//------------------------------//
// Arrancar: Reinforcements Arrive 
// Story: Bleach: Heart of a Hero 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

The following four days since Ulquiorra and Yammy invaded the World of the Living, and retreated when Sombra showed that he was barely trying and could beat the daylights out of one of their number, Sombra discovered that Ichigo was much more quiet than normal and didn't want to even become a Shinigami when nighttime came around, leaving it to Sombra to deal with every Hollow that arrived after that point. What Sombra guessed, after thinking about it for a few hours, was that Ichigo was both depressed over the fact that his inner Hollow was rising more and more often, to try and take him over to do whatever he wanted, and annoyed at his own powerlessness to defend his town, as he was forced to constantly rely on Sombra to clean up the people that were more powerful than him. He thought that Ichigo would have been happy that he prevented Orihime from hurting herself in a pointless battle with the two Arrancar that had invaded the town, even though Chad didn't take the hint and got hurt in the process, but all Ichigo did was sulk over the fact that he couldn't do what Sombra did and was slow to figure out where their enemies were located, without feeling where his reiatsu was coming from when he found his targets.

Of course, once Ichigo was returned to his body and sent home to rest after the Arrancar left, Sombra did what he said he would do and told both Yoruichi and Urahara what he had discovered about their enemies, the abilities that he had been told about, and found that they were sort of familiar with some of them, but for the most part this was all new information that could give them a fighting edge. Soul Society, since they weren't listening to anything that Urahara might tell them, as they still considered him and the others as renegades, wouldn't be told any of this until some of the Shinigami came to assist them, as they had to know that the Arrancar had invaded. Sombra wasn't sure who they were sending, and he hoped that Rukia was one of them so she could snap some sense into Ichigo, but he kept his eyes, ears, and senses open since the moment Ulquiorra and Yammy left the town behind, giving them some time to rest and relax until they could gather together and form a real plan of action in case another attack came at them. Knowing Aizen, even if he didn't know all that much about the former Captain, told him they might be in for another assault and he wanted to be prepared for when more enemies arrived, something that both Yoruichi and Urahara agreed with when he told them what he was thinking about.

Orihime and Sora, having managed to avoid taking any damage thanks to Sombra's quick reaction time, were able to move chad back to the apartment that he lived in, where Orihime insisted that she would make sure that his arm was at one hundred percent before he started training. Sombra found that, after being defeated in one attack, which resulted in the near destruction of his right hand, Chad declared that he needed to get stronger for when the Arrancar came to attack them again, showing him that the muscular man knew the danger that Aizen's forces posed to them and that he wanted to protect the town as well. While that was happening Ichigo became horrible to be around, which was quite the opposite of what Sombra was used to, and he wasn't the only one that had noticed the change in his friend's personality, as those he went to school with seemed to have sensed the change as well, and that included his ordinary friends. They all knew that something was wrong with Ichigo, even though he didn't want to open up and tell them what was going on, but, at the same time, Sombra knew that he'd have to come to a decision regarding what to do about his inner Hollow... which was why one of the things that Sombra asked Urahara was where the Visored had built their base of operations, as he had the feeling that they'd need their help to combat Ichigo's problems.

On one of the following days, the second day since Ulquiorra and Yammy's attack to be exact, Sombra headed out to the area of Karakura Town that Urahara had told him about and found the warehouse that some traces of reiatsu, eight different ones to be exact, were coming from, ones that felt like a combination of Shinigami and Hollow. He didn't go into the warehouse, as he only wanted to know where the Visored were located for the future, in case Ichigo didn't improve and continued to despair because of his inner Hollow, though once he had the area firmly planed in his mind he departed from the area and went back to dealing with the other Hollows that occasionally entered the town. That was, of course, when he'd find Yoruichi flash into the area near him and smile as they went out into Karakura Town, allowing the two of them some time together while they dealt with the other enemies that were seeking the souls of the dead that lingered all over the town, as well as sending a few of those newly found souls to Soul Society. Sombra was also grateful for the time that Yoruichi was willing to spend with him, as a 'date' between them consisted of a night on the town, either peacefully patrolling the town or going out of their way to take care of Hollows, and it appeared that, despite his earlier feelings towards the two of them, Urahara had accepted that they were a couple and sat back to watch the fireworks.

Sombra honestly wasn't sure what that expression was supposed to mean, and he had the feeling that it had to be the type that resulted from a failure, but if that was the case he was going to show his friend that he and Yoruichi could make this work, despite what the two of them had to do every day to make sure the town's guardians were ready for the next attack that was coming their way.





On the fourth day since Ulquiorra and Yammy's invasion, however, Sombra felt a disturbance that only came from the opening of a Senkai gate, the same one that Shinigami used when traveling between the World of the Living and Soul Society, telling him that reinforcements had arrived at long last. Since the gate was opening at the moment, and it wasn't about to close, he quickly used his Pesquisa, now named thanks to the information that Ulquiorra had given him earlier, to figure out where the gate was opening and, once he found it, he flashed into the air and headed out to where it was located. What he found was that the gate opened near the river, not near the position where Ichigo had landed when they returned from Soul Society, to which he landed nearby and came to a stop as the gate actually opened, where he watched as the Shinigami assigned to help them finally walked out and revealed themselves to him. Sombra honestly wasn't surprised to find that both Rukia and Renji were present, given Rukia's knowledge of the town, and he was interested to find both Ikkaku and Yumichika follow them out of the gate, though he was pleased to find that Soul Society was taking this seriously, as Captain Hitsuguya and Lieutenant Matsumoto were the last ones to come out of the gate.

"Captain Hitsuguya, it's nice to see you again," Sombra spoke up, waiting until he was sure that these six Shinigami were the only ones coming to Karakura Town, as the gate closed the moment he and his Lieutenant came through it and joined the others, before he noticed that four of them, being three Lieutenants and one Captain, were using the limiter he had seen Byakuya use against him, before turning towards Rukia and Renji, "It's also nice to you guys again as well."

"It's nice to see you again as well, Sombra." Rukia replied, as she was happy that the first person to find them, when they came to Karakura Town, was the Arrancar that called the town home, even though there was something that they needed to do before they got down to why they were here, "Do you mind escorting us to Urahara's shop? He's supposed to have a few Soul Society certified gigai waiting for us, sent before our arrival once we were sure how many of us were actually coming on this mission, and the proper clothing for us to blend in with the rest of the students at the high school, even if most of us won't be attending many classes."

"Sure. That doesn't sound like a problem to me." Sombra said, because while he knew that Rukia could easily show the others the way to where Urahara's shop was located, since she had been there before, he also had the feeling that she wanted to show the others what he knew, before he turned around and readied himself, "Just follow me and I'll take you to where Urahara's shop is located."

Sombra flashed into the air and didn't have to turn around as the others followed after him, as he could feel their reiatsu following him, allowing him to focus on getting them to the alley that Urahara's shop rested in, who was likely expecting their arrival now that they had entered the World of the Living. It actually didn't take him long to show them to the shop they were looking for, causing most of them to smile with the fact that they were able to find it easily, and, as he suspected, Urahara opened the door and escorted them into the rooms that had been prepared so they could change into their gigai and the clothing that they had requested for their mission. As the six of them headed into the shop, so they could get ready to blend in with the rest of the Humans that were around the town, Sombra considered why Urahara hadn't told them that he had prepared six gigai for the Shinigami that had been coming to the town, but then he guessed that he had been rather busy in a sense, considering that Ichigo was having him fight all the Hollows while he moped about and was depressed because of his inner Hollow.

"So, how is Ichigo these days?" Rukia asked, to which Sombra glanced to the side and found that Rukia, having more experience than her companions in terms of the gigai, walked out of the shop in her normal schoolgirl attire, just like she had been before her brother and Renji had come to capture her.

"Depressing." Sombra replied, to which he sighed for a moment as he glanced up at the sky, because he knew that whatever he told Rukia was going to set her down a path to improve Ichigo's mood, "Ever since Ulquiorra and Yammy, the two Arrancar that came to Karakura Town a few days ago, showed up and hurt Chad, as killed a number of people, Ichigo has withdrawn and doesn't seem interested in anything at the moment. He froze in battle because his inner Hollow started to interrupt his battle with Yammy, though I think his moping is a combination of that and the fact that I'm much stronger than some of our enemies... though without him talking to me, I haven't been able to actually figure out the whole reason behind his depression."

"Strange that he's like this." Rukia said, as from what she knew, based on what she had been told, Ichigo hadn't cared about the fact that Sombra was stronger than him, rather he got annoyed when Sombra used a low amount of power and held back until it was time to show his hand, before she thought of something that might help him out when they figured out where he was, "I take it he's still at the high school?"

"Yes. At this moment in time, he's still at school." Sombra stated, as that was where Ichigo's reiatsu was coming from, since his friend was doing a terrible job of hiding where he was located, before he glanced at Rukia again, "When everyone is ready, and Urahara has confirmed that they're ready, I'll take you to where the high school is located and we'll see if we can't talk some sense into him."

Rukia nodded her understanding and together the two of them watched as Captain Hitsuguya and the others came out of the shop over the next few minutes, though while some of them seemed excited, or just not caring in some cases, the only one that seemed excited about the dress code that the high school had was Matsumoto, who apparently insisted on revealing too much of her chest in Sombra's opinion. Out of all of them Ikkaku was the only one that was trying to actually break the rules, as he was now carrying a wooden sword, like the type that Sombra had practiced with back in the early days of his training, and slipped it into the belt of his attire, while also refusing to give it up. Fortunately Tessai was more than willing to get them to the high school this once, as he actually offered to use the van and get them there, to which Sombra just followed along on the rooftops while the car made it's way to the building in question, giving the six Shinigami a chance to observe the town before they got to work. When they arrived at the school, which seemed to be in the middle of a break, Tessai opened the door and the Shinigami got out, to which five of them decided to follow Sombra into the building while Rukia looked for the open window that would take her right to Ichigo's classroom.

As he led the disguised Shinigami towards Ichigo's classroom, however, he noticed that the other students were staring at the group that was walking behind him, who were now complaining to each other over things he considered to be stupid or ridiculous, especially since Matsumoto was complaining about her shirt, when it was her fault that such a thing was happening in the first place... and they only quieted down when Sombra informed them that they were approaching Ichigo's classroom, which was when Renji stepped forward to open the door for himself and the others.

"Morning!" Renji said, though as Sombra stepped into the room, seconds before he and the others crowded the door he had opened, they found Ichigo cleaning off the board at the front of the classroom, though Ichigo's eyes widened for a moment as he noticed the group, especially when Renji raised his left hand and waved a little, "How ya been, Ichigo?"

"R... Renji?! Ikkaku! Yumichika! Matsumoto! Toshiro!" Ichigo stated, naming off the individuals that were currently in front of him, as he was surprised that they were here, in the World of the Living, and that no one had told him that they were expecting visitors to show up in his town.

"It's Captain Hitsuguya to you." Hitsuguya commented, to which an annoyed look appeared on his face, because he was used to people calling him by his rank, just like Sombra did when the group emerged from the Senkai gate earlier, and not by part of their name alone.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ichigo asked, because he wanted to know that piece of information, as this was likely going to change how Sombra did his work if there were five other Shinigami running the town for an unknown amount of time, though he was curious as to whether it was because of the Arrancar or for some other reason.

"Orders from above." Renji said, to which he took a step into the room and noticed that there were some students on the other side that were staring at them, but fortunately they weren't making all that much noise, so it wasn't like their secret was going to be exposed or anything, "We're to prepare for the coming battle with Aizen's Arrancar, by coming to the World of the Living and joining forces with both the Substitute Shinigami and the Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar that calls Karakura Town his home... or so we were told."

"Oh, right, Ulquiorra and Yammy," Ichigo replied, where he remembered the two Arrancar that had come to town a few days ago and recalled what they had done to the area of the town that they had landed in, along with all the lives that had been lost in the moments following their arrival.

"Come on, don't say their names like you're afraid of them!" a voice said, to which Sombra turned his head a little and found Rukia standing in the open window that had been on the opposite side of the room from where Renji and the others entered through, causing some of them to sigh as they witnessed what she was doing, and she only smiled as Ichigo turned to look at her, "It's been a while, hasn't it, Ichigo?"

Before Ichigo had a chance to respond Rukia jumped into the air and kicked Ichigo in the face, knocking him back into Renji's waiting hands so he could restrain him, which she followed with a few slaps to the face, then accused Ichigo of wearing a cowardly face, which she felt shouldn't belong on his face in the first place, before she raised her right hand, which had the red glove from before, and tore out the Shinigami version of Ichigo and dragged him out of the school building, leaving his soulless body behind as Sombra followed after them. He was sure that Renji would have something in mind for the body, nothing too threatening he hoped, though the sounds when he left the room indicated that Ikkaku was going to beat up some of the other students, who were currently poking fun at his bald head. A few moments later he caught up with Rukia, who had forced Ichigo to run while she sat on his back, though as he did that Rukia glanced over in his direction and asked where the nearest Hollow was located, as there was something she needed to do to get Ichigo's head back in the game. Sombra, however, already had the answer, because shortly after they arrived at the school his Pesquisa picked up a Hollow some distance away from the high school and he had been planning on taking it out after seeing what happened between Ichigo and the Shinigami, but this was a good idea as well and he led them to the location that the Hollow was messing with.

"So there was a Hollow here." Ichigo commented, as if he felt that Sombra was only playing around with him and was in on what the Shinigami were doing, which caused Sombra to sigh in annoyance for a moment, before he nodded his head to Rukia while Ichigo was distracted.

"That's right." Rukia said, though at the same time she readied herself and was grateful that Ichigo was still shocked by what they were doing, because if the old Ichigo, who wasn't a coward, were here he would have jumped over what was coming his way, "Go get him!"

Before Ichigo could do anything Rukia kicked him in the back and sent him flying to the ground below them, where he landed and rubbed the back of his head as the Hollow started to take notice of the fact that he was there, which was when the creature started it's attack and forced Ichigo to dodge, but that only happened once since the second attack consisted of three attacks that all hit Ichigo and knocked him into the air for a moment. Sombra brought his palm to his face for a few seconds, as it was annoying to think that Ichigo, who was a great fighter and could tangle with the likes of Byakuya for some time before needing assistance, was getting his rear handed to him by a mere Hollow, one that wasn't even a Gillian when he felt the power it had, and he could see that Rukia was annoyed as well. Rukia also voiced her annoyance as well, as both she and Sombra moved down to the lower level to get close to Ichigo without having to shout at him, as she made a mention that what Ichigo was doing couldn't even be called fighting and she even asked if he could handle a Hollow of this level, when he was too scared to pull Zangetsu from his back. Sombra watched as Ichigo jumped around the area a few times, dodging attacks and even stalling when he placed his hand on Zangetsu's handle, as his inner Hollow was happy to distract him for a moment, and all of this simply proved what Rukia was saying.

At the same time the Hollow continued to attack Ichigo, eventually forcing him to defend himself with the covered blade of Zangetsu, but all this told the duo was that he was still scared of what was happening, so much so that the emergence of his inner Hollow during Ulquiorra and Yammy's visit had given him a new level of fear... one that had pretty much crippled him to the point where he was afraid to do battle, even though there were souls at stake and he willingly chose to ignore them.

"I know what happened, Ichigo. That those two Arrancar showed up, something happened to you, and then you refused to transform into a Shinigami since their departure," Rukia commented, speaking to Ichigo while he was trying to hold of the Hollow that was attacking him, while at the same time reciting what she had been told while she and Sombra had been waiting for the others to emerge from Urahara's shop, "What are you so afraid of?! Sure, Chad was beaten, but that didn't stop you from tearing Zaraki down to get to me when you guys invaded Soul Society. Tell me, Ichigo, are you a man whose resolve is so easily broken? Are you afraid of defeat? Are you afraid of being unable to protect your friends and family? Or are you afraid of your inner Hollow? If you're afraid of defeat, then get stronger. If you're afraid that you can't protect your friends and family, then get stronger and swear that you'll protect them. If you're afraid of your inner Hollow, then keep getting stronger until you can crush it! Even if you believe in no one else, stand tall and shout it... because that's the type of man that I know you are!"

Sombra smiled at what came next, as the fire and determination returned to Ichigo's eyes, driving out the cowardly look that had invaded him when his inner Hollow emerged during the last fight he had been in, and that was followed by Ichigo's reiatsu rising as he undid the cloth that surrounded Zangetsu, before he cleaved the Hollow in half and purified it's soul, showing them that he hadn't lost his skills yet.

"I told you to be quiet, Rukia." Ichigo stated, as he knew he had said those words at some point while Rukia was talking, but she seemed to have ignored his statement and went on talking, which had driven home the reminder of who he was and what he stood for, which was what she had been aiming for.

"I know, but you needed the kick to remember who you were when you invaded Soul Society," Rukia replied, as the Ichigo of that time hadn't been afraid of what was happening to him and it was only the recent events that had caused the fear to rise in him, but now, thanks to what she did, it appeared that Ichigo was back to his old self, meaning that part of her job was already done.

"At least now you're back to normal," Sombra added, because that had been the most annoying thing for him, the fact that Ichigo hadn't been acting like the person he knew and that he was too afraid of what was happening, but now he was back to normal and that made him extremely happy, before he rubbed the back of his head, "Oh, and I'm sorry for telling Rukia about what happened to you. I figured that if you wouldn't listen to me, when I attempted to get you back to normal on my own, then maybe you'd listen to Rukia, which is why I armed her with all the information I could before they came to your high school."

"You know, normally I'd be upset over that, but right now I'm happy you did tell her what my problem was." Ichigo said, to which he rested a hand on Sombra's shoulder for a moment, the normal smile that he wore all the time having returned in full force, before he glanced back to Rukia, "Come on, let's get back to the high school and make sure the others haven't burned it to the ground... or tormented my classmates enough to warrant wiping their memories and hoping the new ones are better than what Ikkaku left them with."

When they returned to the high school they found that Captain Hitsuguya and the others had pretty much left the entire building, not that Sombra was surprised since their reiatsu had them heading in the direction of Ichigo's place and the area surrounding it, and they found Ichigo's body in the hallway, allowing him to insert his soul once more. Of course one of the things that Rukia also had Ichigo do was approach Orihime and apologize for what happened the day the two Arrancar showed up, as in forcing her and Chad to fight people that were stronger than them, even though Sombra could have taken Yammy all on his own, and then he promised that he'd get stronger to protect everyone. Orihime practically teared up when she noticed the fire and determination return to Ichigo's eyes, showing that the person they all knew had returned and intended to stay there, and Sora, who was lingering nearby, echoed Ichigo's words, as he wanted to get stronger and help protect everyone as well, something that made Orhime smile and declare that she'd do the same thing, even if her method of fighting was different than both Ichigo and Sora's methods. Sombra, on the other hand, let the smile remain on his face, as it appeared that Rukia returning had been just what Ichigo needed to shatter his fear and return to who he had been before Ulquiorra and Yammy, and his inner Hollow, showed up... and he said nothing as his friends went about the rest of the school day, where he learned that Rukia intended to stay the rest of the day before cementing what she was going to do in this world, before she was recalled back to Soul Society with the others.

Once the school day was over, however, the three of them made their way back to Ichigo's place and went to his room, where they found an excited Kon absolutely loving the return of Rukia, even if she knocked him into the floor when he tried to jump at her, and Ichigo had to drive off his father and Yuzu before they got any privacy.

"Okay, we know that Aizen has some Arrancar in his service," Ichigo commented, remembering what Ulquiorra had said multiple times while he was present, as he referred to Aizen as 'Lord' Aizen, before he glanced at Rukia, who was sitting on his bed, and Sombra, who was leaning against the wall near the door they entered through, "But what I don't understand if why they're after me and Sombra."

"Wait up... we'll explain everything to you." Renji said, to which the cover over the light in the ceiling opened and Sombra found Renji, Ikkaku, Yumichika, and Matsumoto hiding in the attic, only for the cover to drop and be cracked in half when Renji landed on it, while the others landed on the bed... though Matsumoto had to punch Kon and knock him out, much to the surprise of those around them, since most of them weren't expecting that to happen.

"Okay, I'll ask about my light later," Ichigo stated, showing that he was more concerned with the Arrancar that had come and invaded his town, as one of them had killed a number of people, including some of his classmates, and also wounded Chad to the point where he was confined to his apartment, "Why are the Arrancar after us?"

"As you know, an Arrancar is a Hollow that has removed their mask and gained the powers of a Shinigami," Renji said, though at the same time the rest of the group settled down and waited for him to get over with what they needed to tell Ichigo and Sombra, "Up until now, with the exclusion of both Sombra and Sora, there were only a few Arrancar and most of them were incomplete, save for the select few that our history teaches us about. But now, from what we can tell by the readings that we've gotten recently, complete Arrancar are being created due to the incomplete ones making contact with Aizen, through his use of the Hogyoku. At first Soul Society planned on quietly waiting, watching Aizen until he started to move, while we searched for anything that might be of use to figure out what his end goal is, but the Arrancar are achieving completed forms faster than what we originally anticipated. Once they were sent to the World of the Living, for whatever reason, we could no longer hang back and let them do what they wanted, and so we were chosen to come here and help you."

"And who selected you guys?" Sombra asked, because right now he was quite pleased with the selection of Shinigami that had come to help them, as they now had one Captain, three Lieutenants, and two powerful seated members of the Eleventh Division lending them their aid.

"Captain-Commander Yamamoto." Renji replied, which told both Ichigo and Sombra that the decision was not made lightly, since he was the current commander of both the Shinigami and the one who dealt with the law since Central 46 had been killed before Aizen revealed his hand to all of them, "He's the one making the big decisions lately, especially since Central 46 is still vacant. As such Rukia was chosen because she knows the two of you better than any Shinigami, along with her own abilities I might add. I'm the closest to Rukia out of all the available fighters, which is one of the reasons that I was chosen to go along. And then I was told to pick out some fighters that I could trust that were below the rank of Captain, so I asked Ikkaku to lend me his aid in this mission... which, in turn, lead to Yumichika insisting that he needed to join us on our mission. Matsumoto insisted on coming as well, when she heard the commotion that they were making, and even managed to get Captain Hitsuguya to come along and act as the leader for the mission, though don't ask me how we managed to convince the Captain-Commander to allow such a thing when I was told not to bring a Captain class fighter to the World of the Living."

"At any rate, Aizen as developed an interest in the both of you." Hitsuguya commented, to which the window that Ichigo generally leapt through when he was in his Shinigami form opened and the Captain took a seat right there, while at the same time ignoring Matsumoto's remarks about how he didn't hide in the light like everyone else, "Besides, if Aizen was going to go to war with Soul Society, he wouldn't come with an army of maskless Hollows, he'd be coming with something even greater than the Menos."

"Greater than the Menos?" Ichigo asked, as he had no idea what Hitsuguya was talking about, because his knowledge of Hollows was that there were the minor ones that he had been fighting, the large one that had fired a Cero at him, and whatever Sombra had been before his transformation into an Arrancar, "Are you implying that there's an even greater level than the Menos?"

"Yes, that is what Captain Hitsuguya is implying," Sombra commented, remembering what he had been told when he asked Yoruichi the question, though when he glanced at the Captain he found that a nod was being thrown his way, a silent way of telling him to go ahead, "Specifically there are three subdivisions among the Menos; the Gillians, the Adjuchas, and the Vasto Lorde. The Gillians are the lowest of the three, as well as being the most numerous of the three ranks, and, in Human terms, you would call them the foot soldiers, and the Menos Grande that we both fought, when Uryu was holding his competition, were both Gillians."

"You mean to tell me that what we fought was just a Gillian?" Ichigo inquired, though he must have been lucky to get an extremely weak one, since he was able to redirect it back to Hueco Mundo after reflecting the Cero blast, but that was before both Hitsuguya and Sombra nodded their heads.

"Indeed. Though they appear to be big, their movements are slow and their intelligence is that of a beast." Sombra said, finishing the statement that he had been making on the Gillians, which was him basically repeating what he had been told in a slightly different manner, since he had some additional pieces to add, "Based on what I've been told, and what I have seen, it wouldn't be difficult for someone of the Captain class to defeat one. The problem, however, starts with the second class, the Adjuchas. Hollows that belong to this class are smaller than their Gillian counterparts, while also being fewer in number, but they are highly intelligent and several times more powerful than the first class, which they also look after from what I've heard. And finally, there is the class that I belong to; the Vasto Lorde. This class is the greatest of the Menos, they also look the most Human out of all three classes, and there are even fewer of them than the other two classes that came before it... though I think the number of Vasto Lorde, in all of Hueco Mundo, can be counted on both of someone's hands."

"Here's a way to think about their power," Hitsuguya stated, to which he turned his full attention to Ichigo, who was starting to understand just how worried Soul Society was in cause things got out of hand, "A Vasto Lorde's combat abilities are even greater than a Captain's... and there's no telling how powerful one of them can become if they are reborn using the power of the Hogyoku. If Aizen is able to bring the other nine Vasto Lorde under his rule, and transform them all into Arrancar, then I don't think even Sombra, with as powerful as you have become, will be able to fend them all off... and that would also spell the end of Soul Society as we know it."

"You sure about that?" Ichigo asked, because it sounded like Hitsuguya was saying that it was pointless for them to even try, if Aizen managed to find the other Vasto Lorde that were hanging around Hueco Mundo, before he pointed his thumb towards Sombra, "I mean, we have the strongest member of the third class on our side... don't you think he should be able to take the other nine on all by himself?"

"Ichigo, while I want to share your trust in Sombra's abilities, we don't know where on the power scale of the Vasto Lorde he rests," Ikkaku commented, to which he glanced over at the Arrancar that was still leaning against the wall, who didn't seem to care what his opinions on the matter were, "For all we know he could be the weakest of the Vasto Lorde, or maybe he really is the strongest and we're worrying over nothing... but we just don't know that information."

"Still, I'd rather believe that Aizen has nothing on us, save the Hogyoku." Ichigo replied, because after seeing what his friend was able to do to Yammy, before he interrupted the fight and severed his target's arm, he knew that Sombra had to be one of the stronger Vasto Lorde, "But, regardless of our personal opinions on where Sombra rests, in terms of the ten Vasto Lorde, I'm happy to have you guys here, in Karakura Town, just in case more of them show up later. There's only one thing we need to go over before this meeting is over... where are all of you going to sleep? And, before any of you ask, there's not enough room in my house for everyone, even though I know Rukia is going to try and pull a fast one on my father and my sisters."

"Am I really that easy to read?" Rukia asked, as she had known that Ichigo would have figured out that they were staying in Karakura Town until they were either recalled to Soul Society or the battle with Aizen was over, but she wasn't expecting him to call her out in such a manner, especially since that had been her plan from the beginning.

"Don't worry, none of us were actually going to ask that of you." Hitsuguya remarked, though he couldn't fault Ichigo for thinking of something like that, not after what happened when Rukia first arrived in his life and pretty much forced herself into his closet, "Matsumoto and I are going to go look for an empty place for the two of us, maybe more if we can find a good enough place that won't think twice about a large number moving in, though both Ikkaku and Yumichika want to try their luck asking around town... and Renji is going to go ask Urahara if he can spend a few nights there before looking for a more permanent place to rest his feet."

Ichigo blinked for a few seconds, as he was honestly surprised that they had a decent plan of where they were going to stay, and soon enough, after having delivered the information to him, five of the Shinigami exited his house and went their separate ways for now, to which Ichigo and Rukia met them outside the house and waved them off. One thing that Sombra was interested in was what Matsumoto and Captain Hitsuguya were going to do, so when Ichigo and Rukia headed inside the house, to tell Isshin whatever story Rukia might have come up with for the occasion, he followed them in the air for a few minutes and found that they were heading to Orihime's place. Of course, like he suspected, Orihime seemed to be confused as to what was going on, as was Sora since the two Shinigami had caught them off guard, but eventually Matsumoto headed inside with Orihime and Sora joined Hitsuguya on the roof, so they could keep a watchful eye out for any and all enemies that might come to attack the town. Sombra, on the other hand, sighed and returned to his usual post above Ichigo's house, as he had the feeling that tonight something was going to happen and he wanted to be prepared for whatever arrived, even if it was more of Aizen's Arrancar, which he would gladly beat up if they decided to launch a second attack on the town.

All Sombra could do was wait and see what happened next, just like he had to do when he was working with Ichigo when his friend first gained his powers, while also hoping that no one got seriously hurt when whatever happened finally struck the town.





It was late evening in Karakura Town as a Garganta opened and Grimmjow, wearing his usual grin while also completely hiding his reiatsu, stepped out into the World of the Living and entered the agreed upon area that he and his followers would be gathering in when the sun went down. The plan was simple, all they were going to do was come to this world, find anyone and everyone that had even a hint of reiatsu, and slaughter them so that the rest of the Arrancar wouldn't have anything to fear from the town's guardians or their allies in Soul Society. Of course Lord Aizen could be displeased with the turn of events, given that he allowed Ulquiorra to decide the fate of Ichigo Kurosaki and his friend, the Arrancar called Sombra, but Grimmjow was certain that presenting their heads to their master would earn them some glory and recognition for their actions, negating whatever punishment their Lord might come up with. The problem was that they had to come in two separate groups, otherwise Commander Tosen or Commander Gin might notice that something was up and report them to Lord Aizen, though his followers were planning on opening their own Gargantas from five different points in Las Noches, meaning that if someone did sense what was going on they wouldn't be able to accurately track them for some time... unless that bastard Szayelaporro Granz ratted them out to Lord Aizen, which Grimmjow wouldn't put it past him considering his past.

As he stepped onto the building that was in front of him, where he'd rest for an hour or two before his followers made their own arrival, Grimmjow glanced down at the second blade that he was carrying in his right hand, the blade that belonged to Sombra, and knew that it was only a matter of time until he kicked his face in and showed Ulquiorra that he was wrong to think that such a creature was a threat to him and the other Arrancar.

After an hour and a half passed he, alone, felt the opening of one more Garganta, telling him that the others must have been lucky and decided to come together, before he opened his eyes and stared at his Fraccion, his servants as they were, as they stepped out of the Garganta. The first one he noticed was Shawlong Koufang, the leader of his Fraccion in case he wasn't around to boss around the others, as it was hard to miss his long face and his black braided hair that was hanging over his shoulder, along with the mask that covered the upper left of his face and had a spike that was pointed off in the right. The second member of his Fraccion was Edrad Liones, who was muscular like Yammy was, but where Yammy lacked brains Edrad had more than enough in that department, though half of his hair was long and red colored while the over half was saved off and colored black, and his mask fragment looked like unusual glasses that rested on his nose. After Edrad was Nakeem Grindina, a fat Arrancar who always took a hunched position for some odd reason, had a round face, dark brown hair in a bowl hairstyle, and his mask covered the right half of his face, though he was also one of the more silent members of the group. Yylfordt Granz, Szayelaporro Granz's older brother, had long blond hair and red eyes, while at the same time his mask resembled a broken helmet that rested on top of his head, though he was one of the more sarcastic Arrancar out there and was more effeminate than the others. The final member was Di Roy Rinker, whose mask also resembled a helmet that was in the shape of a hammerhead shark, according to Commander Gin, and the right eye was covered in cyan covered bandages, while his teeth were square and shark like, giving him a lisp.

These were his Fraccion, his most trusted followers that had been reborn from their original Hollow forms, and he knew that each of them were strong in their own right, though as they stepped out of the Garganta, which closed behind them, he finally stood up to face them.

"Is everyone here?" Grimmjow asked, because while he knew that they were all here, as he counted all five of them, he wanted to make sure that they were ready for what was coming next, since they had all come to kill everyone that he deemed to be a potential threat to their master, "No one saw you, right?"

"Of course not." Shawlong replied, though at the same time something came to mind as he said that, and he was sure that their true leader had felt them as well, before he decided to speak what he had felt, "I felt several strong reiatsu while we were coming here. That doesn't match up with Ulquiorra's report and the information he gave us."

"Of course Ulquiorra would screw up." Grimmjow growled, to which he sighed for a moment, as all six of them knew exactly what they needed to do in their situation, before he glanced at the assembled Arrancar that were gathered in front of him, "Start a full blown search!"

The six of them, following Grimmjow's lead, closed their eyes and focused their minds as they each activated their Pesquisa, searching for all of the reiatsu signatures that rested throughout the entire town, though as a few seconds ticked by Grimmjow felt some incredible signatures... and two of them were close together, where one was definitely a Shinigami and the other was an Arrancar, which had to be the one he was targeting.

"So I was right, they called for reinforcements from Soul Society because Ulquiorra didn't kill his targets." Grimmjow commented, as that was one of the reasons that they were here in the first place, because Ulquiorra didn't do the job that he had been assigned, and now he and his Fraccion had to clean up his mess, "Okay, here's what we're going to do: we're going to take over this city and kill everyone that has any reiatsu, regardless of how little reiatsu they have!"

"Which one are you going after?" Shawlong inquired, though at the same time, even as he asked the question, he had the feeling that he knew who their leader was going after, but he wanted to ask the question just in case Grimmjow had changed his mind.

"Do you even need to ask?" Grimmjow asked in return, to which he lifted the second blade that he was carrying, the one that he had gone out of his way to take from the unlocked pillar that it had been located in, before glancing in the direction that the reiatsu he had locked onto was coming from, "I'm going to find the Arrancar that this belongs to, force him to activate his Resurreccion, and then I'm going to destroy him and prove Ulquiorra wrong... and then I'm going to present his head to Aizen."

It was in that moment that the six of them separated from each other and headed in four different directions, as Grimmjow noticed that Shawlong and Nakeem were heading in one direction, Edrad was heading in the second direction, Yylfordt was going in a third direction, and Di Roy was actually heading in the same direction that he was... to which he decided to hang back for a moment so his underling could have a chance to battle before he arrived, as he'd be starting the battle the moment he reached his target.

Hitsuguya felt them moments after their reiatsu appeared on their radar, and he was sure that Sombra had felt them as well the moment they appeared in the area, though as Matsumoto jumped onto the roof behind him they watched as two Arrancar appeared not a few seconds later. One was hunched over and the other was standing tall, though at the same time both of them were stronger than what he was expecting to feel, which was a good thing that they had made sure to have the limiter remover on standby once they determined how strong their enemies were. At the same time he determined that the strongest member among their enemies was heading for Sombra, which was just fine since he was sure that Sombra would kill whoever was coming after him, but as he thought about that both he and Matsumoto drew their Zanpakuto and prepared for battle. It was a good thing they did that, as the moment that happened the Arrancar that stood tall flashed through the air and appeared to Hitsuguya's right, causing him to block for a moment, and Matsumoto dodged the incoming attack from the other Arrancar.

"Nice to meet you," Shawlong commented, as he felt his opponent's reiatsu and knew that he must have struck gold, while at the same time Nakeem had also scored someone worthy of a fight, before he focused on the Shinigami that was going to be his opponent, "I am Arrancar Eleven, Shawlong Koufang."

"I'm the Captain of the Tenth Division, Hitsuguya Toshiro." Hitsuguya replied, to which he forced his opponent's blade back a little and moved through the air, separating the two of them from Matsumoto and her opponent, before landing on an entirely different roof.

"Captain of the Tenth Division... my, my, how wonderful." Shawlong said, to which he landed opposite of Hitsuguya, as he was eager for the battle that was ahead of them, while at the same time slightly wondering who the opponents of his comrades were, especially since he was fighting a Captain, "It looks like I hit the jackpot."

"In a manner of speaking, you might be right." Hitsuguya stated, as he had a feeling that he knew why the Arrancar would think that he was lucky, even though the reality of the situation was that all of them, all six of them, were doomed the moment they were done seeing how strong they were, "But whoever went off in Sombra's direction, no matter how powerful they are, is completely screwed... just like you're about to be."

Hitsuguya knew that Sombra would be able to hold off whoever was heading his way, because unlike some of the others in their group he had faith in the Arrancar's abilities, though the smile that was on Shawlong's face revealed that his opponent was thinking the same thing about his ally... though he was going to have to wait and see what happened when Sombra started to fight when his opponent arrived.