//------------------------------//
// Hueco Mundo: Aizen's Trap 
// Story: Bleach: Heart of a Hero 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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Rukia was vaguely aware of what was happening in Las Noches, after she had bested Aaroniero with Sombra's timely arrival and had managed to survive what would have been a fatal blow, but at the same time she was also stubborn and didn't want the help of Sombra's Bankai to heal her, allowing her to lay on the ground. Technically she had the powerful Arrancar prop her up against one of the walls, so she could stare at Aaroniero's body before moving forward, but, as it turned out, her strength failed her and she collapsed on the floor when she attempted to leave the area she was in, and she didn't even bother getting up from that point. It was in that moment that she mentally cursed herself for being so stubborn, since Sombra was technically also the only one capable of healing those that were injured at the moment, and eventually tried to reach out for the Arrancar again, but her dulling senses told her that it would be some time before he even came back to check up on her. That was because she could feel other fights happening at the same time as her own, even a few occurring after her battle had ended, and based on what she was feeling she knew that the others were doing just fine, even if their friend came by to assist them when they called upon him.

What she wasn't expecting, however, was for the air to suddenly take on a sinister feeling that she had only felt a few times before, the same feeling that she had whenever Sombra was accessing his true power, and she knew, even in her state, that he was using his Resurreccion... and yet, while all that happened, she felt another presence appear in the chamber that she was in, one that felt like another Espada, though she lacked the strength to actually do anything to defend herself this time around.

"Aaroniero Arruruerie." the new Espada said, the voice revealing that it was a male that was standing near her position, and that he was currently staring at the fallen body of the Noveno Espada, and before long she was sure that she heard the sound of a Zanpakuto being drawn, "You were the last of the original Espada. You suffered a cruel death. And, just as expected, your attacks were weak. You were naive, as is everyone. She should be dead, but the only way to be absolutely certain is to cut off her head. Don't worry, Aaroniero, I'll clean up the mess that your carelessness created. It's a pity that I can't tell you my name, but that too is part of your destiny. Farewell, Shinigami."

Zommari raised his Zanpakuto, fulling intending to kill Rukia before she even had a chance to get up and fight back, but was stopped when he felt a new reiatsu appear in the chamber that they were in, to which he looked back and found another Shinigami standing behind him, one that seemed displeased about something.

"And who might you be?" Zommari asked, turning his body slightly so he could stare at the opponent that had come to the area that Aaroniero had once owned, and would likely be transformed into something different once a new Noveno Espada was chosen, "Going by your haori, I can see that you're a Captain. I am one of the Espada, the Septima Espada to be exact, Zommari Rureaux. Now tell me your name, intruder."

"I have no reason to give you my name." Byakuya replied, though his eyes were mostly focused on Rukia at the moment, even though he occasionally glanced at the Arrancar that was in front of him, one of the Espada as it turned out, so he could keep tabs on his target, as he planned on killing him in due time, "As far as your side is concerned, we are nothing more than enemies."

"I see." Zommari said, as he had actually been expecting his opponent to give up his name, just like all the invaders had given their names to the Arrancar and Espada they had fought, who had given them their own names first so they could understand the danger they were in, so this was definitely a surprise that he wasn't expecting.

"There is, however, something that I would like to ask you." Byakuya stated, to which Zommari silently admitted that his interest was peaked, as it was uncommon for an enemy to not hand over their name and then ask something of the foe that they would be fighting, before Byakuya beckoned to Rukia with a short turn of his head, "Are you the one who fought with her?"

"It was not I who fought her, but a different Espada that she defeated," Zommari replied, because that was the truth of the matter, that Rukia had been able to defeat Aaroniero, even if he was sure that Sombra's reiatsu lingered in the chamber around them, before falling to the ground in such a manner, "but I was about to finish her off."

"Really?" Byakuya commented, as it was a little odd that this Espada felt that he could come here and kill Rukia while she was injured, because if his experience told him anything he knew that, even if she was wounded, Rukia still had some fight left in her and could have wounded Zommari before his arrival.

"What's wrong? Aren't you going to attack me, intruder?" Zommari inquired, as standing around doing nothing was pointless, that much he knew from his meditations and studying the other Espada, and he knew that their fight would be over before it actually began, "Although I wouldn't permit it anyway, if you've come to save that Shinigami, your efforts are pointless. You should give up."

"I don't follow." Byakuya stated, causing Zommari's eyes to widen a little, clearly showing that he wasn't expecting such a response to what he was saying, though at the same time Byakuya had his guard at the ready, as the moment one of them decided to start the battle he'd draw his Zanpakuto immediately, "What do you mean it's 'pointless'?"

In the following moment Byakuya used his Shunpo to flash into the area immediately behind the Espada that was in front of him, with his hand on his Zanpakuto's handle so he could end this in a single swing, but before he could do so Zommari used his Sonido to do the same thing, as he flashed behind Byakuya, who glanced back at him... before drawing Senbonzakura from it's scabbard and blocked the incoming attack as he put some distance between them, and noticed that his foe had a clone of himself standing nearby.

"That's what I expect from a Captain." the two Zommari's said, showing Byakuya that when they spoke the technique was designed to make it harder for someone to determine where the real one was located, a useful thing to know about for the rest of the battle, and that was including the fact that he had no idea how many clones this ability made, "Your speed is excellent. And your reaction superb. But, you still languish at a Shinigami's level."

"What are you suggesting?" Byakuya inquired, though at the same time he was fortunate that his opponent liked to talk as much as he did, as there were openings he could use against him, though he was waiting for the best opportunity to arise before he did that.

"Gemelos Sonido, or Sound Twins." Zommari replied, his voice echoing from both versions of himself, though at the same time Byakuya felt that maybe his foe would be bragging about something, as it appeared that all Arrancar, save for Sombra, seemed to brag about something while they were fighting, before one of the Zommari vanished, "My Sonido is the fastest among the Espada. And by adding a few extra steps, I can create a clone of myself. Truthfully, it's akin to playing a magic trick. Magic tricks are meant to surprise the opponent, so please, don't be embarrassed if you couldn't follow what I did and were startled because of it."

"Is that so? Then I believe that you should be the one that is embarrassed." Byakuya stated, as he had to be right in his assumption that his foe liked to talk, because there was no reason to actually explain your techniques in the middle of a battle, as that just caused the person explaining their abilities to lose, "You should be ashamed of yourself for revealing your trick to me so soon."

Byakuya flashed forward and immediately cut a diagonal gash, going from the upper right shoulder down to the left hip, into Zommari's chest, though as that happened his opponent used his Gemelos Sonido to generate a clone where he had been standing and flashed into the area behind Byakuya. Fortunately Byakuya was expecting that to happen, as he turned around and cut the same gash into the second target that had appeared before him, though Zommari followed that up by producing a third clone that got behind him again, but as he started to say that it was a pity, however, Byakuya revealed that he had thought there might be more than two clones and fired a blue energy blast through his own haori, striking the Espada in the chest. It was Hado Number 4: Byakurai, and it seemed to do the trick, but it was in that moment that Zommari revealed his hand, that Gemelos Sonido could actually create a maximum of five clones as two more appeared around him, and while one grabbed onto Byakuya's chest the second one, the real Zommari, drove his Zanpakuto through Byakuya's chest and let the blade come out through the front of his haori.

"Farewell, nameless Captain." Zommari said, staring down at his opponent for a moment, who seemed a little shocked by what had happened, though he knew that Lord Aizen would be happy to hear that he had killed one of the Captains that the Espada were sworn to kill, "You lost because of the hubris that kept you from telling me your name."

Not even a second later, after he stopped talking, Byakuya surprised the Espada by flashing out of the area that he was in and appeared behind Zommari, while leaving his pierced Captain's haori where his opponent's blade was located, and, at the same time, the area he had been cut in wasn't cut at all, revealing a technique that Byakuya preferred not to use, especially because of who taught it to him.

"Way of Onmitsu, 3rd of the Shihō: Utsusemi." Byakuya stated, to which he opened his eyes and glanced at Zommari for a moment, as his opponent was curious about what had happened, since he seemed so sure that his attack had actually hit him, instead of what happened, "Also called Cast-Off Cicada Shell. I'd hope to avoid using techniques I learned from her. However, you are the arrogant one, Zommari. But fear not, you won't lose because of your arrogance. You'll lose purely because of the gap between our powers."

"Arrogant? Me?" Zommari inquired, though at the same time he swung his Zanpakuto and removed the haori that was impaled on it, because it appeared that his opponent's move was one of speed, one that allowed him to do the same thing that he had done, create a clone or afterimage to avoid being hurt, "What makes you say that? You may be my enemy, but you are also of the Captain class. I believe that we are on the same level, and I have been trying to behave as such. There is no arrogance in that."

"Arrancar," Byakuya said, though the fact that he used the general term of Arrancar, instead of calling his opponent by his name, caused Zommari's eyes to widen a little, showing that he might not have liked what he had done, "The fact that you consider yourself to be on the same level as myself is being arrogant in itself. I have suffered only one Arrancar saying anything like that, and that was Sombra."

"I can tell that it is in your nature to be appallingly arrogant." Zommari stated, his eyes returning to normal as he stared at his opponent, because there were many types of people, both Shinigami, Human, and Arrancar, in the various worlds and he knew the type that his foe was, to which he spread his legs into his release stance and readied himself for what he was going to do, "So be it. Then I am forced to humiliate you, until you relinquish that pride."

Byakuya watched as Zommari moved his right hand until his Zanpakuto was horizontal in front of him, where he removed his right fingers and let go of his blade, which levitated itself in front of him, before pulling his hand back and made sure that both of them were resting near his knees.

"Suppress," Zommari said, to which he clapped his hands together in front of his head, something that was followed by him twisting his head until it was perpendicular to the rest of his body, before his eyes widened as his reiatsu flared around them, "Brujeria."

The moment he uttered the name of his Zanpakuto, and finished the Release Call, Byakuya watched as the blade that his opponent wielded started to bend until it took the shape of an edged spiral, which was followed by a thick white smoke emitting from the corners of the spiral and covered his body, transforming into a thick, white, foamy liquid that mixed with his reiryoku. When the liquid faded away Byakuya noticed that Zommari's entire body was now covered with fifty open eyes, and his legs, along with his lower body, had been replaced by a pink pumpkin-like structure, which was surrounded by cyclopean faces which somewhat resembled the Espada's own face. Zommari's neck was covered in a skull-shaped neck brace with an open eye in the front, while black markings also appeared on his face in the form of two downward triangles originating from his eyes, and that included another five triangular markings that appeared under his mouth, forming what looked like a beard... though, as Byakuya stared at the form in front of him, he determined that the Espada's Resurreccion was terrible looking, and he wanted to get rid of it quickly so he didn't have to look at it for much longer than he was already looking at it.

Zommari, who was still staring at him, pulled his right hand away from his left hand, revealing that both of his hands had an eye on their palm, before pointing the exposed eye on his right hand at Byakuya, who sensed that something was coming and moved out of the way before anything could happen.

"What's wrong?" Zommari asked to which he allowed his eyes to glance back at Byakuya without actually turning his head back towards him, meaning that he might be able to see him from the eyes that were all over his body, which was a little disturbing to look at, "You assumed that I was preparing to release my attack, and yet nothing has happened. It seems that you are unable to comprehend the reason why. Such a shame... it has already happened!"

It was in that moment that Byakuya looked down at his legs and found that his left leg had a sun-shaped tattoo of some kind imprinted on his limb, which shocked him since he was sure that he had avoided the attack that his opponent had launched at him, but it appeared that he was mistaken once more.

"Your left leg now belongs to me." Zommari said, though at the same time he grinned, which was hidden from Byakuya since he hadn't turned his head towards him, as he lifted his left hand up and pointed towards the ceiling for a moment, while at the same time pointing down towards the ground with the same finger on his right hand, "Everything holds sovereignty over something else. Subordinates are at the command of their supervisors. Commoners are at the command of their king. The clouds are at the command of the wind. The light of the moon is at the command of the sun. Brujeria's ability allows me to steal that sovereignty away from wherever my eyes gaze upon. I call this ability Amor... and I see that you are still confused. I pity you, I really do. Your lack of knowledge has left you surrounded by countless things that you cannot understand. It must be infuriating. But in spite of this, everything will make sense once you have experienced what I am talking about. Now, come here, left leg."

For a moment Byakuya didn't know what his opponent was trying to pull, especially since he let his right arm aside and beckoned for him to come closer with his left hand, though that was before, to his shock and surprise, his left leg started to move towards the Espada that he was facing.

"Resistance is futile." Zommari continued, as he could tell that his opponent was going to continue fighting the power of his Resurreccion, something that was impossible to do once this power had been activated, and he talked while he used his power against his foe, "Your sovereignty no longer extends to your left leg. Now, one more step."

While his left leg was in the middle of moving on it's own, however, Byakuya did something that caught Zommari by surprise, he swung his Zanpakuto and cut his own leg in the process, but a few seconds later Zommari understood what had happened and his expression remained unchanged.

"So, you've separated the nerves in your left leg from the muscles." Zommari commented, as he had seen one of the other Espada do the same thing when he demonstrated his power to Lord Aizen, because that was something that they all did once they were ready to show off their Resurreccion to their master, "That will certainly prevent me from moving it. You make decisions and take action so wonderfully fast. But then, how will things go over there?"

Byakuya's eyes widened for a moment as he realized that the Espada was glancing over at Rukia's body, as she must have slipped into a state of unconsciousness while he and the Arrancar were talking, and immediately made the decision to flash over to the area between Rukia and Zommari, while also holding his left hand in front of his face.

"Oh? Even on one leg, you can still move that fast?" Zommari inquired, as he hadn't expected the Captain to move so quickly, but at the same time it didn't matter in the end, not when his foe had no idea what he had done and wouldn't know about it until he was ready to show his hand, "Just what I'd expect from a Captain. Most admirable."

Byakuya wanted to make a remark or something, as he was growing to dislike the foe that he was facing, but before he could actually say anything Hanataro, who had been following him the entire time, entered the chamber and started complaining about how he left him behind, since he couldn't use Shunpo, and a number of other things in a matter of a few seconds. Zommari actually seemed to like Hanataro being there, since it meant that he'd have someone else to talk to and control instead of talking to a Captain that didn't talk back, and Byakuya told the medic to get back, especially since he had no idea what his foe was going to target next. Of course when Zommari tried to seize control over Byakuya's left arm, as it had been hit by the attack that was meant for Rukia, Byakuya repeated the process and severed the connection between the nerves and the muscles, preventing his opponent from gaining the upper hand... and then, to be sure that his opponent didn't get an edge, he pointed his right hand towards the body that he had been protecting.

"Hado Number 1: Sho." Byakuya stated, to which a bit of energy rushed forth and knocked Rukia in the chest, which also shattered the ice that formed around her body and knocked her some distance back, before he focused on the Espada once more.

"I see. You not only abandoned your left leg without any hesitation, but also your left arm." Zommari commented, but at the same time there was still one thing that his opponent wasn't aware of, especially since two of his eyes, not one, had been active when he took sovereignty of his foe's left arm, "Anything that you have lost sovereignty over is quickly considered an enemy and abandoned, even if it is your own flesh. How ruthless! You make such weighty decisions without losing your composure. But I would argue that you make those decisions rashly. Your only remaining limbs are your right arm and leg... claiming that you could fight an Espada with only one arm and one leg would be too arrogant, even for someone like yourself."

"I already told you," Byakuya said, as he was growing ever so tired of his opponent, though at the same time he was still looking for an opening that would allow him to end this battle in an instant, and right now all he could think of doing was using his Bankai to end this, "the gap between your power and mine is like the gap between heaven and Earth. I realize it's a difficult concept, but... I've abandoned both my left arm and my left leg. But even so, you are still a long way from standing on equal ground with me."

"What a shame... it seems that you understand your place even less than I thought." Zommari replied, though he was secretly wishing that he had gotten an opponent who was smarter than his current one, because then it might have been interesting to have some interesting dialogue or a more interesting battle, "There is also something that I neglected to tell you, about Brujeria's ability. Each of my eyes is able to gain sovereignty over one object. I'm glad that you, at least, caught onto that concept quickly. Earlier I used two of my eyes when I released my Amor ability. In other words, I gained sovereignty over something else, besides your left arm."

It was in that following moment, when Zommari raised his reiatsu a little, that Rukia, who Hanataro had been carefully moving towards the exit he came from so he could heal her while letting the two of them fight, raised her Zanpakuto and cut a bloody gash into Hanataro's chest, going from his right hip to his left shoulder... and, as Byakuya turned back to look at them, he found that the sun-shaped tattoo was resting just over her left eye, informing him that he had been tricked by his opponent, who had waited to use his card against him. Rukia, who was now acting like a zombie, something that Byakuya had discovered thanks to Renji's love of Human movies, attacked him as he moved her away from both Zommari and the wounded Hanataro, but thanks to his speed, despite his injuries, he was able to avoid her while the Espada watched the two of them move around the area. It was during this that Zommari explained the finer details of his power, as while one eye could gain control over a single object, like Byakuya's arm or leg, hitting someone in the head meant that their entire body was under his control, though at the same time Byakuya knew that such a power would be ineffective against someone like Sombra, not with how incredibly fast the Arrancar was and how quickly he determined the powers of the person that he was fighting.

The moment came when Zommari grew tired of the game that he was playing and ordered Rukia to freeze, though that also included Rukia holding the edge of her Zanpakuto close to her neck, indicating that the Espada was going to try and force him to surrender before killing the two of them.

"Drop your katana, nameless Captain. You have lost." Zommari stated, as he had seen the lengths that the Captain would go through to protect this one Shinigami and knew that they had to be related in some manner, especially since the downed Shinigami had used the last name 'Kuchiki', indicating that this had to be Rukia's brother, who he didn't know the name of since Lord Aizen hadn't given them that information.

The moment the command was given Byakuya decided to fool the Espada, as he glanced back for a moment to be sure that his opponent was serious, and the look in his eyes told him that he was, before he turned towards Rukia and let Senbonzakura fall towards the floor... and, at the same time, his reiatsu flared as he prepared himself.

"Bakudo Number 61: Rikujokoro." Byakuya stated, which was followed by six thin beams of light that slammed into Rukia's midsection, stopping her from doing much else in terms of moving around... and, since it was clear that Rukia could no longer move, Zommari started to curse as he tried, in vain, to get her to move and obey his commands, and Byakuya used the distraction to pick up Senbonzakura and move behind his opponent.

Zommari, who had been so focused on trying to get the one Shinigami to move and kill herself, as he had grown tired of her anyway, barely noticed his true opponent move, though when he felt his opponent's reiatsu behind him he knew that the battle was going to get serious.

"Sovereignty means absolutely nothing against me." Byakuya said, now knowing exactly how he was supposed to combat the power that his opponent was displaying, and he was even telling the truth at the moment, before he held his Zankaputo out with the blade facing the floor, which he proceeded to drop once more, only this time for a different reason than fooling his foe, "Bankai. Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."

As expected the area turned dark as he activated his Bankai, followed by the two rows of blades forming as Zommari stared at them in shock for a moment, and then, just like all the other times he activated this power in the past, the blades shattered and the countless flying blades filled the air, or flower petals as many decided to call them.

"I'll steal the sovereignty to all of them by using Amor with all my eyes!" Zommari shouted, to which Byakuya watched as he literally opened all his eyes, all fifty of them, in an attempt to take over his Bankai, though at the same time he knew that such a thing was foolish.

"Give up." Byakuya said, to which a small opening in the sphere of flower petals revealed that he was standing on the outside of the sphere, with Zommari trapped inside it, before he glanced over at him, "You said that each of your eyes can only gain sovereignty over a single object, correct? Including your own two eyes, you have a total of fifty eyes scattered all over your body. How do you intend to control one hundred million covering the sky, with only a mere fifty eyes? You told me that resistance is futile, so allow me to return the favor... there is nothing you can do. Anything you could do in this situation would be meaningless."

As he said that, however, Zommari started to call out 'move as I command', indicating that he was trying to seize control over all one hundred million blades, even though Byakuya told him the odds from the very beginning, and that was when Byakuya decided to end it.

"Gokei, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi." Byakuya stated, unleashing his 'Mawscape' technique, which involved surrounding his target in a sphere of blade fragments, just like he had done to Zommari, which would close on his foe when he activated the actual technique by name and power, obliterating whoever he was fighting, and he flashed out of the area as his attack surged towards the Espada.

The upper part of the building they had been fighting in exploded, from the sheer power of the attack and the shockwave that erupted from it being used, and that was before the blades actually attacked him from every direction, shaking the area around them as Byakuya landed nearby. Now that the deed was done his Zanpakuto was back in it's sealed form and he approached a barrier that he had thrown up around Rukia and Hanataro, to keep them safe from the power of his attack, but what was interesting was that the marking on his sister's forehead hadn't gone away yet, which only informed him that his foe wasn't dead yet. He looked off to his left and found a pink sphere, matching the coloration of his opponent's lower body, with a white ring around the middle of it, resting nearby, and he could tell that his foe's reiatsu was coming from it, meaning he had a defensive power that was able to resist his Gokei, despite the blood that was around the sphere.

"You're tough." Byakuya said, meaning hard to kill, something that all Arrancar seemed to be, but at the same time that was when Zommari pulled himself out of the sphere and let his body revert back to what it had been before Gokei had been used, only all his additional eyes seemed to be closed, and they were bleeding as well.

In the following moment Zommari seemed to have one more surprise for him, as the eight lines on his forehead opened and revealed eight more eyes, one that Byakuya hadn't known about since they hadn't been used at all, and the Espada tried to fire his Amor at him... but, at the exact same time, Byakuya used Bakudo Number 81: Danku, to form a powerful barrier in front of him that stopped the attack cold, even if it put the tattoo on the other side of the barrier.

"Wh... what is that?" Zommari asked, though at the same time he managed to open both of his normal eyes, allowing him to see what he was dealing with and not have to rely on the eyes that were on his forehead, and he stared at the barrier for a few moments.

"A barrier that can completely defend against someone using all Kido spells, up to Number 89." Byakuya replied, and he had the feeling that, despite it not having been shown to them, that Sombra had the power to use this spell as well, he just didn't need to use it in battle, "When I learned that I could stop Rukia earlier, with the use of Rikujokoro, I guessed that your ability was akin to Kido. Clearly, I wasn't mistaken. Besides, your impatience has blinded you."

Before Zommari could do anything, and that included attacking the barrier with the eyes that he had available at the moment, Byakuya flashed through the air and appeared behind the Espada, where his blade was raised and rested close to his foe's neck, just like he had done to Rukia earlier.

"You also make the title of 'Fastest Espada' weep." Byakuya added, as with the speed that his opponent was displaying in his Resurreccion, which was actually lower than what he had been doing in his sealed state, he knew that this battle was his and there was nothing Zommari could do to stop him.

"M... Mercy!" Zommari said, because now that he knew that his skills really meant nothing against this particular opponent, who had figured him out in such a short time, he knew that surrendering might be the key to survival, but then he noticed the look in his foe's eyes, "What's with that look in your eyes? Are you saying... that you can't forgive me? That you're going to kill me? That you're going to judge me? Don't you understand that it's all empty pride? Have you people ever thought about it? Have you ever thought about the emptiness of cutting down and killing others as a matter of course? Have you ever thought about what it means when you kill us Hollows like nothing? You Shinigami murder us, and you act as if it's a natural act. Do you think that you've become gods? Who gave you permission to kills us?! Is it because we eat the souls of Humans? Is so, then who gave you permission to protect them? Has anyone given you an order to do such a thing! NO!!! No one has given you the right to do anything! You've declared that we're evil and therefore kill us! You believe that you offer justice, but it's nothing more than hubris! That conceit, and that pride of yours..."

During that conversation, or one sided spout of accusations, Zommari got away from Byakuya and stared at him like he was what was wrong with the world, but Byakuya stopped him by using his Shunpo to slip by him like it was nothing, and the reality was that he was much faster than the Espada could ever be.

"When did I claim that I would kill you as a Shinigami?" Byakuya asked, though at the same time he felt Zommari's eyes turn towards him, no doubt because he was bringing an end to this fight, before continuing his statement, "The reason I have killed you was simply because you pointed your blade at my pride.

A diagonal cut appeared on Zommari's chest, the same one that he forced Rukia to inflict on Hanataro earlier, and the defeated Espada started to shout his praises to Aizen, but that was before his body turned back and broke apart into strands of energy as he died. Byakuya watched the strands as they moved thought the air, breaking apart from each other in the process, though that was followed by the stands eventually disappearing into the air, fading out of existence entirely, and the air vibrated as Sombra appeared nearby, though he seemed interested in what happened here.

"It appears that I missed all the fun." Sombra said, though at the same time he turned towards Byakuya, who was studying his new form, before taking in what was going on in the area around him, where he noticed another reiatsu that was hiding nearby, "Come on out, Isane."

A cube appeared nearby and then disappeared, revealing the Lieutenant of the Fourth Division kneeling, though as she appeared Isane seemed to be sweating at the moment, as if she had no idea that he had been able to sense that she was even there, and that wasn't taking into account his more terrifying form.

"Were you ordered here by Captain Uhohana?" Byakuya asked, but he was more interested in the appearance and power that Sombra was using, as he knew that it had to be his Resurreccion, though that didn't explain what he did to the soul of the Espada he had taken care of.

"Yes. She sensed Hanataro's reiatsu when he was injured and ordered me to come here." Isane replied, to which Byakuya mulled over the information for a few seconds before nodding his head, allowing her to break away from where she had been kneeling and immediately tended to both Rukia and Hanataro.

"So, this is your Resurreccion." Byakuya commented, as he had been expecting to see this at some point in time, since Sombra was one of their allies, but at the same time the power was more than he thought it would be, confirming that the being in front of him was incredibly powerful, and he had no idea what sort of powers he was capable of using when he was in this state.

"Indeed it is." Sombra said, to which he smiled as the shadows shifted, allowing his scythe and the elegant mirror to appear near him, though at the same time he took a seat nearby and stared at Rukia and Hanataro as Isane healed them, before deciding that he'd wait for Rukia to be up before he explained what was going on.

Sombra sat on the fragment of the side of the building that had fallen from Byakuya's Bankai, watching the Captain observe Isane's healing of Rukia and Hanataro, though it took about thirty minutes for Isane to mend the wounds of the two Shinigami, and another few minutes were spent mending the wounds that the Captain had sustained. Once both Rukia and her brother had been healed Sombra explained what was going on at the moment, that he was gathering the Arrancar that didn't want to serve Aizen anymore and was forming a new order that would take over Hueco Mundo when he finally reached the level that he was destined to reach. Of course that meant that he needed to inform Byakuya of the existence of the Dios Hueco, the final classification a Hollow could reach and that only one came every one thousand years, before revealing that once his true power had been unlocked Hueco Mundo would belong to him. Rukia, having known what he was becoming ahead of time, wasn't too surprised to hear that he was building his own forces up, from those that they had found outside Las Noches and those that he managed to convince from the inside of the fortress, but Byakuya seemed a little surprised by the news, as if he was worried that Sombra might come after him as well. He even told them that he had convinced two of the current Espada, Grimmjow and Szayelaporro, to join their forces and had a few of the previous Espada, the Privaron Espada, with them as well, and that included restoring Nel to her true form and power, thanks to Orihime healing her.

As he explained where they were going, as in the fifth tower of Las Noches so they could assault Aizen's throne room, he felt the sudden change in the air around Ichigo change as his friend indicated that he needed assistance, and what he felt in the area was another Espada, to which he bid Rukia and Byakuya farewell for now before flashing off into the distance... though when he arrived at his destination a few seconds later, however, he found a male Espada, who seemed to be a little tired, standing near Orihime with everyone staring at him.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Sombra asked, though at the same time he extended his right arm and grabbed his scythe, while letting the mirror float in the air near them, as he focused on the Espada that was in front of them, as there were a few things that could happen in the next few moments.

"Lord Sombra, allow me to introduce Coyote Starrk, the Primera Espada." Grimmjow stated, though even as he spoke he was reminded of the sheer speed that Starrk possessed, which wasn't as fast as Sombra's considering that Sombra had gotten here just a few seconds after the Espada's arrival.

"I'm here for Orihime Inoue, on Aizen's orders." Starrk replied, to which he glanced over at Grimmjow, finding that he must have decided to change rulers to Sombra the moment they encountered each other again and wondered if that might be the smart thing to do, before he touched Orihime's shoulder, "And please, call me Starrk."

Sombra could have moved and attacked Starrk, as he could tell that the Primera Espada's base speed wasn't that great, not when he compared it to what he was using at the moment, but at the same time he didn't want to hurt Orihime and nodded to her, where she smiled, knowing that he'd be able to find where she was, and Starrk flashed away with their friend as his passenger. A few seconds later he held up a hand and shook his head to stop Ichigo from saying anything, as he wasn't in the mood to explain what was going on, and stood there for a moment, because if Aizen was going to have the strongest Espada retrieve Orihime then there might be some sort of announcement coming their way. In the following moments he sensed something stir in his mind, not one of his Zanpakuto spirits, and knew that it was what Isane had used back in Soul Society, to convey the information of Aizen's betrayal to everyone else, and that was Bakudo Number 77: Tenteikura, a communication Kido that was likely being broadcast to his group, those that followed him, and the Shinigami that had come to aid them.

"Can you hear me, my dear intruders?" a voice asked, one that Sombra recognized as Aizen's voice, confirming that their foe had something that he wanted to tell them before he made his move, while at the same time Ichigo and the others remained silent as they listened as well, "I applaud you for being able to defeat so many of my Espada, and even converted a few of them, so I have decided to reward you by telling you what my plans are. Gin, Tosen, and I are about to enter the World of the Living. I shall leave Orihime Inoue in Tower Number Five. You are free to take her back if you so desire, as I no longer have any need of her. Her powers are truly wonderful, as she is able to reject all manner of phenomena greatly oversteps the boundaries of what any normal Human should be able to do. The top brass of Soul Society understood just how great her power is, and, as such, kidnapping her and her brother would make them feel threatened. Rather than focus on the World of the Living, Soul Society focused on reinforcing it's own defenses."

Sombra thought about it for a moment, as that was exactly what happened when the Captain-Commander called everyone back to Soul Society, but at the same time he knew that right now that wasn't what he had been planning in the long run, even though he was curious as to what the rest of Aizen's plan was.

"Then she became the bait that lured both the Ryoka and the Substitute Shinigami to Hueco Mundo," Aizen continued, though at the same time Sombra assumed that he was getting read for his invasion of the World of the Living, so he could create the Oken and attack the Soul King's Palace, "leaving them unable to aid Soul Society. On top of that, I managed to lure four of the remaining Captains to Hueco Mundo, and locked them all in. But all that pales in comparison to the real reason I ordered Orihime's capture, and that was luring the strongest Vasto Lorde in the history of Soul Society and locked him in with everyone else, preventing him from assisting in the war effort as well."

"Interesting. Aizen thinks he's locked us in Hueco Mundo." Sombra commented, though at the same time he felt the air shudder as the four Garganta that the Captains had used to enter this world forcefully closed on themselves, but this just meant that he'd have more time to figure out how to ascend to the level of the Dios Hueco, and potentially rip the rest of the Arrancar that stayed here, in Hueco Mundo, away from Aizen's terrible rule.

"It seems that you might have a trick our foe doesn't know about." Mayuri said, causing Sombra to turn to his right for a moment and found Mayuri, Nemu, Uryu, Renji, Szayelaporro, Cirucci, Pesche, and Dondochakka standing nearby, before the Captain raised a hand to show that he meant no offense by meeting Zaraki's group here and not at the tower, like Sombra had wanted them to, "Since he's closed the Garganta, we can't open them from this side... and since Urahara Kisuke, who knows more about them than anyone else, is on the other side we can't contact him at all. So I do hope that you have an idea how to get us back to the World of the Living."

Sombra nodded his head, because with the restoration of his memories and powers he knew several magical spells that served as gateways from one world to another, much like the mirror that connected to the Shadowlands, but these ones were much safer... and he had the feeling that if he combined that knowledge with the power of the Garganta he might be able to overcome what Aizen had just done.

"The power of the Gotei 13 lies almost entirely within it's thirteen Captains." Aizen said, as if he had paused to let some of them talk about what they had learned, which made sense since one of the others might be watching them before their invasion, to which Sombra remained quiet and listened to what their foe was doing, "But of those thirteen, three have defected and four have been captured. One could say that Soul Society has lost half it's military power. It will be easy for us to destroy Karakura Town, create the Oken, and then overthrow Soul Society and the Soul King. Once we are done with all of that, and my quest is complete, we will return to Hueco Mundo and deal with those of you that still remain in this world, including you, Sombra."

"It also appears that he hasn't figured out what is different about Karakura Town," Mayuri added, to which he turned and looked at the group that was around him, because there was only one of them that he really wanted to tell this information to, yet he knew that it was best if he explained it once and not three or four times, "One of the other tasks that the Captain-Commander gave to Urahara was that he needed to make it possible for Karakura Town to handle having the remaining Captains, Lieutenants, and powerful seated members of the Gotei 13 fight in the town. Merely removing all of their limiters is hardly making it safe for them to fight there, so we developed something called 'Transferred World's Supper Towers', but you can think of it as a giant Senkai Gate that is connected by four white pillars and covers the entirety of one spirit mile. While Urahara was making such a device the Captain-Commander had the Technological Development Bureau and I develop an elaborate replica of Karakura Town outside Rukongai, and once those two tasks were complete we used the Pillars to transport the real Karakura Town, and it's sleeping inhabitants, back to Soul Society, leaving the replica in it's place... meaning that Aizen's forces will be fighting our forces in what is a fake version of Karakura Town."

"I see we made it in time." a new voice said, one that Sombra recognized as Captain-Commander Yamamoto's voice, meaning that Aizen was likely broadcasting the rest of the conversation that he was having with the remaining Captains that had come to stop him.

"Made it in time? Exactly what are you referring to?" Aizen inquired, though the tone of his voice revealed that he might have known about Soul Society's attempt to hide the real Karakura Town, and even if he didn't know that he was likely a little annoyed about the change of plans, "I am well aware that this isn't Karakura Town. But that doesn't matter to me. Starrk, Baraggan, Harribel, come."

Sombra didn't need to see what happened to know what Aizen was doing, as he felt three new Garganta open in three different areas of Hueco Mundo, where the Primera, Sequnda, and Tres Espadas, along with their Fraccion by what he was feeling, departed from the world they were in and traveled to the World of the Living, so they could battle the Shinigami that had assembled to stop Aizen.

"If Karakura Town is in Soul Society, then I'll simply kill you here and make the Oken in Soul Society," Aizen stated, his tone showing that he was flexible and that if some outside force tried to change his plans he'd just continue on with very little actual changes, "Until then, Las Noches is in your hands... Ulquiorra."

It was in that moment that Sombra shifted his head towards the tower that Orihime had been taken to, the same one that he was planning on attacking, just as he felt the air near her shatter a little as Ulquiorra's reiatsu pierced the wall between this world and the dimension that Grimmjow had banished him to, allowing the Quatro Espada to return to Hueco Mundo at last.

"Yes, sir." Ulquiorra said, though at the same time Ichigo tensed up for a moment, as it was clear to him that the only true way to save Orihime now was to beat Ulquiorra and that seemed to be more important than anything else at the moment, as Ichigo charged off towards the tower that the Espada's reiatsu was coming from... and, at the same time, both the Kido and Aizen's reiatsu disappeared as the final Garganta closed, signaling the fact that their enemies had gone to the World of the Living and were leaving Las Noches behind.

"Well then, it appears that it's time for us to seize Las Noches," Sombra commented, to which he turned to the Arrancar that had gathered around him, as well as the Captains and his friends, and smiled at them as he pointed his scythe towards the tower that Ichigo was heading to, "So, whose ready to tear down the rest of Aizen's defenses and claim Hueco Mundo, and that includes Las Noches, for it's new ruler?"

He barely even had to ask the question, as Grimmjow let out a roar like it was his war cry and stood at the ready, while Nel, Szayelaporro, and Cirucci stood near him, waiting for the order to be given, and Sombra was more than happy to swing his scythe and begin the charge towards the fifth tower of Las Noches. The Arrancar followed after him immediately, causing the Shinigami and his friends to follow after them as well, though all of them were focused on finding out where the remaining enemies were located and what they needed to do to claim this world, something that Sombra was going to have to figure out on his own. It wasn't long before Chad and Gantenbainne joined up with their group, accompanied by Captain Unohana, and Sombra could feel that Rukia was heading in their direction as well, even though her brother and the others were still hanging back for a moment before they made their own move. Despite the speed that Ichigo was traveling, however, Sombra and his forces easily caught up with him, to which Sombra signaled to Grimmjow the moment they neared the tower, causing the panther Espada to grin as he flashed forward and swung his claws down at the ground, just in time to cleave a large Hollow in half before it could even get out of the ground... and that was when Nel flashed behind him and cut through the other two Hollows that were trying to get him from behind, but instead of being annoyed he nodded his head and the two of them continued forward as Sombra's group followed them.

When they drew close to the walls surrounding the towers, however, Sombra noticed the Exequias, the execution squad that he had learned about earlier, when he was dealing with Szayelaporro, standing on the wall with their leader at the front lines, but before the Arrancar could even reach Ichigo, and attempt to stop him, Rukia froze part of his arm to prevent him from moving. At the same time both Chad and Gantenbainne used their own strength to punch a hole into the wall, allowing Ichigo to charge forward so he could save Orihime, and Sombra followed after his friend, but not before making sure that Grimmjow and the others knew that they were to stay alive and secure the area that they were here to claim, as well as knock out any Arrancar that decided to bother them, even if Yammy was the only Espada left. As the members of the Exequias fell, and Sombra was sure that he saw a happy grin on Cirucci's face as she cut into a few of them, Sombra followed Ichigo into the tower that was their destination. The only reason he stopped was because Ichigo was using his reiatsu to bust his way through the floors that were above where they were standing, instead of simply asking him to do the smart thing and teleport to where Orihime was standing, since he knew where her reiatsu was and could easily do so in a matter of seconds... and, instead of following behind Ichigo, Sombra used his own power to flash up to where Orihime was waiting and appeared in the shadows near her and Ulquiorra.

At first it appeared that the Espada was in the middle of asking Orihime what a heart was, as if he was curious about Humans and their emotions, but before he could finish what he was saying Ulquiorra turned his head and glanced at the pillar that Sombra was standing beside... and then he was forced to turn his head a little more as Ichigo burst through the floor near him and Orihime, before landing nearby and staring at the pair.

"I'm going to say this once: get away from Orihime." Ichigo said, though at the same time he landed on the floor, in front of the hole he had made, and stared at Ulquiorra, while at the same time Sombra stepped out so he could observe what was going to happen, and maybe intervene if Ichigo needed assistance with the Espada that had trashed him earlier and had nearly killed him in the process.

"Very well. My job at the moment is to protect Las Noches until Lord Aizen returns." Ulquiorra replied, though while he spoke he turned towards Ichigo, so they knew who had his undivided attention, and glanced back at Orihime for a few seconds, just to reveal what he was talking about, "I have not been ordered to kill this woman yet. I will let her live until I am ordered to do so otherwise. But you, on the other hand, are a different story. Killing you and protecting Las Noches go hand-in-hand. You will die by my sword."

In that moment Ulquiorra surprised Ichigo for a moment, as Sombra had been expecting this to happen at some point in time, as he gripped the handle of his Zanpakuto and withdrew it from it's scabbard, where he made sure that it was at the ready for when the battle began.

"Honestly, I'm surprised. I never thought that you'd start the battle with your Zanpakuto already drawn." Ichigo said, as his eyes lingered on the blade for a moment, because he never thought that he'd force the Espada to draw it unless he was going to release his Resurreccion, "I figured that I'd have to force you to draw it. Does this mean that you've finally acknowledged me as an equal?"

"No." Ulquiorra stated, the speed of his reply telling Sombra that there weren't many that Ulquiorra acknowledged as his equals, save for Aizen and the Espada that were stronger than him, "At the very least, I've decided that you are an entity that must be destroyed."

"Fair enough." Ichigo replied, because honestly he had been expecting something like that to be said, as he had the feeling that Ulquiorra would never actually see him as his equal, no matter what he tried, and before anyone said anything else the two of them charged at each other and swung their blades at their opponent.

Sombra stood nearby and watched as the two of them clashed, their reiatsu bursting forth the moment their blades connecting, black and red for Ichigo and green for Ulquiorra, though as all this happened Orihime quickly threw up her protective shield and kept the gusts of wind from reaching her, including protecting herself as a hole was punched into the side of the chamber they were in, showing the sands of Las Noches once more. Sombra, on the other hand, was unfazed by the wind and the power that the two fighters were generating, though at the same time he was eager what had happened, as when the smoke cleared the two combatants were standing apart from each other and, as he suspected, Ichigo's eagerness had cost him, as Ulquiorra had cut him a little, as there were a few drops of blood falling to the floor. Not even a few moments later Ichigo charged forward and swung at Ulquiorra again, where the floor beneath the Espada's feet cracked as he sunk a little, but that only lasted a few seconds before Ichigo had to dodge the kick that was aimed at his head, only for him to swing Zangetsu and caused Ulquiorra to leap into the air to attack him from above. Ichigo growled and swung a Getsuga Tensho at his opponent, who swung his Zanpakuto and cleaved the attack in half, showing Sombra that he was much stronger with his sword than when he was without it, but that didn't seem to bother Ichigo as he continued the attack.

Ulquiorra flashed behind Ichigo and went on the offensive, thrusting his Zanpakuto at his target several times in a row, where Ichigo first used Zangetsu to block the attack and then dodged them to the best of his ability, until the Espada managed to stab the area between Ichigo's neck and left shoulder. In the following moment he leveled his left pointer finger along the blade of his Zanpakuto and pointed it at Ichigo as he started to charge his Cero, where the release of the attack blasted another hole into the side of the tower and, when the smoke cleared, Sombra found that Ichigo had barely taken any damage, and he had to suspect that Zangetsu might be involved with this.

"You survived my Cero without having to pull out your mask. You've grown stronger." Ulquiorra commented, though he was curious if it was because of the fact that Ichigo had taken part in the battle against Nnoitra or if it was because he had survived their last encounter, "Either way it doesn't matter. You will die here, regardless of how you increased your power since our last struggle."

Ichigo decided not to bother saying anything about that and charged at Ulquiorra again, though this time around he found that the Espada was in control of the fight, as he had to dodge the attacks that were coming his way and even had to avoid taking a sword to the neck, all while attacking Ulquiorra whenever an opening revealed itself and found that his opponent did the same thing that he did. Sombra found that something interesting was happening, as it appeared that Ichigo might be studying his opponent's movements and how he attacked, as at one point he was able to grab onto Ulquiorra's right hand and stopped it from reaching him, but at the same time Sombra also knew that Ulquiorra was just like him, he restricted his power in his base state and that his attacks would be getting much faster now. Ichigo instantly responded by swinging Zangetsu and cut a light gash into Ulquiorra's chest, opening his jacket and revealing that the cut was near his number, and Ulquiorra paused for a moment to make sure that he had actually been cut, as if this was something odd that he almost never encountered, before seeing that Ichigo had a smile on his face to show that he was happy with what he had done. The moment was even further ruined when Ichigo commented that the reason he might be able to see Ulquiorra's movements better was either because he was becoming more like a Hollow, or Ulquiorra was becoming more like a Human, which caused the Espada to stab the floor and break it into two large sections as he glared at Ichigo for a few seconds.

For the next few moments Ulquiorra undid the seals on his own powers, pushing him back to the level he was usually at without using his Resurreccion, and the sudden increase of his reiatsu shook the entire area that they were in, though once that was done he flashed over to Ichigo and Sombra found that he was the only one that was able to keep up with his movements now, as Ichigo barely had time to notice the new attack before Ulquiorra swung down at him. Ulquiorra flashed behind Ichigo once more and attacked him once more, avoiding the incoming attack that was coming his way and tried to attack his foe from behind, only for Orihime to use her shield and stopped the swing in it's tracks.

"What are you doing?" Ulquiorra asked, as this was something that he wasn't expecting, because he had been fairly sure that if a battle between him and Ichigo broke out Orihime would stand back and watch, as she and her brother had submitted themselves to Lord Aizen's rule.

"What does it look like?" Orihime replied in kind, showing that she just happened to have enough of Ulquiorra's attitude and was standing up for herself, especially since her brother was with the other Arrancar, dealing with whoever was stopping them from attacking the tower, "I'm not about to let you kill Kurosaki-kun like that."

"Thanks for the assist, Orihime, but you should stay back," Ichigo said, though he was impressed that Orihime was willing to stand up to the Espada that he was fighting, especially with a look of determination in her eyes, before he faced his opponent once more, "it's going to get dangerous, and I don't want you to get caught up in what's coming next."

Orihime nodded and stepped back near the pillars, allowing the hallway that the duo was fighting in to remain theirs as she noticed that Sombra hadn't bothered to intervene like she had, meaning that there was something that he knew and wasn't willing to share until it was time to reveal what he knew. This time around Ichigo did something interesting, as he released his reiatsu like he was going to fire a Getsuga Tensho, but instead of firing it he kept it wrapped around Zangetsu's blade and charged at Ulquiorra, who blocked the attack and was pushed back in the process. Sombra knew that his friend was using the power of his attack to empower his swing, and Ulquiorra seemed to be thinking the same thing that he had thought of, but after a few more instances of his seeing the combination it was clear that Ulquiorra wasn't impressed by what Ichigo was capable of. While the two of them battled for a few more moments, with Ichigo using the new combination that he had decided to use, Sombra felt the presence of two more Arrancar appear near them and turned towards where Orihime was standing, where he found two female Arrancar trying to sneak up on his friend... to which the shadows responded to his will and the two of them were thrown into the light, stopping the battle for a moment as they noticed that they had company.

"And who might you two be?" Sombra asked, though at the same time he stepped between them and Orihime, as he didn't want the two of them to get any funny ideas while Orihime was alone, and he could tell that one of them hated Orihime for some reason, while the other seemed to be concerned about what they were doing.

"I'm Loly Aivirrne, and this is Menoly Mallia," the teenage-looking Arrancar said, though at the same time she gestured to herself and then to the other Arrancar, who had blond hair, to indicate who she was talking about, before focusing on him for a moment, "and who might you be?"

"I am Sombra, the Dios Hueco." Sombra replied, to which he stared at the two Arrancar, as he had the feeling that something had happened before he and the others arrived in Las Noches, before he sighed and focused on the question that he wanted to ask, "Orihime, did something happen between you, Sora, and these two?"

"Ye... Yes." Orihime answered, because with Sombra in front of her, and stopping the two Arrancar from getting near her, she knew that she was safe and could speak her mind before one of them even reached her, "They were the ones that beat Sora and I up before Grimmjow rescued us, even though Grimmjow really hurt them and I healed them before we left to heal Kurosaki-kun."

"I see... then I shall punish them accordingly." Sombra said, to which the shadows vibrated for a few seconds as the elegant mirror formed nearby, though this time around it was longer than what it was the last time it had been seen by those that were near him, "Maybe they're tone will be different after an hour or two in the Shadowlands."

The mirror, now was wide as two normal sized people, let it's glass glow for a moment before the shadows erupted from it's surface, where the shadows wrapped around Loly's arms, legs, and body to prevent her from moving, before doing the same thing to Menoly, who tried in vain to escape and was dragged into the air as well. Both of them seemed scared of what he was doing to them, especially since it was so easy for him to do so while not even giving them a chance to release their Resurreccions, and both of them screamed for a few moments before they were pulled into the mirror, where Sombra watched them disappear into the depths of the Shadowlands for a moment before letting the mirror float away. Once that was done he turned towards Ichigo and Ulquiorra, to which he nodded his head and indicated that it was time for them to continue their battle without having to worry about someone interrupting them, and he was eager to see who the victor was when they reached the end of their battle.