Bleach: The Alternate Tale

by blackout2010

We all know that Ichigo Kurosaki was a human who became a Shinigami, but what would happen if he was always a Shinigami when the events of bleach happened, perhaps an altered story. Very minor crossover with Sakura Wars. A/U A/T. Contains incest in later parts.

35. When world collide I: Peace through War

Author response to the unknown review:

To unknown reviewer known only as 'Super climber' from chapter 29

And I quote: 'Holy Shit, I just conquered the Everest of fanfiction'

Sorry, not to stop on your dreams and achievments, because I really don't want to be that guy, but there are authors that put those kind of chapter lengths on a consistent basis, sometimes even more. So yeah, there are a lot of people that write more than me. Still as long as you enjoyed it.

To unknown review known only as Jason from chapter 34.

While I am of the opinion no option is wrong, I can understand how you came to such a conclusion. Yeah, SS hasn't exactly been pro-Ichigo and company in the story, but in all actuality that's only a select few of individuals, not everyone of that opinion. SS is populated with people who do genuinely mean well, but just aren't in a position to do anything. Rukia, Hanataro, Isane, Ukitake, Kyoraku, Urahara, ect. Ect. These are people that would be punished by going the way of Aizen, them and many more. Is it fair to put one man's misery over the misery of others? One needs to remember to take Aizen's words with a grain of salt after all, he's got nothing to really lose, but like I said, I believe in all the options to varying degrees and thank-you for your input.

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Prefic banter:

Blackout2010: Sound off!

Shaolin: Arc 1: The getting acquainted arc

Rukia: Arc 2: Trouble in Karakura town

Ichigo: Arc 3: Clearing the name: Infil-traitors.

Senna: Mini Arc: Loose ends of the heart.

Aizen: Arc 4: The Arrancar and Vizards arc.

Blackout2010: Ladies and gentlemen: Welcome to arc 5 and technically 6, the final arcs of the story: The world war and battle over the skies Karakura.

Production Cast: [Applauds]

Blackout2010: I would also like to take a moment and thank everyone that gave me what they thought Ichigo should have done last chapter. The results were surprising: 4 went with Soul Society, 4 said neutral, and 3 said decided to go with Aizen. So yeah, very divided fan base, still I'm pleased and still encourage you to respond to the question with an answer. I'm always eager to hear your opinions.

Blackout2010: Now it's been a long time to get here suffered a lot of tragedies both in fic, out fic and of course people around me, Eothr Si'lan, god take mercy. I hope that this story has been as fun for you guys as it has been for me. Hehe, I say this before things got to hell, haha. Anyway, this following arc…well as the inner sane voice of Krieg the psycho says on occasion 'This…is gonna get ugly.' Brings some tissues and steel your selves, because it's time to wage war.

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Chapter 35: When world's collide: Si vis pacem, para bellum (1)!

Today was the day.

Those four words rang throughout all the minds of the Shinigami present, not just Senna's. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Shinigami were gathered in Urahara's underground training facility; all standing before the large gateway that would lead the assault squad into the belly of Hueco Mundo.

Some of the people here were like herself. They weren't part of the assault squadron but belonged to the Karakura defense team and were over here instead of in their posts because either friends or loved ones were on the opposite team and they wanted to see them off.

Everywhere the young adult looked she could see some Shinigami shaking each other's hands giving fond respectful farewells. Others far less informal, grinning at each other, arms slung over their shoulders, as they shared a laugh or gave last minute advice. Some of the other Shinigami reminded her a bit of Soifon and her tsundereness, threatening the wayward Shinigami saying that there'd be hell to pay if they didn't come back in one peace while their partner just smiled and said sure. But more had abandoned any notion of rank and gave small romantic gestures and looks of adoration with their partners, some even breaking down and crying in their arms.

Senna had to admit she did find it a bit odd to see the Shinigami act like…humans. For a long time, with the exception of those she saw frequently, she had considered all the Shinigami to just be faceless strangers working alongside her with the same intention. Now, not so much. They, captains, the lieutenants, the various seated officers and unseated officers, the trainees, all of them, they all had families, friends, loved ones of their own…and she knew that some of them, maybe even most of them, wouldn't be returning back to them. (2)

She could only close her eyes and steel herself, praying that everything worked out.

Feeling a hand on her shoulder, the hybrid girl turned around to see her loved ones, Ichigo and Shaolin, the ones she fought for, smiling back at her. "Hey, I was looking for you." She said quietly.

"Sorry about that. We're making sure our personnel were intact." The young man informed, thumb point to a tightly packed brigade of ninja-esque Shinigami. "We'll be heading out in about five minutes."

Senna grunted as a smile slowly formed, "Oh, well, I'm glad I caught you guys." She then looked around, seeing the large crowd of people. "Do you think we can go somewhere a little private?"

Looking around the area, Shaolin raised her arm and pointed to a series of rock formation. "Let's go over there."

With a quick nod, the trio disappeared from the crowd and slipped behind some large outer-lying ridge of rocks. However upon arriving at their destination, they quickly discovered that they weren't alone, as they crashed a make out session going on between the hidden Shinigami.

The participants briefly glanced over in their passionate haze at the new arrivals. They only registered the black uniforms of the first two and were about to completely ignore them until they saw the white Haori around the third girl, which lo and behold, turned out to be captain Soifon staring back at them, an eyebrow raised.

Quickly pushing off their respective lovers and trying to cover themselves up, they all tried to play off being caught by the notorious hard-ass captain of two.

"Am I interrupting something?" Shaolin asked tentatively, yet still maintaining her poker face, which did nothing to change their understood version of her intent in questioning.

"Uh…no-nope, right Uzuki-kun?" the light skinned red haired Shinigami asked the man he had been kissing just moments ago, while the heterosexual couple behind them looked away, not having the courage to speak up.

"Absolutely not, Harold-ch-KUN!" the short boyish Uzuki sweated as he pulled his boyfriend's hand, "C-come on, Captain Soifon obviously needed to talk with these guys, so let's beat feet."

The three Kurosakis sweat dropped, when the four Shinigami ran away in a panic, obvious not wanting to get a write up for 'inappropriate behavior', Shaolin in particular didn't know what to make of it. "We could have gone to another spot…" she said to no one in particular, cringing at being given such a wide berth.

Ichigo placed his hands on hips, exasperated at the turn of events. "Well, Shaolin, I guess your presence really CAN clear a room." he pointed out tellingly.

Senna scratched her cheek speechlessly. "Yeeaaah, no kidding." She added in a tone of amazement. As the initial shocks began to wear off, the girl turned back around to continue with her prior thought, but noticed that the two of them seemed somewhat nervous, as they were red faced or diverting their attention, as if ashamed of something. "What's wrong?" she asked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

The blushing Taichō was the one who spoke up first. "We ummm…" she chanced a glance at Ichigo, who had an equally embarrassed look, before turning back to Senna. The Chinese girl placed a hand against her forehead, to help formulate words and stave off her uneasiness. "Look, we know what this about."

'Ohhhhkaaaay? Not weird.' The girl's inner-monologue echoed, as she kept straight face, rolling with the punches. "Oh, well tha-"

"And that's why we want to apologize." Ichigo blurted out, cutting off the now really confused girl

"Apologize?" Senna asked cautiously, had they done something to her that she wasn't aware of? It didn't sound like them. "foooor what?" she asked for clarification.

"For…" the couple reddened further. "You know…last night."

"Last…night?" She thought back to what happened, after a few seconds she turned just as red as them. "Oh my god! Really!?" she shouted, incredulous that they'd bring that up of all things.

Shaolin was a bit taken aback. "Look, we just, just, we're sorry that we kept you up last night, okay!?" she hastily explained knowing that things had seriously gotten out of hand. "I mean, well, you know, I went to his room to talk, then he looked at me, I smiled back at him, he held my hand, I wrapped my arms around him, we shared a kiss, you know one thing led to another and we just…we just got c-caught up in the heat of the moment! I mean we were gonna be fighting a war today and I'm already pregnant so what could it hurt!?

"No, no, I mean (sigh)." She closed her eyes, trying to get the many vivid images both real and imaginary and the erotic sounds and moans that had carried through the thin walls out of her head; despite her Hollow's lack of presence, it was a surprisingly hard task for the priestess. "Look. I appreciate the concern and yes I did hear it through the wall, but NOOOO! I did NOT call you over here to scold you for doing…'Couple things'!" the red-faced girl air quoted.

"Ah, I ahh getcha." Ichigo chuckled nervously along with Shaolin, embarrassed for their jump in conclusion. "S-soooo yeah, umm, forgetting that, haha, forgetting about our stupidity there, what did you, ahh, want to talk about exactly, sister dearest?" He tried to play off like two of them weren't acting like total spazzes.

The blushing girl scratched the side of her cheek demurely, having calmed back down a bit. "Oh, er, I didn't really want to say anything…" the girl then walked over and wrapped a hug around her Sensei's frame, surprising her, before turning to the side a bit and doing the same thing with Ichigo. "I really just wanted to hug you two and wish you good luck. I didn't know if that would have been okay with Yamamoto watching us back there." She revealed her pure childish intentions through a haze of an adult's calmness.

"Ah…" the two acknowledged, also remembering that the Sotaichō was present to provide one final speech, to those who were going through Kisuke's gateway to Hueco Mundo, before he accompanied Senna back to center of town.

"Well, thanks," Ichigo reciprocated her feeling as he shifted his body from one side to another, trace amounts of concern in his eyes. "So are you going to be okay? The Shinigami at site B aren't giving you a hard time right?"

"No, Kyoraku-san and Ukitake-san have been keeping my mind off things, they introduced me to my guards, and even though Omaeda is there he hasn't bothered me…yet. Yamamoto made sure nobody disturbed me when I was laying the ground work for the seal, so now I just have to charge it and wait."

The two understood what she meant, since it was discussed in the captain's meeting that occurred a few days after turning down Aizen's offer. Urahara had informed them of their two-pronged assault and after carefully examining their strengths and weaknesses, had concluded that Ichigo, with his capability for Bankai and years of experience, would be the best choice to go to Hueco Mundo, whereas Senna would be better suited to laying her giant seal over the skies of Karakura in an ambush formation. That way no matter which area Aizen was in, there would always be at least one person not affected by his Kyoka Suigetsu, which meant he could be killed. But, being the ever meticulous individual he was, Kisuke also conscribed his nephew Uryu into joining the Hueco Mundo excursion with surprisingly little qualm.

"That's good. I was actually a little worried about you, since well you'll be alone…"

The kind girl smiled softly, "Sorry to worry you, although…" she looked over at Shaolin. "Are you and the baby going to be okay in Hueco Mundo?"

The expectant mother chuckled to herself before pulling on the silver sash wrapped around her waist. "Do you know what this is Senna?" when she received a 'no', she continued. "This is the stripe of inverted silver. An extremely durable piece of armor that is used by wrapping it around one's body. It can cushion blows and endure lots of stress which is why I've wrapped it around my stomach for the safety of the baby."

The girl looked surprised by how highly the captain spoke of the obi. "But isn't it just a thin layer of padding, kind of like your Taichō's Haori?

"Looks can pretty deceiving there Sen. Yeah, it looks as flimsy as her Haori, but that strapping is strong enough to keep her anchored from the back blast of her missile launcher Bankai, so it can definitely take a beating when push comes to shove." Ichigo informed, the now awed girl.

"Quite. Plus, I've taken some pills that will fight off any symptoms associated with my condition." She pulled out a small white bottle with cranking top from her pocket, it's contents rattling as it was pulled out. "I have about an hour or two before I'll need to take another dose."

Their conversation was suddenly halted, when the booming kido enhanced voice of Yamamoto called out to everyone in the general area. "Attention all Shinigami present, I require all those listed for the mission to Hueco Mundo to form up with their squad. Taichōs, I request your presence at the forefront at once."

Feeling the reiatsu of the kido fade, the two called for Shinigami turned back around to Senna whose once determined face was now marred with concern. "I guess that's you guys." She started wringing her hands nervously, obviously worried about them. "aaahhhmmm…"

The girl went quiet, as she seemed to be holding something in. After a few seconds, the girl dived forward wrapping her arms around the both of them. "Y-you guys better come back!" she spilled out, her tone wavering between a plea to stay safe and a sad tone begging them not to go.

"Senna…" Ichigo muttered wryly, sparing a small glance at Shaolin, who was returning his tired solemn look with one of her own. The two rubbed her back soothingly, knowing that she'd been trying to downplay how worried she really was for them, but at the end of the day she was still just a kid watching her family march off to battle. Pulling away, Ichigo cupped her cheek, a warm smile on his face. "We'll come back. We'll end this war together."

The girl's radiant smile returned, her nerves relaxed by his words. The silent smiling captain watched the interaction with interest, before leaning in close to Ichigo and giving him a playful knowing jab to the side.

The man turned and looked at her, mock annoyance in his eyes as she rolled her own in kind, nudging her shoulders ever so slight in Senna's direction.

The girl locked out of the loop tilted her head confused, as the man let out an airy sigh, before settling his gaze on her. "Hey Sen." He said quietly, taking a step closer to her, his body towering over her own.

"Yeah?" she asked as he went mildly red in the face.

The man bobbed his head, as he thought over his words. "When we get back." He paused as he looked down into young woman's expectant face. "You, me and Shaolin can be a family together in peace."

After speaking his promise and reassurance, the Shinigami then slowly started to move his face closer to hers, eye-lids slowly sliding down bit by bit. The young girl's back slowly straightened in response, as her lips parted open knowing what was coming, as he was barely inches from her face and coming closer.

"Soifon-Taichō and Kurosaki-Fukutaichō, please return back to your squads at once. Preparations are underway." Yamamoto reminded them once again, giving pause to the trio.

The human girl looked on anxiously as the man let out a weary sigh, knowing he didn't want to get on his bad side so soon. "I seriously think we got bad luck." He mused to himself, drawing a giggle from both girls. Leaning in closer, he then kissed his sister on the forehead and gave her one last hug, "You be careful alright."

The closed eyed girl heard and appreciated his words to her. "Mmm, I will."

The man then pulled away scratching the back of his hair as he returned to work mode. "Let's go Lin. Don't want him yelling at us again."

"Right." The captain replied knowingly, before she watched the man disappear in a flash step back to his position. She then turned to Senna, who was a bit surprised to see that she had lagged behind. "Senna…"

"Yeah?" the slightly disappointed girl replied

The spirit smiled arrogantly as she leaned in close, her face hovering a few inches from hers. "Don't look so down, 'Co-sister' he WAS about to kiss you." She teased tauntingly, before giving her a peck on the cheek and disappearing in a blur of flash step, leaving the disappointed AND frustrated girl in silence.

After a bit of loud world shaking internal screaming, Senna made her way back to the crowd of Shinigami not involved with this departure. Before her eyes, stood many tightly formed groups of Shinigami (and one Quincy and one Vizard), and in front of them stood the gateway Urahara had constructed for them to enter through and the Taichō's taking part in this mission along with the Sotaichō.

The aged old man looked over the various divisions entrusted with this important mission and then to the line of Taichōs behind him, his hard eyes giving them all a brief showing of respect. Turning back around, the man raised his cane and stabbed it against the ground calling everyone to order. Once the scattered whisperings of the crowd were silenced, the old man spoke in his low commanding voice.

"Ladies and Gentleman, Shinigami of the Seireitei, today we find ourselves on the verge of crisis. Never before, has the continuation of the afterlife been more at risk then now. Our enemy, Sosuke Aizen, has amassed an army of Hollows to break through our forces and place himself as the spirit king, the god of all existence. He has done everything in his power to destroy our way of life."

"He has twisted the trust placed in him by others, he has forced us to fight our loved one, he has caused us to point the finger of blame at the innocent, and, in some cases, taken precious things from us that we will never get back.

The old man paused as he looked at the crowd below. Most were listening intently to his words in silence, but he did spot the occasional person nodding their head in agreement, the fire of determination lit.

"As a Shinigami, our duty, our pride, is to the preservation of order, of the lives entrusted to us that we tirelessly defend night and day. We fight battles, we wage war in the name of that duty, and today will be no different!"

The aged man's spiritual energy began to flow around his persons, awing some of the Shinigami at the passion that he was taking in his address. "You gathered here today will journey into the heart of darkness itself. Hueco Mundo, the land of the Hollows, is your destination. A fierce battle lies ahead of you all, but I am confident that you will rise to the challenge. We Shinigami have endured from the day I first received my powers and established our order to now, take heart in that fact, we have out endured every other spiritual race. The Shikusho you and your captain's wear, they mark you as something part of a whole, some bigger than any one man! Fight today, so that we may all live to see the next! Remember your training and Godspeed."

The crowd erupted into a huge roar, pride beating in the hearts of the Shinigami as they readied themselves to plunge into the horrors of the dark world of Hueco Mundo. As the Old man stepped away from the stage, Kenpachi Zaraki walked forward and took his spot, an ecstatic grin on his face.

The undefeatable man looked over to the left most section where his squadron was. Down in the front were Yachiru, Ikkakku and Yumichika, awaiting his speech. Zaraki chuckled to himself, "Well, that was entertaining. Unfortunately, I'm not much for talking. So, I'll keep it simple. Squad 11, today is a good day to die! We're up against the best of the best! An army of the most badass Hollows in existence." The man paused as a trademark laughter escaped his throat, a laugh mimicked by the berserker force he commanded. "I know sounds like fun, huh!? So let's get in there and start this thing! Move out!"

The squad let out a thunderous cheer, before following after their insane leader into the dark portal, teleporting them to their starting position. As the last Shinigami of the battle happy squad disappeared, Urahara, who was in charge of managing the logistics and monitoring the situation, rapidly pressed button on his keyboard, redirecting the next site for the next squad.

Next off the line was the mad scientist Mayuri Kurotsuchi. A gleeful look mirroring his compatriot captain. "Well, well, well, I don't normally find myself in agreement with him, but for once he says something that interests me. The worst of the worst will be here and that does sound like a tempting opportunity to gather some good specimens." A shark like smile appeared on his face. "Unlike the other half of my division, you are not the brightest, but you are the most skilled at capturing and killing." The man leered forward menacingly, his eyes on the lone Quincy that was glaring back at him. "Others are here due to circumstance." He then turned and with a motion of his hand beckoned his company to join him. "Now do your best out there or there will be hell to pay later…if you survive!"

The mad scientist and his beleaguered company vanished into the rift provided, as the leader of the exalted Kuchiki stepped forward. The regal captain's eyes fell on his sect, the biggest of the remaining three groups. "Squad 6," his eyes fell to Rukia who was smiling at him; he resisted the very tempting urge to smile back. "And friends. It is no small secret that we are all different. Some like myself were born into the upper nobility."

He extended hand at the forefront of his groups, where Renji and Rukia proudly stood side-by-side. "Others such as my Fukutaichō and Rukia Kuchiki did not, but today these differences of class mean little. Today we march forward as equals to strike down those that would topple our way of life, the very order that separates us from the beasts. Soldier of squad six: bottle your fears, raise your swords, and march with pride, we go to war!"

A loud cheer echoed from the man soldiers as they followed the proud noblemen into the gateway behind them. When they disappeared, the fourth captain turned to her right and gave a small nod to Soifon, before stepping forward.

The ever-serene captain of the fourth looked over her squadron of combat medics, spotting both Kotetsu sisters trying not to look nervous in front of their subordinates. It made her smile. She then took half a step back and bowed humbly. "My dearest Shinigami, brothers and sisters of the Fourth division, I stand before you not as your captain, but as Retsu Unohana, fellow Shinigami and a proud member of our order."

Straightening back up, she was pleased to see she was already winning over her starry-eyed soldiers, now for some extra motivation. "As Yamamoto has said: This is a crisis and we must rise up to the challenge! Although, we may not be the strongest, or the brightest, our determination shines brightly in our hearts, lighting the way for others to follow. We save our allies without need of thanks, because there is no greater feeling then aid given freely. My fellow Shinigami, please, I ask of you, lend me your strength, lend Seireitei your strength, and let us go forward to protect this world we hold so dear."

The portion of the fourth division assigned to this mission erupted into a thunderous roar of approval as they practically charged in after their captain, fueled by her words. As the crowd disappeared, leaving the stunned captain of two gaping at what Unohana could do, Soifon turned back to her group. The group was the smallest since it consisted of only Onimitsukido members, while the rest of her division was assigned to either defend Senna in Karakura town or protect the Soul Society as a line of defense.

Stepping forward, the woman put on a face of determination, her eyes washed over the crowd and when she spotted Ichigo giving her a nod of approval; she made her address. "Members of Onimitsukido. I would like to take this moment…and thank-you." She paused and took in the looks of the members of the crowd, glancing at one another quiet but noticeably surprised by her calm attitude. "The reason I wish to thank you is for your dedication. Many times have I, or someone else, tried to break you, make you quit, or second guess yourself, but you've held through, and became the best of the best. Today, our target fancies himself a god; you know him and I know: he is Sosuke Aizen. He has lied to and manipulated us; avoided righteous justice and caused us to lay our hands on those we would never dream of touching."

She paused as her squadron remained silent, but it was obvious that they were taking her words in. "I know behind your masks and trained expression that you are angry and I don't blame you. We've been made fools of, our pride was tarnished, but most importantly, he made it personal. He crossed a line beyond forgiveness. We can't let him get away with that, so I want you all to take that anger and use it to focus on our mission: We are the Onimitsukido, the secret police force that brings even Shinigami to justice, and we WILL bring Sosuke Aizen down, no matter the cost. Move out!"

The final crowd let out a resounding 'yes ma'am!', before following after the diminutive woman into the floating portal. As the last Shinigami, disappeared behind the veil, Urahara pressed a few buttons and closed the gateway before shifting in his chair to the machine behind him, taking over as mission control.

While that was happening a voice from behind Senna called out to her. "Senna-san, we must leave at once. Urahara and the Vizards have this area covered." Turning around the true Vizard found herself staring into the face of the old Sotaichō looking at her firmly.

Sparing one final glance at the gateway her friends and family disappeared into, she offered one final prayer for their safety before turning and heading back to her battlefield.

(Hueco Mundo)

Exiting out of the portal, the second squad captain touched down on the sands of the hollow world. As her soldiers began to flow through, she took a moment to observe her surroundings, the desert she was in expanded as far as she could see under the night time sky, directly in front of her was a large white compound some kilometers away, stretched across the sea of sand. 'Well, at least we know where our target is.' She thought to herself, as she turned to glance behind her, hearing someone approach.

Coming up from behind, Ichigo raised his hand and saluted her, per usual to at work relations. "Everyone is safe and accounted for Soifon-Taichō. We're ready to go on your orders." Ichigo reported

"That's good." The woman reported, as she pulled out a small communicator from her pocket. "This is second division commander Soifon. We've arrived in tact, over."

A few seconds passed after her transmission, when she received no reply she reported again. "I repeat. This is Soifon to Urahara; we've arrived at our destination, over." Once again, a worrying silence. "Urahara are you there?"

Her question was answered when the voice of Mayuri Kurotsuchi emanated from the device. [Ceases your harping at once! Can't you tell that our communications have been jammed?]

That gave pause to the woman. "Kurotsuchi-Taichō, then why is it that we can communicate with each other?"

[Because we are in the same dimensional plane as each other, we are able to communicate freely, however I'm sure Aizen has done something to—Hmm? Hold on. Nemu, you have finished your scanning? Well, then, give me the data at once.]

After a small clicking sound, the captain heard the sound of static coming from the device. The woman lowered it away from her ear, since it seemed he didn't want to be disturbed just yet. Looking behind her at her lieutenant, she decided now would be a good time to give some formation orders.

"Ichigo," she whispered quietly, "I want you to organize the men into four lines made up of groups of four. The front most lines will be our scouting team, the ones closest to us will be our advanced guard," the woman looked him in the eye, her expression brokering no room for discussion. "You'll be with me at the back. We need to ensure you get there in one peace."

Ichigo placed his hands on his hips and nodded, his expression consternated. He wasn't happy with the idea of having others laying down their lives while he was protected, but he knew that they'd have it no other way. He was the only hope the Shinigami had if Aizen faced them here. "On it." He replied swiftly.

Turning away to do as his superior officer ordered, Shaolin turned her attention back to her communicator, after it flared to life. [Hey! Can everyone hear me?] the voice of Kurotsuchi asked.

"Roger."

[Yeah, yeah.]

[Loud and Clear.]

[Please share your findings, Kurotsuchi-Taichō.]

[Very well. After analyzing the data, I have confirmed a few things about our situation. Shortly after our arrival, a strange power coming from the facilities before us washed over the surrounding area, effectively cutting us off the outside realms. In laymen terms, we've been trapped here with no ability to communicate with the Soul Society.]

[That doesn't sound good. What about Urahara-san?] The voice of Unohana asked with obvious concern.

A hint of anger was detectable in Mayuri's voice, but he kept his tongue civil. [He will be able to monitor the situation, but he won't be able to lend any further assistance without risking the Vizards.]

[What about our mission? If we go in there and kick there ass will whatever's jamming things go away?] Zaraki asked, hoping the answer was anything vaguely resembling a 'yes'.

The others could hear the mad scientist gritting his teeth in annoyance. [I WAS getting there. Urahara is more than likely going to try to patch things through on his end; we will facilitate this by taking the castle. If we can find the source of the jammer and destroy it, we will be able to return back to the World of the Living and or Soul Society.]

[Heh, easy enou-] Zaraki paused, while a rumbling was heard through the communicator. A loud roar filled the ear's of the other captain's while Zaraki's insane laughter filled the air. [Ahaha! Holy shit! Even the sand is dangerous! I love this place, come on boys; let's get started! CHHHHHHAAAARRRGE!]

Soifon and Ichigo looked at the communicator that was filling up with the sound of footsteps and battle cries. The captain pressed a button and put Zaraki on radio silence, as she returned it back to her mouth to speak. "If we must take the castle, then so be it. Second Squad beginning infiltration. Soifon over and out."

Putting the device's audio volume to the bare minimum, the captain turned to her group and ordered them to advance, while Ichigo and her took to their positions, at the rear of the formation. It was to be a tense march for sure if there were monster hidden within the sand.

(Hueco Mundo: Sosuke Aizen)

Walking down the steps that led from the tenth floor to the ninth floor, where his war room was located, Sosuke Aizen found all the Espada in their respective seats, going about the usual precedings that occurred before he called things to order. His number two Espada, Barragan Luisenbarn, was leaning over the table towards his counterpart the number one Espada, he was going about his usual business of talking to her in a husky Hispanic accent, wooing trying to charm her into going out with him underneath the starless skies of the desert dunes to make 'sweet, sweet, passion with each other' as he put it. Despite it being hidden the Primera gave a smile and turned him down gently with a 'I'm sure there's a girl out there for you, unfortunately I'm not her.' which then caused him to start crying a waterfalls worth of tears, calling her a goddess of mercy for her straight forwardness and concern with his emotions, which she playfully took in stride.

The Espada beside the primera, Harribel, rolled her eyes and called Luisenbarn desperate, which only served to make the dirty old man turn his affections to her. He proclaimed that he was a man of love and connoisseur of beauty all with a 'Harribel, mi amorrr~', which again was met with much eye rolling from those gathered, with the exception of Espada Seven and Eight who chuckled merrily at his attempts to flirt with the much younger collage of women.

Number four was merely watching the proceedings and was thankful when he spotted their leader approaching. The fifth Espada was talking amicably with the Espada to her right, since Grimmjow was in the same foul mood as always, which the eighth Espada was most certainly not helping with his lame jokes and puns. The ninth Espada was following suit with four with the dignified silence act, but was meditating until things were called to order. The tenth one was leaving back in his chair tossing pieces of chocolate into the air and catching it in his mouth, occasionally muttering a curse when they hit his glasses instead.

Looking to his right, he saw the black haired man in white business suit leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. His eyes watching his every movement as he continued his gait with Ichimaru and Tosen at his side. The man changed his posture, seeing what it was he was going to do as he fiddled with the blade at his waist. On the opposite side of the wall a red haired woman was leaning against wall boredly, hoping that things were going to getting exciting around here before she just decided to ditch and strike out on her own.

"Greetings everyone, I have an important announcement to make." Aizen said as he sat down in his chair at the head of the table.

The man didn't get another word in when the eighth Espada slammed his hands down into the table and slowly began to rise out of his seat. With all attention to him, the cow masked Espada looked back at Sosuke with admiration. "I knew with perseverance that this day would come and I am glad that you deemed it worthy of the attention of all the Espada, so I'll pick up as to the purpose of why we are here."

The man looked upward to the ceiling beaming with pride, oblivious to Sosuke's raised eyebrow. The man took a long drag of air through his nostrils before he continued. "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Espada, today marks a day where all our lives will be changed. Man, woman, child, it matters little." The man then pulled out a large piece of parchment from underneath the table and threw it on the table, the roll of paper going all the way to both ends of the table, complete with illustrations and advanced detailing.

It was…elaborate.

"For the longest time I have been working on this, trying to get it pushed through." The man then extended his hand to the still questioning Sosuke Aizen. "And now, with his blessing, I can finally unveil it. Behold the 'Bad joke comedy club!'" he roared proudly, his heart dancing with joy at the stunned silence of most of his audience or faint 'oohs' and 'ahhs' of the other starry-eyed members of the room.

"This comedy club has been a long standing dream of mine to create and will be the first step in wide spread entertainment in Hueco Mundo. It will have a bar and grill serving the latest drink specials, margiritas, tequila, alcohol and of course Soda for the minors. It will also have an outside and patio set complete with swimming pools and Jacuzzis. Their will be live singers both famous and locals, as well as dancing and live musical performances by Mis amigo's Barragan's fraccion. There will also be comedy routines, both stand up and free style, ventriloquism courtesy of Cifer, and of course open mic nights for both karaoke and duets. The Bad Joke™ will be open seven days a week from noon til three in the morning. This place will be THE premier hotspot for entertainment this side of the spiritual plane." The man emphasized, jabbing his finger against the table with each syllable.

Seeing the need to intervene, Sosuke committed himself to talking. "Rudbornn."

The hollow ceased his explanation as he looked back at their leader. "Si, Sosuke, something you wish to add?"

"Yes." He said calmly, taking in his excited face that would soon falter with his words.

"Is it about that water park idea?" He baited practically salivating with that long held idea being pushed through as well. "Is 'The sand and sun beach casino, restort and waterpark'™ going through too!?"

"No." he said coldly, "In fact, I am sorry to say, we are not discussing that at all, mi amigo."

The Arrancar fell silent for a few seconds, as he looked between the stoic Aizen and the large diagram in front of everyone, obviously in thought as he took in his words. "Oh…I…I see." He quickly muttered in a low whisper while everyone else sweat dropped. Quickly rolling back up the parchment, the man placed it back underneath the desk and still standing up saluted everyone in the room. "Ladies and Gentlemen of the room. It has been an honor serving with you. I have an appointment to keep with Mr. Rope and Ms. Balcony, I will go die now with no regrets."

Once again everyone except Sosuke and the first two Espada sweat dropped. "Rudbornn, sit down and shut up." He ordered with the barest traces of a smile.

"Yes, sir." He responded as he sat back down obediently, but before Sosuke could enjoy this new feeling of order, the Primera turned to him with disapproval in her eyes.

"Nanashi-sama. You shouldn't tell your friends to shut up. It isn't nice."

"You should listen to her mijo." Barragan jumped in, an incredulous look on his face. "You see this is why you don't have a woman by your side."

"You don't either." He countered with a deadpan.

The oldest one at the table backed into his chair slightly and showed off his muscular arm. "There is no one woman that can resist the power of my virility."

"Virility?" Tia Harribel replied skeptically. "You can't even spell that."

"Ha, I accept your challenge!" the man barked, colossal grin on his face. "Virility. V...A…R…ehh…" the man stumbled as he tried to think what came next. "-ILITY! Ha!"

"Clearly." Ulquiorra muttered distastefully.

Either not picking up on his sarcasm or choosing to ignore it, Barragan leaned forward as he looked at Harribel. "What of you senora Harribel? Surely you must feel my aura of empowerment."

"I should?" the blonde woman replied, eye brow raised mockingly.

"Si!" the man thundered, "You can see it in my arm, look." The man clenched his fist so that his biceps tingled and transformed into a mound of impenetrable muscle. "This is the virility that is evident in my people," he then turned his head, "Look at mine nieto! See those pythons he calls arms? He could crush a tree with a but a single flex."

"I suppose." She replied slowly, not finding it super impressive since she could do the same thing with her fingers, the same as anyone else in the room.

The old man still remained oblivious as he continued his ranting. "See! Even you can feel it in your bones. Now…" the man leaned back into his chair, arms crossed like the dignified emperor that he was. "Senora Harribel, you are a woman of good breeding and my nieto he is young and foolish, but pure of heart. You must teach him well and turn him into a man of pride!"

Harribel eyes narrowed considerably, "Oh my god…you dirty old man."

"Abuelo…please." The gentle giant replied back, trying to ease the situation.

The man seemed to ease up, holding his hands up defensively. "I'm just saying she is a fine woman that leads her fraccion of beautiful, beautiful women with dignity and poise. I approve of her, nieto! The children that the two of you could create together will pass on her beauty and intelligence and our virility for GENERATIONS TO COME!" the man shouted as he rose from his chair, a waterfalls worth of tears falling from his eyes down to his muscular chest.

"Barragan, callarse! No one want to hear that." Sosuke shouted amongst the ewws and blanches of the other Espada.

"Ja, I just ate." The chocolate eater at the end of the table declared as he clenched his side, a sick gurgle emanating.

The boisterous Segundo sat back down in his chair. "Estoy lo siento amigos…I just wanted grandchildren." The man apologized, comforted by a small hand on his shoulder by the merciful goddess across from him. Giving a slight nod he turned back to his grand strategist. "Enough of us, Sosuke why have you called this meeting to order?"

The Espada watched as the man's eyes switched from the comical and easy-goingness they just held to cold and serious. The very air in the room changed and the soldiers in it just as quick to adjust. "Ladies and Gentlemen of the room, the war has begun, we have been invaded."

At the proclamation, all the Espada at the table leaned forward, eyes hardened up, showing they were listening intently. Hitting a few buttons that were built into the table, a topographical image of Hueco Mundo showed up, with five red circles surrounding it. "Our sensors have picked up the entrance of five groups of Shinigami that have entered our dunes. They will be here soon."

He then raised his right hand gesturing to the Primera Espada. "I have already activated the gateway negator, which will trap them here in the meantime while my forces will ride with me to Karakura town where the rest of our enemies remain."

The man stood up and looked over the assembly. "Espadas 2, 3, 4 and their fraccion will be coming with us. In addition to that, Stark and Lilinette and our other guest will be coming along. Everyone else will remain here to defend this place." His eyes then fell unto the eighth Espada, who noticed it as well. "As a senior member of our ranks, you will have on scene command and of selection battle placement. My standing order to you is to defend the Primera at all cost."

The Espada nodded as he got up "It shall be done."

"Good. Then move out."

On command the group got up from their chairs and those called stepped outside to get their entourage or to take position somewhere in accordance to their commander. Placing a hand on the veiled visage of the primera, he stopped her before she gave her farewell to her fraccion. The man handed her a black orb, a caja negacion. "We have already discussed your place in the plan."

"Si."

"And you know your orders?"

"Si."

The man then turned away as others began to head up the stairwell. "Then I leave it to you…Grand Fisher."

(Human world: Senna.)

Finishing another round of chanting for her seal to ensure it wouldn't be breaking or malfunctioning at a crucial moment, the daughter of Masaki Kurosaki opened her eyes and uncrossed her legs. She was floating in the air high above the streets, near the center of town, her ward, invisible to the naked eye, but upon feeling the touch of her hand, glowed a faint light blue.

The magical rune encrusted tetragram laid flat in the air 60 feet across. The spell went through buildings and would hit anything within it's radius on her command, it didn't matter if they were above or below it. The Arrancar and Aizen would be toast.

Looking back over her shoulder, she saw the head captain talking to a Shinigami she didn't recognize. He responded back roughly, before his eyes slide past the face of the person and rested on her. Which made Senna face forward again, shivering inwardly. It was always uncomfortable when he looked at her like that; it had all started when she brought up the very technique that she laid down.

The man had come with her to provide oversight, but when she was creating the seals and wards to provide structural integrity to it, she felt uneasy as the man stared at her as if he were seeing a ghost, although Senna did have an idea as to who he was reminded of. Still, when questioned about it, she decided to play it safe and act dumb, saying that it was an ability of her Zanpaktou, which wasn't a total lie. While the aged Shinigami did seem skeptical, he didn't force the issue, though she didn't know if it was out of regard for her or himself.

Looking forward again, the girl nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw one of the stationed Shinigami, Marechiyo Omaeda, sitting in front of her cross-legged, a scowl on his face.

The girl sweat dropped feeling the animosity radiating off him, but she could certainly understand why. After the humiliating defeat that cost him his rank as second in command, his embittered object of lust, Captain Soifon, busted his ass down to the very last possible seated officer rank, number twenty, effectively making him have to work extra hours and training sessions in order to keep it. Adding insult to injury, Ichigo then lived up to his promise and ordered Marechiyo to be positioned in Karakura town when the war broke out. Saying that he wasn't going to risk the lives of those behind enemy lines by having him endanger them, but wasn't going to let him get away scot-free. If he wanted to live, he had to fight, which obviously put a damper on him as he had to take it with a bitter '…yes, sir.'

"It's you. Again." The demoted twentieth seat grumbled darkly to the girl that was always hanging around the two objects of his obsessions.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, the girl tried to keep things civil with the man. "Omaeda-san." She said with a slight nod. "Can I help you with something?"

"You're the bitch that refereed the match." He repeated more hatefully, talking more to himself than her.

Her eyebrows twitch with annoyance, the girl glared at him. "Yes, I was the official to the match, but if you're going to try and accuse me of favoritism, then go somewhere else. I'm busy trying to save people's lives."

"You're just a weapon." The venomous man spat coldly "Once this war is over you're ass is going back where you belong."

Keeping her temper in check before she revealed anything serious about her, the woman fired back by saying. "Well at least Soul Society is going to remember my name in a hundred years, you're claim to fame is your parents and ancestors."

The man's face started to turn red, but before an altercation could occur, a hand touched the man's shoulder calmingly. Looking away from the other, both Shinigami were staring into the rather alert face of Shunsui Kyoraku. "You weren't going to hit a lady were you Omaeda-san?" the bearded man asked carefully, his spiritual energy barely visible, but definitely auraing his body. "I mean she is our guest, so we should be magnanimous, right?"

The man stopped glaring as he rolled his shoulders, breaking free of the hold. "Yes, sir."

"Glad to see everyone getting along." He replied whimsically with a cheery smile. Looking away from the portly man, he saw the girl look away in shame knowing that he was subtly admonishing her as well.

"Of course, Kyoraku-san."

"See ya." Marechiyo replied as he slipped away back to the wayside, content with silently venting elsewhere.

Once he was gone Senna looked back at Kyoraku whose easy going smile was replaced with a bit of a frown. "Thank-you Kyoraku-san." Senna muttered as she looked back at the man, expressing her gratitude.

The captain tilted his straw hat back so that he could get a better look at her. "While I'm glad you're as nice as they say little lady you don't sound all that happy."

The girl sighed, "He called me a weapon." She said, placing her elbows against her legs as she hunched forward. "I'm not. I'm a person, not a thing."

The man chuckled as he kneeled down in front of her. "Your mother was just as much a humanitarian as you." He replied. The man paused as he saw the girl's breath hitch as she looked up at him, shock and horror in her face. It was odd. "Was that supposed to be a secret?" he surmised the only conclusion he could think of.

"Y-yes…" she replied fearfully wondering how exactly this man knew if she had barely spent more than ten minutes with him. Her heart then sank, if he knew…what about the rest of the captains? Looking behind her, she glanced back at the Sotaichō, who was distracted with his conversation with captain Komamura. "Does he…?"

The pink-coated man let out a hum before speaking. "No, he probably doesn't know, but I think he has some suspicion about it."

Then calmed her down a bit. "Then how do you know?"

"Ukitake and I were told by Yoruichi a long time ago that you were her daughter." He informed quietly in accordance with her silent wish to keep things under wraps. Touching the transparent magical circle, he continued. "I've seen this seal in action once by Masaki, but once was enough. She used it in an alternate spiritual plane full of enemies. Ukitake and myself were sent to guard her as she laid down the groundwork and powered it up. It took about three hours, but once it was done we entered the Senkaimon and saw the magic happen." The man closed his eyes and shook his head as if batting away a bad memory. "100 percent. That was the kill ratio. There were no survivors. The destruction was so bad that we had to cut off all Senkaimon that led to that dimensional plane."

"So you recognize the seal." Senna concluded

"Yeah. It doesn't look entirely like how I remember it, but I can tell this is Masaki's seal." He then glanced at her thoughtfully "I hope you can control it, Senna-chan."

"Like I said in the meeting, as long as you aren't standing in the area of the circle when I activate it, it won't harm you." She nodded and smiled, "But thank-you for the concern."

Shunsui smiled back as he got up. "Don't worry kid, I trust you." He then rubbed her hair playfully. "As for your little secret: Every woman should have a little mystery to them, so consider me just throwing away the key."

"Thank-you."

"No worries." The man paused when he felt a small disturbance in the spiritual energies. Something was coming. "Love to stay and chat but we've got company, I gotta get back in formation or the old man is gonna bite my head off."

In a flash the man was gone as the girl got up, Shakujo in hand. All around her the Shinigami were in tight formations, her three guards hardening up their stances in front of her while the Sotaichō walked into view from behind her. "Remember the plan Senna. I will try to weaken Sosuke Aizen, you will then seal him away at the first opportunity. Do not exert yourself, we need you alive, understood?"

Senna nodded, "Yes, Sotaichō-san."

The old man glanced at the young girl briefly, a faint image of someone dear to his heart appearing alongside her. Refocusing on the task at hand, he looked forward as the very air in front of them began to warp and contort to the presence of Arrancar. "It begins." he muttered.

(Ichigo and Soifon)

Thanks to some combination of luck and skill, the Onimitsukido arrived at the entrance of the white fortress their target was holding up in without incident. Upon reaching the underpass corridor that led inside, Soifon moved to the front most position with Ichigo close at her side. After a quick series of orders, they advanced down the narrow corridor quietly, eyes searching the darkness for any hidden foes. They kept at their advance until they ended up in a roundabout hallway that split off in various directions.

"Great, more choices." Ichigo wheezed, hands moving to his hips, annoyed.

"Indeed, Kurosaki." The captain said as she looked down every which way, before turning back to her partner. "Fortunately, unlike the last time, we don't have to stick to just one choice."

"That's true." Ichigo said, as he turned to his fellow soldier, ready to give them marching orders. "Alright, listen up. We have multiple pathways ahead. Since most of you are already in groups, I want each of you to go down in groups, five per each route, Soifon-Taichō and I will take the main one straight ahead and any Espada that might try to interfere, so you can work. Remember people, we're not here to get into any grand scale fights, that's the eleventh's job, if you think you gotta run from a fight then run. We're here to locate Aizen and kill him, failing that whatever is jamming up our communication. Are my orders to you understood?"

The assassins gave him the salute of Onimitsukido, the sign of ultimate obedience. "Perfectly clear, Kurosaki-Fukutaichō!"

"Move out." Soifon finished for him.

Once all the other Shinigami went down the routes per their orders, Ichigo turned to his wife and clasped her hand, his thumb caressing the back of her hand gently. "Are you alright? Is the medicine still holding up?"

"Yes, Ichigo-koi." She replied as she dug into her pocket and pulled out a small pill bottle, it's contents rattling with the lightest of touches. "Although, I wish I didn't have to wear the stripe of inverted silver, it's a bit tight." She complained as she popped open the top of the bottle and dropped a pill in her hand.

"Unohana said you can't afford to be hurt there, that's why I went and got it from the warehouse. If it can withstand the back blast of your 'corrupt' Bankai and not snap in half then it can cushion a few strikes of sword blows if you wrap it around yourself. Bett-"

"Better a little uncomfortable then a little dead, I know." She repeated carefully as she threw the pill into the back of her mouth and swallowed it in one motion. Suppressing a shudder, the woman felt her body warm up before cooling back down.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She answered as she put the cap back on her medicine, before pocketing it. Once she had done so, she beckoned him to follow her down their selected path. "By the way Ichigo, I've been meaning to ask you, how do you feel?"

The man glanced at his diminutive partner. "How do I feel? What do you mean exactly?"

The woman extended her hand at the surrounding walls of their environment to illustrate her point. "This world, Hueco Mundo. You are part Hollow on your father's side according to Senna, so I was just wondering if you're being here has been affecting you at all."

Ichigo looked away as they crossed through an area filled with columns. "Well, when you put it that way, I guess it has." He answered as he came to a halt, fist resting against his side. "I feel focused here and my spiritual energy feels calm and settled. It's kind of odd. I always thought the Hollow world would be some death world filled with monster and I know were on an important mission, but I just feel…at ease."

"Really?" Shaolin replied with a hint of surprise. "I find myself somewhat in agreement. I do still feel a bit on edge here, but I also feel like I've just returned to a home away from home."

Ichigo smirked when he considered that the reason she felt more attuned to this world than the others was probably because of their hybrid child she was carrying, a fact he couldn't help but tease about. "Home away from home, huh? Well, I could see it now. I can build us a nice little cottage out here." He took half a step back and raised his fingers up as if holding an invisible camera. "Riiiight over theeerrre. It can be our winter home, so you don't have to worry about getting sick in the middle of winter like you always do in Soul Society."

Shaolin rolled her eyes as she giggled, enjoying his fanciful thoughts. Very well, she'd play along. "Really? Well, that is so kind of you; but what about all our Hollow neighbors? I'm sure that once they see a newlywed Shinigami couple move in, they'll probably start thinking 'more will be coming' and then they will until finally there goes the neighborhood!"

The man dropped his hands back down as he faced her, taking her words into consideration, before raising them back up. "Well, I'll have to set up a nice wiiide fence first and maybe a sign in the middle of it that says 'IchiSoi space here. Get your own!', if the other Shinigami wanted prime desert real estate like this then they should have gotten there first. As for our Hollow neighbors, well…I suppose you and Senna could join the local female Arrancar book club. I'm sure that'll help smooth over relations, especially once they find out Sen is half-way like them and you're going to have a ¼ mixed child."

His wife's body started to convulse with laughter at the detail the man was putting in to the absurd idea of giving them a second home in the land of their mortal enemies. "Le…hahaha, let's just focus on the mission and save the flirting for later, Mr. Kurosaki." She offered kindly.

"Alright, Mrs. Kurosaki." The man said, as they resumed walking through the forest of columns, keeping an eye out for any enemies. It wasn't long before they felt the presence of another.

Slowing down the pair came to a halt as they pulled out their respective swords. Waiting for their stalker to make a move. They wouldn't have to wait long as powerful cero came from behind them. "Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo roared as he wheeled around and crushed the energy beam with his signature skill.

While he kept their eye on the rear, Soifon saw a figure descending upon them from above. The Arrancar twist their body and shot out two tornado like gust straight at them.

Calmly grabbing a hold of Ichigo's clothing, she flash stepped them both out of harm's way, while the gusting winds crushed the pillars around them. Safely concealed, the pair looked around the edge of the pillars, back to where they had been standing and now see it occupied by two Arrancar conversing with each other, one male the other female.

The white skinned woman had purple hair done up in a pigtail a bony ornament hanging just above her hairline. She had a white puffy ballroom dress with gloves, stockings, and boots that only left her arms and thighs exposed. Two purple triangle tattoos ran down her cheek as she scanned the area, tapping her strange whip against her hand testily.

The man beside the woman towered over her. He had a very large muscular build, but a youthful face. His skin was a deep brown hue that matched the shaggy hair that obscured his eyes. He was taller than Ichigo and his white uniform had cut off shoulder exposing his powerful arms, around his left arm was a bony brace.

From what the spying pair noticed, the woman seemed to be deferring a bit to the man, which led them to conclude he must have had a higher rank than her, which meant he must have been one of the Espada. "I see only two." Shaolin whispered,

"I sense only two." He confirmed the situation.

"We'll take out the leader first an-"

Her planning was interrupted when the woman shouted, "They are over there hiding like cowards, Sado-sama!" she pointed in their direction, having located their spiritual signatures through all the interference.

"(Sigh) Take out the woman first. Double team the other one later." They both replied monotonously to the other, before they slipped around the columns and showed themselves. The pair took note of the sensor girl's smirk and raised their Zanpaktou defensively.

However; before the two forces could clash, the man placed a hand on the woman shoulder. "Un momento, Cirucci!" the man requested. Cirucci looked at him warily, before allowing him to step around her, trusting her Espada's order. "Gracias." He thanked, before turning his attention back to the Soul Reapers, or specifically the orange haired one. "You, the one with the zweihandler, what is your name?"

"Ichigo." He replied as he gripped his sword tighter, figuring Aizen told his Espada about him. Unsurprisingly the man smiled to himself, however unlike the cocky smirk of someone striking pay dirt, he seemed more pleased to make his acquaintance.

"So you are the one Harribel's fraccion told me about, it has been a long time, Ichigo." Seeing the man's guarded expression, he decided to introduce himself. "Mi nombre es Yasotora Sado."

"You look more like a chad to me." Ichigo replied of a stereotypical surfer name, which the giant youth seemed to find humor in.

"I see you've retained your good natured humor." He said as he shifted his hidden eyes over to the woman beside him. "It is also nice to finally meet you in person Captain Soifon; it has been a long time."

The woman narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "Have we met?"

Yasotora looked at them quizzically, before letting out a low hum, figuring out what the problem was. "Si. I am the Septimo Espada Yasotora Sado."

"Septimo?" Soifon repeated unfamiliar with the Spanish language.

Fortunately, for her, Ichigo knew what he meant. "He means the seventh."

"Correcto; however, you may know me by a different name." the man lifted up one of his arms and flicked the bracers, which began to release some of his spiritual energy. "Stand proud, Gigante entre los demonios."

The brace started expanding all the way up his arm, wrapping it up in a black and red covering. The center of his body cracked loudly several times as it stretched out his height, while his hair blew back revealing his eyes to them. A vest of thick hair appeared over his shoulders tied together by a mask with large eyeholes and horns.

It was…oddly familiar.

Ichigo stared at the now 15 ft giant's mask trying to place it somewhere. He could have swore he knew it. "Gigante entre los demonios (Giant among devils)." He whispered to himself trying to work out the pieces.

"Wait. We really know this guy?" Shaolin asked Ichigo incredulously.

"Giant among…" he repeated, until it finally hit him. "You couldn't be…"

'Chad' smiled serenely as he nodded, "Yes, I am also known as Giant Devil."

Now even Soifon knew exactly who this person was "You, you're that Hollow that was after Screamer, the one Ichigo and Yamada helped!"

Ichigo's sword lowered a bit, his guard relaxing. "Well this is an awkward situation."

Cirucci the only one not having an odd reunion sensation turned to her master. "We must still fight them my lord. It is our orders, nay our duty to protect nuestra familia."

Giant devil looked at the smaller woman and nodded, "Te escucho." He then returned back to the reapers in front of them and took a step forward. "Ichigo, I know of your reputation. I challenge you to a fight of honor."

"A duel?" the challenged man replied

"Si. You and me. Hombre a Hombre. Just us and our abilities."

Ichigo cast a glance at his wife, before turning his attention back to him. "I'll agree if you answer a question to me."

"Only if I may ask one of you in return." He replied just as quickly.

The young Shinigami took half a step back, and leaned over to the woman whispering something in her ear. Her face remained impassive as she listened to his words, before she nodded and started to walk away from him, heading out of the forest of white marble columns and to the walled edge of the room.

Seeing this Sado glanced down at Cirucci who nodded, before doing the same as the female Shinigami and parting out, going to the same wall that the woman had sat down and seemingly meditated at.

Satisfied by the results so far, Ichigo looked at his opponent and fired his question. "Yasotora-san, you once told me that you didn't trust Shinigami, so why is it that you'd align yourself with Aizen?"

The towering Espada nodded solemnly. "He has earned the trust of mi abuelo Barragan Luisenbarn and myself. He is our ally that has seen us through many difficult situations. I do not consider him Shinigami, he is as he treats us: Human."

'Okay, so that's where he's coming from.' Ichigo thought to himself. "And what do you get out of it?"

"The ability to be taken out of this Hollow existence, to be transformed back into a human being with mi familia, to live without the need to hurt others anymore." He replied yearnfully of the deepest wish he and some of his friends held.

Ichigo bit his tongue at hearing the wish. "Aizen is going to sacrifice the lives of hundreds of innocent people just to get to the throne of god, how many families will you allow to be broken up to get there?"

The Arrancar's body shook and his eyes sank to the corner at being asked the question. "I…" the man shook his head and refocused "I think you've asked more than one question, so now it is my turn."

"Alright. Shoot."

"Ichigo. Why is it that you have invaded our homeland? When we first met, you let me go instead of killing me like any other Shinigami, yet now you and your kind wage war on us, tell me: what has brought you here?"

"The same as you." Ichigo said as he looked away from Giant Devil and over to the side. Following his line of sight, he saw the two girls on the wall, one keeping an eye on them, while the other meditated. "See that girl with the Haori?"

"The captain."

"Yeah, she's my wife. I'm doing this for her." He then looked back at his opponent. "I'm doing this for my sister, I'm doing it for my friends and family who died because of him. I've come to Hueco Mundo to find and kill Aizen to bring him to justice for his crimes and prevent him from harming anyone else ever again."

Sado heart sank as he started to put the pieces together. "So when you spoke of the families…"

"Yeah, I already know what it's like." The man then raised his large cleaver in front of him. "That's why I can't let you stop me."

"For my family, I can say the same." The gorilla-like Arrancar raised it's arms in a boxing stance.

Finally hitting the impasse, Ichigo ran forward towards the towering beast. As the soul reaper came closer, the Espada clenched his fist tightly and slammed it directly into the ground in front him, creating a resounding shockwave that cracked the ground into jagged chunks.

Although it did little to slow down the assassin who deftly moved through the broken terrain with ease. "Hraaaahhh!" Ichigo roared as he jumped off a half split plate of land towards the gorilla.

Grabbing tightly one of the loose pieces, the young giant flipped it upward as he sunk back, forcing the Shinigami to cut through the make shift barrier. Once his attack was launched, the giant surged forward, throwing it's meaty fist at the airborne man.

Just as the attack was about to connect, he disappeared in haze of speed and reappeared on the giant's side. Turning his body, the Arrancar brought his extended arm around to club him the Shinigami, who blocked it with the edge of his sword.

Ichigo gritted his teeth as he braced his body against the strike, once he felt all the monster's momentum run through, he shot out his spiritual energy and stopped his skidding. "My turn!" he yelled as gripped the back of the blade with his freehand and yanked it down.

A grunt of pain escaped the Espada's lips as he pushed himself away from the large weapon. He took a moment to inspect his wounds worryingly. 'He is most definitely strong. To cut through my hierro and my ressurreccion enforced arm like it was nothing.' He looked up at his opponent, who was letting out a small breath to steady himself. 'I better be careful.'

"You're no ordinary reaper, Ichigo." Chad complimented as he rubbed away at the cut, before extending his hand and grabbing a nearby column, his biceps tingling as he ripped the heavy stone pillar out of the ground, spinning it in a slow heavy circle. "But I am no ordinary Hollow."

"Exactly how I remember; except, this time, it's not a telephone pole." Ichigo muttered as he glanced away from his enemy and briefly looked over at his wife, who was sitting in the lotus position a few feet away from the female fraccion; her eyes open watching them both intently and words silently spilling out of her mouth.

Turning his attention back to his club-wielding opponent, he felt more assured knowing things were going well, he just needed to be a bit more careful in finishing this fight.

On cue, the giant gripped the weapon with both hands and swung the makeshift weapon, forcing Ichigo to drop down to his knees to evade it. As the attack floated overhead, the young reaper flash stepped forward to the exposed monster, sword raised to come crashing down. "Shield Plate del gigante (Plate shield of the Giant)!" the Espada roared as the blade came close to his black encased arm.

The arm bulged violently as a pair of strange fin-like appendages formed into the shape of a targe engraved in his arm, catching Zangetsu's attack, as the loud metal of steel rang through the area.

Having stopped his opponent, the monster shoved forward with it's plated arm, tossing him back into a clumsy recovery. Raising the white marble Column overhead like a spear, Giant Devil took careful aim as he threw the pillar at the recovering warrior.

"Oh, shit!" Ichigo cried as he back flipped to avoid being pierced by the thrown tool, before having to roll to the side as the weapon toppled forward, one final ditch to hit it's intended mark.

However, that was just the beginning of his problems as he saw the young man staring at his open fist a small green light radiating on each fingertip. "You will not dodge this, Kurosaki." He informed the acrobatic soldier as he closed his fist, spiritual energy surging. Planting his foot in the ground, he stepped forward as his arm screamed of power, "El." He snarled as the Shinigami gave one final glance to his wife. "Directo!"

A white high-powered beam of energy surged forward ripping up the very ground in front of the Shinigami. Pushing himself off the ground, he decided to match it point for point. Quickly running his hand over his face, a hellish grinning skull mask appeared over his face, red lines running across the side and two horn extending from the side. "Getsuga" The warped voice of the Shinigami cried as he raised his feather-like Zangetsu a red surge of hollow energy encasing his sword "Tenshō!"

Both strikes collided between them crushing the floor and immediate columns underneath the intense strength pitted behind each blow. The red moonfang rippled against the white beam, splitting off along the sides as it toppled over the white pillars surrounding the Giant Espada, while 'El directo' was forced down into the ground shooting a blinding smokescreen hiding the Shinigami.

As the blinding light settled enough for Sado to make out his surroundings, he made a move to return to a more defensive stance when he suddenly found that he could not move his body. Glancing at his body he saw three seperate rings of golden light penetrating him around his waist and both his arms, binding him almost like…

"Bakudo 79: Furu Genkai Rikujōkōrō (Way of binding 79: Full limit: Six rods prison of light)." Muttered the Shinigami's tiny captain, who was standing on a toppled over pillar one arm extended to him and the other…

The septimo Espada's eyes widened when he saw his fraccion that had backed out was also bound to the wall by three piercing light rays, two going through each of the 'wings' of her dress and the final one embedded in her dress draping between her legs, struggling to get out to assist her master.

"And Bakudo 30: Shitotsu Sansen (Way of binding 30: Beak-Stab triple beam)." The damnable woman voiced emotionless voice, as she turned her head looking to something just beyond his shoulder.

With great effort, he turned his head to see, his opponent standing on a half erect pillar behind him, staring down at him with a Cero of all things pointing at the back of his skull, ready to take him down. "Nice timing, Shaolin." He thanked the focused woman, his voice returned to normal.

"It was your plan, Ichigo." She remind as she turned back to the Espada, showing no signs of letting up the kido anytime soon.

Her words triggered the Hollow's memories of the exchange prior to the battle. What he had initially assumed was the man giving reason and requesting her to accept the duel had been a trick in order to pin them down and take them out.

'So foolish.' He thought to himself disgustedly, now deeply wishing he could use his arms and go into his segundo estapa to make them pay for their underhanded tactics. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted Shinigami." He rumbled darkly, loud enough for both of them to hear.

"Well, we are Assassins, Espada-san." Said the woman,

"We don't fight fair." Her partner finished, as he raised the output for his cero to the point where it changed from the traditional red to a personalized ember orange, the telltale change heralding when a cero crossed over into gran rey territory. "Do you admit defeat?"

"What is the point?" he replied, seeing no difference with answering the question.

The two Shinigami shared a look with one another and nodded. "I'll take that as a yes." Ichigo said before closing his fist and bringing it back to his side, the attack dispelled. In tandem, the captain lowered her arms, as she straightened back, the binding spells used on both Hollow dissipating, allowing them to move.

'They…let us…go?' The word echoed in the recesses of Yasotora's mind as he dully heard the sound of the male assassin jump over towards his counterpart, the pair quick to launch into conversation. Turning his head to look past the pair, he saw his fraccion on her knees staring just as dumbly as him, while the two continued to converse in a language neither understood.

Sado's attention was called back to the situation, when Soifon, apparently ending their conversation, said. "Alright, let's get a move on."

As the two hoped off the pillar and started walking away, the Espada found his voice. "W-wait!" he cried out. The two Shinigami stopped and looked back at him expectant for reason that he halted them. "Why…" Why 'a lot of things' he thought to himself, but settled for the one that matter most. "Why did you spare us?"

Ichigo spared a glance over at the man's fraccion that was also desiring an answer, before turning fully back to his defeated opponent. "There's no point in fighting you anymore. You were defeated and acknowledged your defeat, so we moved on back to our original objective."

"Kill Aizen-sama." He repeated, which the young reaper nodded.

"That's right. Our mission is one thing and one thing only. Kill Sosuke Aizen and end his ambition once and for all." The man placed his hand in his pocket a demure smile on his lips. "I'm here to protect my family, not run through this place tearing apart the families of others."

Sado silently reflected on his words, before resealing his ressurreccion back into his bracer, returning him back to his humanoid form. "You are still killing my kind to do so."

Ichigo looked away, his head bobbing slightly as he thought it over. "I can understand your plight, Yasotora-san. I'm not exactly normal either." Narrowing his eyes in concentration, a semi-liquidy white substance began to formulate around the edges of the right side of his face, hardening up as it traveled along his skin only stopping when half of a Hollow's mask was created, the eye it covered glowing an eerie gold as opposed to it's usual brown. "I'm not a Shinigami. I'm a being that crossed the barrier like you and became a Vizard."

"You are no different from us…?" the shocked voice of Cirucci carried through the air over to them.

"In a way, yeah. In fact, it's one of the reasons Aizen wanted me on his side." He admitted to the pair, "He offered me a home, a place to live with people just like me without fear of being thought differently of."

'Just like you.' The words of acceptance repeated in Giant devil's mind, word he would have longed to hear. "Yet, when offered it, you refused." He stated quietly, recalling the closing words Harribel's three beasts had told him about their encounter with the Shinigami.

Ichigo nodded; although, it wasn't a nod that stemmed from utter confidence in one's self, or from forced direction by another's influence, rather from a decision not easily reached but acknowledged. "I refused because: even though I knew I could protect my family, that I could possibly save some of my friends, and that I could gain back several people important to me, I also knew the cost of doing it. Even if it was only temporary: How could I live with myself knowing that I sacrificed the lives of others, for my benefit? Taking the lives of others when you're fighting for your life is one thing, and killing those deserving of their crimes is another, but to sacrifice the souls of innocent people who depend on you for your own gain…"

The man looked to his side and pulled his hand out of his pocket, clasping the hand of his beloved. "That's an unforgivable betrayal and I don't deserve the right to be called a human being for that. If you want to change this world you need to start with yourself; from what I've seen, Sosuke Aizen has never given up anything he valued to his ambitions, he's only spent time refining and working towards his goal. That's not the same thing. Anyone can take the time out of their day to do that. What has he lost that gives his mission so much more meaning then those around him? If he considers you family, then he only stands to lose what he never had to begin with. Like I said, not sacrifice."

The man cocked his head to the side, inquiry on his mind. "Tell me something: For your loyalty to his cause he offered you and your grandfather a way to return to being human again, right?"

"Si."

"What about the others?" he asked knowingly, "What did he promise them? Look at some of the allies you have, do you honestly think all of them want to return to being human? I've met Grimmjow, and honestly I think he could care less about going back to the way he was, he looks like someone that just wants to fight forever. Tell me does that sound like part of a united front or someone using a means to an end?"

Yasotora bowed his head contemplating his words. He would admit that some of his allies did not seem to possess the same ideals that he shared, yet they worked towards the same goal. He knew his grandfather trusted Sosuke as much as he did him, but now he was entirely unsure what to think.

The muscular teen closed his eyes as the words of his abuelo rang in his ears, providing a modicum of reassurance. Lifting his gaze back up, he spoke. "If what you say is true, then I will help you."

The two Shinigami raised their eyebrows in surprise, while the man's fraccion got off her knees and quickly ran over to his side. "Sado-sama do you know what you are saying!?" she asked in a panicked flurry.

The man looked at the aerial dancer before nodding. "Yes, I do." He then turned back to Ichigo. "He has spared my life two times now; that at least shows me he is sincere about not killing unless he must. Had I heard such a thing from any other Shinigami I would not believe them and continue the fight until the bitter end. But…he is different. He fights for the same reason I do…I should at least hear his plight."

Taking in a breath, the youth crossed his arms over his chest. "Ichigo. You will not find Aizen-sama in this world."

Picking up on what he meant, Soifon cursed. "Shit. So this was a trap."

"Correcto. Sosuke Aizen has split his army in half, one to greet your invading force and another to take Karakura."

"We were told about something jamming our communication with the Soul Society, does Aizen have something to do with this?"

"Si. He has created a force field around Hueco Mundo that was activated just a little after your arrival. Things can come into this world, but nothing can escape it."

"Fuck. Then we really need to find that Ichigo." Soifon urged as she began to fiddle with her communicator to create an automated message for the other captains to hear once they had a moment.

"Where can we find the device that powers the barrier, so we can shut it off?"

Surprisingly, Cirucci answered the question. "You misunderstand. It is not a machine to be turned on or off, it's a soldier catalyst."

"Soldier catalyst?" Ichigo repeated not liking where this was going.

"Si. Though only the Espada are privy to the specific informaccion about the device." Cirucci explained as she turned her eyes back to her master, who continued where she left off.

"The one you must kill to lower the barrier and allow safe passage out of Hueco Mundo is the Primera Espada, who resides in the centermost building protected by our second in command, the Octava Espada, Chelute Rudbornn."

The orange haired Vizard quirked an eyebrow at hearing that the eighth Espada was the second in command. Didn't the Espada work from number 10 each differing towards number 1? "Why is Chelute Rudbornn in charge over you and the others?"

"Because he along with my abuelo and Sosuke, make up the three conquerors of Hueco Mundo, the ones who amassed this army. His special ability allows him to make clones of himself called 'Calaveras' to do his bidding and serve as the innermost sanctuaries guards gaining him the moniker: Uno de los conquistadores del Hueco Mundo: El Soldado infinito (One of the conquerors of Hueco Mundo: The infinite Soldier)."

"The same sanctuary the Primera is hiding in." Ichigo repeated, not liking what the implication of 'The infinite Soldier' had on things.

"Si. They are in opposite sides of the building. Chelute is located on basement floor ten; the Primera is located on the tenth floor beside the transfusion gate that leads back to the human world, the Calaveras are spread throughout the surrounding area to slow down tus aliados with more being made with each one slain to at most a hundred active at once."

"So if you go for one, you have to leave the other." The reaper surmised, since attacking the Primera meant allowing reinforcements to arrive, while attacking Chelute and the calaveras meant wasting precious time while Aizen and his forces attacked the Shinigami in Karakura town. "That's not good." He looked back at his superior officer. "Shaolin did you-"

"Relayed and sent, Ichigo." She replied as she placed the device back into her pocket. "Let's leave the others to deal with the Espada guarding the Primera." She closed her eyes pensively. "We need to minimize your expenditure of Reiatsu, so we'll have to proceed quietly." Turning around she looked down one of the exit ways. "Although, considering we don't know the layout, getting there will be…problematic."

"That's…hmmm."

Their prayers were answered when the Espada took a few step closer to them. "I will guide you." He offered,

"Sado-sa-"

"No, Cirucci. I am no longer Sado-sama the Septimo Espada. I am…" the man lowered his head, his eyes obscured by his hair. "not sure what I am."

"So why are you turning your back on tu familia y nuestros ideales?"

"Dos razones: la primera: Mi abuelo told me to always repay my debts to a man of honor. Even though, he cheated in our match, he fights for the same reason I do, which means-"

"He has something important to him that he can't lose." She finished glancing vaguely at the woman beside the Shinigami. "Y dos?"

"I trust him. If leading him to the Primera Espada will save lives then it is worth it. If he succeeds, there is no point in us fighting, as he and his people had the right of way; however if he dies, then this only proves that our cause is just. This war need not continue any longer than necessary, comprende?"

"Si." Cirucci said with a small nod. "Then in that regard, I shall fulfill my role as your fraccion and accompany you Master-Sado." When her master was about to speak to contest her, she added, "Your grandfather would not be able to live with such a loss." The man then closed his mouth, silently acceding to her.

"If I may interject." Soifon interrupted, "Sado-san," said being regarded her, "Is it possible you can lead him to the Primera Espada in a route that will avoid a majority of our opponents?"

"Si." Came the low reply

"Then Cirucci will accompany me." She said with finality in her voice. "The two of us will go separate routes. I'll try to draw their attention so that you'll have less problems to deal with."

The ballroom opera fraccion narrowed her eyes on the captain. "Why the hell should I leave my master in the hands of your boyfriend?" she asked coldly

"Why the hell should I consider the alternative of leaving my husband in your hands?" she replied just as fiercely, electricity shooting between both girl's eyes.

"Shaolin/Cirucci." Their respective partners called out, trying to get the women to back down, which after seeing that the both of them were okay with idea, did. "Alright, 'Chad-"

"Yasotora Sado. Ichigo-san." Giant Devil gently corrected the Shinigami who just stared back at him incredulously.

"Riiiight." He drew out unamused, "Look, I'm not one for formality, and saying Yasotora Sado all of the time is kind of a pain in the ass, so I'm gonna just stick with chad." He then jutted his thumb at himself. "And you can just call me Ichigo."

The Espada was about to open his mouth to correct him again, before closing it resigning himself to the face that he doubted it would make a difference. "Very well."

"Great. Now before we head out." The lieutenant said, as he turned to his wife, wrapping his arms around her smaller frame and planting a small kiss on her forehead, both of them uncaring for their semi-hostile audience. "Please Shaolin." He whispered low, but loud enough for the Arrancar to hear. "Please, be careful. I lost too many friends in the last war…and I nearly lost you. I don't want to lose anyone else."

The woman closed her eyes, hearing the fear and concern in his voice. "I know Yojimbo, I know." She replied, as she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, stubbornly refusing break this possible last moment together. "We'll survive this. I promise."

After a few more seconds, the pair pulled away; a fleeting look of longing in their eyes, that was quelled behind a wall of forced determination. The orange haired man turned back to the solemn Espada and said, "Alright let's go."

Giant Devil nodded and the pair turned and ran off in the direction the two Shinigami had been heading prior to the skirmish. Once the two had disappeared beyond the darkness of the corridor, the purple haired fraccion looked back at her 'partner' and felt her chest clench a bit.

The captain had her eyes closed, a thin layer of mist around the rim of her eyelids. The woman had refused to watch the man she loved run off to his possible death, but upon looking at the woman's fist shaking at her side, Cirucci could see that despite her reassurance to her partner, she was just as worried about him.

For a moment, the fraccion saw past her mental image of this captain, who had not so long ago pinned her down and nearly killed her, or the Shinigami in general, who hunted her kind without remorse. What she saw was someone wishing this war never took place and the people she loved didn't have to get hurt. Cirucci saw someone not so different.

But, it was only for a moment.

Wiping the unreleased tears from her eyes with the back of her hand, the woman turned back into her assassin mentality, as she glanced at her partner. "We'll go an alternate way to the Primera Espada, understood?"

"Si." She replied slowly

The captain expression didn't change, but it seemed she was glad that she was being cooperative. "Good, but first." She raised a hand apathetically at the pig tailed girl, "Bakudo 4: Hainawa." She cast the incantation, as a thin yellow rope of light materialized in her hand and snaked around the Hollow's wrists tying them up.

"Hey what the hell is this!?" she snapped, slightly afraid that this was another trap set by the two Shinigami to take them out.

"Relax, it's more of a formality than anything else." She answered lowering her hand back to her side. "You're an Arrancar, so I can expect you to break it without trying."

Looking back down, Cirucci tried pulling her hands apart and had to stop herself from breaking the kido instantly. When she looked back at up, the captain shrugged. "You see?"

"So why cast it in the first place?"

"Because this identifies you as my prisoner. I doubt the Shinigami are going to kill you, if you're tied up and standing right next to me." She explained to the woman.

"Un prisionero, eh." She repeated distastefully,

Soifon sighed frustrated with her suspicion, "Look, just serve as my guide and I'll cut you loose once we've gotten close enough, fair?"

"Supongo." Cirucci replied which earned her a confused look.

"What?"

"Yo dije: 'Supongo que tienes razon.'" She reiterated, but once again she was met with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, genial." the obviously exasperated woman sighed. "Usted no habla español. Excepcional, sólo mi maldita suerte."

"Wǒ kěnéng bù huì jiǎng nǐ de yǔyán, dàn rúguǒ nǐ bùxiǎng ràng wǒ qǔxiào nǐ zài wǒ de yǔyán, wǒ jiànyì nǐ jiǎng rìyǔ." The captain replied, this time leaving the Arrancar wondering what the hell she just said.

"Que?"

Taking Sanderwhicc's tone as a sign of confusion, the captain turned around, showing her back to the woman as she answered her question. "I said: 'I may not speak your language, but if you don't want me to curse you out in my home tongue, I suggest you stick to Japanese'."

Cirucci narrowed her eyes with glare strong enough to burn a whole through her head. It only intensified when the captain lightly tugged on the rope in her hand, an arrogant smile on her face. "Come on, lead the way."

"I fucking hate you." She cursed as she started shuffling by her.

Soifon rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't be the first."

(Elsewhere: Rukia Kuchiki)

Sheathing her Zanpaktou, as her latest opponents disappeared into a fading of reishi, the officer of thirteen temporarily assigned to her adoptive brother's division let out a sigh. After splitting up to 'bring these dogs of war to heel', Rukia had gotten into a few battles with some of the lesser Hollows and occasional numeros Arrancar. Renji had helped quite a bit before he went down his own way, leaving her to mop up down the route she was going, her destination the same as every other Shinigami, the central most building. "It almost feels like Ichigo's invasion of Soul Society again. Everyone trying to get to the same place." She muttered with a hint of amusement, although her thoughts were not as high spirited. 'Hopefully, no one else dies for me.'

Shaking her head, clearing her mind of such thoughts, she returned to the task at hand. "I don't have time for that." She looked around the wide, high-ceiling room she was in. "I wonder where everyone else is? I haven't seen anyone for a while." She tilted her head back and looked up at the ceiling. "I guess this place is a lot bigger on the inside."

"Good to see you find some appreciation in our architectural skills." A deep sounding voice rang from out of the Shinigami's sight.

Placing her hand on her weapon, she looked around scanning the area for her opponent. "Where are you? Show yourself!" she shouted frantically.

"I am right behind you." The voice whispered into her ear, their breath swaying the back pieces of her hair.

Whirling around she drew her weapon and struck, only to hit air. 'What the hell?' she touched the back of her neck with her hand. 'I could have sworn…'

"Oh my, you are far too slow, Shinigami." The voice stated matter-of-factly, again from the area behind Rukia. "Should I slow down for you?"

Taking half a step back, Rukia looked back the way she had been heading and saw someone in her way. About twenty feet away from her was a tall black man. He had a pair of white earrings and around his neck was a teeth-like necklace. His uniform had strange black horizontal lines, most likely keeping his shirt together.

The man's eyes were closed as if he seemed to have been meditating before her arrival. Opening his eyes, two golden pupils glared at the Fukutaichō. "Is this better? Can you see me now?" he asked condescendingly, not truly caring if his 'altruism' did convenience her.

"You don't look like those other Hollows." Rukia stated, sensing the very air around this one was much more foreboding.

"Astute, Ms. Shinigami. I am not like the numeros you have faced before me;" he craned his neck back, revealing a tattoo under his jaw. "I am Zommari Rureaux, the ninth Espada." The man informed as he lowered his skull back down to normal, his head quirking to one side at an disturbingly odd angle, observing the wary woman. "What of you? Are a being of power?"

"I am the Fukutaichō of thirteenth division, Rukia Kuchiki."

The man cupped his chin as he thought about her words. "Fukutaichō is the second strongest in a division, but you are of the thirteenth…hmm dos y trece es igual a veintiséis?" the man started to laugh aloud, much to Rukia's chagrin. "The twenty-sixth strongest against the ninth!? This will barely be a warm up!"

"Don't underestimate us." Rukia hissed as she brought her weapon around, silently grateful that Zommari didn't seem to compute the difference in their respective structures. She'd need to use that to her advantage.

Zommari's expression returned to his general stoicism, but a small smirk remained on his lips. "I have waited a long time for this war between us Hollows and you Shinigami to break out. For far too long has your kind forced us to crawl around in the dark, killing us like animals." A dark chuckle escaped his lips. "But now the tables have turned, but fear not in Aizen-sama's infinite mercy I shall teach you the meaning of amor." The man crossed his arms over his chest. "Soon you two will sing his praises and offer your body and soul to serve his greatness."

"Not in this lifetime! Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" she commanded the yuki-onna in her blade, who turned her blade powdery white as a white ribbon extended from her pummel. Returning her hands to her side, sword pointed at her enemy, she controlled her breathing as the Espada observed her carefully.

"So that is the pinnacle of the constructive skills you Shinigami possess, the Zanpaktou, a weapon forged purely of your soul." Zommari intoned as he took a step to the side, carefully circling her, eyes on the weapon. "Very impressive, this is the first time I've seen such a beautifully crafted instrument of death." The man stopped after his tenth step as he drew his sword. "I think I'll take it off your corpse as a trophy once this farce is over."

The man then disappeared in a blinding display of speed. Knowing of his capability, Rukia brought her weapon behind her prepared to cut forward. "Some no mai! Tsukishiro!" she yelled as she swept her blade, a pillar of ice rising all around her. Feeling the other spiritual pressure, locked in the ice, she looked over her shoulder to see the black man's fist embedded in the wall of ice, his stoic expression showing his annoyance of the situation as he tried to pull his hand free.

Zommari tsked as he raised his other hand up quickly. "Bala." He intoned as a small yellow light appeared in his hand; on the other side of the sheet of ice, his enemy's eyes widened when she saw what he was going to do.

Thrusting his hand forward, Rukia flash stepped away escaping the blast and falling ice. Taking a moment to inspect his hand, the Espada rotated it a few times before breathing on it, trying to warm it back up. "Clever little trap reaper." He said quietly, eyes darting towards the left where the girl was resting on one knee, her other hand touching the ground lightly. As he turned to her, the hollow sneered, "But if these little ice tricks are the full extent of your abilities, then this battle is already over."

Rukia smirked confidently as she got up, blade at the ready. "It was enough to get you, Hollow." She then gripped her blade harder as the smiled died away, "In war the slightest mistake can mean your life, don't be so full of yourself."

Rureaux smirked at that, finding it almost funny. "You only got me because you used one of your trump card abilities, I have not." The man then pulled out his sword, while the girl tensed expectant of his ressurreccion. The man closed his eyes. "Let me see how fast you are."

Those words and the sound of a footstep were all the warning the noblewoman received before she was forced to block a sword strike directly in front of her. But the real kicker was, Zommari hadn't moved a step, instead it was another version of him pressing his blade against her.

However, before she could shove the enemy of her, the Espada disappeared along with the weight against her weapon, the only enemy left was the one standing a few feet away blade held up as he pressed his forehead against it.

Fsssh.

"Shit!" Rukia heard the wound of sonido as threw herself out of the way as another Zommari that appeared behind her tried to run her through. Just as soon as the attack finished, once again the Zommari was gone. Looking around her surrounding, Rukia was trying to keep a cool head. 'What the hell is going on? How is he doing this!?' her eyes shot over the man. 'I sense him over there, but…' looking back over her shoulder, she continued. 'I sense him over there, and to my left and right too. It's like he's everywhere.'

Feeling another crackle of spiritual energy, Rukia looked to her right and thrusted forward, piercing through the chest of Zommari that tried to attack her. Blood shot out of the back to her satisfaction. 'Got him!' she thought to herself, however her triumph soon gave way to horror as the man on her blade disappeared once again.

"Very impressive." The voice of Zommari complimented from the same damn spot Rukia knew he was at.

"No…way…" she mouthed as she glanced behind her, the man's clothing, the spot she pierced, the blood on her blade telling her it was a hit! Nothing…he was completely untouched.

"What's wrong?" he questioned when he saw her looking at him so strangely. "I was merely giving you praise for successfully hitting my Gemelos Sonido."

"Gemelos Sonido?" Rukia asked, knowing nothing about this advanced flash step ability.

"Si, my Gemelos Sonido allows me to create a tangible afterimage, which is what you attacked." The man brought his free hand to his chest. "You attacked my after image here," he then touched the blade of his sword. "Blocked my strike here." And then finally pointed a few feet away from where Rukia stood. "And dodged my attack there." The man lowered his hand back to his side, while his sword was raised horizontally to his body, daring her to move. "However, those were merely after the fact attack." He smiled darkly. "How can you presume to have hurt me, when I have been standing here and merely sonidoing to each particular spot to strike you, before returning?"

"So is that your little magic trick?" she fired back at him, her tone bitingly cold.

"My trick is not over. You see, I am going just barely faster than normal. Do you know how fast I can really go?" the man asked before disappearing in a burst of speed, reappearing a moment later with five images, completely encircle her position. "I can create five, Rukia." They all said at once.

Swinging her sword she cut through the first three in front of her, although considering the way they backed away in a strange haze she was sure that they weren't there. Rukia was about to back around to continue her desperate struggle when her body rattled and pain flared up throughout her being. A scream escaped her lips as she felt her sword arm fly uselessly off her body, the blood squeezing out of the writhing limb. Her throat was silenced as blood shot up her throat, when she felt two steely cold blade sticking through her torso and abdomen.

The perpetrators, two Zommari standing in front of her, their blades buried and coming out of the otherside of her. "Ahh, ukk…" Rukia spilled as blood crept out of her wounds and mouth. Closing her eyes she tried to pry one of the blades out with her free hand, but before she could bother, both clones disappeared replaced by another swords running from her back to her front, severing her spine.

"Did you really think you had a chance?" Zommari whispered into her ear from behind her.

"Kai…en…bro…" she mouthed before she slumped her head, dead.

"Praying to your god before you died? Foolishness." The man snarled as he shoved the woman's filthy body off his weapon. The corpse collapsing in front of him. He quirked a brow at the body, before he used his Gemelos Sonido, encircling her body again with his clones. "Finish it." He ordered them as he walked over to the severed arm that was clinging unto the beautiful weapon the girl had.

As his faux-clones began driving and pulling out their swords out the reaper's body in a mad frenzied bloodlust, Rureaux pulled the woman's Zanpaktou from her severed arm, examining it fondly since she wouldn't need it where she was going. The hilt was cold to the touch, but it was a slight chill rather than a biting freeze, and it's design, from the pristine white blade to the ribbon that extended from the pommel, was alluring to the eye. He was willing to liken it to a blooming flower that endured even the harshness of winter. "Exquisite." He whispered about his new trophy. "I believe you were called Shirayuki? A name given to you by your ex-master." The man smirked, just like the girl it must be dominated and placed under his control. "In that case, I will rename you…how about." His eyes looked back at the broken stabbed corpse, laying in a large pool of it's own blood. "Rukia."

The man started to chuckle at that. It had seemed that he had indeed been able to live up to his promise to the reaper and not only did he teach her love, he also got her body and soul to be used for Aizen's cause. Today was a good day.

Before he could sheath his sword and go about his merry way, he heard the screaming of his afterimages, before they disappeared in a flurry of blood. Looking behind him to see if that the woman was actually alive somehow, he saw the corpse still there but surrounded by pink floral petals the likes of which the ninth Espada had never seen.

The sakuras seemed to glide through the air in an unearthly way, it hung in the air before returning back down into the shadows straight ahead of him. Looking straight ahead, he saw a figure emerging through the pink and black haze. It was a rather youthful looking man with silky black hair and a cold steely eyed expression, that held just a hint of something colder in his eyes. Around the man's black cloaked shoulders was a white coat.

Seeing the man, Zommari had to admit he felt an intense attraction to this man. The very air about him commanded his attention and refused to let him look away, his entrance was…mesmerizing. "Outstanding." The Espada whispered reverently. "Truly an entrance worthy of your position."

Glancing at the man's stoic expression, he saw that he gave some small regard to the corpse between them and then back to the sword in the Espada's hand. Rureaux's smile grew; it seemed he wasn't the only one to get another's attention. "Are you perhaps a captain, sir?"

"Yes." Came the reply, sounding more like a growl then a cordial response. Before Zommari could sit on it further, the captain solidified what he was thinking. "Tell me, were you the one that killed that Shinigami?" he asked, pointing his bladeless sword at the slaughtered woman.

The Espada scoffed since he was obviously asking a question he already knew the answer to, still he'd humor him. "Si." He replied confidently, his eyes drifting to the body. "I taught her about amor, but her body couldn't handle it." He then lifted his hand that was holding up his 'rukia' sword. "She gave me her weapon and allowed me to name it after her as proof that she understood my teachings in her final moments." He replied with a cruel smirk on his face, eyes watching the captain's gaze flinch from an internal pain.

"I see." The man replied with a scowl on his face, his air of indifference falling away as he barred his teeth. "Allow me to introduce myself:" The man's spiritual energy flared out, pressing heavily against the Espada, forcing him to bend his knee ever so slightly. "I am Byakuya Kuchiki, brother of Rukia Kuchiki."

Zommari barely heard the man's words as he tried to concentrate on getting air into his lungs, the area seemingly devoid of oxygen due to the man's suffocating spiritual energy. Steadying himself, the man ignored the cold sweat rolling down the back of his neck. 'Such…power.' He thought to himself, before shaking his head. 'No if he's related to her then it's just a showing. He can't be that much stronger.' He rationalized to himself. "Forgive me. I was at a momentary pause." He tried to play off, which seemed to annoy the Shinigami further. "Of what division do you captain? The same one as that child?" the man forced himself to laugh. "If so, then I don't think I'll have any more of a work out then be-"

The man's words died in his throat as the captain slowly began to slide off the Haori from his shoulders, one arm at a time. When the jacket was off, he held it forward with his left hand, the back exposed showing a strange symbol.

It took a moment for the significance to occur to the Espada but when it did the man took half a step back, his mind reeling. "S-six…seis!?" when he received a cold nod, the man in white held his sword out before him, levitating it in midair, he then slammed his hands together to activate his ressurreccion. "Suppress, Brujeria."

Byakuya watched as the sword bent at an odd angle once, then twice, before releasing a smokescreen around his soon to be victim's body. Preparing himself, he dropped his coat without regard and held out the hilt of his sword, the sakura petals returning and reforging the blade.

"You taught Rukia about 'amor (love)' Hollow." He then pointed his sword down. "Allow me to show you 'odio (hatred)'." The man then dropped his sword, "Bankai."

As the newly resurrected Hollow appeared from behind the smokescreen, eyes all around it's body which now resembled a strange pumpkin creature. Zommari saw two never-ending columns of blades rise up past him ominously. As he eyed the swords cautiously, Byakuya spoke up, his voice dark and menacing. "You have many eyes…I can't wait to puncture them with my sword."

And just like that all the blades turned pink before erupting into a shower of petals all around him. Zommari was practically cowering in fear as his head swiveled to and fro trying to see where an attack would come from, when nothing happened after a few seconds, he looked at the captain who was smiling, finding obvious joy in his torment. "Afraid are you?" he asked rhetorically, before shaking his head disgustedly. "Pathetic. If I wanted to kill you like this, I would have done so."

The man raised his hand up before thrusting it to his left, in response the petal soared up and disappeared, replaced slowly by an a large encircling columns of swords hanging in the air. "I want you to burn this image into your head, Hollow." The man spat hatefully, cursing the man to his death. "You are the third person to witness this, but the first to be killed by it."

Seeing that no quarter was to be given, Zommari focused one of his eyes on the captain's head and shot out his amor to gain control of his body. The beam was intercepted by one of the swords that flew from one of the columns, independent of the motionless man.

Still to his relief, the sun shaped tattoo appeared on the glowing pink sword, though the captain seemed to also be able to see the symbol from his edge. "You cut off my ability to control it didn't you?" the captain asked having felt his connection to the weapon sever suddenly. As Zommari's eyes widened in response to his words, the noblemen knew he hit his mark. "That won't work on me."

With the wave of his hand, the sword broke apart into individual sakura petals before reforming again into a sword pointed directly at the espada's chest, the sovereign tattoo no longer upon the weapon. With a quick cut of his hand, the sword flew forward as Zommari braced himself unable to move to avoid it. The strike came closer until it dived down at the last second. A cry of pain escaped number nine's lips as the eye was ran through the by the sword, the burning feeling of blood and sting of pain, flaring all along his nervous system.

"It seem those eyes give you some form of ability doesn't it." Byakuya stated coolly as he started to walk forward, the blades encircling the two of them slowly moving, positioning themselves at various angles to impale him. "I'll pluck them out one by one."

Then with another wave of his hand, the pink swords flew towards the multiple wide-open eyes, seeking to join it's fellow sword in killing the enemy.

Reacting on instinct, Zommari quickly dived down into his large circular underbody, through a strange fleshy hatch. Once he did so, the bottom half morphed from it's strange semi-circle appearance became a protective dome, encasing him. The eyes that were to be targeted faded away replaced by an orange pink skin with bone design.

Byakuya watched as the attack perforated him from all angles and a muffled but definitive scream of pain rang in his ears. The captain's eyebrow twitched in annoyance, not at all satisfied. "Your lesson in hate isn't over yet Hollow." The captain muttered darkly as he recalled the petal back to his side. He knew exactly what to do now with this cowardly little bastard.

Inside his protective shell, Zommari was clutching his chest as he spat up more blood from his mouth. He was covering one of the eye on his head with his hand the feeling of blinding pain transferred over to his real eyes, although thankfully, it still retained it's ability to function. 'So this is a captain.' He thought to himself grimly. "Entering this form was a mistake, I cannot evade him or defend myself. I need to fall back for now."

Spitting some more blood out of his mouth, he was about to exit out of hid protective dome, when he felt the captain's spiritual energy spike through the roof again. There was no more time to plan, he needed to get out of here. Blowing away the upper half of his embryo technique, Zommari found himself free of all the swords, both those impaling his body and the ones hanging in the air. Instead what stood in there place was the captain standing in front of him with a pair of white wings and halo forming around his body, a long white beam of energy sticking out of his hand. "Shukei Hakuteiken (Endscape: White Emperor Sword)." He called out as he charged forward blade at the ready.

The white forged wings flapped forward increasing his momentum towards the stunned Zommari. As the white sword touched the Hollow's skin, an unholy cry rang throughout the halls of the ninth espada's layer followed by an eerie silence.

Kneeling down, covered in the blood of the Hollow, Byakuya Kuchiki released his technique as he glanced over his shoulder back at the enemy. What had once been what amounted to an organic tank was less then that. The entire middle had been cut away by his emperor sword, just two hunk of pink circular flesh remained to the left and right, the blood still pumping, arteries and veins flailing around cut away from their natural connections. Bones? There were none left.

Sheathing his sword, Byakuya noted that just below the monster's corpse was a door, turning away the captain let the gateway to hell do his work for him, as he walked over to the body of his adoptive sister.

Once he was right next to her, the infallible leader kneeled down and stretched his hand out to touch her. His hand was just inches away when he stopped. He glanced at his blood stained hands, before wiping them against the ground.

He wasn't going to let the taint of that Hollow or any other Hollow desecrate her corpse. Once he was done, the man slung his hand underneath her leg and back and pulled her up. She was…a mess to say the least.

Her eyes were still open. Her body was pierced at multiple angles, bones broken, blood coming every wound imaginable, her skin long cooled. The man's heart sank as he pressed the armless side of the girl against his chest. "Don't worry Rukia." He muttered to himself, his stoic tone returning once again, although… "I'll make sure you receive a proper burial." The man turned around ignoring the obvious battle induced sweat that was dripping from his eyes, as he turned in the direction of the central building, the place he needed to go. "And I'll kill every last Hollow I find." He promised as he marched off into the darkness, the sakura petals of his Bankai following behind the man, on his hate-filled quest.

(Ichigo and Chad)

"Seriously, how do you not get lost here?" Ichigo asked the bronze-skinned youth for umpteenth time since he and the two girl separated.

"I would assume it's the same with the Seireitei." He responded back. "Sosuke informed us it was quite a labyrinth and modeled this place after it."

The Shinigami sighed tiredly, "Yeah, but we have the sky to navigate. Ughh. Just-just forget it never mind."

"If you say so." The local replied ever solemnly, causing the other youth to sigh again.

"You…are a tough guy to hold a conversation with."

"Really? Hmmm…I get that a lot actually." He said as he looked at the smaller man. "But I like listening to others talk. You learn a lot that way."

"That's true." Ichigo said with a small tilt of his head, "By the way what happened after I let you go that one time? What was going on with your grandfather and stuff?"

"Why do you ask?" the man said more than a little wary about the sudden personal turn in conversation. Ichigo could understand it.

"I've never really had a 'father figure' in my life. But…I do know that my dad cared about my sister."

Seeing the sad look in his eyes and taking it as a sign of sincerity, Chad continued. "He was worried about me especially after I told him I was involved with reapers. Despite past misgivings Barragan sent Screamer to find someone or something according to Aizen's plan, I wasn't aware of this at the time, although when I told him what Screamer was really doing, he thanked me for putting down that mad dog."

Ichigo put his hands on his hip, a sardonic smile on his face. "Aaaand I'm still ass out of gratitude. Hows that for appreciation." He sighed to himself

Surprisingly, Yasotora responded to that. "I appreciate you for what you did."

"Thanks chad." He answered with a smile as he looked ahead. "So how much further is it? I'm almost afraid to dawdle while everyone else is fighting."

"It's right here." Chad said as the turned down another corner and came to a long Hallway that had some kind of light coming from the end of it. Walking down to the other side, Ichigo looked up and saw a bright blue sky and the sun shining over the smooth desert sand. Scouring the area were large towers sticking out of the ground, but in the distance he could see his target. "Welcome to the innermost garden, Ichigo."

"Innermost garden?" he questioned, "Why call it that? And why is the sun up? We couldn't have been here for more than an hour."

"Be at peace, I will explain." Chad said as he pointed his hand to the sky above them. "That is actually a specially made refractive mirror designed to look like the sun and provide light to the residence who live here." The man then kneeled down and patted the earth. "This area has been turned into it's battle formation setting. The houses that should be here, creating the city of las noches, are taken to a special underground facility and the area is filled with sand to protect it and allow us to fight without destroying our homes."

"Damn. Now I feel bad." Ichigo muttered to himself, the gravity that he was invading and killing the citizens defending their home falling on his shoulders. It was made slightly worse by the fact that this place was like the reverse Seireitei. The Rukongai citizens that had to fend for themselves, were instead held within the protective walls of las noches. "We better learn from this."

"Learn from what?" Chad asked confused by what he just said aloud.

"N-nothing." He shook off as he pointed straight ahead, "Is that the place?"

"Si. That is where the Primera Espada resides, beside the portal that the other half of our forces went through to go to the human world."

'Well, at least I can leave immediately once that obstacles is out of the way.' He thought to himself, glad that he wouldn't have to wait around for Kisuke to re-establish the connection for safe travel back home or to the other battlefield.

As he was a bit lost in thought, Ichigo noticed a strange spiritual energy coming from the direction in front of him. It was a bit warped and odd…but familiar. He have to deal with it before he could move to the building itself apparently.

Taking a step forward, he was surprised to see that the big guy didn't move. "What's wrong?" he asked his guide who had a fierce look in his eye.

The man turned around and looked over his shoulder, to which Ichigo now saw someone else stepping out of the shadows. It was a woman wearing a white full body outfit, with a single black line going from her collar over one of her extremely large chest. Her green hair was quite long and capped by a skull shaped ram helmet, running over her cheeks and nose was a red rectangular like war-paint.

Her posture was full of poise, even as she stepped out of the shadows and into the sunlight where they'd fight. Looking up at the sky above, she smiled softly before looking back at the top of them, her expression solemn and fierce. "Bienvenido al jardín interior, Shinigami."

"Guard captain and quinta Espada: Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck." Yasotora greeted cautiously, as he stood in between the captain of the police force and the one who personified the will of war.

"Hola Septimo Espada Yasotora-sama. While I trust you are in good health, I fear you might have taken leave of your wits by helping this intruder."

"Ever courteous." He replied as he looked around the area. "Where are your fraccion? Dondochakka and Pesche are almost always at your side."

A sad look flickered across her eyes as she stared at the ground. "Dondochakka and Pesche are down below guarding the city beneath the sand, while Tesla and Nnortia are elsewhere in the inner garden engaging the Shinigami's forces." She then took a step forward, her resolve hardening up as she put her hand on her sword's hilt. "Now what of you? You have been a staunch believer in our cause and advocate for peace, why have you thrown it all away to help our enemy?" her eyes narrowed on the unflinching man. "Depending on your answer I may have to take your life."

Understanding the threat Ichigo took a step forward hand on his Zangetsu, but before he could Sado, held an arm out blocking his way. Looking at the former Espada, he saw the man shake his head. "Go. This is my problem. I knew that I would have to deal with it eventually."

Chad saw his eyes flicker from her back to the seven tattoo on his back. "You have your own mission, you must understand."

That seemed to do it as Ichigo took a step back; a wary expression on his face. "Alright, but be careful." Skipping back half a step, the Shinigami turned around and ran off into the distance.

With the Shinigami now gone, the muscular youth turned his attention back to the jade captain. "Sorry to keep you waiting." He apologized, which she accepted though it did little to assuage her will to fight. "You asked me why I have turned my sword against you. My answer is that I have not. I am validating the justness of our cause by using that reaper."

"Justicia de nuestra causa? You are speaking in riddles. Some of us were thrown in this existence in the first place by those Soul Reapers, what is wrong with us trying to return back to the existence we once held. If that is your excuse, then that is unforgivable!"

"Should that come at the lives of others? Lives just like yours that will be thrown into a position which they can never get out of?"

"This all started by the Shini-"

"This all started not by the reapers, but by the spirit king." He interrupted

The woman nodded in agreement, glad to see he wasn't totally lost. "Si! Es pore so eso que necesito-"

"Para probar la justice de nuestra causa, Nelliel!" he shouted back as he thrusted his arm back behind him. "That man is the only reaper that I place my trust in and he is the one I place on the scales. Should he succeed then he is proof that we are wrong Nelliel! That our plan to sacrifice other to change things IS wrong."

"And in the other scenario? Should he lose?"

"If he should fail then we are in the right. Thusly we may continue on our march to the spirit king." He calmly stated his fatalistic point of view on the situation.

The woman shook her head disgusted with the man. "I can't believe you Sado-sama! If you wish to gamble with your life and dreams then that is your business, but the moment you start gambling with the hopes and dreams of everyone else in las noches on something you can't possibly know, then as the guardian of the police force, it become my duty to defend against it."

Yasotora sighed, it seemed he would not be able to get her to back down, still he would at least point out her one flaw. "Perhaps I am gambling with everyone's hopes and dreams." He admitted while the jade guard captain eased her posture. "However that is not so different then what Sosuke Aizen and we Hollows are doing now. We are placing everything on the table in this battle and yet we could not know whether we are doing the right thing. We can only trust in Sosuke…"

"That's…" the woman fell silent at that. She tilted her head downward, eyes facing the sand before shaking her head. "Entiendo, Yasotora." She muttered as she pulled out her sword and pointed it at him, eyes facing forward challengingly. "Irreconcilable: that is where we are at. I do not wish to fight you and would ask that you move out of the way, out of respect both for your position as an Espada and friend."

The man brought up his fists and clenched them tight for the rough battle ahead. "But as your friend you know I cannot do that. I always repay my debts and stand by my decisions."

Nel frowned, "And that's what I hate about you the most."

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End fic banter:

Rukia: Lord brother, please stop!

Byakuya (chocking Blackout2010): I will. Right after he expires for what happened.

Blackout2010 (tapping out): Uncle! Uncccccle!

Rukia: Brother, please stop! He…ahh…it was a stunt double!

Byakuya (drops blackout): Really? So then…you are alright?

Rukia: Of course, besides it was only my character that was killed not me.

Blackout2010 (gasping for air): Rukia! Your brother's a fucking psychopath!

Byakuya (irritated): What did you call me?

Blackout2010: [points away] Look it's Zommari.

Zommari (sweat drop): Oh dear.

Byakuya (smiles dissonantly): Zommari! My friend, I wanted to have a word with you…in private.

Blackout2010: [clasps hands together] Thank-you for your noble sacrifice.

Rudbornn: While you're waiting for your next chapter to come out, why not come on down to 'The Bad Joke Comedy club'™ for a good laugh before making summer reservation at the 'Sand and sun beach casino, waterpark and resort'™. We have beautiful half naked male and female Arrancar here, what's not to love? See ya soon!

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Author's apology:

Hey ya'll Blackout2010 serving up another round of apology. This time for the lack of quality for these next few chapters. The reason for this is burn out related to fighting. Fighting really isn't my forte especially for something that's a visual medium, so I apologize if the fight's aren't that great because well…there's only fighting which gets hard to write after a while. Unlike the SS arc which was spanned over several days this was all done in one, so I also apologize for that, especially if it made things difficult to follow. Lots of simultaneous events going on is a difficult issue. Again, I thank-you for your patience with a newbie like me and I hope the story continues to entertain you. Till next chapter, Blackout2010 out!

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Guidepost of the soul:

1. vis pacem, para bellum: Is latin translates into 'if you want peace prepare for war'.

2. I wanted to make a bit of a point to show that even faceless mooks (Shinigami, Hollow whatever) actually have importance and sentience within the story, even if their ultimate fate is cannon fodder. Ever Soldier has a name and a family after all, they aren't numbers to simply be calculate on a KIA report.