necessity and to complete his image as a 'disarmingly loyal everyman' in Soul Society, he oft forgot that since coming to Hueco Mundo he didn't need them because of his special contact lens. Picking them up and putting them on was just a second nature habit for him that he needed to break.

Taking the glass back off, he set them back down on the stand. "I really need to move those glasses." He mentally noted to himself as he let out a yawn.

Stretching his arms and neck, he crossed his legs and picked up Kyoka Suigetsu, placing the sheathed illusion caster against his thigh. He quietly sat in his thoughts, he knew he couldn't delay dealing with this problem any further.

Every second wasted tightened the noose around him more.

With a shake of his head, he decided to organize his thoughts for the sake of efficiency and reviewing what he knew. Fact: Ichigo Kurosaki was still alive. Fact: He'd been seen in Karakura town when he sent his assault team. Fact: The only surviving members of the assault team were the ex-Espada Luppi Antenor and replacing Espada Grimmjow Jaggerjack, all fraccion eliminated. Fact: Soul Society would likely be on high alert now.

"Hmmm…" his eyes drifted to Kyoka Suigetsu, he briefly mused about using its power to make anyone near Ichigo Kurosaki perceive him as an Arrancar; that could certainly provide a chance to kill him.

The man shook his head as he quickly realized the problem. He didn't know where he was or who was with him. He couldn't effectively manipulate the situation without some kind of information. "Information." He considered, an idea dawning on him. He did have his 'Ninchi Shinjitsu' ability, but that would still be like a needle in a haystack, if he were to just search randomly. "No, it's the way to go." He muttered. It was certainly a better plan than the alternative of sending in another team to get violently wiped out just to get personnel detail.

Getting dressed the man picked up his sword and entered the bathroom. As he stood before his large sink mirror, he held the sword vertically, "Shatter, Kyoka Suigetsu." He commanded, as the blade barely changed in response. Once it was done, he looked at his reflection, "Now…who might know…"

An answer came immediately as the man popped into his mind, "Kisuke Urahara." He said.

The Aizen reflected in the mirror soon faded from the other's sight. A full minute passed, before the image reappeared, still mimicking Aizen. "Damn. A failure." He cursed.

The main problem with this technique was unless the hypnotized person was looking into a reflective surface such as water, glass, or mirrors, he wouldn't be able to see the person's thoughts.

Still, he remained undeterred, "Retsu Unohana." Again, the image disappeared again. This time what came up was a cloudy image of a room, he could hear the rasping sound of running water hitting something solid.

"What the?" he muttered to himself. This had never happened before.

Leaning in closer to the mirror to try and make out any image through the haze, he saw some kind of shimmering wall and a woman's voice sing a song he didn't know. When he realized where this was, the curtain of the shower was brushed all the way to the end, as the bountiful wet naked form of the beautiful Retsu Unohana cut off the water to her shower and stepped out of the tub, reaching for a nearby towel to dry herself with.

"Pfffft!" Aizen's concentration was immediately broken, as he placed his hand over his nose to the stop blood that shot out of it. He stood there for a good solid minute while his reflection reappeared in the mirror, showing his disgraceful state.

After wiping the blood away and taking a moment to collect himself. The man reaffirmed his hold on his sword and was about to try again, when he stopped himself, a small debate on his actions sparking in his mind. Assuming that he could actually concentrate on his task, and get her attention to put her in a trance, she could provide him with the necessary knowledge he might need, but…

"No." the man shook his head resolutely. Pragmatic and manipulative as he was, he knew what honor meant. Compromising a woman's modesty for his own gain was a depravity reserved only for when all other options had been exhausted. He wasn't at that point yet, he was desperate, but certainly not that desperate.

"Okay, let's try…Yamamoto Shigekuni Genryusai."

The recomposed Aizen was then privy to the image of the head captain sleeping in his chair, obviously very tired from all the problem Sosuke had caused him. Aizen cursed again as he cut off the connection, the target needed to be awake, words alone barely caught the person's attention when they were aware, he had no hope breaking through the veil of dreams.

Bringing a hand to his lips, he thought about who else might know and would theoretically be awake. He then recalled that Captain Soifon was Ichigo's commanding officer and Captain Hitsugaya was his friend, surely one of them would know.

Re-steadying his sword, he held it vertically and closed his eyes, "Soifon." He muttered.

Once again, the image of his bathroom faded and replaced by the image of captain Soifon, who was thankfully clothed. He smiled when he saw that she was distracted with washing her hands. It would give him the time he needed to strengthen the connection.

Although he was concentrating his spiritual energy, he couldn't help but furrow an eyebrow when he saw the woman give a mirthful smirk and say "He'd probably think I'd gotten fat if I didn't tell him."

'Who would think that? Kyoraku? When was she concerned about her weight or better put his opinion in general?' the peeper thought to himself, as he watched her stroke the side of her abdomen. Before he could forget his actual purpose, he set the train of thought aside and focused on his task. "Soifon, look here." He commanded, his word transcending dimensions to his target.

The spooked woman turned away from the mirror and looked out the doorway. Aizen frowned, he needed her to face the mirror, so he could hypnotize her properly. "No, Soifon, look here." He reinforced.

This time around he got marginally better results, "Who's there?" the woman barked with her typical scowl on her face. "Are you deaf or stupid!? Show yourself!"

Aizen smiled, the connection was almost complete, he just needed her there for a few more seconds. "Look, over here, captain."

On command, the woman turned back around to Aizen, her hand raised defensively in front of her. Lot of good it would do her. "I must be losing it." She said as Aizen bowed his head, his mirror glowing in response to his spiritual energy.

Quickly opening his eyes, he proclaimed. "Ninchi Shinjitsu (Perceived truth)!"

A wave of spiritual energy flummoxed through the mirror onto the defensive Soifon. She backed up half a step, her legs wobbly from the jolt. Her grey eyes were focused in front of her, as she had been preparing herself for an attack, but it wasn't long before her pupils lost the light in them and her arms softly fell to her side, her expression glassy and dazed.

"Perfect." Aizen patted himself on the back. "Now let's see what's on your mind."

Closing his eyes, he started to hear the thoughts that were on her mind ring in his head.

I thought I locked the door.

What the hell was that in the mirror?

Shinjiro…

Mental note: Place a spy on Hitsugaya. Kill him if he leaks my secret.

Subaru…

Sneaking into my own barrack, heh, never thought I'd see the day…

Damn family. Maybe I should have killed them when I had the chance.

Aizen pushed more reiatsu into the technique. He was on the outermost layer of the human mind, the fleeting thought, he would need to try harder, before he could get into concrete thought and then finally deeply held secrets, which was what he was aiming for.

What do I tell him?

Masaki-sama…

I still have that needle for her. Good.

So, I'm going to be a mother now.

Aizen's eyes shot open when he heard that train of thought in her brain. Not one to overlook an advantage, he decided to follow that nebula of thoughts plunging deeper into that regions underlying foundation.

Me and Ichigo…we're going to have a kid, Unohana said so herself, I'm really happy. But, I wish that I wasn't under orders from the Sotaichō. Damn that old man. But, I'll protect Ichigo not matter what.

'Hmm, interesting. She and Ichigo are an item, and they have a child on the way.' He tucked away that information, before turning to other thought that caught his interest. 'Now about those order from the Sotaichō.'

I hope this war ends, before I have to do the old man's orders. I don't want to kill Shinjiro or Subaru, I know they're being manipulated by that bastard Aizen, somehow. I also hate that I have to monitor Ichigo and Senna condition. Half-Shinigami and Half-Hollow, who would have thought? Certainly not, I. Still, I wonder if Shinji was right? Would Soul Society order their death when the fighting is done? I mean (sigh) he has a point with how people would view them and I was told to execute them if they got beyond Soul Societies' control…but I know I can't do it. I won't let anyone hurt them. I'll protect them no matter the cost.

Aizen was smiling now. He was beginning to hatch a plan of his own; he just needed to know one more thing.

Ichigo is training in the human world right now with Senna. I wish tomorrow was here already, so that I could meet back up with them at her house. Ahaha, I sound like an overprotective parent. My how I've changed.

That was everything he needed. Recalling his spiritual energy, the image of the hypnotized woman faded and his returned, as he sheathed his weapon. "Thank-you and congratulations, Mrs. Kurosaki." He thanked sincerely for her glorious contribution to his cause.

Stepping out of his bathroom, he put on his coat and stepped outside to his throne room. As the door closed behind him, he glanced at his side where his loyal fraccion Loly and Menoly stood attention, barring anyone from entering his quarters per his orders. "Good day ladies."

Both women turned and saluted their master. "Good afternoon, Aizen-sama!" then brought their hands down. "Have you finished resting?" Menoly asked.

"Yes, I have. And now that I've rested up, I have a new strategy in mind, but I will need your help in seeing it through." He said, which caused the eyes of both women to light up. "Firstly, Menoly, I want you to go get Tia Harribel and Luppi Antenor, I have a mission for them in the human world."

"Yes, Aizen-sama."

He then turned over to his pigtailed fraccion. "Loly, I want you to go to Szayelaporro and request a holographic communication pad and bring it back to me. If there is time, find out how he and the Primera are doing on the reconstruction and grafting of Grimmjow's arm."

Loly flinched at the mentioning of Grimmjow, which Aizen saw. He knew that she didn't like being with the volatile man alone, especially when he was in a bad mood, but she would do it for him. But just to be sure, he gave her some encouraging word to at least speed the process along if nothing else. "Be at ease, she is also with the both of them. You'll be perfectly safe under her watchful eye."

Loly face turned bright red, misinterpreting Aizen's concern for her. "I…ah, yes Aizen-sama!" she saluted, while Menoly just glared at her annoyed that she got extra attention.

"Very well. Dismissed." He ordered.

The two disappeared in a burst of Sonido, while the overlord made his way over to the throne. He sat down in his chair and breathed out a sigh, as he looked over the empty throne room. "Ruling as far the eye can see." The man propped his arm up and rested his cheek against it. "It's funny, I'm so close that I can taste it." He closed his eyes a peaceful smile on his lips, "So why do I still think about my past?"

(Loly)

As the doors to the mad scientist wing of the complex opened, Ms. Aivirrne stepped in to see the pink haired Szayelaporro sitting in a chair conversing with both the recently amputated Luppi Antenor and her savior the Primera Espada. Looking around she noticed that Stark, Lilynette, and Ulquiorra weren't around, while the computer monitor showed a sedated Grimmjow resting on a bed in a different room.

Halting his conversation, the good scientist turned to his latest guest. "Well, aren't I a popular fellow with the local troglodytes." He said condescending, before popping a small piece of chocolate into his mouth.

"Señor Granz." The Primera warned, since she wouldn't stand for unwarranted hostility.

"Yes, yes…" he waved off, having momentarily forgotten he was in the presence of Aizen's favorite pet, the first Arrancar, Lady goody-two shoes herself.

"Luppi," Loly called to the amputated woman, wanting to gauge if she'd be able to hold up for Aizen special mission. "How are you?"

Luppi shrugged uncaringly, "I lost an arm, but I got eight more in my Zanpaktou."

"You would have died if I hadn't saved you." The Primera informed with disapproval in her eyes.

"And I trusted you to save me." The ivy girl replied with amusement, which only got a sigh in response. "So what did you want with Aivirrne?"

"Aizen-sama needs you for a mission." Her eyes then went over to the sitting man, "I also need a Holopad to deliver to Aizen-sama."

"A holographic pad." He repeated mildly, he had been hoping to keep it under wraps for a little while longer, at least until he had finished installing them in his ward. Oh, well.

Standing up, he walked over to the nearby table that was cluttered with an array of tools and gadgets. Picking up a sleek handheld tablet, he tossed it over to the woman, who struggled to catch it, before it fell and hit the floor. "Wonderful job, clumsy." He 'congratulated'

A scathing glare from Loly was his reward, as she picked it up from the ground and examined the screen. When she saw that it wasn't damaged she placed it in her pocket, before looking over to the less asshole-ish Arrancar. "How far along is Grimmjow towards recovery?"

The Primera crossed her arms in front of her "It shouldn't be long. Luppi's arm was fresh and with the balance between medical administration and Szayelaporro's technology, we were able to successfully graft it back on."

She bowed her head, concern washing over her features as she recalled the problems they had. "Although, his grafting point was filled with the remnant of the foreign black reiatsu, which I presume was from whatever burned his arm off. Those particles were especially tricky to purge, since they acted like a virus against Hollow DNA, damaging cells the longer they remained in the system, but luckily we did purge them. Though Grimmjow isn't ready for deployment yet, he will need a bit of rehabilitating with his new arm before it will have the same functionality of his old one."

"Well at least he won't lose his rank in the Espada." Luppi commented on the situation since that was a pretty important thing around here. Without significant rank, you lacked authority and could even be considered expendable.

The Espada beside her was about to chastise her for thinking such thoughts when she paused. It was the same feeling as last time; looking over her shoulder, she spied him leaning against one of the columns that lined the walls. "Mr. Guest." She called out as she turned in his direction.

Mr. Guest didn't move from his spot, simply turning his head enough to look back. "Yeah." He called back.

"Care to explain why the hell you are in my lab?" Szayelaporro demanded as he got up from his chair.

Loly smiled at the anger and shock on the scientist's face when the guest said "None of your damn business, that's what."

"Be at ease, Mr. Granz." The burqa wearing woman hushed the man, before he could do anything. "Mr. Guest, I would ask you that you please keep your words to yourself. Mr. Granz is under a lot of stress right now, his brother just died recently."

The other individuals in the room had to bite back the urge to laugh. It wasn't much of a secret that Szayelaporro and his brother Yllford were on two different wavelengths. The man's probably didn't even really give a damn, one less research subject and one less fool in his eyes.

But they kept it to themselves. "Sorry, I was actually looking for you, but you were busy in a conversation." The dark-haired man answered seriously.

The woman's eyes lit up, "Oh, whatever for?" She normally didn't like being stalked by him, but she'd allow it since he was harmless, aside from occasional invading her space.

"Yami got injured fighting the redhead again." He reported the redheads name escaping, but knew she got the point of his message.

The light of surprise turned into irritation. "I see." She muttered hotly. She then bowed "Thank-you for telling me. I must depart at once."

"I'll walk with ya." He replied as he pushed himself to follow after, much as he'd always done since coming here.

As the doorway closed behind the two, Luppi whistled. "(Wheeew) Someone's gonna get their ass whooped."

"Really?" Szayelaporro asked with piqued interest. Perhaps, he might get a new cadaver to toy with.

Luppi nodded firmly, "Oh yeah. Last I heard, the two of them got into a fight. Cause, you know, Yami tends to test out his strength after getting stuck in the infirmary on the nurses, which tends to kill the nurses."

"Ja, I'm aware." The bespectacled man answered, having heard of the situation in passing.

A playful scoff escaped Luppi, as if she was telling a funny joke and getting to the good part. "Well, the nurses finally had enough and all got together and told the Primera Espada, because, you know, she helped organize the wards in the first place. So get this, after she hears it, she says she'll handle it before walking away. When she see Yami joking around out on the sand with his buddies, she just walks up to him all calm and collected. Once she gets next to him she grabs one of his arm and then just twists suddenly. She ends breaking it in half, like every bone."

A chuckle escaped her, "So while he's on the dirt screaming and wailing bloody murder, she tells him that if ever touches the nurses of the ward again, that she'll break more than his arms and as for his –then- broken arm, he'd have to wait till that healed up naturally. So yeah, he's on her shit list and I doubt his Espada, Ulquiorra, could talk her into changing her mind."

"Hmmm, I wonder if I can get him to attack another nurse." The pink haired man wonder to himself. The Primera Espada was rarely angry and he was curious to see what would happen if she actually snapped. It certainly wouldn't be too hard to make it look like an accident, especially with Yami's temper. He'd just be sure to take notes from a distance, before collecting his latest cadaver.

Before the conversation could continue further, the doors opened up again, and in walked Menoly with Harribel just behind her. "Ah, Loly, oh and you're here too Luppi." The blond tomboy said with a hint of surprise. She had actually come down to see if Loly had seen Luppi, but this worked.

The pig-tailed girl remembering her mission turned to Luppi, "It's about the mission."

Luppi's gaze wandered over to the newly arrived Espada, "So you're my partner for this one?"

Harribel nodded, "Yes. We should return to Aizen-sama at once."

"Wonderful." Granz said as he turned back around to return to his work. "Adios, goodbye, au revoir, don't let the door hit you on the ass!" he waved off dismissively.

(Harribel and Luppi)

After traveling back to the outside of Aizen's quarters, Loly gave the women the square holopad, telling them that, 'Aizen-sama needed it for something.' Before she and Menoly returned back to their posts: Guarding the entrance.

Pushing the door for her and her comrade, the two walked in to see the man in the chair folding up an old-looking piece of paper and tucking it inside his clothing. Harribel figured it must have been a report that could wait until after this important meeting was through.

The two women got about halfway, but stopped and kneeled, when Aizen got up from his throne, deciding to meet them halfway.

"Greetings ladies, Harribel-san, Antenor-san." The man said tipping his head to both of them.

"Aizen-sama." The women replied, as they got up from their knees.

The brown-haired man stopped a few feet away from them. "I have a mission for the two of you. It's quite dangerous, but if it is successful, we may gain a very powerful ally."

Luppi's eyes lit up at the prospect, while her partners straightened her back up, to show she was listening intently on his words. "But first…" the man's eyes went over to the dark haired Arrancar. "Are you ready for a bit of revenge?"

A shark-like smile surfaced on the woman's face. "Don't you know it!"

"Good, because this plan is going to incur a lot resistance. I selected the both of you because you are or were Espadas. The mission is simple: Harribel, do you or Luppi have the holopad I requested of Loly Aivirrne?"

The blonde woman nodded as she pulled out the object in question. "Yes, sir. Right here."

"The mission is simple. The both of you will enter into the world of the living. Naturally, this will alert Soul Societies forces of your presence and the Shinigami in the area will try to converge on your position, hence why the both you are going."

Both women nodded at what he was saying, understanding the plan. One of them was going to be the bait while the other snuck away to perform a different task. Harribel looked at the one-armed woman and after recalling her leaders initials words, concluded she'd be doing the sneaking.

Aizen took note of the hard look in Luppi's eyes. "Yes, as you no doubt have deduced. I am basically asking you to undertake a mission which your chances of survival are minimal." He said, not bothering to sugar coat the truth of the matter. However that didn't mean he couldn't defuse any tension between himself and the women by explaining his reasoning for sending Antenor.

"It pains me to do so, especially after witnessing your grand act of loyalty by amputating your own arm yesterday to save Grimmjow's position as the sexta, but that's not why I chose you. I didn't choose you because I thought you became worthless, rather you are the most qualified for the task."

He explained, "You're ressurreccion 'Wild Vine' is best suited to holding back multiple target while remaining mobile and, seeing how you and Grimmjow's assault squad faired against initial contact, I am not willing to put another Espada and their fraccion at risk for annihilation should my hunch prove to be wrong."

Luppi's lips trembled momentarily, as she tried to keep her impassive front up. After a few moment, she spoke. "Will I be allowed to kill Shinigami on this mission?"

Sosuke seemed moderately surprised that she would ask that, he assumed it was implied, but still he took the opportunity to bolster the woman's confidence and nodded with a smirk. "I not only allow it, I encourage you to do so. Show those Shinigami fools the strength of a survivor."

As Luppi's confident smirk returned, Aizen looked back at Harribel. "May I see the Holopad, Harribel?"

Walking over, the silent Blond handed it over. Sosuke hit the key pad and fiddled around with the features a bit until it came to the locator sub-setting. Pressing in the last known coordinates of Grimmjow's position, Aizen took note that one building in particular had a dense mix of Shinigami and Hollow Reishi. Handing the device back he said, "You will go to these coordinates and stick the device on to the door. Use the code 5328 to do so."

The man stepped back, a hard look in his eye as he assessed how this mission will go. After a few minutes he finally continued. "Harribel, Luppi you will enter in near a wide open area. Harribel, I suggest you make use of the surrounding tree line camouflage yourself as you make your escape. Before you head out, I would like you to pass on a message to Menoly to come see me as you leave. Good luck."

Giving one final salute, the two Arrancars left on their mission.

(Human world)

As the sky parted for the gargantuan, the two Arrancars stepped out into a large park, a sea of trees was surrounding them, while the city itself was a small ways off.

Harribel glanced at her partner, who returned her look, also feeling the spikes of spiritual energy from the Shinigami, who were alerted to their presence. With a nod, Harribel dropped down to the dirt and suppressed her spiritual energy, while Luppi flared her energy out tauntingly.

The black-haired woman took one final glance as Harribel used her Sonido to vanish into the tree line. Once she was sure she was undercover, she used her good arm and pulled out her sword, as the first Shinigami arrived.

The Shinigami was a woman with short black hair and oval glasses; she had a stern look in her eyes, but kept her distance, wary of what this enemy can do. "You must be one of Aizen's Arrancar." The woman surmised as she adjusted her glasses.

Luppi narrowed her eyes, concluding that due to the fascination in her voice, she was obviously not part of the team she wanted to get her revenge on. "Usted debe ser un puto genio." She replied sarcastically.

Nanao narrowed her eyes in kind, "No es muy cortés de insultar a un extraño." She responded.

The Arrancar's eye lit up as a grin appeared on her face "¡Qué lindo! You understood what I said." She said, as she took a few steps forward, shaking her hips with each step. "You're as smart as that other girl I fought. I like smart people, so for that: If you be a doll and tell me where your leaders are, I'll kill them instead of you."

"You're pretty full of yourself, if you think that you can fight us all by yourself." Nanao retorted as she drew her sword, "Allow me to show you the folly of your choices. Keep her in line, Gin no mei (Silver eye)."

Luppi licked her lips as the woman's sword changed, she could feel the other spiritual pressures moving more rapidly to her position in response to the Shinigami's release.

As the book materialized in Ise hands, several individuals appeared in a defensive perimeter behind her. One was a blonde man whose hair partially covered his face, he was wearing a lieutenant's badge and had a depressing aura about him. The next was a tan looking man with white hair, gold eyes and a thin moustache; he seemed subservient but serious. The third was not even human, as it was a large towering orange wolf-dog thing wearing human clothing, although Luppi could tell he had a Taichō's Haori, which meant he shouldn't be underestimated.

While she kept her head on the situation she was in, Luppi was frowning on the inside. None of these Shinigami's spiritual signatures felt the least bit familiar. 'Oh well,' she thought to herself, if she slaughtered them then Soul Society was bound to send the ones she was after eventually, hopefully that orange haired guy with the sword.

She'd kill him for both Aizen and Grimmjow.

"Kira-san, Sasakibe-Fukutaichō, Komamura-Taichō." Nanao acknowledged as she slightly pried open her book, to receive her new weapon against the Arrancar. "It's good to see you could come so quickly."

"After last night, how could we not?" Komamura replied calmly as he stepped forward, unsheathing his sword. The dog man's eyes narrowed when he saw the one-armed Arrancar sneer at him. "Be careful. We don't want to underestimate them a second time."

Luppi exploded into a fit of laughter catching them all by surprise. "So you think that just because you know about us, you're going to survive? Idiota!"

"I believe you are the fool." Nanao replied coolly as she pulled out a spiked shield from her book. "You are the one outnumbered here and in no condition to fight."

Another roar of laughter escaped the wounded Arrancar, finding mirth in her words. "Me? superados en número? Ha! Eight beats four any day."

The woman raised her blade pointing it forward, "Estrangular, hiedra Silvestre (Strangle, wild ivy)."

The Shinigami watched as the sword in her hand twisted and morphed into a white pasty substance that quickly ran back up her arm and unto her back. Morphing into a strange holding chamber that clamored up to her face encompassing some of her features in a hard white substance.

Finally, eight large flagellating appendages popped out from the bony white substance on her back and hovered forward menacingly. Sinister smirk returning, Luppi bowed gracefully, "Like I said: ¿quién está realmente en inferioridad numérica?"

"Raise your head Wabisuke!" Said Kira, as his sword bent itself into an odd hooked angle.

"Roar, Tenken!" Komamura yelled, as a large disembodied hand appeared above him.

"Bite, Gonryumaru." Chōjirō invoked as his katana changed into a rapier, a small spark of concentrated lightning circling its way to the tip.

"Don't underestimate me, the fun's only beginning!" Luppi yelled as her white appendages bent and surged forward, two going to each combatant.

Nanao braced for impact as the tentacles collided into the spikes of her shield, driving her backwards through the air. Kira used his flash step to dodge the first one and strike the second one, hoping to slow its speed down with Wabisuke's culmulative weight effect.

Chojiro lunged forward driving his rapier into white mass of muscle, as it dug in, the sparks of electricity shot through causing the muscle to spasm and knock the other limb off it's course. Komamura also favoring brute strength, used the floating hand of his Bankai to catch one of the limbs while he forcibly stopped the other with his sword.

Luppi sneered as the Shinigami repelled her attack. "Don't get cocky, perros!" she cried.

On cue, the ends of the appendages shifted from its smooth malleable form into a sharp plume of spikes. The surprise attack caught Sasakibe and Komamura off guard, as the lieutenant raised one of his arms to block the piercing blows from striking anything vital, while Komamura felt the sharp stinging sensation in his hand, the damage transferred by his Shikai.

Seeing that the appendages were more dangerous than just clubbing bludgeons, Izuru started whacking away at white substance in front of him, rapidly trying to increase the weight and neutralize it. Nanao was also quick to turn the situation around, using her shield to shove back the attack limb before assisting Chōjirō, charging into the attacking spines and ripping them from his arm.

Playing it safe, Luppi instinctively called her monstrous limbs back. Seven of them retreated relatively quickly, but the last one was moving at a near sluggish pace. She was puzzled as to what happened, since it felt really heavy in comparison to her others arms.

Her eyes widened when she recalled that the blond man was whacking at it rapidly for a few seconds. Her eyes zeroed in on him, who just glared back. "What did you do to me?"

"Not me, Wabisuke." He then tilted his blade slightly as if to give it credit for the work. "My Zanpaktou allows me to double the weight of anything that it hits in cumulative fashion." He then re-tightened his grip on his sword, "You won't be using that limb for the remainder of this fight."

"So, you think that you can cut me down to size, huh?" the woman sneered, before she stopped trying to hold the limb up, letting it crash down to the ground, anchoring and steadying her aerial form. "Entonces no sabes una mierda! I may no longer be the sixth Espada, but an Espada I still was."

Bringing her good arm to where her stub of a shoulder was she gripped it tightly, until she felt the faint trickle of blood coming from the wound. As the wary Shinigami tightened their guards, the woman clenched her blood-filled fist. "I'll be the last thing you see!" She yelled as she pointed her hand forward, a light pink light gathering in her hand. "Gran Rey Cero!" she roared as the upgraded Cero fired towards the wielder of Wabisuke.

Sensing the power behind it but unable to dodge, Kira placed his other hand against the back of his blade, trying to better brace himself. The oncoming ray of energy was quickly blocked from view when the captain of the group, appeared in front of the man, Tenken's hand also acting as a shield against the blast.

A grunt of pain escaped the throat of Komamura as the energy ray burned against his linked spirit hand. However, despite his best efforts, the attack burned straight through the giant metal gauntlet and struck the two men on the other side.

"Captain Komamura, Lieutenant Kira!" Sasakibe yelled, as the men were blasted out of the sky into the tree line below. Sparing a glance back at his fellow second seat, the white-haired man quickly rushed over to her side, knowing that taking their eyes of the multi-armed woman or splitting up would be a costly mistake.

The Arrancar laughed at the Shinigami's measly efforts. This is what they got for underestimating her. "Qué suerte la mía, dos por uno!" she exclaimed between laughs, a cruel smile soon to settle on her lips. "Don't worry you two, you'll be joining them soon."

Sasakibe scowled as he raised his epee, as he faced his enemy he whispered to his battle partner. "Can you still fight, Nanao-Fukutaichō?"

Ise refastened her arm in the straps of her shield. "Yes." She replied, before feeling for nearby spiritual energies of allies. They were distant and not as strong as they were, she noted. "It might be for the best to hold her here until reinforcements arrive." Her eyes wandered over where the other two had been. "She's too powerful to go on the offensive carelessly."

The man briefly followed her line of sight before grunting in response. "Then we'll need to hold out." He agreed as he charged some electricity through his sword. "My weapon seems to cause those limbs to spasm; perhaps, we can use that to our advantage."

"Strategizing?" the monster sneered as she readied her beastly arms, "It won't do you any good!"

As the white appendages surged forward, Chojiro gave a slight nod, before jumping back half a step, while Nanao kneeled down. "ultimum custos (tran: Ultimate guard)!" she cried out.

The metal spiked shield shined a reflective light, before growing into a towering fifteen by ten foot shield.

"My turn. Jūden keishiki: Surasuto (Charged form: Thrust)!"

The familiar crinkle of electricity danced up the man's sword, but instead of preparing himself to strike, he simple touched the side of Nanao's metal shield, sending the surge of energy into the spikes.

Luppi's eyes widened at what she saw and couldn't stop her arms, before they made contact with the enlarged target. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" her blood curdling scream rang throughout the area as the lightning surged through all seven of her limbs back into her.

The two Shinigami watched as the writhing mass of muscles convulsed, before finally falling away, limply returning back to their master, who had fallen to her knees, her teeth chattering and one good arm shaking uncontrollably.

Luppi felt her body seize up as he knee buckled underneath her weight, causing her to drop down a feet few in the air. Despite the painful electricity still numbing some of her body, her mind was still working just fine.

"d-d-d-don't gg-get cocky…" she snarled trying her best to stop the chattering of her teeth. 'That was close. I nearly fried myself.' As her wheezing breath escaped her lips, she spat out some saliva in her mouth. 'I can't let that happen again. I need to break that shield without touching it again.'

Widening her stance, she re-exerted her control allowing her seven serviceable limbs to form a protective circle around her. With a snap of her fingers, the ends of her Hollow limbs, turned back into spikey plumes.

The brown-skinned one saw this and braced the other woman shoulder as they took refuge behind the shield, obviously hopping to try the tactic a second time.

Luppi smirked; she wasn't going to fall for that.

Slowly one by one, the long appendages reared back and fired the sharp sword like spike forward, launching them into the shield. The shield rattled and creaked under the attack, but Luppi kept up the assault like clockwork; every time one slung itself forward to fire the spines, two more were rearing back, creating an endless loop that would not end, until she brought the woman's shield down.

On the other end of the sky, Nanao's arms and shoulders violently shook as her body was pushed against the bracing form of Chōjirō. The woman was beginning to pant as she felt her energy beginning to run out. Her ultimate guard from her shield was meant to stop a single powerful attack not endure a prolonged bombardment.

It was only a matter of time.

And as the 19th spiked barrage slammed into her shield, it finally gave. The metal brace shattered apart knocking the two defenders off their feet, with Chōjirō cushioning Nanao's knockback.

Halting her assault, the ex-Espada smiled at seeing the prone Shinigami looking back at her in terror and frustration. "Oh my, did I break your toy? Lo siento mucho!" she sarcastically apologized, as she raised her spike limbs again, ready to do them in. "Adios!"

Just as she was about to crush them, a roar of pain escaped her lips as she felt the cutting of a sword course through her sensitive extra limbs. Quickly glancing at her limbs, she saw no one, but felt again another pain filled cut.

Realization dawning on her, she looked downward to see the blond Shinigami from before hacking into her entrenched limb that she had buried in the ground after he made it worthless to use. Feeling the weight beginning to pull her down, she turned her attention to ending the bastard. "Fuck off, Pendejo!" she screamed as she sent four of her spike limbs down to impale the man against the dirt.

The man looked up as the ceiling of spikes descended on him and in a blur of flash step, escaped back to his comrades unharmed. Sparing a glance to make sure his allies were okay, he redirected his focus back on the infuriated woman. "You didn't think you'd get rid of me that easily did you? We Shinigami are tougher than that."

The angry woman bared her teeth at the condescending jackass that refused to die. "The only reason you live is because that dog sacrificed himself for you! The three of you couldn't kill me if you tried!"

Kira smirked, "And apparently the most you can do is kill a dog that's throw itself in front of your attacks. Aizen must be so proud."

"FUCK YOU!" she screamed, as she launched her three tentacles forward.

Kira saw the movement and mentally nodded, she was going to try to extend their suffering just as he planned. "Let it capture you." He whispered to his fellow lieutenants, who looked at him puzzled but silent agreed to what he might have in store.

The snaking limbs shot up at surprising angles and coiled around all three of them. The white tentacles squeezed down tightly on the trio, enough to hurt them but not strong enough to kill. "Well look at that, all talk." Luppi sneered as she held her good hand up "Now scream."

Closing her fist, the three Shinigami all screamed in unison, when they felt the spines the limbs produced dig into their bodies in a slow torturing fashion. "Ahahaha! Come on Blondie, where's your cajones now!?

'Blondie' merely scowled, irritating the woman. "Hmph!" She then raised her true arm and started to charge up a cero. "I don't like you face. Any last words before I blow a hole through it?"

"Bankai."

The word echoed throughout the battlefield, but for Luppi it was a real shocker because it sounded very close. Looking over her shoulder, the dark-haired woman was immediately standing in the shadow of a giant armored colossus that had an equally huge sword reared back ready to slam down.

"This fight is over!" the dog that Luppi had attack from earlier yelled, as he swung his sword, the giant mimicking his actions.

The female Arrancar immediately tried to move out of the way, but found herself bound to the small area her heavy entrenched limb had been forcibly anchored. It was only now that she recalled the words of Kira's Wabisuke. 'He made it so heavy that I couldn't move, so that the captain could kill me!' she figured out all too late. "Grimmjow…" she muttered, as the sword was inches from her head.

The large sword came down across the land shooting up huge amounts of dust and scattering the nearby bird wildlife. Komamura slowly dragged his sword back before lifting it up, showing a long divide in the ground with a faint trail of blood across his sword. The encompassing white limbs that had bound the three lieutenants loosened it's grip before falling away, dissolving into nothing.

Komamura looked around the area to make sure there were no more enemies, before sheathing his sword and in turn his Bankai. "Is everyone alright?"

"Shaken, but I'm okay." Nanao reported as she fixed her glasses.

"I have survived worse, sir." Sasakibe said as he stroked his moustache.

"The wounds aren't deep." Izuru commented, as she lightly touched his slight perforated chest. "Still good timing on your part. A second later and I would have been done for."

"Perhaps, we should thank her for knocking us out of the fight and giving us a chance to strategize." Komamura grunted, before crossing his arms. "Still, that woman was quite battle-scarred. Perhaps, she was a remnant force of yesterday's assault."

"But why come out of hiding?" Chōjirō asked since it didn't make any sense.

"Perhaps, she was hoping she had living allies here. Apparently she was wrong." Nanao concluded, since if she was from the initial strike, she had to link up with her allies somehow.

The captain nodded, "Very well. In any case, the threat has been neutralized; let us return to guarding Karakura. Be on alert, we don't know if there are more remnants lying in wait."

The three lieutenants nodded in agreement, before they all vanished in a blur of flash step.

(Meanwhile: Harribel)

Slinking her way through the end of some back alley, the Espada found herself standing on the side-walk opposite to the building Aizen's device was telling her to go. Walking past the thin crowd of humans around her, she came up to the front door and read the sign. "Kurosaki mortuary and funeral." She repeated thoughtfully. She had to admit it was a good place to hide out, she certainly wouldn't have thought to check out such a location for Shinigami spawning or encampment points.

Glancing back at her device, she noticed the area telling her what direction to go was spinning in a non-coherent circle. "Hmmm…" she paused, before walking a few feet to the right. Perhaps some distance would clear out the interference with her holopad.

As she walked further and further away, the arrow stopped spinning and settled down pointing straight ahead to the side alley, which conveniently enough had a connect stairwell on the side that lead to the second floor. "That explains it. Right place, wrong altitude."

Gripping the device, she proceeded to go up to the stairs, when she reached the top she felt a huge surge in spiritual energy. Turning in the direction, she saw in the distance was a gigantic suit of armor with its sword at the ready. Narrowing her eyes, she quietly felt for the spiritual energy of the combatants. Luppi was there, but severely weakened.

As the blade came down with an earth-shaking rumble, Harribel closed her eyes fully when she felt Luppi's signature completely disappear. Bowing her head, she gave the brave Arrancar a moment of silence out of respect for her sacrifice.

Lifting her head back up, she turned to the door and placed the Holopad against it. Pressing open the pin pad, Tia inserted the code Aizen had told her. The circular device let out a low confirming beep in response and upon removing her hand from the device, it remained stuck on the door, awaiting for its next guest.

Turning away, she opened a Gargantua and returned home. Her mission accomplished.

(Aizen)

"Do you understand the orders I have for you?" Sosuke asked the group of women in front of him.

The blue haired woman nodded, "Of course. If mistress Harribel is taking part in this plan, we should as well."

"So we just need to slip in, correct?" Sung-sun asked as she placed a sleeve covered hand against her lips.

Aizen nodded, "Correct. You will move in early tomorrow morning and await at the coordinates I instructed." The man placed his hand in his pockets and closed his eye. "However under no circumstances are you to engage the Shinigami."

"Then why are you sending all three of us, Aizen-sama?" Mila rose asked,

"Because you are tight fit team. The three of you together, can supplement one another should things go south." Looked at Mila rose. "Mila. You are the strength of the operation. Physically the most inclined and toughest, you can see the others through should things go bad."

Franceska smirked to herself as Aizen moved to Apacci "Apacci. You are the most outspoken and have a natural aura of leadership. Given whom you may encounter this could work to our advantage."

Now Apache smiled, while Mila-rose just shrugged thinking her praises wasn't as good as hers. Finally the man turned to the third of the tres beastes. "Sung-sun. You are the one that keeps the other two out of trouble and most tactically sound. You will be the one that protects them, until they most protect you."

Sung-sun chuckled to herself as the other two glared at Aizen, who made a small jab at their gung-ho nature. Still, they knew that he meant no harm.

Turning his attention back to Apacci he continued, "You will play a very important part in this operation. Should the time limit be exceeded, you are to return at once and inform me of what transpired."

The man was about to continue, when Loly entered into the room, bowing apologetically. "A thousand apologies Aizen-sama, but we have received word that Harribel-sama has returned."

The brown-haired man nodded "Apology accepted." He then looked back at the women before him. "You three are dismissed. I wish you well."

The women saluted before walking back, leaving Aizen alone to stare at his throne.

(Nighttime: Soifon)

"Alright, see you later, Yoruichi…san." The Chinese woman said, as she gave the woman a parting hug.

"Same here, glad I got to talk to ya." The girl's mistress replied with a cheeky smile, "AND YOU BETTER TELL ME WHEN YOUR WEDDING IS MRS. KURO-ahahaha!" she burst into a fit of laughter, when she saw her little bee fidget and flail her arms around, trying to silence her from saying it out loud.

"Y-yoruichi!" the girl pouted, now she wasn't sure if telling her master about where Ichigo and her stood was such a great idea.

As if making up for some invisible blunder, the shape-shifter patted the smaller girl on her head. "I was just playing with you, I would never put you out like that Soifon-chan." She then leaned in and kissed her on the forehead, while wrapping her arms around the petite girl's form. "I'm really happy for you," she then let go and cupped the girl's chin "and don't let that old bastard get to you. Screw him and his orders."

"Yoruichi…" the woman said quietly, awed by her passion. Being her trusted confidant, the Captain told her mentor about Yamamoto's 'secret' orders for her when she was receiving her haircut; needless to say, Shaolin had to use her cloning ability to pull Yoruichi back into her bedroom, before she could 'bring the hammer down'.

The woman wasn't very happy, especially after the way SS had done her, Kisuke and Tessai.

"Thank-you." Shaolin continued grateful for her support.

"No prob. Later!"

Soifon nodded as she closed her office door behind the flash master. Clicking the lock into place, she let out a small tired yawn, as she looked at the kitty cat clock on her wall. It was late in the evening, almost nine o'clock, and she hadn't so much as taken a shower or changed out of her old clothes.

"Geez, I really lost track of time." She said to no one in particular. 'I better start getting ready.'

Bringing her hand back behind her frame, she was about to undo the sash holding up her sword to her waist, when the spirit of her weapon called out to her. 'Shaolin-san.' The typically annoying bee-girl said in an unusually calm tone.

Curious to her change in temperament, the girl responded patiently. 'Is something the matter Suzumebachi?'

The small fairy materialized in front of her worry evident on her face. 'Yeah, I'm feeling a dark energy in your inner world. It's like a mix of my spiritual energy and yours, but I can't reach it on my own.'

The woman paused as she thought over the pig-tailed fairy's words. Her eyes automatically fell down to her stomach. 'Is it the baby? Perhaps, it's hollow energy?' She asked.

The mini hornet shook her head, 'No, it's not the kid. Like I said, it feels like you and me.' She held her hands up, reflecting her confusion. 'No Hollow energy at all.'

"I see." She muttered, as she pulled out her sword from its sheath and made her way to her bed, "You said you can't reach it on your own, what about if I use Jinzai to enter into the area and take a look?"

'That could work. I'll see you on the inside.'

The spirit then faded away as the captain sat down on her bed. Her breathing was slow and steady, a small contrast to her worried mind. Glancing at the Ihai in front of her, she nodded to herself resolutely. If she couldn't handle the problems inside of her, then how could she handle taking care of the people around her. With one final breath, she placed the blade against her legs and closed her eyes to meditate. She stayed silent for a few seconds until she felt a weight on her legs. Looking down she saw her pensive partner looking back at her. "What's wrong?" the captain asked, as she slide her palm underneath the tiny fairy and raised her closer to her face.

The red-haired girl turned around and jumped out of her hand, floating freely in the air. "Follow me!" she shouted before drifting on ahead.

Getting off her rear, the woman followed her partner through the bamboo forest that made up her mindscape. She walked in silence behind the golden bee until the forest came to an end and the two of them were standing before the opening to a canyon.

Soifon gave a questioning glance to Suzumebachi, who simply hovered over towards the downward slope, but was stopped by a small electric field. "Hmm…" she hummed to herself as she got beside her spirit and tried to push her hand forward, only for it to come against the electric barrier.

"Not even you can do it?"

"Apparently not." The woman said absentmindedly, as she crossed her arms, thinking the problem over. She could tell that there was a dark negative spiritual energy further in the canyon, but she doubted that she'd be able to get through this barrier that was sealing her off.

She closed her eyes, deep in thought about what she could do.

After watching her mistress in silence for a few minutes, the blade spirit lit up when she saw a calm reassurance emanating from Shaolin. "Suzumebachi, I know why we can't get it."

"Really?" the spirit asked, "Well don't keep me in suspense!"

"Alright. Then give me your hand." She requested.

The small hornet floated over and upon touching her hand, transfigured from her humanoid appearance into the stinger gauntlet she was used in battle. Stepping forward, Soifon lifted a gauntlet encased finger and touched the barrier ahead.

A honeycombed barrier sprang up in front of her, blocking the entrance before shattering to pieces from the touch.

"Woah, woah, woah! How did you do that!? What's going on?" the voice of the gauntlet rang in surprise.

The captain brought her forearm close to her and answered, "It took me a little bit to figure it out, why neither of us could get through on our own." She frowned as she looked down the road ahead. "I think I might know what's up ahead."

"You do?" the hornet asked still confused, but not wanting to pester the deathly serious woman.

"If I'm right, I'm expecting an ugly truth."

"Why's that?"

"Because the answer that came to me to get us through the barrier was a piece of advice given to me a while ago."

"What's that?"

Soifon brought the gauntlet down to her side and started to walk into the passageway. "The advice was: One's own strength can only take you so far, but when that strength is added together with others, once impassible gates open and close just as easily as any door." Turning around the next bend, she casually glanced at her arm, "Do you know who gave that?"

"Uhhmmm…" the fairy echoed, drawing an obvious blank.

"Retsu Unohana." She answered starkly.

The spirit in the gauntlet sat quietly for a few seconds thinking back on whether that was said or not. Realization soon dawned on her when indeed she had told her that. However… "But I thought that was about trusting others and letting them in…"

"It was." She answered as she dropped down a small hole. As her feet touched the ground below, the woman found herself standing in an ancient stone arena. Large rocks enclosed the area from the outside preventing any escape and the open air revealed the sky above to both participants.

Her…and a dark misty aura.

"Suzumebachi, get ready." She told her partner as she clenched her fist. The spirit mentally nodded, and the woman strode over to the looming sight. She stopped her advance after ten paces, when the ghastly smoke faded away and what was left in its place was enough to make her sigh.

"Another me…" she said distastefully, as the other her turned around to regard her.

"Hmph, that's one way of putting it." The other her huffed annoyed, her two bands of hair and darker Onimitsukido outfit the only way to tell the two apart. "Although, I think the original me is better."

"Original?"

Her question was answered with another question. "What happened to you?" She asked, placing her hands on her hip. "When did you grow so weak? When did you allow yourself so many exploitable weaknesses?"

Soifon paused as she now knew for certain what she was dealing with. "You're who I used to be."

"The perfect assassin." 'Soifon' sneered, "An assassin that doesn't need others, who can stand on her own two feet, unlike you." She shook her head disgustedly, "Tell me Shaolin Kurosaki, why have you allowed yourself to grow so pathetic? The people around you, your 'family,', 'friends', your 'loved ones', they always exploit your trust in them. Why keep them around?" her tone slipped lower. "They just abandon you, when you want them most."

Shaolin narrowed her eyes, as she clenched her fist tightly. Her action wasn't unnoticed by the cynical assassin. "Tch. You're angry over a few words? I guess it is true, the truth hurts." She brought her leg back, sinking into a battle stance. "I'll show you the difference between us."

In a burst of speed, the woman vanished in a flash step, but being an experienced practitioner of it herself, Shaolin saw her approach and backed one of her legs up to brace herself. Clenching her fist, she tightened the muscles in her right arms, before raising it up to block the other woman's kick.

'Soifon's' eyes widened when she saw the woman didn't so much as flinch from the attack and was instead shoved of balance, when the short-haired woman used her free hand to shove her leg away and slam into her body with her shoulder.

Going with momentum of the strike the white braid killer allowed herself to be shoved backwards enough to where she could plant her hand against the ground and flip over, springing backwards as her feet touched the ground to put space between them.

Thumbing to her side, the woman hurled her throwing knives at her target. From the far side, Shaolin had mimicked the actions in perfect symmetry her own Anken flying forward and crashing into the sharp assassin tool. As the weapons fell towards the ground in a deflected heap, both women kept their eyes on each other as they slowly began to strafe each other.

Stepping in tandem, while maintaining the distance, both assassin raised their gauntlet encrusted needle and disappeared in flurry of flash step, only momentarily reappearing to deliver a fatal blow against the other who'd evade it to reposition herself to counterattack.

Turning around as she came out of flash step, she thrusted her arm forward and paused when she felt her blade touch the surface of enemies' throat. Slowly looking away from the other assassin, she saw that her Suzumebachi was pressed against her throat as well.

A mutual kill.

'Soifon' saw this and huffed playfully as she looked into the face of her serious opponent. "A stalemate." She taunted

Shaolin narrowed her eyes. "Not quite." She said, which caused the other girl to go wide-eyed at what she was planning to do.

Shaolin jutted her hand further, running it through the air, leaving her standing alone, with just the small lingering prickly sensation against her throat. Lowering her arm, she turned around when she heard the sounds of panicked breathing behind her.

Her enemy was clutching her throat that had been nearly pierced through. Her posture was ragged from her forced evasion and underestimation of this seemingly crazy individual.

Now it was Shaolin who was smirking. "I'm not weak. I'm choosing to live not for revenge, but for others. That's why we're not even." Her smile disappeared into a scowl. "I know what you are…" she said in a cold matter-of-factly tone that caused genuine fear to show on 'Soifon's' face. Her weakness understood and exposed. "More importantly, I know how you think."

She then lifted up her gauntlet that she had nearly ran through her. "You won't let yourself die, not until you get revenge. Revenge against Yoruichi, Ichigo, all the people who you think betrayed you."

"S-shut up…" 'Soifon' hissed as she bared her teeth.

However her threat held no sway over the fearless woman. "You're me. The egotistical brat I used to be. The one who thought I was better off on my own and that solitude and strength were the only things that matter."

"They are!" she yelled.

"Maybe for you, but I don't think that way anymore." She barked silencing the woman she had been. "I know that as an assassin, I'm a failure in that regard." She closed her eyes and bowed her head. "I've let my emotions override my instincts as a soldier, but you know what?" She intoned softly, before glaring back at the assassin, full of determination. "I can live with that. I can find another path to follow that doesn't require me to lose them. You CAN'T!"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" the two-banded woman screamed indignantly. She couldn't—wouldn't accept it as truth. "BANKAI!"

The dark assassin gauntlet needle shined in response and a gust of wind obscured her body, while the original owner watched on impassively. She wasn't scared at all.

After all, she already knew what she was planning.

As the wind died down, the other assassin reappeared a feral smirk on her face, which gleamed against the golden bipedal missile launcher, pointed straight at her disaffected counterpart. "Ahaha! It's over." She said smugly, as she tightened her fist against the trigger. "You can't dodge at this is range, and even if you could, it'd just slam into the wall behind you killing you via backdraft." The smirking woman leaned her head against the slit in the blast shield. "Tell me: Where's your precious will to live now!?"

Shaolin didn't rise to her words, instead her eyes ran over the huge golden frame of Jakuho Raikoben. After a few seconds she scoffed to herself, an amused smile on her lips. "Nice scare, but you won't do it." She said as she pointed at 'Soifon' accusingly, before turning it back at herself. "I know how you think remember?"

She looked away from the armed assassin and toward the stony walled enclosure that served as their arena. "Sure, at this range, it would kill me if you fired it…" She then turned her attention back, a smug smirk on her lips. "But it would kill you too, and that's a risk you won't ever take. Your death will deny you the revenge I used to seek."

The woman shook her head dismissively of the child before her. "Like I said: egotistical. You act like everything is owed to or that the people around you only exist to slight you, grow the fuck up!" she snarled, causing the other her to recoil as if struck.

'Soifon' was going to retort, but stopped when Shaolin's Zanpaktou began to dimly shine in a golden light, her mouth hug open in disbelief, as Shaolin continued ranting her cold but truth filled tone. "You believe that even if they say otherwise, everyone I care about is going use me and leave me. You're wrong!"

The woman paused, eyes full of emotion as she stared down the pathetic manifestation of her doubts and fears. "The people I care about have never stopped caring about even when I've hurt them with my words and actions."

Several different figures and events in her life flashed before her eyes. "Ichigo, Yoruichi, Subaru, Shinjiro, Senna, Masaki, they all care about me and have put their lives on the line to prove it!" Clenching her fist, which cracked at the force she was exerting, she slowly began to raise her gauntlet. "Even if they 'leave 'me' as you so fear, I know it's not a betrayal. No, it's their way of telling me to keep growing as a person, to not stagnate or cut myself off, to take a step closer towards them for every step they take back. THAT is the TRUE difference between us."

She stopped when the gauntlet was raised to shoulder height. The radiant light was silently screaming for release, a release that only the captain could provide. "Bankai."

'Soifon' watched in horror as the gauntlet shined dazzlingly to the woman's words. The gauntlet transfigured and encompassed up to her shoulder, a hard protective black and gold armor forming snuggly against her. Just behind her wrist was a small needle launcher, which sat above the long katara that extended over her fist, a mirror image to the one in her gloved off hand. "Kurōzudo kyori: Suzumebachi no rekuiemu. (Hornet's requiem: closed distance.) (2)"

Thumbing the side of her true Bankai, she coldly proceeded to lay this matter to rest. "You might be scared to give your life for others, but I'm not. Fire."

Pressing the button, the needles packed into her wrist mounted launcher shot forward at blinding speed, penetrating the huge missile the other woman was wielding. 'Soifon' could barely react before the compromised nuclear weapon exploded, the blast engulfing the area. Shaolin shielded her eyes as the resulting back draft came for her. Her body getting absorbed into the light of the blast.

The woman's eyes snapped closed from the intensity of the light. She remained unmoving for several seconds before opening her eyes, finding herself back in the bamboo forest through her sunspots. Lowering her arms, she looked around to see that everything was the same as it always was. 'Still…' she thought to herself as she used her energy to sense out if the dark energy from before was still around.

To her relieve the only thing she felt was herself and Suzumebachi. "I feel like I've just had a weight taken off my conscience." She lightly mused to herself in light of her triumph, which now that she had a free moment, she eyed the new Bankai her Shikai had transformed into. Her curious expression was reflected in the glossy paint of her weapon. "So this is what my Bankai was supposed to be; if I hadn't unlocked because of my hatred…I wonder though…"

Closing her eyes, she started to direct her spiritual energy into the katara, her world started to rumble with the increase of her power until finally, she heard the same high-pitched sound and felt the bright light signaling her weapon changing again. Her eyes lurched open when she felt the increased weight against her arm, forcing her to take half a step forward.

Encasing her arm was the familiar sight of her Jakuho Raikoben. "I see, so they're both extensions of each other. One is genuinely for fighting, while the other is for total annihilation. It makes a little more sense why my first one was so draining unlike the other captains."

"That is correct." An unfamiliar voice called from behind the distracted captain.

Cutting off her energy, her Bankai disappeared replaced by her normal Shikai, allowing the woman to turn around. Upon doing so, she immediately knew who this was; despite being not quite how she remembered her.

Suzumebachi had grown tremendously in size, growing from the small bee spirit that fit in her hand to her head being about waist height to the captain. Her red hair was no longer tied back by two pigtails, but instead fell down to her back. Her clothing remained much the same and her right arm that had once been just a stinger was now comparatively normal, most of her arm was humanoid except for the hand, which speaking off Shaolin saw the spirit twirling a small crown with a ruby encrusted gem around her stinger.

"You've grown…" the captain muttered in awe.

The bee-girl smiled to herself since it was rare for her to be genuinely surprised by the things she did. "That's because you grew as a person." She held up the crown, still twirling it around her wrist. "Now, I'm the queen bee."

The woman raised an eyebrow at her prior statement. "Wait. You knew that was going to happen? You lied to me to get me to go in there?"

"Played dumb." She corrected, but she kept going, since she needed to know the answer. "A long time ago, you asked me to help you gain access to your true Bankai, which I did. The problem that was preventing you from doing it was yourself."

Shaolin nodded understanding what she meant. "The old me. The way I used to think."

"Those self-centered ideals, they made up your persons. They helped you stand on your own two feet for a time. Up until now you never would have rejected them, especially the idea of forgiving Yoruichi-san, but if I had told you it was for your true Bankai, you wouldn't have rejected out of the sincerity in your heart but out of a lust for power." The fairy gestured to the woman. "Close your eyes and you will hear the word that rested in your heart."

Doing as she was told, the woman closed her eyes, focusing all her attention to catch the words she needed to hear.

I don't need anyone more than arm's length.

Opening her eyes, the bamboo forest around the Chinese woman disappeared and was replaced by the Fon family complex. She knew exactly where she was, she was near the burial grounds where her deceased siblings rested. She knew this memory. Not too far away from her was herself, back before having officially joined the Shinigami, before even meeting Yoruichi and the others.

The young girl in black just stared apathetically into the building that lead underground. So pathetic. She said, So weak. I can't believe I'm related to you disgusting pieces of trash. You relied on others, confided in them and this is what you have to show for it. Tch. I won't make your mistake. I don't need anyone more than arm's length.

Shaolin shook her head, she was about to say something. When a shushing rang behind her. Turning around, the scenery had changed, no longer was she standing in the ruins of the dead, but was instead at the hot springs of Kisuke and Yoruichi's secret training area. Her eyes widened when she saw another her in the water listening solemnly to the young teen beside her, who looked ready to have a mental breakdown.

Just forget it. Senna muttered with what little self-control she had left. Her eyes were reflecting the deep-seated shame and guilt she wasn't expressing. Let's just end it here. You don't…need to know anyway.

In contrast to her once cold distant self, Shaolin spoke firmly but aggressively. You're wrong. She said hotly, capturing the girl's attention. The assassin pressed her hand against her chest and continued, I want to know because I believe that I can help you. I am your sensei; you come to ME for guidance! Now I have already given my word, so stop being afraid and tell me why you are so hesitant!

The young adult recoiled at her words, since she could tell how earnestly she cared about her despite getting the brush off. After a few moments, she gathered up her courage and spoke as flatly as she could, lest her emotions breakdown her words. I admit…on some secret level, a level…that I didn't even know existed before now. I… she paused briefly as tears began to form around her the rim of her eyes. I wished that you two didn't make up! She cried, That, that, after you parted ways, he would…(sniff) he would see me, a-and only me.

The girl wiped her face to clear her clouding vision, although it meant little in the long run. I know I must be really petty and shallow for wanting that...that's why I tried to stop myself and think of how you would feel. I came to know so much about from what Ichigo described of you. She hung her head with a pained smile. Then I finally met you. At first, I really thought you were just a stupid, overly controlling, inhuman bitch. But…with each passing day, spent training with you and gradually getting to know the real YOU underneath the 'captain' I…I came to realize, I couldn't bear to wish such a thing on you anymore. The girl lowered her head even more, her lips contorting into a frown. But, I still couldn't bear the thought that my feelings for him would still go unnoticed, to jut wither and die.

Senna then glanced up quietly to meet the silent woman's gaze. (Sniff) Th-that's why I asked about the polygamy thing. To me, it would be the perfect solution to solve the problem without any senseless arguing or infighting. T-(sniff)-that way we could both be happy together with him, and he us. The young woman once again wiped the tears out of her eyes and gave a very plastic smile, which neither bought. Geez, I-I don't even know why I'm crying. Ha-ha…wooh, I must look like a complete idiot huh?

Just as Shaolin had expected, the 'her' from the memory wrapped her arms around the shocked girl and pulled her into tight loving hug. W-wha…? The bewildered woman barely muttered before she was hushed by Shaolin.

Shh. It's okay Senna. Let it all out… She whispered,

"This memory…" Shaolin muttered to herself. This was when Senna had confessed her love about Ichigo to her. The young woman had looked to her for answers and help, which she had given out of concern for the girl. A clear contrast to the sentiment the assassin had had back when she had nobody to call a friend.

The memory soon dissolved away and the woman now found herself standing just outside of the path that lead to her division. To her left was a small crowd of individuals muttering to themselves. The woman frowned distastefully. They were rumormongers who had poked and questioned her after Yoruichi had left Soul Society.

She knew their words all too well.

So that's her.

Yeah, Yoruichi's lap dog. Hmph, she doesn't look so high and mighty now.

I heard that she actually helped her get away by creating a distraction.

What!? And she's not locked up because of that!?

Shh! Shut up, she's coming this way.

Shaolin turned from the whisperers and looked down one of the approaching alleyways, where a younger version of herself clad in her old Onimitsukido outfit walked towards them, a scowl on her face.

Shaolin recalled those words. It was the same words and looks of suspicion she had received from every other Shinigami who knew of her or Yoruichi. Even if she was the strongest Shinigami in the second by default, nobody would see her as anything more than a proxy of the woman, and after the betrayal that she and her siblings had felt, she wanted nothing to do with the woman, and was very vocal about that.

What the fuck are you staring at!? She snapped at the group, If you got something to say, why not say it to my face!

The woman was in a pissed off mood, she had just been called into Yamamoto's office to discuss the succession that had been placed upon her and in what direction she was going to take the division. The old man giving a not too subtle hint that he would keep a close eye on her, regardless of her words.

The trio soon started to back away upon feeling the woman's rising spiritual energy, before finally breaking into a full sprint out of her sight.

The emotionally devastated woman watched them leave with spite in her eyes, before she reigned back in her energy. They weren't work the hassle she'd hear later.

Walking up the steps, the woman stopped and sat down at the top most. She spared a small glance around her, making sure no one was there, before cradling her head in her hands. Yoruichi-sama…why did you leave me? She asked barely able to contain her tears.

Shaolin watched the girl sob to herself softly. She knew this memory all too well. This way the day she had obtained her 'corrupt' Bankai. The day she planted revenge in her heart. The woman felt pity for the young girl. Shinjiro and Subaru would later help stabilize her, but she knew that the good that Yoruichi had helped nurture in her would forever be kept from the world, hidden behind walls around her heart and the cold fortitude of an assassin.

The younger looked up having calmed down a bit. Her eyes looking at the horizon that peeked just above the labyrinth of corridors. Yoruichi… she muttered wantingly desperate for an answer.

Her wish was granted by her imagination, as a large imaginative image of Yoruichi superimposed itself over the skyline, staring smugly with her arm crossed over her chest. Yoruichi, Yoruichi, Yoruichi. That's all you ever say. The image mocked, before holding her hands up uncaringly. I don't know what I ever saw in you. You're so easy to fool, I'm glad I don't have to deal with your stupidity anymore.

What…? The young girl whispered in disbelief. Was this the answer? Had she been abandoned because her mentor, her goddess, simple got what she had needed from her. A loyal soldier at her beck and call during her stay that she'd later scapegoat when she left.

'Yoruichi' smirk grew wider as she let out her usual teasing laugh. What? You thought we were friends? Pfft. Keep dreaming. We don't even live in the same world. God you're stupid, I should have just killed you when I left. The world would be better off without someone as worthless as you.

The 'acting' captain balled her fists as she stood up, tears streaming down her face anew. That's not true! She screamed at the apparition, I'm not worthless!

The apparition scoffed, Pfft! You're lucky I let you kiss the ground I walked on. You couldn't hold a candle to me, little bee.

The woman barred her teeth as her spiritual energy started to spike in pure fury. The brown-skinned woman noticed and simply laughed at her. I'm not worthless! I'm better than you! As her vision clouded up, she shouted the words that silenced her enemy. BANKAI!

A large gust of wind swirled around the woman's body, encasing her and obscuring her from the malicious beings taunts. As the wind died down, revealing the woman with a giant missile launcher aimed at the sky, Yoruichi stopped smiling.

Shaolin Fon had left and Captain Soifon was born in her stead.

I won't let anyone hold me back again! She roared, Jakuho Raikoben! FIRE!

The ordinance rang at the woman's command, before zooming off the launch post. The recoil knocked the woman off her feet, sprawling her against the steps, but gave her a clear sight to her launched attack. The bee themed stinger missile soared forward, penetrating right through the giant apparition of Yoruichi, dispelling her from sight. The missile kept soaring upward before Soifon's eyes as she started to now feel the drain of her spiritual energy. As the weapon exploded in the sky having slammed directly it the Seki Seki barrier, Soifon closed her tiredly, whispering one final thing before collapsing. I'm better than you…I'll…show you…

As the scene dissolved away, Shaolin bowed her head pityingly. It was true, she had meant every single word of it back then. She was so consumed by hatred and revenge, she wanted to capture Yoruichi. She wanted beat her within an inch of her life, before throwing her into the maggot's nest, where the other convicts and jailors would beat, torture, humiliate and gang-rape Yoruichi every single day.

She wanted to visit her while she was behind bars and chained up to the walls, exhausted from whatever atrocity she'd been forced to endure that day. She wanted to lord over the fallen princess with a smug smile on her face, whispering to her what her betrayal had truly cost her, to enjoy with sadistic glee every time Yoruichi would look at her with tired tear-stained eyes and instead of her usual witty retort or listing of whimsical desire, she'd beg for forgiveness, beg Soifon with her very soul for mercy, that she would coldly deny, always saying "Not yet. We're not even yet."

It was sad, but true. On the really bad days, when nothing felt right, revenge was the only thing that kept her body going. Only the thought of having Yoruichi understand the pain she had inflicted on her young heart through eternal unending agony. A heart that had been breed, raised, and institutionalized to defend her and was considered less than worthless without her.

Before her past thoughts could catch up with her, the scenery changed, as if presenting its own countering testament. The shorthaired assassin was now standing in the forest of Sokyoku hill. Not too far away on her right was the her in this memory and Yoruichi, the both of them were leaning against a broken tree that had been used to cushion their fall after the massive back blast of her angry Bankai.

Soifon was looking at the woman beside her before turning her attention to the ground beside them. And why…why Yoruichi-sama did you not take me with you?

The goddess of flash bit her lip as she looked at her distressed protégé. She hadn't expected this outcome at all. Letting out a sigh, she knew she had to be straight up. No teasing, no playfulness. The reason I left Soul Society is because Kisuke, Tessai, and myself were wrongly accused of a crime we didn't commit.

That got Soifon's attention, who looked back up at her expectantly, wanting her to prove it to her. Do you remember the incident in which many Taichōs and Fukutaichōs like Hirako Shinji suddenly disappeared? Soifon nodded, that was just a little, before she had gone missing. Yoruichi saw the light in Soifon's eyes as realization dawned on her. That was it. We were charged with performing experiments on them. Which is where the rule Shinigami aren't allowed to have Hollow powers comes from.

So then you left? She asked with a shake of the head, something not clicking. But why? How come you couldn't show that you were innocent?

On the inside Yoruichi was moderately relieved to see that the young woman was giving her a fairly sporting chance to explain herself, something she hadn't expected at all. Because we were framed by Sosuke Aizen and were caught by Sotaichō Yamamoto.

Aizen-Taichō isn't that kind of person. The woman pointed out in a tone suggesting skepticism rather than denial.

The ex-captain shook her head sadly, not blaming her for her attitude. She, and by extension herself, was just part of the long list of names who were fooled. It's all a lie bee. She said with her old warm affection, which seemed to go over well in relaxing her student. He's been after the Hogyoku, a device that Kisuke made that lets Shinigami and Hollows cross the barrier of power. Right now, Rukia Kuchiki has it. That's why he's gone through all this trouble to get it. The woman gritted her teeth knowing how much this sounded like someone was saying the sky was falling. I know it sounds sketchy, especially coming from me, but it's the honest to goodness truth. He's been using everyone. Me, Kisuke, You, Ichigo, the Sotaichō, everyone is fair game to him. Most of us are here to stop him, only about two or three are here to save Rukia as well.

After saying her peace, the woman waited silently for the young Chinese girl to make her own decision. Yoruichi looked on in silence for about a minute, before the other girl opened her mouth. I understand. She said with a nod, believing the woman's and Ichigo's story. She then set it aside to get one particular question answered, the question that had given her life the will to go on. Now I want you to tell me why it is that didn't take me with you when you left. The doubts and answers she had assumed or believed to have been true manifested in her words. Was it because you thought I was too weak? Or that I'd get in your way?

"Maybe even worthless…" The real Shaolin commented, knowing what had been in her mind at the time, saying now what she didn't have the courage to utter back then.

Beyond Soifon's expectation, instead of receiving a nonchalant laugh or brush off. The woman responded with her continued seriousness, although the current captain noticed she seemed more relieved than anything else. That thankfully is a really easy question to answer. She said with a small smile as she got up to her feet, extending a hand to the girl, who took it but clung to her shoulder to help stabilize her. As they slowly started to walk away the goddess continued speaking. The main reason I didn't take you was because I wanted you to grow up.

Soifon's thought flew back to that day, where the apparition had said something along those lines. You wanted me to grow up? She asked

Seeing that she seemed to have hit some kind of sore spot the girl held, Yoruichi took the initiative and explained herself, before friction could arise. Don't take it the wrong way. It's not that I thought you were childish or annoying. On the contrary I found your constant doting to be a source of endless amusement and thought it was really cute. She said with a wistful smile.

While relieved it wasn't what she feared most, she was now left throwing her hands up in the air. She didn't have a clue anymore. I-it wasn't cute. I meant every word of wanting to protect you. I cared about you significantly.

The wistful smile remained on the assistant woman's face, even as she looked at her student with a serious glint in her eyes. You also felt something that I didn't return though. She said simply. But upon receiving the deer in the headlights look, she had to stop herself from laughing out loud. It seemed that the girl, who was in love with her, hadn't invested enough in romance to even be aware that she was I love with her. All those times you spent blushing, stuttering and practically kissing the ground I walked on. It's kinda hard to miss someone with a bad case of the love bug.

W-what? The girl shouted, obviously surprised to having it spelled out before her. Her bewilderment was palpable in her words. Did I really? Looking back into her goddess, she felt an overwhelming surge of shame for her actions. M-maybe I did have a unknowing crush of some kind. The woman glanced away, uncertain. I guess I never realized it because I just couldn't picture us being anything more than what we were.

Yoruichi smiled, as she could practically feel the rift between them slowly closing with each word. Now, she could loosen up. Giving a light shake as she pulled her closer to her, the ebony woman winked at her. Well, that, and you can be really thick-headed and stubborn once you're set on something.

And as she expected, Shaolin gave her the same look of both reverence and annoyance she once held back before all this happened. Suppressing her laugh, she decided now she was ready to hear the truth for why she didn't take her. But getting back on track, I could see the potential within you.

Upon receiving a skeptical and confused look, Yoruichi reinforced her point. You have the capability to be a smart, strong, courageous woman; and for the most part, you made yourself exactly like I had hoped you would. She placed her pointer finger against her lips, Well, maybe you could do with a bit of fine tuning with your slight hot-cold attitude. She then turned back to her protégé and spoke with the point she was getting at. But the thing was that you didn't want it for yourself. You wanted it for me. You wanted to use it to serve me for probably the end of eternity, or until one of our next reincarnations, whichever came first.

She placed a hand over her heart as she shook her head. I didn't want that for you.

Now Soifon was left gaping at her. Yoruichi had actually planned to do something with her future, but simply didn't get a chance to? Soifon closed her mouth, as her old answers to the question were being silenced. One by one.

Why do you think I told you all the time to just call me 'Yoruichi', not 'Your Excellency Lady Commander Shihoin', not 'Shihoin-Taichō', not 'Supreme Commander Shihoin-dono', still working on 'Yoruichi-sama', just undecorated and informal 'Yoruichi'?

Soifon paused and thought over her words. Even though she felt like she could believe in her again, she still held some doubt left in her mind. She needed Yoruichi to silence them without prompting. I guess maybe because you umm wanted me to loosen up? She replied with the age old answer, Yoruichi had told her before.

Said woman was momentarily dumbfounded, she didn't know if the woman was being serious or was giving a vague attempt at sarcastic humor, which wasn't all that bad of an attempt for her, if it was true. Well, that too, but mostly because I wanted us to be equals. She said dispelling all the remaining doubts in the girl's heart.

I didn't want you to stand in front of me like a human shield, ready to take a mortal blow and wind up in an empty unmarked grave. And I didn't want you to stand behind me, giving me a weapon as I asked of you, never being allowed to grow strong yourself. I wanted you to stand beside me as an equal and assist me when I needed it. That's what I ultimately wanted when I took you under my wing back when we you were still a little girl.

As the girl balked at the grand inclusive plan the woman really intended to make with her, Yoruichi smiled to herself, knowing that she finally was able to reach her little bee. I didn't want you to linger in my shadow, I wanted you to start with someone to look up to for guidance, and use as an example. Then finally follow your own path that you desire to walk. Now do you see my little bee? I didn't mean to 'abandon' you, I was doing what I thought was best. I hope you can understand that.

Shaolin watched as the Soifon begin cradled in her arms had finally let go of the idea of revenge. (Sniff) yeah… the girl said, tears of joy beginning to stream down her eyes at finally being given release. I understand completely Yoruichi-sama. Thank-you for telling me the truth.

Yoruichi squeezed Soifon gently. There, there. Come on, stop crying you're a big girl now. You've really grown up into a splendid Taichō.

That means a lot coming from you.

Shaolin smiled to herself as the two ventured off, disappearing from sight into the blackness. There was only one more doubt left in her mind, and by the changing view, it was about to be answered. "I won't be held back by others…" she whispered, as once again a woodland forest came into view.

Unlike the previous one though it looked like a hurricane had blown through the area. Dirt was torn up, trees were knocked down, leaves were scattered, and in the center of it all were two people. The 'her' of then was straddling Ichigo, her deadly Suzumebachi digging into his chest, where a large Homonka resided. However if one were to look closely, they noticed that the assassin missed her mark by barely a centimeter.

The young woman slumped her shoulder defeatedly as she bowed her head. She looked ready to die, like life had simply lost all meaning at this point. I don't get it. The girl whispered to her opponent. When I saw you and could physically touch you, I was overjoyed. Yet, at the same time, I was troubled.

Both Ichigo and Shaolin saw the woman's frame shaking ever so slightly and the dripping of hot liquid from her covered eyes onto the man's chest. Honor…Taichō-ship…the Law…Soul Society…Revenge…it's everything to me. It's my personal duty. It's all that I have. It's what I had built my whole life around. I shouldn't have any difficulty fighting a traitor, that one word that stand in opposition to all that I hold true to myself and yet…

The woman clenched a fist full of his clothing tightly, unable to understand this irrational surge of emotion in chest. Why is it that it hurts to hurt you? Why do you always have to make things so difficult? Why can't I banish you from my mind!? WHY CAN'T I KILL YOU!? She screamed at the silent pitying man, who knew she had to get this out of her system, before she would listen to him.

The woman was practically choking on herself. She knew the reason, but just could not bring herself to accept it. She didn't want to be hurt again. Why Ichigo? She choked out having long accepted that letting others deep into your heart only held you back. Why don't you just leave me alone…?

The girl sat there in complete and utter defeat. She was ashamed, embarrassed, and guilt-racked all because she fell in love with this man. She both hated and loved it at the same time. She just did not know whether this was gift from the gods to aid her life or just a cruel curse meant to toy with her more.

As the girl moved to turn away, before he broke her anymore with his silent stare and the heart-wrenching memories they had together. The man grabbed her arm to keep her still. You want to know why I won't leave you alone. It's because…even before now, I had thought I lost you, but now I know that you are still there, still beside me in my heart and yours, and now that I know this, I'm never going to let you go ever again.

Shaolin closed her eyes as she recalled the memory before her. This was the one that truly broke her egocentric point of view. Where she stopped thinking about herself and truly considered herself subservient, second to someone else in her life for unselfish reasons. When she opened her eyes again, the 'her' of the memory was naked, but pressing her bundle of clothing against her body, a warm, loving, happy look in her eyes.

Yeah, I know. But…that's why I want to say I'm sorry. Sorry for throwing you away because of fear and doubt.

The man touched her cheek softly, a mirrored longing in his eyes. Shaolin…I'll see you again once this is all over. I promise.

I know you will. That's why before we part again I want to say… The woman blushed but none-the-less looked him in the eye and spoke the words deep in her heart that she now accepted as an immutable truth. That I do and still love you. Ichigo, you're the most important person to me in my world…in my life. I'm sorry for doubting you and Masaki-sama. I let what happened before in my past dictate and cloud my judgment about you without even listening to you. I promise it won't happen again.

As the memory soon disappeared like all the rest, Shaolin smiled to herself as she was returned back to the bamboo forest that was her inner world. Tilting her to the side, she saw the child sized Suzumebachi looking up expectantly, her new crown on top of her head. The assassin reached out and patted her on the head gently. "Suzumebachi…thank you for being my partner." She said with a contented smile.

The red-head grinned, "No problem, Shaolin. Let's rest up and get ready for tomorrow."

Grabbing the girl's hand, the two walked off into the land of dreams, ready for the Arrancars ahead.

(End fic banter)

"AHAHAHA!" Senna laughed amicable "I can see how this tale of woe would drive someone to…the brink…of death. Now I'm sure some of you braved this without any-" looks behind her and frowns. She turns back and is about to continue when she is forced to look away

[what. I'm on camera]

[Ichi: You have a problem]

[Sen: What does that even-]

Blackout2010: Go back to the part where the author committed Suicide. I'm curious about that.

Senna: Ahh, hahaha. I was umm…j-just setting the mood.

Blackout2010: Not cool.

Senna: Oh...c-come on, who take this stuff seriously.

Blackout2010:... (pulls out a piece of paper and starts writing) I do.

Senna: W-what's that?

Blackout2010: BUT UNFORTUNATELY FOR SENNA SHE WAS TOO SLOW AS THE TENTACLE MONSTER GRABBED A HOLD OF HER AND RIPPED HER CLOTHES OFF! DESPERATE IN HAVING IT'S WAY WITH HER TAUT BODY!

Senna: WHAT!?

D. Mirokumaru (pumps fists): YEEEEEESSSS!

Don Kannoji: So ends the cursed Miko tales! See you all next time!

Shaolin: ummm (sweat drop) Waha…haha…ha?

(Author's informative to the audience)

The following chapters after this chapter are written in such a way that they interconnect along the timeline of events. This means that we will be seeing simultaneous events that must be viewed, because if it's skipped, you, the audience, will be left somewhat in the dark.

Hence the timeline I've provided.

Aizen force: 33a, 32, 33b (link)

Time: 29 (split)xxxxxxxxChap. 34 -) continue into next Arc.

Ichigo for.: chap.30 and 31 (link)

For easier convenience into understanding how to read, I'll provide a different but easier way to visually explain it:

Imagine two guys living in the same house: Joe and John.

At 8 am: John is heading off to work/Joe makes himself some coffee

At 10 am: John is sitting in his cubical/Joe turns on the TV and watch the news

At 12: John is eating lunch [at work]/ Joe is eating lunch [at home]

At 2: John is at a meeting/Joe does exercise

At 4: John is driving home/Joe starts making dinner

At 5: They both eat dinner.

I hope it helps explain. PM me for any question in trying to understand. (Don't worry I'll put this at the end of the following chapters for convenience.)

(Author's informative to the audience end)

(Guidepost of the soul)

1. This opening theme was more inspired by the tales of the crypt and twilight zone-esque that have the creepy opening narrator. So sorry if it wasn't as funny as most of the other ones, it's hard to come up with new ones.

2. More of an explanation behind the reason Soifon has a different Bankai. As stated earlier in the story and shown in one of the memories in this chapter, Soifon achieved her nuclear 'Bankai' by pure fury. She never confronted her Zanpaktou and forced it into submission (per normal Bankai achievement). That said her nuclear Bankai does run with the theme of revenge quite well when you think about it. By Soifon's own admission:

""This Bankai is an affront to my pride as a member of the Covert Ops. With its massive form, I can hardly conceal myself. With its weight upon me, my movements are restricted. And its method of attack is far too flashy to be considered 'assassination'"

Examining it from a revenge fuel perspective it makes a lot more sense. 'With its massive form, I can hardly conceal myself', when confronting the object of ones vengeance, ones true feeling are brought to the surface to be savored, hence why she can't conceal herself. 'With its weight upon me, my movements are restricted.', vengeance requires anchoring oneself to the grudge and memories by choice to give it meaning, further more, when confronting the object of ones vengeance, why would you need movement? In a confrontation any other movement would be considered: running away. 'And its method of attack is far too flashy to be considered assassination.', from an Assassin's prospective yes, but from the perspective of an angry revenge driven woman, it makes more sense. The weapon creates a blast so destructive that nothing would remain, considering how Soifon felt when she first activated it, it makes a little more sense, that she would want to wipe the very memory of Yoruichi of the face of the earth in a wall of nuclear fire.

On a side-note subject the 'Closed distance' part of her Bankai, refers more to closing the distance/moving towards something (English-Japanese is a bit hard to accurately translate), which goes back to Shaolin's idea of taking a step to those who take a step away from her.

So yeah, that's it. I hope you enjoy her new Katar/needle launcher Bankai. Also big one up to KuramaFTW for helping me finalize the designs in our conversations. Thanks big guy!

(Guidepost of the soul end)

PS: Naked Unohana: No mind can comprehend it's true form. Not even Aizen.

PSPS: When I was writing Syzarallapporo's lines, I imagined him saying it in a stereotypical German accent...I do not know why.

PSPSPS: I just realized I broke 500k word length...yay me!...Yes, I realize I am late to the party...I will leave now. [Closes door]