Sombra was defeated, but his soul survived and traveled to a new world. He joins Ichigo and his friends as they invade Soul Society in an attempt to save another... while trying to remember his long forgotten past and who he really is.
Sombra, the dreaded King of Darkness, was defeated and his body shattered, but his dark soul survived the return of the Crystal Empire and went into hiding. Some time later it found a path between worlds, a mirror portal, and arrived in a place called Hueco Mundo, where it gained a new body to start a new life. In the process Sombra loses his memories and becomes a shell of his former self, searching for something that he knows that he lost while having no idea where to find what he was missing.
Along the way he somehow finds his way to Karakura Town, into the hands of Kisuke Urahara, and learns more about his new body than he could have learned on his own, before coming into contact with Ichigo Kurosaki and his small group of friends. From there he starts an epic journey to help them save another friend from a terrible fate, fight the people that were in their way, and face an evil that was hiding in plain sight at the same time... along with finding out what happened to his missing memories.
(Bleach/ MLP Crossover) (Part of the Universe 13 story series, though reading the other stories is not required) (Also, the story will not include the Fullbring or the Thousand Year War Arcs)
Sombra, the dreaded King of Darkness and former ruler of the Crystal Empire, found himself defeated by nothing more than a young purple scaled dragon and a pretty pink alicorn, who returned the Crystal Heart, which he hid away behind some rather well thought of traps, to it's pedestal in the middle of the empire. The resulting explosion of love energy that erupted from the Heart being returned ripped all of his shadows to pieces and caused his entire being to explode, while at the same time flinging his horn, the last vessel of his power, through the air as it disappeared into the Frozen North of Equestria. It was a painful experience for one such as Sombra, being able to fully regain his true form before it was so brutally destroyed in such a manner, but despite this setback he was still alive... in some manner anyway. All he had to do was gather his power, form himself a new body, and then patiently plan the downfall of the newly restored Crystal Empire, before he raised it as his beloved empire once more.
Of course that meant that he had to start from the ground up and was forced to remain near his horn, which would serve as the home for his soul while he gathered the necessary energy to take back what he had lost, while at the same time hoping it was soon so he could move into one of the caves before the snow completely covered his horn up.
The one thing that he was used to determining was exactly how many years had passed, as he had excellent practice from his thousand years trapped in the ice, and only a year or two after his defeat, where he was no closer to reforming his body, he felt the air rumble as two large powers clashed with each other. From what he could tell, from his limited position, that Tirek must have escaped his prison at some point in time and was clashing with an empowered Twilight Sparkle, the mare that sprung his traps back when the Crystal Empire had returned. He other bothered to remember her name so that when he regained his power, and captured his empire once more, he knew who he was looking for and could find her by asking a few questions... and likely torture some of the ponies that knew her if they refused to give him the information he was asking them for.
Some time passed before Sombra felt the presence of another powerful being, though this time around when he felt the alicorn's magic, as it was the only other creature that could contain such incredible power, it was unlike anything he had ever felt before... and there was a sinister feeling to it that was dormant at the moment, but was beginning to slowly awaken inside of whoever it was resting inside.
It was during the time of the mysterious alicorn's arrival that Sombra felt his soul being drawn to something to the south of the Frozen North, something that appeared to have a great deal of magical power and could easily give him the power he wanted to retake what had been stolen from him. Despite the fact that he had no physical mouth at the moment he couldn't stop himself from grinning, to which he concentrated on his horn and drew all of his power into his soul, charging him for the journey ahead of him. Such an act meant that his horn would remain empty and would likely be smashed by a crystal pony if they discovered it, but then again it would return to him once he reformed his body into a stronger being than he had been when the Crystal Heart shattered him.
Thanks to the fact that he was traveling as a soul, and there was nothing around to stop him in his tracks, he rapidly made his way down to the south, where he could travel through the night without have to eat or rest, before coming to a small town that he had never seen before. From what he could feel in the air, if his senses weren't lying to him, Discord, the Spirit of Disharmony, was actually living somewhere on the outskirts of the town, which was good since he was being drawn to the crystal castle on the other side of the town. The energy of the mysterious alicorn, who had to be even stronger than Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, was gone as well, but that didn't concern Sombra as he made his way into the castle, where his soul passed through the wall and entered the hallway.
He waited for a few moments, where he felt for the energy that had pulled him down to this town, before he snapped his eyes open and continued down the hallway that he had been floating in the entire time, while also making sure that he didn't bump into any maids or servants along the way. That thought was changed as he realized that whoever owned this castle didn't have any work staff to speak of, as there were only three signatures appearing on his radar, one that wasn't very strong, another that had to be Twilight, and a third that reminded him of Discord. Unfortunately he discovered that where he was being pulled to was the same place that Discord was standing in, where he focused his mind and followed the trail until he came to what appeared to be a library... with a strange looking mirror resting in the middle of the room, which was what the energy was radiating from.
Something else he noticed was that a familiar chimera creature, which he had read about before his first defeat a thousand years ago, that appeared to be oblivious to the fact that he was even there... to which he floated through the air and headed towards the mirror so he could investigate it.
When he approached the mirror he watched as the seemingly ordinary glass shifted until it revealed a scene of a great battle, where two strange pony hybrid creatures, one with cyan skin and one with orange skin, fought along side some rather strange creatures while battling an even stranger white skinned creature that appeared to be far stronger than everyone else in the area. A few moments later the scene shifted to show two more hybrids, one a grey skinned pony and the other looking like a griffon, flying through the air with some sort of raccoon creature, while at the same time fighting against a large metallic bird that wanted all three of them dead. The third scene he was shown was another hybrid, this one having pink skin, that happened to be riding on the back of the strangest dragon Sombra had ever seen... though that was followed by the scene fading away until the mirror returned to normal.
One thing that Sombra was sure of was the fact that every hybrid he had seen so far had been an inhabitant of Equus at some point in time, though it appeared that by stepping through the mirror they gained powers that were beyond their wildest dreams... to which Sombra allowed a smile to appear on his face, or what passed as his face, before he raised a shadowy hoof towards the surface of the mirror.
"I wouldn't touch the mirror if I were you," a voice said, though it was one that Sombra recognized as DIscord's voice, to which he carefully turned his shadowy head around and found that the Spirit was staring right at him, as if he could actually see his soul at the moment, "unless, of course, you want to be lost in the vastness of our universe."
"Begone Discord," Sombra replied, though his voice crisp and clear, as he had found that he could speak well in this shadowy soul-like form, as speaking in his normal form was hard due to how long it had been since he was able to use his actual vocal cords, "otherwise I'll force you to leave... I have work to do."
"If by work you mean getting yourself killed for real," Discord stated, as he knew that Sombra was now trapped in this soul-like state and that any serious and substantial wound would permanently kill the tyrant, which would no doubt bring joy to the crystal ponies if they were told the news.
"I will leave this world as a mere mortal," Sombra promised, though at the same time he glanced at the mirror, where he saw that the scene continued to shift, revealing one place before shifting to a new place, before he turned back towards the creature he was conversing with, "but when I return I will be a god... and everyone will become slaves in the end, including all of your friends, if you truly have any."
"Sombra, for your sake you better leave Fluttershy and the others out of this," Discord replied, though at the same time he growled a little, because the mere thought of what Sombra would force his darling Fluttershy to do was enough to make him want to end the former tyrant already.
"Ah, so you do have companions for me to enslave later," Sombra said, to which he grinned as he imagined his empire growing in size once he came back with the powers of a god, something that would defeat those that had bested him in the past, "Good, a kingdom without proper slaves and servants would be boring... and rejoice, because I'll make sure that you join the Princesses in shackles once I return to this world."
Discord raised a hand and grabbed Sombra by his nonexistent shadowy neck with his magic, because while it was still odd to be considered friends with the Princesses that sealed him in stone all those years ago, along with the ponies he eventually befriended, he wasn't about to let Sombra do anything to them. Sombra, from what he could tell, was shocked that this was even happening at the moment and Discord contemplated what to do with the former tyrant, until he looked into the mirror behind Sombra and watched the scene change again. This time it was showing a circular shaped city that was unlike anything he had seen so far, though for some reason the image seemed to stay for a few moments longer than all the other ones, meaning that he had found the solution to his current problem.
"Fine. You want to go to a new world?" Discord asked, to which he noticed Sombra's eyes shift back towards the mirror, or what he assumed where his eyes since he was a shadowy soul at the moment, "I'll send you to a new world... and maybe you'll learn how to be a good pony this time around, instead of a hateful pony that's bent of world domination. And if you think about turning my friends into slaves again, or anyone else for that matter, I'll destroy you with my full power."
A few seconds later he hurled Sombra's soul through the mirror and watched as it disappeared completely, traveling to whatever world he had seen in the mirror, though at the same time Discord really didn't care too much about Sombra. With the way the mirror operated now there was a chance that Sombra would get to live a normal life, without his memories and who he used to be, and maybe learn something about himself in the process. At the same time, however, he realized that he could have made one of the biggest mistakes he could have ever made, because if the spell on the mirror didn't do anything to Sombra then there was a chance that he could actually conquer whatever world Discord had sent him to... and potentially gain the powers he was searching for.
Discord groaned as the mirror shifted and the circular city was lost once more, meaning that it would take him some time and effort to find out where he had sent the former tyrant... and that was before he even considered bringing him back to Equus to face the Princesses and the rest of his friends.
When Sombra arrived at whatever destination Discord had hurled him to, and collided with the ground that was below him, he couldn't help but groan at the headache he had developed along the way, before realizing that, when he was just an ordinary soul, he never had headaches to begin with. He opened his eyes, finding that he actually had eyes, and noticed that he was in what appeared to be a white desert that had no life in the area around him, save for some odd looking trees that weren't like anything he had seen back in Equus. He raised his front right hoof and touched the sand, though that was when he noticed that his leg was misshapen, into what the minotaurs called arms, and that his hoof had been transformed into a 'hand', complete with five 'fingers'. The same could be said for his front left leg when he glanced at it, though he grinned as he picked himself before he realized that his entire body had been changed since he was thrown through the mirror... and, as if fortune was smiling upon him, there happened to be a large crystal resting nearby, one that he could use to check his appearance.
He soon discovered that his body seemed to be a mix of the body of a minotaur and that of a pony, as he was standing tall like a minotaur and had some distinct pony features the reminded him of what he truly was. While his new body was more aligned with that of a minotaur he noticed that he still had the dark gray coloration to his skin, matching his old coat, while at the same time finding that his new mane was still black, as was the pony tail that extended from his spine. His hind legs had the structure they had in his pony form and they also ended in hooves, though he smiled when he saw the familiar dark mist surrounding his eyes. His eyes, of course, were the same brilliant scarlet color they had been when he was alive, complete with scarlet colored pupils and the same eerie green color surrounding his sclera... and he even had his red curved horn, which was resting in the middle of his forehead, where it had been when he was alive.
That was, however, before he noticed a few odd things about his body, as he was now wearing a dull gray robe of some kind, that covered the majority of his upper body and lower body, that had a white undershirt beneath it and a small red collar that rested around the neck part. There was even a dull gray colored sash that was wrapped around his waist, though as he took all this in he noticed that there was some sort of white crown, almost bone colored, resting behind his horn and wrapped around his head, just like the crown he wore when he was alive. He had no idea what the crown was supposed to be, since he had never seen it before, but before he could think about it too much he heard the sound of something hitting the ground behind him, where he turned around and spotted what appeared to be his iron armor and lush red cape. That was, however, before the armor and cape seemed to become pure energy, as they broke apart and disappeared as quickly as they appeared, leaving behind a gleaming blade that was stuck in the sand.
As Sombra stared at the sword, however, his headache from earlier returned and got even worse than it had been when he first arrived in this strange world, though he could feel his power decreasing as he gazed at the weapon, which he found that he could no longer look away from. When his power and memories started to leave him, and were being pulled into the blade, Sombra realized that Discord had cursed him while he was being sent through the mirror, as the Spirit of Disharmony was taking from him the power that had made him great and his memories, so he wouldn't get his power back easily. It was a painful process, especially since there were so many decades of memories for him to lose, but all Sombra could do was let the curse take hold of his mind and drain him of who he had been before he had been thrown through the mirror... though he did, in one act of resistance to Discord's curse, use what little of his magic remained to etch his name into the crystal that he was now sitting near.
Once his name had been etched into the crystal, and he could read it, he felt the last of his power and memories being stripped from his body, along with the dark mist disappearing completely... though the last thing he saw, as he fell into the sand that rested around him and the crystal, was the cursed sword being propelled through the air, before he closed his eyes.
Sometime passed before something caused him to stir, where he moaned for a moment as he opened his eyes and pushed himself into a sitting position, though as he did so he looked at the strange area that he had woke up in, as he had no idea where he was. The desert he was in felt strange and foreign to him, though he had no idea why he felt that way, but at the same time he looked at the crystal that was beside him and used it to steady himself as he made his way onto a standing position. When he got onto his hooves, which felt natural to him for another reason that he couldn't explain, he noticed that there was something etched into the crystal's face that he was using to steady himself, something that looked like a name.
"Sombra..." he said, feeling something in the back of his mind, as if his brain was telling him that this was his name, though if that was the case he had to wonder why he had bothered to etch his name into a crystal like this, to which he sighed as he looked around the area he was in, "Great, I guess I know my name... but I have no idea who I am, where I am, or why I can't remember anything before waking up in the middle of a desert. So, where do I go from here?"
He, Sombra, figured that asking the area around him was a stupid thing to do, but voicing the question he would have asked mentally gave him a little more to consider than if he had just thought about it, though as he stood next to the crystal he absently tapped the face of it. That was when he noticed that a strange faint horizontal black line forming along the crystal's face, though as he stared at it he watched as the line grew, slowing moving upwards and downwards in rectangular shapes until a large maw stood between him and the crystal. He stared into that black void that rested behind the open maw, as he had no idea what it was or why it had suddenly appeared in such a manner, but he guessed that it was in response to his question. He steeled himself before he stepped into the open maw, as he was being cautious at the moment, before the maw closed behind him and trapped him inside the black void, where he silently stood there for a few seconds as he wondered what he was supposed to do.
A few more moments passed before another maw opened in front of him, where he found that the exit to the void was in what appeared to be some sort of city, or what he assumed was a city as he stared at the large buildings that rested around the maw that he had walked out of. The area he was standing in appeared to be some sort of dead end, with a store of some description resting in front of him, though as he started to question what was going on the door opened and someone walked outside. The person was a tall, lean-built man with light skin and gray eyes, though his hair was messy and light-blond, almost pale, colored, with strands framing the sides of his face and hanging between his eyes, and he had some chin stubble. The man was wearing a dark grey colored coat, which sports a white diamond pattern along its bottom half, with a dark green shirt and pants resting underneath, though at the same time Sombra noticed that he had a white and green colored hat on his head.
The man was also carrying a cane and a fan, though as Sombra stared at him he felt the air shift and watched the maw close behind him, effectively stranding him in an unknown area with a complete stranger approaching him, though he remained silent as the man came to a stop near him.
"Well now, what do we have here?" the man commented, though while he sounded friendly Sombra got the sense that he was being studied at the moment, but he remained still as the man stared at him, "An arrancar arriving outside my shop, by a garganta no less. Well then, what can I do for you today?"
"I... I don't know," Sombra admitted, as he was still trying to figure out what was going on at the moment, since he knew nothing about himself or the places he had visited so far, "I suddenly woke up in a white desert, next to a strange crystal I might add, and tried to figure out what to do next, where that strange maw opened and brought me here. I have no idea who I am, what I am, where I am, or what an arrancar and a garganta are... about the only thing I remember is my name, and that was because it was etched on the crystal I woke up next to."
"So you can't remember anything else?" the man inquired, though as Sombra nodded the man looked him over, as if he was looking for something specific, before returning to where he had been standing earlier, "Despite being an arrancar it appears that your zanpakuto is missing, while at the same time I can tell that you possess a descent amount of reishi in your body. Seeing how you woke up in Hueco Mundo, I would hazard a guess that your weapon must have been left behind, which means retrieving it might be impossible at the moment."
"I have no idea what you are talking about," Sombra said, as he felt lost when the man mentioned all of these names, as if he was actually trying to trigger his memories, but at the same time he knew that his attempts weren't doing anything at the moment.
"Don't worry about it right now." the man replied, where he waved his hand, the one with the fan, in a dismissive manner, though that was before he stared at Sombra once again, "You said that you remembered your name. If I tell you my name, will you tell me yours?"
Sombra thought about that for a moment, as he had no idea who the man was or what he was doing in this time area, though after a few seconds he guessed that it couldn't hurt to give the man his name, since he might actually be able to help him out in some manner. Once he reached his decision, as it wasn't hard to come to since he needed information and the man seemed to be the best source of it at the moment, he nodded his head and noticed that a smile appeared on the man's face.
"I am Kisuke Urahara," the man said, to which he beckoned to the shop that was behind him for a moment, causing Sombra to glance at the structure for a few seconds, before they stared at each other once more, "and I am the owner of the Urahara Shop."
"Sombra... that's my name." Sombra replied in kind, figuring that Kisuke might, just might, be able to help him with his questions, especially since he had asked the world what to do next and coming to this area apparently had been the answer to his first question... even if it might have been random chance for something like that to even occur.
"That's a good name." Kisuke said, though that was when he smiled for a moment, something that told Sombra that he might have found someone that could help him with his problems, "Tell you what, Sombra, if you follow me back inside the shop I'll do everything in my power to see if I can't help you recover your memories... though there will be a few errands you'll have to run for me every now and then in return."
"That sounds fair," Sombra said, as he guessed that since Kisuke was the shopkeeper, and likely dealt with the customers more than his employees, if he had any, he'd be taking time out of what he usually did and this was the price he would have to pay.
"I'm glad that we have an agreement," Kisuke stated, to which he turned towards the shop and started walking back towards it, before turning back and glancing at Sombra once more, "Come along now. We have to go over the official terms of our arrangement before anything else happens... and you will need to meet Yoruichi, Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu as well. I guarantee you that you won't regret coming to me for assistance."
Sombra wasn't sure why he was so willing to put his trust in Kisuke Urahara, but he felt that he was a trustworthy person and wouldn't lie to him about something so important, so he guessed that if he wouldn't regret this decision he knew that he'd definitely get something out of it. Since it appeared that he was going to gain from this arrangement as well, instead of just Kisuke gaining some additional help, he followed Kisuke towards his shop, where he looked forward to seeing what the future held for him.
Sombra followed Kisuke Urahara towards the shop that was in front of them, though as he did so he still had no idea why the strange void-like passage had brought him here, especially when he had no knowledge or memory of this place and it's owner. He fell back to his reasoning as to why he was following Kisuke, as he seemed to be the only person that might be able to help him regain his memories, but he wasn't sure if that was because he had no one else to return to or if he didn't want to be alone at the moment. In the end he pushed that thought to the back of his mind and stared at the Urahara Shop for a few seconds, finding that it was a two story building, with what appeared to be a single entrance that had a metallic gate that could be lowered in front of it, and a strange vehicle that rested in the alleyway to his left. He didn't have long to ponder the reason why Kisuke had such a thing on his property, as the man opened the door to his shop and beckoned for Sombra to follow... though as he entered the small shop Kisuke closed the door behind him and walked towards the back of the room.
Thanks to the lighting Sombra was able to tell that there were a number of jars and containers on both his left side and his right side, though he wasn't sure what each of them were filled with and why Kisuke had so many of them, but as he turned his gaze towards the man he found that he was sitting on the floor near the back of the room... or, upon closer inspection, the raised section of the floor that looked like it connected to a number of other rooms and some stairs.
"Manager, is something wrong?" a strong voice said, to which Sombra watched as the screen door behind Kisuke moved to the side and revealed who was standing behind it, or rather the trio of people that happened to be in another room of the shop.
From what Sombra could tell the voice he had heard must have belonged to the tall person that was standing directly behind Kisuke, though based on the fact that the person's body had some muscles it, and happened to be lightly tan colored, he guessed the person was a man like Kisuke, which was how he was able to make the connection. The man's hair was cut in a strange fashion, though Sombra only found it strange since he remembered nothing, and he had a large handlebar mustache, which was connected to his long sideburns. Sombra could also tell that the man also wore a pair of rectangular-shaped glasses, while at the same time his attire consisted of a white muscle shirt with regular pants and a blue apron. Just looking at the man made Sombra think that this was Kisuke's right hand in his business, though that made him wonder if they had problems with customers or something to need a muscular person working there at all times, but he said nothing as he focused on the two smaller individuals that were standing beside the man.
One of them happened to be what Sombra assumed was a small boy with red hair, though the boy was wearing a white t-shirt, with what Sombra guessed was the Urahara Shop logo printed on the front, and a pair of blue three-quarter length trousers, where he noticed that the bottoms of which are noticeably turned up. The other small individual was a young-looking girl with a perpetual blush on her cheeks, who happened to be wearing the same t-shirt that the boy was wearing, suggesting it was a uniform of some kind, though she also wore a knee-length, pink skirt with white dots. Sombra further noted that the girl had round purple eyes and long, black hair with a purple tint, though her hair was parted down the middle with two strands of her bangs handing in the middle of her face, opposing each other, while the rest of her hair was done up in pigtails with pink ties. He wasn't sure if they were related in some manner or if they were just fellow employees, but he had the feeling that there was some sort of connection between them, though he guessed that time would tell him the answer.
He would have thought that those three were the only people he would see before Kisuke said anything, though as soon as that thought entered his mind he spotted a small black cat that happened to be staring at him... but in a way that made it seem like the cat was trying to stare him to death or something.
"Everything is fine Tessai. Just had an unexpected arrival, that's all." Kisuke said, though at the same time he opened his fan and hid his mouth behind it, almost like he didn't like people seeing his mouth move or something like that nature, before he turned towards the entrance and looked at Sombra, "Everyone, this is Sombra, a lost soul that found his way to our doorstep just a few minutes ago. Sombra, allow me to introduce Tessai Tsukabishi, Jinta Hanakari, Ururu Tsumugiya, and Yoruichi."
"It's, um, nice to meet all of you." Sombra said, as when he had been told he was going to meet the others people that worked with Kisuke he assumed that it would be a while before that happened, instead of immediately entering the shop like this, though at the same time he wondered what was up with the cat.
"A 'lost soul'?" the young boy, Jinta if Sombra was remembering things correctly, asked, almost as if he either found that fact funny or was annoyed with it, while at the same time Sombra noticed that Kisuke's eyes flickered to the boy for a moment, though why he had no idea, "Well, you're right about the lost part, as he looks like he's in shock over seeing all this candy and meeting new people at the same time... like he's never done this before."
"That's because this is all new to him," Kisuke replied, causing Jinta to turn and look at him for a moment, while at the same time Tessai and Yoruichi seemed to focus their attention on Sombra, where he happened to glance up at Sombra as well, "Do you mind if I tell them? Or would you like to do the honors?"
"Go right ahead," Sombra answered, as he wanted to see what Kisuke said about him, especially since he knew so little about who and what he was, as the shopkeeper seemed to have an understanding of an Arrancar, whatever that was supposed to be.
"As you wish." Kisuke commented, to which he closed his fan for a moment and looked at both Jinta and Ururu, while at the same time Sombra suspected that he was also directing this to Tessai and Yoruichi, "I'm sad to say that the reason Sombra might in shock over seeing new things, along with meeting new people, is because he's lost all of his memories... save for his own name."
"He... lost all his memories?" Jinta inquired, though his tone suggested that he either didn't believe the statement, or if he did believe it he was making it seem like he didn't care either way, while at the same time he kept his attention on Kisuke, as if there was something that he was looking for, "How does someone just lose all of their memories?"
"Well, if we knew that we'd be able to start formulating a plan to help him recovery what he's lost." Kisuke said, causing Tessai to nod his head, as he understood what his boss, as Sombra guessed that had to be the relationship between the two of them, happened to be talking about, while he to a moment to wink at Jinta once, "I already have some ideas on how we can assist him in the recovery process, though in the meantime he'll be helping us around the shop in return. Jinta, Ururu, why don't the two of you show him around the shop and let him get better acquainted with where everything is located."
Sombra guessed that if he was going to be helping Kisuke out, once they came to an arrangement on how he was going to help him recover his memories, or at the very least try everything that he came up with, he needed to know the layout of the shop. As such he turned towards Jinta and Ururu and followed after them, since they knew where everything in the shop was located, leaving Kisuke behind with Tessai and Yoruichi, to do whatever it was that they normally did when the shop wasn't busy like this. The three of them stood there for a few moments, where Kisuke watched as the children took their new guest upstairs, before turning his head towards Tessai and nodded just a tiny bit, to which the two of them, accompanied by Yoruichi, headed into a completely different room. From there Tessai revealed the ladder that allowed them to access the special training area that he had constructed beneath the shop, which was just a large room with a seemingly desolate landscape and a number of dead trees and rocks.
It was the perfect place for the three of them to speak to each other for a few minutes, as Jinta seemed to take the hint that there was something he needed to discuss with Tessai and Yoruichi, so it was safe to assume that, unless a customer arrived in the next few minutes, they would be uninterrupted for the time being.
"I'm sure the two of you noticed what Sombra was, even if Jinta and Ururu didn't." Kisuke commented, where he pulled out his fan again, though this time around he simply tapped the side of it against the cane that he was carrying, while he looked at his friends.
"Yes. He's an Arrancar." Yoruichi remarked, speaking with a distinctive male voice that would have caused any normal person to do a double take, but since both Kisuke and Tessai were used to it, as they had been given a good number of years to do so, neither of them made a big deal about the voice, "Are you sure that it was a smart move allowing him to come here and work with the others, while you try to 'find' his lost memories?"
"Of course I'm sure." Kisuke said, as Yoruichi was the only one that really said anything about his plans or whatever he happened to be thinking about, and happened to be doing the same thing with his thoughts on Sombra, "I told Sombra that he had a decent amount of reishi in his body, and that wasn't a lie, but when I felt it I couldn't detect the usual sinister feeling that comes with an Arrancar's reishi. If he came here, with that type of reishi, Ururu would have gone crazy and attacked him the moment he stepped out of his garganta, but his power is extremely weak at the moment, so much so that neither Jinta or Ururu were able to detect him... and that means that Soul Society doesn't know that there's a fully developed Arrancar hanging out in Karakura Town."
"Sooner or later his power will grow, regardless of whether it's because we aided him or not," Tessai added, as he had been thinking about that since the moment Sombra walked into the shop with the manager, while at the same time there was something specific he had noticed that the Arrancar was missing, 'What happened to his Zanpakuto?"
"From what I can gather he lost it inside Hueco Mundo," Kisuke replied, thinking back to what he had learned from Sombra in the first few minutes they had known each other, especially what Sombra was missing, "When I made the comment about his weapon, among other things, he said he had no idea what I was talking about and the look in his eyes told me he wasn't lying. He truly has no idea what he is, just like he has no idea where Hueco Mundo is located or where this shop happens to reside, and he especially has no idea who he used to be... his memories are gone, that's the simple truth, though how they went missing is the mystery."
"Another part of this mystery is his appearance," Yoruichi spoke up, because there were some parts of Sombra's appearance that were strange, even for an Arrancar, to which both Kisuke and Tessai nodded their heads for a moment, indicating they had seen it as well, "his ears, legs, and tail are unusual, even for an Arrancar... and that's not counting that curved horn of his."
"I'm sure that the nature of why he looks that way will reveal itself to him, and to us, in due time," Kisuke said, to which he turned his eyes towards Tessai for a few seconds, as there was one thing he knew they had that could put put to use, once they started assisting Sombra in his recovery, "Tessai, do we still have that spare katana that Yoruichi found some time ago?"
Kisuke was sure that the weapon in question was a Asauchi, the weapon that belonged to a low ranking Shinigami, but at the same time he had to wonder why such an important weapon had been discarded in such a manner, as it's previous owner was nowhere in sight. They had been lucky to recover such a weapon, as there was no telling what an ordinary hollow would have done with the weapon, though it wasn't the only one the cat had found, as a second one had been spotted sometime after the one they recovered. Yoruichi stayed away from the second one, as the Shinigami had come to claim the body of one of their dead comrades and took the body, along with the weapon, back to Soul Society, though so far no one had come looking for the first weapon they had recovered. Originally he had been planning on keeping it safe, until he found a way to give it to Soul Society without them accusing him and his associates of killing the Shinigami in question... but, since they still had the weapon, it might be useful for Sombra to carry it for now, especially since he wouldn't be able to create a Zanpakuto spirit since his power was tied to his lost weapon.
"Yes, it is resting in the drawer you put it in when Yoruichi brought it back," Tessai replied, though he was interested in what the store owner had planned for both Sombra and the weapon, a plan that would likely be revealed at some point in the future, "Shall I present it to him now, or should I wait for now?"
"Let's give him a few days before giving him the weapon," Kisuke said, as he wasn't planning on sending Sombra out to do anything dangerous, especially when he had just lost his memories and had no idea who he was anymore, though he suspected that it also applied to his combat skills as well, "In exchange for us helping him recover his memories, if such a thing is possible, he's agreed to help run some errands, though someone will need to show him the ropes and make sure that he knows what to do."
"And how would he be able to run these 'errands' you haven't told him the specifics of?" Yoruichi asked, to which a smile appeared on the cat's face, causing Kisuke to moan as he realized that he forgot something important when he first encountered Sombra, "I don't think an Arrancar can use a gigai like a Shinigami can. That will make it hard for him to interact with everything around the shop, not without making customers wonder if there's a ghost or something inside the shop... and might draw unnecessary attention in the process."
Kisuke had to admit that he hadn't thought about that when he first met Sombra, as he had been focused on the fact that an Arrancar had arrived outside his shop, by using a garganta no less, without any memories and was missing what was supposed to be the seat of his power. Now that he thought about it he realized that there was no way of telling whether or not an Arrancar could use a gigai, but right now it appeared that he needed to clarify something with Sombra, to which he nodded his head and headed back up the ladder they had used to get down into the training grounds. Once all of them were back up in the shop, and the entrance to the underground area was covered once more, they walked out of the room that they were in and sought out Sombra, Jinta, and Ururu, though it was rather easy to find the three of them since the front door was open. Kisuke kept the sigh inside him when he found Jinta picking on Ururu again, why he didn't want to know this time around, and found that Sombra was trying to stop it from happening, though it appeared that Jinta was ignoring him as well.
As it turned out Ururu had pointed out to Sombra that Karakura Town, informing him of where they were located, was full of a variety of people, which had prompted Jinta to declare that some people were too nice for their own good, some acted like doormats for others, and a fair number of them were bullies... despite the fact that he heard of an orange haired boy picking on the bullies that were occasionally desecrating the graves of those that had recently died. It was in that moment that Kisuke spotted the last customer of the day, as he had one last appointment before the shop was supposed to close, walking over to where they were standing. Despite the fact that the person looked like a high school student, as he happened to be wearing the attire from a nearby school, and on top of that he wore a long coat and a newsboy cap, all designed to make it harder for people to tell who he was, even though Kisuke and the others knew both him and his associates at this point.
"Ah, Mr. Hirako, you're right on time," Kisuke said, to which both Jinta and Ururu stopped fighting for a moment, as they both knew it wasn't good to do so in front of a customer, even one they were used to seeing, before noticing that the young man in question barely glanced at Sombra, playing the part he usually played when he came here, "If you would follow me inside we'll get the transaction complete and let you be on your way with your delivery."
Sombra watched as Kisuke and Tessai led the young man inside the shop and closed the door behind them, though what struck him as odd was the fact that he had seen the person glance at Jinta and Ururu, confirming that he must come here every so often for items, but he paid no attention to him at all... almost like he was invisible for some reason.
"Is it normal for customers to ignore people?" Sombra asked, as he wasn't sure what was going on at the moment, but he was sure that either Jinta or Ururu would be able to tell him something about why the young man had ignored him like he wasn't even there.
"No, not really." Jinta replied, as most of the customers he had seen always interacted with him and Ururu in some manner, or with Tessai and even Yoruichi when the cat was around, though he also knew why the person in question would have done that, "Besides, for someone like Mr. Hirako, ignoring you would have been impossible... he's one of the few people that Mr. Kisuke orders things for that can see spirits, ghosts, and people like you."
"People like me?" Sombra inquired, as that really didn't make much sense to him, mostly because of his missing memories, so he was hoping that Jinta had a better explanation than what he gave him, "What exactly do you mean by 'people like me'?"
"Well, people like Mr. Hirako can see the souls of the dead," Jinta answered, where he then remembered that he was talking with someone that had lost their memories and had no idea what he was talking about, to which he sighed and picked up the discarded broom he had been carrying earlier, "Look, just forget about it for now. I'm sure that Mr. Kisuke will tell you everything you need to know in the future, when he's not busy with customers or putting deliveries away."
Sombra stared at Jinta for a moment and thought about what the boy had said, as it almost sounded like he meant that he was some sort of spirit that had come back from the realm of the dead, but he had to wonder if that was true or not, because he felt like he was alive. Based on what he had been told only certain people could see beings like him, if Jinta had been telling the truth, which meant that everyone that worked at the Urahara Shop could see him, especially Yoruichi, but that only made him wonder what would happen if he encountered someone that couldn't see spirits. Even with the little information he had been given had been enough to make his mind wander and think about what was going on, because now he had a lot more to think about and had next to no answers to actually help him figure out who and what he was, or who he had been before losing his memories. He was sure that Kisuke had the answers that he was searching for, in regards to what an Arrancar was, what the strange void like passage he had walked through earlier had been, and everything that Jinta had started to tell him about before cutting himself off... though he guessed he would have to be patient before the answers came to him, especially since he now had too many questions running through his mind.
A sound drew him back to reality as Mr. Hirako stepped outside, carrying a bag with the delivery that Kisuke had told him about when he arrived, to which he watched as the young man nodded his head towards both Jinta and Ururu, while once again doing nothing towards Sombra, making it seem like he couldn't see him, before he headed down an alley and disappeared as quickly as he arrived. Once Mr. Hirako was gone, and Kisuke confirmed that there were no other customers coming today, Sombra watched as Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu started to clean up the rest of the outside while Kisuke made sure the sign said that they were closed for the rest of the night. From there they all headed inside the shop, and made sure that Sombra came inside with them, before the metallic gate closed behind them, where Kisuke informed him that there was a back entrance they used when the main entrance was lowered. While Tessai and the others went to make dinner, as it was apparently getting to be that time of the day, Sombra felt that he needed to ask something and Kisuke was the only one that could give him the answer.
"Mr. Kisuke, there's something I need to ask you." Sombra said, to which Kisuke raised an eyebrow as he stared into his eyes, while at the same time Yoruichi sat nearby and observed them, as if the cat thought something was going to happen between the two of them, "Jinta said that I'm a spirit and that only certain individuals can see me... what did he mean by that?"
"Arrancars are spirits that ordinary people cannot see," Kisuke replied, as he had known that Jinta would tell Sombra something before the end of the day, but he decided that it was best he knew part of the answer until he was ready to explain everything to him, "the same is true for ordinary ghosts and spirits. There are several circumstances that allow people to see you and the other spirits, but I'll explain that at another time, when you aren't full of question from everything else you have already learned. Arrancars are spirits that possess great power and they train themselves to master and use those powers, though they are not the only type of spirit that commands such power. Tomorrow I will tell you more about what I know about the spirits and what our arrangement will be... but for now you should relax a little, because tomorrow is going to be a busy day for all of us."
Sombra wasn't sure what Kisuke meant by that, since he figured that a good amount of his time would be spent learning what he knew before his memories were taken before being sent out on the errands Kisuke wanted him to perform in exchange for his help... but he followed the man anyway, wondering what the future held for him and what he might learn in the process.
Sombra discovered something interesting when Kisuke and the others sat down for the final meal of the day, Arrancars didn't need to eat anything like humans, as Jinta called him and the others, though at the same time nothing stopped them from actually eating or drinking things that humans ate and drank. This information was from Kisuke, confirming Sombra's thoughts that the man had a good knowledge on his strange species and that it would take some time for him to get all of that information out of him, but at the same time he actually had to wonder how a simple shopkeeper could know all of this about his species. Kisuke tried to wave it off as him guessing, as he hadn't actually spoken to an Arrancar before today, but that didn't stop Sombra from wondering how he had gotten all of this information in the first place, even though it was going to allow him to understand things at a much faster pace. Despite the fact that he didn't need to actually eat or drink anything, and actually had no desire to eat anything, he did accept a cup of tea that Tessai offered him... one that actually calmed him down and let him enjoy a little peace at the same time.
While all of them were eating, and Sombra sat in the corner since he didn't want to ruin their moment, he noticed that Yoruichi was staring at him from time to time, making him wonder what he had done that had made him earn the cat's attention... before wondering if the cat couldn't actually see him and was only sensing his presence or something, which was as strange as a cat being able to see him to begin with.
Once the evening meal was over Sombra watched as both Jinta and Ururu did whatever they wanted before it was time to turn in for the night, where Jinta seemed to fantasizing about something, as he sometimes pretended to throw a ball into the air and hit it with a 'bat', as Ururu explained it. According to what he learned it appeared that Jinta wanted to be involved in something called 'sports', which he knew nothing about, though he simply watched Jinta do whatever he was doing for some time before turning away. Ururu, on the other hand, seemed to be focused on something outside the shop, which was definitely not a customer when Sombra asked her what she was doing, but since she didn't actually tell him what she was doing he simply backed away and let her go about her business. Tessai and Kisuke seemed to be busy with some business of their own, apparently managing the books for their operation, leaving Sombra to simply sit in a chair and wonder what he was going to do to pass the time.
Apparently after some time Kisuke and the others went to sleep for the night, allowing Sombra to simply remain in the room that he was sitting in and wait for time to pass on it's own, though as he did so he nodded off and fell asleep, allowing the night to pass without him constantly thinking about what the next day was going to bring.
When the morning arrived Sombra woke up as Kisuke and the others began their daily routine, though as he did so he noticed that none of them seemed interested in actually opening the front door of the shop, which apparently they didn't open until they were ready to go. Kisuke, on the other hand, called Sombra aside and brought him to one of the backrooms of the shop, one where they wouldn't be disturbed until someone came to make a purchase, though that told Sombra that he had wrongly assumed that any employee could ring up someone's bill. He was surprised that Tessai couldn't do it while he was busy, but since this operation seemed to run on just the four of them, doing things the way they had been doing them in the past, he decided to go with the flow and said nothing on it, instead following Kisuke to the room he wanted to sit in. Once they arrived at the room in question, about the same size as the one the group had their meals in, the two of them sat around the table, which Sombra found was low to the floor, but once more decided that it wasn't important in the grand scheme of things at the moment.
What he found on the table, however, was some tea accessories, meaning that either Kisuke liked tea or he was planning on serving some while they talked, though either way it didn't matter to him, since he was curious as to what sort of information Kisuke had to share with him.
"I know you have questions, and I will do my best to explain things to you," Kisuke said, to which he set his cane to the side and poured some tea for the two of them, because he found that such a drink helped calm Sombra down, though before he actually started talking he took a few sips from his cup and focused on Sombra, "Allow me to start by saying that there are four realms of existence in this world; the World of the Living, where we are located at the moment, the Spirit World, which many call the afterlife, Hueco Mundo, the place you came from, and Hell, where the wicked are sent. Allow me to start with the World of the Living, also called the Human World or Earth, is home to a number of beings and people, such as humans, Pulses, and the odd group or two, much like myself, Tessai, and Yoruichi reside. The Spirit World, also called Soul Society by those that live there, is where the souls of the dead are sent, most of them anyway, where they reside there for an undetermined amount of time before being reincarnated in this world. Hueco Mundo, the land of Hollows and the occasional Arrancar, resides between the Human World and Soul Society, though sometimes a Hollow will leave Hueco Mundo for a time and hunt for souls in this world, to grow stronger than they previously were."
"And Hell?" Sombra asked, because now he was understanding why only certain people in this place, the Land of the Living, were able to see someone like him, who was a spiritual being from another plane of existence, if he was actually understanding what Kisuke was telling him, "Who resides in Hell?"
"That is where the wicked are sent when they die." Kisuke replied, to which he stared down at his cup for a moment, as he knew what he was going to say and wanted to be sure that he wasn't overloading Sombra with talk of all four realms of existence at the same time, but since he seemed to understand he continued talking, "Allow me to explain what I mean in a way that you'll understand it. Shinigami, or Soul Reapers, reside in Soul Society and sometimes come to the World of the Living to hunt down and purge Hollows of the sins they committed since they died, meaning that Hollows were once Humans that died and their souls didn't cross over to Soul Society for a variety of reasons. If a Hollow only committed sins after they became what they were now, and didn't do any heinous crimes while they were alive, then being slain by a Shinigami will purge their soul and send them to Soul Society. If they committed any heinous acts when they were still alive, however, then being killed by a Shinigami will have a different outcome... the Hollow will be dragged into the depths of Hell to atone for their sins, or to stay there forever."
"And what happens when an Arrancar kills a Hollow?" Sombra inquired, because he figured that, if his species coexisted with the Hollows in Hueco Mundo, like Kisuke was saying, then there had to be some fighting between them, and maybe they sent hunters out like Soul Society sends out Shinigami to purge Hollows and either redeem them or send them to Hell.
"Unfortunately, I don't have an answer for that question." Kisuke answered, because for the most part he had only seen one other Arrancar before in his life, though he was fairly sure that the Arrancar in question had been killed at some point in the past and was no longer around, "Maybe being slain by an Arrancar sends a Hollow to Soul Society, maybe it sends them to Hell... or maybe it just sends them back to Hueco Mundo, where they can rest and recover for the future. There's no way to know for sure."
Sombra nodded his head and drank some of the tea that Kisuke had poured for him, though he said nothing as he thought about what he had just learned so far, about the four realms and the types of people that lived in them, but at the same time he had to wonder about something. He had no idea what a Hollow looked like, had an idea of what Humans looked like, had no idea what a Shinigami might even begin to look like, and was overall still very much confused about everything at the moment. That, in turn, made him wonder how one was supposed to fight something like a Hollow, since that was what the Shinigami did all the time apparently, though even as he thought about that he realized that Kisuke might know what to do, since he knew all about the types of beings that populated the four realms. There was also the arrangement that Kisuke had mentioned a few times, something that he was eager to learn about, though something told him that he was going to be fighting Hollows, even if he had no idea what they looked like or how to properly fight them at the moment.
"So, about this arrangement," Sombra commented, causing Kisuke to look at him, as he was interested in what he had to say at the moment, especially since this wasn't something they had talked about all that much, "would I be correct in assuming that you would like me to help the Shinigami hunt them down and purge them, or at the very least weaken them to make their lives easier?"
"Something like that," Kisuke said, though the slight smile on his face told Sombra that there had to be more to the deal than what he was trying to figure out, or maybe he was overthinking the entire thing and was drawing conclusions when he felt he might be onto something, "but, before we send you out to fight something as dangerous as a Hollow, you need to practice your fighting skills... and that means we need to have a trip to the basement."
Sombra raised an eyebrow as Kisuke led him towards an entrance that contained a ladder, one that allowing them to descend all the way down into the massive underground area that rested beneath the shop, a place that Sombra had no idea even existed until a few minutes ago. As he looked around he found that it mostly contained rock formations, the ground itself, and a few dead looking trees, though the sheer size of the place made it seem like the perfect place to practice without getting caught in the process. What he wasn't expecting to find was Ururu standing some distance away from them with some padded gloves and a helmet on, punching and kicking at an invisible enemy for a few moments, with a spare set of gear resting nearby. Jinta, for the most part, happened to be sitting nearby and was watching Ururu, though when they arrived he got up from where he was sitting and headed back up to the shop, no doubt so he and Tessai could keep watch and deal with any customers that came in today, that way Kisuke wasn't bothered and whatever happened next wasn't stopped.
One thing he noticed, yet decided to say nothing about since he was so interested in the area around them, was that it was a little difficult to breathe, but he just assumed that this was because they were underground and weren't doing something like this outside the shop.
"If I were to prepare you for fighting a Hollow, as you seem to think, you need to relearn how to fight." Kisuke said, to which Ururu stopped what she was doing and turned to face them, where she seemed to be the exact same as she had been earlier, only now with padded gloves on, "So to start us off we'll start with the first lesson, hand to hand combat. The rules are quite simple, as the winner is determined by whoever renders their opponent unconscious first. You'll find some gear over there... though you might want to put them on before Ururu throws the first punch."
Sombra stared at the three pieces that were laid out near them, two gloves and a head piece that was different from what Ururu was wearing, though even as he did that he knew that Ururu was preparing herself for the sparring match that they were going to have. Since it appeared that he didn't have much of a choice, as this was part of the arrangement that he had made with Kisuke, even when he didn't know all the specifics of said arrangement, he said nothing as he picked up the gloves and slipped them on, finding that the grip was nice and comfortable without restricting his movement. The head piece was the same, as it fit into place and protected his forehead, though at the same time he briefly thought about what Kisuke had said, about this being hand to hand combat, before realizing that the movements that Ururu had been going through before their arrival had to have been a little hint on what he had to do to prevent himself from taking damage during the sparring match. He then guessed that he would have to use the hints that Ururu had been giving him to take part of this sparring match, though at the same time he wasn't sure why she was the one that would be fighting against him, when he was sure that Kisuke or Tessai would be a more appropriate opponent for him to spar against.
Ururu, seeing that he had put on the gloves and head piece, brought her fists to the side for a moment before she dashed forward, surprising Sombra with the fact that she was able to move as fast as she was, since she was still so young, and before he knew it she was right in front of him. He had just enough time to raise his arms and block his face as Ururu swung her fist at him, causing the dust around them to kick up as her attack connected, where he went flying through the air and collided with one of the many rock formations that rested down here. Sombra moaned for a moment as he pulled himself out of the small crater that had formed around him and rubbed his arm for a few seconds, because while he knew that Ururu could see spirits, since he was one himself, he was surprised to find that she had the power to send him flying in such a manner, not to mention bruise his arm in the process. He didn't know if she was pulling her punches or if an Arrancar had natural defenses that dulled the pain, but he quickly determined that taking too many of Ururu's punches was a very bad idea. As he got up, and resolved to fight back, Ururu charged at him and went on the offensive rather immediately, either swinging her fists at him or jumping and punching the ground where he had been standing as he retreated every now and then... leaving small craters where her fists collided with the ground beneath them, before continuing the chance once more.
While this was going on Kisuke, accompanied by Yoruichi, stood nearby and watched the two of them go at it, for more like Sombra continued to retreat and study Ururu's movements, while at the same time occasionally taking one or two of the attacks, either on purpose or because he got sloppy... it was hard to tell with him, as his movements were getting better, yet he still didn't feel the need to attack her yet.
"When are you going to tell him that this 'lesson' is designed to help restore one's spiritual energy?" Yoruichi asked, because right now Sombra was so engaged in his 'battle' with Ururu that it was okay to speak, as he would never hear the two of them conversing until they had already stopped talking.
"When he's finished fighting." Kisuke replied, though at the same time he watched Sombra fall back and avoid another attack from Ururu, where his earlier lack of breath seemed to have disappeared entirely, which meant that he was adapting to the area quiet well, "At the very least this will allow him to start the other lessons that I have planned for him, though whether he gets through them all or not is all up to him and his ability to understand what's going on. Besides, while he does possess a great deal of spiritual energy it's all bound up at the moment, like something is keeping it locked up, so he needs this training to draw out his power, and then we can focus on the real work... and finding that weapon of his, since it's part of who he is."
"If he grows his power too fast Soul Society will come looking for him." Yoruichi commented, though a slight smile appeared on the cat's face for a moment, as Sombra tried to punch Ururu when she missed, which only caused the young girl to hit him even harder and send him flying into one of the rock formations, "but, at the rate he's going, I don't think we'll have too much to worry about."
Kisuke nodded his head for a moment, as while Sombra was making decent progress in increasing his spiritual energy, thus increasing his overall speed and power at the same time, he was still having problems figuring out when was the best time to attack Ururu and gain the upper hand. He knew that the Arrancar was smart, he could see it just by looking at him, but he was working from a blank slate and couldn't use whatever experience he once had to his advantage, meaning this was like watching a novice fight a much more experienced opponent. What surprised him was that despite the pain that Ururu was putting him through, when her attacks connected, Sombra showed no signs of giving up, meaning that he wanted to overcome the lesson he was going through before he stopped and attempted the next one. He had to admit that Sombra had enough patience to fight Ururu in the manner that he was, while even trying to overcome her at the same time, but Kisuke knew that it would be some time before Sombra was even remotely close to such a thing, even if he constantly trained all day for the next several days.
What really caught his attention was when Sombra, somehow, managed to lightly scratch Ururu's face, causing her eyes to widen as she went into her more powerful stance, where she spun around and kicked Sombra so hard that any normal soul would have found their chest shattered and their lives forfeit... though as he moved in and stopped her from chasing after him, calming her down in the process, he found that there was some smoke rising from the area of Sombra's chest that she had hit, though he was still alive.
"I think that this is good enough for today," Kisuke stated, to which Ururu relaxed and started taking off the gloves and the head piece, while at the same time he walked over to Sombra and helped him onto his hooves, "You did good to keep up with Ururu's speed, even though you need to learn when to dodge attacks so you don't take unnecessary damage in the future. Now, you will train with her once per day, for a few minutes every day, and then we'll take a few moments to go over some new facts about the four realms and the types of beings that call them home, though maybe next week we'll start our actual training... unless I decide to step up your training and start using actual weapons at some point."
Sombra nodded his head, though at the same time he was already exhausted from the short bout with Ururu, as the young girl was even stronger than what he had been expecting and his lack of experience in even hand to hand fighting made things even more difficult for him. Ururu's attacks, despite the fact that they hadn't broken any of his bones or did any serious damage to him, still hurt and he rubbed them a little as he followed Kisuke and Ururu back towards the ladder that would take them back to the shop. Of course at the same time he made sure to take off the gear that he had been wearing the entire time and put it in the area that Kisuke wanted them returned to, so he could prepare them for the next day's training, but at the same time he had to wonder what else the shopkeeper had to tell him and what he had to show him before he had an understanding of the worlds he had known before he lost his memories. One thing he considered was that Kisuke seemed to be happy with the progress that he had made already, if the look on his face was anything to go by, though he hoped that he could do him proud when it came time to learn how to use an actual weapon... and, when the time came, to step out and tackle the Hollows that came into this world, or whatever Kisuke wanted him to do.
When the three of them returned to the upper level of the shop, however, they discovered that there hadn't been any customers so far, even though the shop had been open for a few minutes since they had been down in the depths of the basement, though when they climbed out of the shaft they had been in Kisuke closed the floor and everything returned to normal for him and the others. Since Sombra was going to be invisible to anyone that happened to come into the shop, and couldn't do much until Kisuke decided to teach him something, he moved to one of the rooms and simply took out one of the books that happened to be on one of the shelves. From what he could tell the book was in a room that had some information on Hueco Mundo, maybe written by the Shinigami he guessed, to which he sat down in a corner of the room, where he wouldn't be spotted by customers if any walked into this area, and started to read what was inside the pages in front of him. If Kisuke and the others needed him, for whatever reason, he would be available until it was time for him to do something else, to which he focused on the book that was in front of him and the information that it contained on the world that he had come from.
He was sure that there was something inside the book that Kisuke hadn't told him, as there had to be more to the world he had found himself in when he woke up than what little he already knew, and reading what the Shinigami had written on the subject, which raised questions about how Kisuke got the information, might answer some of the questions that he had at the moment... and maybe even bring back some of his forgotten memories in the process.
For the next five days Sombra followed Kisuke's training to the letter, spending about ten minutes every morning sparring with Ururu in the massive basement that the shop had, in the time before the shop was supposed to open, while at the same time learning all there was to learn about hand to hand combat. Kisuke told him that, when he showed that he was ready, he would start devoting some of his time to showing him how to wield a sword, as in the proper stances and the proper techniques that one needed to know if they were to handle such a weapon. When he had been told that Sombra inquired how a sword would help him, as he was thinking of an ordinary sword that wouldn't do much against the Hollows he had been told about, but Kisuke smiled and said that all would be revealed in time, once he was sure that Sombra was ready for such knowledge. The rest of his days were spent either reading the various books that were around the shop, in the area that he had been reading in after his first training session, spending more time in the basement trying new motions to see if anything jogged his memories, or exploring Karakura Town, so he could have a better understanding of where everything was for when Kisuke sent him on whatever task he wanted completed.
Sometimes, when he was out exploring the town, he caught a glimpse of Yoruichi following him, as it was the only black cat that glared at him and stuck to the shadows, which Kisuke explained as something that the cat liked to do from time to time and that he shouldn't worry about it. From what he could gather Yoruichi was given free reign to do whatever it wanted, but instead of spending all day with it's owner it decided to leave the shop and explore a different part of the town everyday, or at least follow someone of interest. Sombra guessed that he should feel honored by the fact that Yoruichi felt that he was worth shadowing, as Kisuke called it, multiple days in a row, but after the third day he stopped being worried about the cat following him and focused on exploring the unknown town that he had found himself in. One thing he noticed right away was the fact that there were a large number of other spirits around the town, the ghost type that usually remained in the area they had died in or were occasionally floating near the home of a loved one, as they couldn't let go and move on.
When he walked around the town there were times where he simply nodded to the other spirits, who either ignored him or returned his gesture, and moved on with his life, though there were times where he stopped walking and either stood or sat near a spirit, listening to the tale on how they died. Some of them died in a car accident, making him have to add asking Kisuke what a car was, some died in accidents like drowning in the river or falling from a really high place, and then there were the unfortunate few that died on their way to a clinic or hospital, never getting the chance to recover from their accident. Many of those ones were confused on what they should do, while others held anger or resentment in their hearts, but one thing they all had in common was a chain that was connected to their chest, yet another topic for him to ask Kisuke about when he had the time. One thing he never noticed, and wondered if it was because he was walking around the town in the middle of the day, were any Hollows, as he was sure that with this many spirits and souls wandering around the place they would have been attracted to them by now... but, since there weren't any Hollows at the moment, that meant he was allowed to relax a little and take in the sights.
Today, however, he found something else that made him stop and pause for a moment, as he spotted a young adult, male from the look of his body, walking down the other side of the street as he headed away from the high school he went to, based on the uniform he was wearing. Sombra remembered Jinta talking about a boy with orange hair that supposedly had the power to see spirits and interact with them, sort of like Mr. Hirako, a day or two ago, after he and Kisuke had that conversation about the four realms and the beings that inhabited them. As he started to remember what he had been told, however, he noticed that the orange haired boy had stopped walking and was now staring in his direction, with a look that revealed that he had never seen something like him before, though instead of sticking around Sombra continued walking and left the street he had been on. Yoruichi, having followed him out like every other day when he went exploring, followed after him, though at the same time Sombra heard a car honk and knew what was going on, the young boy was investigating what he had seen and was now following after him.
Fortunately there happened to be a good place to hide nearby, in the shadows created by the train cars that weren't moving at the moment and Yoruichi found one that had an open door, allowing them to slip into the darkness and pause as they waited. Sure enough the boy slowed his pace as he walked by the slightly open door, only giving it a passing glance for some reason as he looked around the rest of the area, before moving on as he continued his search for Sombra, who waited for a few moments before Yoruichi moved out of the car. Sombra kept himself still for a few more seconds, giving the cat time to see if the boy had left, before the cat reappeared and made a motion with it's head that appeared to be one that was telling him that it was okay to move. As such Sombra emerged from the shadows, slipped out of the train car, and followed Yoruichi to a high place that let them overlook the area they had fled to, where they could see the boy in question heading back into the part of the town he had spotted Sombra in, no doubt resuming his journey home, or wherever he was going.
"I knew that there were others that could see me," Sombra commented, staring at the orange haired boy as he disappeared into the town, but unlike the boy he didn't feel the need to follow him at all and investigate who he was, as there was no reason to do so, "but I was not expecting one of them to start following me the first chance he got."
"Indeed." Yoruichi said, to which it's eyes focused on the boy as well, who had barely noticed that Sombra had a cat following him at all times, before remembering the name that Jinta had told Sombra earlier, "Ichigo Kurosaki... he's definitely someone that we might want to keep tabs on, just in case he turns out like Jinta or Ururu."
"Maybe." Sombra replied, his mind focused on the boy, Ichigo as Yoruichi said, before his mind found some new information that had been delivered to him, by the very creature that was standing next to him, "Wait a minute... Yoruichi, you can TALK?!"
"Hmm?" Yoruichi answered, with what appeared to be an amused look on it's face, though that was before it smiled and glanced up at him, as if the cat had been playing a game the entire time, "Yes, I can talk, though I prefer to do so around people like Kisuke, Tessai, and those like them, but at the same time Kisuke wanted to give you some time before revealing that I was more than just an ordinary cat. Of course, when we get back to the shop, I'll have to tell Kisuke that you know the truth... though something tells me he'll be more interested in Ichigo Kurosaki for a few days, since we now have confirmation that he's got the ability to see spirits."
"I guess Arrancars are as rare as Kisuke said they were," Sombra said, even though he was positive that Ichigo had no idea what those were in the first place, just like he hadn't known what he was when he first woke up, even though he was still lost on what an Arrancar was supposed to be, "So, since you're going to report all this to Kisuke when we get back to the shop, do you want to follow him for a few minutes, or do you think we should head back now?"
"We had best see where he lives." Yoruichi replied, to which the cat started heading back down into the area that the train car was in, though at the same time Sombra followed after it while making sure not to do anything that would alert Ichigo to their presence, "Knowing Kisuke he'd likely send me to find that out anyway, if I told him we had confirmation on the boy's abilities, so we might as well kill two birds with one stone."
Sombra nodded and followed after Yoruichi as the cat headed back to the street they had been walking on a few moments ago, though this time around they were on a mission and the cat took measures to make sure Ichigo had no idea they were following him. Sombra still felt that it was weird for them to be doing something like this, but since the cat seemed sure that Kisuke would have sent it out again anyway he guessed that it had to be right, so he simply kept his mouth shut and followed the cat down the street. The two of them followed after Ichigo as he made his way to wherever he lived, though once or twice he had to stop and deal with something, where Sombra discovered that it wasn't them being discovered by the young adult, but rather he was stopping to either talk with a spirit that wandered over to him or to correct something that happened to the offering that had been laid at their resting place, before moving on. It took them a while, and there were a few times where Yoruichi had Sombra hide when Ichigo turned back, where the cat acted like an ordinary cat for a few moments, though once he was walking again the two of them carefully followed after him once more... until they came to a stop near a bunch of houses, where one was called the 'Kurosaki Clinic', which was the same one Ichigo went inside.
"I guess his family owns a clinic." Sombra commented, to which he stared at the building in question for a moment, where he noticed that the entrance Ichigo used was on the left side of the building and that it happened to have two stories, meaning that the bedrooms were on the second floor since he was sure the first one was where the clinic was supposed to be.
"At least its an easy building to find." Yoruichi said, where Sombra noticed that the cat was taking in the surrounding area, no doubt to give Kisuke a better report on where to find Ichigo if he went out and explored the city himself, before turning around and started walking in the opposite direction, "Come, we had best be on our way before he realizes that the person he had been looking for earlier had followed him home, then he'd insist on following us until he found you."
Sombra nodded once more, finding that there was some wisdom in the cat's words, and soon he was following Yoruichi to the place they called home, especially since he had no where else to go, though at the same time the cat insisted that they race, as if it was testing his speed or something... and, at the same time, Sombra guessed that he might as well go along with it, since all of this was likely going to be reported to Kisuke anyway.
Jinta and Ururu were definitely waiting for the two of them when Sombra and Yoruichi got back, which made sense when Sombra considered that they usually helped customers out to their vehicles or simply swept the area outside the shop until Kisuke or Tessai needed them to do something. The walk home had been as ordinary as it could possibly be, as they saw some spirits on the way back and not much else, as Ichigo was the only interesting person they had seen, though at the same time Sombra wondered how long it was going to take before a Hollow came and attacked the spirits that they had seen, or how long it was going to be before a Shinigami arrived to sent them on their way. He was honestly surprised that neither of those things had happened yet, since from what he had read and what he had been told there was always supposed to be a Shinigami watching over the town, something that Kisuke confirmed when he asked him about it when he first discovered it. When the two of them walked back into the shop, however, they noticed that a few of the items had been purchased in the time since they had left that morning, but paid it no mind as Yoruichi sought out Kisuke.
As it turned out Kisuke was in the same room that Sombra liked to be in when he was reading, though this time around he seemed to be thinking about something, but as the two of them entered the room that thought was shelved as he turned to face the pair.
"Yoruichi! Sombra! You've returned." Kisuke said, where he opened his hands and picked Yoruichi up, to which he proceeded to scratch the cat a few times as he turned his head towards Sombra, "I was wondering what was taking you two so long to return. Did you run into something interesting?"
"More like someone ran into us," Yoruichi replied, to which Kisuke glanced down at the cat for a moment, finding that if it was speaking now, in Sombra's presence, that meant it trusted the Arrancar more than it had when Sombra first arrived outside the shop, "It seems that the rumors are true; Ichigo Kurosaki can definitely see spirits, because the moment he saw Sombra he tried to follow him and see what was going on. We only lost him because he didn't check the train car we decided to hide in, and we found the clinic that his family owns as both their business and their home, so you don't have to ask about that piece of information."
"I should have known that you would have found that out before returning to me." Kisuke stated, though the smile on his face told Sombra that he was happy that Yoruichi had gone and done that, just in case there was something they needed to do with Ichigo and didn't need to spend some time looking for his residence, before he glanced over at Sombra once more, "I see you decided to talk around our friend."
"And I'll show him more later," Yoruichi said, to which the cat pulled itself free from Kisuke's grasp and touched the floor, before turning it's head up towards Sombra for a few seconds, "Tonight you and I are going to explore the city and see if we can't find any Hollows, or maybe spirits in need if no Shinigami show up... and then we'll see how well you remember your training with Ururu."
Sombra nodded his head, because this was something he had been waiting for the moment he started training, but at the same time he noticed that there was a look in Kisuke's eyes, as if he had to prepare something for tonight, because he said nothing as Yoruichi walked away. Once the cat was gone, however, Kisuke stood up and walked out of the room as well, leaving Sombra behind to do whatever he wanted, to which he simply sighed and moved over to the area where he usually sat, before he grabbed the latest book he had been reading and continued from where he left off. Despite reading what history books he could find on Soul Society, and the other realms that the Shinigami knew about, there was still so much about the world he was in that he didn't know, and the books Kisuke had didn't paint the whole picture either, often leaving him with more questions than answers. Kisuke preferred that he finish a book or two more answering whatever questions that he had, just in case he found the answer inside the book he was reading, and so he waited until a book was over before he did that... though he still wondered how Kisuke was able to get his hands on all of this, even if he didn't feel the desire to tell him the reason.
That night, true to what Yoruichi said, Sombra headed for the back entrance of the shop and found Kisuke waiting there with a pack in his hands, though he was curious as to why he was holding onto the pack in the first place and wondered if he was going to find that out now.
"Yoruichi went on ahead," Kisuke said, to which he held out his hand and offered the pack to Sombra, who took it and held onto it, still finding it odd that a spirit like him could hold onto things like a Human could, "she told me that she was heading back to the train yard, where you found that train car you hid in, because she wants you to meet her with what's inside that pack. From there the two of you will begin your search for any Hollows or Shinigami in the town."
"Right." Sombra replied, as he remembered where the train yard was and knew how to get to it, though when Kisuke started shooing him with his fan, indicating it was time for him to get going when he wanted him to get out and explore, Sombra nodded and headed outside.
As he walked outside, and headed away from where the Urahara Shop was located, he glanced at the pack a few times and wondered what a cat could possibly need delivered to it, though when he was a few minutes away from the shop, however, he let his curiosity get the better of him and he opened the pack a little. What he found, however, was some clothing that seemed to fit a female Human or Shinigami, making him wonder why Yoruichi would even need what he was seeing, to which he shook his head, zipped the pack back up, and continued on his way to the train yard. With it being nighttime, and with a good amount of clouds in the sky above him, there weren't a lot of people out and about, but those that he spotted didn't see him as he stayed off the street and continued towards his destination, while also keeping an eye out for Ichigo Kurosaki, just in case he showed up at some point to help someone out. Fortunately it didn't take him too long to reach the area that Yoruichi was supposed to be in, to which he took a few moments and carefully checked the various train cars that were stopped around him for the night.
Sombra explored the train yard for a few minutes, making sure that there wasn't anyone around here that could see him, before finding Yoruichi sitting in the opening of the same train car he had hidden in earlier, when they were hiding from Ichigo, though the cat smiled when it saw him.
"I brought you what Kisuke wanted me to bring you." Sombra said, to which he carefully opened the door of the train car a little and set the pack inside the container, before he glanced at the cat for a few seconds, "So, when will you be ready to get our venture underway?"
"Give me a few minutes," Yoruichi replied, once more flashing him a smile for a moment, as if it found something funny, before it walked deeper into the container and glanced back at him for a second, "Oh, and would you mind closing the door until I'm ready?"
Sombra nodded and closed the door behind Yoruichi, allowing the cat some time alone with the clothing, making him wonder if it had been from a previous owner before Kisuke became the caretaker of the feline, but at the same time he leaned against the side of the train car and waited. There wasn't much for him to do, since he was more interested in seeing if they could find a Hollow or some Shinigami, so he simply stood his ground and waited for Yoruichi to make some noise that indicated that told him it was time to leave the area. Not a few minutes later he felt the door to his right start to move and stopped leaning on the train car, as he was wondering what was going on, since he was the only one that could open the door in question, though as he watched he expected a cat to come out of the container. What he got, however, was a slender and well-endowed woman that was around Kisuke's height, though at the same time he noticed that her skin was slightly dark, had golden colored irises, and black colored hair... though the hair in question happened to be waist-length and was kept in a ponytail with chin-length bangs framing the sides of her face.
What caught his attention next was the fact that she was wearing a black, backless, sleeveless undershirt, an orange over-shirt with two white straps on each shoulder, a large beige sash around her waist and black stretch pants with a pair of lightweight brown shoes... and, as he stared into her golden eyes, Sombra found that she was smiling at him.
"What's wrong Sombra?" Yoruichi, or who Sombra assumed had to be Yoruichi, asked, though it was clear that the lady found something humorous about the situation, even if Sombra wasn't thinking the same thing, "You look like something you believed in was shattered."
"I... Truth be told, I was not expecting this." Sombra replied, taking a moment to take in the fact that Yoruichi wasn't male, which raised another question that he wasn't sure he wanted to ask, and the fact that she could switch from her Human form to that of an ordinary cat that could talk whenever she desired, "I'm also not sure what I was expecting, so you definitely made me think about what I knew about you... you are Yoruichi, right?"
"I am Yoruichi Shihoin." Yoruichi said, giving him what he assumed was a mock bow, or maybe it was a real one and the current situation was making him think it was something completely different, before she snapped back up and glanced around the area, "Though we'll have to skip the chit chat and get to work... I'm sensing a Hollow nearby, and there aren't any Shinigami in the town at all!"
"Then let's go deal with it." Sombra stated, though at the same time he was both excited and a tad bit frightened, as this was the first time he'd be setting eyes on a Hollow, while wondering how Yoruichi was able to sense where the creature was located to begin with.
Yoruichi grinned as she jumped into the air and landed on top of the train car she had been in a few minutes ago, to which Sombra followed after her to the best of his ability, where he immediately found that she was much faster than Ururu was, and he was pretty sure that she was holding herself back so he could keep up with her. He was impressed by her speed, as he was sure that she had spent many years practicing her skills, though at the same time he wondered if the reason she was going slow wasn't because she wanted him to keep up, rather it was because the Hollow was rather close to where they had been. As if summoned by his thoughts a spirit of a young boy ran down the street with a look of fear in his eyes, though that was followed by a rather large spider like creature, standing at the height of two of him, started to head down towards the young spirit. The interesting thing about the spider creature was that there was a white, almost bone colored, mask with markings covering it's face, while at the same time, in the center of it's mass, was a hole that reminded Sombra of the one that he possessed... making him wonder what the connection between a Hollow and an Arrancar was, since they both had that type of hole on their bodies.
After that thought came to mind Sombra acted instead of thinking, where he jumped down on the street and put himself between the spirit and the Hollow, where he caused the Hollow to stop for a moment, almost with what could have been it's own look of terror in it's eyes. Instead of letting it do what it wanted, and let it feast on the soul of the spirit that was running away, he took the opportunity that was presented to him and swung his fist, like he did in the sparring sessions with Ururu, and struck the Hollow in the side of it's mask, knocking it to the ground in the process. That caused a growl to emit from the Hollow as it raised it's front legs and started attacking him, though thanks to the fact that he had been training for the last few days his responses to what was happening allowed him to duck and weave as the Hollow attacked him... and let the legs crack the ground around him in the process, while he never let one of them touch him as he focused on his opponent as Yoruichi watched him from above. After dodging a few more attacks he responded with one of his own, striking the Hollow in the center of it's head and knocked it backwards, though at the same time he understood that, unless he had the weapon of a Shinigami or something similar, simply punching his opponent would do nothing for them.
As he thought about that he found a weapon, a sword by the looks of it, resting off to the side like it had been dropped, but instead of worrying about where it came from, as he suspected that it was Yoruichi, he rushed over to it, picked it up with his right hand, and swung at the Hollow as it tried to attack him again... only to cut off the leg that was attacking him, before driving the blade into the mask, which caused the entire creature to break apart until there was literally nothing left of it.
"I was right, you do have potential." Yoruichi said, though the smile that had been on her face earlier as still there, before she glanced off in a different direction, as if she was detecting another Hollow, "The nights still young. Do you feel up to hunting a few more Hollows and making the streets safer for the souls that are still stuck here?"
"Just show me where they are and I'll take care of them." Sombra replied, though this time around he found that he was smiling as well, because he had saved the soul of a young spirit, who the Shinigami would come to see to at some point in the future, which made him feel better.
Yoruichi nodded and together the two of them headed off into the night once more, heading to the area where the next Hollow was located, intending to do the same thing to it as well, while at the same time Yoruichi knew that it was time for Sombra to start training with a weapon... and she had the perfect trainer in mind for him.
Sombra followed Yoruichi around Karakura Town that night, following her senses as they tracked down the Hollows that were trying to eat the souls of the dead, be they the souls of children, young adults, or even old people, allowing the spirits to flee the scene before Sombra dealt with the Hollows. He found that, of the five Hollows that he actually fought that night, the majority of them seemed to be related to bugs or insects in some manner, as the very first Hollow he had taken on looked like a spider and the second one was like a centipede. The spirits always emerged once the fighting was over and the Hollow was taken care of, taking a moment to thank Sombra for taking care of the creature that was after them while also giving some thanks to Yoruichi for bringing him to their aid, as if they knew that Sombra couldn't sense where the Hollows were, but then again he guessed he might be overthinking everything once more. One thing that he was worried about was the fact that, despite the number of Hollows he and Yoruichi had found over the course of an hour, there weren't any Shinigami patrolling the town at all.
As they headed back to the shop Sombra voiced his concern to Yoruichi, who said that there were times where Soul Society replaced a fallen Shinigami rather quickly, to keep up the work if there were an alarming number of Hollows in a particular area, and then there were instances where they were slow in picking a replacement. As it turned out this instance, in her opinion, was more a sense that they hadn't decided who to send yet and were still taking their time in deciding who should patrol Karakura Town next. Sombra, of course, was still interested in how she could how stuff like this, especially since Kisuke had those books in his shop, but at the same time he felt that it would be inappropriate of him to ask her how she came by her information on Soul Society, so he didn't talk about it and switched to the number of Hollows. Yoruichi, of course, also felt that it was a little strange to have that many in one night, especially after so long of not having any of them show up for the spirits that roamed the town... but she did find some good news in that, because if five showed up in one night, like they discovered during their hunt, than a Shinigami might be selected sooner.
"You know, I actually haven't had the chance to hunt a Hollow for quite some time," Yoruichi commented, causing Sombra to stare at her with a confused look on his face, though she either didn't seem to notice or she did and was planning on doing something about it, "and, after seeing how well you did out there tonight, I think I was right in thinking that you have the potential for big things... and maybe, after your next lessons, we might take a night or two to hunt down some more Hollows."
"I'd like to accompany you on some more of these hunts." Sombra replied, as while he had no idea where the Hollows were located, he found that Yoruichi had to be testing his reflexes in some manner, or even something else entirely, and that he enjoyed spending time with her, even after discovering the truth about her, "Do you think Kisuke will be happy that we found some Hollows lurking throughout the town, or will he be upset that the Shinigami aren't doing their jobs in taking them out?"
"Oh, he'll understand the situation once we tell him the news." Yoruichi said, where she flashed him the smile she had given him a few times since they left the train yard to hunt down the Hollows, though Sombra had no idea what she found to be funny this time around, and honestly he wasn't sure that he wanted to know, "He might even decide to change up your routine a little, especially with how well you handled that sword earlier."
Sombra nodded and thought about how he had instinctively grabbed the blade the moment he realized that he needed one to take care of a Hollow, how easily it cut through the legs of the spider creature he had fought, and that a single swing had seemingly destroyed the Hollow. Since he was an Arrancar he had to wonder what happened to the Hollows he had killed that night, if their spirits were cleansed and sent to Soul Society, or if he simply displaced their spirit and sent them back to Hueco Mundo, where they could recover before attacking the town again. It was like Kisuke said, there was no telling what happened to a Hollow when an Arrancar like him killed them, yet at the same time that one statement didn't stop him from thinking about the question anyway, as he was curious as to what happened to them when he cut them down. Not only was he curious about that, but he was also interested in the fact that the Hollows had this hole somewhere on their bodies, much like he had one in the center of his chest, where his heart was supposed to be, and what sort of connection the Hollows had to him and the other Arrancars, if there were any other of his kind out there in the vastness of Hueco Mundo.
Just thinking about the realm of the Hollows, where he was from, made him remember that the key to his memories and who he used to be, a weapon of some kind when he told Kisuke about not remembering anything, was lost in the vastness of that world... causing him to sigh as they walked down the street, because it seemed like an impossible task for someone to take on with no hope of succeeding.
"Sombra, is something wrong?" Yoruichi asked, as she had noticed the silence coming from her companion and noticed that the look on his face meant that he was thinking about something, only whatever he was thinking about was clearly something that annoyed him.
"I just realized how impossible the task of finding the blade that might hold the key to my memories is," Sombra replied, to which he looked up at the stars that were above them, where he wondered if Hueco Mundo had stars or if it was just an empty sky of sorts, "I have no idea where, in the entirety of Hueco Mundo, it might be resting."
"There's no need to be worried about that," Yoruichi said, as she understood that Hueco Mundo was a large place and that finding something like a sword might be harder than one would think, but she also knew that Kisuke was likely looking our for it, before someone else found it, "Kisuke said that he would help you recover your memories, and that means that Tessai, Jinta, Ururu, and I will do what we can to help you as well, so it's only a matter of time until someone finds it... and who knows, if you're lucky you won't need it to recover your memories."
For a moment Sombra wondered what Yoruichi was talking about, though after a few seconds he realized that she was referring to the fact that it might be easier to make new memories and hope that they were close enough to the originals to coax them out of hiding, or at least that was his assumption. At the same time it could also mean that he should put the past behind him and look towards the future, something that was another possibility that he couldn't just ignore, but even as he considered that option he knew what he was going to do anyway. The only thing about his past that he knew was his name, and that really didn't give him anything to go on, so he wasn't about to give up on the one thing that might allow him to remember everything, even though he knew that Yoruichi would never suggest something like that to begin with. Yoruichi was simply trying to make sure that he wasn't depressed over what he was thinking about, as he never told Kisuke about his thoughts on the seemingly impossibility that was locating the sword, though even as he thought about it he decided to follow Yoruichi with a slightly happier look on his face.
Together the two of them made their way back to the Urahara Shop, with Yoruichi stopping a few times to make sure that there weren't any other Hollows besides the five that Sombra had taken out after she brought him to them, but as it turned out it was a rather peaceful walk home. By the time they both back to the shop they discovered the Jinta and Ururu were passed out, tired from the day's activities, and that both Kisuke and Tessai were waiting for their return, though as they walked into the shop, through the backdoor, the pair welcomed them back. That was followed by Yoruichi telling the pair what they had discovered while they were out on their 'hunt', which was just them patrolling part of Karakura Town, and the more important fact that there weren't any Shinigami protecting the town at all. Kisuke was also interested in the fact that the blade Sombra was carrying, as it was resting in the sheath that Yoruichi had handed him after the last Hollow was beaten, had come in handy already, especially after what happened to it's previous owner, though all that did was prompt Sombra to ask another question. It was then that he discovered the Kisuke was keeping track of who was being sent to Karakura Town, from Soul Society no less, and found that the last two Shinigami that had been sent to the town had been killed... though while the body of one Shinigami had been found the other one seemed to have disappeared entirely, leaving behind his Asauchi, the nameless Zanpakuto that all Shinigami started with.
Sombra also discovered that, since he was an Arrancar and the majority of his power and memories were locked within his missing sword, he clearly could use the sword without any problems, though he couldn't imprint his soul onto the weapon since he already had one such weapon... but, at the same time, the Asauchi would prove to be a valuable tool in his mission to learn what he needed to learn and to find his soul weapon.
After that Yoruichi talked about the number of Hollows they had encountered in one night, an odd number that even Kisuke agreed with, and that it was only a matter of time until some of the souls were devoured because there weren't any Shinigami to take care of them. It was during that part of the conversation that Sombra was told about another part of the duties of the Shinigami that were supposed to patrol the World of the Living and send the souls of the dead to either Soul Society or to Hell, depending on what happened before they became Hollows, and that was what they called Konso, or the Soul Burial, as that was the other name it went by. From what Sombra was able to determine the technique was designed for a Shinigami to send a wandering soul to Soul Society, though there were times were a Shinigami found a soul that had committed sins before their death and sent them to Hell, without them becoming a Hollow. Once that part of the conversation was over, however, Kisuke told Sombra that the next lessons they would be going over, once he had a good nights sleep of course, was the art of Zankensoki, which he planned on explaining in the morning.
In the end Sombra went to sleep, what counted as sleep for a being like him, not a few minutes later, his mind thinking about the dead Shinigami that had been killed before he came to the World of the Living, the weapon he was going to use for some time, and everything else he had learned... or rather, that was what he had been thinking about before he drifted off to sleep.
When morning arrived, and breakfast was over for everyone else as Sombra stared outside the shop, Kisuke had Jinta and Ururu take care of the exterior and listen to Tessei's orders, since he was second in command when he was busy doing things like this, before he and Sombra headed down to the training area once more. A few moments later Sombra found out why he hadn't seen Yoruichi so far that day, because she had slipped into the training area before the kids had gotten up and appeared to be practicing her speed, if that was what he was seeing thanks to the blurs flashing through the air every now and then. That was before he noticed there weren't any protective gear in the area this time around, as when he sparred with Ururu he had gloves and a head piece, meaning that if someone got hurt they would have to heal normally, but since he was an Arrancar he knew that he could take the pain and maybe recover faster than Humans and Shinigami could. As the two of them walked away from the entrance they used to get down here, however, the blurs stopped and Yoruichi, not even breaking a sweat at the moment, appeared by one of the stones that the duo was approaching, though as they did so Sombra noticed that she was, once again, smiling at them for some reason.
"Okay, so what's this Zankensoki that you mentioned earlier?" Sombra asked, as he had no idea what it was supposed to be, as the books he read hadn't talked about it at all, but since they had mentioned it he was sure that they would be able to tell him what they were going to do.
"Zankensoki is the basics of how Shinigami fight." Kisuke replied, though as he talked Yoruichi stopped near them and did some stretches to work out some of the kinks in her body, revealing that she intended to either spar with Sombra or at least watch what he and Kisuke did in the next few moments, "There are four different fighting techniques for how a Shinigami fights; Zan refers to all the sword techniques, Ken does the same for the unarmed techniques, So refers to the moving techniques that Yoruichi was just practicing, and Ki refers to Kido. So far you have been learning the basics of Hakuda, the unarmed fighting techniques that makes use of one's body in a fight, that Ururu has a firm grasp of, despite her not being a Shinigami and just a Human that can see spirits. At the very least you need to learn Zanjutsu, the sword fighting techniques that both Yoruichi and I can teach you, and Hoho, the high-speed fighting movements based on the art of Shunpo that Yoruichi can show you. When you've got a good grasp on those three lessons, and I'm sure that you are ready to move on, we'll see about seeing if you can learn some Kido or not, as I'm not sure if an Arrancar can learn those types of techniques."
"Very well then, I guess we had better get started." Sombra said, to which he followed Kisuke to the open area that he intended to spar in, but as he did so he had to wonder about the types of techniques that he had been told about and what both Kisuke and Yoruichi had to teach him.
Once the two of them were ready Kisuke spent the next couple of minutes demonstrating the various motions one used when they were swinging a sword; such as a simple yet precise strike designed to graze the target, a flurry of attacks that would leave the person open to attacks and that a skilled swordsmen could turn that to their advantage, a powerful strike that required both hands and could sometimes even cut an opponent in two depending on who used it, and a few other techniques that could definitely kill a target if one was skilled enough. Kisuke, knowing that Sombra was a novice at this sort of thing, started off with the techniques that would likely harm an opponent and immediately lashed out at Sombra the instant following him demonstrating the techniques that he wanted Sombra to learn. He immediately found that Kisuke was incredibly strong, as the attacks he used, despite hiding his true strength since he didn't want to cripple him, still hurt more than he was willing to admit and several of them ended up drawing a little blood in the process, to which Sombra shook off the pain and kept going... though the impressive thing about the situation, in Kisuke's eyes anyway, was the fact that Sombra was able to withstand some of his attacks, which he attributed to the abilities of an Arrancar, which none of them knew anything about at the moment.
The tide quickly turned in Kisuke's favor as he used his knowledge on Shinigami techniques, making Sombra wonder if both he and Yoruichi were once Shinigami before being banished or something, forcing Sombra to fall into the same pattern that he used against Ururu during the first few days of his hand to hand training. Since Kisuke had watched him do this when he was sparring against the little girl, and had seen his progress over the last couple of days, that technique soon fell apart as well, because Kisuke was faster than he was and always cut him off when he was pulling away from him, always pushing him back to the same area that they had started the lesson in. While all this happened Sombra went over something that he had discovered the moment the sparring session started, Kisuke was never without a weapon because his cane had a concealed blade inside it that he could pull out whenever he desired, though if he was a Shinigami, like Sombra was beginning to suspect that he was, that meant his weapon was his Zanpakuto, hidden in plain sight and pulled out at a moments notice... and capable of beating an opponent who had next to no experience in this field, though despite that lack of experience Sombra put forth his best effort and tried to do the one thing that was asked of him, knock off the hat that Kisuke wore.
After ten minutes of trying to get at the hat, and show Kisuke that he had learned something, Sombra stood in front of one of the rock formations that littered the area and huffed as he stood his ground, though at the same time there were a number of cuts on his arms, legs, chest, and one shallow cut over his right eye that forced his eye closed... and he held his sword at the ready, indicating that he was ready to keep going, despite his injuries.
"That's enough for now." Yoruichi said, stepping between the two of them for a moment and stopping Kisuke from doing any additional damage to Sombra, especially since this was the first time he had been in a battle with someone that had as much experience as Kisuke did, before turning towards Sombra as she pulled something out, "This ointment will stop the bleeding and keep your wounds that way for some time, but then we'll need to treat them before you get an infection. Once I've put some on each of your wounds, and I'm sure that they're not in danger of breaking and bleeding again, I'll start showing you what I have to offer you in terms of training... and let me tell you something now, it won't be like what I showed you last night."
Sombra thought about those words as he sheathed the sword he was carrying, as Yoruichi had to be referring to the speed that she had shown him earlier, where she purposely kept herself on his level so he could keep up with her and not get left behind. It confirmed his thoughts that she was even faster than what he had seen earlier, though as he wondered what sort of speed she could use when she wasn't holding herself back, however, Yoruichi opened the small rectangular container that she was holding and gently spread some of the ointment on his wounds, where he watched as the bleeding stopped for now. Sure, his body still hurt and he was sure that there was another affect of the ointment that nullified some of the pain, but once all of the cuts were taken care of she put the container away and walked over to a different spot that was near where he was standing. It was then that Sombra discovered that what Yoruichi was going to teach him, the art of Hoho and eventually Shunpo, or Flash Steps as the Shinigami called it, was more focused on how fast someone could move from one point to another and that the techniques she was going to teach him were based on speed and agility.
As the demonstration started, however, Sombra got another taste of Yoruichi's skills, as she literally flashed around the area they were training in like a goddess or something, only touching a point for a brief moment before disappearing once more, always making him guessing where she would appear next while Kisuke, who was standing nearby, seemed to have a vague idea where Yoruichi was, but Sombra suspected that he might be keeping up with her. When Yoruichi came to a stop, and reappeared in the very spot where she started the demonstration, she motioned for Sombra to show her the speed that he was capable of at the moment and found that he was stuck at a run at the moment, but she fully expected that and walked over to where he was standing. Kisuke, seeing Yoruichi start to give Sombra some pointers on how to improve his skill, smiled as he headed back up to the shop to see what sort of trouble Jinta and Ururu were getting into if there weren't any customers at the shop yet, leaving the two of them to their lesson while he planned what he wanted to teach Sombra later, when he was ready for the more dangerous attacks.
Sombra spent most of his morning learning the very basics of Zanjutsu and Hoho, though one thing he discovered was that, despite the fact that Kisuke preferred to literally beat the lessons into his body, Yoruichi clearly had a different method for training. She took her time, showing him the various steps in the basic techniques that she had learned so long ago, while also giving him no time to let stray thoughts enter his head, meaning that he was focused solely on his training and nothing else. Still, despite that fact, he found that learning Hoho was tougher than he originally thought it would be, but Yoruichi expected this and clearly had tips at the ready if he needed them, which he occasionally asked for whenever he found something that he couldn't do or figure out without someone aiding him, which also made him grateful that she was willing to assist him in this manner. He even thanked her for her help several times during their first lesson, when he had the chance to catch his breath and regain some of his stamina, which made Yoruichi give him her usual smile before she eventually had him start up the training again.
Besides learning about Hoho, and trying to get a good grasp of the speed that Yoruichi used when she had her various demonstrations, Kisuke also came back down to them from time to time, seeing how he had improved since the last session before starting another Zanjutsu session while Yoruichi watched from a rock. Sure, learning the techniques from Yoruichi helped improve his chances a tiny bit, but even so Kisuke was more than ready for him and continued to beat his lesson into him, which involved Sombra earning several more cuts in the process, though that ruined the effects of the ointment since he was feeling pain again. There were several times where Sombra had to kneel for a moment, to catch his breath and ignore the pain he was in, before Kisuke attacked him again, but even though he was clearly losing the 'fight' that they were having he was still learning what it meant to fight a Shinigami, or at least someone with the same powers that a Shinigami possessed. Kisuke also complimented him on the fact that he was willing to stand and fight, and not run away and think of a strategy to beat him, where Sombra stated that he'd never learn anything if he decided to run away from the people that were helping him... even if one of them was swinging his sword like he was trying to kill someone.
Eventually Yoruichi called for them to stop and this time Sombra collapsed in the process, as he had spent more than enough energy trying to learn Zanjutsu from Kisuke, and a number of cuts to show that he had been hit, but that still didn't stop Kisuke from being proud that he was able to stand up to him as well as he had... even though Sombra still had to cough up some blood, since the training with him had been as tough as it was earlier that day.
"Since you did so well on your first day of training, I think I'll let you relax and take the afternoon off," Kisuke said, to which he hid his face behind his fan again, causing Sombra to wonder where he kept pulling it from, before he headed over to the ladder, "I'll see you two upstairs, when you're ready anyway."
"I'm taking him over to the hot springs," Yoruichi stated, staring at the cuts that Kisuke had delivered in the second part of Sombra's Zanjutsu training, knowing that he was trying to teach him to defend himself in case he ever had to fight a Shinigami for some reason, but even so the ointment wouldn't be enough for what was in front of her, "after this morning he definitely needs it."
Kisuke knew what Yoruichi was talking about, as he had made sure that the hot springs that were down here were the same as the one they used when they were younger, to recover from their training and heal their wounds in instants, but he said nothing as he let her do her thing. Something had changed in the last couple of days, as Yoruichi never shifted out of her cat form, much less to a complete stranger, unless she was interested in doing something else, as the last time he had seen her in this form was close to fifteen years ago. He knew that she enjoyed being a cat, it was in her nature to be like one at times when she was like this, but she never changed forms and showed her true self to a complete stranger before, which actually caught him off guard more than he was willing to admit. He wasn't sure if Yoruichi was interested in learning more about Sombra or if she was just toying with him, like she did to a number of people they had known when they were younger, though he knew that she was interested in finding out who he used to be and wasn't about to do anything that might damage the trust he had placed in them... but even then he knew that it was hard to read exactly what Yoruichi was going to do at any given moment, once more like the cat she spent a large amount of her time as.
Yoruichi, on the other hand, helped Sombra onto his hooves and moved them through the area they had been training in, taking them to the hidden hot springs that would help the Arrancar out and let him actually enjoy the afternoon, instead of being in pain all the time. Fortunately she didn't have to explain everything to Sombra, as when they arrived all she said was that he needed to take off his clothing and put it in a pile with his sword, before he could get into the water, and sure enough he did that the moment she looked away, only to glance back when he was inside the water. From there she smiled as she watched him a little, finding that the waters did restore his body and heal his wounds, much like the first one Kisuke constructed, though after a minute or two she sighed and walked over to a nearby rock, where she did the same thing that Sombra had done, before heading out and slipped into the water as well, as it had been some time since she did anything like this in her true form.
"I had no idea you guys had this sort of thing down here." Sombra commented, though he had closed his eyes the moment he slipped into the water, mostly so he could relax a little while moving some of the water over his face, finding that the cuts healed on their own after he touched the liquid... and it also came in handy when he heard the sound of Yoruichi climbing into the water as well, no doubt bare skinned like him at the moment.
"We don't really advertise this place to our customers," Yoruichi said, though as she spoke she glanced over at Sombra and found that his Hollow hole was located where a Human's heart would be, and that he was tense after his morning training sessions, no doubt because of Kisuke, "Here, just turn to your right a bit and I'll loosen your muscles... that should help you relax and calm down."
Sombra, not realizing that he must have looked stressed after 'fighting' against Kisuke, nodded a turned to the right a bit, showing his back to Yoruichi, though that was followed him feeling her hands at work as they gently touched his back and the muscles that she had mentioned. In mere moments he could feel something slip away from him, which must have meant that it was working and that there was another reason for him to be thankful for Yoruichi and Kisuke helping him figure out what he needed to know. He still wasn't sure if he was going to pick up the slack that the Shinigami had left behind, in not dealing with the Hollows and the scattered souls, but he was sure that, in time, he would be able to figure it out and discover what he was supposed to be doing. At the same time he was sure that Yoruichi and the others would be able to show him the path he needed to take, to reach his destination, and maybe he'd make some friends or something along the way.
Eventually Yoruichi stopped massaging his back and smiled as he started to enjoy himself, as he opened his eyes and started to clean the rest of himself as he soaked in the healing properties of the water, though he wasn't like all of the other men she had seen, who stared at her when she was bare like this. As she leaned against the other side of the hot springs, and watched Sombra as she lowered herself deeper into the water, she honestly wondered why he was so willing to trust her and Kisuke, especially after the crappy 'deal' that Kisuke talked about, and yet he didn't seem upset in the slightest. It was like he knew that the souls that were around Karakura Town needed a guardian or something and was trying to prepare himself to be that protector, while also gaining the skills necessary to head back into Hueco Mundo at some point to get his actual Zanpakuto back. Sombra wasn't like everyone else that she had encountered over her many years of living, and she was sure that Kisuke was thinking the same thing, yet there was one thought that separated the two of them... she wanted to know more about the Arrancar and who he was choosing to be, in place of who he had been before his memories were taken.
She also wanted to know why she felt the need to act differently around him, as it wasn't because he had no memories or anything like that... and she was sure that her answers, like the ones that Sombra was seeking, would be found at some point in time.
After sitting in the hot springs for some time Yoruichi told Sombra that it was time for them to get out so they could do something else, where he turned away and let her climb out of the water first, before she headed over to where her clothes were located. When she returned to him, however, he found that she had, somehow, gotten some towels and had covered herself with two of them, one around her chest and the other around her waist, to which she also offered him one and he accepted it from her. Sombra had wondered how they were supposed to dry off, since there weren't any towels around the area, but Yoruichi clearly knew where they had been located ahead of time when she said that they were coming over here, though even as he thought about that he dried off his body and marveled at the fact that all the cuts he had accumulated from his 'fight' with Kisuke had all disappeared, as if he hadn't been hurt at all, leaving him how he had been before the lesson had even started. After a few minutes of making sure that his body was dry he slipped back into his clothing, though as he did so he knew that Yoruichi was doing the same thing, only faster than what he was doing since she was more experienced in this sort of thing.
A few minutes later the two of them walked away from the hot springs, fully dressed and armed, to which they began the journey back to the ladder that would allow them to return to the Urahara Shop, where Kisuke and the others were either busy with customers or they weren't busy and were waiting for people to come buy things.
"So, what are you planning on doing with the rest of your day?" Yoruichi asked, as she was curious as to what the Arrancar was going to do, because so far, from what Kisuke had told her, he simply used a good portion of his time to read books on Soul Society and whatever else Kisuke had laying around, especially when he wasn't exploring the town and talking with the spirits that lingered around the area.
"I haven't decided yet," Sombra admitted, mostly because the training he had gone through so far had kept him from even thinking what he was going to do when they had stopped, so the sudden fact that he had the afternoon off from training really made him wonder what he was going to do, "I finished the last book I was reading yesterday, so I guess I could always pick up a new one, though Kisuke has told me that I shouldn't spend all my time inside reading, despite the fact that my time is spend between that, exploring the town, and training."
"Then why don't you pick a new part of the town to explore?" Yoruichi suggested, though the reason she was even suggesting such a thing was because, from the times she had followed him around the town while she was in her cat form, she knew that there were still parts of Karakura Town that he hadn't visited yet, "I'm sure that you might be able to converse with some new spirits, as well as find some interesting things, if you explore the town some more. Of course, if you don't want to explore the town, you can always stick around the shop, though Kisuke might find out and decide that you need more training... and then your entire day would be spent down here, learning Zanjutsu from Kisuke."
Sombra thought about that for a moment, as he knew that learning Zanjutsu and Hoho was something that he should be focusing on while he had the time, but even as that came to mind he remembered how badly Kisuke had beaten him and knew that it would be a constant until he got to the power that the shopkeeper was using against him. His training with Yoruichi was much better, as she offered suggestions and tips for him to use so he could learn the movements that she was using in her demonstrations, as well as the fact that she didn't actually beat the stuffing out of him, though there was no telling if his Hoho training would or wouldn't include that in the future. At the same time, the more he thought about the town he was now living in, the more he had to admit that Yoruichi was right, that he should spend some more time exploring the town and get to know the various locations that were around him, even if there was no reason for him to eat or drink anything since he was a spirit. Even though he came from Hueco Mundo, a place he didn't remember at all, he felt that Karakura Town was a nice place to call home, even if it wasn't his actual home at all... but it was the best he had at the moment, since he couldn't figure out how to open the garganta again, as it appeared that the first time had been a complete accident that he couldn't repeat.
When he thought about the Hollow world again he turned his mind from it, because based on what Kisuke and Yoruichi said it would likely be a battle to reach the location of the weapon that contained his memories, something that would have to wait until he was strong enough to brave the dangers of that world once more... which meant he would need to survive the training he was going through, and to do that he'd need some time to relax and calm himself down before worrying about the next day's lessons.
"You're right, I should head out and explore the town some more," Sombra said, as he was happy to take Yoruichi's suggestions, because she really had some good ones every now and then, and he honestly didn't know as much about the town as he would have liked, "Who knows, maybe I'll run into a Hollow while I'm out and about today."
"Are you that eager to fight another Hollow?" Yoruichi asked, though she was simply curious, because at his base level, without any training, Sombra was able to take on five Hollows in a single night, though now he was beginning to get stronger and would soon be able to find them on his own.
"No, I would prefer not to fight one so soon after my first day of intense training," Sombra replied, to which he paused as they came to a stop near the ladder that would allow them to head back up to the shop, where he turned back towards Yoruichi for a moment, "What about you? What will you do with the rest of your day?"
"Maybe I'll keep an eye on our resident Arrancar," Yoruichi said, where she glanced over at Sombra, who understood what she was saying, since it was possible that he might get lost or he might need help getting away from a certain someone that might see him, "or maybe I'll lounge around in my cat form, enjoying the sunlight and listen to the customers that come into the shop. I honestly haven't decided yet."
Sombra remained silent as he thought about that, while climbing up to the shop entrance and found that they had chosen to leave the training area at the best time, as there were no customers inside the shop at the moment and both Jinta and Ururu happened to be outside. Tessai turned towards them as they climbed out of the shaft the ladder was in and closed the hidden compartment so that the future guests didn't see it, before heading to the backroom, where they could be out of sight for some time. When they walked into the room, however, Sombra found Kisuke sitting at the table and working on what appeared to be some paperwork, though as he came to a stop the man seemed to notice his presence, no doubt because of his hooves, and turned towards the duo.
"I was wondering when you two would be coming back up here," Kisuke said, to which he set down the papers that he had been working on and gave them his full attention, because he was interested in what they were planning on doing with the rest of the day, "So, are you going to spend the day inside the shop, again, or are you going to head outside and see what else the town has to offer?"
"I was thinking that I might spend a few hours exploring the town," Sombra replied, as while he was interested in the various techniques that the pair had to offer him, for both Zanjutsu and Hoho, he didn't want to spend all of his first day training getting beat up over and over again, "I know that there are still a few places around the town that I haven't visited yet, or even explored for that matter, and I thought that I might as well familiarize myself with the rest of my surroundings before I become too busy to enjoy the little things."
"Well then, be careful out there." Kisuke stated, as he knew that, while Sombra was a spirit, the Arrancar's power might draw out more Hollows and force him to fight back before he was hurt, which was a good thing he was carrying his sword with him, and then there was the matter of the person who had seen him the last time he went outside, "Oh, and today is a day off for Ichigo Kurosaki, so there's a chance you might spot him while you're walking around the town... or maybe you won't. Based on what you told me earlier he's bound to chase after you if he spots you walking down the street, so do be careful while you're exploring the town."
"Thanks for the reminder," Sombra said, though he was curious if the young man in question would be outside on a day like today, especially since his family owned a clinic and might require him to be working there, but he guessed that time would tell, "Well, I'll be back once I've had my fill of the town again."
"Then go and have some fun." Kisuke replied, to which he raised a hand and made what Sombra had discovered was a 'shooing' motion, indicating that someone should move on in some manner, before he turned his head towards the person he wanted to talk to for a minute or two anyway, "And you, Yoruichi? What have you got on your agenda for the rest of this fine day?"
"I thought I'd follow Sombra and make sure he doesn't get lost," Yoruichi answered, though even as she spoke she knew that Sombra actually didn't need assistance, rather she had some fun following him around and seeing him take in the sights, as well as helping him run from Ichigo, while also noticing the look in Kisuke's eyes, to which she turned towards Sombra for a moment, "Why don't you get a head start and pick a direction to head in? There's something I need to talk with Kisuke about... something private."
Sombra, despite being slightly surprised by the fact that this was now being brought up, decided to nod his head and headed through the backdoor of the shop, that way any potential customers didn't see the doors moving at all, though as he walked outside Yoruichi turned towards Kisuke once more.
"Are you sure that you aren't doing more than 'making sure he doesn't get lost'?" Kisuke asked, as he had seen the slight change in Yoruichi's behavior since Sombra had appeared, though while he originally wrote it off as her being as fickle as a cat, since she acted like one at times, he knew there was something else going on.
"You know, when you say it like that you make it sound like I'm falling in love with a stranger," Yoruichi stated, as she recognized the sudden shift in Kisuke's tone, because it meant that he was thinking about something that was happening at the moment, but she didn't focus on that change all that much, "All I'm doing is making sure that Sombra gets a chance to see most of Karakura Town, before his days are full of dealing with spirits and Hollows... besides, if Ichigo does start to chase him again he'll need someone to help him get away, especially since he's still at the beginning of his training."
"Are you falling in love with Sombra?" Kisuke asked, though he kept his voice low so that Tessai, Jinta, Ururu, and Sombra himself didn't hear the conversation, as he wanted to know what was happening to Yoruichi before something happened to her that broke her heart.
Yoruichi stood still for a moment, as while she thought about the question, and her own feelings for a moment, she had also detected what could have been a hint of jealousy towards Sombra, as if Kisuke had been hoping that if she showed these feelings towards someone it would be him, given their history. Even when she thought about that she knew that most of the answers she could give him would only make things worse, including not answering the question directly, and she knew that they didn't need that sort of thing at the moment. She still wasn't sure what she was feeling, because Kisuke was right about Sombra being a complete stranger, and yet she knew that there was something about the Arrancar that made her want to act different around him, just so she could understand who he was and why he had been reborn without any of his memories. She also knew that Sombra, not yet used to the various emotions that all Humans and Shinigami displayed, wouldn't have noticed her unusual glances towards him and wouldn't have even stopped to consider what she was trying to do, something that he would have to work on in his own time.
Eventually Yoruichi sighed and headed towards the backdoor, as she wanted to get out of the shop and see the town some more, but before she headed outside completely she paused and turned towards Kisuke, who was still sitting by the table and happened to be staring at her... to which she made up her mind and decided to answer him before she headed outside, since he'd be thinking about this all day, regardless of what she did.
"Of course not." Yoruichi lied, knowing that there was a fair chance that Kisuke would buy what she said or figure out that she wasn't being truthful, but instead of sticking around she walked over to him, tapped him in the forehead, and headed outside before he could stop her... not that he could do that to begin with.
Kisuke sat at the table for a few seconds, thinking about everything that had happened so far since the pair came up from the training area, and wondered what game Yoruichi was playing, if she was playing on, because lying was something she almost never did, unless there was a good reason behind it... to which he sighed as he returned to his paperwork, as he hoped that she figured out the truth soon, before she broke someone's heart in the process.
Upon leaving the Urahara Shop through the backdoor, and waiting a few moments for Yoruichi to join him, Sombra headed to the right and started to walk up the street that was in front of them, to which they simply walked towards the destination that Sombra had been thinking about for the last few moments. While they walked the two of them moved out of the way of the pedestrians that were around them, mostly because Sombra had no idea if he would affect them by walking through them, but he wasn't about to take that chance. Yoruichi, on the other hand, simply seemed to follow his movements as they moved through the town, while also noticing that her companion was definitely taking in the sights, maybe even building a mental map of the entire town for when he had to do whatever work Kisuke had for him. She also kept her eyes open for Ichigo Kurosaki, since he seemed to be one of the few people that could see spirits and would come running if he spotted them walking down the street with no one interacting with them... though the silence gave her a moment to realize that Sombra hadn't even commented on her little conversation with Kisuke.
"I'm honestly surprised you haven't commented on what happened back there." Yoruichi commented, though at the same time she pulled up beside Sombra, as there wasn't anyone in front of them for the next couple of blocks, so they didn't have to worry about dodging anyone.
"You mean your conversation with Kisuke?" Sombra inquired, knowing that Yoruichi was talking about that and not anything else, but at the same time he wasn't all that curious about what they had been talking about, "It was a private conversation between the two of you, so I won't bother to ask what you talked about... it's not my business to pry into the things that people don't want to talk about."
Yoruichi smiled for a moment, as she had no idea what she would have done if she had been asked to reveal the nature of the conversation and revealed to Sombra that Kisuke had asked her if she was in love with the Arrancar, as that would open a can of worms that she just wasn't ready for. Besides, right now Sombra had no idea what love was supposed to be, once more thanks to his missing memories, so trying to explain everything would have been a waste of time, at least until he actually understood what was going on, once he had more experience in how people worked. Once that thought crossed her mind, however, she focused less on what she had been thinking about and focused on following Sombra, where she noticed that they appeared to be heading towards the Karakura High School, where Ichigo Kurosaki had to be a student when it was a school day. She had to wonder if Sombra knew that this was the high school that Ichigo went to, and had chosen to come here since it was unlikely that they would see the young man today, or if this was a random decision that would work out to his benefit... but then she decided that it was best to wait and see what happened when they explored the area that Sombra wanted to explore.
Sombra found that there were a fair number of buildings resting around the main building of the high school, where most of them were one or two stories tall, and even three in some cases, while the central building itself was the only one with four stories and even had a fence around the roof, likely for people to stay safe if they ate up there. Since he didn't have a map of the school it was hard to tell what all of the buildings were for, but at the same time Yoruichi was able to point out that it contained an area for playing sports, a gym for exercising, and a track field with six lanes, though even she knew that Sombra had no idea what each of those items were supposed to be. Sombra was fine not knowing what they were at the moment, mostly because that gave him something else to investigate in the future, though at the same time that didn't stop him from exploring the area for a few minutes, just to see what a high school looked like before they moved onto the next destination he had in mind. Yoruichi was happy that Sombra seemed to be having a good time in his exploration of the town, since this was all new to him, though as she watched the Arrancar she heard someone talking nearby and went to investigate... though as she looked around the corner of the building, just a tiny bit, she spotted Ichigo walking down a path that would bring him right to the area that Sombra was in.
Yoruichi, thinking fast, retreated back to where her companion was standing and tapped his shoulder, though as he turned to face her she made a motion that was pretty much her telling him that they needed to get moving, before she jumped over the wall and got moving... though as Sombra did it, however, he turned around and spotted Ichigo Kurosaki standing some distance away from him, while also staring at where he was standing.
Instead of saying anything Sombra turned towards the wall that Yoruichi had jumped over and did the same thing, though as he landed on the other side he spotted her further up the path she seemed to be following and that she was beckoning to him, before moving once more. Sombra got moving immediately, following the path that Yoruichi had picked for them, though at the same time he heard the sounds of Ichigo jumping over the wall as well, which meant that he intended to chase them, or rather him, once more. Truth be told he had no idea where Yoruichi was going, though at the same time he honestly didn't care, because when he crossed over the street that his companion crossed, and continued moving forward, Ichigo paused as he waited for traffic to turn in his favor, which was unlucky for Sombra since the cars stopped moving and allowed the Human to continue following them. Even the second street they crossed over didn't do much to slow Ichigo down, but that was before Sombra noticed that they were heading to what appeared to be a hospital of some kind, an abandoned one by the looks of it.
Yoruichi, who had arrived at the front door long before Sombra did, had pried open the entrance of the abandoned hospital, where there weren't any spirits or Hollows, and headed inside, causing Sombra to follow her before they slipped behind a damaged wall and waited... though it wasn't long before Ichigo walked through the entrance with a huff, which meant that he must not have been expecting this to happen today and wasn't prepared for a run.
"Hello?" Ichigo called out, to which the duo watched as he passed by the doorway that they walked through a few moments ago, but neither of them moved as he continued to explore the area of the abandoned hospital that Yoruichi had brought them to, even if all Ichigo had seen was Sombra, "Whose out there? I know I saw someone head into this building, so I want to know who you are and why I keep seeing you around Karakura Town."
Yoruichi raised a hand, in a way that told Sombra to remain silent, before she carefully walked forward and watched as Ichigo walked around the corner, where he wouldn't be able to see the entrance they had come through, to which she turned back towards Sombra and nodded her head. Sombra caught the gesture and followed after Yoruichi, where he walked out through the doorway and headed outside the building with her, to which the two of them made their way away from the abandoned hospital, even though he felt that it was wrong to leave Ichigo behind. Based on the looks that Kisuke gave him it was clear that they were supposed to watch the young man, and not directly engage him in any manner, which meant that if Ichigo chased after them, like he was doing now, they were supposed to avoid him at all costs and get away from him. Yoruichi, knowing that Sombra felt it was wrong to leave Ichigo behind, stopped when they reached a good area and headed back towards the hospital, where she made a few sounds on the walls before retreating to where he was standing... to which they watched as Ichigo walked out of the abandoned hospital with a slightly irritated look on his face, though Sombra hoped that he would be able to make things up to the young man in the future, if they were ever to interact with each other.
Once he was sure that Ichigo was heading away from the abandoned hospital, and wasn't following after them, Sombra and Yoruichi headed to a different part of Karakura Town, that way they would be able to avoid the young man while one of them enjoyed the time away from training that he had been given... as he was sure that the training in the future would take up most of his days, until Kisuke and Yoruichi were convinced that he was ready anyway.
Once Sombra and Yoruichi got back to the Urahara Shop, after an afternoon of exploring an area of Karakura Town that Ichigo Kurosaki wasn't in, they informed Kisuke of what they had been up to and their run in with the young man, who still found it interesting that Ichigo was interested in trying to figure out what and who Sombra was. Sombra, of course, wasn't too happy about messing with the young man and promised that he would do his best to avoid making contact with him, until it was time for something to happen, but he made no promises in that regard, since Ichigo was persistent when it came to certain things. After telling Kisuke the news Sombra went back to reading a new book while Yoruichi spoke with Kisuke about something in another room, no doubt about what happened when Ichigo found them while they were walking, but Sombra made no effort to interrupt their conversation, thinking back to what Yoruichi had said earlier when she commented on why he hadn't asked about what they had been talking about.
The following days were a blur for Sombra, because he spent a good amount of his time training with Kisuke and Yoruichi in the underground training area, while relaxing by either staying in the shop and reading some of the books that Kisuke had or heading out into the town with Yoruichi shadowing him. When he spent some time exploring the town he enjoyed knowing that Yoruichi was following him him around, making sure he was alerted to where Ichigo was in the off chance that he was in the same area that they were in, or even walking beside him and taking in the sights that he was interested in staring at, giving him some information on what he was looking at. Sombra suspected that there was another reason for why Yoruichi was shadowing him when he went out into the town, and why she always seemed to smile at him whenever she found something funny, but at the same time he knew that she would tell him the reasoning behind her behavior at some point in the future... especially why, when she took him back to the hot springs after a rough day of training, she felt the need to relieve the stress from his muscles, though he wasn't about to complain when it really made him relax and let the healing water mend the wounds Kisuke gave him.
One thing that Sombra noticed as the days went by, despite the training he was being put through, was that there were times that Kisuke was distracted by something, but when he asked the manager of the store simply snapped back to what he was doing and the training continued once more, usually resulting in Sombra getting several more cuts and scratches in the process, though he was willing to take it as he pushed himself to his limits.
The first week of his stay in the World of the Living eventually moved into his second week, with him not being able to actually recover any of his memories, not even ones that weren't relevant to the major ones, revealing that he definitely needed his missing blade to get his memories back. That moved into the third week in due time, with him spending his time equally between training and relaxing, before finally coming to him having spent nearly an entire month in Karakura Town, though he also had to take out a few Hollows every now and then since there weren't any Shinigami to guard the town still. That was something that annoyed him, that the Shinigami that ran Soul Society couldn't be bothered to pick a replacement for the two dead Shinigami that had died long before his arrival in the town, though something made him wonder if that was what Kisuke was distracted by, the missing guardian for the town. Even despite that Sombra found that he was making considerable progress in his training, though it would be some time before he was anywhere near the levels that Kisuke and Yoruichi were at... and he was fine with that, because he would personally feel cheated if learning and understanding their training came to him at a speed that was faster than what they were willing to teach him.
When he was close to the end of his first month in Karakura Town, and had taken out at least nine more Hollows during that time period, Kisuke came down into the underground training area when Sombra and Yoruichi were doing the last of their Hoho training for the day... and the look on his face told them that something was happening, something that meant they needed to be ready for what was to come.
"It seems that Soul Society has finally activated the Senkaimon," Kisuke said, to which Yoruichi raised an eyebrow, as she knew exactly what that meant, while at the same time Sombra huffed as he stood up, as while he didn't know what the term meant he was sure that he'd be told the news anyway, "or rather the gate that Shinigami use to travel from Soul Society to the World of the Living. This means that, in the next few hours, the new guardian of Karakura Town will be arriving to being his or her job in assisting the souls of the dead to move on to Soul Society, while at the same time tackling the Hollows that might come and attack the town."
"I still can't believe that it took them a month to decide who was going to be sent here," Yoruichi commented, as it seemed strange for them to take that long to come to a simple decision, but at the same time it meant that Sombra's workload would be cut down a little, "When are they supposed to arrive?"
"Well, this is a guess," Kisuke replied, though Sombra knew that he had likely gone over the calculations and had likely double checked the math before coming over to them, and it seemed that Yoruichi was thinking the same thing, before they gave him their full attention, "but it seems that they'll arrive tomorrow morning, between two to two-thirty in the morning, before they begin their task and start assisting the souls around the town."
Sombra thought that it was strange for Soul Society to deploy a Shinigami and have them arrive on a Friday morning, since today was Thursday, but he was sure that there was a reason behind the decision and he said nothing as he picked up his sword and slipped it back into his belt... to which he turned towards Kisuke and Yoruichi, as he knew that this was what he had been waiting for.
"What should I do?" Sombra asked, because he had an idea of what he should do, find the Shinigami and shadow them until he needed to interact with them, but he wanted to see what the people that trained him had in mind, since their idea was bound to be better than his.
"In the morning you should head out and see if you can't find Ichigo Kurosaki," Kisuke said, knowing that, if the young man was able to see spirits, it was only a matter of time until he came into contact with whoever had been sent to defend the town, which was the perfect time for Sombra to meet them and aid them in whatever manner he could, "I'm sure that the Shinigami that Soul Society sent will eventually come into contact with him, so I want you to meet them when it happens and see if you can't offer them your assistance in dealing with the Hollows... or whatever else they might need some assistance in handling."
"Okay, find Ichigo Kurosaki, meet the Shinigami in charge of Karakura Town, and then move forward from there," Sombra said, as it did sound better than what he had been thinking, to which he nodded his head as he resolved to get some sleep before Friday morning arrived, "Sounds like a good plan to me."
"And Sombra, be careful." Yoruichi added, knowing that the Arrancar would do that anyway, but she felt better having said it, because that usually gave people the motivation to press on if they knew that someone was rooting for them, while at the same time she stood there with her usual smile on her face.
"I will." Sombra stated, knowing that he'd do his best to fulfill that promise, while noticing that Yoruichi looked relieved to hear that, even though she likely knew what he had been thinking, before he turned towards the ladder and started walking towards it, "It seems that our lives are about to get even more interesting."
He wasn't sure what the future held, and he honestly wasn't thinking about that at the moment, but he was excited to see who Soul Society sent to be the guardian of Karakura Town and what would happen when Ichigo Kurosaki came into contact with them, like Kisuke was thinking might happen... and he was sure that his life was going to get even more exciting than it had been over the last month he had spent training, something that he was looking forward to seeing.
After discovering that Soul Society had finally chosen the Shinigami that was going to be the new guardian of Karakura Town, and had sent them through something that Sombra had discovered was called the Senkaimon, Sombra had gone to the area of the Urahara Shop that he had been given and relaxed for an hour, to calm himself down from his earlier training with Yoruichi. Hoho, as he had originally suspected, was tough to learn and it appeared that he was proving to be a decent student, if what his instructor had told him was to be believed, but at the same time he made sure that he didn't slack off when he was training and gave it his all. He also opened one of the books that he had been reading recently and continued his studies, as something told him that his time would be more focused on whatever happened after he found out who Soul Society had chosen for this assignment, especially since it took a month to pick a replacement. While that happened he heard Kisuke and Yoruichi come up to the upper area of the shop and closed the hidden entrance he had climbed out of earlier, though once he determined that they were talking about Soul Society's chosen guardian for the town he focused on the book in from of him and simply let time tick by.
When an hour had gone by he closed the book he was reading, slipped it back into the shelf that he had pulled it from, and laid on the makeshift bed that had been put in the roof, because Kisuke insisted that he not ruin his back by sleeping in the position he had take the first few nights he had spent inside the shop... and eventually drifted off into a dreamless sleep, as he was still curious about what would happen in the morning. His sleep was interrupted a few hours later, where he discovered that it was Friday morning, though he simply laid there and focused his mind, feeling the flow of the reiatsu in the town to the best of his ability as he searched for something. Yoruichi had insisted that he learn this technique as well, as part of their training, though all he could feel at the moment was what he assumed was the opening of the Senkaimon and the arrival of the Shinigami that had been picked for the town, along with two smaller signatures that had to be Hollows. He had to hazard a guess that the Shinigami that was chosen would have a busy first morning, but after figuring out what was going on he calmed his mind and stopped what he was doing, allowing him to slip back into his dreamless sleep once more.
After a few more hours morning arrived in the Urahara Shop, as that was when everyone else woke up, started their morning chores, and had their breakfast, to which Sombra joined them and drank his morning tea, because since he was an Arrancar he didn't need to eat anything at all... but he still felt that he should drink something, and at the same time he found that the tea helped calm his nerves for when he was about to head out into the town.
As Sombra sat in his customary spot, where he could observe everything that happened in the morning, he found that Jinta was excited about something, Ururu seemed indifferent about what Jinta was thinking about, Tessai was focused on what they would be doing that day, and Kisuke was interested in the paper that had arrived. Yoruichi, however, came into the room shortly after Kisuke did, though this time around she did so in her cat form and sat near Sombra, causing Jinta to raise an eyebrow as he looked over at them, until Tessai told him that it wasn't polite to stare at someone. From what Sombra could tell the children either didn't know the truth about Yoruichi's true form or they did and liked to pretend that they didn't know anything, but at the same time he wasn't about to ask them about it, just in case they found him strange for his thoughts. Still, regardless of what they thought, he still felt the urge to scratch Yoruichi behind the ears a few times while he drank his tea, where Kisuke raised an eyebrow when she didn't paw him or anything, as sometimes Yoruichi did that when she was in this form... though he said nothing as he left the two of them to their devices, since in a few minutes Sombra was going to head out and see who had been picked to be the guardian of Karakura Town.
A few minutes later, much like Kisuke thought, Sombra sighed and stood up for a moment, where he put his tea cup in the sink and rinsed it for a few seconds, before putting it down and turned towards the group that happened to be gathered around the table.
"Well, I'm going to head out and see who our mysterious new friend is." Sombra said, speaking in a way that wouldn't cause Jinta or Ururu to question what he was talking about, as he wasn't sure if the two of them knew about Soul Society or if they had no knowledge about it's existence, "I'll be sure to come back when I have something to tell you guys."
"Go ahead and take your time." Kisuke replied, knowing that this could be a delicate mission, since there was no telling what would happen when Sombra encountered the Shinigami that Soul Society had picked out, or what would happen when he made contact with that individual and Ichigo Kurosaki, "I'm fairly sure that it will take some time to figure out where they went and what they are up to, so take your time and make sure to keep your eyes open for anything out of the ordinary."
"I will." Sombra said, remembering what he had promised Kisuke and Yoruichi last night, that he be safe in regards to what he was about to do, before he bowed his head slightly and headed out through the backdoor, that way no one would see the front door open with no one walking out of it.
As he walked through the backdoor of the shop, and looked around to be absolutely sure that there wasn't anyone around him at the moment, he knew that his days of relaxing and spending most of his time training had come to an end, and that he was looking forward to seeing who Soul Society had sent to guard the town... to which he got started moving as he began his search for the new Shinigami or for Ichigo Kurosaki, though he had the feeling it would take some time before he spotted one of them.
Sombra ended up spending the majority of the day wandering around Karakura Town, finding it odd that when he wanted to find Ichigo and the Shinigami that had been assigned to the town he couldn't find them at all, as opposed to wanting to remain hidden and having Ichigo discover him while he was exploring. He had spent some of his time conversing with the spirits that rested all over the town, asking if they had seen anyone that ordinary people didn't see, sort of like him, and yet none of them seemed to have seen the Shinigami that he was really looking for, or Ichigo for that matter. It wasn't until he asked the spirit that was near the high school that he discovered that Ichigo was in school at the moment and would be for some time, meaning that it would be some time before he could interact with the young man, to which Sombra thanked the spirit and went back to his search for the mysterious Shinigami that had been sent to the town. He was sure that Kisuke had been right about Soul Society sending someone to the town, as the manager wouldn't mislead him when he was interested in what was happening, which only meant that the person he was looking for was hiding themselves while they did their job... even if there weren't any Hollows around, save the two that appeared to be doing absolutely nothing except moving around the town, and the number of spirits hadn't done down yet.
Once he determined that the Hollows weren't doing anything he returned to the high school and simply waited in a spot where he could spot Ichigo Kurosaki the moment he left the building, though at the same time he stood in a shaded area to make it harder for the Human to see him when he came outside. He waited for a few hours, silently thanking the fact that Arrancars apparently didn't need to eat anything since a normal person would have had to break for the midday meal, before he spotted the students leaving the sigh school and started to head home for the day. Sombra stood there for a few moments, watching the students that couldn't see him walk out of the school grounds, before he spotted Ichigo walking out of the building. From there he remained still for a moment or two, recalling some of Yoruichi's teachings about stealth, and at the moment it appeared that Ichigo didn't even see him, so when he let the young man get some distance ahead of him he emerged from his hiding place and followed after him. As he walked some distance behind the young man he noticed that Ichigo seemed distracted about something, and not by him as it turned out, though he silently followed Ichigo through Karakura Town as he headed home... or at least that was what he assumed at first.
What actually happened was that Ichigo took a detour that took him to an intersection, one that appeared to have a small glass vase with some flowers put inside it, though the vase happened to be on it's side and the flowers all over the ground in front of it... to which Ichigo approached the five young men that were using what Sombra had discovered were skateboards, or at least that was what Jinta called them, before spinning around and kicked one of them, the leader, in the chest, causing him to collapse on the ground in pain.
"Wh... what's going on?" one of the young men asked, though as all this happened Sombra remained on a high place and watched what was going on, because he was interested in what Ichigo was doing, "You got some nerve coming over to us and kicking Yama down like that!"
The young man in question rushed forward, in a motion that revealed that he was going to attack Ichigo, but Sombra watched as Ichigo raised his foot and lightly kicked the young man in the face, before using his leg to repeatedly kick his foe into the ground until he was unconscious... to which he straightened himself and started at the remaining three young men that were in front of him with a look of irritation in his eyes.
"Listen, all of you... Look at that!" Ichigo said, to which he used his right hand and pointed back at the vase in question, indicating that he was annoyed about it's current position, while at the same time staring at the trio in front of him, "First question: What can that be? You, in the middle!"
"Huh?" the young man in the middle replied, surprised that he was being called upon, while at the same time his friends moved away from him a little bit, though whether it was because he was picked or for some other reason Sombra had no idea, "Um, well... flowers for the kid who died here the other day?"
"Absolutely right!" Ichigo stated, though that was followed by him getting really close to the trio and kicked the guy in the middle with a kick, knocking him backwards in the process, before he crouched for a moment and stared at the other two young men that were shaking at the moment, "Then tell me... Why is that vase on it's side?"
"Well..." one of the two young men answered, though at the same time Sombra could tell that he was scared for his own safety, meaning that Ichigo either had a reputation or those simple kicks were more than enough to cause people to back away, "we were skateboarding and knocked... it... over..."
It was in that moment, as the young man was answering the question, that Ichigo lashed out with his foot and knocked the two of them backwards, though this time around he gave his attack enough power to let them understand what he was saying without leaving them scattered around the area.
"If you ever do it again..." Ichigo said, anger filling his voice as he stared at the young men in question, who seemed to be absolutely terrified of what was happening at the moment, which might have been what he was going for when he started talking, "I'll make it so someone will have to offer flowers for your souls, too!"
Not a few seconds later the two young men, along with the one that was between them, screamed as they retreated, leaving their friends behind for now, though Ichigo held that stare for a few moments to be absolutely sure that they got the message, but once they were gone he sighed and returned to his normal expression.
"If I put that much fear into them, they probably won't be coming back." Ichigo stated, almost like he was talking to himself, but Sombra knew that he was actually talking to the spirit of the little girl that was hiding behind the light post that the vase had been resting in front of, as he spotted her a few seconds after Ichigo engaged the young men that had knocked over the offering, "I'll bring you some fresh flowers tomorrow."
"Thank you for getting rid of them." the young spirit said, her tone revealing that she was happy with what Ichigo had done for her, even going so far as to offer him a smile at the same time, especially when Ichigo approached the vase and put it right side up, "Now I should be able to rest in peace."
Ichigo nodded his head and started walking down the street he had been following since he had departed from the high school, which meant that his route had been intentional since the beginning, though Sombra followed after him to see what else he had planned before he reached the clinic that served as his home. What he discovered, however, was that there weren't any other stops Ichigo had in mind and he headed straight to the clinic, though when he arrived it was were into the evening, around the time that most people had dinner. When Ichigo headed inside the house part of the building that contained the clinic, which would take him to his room as well, Sombra waited outside, since it would have been impolite to simply barge into the house and follow the young man all the way to his room. Sombra had to admit that he was tempted to do that anyway, since he heard the sound of someone attacking Ichigo and immediately moved his hand to his weapon, but from the sounds he heard after the incident happened it appeared that his father was annoyed with him returning home after seven o'clock, when they had dinner together, to which Sombra sighed and took his hand off the handle of his weapon.
After a few minutes of listening to Ichigo 'fight' his father, and argue with him as his sisters, who Sombra knew nothing about, commented on the fight they were having, before Ichigo went up to his room for the night, completely ignoring the evening meal... though at the same time Sombra jumped over to the top of a nearby building and waited, as it would be some time before anything happened, and he still couldn't find where that Shinigami had wandered off to. From there he watched over the part of the town that he was in and continued to keep an eye out for anything that would tell him where his targets were located, but once the first hour ticked by he quickly determined that he could simply sleep where he was and no one would bother him. At the very least he knew that the rays of the sun would be more than enough to awaken him this time around, since it was hard to ignored the sun when it's rays shined on him, so he dozed off knowing that he'd likely awaken around the same time that Kisuke and the others would, including Ichigo if his thoughts were correct.
For the most part he was correct, he was able to sleep through the night without anything happening, though as the sun's rays woke him up he stretched his arms and legs for a few seconds, but not even a moment later he heard the sound of an explosion nearby and immediately moved to investigate. What shocked him was that the explosion had happened close to where Ichigo and his family lived, though as he stared down at the scene, since he was standing on the roof above it, he found that the Humans were pointing some contraptions at the scene, video tapping what was going on, if he remember what the kids at the shop had told him. At the same time he noticed something more important, there were scratches on the wall nearby that looked like claw marks, meaning that a Hollow must have been behind the destruction around here, though since he couldn't see or feel either of them at the moment he sighed and headed back to the clinic, so he would wait and see what happened when Ichigo left the building. He was sure that, at some point in time, one of the two Hollows that had invaded the town would make their move and reveal themselves, though when that happened either he would take them out or the Shinigami would show up... which would work out good for him, since he was trying to figure out who had been sent here.
Eventually Ichigo walked out of his house and started to walk down the street, heading towards the area that the little girl's spirit had been standing when he encountered the group of young men, but as Sombra followed him he noticed something odd... he was still wearing his school clothes and was carrying his school bag.
He's got school on a Saturday?! Sombra thought as he followed Ichigo by using the roofs to his advantage, though it appeared that the Human was distracted by something that must have happened inside his house, I had no idea that the younger people in this town went to school six days a week... I wonder if that includes Sunday as well.
He had been so preoccupied with his training that he hadn't noticed whether Jinta and Ururu had to go to school six days a week or five days a week, or if they went to any sort of school at all, though that thought was immediately interrupted when he noticed that Ichigo was walking by where the explosion had been. The fact that he didn't even stop to see what was going on told Sombra that the people who had been video tapping everything must have broadcast it to the people in their homes, how he had no idea, but he remained silent as he followed Ichigo, who eventually came to a stop by where the little girl's spirit had been. As he started to call out to the spirit, who should have been in the area, Sombra heard the sound of the little girl screaming and, sure enough, the sound of a Hollow echoing after the scream, meaning that he'd get to see some action before the day was done, though what was interesting was that Ichigo heard the Hollow howl as well. Ichigo headed out in the direction of the scream, just as Sombra did at the same time, though as they arrived at the area in question Sombra discovered that the Hollow was already smashing his way through the area... and, based on what he was seeing, the large insect like Hollow was chasing the little girl from earlier.
He guessed that the Hollow was interested in eating the soul of the little girl and that was why it had smashed that other area apart earlier, because it was chasing her, though at the same time Sombra landed some distance behind Ichigo and stared at the Hollow, knowing that the time to act was coming.
"W... What's that...?" Ichigo asked, telling Sombra that he could see the Hollow as well, though that was before he spotted the little girl as well, who was running towards him since he had protected her earlier, only for the two of them to continue running in the opposite direction of the Hollow... to which the two of them moved right by Sombra and barely noticed him until Ichigo realized that he had been there.
That was the moment that little girl tripped on something and hit the ground, to which Ichigo moved to help the young spirit up, though at the same time Sombra moved immediately, as he rushed forward, drew his sword, and slashed through one of the Hollow's legs, stunning it as it roared in pain. As he moved to hack through the mask, and kill the creature while purifying it's soul, a figure wearing the same clothing that he was wearing, only black colored, dropped down from the roof above them and descended towards the Hollow's mask. Once she was in position, as he was sure that it was a female based on the body that he was seeing, she drew her own Zanpakuto and used a horizontal slash to wound the Hollow's mouth, as blood flew everywhere as it was cut, though that was followed by her touching the ground as the creature withered in pain. Sombra took the chance and jumped to the other side of the Hollow, where he hacked off the other legs and caused it to crash on the ground, though as it raised it's head towards the sky the Shinigami appeared above it's head and swung her sword in a vertical manner that cut the entire Hollow in half... causing it to dissolve into nothing as it was purified.
The instant the Hollow was taken care of, and Ichigo started to come out of the daze he had been in since this appeared to be the first time seeing such a creature, both Sombra and the Shinigami sheathed their blades and departed from the area, leaving a confused young man behind... though, oddly enough, when Sombra stopped on top of one of the roofs that were above the street he found that he wasn't alone in that decision, because the Shinigami followed him up there. That gave him the opportunity to observe the Shinigami, finding that she was shorter than him and appeared to have a petite body, though she had light colored skin and purple colored eyes. The Shinigami's hair was black colored, sort of like his own hair, and that there happened to be several strands of hair that were currently hanging between her eyes, though based on the look she was giving him he could tell that the strands were the one thing she wasn't interested in at the moment. He guessed that his luck was great so far, as one of the Hollows had been taken out and he was about to figure out who the Shinigami of Soul Society had sent to Karakura Town... unless she was going to try and kill him, which meant he'd have to knock her out first, but he kept his hand away from his sword for the moment.
"I was wondering where that energy was coming from," the Shinigami commented, to which she approached him and studied his body, no doubt taking in his hooves, his tail, and his horn, along with the strange crown that he wore, before she backed away and stared at him, "What are you exactly? And how did you get your hands on that Zanpakuto?"
"My name is Sombra, and I'm an Arrancar," Sombra replied, thinking that this might be the same as when he met Kisuke the first time around, giving up his own name in exchange for the name of the person he was talking to, before he moved his sword a little, "and this was given to me when it was determined that I'd be of more use to the town if I had a weapon to help me combat the Hollows that occasionally appear every now and then. I've been silently guarding Karakura Town for the last month, waiting for Soul Society to send someone to take the place of the last Shinigami that had died in the line of duty... though it's fortunate that we met in such a manner, instead of being enemies."
"The last month?" the Shinigami inquired, to which she appeared to think about something for a moment, while at the same time Sombra nodded his head to confirm what he had just said, where she stared at him once more, "Part of my mission, besides helping the souls of the dead depart from this world and taking care of Hollows, was to find the energy signature that had been slowly growing over the last month and identify whether it was a threat to the town, or if it was something else entirely. I guess that means I can at least report back that I found the source of the energy and that I'll have a more detailed report after I spend some time figuring you out... though that raises a question, how could someone like you know about Soul Society and the Shinigami?"
"I'm flattered that Soul Society sent someone to find me." Sombra said, though at the same time he bowed for a moment, just to show that he wasn't like the Hollows that he had taken out and the one that he had assisted her in taking out, before he stood straight and stared at her, "Though the reason I know about Soul Society and the Shinigami is because someone taught me all about the place you came from and what you're supposed to do while you're in the World of the Living, which is sort of what I've been doing since the last Shinigami was killed by a Hollow. Now then, what are you going to do about the Hollow that's still running around since yesterday morning?"
The Shinigami remained silent for a moment, clearly surprised by the fact that he was willing to answer her questions with the truth and that, to the best of her knowledge, wasn't holding anything back from her, and she also had to be a little shocked that he was keeping taps on the Hollow, whenever it appeared around the town. Even now Sombra was aware that Ichigo was heading back to school, to learn more about the world around him and what he needed for his adult life, but at the same time this was the person that he was really looking for, and so far he had gotten nothing. He was actually pretty fine with the arrangement, because that meant that he might be able to get her to tell him some things in return, since he gave her so much already, but he was just going to have to wait and see what happened next before he rushed to a conclusion that might be incorrect.
"I'm going to track it down and get rid of it," the Shinigami finally replied, though her statement made sense in Sombra's mind, as it was safer for the spirits and souls in the town if the Hollows were purified shortly after they revealed themselves, "along with sending some of these souls to Soul Society... there's quite a number of them still lingering in the places where they died or gathering around people who were important when they were alive. You, on the other hand, are going to come with me and tell me everything that's happened over the last month... maybe we can track down that Shinigami killing Hollow while we're at it."
"It would be my pleasure, Miss..." Sombra said, though at the same time he purposely let her know that, since she knew his name it was only fair that she tell him exactly who she was, that way he didn't have to dodge around calling her a Shinigami all the time, since that would only annoy her.
"Oh, right, I haven't told you my name yet." the Shinigami said, though Sombra wasn't sure if she had intentionally forgotten or if she never had the intention of telling him, but now it appeared that she was going to tell him anyway, as if she had thought about how he had worded his parts of the conversation, "My name is Rukia... Rukia Kuchiki."
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Rukia Kuchiki," Sombra replied, earning what was a light smile from the Shinigami for a moment, before she beckoned to him and got underway by jumping over to the next rooftop as she continued her search for the other Hollow.
Sombra followed after her not a few seconds later, as he was eager to see what else he could learn from her, so that way when he told Kisuke the news he'd have something to offer him and Yoruichi the next time he saw them, as they were going to be interested in learning why Soul Society sent Rukia here in the first place... and maybe figure out a way to assist her in the future, if she needed help doing her job or learning where places were throughout the town. One thing he figured out, from just following Rukia, was that she seemed to be interested in Ichigo at the moment, more in the fact that he had seen the Hollow they killed, because she was following him towards his high school. It didn't take them long to reach the area that Sombra stood in when he was watching the school, waiting for the young man to come out, so he offered Rukia some shade and they both sat down, where he told her everything that had happened since he appeared in the town a month ago... though he did hope that he told her something that would help her find that Shinigami killing hollow, just so she could tell Soul Society that their comrades had been avenged.
The two of them spent the majority of the morning sitting outside the high school, in Sombra's little hiding area, discussing what happened over the last month, where Rukia learned whatever Sombra had discovered on his own and nodded her head a few times, meaning that she either knew something or verified what she had been told earlier. At the same time they both kept their eyes and ears open for anything out of the ordinary, as there was no telling when the other Hollow would make it's move, until Rukia decided to move and headed back into the town, with Sombra following after her so she didn't get lost. What she ended up doing was tracking down some of the spirits that he had told her about and gave him his first glimpse of the Konso technique, where Rukia tapped the hilt of her sword against the forehead of the spirit, where all of them had been good while they were living, as they ended up turning into a black bodied butterfly that flew off into the distance before they disappeared entirely. Rukia didn't offer an explanation as to why the spirits she performed the Konso on became butterflies, leaving Sombra to just watch and learn while they continued to make their way through the town, taking care of the duties that the previous Shinigami would have done if they hadn't been killed.
Eventually the day turned to night as they came to a familiar part of Karakura Town, the very place where Ichigo's house was located, and Rukia paused for a moment, apparently sensing another spirit nearby, though that was followed by her jumping up till she was level with one of the rooms in the second story. It was in that moment that she opened a black doorway of some kind, one that allowed her to pass through the wall, and, as Sombra moved over to the window to see what was going on, he watched her step out onto Ichigo's deck and scared the young man for a moment when she touched her sword as she sought out the spirit in question. When Rukia stepped down onto the floor, and muttered something about 'something' being near, Ichigo got fed up with her and proceeded to kick her in the back, knocking her to the floor with a look of surprise on her face, though at the same time Sombra shook his head, because he had told her that Ichigo could see spirits and she had ignored him entirely... making him wonder if this 'partnership' they were in was even going to work, if she wasn't going to listen to anything he said.
It was in the moment that he was thinking about how he and Rukia were going to work together that Ichigo turned on the light and gave him a better chance to see Rukia, who happened to be remaining on the floor, as she was stunned by what had just happened.
"You scare the living daylights out of me, then you ignore me?!" Ichigo commented, revealing that he didn't like the fact that Rukia had ignored him like he wasn't there, or the fact that he had asked her several questions before he took matters into his own hands, "I asked you who you are!"
"Y... You can see me?" Rukia asked, surprised that this was even happening, though at the same time she turned around a little so she could look at Ichigo with her look of surprise remaining on her face, once more confirming what Sombra had thought a few moments ago, "But wait... you just kicked me..."
"I told you that he can see spirits, souls, and ghosts," Sombra said, to which he remained outside the room and stared at the two of them for a moment, while at the same time he noticed that Ichigo was turning to look at him, "Ah, Ichigo Kurosaki, do you mind if I enter your bedroom as well?"
"Ugh... sure." Ichigo replied, where it was clear that he had no idea what to make of the situation, though as Sombra opened the window, and climbed inside the room, his eyes revealed the he recognized Sombra, "Hey, you're that strange person I've seen around Karakura Town for the last month!"
"That I am," Sombra said, to which he touched the floor and closed the window behind him, to make sure nothing else came into the room after both he and Rukia did the same, before he turned towards Ichigo and extended a hand towards the young man, "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Sombra, and this is..."
"Interesting... normally people like you can't see people like us." Rukia commented, having gotten up while Ichigo was distracted, though she then approached him and started studying him in detail, as if she was trying to figure out how he could see the two of them.
"Quit talking nonsense." Ichigo stated, to which he actually kicked at Rukia, but this time since he was coming from the front, and Rukia was a Shinigami, she jumped over his kick, jumped off of it and landed on his head, before giving herself a little boost and landed behind him while knocking the young man to the floor.
"I guess I might as well explain things to you." Rukia said, to which she turned around and looked at Ichigo, where Sombra sighed, as this was going to take some time before they got anywhere and he was sure that there were some pieces of information that were going to go over Ichigo's head, "I am a Shinigami..."
Sombra closed his eyes as he leaned against the wall, listening to Rukia describe the duties of the Shinigami and their purpose in the World of the Living, were he found that everything she said he already knew about, as Kisuke and Yoruichi had told him everything that she was telling Ichigo. Even without having to look Sombra could tell that Ichigo wasn't buying what Rukia was telling him, even though it was the truth, and eventually he started reciting everything he had learned in the most simple form possible, by attaching it to the spirit of the little girl that had been attacked. What was amazing was that he understood what Rukia was telling him, parts of it at the very least, but in the end he declared that he couldn't actually believe what she had said, mostly because he had seen spirits for a long period of time and that this was the first time that he had seen a Shinigami. The only reason he was willing to believe that Sombra, an Arrancar, was real was because he had seen him multiple times over the last month, even though he stated that he deserved an explanation as to why he kept running over the last month.
It was during the part that Ichigo explained why he couldn't believe Rukia that he touched his head and called her a 'pipsqueak', which annoyed Rukia to the point where she used one of the Bakudo techniques Sombra had read about, Sai, that forced Ichigo's hands behind his back and locked them there. Sombra opened his eyes to watch that happened, while noticing that Rukia followed it up by taunting Ichigo for a moment before drawing her sword, to perform Konso on a spirit that had come up from the floor, where she sent his soul to Soul Society. That, in turn, launched Rukia into another explanation about another set of duties that the Shinigami performed, where Sombra tuned her out once more as he focused his mind, as he found that Ichigo's room was making it hard to sense anything that was going on around Karakura Town, meaning that the Hollow they were hunting for could be on it's way here and they wouldn't know about it until it was took late to do anything. That was, however, until he heard the familiar roar of a Hollow, one that was extremely close to where they were sitting, and yet he appeared to be the only one to notice it... or at least that was the case, until Ichigo pointed it out and Rukia jumped to attention, now aware to the fact that her target was nearby.
In the moments that followed Ichigo heard the sound of one of his sisters screaming as Rukia opened the door, though she paused a moment later as the reiatsu of the Hollow, stronger than what she was expecting it to be, stopped her in her tracks, while at the same time Sombra felt it as well. As such while Rukia and Ichigo dealt with leaving through the bedroom door, and apparently listening to a wounded Yuzu for a moment, Sombra opened the window and jumped outside, before circling around to the front of the clinic, which was now missing it's front. His position gave him a good view of the humanoid Hollow, the young girl that he was holding onto, and the bottom of the stairs were Rukia was standing, before Ichigo, somehow, came down the stairs and moved himself into a standing position, surprising Sombra for a moment since the Sai technique was supposed to immobilize the target. It was in the following moments that both he and Rukia were surprised, as Ichigo used his own power, which had to be something like a Shinigami's power or similar to it, to shatter the Bakudo that had been placed on him... to which he rushed forward, grabbed onto a folded up chair, and tried to attack the Hollow, who punched him to the side and had to be caught by Sombra before he hurt himself.
Not a few seconds later, after Sombra pulled Ichigo away to avoid the Hollow's punch, Rukia charged out and cut a gash into the Hollow's hand, forcing him to drop the young girl, Karin as Sombra soon discovered, to which Ichigo caught his sister and rushed her back into the house. As the Hollow seemed to retreat for the moment Rukia discovered something about the situation they were in, the Hollows that she had encountered today weren't after the spirit or the girls that they were attacking, what they were actually after was Ichigo himself, as he seemed to have an incredible amount of reiatsu that had been suppressed up until this point. Ichigo was surprised and shocked by that fact, as he couldn't believe that it was his fault that this was happening to his own family, but even as Rukia said that Sombra wondered why the Hollows didn't come after him or the others, before he wondered if the Urahara Shop was designed to repel Hollows and prevented the creatures from sensing reiatsu from those that lived inside the building. Unfortunately that was as far as his thoughts went, as the moment the Hollow returned Ichigo ran forward and moved away from the clinic, where he actually tried to bargain with the Hollow, which only seemed to laugh at him.
It was in the moment that the Hollow attacked him, and before Sombra could draw his sword, that Rukia jumped between the two and wedged her sword in between two of the Hollow's teeth as it bit into her shoulder, though in the end she tore one of the creature's teeth out while sustaining enough damage that she could hardly stand anymore... where she started to crawl over to the nearby lamppost and turned towards the battle.
"You fool..." Rukia commented, to which she leaned against the lamppost and stared at Ichigo, though while all of this was going on Sombra pulled out his sword and dodged the incoming attack that the Hollow sent at him, before hacking out a second tooth while Rukia talked to Ichigo, "You should have known... that you were no match for him... Or, did you think that everything would be over if you gave him your soul? At this rate, we'll all become his food."
"Real vote of confidence there." Sombra muttered, surprised that Rukia had so little faith in his abilities, but then again she couldn't know much about him since they had only met a few hours ago, though that didn't stop him from dodging the next attack and hack into the Hollow's leg a little as he forced the creature backwards.
"Do you... want to save your family?" Rukia asked, completely ignoring Sombra's presence once more, because he was doing a good job of stalling the Hollow, which only wanted to get at Ichigo and he was still getting in the way, not that Sombra was going to let the creature go anywhere.
"Of course!" Ichigo replied, though at the same time he wondered if this meant that Sombra didn't have the power to stop the Hollow either, as Rukia seemed to have no faith in his abilities, even though he could tell that he was doing just fine on his own, "Is there a way for me to protect my family?"
"There's only one way..." Rukia said, to which she picked up her sword and pointed it at Ichigo, though it appeared that she was more determined than ever to survive this encounter, "You must become a Shinigami!"
Sombra would have questioned what was going on, but right now he was focused on battling a Hollow that was stronger than the ones he had fought when Yoruichi was training him, not that it was her fault since those ones must have been extremely weak. In the following moments, when he heard Rukia and Ichigo exchange names, a surge of light and energy emitted from where they were gathered, though Sombra's instincts told him to get out of the way and he did, to which he watched as one of the Hollow's arms went flying off not even five seconds later. When the smoke cleared he found Ichigo standing in the middle of the street, wearing the attire of a Shinigami and carrying a Zanpakuto that was larger than what he and Rukia were carrying, before he rested the sword against his back, where a container of some kind was strapped to his back. Rukia, as Sombra discovered, was just fine save for her wound, though her attire had become pure white, save for the parts where she was wounded, but she was shocked by what had happened and looked down at herself in disbelief... but even then Sombra could see that she was understanding what he had discovered, Ichigo's room had been filled with the young man's reiatsu, indicating that he had some powerful energy that he needed to learn how to control before someone got hurt.
In the next few seconds Sombra watched as Ichigo and the Hollow charged at each other, though Ichigo lopped off the creature's right leg and forced it to hop in place for a moment, before using a vertical slash to slay the Hollow, purifying it's soul and causing it to disappear... though as he stood up, and appeared to be getting ready to cheer, the excitement apparently got to him and he fell to the ground, where Sombra discovered that he was out cold.
"First time being a Shinigami and he falls asleep after killing a Hollow," Sombra commented, to which he sheathed his sword and walked over to Rukia, while at the same time noting the damage that had been caused to the clinic and Ichigo's unconscious family, "now then, how are we going to explain all of this?"
"I... I don't know," Rukia admitted, though at the same time she carefully reached into her pocket and pulled out a note she had been given before she departed from Soul Society, one that she handed to Sombra, "I was told that, if I ever needed supplies for my job, I could go to that shop and they would provide me with anything and everything that I might use while I'm in the World of the Living... I just don't know where the shop is located."
Sombra took the note and opened it, though he raised one of his eyebrows when he noticed that the shop in question was the Urahara Shop, which meant that he could kill two birds with one stone tonight... and maybe earn him some points with Rukia along the way.
"Don't worry, I know where the shop is located," Sombra said, though instead of waiting for Rukia to ask how he knew where the shop was located he picked her up and started heading over to where Kisuke and the others were, no doubt getting ready for bed themselves.
He guessed that he had been right in a way, as the chosen Shinigami from Soul Society had definitely made life in Karakura Town more interesting with her mere presence, even though now she appeared to be without her powers, which explained Ichigo's sudden transformation... though something told him he'd find out more about that later, once he helped figure out how they were going to explain the damage to Ichigo in the morning.
Since it appeared that no one was coming to investigate the sounds of what happened to the clinic, and Sombra was absolutely sure of that fact, he picked up his speed and jumped to the nearest rooftop, while carrying Rukia, before continuing in such a manner as he headed towards the Urahara Shop. He was surprised that the Shinigami would give Rukia the information that the shop even existed in the first place, which meant that they had to know where Kisuke was located, though if that was the case he wondered what Kisuke and the others sold for Shinigami that would have Soul Society give Rukia the note. Even as he thought about it he had no idea what the situation between Soul Society and Kisuke was, and while part of him wanted to know the other part was saying that it wasn't his business and that he'd find out when he was ready, so he kept quite and continued to jump from roof to roof as he headed towards the shop. Fortunately Rukia was focused on her wounds and not on the fact that he knew where to find the shop, since she couldn't find it on her own, allowing him to be silent for the moment as he headed towards their destination.
By jumping over all the rooftops he managed to get to the shop rather quickly, where he silently thanked Yoruichi for teaching him Hoho over the last month, though as he reached the area outside the shop, and landed on the area in front of the entrance, he spotted Yoruichi waiting outside... no doubt because she felt his reiatsu coming in close with a second one that was unfamiliar to her.
"Ah, Yoruichi, just the cat I was looking for," Sombra said, to which he walked up to the entrance and made sure that Rukia was stable, though the Shinigami was currently staring at the cat and was glancing between the two with a look of confusion on her face, "Listen, something's happened at the Kurosaki Clinic and I need to ask Kisuke what we can do to fix it before Ichigo and his family wakes up... and Tessai should be able to help fix up Rukia at the same time."
Yoruichi, sensing that now might not be the best time to speak, nodded her head and headed inside the shop, leaving Sombra outside with Rukia, where he did his absolute best to put pressure on the wound and stop the majority of the bleeding... though fortunately he didn't have to do that for long, as not a few moments later the front door of the shop opened and both Kisuke and Tessai appeared.
"I heard that something happened at the Kurosaki Clinic," Kisuke said, playing it off that he had been waiting to see what Yoruichi was doing before he went to bed for the night, while in reality he knew that they weren't ready to give the Shinigami the truth just yet, before he looked at the situation in front of him and glanced at Rukia and the wound that she had at the moment, "Come in, Tessai and I will do what we can... for both your wound and what happened at the clinic."
Sombra nodded and followed the duo inside, making sure that Rukia was fine as she walked into the clinic and didn't bleed everywhere, though Tessai beckoned them to a room that was near the kitchen and had Rukia sit down in the middle of the room. While that happened Kisuke stood nearby as he looked at the note that Sombra had handed him after helping Rukia to the seat, clearly thinking about what was going on at the moment, but what really interested Sombra was the fact that Tessai's hands glowed with a green color for a moment before he started channeling the reiatsu he was gathering and focused his mind. From there Sombra watched as Tessai seemed to slowly mend the wounds that Rukia had been given, surprising him for a moment until he remembered that this had to be some of the Kido that he had been told about during his training, the one aspect of his training that he hadn't gotten around to doing yet.
"Okay, what happened at the clinic?" Kisuke asked, because while Tessai was working he knew that he could easily figure out exactly needed to be gathered, but at the same time his task would be even easier if someone told him exactly what the problem was.
"A Hollow attacked the clinic and injured both of Ichigo's sisters and his father," Sombra replied, knowing that Rukia would be focusing her energy on healing at the moment, which meant that it was up to him to tell Kisuke the information that he was asking for, "we were inside Ichigo's room when it happened, were Rukia explained what she was and what her job entailed, before both Ichigo and I noticed that the Hollow had attacked the clinic and busted down part of the entrance in the process. From what I could tell his room seems to have a high concentration of reiatsu inside it, making it hard to sense anything that might be happening outside it's walls, which is why we weren't able to feel the Hollow until it was almost on top of us. There's also the fact that Ichigo, for the moment anyway, is channeling the powers of a Shinigami, ones that he borrowed from Rukia..."
"...which is why her Shinigami attire is white, instead of it's usual coloration." Kisuke said, understanding exactly what was going on at the moment, and how serious the situation could become if Soul Society figured it out on their own, but that only made him focus on the wounded Shinigami that was in front of him, "So, Miss Rukia, how much of your power did you end up giving to Ichigo Kurosaki?"
"Actually, it's Rukia Kuchiki," Rukia answered, revealing that she didn't have a problem with revealing her name to the shop manager, especially when she had a feeling that the person in front of her might be one of the infamous figures that she had been told about during her training, "and, if I'm being honest, I only meant to give him half of my power so he could handle that Hollow, while I used the rest of it to heal my body. Instead he ended up taking all of my power into his body when he transformed into a Shinigami... so right now I have no power to defend myself with, meaning that he'll have to step in and do my job for me, until I get my powers back."
"Ichigo will also need someone to help him when you aren't there to teach him the ropes," Sombra added, to which he noticed that both Kisuke and Rukia were turning towards him, while at the same time Yoruichi nodded her head, as she understood what he was talking about, "I've been watching over the town for the last month, surely he and I can work together and take care of the spirits that need to be sent to Soul Society, and even purify some of the Hollows that might come looking for a meal."
"That sounds like a plan." Kisuke said, to which he moved towards the door and started to head out, though as he did that he stopped and turned back towards the group that was inside in the room at the moment, "I need to get a few items before you two depart for the clinic... items that will help you get around the damage that was caused to the building and help the family at the same time."
Sombra nodded his head as Kisuke walked out of the room and headed to the storage area, where he had whatever items he wanted to give them, before turning his attention towards Rukia and Tessai, where he watched as the wound closed after some time and the bleeding stopped as well... to which Tessai pulled his hands back and nodded, before letting Rukia stretch and find that the man had mended her wounds like an expert.
"Th... Thank you." Ruki said, which brought a light smile to Tessai's face for a moment, though once that happened she turned and looked over at Sombra, where it appeared that there was something on her mind that she couldn't quite figure out at the moment, "How did you know where the shop was located?"
"This is where I lived for the last month, after I arrived in Karakura Town," Sombra replied, as he was sure that he had explained this to Rukia when they were running around the town and sent the spirits to Soul Society, but even as he thought about it he decided to explain it to them again, "I also used that time to explore the town, which is why I was able to get here so quickly."
"I see." Rukia said, though at the same time Sombra could see that she was thinking about something that was going on at the moment, but he didn't press the issue, as they had some work they needed to do once Kisuke came back out with the items he had in mind.
Fortunately Kisuke returned to the room a few minutes later, where he held a device cylinder like device that looked like it was something that one of the kids Sombra had seen earlier had been carrying, a candy dispenser as he recalled Jinta calling the device. In reality it was a device that wiped the memories of an event from the minds of those that the user was targeting and replace them with a new one, though it required being used in the face of the person who needed their memories changed, as in both of Ichigo's sisters and his father. In addition to that Kisuke informed Rukia that, until she got her powers back, that she was going to need to use a gigai to blend in while Ichigo took over for her as the Shinigami that was supposed to protect Karakura Town, once they told him the news that he would have possession of her powers for an undetermined amount of time. Of course, since he was running a business and couldn't just give things away for free, he told Rukia to come by in a day or two and they could get this transaction paid for, even though Rukia said that she would be good for it, but the fact that Ichigo and his family were in need of attention had him change to getting them taken care of before getting his payment for the items Rukia would be buying.
Sombra remained standing where he was while Kisuke took Rukia into a different room of the shop, though a few minutes later he returned with the Shinigami, where Sombra noticed that she walked a little weird, which had to be the gigai that they had mentioned, and that she was dressed in a high school uniform that happened to fit her... though it appeared that Yoruichi had found the pack that Rukia had left behind, with the clothes she had brought with her in case she needed to use a gigai, and brought it here, answering the unspoken question of where the uniform came from.
Once everything was squared away, for the moment anyway, Sombra led the way back to the Kurosaki Clinic with Kisuke and Tessai following after him, though the latter was carrying Rukia so she wouldn't fall off a rooftop and hurt herself again, much to her displeasure. Kisuke was only coming to survey the damage and to see what he could do, as Sombra guessed that there might actually be a connection between the shop and the clinic since he wanted to be sure that no one got hurt, while at the same time Tessai wanted to be sure that everyone was perfectly fine from the attack before it was wiped from their memories. It also didn't take him long to get back to the clinic, where he found that none of the neighbors seemed to care about the noise and there still weren't any noises of emergency people coming to check out what had happened, giving the group some time to land nearby and show Kisuke what happened. At the same time Tessai set Rukia down and they made sure to group the family together, which meant carefully picking them up and setting them down in the same area before Tessai channeled some of his reiatsu and mended their wounds... while at the same time Sombra carefully dragged the unconscious Ichigo, who had reverted back to his original Human form, up to his room, tucked him into the bed as best he could, and closed the door before he rejoined the others.
As he walked back down to the first floor, and noticed that Tessai was already done with the family and was starting to move them back to their rooms, Sombra spotted Kisuke leaving a note on the counter that was directed towards Ichigo's father, Isshin Kurosaki he noticed, before he headed outside... where Rukia was standing as she stared at the device that she must have already used on Ichigo's family.
"This is about all we can do for them at the moment," Kisuke said, though as he spoke he looked at the hole in the wall that had been created by the Hollow that Sombra and Rukia had fought, before Ichigo utterly defeated it in a few swings of his sword, "we'll just have to wait and see what the morning brings."
Sombra could tell that Rukia hated the idea of waiting, especially since her powers were gone, but at the same time Kisuke was kind enough to offer her a room for the night, since she had nowhere else to go at the moment, and she took the offer since she knew that fact, but also promised that she would be finding her own place soon enough. As Kisuke and Tessai took Rukia back to the shop, to get some actual sleep, Sombra stayed behind so he could make sure that the family was safe from harm, in case another Hollow appeared in the town and tried to attack them, to which the group nodded and departed from the area. Once they were gone Sombra jumped up to the roof of the clinic and sat down on it, where he closed his eyes and focused his mind, allowing him to feel the reiatsu in the town while his body rested for whatever happened the following morning... though while he did that, and before his mind was completely calm, he felt two Hollows enter the town for the briefest of seconds, before disappearing entirely as they went back to Hueco Mundo.
He wasn't sure what he had just felt, but at the same time he decided that, since the Hollows had retreated, it wasn't worth looking into and slipped back into what he was doing... allowing him to relax as he slipped back into the same dreamless sleep that he was used to having, while he waited to see what tomorrow brought them.
Just like the last few times he slept outside, and did so on top of a building, Sombra woke up to the sun's rays hitting his eyes in some manner, to which he stretched as he opened his eyes and stood up, finding that morning was upon him and that the family would be discovering the hole in the wall any moment now. What actually happened, however, was that no one in the family was even awake yet and he went down to study the hole that had been created, finding that part of the living area had been smashed during the attack, where he was thankful that no one had been seriously injured in the process. The only unfortunate thing was that, since it was Sunday, none of the family seemed to be eager to get up and continued to sleep as the hours ticked by, but when none arrived, and they still weren't up, he went back to the Urahara Shop and asked Kisuke if he knew what the problem was, only to discover that, by looking at the device that Rukia had used, the family would be asleep until Monday morning and that they would miss the entirety of Sunday thanks to the setting that Rukia had accidentally picked.
As such Sombra spent the entirety of Sunday watching over the Kurosaki Clinic, finding that people seemed to take an interest in what was going on and, by some sort of device that Kisuke had left behind when he wasn't looking, seemed to mutter something about a truck accident and left, leaving the Kurosaki's alone... and soon day turned to night, where he slipped back onto the roof and took up the same position he had used earlier, so he could wait for morning to arrive.
When Monday moving did arrive, however, the sounds of Ichigo's sisters woke Sombra up, to which he got moving as well since he wanted to see what other effects the device Kisuke had sold Rukia had, but before he could do that he heard the sounds of Isshin Kurosaki opening a door, one that happened to go to Ichigo's room. As such he moved until he had a good position so he could see what was going on, though as he stood near the window he found Ichigo's father staring at his son, who was still asleep from last night's events, and it appeared that he was getting ready to wake him up in some manner, one that had to be common for this particular house anyway. It made sense that he would go after his son, since both of his daughters were already awake and had started their days, but that didn't stop Sombra from watching what was about to unfold, as he was interested in what was going on.
"Good morning, Ichigo!" Isshin happily said, jumping and positioning himself so that he could plant both of his feet in Ichigo's stomach, a surefire way to wake someone that was sleeping, though at the same time Sombra noticed that it was a dangerous move that he was pulling off.
Of course he was also worried for Ichigo's safety, especially after what happened the previous night, but what surprised him was the speed that Ichigo used when he snapped his eyes open, flung the covers off of him, and grabbed his father's head with his left hand, before pinning his stunned father to the floor.
"Jerk," Ichigo said, where he glared at his father for a moment, showing Sombra that despite the fact that this clearly happened all the time for this family, which would worry a normal person, Ichigo had no love for constantly being awoken in such a manner and was growing tired of the game his father played, "you've got some nerve trying to break your son's neck first thing in the morning."
"Well done, my son." Isshin replied, sounding happy about something, maybe the fact that Ichigo managed to grab him without hurting himself, but at the same time the entire thing confused Sombra to no end, as he didn't understand why they were doing this, "I have nothing left to teach you."
"Wait... it's Monday?" Ichigo commented, realizing that he must have missed something important, since the last thing he clearly remembered was that it had been night, which caused some memories of the previous night to come back as he grabbed his father by the collar of his shirt and pulled him up a little, "How are Yuzu and Karin's injuries?"
"Injuries?" Isshin asked, confusion written on his face for a moment, as he didn't seem to understand what Ichigo was talking about, which told Sombra that the memory device that Kisuke had sold Rukia had worked like a charm, since he didn't remember the attack or getting injured, "What are you talking about?"
It was in the following moment that Isshin and Ichigo headed downstairs, and Sombra followed by heading over the roof and stood up there as he listened for the conversation to continue, though in the process he noticed that both of Ichigo's sisters were standing outside, staring at the mess in front of them. Not a few seconds later the father and son duo walked out and stared at the mess as well, though while Ichigo was shocked by what he had seen, and the fact that none of his family remembered the events that happened two nights ago, his father was pleased that no one had gotten hurt.
"Man, it was a miracle." Isshin said, staring at the mess that had been caused last night, though at the same time Sombra noticed that the note Kisuke had left behind was tucked into one of the pockets that his coat had, "The truck rammed so far into our house, but we're all uninjured."
"It's more of a miracle that none of us woke up." one of the sisters, the black haired one that was Karin Kurosaki, said, though at the same time she glanced over at her father like he was an idiot or something, telling Sombra a little about the family dynamic that they apparently had in play, even if it was one that he didn't understand, "Thanks to that, the truck driver escaped."
"It's alright," the other sister, Yuzu Kurosaki, spoke up, but as she did so Sombra noticed that she seemed to be holding some cooking utensils, meaning that she must either cook for the family when their father was busy or that was her job for the family all the time, when she wasn't at school anyway, "He'll probably come back later to apologize."
While the two sisters talked about the 'truck driver', and whether or not he was coming back, Yuzu said that if Ichigo didn't eat his food soon, which she had apparently made before the father and son had come downstairs to survey the damage, he'd be late for class. Sombra found it amusing to watch what was going on, as Ichigo was shocked by what he had discovered and seemed to slip back into a normal life, but at the same time it was clear that he was thinking what had happened last night and why his family didn't remember any of it. Sombra said nothing as he stood on top of the roof, as there was no reason for him to interrupt the family at the moment, but the moment that Ichigo departed from the house, to leave his family in charge of the mess while he went to school, Sombra followed after him, shadowing him like Yoruichi would do for him. This time around, when Ichigo slipped into the high school building, Sombra gave him some space and walked in as well, finding that next to none of the students seemed to have the ability to see him and that he needed to carefully weave his way through the hallways... while at the same time keeping Ichigo in his sights at all times, which included when he accidentally knocked a girl with a larger chest than most girls that Sombra had seen, a girl that went by the name Orihime Inoue.
It quickly became apparent that some of the students, like Orihime for instance, were scared of Ichigo's 'mean look', causing some annoyance when he was only trying to help the girl back onto her feet, but at the same time Sombra discovered that it was already lunchtime for the school. That made sense to Sombra, since Ichigo had taken his sweet time getting to the building and had purposely taken a few twists and turns in his route so he could think about what happened last night, but at the very least he headed into his classroom and met up with the rest of his friends. Sombra, on the other hand, stood by the open doorway and stared at the students for a few minutes, deciding that almost all of them were ordinary Humans, save for the young man that was sitting by himself and happened to be wearing a tie for some reason, but what interested Sombra was that he could feel some sort of power coming from him. It definitely wasn't the power of a Shinigami, which made him wonder if the young man belonged to one of those special groups that Kisuke didn't name when he was explaining the various realms to him a month ago... though his thoughts were interrupted as the group started talking about a transfer student, which was when Sombra noticed that Rukia was standing near him and she silently approached the group.
Ichigo's reaction to Rukia appearing before him, confirming that part of last night had actually happened in some manner, was interesting enough since he froze up, but then she showed Ichigo her palm and he seemed to freak out a little... though that only made Sombra raise an eyebrow when she came back by him, showing that she didn't want Ichigo to make a scene while threatening to kill him. Sombra had no idea what game Rukia was playing, since she knew that she didn't have any powers and that he wasn't likely to draw his sword and strike down the protector of Karakura Town, not when he had no idea what was going on at the moment, but he said nothing as he watched Ichigo, who seemed to be so shocked that he didn't even notice him standing there. As Rukia walked out of the room, however, Sombra found that Ichigo turned to talk to his friends for a few more moments, before excusing himself as he headed down the same path that Rukia had taken, to which he silently followed the pair as they headed outside... because something told him that this was a conversation that he would want to hear so he could understand what was going on.
Sure enough Rukia headed outside, to a secluded spot where they could converse without anyone interrupting them for some time, and came to a stop, which caused both Ichigo and Sombra to stop near her as well, but while Sombra stood still Ichigo made the first move rather quickly.
"What the hell are you thinking?" Ichigo demanded, because he would have figured that Rukia would have gone back to Soul Society and left him alone, though now he was annoyed that she was here and had threatened him in this manner, especially after what he discovered this morning.
"Oh my, how scary." Rukia replied, acting like she was playing with Ichigo for a moment, which Sombra was able to pick up on thanks to the many times Yoruichi had done something similar to him, though he knew that it was only in her nature to do things like that, "What ever is the matter? Is something going to happen to me?"
"First of all, quit talking in that disgusting way." Ichigo stated, as he didn't care too much for what Rukia was doing at the moment, because he wanted answers and she was the only one, in his mind, that could tell him what happened to his family and their memories.
"Oh dear, is it impressive that I learned it in two nights?" Rukia commented, though Sombra had the feeling that she had been practicing this sort of thing before she came to the World of the Living, as there was no way that Yoruichi had spoken to her last night.
"Oh forget it." Ichigo said, dropping the first matter entirely, as he decided that it was better to get to the reason why they were talking out here and not waste any time, especially since he had classes that afternoon and needed to make sure he knew the homework from the ones he had missed before he headed home when school was over, "Anyways, what are you doing here? I thought you went back home to Soul Society, or whatever you called it."
"Fool, the only ones that can return there are the Shinigami," Rukia replied, her earlier attitude disappearing in a moment, as now she was looking at Ichigo with a serious look in her eyes, one that made Sombra prepare for any sort of fight that might erupt between them, "I no longer have that ability right now."
"Excuse me?" Ichigo inquired, because as far as he knew Rukia still had the majority of her powers and could have easily gone home, which was why he was curious about what she was saying and wanted to know why she hadn't packed up her stuff and gone home yet.
"Two nights ago, my Shinigami powers were nearly consumed by you." Rukia said, to which she simply stared at Ichigo for a few moments, as she was hoping that he'd understand what happened and at least offer to help her, since she couldn't do her job anymore, "Thanks to you, I am forced to use this flux body... this gigai. This is a temporary body that's only dispensed for emergency use, or at least that's their original purpose. Shinigami that are extremely weakened, like I was after the battle with that Hollow and losing almost all of my powers, have to enter one of these to wait for their powers to recover, the time of which can vary depending on the situation."
"Is that so?" Ichigo said, where he thought about what he had seen in the classroom earlier, and the fact that his classmates had spoken and interacted with Rukia before his arrival at the school, before he bothered to speak what he was thinking about, "So that's how my classmates could see you."
"That's correct." Rukia replied, pleased that he seemed to be understanding the specifics that she had just told him, while at the same time finding that Sombra was taking an interest in what she had said as well, though she guessed that was because she had told him that he would be assisting her until further notice... meaning that he was either wondering how long it would be until she was back in fighting condition or that he was going to assist Ichigo for now.
"And what about him?" Ichigo asked, to which he pointed at Sombra for a moment, as he knew that the mysterious person was definitely not out to do him harm, since he had gone out of his way to assist a stranger that had tried to follow him several times in the past, "Why isn't he using a, um, gigai like you are?"
"Because they only work for Shinigami," Sombra replied, causing the two of them to turn towards him for a moment, because he had thought about it for some time and came to the conclusion all on his own, one that made perfect sense when he thought about it, "I'm not a Shinigami, not like Rukia is, rather I'm an Arrancar, a completely different type of spiritual being that exists in the four known realms."
"Four known realms?" Ichigo repeated, where he tilted his head to the side for a moment, as while he guessed that Sombra had been right about being different from Rukia, because while their clothing had looked the same Sombra's had a different color than the black Rukia had on her attire, there was also the strange bone white crown that was around the horn on Sombra's head.
"There's the World of the Living, where we're located," Sombra stated, recalling what Kisuke had told him when he asked the question, even though he was going to do his best to not overload Ichigo at the moment, "Soul Society, were Rukia is from, Hueco Mundo, where I'm from, and Hell, where sinners and nasty spirits are sent."
"Anyway, Ichigo," Rukia said, cutting into the conversation, because once more she was surprised by the information that the Arrancar possessed and wanted to know how he knew what he knew, though for now she had something that she wanted to tell Ichigo, "from here on, until my powers return to me, you will be helping me with my work as a Shinigami. I mean, it's only natural since you're the only one in Karakura Town that has the powers of a Shinigami at the moment. You don't have the ri..."
"I REFUSE!" ichigo stated, to which he crossed his arms in an 'x' shape to indicate that he wasn't going to go along with what Rukia was talking about, even though he had no idea what being a Shinigami entailed, something that Sombra was interested in learning about since his studies didn't reveal that to him, "I'll be damned if I EVER fight a monster like the one I fought two nights ago again."
"That's absurd, you fought magnificently." Rukia stated, which was the honest truth, because while she was sure that Ichigo didn't have the training on how to swing a sword, like she did and she suspected that Sombra did as well, he proved that his instincts were correct and made sort work of that Hollow, impressing her in the process.
"That's because my family was attacked." Ichigo said, to which he lowered his arms and turned his head so he wouldn't have to look at Rukia, even though both she and Sombra were surprised by his lack of care for the rest of the people that were living in the town, "Not to be cruel, but I couldn't fight for total strangers. Sorry if it seems like I'm betraying you, though."
"I see..." Rukia commented, though as Ichigo turned around, and showed his back to her, she pulled out another item she had bought before she departed from the shop this morning, a red glove with a special skull marking that was surrounded by flames, and slipped it over her right hand, "then I have no choice. HEY!"
Sombra watched as Ichigo turned around to look at Rukia, who rushed forward and slammed the palm of her right hand into his chin, though that was when the interesting part happened, as it seemed like she was ejecting the Shinigami version of Ichigo, his soul as it were, because not a few seconds later Ichigo's body collapsed on the floor with Rukia standing beside it... and, standing not a few steps away, was Ichigo in his Shinigami attire, complete with his sword, and he was freaking out at the sight that was before him.
"M... My body!" Ichigo said, though at the same time he looked over himself and found that he was wearing the same clothing that he had been wearing the night before, when he stabbed himself in the chest with the sword that Rukia had told him to pierce his heart with, "Dammit, what did you do to me?"
"Come with me." Rukia ordered, though she made no move to move Ichigo's body to another location as she walked away, to which Ichigo followed after her with a look of annoyance on his face while Sombra carefully moved the body out of the sun, so they could find it when they got back.
Together the three of them walked away from the school grounds and headed over to the nearby park that, according to Ichigo, had another spirit of a young child that had died recently, though the boy was killed a week or two earlier than the young girl he had helped earlier. While they walked Ichigo asked how far Rukia was actually going to take them, since he still had classes he needed to take, where Rukia told him that the Plus that was inside the park, the young body, was likely going to be attacked soon, as she had orders from Soul Society saying that a Hollow was going to appear any moment now. Of course the moment she actually said that Ichigo and Sombra heard the sound of the spirit calling for help as part of the park equipment fell apart, as something had hit it, to which they all turned and watched as the young spirit ran away from the spider-like Hollow that was chasing it. Sombra, acting on the same impulse that he had acted on several times since he first found himself in Karakura Town, jumped over the barricade that was in front of them, drew his sword, and lashed out at the Hollow, driving it back a bit while the spirit hid away in the ruined equipment... while at the same time Ichigo, seeing what was going on, jumped over the barricade as well and started to move, only for a voice to stop him in his tracks.
"Wait." Rukia said, knowing that, while Sombra was more than enough to take on this Hollow alone, this would prove to be an effective lesson for Ichigo, as she disliked how he treated her job as a Shinigami, which he had to perform since he stole her powers, and wanted him to see the spirit side of the world like she did.
"What?" Ichigo asked, as with both him and Sombra working together they could take down the Hollow, as both of his companions had called the mask wearing monsters, in no time, which was why he was curious as to why Rukia was telling him to wait in such a manner.
"Why should you save him?" Rukia asked in return, beckoning to the scared spirit that was hiding in the equipment, who she would have rushed to save since it was both her job and the right thing to do, which also made her stare at Sombra for a moment, since he was the same way, "That child is a total stranger to you, isn't he?"
"That doesn't mean I can just not save him." Ichigo stated, though he knew that if the Hollow got around Sombra it would head straight for the spirit, something that he wasn't okay with now that he was seeing it happen before his own eyes, "Not when he's being attacked right before my eyes."
"DON'T BE SELFISH!" Rukia replied in kind, raising her voice so that Ichigo would get the point she was trying to make, especially after the comment he made earlier when she was telling him that he'd have to take over her job for an undetermined amount of time, "Shinigami must be fair towards all souls. Wanting to save only those that you can reach, only those that you can see... this work isn't that convenient. If you want to save that child now, be prepared to save all of the other spirits as well. Be prepared to save them, even if it means chasing them around and maybe even sacrificing yourself in the process. And, if you want proof, just look at Sombra... he's not even a Shinigami and yet he's risking his own life to save a spirit that's under attack, no questions asked and no complaints given."
Ichigo stared at the scene that was playing before him, where Sombra, someone that wasn't even a Shinigami, was doing everything in his power to save the spirit that was being attacked, to which he growled for a moment as he stared at the spirit in question and recalled what nearly happened to the little girl yesterday. In the following instant he tore his large sword from it's sheath and hacked at the Hollow's front right leg, tearing it away from the body, while Sombra nodded his head and did the same with the front left leg, causing the Hollow to roar in pain.
"Are you prepared to do what is necessary, Ichigo?" Rukia asked, knowing that the movement had to be a sign that he was actually willing to consider what she had told him, especially since an Arrancar was willing to do things like a Shinigami would, but she wouldn't know until he answered her.
"No, I ain't ready." Ichigo replied, shocking Rukia for a moment, though Sombra knew that it wouldn't be this easy to cause someone to change their mind about the situation they were in, "Be prepared... I don't care about that. I'm helping Sombra save this kid because I want to save him! Are you different, Rukia?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rukia inquired, because she couldn't believe that Ichigo was now questioning her, but while that was going on Sombra seemed to be staring at the area around them, tracking the spider Hollow that had gone invisible after both of it's front legs were hacked off in such a manner.
"When the clinic was attacked, you risked your now neck to save my own." Ichigo stated, to which he left the Hollow in Sombra's hands for a moment as he turned to face Rukia, because she was who he was interested in talking to at the moment, "At that moment, when you made your decision, where you thinking about your duties as a Shinigami? When you risked your life like that, it wasn't for the same reason you just told me about... and for me, I ain't doing it for those reasons either."
It was in the moment that he said the last word of his statement that both he and Sombra thrust their swords into the area in front of them, where the Hollow had been moments ago, though this time the Hollow materialized in front of them with both of their blades impaled in it's mask, indicating that it had tried to sneak up on them while they were busy talking to each other. A few seconds later the duo pulled their blades back and stood there for a moment, just as the Hollow collapsed on the floor and dissipated like all the other ones that Sombra had defeated since he started hunting them, but it was more rewarding to save a spirit this time around. Once the Hollow was gone Ichigo walked over to where the young boy was hiding and asked if he was okay, only to get the same reaction he had gotten out of Orihime earlier, to which he told the spirit that if he didn't want to be scared like he had been just now, when the Hollow was chasing him, then he had better move on already... to which he tapped the hilt of his Zanpakuto on the boy's head and left the marking behind, where the three of them watched as he sunk into the ground and disappeared, just like the old man from yesterday.
"That was an excellent Konso." Rukia commented, though at the same time she refrained from mentioning that it had been used by someone that had no knowledge on the subject, as right now she didn't want Ichigo to ignore her and the orders that Soul Society would give her in the future.
"I'm heading back to school, so I can get my body back, and then I'm heading home." Ichigo replied, as right now he had a lot on his mind and didn't want to talk about what Rukia had said, to which he sheathed his sword and started to walk back to the school, leaving Sombra and Rukia behind.
"Don't worry, he'll come around to be a Shinigami at some point," Sombra commented, though at the same time he sheathed his own sword as he watched Ichigo depart from the park, before he turned towards Rukia, who was watching the young man leave the area, "until then, you just have to be patient and help him understand the world that he's pulled himself into... and hope that he doesn't shut the door and ignore you."
"Right." Rukia said, to which she walked forward the moment Ichigo was gone, as it was time for her to get back to the class that she had gotten herself into to keep up appearances, before she glanced back at Sombra, "You know, you would have been a great Shinigami if you had been sent to Soul Society, instead of Hueco Mundo... but, well, I'm happy that you are on our side."
Sombra had no idea what Rukia was talking about, once more making him wish that he had his memories so he could understand what some people meant, but at the same time he nodded his head and let Rukia head back to the school so she could do whatever it was she wanted to do. A few seconds later Sombra followed after the duo and headed back towards the school as well, just so he could keep an eye on both of them in case one of them ended up getting into trouble before Ichigo was able to get home and think about what Rukia told him... all while wondering what was coming their way next, as he had a feeling that more Hollows were already on their way to the town.
As Sombra stood in the back of the classroom, by the window in case the teacher pointed at the back wall for some reason, he found that Human school and lessons were completely boring and didn't interest him at all, as all the topics that were discussed meant nothing to him at all. Sure, he could have spent his afternoon wandering the town in search of Hollows, but since he couldn't detect any he figured that staying near Ichigo and Rukia was the next best thing for him to do, and it also gave him the opportunity to observe some of the students that shared the classroom with them. The only ones that he was interested in happened to be the girl that Ichigo had bumped into earlier, Orihime Inoue, and a tall muscular guy whose hair hung over his eyes at times, though while his name was Yasutora Sado everyone called him 'Chad' for some reason, one that he decided he wasn't going to look into. The only other person that he had some interest in was the one called Uryu Ishida, one of the few people who wore glasses in the classroom, but the reason behind the interest was because Sombra was absolutely sure that Uryu could see him... only he wasn't making a big deal out of his appearance and seemed to be ignoring him, if he could see him anyway, as there was no real way for him to tell without making a scene.
Other than staring at Ichigo's classmates, which seemed to annoy the Human in question, Sombra remained quiet and barely listened to what was going on around him, wishing for something to do that would allow him to use the open window that was near where the teacher was standing... but without any Hollows running around, for the moment anyway, there wasn't much he could do besides stand around and wait for the school day to be over.
When the last bell of the day rang, and Sombra found that it was early in the afternoon, he noticed that both Ichigo and Rukia happened to be the last ones to leave the classroom, but he knew that they weren't waiting for him at all, to which he simply sighed and followed them outside. Once they were in the hallway Sombra discovered that Ichigo was heading to the roof for a few minutes, as he wanted some alone time before he left the campus, and Rukia was heading to the library so she could check out some books, especially one that she had started earlier that morning while she was waiting for Ichigo to arrive. Sombra decided that he might as well follow Ichigo, since he was going to be the one that was protecting Karakura Town at some point in time, though he was certain that the young man was going to stare out at the town and think about what Rukia had told him earlier, even though he was likely set on the path that he had chosen when they fought that Hollow together. Sure enough when they reached the roof, which was currently vacant at the moment, Ichigo walked over to the railing and stared out at the town, taking in the sights once more, though at the same time Sombra stood nearby and did the same thing, because due to his lack of memories this was the only place that felt like home to him.
The two of them stood there for a few moments, letting silence reign between them as they stared out at the town, before Ichigo sighed and closed his eyes for a second, no doubt thinking about what happened earlier, while Sombra just stood there and kept staring at the town.
"So, Rukia said that you weren't a Shinigami, despite the fact that you happen to wear the same clothing that she did when she barged into my room a few nights ago," Ichigo commented, to which he opened his eyes and glanced at Sombra, who turned away from the town and faced him, before he continued talking, "What are you exactly?"
"I'm an Arrancar." Sombra replied, knowing that he'd likely be repeating that statement a couple more times in the future, to both Ichigo and Rukia, before the information sunk in and they stopped asking him what he was, though right now it appeared that Rukia might have already stopped that routine.
"And what is that supposed to be?" Ichigo inquired, because while he sort of understood the concept of the Shinigami, the Hollows, and the spirits that he could see, after Rukia explained what she was and her mission to him earlier, he had no idea what an Arrancar was or where it had come from.
"Honestly, I have no idea myself." Sombra answered, and that was the honest truth, because despite all the pieces of information that he was able to gleam from Kisuke and Yoruichi, about the realms and the people that called each of them home, he still didn't know anything about his own kind, or even if there were any other Arrancars at the moment.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ichigo asked, as that wasn't wanted to hear, because he fully expected someone to be able to tell him what they were and what sort of purpose they had, especially since Rukia was able to do the same thing in a short amount of time, even though she cut corners and likely didn't tell him everything.
"I have no memories of who I was before I woke up in Hueco Mundo," Sombra said, to which Ichigo raised an eyebrow for a moment, as he at least remembered that Hollows came from the same place, though Sombra still wasn't sure what the connection between the Hollows and an Arrancar was, "All I know is that I woke up next to a crystal of some kind, with what had to be my name etched into the surface, and then I opened a gateway to the World of the Living... one that I have, so far, been unable to replicate, despite my best efforts. All I know is that I have to form new memories in the hopes of coaxing out the old ones, though so far I haven't been able to recover anything or rediscover something that I knew before losing my memories."
Ichigo had heard of people getting amnesia before, and had seen some people that had suffered through it come through the clinic from time to time, but never to the point where even creating new memories didn't help bring even a single old one to the surface. Despite the fact that Sombra clearly had no idea who he had been before his memories disappeared, which he was trying to recover from the looks of it, Ichigo had the feeling that he could trust him and, maybe, even work with him for some time, just to see if he could be of some help. Of course that meant assisting Rukia with her own job, something that he was still coming to terms with, but for now he was still undecided on being a Shinigami and fighting those Hollows, even though they might snatch the occasional spirit or two if someone didn't take care of them. In the end he sighed again and headed back through the door that he had used to get to the roof, to which Sombra followed after him and stopped in what appeared to be a changing room of some kind, which meant it had to be a locker room. Not a few minutes later Ichigo, wearing something that wasn't his school uniform for once, walked out of the room they were in and headed out of the school.
As Sombra followed after him, however, he noticed that Rukia, who had also changed into some ordinary clothes as well, catch up with them and walked behind Ichigo, though at the same time she seemed to be more interested in the book that she was reading... though Sombra had the feeling that she was going to start reading from it at any moment, and that Ichigo was going to be annoyed with her in a matter of seconds.
As it turned out it wasn't long before Rukia started reading from the book that she was carrying with her, just like Sombra thought she would, though as they walked into the town, following the route that Ichigo had picked, Rukia took it one step further and started verbally saying the lines that were on the page that she was reading... and eventually Ichigo snapped after hearing her do that for a few minutes.
"Oooh god..." Rukia said, acting all intense and dramatic when she read from the book, though at the same time Sombra stared at the back of her head as Ichigo stopped in his tracks, telling him that it was time to get her to stop what she was doing before his head exploded, "Why was I born unto this world? I entreat thee, please suffer me to return unto thee once more! This very mome..."
"Shut the hell up!" Ichigo snapped, making sure that he was right in front of Rukia's face when he did that, as she immediately stopped what she was doing and pulled back a little, though whether she was shocked or embarrassed over the situation Sombra honestly didn't know.
"What's wrong with you?" Rukia asked, though the way she held the book that she was reading from indicating that it was likely her attempt to research something, while the look on Ichigo's face indicated that he wasn't interested in what she was doing at the moment, "I'm trying to study modern Japanese."
"What's modern about that?" Ichigo inquired, looking at the book that Rukia was holding onto, appearing to recognize it by the title, though at the same time Sombra just stood there and observed them while the other people on the street seemed to ignore them, "And how long are you going to keep follow me?"
Sombra could tell that the question was directed at both Rukia and himself, though at the same time Ichigo knew that he was trying to create new memories and was trying to figure out why he hadn't gone somewhere else yet, since his days shouldn't be about following someone through the town.
"Until you say that you'll do the work I'm supposed to do as a Shinigami." Rukia replied, indicating that she wasn't going to give up unless Ichigo started performing the tasks that she was supposed to be doing, though that also made Sombra wonder why he couldn't just do it until Ichigo agreed to step up.
Ichigo opened his mouth to say something, likely about how he didn't care about being a Shinigami or something that was similar to that, though before he could actually say what was on his mind all three of them heard the sound of a car coming to a screeching halt. Since it was rather close to where they were standing they decided to check it out and headed in the direction of the noise, because there was the possibility that someone might have died and it would be a chance for Ichigo to send the soul off to Soul Society, or maybe it was nothing more than a false alarm. Sombra also knew that it couldn't be a Hollow, since he didn't feel one at the moment, but that didn't stop him from wondering what had happened and if someone had gotten hurt, just like both Ichigo and Rukia were clearly wondering the same thing. When they arrived at the scene the car in question was already up to speed and was driving off, not giving anyone a moment to catch it's information, though Ichigo was more concerned by the fact that the person who was laying in the crosswalk was Orihime... who appeared to be unconscious at the moment, making him wonder if she had been hit by the car and the driver fled before someone came to investigate.
The other thing that all three of them noticed was that Orihime was dressed in casual clothing and happened to be shopping, if the grocery bag was anything to go by, though as they got close Orihime started to pull herself up into a sitting position as she looked in the direction the car came from.
"Orihime!" Ichigo said, though he was relieved to see that nothing serious had happened to his classmate, because the last thing he needed was for one of them to die and force his hand to assume the Shinigami form again, as he'd ferry their soul to Soul Society the instant something happened to them, "Did you just get hit by that car?"
"Oh, Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime replied, turning to look at the group as they approached her, where Sombra noticed that she, like Chad and the majority of Ichigo's classmates, couldn't see him at all since she looked at Rukia, "Uh, yeah, probably. It just hit me a little. I'm revived now!"
Orihime, to prove her point, immediately stood up and started pushing her hands in and out from where her chest was, showing that she was just fine and that there was no need for anyone to worry about her, though while Ichigo said that it was great that she wasn't hurt, despite the fact that the car had left the area, Orihime really focused on who was standing beside Ichigo at the moment.
"Kuchiki-san?" Orihime said, glancing between Ichigo and Rukia for a moment, as she was surprised that, after knowing each other for a few hours as classmates, that they were hanging out together and happened to be walking down the street together.
"Who the hell are y..." Rukia started to say, which would have indicated that she wasn't paying attention to the students that were in the same classroom that she had gotten herself into, but at the same time Sombra stepped forward and grabbed her shoulder, stopping her from finishing her statement for a moment.
"That's Orihime Inoue, and she's in the same class that you and Ichigo are in." Sombra said, knowing that since Orihime couldn't see or hear him, as she couldn't see spirits, it was okay for him to speak with his normal voice instead of whispering into her ear.
"Ah, you're looking quite well, Inoue-san." Rukia commented, though at the same time she raised part of her skirt for a moment, just as Sombra pulled his hand back and Ichigo looked a little weary over what had happened, but it appeared that Orihime didn't seem to catch onto what she had almost said.
"Your looking well as well." Orihime said, to which she mimicked what Rukia was doing with her skirt for a few seconds, before both of them stood straight once more and she turned towards the groceries that she had been carrying before the accident happened.
"Were you shopping earlier?" Rukia asked, though if that was the case she guessed that Orihime was a fast shopper, as they had only spent a few extra minutes at the school once the final bell had rung and the bag that the young lady had been carrying was full of food items already.
"Oh yes, I saw." Orihime replied, to which she picked up her bag and inspected it for a few seconds, before she turned around and started spinning the leek that had been inside the bag for some reason, "My green onions, butter, banana, and sweetbean jelly are all uninjured."
While all that happened, however, Sombra noticed the shadowy marking on her left leg and tapped Rukia's shoulder for a moment, before pointing at the mark in question, where Rukia stared at it for a few seconds and seemed to know exactly what it was.
"What's that bruise on your leg?" Rukia asked, though as Orihime noticed that there was something on her leg, and Ichigo noticed it as well, Rukia knelt down and examined the marking, confirming her suspicions that it was made by a Hollow, which wasn't good news considering that it was a living person that had been nearly attacked.
Orihime, despite the serious look that was on Rukia's face, guessed that the bruise had come from the accident she had been in and was only now noticing it, which made sense to her since the pain wasn't that great, though once that happened she smiled at the duo and excused herself, where she started to head back to where she lived... where at the same time Ichigo, Rukia, and Sombra remained on the corner and watched her go about her business. From there Ichigo sighed and continued walking down the path that he had chosen to go home, where Rukia remained quiet as she thought about what was going on and Sombra simply kept his eyes open for enemies while trying to figure out if he had missed a Hollow moving through the town. As they walked Sombra found that the sun started to lower, indicating that they were heading towards nighttime once more, though it was around that point, when they were near the river, that Rukia inquired if Ichigo was close to Orihime, where Ichigo said that he really was't and actually never had a proper conversation with her, despite the fact that she was in his classroom.
Of course Ichigo talked about how he knew Orihime, especially since Orihime was best friends with another young lady in his neighborhood, before he mentioned that it was around three years ago that she lost her big brother, as he had taken his last breath at his family's clinic. Rukia, despite hearing that Orihime had a brother and had lost him one night, decided that now was the best time to ask how Ichigo's spiritual power was at the time, where he confessed that it wasn't as strong as it was these days, along with saying that it was only recently that he was able to see and talk to ghosts and spirits so clearly. When Ichigo asked why Rukia was asking all these questions, however, she simply told him that there was no reason behind her questions and said that she would see them later, to which she departed from the group and headed to the area that she was calling home until she got her powers back, leaving Sombra to follow Ichigo once more.
"So, Sombra, where do you live these days?" Ichigo asked, because based on what he had learned so far he could determine that the Arrancar was stuck in this world, though someone had to be letting him live in their residence, or maybe he was living in the abandoned buildings and the train yard.
"A shop manager let's me stay at his shop ever now and then," Sombra replied, knowing that without a name Ichigo wouldn't be able to find the Urahara Shop, though at the same time he walked beside Ichigo while he wondered what Rukia was thinking at the moment, "or, if I don't head back there, I sit on someone's roof and simply fall asleep until the morning of the next day arrives."
"That... sounds strange." Ichigo said, though at the same time he decided not to think about it all that much, because he had the feeling that there was an instance or two where Sombra must have been sitting on the roof of the clinic since his arrival in the town.
Sombra knew that it was strange for him to do that, after all the time he spent inside the Urahara Shop and slept on the bed that he had been offered, but at the same time it allowed him to stay nearby in case something happened, as Ichigo might be a magnet for Hollows now that he had these powers. Of course that statement was the last one that Ichigo made for some time, as he spent the rest of the walk heading home and eventually reached the clinic, though when they got there Sombra simply headed to the roof while Ichigo spent the evening with his family, including his little encounters with his father when he walked through the front door. After some time Ichigo went up to his bedroom and worked on some of the homework that he had been given, so he could be prepared to turn it in when his teacher asked for it, but he finished it in a good amount of time and picked up the book that he happened to be reading... though his mind was distracted by the fact that Sombra was likely on the roof of the clinic, watching over the area in case some more Hollows decided to make an appearance.
As another hour ticked by Sombra heard Yuzu asking Ichigo if he had seen her pajamas, though he told her that he hadn't seen them and that she needed to learn to knock when she saw that he was busy doing something, to snap him out of his mindset... though as the door closed Sombra's senses tingled, as he felt a Hollow coming straight towards the clinic, to which he jumped down to the window he entered the bedroom through and noticed that Rukia was already talking about the same thing. The instant that followed Rukia, wearing the red glove from earlier, rushed forward and swiped her hand towards Ichigo, where both his soul and his body flew towards the wall she was pulling them towards as Sombra caught the body... though the reason behind the motion was the large red hand that had crushed the bed that he had been sitting on seconds ago, attached to a red skinned Hollow that pulled itself from the black hole it made in the wall above where Ichigo would have rested his head. What interested Sombra was the fact that this was one of the few Hollows he had seen so far that still had hair, meaning it must have been created some time ago, and the fact that the lower part of it's body, where the legs would have been, resembled a snake's body.
The Hollow roared as it swung at Ichigo, who pulled his Zanpakuto out of it's sheath and brought it down over his head, though since he carved a gash into the ceiling at the same time the impact of his attack did nothing as he landed on the floor, but the second attack he dodged allowed him to cut a gash into the Hollow's right arm. Sombra, after making sure that Ichigo's body was safe, drew his own sword and swung at the creature's chest, cutting several gashes into it's body in the process, before backing away as Ichigo attacked the mask and left a shallow cut in it, though that was when the Hollow grasped the blade that he was holding onto and stared at him for a few seconds. It was in the seconds that followed that Ichigo managed to shatter part of the Hollow's mask, revealing part of a person's face in the process, before the Hollow screamed and started to retreat... though as the creature rapidly got away from them, however, Sombra noticed that Ichigo was shocked by what he had seen.
"Come on, we have to get him before he get's away." Rukia said, intending on chasing the Hollow down so they could end it before it killed someone, but as she moved to leave, however, she noticed that both Sombra and Ichigo were standing where she had left them, though Sombra was interested in what Ichigo had seen, "Ichigo, what's wrong?"
"That's exactly what I want to know." Ichigo stated, to which he turned and looked at Rukia, as there was something about Hollows that she hadn't told him and he was only discovering it right now, "That Hollow's face, when I broke off a part of it's mask... that was Orihime's brother."
"I have only one thing to say to that." Rukia replied, as she understood what Ichigo meant, even if he didn't know the specifics of Hollows like an actual Shinigami would, while seeing that Sombra was interested in what she had to say, "You should crack a Hollow's skull from behind with a single attack... that's the fundamental rule of Hollow vanquishing. It's to reduce the damage one might take while fighting a Hollow, and to keep us from ever seeing the identity of the Hollow that we're fighting."
"What do you mean the Hollow's identity?" Ichigo asked, because Rukia had told him that Hollows were bad spirits that needed to be taken care of, but now it sounded like there was more to them than what he had originally been told, and, from the looks of it, Sombra was thinking about it as well.
"You both saw it, didn't you?" Rukia commented, to which both of them noticed that Sombra was nodding his head, as he had seen what Ichigo had seen when the portion of the mask had been destroyed, indicating that she could tell them the truth of the matter, "Hollows... were all formerly Human souls, and right now Orihime's brother is just another monster that we need to take care of before he hurts or kills someone."
Ichigo wanted to stay and talk about it, but Sombra put Rukia on his back and forced them outside, to which they started hunting for the Hollow of Orihime's brother while leaving the wrecked room behind, where they would have to come up with an explanation for that when they got back. As they moved through the town Rukia explained that, when souls aren't sent to Soul Society by a Shinigami, using the Konso technique, their feelings for the world tend to eat away at them until they transform into Hollows, or, as a second explanation, the Human souls are surrounded by Hollows and they forcefully transform the one Human soul into another Hollow. Ichigo then inquired as to why Orihime's brother would come after him, of all people, though Rukia was quick to point out the same reason that Hollows attacked other people and spirits, that he was after his immense spiritual energy, along with mentioning that Orihime's brother was likely being controlled by an even stronger Hollow that was behind all the attacks on Ichigo's family. Rukia then revealed the reason why they were heading out instead of waiting for their target to come back, because he was likely heading to where Orihime lived and was likely going to try and kill her tonight, which only made Ichigo pick up his speed once he heard that bit of news.
Despite the fact that they made excellent time getting to where Orihime lived, as it was easy to find since Ichigo sort of knew that already and Sombra was following the reiatsu that the Hollow was giving off, though when they arrived they discovered that Orihime was already knocked out, with her spirit still chained to her body, and the girl that had been having dinner with her was wounded... though Ichigo tossed Rukia towards Sombra, who caught her, before he dived into the house and drew his sword as he blocked the next attack.
"Aren't I the one you're after?!" Ichigo exclaimed, though he held onto the end of his blade as well, to make sure that it was a stalemate between the two of them, at least until he determined whether or not it was possible to save what was left of Orihime's brother's soul.
When Ichigo pushed the Hollow back, and prepared to strike again, the Hollow faded into the wall and disappeared, though as he looked around for his foe Sombra entered the room as well and rushed over to where Orihime was sitting, where he found that she was staring at Ichigo and seemed to be quite shocked by what was going on. Ichigo glanced over at the other girl, Tatsuki he called her, and noted that she, unfortunately, got caught up in this mess, though before he could actually do anything Orihime commented on the fact that Ichigo was actually standing before her, where Sombra watched as Ichigo put together the pieces on his own. Technically, thanks to the situation they were in, Orihime was now a spirit that was still chained to her body, though she wasn't quite dead yet, but at the same time her current state was allowing her to see into the other world that normal people couldn't see, the same one that Sombra resided in when there was no one around that could see him. It was in that moment of understanding that the Hollow started to materialize before them once more, only this time around Sombra left Orihime and drew his sword as well, intending to finish this fight before someone actually died... as he was sure that they could fix up Orihime and Tatsuki once the Hollow was taken care of and sent along to Soul Society.
"Oh course she can see you... she's a spirit." the Hollow said, surprising Ichigo for a moment, as this was the first time he had heard a Hollow talk before, though while Sombra was in the same boat he was more prepared for what was going to happen next, "Orihime is dead!"
Ichigo, acting on impulse once more, rushed forward and swung at the Hollow, who ducked and curved around the attack as he grabbed onto the chain that was attached to Orihime's spirit, dragging her along, though as that happened both he and Sombra attacked the Hollow, who then used it's tail and hard scales to block the attacks before pushing Ichigo into the wall with the window. Sombra, on the other hand, managed to cut a gash into the creature's tail, but not deep enough to make a difference just yet. Not a moment later it hit Sombra and sent him flying into Ichigo, where they crashed through the wall and appeared outside the building, with Rukia on the street level, but before either of them could do anything the Hollow told them not to move and started to crush Orihime, which was the perfect chance to hit them both and send them flying towards the ground, though while Ichigo hit the ground hard, and his sword landed a few steps away from him, Sombra steadied himself and braced for another attack... though this time around he found that none was coming, to which he made sure that Ichigo was up and ready for a second attack before he did anything to the foe that they were fighting at the moment.
As Rukia ran over to them, however, Sombra jumped up and stood on the edge of the opening that the Hollow had created, intending to ambush him while he was distracted, though before he moved he heard the sound of Orihime talking to her brother. He stood there for a few moments, listening to how Orihime prayed for him every day since his death, starting the day after he died no less, and that he watched over her since that day, though the peace his soul had enjoyed had been broken a year later, when Orihime became friends with Tatsuki. Becoming friends with Tatsuki had been around the time that Orihime started to pray for her bother's soul less and less, until she eventually stopped when she entered high school, where she was happy since she had friends to lessen the pain of her brother's passing, but at the same time her brother felt despair at being forgotten... and it was that loneliness that had eventually caused this transformation, even if there was the possibility that all of this had happened even quicker because of some Hollows that came and attacked his soul on Saturday night, which Sombra had felt the presence of with his senses.
Just hearing the tale, even if it was just a summary of what he had gone through while Orihime was alive, caused Sombra to pause for a moment, making him wonder about his own situation and the fact that he didn't have any actual friends to speak of... only acquaintances, and those mostly included Kisuke, Tessai, Jinta, Ururu, Rukia, and even Ichigo, though maybe Yoruichi, who he spent the most time with, might be a friend.
His thoughts were interrupted when Orihime's brother told her to listen to what he had to tell her and that if she had any sort of feelings left for him, as if he was accusing her of purposely forgetting about him and inflicting this state upon his soul, that she would obey him and not betray him anymore. When her brother mentioned devouring Ichigo, and killing 'the other nuisance', Orihime pleaded with him to not hurt Ichigo anymore, not even bothering to come to Sombra's defense since she had no idea who he was, but that only caused her brother to grab onto her and start chocking her with the threat that if she didn't listen he would kill her first. It was in the moment that he threatened Orihime that Ichigo charged into the room and plunged the tip of his sword into the Hollow's tail, causing him to howl in pain while he dropped Orihime, who Sombra caught and rested on the ground nearby, while keeping his weapon at the ready for when the Hollow attacked them again. The moment came when the Hollow raised it's right hand and tried to crush Orihime against the wall that was behind her, though at the same time Sombra swung his sword and severed the hand in the process, causing the Hollow to roar in pain as it backed away from him... while at the same time Ichigo grinned at him, indicating that he was pleased with him rushing to Orihime's aid like that, even though he was sitting near her.
"Listen you," Ichigo said, turning his gaze towards the Hollow that was standing in front of them, as he had fallen off the tail and was now standing near Sombra and Orihime, though his focus was on the creature they were fighting, "Do you know why big brothers are born first? It's to protect the little brothers and sisters that follow them... and yet here you are, threatening to kill your own little sister? Don't you dare say such a thing, even if you're dead!"
"Shut up! Orihime is mine!" the Hollow replied, anger filling it's voice as it prepared itself once more, though at the same time both Ichigo and Sombra raised their blades as they waited for an attack to come their way, "I raised her when our parents abandoned us! That was when Orihime was only three years old... I've been protecting her ever since! Orihime, come to me. If you listen to me, I won't lay a hand on the others."
"Brother..." Orihime said, though even as she said that there was a profound change in the Hollow's eyes, as for a moment the red glare that had been there disappeared and his Human eyes could be seen again, though that was before the glare came back and he started thrashing around the room they were in.
After a few seconds the Hollow side of Orihime's brother took control again and attacked the group, where Ichigo made sure that his blade was stuck between the creature's teeth, where the Hollow tried to get by him, before he was forced back and was thrown outside through the hole in the wall. Instead of standing still, and letting him get away this time, Ichigo charged through the opening and raised his sword into the air, as the Hollow happened to be slowly flying through the air under where he was floating, though before he could swing his sword the Hollow turned and spat some acid on his hands, causing him to drop his weapon once more. The following instant Ichigo found himself being hit out of the air by the Hollow, where he landed on the ground and started to stand as he searched for his Zanpakuto, though while that happened the Hollow flew towards him with the intent to eat him and Sombra prepared to jump out and behead the creature before it could do that... but what they weren't expecting, however, was Orihime dropping down and putting herself between the Hollow of her brother and Ichigo, even if it meant letting his teeth tear into her skin and drawing blood at the same time.
Not a few seconds later Orihime fell to her knees and stayed where she was, though at the same time the Hollow actually stopped in his tracks and the red glare in his eyes faded away, transforming back into his normal eyes, while surprise could be seen in his eyes.
"Ori... hime..." the Hollow said, his voice indicating that he was definitely surprised over what had happened, though he wasn't the only one since Sombra, Rukia, and Ichigo were surprised by her jumping down and stopping the Hollow of her brother in such a manner.
"I'm sorry brother." Orihime said, to which she looked up at her brother for a moment, choosing to believe that it was actually her brother and that he had been fighting what was happening to him the entire time, that the creature that had hurt her and Tatsuki had been repressed for the moment, "It is all my fault. Its all because I begged you not to leave me alone. That's why you couldn't... rest in peace. I sensed that you were always beside me... even earlier today, when that car almost hit me, you protected me, didn't you? You pulled on my leg to get me out of the way, and I'm grateful for you saving me earlier, but if I keep depending on you, you'll never be able to rest in peace. So I wanted to show you... that I'm happy. You don't have to worry about me anymore."
It was in that moment that Orihime fell over and her brother started to assert himself on the Hollow that he had been turned into, where the mask actually faded away for a moment before returning, but that was when the group watched as it actually shifted from him having no mask to having a mask as the two halves fought each other. Rukia understood what was going on and explained it, as it was clear to her that Orihime's brother didn't become a Hollow by choice and that the transformation into one had been forced upon him, indicating that the Hollow that had turned him had to be extremely strong and had forced him to fight, knowing that Ichigo would have hesitated to kill him if part of the mask was damaged during the fight. This confirmed her suspicions that a Hollow was trying to consume Ichigo's soul, the specific reason why it was targeting him she had no idea, but as they watched she had some good news for them, as the mask that was over Orihime's brother's face shattered and he seemed happy to be back in control of his body once more, instead of being a slave to the Hollow he had been transformed into. At the same time Rukia told everyone to remain calm when Ichigo started to move towards Orihime, because while the Chain of Fate, which was attached to Orihime's chest, was still connected she wouldn't die... meaning that her spirit would be able to return to her body, though she was sure that this would have some impact on her further down the line.
Rukia, at the same time, knelt beside Orihime and started to channel her reiatsu into a healing Kido, indicating that she would be able to heal Orihime's wounds, while at the same time her brother noticed the hairpins that Orihime was wearing, where Ichigo informed him that she had worn them every day since his death... where he turned towards where Ichigo's Zanpakuto was resting and pulled it from the ground, causing Ichigo to ready himself for whatever the unfortuante soul was about to do.
"Even if I stay here like this, eventually I'll turn back into that monster." the poor soul commented, staring at the sword that he had picked up, while at the same time the group stared at him as he prepared himself for what he was thinking of doing, "So now... while I have a semblance of sanity... I want to disappear."
"It's the right thing to do." Sombra said, to which he sheathed his sword, as he knew exactly what was going to happen when the soul ran the blade through his transformed body, because he had learned that information back when he was having his lessons, "His soul will be purified and he'll be able to enter Soul Society... which is what we're doing to the other Hollows that we've taken care of so far."
"Wait, brother..." Orihime said, surprising the group for a moment, as Rukia was sure that it would have taken longer to rouse her, but at the same time she carefully got into a sitting position and stared at her brother, who was now staring at her once more, "This hairpin that you bought for me that day... we had a fight over it, remember? Because I said that it was too childish. I let you go to work without saying anything... and that was the last time I saw you alive. So, I want to say it now... Brother, have a nice day."
"Yeah, I'm off now." her brother replied, though that was when a smile appeared on his face and he closed his eyes, indicating that he was going to stab himself with Ichigo's Zanpakuto, but before he was able to do that a mysterious figure appeared in front of him and rested a hand on the blade, stopping it from moving and caused Orihime's brother to open his eyes once more.
"There's no need for you to do that." the mysterious figure said, though as Sombra was able to identify that it was male, thanks to the voice, there wasn't much else to see since the creature or person seemed to be wearing a black robe that prevented anyone from seeing it's face or features.
"Please, I need to do this!" Orihime's brother stated, indicating that he would not be shaken from the path he had chosen to walk, but at the same time he found that the figure was not willing to release the blade just yet, "If I stay like this I won't be able to stay sane! I'll turn back into that monster and keep attacking my own sister, not to mention the town, until someone strikes me down!"
"Ah, but there is another way for you to live with what you have become," the figure replied, to which he raised the arm that wasn't touching the Zanpakuto and pointed at Sombra, causing the group to turn towards him while Sombra stared at the figure, "He is an example of what you can become, a protector of the town and those close to you and your sister. Instead of stabbing yourself, and hiding in Soul Society, there is another path for you to walk: simply let your mask reform around your face, but instead of letting the 'monster' take over again you can willingly remove the mask yourself, take on a new form, and be able to stay here as a spirit, with your sister no less, and be the protector that you wanted to be, instead of the Hollow you were forced to become."
Orihime's brother looked at his sister for a moment, remembering what he had done to her and could already imagine more monsters coming after her, though he had to wonder if it was that simple, to just remove the mask when it reformed again, while at the same time letting go of the sword for a second. The monster inside him, as if sensing his hesitation, surged to the surface and the mask that had been covering his face reformed with the express purpose to controlling him once more, but this time around something else happened as his mind stayed in control of the situation. Orihime's brother raised his right hand for a moment and grabbed onto the side of his mask, where the group could hear him grunt in effort for a moment, though that was shortly followed by his mask cracking and a light shining through it, before the mask shattered and he was covered in a cloud of smoke for a few moments... while at the same time the group stared at the smoke as they wondered what was going to happen next.
When the majority of the smoke clear Sombra and the others found that what was standing in front of them wasn't the Hollow that they had come to fight, and had been wounded by, but rather a spirit that had taken on a more humanoid form. Orihime's brother, as they discovered, was actually a tall and slim man with brown colored hair that reached his neckline, though what caught Sombra's attention was the fact that he now possessed a Hollow's hole where his heart was supposed to be, exactly where his was located, and part of his mask, the which had been around his eyes, happened to rest in front of his right eye. Sombra was surprised by the sudden change, because from what he knew souls that weren't sent to Soul Society had the potential to become Hollows, that much had been confirmed when Orihime's brother had been changed against his will, but now her brother was an Arrancar as well, if the katana that was resting near his feet was any indication. Sombra then glanced at the mysterious figure, who simply draped a robe over the new Arrancar for a few seconds, but before he could say anything the figure disappeared as quickly as he had arrived... and the only sound that followed was the sound of Ichigo's Zanpakuto hitting the ground.
Sombra guessed that he should be happy, as another soul was purified of the Hollow they had become, or maybe it was the Hollow's feral nature that had been purified this time around, though while Ichigo collected his sword and sheathed it, and Rukia tended to Orihime and Tatsuki, intending to use the memory device she had bought from Kisuke, Sombra departed from the area and headed back towards the shop. He would have stayed, he really would have, but Rukia insisted that she could finish up and then both she and Ichigo would go back to the clinic once she had put the unconscious girls back in the house and replaced their memories, while also promising that she had figured out how to use it, so the girls wouldn't miss more than a few hours. Orihime's brother insisted that he help them out, once he was fully dressed, and stated that he would watch over his sister and protect her whenever she was in danger, meaning that Sombra definitely wasn't needed at the moment. As Sombra jumped over the roofs, and headed back to the Urahara Shop, he sensed another Hollow enter the town for a moment and prepared to change directions almost immediately, as this wasn't something Ichigo and Rukia needed at the moment, only for the creature to disappear as quickly as it had appeared on his radar.
He was actually thankful that the Hollow had disappeared as quickly as he had detected it, because his mind was reeling at what he had seen earlier, as he had no idea that an Arrancar was actually just a Hollow that had taken off it's mask in such a manner, gaining abilities that matched what a Shinigami had. That meant that, with time and practice, Orihime's brother would be able to do what he was able to do, which would please him since he'd be able to guard his sister more effectively, but at the same time that wasn't what actually concerned him. What bothered him was the truth that he had discovered, that Arrancar's were Hollows that had removed their masks, meaning that, at some point in time, he had been a living person, then became a spirit by some sort of accident, only to be transformed into a Hollow because of his emotions or something else, and then, finally, tore his mask off to become what he was now. It explained some of what he had been able to do, if removing the mask gave Hollows Shinigami powers, but at the same time it left him with even more questions than he had before seeing what happened to Orihime's brother... and he had the feeling that he wouldn't be getting any answers soon, because there was no telling when that mysterious figure would reappear again to answer the questions that he now had.
Despite what had happened tonight something told him that another student at Ichigo's high school was going to be attacked soon, if what happened to Orihime was any indication, though before he went out and searched for the Hollow he needed some rest... and then, when morning arrived and Ichigo was ready, they would start a new day and see what the new Hollow did to the town and the various people, and souls, that called it home.
When Sombra returned to the Urahara Shop, after leaving a confident Rukia in charge of the situation that he had left behind, he found that Kisuke and Yoruichi, who was currently in her Human form, were in a side room discussing the number of Hollows that had come to Karakura Town recently. Sombra had counted at least ten Hollows since his arrival in the town, five of which he had killed by himself and some of the others he had assisted Ichigo in purifying, but he did have to wonder if the increased activity would make Soul Society send another Shinigami to assist Rukia, which would be bad news for Rukia and Ichigo at the very least. At the same time, when he entered the room, he found that the only thing that Yoruichi was wearing was the black part of her suit, meaning that she likely didn't have a lot of time between changing and running after something and this was all she had time to put on, but he paid it little mind as the conversation stopped and the duo turned towards him. Kisuke seemed to be more interested in what he had been up to, to which he told them about the fact that one of Ichigo's friends, or acquaintances since he couldn't actually determine where Orihime rested, had their long dead relative turned into a Hollow and proceeded to attack both Ichigo and Orihime... and yet, despite what he had told them, he couldn't tell them that he had seen a Hollow become an Arrancar, because he was still having trouble coming to terms with that fact.
While he talked Yoruichi, instead of sitting still and listening to the events that happened earlier, used a washcloth to tend to the few light markings that Sombra had received from the battle with Orihime's brother, even though they weren't bleeding at all since it appeared that, as an Arrancar, his skin was tougher than a Human's skin was... and yet, despite the fact that there was nothing between them, he was sure that there was a light blush on Yoruichi's face, one that he decided not to mention in case it was about something, or someone, else.
"Something else seems to be bothering you," Kisuke commented, as he had waited until Sombra was done telling them about what he, Ichigo, and Rukia had been through in the last hour or two before he spoke up, where the Arrancar glanced up at him for a moment, "What happened?"
"Oh, it's nothing much," Sombra said, thinking about to the thoughts he had entertained while he was busy earlier, something that he had thought about again when he learned about Orihime, her brother, and Tatsuki, the friend that she had made, "It's just, well, I was hoping that, by hearing a couple of individuals talk about friends and family earlier I might be able to remember something about myself, and yet I still can't remember anything. It's like I had no friends or family before I lost my memories, so hearing about them won't help me recover anything useful, and that, in turn, means it'll take me awhile to figure out how to bring my memories back... all I have is acquaintances and no friends to speak of."
Yoruichi wasn't surprised that Sombra thought of her and the others as his acquaintances, since he had that 'deal' with Kisuke, but at the same time she was sure that, with the right information, he could learn the difference between an acquaintance and a friend. When he said that he had no friends, meaning that he had seen or learned something during his ordeal tonight, he actually looked like he was at a loss and had no idea what to do to resolve the issue that he was in, since he had no idea what a friend was or how he made one. Since he had no friends, in his eyes anyway, Yoruichi knew that one thing they needed to do was figure out a way to make him see that he actually had a few friends, even if two of them were children and she was another one, because she felt that, after a month of spending time together, they were more than acquaintances. That thought was reinforced by her own personal feelings, ones that she hadn't told anyone about and had actually lied to Kisuke about, though at the same time she couldn't tell Sombra when he had no idea what sort of relationships he could have with the people that he knew... something that they were going to have to work on in the future, when he wasn't busy dealing with Hollows and whatever was happening to Ichigo.
She sat there, to Sombra's right, and listened as Kisuke reminded the Arrancar of how to deal with Hollows, even though he understood how to fight them based on what she had seen when he was fighting them before Rukia arrived in the town, before Sombra eventually called it a night and went up to the room that Kisuke let him use... though both she and Kisuke sat at the table for a few more moments.
"Since when did he care about friends?" Kisuke commented, as that was a change in the Arrancar that he wasn't expecting, as he was sure that spending time hanging around the Humans of Karakura Town was having sort of effect on Sombra and what he felt was important.
"Spending time with Ichigo, and those he calls friends, is what brought about this change." Yoruichi replied, as she already knew the reason, as she had determined that herself, but at the same time her mind was focused on doing something that might help the Arrancar out, "I think that, given enough time, he'll come to understand the concept of friends and the relationships that come with having people that close to him."
"And maybe understand love in the process?" Kisuke inquired, as while Yoruichi had said that she didn't have feelings for the Arrancar, something that he knew wasn't the truth, he couldn't help but poke fun at that fact, as he knew that Yoruichi wasn't about to do something when Sombra was nearby.
Yoruichi stared at Kisuke for a moment, knowing what he was trying to do, but at the same time she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction that he was right in guessing what else she had been thinking about, rather she got up, headed for the other room, and transformed back into her cat form. There were some other things she needed to check up on and sitting around with Kisuke wasn't one of them, though running through the night would give her some time to think about what she was going to do to teach Sombra about friends and the relationships that came with them. There was also the fact that he had discovered something earlier, something that was the real reason that Kisuke asked what was bothering him, and yet he couldn't find the strength to tell them what was bothering him. She felt that, as his friends, they deserved to know what was bothering him so they could help him in whatever way they could, which was why she needed some time alone... she only hoped that Sombra would come around and tell them what the problem was before it grew into a situation that he couldn't handle.
Sombra spent the night in the same dreamless sleep that he always had whenever he slept, though he didn't tell anyone about it because he had no idea what it meant, though when morning arrived he found that Yoruichi had already gone out, in her cat form considering that the clothing she had been wearing the night before had been left in another room and Kisuke had moved it before Jinta and Ururu had seen it. He guessed that the action of moving Yoruichi's clothing in such a manner was to make sure that the children didn't figure out that Kisuke had someone else living with him, besides Tessai and occasionally himself, though at the same time he was a little disappointed that he had missed Yoruichi before she left the shop. He had spent some time thinking about it last night, before he went to sleep, and he had decided to ask her what was up with the blush she had on her face, but since he had missed her, and there was no telling how long it was going to be before she got back, he settled back into his morning routine and drank his morning cup of tea... while at the same time noticing that Kisuke glanced at him a few times and said nothing, though since that was usual he ignored it and went back to enjoying the peace and quiet atmosphere around him.
Once the cup of tea had been drained, and deposited in the sink like usual, he left the shop and made his way over to Ichigo's place, though at the same time he still found it odd that he actually didn't need to eat anything and still decided that it was something that Arrancars didn't need to do, while at the same time making him wonder what else Arrancars didn't do that Humans did. He thought about that as he jumped on top of a nearby roof and used that to get him to the clinic, where he found that Ichigo was having breakfast and didn't leave until a little while later, though when he did leave Sombra followed after him and followed him through the town until they reached the school. Since they had arrived before the first bell Ichigo went to the roof of the building, where Orihime and Tatsuki were sitting with their female friends and Orihime told them how a sumo wrestler with a gun created the hole in her wall, which Tatsuki seemed to have the same memory of while at the same time saying that it was all in her head. Rukia, of course, was standing by and looked happy to see them both, though as Sombra leaned against the railing something interesting happened, Ichigo actually told Rukia that he'd help with her Shinigami duties, making Rukia happy in the process.
While that happened Sombra also spotted Orihime's brother, hidden in the spiritual world like he was, sitting on a different part of the roof that allowed him to keep an eye on his sister, though Ichigo was able to tell him that Orihime's brother was called Sora Inoue... though Sombra could tell that the new Arrcancar, having found some clothes that he could wear, was grateful for the second chance he had been given and was going to watch over his sister like he said he would last night.
From there the morning seemed to go about the same way, with the exception of Chad missing from his seat when the classes actually started, though Sombra simply stood in the corner, like usual, and kept his senses open for any Hollows that might be roaming the town. Oddly enough he could sense one creature that appeared to be minding it's own business, though from time to time it's energy shifted and appeared in a new spot, making it slightly harder to keep track of the creature, though Sombra knew that he'd eventually lock onto the Hollow's position before Rukia's phone, which connected to Soul Society, even ran with orders to take the creature down. Despite the fact that she was clearly waiting for her powers to return Rukia seemed to really take to the class, cause she answered the questions that she was asked, much to her teacher's approval, while Ichigo did the same and got a nod in return, meaning that the teacher was fine with familiar students answering questions and liked to pick unfamiliar students from time to time. Of course the other students were asked questions as well, but at the same time Sombra filtered out all the useless information that was being talked about and focused on what he was doing.
Eventually the bell for lunch rung and both Ichigo and Rukia headed to the roof, where Ichigo actually made a small comment about his head wound from the previous day already being healed, though Rukia smiled and proclaimed that she was the best in her Kido class... before getting into a short conversation with Ichigo about how she was supposed to drink the juice box that she was holding onto, as she was, once more, caught off guard by the wonders of their more modern world, making Sombra wonder what Soul Society looked like.
As Sombra tried to think about the strange place that Rukia came from, however, another student, who happened to be shorter than most of the people he had seen so far and had black colored hair that was parted down the middle, noted that Ichigo and Rukia were spending a lot of time together, especially since Rukia was new to the school. As Sombra found out this was Mizuiro Kojima, who apparently liked older women and Ichigo had already warned Rukia about him, though Sombra had no idea when he actually told her, which meant that he likely informed her of his classmates when they were tending to Orihime and Tatsuki last night. Of course that was before another of Ichigo's classmates, who was a slim young man with brown colored hair and went by the name Keigo Asano, arrived and started cheering about how Rukia came to the roof as well, or the 'garden of masculinity' as he called it, before Chad, who had some bandages around his right arm, arrived as well... though what caught Sombra's attention was the bird, the parakeet as he soon found out, that Chad had brought with him to school.
"Hey Chad, are you injured?" Ichigo asked, because he and Chad had some history with each other and they used to get into fights, mostly with other people, but it had been some time since he had seen Chad injured, even though it looked like the wound was properly bandaged up and everything.
"A steel beam fell on my head yesterday." Chad stated, making it sound like something that happened on a daily bases and simply didn't care, or at least that was what Sombra was thinking at the moment, before he raised his empty right hand and showed them what had happened, "As for my hand, I had a collision with a motorcycle. And the rider got hurt bad, so I carried him to the hospital."
"No wonder you were late today." Ichigo said, though at the same time he was glad that Chad was the way that he was, because other people would have left a badly hurt person in the road and then he'd be seeing another soul that he would need to purify, which meant that Chad had likely saved the person's life, "But for real, what the hell is your body made out of?"
"Anyway, what's with the bird?" Keigo inquired, choosing to ignore the question that Ichigo asked, as a lot of people asked that question about Chad when they heard what he was able to do and the amount of pain his body was able to take while he was in a fight.
"Hello," the parakeet said, surprising the majority of the group for a moment, though at the same time Sombra just stared at it for a few seconds, as he was used to spending time with Yoruchi, who was a talking cat part of the time they spent together, "my name is Yuichi Shibata. What's your name?"
It was in that moment that Mizuiro and Keigo started talking about the parakeet and the fact that it could talk, though at the same time Ichigo, Rukia, and Sombra stared at it, because they could all feel that there was a soul inside the bird's body, a soul that definitely didn't belong inside it. Sombra realized that it wasn't the same as Yoruichi, who could switch forms at will, rather it was some unfortunate soul that had been trapped inside the body of an animal and was forced to live like this, until a Shinigami discovered it and tried to free it, which only made him wonder if they found the key to discovering the Hollow that killed those two Shinigami that guarded the town before Rukia came here. Even Rukia came to the conclusion that the soul that was inside the bird wasn't evil, but Sombra noticed that she hesitated to say what she thought about the situation, to which Sombra just sighed as he looked at the parakeet and knew, without a doubt, that he had found the key to the Hollow that he actually wanted to kill the moment he heard about it... and, at the very least, Rukia would be able to tell her superiors that the Hollow responsible for the death of two Shinigami had been take care of.
While he thought about that Ichigo described his first encounter with Chad, back when he was in the 8th Grade, and that he had been in a fight because his hair color drew a lot of attention, though at the same time Chad had helped him during that time... and, as Sombra could gather, the two of them formed a bond of friendship that still stood strong today, causing him to sigh as he looked at the ground, where both Rukia and Ichigo glanced at him for a moment before returning their attention to the bird.
The rest of the day was boring once the meeting on the roof was over, though as they returned to Ichigo's classroom Sombra stared at the parakeet that was stuck in the cage that Chad had been carrying, where the bird seemed to glance at him every now and then, but for the most part it remained silent and said nothing thanks to the amount of people that were now around it. As the day went by Sombra found that the Hollow he had been feeling earlier had disappeared, no doubt heading back to Hueco Mundo to bid it's time or something, so he simply sat there with next to nothing to do, since if he moved anything he'd be found out by the other Humans, or at the very least they'd think their school was haunted by something. When the day was over Ichigo and Rukia went their separate ways and Sombra simply followed after Ichigo, since he had next to nothing to do, but oddly enough Ichigo didn't go straight home and simply walked around the town, maybe lost in his thoughts as Sombra thought about it as they walked through the town once more.
"Sombra, what's your problem?" Ichigo asked, as he stopped at one point and turned to look at the Arrancar that insisted on following him, as it appeared that, since Sombra had been Rukia's partner for some time, before he took her powers on accident, he was now his partner by some definition.
"What do you mean?" Sombra asked, though at the same time he noticed that they had stopped by the river once more, which seemed to be a favorite spot for Ichigo to walk by when he was heading home, though why he enjoyed it was unknown to him.
"When I mentioned my friendship with Chad earlier you seemed to get a little sad about it," Ichigo replied, as he had heard the sigh that had come from the Arrancar when he was telling his tale, something that was strange when he thought about it since Sombra had been calm and collected the entire time he knew him, "So what's wrong?"
"I just have a bunch of acquaintances and no actual friends." Sombra answered, though instead of sticking around, and listening to what Ichigo had to say about that, he continued moving and started walking towards the clinic that Ichigo was heading towards.
"Idiot." Ichigo mumbled, as he couldn't believe that the Arrancar was so dense, but he sighed and figured that he'd tell him that he was wrong in that regard in the future, once he figured out a good way to break the news to him, before he continued walking and headed home as well.
When the two of them actually arrived at the clinic, however, Ichigo insisted that Sombra come inside and see what his place looked like, without having to go through the window for once, though as they walked into the living area Ichigo was surprised to see Karin and Yuzu, both dressed up in their nurse outfits, running into the clinic area for some reason... and his curiosity got the better of him as he asked what was going on. Apparently there was a car accident at a nearby intersection and Isshin was telling someone that they needed to take the patient because they were beyond the level of the clinic's abilities, only for him to say something about the people being useless. Ichigo actually asked his father if there was anything he could do to help out, since it sounded like a bad wreck based on what he had heard so far, only for his father to tell him to go stay in a corner and stay out of the way, to which Sombra felt that he was being rude when his son was offering his assistance... to which Isshin got to work while Ichigo simply stood in the hallway, waiting to hear if his family actually needed his help or not before he went to his room.
After a few moments of waiting, and eventually coming to a decision on what to do, Isshin made a comment about the last patient being a large one and that he wanted Ichigo's help, though as he and Sombra entered the room in question they found that the person in question was actually Chad, carrying the parakeet's cage... and, when they looked at his back where the wound was located, both Ichigo and Sombra noticed that the wound in question looked like a Hollow's hand print, a bleeding one at that. Before either of them could do something Chad insisted that he was fine and ended up collapsing, causing Isshin to tell Karin and Yuzu to prepare a bed that was at the end of the hallway that all of them slept in, though as that happened Ichigo and Sombra headed towards Ichigo's room and found Rukia sitting on his bed. It was in that moment, when they discussed that the wound definitely had the smell of a Hollow attached to it, that Sombra found out that Rukia was living in Ichigo's closet during her time in the World of the Living... and that, for now, they would have to wait and see what happened with Chad and the parakeet.
Of course, when morning arrived, they discovered that Chad had fled from his room, as Rukia and Sombra stayed in Ichigo's room while he went down for breakfast, only for Isshin to tell him and Yuzu, since Karin was still in bed since she wasn't feeling well, that Chad was gone... to which Ichigo headed out before telling his companions what he was doing, causing them to climb out through his bedroom window and catch up with him when he stopped at an intersection.
"Where could Chad have gone?" Ichigo commented, looking at the various directions that were around them, as he was seeing if there were any signs of where Chad could have gone, but since his wound had been treated, and bandaged by his father, blood was out of the question.
"There's nothing from Soul Society about a Hollow wandering the town," Rukia said, to which Sombra nodded his head, as he couldn't detect the Hollow that he had felt earlier, because it was constantly switching between this world and Hueco Mundo, meaning it was going to be hard to catch it, "Usually Hollows hide themselves between Soul Society and the World of the Living, in the realm of Hueco Mundo, so there's no way to track them until they come to this world."
"We can't wait until he's attacked again!" Ichigo exclaimed, though even as he thought about Chad, and how he might be able to find him, he remembered the parakeet that he was carrying and the soul that was trapped inside it, "Of course, the parakeet. We just have to follow the soul that's trapped inside the bird."
Rukia opened her mouth to say something, to tell Ichigo that such a thing wasn't possible, but before she could actually say anything Sombra extended a hand and shook his head, as he knew that such a thing was possible since he could slightly feel the soul in question. Sure, he could leave and follow Chad on his own, but at the same time he noticed that Ichigo was closing his eyes and focusing his mind, where he seemed to have a slim light blue aura surround him while they felt a strange sensation fill the air around them as he sought out the parakeet. Rukia quickly realized what Ichigo was doing, even when the energy that happened to be filling the air turned into white ribbons that seemed to move in the air, spiritual ribbons that only they could see, surprising Rukia with how quickly Ichigo was progressing, before Ichigo snapped his eyes open as he grabbed onto one of the ribbons to his left and declared that he had found the parakeet. Not even a second later the ribbons disappeared and Ichigo charged off in the direction that the energy was coming from, though as Sombra followed after him Rukia stayed behind for a few seconds, since she was shocked by what she had seen... before she followed after them, as she was eager to see what sort of improvements that Ichigo might reveal to her while he fought whatever Hollow was following Chad.
While they headed down the street, however, Sombra felt the Hollow snap back into the World of the Living and felt that the parakeet was on the move, where a few minutes later they spotted Chad as he ran into the street as well, only to head down the street and leave them behind, as he didn't want to get them involved with what was happening, though as they started to move again Karin caught up with them and Ichigo was forced to take her back home, leaving Rukia and Sombra to deal with the Hollow. The one interesting part of the parting conversation that they had was that Ichigo asked Rukia to be careful, since she didn't have her powers back yet, before he headed home with Karin, though Sombra was more interested in the Hollow that was chasing Chad. Sombra was able to keep up with Chad no problem, since he wasn't limited to a physical form like Rukia was, who happened to be falling behind, before she ended up stopping when a voice spoke and mentioned a nice smell... causing her to stop while Sombra did the same, as he already knew that the Hollow had come to play and he was ready for it.
"You smell delicious," the voice said, to which the Hollow manifested right beside Rukia, with his mask in front of her face, where Sombra noticed that the creature's features resembled a frog with retractable bat wings attached to his arms, though it was focused on Rukia and not Sombra, "Let me devour... that soul of yours!"
It was in that moment that the Hollow attacked Rukia, who jumped forward, placed her hands on the ground, and backflipped a little before she faced the creature that had tired to kill her, though at the same time Sombra drew his sword and prepared himself for what was coming next.
"Oh? You won't die in one shot?" the Hollow asked, though at the same time it closed it's mouth and stared at Rukia, as it was definitely more interested in her at the moment, especially when it was recalling something that only it knew at the moment, "And it seems that you can see me. Just... who are you?"
In response to that Rukia took the opportunity that had been presented to her and kneed the Hollow in the face, surprising the creature in the process, before Rukia flipped onto the Hollow's back and landed there for a moment, before she started to move her hands around.
"O Lord," Rukia said, to which she lowered herself for a moment and prepared herself, while at the same time Sombra raised an eyebrow as he watched what was going on, before Rukia jumped into the air, "Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws. Hado Number 33: Sokatsui."
That was followed by a force of some kind striking the back of the Hollow's body, bringing up a cloud of smoke in the process, though as Rukia stated down at the creature, as she moved away from it, she seemed pleased that she was able to hurt the Hollow... though as she landed on the ground, however, they discovered that the Hollow wasn't even phased by the attack at all and seemed to find the situation to be funny.
"I know that trick." the Hollow said, to which he turned toward Rukia and stared at her, once more ignoring Sombra, who was standing on the wall above him and was surprised that the creature was ignoring him, "It's a Shinigami power, isn't it? But yours is so weak that I felt nothing. That means that your a Shinigami, which explains why your soul smells as yummy as it is... that's nice. I've killed and devoured the last two Shinigami that have tired to help that kid cross over, and they were delicious."
"I assume that, when you mention a kid, your referring to the spirit inside the parakeet." Sombra commented, as he knew that, even if he spoke up, the Hollow was going to ignore him entirely and focus solely on Rukia, but at the same time this was the confirmation that he was looking for, as this was the Hollow that killed the last two Shinigami that were protecting Karakura Town before Rukia showed up.
"That's correct." the Hollow replied, keeping his focus on Rukia, confirming that Sombra wasn't even worth the creature's attention, though at the same time Sombra counted that to be a good thing, as they could get the truth and then surprise the Hollow with his arrival, before it raised it's hand and pinned Rukia to the wall that was opposite of the one that Sombra was on.
Before the Hollow could actually explain what it was doing, chasing the soul that was inside the parakeet, Chad appeared nearby and punched the Hollow in the side of it's face, sending it flying and releasing Rukia in the process, who coughed as she touched the ground and the Hollow crashed into the ground nearby... though, as Sombra watched with some interest, Chad proceeded to punch the air nearby, as if he was targeting the Hollow that he clearly couldn't see. What else was interesting was that the Hollow got up and seemed to think about what had happened, seeing Chad target the air and not hit anything, but as he readied himself Chad hit him again, somehow figuring out where the creature was standing without being able to see him. This time around the Hollow spread his wings and took to the skies, where Rukia and Sombra glanced up at him while the creature proceeded to taunt them with the fact that they couldn't hit him anymore, which would have been funny if he realized that Sombra was standing nearby... but Chad surprised them by gripping the nearby wooden pole and tore the majority of it from the ground, where Rukia directed him to swing it down and crushed the Hollow against the street in front of them.
"Now give up." Rukia said, staring at the downed Hollow that was in front of them, as she was surprised that Sombra had been able to stay his hand the entire time this had been going on, but at the same time she knew that he was eager to deal with this Hollow, "There's two people that can finish you off, one that's standing nearby and another that's on his way to punish you for what you have done."
Sombra prepared to jump down and stab the Hollow in the side, at least so they could get the story about why he was targeting the spirit inside the parakeet, but then it started to chuckle as it picked itself up, meaning that it had something planned... which was followed by it turning towards Rukia and Chad as it chuckled, which was followed by what appeared to be little frog like creatures that jumped down and pinned the duo to the ground.
"You Shinigami are so arrogant, and that's why we keep beating you." the Hollow said, though at the same time Sombra guessed that the creature had done the same tactic to the other Shinigami that it had fought in the past, but this time things were different, as Rukia wasn't alone, "You take us way too lightly for your own good. Now then, who shall I devour first? I think I'll save the guy for last and..."
That was followed by Chad getting up and forced all the creatures that were attached to his body to go flying, surprising the Hollow for a moment, who then had to get out of the way as Chad swung at him again, before Rukia used Chad's strength to her advantage and got rid of the small critters that were on her, allowing her to get up as well. That caused the Hollow to take to the skies once more, but this time around Sombra had enough of being ignored and flashed up into the sky behind the creature, where he swung his sword and cut a gash into the creature's back, knocking it to the ground in the process. As Sombra landed nearby some of the little frogs from earlier appeared from where they were hiding, after Chad knocked them off his body, and spat some leech like creatures onto his body, though Sombra simply stared at them for a moment, as he was curious as to what the Hollow was thinking of doing this time around.
"You'll find that those are hard to remove," the Hollow said, even though Sombra hadn't attempted to even remove one of them yet, as he found that they were simply sticking to him and not biting into him like he would have expected something like this to do, "especially since those are my targets!"
The Hollow opened his mouth and revealed his tongue, which made a sound that was different than what Sombra had heard so far, causing the leeches to detonate and cover the area around him in dust and smoke, where the Hollow chuckled as he stared at the scene in front of him.
"My leeches are small bombs that you can't get away from." the Hollow explained, speaking more to Rukia than to anyone else, since he believed that he had taken out the other target that had only gotten on his nerves, and it was the only time he had actually seen the creature to begin with, "They respond to sounds from my tongue and explode... and besides, your guard was wide open and I took advantage of it. Besides, there's nothing any of you can do at this point, not when I have a little surprise for all of you."
With that said Rukia noticed that some of the frog creatures had grabbed the cage that the parakeet was trapped in and brought it over to the battlefield, fully prepared to kill the bird and the spirit that was currently trapped inside it, all while the Hollow was laughing like he had won the fight... and was clearly planning on using the bird as a hostage to make sure that none of them attacked him while he had his fun.
"Now then, Shinigami," the Hollow said, focusing his attention on Rukia once more, while also ignoring the smoke that was behind him, as he could care less about the creature he had instantly killed, "run along and let me have some fun chasing you down... otherwise the bird gets it."
"Chad, just stay here and don't move." Rukia said, though at the same time she grinned for a moment, because she knew something that the Hollow didn't and that fact would prove to be the creature's downfall, "If you follow me he's going to blow the birdcage up... but if you wait, you'll find out something good."
Chad stared at Rukia for a moment, wondering what she was getting at, before he nodded and she fled the scene, to which he felt the creature that he had been fighting charge after her as she went someplace where others wouldn't be hurt by what was going on. A few moments later, when he was sure that both Rukia and the creature were gone, he turned towards the birdcage and found it levitating in the air, though in the other realm Sombra sighed as he set the birdcage in Chad's hands. It was a fortunate thing that the Hollow thought he was simply a pest, because that blast had done nothing to him, save for some scratches that could be patched up later on, and had given him time to hear what the Hollow had planned, before acting when both it and Rukia were gone by slicing up the frogs before they even knew what hit them. Now that the spirit was safe, for the moment anyway, Sombra sheathed his sword and charged off in the direction that Rukia had gone in, as he planned on catching up with her so he could put down the Hollow and see where his soul ended up going, as he had the feeling that it wouldn't be Soul Society.
Fortunately it didn't take Sombra long to catch up with Rukia, who ended up stopping at a three way intersection that was overlooking one of the canals that the town had, while at the same time noticing that she was bleeding a little from the side of her head and her left shoulder, but as she stopped so did he and the Hollow, who wasn't amused by her stopping where she did... which was around the time that Ichigo, looking a little upset over something, appeared behind the Hollow and pushed him to the ground with his foot.
"How long do you intend to stand on my head?" the Hollow asked in anger, though at the same time Ichigo jumped off the creature's head, touched down near Rukia, and turned to face the creature, who was currently pissed off at what was going on at the moment.
"Well, I was going to stand on it for a few minutes, to see if you figured out that you're chasing the wrong person, but then you beat me to the punch," Ichigo replied, though at the same time Sombra jumped down and landed beside him, surprising the Hollow for a moment, since it had been sure that it killed him earlier, "besides, you should be chasing after me, because I'm the Substitute Shinigami that's watching over Karakura Town... or maybe chasing after Sombra, the Arrancar that was watching the town before Rukia showed up."
"A... Arrancar?!" the Hollow said, staring at Sombra for a moment, where it's eyes glanced at the bone white crown on top of Sombra's head, something that immediately caused his mind to scream that he was in danger, before he realized that he was definitely in danger... and summoned his frogs to deploy the leeches so he could kill all of them before something happened to him.
In the following instant Sombra stood in front of the group and flashed around the area, cutting the leeches apart before they could even reach where he and his companions were standing, so that when the Hollow used his sound frequency they were covered in a layer of smoke. The instant that happened Rukia pulled out her glove and separated Ichigo's soul from his body, allowing him to appear in his Shinigami form while she caught his body, though at the same time Ichigo launched himself through the smoke and descended upon the Hollow while he was distracted. By the time the smoke cleared the Hollow was standing where the group had been standing and they were standing where the Hollow had been seconds ago, but at the same time Rukia carried Ichigo's body to a safe distance while Ichigo and Sombra stood side by side as they stared at the Hollow... who appeared to be extremely worried about his chances now, especially since he seemed to know a bit about what Sombra was.
Not a moment later Ichigo and Sombra charged forward and forced the Hollow to leave the area, though when it tried to flee back into Hueco Mundo, however, Sombra grabbed onto it's leg and pulled it back into the World of the Living, as he wasn't about to let this one flee from them... until the three of them were standing some distance away from where Rukia was standing, and happened to be watching them fight at the same time. The Hollow glared at them and sent three more of the frogs at them, which the duo slashed apart without a second thought, and their target used his tongue to ignite the bombs, but this time around they jumped through the smoke and brought their swords down on the Hollow, with Ichigo's striking the Hollow's left shoulder and Sombra's hitting the right arm.
"There's something I want to ask you, before we finish you off." Ichigo commented, though at the same time Sombra shared his confidence, because despite the intelligence that this Hollow possessed, and the interesting ability that he had used, against the two of them he stood no chance of winning, "Are you the one who killed the parents of the kid that's trapped inside the parakeet?"
"That's right." the Hollow said, though despite the fact that he knew that he was in trouble, thanks to the warning bells that had gone off when he realized what was standing in front of him, he still found that he could enjoy telling them what he had done before he actually disappeared, "I'm the one that killed that kid's mother, when I was still alive anyway. At the time, I was a serial killer that was all over the news... I was famous! That kid's mother happened to be my last victim. It was so much fun, she ran as hard as she could... and in the end, when she barely had any breath left, she still tried to protect her child from me. When I chased her out onto her veranda, however, was when things went wrong, because that damned kid grabbed my shoelaces and caused me to trip, resulting in me getting killed in the process.
After a while, I decided to pay the kid back for everything he had done to me, so I took his soul right out of his body and stuffed it inside that parakeet, before telling him this: 'Three months! If you can run around in that form for that long, I'll bring your mother back to life'. Of course I couldn't do something like that, no one can, but the kid bought it and started running as fast as his new form would allow him to, giving me the thrill of hunting him down while killing off everyone and anyone that tries to help him out, in whatever way they try. Each time I killed someone the kid would complain and try to quit, only for me to remind him why he was going through with this, that he was trying to save his mother, and he fell back in line and resumed our little game, all without realizing that I was never going to uphold my part of the 'deal'. And now that the two of you have lowered your guard, it's time for me to end the two of you as well!"
The Hollow sent a pair of frogs at them, though this time around both Sombra and Ichigo grabbed one and crushed them with their space hands, resulting in the Hollow getting ready to use it's tongue to blow their hands up, but what he wasn't expecting was the both of them to punch him in the mouth part of his mask and grab onto his tongue... only for the two of them to pull back a few seconds later as they ripped his tongue from his mouth.
"Go to HELL!" Ichigo and Sombra exclaimed, though at the same time they both swung their swords and cut two parallel gashes into the Hollow's mask, both going through one of his eyes, but this time around a green glow escaped from the cracks as the Hollow stood there for a moment.
That was followed by a surge of energy being released from the Hollow as a massive gateway of some kind, with a large skeleton on each of the two panels that were in front of them, appeared behind the creature, causing the duo to look at it with a look of surprise on their faces. Rukia arrived a few seconds later as the two skeletons started to pull the two sections of the door apart from each other, snapping the chains in the process, though she told Ichigo that this was the gate to Hell, where souls that committed sins when they were alive were sent when they were cleansed by a Zanpakuto. Since the Hollow had been a serial killer when he was alive, and it was only the deaths that he had caused as a Hollow that were being cleansed from his spirit, it made sense that he was being sent to Hell, to which the three of them watched as the gateway opened before their eyes. That was before a massive blade, wielded by a massive blue colored hand, pierced the Hollow's body and dragged the creature into Hell, where the gateway closed once he was on the other side, before the gateway shattered like it was glass and the world around them seemed to return to normal.
Once the Hollow was taken care of they returned to where Ichigo's body was located, and where Chad happened to be when they arrived, before Rukia checked the parakeet for the spirit's Chain of Fate, but after a few moments she was able to determine that it was impossible to send him back to his original body. Since he couldn't spend the rest of his life in the parakeet, as he'd be attacked by more Hollows eventually, Rukia told him that Soul Society wasn't a scary place and that he'd be able to live a nice life there, before Ichigo stepped in and told him that he'd be able to see his mother again when he arrived in the afterlife. Chad even had a touching moment with the spirit of the little boy, where they promised each other that, when they met again in Soul Society, when Chad died and was sent over, that he would carry Yuichi around like he did today... to which Ichigo, Rukia, and Sombra noticed the spirit smile as he imagined that day, before letting Ichigo perform the Konso on him, sending him on his way to the next stage of his life.
As Yuichi's spirit was sent to Soul Society, and left the World of the Living behind, Sombra had the strangest feeling that they would be seeing him again in the future, but at the same time he smiled, as it felt good to have dealt with the Hollow that had killed two Shinigami... and left him wondering what he and the others would have to deal with before the day was over.
After dealing with the Hollow that had killed two Shinigami before Rukia was tasked with protecting Karakura Town, and sending him to Hell for his crimes before he became a Hollow, the group spent the rest of the day in the one place that Sombra would rather stay away from, Ichigo's high school. Fortunately the teacher bought the excuse as to why Ichigo and Rukia were late, since they were both tending to Chad and his injuries, and Chad got off without any punishments, indicating that this seemed to happen a lot more than Sombra knew about. The teacher went on with the lesson and the three of them figured out what homework assignments they needed to do, for later anyway, while Sombra remained in the corner that he sat in when he followed Ichigo to school and simply returned to scouting for additional Hollows that might threaten someone at some point in time. Of course while all that happened he noticed, from time to time, that Sora was walking down the hallway and occasionally peeked into the room to be sure that his sister was alright, though that seemed to be all that he was doing at the moment, which Sombra was fine with and let him go about his business.
Once the school day was over the same thing happened, Ichigo went home, Sombra stuck around the clinic's exterior until he was sure that he wasn't needed for anything, and when Rukia arrived, to slip into the room so she could sleep in Ichigo's closet like usual, he simply went back to the Urahara Shop and spent some time with them before drifting off into his dreamless sleep like usual.
What was strange to Sombra was that the rest of the week, including both Saturday and Sunday as well, nothing happened to the town, nothing that would warrant Ichigo transforming into his Shinigami form or requiring Sombra to draw his blade and cut something down. Sure, there were plenty of spirits and souls wandering the town still, but Rukia seemed to ignore them and focus on the Hollows that they had been taking care of, and yet, at the same time, neither her phone or Sombra's senses could pick up another Hollow, despite the number of wandering souls around town. While some people would have called the situation boring, and may have given up, Sombra continued to keep his senses open so he could pinpoint any Hollows the moment they appeared on his radar, that way he could be ready to move the instant the creatures made a move against the town. Ichigo, on the other hand, was thankful for some time off, since he was doing his homework and didn't want to be bothered, and Rukia seemed to know most of what was on the assignments, which was why she did them the morning they were due and didn't seem to care if they seemed rushed.
While all of this was going on Sombra noticed that, despite her best efforts to hide what was happening, Rukia's gigai seemed to be slowing down from time to time and was becoming harder to move, as there were times where she had to shake her limbs and joints to continue moving. For the most part she seemed to be dealing with the situation quite well, and didn't want to ask for any assistance, though when Saturday arrived he noticed that she was getting increasingly tired over everything that was happening and seemed to know how to get around the situation. When Sunday came around he found that her problems had only gotten worse and that, sometimes, parts of her body would lock up on her until she jerked them around and forced them to move again, until eventually she went off and checked her supplies, the ones that she had bought from Kisuke when Sombra first showed her where the shop was located... but instead of heading to talk with the man, like he thought she would, Rukia said nothing and went her own direction that afternoon, leaving Sombra to sigh as he headed back to the shop.
Since he wasn't busy chasing around Hollows and helping souls, which meant that he had some free time, Yoruichi insisted that Sombra spend some of his time practicing with either her or Kisuke, when the shop wasn't busy and didn't need him anyway, but for the most part Sombra found that he enjoyed practicing with Yoruichi more than when he practiced with Kisuke. What was strange was that, at one time when he picked Yoruichi over Kisuke, the manager teased him by saying it was because Yoruichi was a 'very beautiful lady' and that was the reason he kept picking her, causing Yoruichi to kick Kisuke in the back and knock him forward, before they started their training. Sombra guessed that part of what Kisuke said, about Yoruichi being beautiful, had to be true, since he was sure that he saw the blush on her face again, but it was gone a few seconds later and he started his training with her once more, leaving Kisuke to head back up to the shop and left them to their business. He had no idea what Kisuke was trying to do with his comment, and Yoruichi didn't seem to want to talk about it at all, so he let it slide and focused on what he was doing as he flashed through the air and followed his mentor as they raced around the underground area and continued their training.
When the training session was over, maybe thirty minutes later, he and Yoruichi washed up and dried themselves off, so they didn't track anything in the shop, before they made their way upstairs and went through the rest of the evening like they always did... with Yoruichi being in her cat form and him sitting in a corner, before she went outside to scout the town out and both he and the others went to sleep like usual, though he had a feeling Monday morning was going to be different for a change.
When Monday morning arrived, and Sombra met it with his usual cup of tea, he found that Kisuke was a little more tired than he usually was and Jinta was already prepared for the day, as both he and Ururu were outside doing their chores while Tessai was moving some boxes, a shipment that had arrived yesterday, around the shop so they could be ready for any customers that came by today. Of course, like every single day that he was here, Sombra heard Jinta and Ururu talking before the young boy started terrorizing Ururu, though this time around his ears perked up as he heard the sound of Rukia asking if the boss was in, to which he slipped his empty cup into the sink and turned towards the door. Not a few seconds later Jinta moved the frame out of the way and Tessai stopped when he noticed what was going on, though as he opened his mouth to speak the door opened and he noticed that Rukia was with the youngsters, while at the same time Sombra stood nearby and realized what Rukia was doing here, before the store officially opened.
"Ms. Kuchiki!" Tessai said, to which he set the boxes down and made a bowing motion of sorts to Rukia, why Sombra still had no idea, but he wasn't about to say anything as he watched what was going on at the moment, "One moment please. I'll wake the manager up and..."
"Sorry, but I'm already up Tessai." Kisuke commented, though at the same time he slipped into the wooden sandals that he liked to wear as he yawned for a moment, showing that he was still a bit tired despite the fact that he knew he had to do some business today, before he turned and looked at Rukia, "Welcome, Ms. Kuchiki. I just received a shipment yesterday. What would you like today?"
As it turned out Rukia had a short list of items that she needed and patiently waited for Kisuke to sit down, and pull out some of the tools he used when he was conducting business, before she told him exactly what she needed to purchase during her visit.
"One spare of the Kikanshinki fuel..." Kisuke commented, writing something down as he tapped something else into the calculator that he was holding, before he recalled something and turned towards Rukia for a moment, "which rank did you say that you wanted?"
"The cheapest one." Rukia replied, though from what Sombra could tell she must have been assigned a strict limit of funds or something to want the cheapest rank of something, especially since she was spending most of her time in that gigai, something that he would have thought she'd want to have at it's maximum efficiency.
"So 'D' then," Kisuke said, to which he continued tapping on the calculator as he wrote something down, before going down to the next item on the list that Rukia had given him, "and sixty pieces of Somafixer... this may be none of my business, but too much of this can be toxic. If you over-synchronize with the gigai, it'll be quite painful when you leave it."
"I know that, but," Rukia stated, where she flexed her hand for a moment, like Sombra had seen her do earlier before she had run off, before she glanced at Kisuke once more, "lately, my connection with the gigai has been weak... and I've found that its difficult to move my body at times."
"Want me to check the gigai out?" Kisuke asked, once more appearing as the shop manager that he showed everyone, especially when he wanted to help someone out, exactly like Rukia needed some help with her gigai, "I'll even give you a discount as well."
"No, thank you." Rukia replied, surprising Sombra for a second, as he was sure that a normal Shinigami would have liked to have someone check their gigai if this sort of thing was happening, before she seemed to focus on something else entirely, "By the way, has that thing I ordered been delivered?"
"Oh, yes, it's here." Kisuke said, to which he turned his gaze towards the children for a moment, who were leaning near the shop's entrance at the moment, while at the same time Sombra wondered what Rukia could have ordered that was so special, "Ururu, get it from the storehouse. It says 'New Item' on the box."
Sombra stood there as Ururu dropped the broom that she had been holding onto and headed to the storehouse, to fetch the item that Kisuke had gotten for Rukia, likely ordered when she found out that her powers would take some time before they returned, and soon Ururu returned with the bundle that Kisuke had asked her to acquire, which was handed over to Rukia a few seconds later.
"Is this the only kind you could get?" Rukia asked, as she had opened the package a bit and noticed what was inside it, though the look that had crossed her face for a few seconds told Sombra that it was what she ordered, but at the same time it must have come in multiple types, which would meant the one she was holding wasn't the specific brand that she had ordered earlier.
"Don't say that." Kisuke said, telling Sombra that he had heard the tone and knew that Rukia was disappointed that he couldn't get his hands on the brand that she wanted, but he had gotten her the next best thing, "That's the second most popular brand, and it's almost as hard to get as the one you wanted... but, you can't fake it forever."
Once Rukia had the items in hand, and they happened to be paid for, she headed out of the shop and started heading back to Ichigo's place, though at the same time Sombra followed after her, keeping his eyes on her while watching out for any Hollows that might attack the town. They missed Ichigo, as when they arrived at the clinic he had already left for school, so Rukia stashed her stuff away and kept the special package on her, before she did some work on her gigai with a few of the items that she had purchased, though once she was ready to go they climbed out through the window, closed it, and headed towards the school. When they arrived at Ichigo's classroom Rukia said hello to everyone, who was happy to see her like usual while Ichigo stared at her for a moment, where Rukia asked Ichigo if she could have a moment or two of his time to discuss a private manner, before hinting at Sombra for a moment, using him as an excuse to get Ichigo out of the classroom without having to punch him or something. At the same time Sombra raised an eyebrow as he followed the duo outside to the back of the school, where they wouldn't be bothered by any of the other students that Ichigo spent time with or the teachers themselves.
When they reached the area that Rukia wanted them to be in, however, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the item that she had purchased from Kisuke, to which she tossed some sort of candy dispenser to Ichigo, who instantly stared at it once he caught it.
"What is this?" Ichigo asked, staring at the candy dispenser that had been tossed at him, where he noticed that the head of it looked like a duck, while at the same time he had to wonder what was so special about this that Rukia had missed the first couple of classes.
"Gikongan, or Artificial Soul Pills." Rukia said, staring at the dispenser that she had acquired, knowing that Ichigo needed an explanation as to what it was and knew that Sombra was staring at it with some interest, since this was an item he hadn't seen before, "It's a pill that will force the soul out of the body. When on ingests that pill, a substitute soul will enter the body so that the real soul can leave. If there's ever a time when I'm not nearby, to separate your soul from your body like I've done with my glove, use that to transform into a Shinigami."
"It says 'Soul Candy' on it." Ichigo commented, though at the same time Sombra stood nearby and noticed that it did, indeed, say that on the side of the container, but Sombra knew that there was a reason behind that while Ichigo was merely making an observation.
"T... That's because the Shinigami Women's Association complained that Gikongan didn't sound nice, so the name got changed." Rukia explained, though at the same time both Ichigo and Sombra stared at her, as they couldn't believe that the reason behind the name change was so simple.
"And, out of curiosity, why is it a duck?" Sombra inquired, because he assumed that the reason behind her earlier dislike was because of the shape of the container's head, though at the same time he remembered the drawings she had made earlier and had an idea as to which container she actually wanted.
"Well, I tired to order Chappie, the rabbit-shaped container." Rukia stated, confirming Sombra's thoughts on which constainer she really wanted, while at the same time Ichigo nodded his head, as he understood what was going on at the moment, "Besides, you won't understand my explanation until you take one."
Ichigo glanced at Sombra for a moment before he raised the container near his mouth and pressed down on the duck head, to which he let a green pill pop out from the container and swallowed it, though a few seconds later he swayed for a moment before his soul was separated from his body... though as Ichigo declared that it worked Rukia told him that a new soul was in his body, to which Ichigo's body moved on it's own until it was standing straight up once more.
"Nice to meet you." the soul inside Ichigo said, to which he raised Ichigo's right hand and saluted the three of them for a moment, though at the same time the fact that his body was moving on it's own surprised Ichigo while Rukia smiled at what was happening, and Sombra stared at it in fascination, "My name is Ichigo Kurosaki. My favorite phrase is 'Early to be, early to rise'."
Ichigo looked like he was going to blow a fuse, as he couldn't believe what he was hearing, though before he could complain about the situation Rukia's phone went off as Sombra's senses did as well, indicating that a Hollow had come to play at last and that they could leave the soul inside Ichigo's body... though at the same time Rukia asked Sombra to stay back and keep an eye on Ichigo's body, before she hauled Ichigo away from the school to deal with the Hollow.
"Leave it to me, Master!" the soul said, waving a hand at Ichigo as he was hauled off by Rukia, as if he was going to follow Ichigo's orders to attend the next class and make sure that nothing terrible happened, though at the same time Sombra glanced at him for a few seconds, "Take your time."
Sombra stared at the soul for a moment as Ichigo and Rukia headed away from the school, a little annoyed that he was being told to stay here and watch over the soul since he wanted to protect the town as well, though at the same time the soul stretched Ichigo's arms and legs for a few moments... before jumping up a little and kicked the fence that was between the area they were in and the walkway that was in the building, ruining the metal fence in the process.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Sombra asked, as he couldn't believe that the soul, which he had reason to believe Soul Society created since it was the only place Kisuke could have gotten it from, was destroying school property, which was going to reflect poorly on Ichigo if anyone saw this.
"Relax dude, there's no one around." the soul replied, though at the same time it sounded like it was excited to be in a body again, making Sombra wonder what it was planning to do this time around, especially since it didn't sound at all concerned for the damage it had done, "Besides, this feels great."
That was when one of the instructors walked outside, carrying one of those practice swords that Sombra had seen around the school, to which the soul ignored Sombra and started walking towards the man, where he jumped over the swing that was coming his way and soared over to the roof of the walkway that rested between two of the school's buildings. Sombra was beginning to suspect that this soul had to be a defective artificial soul, as it was doing it's best to avoid doing everything that Rukia would have done, as it was revealing things to people that shouldn't know about it at the moment, before the soul jumped up onto the roof and headed to a different side of the school. Sombra moaned as he followed after the soul, finding that it was heading towards the side of the school that Ichigo's classroom was on, before it used Ichigo's body to jump up to the level of the classroom and surprise the students that were up there, before saying something about the girls that were in the room. Before Sombra could move, and follow after him, the soul headed into the room and he heard the sounds of the girls screaming over something... though when Sombra jumped up there, however, he found that the soul was kissing Orihime's hand until Tatsuki pulled him back, before telling her that she was cute as well and then kissed her cheek.
It was in that moment that Sombra discovered that the soul that Rukia had been given was what Jinta would called 'perverted', as he was going after the girls and was ignoring the guys, and Tatsuki blew a fuse, as she shoved Ichigo's body towards the windows, picked up one of the desks, and hurled it at Ichigo, breaking the window in the process before she picked up a second desk and tried to hit him again. This time around, while he was distracted, Sombra stepped into the room and advanced towards the soul, who noticed that he was coming, before he started punching and kicking at him in an attempt to get him to move out of the way, while Sombra blocked the attacks that were coming at him. He found that the soul was definitely powerful, as it's attacks were stronger than what he was expecting, though this was an instant where he was grateful for his Arrancar skin, otherwise he was sure that these attack would have left bruises, though at the same time he didn't attack back since he didn't want to hurt Ichigo's body in the process. Fortunately his attempt to stall the soul was well worth it, because not a few moments later Rukia opened the door and the soul stopped attacking, where it rushed towards the window and found Ichigo standing there... though at the same time Sombra discovered that Ichigo couldn't bring himself to fight his body, allowing the soul to beat him up for a few seconds before kicking him into the desks before making his grand escape.
Rukia, Ichigo, and Sombra ran to the windows and watched as the soul used Ichigo's body and landed on the ground without suffering any pain, before speeding off into the distance and disappeared before they could get down there and do anything with him... causing Rukia to say that the artificial soul was actually a Mod-Soul as the three of them headed outside to chase the soul down. As the three of them ran through the town, following the soul as it moved towards an unknown destination, Ichigo fumed over the riot that the soul made in class and the fact that his reputation was likely shattered at this point, though at the same time Rukia and Sombra paid it no mind, especially since Rukia had the memory device that would help them make the class forget what had happened. Eventually, when they reached an abandoned warehouse and came to a stop, Ichigo decided to ask the question that was on his mind, after he calmed down after the near collapse he had when he thought about the fact that the soul had used his body to grab and kiss two of his classmates, as well as destroying his reputation.
"You said that he was a Mod-Soul, right?" Ichigo asked, as that was something that was bothering him, especially since it was supposed to be an artificial soul that was supposed to be inside his body when he swallowed that pill that the dispenser had loosed into his mouth, "Just what is that exactly?"
"Once, a project called 'Spearhead' was started in Soul Society." Rukia said, recalling the specifics of the Mod-Souls and the project in question, though at the same time both Ichigo and Sombra turned to look at her while she prepared to tell them exactly what she knew, "They created souls that had been modified for combat, which could be inserted into the bodies of people who had died and had their souls leave their bodies behind. They used these souls to fight Hollows... though personally, if you ask me, it was a despicable plan to begin with. The souls that were transformed for this project, once placed into a body, could make one part of their new body super-human... all in the name of fighting Hollows. That is the Kaizo Konpaku, the Mod-Soul."
"And let me guess," Sombra commented, as he was prepared to take a wild stab in the dark at the moment, especially since his knowledge of Soul Society's laws wasn't the best in the world, as Kisuke's collection of information and books was incomplete, "the project was cancelled because it forced corpses to fight the Hollows."
"That's correct." Rukia replied, though she was pleased that someone was following along, as Ichigo took one look at the drawings she had created, to help him better visualize what she was talking about, and his face showed that he thought there was no tension anymore, since he didn't like her drawing skills, "Furthermore, all of the Mod-Souls that were in the development stage were ordered to be destroyed... but to think that some were still around."
"So that means that the soul that's inside my body was created by Soul Society," Ichigo said, thinking about what Rukia was saying at the moment, though at the same time he was more focused on one aspect of what she had said while putting the others at the back of his mind, "and then he, and the rest of his kind, were rejected by the whims of the same society that created them?"
"Exactly that." Rukia stated, though at the same time she was happy that the Mod-Souls had been destroyed in such a manner, as forcing corpses to fight was a terrible thing to do and she was positive that Ichigo would have agreed, but while she was sure that he did agree with that she noticed that he was focused on something else.
"How can you accept that?" Ichigo asked, because while it sounded wrong to force corpses to fight, something that all of them agreed on, he couldn't understand why Soul Society would willingly condone the destruction of the pills that contained all the Mod-Souls.
"It's not a matter of accepting it or not," Rukia replied, to which she turned and focused on Ichigo, as she needed to tell him what he needed to know before he formed some sort of attachment to the Mod-Soul, "I'm sorry Ichigo, but Mod-Souls must be destroyed. That's one of the orders that Soul Society passed, orders that we abide by... do not forget that. And these laws are made for the purpose of protecting human souls. Now, let's get going... we still have to get your body back, before that Mod-Soul does something to it."
Sombra headed outside and followed Rukia and Ichigo as they continued their search for the Mod-Soul that was currently inside Ichigo's body, though one thing was immediately clear to him as they made their way through the town, and that was that Ichigo was thinking about how thoughtless Soul Society was to create the Mod-Souls and then ordered their destruction in the same manner. He agreed on that, that it was thoughtless on their part, but at the same time he knew that they were dangerous, especially since the one that was inside Ichigo's body had used some intense speed to get away from the three of them, though even as he thought about that he still thought that Yoruichi was faster than what the Mod-Soul had been. As they raced through the town, looking for the Mod-Soul in Ichigo's body, Sombra found his thoughts drawn towards Yoruichi, all because he compared the Mod-Soul's speed to her own, to which he wondered why he was thinking about her from time to time. It was strange when he thought about it, because he knew next to nothing about her and Kisuke, but at the same time there were questions he needed to answer at some point in time, before he told them what was bothering him... and yet, while he ran through the town, he found his focus returning to the Mod-Soul, to which he silently promised himself that he'd thinking about the others at a later time, when he wasn't busy.
His thoughts were interrupted as he felt a slight change in the reiatsu in the town, as he felt a Hollow somewhere, but more importantly he picked up a trace of the Mod-Soul, to which the three of them headed towards what appeared to be the middle school... and the Mod-Soul happened to be in the middle of attacking three school children, where Ichigo rushed forward and stopped the kick from reaching their target, much to the Mod-Soul's surprise. Not a few seconds later the two of them disengaged from each other and the Mod-Soul went on the offensive immediately, causing Ichigo to dodge as Sombra and Rukia came to a stop nearby, as this was a personal matter for Ichigo since the Mod-Soul was 'ruining' his image. For a few moments the Mod-Soul attacked Ichigo, who actually remained calm given the situation and carefully dodged the attacks that were coming his way, which seemed to annoy the Mod-Soul more than it really should of, until Ichigo lifted his foe into the air and tossed him to Rukia and Sombra, only for the Mod-Soul to land on the ground and, in a moment of decision as he considered his options, he jumped over the nearby wall and ran again.
As Ichigo started to follow the Mod-Soul, however, Rukia heard her phone go off and revealed that the Hollow Sombra was feeling happened to be nearby, along with the fact that they had orders to take it out, to which Sombra told them that he would find the Hollow and purify it, allowing them to follow the Mod-Soul and stop it. The two of them ran off in the direction that the Mod-Soul had run off in, leaving Sombra behind for a moment, but he simply stood there and watched as the kids complained to their teacher about being attacked by an 'orange haired high school student', though the teacher sighed when she picked up a device of some kind and punished the three of them for playing too many 'video games', whatever those were. There was a very specific reason he was even staying in this area, watching the scene play out in front of him, and that was because the Hollow, which wasn't even trying to shroud it's reiatsu, was heading towards where he was standing, or more specifically, someone in this area. He was fairly sure that the Hollow was coming after him, since he was the one with the highest and most potent reiatsu in this area, or it was coming because of the scent of Ichigo's reiatsu, from his body and not his Shinigami form, though at the same time he carefully drew his blade and prepared himself for the Hollow's arrival.
Not a few moments later, when the three kids came outside to do the punishment they had been assigned by their teacher, Sombra felt his target arrive in the area and looked up for a moment, as the Hollow, which resembled a centipede this time around, was lifting itself so it could chow down on the kids while ignoring him at the same time... but, as he prepared to strike the Hollow down, the Mod-Soul returned and kicked the Hollow in the side of the head, scaring off the kids as the Hollow hit the ground. As Sombra prepared to do something, like attack the Hollow himself, the Mod-Soul charged forward and continued attacking the sharp tentacle like limbs that were lashing out at him, even cutting into his left shoulder in the process, before heading towards the top of the school building that was nearby. Sombra growled for a moment, because this wasn't what was expecting to happen when the Hollow came out of hiding, though as he jumped up, and headed to the roof as well, the Mod-Soul was already under attack... though this time, as the Hollow attacked, he slashed into the Hollow's back as Ichigo severed the limb that was heading towards the Mod-Soul.
As Sombra landed and continued to attack the Hollow, which seemed to be focusing on his at the moment, Ichigo started to talk with the Mod-Soul about how sorry it had to be because of the fact that it should have been a battle ready Mod-Soul and had gotten wounded in the process... though after a few minutes of that conversation happening, however, the Hollow surged towards the pair, where Ichigo and the Mod-Soul hit the Hollow, Ichigo using his sword and the Mod-Soul with his foot. The force of their attacks knocked the Hollow back towards Sombra, who jumped into the air and swung his sword, cleaving the Hollow in half and purifying the poor soul that had been twisted into this form, before landing in front of the pair and sheathed his blade, something that Ichigo did the moment he was sure that the creature was taken care of, while the Mod-Soul relaxed a little bit. While that happened Sombra heard the sound of the kids from earlier return and looked over the ledge of the roof that was near him, where he, Ichigo, and the Mod-Soul watched as the three kids were, once again, punished for wasting the teacher's time, much to their annoyance.
A few seconds later the Mod-Soul sat down on the roof and stared down at the floor, where a line of ants happened to be walking, to which Ichigo stood beside him, ready to stop him from leaving with his body at a moment's notice, as he was sure that the Mod-Soul would run again if the opportunity presented itself.
"Didn't you hate those kids?" Ichigo asked, knowing that, since they happened to be playing games before the Mod-Soul made made his appearance, the kids must have done something to piss off the soul that was currently in control of his body at the moment, "Why did you risk yourself, and my body, if you didn't like them? Especially when Sombra was standing nearby and could have taken care of it on his own."
"You call that being ready for the Hollow? He could have gotten killed as well." the Mod-Soul replied, though at the same time he stared at the ants and didn't look up at either Ichigo or Sombra, but Sombra was surprised that the Mod-Soul thought he wasn't battle ready, "Besides, if neither of us had acted that Hollow would have killed them... and, despite what you might think of me, I won't let anyone get killed. Soon after I was created, Soul Society ordered all the Mod-Souls to be destroyed... meaning that the date of my death was decided the day after I was created. I trembled in fear every day, trapped inside that pill, as I watched the others around me disappear, day after day... and I always feared that, even after managing to slip out by being among other pills, I would one day be discovered and destroyed. I always wondered why others could decide my fate, when that should be something that I should be able to decide for myself."
"And that's why you won't kill anyone or let anyone be killed." Sombra spoke up, understanding that, thanks to his experiences, the Mod-Soul had different views on life than what people, or Shinigami, even realized, so much so that he even risked his life to save a group of kids that had pissed him off earlier.
"Oh my," a familiar voice said, to which Sombra turned and found Kisuke standing nearby, who nodded his head towards him a tiny bit before focusing on the Mod-Soul that was inside Ichigo's body, or, more accurately, the wound that was on his shoulder, "Here I finally found you, only to discover that you're slightly wounded. Looks like all the equipment we prepared was for nothing."
Sombra watched as Kisuke, who was a stranger to Ichigo since this was the first time encountering him, raised the cane that he was holding and leveled it with the forehead of Ichigo's body, where he pushed it forward and it passed into Ichigo's head, knocking out the Mod-Soul pill in the process. Sombra, knowing what was going to happen, moved behind the body and caught it before it could hit the ground, while at the same time Kisuke walked over to the pill and picked it up, where Sombra noticed that Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu were standing nearby... and Yoruichi, in her cat form, was sitting on part of the roof, where she had a good view of what they were doing.
"Collection complete," Kisuke stated, to which he walked over to where the others were standing, knowing that it was only a matter of time until Rukia appeared and tried something else, while at the same time knowing that he needed to give her the actual item that she had purchased, "Let's go home, everyone."
"Wait just a minute." Ichigo said, causing Kisuke to stop as he headed towards the stairs, where he turned around and looked at Ichigo, who was already accepting that there were more people in this town that could see spirits and souls than he realized, "What are you going to do with him? And who the hell are you guys?"
"What am I going to do?" Kisuke repeated, though he wasn't surprised that he was asked such a question, as he suspected that the young man had formed a new opinion on the Mod-Soul, one that needed to be forgotten about before he tried something, "I'm going to destroy it."
"And, to answer your other question, he's a greedy merchant." Rukia answered, to which she snatched the Mod-Soul pill that Kisuke happened to be tossing into the air and catching with his spare hand, before looking at the man for a few moments as she ignored Ichigo and Sombra.
"Hey, you can't take that." Kisuke stated, because since he knew of Rukia's true nature, as a Shinigami, he knew that she knew that the proper course of action would be the pill's destruction, though at the same time he had to wonder if there was the possibility that she might have something else in mind for it.
"What's this, Urahara?" Rukia asked, to which she mimicked what the manager had been doing with the pill, though at the same time Sombra noticed that Kisuke wasn't even attempting to snatch the pill back, as if he thought that he could get it back by talking with her, "Do you take back goods that you've sold to people without giving them a refund?"
"Ms. Kuchiki, I was fully intending to give you a refund for what I sold you, along with the actual item that you were supposed to have received." Kisuke replied, though at the same time he kept his eyes on the pill for a moment, while at the same time Sombra watched what was going on with some interest.
"No, that's not necessary." Rukia said, catching the pill and taking a moment to stare at the green object that she had bought, even if it wasn't the one that she had been trying to buy the entire time, before turning her attention to Kisuke and the others, "I'm satisfied with this item. Besides, you guys work outside the laws of Soul Society... you're not really obligated to collect these things, are you?"
"Very well then," Kisuke stated, to which he stopped staring at the pill and turned his attention to Rukia, while at the same time being aware of the fact that Sombra and Ichigo were watching them with some interest in their eyes, "but don't blame me when you run into trouble."
Rukia turned around and made a slight comment to Kisuke, about her being used to that at the moment, before she walked over to where Ichigo was standing and slipped the Mod-Soul pill into his hand, though while that happened Kisuke nodded to the others and they started to pull out of the area... though as that happened, however, Sombra noticed that only Yoruichi remained behind, though he wasn't sure if she was staring at him or if she was staring at the Mod-Soul pill that Ichigo was holding at the moment. From there Ichigo returned to his body and bandaged his shoulder as best as they possibly could, since Rukia apparently didn't want to use her Kido to heal the wound the Mod-Soul allowed his body to take, before they headed out of the school and started to head back home, as Ichigo didn't want anyone there to know about his injury. As they moved out onto the streets, and the sun started to go down as evening was upon them, Ichigo occasionally moved his shoulder and tried to lessen the pain that he was in, though at the same time he made several remarks about how the Mod-Soul had abused his body, despite the fact that he clearly knew that it wasn't his body to begin with.
What got interesting about the whole situation was that Ichigo turned towards Rukia and asked him how he could complain to the Mod-Soul directly, apparently forgetting about the fact that he needed to put it into a body without a soul of it's own, though as he looked around for anything he could use he found a pile of trash nearby. Resting on top of the pile of trash rested a stuffed animal, of a lion if Sombra's guess was right, and Ichigo stared at it for a moment as he held the Mod-Soul pill, clearly wondering if he could insert the pill into the lion's mouth and put the Mod-Soul inside it.
"So, in other words, all I need is a receptacle." Ichigo commented, showing that he wasn't ignoring everything that he had been told and had figured something out, while at the same time he glanced down at the stuffed animal that was currently in front of him, "Hey Rukia, do you think it'll work if I use a stuffed animal?"
"I... I don't know." Rukia admitted, as while she knew that her gigai wasn't a real body, which was why she was able to fit into it, she had no idea if anyone could do the same with a stuffed animal, to which she glanced at Ichigo, "Go ahead and try it. Put the pill in the stuffed animal's mouth, like you would if you were swallowing the pill yourself."
Ichigo did as Rukia suggested and slipped the pill into the stuffed animal's mouth, though instead of waiting and seeing if it had any reaction, as it had taken a few seconds for the pill to work on Ichigo's body earlier, Ichigo lifted the stuffed animal up and spun it around by it's arm for a few seconds... which, in turn, caused the toy to come alive as it stopped itself, punched Ichigo in the face with it's right paw, and jumped to the ground.
"You! Ichigo Kurosaki! I challenge you again!" the Mod-Soul declared, pointing at Ichigo once more, though it clearly took him a few moments to realize that something was different from the last time he had been allowed into a body, "Huh, what? Y... You're huge! No, I'm small! What's going on?!"
"Hey, Mod-Soul." Ichigo said, causing the Mod-Soul to stop freaking out over how cute it's body was, in the bad way according to what Sombra heard, before he started talking again, which was followed by him grabbing the head of the stuffed animal for a few seconds, "You and I are going to finish that conversation we were having earlier... and I'm going to take real good care of you, so prepare yourself!"
It was in that instant that the Mod-Soul decided to try and take Ichigo as he was, only for Ichigo to soundly defeat him and continue on towards the clinic, though as they walked Rukia glanced back at Sombra and pulled out the memory device that she carried with her, in case something happened and someone needed to forget something. Fortunately, since they left early today, the class still had some time before they had to go home, meaning that there was still time for them to tend to the problem of Ichigo's image being shattered by the Mod-Soul, to which Sombra nodded and remained silent while they walked. When they arrived at the clinic, and found that everyone was gone at the moment, Ichigo tended to his wound, giving Rukia and Sombra time to head back out, though this time around Rukia told Ichigo that there was something she needed to do with Urahara, an item she needed to collect, and that she would be right back, to which Ichigo waved them off and Sombra carried Rukia on his back as he headed back towards the school. It seemed like Rukia knew that something was going to happen, as she purposely left something in her desk that she could return to the school and collect, in case something happened to Ichigo's class that warranted a memory wipe... and sure enough they returned to the school and found the rest of the class finishing up for the day, only for Rukia to pull out the device and wipe all their memories in a single instant.
There was no way of telling what sort of memory they were going to form, not until later anyway, but at the same time it was better than letting Ichigo's reputation and image be shattered, though as they left the school Sombra tracked down the teacher the Mod-Soul had spooked and had Rukia wipe his memory as well, leaving only the three kids as witnesses to what was going on, as the rest of the people that had seen Ichigo's body clearly didn't believe what they had seen either, meaning Ichigo was safe for another day.
When night finally came Sombra found himself sitting across the street from the clinic, since next to no one could see him, save for most of Ichigo's family, everyone at the Urahara Shop, Sora, and Rukia, though the reason he was down here was because he didn't want to sit on the roof all night again. He felt that a change of pace was necessary this time around, though despite that fact he could hear the Mod-Soul, who Ichigo was apparently going to call 'Kon' from now on, had a few remarks before Ichigo shut him up for the night, all so he could get some rest after what he had been through after Rukia gave him the Soul Candy container. Rukia, of course, had slipped into Ichigo's bedroom before he went in there and took her usual place in his closet, which was still strange when Sombra considered what she was doing, but he had said nothing and let her do it anyway, as it kept her close to Ichigo in case something happened. Yet despite everything that happened that day he still didn't feel all that tired, so he simply sat there and waited to see what happened next, in case a Hollow appeared and needed to be taken care of so Rukia and Ichigo could sleep the day away.
What he wasn't expecting, however, was for a certain someone to appear and pull him into one of the alleys that rested near the Kurosaki Clinic, though when he looked at who was pulling him into a more secluded area he found that it was Yoruichi, fully clothed in the clothing that Urahara had told him to bring to her that one night.
"You seem... distracted." Yoruichi commented, knowing the look in the Arrancar's eyes, when he was sitting outside the clinic, had meant that he was focused on something like Ichigo's various relationships, ones that he clearly though he didn't have any of, "Let me guess, still thinking that everyone you know is an acquaintance?"
"Well, I was thinking about that for a while," Sombra replied, knowing that there was no reason to lie to Yoruichi, but at the same time he had to wonder what they would say one they found out that he had lied about what happened to Orihime's brother, since he had transformed into an Arrancar, "I was also thinking about the Mod-Souls a tiny bit..."
"But your focus has been on the concept of friends?" Yoruichi inquired, to which Sombra stared at her for a moment, showing that he was definitely surprised that she had easily figured out what he was actually thinking about, before he nodded his head to confirm her suspicions, "Sombra, friends are people that you enjoy spending time with and like because of who they are, while acquaintances are usually people you barely know. How long have you known Jinta, Ururu, Tessai, Kisuke and I?"
"A little over a month," Sombra admitted, though at the same time he failed to understand where Yoruichi was going with this, because even though part of what she said was true there was another part that he hadn't overcome yet, which let him in the same position he had been in moments ago, "but I still know nothing about any of you, other th..."
"Sombra, do you like spending time with us?" Yoruichi asked, because while she knew that telling Sombra what a friend was, and what an acquaintance was, would be a little difficult, she also knew that she might be able to get him out of whatever thought process his mind was stuck in, "Or, if you need a better example, do you like spending time with me, regardless if it's because of training or when we go hunting for Hollows?"
Sombra paused for a moment, still amazed by the fact that Yoruichi was able to read him so well, because he did enjoy their training sessions together and the times that they went out, explored the town, and hunted down whatever Hollow was causing havoc. There were parts of Yoruichi that he liked as well, as there were times where she was friendly towards him, a complete stranger, while at the same time making sure that they didn't go overboard with their training and hurt themselves in the process, and he did like the times where she insisted on massaging his back to help him get rid of the stress he was feeling. He guessed that, when he considered Yoruichi's definition of a 'friend' and the definition of an 'acquaintance', it was easier to say that everyone in the Urahara Shop, at this point in time, was no longer an acquaintance and was actually a friend, though at the same time, if that was true, he needed to rearrange who was what in his mind before he said anything. To the best of his knowledge Jinta, Ururu, and Tessai would have to be his acquaintances, while Kisuke, Rukia, and Ichigo were definitely what he could consider friends, though he'd have to check with them to be absolutely sure in his suspicions... and, at the same time, he had the answer to the question that Yoruichi had asked him, as she was patiently waiting for his answer.
"Yoruichi... I'll be honest," Sombra said, deciding that he might as well give her the answer that he had come up with, while at the same time considering himself a fool for not seeing it the moment he saw Ichigo's interactions with his classmates, some of which were his friends, the first day he followed the Substitute Shinigami to school, "I love spending time with you, regardless if it's for training purposes or if we're hunting down Hollows."
"Now that's what I wanted to hear you say," Yoruichi said, to which she smiled as she rested her left hand on Sombra's right shoulder, because if Sombra was being serious, and it appeared that he was, she had just helped him take what was the first big step towards a better life, with the potential of his past coming back now that he had someone to call a friend at long last, though the moment was ruined when both of them felt something in the air, "Talk about a ruining the moment, there's another Hollow entering the town. Shall we take care of it?"
"Do you even need to ask?" Sombra replied in kind, to which he jumped into the air and headed off in the direction of the Hollow that had entered the town, knowing that Rukia was going to ignore the order call because she knew that he was going to take care of it.
Yoruichi chuckled as she took to the air and followed after Sombra, after her friend, and knew that it was only a matter of time until this moment taught him everything he needed to know about the people around him... and maybe, just maybe, he'd find his memories along the way, or at the very least understand Humans better, but she pushed her thoughts aside as they headed towards the Hollow, knowing that there would be time to discuss this later, once they weren't busy anyway.
Sombra and Yoruichi spent a few minutes tracking down the Hollow that they felt enter the town, following it's reiatsu all the way to where it was hiding, though when they found it, lurking in the train yard of all places, the two of them attacked the Hollow without giving it time to run away. Yoruichi's kicks stopped the insect-like Hollow from fleeing, even if she had to grab it's tail and pull it away from the air, as it was trying to leave at that instance, and Sombra dropped down from the area above the creature, where he used his sword to split the mask in half, purifying the Hollow in the process. When the creature was gone, and before they departed from the area, Sombra found that it was the soul of a teenage girl that the Hollow had been getting ready to chase, though since he was already there, and he had a Shinigami's Zanpakuto in hand, he tapped the soul's head with the hilt and sent him on his way to Soul Society. With the deed taken care of, and the town secured for another night, the two of them headed back towards the shop, though along the way Sombra went out of his way and sent a few more of the souls off to Soul Society, because he honestly felt that there were too many of them to begin with and they were what were attracting most of the Hollows he had seen so far... save for the ones that were specifically going after Ichigo and his family.
While he did all of that, however, he noticed that Yoruichi continued to smile at him, not doubt she was pleased that he was taking the time to help all these souls and spirits out, before they ended up either being devoured by a Hollow or forced to turn into one like Sora was... though once he was ready they continued on their way back to the shop, where Kisuke was no doubt waiting for Yoruichi to return.
"Well, someone's in a good mood." Kisuke commented, seeing Yoruichi arrive with Sombra once more, though this time around Yoruichi's mood was better than it was when she left earlier, meaning that something must have happened between the two of them since Rukia took the Mod-Soul pill from him.
"Sombra has a better understanding of what a friend is and what an acquaintance is," Yoruichi replied, to which the Arrancar nodded his head for a moment, indicating that she was speaking the truth, before she turned towards Kisuke for a moment, "It took some time, but he's starting to understand what Humans go through... and, in the process, we might be able to get some of his memories back at the same time."
"I'd like that," Sombra said, where he glanced down at the weapon he was carrying, knowing that the key to all of his memories resided in Hueco Mundo, which he wasn't ready to tackle yet, based on what Kisuke had told him the last time he suggested he go there, before he turned towards the duo, "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to head out and make sure nothing else happens to Karakura Town before morning arrives."
Kisuke nodded and watched as Sombra departed from the shop once more, almost like he had escorted Yoruichi home or something, though once the Arrancar was gone he turned his attention back to Yoruichi, who was still smiling from what she was able to do tonight. He was sure that he had seen a friendly smile on the Arrancar's face, indicating that he had definitely changed a little since that morning, which was good since he knew they had been making terrible progress in finding an alternate way to help him recover his memories. His Arrancar Zanpakuto was the key to getting everything back, that much he knew now, but even then he still wasn't ready for a venture into Hueco Mundo, so for now they would have to leave the sword wherever it was resting and focus on helping Ichigo save the town from Hollows, while growing his skills at the same time. As he thought about all of that, however, Yoruichi glanced over at him and stared at him for a moment, as if silently accusing him of something, before he sighed and looked back at the door that Sombra had closed when he left the shop.
Despite what she had told him earlier, about having no feelings for the Arrancar, Kisuke knew that there was a reason that Yoruichi went out of her way to confront Sombra and tell him what a friend was and what an acquaintance was, but he also suspected that she must have had some feelings for him... though for now he was willing to leave those thoughts alone, since he was tired and was sure that Yoruichi would like some sleep as well.
As Kisuke and Yoruichi finished up their business for the night, no doubt getting Yoruichi a light meal before bed, Sombra used the rooftops and made his way back to the Kurosaki Clinic, where he would be able to assume his sitting position once more and wait for morning to arrive. This time around, when he made his way towards his destination, there wasn't anything to get in the way, no Hollows that needed to be cut down and purified, nor were there any souls or spirits in need of assistance or being sent to Soul Society, where they would be safe for a time. It was just a peaceful run all the way back to the clinic, where Ichigo and his family, including Rukia, would be sleeping the night away, though upon his arrival he sat down outside the clinic's entrance and closed his eyes, allowing his mind to focus on any potential dangers that might appear around the town. Even as he sat there he could hear Ichigo's sisters finishing up for the day, before they went to bed, and his father checking the calendar for some reason as he dealt with the remaining bills, though that was followed by him getting some sleep as well.
Once he was sure that everyone in the house was asleep, and that included Ichigo, Rukia, and Kon, Sombra closed his eyes and focused his mind as he drifted into the ever constant dreamless sleep that he was getting used to having... though he had the feeling that the following morning was going to be interesting for all of them.
When morning arrived Sombra stretched his arms and legs for a few moments, though as he did that he heard the sound of the others getting up as well, to which he made his way to the window of Ichigo's room and found that Ichigo was still asleep at the moment, which was just find considering what he had gone through the previous day. As Yuzu, Karin, and Isshin got up and went about their daily routines, having breakfast while preparing themselves for their busy days, Sombra found that Ichigo appeared to be sleeping in for once, though he knew that it was from his exhaustion that the Mod-Soul had put him through earlier. Sombra waited for a few moments, waiting to see if anything else happened in Ichigo's room, though when he jumped down to stare into the room, however, he found that Ichigo was still asleep, to which he sighed and leaned against the wall of the building, patiently waiting for Ichigo to awaken and start his day. He was sure that Rukia, on the other hand, was getting ready inside Ichigo's closet, so she could head to school and move through the day like a normal person would, until her phone went off with another Hollow alert anyway, but Sombra was sure that he could take those to make sure Ichigo stayed in school.
Eventually Kon got tired of Ichigo sleeping in and attacked him, where his stuffed paws did nothing to Ichigo as the stuffed animal jumped down onto his chest and beat him a little, before Ichigo got up and threw Kon at the closest, which was when Rukia, fully dressed in her school clothing, stepped out and commented on the noise. After some time Yuzu opened the door and found Ichigo standing in front of the closet, having ushered both Rukia and Kon inside and closed it before his sister entered his room, but all she had to tell him was that Kojima and Asano were waiting outside. That caused Ichigo to thank his sister and head over to the window, the one that faced the street, and apologized to his friends for keeping them waiting, where they said that they'd be waiting for him so they could head to school together today, though once that was done Ichigo pulled himself back into his room and started getting ready to leave, where he asked Rukia about her erasing the memories of everyone at the school, which she confirmed for him. As Ichigo started getting ready, however, both Sombra and Rukia noticed that he seemed to pause as he put his watch on, like he was looking at the date, to which Sombra looked at the calendar and noticed that it was the sixteenth of June... though when Rukia asked if something was wrong, however, Ichigo just told them that everything was find and let them move on ahead of him.
When Rukia entered the classroom and took her seat, while at the same time Sombra stood in the same corner he always stood in, the students talked about their homework while Uryu seemed to be sewing something in his spare time, before Ichigo finally arrived and acted much friendlier than he had been earlier. The classmates around him, for the most part, were happy for the change, though Tatsuki, on the other hand, quickly figured out that today was the sixteenth of June and said that he wasn't in a good mood, that he only acted this way when he was really tense, causing Sombra to wonder what had happened on this date that would cause this reaction to simply seeing the date. He also listened to what Tatsuki was saying, as she knew the reason behind Ichigo's mood, and she even said that he was going to skip school tomorrow, making him curious as to what was going on at the moment, while at the same time knowing that Rukia was likely interested as well. The two of them remained silent about what was going on as the school day started and the teacher entered the room, though while all that happened Sombra stared at Ichigo and wondered if he was in pain or something, but at the same time he knew that he and Rukia would find out the answer soon enough.
Hours later, when the school day was at an end, Ichigo went right home and both Rukia and Sombra remained hidden in his bedroom, listening to the family conversation that was going on downstairs, where it sounded like they were going on a picnic or something... though when Ichigo returned to his room, so he could get some sleep, he had a towel that he wore on his head, folded up in half from the looks of it.
"That sounded fun." Rukia commented, though she was standing in front of the closet, fully dressed in the pajamas that she had taken from Ichigo's sister, but at the same time she wanted to figure something out before they all went to bed for the night.
"What was?" Ichigo asked, because in his mind what he and his family done hadn't been fun, not when he was made aware of what they would be doing tomorrow, though at the same time he knew that Rukia was going to keep pestering him until she got an answer to what she had seen.
"She means the family meeting that you had." Sombra clarified, though while he had to agree that it sounded fun, as it appeared that the whole family was going to go out and enjoy themselves, he knew that Ichigo was the only one among them that wasn't too keen on what they were going to be doing tomorrow.
"Are you planning on playing hooky tomorrow, so you and your family can go on a picnic?" Rukia inquired, though at the same time she made a few poses to show that she was into the idea, mostly because she had been leading Ichigo's life since he took her powers from her.
"Well, that's not exactly it," Ichigo said, to which he turned towards the window once more and looked out at the night sky that was above them, or rather what was left of it since he could see rain clouds starting to form and knew that rain was coming, "Hey Rukia, I've got a question."
"And that would be?" Rukia replied, as she was interested in what Ichigo could ask about, because if it was about the duties of a Shinigami, most of which she had explained so far, she would be more than happy to fill him in on the other roles and duties that she'd normally have to do.
"It's about my job as your Substitute," Ichigo said, to which Rukia raised an eyebrow, because right now she wasn't liking whatever he had to ask her, but she braced herself and prepared for whatever question he had, "Would it be alright if I took tomorrow off?"
"Wha... What are you saying?!" Rukia asked in return, though at the same time Sombra raised an eyebrow as he stared at the two of them, as he was surprised that Rukia clearly, by her tone, wasn't going to give him this one day that was clearly special to him and his family, "Of course you cant! What's gotten into you?! You've been acting strange all day!"
"And what's wrong with letting him have a day off?" Sombra asked, causing the two to turn towards him for a moment, because of the fact that he was silent they had forgotten that he was even there, before he turned towards Rukia for a few seconds, "Look, he's gone and defeated every Hollow that you've told him about, saved some of his friends from being eaten by them in the process, and even tracked down a Mod-Soul while saving three kids in the process. Surely you can afford to let him take one day off. Besides, if a Hollow were to enter Karakura Town, or if there was a soul that needed to be purified at some point, I can easily take over in that regard, so you won't have to worry about Soul Society finding out that you didn't do your job."
"Tomorrow is the anniversary of the day my mother died," Ichigo explained, because even if Rukia decided to pester him about doing her job, like she did all the time, he knew that Sombra would do everything in his power to ensure that he and his family weren't interrupted, before he turned towards Rukia, "though, to be precise, it's not the day she died... it's actually the day that she was killed."
Based on Ichigo's tone he didn't want to talk about it at the moment, to which Rukia nodded her head and climbed into the makeshift bed that she had made for herself, before she closed the closet door and left Ichigo alone, though at the same time Sombra shook his head and took a corner of the room, where he wouldn't be facing Ichigo and simply closed his eyes after he sat on the floor... though despite that fact, however, he knew that Ichigo had problems sleeping when the rain started, remembering a bad memory, but he couldn't do anything to help him at the moment.
When morning arrived Ichigo discovered that Rukia had left after the storm had ended, which was an hour or two before he got up, though Sombra had let her wander off since she didn't need a babysitter all the time, while at the same time staying out of the way as Ichigo and his family prepared for their busy day. It took them some time to make sure that everything was ready for their venture, which they focused on and let everything else move to the side, before they were all dressed and ready to leave the house, to which Sombra simply jumped through the open window, closing it behind him, before he took to the street. From there he followed behind the family, as he was curious as to what they planned on doing when they arrived at their destination, though as they walked he could tell that they were definitely heading towards the graveyard, which made sense to Sombra when he thought about it. Along the way they reached a steep hill that Yuzu made a comment about, one that caused their father to do a handstand and walk like that for a few moments, before Karin kicked him and forced him down the hill a little, while making him make up the steps he had just lost. While all that happened Sombra felt a shift in the air and turned towards the top of the hill, at the same time that the others did, but in all honesty he wasn't expecting what he saw... as Rukia, dressed up in casual clothing that he had never seen before, was standing at the top of the hill and was waving at Ichigo, like a fellow school student playing hooky and visiting a grave at the same time that he did.
Sombra had no idea what Rukia was trying to pull, since this was supposed to be a special day of sorts for Ichigo and his family, and he could tell that Ichigo wasn't too pleased with her being here, despite the fact that he was allowing Sombra since he was the only one that could see him, if he was careful and hid himself anyway... though Ichigo walked by his sisters, saying that Rukia was a friend from middle school that he hadn't seen for a while, and took Rukia's arm before pulling her into the path in the nearby trees, where Sombra sighed and followed after them.
"Why the heck did you follow me out here?" Ichigo eventually asked, coming to an area where he and Rukia could talk without Yuzu or Karin overhearing anything, before he beckoned to Sombra, who was leaning against a tree, "I'm letting him tag along since he seems to now how to hide himself from my sisters, and he can move out to fight a Hollow at a moment's notice, before your phone detects one anyway. So, why are you following me?"
"What if a Hollow appears and neither Sombra or I are there?" Rukia asked in return, almost as if she thought that multiple Hollows would show up and cause them to separate their forces, though at the same time she kept her arms crossed and stared at Ichigo.
"You know that he meant that you need to be more discreet if you're going to be following him around," Sombra said, knowing that Rukia didn't seem to care about being seen or sticking to the shadows, though the only reason he was being discreet was because he knew that Yuzu and Karin could see spiritual beings, though maybe not on their brother's level.
"Anyway, what are you so mad about?" Ichigo inquired, because he wanted to get this over with so he could join his family by his mother's grave, as that was what today was supposed to be about, not his duties as a Substitute Shinigami ruining everything once more.
"I'm not mad... just curious." Rukia replied, remembering what Ichigo had said the night before, when he told her and Sombra what today was supposed to be for him and his family, before she looked up at him, "You said 'killed' when you were talking about what today was, didn't you? That begs the question; who killed her?"
"Rukia, I would suggest that you stop before something happens," Sombra said, though at the same time he was only paying half attention to what was happening, as he could sense the reiatsu of someone nearby, not a Hollow from the feeling he was getting, but he was definitely sure that it was another Shinigami, since he had felt Rukia's power before.
"No, I need him to think about this." Rukia stated, focusing her attention on Ichigo, who was glaring at her like he wanted her to stop, but at the same time she continued speaking before he opening his mouth, "You've been able to see spirits ever since the day your mother died, haven't you? That, based on what I've been taught, can only mean one thing... a Hollow is responsible for the death of your mother!"
"I don't want to hear another word of what you have to say," Ichigo declared, as he glared at Rukia for a few seconds, who was stunned by the fact that he was annoyed with her, more than he usually was, and even Sombra glanced over at them to be sure they didn't get into a fight, "As far as you're concerned, everything that happens in the World of the Living is the result of Hollows messing with our lives... but what you don't stop to consider, even for a moment, is that part of the time it's just use Humans messing up and hurting each other. Hollows aren't responsible for everything. There was never anything funny about it, but when you give that as a reason for it there isn't anything that's less funny! Sorry to disappoint you, Rukia, but you're way off base with your suggestion, because it wasn't a Hollow that killed her... I'm the one that's ultimately responsible for the death of my mother."
Rukia stared at Ichigo in shock as he started walking again, leaving her behind in her thoughts, though at the same time Sombra remained where he was standing, because he felt that something was amiss with this situation and that today might be the day that something about this changed. After Ichigo ran off, to separate himself from the duo, Sombra kept his eyes on Rukia, who seemed lost in thought as she moved towards one of the walls that overlooked the graves, where he followed after her and leaned against one of the trees when she finally down on the wall. He could tell that this was an emotional time for Ichigo, that he blamed himself for whatever happened to his mother, and Rukia, who was used to the teachings of the Shinigami, called herself an idiot when she thought about what she had said without thinking a few moments ago. Even Kon, who happened to be in the backpack that Rukia was wearing, claimed that Hollows was all Rukia thought about, after discovering that they wouldn't be leaving the area until Ichigo and his family did, just in case a Hollow did appear to attack someone.
When Rukia got up suddenly, however, Sombra knew that she had felt the same energy that he had felt, to which he followed after her as she entered the trees once more, heading towards the source of energy... though after a few moments they came to a stop, where they found a Shinigami, male by the body that Sombra could see, sitting at the base of a tree and only got up when Rukia stopped near him.
"I sure slept well," the Shinigami said, acting like he had been sleeping in the area the entire time and was only waking up, though not a few seconds later he turned his head just a little bit and glanced towards Rukia with a slight smile on his face, "Huh? Well, good morning!"
"You!" Rukia stated, indicating that she might know the Shinigami that was in front of them, while at the same time her slight movement caused Kon to fall to the ground while she noticed that Sombra was standing behind the trees and hadn't been spotted yet.
"I get nothing but these trying mission, you see." the Shinigami stated, speaking about something that only he and Rukia would know about, since Sombra still didn't know all the specifics of the duties that a Shinigami had, "I can't keep up with them unless I get plenty of sleep."
"A mission..." Rukia said, understanding what the Shinigami was speaking about, thanks to her knowledge, but at the same time she didn't like the fact that the man was here, because he was either looking for her to be her replacement, or there was the other thing he didn't want to think about, "Just who are you?"
"The name Rukia Kuchiki was famous back at the Shinigami Academy," the Shinigami replied, to which he lifted the hat he was wearing and let Rukia seen his face, while at the same time she wondered what Sombra was going to do, "Adopted into the noble Kuchiki family, you were known as the 'Princess from the Rukon District'. Oh, and I am Eikichiro Saido. I was two years ahead of you... you do remember me, don't you? Come on, I was pretty popular as well."
"Honestly, I don't remember you." Rukia stated, as she honestly didn't remember all of the people that had been there when she went to the academy, especially people that had been two years ahead of her, but at the same time she didn't trust Eikichiro at the moment, not with the look in his eyes.
"Oh well, I guess it can't be helped." Eikichiro said, to which he stared at Rukia for a moment as he focused on her and nothing else, once more showing that he hadn't noticed that there was someone else in the area around him and Rukia at the moment, "Anyway, I have a few questions for you."
"That means your from the Steath Force, aren't you?" Rukia asked, because those Shinigami, at least the lowest ones from what she knew, were usually sent out to get information before the senior members did anything, but if he was here for information that was bad for her.
"Correct!" Eikichiro replied, where he pulled a string on his hat and the top popped up a bit, almost like he was playing a game or something, though at the same time Rukia stared at him with an uncaring look on her face, as she wasn't going to let this lower her guard, "Though I should get to the point. They're getting pretty irritated over there... they wonder why you haven't come back to Soul Society yet."
"Hollows appear and orders come in." Rukia stated, which was what Ichigo was doing for her at the moment, though it appeared that such a thing was no longer working in her favor, especially if they sent someone to question her, "That's why I haven't gone back yet. That's all there is to it."
"Then why are you dressed like that?" Eikichiro asked, pointing at the dress clothing that Rukia was wearing, which she had put on to avoid looking like a school student and more like someone who was grieving for a lost loved one, while at the same time Sombra moved through the trees and stepped behind him.
"What does it matter how I'm dressed?" Rukia demanded, though at the same time she knew that Sombra would do something if the Shinigami drew his Zanpakuto, but at the same time she silently hoped that such a thing didn't need to happen while Eikichiro was here.
"Oh, I get it now..." Eikichiro said, though the grin that was on his face caused Rukia to worry, because some of the Shinigami she knew, or heard about, had a messed up mind and she had to wonder if he was one of them, "you're coming of age, and I know who it is. It's the guy whose mother is said to have been killed by a Hollow. Is it pity, Rukia, or are you seeking pleasure in the World of the Living?"
"It's none of your business." Rukia stated, but even as she spoke Eikichiro approached her a little and had a look on his face that told her that he thought he knew everything about the situation that he had discovered, even though he really understood none of it, "Shall I sew your mouth shut, or should I have my friend do it for you? And besides, I have no intention of returning to Soul Society for some time."
"Is that a threat I just heard?" Eikichiro asked, though at the same time he raised his right hand and grabbed onto the handle of his Zanpakuto, where he drew the blade out and readied himself, in the sense that he was going to fight against someone that wasn't ready for battle, "Too bad, now you've forced my hand."
"And you just forced mine." Sombra said, to which he rushed out from where he was hiding and drew his own sword in the process, where Eikichiro turned around and raised his blade to parry the incoming attack, though Sombra used the force of the collision to knock the Shinigami to the side.
"Okay, this was unexpected," Eikichiro commented, though at the same time he stated at Sombra, where his eyes were drawn to the bone white crown that he was wearing, which likely belonged to Sombra's mask when he was a Hollow, before he raised an eyebrow, "What in the world are you?"
"He's an Arrancar," a new voice said, to which Ichigo, in his Shinigami state, appeared nearby and leveled his sword with Eikichiro, while at the same time Kon, currently inside Ichigo's body, came up beside Rukia with the stuffed animal that he had been forced into earlier, "and his name is Sombra. And I am Ichigo Kurosaki, the Substitute Shinigami that's been taking out the Hollows that have been attacking Karakura Town."
"I have no idea what an Arrancar is, but you just explained something I've been wondering," Eikichiro said, to which he lowered his hat a little to hide his eyes, though at the same time both Ichigo and Sombra prepared themselves for the battle that was about to start, "Rukia Kuchiki, you have committed a very serious crime."
Ichigo and Sombra readied themselves, intending to fight Eikichiro and defend Rukia, but before they could do actually do anything the air shifted as Sombra felt the sudden appearance of a powerful Hollow that was near where they were standing, something that Ichigo felt as well... and, unless he was wrong, the Hollow was going after both Yuzu and Karin at the moment. The moment they considered that possibility Ichigo, Rukia, Sombra, and Kon ran off in the direction that the girls should be in, leaving Eikichiro standing there for a few seconds, as he was shocked that the situation had changed so drastically, before he wondered what he was going to do. Along the way Sombra noted that Ichigo and Rukia had a short conversation about what happened all those years ago, where both Ichigo and Sombra quickly found out that Rukia had learned that there was no true way to ask Ichigo what actually happened all those years ago, not without hurting him in the process... so she was going to wait until he was ready to tell her about what happened, instead of her accusing him of what actually happened.
A few moments later they caught sight of a Hollow that was a giant hamster with red bird-like hands and feet and a red tentacle-like limb that hangs from his forehead, though as the group took in what was happening in front of them they found that Yuzu was being held in the air by the tentacle limb and Karin was being kept in place by one of the Hollow's feet... to which Ichigo drew his sword and jumped into the air, where he hacked his way through the tentacle strangling his sister and caught her, while forcing the Hollow backwards.
"Good," the Hollow said, to which it shifted it's position and picked up Karin with it's right hand, though at the same time Ichigo didn't like the look in the Hollow's eyes at all, especially since it was targeting his family for a reason, "I still have my hostage. I've been waiting for you, Shinigami."
It was in that moment that the air in front of the Hollow seemed to shift, because one moment there wasn't anyone standing in front of the Hollow and the next a young girl, with a look in her eyes that Sombra didn't trust and one that Ichgo seemed to recognize, appeared out of thin air.
"You! You're the one that was at the riverbank six years ago, weren't you?" Ichigo demanded, though at the same time those that were around him could hear the anger in his voice, which had to be directed at the fact that Karin was still trapped and not the fact that the little girl was in front of him.
"Six years ago?" the little girl repeated, though while she said that the Hollow couldn't help but laugh, indicating that something about this situation was amusing it, which was also pissing Ichigo off at the same time, "Sorry, but I don't remember things from so long ago... but this is also very interesting."
That was followed by the head of the girl splitting for a moment before a tentacle shot out of the girl and attached to the Hollow, though not a moment later the little girl was gone and in her place was some sort of lure that was connected to the head of the creature, indicating that it had been a trap that Ichigo and his mother had been lured into.
"Grand Fisher... that's his code name." Rukia commented, as she had read the reports before leaving Soul Society and knew exactly who this Hollow was, though at the same time everyone was staring at her for a moment, especially the Hollow, "He hides himself and gives that lure of his the appearance of a Human... and when he finds someone that's able to see it, meaning people with a high amount of reiatsu, he attacks them and increases his own power. For over fifty years this Hollow has defied all the Shinigami that have gone out to search for it... and his favorite targets are women."
Ichigo stared at Rukia for a moment, now understanding that the Grand Fisher was indeed responsible for what happened six years ago, but at the same time that only made him angrier than he had been moments ago, and the Grand Fisher's laughter on the subject was pissing him off. The Grand Fisher went on to say that Ichigo was extremely lucky for surviving the day he encountered him, especially since he had been his original target and he only changed to Ichigo's mother because of his preference for women, but that made Ichigo even angrier. That was eventually followed by Ichigo snapping as he charged forward and jumped into the air, forcing the Grand Fisher to move when his sword hit the ground, and then jumped out of the way when the next attack came at him, before the Grand Fisher's hair reached out and enveloped Ichigo as he tackled him into the upper area above where Rukia was standing. Rukia, seeing what was going to happen, readied herself with one of the Kido she knew, but Sombra would have none of that as he charged forward and jumped into the air, where he brought down his sword and cleaved his way through the hair that was holding Ichigo down, freeing him while forcing the Hollow back a little.
Since he didn't have time to thank Sombra, as the Grand Fisher seemed to be ignoring them as he raised Karin to his mouth, Ichigo got ready to move, but at the same time Sombra showed off his speed and jumped into the air, where the Grand Fisher had a moment to see what was going on before he severed his right arm from his body... causing the Hollow to move out of the way as Ichigo, after commanding Kon to take his sisters to safety, followed after him, before Rukia and Sombra did the same thing.
When they reached an open area Ichigo did something interesting, he told Rukia, Sombra, and even Eikichiro to back off and let him fight the Grand Fisher alone, as it was his battle, since the Hollow stole his mother from him, and he would be the one to destroy this particular Hollow and send him to Hell. Rukia looked at Sombra, knowing that he was literally the only one among them that had the power to destroy the Grand Fisher, thanks to the training he had before she found him earlier, but at the same time she was surprised when he sheathed his Zanpakuto and watched the battle unfold. While this happened the sky, which had been darkening since Eikichiro found them, finally let loose another shower of rain on them all, but at the same time neither Ichigo or the Grand Fisher seemed to care as the two of them clashed with each other, though as that happened the Grand Fisher taunted Ichigo as they battled. Of course while they fought the Grand Fisher used a power that allowed him to grow his nails and punctured Ichigo a little, indicating that he wanted to play until it was time to devour his soul, but despite that happening to him, and blood coming from his wounds when his opponent pulled back, Ichigo still fought on with the determination to kill the Grand Fisher.
As Rukia stood there she spoke about how she had been forced into this same situation in the past, where she had to learn the difference between a battle to protect lives and a battle to protect honor, to which she determined that this one was a battle of honor... to which she and Sombra stood there and watched as Ichigo engaged the Grand Fisher once more, while at the same time Eikichiro nodded his head in agreement.
After some time the Grand Fisher molded the lure that was attached to his head into Ichigo's mother, stalling him in the process since his mother was the one person that Ichigo, as a 'coldblooded' Shinigami, wouldn't be able to raise his sword against, as the Grand Fisher claimed that he was able to learn who his enemies couldn't raise their swords against and used them to take them out. It revealed how he was able to take out the various Shinigami that it had encountered over the last fifty years, where he enjoyed the fact that he was able to deceive them in such a manner, though at the same time it proved to be slightly effective, as the weakness caused Ichigo to lower his guard once and that allowed the Grand Fisher to pierce his shoulder in the process. When the Grand Fisher raised his left hand, and extended his nails, he prepared to kill Ichigo, though as he started to move his hand the mockery of Ichigo's mother started to glow and caught everyone off guard for a moment... where Eikichiro stated that his mother's last thoughts were manifesting themselves, the last thoughts she had before she died.
"Ichigo..." the thoughts of his mother said, to which Ichigo stood there and stared at it for a moment, shocked by what was going on at the moment, but he was wounded to the point where he couldn't do anything else but listen, "I'm so proud of you. Dad, Karin, Yuzu, and you, Ichigo. I'm so proud that I was able to meet you. Live, Ichigo. With strength, with kindness, and with a smile. That you, Ichigo."
Ichigo watched as the last thoughts of his mother disappeared and the lure was broken, for now, but as the light faded he gripped the point that was lodged in his shoulder and tore it out, surprising the Grand Fisher in the process, before driving the point of his sword into the Grand Fisher's left shoulder... before he swung his weapon and cut a gash into the Hollow's body, causing the Grand Fisher to pull back and run into the forest, but Rukia stopped Ichigo from going after them, as neither of them were able to fight anymore, while Sombra remained where he was standing, as the Grand Fisher was smart enough to teleport back to Hueco Mundo before something killed him.
"You guys are something else," Eikichiro commented, watching as Ichigo collapsed when Rukia stood in front of him, where both she and Sombra turned and looked at him as he pointed at the wounded Substitute for a moment, "He's got some powerful reiatsu, so much that he might become a monster if you're not careful. And you, Arrancar, if I told Soul Society about you they would come here immediately to destroy you... so I won't tell them about you. They'll find you sooner or later, Rukia Kuchiki, but it won't be from me."
Sombra watched as the Shinigami collected his hat and walked away from the graves that were around them, though as he disappeared he found the news that Soul Society would dispatch their highest ranking Shinigami, if he was reading the man's tone correctly, to kill him to be a bit unnerving. That told him that Arrancars weren't much liked by the Shinigami that knew they existed, if he was right, and that he was lucky to find one of them that didn't know about what he was and was willing to accept him for who he was and not what he was, as Rukia tolerated him because he protected people from Hollows and sent souls on their way to the afterlife. While he was thinking about that Rukia used some of her power to heal some of Ichigo's wounds, since he had been wounded a lot in the battle with the Grand Fisher, before Kon showed up to check up on them, which was shortly followed by Rukia ejecting his pill from Ichigo's body and let him settle back into his body as she took the pill away for the moment. From there Ichigo spent some time standing in front of his mother's grave, where he had a short conversation with his father when he came to check up on him, but by the end of it Ichigo did something interesting when his father walked away from the area.
Ichigo, despite his earlier feelings towards being a Shinigami, actually asked Rukia if he could remain as her Substitute, so he could protect both souls and people from Hollows like the Grand Fisher and so that he could get stronger, so he could kill the Hollow that got away and be able to face his mother when he finally died.
Sombra watched all of this and wondered what it would be like to have a family, as he must have had one at some point in time before he died and became the soul that eventually became the Hollow he had been before the transformation into an Arrancar, before he sighed. Right now he was content with the fact that he had some friends to call his own and that he still had some purpose in this world, though as both he and Rukia headed back to the clinic, before Ichigo's family arrived, he knew that he would do everything in his power to help Ichigo grow... and then they would find the Grand Fisher and destroy him for what he did to Ichigo's family.
The days following the events of Ichigo's family trip to the grave of his mother, where he chased away the Grand Fisher on his own, were slow in the sense that there weren't any Hollows interested in invading Karakura Town, meaning that Ichigo could do his schoolwork without being interrupted all the time. For the most part Rukia stayed near him, just in case she needed to eject his soul to fight a Hollow, but since there weren't any Hollow's attacking the town they didn't have to do anything and were able to continue attending school, which is what Ichigo wanted. Sombra, on the other hand, remained nearby and kept his senses at the ready, though at the same time he was making sure that the moment the Grand Fisher returned, as he knew that it would come back at some point in time, while keeping watch for more Hollows. Of course, when he followed them to the school, he wasn't the only Arrancar that watched over the students, since Sora Inoue was standing out in the hallway and kept his eyes on Orihime's classroom, just in case a Hollow came to attack his sister again, even though he was the first one to do that.
Thinking about that event made Sombra wonder about the mysterious figure that had come out of nowhere, stopped Sora from purifying himself and sending his soul to Soul Society, told him what needed to be done to transform into the state he was in now, and then disappeared without a trace. He had no idea who was hiding beneath the robe, as it had completely covered the stranger's body and prevented him from seeing who had spoken, but he had to be someone that had some knowledge on Shinigami, Hollows, and even Arrancars, knowledge that he could use at the moment. There were questions that he had that he couldn't answer, because Kisuke and Yoruichi didn't have the answers themselves, questions that only the stranger could answer, but the problem was that when the stranger had shown himself he hadn't detected a hint of reiatsu from the figure, meaning that the stranger had to be strong enough to mask all his or her power and leave someone confused on what had happened. He guessed that the only thing that he could do was watch and wait, because sooner or later he was sure that the mysterious figure would return to Karakura Town, though when he or she did Sombra intended to find them and see if he couldn't get some answers.
As the rest of June started to pass them by Sombra found that Sora, out of the blue, wanted him to teach the new Arrancar how to use a sword, as he hadn't learned how to do it himself in the time he had been watching his sister, to which Sombra sighed and spent some of his free time giving Sora some pointers on the subject. They also practiced every now and then, making sure that Sora knew exactly what he was doing, but Sombra refrained from inflicting any wounds on him, since he wasn't going to ask Kisuke and Yoruichi if they could use the training area, especially since he didn't want to explain the fact that there was another Arrancar after telling them that nothing happened. Of course, when he thought about that, he knew that there was the very real possibility that they had detected Sora's reiatsu and had investigated him on their own, meaning that they might already know of his existence, though neither of them said anything to him and let him do what he wanted. The only problem was that he was sure that Kisuke was trying to mess with him, as there were times where he saw a knowing look in the man's eyes whenever he looked at him, though he always hid behind his fan and acted like nothing was wrong, making Sombra wonder if he was overthinking things or if he was being foolish to keep something from the others.
When they reached the last few days of June the Hollows finally returned to Karakura Town, much to Sombra's relief since he was wondering if something had gone wrong in Hueco Mundo, though both he and Ichigo had a system in place to make sure that he stayed in school. Sombra would take any Hollow that appeared during the early morning, the time that Ichigo was in school, and the night time, when everyone was asleep, leaving Ichigo time to take out some Hollows both before and after school, minimizing the time Kon had possession over his body, though fortunately the majority of his transformations were with Rukia nearby and she made sure his body was alright for his return. One or two of the Hollows Sombra detected actually went after Orihime, where Sora stepped in and cut them down, either purifying them, purifying them, or sent them back to Hueco Mundo, as Sombra wasn't sure what would happen to a Hollow's soul if an Arrancar, wielding an Arrancar's Zanpakuto, killed a Hollow, but he knew that time would tell. At the very least Sora was happy to keep his sister safe, even if she may or may not be able to see him, as Sora wasn't sure one way or the other, but since he seemed to be happy Sombra didn't bother questioning what was going on and left him to his own devices.
The only thing that actually calmed him down, and let him put his thoughts aside for some time, was when Yoruichi spent some of her time showing him more Hoho techniques, as it required his full focus to keep up with her and not lose sight of her, something that he was slowly improving on until she jumped her speed up when he was getting close to the level she had been at. Whenever they paused for a break, so he could catch his breath, he sometimes thought about what she said, about friends and acquaintances, and knew that, among the few that he could call his friends, Yoruichi was at the top of the list, mostly because he spent a lot more time with her than anyone else. He was sure that she was happy for him, in terms of him understanding what she had taught him, in both their lessons and the difference between friends and acquaintances, though even then he occasionally saw the same blush appear when they were doing something and wondered if something was wrong with her, but before he could ask they'd start up again and he'd forget about it. In the end he mentally determined that the blush was nothing important and stopped paying attention to it, letting Yoruichi do whatever it was that she was doing while he focused on the lessons she taught him and the other duties that he had whenever Ichigo was in school.
Eventually June turned into July and the days continued like normal, killing whatever foolish Hollow attacked the town, purified whatever souls they happened to find, or simply have a boring day and just relax in some manner, though at the same time Sombra had the feeling that something was coming and they needed to be ready for it.
The sixteenth of July started like any other day, as Ichigo was attacked by Kon, who he threw at a wall to shut up, Rukia stepped out of the closest and left the room before Yuzu opened the door to see if Ichigo was up and about, and Sombra stayed on the roof during the previous night. That was where things started to get a little strange, as while he waited for Ichigo to leave, so they could catch up with Rukia, Sombra heard something about Yuzu being excited about something while the rest of her family had a mixed reaction to the same thing she got excited about. When Ichigo finally left his house, after having his morning piece of toast, which Sombra still found odd to this day since he figured that a good breakfast would be more than a single slice of toast, he wouldn't tell Sombra what was up and made him worry that this was leading to another unhappy memory for the family. Along the way to school, however, they discovered that Rukia had moved on ahead and was leaving them behind, to which Ichigo walked in silence while Sombra thought about what was going on at the moment, as this wasn't common for the two of them... and that only made him worry that the feeling he had earlier, back in the very beginning of July, was coming true at last.
When they got the the high school, or more accurately ichigo's classroom, Ichigo opened the door and was stopped the moment he found Orihime standing on the other side of the door, though she appeared to be in a happier mood than usual, which Sora, who was standing nearby, enjoyed seeing as both Sombra and Ichigo stood there.
"Bwahahahaha!" Orihime said, to which she crossed both of her arms over her chest, with her hands resting in front of her shoulders, and did the laugh at the same time, where Ichigo, Sombra, and Sora stared at her like she had lost her mind or something, before she opened her eyes and stared at the same that Ichigo was giving her, "Huh? That's a faint reaction... Don't you know what this is?"
"D... Drop In..." Ichigo stated, indicating that he had some sort of understanding about what Orihime was doing, but at the same time Sombra could tell that whatever the sign was attached to was something that Ichigo didn't like, at least based on the look that he had seen on his face.
"Bingo!" Orihime replied, to which she smiled once more, showing that she was happy that Ichigo understood what she was doing, while at the same time moving her hands out of the sign that she had been holding them in and clapped them for a moment, "It's a fun show, huh? Then you should come with us and Bwaaaa..."
"Banzai." Tatsuki said, as she intercepted Orihime from behind, before she could make the sign again, and moved her arms in the air, much to Orihime's confusion in the process, but at the same time both Ichigo and Sombra were glad that it was done for the moment, "Yeah, yeah... I'll go with you and 'Bwahaha'."
Sombra watched as Tatsuki pushed Orihime away from the entrance of the room, allowing Ichigo to enter the room while Sora stayed in the hallway once more, though before Ichigo could actually enter the room Keigo, Mizuiro, and Chad appeared behind him, where both Keigo and Mizuiro did the 'Bwahahahaha' sign and laugh while Chad simply did the sign as he stood behind the duo. Ichigo, seeing that they had time before class started, headed towards his seat and dropped his bag in his seat, before heading towards the open window, where Sombra entered the room as well, as he was interested in what was happening at the moment, because he was confused as to what the students were doing.
"I'm not going." Ichigo stated, not even bothering to look back at whichever of the two troublemakers that wanted to talk with him, as he was sure that one of them was going to convince him to head to what they were going to attend tonight, something that he wanted to ignore.
"The hell do you mean you're not going?" Keigo asked, where he moved forward and stood on Ichigo's left, as he couldn't believe what he was hearing and wanted to see if he might be able to convince him to attend what he and the others were going to see, "It's the most popular show in Japan. On top of that, it's coming to Karakura to broadcast live! As a resident of the town, if you don't go and see it, you might as well be dead!"
"Personally, I'm fine with being a zombie." Ichigo replied, as he wanted to stay away from the show that everyone was so interested in, while at the same time seeing the confused look on Sombra's face as he listened to what was going on around him at the moment, "Beat it, Keigo."
It was in that moment that Keigo, unwilling to admit defeat in the face of Ichigo refusing to attend the showing of the show that all of his classmates were talking about, revealed that he had even invited Rukia to the showing and that he was trying to get her to mimic the sign that everyone was using, save for Ichigo, Sombra, and Sora. In the following moments the teacher came in and the lesson started, causing the students to return to their seats and listen to what they needed to learn, though what Sombra discovered was that the majority of them were focused on what was apparently happening tonight, so much so that the teacher, when she reached the homework part of the lesson, let them go with nothing. It appeared that she fully expected everyone to head to the broadcast that everyone was talking about, so she had decided to assign nothing and let them have some fun in the process, though at the same time Sombra, if he was an instructor, would have posted a writing assignment for those that were definitely going to the showing, maybe for extra credit or for whatever the rules stated. Despite those thoughts he watched as the students were pleased with not having any homework tonight, so much so when the school day was over they were all happily walking home, discussing their plans with their friends, while Ichigo sighed and headed home as well.
What Sombra wasn't expecting, when he and Ichigo reached the clinic, was for Ichigo's family to approach him and convinced him to come with them, as from what he heard Ichigo's father and sister, Yuzu from the sounds of it, were interested in the show and were planning on heading to the area for the broadcast... or, from what he heard, maybe it was just the fact that Ichigo didn't want to leave his family alone during the recording. Sombra still had no idea what was going on at the moment, though when the Kurosaki family started to move out, and had closed the clinic for the night, he jumped down to the street and followed them as they headed into the city, though after some time he began to notice that they were heading to an area that he had been to before today. The abandoned hospital looked the exact same as he remembered it, which was understandable since no one was in a hurry to fix it up, though at the same time he noticed that, in addition to all the people that had come out here, there was a number of devices that Humans used to capture what was going on and transmit it to the homes of those around them... or that was his limited understanding of the devices, since he had no interest in figuring out what they actually were or what they were supposed to do.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, good evening!" someone said, where Sombra found an announcer, male by the body type, walked out onto the nearby stage that everyone was gathering around, though at the same time he noticed that Ichigo was annoyed a little by what was going on around him, "On this week's Drop-In Holy Ground we bring you an urgent live broadcast from a condemned hospital in the Karakura neighborhood, where it is said that you can hear the screams of angry spirits. I wonder what we will witness this evening. Now then, let us welcome our star. The charismatic spiritual medium for the new century... Hell's messenger... Mister... DON KAN'ONJI!"
It was in that moment, that the announcer pointed towards the sky, that Sombra and the others found a helicopter flying above the hospital, though that was before someone jumped out of the vehicle and seemed to free fall towards the area that everyone else was in.
"SPIRITS ARE ALWAYS WITH YOU!" the man, Don Kanonji if Sombra was right in his thoughts, loudly declared, much to the joy of the majority of the people that were below him, though that was before he pulled something and the parachute deployed, allowing him to safely descend towards the platform the announcer was standing on.
Don Kanonji, from what Sombra discovered, was a tall man that was also thin, as well as handsome according to some of the ladies that were around him, but at the same time he was wearing what Sombra believed to be a ridiculous outfit that came complete with a cape and a large hat... though at the same time Don Kanonji landed and removed the parachute, which his workers came and collected before they disappeared, where he turned towards the audience.
"How are you all feeling?" Don Kanonji asked, though at the same time he raised his hands and the crowd seemed to be entranced by what he was doing, while Sombra and Ichigo stared at him for a few moments, "Tonight, I'll let all my babies hear the whispers of the spirits!"
"What do you think of our location, Kanonji-san?" a second announcer asked, a female one, though at the same time Sombra wondered why they needed two people to announce things or ask the man questions, but he kept his mouth shut and kept his senses open in case a Hollow showed up.
"My nose is filled with the smells of terrible spirits." Don Kanonji replied, to which he raised a finger to his mouth, like he was trying to have them be silent while he 'felt' the area for spirits, though at the same time it appeared that this was going to be a long process before anything actually happened, This is, without a doubt..."
"SMELLS LIKE BAD SPIRITS!" the crowd declared, showing that they had seen the show before today and knew the man's phrases before he finished them, though at the same time it appeared that it was designed for that to happen, as none of the staff were upset by the audience's words.
That was followed by Don Kanonji, and the majority of the crowd, launching themselves into the 'Bwahahahaha' stance for a moment, where Sombra noticed that, of all the people that did it, Don Kanonji was the most energetic of them all and the people seemed really excited about what was going on... though that was followed by smoke covering the man that was on stage and someone called that they were going to a commercial, causing the crowd to move towards another section of the hospital. As Ichigo followed the crowd to the 'exorcism' area, by staying at the back of the pack, Orihime approached him and apologized for what she had said earlier, though while that happened Sombra nodded his head to Sora, who had come to make sure nothing happened to his sister. Sombra discovered that Ichigo hated ghost shows, likely due to his abilities and what he had been through, though Ichigo wasn't mad at her for the way she acted, since she didn't know that he hated these types of shows, while he was annoyed with Keigo and Mizuiro purposely did the stance to annoy Ichigo to some degree... and, after a few moments of talking, he also discovered that Ichigo definitely came to this because of his family, as it would have been wrong to leave Yuzu and his father alone here, despite the fact that Karin was here.
Eventually Tatsuki, who was some distance in front of them, told Orihime that she was moving on without her, to which Orihime bid Ichigo farewell for now and raced forward, to which Sora headed into the air to make sure he had a good view, while at the same time Sombra and Ichigo started to move forward... before someone's voice made them stop in their tracks for a moment.
"Something wrong, Ichigo?" Rukia asked, to which Ichigo and Sombra turned around and faced her, though that was shortly followed by both of them regretting that decision when they noticed what she was doing, as her arms were crossed in a familiar fashion, "Bwahahahaha!"
Ichigo stood there for a moment, staring at the Shinigami that was inhabiting a gigai from what he had discovered thanks to what she had told him, while at the same time surprised that she had adapted to using that stance as well, but he hoped that she would stop it soon... though Sombra, on the other hand, just stared at her while the two of them got ready to converse before the show started again.
"Why are you scowling so?" Rukia asked, though at the same time she dropped her arms and started at Ichigo, as she knew that the reason Sombra was staring was because he wasn't used to everything that was going on around them, to which she focused her attention on the Human that had her powers, "Smell the roses. If you don't have fun, you'll lose out. Even with Sombra covering for you, from time to time, you must be tired from having to juggle your usual homework and the work of a Shinigami... there will be more difficult fights from now on, and you should take a moment to relax and have some fun every now and then. Though that raises a question... what sort of festival is this?"
Ichigo sighed and gave Rukia a quick rundown on what was happening, as Don Kanonji was a spiritual medium, or at least he claimed to be one, that supposedly purified areas of ghosts and spirits, sending them to Heaven, or what he had actually discovered was Soul Society. Rukia and Sombra listened to his brief explanation of what was going on, to which Sombra determined that it would have been better for him or Ichigo, in his Shinigami form, to investigate the area and see if anything was here, because right now he didn't feel anything and was worried about that fact.
"Hey Rukia," Ichigo said, turning the conversation away from Don Kanonji and his show, as it was the last thing he wanted to talk about at the moment, as there was another thought he wanted to voice before they moved on, "do you think there's a chance that there might be a ghost or two in a condemned hospital like this?"
"Why do you asked?" Rukia inquired, as she wasn't aware that, when Sombra was under orders to remain hidden from Ichigo, he had come here and the Human had followed him, but she turned towards the building and stared at it for a few moments as she thought about something.
"If there were any ghosts here, wouldn't the other Shinigami have sent them to rest long ago?" Ichigo asked, to which Sombra nodded his understanding, as he knew that Ichigo was asking if any of them had come here and used the Konso on whatever spirits were in the condemned building.
"Not necessarily," Rukia replied, to which she took a moment to think about what Ichigo was asking about, and how best to tell him what she knew, before she continued talking, knowing that Sombra was listening at the same time, "The kind of ghosts that inhabit a place like this are usually earth-bound ghosts. They're usually absorbed into the ground, so they almost never show up on Soul Society's sensors. There's only one condition for an earth-bound ghost to reveal themselves... and that's when a Human enters it's territory."
It was in the moment that Rukia said that statement that one of the crew members crossed the threshold, as not a few seconds later the three of them heard a scream that sounded like a Hollow's scream, though at the same time it also sounded slightly Human at the same time. While that happened, and the scream repeated a few times, Sombra noticed that Chad, Karin, and both Tatsuki and Orihime seemed to sense the scream as well, though they seemed to think it was their imagination or something else, meaning they didn't want to think about it.
"That's the scream of an earth-bound ghost." Rukia stated, knowing that both Ichigo and Sombra had heard it, even though neither of them were reacting to it since most people couldn't hear it and they didn't want to stand out from the rest of the audience, "It looks like there was one here after all. The two of you have likely noticed a pattern to a Hollow's vocalizations. One of those is made by an earth-bound ghost with a strong attachment to this world as it degrades into a Hollow because it's been neglected... like that one right there."
Sombra stared at the entrance of the hospital for a moment, where he found that the spirit looked like a man that was in his early to middle thirties, based on what he had seen from the rest of the Humans around the town, with short spiky dark hair and sideburns, wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt. At the same time Sombra noticed that the spirit had a number of chains wrapped around it's arms and chest, chaining it to the building that was behind it, though at the same time he found that the Hollow hole was half opened, meaning that he was on his way towards becoming a Hollow, something that Rukia and Ichigo agreed on based on the ongoing conversation that they were having. Rukia even called the unfortunate spirit a Demi-Hollow while she explained the significance of the Hollow hole and the Hollow mask that each Hollow had, something that Ichigo understood the first time it was explained to him, back when he first discovered this world, and found that the drawing that Rukia had still diffused the tension in the air, to which Rukia smacked him in the head as they focused on what was happening at the moment.
The Demi-Hollow, however, started shouting for the people to leave the area and leave his hospital behind, as it appeared that he was still thinking that he could use the hospital to become a 'millionaire', to which Ichigo simply said that he was a shallow loser and tried to ignore what was going on... though that was followed by one of the crew members calling that the show was starting again, which was when Don Kanonji stepped out and drew the crowd's attention again.
"Spirits are always with you!" Don Kanonji declared, showing the crowd his favorite stance once more, which was, as Sombra expected, followed by his 'Bwahahahaha' once more, which the crowd mimicked while Ichigo worried that something was going to happen, especially since Rukia was ignoring the Demi-Hollow's transformation progress.
"Now then, Kanonji-san's exorcism is about to begin." the male announcer said, to which Ichigo and Sombra focused on what was going on, as now that they knew that a spirit was here, one that was starting to transform into a Hollow despite the fact that it was still Human looking, they were worried about what was coming next.
Sombra raised an eyebrow as Don Kanonji stepped forward and stared at the Demi-Hollow, showing that he had a slight ability to see them, which meant that he might not understand what he was looking at, while at the same time the Demi-Hollow asked the man if he was going to 'dirty up his hospital' and he made threats at the same time. Rukia told Ichigo that there was nothing to worry about, because as long as the Demi-Hollow didn't get any weird stimuli to his incomplete Hollow hole he wouldn't rapidly decay and transform into a Hollow, and that, when the show was done, they'd come back later and send the spirit to Soul Society. At the same time, however, Don Kanonji pulled out a staff, what he called his 'Super Spirit Stick', and claimed that he was going to end this in an instant, to which he proceeded to stab the lower end of the staff into the Demi-Hollow's incomplete hole and surprised both Ichigo and Rukia at the same time, while Sombra sighed, since he had seen this coming while they were busy talking.
Before Ichigo did anything foolish, however, Sombra touched his shoulder and stopped him from moving, as he knew that his friend wanted to preserve his reputation and that this would be seen all around the entire town, so while Ichigo stood still Sombra drew his sword and approached Don Kanonji... unfortunately his actions had an immediate reaction from the Demi-Hollow, as the chains started to shatter before their eyes. What Ichigo and the others weren't expecting was for Kisuke to suddenly appear with Tessai, as he used his cane and immediately released Ichigo's Shinigami form as well, to which he and Sombra charged at Don Kanonji as Tessai held Ichigo's collapsed body. Before the chains were completely broken Ichigo appeared between the man and the Demi-Hollow, where he kicked Don Kanonji in the chest and knocked him backwards, much to the shock of the audience in the process, while Sombra stood nearby, intending to purify the spirit before anything happened.
"What the hell is wrong with you two?" Don Kanonji asked, to which he rubbed the back of his head, though since he was a spirit medium the crowd would think that something that only he could see what happening, so he didn't have to worry about them thinking that he was insane or something.
"I guess we were right, you can see spirits." Sombra commented, because he had figured that if Don Kanonji could see spirits, such as the Demi-Hollow, then he might have the ability to see him and Ichigo, which it appeared that he could since he was talking to them.
"Of course I can, you fools!" Don Kanonji stated, to which he stared at the two of them, finding that they were in his way of purifying the area, though at the same time he still held onto his staff as he readied himself, "I am the charismatic spiritual medium of the new century. Oh, I see now, you two are fans of the show that died and stayed fans."
"Actually, I hate your show." Ichigo said, to which he stepped forward and grabbed onto Don Kanonji's collar, where he picked him up and stared at him, as he was angry about what he had seen and knew that Sombra was ready to purify the spirit before anything happened, "and I'm going to beat the stuffing out of you."
"Ichigo, we've got trouble." Sombra stated, to which he drew his sword and prepared to swing, as the Demi-Hollow's body was cracking before his eyes, though as Ichigo turned around the spirit glowed for a second before exploding, causing the two of them, including Don Kanonji, to cover their eyes for a few seconds.
Rukia was the first to react, as she called for Ichigo to look up, to which Ichigo, Sombra, and Don Kanonji looked up and found a glowing ball in the air, something that only they and others that could see spirits could see, before strands started to gather around the ball. That was before the body of an actual Hollow started to form before their eyes, with the spirit's head all that remained of what it had been moments ago, though as Sombra discovered that the Hollow seemed to be bipedal with some frog properties, before a white mass erupted from the spirit's mouth and the mask formed around it's head, completing the transformation into a Hollow, which was when the newly born Hollow roared. Sombra could tell, from just the roar, that the spirit had completely become a Hollow, but at the same time he knew that purifying it was what they needed to do, something that Ichigo knew as well since he drew his own sword in the process... while Don Kanonji, on the other hand, played it all off as the boss of the spirits that had been in the area, claiming that this one was here for revenge for him 'exorcising' the first one.
The man even told the duo, who were experienced in fighting Hollows, to run away and challenged the Hollow to come at him, though both Sombra and Ichigo were ready for what happened next, as when the Hollow charged at Don Kanonji they intercepted the attack and forced the Hollow backwards.
"Look, I might not like your show, but that doesn't mean I want you to die," Ichigo said, while at the same time Sombra kept his eyes on the Hollow, as he wanted to be sure that they were ready for when it decided to attack again, giving him a few moments to convince the man behind them to leave, "but you should run away while you have the chance."
"Run away?!" Don Kanonji repeated, looking like he was offended by Ichigo's suggestion, which annoyed Ichigo a little since he was trying to make sure nothing happened to the man, while at the same time the Hollow started to move once more, "What are you talking about?"
Before Ichigo could reply the Hollow got up and surged towards the man that had challenged it, though at the same time both Ichigo and Sombra swung at it, finding that it was more than capable of dodging some of their attacks while also parrying some of them as well. While this was going on Sombra noticed that Kisuke had an interest in watching the fight, as it appeared that he wanted to see what Ichigo could do for himself, especially since he had never seen the Substitute Shinigami fight before, though at the same time Ichigo pulled Don Kanonji out of the way and let the Hollow ram its head into the wall, where it struggled to pull itself out for a moment. At that point the man tried to attack the Hollow once more, to which Ichigo grabbed onto his shoulder and forcefully pulled him through the entrance of the hospital, shattering the glass entrance in the process, though while he did that, and Sombra followed after him, their opponent smashed through the wall and forced its way into the hospital as well. Once they were inside the hospital, heading through the halls, Don Kanonji stated that he couldn't run away from what was going on, despite the fact that he wanted Ichigo and Sombra to do that very same thing... to which Ichigo came to a stop and rolled the man towards the wall in front of them, while at the same time Sombra came to a halt as he listened for the Hollow.
"Okay, why should the two of us run away while you can't?" Ichigo asked, because while he knew that dealing with the Hollow was more important at the moment, as that was a Shinigami's job, he trusted that Sombra could keep an eye out for their opponent while he figured something out.
"Well... because I'm a hero." Don Kanonji replied, though at the same time he stood up and stared at the duo that was in front of him, not really sure why he was explaining himself to a pair of spirits, but at the very least they would come to understand what he was going through, "Boys, do you have any idea how many ratings my show gets? Twenty-five percent. Truly one in every four citizens is watching my show, and most of those viewers, from the surveys that go out, are actually little children. Those children watch my exploits and let their hearts dance. They watch me as I go up against evil spirits and learn a thing or two about courage. Do you understand now, boys? When those children are watching, I cannot run away!"
Ichigo and Sombra stared at the man for a moment, wondering what was actually going through his mind at the moment, before Don Kanonji stated that it was time for them to go back and fight the monster that he had seen, only for Ichigo to immediately stop him and ask what would happen if the spectators got hurt. That included him giving the man a brief explanation that Hollows, the 'monster' as Don Kanonji called it, were after souls that contained a high amount of reiatsu, such as his own soul or the man's soul, which was actually a shock to the man if the look on his face was anything to go by. What surprised them was that the man was actually impressed by the fact that they were able to think of such things while in the middle of a fight, though as he was starting to say something Sombra had them both quiet down as he tightened his grip on his sword, something that Ichigo mimicked since he could tell the Hollow was coming. As it turned out the Hollow came from below, cracking the floor in front of them in the process, though what happened was that the creature spit some goo on Ichigo's hands, trapping them with his Zanpakuto, before allowing Ichigo to impale his shoulder, which caused the Hollow to smash through the wall and pull Ichigo to the roof... while at the same time Sombra sighed and jumped out through the opening, before spinning around and jumped towards the roof as well, leaving Don Kanonji to either run or head for the stairs to join them.
Of course when they arrived at the roof they were both a little surprised when Don Kanonji arrived a few seconds later, where his presence served as a distraction as the Hollow faked going for him and Ichigo moved to strike the Hollow down, only for the Hollow to hit him into the railing and trap him with some goo... though as the Hollow moved to attack him, however, Don Kanonji got between them and shoved his staff into the Hollow's mouth vertically. It was in that moment that the man revealed that he had some power, a little bit if he was being honest, and gathered his power into his right hand, claiming that this was his Kanonji-Style Final Super Attack: Kan'onball. What it was, as it turned out, was a marble sized ball that contained some of his power, one that lazily floated through the air before it connected with the goo that was trapping Ichigo, though that was when it exploded and tore the goo to pieces, freeing him in the process. Of course that was when the staff he was holding with his left hand shattered in the middle and the Hollow knocked him to the side... but when the Hollow raced towards the fallen man, however, Sombra flashed in between them and cut the Hollow's chest with enough force to knock him into the railing.
Ichigo was the one that followed up the attack by jumping into the air and swinging his sword in a way that cleaved the Hollow's mask in half, causing it to collapse on the floor in front of him, though as Don Kanonji got excited both Ichigo and Sombra stopped him as the Hollow form shattered, revealing the earth-bound ghost that he had transformed into a Hollow earlier. Don Kanonji stared at the spirit as it disappeared, as it had been purified, though at the same time both Ichigo and Sombra sheathed their Zanpakutos while Ichigo explained things to the man, revealing how a Hollow was created by the chain attached to a spirit's chest falling off and the hole opens. What surprised Sombra was that the sheer knowledge of what he was doing actually made Don Kanonji fall to his knees, and he was even more surprised when the man had a stream of tears come from his eyes, though Ichigo stopped him before he could get too emotional, as they could hear the crowd cheering the man's name. Even as Don Kanonji approached the rail, and performed the sign and call that got the crowd in a happy mood, he told both Ichigo and Sombra, who he still did not know the names of, that he admired their courage, their wit, and their strength in the fight they had been in... and even asked them to lend him their strength in the future.
Sombra was sure that Ichigo was going to refuse, since the man was going around creating Hollows, but he was further surprised when his friend stated that he'd be okay with helping out if it was only every now and then, instead of all the time... and he even shook the man's hand, showing Sombra that Ichigo had a little more respect for the man now that he understood why he was doing what he was doing, even when Don Kanonji called Ichigo his 'Number One Student'. As the two of them headed back down to the ground floor, so the man could finish up the broadcast and Ichigo could get his soul back into his body, Sombra glanced down at the crowd and stared at the machines that were recording everything, as he wondered if Soul Society would use the broadcast to help them find Rukia. He knew that it was only a matter of time until they sent someone else to find her, someone that wasn't as understanding as Eikichiro was, and that they needed to be ready for whatever happened next... though he had the feeling they weren't going to like what happened when Soul Society sent another Shinigami after Rukia, that much he knew from what the other Shinigami told them.
In the end he sighed and jumped down to the ground floor, knowing that the time for easy tasks was about to come to a close and that neither of them were going to like what was coming next, though he guessed that they would have to be patient and wait for the future to show them what was in store for them and their friends.
Sombra, as was his custom, made sure that Ichigo and his family got home safely, as well as making sure Rukia snuck into the closest before they got back, while at the same time keeping his senses open for any additional Hollows that might be roaming the town. He was still a little surprised that Kisuke and Tessai showed up, and he wouldn't have been surprised if Yoruichi wasn't stalking in the shadows in her cat form at the same time, but at the same time he guessed that they were there to see Ichigo's strength firsthand, no doubt since he told them a few stories about what Ichigo was able to do. He was still uneasy about the fact that the cameras, as he found out they were called, had scanned the crowd at one point, at the time that Ichigo's soul was knocked out of his body by Kisuke's cane, and he was sure that Rukia had been in full view of one of them while that happened. He still had no idea if Soul Society could use that footage to find and track down where Rukia was hiding, as his knowledge of what they were able to do was limited, but at the same time he had the feeling that letting her be caught on film like that was a bad thing for her.
Despite his worries nothing else happened that night, allowing Ichigo to get some rest from his battle with the Demi-Hollow, and when the morning of the seventeenth of July came he followed the Human to school once more, to stay in the back of the room and watch what happened next as always... until Ichigo, Rukia, Tatsuki, Orihime, Keigo, Mizuiro, and Chad were summoned to the Principal's office for some reason, surprising many of them in the process as they headed towards the room in question.
As Sombra snuck into the room that the others were heading into he found that the Physical Education teacher, the PE teacher as he learned that the students called it, was very ashamed of them heading to the broadcast, as he showed them the scenes that had been caught on camera. What Sombra saw was all of them reacting to the sounds the Demi-Hollow had been making, along with a short clip of Rukia when she was talking to Ichigo about earth-bound ghosts, almost like the people controlling the cameras thought she was being disrespectful towards Don Kanonji for talking while he was in the middle of his 'exorcism'. Of course that only provoked Tatsuki into claiming that she and Orihime were only there to silently watch and react as the crowd reacted, indicating that they had nothing to do with what had happened, of which there wasn't much for them to be punished on, and she dragged Orihime out in the process while the teacher turned on Ichigo and claimed that this was his fault.
What was interesting was when Rukia started acting like she tried to stop Ichigo from talking, as if he had been the one to start the stupid conversation that the teacher was so worked up over, as that gave Ichigo, Keigo, Mizuiro, and Chad the opportunity to leave through an open window while both the PE teacher and the Principal were distracted... though once everyone was outside the room, and the staff were distracted by their departure, Rukia and Sombra headed through the door they used to get into the room and disappeared. Fortunately all of the accused were gathered together outside and started walking away from the building, though while Kegio complimented Rukia on her acting, since it had saved them, Ichigo didn't want anyone encouraging such behavior, only for Tatsuki to state that it was a good thing she acted as well as she did, as Ichigo was able to escape as well. Sombra listened to all of that, though he was curious as to why the one teacher was so bent out of shape because of the fact that several of the school's students had been caught on camera and included in the exciting episode that had been aired... but, at the same time, he guessed that it really didn't matter, as nothing bad had happened as a result.
Of course, while they were walking, both Rukia's phone and Sombra's senses went off, though since Rukia's phone was on vibrate she looked over at Sombra, who nodded his head and flashed into the sky, heading right towards the disturbance that the Hollow was causing. He wasn't surprised that another was showing up, a day after the show was aired, but at the same time it had been quite a while since one had shown up while Ichigo was in school, where he knew that his friend was thankful that he was around to deal with the Hollows that showed up during the day. Fortunately it didn't take him long to find where the Hollow's reiatsu had been coming from, and he saw it chasing a fat man looking spirit, though before he could even draw his sword a light blue arrow, one that appeared to be made out of reiatsu, struck the Hollow and destroyed it, leaving nothing behind. That was a shock to the spirit, as it cowered in a nearby corner, but at the same time Sombra was also shocked, as he had no idea where the arrow had come from and kept his eyes open for anything that might try to attack him... but, after a few moments of nothing happening, he noticed that he was entirely alone, save for the spirit anyway.
Since he knew that the spirit had been running from the Hollow, and thus was focused on what was in front of him, he wouldn't have seen anything, so Sombra simply used his Zanpakuto and performed the Konso, sending the soul to Soul Society, but on the way back he had to wonder what could have destroyed the Hollow so utterly and completely that it left nothing behind... and why the attacker didn't attack him, since he was clearly an evolved Hollow in some manner, but at the very least it gave him time to ponder what had happened as he returned to the school. When he returned to the school he found the others going over their scores, for whatever the teacher had made them do, and found that Orihime was doing well, much to Sora's delight, and both Ichigo and Chad were high in their side as well, much to Keigo and Mizuiro's dismay. What was interesting was that, after seeing two of their friends run off in such a manner, Ichigo checked out the top name on the male list, which happened to be an Ishida Ametatsu, causing some confusion since he didn't know that person... and yet, at the same time, Sombra knew that the only Ishida in the school was Uryu Ishida, making him wonder if he was getting people mixed up or if the student in question was using a different name than what he found out when he started standing at the back of Ichigo's classroom.
Fortunately Orihime came to the rescue and told a confused Ichigo that Ishida Ametatsu was actually Uryu Ishida, though at the same time Ichigo didn't seem to know who she was talking about, but while that was happening Sombra also noticed that Rukia was outside, trying to call Kisuke... and apparently failing by the sounds of it, as she was staring at the phone with a look of annoyance on her face.
Of course, while Rukia was doing that, Sombra felt another Hollow pop up on his radar, making it the second one in a short period of time, an unusual thing when he thought about it, and he nodded his head before he headed off to see where this one was located. As he departed from the building, however, he noticed Ichigo running down the hall, no doubt to ask Rukia what was going on since he was leaving the school, and he happened to bump into Uryu for a moment, to which he apologized for what had happened and continued on his way. Sombra paid no more attention to what was going on below him as he ran through the air and headed towards the new Hollow that his senses were picking up, but this time around he barely crossed half the distance before he spotted another blue arrow flying towards the direction he was heading in and the Hollow disappeared completely, just like the first one. Something wasn't right, he knew that much for a fact, and as such he returned to the school and told Rukia and Ichigo that the Hollows were disappearing before he could reach them, as in completely destroyed and not returning to Hueco Mundo like they usually did... and then he started scouring the town, following the various reiatsu points that he was able to pick up and tried to hunt down the Hollows, only to arrive seconds before an arrow destroyed them.
It was maddening, as this meant that there was someone else in Karakura Town that was capable of fighting Hollows, only this person was utterly destroying them and leaving nothing behind, which worried him greatly, and yet he continued his hunt, trying to beat whoever was killing the Hollows... and eventually night fell and Rukia and Ichigo, in his Shinigami state, joined him at the latest point, only to find that the Hollow that was supposed to be here was gone as well.
"Any luck?" Ichigo asked, though he was beginning to suspect that Rukia's phone might be getting worn out, as he trusted Sombra's senses more than he trusted the phone, because the Arrancar was able to pick up a Hollow's arrival in the town seconds before the phone did and could pinpoint the location much faster.
"No, this one's been destroyed as well." Sombra replied, as he had seen another arrow fly through the air and pierce the Hollow he had spotted, only to watch it disappear as quickly as it had arrived, though he was starting to get annoyed with whoever was responsible for doing this and he could tell that both Ichigo and Rukia were feeling the same way.
"Well that's not good news," Ichigo said, to which he moved over to his body, which Rukia had hauled along when it looked like they might be fighting the Hollow this time, and entered it again, to which he stretched and stood up once more, before turning towards the duo and stared at the phone, "Rukia, you might want to get that looked at, just in case there's something we missed."
"I'll do so once I get a hold of the only person that can help me." Rukia stated, as Kisuke was the only person, outside Soul Society, that might be able to see if there was something wrong with her command phone and fix it before the problem worsened.
"Dissension in the ranks?" a voice asked, to which the three of them turned towards the source of the voice, though at the same time Sombra noticed that Uryu was standing before them, wearing a white uniform that looked sort of like the black one that a Shinigami wore, only of a different material and style, "What a disgrace. Good evening Ichigo Kurosaki, Rukia Kuchiki, and... whoever you are."
"Who are you?" Ichigo asked, proving that he wasn't fast at determining who someone was, even though Sombra had figured it out the moment he saw who was standing in front of them, while at the same time Sombra was a little annoyed that Ichigo had spoken before he could say anything, "And how do do you know our nam..."
"Kurosaki, you can see ghosts, can't you?" Uryu inquired, though at the same time it almost sounded like he was stating a fact that needed to be clarified for some reason, as Sombra knew that everyone in town knew that Ichigo had the ability to see and interact with ghosts, even if most ignored that information once they learned it.
"Sorry, but we're going to have to talk another time," Sombra said, as a new Hollow had appeared on his radar, one that was closer than all the other ones that had come before this one, and he drew his sword as he took to the air, as he was going to beat whoever was destroying the Hollows this time around.
"At least he's going in the right direction." Uryu commented, nodding his head for a moment, as he was pleased to find that there was someone in the group that could detect Hollows without needing that silly phone, the same tool that both Ichigo and Rukia needed to find them.
"They're both right, we've got orders." Rukia said, though she was surprised that the person in front of them was able to figure out where the Hollow had been before Soul Society could tell her, though she was used to Sombra being able to find them as quickly as he could.
"Kurosaki, if you don't know how to detect a Hollow, then how can you call yourself a Shinigami?" Uryu asked, his tone not changing in the slightest, though at the same time Sombra stopped for a moment as he looked around, before he smiled as he located his target.
Sombra spotted the Hollow as it floated between two houses, clearly trying to decide which to attack first, but before he could reach it another blue arrow flew through the air, nearly hitting him in the process, and struck the Hollow in the side of the head, destroying it instantly... though when he turned around, as he was following the direction it had come from, he found Uryu standing beside Ichigo and Rukia, where he was holding a blue bow, one that happened to be made completely out of reiatsu, in his right hand.
"What the hell are you?" Ichigo asked, though at the same time Sombra landed near them and sheathed his sword, while the stranger sheathed his bow as well, because right now they needed answers and the only one that could give it to them was the person in front of them.
"Uryu Ishida," Uryu replied, informing Ichigo that he was his classmate, the same one that he clearly didn't remember anything about despite the fact that they sat close to each other in the classroom, while at the same time he glared at Ichigo for a moment, "Quincy. And I hate Shinigami."
Without another word Uryu headed down the street and disappeared as quickly as he had arrived, though while Ichigo and Rukia headed back to the clinic, to get some rest before they had to go to school in the morning, Sombra did the reasonable thing and headed over to the Urahara Shop. His reasoning was that if Kisuke and the others knew about Shinigami, how he still had no idea, then they might know something about a Quincy, whatever that was supposed to be, and might be able to tell him what they knew about the group that might hate the Shinigami. Fortunately his desire to figure out what was going on allowed him to get to the shop all that much faster, as he pretty much flew through the air and only jumped off of a few roofs before he landed outside the shop, to which he used the back entrance and found both Kisuke and Tessai discussing something about the shop... and, as he fully took in what was around him, he found Yoruichi, in her human form and wearing the black part of her clothing, sitting in the corner.
"We were wondering when you were coming back," Kisuke commented, as it had been some time since he actually came and spent the night at the shop, though fortunately both Jinta and Ururu weren't present, which was why Yoruichi was out in the open like she was, before Kisuke noticed something about him, "Did something happen?"
"You could say that." Sombra replied, wondering how he was going to phrase his question, especially since these were the only people he could ask since Uryu wasn't about to talk to him since he was friends with Ichigo, before he sighed and decided to get it over with, "Do you guys know what a Quincy is?"
"Quincy?" Kisuke repeated, almost like it was a word that he hadn't used for a long time, while at the same time both Tessai and Yoruichi seemed to be going the same thing, before Kisuke sighed as Sombra took a seat, as he knew that this was going to be important, "It's been a long time since I've heard that term."
"At least two hundred years, right Tessai?" Yoruichi inquired, to which Kisuke's number one assistant nodded his head, indicating that she was speaking the truth, though at the same time that told Sombra that something must have happened to them in the past.
"The Quincys were an anti-demon clan that specialized in anti-Hollow combat," Kisuke stated, recalling everything he knew on the subject, as he knew that both Tessai and Yoruichi were thinking about their knowledge on the clan as well, while at the same time answering Sombra's question, "they were also scattered around the globe... and their clan was destroyed over two hundred years ago."
"Destroyed?" Sombra inquired, though if he thought about that term he began to understand more about the situation, meaning that, if he was right, Uryu might very well be one of the last living members of that clan, which also meant that he likely hated whoever destroyed his clan two hundred years ago.
"That's correct." Kisuke said, though at the same time he was pleased to see that the progress they had made with Sombra was being put to good use, as he was thinking about what he was being told and was comparing it to whatever or whoever had spoken the term earlier, "In today's terms, Humans with powers, like Ichigo Kurosaki, became aware of the existence of Hollows... and in order to stand against them, they began to train. It is said that this was their beginning. In a sense they trained so they could defeat the Hollows the same way that Shinigami defeat them, but there was, however, a defining difference between them and the Shinigami... and that was whether to kill or not kill Hollows. As you know, from what we have taught you so far, a Shinigami can purify a Hollow and send them to Soul Society with their Zanpakuto, as we believe you have done with the very blade you carry as well, despite being an Arrancar. The Quincys are the polar opposite of Shinigami, as they adhered to methodically killing Hollows, destroying them and ensuring that no soul is sent to Soul Society in the process."
"So they wanted to exterminate all the Hollows that were killing their friends and family?" Sombra spoke up, because that was a reason as to why so many would have joined the clan in the first place, to get revenge on the creatures that had taken someone away from them.
"Basically, but there was a problem to that belief," Kisuke said, once more pleased that Sombra was listening and asking questions, as it at least showed that he had an interest in what was going on and could sort of understand what he was talking about, "that belief was what brought about their clan's destruction. Because the Quincys destroy Hollows, and causing the World of the Living to becoming heavy with souls since the destroyed Hollows won't return to Soul Society, they were a danger to the balance of the world, because if the balance shifted too far Soul Society would have spilled into this world and caused the end of everything. As such Soul Society made the decision to exterminate the Quincys, to preserve the balance of the world, and that was two hundred years ago... though I'm curious as to why you would suddenly ask about them."
"Uryu Ishida... he's a Quincy, according to what he said." Sombra replied, knowing that, based on what he had told them from time to time, they knew that some of Ichigo's classmates had power, but then he thought about something else that might be important, "Hey, do Quincys use bows?"
"They do." Yoruichi answered, though she could see the look in Sombra's eyes, he had encountered one and was surprised by the fact that their arrows were fast, even though she knew, from personal experience, that she was still faster than their arrows, "Is something wrong?"
"I just can't shake the feeling that something will happen tomorrow." Sombra stated, as the way Uryu had looked at Ichigo told him that something was going to happen between the two of them, either when they were at school or when they were on their way home, and he needed to be prepared for whatever happened.
Yoruichi could tell that Sombra was worried, because she had the same feeling when she heard that he had met someone that claimed they were a Quincy, and she believed that Sombra was telling the truth on the matter, but at the same time they couldn't use the night to practice anything. Instead she made sure that Sombra had his tea, which he drained as he listened to the others talk, while she wondered what he was actually thinking about, though she had the feeling that he was right that something was coming, as all of his other feelings had been right so far. That, in itself, was strange, as the feelings that Sombra had told them about had been true, despite what she and Kisuke were thinking about, but she trusted him and knew that he'd tell them if anything happened, unless they felt it first.
When the morning of the eighteenth arrived Sombra headed out of the Urahara Shop and headed towards the clinic, so he could see what Ichigo and Rukia were up to, though when he arrived he spotted Rukia heading out in a different direction for some reason, but he decided not to bother her and stood outside the building as he waited for Ichigo to move. An hour or two later, when it was time for his friend to head to school, Ichigo emerged from the clinic and headed down the street, though as Sombra followed he found that Ichigo was thinking about last night and what Uryu had told him, which must have angered him in some manner. That thought was further enforced when they reached the school, as Ichigo made several comments while trying to remember Uryu's name, only for Orihime to come up behind him and give him Uryu's name, where he claimed that she knew a lot, only for Orihime to claim that she knew Uryu's name because they were both in the same handicrafts club.
When Orihime showed Ichigo where Uryu was sitting, in the same seat that Sombra had seen him sit in since he first started following Ichigo to the building, though as they watched a girl named Michiru Ogawa pulled out her damaged stuffed animal and asked if Uryu could help her... where they watched as he actually tossed the stuffed animal into the air, pulled out his sewing kit, and quickly sewed the arm back to the stuffed animal, before he returned it and put his kit away, where he returned to his book.
Sombra was impressed by Uryu's skill, as he wasn't expecting a Quincy to be able to do something like that, but even as he thought about that Ichigo walked away and started to observe his classmate through the rest of the day, as he seemed to be interested in something and didn't want to tell him anything. For the most part Ichigo's classmates didn't care about the fact that he was staring at Uryu, even though the teacher stared at him for a moment before starting the lesson that she had planned for today, something that Uryu seemed slightly interested in and paid attention. Sombra stood in the corner and observed everyone as this happened, finding that nothing interesting was happening in the classroom and that nothing interesting was happening outside the classroom, because there weren't any Hollows in the area, not after what happened yesterday anyway. Eventually the school day was over and Ichigo stayed behind for a moment, pretending to pack up the rest of his pack, before Uryu departed from the classroom, to which Sombra raised an eyebrow as Ichigo followed after him, doing the worst possible job at hiding himself and his reiatsu as he followed the Quincy into the town itself.
Sombra really had no idea why Ichigo was so interested in Uryu, especially after what had happened the previous night, but at the same time he stuck to the shadows as he shadowed both Ichigo and Uryu for a few minutes... though when they reached some stairs, after leaving the school building behind, Uryu stopped and Ichigo did the same at the bottom step, where he hid behind the wall so Uryu didn't see him.
"Are you going to follow me all the way home, Kurosaki?" Uryu asked, to which he turned around and looked down at the bottom step of the stairs he had just climbed, as his senses didn't lie and he knew that Ichigo was still there, which was why he was calling him out like this.
"So you knew." Ichigo said, just as he stepped out from where he was hiding and made it look like this was all a coincidence that he happened to be taking the same route home that Uryu was taking, but with a single glance he knew that he hadn't fooled Uryu and wondered if he knew that Sombra was in the area, "When did you notice?"
"I knew since the moment I saw you spying on me from the doorway with Orihime," Uryu replied, though instead of being smug about having known Ichigo was doing all that he remained neutral and uncaring, as there was a more pressing matter he was observing.
"Really now? That's impressive." Ichigo remarked, though at the same time he considered himself an idiot for not trying harder, as it appeared that his curiosity to find out where Uryu was sitting, to jog his memory, had given him away before he actually tried to spy on his classmate, "You've got some skills."
"It's because you always let your spiritual power leak out like an idiot." Uryu stated, but even as he said that he knew that the creature that was following Ichigo was much smarter than he originally thought, as he still had no idea if he was nearby or if he had taken off, "Even a monkey would notice. Apparently, you lack the ability to sense other people that have high spiritual power, and, as proof, you never noticed my existence until today."
"Well excuse me," Ichigo said, playing it off like it was no big deal, as he certainly didn't think that it was a big deal, while at the same time knowing that Uryu had to be right in some regard, as he knew that Sombra was someone with a high level of spiritual power, as he had a hard time figuring out where he was at any given moment, "I'm not good at remembering people's faces and names."
"That's not what I mean." Uryu stated, to which he turned around and looked down at Ichigo, as he was honestly surprised that he was this dense at times and could only wonder what his mysterious companion was like, "I noticed, the very day you transferred to our school, the inordinate height of your spiritual power. Along with the fact that you gained your Shinigami powers around mid-May, a month before your mysterious friend arrived in town... I even know Rukia Kuckiki's true identity as well."
It was in that moment that he stopped talking that the air around him was filled with energy and a fair number of Spirit Ribbons appeared around his body, surprising Ichigo for a moment since it had taken him some time and concentration before he was able to see them... though at the same time Sombra, who was leaning against the building behind Uryu, raised an eyebrow in interest, since this was a good time to see what a Quincy was capable of.
"Spirit Ribbons?" Ichigo inquired, as he knew the name, since Rukia had told them what they were called once he and Sombra had finished off the serial killer Hollow and sent it's soul to Hell, an event he wasn't going to forget for awhile, before he focused on Uryu.
"Yes, Spirit Ribbons." Uryu replied, taking a moment to look at the white ribbons that were gathering around him, as this would show Ichigo just how strong he really was, while at the same time proving that Shinigami were inferior to Quincys, "Or, in case you have no idea what they are, the compression and visualization of the spiritual auras in the atmosphere into ribbons that spiritually aware beings can follow. And..."
Sombra stopped leaning on the side of the building that he had been leaning on when Uryu disappeared from where he was standing, though as he walked forward he found the Quincy standing in front of Ichigo, crouched a little by the looks of it, and he happened to be holding a red ribbon while Ichigo was standing there with a stunned look on his face, revealing that he was caught off guard by Uryu's speed.
"And this... this is your Spirit Ribbon." Uryu said, though that was when he pulled on the red ribbon and broke part of it off, where he stood up and stared at Ichigo's face as he held the section of the ribbon in front of him, "Don't you know? The Spirit Ribbon of a Shinigami has a different color than the ordinary white ones... though I don't have to tell you that the color I'm referring to is red. Now then, why don't we have a match, Kurosaki?"
"And what sort of match are you thinking about?" Sombra asked, as he had decided that it was time for him to show himself, though at the same time Ichigo grinned a little when Uryu shivered, indicating that the Quincy had forgotten about his existence for a few moments.
"Oh, just a match to show that Quincys are superior to Shinigami, that's all." Uryu stated, though the look on his face told Sombra that he had something planned for such an occasion, something that he wasn't going to like, while at the same time Ichigo sighed.
"Freaking ridiculous." Ichigo declared, to which he crossed his arms as Uryu turned and looked at him again, because he was the one that Uryu was talking to and wanted to have a match with, "Why should I bother to have a match with you? It's stupid. I honestly have no idea what you have against Shinigami, but it's got nothing to do with me. I'm just a Substitute Shinigami until these powers go away. Besides, even if I were to agree to such a thing, there'd be no competition between the two of us."
"That's right, you're only borrowing your power from Rukia Kuchiki," Uryu said, to which Ichigo glared at him for a moment, where Sombra could see that all Uryu was doing was tapping a few of his buttons and was getting a response out of his friend, which explained why he was still doing it, "you couldn't agree to a match without her giving you permission to even raise a finger."
"Ichigo, there's no reason you should listen to what he's sa..." Sombra started to say, though at the same time he noticed a familiar look in his friend's eyes and knew that his mind was already made up, as the moment Uryu said that he couldn't make decisions on his own had snapped something inside him... because, at that very moment, he pulled Kon out of his bag and started to extract the pill that was inside the stuffed animal.
"If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you'll get." Ichigo replied, to which he popped the Mod-Soul pill into his mouth and let his soul separate from his body, to which he touched the ground behind Kon and stared at Uryu, who was calmly staring at him the entire time, "Kon, watch the fight... I'm going to pound this guy concave. Now then, why don't you go ahead and explain the rules of this match."
"Let's use this." Uryu stated, to which he reached into his shirt pocket and withdrew what Sombra guessed was a tablet of some kind, one that he held between two of his fingers as he locked his gaze with Ichigo's, "It's anti-Hollow bait. If you break it and scatter it around, Hollows will gather. The one who beats the most Hollows in twenty-four hours will be the winner... and I'll even let your strange friend join in if he wants. Simple rules, right?"
"How about this; your match is hereby cancelled." Sombra stated, though before Uryu could react he snatched the tablet from his hand and glared at the Qunicy for a moment, as he couldn't believe what he was trying to pull, "I'm all for the two of you fighting, like normal people should, but there's no way in Hell I'm going to let you break this tablet and call in a bunch of Hollows, who are going to endanger the townspeople in the process, just for your stupid match."
"Then it's a good thing I'm always prepared," Uryu replied, though as both Sombra and Ichigo realized that he had a second tablet, one that he had drawn as Sombra was talking about not letting him use such a thing, he crushed the tablet into powder and let it scatter across the winds... though it wasn't long before a small black hole appeared in the sky and a Hollow started to emerge from it, only for Uryu to destroy it with a well placed arrow to the face, "One down."
It was in that moment that Ichigo, enraged by what his classmate was willing to do to show that Quincys were superior to Shinigami, something that he honestly didn't care about, as he was actually putting the entirety of Karakura Town in danger, tackled Uryu to the ground for a moment.
"You should see the look on your face, Kurosaki." Uryu said, his voice still keeping the calm and collected tone that he had been using the entire time they had been talking with him, while his face was as neutral as usual, "But if you're going to ask me to undo the bait, I cannot do that. Soon this entire town will be buried in Hollows that will be drawn in by the bait... the die has been cast, as it were. If you want to save the people of this town you should really get moving, instead of attacking me... and, in case you've forgotten, Hollows like people with high levels of spiritual power."
Sombra wanted to say something, anything, to express how angry he was at the moment, as Uryu had put the entirety of Karakura Town in danger for the sake of this stupid match, but before he could find some words to voice what he was feeling his senses went off like mad, as Hollows were starting to appear all over town now. In fact several of them were actually coming out some distance above them, choosing them as their targets, though before Uryu had the chance to draw his bow again, and kill all four of the Hollows that were above them, Sombra decided that it was time to get serious as he drew his sword. In the next few seconds he flashed into the air and raced towards the first Hollow that was coming down towards them, where he swung his sword and cleaved the Hollow's mask in half as he dodged the incoming attack, before spinning around and moving out of the way as the next two came at him. Yoruichi had told him about Shunpo, the art that she had been teaching him for a month before he met Rukia, and he knew that he was at the practitioner stage, the lowest of the three groups from what he was told... but even then his skill with the art of moving was good for a beginner and he avoided the next attack, before slicing the two Hollows in their masks and purifying their souls.
The final Hollow of the group turned to leave, where he sensed that Uryu was getting ready to draw another arrow, but this time he was more than ready as he flashed in front of the slow moving Hollow and sliced it's mask in two, sending it's soul to Soul Society before he flashed down to where the others were standing... where he found Ichigo staring at him for some reason when he arrived.
"What... was that?" Ichigo asked, as that was the first time he had actually seen Sombra move so quickly, because every other time they had fought something he seemed like a novice, but then he had to remember that he had been around for a month before he got his powers from Rukia, meaning that he hadn't been idle the entire time.
"Shinigami call that technique Shunpo, or Flash Steps," Sombra explained, though at the same time he glanced around the area for a moment, as more Hollows were starting to appear and it was only a matter of time until they went after people like Orihime, Chad, or even Ichigo's family, "I picked it up during my training, before we were properly introduced to each other and before you got your powers from Rukia."
"Yeah, I figured that out on my own," Ichigo said, though he was still amazed by what he had seen, where he could tell that Kon was impressed by his speed as well and Uryu was just staring at him with a look of interest in his eyes, like he was trying to study Sombra or something, "Why have you been holding back the entire time I've known you?"
"Because I didn't think there was a reason to use all of my limited power against the Hollows we've been fighting," Sombra replied, as most of the Hollows he had encountered so far had been purified with a single well placed attack, so he had never seen a reason for him to bother using all of his speed and power to get a task done, even though he was far from reaching the levels that Yoruichi and Kisuke were on, before he turned his head to the side, "Look, I'd love to stick around and chat, but there are more Hollows passing over into the World of the Living and we've got to start purifying them before they kill someone, so we'll have to talk about this later."
"I'll hold you to it, Sombra." Ichigo said, to which the two of them nodded their heads and took off, as he was planning on finding his family and making sure they were alright before he bothered to start fighting the Hollows that were entering the town, though he knew what Sombra was going to do while he did that, "And maybe you'll have calmed down by the time we meet up again, because I've never seen you this angry before."
Sombra thought it was odd that Ichigo was saying that he was angry, when he was the one that had tackled Uryu to the ground, but at the same time he decided not to worry about that at the moment, to which he flashed into the air and got moving in the direction that Chad's energy was coming from. The reason he was heading in that direction was because he could sense a Hollow potentially heading towards Ichigo's friend, though at the same time, as he got further and further away from the bridge that Uryu was standing on, he made sure to keep an eye out for any Hollows that might come towards him. Sure enough he was right in his thoughts, because as he moved in the direction that he was heading in he noticed several more Hollows emerging from the holes in the sky, to which he readied his sword and prepared himself for some trouble as his targets came at him. The insect like Hollows definitely wanted to devour him, since many of them tried to bite him while they charged at him, though he flashed his way through the group of Hollows and sliced all of their masks in half, purifying all of them as they disappeared from the area as he continued forward. Sure, Uryu said that he could take part in the match between him and Ichigo if he so desired, but right now he had no desire to actually count how many Hollows he was taking care of as he made his way through the town as he followed Chad's energy.
He eventually reached the spot where Chad was standing, along with the humanoid Hollow that was currently chasing after him, though what was wrong when he reached the playground that Ichigo's sister, Karin, was playing soccer with her friends, though it appeared that she was heading home. The moment the Hollow reached Chad, and he managed to dodge it's attack despite not being able to see the Hollow very well, Sombra felt another group of Hollows appear in the area and turned around as he spotted the group in question, where all of them rushed towards him and kept him occupied while Chad was dealing with his opponent. As Sombra flashed around the area, taking out the occasional opponent while keeping an eye on Chad, he wondered why he was being targeted by so many Hollows all of a sudden, because it almost felt like someone was sending these enemies at him with the express purpose of keeping him busy when Ichigo's friends were under attack from whatever Hollow went after them. When Chad was hit, and knocked to the side when he was trying to defend Karin and her friends, he found that the Hollows wouldn't even let him go down and see if he was alright, meaning that they were here to keep him busy and when one was purified another took it's place... though that told Sombra that someone was trying to test his abilities.
A few moments later a light emitted from where Chad was standing and the Hollows actually stopped attacking for a few seconds, though when the smoke cleared Sombra found that the Hollow was missing it's left arm and Chad's right arm was now encased in some sort of strange black material that looked like armor with red designs... and, when he charged at the Hollow, which he could now clearly see, he swung his armored fist again and the Hollow was destroyed, it's soul being purified in the process. As Karin moved to assist Chad, to see if he was alright since he had been wounded in the fight against the Hollow, Sombra took advantage of the Hollows staring down at Chad with a look of hunger in all of their eyes, as he flashed around them and hacked apart their masks, purifying them before they could head down and hurt Chad further. When the group of Hollows disappeared, and no more came back, Sombra stood there and looked out over the part of the town that he was in, where he thought about what Uryu had done and the strange fact that all those Hollows had converged on him to prevent him from assisting one of Ichigo's friends.
As Sombra stood there for a moment he had to consider whether or not the stranger from when Sora had been attacking his own sister, before they were able to let him regain himself by breaking his mask, was responsible for him being attacked by all these Hollows. He considered the fact that such a thing would work, since the stranger seemed to know a lot about Arrancars, Hollows, and Shinigami in general, though if that was what was happening he had to wonder what plan the stranger had put in motion, while at the same time praising the fact that, if he was right, the stranger was smart to use Uryu's bait as the perfect cover for what he was doing. This was a dangerous game that Uryu was playing, since it was putting so many people in danger, and there was no telling what the robed stranger was doing, if he was behind why the Hollows were after him at the moment, but eventually he sighed and sheathed his sword for the moment, since it appeared that it would be some time before another Hollow revealed itself. Once he determined that no more Hollows were in the immediate area around him he flashed down to where Chad was resting, to which Karin jumped up and readied herself for a fight, showing that she could actually see him.
"Wh... Who are you?" Karin asked, though her stance told Sombra that she was getting ready for a fight, as if she believed that he was a threat to her and Chad, but Sombra couldn't fault her for thinking that, especially since he had part of a Hollow's mask in the shape of a crown, which Ichigo's sister might be looking at.
"Relax, I'm not here to hurt you or Chad," Sombra replied, to which he held up his hands for a moment, showing that he meant her no harm if she didn't trust his words, though at the same time she kept herself ready in case he was trying to deceive her, "I'm one of Ichigo's friends."
"You're... one of my brother's friends?" Karin repeated, as if the fact that Ichigo had a friend that she didn't know about was strange to her, not that Sombra blamed her since he had been keeping his existence a secret from those that might be able to see him, "Wait, what sort of monster was that? And you still haven't told me who you are!"
"My name is Sombra, and the creature that just attacked you was a Hollow," Sombra said, to which he stepped forward and gently picked Chad up, finding that he was heavier than he thought he would be, before he turned towards Karin for a moment, "Look, I would love to stick around and explain things to you, but there are more Hollows gathering around the town and someone needs to take care of them, so I'll take Chad to someone that can heal a wound inflicted by a Hollow. You should head home and check on your sister..."
"Yuzu!" Karin said, to which her eyes widened for a moment, realizing that if she was attacked, just like the last two times they had been assaulted, that the same thing might be happening to her sister, though that was followed by her turning and running out of the field as fast as her legs could take her.
Sombra stood there for a moment, sort of happy that the mention of her sister was enough to get Karin moving, before he took to the sky and headed towards the Urahara Shop, as he knew that Kisuke was going to be interested in what was happening and would be able to help Chad out. At the same time, however, he felt the pressure in the air shift, centered around the strange dark mass that was in the sky, and he knew that something terrible was coming to Karakura Town, thanks to Uryu trying to prove that Quincys were better than Shinigami, and that both he and Ichigo might not be ready for what was coming next.
Despite the fact that he was carrying Chad, and thus had to lower his speed to make sure nothing happened to Ichigo's friend, Sombra was able to make good progress as he flew over Karakura Town and eventually touched down outside Kisuke's shop. It was there that he found Rukia, who must have come here to talk with Kisuke about her phone and whatever else was bothering her, maybe even to find out what a Quincy was for herself, standing in the middle of the aisle with her phone in her head, though the shocked look on her face told him everything. Soul Society must have picked up on the fact that there were a number of Hollows around the town and were sending her orders to take care of them, since that was her job, though the sheer number of targets that her phone was detecting must have really stunned her, as she barely noticed Sombra as he walked into the shop with Chad. A few moments later Tessai carried Chad off to a room where he could rest and heal from his battle with the Hollow that had attacked him, though at the same time Sombra stood nearby and told Kisuke what was happening.
He made sure to tell Kisuke everything, not leaving out the fact that Uryu was behind the Hollows appearing all over the town, thanks to the anti-Hollow bait that he had been carrying on him, and described, to the best of his ability since he had been distracted at the time, the battle that Chad had been in. Kisuke, throughout the brief retelling of everything that Sombra had seen, kept the same straight face up the entire time, indicating that he was thinking about something, before a slight smile replaced him gloomy appearance. Rukia, on the other hand, was shocked at what Sombra had to say and, once he was done talking, she bolted for the door so she could try and find Ichigo, to see if there was a way to stop this before someone got hurt, to which Sombra sighed as she disappeared, as he wasn't about to chase her down and remind her that there wasn't much she could do in her present state. Not even a few seconds after Rukia charged out into the town Kisuke told him that he and the others would begin their preparations, for what Sombra had no idea, and that they would be ready in time for the main event, which only served to confuse Sombra more than he already was. In the end Sombra decided that he might as well just leave Kisuke to his business while he went out to deal with more of the Hollows that were responding to Uryu's bait... though before he left he found a reiatsu signature coming from where Orihime was, and it wasn't the power that he felt from Sora.
The moment he determined that Orihime was going to be the next target, thanks to Uryu, he apologized to Kisuke and headed outside the shop, to which he flashed into the air and started heading towards the high school, which was where Orihime's energy was coming from. Without carrying Chad around he was able to make even better progress than before, as he flew over the town and occasionally touched one of the roofs that were around him, though when he reached the high school he slowed down and descended towards the area that Orihime was in... where she, Tatsuki, and a student named Chizuru Honsho, if he was remembering it correctly, were sweeping up the scattered glass from some broken windows that were around them. Sure enough he found Sora standing nearby, keeping an eye on his sister, who was currently staring off into space with a slight frown on her face, though at the same time Sombra couldn't sense the Hollow he had felt moments ago, to which he walked over to the other Arrancar and faced the girls.
"Lord Sombra, is something wrong?" Sora asked, surprising Sombra for a moment, as he had no idea why the other Arrancar decided to call him 'Lord', nor did he understand why such a term, when spoken with his name attached to it, brought up a strange feeling of joy and pain, "I've felt a few Hollows enter this world, but before I can move to check them out something or someone takes them out and they disappear from my senses."
"Uryu Ishida, one of Orihime's classmates, is having a Hollow killing match with Ichigo," Sombra explained, though at the same time he decided to dismiss the strange feelings that he had felt when Sora called him 'Lord', as he was going to put a stop to that as well, "and I felt one of them in the immediate area around the high school, so I decided to come and see what was happening, as well as warn you that Hollows might be coming for your sister."
"I see." Sora said, to which a pained look appeared on his face, as he remembered when he had been a Hollow that was only following it's instincts, until his mask had been shattered and a new path had been revealed to him, before he sighed and looked over at his sister, "Thank you for telling me that she might be in danger. I'll do everything in my power, as an Arrancar, to protect her from the dangers that might come after her."
"You're welcome." Sombra stated, though as he turned to leave the area, since his work here was apparently already complete since the Hollow either moved on or had been destroyed by Uryu, he stopped in his tracks, as there was one thing he wanted to figure out before he left, "Hey Sora, why did you call me 'Lord' Sombra?"
"Well, you are the first Arrancar to call Karakura Town home, and you are the strongest of the two of us," Sora replied, though at the same time he had no idea why Sombra seemed a little put off by the word, as he was being respectful towards the one he considered his senior in every way, "I just felt that you might take offense to me, a weaker Arrancar, calling you anything other than 'Lord' when I was talking to you."
"Sora, I have no desire to rule over anything or anyone," Sombra said, as he had decided to snip this before it grew into an obsession for Orihime's brother, though at the same time he hoped that Sora understood what he was saying and took it to heart, "you don't have to call me 'Lord' whenever you talk with me. Using just my name is fine."
"I see. Then I shall endeavor to do just that." Sora stated, with a look of determination in his eyes, reminding Sombra of the night that he had been determined to take his own life, to protect both his sister and the other people that lived in the town, before the stranger had helped change his life around for the better.
Sombra nodded, pleased to find that his time wasn't wasted in this area, and turned to leave so he could take out some of the Hollows that were gathering some distance away from where he and Sora were standing, though as he got ready to leave he felt a shift in the air, one that Sora felt as well. Sombra glanced at the sky above them and watched as another large group of Hollows, roughly ten of them at least, were gathering in the air above the high school, though at the same time he knew who they had come for and found that, when he glanced over at Sora, the other Arrancar knew what was going on this time. Together the two of them raced towards the sky and drew their Zanpakutos, to which both of them avoided the incoming claws and tentacles that were coming their way while hacking the limbs apart, though at the same time Sombra made sure to cut the masks apart when an opening revealed itself. Sora, not having very much skill in actually fighting Hollows, followed his led and tried to mimic his actions to the best of his ability, though from time to time Sombra heard the sound of a Hollow scoring a lucky hit and hurt Sora in the process... but he couldn't assist him, not when the number of Hollows was starting to increase around him and he found that they were all focused on him and Sora, just like the group that had stopped him from assisting Chad earlier.
As the two of them started to deal with the Hollows, and purified them, Sombra noticed that Tatsuki and Chizuru were arguing over something and that Orihime's excuse was that she wanted to get the job done so she could go home and watched something on her television... though as she tried to get her friends out of the area, however, it was Tatsuki that broke rank, which was followed by Sombra spotting the jellyfish looking Hollow, with six appendages, that was how above where she was standing.
Sora, seeing that his sister was now in danger, tried to bypass the Hollows that were attacking him, but at the same time his opponents refused to let him leave the area and kept him up in the sky with Sombra, essentially forcing them to pick when they wanted to attack as they waited for an opening to reveal itself. As they were doing that, and Sombra dodged the incoming claw before splitting the Hollow that attacked him in half, the Hollow that was below them started firing seeds from it's mask, one of which hit Chizuru in the shoulder and left some green liquid on her shirt. It was in that moment that Sombra noticed something odd about the Hollows, they were actually attacking to kill them, like all of the ones before Uryu scattered the bait he had been holding, but rather they seemed to be following the orders of a superior being, one that wanted them to stay away from Orihime and let her suffer through whatever was going to happen. This was further confirmed when the Hollows that were attacking him paused when they saw that he was standing still, though he assumed that they would attack again if he moved towards Orihime... to which he cursed the fact that he wasn't as fast as Yoruichi was, otherwise he would have gotten around these Hollows and been at her side, though right now he guessed that he and Sora were being reduced to observers, as much as he hated that thought.
In the following seconds Chizuru got up and everything seemed to be find, until her left arm moved on it's own and grabbed Orihime's arm, painfully moving it in the process, while at the same time Orihime turned towards the Hollow that had done this and asked what was going on. Sombra learned, in that moment, that the seeds that the Hollow had fired from it's mask allowed it to control it's target's bodies, indicating that it wasn't much of a fighter like most of the Hollows he had taken care of so far, and that it loved to make Humans fight each other. That was when the Hollow revealed that it had some of the other students under it's control and sent them at Orihime and Chizuru, only for Tatsuki to join in and start beating the daylights out of the students that were trying to get at her friends. Of course things immediately went wrong when the Hollow forced Chizuru to stop holding Orihime, who the other students grabbed onto, and surprised Tatsuki, which was when the jellyfish Hollow hit her with one of it's seed in the shoulder as well... though when the Hollow landed beside her, to taunt her, Tatsuki did something that Sombra wasn't expecting, she stood up and bit into the appendage that the Hollow was using to touch the side of her face, causing pain to shoot through the Hollow's body.
"That's... an interesting tactic." Sombra commented, where he rested one of his hands around his chin, making it look like he was thinking about something, while also sheathing his sword so he could watch the fight unfold, to which Sora, finding that the Hollows wouldn't attack them if they stood still, did the same thing and floated beside him... though he knew that Sora didn't like this one bit, which he had to agree with, as that was why he was actually studying the Hollows and looking for a path they could take to get down to Orihime.
Not a few seconds later the Hollow, deciding that Tatsuki wasn't worth controlling since she was resisting it, shot three more seeds into her body and knocked her to the ground, causing Orihime to free herself from the students that were holding onto her and run towards her fallen friend... only for Tatsuki, her body now seized by the Hollow, to kick her in the chest and caused her to fall to the ground, while her body got up as well. Sora looked ready to destroy something the moment his sister was hit, but Sombra held up a hand and stopped him, because Orihime's reiatsu had increased quite a bit as she reached some truth that only she knew, though that was before he noticed that her hairpins were starting to glow on their own. That was followed by the wind picking up and shrouding her as her hairpins became active, or at least that was what he assumed was going on, and even the Hollows that had gathered around him and Sora were looking down at the battle that was happening below them... but even though the perfect opportunity had appeared, as their foes were distracted, Sombra found that he no longer desired to interfere with this fight, so he crossed his arms and continued to observe the fight.
"Tatsuki said that you chose the wrong person to pick a fight with." Orihime said, her silhouette appearing in the tempest that had formed around her, though at the same time her opponent stood there in shock as the students were blown away from where she was standing, "But that's not it. You chose the wrong person to hurt. I won't forgive anyone that hurts Tatsuki!"
As the wind and smoke cleared Sombra raised an eyebrow, because at first he didn't see anything that was different about Orihime, as Chad had an armored arm when he was fighting his Hollow, but that was before he spotted what appeared to be six different styled creatures, all about the size of a hand, flying around Orihime like fairies... and yet, when he observed them, he could tell that when they were flying they looked like projectiles of some kind. As the Hollow made a comment on Orihime's strange power she seemed confused as to what was going on, only for one of the fairies to land on her shoulder and smile at her, before floating in the air as the other five came close to her as well, where the female looking fairy introduced them as the Six Flowers of the Hibiscus Shield. That caught Sombra's attention, as it appeared that Orihime's power was to put up shields and reject things, which required her to speak certain phrases so they knew exactly what they were doing, though one of the six seemed to know exactly what needed to be said to get the job done and proceeded to coach Orihime as the Hollow launched a cluster of seeds at her.
"Hinagiku, Baigon, Lily," Orihime repeated, naming three of the six fairies that were around her, to which the three named ones readied themselves for what they were about to do, while she learned the rest of the incantation that she was being taught, "Santan Kesshun! I reject!"
It was in the following moment that the three named fairies turned back into their projectile nature and flew forward, where they formed a upside down triangle in front of Orihime and a shield of sorts, in the shape of the same triangle that the fairies had made, formed between them, protecting her from any sort of damage in the process. The same fairy explained that the power of those three was to reject anything that was outside the shield, protecting her from harm in the process, and went on to explain that the power that she and a second fairy commanded was the power to reject things that were inside a shield, restoring damaged objects to a state before they were damaged. In the moment after that information was dropped Orihime called out 'Shun'ou, Ayame, Soten Kisshun! I reject!' and the two fairies formed an oval shield that completely covered Tatsuki, where the damage she had taken was reversed before their very eyes, much to both Sombra and Sora's surprise. Before Orihime could get distracted the final fairy, the one that wouldn't let Orihime understand where the six of them had come from and seemed like a brat, revealed that he had the power to reject both sides of the shield, meaning that he could split his foes in half... which was followed by Orihime declaring 'Tsubaki, Koten Zanshun! I reject!' and the fairy turned into it's projectile form and flew forward with some reiatsu gathered around it, where it struck the Hollow square in the head and cleaved it in half, purifying it somehow.
As Sombra stood there, with shock written all over his face at the astonishing power that Orihime, a Human, had inside her, the Hollows that were around him and Sora headed towards the sky and disappeared as quickly as they had appeared, allowing them to move once more... to which he remained where he was while Sora went down to check on his beloved sister, as he was surprised by what he had just seen, as Chad's power didn't compare to this. Once the Hollow was no more Orihime collapsed as Sora landed beside his sister, where he smiled and said that he was proud of her, but at the same time Sombra knew that she was exhausted from her ordeal, to which he called for Sora to carry her so he could take them to the Urahara Shop, and he made sure that Sora collected his sister's hairpins as well. It didn't take them long to reach the shop, as Sora moved faster than what Sombra was expecting, though he should have expected some good speed since his sister was exhausted, though when they arrived at the shop he found Kisuke waiting for them... though the disappointed look that the store manager gave him, when he noticed Sora standing behind him, told Sombra that he'd be talked to about lying about something, but for now Kisuke didn't press the issue as they brought Orihime to where Chad was resting at the moment.
What Sombra wasn't expecting, however, was for both of the Humans to move again, especially a few moments after they had set Orihime down near Chad, though as Sora decided to stay behind, and make sure his sister was alright, Sombra excused himself and departed from the shop... because right now he wanted to find Ichigo so they could bring an end to what Uryu had unleashed upon Karakura Town, as the number of spots that the Hollows were coming through was increasing and there appeared to be no end in sight. He was sure that some of them were being drawn to the town by the bait that Uryu had broken, as that was it's purpose after all, and some of them must have been pulled by Ichigo's reiatsu, just like the first few instances that he faced, though that didn't explain the ones that went after him and Sora. He was still convinced that the robed stranger was behind the Hollows attacking him, how he wasn't sure, but if that was the case he needed to be careful about how he moved through the town, though it wasn't hard to find the direction that Ichigo was in, not with his extraordinary power pulling him right towards his destination.
Thanks to his speed, and the fact that it was easy to find Ichigo, Sombra soon reached the area that his friends were gathered in, because he found Kon, Rukia, and Ichigo standing near Uryu, though it looked like another Hollow had been purified moments before his arrival, but he pushed that to the back of his mind as he landed next to them.
"You finally caught up with us, Sombra." Ichigo said, to which he smiled for a moment, because he felt better now that the Arrancar was by his side again, especially after Kon told him that both Karin and Yuzu were safe, before he turned his attention back to Uryu, "Good timing, I was getting ready to beat the daylights out of Uryu for the mess he's created."
Uryu, however, responded by engaging his bow and pointed the arrow right at Ichigo, which was because a Hollow crashed on the ground behind Ichigo and prepared to strike him, though when Ichigo turned around to face the creature Uryu accidentally released the arrow and let it fly at Ichigo's head. Ichigo then turned around and swung his sword, where he smashed the arrow into pieces, before he turned around again and cleaved the Hollow in half, purifying the soul that was hidden behind the mask, which only caused him to turn back towards Uryu once more.
"That's right, you do understand." Ichigo commented, taking the fact that the arrow had come towards him to be some sort of challenge from Uryu, who was simply staring at him with a look of shock on his face, while at the same time pointing at himself for a moment, "This fight is between you and me. So quit talking about who took down more Hollows! Let's settle it between the two of us."
"Hey, Ichigo." Kon said, interrupting what was going on, as he, Sombra, and Uryu were focused on something else at the moment, because their eyes were on the sky that was off in the distance, something that Ichigo hadn't noticed since he was busy talking to Uryu.
"What? I'm a little busy he..." Ichigo started to say, but when he noticed the look on Sombra's face, as he was more focused on whatever Kon and the others were staring at, he knew that something was up and that he needed to turn his attention to something else, to which he turned and looked in the direction that they were looking in, where he found a large number of Hollows gathered in a single spot, "What's going on?"
"The Hollows... they're gathering in a single spot." Uryu stated, though the look on his face told anyone that was looking at him that this wasn't a good thing, even if he himself might not know what was going on at the moment, but at the same time he was focused on something else.
Sombra glanced at Uryu as he charged forward, only for Ichigo to stop him with a comment about how may Hollows there were, in the sense that one person couldn't take out that many enemies by themselves, before Uryu asked him if he was scared about the number of foes and then declared that victory would be his... though as he headed up to the top of the stairs, and started firing at the Hollows, Rukia explained the situation to Ichigo while Sombra, already having heard this from Kisuke, drew his sword and started dicing the Hollows apart while Uryu worked. What he discovered was that there were a large number of Hollows in the area, where the majority of them gathering together around the strange crack in the sky, though while he targeted those ones he also noticed a large group of them were standing around Uryu, who was slaying them as quickly as he could. Sombra could tell, from just a glance, that Uryu was pushing himself too far for this challenge, as some of his fingers were bleeding from constantly pulling on the arrows and loosing them at his targets, but it seemed that the pain was the last thing on his mind at the moment, as he was concentrating on the Hollows that were around him and Sombra did the same thing.
What worried Sombra was that he flashed around the area and cut down fifteen Hollows in a row, and he counted them because he was curious as to how many there were, only for fifteen new ones to suddenly join the battle that was raging around them... though as he dodged the attacks that were coming his way he spotted Ichigo charging towards Uryu, where he hacked and slashed his way through the Hollows until he was standing near Uryu once more.
"Uryu, I heard your reason for fighting," Ichigo said, though at the same time he stood on top of a pile of Hollows with a triumphant look on his face, but while Sombra saw that he also noticed that he was serious, which was good considering that they needed to be ready for anything, "Whether the Shinigami are right, or the Quincys are right, I dunno about all that and I don't mean to say that I'm one way or the other... but there is one thing I know, your way is..."
"That's ancient history." Uryu stated, though as he turned towards Ichigo, and turned his focus away from the Hollows that were around them, which Sombra noticed were simply observing them, he simply pushed his glasses into pack into place as Ichigo frowned for a moment, as he was caught off guard by Uryu's uncaring attitude towards the Quincys that were killed all those years ago, "I have no interest in the extermination two hundred years ago. I've only heard about that event from Sensei's stories. In fact, as far as that story goes, I even feel that the Shinigami's side was more just than the Quincy's side was... until my Sensei died right before my very eyes. Furthermore, I believe that the Quincy's were wrong for turning a deaf ear to what the Shinigami were trying to tell them."
Uryu seemed to pause for a moment, as if he was thinking about something, but at the same time both Sombra and Ichigo looked at each other for a few seconds, as both of them were caught off guard by how uncaring Uryu was towards the Quincy's that the Shinigami were forced to kill, since they were a danger to the entire world being destroyed... but before they did anything Uryu seemed to snap out of his memories and stared at the two of them again, where Sombra found his calculating eyes were focused on Ichigo once more.
"Sensei was a kind person that didn't hate or despise anyone!" Uryu stated, to which he raised his bow and pointed it in Ichigo's direction, with an arrow ready to be fired at a moment's notice when Sombra noticed his other hand was pulled back, before he loosed the arrow at a white skinned Hollow with black stripes, "As the Last Quincy, Sensei was under strict observation by the Shinigami... and yet, he continued to appeal to them, to combine our strengths and fight together. But the answer was always the same: Don't interfere with our work. Then, on that fateful day, five huge Hollows appeared. It was obvious that he couldn't fight them alone, not without assistance from the Shinigami... but when they finally arrived, to offer some aid, it had been two whole hours since he started fighting and it was too late to help him. If they had only recognized his power, his ideas, they would have come to help sooner... and then Sensei wouldn't have died like he did! Can you understand my words, Ichigo Kurosaki? I must prove the power of the Quincys before the eyes of the Shinigami no matter what!"
Uryu stood there for a second or two, staring at Ichigo's face, which still had the same frown that he had been wearing since the moment he started talking, before sighing as he turned around and faced the Hollows that were behind him, while at the same time finding it odd that they had simply been observing them, which was something to look into later since this was new to him.
"I know our ideals are completely opposite." Uryu said, not even bothering to look back at Ichigo, who was frowning at him, or even taking a moment to look to his left, where Ichigo's mysterious friend was standing, as he was now focused on his mission once more and readied another arrow as he sought out a target, "If either of you think I'm mistake, then stand where you're currently standing and watch me. With my own power, I'll..."
It was in that moment that Ichigo, who was frustrated with Uryu, rushed forward and kicked Uryu in the back of the head, though while Uryu was surprised by the sudden attack, and Sombra wasn't too surprised as he noticed that some of the Hollows were caught off guard as well, Ichigo stood there and stared at Uryu for a few seconds.
"When are you going to shut up?" Ichigo asked, though as Uryu got up, and started to demand what he thought he was doing, Ichigo stabbed his Zanpakuto into the ground and glared at Uryu, in the same manner that Sombra recognized from when he beat up those teenagers over the spilled flower vase earlier, "What you said makes no sense. Basically, your Sensei's hope wasn't to make the Shinigami recognize the powers that he and the other Quincys possessed, but to combine our strengths and fight together, right?! In that case, if you don't do that now, when the Hell are you going to?"
Sombra smiled as Ichigo pulled Uryu to his feet and stood with his back to the Quincy's back, while at the same time opening up a slot for a third person to stand near them, which was when he flashed down and joined his friend, who pulled his sword from the ground and readied himself.
"Ichigo's right," Sombra said, to which he readied himself as well, as he knew that this fight was far from over, because there were a lot more Hollows than there had been when Uryu and Ichigo started talking to each other and knew that it would take all three of them, working together, to stop them, "in a battle such as this, where we are faced with such overwhelming odds, the best thing we can do is fight back to back and combine our strengths."
"Creature that follows Kurosaki around," Uryu spoke up, as while part of his voice revealed that he was surprised by the fact that both of them wanted to work together with him, after both of them had been angry with him for using the bait in the first place, the other part of his voice indicated that he was curious about something, "might I ask you what your name is?"
"First off, I'm not a creature, I'm an Arrancar," Sombra replied, though at the same time he was pleased to hear that Uryu was at least willing to work with them, at least that was what he assumed based on the Quincy's voice, before he turned towards the Hollows that were getting ready to attack them, "and secondly, my name is Sombra. It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Uryu Ishida."
Uryu wasn't surprised that the creature, Sombra as he called himself, knew his name, since he had introduced himself to him when he confronted Ichigo and Rukia, but at the same time he knew that his questions about who he was and what he was would have to wait, as there were Hollows to defeat and he loosed the first arrow that signified the start of their assault. As the three of them stayed close to each other, where Ichigo and Uryu exchanged turns taking out the Hollows that were charging at them, and Sombra used his Shunpo training to their advantage, all three of them glanced at the crack that was in the middle of the air nearby, as that was the only thing that truly worried them at the moment. As they fought the Hollows Sombra overheard Uryu stating that he wasn't doing this because of what he and Ichigo had said, rather it was because he would have been killed if he didn't fire at the Hollows he had killed, though Sombra smiled when Ichigo said it was just fine, as kill or be killed was more than enough for him at the moment. Then it got personal for a moment, as Ichigo decided to tell Uryu the reason that he wanted to defeat Hollows instead of outright killing them like the Quincys did... and that was because his mother was killed by a Hollow, where Sombra noticed that this specific piece of information was enough to shock Uryu for a moment.
When Ichigo said that he didn't want to create more people like him and his family, who were all sad in their own ways and suffered because of his mother's passing, Sombra noticed a faint light appear in Uryu's eyes, no doubt because Ichigo's words reminded him of something that his Sensei had told him... though that was when Sombra smiled, as the next words that Ichigo spoke were the same words that Rukia had told him the first day he was a Shinigami, that he had to protect others and not just those that were dear to him.
As Sombra started to flash around the battlefield that was around them he couldn't help but smile, as despite their differences and their individual beliefs both Ichigo and Uryu understood each other completely, even with Uryu making a comment on not knowing when Ichigo was going to shut up, before they started attacking the Hollows around them once more. He was sure that this was good news, as both of them, while swearing to protect the people of Karakura Town in their own ways, were agreeing to focus on protecting the people that shared the town with them and actually put the contest behind them, as there were too many Hollows for such a thing to matter anymore. At the same time he was sure that, when Rukia heard the news, that she would be overjoyed to learn that Ichigo had taken to his role as a Substitute Shinigami and had accepted everything she had been trying to teach him since he took her powers, even going so far as to be on friendly terms with the local Quincy.
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the sound of something breaking and looked towards the crack in the sky, which was now much larger than it had been moments ago and knew that something was wrong, especially since he was sure that the situation was going to change.
"Ichigo, Uryu!" Sombra said, turning to look at the duo that was fighting Hollows at the moment, though when they stopped, and the Hollows paused as well, he could see a look of shock appear on Uryu's face and an unsure look replace Ichigo's frown, as he wasn't sure what was happening at the moment, "Something's happening to the sky."
"Yeah, we can see that." Ichgio replied, though he was fortunate that these Hollows were being polite enough to wait for them to stop talking before they attacked again, otherwise he was sure that they would have been walking away with more cuts and bruises than they normally did, "The question is, what is what?"
The moment Ichigo said that two large white hands, with large nails that were sharp on all of the fingers, grabbed two sides of the cracked sky and started to pull them apart, like someone was pulling a curtain or something, before a massive Hollow, whose mask was larger than any Sombra had seen before and had an elongated nose, moved it's head into view as it looked out at the area around it. This time around all three of them were shocked by the arrival of such a creature, as none of them had seen anything like it, and yet, in the background, Sombra could hear a shocked Kon gasp as he saw the creature and heard the terrified part of Rukia's voice as she identified the creature as a 'Menos'. From what Sombra heard, as she was explaining all this to Kon for some reason, a Menos was supposed to be created when hundreds of Hollows pile on top of each other and intermingle, before referring to the Hollow by another name, Menos Grande. At the same time, while he was listening to what Rukia was saying, Sombra heard Uryu state that it was impossible for the bait to have called something this massive to Karakura Town... though, at the same time, that only confirmed Sombra's beliefs further, that someone else was behind part of what was going on at the moment.
This time around the Hollows changed tactics, as if the Menos Grande's arrival was a signal of some kind, and readied themselves and they prepared to attack the trio, though that was followed by Ururu appearing with some sort of projectile based weapon, that punched holes in her targets, Jinta used his massive metal bat to beat his targets, and Tessai used his hands to pretty much erase a Hollow's head... and, as Sombra expected, Kisuke was standing nearby with a smile on his face, showing that he was pleased with what was going on, even if the town was in danger.
"Kurosaki-san, we came to assist you and Sombra." Kisuke said, though that was followed by the trio that had accompanied him continuing their assault, turning the tide against the Hollows that were around them, while at the same time both Ichigo and Uryu stared at him with a look of shock on their faces, while Sombra smiled, "We'll take the small fry, so you two can focus on fighting him."
Sombra glanced at the Menos Grande that was slowly pulling it's way into the World of the Living, where he found that it was easily sixty feet tall, was wearing a black covering that looked like a cloak, and around it's neck was a series of white spikes that were level with each other. It was a menacing looking creature, that much Sombra knew from seeing it for the first time, and yet, to keep the town and it's people safe, he, Ichigo, and Uryu needed to work together to find some way to take care of the Menos Grande before it destroyed something or killed someone.
"How insanely huge." Uryu commented, where he adjusted his glasses for a moment, because for the moment it appeared that he was the brains of the group, at least between him and Ichigo since he had no idea about Sombra, and someone needed to come up with a plan for them to use to take the creature down, which was why he was currently observing the massive creature.
"Yeah, it's taller than anything I've seen so far." Sombra admitted, though at the same time he tightened his grip on his Zanpakuto, as he knew that it was only a matter of time until they had to engage the Menos Grande and was looking for any weaknesses they might be able to use when that happened, but for now he wasn't seeing anything that would allow them to bring down the Hollow in a timely fashion.
"There's no point in trying to come up with a plan to fight a monster like that," Ichigo said, to which both Sombra and Uryu looked at him for a moment, because both of them thought that he had lost his mind, as this wasn't something that someone attacked without a plan, especially since Sombra also heard Rukia tell Kon that this wasn't something that a Shinigami fought alone, to which he lifted his sword into the air for a moment, "Things like that you just slice and dice and cut it down as best as you can. There's nothing else we can do! Now then, Sombra, Uryu, follow me!"
Before either Sombra or Uryu could react, as they were still surprised that Ichigo was acting the way he was, Ichigo charged forward and rushed towards where the Menos Grande was entering the World of the Living, forcing both of them to follow after Ichigo while Rukia, who tried to stop them from attacking the Menos Grande, was restrained by a binding spell and was forced to watch what was happening. Ichigo, reaching the area that the Menos Grande was stepping into, jumped up and swung his Zanpakuto at the creature's shin, only to find that it barely went into the creature's skin, before he was knocked backwards by the Menos Grande moving it's leg and fully entering the world. Sombra, using his speed, caught Ichigo after he hit the ground once and bounced off the ground, though as he landed near Uryu, however, the Quincy readied an arrow and loosed it at their opponent's face, where it simply hit the side of it's mask and did next to nothing, which caused Uryu to growl in annoyance.
"Ichigo, are you alright?" Sombra asked, as he knew that there were times, since he had first been introduced to the Human turned Substitute Shinigami, where Ichigo could be a little reckless, though this time around he wasn't thinking about the creature that they were fighting and had likely gotten himself hurt in the process.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Ichigo replied, though at the same time he felt his forehead and withdrew his hand, where he discovered blood on his fingers and knew that, from hitting his head on the ground, that it was his fault that he had been injured in such a manner.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Uryu demanded, as this wasn't the time for them to be doing stupid things like this, as it was clear that none of them had seen a creature like this before and had no plan for dealing with it, though he was more upset over Ichigo rushing in without thinking than he was about him getting hurt, "How did you intend to beat a creature like this with that attack?"
"I thought that if I could cut it away, piece by piece from the feet up, the head would come down," Ichgio explained, to which Uryu let out a sigh that indicated that he was annoyed with Ichigo and Sombra, who had known him for such a short period of time, brought his empty palm to his face, as he couldn't believe what was happening, "like a kid's game."
"Your brain must have been constructed unbelievably wrong." Uryu stated, to which he knelt beside Ichigo while both he and Sombra glanced up at the Menos Grande for a moment, clearly showing that at least one of them was trying to form a plan in their minds about what they could do to defeat it, "Now get up, let's form a new plan an..."
Uryu had intended to touch the blade that Ichigo was carrying and get him back on his feet, that had been the plan, but the moment he touched the weapon he felt a surge of power rush into his body and his bow immediately rapidly increased in size, where he was sure that he caught it vibrating under the sheer power he was feeling. As he thought about what this meant for them, as he now had a clear method to actually deal some sort of damage to the Menos Grande that was starting to make it's way towards them, Sombra turned his head and looked at him with shock written all over his face, as he had no idea what was going on. When Ichigo noticed Uryu's bow, however, he was equally shocked by what he was seeing, though his shock turned to annoyance when Uryu revealed that the best way for them to tackle the Menos Grande was to tie the handle of his sword to Uryu's head, with Ichigo touching the handle so he could channel his power into Uryu and unleash a powerful attack in an instant. Sombra felt that it was a decent plan, and it went along with the fact that they both wanted to join their strength together to defeat a common enemy... but just as Ichigo let go of the handle, and started to say something about how stupid this plan was, all three of them felt the air shudder for a moment.
Sombra, flashing into the sky for a moment, could only stare in shock as a second crack formed not too far away from where they were standing, one that they must have missed when the Menos Grande revealed itself, as it was in the stages of another Menos Grande breaking free... and, if that wasn't bad enough, the first one had grown tired of Ichigo and Uryu arguing, as it was starting to gather it's spiritual energy into a spot in front of it's mouth, forming a small sphere of some kind that had four spinning particles surrounding it. As the first Menos Grande charged it's attack, as Sombra was sure that it was an attack, Sombra heard Rukia mention that this particular attack was a Cero, something that she was surprised to see happening and even called out for both Ichigo and Uryu to run before they were caught in the blast. Sombra would have flashed over to them and moved them out of the way, so they could fight the creature without getting caught in the process, but the one that was near him was starting to do the same thing, only as Sombra followed the creature's gaze he found that he was the Menos Grande's target... which only made him wonder if this was a simple coincidence or if the robed stranger was behind all of this.
Even from this distance Sombra could tell that Ichigo was slightly terrified of the situation that was happening all around them, Rukia continued to call out for them to flee before they were erased from existence, and Uryu was having a hard time believing that this was even happening, as this wasn't what he intended when he broke that piece of bait earlier, when he challenged Ichigo. As Uryu finally regained himself, and turned towards the man beside him, Ichigo grabbed his weapon from where it was resting and charged at the Menos Grande that was close to them, causing Sombra to stare at this in shock, as he was sure that Ichigo had finally lost his mind or something. The next thing that happened was that the first Menos Grande stopped charging the attack when Ichigo got close and opened it's mouth, to which a beam of energy erupted form it's mouth and raced down towards a shocked Ichigo, who raised his sword and let the attack hit the side of it while he reached deep down into the core of his being. Uryu was knocked back by the force of the Cero hitting Ichigo's blade, and even Sombra had to take a step back in the process, but both of them stared at Ichigo in amazement as he reached for his inner power, the same one that Uryu had asked him to harness for the destructive arrow he had planned to use against their opponent.
The air around them vibrated as the two conflicting powers battled each other for a few moments, with neither of them seeing to gain any ground, though that was before Ichigo shifted his stance and swung his sword diagonally upwards for a moment, resulting in the Cero being cancelled out and a wave of energy lashed out at the Menos Grande that he was fighting. That left a gash in the creature that went all the way from the base of it's clock and raced up towards the area that was near it's mask, diagonally like Ichigo's swing was, and the Menos roared in shock for a few seconds, clearly caught off guard by what was happening, while Ichigo stood there with a triumphant look on his face, while at the same time everyone else experienced a shockwave of sorts from what he had just done. That was followed by his opponent taking a few steps back before it was near the crack that it had used to enter this world, to which it pulled on the sides of the crack and pulled on them like curtains as it disappeared back into the world it had come from, likely Hueco Mundo, though Ichigo stood there and smiled at his victory. Of course the victory was short lived as Ichigo fell to the ground and his sword started to deform, like his power was going crazy and was about to explode or something, to which Uryu did the best thing he could think of and placed a foot on the weapon... to which his bow snapped open, even larger than before, and, as his arm was cut in the process, he started to loose arrows containing Ichigo's energy into the sky, to prevent him from dying so they could beat each other up later on.
While all this was happening, however, Sombra had one last problem to take care of before the contest was officially over, he had a second Menos to take care of, one that was now turning it's head towards both Ichigo and Uryu, as if it was going to try and stop them. Sombra growled in annoyance as he sheathed his Zanpakuto and moved between the Menos and the others, as he wasn't actually sure if he could replicate what Ichigo had done, though as he moved in the way of where the blast was going to go he noticed something standing near the second Menos, or rather someone. Standing close to where the second Menos was located was the robed stranger from earlier, immediately confirming everything he had thought about since this contest had started, though before he could do anything the stranger waved a hand and the second Menos loosed it's Cero right at Sombra. Since it was a decision between taking the attack, letting it vaporize Ichigo and Uryu, or letting it hit the town and kill who knew how many people in the process, Sombra braced himself and raised his hands as the blast barreled into his body, surrounding him in the Menos' energy as he kept it from going by him. He knew that the Cero would have been strong, as it was able to keep Ichigo at bay, but his opponent had a few more moments to charge it's attack and it was really showing, as Sombra could feel the energy cutting into different areas all over his body and causing pain at the same time... and yet, despite that fact, he pushed himself to keep the blast from reaching his friends and the people of the town that were directly behind him.
A few moments later, however, Sombra pushed back against the Cero and, to his surprise, shattered it with his own energy, though instead of wasting time, as he was already starting to feel slightly weak from the number of cuts the attack had inflicted on his body, and the top part of his clothing appeared to have been ruined by the attack, he raised his right hand and leveled it with the Menos. Now that he had seen how they used the Cero attack, twice he mentally reflected, he wondered if he, an evolved Hollow, could do the same thing that a Menos Grande did, to which he focused his own spiritual energy and a sphere of energy, entirely black colored for some reason, formed with four strands of energy being pulled into it's center.
"Eat this!" Sombra shouted, to which he rested his left hand on his right arm, to brace himself as best he could, and launched the energy the moment it was only the sphere remaining, to which a beam of pure black energy surged through the air and struck the Menos square in the forehead.
The resulting collision ended in the Menos' head being erased from existence, causing the body to fall to the ground and disappear like it had never existed, though as Sombra staggered, as both his wounds and the successful Cero attack had drained him more than he was willing to admit, he looked for the robed stranger and found that it had disappeared from the area once more. Sombra floated there for a moment, just as Ichigo and Uryu were tended to by Tessai and the others, before he floated down to the ground and fell to his knees, as his body was in more pain that he had been in, more than when he had been training with Kisuke and Yoruichi. He huffed for a few seconds, trying to work based the headache that the pain had brought on, until he collapsed on the ground and his body refused to move for some odd reason, where he eventually closed his eyes and tried to make the pain go away in a different manner. He was barely aware of the sounds of the others being moved out of the area, to head home while Kisuke tended to him, though when someone lifted him up he could have sworn that he heard Yoruich's voice for a moment, but in his current state he wasn't sure what was even going on anymore... and, at the same time, he barely noticed as he was carried away from the battlefield and was taken someplace where he could rest.
The only things he remembered, before actually passing out entirely, was the feeling of being submerged in water, where he could float, his head resting on someone's chest as they cleared the cuts and burns from his face, and the sound of Yoruichi's voice as she said that he'd be better in no time... and then he slipped into unconsciousness as he finally succumbed to his injuries.
Sombra moaned as he pulled himself out of the rest that he had been in, for who knew how long, and slowly opened his eyes, though his reason for moaning was a combination of of the fact that his body was sore and the fact that the morning sun was shining right in his eyes. As his eyes settled he found that he was back in the room that he had been given while he was in the Urahara Shop, which he often wondered if it was Yoruichi's room that Kisuke used as a spare room, since she was usually in her cat form all the time, unless she was training him in Shunpo. When he could see again he coughed as he gently pulled himself up and leaned against the back of the bed he was sitting in, though once he was in position the covers that had been over his chest fell off and he found that the chest part of his Shinigami style clothing had been burned off, if the edges of what remained where anything to go by. For a moment he couldn't exactly remember what had happened to cause such a thing, causing him to wonder if whatever had happened had robbed him of more of his memories, before he recalled that he had been in a brief fight with a Menos Grande and had taken a Cero to the face... before replying in kind by erasing the Hollow's head with the same type of attack, one that he hadn't known the existence of until the first Menos used it against Ichigo.
As he remembered all of that he looked down at his hands and thought that his body would have been injured because of that fight, but when he searched his body for wounds or injuries he found that his entire body was injury free, making him wonder what was going on... and then he remembered that someone had brought him to the underground training area and put him inside the healing hot springs that were beneath the Urahara Shop. As he thought about that he immediately remembered who had done such a thing, including the fact that she had gotten in the hot springs as well so she could make sure that his entire body recovered from his ordeal, to which he decided that he needed to thank Yoruichi the next time the two of them were in the same room together.
"Good morning Sombra," a voice said, to which he turned towards the doorway and found that Yoruichi, only wearing the black bodysuit part of her clothing, standing in the doorway, though at the same time she smiled at him as she walked into the room, closed the door behind her, and held up the cup that she was holding, which happened to hold the tea that he preferred to drink, "How are you feeling?"
"Slightly tired," Sombra replied, though at the same time he accepted the cup that had been offered to him and took a sip from it, finding some of his energy restored in the process, before he pulled the cup down and turned his attention to Yoruichi, who seemed worried about something, "Yoruichi, did something happen while I was out? You look worried about something, or worried for someone's safety."
"Well, I have a right to be worried about one of my friends, right?" Yoruichi inquired in kind, though at the same time Sombra could see the smile on her face was still there, despite the fact that she was clearly worried about something else, something that wasn't related to him, "I mean, you took on a full powered Cero from a Menos Grande, which burned off the top part of your clothing and cut numerous gashes into your body, and survived the encounter, by firing your own Cero and defeated the Menos in seconds. Kisuke had me wait until Ichigo and the others left, as he didn't want me to show myself to them just then, and when they were gone I flashed into the area, grabbed you, and carried you back here, where I used the hot springs to mend your wounds. Honestly, I wasn't expecting you to awaken until this afternoon, after you had a decent amount of time to rest, but it appears that Arrancars heal faster than what we thought you would, especially with the aid of the hot springs."
"Well, at least Ichigo and the others are alright," Sombra said, to which a slight smile appeared on his face as he leaned back for a moment, because despite how tired his body actually felt, from the battle he was in, he felt that he could engage some more Hollows and take them all on, but at the same time his mind focused on the stranger and the look that he had seen on Kisuke's face when Sora followed him to the shop, "Hey Yoruichi, is Kisuke mad at me?"
"Why would he be mad at you?" Yoruichi asked, though at the same time she knew exactly what was going through Sombra's mind at the moment, as she had been slightly surprised by the sudden arrival of the second Arrancar, who was apparently Orihime's brother from what she discovered, "From what I understand you didn't tell us because you were confused and were trying to make sense of what you had discovered that night."
"You mean that I discovered that an Arrancar is actually a Hollow that has removed their mask and gained Shinigami like powers," Sombra stated, to which he thought about the life that he didn't remember, which he knew had been stored inside the Zanpakuto that was trapped within Hueco Mundo, and actually wondered how many souls he had taken before he tore his mask off and became an Arrancar, "I'm still shocked by that information, even with all the time I've spent thinking about it... though, right now, I'm more shocked by the fact that the robed figure that had told us how to turn Sora into an Arrancar was there yesterday, when the two Menos Grande showed up."
"Robed figure?" Yoruichi inquired, as that wasn't something that Sora Inoue had mentioned when she was listening to the conversation that he had with Kisuke earlier, as the other Arrancar hadn't noticed that a cat was in the area and spoke like it was only the two of them, until Orihime came to and noticed that her brother was back.
"Yeah, there was a black robed figure near the Menos Grande that I fought," Sombra said, though he had guessed that if Yoruichi was in the area, to pick him up like she had, that she and Kisuke would have seen the figure before it had fled from the area, but it appeared that she hadn't seen it, meaning that the shop manager hadn't seen it either, "The first time I saw it was when Sora, who was still a Hollow at the time, tried to end his cursed life and purify his soul, to head to Soul Society, only for the figure to arrive and tell him that there was a different path he could take. That's when Sora became an Arrancar, the second to call Karakura Town home, and neither of us saw the figure until I spotted it yesterday, standing near the second Menos... almost like it was trying to test something or someone with such a powerful creature."
As Sombra explained what little he knew about the mysterious figure, and sipped from his tea cup while he did so, Yoruichi leaned against the wall and thought about what he was saying, as it almost sounded like someone or something was experimenting and testing Sombra's abilities. She guessed that it sort of made sense, as he was an unknown entity to whoever or whatever was observing the town, which was something that she and Kisuke would have to look into in the future, but at the same time that made her worried that there was something out there that was watching him. At the very least Sombra appeared to be thinking about what had happened, trying to remember anything that would be of some help to them, which Yoruichi was happy to see, though at the same time it appeared that, despite the surge of power he had used, he was still restricting his reiatsu, as if he was worried that Soul Society was behind the figure and didn't want to expose anyone that was around him. That brought a slight smile to Yoruichi's face, as that meant that he had finally overcome thinking about everyone as associates and was considering those closest to him as his friends, which had to be her, Kisuke, Ichigo, and Rukia at the very least, but for now she needed to focus on the task at hand, which was making sure that Sombra was fine.
Sombra found that, as the first few hours of the morning ticked by, that Yoruichi insisted on making sure that he was fine before letting him do anything else, though once he was allowed to leave the bed he found that his body moved as well as it had before he fought the Menos and survived the Cero blast. Once he was allowed to leave the bed, however, Yoruichi surprised him by allowing him to head out into the town, as there was something that she needed to look into before the day was over, though she insisted on him replacing the ruined grey Shinigami attire that he was wearing at the moment. Sombra still had no idea where Kisuke was able to get the spare pairs of similar colored attire that he stored in this same room, as it was the only place that Jinta and Ururu weren't allowed to enter, but at the same time he didn't care all that much as he changed into a fresh set of clothing before finding that Yoruichi had switched back to her cat form while he was distracted. From that point he walked out of the room and headed to the kitchen area, where Kisuke insisted on making sure that he was fine before allowing him to leave, though once he was outside Yoruichi nodded her head and disappeared... while he, on the other hand, flashed up into the sky and headed out to Ichigo's place, as he wanted to check there before heading to the high school.
When he arrived at the clinic he found that he must have missed Ichigo and Rukia, as neither of them were in Ichigo's room and he didn't hear his friend fighting with his father, to which he turned and flashed towards the school, but while he was doing that he could have sworn that he felt a slight difference in the reiatsu in the air... because as he flew through the air he felt two new reiatsu signatures that reminded him of the Shinigami that was there the day Ichigo's family visited his mother's grave, or at least that was what he thought it was.
It didn't take him long to arrive at the high school, though as he made his way towards Ichigo's classroom it appeared that he and the others were already outside for their sports class, but when he headed outside the students were apparently done for the day and headed back inside the main building. Sora, as he suspected, was keeping his distance from his sister while making sure that there weren't any additional Hollows in the area, not that he could blame him after what happened the previous day, though at the same time it appeared that he was proud of Orihime taking out a Hollow on her very own. As the students returned to class, however, he also glanced at the room that they would be back inside in the next few minutes and found Rukia staring down at them, or more accurately Ichigo, with what appeared to be a sad look on her face, one that seemed out of place when he thought about it, especially after everything they had done the previous day. When everyone was back in the classroom he also found that Uryu seemed to be missing at the moment, though that was before he entered the room and revealed that the reason he was late, and had bandages on his arms and some of his fingers, was because he 'fell down some stairs'.
As Sombra soon discovered that the excuse Uryu used was cliche and that it only caused the other students to talk about what had actually happened to him and Ichigo actually seemed worried about him, based on the look that was on his face, but Rukia told him that it wasn't his fault... which only escalated into Ichigo asking Uryu to join him for lunch, while Rukia was invited to join Orihime and the other ladies at the same time, which she accepted eagerly.
The rest of the day was slightly ordinary for Sombra, as Ichigo, Rukia, Orihime, Chad, and Uryu went to school while he and Sora made sure that there weren't any Hollows in the area that needed to be taken care of, only to find that there wasn't much for them to do since no Hollows wanted to come to Karakura Town. Sombra guessed that, if the Hollows were capable of thoughts and weren't focused on their instincts, his thoughts would be accurate, but at the same time he didn't know one way or the other, though he was thankful that there weren't any enemies to fight at the moment. It gave him time to relax a little, as the last few days had been quite chaotic with all the Hollows and people that they had to deal with, and soon enough the school day was over and everyone started to head home, though Rukia stayed behind for a moment so she could think about something, allowing Sombra to walk outside with Ichigo as they waited for her to join them. A few minutes later, when Ichigo was getting ready to leave the school, Rukia finally came outside and actually started to ask how he was feeling, reminding Sombra as to what happened that morning, when Yoruichi asked him how he was feeling after his battle with that Menos.
Of course the conversation was cut off when Kon, who apparently came running up the street and said he was sorry for running away, jumped up and grabbed onto Rukia's chest, though when Ichigo noticed that the stuffed animal was damaged he took him to Uryu... and, when the Quincy was tricked into fixing up Kon, both Ichigo and Rukia escaped the room, to which they headed home with an angry Kon following after them.
When night came, and most of the town started to fall asleep, Sombra remained in the shadowy part near Ichigo's room, so he could observe the main door and keep track of what was going on with Ichigo, but after some time he quickly noticed that something strange was happening. That was because a few minutes after the family dinner started, and he heard Ichigo head upstairs to share some with Rukia, as was the custom they had created, Sombra spotted Rukia emerge from the alley between the clinic and the building that was to the left of it, where she simply stared at the clinic for a moment before turning around and running down the street. For a moment he considered following after her, as he was worried that there might be something that she wasn't telling Ichigo, but before he could move he sensed a change in the wind once more, where he turned towards the air that was above a nearby pole, where two Shinigami appeared and were clearly not aware of his presence, to which he kept himself in the shadows as he observed them. Both of them were wearing the standard Shinigami, but as he observed them he noticed that one of them was wearing some sort of headgear, and that was the one with crimson colored hair, while the other had a white scarf around his neck, along with long black colored hair.
"Rear appearance match, 113. Neural attachment ratio, 88.5." the crimson haired Shinigami commented, as if he was either talking to himself or sharing information with the Shinigami that was beside him, who Sombra noticed was glaring down at Rukia with an uncaring look in his eyes, "Are you serious? She's really in a faux body. And I thought the Imaging Agency's information was useless. Rukia Kuchiki, we found you!"
The moment the crimson haired Shinigami said that he raised the headgear that he was wearing and grinned, while at the same time his companion said nothing, before the two of them flashed through the air and followed after Rukia, to which Sombra stuck to the shadows as he tailed them. Normally he would have involved Ichigo, but he was having a moment with his family and he deserved that, especially after everything that he had been through recently, though what Sombra was thinking was figuring out what these Shinigami wanted before calling Ichigo to assist him. At the same time he noticed that Rukia had no idea that they were even following her, as the one time that he flashed up close to see what she was doing he noticed that she was deep in thought and seemed to be running on autopilot, but at the same time it appeared that the Shinigami hadn't noticed him yet. He wondered if the two of them were so focused on Rukia and weren't paying attention to what was around them, but after seeing what happened with the first Shinigami he met after Rukia, who was shocked by his appearance, he knew that appearances could be deceiving and they might be trying to lure him into a false sense of security.
This also made him think about the fact that the other Shinigami they had encountered said something about them eventually finding Rukia, no doubt for her crimes of giving her powers to a Human, which he hadn't known about when she did that with Ichigo, and potentially spending this much time in the World of the Living. That worried him, because these two Shinigami seemed to be ready for a fight, if the crimson haired one was anything to go by, and that meant he needed to be ready for anything. Rukia, on the other hand, seemed to be making her way to the outskirts of the town, trying to put as much distance between her and Ichigo's place, though as all that happened Sombra noticed that the two Shinigami moved ahead of Rukia and positioned themselves accordingly, which meant that he'd find out what was going on soon enough. His instincts told him that a fight was going to break out when the Shinigami revealed themselves to Rukia, if what happened when Ichigo went to visit his mother's grave was any indication, and that made him keep a hand close to his Zanpakuto, as he had the feeling that he was going to need it in the near future.
"YES!" the crimson haired Shinigami declared, while at the same time crouching on top of one of the electrical poles that were in the area, to which Rukia paused and glanced up at the sky in shock, finally noticing that she had company, though while that happened Sombra stopped behind a tree and readied himself for battle, as the Shinigami was drawing his Zanpakuto from it's sheath, "You do get it! Well, to put it another way, since you stayed on this side for so long you basically got to live a little while longer... Rukia!"
"Renji... Renji Abarai?!" Rukia asked, though her tone revealed that she knew the Shinigami in question, while at the same time being shocked at seeing him again, almost as if she couldn't believe that Soul Society had selected him to come here and find her.
It was in that moment that the crimson haired Shinigami, who Sombra now knew was called Renji Abarai, jumped off the top of the pole that he was standing on and swung his Zanpakuto down on where Rukia was standing, though at the same time it appeared that he purposely missed, as the moment he landed Sombra noticed that the ground in front of where Rukia was standing was cracked a little...
"You had a pursuer from Soul Society closing in behind you, and you were so lost in thought that you didn't notice it until I spoke?" Renji inquired, though the grin on his face told Sombra that he found something amusing, but considering the fact that he had attacked Rukia, who was now frozen in place due to how close she had come to dying, Sombra readied himself to step out once the other Shinigami revealed himself, "I don't care if you are in a faux body, in just these two or three months you've gotten way too soft. Spit it out, Rukia. Where's the Human that took your powers?"
"What are you talking about?!" Rukia replied in kind, regaining herself as Renji raised his sword and rested it's edge against the back of his neck, as if he was relaxing for the moment, but that didn't stop Sombra from being ready for anything and everything, as the other Shinigami was still out there, "Just because I'm in a faux body doesn't mean my powers were taken from me! Furthermore, what makes you think the one who supposedly took them was Human?"
"He is Human." Renji stated, his smile turning into a frown as he glared at Rukia with an odd look in his eyes, as if he found something about the situation to be annoying, once more worrying Sombra at the moment, "Otherwise you... wouldn't have that stupid Human expression on your face! You're just another kid from Rukongai, just like me, and still you were lucky enough to get taken in by the Noble House of Kuchiki. With all that money and effort spent on you, weren't you supposed to become one of the Shinigami elite?! Eh?! You're Rukia freaking Kuchiki, damn it! There's no way that it's right for you to wear that Human expression... ain't that right, Captain Kuchiki?"
It was in that moment, after Renji's rant to Rukia, that he turned and looked behind her, where both Rukia and Sombra changed where they were looking and found the scarf wearing Shinigami from earlier standing some distance behind Rukia, who was both surprised and shocked by who was standing near her... and, oddly enough, Sombra noticed a number of flower petals flying through the air at the same time, making him wonder if there was a connection between the Shinigami and the petals.
"Byakuya... brother..." Rukia said, clearly unable to actually form any full sentences at the moment, showing how shocked she was at the moment, but her words told Sombra everything he needed to know, that this was Byakuya Kuchiki, Rukia's older brother by the sound of it, and she appeared to be quite shocked by his arrival, as she appeared to be unable to move at the moment.
"Rukia," Byakuya said, his voice carrying the indifferent and unfeeling tone that Sombra had guessed he would have, which only ticked him off since he was addressing his sister, though before he took a step out of his hiding spot he noticed that Renji was on the move again.
Renji charged at Rukia, while she was distracted by her brother's arrival, and swung his Zanpakuto at her, something that she noticed at the last second as the attack connected and knocked her away from where she hand been standing, to which she used her hands to stop herself, some distance behind her brother, before a light gash appeared on the right side of her face, right where her cheek was.
"'The transfer of Shinigami powers to a Human' is a felony, you know?" Renji inquired, as if he thought that Rukia had forgotten something that she had been taught and was reminding her of what she had forgotten, while at the same time he unknowingly gave Sombra more information on what was happening at the moment, before he held the blade of his Zanpakuto in front of Rukia's face, "Leaving the execution to us, instead of the Corrections Corps, was probably the Brass' version of kindness. Now, spill the location, Rukia. We're here to capture you... and kill the guy that took your powers. Don't protect him. You realize it, don't ya? You didn't dodge my first two attacks, I let you dodge them. The next attack will definitely kill you."
Rukia stared at Renji for a moment, now aware of the danger she was in, and backed up a few times, which caused Renji to advance on her, before things got exciting when Renji swung at her and missed because she jumped over him, but Sombra, who was observing how the Shinigami moved, noticed that it was another ploy, as Renji used that to jump into the air and slam down where Rukia was standing, forcing her back down the path she had used to reach this point and got a cut on her right arm in the process. Renji, sensing that the time had come to end this, approached Rukia and prepared himself to execute her, to which Sombra readied himself to flash in and stop it from happening, though that was before a Quincy arrow flew through the air and forced Renji to dodge it, only for him to turn and glare in the direction that it had come from. Sombra smiled as Uryu stepped out of the shadows and stared at the Shinigami, as that meant that there was someone that knew that the Shinigami were in town, but at the same time he noticed that Uryu didn't have his bow out anymore and that he was carrying a bag that looked like it came from one of the many shops around town.
"Two men with weapons attacking an unarmed girl," Uryu said, to which he came to a stop and focused his attention on the Shinigami that were in front of him, while at the same time he barely looked over at Rukia as he observed the trees near their location, as he knew something that his foes didn't, "that's not a very pleasant thing to see. I don't really like that sort of thing."
"You can see us," Renji commented, where Sombra noticed that the Shinigami was annoyed about this, as if he expected to remain unseen while he and his Captain captured Rukia, while at the same time Sombra saw that Byakuya didn't seem to care about Uryu at all, "Who the hell are you?"
"I'm one of Rukia's classmates," Uryu answered, which was partly true, since Rukia had chosen his classroom to join because Ichigo was in it, though at the same time it didn't appear that he was willing to give away what he was just yet, since the Shinigami had wiped out the Quincys anyway, "one who just so happens to hate Shinigami, that is."
It was in that instance that Rukia, who was able to get back on her feet, asked Uryu why he was here, to which Uryu claimed that it was just a coincidence, as he held up the bag he was carrying and said that he suddenly felt the desire to go to an all day seamster chop chain, a place called Sunflower Sewing, and had gotten some supplies while he was there. What ruined his excuse, in Sombra's eyes anyway, was that he then said that it wasn't because he sensed the reiatsu from some Shinigami and had used the bag as an excuse to come outside and investigate what was going on, though he was surprised when he was interrupted, as Renji swung his Zanpakuto and sliced part of the bag off, causing the lower part to fall to the floor and reveal that nothing was in the bag to begin with, while at the same time cutting a light gash into his left arm in the process.
"I'm asking you a question over here." Renji growled, as he hated it when he asked a question and the person he was talking to didn't give him a straight answer, or if they did answer it was something that was unrelated to the question he had asked, "I said... who the hell are you? Though, if you don't feel like answering the question, I can always start by killing your first!"
"Very well then, I am Uryu Ishida." Uryu stated, as he had the feeling that this was going to be a one sided battle if he stepped in, as he was still slightly wounded from the previous day and didn't think he could beat two Shinigami in his current condition, not after what Rukia had been through, "though I must admit, the two of you must be getting rusty in your skills if you didn't notice us until now."
"Us?" Renji asked, to which he glanced around the area that they were in, as he didn't see or feel anything out of the ordinary, besides from Rukia and the man that was standing in front of them, who he turned his attention to not a few seconds later, "Nice try, but there's only you and Rukia at the moment."
"That's not exactly true," Uryu said, to which he shifted his glasses for a moment as a smirk appeared on his face, as it appeared that the being that followed Ichigo around had understood what he was saying and had come out of hiding to assist them, "isn't that right, Sombra?"
"You know, not to sound arrogant or anything, but I expected more from the two of you." Sombra spoke up, as the moment Uryu had revealed that he was in the area, even if Renji and Byakuya didn't believe his words, he had flashed into the area behind the Captain, so he could surprise them, to which both Uryu and Rukia noticed a look of shock appearing on Renji's face and surprise appearing on Byakuya's face as they turned around, "I'm surprised that neither one of you even sensed my reiatsu, especially when I was standing behind that tree over there."
"W... What are you?" Renji asked, as this was the first time he had seen something like the person that was standing behind Captain Byakuya, who he had turned to look at the moment he started talking, while at the same time noticing the figure's strange grey Shinigami clothing, the strange hooves, tail, ears, and horn he possessed, the bone white crown on top of his head, and the Zanpakuto that he was carrying, "And for that matter, who are you and where did you get that Zanpakuto that you're carrying."
"My name is Sombra," Sombra replied, knowing that it was polite to offer his name to those he was talking to, this way they had something to address him by, before he focused on the task at hand, even though he could see an accusing glare coming from Renji, "and I'm..."
"An Arrancar." Byakuya stated, though this time around, while Rukia was surprised that her brother knew this type of information, and Renji looked confused at the same, Sombra was shocked to find a Shinigami that actually knew what he was without him having to spill the beans.
"That's correct." Sombra said, though at the same time that didn't improve his mood, because if Byakuya knew about Arrancars then it was likely that he knew how to fight them and might actually lessen his chances of getting out of here with Rukia safe and sound, "I'm genuinely surprised, as you are the first Shinigami that knew what I was before I told them that I was an Arrancar."
"That's because only the Captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, or the Gotei 13, and certain Lieutenants know of the existence of Arrancars," Byakuya replied, his gaze never wavering as he stared at Sombra, though the information told him that Rukia must have been a low level in whatever squad she had come from, which he would have to ask Kisuke and Yoruichi about later, and guessed that Renji was the same way, "and we also know that there hasn't been an Arrancar for the last few hundred years, yet you bare the remains of your Hollow mask, a sign of what you truly are. We need not worry ourselves with the likes of you, as your power is nowhere close to the previous Arrancar that the Gotei 13 fought and destroyed the last time one rose in the World of the Living."
"Is that so?" Sombra inquired, though at the same time he flashed through the air and appeared right behind the Captain, where he noticed that both Rukia and Renji were shocked, surprised, and stunned by his speed, while also sensing that Byakuya was surprised as well, "Well then, since you think I'm so weak, why don't we just settle this now? I'll beat the two of you with everything that I've got and stop you from taking Rukia."
Byakuya stood there for a moment, surprised by how fast the Arrancar was, and knew that he was incorrect in his earlier thoughts, as he had been assuming that Sombra was just an average Hollow that had removed it's mask, but after seeing his speed, and feeling his power as he released it, he knew that he was dealing with a Gillian ranked Arrancar, maybe even an Adjuchas ranked Arrancar if there was more to his power than what he was revealing. What worried him at the moment, which he hid from those that were around him, was that there was the possibility that the creature's power was far greater than what he was feeling at the moment, putting him at the highest rank an Arrancar could reach, the Vasto Lorde level, something even he would have trouble besting on his own. He knew that Sombra was at least a Gillian ranked Arrancar, that much was for certain, and at his current level he needed to undo something before he was in trouble, to which he turned around and beckoned towards Renji, who seemed to snap out of his stare and rushed over to him as Sombra stepped away from him.
"Captain, what do we do now?" Renji asked, as he already had a bad feeling about fighting the creature, whose speed was at least as fast as his Captain's was, when he was using the current level of his own power, and knew that his Captain had a plan in mind already.
"Call Soul Society and tell them I want to remove my Gentei Rein," Byakuya whispered, as right now he knew that Rukia and Sombra had to be connected in some manner, friends if he was getting the word right, and Rukia might tell the Arrancar what was going on if she heard what he was saying, hence the reason why he needed Renji to be close while he whispered his instructions to him, "I'll deal with the Arrancar... you take care of Rukia and the other annoyance."
Renji was surprised, as it was rare that, when he and his Captain ventured out into the World of the Living on these even rarer occasions, one of them needed to undo the Gentei Rein, the Spirit Restriction Seal, and unleash all their power against a foe, which told him that Captain Byakuya was going to take the Arrancar seriously. That also told him that his full power wasn't necessary at the moment, not when all he had to deal with was a weakened Rukia and whoever the person wearing glasses was supposed to be, to which he nodded his head and backed away for a moment as he lowered his headgear back into place so he could call Soul Society with his Captain's orders. He knew that the Arrancar was strong, as his speed was enough to match his Captain's speed when he was only using twenty percent of his power, but he never thought that Captain Byakuya would have to pull out his full power for someone like this, to which he connected to Soul Society and began to relay his Captain's wishes, knowing that it would take some time before he was given an answer.
While that was happening Sombra drew the Zanpakuto that was attached to his belt and readied himself, where he watched as Byakuya drew what appeared to be a normal katana, which had a guard that looked like a four-pane window, and readied himself as well. The two of them stared at each other for a few moments, each daring the other to make the first move, before Byakuya decided to move first and flashed over to an area behind Sombra, who smiled as he flashed behind his opponent and swung his sword, causing Byakuya to flash out of the way before coming back and attacking him in a similar fashion. They played that game for a time, flashing around the area as Rukia, Renji, and Uryu observed them, and neither of them were willing to give the other an edge, as neither of their Zanpakutos could reach their opponent and that only meant that they continued to chase one another around. When they did clash, however, their blades collided with each other and the air shook for a moment, revealing that their powers were colliding, but not even a few moments later the two of them had to separate from each other and they continued to flash around the area... only occasionally allowing their blades to collide in such a manner, which was just fine for Sombra since it kept one of them away from Rukia, since she was their target.
Sombra had to admit that his opponent knew the various techniques that a Shinigami should know, from what he had discovered during his training with Kisuke and Yoruichi, and that actually made him weary to actually get in close and fight, as he had no knowledge of the various Kido spells that existed and had no idea if Byakuya knew any of them. At the same time, however, he had to stay close and keep the Captain from going anywhere, as one wrong step would allow him to get at Rukia, something that Renji might be able to do now that he thought about it, but he also figured that if he could force a Captain to back off that might make Renji, whatever his level was, back off as well. It was an interesting plan, one that he had no idea if it would work or not, but at the moment it was better than allowing them to take Rukia back to Soul Society so they could kill her, as he had grown fond of calling her his friend, one of the few that he had, and he honestly didn't want to lose one of them. Just thinking about that made him wonder if Ichigo had even felt the reiatsu from both himself and Byakuya yet, or if he even realized that Rukia was missing, though at the same time he dodged the swing that was coming his way and replied in kind, finding that his opponent seemed to be testing his reaction time... or whatever it was that happened to be going through Byakuya's mind at the moment.
Not even a few moments later Sombra noticed that Renji was on the move and was advancing towards Rukia, with his headgear no longer covering his eyes, and Uryu, who stepped in front of him, was cut down, as he fell to the ground and blood started to form around his body... though before Sombra could flash over and stop him, and before Rukia could run away, Renji's next attack was stopped as Ichigo, in his Shinigami form, slammed the edge of his sword down on the ground and cracked some of it, all while forcing Renji backwards.
"Who the hell are you?" Renji asked, while at the same time noticing that his Captain's fight had been put on hold as well, as Byakuya was staring at the newcomer, though Sombra was smiling, as if this meant that the tide had been turned in their favor or something.
"The name's Ichigo Kurosaki," Ichigo replied, though it was in that moment that Sombra, focusing on what was going on around them, noticed a look of annoyance flash over Rukia's face, only to be replaced by worry, as if she knew something that they didn't know, "and I'm the man that's going to take you down. Nice to meet ya."
"Shinigami clothes?! What squad are you with?" Renji asked, as he was curious as to what was going on, as this wasn't what they had planned on doing when they came to this world, though he was fortunate that Rukia hadn't run off yet, before he noticed that the new arrival had a look of confusion on his face, "And what the HELL is up with that huge Zanpakuto that you're carrying?"
"What? You mean I'm the only one with a Zanpakuto that's this large?" Ichigo inquired, while at the same time lifting his sword up and moving it so that part of the blade rested on his shoulder while the remainder of it was pointed diagonally towards the ground, though his mind was thinking about the Shinigami he had met so far and how all of their swords had been the size of a katana, "You know, at first I thought it was pretty big after seeing Rukia's, but you just confirmed the size of my Zanpakuto verses all the Zanpakuto that the other Shinigami carry."
"The hugeness of one's Zanpakuto is the hugeness of their reiatsu," Renji commented, though Sombra felt that such a thing was wrong, otherwise he, Byakuya, and he guessed all Shinigami would have massive blades like Ichigo, where he couldn't see himself using a weapon that was that big, "How could a kid like you have such a large Zanpakuto... oh, I see how it is. You're the Human that Rukia gave her powers to."
It was in that moment that Renji jumped down towards Ichigo and started bringing his sword down on Ichigo's blade, which he was using to defend himself with at the moment, while at the same time showing Ichigo that the Shinigami were much stronger than he originally thought, even though Sombra was keeping Byakuya occupied as they continued to flash around the area and cross blades every now and then. It wasn't even a minute later, not even thirty seconds, before Ichigo was cut on his right shoulder and was forced to kneel on the ground for a moment, causing Renji to land behind him and inform them that Ichigo was going to die, allowing Rukia's powers to return to her, before they took her back to Soul Society so she could face her sentence for the crimes she committed recently. Renji then went on to say how stupid Ichigo was for coming all the way out here, since it was because Rukia wanted to protect him that she ran away from where he lived, so he wouldn't get caught up in her mess, while at the same time saying that it was a good thing she did that since it also flushed out an Arrancar that Soul Society had been seeing on their radar for quite some time. It was in the moment that Renji stated that, since Ichigo was only a temporary Shinigami and therefore couldn't measure to a real one, that he had no hope of putting a scratch on one of them... which caused Ichigo to get up and swing his sword, putting a small vertical gash on Renji's chin, surprising him by the fact that Ichigo could still stand and that he was able to wound him.
Sombra, on the other hand, smiled as he blocked the incoming attack that was coming his way and then flashed behind Byakuya, as it appeared that Ichigo was showing that he wasn't to be looked down upon and that he was just as skilled as an actual Shinigami... despite the fact that he wasn't trained in such a manner, which was the main reason he was able to keep up with Byakuya and parry his attacks, otherwise he was sure that the Captain would have totaled him and left with Rukia before Ichigo even arrived.
"You relaxed too much, Renji." Byakuya commented, to which he and Sombra stood near the others, still staring at each other after the Captain decided to flash over to this area, but that only allowed Sombra to quickly understand that there was something that he wanted to say before the battle continued, "That child, 'Ichigo Kurosaki', I thought I had seen his face before this moment. The other day we had a report from the Secret Mobile Corps, one that revealed that he had inflicted a sword wound on a Menos Grande and sent it back to Hueco Mundo, while at the same time there was a sighting of a black Cero being fired and a second Menos Grande being killed in the process... which must have come from you."
"Yeah, that was me." Sombra said, though at the same time that meant that his opponent might either be waiting for him to fire one off, to show that he was like a Hollow and didn't care about the people around the town, or that he had a plan in place to stop him before he even fired the attack, something that he had no idea if he was able to do or not.
"I can't take it anymore." Renji said, looking annoyed over something, as if he refused to believe what he had been told, though at the same time Ichigo stared at him with a look of confusion on his face while Sombra wondered what was going to happen next, "The quality of the S.M.C.'s been slidin' lately. This KID wounded a Menos Grande. I can understand an Arrancar, whatever the hell that is, wounding a Menos Grande... but a kid like this?! I couldn't believe that story even if I wanted to! I mean, just look at him. His Zanpakuto is nothing but a total disgrace! It's obvious that he can't even control his reiatsu. Hey kid, what's your Zanpakuto's name?"
"Huh? It's name?" Ichigo asked, as that wasn't something that had been covered in the various brief explanations that Rukia had given him after he had taken her powers, though when he glanced over at Sombra, who was shaking his head, he found that he wasn't the only one surprised by the information, "You name every one of your Zanpakuto?"
"I knew it. You can't even ask your own Zanpakuto it's name." Renji stated, his smug attitude from earlier reappearing in full force, though at the same time he held his sword horizontal in front of him and rested his left hand on top of the side of the blade, "A bastard like that, trying to fight me as an equal, is two thousand years too early. Howl, Zabimaru!"
It was in that moment that both Ichigo and Sombra watched as Renji's blade, Zabimaru as he called it, transformed into an even longer six-part segmented blade, where each segment was wider than the one preceding it from the hilt, with two pick-like protrusions on the front and back of each segment, where the ones on the front much longer than the ones on the back. Sombra was surprised that such a thing was possible, more so than Ichigo was, and that was because all of this was information that neither Kisuke or Yoruichi had given him, likely because he hadn't reached the part of his training where he would have originally been given that information. When Renji moved to attack, however, Ichigo blocked the attack with the side of his blade, only for Zabimaru's blade to separate, revealing that it would also extend itself in some manner, and bit into Ichigo's shoulder, before Renji ripped it out of him and caused him to hit the ground, while also dropping his Zanpakuto at the same time. Unfortunately Sombra couldn't move to assist him as Byakuya attacked him again, seeking to keep him distracted while he waited for Renji to do whatever it was that he had him do earlier, to which Sombra growled in annoyance as he dodged the attack and continued to use his speed to keep his opponent in the stalemate that they happened to be in.
What happened next was even stranger, as Rukia ran forward and grabbed Renji's hand, trying to stop a death blow from being dealt to Ichigo, though they were all stopped when Ichigo grabbed his sword, stood up, and seemed to concentrate for a moment. The reason it got stranger all of a sudden was because Ichigo's reiatsu was increasing and was rushing out of the area around his body, revealing just how much power he truly had inside him, and while Renji seemed surprised by his power Byakuya didn't seem to care, while at the same time Rukia was shocked and Sombra smiled, as he knew that Ichigo had been stronger than everyone had originally believed. That was followed by Ichigo glancing at Renji before rushing forward at a speed that he wasn't used to using, as he cut a gash into Renji's left shoulder before landed on the ground nearby and rushed towards Renji again, where he swung his sword upwards and knocked Renji into the air for a few seconds. When Renji landed on his feet, and turned to look at Ichigo, the headgear he had been wearing cracked in half and fell to the ground, along with revealing that his forehead had been cut a little in the process, but at the same time he was thankful that he still had a communicator in his pocket so he could figure out what Soul Society wanted to do in terms of his Captain's orders... while Ichigo, on the other hand, made a comment about Renji getting slower, despite the fact that he was much faster than he previous was, and that his body didn't hurt anymore, before he jumped into the air and prepared to end the fight between them.
It was in that very moment that Byakuya, before the blade even touched Renji, flashed through the air and cut Ichigo's Zanpakuto blade into two pieces, a large one that he carried off with him as he sheathed his sword and the smaller part that remained attached to what Ichigo was holding. When Ichigo touched the ground in front of Renji, as this had all happened in the span of a few seconds and he hadn't seen any of it, he was surprised by the suddenness of his blade missing and quickly discovered who the culprit was, though when Byakuya dropped the blade he flashed forward again and appeared behind Ichigo, where Sombra watched as he stabbed Ichigo twice without appearing to move or draw his sword, though he had to strain himself to see the second attack hit a different area than the first one. It was like Byakuya had grown tired of something and had decided to act, as his speed was as fast as what he had been using against him the entire time, though before Sombra could say anything Ichigo slowly fell to the ground, while at the same time Renji stated that his Captain didn't have to intervene when he was in the middle of a fight, to which Sombra flashed down to an area near them and glared at them... because right now they had hurt three of his friends and it was starting to really piss him off, while at the same time he felt a slight headache starting to develop.
Byakuya was even calm about the exchange, as he told Renji to not say such things and that even his skills would rust if he didn't practice every now and then, especially if he stood on the sidelines and let Renji take care of everyone that they came across. Rukia, getting over what was happening before Sombra did, rushed forward and was immediately pinned to a pole by Renji, who stated that Ichigo was dead, which was wrong since Sombra could still feel some power coming from him, and that Rukia would only worsen her sentence if she touched him. That was followed by Byakuya stating that the reason she wanted to run over to him was because Ichigo resembled someone, likely from her past that must have died at some point, only for Ichigo to show them that he wasn't dead by grabbing onto the edge Byakuya's leggings, which was swiftly followed by an even stranger thing when Rukia broke free from Renji's hold and kicked Ichigo's hand, to stop him from dying a painful death. Sombra barely heard most of what she said, though she seemed to have reverted back to the noble speech patterns that she had used before coming to the World of the Living, though the only problems he had at the moment were that he was being ignored and that his headache refused to go away... and, for the oddest reason, he found that he had an immense dislike for noble people, as it seemed to strike a nerve that he didn't know existed before.
"How... How dare you ignore us and treat us like we don't matter!" Sombra snapped, to which he felt his own reiatsu rise for a moment as a faint dark aura started to gather around his body, while at the same time the air shook in a similar manner to when he used the Cero, only he wasn't doing that this time, though he did notice a shocked look on Renji and Rukia's faces at the moment as he focused on someone in particular, "Captain Byakuya Kuchiki, member of the Noble Family that is the Kuchiki Clan, you'll pay for what you have done today."
Byakuya barely had time to move as Sombra flashed through the air and only reappeared right in front of him, though as he moved his hand to draw his Zanpakuto, to defend himself, Sombra growled as he raised his own sword into the air and cut a diagonal gash into the chest part of his clothing, followed by some blood flying as a look of pure shock appeared on his opponent's face. Sombra took advantage of his opponent's shock and spun around, where he kicked Byakuya in the chest with his right hoof and knocked him away from where he was standing, though at the same time, as he planned out his next attack, Byakuya called out to Renji for a moment, who pulled something out of his pocket and held it up to his ear for a few seconds. That was followed by the crimson haired Shinigami calling out to his Captain for a moment, saying that something was approved, and that was when Byakuya called out "Gentei Kaijo", where his power skyrocketed almost immediately, though at the same time Sombra continued his advance. Before he could move, however, Byakuya held his Zanpakuto in front of his face and pointed the tip towards the sky, where he said "Scatter, Senbonzakura" and the blade of his weapon glowed pink for a moment, before the entire blade part seemed to disappear as he was left with the handle and the guard.
An instant later Sombra felt what he could only describe as a thousand slashes being cut all over his body, at a speed that was faster than what he could see at the moment, and knew that it had to be tied to what Byakuya had done, though a few seconds later his body went into shock as he crashed to the ground that was below him. As his head hit the ground, and he found that he could look in the direction that Rukia was standing in, all he saw was Rukia being led through a doorway that appeared in the air in front of her, before it closed behind her as she glanced back at him and Ichigo. After that he guessed that Byakuya had decided that his attack had done so much damage that he was dead before he even touched the ground, but he couldn't move and could feel his life fading before his very eyes, and this time he didn't think that anyone would be able to save him. He was lucky the last time, as Yoruichi and Kisuke had been nearby when the Menos Grande had showed itself, but this time they were far away and he was very sure that his life was about to end before he even found out who he had been before his memories were taken from him.
As he started to close his eyes, and his body started to shut down, he could have sworn that he heard the worried and concerned voice of Yoruichi for a moment, though the thought of her coming to his aid again brought a smile to his face as he slipped into the darkness once more... and this time around he was sure that he wouldn't be coming back.
For a time Ichigo thought he was dead, because the suddenness of Byakuya's attack, the two stab wounds that he had suffered in the process, and the fact that Rukia had kicked his hand away from her brother's leg, to make sure he didn't die and tried to live once more, were the last things he remembered before falling into the darkness. Now he seemed to be floating in a black void where his body didn't hurt, making him wonder if he had bled out in the middle of the road, which, in turn, made him wonder if he was going to manifest as a spirit and haunt that area until the next Shinigami came to purify him, or if he was simply dying. The only thing he could actually think about was how cold his body was getting, which might explain why he couldn't feel the pain of his wounds anymore, and yet, despite those thoughts, he somehow felt a flicker of heat that was gracing his body, one that cut through the cold that he was feeling and beckoned him back to the World of the Living, or at least that was what he hoped he was doing. A few seconds later he slowly opened his eyes, to which he found a man with glasses hovering over his body, or, upon an immediate double take, the man was pressing his body against his own, explaining the warmth he felt instantly.
Ichigo, despite how sore his body felt, did the only thing that he deemed appropriate in this situation, he screamed for a moment as he fully awoke, discovering that the man was pressing his face closer to him as he studied him, which only served to freak him out all the more.
"Oh, an instant reaction." the man said, sounding like he was very pleased with what he was seeing, though at the same time it only freaked Ichigo out, as all the other times he had recovered from his wounds he hadn't had something like this happen and really hoped that his mind was playing tricks on him, "Very good."
"Too close!" Ichigo declared, to which he raised his hands and shoved against the man that was inside the bed that was resting against the floor, but at the moment he was more focused on forcing the stranger off of him so he could figure out what was going on.
"Owner!" the strange man said, turning to look at one of the doors that were in front of where Ichigo was resting, only for a look of confusion to appear on Ichigo's face, as he wasn't sure what was going on at the moment and was beginning to wonder if he had slipped into a strange limbo of sorts, "Kurosaki-dono has awakened. Owner!"
"Hey, wait a minute. I've seen you before." Ichigo said, his mind thinking back to the last time he had seen the man, which was very recent when he thought about the Hollow invasion that Uryu caused, as well as the time when Kon ran around in his body and nearly destroyed his reputation with his antics, "You're one of Mr. Hat-and-Clogs' people! Why the hell are you in my bed?! GET OUT!"
It was in that moment that Ichigo moved his feet and rested them against the man's chest, where he used his limited strength to move the man away from him, shifting him into the air for a moment, before he moved himself until the point where he was sitting up, while at the same time the man rolled away from where he was resting. A few seconds later Ichigo staggered for a moment and gripped his left shoulder for a moment, though the pain he felt in his shoulder confirmed that he was, somehow, alive and that he had survived the night, which only made his look of shock stay on his face for a few more seconds. When he got over the fact that he wasn't dead, which he was thankful for, he looked around the room that he was in and found that it wasn't his bedroom, like he originally, thought, which meant that he was somewhere else entirely and needed to figure out what was going on, while also noticing the strange man resting near one of the doors that led into the room that they were in. For a moment he thought about the owner, who was the guy with the straw hat and sandals that he had seen a few times in the past, but as he did that one of the doors opened and he turned towards it.
Sure enough, as if he was summoned by his thoughts, Ichigo found himself staring at the man that he had been thinking about for the last few seconds, though that only made him wonder what was going on and wonder what had happened after his Zanpakuto had been broken.
"Come now, that's not good for you, Kurosaki-san." Kisuke commented, though as he walked into the room that they had put Ichigo in last night, after his near death encounter with those Shinigami, Tessai sat up and bowed his head for a moment, before turning and observing him as he approached the wounded man, "Your wounds still haven't closed yet. If you move too much, you'll die."
"Mr. Hat-and-Clogs... so this is your house." Ichigo said, taking another moment to look around the room that he was in, because now that he knew whose residence they were in he was wondering what secrets it might hold, especially since the two children that were with him had weapons that had to come from somewhere.
"Exactly!" Kisuke replied, to which he moved his right hand for a moment and snapped shut the fan that he used to cover his mouth, while in his left hand he carried his cane, because there might be a time when he needed it and preferred to have it on hand, regardless of the location that he was in.
"You're the one that saved me?" Ichigo inquired, though at the same time he raised his right hand and touched his left shoulder for a few more seconds, as he was curious as to what the man wanted, especially since one of his employees had invaded his personal space a few minutes ago.
"Oh? That's not the reaction that I was expecting." Kisuke said, to which he frowned for a moment, as he was actually expecting gratitude, though he guessed that he was thinking that way because of the times that he and the others helped Sombra, who thanked them every time they came to save him, regardless of the situation, "It almost sounds like you didn't want to be saved."
Ichigo, shocked by his words for a moment, lowered his gaze and stared off into the distance for a few moments, as he was remembering the last bits of the night that he could possibly remember, though when he got to the part where Rukia was leaving with her brother, and the Shinigami called Renji, he recalled something, to which he raised his gaze and stared at the man in front of him.
"Oh yeah, Uryu was laying nearby as well." Ichigo stated, as from what he could recall the Quincy was wounded and left in a small pool of his own blood, but, as soon as he said that, his eyes widened as he remembered that they weren't the only ones there before the two Shinigami left the area, "And what about Sombra? They were also wounded by those Shinigami last night. Are they around here as well?"
"No, Uryu went home after we helped him." Kisuke replied, remembering what the young Quincy had said after he had tended to him, as he had to agree with what he said as he thought about the power that was within Ichigo at the moment, power that he wasn't aware of, "While he did lose a fair amount of blood, his wounds weren't serious. Even if we had left him there, on the sidewalk, he would have survived for another two days until blood loss got to him, but someone would have come along and helped him in the end. I was able to treat most of his wounds on the spot, but when he was able to walk, however, he was worried about both you and Sombra. You know, I did ask him to rest here, until I was sure that all of his injuries had been taken care of, but he said 'if we have any chance to beat them, it's not me. Only they can save Kuchiki-san'."
"Only Sombra and I can defeat them?" Ichigo asked, though that was when he chuckled for a moment, as he couldn't believe what he was hearing, before he looked up at the man that was staring at him, "What can I do? I was being beaten by one Shinigami until I got a lucky break, and then his superior interrupted our fight and wrecked my Zanpakuto in a movement that I couldn't even see. Now Sombra, I can see him beating those guys once he's recovered, though he'll need some training before he reaches that point... despite the fact that he was able to wound the Captain that was there. Besides, there's no way I can go after Rukia, not in my current state."
"You really think there's no way for you to go after her?" Kisuke inquired, as it was time for him to tell the young man what he knew, while at the same time knowing that it would keep his mind off of Sombra for the moment, "You think there's no way for you to go to Soul Society?"
"Wait, you mean there's a way to go there?" Ichigo replied in kind, to which he stood up for a moment, as this was good news, because he knew that the Shinimagi were going to hurt Rukia, if what the crimson haired Shinigami said was true, "What do I do? How do I go there? Tell me, please!"
"Of course, I'll tell you how to get there." Kisuke said, though as he said that he slipped the van he was holding into his coat and raised a finger for a moment, surprising Ichigo for a moment, "But I do have on condition; for ten days, starting from now, study fighting with me, just like Sombra did in the month before meeting you."
"What the hell? You're telling me to train?" Ichigo asked, as he couldn't believe what he was hearing, because with how the Shinigami had acted he knew that Rukia's fate was going to be decided in a matter of hours, "We don't have time to waste on training! We don't know when Rukia will be killed over there!"
"You just don't get it." Kisuke said, where he raised his empty hand and adjusted his hat for a moment, as he was focusing his mind on something else at the moment, before he followed that up with pressing the bottom of his cane against Ichigo's forehead and forced him to the floor, where he knelt in front of his head and kept the cane some inches away from his head, where he stared into Ichigo's terrified eyes, "I'm trying to tell you that the way you are now, you'll die over there. Can you win a fight with them the way you are now? This time around I went ahead and let you fight them. That's because I thought it would be faster than telling you that at your current level of power, you wouldn't be able to do anything in Soul Society. I'm sorry to say this, but you're weak. When a weakling enters enemy territory, they call that 'suicide'. You want to save Kuchiki-san? Then you need to grow up and stop using other people as an excuse to get yourself killed."
Kisuke stared into Ichigo's eyes for a moment, knowing full well that Tessai was observing them, before he got up and walked to the side of the room, as there was one more thing that he needed to explain before he let Ichigo make up his mind on whether or not he wanted to head to Soul Society to save Rukia.
"Soul Society customarily takes a one month grace period before executing death row prisoners." Kisuke continued, though at the same time he glanced at the open door that he had come through for a moment, as this was usually when Yoruichi, in her cat form, would sit by the door and observe what was going on, but he knew what she was doing at the moment, "That should be the same for Kuchiki-san. Starting from now, that gives me ten days to bully you, seven days to open the gate to Soul Society, then you'll have thirteen days from the moment you reach Soul Society. That's more than enough time."
"In those ten days..." Ichigo said, taking a moment to look down at himself, remembering the battles he had been through when the Shinigami had revealed themselves and turned on them, "In those ten days, can I get stronger than I was when I first fought Renji and his Captain?"
"Of course," Kisuke replied, to which he turned around and looked at the opposite side of the room, though at the same time that gave him the ability to glance at Ichigo as he revealed what he was going to say, "if you desire to save Rukia from the bottom of your heart. Besides, they say that the power of love is stronger than steel. You need to leave your doubts and hesitation in the gutter. For ten days, can you survive a life or death situation with me?"
What happened next was sort of what he expected to hear, as Ichigo seemed ready to take the training, though at the same time Kisuke insisted that he head back home and go to school for a day, to relax and unwind, much to his annoyance, but he managed to convince him that it was for him to make preparations for their training session. As Ichigo headed out of the shop a few minutes later, however, Kisuke still thought it was weird that Ichigo had asked about Uryu, but then, when he mentioned Uryu's last words, Ichigo changed the conversation and never got back to Sombra. Just as he thought about it he sighed and Tessai opened the path down to the underground training area, to which he descended into the area that Sombra was resting in, as there was a specific reason Yoruichi hadn't come upstairs yet and he wanted to be sure nothing was wrong. He knew, just from training him, that Sombra was powerful in his own right and would eventually have the skills to tackle some of the strongest Captains that Soul Society had to offer, but, even when he allowed Ichigo to run off and join him, he never anticipated that a Captain would release the Gentei Kaijo that was was placed on them... nor did he realize how much damage it would have done to the Arrancar's body, despite the fact that he was incredibly hard to hurt at times.
It didn't take him long to reach the underground training area and head off towards the hot springs that were off in the distance, though after a few minutes he came to a stop as he reached his destination, where he found the still body of Sombra half submerged in the water... and Yoruichi, in her true form, was resting nearby, without anything on he mentally added after a few seconds. Kisuke sighed as he pulled out a second robe and draped it over Yoruichi, still surprised that she had, upon seeing Sombra's wounded body, jumped off his shoulder, as she had been in her cat form at the time, and transformed into her true form while she was in midair, something she had never done before that time, and flashed out of the area carrying Sombra. He guessed he was right, that there might be something between them, but the Arrancar still didn't know anything about love and had no idea how to repeat the gestures that Yoruichi was going through, which he guessed he'd have to learn at some point in time. As he stood there for a moment, thinking about all of this, he heard the sound of the water stirring and watched as Sombra, as if awoken by his thoughts, finally opened his eyes and stood up with a look of confusion in his eyes... though, at the same time, Kisuke smiled and tossed him a towel, which he used to dry himself and cover his body.
"Wh... What happened?" Sombra asked, as the last thing he remembered was fighting Captain Byakuya, where he seemed to rapidly increase his power in a single instant, before he fell to the ground and watched as Rukia was taken to Soul Society... though, as he spoke, he noticed Yoruichi resting nearby, where she stirred and smiled when she laid eyes on him for a moment.
Kisuke, along with making sure that Sombra was fully dressed in his gray Shinigami attire while Yoruichi changed back into her cat form, explained what had happened the previous night and what he had told Ichigo earlier, though at the same time he knew exactly what the Arrancar was going to say before he finished speaking. While he talked Sombra, who had his usual cup of tea to calm himself down, seemed to be lost in thought at the moment, no doubt thinking about the Shinigami that he had fought and how badly he had been beaten, especially when he got an idea as to how powerful his enemies were. At the same time he seemed to be going over the previous night's events, trying to understand how his opponent had beaten him, before Kisuke noticed that he came to a decision of some kind, one that was likely the answer to the question that he was preparing to ask him. While all this happened Tessai looked over Sombra's body, being sure that it was healed to perfection, like every other time he used the hot springs, and nodded his head several times before finally backing away.
Once he finished explaining the situation to the Arrancar, who was silent for a moment, Kisuke actually wondered if his thoughts had been wrong and that Sombra wouldn't go to Soul Society with Ichigo, but after a few seconds Sombra sighed and a look of determination appeared in his eyes.
"Regardless of what Ichigo decides, I'll go to Soul Society and save Rukia," Sombra said, finally speaking for the first time since he had asked what was going on, while at the same time noticing that Kisuke seemed happy to hear that piece of information, "So, besides Ichigo and myself, is there anyone else coming?"
"Yes, I'll be coming along to act as a guide." Yoruichi spoke up, to which both Kisuke and Sombra turned towards her, because while one of them had been aware that she was going to be coming along the other was a little shocked, but Sombra accepted the information without any complaints, "We were also thinking of seeing if both Orihime and Chad wanted to come along as well, though, if they want to come to Soul Society as well, I'll be taking some time to help them manifest their powers so they won't be killed while we're there."
"Sombra, there are a few things you'll need to do before the way to Soul Society is opened," Kisuke said, causing the Arrancar to look in his direction once more, though this time he was clearly interested in what he needed to do to get his power to a level that would allow him to battle someone that was as powerful as a Captain, "Tessai is going to lend you some of his textbooks on Kido, as it's time to see whether or not you have the power to use a Shinigami skill, even if you're only able to stay in the lower levels. In addition to that I'm going to start fighting both you and Ichigo at the same time, once we manage to help Ichigo get his powers back, thus giving you more experience in fighting an opponent that's like a Shinigami, as they'll be fighting to kill you the moment you arrive at your destination. There's also one thing that you'll be spending the first few days on, as it'll take some time for you to see if I'm right or not... and that's finding the spirit of the Zankaputo that you've been carrying for the last couple of months."
"But I'm an Arrancar," Sombra replied, not understanding what Kisuke was getting at, because, based on what he knew about his type of Hollow species, their true power was sealed away in a Zanpakuto like weapon that likely allowed them to release their true power when they desired, "and my true power resides in my Arrancar blade. Wouldn't that imply that I can't create a Zanpakuto that's like the ones that Renji and Captain Byakuya used against us last night?"
"Truth be told, no one knows for certain," Kisuke stated, as this was something that no one in Soul Society had even attempted in the past, because, for the most part, the Captains of Soul Society killed every other Arrancar that appeared over the last thousand years, which was why they stuck to Hueco Mundo when they were created, "You're the first Arrancar, in all of Soul Society history, that has had access to an Asauchi, the nameless Zanpakuto that you've been carrying since April, so there's no telling whether or not you can develop a Zanpakuto spirit. The only way to know for certain is to perform Jinzen, or Sword Meditation as it's more commonly called, and try to enter your inner world, where you may or may not find the spirit of your Zanpakuto, where you'll have to try and figure out it's name, if there is one there at all. Regardless of whether or not you actually have a Zanpakuto spirit won't affect our training, as I intend to train both you and Ichigo for a couple of days, that way you'll be ready for your venture into Soul Society... though, if you want my personal opinion, your power would be greater if you had access to a Zanpakuto spirit."
Sombra said nothing to that statement, as he wasn't sure about what Kisuke was saying, but at the same time he glanced down at the Zanpakuto he was carrying and wondered if he was telling the truth, that there was the possibility that he, an Arrancar, could become more equal to a Shinigami by possessing a Zanpakuto that was his, with a spirit that would help him grow. When it became clear that Kisuke had nothing more to say on the subject, as he had told him everything that he needed to know for the days he was going to spend training, Sombra excused himself and headed outside, telling Kisuke that he was going to see if Ichigo was alright, since he hadn't seen him since they fought Renji and Byakuya the previous night. He was sure that his friend was fine, physically anyway, and he was also sure that his friend didn't like the thought of having to attend the last day of his semester, which was today if he had the calendar correct in his head, which meant that he would find Ichigo at the high school, and maybe Uryu as well, since he was there last night as well. As he walked outside the shop, however, Yoruichi walked outside as well, since she was planning on talking to both Orihime and Chad later that day, though while neither she or Kisuke had mentioned two specific people Sombra was sure that they were planning on asking Uryu and Sora if they were going to join the group... though he guessed that he was going to have to wait and see what happened.
From that point forward Sombra headed to the high school, finding that it was already early morning and that Ichigo was no doubt already on his way to the building in question, though when he arrived at his destination, despite taking it slow to be sure that he had recovered like Tessai said, he found Ichigo sitting in his chair. Since class was already in session Sombra decided that it wasn't worth him opening a door and freaking the students out, though luck was on his side as he found that one of the doors were open, where he also noticed that Ichigo looked in his direction for a brief second as he entered the room and said nothing as he turned his attention back to his teacher. As Sombra stood at the back of the class he noticed that Uryu was gone, which was unusual for the young Quincy when he remembered that he had been present the entire semester, and that none of the other students seemed to remember Rukia at all, as if she had never been there to begin with and their memories of her had faded. His best guess was that, upon returning to Soul Society, the memory of her had been removed from the minds of those that she had known while she was visiting Karakura Town, save for some very specific people since both he and Ichigo remembered her, and he was willing to bet that Orihime, Chad, and Uryu remembered her as well.
Fortunately it appeared that the day was able to pass with some ease, as the teacher was going over some pieces of information that the class needed to know before the day was over, though when she dismissed the class that afternoon, earlier than when she normally did since it was a little after lunchtime, the students started to gather in small groups and discuss their 'summer' plans. Keigo, on the other hand, decided to try and blindfold Ichigo and told him to hit the watermelon, though while the blindfold successfully went on Ichigo used the provided piece of wood to whack Keigo in the forehead, causing some pain to him in the process. That was followed by him declaring that the entire group that was around him would be having fun at the beach for the next ten days, only for Ichigo to tell him that he had things he needed to do and was passing, Orhime informed him that she didn't much like the ocean, Tatsuki had nationals that she had to attend, a girl that Sombra didn't know the name of declined as well, and even Chad said he wouldn't be able to go this time as well... even Mizuiro, the last person in the group, had plans to go to Hawaii, wherever that was, with his girlfriend and nine of her friends, much to Keigo's dismay.
Once that was over and done with, and everyone left Keigo to his sorrow of not having anyone to hang out with, Ichigo and the others seemed to go their separate ways, though as Sombra followed after Ichigo he could tell that Orihime was following them, which meant that Sora was nearby... and, if he was feeling the reiatsu right, so was Chad, only he was further away since he was an easy person to find if one was looking for him.
"Sombra, what was that last night?" Ichigo asked, surprising Sombra for a moment, as while he knew that the Human could see him he assumed that Ichigo would have been thinking about Rukia and nothing else, but this only told him that sometimes his thoughts on a matter could be wrong.
"What was what?" Sombra inquired in return, to which he caught up with Ichigo and walked beside him, as he was curious as to what his friend was talking about, because so much had happened last night that he as having a hard time trying to figure out which part he was referring to.
"After that Captain guy beat me, you seemed to blow a fuse." Ichigo said, though it was at that point that he stopped and turned towards the Arrancar, who paused in his steps and turned towards him in return, "You said something about him treating us like we didn't matter, while your reiatsu seemed to go wild all of a sudden, and then you managed to cut a light gash into his chest. I'm just worried about you, that's all."
"Oh, that." Sombra replied, as he did know the moment that Ichigo was referring to, though at the same time he didn't have any explanation as to why he suddenly felt a strong dislike towards noble people, a dislike that he hesitated to call an intense hatred, and it seemed to have boosted his powers for a short time, since Byakuya released his full power and struck him down seconds later, "I... I guess the way he was talking, the noble speech pattern that both he and Rukia picked up from their teachings, just struck a nerve and pissed me off. That's the best guess I have at the moment."
"Well, you're not the only one that's upset with the Captain," Ichigo stated, to which he turned towards the sun for a moment and stared at it, while at the same time Sombra noticed that Orihime was approaching them, meaning that this conversation was going to change in a matter of seconds, "I mean, what sort of brother goes out of his way to hunt his sister all the way to the World of the Living, personally captures her with who I'm guessing used to be a childhood friend of hers, and then hauls Rukia, in a manner of speaking, all the way back to Soul Soc..."
"Kurosaki-kun," Orihime said, cutting off Ichigo while he was talking and caused him to turn towards her, as he had no idea that she was even following them at the moment, but the look in her eyes told him that she was concerned about something, hence why she came to him, "Where did Kuchiki-san go? And why did everyone suddenly forget about her? I... I thought that you might know, since you spent a lot of time with her recently."
Ichigo sighed and walked over to the staircase that was nearby, where he and Orihime sat down as he started to explain the situation to her, letting her know that the reason their classmates, and everyone else that came into contact with Rukia, were losing those memories was because she had returned to the place she had originally come from. While this happened Sombra stood nearby and observed the area around them, listening to Ichigo explain what they knew to Orihime, while at the same time glancing up at the top of the stairs and noticed Chad doing a bad attempt to hide himself, especially since he was terrible at controlling his own reiatsu, before spotting a familiar black cat sitting on a sign as she observed the group as well. Sora Inoue, on the other hand, stood near his sister and made sure that she was safe, not that Sombra could blame him after the Hollow that had attacked her and her friends earlier, though when Ichigo finished explaining the situation Orihime revealed that she was able to partly see spiritual things after what happened the night her brother became an Arrancar.
What didn't surprise Sombra was that, when Ichigo revealed that Rukia was going to be killed in Soul Society, that Orihime declared that he must have already made up his mind and that he was going to save her no matter what, which only caused Ichigo to thank her before taking off... though as Orihime watched him head off towards his house, so he could change clothes, Sombra noticed that Chad revealed himself and stood beside Orihime, while Yoruichi smiled down at them for a moment. He was sure that Yoruichi had her own approach to talking with the pair and revealing what she wanted to do with them, to which he nodded his head in her direction, knowing that both Orihime and Chad wouldn't notice the movement since they were preoccupied with Ichigo running down the street, before flashing into the air and following him towards his destination. After reaching the clinic Sombra discovered that Ichigo wasn't heading out that night, as he stayed in his room and pretended that he was busy doing something, though when it was early in the morning, maybe around four if Sombra was right about the time, Ichigo walked outside the house and beckoned to him for a moment, before he flashed into the air and started to make his way to the shop with Ichigo holding onto him.
It didn't take them long to reach the Urahara Shop, where Sombra touched the ground and let Ichigo drop to the ground as well, though as the two of them approached the front door it opened, where Sombra smiled as he found Kisuke standing in front of them with a smile on his face.
"Ichigo Kurosaki, are you ready to start the hardest training session of your life?" Kisuke asked, as he knew, from what he was told earlier, that Sombra was more than willing to continue his training, which was what he expected from the Arrancar, and he was only curious as to what answer Ichigo would give him.
"Of course I am," Ichigo replied, to which he stepped forward and glared at the man for a moment, as he was eager to get his powers back and gain the power he needed to save Rukia from her fate, "I came all the way here so I could learn what I needed to learn, so I can save Rukia from the Shinigami that are going to execute her."
"That's good to hear." Kisuke said, to which he turned around and started to walk back into the shop, while at the same time beckoning for the two of them to follow him, which caused a smile to appear on his face as he heard both Sombra and Ichigo take a step forward, "Now then, let's get started with your training."
Both Sombra and Ichigo nodded their heads as they followed Kisuke into the shop, one of them knowing just how deadly Kisuke's training could actually be while the other was about to discover that the hard way... and yet Sombra knew that, once these ten days of training were up, they would be ready to tackle whatever Soul Society had to offer them and save Rukia from her undeserved fate.
The first thing that Kisuke did, after ushering both Sombra and Ichigo into the front area of the shop, was have Tessai place a 'We're closed today' sign on the front of the store, after both Ururu and Jinta closed the front entrance of the shop anyway, before they got down to business. Sombra wasn't surprised when he saw the section of the floor that was hiding the entrance to the underground training area be removed, as he had seen it many times during the time when he was the one being trained by everyone at the shop, though at the same time he nearly laughed at the confused look that was on Ichigo's face, as he clearly wasn't expecting something like that. Once the section of the floor was out of the way Kisuke, Tessai, Ururu, and Jinta were the first ones to head down to the underground training area, though after a few seconds both Sombra and Ichigo followed after them, though Sombra knew that the only one that would be able to open the back door, and get inside the shop, was Yoruichi, and something told him that she was going to be busy teaching Orihime and Chad how to summon their powers, since they were likely to say yes to her training.
When they reached the bottom of the ladder Sombra smiled as he stared out at the open area that the training area provided, as it was more than enough space for the two of them to be trained in whatever manner Kisuke wanted them to be trained in... and Ichigo, who took a moment to look around the area, was actually impressed that such a space existed beneath the shop without anyone discovering that it was even here, meaning that it had to be pretty far underground for that to happen.
"What the hell is this?!" Kisuke loudly asked, acting like he had never seen the space before today, trying to sell something to Ichigo, like he and the others had built the entire area in less than a day or something, though that only caused Ichigo's looked of amazement to become annoyance as he turned towards Kisuke, "Who would have thought that there was such a huge space under the store?!"
"Just shut up." Ichigo said, to which he crossed his arms for a moment, as he wasn't sure why there was a need to act at the moment, because he assumed that Sombra had his training in a private area like this, otherwise Soul Society would have found him before last night, "You don't have to shout for us. I'm surprised enough already."
"Okie-dokie then." Kisuke replied, which was followed by him turning towards Ichigo and Sombra, though at the same time he noticed that the Arrancar had already spotted the fact that Ururu had moved on ahead while they were standing there, once more displaying that he was keeping an eye on everything that happened around him, especially when he was with a group.
"Let's get on with it already..." Ichigo said, where he raised his left arm and shoved a finger into his ear for a moment, as he wanted to get the ringing out of his head before they did anything else, while at the same time he closed his eyes as he started to envision what they would be doing down here, "this study group, or whatever it is."
"As you wish." Kisuke stated, to which he lifted his cane and poked Ichigo in the head as he opened his eyes, though because of the cane's special properties he knocked Ichigo's soul, which Sombra found was just an ordinary soul now and not one that was dressed in Shinigami attire, out of his body and sent it backwards across the ground.
As Sombra observed this, with Tessai and Jinta watching from where they were standing, he noted that he couldn't feel any reiatsu coming from Ichigo at the moment and wondered why that was the case, though at the same time he had the feeling that Kisuke was going to explain everything to the two of them, instead of explaining everything twice.
"Dammit!" Ichigo declared, to which he picked himself off the ground and stood up again, where Sombra also noticed that the Chain of Fate was linking his soul to his body, just like they had seen it do when Orihime had been knocked into the spirit realm when a feral Sora attacked her, "Why did you suddenly tap me in the head like that for?!"
It was in the moment after he asked his question that he suddenly started to breath hard and fell to one knee for a moment, though that was interesting to Sombra, as when he was training down here he never experienced something like this and watched them with a look of curiosity in his eyes.
"It's hard to breath while in soul form, isn't it?" Kisuke inquired, as he and the others knew the specifics of how this place was built and knew how to make use of the area for their training purposes, especially since they needed to help Ichigo regain his powers, "Right now your Soul Sleep, the source of your reiatsu, and it's booster, the Chain Link, are destroyed. In other words, right now you're just a normal Human soul with no spirit power, or reiryoku. We can't actually begin your training until we restore your reiryoku to what it once was."
"Then what do I have to do to restore it?" Ichigo asked, as he was tired of all the terms that Kisuke, Rukia, and Sombra used when they were talking about things, as right now he was more focused on getting his powers back so he could save Rukia from the execution that awaited her.
"Well, rather than explaining the rules, we'll just move right into the first lesson." Kisuke replied, to which Sombra raised an eyebrow for a moment, as this was an entirely different type of training than what he went through, since he knew everything that he was supposed to know ahead of time, before Kisuke turned to the side and raised his left hand for a moment, "Hey! You ready?"
"I'm looking forward to working with you." Ururu said, as she had stepped out the moment Kisuke mentioned that they would be moving into the first lesson, though at the same time Sombra recognized the combat gear that she was carrying, as he had taken a few days to fight her with those on.
"Lesson One: fight with her, if you would." Kisuke stated, knowing that if an Arrancar, even one that had no idea who or what he was when the training started, could eventually move onto the next lesson he had planned, with was different than the one he had planned for Ichigo, than the young man could eventually do it as well, "The rules are simple, when one of you is no longer able to move, you will have cleared lesson one. Please, try to knock her out."
"Don't be ridiculous!" Ichigo snapped, as he couldn't believe what he was hearing, because when he agreed to do all this training he was expecting something else, not him beating up a little kid for Straw-hat's amusement, "You're telling me to hit such a little kid?!"
"Actually, it's more difficult than you might think." Sombra spoke up, as he had been silent the majority of the time, because he found some of this to be amusing, while at the same time Ichigo turned and looked at him for a few seconds, as he was trying to piece together what he had said, "When I started training Ururu was my first opponent as well, back when I didn't have the power that I have now, and she's not the easiest opponent to fight."
"Be sure to put those on." Ururu said, tossing the pure white sparring equipment in front of Ichigo, who turned to look at them for a moment, while at the same time Sombra noticed that she had put her mushroom inspired sparring equipment on while they were talking, "Or else you'll die."
As Ichigo started to protest the situation that he was in, however, Ururu started moving and instantly moved until she was right in front of him, where she punched down on where he was sitting and a cloud of dust was knocked up in the process, though not a few seconds later Ichigo rolled out of the dust and sat up.
"Sombra, while Kurosaki starts the process of recovering his lost reiryoku, I want you to head over to that rock formation and meditate until you can drown out the noise of his training and enter your inner world." Kisuke said, pointing to the rock formation in question with his fan for a moment, because he found that using one's training to help the other would be perfect for what he was trying to do, especially when this was something no one had ever tried before, "You'll have until the time that Kurosaki's training stops to reach your inner world... and then, regardless of whether or not you find your way to that world, we'll being combat training once more."
Sombra nodded his understanding and flashed over to the rock formation that Kisuke wanted him to meditate on, one that was large enough for him to sit down without any parts of his body resting over the edge, to which he sat down and pulled out the Zanpakuto, or rather Asauchi, that he had been carrying since April and laid it across his lap... before he closed his eyes and tried to focus his mind on what Kisuke wanted him to accomplish. Suffice it to say that it was actually much harder than he thought it was going to be, as not a few seconds later he heard the sounds of Ichigo running from Ururu, who was attacking him and the ground around him, and the noise continued to cut into his concentration. It got even harder to concentrate when Kisuke called out for Ichigo to put on the headband part of the gear, forcing him to call out the 'incantation' he made up for this training session, which was 'Take this, the Power of Righteousness! Righteous Armor, the Justice Headband! Equip!'. That only prompted Ichigo to refuse for a few moments, as he said something about being embarrassed about it, before Ururu's attacks forced him to repeat the 'incantation' and put on the equipment... which was followed by more combat sounds as he continued to avoid Ururu's attacks, until the point where he was keeping up with her speed and eventually attacked back.
From what Sombra could hear Ichigo actually managed to scratch Ururu's face a little in the fight, resulting in him being kicked into one of the nearby rock formations that wasn't his, only for Kisuke to stop her from going crazy, Tessai caught Ichigo before he could be hurt, and Lesson One, for Ichigo, was over just like that... as it appeared that he had regained his reiryoku, which was the entire point of the lesson. It was in the following moments, as Ichigo started to take off the equipment that he was wearing, that Sombra heard the sound of his Chain of Fate breaking, but since he was in the middle of his own personal training he kept trying to focus on his meditation, which was hard when all he heard was Ichigo's protests and Kisuke's explanations on what he was supposed to be doing. From the sounds of it Tessai might be sitting on Ichigo, who was weak from his soul being disconnected from his body, but that was to be expected, as Sombra remembered his reading perfectly, and knew that Ichigo's current condition only had two outcomes, either become a Shinigami again or transform into a Hollow... though if the second option happened, and he believed that there was a slim chance of that happening, Sombra could always use his experience with Sora to turn Ichigo into Karakura Town's third Arrancar, and an extremely powerful one if his Shinigami power was any indication.
After he thought about that, and heard Kisuke make the same sort of comment to Ichigo about either becoming a Hollow or a Shinigami, he heard the sounds of Ichigo and Tessai falling into a hole, then heard Kisuke reveal that Lesson Two was to climb up the Shattered Shaft without the use of his arms... meaning that Tessai had used a Bakudo of some kind to bind Ichigo's arms, or at least that was what he thought anyway, and learned that Ichigo had three days before the erosion of his Chain of Fate ran it's full course and the Hollow transformation begun.
From that point forward Sombra did his best to ignore the outside world, as that was part of his training so he could enter his inner world, but at the same time it was hard to do because Jinta was being a brat and continued to either make fun of Ichigo's pain, his antics at climbing the near vertical wall using his feet, or giving him random facts that were related to what he was going through. Despite his attempts to ignore Jinta's words Sombra did learn that if one was a soul, much like Ichigo was at the moment, and they felt hungry, for any reason, than it was a sign that they were getting close to naturally becoming a Hollow, which was what he, Ururu, and Kisuke were watching out for. At the same time he could clearly hear the sound of Kisuke eating a number of apples while wondering how much time had passed, likely to get Ichigo thinking about the time itself, even though Sombra had the feeling that the manager likely knew how much time had gone by already and was silently counting down how much time Ichigo had left before the transformation into a Hollow happened. Sombra honestly wasn't sure how much time had gone by since he started his meditation, as it was hard to tell that without opening his eyes and ruining his progress, but eventually he started to sense that he was going deeper into his being than what he normally did.
It was progress at last, something that he had been waiting for the moment he started to block out the sounds of everything and everyone that was around him, though as he focused on what he had discovered he felt himself drifting away for a moment... until his head drooped a little and Kisuke, keeping an eye on both of them, turned to look over at the Arrancar for a moment with a smile on his face.
"It took him a couple of hours, but he seems to be making progress." Kisuke commented, knowing that, at this point in time, the only things that could awaken Sombra were him being ejected from his inner world by something, either himself or whatever he found in there, or something on this side doing something that would severely mess him up.
"So Arrancars have inner worlds as well... that's odd." Jinta said, though at the same time he turned his attention back to tormenting Ichigo, as that was proving to be a good motivation for him to get angry and, potentially, get the powers that he so desperately wanted, "Wonder if he'll find anything in there."
"We'll just have to wait and see." Kisuke replied, knowing that sometimes Jinta was hard on people, but usually it gave them a drive they were missing, even if it was to beat him up for what he had done, but at the same time he was ever so slightly curious as to what Sombra would find in his inner world... and, more importantly, if it was possible for him to discovered whether or not he had a Zanpakuto spirit residing somewhere in that very world.
Sombra moaned for a moment as he felt himself pass into an unfamiliar place, as he didn't feel like he was sitting in the underground training area, on the rock formation that Kisuke had told him to sit on, to which he decided to open his eyes and found that he definitely wasn't in the area that he thought he was in. Stretched out in front of him were what he could only describe as houses that seemed to be made out of a variety of crystals, as the one to his immediate right seemed to be made out of a huge amethyst, modified to look like a two story building with a wooden roof of some type, while the one next in line seemed to be made out of an equally large sapphire. He wondered what sort of city could afford to be made out of gemstones, or even crystals as he thought about it, as there were plenty of houses around him and, when he dared to flash into the air, he noticed that there were at least one to two hundred of them, along with the massive bright aquamarine colored palace, made out of crystal as well, that was in the center of everything, looking like the place that someone important would reside in and rule from.
As he landed back on the street that he had awoken in, however, he looked at the sky for a moment and found that the sun, what he assumed was the sun, seemed to be blood red colored and seemed to be emitting a strange dark power that was what had to be affecting the world he was in, as the sky was darker than the sky he was used to... though, even as he thought about that, he moved into the center of the city and looked for any reiatsu signatures that might tell him what was going on at the moment.
One thing he discovered, as he walked through the large city, was that there weren't any civilians around, which he guessed made sense considering that this was supposed to be his inner world and it was unlikely that there would be anyone else in the world that was within him. At the same time he found that there weren't any reiatsu signatures in the immediate area, again that made sense considering that he was alone, until he came to a stop outside one of the houses and decided to try something else, or more specifically what Ichigo had done to find the soul of the little kid that was trapped inside the parakeet. As such he focused his mind for a few moments and tried to call upon the Spirit Ribbons that he had seen Ichigo and Uryu use in the past, to which the area around him seemed to glow for a moment as he closed his eyes and waited for anything that would allow him to find what he was searching for, though he was confident that he would find something in this city.
After a few minutes of patiently standing there he detected something that he wasn't expecting to find, a reiatsu signature that caused him to open his eyes and find a red Spirit Ribbon that was floating in front of him, though it seemed that the end of it was heading in the direction of the heart of the city. As such Sombra started moving forward and carefully followed after the ribbon that had formed near him, as his thoughts about where it was heading seemed to be entirely accurate, while he kept his defenses at the ready in case there was something in here that wanted to fight him or expel him from this world. One thing that he immediately found to be odd was that there were some lights near the center of the city, under what appeared to be the exact center of the palace, though the reason he felt it was odd was because the rest of the city seemed to be sort of dark, especially with the darkened sky that was hanging above his head, but as he approached the palace he could have sworn that he spotted someone standing near one of the support pillars for the large structure.
When he reached the place where all the roads and streets in the city met up, underneath the palace as he soon found out, he discovered that the Spirit Ribbon faded away and that he couldn't find who or what it was tied to, though at the same time he walked forward and observed his surroundings as he looked around for anything that would give him a clue... because he disliked being in the dark about things and this was one of those things he wanted to figure out before things escalated.
"Can you hear me, Sombra?" a voice asked, one that sounded like a regal voice that, for some reason, didn't annoy him like Byakuya's noble voice did, which only seemed to confuse him even more for a moment, though he continued to look around for whatever he was hearing.
"I'm hearing something." Sombra replied, hoping that, if he replied to whatever was speaking, the thing that was with him would reveal itself and tell him what was going on with this world, as the blood red sun and the darkened sky was strange and something that he wasn't expecting to see, "Can I ask who I'm talking to?"
"Over here." the voice said, where Sombra felt the slightest tug that was directing him in the direction that he should be looking in, to which he decided to heed the voice's tug, because he was sure that this was the voice's doing, and turned in the direction that it wanted him to look in.
Sombra turned towards the support pillar he had walked by, which had nothing near it a few seconds ago when he had gone by it, and found a being that sort of looked like him, as in it was a Human looking being that had hooves and the legs to match, a pony tail, and pony ears, but in addition to all that it had a horn like he did. One of the odd things he noticed right off the back was the fact that the stranger was female, based on the type of body that he was used to seeing and the fact that she wasn't as endowed as Yoruichi was, as he was sure that she was a few sizes larger than what Rukia had and a few below Orihime. The other part about her that Sombra felt was strange was the fact that her skin seemed to be crystallized in some manner, as if he was looking at a crystal given life, because her light blue colored skin, what he could see since the lady was wearing a fine silver colored dress that happened to have an area near her legs open so he could have seen her leg structure, seemed to glisten like diamonds. He couldn't see through her, which would have also been weird when he thought about it, and he felt that she could have been a normal person at one point and had been crystallized in this manner... and, as he stared at her for a moment, he noticed that she also had long cobalt blue colored hair that reached the middle of her back.
She was stunning, beautiful in her own way, and, if the look in her brilliant anger colored eyes was anything to go by, she seemed fierce and ready for action, though she did seem happy to see him, if Sombra was understanding the look on her face, and he was curious as to what was going on at the moment.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see you when I first entered this area." Sombra said, though at the same time the familiar tug he had felt, which had brought him to this place and had directed his attention towards this support pillar, he felt again, coming from the lady in front of him, and he immediately understood what he was seeing, even if it was hard for him to believe that such a thing was possible, "You wouldn't happen to be a Zanpakuto spirit, would you?"
"That I am." the lady replied, though she made no effort to walk towards him yet, causing Sombra to wonder what sort of game was she was playing, but he remained silent, as it was clear that she had no to say before it was his turn to speak once more, "Though I think it would be more accurate to say that I am the spirit of your Zanpakuto. At first there was nothing, as you hadn't spent enough time with your Asauchi for the essence of your soul to be imprinted on it, though one you had it for the first month I started to take form in this world. By the time the second month was over I was fully formed and started to wonder if you were ever going to try and contact me, to learn my name and understand what's been going on in this world, and yet my voice never seemed to reach you. Now... now I am happy that you came to visit, even if you're confused as to how an Arrancar can have both their original blade and a Shinigami blade... and the answer is that I don't know, but what I do know is that we are bound to each other. Only..."
"I, the one that would know you better than anyone else, don't know your name," Sombra stated, knowing full well what the spirit was going to say, as it made sense to him when he thought about it, and the spirit nodded her head for a moment, verifying that he was correct in his thoughts, "So, how do I go about discovering your name?"
"Easy, I'll tell you my name," the lady said, surprising Sombra for a moment, as he was expecting that he would have to go through some sort of trial to learn the name of his Zanpakuto, but at the same time he guessed that this might be a training method of some kind, like she was eager to get started with their training, "My name is Shokyo, meaning 'Crystal Heart', and I am your Zanpakuto spirit. As you discovered in your battle with Captain Byakuya Kuchiki, and from observing Ichigo Kurosaki's battle with Renji Abarai, all Zanpakuto have a Release Call, such as 'Scatter' and 'Howl' for Zenbonzakura and Zabimaru respectively. My Release Call is Shimmer, and for the next few minutes you'll be focusing on the bond between us before you do what those Shinigami did, but after that... well, we'll see what happens when we reach that point in time."
"As you wish," Sombra replied, to which he started to move his right hand and gripped the handle of his sword, which he found that he had in his inner world, before he thought of something that Shokyo had to know, as he turned towards her a few seconds later, "I do have one question before we start; what's with the blood red sun and the darkened sky that's in the air above us?"
"I think it's connected to your Arrancar blade in some manner, judging from the reiatsu that's coming from it," Shokyo said, though at the same time she glanced at the blood red sun that was handing in the air with a frown on her face, to which Sombra guessed that she didn't like the coloration of the celestial orb that was hanging over the city, "but the few times I've tried to head close to the sky and figure out what's going on, so I can reverse it in some manner, a force has stopped me from getting close... and I have the feeling that we won't find out what to do about it until you find your Arrancar blade and recover it."
"I see." Sombra said, surprised that there was something in the air that was preventing them from leaving the city, if he was interpreting Shokyo's words correctly, before he turned his attention back to the Zanpakuto that he was holding and the training that the spirit was offering him, "Well then, shall we get started?"
Shokyo turned and looked at him for a moment, where her frown returned to the smile that it had been before he asked the question about the blood red sun and darkened sky, before she approached him and started to instruct him on how to perform the Release Call, so Sombra could begin to tap into her power... and then, when she felt that he was ready, they could begin the real training that she had planned for them.
Kisuke remained near the Shattered Shaft at all times, keeping track of Ichigo's progress in trying to tap into his inner world to recover his Shinigami powers, the state of the erosion that his Chain of Fate was going through, and whether or not he was giving up. The bad thing about the situation was that he was no closer to tapping into his powers than he was when they started this lesson, the Chain of Fate was getting ready for the last erosion, and it did seem like Ichigo was beginning to accept that he might not be getting up the wall, but he still seemed determined on getting his powers back in some manner. While all of this was happening Jinta, as per the usual, seemed to continuously torment the Human in some manner, often convincing Ururu to join him in his antics, and it seemed to have devolved to the point where it was no longer helpful, but he didn't try to stop it since they were reaching the end of this lesson. Truth be told he didn't want Ichigo to transform into a Hollow, as they would be forced to kill him unless Sombra stepped out of his inner world and somehow convinced the newly born Hollow to become an Arrancar.
Thinking of the Arrancar caused him to glance over at the rock formation that Sombra was resting on, where Kisuke could feel the reiatsu that was rolling off of him increase every so often, indicating that something was happening in his inner world, but what he still had no idea... until he heard the sound of the final erosion happening and had Ururu stand down for now, as the Hollowification process was starting with the mask first, a sign of Ichigo's resistance to what was happening to him at the moment.
As the next few minutes ticked by Tessai, who was trying to restrain Ichigo while the mask was still forming, eventually came to the point where he had no choice but to start the process of destroying Ichigo before the transformation had a chance to complete and form a powerful Hollow. Moments later, despite Jinta's protests, Tessai called out the final song of the Bakudo that he was using, causing a large metallic cube to fall from the sky and drop down on where Ichigo was being restrained, though that was followed by Kisuke having to grab both Jinta and Ururu and pull them towards the ground behind him as an explosion burst out of the hole that they had been observing. As the explosion died down something burst out of the hole, as noted by Jinta at the same time, and it bounced around the sides of the underground training area until coming to a halt as it hit the ground near the hole that it had burst out of, where the three of them stared at the smoke for a few moments as they wondered what was going to reveal itself. As the smoke started to clear, and a shape started to reveal itself, Kisuke heard the sound of rocks moving and turned towards the rock formation once more, where it appeared that the sounds of the explosion finally snapped Sombra out of his inner world... or, upon closer inspection of the guard on his Zanpakuto, which was now diamond shaped, maybe he had completed his own training and had come out just as the explosion happened.
As the smoke finally cleared Sombra found that Ichigo was standing before them in the attire of a Shinigami, with the sheath that had contained his previous Zanpakuto that Captain Byakuya had cut in half, a white cloth with three needles sticking out of his shoulder, and a Hollow mask that had several red crescent marks above the left eye... though as Jinta asked if he was okay, however, Ichigo pulled out his Zanpakuto, revealing that it was still the broken one, and used the bottom of the hilt to smash off the bottom of the mask so he could move it out of the way and stare at them.
"Congratulations." Kisuke said, taking a moment to clap his hands for a moment as he approached Ichigo, who was busy flexing his hand as he realized that he was back in his Shinigami form, before snapping open his fan as he as Ichigo turned to look at him after he was done flexing his hand, "You've returned to being a Shinigami right on time. Superb! That means that you have cleared Lesson Two!"
"Shut your trap!" Ichigo snapped, to which he approached Kisuke for a moment and whacked him in the face with the base of the handle that he was holding, though that was followed by him crossing his arms and glaring down at Kisuke, just as the man rubbed his face for a moment, "The second I came back to life was the second your luck ran out. I swore that, if I got out of that hole alive, I'd make sure to kill you dead!"
"Well, that's perfect." Kisuke replied, as he found Ichigo pointing at him for a moment, though that was followed by him shifting his stance as he stood back up and turned towards that main person that he was training, while at the same time Sombra came to a stop near Ichigo, "Let's use that energy and go straight into Lesson Three. Now, this lesson actually has no time limit, not like the last one did, and all you need to do to clear it is to knock off my hat with your Zanpakuto."
It was in that moment that Ichigo, while Kisuke was talking, rushed forward and swung the broken sword he was holding upwards towards the sky above them, where both Kisuke and Sombra watched as a slight cut appeared on the edge of the hat as Ichigo jumped backwards... though, as he watched all of this happen in the span of a few seconds, Sombra knew that his friend was eager for battle and his base powers had returned in full force, but he still didn't have his true Zanpakuto.
"I must say, you continue to impress me." Kisuke commented, taking a few moments to actually stare at the cut in his hat, as he honestly wasn't expecting this from someone like Ichigo, but at the same time he wasn't too concerned about what he was wearing, as he had multiple hats at the ready in case one was destroyed, "I honestly wasn't expecting you to be able to pull off such an attack with a broken Zanpakuto."
"Of course." Ichgio declared, to which he shifted his body stance and pointed the broken blade at the man in front of him, as he was ready for this lesson to begin and knew that, now that he was back in his Shinigami form, he'd be able to beat a simple shopkeeper with ease, "If I get serious, I've got plenty more where that came from. Forget that laid back 'no time limit' crap... let's settle this in five minutes!"
"Well, there's a specific reason I said there's no time limit," Kisuke replied, though at the same time he gripped the top of his cane and pulled out the hidden sword that Sombra was familiar with, thanks to the number of times he had trained with him in the past, before preparing him for the battle that was ahead of them, "I never finished my explanation as to the rules of this lesson. You need to knock off my hat to clear it, but Sombra, on the other hand, will be fighting by my side and act as a barrier between the two of us, so you'll have to plan your attacks before coming at us."
Sombra felt that it might be a little unfair to Ichigo, that both he and Kisuke would be trying to stop him from getting close enough to knock off the man's hat, but at the same time he had the feeling that it was going to be this way in Soul Society, since there had to be a few hundred Shinigami throughout the city and some of them might not fight them one on one when they started their invasion. Kisuke was preparing them for the battles ahead of them, but, even as he thought about that, he also knew that the shopkeeper was trying to draw out the inner power that was inside Ichigo and bring his true Zanpakuto to the surface, to replace the broken sword he was carrying. He also noticed that Ichigo seemed to think that this was a little unfair for him, since he was familiar with how fast and how powerful he actually was, but that was before it was replaced by a look of determination as he raised his right arm and prepared himself for the battle that they were about to take part in. Kisuke and Sombra did the same thing, lifting their weapons up and preparing themselves accordingly, before they both rushed towards Ichigo and started attacking him, though while Sombra was focusing on purposely missing, and maybe breaking something that was around them, Kisuke intended to hurt Ichigo and broke the rocks around them as he chased Ichigo.
Not even a minute later, much to Sombra's confusion and interest, Ichigo turned tail and started running away from Kisuke, though since it appeared that Ichigo wasn't going to fight back he decided to simply follow the pair and intercept any attacks like Kisuke had told him to do... but that was followed by Ichigo thinking about something and coming to a stop as he turned back towards Kisuke, who shocked Ichigo by knocking off the remainder of the mask that was on his head as Sombra landed nearby.
"You let your guard down." Kisuke commented, where a frown immediately appeared on his face, as he expected Ichigo to remember the last fight he had been in and be more on guard than he actually was, while at the same time he knew that Sombra was ready for something to happen, "Let me guess, 'It belongs to a guy who's not a Shinigami, so there's no way that it can be a Zanpakuto', am I right? I can't believe that you are this naive. Awaken, Benihime."
It was in that moment that the cane sword that Kisuke had been carrying transformed into a sleek, medium-sized sword, where the hilt's grip, which was a gentle black-decorative wrapping, was bent forward at the end, with a pommel shaped overlap three times, and a crimson tassel dangling from its base. Sombra noticed, instead of a tsuba, there was a U-shape guard covering three inches of blade, with a flower petal design, while at the base of the guard there was a red string wrapped thrice around the hilt, with a three-loop bow on the back side and a folded paper decoration on the front side. The blades hamon was straight, colored black with a silver edge, and was somewhat thicker than the cane-sealed state that he was familiar with seeing, though while Benihime remained straight and slim with a somewhat short size, it's tip ended in a slanted razor-like edge instead of tapering to a point like a normal sword did. Sombra had to admit that Kisuke's blade was impressive, and noticed that Ichigo was surprised by the sudden transformation, but at the same time he felt that his own Zanpakuto was impressive as well, especially since she went out of her way to teach him what she knew at the moment.
"She's a one hundred percent genuine Zanpakuto," Kisuke said, holding Benihime at an angle that allowed a shocked Ichigo to take in the entire weapon that he was staring at, just like Renji had done when he showed off Zabimaru before he got overpowered and needed his Captain to come save him, "I can tell that, by the look in your eyes, that you are hung up on Benihime's name. Each Zanpakuto, as you might have determined at this point in time, has their own name, and this is her name. Now then, Sombra, I am interested in seeing what you learned in your inner world."
"With pleasure," Sombra replied, as he had been eager to show off the fact that he had learned the name of the Zanpakuto that he had been carrying since April, to which he held out his sword for a moment and focused on what he had been taught in his inner world, "Shimmer, Shokyo."
Both Kisuke and Ichigo watched as Sombra's blade shined brightly for a few moments, as they were both interested in what the Arrancar was doing, before the light faded and they could see the blade again, which now appeared to be a broadsword that was, in Kisuke's estimates, only thirty inches long, just a little longer than an ordinary katana. The blade's guard and handle had increased in length a little bit to support the additional weight of the weapon, while the guard became a horizontal bar, instead of a diamond like it had been before Sombra used the Release Call, and a sapphire colored gemstone, about the size of three fingers, sat in the area connecting the blade to the guard. The handle had been modified a little as well, as it had a crystalline appearance that made Kisuke believe that it was made out of pure crystal at first, but when he couldn't see through it, like an ordinary gem, he realized that it had been crystallized in some manner that was unique to the Zanpakuto spirit Sombra had conversed with, and was sapphire colored as well. The blade itself had two cutting edges, like an ordinary broadsword did, but the difference between ordinary broadswords and the one that Sombra carried was that there was some golden inlay in the center of the sword, making it look even more majestic than it had been on it's own... and, of course, the blade itself seemed to have been crystallized in some manner as well, while also baring the same color as the other crystallized parts of the weapon.
Kisuke stared at the weapon for a moment, surprised by the sheer beauty of a weapon that was clearly designed for battle, and mentally wondered what sort of powers the Zanpakuto had, because he was sure that Sombra must have learned something else while he was inside his inner world.
"So you do have a Zanpakuto spirit residing in your inner world," Kisuke commented, as he was impressed that the Arrancar was able to enter his inner world, discover the location of the spirit that resided in that dimension, and convince them to tell him their name so that he might bond with them even more than they already were, though at the same time he continued to stare at the blade, "Shokyo... it means Crystal Heart, doesn't it?"
"That's her name," Sombra confirmed, though at the same time he was more interested in seeing what he and Shokyo could do together, against an opponent that needed to reach their Zanpakuto spirit, and maybe go up against Kisuke and Benihime once Ichigo was done with his lessons, "Now then, shall we get back to the lesson?"
Kisuke smiled and the two of them took turns attacking Ichigo, who immediately shook himself out of his stunned state the moment Sombra mentioned the lesson resuming and barely had time to dodge Kisuke's first attack, which shattered the rock formation that had been behind him and caused him to run once more. The following attack was one that Ichigo faced head on, as he guarded against Sombra's cutting attack with the edge of his broken sword, though in the process of doing that Sombra sighed as Shokyo cut through the blade that she was going up against and the fragment that came off flew through the air as Ichigo retreated once more. While all of this happened Kisuke told Ichigo why the Zanpakuto he had formed when Rukia gave him her powers, even if she meant to only give him a fraction of her full power, was able to break so easily and couldn't stand up to either Benihime or Shokyo, as he was still doing something wrong, and when Ichigo tried to knock off Kisuke's hat the shopkeeper diagonally slashed the guard and broke both it and the rest of the blade into pieces... though all that did was leave Ichigo with the handle that would still let him knock Kisuke's hat off, but Kisuke did tell Ichigo that if he came at him with just the handle then he was as good as dead.
That seemed to scare Ichigo, as he ran away from Kisuke and caused his opponents to follow after him, though as they did that Sombra noticed that air in front of Ichigo start to distort as his friend eventually came to a stop, as he spotted a man, who wore a black overcoat that seemed to cover most of his body, materialize for a moment, and yet Kisuke didn't seem to see him at all. Sombra wondered if what he was seeing was actually Ichigo's Zanpakuto spirit, who seemed to be quite powerful from this small instance he was getting, and Ichigo seemed to be entirely focused on him as he stared off into the distance, causing him and Kisuke to stop nearby and ready themselves. Not even a few seconds after they readied themselves Ichigo moved his right hand until he was in a stance where the handle was facing him, while at the same time his reiatsu got excited for a moment as it shook the area around him and caused the pair near him to stand and watch what was going on. It was in the moment that Ichigo turned to face them, while appearing to swing the handle in some manner, that a pillar of blue reiatsu seemed to block him from their vision for a moment as he called out a name... and then, when the smoke cleared, they found that he was half kneeling on the ground with what appeared to be an oversized knife like sword with no guard or tsuba, though the blade seemed to be as long as Ichigo was tall.
Sombra noticed that Zangetsu, as that was the name that he heard Ichigo call out, seemed to have a silver cutting edge and a black colored spine, and there appeared to be a white cloth of some kind wrapped around the Zanpakuto's new handle... though as he looked at the blade, and felt the reiryoku that was coming from it, he knew that Ichigo's power was so great that his Zanpakuto was going to constantly be in it's released state at all times.
"Well now, this is a good turn of events," Kisuke said, as he was pleased to find that he was able to provide both Ichigo and Sombra with their own methods to draw out their Zanpakutos, because this was going to make the final lesson all the more interesting when he told them it was time to start, "Now that we have drawn both of your Zanpakuto out, it's time for use to start the real Lesson Three."
"I'm sorry, Urahara-san." Ichigo spoke up, causing Kisuke to lower his finger for a moment while Sombra stared at his friend, because both of them were sure that something was going to happen in the next few moments, they just weren't sure what that something was, though at the same time he shifted his stance a little, "Please, be sure to dodge what's coming next... I probably can't hold back."
As Ichigo raised his right arm, shattering the rest of the white cloth that had been pinned to his shoulder since he erupted from the Shattered Shaft, Sombra moved out of the way before he was caught in whatever happened next, while at the same time he heard Kisuke call out 'Scream, Benihime'... and then, in the instant that Ichigo brought down his sword in a cutting motion, the area seemed to explode as a blue wave of reiatsu erupted from Zangetsu and surged towards Kisuke, cutting a shocking large gash into the ground behind him in the process.
"I'm lucky I had my Blood Mist Shield up before that attack went off," Kisuke commented, though as the smoke cleared Sombra spotted a damaged hexagon shaped shield in front of the shopkeeper, which disappeared as smoke emitted from Benihime for a few seconds, before both he and Kisuke noticed his damaged hat, which was laying near where he was standing, "otherwise you would have taken an arm for sure. You also managed to ruin my hat in the process... but, to be honest, I sure wasn't expecting all of this from a single swing of a sword. Ichigo Kurosaki, I think it's safe to say that you cleared Lesson Three as well."
"Now what?" Sombra asked, because from the looks of it that swing had taken all of Ichigo's energy and it didn't look like he was going to be getting back up anytime soon, at least for today anyway, and he was still eager to show Kisuke what he had learned.
"We'll have Tessai take Kurosaki to a spot where he can rest," Kisuke replied, though at the same time he smiled, because despite how damaging that attack had been he was still interested in seeing just how strong Sombra was with the weapon he now possessed, "and then, once that's taken care of, you and I can start training for real."
Sombra nodded and watched as Tessai came and collected Ichigo like Kisuke said he would, knowing that the next exchange between the two of them was going to be much different from the last time the two of them trained together down here... and he was eager to show Kisuke the connection he had to Shokyo, along with what she taught him while he was in his inner world, and he was sure that this would prepare him for their invasion of Soul Society.
After seeing what Ichigo could do with Zangetsu, his new Zanpakuto, Sombra and Kisuke continued their training from where they left off, only this time around Kisuke made sure to point out whatever Sombra was doing wrong, gave him advice on making sure his Zanpakuto was pristine, and a few other things that he might need to know in the future. Tessai, having survived the explosion of Ichigo's raw power, climbed out of the Shattered Shaft while the group was distracted, but he made sure both Jinta and Ururu were safe when Sombra and Kisuke were busy practicing with Benihime and Shokyo, both of which the man stated were beautiful blades in their own rights. In addition to all that Tessai, as Kisuke had promised, lent Sombra some of the Kido textbooks that he still had, where Sombra found that he didn't want to know where he had gotten them from and why Soul Society let him keep them, if they knew he had them, and it was better in the long run since it appeared that he wasn't willing to give up that information. Tessai even insisted that he assist Sombra in understanding the various incantations for the powerful Kido that were in the book, setting up practice dummies whenever Sombra was ready to tackle one of the spells, and offered explanations when he did something wrong.
While all of this was happening Sombra noticed two things, the first being that Ichigo finally snapped awake when he was in the middle of his Kido training, putting it on pause so the two of them could fight to the death with Kisuke, and the second being that he felt Shokyo following along with the lessons as well, no doubt so she might be able to assist Sombra in the future when Tessai wasn't there.
One thing that annoyed Sombra was the fact that Ichigo, who had come to Kisuke looking for help, didn't seem to care much about the essentials of combat and continuously fought both of them at the same time, though at the same time he noticed that Kisuke didn't seem to mind. It might have been because he had one student who had taken on his teachings, along with the ones that Yoruichi had offered him as well, and had become so skilled that he was allowing Ichigo to do as he desired, to which Sombra simply sighed and continued fighting his training partners. There were times where Kisuke insisted that Ichigo face off against Sombra's speed, merely to see if he had what it took to catch someone that was as fast as a Captain when they were holding back their power, and for the most part Sombra found that he was still faster than Ichigo's senses, but he was sure that at some point in time Ichigo would catch up with him, despite the fact that he had an unfair advantage in the fact that Yoruichi taught him Shunpo in the first month of his stay in Karakura Town. Other times it was simply a fight between the three of them and they did nothing other than clash with their Zanpakutos, where the only thing Sombra had to get used to was the length of Zangetsu, as he was unfamiliar with fighting such a long weapon while Ichigo was used to it.
The next five days turned out to be a constant training session for him and Ichigo, as they fought Kisuke from the first hour of the morning until late at night, where they would either be allowed to rest and relax or engage in a battle with each other for a few more hours, until the point where Kisuke would have them stop and get some rest. The one thing that Ichigo didn't full off while they were fighting, either because he had no idea how to do it or he didn't want to fire it off in such an area, was that wave of reiatsu he used to cut open the ground and damage the Blood Mist Shield that Kisuke had summoned to protect himself. Sombra was just fine with the arrangement that they had for their training, as it gave them more experience fighting someone that he knew had to be a Shinigami at one point in time, something that he thought he had figured out from the fact that the Shinigami knew where to find him, as when they sent operatives to Karakura Town they were given cards detailing where to find him, he had a vast knowledge of Soul Society and it's inner workings, which he enjoyed learning about when they had time, and he had a Zanpakuto working with him. He knew that the last point might not be the most convincing, since he wasn't a Shinigami and he happened to have a Zanpakuto spirit, but he still felt that he was right in thinking this way... and, at the same time, he knew that he would ask when the time was right, or maybe never when he considered all the time they were spending on their training.
When at least those five days were up, and Kisuke said that he and Tessai needed the next seven days to prepare the way to Soul Society, Ichigo returned to his Human form and started to head out so he could spend some time with his family and as a normal person before they headed to Soul Society, but he asked Sombra what he was planning on doing for the next could of days. Sombra, instead of relaxing, decided to spend his time continuing his own training, where he devoted the majority of his time to delving into his inner world and learning what Shokyo had to teach him, regardless of whether it was additional bonding between the two of them or her assisting him in learning either the Kido that Tessai was helping him with, her own skills that she offered him, and even let him practice using his black cero. At first Sombra objected to using his destructive techniques against the buildings of his inner world, as parts of the city fell apart when they practiced them in such a manner, but, as Shokyo explained to him, the inner world would regenerate itself in time, which he proved to be true when he left a scarred section of the city during one session and the next time he came back he found that it had been restored to the point it had been earlier. He wasn't sure if Shokyo was using her innate powers to restore the world to the point it had been earlier, or if there was something else happening, but at the same time he was glad that his inner world wasn't going to be destroyed because he and Shokyo practiced their skills together.
Eventually Sombra found that Kisuke wanted him to go out and make sure the town was safe from Hollows, to stop his training and relax a little before they headed to Soul Society, and he guessed that a small break couldn't hurt him in the long run, so he did that and left the shop behind... only to notice that it was the morning of the seventh of August, giving him less than twenty-four hours before it was time for the adventure to begin.
What Sombra discovered was that there was nothing interesting to do around Karakura Town that day, as no Hollows seemed to come out of hiding to attack him and the others, meaning that he spent most of his day following Ichigo at a distance, checking to be sure that Chad, Orihime, Uryu, and Sora were alright, or just standing still and looking out over the town for a few minutes. What he discovered, by following Ichigo, was that his normal friends, those that had no powers of their own, seemed to be living their lives as they normally did, apparently believing that Ichigo was going on vacation for the next week and that Orihime was visiting some family at the same time. He was honestly surprised that Ichigo's friends believed such a thing, without asking his father and sisters if they were going on vacation as well, but at the very least it appeared that they wouldn't have to worry about his friends questioning what they were doing in the near future. He also wasn't sure what lie he had told his family, as Ichigo must have told them something while he was training in his inner world, but at the same time Sombra found that Karin and Yuzu seemed to be living their lives as if nothing important was happening... and Isshin, well, he looked like he might know something, but never confronted Ichigo during those last few hours the pair had before it was time to leave.
When the morning of the eighth of August finally arrived, or rather the very early morning since Ichigo was still up close to one o'clock, Sombra stood near the window of Ichigo's room and found that, not a few seconds later, Ichigo opened the window that he was standing near and glanced outside for a moment.
"Let's see," Ichigo commented, glancing out in the direction of the Urahara Shop, or at least that was what Sombra thought he was staring at, before letting out a sigh as he thought about what he had been told, "I think that this is good enough for what Urahara-san wants."
"Is something up?" Sombra asked, because since he had been so concentrated on his own training, and hadn't left the underground training area when Ichigo did, he had no idea what sort of instructions the shopkeeper had given Ichigo before he left the shop.
"Urahara told me this, 'at one am, seven days from now, wait with your window open'," Ichigo replied, to which he tapped the window for a moment, knowing that the Arrancar was watching him and was sure that he would spot whatever the shopkeper had planned before he could, "I know that you trust him, thanks to the time you spent with him before meeting me, but I have one hell of a terrible feeling about all of this."
Sombra started to open his mouth, to ask why Ichigo had such a feeling about what they were going to embark on, but before he could say anything he spotted a flash off in the distance and watched as a spherical ball, appearing to be made out of paper with the stamp of Kisuke on top of it, rushed towards the open window, flew into Ichigo's room, and struck the closet that Rukia had been staying in. The two of them watched, Sombra with some interest in his eyes while Ichigo had a look of horror in his eyes, as the red liquid that erupted from the ball formed a message before their very eyes, one that told whoever was seeing the message to come to the front of the Urahara Shop immediately. As Ichigo started to complain about how this looked like someone's dying message, however, the duo noticed that there was more to the message, one that told whoever was reading the message that they had no humor if they thought this was something as ordinary as a 'dying message', causing annoyance to flash on Ichigo's face for a few seconds... and, at the same time, he tossed his pillow at the closest before getting to his feet.
As they headed outside the house, however, Ichigo found that his father definitely seemed to know something, as the moment he stepped out of the front door Isshin jumped off the roof and tried to do something to Ichigo, who moved out of the way and let his father hit the ground next to him. As Ichigo started to question what was going on, however, Isshin moved a little and revealed a talisman of some kind, one that he immediately held out for Ichigo to take and said that he should have it for the journey that was ahead of him, revealing that he definitely knew something, even if that information seemed to go right over Ichigo's head. When Ichigo asked why he would want such a dirty amulet Isshin revealed that it had been given to him by his wife, making it a cherished treasure for him, and that was reflected in the fact that he was only lending it to his son and fully expected it to be returned to him once the trip was over. It took a moment for Ichigo to promise that he would return the amulet when he returned, indicating that he wasn't actually thinking about it at the moment, and Isshin seemed to be fine with it as he waved Ichigo off... to which Sombra flashed behind Ichigo, when he was in the clear, and grabbed onto him so he could take to the skies once more, where he started the short trip to the area that the Urahara Shop was located in.
When Sombra arrived at their destination he reached the ground and let Ichigo go, though as he did that they both noticed that Kisuke was standing beside the entrance of the shop, while at the same time Chad was sitting on a box nearby and appeared to be ready for anything... where Sombra noticed a smile appear on the shopkeepers face as Chad got from where he was sitting, though his presence still surprised Ichigo.
"Sombra, Ichigo, it's good that the two of you are here." Kisuke said, though he had known that Sombra would have definitely come, even if there was the slim possibility that Ichigo might have chickened out at the last possible moment, as he knew that the Arrancar considered Rukia a friend and knew that he didn't want to lose one of the few friends that he had made since he learned the difference between an associate and a friend.
"Chad?!" Ichigo said, his voice betraying his emotions, as he had figured that it would have been him and Sombra diving into Soul Society to save Rukia, though he wasn't sure why his friend was standing in front of the shop, at one o'clock in the morning, "Why are you here?"
"Rukia Kuchiki... saved me once." Chad replied, referring to the time that he was caring for the cursed parakeet, the one that the serial killer Hollow had been chasing since it had contained the soul of the boy that had killed him while he was still alive, while at the same time indicating that he recalled that day despite what Rukia had done to his memories after the fact, "I'm going as well."
"Wait... what?!" Ichigo stated, as this wasn't something that had been discussed, or if it had he hadn't even noticed it thanks to the fact that he had been focused on his training and nothing else, though at the same time he heard something behind them and turned when he heard a familiar voice.
"Oh? They didn't tell you?" Uryu inquired, to which he stopped walking and faced the group that was standing in front of him, wearing what Sombra had to assume had to be some sort of Quincy clothing that would show what he was to the Shinigami in Soul Society, while he stared at Ichigo's shocked face, "I can't let it end with me losing to some Shinigami. I'm going to Soul Society as well."
"And now we're all here!" another voice said, to which Orihime, along with her brother Sora, stepped out of the alley they had been walking in and came to a stop nearby, to which the two of them smiled as Ichigo stood there with a look of shock on his face, before Orihime bowed a little, "It'll be a pleasure to work will all of you!"
"What is all of this?" Ichigo asked, looking at the people that were gathered around him, as he was pretty sure that this part of the rescue operation hadn't been discussed among them, though at the same time he caught sight of Sombra noticing someone else in the area, or rather a black cat that he picked up and let it sit on his right shoulder.
"He's a bit slow, isn't he?" Yoruichi inquired, to which a look of pure shock appeared on Ichigo's face, as he clearly had forgotten about the fact that he had seen a talking parakeet, and helped purify the soul inside it, and seemed to be stunned by the fact that she was talking to him, "Ichigo, you cannot say that you haven't noticed the bubbling of power inside your friends. While you were training to regain your Shinigami powers, and Sombra was assisting you by training at the same time, each of your friends were training to unlock their own individual powers. You should bow your head to them and thank them, instead of asking questions."
"A... A CAT TALKED?!" Ichigo exclaimed, to which his hands went to his head, as he was beginning to suspect that he was losing his mind or something, though at the same time Uryu looked away for a moment, as he had been shocked as well, while the others were being calm about the situation... and, as he also noticed, Sombra seemed to smile when the cat joined their group.
"This isn't an ordinary cat," Sombra said, knowing that Yoruichi would prefer to keep the charade going that she was male, since it appeared that none of the others seemed to know her true form, and decided that he would play along until she decided it was time to reveal the truth to them, "this is Yoruichi... or Yoruichi-san, if you prefer."
"Okay, that's enough of that." Kisuke stated, clapping his hands for a moment, drawing their attention to the front of the shop, where Sombra noticed that he had opened it a little, and knew that it was time for them to get underway, before he gestured towards the door, "It's not good to stand around talking outside, so lets just go inside first."
The moment Kisuke said that the group started to move into the shop, where Sombra found that the way down to the underground training area was already revealed and also noted that both Ichigo and Orihime remained outside for a few more seconds than everyone else, before they joined the group. A few moments later, when everyone had climbed the ladder down to their destination, Sombra discovered that Uryu was very impressed by the area, Chad seemed happy to find out where Ichigo had been training, and Orihime was excited by what she had seen, despite the fact that her brother rubbed the back of his head at her excitement.
"W... Wow!" Orihime said, bringing her hands together as she looked at the area that surrounded them, surprised by the sheer size of what she was seeing and was confused as to how something this large could have remained hidden from the people of Karakura Town without it being discovered, "Such a huge space under the store, it's so cool! It's almost like a secret base!"
"What a magnificent reaction." Tessai replied, as he actually had some tears in his eyes over the fact that Orihime liked the area that they were in, even though Ichigo didn't seem to care one way or the other, and he was wiping them away with a piece of cloth that he had been carrying as he grasped her hand for a moment, "I, Tessai, am deeply moved."
It was in that moment that Kisuke called attention to himself once more, as he was standing in an area that was a little more open than what he usually stood in, before he snapped his fingers and four square pillars erupted out of the air, forming a rectangle that rested on top of the ground and stretched up into the air a little.
"All right, this is the gate that leads to Soul Society." Kisuke said, to which everyone turned and faced him, as they were all ready to get this adventure started and knew that time was of the essence, even though they had to wait for him to explain some things to them, "It is called the Senkai Gate, and it means 'realm-penetrating'. Are you all ready, because I'm only going to explain this once... but first..."
That was followed by Kisuke flashing behind Ichigo and striking him with his cane, in the manner that separated his soul from his body, surprising Uryu and the others by the sudden transformation, as now Ichigo was standing there in his Shinigami attire and had Zangetsu strapped to his back... but, after telling them not to act like he was a jar of candy, the group turned to Kisuke so he could continue what he was talking about.
"Now then, let's continue." Kisuke stated, where he observed all of them nodding their heads, indicating that they were all ready for what he had to tell them, before he beckoned to the Senkai Gate once more, "This gate was made by piling Spirit Exchangers atop the normal Senkai Gate. As you all know by now, Soul Society is a world of souls, meaning that entering it would be impossible if you weren't in a soul form, like Kurosaki is now and like what Sombra has stayed in since he first came to this world. Since only three of you have a soul form, we have to use Spirit Exchangers to change the rest of you into spirits so you can be sent to Soul Society."
"Basically, even without pulling out our souls," Uryu said, glanced over at Ichigo for a moment, to show that he was understanding what was being said, before glancing back to the gate that was resting in front of them, "if we go through this gate, we can enter Soul Society in our current state."
"That's correct." Kisuke replied, as he was happy to see that some of the group was getting it, namely Uryu and Sombra, which only made him surprised by how quickly the Arrancar seemed to understand things that were explained to him, even with his memory problems, though at the same time Ichigo seemed to be impatient and stepped forward, to which he jabbed the young man in the side and caused him to back off for a moment, "However, the amount of time we can open this gate, and stay connected to Soul Society, is at most four minutes. Normally it would be impossible to reach Soul Society in that amount of time, especially since this is an unreasonable endeavor in the first place, and we can only stretch the time you have to those four minutes. If you can't reach the other side in that amount of time, you will be permanently imprisoned in the space between Soul Society and the World of the Living."
"W... What should we do?" Orihime asked, though the tone of her voice revealed that she wasn't sure if she had what it took to go through with this, as one wrong step in the space between realms meant that they would be unable to leave and would be unable to save Rukia.
"Move forward." Yoruichi replied, where she jumped off of Sombra's shoulder and touched the ground, where she approached the gate and stopped in front of it, so she could look at the group that was assembled before her and the others, "I told you, your heart and your soul are connected. The important thing is the state of your heart. The will to move forward. Don't worry, I will be your guide. So move forward, that is what you should do. Only those that have the will to do that will come with us."
"Why do you think we gathered here?" Ichigo stated, to which he stepped to the front of the group for a moment, while at the same time the rest of his friends nodded their heads, despite the fact that Sombra felt that he was being a little rude to Yoruichi, "All we have to do is win our fights, free Rukia, and get out of Soul Society. Nothing to it."
Sombra sighed in annoyance for a moment, as it appeared that getting his Zanpakuto had actually made Ichigo a little arrogant, but that was only because he knew that the Captains, and likely the Lieutenants, of Soul Society were much stronger than what Ichigo thought they were, and that was because he had personally felt Captain Byakuya's power. Ichigo seemed to think that the level of power he had fought against was the peak of the power that their opponents would be able to use, but he really hoped that such a thought didn't come back to bite them later on. As the group settled down Kisuke informed them that they would have to join into the Senkai Gate simultaneously when it opened, to which the group braced themselves as he and Tessai activated the gate that was resting in front of them, though when a bright light flashed before their eyes Yoruichi jumped forward and the group followed after her, disappearing from the World of the Living and entered the space between it and Soul Society. As the group started to run through the strange tunnel they had found themselves in, with walls on either side of them that appeared to be moving and the way behind them sealing itself up as it chased them, the majority of them focused on the strangeness of the area around them and why the walls were moving in such a manner... while Sombra, on the other hand, put those thoughts off for now and focused on getting out of here, since he didn't want them to get imprisoned between Soul Society and the World of the Living.
As he ran, only a few steps behind Yoruichi, the cat explained that if they got caught in the Koryu, or the Wresting Flow as it was also called, they were done for, and when a part of the wall crashed into the ground behind Uryu, stopping him in his tracks because it caught part of his cape, Yoruichi stopped Ichigo from attacking, because if Zangetsu got stuck in the ooze like wall it would also trap him at the same time. Fortuantely Chad had a better idea, as he simply grabbed onto Uryu and ripped the area where his cape was located, before picking him up so they could continue to run down the tunnel that they found themselves in, but that was quickly followed by Uryu pointing out something that appeared to have been modeled after one of the trains that Sombra had seen in the World of the Living, only created from the same material as the walls were. Yoruichi explained that this was the Kototsu, the Wresting-Surge, and that it was only supposed to come out once every seven days to clean the Dangai, the tunnel that they were in, while also stating that she couldn't believe that it was coming out at a moment like this, especially when the group was trying to reach Soul Society. As it turned out the Kototsu was faster than the speed they were running and it appeared that they were going to get caught before they could reach the exit that was in front of them, only for Orihime to use her Santan Kesshun to shield them... and force an explosion that knocked them out of the Dangai altogether.
From what Sombra discovered, after allowing the smoke to clear and picking himself off the ground, the group had landed in what appeared to be the middle of a street, in an area that resembled the older style buildings from what he had heard Ichigo's instructor talk about in his classroom... and, to top it all off, most of the group was laid out in some manner, due to the shock of the explosion, save for Chad, himself, and Orihime.
"Is everyone alright?" Orihime asked, to which she earned some moans, as none of them had been expecting her to do what she had done, even though her brother was happy that she had saved their lives in such a manner, before she looking over at Ichigo for a moment, "Kurosaki-kun, your landing pose is so artistic!"
As the rest of the group started to pick themselves up, and dust off their clothing, Uryu surprised Chad, Ichigo, and Sora by having a spare cape prepared ahead of time, as he pulled the spare out and immediately switched out his now ruined one with the new one... though as Orihime commented that it was good that no one had gotten hurt, however, there was someone who had something to say to her comment.
"Good my tail!" Yoruichi snapped, to which Sombra watched as the cat actually jumped at Orihime and headbutted her in the face, surprising Sora for a moment, but he was stopped when Sombra shook his head, because he knew that there was a reason for Yoruichi to act this way and agreed that Orihime, despite saving them, had been a little reckless with her powers, "Didn't you listen to what I said? If one of your six Flowers had touched the Kototsu, instead of the shield that they generated, you would have lost your life in an instant!"
"Come on, you don't have to be so angry at Orihime," Ichigo said, though at the same time he glanced around the area they were in while Uryu continued to mess with his cape, something that Ichigo personally felt that he could have gone without since it was the cape's fault they were nearby hit by the Kototsu in the first place, "in the end it's all thanks to her that we got here unharmed."
"You don't seem to grasp the gravity of the situation." Yoruichi commented, though her tone told Sombra that they might be in trouble, as he had to believe that the Shinigami had some sort of system in place in case something that was unauthorized emerged from the Dangai.
"So, this is Soul Society?" Ichigo inquired, though at the same time an annoyed look appeared on Sombra's face, as he couldn't believe that he was actually ignoring Yoruichi at the moment, especially when she had information about the situation that they were in, but the cat shook her head and indicated that it was alright, to Sombra sighed and glanced at the area around them, in case some Shinigami showed up.
"That's right," Yoruichi replied, to which she looked around as well, because she fully expected something to happen soon and knew that it was best if they understood what was going on at the moment, "this place is commonly known as Rukongai, which means Wandering Soul City. This is where the souls that are led to Soul Society first reside."
"So this is where I would have ended up if I had been purified," Sora commented, as he was interested in what he had to learn, as he had been close to sending himself to Soul Society when Ichigo and Sombra stopped him, while at the same time glancing at the more impressive structures that were off in the distance.
"Yes, it is." Yoruichi said, knowing that Sora was the only soul that Sombra and Ichigo had saved by, somehow, helping him regain control over his body and convincing him to remove his Hollow Mask, creating a second Arrancar in the process, before she turned her attention to the situation that they were in, "Anyway, the area called Rukongai is located on the outer edge of the Court of Pure Souls, or the Seireitei, which is where the Shinigami live. This is the poorest, most liberated part of Soul Society and it is where most souls live."
"What's that?" Ichigo inquired, as he had seen the impressive structures that Sombra and Sora were staring at, even if there was a reason that they were staring at it, and immediately got an idea in his head, one that, when Sombra noticed what he was doing, he didn't like at all, "Oh, that has to be whatever it's called, the place where the Shinigami live."
As Yoruichi started to warn Ichigo about the perils of his actions, as he was running right towards the Seireitei, Sombra noticed something in the sky above them and immediately flashed over to where Ichigo was running, where he grabbed onto the back of his clothing and pulled him back a little as whatever was in the sky finally struck the ground in front of them. Through the dust and debris that was kicked up from the object hitting the ground, along with more of the same thing stretching off in the left and right directions, Sombra was able to make out that he and Ichigo were now standing in front of a large wall and, directly in front of them, rested an equally large gate. At the same time he was able to tell that they weren't alone, because standing in their path, right in front of the gate, was a large humanoid creature that he could only describe as a giant, one that was going to be blocking their way and that meant that they needed to knock him out or figure out a different plan of attack. The giant had his hair is tied into a pony-tail, which extended down towards his waist, with what Sombra knew to be long sideburns, which continue down onto his neck and long enough to be tied up in small pony-tail like tufts, while at the same time wearing armor on his left shoulder and upper arm, plus a red hat with tassels... and, to top it all off, the left side of his chest was left exposed by his uniform.
Right now he didn't see the giant carrying any weapons, which was bad since he might be hiding one anywhere on his body, to which Sombra prepared himself, because he had the feeling that something was going to happen in the next few moments and wanted to be ready for whatever that something was.
"It's been a long time," the giant said, though as the smoke fully cleared, however, Sombra noticed that his earlier thought had been wrong, as their opponent was actually carrying a large axe with some decorations on the head of the weapon, while at the same time he was staring down at him and Ichigo, "since someone has tried to come through the Gate of Pure Spirits without a pass. Long time since I've had a visitor... much less two visitors. I'll take good care of you, little boy and young man."
Before either Sombra or Ichigo could say anything the giant, who apparently called himself Jidanbo Ikkanzaka, raised his axe and slammed the base of it against the ground, declaring that they would have to pick which of the two of them would come at him first, showing that there was some sort of rule where Shinigami had a one on one fight with others, despite the fact that Sombra felt that not all Shinigami might follow that rule. While the two of them stood there Yoruichi told Uryu and the others that Jidanbo was a hero of Soul Society and had been chosen to be the guardsman of one of the four Great Pure Spirit Gates, the one that was called the Gate of the White Way. She also explained that the way forward was to defeat Jidanbo, which wasn't as easy as one would assume it would be, as the giant had been standing guard at this gate for three hundred years and, in that length of time, the gate he guarded had never once been breached. While all that was going on Sombra heard a tone that he was familiar with, as Yoruichi knew that, if Ichigo allowed him to fight instead of tackling the giant himself, the gate would be breached in no time, indicating that the gatekeeper might have have experience in fighting an Arrancar.
Of course both Chad, Orihime, and Sora charged towards the pair, so they could fight Jidanbo together as a team, but the giant saw them coming and used his axe to carve open some parts of the ground, causing the pieces to rise and act as a barrier to prevent them from interfering with what he was doing... not that Ichigo and Sombra needed assistance, as Sombra was sure that either of them could take the giant out on their own.
"You three have bad manners." Jidanbo stated, staring down at Chad, Orihime, and Sora for a few seconds, his tone revealing that he had a dislike of some kind for people that had bad manners, but not strong enough to make him attack them before he finished with whoever he decided would be his first opponent, "I bet you're from the country. Listen up, in the city we've got things called 'rules'. Number One, when you come home from outdoors, wash your hands. Number Two, don't eat things that fall on the floor. Number Three, when you duel, come one at a time. My first opponent will either be the boy with hair like rock colored candy, or the strange man with pony ears. Until I am finished with the two of them, you two should sit there and be quiet."
As Jidanbo turned back around and headed to his post, so he could wait and see who his first opponent was, Sombra overheard Chad, Orihime, and Sora making plans to attack the giant while his back was turned, only for Jidanbo to call them out on mumbling stuff and immediately freaked them out to where they didn't want to attempt their plan.
"Chad, Orihime, Sora, don't worry about us." Ichigo said, to which he leaned against the rock wall that Jidanbo had created and spoke to his friends, while at the same time Sombra stood nearby and kept his eyes on their opponent, as he was being awfully calm given the current situation, "Sombra and I are as fit as a fiddle. Though, while I'm at it, would the three of you stand still right where you are?"
"No, I refuse!" Uryu stated, to which he stepped forward and stood beside the rest of the group, while at the same time Yoruichi stared at all of them as they talked, as she couldn't believe what she was seeing, "Our time is limited. Right now, instead of one of you fighting alone, we should confront the situation together and proceed in a timely manner."
"Quit talking in that annoying manner, Uryu." Ichigo replied, though this time around he shifted his gaze back towards the giant that was standing in front of them, as he knew that Sombra was already trying to figure out his weaknesses so he could bring Jidanbo down.
"Ichigo, can you two take him?" Chad asked, to which Sombra noted that there definitely was some history between the two of them, as it almost sounded like Chad was expecting his friend to do great things and beat the gatekeeper that was standing in front of him.
"I'm positive that I can take him out," Ichigo answered, though this time around he sighed as he stood up, because the more time they spent on this side of the wall the closer Rukia would be getting to her execution, as well as the fact that the stronger Shinigami might be on their way to their location, "though, if it comes to it, Sombra can take him out easily."
"Go ahead and have a crack at him," Sombra said, because he already knew that, from the reiatsu he was feeling, that he would be a severely unfair opponent for the giant, to which he backed up a little and let Ichigo take the center stage, as this was going to be over in a matter of seconds.
As Sombra did that, and Uryu continued to complain about the situation, Ichigo revealed to the others that he was supposed to have spent the ten days before Kisuke needed to spend seven days preparing the Senkai Gate for their journey, but since he had gotten his powers back within five days both he and Sombra spent those five days fighting both each other and Kisuke. Because of how he worded it Uryu started to believe that they had learned the essentials of combat, to which Ichigo revealed that Kisuke didn't really teach him much and that the person that likely knew what Uryu was talking about was Sombra, but, as he gripped the handle of Zangetsu and undid the cloth that was covering the blade, he also told them that he got stamina and guts for his efforts. As that happened Sombra patiently waited where he was standing and observed what was going to happen next, as he was sure that the giant was going to strike soon and that had to be when Ichigo was going to knock him out of the way.
"You done talking?" Jidanbo asked, as he had put himself in a ready position the moment he had created the wall between him and the rest of the group that had been coming to join their friends, though at the same time he was pleased to find that they had chosen someone to step forward and be the first one to fight him.
"I don't remember asking you to wait at all." Ichigo countered, almost as if he was trying to piss off Jidanbo in some manner, or at least that was what Sombra guessed he was trying to do, despite the fact that such a thing wasn't even necessary at the moment.
"So you're a country kid, too." Jidanbo stated, which was accompanied by a hint of annoyance as his right eyebrow was raised just a tiny bit, confirming Sombra's thoughts on the matter as he crossed his arms, though at the same time he started to raise his axe, "You ain't showin' proper etiquette. When someone waits for you... YOU SAY 'THANK YOU'!"
It was in the following moment that he loudly stated those words, intending for all of them to hear what he was saying, that he slammed down his axe on where Ichigo was standing, kicking up a good amount of dust and force in the process... though when it all cleared a surprised look appeared on Jidanbo's face as he found Ichigo standing beneath the head of his axe, as Ichigo had used Zangetsu to stop the axe in it's tracks.
"What are you..." Jidanbo started to ask, though at the same time it appeared that the act of stopping his blade was something that the gatekeeper wasn't used to, as he appeared to be in shock at the moment, and Ichigo decided to take advantage of that expression.
"Attacking me before I'm in position," Ichigo commented, to which he locked his eyes with his target, as he was interested in getting this over with so he and the others could move on and start their mission, as there were a lot of Shinigami between them and Rukia, "ain't that a lack of etiquette?"
Jidanbo glared at Ichigo for a few seconds, almost like he was annoyed with him about having his own line used against him in such a manner, before he removed his axe from where it was resting and started to laugh, though while Ichigo had to move back a little Sombra just stood there and waited for this to be over.
"You're pretty good." Jidanbo stated, showing that he wasn't as annoyed as Sombra first thought he was and that he appeared to be having a good time at the moment, which only confused Ichigo since he and the others were on an important mission at the moment, "It's been decades since anyone has stopped my axe. Alright, for the first time in a long time, I'll fight without holding back. Out of those who've tried to enter this gate, the number of people who've stopped my first axe attack is three, including you. But there ain't a single one who's stopped my second attack!"
Jidanbo, true to his word, struck Ichigo again with his axe, where all Ichigo did was use his Zanpakuto to block the incoming attack, creating the same effect as the previous time their weapons collided, and that only made Jidanbo happy that he was still standing, as that allowed him to move into what he called Juppon Jidanda Matsuri, or Ten Buffalo-Red Strikes Festival. Sombra assumed that it was going to be nine or ten downward strikes, similar to the first two he already delivered, but the reality was that he actually delivered fifteen of those attacks on where Ichigo was standing before raising his axe high into the air and unleashed a horizontal attack that carved up the defensive barrier he set up to stop Orihime and the others from interfering. At the same time Sombra, seeing the attack coming, simply used his Shunpo to get out of the way of the shockwave that he had been standing in the path of, before stepping back down where he had been standing moments ago and looked at the fight... where a nervous and surprised Jidanbo was staring down at a serious Ichigo, who didn't have a single scratch on him at all.
In the moment that Ichigo pushed the axe backward, and took up a stance that indicated that he was ready for battle, Jidanbo actually surprised him by stating that he wanted to 'test' the power that Sombra had, meaning that he was hoping on fighting a weaker opponent, and Ichigo simply sighed as he switched spots with the Arrancar. When Jidanbo swung his first axe attack, however, Sombra didn't even bother to draw Shokyo from her sheath, as it wasn't necessary to do something like that at the moment, and raised his right hand into the air, where he blocked the attack with just the palm of his hand. Jidanbo seemed worried for a moment as he unleashed the second of his first two attacks, where Sombra just repeated what he had done the first time around, and when that failed to hurt him Jidanbo moved into his special technique, the same one he used against Ichigo. This time around Sombra simply used his right hand to parry the attacks that were coming his way and, when the final attack came at him, he switched to his left arm and stopped the axe head in it's tracks, just like Ichigo did... and, at the same time, caused a confused and annoyed Jidanbo to switch back to fighting Ichigo as his opponent, though as Sombra backed away he found that the giant was planning on using a technique that was called Banzai Jidanda Matsuri, or the Ten-Thousand Buffalo-Red Strikes Festival.
This time around, instead of letting things get out of hand, Ichigo patiently waited to see what was different about this attack, which was Jidanbo pulling out a second axe and breaking the metallic armor that he was wearing to release all the strength he possessed, before he made his move... to which Ichigo muttered something about him being sorry about having to smash the axes, which was followed by him swinging Zangetsu. The result was that both of Jidanbo's axes were broken in an instant, the giant was struck in the chest by the sheer force of the attack, and Jidanbo was knocked backwards, where he slammed into the gate that he was supposed to be protecting with a surprised look on his face.
"Wh... What the hell?" Jidanbo commented, his tone betraying his shock for a moment, thought that was followed by him getting back onto his feet with a happy smile on his face, as if he had found someone that he would want to fight repeatedly until neither of them were able to move again, "Whoa, that was close. I got distracted and let myself slip and fall on my can. What's with that look on your face, little boy? Oh, I bet you thought that you tossed me through the air, didn't you? I have no idea why you're thinking that, because there's no way that someone like me would get tossed through the air. This is why country hicks are such a hassle. Just you wait, I'll hit you with my axes again..."
It was in that instant that Jidanbo discovered that the heads of his axes had been smashed, as the fragments were laying all over the area around them, especially since Sombra spotted Yoruichi sitting on one of them, which only caused tears to form in Jidanbo's eyes as he started slamming his fists on the ground, revealing that he was emotional over the destruction of what appeared to be his precious axes... though Sombra guessed that everyone had something that was precious to them and would act in the same way if something like this happened.
"L... Look man, I'm... I'm sorry for breaking your axes." Ichigo said, because if he had known ahead of time that the giant was going to act this way, when his weapons broke, he would have attacked Jidanbo's chest directly and put him out of commission, though now he only felt slightly bad for breaking those huge axes, "I really shouldn't have broken both of them at the same time like that."
"You're... such a good guy!" Jidanbo stated, showing that he was now abandoning his earlier thoughts of Ichigo being a country hick that didn't care about etiquette and was accepting a new thought about him being a nice and considerate person, especially after breaking something that wasn't his, "You and me are enemies, but you still worry about a loser like me. So big! What a big-hearted man you are!"
"Well, actually," Ichigo replied, as the moment Jidanbo mentioned that he was 'so big' he dropped the fragments of his axes' handles and rested both of his hands on his shoulders, preventing him from moving for the moment, especially since he couldn't take the crying, "seeing someone cry so much in front of me, I couldn't not comfort them..."
"And in comparison, what did I do?" Jidanbo suddenly asked, while at the same time suddenly getting onto his feet with a strange happy look in his eyes, as if Ichigo's act of comforting him had somehow changed his mind, "I sobbed like a baby because my axes broke. I'm a disgrace to all men. It's a total defeat. As both a warrior and as a man, I lost totally to you! As I said, it has been three hundred years since I became the guardsman of the Gate of the White Way, and I've never lost once in that amount of time. You are the first one to defeat me... as such I, Jidanbo Ikkanzaka, give you and your followers permission to pass through the Gate of the White Way."
Of course as Jidanbo turned towards the gate, and everyone gathered behind him so they could finally enter the Seireitei, Uryu was the only one that had an objection to Jidanbo calling Ichigo their 'leader', since that was supposed to be what Yoruichi was, but Chad moved a hand over his mouth and shook his head, indicating that it was wise to accept it for the moment and get inside while Jidanbo was being nice. Of course Uryu used Ichigo's last name and Ichigo had to tell Jidanbo that his name was Ichigo Kurosaki, only to clarify that his name meant 'first place' for the 'ichi' part and 'guardian angel' for the 'go' part, only for that to pass over the giant's head as he warned him, and the others, that there were nothing but strong guys on the other side of the gate. When Ichigo told him that they knew that, however, Jidanbo didn't actually seem to care, though he did squat down for a moment and grabbed the underside of the gate, which he heaved up with all his strength, allowing the group to observe as the gatekeeper opened the gate before their very eyes. Sombra figured that it would require a lot of strength to open such a large gate, and it appeared that he was being proven correct in his thoughts, though as Jidanbo moved under the gate, however, it seemed like he was frozen in fear.
As Sombra stepped forward, and was followed by a curious Ichigo, he discovered that the reason Jidanbo had stopped was because of a man that appeared to be in his early to mid twenties, who was unusually thin and tall with very sharp features, giving him a skeletal appearance of sorts, and happened to have unusual silver colored hair. The only odd thing about him, besides the white haori, without the sleeves as he noticed, that was resting over his normal Shinigami attire, was the fact that his eyes were narrowed to the point where they looked like slits, and Sombra noticed that his Zanpakuto appeared to be a wakizashi, instead of a katana.
"Who's that guy?" Ichigo asked, as he had no idea who the person was or why Jidanbo was so scared of him, because all he knew was that this person would need to be taken out if he and the others were going to be able to get inside the Seireitei and begin the search for where they were keeping Rukia.
"Th... That's the Captain of the Third Division," Jidanbo replied, though his voice revealed that he was terrified, which made sense to Sombra, who had felt the sheer power of Byakuya when he released his full power back in the World of the Living and already knew that Captains weren't to be underestimated, "Gin Ichimaru!"
"Interesting," Sombra said, to which he raised one of his hands to his chin as he thought about something, as he was trying to remember what he had learned shortly after Byakuya stated that he was an Arrancar, before recalling that there were thirteen Divisions in the Gotei 13, "Hey Jidanbo, you wouldn't happen to know what Division Captain Byakuya Kuchiki commands, would you?"
"B... Byakuya Kuchiki?" Jidanbo inquired, though at the same time Ichigo glanced at Sombra, trying to figure out why he wanted to know which Division the Shinigami that had nearly killed him commanded, before turning his attention to the captain in front of them, "He's the Captain of the Sixth Division."
"Hey, that ain't right at all." Gin commented, turning their attention back to him for a moment, even though his focus was on someone else entirely, though for Ichigo and Sombra it was hard to tell who that someone was, but at the same time Sombra had the feeling that he knew who the Captain was staring at.
In the following few seconds Sombra noticed Captain Gin draw his Zanpakuto for a moment and heard the sound of Jidanbo in pain, where he watched as the giant's right arm, everything from the hand up to his shoulder, was severed in an instant and forced the others that were behind the giant to move as the arm hit the ground, while at the same time the unfortunate giant lowered to one knee and rested the gate on his back.
"That ain't right." Gin stated, though at the same time he left the stance that he was in and faced the trio that was currently standing in front of him, while at the same time Sombra knew that he was more focused on Jidanbo, "The gatekeeper ain't there to open the gate."
"I lost." Jidanbo replied, though as he spoke both Ichigo and Sombra could hear the pain in his voice, indicating that he was struggling against the pain that his body was in at the moment, but while Ichigo focused on the giant for a moment Sombra faced the Captain, "A defeated gatekeeper opening the gate... makes perfect sense!"
"What are you talking about?" Gin inquired, where Sombra frowned for a moment, as he was talking with a tone that reminded him of Captain Byakuya's tone, only that it sounded like someone that was used to getting his way and punished others when they failed, "A defeated gatekeeper doesn't open any gates. When a gatekeeper's defeated, it means death."
That was followed by Ichigo rushing forward and bringing his Zanpakuto down, forcing Gin to draw his for a moment to defend himself, before the two of them were forced away from each other, though that was followed by Ichigo stating that anyone that was going to attack an unarmed man, or anyone for that matter, was his to kill. Yoruichi, on the other hand, called for Ichigo to pull back, as this wasn't the sort of fight that he was able to win at the moment, but Ichigo wasn't going to have any of that, as he claimed that he could finish a fight with Gin in a matter of seconds, only for Gin to interrupt them for a moment.
"You're Ichigo Kurosaki?" Gin inquired, causing Ichigo to stop what he was doing at the moment and turn towards him, though his tone caused Sombra to tense, as there was something in the way he said those words that raised alarm bells in his head, even if Ichigo didn't seem to think that way.
"You know about me?" Ichigo replied, because the only Shinigami, besides Rukia, that knew about him were the ones that had captured her, her brother Byakuya and Renji, though at the same time that only made him tighten his grip on his Zanpakuto as he prepared for whatever was coming next.
"Oh, so it really is you." Gin remarked, though at the same time he turned around and started to walk away from the gate, as if he was letting them into the Seireitei, but Sombra knew that the Captain wasn't about to let them do that, "Then that's all the more reason to make sure you and your friends don..."
Sombra, despite knowing that it would be better for them to retreat and not engage the Captain at the moment, drew his Zanpakuto as he flashed through the air, where a brief look of surprise appeared on Gin's face as he parried the incoming attack, shaking the ground around them for an instant, before he noticed his opponent raising his left arm for a few seconds. That was all he needed, as he twisted his wrist for a moment and shifted where his Zanpakuto was hitting, where the tip of his blade cut through the fabric of the clothing above his left arm, though Sombra mentally smiled for a moment as a small gash appeared on Gin's arm and a few drops of blood fell from Shokyo's tip. A few seconds later Sombra separated himself from his current opponent, who seemed to frown for a moment as he looked at his left arm, as if he wasn't expecting that, but that was when he decided to stop messing around and called out the Release Call and the name of his Zanpakuto, which was 'Shoot to Kill, Shinso'... thought that was followed by Ichigo, who raised Zangetsu to protect his chest, getting hit in the center of his body and was knocked right into Jidanbo, where they were forced back into the Rukongai area of Soul Society.
Sombra glared at the Captain for a moment, wondering if he could take him and then find some way to meet up with the others later for a few seconds, before he turned around and flashed through the opening that was getting ready to close, though once he was on the other side he immediately turned back towards the gate as it closed. The only thing he saw was Captain Gin waving 'bye-bye' at them as the gate finally closed and cut them off from the inner part of the Seireitei, though as Sombra sheathed Shokyo he had the feeling that they'd cross paths with some powerful foes once they finally got inside the massive area that was blocked off at the moment... and he was sure that Yoruichi might have something in mind to help them do just that.
After Captain Gin forced the gate to close, by slicing off Jidanbo's entire left arm and knocking Ichigo in the chest with his Zanpakuto, which Sombra was convinced had elongated itself after he used the Release Call, the group turned towards Ichigo as he sat up and brushed off the dust that had gathered on him after he hit the ground near Jidanbo's left shoulder and Zangetsu landed near him. Sombra was happy to see that Ichigo was unharmed from the strike that he had suffered from the Captain's attack, and the rest of the group was happy to see that he was fine, but even as that happened he turned back towards the gate and wondered what was going to happen when Captain Gin encountered someone that inquired what happened to his arm. He also wondered if someone had asked Captain Byakuya what happened to his chest when he returned to Soul Society, as Sombra remembered cutting his chest when he got incredibly pissed off about the Captain's noble attitude towards him and a wounded Ichigo, before he sighed and shook his head, as he was sure that they would cross paths with one of the Captains in the future.
As he turned back towards Ichigo, to check on how he was doing, Orihime rushed by him and immediately stopped by Ichigo's side, clearly showing that she was worried about him, while at the same time Chad, Uryu, and Sora walked over to them as Yoruichi stared at all of them.
"Kurosaki-kun, are you alright?" Orihime asked, though at the same time she looked all over Ichigo's body, clearly trying to find any wounds that needed to be healed, while Ichigo rubbed his head for a few seconds as he finally got over what he was feeling at the moment.
"The gate?!" Ichigo inquired, clearly ignoring what Orihime said as he turned his attention towards the now closed gate, where an annoyed look appeared on his face as he found that all his hard work defeating Jidanbo, and somehow getting him to open the gate, had been wasted, "Dammit..."
"I see you're alright." Yoruichi commented, to which she walked over to where the group was standing, but at the same time she glanced over at Sombra as well, as she was happy to see that he was completely unharmed from his very brief fight with Gin, who they might have been able to get through if the Captain hadn't targeted Jidanbo.
"Sorry, we let the gate close," Ichigo said, where he glanced at the cat that was walking towards him, because now that the gate was closed, and the only person capable of opening it knocked out, the only one among their number that knew how to get into the Seireitei was Yoruichi.
"Forget it." Yoruichi replied, where she glanced at the gate once more, knowing that the Captain that had come to greet them was likely standing on the other side of the massive structure, staring at the wound that Sombra had dealt him as she thought about what she had seen, "With Gin Ichimaru as our opponent it would have been hard for us to get inside the Seireitei, not unless we let Sombra focus on fighting him one on one while we searched for a second way to get through the gate."
"I know he's incredible, but could he really defeat a Captain at his current level?" Uryu inquired, as he had seen the sheer power that Sombra had displayed some time ago, when Rukia was being taken by the Shinigami, and had wounded one Captain in the process.
"He was able to wound a Captain, who was using only twenty percent of his power, before he even had access to his Zanpakuto spirit," Yoruichi explained, as she was still surprised when she thought about that, as Byakuya was strong and Sombra had temporarily overpowered him before forcing the Spirit Restriction Seal to be released, "now that he has released his Zanpakuto, and he and Shokyo are working together, his strength is much greater than it was before. Sombra should be able to take the 3rd Seat of a Division with ease, while a Lieutenant, depending on who it is, might offer him a challenge... though, despite how strong he is, we should avoid Captains at all costs, as some are even stronger than the others and all of them aren't to be taken lightly. Also, be glad that you aren't injured, because Gin Ichimaru is one of those Captains, no matter what Sombra was able to do to him in the brief time they were fighting each other."
"Hey Orihime," Ichigo said, though while Yoruichi was talking to Uryu he had gotten up and picked up Zangetsu from where it had landed, allowing him to turn his attention to something else, or rather the gatekeeper that had been punished for opening the gate, "Help me patch this guy up."
As Orihime agreed to help patch up Jidanbo, who was likely to bleed out if someone didn't assist him anyway, the group heard the noise of something moving and turned back towards the street they had landed on, only this time around there were other souls emerging from the various buildings around them. Sombra could tell that they were afraid, just from the looks that some of them were giving the group, and he couldn't blame them, as he was pretty sure that these souls knew that they weren't with the Shinigami and were likely to cause some chaos in what was their ordinary lives.
"What's with them?" Sora asked, as the entire group was turning to face the residents of the Rukongai that were emerging from the buildings, but he kept his hand near his sword, just in case the group found themselves under attack and needed to defend themselves, "Why were they hiding until now?"
"They were afraid of us." Yoruichi replied, though she looked at the souls that were staring at them, likely staring at Sombra, Ichigo, and Sora, as they were the ones that were wearing Shinigami type clothing, even if Sombra's was the only one that wasn't the normal black color, "Souls that come to Soul Society improperly, as in without the aid of Shinigami, are called Ryoka and are thought to be the source of all sorts of disasters."
"So they think we're enemies?" Ichigo inquired, though he frowned for a moment, because if that was the case he wasn't sure that he could actually fight them, as they all looked nothing like the Shinigami that were in Soul Society and didn't look like they could defend themselves, but that didn't stop them from preparing themselves for anything.
"Please wait," a voice said, to which an elderly soul walked out from the group and stopped when he was a few steps in front of the souls that he had walked out with, though the group could tell from his clothing that he was someone of importance in the Rukongai, though he gave them a little bow before standing straight once more, "I am the chief of Rukongai. I was watching the entire incident as it unfolded. As Jidanbo's saviors, I would like to welcome all of you."
Sombra and the rest of the group smiled as they relaxed for a moment, as it appeared that none of the souls in front of them wanted to pick a fight with them, though that was when Orihime had Chad, Sora, and Ichigo, along with a number of the residents of the Rukongai, haul Jidanbo's severed arm over to where the giant's body was located. While they did that, and the other souls watched what was going on, Sombra stood by the Chief and learned that there were a lot of arrogant and annoying Shinigami on the other side of the wall, but Jidanbo had come from the Rukongai, which was interesting and could actually explain some of his actions earlier. One of the other souls that had been standing nearby also informed him that, since they went out of their way to save the giant from Captain Gin, that they must all be good people, surprising Sombra for a moment, as he wasn't expecting that sort of reaction, but he smiled and nodded his head, as he was happy that the residents of the Rukongai were so understanding.
When it came to the severe wound that Jidanbo had suffered, on the other hand, Orihime assured them all that she would be able to heal it in no time, to which Ichigo and Uryu got their first glimpse of her healing technique, as Chad and Sora had trained with her, Yoruichi had helped her manifest her powers, and Sombra had seen the awakening of her seemingly reality defying powers. While all of this happened, however, Chad was visited by a little boy that was extremely excited to see him again, where the group, those that weren't focused on the wound, turned and looked at the little boy, only for them to discover that it was the soul that had been inside the parakeet earlier. Chad smiled as he picked Yuichi Shibata up, let him sit with both of his legs on his shoulders while holding onto his head, and walked off to explore the part of the Rukongai that they were in, allowing the rest of the group to do what they wanted while they waited for Orihime to finish healing Jidanbo's arm.
As the majority of the group headed to the Chief's house, as Yoruichi had business she wanted to take care of before they did anything else, Sombra discovered that most of the people in the Rukongai didn't know each other and had formed family like cooperative groups in order to make a living. From what he could guess that meant that all of these souls were from difference places and time periods, but, at the same time, there was no guarantee that someone would find one of their family members from when they were living, meaning that Yuichi might not be able to find his mother at all. Sombra knew that the moment Chad heard that news, as he was about to hear it before coming back to them, he would vow to try and help the little boy find his mother, since that had been a big reason behind why he had suffered through the serial killer turned Hollow that was chasing him. Ichigo, on the other hand, moved up to a nearby rooftop and stared at the wall that was blocking their way, clearly trying to find another way to open the gate or move it, so Sombra, not seeing much to do at the moment, followed after Yoruichi and decided to be near her while she talked with the Chief about whatever she wanted to talk about.
A few hours later it was getting dark, indicating that Soul Society had a day and night cycle like the World of the Living had, and that was when Ichigo, Chad, and Orihime returned to the building that the rest of the group was staying in, but Orihime did say that Jidanbo would be fine after he had some rest... and, at the same time, Yoruichi explained the situation to them the moment they were all sitting near the Chief, where those that had swords had them resting to their side while they sat in the house.
"We're giving up on breaking through the gate?!" Ichigo asked, as he couldn't believe that Yoruichi was so willing to give up on the gate that was in front of them, because he was sure that there might be something they could do to the gate to open it and get into the Seireitei.
"We're not giving up." Yoruichi stated, because that wasn't what she had told them, but, at the same time, she knew that Ichigo needed things explained to him before he understood what someone was saying, though she could see that Sombra was listening with a look of interest in his eyes, "Since the gate has been opened once, the interior security will be tighter than ever before. That means that using the same tactic twice is not a good idea. And there would be no differences in the other three gates, as they'll be reinforced as well, in case we decided to try passing through them. Since the gates are no longer an option, that just means that we'll have to break into the Seireitei from someplace that isn't one of the four gates."
The group glanced at each other for a few moments, as most of them were surprised that there might be another path for them to take to get into their destination, while at the same time Sombra knew that Yoruichi had likely thought of several different ideas on how they could get inside the Seireitei, before she turned towards the Chief.
"Chief, do you know Kukaku Shiba?" Yoruichi asked, though the way she asked the question told Sombra that this person had to be important, especially since it appeared that they needed the person's help in breaching the wall and entering the Seireitei, "Apparently, Kukaku likes to change residences at the drop of a hat, and, unfortunately, I haven't been able to tell where the fool is located now."
The Chief seemed to be getting ready to explain something to them, as he mentioned something about 'using that' to get inside the Seireitei, but before he could actually say anything they heard the sound of hooves running on the ground and turned towards the door for a moment, as they were confused as to what was going on. That was quickly followed by someone being flung through the door of the building for a moment, though that person crashed into the ground in front of them and the group stared at the man in question, finding that he was tall and muscular with chin length black hair, and that part of his left eyebrow was missing. The man was wearing a black vest, with normal white clothing underneath it, a white bandanna with red spots on his head, and pair of glasses that happened to be resting over his eyes, though he brushed the dust off himself as he started to get up off the floor. A few seconds later a boar, one that happened to be wearing a bow, walked into the building and stared at the surprised group, as none of them were even expecting this sort of thing to happen, before they turned their full attention to the strange man that was standing in front of the door.
"Man oh man, my Bonnie-chan threw me off again." the man said, to which he finished brushing off his clothing and got rid of the rest of the dust, before he stared at the Chief that was sitting nearby and seemed to smile for a moment, as he grinned and raised his hand for a moment, "Yo. Long time no see, Old Dude."
"Ganju!" the Chief stated, staring at the man that had burst through the opening of his building, and had brought a boar in as well, because he knew that this particular person was a nuisance and would only cause problems for him, the rest of the souls that he watched over, and their visitors, "What are you doing here?! Go away!"
"What the heck?" the man, Ganju, replied, apparently not happy by the Chief's response to his arrival and the first statement he made, but at the same time, as he shifted his stance, Sombra noticed he had a blade attached to his belt, in a different manner than what he and Ichigo did since it was behind his back, "I visit you for the first time in ages and that's how you greet me? Your guests are shocked... what's this!"
Ganju, who happened to glance around the people that were around him, stopped moving his eyes when he spotted Ichigo, though at the same time the grin that had been on his face shifted into an angry frown, especially when he noticed Sombra and Sora as well, telling Sombra that their clothing might be the cause of his new expression.
"Why are there three worthless Shinigami in a place like this?" Ganju asked, revealing that he had an anger of some kind for Shinigami and was thinking that they were members of one of the Divisions, even though Sombra's attire was a different coloration than the ones that Ichigo and Sora were wearing.
Sombra watched as Ganju approached Ichigo and demanded to know what he was doing there, which was repeated by him having to repeat himself for a moment before Ichigo, getting annoyed, punched him in the side of his face and sent him flying back towards the door. From there he sighed as both Ichigo and Ganju engaged each other in a series of insults with each other for a few moments, though when Uryu asked who Ganju was the man introduced himself as the 'Deep Crimson Bullet of West Rukongai', the 'Number One Want-To-Call-Him-Big-Brother of West Rukongai for fourteen years', and the 'Number One Shinigami Hater of West Rukongai', where the group discovered that all of these titles were self-proclaimed and that he likely came up with all of them. Of course Ichigo proclaimed that Ganju was a hopeless loser and was tackled outside by the man, to which the group simply sighed as they stood around the entrance and found that Ganju had a gang that had accompanied him, as the four men outside were also riding boars, and Chad even through Zangetsu over to Ichigo so he could defend himself, only for Ganju to do something and bury the majority of the blade in the ground, which seemed to have turned to sand as Sombra watched what was going on.
He also stopped Yoruichi from attempting to stop Ichigo from stopping the foolish battle he was in, because he knew that the Human was too heated over Ganju attacking him and calling him a 'worthless Shinigami', not that it mattered since one of Ganju's men had the clock chime and he pulled them all out, allowing them to go over their plan in peace while hoping never to see the man again.
When earlier morning arrived, and the majority of the group stood outside the building that the Chief allowed them to stay in for the night, Sombra found that Ichigo was being rather stubborn about leaving the area, as Ganju had promised that he'd be back some time today and he seriously wanted to beat the man up for attacking him and calling him names the previous night. Sombra stared at his friend for a moment, trying not to get angry over the fact that Ichigo was willing to forget the entire reason they were here in the first place, and glanced over to where Yoruichi was sitting, to which the cat sighed in frustration and approached the Human, where she clawed his face with a quick swipe and knocked some sense into Ichigo. Once Ichigo was ready to leave, and joined the others outside, Yoruichi, having gained the location of the person she needed to talk to, headed off into the wilderness and the group followed after her, where they observed the sun as it rose into the air and brought light to the area once more, while discovering that they were heading away from where Jidanbo's gate was located. Along the way the majority of the group seemed to think that Kukaku Shiba was living out here to keep his identity a secret, and Sombra even noticed that the rest of the group seemed to think it was a man for some reason, because his experience with Yoruichi told him not to label someone until he met them... and, as they walked, Yoruichi informed them that Kukaku just preferred to live out in places like this, as it was in the 'fools' nature to do so.
Yoruichi even told them that she would be able to recognize the house that Kukaku lived in if she saw it, though not a few moments later she stopped in her tracks and declared that she had found it, which seemed to be an ordinary house with a rather large chimney looking pipe behind it and two large human arms that held up a sign with Kukaku's name written on it.
"The house likely doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things," Sombra spoke up, as he could tell that the others were shocked and stunned by the house that was in front of them, and he could also tell, from just a glance and a moment of sensing the area around him, that there was more to this area than what they were seeing, "what actually matters is whatever the house is hiding from the rest of the Rukongai residents."
Yoruichi smiled for a moment, both because the theme of the exterior was different and the fact that Sombra was able to sense the fact that there was more to the house than what they could currently see, before she jumped up onto his shoulder and they walked forward, only for Ichigo and Uryu, who had stayed behind for a moment, to walk past them and approach the entrance of the house... where they were stopped by two men that were nearly identical, save for the fact that one had a yellow top on and a long face while the one with the white top had a broader face.
"HALT!" the yellow top wearing man said, though both of them started out by standing on one of the hands that were holding up the banner, before they jumped down to where Ichigo, who was at the front of the pack, happened to be standing at the moment, "Who are you infidels?"
"What strange garb you wear!" the white top wearing man added, though at the same time he glanced over all of them and seemed to settle on Ichigo, Sombra, and Sora, making them all wonder if they were people that shared Ganju's dislike of Shinigami, "And I see that three of you are Shinigami!"
"Suspicious strangers," the yellow top wearing man continued, staring down at the group like his partner was, while at the same time the two of them crossed their arms as they observed the group, who were trying to figure out what was going on at the moment, "I, Koganehiko, and..."
"I, Shiroganehiko," the white topped man stated, revealing that they had some sort of welcoming procedure that they used when people they didn't know approached the building that they were apparently guarding, though at the same time Sombra had a feeling that their routine would soon be over.
"...shall never let you pass!" the two men declared at the same time, though as that happened Ichigo immediately reached for Zangetsu's handle, because he had the feeling that a fight might break out, while at the same time Sombra didn't even bother since he knew the right way around the situation they had found themselves in.
It was in the following moment that Yoruichi, who the two men had ignored when they scanned the group, revealed herself and the two of them got excited for a moment, though that was when Koganehiko stayed outside as Shiroganehiko led them down into the house, revealing that there was a set of downward stairs that they had to use. As they walked down the stairs their guide apologized for them being so rude to them, as they had no idea that they were Yoruichi's friends, to which Yoruichi apologized in return since she gave them no warning that she was coming with friends. That was followed by Shiroganehiko saying that Yoruichi was ever so great and ever so thoughtful as they reached the bottom of the stairs, where he had them wait so he could open the door and head into the room that Kukaku was likely waiting in, though before he could do that he seemed to hear something, like a message of some kind, and said 'Yes Master', before kneeling by the sliding door and moved it out of the way... revealing a rather large room, with enough space for the entire group if they sat in a row, with someone sitting at the very end of it, resting in what appeared to be a mat with some cushions as Yoruichi jumped off of Sombra's shoulder.
Kukaku, as Sombra and the others soon discovered, was actually a youthful-looking woman of average height, in terms of what he knew from the World of the Living, with green colored eyes and that she happened to be wearing some bandages over her long messy black hair that parted down in half at the small of her back. What was a little shocking was that the person they came to meet was wearing a white skirt and a rather provocative red robe that exposed her ample bosom, something that Sombra hadn't seen back in the other world. The only other things he noticed was that Kukaku was missing her right arm, as it appeared to have been replaced by a wooden one of some type, that she had a tattoo of some sort on her left arm, and that she wore bandages around her right shoulder and both ankles.
"Long time no see, Yoruichi." Kukaku spoke up, as Yoruichi was the first one to enter the room that she was resting in, which actually brought a smile to her face for a moment, before she looked at the mostly shocked group that was standing in the hallway, clearly shocked that she was a woman, "What's with the kids?"
"Actually, Kukaku," Yoruichi said, to which she took a seat on the floor and stared at the person they had come to see, while at the same time knowing that the group was going to be interested in hearing what her grand plan to get them inside the Seireitei was, "I've come today to ask a favor."
"You generally do when you come here." Kukaku stated, showing that there was some relationship, in the business sense, between the two of them, though before she said anything else she stared into the cat's eyes for a few seconds, as if she was trying to figure out what she was doing here, "Is it trouble?"
"Of course it is." Yoruichi replied, not even bothering to try and conceal that what she had in mind was going to cause some chaos and trouble for some people, even if it was mostly the Shinigami that were on the other side of the wall that they tried to pass through earlier.
"Long time since we've talked like this, too." Kukaku said, closing her eyes for a moment so she could think about something that had happened in the past, something that brought a smile to her face, before she opened her eyes again and turned her full attention to Yoruichi, "Okay, let's hear it. I love trouble."
Yoruichi nodded as the rest of the group entered the room and sat behind her, with Ichigo, Sombra, and Sora keeping their blades resting to their right, before she started to explain the situation to Kukaku, or rather the reason behind why she returned to Soul Society and why the group behind her had accompanied her as well. During this time period Kukaku pulled out a long pipe that people used to smoke with, one that she lit and used every now and then when she listened to the tale that Yoruichi was telling her, while at the same time revealing what everyone behind her was, just so she had a brief understanding of who they were. One thing that Sombra noticed was that Yoruichi seemed to have nothing but praise for his actions, as he had been a good student and followed her teachings perfectly, and that even caused Kukaku to raise an eyebrow for a moment, but since she was the only one that could see Yoruichi's face for the moment Sombra had no idea why she was doing that. Even then it didn't take Yoruichi long to explain things, even if she was giving the woman in front of them the shortest version possible so they could get the show on the road, before Kukaku closed her eyes for a moment as she thought about what she had been told.
"Okay, I think I understand the situation." Kukaku said, to which she took another puff of her smoke and blew out a small cloud a few seconds later, before she snapped open her eyes and stared at the group that was sitting in front of her at the moment, "Alright, I accept."
"Really?" Yoruichi inquired, as for a moment she had thought that Kukaku might not be interested in what she had to say and they's have no hope of getting inside the Seireitei, not without finding an area where souls didn't gather near the gate and tried using Sombra's black Cero to take down the gate, which had been a last ditch effort type of plan that she didn't want to use at all.
"Yeah." Kukaku replied, though a smile appeared on her face, as it was rare to see Yoruichi like this, surprised by something that someone did, though she was fairly sure that it was no longer as rare as she believed, not when she had spent her time teaching such an excellent student, before returning to the topic at hand as she got up from where she was sitting and slowly walked over to the wall on the right side of the entrance, "And if Urahara's got his teeth in this, too, I couldn't say no even if I wanted to. One thing though... I trust you, Yoruichi, but I don't trust any of the kids sitting behind you. Among other things, as insurance, I'm going to stick one of my minions with you... well, I call him a minion, but he's actually my little brother. He's still a useless brat, though. Hey, you ready?"
"U-uh huh, wait a sec." a familiar voice replied, though Sombra easily recognized Ganju's voice, though at the same time it appeared that the rest of the group, save for Yoruichi, was having a little trouble placing the voice of the person that they were hearing, even though they only met him last night.
"I'm opening it, so be on your best behavior." Kukaku stated, which seemed to freak Ganju as he hurried into the position that he was supposed to take, before she gripped one of the doors and moved it out of the way, revealing Ganju, in clothing that was more appropriate than what he was wearing earlier, sitting behind where the door used to be.
"A pleasure to meet you." Ganju said, though he was in a sitting position, with both of his knuckles resting on the floor in front of his knees, and his head was bowed at the moment, though it was the fact that they could see him that caused the others to realize who was sitting before them, "I am called Ganju Shiba. Please think of me if you need anything."
It was in that following moment that Ichigo and Ganju, recognizing each other immediately, got up and tackled each other, resuming their fight from where they stopped it the previous night, though that surprised Kukaku for a moment, as she wasn't expecting her brother to know their new clients, something that Yoruichi had chosen to leave out because Ganju never said his last name and thought they would never see him again. A few seconds ticked by as the two of them continued to attack each other, without regard for what was happening around them, but as that happened Sombra let out a sigh as he stood up and readied himself, as he was going to intervene before the two of them did something that would ruin what Yoruichi had done. Neither of them seemed to realize that he was standing up, and those that were sitting near him noticed what he was doing, before he waited for the two of them readying themselves to punch each other in the face, which was the perfect opportunity to put a stop to this before it got out of hand... and, as they got close to each other, he flashed forward and put himself between them, where he raised his arms as they barely had time to realize that he was standing there.
"Bakudo Number 8: Seki." Sombra said, though as he raised both of his arms his reiatsu flared as two small balls formed on the edge of his arms, exactly where Ichigo and Ganju would be hitting in a few moments, and he braced himself for what was coming next.
As he thought neither Ichigo or Ganju were able to stop themselves in time, as their fists struck the balls he had formed and were knocked backwards immediately, forcing them in two separate directions while surprising the rest of the group, before he lowered his arms and walked over to where Ichigo was resting.
"Sombra, what the heck are you doing?" Ichigo asked, as he glared at the man that he had been fighting, who coughed a few times as he started to get back on his feet, though at the same time he repeated the gesture, even though Sombra rested a hand on his shoulder for a moment.
"Stopping the two of you from wasting time that we don't have," Sombra replied, to which he stared into Ichigo's eyes for a moment, knowing that he wanted a piece of Ganju for what he had said earlier, but right now he knew that there was something else they needed to do and this wasn't it, "Look, we came here to save Rukia before her brother, not to mention the rest of Soul Society, executes her, not to pick a fight with someone that's going to help us get into the Seireitei... but, if fighting Ganju is important to you, then fight him once we've saved Rukia."
Ichigo stared at the Arrancar for a moment, as his statement was sort of identical to what Yoruichi had told him to get him to leave the Chief's house earlier, before he sighed and nodded his head, to which Sombra smiled a little and turned towards Kukaku, where he apologized for their rudeness. Suffice it to say that Kukaku was actually surprised that he had stepped in and stopped the fight before it could get out of hand, where she said that she would have had to blow a hole in the roof, as well as char the entire room, to stop something like that from happening, though that was followed by her commanding Shiroganehiko to join Koganehkio and begin preparations. She then led the way down a lit corridor and told the group that the way was lit because of some Firefly Creepers that they had caught and put in the containers that currently lined the ceiling, all because Uryu asked how the path was lit when there weren't any power facilities down here, though Ichigo shook his head and stopped him from asking too many questions, especially after he and Ganju got into the fight and what their guide had told them. It didn't take them long to reach the area that Kukaku was leading them to, as they soon reached a door that she had Ganju open, though they found themselves staring at a large open room with what appeared to be a vertical cannon of some sort.
Sombra raised an eyebrow in surprise as he and the others followed Kukaku into the room that she had brought them to, as none of them had any idea what sort of plan Yoruichi had for getting them inside the Seireitei, but Sombra had the feeling that they would find out soon enough.
"What the heck is that?" Ichigo asked, as the object in front of them was larger than the entire house and seemed completely dangerous, but he was sure that Yoruichi had picked this for a very specific reason and wasn't about to back down, not after Sombra reminded him of their mission.
"It's how I'm going to get you guys into the Seireitei," Kukaku replied, as she had continued walking after the group had stopped partway to the platform that the cannon was resting on, before she turned back and stared at all of them with a smile on her face, "From the sky, that is. Since you don't really know me, allow me to properly introduce myself; my name is Kukaku Shiba, and I'm Rukongai's Number One Fireworks Maker!"
"F... Fireworks maker?" Sora inquired, voicing the question that everyone was thinking about, though he was the only one that dared to ask it, especially since Ichigo was still in trouble for his fight with Ganju, something that Kukaku wasn't going to forget about for some time.
"That's right." Kukaku stated, though her smile turned into a grin, as it was always fun to see people who only knew her name, and nothing about her, become stunned when they learned that she made fireworks for a living, even if they were unaware of the specifics behind what she meant, before she turned her attention to the ceiling and raised her voice a little, "Koganehiko, Shiroganehiko, raise it up!"
Not even a moment later the group found the room they were in was rising before their very eyes, while at the same time the ceiling split in half and revealed that the chimney they had seen outside the house was just a decoy for the cannon that was in front of them. As they got closer to the surface of the backward they heard the sounds of both Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko saying 'yes' repeatedly over the course of a few moments, though once they reached the surface, and were no longer beneath the ground, both of them men pointed towards the cannon with a look of excitement on their faces, before the group turned back towards Kukaku.
"This is my own personal giant fireworks platform..." Kukaku started to say, and it sounded like she was going to do something interesting, to tie it all together, which was why the group was willing to give her their attention because she was interesting, in different ways, to each member of the group.
"The Kukaku Cannon!" Ganju stated, clearly interrupting his sister while she was in the middle of introducing the cannon herself, to which Kukaku kicked him in the back and knocked him to the ground with a look of annoyance on her face, showing that, since it was her pride and joy, that she would have preferred to say the words herself.
"Don't say it before me!" Kukaku commanded, as she hated it when her brother did stupid things like this, especially when she had a plan for how to reveal something that she put together herself, before she sighed, let the annoyance leave her for the moment, and turned towards the group once more, "I see your speechless."
"How you can joke at a time like this?!" Uryu stated, clearly not realizing that Kukaku was already annoyed and a single slip up could easily make him the next target of her rage, before she finally exploded and knocked them all out of her house, forcing them to try another approach, "I don't know if you're a fireworks maker or not, but shooting us into the sky with that thing is insa..."
That was followed by Kukaku lifting a light blue ball of some kind and hurled it at Uryu's distracted face, hitting him between the eyes and shattered his glasses, which he claimed he had a spare of as well, before the ball landed on Ichigo's outstretched hands as Uryu hit the floor of the platform. Ichigo then inquired as to what the heck the ball he was holding was supposed to be, where they all discovered that it was a spirit orb and that someone could put their palm on it and pour some of their reiatsu into it, only to discover that, since he had no knowledge of Kido, Ichigo couldn't follow her instructions very well and that he needed practice. As such she had Ganju take the orb and show them how it was done, after Sombra shook his head to Ichigo so another fight didn't break out between the two of them, and soon enough Ganju was standing near his sister, where he poured some of his power into the orb, which glowed light blue for a moment, before a light blue sphere formed around Ganju with some space to spare. Kukaku explained that this was the cannonball that she intended to fire out of the cannon, which would allow them to get into the Seireitei, before revealing that the wall they had fought Jidanbo at earlier was made of a special material that created a power barrier, called the Shakonmaku, that happened to completely block reiryoku.
She explained that this cannonball, once powered by some reiryoku from all of them, would be able to momentarily punch through the barrier protecting the Seireitei, and before anyone could ask any questions she told them to head to the underground training area and practice Ganju had done.
Sombra, Ichigo, and the rest of the group spent the entire day, what was left of it from the moment they arrived at Kukaku's place, practicing how to concentrate their reiryoku into the spirit orbs that they were holding onto, while at the same time Koganehiko, Shiroganehiko, and Ganju helped them, with Ganju simply watching from a distance. When it got time for the twin men to see how well they were doing Orihime was the first one to step up, though since her power revolved around creating special shields that rejected something, and using reiryoku, she was able to manifest a sphere in no time at all. Sora, who had been practicing with her, was able to do the same thing, but while he was able to get the form of the sphere to appear it shook a few times, showing that he still had some training to do but would be able to leave the training area with his sister when she departed. Uryu was able to create an extremely narrow shaped barrier around his body, showing that he also had some practice he needed to complete before he was ready, and Chad was able to create a powerful sphere that was a little unstable, which impressed the men in the process. Ichigo, being near the end of the line, found that he still had no idea how he was supposed to do something like this, as he was unable to even get a small sphere out of his hard work, and the two men told him that he had no talent for this sort of thing, which only served to piss him off and lose his concentration anyway.
What really annoyed Ichigo was the fact that Sombra, who had an entire month of training with Kisuke and Yoruichi, even though he didn't believe the cat taught him anything, and could do what Kukaku asked easily, especially since he could use some of the Kido spells Tessai had taught him.
Another hour or two passed before the cook opened the door and told the group that dinner was ready, though while Chad, Uryu, and Orihime actually needed to eat food, despite the fact that they were currently souls at the moment, both Sora and Sombra, being Arrancars, didn't need to eat anything, though Sora went with his sister while Sombra stayed down here with Ichigo and Ganju. After a few more stunning failures Ganju interrupted Ichigo and asked if Rukia was really that important to him, where Ichigo said she really wasn't, but he owed her, because in order to save his family, people she barely knew, she gave Ichigo her powers, despite knowing that it was a crime to do so, and he revealed that he wasn't going to be a worthless guy who just sat back and let the Shinigami execute her. That seemed to influence Ganju's next decision, as he took the spirit orb and said that he was going to 'practice' the trick he came up with, though as he moved through the steps, however, Sombra found that Ichigo was listening to the sequence he went through and used to create the sphere that Kukaku wanted them to make, before powering down and tossing the sphere to Ichigo as he headed outside the room.
What happened next was both good and bad, because the good part was that Ichigo was able to follow Ganju's 'advice' and created the sphere that he was supposed to be making, only for it to be even bigger than everyone else's and the pressure that emitted from it shook the entire building, causing everyone to run to the outside of the room he and Sombra were in... though as Sombra attempted to regain control of the situation, and it seemed to work for a few seconds, Ichigo's premature celebration shattered his concentration and the entire sphere exploded. In the wake of the destruction both he and Ganju received no dinner for their actions, as Kukaku was annoyed with that they had done, even if it was slightly accidental on their part, before she ordered the group to rest up for when they put their training to work.
Gin stood in front of the door to the Captains Assembly Hall, located in the barracks of the First Division, for a few seconds as he slightly wondered if the rest of the Captains had already gathered or if some of them were still absent, but from the sounds of the room the Lieutenants gathered in, which he walked by on the way here, it sounded like all twelve of them, not counting the Lieutenant of the Eleventh Division, were present. He already knew what the meeting was going to be about, especially after seeing the Ryoka overpower Jidanbo and convince him to abandon his duties as a gatekeeper by opening the gate he was supposed to keep closed at all costs, before thinking about two of them for a few seconds. It had been interesting to see Ichigo Kurosaki standing there, full of power and determination, which was the main reason he had acted swiftly and stopped them from entering the Seireitei, but then there was the powerful Arrancar that stood next to him, an opponent who was just as fast and just as strong, if not even stronger, than Ichigo, especially with how easily he had found an opening and cut his arm in the process. He could tell, from that simple exchange, that he had been dealing with a powerful Adjuchas ranked Arrancar, potentially the same one that Captain Byakuya reported having killed when he and his Lieutenant Renji were recovering Rukia Kuchiki.
His thoughts were interrupted as he heard the sound of the door in front of him opening, which meant that they knew he had been standing outside and had been patiently waiting for them to allow him entrance, though that caused him to switch to what was happening in front of him and what he was going to say.
"You've come." an old voice, one that was full of both power and authority, said, where Gin found himself looking at the other side of the room, or, more specifically, the elderly Captain that was the Captain of the First Division and the Captain-Commander of the entire Gotei 13, Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, "Captain of the Third Division, Gin Ichimaru."
Gin took a moment to look at the Captains that were gathered in the room with the Captain-Commander, because to Captain Genryusai's right was the Second Division Captain Soi Fon, the Fourth Division Captain Unohana Retsu, Sixth Division Captain Byakuya Kuchiki, the Eighth Division Captain Shunsui Kyoraku, the Tenth Division Captain Hitsugaya Toshiro, and the Twelfth Division Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi. To Captain Genryusai's left stood the Fifth Division Captain Aizen Sosuke, the Seventh Division Captain Komamura Sajin, the Ninth Division Captain Tosen Kaname, and the Eleventh Division Captain Kenpachi Zaraki. The only Captain not present, no doubt for health reasons once more, was the Thirteenth Division Captain Ukitake Jushiro, but Gin knew that this was likely either going to be about him being late or the Ryoka that were outside the Seireitei.
"What's all this?" Gin innocently asked, though at the same time he stepped into the room and stopped after taking a few steps, as all of the Captains were staring at him and he knew that each of them were judging him as they thought about what had happened recently, "I suddenly get called in and come to find a big ol' hoot'nanny. The Captains that run all of Soul Society have gathered here just for little old me? I guess not. I don't see the Captain of the Thirteenth Division... did something happen?"
"He's on sick leave." Tosen commented, informing Gin of what was going on with Ukitake, even though every single one of them knew that he was sick a good majority of the time and only came to these meetings when he was able to leave his Division's barracks, or wherever his Lieutenants kept him when he was this way.
"Again?" Gin replied, continuing his innocent act, as right now it appeared that this was working and he intended to keep it that way, but at the same time he knew that one of the Captains was going to say something to him before this meeting was over, "I hope he gets well soon."
"Quit joking around." Zaraki stated, to which he glared at the Captain that was standing between the two rows of Captains that had assembled in front of the Captain-Commander, "You think that's why you've been called here? You bastard, I heard that you went off on your own to play with some of the Ryoka. Not to mention the fact that you failed to finish even one of them off... what the hell is wrong with you? Someone with your skills shouldn't break a sweat over four or five Ryoka."
"Oh, they ain't dead?" Gin inquired, doing his best to sound like this was news to him, though at the same time he thought about what he had seen back at Jidanbo's gate and what he had done, before rubbing the back of his head for a few seconds, "I could have sworn that they were dead... especially the Arrancar, since I dropped the gate on his head."
"Cut the act," Mayuri spoke up, to which several of the Captains turned towards him for a moment, while at the same time he noted that Captain Byakuya opened his eyes at the mention of an Arrancar, which was very interesting when he thought about it, "There hasn't been an Arrancar for the last two to three hundred years, when we killed the last one when it appeared in the World of the Living, and if there was a new one one of us would have killed it by now."
"Is that so?" Gin replied, as that was an interesting thought to have, especially when he know what he had seen back by the gate, before he reconsidered what he had seen and what he had fought before the gate closed, "Well, that doesn't change the fact that the creature I crushed under the gate had pony type ears, a pony tail, hooves instead of feet, and a white crown that resembled that of a Hollow."
Byakuya didn't show any reaction to that description of the Arrancar that Gin had seen, as that sounded like Sombra, the Adjuchas ranked Arrancar that he had fought, and killed with his own hand, back in the World of the Living, but he knew that it had to be impossible, as he was positive that he finished the creature off earlier. As he thought about the Arrancar once more, for the first time since he and Renji captured Rukia, both Zaraki and Mayuri continued fighting with each other about who was talking to Gin at the moment, though that came to a stop as the Captain-Commander opened his mouth so he could talk.
"Stop your shameful actions!" Yamamoto stated, his voice easily causing the Captains to stop what they were doing and return to where they had been standing moments ago, while Gin, who was currently in trouble, stood in the middle of the two rows, which was who his attention was focused on at the moment, "But I suppose that their exchange explains the reason why you have been called here. Your recent independent actions, and letting the targets escape. How about it? Do you have any explanations, Gin Ichimaru?"
"I do not." Gin answered, knowing that the Captains were turning towards him with a variety of emotions and expressions on their faces, though at the same time he rubbed the back of his head once more as he felt the intense glare of the Captain-Commander fall on him once more, "I ain't got no explanation. It was my absent-minded mistake. I've got no excuse for my actions, and I'll take any puni..."
"Wait a moment, Ichimaru." Captain Aizen spoke up, speaking for the first time since Gin had entered the assembly hall that they were all gathered in, though at the same time Gin stared at him for a few moments, "Before that, I want to ask you somethi..."
It was in the following moment that the emergency alert was sounded, causing all of them to look at the door that was behind Gin at the moment, as the sound of this specific emergency alert meant that something was definitely happening and that it might need their current attention, before hearing that there were intruders in the Seireitei... and Zaraki, ever eager for battle, charged out of the room before anyone could stop him, causing the Captain-Commander to sigh for a second as he addressed the rest of the Captains.
"Tis unavoidable." Yamamoto stated, his voice causing the other Captains to turn back towards him and await any commands he might have in regards to the current situation, as he had words for them before he dismissed them, "The Division Captain meeting is temporarily dismissed. I will notify you all later of Ichimaru's status. All Divisions, proceed to internal defense positions immediately."
Aizen smiled for a moment as the Captains began to file out of the room they had been gathered in, because things were getting interesting and it was only a matter of time until they figured out what was going on in the Seireitei, and if there really was a powerful Adjuchas ranked Arrancar among the Ryoka.
Sombra and the rest of his group gathered around the area in front of the Kukaku Cannon's platform after a decent night's sleep, as they had been given a fair number of hours of rest after Ichigo was able to finally master making a cannonball with the spirit orb and the technique that Ganju had shared with him. Of course one of the things that happened after that was Ichigo falling asleep, where Yoruichi happened to sit in front of Ichigo and he pulled on her tail, no longer making it straight and annoying her in the process, though that didn't stop her from explaining what they needed to do when they breached the Seireitei. Of course when Ichigo got up, and the group pulled themselves together, he couldn't remember damaging Yoruichi's tail in such a manner, even though it annoyed the cat for a few moments, before she sighed and called them to attention in front of the cannon, where Kukaku and her team readied themselves for what they were about to do to get inside the Seireitei.
Eventually Ganju arrived, dressed in a completely new attire from what he had been wearing earlier, and started to make a big deal about about his big brother, who was a genius who had been accepted into the school that all Shinigami went to on the first try and that he managed to graduate from that school, which had a six year teaching period, in a whole year before joining one of the Divisions. In the following five years his brother was able to climb all the way to Lieutenant, showing that his brother had been quite skilled in all elements that Shinigami had been trained in, before he was 'betrayed' and killed by his comrades, where Ganju, when he was younger, could only remember the face of the person that dragged his brother home and the face of his brother being happy that the Shinigami in question had been the one to bring an end to his suffering. He then revealed that if he went with the group, to go save their friend that was going to be executed, that he might get some closure into why his brother was still so trusting of the Shinigami, even to the moment of his death, and Ichigo gripped his shirt and pulled him close before saying thanks to him, as he was happy to get all of the help they could at the moment.
When they got ready to get underway, and step inside the cannon, Ichigo made a comment about wondering whether or not Yoruichi could form a cannonball, only to find that, as she jumped on top of the spirit orb, that she could definitely do what everyone else had been training to do, upsetting Ichigo at the same time, though he had to put those feelings on hold as Kukaku and Ganju ushered them into place. As they all stepped inside the cannon, and formed a circle around the spirit orb that they would be using to form their cannonball, the group learned that the launch procedure would be staring soon, as dawn was the signal that they were waiting for, though as Ganju joined them the entrance they used to get inside the cannon was sealed, allowing Kukaku to make some of the final preparations on the outside before dawn arrived. As they waited Yoruichi insisted that they listen carefully, as she told them that, under no circumstances, should they become separated from each other once they enter the Seireitei, and that if someone were to encounter a Captain while they were trying to find Rukia they were to flee immediately, save for Sombra, who had wounded two of them so far. That part still annoyed Ichigo, that Sombra was allowed to fight them if he desired and the rest of them were forced to flee, but he said nothing as Yoruichi finished explaining the rules to them, after which it became quiet inside the cannon as they waited for dawn to arrive at last.
It wasn't long before they got their wish for dawn to arrive, before when it did, and Yoruichi confirmed that it was while also ordering everyone to gather their reiryoku into the spirit orb, thus preparing them for when the cannon fired their cannonball, and them, into the sky.
"Beyond! Bronze-colored greed desires thirty-six degrees of control!" they heard Kukaku call out, though both Yoruichi and Sombra, more versed in Kido than anyone in the entire group, knew that it was the incantation to fire the cannon and launch the cannonball that they were forming around them, "Seventy-two pillars of illusions. Thirteen pairs of Horn Flutes. The right hand of the Monkey grasps the Stars! Embraced by twenty-five suns, the cradle of sand will spill blood. Kukaku Fire Method Number 2: KAGIZAKI!"
Not a few seconds later the group found themselves being launched from the cannon that they had been standing inside, with their cannonball surrounding them, and that they soared into the sky for a few moments, though when they reached a certain point the cannonball, instead of going down, changed course and headed right towards the barrier that protected the Seireitei... and Ganju, knowing what was coming next, pulled something out of his shirt and stared down at the writing that was on the paper in front of him, before glancing at the group. Ganju explained that he was staring at the continuation spell, as the Kukaku Fire Method Number 2 is a two-part chant, and that the beginning spell that Kukaku had spoken controlled the time from launch and the direction they wanted to head in, while this part of the spell was designed to control their acceleration and trajectory. He then stated that if they wanted to get into the Seireitei safely they should focus on making all of their reiryoku uniform, to stabilize the cannonball so they could enter their destination, and that the spirit orb would allow them to sense how much someone else was emitting, so they could work together to regulate their power down so they didn't get hurt.
Unfortunately, as Sombra soon discovered as Ganju started to speak the continuation spell, the only one among them that couldn't regulate his reiryoku down to the level that everyone else was on was Ichigo, leading to Chad, Uryu, and even Orihime asking him to lower it further and him shouting that he was lowering it to the best of his ability. At the same time the shouting caused Ganju to repeat a line of the incantation that he was speaking, ruining the entire thing in the process, before Yoruichi told them that they now had no choice but to pour their reiryoku into the spirit orb and strengthen the cannonball in preparations for when they collided with the barrier. Everyone braced themselves and did as they were told, as they were worried about something happening to them, though that was quickly followed by the cannonball striking the barrier and causing ripples to form as it battled the reiryoku that the group was pouring into the spirit orb, while also showing the Shinigami exactly where they were at the moment. After a few seconds of them battling the barrier Ichigo told the cannonball to go through the barrier, which seemed to work for a moment as they actually punched through the barrier that had been stopping them... though that was followed by the cannonball unraveling and everyone found themselves in the air, suspended for the moment before they fell to the ground.
Yoruichi, knowing what was going to happen, ordered everyone to stick together least they be separated from each other when the shockwave finally ripped the rest of the cannonball apart, though even as she told them that it appeared that the whirling motion that she was worried about was starting anyway. As that happened Ichigo and Ganju, who glared at each other grabbed onto one another's shirts as they prepared themselves, while Sora grabbed onto Chad as he grabbed Orihime before she could fly away, though while Uryu started to float away both Sombra and Yoruichi joined Ichigo's group. Chad, seeing Uryu being the first one to be thrown out of the sphere they were trapped in, left Orihime and Sora together before throwing himself towards Uryu, where he hurled his friend into the siblings and allowed himself to be the first one to truly depart from the rest of the group. As that happened Orihime and Ichigo's group attempted to join together, but, as fate would have it, the unraveling of the cannonball was finished in that moment and their two groups were flung apart from each other... and, in another cruel twist, Yoruichi was knocked off of Ichigo's shoulder and went flying in a fourth direction all by herself, much to Sombra's annoyance.
As the group was forced to travel in four different directions, to four separate locations scattered throughout the entirety of the Seireitei, Sombra had the feeling that each and every one of them were going to face some tough tests after they landed... and, hopefully, they managed to meet up somewhere so they could rescue Rukia and get out of Soul Society before one of the Captains got involved with their invasion.
Immediately after their group was separated into four smaller groups, even though two of those groups were made up of a single person while the other two groups had three people apiece, Ganju and Ichigo struggled with each other as Sombra merely held on. He wasn't about to fight over who wanted to be the one to hit the ground first, as that was what Ichigo was saying it was about, but in a few seconds Ganju revealed that he had a special technique that would be able to assist them in this situation, as it was something that he used on Ichigo during their first encounter in West Rukongai, causing Ichigo to open his mouth once more. This time around Sombra tapped his shoulder and shook his head, because he was honestly growing tired of the two of them fighting with each other, especially since they barely knew each other and were supposed to be friends in this mission, or at the very least allies, to which Ichigo sighed and let Ganju take point, as much as it pained him to do something like that. Ganju, silently thankful that Sombra managed to convince Ichigo to let him do this for them, faced the part of the Seireitei that they were heading towards and held his hand out towards it as he prepared the technique he had mentioned... one that was accompanied by him moving his hand around in a pattern for a moment and saying 'Turn to Sand, Stone Wave' after completing the symbol that he was drawing.
Sombra soon discovered that the technique did the very thing that Ganju said it would do, he turned the area that they were going to crash into, at least the part of the street that was directly in front of them, into a decent sized pool of sand that all three of them safely landed in... even though he barely sank in it and both Ichigo and Ganju sank a little deeper than he did.
"We're safe, thanks to your weird spell." Ichigo remarked, though at the same time he coughed as he pulled himself out of the sand that they had landed in, while also annoyed that Sombra didn't have to deal with this like he did, and made sure that he had gotten all the sand out of his systems.
"Ugh, it went down the wrong pipe..." Ganju moaned, indicating that he must have swallowed some of the sand after hitting the pool he had created, as it took longer for him to recover than it did for either Sombra or Ichigo, not that he was aware of that piece of information since he was focusing on himself.
"How long are you going to choke on your own spell?" Ichigo asked, to which he lightly kicked Ganju in the back and knocked his face into the sand once more, though at the same time Sombra sighed as he climbed out of the sand and began to search the area for any hostiles that might want to delay them.
"You bastard." Ganju replied, which was followed by him pulling his head out of the sand as a look of annoyance flashed on his face for a moment, proving that he had completely forgotten where they were at the moment as he prepared to fight ichigo again, "You've sure got the balls to be kicking the person that just saved your life!"
"Will you two be quiet for a moment?" Sombra asked, causing the two of them to turn towards him for a moment, as he couldn't believe that he had been put with the two people that were the most likely to give away their position before they even figured out where Rukia was located, not that it mattered since they were in trouble anyway, "Our company is going to arrive any moment now."
Not even a few seconds later Ichigo and Ganju found Sombra's words to be correct, as two Shinigami landed on the top of the wall that Sombra was standing near, though as the two of them stood there this information only told Sombra that they had the misfortune to land near where these two had been stationed. Sombra noted that the Shinigami on the right was a tall and muscular man, at least in terms of the Shinigami he had encountered so far, and that he was bald or had shaven his hair to the point where he looked like he was bald, while also spotting that he carried his Zanpakuto's sheath in his hand instead of his belt, like everyone else. The second Shinigami was also a man, who wasn't as muscular as the first one, though he was wearing an orange piece of clothing on top of his uniform, around the neck area, which appeared to cover most of his chest that would otherwise be exposed by his normal Shinigami uniform. The orange piece of clothing was also connected to an orange sleeve on his right arm under the much looser fitting sleeve of the uniform, and, oddly enough, the man had colorful feathers on his right eyelashes and eyebrow, making him look more feminine than he actually was.
"How interesting," the feather wearing Shinigami commented, as he was genuinely impressed that one of them had noticed them coming to this location, even if that person didn't have time to tell his companions to move out of the way before they arrived, "he sensed our presence before we even arrived."
"Man, am I lucky!" the bald Shinigami stated, choosing to ignore his partner's words for the moment, as he was more interested in what was standing in front of his eyes, and he could already imagine what was going to happen when he forced them to draw their weapons, before the two of them jumped down and faced the group, "I was slacking off around the corner, cause it's a hassle to get to my post, then right before my eyes, down plops my reward. I'm lucky, I'm lucky! Lucks on my side today! And you... got bad luck."
It was in that following moment that the bald Shinigami started doing some sort of dance, repeating a few variations of the word lucky as he did so, though while Sombra stood there and observed them, as he was curious as to how other Shinigami acted, both Ichigo and Ganju remained in the pool of sand as they watched what was going on... which only seemed to annoy the bald Shinigami once he finished his dance and noticed that the two of them were still in the pool that they had been in when he and his partner arrived.
"What the HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" the bald Shinigami exclaimed, where Sombra noticed that even his partner seemed annoyed by what was happening in front of his eyes, though he believed it was because of Ichigo and Ganju's lack of actions and not the dance his partner had preformed, "Here I am dancing the Luck-Luck Dance, waiting for you bastards to crawl outta there... What the hell are you standing there STUPEFIED FOR?!"
Of course Ganju decided that now was the time for them to flee, which Ichigo was absolutely not okay with at the moment, and they were further interrupted when the bald Shinigami asked what they were up to, which was when the feather wearing Shinigami commented that the two of them might be afraid of them. The bald Shinigami then decided that he would give them one more dance, because he was 'so nice', before they started to battle each other, though Ganju took that opportunity to run in the opposite direction and the feather wearing Shinigami immediately moved to intercept him, only for Sombra to flash into the area between the two and lightly kick him backwards, allowing Ganju to continue his sprint out of the area without turning back even once.
"I'm impressed, you're faster than you look." the feather wearing Shinigami commented, though at the same time Sombra touched the ground and stared at him, as he had the feeling that this was going to be his opponent for the next few minutes before he and Ichigo could leave the area, "but it doesn't matter. In the end we'll track your friend down and kill him as well, since those were the orders that were given to us earlier."
"You know, that brings up a good question," the bald Shinigami stated, as he had been wondering something since the clearly weak opponent had ran off at the first sign of trouble and his stronger companions had stayed behind with the two of them, while knowing that someone would catch the runner soon enough, "Why didn't either of you run away? That guy ran because he saw that our reiatsu was stronger than his own, didn't he?"
"Yeah, that was his thoughts on the matter," Ichigo said, because he already knew that Sombra would have preferred to take out whoever saw them so they could continue to move without anyone reporting where they had been seen, not until much later anyway, before he got back to the matter at hand, "but for me it's different. If your reiatsu is greater than mine, then running away would be meaningless for me, but if your reiatsu is weaker than mine, then all I have to do is beat you and move on."
"I see. You aren't as stupid as you look." the bald Shinigami commented, as this sounded like it was going to be an interesting fight for him to have, though before he did anything he glanced at the other person that was standing nearby, as he hadn't said a word yet and had been observing their every move, "And what about you? Why didn't you run away when your friend ran away?"
"Because there was no reason for me to do so." Sombra replied, to which he glanced at the two Shinigami that were standing near him and Ichigo, while at the same time knowing that Ganju was long gone at this point and that it would be some time before they found him again, "Running is meaningless when an enemy has found you, so it's best that we stand our ground and simply take the two of you down here and now, and then we can continue with our mission."
"Those are some rather big words," the feather wearing Shinigami commented, almost as if he and his partner didn't believe that the two of them could be defeated in battle, which seemed to annoy Ichigo while Sombra merely raised an eyebrow, "surely you don't think that you can best the two of us?"
"Well, I did cut Captain Byakuya Kuchiki's chest while he was in the World of the Living," Sombra answered, because he believed Yoruichi's assessment of his skills, that anyone that was lower than a Lieutenant would be easy for him to take out, certain Lieutenants might give him trouble, and Captains would push him to his limits if he wanted to have any hope of beating them in battle, "and I also cut Captain Gin Ichimaru's left arm when he attacked us at the Gate of Pure Souls. Since neither of you seem to be Captains, much less Lieutenants, I'm pretty sure that I could take the two of you on and not even break a sweat... though one on one would be fair, since that would give Ichigo a chance to improve his own skills without having me take care of everything."
"Is that so? Then allow me to introduce ourselves," the bald Shinigami said, though that was when he rapidly drew his Zanpakuto and swung down on where Ichigo was standing, forcing him to move in the process, before he grinned as he stood up once more, "The name's Ikkaku Madarame, and I'm the 3rd Seat of the Eleventh Division. That there is my partner, Yumichika Ayasegawa, the 5th Seat of the Eleventh Division, but don't let his appearance fool you, he's just as strong as I am."
"So we're fighting two Shinigami that are on the same level, perfect." Ichigo replied, though that was when he drew Zangetsu from the cloth that was wrapped around it, which undid itself like it always did, and rushed to attack Ikkaku, who used the scabbard that his sword had been inside a few seconds ago to block his incoming attack, before he dodged the incoming attack by kicking off the sheath and did a backflip before touching the ground once more.
"Should we fight as well?" Sombra inquired, as he had no idea whether or not Yumichika wanted to battle him first or wait for his partner to come to a conclusion with Ichigo, but he felt that it was best to ask the Shinigami what he wanted to do before he drew his blade.
"No, when Ikkaku fights, and I'm not busy, I prefer to watch for a few minutes before getting to work," Yumichika replied, though at the same time he brushed some of the hair out of his face as Ichigo went on the attack and started swinging at Ikkaku, showing that he was more interested in what his partner was doing instead of what the other invader was doing at the moment.
Sombra guessed that he could get behind that decision, as Ichigo didn't need his assistance in this fight and he could tell that Yumichika wasn't about to move from where he was standing, so he crossed his arms and watched Ichigo as he swung at Ikkaku, who was using both his sword and his scabbard to lash out at Ichigo in return. It was an interesting fighting style, as he hadn't actually seen someone fight like this before, and he was taken aback by the fact that Ikkaku was grinning like a madman while he was attacking Ichigo, showing that he was someone that enjoyed fighting and that he wasn't about to let them go until he had his fun or they were defeated. Of course after Ikkaku started to use his scabbard in addition to his blade, and exchanged a few blows with Ichigo, the two of them swung at each other as Ichigo flipped through the air once more, though once it was all said and done Sombra noticed that Ikkaku was cut above his right eye, while at the same time Ichigo was cut above his left eye.
"Let me ask your name, just in case." Ikkaku said, his tone indicating that he was pleased with the beginning of the fight and could tell that things might improve as the two of them continued to fight, though at the same time he locked eyes with Ichigo as he spoke.
"My name is Ichigo Kurosaki." Ichigo replied, though he was being polite, because Ikkaku had been nice enough to give him and Sombra both his own name and his partner's name, but as he did that he kept his attention on his opponent, as it appeared that his friend was keeping an eye on what Yumichika was doing.
"Ichigo, huh?" Ikkaku repeated, because he was thinking about something the moment he heard Ichigo's name, but at the same time Ichigo nodded his head, confirming that Ikkaku hadn't heard him wrong, which only seemed to make him smile even more, "That's a good name."
"You know, that's the first time anyone has ever complimented my name." Ichigo commented, because most people tended to make fun of his name and that got him angry, or they were like Sombra and made no comment, as they either didn't know what to say or didn't care, but this was the first time he heard someone say they liked his name.
"Yeah, people say that people with 'ichi' in their name are handsome guys, bursting with talent." Ikkaku stated, though Sombra had no idea what handsome had to do with this conversation, but he did agree that Ichigo was bursting with talent, especially after what he had seen when they were training with Kisuke, "As two 'ichi' men, let's be friends."
"Sorry, I don't think we'll be able to be friends." Ichigo replied, as he couldn't imagine being friends with the people that had kidnapped Rukia and were plotting to execute her for her crimes, something that he couldn't stand since she had done what she did to make sure his family survived that first Hollow attack.
As the two of them stood there, staring at each other, Ichigo took his left hand off of Zangetsu's handle and wiped the blood from above his eye, seemingly stopping it for a moment and prompting Ikkaku to call him an amateur for doing something like that, only to follow that up by undoing the bottom of his Zanpakuto's hilt and using a bit of the ointment that was uncovered to patch up his own cut. As Ichigo started to call Ikkaku a cheater for using that, however, his opponent said that he was using his battle knowledge to his advantage, before he charged forward and started testing Ichigo's reaction speed as he swung both his sword and his scabbard at his opponent. It was clear that Ikkaku was impressed by everything he was seeing from Ichigo, even complimenting his skills and reactions as the two of them fought for the next few moments, before he forced them to separate from each other and observed Ichigo as he stood there for a few seconds, as he was thinking about something.
"You're too good to be written off as a fight-loving amateur with good instincts." Ikkaku commented, showing that he was studying Ichigo's reactions and skills, coming to a swift conclusion about his opponent, before he decided to ask the question that had come into his mind while he thought about all of this, "Who's your master, Ichigo?"
"I only learned from him for ten days, so I honestly don't know if I can call him my 'master'," Ichigo replied, as he had to think about what Ikkaku was asking for a few seconds, because he wasn't sure what title he could give to Kisuke, before he thought about Sombra's relationship with the seemingly ordinary shopkeeper, "but he did teach me fighting. If anything the one that would be able to call him 'master' is Sombra, who spent an entire month learning from him before meeting me and my friends, and his skill reflects just how much he learned from the man that taught me to fight. The man's name is Kisuke Urahara."
"So that's it..." Ikkaku said, as he was surprised to hear the fact that Kisuke Urahara had taken on some new students, meaning that they were even stronger than what he originally gave them credit for, and he glanced back at the creature that was standing near Yumichika, who nodded for a moment, before turning back towards Ichigo, "He's your master... then killing the two of you without going all out would be seriously rude. Grow, Hozukimaru!"
Before Ikkaku stated his Release Call he took up a new stance and brought the top of his scabbard to the base of his Zanpakuto's hilt, all horizontal, which was followed him his issuing the words to release his shikai, where both the scabbard and the blade glowed for a moment before transforming into what appeared to be a spear, or a yari as Sombra soon discovered, and Ikkaku let the head of the blade pierce the ground in front of him. Ikkaku then declared that Ichigo shouldn't misjudge what was coming next and charged at him, using both the bladed end and the bottom end of the weapon to attack Ichigo, who parried the attacks that were coming at him as he looked for an opening that he could exploit. Not even a few seconds later Ichigo found an opening as he blocked one of the attacks and started to charge at Ikkaku, where his opponent revealed the truth about his Zanpakuto, as there was a second command, 'split', that turned the spear into it's true form, a three sectional staff and the blade pulled around to cut into Ichigo's right arm, which he raised to defend himself with before Ikkaku pulled the weapon back to him.
Sombra noted that, as Ikkaku talked about the truth about his weapon, Ichigo used the seemingly infinite cloth that was wrapped around the handle of Zangetsu to bind his own wounds for a moment, though once his arm was ready to go he tore the cloth off the makeshift bandage he had made and charged at Ikkaku... though the force of his next attack surprised both Ikkaku and Yumichika at the same time, as he carved open a section of the wall that he had hit when Ikkaku dodged his attack. In the following moment Ichigo informed Ikkaku that their fight was only just beginning and that he shouldn't underestimated him because he hadn't shown his true skills yet, which only make Ikkaku a little irritated as the two of them charged at each other once more, or rather Ikkaku attacked Ichigo by using one side of his staff as a distraction before using the other to hit Ichigo, causing Sombra to sigh in annoyance as he watched what was going on at the moment. He knew that Ichigo needed experience in combat, as it was taking him awhile to adapt to how Ikkaku was using Hozukimaru, something that make Yumichika smirk as he watched the battle rage on in front of him, and he continued to smirk as Ichigo destroyed another section of a different wall and took a direct attack from the base of Ikkaku's weapon.
It was Sombra's turn to smile a little when Ichigo got up and revealed that not only was he fine from the incoming attack, but he had also taken off most of the hair that was attached to Hozukimaru's base, annoying Ikkaku for a few seconds, though that was before they picked up the battle as Ichigo went on the attack. As Ikkaku raised his weapon to defend himself Ichigo swung down, with his sword pulsing with the power that he used when he accidentally fired those waves of energy, and cleaved part of Hozukimaru off of the rest of it, while at the same time cutting a vertical slash down from the left side of his neck down a good amount of his chest, spilling a good amount of blood on the floor in front of him as he stared off into the distance, completely shocked by what had just happened. That seemed to snap something inside Ikkaku, as he charged at Ichigo once more without concern for his own life, though Ichigo growled as he swung Zangetsu again, cutting a gash front Ikkaku's right wrist all the way up the length of his arm, surprising him in the process... though as he fell to the ground, however, Ichigo let a few drops of blood fall from his right hand as well, as Ikkaku had managed to cut his arm a little before he was hit.
With that done, and a look of surprise was plastered all over Yumichika's face as he stared at his defeated friend, Sombra stepped forward and drew Shokyo from her scabbard, though when he was a good distance from the second Shinigami he turned around and faced his opponent, as it was their turn as Ichigo tended to both his wounds and the wounds he had dealt to Ikkaku.
"That Ryoka said you were trained by Kisuke Urahara, isn't that right?" Yumichika asked, as he was interesting in confirming or denying what the people that had beaten Ikkaku had said, to which Sombra nodded his head, causing the Shinigami to sigh as he pulled out his Zanpakuto and raised his hand to the blade, "Very well then, I shall take you seriously as well... Bloom, Fuji Kujaku."
Sombra watched as Yumichika's Zanpakuto transformed from a katana and became what appeared to be a sickle-shaped blade, a falx if he recognized the blade correctly, before the single blade split into four identical blades that were evenly spaced as his opponent prepared himself... and, thanks to the fact that he was more connected to Shokyo than other Shinigami were to their Zanpakuto, he noticed that Yumichika's blade didn't feel like Ikkaku's Hozukimaru, as if Yumichika had done something different than what his partner did.
"So, you're starting with your shikai released," Sombra commented, as he had assumed that Yumichika would have followed Ikkaku's example, testing his opponent's strength for a few moments before releasing his shikai, though at the same time he sighed as he raised Shokyo and pointed her at his opponent, "I guess that, since you're going to take me seriously, I might as well do the same thing... Shimmer, Shokyo."
Ichigo, who was standing nearby and was using the ointment that was in the hilt of Ikkaku's blade, and had found that it had reverted back to it's original form, watched as Sombra's Zanpakuto took on it's crystalline broadsword form, which shocked Yumichika for a moment, as he clearly wasn't expecting that to happen at all. He remembered that feeling well, back when they were training with Kisuke and he released Zangetsu, which was when Sombra revealed that he also had a Zanpakuto spirit and knew her name, transforming his blade into a beautiful and deadly weapon that was shocking those the Arrancar battled against when they first witnessed the transformation take place. He knew from experience that this Zanpakuto was dangerous, without whatever powers Shokyo might have taught Sombra during their training together, and he already knew that Yumichika was in trouble before the battle even started, which was why he took a seat near where Ikkaku was resting so he could watch what was going on.
"That... is a beautiful blade." Yumichika said, as he wasn't expecting a Ryoka to have such a beautiful weapon in their possession, though at the same time he readied himself, because he knew that the battle was going to be starting soon enough and wanted to avoid taking any damage.
Sombra nodded his head before he dashed forward and swung Shokyo at Yumichika, who raised his Zanpakuto to block the incoming attack and immediately frowned as he felt the force behind the blow, before Sombra applied a little more pressure and knocked him to the side. As Yumichika was forced away from him, and landed on the top of the wall that was near where Sombra was standing, it was clear that he was also shocked by the sheer strength that he was using and that he was thinking about what he needed to do before attacking again. Sombra stared at him for a moment before he jumped into the air, surprising his opponent once more as he was tracked into the sky, though as that happened he held out his empty hand and his reiatsu flared for a moment, which was when he formed a spear made from the same crystal that made up Shokyo's shikai state. As Yumichika stared at him, however, Sombra hurled the spear through the space between them and watched as the Shinigami jumped out of the way, allowing the crystal to break the roof of the wall that he had been standing on and destroy part of the wall at the same time. Fortunately that attack was usually a diversion, as it distracted his opponent and caused them to focus on something else, because it also allowed him to move before they zeroed in on him once more... though as Sombra appeared behind Yumichika, who turned to face him, he swung his weapon and sent the Shinigami down towards the ground.
As Yumichika touched the ground he glared up at Sombra and charged up at him again, where Sombra blocked the incoming attack and stopped himself from being moved, like he had done to his opponent when the battle started, before he kicked him in the chest and sent him back towards the ground. Sombra followed that up by following after his opponent and landed on the ground in front of Yumichika, where the two of them attacked each other and their blades clashed between them, where Sombra found that his opponent, once again, was struggling to push him back. Sombra knew that Ichigo was watching them battle, if it could even be called that, and that he was likely wondering why he wasn't ending the battle in a few moments, since he was able to wound two Captains before this moment, though that only caused Sombra to sigh as he applied a little more pressure and knocked Yumichika's arm out of the way. As another look of surprise appeared on Yumichika's face, indicating that he was shocked by what was going on, Sombra raised Shokyo up for a moment and cut a diagonal gash into his opponent's chest, going from his left shoulder to his right hip... though while it was a light wound, since he wasn't about to kill his opponent, it was more than enough to make someone fall his knees in defeat.
Not even a few seconds after that happened, and Sombra could tell that Yumichika wasn't capable of continuing, he sighed as he allowed his Zanpakuto to revert back to her base katana form, which he sheathed as he watched Yumichika's blade revert as well, though at the same time he gently pulled the Shinigami up onto his feet and carried him over to where Ikkaku was resting. As he did that, and made sure that Yumichika was in a position where he wouldn't bleed to death, Sombra discovered that Ichigo had used all the ointment on both his wounds and Ikkaku's wounds, even though he didn't need all that much, causing him to sigh again as he showed Ichigo the proper amount he should have used and took some from Ikkaku's chest so he could close Yumichika's wound as well.
"Why did it take you so long to beat him?" Ichigo asked, as he always found some of the Arrancar's actions to be confusing and needed to have them clarified in some manner, though at the same time Sombra glanced over at him after he applied the ointment to Yumichika's wound, where he assumed the Shinigami was faking it because he didn't want to deal with Sombra anymore, "Based on how quickly you went into battle with those Captains you fought, and wounded before something happened, I expected you to make short work of him."
"Truth be told, I was curious as to how a 3rd Seat compared to a Lieutenant and a Captain," Sombra replied, knowing that the reason Ichigo seemed so relaxed was because he wanted information from the Shinigami that they had just defeated, but while Yumichika was going to play dead, even though he could still feel his reiatsu, he guessed Ichigo was hoping that Ikkaku would come to soon and give them the information they needed, "but, since we're stressed for time, I eventually decided that I might as well finish the fight quickly and knocked Yumichika out before he could really show off his Zanpakuto and it's abilities. Let's hope that Ikkaku wakes up soon so we can get out of here... there's no telling how many more Shinigami we might encounter before we catch up with Ganju, wherever he ran off to."
Ichigo nodded and remained sitting on the fragment of the wall that he had broken, waiting for something to happen, while at the same time Sombra stood on top of the wall and looked around the area, clearly sensing where the other Shinigami were located as he sought out their friends, who seemed to be safe at the moment. Fortunately it appeared that they wouldn't have to wait too long for one of the two Shinigami to awaken, or stop faking being knocked out since that was what Yumichika was doing, because Ikkaku was the one that opened his eyes, causing Ichigo to shift his gaze towards him while Sombra finally jumped off the wall.
"I'm... not dead?" Ikkaku commented, as he was utterly confused as to what was going on at the moment, as the last thing he remembered was battling Ichigo and then he was cut down, as he underestimated his opponent's strength and ability to adapt to the situation.
"Oh good, you're awake." Ichigo said, though at the same time both he and Sombra watched as Ikkaku moved his eyes around until he was staring at the two of them, even though they were sort of upside down for him since he was unable to move without undoing the work of the ointment that was on his chest.
"Ichigo... Sombra..." Ikkaku replied, showing that, despite his eagerness for battle, that he did remember their names and could repeat them easily, even though he was clearly stunned by what he was seeing, as he expected to find himself in a relief station if he survived, not surrounded by his enemies, "Why are you two still here?"
"What, I wasn't going to leave you in the middle of this street, bleeding until you died," Ichigo answered, to which he picked up Hozukimaru for a moment and walked over to where Ikkaku was resting, where he set the Zanpakuto down near it's owner before returning to the wall he had been sitting on, which was where he turned back to the wounded Shinigami he had beaten, "I've got to tell you, whatever medicine you guys put in that ointment works wonders."
"Damn, I thought it was weird that I didn't die from bleeding out." Ikkaku commented, as that explained why he was able to come back so easily, because his opponent was much more caring than he originally believed him to be and had gone out of his way to make sure he survived to fight another day, which was an odd thing to think about, "Surviving by being helped by you, what a disgrace!"
"If it makes you feel any better, you weren't the only one that lost their match." Sombra said, though that was when he noticed some sweat roll down the side of Ikkaku's face, indicating that he had moved his head and discovered that his partner had been knocked out, even if he was faking it, and that he had emerged without taking a single hit, "You both get to survive and fight another day."
"Honestly, I don't care as much as Sombra does." Ichigo stated, now showing his hand that he had an ulterior motive behind helping the person that had tried to kill him, even though Sombra knew this had been coming from the moment he understood what Ichigo was doing, "I just wanted to ask you a few questions before we moved on... especially since your friend over there hasn't woken up yet."
"I figured that it would be something like that." Ikkaku replied, sounding like he knew that this was the reason why he had been spared, even though Sombra had the feeling that he was just acting and honestly didn't care why Ichigo had saved his life, "I've got no luck today. Fine, what do you want to know?"
"I want to know where Rukia Kuchiki is located." Ichigo said, because if he and Sombra were given the general direction of where they needed to go, as the Shinigami could be keeping Rukia anywhere in the Seireitei, they could cut their search down and get to their destination all that much faster.
"Oh, that death row inmate." Ikkaku said, revealing that he knew something about what happened to Rukia, drawing the attention of both Ichigo and Sombra this time around, as they were both focused on him at the moment, "What do you people what with trash like that?"
"We're here to save her." Sombra answered, because at this point there was no reason to hide why they were here, as Ikkaku and Yumichika would likely spend some time here before someone found them, meaning that the Captains wouldn't know what their goal was until sometime later.
"How many of you did you bring?" Ikkaku asked, though while his tone revealed that he found the entire thought to be funny, especially when he started to chuckle and disrupt the ointment on his chest, he also revealed that a normal invasion would have needed a large number to get anywhere, "I bet you brought seven or eight along."
"Yeah, we brought eight people along for this mission." Ichigo replied, as he also found no harm in telling Ikkaku the truth, not when it would be some time before someone found these two and asked them what happened to them, where he hoped they would be long gone by the time that happened.
"If you go straight south from here, you'll find the offices for each of the thirteen Divisions." Ikkaku stated, revealing that, despite the fact that he and Yumichika had tried to stop them earlier, he was going to give them the information that they were after, "At the west end of the offices, there stands a pure white tower. She should be in there."
"Is that so?" Sombra asked, as he expected that the Shinigami had a training exercise or something that indicated that if an invasion were to happen, and one of them were bested in combat, they would lead the attackers into an ambush and wipe them out, which was why he was being careful.
"What's with that look on your face? I'm not planning anything." Ikkaku said, as he was staring at the thoughtful expression that had appeared on Sombra's face for a moment, something that he recognized from the many different opponents he had fought over his time as a Shinigami, "I don't care what they do to that prisoner, and I most certainly don't care what you do with her either. If you want to save her, than go right ahead and do that. Though if you stick around here for too much longer the others will find you first."
"He's right," Sombra commented, as he had been keeping track of the other Shinigami that were in the immediate area, though while they were still a good distance away from where the two of them were standing they were getting closer by the second, which meant that they needed to get out of here before they were found out, "I can already feel more Shinigami getting closer to this exact area."
Ichigo nodded, as while he couldn't actually feel everything like Sombra could, which was a good thing that they had been paired up in such a manner, he trusted that the Arrancar was telling the truth and immediately turned to leave, but just as the two of them started to move he heard the sound of Ikkaku moving.
"Wait a second, there's something I wanted to ask the two of you." Ikkaku said, causing both Ichigo and Sombra to turn back towards him for a moment, where they found him staring at them as they paused in their steps, as they were curious as to what he could ask them before they left, "Whose the strongest fighter in your group?"
"Honestly, it's hard to tell." Ichigo replied, as he knew that both he and Sombra were strong in their own ways, but the problem was that he had no idea which of them was actually the stronger of the two, and it seemed like Sombra had no opinion on the matter, "It's either me or Sombra... but I couldn't tell you which of us is the strongest."
"That so?" Ikkaku commented, though at the same time he closed his eyes, as he already knew which one of them was the strongest and had the feeling that the person in question knew it as well, only they didn't want to say anything since they didn't care to boast about their skills, "In any case, watch out for the Captain of my Division... he's not interested in weaklings in the slightest. If the two of you are the strongest in your group, like you claim you are, then the people he'll come after are you two, make no mistake about that. When you meet him, you'll see just how strong he is... that's if you live long enough to comprehend his power. His name... is Zaraki Kenpachi."
Sombra knew that, from the way Ikkaku said the name, that the Captain of the Eleventh Division, Zaraki Kenpachi, was someone that they would have to be careful with if they came across him while they headed towards the white tower that appeared to be in the middle of the Seireitei, especially since Ikkaku said the name like his Captain was the greatest person to grace Soul Society in a long time. Now that they were warned that one of the Captains would definitely be looking for them at some point in time, and the fact that there happened to be additional Shinigami getting closer to their position, the two of them headed down the street and started to follow Ikkaku's instructions, as they seemed to be the best course of action to follow at the moment. Sombra hoped that they wouldn't bump into any additional enemies for some time, as he felt that leaving a trail of bodies would tell the other Shinigami where they were going and how dangerous they were, but he guessed that they would find out how many enemies they would have to fight in the near future. He also knew that their first order of business would be to find Ganju and the others as soon as possible, that way they could all head towards the tower together and face whatever was waiting for them as a group, instead of alone, but that was another thing he'd have to wait and see if he was right about it.
Ikkaku, on the other hand, watched as Ichigo and Sombra started to walk down the street they were on before starting to run, allowing them to quickly disappear from his field of view, to which he sighed as he shifted his head and looked over at where Yumichika was resting.
"What do you think, Yumichika?" Ikkaku asked, as he knew his partner well enough to know that he had sensed the difference in power between him and his opponent, which was why he had chosen to fake being taken out, though at the moment he didn't care about that at all.
"Ichigo is strong, there's no doubt about that," Yumichika replied, though he was thankful that the pair had left when they did, as he had no idea how long he was going to be able to keep that charade up, before he glanced in the direction their opponents had gone in, "but Sombra is stronger. His reiatsu was stronger than what I was expecting it to be... and it felt similar to a Hollow's reiatsu, as odd as that sounds."
"Sounds like he's the one that Captain Zaraki will want to fight." Ikkaku said, though he was curious as to why Sombra's reiatsu felt that way, as he had never felt anything like it before, before he decided that now wasn't the time to be thinking about such things, especially since they needed to relay all this information to their Captain.
An enemy that was able to wound Captain Byakuya in the World of the Living, wound Captain Gin by the Gate of Pure Souls, and emerge from a fight with Yumichika, whose power rivaled that of his own, and he was the 3rd Seat in the Eleventh Division, told Ikkaku that he might have found the perfect person for his Captain to fight... he just needed to tell him the news and his Captain would seek him out until he had a battle with the person that was known as Sombra.
As Ichigo and Sombra ran down the street that they were on, following the directions that Ikkaku had given them, Sombra found himself wondering what sort of person Captain Zaraki Kenpachi was, because it appeared that the Eleventh Division was dedicated to battle and nothing else. If that was the case, and he believed it was after seeing how Ikkaku and Yumichika acted around them, despite his opponent being nothing like Ikkaku, that told him that the Captain had to be the greatest fighter in the entire Division, which would make sense considering that he was the Captain, and that his reiatsu had to be the strongest out of all of them as well. Thinking about that made him thinking about the Shinigami he had just faced, the same one that had clearly decided that he wasn't worth facing after receiving a single cut, and wondered how someone like that could be in the same Division as Ikkaku, but he guessed that, as a fighter, he was more at home with how his Division handled things and not how someone like him did things. There was also the chance that, since it was clear that only the thirteen Captains and certain Lieutenants knew what an Arrancar was and how they were created, his reiatsu, which was like a Hollow's since he had been one before becoming what he was now, had been what frightened Yumichika and caused him to be defeated so easily.
In the end Sombra shook his head and followed behind Ichigo, mostly because Ichigo was still slower than he was and the fact that he didn't want to leave his friend behind while they were in enemy territory, though at the same time he could tell that Ichigo was already getting annoyed at the fact that the walls on either side of them were identical and that he was having a hard time finding his way around the Seireitei. Sombra suspected that the Shinigami had designed it in this manner on purpose, so if they were invaded by an outside force they would be able to confuse them until a group arrived to finish off whatever was attacking them, or confuse their enemies if they did something like what Sombra and the others did. Just thinking about what they had done made him worry about his friends, as at this point he considered himself friends with Uryu, Orihime, Chad, and Sora, adding them to the list of friends that he had, but, as he felt for their reiatsu as he ran, he found that three of them were together and appeared to be on the run, if he was feeling things correctly, and it appeared that the other one, Chad, was on the move as well... even Yoruichi, who seemed to be incredibly well hidden and he could only sense her reiatsu because he was familiar to it's presence when she was in her cat form, seemed to be safe as well, which was good news.
"Damn, where the hell did that freaking Ganju run off to?" Ichigo asked, speaking out loud because he knew that Sombra was likely feeling the various reiatsu signatures that were in the area of the Seireitei that they were in, as he was also sure that Ganju couldn't have gotten far from where they fought Ikkaku and Yumichika.
"We're closer to his position than we were a few minutes ago," Sombra replied, referring to the area they had landed in, as he was sure that Ichigo was thinking about that area again, but at the same time he knew that there were some Shinigami new Ganju, meaning he either attracted them on accident or was sneaking around them, "Now that we know where Rukia is being held we should take a few minutes and make sure that Ganju is safe, before finding a place where we can hide and wait for the others to catch up with us. Once we've regrouped we should be able to come up with a plan that doesn't involve all of us running around in separ..."
"DAMMIT, GANJU!" Ichigo shouted, causing Sombra to stop for a moment, as he couldn't believe what he was hearing at the moment, especially since they were in the middle of enemy territory and had no idea what the layout of the Seireitei was, "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!"
Sombra stood there for a moment, with one of his eyebrows twitching in annoyance, because Ichigo just alerted all of the Shinigami in the immediate area to their exact location, meaning that they could be attacked by more enemies like Ikkaku and Yumichika at any moment. Not only would that happened, but he was sure that they would be forced to run at some point, just to avoid being see by too many enemies at one time, which would push them back from their task at finding where Rukia was being held or if the others were okay. Sure enough Sombra heard the sounds that proved his point, as directly to their left, having what appeared to be a cigarette break of some kind, were four Shinigami that spotted them and, as they drew their swords, Sombra heard one of them mention the glory going to the Eleventh Division, making him wonder if he, Ichigo, and Ganju had landed in the area of the Seireitei that the Eleventh Division watched over, but he had to push that thought away as Ichigo started running once more, to which he sighed and followed after his friend as he sought out a place where they could hide and let this blow over.
Instead of dealing with them immediately, as Sombra knew that the noise the four Shinigami were making at the moment would draw even more enemies to where they were, Ichigo insisted on running down the various streets that were in front of them and actually brought them to several dead ends along the way. Sombra knew that they were fortunate that the four Shinigami that were following them weren't anywhere near the level that Ikkaku and Yumichika were at, since these guys ere falling behind and only managed to catch up when Ichigo brought them to a dead end and forced them to back up for a few seconds. Even with Ichigo's terrible sense of direction they were able to reach a larger and more open area than the street they had been following, which would have been great if it wasn't for the fact that they were being chased at the moment, though after taking a few steps into the area Sombra came to a stop, pulled Shokyo from her scabbard, and faced the four Shinigami when they entered the area as well... where he flashed around them in rapid succession and cut them all down, making sure that the wounds were shallow so they didn't die, but also hurt enough to make sure these guys didn't come after them in a few minutes.
Once that was done he landed nearby and sheathed his blade, though at the same time, as he approached Ichigo so he could give him a piece of his mind, the two of them were interrupted when a large firework went off nearby, one that they could see in the air, and Ichigo smiled as he headed in the direction that Ganju was in... to which Sombra sighed as he followed after his friend, while also hoping that the others were having better luck than they were.
Uryu, Orihime, and Sora laid down on the roof of the building they had climbed up onto, so they could get a better view of the area that they were in, and immediately had to hide themselves as all three of them felt a powerful Shinigami, who was accompanied by a lesser powered one, approach the area they were in. At Uryu's suggestion all three of them lowered their reiatsu down as far as they could make it, to keep themselves hidden from their enemies, and soon part of the wall that was near where they were laying collapsed, revealing the Shinigami that they had felt immediately. The first Shinigami they noticed happened to be tall and muscular, unlike the other couple of Shinigami they had snuck by earlier, with a wild and aggressive appearance, meaning that he was a fighter of some type, one that they didn't want to mess with. The man had a long face with pronounced cheekbones, pronounced, hairless brow ridges, green colored eyes and long, stringy black hair, though a noticeable trait in his appearance, one that Uryu and the others noticed immediately, was a long, thin scar running down the left side of his face and across his left eye. In addition to all of that the man was wearing bandages across his midsection, a white haori, his black hair had been molded into stiff stands with small bells attached to the tips, and he had an eyepatch over his right eye for some reason. Resting on the man's right shoulder was a very small, young girl with pink hair, dark pink eyes and a perpetual blush on her cheeks, who happened to be wearing the normal Shinigami attire and some sort of insignia on her left arm.
The trio watched as the man walked into the area that they happened to be hiding in, silently observing him as he smashed his way through the walls that were in his way as he headed off in the direction of the firework that had been in the air a few moments ago... though a few moments later, after the reiatsu of the man finally left the area they were in, the trio breathed a sigh of relief as they got up and looked around the area they had come to at last.
"Thank goodness, he's gone." Orihime said, though she was happy that they had been able to avoid so many fights so far, especially with someone that was as strong as the man that they had seen run through the area below them, as she knew that none of them would be bale to beat him, even if they worked together.
"That's for sure." Uryu commented, as he believed that the only members of their group that might be able to best that man were Ichigo and Sombra, as they were, technically, the strongest fighters they had, so since they weren't here the three of them had to be careful about how they went into battle and when they ran away.
"He seemed to be incredibly strong," Sora added, because while he might not have the same experience as Sombra did while fighting opponents, or controlling his reiatsu to the same degree that his superior did, or even being able to call upon a Cero blast like Sombra could, he knew how powerful that man had been and also knew that they would have been in trouble if he had seen them, "but at least it seems that he, and the little girl that was on his shoulder, didn't notice us."
"That would put him in the same category as Kurosaki," Uryu said, though at the same time he made sure that the man, along with the little girl that was riding on his shoulder, was gone before they did anything else, while he heard the sound of Orihime moving around, "He's ridiculously strong, but it appears that he lacks the detection skills necessary to figure out where we're hiding. But we've reached a problem; we've started to move from where we landed, but, since we're in unfamiliar territory, it's hard to say which way we should go, as there's no telling whe..."
"How about that way?" Orihime asked, as she found something that seemed to be important, though as she pointed at the white tower that she had found she also looked back at Uryu and her brother, as she wanted them to see what she was looking at before they left the building they were on, "There's a tower over in that distance."
As Sora and Uryu turned to look in the direction that Orihime was pointing in they both noticed that they had been found out by someone else, as a Shinigami was standing right in front of Orihime, who hadn't even seen him yet, and he was in the process of lowering his blade towards her. In the following instant Sora drew his blade from the scabbard it was resting in as he moved forward, intentionally putting himself between his sister and her attacker, stopping the blade before it could hit her, while at the same time Uryu, using his own speed quickly flashed to where Orihime was standing, wrapped an arm around her, and flashed some distance back while taking her away from the attacker. Once Sora was sure that his sister was no longer in danger he jumped out of the way and let the blade strike the roof that was below him, before jumping over to where Uryu was standing, where he noticed that Orihime was shocked by what had happened and was likely surprised by the speed that Uryu had just displayed.
"No substance." the Shinigami commented, to which he turned towards Orihime and Uryu for a moment, as they were the ones that he was interested in at the moment, while at the same time observing the other person that was standing next to them as well, "You have quite some skill to escape from that range. Well done. If the opponent you encountered had not been me, you would have survived a little longer. Regret your situation. I will grant the three of you time to regret until the count of ten."
"Sora, Uryu, thanks for saving me," Orihime said, though at the same time the large Shinigami that had spotted them fulfilled his promise and started counting as he stared at them, like they were going to regret their actions and surrender to him, "but I'm fine."
"That you are." Sora replied, as he was happy to see that his sister was unharmed, which made sense since he had stopped the blade from coming down on where Orihime was standing, before he turned his attention back towards the enemy that was standing in front of them.
"Ten! Now then, the time for regret has passed." the Shinigami declared, where he swung his left arm until his hand was pointing at the trio, indicating that he was ready to fight again and that they needed to be ready for what was about to happen in the next few seconds, "Did you regret to your heart's content? Now begins a further time of regret!"
Sora readied his blade as both Orihime and Uryu moved to the sides, as the Shinigami was coming at them with the intent to hurt them, and he parried the attack with all his strength, though as that happened Uryu stated that he would be the one to fight their attacker, who proceeded to fight dirty as he picked up a handful of sand and threw it at him, forcing Uryu to cough as he slipped over the edge and grabbed onto part of the roof that he rolled near. In that moment the Shinigami stated that none of them could tell him who his opponent was, because he was going to choose who to fight at any given moment, and his following statement was that Orihime was going to be his opponent, which enraged Sora as he fought back against their opponent and avoided the cheap kick shot that was coming his way. Even though the Shinigami said that he was going to fight Orihime, who dodged the upcoming attacks that were coming her way, Sora stepped in every now and then, parrying certain attacks and moving out of the way when both of them were sure they weren't going to get hit, but at the same time Sora was sure that his sister was looking for an opening that she could use to attack their opponent and knock him out.
Of course Orihime found that opportunity and used her Koten Zanshun on the Shinigami, though her lack of intent to hurt or even kill her opponent cost her, as the Shinigami swung his blade and clipped Tsubaki, knocking him out of the air and forcing him to return to the hairpin he had come from... but as the Shinigami started to swing his blade, however, Uryu surprised him by firing an arrow and cutting into the back of his hand, while at the same time Sora moved his sister out of the way so they could watch what happened.
"Might you be a Quincy?" the Shinigami asked, looking at the strange bow that Uryu was holding, something that both Sora and Orihime were staring at, while at the same time displaying the fact that Soul Society still had some knowledge of the other clan that had killed Hollows until their extinction two hundred years ago.
"That's correct." Uryu replied, as he didn't think there was a reason to lie, because he wanted the Shinigami to know who had beaten him, though at the same time he was ready to draw another arrow at a moments notice, especially when the Shinigami might attack at any moment.
"This is intriguing." the Shinigami stated, to which his eyes moved over all three of them, as he was studying them and what he had seen them do in the short time since he had arrived, before turning back towards Uryu, while at the same time he turned his blade until it was in front of him and the tip was facing the sky, "One uses an unknown technique, the second is a Quincy, and the third is an unknown creature that has some decent strength and some unknown abilities that he hasn't shown yet. Two of you use projectiles... and appear to be enemies. What a coincidence! What a trick of fate! Then allow me to show you the true form of my Zanpakuto... Flap away, Tsunzakigarasu!"
The three of them watched as their opponent pushed the base of his hand down on top of the blade of his weapon, where the blade disappeared and a large number of curved spinning blades filled the air around him, but at the same time they prepared themselves for whatever was to come next, especially since Uryu was getting ready to fire an arrow.
"What do you think?" the Shinigami asked, sounding like he might care for a few seconds, though that was before he moved his hands to his side and let a grin appear on his face, telling the three of them that he actually didn't care and wasn't about to let them talk, "Now regret! I am the 4th Seat of the Seventh Division, Jirobo Ikkanzaka. Also known as Kamaitachi Jirobo. The title of Kamaitachi is the mark of the ultimate projectile master. Not a single person has ever seen Tsunzakigarasu, these countless blades dancing in the air, and survived! Well, well, how about it? You can't even follow them with your eyes, can you? It is a splendid prelude to death. Such bows and arrows are are powerless as a baby before the Tsunzakigarasu! As another projectile user, regret to the fullest having encountered me and..."
It was in that moment that Uryu pulled his hand back and loosed a volley of arrows that shattered all of the spinning blades that were in the air around the Shinigami, surprising their opponent for a moment, though once that was taken care of he lowered his arms for a moment as he stared at the Shinigami in front of him.
"That's pretty interesting, not like the World of the Living at all." Uryu commented, as he was growing tired of listening to the Shinigami boast about how he was stronger than the three of them, especially when Sora could parry his attacks and he could do all this damage in a single volley of arrows, "Apparently, on this side, 'ultimate master' means a windbag with diarrhea of the mouth."
What happened next was Jirobo declaring that Uryu's attack was just luck and pulled out the handle of his blade once more, which he had returned to the scabbard after releasing his Zanpakuto, but as that happened Uryu sighed and loosed another arrow that not only shattered whatever he was pulling out, but also cut into his left hand and spilled blood on the roof that they were standing on.
"I'm sorry, but if you're the 'ultimate master', you'll have to return that title today," Uryu said, letting the smoke roll off his fingertips once more, as he was keeping his eyes on Jirobo at the moment, because his earlier actions, where he attacked Orihime first, told him that he might try something like that again in the near future, "As far as projectiles go, it seems that I am superior to you and your skill. Although, I honestly don't like the sound of Kamaitachi Uryu. Are you able to feel a little regret over your misfortune at having met me, another projectile user?"
As Jirobo declared him to be an 'insolent boy' Uryu sighed and loosed two more arrows into the area in front of his left foot, as he had been getting ready to charge at him, and he stopped him in his tracks, where he could tell that there was sweat starting to fall from his face as he thought about the situation that he was in. Uryu then proceeded to inform Jirobo that he had missed with that pair of arrows on purpose, to show just how skilled he was against an opponent that didn't seem to understand the situation that he was in, before stating that the next arrow would strike him when it was loosed from his bow. What made Uryu pause for a moment was when his opponent started to saw how he exceeded him in very category as a projectile user and that he was utterly defeated by his techniques, where Jirobo stated that he could do what he wanted with him, as if he was surrendering, to which Uryu banished his bow and stated that the reason he wasn't firing was because he didn't like to torment the weak, like other people he had met and heard about preferred to do. Jirobo stated that Uryu was a kind man, though that was before he spun around and started to reach for Orihime, intending to wound or even kill her if he could, but he failed to account for one thing... and that was Sora, who saw the trick coming, as did Uryu, and immediately slashed a diagonal gash into Jirobo's body, going from his right shoulder to his left hip, before knocking him backwards.
Uryu followed that up with two more arrows that pierced two very specific points on Jirobo's body, the Chain Link and the Soul Sleep, points that he had memorized during his own training, and knocked the Shinigami backwards, though when he recovered from this battle he would be unable to continue being a Shinigami, which both he and Sora felt he deserved for his attempts to kill Orihime in their presence. Once they explained the situation to Orihime, or at least Uryu did, he banished his bow as Sora sheathed his blade, before the three of them headed off the roof, as it was only a matter of time until someone came to investigate the sudden disappearance of Jirobo's reiatsu... though as they fled into the Seireitei, and continued their search, all three of them wondered what the others were up to at the moment.
As it turned out things got even worse for Sombra and Ichigo, because Ichigo insisted on calling out for Ganju several times while they were trying to follow Ikkaku's advice, attracting more and more Shinigami to their location until they had a mobile army following after them. He wasn't sure how many Shinigami there were in the entirety of the Eleventh Division, but Sombra was sure that they were pulling many of them towards a single spot, and that was because he felt another mass of reiatsu coming towards the area that the two of them were in. Right now he was mad with Ichigo, as he had pleaded with the Human to stop calling out for Ganju so they could continue with their mission without having to make so many diversions in the maze that was the Seireitei, but Ichigo just continued to refuse his suggestions and now they were in this predicament. At the very least it seemed like Uryu's group was moving without getting into too many fights, even though he sensed that one had ended and that all three of them seemed okay, and Chad seemed to be using his reiatsu every now and then, but there was usually no one around him when that happened... meaning that he was likely punching holes in the walls that were blocking his path, and he was also getting closer and closer to where the two of them were located.
Of course his thoughts were interrupted a few seconds later as Ichigo turned the corner and headed to the left this time, where they both spotted Ganju running towards them with his own group of Shinigami, who must have started chasing him after the firework that went off earlier. As the three of them got close to each other Ichigo jumped by Ganju and plowed into the immediate enemies that had been behind him, before calling out for Ganju to duck as he pulled Zangetsu from his back and swung it, catching some of the enemies that had been following behind him and Sombra for the last few minutes, while at the same time Sombra sighed as he stared at the enemies around them.
"That was dangerous, you bastard!" Ganju stated, though at the same time he had some tears in his eyes, indicating that he believed that Ichigo would have willingly hurt him in such a manner just to stop the Shinigami in their tracks, while at the same time Sombra groaned, as he couldn't believe that this was happening again, "Swinging your sword around all of a sudden, what are you, stupid?!"
"What? I told you to get down, didn't I?" Ichigo replied, because while he might not like Ganju, not after what he did the night they had encountered each other, he wasn't about to go out of his way and cut down the man that had helped them get inside the Seireitei, even if he caused the cannonball to explode and knock the group apart.
"You swung too soon after you said it, idiot!" Ganju snapped back in return, though while all this was happening Sombra noticed that the two groups of Shinigami that were around them were looking rather eager to come and take them down, which was why he was getting ready to draw Shokyo, in case their enemies attacked them, "Your sense of time is too fast!"
"Enough!" Sombra snapped, causing the two of them to flinch for a moment, as while Ichigo was familiar with him when he was angry, because it had happened when he first fought Byakuya, Ganju was more terrified of his reiatsu, which he had to reign in so he didn't accidentally track any Captains to this position, while also noticing that none of the Shinigami around them seemed to care that much about his power, "Now isn't the time for the two of you to be bickering like children over something that happened, as we have enemies that are ready to fight us and we should be focused on the task at han..."
It was in that moment that Sombra found himself being interrupted by something else, as it appeared that some of the Shinigami that had been following Ganju were shouting at someone as they moved to the front of the line, causing him to raise an eyebrow as he readied himself for what was coming next. That was before a short male Shinigami, who wasn't wearing a Zanpakuto at all from the looks of it, was pushed forward and collapsed on the ground in front of them, allowing Sombra to glance at his chin-length black hair and the strange pack that was on his back, as it appeared that he was a medic of some kind, like Ichigo's father was.
"Oww, that was mean." the Shinigami said, though at the same time it was clear that he was more focused on what he was doing at the moment and not on what, or who, was around him, allowing the three of them to stare at him, though that was followed by Sombra keeping an eye on the other Shinigami as he waited for one of them to come at them.
"Ichigo, I just thought of an easy plan to get out of here." Ganju commented, to which Sombra glanced at him for a moment and found a mischievous smile appeared on his face, showing that he was thinking of something terrible while they were standing there, as his eyes were locked on the Shinigami that was in front of them.
"We must think alike." Ichigo said, to which his eyes narrowed a little as he stared at the Shinigami as well, but as that happened Sombra had the feeling that he wasn't going to like what was going to happen next, as so far these two had terrible ideas and he was sure that the two of them together were going to be even worse, "I had the same thought."
"Huh? Did you just say 'to get out of here'?" the Shinigami asked, though as he came to understand what was going on sweat started to roll down the sides of his face, because he now knew that they were what he and the other Shinigami had been warned about earlier, "U... Uh, don't tell me... you three aren't those Ryoka... are you?"
"Hey bastards, clear a path!" Ganju shouted, though at the same time he grabbed onto the Shinigami that was laying in front of them and pulled him to his feet, while Ichigo, having agreed to the insane plan that they were apparently going to use, raised Zangetsu and brought the edge of the blade close to the Shinigami's neck.
"If you value your buddy's life!" Ichigo stated, confirming Sombra's thoughts on what was happening at the moment, especially with the crazed look on his face that mimicked what Ganju was doing, and the other Shinigami stared at them like they had lost their minds.
Sombra stared at the two of them for a moment, because he honestly couldn't believe that they were even doing this, with all of these Shinigami surrounding them, and he had to resist the urge to bring his palm to his face, as this was even more ridiculous than what Ichigo was doing earlier, when he was shouting for Ganju to show himself and gained those first few enemies that he had to take out. As he stood there, staring at them, both Ichigo and Ganju turned and looked at him for a moment, as if they were expecting him to get in on the action, since he was likely the scariest of all three of them, to which he simply shook his head, indicating that he wasn't going to be part of their stupid scheme.
"Ichigo. Ganju. Release him." Sombra said, as he wasn't going to play this game with them, not while there were this many enemies around them, and he was disappointed that they were thinking that this was going to work out for them, as it didn't seem that the other Shinigami cared about the one that Ganju was holding onto.
"Like Hell we are!" Ganju replied, his tone indicating that he was losing faith in Ichigo's friends, because he was fully committed to what they were doing, just as Ichigo was, and he was a little surprised that he wasn't joining them in their attempt to get out of the area they were in, "This guy's our ticket out of here... once his buddies..."
"What the hell are you guys doing?" one of the Shinigami asked, his tone indicating that Sombra was right in his thinking, that they and the Shinigami that Ganju was holding onto weren't friends with each other, "Does it look like we're buddies with him?"
"Y... You're not?" Ichigo inquired, though while he was directing that question towards the Shinigami that were in front of them he was also asking the one that Ganju was holding onto, as this wasn't what he was expecting when the two of them came up with this idea, while at the same time finding that Sombra might have been right about this.
"I... I'm in the Fourth Division." the medical Shinigami replied, before he beckoned towards the Shinigami that were gathering around them, as he already knew the Division that they were in thanks to the number of times he had seen them throughout the Seireitei, "They're all from the Eleventh Division."
"Looks like it's true that he's a Ryoka from the outside." one of the other Shinigami said, though he lowered his sword for a a few seconds, revealing that he wanted to tell them something, while at the same time the other Shinigami remained at the ready, because once they told them the information they needed they were going to take the three of them down for the glory of their Division, "Clean out your ears and listen well. Altogether there are thirteen Divisions that protect the Seireitei, and we, the Eleventh Division, are honored with having the strongest man in all thirteen of the Divisions as our Captain. We really are the most powerful Division among the thirteen. The Fourth Division, which that runt is assigned to, is a rear Division that specializes in relief and supplies. It is the weakest, dead-weight Division of the thirteen Divisions, and it's the gathering place of all the pansies who can't even hold a sword to save their life. Honestly, I don't know why they exist in the first place... and besides, the Eleventh Division hates their guts!"
It was in the following instant that the Shinigami that had been chasing Ganju charged at them, though as the trio prepared for the attack a light flared from behind the wall to their left and they were knocked out by a blast that Sombra felt Chad's reiatsu behind, but he wasn't able to stay as Ichigo and Ganju, who was carrying the Shinigami he had used as a hostage, headed off in the opposite direction. As such the three of them, along with their unwilling captive, smashed their way through the Shinigami that were behind them as they headed away from the area that they had been trapped in for a few moments, though Sombra was sure that Chad would be able to handle himself once the smoke cleared. Sombra hoped that both of his companions would be smarter about what they were doing from this point forward, because he was starting to get annoyed about their antics and wanted them to take this mission seriously... while at the same time wondering what the others were up to.
Normally the Fourth Division General Relief Station was only busy when the Shinigami of the Eleventh Division came here seeking healing for their injuries, when they got serious about their training sessions and ended up getting hurt in the process, and that was generally anyone that had a lower rank than Yumichika, the Fifth Seat. Today, however, the relief station was busier than normal as the relief teams were bringing in wounded Shinigami from several of the Divisions, but what surprised many of them were the fact that both Ikkaku Madarame and Yumichika Ayasegawa were brought in and treated the moment they entered the building. Many of the staff members were shocked by the state that Ikkaku arrived in, while at the same time they were equally surprised by the fact that Yumichika had been beaten and was wounded to a lesser extent than his partner was, but that didn't stop them from doing their duties and tending to them, along with informing the Captains that someone had definitely engaged the Ryoka that had invaded the Seireitei. The staff was sure that they had useful information on the invaders, maybe even why this invasion was happening in the first place, and they were thinking that it would be their Captain, Zaraki, that would be the first one to arrive.
The staff was slightly disappointed to see that it was actually Captain Mayuri, with his Lieutenant Nemu, that came to the relief station to interrogate Ikkaku and Yumichika, but, based on the small hole that was punctured into one of the walls a few minutes later, it was clear that he was annoyed about what the duo had told him.
"You sure that neither of you want to spill the beans?" Mayuri asked, looking at the heavily wounded Ikkaku first, as he was the one that had to known exactly who the Ryoka were and what they were doing, before glancing at Yumichika a few seconds later, as he should have known something about the invaders as well, "Eh, Ikkaku-kun? Yumichika-kun? Why don't either of you say anything?"
"Please stop Captain Mayuri!" a voice said, to which Mayuri turned his head around a little and found one of the relief staff standing at the doorway, with a look on her face that annoyed him to some degree, "Such semi-hostile actions are strictly forbidden inside the stat..."
"SILENCE!" Mayuri stated, to which he raised his right hand and pointed it in the direction of the relief staff, where he blasted another small hole into the door frame that she was standing near, scaring her in the process, especially since she came so close to being killed.
"Mayuri-sama." Nemu started to say, but as she started to speak she noticed that her Captain was turning towards her as well, with the same look in his eyes that she had seen when he was looking at the relief staff, to which she stopped herself from continuing what she was thinking of saying and waited for her Captain to do what he wanted.
"You're annoying me, too, Nemu." Mayuri snapped, showing that he was disappointed in something that had happened recently, between the two of them anyway, and the relief staff found that now was the best time to leave the area, before she was the Captain's focus once more, "Just shut up! Do you want to be taken apart again?"
"There's nothing to spit out." Ikkaku said, speaking for the first time since he had woken up in the relief station, but since it was Captain Mayuri that was standing nearby, and not their own Captain, both he and Yumichika silently agreed not to tell him anything, as he'd ruin their Captain's fun, "We don't know anything. Not the Ryoka's goals, not their destination... nothing."
"Then what?" Mayuri demanded, as he was growing irritated with the two men that he was talking to, because he knew that one of them had to know something about the invaders and was growing annoyed that they were holding back the information that they had, "Even though you two crossed swords with the Ryoka first hand, you both just got beat down and came back with a single piece of information. Is that it?"
"That's right." Yumichika spoke up, glancing up from where he was sitting, because since he wasn't as wounded as Ikkaku was he had been able to get up sooner, but he sat in the corner and watched what was going on, "What's more neither of us saw the face, nor heard the voice, of our attackers, so unfortunately there isn't anything we can tell you."
"Very well," Mayuri said, though the annoyed look that had been on his face started to turn to rage, as he was reaching his limits with the duo that had been brought into the relief station, though at the same time he started to raise his hand, "then the two of you shall receive an appropriate punishment for your failure!"
It was in that moment that Ikkaku and Yumichika let a small smile appear on their faces for a moment, as Captain Mayuri's arm was stopped by Captain Zaraki, who happened to appear in the doorway behind him, as he grabbed the other Captain's arm and frowned at him for a moment.
"This is a surprise." Zaraki commented, to which he focused his attention on Mayuri for now, as he was planning on talking to his subordinates and figuring out what they knew about the Ryoka they had battled, because he knew that they had information for him and had been stalling the entire time, "Since when do you have the authority to pass judgement on men from other Divisions, Mayuri?"
"Zaraki..." Mayuri said, knowing that the situation had changed in the Eleventh Division's favor, something that also annoyed him, before he relaxed his hand and convinced the man to let go of his arm, allowing him to rub it for a few seconds as he turned towards the door frame, "Since the Captain's here, there's no choice. No reason for me to go out of my way to interrogate them for what they know. We'll part ways... for now."
Ikkaku turned his head and watched as Captain Mayuri and Lieutenant Nemu walked out of the room that he and Yumichika had been put in, though at the same time the Lieutenant of their Division, Yachiru Kusajishi, showed herself for a few moments... which was followed by their Captain growing serious.
"You two sure got knocked around." Zaraki stated, as he was slightly surprised to see that Ikkaku was the one that was more wounded while it appeared that Yumichika only had a single slash across his chest, but at the same time he pushed that thought away as he focused on the reason he was here, "I heard the two of you lost."
"We did, and we're very sorry about what happened." Ikkaku said, knowing the rules that had set the Eleventh Division up and had separated them from the remaining twelve Divisions, something that Yumichika knew as well, "We returned even though it is a shame to survive a defeat."
"Are they strong?" Zaraki asked, as he was going to cut straight to the point and then depart once he knew the targets that he would be after, because anyone that could take down Ikkaku and Yumichika, and not get killed in the process, had to be strong, which excited him to no end.
"Yes, they are quite strong." Ikkaku replied, knowing that it had to be safe to tell their Captain the information now, as Captain Mayuri must have departed the relief station at this point and wouldn't be around to hear what they had to tell their superiors, "Outwardly, my opponent looks like a Shinigami, as he wore the same robes that we wear, and he's got short orange hair, while carrying a hilt-less, guard-less sword that's as tall as he is. His destination is the Shrine of Penitence, cell four-deep. I told him and his companion of you and told them to be careful. If he and his companion remember my words, whenever you meet them you should be able to enjoy an excellent fight. I'm positive that both his strength and his skills are still developing, so when he crosses paths with you he might have become even stronger since his fight with me... and his name, is Ichigo Kurosaki."
"Interesting." Zaraki said, as someone that could fight with Ikkaku and survive, while convincing Ikkaku that he was going to grow even stronger than he had been during their fight, was getting him pumped for the promised fight that would be coming his way, before he turned his attention to Yumichika, "And what about your opponent? Is he strong?"
"Yes, my opponent was also strong," Yumichika answered, because now that the Captain was excited he knew that he might as well see what happened when he told him about the second foe he might face, "He wears Shinigami robes as well, but while ours are black his is grey colored, and he's unlike anything I have ever encountered before. His appearance looks like a pony that's been given the ability to stand upright and take on a Human form, as most of his body looks like a Human's does, save for the hooves in place of his feet, the pony tail that was coming out of his spine, the pony ears on top of his head, and the strange curved horn that was resting in front of a bone white crown. He carries a Zanpakuto called Shokyo with him as well... and he claimed that he wounded Captain Byakuya in the World of the Living and cut Captain Gin's arm while he was at the Gate of Pure Souls."
"So it's true," Zaraki said, as he remembered what had been said at the previous Captain Meeting, where some of the other Captains didn't believe that a new Arrancar had been born in the last few months, but now this was undeniable proof that one existed and was in the Seireitei, "there's an Arrancar inside Soul Society."
"A... Arrancar?" Yumichika asked, though at the same time he glanced over at Ikkaku, who carefully shook his head for a few seconds, indicating that he had no idea what their Captain was talking about at the moment, to which they paid attention to what was going to happen next.
"An Arrancar is a Hollow that has removed their mask and gained the powers of a Shinigami." Yachiru stated, showing that she understood what Zaraki had told her, back when he learned that information himself since it was something that only Captains and certain Lieutenants knew about.
"So that explains why his reiatsu felt like a Hollow's." Yumichika said, as now it was starting to make more sense to him, while at the same time he felt that there was more to the being that he had fought than what they currently knew, as he still found it odd that his opponent had been carrying a Zanpakuto, one that a Shinigami would possess, before he decided it was time to tell their Captain the last bit of information, "There is one more thing. Both Ikkaku and I agree that our opponents were strong, as they were able to overcome us, but while Ichigo Kurosaki is quite strong, and is only getting stronger, we both agreed on another matter: Sombra, the opponent that I fought, is much stronger than Ichigo is and will also provide you with an exciting fight... maybe one that is even more exciting than the one you would have with Ichigo."
Zaraki grinned as he turned around and started to walk out of the room that his subordinates were sitting in, because while the first opponent, Ichigo, sounded like he would provide an excellent match he also felt that the second target, the Arrancar called Sombra, would be the most exciting match he would have to this date. As he started to head out of the building, so he could head to an area and wait for his opponents to arrive, Yachiru landed on his shoulder once more as he exited the building, as she was interested in seeing what happened next... once he found his prey.
After the run in with what seemed like the majority of the Eleventh Division, and knocking them all out in the process of escaping the area, Ichigo and Ganju looked for an area to hide in while they came up with a plan to use the information that Ichigo and Sombra had received from Ikkaku. Ganju, personally, didn't trust the word of the Shinigami that Ichigo had beaten, as he felt that they might be walking into a trap, but Sombra told him that Ikkaku didn't seem to care about who they were here to recuse and likely gave them this information so that his Captain could meet them, if they were too slow to get through the area anyway. Ganju still didn't trust him, even though Ichigo did, and he still carried the poor Shinigami that he had tried to use as a hostage against the Eleventh Division, who was still shocked by what was going on and said nothing as they moved through the Seireitei. What surprised Sombra was the fact that it was the Shinigami that Ganju was carrying that pointed them to a storage building that they would be able to hide in for some time, to come up with a game plan of some sort.
As they entered the building, and the door was closed behind them once they were all inside, Sombra leaned against one of the walls while the other members of his group sat down on the floor, though the only thing that he was interested in was knowing the name of the Shinigami they had kidnapped and if he was going to rat them out at some point.
"My name is Hanataro Yamada." the Shinigami said, offering them his name without any delay, because by now he had likely determined that they weren't going to kill him, as he had seen them knock out their enemies instead of outright killing them like he had heard stories about, and that eased some of his concerns immediately.
"That's... a hard name to remember." both Ichigo and Ganju replied, to which both Hanataro and Sombra stared at them for a moment, as neither of them could believe that they found the name to be hard to remember, which brought concern to Hanataro's face once more.
"What?" Hanataro inquired, because he knew from past experiences that his name wasn't that hard to remember, though at the same time he found that at least one member of the group, the one that hadn't tried to kill him earlier when he was taken hostage, seemed to think that he was correct in his thinking, "E... Everyone tells me that it's a nice, easy-to-remember name."
"Really?" Ichigo replied in kind, though his face revealed that, despite the fact that he continued to talk about all of this, he really didn't seem to care about Hanataro all that much, as it wasn't his idea to bring him along in the first place, which was going to be something he used against Ganju later, "I'd understand if it was Taro Yamada or Hanako Yamada, but Hanataro... that's harder to remember."
"But more than that, you're our enemy, aren't you?" Ganju asked, though it was at this point that Sombra sighed and brought his palm to his face, as right now the two of them were acting like idiots and making Hanataro be even more concerned for his safety when it was clear that he clearly wasn't a threat to their mission, "What are you calmly introducing yourself for?"
"For that matter, why did you bring him in the first place?" Ichigo asked, as he wanted to address the elephant in the room, as kidnapping a Shinigami wasn't in any of the plans that they could have come up with, not even Sombra with them and could assist them in getting to the tower in question.
It was in that moment that Ichigo and Ganju started to argue over why Ganju had even brought Hanataro with them in the first place, though at the same time Sombra moaned and stepped away from where he was standing, to which he stepped between them and forced them to stop arguing before their enemies found them. As luck would have it Ichigo then decided to talk about the plan and that they knew that Rukia was being held in the white tower in the middle of the Seireitei, where Hanataro revealed that he knew exactly who Ichigo was talking about, as she was both Byakuya Kuchiki's little sister and currently a death row prisoner that had been sentenced to the Shrine of Penitence, the white tower that Ichigo had mentioned earlier. It was in that instance that Hanataro told the three of them that he knew a way that would allow them to get close to the tower, instead of running through the Seireitei itself, which immediately caught the interest of all three of them as he opened the door to the storage building and headed outside, where he picked one of the tiles that were nearby and had them help him remove it, revealing a tunnel into an underground area, one that they used while also closing the hole behind them.
As they started walking, with Hanataro leading the way, Sombra apologized for how his companions were acting towards him, as taking him hostage, threatening to kill him, and claiming that his name was hard to remember were all terrible in their own manner, but, at the same time, Hanataro didn't seem to mind as they moved through the area that he had revealed to them.
"You know, I never actually considered the fact that there might be an underground water tunnel system beneath the Seireitei," Sombra commented, though at the same time he glanced around as he and the others followed Hanataro, as he found that all of the lanterns around the passage they were following were lit and didn't seem like they were ready to go out just yet, "or, for that matter, that we might be able to use one to our advantage."
"Yes, these tunnels run throughout the entirety of the Seireitei," Hanataro explained, as he was happy to find that one of the Ryoka were happy with the situation, even if one of them was staring at the back of his head and the other one, the one that had grabbed him, was annoyed about the entire thing, "and it's possible to go anywhere unobstructed."
"Don't those other guys know how to get down here?" Ganju asked, because he was more worried about their enemies finding them while they were walking down here, something that neither Ichigo or Sombra seemed all that concerned about at the moment, "I mean, we did just enter this place by lifting one of the tiles on the street near the storage building we stopped in for a few seconds."
"Yes, they all know." Hanataro replied, showing that this place was actually something that every Shinigami was aware of, but, at the same time, Sombra suspected that not many came down here and would never think to look for enemies down in a place like this, "But I do not think they will catch up to us. That's because the only Division that understands the complex maze down here are my Division, the Fourth Division, since we deal with relief and supplies."
"So that's why they won't catch up with us," Ganju said, as he now understood why Hanataro was saying what he was saying, before taking a moment to glance at the tunnels that they were walking by, "since these are used as supply routes, it makes sense that the Fourth Division would be the only ones that knew the inner workings of this place."
"Well, that's not exactly true." Hanataro stated, to which he stopped for a moment and rubbed the back of his head, showing the group that there was something he needed to clarify before they went any further, "It's just that cleaning down here is also one of the tasks the Fourth Division is tasked with doing. Since most of us are weak, the majority of the chores gets pushed onto us... but please, don't pity me, the Fourth Division isn't as bad as I make it out to be."
"Hanataro... why are you helping us so much?" Ichigo inquired, as there had to be some reason behind why he, as a Shinigami that had been taken hostage and had his life threatened, would suddenly risk his own neck to help them get even closer to where Rukia was being held inside the Seireitei, "We're the enemies of the Shinigami. Just because we want to go to the white tower, the Shrine of Penitence, doesn't mean that you have to take us there. Why are you so willing to guide us there without asking why?"
"I heard all about you and your friend from Rukia-san." Hanataro replied, to which he turned back towards Ichigo for a moment, where he looked at both him and Sombra for a few seconds, just to show that he was talking to them, before he started talking again, "Ichigo Kurosaki-san. Sombra-san. Please, you have to save Rukia-san!"
Sombra spotted an area further ahead of them where they could take a seat and hear what else Hanataro had to say to them, and he even agreed that such an action would be good for all of them, to which they moved into the square area and sat down, while at the same time Sombra stood and leaned on part of the wall so he could observe the path they had come down in case some Shinigami discovered they had come down here. Hanataro then explained that when Rukia was first captured, before her recent transfer to the Shrine of Penitence, she was being held in the Sixth Division's holding cell, where he had been assigned to clean her cell once per day, and he told them that he was scared of her at first, for being nobility. He revealed that Rukia had 'scolded' him in some manner, which sounded like her asking him to treat her like a normal person instead of a member of the Kuchiki Clan, though her voice, which was much kinder than what he thought it would have been, had been enough to make him excited about cleaning her cell each day, where Rukia would tell him all sorts of things about the World of the Living, like the time Ichigo assisted her with opening that juice container that she couldn't get opened on her own, which surprised Hanataro when he heard that.
He spoke of several other instances after the juice container, like the time that Ichigo had put the pill that contained Kon inside a stuffed animal and the fact that she met a creature that not only confused her some times, but also showed that he was an unusual hero that helped protect Karakura town... though Ichigo and Sombra knew that Rukia had told Hanataro about the two of them. He then repeated the announcement that Captain Byakuya gave Renji when he was standing guard of Rukia's cell one day, which was when they announced that Rukia was going to be executed and that she was going to be moved to the Shrine of Penitence at some point. Sombra could tell that, despite Rukia's attempts to not make any friends while she was in the holding cell, Rukia was able to make a friend of sorts with Hanataro, who further explained that Rukia had clarified who she gave her powers to, believing that he was likely dead by her brother's hand. That was, however, before she told Hanataro that, despite the short amount of time that she spent with them, she found that she completely trusted Ichigo and Sombra, and yet she felt terrible for twisting Ichigo's fate in such a manner and causing him so much pain in the process, something that she was never going to be able to atone for.
It was in that following moment, when Hanataro finished his story and Ganju commented that Rukia was one strange Shinigami as well, since this was all new information for him, Ichigo immediately got on his feet and headed down the tunnel that they had been following, a fierce look of determination appearing as he walked by Sombra. Both Ganju and Hanataro were confused as to what was going on and followed after Ichigo, as they were worried that Hanataro's story had pissed him off, but at the same time Sombra fell in behind them with a determined look on his face as well. Rukia was their friend, there was no denying that fact, and right now she was facing death row because she had chosen to give her powers to Ichigo so he could save his family, but just thinking about that annoyed Sombra, as with his power he could have easily purified that Hollow and avoided this entire mess in the first place. Even now, as he thought about that day, he wondered what had caused him to not speak his mind and let the two of them go through with what they had done, as he could have beaten the Hollow, taken Rukia to Kisuke's shop, and avoided this mess... but, in the end, he guessed that he had been so focused on the Hollow that he didn't even consider stopping them, and there was no way to change what had happened to both of them.
By the time he focused on the path in front of him Sombra realized that he had to be thinking the same thing that Ichigo had to be thinking of at that very moment; they were going to do everything in their power to get to where Rukia was being held, even if it meant fighting their way through all thirteen of Soul Society's Divisions and beating all of the Captains if necessary, to save her from this terrible fate... and he was sure that, whoever they ended up fighting next, wouldn't be able to stand against their determination and their desire to save Rukia from the Shrine of Penitence.
Thanks to Hanataro leading the way through the underground water tunnel system that rested beneath the Seireitei, where none of the other Shinigami would find them unless they came down here and investigated the area themselves, Ichigo, Sombra, and Ganju easily found their way to one of the entrances they used to get down there. Of course Hanataro had to stop them when they went to use an entrance that wouldn't take them to the stairs that happened to rest in front of the path that would take them to the Shrine of Penitence, but eventually Sombra understood what they needed to do and got his friend and their companion to follow suit. As such they continued their trek through the area that they were in, each of them keeping an ear open in case their enemies found their way down here, but as the minutes ticked by, and they continued on the path that they were following, they became convinced that no one was going to find them and that they were going to continue in peace. At the same time Sombra found that, due to the fact that they were currently underneath where their enemies were located, neither Ichigo or Ganju felt like talking and Hanataro, having told them everything he could about what Rukia had told him, remained silent as well, to which Sombra followed suit and said nothing as they neared the entrance that Hanataro was taking them to.
When they finally reached the entrance that was clearly their destination, and were sure that there were no enemies above them, Ichigo and Ganju removed the tile that was above them, allowing them to find that the area of the Seireitei they had come to was like a large courtyard... and, as they studied the area around them, they found that a mist had developed in the area, which meant that they had to be careful in case enemies were nearby.
"It's okay." Hanataro said, taking a moment to survey the area with them, as he knew what to look for and could spot the signs of other Shinigami that could have been in the area or would be approaching the area, but so far, based on what was around them, it appeared that they were in the clear, "Please come on up. This is the exit closest to the tower."
"I feel like it's been forever since I breathed fresh air!" Ganju exclaimed, making a big deal about the amount of time they spent in the area below them, something that both Ichigo and Sombra weren't bothered by at all, but at the same time the three of them pulled themselves up to where Hanataro was standing.
"It was a nice way for us to get through the Seireitei without our enemies finding us," Sombra commented, though at the same time he sensed some reiatsu that was going to complicate things, as it appeared that someone was standing nearby and he guessed that they were going to have to beat whoever was in front of them before they moved forward, and it appeared that he was the only one that knew that they weren't alone at the moment.
"Look, that's the Shrine of Penitence." Hanataro continued, pointing at the white tower that Ikkaku had told them about, which meant that the area that he had been bringing them to was close at hand, though at the same time they exited the passage they used to climb up here and readied themselves.
"We really have come pretty close," Ganju stated, where he stared up at the tower in question for a few moments, as he was interested in what they were staring at, because Ichigo and Hanataro were staring at it as well, but for some reason it appeared that Sombra wasn't interested in the Shrine of Penitence at the moment, "but, man, that's amazing. it looks like, from here on out, it's going to be even tougher than what we just went through."
"The fog's clearing." Ichigo spoke up, to which all four of them watched as the fog started to break apart and reveal the rest of the area that they were in, but as that happened he noticed that Sombra had his hand on his Zanpakuto, which caused him to do the same thing, as he trusted his friend to know when enemies were nearby.
As the fog cleared out both Ichigo and Sombra found Renji, sporting a new headpiece to replace the one that had been broken in the World of the Living, standing on the stairs that they needed to climb up, though his stance told Sombra that he was standing there to prevent them from going any further.
"Long time no see," Renji said, though at the same time he raised his hand and lifted the headpiece that he was wearing sat the moment, allowing him to stare at them as he frowned at them, indicating that the news of someone invading Soul Society, breaking into the Seireitei, and taking on a large number of Shinigami from the Eleventh Division must have reached him at some point, "You remember my face?"
"Honestly, I'd forget it if I could," Ichigo replied, though it was at this point that he was glad that Sombra had placed his hand on Shokyo's handle, and had prompted him to do the same thing, because this was going to break out into a fight and it was going to slow them down quite a bit, "but there's a mountain of stuff I have to return to you, Renji Abarai."
"I wasn't expecting that," Renji commented, to which he started to walk down the stairs that he had been standing on since he escaped from the hall that the Lieutenants had been gathered in, which was when he learned that an entire Division had been taken out, save for their Captain, "You even remembered my name. That's pretty good."
"Who is that guy?" Ganju asked, revealing that he knew nothing about the Shinigami that was currently standing in front of them at the moment, but at the same time he stood back with Hanataro, as he knew that they would only get in the way if a fight broke out, "The reiatsu that I'm sensing from him is on a completely different scale than the ones that attacked us when we landed earlier."
"That... That man is... Renji Abarai." Hanataro replied, though his tone revealed that he was going to tell all of them who he was, as if two of them hadn't met him back in the World of the Living, when he and his Captain captured Rukia and brought her here to die, "The Lieutenant of the Sixth Division."
"I'm honestly surprised. I was sure that the two of you had died from the wounds that Captain Byakuya had inflicted on your bodies... especially the Arrancar." Renji said, showing that he had some understanding of how his Captain's Zanpakuto worked and knew how dangerous the shikai form had been, "And yet here the two of you are, standing before me. Honestly, I'm not sure how either of you managed to survive that night, not with the deadly wounds you were left with, but I will say that I am impressed. However, that doesn't change the fact that this ends now. I told you both that I was going to kill the bastard that took Rukia's powers, that being you, Ichigo Kurosaki, and I'm going to kill you as well, Sombra, to restore order to Soul Society. I won't let either of you leave here alive.. nor will I allow you to interfere!"
"The hell are you talking about? You brought Rukia back here to kill her!" Ichigo replied, though at the same time both he and Sombra drew their Zanpakutos as Renji did the same, showing that he was ready for battle as well, "You're going to let us pass through here!"
"Just try it!" Renji stated, to which he prepared himself and raised his Zanpakuto into the air, though at the same time Sombra and Ichigo charged forward so they could do battle with him, since it was now clear that they would need to beat him before they were allow to go any further, "If you can beat me first!"
In the following moment Ichigo and Renji clashed as their Zanpakutos collided in the air between them, to which two of them remained in that state for a few seconds before Renji forced Ichigo back, though that was what Sombra had been waiting for as he came between the two of them and parried the next attack that was coming. Renji seemed surprised, as if he wasn't expecting the two of them to fight together like this, but thanks to their training with Kisuke they could either fight on their own or together, though it all depended on the number of enemies they were facing at a given moment and how strong some of them were. While all of this was going on, however, Ganju told them that they wouldn't be able to defeat Renji since he was a Lieutenant, as that meant that he was stronger than Ikkaku and Yumichika, but while Sombra knew this, from his own training, Ichigo didn't know that information and still attacked him, as they needed to take him out so they could move forward. Hanataro, on the other hand, believed that Ganu's statement was incorrect, as Ichigo, who was the one that was currently fighting Renji at the moment, happened to be holding his own against Renji, until he pushed him back until he had his back pressed against the rocks that were near the stairs that they needed to climb, but he was focused on taking Renji out to clear the path they had to take.
Ichigo kept Renji pinned to the wall for a few seconds, showing him just how much he had changed since he and his Captain came to his world and took Rukia, while at the same time Sombra stood nearby and waited to see what the two of them did, as he knew that Renji wouldn't go out like this, not when Zabimaru was still in it's sealed state and he hadn't called out the Release Call yet.
"Ichigo Kurosaki, Sombra, I have a question." Renji spoke up, causing the duo to raise their eyebrows for a moment, as they were both curious as to what he could have to say at a time like this, but instead of waiting for one of them to ask what sort of question he had, like a normal person would, he said it anyway, "How are you two going to save Rukia? Even if you managed to beat me, there are still eleven more Lieutenants running around the Seireitei."
"Shouldn't that be twelve more Lieutenants?" Sombra inquired, because if Renji really meant that there were only eleven more like him than that meant that one of them must have died at some point before their group arrived, though he stood his ground and waited to see what happened next.
"Thanks to your buddy here, the Lieutenant of the Thirteenth Division is going to be executed for her actions." Renji replied, not faulting the Arrancar for not knowing that piece of information, as Rukia was the type of person that didn't brag about her accomplishments, save for the fact that she teased him when he reached the same rank in her brother's Division, though he was pleased to see that they were both surprised by this information, "On top of the eleven remaining Lieutenants, that's not counting myself and Rukia, there are thirteen Captains above them, who are all stronger than their underlings. Other than beating all of them, there's no way to save Rukia. Are you saying that the two of you can accomplish all of that?"
"Yeah, we can." Ichigo stated, though while he was surprised to find out that Rukia was actually a Lieutenant, making him understand the severity of her 'crime' a little better, he knew that both he and Sombra could make their way to where she was being held and rescue her, "Renji, I'm sure I don't need to remind you that my friend here cut your Captain's body when they fought in the World of the Living, and he lightly wounded a second one when we were outside the gate, so I think it's safe to say that we've got this in the bag."
"What the hell is wrong with you? What sort of basis is that for your confidence?" Renji inquired, as he couldn't believe that Ichigo was boasting that he and Sombra could cut their way through the Seireitei, beat all the Lieutenants that stood in their path, and then defeat the thirteen Captains, the strongest Shinigami in the entirety of Soul Society, "How the hell can you be so full of yourself to believe that you two can beat the strongest Shinigami that watch over Soul Society. Your Zanpakuto might have changed shape, and your pal doesn't seem that different from when I last saw him, so are you telling me that your overconfident that your weapon changing and you getting stronger is the reason you'll win?"
Not even a few seconds after the last word left his mouth Renji shifted his Zanpakuto and cast the light into Ichigo's eyes, playing dirty in the process, and managed to knock Ichigo backwards once more, and he quickly called out Zabimaru's Release Call, allowing his sword to change form, before swinging the blade and hitting Ichigo in the chest where Zangetsu was resting, knocking him into a building in the process. Sombra, on the other hand, stood there for a moment as he sighed, as he couldn't believe what he was seeing, but at the same time it appeared that Renji as going to ignore him for the next few seconds, which was fine since it allowed him to see what as going on.
"Apparently, just because we fought once, you think you know my real power." Renji commented, allowing Sabimaru to retract into it's transformed state, where it would wait until he swung it again and let it extend once more, "Let me tell you something that you'll find interesting. When Shinigami of Lieutenant rank or higher head out into the World of the Living, like my Captain and I did when we were tracking down Rukia, we get our power extremely limited in order to not cause any unnecessary influence there. My power now is five times what it was then! No matter how much stronger the two of you have gotten, since the last time we fought, neither of you have a one in a million chance of beating me... much less taking out my Captain."
"So you're telling me that your last attack was your real power?" Ichigo asked, to which he emerged from the ruined building he had slammed into during Renji's last attack, where part of the right side of his face was covered in blood, as the attack undid the ointment he had placed on it earlier, and stared at Renji once more as he held onto Zangetsu, "Thanks for the display, because now that I've seen your full power I'm pretty sure the two of us can beat eleven Shinigami that are just like you. Besides, there's something else that you need to see, as it will make you reevaluate that one in a million chance of us beating all the Lieutenants and taking out all of your Captains... isn't that right, Sombra?"
"If you say so," Sombra said, to which he held Shokyo out as Renji turned and looked at him, clearly not catching onto what Ichigo had been saying, despite the fact that his friend didn't actually reveal anything about what he was doing right now, before his reiatsu flared and he prepared himself, "Shimmer, Shokyo."
Renji's eyes widened as he watched Sombra's blade transform into a broadsword with a crystalline like blade, though as he stood there he stared at the blade, because from what his Captain had told him an Arrancar was a Hollow that had gained Shinigami like powers by removing their mask, but this was different than what he was expecting.
"What in the world is this?" Renji asked, as he couldn't stop staring at the strange blade that the Arrancar was holding, because the word that Sombra had said before the blade's name sounded like a Release Call, something that didn't seem possible when he thought about it, "How did you get that Zanpakuto? Who did you steal it from?"
"I didn't steal her from anyone," Sombra replied, though at the same time he couldn't fault Renji for acting in such a manner, as the last few Shinigami that had seen him transform his blade into a broadsword had been caught off guard as well, but he readied himself accordingly, since the battle would resume soon enough, "Back when we first met all I was using was an Asauchi, but after our defeat Ichigo and I spent some time training so we could eventually save Rukia from facing certain death, and, in the process, I delved into my inner world and found Shokyo waiting for me. Since that day she and I have been working together, training with each other in the same inner world I found her in and practicing with Ichigo and his own Zanpakuto."
"I guess I was right, you're both bastards in your own way." Renji said, though as he said that he grinned, because hearing that both of his opponents were now wielding their own Zanpakuto, just like he was wielding Zabimaru, meant that this was going to be interesting.
Sombra glanced over at Ichigo as Renji prepared himself for battle, as he could tell, from his own experiences with Kisuke, that Ichigo was starting to lose focus and that his blood was definitely dripping onto the ground beneath his feet, meaning that the last attack he took had done a lot more damage than they had thought it did. Even Ganju and Hanataro, who were currently watching the battle between the three of them, knew that Ichigo was wounded and that he needed to stop fighting before he seriously hurt himself, but, as Sombra expected, Ichigo waved them off and focused on Renji, to which he sighed as he did the same thing. It was in the following moment that Renji attacked first, as he rushed towards Ichigo, jumped into the air, and swung Zabimaru down towards his chosen target, forcing Ichigo to dodge the attack as it came down and destroyed the building that Ichigo had been forced into a few minutes ago. In the next instant Renji swung his weapon twice as Sombra attacked from behind, though the second swing was to stop Ichigo's incoming attack at the same time, but as he knocked the two of them away from him he continued to target Ichigo, where he continued to say that it was his fault that Rukia was in this situation and that it would have been better if he didn't exist.
As Ichigo moved around the area, and Renji continued to attack him a couple more times, Sombra had to wonder why Renji was so enraged over Rukia's predicament and why he seemed to hate Ichigo with a passion, especially when he was one of the Shinigami that had captured Rukia and brought her back here. It was like the two of them had been friends at one point in time, signed up for different Divisions so they wouldn't have to compete with each other, and now, when they were both Lieutenants, Renji was faced with a terrible decision and he had made his choice, but even then it seemed like the one thing he wanted was for her to be free, and right now he couldn't have that. After thinking about it for a moment or two, where Ichigo continued to do his best to parry Renji's attacks and deal some damage, Sombra sighed and flashed over to the area that they were currently battling in, where he parried the incoming attack and let Ichigo move to the side so he could continue the assault. As all of this happened, and Sombra joined the battle entirely, he began to notice that, when Renji swung at them, he would dodge the incoming attacks and Ichigo, on the other hand, would take the attacks by blocking them with Zangetsu, but Sombra, having had more training than his friend, knew that Ichigo was studying Renji and was looking for an opening that he could use to gain the upper hand.
Thanks to Ichigo's insistence that he learn what Kisuke wanted him to learn, while he was in the middle of a battle with Renji, Sombra found that he could either parry attacks and prolong the battle more than he already had, and it was starting to get late since the sun was starting to go down, or let Ichigo do his thing... and, since it appeared that Renji was ignoring him at the same time, he simply sighed and jumped off to the side so he could let them fight it out. What made the entire thing painful to watch was that Renji, who must have been at this for decades before they came along, was already expanding too much energy in his attempts to kill Ichigo, because while he continued to swing Zabimaru around he could tell that Renji had to pause every now and then when Ichigo didn't move from where he was standing.
"You're such a stubborn bastard." Renji growled, as it annoyed him that Ichigo was still standing, especially after all the attacks that he sent at him, but at the same time it appeared that his attacks were wearing him out and soon he would fall to the ground in defeat, so he could turn his attention to killing Sombra, "You want to save Rukia that badly?"
"I don't want to save her, we're going to save her," Ichigo replied, showing that, despite Renji's attempts to take him down, Ichigo wasn't going to back down from his chosen mission and he knew that Sombra was thinking the same time, which was why he said what he did.
"That's a load of bull!" Renji snapped, though his next attack was one that Ichigo didn't even have a chance to parry, as it cut into his right shoulder with Zabimaru's extended blade, but the look on Renji's face told him that he was right in some of his thoughts, he and Rukia had been friends and seeing this happen to her was like a dagger to the chest, "Rukia's crime got more serious because you FREAKING stole her powers! Don't you get it?! It's your fault this is happening! It's your fault that Rukia's going to be killed!"
"I know that!" Ichigo replied, though while he was forced to take the second attack that happened to be coming in his direction, and hurt his right shoulder even more, he raised Zangetsu and blocked the third attack, knocking the blade of Zabimaru back and forced it to retract in the process, "That's why we're going to save her!"
Sombra raised an eyebrow as he noticed a thoughtful look appear on Ichigo's face, as he must have been studying how Renji swung his Zanpakuto around and the number of attacks that could be performed before it was forced to return to where Renji was standing. Sombra was a little impressed that Ichigo was actually remembering one of Kisuke's lessons from the couple of days they spent training together with him, even though he, too, was studying Zabimaru's attack pattern so he could predict it and plan ahead, if he needed to step in and finish things up should Ichigo be beaten. Renji, who must have been trained by the some of the same Shinigami that Kisuke must have learned from, as Sombra was convinced that the shopkeeper was a former Shinigami, and that fact had some truth based on Ikkaku's reaction to when Ichigo gave him the answer to who his 'master' was, either didn't seem to notice Ichigo's plan or didn't care. When he finished thinking about what was happening in front of him, however, Ichigo started to move forward and Renji attacked him again, though this time around he jumped to the side a little and dodged the first attack, to which he continued his advance towards Renji's location and dodge the second attack that was coming his way. Not even a few second later Renji used a third attack and Ichigo swung Zangetsu at the attack, knocking it to the side and opening Renji's defenses, to which he charged forward in an attempt to end this fight.
Unfortunately, however, Sombra could see what was coming before it happened, as the moment Ichigo brought his Zanpakuto down on where Renji was standing, and declared that the battle was going to be over, Renji dodged the attack and shocked Ichigo in the process... opening himself up to the incoming attack that dug into his left shoulder and cut what was a terrible gash down a portion of Ichigo's chest.
"I told you that you don't stand a one in a million chance of beating me." Renji stated, though at the same time he noticed the look that appeared on Ichigo's face as he fell to the ground, to which he decided to explain something before he finished him off, "The look on your face tells me that you have no idea how I dodged your attack. Going for the gap between continuous attacks is a good idea, and your timing was perfect as well, but the reason you can't beat me is because you're slower than me. The unbridgeable gap in power between you and me, it's that... plain and simple."
"And, by your own definition, you're slower than me." Sombra replied, flashing into the area that was to Renji's left, though as the Shinigami turned toward him he frowned for a moment, as he was a little annoyed that this happened because Ichigo insisted on beating Renji alone, "Come on, attack me and see what happens."
Renji stared at him for a moment, clearly debating whether or not he should take him up on his challenge, before a familiar smile appeared on Renji's face as he readied himself, though at the same time Sombra just stood there and waited for him to attack while Ichigo recovered from what happened to him. Renji swung Zabimaru and it extended like it was supposed to, though instead of parrying the attack Sombra moved out of the way and let it pass right by him, which prompted his opponent to move his arm and perform the second swing in the set, just like he did with Ichigo. It was in a moment like this that Sombra wondered how much of his training that Renji had missed, as once the number of swings he had until he was defenseless was revealed, thanks to him studying the battle, the first thing Renji should have done was start using different numbers of swings to throw off his opponent, but, as it turned out, he was incapable of doing that since he was still in the middle of repeating the same trio of attacks. As Sombra expected the second attack came a few seconds later, which he dodged as well while he stared at his opponent for a moment or two, though when the third attack came he twisted his arm and knocked Zabimaru away from him... opening Renji's defenses in the process, which allowed him to use his superior speed to flash through the air and appear some distance behind Renji, who now possessed a light diagonal gash, identical to Ichigo's, on his body, and a look of surprise on his face.
"You see surprised." Sombra commented, to which he turned towards the Shinigami for a few seconds, though at the same time Ichigo seemed to be stirring a little, which was good since he knew that his friend was going to insist that he finish the fight with Renji, "You should have known that, if I was able to wound your Captain in the World of the Living, I would have been able to keep up with you and do the same thing to you, but it seems that, by fighting Ichigo for some time, you forgot what I was able to do before I was beaten. Trust me on this, Ichigo wasn't bluffing when he said that we were going to beat as many Lieutenants and Captains as necessary to save Rukia, so get out of our way before we're forced to take drastic measures."
Renji growled for a moment, as he couldn't believe what Sombra had been saying, before he decided that it was time for him to finish the fight with one of his foes entirely, as he turned towards Ichigo once more and charged at him so he could bring Zabimaru down and end him, but in the following moments the tide of the battle changed as Ichigo swung Zangetsu and parried the attack, knocking Renji backwards a little while he huffed for a couple of seconds.
"Sombra, let me finish this on my own," Ichigo said, though as he said that he focused on Renji, who seemed surprised that he didn't want his friend to aid him in a battle that he was clearly loosing, but, at the same time, Renji wasn't about to say anything about his opponent's idiotic choices.
Sombra stood there for a few seconds, studying the two of them, before sighing as he flashed over to a good distance where he could see the two of them, as he was still pretty close to where they were standing, while at the same time being out of range of their attacks. At the same time he recognized the look in Ichigo's eyes, as he was thinking about to the time they had been training with Kisuke, a time where Sombra recalled that sometimes Kisuke focused his efforts purely on Ichigo to get his skills up to where his own were, though at the same time it appeared that Renji wasn't in a hurry to attack just yet. Sombra remembered the training sessions that he wasn't involved in, allowing him to either practice with Shokyo in his inner world or stand and watch the pair as they trained, and he knew that Kisuke had been trying to get Ichigo to channel the power he had used to carve open the ground when he woke Zangetsu, so he could fire it at anytime on his own, a technique that he had yet to master. From what he could tell, from the few times that Ichigo was able to pull off what Kisuke wanted, the attack in question seemed to pull in pieces of his reiatsu and fired them in a concentrated swing, but, like he thought earlier, Ichigo was still having a problem mastering the technique... even though he and Shokyo were able to do something of that nature and hadn't helped Ichigo learn his technique, since Kisuke wanted Ichigo to learn this all on his own, so he wouldn't rely on Sombra all the time in the future.
He also remembered the time that Ichigo was able to actually pull off the technique that Kisuke wanted him to learn, as the two of them blew apart a good portion of the ground that they had been practicing on, and he knew that Ichigo had to be mentally repeating the three things that Kisuke told him. The statements in question were 'if you dodge, I won't let them cut me', 'if you protect someone, I won't let them die', and 'if you attack, I will cut them', and the reason he said all that to Ichigo was because he had been very fearful during their training, along with the fact that this allowed him to cut through all that unnecessary fear to call upon his true power. His thoughts were interrupted when Ichigo stopped huffing and stared at Renji for a moment, surprising him with the look in his eyes, before he raised Zangetsu and rested the back of the blade against his shoulders, showing that he was ready to continue fighting.
"Sorry for the wait, Renji." Ichigo said, to which he focused his attention on his opponent, who had been patiently standing there as he planned out how he was going to finish him off so he could focus on Sombra, before a light blue aura of sorts appeared in Ichigo's eyes, "Here's my resolve. This time, I will cut you!"
A surprised look appeared on Renji's face as he prepared himself, as Ichigo's reiatsu had increased rather suddenly and was pushing him back a little, just like what happened back in the World of the Living when he and Captain Byakuya came to take Rukia back, which also caused Renji to sweat a little. In the split second Renji had been thinking about the differences between this fight and their last fight they had, where before Ichigo had no control over his reiatsu and now he had some control over it, Ichigo took advantage of his state and jumped into the air, quickly crossing the gap between them in an instant, before Renji looked up and noticed him coming down towards where he was standing. As such Renji swung Zabimaru and let it extend as it raced towards where Ichigo was standing, who rolled a little and dodged the attack while he was in midair, before he landed near where Renji was standing and used his Zanpakuto to block the incoming second attack that was headed his way, all while mentally repeating the three things that Kisuke had told him so he could banish his fear and call upon his power. A few seconds later he knocked Zabimaru away from him and raised Zangetsu into the air, where Renji sweated for a moment as his reiatsu gathered around the blade for a few seconds, but when the third attack came, as it always did, Ichigo really surprised Renji with what happened next.
As Renji swung at Ichigo, to cut him down, Ichigo swung Zangetsu and shattered Zabimaru into a number of pieces in the process, while at the same time releasing the power that he had been gathering as he cut into the same gash that Sombra had cut into Renji's body, blowing a gash into the ground in the process, and knocked Renji through the air before he collided with a section of the ground that had been ripped up during the start of their battle. Sombra nodded his head as he reverted Shokyo back to her katana form and sheathed her, as it appeared that he wasn't truly needed for this fight, while noticing that Renji was surprised by what happened and he was bleeding quite a bit, where the headband that had been keeping his hair tied up had come undone in the process. Renji stood there for a few moments, staring off into the distance as he remembered something that was important to him, before falling to his knees and rested his hand against the ground, where Sombra noticed that he was rethinking something that he had thought in the past.
"Geez... the stray dog in me has been dyed into my bones..." Renji commented, though at the same time he coughed for a moment, spilling more blood in the process, while also confusing both Ichigo and Sombra, as they had no idea what he was even talking about, while at the same time he forced himself to stand once more, "I'm getting sick of it... all I ever do is howl at the stars... I ain't got the guts to jump at them."
Sombra raised an arm as Renji started to make his way across the gap that rested between him and Ichigo, but as he did so Ichigo shook his head and he lowered his arm, because that meant that Ichigo wanted to finish this fight before they moved onto whoever was standing in their way next... which was followed by Renji stopping when he reached Ichigo and grabbed onto the clothing that rested below his neck for a few seconds.
"It's your fault that Rukia got put in the Shrine of Penitence!" Renji said, repeating some of his earlier comments on why he wanted to kill them, but this time around both Ichigo and Sombra sensed that there was something different in how the Shinigami was speaking, "When I thought of that, my insides began to boil. But... that's not it. It's because I didn't stop her. Back then, I... I didn't tell her to go to the Kuchiki Clan so she could become a death row prisoner. I thought she could be happy there. I believed that! I... wanted to surpass Captain Kuchiki. Ever since that day I trained every single day like a possessed man to catch up to him... but I... still haven't beat him once. He's too powerful. Taking Rukia back by force... was beyond my ability. Ichigo Kurosaki, Sombra, I know this is shameful, but I'm begging you... Save Rukia!"
"Renji... you got it." Ichigo replied, as he was honestly surprised that Renji felt this way, showing that there was more to him than what he originally thought, and at the same time Sombra nodded as well, showing that they were here to do just that and no one was going to stop them.
A light smile appeared on Renji's face for a moment, as if he believed them this time around, before he closed his eyes and collapsed on the ground, beside Ichigo's feet, though that was followed by Ichigo huffing for a few seconds as he started to do the same thing, but before he hit the ground Sombra flashed over to him and caught his friend, while also making sure to grab Zangetsu before it hit the ground as well.
"Ichigo!" Ganju and Hanataro exclaimed, as they were surprised by what happened to him, causing the two of them to run over to where Sombra was standing, but at the same time Sombra gave them a light smile as he turned towards the two of them for a few seconds.
"It's okay, he's not dead." Sombra said, though as he turned towards them, and noticed Hanataro staring at the defeated form of Renji, he focused on the number of individual reiatsus that were approaching the area that they were currently in, "We had best retreat for now and tend to Ichigo's wounds, and maybe get some rest while we're at it since the sun is going down."
Sombra knew that he could pretty much defeat the incoming Shinigami on his own, as he only sensed one Lieutenant coming towards them, but even though it would be four on one he also sensed even more coming from other directions as well, maybe enough to the point where he wouldn't be able to defeat their foes and protect both Ganju and Hanataro should a fight break out. That was why he was calling for a temporary retreat for the moment, so they could make sure Ichigo was healed and ready to go, while at the same time ensuring that the Shinigami were preoccupied with tending to all of the defeated officers that they had beaten on the way to this area. The duo looked at him for a moment before they headed toward a different entrance into the underground water tunnel system, as the one that was close to where they were standing would be the wrong choice to make considering that enemies were coming their way, and Hanataro quickly located the tile in question and allowed them to slip back down into the area that they had been walking through before they came to the area that Renji had been guarding. It didn't take them long to get back into the tunnel they had been in earlier and Hanataro lead the way to a small room of sorts that happened to be far enough away from the entrance they used, meaning that their enemies wouldn't be able to track them due to them being busy with all the wounded Shinigami that they were tending to.
Once they reached the area that Hanataro brought them to, and he stopped moving, Sombra knew what was coming and gently placed Ichigo on the floor near him, while at the same time laying Zangetsu nearby, as Ichigo wasn't going to need his Zanpakuto for some time.
"So, how are we going to heal Ichigo?" Ganju asked, showing that he must have forgotten what the Fourth Division was known for, something that Sombra remembered quite well since this was his idea, which was why he was looking at Hanataro as he prepared himself.
"I'm going to use the healing ability that all members of the Fourth Division learn." Hanataro replied, though at the same time he checked the items that rested in his medical bag, as he had quite a few supplies stored inside the pack, and pulled a few of them out.
"Healing ability?" Sombra inquired, as while he had some knowledge of the Shinigami and their Divisions, thanks to the information that he was able to gleam from his time with Kisuke and the others, he was also unfamiliar with the specific techniques that Hanataro was talking about, "You mean you don't use ointment and other healing items?"
"No, it's different for members of the Fourth Division." Hanataro answered, knowing that Sombra had some idea of the various Divisions and what they did, but at the same time it seemed like he didn't know the specifics and was curious as to what he was talking about, "As you have seen, the other Shinigami mostly use their reiatsu for combat purposes, but for those of us in the Fourth Division, we gain a healing ability that comes with our reiatsu."
"Interesting." Sombra said, because based on what Hanataro said he could guess that the Shinigami of the Fourth Division could use their reiatsu to heal people, though this was purely a guess and nothing else, before he looked down at his wounded friend, while at the same time Ganju stood at the doorway to keep an eye out for enemies, "So, how does Ichigo's condition look to an expert like you?"
"Honestly, it's terrible." Hanataro replied, looking at the bleeding cuts that were on Ichigo's body, though he was amazed that he was still alive after the battle that he had been in earlier, "He took several direct hits from a Lieutenant-class Zanpakuto, so that's to be expected... and honestly, if he was a normal Shinigami he would have died instantly. Your friend as an incredible will to live. I will heal him. Just give me some time. I'll have him healed in one night."
Sombra nodded and let Hanataro get to work on healing Ichigo so he could move again, and hopefully back to what he had been at before this point in time, before he sat down against one of the walls and stared at Ichigo, hoping that he was able to make a full recovery from his fight with Renji, and, hopefully, learned not to be stubborn and accept help when it was offered to him. At the same time, however, he knew that the other Shinigami that had discovered Renji's body will end up reporting this incident to their superiors, meaning that it might be time for the Captains to join the battle, which was going to complicate things, but they would cross that bridge when they reached it.
Some time had passed since Renji had been discovered and transported to a place where he could get some rest, as well as some healing for his wounds, but Captain Byakuya, hearing that his Lieutenant had been beaten by a Ryoka, had ordered him locked in a cell and forgotten. At the same time news of his defeat was already spreading through those that had seen him while he was being transported to the area that Byakuya had found him in, with two Lieutenants standing over him as they stated it was time to tell their superiors about the battle. In addition to that the Captain-Commander was calling an emergency meeting among the Captains, the twelve that were still able to move since the Captain of the Thirteenth Division was still sick, and this time around all eleven of the remaining Captains walked into the room that they held their meetings in with their Zanpakuto attached to their belts. The Captain-Commander turned towards them a little as they walked into the room, but he said nothing as they lined up in front of him, this time in no particular order since time was of great importance, more so than the previous meeting, and stared at the Captains as they came to a stop and faced him with their own serious expressions on their faces.
"The situation was urgent." Yamamoto stated, tapping his staff on the floor in front of him, to which the Captains nodded their heads in agreement, as they had heard what happened to Renji Abarai when he confronted one of the invading Ryoka earlier, "It has finally came to the point where we are short one Lieutenant of the Gotei 13. This is no longer a matter we can leave to the lower ranked Division members. Therefore, in accordance to this situation, I will ignore Gin's earlier independent actions."
"Thank you kindly." Gin said, wearing his usual smile like he always did, no doubt pissing off some of the other Captains in the process, even though they wouldn't show that on their faces, as right now they were more focused on the situation that they were in and not on what Gin had done.
"Furthermore," Yamamoto continued, deciding that now wasn't the time to bother with dealing with Gin at the moment, as they needed to gain control of the situation before something else happened, "I hereby permit the continuous carrying and wartime release of Zanpakuto for senior officers, including Lieutenants, inside the Seireitei."
"Constant carrying of Zanpakuto, eh..." Tosen commented, though the thought of the powerful weapons being constantly out in the open, and some of them being used against the Ryoka, disturbed him a little, but that fact wasn't picked up by his fellow Captains.
"Wartime general release," Zaraki repeated, though the grin on his face widened a little when he repeated what they had just heard, as this meant that his fun wasn't going to be broken anytime soon, especially if one of the other Captains got in his way later on, "I couldn't be happier."
"If someone hadn't let the Ryoka escape in the first place, we wouldn't be in this situation." Mayuri stated, to which he glanced over at Gin for a moment, as they all knew that he was at fault for letting this happen, including the fact that he had been proven wrong about an Arrancar being created in the last few months.
"Certainly you aren't referring to me." Gin said, once more acting like he was innocent and that none of this was actually his fault, even though many of the Captains were already thinking of blaming him for allowing the Ryoka to invade the Seireitei in the first place.
"That's right." Zaraki replied, to which he glanced at Gin for a moment, who wasn't even paying that much attention to him, before he turned his focus to the wall in front of him and thought about the battle to come, "As of right now the Arrancar is my meat... you can have the scraps."
"Men." Yamamoto said, though at the same time, as the Captains faced him once more, he opened his eyes and showed them that he was serious about the situation that they were currently in, causing a few of them to gulp in the process, as they knew his strength and knew that when he was serious things happened, "Let us take this to all-out war."
Byakuya stared at the wall for a second, not showing his surprise that they were declaring all-out war on the invading Ryoka, because he remembered his brief battle with the Arrancar known as Sombra and knew that he had to be even stronger than he was the first time they fought, especially if Renji was beaten. He had a feeling that he knew why they were here, even if none of the Shinigami that had confronted the Ryoka could say why they were here, and knew that only one of the thirteen Captains would be able to stop them, should they get far enough to require such a thing. They all knew that there was the possibility of Zaraki finding and finishing the Ryoka off before anyone else got involved, which would be the best case scenario, but something told him that it wasn't going to be easy to do such a thing, not with the powerful Arrancar leading the pack. As the Captains left the meeting room, and went to their own respective Division quarters, Byakuya did something that many would consider out of character for him, he started walking towards the Shrine of Penitence... because if his hunch was correct he'd find and stop the invaders before they freed Rukia, and then he'd kill all of them with his own Zanpakuto.
Sombra spent some time making sure the entrance they used to get into the underground water tunnel system didn't have any enemies hanging around it, where he discovered that he had been right in thinking that they would be focused on tending to Renji and all of the other wounded Shinigami that had been beaten so far today. He did go back up to the surface once or twice, just to see what was going on around their exit area, and found that any Shinigami that had been following that Lieutenant he had felt had gone off to do their other responsibilities, while discovering that the immediate area around the stairs was also clear as well. That brought a smile to his face, as that meant once Ichigo was healed they could get a move on and slip into the area beneath the Shrine of Penitence while the coast was clear, as the only ones that knew where they were going happened to be Ikkaku and Yumichika, and the only person they would have told was their Captain. When he thought about Captains, however, he found that the really strong reiatsu happened to be gathered in one place, no doubt because they were holding a meeting to go over what was going on at the moment, and eventually they dispersed and went their separate ways.
The only Captain he was interested in was Captain Byakuya, the one he had fought in the World of the Living and lost to because he had no idea he had been restricting his power to such a degree, but with Shokyo at his side, and a good amount of additional training with both her and Kisuke, he felt that this time a battle between them would end differently.
Down in the underground water tunnel the only interesting thing that happened was when Ichigo started to recover from his wounds, which had barely closed by the time he had opened his eyes to find Hanataro, who was wearing gloves at the time, working on stabilizing his body. The reason that was interesting was because Ichigo tried to leave the area that they were hiding in, despite the fact that his body would collapse and he'd die if he did something like that, and the only reason they got him to stay down there was because Ganju sucker punched him and knocked him out, making Hanataro whine for a moment about there being another wound he had to treat now. At the same time Sombra found that their new friend had found something 'interesting' when he was tending to Ichigo's left shoulder, as a Hollow mask had materialized under his clothing and happened to be a little cracked, but Sombra knew that it hadn't been there when they finished their training and went through the gateway to enter Soul Society. His hunch was that there was more to Ichigo's powers than he and the others realized, as the mask coming out of nowhere told him that something wanted to keep Ichigo alive at all costs... and right now, while they were surrounded by enemies, he was willing to at least let whatever had created the mask remain in peace, since it had saved his friend's life from being terminated earlier.
Another thing that Sombra found out was that, while he was working, Hanataro sometimes talked with whoever was around him, being the person he was healing, if they were conscious, or someone else, like Ganju for instance, but since Ganju didn't feel like talking Sombra guessed that he could talk for a few moments.
"So, is the World of the Living exactly like Rukia said it was?" Hanataro asked, once more displaying his interest in a place that he might never get to go to, especially since he was likely going to be punished for helping them during their invasion, despite the fact that he could lie and tell his superiors that he was forced to help them.
"It's a nice place to live, despite the fact that I have next to nothing to compare it against." Sombra replied, as he had enjoyed his time in the World of the Living, obviously as an Arrancar since he couldn't remember anything else before becoming what he was, "Most people in that world don't see people like you, me, the rest of the Shinigami, or even Hollow for that matter, not unless they're like Ichigo and have the ability to see and interact with the 'Other side', as that's what they refer to the afterlife as. Even though not a lot of people could see me, and some didn't even trust me when I first met them, I eventually forged some great friendships with many of them... even with Rukia, even though she may not think that way at the moment."
"Why can't you compare the World of the Living to anywhere else? Haven't you been to other areas of that world, besides this Karakura Town that Rukia talked about?" Hanataro inquired, though as he looked up from his work for a moment, to get something he needed for Ichigo's wounds, he noticed a dark look appear in Sombra's eyes for a moment, one that freaked him out, "S... Sorry, I didn't mean to barge into something that was personal for you."
"It's okay... it's nothing." Sombra said, to which he sighed for a moment, as the though about what he could have compared Karakura Town to had caused him to slip deep into his thoughts for a second or two, "It's just... I actually don't have anything to compare Karakura Town to. The majority of my memories are gone, that's why I can't do that."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ganju stated, as he had been listening to the conversation and had found a part of it that both interested him and confused him, though at the same time he turned back to the duo, "You should be able to remember everything from the earliest moment you can to this point in time..."
"Unfortunately, that's something I cannot do." Sombra replied, to which he pulled Shokyo, and her scabbard, off his belt and laid her on the floor in front of him, while at the same time knowing that Hanataro and Ganju were staring at him while they did their own individual things, "Look, let me explain something; I'm an Arrancar, and that's a Hollow that has removed their mask and gained Shinigami-like powers, and, as I've been told, their true form and power is sealed away inside a blade that resembles a Zanpakuto. Shokyo, the blade you have seen me use several times so far, is, in reality, a Zanpakuto that a Shinigami might carry into battle, not an Arrancar's blade, making me different than the other members of my kind, if there are any others besides myself and Sora. When I made the jump from Hollow to Arrancar something went wrong and all of my memories were sealed inside the blade as well, and I have no idea where, in the vastness of Hueco Mundo, that blade could be..."
Hanataro stopped for a moment, as the look in Sombra's eyes told him that the man wanted to know who he had been before becoming what he was, but the fact that the blade in question was lost to him, and it seemed to be that way at the moment, told him that there was next to nothing he could do besides apologize for bringing something like that up and getting back to his work, allowing Sombra to move to a corner and sit down. Sombra sighed as he did that, because it wasn't Hanataro's fault that he had lost his memories and that he had no idea where the blade that contained them was located, but he did want to find the blade and figure out who he had been, even if it wasn't that great. At the same time, however, he decided that he might as well close his eyes and get some rest, because something told him that when morning arrived they were going to be busy, even if he had no idea why he had that sort of feeling in the first place. The only this his senses picked up was the fact that, at one point in time, Hanataro got up and left to get some supplies that he didn't have on hand, as he told him despite the fact that he was trying to sleep, but with his timely return Sombra paid it no mind and drifted off into his dreamless sleep once more.
When morning arrived Sombra, usually being one to rise with the morning sun, happened to be the first one up and found that Hanataro had completed his mission, as Ichigo's body was patched up and looked like he was ready to move once more, even if they really should stay in a hidden area to let his wounds heal. At the same time he found that Hanataro had used some more of his healing ability to mend a few of Ganju's own cuts, as he must have gotten some after he separated from them when they crashed and Ikkaku and Yumichika found them, meaning those cuts came from the Eleventh Division Shinigami that had been chasing him. There was also the fact that Hanataro seemed to be resting his head on Ganju's leg, meaning that he had to be exhausted from all that healing he had done, but instead of waking anyone he headed down to the exit he had crept out of the previous night, to survey what was going on, and headed outside once more. Fortunately, as he discovered, it was the same as it had been the previous night, no Shinigami in the immediate area and the Captains were scattered across the Seireitei, save for the fact that he was sure that two of them were close to the Shrine of Penitence... and one was definitely Captain Byakuya, as Sombra recognized the reiatsu anywhere, but at the same time it seemed to be moving as well.
As Sombra delved back into the underground water tunnel system he hoped that Captain Byakuya was nowhere near the tower when they made a move for Rukia, along with the other Captain that he was feeling, though he also ignored the scream that erupted in the air, as it wasn't one of his friends... and he was positive that it didn't concern them in the slightest, so he felt that it was safe to ignore it for now.
When he returned to where the others were resting he found that Ichigo was already up and about, meaning that he must have awoken in the last few minutes since he went up to the surface, Ganju was up, and it looked like he had been annoyed since Hanataro drooled a little on his pants, and Hanataro was still exhausted, despite the fact that he was forcing himself up as well. Sombra sighed and moved to stop their new friend from pushing himself too much, since he had pushed himself to heal all of Ichigo's wounds in a single night, but that was when Hanataro reached into his pack and pulled out a small ball that almost reminded him of Kon's Mod Soul pill, save for the fact that it had a skull on it.
"And... just what is that?" Ichigo asked, as he, much like Ganju and Sombra, was staring at the pill in question as he wondered what was so special about it, though at the same time Sombra knew that Hanataro would explain what it was in the next couple of seconds.
"In order to not get tired out, and to continue working like workhorses, every member of the Fourth Division is supplied with this special nutritional tonic." Hanataro explained, knowing that one of them was actually interested in what he was showing them and the other two were merely curious about the pill, and he started to move it towards his mouth as Ichigo and Ganju said that they thought he had been tricked, "Just take one of these and, amazingly, I'm ready to go."
Despite his sad, and slightly depressed expression that he wore most of the time, Sombra could tell that there was a spark of energy in his eyes, showing that the pill had worked like it was supposed to, to which he stopped Ichigo and Ganju before they wasted anymore time and got them moving immediately. As they headed towards the opening near the stairs Sombra filled them in on what he knew, that there were no Shinigami around the area that Ichigo and Renji had fought in, surprising Ichigo for a moment, and that all of their friends seemed to be making their own progress towards reaching the tower in the center of the Seireitei. From what he was able to tell Uryu, Orihime, and Sora hadn't gotten in a fight since the last one he had felt, causing Ichigo to nod his head in agreement while also stating that they wouldn't fight someone that they couldn't beat, and that Chad had punched something that morning before continuing on his way, while Ichigo agreed that he could feel Chad's reiatsu as well. At the same time Sombra sensed that Yoruichi was closer to their location than she had been when they were separated, but, at the same time, it would be a while before she found them and they were already planning on advancing towards the stairs, because if they could get Rukia out now, and find a good place to hide, they could regroup and get out of here before their enemies found them.
When they reached the area in front of the stairs, and both Ichigo and Ganju confirmed Sombra's claims about there being no enemies around, while also feeling Chad finishing a fight somewhere, the group stared at the stairs for a couple of seconds as they prepared themselves.
"Alright, let's get moving." Ichigo said, to which he took the first step forward and started the walk towards the stairs that were in front of them, while at the same time the others followed behind him, as Sombra was keeping his senses open for any additional enemies, "It's time to visit the Shrine of Penitence and save Rukia."
At first they did a slow jog of sorts, just to make sure that Ichigo was as fine as Hanataro said he was, even though Sombra believed him when he said that, but once they determined that running and fighting wouldn't ruin his body, not unless he took even more damage in the process, the four of them started to run up the stairs that were in front of them and headed for the top. It was during the run up the long staircase, which was longer than what Sombra had thought it would be, that Hanataro revealed that the pill he had taken earlier had worked like he had told them, where both Ichigo and Ganju, to Sombra's surprise, continued to claimed that they didn't believe in the effects of the pill and that he had been lied to by his superiors. Fortunately, even with the long staircase that was ahead of them, it didn't take them long to reach the top step and find a new area for them to make their way through, but they paused for a moment and caught their breath, once more showing them that Hanataro's work had kept Ichigo's wounds from opening and that he was definitely good to go.
"The security is pretty lax here as well." Ichigo commented, since he was still surprised that the area he and Renji had fought in had no guards, so seeing another area that was like the first one only made him more concerned, "I guess that means that we'll have smooth sailing from here on out."
"Ichigo, there might not be any Shinigami around us, but there is someone that we need to keep an eye out for as we move through this area," Sombra said, as there was a powerful reiatsu signature coming from the area that they were heading into, one that felt like it belonged to a Captain, and Ichigo, from what he could tell, hadn't felt it yet.
"What are you talking abo..." Ichigo started to say, but that was followed by the three of them feeling the reiatsu that Sombra had felt earlier, because the person that the reiatsu belonged to had increased it's pressure on them the moment after they came to a stop, showing Sombra that one of the Captains had been waiting for them to arrive and that he was incredibly powerful from his reiatsu alone.
The four of them stood there for a couple of seconds, feeling the intense reiatsu all around them as the entire area seemed to shake in the process, and Sombra found that Ichigo, Ganju, and Hanataro were sweating as they felt the power that was weight down on them, where the sweat seemed to float into the air instead of falling to the ground. Sombra also found that he was the least affected of the group, as while he wasn't sweating he knew that they had to move fast before the Captain found them, but he also understood that their foe was watching them at the moment, from wherever he was standing. For the next minute the four of them ran from the top step and headed into the area in front of them, but as they did that Sombra could feel no distance opening between them and the Captain that was currently hunting them, as his reiatsu made it feel like there were a number of blades close to his body and one wrong move would result in a painful wound or even death, and he could see that the others were affected in a similar fashion, even when Hanataro fell and Ganju had to pick him up so they could keep moving.
"There you are." a voice said, one that was loud and clear for Sombra, though at the same time Ichigo seemed to have heard it as well since he stopped at the same time Sombra did, though as that happened Sombra turned towards the top of one of the structures and found a Shinigami, wearing the normal clothing with the white Captain's uniform, standing at the peak and happened to be staring down at them.
The Shinigami was a tall, muscular man with a wild and aggressive appearance, no doubt with a personality to match, where Sombra noticed that he had a long face with pronounced cheekbones, pronounced, hairless brow ridges, along with green colored eyes and long, stringy black colored hair. A noticeable trait in his appearance, that Sombra noticed instantly, was the long, thin scar that happened to be running down the left side of his face and across his left eye, no doubt inflicted on him by when he was younger than he was at the moment. What Sombra found interesting was that the Captain he was looking at had bandages across his midsection, his hair was styled into stiff strands that had small bells attached to the tips, a black choker serving as a necklace, and he had a black colored eyepatch over his right eye, which seemed to be a little elegant, since it had a gold-like lining and a chain as one of the straps. Sombra could practically feel the reiatsu oozing off of the Captain, proving that they were much stronger than their Lieutenants were, and, at the same time, that meant that their plan to get to the Shrine of Penitence might not actually work with him standing in their way.
Sombra noticed the Captain move through the air long before Ichigo even spotted the movement, as he was holding his chest like someone had stabbed him, and soon the Captain that he had been staring at was standing just a couple of steps behind them, with a wicked look on his face.
"You're Ichigo Kurosaki, aren't you?" the Captain, Zaraki as Sombra remembered Ikkaku telling them before they departed from the area he and Yumichika had been beat in, said, though as Ichigo turned to look at him a grin appeared on his face as he turned towards Sombra, "That would make you the Arrancar that's known as Sombra... the one that wounded Byakuya in the World of the Living and cut Gin when he prevented your entry into the Seireitei."
"I am the one called Sombra." Sombra replied, though at the same time, while noticing how fearful Ichigo seemed in the Captain's presence, he turned and faced the person that was going to stand in their way this time around, "You must be the Captain of the Eleventh Division, Kenpachi Zaraki."
"I am... but call me Zaraki, as 'Kenpachi' is only my title." Zaraki commented, though the grin remained on his face, as he was pleased to see that his thoughts about the Arrancar that had wounded two Captains had been correct, as he was the only one of the group that wasn't scared of him at the moment, something that he aimed to change, "I came here, to this very spot, to fight you to the death!"
"So... this is the power of a Captain." Ichigo said, though it was more to himself, as he was still caught off guard by the sheer power that happened to be coming from the man in front of them, while at the same time wondering just how much stronger Sombra must have, than he was he mentally added, been to avoid being in the same state that he, Ganju, and Hanataro were in.
In was in the following moment that Sombra noticed the Lieutenant of the Eleventh Division, who appeared to be just a little girl that rode on Zaraki's shoulder, make a moment about the state that Ganju and Hanataro were in, along with jumping over to Ichigo's shoulder as Sombra followed her movements, though that only caused her to smile as Zaraki's grin widened even further.
"Ken-chan, he's the one!" the little girl said, pointing one of her fingers at Sombra for a couple of seconds, though at that point Sombra was sure that one of the Shinigami they had beaten on the way here had told the Captains about him, meaning that the Lieutenants were all aware of what an Arrancar was.
"That he is." Zaraki replied, because when Yachiru used her own speed in such a manner not a lot of Shinigami could follow her movements, but Sombra was able to keep track of her and sense whether or not she was a threat in this instance, as he had noticed his left hand grip his Zanpakuto's scabbard for a moment before she came back to him.
"Sombra." Ichigo said, as he now understood the words that Renji had said to them, about the other Lieutenants and their Captains, especially after seeing these two and how they interacted with each other, though at the same time his friend glanced at him, "I want you to join Ganju and take Hanataro out of this area. Go on ahead without me."
"What are you talking about?" Sombra inquired, because right now this wasn't the sort of opponent that Ichigo could beat on his own, and it pained him to admit that his friend would have a hard time beating such an opponent all on his own, but at the same time he reached for Shokyo, "Ichigo, this is an opponent that we need to work together to defeat, because fighting him alo..."
"I got this." Ichigo insisted, not even bothering to look at his friend at the moment, as he needed to steel himself for what he was about to do, especially since Sombra was Rukia's best chance at getting out of the Seireitei alive, "Go on, join Ganju and get out of here before this maniac attacks us."
"Ichigo, sometimes you need to know when to accept a friend's assistance." Sombra stated, surprised that his friend was willing to tackle Captain Zaraki in a one on one battle, especially when he was terrified of the reiatsu the man was putting out, but at the same time he turned around and faced the opposite direction, "But, if this is what you wish, then I will leave him to you... but if we free Rukia, and you're still fighting him, I'll make sure to help you in anyway I can."
Since Ganju and Hanataro, who Ganju was currently carrying at the moment, were already fleeing the moment Ichigo told them to get moving, and neither Captain Zaraki or his LIeutenant, Yachiru Kusajishi when Ichigo asked her name, Sombra flashed through the air and left the area, knowing that it was dangerous for Ichigo and was letting his friend battle it out with the Captain to give them a head start. As the three of them continued on their way to the Shrine of Penitence, however, Sombra heard a comment from Zaraki as they headed in the opposite direction, as he sounded like he was disappointed in Ichigo getting in the way of him and his true target, but he also guessed that Ikkaku must have spoke highly of Ichigo since he was willing to stick around and see how strong Ichigo was for himself. When they got far enough away from where Ichigo and Zaraki were standing Hanataro came to and surprised Ganju, who fell on his face in the process, before explaining that Zaraki was the 'Kenpachi', a nickname given to the person who loves fighting and who has killed the most people, and that he couldn't be killed, not that Ichigo would be planning on something like that. Once Hanataro had spoke his mind on the subject, and informed Ganju that they had to move on while at the same time making Sombra worried about his friend, the three of them continued onward as Hanataro continued to lead them in the direction of the Shrine of Penitence.
As the three of them followed the path that Hanataro was following, however, Sombra continued to keep tabs on the fight between Ichigo and Captain Zaraki, as best he could from simply sensing their reiatsu, and immediately he could tell that Ichigo was off to a bad start since his reiatsu was shaking, revealing how terrified he really was. From that point onward Sombra felt their reiatsu moving through the area around them, indicating that Captain Zaraki was chasing Ichigo at the moment, proving him right that his friend wasn't ready for this sort of fight, even though it seemed to be a little exciting for Zaraki. What he could tell was that Ichigo's fear of Zaraki was causing him to revert back to what he had been like when he was training against Kisuke in the underground training area, something that Sombra had hoped he would have forgotten about after his battle with Renji, but at the same time he guessed that, after a single day, change wasn't going to happen automatically. At one point he felt Ichigo run again, making him sigh in annoyance for a moment, because he was honestly considering heading back and helping his friend, but Ganju insisted that they remain true to the mission that they had been given and focus on that... though it was had to do that when he felt Chad getting into a fight with someone that also felt like a Captain, and ended up losing after a couple of minutes.
The good news was that Chad wasn't dead, as the Captain he had been fighting had stayed his hand and was likely taking him into custody for questioning when he woke up later on, and there was no bad news to that, because it seemed like Chad's defeat had been fuel for Ichigo to get back into the battle, as he reengaged Zaraki not a few seconds later and, if he was reading the reiatsu correctly, Ichigo must have done something that excited his opponent, because that was followed by a few vibrations as the two continued to battle.
Of course that was when Ichigo did something stupid and Zaraki cut him, as he felt the change in Ichigo's reiatsu, the change that came with defeat, and immediately turned around, as he intended to head back to where his friend was resting and smash Zaraki into the ground for what he did. His actions were stopped when he felt another change in Ichigo's reiatsu, as it had spiked rather suddenly, and that happened to be instantly followed by surprise flashing through Zaraki's own reiatsu, indicating that Ichigo had to be pressing him, to which Sombra nodded and followed after Ganju and Hanataro once more. What he wasn't expecting, as he ran along the path that Hanataro had chosen for them, was for Zaraki's immense reiatsu to increase by a drastic degree, though as that happened he, Ganju, and Hanataro paused for a moment as they stared out from the roof that they were standing on, because as Zaraki increased his power Ichigo called upon the power of Zangetsu and increased his power as well... and they were amazed when one of the structures that were near the two fighters collapsed, no doubt because someone cut it down.
Eventually Ichigo did the same thing that Zaraki was doing and both of their powers increased to the point where the area around them shook under the sheer intensity of their reiatsu, all that Sombra could tell by just feeling their reiatsu, and then they charged at each other, where the collision of their powers flattened the area that they had been fighting in, much to Sombra's amazement. Based on what he was feeling it appeared that the battle might have been a draw, as both Ichigo and Zaraki's reiatsu went down to the dangerous levels, the same level they went to when someone was close to dying, but, for the most part, he could also tell that neither of them were actually going to die, despite the fact that they needed some rest and some days spent healing before they could do anything else. Sombra smiled as both Ganju and Hanataro continued to move forward, as it appeared that, despite his worries, Ichigo had managed to battle Zaraki to a draw and took him out of the running for the moment, meaning that their escape from the Seireitei would be slightly easier once they freed Rukia from her cell. He also didn't have to worry about his friend, as he felt the tiniest sliver of Yoruichi's reiatsu appear for a couple of seconds and then felt Ichigo being moved somewhere else, to which he chuckled for a moment before heading over to where his current companions were standing so they could get the show on the road before more enemies showed up.
"The sounds have stopped." Hanataro commented, as he found that the sounds of battle that they had been hearing for the last couple of minutes, while they were climbing up to the path that would take them to the bridge that connected to the Shrine of Penitence, had finally stopped and the area was silent once more, "Do you guys think Ichigo is alright?"
"We've come this far, so we have no choice but to believe in him." Ganju replied, showing Sombra that neither of them seemed to be able to feel the reiatsu that had been in the air during the fight, as he found it impossible to ignore the fight that his friend had been in, "We also don't have the time to get distracted."
"Don't worry Hanataro, Ichigo's fine." Sombra said, as he figured that he might as well tell their friend that Ichigo had survived the fight, even if Ganju might be focused on the task at hand, though he was pleased to find that Hanataro was pleased by the news as they turned towards the task at hand.
Ganju's brilliant plan to get over to the gap that was in front of them, instead of heading over to the path that Hanataro had been leading them to, was to use a grappling hook and swing across, only for him to actually break the hook off from the rope that it was attached to and scare Hanataro in the process. Instead of wasting time on Ganju's ridiculous ideas, and hurting Hanataro in the process, Sombra grabbed onto both of them and flashed through the air, moving over to the path that they had been heading toward and landed on the roof, to which he set them down and they started moving towards the Shrine of Penitence as they kept an eye out for guards. As it turned out it didn't take them that long to reach the end of the path that the roofs allowed them to travel on, but at the end of it all Sombra glanced over the edge and found some guards that were recovering from the reiatsu that had been in the air, where the two of them started talking about which one of them was trembling and who wasn't, before Hanataro pulled out a container and dropped a couple of drops on the Shinigami on their left. Sombra discovered that the drops, called 'trembling point', caused people with low reiatsu to pass out, for how long he had no idea, so when the first Shinigami fell to the ground, and the second looked up to where Hanataro was standing, Sombra took the container for a moment and dropped a single drop on the second Shinigami's neck, knocking him out in the process and preventing Ganju from accidentally raising the alarm.
As Sombra returned the container, and Ganju commented that Hanataro had some scary stuff inside his pack, the three of them started the trek over the narrow bridge and Sombra noticed that there was next to nowhere to run in case someone came and attacked them, but he focused on the door that they were heading towards.
"So, the entrance is a shutter type." Ganju commented, recognizing the style of door that was in front of them, and Sombra decided to take his word for it, since he had no idea what he was talking about, before he crossed his arms as he smiled for a moment, "Now, how are we going to open it?"
"It's alright." Hanataro said, though as he knelt down and reached into his clothing, revealing that he was searching for something, Sombra stopped Ganju from saying anything, as he was curious as to what he was looking for, before a light smile appeared on his face as he pulled out a large wooden key of some kind, "Last night, after I healed both you and Ichigo, I borrowed the spare key from the cell key cabinet in the underground canal."
"I take it that it's not okay for you to do something like this?" Sombra asked, as he had seen a brief look appear on Hanataro's face for a moment, showing that, despite the mission to save Rukia, he was still worried about breaking the rules of Soul Society to assist them, the invaders.
"Oh, I'll likely be punished once they find out what I've done." Hanataro answered, though at the same time he slipped the key into the lowest slot in the door and started turning the lock, showing that, despite how sacred this place seemed to be, that he actually knew the combination to the door in front of them, "But last night, I was thinking that Ichigo was always getting torn up from the fights he was in, and all I did was run away from fights. After hearing what Rukia told me about the World of the Living, and witnessed Ichigo's resolve to save her to repay his debt to her, I decided that I wanted to save Rukia as well, and that I was willing to do everything in my power to assist you guys... even if that means that I have to face a punishment later on. But still, stealing the key to the Shrine of Penitence is the best I could do."
"Hanataro, giving us directions, healing us, and stealing the key is more than enough," Sombra said, though at the same time he smiled as Hanataro looked back at him and Ganju, who was being silent at the moment and was focused on the door in front of them, "Now then, let's open the door and get to saving Rukia."
"I get why Ichigo wants to save this person," Ganju spoke up, showing that he might have been listening to them and had picked now to talk, even though he didn't have much to say at the moment, though at the same time the door started to rise before their eyes, indicating that Hanataro had remembered the combination correctly, "but I don't understand why so many people are so freaking desperate to save her. This 'Rukia' must be one hell of a cutie, man."
Sombra sighed for a moment, as Ganju wasn't thinking about the main reason they were here in the first place, but instead of talking to the man he turned towards the opening door as he got a good look inside the cell that they had been keeping Rukia inside, who just so happened to be standing in the middle of the floor in front of them, wearing a white robe of some kind with a red collar around her neck and a look of surprise on her face.
"Sombra? What are you doing here?" Rukia asked, as she couldn't believe that the Arrancar she had trusted back in the World of the Living, and had thought to be dead despite Renji telling her otherwise, was standing in the doorway at that very moment, before noticing the people with them, "And who are they?"
"Rukia, I'm sure you remember Hanataro Yamada, and this is Ganju Shiba." Sombra replied, though at the same time he noticed that Ganju seemed rather silent, or maybe shocked was a better word to use in this instance, before he turned towards Rukia once more, "As for why I'm here... well, we came to rescue you."
"Wait, did you say Shiba?" Rukia inquired, but as she said that she glanced at the clothing that Ganju was wearing and instantly recognized the symbol that he wore on them, knowing that this wasn't going to end well, especially since she knew something that the others didn't.
"You two know each other?" Hanataro asked, as that hadn't been something that Ganju talked about, mostly because it had been Ichigo and Sombra that knew Rukia, but as he turned toward Ganju, however, he found a look of rage on the man's face.
"Yeah... I know her..." Ganju stated, though at the same time he felt some sweat rolling down the side of his face, as he couldn't believe who he had tried to risk his life for as the memories of the past came back up to the surface, "As if I could forget... that mug... She's... she's the Shinigami that killed my older brother!"
Sombra raised an eyebrow, remembering what Ganju had said back when they were getting ready to enter the cannon that had allowed them to enter the Seireitei, and now understood that he and the others had brought Ganju to the one person that he hated with all his heart... but he hoped that he could put that behind him for now, as he could feel another reiatsu coming from nearby, one that was all too familiar to him.
"My brother's wound was a sword wound." Ganju continued, not caring if they wasted time at the moment, because right now he was focused on the one person that he could never forget and the one person that he was never going to be able to forgive, "The back of his neck had been slashed and he had been stabbed through the heart. If he had fought with a Hollow, why would he have died of sword wounds?! And back then, she said to me that she had killed him!"
"Ganju, there must be some mistake!" Hanataro said, to which he stepped in front of Ganju and stared at him, which actually surprised both Ganju and Sombra since he was always running from fights and angry people, "There's no way that Rukia could hav..."
"It's alright, Hanataro." Rukia said, speaking up once more, though at the same time Hanataro turned to look at her for a moment, no doubt hoping that what Ganju said was a lie he had made up as an excuse not to rescue Rukia, "Member of the Shiba Clan, without a doubt, your older brother, Kaien Shiba, was killed by my hand. Do with me as you wish. I have resigned myself to death, be it by your hand or the hand of my superiors, and I will not resist my fate."
"Sorry, but that won't be happening today." Sombra spoke up, causing the three of them to focus on him for a couple of seconds, especially since he hadn't entered the Shrine of Penitence at all, before his expression grew serious as he turned around, "Because Captain Byakuya has arrived at last."
The moment the statement left his mouth the area was filled with Byakuya's intense reiatsu, which happened to be on the same level of Zaraki's reiatsu, but the difference was that, while it inspired fear in both Hanataro and Ganju, and even made Hanataro tremble, Sombra found himself unaffected by the reiatsu and took a step forward immediately.
"Sombra! What are you doing?!" Rukia asked, as she had seen the results of their last battle and knew that, even as an all powerful Arrancar, Sombra still didn't have a chance, not even her brother was so much stronger than he was, to which she wondered if he had a death wish or something.
"Rukia, there's another reason I came to Soul Society... one I never told the others about." Sombra said, to which he kept his eyes in front of him and stared at the Captain that was his opponent, the same Captain that he came to defeat with his own hands, "In addition to saving you I came here to find and defeat Captain Byakuya... and I will do just that."
"Surely you must be joking!" Ganju said, as he could feel the immense reiatsu that was coming from the famous Captain, who was currently walking down the bridge to where they were standing, and felt that the person in the doorway had simply lost his mind at this point in time, "You can't battle someone that has that type of reiatsu."
Sombra glanced back at them for a moment and smiled, as he knew something that they didn't know, before turning to face his opponent and continued to walk across the bridge that was in front of him, knowing that Ganju and Hanataro would think of a plan to get out of here... though he was happy to see that Byakuya seemed annoyed the moment he spotted him walking towards him, as if he expected him to be dead.
"I felt a familiar reiatsu heading towards the Shrine of Penitence and came to investigate," Byakuya stated, where he kept his eyes on the Arrancar in front of him, knowing that the battle to come would be over as quickly as the last one had been, and kept his left hand near his Zanpakuto so he could be ready, "I was curious as to what kind of powerful warrior had come this far while hiding his reiatsu, only to find a familiar bug standing in my way."
"And there's that tone that pissed me off the last time we fought," Sombra said, though at the same time he raised his right hand and drew Shokyo from her scabbard, as he intended to begin the fight soon and not hold back at all, especially since his opponent was a Captain, "besides, this 'bug' survived your last attempt to kill it and came back even stronger than before, so much so that you'll regret not finishing me off when you had the chance."
"Though you are standing your ground, your reiatsu has not changed since we last fought," Byakuya commented, as it was impressive that such a being was able to stand in his presence, when he was allowing his reiatsu to pressure the entire area around him in such a manner, but that wouldn't change the outcome of what was coming next, "You may be an Adjuchas ranked Arrancar, one with a decent will to live through my attack in the World of the Living, but your power is nothing compared to what I pos..."
Sombra grinned as he cut Byakuya off, as he finally released his own reiatsu and the entire area shook for a couple of seconds, where a familiar look of shock appeared on his opponent's face, but before Byakuya had a chance to pull out his Zanpakuto, and call out the Release Call, Sombra flashed through the space between them and landed on front of his target, whose eyes widened in surprise. That was instantly followed by Sombra swinging his Zanpakuto as he cut a light diagonal gash into Byakuya's chest, exactly opposite the one he had given him in the World of the Living, and the force of the attack knocked his opponent back, who was shocked by what was happening. Not a couple of seconds later Byakuya, who had a moment to draw his Zanpakuto, blocked the incoming attack as Sombra came down on him from above, forcing him to stay in one spot as he struggled against his increased power, but that was only the beginning of what he had planned for when they fought again. Sombra followed the downward attack by pulling himself backwards in a jumping motion, allowing Byakuya to believe that he had gained the upper hand for a second, but in reality he flashed back in front of his opponent and delivered an uppercut that knocked him into the air, before jumping into the air, spinning around, and kicked him in the chest so he went flying into the building that he and the others had been using the roof for cover earlier, knocking part of the wall down in the process.
As that happened Sombra dropped down to the bridge and put himself between Byakuya and his companions, who were still standing around like morons as they stared at him with a stunned expression on all of their faces, before he raised his left hand into the air and pointed his palm in Byakuya's direction as reiatsu gathered for a moment.
"O Lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!" Sombra recited, recalling one of the Kido spells he had learned, or more specifically a Hado spell, and started to recite the incantation as he allowed his power to gather in his palm, "Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws. Hado Number 33: Sokatsui!"
Byakuya raised his head in time to see the torrent of blue energy ripple out of Sombra's palm, surprising him and the others for a moment as they understood that he was capable of using some powerful Kido, and barely had enough time to move as it barreled into where he had been resting, causing the entire area around him to explode in that instant, while at the same time the sturdy bridge remained standing as part of the building fell apart.
"No way... he can use Kido?!" Rukia commented, as she didn't know what was more surprising, the fact that Sombra, an Arrancar, was able to learn and use Kido in the short time since she last saw him, or the fact that he was currently beating her brother in a match, all while preventing him from saying his Release Call.
"I see that I was wrong; you have gotten stronger since we last fought," Byakuya stated, though as he emerged from the wreckage of the building he had been knocked into, and faced his opponent, he found that the scarf that he wore had been damaged in several areas, causing his frown to deepen as he truly focused on his foe, "and I see that we need to rethink how Arrancars work, because you are the first that has ever used a Kido spell before. I shall take this matter seriously and not hold back against you. Scatt..."
Sombra, taking advantage of the fact that he was much faster than he had been during the first fight he had with Byakuya, flashed in front of his opponent as he started to utter the Release Call, and held his blade in the manner that came with such a command, before swinging Shokyo as he retraced the first gash he gave him, giving him two wounds in the same battle a surprise crossed his face once more. Sombra found it amusing that his opponent continued to be shocked in such a manner, as if being wounded was something that members of the Kuchiki Clan didn't do, but right now he had scored three good hits on him between their two matches, and right now he was far from over, as he came here to beat him and he was going to do just that. As Byakuya staggered backwards he decided to forgo trying to say the Release Call and thrust his Zanpakuto forward, though as that happened Sombra moved to the left side of where his foe was standing and let the attack pass by him, before slashing into his shoulder as he knocked Byakuya away from Rukia and the others. Once that was done Sombra went on the offensive and started swinging Shokyo a little more often, instead of just parrying attacks, and Byakuya soon found himself on the defensive, shocking Rukia with every action she was seeing, as this wasn't something that happened every day.
After a minute of tormenting Byakuya with a series of attacks, and cutting small gashes into his arms and legs to show him that he wasn't playing around, Sombra flashed back to the bridge and put some distance between them, where Byakuya walked out of the ruined building and stared at him.
"You know, this is starting to feel like it's one sided." Sombra said, as he honestly wasn't expecting his training to allow him to put this much pressure on a Captain, one that was clearly holding some sort of power back from him, and sighed for a few seconds, before looking his opponent in the eyes, "Go ahead, use your Release Call and show me the power you used to defeat me back in the World of the Living."
"And how do I know that you aren't trying to get me to lower my guard?" Byakuya asked, because right now he was having a hard time believing that this was the same Adjuchas ranked Arrancar he defeated in the World of the Living, as his reiatsu now felt closer to that of a Vasto Lorde, or at least an extremely powerful Adjuchas that hadn't reached the final level of a Hollow's evolution.
"Because I wouldn't tell you to do something and then exploit a weakness, I'd just attack and show you where you went wrong," Sombra replied, though he couldn't fault Byakuya for saying that, as he did attack him the last time he tried to use the Release Call, something that Ichigo never seemed to aim for and proved to be a good target when the opponent he was facing had no idea he could be attacked in that moment, "Besides, Shokyo and I agree that you would be a good opponent if you let Senbonzakura have a chance to battle as well."
"Shokyo? Do not pretend that your blade is a Zanpakuto!" Byakuya stated, though at the same time he raised his own Zanpakuto into the position he had been attempting to use earlier, where he found that his opponent seemed to be abiding by what he had told him, making him think that this was a trap of some kind and that he was going to have to spring it to move the fight along, "An Arrancar, despite gaining Shinigami-like abilities when they remove their masks and take on a more Human form, cannot manifest a Zanpakuto spirit like real Shinigami can. Here, allow me to show you the power of a true Zanpakuto! Scatter, Senbonzakura!"
Sombra grinned as the blade of Byakuya's Zanpakuto vanished and turned into the familiar flower petals that he vaguely recalled from their first fight, though as the strands of petals flew through the air, however, he found out that he could still follow their patterns and knew where the attacks were coming from. As such he either dodged the attacks that were coming at him, shocking Byakuya even more as he did that, or parrying the attacks and pushed them back, where he found that it was slightly harder than it had been earlier, which was what he had been hoping for when he told Byakuya to do this and let him go through with it. At the same time, however, he sensed that Shokyo, who had been treated like an Zanpakuto of equal status as the ones that were carried by the other Shinigami they had seem, was unhappy with the words that Byakuya had said and desired a chance to show him that he was wrong. After a few more moments of dodging the attacks, and finding several more openings that he decided not to take advantage of this time around, Sombra eventually sighed and flashed back to an area to divert Byakuya's attention from Rukia and the others, all while holding Shokyo at the ready.
"You know, you have a habit of annoying me and you also managed to annoy Shokyo at the same time," Sombra said, to which his reiatsu flared, as he was going to show Byakuya just how horribly wrong he was about the Zanpakuto that he was carrying with him and trained with back when Ichigo first released Zangetsu, "Shimmer, Shokyo."
Sombra waited for a moment as Shokyo took on her crystalline broadsword form once more, surprising Byakuya by the fact that she acted like an actual Zanpakuto would, before he flashed through the air as his opponent sent the torrent of flower petals at him, dodging them before they came close to hitting him. As he flashed around the area, confusing his opponent in the process since he only stayed in one spot for a second before moving again, Sombra took the opportunity to deliver a number of cuts to Byakuya's body, aiming anywhere from his legs to his arms, or all over his body, and let the length of each cut differ from the one before it. He was also aware of the fact that Rukia was stunned by the fact that her brother was being beaten in such a manner, though at the moment his style of attack had been inspired by the thousand rapid slashes he remembered feeling when Byakuya first released Senbonzakura against him, and, based on the annoyed expression Byakuya wore, he knew his opponent understood what he was doing... though at the same time his left hand remained open as he charged his reiatsu once more, as he had one more surprise in store for his opponent before he brought an end to the fight.
"O Lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!" Sombra recited, but as he spoke the good thing about moving so much was that Byakuya was unable to pinpoint where he was standing, meaning that he couldn't stop this from happening, even if he wanted to, "Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!"
Byakuya was growing tired of his opponent acting like he owned the battle, even if he was dominating the fight, and decided to punish him accordingly by aiming Senbonzakura's petals at Rukia and the people that had come here with the Arrancar, but, as that happened, his eyes widened as he realized that he had successfully sprung the trap he had been thinking about earlier... only this time his guard was definitely open and it would take too long to recall the petals as Sombra appeared in front of him.
"Hado Number 31," Sombra said, raising his left hand, which had a large sphere of red energy gathered around it, one that definitely wasn't the black Cero he had fired back in the World of the Living, until it was level with Byakuya's exposed and wounded chest, "Shakkaho!"
Sombra grinned as a torrent of red energy erupted from his hand and barreled into Byakuya's exposed chest, which knocked him backwards and caused him to crash into the now ruined building that he enjoyed knocking him into, while at the same time setting both his clothing and part of the building on fire, though that included scorching part of his chest with the Hado spell. A couple of seconds ticked by as the flames seemed to die down, revealing the damage that he had caused to his opponent, but as Byakuya started to get back up, despite the wounds that had been inflicted on his body, Sombra moved out of the way as the flower petals returned to him and he reformed Senbonzakura's blade. When he got back on his feet, and stood up once more, Sombra sighed and flashed forward, kicking Byakuya in the chest and knocked him into another wall that was behind him, though this time he dropped his Zanpakuto as he collapsed on the floor, to which he turned around and headed back towards the bridge... only to stop when he felt the presence of another Captain near his location, several more closing in on his location, and Yoruichi rapidly approaching his location.
"Who are you?" a voice said, to which Sombra turned to the right for a moment and found a tall man that had long white colored hair, that seemed to almost reach his waist, one that he recognized as a Captain by the white clothing that was over his Shnigami attire, before he understood something, "Wait a second, you're an Arrancar! What's an Arrancar doing in Soul Society?"
"My name is Sombra, and I'm rescuing a friend," Sombra replied, to which he beckoned to Rukia for a moment, who was still stunned by seeing her brother being beaten in such a manner, before he faced the Captain, "So, which of the other eleven Captains are you supposed to be? And, more importantly, are you going to stand in my way as well?"
"I am Ukitake Jushiro, though I prefer just Ukitake, and I'm the Captain of the Thirteenth Division," the man replied, but at the same time Sombra noticed that he wasn't reaching for his Zanpakuto, meaning that he might let him go with Rukia and the others, "I can tell that you're strong, possibly even stronger than most give you credit for, but can you hope to battle the remaining six Captains that are on their way here? They've felt the power you possess, stronger than last Adjuchas ranked Arrancar that they fought between two to three hundred years ago, and they're all converging on your position to stop you... can you hope to beat all of them, when they all possess a power that is stronger than a Shikai?"
"Stronger than a Shikai..." Sombra said, though if that was the truth, and it seemed like it was since he didn't detect any lies coming from Captain Ukitake, that meant he was lucky to knock Byakuya down before he could utilize this other form of Senbonzakura, otherwise the battle could have ended differently, "I sense someone strong among the Captains... I guess retreating is the best thing I can do for the moment."
"Don't worry, I'll have your companions escorted to a holding area where they'll be safe until later," Ukitake said, to which Sombra raised an eyebrow for a moment, as he was surprised by what the man had said, before finding Yoruichi, in her normal form and wearing her usual clothing once more, on a nearby roof and beckoning for him to move out of the area before reinforcements arrive.
"I'll hold you to that." Sombra stated, where he reverted Shokyo back to her katana form, sheathed her once more, and headed off before the other Shinigami entered the area, though as he did so he turned around when he reached Yoruichi and noticed that both Ganju and Hanataro had the situation explained to the situation, as they weren't upset about him leaving them there, even if it upset him a little, before he turned towards his companion, "Yoruichi, it's good to see you again... and in your Human form no less."
"It's good to see you again as well, Sombra." Yoruichi replied, to which she smiled as the two of them headed out of the area that they were in, as she had a specific place that they needed to be before they could make a second attempt at saving Rukia and the others, "Don't worry, I took Ichigo to a safe location and put some powerful drugs in his system to keep him down, which will rapidly close his wounds at the same time, allowing him to be ready for when the two of you train for the next stage of our operation."
"Train for what?" Sombra inquired, because at the moment he knew that, in a one on one fight, he might be able to take most of the Captains, save for one if he was feeling the reiatsu right, but at the same time his curiosity was raised as he followed after Yoruichi.
"For the final stage of a Zanpakuto... the Bankai!" Yoruichi said, though her tone suggested that such a thing was something serious within the Gotei 13, to which they remained silent as they headed away from the Shrine of Penitence and headed form her secret hiding spot.
Sombra had no idea what Bankai even meant, but the way that both Yoruichi and Ukitake talked about it told him that the technique was stronger than what happened when the Release Call was used and the Zanpakuto's form changed into something else, making him wonder what power was sleeping inside Shokyo... and if he was worthy enough to learn whatever secrets she hadn't told him about.
Sombra quietly followed Yoruichi as she lead the way to the area that she had put Ichigo in, where he could heal with the medicine she had given him without being detected by their enemies, though the one thing he found to be interesting about the whole trip was that the location in question happened to be beneath the large hill that had what appeared to be an execution stand on it, and with a rather large and imposing halberd that appeared to be tied down near it. As Sombra stared at the structure he realized that he was looking at the area that the Shinigami were planning on executing Rukia, whenever they were going to do that, and that gave way to the thought that Yoruichi had learned the time of Rukia's execution before coming to find him, Ichigo, and any of the others, to know how much time they had left. Still, his thoughts were a mix of what he had discovered, that a Zanpakuto had two different releases, the Shikai that he was familiar with and the Bankai that he knew nothing about, the fact that Byakuya called him an 'Adjuchas ranked Arrancar', and the fact that one of the Captains had an incredible reiatsu that was like an open flame. He knew that he could have beaten one or two more of the remaining six Captains, since it appeared that Rukia's Captain wasn't in the mood to battle, but the thought of all of them having this mysterious Bankai, which could likely turn the tables on him, made him realize that, for all his power and skills, that he was still growing and could be beaten if he let his arrogance get the best of him.
As such he sighed for a moment as he repeated Yoruichi's movements, just like he had done when she was training him four to five months ago when he first started his training in Kisuke's underground training area, and calmed his mind, as there were too many questions and he feared that he might not have enough time to answer them all before he and Ichigo were needed once more... though that was followed by them landed on a rocky ledge that had a wooden door, in the shape of half a circle, before Yoruichi opened the door and they walked inside. It was then that Sombra let his smile return to his face, as he found Ichigo peacefully sleeping in the middle of the chamber that Yoruichi had brought them to, though at the same time they moved to the right side of the room and leaned against the wall, to be sure that nothing happened to Ichigo while he recovered.
"Is something wrong, Sombra?" Yoruichi asked, as she was used to seeing his thoughtful expressions, showing when he had uncovered something that required him to think about what he knew and what he didn't know, and, at the same time, it was another reason why she liked teaching him, because he thought about what he did and what she told him to do, instead of blinding trusting her and Kisuke.
"During my earlier battle, before Captain Utitake arrived, Byakuya called me an 'Aduchas ranked Arrancar'," Sombra replied, because when he was dealing with someone like Yoruichi or Kisuke, who knew him better than anyone else, he found that telling them what was bothering him, or making him consider something, was better than denying what he felt and saved them all time and energy, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"As you know, there are Hollows that exist in Hueco Mundo and hunt for souls in the World of the Living," Yoruichi said, as both she and Kisuke had foreseen the day when he heard one of the three terms that a Shinigami gave to an extremely powerful Hollow, or their Arrancar counterparts, "and then there are the Menos, just like the ones that both you and Ichigo fought when Uryu used that bait of his. Menos, from what we can tell from our studies, are conglomerations of hundreds of normal Hollows, resulting in a single composite entity of far greater strength than any normal Hollow, as you no doubt realize from your first encounter with such a creature. Those Hollows are generally referred to as Gillians, and they are considered to be the weakest of all the Menos classifications that we have come up with, as they are more numerous than the other two classes and are the foot soldiers, or at least that is how a Human would consider them. After the Gillian Class there is the Adjuchas Class, though while they may be much smaller than Gillians, and in lesser numbers, they are actually quite smarter and even stronger than the first class... and Little Byakuya likely called you that because an Adjuchas Class Hollow, and the counterpart Arrancar, are enough to give a Captain trouble, depending upon the strength of the opponent anyway."
"Interesting." Sombra commented, though at the same time he had placed his right hand under his chin while he considered what Yoruichi had just told him, as it was starting to make sense why Byakuya had called him an Adjuchas during their battle, even if he ignored Yoruichi calling him 'Little' Byakuya, before he focused on the conversation again, as he knew that she had to be eager to wrap things up, "And what about the third classification?"
"That, Sombra, is the Vasto Lorde." Yoruichi replied, though her tone told Sombra that such a creature was not one that a Shinigami came into contact with very often, and that they had to be even stronger than an Adjuchas, "The Vasto Lorde is the highest classification that a Menos can reach, as it is stronger and smarter than both of it's lower classes, as well as being even lower in number than the other two classes. We honestly don't know a lot about them, especially not how they're created, by it's said that you could count the entirety of Hueco Mundo's Vasto Lorde population with the fingers on your hands, but even then there's likely only one or two of them around at the same time... and, from what we can tell, a Vasto Lorde's combat abilities are above that of a Captain. That is why the other Captains were coming the moment you unleashed your reiatsu, even if it was to show Byakuya how much stronger you had gotten, because they were afraid that you, as an Adjuchas ranked Arrancar, might be getting even closer to crossing the line and stepping into the territory of a Vasto Lorde."
"They were coming to destroy me..." Sombra said, understanding why the Captains had been making their moves in such a manner, though it also stunned him that he might be crossing into a level that Soul Society knew almost nothing about, a level that clearly frightened them if six Captains had been coming towards him, "I knew I had gotten stronger since the last time I fought Byakuya, but never could I have imagined that I was so strong that I would invite such danger to my location."
"Fortunately, this chamber is protected from those that would be looking for you," Yoruichi added, knowing that Sombra would fear for Ichigo's safety if he stayed in the same location, even though she knew that the Shinigami would be busy for the foreseeable future, before she turned towards the sleeping form of Ichigo, "We'll be able to lay low for some time before we get started on Bankai training... and then, once that's done, we can focus on rescuing Rukia and others."
Sombra nodded and resumed leaning against the wall, watching as Yoruichi got up from time to time to tend to Ichigo's wounds, or to check and make sure that the drugs were working like they were supposed to, while also getting herself something to eat to recharge herself after using so many Flash Steps to get here. That was, in Sombra's mind, one of the key differences between him, the Shiniagmi, and even people like Ichigo and the others, as which Yoruichi and Ichigo, for instance, usually ate food to recover their energy, and the evidence was there when they were practicing with the Spirit Orbs and food had been provided after their training was complete, he didn't need to eat anything. He guessed that it had to be because he had been a Hollow until his transformation, so instead of eating anything he assumed that he just regenerated his energy when he wasn't battling, though sleeping also seemed to be a good way to do it as well, even if he wasn't tired at the moment. He felt that he should be exhausted from the battle with Byakuya, but, at the same time, he had to guess that the fact that he so soundly beat the Captain, without burning through his reiatsu like he thought he would, made him full of energy and kept him ready to go, to which he simply sighed and continued to observe Yoruichi's movements as she continued to check up on Ichigo ever now and then.
He also came to the conclusion that whatever drug Yoruichi had given Ichigo had knocked him out for some time, as the day slowly turned towards the evening, meaning that the other Shinigami had discovered what happened to Byakuya and were preparing themselves accordingly... and, at the same time, it was that very evening that the effects of the drug seemed to wear off as Ichigo finally opened his eyes and moaned a little.
"Ah, you're awake, Ichigo." Yoruichi said, though she was happy to see that the drug had worked out like she knew it would, while at the same time Sombra stopped leaning against the wall he had been leaning on, stretched his arms a little, and walked over to them as Ichigo sat up.
"Where is this..." Ichigo started to say, though that was before he realized that he was still in the same chamber that he had woke up in after his battle with Zaraki, but that was also followed him him noticing that Sombra was standing nearby, observing him like he always did, "Wait... did you get beat as well?"
"No. In fact I trashed Captain Byakuya near the Shrine of Penitence," Sombra replied, informing Ichigo that another Captain had blocked his path, especially after Zaraki entered the picture, and that he had beaten him, "I was, however, forced to retreat before I could save Rukia, on account that six additional Captains had been on their way to my position so they could destroy me... but Rukia's Captain, at the very least, promised that Ganju and Hanataro would be alright."
"So our enemies know our goal and will beef up security to prevent it from happening again," Ichigo said, though the thought of them coming so close to saving Rukia and getting out of here, even if it meant saving the others after the fact, annoyed him to no end, "Now what do we do?"
"Despite the fact that Hanataro opened the Shrine of Penitence, they're going to continue with Rukia's execution, regardless of our 'invasion'," Yoruichi stated, her tone telling Sombra that it was time for him and Ichigo to learn the pieces of information she was able to gather and what the plan really was from this point onward, "Since a few of the Captains will be present for the execution, including Captain-Commander Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto, we only have one option left at the moment. The two of you hold the possibility to overpower the majority of the Captains, rescue Rukia from the execution stand, and get everyone out before the Captain-Commander gets serious, so I'm going to train you to unlock the power you need to do just that... and, since it's going to take three days for what I have in mind, we're going to get started immediately, so gather your things and follow me."
Since there wasn't much they had brought with them both Ichigo and Sombra carried their Zanpakuto with them as they followed Yoruichi outside the chamber they had been in, used some smaller ledges to get down to the ground floor, and then slipped through a secret opening that apparently only she knew about, allowing them to enter an underground training area, that was lit up somehow, that instantly reminded Sombra of Kisuke's underground training area.
"How's the pain from your wounds?" Yoruichi asked, as she wanted to be sure that Ichigo's body was strong enough to resist what she was going to put him through, even though she already knew that Sombra, as an Arrancar, was much sturdier than his friend was, who might be annoyed about the fact that Sombra had bested Byakuya earlier.
"Ah, a lot better than before." Ichigo replied, as he remembered the pain he had been in earlier, when he first woke up, and the pain he felt now wasn't on the same level as before, but, at the same time, he had the feeling that his body was going to be tested even more than it usually was.
"Sadly, we have no time to wait for your full recovery," Yoruichi commented, to which she stood some of the rocks and stared down at Ichigo and Sombra, who were honestly just one level below her in terms of where they were standing, but it helped to show that she was in charge, "Ichigo, I know that you might be relying on Sombra to help you get through these fights, but sooner or later you'll be fighting on your own, with Zangetsu and not your friends, and you might not have the power to save anyone by yourself at that point. Going through this training will make the two of you even stronger than before, but it will also allow you to fight enemies without having to call for aid the majority of the time, unless it's an enemy that you cannot fight alone."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Ichigo asked, as while he knew that he never actually relied on Sombra for aid, since the Arrancar just assisted him when he felt that he might need help taking something out, before he sighed and drew Zangetsu from his back, where he held the blade at the ready, "Since we have no time we might as well get started."
"Let me ask you something, Ichigo," Yoruichi said, though the reason she wasn't going to ask Sombra this question was because he knew most of what she was going to ask and felt that it would only waste even more time, "Have you ever noticed that your Zanpakuto is a full-time released form type Zanpakuto?"
"It is?" Ichigo inquired, to which he shifted his stance so he could stare straight at the blade for a moment, though at the same time he could tell that Sombra already knew what Yoruichi was talking about, no doubt due to the lessons he had been given before they met each other, before something clicked in his head, "Full-time release... that sounds just like Zaraki's Zanpakuto. I thought it was weird because the shape of Zangetsu is so different from the other Zanpakuto we have encountered so far, especially Sombra's Zanpakuto. And there's also the fact that Zangetsu doesn't change shape when I call out it's name, not like Shokyo and the other Zanpakuto do when their partners call out their names."
"So you weren't aware of that fact..." Yoruichi replied, to which she glanced at Sombra, who had noticed that fact thanks to the information Kisuke had given him during his training, before she focused on the task at hand as she turned back toward Ichigo, who was clearly itching to get to training, "Then you didn't know that Zangetsu has another stage that can be released? Not only Zangetsu, but all Zanpakuto actually have two possible stages of release. We call the first release 'Shikai', or the Initial Release, and the second release is known as the 'Bankai', or the Final Release... though most Captains and Shinigami call it Bankai. The ability to achieve those two releases is one of the required conditions for someone becoming a Captain... meaning that every Captain of the Gotei 13, save for one, has achieved Bankai."
"Only one hasn't achieved it?" Sombra asked, as that seemed unusual, but, at the same time, that told him that whoever didn't have the final release of their Zanpakuto had to be incredibly powerful to be elected as a Captain, and he had the feeling that he might know which person it was.
"That's correct; Kenpachi Zaraki." Yoruichi said, noticing that Ichigo, who had fought Zaraki earlier, was shocked by the news, and that Sombra found it to be very interesting, something that she was used to seeing since he found many things to be of interest to him, especially without his actual memories, "In the long history of Soul Society, he is the only one that has achieved the rank of Captain without obtaining his Bankai or even knowing his own Zanpakuto's name. This shows how big a factor his combat ability and attachment to fighting was for the Gotei 13... having fought him, you should know that better than anyone, Ichigo."
"Yeah, he did like to fight." Ichigo stated, though that was when he turned his head towards Sombra for a moment, as there was something he needed to say before they went any further in this information dump, especially when he recalled what he had been told, "Sombra, just know that, once he's been healed to the point where he can fight again, he'll be looking for you once more... he seemed rather pleased with my fight and openly wondered just how much fun you'd give him if he crossed blades with you."
"Onto the matter at hand," Yoruichi continued, though she did notice that Sombra had nodded his head to what Ichigo had said, which was bound to happen since Zaraki usually didn't leave someone alone until he had at least one fight with them, if he deemed them worthy of his time, and for him to chase Sombra down and get Ichigo instead must have annoyed him, only to bring joy when he considered the fight he'd have with the Arrancar, "The difference between the Shikai and the Bankai of the same Zanpakuto, which differs based on an individuals nature and degree of training, can generally be thought of as five to ten times greater. It's shocking, isn't it? Because of level of improvement, it usually requires at least ten years of training, even for talented people... I also know that we don't have that kind of time, so we'll have to use a different method, one that's fraught with peril, but through this method I'll have you learn Bankai in only three days time."
As Ichigo and Sombra stood there for a moment, to think about what Yoruichi had said, Yoruichi stepped to the side for a moment and when she returned she was holding a humanoid looking doll of some kind, one that almost looked like it was made of plastic and had it's arms and legs in different angles than an ordinary Human would.
"What the heck is that weird doll?" Ichigo asked, as he had no idea what this was supposed to do in regards to their training, and even Sombra seemed a little confused for a few seconds, but he hoped that Yoruichi knew what she was doing, otherwise they were wasting their time.
"A spirit-transfer shell, or a Tenshintai." Yoruichi replied, knowing that at least one of them would be a little lost as she talked about this, and she happened to be looking at Ichigo as she thought that, as he was much slower than Sombra was at times, but she hoped he was fast at learning by combat, like Sombra was, "It is one of the Onmitsukido's, or the Secret Mobile Corps, most essential specialized spirit tools. It can forcefully transcribe a Zanpakuto's true form and materialize it in our world. Allow me to explain something; what's needed for Shikai is dialogue and harmonization between the Shinigami and their Zanpakuto, meaning that you go into your inner world, the home of your Zanpakuto, and learn from them what is necessary to find their name, Release Call, and techniques. Bankai training, on the other hand, requires one to materialize their Zanpakuto in our world and force it into submission, and normally several years are required for someone to do this... but, given both of your achievements so far, I'd wager that you've reached the equivalent level."
Sombra had to acknowledge that this was fascinating to learn about, the process that one had to go through to learn the Bankai of a Zanpakuto, and it made him realize just how challenging it had to be, since there were usually only thirteen Captains, or twelve as the case was, that could use Bankai... all while making him wonder just what sort of powers rested inside Shokyo, and again making him wonder if he was ready for such a power.
"Ichigo, if you stab Zangetsu into this, it will take Zangetsu into the materialized state." Yoruichi continued, taking a few seconds for the information to sink in, as Sombra was clearly absorbing what she was telling them while Ichigo seemed to sort of understand and not understand at the same time, "Be warned that materialization, through this method, will only last for three days, meaning that you will only have those three days to force Zangetsu into submission to learn your Bankai. If you can't..."
"Don't tell me what will happen if I can't do this." Ichigo stated, to which he surprised Yoruichi for a moment when he stabbed the doll with Zangetsu, though he was staring straight at the device as he wondered what Zangetsu was going to have him do this time around, "If there's no other way, then I'll just have to do it, no questions asked."
In the following moment the wind kicked up for a moment as both the doll and Zangetsu disappeared, though as Sombra watched all of this happen the manifestation of Zangetsu, which he had seen one time before this point, back when Ichigo first drew his true Zanpakuto, appeared in the air before Ichigo, surprising his friend for a moment as he turned and stared at his Zanpakuto spirit.
"I see you have recovered quite a bit, Ichigo." Zangetsu commented, showing that he was well aware of what happened to Ichigo, meaning that he had definitely seen the fight with Zaraki, and had no doubt helped out as Sombra thought he had, though at the same time Ichigo just stared at him.
"You heard our conversation, yes?" Yoruichi asked, once more showing that time was not on their side and that they needed to get started immediately, though at the same time both Ichigo and Zangetsu turned and looked at her, while Sombra waited to see what happened next, only for Zangetsu to nod his head once, "Very well, then I'll leave the fighting method up to you. Can you start right away?"
"I can." Zangetsu replied, to which he spread his arms for a moment, showing that the cloak he wore seemed to cover the majority of his actual body and that it was hard to actually see anything else, before he touched the ground and focused his reiatsu, before dozens upon dozens of Zangetsu like blades erupted from the ground all around the underground training area, "Of all these swords, only one is the real me. Only that one can defeat me. If you want to force me into submission, then you must find it before I kill you... and then slay me, if you can."
"Question." Ichigo said, turning to look at Yoruichi for a moment, as while he knew that time was important at the moment, and he was even going to begin to question Zangetsu's method of teaching, there was one thing that Yoruichi seemed to have missed in her hurry to set all this up, "You only brought one of those, um, dolls with you. How is Sombra supposed to do his own Bankai training if he can't force Shokyo to come to our world?"
"There's a simple answer to that," Sombra replied, to which he pulled Shokyo from her scabbard and uttered the Release Call, allowing the blade to transform back into it's broadsword shape once more, before his reiatsu gathered for a moment as he thought about what he was going to do next.
That was followed by the main crystal, the one that rested between the guard and the blade of his Zanpakuto, glowing for a moment as several strands of energy erupted from it, striking the ground near where he was standing and kicked up some dust in the process... but when the dust cleared, however, both Ichigo and Yoruichi stared as Shokyo, the spirit of his Zanpakuto, emerged from where the strands had struck and were stunned by her appearance.
"He doesn't need a doll to call me into this world," Shokyo finished, ending the comment that Sombra had started, in response to Ichigo's question, before she bowed her head slightly, as she was pleased to be in the presence of those that Sombra considered his friends, "It's nice to meet all of you."
"I'm positive that you heard what we talked about and what I asked Zangetsu, so I'll cut to the point," Yoruichi said, where she noticed that Shokyo didn't even seem irritated to be in this world, as most Zanpakuto spirits, when they are first called into the world of the Shinigami, could be quite hostile, making her wonder why Sombra's Zanpakuto was so different from the normal rules, "Can you get started on Sombra's trial?"
"Yes, I have much to teach him so he can be ready for the battle ahead of him," Shokyo replied, though the way she spoke told Yoruichi that Shokyo wasn't going to teach Sombra his Bankai, willingly she mentally reflected from the sounds of it, to battle someone in Soul Society, rather it sounded like she was preparing him for an entirely different battle, one that only she knew about, before she started walking over to a corner of the underground training area that they wouldn't be bothered in, "Come Sombra, it's time we continued the training we started in your inner world... and, at the same time, I'll show you how to perform Bankai."
"Yoruichi... what the hell is going on?" Ichigo asked, as from what he had been told a Shinigami was supposed to force his or her Zanpakuto to submit to learn their Bankai, but Shokyo seemed to be completely different than what he had just been told earlier.
"Honestly, I'm not sure anymore," Yoruichi admitted, as her understand of Zanpakuto and Bankai training didn't seem to matter, since Shokyo changed that by being the first Zanpakuto spirit, in all recorded history, to willingly teach her wielder the secrets that would allow him to use Bankai, before she sighed for a moment, "Oh well, you still have some training to do anyway... so use whatever your feeling at the moment and pour it into trying to improve yourself, and show Sombra that he's not the only one that can get things done fast."
Ichigo growled as he and Zangetsu separated from each other, grabbed onto one of the many blades that were sticking out of the ground, and then charged at each other, because he planned on showing Sombra that he wasn't the only one that could achieve Bankai in a few days of training... but, before he got too involved with Zangetsu, he had a brief worry about their friends, as he wondered what they were doing, though Zangetsu forced him to focus once more and the thought was lost as quickly as it formed.
Uryu, Orihime, and Sora seemed to have the best luck out of the entire group so far, as they managed to avoid many unnecessary fights, even though Sora had to run around the rooftops, where he was more exposed than Uryu and Orihime were, but, at the same time, no Shinigami seemed to have noticed him yet. When it became clear that security was being heightened, no doubt because of Ichigo getting into a fight with Renji, as that was what Uryu had felt earlier, both the brother and the sister had a good idea to knock out some Shinigami and steal their clothing, and the group they attacked had two members, one for Orihime and one for Uryu. Of course, when they went to put them on, Sora found that he had to undo his own Shinigami attire and then put it back on slowly to show them where each individual piece went, while at the same time telling Uryu that he had no idea where the robed stranger that had given the clothing to him, on the night he transformed into an Arrancar, had even gotten the clothing from. Once the two of them were properly clothed, and they made sure that the knocked out Shinigami were someplace where they wouldn't be found for a few hours at the very least, the three of them set out and continued down the path they had chosen, with Sora running behind them this time around.
What surprised them was the fact that one Shinigami stopped them, and talked to them about a specific task that they ended up lying about to cover their rears and hide the location of the knocked out Shinigami, though Sora discovered that the soldiers around them didn't seem to know what an Arrancar was, confirming Sombra's statement that only Captains and certain Lieutenants knew that piece of information. The reasoning behind that was because the Shinigami that ended up stopping them thought that Sora was wearing some sort of new accessory for his eye, which he played along with, and didn't question them further, especially when Uryu managed to convince him to leave since the 'Ryoka' were still invading the Seireitei, leaving them to their own devices.
While many would consider themselves lucky, and the group felt that they were lucky at the moment, Sora knew that such luck would change at some point in time, even Uryu agreed to that fact, and the reason he believed that was because he felt someone with the reiatsu of a Captain near their area, which they were trying to avoid despite the fact that it seemed to be in different places at different times. Of course he was sure that the Captain, if there was one in their immediate area, might be doing this to either trap them or confuse them, but after a couple of minutes the reiatsu he was feeling disappeared and he returned his attention to following his sister and Uryu down the street that they happened to be walking on at the moment. Since they didn't know the layout of the Seireitei, and couldn't ask directions without labeling themselves as the outsiders that the Shinigami were after, the three of them spent the rest of the day gaining some progress as they made their way towards the Shrine of Penitence, where Sora was sure he felt Sombra's reiatsu flare for a moment, but kept to himself so they didn't get distracted. Eventually they had to stop and let Orihime spend some time trying to mend the damaged flower that she had tried to use to assist them during their only fight, which ended up taking some time, but it was well worth it since it restored the combat function of her power... and, at the same time, that allowed them to continue on their way towards the area that Rukia was imprisoned in.
Of course the benefit to traveling at night time was that they shouldn't have to deal with too many enemies, if any at all, and continued on their way toward the Shrine of Penitence, because that was where the others were likely to gather before they tried to spring Rukia, or, if she was free, they would be somewhere nearby, waiting for more of them to show up before they tried to make their way outside the Seireitei.
"HEY, YOU THREE!" a voice said, stopping the three of them in their tracks, though as they turned around they found a Shinigami that appeared to be drunk, if the sake container was anything to go by, staring at them, but that didn't stop them from sweating as they waited to see what the potential enemy's deal was, "Wait just a minute. What are the three of you doing in a place like this? What Division are you in?"
"The Eleventh Division," Sora replied, as they had determined that, if they were asked that question as they made their way through the Seireitei, he would be the one to answer the question, as he seemed to be the most battle ready of the three of them and might cause others to back off, especially someone that was drunk.
"That's weird..." the drunk Shinigami said, pausing in his steps, as he had started walking towards them the moment they had stopped running down the street, though it was clear that he was focused on what Sora had said, "I'm in the Eleventh Division as well, but... this is the first that I've heard of boneheads, who walk around without Zanpakutos, in the combat-specialist Eleventh Division."
Sora's eyes narrowed as he heard that, as none of them had realized that each Division had their own specialization and that each Shinigami knew those facts, meaning that not knowing the differences had cost them in the long run, and his hand went to his Zanpakuto as the drunk Shinigami reached for Orihime and grabbed onto part of her borrowed Shinigami attire, only to reveal an emblem that none of them had noticed on the inside of the clothing they acquired.
"That's a Twelfth Division badge, not one of ours." the drunk Shinigami continued, to which he glanced up at the three of them once more, his mind coming to some sort of conclusion in a matter of seconds, but as that happened Sora readied himself in case he tried anything against his sister, "Of course you wouldn't know that... Who the hell are you guys?"
What happened next was four more Shinigami appearing behind the drunk one and one of them, who happened to be carrying a small rectangular piece of wood, whacked the drunk Shinigami in the head and knocked him to the ground, while at the same time his companions smiled at the three of them for some odd reason... while also making them wonder where they had come from since they hadn't been in the area a couple of second ago.
"That was a close one you guys." one of the Shinigami, not the one that had struck the drunken Shinigami, said, while at the same time the others nodded their heads, making them wonder what was going on at the moment, even though they said nothing, before he glanced at the drunk Shinigami, "Oh all things, to suspect a comrade... what a jerk."
"He was drunk." Orihime replied, waving her hand for a moment, as if that would show them that she, Uryu, and Sora weren't bothered by what had happened, even though she knew that her brother had come close to drawing his blade and attacking if the drunk Shinigami had done anything to her, "But thanks for the assistance."
"Think nothing of it." the one Shinigami, who apparently was the speaker for the entire group, said, while at the same time the others seemed to be focused on something else that the three of them weren't aware of at the moment, "It's only natural for members of the Twelfth Division to come to the aid of other members. Members from the Eleventh Division are always looking for an excuse to come over here and mess with us... besides, when you're in a hurry you tend to forget your Zanpakuto every now and then, so it's no surprise that two of you forgot yours tonight. Come now, we'll escort you to the Division building and make sure this doesn't happen again... maybe our Captain can talk some sense into this guy's Captain in the morning."
It was in that moment, when the Shinigami mentioned his Captain, that Uryu's thoughts on the situation screamed at him as he charged forward, with Sora at his side, and they started to warn Orihime of the danger, only for three of the Shinigami to be consumed in small pillars of fire while the fourth one walked towards their Captain, who happened to be standing nearby... who also ended up blowing the poor guy to pieces as well, before raising an eyebrow, or would have if he still had one left, at the scene in front of him.
"A shield?" Mayuri commented, as he had no idea how such a thing could have formed, especially when none of his targets seemed to say anything before the first set of bombs went off, but that didn't change the fact that there was a cracked orange triangular shield protecting his targets, including the drunk Shinigami for some odd reason.
"Thank you, Uryu, Sora." Orihime said, looking down at the Shinigami from the Eleventh Division, who seemed confused as to what was going on at the moment, before she glanced up at looked at her brother and her friend, "If you hadn't called out to me, we'd be..."
"Nonsense, it's because you spent all that time practicing. That's why we're fine." Uryu stated, to which Sora nodded as well, as he was happy to see that his sister was doing so well with her own powers, making him wonder what she would be able to do with even more practice.
"The same cannot be said for the others," Sora added, referring to the Shinigami that were used as bombs by their own Captain, something that was horribly wrong no matter how he thought about it, and he found that Uryu was nodding his head as well, as if he agreed with him, "Don't punish yourself for what their Captain did to them... instead, the one that should be punished... is HIM!"
Just as he said that, and both he and Uryu turned around, the shield that Orihime had created shattered before their eyes and the parts of her hairpins that had gone into creating it returned to their original resting places, showing that her power wasn't damaged at all, before the two of them focused on the enemy Captain and his subordinate. The Captain seemed to have a skeletal appearance, just based on how his body looked, and his head almost looked like a skull in some areas, though it was clear that most of the outer parts of his face were painted white, followed by the inner portions being covering in black paint, save for his white nose. The Captain's eyes seemed to be golden colored and he was baring his white teeth at them, making it look like he was constantly smiling, while the two of them also noticed that his ears seemed to be covered in what appeared to be a golden cone, and that most of his fingernails, despite being blue colored, were mostly short, save for the long one on his right middle finger.
"That's an interesting technique." Mayuri continued, as if he hadn't been stopped at all by the fact that the two of them had been referring to him as the person that needed to be taught a lesson, because that was never going to happen and he knew that, which was why he was focused on the task at hand and nothing else, "I take it that the technique belongs to the woman sitting behind you? It's an interesting technique... I've never seen anything like it before. How about I let you live as one of my research subjects?"
It was in that moment that the Captain started explaining that he would do a number of things to Orihime if she was forced to become one of his test subjects, such as the administration of drugs being limited to eight hours a day and mechanical work being limited to five hours as well, and he even said that he'd resist the urge to do body modifications that held the risk of death, showing that, despite how terrible he sounded already, he was too eager to get his hands on Orihime and her powers. Sora, despite how much anger he felt, had to smile as Uryu slipped through the air and reappeared a few steps behind the Captain, all while drawing both his bow and an arrow that was currently pointed at his target's face, indicating that he was ready to fire should the need arise.
"I see, you're a Quincy... and you're friend is an Arrancar." Mayuri commented, as he recognized the bow and arrow that was currently being pointed at him, and he also recognized the bone white mask fragment that the other young man was wearing, before he mentally sighed, as this particular Arrancar wasn't the one he wanted to find, "What a rare breed... I wonder how long it has been since I've seen a live Quincy specimen... or a live Arrancar for that matter. However, I regret to inform you, Mr. Quincy, that I've already concluded my research on your kind, so I have no further interest in you and any other members of you kind that might still be alive."
"What do you mean you 'finished your research'?" Sora asked, though since it appeared that a fight was going to break out at any moment he decided to draw his blade and step away from Orihime, because he had the feeling that the now sober Shinigami was going to run any moment and take his sister away from here, which would be perfect for them, "Just who in the world are you?"
"Oh my, you mean to tell me that the Ryoka just pushed into their enemy's headquarters and didn't even bother to do any sort of investigations before hand?" Mayuri inquired, though based on the looks he got he assumed that there had to be one Ryoka that knew more about Soul Society than these two did, and his thoughts pointed to that someone being the same Arrancar that he had been trying to find since Byakuya said he fought it in the World of the Living, "What a careless bunch you all are. I should have thought that you would have at least memorized the thirteen people at the top. I am the Captain of the Twelfth Division, as well as the Second Technological Development Bureau Chief, Mayuri Kurotsuchi... but you won't have to remember all of that, not once I'm through with the two of you."
Sora, sensing a spike in the Captain's reiatsu, indicating that he was going to come at them in the next couple of minutes, turned and looked at his sister for a moment, who nodded her head and started running in the direction they had come from, though at the same time the now sober Shinigami got up and ran after her, but he and Uryu would deal with him once they were finished with the Captain.
"Did I say you could run?!" Mayuri asked, to which he held his left hand towards Orihime and the sober Shinigami, where Uryu and Sora watched as his arm seemed to race towards the pair, showing them one of the modifications that he had made to his body.
As that happened, however, Sora flashed through the air and swung his blade down, severing part of the arm before it could even reach his sister, while at the same time Uryu loosed the arrow that he had formed and let it pierce the stunned hand, blowing the entire thing apart and allowing Orihime to depart from the area, before they turned their attention back to Mayuri and his companion, who had to be the Lieutenant.
"Did we say that you could follow them?" Uryu asked in return, just as Sora flashed back to his side and held himself at the ready, as they both knew that it was only a matter of time until the Captain got serious and attacked them, and neither of them knew if they were strong enough to take him on, even two on one since they had no idea what his Lieutenant was going to do first.
"Dear, oh dear, I said I'm not interested in either of you." Mayuri commented, as he was displeased that the two of them had gotten in his way of retrieving one of the invading Ryoka that he was now interested in studying, especially since the Arrancar he really wanted was so much stronger than the one in front of him, before he looked down at the damaged attachment that had been his left arm and hand, "Oh dear, actually attaching this takes some time and effort. Now this is going to hurt so bad that my head will feel like it's melting."
What happened next, as Uryu and Sora got some distance between them and Mayuri, was that the insane Captain put some pressure on what was left of his left arm and detached the rest of it, before pulling out a syringe of some kind and injected the liquid into his left arm, allowing them to watch as his arm glowed with some reiatsu before it was fully grown once more, revealing that he had some sort of regeneration mixture that acted insanely fast.
"It seems that the woman has gotten away for now... that's fine." Mayuri continued, to which he flexed his fingers for a moment, making sure that they worked as well as they had before his old left arm and hand had been destroyed, before he focused on his opponents, "If there's a hair or two of hers laying around here, that will be more than enough for me to track her later on. I so badly want to catch her and study her until she turns to mush. I hate to lose a minute of study time, or even a second for that matter."
Uryu, upon hearing that, loosed the new arrow he had formed right at Mayuri, who moved out of the way a little to avoid the attack, even though that was what Uryu wanted as he flashed into the air above the Captain and loosed a second arrow down at his back, causing a small explosion to sound the moment the arrow came into contact with his body... only for both him and Sora to be surprise when Mayuri appeared on the roof area that Uryu was currently standing on.
"Not bad, you both move quite well." Mayuri said, referring to the point where the Arrancar had moved fast to cut part of his arm off, while at the same time making a mention to what the Quincy was able to do, before focusing his attention on what he was going to do next, "The previous move and the one just now... that was Flying Curtain Legs, wasn't it? it's a high level Quincy technique of rapid movement, whereby one rides a flow of reiatsu created under the feet... I never would have expected a young man like yourself to be trained in such a technique. It seems that you are bursting with talent... the same, however, cannot be said for your companion, as his level of Sonido, the Arrancar equivalent to our Shunpo, is barely worthy of a Fifth Seat's position, and that's being generous in case he's holding back. But, despite your speed, I can't have either of you evading me and scurrying around the area, because I fully intend to find that woman again and capture her for my studies... I even have a room set aside for the Arrancar that managed to wound two Captains so far. Since I am going to be a busy man in the near future, I shall use the method that requires the least amount of effort."
Both Uryu and Sora watched as Mayuri grabbed onto the handle of his Zanpakuto, which they only now noticed he had positioned in front of his body since the scabbard was right in front of his body, almost between the legs, and started to draw his Zanpakuto... before saying the Release Call, 'Rip', and then the name of his blade, Ashisogi Jizo. The blade transformed the moment that happened, becoming deformed trident with curved, serpentine blades, where the middle blade was straighter and longer than the side blades, and appeared to ascend from the guard, which was shaped like a baby's head with hands clasped in prayer. All of that was mounted on his sword's normal hilt, which had more ornate spiky protrusions on either side, made to resemble golden leaves right below the guard, but, at the same time, both Uryu and Sora knew that it was a dangerous weapon, especially with the smoke emitting from the baby's mouth at the moment, which likely contained some sort of poison since they were dealing with a mad scientist. The moment following the blade's transformation Mayuri started to move towards Uryu, who stalled since he had no idea what sort of ability the Zanpakuto possessed, before the Lieutenant moved into the space between him and the Captain... though that was short lived as Sora flashed beside her and tackled her out of the way, allowing both of them to move before they were hit, causing a look of annoyance to flash on the Captain's face for a moment.
Of course, as luck would have it, the Lieutenant recovered quickly and latched onto Uryu as he moved away from the Captain, showing that she was faster than she looked, only for her Captain to appear behind her and slice through both her and Uryu at the same time, cutting a horizontal gash through the back of his Lieutenant and Uryu's left shoulder at the same time, causing the two of them to disengage when they hit the ground... though the frown remained on Mayuri's face as he approached his Lieutenant, just as Uryu leaned against a wall as Sora landed nearby.
"Why?" Mayuri asked, surprising both Uryu and Sora for a moment as he punched his Lieutenant in the face, causing her to fall to the ground and rest against the wall that happened to be near Uryu's position, "You fool. I thought I taught you not to let go, even if your arm was severed."
"M... My deepest apologies." the Lieutenant replied, though, oddly enough, there didn't appear to be any emotion behind her words, as if she was a creation of some kind that had none, but she made no move to get up any further than the kneeling position she was currently in.
"Just as well I suppose... I never expected anything from you in the first place." Mayuri said, to which he glanced away from his Lieutenant and stared at Uryu for a few seconds, indicating that he might be getting ready to finish part of the fight so he could chase after Orihime again, "Now that we come this far, it seems that I can finish this with no more effort than what is required to strangle a infant. What's wrong, Quincy? You're sweating quite a bit. The must hurt. I'm quite amazed you can bare it without screaming. You have some impressive mental fortitude as well, I am quite impressed. I guess that this isn't the first time you've been cut by a sword..."
Whatever he was going to say was cut off by his Lieutenant moaning for a moment, showing that she was definitely in pain at the moment, causing him to turn his frown back towards her, as he had been having fun taunting his opponent while ignoring one of them entirely, as he'd cut them both down eventually.
"M... My deepest apologies." the Lieutenant commented, though both Uryu and Sora could tell that she was in pain at the moment, despite the fact that she had the same neutral face that she had been wearing the entire time she had been watching them earlier, "Mayuri-sama, may I please also have some regenerating medicine? It seems that my wound also extends into my lungs. A... At this rate, I might not be able to maintain life func..."
"Are you trying to make a FOOL OF ME?!" Mayuri snapped, to which both Uryu and Sora watched as he matched up to his Lieutenant and started stomping down on her side, inflicting even more pain onto her already wounded body, before he started kicking her to remind her of her place, one that she always seemed to forget from time to time, "Eh, are you?! Are you trying to say that your body will become useless from one tiny wound?!"
"Stop it!" Sora stated, as he couldn't believe what he and Uryu were seeing at the moment, as this Captain was even worse than the one that Uryu and Sombra had met in the World of the Living, as it looked like he was intentionally trying to kill his Lieutenant for failing him, "Can't you see that your Lieutenant is going to die if you don't help her? Aren't the two of you supposed to be comrades in some manner?"
"Are you trying to make a fool out of me, too?" Mayuri asked, as he turned his head slightly to stare at the Arrancar once more, because it was interesting that the creature even seemed to care about his Lieutenant, while at the same time noticing that the Quincy seemed to be of the same mind set, before he picked up his companion, "She's going to die just from this? The body I built is going to stop functioning from such a light wound, is that it? You ought to be more careful about who you insult."
"You... you made her?" Uryu asked, as he had no idea that Soul Society had the technology to do something like this, but then again there were many things about Soul Society that he didn't know and might never know, not that he was actually interested in everything the Captains did.
"That's right. Why don't I tell you her name... Nemu Kurotsuchi." Mayuri said, to which he noticed that both the Quincy and the Arrancar were shocked for a few seconds, as if they were making the connection for themselves, only for him to decide that he would deprive them of that as well, "I made her by concentrating the essence of my faux soul technology and my faux body technology. She is, in essence, my daughter... so don't wave your creepy sense of justice here. No matter how I treat this thing, a pair of strangers like you two have no right to say anything."
Uryu tried to move his arm, to stop what was going on since Mayuri slammed Nemu into the wall that was behind her, while also dropping her in the process, but that was when Mayuri explained that his Zanpakuto's ability was to strip the movement from the four limbs that it could cut, meaning that if he cut someone's arm, like he did for Uryu, his target wouldn't be able to move his arm for some time. His Zanpakuto specifically targeted the signs that told the brain to move a limb and severed them, and as he explained that he stabbed Uryu in the arm, showing them that, when he screamed a few second later, that the nerves were still alive, and the only the 'move' signs had been cut. After that Mayuri stated that Nemu could have the death blow so he could focus on Sora, mostly so he could get this over with so he could chase Orihime once more, before remembering that he had cut Nemu as well, to which he called her worthless and raised his Zanpakuto in order to kill his own Lieutenant. What stopped him was Sora releasing his reiatsu, as he was tired of letting this man get away with what he was doing and whatever else he had done before this point in time, before Sora sighed as he raised his blade and made sure that it was facing the Captain.
"You know, I haven't had a reason to do this since I became an Arrancar," Sora said, using the knowledge that he had been given the moment he had changed from a Hollow and transformed into the same state that Sombra was, even if he was weaker than his superior, before his blade glowed for a couple of seconds, "Bind them, Serpiente."
Uryu and Mayuri averted their eyes for a few seconds as Sora was obscured from their vision thanks to the smoke that came from his energy expanding, but as the smoke cleared Uryu's eyes widened as he stared at the form that was standing behind the Captain. Orihime had told him and Chad about the time that Sora had attacked her, and even Sora told them his viewpoint of that night, so it was easy for him to recognize the more Hollow like Sora when the smoke cleared, as his legs had merged back into the lower body of a snake, one that was sized to fit a Human frame and not the monster he had been when he assaulted his sister. The scales on the snake portion of his body were black, just like they had been before he became an Arrancar, and the coloration of his arms turned red again, though the right half of the mask he had worn when he was a Hollow had returned, though now he looked more like a naga, a person that was half snake and half Human. Uryu was also surprised to find that Sora's reiatsu was stronger in this form than when his true power was sealed, making him wonder just how much power Sombra would possess if he found his Arrancar blade and finally had access to his true power... though that though actually terrified him, as Sombra was already very strong on his own and he had no idea how strong he'd be if he had his full power.
"Now this is interesting," Mayuri said, turning to face the Arrancar that he had been ignoring the entire time, as he had thought the creature had been weak, and he still was weak compared to the power of a Captain, but the reiatsu he felt showed that he was slightly stronger than he gave him credit for, "I was not expecting you to release your sword before I had a chance to get to you, not that thi..."
It was in that moment that Sora struck, as he raced towards the Captain while he was still talking and avoided the incoming attack that came his way, maybe surprising Mayuri for a moment, before he took a deep breath and spat some poison onto his target's right hand, forcing him to drop his Zanpakuto in surprise. He then followed that up by spinning his tail around and slammed the side of it into Mayuri's chest, knocking him through the air and put some distance between them, though at the same time he knew that it was only temporary, as the Captain was fast and could be back where he was standing in a matter of seconds. As he turned to assist Uryu, however, he found a photo that had been dropped the moment he struck Mayuri, one that, when he looked at it, showed an old man, dressed up in similar clothing to what Uryu had been wearing earlier, and realized what he had stumbled upon, as he recalled why Uryu hated the Shinigami as much as he did... because his grandfather, his sensei, had been killed by Hollows and the Shinigami arrived too late to help him, only for this guy to get his hands on the body Uryu's grandfather.
Suffice it to say that when Sora showed Uryu the picture, as he now believed that there was a reason behind it being dropped in such a manner, he went silent for a moment before his own reiatsu flared, flattening the immediate area around his feet as he pushed himself to stand once more... all while his energy rolled off of him in the form of a web, or at the very least that was what Sora thought it was.
"I'm glad that Orihime's not here to see this," Uryu commented, though at the same time strands of energy wrapped around his arm and flashed the moment whatever he was doing was complete, but as those strands disappeared Sora watched as Uryu was able to move his left arm once more, "because I'm going to do everything in my power to kill him and avenge my grandfather. I'm sure he knows this technique, but I'll tell you about it; it's called Ransotengai, or Heavenly Wind Puppet Suit, and it allows me to control parts of my body using strings of reiryoku. I'm honestly not sure how long I'll be able to hold this together, against an opponent like him, so we might only have one shot at beating him... Sora, can you keep him distracted for a couple of seconds?"
"Honestly, considering that we're fighting a Captain, I doubt I'll be able to hold out for too long," Sora admitted, as he was surprised that his first few attacks had actually hit his target and knocked him away, but he still wasn't sure if that was due to his transformation or if Mayuri was gathering more information on him, to use against Sombra later on, "Why, what do have planned?"
"In order to gain enough power to defeat him, in such a short amount of time, I need to disobey my sensei once more and remove this special glove that I am wearing," Uryu said, though as he gestured with his hand, showing Sora the glove in question, he formed his bow as well, because either way he was going to do this no matter what, "My grandfather called the form that's associated with removing the glove as Letzt Stil... or Destruction Sage: Final Form. It should give me the power to destroy our opponent and avenge my grandfather, not to mention all of the other Quincy's that he's taken for his experiments since he became a Captain..."
"I get it, it's a trump card of sorts." Sora stated, to which Uryu looked at him for a moment, as he had been about to tell him about the drawback of this power, but then, since they were already running out of time, he decided to just nod and go with it, as there was no telling what their opponent was doing.
"I hope you two enjoyed your little strategy meeting," Mayuri said, though at the same time he held out his Zanpakuto and allowed his own reiatsu to gather, as he could tell that they were planning something big and that he was growing tired of dealing with them, so he decided to skip to the end and show them true despair, "Bankai. Konjiki Ashisogi Jizo."
Sora and Uryu watched as the baby's head on the guard opened its mouth for a couple of seconds, though that was when it produced a giant creature with the body of a caterpillar in a red cape, with a grotesque golden baby's head and arms, and a silver halo hovering around its head. Near the back of the halo were four bells, two on each side, but while they noticed that they also noticed that Mayuri's Zanpakuto returned to its sealed state, as it looked like a katana once more, though that didn't stop them from realizing that he was going to try and kill them to get to Orihime.
"I take back what I said... I don't stand a chance against that thing." Sora said, as he was more nervous than he was a couple of second ago, because the two of them might have been able to defeat Mayuri before this happened, but with that creature, and the fact that he had no idea how to perform a Cero, he was realizing just how screwed he was.
Uryu, on the other hand, took the moment that was available and snapped off a portion of his glove, one of the silver colored bars that came out when he formed his bow, and was temporarily consumed by his own reiatsu, though when it settled down Sora moved to the side, out of the way, and his eyes widened as he took in Uryu's appearance. He looked more battle-ready than he had been moments ago, as he now had silver colored armor on the left side of his body, in a Quincy style he guessed, and had a blue flame-like wing coming from behind him as well, which broke down the structures around him and gave him more energy to work with. The moment the transformation was complete Mayuri ordered his Bankai to move forward and kill them, causing it to reveal a number of blades that were near the neck area as it started to move forward and Uryu, standing his ground, forged an arrow from all the particles he was gathering and readied himself for what was going to happen next... only for Sora to cover his eyes as Uryu released the arrow and a blinding light erupted in front of him, though he could have sworn that he heard the scream of Mayuri's Bankai as it was struck.
When Sora opened his eyes he found that the caterpillar creature had been split down the middle, perfectly in half from the looks of it, and Mayuri, who had been in the way of the attack, had a large hole where his heart should have been located, along with the fact that he was somehow missing the entirety of his left arm and shoulder... but, before Uryu could prep another arrow and kill him, Mayuri stabbed himself in the neck and turned himself into some kind of liquid, to which the wounded and defeated Captain departed from the area.
"Sora, I'll finish up here and move on to the Shrine of Penitence," Uryu said, though he let out a sigh, as it appeared that fate had other plans for him, as he had been hoping to avenge his grandfather before his powers disappeared from breaking his limits for a few moments, before he turned to look at the Arrancar, "You should make sure that Orihime is safe, as well as figure out where that Shinigami took her, before coming after me so we can join the others as they push to the cell that Rukia is being held in."
Sora, not knowing what else to do at the moment, nodded his head and let go of the reiatsu he had gathered for his own transformation, allowing some smoke to form around him as he reverted back to his sealed state, with his attire still in pristine condition, before he sheathed his blade and headed down the path he, Uryu, and Orihime had taken to reach this point, all while hoping that his sister was safe. Uryu, on the other hand, was going to have some words with Nemu, about her creator and the poison he had been inflicted with by her Captain's Bankai, which Sora was able to avoid because of the distance he put between himself and the fight, before he continued towards his destination... though, at the same time, he hoped that Ichigo and Sombra, as well as Chad for that matter, were safe and sound. He had the strangest feeling that two of them were training at the moment, preparing themselves for something major, and he hoped that he could reach them before he lost all of his power, but time, he guessed, would tell him what would happen.
Sombra found something interesting when he and Ichigo started their Bankai training, something that he would have to ask Yoruichi about later if he thought about it, and that was the fact that Zangetsu was actively trying to kill Ichigo, who was trying to get him to submit to his will, while Shokyo willingly trained him with no questions asked. Every time he asked Shokyo why she was so willing to do this, while other Zanpakuto would fight their wielder, all she told him was that she was preparing him for a future battle, one that he would need all his power in if he wanted to survive the encounter, and said nothing more about it. The way she said that made him think about his Arrancar blade, that it might have a spirit inside it that would come into the inner world he had found Shokyo in, and made him wonder if that was the fight she was referring to, that he would have to fight and defeat the source of his real power. If that was the case, and he was thinking that it might be the case, Shokyo was making sure that he was ready for something big, as if the spirit in the Arrancar blade might be powerful, but he knew that time would tell him what was really going on. He also had to admit that the powers that Shokyo was telling him about, as in what he would be able to do once he had unlocked Bankai, were far grander than what he expected them to be, so much so that he decided to abide by her sudden request not to show the others until he actually activated his Bankai in battle... something that he decided to go along with, because he knew that she could easily change her mind and force him to try and force her to submit, something that he'd rather avoid.
At the same time, while they were training, it wasn't hard for them to hear the sounds of Zangetsu beating up Ichigo, as he was constantly breaking the blades that he had summoned to do this trial with and usually either cut Ichigo to teach him a lesson or just said something until he forced Ichigo back onto his feet. He could tell that Ichigo's Zanpakuto spirit was in the mindset for training, in the sense that he was trying to resist Ichigo's attempts to force him to submit, and, despite the fact that they only had three days of training before this was over, Shokyo insisted they also take breaks, which involved them observing both Ichigo and Zangetsu's movements so they could see his progress. As that happened Sombra also glanced at Yoruichi from time to time, who had pulled something out of her hair and seemed to be channeling some reiatsu into it, either to keep track of the time that was outside the training area or to keep Zangetsu materialized until the point where he'd go back into Ichigo's inner world. Right now Sombra felt sorry for Ichigo, as he was trying his hardest to overcome Zangetsu and his opponent was going everything in his power to stop him from succeeding in his mission, but he was sure that he'd be able to overcome Zangetsu and win, provided that he had enough time to do all of the training that he needed to do to learn his Bankai.
Of course Sombra winced as Zangetsu knocked Ichigo through the air and caused his friend to bounce around a few times, before finally coming to a stop some distance away from where he had been standing a few seconds ago, where he laid on the floor as he attempted to get some of his energy back... though both Yoruichi and Zangetsu approached him at different times, each appearing to have something they wanted to say to him in regards to his training.
"Ichigo, you only have three days to complete your training, and you'll never reach Bankai if you constantly waste time lying on the ground." Yoruichi commented, though where most would suspect that she would be a little rude towards someone she barely knew, even if Kisuke had trained him, her tone was still stern, but not pushy, as she knew that he had the potential to overcome this trial.
"It's fine." Zangetsu said, approaching a coughing Ichigo, because as Yoruichi started to talk Ichigo picked himself up a little and coughed some blood onto the ground, though at the same time he held the same sword that he had picked up from the moment they started training, as it was designed to be his weapon until Ichigo managed to shatter it, which would be hard for him to accomplish, "If he cannot stand on his own, than I shall just drag him onto his feet!"
Ichigo turned his head for a moment and glared at Zangetsu with disbelief for a moment, as he couldn't believe that the spirit of his Zanpakuto was so aggressive about this whole thing, and again wondered why he couldn't be more like Shokyo, since both he and Sombra weren't Shinigami and the both should, in his own opinion, have Zanpakuto that broke the rules of the other Shinigami. As he thought about that, however, he guessed that since Zangetsu was larger than most swords, and was constantly in the Shikai form instead of a sealed form like Sombra kept Shokyo in her katana form for the most part, breaking too many rules was impossible for him to begin with, to which he sighed as he got back onto his feet, drew another blade from the ground, and resumed his fight with Zangetsu. The fact that Sombra was having an easier time learning his Bankai, since Shokyo was practically giving it to him, made him focus on what he was doing so he could find a way to match the speed and power that Zangetsu was putting out, and then he could think about trying to overcome him once he reached that point in time. The only problem was that every time he thought he was improving in some manner, like catching up in speed or power, Zangetsu seemed to up his own abilities to keep him from figuring out his limits, making it harder for him to determine what was going on despite the fact that he knew that he was catching up to his Zanpakuto spirit... even if the process was, in his own opinions, quite slow at times.
As Sombra observed all of this he and Shokyo watched as Ichigo broke eighteen blades in his search for the 'true Zangetsu' that would allow him to defeat Zangetsu, though instead of taking the blades around him and trying them out, which was what he would have done in Ichigo's position, Ichigo ran all over the chamber and found the one that he was used to carrying since he awoke Zangetsu... who arrived behind Ichigo and shattered the lookalike with a single swing, causing him and Shokyo to sigh and shake their heads as Ichigo stared at the broken blade with shock on his face.
"Too soft." Zangetsu commented, to which he cut Ichigo's left shoulder, and maybe half of that side of his chest as well, before the force of the attack knocked Ichigo backwards by a few steps, putting him close to another blade, "I told you, all the blades here are pieces of your heart. This is a trial where you must find the piece of your heart, out of all the pieces around you, that was formed only for battle and for nothing else. The blade you just picked was your frailty trying to rely on me all the time. While you cannot even distinguish that fact, do not speak of Bankai! Come, Ichigo, draw your next blade. You know that you do not have time to be kneeling."
"Yeah... you damn right I don't have time for that." Ichigo replied, to which he stood up, wiped some of the blood from his mouth, grabbed the blade that was sitting off to his right and pulled it out of the ground, before he readied himself for the next part of the battle.
As Ichigo got back to his own training, and continued to battle against Zangetsu, Sombra and Shokyo returned to the area that they were training in, out of sight from where Ichigo was located, and resumed what they were doing before they took their short break. So far the quickest way that Sombra had learned what Shokyo had to teach him was through the use of battling her every now and then, as they knew the same techniques and could match each other in strength and power, for the most part, and it made it look like they were doing the same thing that Ichigo and Zangetsu were doing, but the difference was that they were practicing skills and Ichigo was trying to force Zangetsu into submission. Basically if Sombra used one of the offensive powers that she taught him there was one of two responses, either use the same power, causing the force of the two attacks to cancel each other out, or use a defensive power to stop the attack in it's tracks. The other thing she did was use the same Kido attacks that he used, so he he wanted to use Sokatsui for instance she would either recite the incantation or fire the attack immediately, as it all depended on which route he took, and they always canceled each other out in that regard, while also proving Yoruichi right that no one could detect them, since he was sure that his power would have drawn others to this location.
It was the same tactic they had used back in his inner world, which they had first met each other and Shokyo gave him her name and Release Call, and right now they were using it to great effect, as this training allowed Sombra to quickly get a feel for all the powers that he was being taught at the moment... while at the same time Shokyo made sure that he had plenty of breaks so he didn't tire himself out, and even if he desired to continue going she would force a break to make sure that he took one.
What happened the next time they took a break, for longer than a few minutes, was when they returned to observing Ichigo's progress, though as they did that, and stood near Yoruichi, who was kneeling as she observed the battle, Ichigo broke another sword and was knocked away from Zangetsu. This time, unlike the last time they were here, Sombra noticed that Ichigo's posture didn't break when his weapon was broken, showing that he was absorbing the teachings that Zangetsu was giving him, even if he wasn't beating him just yet, but at the same time he tossed the broken blade aside and drew the next one. What Sombra found to be interesting was that the previous blade was the fifty-first blade that Zangetsu had broken and that this next one was the fifty-second blade, making him wonder if Ichigo was quickly moving through the blades around him or if he and Shokyo had spent a lot of time on their own training that he didn't notice the time move by so quickly. The next swing that came from Zangetsu was blocked by Ichigo, impressing Sombra by the fact that he was able to actually able to parry the attack, while at the same time appearing to have the same power that Zangetsu was using so he could force the attack backwards and then, without losing any speed, attack Zangetsu with his own blade... who jumped into the air to avoid the attack, allowing Ichigo to destroy the boulder that happened to be behind where Zangetsu had been standing, surprising Ichigo for a moment.
Zangetsu used that instant to swing his sword in a downwards motion and snapped Ichigo's blade into two pieces, causing Ichigo's look of confusion to spread for a moment, before Zangetsu moved in front of him and backhanded him, knocking him through the air until he collided with one of the larger rock formations... but, from what he and Shokyo could tell, Ichigo was fine and didn't need assistance, meaning that he was rapidly adapting his strategy and fighting style.
"Ichigo managed to match his opponent's sword speed while redirecting the blade itself," Yoruichi commented, to which she turned her head a little and noticed both Sombra and Shokyo nodding their heads, as they both knew, from the training that Kisuke gave Sombra earlier, that they knew what was going on, and that they were curious as to what else Ichigo could do, "and then, without losing any speed, he shifted to counterattack instantly."
"It's clear, to anyone that saw how he fought previously, that he's evolved from his previous fighting style," Sombra said, as he understood what Yoruichi was saying at the moment, though at the same time he honestly wondered just how much stronger Ichigo was going to get before he reached Bankai, as his reiatsu was stronger than it had been when they started their training, "which was when he clearly relied on Zangetsu's wealth of power. Now, however, he's absorbing it with frightening speed and at a frightening level."
"Just like you at times," Yoruichi added, as she had seen and heard about Sombra's progress when he was training with only her and Kisuke, before he started training with Ichigo after unlocking Shokyo, which was when his power jumped to a level they weren't expecting, "Kisuke was right... you two are truly gifted in your own ways."
Sombra nodded as he and Shokyo watched the training that was going on at the moment, as Ichigo and Zangetsu continued to fight with each other, swinging their blades at each other as they moved throughout the entire area that was their training grounds, though they were all impressed by Ichigo's speed and skill at adapting to the training. As they watched Yoruichi made a comment that the next blade Ichigo fought with showed more improvement, as he fought with it for over five minutes, only for the next clash of blades to never arrive as Zangetsu seemed to leave the doll that he was forced into, to which the doll fell to the ground and Ichigo stared at it with a look of confusion on his face. Sombra guessed that the first day must have been over already, making him realize that the amount of time that he spent with Shokyo had been for some long that he hadn't taken into consideration that the majority of the day must have already gone by, though when he turned towards Yoruichi she nodded and Shokyo, sensing that the day was indeed over, vanished as quickly as she had arrived, allowing Sombra to revert his blade back to normal and sheath it as they approached Ichigo.
"Put down the sword, Ichigo." Yoruichi said, though she was speaking to both him and Sombra at the same time, as what she had to say applied to the two of them, and she found that Sombra was already waiting to hear her words while Ichigo looked a little annoyed that the training session was over already, "The first day is done. It's time for both you and Sombra to rest and relax before tomorrow morning arrives... so, if you'll both follow me, there's something I want to show you while you do just that."
Sombra and Ichigo raised their eyebrows as they followed after her, because she had them take a short walk through the underground training area and come to a stop at a sight that Sombra immediately recognized, as the hot springs that rested in front of them looked exactly like the one that was in Kisuke's training area. Sombra also found that, in case they actually needed to use this area, Yoruichi had also gone to one of the supply buildings that rested throughout the Seireitei and claimed some towels and other items they might need for something like this, showing how far she had planned ahead when they entered this part of Soul Society. Ichigo, finding nothing strange with the hot springs, moved behind one of the rocks and changed into some more appropriate clothing, as in nothing but something for around his waist, before he climbed into the water, though as he did that he found Sombra, who had done the same thing at the same time that he did, had also climbed into the water... and, based on the look on his face, he liked what was going on at the moment, to which he smiled as well as he climbed into the warm water.
"I didn't realize that it was already nighttime," Ichigo commented, though at the same time he noticed that Yoruichi was checking out something instead of doing anything else, while noticing that Sombra didn't seem to mind the fact that telling time was difficult down here, "You can't tell night from day in here, so that sense goes out the window."
Sombra watched as Ichigo washed his face with some of the water, where the cut on the right side of his face, some distance under his right eye, healed in a matter of seconds and caused him to understand that Kisuke and Yoruichi must have come from Soul Society, something that he had thought about many times and this only confirmed it, because this seemed to be the original hot springs that inspired the other one he knew about. Ichigo, on the other hand, seemed amazed by the fact that all of his wounds were healing at a rapid rate, especially some of the more terrible ones that Zaraki had inflicted upon him, and started splashing around a few times to make sure his entire body was covered, even drinking some of the water in the hopes that it would work that way as well.
"Hey Sombra, how's the water?" Yoruichi asked, because she knew that Sombra would give her an honest answer to her question, especially since it appeared that Ichigo was enjoying himself and acting like a kid, and she honestly wanted a few minutes to relax after the amount of time she spent gathering information before this point in time.
"It's perfect Yoruichi." Sombra replied, as it was the same temperature as the other hot springs, which was why he was relaxing for the first time since he found himself in Soul Society, and he knew that Yoruichi must have wanted to get in as well, something that he was more than okay with, especially after the few times the two of them had relaxed in the one underneath Kisuke's shop.
"I'm glad to hear that." Yoruichi said, to which she raised her hand and undid the part of her clothing that was her belt, which tied the top to the bottom and prevented them from falling apart, and let it fall to the ground, before she gripped the underside of her shirt piece, "Well then, I'm going to get in as well."
"WHAT?! ARE YOU STUPID?!" Ichigo stated, shock crossing over his face the moment he heard that piece of information, while at the same time Sombra noticed that an embarrassed look appeared a few seconds later, making him wonder what was going through Ichigo's mind at the moment, "You can't do that?"
"Ichigo, it's perfectly fine for her to do something like this." Sombra spoke up, as he honestly didn't see any reason to exclude Yoruichi from spending some time in the hot springs and relax, because it appeared that Ichigo forgot about all the hard work she did in making sure that this place was up and running and that they had the supplies they needed for their Bankai training.
"Why are you taking the bottoms off first?!" Ichigo asked, as he had glanced over the rocks that were separating him and Sombra from where Yoruichi was standing, before he quickly turned back with a flustered look on his face, causing some confusion to appear on Sombra's face for a moment, as he had no idea what Ichigo was doing.
"Ichigo, you're so shy that you react as I expect you to do in this situation." Yoruichi said, though at the same time Sombra knew that she was smiling, as it appeared that she found something about this situation to be funny, before he noticed a familiar black cat walk out and descend into the water, who turned towards Ichigo, who was covering his eyes, and spoke once more, "There's no problem if I'm in this form, is there?"
"Y... You..." Ichigo replied, to which Sombra noticed that the look on his friend's face turned into a flustered look, with some hint of annoyance as he pulled his hands from his face and glared at Yoruichi, while at the same time he seemed to be thinking about something else, "Do you want me to drown you, dammit?"
"Oh come on Ichigo, leave her alone." Sombra said, though at the same time he leaned back and stared at the area around them, thinking about what he had thought about several times while they had been down here, before he turned towards Yoruichi, who was enjoying herself, even in her cat form, "Say, Yoruichi, I've been thinking. This place looks an exact replica of the underground training area under Kisuke's shop. Is there a reason for that?"
"I'm glad that you noticed that," Yoruichi stated, as she knew that both he and Ichigo would have noticed that the moment they came down here, and she had noticed the looks in their eyes the moment they realized where they were going to be training for the next few days, "The training area under Kisuke's store was made to resemble this place, where he and I spent many weeks covertly building this place when we were children, as our secret playground, only later to turn it into a secret training ground when he joined the Gotei 13 and I joined the Onmitsukido."
"W... Wait a second..." Ichigo said, quickly turning his head towards Yoruichi, who had shifted back into her human form and sat on the edge of the hot springs, instantly causing Ichigo's face to fluster as he fell back into the water to avoid seeing what she was showing him, causing her to laugh a little as she slipped back into the water and moved closer to where Sombra was sitting, noticing that he was the only person that never seemed flustered by what she did.
"So, you're saying that Kisuke was once a Shinigami?" Sombra asked, as he was more focused on the questions that were in his head than on what Ichigo was doing, though he felt that Ichigo shouldn't be doing stuff like this, but maybe it was because he had some experience with Yoruichi when she was like this, back when they both used the host springs in Kisuke's underground training area.
"You don't sound all that surprised." Yoruichi commented, though at the same time Ichigo pulled himself back up for some air, before sitting down where he had been moments ago, but, at the same time, he had trouble looking in her direction, especially after what she had done to him for some fun.
"Well, I'm an Arrancar that's managed to find a Zanpakuto spirit inside what used to be an Asauchi, so for a time I just thought that he was someone like Ichigo," Sombra replied, to which Yoruichi nodded her head in understanding, as both she and Kisuke had heard the reports that he made on the activities that he and Ichigo got into, "but, after meeting Ikkaku and Yumichika early into our invasion, I began to think differently, especially with Ikkaku's brief comment. I began to wonder if Kisuke was a former Shinigami, which would have explained all the bits of Soul Society and everything else that he knew about and imparted to me during our training sessions, and this is the first time that we can get some verification on who he actually is, or was as the case might be."
"Kisuke is the previous Captain of the Twelfth Division," Yoruichi said, giving both Ichigo and Sombra some additional information on the man that had assisted them in their training, especially since Sombra often saw Kiskue as a mentor will everything that he had been taught before he met Ichigo, "and, on top of that, he's the Founder and the First Chief of the Technological Development Bureau... and, if you're really interested, he's the one who helped develop the training method that involves the Tenshintei, as it's how he unlocked his own Bankai years ago."
"And what about you, Yoruichi?" Sombra asked, because if Yoruichi was willing to talk about Kisuke, or at the very least confirm that he was a Shinigami and that he was a Captain at one point, he was hoping that maybe Yoruichi was willing to share something else with them, so he could understand who she had been and how that shaped her life.
"I was the former Captain of the Second Division, as well as the former Commander of the Onmisukido," Yoruichi said, as she knew that she'd tell Sombra anything, mostly to see if something she said could trigger the return of some of his memories, but just titles alone wouldn't help all that much.
"So you both were big shots..." Ichigo commented, though at the same time he didn't have much to say to that, as it appeared that Yoruichi knew what she was talking about and that he should mind his business at times, but then he thought about something and turned towards Sombra, "You know, that reminds me, you showed absolutely no reaction towards Yoruichi being a woman, when everyone, including myself, thought she was a male cat."
"That's because I've known that she's actually a spirit and not a cat since before I met you and your friends," Sombra explained, thinking back to the first time he had seen Yoruichi in her Human form, along with being shocked that she was a woman and not a man, "True, I was caught off guard the first time I noticed that her cat form was different than her true form, but I've accepted that she's a woman and that she's an excellent teacher that will make sure you understand what she's trying to teach you. Honestly, I'm not sure why you get so flustered when you see her with nothing on, but I guess that's something that only Humans understand, even though I've felt her in this situation before today."
Ichigo opened his mouth to say something, as the words made him think about something entirely different and he wanted to clarify it, but, at the same time, Yoruichi moved towards Sombra's back and massaged some of his muscles, showing him exactly what Sombra meant... and, as he watched them, he noticed that Sombra seemed to like the motions and that, oddly enough, Yoruichi had a smile on her face. He kept his mouth shut as he watched them, as there was clearly something between them that he and the others didn't know about, but, at the same time, he had more to think about, as he continued to forget that Sombra didn't have any memories before he arrived in Karakura Town, and clearly he was striving to recreate who he thought he was. Sombra and Yoruichi were friends, just like he was friends with Chad and Orihime, and he felt embarrassed to think that there might be something more between them, because it would have been unfair for Sombra since he clearly had trouble understanding what a friend was, meaning that falling in love might not have crossed his mind at all... but he banished that thought soon enough, as he needed to focus on relaxing and then getting some rest so he could continue his Bankai training in the morning.
Soon enough Yoruichi called that it was time for them to get out of the hot springs and get some rest, to which Ichigo nodded his head and took a position nearby, where he could rest for the night and get some energy back, while Sombra leaned against one of the rock formations and did the same thing. Yoruichi, on the other hand, watched over the two of them and the training area as she headed outside to watch what time it was, to make sure she could wake them when it was time, but, even as she did that, she felt several reiatsus fire off all over Soul Society. She raised an eyebrow as she felt the clash of Captains, as it appeared that two of them were dueling at the moment, though from what she could tell it wasn't training, it seemed like the two Captains in question were trying to kill each other, or at least one was trying to kill the other. It appeared that their invasion must have sparked something inside the hearts of several Shinigami, at the very least that was what she assumed was going on, which meant that most of the Shinigami were busy either fighting each other or trying to understand what was happening at the moment, meaning that they wouldn't be looking for Ichigo and Sombra for some time, giving them the time they needed to complete their training.
As she sat on her perch, and looked at the rising sun, she thought about the speed that Ichigo was making in his own training, as it was an unexpectedly remarkable pace when she compared it to other Shinigami that went through some intense training, and the only one that could match him was Sombra. The Arrancar was making great progress in terms of what he was doing with Shokyo, as he was progressing at the same speed that Ichigo was moving at, and she could tell that his own reiatsu was getting even stronger as a result, pushing ever so closer to the point where he might cross over into the world of a Vasto Lorde. Even as an Adjuchas he was strong, more so than the other Adjuchas ranked Arrancar and Hollows she remembered Soul Society finding and destroying, as he was able to beat down one of the strong Captains that currently lead one of the Divisions, but if he surpassed the power he had been wielding earlier, when the door to the Shrine of Penitence was open, the only Captain that might be able to defeat him was the Captain-Commander. She was positive on that fact, because if Sombra was able to achieve Bankai, and that seemed like a very real possibility, he would set himself apart from the rest of the Arrancar that Soul Society knew about and put him on a level that was different than what the other Captains and Lieutenants knew about.
Since Sombra seemed to be doing well at the moment, and Shokyo was teaching him well, Yoruichi turned her worry towards Ichigo, as while he was making good progress she wasn't sure that he would be able to learn Bankai before the time limit was up, but she also knew that, since Kisuke had faith in Ichigo, there was always the possibility that he might prove her wrong in that regard... though the only thing that pulled her from her thoughts, as the sun continued to rise, was the sound of Sombra walking towards her.
"How's Ichigo doing?" Yoruichi asked, because if Sombra was up and about, as was his custom thanks to the amount of time that he spent with her and Kisuke, that meant that Ichigo had to be up as well, but she would only know that once Sombra told her what was going on.
"He's doing his morning stretches." Sombra replied, to which he looked out at the part of the Seireitei that they were in, knowing that the Shinigami had been busy while he and Ichigo had been training, but for the most part it seemed that none of them seemed to know where they were located, though he was interested in the fact that it appeared that Renji was moving in a different pattern than the other Shinigami, "It looks like that he's ready for his training to continue, even though I think that he wont be ready for what Zangetsu wants to teach him today... but that's not why I came up here to talk to you. I wanted to ask you how long we had until the Shinigami started Rukia's execution."
"According to the intel I was able to gather, after we entered the Seireitei, her execution grace period was cut by five days, dropping it to twenty-five days," Yoruichi said, as she had known that either Ichigo or Sombra would have asked this at some point in time, and she was glad to at least tell one of them how much time they had left, "at the same time you and Ichigo spent ten days training with Kisuke, which dropped our time to fifteen days, and the additional seven days to open the Senkai Gate would have dropped us to eight days. Because of how we exited the Senkai Gate, being chased by the Kototsu, we managed to regain those seven days, so even with the five days we spent to reach this point we should have ten days left, and when we finish the next two days of training we should have eight more days before they start Rukia's execution... giving you both time to rest and relax once you've reached the level that your Zanpakuto are trying to push you towards."
Sombra nodded his understanding before he and Yoruichi headed back down into the area that Ichigo was waiting in, impatiently by the look on his face, but that soon changed as Zangetsu regained control of the doll that he had been forced into and drew one of the blades near him, causing Ichigo to sigh as he did the same thing and prepared himself for the next round of battle. While the two of them did that Shokyo came back out as well and Sombra followed her to the area that they trained in earlier, where they resumed what they had been doing earlier, practicing the many skills that she had started to teach him the previous day so he could be ready for whatever battle she was preparing him for. As that happened Yoruichi stood on some level ground as she observed Ichigo and the speed at which he was catching up to Zangetsu, because she had to focus her energy on making sure that he and Zangetsu had the time they needed to train and eventually unlock Bankai.
Yoruichi kept watch over both Ichigo and Sombra while they trained with their Zanpakuto spirits, as a few hours had gone by since the sun had risen over Soul Society, and he could tell that they were both making the same sort of progress that they had been making the previous day. Ichigo's posture never seemed to change whenever he broke a sword, which was rarer than it had been yesterday, and he was keeping pace with Zangetsu, though now he was parrying all the attacks that were coming at him and continued to push back against his Zanpakuto spirit, only this time he also kept himself from dealing the finishing blow, as he knew that Zangetsu would dodge it and he wanted to be sure he had the movements right before doing something like that. Sombra, on the other hand, seemed to be doing just fine with Shokyo, as his own Zanpakuto spirit was teaching him the various abilities that he would unlock once he unleashed his Bankai, showing that his potential for growth was on the level of Ichigo's potential, maybe even greater when she considered that he was still missing his Arrancar blade, the seat of his original powers. She thought about the series of thoughts she had considered that morning, about Sombra getting closer to the third classification of a Menos, and she knew that her thoughts had been correct, as Sombra was even closer to crossing over... meaning that, when he finally activated his Bankai, his reiatsu would be so great that he was pushed into the Vasto Lorde level.
Even if, by some off circumstance, Ichigo failed to achieve Bankai by the time she told him yesterday, they could always fall back on letting Sombra take care of things, as his power at that point would be so great that only one Captain, in all of Soul Society, could stop him... but, as she thought about that, she sensed something outside the entrance of this secret area and the trapdoor that connected to the ladder exploded, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and turn towards the source of the disturbance.
"I was wondering what you were doing all the way down here, but..." a voice said, one that Sombra almost instantly recognized as Renji's voice, while at the same time Ichigo merely looked over in the direction the voice was coming from with a blank look on his face as Yoruichi sweated a little, since this was supposed to be a hidden area only two people knew about, "That you're Zanpakuto's true form?"
Just as the words left his mouth Renji jumped down from where the opening was located and touched the ground at the base of the ladder, though he waited for the dust to clear as he smiled at Ichigo, but while that happened Sombra and Shokyo stepped out of their training area to watch what was going on.
"Sneaking around to do Bankai training, eh?" Renji inquired, though as he looked around the area he found Ichigo and who he assumed was Zangetsu, a lady he didn't know, and Sombra, who was joined by another pony-like person that had to be another Zanpakuto spirit, though that caused his smile to shift to a frown, "You have got to be kidding. He's had that Zanpakuto for, what, a month or two and he's currently training to unlock Bankai as well? Can an Arrancar even do something like that?"
"As long as we're given an Asauchi, and keep it with us for an extended period of time, it appears that Arrancar can do what Shinigami can do," Sombra commented, though he had the feeling that many Shinigami were going to be upset with him once he revealed what he was able to do, as the first few he had showed Shokyo to claimed that she couldn't be a real Zanpakuto, only for them to be shown the error of their ways, before he decided to get back on topic, "What are you doing down here, Renji? I hope it's not to avenge Captain Byakuya's defeat, otherwise you'll have no hope of touching me."
"Oh, it's nothing major like that." Renji replied, but even as he said those words Sombra could tell, just by the tone of his voice, that he and some of the other higher ranking Shinigami had overheard that Byakuya had been beaten and left wounded in front of the Shrine of Penitence, something that had clearly shocked those that heard the news, "Time just ran out, so I wanted a place where I could concentrate and train."
"What do you mean 'time ran out'?" Ichigo asked, because he didn't like the sounds of that, as the only thing around here, that he and the others were aware of that had a time limit, was Rukia's execution, something that would have made Renji more freaked out than he actually was if the time had changed.
"It's simple... the time of Rukia's execution... got changed." Renji answered, because right now he wondered if he had the power to defeat his Captain and fulfill his goal of surpassing him like he wanted, before he focused on the group that had gathered before him, "The new execution time is... noon tomorrow. It sucks to admit it, but my currently level of power won't be enough to save Rukia... that's why I came down here, so I could finish my own training with Zabimaru."
Renji moved his sword off to his right for a moment and several strands of wind jumped off of it to gather in one spot, where Ichigo and Sombra watched as the energy died down and a large white baboon, with a snake for a tail, appeared from the smoke that had been kicked up by the materialization.
"Noon... tomorrow..." Yoruichi repeated, thinking about the time that they had spent in the World of the Living, the time that had been spent opening the Senkai Gate, the journey through the Seireitei, and the battles that had been fought up till this point, allowing her to come up with one conclusion, that someone was pulling the strings behind the entire execution, as this shouldn't be happening in the first place, "Getting Bankai in two days is unheard of, especially when it took Kisuke three whole days to do it... and yet, despite that fact, I think we can pull off a miracle."
"So the deadline is tomorrow," Ichigo commented, to which the blade he was holding shattered, surprising Yoruichi since she was sure that it would have been able to hold for a much longer period of time, before he turned around and smashed the handle with his bare hands, where he raised his reiatsu a bit, "Fine. Then Sombra and I will make sure that we unlock Bankai today!"
Sombra nodded his agreement, because despite the trouble that Ichigo was having with Zangetsu, and was constantly being beaten by his Zanpakuto, he and Shokyo had reached some of the last techniques that she could offer him, meaning that their own training was almost over, but what Shokyo needed was for them to go back into the Crystal Empire, her name for his inner world, and finish their training there, as she wanted the last few techniques to be a surprise. As such when Ichigo moved to continue his training with Zangetsu, as he had more determination than ever before, Sombra moved off to the area that he and Shokyo trained in, only this time around Shokyo returned to her previous state and left Sombra alone. A few moments later, once he had taken a seat on the place that he meditated in when Shokyo told him to do so, Sombra closed his eyes and emptied his mind, delving straight into his inner world once more, allowing the others to do what they wanted until it was time for him to emerge from his training. Renji, on the other hand, watched the two of them do that for a moment before he walked over to the lady that was overseeing Ichigo's training, as it appeared that she had nothing to do with Sombra's session... though, as he thought about it, what he had seen suggested that Zangetsu followed the norm for Zanpakuto, who resisted their wielder's attempts to learn Bankai, while Shokyo seemed to be the polar opposite, wanting to teach Sombra what he needed to know to use Bankai.
"Excuse me, but who are you exactly?" Renji asked, as the reiatsu he felt suggested that the lady was someone that was at least at a Captain's level, but, at the same time he was having a hard time figuring out who she was and if he knew her, though this was something he figured he should know for later.
"I am Yoruichi Shihoin," Yoruichi replied, knowing that Renji had no idea who she was, since this was the first time they were meeting, and the only reason she knew him was because of what she had been told about the night that he and Byakuya had come and captured Rukia, "right now I am overseeing both Ichigo and Sombra's training so they can unlock and master their individual Bankai, all under what Zangetsu and Shokyo deem necessary as their trial. But I'm sensing that there's something else that you want to ask me."
"Yeah, is it true that Sombra fought and defeated Captain Byakuya earlier?" Renji asked, because that was the story that seemed to be circulating around the guards that had been in charge of the cell area he had been held in, and such a thing seemed impossible for him to even consider.
"Yes, he fought Byakuya outside the Shrine of Penitence and soundly defeated him before he even had a chance to use his Bankai," Yoruichi said, though at the same time she could feel Sombra's reiatsu vibrate from the area that he was meditating in, meaning that whatever technique Shokyo was showing him had to be powerful, "Sombra is the strongest Adjuchas ranked Arrancar to ever emerge from Hueco Mundo, that much I'm positive the other Captains would agree with after what they felt earlier, and he's still growing in strength and reiatsu... soon he'll reach the barrier between an Adjuchas and a Vasto Lorde, and then he'll pass into the third classification easily."
"I never would have stood a chance against him." Renji commented, because he had gained the information about what an Arrancar was shortly after he and his Captain returned to Soul Society, as well as the classifications, but hearing that Sombra was the strongest Adjuchas ranked Arrancar Soul Society had ever encountered, and was on his way to the final classification, made him realize that he never stood a chance against someone like him, "So he likes to hold back and fight with a fraction of his power, only calling upon his true might when the situation calls for it, and this is only with his own Zanpakuto. Captain Byakuya told me that all Arrancar seem to have their own blade with their true power locked inside it... if Sombra is like the other Arrancar, and I think he might be, it's terrifying to consider what his power will be like once he's recovered and unlocked his other blade."
Yoruichi was surprised that she wasn't the only one thinking about this, that Sombra's true power was going to be even greater than whatever it was going to be when he used his Bankai, and yet, despite that fact, she knew that he was different than the other Arrancar that Soul Society had encountered over it's long existence. Even as she thought about all this, and Renji walked off to an area to do his own training, she had to entertain the thought that maybe Sombra had been a Vasto Lorde at one point, only for a sudden transformation into his Arrancar state to cause him to lose his sword and memories before appearing outside Kisuke's shop. That would be an easy explanation, and maybe untrue at the same time, but she was curious about his origins, as he wasn't like the other Arrancar that they had encountered and his growth was identical to Ichigo's, only he seemed to grow in power at an even greater rate. None of these thoughts took away from the fact that the immediate area around Sombra seemed to vibrate, just high enough where she, Ichigo, and Renji could detect him while also being low enough to avoid anyone else finding them, showing that his power was great and that Shokyo had much to teach him... and all that made her wonder what sort of Bankai he would unleash once he was done with his own training.
Eventually she returned to how Ichigo was doing, as he seemed to be grasping the concepts that Zangetsu was testing him on, as his defense and his ability to parry attacks was near perfection, but at the same time his Zanpakuto spirit had increased the pressure by adding clones of himself to the battle, making it more difficult for Ichigo to succeed. Every time Zangetsu cornered Ichigo and shattered the blade that he was using to fight both he and his clones would stop and state Ichigo's improvements, showing that he was pleased with his progress, before asking if he would like to continue this battle while also pointing out that Ichigo was still not using anything resembling his Bankai. Ichigo would always reply by telling Zangetsu not to ask stupid questions and would get back into the fight, causing Zangetsu and his clones to resume the battle as they continued to test Ichigo and his abilities, all while showing that, despite his growth, that Bankai might be impossible for him at the moment, but, even if that was the case, Ichigo refused to back down, using Sombra's luck with Shokyo to motivate him to continue the battle.
Yoruichi watched Ichigo train hard with Zangetsu, heard Renji receive instructions from Zabimaru, and felt the instances where Sombra and Shokyo continued their training in his inner world, showing her that all three of them were pressing themselves towards their ultimate goal. The hours finally ticked by and spilled over into the day of the execution, though while she noticed that both Renji and Sombra had made excellent progress, and where officially done with their training since they both returned without their Zanpakuto spirits, Renji decided that it was time for him to leave the area and start his personal mission. Sombra, on the other hand, remained with Yoruichi and Ichigo, as he was curious as to what would happen when Ichigo finally reached the point where he could access his Bankai, though he bid Renji farewell as the Lieutenant headed back up the ladder and headed for the Shrine of Penitence, using a different path this time so he could get there faster. Sombra had the feeling that today was going to be full of people fighting each other, not just him and Ichigo against whoever guarded the execution stand, and hoped that Renji didn't do anything stupid before the two of them were ready to make their move... and yet, even as he thought that, he also had the feeling that something was going to happen with Renji before he was even near the Shrine of Penitence.
Renji had an easy time making his way through the Seireitei, as he used the roofs to get around the streets and continued to make his way towards his destination, though at the same time he found that he had to beat his way through his friends from the Sixth Division, who were under orders to arrest him since he broke out of his prison cell. To ensure that they didn't follow him, and get themselves hurt in the process, he made sure to cut their blades in half and knock most of them out, before taking to the roofs so he could use the long road that would allow him to get to the Shrine of Penitence long before the guards came to remove Rukia. At least that was his plan, because when he passed under the only structure that rested on the road itself, as the other structures were the numerous pillars on the right and left sides of him, he had to stop when he felt an intense reiatsu enter the area, pressuring him into staying in that exact spot as he glanced up to the top of the structure he had ran under. Standing at the top of one of the structure's peaks, and staring down at him with an all too familiar look in his eyes, was none other than Captain Byakuya, who was sporting some bandages on his chest, arms, and legs, not that anyone could see them anyway, because his attire prevented anyone from seeing that he had been bested in combat, despite the rumors going around the Seireitei.
Even though Sombra had beaten him, and had ruined his scarf enough to the point where he wasn't wearing it at the moment, his Captain looked normal to him, save for the fact that it appeared that he was eager to continue towards the execution stand and prepare for his sister's execution.
"Where are you going, Renji?" Byakuya asked, though he was in no mood for games, because he was going to find the Arrancar that made a fool out of him, unleash his Bankai the moment he found him, and then he was going to make sure that Sombra met the fate he should have suffered in the World of the Living.
"I'm going to save Rukia!" Renji declared, having to raise his voice a little so his Captain could hear him, though at the same time he found that, despite the fact that his Captain was still wounded in some manner, he had to sweat from the fact that his Captain was near him.
Byakuya, sensing that Renji would not budge from this idea, flashed through the air and stepped behind his Lieutenant, where he started to draw his blade so he could forever strip him of his Shinigami powers and put an end to this, but then, to his surprise, Renji turned around and parried the attack with enough force to knock him backwards... only for him to glare at his Lieutenant, as he wasn't sure how much more of this nonsense he could take.
"That was Senka, the move you used against Ichigo Kurosaki in the World of the Living," Renji noted, as he had seen his Captain perform the attack many times over the years, his eyes always watching in case he could finally prove that he was better than his Captain, before he gave Byakuya his full attention, "and, as everyone else says, it's your special technique. In my head, I had grasped your movements, and now it seems that my body can keep up with you now. Captain Byakuya, you can no longer kill me with that sword!"
"You're rather talkative today. What makes you so confident?" Byakuya commented, as this was a first for him, that his Lieutenant revealed that he had been studying his movements for who knew how long, though, at the same time, it didn't matter at all, not when his true target was the Arrancar that made a fool out of him, to which he raised his Zanpakuto and prepared himself, "Do you plan on surpassing me with that level of skill? Scatter, Senb...."
Renji, taking the advantage of the moment that had been presented to him, focused his mind and swung Zabimaru at his Captain, though since it was in sealed form his focus, and knowledge of his Bankai, allowed him to bypass the requirement to call out Zabimaru's name, to which the tip of the extended blade collided with Senbonzakura's blade and stopped it from turning into flower petals... though as surprise appeared on Byakuya's face once more Renji pulled Zabimaru back so he could get ready for what happened next.
"I told you, that sword cannot kill me anymore." Renji said, allowing Zabimaru to return to his side as he spoke, while at the same time realizing that Captain Byakuya was right, he must be in a talkative mood today, "Ever since before I even joined the Gotei 13, all those years ago, there has been only one person that I wanted to surpass... and that person was you, Captain Byakuya."
"You released your Zanpakuto's Shikai form without using it's Release Call or it's name," Byakuya said, though as he thought about all the rules that came with a Zanpakuto, including the Shikai and the Bankai, he realized something must have happened, even if it happened behind his back, "How could you have..."
"Allow me, Captain Byakuya." Renji replied, though as he held Zabimaru, in the stance that looked like he was drawing his Zanpakuto from it's sheath, he allowed his reiatsu to flare as he prepared himself for what he was about to do, as he had one shot at this before his Captain did the same thing, "Bankai!"
It was in that moment that Byakuya watched as Renji was engulfed by his own reiatsu for a moment, which surged outwards in all directions and even tore up some of the tile that rested around them, but, as the smoke cleared, he found a large serpent creature that was coiled around Renji, it's tail attached to where he would be holding a sword, with a large snake skull where the head would be. Renji, despite wearing the standard Shinigami attire, was also wearing some sort of fur coat that was worn on both of his arms, rest of both of his shoulders, and covered a good portion of his back, but the front was open and had some beads connecting the two shoulder parts together, in addition to having a skull near his shoulders at the same time.
"Hihio Zabimaru." Renji stated, though at the same time both he and the skeletal snake faced Captain Byakuya, as he knew that this could get ugly fast and knew that his partner was eager for battle, even if he wasn't sure how long he would be able to keep this up for before his Captain retaliated.
"You bastard." Byakuya said, as this week was starting to become one of the worst weeks of his life, as he was starting to hate everything about the last couple of days and today, because he was annoyed at his loss to Sombra and now it appeared his Lieutenant believed that he could beat him, even if he was a little weaker than he normally was, "When did you learn Bankai?"
"A person like you, who never notices his subordinates, would never understand." Renji replied, because he felt that this time he might as well not give him the answer he was looking for, as he might say something about Ichigo and Sombra on accident, and focused on the task at hand, "I'll say it again: I'm going to save Rukia!"
"No, no you will not." Byakuya stated, though at the same time he noticed that Renji was getting ready to charge at him, meaning that he needed to be ready to move as well, because it looked like the skeletal snake that he controlled had some of it's joints separate not a few seconds later.
Of course Renji decided that the moment Byakuya looked at the joints that it was a good idea to swing the snake at him, to which Zabimaru raced through the air and crashed it's head into the area that Byakuya had been standing in moments ago, though he had flashed out of the way and was no longer standing where Renji had hit. Byakuya flashed through the air a few times, allowing Renji to expand energy that he couldn't afford to waste on attacking where he was a few seconds ago, and let him destroy some of the pillars in the process, because he was studying his Bankai and had an idea on how to stop it already. As he jumped into the air, however, Renji sent the skeletal snake after him and he drew his sword to defend himself as the fangs reached for him, though as he was redirected towards the ground he focused his own reiatsu and called out his Zanpakuto's Release Call, using the disappearance of his blade, and it reforming as a number of flower petals, to wrap around the snake and break the bonds between each of it's joints, causing them to fall into a massive heap as he safely landed on the ground nearby... though as he landed, and reverted his Zanpakuto to it's sealed form in it's scabbard, he watched as the joints flew through the air and reconnected themselves together, allowing the skeletal snake to reform in a matter of seconds.
"Senbonzakura; the senbon blade is separated into imperceptibly small pieces." Renji said, deciding that it was time to show his Captain that he knew the information about the Zanpakuto that he carried, a weapon that he had been studying since before he became a Shinigami, all for the purpose of defeating him one day, "As those blades are dancing they catch the light, making them look like countless flower petals are falling down. Since I have been studying your blade, I have determined what actually happens when you use the Release Call. Sorry, but Zabimaru's joints are connected together by my reiatsu, meaning that you can't cut them with your sword. I even intentionally separated the joints like I did, just to dodge all of your senbon blades. Come, Captain Byakuya, let's close the curtain on this battle between the two of us."
"Close the curtain?" Byakuya remarked, though he found it slightly amusing that Renji, who knew more about his Zanpakuto than anyone else in Soul Society, was acting like he had won the fight already, when, in reality, all he had to do was one thing and the battle would tip in his favor, to which he raised his left hand and made sure that his fingers were pointing in Renji's direction, "Very well, I shall close that curtain with my sword."
Renji, declaring that he was going to be the one to bring an end to this fight, swung Zabimaru once more and the skeletal snake continued towards where Byakuya was standing, but, as that happened his reiatsu flared for a moment as he showed his opponent what he was doing. He used Sokatsui, the same Hado that Sombra used against him, without the incantation and loosed a powerful wave of blue energy that was identical to the one that he had felt a few days ago, and while he didn't damage Renji with it he did strike the skeletal snake that had been coming at him. As dust was kicked up he moved a little and forced his opponent to show his hand, as when the skeletal snake came at him again it ended up hitting itself multiple times, thanks to the way Renji had swung it, and that caused it to crash into the side of one of the pillars before falling to the ground.
"The naive one is you." Byakuya commented, as while Renji's Bankai was interesting, because it was slightly different than some of the Bankai that he knew about, it wasn't enough to take him on or even put up a decent challenge, especially not after the battle he had a few days ago, "I did not use Sokatsui to confuse your eyes, rather I used it to disrupt the movements of your Bankai. The weak point of your Bankai is the amount of reiatsu in proportion to it's massive size, because it's form and size are far greater than that of a normal sword it will take at least fourteen years of special training with the Bankai in order for you to completely master it's movements... meaning that it is far too early for you to be using your Bankai in a battle. Bakudo Number 61: Rikujokoro."
As Byakuya said all of that, and Renji started to get up so he could swing his Bankai again, he raised his left hand and pointed his index finger at his target and six thin, wide beams of light that slammed into Renji's midsection and held him in place, preventing him from moving for the most part.
"You say you can defeat me, but that means that you forgot about something, didn't you?" Byakuya continued, to which he drew his Zanpakuto from his scabbard and readied himself for what he was about to do, which was him turning his sword so the tip was pointed towards the ground this time around, completely different from when he used the Release Call, "I, too, have Bankai."
Renji's eyes widened in both shock and fear as he understood what was coming next, as he had been hoping to stop his Captain before he was able to do this, but the fact that it was happening before his eyes told him that he wasn't going to win this fight, not against the power that was going to be used against him.
"Bankai." Byakuya said, to which he let go of Senbonzakura and Renji watched as it disappeared into the ground, while at the same time the sky darkened as two lines of blades, just slightly bigger than the joints of Renji's Bankai, formed behind him and stretched backwards quite a ways, "Scatter, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."
In the following seconds that the two lines of blades glowed pink for a moment before shattering into a thousand flower petals, just like what happened when he used his Release Call, before the mass of petals surged past where Renji was standing and moved through the structure behind him... tearing a massive hole in the structure while delivering a number of powerful, and very deadly, cuts all over Renji's arms, legs, and body as the Bakudo shattered in the process. For a few seconds nothing happened, as Renji stood there with a stunned look on his face, before blood burst out of the wounds that had been dealt to his body and he collapsed on the ground where he had been standing, while at the same time his Bankai reverted back to it's basic sword form.
"Even when I'm wounded, you never had a chance to beat me," Byakuya stated, though at the same time he turned around and faced the direction that Renji had been heading in, which was the Shrine of Penitence, but as he did that his frown deepened as he remembered the fight that had been in front of Rukia's cell, where the Arrancar known as Sombra had humiliated him in battle, "Your fangs will never touch me, Renji."
Renji, who might have been messed up from the number of cuts he had sustained by facing his Bankai, pulled himself up onto his feet and charged at him while his back was turned, though Byakuya turned around and raised his index finger, to which a number of blades pierced the ground around him and one of them even went into Renji's right arm, pinning him to the ground in the process.
"I will take a moment to compliment you on the fact that you managed to survive my Bankai," Byakuya said, as that was another thing that was interesting, as usually when he used his Bankai he killed whoever he was fighting, but at the same time he walked forward and grabbed onto one of the glowing pink swords that were near Renji and raised it until it was level with his neck, "but heed my words. The next time you get up I will not hesitate to kill you. You understand the situation you're in, don't you? Your Bankai has vanished. For it to do something like that, without it's master's will, that means that you are incredibly close to losing your life. Allow me to ask you this: will you still stupidly insist that you are going to save Rukia?"
"Of course." Renji replied almost immediately, as he had thought that he might be in serious trouble, and he likely was considering that he had ticked off his superior officer, but he imagined Ichigo in this position and knew what he would have said in this situation, "I swore... to myself... that I would definitely save her! It's just my... it's just my will!"
Byakuya watched as Renji snapped the blade that was in his arm, shattering it in a matter of seconds, before getting up and charging at him once more, like he intended to sacrifice himself for the purpose of saving Rukia, but, at the same time, he stood still and used the blade that he was holding onto to break Renji's sword in half... though as that happened Renji did what he deemed impossible, the edge of his broken blade touched his chest before the blade shattered entirely, to which Renji collapsed and stopped gripping his handle.
"Impressive, I stand corrected once more. Your fangs have certainly reached me." Byakuya stated, though in an instance like this he would have undid the scarf that he would have been wearing and would have draped it over his fallen opponent, but since the one he usually wore had been damaged he was just going to leave Renji in the position he was in at the moment, before he turned around and walked away from the area as he headed towards the execution stand.
Renji unlocking Bankai behind his back make him wonder what the remaining Ryoka were doing at that very moment, especially the Arrancar that had shamed him, and knew that they would be coming for Rukia, regardless of the fact that his opponent had said nothing about them over the last few minutes of their battle... and, when they arrived to 'free' Rukia he was going to unleash his Bankai and kill both Ichigo Kurosaki and Sombra before they even knew what hit them.
Rukia sat on the small ledge that rested by what would pass for a window in her prison, staring at the massive halberd that would be the instrument of her death when she was escorted out of her cell, and found that, after all the hours of reflection that she had been given, her heart was mostly at peace. When she had heard that the date of her execution had been moved once more, to noon of the day that followed when she had been told the news, she had been so shocked and surprised by the news that she had it repeated to her, just so she could understand that her life was coming to a end. Yet despite all that she returned to how she had been before Hanataro, Ganju, and Sombra had opened the door to her cell and claimed that they were going to save her, even though she would have willingly died to Ganju's blade just to let him have some peace for her killing his older brother, even if he didn't know the circumstances behind why she did it. She did feel sorry for Hanataro, as it was likely because of the fact that she told him about the World of the Living, and everything she had experienced, that had made him loose track of what he was supposed to be doing and caused him to meet up with Ichigo and the others, who were either mostly detained or still running around the Seireitei.
Just thinking about them made Rukia wonder why Ichigo and Sombra, who were strangers to her and were mostly her acquaintances when she was in Ichigo's world, were willing to risk their lives to come and save her, when there was no reason for them to do so. Even then just thinking about Sombra made her remember the beating he had given her brother, the shock that she had felt when she realized that he was even stronger than he had last seen him, and the sheer confusion she had felt when he used Kido for the first time, only for him to leave her, Hanataro, and Ganju behind. From what she could tell some of the other Captains had been on their way to the Shrine of Penitence and that had been the reason that Sombra had fled from the area, following some lady that Ganju had spotted off in the distance, though that didn't stop the Shinigami that arrived from arresting him and Hanataro before sealing the door to her cell once more. She was hoping that Sombra understood the danger that he and the others were in, so that he could convince them that they needed to leave before one of them ended up dead, but, considering what she knew about the Arrancar, he had to be doing something that was just as foolish as what Ichigo would come up with.
Even when night came around, in the hours following her hearing that her execution would be the following day, she had felt the slight vibrations of several reiatsu, meaning that people were still fighting each other for one reason or another, in battles to the death from what she was feeling, but, thanks to her stay in the Shrine of Penitence, she couldn't feel who the reiatsu belonged to. All she could tell was that more blood was being spilled because of her, in one way or another, and she hoped that it would all stop once the Sokyoku pierced her and vaporized her soul, or at least that was what the books taught when they talked about the few times the powerful execution weapon was used. Her death should stop the others from fighting and return peace to Soul Society, and hopefully Ichigo and the others were far enough away so they got the message and returned to their world, as she didn't want any more harm to befall them while they were in the Seireitei. She also knew, from reading the books, that it would take a few minutes to prepare the Sokyoku for the execution, as well as the stand that she would be attached to so the deed could be done, and yet, when she thought about all this, she found that her heart was still calm and that she was truly at peace with what she had done. She still believed that she had done what was right, both in her own past and what she had done to Ichigo, and she was okay with paying the price for her actions, and she knew that she wouldn't have to worry about it once she was escorted from her cell.
Despite the time she spent thinking about the others, and how she wondered if they were leaving like she wanted them to, she got little sleep that night and was up just as the sun rose, though when the door opened, and the Shinigami that oversaw the execution walked in, she offered them no resistance as she complied with the procedure. Soon the four red tubes were reconnected to her collar and her hands were tied once more, to which they started to escort her out of her cell and she followed along, making sure that she was in the middle of the group as they started to walk across the bridge and made their way over to where the Sokyoku rested. As they walked she let her eyes linger on the ruined part of the building that her brother had been knocked into during his fight with Sombra, as it was hard for her to forget about that, and she knew that, even if she asked for her friends, the 'Ryoka', to be sent back to the World of the Living, to return to their normal lives, Soul Society might not let Sombra go considering how powerful he was, meaning that he might need to fight his way out or die trying. Even as she stared at the ruined part of the building she caught most of her escorts looking at the mess as well, silently telling her that the news of her brother's defeat must have spread already, or at the very least a draw since he likely wanted to retain some of his reputation, before they started moving and she followed after them towards the bridge that connected the Shrine of Penitence to Sokyoku Hill.
It was partway across the bridge that she felt both her brother's reiatsu and Renji's reiatsu go head to head, making her wonder if Renji had lost his mind due to the defeat he had suffered some time ago, though that didn't stop her from moving off to the side a little as she tried in vain to pinpoint what had happened, as Renji's reiatsu vanished as they were walking across the bridge... though before she could say anything she felt a new reiatsu appear nearby and turned her head, where she found Captain Gin walking towards her with the same creepy smile on his face.
"Good morning." Gin said, speaking to the escorts for the most part, since they were the ones that had been called upon to fulfill this duty and knew that speaking to them, even if they might not reply to him, at least let them know that someone appreciated their work, before he turned towards Rukia, "And good morning to you, Rukia-chan. How are you feeling today?"
"Gin Ichimaru." Rukia said, though at the same time she felt some sweat rolling down the side of her face, as this was the one Captain, out of all thirteen of the current Captains that watched over Soul Society and commanded one of the Thirteen Divisions, that she didn't trust.
"That's no good. As usual, you have such a naughty mouth." Gin replied, as if he found something amusing about the situation that she was in, which was possible since next to no one had any idea what Gin's interests, hobbies, or other things like that were, as he kept to himself and interacted with the other Captains whenever they were called upon by the Captain-Commander, "You're supposed to say 'Captain Gin Ishimaru'. You'll get scolded by your big brother if you keep talking like that."
"Excuse me, Captain Gin." Rukia stated, as she knew that he could easily draw his Zanpakuto and kill her if he really wanted to, and there was the very real possibility that he could get away with it since she was a death row prisoner and the escorts might lie if something happened.
"Oh no! You took me seriously?" Gin asked, revealing that he was having fun with messing with her, just like all the other things they had crossed each other over the years, but, even though he found this amusing, Rukia still wondered what he was doing here, instead of gathering at the Sokyoku stand with the rest of the Captains, "You shouldn't use formal speech. Don't worry about it. We're comrades, aren't we?"
"Why did you come all the way out here?" Rukia asked, as she knew that if she got to the heart of the reason why he came out to see her, and figured it out by what he told her, that she might be able to drive him away and get on to where the Captain-Commander and the others were gathering.
"Yeah, it's not like I have anything important to do." Gin replied, as right now some of the Captains, from what he could tell, were currently fighting each other, as it appeared that Zaraki, despite his previous wounds, was currently engaged in a battle with both Tosen and Komamura, as well as both of Zaraki's underlings, Ikkaku and Yumichika, battling Iba and Hisagi, the Lieutenants of the Seventh and Ninth Divisions respectively, "I'm actually on a walk... so I can tease someone a little."
Rukia both hated and feared this Captain, as no matter how many times she had been in his presence, when he was talking with her brother, or had to personally talk with him, she always felt like she was in the presence of a snake, one that was trying to enchant her in some manner, and often she felt like she was being strangled when they were near each other... and, as she found out in that moment, the feelings that she had towards him and not changed.
"What's wrong?" Gin asked, snapping Rukia out of her thoughts once more, something that she'd rather focus on instead of talking with this one Captain, though it appeared that she was going to have to suffer a little more before she could arrive at her own execution, "You're in the mood for daydreaming, aren't you?"
"No." Rukia replied, as she didn't want to talk with Gin for longer than what was necessary and it appeared that the escorts might be getting eager to get underway, meaning that they were hoping that Gin would move aside and allow them to continue towards their destination.
"You should be happy... after all, Renji-kun's not dead yet." Gin stated, knowing that Renji would be the right button to press, and he liked the look of relief that appeared on her face as she realized that he was still alive, if just barely, "Though that'll change soon. Poor thing. All he wanted to do was to save you, Rukia. You know, I could save him and everyone else if you really wanted me to... I'd just have to be in the mood to do so."
"You lie." Rukia said, because while she did wonder if there was anything for him to gain from saving her and the others, which she highly doubted since that would put him at odds with Soul Society, she knew that he couldn't do what he claimed and called him out on it immediately.
"You're as smart as everyone says you are." Gin said, to which he stepped forward and patted her head for a moment, giving her one more chance to see the same smile that he flashed everyone else, before he moved to the side and walked right by her and her escorts, "Bye bye, Rukia-chan. Let's meet again at the Sokyoku."
Rukia hated Gin because, if she had been willing to listen to the hope that his voice offered, it would have completely shattered her resolve to die and installed a desire to live inside her, and he did put some cracks in her resolve, but she would not be so easily swayed, not when she knew that he was lying... and, as she put those thoughts behind her once more, both she and her escort continued the walk over to the Sokyoku and the stands that she would be attached to.
It didn't take them long to reach the stands that the Captains and their Lieutenants would be gathering in front of, as some of them were apparently running late, but from what she could tell the Captain-Commander and his Lieutenant, a man called Chojiro Sasakibe, were present, along with the Captain of the Second Division, Soi Fon, and her own Lieutenant Marechiyo Omaeda. Standing near them was the Captain of the Eighth Division, Shunshi Kyoraku, the Lieutenant of the same Division, Nanao Ise, and the Lieutenant of the Fourth Division, Isane Koketsu, making her wonder where the Captain of the Fourth Division, Retsu Unohana, was at the moment. From what she could tell the Captains of the Seventh, Ninth, and Eleventh Divisions were currently fighting, while the Captains of the Fifth, Sixth, Tenth, Twelfth, and Thirteenth Divisions were missing... and Gin, of course, was likely taking his 'walk' while he waited for preparations to be made so he could watch the show and then get back to his duties. The only Captain that Rukia knew would have been here was her brother, but, as if summoned by her thoughts, both she and Soi Fon noticed her brother approach the stand that she had been escorted onto, though he broke eye contact and took his position in the lineup.
Rukia caught the annoyed look in her brother's eyes as he turned, as that meant that Byakuya was fully expecting something to happen, but she decided not to get her hopes up this time around, as she had the feeling that she was going to be executed before anyone came running to save her this time around.
"I shall being the execution now." Yamamoto stated, to which he barely even opened his eyes as he stared at Rukia, who had known that this was coming long before she had been pulled out of her cell, and this time around she had accepted her fate and was ready for it, "Rukia Kuchiki, do you have anything you would like to say?"
"Yes, just one thing." Rukia replied, as it was something that she had recited in her mind several times over once she heard that her execution was imminent and that there would be no changing the date this time around, and it might actually be something they would grant considering that she belonged to a Noble Family, "The Ryoka... could you send them back to the World of the Living, after my execution?"
Yamamoto had been expecting something like this, as it was well known about those that had guarded Rukia, and the superior officers that they reported to, had made friends among some of the residents of the World of the Living, Humans that had come to rescue her, and he already knew the answer that he could give her, even if the reality of the situation was different than what she wanted.
"Very well." Yamamoto said, his voice and statement not even raising any eyebrows with the other Captains around him, as they knew what he was thinking and agreed with his statement, even if they personally felt that this was too harsh a punishment for what Rukia did, "Just as you asked, I shall send the Ryoka back, unharmed, to the World of the Living, the dawn after your execution. Just know that the Arrancar will be a different story than the Humans that came with him."
"I understand... thank you." Rukia said, as she had been expecting something like that, as Soul Society had some problems with the Arrancars of Hueco Mundo and knew that they would never let one as powerful as Sombra leave with his life intact, but she could be happy with this 'promise'.
As that happened the blue reiatsu of the Sokyoku, the starting stages of it's release, flared up and demanded the attention of those around it, telling everyone across Soul Society that the execution was underway, causing the Shinigami that were in charge of releasing the weapon to step forward and gathered around the halberd as they started to form the necessary hand signs to perform their duties. A few seconds later the ropes that were holding the weapon down started to snap and spin around the handle of the halberd, unwinding themselves as the execution got underway, before they reached the end point and separated from each other, piercing the ground around the hill that the stand was located on. That was followed by three cubes pulling themselves out of the stand around her and the rope that tied her hands together came undone, before two of the cubes, positioned with her hands out in a 't' formation, started to raise her into the air while the third one remained by her feet, keeping her from moving her feet. After that she found herself floating into the air, rising to the top of the execution stand that she would be resting against until the execution was done, before she finally came to a stop and was given a view of the area that she had never actually been to before, not that it mattered since this was the last time she was going to see anything before her body and soul were destroyed.
Once she came to a stop, and was firmly attached to the stand, flames erupted from the area around where the Sokyoku had been stuck in the ground and wrapped around the entire weapon, surprising the Captains and Lieutenants that were around them, since almost no one knew what happened when the weapon was released. Rukia's eyes widened as the Sokyoku rose out of the ground and leveled the tip with her, only for the flames to change shape until a large fiery phoenix appeared in the air in front of her, revealing that the true form of the Sokyoku was different from what anyone thought about it. Rukia was sure that this was what the textbooks referred to as Kikoo, or Blaze Fledgling King, but even as she thought about that she had never once associated that name with a phoenix, though it suddenly made sense as she reconsidered what happened to those that had been sentenced to this punishment. Kikoo, as Captain-Commander Yamamoto called it, was the true form of the Sokyoku halberd and the final enforcer of extreme punishment, whose power was said to be equal to a million Zanpakutos and that was increased by tenfold when it pierced it's target, telling her how she was going to die, and that the sentence would be over once her body had been pierced.
Rukia stared at the phoenix for a few seconds, finding that she wasn't afraid of her fate, that she had lived a good life up until this point, met Renji and his friends while also being picked up by her brother, and had encountered both Ichigo and Sombra, two people who defied her understanding of both Humans and Arrancar, before she closed her eyes and let the phoenix come at her. As the seconds ticked by, and she was sure that she should have been pierced by Kikoo, she opened her eyes to find a sight she never thought she'd see; Ichigo, wearing a cape over his Shinigami clothing that also happened to have the Shihoin crest attached to it, was standing in the air between her and the phoenix, with his Zanpakuto stopping the destructive beast in the process.
"Hey!" Ichigo said, though he was happy to have gotten here in time, as Zangetsu had insisted on taking their training to the point where he had to wrap bandages around his chest and arms, and bind them with something Yoruichi gave him in addition to the cape, just to complete his training.
"I... Ichigo?!" Rukia exclaimed, surprised to find Ichigo standing before her, especially when she had hoped that Sombra would have talked some sense into him earlier, but it appears that her hopes for them leaving Soul Society had been squished, because this was going to give the Captain-Commander a valid reason to terminate Ichigo, "You idiot! Why did you come back for me?! Sombra should have told you that it's impossible for you guys to save me, not with my brother and the rest of the Captains standing in your way! I've already decided that I'm ready to meet my end! Why can't you guys just go home and leave me to my fate?!"
"Because you're our friend." another voice said, to which Rukia turned her head and found Sombra standing on the beam that she was attached to, though he was standing to her left and was looking down at her with a smile on his face, as if he knew something that she didn't, "Rukia, we're going to save you from this, even if I have to beat the remaining Captains that are standing against us... and that shouldn't be a problem for the most part, not after what I did to Byakuya outside your cell."
"Nanao, could those be the guys that the Ryoka I fought mentioned?" Shunsui asked, looking up at the young man that was dressed up in Shinigami clothing, before turning his attention to the Arrancar that was standing near Rukia, as he heard rumors and stories about him.
"Yes, their characteristics match the reports from the other Divisions," Nanao replied, though at the same time she could tell that things were about to change, as the arrival of the Arrancar, who had bested Byakuya before he was able to release his Bankai, certainly changed the situation that they were in.
"Hey Sombra, they're talking about us." Ichigo commented, as he could tell, even over the noise of the flames from the phoenix, that they were being talked about, though he wasn't sure if it was in a good manner or a bad manner, since they might be upset about what he had just done to their powerful weapon... before the phoenix in question started to move back for what seemed like a second attack.
"Ichigo, you have to move out of the way. You won't be able to block the second attack!" Rukia stated, as there was no telling how powerful Kikoo had gotten from not being able to pierce his target, which worried her because neither of them were strong enough to challenge such a creature.
"Yeah, I might not be able to do that, but I know someone that can." Ichigo replied, to which he flipped backwards and landed on the stand as well, to the right of where Rukia was being held, though as that happened Sombra stepped forward and approached the area between the stand and the phoenix.
Rukia started to open her mouth, so she could tell the Arrancar to get out of the way as well, but that was when Kikoo flapped his wings and charged at him again, only for Sombra to do something that was even more shocking; he raised his right hand and caught the tip of Kikoo's beak, stopping him in his tracks before he could get near the stand, which really surprised the Shinigami that were watching them. Before she could do anything else something was thrown into the air and wrapped around Kikoo's neck, before falling back to the ground and pierced the stones beneath them, where she found her Captain, Ukitake, and his medical staff standing at the ready with another item with the Shihoin crest on it. As all this happened Captain Shunsui and his Lieutenant joined Ukitake, where they smiled at each other as the Captain-Commander turned and looked at them, before Soi Fon called for someone to stop them since they were planning on destroying the Sokyoku. Of course they happened to move before anyone else could, to which they pulled out their Zanpakutos and slipped them into one of the two slots that were on the device that Ukitake was carrying, before their reiatsu traveled up the ropes that were wrapped around Kikoo's neck... to which the phoenix shattered into a thousand fireballs as the two Captains brought ruin to it, which was what they had planned in case they couldn't talk anyone out of using the Sokyoku in the first place.
"You know, I have no idea what's going on down there anymore," Ichigo commented, though at the same time he raised Zangetsu into the air, as his eyes started to glow for a moment, before he started to spin his Zanpakuto above his head by the material that was wrapped around the handle and covered it when he wasn't using it, "Rukia, just hang tight for a moment, because I'm going to shatter the execution grounds and then we'll get out of here."
"Ichigo, stop being crazy!" Rukia insisted, as she had no idea what had gotten into both Ichigo and Sombra, as neither of them had acted like this in the World of the Living, before she stared at the beam that she was attached to, "Look, Ichigo, you can't do that. The Sokyoku stand is..."
"Rukia, I got this." Ichigo said, noticing that Rukia seemed utterly confused as to what was going on, but not a few seconds later he stopped spinning Zangetsu and pointed the tip down toward the beam, where he drove the top part of his Zanpakuto into the wooden beam and released the power he had been gathering.
Rukia had to close her eyes for a moment as the entire stand that she was attached to vibrated and was covered in dust a few seconds later, though when she opened her eyes again she found that Ichigo was now carrying her under his left arm, along with the fact that he had broken the middle of the stand and the platform she had been standing on earlier... and, before she could say anything else, she, Ichigo, and Sombra noticed a late arrival in the form of Renji, who was taking out the Shinigami that had broken the Sokyoku's seal.
"So you've arrived at last, Renji." Ichigo said, his voice carrying as he looked down in the Lieutenant's direction, even though his arrival shocked those that had felt his reiatsu disappear for a moment, save for one of the Captains anyway, while also finding that he was still in pain.
"Of course I'd be here." Renji commented, as at this point he didn't care who knew that he was working to save Rukia, as his life was already forfeit since he had fought his Captain and went against the orders he had been given, but that didn't stop him from smiling as he looked at Rukia, "If you and Sombra didn't come, then who would have saved Rukia?"
Ichigo smiled as he heaved Rukia up a little more, took aim at where Renji was standing, and threw Rukia through the air, where she went flying right into Renji's chest and knocked him to the ground, though he could already imagine the remarks that he'd get from them once this was all over, even though Sombra seemed to be deep in thought about what he had just done, as if it might have reminded him about something... only for him to recover once more, but since there were enemies nearby he decided that he'd ask about it later on and focus on the mission at hand.
"Renji, take her and get out of here." Ichigo stated, though at the same time both he and Sombra prepared for what was coming next, as at least one of the Captains would be coming after them in the near future, "That's your job right now. Don't let go of Rukia, even if you die!"
As Renji started to run from the stands, however, Sombra noticed that one of the Captains was commanding the three Lieutenants to rush forward and capture Renji, though as they did that Ichigo flashed through the air and landed between them and Renji, allowing him to take Rukia and flee from the area, all while he stepped the tip of his sword into the ground and faced his targets. It was in that moment that all three of the Lieutenants called out their Release Call and the name of their Zanpakuto, as Isane's was 'Run, Itegumo', Chojiro's was 'Drill, Gonryoumaru', and Omeada's was 'Crush them, Gegetsuburi', transforming their blades into one with two additional points near the base, a thin rapier, and a flail respectively. Ichigo, seeing several flaws immediately, rushed toward and threw his fist into Omeada's chest, crushing the head of his flail in the process as he knocked the Lieutenant out, before sidestepping the incoming attack from Chojiro and knocked him out with a decent uppercut of sorts with his palm, and then followed that up by knocking the stunned Isane in the chest and pushed her away from him. In the following moments he turned around and grabbed onto Zangetsu's handle as Byakuya ran towards him, their Zanpakuto's clashing between them as he parried the incoming attack, though he had to smile as that happened, as it appeared that he had caught up with Sombra in some aspects.
"I can keep up with you now, Byakuya Kuchiki." Ichigo stated, though at the same time he noticed that Byakuya was annoyed about something, along with the fact that Sombra had flashed down to where they were standing so he could observe and participate in the upcoming fight if Byakuya attacked him, which was why he had drawn Shokyo and was standing at the ready.
"Why?" Byakuya asked, surprising Ichigo for a moment, as that was not the response he was looking for when he told Byakuya that he could keep up with his speed, though at the same time Sombra raised an eyebrow as he wondered what the Captain was referring to, "Why are the two of you constantly trying to save Rukia?"
"You're her big brother, aren't you? So why don't you save her?" Ichigo replied in kind, because right now it appeared that, before Byakuya released his Shikai, they were evenly matched, but he was trying to figure something out before they got to the real battle.
"A pointless question." Byakuya replied, revealing that either the reason was poor and he didn't want to say anything or he felt that neither of them would understand what he was saying and only make the situation worse than it already was, for someone anyway, "Even if you knew the answer, it would be impossible for you to understand. It seems that any further discussion will be pointless. Here I come."
In the following instant Byakuya increased his power and started to press down on Ichigo's blade, trying to get the better of him, only for Ichigo's grin to remain as he redirected the blew to the ground and shattered the earth beneath their feet, causing the two of them to separate for a moment.
"There is only one path for me at the moment," Byakuya stated, staring at both Ichigo and Sombra for a few seconds, telling them that he was going to go after the both of them in some manner, before he held his Zanpakuto at the ready as he studied them both, "Ichigo Kurosaki, Sombra, today I will kill the two of you... and, once I'm done with you, Rukia will go through the execution again, only that time by my hand."
"Sorry, but we won't let you do that," Sombra said, though at the same time Ichigo raised his empty hand and undid the clasp that was keeping the cape wrapped around him, allowing it to blow off of him, before he sighed and knew that Yoruichi was going to have words with Ichigo later for discarding another treasure in such a silly manner.
As Ichigo and Byakuya started attacking each other, and moved away from the three knocked out Lieutenants, Sombra noticed that Soi Fon attacked one of Ukitake's medical staff and knocked him out, only for the Captain and Shunsui to be stopped by the Captain-Commander. It was in that moment that Yamamoto told them that he could not forgive what they had just done, in destroying the Sokyoku, and both Shunsui and Ukitake fled from the area before he could punish them, forcing Shunsui's Lieutenant to run after them as the other medical staff stayed behind and was punished by Soi Fon as Yamamoto left the area as well. Of course Sombra caught the familiar movements as Yoruichi flew into the area, grabbed onto Soi Fon before she even realized that someone was coming her way, flashed a smile at Sombra, and then flew off with her target as she moved into the forest area that happened to be near the hill... though, at the same time, Sombra had no idea why there was a miniature forest inside the Seireitei, and at the moment he had stopped caring about things like that, allowing him to turn back towards the fight. The only other thing that happened was the Captain of the Fourth Division called forth a creature that happened to be her Zanpakuto, which swallowed the wounded Shinigami and took off with the Captain on it's back, no doubt to heal them he suspected.
Sombra breathed a sigh of relief as it became only him, Ichigo, and Byakuya in the area near where Rukia was going to be executed, as now this meant that they could focus on their battle with each other instead of having to worry about someone else jumping in and catching them off guard... especially since battles were currently raging all over the Seireitei, from Captains that had been here moments ago and Shinigami that must have been fighting since that very morning.
Despite the fact that Byakuya likely had a burning desire to defeat him above everyone else, since he had beaten him so badly in front of the Shrine of Penitence, Sombra watched as the Captain lashed out at Ichigo with his Zanpakuto and let their reiatsu battle each other as they flashed around the area and collided with each other moments later. He wasn't even using the time provided to study Byakuya's movements, as he knew Byakuya's stances when his sword was sealed and when it was in it's Shikai form, because he was waiting to see what happened when his used his Bankai so he could find a way around it. At the same time he felt the fact that Yoruichi and Soi Fon were fighting at the moment, no doubt having a showoff of sorts to see who was the better user of Flash Steps and their chosen weapons, even though he also felt a change in Yoruichi's reiatsu and heard some lightning that caused some explosions in the area that they were in, meaning that she had a Kido that he didn't know about. He also knew that Soi Fon would be in for a rude awakening when she figured out that Yoruichi had spent some time training him, as she must have returned to what she had been before her exile, or whatever had happened to her since he didn't know the reason why she and Kisuke had been in the World of the Living, and he'd love to hear what happened afterwords... once he and Ichigo were done with Byakuya and they had resolved this entire mess.
Eventually Sombra was brought back to the actual fight when both Ichigo and Byakuya separated from each other and broke part of the ground around them, though this time around Sombra sighed, as he understood what Byakuya was doing and hoped that he understood that this battle was going to be different from whatever he had planned.
"I see, you've mastered the Flash Steps since we last fought." Byakuya commented, as he had been testing the speed that Ichigo was using and found that it was as great as Sombra's had been when they fought earlier, meaning that the Arrancar had to be even quicker than he had been during that fight, "But..."
"You're going easy on me after all." Ichigo stated, as that was annoying, because from what he could determine Byakuya had fought Sombra to the best of his ability and had failed to land a single blow on the Arrancar, so he was expecting something like that when they clashed, before he sighed and rested Zangetsu's blade across his shoulders, "It seems that, after having a terrible fight with Sombra earlier, you've decided to start this battle by leisurely analyzing the powers I have gained since our fight in my world, but is that really okay? Weren't you going to kill the two of us? I mean, if that was your plan, you're not doing a good job of accomplishing what you said you'd do, because I don't have a single scratch on me and you've been ignoring Sombra the entire time this battle has been going on. What's wrong, Byakuya, are you scared of my friend?"
"Afraid? Of an Adjuchas ranked Arrancar?" Byakuya replied, though at the same time he kept his usually look on his face, as he wasn't about to show them any emotions at the moment, especially when he was trying to finish off Ichigo without revealing his hand, since that would only increase his true target's chances of beating him, "No, I'm not afraid of him. I'm going to kill you and then focus on Sombra..."
"And then we'll repeat what happened earlier," Sombra stated, because he knew that, as long as he kept Byakuya in the Shikai state, he would be able to overcome him easily and move onto any other Captains that might come after him and Ichigo, "unless you want to repeat our earlier battle. Personally, I'd like to do something different than just overpower you and show you the error of your ways, by using both Shokyo and the Kido spells that I know."
"Sombra, I have a better idea." Ichigo said, though as he said that Sombra already knew what he was thinking about, as it was an interesting idea that might be able to change the course of the battle in a matter of seconds, before he turned his attention back toward Byakuya, who was staring at Sombra, "Byakuya, bring out your Bankai. You said that you were going to kill us, and execute Rukia with your own hands. I don't like you saying that. You're her older brother, you shouldn't be talking about killing your own sister, so I'm going to show you how an older sibling should act in front of their younger sibling. I want you to bring out all of your powers so Sombra and I, or just one of us if that's what you prefer, can destroy all of them and save Rukia."
"No matter how much you yell out, my heart will not change." Byakuya stated, to which he shifted his hand and moved Senbonzakura in front of his face, pointed towards the sky, as he was going to release his Shikai and this time it appeared that Sombra was going to allow him to do it, "Nor will the fate of yourself, your Arrancar friend, the other Ryoka that followed you to Soul Society, or even Rukia... you will all die before you have a chance to leave this place. Bankai? Don't get cocky, brat. Someone like you is a thousand years too early to die by my Bankai. Scatter, Senbonzakura."
Sombra watched as Senbonzakura's blade scattered into the numerous amount of pieces that resembled flower petals, though Byakuya's target was Ichigo as the blades started spinning around each other and they drew ever closer to where Ichigo was standing... though in the next few seconds Ichigo raised Zangetsu into the air, paused for a moment, and then swung in Byakuya's direction, to which he loosed a wave of energy that raced through the blades that were in front of him and barely missed Byakuya as it carved a gash into the ground. As the smoke cleared, however, Sombra smiled as he looked at the shocked look on Byakuya's face that was equal to the look that had been on his face when he was the one fighting him, and, at the same time, his left glove fell to the ground and had a few drops of his blood fall on it, as his arm had been cut in the process of Ichigo's attack, even if the cut itself was very light in comparison to what it could have been had the attack hit him.
"What was that light just now?" Byakuya asked, his voice somehow remaining calm in light of what was going on at the moment, which continued to impress Sombra since so much was against him at the moment, before his eyes focused on the blade that Ichigo was carrying, "Is that your Zanpakuto's ability, Ichigo Kurosaki?"
"Yeah, it is." Ichigo replied, because he slightly understood the ability of Senbonzakura and Shokyo, one that he had more experience with thanks to their training, and decided that he might as well tell Byakuya about the ability Zangetsu had taught him during their Bankai training, "At the instant of the slash Zangetsu absorbs and condenses my reiatsu, before releasing it at the tip of the blade, magnifying the slash attack, which flies forward in the form of a crescent moon or wave. That is Zangetsu's power. Truth be told, I had actually never aimed the slash before firing it, and until now I didn't even know how I was making it fire in the first place. Urahara-san told me that he could only teach me the stances, and it's not until now that I finally understood what he meant... only Zangetsu could teach me about himself, meaning that I could only learn how to form and fire this attack through training with him, just like Sombra did with Shokyo. This attack is known as Getsuga Tensho, or Moon Fang Heaven-Piercer, though I prefer it's actual name."
Sombra nodded his head, as he had seen this attack when Ichigo and Zangetsu had been training in the area that Yoruichi had been letting them train in, and was still impressed by the sheer power that this attack commanded, though at the same time he had his own surprises that he was going to keep hidden until it was time to show what he had learned during his own training.
"I'll say it again, Byakuya," Ichigo stated, to which he put Zangetsu's tip in the ground and glared at his opponent, who was studying the situation that he was in and was clearly weighing his options, especially since it appeared that Sombra hadn't done anything since they arrived, "Release your Bankai and fight us with all your power!"
"Heaven-Piercer... such an impudent name." Byakuya commented, though this just reflected on how bad this week was going, especially since his opponent seemed to think that he could slice through anything now, and that wasn't even considering the Arrancar at this point, before he pulled Senbonzakura out and turned it so it faced the ground, "Very well. Since you wish for my Bankai so strongly, and since I was planning on releasing it at my choosing, you may etch it deep into your eyes. Don't worry, I won't either of you regret this, because before you even have a chance to do that you will turn to dust and disappear from my sight."
Sombra and Ichigo watched as Byakuya let go of his Zanpakuto, though as it fell towards the ground it seemed to fall through the ground itself like the ground was made of water, only for ripples to vibrate out from where the blade fell as the area darkened, though that was when two lines of large blades emerged from the ground behind him and stretched backwards quite a ways.
"Bankai." Byakuya said, though at the same time the massive of blades behind him glowed in the similar fashion that his Zanpakuto did when he was releasing it's Shikai, and he found that, while Ichigo was shocked by what was happening at the moment, Sombra was still studying his movements, "Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."
This time around, instead of attacking just one of them, Sombra found that Byakuya was also targeting him as well, because half of the petals that formed from the numerous amount of blades went after Ichigo, who dodged the initial slow attack with ease, and the other half went after him. Despite the fact that Byakuya had to split his focus between the two of them it was clear that he was more than capable of tracking their movements, especially when Ichigo was forced to dodge the next attack and jumped into the air, where he released another Getsuga Tensho at their opponent, who used instantly used some of the leftover petals to forma shield of sorts that stopped the attack before it could hit him. The moment Sombra saw that, and noticed that Byakuya's attention was off of him for a moment, he raised his reiatsu a little and Shokyo transformed into her Shikai form, but since his opponent's attention was separated between two people he would assume that he had missed hearing the Release Call and not realize the danger he was in. Of course Byakuya kept him slightly distracted by the flowery tendrils of his Bankai so he could corner Ichigo in the air, before the massive of petals gathered together and pushed down on Ichigo, pushing him into the ground and creating a decent sized crater in the process. Once that was done, and he was sure that he had done enough damage to knock Ichigo out of the battle for now, Byakuya turned his attention towards Sombra and sent the entirety of his Bankai after him... though Sombra flashed around the area and observed how well Byakuya could control the petals with just his eyes, while also being slightly concerned that he might be able to do the same thing with his arms if he wanted to.
As Sombra did that he was glad to have completed his training, because if he had come here with the knowledge and power he possessed when he first fought Byakuya he had the feeling this fight would have been over, as a Shikai versus a Bankai seemed like a terrible idea, but his training eliminated part of that problem... though that didn't mean that he could lower his guard, as Byakuya was still a Captain of the Gotei 13 and might have some tricks up his sleeves, despite the fact that he stopped when he heard Ichigo getting back up.
"The essence of Senbonzakura is that it's several hundreds millions of blades have no angle that they cannot reach, creating the perfect attack from all directions." Byakuya commented, not caring if they knew some information about his Zanpakuto and his Bankai, as right now he still had the upper hand and could easily decimate them both, even if he was focused on finishing them one at a time, "Your Zanpakuto's ability is certainly great, but your extremely slow and unwieldy technique will never evade Senbonzakura. The fact that you are still alive and breathing is impressive, but that will not change the fact that you will die here."
"Damn, and here I thought I could go a bit further." Ichigo said, though at the same time Sombra took the opportunity that was presented to him and flashed through the air, where he appeared at the edge of the crater, between both Ichigo and Byakuya, as he waited to see what happened next, "It's no good after all. Of course it wasn't. I should have known that trying to win against a Bankai, with only my Shikai, wasn't a good idea at all, especially when I haven't released mine yet."
"Watch your words, brat." Byakuya stated, because seeing Renji pull off Bankai, which he had been training to reach for a long time since he learned of it's existence, was one thing, but hearing that this Ryoka, who regained his powers through some unknown method that he didn't want to think about, claim that he had unlocked that release as well only annoyed him more than he already was, "You make it sound like you have already achieved Bankai."
"That's because that's exactly what he's saying," Sombra said, though at the same time Ichigo grinned as he raised his head and looked at their opponent, despite the fact that his body was shaking from the wounds that Zangetsu had given him earlier and the new ones that Byakuya had given him, "and I know you have problems believing things unless you see them, so I think I'll let Ichigo explain things from here."
"Byakuya, even if you don't believe our words, your eyes will have to believe that we're saying the truth," Ichigo said, to which he watched as Sombra moved off to the side and that Byakuya, stunned by the fact that he was claiming to have achieved Bankai, wasn't moving to attack, which gave him the time he needed to prepare himself, before he pointed Zangetsu behind him, raised his left hand, and let his reiatsu gather around him as it pushed into the sky like a pillar of energy for a few seconds.
"A Bankai? Impossible." Byakuya stated, though as this happened, and he was caught off guard by the sheer volume of Ichigo's reiatsu, which in itself wasn't as great as the overwhelming power that Sombra had displayed outside the Shrine of Penitence, he glanced at the Arrancar, just to explain something as he waited for Ichigo to fail, "Bankai is the strongest level that a Shinigami can obtain with their Zanpakuto, or the ultimate level as it is more commonly referred to as. The Four Great Noble Families, of which the Kuchiki Clan belongs to, are all born with a reiatsu that is far above others, which distinguishes us from other Shinigami and other souls, and it is said that only one person in several generations is able to obtain their Bankai. Those that discover their Bankai have their names eternally engraved into Soul Society's history, with absolutely no exceptions... that is Bankai. But what's with your friend, Ichigo Kurosaki? He's the one that took Rukia's powers in the first place and used them to become a Shinigami in her place, but right now he isn't even a Shinigami, much less nobility. So why can he say Bankai so easily?! How is he able to release all of this reiatsu? It's almost as if..."
"Honestly, I have no idea, since Ichigo never talks about what he did inside his inner world to uncover Zangetsu's power and restore his Shinigami status," Sombra said, and that was the truth of the situation, even though he was starting to think that maybe one of Ichigo's parents had been a Shinigami, exiled like Kisuke and Yoruichi, and that was how he had such an intense reiatsu, not to mention his own powers that had laid dormant until Rukia's power entered him, "but I'd recommend watching what happens next, because this is where things get interesting."
Before Byakuya could say anything Ichigo stopped his reiatsu pillar and the wind blew away from where he was standing, though as their opponent turned towards him, however, Ichigo moved his right hand and positioned Zangetsu so that the blade was facing Byakuya. Once that happened he raised his left hand and rested it on his right arm, while at the same time the cloth that was hanging loose from the handle wrapped around his right arm a few times before the end piece fluttered in the wind behind his back, only for Ichigo's eyes to glow blue for a moment. After that Ichigo said the one word that Byakuya had said he wouldn't be able to perform, 'Bankai', and the entirety of Zangetsu's blade glowed with the same blue color as his eyes, only for a surge of reiatsu to race forward and nearly clip Byakuya once more, all while kicking up some dust into the air as it shrouded Ichigo from both Byakuya's view and Sombra's view, even though Sombra knew that their opponent was shocked by what was happening. When the smoke cleared a few moments later, and Byakuya unpeeled the petal shield that he had used to protect himself, both he and Sombra discovered that Ichigo's attire had changed, as he was now wearing a long-sleeved, ankle-length black coat, similar to a Shinigami's shihakusho, with red lining, which closed at his chest and was left to flare out into ragged ends, much like the manifestation of Zangetsu when he was pulled into this world for Ichigo's Bankai training.
At the same time Sombra noticed that Zangetsu, the blade, had been changed from it's large butcher knife-like appearance and had become a daito, a Japanese long sword, with a black blade instead of normal colored steel, the cloth had been replaced with small black colored chains, and a cross guard that had four prongs that resembled the shape of manji, which actually translated to 'ban' and no doubt referenced that this was the full release of Ichigo's Zanpakuto, the Bankai... and, despite what Byakuya might think about the situation, Sombra had to admit that it was an impressive sight to see for the first time.
"Tensa Zangetsu." Ichigo stated, though he was pleased to find that Sombra seemed to approve of his Bankai, as he liked it already, and found that Byakuya was still staring at him with a shocked look on his face, as if he couldn't determine what was going on anymore.
"What is that? Are you saying that this small thing is a Bankai?!" Byakuya asked, though as he glared at Ichigo he found the Human turning towards him, as if he was planning on fighting him as he was, and that only annoyed him even more than he already was, "Isn't that just a Zanpakuto... oh, now I see. First the use of Flash Steps, and now the Bankai. I can see that you really enjoy stomping on our pride. Fine, then I shall carve into your body the type of retribution you shall receive for injuring our pride!"
It was in that moment, as he gathered the blades of his Bankai and sent them forward, that Ichigo made his move, as not a second later Sombra, his eyes used to watching fast movements thanks to training with Yoruichi, observed as Ichigo flashed through the air and appeared right in front of Byakuya, with his blade pressed against the edge of his neck, all while stunning Byakuya in the process.
"'Our pride'?" Ichigo commented, once more getting hung up on something that really wasn't important at the moment, but, at the same time, Sombra let him have his way since it was better than anything else he might have said to their opponent, before he decided to jump away and focus on their opponent, "It seems that this 'our pride' is connected to killing Rukia... then it's just as you said, I, personally, will stomp on that. And it's for that reason that I obtained this power... though, if you ask me, I'm still not sure what reason Sombra had for gaining this power as well."
"What's that... supposed to..." Byakuya started to ask, though at the same time he recalled what happened back at the entrance of the Shrine of Penitence, where the Arrancar revealed that his Zanpakuto was like one a Shinigami would wield, before his eyes widened as he realized what was going on, to which he quickly turned towards his true target and watched as a faint reiatsu aura appeared around him, brilliant blue colored like the crystal parts of his broadsword.
"I don't actually need to use it, but I guess I might as well show you the results of my training," Sombra said, to which he turned Shokyo so that the tip of her blade was pointed towards the ground, and unlike Byakuya he actually let the tip touch the stone beneath his hooves, before his reiatsu flared and he got things moving, since he knew that Byakuya would attack him soon, "Bankai."
The blue gemstone that rested on the guard of his blade glowed even brighter than anything else for a few seconds, before Sombra's reiatsu kicked up another gust of wind that shrouded him from the sight of both Ichigo and Byakuya, but as that happened Byakuya stood there and felt the incredible amount of reiatsu that was filling the air and knew that everyone, across the entirety of Soul Society, would be feeling this power soon enough.
Yoruichi and Soi Fon had been battling each other in the forest that surrounded Sokyoku Hill, mostly because there wasn't much reason for her to take both her and her opponent someplace else, considering that Soi Fon got quite emotional when she realized that her old mentor had come back to visit. What really annoyed her opponent, however, was the fact that she was able to avoid the majority of her attacks like they were nothing, while only really taking one or two simply because she was interested in hearing what her Zanpakuto Suzumebachi, or Hornet, could actually do in a fight, since she didn't have that when she was still a Shinigami. Even the super secret technique that Soi Fon had been working on, and claimed to have perfected a few days ago, was something that Yoruichi had been working on before her departure from Soul Society, something that annoyed her opponent and really pissed her off, especially when she revealed her own version of the technique, which she called 'Shunko', or Flash War Cry, as her version consisted of lightning and Soi Fon's seemed more centered around the wind itself.
Despite all of this, however, Yoruichi found that Soi Fon had matured into a fine young leader for the Division that she once led, even if she was still a bit emotional when talking with her old mentor, and still required some practice in order to get where she wanted in life.
"I don't get it. How can you be so strong, when a hundred years in exile should have made you weaker?" Soi Fon asked, because that was the problem she was facing, as Yoruichi was just as strong as she remembered her being when she was still her student, almost as if she had been practicing every single day since she left.
Before Yoruichi could reply to that comment, however, she felt a sudden reiatsu spike as Byakuya released his Bankai, which was to be expected considering who he was fighting, and that was followed by Ichigo showing off his own final technique to counter Byakuya's... and then, to top it all off, she also felt the familiar reiatsu that belonged to Sombra, only now it reached past the classification that everyone knew him by.
"Wh... What is this reiatsu?" Soi Fon asked, as she knew that it felt like a Hollow's, and she even remembered hearing about the Adjuchas ranked Arrancar that was running around, something she had felt before finding Captain Byakuya lying in the ruins of a building near the Shrine of Penitence, but this time it felt different.
"That, Soi Fon, is the reason why my skills haven't been lost over the last hundred years," Yoruichi replied, as she had given it her all to teach this one person and that, in turn, had only caused her to remember her old abilities at a frightening pace, just to show him who she used to be, before she smiled as she turned towards the area they came from, "This reiatsu belongs to Sombra, the Arrancar that you've no doubt heard about since his arrival in the World of the Living, but he's no longer an Adjuchas ranked Arrancar, rather he's a..."
"A Vasto Lorde!" Soi Fon finished, though that didn't stop her from sweating, as the reiatsu before hand had been extremely powerful, but now that his true power had been revealed she knew that, even if she got into a fight with the creature, she might not even have a chance at victory.
Yoruichi nodded as she focused on the reiatsu, knowing that it would get even stronger when Sombra found his true powers and unlocked them, but right now she knew that all of Soul Society would be feeling the first Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar in at least the last five hundred years, maybe even longer, and that many would be terrified of what they were feeling at the moment... yet she smiled as she turned her focus to Soi Fon once more, as it was clear that Sombra didn't need her help at the moment.
Ukitake and Shunsui were in trouble at the moment, as they generally were whenever they happened to be facing Captain-Commander Yamamoto, but this time, since they had both willingly taken part in destroying the Sokyoku, he insisted that their punishment would be fighting him to the death, for the justice of the world. Of course that was easier said than done, since the Captain-Commander's Zanpakuto was Ryujin Jakka, or Flowing Blade-like Flame, and it was considered to be the oldest and the strongest fire type Zanpakuto in all of Soul Society, so much so that those that knew of it's power dreaded battling against such a blade. Even then with Shunsui's Katen Kyokotsu, or Bones of Heavenly Blooming Madness, and Ukitake's Sogyo no Kotowari, or Truth of Pices, the only two Zanpakuto that created a pair of identical blades when they entered their Shikai forms, the two Captains knew that they were in trouble, as the Captain-Commander wasn't an opponent that one took lightly and they were no exception... even though he might be able to overpower them at some point and defeat them if they got distracted by something else that was happening in Soul Society.
Of course as they thought about that they felt the power of Captain Byakuya as he activated his Bankai, followed by the surge of a new reiatsu that had to belong to one of the Ryoka that had come into Soul Society to save Rukia, the one named Ichigo if Ukitake was right in his thinking... though that was before they felt an even stronger reiatsu radiate from the area that the other Captain was fighting in, one that made all three of them pause for a moment.
"Ukitake, that wouldn't happen to be that Arrancar's reiatsu, would it?" Shunsui asked, though he was sweating despite how far away they were from Sokyoku Hill, but whether it was from Ryujin Jakka's flames or from the power he was feeling he had no idea.
"It is, but it's stronger than it was when I first felt it." Ukitake replied, as he had felt the reiatsu of the Adjuchas ranked Arrancar when he had finished his fight with Byakuya, only now his reiatsu was so powerful and so potent that they were feeling it so far away from where the execution had been taking place, and he knew that they weren't the only ones that were feeling this power, "It's almost like he's a..."
"A Vasto Lorde." Yamamoto stated, finishing Ukitake's sentence and surprising the two of them for a moment, as he was staring off into the distance as well, because he was mentally debating between punishing these two for their actions, as in the destruction of the Sokyoku, and dealing with the threat that had shown up in the center of the Seireitei.
This was an odd thing to have happen, on the day of Rukia's execution, and he couldn't help but think that something else was going on at the moment, but for right now he had to decide what he was going to do and who he was going to punish first... all while making sure that both of his current opponents didn't get any funny ideas and left while he was thinking about all this.
Byakuya and Ichigo watched as the dust started to clear from Sombra activating his Bankai, though where Ichigo was interested in seeing what sort of power his friend had unlocked, since he and Shokyo insisted on keeping it all secret until he was ready, Byakuya was shocked by what was happening. At this point in time he was no longer thinking that it was impossible for Sombra to have a true Zanpakuto, as the evidence was sitting in front of his face, rather he was concerned with how he was going to finish the fight when his opponent's reiatsu was so strong, as it was well past what he would have expected it to be. When they were able to see Sombra again they found that he was still carrying Shokyo, in her released form, in his right hand, though that was before they found that his grey Shinigami clothing had been replaced with something new, as he was now wearing some silver gloves on his hands, a light looking chest piece to cover his chest and the matching lower body section to cover his waist and the top of his legs, and some silver greaves that had been modified to fit over his hooves and his legs. The insignia on the chest piece seemed to be a heart shaped crystal, colored brilliant blue like the crystals on Shokyo's blade, with what appeared to be two pink crystalline wings of some kind on the right and left sides of the heart, with a pink crystal point above and below it... and, in addition to all of that, Ichigo noticed that Sombra's skin had taken on the same transparent crystalline appearance that Shokyo had when she revealed herself for his Bankai training.
To Ichigo his friend looked like he was a knight of some kind that had stepped out of a fairy tale, the only things missing being the helmet, a shield, and maybe a cape, but right now he wasn't going to argue with the results of Sombra's training, not when he could see Byakuya shaking a little from the reiatsu that was coming from Sombra.
"Isamashii Hogosha Shoteikoku." Sombra said, revealing the name of his Bankai, one version of it anyway, while at the same time opening his eyes as he focused on his target once more, who he discovered was sweating a little from the power of his reiatsu.
Ichigo knew that the situation had changed, as their opponent was sweating from the fact that he had to fight two people who had unlocked Bankai recently and he was eager to show Byakuya the power of his Bankai... and, at the same time, he was curious to see what Sombra could do, especially with the power boost that came from accessing the full power of his Zanpakuto. He had the feeling that the next few minutes were going to be exciting, for them anyway, and it would allow them to show Byakuya the error of his ways, as well as tell him not to kill his own sister, and then they would reunite with the others and fight their way out of the Seireitei to head home. He still wasn't sure how they were planning on doing that, heading back to the World of the Living, but so far some of the things they had done hadn't been planned on until they needed to do something, so he was sure that Yoruichi might have a plan for them... but right now he and Sombra were going to focus on finishing the fight with Byakuya, and then they'd get to the aftermath of this venture.
"Wh... What is that?" Byakuya asked, though while he was sweating from the reiatsu that Sombra was putting out, verifying that he had crossed over the threshold into the world of a Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar, he was staring at the armor that had replaced the grey Shinigami clothing his opponent was wearing, "Are you telling me that this, too, is a Bankai?"
"Isamashii Hogosha Shoteikoku, or Valiant Guardian of the Crystal Empire, is what this technique is known as," Sombra replied, though he couldn't fault Byakuya for not believing that this was a Bankai, especially since he had problems with Tensa Zangetsu being a Bankai a few minutes ago, "and yes, this is Shokyo's final release... this is her Bankai, a technique that she has bestowed upon me for a battle further in the future."
"I see. So you, too, like to trample on our pride." Byakuya stated, to which the petals of Senbonzakura gathered around him, like they had done when Ichigo showed off his Bankai, and he zeroed in on his target, who appeared to be patiently waiting for someone to make the first move, which would cost him, "Very well then. I shall carve into your body, as well as Ichigo Kurosaki's body, the retribution that you both shall receive for injuring our pride."
"I accept your challenge." Sombra said, but at the same time he made no move to disappear from the area that he was standing in, though he did turn towards Ichigo for a moment and beckoned to him with his head, "Ichigo, you may want to move behind me for a few seconds, just to keep yourself out of what's coming next."
Ichigo had no idea what Sombra meant, even though there were times that the Arrancar seemed even smarter about things than he was, and quickly flashed behind his armored friend, though in the following seconds Byakuya sent the petals of his Bankai at them and he watched as they rapidly moved through the air and reached for them. As that happened Sombra raised his empty left hand until it was level with the mass of petals that were coming towards them, but not a few seconds later Ichigo watched as a blue dome shaped barrier phased into existence around them and all of the petals were forced to move around them, not even coming close to touching them. When the last of the petals flew by them Sombra lowered his hand and the barrier faded away like it had never been there to begin with, and, from what was around them, Ichigo noticed that there wasn't even a trace that the barrier had formed around them in the first place. It was a defensive move, that must Ichigo was sure of, but he had to wonder if Shokyo's Bankai had given Sombra a number of defensive abilities to go with the number of offensive moves that he could already perform... but, even as he thought about that, he had to wonder if he might be wrong, since both of their Bankai were different from the others.
Byakuya, on the other hand, looked shocked that this even happened, as if he was expecting to catch them with his Bankai and strike them down while they weren't moving, but at the very least Ichigo knew that this was only the start of them turning the battle around, even though Sombra likely could have beaten Byakuya on his own.
"What... was that technique?" Byakuya asked, as there wasn't any sort of barrier type ability, save for the Kido that were designed to protect the Shinigami that used them, that could have stopped all of his Senbonzakura petals and still emerge with the barrier intact, meaning that this had to be an ability of Sombra's Bankai, even though he loathed to consider such a thing in the same category as his Bankai.
"It's one of the defensive skills that Shokyo taught me earlier," Sombra replied, remembering all the training that he and Shokyo had done so he could wield this power, though there was one key difference in his Bankai from the Bankai that Renji and Ichigo were using, "it's an ability that allows me to generate a shield barrier around me, and whoever is near me, that will protect both myself and those I wish to protect from damage. Now, before one of you complains that such a thing is unfair, allow me to clarify that it's not a perfect barrier that comes into play whenever I want, because it needs me to activate it and I could miss the opportunity to use it if I was caught off guard, say from a attack from behind that I'm not even aware of. There's also the fact that this Bankai isn't a defensive type, rather it contains offensive, defensive, and support type skills, though it all depends on the situation that I'm in and what I need at that very moment... here, allow me to demonstrate one of the offensive skills I was taught."
Byakuya watched as Sombra held his Zanpakuto off to the side for a moment, his eyes following the movement in case there was something else going on that he needed to be aware of, and noticed that the blade was glowing, instantly reminding him of Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho. Not a few seconds later Sombra swung his Zanpakuto and a brilliant blue colored wave of energy, slightly different looking from the attack that Ichigo had used, in the sense that it was half the size of the other attack and moved much faster than it, but Byakuya wasn't going to allow it to hit him as the petals of Senbonzakura formed around him and really concentrated in front of him. What he wasn't expecting was for the force of the attack to be stronger than Ichigo's, something he should have seen coming since he was a Vasto Lorde and Ichigo would have been around an early Aduchas in terms of power, but he was able to escape the petals as the attack blew a small hole in the ground where he had been standing. That was seconds before he noticed that Sombra had vanished from where he was standing and immediately turned around as he felt something touch his back, expecting the Arrancar to be standing behind him, only to find that he was mistaken about what he thought was behind him, as he had bumped into a crystalline wall that hadn't been there a few seconds ago. A few seconds later, however, he felt a tap on his shoulder and jumped forward immediately, just in case an attack was coming his way, though when he landed he turned around and found Sombra standing where he had been with a smile on his face.
He knew that he was in trouble, as while he could deal with the fact that he had momentarily lost Ichigo, when the Human had flashed in front of him and held Zangetsu to his throat, he also realized that Sombra's Bankai had increased his speed and power, once again making sense considering he was a Vasto Lorde now, and some other attributes that would make it harder to hit him. Before he had a chance to do anything Sombra moved his right arm and positioned Shokyo against the ground that was near him, which was followed by his reiatsu flowing into the ground for a moment, where Byakuya felt the ground shake for a few seconds before several parts of it broke open. What he found was crystal spikes, about the thickness of a person and colored the same brilliant blue that he recognized, that erupted from the ground and reached for him, causing him to weave his way through the area and avoid the spikes that the Arrancar had summoned with one of his techniques. The interesting part was that the crystals only appeared around the area that Sombra was in, as Ichigo wasn't affected by the attack, but even then he had to be careful and avoid the spikes, even though one of them grazed his left leg, dropping some bits of blood on the ground as he reached an area outside the zone that the crystals were in... only for the two opponents to get outside the zone as well and stare at him, indicating that they were ready for the next round of the battle as they wore him down.
"Why did you not strike me down when you had the chance?" Byakuya inquired, as he knew that Sombra almost never made mistakes, because after his defeat in the World of the Living he had noticed an improvement in how the Arrancar conducted himself in battle, so much so that every wound had it's place and so did every slash, or maybe he was just overthinking things at the moment, "Why did your friend remove the tip of his blade from my throat? Are you that confident in your victory that you would willingly destroy the key to your own victory? If that's the case, then I'll say this once and be done with it: what the two of you possess are not Bankai, as it is impossible for such a small blade and a suit of armor to even be considered such a thing. It is impossible for a mere Ryoka to achieve the final release of a Zanpakuto, much like how it's impossible for an Arrancar to acquire a Zanpakuto and reach this point. You both will regret not ending me with your attacks, because miracles only happen once... and for the two of you a second one will never be possible."
What happened next, before Sombra could answer the questions that Byakuya had asked them, was Byakuya sending out the petals that had been gathering behind him once more, though this time they did what they did earlier, half of them went after Ichigo and the other half went after him. Instead of even trying to attack Byakuya, as he wanted to study their enemy's Bankai in action, Sombra spent the next few moments running around the area that they were in, using his mastery of Shunpo to flash around as he searched for weaknesses in how the petals moved in this state and how they could be controlled. At the same time Ichigo flashed through the area, avoiding the mass of petals that were chasing him as he tried to get in front of Byakuya, who used some more petals to guard himself, before he was forced backwards and had to continue running to avoid being hit. Sombra noticed that Byakuya, and Senbonzakura since the Shinigami was controlling his Bankai through sight by the looks of it, was having a hard time trying to catch Ichigo as he started to flash around the area and run from the point he had landed at, keeping their opponent confused... before he started doing that at an increased speed that it looked like there were a large number of Ichigo's running around the area.
"What's wrong? Can't keep up?" Ichigo taunted, causing Sombra to sigh for a moment, as he knew that this was going to change how Byakuya fought in their battle, which might make it harder or easier depending on what Byakuya did next in regards to the fight, "And here I can still go a little faster!"
"Don't get too cocky, brat!" Byakuya snapped, to which he raised his left arm and swung towards Ichigo, where Sombra discovered that by using his arm the speed of Senbonzakura's petals increased, meaning that, even when he was using his Bankai, Byakuya was still underestimating them by using a lower percentage of his power, all while forcing Ichigo to keep on the move once more.
Byakuya forced Ichigo to run around the area, drawing the petals away from Sombra once more, another bad idea considering all the damage he's already done to the Captain, and chased Ichigo around for a few moments, before finally surrounding him in the sky with little that could go wrong... though while Sombra stayed back, however, Ichigo responded by swinging his Zanpakuto around and knocked all the petals away from him, shocking Byakuya even more, before he disappeared once more.
"There's only one miracle, right?" Ichigo asked, as he had flashed behind Byakuya while he was still shocked about him defeating the petals that had rushed forward to attack him, though at the same time their opponent started to turn around so he could look at him, "Then what's the second one?"
In the following moment Ichigo drove his blade straight towards Byakuya's chest, though in reality the only thing he entered up cutting was the left side of Byakuya's body, while his left hand held onto Zangetsu's blade as blood dripped onto the ground beneath their feet. At the same time, however, Sombra was able to figure out part of Ichigo's Bankai, as it appeared that he was condensing all of his power into the smaller blade, making it possible for him to move while using the full power of his Bankai, and, based in the look in Byakuya's eyes, he could tell that their opponent had figured the same thing out as well.
"Very well then, Ichigo Kurosaki, I shall crush your Bankai's power with my own power." Byakuya stated, though as he said that he glanced over at Sombra, whose Bankai he knew next to nothing about since he was still focusing on his current target, but he was considering his options at the moment and they didn't look that great.
"You know, speaking of power, that reminds me," Ichigo said, to which he turned towards Sombra, who had flashed into the area near them and was standing inside the oddly circular shaped area that they were now standing in, though he had a frown on his face, "What gives Sombra? You liked my Getsuga Tensho so much that you ripped it off?"
"It came with all the techniques that Shokyo taught me, even though its definitely different from your attack," Sombra replied, as he was a little surprised that Ichigo was so ticked off that one of his attacks looked like the Getsuga Tensho that he had fired off, "If you really have a problem with that, they why don't I ask Shokyo to come out and talk with you for a few minutes while I take care of Byakuya? I'm sure she'd love to tell you why Seiga, my Energy Fang, is different from your Getsuga Tensho... as well as tell you about Hatakesho, my Field of Crystal technique, Shukan, the Guard's Barrier I used earlier, and all the other techniques she taught me earlier."
"And another thing, what's up with your Bankai having offensive, defensive, and support abilities?" Ichigo inquired, but as he did that Sombra could tell that Byakuya was suddenly feeling like the odd person in this conversation, especially since he was holding onto Ichigo's blade at the moment, "Don't you think that's a little overpowered? Especially when you consider the fact that your reiatsu is even greater than mine, you know a lot more techniques than I know, and just you releasing your Bankai has made mostly everyone, in the immediate area of the hill, scared of you."
"Again, you can blame Shokyo if you have a problem with my Bankai," Sombra stated, though at the same time he honestly had no idea why they were talking about this at the moment, as they could easily discuss this once they were done fighting with Byakuya and had fled the area, before he turned towards their opponent and tapped Byakuya's chest with his left hand, "but I suggest we do that later... for now we should focus our efforts on beating our opponent and getting out of here before the other Captains arrive as backup."
Byakuya, worried that the gesture was going to do something, released the blade that he had been holding onto and jumped backwards, dropping several drops of blood on the ground in the process, but when he touched the ground a few seconds later, and found that nothing had happened, he grew serious as he focused his own reiatsu.
"Ichigo Kurosaki, Sombra, you should watch what happens next," Byakuya said, as he had decided to bring an end to this battle before it went any further, especially since he had no idea what else Sombra might have learned during his training with his Zanpakuto, to which the drops of blood that he left behind glowed before turning pink and disappearing into the petals around them, which took on the appearance of flames.
Ichigo and Sombra stood there, with their weapons at the ready, as they observed what was going on, as the flames were something they weren't expecting, and noticed that the flames only spread out until they forced a perfect circle around all three of them, giving them a large area to fight in. That was before the flames reached into the sky and started to form a dome above their heads, a pink one from the looks of it, though that was before the coloration of the dome faded away and left them with a much darker dome that clearly separated them from the outside world. Sombra looked around with some interest, as he never expected a Bankai to have multiple stages, because Yoruichi never mentioned anything about that, before turning his attention back to Byakuya as their opponent began to inform them about the nature of this technique.
"This abandons defense and gives it's all to killing the enemy... this is the true form of Senbonzakura." Byakuya stated, to which four vertical rows of glowing blades, all looking like the sealed form of his Zanpakuto, formed around the edge of the dome that had formed around them, though while Ichigo was shocked by this turn of events Sombra was more than pleased to see a change, as this would make things more interesting, "Senkei, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi. Don't worry, these thousand blades will not attack you all at once. I swore that I would kill the two of you with my own hands, and I will use this Senkei to cut through the both of you. You should feel honored, you are the second and the third person to have ever seen me use this technique... and you will both die from it."
"We'll see about that," Ichigo commented, to which both he and Sombra readied themselves, as they knew that Byakuya would be coming at them with the full power of his Bankai, though as they observed him he held out both his hands and two blades removed themselves from where they had been resting, where they flew down and the grabbed them, removing the glow as his reiatsu visually gathered around him... something that the two of them mimicked, though light blue for Ichigo and brilliant blue for Sombra, opposed to Byakuya's pink reiatsu.
For a few moments none of them moved, simply standing their ground and letting their reiatsu gather around them like they were doing, even breaking the ground around their feet, or hooves, as they did so, though the moment Byakuya moved both Ichigo and Sombra followed suit, charging forward as their opponent did the same thing. Not a few moments later the three of them collided in the middle of the Senkei, though while the ground and air shook a little when Ichigo's blade collided with Byakuya's, no doubt shaking the area around the cage, the ground shattered and the air shuddered as Sombra struck the second blade and pushed against Byakuya's power. It was clear, from the first clash that they had, that Byakuya was already concerned about his chances against Sombra, as he seemed confident when he looked at Ichigo and that vanished when he looked over at Sombra, but that didn't stop them from attacking the enemy Captain, who was clearly trying to hold his own against his opponents. Of course one of the things that they did was take turns attacking Byakuya, as Ichigo would attack first and strike out several times in a row, causing the air to shudder in response to what he was doing as his Zanpakuto as the ground cracked as well, before jumping out of the way as Sombra moved in to continue the assault, but what made his attacks different is that he often switched to kicking out with one of his legs to parry an attack or using his hand to grab onto one of Byakuya's created blades to open a weakness, which only caused him to back away in the process.
Of course there were times where Sombra raised his left arm to intercept a blow and Byakuya found a shield made of crystal, colored with the same silver color that the Arrancar's armor possessed with the same emblem on it's face, that Sombra used to block the attack that was coming his way and stopped the attack in it's tracks, before he bashed the blade backwards and cut a light gash into either Byakuya's arm, one of his legs, or his chest. When it was time for Ichigo to battle, however, it didn't appear that he was actually doing anything other than clashing with their opponent and getting cut in the process, as his speed seemed to be slowing down ever so slightly as the battle progressed and Byakuya took advantage of that, so he could bring an end to one opponent and focus on his true enemy. As that happened Sombra wondered if some of his earlier thoughts had been correct, that Ichigo might be suffering from his Bankai's intense power being condensed in this manner, but at the same time it didn't appear that his friend was willing to talk with him at the moment and that meant that he was going to have to wait and see what happened next. Eventually Sombra paused and watched the two of them battle for a moment, as he was studying the situation, and observed as Ichigo and Byakuya clashed once more... only for Byakuya to cut Ichigo as the two of them pulled away from each other and paused, as now it appeared that fighting two opponents at the same time was wearing Byakuya down quickly and Ichigo's wounds, from both Zangetsu and Byakuya, did the same thing.
At that point both of them seemed to pause for a moment, as Ichigo was no doubt wondering why he was suddenly slowing down, or maybe his friend thought that Byakuya was suddenly increasing his speed once more, but Sombra prepared himself, as he knew that the battle between them was going to be over soon enough. Of course that changed when Byakuya flashed in front of Ichigo, not even being able to see it coming, and nearly took Ichigo's right eye as he pulled himself to the side, earning a gash on the side of his cheek, and then Byakuya flashed around a few times to confuse Ichigo before their blades clashed again.
"What's wrong?" Byakuya asked, as now that Ichigo seemed to be slowing down he had a much better chance at finishing him off, as he needed to conserve the majority of his energy for the battle with Sombra, who was already getting ready for the next part of the battle to come, "Your movements have become rather slow, Ichigo Kurosaki, to the point where they're the polar opposite of Sombra's intense speed."
"Really?" Ichigo said, his voice revealing that he had noticed the difference in his speed and Byakuya's speed, though Sombra could tell that he was thinking about it the wrong way, causing him to sigh, as he was going to have some words with Ichigo when this was over, "But to me it looks like your sword has stopped."
Byakuya glanced off at one of the blades near them and called it out of where it was resting, as Sombra had broken the last blade he had fought against, though as that happened he noticed that Sombra raised his eyebrows as he stabbed Ichigo's right foot with the new blade, before releasing the handle as he moved his left hand.
"Hado Number 4," Byakuya said, to which he raised his hand until his left pointer finger was pointing at Ichigo, where he made sure that his finger was resting close to his opponent's shoulder, as he intended to make sure this hit before Sombra had a chance to come in and stop him, "Byakurai."
That was followed by a bolt of lightning erupting from Byakuya's fingertip as it tore through Ichigo's shoulder and headed off into the distance, though as Ichigo stood there, his body in pain from that attack, Sombra shook his head, as this wasn't what he had been expecting when he noticed that his friend was suffering in this manner... before Byakuya pulled out the second blade from Ichigo's foot and allowed him to stagger backwards for a few moments, as he was pleased that this had happened when it did.
"This is your limit, isn't it, Ichigo Kurosaki?" Byakuya asked, though he was mentally happy for Ichigo to fail in this manner, as this allowed him to focus the rest of his power on making Sombra suffer and bringing an end to this battle, since he was the more immediate danger of the two and getting rid of the weakling seemed like a good idea, "It seems that you 'felt' my speed increase when I activated the Senkei, but that is incorrect. Senkei condenses the scattered blades into the shape of a sword, while explosively increasing the ability for me to create more fatal wounds, meaning that my speed did not change at all... rather your speed was the one decreasing since this was activated. You fought well, as you were able to hold your ground against several people that possessed the skills necessary to be a Captain, and you even held on well after taking a shot from Senbonzakura, but you can feel it, can't you? Your flesh and bones are already dying. After all, you're only Human, meaning that you have a limit and this is that limit... meaning that it's time we ended this battle."
Sombra, upon hearing that Byakuya was planning on actually killing his friend while he was present, instead of coming after him first, caused him to growl as he took a step forward, but before he could flash through the air, and reach his target, Ichigo's left hand reached up and stopped the blade from hitting him... though as that happened Sombra felt a new pressure coming from Ichigo, as his reiatsu had been infected by the Hollow that he had felt a few times in the past, causing him to pause as he wondered what was going on.
"I told you that i'd be in trouble if you died, you idiot." Ichigo said, though Sombra noticed the distorted nature of his friend's voice, as well as the white strands that were the beginnings of a mask on the upper left portion of his face, which told him that he was right about the Hollow returning.
"Impossible!" Byakuya stated, as he could understand Sombra stopping his attack, because he was the first Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar that anyone had seen in a long time and his strength was enough to make him consider that the only one capable of beating him was the Captain-Commander, but he could not understand Ichigo's ability to suddenly do the same thing, "What are you?"
"What am I?" the Hollow asked, though that was followed by him raising Ichigo's head for a moment as he stared at Byakuya, revealing that the creature was definitely in control at the moment, before his grin widened as he prepared himself for what he was going to do next, "I don't have a name!"
It was in that following moment that the Hollow swung Ichigo's right arm and sliced into Byakuya's body with Zangetsu, surprising both Sombra and Byakuya at the same time, while forcing his opponent backwards, while at the same time gripping the blade that Byakuya had left behind to get away from him.
"You really suck at this, Ichigo!" the Hollow said, his tone revealing that there was something about the situation that he was annoyed about and found funny at the same time, making Sombra wonder if Zangetsu, the spirit of Ichigo's Zanpakuto, had used the Hollow to train Ichigo in some manner and that it was annoyed about Ichigo's performance, "You got beaten by your Bankai's reiatsu, which cracked the bones throughout your body. You're so pathetic that I'm sure that even Sombra is disappointed in you! I'll show you how to properly use your Bankai!"
Sombra watched as the Hollow shattered the Senbonzakura blade that he was holding onto, prompting Byakuya to summon another one into his right hand, but that was when the Hollow moved Ichigo's right arm and swung in an odd manner, as it swung like it was coiling around something, while at the same time releasing a Getsuga Tenshou that was black colored and had a red outline. Byakuya, seeing the attack coming his way, immediately moved out of the way by flashing backwards, allowing the attack to crash into where he had been standing, though as he did that he noticed that Sombra was looking above him, to which he looked up and found Ichigo above him. Byakuya paused for a moment until his opponent swung at him, releasing another black Getsuga, where he flashed out of the way and purposely allowed it to crash into the ground, before the Hollow appeared to the side, some distance away from him, and spun around to release another black Getsuga at Byakuya, who backed away once more. As that happened the Hollow appeared behind his back, stopping him in the process while revealing that the mask had evolved until it covered the left half of Ichigo's face, and loosed another Getsuga into his target's back, causing the two attacks to collide with Byakuya... causing an explosion to erupt in front on him as Sombra observed what was going on, even though he was planning on stopping this before the mask has a chance to fully form.
When the smoke cleared, however, Sombra discovered that Byakuya was bleeding as much as he had been when they fought earlier, though at the same time the object that was resting in his hair, which kept his hair in the style he preferred to wear, broke as well, but Byakuya didn't seem to notice that as he faced his opponent.
"The way this reiatsu feels, and that mask..." Byakuya said, as he had some experience with dealing with Sombra, and feeling the intense reiatsu that had come from the Arrancar, and knew that he had to be correct, but that didn't explain how someone like Ichigo had a Hollow like this inside of him, "You're a Hollow, aren't you?"
"Who knows? There's no need for you to know!" the Hollow stated, the wide smile remaining on his face as more strands joined the mask and increased the mass that was resting in front of Ichigo's face, before he raised Ichigo's right hand and let the strands of a Getsuga Tensho gather around Zangetsu's blade, "With this next attack you're going to be dead, so there's no reason for me to tell you anything... and then I can focus on showing Sombra why I'm the superior, and much more powerful, Hollow around!"
"Come and try." Sombra said, to which he raised his Zanpakuto and readied himself, as he knew that the majority of his skills would allow him to negate his opponent's attacks, so long as they didn't surprise him, and his offensive abilities would put the pressure on him, though he'd need to hold back to avoid killing Ichigo.
Before he could do anything, and before Byakuya could stab the distracted Hollow in the side, it's left eye widened as Ichigo's left hand latched onto the inner part of the mask and started battling for control of Ichigo's body, where Sombra smiled as he noticed that Ichigo was pulling himself out of the Hollow's control. What was interesting to Sombra, and he might have been the only one to catch it, was that the Hollow was the one claiming that Ichigo was interfering with the fight and that he'd win if he was left in control for a few more moments, but the reason it was interesting was because it didn't found like an invader talking. Rather the more he listened to the words that the Hollow said, and went over the words that he had said earlier when he first appeared, it was almost like the Hollow was trying to tell Ichigo that he was trying to help him, like a partner that wasn't being acknowledged or something, which only made him wonder about what was going on even more. It sounded like, from the bits that he overheard, that the Hollow was suggesting that he might actually be Zangetsu, which, if that was the case, made him wonder who the other figure was, the old man that had come out when Ichigo was trying to go through his Bankai training... and yet, despite his thoughts, there was only one thing that he could think to say that would stall the Hollow long enough for Ichigo to regain control of the situation and shatter the mask before he lost the battle.
"Zangetsu!" Sombra called out, as if he was calling out to Ichigo's blade to assist him, because that was what Byakuya and Ichigo would think he was doing and they would fully expect the Hollow to turn around in a rage, but what really happened was the Hollow turned Ichigo's head and stared at him... giving Ichigo enough time to tear the mask off his face and reassert himself as the one that was in control of his body, much to the Hollow's dismay.
Sombra, on the other hand, was the only one of them to have noticed the look of recognition that appeared in the Hollow's eye when he glanced over at him, as the Hollow understand what he had said and seemed to be shocked that someone had figured it out before he was cast back into Ichigo's inner world.
"Sorry about that getting in the way." Ichigo said, though he took a few moments to catch his breath as the fragments of the mask fell to the ground, where they broke apart and disappeared into nothingness, before he focused on Byakuya, as he would have words with Sombra about what he said later, when they weren't fighting for their lives.
"Very well, I will not ask what that form was just now." Byakuya stated, because between the frightening power that the Hollow that had taken over Ichigo possessed, and the insane power that was still coming off from Sombra, reminding him that a Vasto Lorde stood near him, he didn't have the energy to battle for much longer, "Neither you or I have the strength to continue swinging our swords at each other. The curtain falls with the next, and last, attack."
"Yeah, but may I ask you this once more?" Ichigo inquired, as there was something that he wanted to know, since the Captain in front of him was supposed to be Rukia's older brother, and he was sure that Sombra might have the same question that he was thinking of, "Why don't you save Rukia?"
"If you can best me, then I shall tell you." Byakuya replied, to which he glanced over at Sombra for a moment, as there was a reason that he was talking to Ichigo and not the Arrancar, though he was pleased to find that Sombra understood and backed away to let them finish their fight.
Byakuya held out the blade that he was still holding onto and grasped it with both of his hands, to which Sombra watched as the thousand glowing blades around them disappeared and pulled their energies into the blade that the Captain was wielding... before he released the energy into the form of a white bird that's head seemed to be where the blade was located, with the wings branching off to the side like they came from his back and a halo appearing just beyond that point as well, impressing Sombra with the display.
"Shukei: Hakuteiken." Byakuya said, though at the same time Sombra understood that the name implied that this technique was actually called 'Endscape: White Imperial Sword', and the reiatsu and pressure that it was giving out was truly immense, though he was definitely impressed by the technique.
"You know, I'm not going to lie, but that's impressive." Ichigo stated, as he never thought that he'd see something like this during their battle, because he expected Sombra to deal the finishing blow a long time ago, but then he sighed as he readied his right arm and gathered his reiatsu, forming a swirling mass of dark reiatsu around his blade, "And I'm going to have to apologize as well, because I don't have anything that is as amazing as this technique... so I'm going to pour my power into one attack and hope it works."
Sombra watched as Ichigo and Byakuya, wielding the powers of Hakuteiken and Getsuga Tensho respectively, charged at each other and let loose one final attack that shook the entirety of the Senkei cage that had forced around them, while at the same time shrouding them from his sight for a few seconds. When the light faded he found that Ichigo was now standing where Byakuya had been standing earlier and that the Captain was doing the same thing that his friend was doing, only they seemed to be standing still as their wounds finally caught up with them as the Senkei ended before their very eyes. The interesting aspect of the finale was that both of them ended up cutting the other on their shoulders, which Sombra honestly wasn't expecting since the blades seemed to be angled towards the chest area, though to him the winner had to be Ichigo, as Byakuya's blade had come undone the moment Ichigo's clashed with his, meaning that the power of his Hakuteiken had protected him from the power of Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho. It was in that following moment that Byakuya held his end of the deal and revealed that the reason he would kill Rukia was because sinners had to be dealt with and that if his family, the Kuchiki Family, didn't uphold the law then none of the other Shinigami would follow suit, and that emotions tied to people such as family meant nothing to him.
Ichigo, as Sombra suspected, stated that he didn't understand what Byakuya was talking about and said that if he was in the Captain's position he'd fight the laws that stated that Rukia needed to die for giving him the power to protect his family and his friends when on one else could... only for Byakuya to understand that Ichigo had been targeting Soul Society's laws the entire time and not a single person, before saying that they had won and flashed out of the area.
A few moments later, when Ichigo started to celebrate, both he and Sombra were reunited with the rest of their group, as Orihime, Chad, Uryu, Sora, and Ganju, including the Lieutenant of the Eleventh Division and some guy with a mustache that they had never seen before, approach the two of them. Interestingly enough all of their friends were wearing the robes of a Shinigami, some of them had been injured in their fights, and Uryu, from what Sombra could tell, made the ultimate sacrifice, as the Quincy's powers had disappeared entirely, even though he was trying to hide it from the others until they were safe and sound. Orihime made a big deal about the wounds that Ichigo had, and even used her Flowers to mend some of them to the point where they weren't bleeding anymore, though when that was done, and Ichigo released his Bankai in the process due to how exhausted he was, the group started to move down the hill so they could meet up with Renji and Rukia so they could plan their escape. At the same time Ichigo inquired as to why Sombra was remaining in his Bankai, to which Sombra revealed that there was something about this whole situation that he didn't trust and, since he wasn't exhausted at all, he just wanted to be ready in case something happened, though he intended to release it if it turned out his feelings about everything were incorrect.
Of course he had to be right about his thoughts, as when the group was halfway down the stairs that led to the bottom of the hill they had to stop as they felt some sort of connection form in their minds, a technique that Sombra recognized as Bakudo Number 77: Tenteikura, a communication spell designed to transmit information to large groups of people at the same time, often used during a large-scale battle. The speaker, Isane Kotetsu, revealed to the Captains, Lieutenants, and their group that a previously thought to be dead Captain, Aizen Sosuke, had conspired with his fellow Captains Gin Ishimaru and Tosen Kaname and killed Central 46, an important part of Soul Society, as well as wounding both Captain Hitsugaya Toshiro and Momo Hinamori. There was a number of other crimes as well that Aizen even confessed to before departing the area that he had been in, but Sombra paid no attention to that as he felt both Renji and Rukia's reiatsu appear in the area he, Ichigo, and Byakuya had been fighting in, to which Ichigo immediately went back into his Bankai form, putting even more pressure on his barely healed body, before flashing up so he could save Rukia and Renji... to which Sombra sighed as he flashed after Ichigo, keeping pace with him as he reached the area that they were returning to, before Ichigo reached the area in front of Renji and stopped the incoming blade from hitting him, all while noticing that Zabimaru had been broken in it's Shikai state.
Sombra recognized Gin immediately, as he was the only one of the three Captains that he had met before this point in time, though the first one he looked at had to be the one called Tosen, who had an orange scarf around his neck, wore boots in place of the traditional Shinigami sandals, black gloves that were missing the finger parts, and what appeared to be clear goggles, though he was missing his Captain's haori. The person he was most interested in, however, was the Shinigami that appeared as a mild-featured man with brown scholarly hair enhanced by square glasses, along with soft brown eyes, and, as Sombra suspected, he also wore the standard Shinigami uniform with a Captain's haori, which meant that this had to be the one called Aizen. While he observed the Captain that he was focused on, whose reiatsu was so strong that he had to keep it at a more manageable level to fool those around him, something that he wasn't affected by due to the fact that he was stronger than most Captains in the Gotei 13, both Ichigo and Renji, who was still holding onto Rukia, backed away and started bickering among themselves... before Rukia stopped them and made them realize that they needed to focus on the enemies that had appeared in front of them.
"A piece of trash has arrived it seems, along with a treasure." Aizen commented, though there was something familiar about his voice, as he was sure that he had heard the voice before this moment, if only he could place it, before the Captain sighed and stepped forward.
It was in that moment that Ichigo and Renji failed horribly, because Renji apparently activated an ability of Zabimaru's called Higa Zekko, or 'Bite of a Broken Baboon's Fang', which lifted all the broken parts of his Zanpakuto into the air and pulled them down on Aizen, which was when Ichigo took the opportunity to strike... only for Aizen to catch his blade with just his fingertip, before slicing Ichigo across the waist like he was trying to kill him, and nearly succeeded from the sounds of it. As Ichigo fell, however, Aizen flashed behind Renji and delivered a punishing slash to his back as well, cutting him down and leaving Rukia practically defenseless at the moment, but, as he did that, he glanced over at Sombra, almost like he was expecting him to attack as well.
"Most interesting. You were able to see my movements, weren't you?" Aizen asked, though his tone suggested that he was simply going to have a conversation with Sombra at the moment, even though that meant that his guard had to be raised in case a trap was waiting for him, "Just what I expect from the Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar, form Adjuchas ranked Arrancar, that emerged from Hueco Mundo and started living in the World of the Living."
"Wait a second, that voice..." Sombra said, though it was in that moment that he understood where he remembered the voice from, as he had spoken to a stranger in the World of the Living once and saw him again when the Menos Grande came during Uryu's game, "You... your that stranger that arrived when Sora was trying to send himself to Soul Society and told him how to become an Arrancar, and the one that sent the Menos Grande after me, which allowed me to understand how to fire a Cero."
"Very good. You remembered my voice," Aizen replied, to which he walked over to Rukia and grabbed her by the collar that was around her neck, before hauling her up so she could stand, before he glanced over at Sombra again as he moved away from Ichigo and Renji, "Your reiatsu is impressive as well, because you are able to stand in my presence without being paralyzed, which is what is happening to Rukia at the moment. I used my knowledge of the Arrancar to test a hypothesis on your friend Sora, forming the second perfect Arrancar to appear in the World of the Living, though unfortunately he's about the level of a Gillian, so there's not much more room for improvement for him. You, on the other hand, are one of the strongest Arrancars Soul Society will ever come across, one that is stronger than the others that have come before you... and, despite unlocking your Bankai, you can grow even stronger than this."
It was in that moment that Ichigo moved slightly and turned to look at them, but as that happened Aizen turned and glanced at him, to which Sombra waved his hand and a crystalline dome, about the size of the shield that Orihime used to heal her target, formed around both Ichigo and Renji, keeping them protected for now, as he knew that the Captain might attack again in the future.
"Do no worry, I was not planning on killing them. Rather, I figured I'd explain myself," Aizen said, though he couldn't fault the Arrancar for trying to protect his friends, but at the same time he sheathed his Zanpakuto as he spoke, as there was something he needed to do before the other Captains arrived, "I knew that you and your companions would sneak into West Rukongai. That's why there was already a guard when you arrived there, and in case something were to happen Gin would go intercept you directly, as that increased the chances of you all falling into my hands. Seiri-heki came down the moment you arrived. If the Captains were handing on the inside of the walls, the only way for you to get through was through the use of Kukaku Shiba's Flower Crane Cannon, creating a flashy entrance that caused a commotion throughout the Seireitei. Some of you were strong enough to make the Captains run about and keep them distracted for a long time, especially you, Sombra, your presence inside the Seireitei made several of them worried... actually, your movements were quite wonderful, especially the opening of the Shrine of Penitence for a few moments."
"I'll say," Gin commented, though at the same time he crossed his arms as he spoke, while Tosen seemed focused on something else that was happening at the moment, "Even the death of a Captain, which was an elaborate ploy to keep Aizen free to conduct his business, didn't create a big scene, not when a powerful Arrancar, the strongest in the last two to five hundred years at the very least, was running amok in the Seireitei."
"How did you know that we would be arriving where we did?" Sombra asked, as that was something that he didn't understand, but at the very least Aizen was willing to answer questions and reveal his plan to them, which he wanted to know before the battle resumed.
"You ask a strange question." Aizen remarked, as if he felt that Sombra should have known the answer before even opening his mouth, but, since he was in a good mood, he also decided that he was going to answer the question, even if his words brought a surprised look to Sombra's face, "But I shall tell you anyway. The reason I know that is because Nishi Rukongai is Urahara Kisuke's base. The only place that you can break into, using the Senkaimon that only he can make, is that area. You seem surprised. Aren't you and your companions his underlings?"
"Are you suggesting that we came here under orders to take back Rukia?" Sombra inquired, though at the same time he recalled the information that he and Ichigo had learned about Kisuke earlier, which only caused him to wonder what else he didn't know about his friends, "We came here to save Rukia from her execution and take her away from those that wanted to kill her... and I, personally, came to beat Byakuya in battle, since he devastated me back in the World of the Living when he and Renji took Rukia."
"I see, so he didn't tell you anything about it either." Aizen said, though he could understand Urahara's reasons for not revealing the existence of what he was talking about to someone like Sombra, who might want to use the power for his own devices, before he turned slightly and started walking forward, "Very well, I shall tell you. Are you aware of the fact that there are four essential ways for a Shinigami to fight?"
"Yes, I do." Sombra replied, as it was one of the first things he had been taught when he first learned how to fight, and, thanks to all his training, he was incredibly powerful in all four of the techniques that Aizen was referring to, while at the same time he noticed that Ichigo was listening as he remained under the safety of his Shukan, "Zanjutsu, the art of basic sword fighting, Hakuda, the art of unarmed fighting, Hoho, the art of high-speed fighting and Shunpo, and Kido, the art of using spells, like Hado and Bakudo, in battle."
"You live up to Urahara's training. I'm glad." Aizen stated, though at the same time he continued his slow walk, as he was sure that the Arrancar would find what he was going to say next to be interesting, "However, you may not be aware of the fact that all of these methods have a limit to their strength. With each skill that a Shinigami masters, the strength of their soul will hit a wall, that's where the growth stops. Let me ask you this; is there a way for break through those walls and surpass the limits of your abilities? And the answer to that question is yes, there is only one way to do that. That way is the transformation of a Shinigami into a Hollow, and vise versa, the transformation of a Hollow into a Shigiami, something that you are familiar with since you started out as a Hollow and became an Arrancar. As you can confirm, breaking down the walls between the two allows one to obtain even greater power than they could on their own, even though I did several tests to confirm this theory: creating Hollows that could hide their reiatsu, Hollows that can make Zanpakuto disappear just by touching them, Hollows with the ability to fuse with a Shinigami."
"Based on your tone, I take it they never turned out right?" Sombra inquired, but, at the same time, he knew that the Captain's experiments hadn't been a total failure, not when Sora was able to become a successful Arrancar due to the words he had given him.
"Correct, and I only had some success by assisting Sora, which yielded limited results," Aizen said, though he was still impressed by the fact that the Arrancar was able to gleam some information from his words and his face, something that he would have to consider for later, "In the end neither myself, nor most of the others that came before me, were able to figure out how to do it... however, Urahara Kisuke was able to make a way that did just that. He created something that could cross over the barrier between a Shinigami and a Hollow in an instant, a product that surpassed all of Soul Society's common knowledge. The name of this product is Hogyoku, or the Breakdown Sphere. It was a dangerous creation, one that Urahara tried to destroy at one point in time, though in the end he was unable to find a way to do so, thus resorting to his final, and only, option: placing a barrier around the Hogyoku and buried it deep within another soul in order to hide it from those that sought it. At the time he had only one place to hide it, and that's inside you, Rukia Kuchiki."
Rukia's eyes widened as she thought about the private conversation she and Kisuke had back when she first found his shop, with Sombra's help, and realized why the shopkeeper had been so eager to lend her a gigai when she transferred her powers into Ichigo.
"When I found out about this, you had already disappeared somewhere in the World of the Living." Aizen continued, not even giving the people around him time to talk, as he wanted to get through the next step quickly before enemy reinforcements arrived to interrupt him, "Of course, I had a hunch that it was Urahara's doing, because at one point he developed a Reishi, a Spirit Child, that could not increase it's energy, which he used to create a gigai that couldn't be locked onto, and then he left Soul Society. This is the only way for a Shinigami in a gigai to go missing. The other reason he left is because the Shinigami inside this gigai will continually split it's reiryoku, meaning that they will never be able to regain their Spirit Energy, their communication with the gigai will become dull, and, in the end, they will lose their reiryoku, becoming just a mere Human soul in the process. By turning Rukia into a Human Urahara would be able to hide the Hogyoku from those that sought it, completely shrouding it's whereabouts. Luckily I was able to find you after a couple of months and could prevent that from happening, so I immediately went to Central 46 and..."
It was in that instant that one of the Captains, one that was taller than the others Sombra had encountered and looked like a wolf that had taken on Human characteristics, dropped out of the sky and landed behind Aizen, before swinging his blade down at the traitorous Captain... only for Aizen to catch the blade with his bare hand, almost like it was nothing compared to the power he possessed at the moment.
"It's been a while since I've seen your uncovered face, hasn't it?" Aizen asked, revealing to Sombra that this Captain generally wore something to cover his face, meaning that the cover must have either broken or he had forgot to put it on when he heard the news about this betrayal, "I wonder what this change of heart is, Konamura?"
"Why are you able to laugh like that, Aizen?!" the Captain, Konamura, demanded, his tone revealing that he was pissed about what he had discovered, though his anger only seemed to flare when he stared at Tosen for a moment, "I will never be able to forgive you for plotting against us and betraying us. Tosen, that goes for you as well!"
Sombra watched as Konamura completely ignored his existence, focusing on the anger that he felt, and swung his left fist at Aizen, causing him and Rukia to jump backwards as a much larger fist, no doubt part of his Shikai or his Bankai, struck where Aizen had been standing. In the following seconds Aizen pulled a fast one on Konamura as he undid some illusion that only the Captain could see, as Sombra could see the traitorous Captain flash through the air and his afterimage break apart, only for Konamura to look down in shock as Aizen raised his right hand. That was when Sombra got his first glance at a Hado that was in the 90's, as Aizen called upon the power of Hado Number 90: Kurohitsugi, or 'Black Coffin', and entrapped the wolf Captain inside a massive black square that formed all around him, only for the cage to dispel seconds later and allow the defeated Konamura to drop to the floor in a small pool of his own blood.
"Impressive." Sombra commented, reminding Aizen that he was there, though it wasn't like the Captain could forget that he was present, not when the two of them had been talking the entire time, but that didn't stop Aizen from latching his hand onto Rukia's collar once more, "A Kido that was in the 90's, the Number 90, Kurohitsugi, or 'Black Coffin', to be exact... even I have tried something like that out yet."
"Again you impress me with your knowledge of Kido," Aizen said, as he had heard from Gin that Sombra was able to use both Sokatsui and Shakkaho, Hado Number 33 and 31 respectively, as well as Seki, Bakudo Number 8, though hearing that he knew about the higher leveled Kido truly impressed him, giving him thoughts about his own project, "but that was a failure. I was unable to draw out even a third of it's destructive powers, as it is much harder to control a Kido that is at that level or above it. Now then, shall we continue our conversation?"
It was in that moment that Ichigo, spotting the rest of their group coming out of the trees, called out for them to stop, though Gin moved forward and used his intense reiatsu to stop all of them in their tracks and force them to their knees, making it impossible for anyone from the group to interfere.
"Once I discovered where Rukia was located, in the World of the Living, I immediately went to where Central 46 was located and massacred them." Aizen continued, as if he wasn't bothered by the arrival of Ichigo and Sombra's friends, but he had to keep track of what was going on and he knew that time was running out before the other Captains arrived, to which he continued moving as he spoke, "You likely heard, from Isane, that I killed Central 46 to 'hide my whereabouts', but that is incorrect, as the moment I found Rukia I killed them and used my Zanpakuto, Kyoka Suigetsu, to create the illusion that Central 46 was still alive and continuing their meetings. From that point forward one of the three of us would be in the Underground Senate, meaning that we had to act like Central 46 and control all the orders like they would, and, to ensure that Rukia was captured, I changed those that were supposed to go out into the World of the Living to Renji and Byakuya, and it proved to be the perfect inspiration for you to improve your skills as well. I was the one that ultimately decided to use the Sokyoku to vaporize Rukia's soul so I could get at the Hogyoku, even though I also had to search the Underground Conference Room's Repository of Great Spirit Books for something that would allow me to forcefully remove the Hogyoku in case someone were to destroy it before it could complete the execution."
"So basically you're saying that everything, from the moment that Rukia entered the World of the Living to this point in time, as all been a part of your plan to get the Hogyoku?" Sombra asked, though at the same time that was impressive, as it must have taken Aizen a long time to come up with the plan the moment he realized what was going on, or maybe the plan had come together so quickly that it was child's play for someone like him.
"Correct." Aizen said, as it was good to speak to someone that at least understood that he had been playing a long game and that it was time for that game, or at least part of it, to be over at last, though at the same time he reached into his clothing and grasped the item he had grabbed earlier, "It seems that I was correct in preparing for the possibility that the Sokyoku was destroyed, even though it took me some time to search for what I needed, despite the fact that I looked through all of Urahara's notes to find the answer. I figured that since he was the one to devise the technique to combine and bury matter inside a soul, to hide the Hogyoku, that the key to forcefully remove that same matter would be carefully hidden away in his research... and I eventually found it."
Sombra watched as Aizen pulled out what appeared to be a small cylinder of some kind, one that emitted some light steam when he pressed down on it, though that was before several sickly green colored spikes, curved at the top, erupted from the ground around him and electricity danced around their peaks. At the same time Aizen's right hand turned the same color as the spikes, before he lifted Rukia into the air and stabbed her in the chest, only for Sombra to discover that she was unharmed, as a hole had opened around Aizen's hand and he carefully removed it, where he spotted a small bluish-purple colored sphere that was surrounded by a barrier.
"Now this is a surprise, that it's something so small." Aizen said, staring at the Hogyoku as his right arm and hand returned to normal, the spikes disappeared as quickly as they arrived, and the hole in Rukia's chest vanished, "And the soul itself is uninjured in the process! Such a wonderful technique... though now that leaves me with a body to get rid of. Gin, take care of her."
In the moment that Gin drew and activated his Zanpakuto Sombra didn't move, as Byakuya, of all people, flashed into the area they were in and grabbed onto his sister, protecting her as he was stabbed in the side by Gin's blade, though as he touched the ground, and the blade was withdrawn, Aizen decided not to bother with them at all. Of course that seemed to present an opening as he started to pocket the Hogyoku, as Sombra took the opportunity to transform his left arm and fist into solid crystal, backed and reinforced by his own reiatsu, and swung at the traitorous Captain, who used his left hand to grab the attack... even though a few seconds later Sombra pushed him backwards and there was some smoke coming from his hand, indicating that he had done something as he landed.
"Impressive. You are definitely powerful for a Vasto Lorde." Aizen said, though he was slightly caught off guard by the fact that Sombra had attacked him, as he had been expecting the Arrancar to stand there and learn of his plans, but at the same time he knew that he had already revealed everything to him, meaning that the time for him to hold back was over, hence the powerful punch just now.
Before he could say anything else Sombra looked into the sky as Kukaku, riding on Jidanbo's shoulder, descended from the sky and recited the entire incantation for Hado Number 63: Raikoho, or 'Thunder Roar Sear', to which she loosed a powerful bolt of lightning down on Aizen, who wasn't affected by the attack when the smoke cleared. In the following instant Sombra smiled as Yoruichi and Soi Fon appeared near Aizen, preventing him from drawing his blade and holding a sword to his neck, while the rest of the Captains and their Lieutenants flashed into the area around them, with one of them appearing behind Gin and holding their Zanpakuto against his neck. At first Sombra actually thought it was over, that Aizen had revealed his hand and had spent too much time conversing with him to escape, but then, just as Yoruichi started to say that it was over, he looked into the sky and found that it was starting to crack and separate, just like when those Menos Grande appeared in the World of the Living... though as that happened he called out for the others to get away from the three traitors immediately, to which Yoruichi, who trusted him the most, did so and the other three followed suit within seconds.
Of course Sombra wasn't happy when he was right that something happened, as three beams of energy appeared from the sky, where the cracks opened to reveal a mass of Menos Grande and some other creature behind them, and struck the traitors. It was in that moment that the Captain-Commander revealed that this was called Negacion, or 'Negative Aster', that was something that Menos used to save one of their own and that it was impenetrable, meaning that Aizen, Gin, and Tosen had beaten them for the time being as they, and the immediate ground around their feet, were lifted into the sky and left Soul Society behind. As all this happened Konamura, despite being weak from the Kido he took, got up and demanded to know why Tosen was leaving as well, only to get a response that was basically the path Tosen followed was 'justice', even if Sombra felt that the Captain was a fool to begin with. Aizen's grand plan, according to him when Ukitake asked him what he was doing, was that no one was standing in 'Heaven' at the moment, as in not Ukitake, not him, and not even God, and that he intended to chance that fact by taking the empty throne as he shattered his glasses and ran a hand back through his hair, turning it swept back with a single bang hanging in front of his eyes... before he bid them all farewell, including both him and Ichigo, before he and his companions stepped into the void before it closed.
Sombra sighed for a moment, because while they succeeded in saving Rukia from an untimely demise they had also allowed the evil mastermind, that he and Ichigo didn't even know about until now, get away with an artifact of great and terrible power, especially considering that he had to be heading to Hueco Mundo. As the Captains and Lieutenants went around the area, taking note of what had gone on, calling in the healers to mend the wounded, and Sombra's came forth to help Ichigo after he removed the barrier he had used to keep him safe, Sombra finally relaxed his power and the wind whipped around him for a moment as he released his Bankai, allowing the power to fade away. Once he had reverted back to his base form, however, he noticed that his power was definitely stronger, which made sense considering that he had passed into a new level earlier, but he stood off to the side and watched as Shinigami ran about, while at the same time noticing that some of the Captains were already staring at him. He was sure that they were keeping their eyes on him, as he was a Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar, the most dangerous of the three classifications, but at the very least he was pleased that he and his friends were being left alone as Orihime tended to Ichigo... while Renji and Captain Konamura were carefully taken to one of the relief centers, so they could mend their wounds, and Byakuya was treated right then and there before doing that as well.
While that happened, however, Byakuya eventually reached a point where he could call Rukia over and she approached her brother without delay, to which Sombra's ears twitched as he listened to what was revealed to Rukia, which he decided not to share since it wasn't his to share. Fifteen years, according to Byakuya, he lost his wife before the plums blossomed, where Rukia told her brother that she knew the story of how Hisana, who she apparently looked like, died and how the fact that was resembled Hisana was the reason that she was taken into the Kuchiki Clan. Byakuya then revealed that he instructed the staff of the manor to tell Rukia that lie, because the reality of the situation was that Hisana was actually Rukia's older sister and that, sometime after the two of them appeared in a zone of Rukongai called Inuzuri, after they died in the World of the Living, Hisana came to the conclusion to abandon Rukia because she couldn't care for the two of them at that point in time, only for Byakuya to find her and take her on as his wife. Because she regretted that act, by abandoning her own sister, Hisana took it upon herself to search for Rukia every day, until eventually she collapsed after five years, which was when she took a turn for the worse, meaning that it was the same year that she died, and Hisana made sure that Byakuya promised to find her... and, soon after she passed away, Byakuya was able to find Rukia and brought her into the family as his sister, as part of the promise that he made to his wife before she passed away.
In that moment Sombra understood why Byakuya said that he didn't want any family ties, as his past was full of pain from losing Hisana, and he drowned out the last bit of the story as he wondered why the Captain's story made him a little sad, though as he sat by one of the rocks, however, Yoruichi sat next to him and watched the Shinigami as well. What he found was that, with just her mere presence, the sadness that had rose for a few seconds had been squished by a stronger and completely different emotion, one that he hadn't felt before today, but he'd have to figure out what that was in the future. The reason was because he could tell that the Captain-Commander was staring at him, even with his eyes closed, and there was the fact that Zaraki was grinning at him as he leaned again one of the trees that was near where they were located, telling him that he wanted to battle him in the near future... to which Sombra sighed and focused on the moment that was around him, as he had the feeling that the next couple of days were going to be quite busy.
Sombra yawned as he pulled himself into a sitting position on the bed that he had been allowed to sleep, as he and his friends had been given rooms to stay in after discovering that all of them had been fooled by Aizen, Gin, and Tosen, though some of them had been sent to the clinic rooms and some, like him, were sent to a residential type of building. The room was what he expected from his time in the World of the Living, or at least the older style that Urahara Kisuke used all the time throughout his shop, except for one thing, as the room was actually large enough for two people and two beds, as opposed to the norm for some odd reason. That happened to be reinforced by the fact that Yoruichi had shared the room with him, in her normal form and not her cat form, but he was starting to wonder why, when he thought about her, that a new feeling was starting to appear, one that he had no idea what it was, and yet he decided that asking the Shinigami was a bad idea, since most of them were afraid of him and the intense reiatsu that he could give off. Because his reiatsu was so strong he made sure to pull it back to the point to where he wouldn't knock anyone out, putting him back at the point he had been in when before Byakuya had arrived outside the Shrine of Penitence... and yet, at the same time, that didn't stop the Captains and Lieutenants from staring at him whenever he was near one or more of them.
He yawned again as he looked over at the other bed and found that Yoruichi seemed to be enjoying her sleep, since she wasn't up just yet and it appeared that most of her clothing was in a pile near her bed, on a nightstand of some kind that happened to rest near her... but, because of the daily routine that he had established back in the World of the Living, he touched the floor with his hooves and stretched his arms, before pulling on his attire, slipped Shokyo into his belt, and then headed outside the room.
As he walked through the hallway that he was walking in he passed by several members of the Eleventh Division, as everyone in his group had been moved to the Fourth Division's relief center, where their wounds could be treated until they were ready to leave, which would take some time according to Captain Unohana. The Captain told him that it should take a week before Ichigo, Chad, Ginju, Uryu, and the others to recover from their various wounds, especially since Renji and Captain Byakuya were in critical condition at the moment, but he had faith in their healing abilities, especially since they were occasionally asking Orihime for assistance to study her power, while Sora watched over them. Speaking of Shinigami the members of the Eleventh Division, apparently disapproving of the food that they were being served, tried to take it out on the Shinigami assigned to assist them, but as he walked by he stared at them and that, without his intense reiatsu, was enough to cause them to back away and retreat for another day, allowing the Fourth Division Shinigami to get back to their duties as he continued his walk. He even walked by Captain Unohana on his way out of the building, who he simply nodded to since she had to be busy with all the people that she and her Division had to heal, before heading outside and continued out into the winding streets of the Seireitei... where he also noticed a few Shinigami that backed away from him a little as he walked by, mostly with a look of fear in their eyes, causing him to sigh as he lowered his reiatsu some more and continued walking.
The only other reason the Shinigami stared at him, besides his powerful reiatsu, was the fact that he was the only one that was carrying a Zanpakuto at the moment, as the order for Shinigami to carry theirs had been withdrawn with Aizen's withdrawal into Hueco Mundo, so they were worried that he might attack him, something that he wasn't planning on doing at all, since he didn't want the Shinigami to turn on them while they were still recovering. Despite the fact that he wasn't going to attack anyone, however, he could tell that there was one Shinigami that was following him, not Yoruichi from the feel of the reiatsu that was around him, but for the moment he showed no signs of having felt the reiatsu and continued on his way through the Seireitei. He only had three possibilities for who the reiatsu could be: Captain Zaraki, who he knew wanted to battle him at some point, Captain Mayuri, who had been denied access to him and Orihime by Captain Unohana and Captain-Commander Yamamoto, and Captain Soi Fon, maybe because he had spent some time with Yoruichi in the World of the Living and she might have questions for him. The only downside to those thoughts was that, for two of them anyway, he could rule them out immediately, as Mayuri would have confronted him with little regard for the Shinigami around him and Zaraki would have been lost by this point in time, so, if he was right about who could be following him, he only wondered what Soi Fon had to say to him as he walked through the Seireitei.
He was also faintly aware of the fact that there were Shinigami watching from the shadows, no doubt Soi Fon's soldiers so they could be sure that she was safe and report anything to the Captain-Commander should he attack any of the Shinigami that he walked by, but he ignored them for the most part, as he believed that they would fall back if their Captain gave the order.
As he walked his thoughts were mostly plagued by the information that Aizen had revealed, that he had been behind the fact that Sora was able to become an Arrancar, by posing as the stranger they had seen that night, and that he had also been behind the second Menos Grande that had attacked him. It was disturbing to hear that everything they had been through so far was the plan of their enemy, that he had been planning on them coming to reclaim Rukia, and the Hogyoku that was hidden inside her, and them causing chaos in the process, which Sombra guessed was mostly both his and Ichigo's fault, since they had both beaten Captains by the time the execution arrived. What really worried him was the fact that Aizen had claimed the Hogyoku, an artifact of immense power that Urahara had created when he was still a Captain of Soul Society, and, from the tone that he had been using, Sombra had to guess that the traitorous Captain was planning on using it to create an army of Arrancar, which was why he went to Hueco Mundo with Gin and Tosen. Of course he had no idea if he was right or not, but the information that Aizen had given him seemed to suggest that he was trying to create an Arrancar army for some reason, to claim the 'empty throne' that sat in 'Heaven', which meant that he and his friends needed to be ready for whatever happened once they returned to the World of the Living.
By the time he pulled himself from his thoughts he noticed that he had walked, or more likely flashed, his way over to where the Sokyoku Hill, in the forest that rested below it, and he found traces of the battle that Yoruichi had with Soi Fon, a battle that Yoruichi had won from what she told her, before he sighed and found only a single reiatsu near him.
"How long are you planning on hiding from me?" Sombra asked, as he knew that someone was following him, and he would have though something was strange if someone wasn't following him, but at the same time he knew that it was time for whoever was doing that to reveal themselves.
A few seconds later a female Captain, who had a petite body with gray eyes and short black colored hair, which had two long braids bound in white cloth and ended in a large golden ring, flashed into the area in front of him, allowing him to see that she was wearing the same attire that Yoruichi had been wearing last night, as part of her clothing had been torn apart during their battle, to which he determined that she was the Commander of the Omnisukido, Soi Fon.
"Captain Soi Fon, this is a pleasant surprise." Sombra said, deciding to see if she had noticed that he had detected her shortly after she started to follow him, while playing innocent and seeing her reaction, but he remained respectful towards her since she was a Captain, "Do what do I owe the pleasure of your company on this fine day?"
"Don't play dumb, I know that you noticed that I was near you some time ago." Soi Fon stated, her tone revealing that she didn't like to be played with at all, something that Sombra could understand to some degree, though at the same time he noticed that her gaze was focused on him, "As for why I came here, I wanted to talk to you about Yoruichi."
"Really?" Sombra inquired, as that was interesting to hear, especially with his changing emotions involving someone that he considered one of his best friends, in a manner that Ichigo considered Chad one of his best friends, before he focused on the incoming conversation, "So, what do you want to talk about?"
"I saw the way she looked at you after Aizen defected and headed to Hueco Mundo," Soi Fon said, though this time around Sombra detected a hint of anger in her voice as she raised her arms and shifted her legs into a stance that looked like one that was used for battle, "I've known Yoruichi for a long time, before she and Urahara left Soul Society all those years ago, and I immediately recognized the look in her eyes when she sat near you... and it makes me angry to see that look in her eyes, especially when I noticed your expression afterwords!"
Soi Fon flashed through the air and raced towards where Sombra was standing, but Sombra, thanks to his reiatsu moving into the world of the Vasto Lorde, from what he had been told earlier, was able to see the attack in slow motion almost and moved his body to the side as he let the attack pass by him. Soi Fon actually seemed surprised as she slipped by him and landed on the ground, before turning around and attacking him again, to which Sombra mentally sighed as he dodged the incoming attacks with ease, especially since many of the incoming movements he recognized immediately, as they were the same moves that he had been taught in the beginning of his training. After some time he started moving his arms, just to make it seem like he was actually fighting back, but in reality all he did was raise his arms and block a blow from reaching him, seemingly annoying Soi Fon in the process, though he was sure that she would back off once she realized that he wasn't actually trying to fight her, not when he could overwhelm her in an instant if her truly wanted to do something like that. At the same time he noticed that the Captain had come without her Captain her attire and had, like the Captain-Commander ordered, left her weapon wherever she usually kept it when she wasn't carrying it, but since she was without a weapon he simply blocked the incoming attacks and did nothing else as Soi Fon flashed around the area that they were in and tried to overcome his defenses.
Of course what he was actually thinking about was what Soi Fon had said, that she had seen the look on Yoruichi's face when she sat by him earlier, and wondered what she meant by that, as Yoruichi seemed normal to him during that period of time, while also blocking the attacks with such ease that allowed him to divide his attention between the battle and his thoughts.
"In the time I knew her, I only saw the expression that Yoruichi gave when she loved something only a few times, and only directed at events that happened!" Soi Fon snapped, trying to kick the back of his head from behind, where Sombra moved out of the way a little and then caught the fist that came after that, before she retaliated by pulling her fist back and continuing her seemingly random stream of attacks as she sought an opening for some reason, "So why, after a hundred years of residing in the World of the Living, does she suddenly return with a bunch of Humans, one of which just so happens to have the power of a Shinigami, a Quincy, and two Arrancars, one of which she treats differently than everyone else in the group? Why does she look at you differently than everyone else? What makes you so special?"
"What in the world are you talking about?" Sombra inquired, as he had no idea what Soi Fon was even referring to at the moment, while at the same time blocking the incoming attack that was aimed at his face, though while anyone else would have gotten mad he was simply curious so he could understand the Captain of the Second Division.
"Why does she look at you with love in her eyes and treat you with more affection than she has shown anyone when she was still the Captain of the Second Division?" Soi Fon demanded, where she continued her assault as she sought an opening, one that she wouldn't be able to find unless she got serious about trying to hurt him, as Sombra detected that her emotions were getting the better of her, and the evidence was the tears forming in her eyes, "What did you do that made her finally find someone that made her heart flutter? What did you do to her that made her fall in love with you? How can you just sit there, when she's doing that, and do nothing in return to show that you care about her?"
Sombra parried the incoming attack that was coming his way and tossed Soi Fon backwards, though from that point he let his body move on it's own as he thought about what the Captain had said so far, as he really hadn't noticed such a change in Yoruichi, and he was very observant most of the time. The only change he had seen in his friends, not counting the sudden appearance of Ichigo's inner Hollow, who he believed was someone completely different than what Ichigo thought he was, came from Urahara, as he had been observing him all the time and occasionally frowned when he and Yoruichi were doing something together, something he associated with his training. There was also the fact that, unlike Ichigo and his Human friends, he had no idea what love was supposed to be, likely the combination of him losing his memories and becoming a Hollow back when he was an ordinary soul, so it was hard for him to know when something like Soi Fon had been suggesting had even happened. There was also the fact that he had seen Yoruichi smile whenever he recovered from his injuries, had seen her freak out when he was near death, and had seen the worry in her eyes be replaced by relief when he recovered from near death, emotions he had connected to their bond of friendship... but he was beginning to wonder if there was some truth to Soi Fon's words, as Yoruichi did treat him differently than anyone else, which he had connected to his Arrancar state, though maybe that was wrong on his end as well.
As he thought about all of this his hand caught the incoming punch that was aimed at his chest and caused Soi Fon to growl in annoyance, maybe because he suddenly reminded her of the training sessions that she went through when she was learning from Yoruichi, before he sighed and pushed her away from him.
"What is this 'love' that you are referring to?" Sombra asked, because if he was going to understand what she was really talking about he needed to first understand the word 'love', as he needed some assistance in moving away from calling Yoruichi and the others his associates before he could call them friends, something that one of them explained to him, and it was the same now.
"You're kidding me, right? How could someone like you not know about love?" Soi Fon asked in return, as she knew that the Arrancar had spent some time in the World of the Living, watching over Ichigo Kurosaki and spending time with those that were close to his Human friend, and knew that he had to be pulling her leg, but after a few seconds the expression on his face didn't change and she realized what was going on, "You're serious? You honestly don't know what love is or the signs that tell you when someone's in that state?"
"Soi Fon, here's something that you and the other Captains don't know about me," Sombra said, to which he tapped his Zanpakuto for a moment, something that he knew his opponent was staring at from time to time in case he decided to draw it and attack her, "this Zanpakuto, Shokyo, is just like all the Zanpakuto that you and the other Shinigami have; it has a Shikai, a Release Call, and a Bankai. Arrancars, from what I have been told, also possess a Zanpakuto that contains the core of their Hollow powers, which means that I should have one, but right now that blade is lost somewhere in the vast entirety of Hueco Mundo, along with all the memories of who I was before I became an Arrancar. Sure, I might have known about love when I was still an ordinary soul, before my transformation into a Hollow, but now that I'm an Arrancar, and my memories have been taken from me, I have no idea what love is... just like I used to have no idea what friends were until someone explained it to me."
"Geez, I never expected such a thing like that to happen." Soi Fon replied, because in all honesty she and the other Captains had been worried that Sombra was an Arrancar that was using the invasion that Ichigo and his friends were a part of to attack and destroy Soul Society, but in reality he came to save someone he considered his friend, all while trying to remember or recover who he used to be, before she sighed, "Love is, well, complicated at times. I guess from the way I'm acting you could say that, both in the past and right now, that I've been in love with Yoruichi, except that mine was born from the desire to be just like her when I was older, and the fact that I was told, when I was much younger, that my family was supposed to give everything, even their identity, to protect and serve the family line that Yoruichi came from... a love born from devotion and admiration. Yoruichi has strong feelings for you, how I don't know because I've never heard of a Shinigami falling for an Arrancar before, and I guess I was the only one that was able to see it yesterday because I'm one of the few people that knew her better than most people. There's something about you that made these emotions awaken inside her, or maybe it's something you did or something you said, and she spoke of you during our battle with high regard, something that she gives to those that she enjoys working with."
"Emotion... I see." Sombra commented, as he recalled how Byakuya's story had made him sad, about how he lost his wife and promised to find her sister Rukia, only to be caught at an crossroads when her life was in danger, and how the simple gesture of Yoruichi sitting beside him and smiling had crushed that sadness with something else, something that was even stronger than everything else he had felt before, even hatred, before he chuckled for a moment, "Thanks Soi Fon, I'm glad you decided to come and see what I was up to... and that you decided to beat some sense into me, for not seeing what was right in front of my eyes."
"I see you finally understand me." Soi Fon said, to which she turned around and looked back out at the Seireitei that they had walked through, and partly flashed through to get here so quickly, where the other Shinigami were working their hardest to repair the damage that all the battles had brought to their home, before glancing over her shoulder for a few more seconds, "You should talk with Yoruichi about both of your feelings at some point... though if you don't share the feelings that she has for you, at least be gentle about it, otherwise I might have to call Suzumebachi out and kill you for breaking her heart!"
Sombra simply nodded his head and Soi Fon flashed up into a nearby tree, giving herself one last glance at him, to be sure that he wasn't up to anything, before she headed out into the Seireitei and went back to her duties, and no doubt to report to the Captain-Commander that he wasn't doing anything wrong... before he turned towards a tree that was opposite of the one that Soi Fon had picked, which just so happened to rest on the other side of the circular clearing that he was standing in.
"You can come out, Yoruichi." Sombra said, as he had felt her observing them some time ago, halfway through the mock fight that he and Soi Fon were having, and had a feeling that him walking out of the room had been enough to cause her to stir earlier, or maybe it was the clash of reiatsu that was between him and the Captain.
"One of these days you won't be able to detect me when I do this," a voice replied, to which Yoruichi, fully clothed in the attire that she had been wearing when they confronted Aizen, stepped out from behind the tree that she had chosen and smiled, as she was also pleased that all the training she had given him was paying off big time, "I overheard what Soi Fon wanted to ask you, though I was going to wait until we got back to the World of the Living before we talked about the feelings that we're both feeling."
"It's okay, I'm partly to blame for not realizing that the feelings were there to begin with," Sombra stated, because while he had confirmation that Yoruichi did have feelings towards him, something that he was only beginning to feel thanks to yesterday, he could only wonder how long she had been burdened with her feelings and had no one to talk to them about until he was ready, "It's just... I was so focused on saving Karakura Town, getting to know Ichigo while I worked with him, saving his friends, finding out that I also had friends, and so many other things, that I completely forgot to spend time with the people that had given me a chance and never noticed what the slight changes in how you acted meant. When you sat by me yesterday, when I was feeling sad after hearing the tale that Byakuya told Rukia, something that I won't repeat without his permission, the sadness that had sprung up was squished by a stronger emotion... an emotion that brightened my mood immediately, even if I couldn't place what was going on."
"So the first time you actually felt love was yesterday?" Yoruichi asked, though at the same time she was absolutely fine if that was the case, because his memories were still missing and, like he had said, he had been too busy to realize that there might be something after friendship, but she was happy to see that he was learning more about the various emotions that people, both Shinigami and Humans, went through.
"Yeah, and I'm still disappointed that it's taken me this long to figure out what the slight change in your mood and expressions has been." Sombra replied, to which he rubbed the back of his head for a moment, as he had no idea what he was supposed to say at the moment, before he turned his attention back to Yoruichi, "So, um, what's supposed to happen after two people reveal that they're in love with one another? I'm completely lost in that regard."
Yoruichi just smiled at him, grabbed onto his left arm for a moment, and pulled him out of the clearing as they flashed back into the Seireitei, or more like one of the numerous market areas that resided throughout the area that the Shinigami lived and worked in, before they started walking down the street and simply enjoyed each others company. While they walked, however, Yoruichi stopped once or twice to purchase something, mostly a food item since she had skipped breakfast to chase him down, and while he didn't actually need to eat Yoruichi insisted that he at least try some of the food, even if he just stuck to drinking his tea every now and then. He humored her a little and tried some of the rice balls, which had an unusual flavor when he tried them and found that it was the sauce they had been made in based on what Yoruichi told him, and sampled the breakfast tray that his companion had picked up, but for the most part he smiled and sat with her while he drank the tea she ordered for him. He also didn't ask how she still have funds, since it seemed like Soul Society would have confiscated all of it or something when she and Urahara left for the World of the Living, but whatever the reason was he didn't want to know and it didn't appear that anyone came to question them, allowing them to enjoy themselves as they saw fit.
After that Yoruichi decided to show Sombra around Soul Society, which included observing the office buildings that the Captains worked from, and Lieutenants since three Divisions were now missing their commanding officers thanks to Aizen's betrayal, but they never went close to any of them. Sombra had no idea why Yoruichi wanted to show him those buildings in general, but neither did he talk about that, as he could tell that just being in an area, and not having to worry about being found out, gave her time to consider her past for a few seconds. The interesting part was when they reached the office building that the Second Division worked from, where he found Soi Fon staring at the two of them from the walkway that connected two buildings, her glare reminding him of what she had said earlier, and he fully intended to make sure Yoruichi was perfectly fine. For the most part she seemed to be enjoying herself, showing him around and smiling as he kept pace with her, thanks to the training she gave him before this point in time, and a few Shinigami that they walked by on the streets seemed confused when they looked at them, but for the most part the duo ignored whoever was around them and did whatever they wanted... and that included heading back to the training area that she had brought him and Ichigo to so she could test him in speed and power.
Basically the two of them spent a good deal of time practicing their Shunpo with each other, where Yoruichi was no longer surprised when Sombra could keep up with her steps, and simply sparred with their hands for the most part, as there was no reason for either of them to hurt the other, though at the same time Yoruichi commented that hurting Sombra might be hard, given his power and the durability of his skin.
"You know, I've always wondered why my skin is like that." Sombra commented, speaking when the two of them were relaxing in the hot springs of the training area, more for actual relaxation this time around instead of treating any wounds, especially since neither of them had hurt the other, and they sat side by side while they talked, "Originally, before I fought that Menos Grande and Byakuya, my skin was pretty durable, but I think that it has something to do with an Arrancar's reiatsu, which is why my skin is tough when I'm in battle. If I'm right then the power boost I got from my training with Urahara, back when he helped me find Shokyo's name and assisted Ichigo in calling out his Zanpakuto, allowed my skin to become even tougher, which would have happened after Shokyo taught me how to use my Bankai. Of course I could be wrong and this is just something that occurs naturally in an Arrancar... though I'm not going to ask Captain Mayuri to explain what he knows about the Arrancar, as I have the feeling he'd try to experiment on me if he was given the chance to investigate my powers and abilities."
"Speaking of the Captains, what will you do?" Yoruichi asked, as she knew that the Captain-Commander would let Ichigo and his Human friends return to the World of the Living, since that was where they belonged, but, at the same time, Soul Society's history showed that an Arrancar has never come into this world, and the only reason they'd send Sora back was because he wasn't a threat to them, regardless of the training he went through from this point forward, "You know that they're not about to let you just walk out of Soul Society and go back to the World of the Living, not with the power you possess as a Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar."
"I'll speak to the Captain-Commander about that in the future," Sombra replied, though at the same time he actually wasn't worried about the fact that Soul Society might not let him leave, as with Aizen and his fellow traitors gone there was only one Captain that had the power to stop him, and that was the Captain-Commander himself, before he leaned back a little more and wrapped his arm around Yoruichi, who smiled at him, "but for now I plan on relaxing until Ichigo and the others are well enough to move, then we can think about how we're all going to get out of here without annoying the Shinigami any further than they already are."
Yoruichi smiled as she leaned towards Sombra for a moment, recalling that he was the only person whose seen her without any clothing on and has never once been embarrassed by her actions, not like Ichigo was, though she didn't care if it was because he was used to her presence or because of his missing memories, as she was more interested in the person she came to know and not anything else. While she was slightly upset that Soi Fon had ruined her plans of telling Sombra about her feelings, when they were away from all of the Shinigami that were around them, she was also impressed by her former student's ability to keep the information a secret, even from her own Division and the other twelve Divisions. She was also happy to find that, even though the feeling had only just awakened, Sombra was more than willing to see where this path took him, because love could awaken his old memories, but at the same time Yoruichi was planning on establishing them and explaining the various rules about this to Sombra, who was likely to remember them and act accordingly, which already brought a smile to her face. Of course she knew that Urahara was going to told her that he had seen this coming, since she had lied to him about her feelings for the Arrancar, but at the same time she honestly didn't care what he thought about them... and she was sure that he was going to be quite shocked when he realized just how powerful Sombra had gotten from his Shinigami training alone.
Even though she wondered what the height of his power would be like, once he got his Arrancar blade back, she decided to push those thoughts aside and focused on the moment they were having, something that she had envisioned long ago when she first found her feelings towards Sombra, to which she smiled and enjoyed herself... and the eventual massage that Sombra gave her, as a repayment for all the times she had worked the soreness out of his own muscles, which only brought a smile to her face in the process.
After the first day that Sombra and Yoruichi spent together, doing whatever they wanted after their time in the hot springs, they spent some more time in each others company, surprising the few members of their group that had already healed and were merely waiting for the others to get better. Uryu, after asking politely a few times, had some sewing equipment brought to him and merely made some new clothing to replace his destroyed Quincy attire, which had been partly ruined in the wake of his battle with Captain Mayuri, then made something for Chad, Orihime, and even Rukia, which was based on some measurements that Sombra decided it was best that he didn't ask how he acquired them. Chad spent most of his time healing the last of his wounds, though when he was allowed out of his room he insisted on testing the mettle of some of the Eleventh Division members, just to make sure he didn't fall behind Ichigo, which was where he found Sora getting lessons from Ikkaku, so he could continue to protect his sister and push his strength to the limit. Orihime spent her time between assisting Captain Unohana when she asked for her opinion on something, while Ichigo spent most of his time confined to his bed until he was healed, which only made Ganju laugh, despite some of the injuries he had acquired when he and the others were being freed from their earlier cells by Zaraki.
It was in that moment that Sombra learned that Zaraki had battled both Tosen, who he defeated after witnessing his opponent's Bankai in action, and fought Konamura to a draw, since his second opponent withdrew so he could figure out what was going on after the announcement of Aizen's betrayal was sent out to everyone.
For the most part the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth days of their rest went exactly like the first day; Yoruichi and Sombra spent some of the day exploring another part of the Seireitei, to let him understand the place that she had lived in a hundred years ago, while Uryu in the others relaxed as the rest of their wounds healed or did whatever they wanted to do to pass the time. By the sixth day most of the group was healed and the only ones left were Ichigo and Renji, since they were the ones that Aizen had messed up on the day of his betrayal, but at the same time Sombra stood near the area that they were allowed to stay in and knew that something was coming to interrupt their mood, even though he was staring at the door to the room. Yoruichi seemed to be of the same opinion, mostly because of her knowledge on what the Captain-Commander could do in a situation like this, and most of the group was in different rooms when the door opened and one of the Shinigami stepped in to talk with them, only for them to discover that it was Renji who came to see them.
"Lieutenant Renji, this is an unexpected surprise," Sombra said, as he was being respectful towards the Shinigami that were allowing them to stay in Soul Society, though at the same time he noticed that Renji frowned for a moment, meaning that he didn't like being called that by people close to him, friends anyway, "To what do we owe the pleasure of your company on this fine day?"
"The Captain-Commander is asking for you, and someone you trust, to come to a meeting with the remaining Captains and their Lieutenants," Renji replied, though his tone revealed that he didn't know anything about what the meeting would be about, even though it could be anything from what the verdict was on his life or about what Aizen said to him before the rest of the Captains arrived, before he turned around, "The meeting is supposed to be soon, and I'm supposed to escort you and your chosen companion to the room that we'll be gathered in."
"Very well then," Sombra said, to which he stopped leaning against the wall and turned towards Yoruichi for a few seconds, who smiled as he did that motion, as she knew exactly what he was going to say next, "Yoruichi, would you like to join me on my adventure?"
"Sure." Yoruichi replied, to which she got up from where she was sitting and walked over to him, keeping the smile on her face while Renji raised an eyebrow for a moment, before sighing as they headed out of the room and walked outside the building, where they could flash through the Seireitei to reach their destination.
Sombra honestly had no idea what to expect when he reached the building in question, though when they arrived he found that most of the Divisions were accounted for, save for the Fifth Division since they were in shambles from Aizen's betrayal and their Lieutenant was still healing at the moment, and that both Gin and Tosen's Divisions had their Lieutenants standing in for their traitorous Captains. At the very end of the line, as Sombra noticed that the even numbered Divisions were on one side and the odd numbers were on the other side, stood the Captain-Commander, who seemed ready for a discussion, though he also raised an eyebrow when he noticed that Yoruichi was with them, but instead of doing anything he understood why she was here and turned towards Sombra. At the same time Sombra noticed a mix of emotions on the faces around him, as some of the Captains clearly didn't trust him, since he was an Arrancar, and some of them wanted to do certain things to him, like Mayuri for experimentation and the desire to battle coming from Zaraki, but he kept his feelings to himself as he waited for someone to say something.
"Thank you for coming on such short notice." Yamamoto said, as he knew that they were all busy from what happened a few days ago, especially after discovering that Central 46 had been assassinated, but there was something that needed to be cleared up before the Arrancar and his friends departed from Soul Society.
"Not at all, Captain-Commander Yamamoto," Sombra replied, because he was curious as to what the Captains wanted to talk about, while at the same time noticing that many of the Lieutenants were studying his reiatsu and were definitely sweating, no doubt because of the power he possessed, before he focused on the task at hand, "If you don't mind me asking, what did you and the rest of the Captains want to talk about?"
"You and I still haven't had our battle, Sombra," Zaraki answered, to which he stepped out of the line and approached Sombra, who turned around and stared at him for a few seconds, finding that he was still one of the few Captains that was carrying his Zanpakuto, since he didn't like the rules that Soul Society was run by, "My battle with Ichigo Kurosaki was exciting, and you were an Adjuchas ranked Arrancar at the time, but now you're a Vasto Lorde... I'm excited to see what you are really capable of before you head back to the World of the Living, or Hueco Mundo, or whatever you call home."
"The real reason is because we have decided to allow you to head back to the World of the Living with those that you arrived with earlier," Yamamoto continued, taking note that Zaraki cut into the conversation like usual, since that was what he did all the time, before focusing on the Arrancar, "We have determined that you are not a threat to Soul Society, for the moment anyway, and that you are definitely not one of Aizen's pawns, since you did not flee with him, and so we're letting you leave as well. Before that, however, Zaraki insists that you fight with him, so he can experience your power as well."
"Very well then." Sombra said, to which he turned towards the Captain that was addicted to battle, as he knew that he would continue to do this until he got what he wanted, and decided that he might as well humor the Captain before he and his friends went back to the World of the Living, "So then, Captain Zaraki, when would you like to have our battle?"
"Tomorrow morning, in the area near the stands that Ichigo destroyed," Zaraki replied, though the look on his face told Sombra that he was eager to see the power that he commanded, even though he could have felt it by just feeling his reiatsu when he and Ichigo were battling Byakuya, "We haven't even started and I'm more excited than I've been in the last couple of months."
Sombra knew that the battle Captain would be excited about all of this, even though he wasn't too keen on wasting time in a battle that might be decided before it even started, but he nodded his head and decided to let the Captain have his way, especially since the others were willing to let someone like him leave Soul Society. At the same time, however, he noticed that Mayuri was disappointed that he was even agreeing to the suggestion, though that was only because the Captain wanted to test and study him, since he was a Vasto Lorde, while the other Captains merely sighed at the idea of Zaraki battling him. He also noticed that many of them were also interested in the idea of seeing him in action, no doubt because he had shown off his Bankai against Byakuya earlier, who was currently keeping his eyes closed as he let the meeting go on without him saying anything, and no one else actually said anything after Zaraki issued his challenge to him, meaning that this was all he was getting from this meeting... though, even as that thought crossed his mind, he realized that this meeting didn't seem as important as Renji seemed to make it sound, but that might have been due to the fact the Captain-Commander was the one calling this meeting together.
In the end he, Yoruichi, and both the Captains and their Lieutenants were dismissed so they could rest and prepare themselves for tomorrow, as he knew that Zaraki would be eagerly waiting for them to battle and some of the other Captains were thinking the same thing... to which he sighed as he walked away, as he knew that this was better than the Shinigami trying to stop him, and soon enough he and his friends would be able to return home, he just had to battle Zaraki and the deed would be done.
Ichigo sighed as he finished stretching in the room that he had been staying in, the one that the Shinigami had given him while he and his friends were still healing from their wounds, and used the nearby towel to wipe off the sweat that had gathered on his body. He was pleased to find that his body had healed back to the point it had been earlier, before he used his Bankai and put all that stress on his already wounded body, though at the same time he knew that the same thing wasn't true for Sombra, as his body hadn't suffered from the effects of using his Bankai. As he thought about that he realized that there were so many rules that the Arrancar broke, the ones that a Shinigami lived by, and yet he didn't seem to care about any of them, because he was usually focused on the mission or battle at hand, depending on what they were doing at any given moment. A few seconds later he put down the towel as he continued to think about his friend, as for the last couple of days he had found that Sombra, not to mention Yoruichi, went out and explored the Seireitei, only to return later in the afternoon and tell him nothing of what he had found, not that he actually cared. He had to think about the time they spent during their Bankai training, where he found an unusual expression on Yoruichi's face, one that he didn't think he'd find there at the moment, and wondered if he had been right in his earlier thoughts... that she, a former Shinigami, might be in love with an Arrancar, one of the sworn enemies of the Shinigami, merely because they were evolved Hollows that had gained new powers.
Of course he had next to nothing to base those thoughts on, as all he had seen was the odd look on Yoruichi's face from time to time, but what was strange was Sombra's reactions to their teacher, showing that they had some sort of relationship, a friendship if he was right, and it seemed more than just the teacher and student type. The way the two of them interacted with each other told him that they were definitely, without a doubt, more than teacher and student, as they were like him and Orihime, friends that had formed a bond over some event, and yet he was still thinking about why it was so strange. Even so he was sure that there was something more between the two of them, as the way the two of them spoke to each other and hung out seemed differently from friends, and, when he thought about the last couple of days, he realized that both Sombra and Yoruichi had both left the building they were staying in at the same time and came back at the same time, telling him that there was definitely something between them. He made the comment to Uryu on the third day and was told to mind his own business, because if something was happening between the pair they would have been notified at some point in time so the two of them and the others wouldn't get shocked when an announcement was made in the future.
Speaking of announcements, however, he had gotten some interesting news yesterday, after the duo got back from whatever they were going, that today would be the last day they would be spending in Soul Society, because sometime tomorrow the Shinigami would be opening the way back to the World of the Living and they'd be able to go home after a week of rest. That news was accompanied by the fact that today there was going to be a battle, overseen by the Captains and their Lieutenants, at Sokyoku Hill, where the Shinigami were planning on executing Rukia earlier, and both he and his friends were being invited to see the battle as well, even though they weren't being told who would be fighting. Because they weren't told who were fighting he was planning on bringing Zangetsu with him, just in case someone, or more like a specific Captain, tried to drag him into a fight while he was in the final stages of his recovery, especially since he wasn't sure if he could use Bankai again just yet, something that he'd have to test later on... though his thoughts were interrupted when he heard a knock on the door, to which he turned his head towards the door and called for whoever was on the other side that they could enter.
"Ichigo," a voice said, to which Ichigo turned towards the door of the room he was in and found Renji, now sporting his Zanpakuto despite the order for him and the other Shinigami to stop carrying them, revealing that the situation deemed that he and the others should carry their weapons as well, standing there staring at him, "Captain Byakuya and the rest of your friends are ready to go. We shouldn't be late for the start of the fight."
"O... Okay." Ichigo replied, to which he picked up Zangetsu and placed his Zanpakuto in the area of his back that he usually let it rest in, how he had no idea and wasn't about to question it, before he walked out of the room to join Renji, where he found that Uryu and the rest of his friends were already gathered together and were ready to go, with the pair he had been thinking about earlier missing once more, "Has anyone seen Sombra or Yoruichi since last night?"
"No, though it appears that they're clearly doing something together," Uryu stated, knowing that the Arrancar and former Shinigami, as they had learned Yoruichi's identity shortly after Aizen's betrayal, had to be spending their time exploring the Seireitei, before he turned to the side and started to follow after Captain Byakuya and Renji, both having healed completely since their ordeal, "though something tells me that we'll be in for quite the surprise when we reach Sokyoku Hill, mostly because no one wants to tell us who is fighting today... even though I have an idea who might be involved in the brawl, since we haven't seen them so far today."
Ichigo nodded his head and fell in line with the others, to which they exited the building that they had been staying in and started the short trek up to where the execution had been planning on being held earlier, but at the same time he noticed that there were several powerful reiatsu signatures gathered in the area that they were heading towards. The reason that they weren't having to walk across half the Seireitei to get there was because Byakuya, upon hearing of the fight, transferred all of them to a building that was close to the hill, meaning that they could be ready to leave at a moment's notice. He also knew that he didn't have that great of an ability to read or sense reiatsu, and he wasn't sure if it was something that he should work on or not, but he was able to tell that multiple Captains and multiple Lieutenants were gathered in the area once more, only this time there were more of them than the last time he had been in the area. Most of the time he let Sombra sense where something was happening or had Rukia's phone, and her own senses, inform him of a potential danger, but now he wondered if it was best to pick up a new skill or not... though his thoughts were immediately drowned out when they reached the area that they were heading to and found that Kenpachi Zaraki was in the area as well, with that sinister grin on his face.
In addition to the sinister and insane Captain, and Yachiru, his seemingly innocent Lieutenant that just so happened to be standing near him, Ichigo spotted Captain-Commander Yamamoto standing nearby with his Lieutenant, along with Captains Soi Fon, Unohana, Konamura, Shunsui, Hitsuguya, Mayuri, and Ukitake standing nearby. Not only were the nine remaining Captains present, not counting the three traitors and Zaraki, but so were the Lieutenants of each Division, some of them having to fill in for their Captains, though the Fifth Division wasn't represented because the Captain was a traitor, the Lieutenant was still recovering, and all the seated members, from the Third Seat to the Fifth Seat, were all dead. Of course both Ikkaku and Yumichika were present as well, telling Ichigo that one of the people partaking in this fight was definitely Zaraki, to which he felt sorry for whoever was being dragged into the fight, as most Shinigami didn't even have the power to resist the battle-crazed Captain possessed... unless it was Sombra, as his friend had an even greater reiatsu than he had and had the skill to hide it until he was ready to show his hand, and the evidence was how he kept all his power hidden until his first confrontation with Byakuya earlier. Even Rukia, who was still recovering from the time that she spent inside the Shrine of Penitence, was present, meaning that her Captain felt that this would be good for her and she actually seemed interested in the fight.
As they all gathered in the area near the Captains that would be viewing the fight, however, Ichigo stopped in his tracks as he noticed Sombra standing in the same open area that Zaraki was waiting in, with Yoruichi making sure that he was prepared for something... before he realized that Sombra was the one fighting Zaraki, just as his friends noticed that the Arrancar was up here.
"Ah, Ichigo, you're here." Zaraki commented, though at the same time he grinned, as the main person he wanted to have as an observer for the fight was present at last, even though he was more focused on the Arrancar, "Good. I was wondering if we were going to have to start without you. It would have been a pity if you missed what's about to happen between Sombra and I... and I am shaking in excitement."
"Yeah... I can see that." Ichigo said, though despite the fact that he had Bankai, and had beaten Byakuya with Sombra's assistance, that didn't change the fact that he was still terrified of Zaraki, because he had the feeling that if they were forced to cross blades again he might not walk away from the encounter.
"Hey, Yoruichi, is he ready yet?" Zaraki asked, though his tone revealed that he was itching to get the fight underway, now that all of the observers were present, despite the fact that many of them still had tasks they needed to accomplish in preparation for whatever Aizen had planned.
"As ready as I'll ever be." Sombra replied, to which he nodded his head and Yoruichi, with a smile on her face, moved out of the area to let the two of them have the area to themselves, which was when Sombra sighed as he pulled Shokyo from her scabbard and focused his attention on Zaraki, noting that his opponent was still grinning like a madman that was about to have the greatest day of his life, "Well then, Captain Zaraki, shall we get started on our battle?"
"Indeed we shall!" Zaraki shouted, drawing his nameless Zanpakuto from where he kept it as he charged forward, where he brought down his blade on where Sombra was standing and found his attack immediately blocked by one that was of equal power, but even then he was only getting started, as his power still wasn't near the highest it could be.
The force of their blades colliding, even with Sombra holding back a good portion of his own power, shook the ground around them and caused some of the Lieutenants to steady themselves, as they weren't expecting Zaraki to start off with the power that he was using, but, at the same time, they were prepared for anything. It was in the following moments that Zaraki went on the offensive, swinging his blade at his opponent from a number of angles, trying to catch him in one and cut him so he could see what he was dealing with, though the interesting thing to him was that the Arrancar was only parrying his attacks as he studied something. For a moment he felt that he was gaining ground, as he was pushing Sombra backwards, but after a few more swings Sombra moved to the side and let the next one pass by him, before moving to a new place to stand, where Zaraki realized that he had been drawn away from the others for a moment, though he was okay with it since it gave his opponent less to worry about and focused his attention more than it had been earlier. His next attack was parried by Sombra, who wasn't even shaking under the power of the attack, and he also parried the swing that came at him, but he knew that his opponent was testing his defenses, preparing some sort of plan for when an opening revealed itself.
One thing Sombra noticed, despite the fact that he was keeping Shokyo in her sealed form at the moment, was that Zaraki was already eager for the battle and he assumed that the grin was because he was the latest one to fight a Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar that had beaten Captain Byakuya earlier, but that didn't stop his Zanpakuto from parrying the next attack as he continued his defense.
A few seconds later Zaraki's eyes widened as Sombra dodged the entirety of the following attack, shaking the air for a moment, before he swung Shokyo through the air and cut a light gash into his shoulder, though as Zaraki grinned, as he had been expecting something like this, he swung again and Sombra avoided the attack entirely. The next instant the two of them clashed as their swords came into contact with each other, showing that their power was of equal levels despite the fact that they were both holding back at the moment, but Zaraki didn't mind, as he was testing the water before he revealed his hand to his opponent, just like Sombra was doing to him. Despite the fact that he hadn't wounded Sombra yet, and his reiatsu hadn't terrified him at all, he was already having fun and he knew that the fun would only increase the more they fought each other, especially since he intended to drag out all the power that was hiding inside his foe, before the eyes of the remaining Captains and their Lieutenants. His grin widened as he increased his own power and tried to push Sombra's blade back, to show that his reiatsu was stronger, and yet the Arrancar barely moved and simply stared at him as they struggled against each other, showing that he was paying attention to every move he made.
Zaraki decided to change up the pace and increased his own reiatsu even more, to the fullest it could be without removing his special eye patch that rested over his right eye, causing the air to shudder as he did so and he pushed Sombra backwards, to which he swung at his opponent's chest... only for his blade to hit the Arrancar's chest and do nothing, which surprised him for a moment, as it felt like he was hitting a hardened piece of metal, before his grin came back as he focused on his foe.
"Now this is interesting," Zaraki said, to which he took a few steps backwards and let the air around them shudder as he prepared for the next stage of the battle, as he was far from finished, because he intended to pull off the eye patch and pull out his full power once he pulled out his opponent's Bankai, "you're skin is harder than I was thinking, but there is nothing, and I mean nothing, that I cannot cut. Things are going to get even better er from this point forward, though if you don't release your Shikai soon I'll have to cut you down and end the battle."
"Is that what you think?" Sombra inquired, though at the same time he focused his mind and Shokyo's blade glowed for a few seconds, but as he did that he noticed that Byakuya was staring at him, as he understood what was coming next and knew that the other Captains were eager to see his transformed blade, "Shimmer, Shokyo."
The Captains and Lieutenants watched as his blade shifted into it's broadsword form, with the sun reflecting off the crystalline blade for a moment, before Sombra flashed through the air as he resumed the battle, where this time around he went on the offensive and started swinging at Zaraki, his own attacks now causing the air to shudder every now and then when their blades connected. This time around Sombra found that Zaraki's attacks were faster than they had been moments ago and, with the increase of his reiatsu to the max of what it could be without breaking his limits, the power of his swings was even stronger as well, as the air shuddered when their blades connected and his guard was broken several times, to which he was fortunate that his skin was hard enough to stop his opponent's blade from cutting him. Zaraki grabbed onto Shokyo's blade and pulled it towards him, along with Sombra for that matter, but as that happened Sombra moved himself out of the way and avoided the attack that was coming at him, before twisting his Zanpakuto out of his foe's hand before cutting another gash into Zaraki's chest... before the two of them separated from each other and landed on the ground once more, to which they stared at each other as they waited for the next one to make a move.
"You're reflexes are better than I thought they'd be," Zaraki commented, though that only made his grin widen even more than it already was, putting it back at the point that most Shinigami were familiar with when they realized that he was enjoying himself, and he could only imagine the fun he'd be having if he pushed the Arrancar to his limits, "and, if I'm being honest, I can't tell if you're taking advantage of the bells and my eye patch or if you're reflexes are so good that you don't have to take such an advantage. The thought of meeting an opponent who doesn't take advantage of either of those, and battles me with all their might, excites me more than you could possibly know, and right now I'm already having more fun than I was having with Ichigo during our earlier fight."
"You know, it's a shame that you don't know the name of your Zanpakuto and it's Shikai state," Sombra said, because Zaraki was an impressive opponent, as his strength was more than he was expecting to encounter, mostly because he didn't believe in determining an opponent's power based solely on their reiatsu, but unless he pulled out his full power he knew that he could win this with his Shikai, "I'm positive that you would have even more fun in battle if you were able to call upon a fraction of your Zanpakuto's power and abilities, like all of the Captains and Lieutenants that are standing near us... in fact, I'd be interested in seeing the power of your Zanpakuto, if you were able to gain that power."
"Speaking of power, show me your Bankai." Zaraki replied, showing that he had heard, from the other Captains, that the Arrancar had unlocked the ultimate power of a Zanpakuto some time ago, no doubt from Byakuya himself, while he and the other Captains were having a meeting in the last couple of days, "I want the pleasure of facing your Bankai in battle, like you used it against Byakuya earlier, and I will happily wear a grin on my face while I cut my way through your defenses and take you down!"
"In all honesty, I don't think that I need to use that just yet," Sombra stated, though as Zaraki raised his eyebrow, as he was clearly hoping for such a thing to happen, Sombra flashed through the air and went on the offensive, forcing Zaraki to block the incoming attack as he aimed at his chest.
"What, are you scared of your power that much?" Zaraki asked, though at the same time he pushed back and knocked Sombra's blade off of his, before swinging once more, only this time he swung several more times as he continued his assault, stopping Sombra's offensive in it's tracks, "You're a Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar, you shouldn't be scared of the power that is coursing through your body!"
"Oh, I'm not scared, or even terrified, of my power," Sombra said, to which he swung his blade and caught the next attack before it could even reach him, before taking a second to spin around and deliver a kick to Zaraki's chest, causing him to take a few steps back as they both settled down once more, all while he continued to study his opponent as he waited for what he felt when Ichigo fought him, "I'm just saving it for when I really need it. If you want me to break out my Bankai, and show it to the other Captains as well, then you'll have to show me the power that you used in the last couple of minutes of your fight with Ichigo, as that is the only thing that would be able to put you at a point where we'd be able to have an even fight without one destroying the other."
Zaraki stood there for a moment, pondering the words that Sombra had chosen to speak at that very moment, before his grin returned, as they were barely into their battle and he was having fun, which is what he expected from a Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar like Sombra. As he considered the words he knew what he had to do, because the one thing he wanted to see, and ultimately destroy like all of the others that came before it, was the seemingly powerful Bankai that Yachiru told him about when she and Ichigo's friends were trying to reach the execution area. Not even a few seconds later he started to laugh at the situation, as while he might not be as wounded as he had been when he fought Ichigo, as he had received many wounds before he did what he was about to do, he now knew the quickest way to get to the heart of the matter and tear it out, even though his laughter was making some of the other Captains nervous, which he considered a bonus to all the fun he was having. If his foe desired him fighting with all of his power, without holding anything back at all as a requirement for showing off his Bankai, than he was going to give Sombra exactly what he wanted, even though it was going to freak a number of the observers out in the process... but he was having too much fun already and decided that they weren't his problem at the moment, which was why he raised his right hand and gripped the eye patch.
A few seconds later Sombra watched as Zaraki tore off the eye patch he was wearing, revealing that his right eye was perfectly fine, before his opponent's reiatsu flared to the level that he had felt when Ichigo fought him earlier, along with the yellow coloration that shook the area around him... and, not even a second later, Zaraki swung his blade and a light gash appeared on Sombra's chest, a diagonal one, though he was more shocked by the speed and power than he was from the fact that he was wounded.
"This, Sombra, is my full power," Zaraki said, to which his reiatsu gathered around him like a vortex for a few seconds, breaking up parts of the ground in the process, while he stood there with a grin on his face, as this was what he had been waiting for and now it was time for his opponent to show him what he wanted, "You know, I was expecting you to dodge that swing and not get wounded... but this does tell me that our powers will be more equal to each other when you finally show me your Bankai."
"I see... that eye patch is designed to restrict your reiatsu to a certain point and taking it off reveals the true height of your terrible power," Sombra commented, though at the same time he touched the gash that had been cut into his chest, a first since he hadn't actually taken any damage in the time they had been in Soul Society, before he sighed as he faced his opponent once more, "though, as long as we're being honest with each other, I've been restricting a good portion of my own power as well, only I've been keeping myself at the level I was at when I was an Adjuchas ranked Arrancar. It's not unusual for me to start off small, to gauge the level of power that my opponent has, and then increase it accordingly, but, since you were so kind as to show me the height of your power, I shall oblige and show you my full power."
Zaraki watched for a few seconds as Sombra's own reiatsu, possessing a brilliant blue color that matched the blade he was carrying, started to wrap around the Arrancar as he pointed the tip of his blade towards the ground, along with it actually touching the ground, before his opponent's eyes opened once more.
"Bankai." Sombra said, to which the blue gemstone that rested on the guard of his blade glowed even brighter than anything else for a few seconds, though that was when his reiatsu kicked up a gust of wind, creating a curtain of dust, that shrouded him from the sight of everyone that was standing nearby, who could now feel the powerful reiatsu they had felt when he did this earlier, in his battle against Byakuya's Bankai.
The Captains and Lieutenants stood there for a moment, some of them sweating from the sheer pressure that they were feeling at the moment, while others, like both Mayuri and Zaraki, were excited for the possibility of seeing what this power was capable of doing, even though they had different reasons for their excitement. Byakuya, on the other hand, knew of the power that Sombra commanded in this form and already knew that it was over for Zaraki, even though the Arrancar was bound to show off a few of his powers before bringing an end to the battle, and Yoruichi, who had helped him reached this point, smiled as the wind and dust started to die down at last. When the dust cleared and the wind stopped they were all shocked and stunned by the sight in front of them, as they were taking in the armor that Sombra was now wearing, the lack of certain pieces that would have completed the set, and the immense reiatsu, that could only belong to a Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar, radiating from his body. Zaraki, on the other hand, grinned as he stared at his opponent, because this was something that he wasn't expecting, since the rules regarding a Bankai stated that a Bankai was some large construct, like the mass of flower petals from Byakuya's Bankai or Tosen's Bankai, which created a massive domed area that robbed the opponent of multiple senses... something that he had beaten when he was shown it, which was why he was planning on smashing this Bankai into pieces as well.
"Isamashii Hogosha Shoteikoku," Sombra stated, though at the same time he shifted his stance slightly, while also moving Shokyo up from the ground, as he was going to prepare for the first attack and knew that Zaraki was going to be keeping an eye on what he was doing, "or, if you prefer the translated version of my Bankai's name, it's 'Valiant Guardian of the Crystal Empire'."
"Crystal... Empire?" Mayuri asked, causing several heads to turn towards him for a moment, as most of them were expecting the one to ask the question to be Zaraki, since he was Sombra's opponent and Mayuri wasn't, but at the same time it didn't appear that Sombra was annoyed, "What is that supposed to be?"
"My inner world... Shokyo calls it the 'Crystal Empire'," Sombra replied, as he noticed several Captains and Lieutenants nod their heads in understanding, as they knew that, in order to get a Shikai for their Zanpakuto, they had to delve into their own inner worlds to get the name and Release Call, even if most of those worlds went unnamed, "It's where she had been residing before I learned that she actually existed, as we weren't sure if an Arrancar could imprint their soul on an Asauchi, and it took some meditation for me to go into that world and converse with her. The best way I can describe my inner world is to compare it to Soul Society, as it's pretty much shaped like Soul Society, though it's definitely smaller in size, the houses and buildings are all made of crystal, and there's a palace at the direct center of the empire... not to mention the fact that the sky is permanently stuck in the night position and there's a blood red colored sun in the sky."
"This is all terribly interesting, but I'm going to start the fight again." Zaraki stated, to which he held his sword to the side and his reiatsu flared, shaking the entire area around him as he prepared for what he was about to do, before he swung and loosed another powerful attack that was just like the last one that had wounded Sombra, a wound that Zaraki noticed had been healed by the transformation.
Sombra, on the other hand, barely glanced towards Zaraki as a dome snapped into existence around him, stopping the attack in it's tracks for a few moments, much to the surprise of those that were around them, before the attack exploded and kicked some dust up, where Sombra noticed something interesting.
"As I suspected, the power of your swing is more than enough to leave a few cracks in my Shukan," Sombra said, as he was taking a few seconds to stare at the cracks that had formed around the area that Zaraki's attack had struck, though while that gave him an idea on how to use the technique against stronger opponents he simply waved his hand and dismissed the barrier entirely as he focused on the fight, "Now then, let's continue our fight and see how well your full power holds up to my Bankai."
Zaraki kept the grin on his face as he charged at Sombra, who immediately moved through the space between them and reappeared on the other side, where Zaraki paused as another gash was cut into his chest, as he was caught off guard by the suddenness of it, but that only made him more excited as he turned around and swung at his opponent. Sombra struck the incoming attack with his own and knocked it away from him, before dropping down as a second one came at him and his reiatsu flared, to which Byakuya raised an eyebrow as the ground shook, as he recognized the attack that was being used at the moment. The Captains and Lieutenants watched as parts of the ground broke open and crystal spikes erupted from beneath their feet, only in the area that Sombra specified as he was sending them after Zaraki, who barely dodged them as a few of them actually cut into his arms and legs as he made it out of the area that Sombra had focused them in, only for the battle-crazed Captain to charge into battle once more. Of course Byakuya then noticed that Sombra had gathered some of his reiatsu into his broadsword and watched the familiar energy wave erupt from the blade when he swung at Zaraki, who was hit square in the chest by the attack and was knocked backwards... only for him to get back up, despite his slightly bleeding chest, and charged into battle again, prompting the Arrancar to attack once more.
As he stood there and watched he understood how he could have been beaten so badly by the Arrancar, as he, like most of the Captains and Lieutenants that knew that happened two hundred years ago, were familiar with the limited power of the last Adjuchas ranked Arrancar and none of them ever considered finding one that was even stronger than that one had been... and that wasn't taking into consideration that Sombra was, in fact, a Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar now, meaning he was even stronger than he was during their second fight.
"So his Bankai's ability is to summon crystals," Mayuri commented, as he was watching the fight with a calculated look in his eyes, as he was interested in the power that their friendly Arrancar possessed, though at the same time he was already trying to come up with a way to stop that ability from happening, just in case the Arrancar turned against them and so he could take him out if such a thing happened, "It's not the most interesting power in the world, as I can think of several other abilities that are more interesting, but it is fascinating to see that an Arrancar, if given the time and the proper tools, can awaken the spirit of a Zanpakuto and learn how to wield that blade's Bankai."
"Even if you were able to do that, and I'm not saying you can't, you'd still have to study and then block the reiatsu manipulating part of his power," Hitsuguya stated, because while he was certain that Mayuri could block a Bankai's powers if he so desired, not that he had tried and hoped that he wouldn't attempt that, he also knew that there was more to the Arrancar than what they were seeing, especially considering the power that they were feeling at the moment, "Even then you'd have to watch out for the immense reiatsu that he's giving off, because I'm sure that he could cut something with just his reiatsu if he so desired, without shaping it into crystals and energy attacks."
"And then you have to watch out for the Kido that he can use," Byakuya added, remembering how Sombra was able to use two of them to good effect during the battle that they had outside the Shrine of Penitence, though at the same time Sombra dodged the incoming attack and cut Zaraki's left arm in the process, showing that he was focused on the battle and not on what the Captains were talking about.
"Wait, he can use Kido as well?" Mayuri inquired, as that was information that he hadn't known before this point in time, though even as he considered that fact he realized just how hard it would be to restrict all the powers that the Arrancar had in the off chance that he turned against Soul Society, while at the same time both he and Zaraki met in the middle of the area in front of them and caused the air to shudder.
"Indeed, though he's likely not using them because Zaraki enjoys pure combat and doesn't care for Kido," Byakuya said, though at the same time he wondered if the Arrancar was going to use his Cero at some point, because as far as he knew the thing had only been fired once and that was when he unlocked it, but knowing his skill with Kido meant that his Cero would be even stronger than before, "If you battle Sombra, even with some knowledge of his abilities, you have to be careful when engaging him, as he is quicker than you can believe and he knows when it's a good time to use his powers to turn the tide of the battle... though against Zaraki he just needs to wear him down to the point where he gives up, instead of relying on Kido or anything to take him out."
"His speed and power are also a problem," Hitsuguya added, as this was the first time that he, not to mention the majority of the remaining Captains, had seen a Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar fight up close for the first time in many years, and the only one that might remember the last time one had shown up had to be the Captain-Commander, "the fact that he's able to keep up with your speed and Zaraki's power means that he could be trouble for us if he suddenly decided to change sides and join Aizen. We'd be doomed if Aizen, Gin, and Tosen have someone like Sombra on their side, or even Sombra himself if they managed to convince him to join them... can we really take the risk of letting him return to the World of the Living with Ichigo and his friends?"
"You don't have to worry about him turning on you guys, not unless you really piss him off," Yoruichi commented, her voice reminding the Captains that she was present, even though some of them would have preferred that she disappeared forever and never came back, but her eyes were focused on Sombra, who was parrying the next attack and cut Zaraki in the process once more, "All he cares about is protecting the innocent and learning what it means to be an Arrancar, even though he's been learning how to be more Human in the last couple of weeks... and of course he's fast, because I was the one training him in that regard before we came here. Though, if you ask me, it seems like Zaraki might be about to bring an end to this battle, though not in the way he's hoping."
Zaraki, grinning like the madman that everyone knew him to be, stopped where he was standing and his reiatsu flared once more, only this time he was focusing his power into one last swing, as he intended to do what he did to Ichigo once more and, in the process, deliver a powerful cut to Sombra that would make him realize that he wasn't without competition for who was the strongest. Sombra, seeing what his opponent was doing, sighed as he help Shokyo off to the right and left his power gather as well, to which his brilliant blue aura pulsed around him, just like he felt Ichigo and Zaraki do when they were battling each other before he fought Byakuya, while the ground shook under the intensity of their power gathering around them. Before long the immediate area around the two of them was filled with their individual reiatsu, gathering for what was going to be the final strike of the entire match, and the Captains prepared themselves for the clash that was about to happen in front of their eyes, just like Ichigo and his friends did, before Zaraki charged at Sombra without a care in the world and Sombra did the same as their energies followed after them. The inevitable clash of their powers consumed them in a blinding flash of energy as the ground around them was torn apart, blown backwards, and even sank a little... but when the smoke finally cleared and the wind died down the Captains, Lieutenants, and Ichigo's friends joined Yoruichi as they approached the edge of the crater and looked into the sunken area in front of them.
Both Sombra and Zaraki seemed to be just fine, with the fragments of their auras disappearing, but that was before Zaraki shuddered as a new gash, going from his right shoulder to his left hip, was cut into his body and he staggered for a few seconds, before collapsing on the ground. Sombra, on the other hand, simply sighed as he looked down at his right arm and stared at the crack that had been put into the metal gauntlet that he was wearing over his right hand, showing that his opponent was strong and that he wasn't one that anyone should underestimate. A few seconds later Sombra turned towards Zaraki and held his hand out, to which he focused on one of the other abilities he had unlocked during his Bankai training and sure enough the larger wound he had just dealt decreased in size and severity, allowing the Captain to open his eyes and get back onto his feet, surprising the other Captains in the process.
"You fought well, Captain Zaraki," Sombra said, though even if the Captain was annoyed that he didn't kill him he knew that he was an excellent fighter, one that would definitely give him a hard time in the future if he was able to push his power even higher than it already was, "I take it you had fun?"
"More than I had when I fought Ichigo," Zaraki stated, as he had been right in his earlier thoughts, because Sombra was stronger than Ichigo and the fight just now proved that he had more fun than the previous fight, but at the same time he noticed that the Arrancar was putting his Bankai away for now, "I'll beat you one day, and I'll get as strong as I possibly can to make that statement a reality."
"I had a feeling you'd say that." Sombra replied, though at the same time he smiled as well, because while it was a little strange to night fight with Kido, to respect the fighting style that Zaraki was familiar with, he knew that he had just set the bar for Zaraki and that he wouldn't stop until he reached it.
As Zaraki walked off, however, Sombra couldn't help but think that this fight made the other Captains and Lieutenants more worried about him, as he had just demonstrated that he could beat Zaraki if he used his Bankai and accessed all of his power, and even then he might not need that if he was serious about the fight, but he had no intentions of betraying Soul Society and making them his enemies. At the moment the only ones he wanted to take out were Aizen, Gin, and Tosen, but they were in Hueco Mundo and he wasn't about to head there, not yet anyway, until he had some decent rest and got the World of the Living back under control, once he and his friends returned anyway. As those thoughts ran through his mind Yoruichi approached him and informed the gang that they would be heading out to Kukaku's place, since tomorrow they would be heading back home and she did promise the fireworks maker that they'd swing by once they knew when they were leaving. The Captains left them to their own devices, Zaraki apparently going to train so he could beat both Ichigo and Sombra in the future while Mayuri focused on a way to seal powers, even though it would take some time to get something like that going... allowing Sombra and his friends, including Rukia, to head out of the Seireitei, which was no longer surrounded by the wall, and head to Kukaku's place.
Sombra had to admit that walking through the Seireitei was a nice change of pace and silently hoped that the peace would last, for them and the Shinigami, but with Aizen still out there they couldn't afford to get too relaxed... though he'd start being serious when they returned home, as for now he wanted to relax with his friends and the one person who opened his eyes to what was around him, which made him smile all the way to Kukaku's place.
The first thing that happened when they arrived at Kukaku Shiba's place, where her cannon was still out and not back in the underground storage area where it belonged, was that they found Ganju, who had purposely gone home before anyone could stop him, being beat up by his sister, or at the very least punishing him for being no help to the group. Rukia took the opportunity that was presented to her and stopped them for a moment, as she had to finally get something off her chest and apologized for the death of Kaien Shiba, someone that Sombra discovered had meant a lot to Rukia, just as he was Kukaku and Ganju's older brother. Of course Kukaku, as well as a number of Shinigami, had learned that the reason behind Kaien's death wasn't because Rukia had killed him, but rather a Hollow had killed his wife, fused with his body when he came looking for it, and then Rukia had the terrible deed of killing the end result, which was why Rukia felt so guilty over the entire thing, as she still believed that it was her fault that Kaien died. Kukaku wasn't about to have any of that and insisted that, upon hearing the real reason behind her brother's death, that she would forgive Rukia only if she came and apologized, and because that was what Rukia did, even if it brought tears to her eyes, both she and Ganju finally buried their dislike for Rukia so they could move on with their lives... but that was also when Kukaku insisted that Rukia stopped apologizing for what happened, otherwise she was going to beat her up until she did so.
Sombra, upon hearing about the experiment that was conducted, realized that the person that was ultimately responsible for Kaien Shiba's death was none other than Aizen, as he had admitted that he ran a number of tests and came up with next to nothing, but at least it gave Rukia fuel for her fire.
Yoruichi, once Kukaku was done tormenting Rukia over apologizing and saying that she was sorry, moved to the side and told her friend that their group would be leaving sometime in the morning, along with the fact that she knew that it was time for them to fulfill their side of the bargain they made earlier, when they were first seeking her help. Sombra quickly discovered that it was basically a dinner party, Kukaku's treat as it were, and that they were all invited to eat, have fun, and spend the night if they so desired, which seemed to appease Ichigo and Ganju, even though the two of them fought over some of the food in the process. Sombra smiled as he sat against one of the walls, drinking the cup of tea that he had been served, and watched his friends as they enjoyed themselves, as he knew that they deserved this time to relax and unwind from all the stress they had been through from the moment that they entered Soul Society, even though he had to refuse both Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko's offers for something to eat. They still didn't understand him, as they said that beings that had power, like Shinigami, needed to eat to keep their strength up, or something along those lines, and Sombra told them that, as an Arrancar, he didn't abide by the same rules and that a cup of tea was all he really needed, even though it wasn't necessary for his survival.
His belief was that Arrancars either survived off of spirit particles, which Soul Society had an excessive amount of if he believed what Uryu said, or they actually didn't need to eat anything at all and simply recovered on their own, which was his personal opinion on the matter... though some time later, as the group settled down, Ichigo decided that it was time to pop the question to Rukia, causing everyone to quiet down to hear what was going on.
"Tomorrow we get to go home." Ichigo said, as it was still so unreal that the Shinigami were allowing all of them, who had invaded their home to save a friend from a fate that they didn't think she deserved, to leave Soul Society and head back to the World of the Living, so they could resume their lives as if nothing had happened, "It still seems so unreal that we're going to head back home... though the experience was definitely worth it, since it means that we saved our friend in the process."
"Ichigo..." Rukia sighed, as she had been meaning to tell the group this since they left the area that Sombra and Zaraki had been fighting in, but so many of them had been talking that she hadn't had the opportunity to do so, which was why she was going it now, "I've been meaning to tell this to you guys for a while now, since you went out of your way to come here and save me. I... I was thinking of staying here, in Soul Society."
"Really? That's great." Ichigo replied, though while he put a happy expression on his face Sombra noticed that his hands shook for a moment, like he felt that Rukia should renounce Soul Society for doing all of this to her and run away to the World of the Living, before Ichigo spoke again, "Well, if that's something that you decided that's good for you, that you feel that you would really like to stay here, then it's best that way."
Sombra knew that Rukia was staying here for multiple reasons, the first being that this was her home, since she was a Soul and not a Human, and the second being because she still hadn't fully recovered from her time in her cell, meaning that the best place for her to heal and get better was here, in Soul Society. Of course he was a little sad that she was planning on staying behind, but there was one good thing, besides all the power that he and Ichigo had gained and the potential allies they might have made, that made the entire trip worth it in his eyes, and that was Yoruichi, who was sitting by his side after the twins stopped pestering him. So far none of their friends had noticed that they were much friendlier towards each other, even though Uryu might have noticed, since he was the most observant of the others, and had chosen to say nothing, and right now he was intending to keep it a secret for a little while longer, just until they got back to the World of the Living and told Urahara the news. He honestly had no idea how the former Captain of the Twelfth Division was going to react to him suddenly coming back with the news that he and Yoruichi were definitely a couple, even if they hadn't told anyone yet, and it was his reaction that he was interested in, since he and Tessai had known her longer than he did at the moment... and even Yoruichi had no idea what they were going to say, even though she had some guesses and refused to say since many of them could be wrong.
Soon they would return to the World of the Living and rejoin the rest of their friends, and get back to how life had been before Byakuya and Renji came for Rukia, but before they got to that point in time Sombra focused on what was happening at the moment and wrapped an arm around a smiling Yoruichi, knowing that she was enjoying herself and joined the others in their final celebration.
When morning arrived, and everyone got up from where they had fallen asleep, Sombra and Yoruichi, the only ones that hadn't gone overboard on whatever activity the group had gotten into during the dinner party, shook the others awake and made sure that they were ready to depart. The reason was because Soul Society had a strict timeline they wanted to adhere to and that meant that they wanted to get them out of this realm by a certain time, though the gate to get back to the World of the Living, if Yoruichi was correct, would have been reconstructed on Sokyoku Hill, meaning that they had to go back into the Seireitei to reach the gate. Kukaku was just fine with them leaving, as the mess had been cleaned up by the twins while they were sleeping, and even wished them well on their way back to their own realm, even though she had them promise that, if they ever wound up in Soul Society, they come visit her again, especially Yoruichi, who smiled at her and waved goodbye as the group headed back towards the center of the Seireitei. Sombra, however, made absolutely sure that they left nothing of importance behind, such as Zangetsu since it was halfway across the room from where Ichigo finally collapsed when he was 'brawling' with Ganju... and he personally didn't want to know how it had gotten over there, as he simply handed the Zanpakuto over to Ichigo, made sure Shokyo was attached to his belt, and they continued on their way to Sokyoku Hill once more.
Several Shinigami nodded their heads to them as they headed down the street that would would allow them to reach their destination quickly, even though it would take an hour to reach it anyway, but at the very least they would arrive at a time that would fit with the time table that the Captains needed to abide by and wouldn't make them upset with the group anymore than they already were... though when they arrived at the hill, however, they found Captain Ukitake standing near a gateway that reminded Sombra of the gateway they used to get here in the first place.
"Ah, there you guys are," Ukitake commented, to which he flashed the group a smile as they neared him, while at the same time Rukia walked over to where her Captain was standing and turned to face the group, who were focused on the official looking gate that was standing in front of them, "This is the informal Senkaimon. Of course, seeing that most of you arrived by energy conversion, we installed an energy converter so you can head back to the World of the Living. Ichigo Kurosaki, I have something for you."
Ichigo and Sombra glanced over in Captain Ukitake's direction and found that he was holding some sort of badge that seemed to resemble a pentagram of some sort, with a skull and cross emblazoned upon the surface of it, though the two of them stared at it as Ichigo wrapped his hand around it and picked it up so he could stare at it.
"What is it?" Ichigo asked, though as he looked at it he found that Sombra was staring at it as well, because he had no idea what the badge was supposed to be since it had never appeared in any of his studies when Urahara was teaching him in the past, before they focused on Ukitake as he started to explain himself.
"This is your Battle Certificate as a Substitute Shinigami," Ukitake stated, noting that both Ichigo and Sombra were focused on both him and the badge, something that he could agree with since this wasn't something that they generally brought out, not after what happened to one of the last Substitutes they had, "It was decided in ancient times, when a Substitute Shinigami that could be of use appeared, this would be passed onto them. If you put this on, you'll be able to quickly transform from your Human state and become a Shinigami. Of course, after taking into consideration everything you have done for us, I honestly don't think that I can pay you back with just this."
"It's okay, we did this because we wanted to." Ichigo replied, to which he held up the badge for a few seconds and smiled for a moment, because he honestly wasn't expecting to get something like this when he and his friends came to Soul Society in the first place, before he gave the Captain his full attention once more, just to show that he was grateful that they were so accepting of him being a Substitute Shinigami, "But I'll gratefully accept this."
"As you wish." Ukitake said, because Ichigo was definitely different than anyone he had met before, though at the same time he glanced over at Sombra for a moment, noticing that the Arrancar was staring at the gate that was in front of them once more, showing him that he had lost interest in the badge, "There's not much we can give to an Arrancar, since this is the first time we've had a friendly one be created in Hueco Mundo, so the best we can do is give you freedom to return to the World of the Living."
"That's fine." Sombra spoke up, not even caring about the fact that most of the people that were around him were ignoring him, save for his friends anyway, even though Uryu and Orihime were giving Rukia the dress that Uryu had made for her earlier, before he sighed as he turned away from the gate, where he found that the remaining Captains and their Lieutenants had gathered to see them off without saying anything to them, "How long until the gate opens?"
"Right now actually." Ukitake replied, seeing a nod from the Shinigami that were tending to the gate, to which Sombra's friends separated from Rukia and gathered near the gate, so they could head back to the World of the Living at long last and leave Soul Society behind... to which Ichigo turned towards Rukia and smiled, while at the same time she smiled back at him in return.
"See you later, Rukia." Ichigo said, though at the same time his friends smiled and nodded their heads in agreement, showing that they all knew that his words held some truth, as they were fully expecting her to come visit them one day in the future, since she might be assigned to watch over Karakura Town once her powers returned.
"Later, Ichigo, Sombra." Rukia stated, knowing that they would be expecting her to return to their town in the future, and she fully intended to visit them at some point in the future, though at the same time her friends started to move towards the gate that was in front of them, "Thanks for everything, guys."
Sombra smiled for a moment as he and the others focused on the gate in front of them, though as they stepped forward he noticed that Yoruichi was wearing a wakizashi on the right side of her waist, but instead of questioning when she went off and reclaimed her Zanpakuto, since they had been together a majority of the time, he decided to go with it as they passed into the dimension between Soul Society and the World of the Living. At first nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, even though Yoruichi had them run from the moment they entered the tunnel dimension, but after a few minutes of running Sombra glanced behind him and spotted the Kototsu coming after them again, to the dismay of the rest of the group since they had been hoping to avoid being chased by this thing. This time around no one decided to do what they had done the first time around, which was when Orihime blocked the fast moving Kototsu with her Flowers and blew them out of the Dangai, while Uryu made sure to keep his clothing away from the walls, to prevent a repeat of the last time they were here. While all of that happened, however, Sombra found that the Shinigami Senkaimon was actually much faster than the one that Urahara had made in the underground training area and let them used, as they were able to reach the end of the tunnel in a shorter amount of time than when they ran towards Soul Society.
As they moved through the exit, however, they found that the opening was far in the air above the town, but while both Sombra and Yoruichi was expecting something like that, since the entrance they used was high up in the air to begin with, they were more able to continue standing as the others fell... but before they were able to do anything they spotted Ururu launch something that wrapped around them, and both Tessai and Jinta caught it before it expanded into what could have been called a flying cloth of some kind, to which the two of them landed at the back of the pack. At the same time Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu landed behind them as well, showing that this had been planned ahead of time, but as they did that they focused on Urahara as they sat down, while the others focused on what was going on at the moment.
"Welcome back everyone." Urahara said, though he glanced back for a few seconds, seeing that Yoruichi had returned in her normal form and was carrying a blade that he hadn't seen for over a hundred years, one that she had left behind and told him that she'd recover if she ever went back to Soul Society, before he focused on what he wanted to talk about and who he wanted to talk to, "Welcome home, Kurosaki-san, Sombra. I assume that Yoruichi told you all about me?"
"That's right." Sombra replied, though even as he said that he didn't hold anything against the man that had helped train him when he was still learning what he needed to know so he could survive in this world, because he knew that Urahara had a reason to hide who he and Yoruichi were, and he assumed that the same had to be the same for Tessai, since he knew more about Kido than a normal person should know about that subject, making him wonder what the man's role in Soul Society had been a hundred years ago, if he was in the same boat as Urahara and Yoruichi.
"I'm truly sorry, Ichigo." Urahara stated, to which he took off his hat and turned around in his seat, where he rested one of his fists on the cloth and bowed his head a little, showing that he was sorry for what he didn't tell them, as the look on Yoruichi's face told him everything that he needed to know, even if he wished that the outcome of the adventure had been different from the reality that had happened.
"Please stop. It's okay now." Ichigo said, though he looked off to the side as he glanced at the area around them, as he couldn't believe that they were even talking about this at the moment, before he turned his attention back to Urahara as the others did the same thing as they untangled themselves, "I'm not really mad. And you really didn't do anything bad. Despite whatever your intentions were, you saved all of us and made us stronger than we could have been if we had trained on our own. I'm grateful, so there's no need for you to apologize. Can I ask you one thing? Was the reason you didn't tell me, not to mention Sombra, the truth of the situation was because you thought that some of us might get scared and chicken out?"
"Right on the mark!" Urahara replied, though at the same time, as he put his hat back on his head, Ichigo growled as he elbowed him in the face and knocked him back to the edge of the cloth for a moment, though as he rubbed his face he noticed that Ichigo had sat down with his back towards him, and his fist was shaking in annoyance, "Good job... I wasn't expecting an elbow blow like that."
"That's not the truth, is it?" Sombra whispered, speaking to Yoruichi as Urahara and Ichigo went at it, because he had a feeling that the information of the Hogyoku wouldn't have changed anything, at least for him anyway, though at the same time it appeared that none of the others were paying attention to them at the moment.
"He didn't want to burden Ichigo with his own mistakes," Yoruichi replied, knowing that Urahara would have sent someone after the Hogyoku before Aizen got it, namely her while using the same technique that Aizen did since she knew where the device had been hidden before hand, but at the same time she sighed and focused on the group, as most of Ichigo's friends were chuckling, because he hadn't changed at all.
"Oh, and could you please properly apologize to Rukia the next time you see her?" Ichigo asked, as he knew that Rukia had been devastated by what Urahara wanted to do to her, to keep the Hogyoku hidden, and he felt that she deserved some sort of apology because of that, "Though when you do apologize she'll likely say the same thing."
Urahara stared at Ichigo for a moment, thinking about what he had said, before nodding head his head as he turned back towards the front of the cloth that they were all riding on, using his own reiatsu to steer them towards the various houses that the group lived in. At the same time he couldn't help but think about the fact that Yoruichi, who entered his own Senkaimon in her cat form, returned to them in her Shinigami form and was carrying her Zanpakuto, which he hadn't seen for the last hundred years or so, on her person once more. There was also the odd fact that she was smiling and standing closer to Sombra than she had been when they went to Soul Society, making him wonder if this was just because of where they landed or if something had happened between them when they went to save Rukia, making him remember what he had mentioned to Yoruichi, back when he first found out that there might be something between them. The thought of Yoruichi in love with an Arrancar was something that kept his mind off of what likely happened in Soul Society, as he would have been handed the Hogyoku when they returned, and he intended to talk with them once they had dropped off everyone else.
A minute or two later he felt a shift in the area behind him and turned his head a little, where he spotted that Uryu was now standing closer to the edge of the cloth that they were riding on, who appeared to be getting ready to climb off the cloth and head home.
"Now then, Urahara-san," Uryu spoke up, drawing attention to him at the moment, even though he knew that they weren't in the direct vicinity of where he lives, as he'd rather not have his father see what was going on at the moment since he was hanging with some Shinigami, "could you let me down around here?"
"Will do." Urahara replied, to which the cloth they were riding descended down towards the ground and paused before they got close to the street, though he knew that they were still some distance away from where Uryu actually lived and didn't say anything about that, since he didn't want to tell him how much he actually knew about all of them.
"I'll see you around, Uryu." Ichigo said, knowing that he and the others would be eager to get back to a normal pace and return to school, even though their lives had been forever altered by the fact that Rukia had entered their lives a few months ago, "Either Sombra or I will let you know if anything else happens to come up in the future."
"What are you saying?" Uryu inquired, to which he glanced over at Ichigo for a moment, as he was slightly surprised that he had forgotten what they had said back when he had revealed that he was a Quincy, "You and I are Shinigami and Quincy... the next time we meet, we'll be enemies. Sombra, the all powerful Arrancar that terrified several of the Captains with his power, you are one that I would consider a friend."
"I consider you a friend as well, Uryu." Sombra spoke up, where he smiled at the Quincy, knowing that while they were in Soul Society he had sacrificed his powers to try and destroy Captain Mayuri, even though that ultimately failed since the Captain had a trick up his sleeve, but even as he spoke up he noticed a smile flash on Uryu's face before he dropped to the ground and walked away from them as they took to the sky once more.
Urahara seemed to have an idea of who wanted to be left of at which moment, as he moved them towards the house that Orihime was living in, with Sora watching over her in case Hollows came at them, and the two of them dropped down once they neared the house in question. Chad waited for a few moments, letting the cloth get them close to the location of his own house, before dropping to the ground and waved the group goodbye as they started the trek towards Ichigo's house so he could take his body back from Kon, and figure out what was going on around him. When Urahara asked Ichigo where he wanted to be dropped off, however, Ichigo noticed what they were passing over and jumped off the cloth, though Sombra knew that this was a special location for him and said nothing as Urahara sighed, before shifting them towards the shop once more. At the same time Yoruichi and Sombra glanced down at Ichigo as he disappeared into the distance, though the moment he was no longer in sight they turned towards Urahara, who was focusing on the path he was taking them on as they turned towards where the shop was located... though a few minutes later he had them touch down in front of the shop and everyone climbed off, to which he allowed Tessai and the kids to put everything inside while he focused on the pair behind him.
Tessai knew, from just looking at Urahara's face, that he wanted a moment alone with the pair, which was why he hurried both Jinta and Ururu inside before they started insisting that they be out here to learn what was going on, leaving the three of them outside the shop and free to speak what was on their minds.
"So, Aizen has the Hogyoku, despite my attempts to keep it hidden." Urahara commented, as he might as well air part of why he wanted to talk with them, as an opener for what was truly plaguing his mind at the moment, before he turned and looked back at the pair that were standing behind him, "I take it he showed some interest in you, Sombra, before he made his escape with the artifact?"
"Yes, after explaining that he was the one behind several of the experiments that Rukia and the other Shinigami had to deal with in the past," Sombra replied, though his senses told him that this was only part of what they would be talking about, and he had the feeling that he knew what the other part of it would be, "It seems that he's interested in breaking the barrier between Hollow and Shinigami, meaning that seeing someone like me, and the power I possess, might actually inspire him to use the Hogyoku and create more like me... an army of Arrancar, if you will, with powers that rival the remaining Captains that are protecting Soul Society."
"Right, Gin and Tosen. Almost forgot about them." Urahara said, and he had been thinking the same thing that Sombra had mentioned, as that was what all the evidence seemed to suggest, but, at the same time, she shelved those thoughts as he focused on the pair, "So, how long have you two been together?"
"You make it sound like we've been together for months," Yoruichi stated, as that was what Urahara's tone suggested, that she confessed her feelings to Sombra after he started making friends, or even before that, when the reality was different than what he was thinking about, "besides, we only started dating six days ago, the day after Aizen and his allies defected from Soul Society. And don't worry about Soul Society figuring out that we're together, as the only one that figured out our feelings was Soi Fon and, considering that I was her mentor all those years ago, I'm convinced that she'd keep this information to herself, to do whatever she wanted with it in the future."
"I see." Urahara said, though at the same time he glanced over at Sombra, who was being quiet at the moment, and knew that it was time to see if he truly felt the same way that Yoruichi did, even though he had the feeling, based on what he had just been told, that there was no reason for him to even bother, "And what about you, Sombra? How do you feel about the situation that you've found yourself in?"
"After Aizen fled to Hueco Mundo, Byakuya told Rukia the truth about how she came to be welcomed into his family and the reasons behind his inaction," Sombra answered, reminding Yoruichi of why she had gone over to sit next to him, as listening to that very story had stirred some lost memory inside him and caused him to be sad, which she had replaced with love just by being close to him, before he glanced at her for a moment, "that story made me sad just by listening to it, though when Yoruichi sat next to me a new feeling, stronger than the last one, crushed that sadness into dust and took it's place immediately. Soi Fon later explained to me the situation she had discovered, and told me what she knew about love, before I came to the conclusion that I was awakening the same feelings that Yoruichi had for me... and then we went and spent the day exploring the Seireitei and relaxing in the training area that Ichigo and I learned Bankai in."
"Wait, you and Ichigo learned Bankai while you were in Soul Society?" Urahara asked, though while that caught him off guard, and pushed that fact to the front of his mind for the time being, he'd talk with them about the relationship again in the future, "You're going to have to tell me about the experience and what they look like... maybe over some tea and some dinner, since you did get out of the Dangai a few hours later than what I think you were expecting."
"Sounds good to me." Yoruichi said, to which she and Sombra followed Urahara into the shop, closed the door behind them, and settled into the area that they usually had meals in, where a small amount of food happened to be waiting on the table, showing them that Tessai and the kids were expecting this to happen, before they said down and faced Urahara, where she started to eat and Sombra merely drank his tea.
"So, you two know Bankai... how did you go about doing that?" Urahara inquired, as he had the feeling that Yoruichi might have used the doll that he had created to learn his own Bankai in three days, but, at the same time, he was interested in figuring out what else they might have done to get that level of power.
"Well, Yoruichi took us to the training area that you two created when you were younger and explained what a Bankai was to both of us," Sombra replied, because from what he could tell, based on the words that Byakuya had spoken when Ichigo revealed his own Bankai, gaining the ability to use that final power of a Zanpakuto was serious business, "She then had Ichigo use the Tenshintai to force Zangetsu to materialize and start his trial, which involved him trying to find the one blade, out of all the fragments of his heart, that was designed for battle, as that was the only one that could defeat the materialized Zangetsu. I, on the other hand, didn't need to go through with that, as I'm more than capable of calling Shokyo into our world and do whatever training that she thought I needed to master my Bankai, which she willingly taught me instead of trying to force me to make her submit to my will."
"Really?!" Urahara nearly exclaimed, because while he understood that Ichigo would have needed the help of such a device to get Zangetsu into their world, and had mentioned to Yoruichi in case the need arose where such a thing was even required, the thought that a Bankai could be obtained by a Zanpakuto spirit willingly teaching their wielder the technique was astonishing and shocking at the same time, and, if he was right in his thoughts, that meant that the power boost, if he had been training for the maximum amount of time to master the power, would have been granted to him in an instant, "You were an Adjuchas ranked Arrancar when you left... does this mean?"
"Yeah, our friend's a powerful Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar," Yoruichi replied, looking up from the food that she was eating, knowing that while Sombra did actually enjoy what she had offered him he still preferred to stick to his habit and drink his tea, before looking Urahara in the eyes, "Not only did he beat Byakuya, before going through Bankai training, but his full power was enough to help Ichigo beat Byakuya, freak out a good number of Shinigami, cause smoke to emit from Aizen's hand when he blocked the incoming attack Sombra threw at him, and, to top it off, beat Kenpachi Zaraki in a one on one fight on Sokyoku Hill."
Urahara could not help by let him jaw hang when he heard the news, as he knew that Kenpachi Zaraki was powerful, and had gotten even stronger over time since they had last been in Soul Society, but hearing that Sombra, empowered by his Bankai and his full power, was able to beat him was astonishing. The hardest part of all that, if he had to pick one, was that he was able to force Aizen to block an attack that caused his hand to emit some smoke for a few seconds, especially since he and Yoruichi, and likely Sombra now, knew just how strong the traitorous former Captain really was. He had predicted that Sombra would be powerful, considering that he was an Arrancar whose power was so great that he was an Adjuchas when he first arrived outside the shop, but hearing that he was actually a Vasto Lorde made sense, and even then this was without the blade that contained all his memories and his true power. That worried him, because when they added his true power to the mix he had already gained, from training with former Shinigami, he was certain that there would be no one in all of Soul Society that would be able to beat him, not even Captain-Commander Yamamoto, and that was a worrying thought for him to have... and maybe even Aizen wouldn't stand a chance against the true power that was waiting to be unlocked, but that was something he'd have to wait and see for himself.
"You know, your comment about time reminds me," Yoruichi said, taking a moment to wipe away the crumbs from her mouth, while at the same time snapping Urahara out of his thoughts, which she felt was necessary since he was clearly getting into his private thoughts about Sombra, "What's today's date?"
"The sixteenth of August." Urahara replied, though he knew why Yoruichi was asking, because when one passes through the Dangai, without the Hell Butterflies assisting them, they generally lose time, or even gain it if they're chased by the Kototsu, while Shinigami that happen to be accompanied by the creatures pretty much lose only a few minutes and get to their destination in a matter of seconds.
"We left on the thirteenth, so we lost a few days getting here." Somrba commented, showing that he knew what the two were talking about, which made sense to Yoruichi since they were the ones that trained him, meaning that he shuould have adapted to their methods in some manner, before he looked at the calendar on the wall, "Oh well, it's no big deal that we lost a few days getting back. We can pick up protecting the town tomorrow, after everyone's all settled in after our stay in Soul Society, and maybe I can convince Ichigo to train with me in the underground training area... we have to improve his skill with his Bankai, so it doesn't hurt his body when he uses it in whatever battle is coming up next."
Urahara nodded, because it made sense for them to prepare for the battle with Aizen that was coming, something that Sombra understood without having to be told, though at the same time he was interested in why Sombra felt that Ichigo's body was being hurt by his Bankai, something he would find out later. At the very least some training between the two of them would be able to strengthen the power of Ichigo's Bankai, as well as make sure that the stress was gone, while at the same time allowing him or Sombra to correct the errors in his stance or how he was fighting, if he was willing to listen to them anyway. As he thought about that he noticed that Yoruichi had finished her meal, and that many of the dishes had already been set aside for later, before she and Sombra got up and walked out of the room, leaving him to his thoughts, where he noticed that the Arrancar was polite enough to set his cup away as well, causing him to chuckle as the pair went upstairs and headed towards Yoruichi's room, the same room that they mostly told people was a spare room and let no one into, save for Sombra anyway. He found it amusing that, even before he bothered to ask Yoruichi about her feelings, she was already letting the Arrancar stay in her room without any questions asked, and it seemed like Sombra had never put that piece of the puzzle together... but, at the same time, the room would be used more often now, especially if Yoruichi stayed in her normal form for more than a couple of days.
Yoruichi and Sombra were halfway up the stairs to the second story when Sombra froze for a moment, his senses going off once more, and both of them chuckled as they understood what that meant, so they raced back down the stairs, passed by Urahara, and then headed back out into the town around them, as there were Hollows to hunt and they both felt that it would be fair to give Ichigo and the others a day off before they got back to defending the town. Fortunately there happened to be a pair of Hollows in the area they were heading to, so the two of them separated from each other as they picked their target, where Sombra flashed through the air and pulled Shokyo out as he avoided a claw that was meant for his face, before severing the arm attached to it. From there he swung again and cut the Hollow's mask in half, purifying the soul that was hiding behind it, before he turned and watched as Yoruichi used her own Zanpakuto to cut down the Hollow that she had chosen to attack, though once that was down the two of them smiled and moved away from the area that they were in, all while Sombra commented on how Urahara knew about Gin and Tosen, without one of them mentioning anything to him.
Yoruichi, however, said that she would gladly explain the situation to him in due time, since he deserved to know what they were up against, but for how she wanted to focus on the moment they were having, as the night was still young and there were plenty more Hollows to purify and souls to send to Soul Society... to which they two of them headed out and continued the hunt, and they were going to make sure they enjoyed every second they spent together.
True to his word, even if it was unspoken, Sombra let Ichigo have the first day following their return to Karakura Town off, meaning that he didn't have to worry about doing any Shinigami related work at all, which he could do easily on his own and still have time left over to do whatever he wanted. At first Ichigo was surprised by his sudden decision, since he was used to being the defender of the town when Rukia, or whoever was bound to replace her in case she got reassigned, was absent or didn't have any powers, like how she had been when they first met her. After an hour, however, he had changed his tone, as the badge that he had been given would go off every now and then, exactly when a Hollow would appear, but Sombra, with his enhanced senses able to detect one before anyone else did, was able to leave the room or building they were in, find where the Hollow was located, purify it in seconds, and be back in time to hear the noise of the badge if he wanted to. As such Ichigo agreed to take the day off and relaxed with his family, who was happy to see him again, and Sombra upheld his side of the bargain by taking care of the Hollows that appeared throughout the day, though that was only two or three after not counting the first one he killed to prove his point.
On the second day, however, Sombra also remained true to his word and had Ichigo meet him in the underground training area under the Urahara Shop, arriving before the store actually opened so he could be let down into the area in question and slip into his Shinigami form without anyone seeing his body collapse, all thanks to his new badge, which he carried with him at all times.
"I came like you wanted." Ichigo said, to which he looked around, as he was fully expecting Urahara to show up with some idea on how to train him and increase his power, even though he was perfectly fine with the power that beat up a Captain, since he figured that Aizen was likely Soul Society's problem, "So, what did you want to do down here?"
"First off, I'm happy that you're willing to take an hour or two out of your time with your family to come down here and meet with me," Sombra replied, as he knew that it had to have been a hard decision for his friend to give up some of his time that he could be spending with his family, but this was for the greater good since Ichigo needed to be ready in case Aizen attacked Karakura Town, "Secondly, we're going to do some training to better improve how you handle your power, though I'm not referring to the current state that you are currently in at the moment. Ichigo, I know that you're body was in pain the last time you used your Bankai, so we're going to make sure that, by the time we're done with these training sessions, you won't cause your body any further harm when you activate your Bankai. Think of this as training to increase your endurance when you use your Bankai."
Ichigo shrugged and unleashed the power that he commanded when he was in his Bankai, though when he though about it he realized that Sombra's way of training was going to be identical to Urahara's method, meaning that it was going to be a bunch of fighting and likely him being hurt in the process. Of course he was expecting Sombra to come at him with either the sealed or the Shikai form of his Zanpakuto, though he had little time to prepare for the sudden shift into his Bankai form before he had to guard the incoming attack, which flung him back into one of the rock formations and shattered it into a thousand pieces. Ichigo remained in the hole for a moment, as he already knew that Sombra wasn't someone that he could fight seriously, because his friend was faster than him, smarter than him, and was even stronger than him, not to mention that his Bankai had offensive, defensive, and healing abilities, meaning that he was screwed the moment he asked him to come down here and train. Despite that fact, however, he pushed his body and got back up, to which he used his own speed and moved around the area that they were practicing, but, at the same time, he noticed that Sombra was able to track him easily and always kept him in his sights... even when Ichigo fired one of his Getsuga Tensho's at the Arrancar, the black variety that came with his Bankai after the Hollow inside him used it, Sombra was able to push the attack back and come at him again.
As time went on Ichigo found that he was unable to land a single blow on Sombra, as his opponent's speed was much quicker than his own, he could dodge really well, and his defensive abilities were able to stop his Getsuga Tensho in it's tracks, even though he left a small crack in the barrier that was used to defend himself... and the second time he tried the attack Sombra blew it out of the air with his own wave shaped attack, causing him to growl in annoyance as he continued his attack.
By the time the first training session ended Ichigo was exhausted and unsure if Sombra was doing this to help him or if he was doing this to mock him, like a sneaky way of saying that he was better than Ichigo, but then he sighed and realized that Sombra was only looking out for his well being, especially since his Bankai did hurt him the first time he had used it in battle. Ichigo was still sure that the reason behind the pain was because of how broken his body had felt because of the abuse Zangetsu had put him through to learn his Bankai in the first place, but regardless of that fact Sombra still insisted on making sure that never happened again. By the time the first week of training had ended, and he had time to go over what Sombra was doing, he discovered that Yoruichi and Urahara were right about his explosive growth, as it only took him a week to get over the painful effects of activating his Bankai, which had been the entire point of the training that his friend was putting him through. Ichigo insisted on one or two more days to be absolutely sure that he was at the point that Sombra wanted him to be at, to use his Bankai without the strain on his body, and he was pleased to find that the training had been successful, causing Yoruichi and Urahara to smile when they found that Sombra's sessions had worked... and, at the same time, Sombra smiled as he nodded his head, pleased that Ichigo was able to get to this point, making him ready for whatever came at them and the town in the future.
Sombra was sure that Aizen was doing something with the Hogyoku, since he went through all the effort to get the artifact from where Urahara had put it, inside that special gigai that Rukia was using, and he wanted to make sure that he and the others were ready for whatever happened next, especially since they had no idea what their foe was even planning at the moment.
Two weeks had gone by since the group's return to the World of the Living, allowing all of them to readjust to their normal lives while at the same time making sure that the Hollows and spiritual side of things didn't change things for each of them, despite the fact that Sombra knew that Uryu was the most changed out of all of them. He felt sorry for Uryu, since he had also lost his powers and had to gain the ones that he had now, but at the same time he had no idea if there was a way for him to regain his abilities, especially since he said that it was a permanent loss for him and that he could deal with it in time. Since he had no idea what to do to help Uryu he simply moved to the side and let him do what he wanted, as he might have better luck without someone constantly interrupting him, and he also found that Orihime and Sora were just fine as well, which was good news. He found that the trip to Soul Society had been good for Sora, as he trained day and night outside their house when Orihime was home, and when she wasn't home he followed her and made absolutely sure that his sister was safe from harm, allowing Sombra to focus on his task of dealing with the Hollows that invaded the town every now and then... and, at the same time, the Shinigami that was currently in charge of Karakura Town seemed to be a coward, as he or she refused to come out and deal with the Hollows, or at least that was his guess.
When the first of September came around, and they left August behind, Ichigo and the others returned to their high school, where Sombra followed after him and took his customary spot at the back of the room, before which his friends started to file into the room while the other students took their time doing the same thing... even though Keigo started to make a scene when he found Ichigo standing next to Chad, Orihime, and Uryu, only for Ichigo to poke fun at him a little before the young man stormed off, leaving Ichigo behind. Of course, in addition to Keigo acting like the fool that he remembered him to be, Sombra also spotted one of Orihime's friends, Chizuru, come up behind Orihime and hug her in what he knew to be a slightly inappropriate manner, prompting Tatsuki to kick her in the face and knock her away from Orihime, before Sora could do anything from his end.
"Morning, Tatsuki." Ichigo said, as it was good to see her again, especially after the experiences that they had during the break between semesters, and he knew that the others were thinking the same thing that he was thinking, while finding that she was slightly distracted by something.
"Morning, Ichigo." Tatsuki replied, though she kept the same frown on her face that she had the last time he had seen her, but that was likely because of Chizuru's stunt and how she acted around Orihime, before something came to mind as she stared at him for a few seconds, "How's that report coming? You know, the one that was assigned while all of you were on vacation earlier?"
"Report?" Ichigo commented, trying to remember what Tatsuki was talking about, though while he did eventually recall what she was talking about he knew why he might have forgotten about it after she told him about it, which was why he glanced back at Sombra for a moment, since his training had taken up so much time, "Honestly, I kind of forgot about the assignment altogether."
"Are you sure you're alright? It's not my fault if you don't get it in on time." Tatsuki said, though she was clearly a little annoyed with him at the moment, but not a few seconds later she noticed something, along with someone, that she hadn't seen before today, "What's that on your belt? And who is that person in the back of the classroom?"
"Oh, this is a good luck charm," Ichigo replied, though at the same time he had a slightly annoying story to tell, since it only happened that morning and it was fresh in his mind, before he sighed and focused on Tatsuki, "My old man gave me this before we went on vacation, and when I tried to return it this morning he insisted that he didn't need it and decided to stitch it to my uniform."
"I could have figured that out without you telling me what happened, since your father is the only person in your life that would do something like that." Tatsuki stated, showing that she knew more about Ichigo's life than what Sombra thought she did, even though he was curious if she could see him, which would make sense since she was attacked by a Hollow when Uryu and Ichigo had their contest, just as Orihime and Chad could fully see them after that event, "I was referring to the badge like thing with a skull on it, not the good luck charm."
"Oh, this is a completely different good luck charm I bought while we were on vacation," Ichigo answered, deciding to go with that, since he knew that there was no way he could tell Tatsuki the truth, especially since he was caught off guard by the fact that she could actually see the badge since it was supposed to be hidden by a barrier that prevented ordinary Humans from seeing it, if he believed what Urahara told him when he asked about it, before he glanced behind him for a few seconds, "Anyway, are you feeling okay? There's no one in the back of the room at the moment."
"What are you talking about? Of course there's someone sitting in the back of the room." Tatsuki said, to which she turned and looked right at the section of the room that Sombra happened to be sitting in, or, if Sombra was right about his thoughts, staring right at him and not the area around him, "Are you telling me that you don't see the guy with the odd clothing and the strange, curved horn on his head?"
Uryu, Orihime, and Chad were shocked that Tatsuki could see Sombra, if their expressions were anything to go by, and Ichigo noticed that they all quickly changed their expressions before Tatsuki could see them, as that would have clued her in and let her know that they could see him as well, all while Ichigo didn't know what to say about the fact... and, just before he could say anything, the instructor came in and started calling the rest of their classmates names, causing them to return to their seats in the process. Sombra sat there for a few seconds as the teacher said that two of her students weren't present, calling them punks at the same time, as he considered the fact that Tatsuki could see him, meaning that he'd have to rethink where he would wait while Ichigo was in school. As the teacher started to say that there would be a new transfer student starting today, however, his senses went off, indicating that a Hollow was in the process of invading the World of the Living, and he moved immediately, heading for the windows near where the teacher was standing, where an open one rested, and jumped outside before flashing through the air... all while Ichigo, Chad, Orihime, and Uryu focused on what their teacher was saying, since they knew that he could deal with the Hollow and be back before they had a chance to leave the building.
It didn't take him long to find the Hollow in question, a humanoid one by the looks of it's body, though it insisted on calling out 'beef' and 'pork' as it attempted to attack him with small pink energy pellets, but all Sombra did was weave around the attacks and draw Shokyo from her scabbard, slicing the Hollow in half and purifying it's soul. A few seconds later he landed on the ground and looked around the area, as he was making sure that there weren't any additional Hollows in the area for him to deal with, before sighing as he slipped his Zanpakuto back into her scabbard and stood there for a few seconds. He knew that Soul Society had to be behind in choosing someone to replace Rukia, since he hadn't been approached by anyone from any of the Divisions claiming that they were working in the area, but at the same time he knew that there was a new Shinigami in town, one that was much weaker than Rukia and the others that he had encountered so far. At the same time, however, he glanced up at the sky and found someone in the uniform of Ichigo's school floating in the air, upside down as it turned out, though all the person did was stare down at him, his eyes and face hidden by the familiar newsboy cap that he had seen once or twice when he was first learning from Urahara and Yoruichi... but before he could say anything the person flashed out of the area and, oddly enough, his reiatsu vanished completely, making him wonder who the person had been.
After another minute or two he sighed and headed back to the school, so he could see what else happened today and whether or not he needed to go out and purify some more Hollows, though fortunately the class was still discussing something and Tatsuki didn't even notice him slip back into the room, allowing him to take his position without causing a scene or drawing attention to himself... all while Ichigo glanced at him for a moment and nodded his head, his thanks for him taking care of business while he was in school, before returning his attention to his teacher.
"Listen up, everyone. The transfer student I mentioned earlier is here." the instructor said, as she had started the lesson at some point and only stopped when there was a brief knock on the door of the classroom, though Sombra raised an eyebrow in confusion when Mr. Hirako, dressed in the clothing of a student while not wearing the familiar hat, walked into the room, "I'll introduce you all to him. Your name, please."
"The 'hei' in lewd, plus the 'ko' in Onono Imoko," Mr. Hirako replied, explaining to the class how to spell his name, using the kanji in the process, while at the same time Sombra noticed that he was starting with his last name before moving onto his first name, "The 'shin' in genuine worker, plus the 'ko' in spicy cod roe. I'm Shinji Hirako. Pleased to meet all of you."
"Huh, you told them your name in reverse." the instructor commented, as that was a first for her, having a student start with their last name and then state their first name, while at the same time noticing that some of the students had caught onto that fact as well.
"Pretty good, right?" Shinji asked, sounding pleased with himself all of a sudden, something that also caught Sombra off guard since this wasn't something he had heard when the man was visiting Urahara's shop for supplies, "Doing things in reverse is my specialty."
Sombra honestly wondered what Shinji was doing here, at the high school, and kept his mouth shut as the young man walked over to where Ichigo was sitting and took the seat next to him, where the teacher told him to sit, and he said hello to Ichigo while saying that they should be friends. The interesting part about this was that Shinji didn't even acknowledge his existence, like he was pretending to be a student that couldn't see the world of spirits and Hollows, so he decided that, until he got to the bottom of the mystery, that he'd remain silent and watch what was going on, even though Shinji was acting like a student and seemed to have many of the other students fooled. As he sat there he discovered nothing from watching Shinji's movements, as he couldn't figure out what game he was playing at the moment, while at the same time being a little concerned for the school since they seemed to be failures at checking people's backgrounds before admitting new students into the building, which meant that Rukia might have had a way around that annoyance. He determined that the same had to be true for Shinji, that there was a trick or something that allowed him to get into the school without anyone raising the alarms because someone like him entered the building, though since Shinigami seemed to age slowly, based on what he had seen, it was possible that Shinji was like Urahara... which was something that he was going to have to ask him about later, or maybe Yoruichi the next time they were together.
Eventually the school day ended and Sombra learned nothing about what Shinji was doing in the high school, though he did follow Ichigo home that night to be sure nothing happened, as some of the glances that Shinji had shot Ichigo had concerned him... though for the most part he had to listen to Kon's cries of boredom, as he hated being trapped in the body he was stuck in, before Ichigo eventually knocked the pill out of him and switched places, where he jumped out of the window and flashed up to where Sombra was standing, letting Kon control his body for a while.
"There's a Hollow nearby." Sombra said, as his senses had finally gone off while Ichigo was dealing with Kon, though the only reason he hadn't gone off to purify it was because Ichigo told him to take care of the Hollows that appeared while he was in school and that he should only take care of Hollows that appeared at times like this when Ichigo was busy with his family or some other matter, "Shall we go see what it wants?"
"Lead the way." Ichigo replied, knowing that Sombra knew exactly where the Hollow in question was located, but after a day like today he decided that he needed some time to relax, in a manner of speaking, and protecting the town for an hour or two was the best way for him to do that.
Sombra nodded and started moving towards the location of the Hollow he had felt, keeping his speed at a moderate pace so Ichigo could keep up with him as he made his way through the town, though fortunately the Hollow in question wasn't one of the ones that liked to hide, as that meant it would be in the same spot when they arrived. In fact it didn't take them very long to reach the area in question that the Hollow was in, as it was hanging on one of the roofs, roaring with all it's might, and Ichigo simply sighed as he jumped into the air and pulled Zangetsu off his back, before cutting the Hollow in half and purifying it as he landed on the roof. As that happened Sombra landed on the roof next to him and glanced around the area, his senses trying to pick up any additional enemies that might be trying to attack the town, before he spotted the Shinigami that he had felt enter the town some time ago, as a man, clad in the familiar black Shinigami attire, was standing nearby with a look of shock, fear, and annoyance in his eyes... and, to top it all off, Sombra noticed that the Shinigami in question had what was commonly referred to as an afro for his hair.
"Hey! Wh... Who are you two?!" the Shinigami demanded, having drawn his Zanpakuto the moment he spotted them standing on the roof, though at the same time the duo glanced at each other for a few seconds, as this wasn't what they were expecting to see when they heard that someone was coming to replace Rukia, "All dressed like a Shinigami, and a weird Shinigami with grey coloring! Very suspicious!"
"Excuse me, but who are you?" Sombra asked, as he knew that this had to be Rukia's replacement, making him wonder if Soul Society sent him because they knew that the town was well defended with a Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar standing watch over it, in addition to Ichigo, Urahara, Yoruichi, and the others, meaning that they wouldn't send someone strong when a lot of strong people were already there.
"Me? I am Zennosuke Kurumadani!" the Shinigami replied, pointing to himself for a moment, showing that he was happy and full of pride to have been selected to replace Rukia as the guardian for Karakura Town, "I'm an elite Shinigami tasked with watching this area in Rukia Kuchiki's stead, who was pulled out on account of some crime or something. Well, are you both surprised?"
"No, not really." Ichigo admitted, because he had been expecting someone to replace Rukia at some point in time, and the look on Sombra's face told him that his friend knew that the new Shinigami had arrived recently, but at the same time he held up the badge that he had been given, "My name is Ichigo Kurosaki, and I'm the Substitute Shinigami that's watching over Karakura Town on Soul Society's behalf, while also working with whoever they task with guarding the town from Hollows and other dangerous spirits."
"And my name is Sombra." Sombra added, wishing that he knew what his memories would have told him, as he found it unusual to tell someone his name and not be able to tell them what his last name was, even though he guessed that at some point he could always add Yoruichi's last name if things really got serious between them, "I'm the Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar that's been living in Karakura Town for the last few months, dealing with Hollows that step into my domain and helping Soul Society whenever they need assistance."
"What the hell is this? I've never seen or heard of a Substitute Shinigami badge before today!" Zennosuke replied, to which he took a few moments to laugh at them, causing Sombra to sigh, as he knew that this would have happened since he had figured, based on Ukitake's words, that a badge like this wasn't used all that often, so it made sense that Shinigami weren't trained to recognize it, before their new friend looked at them once more, "I've also never heard of or seen an Arrancar before today, so that must mean that the two of you are pulling my leg! So, if the two of you are going to apologize for trying to trick me, now is the time for you to be doing that before I punish you!"
"Ichigo." Sombra said, as this time around his senses had finally picked up the same reiatsu that he had felt earlier, when he spotted that stranger floating in the air, and it was silently approaching the two of them, though not silently enough since he was still able to detect it.
"Yeah?" Ichigo inquired, though for the most part he was looking down at the badge in annoyance, while Zennosuke laughed at them some more, because he was annoyed that the badge was completely useless, save for the fact that it saved him time when changing from his Human form to his Shinigami form.
"Pick up Zangetsu and swing at the attack that's coming at us from behind," Sombra whispered, his voice low enough so that only Ichigo could hear him, as he felt that the reiatsu behind them was planning an attack and didn't want to alert whoever it was, as he was eager to unmask whoever he had felt earlier.
Ichigo, sensing that something was coming from behind like Sombra was saying, spun around and swung Zangetsu towards whatever was behind them, just as Sombra moved out of the way, and his sword collided with the blade that was coming at them, only for him and Sombra to be surprised when they saw who was attacking him... though at the same time the force of his reiatsu meeting the reiatsu of his opponent blew Zennosuke away from the area that the three of them were standing in.
"Shinji?!" Ichigo stated, surprise appearing in his voice as he said that, while at the same time Sombra stood nearby as he stared at the man that was attacking his friend, before he focused on his new opponent as he prevented himself from being pushed backwards, "You bastard. You have a Zanpakuto?! What the hell are you?"
"Don't make so much noise, Ichigo Kurosaki." Shinji replied, to which he raised one of his fingers of his left hand and made a shushing motion, while at the same time smiling at Ichigo for a few seconds, "Someone with so much reiatsu shouldn't create a commotion so easily. It will echo throughout the world and alert others."
"Others?" Ichigo asked, as he didn't understand what Shinji was talking about at the moment, regardless of the times that Sombra and Urahara had been trying to teach him about everything he needed to know about reiatsu control and how to improve that skill, "What are you talking about?"
"Geez, you really are a dumbass." Shinji said, to which he turned his head towards Sombra for a moment, as he easily remembered the time that he asked Urahara about the Arrancar that had been outside his shop the one day that he had come by for supplies and he was there, "How can you hang with someone who makes so much noise with his reiatsu?"
"Because I can deal with what comes from his actions," Sombra replied, as he could easily deal with whatever Hollows caught the scent of Ichigo's reiatsu and came looking for him, and so could Ichigo if the Hollow was weak enough, before he offered Shinji his other reason, "and besides, he's one of my friends. I'll figure out a way for him to get his reiatsu under control and not make so much noi... wait a second, I just felt something."
"Wait, already?!" Shinji asked, though he was surprised that Sombra, as that was the name that Urahara had given him when he asked who the Arrancar was, was already feeling the presence of Hollows invading the town, thanks to the echo of Ichigo's reiatsu, "How many are coming?"
"Three." Sombra stated, though at the same time he knew that one of them was near Kon, meaning that Ichigo's body was in danger of being attacked, and the other two were near Uryu, who might not be defenseless considering that he was a Quincy and had an intensive knowledge of how to deal with Hollows, along with the fact that there was a new reiatsu near him as well, "All Menos Grande from what I'm feeling... and, to be exact, they're all Gillian."
"Th... That's amazing!" Shinji said, as he wasn't expecting Sombra to have sensed how many enemies were invading the town, where they were located by the look on his face, and have already determined the power that all three of them possessed without being near them to get an accurate reading... and, while he was temporarily distracted by what the Arrancar was doing, Ichigo shifted his stance and forced the two of them to separate.
"Shinji, you didn't answer my question." Ichigo said, though at the same time he had to wonder who the Hollows were going after, as he had the feeling that Sombra knew the answer to that as well and likely wasn't telling him to keep his attention on the situation that he was in, which was why he focused on Shinji, "What the hell are you?"
"You really want to know what I am? Okay then..." Shinji replied, as this took all the fun out of the moment for a few seconds, because he had been hoping to do this another way, before he raised his empty left hand to his forehead and his reiatsu gathered, patching together what Sombra quickly recognized as a Hollow's mask, because that was the only thing he knew about that was bone white colored, "Do you see this, Ichigo? Do you recognize what this is?"
"A Hollow mask... and a Zanpakuto..." Ichigo said, to which he sweat for a moment as he thought about this, because it made him think about what happened back when he and Sombra were facing Byakuya with their Bankais, where his inner Hollow took control for a few moments and critically wounded their foe.
"That's right. I am a Shinigami that has stepped into Hollow territory," Shinji explained, though while all this happened he noticed that Sombra was looking at him with a look of interest in his eyes, most likely because this was the first time that he was discovering someone like him in the world, "Didn't I say that we 'should be friends' earlier? Anyway, the proper term for a Shinigami that has gained Hollow powers is Visored, just like the proper term for a Hollow that has gained Shinigami powers is an Arrancar... and I am your kin, Ichigo Kurosaki. Come to our side. You don't belong on the side of the Shinigami anymore."
Ichigo thought about saying something about the situation, but before he could do anything he noticed Sombra's ears shift for a moment as he focused on the fights that were currently happening around the area, though he smiled so he could turn back to Shinji, because the smile told him that whoever was under attack was okay, even though he'd have to ask Sombra about this later on.
"Do I even want to know what happened?" Shinji asked, because a few moments after Sombra had told them that three Hollows had appeared in the town, all Gillian ranked based on what he said, he had felt their reiatsu as well, once more surprising him by the sheer speed that the Arrancar had found them, and now his smile meant that something else must have happened.
"It seems that Uryu had some backup arrive, as the Gillian ranked Hollows that were attacking him are gone," Sombra replied, though he didn't say that the reiatsu that he had felt for a moment seemed similar to Uryu's reiatsu, meaning that it had to be a family member of Uryu's that they hadn't known about, before he focused on the area that Kon was in, as the other Hollow had a familiar feeling to his reiatsu, before he realized what it was, "I see that a new Arrancar has come to town, so they can play with Kon, and I have the feeling that the former Hollow was either tested on by Aizen, or they gained this power for themselves. Anyway, I can take care of it once we're done here, because I'm still interested in why you and the other Visored are bothering Ichigo... though I can hazard a guess, considering what I saw back in Soul Society when we were battling Byakuya."
"Sombra, I can handle Shinji." Ichigo spoke up, reminding the pair that he was still present, as he still had some words he wanted to share with the person who infiltrated his school to get close to him, before he glanced at his friend for a few seconds, "Why don't you go take care of the Arrancar that's chasing Kon? And tell him he's in trouble for leaving the house and likely damaging my body in the process."
Sombra simply sighed and flashed away from where Ichigo was standing, because it appeared that he was going to have to figure out who the Visored were and what their goal was, especially if they were willing to send one of their members out to meet Ichigo and attempt to recruit him into their group. He didn't like leaving Ichigo alone, as sometimes his friend was prone to making messes out of the simplest of things, and he had the feeling that talking with Shinji was going to end the same way, but Ichigo wanted to be left alone with the Visored and he guessed that he might as well let him have his way this time around. Besides, since there weren't any powerful reiatsu signatures near Kon, save for the Gillian ranked Arrancar, he knew that he'd be in for a short battle and then he'd be free to deal with the Mod-Soul that was running around in Ichigo's body, and then he could go ask Urhara about the Visored, since he had to know who these people were supposed to be. Fortunately, thanks to the speed that he had acquired from his training with Yoruichi, he was able to make great time and reached the area of Karakura Town that Kon was currently in, though as he came to a stop for a moment he noticed that Kon was running from the Arrancar that was chasing him.
Despite the more human shaped body that the Hollow possessed, a new mask that looked slightly different from the previous one, and the large sword that was resting in the scabbard on the Arrancar's back, it wasn't hard for Sombra to discover that the Grand Fisher had undone a transformation so he could kill Ichigo... though even as he pinned Kon to the ground, and prepared to finish him off, Sombra kept himself from doing anything as a charm, Ichigo's good luck charm, was thrown between them and threw up a barrier as the Grand Fisher's hand connected with it.
"My, my. I told you, didn't I? I told you to keep it on you at all times." a voice said, though as Sombra recognized it he glanced down and found Isshin Kurosaki walking out of the shadows, only this time he was wearing the standard clothing for a Shinigami, with a tattered Captain's haori worn like a sash and fastened over his left shoulder, where Sombra could barely make out the insignia for the Tenth Division, and he also had a Zanpakuto, "Sorry, Mr. Hollow, but Ichigo's not home right now. As a replacement or something, how about you play with me instead?"
"Who the hell are you?" the Grand Fisher asked, though even as he said that the barrier between his hand and Kon broke apart and the charm fell to the ground, but he made no move to continue his attack, as he was more interested in the person that had shown up and ruined his fun.
"My bad, I still haven't introduced myself yet." Isshin said, to which he looked into the Grand Fisher's eyes and stared at him, while at the same time Sombra descended down to where they were standing so he could see what was going on without having to remain in the air for so long, "My name is Isshin Kurosaki, and I am Ichigo's father."
"I see." the Grand Fisher commented, though his tone suggested that his transformation into an Arrancar had increased his ability to think, as he was considering what was going on at the moment, even though he was completely ignoring Sombra at the moment.
"Head's up, Kon." Isshin said, taking a moment to pick up the charm that he had thrown through the air and tossed it over to Kon, who caught it and stared at it for a few seconds, before something came to mind as he looked at Isshin, as he was completely caught off guard, "That's a protective amulet that I had made, one that was made for you to carry around whenever you were in Ichigo's body, in case something like this happened."
"When did you figure out that I wasn't Ichigo?" Kon asked, as he was completely confused and caught off guard by what was going on, because he had acted like Ichigo would when people that knew him were around and made sure to do that whenever his father was around.
"I knew you weren't Ichigo from the very beginning," Isshin stated, and that surprised Sombra for a moment, because Kon had done a wonderful job acting like Ichigo all the times he had watched over him, save for the very first day he had been inside his friend's body, though it was a shock to find out that Ichigo's father was smarter than what everyone was giving him credit for, "Ever since the day that we went to the cemetery to visit Masaki's grave, and I noticed for the first time that you were in his body. Think about this; I have never, not even once, called you 'Ichigo' while you were inside my son's body. I may look like a fool, and act like that at times, but my senses are quite keen... though I must admit, I was not expecting my son to find a friend in an Arrancar, much less a Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar."
"After hearing that you knew about Kon, I'm not even surprised that you know about me," Sombra said, to which he took a few steps and walked over to where Isshin was standing, where the man looked over him for a few seconds, once more confirming that his form was strange, even for an Arrancar, "My name is Sombra, and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance at long last."
"Please, the pleasure is mine since you've been helping my son protect the town and make some new friends," Isshin replied, taking a moment to smile at Sombra for a moment, showing that he meant what he said, before he turned and looked at their current problem, who didn't seem to understand the danger that he was in.
"I see now... with a Shinigami for a father, Ichigo Kurosaki is of pure blood." the Grand Fisher stated, to which he rested one of his fists on the ground in front of him and stared at the pair that was currently blocking his way, even though he couldn't tell how powerful they were on his own, "If that is the case, then I am satisfied that I have fallen behind him. However, I have no interest in you or the person that is standing beside you. The reason I came here this evening is so I could hunt down and kill Ichigo Kurosaki, and one of you will point me to him."
"Sorry, but it's like Isshin said, Ichigo's kind of busy at the moment." Sombra stated, though he followed that up by staring at the Grand Fisher as he purposely increased his reiatsu, because he was going to try intimidation first, and if that failed he would simply slay the Arrancar where he stood, as he had a feeling that a fight would break out if intimidation didn't work for him.
The air around them shuddered as his reiatsu affected everyone around him, though while Kon was surprised by the sheer power he possessed, and Isshin was amazed by how strong he was, the Grand Fisher either seemed immune to his reiatsu or his eagerness to get at Ichigo was preventing him from actually thinking straight.
"He's too eager to find Ichigo and fight him," Isshin commented, to which he rested a hand on Sombra's shoulder, causing him to nod his head and reign in his reiatsu, as it was going to be hard for them to persuade the Grand Fisher to leave the area, "besides, even if you aren't interested in fighting me, as you say you are, I came out here tonight with the purpose of killing you."
"You came to cut me down?!" the grand Fisher asked, though that caused him to laugh for a few moments, as if he found something funny about the entire situation that he was in, before he stared down at Isshin, "You talk big for someone who looks like a Shinigami. Surely you didn't think that I was just an ordinary Hollow, did you?"
"No, I felt your power earlier," Sombra said, as that was the whole reason that he was here in the first place, because the Grand Fisher was the second Arrancar that he had come across in this town, before he glanced at the creature that was in front of them as Isshin readied himself, "You're an Arrancar."
"Yes!" the Grand Fisher replied, to which his body enlarged as the top part of his modified mask shattered, while at the same time a pair of horns grew out of the fur that was between his shoulders and his neck, though now he was roughly the size of the Menos Grande that Sombra and Ichigo had fought earlier, "I don't know how you knew what I was, but that doesn't matter in the end! Do you see the size of my sword? As you know the size of one's Zanpakuto is proportional to the reiryoku, or spiritual power, of the person that wields it, meaning that my reiryoku is far greater than what you two possess, since both of your blades are so small."
"Either way, I'm not backing down." Isshin stated, to which his hand moved towards his blade as he took up a stance that indicated that he was ready for battle, while at the same time the Grand Fisher finished drawing his own Zanpakuto and readied himself for what was going to happen next.
Not even a few seconds later Isshin jumped forward as the Grand Fisher started to thrust his sword down at the area that he was standing in, where he pulled his Zanpakuto out of it's scabbard, let loose a single swing that cleaved his opponent horizontally in half, and landed by his opponent's feet, only for the body to fall in a way that didn't crush him as he sheathed his weapon once more.
"All Shinigami, Captains and Lieutenants anyway, control the size of their Zanpakuto all the time," Sombra stated, to which he watched as the Grand Fisher collapsed on the ground and noticed that he was on the verge of falling apart and dying, though as his body started to break apart the gate to Hell appeared nearby, where the creature that claimed the mass murderer Hollow grabbed the Grand Fisher, pulled him into Hell, and let the gate shatter, before he continued what he was saying, "otherwise they would be wielding Zanpakuto that are the size of large buildings. One should never judge the strength of their opponent by the size of their weapon."
"I'm glad to see that one of my students remembers what we taught him," a voice said, to which Urahara stepped out of the shadows that he had been hiding in and approached the group, while at the same time turning his attention to the person he had come to see, "So, Isshin, have you avenged her at last? How was it, being a Shinigami again for the first time in twenty years?"
"It's alright, I guess... and I actually never held a grudge against that Hollow for what he did all those years ago." Isshin replied, seeming to think about what had happened and everything that he knew, while at the same time Kon got up and looked at them were worry in his eyes, as he was confused, and Sombra stood near Urahara, as he had the feeling that some important information would be revealed soon, "If there is one thing that I have regretted over these last twenty years, it would be my own lack of power... and the fact that I was unable to save Masaki that night."
Sombra didn't need to be told who Masaki was, as he had determined from the way Isshin had acted that Masaki was actually Ichigo's mother, the same person that the Grand Fisher had killed all those years ago, though at the same time he decided that it was time for them to get to the more serious matters.
"Urahara, I'm sure that you already know this, but Ichigo's been contacted by the Visored." Sombra said, to which both Isshin and Urahara glanced at him for a moment, surprise absent from both of their eyes, before they nodded their heads as he prepared for what he was going to say next, "Aizen told us that he experimented on Hollows and Shinigami, back before Rukia came to this world by the sounds of it, and Shinji Hirako revealed that he was a Shinigami that had gained the powers of a Hollow... does that mean that the Visored are some of the Shinigami Aizen had experimented on?"
"You know, I sometimes forget that you're good at piecing things together on your own," Urahara replied, as that was the interesting thing about Sombra, because out of the majority of the people that he knew Sombra was one of the few that preferred to consider the facts that he had been given, cross them with what he discovered on his own, and formed his own thoughts on a subject, and it was shocking how many times he hit the nail on the head, "but the answer to your question is yes. Aizen did experiment on several Shinigami back when I was a Captain and he wasn't, before Yoruichi, Tessai, and I had to flee Soul Society, and the Visored were the unfortunate Shinigami that got caught in one of his tests, and it was one of the only times I used the Hogyoku, as it restored the balance in the souls of the Visored... even though they had to flee Soul Society and come to the World of the Living with the rest of us."
"So that's the official story of what happened to them?" Isshin asked, because the teachings he had been given before he came to this world, and had become stuck here as well, was vastly different than what Urahara said, "Funny, the story I learned was that they were a group of outlaw Shinigami that had sought to gain the powers of a Hollow through forbidden methods, which weren't explained at all."
"Leave it to Soul Society to cover up what I tried to tell them," Urahara said, knowing that Soul Society disliked the idea of a Shinigami gaining the powers of a Hollow and usually attacked any Hollow that gained the powers of a Shinigami, but since Sombra was still fine he knew that they had to be keeping a close eye on him, as best as they could do considering the fact that the Arrancar was good at hiding his reiatsu to the point where it was like he wasn't there, "anyway, it appears that the Visored are preparing for battle, just like Soul Society and Aizen are doing. With the exceptions of Sombra and Sora, that was the most complete Arrancar that has come out of Hueco Mundo, meaning that Aizen must be using the Hogyoku to create them and is sending them out to run tests on how well they perform in battle. My guess is that he's trying to create something that can stand up to your sheer power and the abilities that your Bankai possesses, or at the very least an army that can slow just about anyone down, regardless of who their opponents are."
"Personally, I don't think there's an Arrancar out there that Aizen can create that can stand up to the sheer power of the Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar that's currently standing beside us," Isshin stated, to which he patted Sombra's shoulder for a moment and smiled, indicating that he remembered the power that he had displayed in his attempt to intimidate the foolish Grand Fisher, "and that's considering that he's using the power of the Hogyoku to create new Arrancar. Though you have me a little confused, what did you mean by his Bankai?"
Sombra started to open his mouth, to tell Isshin that his Zanpakuto was actually identical to a Shinigami's Zanpakuto and that his Arrancar blade was lost somewhere inside Hueco Mundo, but before he could actually say anything he felt a familiar reiatsu coming their way.
"Looks like Ichigo is on his way to investigate your reiatsu, Isshin." Sombra stated, turning towards his friend's father for a moment, who didn't even seem surprised that he knew who was coming this way, before he thought about what was going on at the moment, "I take it you don't want him to know that you're a former Shinigami, at least until you feel that he's ready to know the truth?"
"And the Arrancar reads me like an open book." Isshin said, to which he rubbed the back of his head for a moment, as he honestly wasn't expecting that to happen at all, before he stared Sombra in the eyes for a few seconds, "Can you promise me that you won't tell him anything about what you discovered here today? About me, I mean."
"Sure, if that's what you want." Sombra replied, though he found that even thinking of lying to Ichigo hurt a little, since there was no telling how long it would be until he found out that his father was actually a Shinigami, before an idea came to mind, "I'll even tell him that I took out the Grand Fisher, that way he might forget about your reiatsu and focus on the fact that he missed out on killing the Hollow that killed his mother."
In the end that seemed to appease Isshin, as the moment that was settled, and he promised Urahara that he would come by to discuss the things that they didn't have time to talk about, he, Urahara, and Kon went their separate ways and departed from the area that they were in, to which Sombra sighed and stood nearby, though he didn't have to wait too long until Ichigo landed nearby and approached him.
"Sombra, what happened here?" Ichigo asked, looking at the parts of the street and the buildings that were damaged, what little of them were damaged anyway, before facing the his friend, who seemed to be staring at a specific spot on the street for some odd reason, "Where's the reiatsu that I felt a few moments ago?"
"Oh, that was the Grand Fisher... I killed him and sent him to Hell." Sombra replied, because that was partly the truth, seeing how the Grand Fisher was now paying for the years he spent killing all those women, including Ichigo's mother, before he sighed and turned away from what he was looking at, "Come on, let's go home and get some rest."
What came next was exactly what Sombra was expecting, Ichigo complaining about the fact that he had gone off and killed the one Hollow that he had sworn to kill with his own Zanpakuto, completely forgetting about the other Shinigami reiatsu that had appeared and focused on how annoyed he was... though as they moved through the town Sombra hoped that tomorrow was better than today, all while wondering if any additional Arrancar would be coming to town on Aizen's orders and how strong each of them could be if they actually show up.
Despite Ichigo's annoyance that Sombra had 'defeated' the Grand Fisher, and sentenced his soul to Hell for the rest of his days, Sombra found that his friend turned his attention to Kon the moment they got back to his room, where he simply stood on the roof while that argument happened. What he was doing at the moment was seeing if he could figure out where Shinji had gone, and he had a vague sense of where the Visored had wandered off to thanks to the reiatsu in the air, but this was the first time he hadn't been able to find someone, like one of the other Visored had a barrier that prevented their reiatsu being discovered or he let his gigai hide his reiatsu completely. Even if he couldn't find Shinji, and his fellow Visored, he knew that he and Ichigo would see him again tomorrow, when they went to the high school, and that was where they were going to confront him about what happened tonight and why he was so desperate to recruit Ichigo into the group that he was representing. He knew that it had to be because of the Hollow that had awoken inside his friend, who he had thoughts was different than what everyone else thought it was, but at the moment it appeared that Ichigo was going to ignore what he had said back in Soul Society... and he guessed that it was okay, because it might just end up giving Ichigo more power in the long run, somehow anyway, and they only had to wait and see what happened next.
Once he was done thinking about the Visored, and what their end goals were, he turned his mind towards the Arrancar that the Grand Fisher had become and wondered about the power that an Arrancar, created by the Hogyoku, could possess and what sort of skills that they developed. Of course the Grand Fisher wasn't very powerful in his Arrancar state, if a former Captain class Shinigami was able to kill him with a single attack, but there were other Hollows in Hueco Mundo that were even stronger than the Grand Fisher was and he knew that they had to be stronger than what happened last night. There was always the other option that the Grand Fisher had actually gained this power on his own, had pushed himself to the limits of his being, and then came here with absolutely no connection to Aizen, though the only reason they linked him to Aizen was because the former Captain had to be creating an Arrancar army. Regardless of whether the Grand Fisher had joined forces with Aizen or not, as that really didn't matter in the end, his mind was focused on the power that the other Arrancar could command and that some of them might come here to mess with Ichigo, just to see how powerful he was in his own right.
Eventually he sighed and moved away from the house, heading back to the shop so he could spend some time with Yoruichi and the others, though as he headed towards the shop he felt the reiatsu of Urahara and Yoruichi elsewhere in the town, meaning that they were doing something important at the moment. That told him that he was going to be in the room that he shared with Yoruichi alone tonight, something that he was familiar with based on all the nights that he had spent in that room while thinking that it was a spare room, only to discover who it actually belonged to. He honestly wasn't sure what the others were doing, and he knew that they would tell him if they felt it was necessary for him to know what was going on, to which he simply continued moving through the air as he headed towards the shop, all while finding that there weren't any additional Hollows or enemies in the town at the moment. A few moments later he reached the shop and discovered that Tessai was the only one left inside the shop, who was watching over the shop while the others were gone and both Jinta and Ururu were asleep upstairs, to which the two of them simply nodded their heads towards each other before Sombra headed upstairs and walked into the familiar room that he knew.
As he sat down in the chair that was near the bed he knew that he could have simply stayed near Ichigo's place and waited for morning to arrive, but after Ichigo talked his ears off with the fact that he had 'killed' the Grand Fisher, and had started tearing into Kon for what he had done, Sombra had decided that some time away from Ichigo, even if it was for a few minutes, would do them both some good. Of course, since Isshin was either outside the family house or checking the nearby area, he was sure that Kon and Ichigo were having a shouting match with each other, another reason for him to get out of the area before he got pulled back into it, as he didn't want to explain anything to Ichigo before the truth was revealed to him on it's own. He had hoped to find Urahara at the shop, despite the fact that his reiatsu was still away from the shop, so he guessed that the truth about the Visored could wait, since he was sure that his friend was preparing for the eventual war with Aizen and likely didn't want to be bothered by constant interruptions. There was also the thought that he could invade Hueco Mundo, either with his friends or without them, and try to stop Aizen now, before he got too much stronger, but he'd have to bring that up with Urahara and the others when he saw them next and see what they thought about his idea.
With that thought in mind he decided to close his eyes and let his mind drift off into a familiar dreamless sleep, where he could get some rest before he headed out in the morning, as he had the feeling that something was going to happen at some point after the sun rose.
When morning arrived Urahara insisted that he'd tell Sombra more about the Visored after he actually met them and interacted with them, as he didn't want what he knew to color his opinions on the mysterious group, but at the same time Sombra had the feeling that he'd make those opinions soon enough. Yoruichi, on the other hand, was still out and about, making sure that the town was safe from Hollows and whatnot for another hour or two, allowing Sombra some time to rest and relax before putting the tea cup away and heading outside the shop so he could see what Ichigo was up to. He was used to being able to get to Ichigo's place quickly, once more thanks to his speed, though when he arrived he sneaked a peak inside and found that Isshin had returned to the gigai that was his normal appearance, where he acted like a fool in front of his children, before landing on the roof as he waited for Ichigo to come outside. For a while he wondered if Ichigo wasn't going to come out of his room or have breakfast, the same boring single piece of toast that he had every single day since they first met, but even as he thought about that he heard a door open and watched what was going on... to which he watched as Ichigo, eating his toast, walked out of the building and headed towards the high school so he could see his friends and ignore his teacher.
Of course Sombra followed after him and after some time they reached the building that Ichigo had been heading toward, though as Ichigo took his seat Sombra leaned against the back wall of the room and watched as the other students came in and went about their business... while at the same time ignoring the looks that Tatsuki was giving him, noticed that Orihime was saying goodbye to Sora as he went on his rounds to protect the school, Chad taking his seat, and spotted Uryu deep in thought once more.
What Sombra discovered was that the rest of the students took their time coming into the classroom, as each of them seemed to be doing something different before they reached the school, and he also noticed that Ichigo was focused too much on what happened last night, just like Uryu was, and it wasn't until Shinji decided to say 'good morning' that things started to go south. When Shinji hugged Orihime, however, several of the students got upset and a scene was starting before his eyes, as Keigo continued to point an accusing finger at Shinji, before stating that Orihime was uncomfortable with the situation that she was in. That, in turn, caused Chizuru to grab onto Keigo's shoulder and tell him that she would deal with Shinji messing with Orihime, freaking out some of the people around her in the process, but before she could actually do anything Ichigo sighed and got up from his seat, causing the other students to stare at him for a few seconds as they wondered what he was going to do. What happened was that Ichigo grabbed onto the area of Shinji's uniform, near the neck, and pulled him out of the room that they were in, to which Sombra sighed and followed after them... especially since they were heading down to the first floor of the building, where they wouldn't be bothered by anyone else and could have a private conversation.
When they arrived at the area that Ichigo wanted to talk in, however, he slammed Shinji against the railing that was in front of him and made sure to keep Shinji pinned there, all while Sombra kept himself in earshot in case something happened, as a Hollow might appear while they were busy... and he noticed that Tatsuki was standing off in the distance, not yet aware that they were there yet, and he hoped that it stayed that way.
"That hurts!" Shinji stated, staring at Ichigo for a moment, while at the same time noticing that Sombra was leaning against the wall, observing them while making sure that his friend didn't do anything drastic, "You don't have to get so mad at me. Orihime's not your girlfriend, right? There's no way that a hottie like that would be your girlfriend."
"Shinji, this isn't about Orihime." Sombra said, knowing that Ichigo had problems with the young man that was in front of them, who glanced at him for a few seconds, before he gestured toward Ichigo, "This is about what happened last night and what you told Ichigo... though I'd recommend apologizing to Orihime at some point, otherwise Chizuru won't leave you alone until she decides that you've had enough punishment."
"The reason you came to this school was to recruit me into your group, right?" Ichigo asked, as his mind had been focused on what Shinji had told him last night and the fact that his inner Hollow had awoken during the battle with Byakuya, something that he wouldn't be able to forget, "I told you that I'm a Substitute Shinigami and that I'm on Soul Society's side, so there's no reason for you to be here anymore, not when you have my answer on the matter."
"It's not as simple as you think... Visored cannot return to normal once the symptoms start to appear," Shinji replied, noticing the look of shock that appeared on Ichigo's face, along with the fact that Sombra raised his eyebrow as he listened to what he was saying, "No matter what you think, you're on our side now. You believe that all the people that you call your friends will be by your side forever, but the reality is that they are only temporary... if you continue to walk down the path of a Shinigami, like you keep telling me, you'll eventually lose your sanity and be swallowed by the Hollows that's inside you. And when that happens, it'll be all over, as your power will destroy everything."
"That's assuming I let it progress that far." Sombra commented, because while he was worried for Ichigo, since he was being plagued by something inside him, he knew that he could easily knock his friend out if the Hollow took over, giving Ichigo time to figure out how to get his power under control.
"I can show you how to keep your sanity, Ichigo." Shinji continued, not even acknowledging what Sombra had said, though as that happened Ichigo growled and released him, before heading back into the building, giving Shinji a chance to rub his shoulder before moving.
Sombra glanced out at the field that was behind where Shinji had been resting, thanks to Ichigo's actions, and spotted Tatsuki staring at him once more, but when she glanced away, because one of her classmates called out to her, Sombra used that moment to slip away from the area and followed Ichigo back to the room the rest of his friends and fellow students were in. From that point forward Ichigo and Shinji, despite sitting next to each other in the classroom, didn't talk to each other, allowing the day to end without anything happening at all, making Sombra think that today had been quite boring, though he resisted the urge to sigh as he noticed someone open the window, which he exited through when Ichigo started to head home. At the same time, however, he noticed that Shinji was heading off in a different direction, no doubt to where his base of operations was located, and that both Orihime and Chad were following him as Uryu went home as well, where he'd likely talk to his father or think about what happened last night. Sora, of course, followed after his sister and kept his eyes open for Hollows or anything that might come after her, to which Sombra sighed as he followed after Ichigo, doing the same thing that the other Arrancar was doing as they headed back to the clinic that Ichigo called home, all while keeping his father's secret to himself.
When they arrived at the clinic, however, Sombra heard something unusual, as Isshin attacked Ichigo, as was his custom to improve his reflexes, and this time around Ichigo, who was too focused on what Shinji said, was knocked to the ground and caused his father to worry that he might have done something wrong. Eventually Ichigo headed upstairs and told his family that he wanted to be left alone, while at the same time Kon started to annoy him and was smacked with the badge that he had been given, so he could have some piece and quiet while he laid on his bed and thought about what had happened earlier, including the battle with Byakuya. Sombra took his position outside Ichigo's room, standing beside the window, and could hear Ichigo beginning to converse with the Hollow that was inside him, since there weren't any replies to his words, but as that happened his senses started to shift as he felt something in the air change, causing him to jump up to the roof and look around as he focused his mind on what he was feeling. A few moments later, when Karin opened the door and started asking her brother what was wrong, his senses zeroed in on an area that the feeling was coming from, to which he left Ichigo alone, since he wanted some time with his sister, and flashed into the air as he headed off towards whatever he was feeling.
Off in the distance he watched as a ring of dust appeared in the air above a part of the nearby forest, expanding a few times in the process, before something raced down towards the ground and exploded, tearing a good amount of the trees around the area out of the ground in the process and punching a crater in the ground. As that happened Sombra felt the reiatsu of not one Arrancar, but two of them, one of which he could easily defeat on his own, without needing to activate his Bankai, while the other reiatsu was much stronger, one that he would definitely need his Bankai against if a battle broke out in the next few minutes. When he arrived in the air above the crater, which rested in the middle of a park, he noticed two humanoid shapes appear in the smoke, though when the smoke cleared he found that the Arrancar were wearing white colored jackets, black colored sashes, and what appeared to be the lower attire of a Shinigami's uniform, only where a Shinigami's was black the Arrancar had white and where the Shinigami had white the Arrancar had black. He also noticed that one of the Arrancar was taller than his companion, had a few ridges on the top of his head, had his jacket opened at the moment, while also having a good deal of muscles evenly distributed all over his body, and the part of his mask that remained was resting on his chin and resembled a jawbone, complete with eight teeth.
The other Arrancar, however, was the one that caught Sombra's attention, as he was the one that the power he was feeling was coming from, though while his body seemed to be slender from just a glance Sombra could tell that the Arrancar was fairly muscular as well, not to the extent of his companion anyway. The Arrancar had fairly short, messy black colored hair, pale white colored skin, a black upper lip, and green colored eyes that had small slit-shaped pupils, similar to a cat's, and teal colored lines that descended form the lower part of his eyes and reached the edges of his face. Part of the Arrancar's bangs happened to fall between his eyes, even though the left side of his skull was covered in a helmet, which also had a broken horn of some kind, and he had distinctively thick eyebrows, though by the time he was finished staring down at the two Arrancar he could already tell which one was dangerous and which one he could beat on his own, but that didn't stop him from hiding his own reiatsu and landing nearby so he could figure out what they were doing here... and stop them in case they came to do battle with whoever investigated the crater they had made.
"I came here many times when I was still masked, but man this place is as boring as ever." one of the Arrancar said, though at the same time Sombra had the feeling that it was the muscular one that had talked, because he felt that the other one would have said something completely different or said nothing at all, "There are so few spirit particles that it's hard to breath."
"Don't complain. I believe that I said I could handle this on my own." a second voice commented, one that Sombra was sure belonged to the slender Arrancar, though he also found that the voice was cold and dispassionate, meaning that he likely didn't care about his companion at all, "You're the one that wanted to come here, Yammy."
"My bad, my bad." the first voice, Yammy, replied, to which Sombra silently watched as the muscular Arrancar walked up the side of the crater they had made and stared at the Humans that were gathering around the edge of the crater, only he was sure that something bad was going to happen, "What's with these guys?! Don't come over here if you don't have any spirit power!"
In the following instant Yammy opened his mouth and started to suck in the air in front of him, though that was when Sombra noticed that he was also tearing the souls out of those that were in a specific area around him and pretty much ate them as they flew into his mouth... which was something that Sombra would not abide by, especially since he charged out of where he was hiding and spun around, allowing the side of his leg to knock Yammy in the side of his head and send him flying into the ground. While that might not have saved all the people that had been immediately killed, as there were a good number of bodies around the area now, it at least saved many of the other souls from being torn from where they happened to be resting and saved the lives of anyone else Yammy might have endangered.
"Ah, what the hell hit me?" Yammy demanded, though at the same time, as he picked himself up and looked around the area that they were in, his companion walked out of the crater and stared at Sombra as he touched the ground, before Yammy glared at him with anger in his eyes, "Who are you supposed to be?"
"That, Yammy, is the Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar that Lord Aizen told us about," the slender Arrancar said, keeping his cool while he stared at Sombra, who knew that his opponent was sizing him up and determining just how strong he was without drawing his Zanpakuto, "We were under orders to stay low and do two things; the first being the observation of the Arrancar that calls himself 'Sombra', which must be you, considering that you have the hooves, horn, ears, and tail that we were told about. The second being that we were tasked with the death of Ichigo Kurosaki, or let him live after I've had a chance to observe him as well."
"Why are we telling him all this?" Yammy inquired, though at the same time he spotted a survivor lurking around the area that they were in, where Sombra noticed that it was Tatsuki that had survived the soul stealing ability that Yammy had used moments ago, "Oh, would you look at that, someone actually survived my Gonzui!"
Not even a second later Yammy charged at Tatsuki, with the purpose of hitting her, and Chad, backed by Orihime and Sora, stepped into the area as he blocked the incoming attack, only for him to instantly realize that he was outclassed and that they weren't going to be able to assist Sombra. Despite knowing that, and knowing that Sombra could easily battle these two of his own, Chad raised his armored right hand, which had blocked the attack Yammy almost delivered to Tatsuki, and tried to attack his opponent on his own, only for Yammy to essentially break his right arm in several places and knock him to the ground. Of course Orihime, wanting to protect her friend from harm, stepped up with a look of determination in her eyes, but at the same time Sombra flashed between them and shook his head, to which Orihime sighed and activated her Soten Kisshun, which enveloped Chad's arm and started to heal it, while at the same time Sora stood beside her to keep her safe. Sombra nodded his head and flashed into the air, to which he delivered another powerful kick to Yammy's head and knocked him back into the crater that he had climbed out of earlier, all while his companion stood there and observed what was going on, just in case the two of them ended up fighting at some point... though even as that happened Sombra noticed that Tatsuki fainted from the sheer strain of having her soul be near the Arrancar, allowing him to focus on them at the moment.
"The reason your companion is telling me about your missions is because I'd either figure it out on my own, or I'd piece together what you were doing by what you said," Sombra replied, to which he landed on the ground once more and turned towards the other Arrancar, as he was interested in why this one wasn't moving all that much, though he had the feeling that he'd learn the reason shortly, "Isn't that right?"
"Lord Aizen was right, you do catch on fast." the slender Arrancar said, though it was hard to tell if he was happy that Sombra was like that or if he was disappointed in such a thing, all because it appeared that his emotions weren't changing all that much since his face barely changed at all, "Allow me to properly introduce ourselves. My idiot companion, who you have kicked twice so far, is Yammy Llargo, and I am Ulquiorra Cifer. Lord Aizen said that your power was that of a Vasto Lorde, yet all I am feeling is the power that belongs..."
Sombra smiled as he released his power for a moment, causing Yammy, who was in the process of pulling himself out of the crater, to pause for a moment and caused Ulquiorra to pause in his sentence, with the smallest look of interest that Sombra had ever seen, before he reigned in his power and stood straight once more.
"...I was going to say 'to an Adjuchas', but it appears that such a thing is unnecessary." Ulquiorra finished, allowing Sombra the chance to hear what he would have said, if he hadn't interrupted him, but at the same time both of them glanced over at Yammy for a moment as he pulled himself out of the crater.
"You now, my Pesquisa is horrible, and I still felt that," Yammy commented, to which he cracked his knuckles for a moment as he stared at Sombra, indicating that he was ready for battle, despite the fact that he was clearly not a match for him, since Sombra could simply flash out of the way and bypass the attack before kicking him again, "but I don't care if you're an Adjuchas, a Gillian, or a Vasto Lorde! Anyone who does that to me is worth beating to a pulp."
"Pesquisa?" Sombra inquired, as that was a new term that he didn't know, though he had the feeling that it was one that belonged to the Arrancar, meaning that he might have known it at some point before his memories disappeared, or maybe it was something that the Arrancar that were created by Aizen understood.
"It means 'Inquiry', and it's how we measure and locate reiatsu," Ulquiorra stated, though while Yammy looked back at him for a moment, once more shocked that he was giving out information to the enemy, Sombra knew that the Arrancar was informing him because he had been sent to observe him and study him in some manner, and telling him about them might be a way to gain time to do just that, "As you no doubt know, all Gillians, Adjuchas, and Vasto Lorde are capable of firing their own individual Cero, but we also have a technique called Bala, which means 'Bullet' and can be fired twenty times faster than a Cero, even though it's not as power as a Cero. There's also a skill of ours called Hierro, or 'Iron', and it's our outer skin that's laced with high spiritual hardness, essentially serving as our armor, and Descorrer, or 'Loosen Void', that allows us to open a Garganta between this world and Hueco Mundo. Lastly, there's our movement skill, Sonido, that is basically the equivalent of the Shinigami's Shunpo."
Sombra was amazed by the number of abilities that an Arrancar had, or at least ones created by Aizen, and had to wonder how many of them he had, but he already knew that he could fire a Cero, he assumed that his ability to sense reiatsu was the Pesquisa at work, he knew that he had an understanding of the Hierro ability, and it was possible that he might have some skill in Sonido, even though he had been trained by Yoruichi in Shunpo. He had never tried to fire a Bala before, as he had no idea it existed, and, despite his training, he hadn't been able to regain the ability to open a Garganta to Hueco Mundo, so he knew that he the Descorrer skill was one he didn't have access to either, though he was happy with the skills that he did know and could use. Yammy, seeing that he was thinking about something, raised his fist and threw a punch right at Sombra, who flashed out of the way immediately, though at the same time Ichigo landed in the area that Sombra had been standing in seconds ago, where the tip of Zangetsu rested against Yammy's open palm, preventing the attack from being completed.
"And who the hell are you?" Yammy asked, as he was getting tired of being messed around with, by the Arrancar that they had come to study and having their search for the target they were supposed to kill being interrupted every time something happened.
"I'm sorry I'm late, Orihime." Ichigo said, taking a moment to glance over at Orihime, who was still tending to Chad and his ruined arm, before he turned his gaze over to Sombra, as it appeared that his friend might be in over his head, since neither of their opponents were wounded yet, "These guys giving you trouble, Sombra?"
"No, I was just taking a moment to learn more about them," Sombra replied, where he noticed that Ulquiorra was staring at Ichigo, as he remembered that they had come with the purpose of killing Ichigo in battle, but at the same time he knew that they were also biding their time until something interesting happened, as in Ulquiorra was watching Yammy fight and was studying them, "Besides, after hearing you complain about the death of the Grand Fisher, I figured that you'd like to have someone to fight when you arrived, which was another reason why I wasn't taking Yammy seriously, even though he was the one that messed up Chad's arm."
"Yammy?" Ichigo inquired, to which he glanced at the large Arrancar that was in front of him, who smiled the moment the name was said, allowing him to piece together who Sombra was talking about, though that only made him angry when he stared at Chad's wounded form, causing him to rest his left hand on his right arm, "So you're the one that messed up Chad's arm, forced Tatsuki to faint, and killed a number of innocent people by stealing their souls. There's only one thing I have to say to you: Bankai!"
Sombra barely averted his eyes as the area was consumed by the pressure and smoke of Ichigo unleashing his Bankai, though a few seconds later he swung his right arm for a moment and cut the leftover smoke apart, returning the area to how it had been earlier, and he knew that Yammy was already screwed. Tensa Zangetsu was an interesting Bankai, despite the fact that he only knew about a few of them, and Sombra could tell that Ichigo's reiatsu was rough and fierce, no doubt because of his inner Hollow messing with him, but at the same time he didn't feel anything that would threaten to knock him out.
"Did you say Bankai?" Yammy asked, to which he raised his right hand and scratched one of the ridges that were on top of his head, as if he had to think about what was happening at the moment, before he turned his head back a little bit and glanced at his companion, "Hey, Ulquiorra, is this the guy we're looking for?"
"Yes. Who would have thought that your flailing around would have brought him out so easily." Ulquiorra said, as he was interested in the fact that all they had to do was enter the World of the Living, and let Yammy cause a little chaos, for both of their targets to arrive, even though he had the feeling that Sombra appeared long before Ichigo did, "Orange hair, with a black Bankai... there's no mistaking it, he's Ichigo Kurosaki. He's our target, Yammy."
"So he also saved us the trouble of looking for him!" Yammy stated, showing that he could at least follow along with what his companion was saying, especially since he was turning back towards Ichigo, before he raised his right fist and started to swing with all his might, "I'M LUCKY!"
Sombra stared at Yammy as Ichigo raised his blade, because the edge of Zangetsu stopped Yammy's punch before it could actually hit him, causing the ground around him to buckle and break as the force of the Arrancar's punch was transferred into the ground, while at the same time Yammy seemed shocked by what had just happened.
"Sombra said that you were the one that messed up Chad's right arm," Ichigo commented, though at the same time he had no reason to call Sombra a liar, rather he wanted to see what Yammy said before he enacted what he was thinking at the moment, as he knew that his friend was waiting to see what he did while he made sure Orihime stood a good distance away from the area they were in, "Is that true?"
"So what if it is?" Yammy inquired, as his shock turned to a smile as he spoke, because even if his first attack was stopped he would show his opponent that he wasn't to be underestimated, especially since he had broken the Human with the weird armored arm quite easily, and then he'd focus on Sombra once Ichigo was taken care of.
In the next few seconds ichigo leapt forward, flipped over Yammy's head as he followed him while moving his Zanpakuto at the same time, before landing on the ground behind the Arrancar that he was fighting, which was followed by Yammy's right arm, from the tip of his fingers to a little bit above his elbow, fell to the ground as a few drops of blood flew through the air, though he didn't seem to care about the deed all that much. Yammy, of course, started to get angry over the fact that Ichigo had cut off his arm, and even announced that fact a few times, while at the same time Sombra noticed that Ulquiorra didn't seem to care about it either, as if he felt that his companion was a fool for not evaluating Ichigo's strength before charging into battle like he did. Sombra wasn't too surprised to find that Ichigo could cut through Yammy's Hierro, meaning that he was either weaker than he thought or Yammy was terrible at improving his techniques, something that he had a feeling that Ulquiorra was thinking about at the moment. From that point Ichigo jumped around the area, forcing Yammy to attack him with his left hand, all while Sombra and Ulquiorra watched what was going on, each of them looking at something different, and Sora and Orihime watched to be sure that Ichigo didn't hurt himself to the point where someone needed to step in and help him.
What worried Sombra was that both Ulquiorra and Yammy weren't showing their true power, as they had yet to call upon the power of their Zanpakuto, which their true forms were sealed inside, but at the same time he found that Yammy was already getting tired and Ichigo landed nearby... and, if he was feeling things right, he could sense that the Hollow inside his friend was getting ready to make his move, meaning that he'd have to step in soon.
"Damn you, you brat." Yammy stated, to which he huffed for a few moments as he stared at his opponent, as he couldn't believe what was happening, though he was equally angry that Ulquiorra was simply watching him get beat up by an Arrancar and a Shinigami.
"You can still stand?" Ichigo inquired, because based on the huffing that his opponent was doing he had assumed that he'd fall at some point, where he'd stop attacking him and focus on the other one, Ulquiorra as Yammy called him, but it seemed like the battle between him and Yammy would go on for a few more moments, "You're as tough as you appear."
"It would seem that you are having trouble fighting him, Yammy." Ulquiorra commented, drawing both Ichigo and Sombra's attention to him, as they were curious as to what he was going to do next, all while Yammy did nothing but stand there and stare at Ichigo, "Do you want me to fight him for you?"
"Shut up!" Yammy snapped, showing how angry he was at the moment, to which he moved his left hand and gripped the handle of his Zanpakuto, though at the same time, as Ichigo wondered what he was about to do, Sombra readied himself for what was going to happen next.
"I'm surprised that you want to use your Zanpakuto against a runt like this." Ulquiorra said, telling Sombra that all the Arrancar likely knew what the true forms of their companions looked like, as well as their powers, and that he might be a tad bit disappointed in what Yammy was doing.
Of course, as Sombra thought about that, Ichigo took in the appearance of his enemies and that was when his left hand moved to his face as Yammy started to draw his Zanpakuto, though partway through doing that Yammy noticed that Ichigo wasn't paying attention, slammed his blade back into it's sheath, and threw a kick at Ichigo, to which Sombra flashed through the air, blocked the incoming attack with his arm, and then forced Yammy backwards with another kick. As Yammy fell back into the crater he and Ulquiorra had formed, however, Sombra grabbed onto Ichigo and pulled him over to where Orihime and Sora were standing, because if he was going to break down every single time his inner Hollow came out to help him, even without the mask forming, Ichigo was never going to improve his skill. Instead of waiting for Ichigo to say anything, other than glare at him in annoyance, Sombra flashed back to where he had caught the incoming attack and then delivered his own, knowing that Yammy was powerful, but he was still weaker than he was and, as such, Sombra had nothing to fear from his attacks, as his arm didn't even hurt when he blocked the attack.
"Good, you stopped Yammy from wasting his Resurreccion," Ulquiorra commented, once more confirming that he believed that Ichigo was currently trash and that they didn't need to use that level of power to defeat someone like him, at least not at the moment anyway.
"That's when you release your true power, isn't it?" Sombra inquired, as he recalled what he had felt when Sora had battled Mayuri with Uryu, something that he was told about once everything had settled down, and had the feeling that he was right about what he was thinking, "And not only that, but you also release your true form at the same time."
"Indeed." Ulquiorra said, once more keeping silent over the fact that Lord Aizen had been right, that Sombra was quick to understand things that others, such as the Shinigami he fought beside, had to have explained to him several times before he understood what was going on, "Lord Aizen told me that you don't possess the blade of an Arrancar, yet you still have a Zanpakuto attached to your belt and you possess the power of a Vasto Lorde. I am interested in figuring out how such a thing is possible."
"That's because my Arrancar blade is lost somewhere in the vastness of Hueco Mundo," Sombra said, knowing that, even if he told Ulquiorra and Yammy what was different between them and him, in terms of weaponry, it wouldn't make that much of a difference, before he tapped his Zanpakuto, "This, right here, is Shokyo, my Shinigami Zanpakuto, and the power that Aizen likely told you about is the power that I gained when I used my Bankai for the first time. Not that it matters, since Yammy is done for regardless of what happens next, not when Urahara Kisuke and Yoruichi Shihoin are on their way to see what is going on... even though I'm more than capable of ending your companion's life all on my own, without having to use my Bankai on him."
"Oh yeah? Well then, take this!" Yammy stated, to which he emerged from the crater and opened his mouth, where he gathered his reiatsu for a few seconds and started to form the familiar form of a Cero, though at the same time Sombra heard Orihime, at Sora's insistence, use her Santen Kesshun to protect them, Ichigo, and Chad from what was coming next, all while leaving Sombra to deal with Yammy.
Sombra sighed as he raised his right hand and leveled his pointer finger with Yammy's head, where strands of his reiatsu pulled themselves together and formed a black sphere of energy, with a green outline that reminded him of the Getsuga Tensho that the Hollow in Ichigo had used against Byakuya, as that was black with a red outline, before focusing on his target. A few seconds later Yammy fired his Cero and Sombra did the same thing, to which the two of them connected in the area between them and exploded, carving a new hole in the ground while at the same time Yammy was knocked back by the sheer power that Sombra had called upon, and that was without charging the blast all the way. While that happened Ulquiorra stared at Sombra as the smoke cleared, finding that Lord Aizen's orders to simply study Sombra, instead of attack him like they had been ordered to attack Ichigo, made all the more sense now that he had seen the Arrancar in action, and that was without his Zanpakuto entering the equation. It was in the following moment that both Yoruichi and Urahara arrived at the scene of the battle, ready for action, but what they found was Ichigo struggling with himself, Orihime and Sora tending to Chad, and Sombra dominating the fight while not even looking like he needed assistance in defeating his current opponent.
While all that happened Yammy got back up and growled as he noticed that there were more enemies for them to fight, or just him since Ulquiorra seemed uninterested in helping him out, and he prepared himself to do battle once more, as now he was planning on releasing his Zanpakuto and crushing his foes... only for Ulquiorra to flash into the area between Yammy and the new crater that had been punched into the ground when the two Ceros had collided.
"Alright, let's waste this place Ulquiorra!" Yammy stated, because now that his companion had moved from where he had been standing he knew that the situation had changed, as now they could both focus on Sombra and kill him before he accessed any of his true power... only for Ulquiorra to barely glance back at him as he punched him in his chest, knocking him backwards and forcing him to one knee for a moment.
"You do not understand the situation that you are in, Yammy." Ulquiorra said, this time turning to face Yammy and completely ignored those that were behind him, as he knew what they were going to do next and there was no stopping this from happening, "As you know all Arrancar are capable of firing a Cero Oscuras in their released state, or not depending on their preference between that, their sealed form Cero, and the forbidden Gran Rey Cero, and the power of such an attack depends on one's power and how long they charge it. Sombra, in his sealed form, was capable of firing a powerful Cero Oscuras to counter the that you were planning on using to wipe out him and his companions, and there is no telling how powerful it will be if he released his full power against you. At your current level, Yammy, you don't stand a chance against him, and the same should apply in your Resurreccion, but with both Yoruichi Shihoin and Urahara Kisuke present as well you would be doomed if you fought all three of them at the same time... something that would make Lord Aizen disappointed, if you were to die anyway."
"Oh... so we're heading home?" Yammy asked, showing that, despite his desire for battle and to crush whoever stood against him, he actually had a brain, even if most of it was put to use in trying to kill his enemies, while at the same time he glared at Sombra and his friends.
"Yes, we're leaving." Ulquiorra replied, to which he walked behind Yammy and tapped the air behind him, to which Sombra and the others watched as he opened a Garganta to Hueco Mundo, though as Yammy gathered his cut off arm, however, Ulquiorra turned back so he could stare at Sombra once more, "I am going to report everything that I have seen today to Lord Aizen. I'm sure that he'll find what I discovered today to be interesting."
Sombra watched as Ulquiorra and Yammy walked into the Garganta and disappeared as it closed behind them, with the area where the gateway had been located looking like nothing had happened, before he sighed and turned back towards Yoruichi and Urahara, as he needed to tell them what he had learned... and then wait and see if Soul Society did anything about the fact that more Arrancar were coming to harass Ichigo and see just how powerful he was.
It didn't take long for Ulquiorra and Yammy to return to Hueco Mundo, or more specifically Las Noches, the palace that Lord Aizen, Gin, and Tosen called home after they came to this world when they separated from Soul Society, only the three of them had created an actual palace, instead of the open area that it had been before their arrival. As they walked down the halls Ulquiorra found that his companion was oddly silent, though at the same time that gave him a few moments to feel the reiatsu that was near their master and knew that the other Arrancar he had created had been gathered for the report that he was going to give them. He was not worried about such a thing, as while Ichigo Kurosaki could be considered trash, despite his ever changing reiatsu that was either lower than his or even greater at times, the other Arrancar would be interested in hearing his thoughts about Sombra, as he had an interesting thought that he needed to share with them, especially their master, since it concerned him as well. There was something that only Hollows knew, when they ascended from the level of an ordinary Hollow and became either a Gillian, an Adjuchas, or even a Vasto Lorde, something that Shinigami had no idea about... and he knew that he'd have to explain himself once he gave his Lord the report that he had gathered, be it to Lord Aizen, his fellow Shinigami, or the other Arrancar.
Eventually Ulquiorra and Yammy entered the area that they had been heading to, the throne room as it were, and he noticed that his senses had been correct, the other Arrancar were gathered around the area that they had entered and were sitting in the same areas that they sat in when something like this happened... and, like he suspected, Lord Aizen was sitting on his throne while Gin and Tosen stood near him.
"We have returned, Lord Aizen." Ulquiorra spoke up, though at the same time Yammy set his severed arm on the floor in front of him and knelt before their Lord, all while he remained standing, as he needed to explain what he had seen and what he had thought during his encounter with Sombra.
"Welcome back, Ulquiorra, Yammy," Aizen said, to which he stared down at the two Arrancar that had been sent to the World of the Living, even though he intended to send one and the other insisted on going, and immediately wondered what they had to share with him and the others that had gathered in this room, "Now, let me hear your report, here in front of your twenty brothers and sisters. Show us, Ulquiorra. Show us everything that you saw and sensed while you were in the World of the Living."
"As you wish, Lord Aizen." Ulquiorra replied, to which he raised his left hand and gripped his left eye, something that he carefully removed from the socket that it was in and then shifted his hand until it was stretched out towards the throne, before he crushed the eye and turned it into sparkling dust that scattered throughout the room they were in.
Despite having only one eye at the moment Ulquiorra noticed that all of the other Arrancar, including Lord Aizen and the former Shinigami that were standing behind him, all closed their eyes in some manner to witness what he was showing them, along with his thoughts on what he had discovered during the battle.
"I see. So that's why you decided that Ichigo Kurosaki wasn't worth killing." Aizen commented, though at the same time he was more interested in the other individual that Ulquiorra and Yammy had encountered, because Sombra was a wildcard that seemed to be growing ever stronger.
"That's correct." Ulquiorra said, though as he spoke Yammy noticed that Ulquiorra's left eye was closed, which made sense considering what he had done, but he said nothing as his companion continued, "Your orders, regarding Ichigo Kurosaki, were to kill him if I thought he might become a problem for us."
"That's stupid!" a new voice stated, to which Ulquiorra turned towards a muscular Arrancar that had spiky blue colored hair, light blue colored eyes, green colored lines near his eyes, and the remains of his mask rested on the right side of his face, as it was the jawbone and could actually open and close depending on what the Arrancar did, though Ulquiorra knew him as Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, "I would have killed that sorry punk with my first attack, and then I would have wiped the floor with that Arrancar buddy of his. It doesn't matter what logic you use, if the word 'kill' appears in your orders, then it's obvious that you're supposed to go ahead and kill your target."
"I feel the same way." one of the Arrancar behind Grimmjow said, though it made sense that he would side with Grimmjow, since they had been in the same pack of Hollows before Lord Aizen came along and transformed them into the Arrancar that they were now, "He's our enemy either way. Perhaps there's no reason to kill him, but there's no reason to let him live, either."
"By the way, Yammy," Grimmjow added, turning to the kneeling Arrancar that was behind Ulquiorra, who mostly ignored everyone and only glanced at him when he said his name, though he could tell that Yammy was angry, "you got your ass beat, didn't you?"
"Yeah, but not by Ichigo Kurosaki," Yammy stated, even though he had to glance down at his severed arm for a few seconds, to remember that he was angry with the person they had been sent to kill, before returning his gaze towards the one that had spoken to him, "Most of my beatings came from the Arrancar that was with him."
"Grimmjow, I'm not interested or worried about Ichigo, rather I'm seeing what his potential is like," Aizen said, though he knew that Ulquiorra was the only one that thought he might be worried about the Substitute Shinigami, when in reality none of them actually worried him and he was only interested in observing them until the time was right, "Ulquiorra feels that if we were to leave Ichigo alone he will either self destruct and kill himself, or he might come searching for a way to stabilize himself and fall in line with us to do just that. Ulquiorra, if he gets strong enough to take you or the others on, without this happening, will you do the honors and eliminate him?"
"If it comes to it, and he no longer freezes in battle while fighting us on equal ground, then I shall kill him." Ulquiorra replied, as he had planned on such a thing happening the moment he and Yammy came back from the World of the Living, though he felt that Ichigo would never reach that state, not with how dangerous his reiatsu was.
"Now then, onto the other matter." Aizen said, as he had been looking forward to this, because in reality he had been hoping to get some more information on Sombra and Ulquiorra had given him exactly what he wanted, along with a question that remained unanswered, "While Yammy was doing battle with Sombra your thoughts seemed to be focused on something else, something that wasn't the fight, and you felt that I needed to know about it. Tell me, Ulquiorra, what else is special about Sombra, and why do I need to know about it now?"
"You, along with Commanders Gin and Tosen, are no doubt aware of the four classifications that Hollows possess; those that are just called 'Hollows', the Gillians, the Adjuchas, and the Vasto Lorde," Ulquiorra stated, though at the same time, as his eye regenerated after having fulfilled it's purpose, he noticed that all of the Arrancar grew quiet, as they knew what he was going to say next, "There is, in reality, a fifth classification that a Hollow can achieve, one that is much harder to reach than the Vasto Lorde rank, and all Hollows, regardless of rank, learn this inherent knowledge after a few years of wandering Hueco Mundo. It is said that a Hollow of this level will be created every one thousand years, a level that they have to earn like everyone else, and that the power they command is far above that of a Vasto Lorde, so much so that all Hollows bow to it and obey their orders without question."
"It sounds like you're suggesting that something will happen to our army if we don't get such a creature on our side," Gin commented, though even as he spoke he knew that Aizen would be able to persuade whatever Ulquiorra was talking about to their side, even if he had to use his Zanpakuto to do so.
"All Hollows instinctively know to follow this creature, even if it means going to war with Soul Society," Ulquiorra said, revealing what happened a thousand years ago, when the last Hollow of this level had been created, a story that all Hollows knew, even if they didn't sit around and record their history like Humans and Shinigami did.
"And what is this Hollow called?" Aizen asked, because this was interesting and worthy of his time, as it not only revealed a threat to the army that he had created, but also who might have the power to do what Ulquiorra was saying, even though he knew who the Arrancar was talking about.
"We refer to the creature as Dios Hueco, or Hollow God," Ulquiorra replied, to which he spotted several of the other Arrancar glance at each other, as they knew the stories and knew what he was talking about, before he focused on Lord Aizen once more, "At his current level, Sombra is strong enough to deal with everyone below Grimmjow's level, and that's if he stayed in his base form and didn't use his Bankai in battle. Should he use his Bankai he'll be able to beat anyone up to my level, at which point it would be up to me and those above me to take him out. Of course my thoughts will only hold up if he remains at his current level and doesn't find his Arrancar blade, otherwise he might ascend to a level that none of us will be able to beat, no matter how hard we try."
"Then it's a good thing we found it when we first arrived," Tosen said, where he turned towards the small pillar that rested on a table near the throne, one large enough to conceal a Zanpakuto, and tapped it, where it split apart and revealed a sheathed blade that reminded Ulquiorra of the one that Sombra had been carrying on his belt.
Grimmjow growled as the meeting continued, straying away from the talk of Ichigo Kurosaki, Sombra, and the Dios Hueco, the one Hollow that stood above all other Hollows, before he glanced at the unsealed pillar, before a plan started to form in his mind. Ulquiorra seemed worried that, should Sombra ascend to the final level that a Hollow could achieve, if he was the chosen Hollow anyway, that they would all soon join his side and turn against Lord Aizen, but his simple plan was to steal the blade, deliver it to it's owner, and then smash him the moment he used his Resurreccion, proving that the story didn't matter and that he was strong enough to beat anyone that came across him. All he had to do was convince the five Arrancar that followed his orders, head out into the World of the Living, and prove to their master that he had nothing to worry about... and maybe bring him back some heads while he was at it.
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.
Sombra's senses went off the moment he felt a Garganta open somewhere inside Karakura Town, though whoever had come out of it did the smart thing and made sure that their reiatsu didn't reveal that they were there, so he simply remained on the roof and waited for something else to happen. Some time later he felt another one open in the same area, telling him that they might have enemies to deal with if more of Aizen's Arrancar came to attack them and test their defenses now that more Shinigami were guarding the town, which was the whole point of Captain Hitsuguya and the others coming in the first place. At that point he was sure that their enemies were planning something, even if they were hiding, and he was sorely tempted to go out and leave both Ichigo and Rukia behind, as they were either fighting or arguing over the sleeping arrangements that had been made for Rukia after she told Isshin and Yuzu about her 'situation', as her bed had been put in the same room as Ichigo's sisters, hence the disagreement between them. He felt that such a thing was silly, since Rukia could have just ignored them and infiltrated Ichigo's closet, or asked one of the others if they'd help her out, but this was the hand that she had dealt herself and it was time to see what she did, besides spending time arguing with Ichigo anyway.
When a few minutes since the second Garganta had opened had ticked by, and he was still using his Pesquisa to see if he could figure out how many enemies there were, his radar flared to life as six different reiatsu signatures appeared, all mostly heading off in different directions... to which he opened his eyes and slipped in through the open window, as it was time for him to tell the others what he had found, since they were still talking about the sleeping arrangements.
"Guys, stop arguing about this nonsense." Sombra said, causing the two of them to glance at him for a moment, as they had figured that he would have remained on the roof until he grew tired of their company and departed, before noticing the serious look on his face, "They're here."
"Who are you talki..." Ichigo started to ask, though that was before he felt the reiatsu from the Arrancar, causing him to sweat for a moment as he remembered what he had felt back when Ulquiorra and Yammy came to the World of the Living, before he turned to Rukia, who was digging out her phone, "How many of them are there this time?"
"Six." Sombra replied, showing them that he had counted the signatures before coming down to see the two of them, while at the same time that spurred Ichigo into searching for his Substitute Badge so he could transform and head out before anyone was hurt, "From what I can tell two are heading towards Captain Hitsuguya, Lieutenant Matsumoto, and Orihime, one is heading towards Ikkaku and Yumichika, the fourth is heading towards Renji, the fifth is heading towards Chad, and it appears that the sixth one is coming for us. My best guess is that they've come to kill everyone that has a reiatsu signature, regardless of their strength, so that means that Uryu is safe since he has no power at the moment and Orihime is fine in the hands of Captain Hitsuguya and his Lieutenant, but Chad's still recovering and is the most vulnerable to an attack at the moment."
"You know, sometimes I forget how good you are at sensing things before my phone does," Rukia commented, though at the same time she put the phone away as Ichigo finally found his badge, allowing him to push his soul from his body and enter his Shinigami state once more, "Come on, let's go intercept whoever is heading for Chad and take them, and whoever is coming for us, out at the same time, or one by one depending on when they strike."
Together the three of the headed out of Ichigo's bedroom window and made their way over to Chad's apartment, though while they did that Sombra noticed that the sixth signature, the strongest out of the Arrancar that had come here, was changing direction and happened to be following them, just like he suspected. His thoughts on the matter were that he was the prime target and everyone else around him was just going to get caught in the crossfire, but at the same time there was no knowing if that was the case until the Arrancar that was following them showed up and announced his or her intentions. The only good thing about the distance between Ichigo's place and Chad's apartment was that it didn't take them very long to reach their destination, where they found that Chad was already leaving the building, with his armored arm at the ready, and that one of the Arrancar had already arrived to do battle with him. Of course since Rukia didn't change back into her Shinigami form, and Ichigo ran off without letting her ride on his back like normal, Ichigo and Sombra were the first ones to arrive on the scene, allowing them to hear what the Arrancar said before anything else happened and allowed them to prepare themselves for battle.
"What's this? You aren't a Shinigami?" the Arrancar, with cyan bandaged wrapped around the right side of the remains of his Hollow mask, asked, though at the same time Sombra detected that he was disappointed in what he was seeing, meaning that he hadn't felt their arrival yet as he dashed forward as Chad turned to face him, "My loss!"
"You're supposed to decide," Ichigo replied, just after flashing forward and stopping the Arrancar's hand before it had a chance to even touch Chad, despite the fact that the pressure from the attack had opened a very small point in his chest that had a few drops of blood emerge from it, all while the Arrancar glanced at him in surprise, "whether or not you lost, after the fight."
"Fair enough." the Arrancar said, though this time his frown turned into a smile as he stared at Ichigo and Chad, while Sombra landed behind Ichigo, which caused the frown to return in full force for a few seconds, before he pulled his hand out of Ichigo's grasp and backed up a little, "Then I'll just say the same thing again, once I've killed all of you."
"Chad, please stand back and let me take care of him." Ichigo commented, causing the shocked Chad to glance at him for a moment, while at the same time Ichigo drew Zangetsu and readied himself for the battle to come, since he knew that fighting these Arrancar would be tough, if what happened during their first visit was anything to go by.
"Look, it's not because of the fact that you were injured, it's just that he's out of your league," Sombra added, knowing that Chad wasn't going to be okay with this situation, since it appeared that he and Ichigo had a good history together before all of this madness started, before Chad glanced at him for a second, "His power is lower than Yammy's, that much I can tell from a glance, but even that power is still greater than what you have at the moment, so my suggestion is that you head to Urahara's place and see if he'll train you so that you can participate in the next battle."
Chad was slightly annoyed that Ichigo didn't want him fighting by his side, though when Sombra explained that his power didn't match their enemies, in a way that was worse than Soul Society, he knew that the time to back out was now, before he got seriously hurt or even killed, to which he nodded his head and started the run towards the Urahara Shop, where he hoped to gain the power he needed so he could stand by Ichigo's side once more. While he did that he stopped for a moment when he spotted Rukia emerge from one of the alleys, asking if he was okay, to which he paused and told her that he was just fine and that he didn't have the required strength to be of any help this time around, before heading off towards his destination so he could get the power he needed.
"You know, for a moment I thought he was going to argue with us over staying here," Ichigo commented, though he was happy that Chad was willing to listen to Sombra's words, even though he was certain that all the Arrancar that had come into the World of the Living were weaker than he was, before he turned towards his opponent, "Okay then, I'm going to tear this guy apart and then we can see to helping the others overcome their enemies."
"Ichigo, I think you should sit this one out as well," Rukia stated, surprising Ichigo for a moment, since he hadn't noticed her approach them from behind, though at the same time she could see that Sombra was interested in what she had to show them, so while Ichigo turned around she pulled out her own Soul Candy and popped it into her mouth, "You are way too tense for this fight, Ichigo, and people who get like that before a fight end up getting themselves killed. Just fall back and let me take care of him."
Sombra and Ichigo watched as Rukia separated herself from her gigai and stepped out in her Shinigami form, though as Ichigo started to open his mouth, so he could complain about the situation, Sombra and Chappy, the Gikon that Rukia had inserted into her gigai so it could be out of harms way, pulled him off to the side so they could watch Rukia battle and defeat the first Arrancar. Ichigo, on the other hand, stated that he was surprised that Rukia's powers had returned so quickly, where Sombra explained that Soul Society was the perfect place for her to heal the wounds that had been inflicted upon her by staying inside the gigai that Urahara had given her the first time she was in the World of the Living, and that she now had all her powers back. One thing that Sombra also noticed was that Rukia's powers seemed even stronger than before, back when he first met her, and that she definitely deserved the position as the Lieutenant of the Thirteenth Division, which was why he was so curious as to what sort of power her Zanpakuto possessed, something that Ichigo clearly had forgotten about, since that was the only thing they didn't know about her at this point. It was in the moment of Rukia explaining that she had restored her body to it's original potential, and then gained her true power back, that the Arrancar that was standing nearby raced forward and swung his hand at her, where Rukia drew her Zanpakuto and allowed herself to be pushed back a little, so she could get away from the others.
When he felt they were far enough away the Arrancar swung his hand and tossed Rukia at the telephone pole that was nearby, where she touched it's side with her feet before racing back towards the Arrancar, who blocked the incoming attack with his right arm.
"I'm Arrancar Sixteen, Di Roy." the Arrancar said, his frown being replaced by a smile, because he knew that the two Shinigami that were around him were more than enough for him to take care of, especially when his leader was coming to mess with the other Arrancar.
"I'm the Lieutenant of the Thirte..." Rukia started to say, though there was a flicker in Di Roy's eyes that told her that this was the sort of opponent who honestly didn't care about that sort of thing, and what he ended up saying next only confirmed her thoughts on the matter.
"Yeah, skip it." Di Roy said, his tone indicating that he didn't care about Rukia or her position all that much, showing that he was arrogant and that he believed that his power was far greater than what she possessed, all while Sombra watched them from where he was standing as Ichigo was tormented by Chappy, "If I had to listen to the name of everyone I was going to kill, there'd be no end to it."
"I see." Rukia replied, to which she jumped backwards for a moment and landed a few steps away from Di Roy, where she held her Zanpakuto at the ready, indicating that she was getting ready to release it's true form and power, "Then, at the very least, you would do well to learn the name of my Zanpakuto. Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!"
Rukia turned her hand around in what was almost a perfect circle, causing the entirety of her Zanpakuto to turn pure white while a white ribbon formed from the pommel, though while that happened Sombra noted that there was a rush of cold air in every direction and that the tsuba of Sode no Shirayuki looked like a snowflake, all while thinking that it looked like a very beautiful Zanpakuto, must like Shokyo.
"Some no mai," Rukia continued, to which she flashed forward and rapidly reappeared a few steps behind Di Roy, where she swung her blade back towards him in a manner, though that was when Sombra noticed that there was a circle of ice surrounding her and that it was latching onto Di Roy's legs, "Tsukishiro."
"What the hell is this?" Di Roy demanded, to which he broke himself out of the ice that was trapping his feet and surged into the air above Rukia, who turned to look up at him as she stepped out of the ice ring, all while noticing that he was inside the circle still, meaning that he was an idiot, "Tough luck, Shinigami! My true battlefield is the sky. A sword that only freezes the ground can never hit an airborne opponent!"
"What a pity." Rukia commented, to which the circle of ice glowed before a pillar of ice, which reached all the way to the heavens, formed where the circle was located, trapping Di Roy in a pillar of ice that froze him and started to crack as Rukia turned to face Sombra and Ichigo, "Sode no Shirayuki doesn't simply freeze the ground... everything that is within the circle, both the earth and the sky, is within her frozen domain."
It was in the following moment that Sombra felt Di Roy's reiatsu go out as the pillar of ice shattered, leaving nothing of the Arrancar behind, though at the same time that was good news for them, since that only left five more Arrancar for them and the others to fight and defeat... though as that happened the Arrancar he had been waiting for finally revealed where they were located, as the area shook under the intense reiatsu that they generated and both Ichigo and Rukia were affected, all while all he did was glance around for his target.
"What the hell? Di Roy's been killed?" a voice asked, to which Sombra glanced at the Arrancar that had spoken, finding one that had his jacket opened to reveal his Hollow hole, the remains of his mask resting above his right jawbone, and light blue colored hair that was spiked, though what really caught his attention was the second blade he was carrying, as it almost looked like a mirror image of Shokyo in her sealed form, "I expected him to actually put up a fight, but to die in such a manner is disgraceful. Oh well, I guess that means that when I'm done with you, Sombra, that I can take my time and beat up both of your friends while the others tear their targets apart."
"You know my name, yet I don't know yours," Sombra replied, though at the same time he shifted his stance into one that suggested that he was ready for battle, which he was, and prepared himself for the battle that was to come, because he knew that this Arrancar was here for him and him alone.
"That's easy to fix: I'm Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, the Sexta Espada." the Arrancar stated, though his smile only grew as he raised his hand and tossed the second sword into the air, where it sailed towards Sombra for a few seconds, who caught it before it could even reach the ground, "Allow me to make one thing clear: Di Roy was one of the Numeros, one of the weaker Arrancar that Aizen created for his army, and I, as one of the ten Espada, am one of the strongest Arrancar that has been reborn by the Hogyoku, given the number Six because of my power. Those that are raised to the rank of an Espada are given the numbers One through Ten, from the strongest to the weakest, with Yammy being the one at the very bottom of our group, and our numbers are tattooed somewhere on our bodies, as my number is located on my back, just above my Hollow hole. Ulquiorra told me that at your current level you can beat anyone below me, and that includes the Arrancar that are the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Espada, while also revealing that you didn't have your Arrancar blade, which is what I have returned to you, because I want to show him that we have nothing to fear from you."
Sombra said nothing as Grimmjow told him that, rather he glanced down at the blade that he had caught and raised it for a moment, where he gripped the handle and slowly drew it from it's scabbard, where he found that the blade seemed to be a mirror image of Shokyo's sealed form, while the blade itself had an ebony tint to it. As he stared at his Arrancar Zanpakuto for a moment something stirred in his mind, just as he felt the spirit of the blade incorporate itself into his inner world, before a surge of power raced to the surface and his world seemed to go dark for a moment as he hung his head and glanced at the ground. Ichigo and Rukia stared at him for a moment, wondering what was going on with him at the moment, while at the same time feeling the increase to Sombra's reiatsu and realized that he was incorporating his true power into what he already had, pushing his power to the highest point it could reach, before something else started to happen. Sombra's reiatsu started to feel darker than it usually was, more sinister, and when his aura wrapped around him for a few seconds it had an ebony tint to it, unlike the blue that it took on most of the time, that was when the both of them realized that something bad was happening... while at the same time Grimmjow grinned as he rushed towards where Sombra was standing and threw his fist at the unsuspecting Arrancar.
What actually happened caught Grimmjow off guard, as Sombra raised his left hand and grabbed his fist before it made contact, though as that happened he noticed that the scabbard was now attached to the left side of Sombra's body, the blade he had given him was in his right hand, and there were strands of purple energy emitting from his opponent's brilliant crimson eyes, which were now surrounded by a grayish sap green colored sclera, making him look more sinister than he had been moments ago.
"Thanks for returning my blade, Grimmjow." Sombra said, though that was when Grimmjow's eyes widened for a moment, because the voice that came from his opponent sounded crueler than what it had been earlier, and he realized that something must have gone horribly wrong.
It was in the following moment that Sombra pushed Grimmjow's hand back and then kicked him in the chest, sending him backwards for a few seconds, though instead of giving him time to recover Sombra flashed through the air and zeroed in on his opponent with what Grimmjow realized was a cruel smile on his face. Grimmjow barely had time to react as Sombra swung his empty arm towards him and strands of energy burst out from his palm, striking him in the chest several times in a row, before Sombra appeared above him and swung his blade at him, where a burst of reiatsu slammed into him and sent him flying into the ground. A crater formed around him as he struck the ground, one large enough to cover the intersection that they were now suddenly fighting in, and Grimmjow had to cough up a few bits of blood in the process, all while Sombra landed on the ground in front of him, which caused him to growl as he got up and threw another punch at his opponent, who dodged the attack rather easily and uppercut him into the air. He had just enough time to correct himself before Sombra appeared behind him, delivering a powerful kick to his back that sent him flying into the ground below them, back into the crater, though that was when he noticed that his opponent wasn't chasing him and seemed to be studying him this time around.
Grimmjow coughed up a few more drops of blood in the process, as he hadn't even drawn his sword and he was getting the stuffing beaten out of him, before an idea came to mind as he flung his blood into the air in front of him and let his reiatsu flare, forming a bright blue sphere that had seven strands of energy gathering in the center of his palm, which was leveled with his target.
"Eat this! The ultimate Cero that only the Espada are allowed to use!" Grimmjow declared, allowing the power to build for a few moments, as a fully powered version of this attack was much stronger than what it was when it was barely charged, and he knew that from experience, "The Gran Rey Cero!"
The space between them rippled for a moment as he sent the Gran Rey Cero flying through the air, where it raced towards where Sombra was standing and exploded upon impact, causing him to laugh for a few moments, as he had been getting worked up over nothing, before his laughter stopped when the smoke started to clear. Standing there, like nothing had happened, was none other than Sombra, but where Grimmjow expected to see some sort of damage, to tell him that his attack had done something, he found that his opponent wasn't even hurt at all, like the Gran Rey Cero, the strongest Cero of them all, had done nothing. He couldn't believe his eyes, because even in his sealed form that attack should have caused the area around Sombra to be destroyed and his body to be damaged, but there he was, standing there like his attack had never existed, before Sombra flashed through the air and reappeared behind him, barely giving him time to consider what was happening before he was blasted back up into the air. As he struggled to find his balance Sombra appeared to the side and punched him in the left side of his face, knocking him closer back to where Ichigo Kurosaki was located, though he wasn't concerned with the Shinigami at the moment, not when his true opponent was starting to approach him once more.
"Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo called out, as the moment that Sombra had begun the battle with Grimmjow, regardless of how strong he was, he knew that his friend would need assistance, which was why he had slipped into his Bankai form and was firing the powerful black Getsuga at the Espada he was fighting.
Grimmjow had a few seconds to raise his defenses before the attack struck him, blowing up the area around him in the process, but as the smoke cleared he found that a gash, which would likely scar once this fight was over, that had formed on the front of his chest... though as he huffed for a few seconds, however, Sombra appeared nearby with a frown on his face, and he was staring at Ichigo.
"I... got him." Ichigo said, though that was good news for them, because with the two of them working together they could say that Grimmjow would see defeat and the other Arrancar would shortly follow in his footsteps, before he noticed that something was wrong with Sombra, "What?"
"This fight does not concern you, Ichigo Kurosaki." Sombra stated, to which he turned his back to Ichigo and faced his opponent, who was shocked by what was going on at this point, while at the same time Ichigo was also surprised by how his friend sounded, "Go wait on the sidelines like everyone else."
Ichigo had no idea what had happened to his friend, but this version of him that sounded eviler, looked crueler, and felt more sinister than what he was used to wasn't okay with him, though when Sombra glanced back at him for a second, with an uncaring look in his cold eyes, he gulped and backed off... and, oddly enough, even his inner Hollow was silent, which told him that something horrible was going on as he landed beside Rukia and looked at the duo.
"Sorry for the interruption, Grimmjow. It was not my intention to allow such a thing to happen." Sombra said, to which he gave his opponent his full attention once more, once more with the frown on his face, before he considered what he knew about the Arrancar he had seen so far, "Unleash your Resurreccion, Grimmjow. At this rate it's the only thing that might allow you to survive this battle... or don't and I'll keep tearing you apart. It's your choice."
Grimmjow actually considered his options for a moment, because at this point he knew that fleeing wasn't an option since Sombra could easily catch up with him if he tried that, fighting in his sealed form was getting him nowhere fast, not when his opponent was tearing through his attacks and defenses, meaning that fighting in his Resurreccion had to be the only way he'd survive this, though he couldn't believe that he was even thinking of doing this. Instead of attempting to fight with his Zanpakuto, as he believed that it would actually fail him more than what he was currently doing, Grimmjow drew the blade from it's scabbard and positioned it so the blade was facing towards him, while at the same time placing his left hand upon it while it glowed light blue. The air around him vibrated for a moment as he considered what he was going to do, as the only ways to turn back were to release the form himself or be forced back into his sealed state, before prepared himself and stared at his opponent.
"Grind," Grimmjow declared, to which he raked his hand along the edge of his Zanpakuto in one swift motion, which was normal for him to do, while at the same time his incredible reiatsu rose to the surface and started to seep out as he finished his Release Call, "Pantera!"
It was in the moment that he finished calling out the Release Call and name of his Zanpakuto that a torrent of spiritual power erupted from where he was standing and created a tremendous gust of wind in the immediate vicinity around him, all while Sombra stared down at him. As the wind and dust cleared Sombra found that Grimmjow's appearance had undergone some drastic changes, as he had become something more feline and predatory, especially since his teeth had become jagged and sharp, his hands had turned into black claws and his feet became black clawed paws, similar to that of a cat, along with him also gaining a slender whip-like tail that was longer than his body. Grimmjow's hair had become very long and flowing, as opposed to it's original style, and the markings around his eyes had enlarged and extended to the tips of his ears, which had become swept back and more cat-like. He also lost his distinctive jaw mask, which was replaced by some sort of headgear that rested upon his brow and happened to cover his forehead, while at the same time his clothing had changed to a more form-fitting white segmented armor, no doubt similar to his original Hollow form, and he even had blades protruding from his forearms and his calves.
Once the transformation was complete, and the area had died down, Grimmjow glared at him and loosed a roar that shook the air between them, though while both Ichigo and Rukia were shocked by the change in his form and his power, as they weren't expecting him to be this powerful, Sombra stood there with a smile on his face.
Grimmjow wasted no time in bursting up into the sky as he raced towards Sombra, but instead of attacking from the front he maneuvered himself a little so his first attack would seem like it was coming from the front, when the second, and more powerful attack, would be coming from the side. What he wasn't expecting, however, was for Sombra to parry the first attack and knock him backwards a little, only for him to swing his right arm and cut a light gash, going from his left hip to his right shoulder, through his Hierro and drew some of his blood in the process. Despite that happening he engaged his speed and started attacking from every side, trying to find some weakness that he could exploit and then use to damage his opponent, but no matter what he did, and no matter what angle he attacked from, Sombra seemed to be staring at him and seemed to know where each attack was coming from. The worst part was that his opponent was a little distracted, as it appeared that the rest of his Fraccion, whether or not they had noticed his transformation, were mostly releasing their own Resurreccions as the other enemies pulled out their full power, if the rush of reiatsu was anything to go by... though that was before Sombra moved out of the way of his next attack and leveled his palm with Grimmjow's chest, sending him flying through the air before he had a chance to recover himself.
A few seconds later Grimmjow growled and corrected himself, dropping into a stance that was from his days as a panther Hollow that was an Adjuchas, before rushing forward and swinging his claws at Sombra, which were further enhanced with some bits of his reiatsu so he could cleave the area around him in the process. When he showed the other Espada his Resurreccion, as that was something most of them had done so they could understand the positions they had been given, he had been told that his power was too destructive, but right now he was happy that his power was this way as he continued to attack Sombra with all his might. His opponent seemed to be stunned by the sheer power that he was using against him, since he wasn't swinging either of his swords around at the moment, and that allowed Grimmjow time to push him backwards and take control of the fight, as he shoved Sombra around the air a few times and made sure that he was on the receiving end of every attack. Even when he kicked his opponent, which was usually guarded, there was nothing from him, like he was either waiting for him to do something or he was just bored of the fight, which annoyed Grimmjow and caused him to increase the power he was using behind each of his attacks, as he wasn't about to let Sombra walk away from this without something to remember him by.
What really annoyed him was when he sent Sombra flying into the side of a building and a crater formed around him, while somehow not sustaining any injuries in the process, but before Grimmjow could move in and secure the victory Sombra moved and tested his muscles for a moment, like he had woken up from a nap or something.
"Thanks for that, Grimmjow." Sombra replied, to which his dark aura returned once more, telling Grimmjow and those that were watching them that he was about to get serious, meaning that everything up to this point had been the warmup for him, before he shifted his stance, "Here I come."
The side of the building shattered as Sombra burst forward and surged towards where Grimmjow was standing, who had to raise his left arm to guard himself as an attack came at him, as he was using the blade on his arm to stall the swing, but what he wasn't expecting was for his opponent's strength to suddenly be even stronger than it had been a few moments ago. That told him that either Sombra was still holding back, in terms of power before using his Resurreccion, or his power was still stabilizing now that his Arrancar blade had been returned, but even then he guessed it didn't matter, not when Sombra forced his arm out of the way and then raised his left hand. It was in that moment that Grimmjow noticed that his opponent's hand was ablaze with power, as there were a few ebony colored strands of energy gathering around his fingers as he grinned at him, where Grimmjow realized that he wasn't going to be able to dodge the attack before it was used against him. The ebony energy slammed into his chest and knocked him backwards through the air, sending him flying away from Sombra, but that seemed to be what his opponent wanted, as not a few seconds later Sombra flashed above him once more and slammed a ball of energy, about three times as big as his head, right into his chest, this time sending Grimmjow right back into the ground.
Grimmjow coughed as he started to pick himself back up, as he was surprised and shocked by the sheer power that his foe commanded in his sealed state, and before he could even move out of the area Sombra flashed into the area in front of him and punched him back into the air a little, which was following by a burst of punches that kept him stunned, floating in front of his opponent, before Sombra uppercut him and knocked him back into the air. As he regained himself, however, Sombra crossed the distance that was between them and swung his blade down at him, cutting a diagonal gash from his right shoulder to his left hip, before spinning around and kicking him backwards once more, where he struck the side of a different building and shattered the windows that were around him. He rested there for a few seconds, trying to figure out what was going on, before he growled and started to pull himself free, though that was when he noticed that Sombra was grinning and that his left hand was extended towards him, where the shadows around him started to come to life before his very eyes. In that moment Grimmjow guessed that Sombra's true power came from the darkness around them, or the shadows that he had been ignoring the entire time, though as he started to jump towards his target, so he could rend the life from him, something pierced his left leg and caused him to growl in pain... only to find that the shadows on the side of the building had transformed into a blade of some kind, one that morphed into a hand that gripped his leg and sent him flying towards his opponent.
Sombra moved to the side as Grimmjow came flying towards him, where he spun around and kicked him so his opponent could fly towards the ground below them, but it didn't stop there as he gathered some more energy to his left hand and started firing a surge of small blasts, about the size and length of a finger, that struck Grimmjow multiple times before he collided with the ground. Sombra let his smile remain on his face, as he had been wondering if his Dark Bullet, or Bala Oscura, technique would work like everything else he had tried so far, and, judging by the small indents on his opponent's body and the blood that Grimmjow coughed up when the surge of blasts was over, he had to admit that his attack had worked like he thought it would. As his opponent started to move, and come to terms with the power that was being used against him, Sombra descended towards the ground and let his power gather above his left hand again, forming another sphere of energy, though this time he had something different in mind as he landed beside Grimmjow and placed the ball a few inches above his chest. The instant he removed his hand gravity seemed to turn itself on Grimmjow, as he found himself being pressed into the ground as the street around him cracked and sank under the pressure that he was feeling, and all Sombra did was stare at him as he checked off another power that could be used in battle... before he waved his hand and the Dark Press, or Prensa Oscura, attack vanished as quickly as it had been formed, giving his opponent the chance to catch his breath before he wrapped things up.
While Grimmjow laid there for a few moments, trying to understand what was happening while he caught his breath, Sombra moved his hand for a few seconds as he wove one last power into existence, as he wanted to try one more thing before he punished his opponent... and not a few seconds later the attack was in place, as a black circle appeared on the ground around the crater and seemed to be waiting for something, which was when Grimmjow got up so he could attack while his foe was distracted.
"We can't have you doing that, can we?" Sombra asked, to which Grimmjow found his body frozen in the black circle, indicating that he had walked right into his enemy's trap once more, before Sombra glanced at the area around them as he felt what was going on around them, "Oh my, it seems like the other Arrancar that you arrived with have finally been destroyed by the Shinigami that they chose to fight. Such a shame. I was hoping that at least one of them would survive their encounters, but it seems like all of them have died in some manner... oh well, I guess that means I can finish you off and move on with my plan."
"No way. My Fraccion is dead?!" Grimmjow stated, though as he activated his Pesquisa, which was dangerous while he was in the middle of a fight, all he could detect were the Shinigami that they had fought, telling him that the Hollows he had known before becoming an Arrancar were all dead, before he stared at Sombra, "Wait, what do you mean by 'plan'? Aren't you supposed to be guarding this town?"
"Why bother telling you anything, when you're going to die in the next couple of minutes?" Sombra replied, to which he took a few steps back and let his power surge through the black circle that had formed around Grimmjow, who looked down at the attack with shock in his eyes, "Pilar Abisal."
Grimmjow barely had time to register what was going on as a surge of energy erupted from the ground around him, where the shadows that had gathered in the circle lashed out at him and not only cut several gashes into his body, but also blasted him and left burn marks where those attacks hit him. It was a painful experience, one that was unlike anything he had experienced in the past, and before he knew it the attack was over, allowing him to move once more, though as he regained that ability he staggered for a few seconds and coughed up some blood as some drops fell from his wounds, only for his hold on his Resurreccion to break. Sombra watched as Grimmjow's panther-like form shattered and he reverted back to his sealed state, the power being drawn back into his Arrancar blade, which formed as his hold on his Resurreccion broke, before the more Human Grimmjow fell to one knee and coughed as he used his blade, in his right hand, to try and support himself.
"So, you survived by Pilar Abisal, or Abyssal Pillar, attack." Sombra commented, though at the same time he wasn't very impressed, not when he could have made the attack much larger than it had been and could have increased the duration of the attack as well, but this was a decent test of his powers and he was thankful for the chance to see what he was capable of doing at the moment, "Oh well, I guess that it's time that I finished you off and moved on to whoever is coming to check on you and your dead allies."
"Not yet!" Grimmjow snapped, to which he gripped his sword and started to move into a standing position so he could attack his opponent once more, though before he could get too far into the motion the shadows beneath him reacted to Sombra's command and a long shadowy blade went right through the lower and upper parts of his leg, causing him to growl in pain as he was stopped in his tracks.
"You don't seem to understand the position that you are currently in." Sombra replied, though that was when another bit of the shadows that rested around them surged forward and struck Grimmjow's open left hand, causing the Espada to curse at him as the shadows formed a chain and pulled his arm until it was stretched all the way out, "I guess that some punishment is in order first, that should let you understand the position you're in, before I decide how I'm going to bring an end to your life."
Grimmjow's eyes widened as Sombra swung his sword in an upward slashing motion and felt the blade dig into his flesh for a moment, though that was soon followed by his left arm, and that meant everything from the area near his left shoulder and going all the way down to his hand, being separated from his body as he growled in sheer pain, all while watching as the severed body part landed near the right side of Sombra's body.
"Hado Number 54: Haien." Sombra said, where the power of the Kido in question gathered around his blade for a moment, before he swung his sword towards the part of Grimmjow's arm that he had severed, which was when a purple blast raced forward from the blast, struck the arm, and incinerated it, leaving only ashes behind that scattered in the wind as he turned back towards his opponent, "Now then, have you any last words before you die?"
"Return him to me, so that I can take him to Lord Aizen." a voice replied, to which Sombra turned around and found Tosen, wearing some clothing that replaced his Shinigami attire, standing behind him, though he wasn't surprised to see that someone came for Grimmjow, "He mobilized five Arrancar and attacked the World of the Living, against our Lord's orders, and he has not only lost those Arrancar, but also one of his arms in the process. Lord Aizen is upset with him and his punishment will be decided in Hueco Mundo, by the person that went through the effort to..."
In the moment that Tosen was talking Sombra swung his sword through the air and forced Tosen to draw his own Zanpakuto to defend himself, though the attack was merely meant to push him back a little, despite the light gash that had been cut into his chest, showing that the force of Sombra's attack was stronger than what he expected it to be... though that was followed by Sombra grabbing Grimmjow by the neck and threw him at Tosen, with a bored look on his face.
"I don't know if it's your lucky day or not, Grimmjow," Sombra said, staring at the wounded and drained Arrancar for a moment, who barely had the strength to lift his head and stare at him in return, before focusing on Tosen, despite the fact that the enemy was blind, "but you're lucky that Tosen showed up when he did. If he arrived a few minutes later he'd be hauling a corpse back to Hueco Mundo... now get out of my sight, before I decide to change my mind and kill both of you before you have a chance to leave."
Tosen stared at Sombra for a moment, to the best of his ability anyway, before turning to his right and made the same motion that Ulquiorra used when he opened a Garganta back to Hueco Mundo, to which he pulled Grimmjow, and his sheathed sword, into the tunnel between worlds and disappeared. Sombra sighed for a moment, as his fun had been crushed with the arrival of Tosen, though before he could move out and find something else to do he felt a familiar reiatsu appear nearby and turned his head as Yoruichi flashed into the area, which caused him to raise his empty left hand to his head for a moment. As Yoruichi started to approach him, however, he made a decision and slipped his Arrancar sword back into it's scabbard, before closing his eyes and focused on what he was attempting to do, which was followed by the stands of energy that had been emitting from his eyes vanishing entirely. A few seconds later he swayed for a moment before falling to his knees, which was when Yoruichi rushed forward, as she had been worried when she felt the change in his reiatsu and couldn't believe what she had seen, which was why she had hidden her reiatsu until Sombra was distracted enough for her to approach without being seen as a threat.
"Sombra, are you alright?" Yoruichi asked, though even as she asked that she noticed the second Zanpakuto on his belt, opposite of where Shokyo rested, and knew that someone had found and returned his Arrancar blade, which must have been the cause behind what happened.
"I... I don't know." Sombra admitted, though when he opened his eyes she found that they were normal, as the green parts and the purple mist were gone, but he seemed concerned about something as he glanced at the second blade he was now carrying, "All I remember is getting this back from Grimmjow, giving me a moment to stare at it, and the next thing I knew I was suddenly a passenger in my own body... the spirit inside my Arrancar blade, the person I used to be before losing my memories, suddenly pushed me aside like I didn't matter and seized control. He tore his way through Karakura Town without a care in the world, tested the limits of Grimmjow's powers, and then tore our opponent down like he was nothing... what kind of person was I before I came here?"
"I don't know," Yoruichi replied, as she really didn't have an answer for that question, because Sombra was the first Arrancar that had lost their memories in such a manner, but seeing him like this hurt, especially when she had no idea how they were supposed to fix it, "but we'll figure out how to stop the old you from taking over again... and get your other powers back at the same time."
She wasn't sure what they, and by that she meant herself and those that had watched Sombra fight, had witnessed tonight, but it solidified the fact that Sombra was potentially the strongest Arrancar to have been created in the last thousand years, because even one of Aizen's top Arrancar couldn't compete with him... but even though this happened she knew that Aizen was planning something, and she had the feeling that they were going to need Sombra's power when their foe showed his face once more.
Grimmjow was barely aware of what was happening to him, because the pain from his wounds was making it hard for him to concentrate and keep his focus, but after some time he did notice that his senses were returning to him and that they were in Las Noches. The only reason he knew that was because he felt Ulquiorra's reiatsu nearby, along with Aizen's reiatsu as well, but after feeling the immense power that Sombra possessed, and was getting used to wielding again, he wasn't sure which of them was the strongest anymore. As his senses started to return he felt Tosen carrying him up to the throne that their Lord sat on, was still aware of the fact that he was missing part of his left arm, which had been destroyed by Sombra, and that he had to look terrible with all the wounds that he had suffered over the course of his fight in the World of the Living. Commander Gin was nowhere nearby, according to his senses anyway, yet he didn't try to find anyone else, as he barely had the strength to lift his head when Commander Tosen came to a stop near the throne and stopped carrying him, allowing him to crumble to the floor and cough for a moment, as his body was still in pain and the action had roughed him up a little.
A few moments later he moaned as he forced open his eyes and pushed himself into what could have been a sitting position, though for the most part he just wanted to lay back down and let his life drain from his body, because either way he felt like he was going to die today.
"Welcome back, Tosen." Aizen commented, once more keeping the same calculating look on his face, even though one of the people nearby couldn't see him, the second seemed to be too weak to do anything, and Ulquiorra was standing nearby just to watch what happened, "I see that you have collected Grimmjow... and got hurt as well."
"Yes. Sombra was much stronger than I expected him to be." Tosen replied, though at the same time he turned his head towards Grimmjow, who was trying to get into a decent sitting position despite the pain that was coursing through his body at the moment, before glancing up towards the throne, "Lord Aizen, I'm sorry for failing you. It appears that I got there too late to stop him from handing Sombra his Arrancar blade..."
"It's fine. I'm not upset." Aizen said, knowing that Tosen would be upset with himself for allowing their enemy to regain the tool that would unlock his true power, a power that, when combined with what he currently possessed, would give rise to the strongest classification of Hollow in all of Heuco Mundo, even though he intended for such a thing to happen at some point in time, "I believe that Grimmjow's actions were an attempt to please me by delivering to me the heads of my enemies, as a show of his loyalty towards me, only it got a little out of hand when the Shinigami tore his Fraccion apart. Is that correct, Grimmjow?"
"Yeah... I guess so." Grimmjow answered, as the force of Aizen's reiatsu had been enough to rouse him from his daze at long last, but at the same time it did nothing to dull the pain and he was thinking about the sheer power his enemy had commanded, the very power that Ulquiorra feared.
"I see." Tosen commented, though despite the fact that they were classifying his actions in such a way he knew that some sort of punishment had to be dealt to Grimmjow, to show the other Espada and the Arrancar what happened when someone went against Lord Aizen's orders and his wishes, "Lord Aizen, give me permission to execute him!"
"That won't be necessary, Tosen." Aizen said, as he was interested in the wounds that Grimmjow had suffered, as many of them seemed different from what Sombra's Shinigami based abilities could dish out, meaning that his true self had been in control of the fight, before he glanced at his subordinate, "Grimmjow now realizes that he acted out of line and has lost one of the things that he retained from his days as a Hollow, and that was his Fraccion, his best friends if I remember his story correctly. He has already been beaten to a point that's near death and he's had part of his left arm removed, not to mention destroyed according to what Ulquiorra saw, so there's no point in punishing him further, not when his days as an Espada are at an end. If he fails me again, then you can execute him. Ulquiorra?"
"Yes, Lord Aizen?" Ulquiorra replied, though at the same time he considered Grimmjow to be a very lucky Arrancar, because if it had been anyone that wasn't an Espada he was sure that their Lord would have killed them outright, while also bowing his head for a moment.
"Take Grimmjow to the infirmary and make sure they treat all his wounds," Aizen stated, knowing that some of them were likely going to scar, regardless of what happened to the Arrancar, before he thought of something else to say before they walked out of the roof, "I'll be by later to demote him."
Grimmjow stared at their Lord for a moment, knowing that the loss of his arm and his rank was a fitting punishment for him surviving against such an opponent, and he simply turned towards Ulquiorra and followed him out of the throne room as they headed towards the infirmary, where Yammy was staying while they reattached his severed arm... and yet, while they walked, there was something that he needed to get off his chest, especially after his run-in with Sombra.
"Hey, Ulquiorra," Grimmjow said, causing the Cuatro Espada to turn his head towards him while they walked, as he wasn't expecting him to talk while they headed down the hallway, but he remained silent as they did so, "let me just say that I'm sorry for doubting what you were saying earlier."
"You're... sorry?!" Ulquiorra replied, though at the same time that came as a shock to him, because in all the time that he knew the soon to be former Sexta Espada, since Aizen was going to demote him soon, he had never seen or heard Grimmjow state that he was sorry for anything he had done, and that made him wonder if he had suffered some brain damage during his fight.
"Yeah, you were right about the Dios Hueco," Grimmjow continued, knowing how odd it was for him to even say those words, as even Ulquiorra looked just a tiny bit shocked by what he had said, but he needed to do it, just in case he ended up dying before his wounds could be mended, "Sombra was able to beat me, in my Resurreccion form, with only whatever powers he was wielding and his Arrancar blade, and I was doing everything in my power to tear him down and destroy him before anything happened. Right now he's not at the level of the Dios Hueco, but that side of him is there, I could feel it the moment he drew the blade and attacked me, and it's only a matter of time until he figures out how to awaken that power and claim what is rightfully his. I'll be honest with you, Ulquiorra, I don't think the Espada have a chance of defeating him if you guys and my replacement get into a fight with him, even if you went at him ten to one."
Ulquiorra wondered if that was the information that all Hollows knew about the Dios Hueco talking, or if there was a chance that it was actually Grimmjow thinking for once and speaking his mind on a subject, but he knew that he and the other Espada above him could defeat Sombra before he ascended... all they had to do was wait for Lord Aizen to give them the command and they would ensure that the threat was taken care of before he became a real thorn in their sides.
Yoruichi stayed near Sombra while they followed Ichigo and Rukia over to where Orihime was sitting, where it appeared that all the wounded Shinigami were currently gathering around her and having their wounds mended, all while discussing the sheer power that Gillian ranked Arrancars, created by the Hogyoku, possessed. From what he could determine, even though they were merely testing the power of their individual opponents, Ikkaku had nearly reached the point of death in his fight with Edrad, Renji had problems with Yylfordt until Ururu stepped in to assist him and then needed his limiter released to save both of them from his opponent, and both Captain Hitsuguya and Lieutenant Matsumoto had problems with their own enemies until they got permission to release the limiters. The fact of the matter was that Rukia, despite fighting the weakest of the Arrancar that had come to the World of the Living, had been the luckiest of them all, and that wasn't counting the fact that Sombra dominated his fight with Grimmjow, whose immense reiatsu the Shinigami had felt when he went into his Resurreccion in order to combat the sheer power that Sombra was putting out.
Yoruichi, despite not saying anything, felt that it was appropriate to think that the Shinigami that had come to protect the town were both shocked and terrified of the sheer unbelievable power that was now coursing through Sombra's body, as the return of his Arrancar blade seemed to have doubled his maximum power... and, as a consequence, it also brought back who he used to be, a person that was so cold and uncaring that it made all the other Hollows and Arrancar they had dealt with in the past seem like insects.
"Sombra, what in the world was that?" Ichigo asked, because he was concerned for his friend, though he was also worried about the fact that his friend didn't seem to care about the destruction he had caused while he was fighting Grimmjow, or at least that was the vibe he got when Sombra had been wielding his Arrancar blade and not Shokyo.
"Grimmjow somehow found and returned my Arrancar blade." Sombra stated, causing the Shinigami around them to nod their heads, as they had come to the same conclusion themselves when they noticed that he was carrying a second weapon on his belt, one that he seemed reluctant to look at right now, "Inside this blade rests all my memories, that much I could tell just from holding it, but at the same time it also holds who I used to be... and all I can tell you guys is that what I was, before becoming the Arrancar you all know, was a cruel, uncaring, and evil person. The moment I drew the blade and looked at it the old Sombra surged to the surface and knocked me to the side, like I was powerless to stop him, and he took control of my body to dominate the fight with Grimmjow, even going so far as to cut off one of his arms and reduce it to a pile of ash. He's like my polar opposite..."
"...where you prefer to hold back and gauge you're opponent's strength, before using more power." Hitsuguya said, though from what they had been told he was more surprised that Sombra, even if he had been taken over by who he used to be, had been able to topple one of the ten Espada, the strongest in Aizen's army, as that meant that they had a good chance at winning the upcoming war, whenever that happened, "Sooner or later you're going to have to go into your inner world again, find out where the old you is resting, and gain control of your powers... because, in all honesty, I don't think there's anyone in Soul Society, beside the Captain-Commander, that even has a chance at beating you now, and I'd rather not have you as an enemy."
Sombra didn't need to be told that, as by looking over at the area of Karakura Town that had been destroyed in the wake of his old self returning, and the following battle with Grimmjow in his Resurreccion, he knew that if his old self gained permanent control over his body he'd likely destroy Aizen and all of Soul Society. It wasn't a 'what if' scenario, it was what would happen, because at that point it would require both of their forces to combat the growing power inside him, one that could destroy everything that stood in his way, and he honestly didn't want that sort of thing to happen. The other side of the coin, if he were to gain control of his older self and remain in control, was that his power would be so great that he'd likely never be beaten by anyone ever again, or even come close to defeat, and he was worried that such a thing would be a terrible influence. Unfortunately, despite his own worry, he knew that the course of action that he had to take was reigning in his old self and maintaining control, reminding him of Ichigo's situation with his inner Hollow, which meant that the next thing they should do was seek out the Visored and see if they had any hints or tips to help Ichigo out in the long run... and see if he couldn't figure out how to smash his way through his own inner demon and regain control of his life, something that he didn't want the old him ruining.
Despite not knowing what his old life was like, something that he felt he wouldn't get until he bested the old version of himself in some manner, he liked the life he had made for himself, being a guardian of the World of the Living, maintaining the souls of the dead while defeating Hollows, and dating Yoruichi, who was great to be around and made him feel happy whenever they were together... and he wasn't about to let it all fall apart, which meant he needed to take care of this problem before it got much worse.
While he was busy thinking about what he and Ichigo needed to do, however, he discovered that Captain Hitsuguya was sending everyone back to the homes that they would be staying at, especially since Ikkaku and Yumichika managed to secure a few nights at Keigo's place somehow, before returning to school tomorrow, where he'd file his report to Soul Society and inform them of what happened. He was still on the fence of what to do about Sombra's power, as there was a chance that the Captain-Commander might come and deal with him personally if he felt that the Arrancar was still a threat to their side, but Sombra knew that he'd make the right decision in the end. Of course, while the Shinigami got rested up and started their training for when the Arrancar came back to fight them again, Sombra and Ichigo had other plans, as there was something that they needed to take care of before some more Espada invaded the World of the Living, and, as he knew she would, Yoruichi agreed with what he quietly asked her. Despite Ichigo's personal feelings about them, since Shinji did attack him in the middle of the night, he understood what Sombra's idea was and knew that it was only a matter of time until his inner Hollow won as well... so the three of them agreed to gather near where Ulquiorra and Yammy arrived, before heading out to where the Visored had set up their own base of operations.
Sombra knew that it was going to be easy to find them, as he could feel Shinji's reiatsu being mixed with several others that felt exactly like his, which told him that they were trying to lure Ichigo to their location... though what they were going to get was something different from what they were expecting.
The following morning, while Hitsuguya, the remaining Shinigami, and Orihime went to school, Sombra and Ichigo did no such thing, rather they waited for a few minutes before leaving the buildings they had been in after their battles with the Arrancar that had come to fight them. As he suspected Chad, heading his words, came to visit Urahara and pleaded his case to the shopkeeper, so that he could be able to assist Ichigo and the others when the Arrancar came back and not sit on the sidelines, and that, somehow, gave Urahara the idea to have Renji use his Bankai to train Chad. Sombra was happy to see that Chad was going to get ready for the incoming war with Aizen, if there weren't any additional battles between now and then, before he walked out of the shop and continued to the area that they had agreed to meet in, though along the way Yoruichi flashed into the area behind him and smiled as she walked beside him. It didn't take the two of them long to reach where Ulquiorra and Yammy landed, where they found Ichigo waiting for them, though that was when Yoruichi took the lead and beckoned for them to follow her to the lair of the Visored, so they could see what they could do about their own problems.
As it turned out the Visored lived in the area of Karakura town where all the warehouses rested, even one that seemed in worse condition than the others due to the fact that part of it's floors seemed to be falling apart, but as the three of them walked into the building the large door they walked through closed behind them... before the lights turned on and Sombra found Shinji, along with seven other people standing on one of the three floors that were above the one they were standing on, waiting for them.
"Good job finding this place, Ichigo." Shinji said, with a smile on his face, though that was quickly followed by a frown replacing it a few moments later, showing Sombra that the man was annoyed about something, "That's what I would be saying, if you had bothered to track the trail of reiatsu we left for you and came here on your own! Seriously, I told you that we were interested in recruiting you into our ranks, not you and two of your best friends! Can someone get the Shinigami out of here, before she attracts unwanted attention?"
"Yoruichi is with me," Sombra stated, as he knew from the way Shinji had reacted during his first meeting with Ichigo that he didn't like Shinigami, even though he was more than willing to come by Urahara's shop ever now and then for supplies, no doubt what he and the others needed to maintain their gigais, "If you have a problem with her being here, then I suggest that you bring it up with me... and trust me, I'm not afraid to fight any of you."
"Please, like we'd fight someone of your level anyway," someone stated, where Sombra glanced at the very short lady that was talking, as he knew that she wasn't a teenager considering what he knew about Shinigami, who happened to be wearing her blond hair in spiky pigtails and was wearing a red jog suit with the first Kanji of her name on the left side, "You might be an Arrancar, but at your current level we'd make short work of you in no time and send that Shinigami out before Ichigo can do..."
"Actually, you'd lose before you even had a chance to draw your Zanpakuto, Hiyori." Yoruichi replied, interrupting the Visored that was speaking, who growled in annoyance, and let Sombra see that the lady in question had an overly long fang protruding from the upper left side of her mouth, before she beckoned to Sombra, "You are speaking to Sombra, a Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar that was able to defeat Kenpachi Zaraki in battle and dominated one of the Arrancar that was created by Aizen. If any of you want to try your luck then feel free to go ahead and give it a try, I just thought I'd warn you before someone did something that upset or annoyed him."
The remaining six Visored, not counting Shinji or Hiyori, glanced at each other and seemed to consider what Yoruichi had told them, as it had been a long time since they had heard of a Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar being made, one that seemed to be of it's own making and not being aided by someone like Aizen, before Ichigo stepped forward and caused all of them to turn their attention to him once more.
"Shinji, let me make one thing perfectly clear: I didn't come to join the Visored." Ichigo stated, staring right at Shinji for a moment, while at the same time the Visored seemed annoyed by his reaction, especially since all of them knew that it was only a matter of time until his inner Hollow broke free, "We came to ask for your help in reigning in my inner Hollow, or at the very least some tips if you aren't willing to lend me your help. Besides, I might work with the Shinigami from Soul Society, but I'm just one of the people that wants to keep Karakura Town safe from harm, and to do that I need your help in taming my inner Hollow."
"See, now you're the one underestimating us." Shinji stated, though this time he was getting annoyed with Ichigo, as this wasn't how this meeting was supposed to go and his comrades knew that it wasn't supposed to be like this, before he flipped his scabbard into the air and caught his Zanpakuto, "We're not teaching you anything, dumbass. If you agree to join the Visored, and stop acting like those Shinigami are your friends, then we might have something to offer you and might just help you out... but if you want to stick to thinking that they're your friends, like you seem to be, then we'll just part ways and watch as you self destruct on your own, before we kill the Hollow that you'll become."
"Ichigo, I think it's time for the direct approach," Sombra commented, to which Ichigo nodded and reached into his back pocket, withdrawing the badge that he had been given, before his friend pushed his soul out and he caught the fallen body before it could hit the ground, where he glanced up for a second, "Go get him."
Not even a second later Ichigo pulled Zangetsu from his back and charged forward, forcing Shinji to take to the air as well before the two of them started swinging their Zanpakutos at each other, causing the very air around them to shudder as their reiatsu came into contact with each other. At the same time Sombra and Yoruichi moved Ichigo's body to a spot where it would be out of harm's way, though once that task was done they walked to the edge of the fighting area and stared at the two combatants as they battled each other, but not even a few moments into the fight Sombra could easily see that Shinji was holding back. As they stood there, watching Shinji command the fight since he was forcing Ichigo to come to him while also using his own reiatsu to slam him into the ground or the boxes around them, Sombra also noticed as the remaining Visored dropped down to the area they were standing in and were now watching the fight as well, each of them studying the duo as they fought and making their own impressions on what was happening in front of them.
"That Ichigo boy is doing very well, since he's fighting on par with Shinji." one of the Visored commented, who was wearing a black suit with a thigh-length, black jacket, along with a white frilled shirt with frilled cuffs and an untucked high collar, though Sombra noticed that he actually seemed a little bored at the moment.
"Idiot! Take a closer look." one of the others said, a young lady that was dressed in the female version of a student uniform that was different than what the students at Ichigo's school wore, though she also sounded upset over what was happening at the moment, "Shinji isn't taking him seriously."
"It doesn't look Ichigo-kun isn't fighting seriously either." a third Visored, who was a very large and rotund man that happened to be wearing an olive-green colored tuxedo with a yellow bow tie, though he sounded very kind and gentle, as opposed to the others he had heard talk so far.
"He's definitely scared." the next Visored stated, who Sombra noticed was wearing a green jogging suit and a pair of mirrored sunglasses, while at the same time his hair was styled in what he knew to be was a spiked afro, even if he wasn't impressed with Ichigo at the moment.
"Scared? Of What?" the fifth member of the Visored asked, who happened to be a young lady as well, and she happened to be wearing a white bodysuit with orange gloves, boots and scarf, along with a set of goggles atop her lime green hair, though Sombra wasn't sure if she was kidding or not.
"His inner Hollow." the last Visored stated, who happened to be wearing a dark purple A-shirt with a white trim, in addition to a pair of green colored cargo pants, black combat boots, and a pair of orange fingerless gloves, though Sombra also noticed that he had a series of piercings, with one on his left eyebrow and three on his left ear, "That punk's so scared, he's trying to fight without calling out his inner Hollow. We've been trying to recruit this guy, and this is the level that he's at? It's pathetic."
"You're all wrong." Sombra spoke up, causing the Visored to glance over at him for a few seconds, as they were curious as to what he was talking about, before he glanced at the fight that was happening at the moment, "Allow me to reveal something; the power that I command when I draw my Arrancar blade, and not release my Resurreccion, is so great and terrible that I was able to destroy a great deal of the area around me... and, in the process, the sheer sinister feeling that my reiatsu had was enough to shock Ichigo and maybe even frighten him as well. Sure, he's frightened by the prospect of his inner Hollow taking over and fighting his battles for him, but I think he's more frightened of what the old me could do if he gained control again... especially given what happened last night, when Aizen's Arrancar showed up and attacked both us and the Shinigami that came to aid us."
"Hachi, add another five layers to the barrier." Hiyori commented, deciding that it was time for them to get the show on the road and see just how strong Ichigo's inner Hollow really was, because if the fight dragged on for too long she was just going to draw her Zanpakuto and cut down all three of their guests.
In that moment Sombra discovered that 'Hachi' was actually the large Visored that was wearing the olive-green colored tuxedo, though before the man had a chance to acknowledge the command, as it sounded like a command, Hiyori walked forward, removed one of the sandals she was wearing, and slammed it into the side of Shinji's face, knocking him outside the broken windows and breaking the already existing barrier in the process, before she turned back and glared at Hachi for a few seconds.
"I told you to add five more layers!" Hiyori stated, her tone revealing that she was annoyed at the moment, since Hachi didn't do what she told him to do, but at the same time Sombra felt that she was being rude, since she barely gave him any time before she attacked Shiniji like that.
"I didn't have enough time!" Hachi replied, though at the same time he was sweating a little, because while he and the others were used to how Hiyori acted he was still taken aback by how quickly she had attacked Shinji, barely giving him a few seconds since the command was issued.
"Well, that's fine." Hiyori said, to which she turned her attention to Ichigo, as if everyone else at the moment didn't matter at all, because she had something that she wanted to say to him before they got started, and she wanted to be sure that she had his full attention, "Ichigo, lemme tell you something. You've got the wrong idea. You see, we're definitely thinking about letting you become one of our comrades, one of the Visored, the thing is that you don't have a choice in what we decide. We get to decide whether or not you get the right to join us and become one of the Visored, and it doesn't matter if you want to join us or not. After we see the height of your power, we'll decide whether or not you get to join us... so let me make myself clear: if you're powerful, then we'll let you join the Visored and we'll even teach you how to suppress your inner Hollow. If we decide that you're weak, and that you're unworthy of joining us, then we'll leave you to become a Hollow, where you'll die a pathetic death and we'll move on with our lives."
"Why you..." Ichigo growled, as he couldn't believe that the group that sought him out, both while he was at school and while he was trying to protect the town, was now saying that they would only teach him what he needed to know if he was powerful enough to impress them, and, judging by how they didn't react to Yoruichi's claims of Sombra being a Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar, he knew he was in trouble.
"How that you get the picture, transform into a Hollow and let us see just how strong you really are." Hiyori stated, to which Sombra determined that she was used to getting her way in matters such as this, because the other Visored, even Shinji, didn't look like they wanted to interrupt what was happening, though that was before her reiatsu flared and a Hollow mask formed just above her head, as it appeared to be resting on the upper right of her head, "Though if you're too scared to do that, then I'll have no choice but to drag your Hollow out of you and see how strong it is for myself."
"Ichigo! Use your Bankai!" Sombra said, causing everyone to turn towards him for a moment, though at the same time he knew what he was doing, because he had figured out what had happened during the fight with Byakuya and knew that Ichigo's inner Hollow was listening to him as well, "Show her just how strong you and Zangetsu really are."
For a moment Ichigo couldn't believe that Sombra was suggesting that he use his Bankai against Hiyori, even though her reiatsu was so much stronger since the mask phased into existence, telling him that if he managed to do what they were doing, and gained the mask as well, that he'd have a significant power boost as well. At the same time, however, he could hear his inner Hollow telling him to 'do as their Lord commanded', and that was incredible odd considering that it was the first time he had heard the Hollow say something like that, making him wonder what actually happened to Sombra when his blade was returned to him. A few seconds later, after thinking about it, Ichigo found himself sighing as he held his Zanpakuto out towards Hiyori, who seemed excited about what was going to happen next, before he called out the one word that Sombra had told him to use and soon he was enveloped in a surge of his own reiatsu. Not even a moment passed before Ichigo cut through the dust that had formed around him and revealed his Bankai, Tensa Zangetsu, to the Visored and Yoruichi, though the look on Hiyori's face told him and Sombra that she was excited about what was happening and that she wanted to see just how powerful he really was.
The moment Ichigo was ready, and Hachi had enough time to weave together a barrier between them and the two combatants, Hiyori rushed through the air and started attacking Ichigo, who was surprised by her speed while she was wearing the Hollow mask, but at the same time the power of his Bankai allowed him to sort of keep up, even though the first time she did it she ended up touching his stomach area and knocked him back a little. Sombra and Yoruichi stayed on the lower level, with Hachi and the bodysuit wearing girl, who introduced herself as Mashiro Kuna and that the tuxedo wearing man was actually called Hachigen Ushoda, and that 'Hachi' was a nickname that everyone called him by. As Ichigo and Hiyori, or Hiyori Sarugaki as Sombra discovered, continued their battle that shook the entire warehouse Mashiron also introduced the other members of the Visored to him; the man with the piercings was Kensei Muguruma, the man with the spiked afro was Love Aikawa, the lady that was wearing the school uniform was Lisa Yadomaru, and the man wearing the black jacket was Rojuro Otoribashi, though everyone apparently called him 'Rose' for some reason.
Once he had a firm understanding of who was who, thanks to Mashiro telling him all their names, Sombra introduced himself as well, since they had no idea who he was while understanding who Yoruichi was since she helped them and Urahara escape from Soul Society all those years ago, though when he did that the girl near them looked at him like he was strange, and not because of his appearance.
"What about your last name?" Mashiro asked, though at the same time she ignored the shudder that went through the barrier that was in front of them, as she was more focused on why Sombra was so different than everyone else, since he was the only one that didn't have a last name.
"I... don't have one." Sombra admitted, though while he said that he glanced down at his Arrancar Zanpakuto, knowing that the answer to that question truly rested inside his old memories, though since he had no idea just how strong his older self was he couldn't go digging into the past without figuring out how to bypass the power that was blocking what he wanted to know, "Though I'll have to get back to you on that later... there's something I need to figure out before I can say anything else about myself."
Mashiro looked disappointed in the fact that Sombra wouldn't tell her another else, though it was more of a case of he couldn't without telling everyone here that he had lost his memories and the only way to get them back was to fight who he had been before he became an Arrancar. While he thought about this, however, the air shuddered as Ichigo and Hiyori continued their 'battle', to which he turned his attention to them once more and watched as they moved around the air, one of them attacking and one of them defending, though he instantly noticed that Ichigo, despite using his Bankai, was still losing to Hiyori, as she was still faster and stronger than him without using the Release Call for her Zanpakuto and transforming it into her Shikai. Ichigo, on the other hand, was using the fight as an opportunity to gleam some information out of the Visored that he was fighting, as he wanted to know how she remained in control without succumbing to the power of her inner Hollow, but at the same time he continued to show her his power, just in the off chance that he couldn't get any information on his own. Sombra knew that Ichigo was showing off his power as much as he could, without using the Getsuga Tensho in such a confined area, and also believed that Hiyori was sort of impressed by the power that he already commanded, though it was only a matter of time until she decided to send this and determine Ichigo's fate, which meant that he might have to ask a certain someone to come out for a few seconds.
When Hiyori's reiatsu got serious, and caused the whole area around her to surge with activity as the wind followed the currents she was creating, Sombra knew that the time for playing around was over and that she was going to try and pull Ichigo's Hollow out the hard way... to which he glanced at his friend and knew what he had to say, because since the Hollow seemed to be listening to him he might be able to coax it out for a few seconds to show Hiyori what sort of problem Ichigo really had.
"Ichigo, now's not the time to be holding back." Sombra called out, though at the same time he felt a slight shift in the air, as the Hollow inside Ichigo had taken notice of him speaking again and was listening to his words, "Go ahead, let him come out for a few seconds and show her your true power."
Once again Ichigo was surprised that Sombra was suggesting that they do something like this, and Yoruichi seemed to have nothing to say since she was nodding her head in agreement, though the strangest part was his inner Hollow pestering him to let such a thing happen, before he sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. In the following moments, despite his desire never to open his soul to his inner Hollow, Ichigo decided to put some trust in Sombra and did the one thing that he was trying to prevent, though oddly enough his inner Hollow, while taking control, also made sure that he wasn't knocked out in the process. Unlike the last time, when he fought Byakuya, Ichigo watched as the white strands formed in the air and started to assemble themselves in front of his face, above his left eye like usual, and before he knew it the area around that eye was covered by the Hollow's mask. The result of the addition of his inner Hollow's reiatsu to his own, making it seem more like the Visored's now, caused the assembled group to gasp in shock as Ichigo rushed forward and grabbed Hiyori by the neck, breaking most of her mask off in the process before slamming her into one of the support pillars of the floor they were fighting on... and yet, while that happened, Ichigo knew that it was his inner Hollow doing all of it, and the creature growled as he applied a little pressure to Hiyori and broke her connection to her inner Hollow, as her eyes returned to normal.
A few seconds later Ichigo felt a hand on his shoulder as Sombra flashed into the area behind him, along with his inner Hollow feeling the gesture as well, and he found that his body had stalled, indicating that they were waiting for the Arrancar to say something before they smashed Hiyori into the floor.
"That's enough. She gets the picture now." Sombra said, though at the same time the inner Hollow once more confirmed that he was listening to what he was saying, as not a few seconds later he eased his grip on Hiyori's neck and let her fall to the floor, "Thanks, Zangetsu. You've been an excellent assistant in showing them both your and Ichigo's power... and showing them why they should have listened to us in the first place."
"I'm happy to be of assistance, Lord Sombra." the inner Hollow replied, surprising the Visored for a moment, as they had never seen an inner Hollow that used the one they were taking over to speak to someone else, before he sighed for a moment and seemed to relax, "At least someone cares about me."
The group watched for a few seconds as the mask fragment that had formed on Ichigo's face broke apart on it's own and faded away in the same manner that it had been created in, though Ichigo had to take a few deep breaths as he regained control over his body, just as Sombra pulled his hand off his friend's shoulder and glanced at the Visored that had gathered around them, to study Ichigo and assist Hiyori.
"You know, I wasn't sure we were going to do this in the beginning, but you pass." Shinji said, staring at Ichigo for a moment, because he wasn't sure if Ichigo's inner Hollow was like all of their's, as in the creatures that they had sworn to purify as Shinigami, or if it was something else entirely, since it was able to converse with someone for a few seconds, to which he sighed, "We're going to pound the knowledge of how to suppress your inner Hollow all the way into the heart of your soul... and let me tell you something, it isn't going to be easy for fun."
Ichigo sighed as he dropped out of his Bankai form and reverted back to his normal Shinigami form, because after all the training he went through to get his Zanpakuto back, and then his Bankai, and then the necessary endurance training to use his Bankai without shattering his body in the process, he knew that this wasn't going to be easy either... and, despite the fact that he wasn't going to be partaking in this training either, he knew that Sombra understood that this wasn't going to be easy for him either.
As it turned out the Visored's method of preparing Ichigo for the intense training that they were going to put him through, before he could even think about gaining the knowledge on how to suppress his inner Hollow, started with them putting him in a handmade machine that looked like it was an exercise machine, a 'rowing' machine as it were, for the rest of the day and the entirety of the following day. Sombra, by staring at it and studying it for a few seconds, easily determined that the Visored were measuring the amount of reiryoku that Ichigo had and that there was a specific time limit, or a number of days, that he had to row it for before they would even consider giving him the knowledge that he sought. Once he came to that conclusion, and kept it to himself since this was Ichigo's training and not his, he moved to a corner and took a seat, as there was something he needed to do and someone he wanted to meet before he considered what he was going to do when Ichigo was done with his own training. Yoruichi sat near him, to prevent the old him from taking over if he suddenly started to emerge, and nodded her head to indicate that she was ready, to which Sombra laid both of his Zanpakuto out in front of him and closed his eyes, allowing his mind to drift as he headed into his inner world to seek out some answers.
A few moments later, after a familiar feeling washed over him, Sombra opened his eyes and found that he was back in the Crystal Empire, his inner world, and it looked the exact same as it had the last time he was here, though at the same time he noticed that there was a light blue colored barrier separating the empire from what appeared to be something dark and sinister, and he had the feeling he knew what he was staring at.
"He moved in last night," a voice said, to which Sombra turned his head for a moment and found Shokyo standing beside him, though her eyes were focused on the part of the barrier that he had been staring at moments ago, "the spirit of your Arrancar Zanpakuto... the old you."
"I know. I came to see him and at least learn his name." Sombra replied, because since he had taken the name that had been etched on the crystal he had woken up near, thinking that it was his name, he wanted to know what sort of name his past self would have come up with, just to separate the two of them from each other, "Come on, let's see if we can't find where he's hidden himself."
Together the two of them walked forward from the area that Sombra had appeared in, the middle of the empire, and started the walk towards the part of the barrier that he had been staring at earlier, though as they did that he noticed that it was getting slightly darker the more they approached the area in question. It didn't take them very long to reach the area he had been staring at, as they had decided to pick up their speed after a few moments of walking, though when they reached the barrier he saw nothing that indicated where his past self was waiting for him. The two of them stood there for a minute or two, staring out at the winter filled area that hadn't been there the last time Sombra had been here, as it now looked like the Crystal Empire was trapped in a frozen tundra or something and the barrier was keeping the snow from entering the empire itself, before something happened. The shadows that had been gathering in front of them, which they had been staring at, parted as a figure walked out and approached them, though Sombra was expecting a Human or even a Hollow to walk out of the shadows... what he got, however, was what Ichigo, every other Human, and even Shinigami would call a pony walking towards the barrier.
Despite his size, as he was roughly half Sombra's total height, Sombra could tell that the pony was a stallion, simply because of his body style, though that was also when he noticed that the stallion was wearing a iron suit of armor of some kind over his neck and the front part of his body, as well as four metallic leg protectors that wrapped around his hooves and rose halfway up his legs. The stallion was also wearing a lush red cape, like he was a ruler of some kind, and he had a iron crown resting behind the same curved horn that Sombra possessed, though that was when Sombra's eyes widened as he realized that he was staring at a unicorn version of himself, only he didn't look like a Hollow at all.
"We meet at last." the stallion said, to which Sombra heard the same uncaring and cold voice that he had been using when the spirit of his Arrancar Zanpakuto was in control of his body, allowing him to come to the conclusion that he was staring at his past self, before the stallion glanced at Shokyo, "And you, my dear, remind me of the Crystal Heart."
"That's my name," Shokyo replied, though at the same time the stallion raised an eyebrow, showing that he had some interest in what was going on at the moment, before she decided to explain herself, "My name is Shokyo; the 'Sho' meaning Crystal and the 'kyo' meaning Heart... my name means Crystal Heart."
"I see." the stallion said, though that was when he returned his attention to Sombra, who was trying to understand why his past self looked like a pony, before he opened his mouth again, "I know that you are the one going by Sombra these days, just as I once went by the same name before I lost my memories and became what you are right now. I would enjoy taking back my name and body from you, and reducing you to what I am right now, but for the moment you may called me 'Rey de la Oscuridad'... I believe it means 'King of Darkness', in the language that Grimmjow used when he named his blade during our fight. Or you may simply call me 'Rey', just King on it's own, or even King Sombra."
"Well, at least the two of you are consistent in giving me your names without having to go through a trial to find out what they are," Sombra commented, to which he sighed for a moment, as he didn't know if this was common among Arrancar, that the spirit of their Arrancar Zanpakuto resembled an animal, but he did know that there was one other thing that he needed to learn from the stallion, "Rey de la Oscuridad... Rey... what's the Release Call I need to use to call upon our true power?"
"Oh, there's no reason for me to tell you right now." Rey replied, showing that he didn't care what Sombra wanted at the moment, as he had his own agenda that he wanted to stick to and that didn't involve giving him anything more than his name for now, before he flashed them a sinister smile, "But, if you really want to know, then come at me... I'll tell you the magic words, but only if I decide that your worthy enough to wield my great and terrible power, as well as take control of both my memories and keep possession of my body."
Sombra stared at the stallion for a moment, who had just laid down his ultimatum on the subject, before sighing and took a step back, as he had gotten enough out of the spirit of his Arrancar Zanpakuto for now and there was no reason to press his luck, not when he'd be coming back later to finish what he started. Shokyo understood that he was going to take some time and think about what he had just learned, to which she followed behind him in silence for a moment, even though she could feel the stallion standing at the edge of her domain, patiently waiting for a battle to break out, and she feared that he'd be the one to start the fight, regardless of what Sombra did. Sombra was more concerned with how the stallion acted, because it seemed like they were polar opposites in every sense of the phrase, and yet he knew that Rey's power was undeniable, not after seeing what happened to Grimmjow during their battle. He barely noticed as they reached the center of the empire and Shokyo bid him farewell for now, to which he said the same to her and let himself be pulled out of his inner world, as he had more questions and Rey clearly wasn't in the mood to answer them... and even if he was in the mood he wondered if the spirit of his Arrancar Zanpakuto would lie to him, just to have some fun.
When he emerged from his inner world, however, he found that Ichigo and Hiyori were shouting at each other and lashing out at each other as well, though it appeared that they were mainly arguing over the rowing machine that Ichigo had been asked to use and he already figured out it's purpose... though at the same time Sombra stretched as Shinji began to explain the purpose behind this training, before he picked up his two Zanpakuto and slipped them back into the spots they had been in earlier, before he started his meditation.
"Sombra, did you have any luck getting anything out of your meditation?" Yoruichi asked, as she had noticed some slight disturbances in Sombra's reiatsu while he was meditating, though all she could determine was that it was the last bits of his original powers coming back to him.
"No, Rey was no help to me at all." Sombra replied, thinking back to what little he had learned during his meditation, before he sighed as she realized that Yoruichi had no idea what he was talking about, "The only thing I was able to gleam is the name of my Arrancar Zanpakuto, Rey de la Oscuridad, and a potential form that I once took before becoming an Arrancar... though right now I don't know if Rey's messing with me, or if the form he used was what I used to look like. Though it seems like I missed some excitement while I was trying to get some new information."
"It looks like Ichigo is ticking off the Visored, though I'm not surprised by their reactions." Yoruichi said, as she had seen Ichigo hurl the rower at Hiyori earlier and she, in turn, grabbed Shinji and used him as a shield to block the incoming 'attack', before lashing out at Ichigo by calling him stupid and baldy since she didn't believe that his hair was natural at all and that he had to be wearing a wig, "It seems like they might be taking the same route that Urahara and I used when we were training him for his Shikai and his Bankai respectfully... that being that they're just going to charge into the technique and see if he sinks or swims."
"So force him to battle his inner Hollow and see if he survives, and I'm guessing his body will start to be taken over and changed by the same Hollow on the outside," Sombra stated, to which Yoruichi smiled, as Sombra was always quick to figure things out before others did, before he got up and walked out into the open once more, drawing attention to himself in the process, where he glanced up at the Visored, "Look, it seems like you guys are going to do things the hard way and force him into the technique that will allow him to battle his inner Hollow for control over his body, which I'm going to assume that all eight of you did as well. Let me make things easy for you: let Ichigo do what he needs to do and I'll be the one to hold off his inner Hollow until he emerges victorious."
Ichigo smiled as Sombra said that, because despite the return of his Arrancar Zanpakuto he trusted his friend to be able to fight off his inner Hollow when it emerged, giving him more than enough time to deal with the truth threat in the safety of his inner world... and then, once he was back to normal, he'd help Sombra figure out how they were going to do the same for him and stabilize all of his powers, even if it meant forcing his friend to fight his past self for control, which he felt that Sombra would be able to do on his own.
"So, how exactly are you going to force Ichigo into his inner world and make him fight his inner Hollow?" Sombra asked, as while he had offered to battle the Hollow that would take over his friend's body, and make sure that no one else got hurt in the process, the Visored were keeping information from him and he needed to know what they were planning on doing before they got started.
"I'm going to use a Kido that will knock him out and send his conscious to his inner world," Shinji replied, though at the same time he was honestly surprised that someone wanted to battle an inner Hollow without being one of the Visored, as it was usually one of their own that stalled the emerging creature and not an outsider, "Normally we'd have him sit down on the 'Super Hiyori Trainer', the rowing machine, until he could go for three whole days on it without collapsing, but, after taking into consideration how quickly he was able to get his Shinigami powers back, gain his Shikai, and then unlock his Bankai, I think it's safe to say that doing things his way might not be the worst route we can take. Ichigo doesn't think that he has the time to spare, doing our method of training, and while it's true that he knows nothing about the Hogyoku or the time it takes for the artifact to awaken, he's not wrong that doing it his way might be best for everyone, so he can be ready for the real training... assuming he beats his inner Hollow."
"And how do you know all of this?" Ichigo asked, as he had no idea how Shinji and the rest of the Visored knew about the Hogyoku and everything he went through to get the level of power that he was currently using, and he didn't like that Shinji had told him that he'd tell him later on, as that meant never in his mind.
Sombra, on the other hand, knew the connection between Shinji and Urahara, as he had been told that the Visored were normal Shinigami that Aizen had experimented on years ago, which explained so much about them and why they hated the rest of the Shinigami for what happened to them. He didn't say anything because it wasn't his place to go about revealing everyone's secrets, rather he focused on the issue at hand that they would be focusing on, and that was finding a good place for him to battle Ichigo's inner Hollow, even though something told him that the Visored had that covered as well. He also knew that the reason the Visored knew about Ichigo's skills and techniques was because Urahara likely told them what had happened to him during his own training, and likely gave them a little more information when he and his friends returned from Soul Society.
"Like I said, I'll tell you the details another day." Shinji replied, though this time around he glanced from Ichigo to Sombra for a moment, as if studying them as he thought about something, before he sighed and his reiatsu started to gather around his right hand, "Well then, since you want to do things your way, shall we get the show started?"
"I'd like that." Ichigo said, as the sooner he dealt with his inner Hollow, and gained control over his body once more, the sooner he and the others could resume their training for when Aizen's Arrancar showed up to attack the town, as he knew that more would be coming in the future, before he glanced at his friend, "You ready, Sombra?"
"Of course." Sombra answered, though at the same time he rested a hand on Shokyo's handle, because right now he knew that if he drew Rey from his scabbard his old self would come back to the surface immediately and that Ichigo would likely die before he had a chance to finish his own fight, so he was sticking to his Shinigami powers at the moment.
"Well then, let's get started." Shinji said, to which he stepped forward and raised his right hand so that the palm was facing Ichigo's face, where he started to release the Kido that he had been gathering and started to send Ichigo's conscious into his inner world, "Nighty night, Ichigo."
A few seconds later Ichigo's eyes went blank as his body started to sway, as the Kido Shinji had been preparing had done the trick, though before he fell Love dropped into the area and caught him, allowing him to carrying Ichigo's body over his left shoulder. As Shinji waved his hand to close Ichigo's eyes Hachi clapped his hands together, once above his head and once in front of his belly, to form a double barrier around the warehouse, one that Sombra knew was designed to hide them entirely and keep people away from the building. Once all that was taken care of one of the other Visored moved behind one of the pillars and flipped a switch, where an opening in the floor, in the direct center of the bottom floor no less, opened up and revealed a staircase that went into the ground, to which Shinji lead the way as the others followed after him, and Sombra noticed that Lisa was carrying Zangetsu like it was no problem. It didn't take them long to reach the bottom of the stairs, where Sombra noticed that the area they would be fighting in was another underground, just like the ones that Urahara and Yoruichi made in both Soul Society and under his shop, before they moved out some distance and roughly placed Ichigo on the ground.
Sombra glanced around for a few seconds and noticed that there were a number of rock formations scattered around the area, which was good since that would provide some difference to the battle that would be coming his way, and he noticed that the Visored were beginning to back away before the transformation started.
"Hachi, place a barrier down here as w..." Shinji started to say, though before he could finish his statement Sombra shook his head, indicating that limiting the area around them was not necessary, which caused him to growl in annoyance as he stared at Sombra, "Okay, what do you have in mind?"
"You should place a barrier around the stairs and the area you'll be sitting in," Sombra commented, as he felt that giving the Hollow a lot more room to fight in might make him happy, especially since he liked to flash around the area and throw Getsuga Tensho's around like they were candy, before he turned his gaze towards Hachi, "and, just to give us a few more minutes of peace before the battle truly starts, why don't you place seals on his body as well."
"Good idea." Hachi said, though at the same time he clasped his hands together and the wind around him vibrated for a moment, causing the others to turn and watch what he was doing, though that was followed by five small yellow orbs that started to emerge from the gasps between his fingers, "Walls of iron sand, a priestly pagoda, glowing ironclad fireflies. Standing upright, silent to the end. Bakudo Number 75: Gochutekkan."
When Hachi reached the part when he was saying the technique's name he raised his clasped hands into the air and the orbs formed a circle around the top of his hands, before he brought them against the ground and caused the orbs to sink into the ground, which caused them to disappear. That was followed by the sky lighting up for a moment as five tall and thick pillars, which appeared to be made out of iron and happened to be connected to each other by chains at the top of each pillar, descended from the sky and pinned Ichigo's body to the ground. Once that had happened Hachi and the other Visored, including Yoruichi, retreated to the stairs as Sombra stood nearby, waiting for the Hollow to emerge and draw himself from the ground, where the battle between them would commence as Ichigo dueled his Hollow inside his inner world, which he suspected would influence this world as well. He knew that it was only a matter of time until the battle in Ichigo's inner world started, and he knew that the Visored knew at as well, though at the same time he kept a hand on Shokyo's handle as he waited for his enemy to show up and start the fight.
A few minutes later, however, the air vibrated around him as he felt the rising reiatsu that was coming from Ichigo, one that contained the familiar nature of a Hollow, and knew that his foe was waking up, all he had to do was be patient and the battle would begin.
Ichigo moaned for a moment as he opened his eyes and found himself laying on the side of the same building that he always woke up on when he entered his inner world, the same one that he had first met Zangetsu on back when he was in danger of becoming a Hollow. As he remembered that he quickly picked himself up and glanced around the area that he happened to be in at the moment, as he wanted to see if he could find the spirit of his Zanpakuto and get his help, even if it was just advice, on how to beat his inner Hollow. Unfortunately he not only couldn't find old man Zangetsu anywhere, but the power that his Zanpakuto spirit emitted was gone as well, meaning that his inner Hollow must have done something to him while he was busy fighting someone in the World of the Living, which annoyed him to no end. With that taken care of he completed his circle and faced the top of the building, where he found what looked like a white version of himself sitting on the edge, waiting for him, and he knew that his inner Hollow had been patiently waiting for his arrival, as he likely heard what was going to happen and prepared for the battle that was going to start.
He didn't like his inner Hollow, not with how dangerous it was and the fact that it was threatening to destroy everything that he cared about, which meant that he had to fight it now and defeat it before something terrible happened, like him losing his body or something... though not a few seconds later the Hollow glanced up at him with the same smile on his face, one that still freaked him out to no end.
"Hey, it's been a while... King." the Hollow said, though that was before he stood up and drew himself to his full height, the same height that Ichigo had, before staring at the face that Ichigo was making while continuing to wear his signature grin, the same grin he hated, "What's wrong? You're look pretty gloomy right now."
"Where is he?" Ichigo asked, because he figured that he might as well get some answers out of the Hollow before he beat the daylights out of him, as that was the whole reason he had agreed to Sombra's plan and had come into his inner world in the first place, "Where is old man Zangetsu? What did you do to..."
"I don't understand you sometimes." the Hollow replied, to which he raised his hand and pointed at the Zangetsu that Ichigo was now in the process of drawing from his back, in case an attack came, before using that same hand to grab what was on his back, "When you talk about Zangetsu, are you talking about the one that's on your back? Or could you possibly mean the one that I'm holding?!"
Ichigo watched as the Hollow pulled a white Zangetsu from the black cloth that had been on his back, as the flat edge of the blade was white instead of the black that his had, the cutting edge was black instead of white, and the cloth that wrapped around the handle was black instead of white.
"A white... Zangetsu?!" Ichigo stated, shocked by the discovery of yet another Zangetsu, as he had no idea that such a blade even existed until this point in time, and that told him that the old man must have kept this one hidden for a reason, even if he didn't understand that reasoning.
"You asked me where Zangetsu was, didn't you?" the Hollow asked, snapping Ichigo back to the situation at hand, where he noticed that there was some sweat rolling down the side of Ichigo's face as well, which confirmed his belief that Ichigo was shocked and maybe even terrified of what this might mean, "I'll answer you... I. AM. ZANGETSU!"
Ichigo had enough time to draw out his own Zangetsu and parried the incoming attack, as the moment the Hollow said that he was going to answer his question he had flashed into the air and rapidly crossed the distance between them, before their blades connected and the air around them shuddered. Fortunately he was able to withstand the attack that had been coming his way, even though he pushed back enough so that he and the Hollow would be able to fight in the air, instead on the side of the building, and they kept their blades locked together as they stared at each other.
"You bastard." Ichigo growled, doing his best to fight against the power that was being used against him, as he could tell that the Hollow was holding back at the moment, just like Sombra did in all of his battles, and he knew that when the Hollow got serious he would have to do the same thing, "What did you do to old man Zangetsu?"
"You're persistent, I'll give you that." the Hollow replied, though at the same time he shifted his swing and sent Ichigo flying down into the side of the building that he had woken up on a few moments ago, before he frowned for a few seconds as he dropped out of the air and landed on the edge of the small crater, which he stared at "Don't make me repeat myself. I. Am. ZANGETSU! Besides, you're technically not wrong about him being part of your power, because both of us are your power. Even though we all share a body, outlooks change depending on who's in control. My own power has increased and now the old man is a part of me, unlike when you first started learning about your Zanpakuto and he took the opportunity to force me into submission, all for your benefit. The more you tried to draw on my power, the easier it's been for me to draw closer to controlling your soul."
"Is that so?" Ichigo inquired, though as he spoke he pulled himself from the crater and stared at the Hollow, as he was curious how he had gained the power necessary to make old man Zangetsu submit to him and allow him to get so close to his own soul, before he understood what he needed to do, "Then that means that if I defeat you here, old man Zangetsu will become the center of my power once more."
"You? Defeat me?" Zangetsu stated, as if he found something about that statement to be funny, as the smile from earlier had returned as he stared at Ichigo, before he considered exactly what his opponent was saying, "It's impossible for you to defeat me."
"You think so?" Ichigo replied, though at the same time he slammed his left foot into the rubble that was near him and raised his blade into the air, before shifting his right hand and pointed the tip of his Zanpakuto towards the Hollow, where the cloth around the handle wrapped around his right arm a few times, "Tell me it's impossible, after seeing this!"
"Wow, you really are clueless. You just can't seem to understand what I'm trying to tell you." Zangetsu said, though at the same time his smile turned into a frown as he sighed, but that was followed by him lowering his own right arm into the same position that Ichigo was using and let the black cloth wrap around his right arm, "I'm Zangetsu... and I'm telling you that it's impossible for you to defeat me!"
The two of them stared at each other for a few moments, Ichigo starting to sweat for a few seconds as the grin returned to his opponent's face, before both of their reiatsu flared, showing their foe that they were ready to unleash their greatest technique and continue the fight.
"Bankai!" both Ichigo and Zangetsu declared, to which they were both covered in reiatsu and smoke as they activated their final release, though at the same time both of them were unaware of the fact that them doing this would have any effect on the world outside of Ichigo's inner world.
Sombra patiently waited as Zangetsu assumed control of Ichigo's body and poured out the reiatsu that he was feeling at the moment, which shocked the Visored since they weren't used to feeling this sort of power coming from someone with an inner Hollow. He could hear them discussing what they should have gone differently this time around, like attempting to hide Ichigo's Zanpakuto, which would have made Zangetsu frantic, before Lisa asked Yoruichi if Sombra could even handle the power that Ichigo was pouring out. Yoruichi, on the other hand, answered that Sombra had more than enough power to equal what was being generated at the moment and, if he deemed it necessary, he could always increase his reiatsu to the point where he was fighting as a Vasto Lorde once more, since he was still holding back at the moment. As all that happened Sombra watched as the five iron pillars that were pinning Ichigo's body to the ground swayed and eventually bashed into each other, causing them to crumble as Zangetsu raised his head and showed Sombra that half of the Hollow mask, the left half, had returned once more.
As the pillars started to fall into a ruined pile and disappear, since the Bakudo had been broken, Zangetsu started to stand up and undid the cloth that was surrounding his blade, though at the same time Sombra pulled his hand back and pulled Shokyo from her scabbard, showing that he was ready for their battle.
"Come, Zangetsu, and show me how strong you really are." Sombra said, though even as he spoke he noticed a flicker of joy in his opponent's eyes, showing him that the creature he was fighting appreciated being acknowledged by someone, especially since Ichigo seemed a little clueless about things sometimes.
Zangetsu smiled as he crouched low to the ground for a moment before surging towards Sombra, fully intending to hurt him and beat him into the ground, though at the same time Sombra readied himself and swung Shokyo to parry the incoming attack, before pushing his foe backwards a little. He stood there for a moment as Zangetsu stared at him, though that was followed by him jumping forward and started swinging his blade at him in rapid succession, where Sombra simply moved his body as he avoided the swings, allowing the attacks to bypass him without cutting him in the process. He also parried several of the attacks, stalling Zangetsu in the process and even pushing him back at times, but for right now, while he wasn't giving it his all, he would also keep his power low and wait until his foe was ready to take the battle seriously, as it looked like he was trying to have fun at the moment. While this happened he could tell that the Visored were staring at them and were studying how Zangetsu, or rather the Hollow as they knew it, was fighting in case he wanted one of them to take his place in this battle, something that wasn't going to happen.
A few moments later Zangetsu ran up to him and swung his blade down at him, where Sombra parried the incoming attack and knocked the Zanpakuto backwards, though that was apparently what he was planning on because his opponent pulled on the cloth on the handle and pulled the blade, which was now spinning, back towards him with the intent on slashing Sombra from behind. What really happened was that Sombra moved out of the way and let Zangetsu grab hold of his weapon again, who happened to flash up to where he was standing and swung at him a few more times, where Sombra parried the attacks and pushed his foe backward. Zangetsu seemed to come up with something interesting to do, as he switched his hold on his weapon to the cloth that was below the handle and swung his blade around like he was a maniac, before throwing the blade at him and even used the cloth to control what his weapon did, as when Sombra avoided the first attack Zangetsu shifted his hold and the blade shifted it's course before coming at him from behind. In the following moment Sombra swung his Zanpakuto backward and knocked the attack away from him, though as that happened Zangetsu just so happened to be coming from his exposed back... or at least that was his plan, as Sombra flashed out of the way as Zangetsu swung his blade down and smashed a crater into the ground that Sombra had been standing on a few seconds ago.
Sombra flashed over to a small boulder that was resting nearby and stared at his opponent, as his plan was to stall his foe before getting serious, though he detected that Zangetsu was definitely trying to kill him, but he seemed to be pushing the battle with Ichigo so his true power could come to the surface and be used against him.
"You're strong, I'll give you that." Sombra said, glancing at the crater for a moment, as it showed the power that his foe could wield in his current state, before his own reiatsu gathered for what he was about to do, as he was going to even the odds a little, even if it wasn't necessary for him to do so, "Shimmer, Shokyo."
Zangetsu grinned as he watched the katana Sombra was holding transform into the crystalline broadsword that he knew his opponent used, though when he dashed forward to attack, however, Sombra easily figured out what he was planning on doing and rushed forward to meet him, allowing their blades to collide in the process. This time Sombra went on the offensive, swinging his own Zanpakuto at angles that were designed to catch his opponent off guard and knock him around, and while it seemed that Zangetsu didn't know the angles, since Ichigo never seemed to pay attention to Urahara's training, that didn't stop him from putting equal power into his attacks as the air shuddered with every collision of their blades. Despite the barrier that Hachi had put up around the stairs he could tell that the Visored were impressed by what was going on, as they no doubt assumed that someone of his level couldn't have survived against such a powerful Hollow for long, and soon he knew that the real transformation was going to begin, he just had to pressure Zangetsu into doing that so he could see the true power that his foe commanded. Zangetsu, having avoided the next swing Sombra used on him, rushed forward and tried to cut him down again, only to miss when Sombra showed off his movement skills and flashed away from him, though that only caused his foe to chuckle, or what he assumed was a chuckle, before turning towards him once more.
That was, however, before the air shuddered as Zangetsu snapped his head towards the sky, where Sombra and the others watched as a Hollow hole was punched into Ichigo's chest and his body was surrounded by smoke, though not even a few seconds later Sombra found Zangetsu standing there in his Bankai attire... and his feet seemed to have been transformed into a strange foot with two prongs facing towards him, one prong facing backwards from where the heel would be, and the mask now covered seventy-five percent of Ichigo's head.
"So, we're playing that game, are we?" Sombra asked, though at the same time he knew that he could fight the power of Tensa Zangetsu while in his Shikai state, as he had done it once or twice when he was helping Ichigo get over the pain when he activated his Bankai, before he moved his blade into the necessary position, "Bankai."
The Visored watched as Sombra was consumed by a cloud of dust and smoke, just like what the Hollow had done, but when the smoke cleared they were shocked to find Sombra standing there with his blade, but what really held their attention was the armor that had replaced his odd Shinigami attire, making him look like a knight.
"What's going on here?" Hiyori commented, as this wasn't something that they had been told about, because no one had told them that the Arrancar that had come to their hideout had achieved Bankai, and they were still recovering from the fact that his blade had a Shikai and Release Call.
"Isamashii Hogosha Shoteikoku," Yoruichi spoke up, though at the same time she smiled, as she actually loved seeing this Bankai in action, because it was so different from all the others she had seen and it put Sombra's power far above what anyone else, save the Captain-Commander and Aizen, were capable of achieving, "or Valiant Guardian of the Crystal Empire, is the final release of Sombra's Zanpakuto, Shokyo. It's not only an offensive type of Bankai, but it also has defensive and support type skills as well, making it an all purpose Bankai that awakens the true power that sleeps within Sombra's body... the power of a Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar. The only blade he's carrying is his Arrancar Zanpakuto, Rey de la Oscuridad, or the King of Darkness, and he's not using that at the moment because he wants to help Ichigo beat his inner Hollow, not kill him before such a thing can happen."
"Things are about to get real interesting." Shinji said, as he couldn't believe the sheer power that was now coming from Sombra, as it seemed to dwarf the power of the last known Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar that had been made on it's own, and that was without using his true power.
While they were talking Sombra and Zangetsu stared at each other for a few seconds, each of them trying to figure out what the other was going to do first, before they both raised their blades and loosed an energy wave at their enemy, allowing the two to collide in the area between them and shake the entire training area... though at the same time they flashed through the air and continued their battle with each other, their blades hitting making contact as Sombra wondered what was taking Ichigo so long to win his own battle.
Ichigo stared at the opposing cloud of smoke as he let his lazily float off into the distance, as he was shocked by what his inner Hollow had done, by mimicking the movements of him activating his Bankai, and he actually wondered if this meant that his foe had gained that skill as well. If his inner Hollow did know how to activate the Bankai that he had gained from his training, and nearly was killed by Zangetsu at the same time, then his chances at winning this fight will have decreased by a good amount, which also meant that he'd have to come up with another way to win the fight. A few seconds later, as he was thinking about all this, his opponent swung his right arm and knocked all the smoke away from him, allowing Ichigo to see that he was sporting a pure white version of his Bankai attire, which was black colored, and even the blade still matched, revealing to Ichigo just how terrible this situation was for him. He had been hoping that this was all a big mistake and that old man Zangetsu was playing around with him, to test him and see if he was worthy of wielding this sort of power, but until he restored him to his proper place he knew that he'd never get the answers that he was looking for.
Not even a moment later the two of them flashed forward and their blades collided with each other as they met in the middle of the space between them, the air around them shuddering for a moment as they pushed against each other in an attempt to overpower the other.
"You bastard!" Ichigo said, staring at his inner Hollow as they remained in the air, as he honestly couldn't believe what was happening to him at the moment, because he refused to believe that his opponent had gained the power that had nearly killed him thanks to how old man Zangetsu treated him, "When the hell did you learn Bankai?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Zangetsu asked, though while he enjoyed poking at Ichigo, and freaking him out every time he spoke, he still couldn't believe what an idiot his supposed partner was all the time, because it made him sick when he thought about what happened in this world, "I learned it at the same time you did!"
In the following moment Zangetsu swung his arm and loosed the power that he had stored for just a second, which ended up consuming the area around them for a moment, though as the smoke started to clear he found Ichigo staring off into space for a moment, causing him to sigh as he stood there. He was annoyed that this weakling, this amateur, had the nerve to come here with the purpose of battling him to the death, for control over both his body and the power that he commanded, and yet here Ichigo was, spacing out like he had all the time in the world to do so. At the same time it gave him a few seconds to check in with the fight with Sombra, which was happening outside this world, and he could tell that they were about equal in power, or at least that was his current assessment since Sombra was still holding back and the fact that most of his own power was tied up in trying to beat Ichigo, otherwise he'd be pouring all of it towards smashing the Vasto Lorde into the ground. For a moment he wondered what it was like, having a partner that actually listened to your voice and didn't pay attention to someone that clearly didn't care about you, and growled as he reflected on how unlucky he was to be stuck with Ichigo... though that was when he sensed some movement behind him and put his grin back on his face, as he felt that he'd have more time for this later on.
A few seconds later his blade collided with Ichigo's, who looked like he was just waking up from a nap, and Zangetsu smiled at him, because he still liked to mess with his opponent and right now he was making it seem like the two of them had been fighting and he was only now seeing what he was doing... even though the reality was far different from what Ichigo thought it was.
"Don't be so angry, Ichigo. Let's have some fun." Zangetsu said, though at the same time he moved them around and pushed Ichigo back to where he had been standing moments ago, causing him to fall to one knee for the moment, before he touched down where his opponent had been a few moments ago and frowned, "Come on Ichigo, now's not the time for you to be losing your focus."
"I'm not!" Ichigo declared, though as he said that the Hollow rushed at him and he parried the incoming attack, which allowed his opponent to slip behind him and kick him in the back, knocking him forward a few steps before he turned to face his foe again.
"That's bullshit!" Zangetsu stated, as he couldn't believe just how stupid Ichigo was acting, because he should have known that something was up and even seemed to think that something else had happened, and yet here Ichigo was, actively denying whatever had happened to him, which was annoying him at the moment, "You were just staring off into space a moment ago!"
"I was not, damn you!" Ichigo replied, though at the same time he shifted how his right arm was situated and allowed his reiatsu to gather for a few seconds, just enough to get some decent power for his attack without revealing what he was going to do to his opponent, before he made his move, "Getsuga Tensho!"
Zangetsu glared at Ichigo for a moment as the black and red colored Getsuga came at him, the same one that he had showed off during Ichigo's first battle with Byakuya, and simply waved his left arm at him, separating the energy into two halves that struck the building behind him, causing it to falter and break in the process... before he flashed through the air and appeared above Ichigo, where he swung his blade down and let his opponent counter his attack, as he had something better in mind for what came next.
"Getsuga Tensho." Zangetsu said, to which the area around his own blade glowed for a moment, showing that he was preparing his attack, though Ichigo seemed terrified of what was happening as he loosed the attack, allowing it to consume the area beneath him while opening Ichigo's defenses so he could cut him.
A few moments later, as the smoke started to clear, Zangetsu held his sword so that the blood he had taken from Ichigo's wound could drip onto the side of the building that he was standing above, while at the same time staring at the small gash that had been cut into Ichigo's stomach area, who huffed for a few seconds as he took in what just happened and tried to figure out what to do next.
"See? It's like I said, Ichigo, you really suck." Zangetsu stated, referring to what he had said the first time he had taken over Ichigo's body, back during his fight with Byakuya, and yet he was sure that his foe was simply ignoring his words, but that wouldn't stop him from trying to make him see the truth before the end of this, "Have you forgotten what happened? I was the first one to use Getsuga Tensho while in Bankai, and yet all you did was watch my battle. You studied what I did during that battle and tried to imitate me, yet you failed miserably. You're a pathetic fake, Ichigo."
In that moment Zangetsu flashed right in front of Ichigo, who was surprised to see him appear so suddenly like that, before he grabbed onto the edge of the blade that his opponent was using and exerted his will over it, causing Ichigo's entire blade to turn white, just like his own blade.
"Give it up." Zangetsu said, to which he twisted his left hand a little and Ichigo's blade started to break apart before Ichigo's very eyes, while at the same time only a portion of it remained in his left hand, which would suffer the same fate as the rest of the blade soon enough, "You can't use Bankai."
Just as he said that, however, Zangetsu realized that Ichigo was staring off into space again, to which he resisted the urge to simply kill his opponent and glanced down at the blade fragment he was still holding onto, as he knew what Ichigo's problem was and yet his partner didn't seem to want to listen to anyone that might have an idea. For a moment he thought back to what Sombra had said, both during the fight with Byakuya and when he assumed control over Ichigo's body to teach that one Visored a lesson, as the Arrancar knew who he was and also knew that the old man was the liar, and yet Ichigo was too stupid to figure it out for himself. It infuriated him that a stranger was able to see the truth, with only a single glance at him and the old man, and that his partner couldn't, making him wonder if it was even possible to change to someone else's control entirely, just to have some recognition, even if he couldn't beat the person in a fight or take over his body. Just as he started to explore that train of thought, and was about to stop paying attention to Ichigo, he heard the sound of his opponent moving and noticed that his eyes were staring at his hands, where the last of his blade faded away, save for the fragment that he was still holding onto.
"Za... Zangetsu..." Ichigo said, though that was followed by Zangetsu mentally sighing, as the way Ichigo spoke told him that he still didn't understand what he was trying to tell him, which meant that he was going to have to bring an end to this battle soon, otherwise his frustration was going to break and he'd blow something up.
"That wasn't Zangetsu you fool." Zangetsu replied, to which he held up his left hand and crushed the rest of the blade that he had touched, allowing Ichigo to see the pieces of it break apart before there was nothing left of it, before he focused his glare on his opponent, "Listen to what I am telling you. I. AM. ZANGETSU!"
In the following seconds Zangetsu flashed forward, grabbed onto Ichigo's face with his left hand, and hurled him through the air until he collided with the large building that was behind him, forming a good sized crater as the rest of the structure collapsed behind him.
"You know, it never ceases to amaze me as to how brainless you are." Zangetsu commented, as that was the truth of the matter, because while it infuriated him that Ichigo couldn't see the truth it also amazed him to see the seemingly endless limits of Ichigo's stupidity and foolishness, "Hey, Ichigo, I've got a question for you. What's the difference between a king and his horse? And I don't mean some stupid kiddy shit like 'One's a person and one's an animal' or 'One's got two legs and the other has four'. If their form, power, and ability were exactly the same, then why is it that one of them becomes the king and controls the battle, while the other one has to carry the king into the battle?!"
"I... I don't know." Ichigo replied, though at the same time he had no idea what his inner Hollow was talking about this time around, as now he was just assuming that he was prolonging the battle, just to mess with him a little more, before he dealt the finishing blow and ended this.
"There's only one answer, one that you happen to lack." Zangetsu remarked, though as he spoke he switched his hold on his blade and grabbed onto the chain that was attached to the end of the handle, allowing him to spin the blade around while he talked, as it allowed him to think straight while looking menacing at the same time, "The answer is Instinct! In order for identical beings to become stronger and gain the power they need to become king, they must search for more battles and more power. They thirst for battle, and live to mercilessly crush, shred, and slice their enemies. Deep, deep within our body lies the honed instinct to kill, to slaughter! But you don't have those pure, basic instincts. You fight with your brain and try to defeat your enemies with logic! And it doesn't work at all... you're trying to cut your enemies with a sheathed sword! That's why you're weaker than me, Ichigo... and that's why you'll never get close to Sombra's level."
"What does any of this have to do with Sombra?" Ichigo asked, as that didn't make any sense, though while parts of his inner Hollow's speech did make sense, as he didn't have the desire to kill anyone or the instincts to do as the Hollow said, the last part was confusing.
"Think about it for a moment," Zangetsu said, though he knew that he was talking to a brick wall that was starting to crack, meaning that he might be able to get Ichigo to see the truth before he devoured his soul and claimed his body for his own purposes, "Sombra's been following his instincts since he woke up in Hueco Mundo, according to what he told you and the others, and that's true for every opponent he's faced so far. Think about it, every enemy he's faced has been dominated in such a way that all of them can't help but admit defeat when they face off against his power, something that drives Hollows to listen to his words and follow the commands that they are given. There's also the fact that he figured out who I was the moment I started fighting Byakuya and he even called out my name, and yet you ignore him whenever he says my name, thinking that he's talking to the old man, and it keeps... pissing... me... OFF!"
As he said that Zangetsu switched his hold on his blade and threw it through the air, where it went flying straight into Ichigo's stomach and pierced his body, which took his opponent a moment to glance down and see what he had done, before he started walking over to where Ichigo was standing.
"Ichigo, you're a foolish king that doesn't have the power to command me," Zangetsu added, though at the same time part of his mind focused on what was happening outside this world again, as it was certainly more interesting than what was happening in here, "Sombra, on the other hand, is coming into his powers as the Dios Hueco, a Hollow so powerful that you would never even begin to compare to his might. You're weaker than me, that much is obvious, and his power is even greater than mine, so I'm going to consume you, take your crown for myself, and then join the only creature that I would ever call my master."
Zangetsu knew that the time to end the battle had arrived, as all he had to do was withdraw his sword and slice Ichigo in half, though that was when something happened, as he grabbed the edge of his blade, the black aura changing his blade into what Ichigo's looked like moments ago, and he noticed a light blue ring appear around the center of Ichigo's eyes, the same he recalled from what happened in Soul Society... and he knew that this battle was going to end in an entirely different manner than what he thought when they started fighting.
Sombra, using his superior speed and power to his advantage, flashed around the area that Zangetsu was fighting in and made sure to avoid the attacks that were coming his way, noticing that his opponent was gaining more control over time as the black and red aura of a Getsuga Tensho had appeared around his foe's blade. The few times he had actually dealt damage to Ichigo's body was when he found out that the first thing, besides his Bankai, that his foe was using was his high speed regeneration, as some wounds were sealed the instant they were made and some were covered in the same white material that a Hollow's body was made out of. He considered using a Kido spell against his opponent, even though the Bakudo were out of the question since he was sure that Zangetsu could break through them with ease if he were to use one of them, before he started mentally going over the techniques he knew and which ones might be better used in the situation that he was currently in. Zangetsu, on the other hand, did enjoy throwing his Getsuga Tensho's at him, which caused him to use his own energy wave technique to counter the attacks, blowing them up before they could reach him and creating a few craters in the process.
At one point, however, Sombra noticed that Zangetsu seemed to pause for a moment, as if something was happening inside Ichigo's inner world, but since the mask wasn't falling apart he knew that the battle wasn't over yet, to which he flashed up to where his opponent was standing and readied himself.
"O Lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!" Sombra recited, to which he heard some gasps from the Visored as they realized what he was doing, as he had refrained from doing anything like this until he was certain that it was necessary, and he had determined that now as the time to do so, "Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hado Number 31: Shakkaho!"
In the moments of him starting the incantation a sphere of red energy appeared above his left hand, just like it had done when he was fighting Byakuya outside the Shrine of Penitence, and he immediately leveled it with Zangetsu's body once it was ready, to which a torrent of red energy slammed into his opponent and knocked him backwards. What didn't surprise him was that Zangetsu got up a few seconds later, where Ichigo's entire left hand was now covered in the white substance, had red markings on it, and his fingers had sharpened into claws, showing that the more damage he did the quicker the Hollow transformation would go. As such Sombra ducked and weaved through the attacks that his foe was sending his way, making sure to avoid taking damage, and even with him doing that he noticed that as time went by the changes started to materialize as they drew ever closer to the time limit that Shinji warned him about, as he said that sixty minutes was the point of no return... meaning that if those minutes went by, and Ichigo still hadn't won his inner battle, then he might need to get serious and kill Ichigo before his friend's body was taken over, something that he outright ignored because he had faith in Ichigo's abilities.
As the fight progressed Sombra used the crystal abilities of his Bankai to create a good sized forest made of crystal, all of which to slow Zangetsu down and force him to carve his way through what he had called into the area around them, once more surprising the Visored in the process, but it was worth it to keep his opponent busy. While this happened, and he also avoided his foe a few more times, Sombra noticed that the white substance seeped into Ichigo's attire and started to cover the upper part of his legs, now adorned with red markings that matched what was on his left arm, and that was only the beginning of the newest changes. Eventually the substance seeped into the area around Ichigo's chest, where the Hollow hole was located, and his chest bulked out a little, making him look more muscular, while at the same time destroying the top part of Ichigo's attire and also moved around his right arm, making it match the left one, and causing Ichigo's hair to grow to the point where it reached the middle of his back. Grey colored fur of some kind grew around Ichigo's wrists, an odd addition in Sombra's mind, the majority of Ichigo's face was now covered by the mask, save for a small part of it that revealed that the Hollowfication process wasn't complete despite what the Visored were saying, and there was a tail, like that of a lizard, growing from the spine area, making Zangetsu look more like the Hollows that he and Ichigo had fought in the past.
A few seconds later Zangetsu roared and raised his left hand so that the tips of his clawed fingers were connected, though as that happened three strands of energy pulled themselves together as a Cero started to form above the tips of his fingers, but as the Visored called out to him Sombra sighed and leveled his hand with his foe, intending to use one of the skills that he knew to defend himself. That was when the Cero disappeared as parts of Zangetsu's left arm started to break apart before their eyes, causing Zangetsu to roar in pain as more bloody lines erupted from his body, meaning that Ichigo must have done what he set out to do, before his body started to glow. Sombra flashed backwards for a few seconds as one more painful roar came from his opponent, though that was before he exploded and was covered in a large cloud of smoke for a few moments, but that didn't concern him as he waited for the smoke to clear so he could see what had happened to Ichigo. As he did that the barrier surrounding the stairs disappeared and the Visored approached him, no doubt so they could see the results of Ichigo's inner battle with his inner Hollow, though Sombra ignored them as he focused on the smoke that was in front of them.
When the smoke cleared Sombra found the form of Zangetsu standing in the same place he had been before the explosion happened, though that was before it bent over and fell to the ground, where it shattered into a thousand pieces and revealed that Ichigo, now wearing the completed version of his Hollow mask, standing there, though he was slightly wounded from the battle that he had endured in his inner world... and, as he started to sway, Sombra moved in front of him and caught him before Ichigo could hit the ground, allowing the mask to fall in the process.
"How do you feel, Ichigo?" Sombra asked, though at the same time he had the feeling that the only one that wasn't happy about the situation was Zangetsu, since he had lost to Ichigo and was now locked away once more, but he felt the need to ask his friend the question anyway.
"Not bad, considering what I went through." Ichigo replied, though while he spoke a smile appeared on his face as Sombra moved him into a sitting position, that way he could relax a little and recover from what he had endured, but once that was done Sombra waved his left hand and soon his wounds had closed, a reminder of the healing aspect of the powerful Bankai that his friend possessed.
"That's good." Sombra said, to which he broke out of his Bankai state and reverted back to his base form, allowing Shokyo to resume being a katana before sheathing her, where he glanced over to the Visored, "Listen, I'm sure that the lot of you want to start training Ichigo as soon as possible, to control the new power that he's gained, but I would suggest that you hold off for the rest of today and not bother planning on doing anything tomorrow."
"And why is that?" Shinji asked, because he was interested in what the Arrancar was planning, as he had actually been impressed by the skill that he had showed when he was fighting Ichigo's inner Hollow, and that was before activating his Bankai, so he was curious as to what he had planned.
"Because I'm going to fight the spirit of my Arrancar Zanpakuto tomorrow, and I feel that it's best if some people come to my inner world with me to see what happens." Sombra replied, as he had been thinking about this since he learned that Rey was going to be difficult, not giving him the information that he needed, and he knew that it was possible to bring others into his inner world, if what he had read was correct, "I'm going to give Yoruichi the details and see if the others can afford a day off, especially given what's going on at the moment."
He had no idea how many people would come here, and he could tell that Shinji wasn't too keen on letting many know their hiding spot, but at the very least they could lie to the Shinigami and not get called out since Yoruichi and Urahara didn't want Soul Society to know who they were in league with... but, at the same time, he had the feeling that something else was happening at the moment, and that he'd find out about it soon enough.
Orihime was a little sad that none of her friends showed up for school that day, though that was to be expected since they had been attacked the previous night and were likely preparing for the next stage of Aizen's invasion, since many of them were convinced that it was Aizen that was behind the attack. Fortunately both she and Sora were safe, since Captain Hitsuguya and Lieutenant Matsumoto were there to assist them, and her brother openly admitted that he wouldn't be of much help since the power of the Arrancar that had attacked them were far superior to him. These thoughts were, once more, interrupted by one of her neighbors as she got to her house, as Mrs. Shinmura revealed that the pair that were staying with her had hauled something into her house while she was away, though she wasn't surprised that the Shinigami would do something like that, as it was best to set it up while she was gone and use it before she got back and attempted to make them tear it down. When she reached her house, and both she and Sora headed inside, they found the door to the room in question to be slightly open, though on the other side rested what looked like a large television... though it had some sort of purple substance surrounding the screen and wires attached to it, along with stuff that she had no idea what they were supposed to do.
They found Hitsuguya in the middle of telling the lady on the other side who he was, though as they came to a stop and took in what might be happening the image changed and the Captain-Commander appeared on the other side of the screen, indicating that this was serious and that maybe they shouldn't be present for this.
"You're quick as usual, Captain Hitsuguya," Yamamoto said, his tone showing that he was pleased by the speed at which Hitsuguya was able to do whatever he had asked the Captain to do, something that Orihime was sure she and Sora would find out in a few moments, if they weren't asked to leave anyway, "I had you prepare this emergency channel because we have determined Aizen's true goal!"
"Um, this sounds important, so I think we'll just step outside..." Orihime started to say, as while part of her wanted to know what was going on she knew that it wasn't her place to be apart of these types of meetings, but one look at the screen told her to stay where she was.
"Wait, Orihime Inoue, this concerns Humans like yourself as well." Yamamoto stated, to which both Orihime and Sora glanced at each other for a few seconds before they turned towards the screen once more, where they nodded their heads and prepared themselves for whatever they were going to be told, "It has been some time since Aizen and his allies betrayed Soul Society and were taken to Hueco Mundo, and we have not been idle, as we have been searching Aizen's old rooms for anything that might tell us what he was planning, along with Central 46's Underground Assembly Hall, the Seijotokyorin, or Tranquil Forest of Residential Towers, which is where he hid himself, and the Daireishokairo, or the Great Spirit Book Gallery. Upon investigating the Daireishokairo, Captain Ukitake found some traces of something interesting that Aizen might have left behind... something that he had been researching before he put his plan into action."
"What else could Aizen have studied, besides the Hogyoku?" Hitsuguya asked, because the Hogyoku was bad enough, especially since they were now familiar with what was at stake if the artifact should be awakened, something that Urahara was sure to happen at some point in time, which only made him wonder what Aizen had been looking at.
"The Oken, or the Royal Key." Yamamoto stated, though while he noticed that shock appeared on Hitsuguya's face for a moment, and was wiped from Matsumoto's a few seconds later, both Orihime and her brother were confused, to which he decided to overcome that barrier, "Matsumoto, tell Orihime and her brother about the Oken."
"Yes sir." Matsumoto said, to which she glanced back at the duo that was standing behind them, as this wasn't going to be easy information for them to digest once they heard the full details of what had been found, "Like the name suggests, it's the key to the Royal Family... and yes, Soul Society has one of them as well. We have a king, the Soul King to be exact, but he leaves Soul Society to us. Honestly, it doesn't feel like he exists and no one's actually seen him in person to confirm the stories about him, or if they have seen him they don't say anything about what they experienced."
"He is a symbolic, as well as an absolute, presence in Soul Society." Yamamoto continued, though at the same time he couldn't fault Matsumoto from feeling that way, as many Shinigami that knew of the stories seemed to feel the same way that she did, "His Royal Palace is in an entirely different space within Soul Society, and it is guarded by the Royal Secret Service, or the Zero Division as many tend to call them... and the Oken is the only way to enter the space that the Royal Palace is located in."
"Wait, are you telling us that Aizen wants the Soul King... dead?" Sora asked, because it sounded like this being was of great importance to the Soul Society and that by killing him everything was going to fall apart, or at least that was what he was thinking about at the moment.
"That's the likely explanation for what his true goal is, but it's not the problem." Yamamoto replied, though he was intentionally downplaying the death of the Soul King, something that could easily shatter all of reality as they knew it if something like that were to come to pass, "The book Aizen was studying doesn't reveal the location of the Oken, because only the Captain-Commander is permitted to know the exact location of such a priceless treasure and we're required to verbally tell our successor where it is, behind secure doors so that it won't be discovered. Instead, Aizen was looking at a document that details the creation of the Oken: one hundred thousand souls and an Jureichi, or an Important Spirit Ground, that is greater than a radius of one square spirit mile. The location of the Jureichi changes overtime and it's the easiest place, in the World of the Living, for spiritual beings to gather... and right now, at this point in time, the Jureichi that Aizen is after is none other than Karakura Town."
"Wh... What?" Orihime asked, trying to wrap her head around what she and her brother were being told, as all this information was a lot to process, but all she could gather was that her town was in danger and that Aizen needed to be stopped before something happened.
"Allow me to explain this in simple terms," Yamamoto said, as he knew that the requirements for the Oken's creation were so far beyond reality that it took some time for even the most intelligent Shinigami to fully grasp what Aizen was planning on doing, though he had the feeling that a certain Arrancar would be fine after a few seconds, "If Aizen is able to complete the Oken, in the way that is described in the document, then Karakura Town, as well as all the nearby land and people, will be ripped away from the World of the Living and disappear entirely. Do not worry, we are already doing everything in our power to ensure that such a terrible thing does not befall you, your friends, and your town, for it is because of this reason that the Gotei 13 exist in the first place. Orihime Inoue, Sora Inoue, we might not be able to stand against Aizen and his Espada alone... can you inform both Ichigo Kurosaki and Sombra of what we have discovered?"
"Consider it done, Captain-Commander." Yoruichi spoke up, as she had come to Orihime's house to tell her and Sora, as well as the pair of Shinigami that were living with her, what Sombra wanted of them tomorrow, but what she discovered in the process made her glad that Sombra was moving quickly in his own training.
Hitsuguya barely paid attention to what Yoruichi wanted, save for the fact that he and the others were invited to witness Sombra battle the spirit of his Arrancar Zanpakuto, but all that made him wonder was if that was a good idea, since the Arrancar's power had been beyond anything he had ever felt before... and he hoped that Sombra won that battle, because if he lost, and turned against him as the old him resurfaced, they'd fail in their mission before they even had a chance to start it.
As Sombra requested, since his friend wasn't ready to begin the intense training that they had planned for him, the Visored left Ichigo alone for the rest of the day, allowing him to revert back to his normal Shinigami attire before he stared at the mask that had formed when he won his inner fight. Sombra did ask how Zangetsu was doing, as he was curious as to what his friend's true partner had said during their struggle, but all he got in return was that 'old man Zangetsu' wasn't there and that he had to beat his inner Hollow to restore him to being the main source of his power. He then stared at Ichigo for a few moments, wondering how in the world his friend hadn't figured out the truth, considering everything he said when the Hollow was in his presence, before he sighed and raised a hand to his head, as he had more important matters to deal with and could fix Ichigo's problem later. The look in Zangetsu's eyes, when he was battling him in this world, made that much more sense when he considered what Ichigo had said, and yet he felt sorry for the Zanpakuto spirit, being treated like he was an invader that had been created when Ichigo was trying to get his Shinigami powers back... and he'd figure out some way to get Ichigo to see the truth, once his own problem was taken care of.
Yoruichi had left shortly after he made the announcement that he was commandeering the Visoed's underground training area for his own purposes, something that they weren't too happy about, and Hiyori was the most pissed out of all of them, but they eventually realized that this was an opportunity to see the inner world of an Arrancar, something that they didn't know existed until he told them, and that was what stayed their hands. From what he knew of his friends, even though he only knew some of them for about a month or two while Yoruichi and Urahara were closer to six months, Sombra already knew that everyone from Urahara's shop would be here, Uryu was likely to skip out since he was busy with whatever his father had planned for him, and Orihime and Chad might come along, with Sora, just to see what was going on. Captain Hitsuguya and the other Shinigami might not come at all, since their job at the moment was to protect Karakura Town and ready themselves for the eventual fight with Aizen's forces, and he was perfectly fine with them not coming for that reason, so long as they didn't lie to him about why they weren't coming. Ichigo, of course, was coming along to see what the problem was, especially since Sombra had risked his life to hold off Zangetsu while he tamed the power that was inside him... but even then Sombra knew that none of them would be ready for the sheer power and the shocking appearance of who he used to be, something that he was still coming to terms with.
Even as he thought about it, and wondered how he could have been a pony when there weren't any creatures like that in this world, he thought back to his own Bankai training, where Shokyo showed him the final technique that she had told him to use against no one else, as she had prepared him for today... and he knew that he might need to use it, but would only be able to truly make the decision once the battle between him and Rey started.
"Hey, Sombra, I have a question." Ichigo spoke up, because after taking a few hours of rest he decided that it was time to move around, though that meant that he wanted to ask the one question that was bugging him, once he heard what his friend intended to do, "How are you going to pull so many people into your inner world?"
"I'll be using a Kido spell that's like Tanma Otoshi, or Time-Out Drop, which is what Shinji used on you earlier," Sombra replied, showing the Visored that he understood the techniques that a good number of Shinigami knew, only that his skills meant that he knew the vast majority of them, before he turned towards Ichigo, "I'll have a few people touch my arms and my back, and then the rest of the group will be touching their backs to make sure that they're within range of the spell that I intend to use. Once everyone is ready I'll have them close their eyes and focus on me, allowing me a few moments to prepare the Kido and then transport all of us into my inner world, just like what happened to you when you disconnected from this world and went to fight Zangetsu."
"You mean my inner Hollow." Ichigo stated, once more confused as to why Sombra insisted that Zangetsu and his inner Hollow were one and the same, just like his inner Hollow had insisted many times while they were fighting, before wondering if it was only something that Hollows and Arrancar knew about.
"The point is that once everyone is ready, I'm going to pull us into the Crystal Empire." Sombra said, deciding that now wasn't the time to point out to Ichigo that he was being a fool and that the person he had been fighting was actually his Zanpakuto spirit, as he had his own spirit to take out, "From there you and the others will get a front row seat to the battle between me and the spirit of my Arrancar Zanpakuto... as well as seeing who I used to be, before becoming an Arrancar and losing all my memories."
Ichigo nodded his head and kept quiet, as the idea that he and the others were going to see the old Sombra, who had dominated Grimmjow during their fight after Sombra looked at his Arrancar Zanpakuto, made him nervous, more so than when it was him fighting his inner Hollow, and he knew that the stakes were high. If Sombra won, and bested Rey in battle, he'd be able to stabilize his own immense powers and gain the knowledge of who he used to be, but on the other hand, if Sombra lost the battle, they'd be facing a creature so evil and terrifying that they might not be able to stop him. What he noticed was that there was something about Rey that Sombra hadn't told them, something that he had uncovered when he was trying to convince the Visored to grant him the knowledge he needed to force his inner Hollow into submission, and he had the feeling that they'd be finding that out when they went into Sombra's inner world. His own thoughts were interrupted when Yoruichi returned and told Sombra that she informed everyone that he wanted to invite to observe the fight, while saying that it seemed like the majority of them would be coming at the time he specified, before she told all of them what Captain Ukitake had discovered.
Sombra was shocked that Aizen was planning on erasing Karakura Town from existence and killing everyone that had called the town home, all to forge a key that would allow him to enter the domain of the Soul King, a creature he knew a little bit about, thanks to Urahara's books about Soul Society, and likely try to replace, revealing that they needed to be prepared for the eventual battle that was coming their way.
When the morning of the next day finally arrived, and Sombra rose to meet it with the Visored, he had to admit that he was a little surprised when they opened the main door of the warehouse, about halfway really, and found everyone that he had invited was present. Urahara, Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu were present, like he had figured they would be since they were all friends with each other and he felt that they deserved to be here when he did this, and he also discovered that Orihime, Sora, and Chad were present as well, though what was surprising about that was the Quincy that Sombra had felt near Uryu the night the Grand Fisher arrived had come to the warehouse for a few minutes. Ryuken Ishida pulled him to the side, as this was private and only for him to know at the moment, and told him that Uryu was 'just fine', as he was recovering from the intense training that he had put his son through in order to allow Uryu to regain the powers he lost in Soul Society, before walking away when the message was delivered, indicating that it would be some time before Uryu was ready to do anything. Once that was taken care of he turned to the real surprise, as Captain Hitsuguya and the rest of the Shinigami had arrived as well, though each of them had their own reason for wanting to come here, such as Ikkaku gaining information for Zaraki in case the two of them battled in the future, and he barely listened to the others as he and the Visored welcomed them inside.
Once everyone was inside the warehouse, and the main door was closed, Hachi restored the barrier that protected the building as the entire group headed down to the underground training area, which was where they all gathered as Sombra took a seat in the middle of the area... before everyone followed the instructions that he gave them, making sure that they were touching someone that was touching his arms and back, before they all closed their eyes and he worked the spell that he had been preparing, sending them all into his inner world in a matter of seconds.
Sombra heard a couple of moans, mostly from the Shinigami and his Human friends while Ichigo and the Visored made no noises at all, as he opened his eyes and found that his spell had worked like it was supposed to, as they were now standing on one of the balconies that the palace in the center of the empire had. He walked towards the edge of the balcony and looked out at the empire once more, taking in the sights that he had gotten used to when he was training who Shokyo, and he could hear the gasps coming from everyone else, indicating that they had opened their eyes and were seeing what he was staring at. Even though the Crystal Empire was surrounded by darkness, something that came from his Arrancar Zanpakuto, before he even knew where to find it, it was still a breathtaking place and he wondered, for what seemed like the hundredth time, if he had lived here at one point in time, which could have been why it could have been chosen to be his inner world. As he glanced at the empire, however, he heard another gasp that wasn't from the group behind him and glanced down at the street that was below them, where his eyes widened as he noticed a fair number of pony creatures, mares and stallions alike, standing all over the street, looking at them with shock in their eyes.
He had no idea what was going on at the moment, since they hadn't been here when he arrived to learn the name of his Arrancar Zanpakuto, but at the same time he had the feeling that Rey was responsible foe what he was seeing, and that meant he needed to act quickly, before things got out of control.
"Wow... this place is so beautiful." Orihime commented, as the empire, even in it's darkened state thanks to what Rey was doing to the area around it, was still stunning to those that were seeing it for the first time, and many members of the group nodded their heads, before she noticed something odd, "Sombra, what are those?"
"Ponies... no doubt the inhabitants of the Crystal Empire, brought back by Rey to tempt me," Sombra commented, but at the same time everyone else seemed to notice the ponies that were in the streets surrounding the palace, as they were everywhere, before he stared off at the mass of darkness that was off to the east of the palace, where he noticed his foe moving in the shadows, "You guys had better get comfy, because I suspect that this fight is going to be so intense that it rocks the barrier that's keeping the empire safe from the snow and the cold... and Rey's likely getting impatient."
Ichigo and the others watched as Sombra jumped into the air and started to make his way over to where he had seen his opponent, though he was still shocked by the fact that there were ponies, as Sombra called them, walking around the streets, only now they were standing still and following his friend with their eyes. When Sombra reached his destination, however, they all watched as the shadows parted and a unicorn stallion, who looked like his friend in an entirely different form and happened to be wearing some metallic armor with a red cape, stepped forward to greet him.
"He's... a unicorn?!" Ichigo said, as he couldn't believe what he was seeing, though all he could see was that Sombra had been killed at some point, forced to become a Hollow, and then eventually gained the power to become an Arrancar, unless he was wrong about something.
"It would seem so... and an evil one at that." Urahara commented, as he could feel the sheer power that the unicorn was emitting at the moment, something that the others could feel as well, and he knew that Sombra was going to be in for one of the toughest fights of his life, "Now then, let's see what happens when they start fighting."
Sombra, on the other hand, sighed as he stared at the pony version of himself, as it was hard to believe that this had been him at one point in time, that he had been an evil unicorn king, whose power was so great that he had pushed him to the side like he was nothing, but, as Rey stepped out of the shadows, Sombra drew Shokyo from her scabbard and readied himself for the battle that would be starting.
"We're not even half a minute into seeing each other and you're ready for a fight," Rey commented, though at the same time his horn glowed and an ebony katana, a mirror image of the one that was currently attached to the other side of Sombra's belt, appeared in the air near him as he readied himself as well, "I also see that you aren't using the blade that my spirit is currently stuck in at the moment."
"I don't want to hand my body over to you on a silver platter," Sombra replied, as he knew that if he drew the other blade, while Rey was still in the position that he was in, he'd likely lose his body before he could do anything else, before he focused his mind and his power, "Shimmer, Shokyo."
As Shokyo expanded into her crystalline broadsword form, and his reiatsu increased accordingly, Sombra rushed through the space between them and swung down at Rey, intending to use some of the power to knock him backwards, but what really happened was that Rey raised his own blade and parried the attack like it was nothing... before his horn glowed and he pulled them out into the snowy area that was some distance from the barrier, where he pushed Sombra back as the shadows danced around his form.
"Ah, it is good that you are so eager to fight... but, since it's been some time since I've used this body, I think I'll make some modifications," Rey commented, his tone revealing that whatever he was planning was only temporary, before the shadows consumed him and caused Sombra to raise his weapon, but not a few seconds later the shadows parted to reveal his own body standing before him, only there was an ebony tint to it and the armor his other self had been wearing had been modified to fit his more Human form, "Ah, that's better. Come, show me the power you possess, and I will show you my terrifying might."
Sombra stared at Rey for a moment, trying to figure out what his angle was, before the two of them flashed through the air and let their blades collide in the middle of the area that they were in, the force of their individual reiatsu pushing against each other and caused the air to shudder. Not even a few seconds later the two of them separated from each other, giving them a moment to stare at their opponent, before they started flashing around the battlefield that Rey had chosen for their duel, their blades connecting as one of them attacked and the other defended. When Sombra came from above with a downward swing Rey would either move to the side and avoid the attack, or he would swing his blade and catch the attack before it could hit him, though both instances were generally followed by him using an attack that required Sombra to do the same thing he did. Despite the fact that Rey didn't have the same experience that Sombra had, with moving with the body that he possessed, he did have his experience during his battle with Grimmjow to fall back on and that, somehow, allowed him to keep pace with Sombra's movements, meaning that their speed and power was just about equal at the moment... even though Sombra knew that he needed his Bankai to get anywhere, as this was just him testing Rey's abilities before he went all out, as was his custom when battling his enemies.
Unfortunately, however, that was when Rey decided to beat him to the punch and actually revealed the true power that he was wielding, as the moment he did so he pushed Sombra backwards and kicked him in the chest, sending him flying into the snow and caused a crater to form around him, but despite that Sombra wasn't about to be overpowered and defeated in such a short amount of time.
The sinister mist returned to Rey's eyes as he connected himself to the darkness, where he raised his empty hand and started firing several volleys of his Bala Oscura at Sombra, who had to duck and weave through the air as he attempted to avoid the bullet type attacks that his other self was using against him. It was hard to tell if Rey was intentionally missing or if the time spent away from his attacks had dulled his aim, because when he was fighting Grimmjow he had hit him with precision and right now Sombra was able to avoid his attacks like they were nothing, but just as he determined that his foe was messing with him Rey appeared above him and loosed his Prensa Oscura into his back, allowing the gravity to knock him out of the sky and send him flying straight into the ground. In the following seconds Rey grinned and loosed another volley of his Bala Oscura down upon Sombra's pinned body, putting several small dents into his back before hitting the sphere that was keeping him pinned to the ground, allowing Sombra to bypass the rest of the assault before coughing, as he now understood what happened to Grimmjow, especially since Rey was giving him the cruel smile this time... before he flashed down to where he was standing and knocked him into the sky with the same uppercut that he used against Grimmjow, and then kicked him right back into the ground.
When Sombra picked himself up he knew that holding back wasn't going to be an option at the moment, which was why he shifted Shokyo towards the ground and let his reiatsu flare as he called out the one word that would help him out, and not a few seconds later, as the wind and smoke disappeared, he stood there in his Bankai state, his armor shining as his skin took on the same transparent texture as the blade he held.
"Ah, so this is your Bankai," Rey commented, though at the same time he frowned, as if he felt that there should have been more to the technique and that he was disappointed him Sombra at the moment, before he raised a hand and beckoned for him to come at him once more, "I expected more from you. Why don't you draw my blade and see if you can handle a fraction of my true power."
Sombra knew that Rey was trying to trick him into drawing the other blade, if the events with Grimmjow were anything to go by, and he wasn't going to fall for that, so he sent some of his reiatsu into the ground for a few seconds and then, once he was ready, he drew himself to his full height and charged at Rey, who simply smiled as he parried the incoming attack that Sombra sent his way. That was only the beginning, as Sombra let his Hatakesho, his Field of Crystal, technique take effect as a number of crystal spires erupted from the ground around them, some of them reaching for Rey and missing him by just a few inches, while at the same time filling the area that they were fighting in with enough spires to make it feel like they were fighting inside a city or a town. Because Rey was distracted by the pillars and spikes, and his guard seemed to be open, Sombra flashed into the air behind him and gathered his reiatsu into his blade, to which he loosed a powerful Seiga, his Energy Fang, right into his opponent's back and blew the area around Rey to pieces, though as that happened Sombra landed nearby to keep an eye out for his opponent. When the smoke cleared Sombra found that Rey was almost undamaged by the attack, despite the scuff marks on his left glove, which meant that he might have used it to either catch the attack or used it as a shield when he noticed it coming, but all this told him was that Rey was strong and that he needed a good plan if he wanted to make it out of here without failing in his mission.
Rey grinned for a moment as he flashed into the air and grabbed onto Sombra's face before he had a chance to move out of the way, where he spun around and hurled Sombra into the side of one of the nearby crystal pillars, only for the force of the throw to send him through the entirety of it and into the side of the second one, destroying it as well. Sombra coughed as he pulled himself up from the wreckage of the crystals he had been tossed through, as he wasn't expecting his foe to actually apply such force when battling him, but at the same time he moved his muscles for a few seconds, to be sure that he was ready, before noticing that Rey was coming at him once more. Rey flew through the air and rapidly approached where Sombra was standing, though at the same time Sombra gathered his reiatsu into the edge of his blade and loosed a wave of energy at his target, who continued to wear his grin as he spun around and swung his right arm, to which a black wave of energy rushed forward and slammed into the brilliant blue one that Sombra had used. The two attacks collided in the middle of the air between them, looking like two crescents striking each other, before detonating and kicking up a large amount of smoke in the process... but as that happened Sombra jumped backwards, landed on the closest crystal pillar that was near him, and raised his left hand as his reiatsu started to gather in front of his palm.
As a black sphere with a green outline formed in front of his palm, and he intended to charge it to the point where it could blow a good portion of the area in front of him to pieces, the smoke around the pillars he had been thrown through earlier cleared and he noticed that Rey was forming a sinister purple colored Cero, which matched the mist that was coming from his eyes. The moment the two of them decided to release their attacks the beams raced forwards and collided with each other in the area between them, causing an immediate explosion that rocked the area and threw fire everywhere, all while Sombra moved to a better vantage point to figure out where Rey was heading. As it turned out Rey flew into the area above him and grinned as he leveled his empty hand towards Sombra, the familiar form of a Cero having formed while he was moving, and Sombra did the next best thing, he activated his Shukan, his Guard's Barrier, and formed a dome around him as the attack came at him, causing the space around him to be covered in smoke as the beam connected with his defenses, which ended up cracking in the process. It seemed that Rey had been planning on him doing that, as the moment Sombra lowered the barrier, and started to prepare his next attack for when the smoke cleared, Rey flashed through the air and surprised him, before loosing a wave of energy that struck his chest and sent him flying back down towards the ground, where it exploded the moment he struck the crystal pillar that had been in the way.
Sombra moaned as he picked himself up and the pillar fell apart, as he wasn't surprised that Rey was dominating the fight, but he was shocked by the fact that he wasn't able to actually do anything substantial against his foe, even though he was beginning to see the pattern that Rey was using... and he knew that he needed to use the most powerful technique that Shokyo had taught him, as this was the reason that it existed in the first place, to help him beat his old self.
A few moments ticked by as Sombra readied himself, allowing his full power to rise to the surface this time around, before he opened his eyes and flashed up to where Rey was standing, who was happy to see that he had taken the time he offered him to continue the battle, before swinging his sword and gladly let his opponent block his attack. As that happened Sombra let the air around him shudder as he pushed against Rey, who seemed happy that he was now offering him a challenge, before he spun around and kicked Rey in the side of his chest, knocking him through the air as he followed after him. In the following seconds Sombra raised his blade, now having energies dance around his weapon, before he loosed a Seiga right into Rey's exposed chest, the force of which sent his opponent flying towards the ground and blasted another crater into the ground, only for Rey to fly out of the smoke and come at him once more. Sombra dodged the attack that was coming his way and stared at his opponent as blue energy danced around his left hand, an indication that he had been planning something else and that Rey had walked right into his trap, meaning that this fight might not be as cut and dry as his old self seemed to think.
"O Lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man!" Sombra recited, going through the entire incantation, since that would allow him to use the Kido spell to it's greatest potential since no incantation meant that it was significantly weaker, and right now he needed his attacks to be powerful, "Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws. Hado Number 33: Sokatsui!"
In the following seconds he loosed a powerful torrent of blue energy that rippled through the air and struck Rey in the middle of his chest, which was followed by an instantaneous explosion as his attack made contact with his opponent and swallowed the crystals that were around him. Sombra, on the other hand, removed his right hand from Shokyo's handle, allowing her to float in the air near him, before he lowered both of his hands towards the smoke and let some red energy dance around them, where he started 'punching' the ground and loosed the Bala technique that he had been told about when he confronted Ulquiorra and Yammy earlier. He was able to send a few of the fast Bala blasts through the air and struck the ground that Rey had been knocked into, destroying more of the area in the process, before he sensed Rey's movements and stopped doing that, where he transferred his reiatsu back into Shokyo and loosed a Seiga through the air to the left, where Rey appeared with a shock on his face before the attack collided with his chest and detonated, blasting him out of the air and causing him to fall towards the ground once more.
This time Sombra followed after Rey and appeared near him when he got up from the crater that had formed around his opponent, where the two of them allowed their blades to connect with each other and caused the air to shudder, but instead of doing anything else they stood there and let their blades dance as they fought in the immediate area, one of them attacking and one of them defended. As the two of them did that, however, Sombra discovered that Rey's chest armor was scratched up at the moment, a result of taking his attacks to the chest, but despite that his foe was still fighting with all his power, showing him that he wasn't really hurt in any fashion and that he was still using all of his strength in the battle that they were having. Of course, as he parried the next attack that was aimed at his chest, he knew that Rey was holding back his powerful techniques, as there had to be something other than the number of attacks that Rey had used in his battle against Grimmjow earlier, which worried him since the Pilar Abisal, his Abyssal Pillar, hadn't been used yet and it was only a matter of time until he activated that technique. Of the named techniques that he knew about, from the ones that his other self had used against Grimmjow, the last one that Rey has used was the one he was keeping an eye out for, though at the same time he was surprised that Rey wasn't using the shadows against him.
The unfortunate part came when Rey's energy danced around him and he forced the two of them to separate from each other, but this time around he remained where he was standing and stared at Sombra, who was staring at him as he wondered what his old self was planning this time.
"Now this, THIS is what I expected when you activated your Bankai," Rey commented, showing that he was glad that Sombra was actually putting up a fight, as the beginning of their fight had been boring for him and he had some excitement from what had been going on, even if his armor had some scuff marks from the other attacks, "though at the same time I'm disappointed with you... you failed to account for something."
"Really? And what is that?" Sombra asked, though at the same time he prepared himself once more and readied his Zanpakuto, as his opponent's words could be intended to stall him long enough to charge whatever attack he was thinking about using, which was why he was making sure that Rey didn't get the chance to use that.
"You forgot the shadows," Rey stated, to which the shadows around him danced as he readied whatever attack he was preparing this time around, but that was followed by the sinister smile returning in full force once more, as if he had something else that Sombra didn't know about, before he snapped his fingers, "and, at the same time, you only tied your hands by bringing those 'friends' of yours to our inner world."
Sombra turned around for a moment as he heard a cracking sound, to which he, as well as the people that had come with him to his inner world, watched as the barrier that was protecting the Crystal Empire cracked as black gashes started to appear in the dome, before it shattered like it was made of glass and revealed that the entire city was now threatened by whatever Rey was planning. Rey, of course, smiled as he raised his hand and the shadows gathered together to form what appeared to be a large ball of dark energy, one that could easily wipe out the palace and the surrounding area that was around it, and Sombra realized what was going to happen, including the fact that this wasn't something that Orihime would be able to reject if it was thrown. A few seconds later Rey waved his hand in a throwing motion and the sphere went flying towards the Crystal Empire, to which Sombra flashed through the air and put himself between the empire and his opponent's attack, choosing to protect his friends and allies from what Rey was planning, before gasping as pain danced through his body as he forced the attack to stop just before where the barrier used to be and detonated, punching another crater into the ground and caused him to cough as he dropped to one knee for a moment.
He honestly never expected Rey to launch an attack at the empire itself, where his friends were watching the fight and were likely worried about him, and mentally cursed himself for not thinking about such a thing happening, but right now he needed to figure out what he was going to do to beat his old self, who was approaching him at the moment.
"Just as I thought, all I had to do was threaten your friends and you blindly rushed to their aid," Rey stated, though at the same time he stopped at the edge of Sombra's crater and stared down at him, as if his earlier excitement had been replaced by more disappointment, before he glanced at the weapon that Sombra wasn't using, "I've grown tired of you not using my blade, as that would have made this fight more than fair from the beginning, so I'm just going to bring an end to this battle and claim what is mine... and before I do that there are some things you need to see, to understand who we used to be before I take my rightful place as the King of the Crystal Empire, and you become nothing more than someone I've conquered and suppressed."
Sombra was expecting Rey to form something from the shadows and give him and presentation, or something like that, but what actually happened was his old persona sent the shadows at him and they wrapped around them, barely giving him a chance to flee, before the darkness surged into his mind and the world seem to go blank. That was followed by a serious of images being showed to him, from the moment Rey could form his first memory up till the end, the feelings that he felt every step of the way, when he was faced with obstacles that were in his way, and even Rey's thoughts on what was happening at any given moment. It was intense, Sombra could tell that the moment the images started to flow into his mind, and yet, as the memories flowed into him, he found himself staring at a much younger version of his pony self, and he was standing next to a young unicorn mare that had a pink-purple colored coat and a brilliant cornflower blue colored mane and tail, Radiant Hope as the memories informed him. He could tell, just from the tone that was used when the name was said, that at this point in time both he and Radiant had been close friends, as it appeared that they were actually the outcasts in the Crystal Empire, and that had formed a unique friendship between the two of them.
He observed them for a few moments, feeling Rey's old thoughts while this was going on, and he was sure that they would have been stuck in this situation for a long time, though when the two of them gazed at the crystalline heart that rested in the middle of the empire, however, things started to change. From what he could determine Radiant Hope had seen herself being a princess of some kind when she was older, something that he guessed even ponies dreamed of when they were fillies, while his younger self, on the other hand, was terrified of what the future held for him, no doubt seeing the darkness that Sombra was currently facing. Not too long after that the scene shifted to the two of them wanting to go to the Crystal Faire, where the memories informed him that it was an annual event that the Crystal Ponies, the ones that he had seen when he and the others arrived in his inner world, held every year to renew the spirit of love and unity to protect the empire from harm, though the downside was that Sombra's younger self fell ill when the faire came around and Radiant, being the good friend she was, stuck by his side and didn't leave him alone.
That happened for a number of years, where Radiant Hope couldn't attend the Crystal Faire as the younger Sombra suffered every year, the pain growing more and more intense as the years went by, before his only friend used her own magic and somehow healed Sombra, gaining her Cutie Mark, a mark that reflects that pony's special talents and were often related to their personality, in the process. Unfortunately that was followed by the princess of Canterlot, a kingdom that was some distance away from the Crystal Empire, inviting Radiant to come and study with them, to which Sombra watched as his younger self's only friend went off to see what Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had to offer, clearly with the intention of coming back to aid him and, perhaps, finally make it so he wasn't in pain when the annual faire happened. With his best friend no longer around, and none of the other ponies would talk to him for some odd reason, Sombra sadly watched as his younger self ran into the frozen wastes outside the empire and found a cave that held a red crystal, one that revealed that he was an Umbrum, a shadow pony, and that the power of the Crystal Heart was what was killing him every year when the Crystal Faire happened.
In Sombra's mind, despite the fact that he was witnessing all of this happen before his eyes, he realized that whoever had been speaking through the crystal had told his younger self the truth, as the Crystal Heart was at it's strongest when the Crystal Faire happened, which was the same day he was sick every year... and yet, even as he figured that out on his own, he watched as his younger self awakened his dormant powers, his horn turning from a straight unicorn horn and became the red curved horn he bared, before getting to work.
It was during that time that he came across another mare, not a Crystal Pony by the looks of her, that happened to be lost in the frozen wastes and, despite all the odds, she seemed to cause his younger self to remember Radiant Hope and helped her out with her directions. Oddly enough the mare was looking for a place for her and her younger sister, who was off having fun with a pegasus friend she had made, to move to so they could get away from their abusive mother, who seemed to love to beat them when one of them did something wrong, or when one of her subjects failed her and they happened to be present. Sombra then learned that the mare was a shapeshifter, a Changeling, and that her story was entirely true, that she and her sister, both heirs to the throne, were trying to leave their mother, the queen, before one of them ended up dead, and despite all that both of them found some interest in the other and a new relationship seemed to have been forged in the cave, with the crystal forgotten. It was the second time that his younger self felt love towards another, as the first was Radiant Hope, but after a few weeks the princess, Amaryllis as he found out, said that she needed to grab her sister, her little Chryssie, before anything happened to her... and, as fate would have it, that was the last time that his younger self saw the Changeling, but it wasn't because she had lied to him.
It just so happened that, during the time they had spent together, his younger self had cast a protection spell on the princess, to make sure that she was safe, and was only aware of it failing when someone even stronger than him severed the connection and ended Amaryllis' life... though the only thoughts that ran through his mind were getting back at the Crystal Empire, for the years of pain he had suffered, and then squish the Changeling Queen for what she had done.
Sombra watched as his younger self fulfilled his terrible destiny, as he eventually returned to the Crystal Empire with the sole intent of stealing the Crystal Heart, which would cause the barrier to fall and the frozen nature to come rushing in, but he had plans to prevent such a thing from happening. Princess Amore, the ruler of the Crystal Empire, knew that this was coming and confronted him, revealing that she had known the truth about him, the truth behind his torment when the Crystal Faire happened, and her belief that he could still choose his own destiny, one that wasn't down the dark road that his younger self was so keen to travel down, though Sombra could only watch what happened with a sad look in his eyes, as he had the feeling that he knew what was coming. Instead of turning to Princess Amore, and trying to cure himself of the pain he felt when the faire happened, his younger self channeled his own hate and rage into a powerful spell that turned Princess Amore into a black statue that appeared to be made out of crystals, one that he destroyed to prevent her from coming back to stop him, which started to usher in the birth of the dark being he had become. The first thing he did, after seizing control of the empire and enslaving the ponies that had annoyed and angered him, was start the construction of his mines, intending to release the rest of his kind, while also forging what would later become his signature armor, the same one that Rey was wearing.
What followed that was his younger self's bloody and terrible war with the Changeling Hive, where he used his great and terrible powers to carve his way through their ranks as he sought out their queen, and eventually he managed to lure Queen Crudelis into a one on one battle that he dominated rather easily. As it turned out, however, Crudelis, despite hating ponies as much as Sombra hated her, had turned to Canterlot for aid and, with the help of Radiant Hope, had convinced both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to come and take back the Crystal Empire while he was distracted. Based on what happened next Sombra discovered that the plan failed, because even in his weakened state, and defeat being imminent, his younger self threw the Crystal Heart into the chamber that he had prepared to hide it from everyone else and, with the last of his power, cast a curse on the entire empire before he was banished into the frozen north itself, causing the empire to disappear in the process. Even with the brief interaction with the princesses Sombra could tell that they were strong, which made sense considering that they moved the sun and moon every day, and knew that banishment had been the best thing they could do, even if they were horrified at the fact that his younger self banished both the empire and it's ponies for an undetermined amount of time.
As it turned out a thousand years had passed before the next substantial memory happened, where he found that his old self had been transformed into a pure shadowy creature that was still cursed to say only a few words, showing that he was in the middle of regaining his power and abilities, but that didn't stop him from trying to take the empire, which had appeared around the time he was released, from those that had claimed it... only for a group of mares, a baby dragon, and the new Crystal Princess to find the Crystal Heart and destroy him, reducing him to a mere shadow... a soul.
Even as Rey started to stop the memories, however, Sombra could tell what happened to him as he caught the last bits of what they remembered, as there had been a portal or a mirror of some kind, the feeling of great power if he crossed through it, and a threat thrown at a being that could have killed what remained of him. It all made sense now, everything that he had been wondering about since he first found himself in Karakura Town made perfect sense when he considered what he had seen, and yet, at the same time, his memories proved what the key to defeating Rey was. As he came to that conclusion, and started to prepare himself for what he was going to do, he could feel the shadows trying to take hold of his mind, just like Rey wanted to them to do so he could take control of his body, and he could feel the mist started to erupt from his eyes, but despite all that he focused on the one thing that Rey would never see coming, not when he gave up on it so long ago. With his determination set, and his mind focused, Sombra pushed the shadows back and pulled himself into a standing position, fighting the power of Rey's darkness back every step of the way, before he finally stood up and faced his opponent, who was shocked that he was still able to stand, especially after everything that he had shown him and what he had done to his body before that.
"Im... Impossible! You can still stand, after seeing and witnessing all of that?" Rey asked, as he couldn't believe that his opponent had taken on one of his strongest spells, even if it was to save his friends, and had withstood the sheer torrent of his memories without being swallowed by them, which he had been hoping for, "Just what are you?"
"I'm the Yang, the Light, to your Yin, your Darkness." Sombra replied, though at the same time he focused on the all joy, love, hope, and other positive emotions he had come to know and understand during his time in the World of the Living, especially the ones that he had gained during his time with Yoruichi, to which he felt the mist that was emitting from his right eye change to a brilliant blue color as Shokyo's blade glowed, "I'm the part of you that you cast aside all those years ago, sealed away and forgotten about, and when we came here you were knocked out of our body and I was given the chance to shine again. I represent the light, the joy, the happiness, and the hope that you once believed in, the polar opposites to everything that you feel and know... and now that I know everything once more, thanks to you, it's time that I stopped stalling and revealed the final technique that Shokyo taught me; Kotsuho Ryoku."
Rey watched as the crystalline pieces of Sombra's broadsword separated themselves from the blade, transforming it back into it's katana form while keeping him in his Bankai, before the crystalline fragments joined together into a single mass that resembled an artifact that he had tried to keep hidden before his defeat at the hooves of those mares. It only took a few seconds for the Crystal Heart, a representation of the actual artifact, to form where all the crystals were located, but once it was ready Sombra turned around and threw it towards the center of the Crystal Empire, where two equally sized pillars, one coming from the roof and one from the floor, appeared and caught it in the middle of the area between them, allowing it to float there without anything touching it. Not even a moment later the Crystal Ponies, having seen him sent the Crystal Heart back to it's pedestal, grinned as they adapted the same transparent form that he used when he was in his Bankai state and the same form that Shokyo took when she manifested herself, before bowing their heads towards the artifact, allowing the streets to suddenly start glowing with the same brilliant blue color that he was used to seeing, all while Rey was commanding them to stop and cease what they were doing... only for Sombra to flash forward, grab onto Rey's face with his empty hand, and then flashed them up to an area that was above the peak of the palace, where he threw his foe forward and faced him.
As Rey stopped fumbling around and faced him, however, the power that had been gathering all over the Crystal Empire surged back into the heart, which released a wave of energy that reformed the barrier that the duo was now floating outside of, before firing a beam of pure energy into the air that literally drove the shadows away and revealed a blue sky that had been blocked out by the darkness... and, while all that happened, Sombra held his blade to the side and the power of hope, of the Crystal Empire, gathered into his blade as a mass of brilliant blue energy formed around him.
"NO! I won't allow this to happen!" Rey shouted, his composure cracking, as he knew that this was how he had been defeated back when they were still a stallion, before the darkness wrapped around him and his blade was surrounded by a seething mass of dark energy, "This right here is my strongest attack, Rebanada del Olvido, or Oblivion Slice if you really want to know, and it has the power to decimate the entire empire... but I'll settle for killing you first!"
"It's appropriate that we end this with our strongest techniques," Sombra replied, though at the same time he noticed that both his and Rey's attacks had taken on the form of energy waves, no doubt making Ichigo made since he seemed to be sour about him 'copying' his Getsuga Tensho, but right now he was fine with what he had, "Kiboukado."
The instant he uttered the name, meaning Hope's Edge, both Sombra and Rey swung their arms and their crescent wave attacks rippled through the air, causing the entire area to shudder as the two of them collided with each other, but Sombra took the opportunity that was presented to him and flashed through the air as he used the two attacks as cover... though as the two attacks exploded, however, Rey barely had a chance to move as Sombra appeared behind him and drove his blade right into the area that his opponent's heart would be in, causing him to cough up blood for a moment.
"Sorry Rey, but the light wins this time around." Sombra commented, though in the end, while he was happy to win the battle, he only knew that this was the beginning, as he still needed to get Rey used to living in his inner world and see if he could get along with Shokyo, provided he didn't try to kill her every time he saw her.
"I guess... it does..." Rey said, though his tone revealed that he was tired of losing, to not just those that he had fought in the part, but, at the same time, he sighed as he glowed for a moment, to which he reverted back to his stallion form as Sombra descended towards the ground, allowing the mist to disappear from his eyes, "I... I guess I'll just build a house and stay out here... maybe make my own palace..."
As Sombra set him down, and found that Rey's wound healed once the blade was no longer in his chest, he guessed that one decisive strike was all that really mattered in a situation like this, indicating that he had truly won, though he did tell Rey that he'd be back, to truly understand who they used to be and see if he could improve Rey's own attitude towards those he despised in the past. At the same time, however, he felt his own power rising, indicating that Rey officially recognized him as the true Sombra, for now anyway since he was likely thinking of what he could do to turn the situation around and assume control, and that his true power was now accessible. He thought back to what Ikkaku said, about where he rested on the power scale of the ten Vasto Lorde that called Hueco Mundo home, and he realized that, with him being from a completely different world, there were actually eleven Vasto Lorde now, but for now he decided to keep that information to himself, until he had time to learn what Rey had to tell him about his old life.
One thing was for certain, and that was that Aizen wouldn't be expecting someone of his level to be fighting against him, and he was eager to see what sort of powers and abilities the remaining members of the Espada had... and he was certain that at least one of them would be terrified of him once they crossed paths in the near future.
Ulquiorra walked down the hallway that he was in, one of the many that were in the palace of Los Noches, and made his way toward the infirmary, where Yammy was scheduled to finish his surgery and his arm was supposed to be reattached completely, and there was a chance that Grimmjow was there as well. Lord Aizen had been true to his word, he had come by shortly after he had dropped the Sexta Espada off at the infirmary and stripped him of his rank and power, but despite that Grimmjow was still a powerful Arrancar, as he hadn't lost much of his power in the process. At the same time he found that his thoughts were focused on the powerful Arrancar that was likely to become the Dios Hueco, the Hollow above Hollows, and that he remembered Grimmjow's words, that he and the other Espada might not be able to stop him if he ascended to his full power. It was possible that Sombra could dismantle the entirety of Lord Aizen's army all by himself, if he was already able to stand against the Sexta Espada, but right now he didn't have the power to do anything to him and those above him, meaning that they still had a chance to defeat him... though as he walked down the hallway, and neared the infirmary, he felt the air of Hueco Mundo shudder for a few seconds before disappearing, something that he and the others must have felt.
He glanced at the door in front of him and opened it, finding Yammy, with his arm reattached, smashing the poor nurse Arrancar into the wall, killing her instantly despite the fact that she had made sure that he could resume his duties as the Diez Espada, the Tenth and lowest member of the group.
"Yammy, did you feel that disturbance just now?" Ulquiorra asked, though at the same time he knew that this wasn't a matter of his Pesquisa being great or not, as that felt like the power that he had told Lord Aizen about, back when he first encountered Sombra.
"I must have missed it... I was too busy testing my arm." Yammy replied, though as he said that he frowned, as he was annoyed with something that was attached to the restored limb, before he sighed and pulled on his jacket, covering the tattoo of the number ten that was on his left shoulder.
"I, however, felt it." another voice said, to which Ulquiorra turned his head and found Grimmjow leaning against the wall, though at the same time he had the same look in his eyes that he had seen when the unfortunate Arrancar had been brought back to Hueco Mundo, before Grimmjow glanced up at him, "The shudder in the air... Sombra's power has risen to the level of the Dios Hueco, so it's only a matter of time until Hueco Mundo's true ruler comes for his throne."
Ulquiorra nodded his head for a second, finding it odd to be agreeing with Grimmjow, but he had the feeling that Lord Aizen had a plan in mind to defeat Sombra, as he hadn't flinched when he revealed what he might become, and it was only a matter of time until they found out whatever plan he was going to put in motion.
After Sombra dealt with Rey, and made sure that Shokyo would help the other spirit settle into his inner world, he returned to the group that he had brought with him and activated the second part of the spell that he had used to get them all here in the first place, transporting them all back to their bodies and allowing them to move again. He expected that many of them had questions for him, in regards to the Crystal Empire, the ponies that had appeared when they entered his inner world, and the fact that his old self was a pony, but since he was still coming to terms with what he had been shown, when Rey tried to take over, Sombra told them that some of the answers he didn't know and would have to get the information out of the spirit in his Arrancar Zanpakuto in the future. Certain members of the group, such as Captain Hitsuguya, were just happy for him winning his inner battle, even if Rey had started out the battle in a winning manner until Sombra turned the tables and finished the battle, and they said nothing as both the Shinigami and Visored went back to what they had been doing before Sombra invited them to watch his inner battle, and that was training for the next arrival of Aizen's Arrancar.
Yoruichi, on the other hand, remained behind with him and Ichigo, as she was curious as to why Sombra hadn't said anything about what he had seen, since she was sure that Rey had shown him everything that he could remember, and while she was correct, as that had happened, Sombra told her that he needed time to come to terms with what he had seen, as there were some events in his past that he needed to think about before he told anyone about them. He also wasn't all that surprised that Yoruichi had figured out that he wasn't telling the others the truth, as his memories had been locked and he said that he'd need to get them from Rey, but at the same time Yoruichi was willing to accept what he had said, as she knew that he needed time to do what he wanted to do. Despite the fact that his legs ended in hooves, he had a pony tail and pony ears, and he had a curved horn, Yoruichi also told him that she wasn't too surprised to find that he had once been a stallion, before coming to this world and becoming what he was now, but while Sombra knew that the others were thinking the same thing he decided to tell no one about being from another world, not until they were done with the war that they were currently in with Aizen's forces.
That night Sombra, for the first time since he walked out of the Garganta and appeared in front of Urahara's shop, actually dreamed when he fell asleep, going back to a time before his change into the tyrant that his world likely knew him as, if they bothered to record him, and when the sun rose in his dream he woke to find it happening in this world as well, telling him that he had slept till the morning like usual.
Once Sombra had defeated Rey, and Ichigo had subdued Zangetsu, the real training began, as Hiyori, with the other Visored watching them, insisted that she be the one to smack Ichigo around while he practiced his Hollowfication, or rather him gathering his reiatsu together and forming his mask on his face, just like the Visored could do. It was an interesting process to watch, as while Sombra could tell that Ichigo was slower when he put on his mask, since he wasn't used to the process yet, he could also tell that his power was greater when he was in this state, making him wonder just how strong Ichigo would be if he went into his Bankai state. From what he could tell Hiyori was trying to force Ichigo to extend the amount of time he could use his Hollow mask, telling him that these things had a time limit until they shattered and were reduced to nothing, but at the same time he noticed something that was wrong with the scenario, keeping Ichigo in his Shikai state, when he preferred to use his Bankai all the time against his opponents, wasn't the way to go, as it seemed to be a slow process.
When he decided that he had watched Ichigo's training enough, to know exactly what was going on at the moment, Sombra got up from where he was sitting and removed Hiyori from where she was standing, before turning towards Ichigo and told him to use his Bankai, and then follow it up with his mask. Of course Ichigo questioned him, as he wasn't entirely sure that he should be pissing off the Visored once more, especially Hiyori, though Sombra informed him that doing this would allow them to truly test his power and push the amount of time he could use his mask. The rest of the Visored raised their eyebrows as Ichigo did as Sombra said, first activating his Bankai and then pulling on his mask, but that was when Sombra surprised him and not only drew Shokyo from her scabbard, but also drew Rey with his left hand, with nothing happening to him in the process. The first thing Sombra did was release his reiatsu, keeping it at the low end of what he was capable of while showing that he was a Vasto Lorde, before he flashed forward and started attacking Ichigo as the two of them flashed around the training area, this time with the intent to harm their opponent.
The reason Sombra was doing it this way was because he knew that Ichigo's skills really expanded when he was in a life or death situation, and battling someone that had the amount of reiatsu that Sombra had would be just the thing that Ichigo needed to raise his own skills at the speed that Shinji and Hiyori had been talking about.
A few hours later, when they reached a point where they could break, Yoruichi approached them and told Sombra that Captain Hitsuguya, along with Lieutenant Matsumoto, Ikkaku, and Yumichika were going to one of the parks that the town had, where they were going to do their own Jinzen, sword meditation as Sombra recalled, along with other types of training to improve their skills. Renji, on the other hand, was staying at Urahara's shop for the duration of their stay in the World of the Living and was currently training Chad, using his own Bankai against their friend in an attempt to rapidly increase his own power to the point where he could be of assistance to them when Aizen's Arrancar arrived. As it turned out Rukia, Orihime, and Sora had gotten permission to go back to Soul Society, where the three of them intended to train and prepare themselves for the battles to come, especially since Orihime wanted to get the power to assist the group in protecting their town and Sora wanted the power to protect both his sister and the other people that happened to call Karakura Town home.
Sombra was happy to hear that everyone was preparing for the battle ahead of them, especially since there was no telling when Aizen's forces might arrive to do battle with them, and when Ichigo took a longer break than normal he held a hand out and caused an annoyed Rey to materialize, more because of his defeat and not because he had been called to do some training with Sombra, while Shokyo joined them moments later. He informed the Visored that he was doing this, as in training with both spirits of his Zanpakutos, because he wanted to master the art of using Rey in battle, if he wanted to go with just that one blade, and even begin to tap into the art of using both of them at the same time, being the only Arrancar to be able to dual wield, in the history of Soul Society. Despite his sour mood Rey was more than willing to try and beat him again, and working along side Shokyo seemed to be hard for him, considering that she seemed to actually represent the very artifact that had been his downfall, but at the very least he acknowledged that Sombra was the one in charge and listened to him, which was why they were training whenever Ichigo needed to take a long break from the training that Sombra was putting him through.
He knew that all of them were going to need all the power they could muster when it came time for their next battle with Aizen's Arrancar, something that they all knew was coming, and despite the fact that Captain Hitsuguya claimed that the battle would be taking place in winter, a few months from now, Sombra had the feeling that the reality of the situation was going to be completely different.
Ulquiorra walked down one of the many hallways of Las Noches, heading to a very special room that only certain Arrancar gathered in when their Lord was busy using the Hogyoku, as it was unofficially known as the Room of Rebirth, or Sala de Renacimiento as some of the Arrancar called it. The reason only some of the Arrancar gathered in that room was because they liked to watch Lord Aizen transform another willing Hollow, usually a Gillian or an Adjuchas, into an Arrancar that would be joining their army, though oddly enough Ulquiorra noted that their Lord had not bothered to replace the five Arrancar that Grimmjow had lost, meaning that his focus was on something else at the moment. Walking beside him was none other than Yammy, who sometimes acted like he was his enforcer or something, but Ulquiorra only let him follow him around because there were rare times where Yammy actually produced decent results in his missions, though it was only bad luck that he had to fight both Sombra and Ichigo the last time they were in the World of the Living, which was on the third of September... meaning that since today was the morning of the twenty-ninth, as Lord Aizen had asked him to keep track of the days in the World of the Living, it had been twenty-six days since that event.
He paused his thoughts for a moment, just as he was about to remember what else Lord Aizen had asked him to do when he received the order to keep track of what day it was, as both he and Yammy came to the largest door in the hallway, as it was much taller than the other ones, and he knew where they were.
"It is Ulquiorra, along with Yammy." Ulquiorra stated, as there was a reiatsu signature attached to the door, one that was always there when their Lord was busy preparing the ritual for a new Arrancar to be born, before the seal broke apart to allow them passage, "We're coming in."
Ulquiorra opened the door and found a darkened room, that happened to be lit up around the center while keeping the edges shrouded in the darkness, before spotting Lord Aizen standing in the middle of the room, where he happened to be standing in front of a bound Arrancar that was cover in the same white cloth that was used on all of them. He then discovered that five more of the Espada were present, as standing near the back part of the room was Coyote Starrk, or just Starrk since he didn't like to be called by his first name, known among the Arrancar as the Primera Espada, the strongest of their group, and he looked as tired as ever. Standing off on Lord Aizen's right, wearing his strange elongated mask and a frilly noble's jacket in place of the normal Arrancar clothing, was the Noveno Espada, Aaroniero Arruruerie, who seemed to be focused on waiting for what their Lord was going to do. Off on Lord Aizen's left was a tall and lanky Arrancar that wore an eyepatch over his left eye and wore a modified hood that resembled a spoon, Nnoitra Gilga, though Ulquiorra recognized him as the Quinto Espada, the one that had been between him and Grimmjow, before the blue haired Arrancar lost both his left arm and his rank. Directly behind Nnoitra, sitting on the edge of the cube that allowed her to be above him, was none other than Teir Harribel, the Tres Espada, though it was easy for Ulquiorra to recognize her because of her golden colored hair and her jacket, which happened to have a high collar that covered the lower part of her face while only covering the upper half of her breasts... though why she was like that Ulquiorra had no idea, nor did he care enough to find out the reason behind her odd dressing habits.
Directly in front of him, and sitting between him and Lord Aizen, was Luppi Antenor, the new Sexta Espada, though by looking at his effeminate features one would assume that he was a young girl or something, though Luppi smiled at him and Yammy as they entered... though as the door closed he glanced off to the left and noticed that Grimmjow was present as well, though he had separated himself from those that had been his equals, since his rank had been taken from him.
"Good of you to come, Ulquiorra, Yammy." Aizen said, knowing that they would have come to this area to see what he was doing, though at the same time he also knew that Ulquiorra was taking note of who was present, before he turned his attention back to what he had been preparing to do, which was when he placed the Hogyoku, just the sphere since the seal case was gone at this point, into the waiting receptacle that was in front of him, "We're just finishing up here."
"How far along is the Hogyoku's awakening?" Ulquiorra inquired, as while he had no desire to steal or use the artifact that had created him, his brothers, and his sisters, he did want to know more about it, just for the sake of not being caught off guard when it did something, and he had a general idea of the length of time it should take the artifact to wake up.
"Around fifty percent. Right on schedule... at least according to Soul Society." Aizen replied, as Ulquiorra was one of the few Arrancar that he would willingly answer when a question about the Hogyoku was presented, as he was the only one that seemed remotely interested in it with no motives attached to his questions, "It makes sense, of course, that those who have never held the Hogyoku in their own hands wouldn't realize the truth of the situation... and it's likely that Urahara Kisuke doesn't know either, since he immediately sealed the Hogyoku away after it's creation. After being released from it's seal, and entering the 'sleep' state, and temporarily merging with someone with twice the reiatsu of a normal Captain, the Hogyoku will fully awaken and it's full power can be used, if only for a moment."
As Aizen talked he placed his right hand close to the Hogyoku and allowed a connection to form, the same one that he described to Ulquiorra, and the sealing case that all Arrancar were born in, something that reformed when the room was no longer in use, glowed for a few seconds before shattering into a thousand pieces. The Hollow that had been in the sealing case dropped his arms and remained there for a moment, allowing Ulquiorra to see that the newest Arrancar was thin and appeared to have a more childish appearance, though the remains of his mask formed a three pointed tiara on top of his head. While all this happened, however, Aizen also managed to reclaim the Hogyoku before it could touch the floor, before he and the others focused on their newest ally, even though he had special plans for the Arrancar that was now sitting in front of him.
"May we have your name, new brother of ours?" Aizen asked, as it was customary for him, being the sole person that could channel the power of the Hogyoku and cause it to create more Arrancar, to ask every Arrancar that he created their name, that way the others knew who the newcomer was as well.
"Wonderweiss..." the new Arrancar replied, his voice revealing that he was likely just as childish as his form suggested, though none of the Arrancar brought that up to their Lord, not when this had to have been done on purpose and for a very specific reason, "Wonderweiss... Margela..."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Wonderweiss." Aizen said, though at the same time Harribel jumped off the cube she was sitting on and draped a robe over the new Arrancar, his new clothing as it were, before collecting the large longsword that was resting nearby, his Arrancar Zanpakuto, before turning his gaze back towards the door, "Do you remember the order I gave you, Ulquiorra?"
"I do." Ulquiorra replied, though as he said that he suspected that he knew what was coming, as he had been given a full briefing when he had been assigned this particular mission, and if he was right he already had an idea of what he was going to do before leaving Las Noches.
"It's time to carry it out." Aizen stated, to which he pocketed the Hogyoku and gestured to the Arrancar that were in the room with them, though the gesture really referred to all the Arrancar that had been created so far, including the newly born Wonderweiss, who would be difficult to kill if he was picked, "I'll let you make the decision. Take whoever you want for your mission."
"Even Grimmjow?" Ulquiorra asked, though it was more because of the fact that the last time Grimmjow went to the World of the Living he had nearly died, but that was because he had foolishly tried to kill the most powerful Arrancar he had ever faced, bringing him to the position that he was currently in.
"Especially Grimmjow." Aizen replied, as he had been thinking of sending Grimmjow along to see if he could test just how strong Ichigo Kurosaki had gotten since the former Sexta Espada and his Fraccion went to the World of the Living, and he was slightly happy to see that, without even being told what to do, Grimmjow sighed and jumped down to where Ulquiorra was standing, as he knew what was going on just by what they had said.
As Ulquiorra moved to gather the rest of his strike force, and prepare for his mission, Aizen walked out of the room and headed back to the throne room, as it was only a matter of time until Ulquiorra brought him what he wanted, and then he could put his plan into action.
It was a peaceful day in the park that Hitsuguya had chosen, as there weren't too many people around that would bother them, allowing him, Matsumoto, Ikkaku, and Yumichika some time to relax and open themselves to their Zanpakuto, as today was another one of their Jinzen days. Unfortunately those days usually turned sour when someone, generally Yumichika, started complaining about their Zanpakuto not wanting to materialize so they could learn their Bankai, though at the same time his own Lieutenant was having problems of her own. The bad part about that was that both Matsumoto and Yumichika always had bad things to say about their Zanpakuto, as Yumichika kept calling Fuji Kujaku vain for thinking that it was the most beautiful thing in the world, while at the same time Matsumoto said that Haineko was selfish, lazy, moody, and even stupid. The problem with all of that was that their connections to their Zanpakuto suffered because of how they viewed their weapon, because the personality of their Zanpakuto spirits were similar to their own, and yet they should have known that and right now they were just wasting time arguing with each other over what was wrong with their Zanpakuto, just like they did every time this day came around.
Despite all of that Hitsuguya was able to commune with Hyorinmaru for a time, just like Ikkaku was able to commune with Hozukimaru at the same time, though his thoughts, as well as the thoughts of Hyorinmaru, weren't focused on what they were supposed to be doing, rather they were focused on their ally and his power. Hitsuguya had never heard of an Arrancar being able to not only command the power of their own Zanpakuto, but also gain the power to wield another Zanpakuto that was identical to a Shinigami's, one that, according to Yoruichi the last time he saw her, he was trying to learn to wield with the first one. A dual wielding Arrancar was unheard of, as there hadn't been one since they started recording them down in their history books, and yet Sombra was one that could do just that, along with the fact that his reiatsu seemed to dwarf the reiatsu that the last Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar had, putting him on a level of power that was higher than anything he had felt before. Yet despite all of that, and what they had seen in the Arrancar's inner world, he knew that his truly terrible power hadn't been used yet, as if there was something else he was hiding, and he had the feeling that it would only be revealed to him and the rest of Soul Society in time.
"The clouds are moving so fast today..." Ikkaku commented, his voice cutting through Hitsuguya's meditation and caused him to come back to the surface, where he spared a glance at the Shinigami that had spoken and also noticed that both Matsumoto and Yumichika had stopped arguing as well.
Before Hitsuguya had time to say anything, and see what Ikkaku was talking about, all four of them paused as they felt the shudder in the air and glanced towards the sky, where a Garganta opened before their eyes and four Arrancar, three of which possessing the power to match Grimmjow in his sealed state, along with Grimmjow standing near them, glanced out of the void that they had appeared in, giving the four of them time to use their Soul Candy to turn into Shinigami while the new souls hid their gigai somewhere safe.
"We ended up in a good spot!" Yammy said, staring down at the area that was in front of them, while at the same time Grimmjow moved his eyes around for a few seconds, giving both Luppi and Wonderweiss, the other two that Ulquiorra had picked for this operation, to stare at the area in front of them as well, "There's a bunch of guys out there with some pretty decent reiatsu. I guess they'll do for starters, eh?"
"What are you talking about? Those are Shinigami." Luppi stated, staring at the four individuals that they had opened their Garganta near, though at the same time he guessed that such a thing was part of Ulquiorra's plan, before his eyes moved towards the Arrancar he had replaced, "The 'reinforcements' from Soul Society... right, Sexta Espada. Oops, I mean former Sexta Espada."
"Whatever." Grimmjow replied, showing that he didn't much care for Luppi, as he had hated him when he was just a normal Arrancar and hated him even more for being the one that had taken his position as the Sexta Espada, before he noticed who wasn't present and frowned, "The guy I'm looking to kill isn't among them anyway."
It was in the following moment that Grimmjow jumped into the air and flew off towards the rest of Karakura Town, as he intended to find Ichigo Kurosaki and make him pay for leaving a scar on his chest, even if he had to kill him in the process, while at the same time staying away from Sombra, as he didn't want to cross paths with that Arrancar again, if he could help it anyway. Yammy, seeing that happen, growled in annoyance as he jumped out of the void they were in and descended towards the Shinigami that were below them, where Hitsuguya drew his Zanpakuto and rushed at him while Matsumoto went after the childish Arrancar and both Ikkaku and Yumichika went after Luppi.
"I'm the Captain of the Tenth Division, Hitsuguya Toshiro," Hitsuguya said, though at the same time he swung his Zanpakuto and found that his opponent blocked his attack by partly drawing his own Zanpakuto, but he focused on what was going to happen next while the others readied themselves for battle.
"That's interesting! I'm a Ten as well!" Yammy replied, though as he said that he noticed a look of realization flash through his opponent's eyes, telling him that someone had told his foe about the Espada, even if it was Sombra, after he gleamed that information from Grimmjow, "I'm the Diez Espada, Yammy Llargo! The effeminate one over there is Luppi, the new Sexta Espada that's replacing that loser, Grimmjow, and that's the new guy, Wonderweiss."
"Two Espada, one Arrancar with the power to match them, and a former Espada," Hitsuguya commented, as there was some good news and some bad news to what he and the rest of his group had learned, before glancing at the one Arrancar that had fled the area, "I don't know about you guys, but your friend over there has some bad luck. Unless there's someone who can aid him, he's going to die this time... because he's heading in Sombra's direction."
"Let him suffer his fate." Luppi stated, as he honestly didn't care about Grimmjow all that much, not like some of the other Espada did since he was incredibly powerful when he was using his Resurreccion and his full power, before he focused on his own enemies,
Sombra felt them long before any of the Shinigami, even those that were directly below the area the Garganta opened in, and the Visored felt them, as he had to tell Ichigo and Hiyori, who were practicing at the moment, to stop as he felt out the signatures that had shown up. Two of them he recognized immediately, as he felt both Grimmjow and Yammy the instant they stepped out of the Garganta, though that was before he realized that the other two were unknown to him, which made sense seeing as he had only met three members of the Espada, and the newcomers definitely felt like Espada. Once he determined the exact nature of their enemies, which was when the others finally realized what he was feeling and sensed them as well, he noticed that Grimmjow had separated himself from the rest of the invading Arrancar, meaning that he hadn't learned his lesson from the first time he invaded Karakura Town. The Visored were quick to claim that Ichigo wasn't ready to take to the field, that this was why the Shinigami had come here in the first place, and Sombra had them stop in their tracks, as a true life and death situation was just what Ichigo needed to further his own powers and increase his duration for how long he could hold his mask on.
In the end Shinji, once more showing that he appeared to be the leader of the Visored, waved a hand in a shooing motion and the duo exited the warehouse, as Yoruichi went off to make sure that Urahara and the others were ready to take part in this battle as well... though as they reached a decent area above the town, however, Sombra had Ichigo stop as Grimmjow appeared nearby, but the Arrancar gulped the moment he spotted Sombra.
"Grimmjow, you've got some nerve coming back here," Ichigo stated, though at the same time, as Sombra stood off to the side and stared at Grimmjow, he grabbed onto Zangetsu's handle and immediately withdrew his Zanpakuto, letting the cloth loosen like it did when he did this, "Why did you come back to Karakura Town?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Grimmjow asked, though even as he said that he glanced at the one person that he happened to be worried about, as there was no telling what Sombra was going to do, especially when his true power was only starting to awaken, if the air shuddering in Hueco Mundo was anything to go by, before glancing at Ichigo, "I've been looking for you, Ichigo Kurosaki. I've got some things that I want to work out with you."
"That's interesting, because I was thinking the same thing." Ichigo said, to which he raised his right arm and pointed Zangetsu at the Arrancar that had come to kill him and his friends the first time he invaded the town, which was likely what he was doing this time, before his reiatsu flared, "Bankai!"
Sombra watched as the black and red reiatsu gathered around Ichigo as he activated his Bankai, because despite how Rey had broken Grimmjow down he knew that the Arrancar in front of them was definitely powerful and that Ichigo would need to use his Bankai to fight him, and before long Ichigo swung his arm and the reiatsu broke apart, showing that his attire and blade had changed accordingly.
"Bankai again?" Grimmjow asked, as while he hadn't fought Ichigo in this form, because he had been in the process of being smashed by Sombra after he returned his Arrancar Zanpakuto, he knew that this form wasn't enough to actually do anything to him, despite the lingering scar on his chest, "So what? Did you forget that you could barely do anything to me when you used that during my fight with Sombra?"
"You seem to be forgetting something as well," Ichigo stated, pointing at the scar that was on Grimmjow's chest, the same one that Sombra was staring at, since they were interested in the fact that it hadn't healed during the time between now and when he first invaded this world, "Did you forget how my Bankai's attack gave you that scar? Besides, are you sure that you want to fight me with one arm?"
"I don't need both arms to kick your ass." Grimmjow replied, to which his original grin reappeared, as this had been the reason that he had gone out in search of Ichigo, even if Sombra was standing nearby, observing them like he did before he took to the field, "Don't be afraid. Show me your full power, so I can break both it and you!"
"Very well then." Ichigo said, though as he said that he shifted his stance as his reiatsu flared for a moment, which was when he brought his left hand up to the area in front of his face, where Sombra knew exactly what he was doing and was eager to see the results of their training.
In the following few seconds Ichigo's reiatsu surged out from where he was standing and completely covered him once more, causing Grimmjow to glare at the area he was standing in, but as the reiatsu broke apart Sombra noticed that Ichigo, in the middle of all that reiatsu, was now sporting his Hollow mask, something that seemed to freak Grimmjow out the moment he noticed it.
"Wh... What did you do?" Grimmjow asked, as this was something that he hadn't noticed the last time he was in this world, which made sense considering that he had been busy fighting Sombra and his immense power, but he kept his guard up in case something else happened.
"Sorry, I don't have time to explain what I did to you." Ichigo replied, though at the same time he flashed through the air and raced towards Grimmjow, to which he swung Zangetsu through the air and wasn't that surprised to find that his opponent had drawn his Zanpakuto to protect himself, even if he was pressing down on Grimmjow, before his reiatsu gathered for his attack, "Getsuga Tensho."
Grimmjow's eyes widened as Ichigo loosed a point blank Getsuga Tensho at him, where he was covered in the smoke of the attack striking him immediately, and Ichigo jumped back to survey the damage of his attack, just like Sombra was doing, though when the smoke cleared they found that Grimmjow was huffing as they noticed that there was another cut on top of his scar, and that there was blood on his chest, his arms, the left side of his head, and was even dripping down part of his pants as well.
"That... power... It's not a Shinigami's..." Grimmjow commented, though at the same time, as he thought about what happened the last time he was in this world, he realized that the chances of him actually dying this time around were very real, and it was unlikely that Commander Tosen or even Ulquiorra would come to his aid if the foe he was worried about decided to join the fight, "You little bastard... what the hell did you do to yourself?"
Instead of saying anything Ichigo moved his right arm and swung another Getsuga Tensho, a lesser powered one in comparison to what he just used, and that slammed into Grimmjow's Zanpakuto as he guarded against the attack, only for him to slip into the air behind the Arrancar.
"I told you, I don't have time to explain." Ichigo stated, where Sombra noticed that Grimmjow's eyes widened in shock as he realized that Ichigo was behind him now, though at the same time he smiled for a moment as he knew that Ichigo was readying himself once more, before he loosed a second Gegsuga Tensho right into Grimmjow's back, causing him to be caught between the two attacks as they detonated on top of him.
This time around Grimmjow fell out of the air and fell towards the ground that was below them, causing Ichigo to burst out of the smoke so he could finish the job and removed Grimmjow from the playing field, though at the same time the Arrancar growled and sheathed his Zanpakuto, before charging and firing a Cero at his opponent. Ichigo, seeing the blast coming his way, swung Zangetsu at the attack and parried it for a few seconds, before growling as he sliced the Cero in half, destroying the attack entirely, and then focused on Grimmjow once more, which was where Grimmjow appeared behind him and swung his Zanpakuto once more, where Ichigo parried the incoming attack. The two of them then separated from each other and stared at their opponent for a moment, before flashing forward and let their blades make contact once more, though that was when Grimmjow went on the offensive and Ichigo simply blocked the attacks that were coming his way. Even as all that happened Ichigo sensed that he might actually win, which was why he pushed Grimmjow's blade back and opened his opponent's defenses, before readying himself for another point blank Getsuga Tensho, but just before he could gather the necessary power he paused as his mask shattered, causing his eyes to go wide as he realized what had just happened.
In the following few seconds Grimmjow's grin returned as he swung his Zanpakuto at Ichigo's opening and cut a gash across his chest, causing a stunned Ichigo to fall backwards as he contemplated why his mask shattered at the moment that it had, effectively leaving his defenses open for Grimmjow to take advantage of... and while Grimmjow started to turn the battle towards his side, and focused solely on Ichigo, Sombra sighed and moved forward, slightly wondering how the others were doing in their own battles.
Yammy was bored out of his mind, as not even a few minutes into his battle with the Shinigami Captain, an opponent that he had been lucky to discover, Luppi had changed his mind in regards to the two enemies that he was facing and declared that he was taking all four of the Shinigami for himself. What Luppi meant was that he was going to use his Resurreccion and kill them all, to which Yammy's opponent charged forward while activating his Bankai, while at the same time Luppi released his full power and changed into his Resurreccion, striking the Captain down with all eight of the white tentacle limbs that grew out of the spinning section of his back. After that Yammy found that there was nothing for him to do, save for watching Luppi fight all three of the remaining Shinigami that were present, while at the same time Wonderweiss, who had done absolutely nothing since arriving in this world, was trying to catch one of the dragonflies that was hanging out near him, and he couldn't converse with him since it appeared that most of Wonderweiss' speech had been ruined before he became an Arrancar, something that Lord Aizen seemed to be okay with. It wasn't long before Luppi had captured the three remaining enemies and was getting ready to kill all of them, though as that happened a red wave of energy carved it's way through the ground and sliced off the tentacle that was wrapped around the female Shinigami, and the head of the second one that was going to drill her full of holes thanks to the spikes that it grew.
Yammy growled as he glanced around for the culprit, thinking that it was Sombra again, but then he smiled as he noticed one of Sombra's friends, the poorly dressed one that Ulquiorra had called Urahara Kisuke, walked out and smiled at him, Luppi, and Wonderweiss.
"Looks like I made it just in time," Urahara commented, though at the same time he stepped out of the area that he had been traveling through, in order to get here so quickly while both Renji and Chad rested from their training, and held Benihime at the ready, since two of these enemies were definitely Espada, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Urahara Kisuke, the humble owner of a small neighboorhood candy shop in Karakura Town, and I just so happen to be friends with the Arrancar that calls this town home."
As he said that the childish Arrancar from earlier, who he deemed to be not a threat for now since he hadn't felt him do anything at all since his arrival, attacked him from behind and tried to grab his hat, though Urahara was faster and dodged the attack, before loosing a red wave that knocked his target backwards. He made a quick observation about the Arrancar being weirder than those that he had seen so far, and that was true considering that Sombra was the strangest of them all, before his current target gathered some energy around his left hand and fired it at him. Of course Yammy was nearby and fired the same attack at his back, allowing him to fake being hit in that area before dropping into the forest below him, giving him the opportunity to prepare his next stage of his plan while Yammy continued to fire more of the same attack at where he had landed, unaware of what he was going.
While all this happened, and he was aware of Hitsuguya preparing his own attack against an unsuspecting Luppi, Urahara briefly wondered how the others were doing, but he was entirely sure that Sombra was standing his ground against whoever had gone after him and Ichigo.
Orihime and Sora had been shocked when they heard that multiple Arrancar, all Espada level, were attacking Karakura Town, though they were slightly disappointed when they learned that they would have to let Rukia go on without them and wait for the Shinigami to arrange for them to leave as well. Despite that fact, however, Captain Utikake was able to quickly arrange for them to be deployed back to the World of the Living so they could join the battle, allowing them to use the Dangai to get to their destination right outside Urahara's shop, the same place that Rukia was heading to. Once the path was opened the two of them thanked the Captain for granting their request to train in the training grounds that Rukia had asked him to reopen, even if it was for the three of them, and soon the two of them were heading back through the passage between the World of the Living and Soul Society. Along the way they discovered two Shinigami that were going to be accompanying them as escorts, without the special butterflies that all Shinigami used when traversing this passage, and the duo thanked them, as it was good to know that Soul Society no longer thought of them as invaders and considered them guests, especially since they might not want to piss off Sombra.
Sora liked to imagine that if Soul Society did anything to really piss off or earn Sombra's anger, which seemed to be hard to do considering what he knew about the elder Arrancar, Sombra would likely level the entirety of Soul Society without a second thought... but, even as he considered that, he came to a stop as he felt the air shudder, something that Orihime felt as well and turned back toward the direction they had come from as their escorts looked around the area for signs of someone who shouldn't be there.
"What? Only two guards? This is unexpected." a voice said, one that both Orihime and Sora recognized, as they had heard the speaker talk with Sombra back when the first two Arrancar invaded the World of the Living, though that was when a Garganta opened behind them and Ulquiorra stepped out to face them, "Soul Society must be completely incompetent. They clearly don't understand that one is most vulnerable when they're changing locations... though only two guards is very disappointing. Although restricting your combined abilities makes things easier for me. I prefer not to rush things when talking with others... especially you, woman."
Before either Orihime or Sora could do anything Ulquiorra raised his left hand out of his coat pocket and fired an attack at the Shinigami that was off on their right, obliterating his entire left arm in the process, and when Orihime went to heal him, as Sora turned to convince the other one to leave, Ulquiorra blasted the other one in a similar manner, forcing Orihime to extend her healing technique to cover both of them.
"You can still heal them, despite their injuries being so grave?" Ulquiorra commented, as it was interesting to watch Orihime's abilities in action, confirming why Lord Aizen wanted him to grab her before she could become a thorn in their sides, especially if she pushed her abilities to the point where she instantly regenerated any wounds, "Impressive. I have only one thing to say to you; come with me. There will be no back talk from you, only silence. The next word that will come out of your mouth will be 'Yes'. Saying anything else will result in a swift death, but not for you..."
In the following moments Orihime and Sora watched as three screen like images appeared behind Ulquiorra, one that showed Captain Hitsuguya being beaten out of the air and forced to crash into the forest around him, Matsumoto and the remaining two Shinigami being tormented by another Arrancar that neither of them knew anything about, and Ichigo being beaten up by Grimmjow, as that Arrancar's appearance had been described to them after he was taken back to Hueco Mundo some time ago.
"...rather, it's for your friends." Ulquiorra continued, taking note of how Orihime was trying to figure out a way to get out of the situation that they were in, while at the same time Sora wanted to draw his Zanpakuto and attack him, but he was smart enough to know that his power meant nothing compared to what he was currently using, "Don't ask questions. Don't say a word. You have no rights and no opinions. In your hands you hold the rope keeping the guillotine safely suspended above the necks of your friends. I hope you understand, woman. We are not negotiating. I'm giving you an order. Lord Aizen desires your power and has ordered me to bring you to him unharmed... and he's also extending the same order to include your brother."
Orihime and Sora looked at each other for a moment, knowing that since Sombra couldn't be everywhere in Karakura Town, not without allowing both of the spirits inside of his Zanpakuto out to tackle the other Arrancar, they had no choice in the matter and knew what they had to do... but, at the same time, it might actually play out to their advantage, since they might be able to find the Hogyoku before Aizen's war started, something that Soul Society would be grateful to have if one of them could locate it. At the same time they hoped that the images were just lies and that Ichigo and the others were actually winning their battles, but without being there, in the field, there was no way for them to tell... so they had to believe what they were being shown and hoped that Sombra was aware of their situation.
Sombra sighed as he observed the ending part of Ichigo's battle with Grimmjow, as the moment the mask shattered, and the power seemed to leave Ichigo's body, Grimmjow gladly went to town on him, swinging low powered attacks that fakes Ichigo out, only to hit him in return, and knocked him through the air in the process. It appeared that the training that he had put Ichigo through had been of some benefit, as Ichigo's ability to hold onto the mask had lasted for more than a few seconds, as it was closer to a minute, but at the same time that wasn't good enough, as the mask shattered at a terrible moment and now Ichigo was paying the price. Sombra suspected that the best way for him to learn was to battle enemies that were trying to kill him, like an Espada or something, and that battling his friend, who could use his Bankai to heal him if it came to that, wasn't going to work out in the long run, which meant that this battle would actually help Ichigo get stronger and keep his mask on for longer periods of time. His thoughts were interrupted as Grimmjow kicked Ichigo in the side and sent him down a street, as he hit the ground a few times before coming to a stop in a decent sized crater, but it was in that moment that Ichigo tried to reform the mask and failed... causing Grimmjow to grin as he raced forward, spun around, and kicked Ichigo so hard that he went flying down the street.
"It seems that when your mask breaks, you can't put it back on." Grimmjow commented, though at the same time both he and Sombra followed after Ichigo, but he was doing his best to ignore the dangerous creature that was watching him and observing his movements, "Sure, your taking the stance you need to use to form the mask, but you've either taken too much damage or used up your reiatsu to put it on earlier. Either way, I think I should remove your hands before you get the chance to put it back on."
"That's enough, Grimmjow." Sombra stated, though this time around his voice stopped Grimmjow in his tracks, which was interesting considering what happened the last time they were in the same area, before the Arrancar glanced at him with a look of annoyance in his eyes, while clearly not feeling that someone else was nearby, "You've proven your point, Ichigo needs more training before he has a hope of defeating you in battle. Might I suggest taking someone else on?"
"You mean fight someone like you?" Grimmjow asked, to which he turned his attention to the Arrancar that was standing off to the left of where Ichigo was currently resting and didn't turn his blade around, as he needed to focus on Sombra in case something happened, "Please, the last time we fought you cut off my left arm and almost killed me... I'm not going to do something and provoke a response from you, not after what happened last time."
"Then how about someone like me?" a voice asked, to which Rukia, with her Zanpakuto already out in it's Shikai state, appeared a little bit behind Grimmjow, though that was when she stabbed the ground four times in a semi circle, causing ice particles to pour out of the four openings, before she pointed the blade of Sode no Shirayuki at Grimmjow, "Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!"
What followed Rukia saying that was a torrent of cold air, an avalanche Sombra noted as he grabbed Ichigo before he was hit, rushing forward as Grimmjow turned towards it, though since he didn't get out of the way he took the full force of the attack head on, and when the dust cleared they found that he seemed to be frozen in a large block of ice. From there Rukia rushed over to them and tended to Ichigo, as she commented about the reckless power that Ichigo had used in his battle with Grimmjow and that he was all rickety, but Ichigo told her to shut up as he thought about his failure to stop the Arrancar that he had been fighting. At the same time Sombra thought about the attack that Rukia had used, the name being translated a 'Second Dance, White Ripple', and considered the power of the first move she showed them, Tsukishiro, or 'First Dance, White Moon', and realized that Rukia had grown strong since the execution Aizen had planned out. Once he thought about all that he drew Rey from his sheath as the ice cracked and Grimmjow freed part of his body, though as both Ichigo and Rukia noticed that Sombra swung his arm and the black wave crashed into the ice, knocking the Arrancar into the air for a moment.
When Grimmjow stopped moving, however, he turned to stare at them and his eyes widened in fear as he noticed that it was Sombra that was advancing towards him, more so because he had chosen to draw the ebony tinted Zanpakuto instead of his Shinigami Zanpakuto, as it was the one that had been used when he was dominated so easily... to which he gulped as his new foe approached him.
"So, do you want to try your luck against me?" Sombra asked, though at the same time his eyes were focused on the Arrancar that was standing in front of him, noticing that Grimmjow was actually weighing his options at the moment, as it was either he fought and suffered another defeat or he withdrew before something happened, "Don't worry, I won't hold it against you if you suddenly decide that you want to flee from the battlefield."
"That won't be necessary." a new voice said, to which Sombra turned his head for a moment and stared at Ulquiorra, who had opened a Garganta nearby and likely came to stop Grimmjow before he did anything foolish, before he turned his attention to Grimmjow, "Our mission is complete. We're leaving."
The moment those words left Ulquiorra's mouth the sky above him and Grimmjow opened before a yellow beam shot down and covered the two of them, forming the same pillar, Negacion as Sombra recalled the name, that Aizen, Tosen, and Gin had used when they fled from Soul Society, once Aizen claimed the Hogyoku, and Sombra felt three more touch down as well, confirming that none of the other invading Arrancar had been killed. A few seconds ticked by before Grimmjow, who breathed out a sigh of relief when he discovered that he wouldn't have to fight Sombra at all, sheathed his Zanpakuto and let the beam pull him back to Hueco Mundo, as he needed to see if the mission had been as successful as Ulquiorra seemed to think it was. Ulquiorra, on the other hand, stared down at both Ichigo and Sombra, finding that Ichigo had unlocked a new power that had stabilized his own body, meaning that he might become more dangerous in the future, but what really worried him was the sheer power that he could feel coming from Sombra. It was confirmation for what he and the others had felt nearly a month ago, that the power of the Dios Hueco was starting to awaken inside Sombra, and it was only a matter of time before his power reached a point where not even the powerful Primera Espada could lay a finger on him.
Sombra sighed as he sheathed Rey and finished watching as both Grimmjow and Ulquiorra disappeared into the void that had opened when the Negacion was used, as he had the feeling that whatever mission their foe had mentioned was going to be bad for them, meaning that all they had to do was wait and see what Aizen was planning this time around... and, more importantly, what they were going to do to stop his plans from becoming reality.
Orihime sighed as she sat in front of the desk that had been returned to the area that it had been in before Captain Hitsuguya and Lieutenant Matsumoto moved it out of the way so they could set up their communication link with Soul Society, which was currently hidden by a cover that the duo had employed to keep it hidden. What she was doing right now was making a list of things that both Hitsuguya and Matsumoto needed to know, since they were planning on staying in her house until the conflict with Aizen was over, and that included what to do with towels, as it appeared that they needed help figuring things like that out, and when to take out the burnable garbage. Most of the items on the list were common things that most Humans knew about, and since both of her new roommates were Shinigami, who were used to a completely different lifestyle from what she remembered seeing when they were in Soul Society, she felt like repeating what she was saying so they understood what needed to be done. Eventually she reached the end of her instructions, giving the duo everything that they would need to know to keep the house up and running while she was gone, before setting the pencil down and raised her left arm.
Around her wrist was a special bracelet, that rested on the wrist and didn't seem to move at all, that both she and Sora had been given by Ulquiorra when he invaded the Dangai and took out the Shinigami that had been escorting them back to the World of the Living, who were going to make a full recovery thanks to her healing abilities. What they were told was that these special bracelets would emit a special spiritual barrier around them when they wore them, effectively cutting off the ability for Shinigami to feel them, as only Ulquiorra and his fellow Arrancar would be able to feel them, but he said nothing about Sombra, meaning he had no idea if the other Arrancar was included in that statement. Along with that came the ability to pass through physical objects as they desired, meaning they could slip through walls whenever they wanted if they were wearing one of these bracelets, though they were also told never to take them off, not until the way to Hueco Mundo was opened for her and Sora to head to Aizen's realm. Orihime knew that she was partly doing it because all of her friends had been threatened with death, but at the same time she was still hoping that either she or Sora could get close to the Hogyoku and either destroy it or steal it before retreating from Hueco Mundo.
The interesting thing about the whole situation was what Ulquiorra said after handing them the bracelets, as he gave them both twelve hours to wrap up their business, such as she had been doing with the instructions she was leaving her roommates, and also allowed the two of them to say goodbye to a single person, in the sense that Orihime could do so to one person and Sora could do the same to another. The problem was that they actually couldn't tell who they chose to speak to what they were doing, otherwise that would be disobeying Ulquiorra's orders and he'd have to punish them accordingly, telling them that someone was watching them at all times and that he'd be made aware if they told someone what was going on. Sora was going to try to find a way to tell Sombra, as that was who he was planning on saying goodbye to, exactly what was going on, as he was sure that the Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar would be able to figure out what was going on without him saying too much, the only problem was that Ulquiorra might be watching and might deem his actions as disobeying him... but he was willing to take the chance, to let someone know what happened to him and Orihime when they didn't appear the next time their friends got together.
After a few moments she sighed and lowered her arm, before setting down her pencil, got back up onto her feet, and headed towards the door that would take her back into the living area of their house, though once she reached that room she made her way towards the front door and opened it.
"You ready to get this over with?" Sora asked, as he had been standing outside the house in cause their Shinigami roommates returned from their battle, but from what he could tell it appeared that they were somewhere else at the moment, getting their injuries checked out, before they decided to come back.
"Yeah... I think so." Orihime replied, to which she rubbed the back of her head for a moment, as it was entirely crazy for them to be doing this, and even crazier for them to consider that they were actively going to try and tell Sombra what was going on, though an ability that might fail.
"Who are you going to say goodbye to?" Sora inquired, but at the same time he had the feeling that he already knew, as he had seen the way that his sister looked at Ichigo from time to time, when she thought that he wasn't looking, and felt that her heart belonged to him, meaning that he might have the answer already.
"Maybe Tatsuki. Maybe Ichigo. I'm still undecided." Orihime admitted, though at the same time she glanced at the clock before she closed the front door of their house behind her, as they had more than enough time to do what they had been tasked with doing before the time they were supposed to meet Ulquiorra arrived, "I'm going to head to the school and think about that for a few minutes... maybe I'll come to a decision while I'm there."
"Just remember that midnight's the deadline," Sora said, though they both knew the location that Ulquiorra wanted them to meet him at, otherwise it would be considered disobeying him and they didn't need to be reminded of what the punishment was for doing that, not after what he told them earlier.
Orihime nodded her head and the two of them separated from each other, as Orihime was heading towards the high school so she could think about what she was going to do and Sora headed in the direction of Sombra's reiatsu, which just so happened to be outside the Urahara Shop, something that he expected. Sora flashed into the air and headed towards his destination, knowing that Orihime was going to take her time debating about who she wanted to say goodbye to, so he focused on what he was going to do and how he was going to avoid letting Ulquiorra know that he was intentionally breaking the order that he had been given. Based on what had been said both both he and his sister were being treated as their own individuals, meaning that if one of them disobeyed Ulquiorra that one was going to receive the punishment, and since it appeared that Aizen needed Orihime for something he was more than willing to take the pain if it meant that his sister survived for when Sombra and the others came for her, as he knew that, even if he failed to get his message across, they'd find out anyway and come save her.
Sora's thoughts were interrupted when he noticed that he had actually crossed the distance between their house and Urahara's Shop in a matter of moments, though as he dropped down to the area in front of it he found Sombra standing outside the building.
"I know you're there, Sora." Sombra spoke up, as the moment their battle with Grimmjow was over Shinji had ordered that Ichigo, who had been trashed by Grimmjow, return to his house and rest up before they resume their training, and Rukia went along with him to be sure that he did so, while also making sure Ichigo's family didn't freak out, before he came back here and told Urahara what happened, which was followed by him turning his head towards Sora, "That's an interesting bracelet that you're wearing... it's supposed to hide you from everyone else, excluding the Arrancar, isn't it?"
"Yeah... how did you figure that out so quickly?" Sora asked, because he and Orihime had only been given these maybe an hour ago, so there should have been no way for the senior Arrancar to figure out what happened, before he brought his palm to his face, "Right, you're an Arrancar. That's how you figured it out."
"It was easy to determine that something was wrong when the Senkaimon opened and no one reacted to you or Orihime coming through," Sombra stated, though at the same time he stopped leaning against the wall that he had been leaning against and approached the other Arrancar, who was no doubt remembering that he was much smarter than most people gave him credit for, before continuing what he was saying, "besides, I made a comment about the Senkaimon opening and Rukia told me that she hadn't felt it open at all. That's what told me that something was up, especially since I could still feel both you and Orihime as you came out and went about whatever business you were attending to. So tell me, what's going on between you two and Aizen's Arrancar?"
"About that... I can't actually tell you what's going on." Sora replied, as he was sure that Ulquiorra, or whoever he had asked to observe them, was watching their movements carefully, though at the same time he guessed that it wouldn't make the situation worse, not when he had been found out so easily, "All I can say is that it involves us, Hueco Mundo, Aizen, and a powerful artifact."
Sombra raised an eyebrow for a moment, as the combination of words made it sound like one of the Arrancar had made contact with the two of them as they were coming back from Soul Society, likely Ulquiorra ordering them around and threatening their lives in some manner. Someone didn't need to be a genius to figure out that Aizen had asked one of his followers to capture Orihime and bring her back to Hueco Mundo, because her powers were unlike anything that Soul Society had seen before and even they were lost when it came to her abilities, and Sombra knew that by taking her Aizen was either trying to deprive them of a powerful ally or he was setting up a cunning trap, one that Sombra would spring if that was the case. He soon determined that it had to be a trap of some kind, as their enemy was after Karakura Town and would be looking for a way to deprive the town of it's strongest protectors, as he knew that Ichigo would charge into Hueco Mundo the moment he discovered that Orihime was missing, before staging his invasion, and Sombra soon found that he'd be planning the same thing if he were in Aizen's shoes, though he would have made sure that whoever was being captured would only be able to say goodbye to a single person, even if there were multiple people being taken.
"So, he wants Orihime for her powers." Sombra commented, causing Sora to raise an eyebrow in return, showing that he was surprised that he had been able to piece that together so quickly, before sighing and raised his right hand for a moment, which he placed on Sora's shoulder, "I assume that there's a time limit before you have to meet up with your contact, so I better not keep you too much longer... besides, you might want to check in with Orihime and make sure that she's ready for when you guys have to head to Hueco Mundo."
Sora stared into Sombra's eyes for a moment, finding that he was not kidding, that he had managed to piece together exactly what was going on and knew what he and Orihime were going to do, but in the end he determined that it was a good thing that someone knew what was going on, as then his sister would be saved soon enough. Now that he knew that Sombra understood what was going on, and he technically didn't tell anyone since Sombra had figured it out all on his own, he moved into the air and headed off into the distance, deciding that it was time to see what Orihime was up to this time around. Sombra, on the other hand, headed back into the shop and rejoined the others as if nothing had happened, though he noticed that they were busy tending to the wounded Shinigami that had fought Yammy and Grimmjow's replacement, Luppi, during the incursion... and he didn't say anything as he thought about what he had discovered, as there was someone more important that he needed to tell this to and had a feeling that they would be talking with him soon enough anyway.
Eventually the day turned to night and everyone went to bed, something that Sombra was expecting, though before he went to bed he stayed up for a few moments and felt a Garganta open around midnight, along with both Orihime and Sora's reiatsu disappearing... to which he sighed and turned in for the night, as they would have time to go over what just happened when everyone was rested and ready to go.
When morning arrived Sombra and Yoruichi eagerly met it like they always did, even more so since they were hosting a few additional Shinigami because of their wounds, though while the two of them made sure that no one was taking advantage of Urahara's generosity, which had to be wearing thin, Hitsuguya headed to Orihime's place because of a call that he got from Soul Society. Sombra knew that Rukia had called Soul Society a few times yesterday, trying to see if she could make contact with Orihime or Sora, and had failed multiple times, meaning that they had news for someone and the action of Hitsuguya leaving encouraged the other Shinigami to get themselves prepared for their own departure, as they intended to follow him mere minutes after he left. Sombra shook his head as the plates and cups were put into the sink, along with the one he had been drinking from the entire time he had been up, but even as that happened Renji came back and told him to come to the meeting as well, since it concerned him in some manner, causing Sombra to gather his Zanpakuto before he headed over to Orihime's place.
Of course when he arrived he had his first encounter with the massive screen that was the emergency link between Hitsuguya's squad and the rest of Soul Society, with everyone save for Hitsuguya being there, though not even a few minutes after his arrival both Hitsuguya and Ichigo, fully healed from his battle, joined them.
"So why are we all meeting here?" Ichigo asked, as the last time that he had come to Orihime's place was when Sora, when he was still a dangerous Hollow that was trying to consume his sister's soul, attacked the place, before noticing the large screen that was in front of them.
"We'll get to that in a moment." Hitsuguya said, to which he turned towards Matsumoto for a moment, who appeared to have been tinkering with some of the controls that had been cleverly hidden inside one of the nearby boxes, "Have you taken care of the spectral interference yet?"
"Yes, it's been taken care of." Matsumoto replied, as it wasn't hard for her to manipulate the device in such a way, and she had been doing that since they came back to the house, just to prepare everything for the meeting that was going to be taking place.
"Good, then connect us." Hitsuguya ordered, though not a few seconds after saying that, and Matsumoto pressed the necessary command buttons, the screen shimmered for a moment and Ukitake appeared before them, making Hitsuguya slightly confused for a second as the others turned to face the screen, since he was expecting someone else, "Captain Ukitake? Where's the Captain-Commander?"
"I'm here instead." Ukitake answered, before he sighed for a moment and closed his eyes as he considered what he was about to say, especially with Ichigo, Rukia, and Sombra standing in front of him, though what he said next shocked most of them a little, "And before you ask 'why', allow me to explain. The reason that I am here, standing before you now, is because I was the last person to see both Orihime and Sora Inoue before they went through the Senkai Gate... and, judging by the looks on your faces, it's safe to say that they never made it back to the World of the Living."
"What do you mean by that, Ukitake-san?" Ichigo asked, though at the same time he was the only person that Sombra knew that occasionally used a honorific when talking to or about someone, namely it was usually reserved for Urahara, as he was Ichigo's teacher in the art of Zanjutsu, "Where did Orihime and Sora go? You know something, don't you?"
"I'll give you my opinion on what happened." Ukitake said, though his tone revealed that he might bare some small amount of responsibility for Orihime and Sora's disappearance, even if Ichigo had no idea that they might have vanished at some point between here and Soul Society, "The two guards that I sent with her and Sora, as escorts so they'd make it to the World of the Living safely, came back alive... however, according to the two of them, both Orihime and Sora were either abducted by an Arrancar, or they were killed and their bodies taken to Hueco Mundo."
"Captain Ukitake, even if that is a hypothesis, saying something like that..." Rukia started to say, as she couldn't believe what her Captain was saying, but before she was able to finish her statement a glance from Ukitake stopped her dead in her tracks, as he had more to tell them.
"I know... I don't like saying this either." Ukitake told them, and Sombra could see that he didn't like saying things like that, as he must have grown to like having both Orihime and Sora in Soul Society, even if they were only training with Rukia for the upcoming battle, "I am, however, listing the worst case scenarios. According to our information, the four of them were attacked by an Arrancar, who wounded both of the escorts and forced both Orihime and Sora to disappear with him after they lost consciousness."
"Don't screw around with us! This is just plain wrong!" Ichigo snapped, as he was quickly becoming annoyed with the conversation that they were having, so much so that he stared at where one of his wounds had been located before focusing on Ukitaku, "You're saying that both Orihime and Sora are dead, without any proof, just because they vanished? Don't give me any of that shit! Look at me. Yesterday, before Rukia and Sombra stepped in and stopped Grimmjow, I was covered in wounds that would have taken a few days to mend on their own, and yet I woke up this morning without a single one of them left where I remember them being... and I could feel a faint trace of Orihime's reiatsu, before Hitsuguya came and got me for this meeting."
"I see... what a pity." a new voice said, to which the group watched as Captain-Commander Yamamoto appeared on the other side of the screen, but even his few words told Sombra that something was up, as they must have come to a decision regarding their mission friends already, "If what you say is true, then at least Orihime Inoue is still alive... but, at the same time, it also means that she's a traitor to our cause. If she and her brother had been kidnapped, then she would not have been able to come and see you, much less mend your body back to it's pristine condition, and disappearing soon afterword, without saying anything to anyone, means that they have joined Aizen's forces of their own free will!"
"And what if they were forced to go with whoever attacked them, only a few hours after the attack?" Sombra asked, causing the group to turn towards him for a moment, as now was the best time to tell them what Sora had tried to covertly tell him yesterday, "From what I can gather, both Orihime and Sora were unharmed after the attack in the Dangai, though they were given special bracelets to avoid being detected by Shinigami, as only an Arrancar could sense their reiatsu at that point, and I can confirm that I felt that since I asked Rukia about the Senkaimon opening and she didn't have anything to say about it. Sora came to me, to say goodbye, and tried to covertly tell me that the two of them were being threatened by the Arrancar that had attacked them, no doubt with the deaths of their friends would be my guess, and that Aizen likely wishes to use Orihime's powers in some manner. The did not join the enemy of their own free will, they were forced to accept the terms given and merely acted in the attacker's best interests."
"Based on the evidence we've already gathered, it doesn't appear that your tale is correct." Yamamoto stated, though that actually surprised Sombra for a moment, as he had been telling the truth about what happened to Orihime and Sora, only for the Captain-Commander to believe the reports of his own men and whatever report Mayuri, or whoever was watching the town, had come up with.
"Captain-Commander Yamamoto, I, Renji Abarai, Lieutenant of the Sixth Division and member of Captain Hitsuguya's advanced guard," Renji said, stepping forward so that everyone could see and hear what he was about to do, though he hid his own surprise that the Captain-Commander was declaring that Sombra's tale was false, when it might be what was right in this situation, "seek permission to go to Hueco Mundo and recover the traitors, before they reach Aizen."
"Permission denied." Yamamoto declared, to which he tapped his cane against the floor on his end, silencing any comments that any of them might make towards his decision, while at the same time shocking both Ichigo and Renji, as they had been thinking of getting Orihime and Sora back, "Now that it is clear that the Arrancar are preparing for battle, all members of Captain Hitsuguya's advance guard must return to Soul Society, to help fortify our defenses. Yes, I am telling you to abandon both Orihime and Sora Inoue to their fates in Hueco Mundo. The weight of two lives cannot compare to that of the entire world, should Aizen succeed in his plans. Also, in anticipation that some of you might not being able to obey these orders, I have sent some help to aid you in coming back."
Not even a few seconds later a Senkai Gate opened in the back of the room, near the door to the main living room, and Sombra raised an eyebrow as he noticed Captain Zaraki and Captain Byakuya standing on the other side of the gate, with the number of hell butterflies moving out to entice the Shinigami around him to head back to Soul Society.
"You guys heard him." Zaraki said, surprising the group for a moment, as this was one of the rare times where Zaraki followed the orders of the Captain-Commander, though at the same time he couldn't help but turn his frown into a smile when he felt Sombra's increased power, as it was stronger than he remembered, "It's time to go back."
"Don't resist." Byakuya added, though he was more than willing to continue frowning at those that were in front of him, even though he was internally sweating when he felt Sombra's power, as it was even stronger than the last time the two of them had been in the same area, "We've been ordered to you back by force if necessary."
"I understand... then I won't ask you guys for help in saving Orihime and Sora." Ichigo said, to which the assembled group turned back towards him, as they all knew that he was talking to most of the Shinigami that were present, with the exclusion of Rukia and Renji, "But, can you at least tell me how to get to Hueco Mundo?"
"Request denied!" Yamamoto stated, though at the same time Ichigo growled, as he couldn't believe that he was being denied this one request, the only one that he had asked Soul Society to grant him, especially since Orihime and Sora were his friends and he couldn't let them remain in Aizen's hands for more than they already were, "We will need your strength in the upcoming battle. I won't allow you to act foolishly on your own and die like a dog. Wait until you receive your orders, Substitute Shinigami Ichigo Kurosaki. The same goes for you, Sombra."
"I refuse." Sombra replied, to which he turned his full attention to the screen, and the Captain-Commander for that matter, while the other Shinigami stared at him like he had lost his mind, as this was the first time he had said something like that to Yamamoto, granted they hadn't had many chances to talk to each other, "Orihime and Sora are my friends as well, just as much as they are Ichigo's friends, so if you're going to deny Renji's request to go after them, and Ichigo's request for directions to Hueco Mundo, then I'm going to refuse your request as well. Besides, technically I don't work for Soul Society, so there's no real reason for me to obey your orders anyway, other than doing them because they're for the best interests of the souls that call the World of the Living home. I'm going to Hueco Mundo, with or without your blessing, I'm going to decimate Aizen's army before he has a chance to launch his invasion, I'll even kill Gin, Tosen, and Aizen if I have to, just to make sure my friends are safe."
Yamamoto clearly had nothing to say to that, as he closed the connection between them without another word, to which both Zaraki and Byakuya glanced at each other, as they knew Sombra's strength was no lie and had to wonder just how much more terrifying he was in an actual fight, before the other Shinigami bid Ichigo and Sombra farewell before heading back to Soul Society, with the Senkai Gate closing before their eyes.
"Sombra, did you mean what you said?" Ichigo asked, though at the same time he knew that his friend wasn't bluffing, because when Rey had been in control he dominated Grimmjow so hard that everyone thought he was someone completely different, but now that he was in control he was even more dangerous than he had been before regaining his Arrancar Zanpakuto.
"Yes, I did." Sombra replied, though at the same time he glanced over to his friend for a moment, as he knew exactly what they needed to do at the moment, and who could help them since he knew that using his own Garganta had to be dangerous for them, "Meet me at Urahara's Shop tonight... we're heading into Hueco Mundo, whether the Captain-Commander wants us to or not."
Ichigo stated at him for a moment, wondering what he was talking about, before nodding his head and walked out of Orihime's house, no doubt going to go about his routine like nothing was out of the ordinary, but at the same time Sombra headed back to the shop so he could explain what was going on to Urahara and the others. When Sombra arrived at the shop both Urahara and Yoruichi meet him when he arrived, as they had felt all the reiatsu that belonged to the Shinigami disappear and he explained the situation to them, along with what he and Ichigo were planning on doing, with some minor additions on his part. They weren't the only ones that called Orihime and Sora their friends, so his plan was to recruit both Uryu and Chad, who were definitely stronger than they had been the last time he had seen them, for their main expedition into Hueco Mundo using a Garganta that Urahara could bring to life, then, when they were a good distance into Hueco Mundo, he could have Renji and Rukia, who would be arriving later on, meet up with them at a closer location to their main destination... which was wherever they were keeping Orihime and Sora, maybe the center of whatever stronghold Aizen had built before gathering his army.
Urahara had him, Yoruichi, and Tessai help him prepare the pillars for the Garganta, which he claimed would be easy to open once everyone was ready, and before long they were allowed to do whatever they wanted with the remaining time until Ichigo arrived, to which Sombra and Yoruichi simply relaxed... which meant sparring a little, to make sure that Yoruichi was ready for any Arrancar that invaded Karakura Town, and Urahara insisted that she stay here, before the time to leave was upon them.
When Ichigo arrived he found that Urahara was waiting for him outside outside the shop and even welcomed him into the underground training area, where both Sombra and Yoruichi were waiting for him to arrive, even though Sombra knew that there were two other people that were waiting for him as well, thanks to Urahara gathering them together. Ichigo, once again, had no idea that Uryu and Chad had assembled in the area that they were in, at Sombra's request and by Urahara's invitation, but he knew that his friend was going to be happy to have some reinforcements when they reached Hueco Mundo, as they had no idea how strong Ulquiorra and the Espada above him were. Sombra was sure that they would be able to save Orihime and Sora, though one of the last times he had been sure about something was when Byakuya cut him down, something that he repaid in kind when he invaded Soul Society to save Rukia, though his thoughts changed when he felt Uryu making his move.
"You've got a pathetic look on your face, Ichigo Kurosaki," Uryu commented, to which Ichigo stopped where he was standing and glanced at the rock formation that Uryu, sporting a modified version of his previous Quincy attire, happened to be sitting on.
"Uryu?! What are you doing here?" Ichigo asked, because he knew that he and Sombra were going to Hueco Mundo, as that had been Sombra's plan from the beginning once he heard what the Captain-Commander was planning on doing in regards to their friends, and seriously wondered why he was here.
"Isn't it obvious?" another voice said, to which Chad, sporting tan colored pants and a dark long-sleeved shirt that had a rose emblazoned on the left shoulder, stepped out from behind the pillar that he had been standing behind and stared at Ichigo for a few moments, "We going with you, to Hueco Mundo. There's no need to explain anything, Urahara told us everything that happened since we started training."
"No. You guys should stay here." Ichigo stated, as he wasn't about to risk the lives of his remaining friends, especially after hurting the feelings of Tatsuki and the others when he was at the school earlier, before he stared at the area that he and Urahara had been walking towards, "I appreciate the thought, but neither of you guys are strong enough to compare to Grimmjow and..."
"Ichigo," Chad replied, which was followed by him channeling his inner power, forming the right arm that he was used to using these days when he fought Hollows, before charging at Ichigo and swung at him, striking the edge of his friend's Zanpakuto, as Ichigo used it to parry the attack, and tore a portion of the area around them apart when the energy of his attack was released, "Am I still not powerful enough?"
"We know that having someone as powerful as Sombra at your side has made you... forget about us." Uryu said, to which he jumped down and stood beside the two of them, especially as Chad pulled his arm back and Ichigo returned his blade to the spot on his back, "Believe in us, Kurosaki. Chad has gotten stronger since the first time Grimmjow invaded our world, and I have not only regained my powers, but I have become stronger as well... and we're more than ready to take the fight to Aizen, to get both Orihime and Sora back."
"Guys... okay, we'll go together." Ichigo stated, as he now had the feeling that Sombra and Urahara had a hand in bringing both Uryu and Chad to this area, at this time no less, before they turned towards the two rock formations that seemed to be parallel with each other and had a post sticking out of each one.
"The path to Hueco Mundo is ready to be opened," Urahara spoke up, knowing that the group would want to leave soon enough and he was more than willing to help them out,especially since he felt that only Sombra was necessary to go to Aizen's fortress, "You guys ready to go?"
"We're ready to depart." Sombra replied, though as he and his friends gathered near the area that the Garganta would be opened in, however, he noticed that Tessai, Ururu, and Jinta were down here as well, no doubt to watch the opening of the path to Hueco Mundo, and Yoruichi stood near the four of them for a moment.
"Good." Urahara said, to which he turned towards the rock formation that was on the right of where he was standing, as he was on the post that was sticking out of the right formation, from where the group was standing, and knelt on the post as he focused what he was doing, "My right hand is the stone that bridges worlds. My left hand is the blade that binds reality. The black haired shepherd is hung from a chair. Stratus clouds come, and I strike down the ibis!"
In the following few seconds blue energy gathered around Urahra's hand, the one that was holding onto the top of his cane, before it descended into the post that he was standing on, where the group watched as the energy leapt over to the other pillar and they both glowed blue for a few moments, which was followed by an oval shaped opening appearing between the two posts, with a familiar void on the other side.
"As Sombra has no doubt told you, this is called a Garganta." Urahara told them, even though the only ones that really needed to be told that were Ichigo and Chad, as Uryu was smart enough to remember what he had been told, and that was mostly because Chad had been busy and likely forgot what it was called, while Ichigo likely let the information go over his head when the information was first told to him, "There aren't any paths inside a Garganta, only a constant, turbulent flow of spirit particles. You'll be required to use these particles to forge your own pathways before you reach Hueco Mundo, which you'll reach by heading forward... and Ichigo, we'll be sure to watch over your family, friends, and town while you guys are gone."
"And I'll be helping him," Yoruichi added, though her tone told Sombra that she and Urahara would be preparing their defenses for the eventual invasion, unless the four of them defeated Aizen's army, before she stepped forward and planted a kiss on Sombra's lips, surprising Ichigo and his friends for a moment, "though I'd rather be heading into Hueco Mundo with the rest of you."
"I know, but this plan is the best at the moment," Sombra said, knowing that Yoruichi wanted to go along with him and him alone, even though she would help the others to the best of her ability, but after a few moments they separated from each other and he smiled, "Don't worry, we'll be back before you know it."
"Wait... when did you two start a relationship?" Ichigo asked, as this was the first time he had seen the two of them act this way in front of everyone else, though if they had done something like this before, in front of him and the others, he wondered how he could have missed it.
"We started the day after Rukia's 'execution'." Yoruichi replied, though as she said that she took a step back and stood off on the side, as it was time for the group to get moving and start the journey to Hueco Mundo, because it appeared that Sombra was ready to get the adventure started.
"Okay... let's go before my head hurts more than it already does." Ichigo stated, to which he jumped into the air and headed towards the Garganta, with Sombra, Uryu, and Chad following after him almost immediately, leaving Yoruichi and the others to watch them as they did that.
The group of four crossed over into the void that was on the other side of the entrance and immediately drew the spirit particles towards their feet as they touched down, though as they started moving forward the entrance behind them closed, indicating that the only path was forward... and that they wouldn't be able to stop until they reached the end of the void and crossed over into Hueco Mundo.
Despite the situation that they were in, being taken to Hueco Mundo by one of the Arrancar that Aizen had created, both Orihime and Sora were amazed by the sheer size of the fortress that they had found themselves in when they followed Ulquiorra out of the passage he had created. They knew that it was a bad thing on their part, taking such an interest in the enemy's fortress, but they couldn't help it, not when they felt like they were back in Soul Society in some manner, even though this was completely different from Soul Society. It also appeared that they were in the throne room area of the fortress that they were in, or what they assumed was the throne room because of the large throne that Aizen was sitting in at the moment, and Ulquiorra was standing nearby with the same expression on his face. Standing nearby were two Arrancar that they recognized, as both of them had seen Yammy during the first instance where some Arrancar had come to the World of the Living, where Yammy killed a number of people by taking their souls, and they also recognized Grimmjow, but the effeminate Arrancar, Luppi, and the childlike Arrancar, Wonderweiss, were completely unknown to them... and they only knew their names because Ulquiorra was nice enough to introduce them before they entered the throne room together.
After a few moments they came to a stop in front of the throne, behind the assembled Arrancar, where they were forced to glance up at the seat that Aizen was sitting on, and knew that the Arrancar were staring at them, each of them having a different emotion on their face, before they focused on what was going on.
"Welcome to our castle, Las Noches." Aizen said, though at the same time he stared down at the pair and was pleased to find that neither of them had been harmed in the process of coming to Hueco Mundo, meaning that Ulquiorra had completed his mission in the manner he specified, "Orihime and Sora Inoue."
Sora wasn't surprised to hear that Aizen knew who they were, not after hearing that this man was the stranger that had helped Sombra and Ichigo prevent him from killing himself, and instead took on the path of an Arrancar, as it appeared that he had been another test subject for the former Shinigami.
"I'm sorry to rush you on this, Orihime," Aizen continued, noticing that both of them were thinking about what was going on at the moment, but since he knew that a certain Arrancar was on his way here he needed to verify something before he put his true plan into motion, "but could you show me your power? Though it seems that there are some who don't approve of me having Ulquiorra bringing the two of you here... isn't that right, Luppi?"
"Obviously." Luppi stated, though he glanced to his left for a moment, as while he was more than willing to try and crush both of the siblings with his reiatsu, as he hated them already, he wasn't willing to challenge their Lord, even though he let them speak their minds, "Our entire battle was just a diversion so Ulquiorra could find and bring those two to Hueco Mundo. There's no way that I could approve of that!"
"I'm sorry about that. I hadn't predicted that you would suffer so many wounds in the process, especially since your opponent wasn't Sombra." Aizen replied, noticing that Grimmjow glanced at his missing arm for a moment, showing him that the former Sexta Espada knew the power that Sombra commanded and understood what he was talking about, even though he had a good test for Orihime's unique powers, "Ah yes, we could do that. Orhime, as a way of demonstrating your powers, why don't you heal Grimmjow's arm?"
"No way! That's crazy. We were told that Sombra cut off Grimmjow's left arm and reduced it to ash." Luppi stated, as that was what they had all been told when Grimmjow had recounted his fight with the powerful Arrancar, to prepare the Espada for what they would be getting themselves into if they fought him, though as he said that he noticed that Orihime was already walking over towards the one-armed Arrancar, "How is she supposed to heal something that no longer exists? She's not god!"
"Soten Kisshun." Orihime said, to which the necessary Flowers broke off of her hairpins and gathered the shield around the area that Aizen wanted her to heal, though as she did that Grimmjow looked down at her in surprise, Luppi growled as he turned towards her, and Sora stood beside her in case anything happened, "I reject."
"Hey, are you listening woman? A little performance isn't going to save your life!" Luppi declared, as he couldn't believe that they were wasting their time on such a brat, because powers like the one that Lord Aizen was talking about didn't exist, not for Humans anyway, and this was just pissing him off in the process, "That power is obviously fake. There's no reason to let som..."
Luppi's words died in his mouth as he, as well as the remaining Arrancar, watched as Grimmjow's left arm was pieced back together and restored to it's former glory, shocking the former Sexta Espada in the process, since he considered his arm all but gone at this point in time... and, while Luppi was distracted, Grimmjow shot a meaningful glance at Aizen, who nodded his head in return, indicating that this had been his plan from the beginning and that he was okay with the restored Arrancar doing what he was thinking of doing.
"Ulquiorra perceived Orihime's abilities as reversing time or reverting the space, but both those reasons are, in reality, false." Aizen said, though even as he said that Ulquiorra didn't seem unhappy, not that he bothered to show emotions anyway, and that was because he had explained what the truth of Orihime's powers was after he had studied them in his private viewing room, "This is phenomenon rejection. Her ability allows her to limit, reject, or deny things that happen to a certain object, such as denying the reality that Grimmjow had his arm cut off and destroyed, allowing her to piece it back together like nothing had happened. This power is certainly greater than turning back time or reverting spaces, and, as a result, she can even overturn events decided by God Himself... her ability impinges on His territory, as it were."
"Hey, Orihime," Grimmjow quieted said, as he wanted to surprise Luppi with what was coming next, to which he turned around and beckoned to the area on his back where his Espada tattoo had been located, though the only reason he bothered to call her by name was because she was still one of Sombra's friends, and the powerful Arrancar still terrified him to his core, "Heal one more spot for me."
Orihime, despite sensing that something terrible was coming, nodded her head and wrapped the shield around the area in question, allowing her a front row seat as a number six tattoo was restored to it's former glory, though that was followed by Luppi discovering what she was doing and turned towards them... only for Grimmjow to step forward and impale the effeminate Arrancar with his newly restored left arm, as his hand was now coming out of Luppi's back as he coughed up some blood.
"Grimmjow... you bastard." Luppi said, staring into the eyes of the Espada that he had replaced for the last couple of weeks, though at the same time, as his death approached him, he started to realize that he had only been put in that position because Lord Aizen wanted to test Orihime's abilities at some point, and a one-armed Grimmjow had been the perfect test subject.
"Later, former Sexta Espada." Grimmjow replied, though as he said that he raised his right arm and formed a Cero above the palm of his hand, giving Luppi only a few moments to understand what was coming next before he obliterated the top half of his body.
In the following few seconds Grimmjow grinned as he felt his former power as the Sexta Espada flood back into his body, putting him back at the level he had been in before Sombra tore off his left arm and incinerated it like he had, but even then he really didn't feel like celebrating all that much, not when the restoration of his position brought back the reality that he was going to have to fight Sombra at some point with the other Espada... a fight that he wasn't looking forward to, not after the beating that he had suffered a few weeks ago.
"Funny, I expected you to be shouting at the top of your lungs in joy at recovering your powers." Aizen commented, as this was one thing that he hadn't seen coming, that Grimmjow was actually behaving like the majority of the other Espada and not acting like a madman.
"I am happy, but there's no need for me to go over the top, Lord Aizen." Grimmjow replied, knowing that this was his way of acting differently now that his power was back, but at the same time there was so much for him to do so he could prepare for what was coming next, because if Orihime and Sora were here he knew that it was only a matter of time until Sombra came for them.
"Understandable." Aizen said, as it seemed like Grimmjow's encounter with an even stronger Arrancar, one that could easily rival Ulquiorra if the estimates were right, might have taught the Sexta Espada a lesson, before he turned his attention back to the rest of the Arrancar, "Ulquiorra, take Orihime and Sora to the room that they'll be staying in... and then wait for me to call on you again."
Ulquiorra bowed his head slightly before returning to a standing position and lead the pair out of the throne room, as it appeared that the first stage of Lord Aizen's plan, 'capturing' Orihime and Sora, was complete, and all they had to do was wait for the second stage to come to them... though he was looking forward to seeing whether or not his thoughts about Sombra were correct, or if he misjudged the power that the other Arrancar commanded.
Running through the void of a Garganta was interesting to Sombra, as the first memory he had, of his new life, was walking up in Hueco Mundo and accidentally using one of these to travel to the World of the Living, though at the time there had been some sort of walkway beneath his hooves that had formed all by itself. He guessed that since they were using the same form of transportation that the other Arrancar used, save for the fact that it was a Shinigami that opened the way for them, there would be some differences, meaning that if he had used his own Garganta they wouldn't have had to form their own walkways to get to their destination. Since the moment the group had entered the void between the World of the Living and Hueco Mundo they had formed three different walkways, as he was running along a perfectly straight walkway that reached out to their destination, Uryu was riding on an oval shaped walkway that resembled a surfboard, and Ichigo and Chad were running along a shoddy walkway that was of Ichigo's design, since his control over spirit particles was basically nonexistent, and it tended to crack every now and then.
Sombra was tempted to let Ichigo and Chad run behind him, so they didn't accidentally fall into the void and disappear forever, but at the same time they were focused on what they were going and didn't seem to mind the fact that their walkway was likely to come apart if Ichigo's concentration shattered in some manner.
"So, Hueco Mundo is ahead of us." Ichigo commented, as while he knew that they had been running for a great deal of time, or at least that was his assumption since running through the Dangai had warped their perception of time until they came out of the other end, and it seemed like they were drawing close to their destination, though he nearly tripped for a moment and caught himself as he continued running, "Damn it. Urahara made it seem easy like using spirit particles to form a walkway would be easy, but it's much harder than it looks. I suck at delicate operations like this."
Not even a few seconds later they all had to stop at the sound of part of Ichigo's walkway breaking, as Chad had stepped on part of it that was ready to break already and nearly fell into the void, but he managed to catch himself before that happened and pulled himself back onto the walkway.
"Sorry about that Chad." Ichigo said, though at the same time he wished that he had devoted some time to learning how to manipulate spirit particles, just so something like this didn't happen when they were heading between two locations, before he focused on his friend once more, "Are you alright?"
"No problem." Chad replied, though as he said that he glanced over at Sombra's walkway and found that it was nice and straight, looking like it would stay together no matter what happened to the person that created it, and silently wished that Ichigo's walkway was closer to what Sombra had created.
"How pathetic." Uryu commented, to which he remained on his own walkway and stared at Ichigo's shoddy work, once more reminding him of the fact that Ichigo didn't have the same set of skills that an actually Shinigami would have, as he suspected that someone like Byakuya would be able to make a walkway like Sombra's, "Can't you make a better path, so you and Chad don't fall into the void?"
"Stuff it! I just said that I was bad at things like this." Ichigo stated, though it always allowed him how Uryu thought that he was so much better than the Shinigami, especially someone that was only a Substitute and was only using his powers to protect his town, "Besides, what the hell is up with your walkway? It's hardly fair that both you and Sombra have your own walkways."
"I'm just using a variation of Hirenkyaku, Pure Flying Step, the Quincy version of Shunpo and Sonido." Uryu replied, though at the same time the second part of his explanation was for Sombra, as he was the one gathering all the names of the various techniques that the various creatures of the world used, be they Shinigami, Quincy, or Arrancar, "This is child's play for someone like me. And even if I created one for you, which I won't, you'd never be able to control it, not with your current skills at manipulating reiatsu. Besides, Urahara told us to forge our own walkways, but if I were you or Chad I'd jump over to Sombra's before the one your running on breaks and you fall into the void."
"Uryu, I only heard this from Urahara while we were waiting for Ichigo to arrive," Chad spoke up, though this time around Sombra's attention was drawn to them, as he was interested in what they could be talking about now, even though they were supposed to be focused on their mission, "but you made a deal with your father, right? In order to get your powers back, and to receive training to improve your skills, you were supposed to swear off any involvement with the Shinigami and their comrades. So why are you here?"
"Yes, I made that deal with my father, and I have no idea how Urahara found out about it," Uryu stated, to which he started moving again and the others followed after him, resuming their journey towards the other end of the void that they were in, "but while I said that I'm here to aid you, Kurosaki, the reality is that Sombra asked for Chad and I to come with him as he invaded Hueco Mundo. Technically Sombra is an entirely separate party that does what he wants whenever he desires, so if Soul Society says that they're leaving Orihime and Sora to their fate, and abandons them to whatever foul plans Aizen has for them, and if Sombra stated that he was going to save them, just like he did, then that means that he's at odds with what the Shinigami want and is no longer considered an ally until he bends to their wishes. Since he's the one that brought us all together, I can use the loophole I found in my father's requirements for gaining the training he gave me and come here to assist you... I'm actually very pleased that I managed to figure that out when Urahara came and explained the situation to me earlier."
Ichigo and Uryu then had a brief conversation about what how weak Uryu's logic was, as Ichigo didn't believe that his friend would even consider something like that, but Sombra was pleased to hear that their friend was able to find a way around what his father had asked of him, as it meant that they were even stronger than they would have been if it was just three of them. A few moments later, however, his attention was grabbed by the other side of the void approaching them, indicating that they were getting close to their target, and the others noticed it as well, because both Uryu and Ichigo stopped talking as they pushed forward and, as they reached the end and jumped forward, smashed through a wall that happened to be in front of them. What Sombra discovered was that the hallway that they were in was darker than what they had been going through, as if someone had turned out the lights and left them in almost total darkness, but he was able to see that everything was pretty solid looking, save for the one wall that they burst through to get here.
"This building is pretty solid looking," Ichigo commented, taking a moment to rub the back of his head while the rest of the group looked around to see if they could find anything of use, which Sombra was going to say was unlikely when he considered whose base this was, "I always figured that Hueco Mundo would be a pigsty."
"Actually, think of Hueco Mundo as a desert with a moon that's in the same position and phase at all times," Sombra said, as he remembered what he had seen when he first woke up in the world that they were now in, and it even felt familiar to him now that they were here, before he returned to the matter at hand, "Come on, let's find a way out of this building, so we can see where we entered and where our destination is located."
"Kurosaki, could you keep your voice down while we're walking around?" Uryu asked, though he also spoke in a much quieter tone, as he had noticed that Sombra had been doing it and decided to follow suit, because he had been thinking the same thing, "It's likely that they have some sort of invader detection system in place and already know we're here, but it's best if we don't give away our exact position."
"Hey, if anyone's around here, come and get us!" Ichigo called out, causing shock to appear on Uryu's face, as he couldn't believe what Ichigo was doing, Sombra merely sighed and shook his head, and Chad didn't seem bothered by what his friend was doing, as he agreed with the plan that Ichigo was setting in motion, before Ichigo turned and looked back at them for a moment, "Look, I figure that if one of the Arrancar come to us, we'll just beat them down and force them to tell us the information that we need to know. Then we'll go on from there."
"Well, I can feel two Gillian level reiatsu in this building, so someone's definitely here with us." Sombra said, telling the others exactly what they should expect, though at the same time Ichigo started walking and the rest of them followed after him, keeping their eyes and ears open for anything and everything, "We'll just have to see what happens first."
What Sombra found was that it was a good thing that they had been separated when they went into the Seireitei to save Rukia, as Ichigo and Uryu were talking back and froth about how reckless Ichigo was, how Uryu needed to loosen up a little, and the fact that neither one of them could agree on what the word caution meant. Sure, they were keeping their voices low at the moment, but they were annoying each other more than Sombra wanted them to at the moment and he was already starting to wish that he had come here alone, just to get through this without anything happened. After a few minutes of walking they eventually had to stop so Ichigo could tell Uryu to calm down, causing Uryu to bring his right fist to the side of the wall that was to his right, activating a hidden switch in the process and made everyone pause for a moment to register that it had actually happened. That was swiftly followed by the path they were following starting to fall, which meant that they were walking on a collapsing walkway, and they fled in the opposite direction, though the only reason Sombra was going along with it was because they might actually find an exit by running from the trap that they had accidentally sprung. It actually didn't take them long to find another path to take, allowing them to turn and start down it immediately, but Chad's turn resulted in him falling and being grabbed by Ichigo, Uryu, and Sombra, who hauled him back onto the new path they were going to follow and took a few moments to catch their breath.
Once they were ready the group stood back up and followed the new path that was in front of them, with Ichigo and Uryu discussing what happened with the trap in the tones they had been using before, causing Sombra to mentally wonder why he had thought that this was a good idea, to bring the both of them at the same time, in the first place... and, not even a few minutes later, they had to stop again, only this time Ichigo's foot sunk into the floor as it revealed that he was springing a second trap. This time around it was a boulder that was designed to crush invaders, though Chad stepped forward and raised on hand towards it, using his own strength to stop the boulder in it's tracks as the others watched what he was doing, before smashing the boulder to pieces with his fist. Just as Ichigo took the fault for activating the second trap a large hand, attached to an equally sized arm, torso, and head, as if it was a giant staring at them, appeared from the darkness and the figure stared at them, though before Ichigo could do anything Uryu grabbed him as they retreated from the area, as it was too narrow to get into a fight without bringing the entire building down on their heads. Even Sombra, who was glad to see that his senses hadn't lied and that there was someone in the building that they had broken into, took some steps back as he followed the group, but it was mostly to prevent the collapse of the building and not because of an entirely different reason.
Uryu even explained that they had to be in an underground building and that fighting in the narrow hallway was a terrible idea, since Ichigo still didn't get his reasoning behind why he thought that they were underground, but eventually they came to a wider area that was bigger than what they had seen so far, which was when they stopped running and he stopped holding onto the edge of Ichigo's attire.
"Look, a wider area," Ichigo commented, though at the same time he put a hand on Zangetsu's handle, as he was ready to turn around and meet whoever was chasing them, because he wanted answers and it seemed like the best person to ask was right behind them, "This is a good spot to fight, right?"
"There's a staircase nearby. It might lead outside." Uryu stated, to which he started to walk towards it, revealing that they might not need to ask any questions, especially since he figured Sombra would have a better time finding Orihime once they were above ground and got away from the building that they were in, "I'll go che..."
Not even a few seconds later, as Uryu took a few steps towards the staircase, Sombra glanced towards the stairs as a figure flashed into the area between his friend and the location he had been running towards, though that allowed him to see that this Arrancar wasn't as Human looking as the rest, as he had no legs and the lowest part of his body seemed to be floating off the ground, while wrapped in his Arrancar attire. The Arrancar in question had an interesting mask, as it was in the shape of a beak and left the upper-left quarter of his face visible, allowing Sombra to see that he had three dark blue diamond shaped tattoos above his left yellow colored eye and that he had short silver colored hair. As he took the first Arrancar's appearance into account he glanced back and found that the second one was coming out of the hallway they had walked through, where he found that the Arrancar was definitely a giant to some degree, with the remains of his Hollow mask covering the area around his eyes and the upper part of his head. That also let him notice that the Arrancar had a deformed jaw, an oddly shaped tongue, and black colored hair that was locked in the dread-lock hairstyle, with some odd ornaments at the end of each one, but he didn't look like much of a threat to their group... though the only thing that he found interesting was that neither of them were carrying a Zanpakuto, making him wonder if they were in their Resurrection forms and never bothered to return to their human states.
"Where are you going, invaders?" the floating Arrancar asked, though at the same time he kept his arms hidden, which told Sombra and the others that he might have some tricks up his sleeves and that they should be on the ready in case one of them decided to attack them.
"We're heading outside." Sombra replied, to which he focused on the stairs and not the two Arrancar that were near them, as he was sure that he could take both of them out if it really came to it, but at the same time he also knew that both Uryu and Chad could do that as well, "You're free to try and stop us."
"You couldn't get past me even if y..." the floating Arrancar stated, though that was when Sombra flashed behind him and stopped at the bottom of the stairs, letting some of his reiatsu dance in the air as the Arrancar turned to stare at him, before he flashed back to where he had been standing moments ago and forced the foe in front of him to turn his attention back to him, "Wh... what in the world just happened?"
"You challenged me to get by you and I did so." Sombra answered, but that was merely a fraction of the speed that he truly possessed, as it was child's play for him to get around the Arrancar that was in front of him, before he gave both of their opponents his attention, "You have some decent power for a Gillian ranked Arrancar, so does your partner, but even now I can tell that neither of you are anywhere near the level of the power that the five Arrancar that Grimmjow brought with him possessed... meaning that you are either ordinary Hollows that were allowed to evolve, or former simple minded Gillian that Aizen tested the Hogyoku on to begin his experiments."
"Demoura aside, you suggesting that I, Aisslinger Wernarr, am of low intelligence?" the floating Arrancar, Aisslinger, asked, though at the same time his clothing shifted and four arms appeared from where two normal arms would normally be located, proving Sombra's point that they were already in their Resurreccion state.
"Hardly. I was just making a point." Sombra said, to which he didn't raise his arms and kept his hands off his weapons, as there was no reason for him to bother using either of them, not when his friends could show him what they were capable of thanks to their training, "You said that this guy's name was Demoura, correct?"
"It's Demoura Zodd!" the giant Arrancar loudly said, though there was an aggressive tone that told Sombra that the enemy behind him was going to attack him soon, which was fine with him since he was planning on having the battle start soon enough anyway.
"Right. Chad, you can have the big guy." Sombra stated, to which he flashed out of the way as Demoura swung his arm down at where he had been standing, though in the following seconds Chad, with his armored hand at the ready, caught the attack and let the floor around him shatter in the process, before Sombra appeared next to the edge of the room with a shocked Ichigo trying to figure out how he had been grabbed in the first place, "Uryu, you can take out Aisslinger."
"Go ahead, let me fight the smart looking one." Aisslinger said, though at the same time his senses were going off the charts, as the reiatsu that was coming from the other Arrancar, the one that Demoura had tried to attack, was so powerful that he knew that if he directed his power at him he'd be crushed into the floor with little to no resistance, before he focused on his target, "Besides, we abandoned our Human forms to gain even more power, making us even stronger in the process... so don't take us lightly, Humans."
"You know, it's funny how Sombra's mind works sometimes," Uryu commented, though as he spoke he undid some buttons on the right cuff of his sleeve, as there was something he needed to do before he started fighting, and talking would distract their foe for a moment, "in the few seconds where he saw your abilities, when you entered this chamber anyway, he was able to tell that your partner was one that focused on brute strength, while you, Aisslinger, are more of a speed style fighter. He then quickly determined who was best suited to take on you two and let us take to the battlefield, even though he could easily take you both down without even a second glance... and, despite how annoying Kurosaki can be, at least he understands that it's our time to shine at the moment and not his opportunity to showcase his skills."
Just to prove his point Chad pushed Demoura's attack back and then slammed his fist into the side of his opponent's face, shattering part of his Hollow mask in the process as he knocked the Arrancar backwards, but that meant that Uryu was able to do something without being attacked from behind.
"And what do you think you can do against my power?" Aisslinger asked, though at the same time he extended his odd shaped arms and readied the fingers that were on each one, as it was time for him to get the battle started and shoot his opponent full of holes.
"This." Uryu replied, to which he held his right hand out and the Quincy cross that he had been hiding in his sleeve was revealed, where his new bow snapped into existence in front of his hand and he grabbed onto it, even though it looked like a large cross with a miniature 'x' shape coming from where the handle was located, "This is my new spirit bow, Ginrei Kojaku, or Lone Sparrow on a Silver Cliff, a new and improved replacement for the bow I was using when we invaded Soul Society, a bow that was called Kojaku, the Lone Sparrow. Now then, let's get this battle started."
Sombra watched, with a slightly annoyed Ichigo at his side, as Uryu pulled his arm back and started firing a good number of spirit arrows, which Uryu revealed were actually called Heilig Pfeil, where Sombra understood that the term was German for Holy Arrow and surprised the Quincy with his further language skills. To that point Sombra simply shrugged and reminded him that he was a fast learner and had spent some time with Urahara and Yoruichi before he even met Ichigo, and he recalled the languages that he had been taught, all of which was to prepare him for anything and everything he might see along the way during his adventures. As Demoura was getting the stuffing beaten out of him, as Chad was just knocking him around and tossing him across his part of the chamber, Aisslinger took the first volley head first and got cut on the shoulder in the process, before flashing away using Sonido, only for Uryu to catch up with him thanks to his Hirenkyaku technique. Uryu revealed that he was a Quincy and that this was still child's play for him, only for Aisslinger to state that he had no idea what a Quincy was and then got upset when Uryu called him out on being ignorant for not knowing what a Quincy was, especially since Aizen was fully aware of his existence.
In the end Aisslinger and Uryu stopped and had their standoff, as Aisslinger charged up all of his fingers and started firing his Una Tirotear, or Wing-Shaped Claw Bullet, at Uryu, who revealed that his Ginrei Kojaku could fire off one thousand and two hundred arrows at once, which was more than ten times what Aisslinger was able to fire, since he was only able to loose one hundred and eight bullets at once... and the onslaught quickly overpowered the Arrancar, tearing part of his mask off and putting him on the ground where he belonged, before Uryu stopped firing at him. As the end of that battle happened Demoura used his last ditch attack, using his tongue to try and smash Chad, and ultimately failed as Chad caught the tongue and caused it to form a mass in front of him, stunning his opponent in the process, before Chad punched him again, using his new El Directo, or One Strike of the Giant, attack and with a bright flash of energy he brought an end to their fight... with Demoura collapsing on the ground as Aisslinger struggled to move, proving to Ichigo that both of his friends were stronger than he had originally given them credit for.
Before anyone could say anything, and barely had time to stand near each other, the walls started to crack and buckle as sand and parts of rock started to fall from the ceiling, though that was when Aisslinger started to chuckle as he noticed the confusion on three of the faces of the invaders, even if Sombra didn't have the same look the others did.
"This is how this location was set up." Aisslinger stated, deciding that talking would make them stay here and listen to him, so he could use the base's defenses to crush the enemies that had invaded Hueco Mundo before they got too far into their Lord's domain, "We were guardians of this area. Anyone who tries to go through here to get to Las Noches must be eliminated. if we are defeated, then we'll all be crushed as the building collapses. Remember this, invaders, that's the type of person that you're up against."
"Yeah, but does Aizen have the power to stand against the strongest Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar in all of existence?" Sombra asked, though it was in that instant that terror appeared in Aisslinger's eye for a moment, as he now understood why he had been so worried about him since he witnessed his power.
"Lord Aizen fears nothing." Aisslinger replied, deciding not to show fear in the last moments of his life, even though he knew he was failing in his attempts to do just that, but at the very least the Arrancar that was staring down at him wasn't looking at him like he was insignificant, "That's why we bow before him. For us, creatures born from fear, a man that is afraid of nothing shines like the moon before us."
"I see." Sombra said, as that really didn't answer his question, but at the same time he decided that now wasn't the time to bother trying to press Aisslinger for the real answer, because with the building collapsing he started moving and made sure that the others knew what he was doing.
Ichigo, Chad, and Uryu followed after Sombra the moment he started moving, using his fast speed to flash over to the staircase and ascend to the surface, while at the same time the three of them, for some odd reason, simply ran instead of using their speed techniques. It didn't take him long to reach the top of the staircase and put some distance between him and the exit, though as he stopped he stared out at the landscape around him as he took in the familiar sights of Hueco Mundo, finding that it was exactly as he had described it to the others earlier, but that was before a large amount of sand exploded outward of the exit and he was fortunate that he had been away from it when that happened. As his friends burst out of the sand, and started shaking out all the sand that had gotten into their clothing, Sombra also noticed the sinkhole that had formed in response to the building collapsing, and it took some time for them to get the rest of the sand out before they were able to stand straight and not shake from time to time. Once they were finished with getting rid of the sand in their clothing, and turned towards him, Sombra stepped forward and noticed that they were looking out at the area that they were in.
"Allow me to officially welcome you to Hueco Mundo." Sombra said, telling them that they had succeeded in reaching their destination, before glancing off into the distance at the massive fortress like structure that was impossible to miss, which caused the others to look at it as well, "And that has to be Las Noches, because I can feel ten powerful reiatsu that feel like mine, meaning that they're the Espada, and three strong reiatsu that belong to Aizen, Gin, and Tosen coming from the other side of it's walls."
"Well, figure out where Orihime is and direct us to her," Ichigo replied, as he was going to use Sombra's senses to the fullest, because if Sombra was able to figure out that they had two enemies in the underground building he was sure that Sombra would be able to figure out where Orihime was, "Besides, we had better start moving soon, otherwise we might get dragged into another fight and waste more time that we don't have."
Sombra nodded and started running towards Las Noches, knowing that it was up to him to figure out where Orihime was when they invaded Aizen's fortress, but for right now he and his friends would begin their invasion of Hueco Mundo by reaching the fortress of their enemy, and then they would see what they needed to do next.
Grimmjow sighed as he got the call to gather in the special meeting room that the Espada, as in all ten of them, met with their Lord in, as well as both Commander Tosen and Commander Gin, but all this told him was that their true enemy had come, especially since he could already feel the vibrations in the air. The Espada, as well as all of the other Arrancar, didn't need to be told what was going on, as what he had felt indicated that Sombra was here, in Hueco Mundo, and that he was making his way to Las Noches, no doubt with Ichigo following after him with the intent to rescue Orihime and Sora from their cells. He knew this was bad, especially with all the pain he had been put through when Sombra fought him in the World of the Living, and none of the other Espada seemed to care, thinking that their powers would be able to stand against their enemy, but he had the feeling that it wouldn't matter in the end. Even as these thoughts ran through his mind he removed himself from his chambers, as each member of the Espada had their own private quarters and, when one of them was replaced by someone else, the room was either destroyed and rebuilt, or kept the way it was as a memorial to the Arrancar that they replaced... and he was happy to see that Luppi did nothing to his old place, otherwise he would have asked Orihime to try and bring Luppi back so he could obliterate the effeminate Arrancar completely.
He was the first of the Espada to reach the door to the meeting room, though he closed his eyes as he felt the others slowly arrive near him, even though he was actually trying to sense where Sombra was going, before the sound of the door opening caused him to open his eyes as he followed the others into the room and they took their seats.
At the very end of the table, exactly the opposite side of where Lord Aizen sat during these meetings, sat Yammy, who took the right seat like every other time these meetings happened, and yet he looked incredibly bored as usual, though that was because this call must have interrupted his nap. To Yammy's immediate left sat the Segunda Espada, Baraggan Louisenbairn, the former 'God-King' of Hueco Mundo, though he was an elderly man that was quite stocky and had some muscles, along with a white mustache and short white hair, which rested behind his five pointed Hollow mask that resembled a crown. As Grimmjow moved further down the line he spotted the Octava Espada, Szayelaporro Granz, who was as tall and thin as his brother, who Grimmjow missed more than he originally thought he would, who had shoulder-length pink hair and the remains of his mask formed a pair of glasses in front of his eyes, though he was the scientist among their group and loved to study things. After that was the Septima Espada, the one right below him, and that was Zommari Rureaux, a tall, muscular Arrancar that possessed dark skin, the remains of his mask were the spikes on his head that formed a row going back towards the back of his head, like a mohawk, and he wore a bone necklace, no doubt created from other Hollows that he had struck down... and the chair that was closest to where Lord Aizen sat was the same one that Grimmjow sat in, where he mentally sighed as he took his seat as well.
On the left side of the table it started with Aaroniero, who sat next to Yammy, followed by Harribel, who always looked incredibly serious, then Nnoitra, who hand his hands behind his head with a smile on his face, followed by Starrk, who, as always, seemed tired despite the amount of sleep that he got, and ended with Ulquiorra sitting to their Lord's left... though as Grimmjow finished his mental reminder of where all the Espada sat, the door opened and they watched as Lord Aizen and their Commanders walked into the meeting room.
"Good morning, my dear Espada." Aizen said, noticing that all of their heads were drawn to him the moment he spoke up, as that was common when he entered a room that they were all in and said something, but he pushed that though away as he focused on what he wanted to tell them, "We're under attack. But let us have some tea first."
As Aizen took his seat he considered how he did things, as the preparation of the tea allowed some of the Espada to talk about what was going on and allowed him to observe them, as some of them paid attention to what was going on and some didn't care to find out until a meeting happened. He was pleased to find out that, even though only a few of them knew the point of entry, they all already knew that the invaders had broken into the twenty-second Underground Passageway, where Aisslinger and Demoura were stationed, and actually destroyed the building, not that he expected anything different from his opponent. Some of them were excited about the prospect of an invading force, some wished it was more exciting if the invaders broke into the Hogyoku's chamber, as that came from Szayelaporro and was actually seconded by Nnoitra, but out of all of them he noticed that Grimmjow didn't seem to care, he was just trying to figure something out on his own before he spoke up. Aizen appreciated the lesson that Sombra had taught the Sexta Espada, as it made him more obedient, for now anyway, and Grimmjow glanced at the tea that was eventually placed in front of him before taking a few sips as he waited for the meeting to get started, another change that Aizen wasn't expecting... but, in the interest of time, he decided to shelf that thought for now and focused on the topic at hand.
Despite the fact that he was the first one served, and the Espada were generally served in the order of their ranking because most of them had different tastes than he did, they were able to distribute the eleven cups without too much delay, and while some were happy to have them some were indifferent.
"Everyone has some now, yes?" Aizen inquired, as he wanted to make sure that they were content with what had been brought to them, but even he could see that they were all eager to hear what was happening outside Las Noches, "Now, please listen carefully while you have a drink. Tosen, turn on the projector."
As Tosen did as he was commanded the direct center of the table had a circle open up and glow green for a moment, as the lights dimmed a little more and an image was projected for them all to see as the Espada glanced at it, where they all found three powerful invaders following a fourth, even stronger, invader... one that Grimmjow stared at as he rubbed his left arm again, imagining what had happened to it during the last fight he had with Sombra.
"There are four invaders; Uryu Ishida, Sado Yasutora, or Chad as he prefers to be called, Ichigo Kurosaki, and last, but certainly not least, Sombra." Aizen said, though even as he said that he drank from his cup and stared at the image of the four running figures, despite the fact that his interest was on Sombra and no one else, and he even noticed Grimmjow's reaction as well, before setting his cup down.
"They're... the enemies?" Aaroniero asked, his tone revealing that he couldn't believe what they were seeing, as if he decided that none of them were worthy opponents at all, and that was ignoring the feeling that he got from staring at the figure at the head of the pack.
"What's this?" Baraggan inquired, his tone the same as Aaroniero's, indicating that he believed that they were wasting time with a meeting like this, but his eyes lingered on the one figure that everyone seemed to be staring at, "When you said that we were under attack, I was curious as to who our enemies were. They're a bunch of children!"
"You shouldn't underestimate them." Aizen stated, knowing that some of them were going to do so anyway, but at the very least a few of the Espada seemed to understand that true danger had come to their home, "They were once the Ryoka that invaded Soul Society and fought on par with the Captains of the Gotei 13, though there were six of them during that time. The missing members are Orihime and Sora Inoue, who are currently locked up inside Las Noches."
"So, they came to rescue their friends." Zommari commented, as he was following along with what their Lord was saying and knew that these four should be the focus of their minds until they were defeated, though even he was staring at the Arrancar that was at the head of the pack, "The Arrancar that is with them, is that...?"
"Yeah, it's Sombra... the Dios Hueco." Grimmjow spoke up, causing the rest of the Espada to glance at him once more, even though his eyes were focused on Sombra and no one else at the moment, as he knew exactly what he was going to do when he crossed paths with him again, "Yes, he's come to retrieve his friends that we kidnapped, but there's another reason he's come here, and that's to claim the entirety of Hueco Mundo for himself."
"Only a fool would make that sort of claim." Baraggan stated, to which he glared at Grimmjow, as he didn't much appreciate the tone that the Sexta Espada was using at the moment, though what really surprised him was that a smile actually appeared on Grimmjow's face.
"You're right, Baraggan, I am a fool for handing him his Arrancar Zanpakuto," Grimmjow said, admitting that the reason they were going to be facing a creature that none of them could defeat was because he had given the hidden blade to him, when they could have tackled him together and stopped this before it got to this point, but in the end he was purely at fault for all of this, "but I'm not a fool for knowing what's coming our way. If you had seen the cold look in his eyes, had felt the sinister feeling of his reiatsu, and had witnessed how he treated everything around him during our fight, even promising me a short torment before my death, then you would know just what sort of terror is coming our way, and he hasn't even awakened his full power yet. Surely you all can feel the slight vibrations in the air, Hueco Mundo's way of letting us and other Hollows know that the Dios Hueco is here... and when he awakens his full power... well, you all heard what Ulquiorra said when he determined what Sombra was."
"Please, you make it sound like he's unbeatable." Nnoirta commented, though at the same time he glanced at the figure that was getting Grimmjow so worked up and imagined slicing him in half with his massive weapon, as the weapon that his true power was locked away in was different from the Zanpakuto that the others carried, "He's got a weakness, just like everyone else, and once we figure out what it is we'll bring him down... or just cut him to pieces. Whichever comes first when we fight him."
"Besides, the Dios Hueco is supposed to be a beacon for Hollows and Arrancar," Szayelaporro added, though his thoughts on the subject were that once a Hollow reached the final evolution the others would be drawn to them to be his or her servants until it's eventual death or the creation of a new, even stronger, Dios Hueco a thousand years later, "Right now Sombra isn't showing signs of that happening. Aren't you just exaggerating his abilities?"
"No, I know what I'm talking about." Grimmjow said, as he stared at Sombra, like he was going to jump out of the image that was being projected and appear before them in a matter of seconds, before continuing, "His power is beyond anything you can comprehend, because he was able to beat me, in my Resurreccion, without undoing the seal on his own powers and using his own Resurreccion, and I'm pretty sure that if we all fought him he'd end up killing us."
"Now you make it sound like the only way to survive is to join him." Yammy spoke up, though he was just making a general comment, because he hated Sombra for the beating he was given in the World of the Living and wanted to beat the daylights out of him in return.
"If he awakens his true power, he'll be able to do that with little effort." Ulquiorra said, but even as he said that he noticed that Grimmjow was nodding his head, as he understood what would happen if Sombra progressed that far, and the vibrations were just the first sign of the awakening of a Dios Hueco.
"Do not worry, my Espada, for as long as you are with me, no one shall beat us." Aizen spoke up, causing them to turn towards him once more, but as that happened he also noticed that Grimmjow didn't seem to have the same excitement as the other Espada did, granted that Ulquiorra didn't show emotion, and he knew that something was up, "For now, go back to your rooms and prepare yourselves for the next stage of my plan."
Grimmjow waited as the other Espada followed Aizen's commands and followed him, and the Commanders, out of the room once the projector was turned off, as he was thinking about what he had seen and what they all felt, because it was odd being the only one that knew exactly what was coming there way. He wasn't all that surprised to find that the majority of the other Espada didn't believe him when he tried to warn them about what was coming their way, as he was one of the least liked members of their entire group and the others tended to ignore him, though he guessed that he was fortunate to say as much as he did before the conversation died. He then sighed as he finished off the tea that had been put in front of him, as it calmed him down a little, and pulled himself from his seat, before heading out of the room and headed back to his quarters, where he could figure out what he was going to do first... though despite all this he knew that the moment Sombra awakened his true power all of Hueco Mundo would turn against Aizen, Tosen, and Gin, and he suspected that there was no one in this world that would be able to stand against that power.
He sighed once more as he walked down the hallway, as Aizen had doomed the Espada that he had worked hard to acquire and didn't seem to care all that much, despite his words that he offered them, so he needed a plan before Sombra arrived for Orihime and Sora... otherwise he was sure that they were all going to die, something that he hoped to avoid to the best of his ability.
As Sombra and the others ran across the desert between where the exit of the underground base was located and where Las Noches rested, and he ignored Ichigo and Uryu's banter about what happened in the underground area they had been in, he noticed that Las Noches was massive since it didn't get any larger as they ran towards it. Along the way both he and Uryu noticed that the shriveled up trees, or what could have passed for trees in Hueco Mundo, seemed to be made up of some sort of quartz material, something that Ichigo didn't seem to care about as he focused on their mission and started running towards their destination. One thing that happened to get in their way was a tornado that came out of nowhere, catching three of them in the process while Sombra, once more using his advanced speed, moved out of the way and sighed as he watched his friends as they remained in the center of the tornado. Fortunately it appeared that Uryu had a trick up his sleeve, as Sombra noticed that his friend had one of Kukaku's spirit orbs that allowed him to form one of the spirit shells that they used to invade Soul Society, but that was where things turned out bad for them since Ichigo bickered with Uryu and cracked the shell in the process... before Chad used his power to shatter the shell and used the explosion to destroy the tornado, though as they hit the ground they were buried in sand and caused Sombra to sigh in annoyance for a moment.
Sombra watched as the trio repeated the process of getting the sand out of their clothing, along with Ichigo and Uryu bickering about the definition of a mirage as Chad stared at the ground, like he was testing something, before he noticed a little lizard Hollow resting near his hooves, staring up at him, and, instead of running away, the little critter actually let him pick it up and rub the back of it's neck for a few seconds.
"You know, I thought that this would be a world with nothing but death when we first got here," Ichigo commented, staring at the small brown skinned lizard that Sombra was holding in his hand, which had a hole halfway down it's back and a mask that actually covered it's entire head, but he guessed that this was just another odd thing that he could associate with Sombra, "but I'm surprised that there are little animals around here as well. Say, Hollows are supposed to eat souls, right? What do you suppose the little guy eats?"
"There's a high concentration of spirit particles in Hueco Mundo," Sombra replied, to which Uryu nodded his head, as he had noticed that when he was fighting Aisslinger earlier and had said nothing since they were stressed for time before the building collapsed, before he noticed what appeared to be a slight look of happiness appear in the lizard's eyes, "small Hollow, like this guy here, likely get enough substance simply by breathing."
"How could you two even know that?" Ichigo asked, as he wasn't sure what was worse, Uryu saying things that made him sound smart, Sombra doing the same thing, or the two of them agreeing with each other and making him look like a fool for not knowing what they were talking about.
"I, just like all the Quincy that came before me, fight by utilizing the spirit particles in the air," Uryu said, though at the same time he actually smiled for a moment as he pushed his glasses back into place, surprising Ichigo for a moment, while at the same time making Sombra smile as well, "I always feel better when there's a lot of spirit particles around me, and I even confirmed that in our battle earlier, by studying Demoura's attacks and fighting Aisslinger. Just knowing that particular bit of information will make me even stronger here, more so than in the World of the Living and Soul Society, but it will also strengthen any ordinary Hollows that we might come across, and there no telling how much of an advantage it might give Aizen's Arrancar as well."
Sombra knew that there was more that Uryu wanted to say, especially since Ichigo was getting ready to leave the area they had been resting in, though before they could do that the sand some distance behind them rumbled as a decent sized snake-like Hollow burst out of the sand, followed by two oddly shaped Hollows that were near a Human's size... and in front of all three of them ran what could easily pass as a little kid, but since Sombra knew that such a thing was impossible he felt the reiatsu in the air and detected that the little girl's reiatsu matched an Arrancar's reiatsu. Before he could actually say anything Ichigo pulled Zangetsu off his back, keeping the blade wrapped up for now, and ran towards the Hollows that were coming near them, where he slammed the edge of his weapon into the face of the chubby Hollow that was to the girl's right. In the following moments Uryu and Chad ambushed the skinny Hollow that had been running alongside the chubby one, only for the three of them to end up in a form where Ichigo was holding the base of Zangetsu near the chubby Hollow's head, Chad was keeping the worm's head off the ground, and Uryu was threatening the skinny Hollow with an arrow to the face... to which Sombra sighed as he stood up, and the lizard decided to ride on his left shoulder for a moment, before he approached them.
At the same time he did a double check on the two oddly shaped Hollows and found that their reiatsu seemed to match what he had felt from Aisslinger and Demoura, meaning that there were three Arrancar in front of them, but that didn't change his mind as he stopped near the group.
"Guys, stop acting like children." Sombra said, because now that he had his memories back, and knew that he was over a thousand years old, he could say something like that and it would be considered true, before he noticed that the little Arrancar girl was standing to his right with her hood still covering her face, "They weren't going to attack her and eat her... isn't that right?"
"Yeah! What did Nel's buddies ever do to you?" the little girl, Nel, proclaimed, though she sounded upset as she pulled the hood back, revealing a cartoon-like sized skull Hollow mask, which seemed damaged to Sombra, her wide hazel colored eyes, her short green hair, an unusual crimson line below her eyes, and a scar between her eyes that seemed to be related to the damaged mask, since the mask was missing a few teeth and had a crack in it, "Stop bullyin' dem! Besides, we were playing 'Eternal Tag', though Nel never thought that people would think the wrong thing if they saw us."
"It's okay. We're the ones that should say we're sorry." Uryu said, though at the same time he glared at Ichigo for a moment, as this was his fault since he knew that there was no way that another Human could have come here, and even if there was one Sombra would have warned them ahead of time, "Besides, Kurosaki here is an idiot most of the time."
Ichigo glared at Uryu for a few seconds, as now wasn't the time or place for him to be accusing him of being an idiot in front of complete strangers, but at the same time things seemed to be going quite well, as Nel continued by explaining that their endless game of tag was because there was nothing fun to do in Hueco Mundo. She also explained that she was a 'sewious maso-kiss' and that crying made sense to her when she was playing tag, only for Ichigo to punch the chubby Arrancar for teaching her terrible words that she clearly didn't know the meaning to, as it sounded like she got upset when one of the others tagged her. Nel then revealed that she was an Arrancar, something that Sombra determined before even seeing the mask, and that her name, what she could remember, was Nel Tu, before introducing the skinny Arrancar as her brother, Pesche, the chubby Arrancar as her other brother, Dondochakka, and the snake-like Hollow as Bawabawa. Of course Ichigo was the one to ruin the moment they were having when he declared that, since Dondochakka explained that both he and Pesche found Nel by chance and became her brothers from that point forward, the three of them weren't actually a family and caused utter despair and terror to appear on the faces of the trio in front of them... and a few seconds later he changed his mind and let them go back to what they had called themselves before hand, as it wasn't worth the headache to correct their error.
What happened next was Nel explaining something that not many of them had known about, as the Arrancar that had come with Grimmjow during his attack on the World of the Living had been Numeros, or Hollows stronger than a Menos Grande before their transformation into Arrancar. Sombra guessed that what she meant was that the Numeros were the ordinary Hollows and Gillians that had been tested on by Aizen to perfect the transformation procedure, as it seemed that the Espada had some Adjuchas in their ranks and a few Vasto Lorde as well. Nel also revealed that these Arrancar, the Numeros, were given a two digit number and that they worked for an Espada, which told Sombra that Grimmjow's Fraccion had been Numeros that he hand picked to serve him, especially since Di Roy called himself Arrancar Sixteen when he tried to kill Chad. Interestingly enough Nel and her brothers seemed to be smart enough to tell that Ichigo, Uryu, and Chad weren't Arrancar, and that actually terrified them for a moment when they thought that they were there to kill them, or something even more outlandish than that, but when they got to Sombra, since they were having the group introduce themselves and caused this whole panic to begin with, their terror seemed to vanish.
"My name is Sombra, and I'm a Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar." Sombra finished, though he was a little surprised when the trio calmed down as they stared at him, because that told him that there was something wrong and he was going to have to figure out what that something was before they could even consider moving forward, "Look, if you think we're the bad guys or something, you're mistaken. We're here to break into Las Noches, take our kidnapped friends back, and disrupt the army that Aizen has built."
"No, it's not that," Pesche said, deciding to reveal what was going on at the moment, as none of them had felt the level of power that Sombra was using for quite some time, only there was something different about it, "your aura... even now it feels like something that a commander would possess and expect those weaker than it to follow them. Can you give me a sense of your true power?"
Sombra raised an eyebrow for a moment, though since he was sure that Aizen knew that they were here already and was likely preparing his defenses, he guessed that a few seconds of full power wouldn't hurt in the long run, to which he focused his mind and the air around him shuddered in response, causing Uryu and Chad to stare at him in shock, as this was the first time since his inner world battle that he had revealed how much stronger he had gotten... though as he stopped doing that, and his energy returned to it's suppressed state, he noticed how shocked Nel and her brothers were and worried that he might have broken them.
"That commanding aura, and the power to back it... it's just as I thought." Pesche stated, though what surprised Sombra was what came next, as he nodded to both Nel and Dondochakka and all three of them, including Bawabawa for some reason, knelt before him, "The legend that all Hollow and Arrancars know has come true once more, that a new Dios Hueco will grace Hueco Mundo and seize what is rightfully theirs... oh great and powerful Hollow God, we would be fools to try and stand in your way, and hereby offer your our services in your mission to reclaim Hueco Mundo from the Usurper that currently rules this realm."
Sombra stood there for a few moments, trying to figure out what was going on, before eventually sighing as he came to the conclusion that this 'Dios Hueco' was something that he needed to learn about before they went any further or even attempted to reach Las Noches... because he had the feeling that it was going to change their approach to how they entered their enemy's lair and everything going forward from that point.
"Okay, before we do anything else, you three have to explain what this 'Dios Hueco' is." Sombra stated, though at the same time he and his friends took a seat in the area that they had been in before Nel, Pesche, Dondochakka, and Bawabawa erupted from the sand like they did, where he also noticed that the three strange Arrancar sat near him as their pet rested near them, "What in the world is it, and why did you suddenly feel the need to kneel before me?"
"There are four classifications that Hollow go by; ordinary Hollows, Gillians, Adjuchas, and the Vasto Lorde," Pesche replied, revealing that he had to be the more intelligent member of their group, or at the very least he was the speaker since Nel had problems speaking at times, "that's all the classifications that Shinigami and their allies know about, but they're also wrong in that regard. All Hollows, and this extends to Arrancar as well, are aware of the existence of a fifth classification, one that is only filled once every one thousand years by a chosen Hollow, and that classification is the Dios Hueco, or the Hollow God, a creature that all Hollows inherently know about after years of wandering the sands. This special Hollow, though they need to go through the evolutionary process like every other Hollow, is even stronger than a Vasto Lorde, and they have the power to command every Hollow in Hueco Mundo, as we all instinctively know to follow this creature when one is created, even if it meant war broke out between us and Soul Society. Your power and aura have the makings of the Dios Hueco, which is why we knelt before you back there, and it's only a matter of time until you can exert your will over all those that call Hueco Mundo home with just a glance if you so desired... and then there's the small lizard Hollow that's still resting on your shoulder, as he felt your power and no doubt feels safer being near you."
Sombra glanced to the shoulder in question, finding the little critter that he had picked up while he was explaining part of Hueco Mundo, or rather the spirit particles, to Ichigo earlier was still there, and it didn't look like it wanted to leave just yet, so he focused on the matter at hand.
"So, let me get this straight," Ichigo spoke up, taking a moment to cut into the conversation, since Sombra was clearly thinking about what he had been told and was trying to understand it in his own way, much like he had done with all the other information that he gathered before a fight, "There's a fifth classification to what a Hollow can become, but this specific classification is only supposed to have one Hollow form every one thousand years and, when one does appear, every Hollow and Arrancar in Hueco Mundo will heed it's call once it unlocks it's full powers? The three of you, despite thinking that we were bad guys a few minutes ago, are more than willing to assist us, but only through the means of assisting Sombra, since he's the one you'll be swearing your services to until he decides that he no longer needs your help? What's to stop one of the Espada from telling Aizen this and warning him of what is coming his way?"
"I bet Grimmjow's tried to warn the other Espada by now," Sombra commented, as Grimmjow was the only Arrancar that had felt his true power, even if it was just a fraction of it, and had to have warned the others about what he was capable of, but at the same time he knew that they might still be in for a fight, "Still, to consider and accept the fact that there's another classification, one that's even stronger than a Vasto Lorde and capable of commanding the entirety of Hueco Mundo, would normally sound strange and unreasonable at the same time, yet I can tell that Pesche isn't lying about what's going on. To think that I'll have the power to command every Hollow here, whenever I actually unlock the full powers of the Dios Hueco, sounds amazing... and yet it might make things too easy for us if they kicked in early."
"I believe that your powers are only just awakening, now that you've returned to Hueco Mundo." Uryu stated, as he had been thinking about all of this and had come up with a decent idea as to why this might be happening, even though Sombra might have already thought about it as well, "We'll have to wait and see what happens in the future, after you've had the chance to really test the limits of your new powers... and maybe we'll catch Aizen off guard in the process."
"Still, we've got to rescue Orihime and Sora." Sombra said, as that came first for him, though even as he thought about it he had to wonder if that was the reason that Zangetsu called him 'Lord' when they were trying to get the Visored to understand what Ichigo was asking of them, before he stood up and glanced over at Las Noches, "Do any of you know how we can get to Las Noches faster, instead of running the entire way there?"
"We can ride on Bawabawa!" Nel stated, to which the snake-like Hollow moved it's head in a happy fashion, like it heard it's name and was happy to be called upon, though at the same time this told Sombra that they would be able to conserve their energy for what was going to happen once they breached Las Noches' walls.
"I shall give you the death that you so rightfully deserve," a voice said, causing the assembled group to glance around for a moment, as they were curious as to what they had heard, but as that happened Nel pointed at some moving sand that was nearby and everyone turned to face it.
Sombra watched as the sand started to form a large body that was made from the sand around them, only turned a darker shade to separate the creature from the area around them, and he easily determined that it was the upper part of a body, as arms formed moments later and a head followed after it, complete with a Hollow mask. Once the creature stopped forming Sombra was able to see that there was some sort of loincloth that was wrapped around the area that was connected to the sand, which also happened to be made of sand, the creature had some sort of bracelets that were around it's wrists, and it's head seemed to resemble those sand castles that he had seen children make back in the World of the Living. For a moment Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka seemed concerned about something, meaning that they knew who the Hollow in front of them was, but then they remembered that they were standing in the presence of the most powerful creature in all of Hueco Mundo and they stood their ground, just like Sombra was.
"Okay, what's this thing?" Ichigo asked, as he was growing tired of things happening to them before they even got inside Las Noches, even though the encounter with Nel and her brothers, since Sombra was okay with them calling themselves that, was actually a benefit to them thanks to the ride that they would take once the latest problem was taken care of, to which he grabbed the handle of his Zanpakuto and readied himself.
"This is the Guardian of the White Sands, Runuganga." Pesche stated, his tone indicating that he was a protector of some kind for the area around Las Noches, which made sense to Sombra since Aizen likely didn't want his base of operations to be left vulnerable.
"I just received word that there were invaders heading towards Las Noches." Runuganga stated, to which the group was able to determine that it was male thanks to the voice that came out of it, and at this point Sombra wasn't going to question how a Hollow could be made out of sand, before he glanced down at them and stared at Nel's group, "But to think that worms like you would work together with them. Unforgivable! I shall turn the lot of you into desert sand!"
"Actually, we're helping the rightful ruler of Hueco Mundo return to his throne." Nel replied in kind, surprising some of the group with the fact that she was able to say all those words without the usual child speak that she had used since they met her, telling Sombra that if she got serious she'd be able to speak like an adult.
"Do you honestly expect me to believe that?" Runuganga asked, his tone suggesting that he didn't believe the words that Nel had said, meaning that he hadn't felt what she and her brothers had felt when Sombra called forth a good portion of his power earlier, but there was a simple way around this situation, "Please, there hasn't been a Dios Hueco for the last thousand years, and it is unlikely that one wou..."
Sombra focused his mind and the area around them shuddered once more, because he was going to see if he could persuade the creature that was in front of them to move to the side and allow them to pass, otherwise he was simply going to blow the Guardian of the White Sands away with a Cero. After a few seconds he relaxed and withdrew his reiatsu, as there was no need for him to go much further, because the moment he did that Runuganga bend over like someone that had taken a hard punch to the gut or something, and, at the same time, Nel's group looked at him with a look of excitement on their faces. Ichigo and the others, however, were still caught off guard by the sheer power that he could command at a moment's notice, which was why they were thankful that Sombra was on their side and not on Aizen's side, but before anyone said anything Sombra stepped forward and approached the Hollow that was in front of them, as he wanted to ask it a question before they got underway.
"I was not aware of what I truly was before I came here, but my power is no joke." Sombra said, though at the same time Runuganga lifted his head and stared at him, where Sombra was sure that he could see a hint of fear in the Hollow's eyes for a few seconds, before he continued talking so he could get to the reason that this was happening, "My name is Sombra, and right now I'm a Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar that's coming into his powers as the Dios Hueco, the Hollow God as it's called, though at the moment I intend to reach Las Noches and take Aizen down. Now, you can either move to the side and allow us to pass to our destination, or you can stand in our way and attempt to stop us, but personally I'd go with the first option, that way you live to guard the home of your new ruler."
"Your power... is on Aizen's level..." Runuganga stated, his voice showing that he was debating about switching sides already, as normally he would have called Aizen's his 'Lord' and nothing else if he spoke his name, but now, after having been proven wrong about the existence of the Dios Hueco, there was only one thing for him to do, "Very well. I shall do as you suggested and back off, to protect Las Noches for it's future ruler. What would you have me do with the other two intruders that are on the hill over there?"
Sombra didn't need to be told that there were more people near their location, though at the same time he glanced in the direction that the reiatsu was coming from and smiled as he found both Rukia and Renji, wearing cloaks over their normal Shinigami attire, standing on top of the hill in question... though with a single movement of his head they started moving down towards where Ichigo and the others were located, allowing him to turn back to Runuganga.
"They're with me." Sombra said, informing the giant Hollow that he had been expecting them for some time and that they were allies of his, to which Runuganga bowed his head in acknowledgment and disappeared into the sand that he had pulled himself out of, to see if there were any other intruders that he needed to be tangle with and report what they were doing to the new master of Hueco Mundo.
"Rukia! Renji! What are you guys doing here?" Ichigo asked, though he could hazard a guess that they were here to help them save Orihime and Sora, mostly because all of this had been planned out by Sombra the moment the Captain-Commander told them to come back to Soul Society.
"Isn't it obvious? We're here to assist you guys." Rukia replied, though at the same time she smiled, because if it had been Ichigo making the move to attack Hueco Mundo on his own, and Chad, Uryu, and Sombra had been attached to him to prevent him from doing something stupid, she would have had a rant for him, but with this all being part of Sombra's plan, as he expected them to return at some point and had Urahara have a gate locked into the area near him, she wasn't about to complain, "Though you should have waited for us before you reached Aizen's fortress, so we could all go in there as a team and not be separated by some unknown obstacle. Besides, who was that creature that you were talking to and who are these guys?"
"That was Runuganga, the Guardian of the White Sands," Sombra answered, though at the same time he smiled as he high fived Renji and patted Rukia on the shoulder, showing them that he was happy to see them, while the lizard that was still on his shoulder jumped to the ground and scurried off into the sand, "He's turning over a new leaf, now that I've shown him my power and informed him of what's going on, which is something that I'll have to tell you guys about before we reach Las Noches. These are our new friends Nel Tu, Pesche, Dondochakka, all Arrancar that don't serve Aizen, and their pet Bawabawa, whose going to be assisting us in reaching our first destination."
"Okay, you need to explain what's going on at the moment." Ichigo stated, to which he pointed an accusing finger at Sombra for a few seconds, as he was getting tired of being out of the loop and having things happen that he didn't know about until a certain point in time, and he could tell that Rukia and Renji were slightly confused as well.
Sombra took Nel's offer of riding on Bawabawa to get to the walls of Las Noches and told her that both Rukia and Renji were his friends as well, meaning that they weren't going to hurt her or her brothers, before they all climbed on the Hollow's back and let him move towards their destination. From there he summed up what he had learned so far, telling them that the fortress they were heading to was Las Noches, that they had entered Hueco Mundo through an underground area, and that there was a fifth classification to what a Hollow could become, only that there was one of the final type every one thousand years. Rukia and Renji were shocked when they learned of the Dios Hueco's existence, as it seemed to go against everything they knew about Hollows, and yet part of it seemed to match since Rukia said something about a Hollow attack a thousand years ago, with a powerful Hollow that the Captain-Commander had been forced to destroy to turn the tide back in their favor. Nel then confirmed the story by revealing that all Hollows, after a few years of wandering Hueco Mundo, gained the knowledge that the older Hollows had, and that the battle Rukia was talking about had indeed occurred, as it was remembered by all in Hueco Mundo as their greatest defeat... but that still didn't compare to the shock that graced Rukia and Renji's faces when they learned that Sombra was next in line to take the throne of Hueco Mundo, giving him another reason to defeat Aizen.
Once he finished explaining the situation to Rukia and Renji, however, Ichigo asked about the cloaks that they were wearing and Rukia revealed that they had been told to wear them so they could protect themselves from the sand and dust that were in Hueco Mundo, and that the person responsible for giving the cloaks to them was Byakuya. Sombra wasn't surprised to hear that, not like Ichigo and the others were anyway, because it made sense that the Captain of the Sixth Division would want his little sister to be safe, especially after what happened in Soul Society where she was nearly executed on Aizen's orders. Rukia also told Ichigo that Byakuya was only under orders to bring them back to Soul Society and that they were free to do whatever they wanted upon their return, which was why they went back to Urahara's shop almost immediately upon their return and used the second Garganta that Urahara opened to get to Hueco Mundo, in time to feel the power that rolled off of Sombra's body. There was also the fact that Byakuya felt that Ichigo would never be able to survive on his own, like there was the possibility that he and Sombra would get separated at some point, and that his personal reason for allowing her and Renji to assist them was to keep them all alive until it was time to come back to the World of the Living, which allowed Ichigo more than he was willing to admit at the moment.
Despite the fact that it took them some time to reach the wall of Las Noches, giving them more than enough time to go over what they had learned since their arrival in Hueco Mundo, everyone was up to date on the situation and were ready to disembark from Bawabawa's back once he reached their destination... so when he came up to a stop by the wall group jumped down to the ground and approached the wall that was in front of them.
"What's with this wall?" Rukia asked, though at the same time she stepped forward and placed a hand on it, because if Aizen was mimicking Soul Society in terms of how big Las Noches the walls would be next to impossible to breach, but then her eyes widened for a moment, "It doesn't seem like the wall is made from Sekkiseki stone, which is what the gates that fell when you invaded Soul Society are made out of, meaning that there's no barrier protecting Las Noches."
"Good, then we can open a hole in it." Ichigo said, though Rukia had only a few seconds to get out of the way as both he and Renji readied both their Zanpakuto and their reiatsu, before they swung at the wall in front of them and blasted a small sized hole in the wall, opening the way forward so they could proceed, "Did we break through?"
"Of course." Renji stated, to which he sheathed his Zanpakuto, which reverted from it's Shikai form back into it's sealed form, before he held a hand out towards the hole that they had created in the wall, where a slight smile appeared on his face as he felt something that would make things nicer for them, "I can feel a breeze."
"Did we need to blast a hole in the wall?" Nel asked, to which she pointed in a different direction for a few moments, causing a few of the others to glance in that direction as well to see what she was talking about, "Dere's a door down that way, three days from here."
"Sorry Nel, but using the front door is sort of impossible at the moment." Sombra commented, to which Nel turned towards him for a moment, as she was curious as to why he would say something like that, before he turned his full attention to the hole that his friends had made in the wall, "Blasting our way into Las Noches is about the only way we can do things at the moment, though four of us did something similar when we were invading Soul Society to save Rukia, so it's not like this is new to us. Still, since there's a chance that more of Aizen's minions might be wandering the area outside Las Noches, I think it'll be safer for you and your brothers if you come along with us, because at this point anyone that hasn't seen the truth will consider you traitors and try to destroy you... and, if you do come with us, there's a greater chance of you being unharmed by the time we complete our mission."
"You aren't seriously considering letting them come with us, are you?" Ichigo asked, because while he could sort of understand part of Sombra's plan, as most of what he had heard was smart and made sense, he wasn't sure if bringing Nel and her 'brothers' along was a smart move.
"Ichigo, I know you can't sense it, but Nel has some incredible power that's just waiting to be awakened," Sombra said, though at the same time he glanced over at the little Arrancar for a moment, as she and her brothers were tending to their pet while he talked, and he could only imagine that she had been a powerful Arrancar when her mask had been whole, something that Orihime would be able to fix in no time once they saved her, "But for now we should focus on the task at hand, and that's infiltrating Las Noches and seeing if we can't figure out where they're keeping Orihime and Sora."
Ichigo sighed for a moment, as Sombra's senses were never wrong, and decided that he might as well follow his lead once more, to which Nel put a smile on her face as she, Pesche, and Dondochakka followed the group into the hole that had been blasted into the wall of Las Noches. It wasn't long after they entered the passage that Nel accidentally fell through an open hole in the side of the tunnel that they had broken into, an old vent or something, and Sombra jumped down to make sure that she was okay, before everyone else followed suit and landed behind him, though that was when some fallen stones and rubble fell down to prevent them from heading back up the stairs they ignored. For a moment Sombra considered that one of the Espada was trying to push them to a specific area, as that was what he'd have one of them do, and shelved the thought as they continued moving, only for Ichigo to comment a few moments later that it was pretty dark down here. Renji apparently had a solution for that, as he claimed that if you tweaked a Kido spell you could use it in any situation, though when he went to use Shakkaho, Hado Number 31, the group found that since he skipped the incantation, and Rukia even added that Renji was terrible at Kido in general, the sphere he tried to create was much smaller than he was hoping it would be... and Sombra was tempted to try it for a moment, since he had never considered doing something like that before, but then decided against it, since his attempt was likely going to be far superior to Renji's and that would only bruise his ego more than it already was.
A few minutes later Dondochakka stopped and declared that he spotted something shiny, which turned out to be a metallic door that was far newer than everything else they had found in the ruined area that they were following, and Ichigo swung Zangetsu at it and blew it up, revealing a staircase on the other side. From there Ichigo charged forward, as he was following the path that their chubby friend had discovered and was breaking down every door that was in his way, until eventually he stopped as he smashed his way into a brightly lit room that had five passageways for them to pick from, making Sombra wonder if his earlier thought had been correct.
"A crossroads... how interesting." Uryu commented, though at the same time sweat rolled down the side of his face for a moment, as this wasn't something that they were anticipating, and he also noticed that Sombra was the only one that wasn't concerned about the situation, which made sense given his powers.
"We sure picked a good spot to come out in, huh?" Renji asked, though he hated what they had found, because since there were five paths that meant that one of them was going to end up with Sombra following behind them and assisting them in some manner, and that was likely going to be Ichigo, though that was before they all felt several reiatsu emitting from the five passages they could pick from.
"Let's not waste any time arguing about what we're going to do." Rukia said, to which the group turned towards her for a moment, as she knew what they needed to do and was sure that they could get the job done easily, "There are five paths we can take, so the five of us should split up and Sombra can follow after whoever he desires."
"Rukia, that's insane! We can't split up!" Ichigo stated, though he was beginning to wonder what had gotten into his friends, because he knew the strength of their opponents and knew that this wasn't going to be easy if they separated from each other, "Our enemies are the Espada! It's way safer if we stick together!"
"Ichigo, just drop it." Renji spoke up, to which he stepped between Rukia and Ichigo for a moment, as this wasn't the time nor the place for them to be arguing about what was going on at the moment, especially since they needed to find and take out as many of the Espada as they could before Aizen realized what was going on, "It's insulting to a soldier when you worry about protecting them on the battlefield."
"Besides, that's not something that someone like you would say," Rukia added, as this was one of the few times that she had seen genuine concern in Ichigo's eyes, for her and the rest of his friends, those that weren't at Sombra's level anyway, and while she did appreciate the gesture she also knew that now wasn't the time for it, "Ichigo, Renji and I can handle ourselves, just like I'm sure that Uryu and Chad showed you their power so you would believe in their abilities as well, before you even came this far. We didn't come here to be protected by you!"
"Still, to be on the safe side, allow me to do this." Sombra said, to which he waved his right hand at the group and his horn glowed for a moment, allowing him to perfectly sense their reiatsu and where they were standing, before he blinked out of existence and reappeared behind Ichigo, when he had been standing behind Rukia a second ago, "Good, it works like it's supposed to. If you guys are in a really tough situation, like you're in a fight against an Espada that you cannot defeat, please don't hesitate to alert me, because you guys are my friends and I don't want to see any of you die while we're assaulting Aizen's forces... though I have faith in your abilities and know that you'll only really call be over to you if you really need my assistance."
"I... guess I can work with this." Rukia replied, though she wasn't sure what was more surprising, the fact that Sombra had that much faith in all of their abilities or the fact that he was using powers that weren't like what a Shinigami or an Arrancar used, but then again he was on a completely different level and might have some unique powers that had never been documented before.
"Okay then, we'll split up and each take one of the passages." Ichigo spoke up, as he was used to Sombra doing a Kido spell or using a power that no one else had seen him use before, just like whatever power he had demonstrated to them to prove his point, before determining that this was still a bad idea and had no idea why he was still going through with it, especially when their opponents were going to be the Espada.
"I've also got something that will bring us good luck, and maybe make it so we don't pester Sombra." Renji added, to which the group turned towards him once more, as it appeared that he was being serious about what he was talking about, before he placed his hand in the middle of them all, "It's a ceremony of some kind that the Gotei 13 used to to before a big battle, though these days most Divisions don't do it anymore and only get taught it when they're still learning how to become Shinigami... but I figured that, since we're going up against Aizen and his Espada, that now might be a good time to give us some extra luck. Just place your hands on top of mine and I'll get the chant started."
Ichigo stared at Renji for a moment, wondering what had gotten into his mind as well, before sighing as he raised his hand and put it on top of his friends' hand, which was followed by Chad, Uryu, and Rukia adding their hands to the pile as well, while at the same time Sombra observed them since it was clear that this was for the five of them.
"We at this moment head into the decisive battle." Renji recited, speaking the ancient chant that he had talked about, while at the same time the others focused on their hands and let him have his moment, as they all felt that they were going to agree with the chant by the time they were done with it, "Have faith that our blades will not shatter. Have faith that our hearts will not waiver. And even if our paths should diverge, we all share a heart of iron. Swear that even if the ground beneath us should be rent asunder we will live and return to this place again."
The moment the chant was over the five of them moved their hands down towards the floor, like they were breaking the connection they had formed, before turning around and headed down the passage that happened to be behind where they were standing, and in a matter of seconds they started to disappear from Sombra's sight. A few seconds later Sombra sighed and followed after Ichigo, leaving the choice of who they wanted to follow up to Nel and her brothers, since he had the feeling that they would be joining the battle later on, though Ichigo only glanced at him with a smile on his face as he noticed him catch up in a matter of seconds. Ichigo was clearly used to his speed, since they had trained together for a few days when he helped his friend master his control over his Bankai, before Sombra focused on his senses on the passage that they were currently running down, though as he suspected Nel and her brothers were following someone down the passage that they had chosen, as he could hear Nel following behind him, could feel Dondochakka chasing after Renji, and he felt Pesche tracking Uryu... and, at the same time, he could already tell that the Arrancar that was supposed to be guarding the area that they had entered was already following them, but their opponent wasn't that much of a threat.
It took Ichigo a few moments to realize that Nel was following them, since she was being quiet and not shouting his name, something that Sombra guessed was because she was in his presence since he was the Dios Hueco, but when he did notice her he turned around and attempted to catch her when she jumped into the air... only for the eye sockets of her mask to glow as she accelerated through the air and slammed into his chest, knocking Ichigo to the floor for a moment as Sombra stopped beside them.
"Why didn't you tell me she was coming up behind us?" Ichigo asked, as he knew that Sombra had felt Nel coming up the passage behind them and was curious as to why he had decided to say absolutely nothing about her, but as he carefully got off the floor he noticed that Sombra was focused on something else, "What is it?"
"I'm studying our enemy." Sombra replied, as there was no use trying to hide the fact that he was keeping a close eye on the Arrancar that was following them, studying their movements for when they decided to attack the three of them, but he would be ready for the attack the moment their foe showed themselves, "Besides, if I keep sensing everything for you, you'll never develop the same abilities that I have... even if your version of it will be weaker than mine. There's also the fact that you won't have to worry about Pesche and Dondochakka chasing after us, as I can tell that Pesche is with Uryu and Renji's got Dondochakka as company, so they won't be piling on top of you anytime soon."
"Wait, you said that you're studying our enemy?" Ichigo inquired, though that was when his own senses alerted him to what Sombra was keeping track of, to which he glanced up at the ceiling of the passage that they were in, as it seemed like the Arrancar in question wasn't even bothering to hide himself, "Hey! Come on out and face us!"
As Ichigo said that, and appeared to get serious, Sombra watched as the Arrancar in question shattered one of the beams that they had been using to follow them and continued down the passage that they had been following, but before he, Ichigo, and Nel could follow after their foe the Arrancar slipped on something and crashed to the floor some distance in front of them. The Arrancar used the smoke that erupted from their landing to point at the trio for a moment, to which both Ichigo and Nel stared at it with a look of disinterest in their eyes, before the Arrancar started to make a couple of movements with their body that looked like they were dancing, causing Sombra to raise his eyebrow for a moment. When the smoke cleared Sombra found that the Arrancar in question was male, based on his build, and that their foe had blue eyes and black hair, which was styled to look like horns in some places, a van-dyke beard and mustache, while the remains of his Hollow mask was a plate of some kind that rested on his forehead, which also had some horns. The Arrancar's attire was also customized, just like all of the other Arrancar he had met so far, and that was in the sense that there were fringes on the forearm portion of his sleeves, he had a red sash tied around his waist, he had oddly shaped shoulder pads under his jacket, and there were three openings down the front of his jacket that revealed a bit of his black undershirt.
The Arrancar remained in the final pose that he was showing them when the smoke cleared for a few moments, giving the three of them some time to stare at him in whatever manner they desired, though eventually he was forced to open one of his eyes and see what they were doing... and immediately locked onto the looks of disinterest that Ichigo and Nel were wearing at the moment, which seemed to enrage him.
"Hey, wait! What's with that reaction!?" the Arrancar asked, to which he turned his full attention to Ichigo and started waving his finger at them, showing Sombra that he didn't much care for the disinterest that was in his and Nel's eyes at the moment, before beckoning to himself for a moment, "You have just witnessed my magnificent entrance!"
"'Magnificent'?" Ichigo inquired, though while he stared at the Arrancar that was standing in their way, someone that he knew they were going to have to fight to move forward, Nel remained in the same disinterested state that she had been in the moment the Arrancar fell down to their level, "Didn't you just slip a few seconds ago?"
"You're pretending to be so calm!" the Arrancar added, showing that he either didn't care for what Ichigo was saying or that he was so caught up in what he was doing that he couldn't hear what was being said to him, before he focused on the one person that wasn't paying attention to him, "Anyway, at least make the little one beside you pay attention and make eye contact with me!"
"Trust me, I'm not pretending to be calm." Ichigo said, as this was getting them nowhere fast and he wished that Sombra would cut the Arrancar down so they could move forward, because there was no telling where Aizen was keeping Orihime and Sora, or what he was doing to them, before he focused on Nel once more, who seemed to snap out of the state that she had been in earlier and focused on their enemy.
"I guess that's the difference between our senses of style... it has nothing to do with you, someone that's about to be defeated in battle." the Arrancar stated, apparently calming down while he spoke, which was good since they might be able to get some information out of him before a fight broke out, before he shifted his left arm towards himself as he readied himself for something else, "Prepare yourselves, invaders, for I, Arrancar Ciento Tres , Dordoni Alessandro Del Socaccio, shall crush you all here!"
"Ciento Tres, meaning One hundred and Three," Sombra said, to which his eyebrow remained raised as he thought about what they had learned so far, between Grimmjow's attack on the World of the Living and what Nel had told them before they invaded Las Noches, before he turned towards Ichigo and Nel, "Didn't you tell us that the only ones with multiple numbers, save for the Diez Espada, were the Numeros?"
"Yeah, those with two digits." Nel replied, nodding her head to indicate that she knew what she was talking about, while at the same time the look in her eyes told him that she had on idea what Dordoni was even talking about, who was getting annoyed that they were ignoring him, "I've never heard of an Arrancar with three digits before."
"Interesting. That means that there's another classification that we missed," Sombra stated, though he had the feeling that he knew what the missing classification was, considering that Aizen already had allies in Hueco Mundo before he even found the Hogyoku, before he turned towards Dordoni once more, "So, what exactly does it mean for an Arrancar to have three digits, instead of the usual one or two digits that all the others seem to have?"
"Those with three digits, of which there are ten of us, are the Privaron Espada," Dordoni answered, as he was actually surprised to find that the person that he was talking to, and didn't seem to pity him like the Shinigami and little Arrancar were doing, was interested in learning more about him and what he was, "In Spanish our name means 'Deprived Sword', and in Japanese we are the 'Ten Fallen Blades', depending on what you feel like calling us, and we're former Espada that have been officially demoted and stripped of our rank, to which we are assigned a three digit number and sentenced to live here, in Tres Cifras, meaning Three Digits. Each of the ten Privaron Espada that currently call Tres Cifras home were part of the original Espada that had formed when Lord Aizen claimed Hueco Mundo as his base of operations, but we became obsolete when he gained the Hogyoku and started creating Arrancar that were far stronger than we ever were... and Grimmjow would have joined us as the Ciento Once Arrancar, had Lord Aizen not had plans for him."
"I see. Since your former Espada, and I can tell you still have your power, that means that you are stronger than some of the Numeros that we fought in the World of the Living." Sombra said, as he knew that some of the Arrancar that his friends had fought during Grimmjow's invasion had been around Dordoni's level, meaning that he knew exactly what Ichigo needed to do to win this fight, "Ichigo, if you want to fight him you'll have to use your Bankai. He's too strong for you to take in your bas..."
"I can take him without using my Bankai." Ichigo stated, though at the same time Nel got off his shoulder, as that was where she had been resting the entire time, and moved to Sombra's side, who was standing off on the side now so he could observe what was coming up next, before he grabbed Zangetsu's handle and prepared himself.
Dordoni seemed excited about the idea of a fight and even charged at Ichigo accordingly, but since Ichigo did the foolish thing of keeping Zangetsu wrapped up in the cloth he failed to cut his foe, not that it mattered since the dance moves that Dordoni had been using to show off his poses was actually how he fought, as he was more than capable of dodging Ichigo's slow attacks. Even when Dordoni slipped on a rock and hit the wall Ichigo still couldn't touch him, though that was because he stopped to laugh at how clumsy his opponent was as Sombra brought his palm to his face, as he honestly couldn't believe that Ichigo was doing this, and that even prevented Ichigo from avoiding the fallen rock that fell on his face and then proceeded to laugh at Nel when she got hit as well, since she laughed at him in return. A few seconds later, when Dordoni was ready to resume their fight, Ichigo sighed and undid the cloth around Zangetsu's blade, indicating that he was being a little serious about this fight, and charged back into battle once more, which only resulted in him getting cut on his right shoulder as Dordoni appeared behind him, causing shock to appear on his face. In retaliation for that Ichigo gathered his reiatsu and launched a Getsuga Tensho right at his opponent's back, intending to defeat him while he was distracted... though that was followed by Dordoni surprising him once more by kicking backwards and shattered the wave attack like it was nothing, all with a smile on his face as he turned back towards Ichigo.
"My, my. Didn't your mama ever teach you not to judge people by their appearances, nino?" Dordoni asked, though at the same time he turned around so he could focus on Ichigo, as that was the person he wanted to beat at the moment, while taking note of what Sombra was doing, "It's like I told your friend over there, those that call Tres Cifras home are the Privaron Espada, though if all the variations of it I told you don't work out then consider this, we're also called the 'Fallen Espada' since we were demoted to having three digits. Our skills are on par with the lowest of the newest Espada that Lord Aizen created, like Yammy or Aaroniero for instance, so there's no reason for you to underestimate our abilities and fight without using your full power."
Before Ichigo had a chance to do anything Dordoni continued his assault, kicking at Ichigo and forcing him to either use Zangetsu to block the attack or dodge it with his own skills, though that also allowed him to flash after Dordoni and found that his own attack was avoided completely. A few moments later Dordoni grinned as he jumped into the air and raised his right foot towards the ceiling, allowing him to smash through four of the beams in the process, before he descended towards Ichigo and attacked him, who used his Zanpakuto to block the attack, though that was what Dordoni was expecting as he forced his foot into the ground and kicked up some dust in the process. From there Dordoni spun around and kicked Ichigo into the wall that was to his right, knocking him into a whole new room in the process, before shifting his stance and kicked Ichigo in the chest, sending him into the wall to the right once more, where he stood there for a few seconds and stared at his opponent as Sombra and Nel stood at the entrance of the new room.
"Your reactions are slow and your defense is weak." Dordoni stated, to which he landed on the ground and stared at the area that he had knocked Ichigo into, where he found that his opponent was stuck in the rubble of the wall, "You can't even handle a change in footing! I can't do this! It's almost like I'm fighting a baby! Nino, do as your friend suggested and use your Bankai. In your current state you won't be able to do anything against me, much less defeat me in battle."
"There's no reason for me to do that." Ichigo replied, though at the same time he moved his arms and shoulders to get himself out of the rubble that he was stuck in, before he glared down at his opponent once more, who seemed really eager for the battle to get interesting.
"Why? Your friend was right that you need it to beat me." Dordoni said, as he didn't understand his opponent's desire to not use the power that would allow him to fight on equal footing with him, and he could tell that the Arrancar that was watching them fight was annoyed with something as well.
"The Privaron Espada aren't Espada, right?" Ichigo inquired, though as he said that he smiled, as he knew that he could still beat his opponent in his current state to win this battle that he was in, even if Sombra believed that he should have used his full power to win the fight quicker, before he flew through the air and raced towards his opponent, "We need to defeat all the Espada, so I can't be wasting my Bankai on enemies that aren't even Espada! That's why I'm going to defeat you without using my Bankai!"
"I understand your feelings, nino, but don't underestimate me!" Dordoni stated, catching the attack that was coming his way like it was nothing, and in all honesty he wasn't too impressed by Ichigo's skills, before he pushed his opponent backwards and grabbed onto his Zanpakuto, which he partly pulled out of it's scabbard, "Whirl! Giralda!"
Not a few seconds later Dordoni was surrounded by a twister of some kind for a few seconds, showing that he was releasing his full power to entice Ichigo to do the same thing, but as that happened Sombra watched Ichigo to see what he did in response to the power that his foe was using. When the tornado faded away, and Ichigo avoided the incoming attack by nearly being hit in the process, Sombra noticed that not much had changed since the Arrancar had released his Resurreccion, though what he did find was that Dordoni had gained a large horn on each of his shoulders and armor that started at his feet, as it headed up and wrapped around his calves, before jutting out at his waist with two more spikes, and his mask had extended to frame his face. A few seconds later Dordoni barely did anything as the opened horns near his feet started pouring out wind that formed two large cyclones, which eventually formed two faces at the very end of them that also happened to have a Hollow mask of some kind, meaning that this was his special ability, all while he was lifted into the air and stared down at Ichigo. When he swung his legs in a kicking motion the wind based Hollow that was connected to that leg raced towards his target, punishing Ichigo accordingly as he was pushed through the air and knocked around like he was a plaything, before Dordoni knocked Ichigo down into the floor and laughed when he landed nearby, as this was too easy for him... all which Sombra sighed in annoyance and Nel looked like she was going to break down in tears, since she considered Ichigo her friend.
Sombra told Ichigo that he needed his Bankai to fight someone that was an Espada, even if they were one of the Privaron Espada and were weaker than someone like Grimmjow, and his friend was proving just how stubborn and foolish he was about what was going on around him, as he should have known that Renji and the others needed their full power, and even their Bankai, to defeat the Numeros that came with Grimmjow.
The next few minutes were painful to watch, as Sombra witnessed Ichigo get knocked around, kicked multiple times, and laughed at by Dordoni, who was clearly using his full power against him and yet he still didn't seem to care or desire to use his Bankai, still clinging to the ridiculous notion that he needed to save it for the 'real' Espada. At the same time that this was happening, despite using his full power, Sombra could tell that Dordoni had heard of Ichigo's Bankai and wanted to see it for himself, and he had to assume that they also knew about his Hollowification as well, since someone had to have been watching them all while they fought earlier. Even with those light attacks Dordoni called out for Ichigo to use his Bankai, otherwise he was going to die a very painful death for ignoring what Sombra had told him, and he eventually grabbed Ichigo with both of the wind Hollows, holding him up in the air so he could stare at him while he considered what he needed to do to convince Ichigo to unleash his power on him. When that happened Ichigo seemed to understand the situation that he was in and made the movement to unleash his Bankai, by leveling Zangetsu with his opponent, but before anything happened he flashed through the air and tried to cut Dordoni in half, only for his opponent to block the incoming attack as it came down on him... and he even stopped Ichigo from firing a Getsuga Tensho by knocking him backwards through the air, which was when he moved his hands around until they formed a symbol in front of his mouth and Sombra felt his reiatsu spike.
"Naughty children have to be punished." Dordoni declared, to which four red strands of energy gathered in the square area that his hands had formed, generating a red Cero that was clearly going to be used against Ichigo, before he fired his attack and let it race towards where Ichigo was laying.
In the next few seconds Sombra found something amazing, Nel used the same acceleration type ability to get down to where Ichigo was laying and put herself in front of the Cero, where he, Ichigo, and Dordoni watched in shock as she started to draw the attack into her mouth... though a few seconds later, when she had swallowed the entire attack, she was forced to expel it and Dordoni barely had time to register what was going on as his own Cero was fired back at him and detonated the moment it reached him. Sombra found that Nel's ability was definitely interesting, as he hadn't seen something like it so far, but before he said anything he flashed down in front of Nel to be sure that she was alright, and to stop the Bala from hitting her, as he extended his left arm towards Dordoni and caught the attack with ease, shattering it before it could hit anyone. When the smoke cleared it was revealed that the left side of Dordoni's Hollow mask had been broken in the process of taking his own attack, and that he was bleeding from what had just happened, but he frowned as he realized that a new challenger was going to oppose him.
"Nel, stand back and make sure Ichigo stays where he is." Sombra said, to which he stood up and put a few steps between him and his friends, before facing Dordoni, as it was time to end a fight that should have been over a long time ago, and the only reason it lasted this long was because Ichigo was being dense, "I'm going to finish this fight in an instant so we can move forward."
Ichigo opened his mouth to say something, as it wasn't fair that Sombra was stepping in when he could still win the fight without having to resort to using his Bankai, but before he could say anything the air shuddered for a moment as Sombra readied himself... and this time around he not only drew Shokyo, which rested in his right hand, but he also drew Rey, which took his left hand, something that he had never seen his friend do since he got his Arrancar Zanpakuto back.
"This reiatsu, it matches all the reports we have on you," Dordoni stated, though the look in his eyes told Sombra that he was more than ready for what came next, especially since there was something that Sombra needed to do before this fight got interesting, "All you need to do now is activate both your Bankai and your Resurreccion, to unleash your full power in a single instant, and we can really get this fight started."
"Sorry, but there's no need for either of those to be used right now." Sombra said, to which he sighed as he shifted his hold on his Zanpakuto, as a few seconds later the blades were facing behind him, causing both Ichigo and Dordoni to look at him with confusion written on their faces, as this was the first time they had seen something like this, "I will, however, honor you by raising my reiatsu to the peak of what it should be in my base state, and then I shall show you the new technique that Shokyo, Rey, and I have been working on... Kaiten Kenbu."
Ichigo's eyes widened as Dordoni started laughing like he had lost his mind, as he seemed pleased to fight someone of Sombra's level, even if Sombra was holding back a good portion of his full power, though as that happened Sombra seemed to disappear for a moment. In the following few seconds he watched as six diagonal lines, three going from the right side to the left side while the other three went in the opposite direction, appeared on Dordoni's chest, surprising the Arrancar for a moment since he hadn't seen the attack coming, before blood burst out of them and he toppled to the ground as the wind disappeared. As Dordoni fell, and his Resurreccion shattered, Sombra appeared a few steps behind his foe, where he sighed and sheathed his Zanpakuto, before turning around and walked over to where he and Nel were waiting for him, though they were still shocked over what Sombra was able to do.
"Sombra... what in the world was that?" Ichigo asked, though at the same time Nel bothered him by wiping some of her drool on one of his wounds, which seemed to heal it like the ointment that he had borrowed from Ikkaku during their invasion of Soul Society, before he focused on his friend as Nel tended to him.
"Kaiten Kenbu, or Revolving Heaven Sword Dance," Sombra replied, telling him the technique name and the version of it that was translated, just like everyone did for him when they told him their technique names, "it's something that the three of us, meaning Shokyo, Rey, and I, have been working on during our own training. If I were to slow my movements down for you, since you likely missed the opening part of the technique, you would see me moving around slightly before I made my move, which was when I approached my target, spin around a few times, and then deliver an equal number of slashes with both of my blades, such as four or six for example, before appearing behind them as they finally realize that they were hit to begin with. Despite the power I used, I intentionally held back, because there are a few things that I want to ask Dordoni before we move forward... especially since he knows his way around this area and we don't."
Ichigo had no idea why Sombra cared about that, since the exit was nearby, but he guessed that it was possible that the fallen Arrancar had some worthwhile information for them and he let Nel do her thing on Dordoni, though she did tell them that there was a good chance that he'd die soon after she was done, since there were a fair number of wounds that needed to be healed and they didn't have a lot of time to properly tend to them. Fortunately it didn't take too long for Dordoni to regain consciousness and stare at them, clearly showing that he was surprised to still be alive after all the power that Sombra had used against him, but in the end he ended up smiling as he revealed to them that he now understood why so many were scared of Sombra and the power he commanded. At the same time he also said that it made sense for them to spare him, since they were in unfamiliar territory and that he might know the way forward, which was information that they needed, but the reality of the situation was far different and he knew that one of them would be displeased with what he had to tell them.
"If you're looking for the way to the main structure of Las Noches, you won't get it from me," Dordoni stated, to which he noticed some raised eyebrows and prepared himself to reveal the reason behind why they wouldn't be able to get the path from him, "Sure, I knew the path that we would have normally taken to get to Aizen's part of Las Noches, but at this point in time Gin has likely changed the path with the controls, so you'll just have to follow the exit over there and see where he sends you... unless you feel like bursting through a wall and running towards the center of Las Noches."
"I see. Well then, that means we'll just have to press onward." Sombra replied, to which he sighed, as it seemed that they would have to rely on his senses to be sure that they knew where their enemies were located, before standing up and turning towards the exit, "I noticed that you didn't say 'Lord' Aizen this time... does that mean..."
"I formally recognize you as the new Lord of Hueco Mundo, for as long as I live," Dordoni said, though at the same time he coughed as he collected his Zanpakuto, before beckoning to the exit that the group needed to go through before a certain group arrived, "Now get going and take Aizen out... I'll stay here and make sure no one gets by me."
Dordoni watched as Sombra nodded, as he seemed to sense the incoming threat as well, and before he knew it both he and Ichigo, who was carrying the little one, were running down the hallway that served as the exit for this room, to which he turned around and stared at the hole in the wall that had been created during the first part of the battle. That was soon followed by a number of robed figures, with round skull shaped masks covering their heads and their leader being the only one that possessed horns, appeared before him, though he was thankful to still have his weapon at the ready since he knew they were coming.
"Hello there, Exequias." Dordoni said, though at the same time he drew his Zanpakuto from it's scabbard, as his senses told him that they weren't here to assist him, especially when he was so soundly defeated by a single enemy, but that didn't stop him from making sure that the true ruler of Hueco Mundo escaped with his companions, "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"
"We're under orders to kill any intruders, wounded or otherwise." the figure with the horns stated, telling Dordoni what was going on at the moment, though he was the only one that talked among the entire group, making him wonder if the others were mute or something, "I cannot say on whose orders we're acting."
"I can assume that you want me to step aside, and I won't." Dordoni replied, to which he quickly uttered his Release Call and the name of his Zanpakuto once more, taking on his true form once more as the members of the Exequias drew their blades the moment their leader did, but instead of attacking them he turned around and kicked the entrance of the tunnel, destroying the opening entirely, before grinning at his enemies, "The true ruler of Hueco Mundo must not be interrupted in his mission to take what is rightfully his... and I will gladly die making sure you don't take another step towards his location."
Dordoni knew it before the battle even started, that he was going to strain his body and succumb to his wounds, but at the same time he fought on anyway, kicking at the members of the Exequias that attacked him and knocked them down with all his might of his Resurreccion form... though when his wounds opened minutes later, and blood exploded from them once more, he fell to the floor with a wide smile on his face, as he did everything in his power to stall the Exequias, and he faced his death with no regrets.
Aizen sat in the second throne room of Las Noches, one that was far less formal than the one that he was usually found in and gave him a good view of Hueco Mundo, and thought about what was going on at the moment, as his plan had been put into action and his target took the bait like he had been hoping. He had no intention of using Orihime's powers to further his own goals, even thought that was the reason he gave her when he had her and her brother escorted to where the Hogyoku was located, and he had no intention of attempting to increase the power that Sora commended, even though he knew that the Arrancar would perish if he attacked one of the Espada. The whole reason he had Ulquiorra bring the two of them here was so he could deprive Soul Society of the powerful Arrancar that had allied with them, as Sombra could easily dismantle his other plan, to created to Oken and invade the Soul King's Palace, and that was without using his full power, something that he was still trying to figure out. Sombra was incredibly powerful, he had known that during their invasion of Soul Society and that was reinforced by his treatment of Grimmjow a month ago, but there was no telling just how powerful he'd be if he activated his Resurreccion and accessed his true power once more.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door on the opposite side of the room opening, telling him that someone wanted to talk to him, and he made no comment to say anything, not with Gin standing against one of the walls and observing what was going on, since he could easily give him an order and he'd follow it to no end.
"I have an update on the situation." the messenger Arrancar said, though at the same time he knelt with one knee on the floor and bowed his head towards the Lord of Hueco Mundo, the one person that everyone feared since his power was unlike anything they had felt before, even though he knew that there was another powerful force in Hueco Mundo, one that could easily threaten Lord Aizen's rule, "We've just received word that one of the Privaron Espada, Number Ciento Tres, Dordoni Alessandro Del Socaccio, was killed by the invaders. His opponents were Ichigo Kurosaki, who he dealt some significant blows to, a young Arrancar that we have no records of, and Sombra, who ultimately dealt the finishing blow to the Privaron Espada."
"I see." Aizen commented, as he had been told of the battle a few minutes ago, because the was the reason that Gin had stepped out and returned to him, as he was interested in what Ichigo and Sombra were up to, and that included his discovery of something very interesting, something that had been left out of the report as he stood up and faced the unfortunate Arrancar, "It seems that the battle was more troublesome for Ichigo Kurosaki than I expected it to be, as I was sure that he'd be able to finish off someone of Dordoni's level out without having to resort to Sombra stepping in to assist him. Either way, isn't there something that you left out of your report? Who ordered the Exequias to go after them?"
As soon a she asked that question his reiatsu filled the air and forced itself upon the Arrancar that had reported the situation to him, even though he had known about it ahead of time thanks to Gin's desire to check things out for himself earlier, and soon the poor Arrancar was sweating a good deal as his raised kneel fell to the floor as well... and, just as he was about to inquire if the question was too hard for the Arrancar to answer, he felt another reiatsu appear nearby.
"It was I who gave the order, Lord Aizen." a voice said, to which Aizen turned his gaze towards the open doorway and found Szayelaporro standing there, clearly knowing that the question would have been asked and came to tell him exactly what the answer was.
"Is that so?" Aizen inquired, as he wasn't too surprised that another Espada was acting without orders, especially since Grimmjow had done it once before, though he was a little surprised to find that it was Szaleyaporro that had ordered the Exequias to go after the invaders that had entered Tres Cifras.
"There is no excuse for what I have done," Szayelaporro replied, to which he dropped to his knee, like the fallen Arrancar who had delivered the message had done earlier, and bowed his head towards his Lord, as he knew that there would be some pain involved for what he had done, "I merely thought that since some of the invaders were weakened from their battles, that it would be wise to send the Exequias after them and ensure that they never reach their destination. I gave them the order to attack without permission and acted solely for your benefit, Lord Aizen. Because it was an action done without being ordered to do so, I await whatever punishment you see fit to give me."
Aizen stood there for a moment, as most of the Espada said something about how they acted for his benefit, despite each of them wording it differently, and were genuinely willing to submit themselves for punishment if they knowingly wronged him in some way, save for Grimmjow, who had gotten his punishment at Sombra's hands... but, even as he considered punishing the Espada in front of him, he decided against it, as he still needed him in place before the next stage of his plan could be put into action.
"No, it's fine." Aizen eventually said, though as Szayelaporro raised his head in surprise he took a seat in his chair and faced the stunned Espada, as it was rare for him to spare one of them from a punishment that they deserved, "You had a reason behind sending the Exequias out, so it's fine... I just hope that your reports in the future are more accurate and that you give them to me yourself, instead of inflicting pain on the messengers."
"Th... Thank you, Lord Aizen." Szayelaporro said, bowing his head in respect once more, as there was no reason to make his Lord even more upset with him, which might make him reconsider his decision, before he stood up and headed for the doorway, "If you'll excuse me."
"I trust that the reiatsu records that you extracted from Dordoni will be useful for your research, correct?" Aizen asked, to which his voice, and what he knew, stopped the Espada in his tracks, showing that he wasn't expecting that part of what he had done to be figured out so quickly, "Especially since you're currently working on a way to restrict Sombra's powers so he'll be easier to defeat."
"Yes, they will be useful." Szayelaporro replied, though at the same time he didn't bother to turn back, as there was no reason to do so at this point in time, because Commander Gin could move and strike him down before he had a chance to move if Lord Aizen so desired.
"That's wonderful news." Aizen said, to which a light smile appeared on his face, as it seemed like the Espada were keeping themselves busy, before he decided that it was time for Szayelaporro to head back to his lab and continue his various experiments and studies, "You can go now."
Szayelaporro nodded his head for a moment before exiting the room, allowing Aizen to think about the various pieces that the Espada was in the process of creating, as he claimed to have something that will nullify Sombra's powers and make it that much easier to defeat him, the only problem was that he needed to test it before determining if it was ready.
"Man, even though one of your subordinates is dead, and defected to Sombra's side before his death, you seem like you're having fun." Gin commented, snapping Aizen out of his thoughts for a moment, though he found it odd that Aizen had only just sat down in his chair and he had chosen to get back up a few seconds later, so he could stare out at Hueco Mundo on his feet for a change.
"Is that how I look?" Aizen inquired, as Gin was one of the few people in Soul Society and Hueco Mundo that actually understood his expressions and mannerisms, something that he was still trying to figure out and couldn't seem to place how Gin had figured him out.
"The fact that Sombra and his allies are drawing near makes for something fun." Gin said, though at the same time he thought about something else that he had discovered when he was watching where the invaders had gone off to, as there was something interesting that happened outside Las Noches' walls, "There's also the fact that he's making allies with every Hollow and Arrancar he meets, as he managed to get those three troublemakers, their pet, and Runuganga to defect to his side by just displaying his immense power to them, as well as convincing Dordoni to defect after defeating him. There's also no telling what sort of state of mind Grimmjow is in, not after being restored to his former position and hearing that the being that wounded him is making his way towards Orihime and Sora's location."
Grimmjow was the least of Aizen's concerns, as all they had to do was wait for their foes to reach a certain point and then the next stage of his plan could be put into action, as he had the Primera, Segunda, and Tres Espada, including their Fraccion, at the ready for when he gave the command... he just needed Sombra to be in the perfect position for him to give the command and the next stage of his plan would begin, without his foe being there to stop him.
Rukia had been running along the passage that she had picked after she separated from the others for a good while now, somewhat surprised that she hadn't run into an enemy yet as she felt Ichigo's reiatsu fluctuate for a few moments as he started to battle someone that felt like an Espada, as well as Nel's suddenly spike for some reason. She did pause for a few seconds when she felt the sudden increase of reiatsu that came from Sombra, surprising her by the fact that his power was as large as it was, but she was certain that this was the height of his power when he wasn't using either his Bankai or his Resurreccion, making her wonder what his full power was. A few moments later, when she was sure that whoever they were facing was defeated, she continued up the path that she was following and eventually came to a staircase, one that she ascended and continued towards the top step, though at the same time she sensed both Uryu and Chad's reiatsu fluctuate for a few moments, but since she couldn't do anything to help them she continued running, keeping an eye on what she was feeling while keeping a hand on her Zanpakuto's handle.
After some time she found an opening at the top of the stairs and came to a stop for a moment when she noticed that the area of Las Noches that she was in actually had some light, as opposed to the area outside the walls, and immediately assumed that Aizen had created this for some purpose, before focusing on the building that was across the bridge that was in front of her. After a few seconds of staring at the clear blue sky, with clouds that belonged in the World of the Living, she started walking forward and glanced out at the area that was around her, as there were a number of buildings that were oddly shaped and had several windows, but she was sure that they were the type of buildings that would be built by either the Arrancar or Aizen himself. Before she got too far she paused for a moment, as this was too much to take in without any direct answers, and could have sworn that she detected a hint of reiatsu fluctuate in the area behind her, but she wasn't entirely sure what was going on at the moment.
"Want me to explain it to you?" a voice said, to which Rukia froze in shock for a moment, as she wasn't expecting an enemy to show up before she got to an arena to fight in, though that was followed by her turning to look behind her as the figure disappeared, where she had to glance back at the door that was in front of her and found the robed figure that had their back backing her, "Come with me."
Rukia watched as the door opened for a moment and the Arrancar walked into the building, as she was sure that it was an Arrancar, before disappearing, where she rushed forward and stopped at the doorway, to which she walked into the building and noticed that it was entirely dark inside the structure, and that the door started to close behind her.
"I can finally relax." the Arrancar said, where Rukia sensed that he was actually on the level that was above her as the room lit up, telling Rukia that this was like all the other buildings that she was familiar with, before noticing that it seemed to be bare of anything identifying, though his voice caused Rukia to turn and look up at him, "Sorry, but I simply cannot stand the sunlight. And the sunlight cannot make it in here. Allow me to take off my mask and greet your properly. My name is Aaroniero..."
Rukia watched as the Arrancar raised his right hand and gripped the bottom of his mask for a moment, though when he removed it she was stunned to see a youthful appearance with aqua green colored eyes and raven black spiky hair that she remembered, something that stunned her when she took in the familiar face that she hadn't seen in a long time.
"Aaroniero Arruruerie, the Noveno Espada," the Arrancar finished, where he lowered the mask that he had been wearing the entire time and stared down at Rukia, noticing that she was stunned by his appearance, something that he fully expected the moment he decided to show his face to her.
"It... It can't be... Kaien-dono?!" Rukia asked, as it was impossible for the former Lieutenant of the Thirteenth Division to be standing in front of her, as she remembered killing him all those years ago, before she took a few steps forward and stared at the Espada, "Please, answer my question! Are you... are you really Kaien Shiba?"
"It's been a while!" Aaroniero replied, though this time a smile graced his face, the same one that Rukia remembered seeing on that face all those years ago, and his voice took the same tone that she remembered him using all the time when she was nearby, "You seem to be doing well, Kuchiki!"
Rukia said nothing as Aaroniero jumped down to the floor some distance in front of her, as she was too stunned to do anything at the moment, before a frown appeared on his face as he looked down at the clothing he was wearing and tugged on it a little.
"Man, these clothes are too tight!" Aaroniero said, even taking a moment to glance at the ends of his jacket for a moment, as if he was really seeing them for the first time, though that was before he noticed the stunned look on Rukia's face and put his hands on his hips, in a fashion that Rukia recognized immediately, "What's with that look? C'mon! Aren't you happy that everyone's favorite Lieutenant, Kaien Shiba, is alive?"
Aaroniero stood there for a moment, staring at a stunned Rukia as she remembered something from her past, before he pulled out two wooden swords, though the movement of him collecting them snapped her back to reality and she seemed to think that he was actually drawing on her, since she reached for her Zanpakuto, only to stop when he told her to 'think fast' as he tossed one of the wooden swords to her, which she caught.
"We haven't trained together in a while." Aaroniero continued, to which the lights faded and they appeared in a training room in Soul Society, though they were both wearing normal Shinigami clothing, instead of what they had been wearing moments ago, surprising Rukia even more, "What's with that dumbfounded, blank look on your face? Hurry up and take your stance! Because if you're not going to go, then I will!"
Aaroniero went on the offensive immediately, attacking Rukia with an attack pattern, movement of the feet, and even weight behind his attacks that her body remembered, as it seemed more and more likely that Kaien had somehow survived what she had done to him all those years ago as her own body defended herself... up until Aaroniero swung at her and knocked her into the wall that was behind her, just like what happened in the past when she and Kaien trained in the old Thirteenth Division's dojo.
"Don't tell me you're giving up already!" Aaroniero said, to which he heaved his wooden sword onto his shoulders as he stared at Rukia, who was sitting on the floor at the moment as she thought about what was going on, though she got up a few seconds later and charged him with a slow attack, "Too slow!"
In the following instant he swung his wooden sword and knocked Rukia's out of her hand, causing her to stand there as it fell to the ground some distance from where she was standing, causing the room, and the clothing they had been wearing moments ago, to reappear as he pointed the tip of his wooden sword at her neck.
"If this had been a real fight, you'd be dead right now." Aaroniero stated, giving Rukia the same look he had given her when he first took of his mask, before moving the wooden sword to the side and used his gloved left hand to ruffle her hair for a moment, just like Rukia remembered him doing, "Still, it does look like you have gotten stronger. You haven't changed either. You always look like you're about to cry after I beat you."
"Kaien..." Rukia said, though at the same time hope filled her eyes, as everything she had seen up to this point lead her to believe that her eyes were not deceiving her, that she was actually standing in front of her former mentor, despite the odds since she remembered killing him.
"So you finally believe it's me, huh?" Aaroniero said, to which his gloved hand came to a rest against the top of his head for a moment, while looking relieved that he had convinced her that he was who he said he was, before he walked off to the side and opened a hidden compartment in one of the pillars that the room had, where he kept some items for occasions when he had guests, "Let's see, I know they're here somewhere... there we go! Here, catch this, because we have a lot to talk about."
Rukia barely had time to react, even though she caught what was thrown to her, but she was surprised to find that Kaien, as she disliked the new name that he had called himself earlier, had tossed a cushion at her, and that he happened to be holding one himself, indicating that they were going to sit down and talk about what was going on. She nodded for a moment and sat down in front of Kaien, who seemed to be thinking of an appropriate place for them to start, before he opened his eyes and stared at her, indicating that he was likely going to start from the moment that she stabbed him in the chest and killed him, when he had been possessed by the Hollow that destroyed his Zanpakuto.
"That night, my spirit body started to decay after the battle, and it completely disintegrated after you gave my farewells to the Shiba Clan." Aaroniero said, noticing that it took only a second for Rukia to understand where he was starting with his tale, but she made no move to stop him and seemed to be listening to his every word, "That Hollow was one of Aizen's experiments. After being destroyed, it returned to Hueco Mundo and regenerated itself... apparently that was how it was designed to react to being killed. Since that Hollow had fused together with me, when it regenerated it actually took my form. I figured that all went according to their plan, but somehow my mind was the one that gained control of the new spirit body, not the Hollow. Basically, my nerves of steel threw a wrench in their plans!"
"Kaien-dono, I thought that this was supposed to be a serious conversation." Rukia stated, as the moment Kaien said that he 'threw a wrench into their plans' he started to laugh, like he was trying to lighten the mood or something, but she wanted to remain on the subject that was important to her.
"You were looking depressed, so I was trying to lighten the mood." Aaroniero replied, though at the same time he guessed that he couldn't win every battle, but at the very least it looked like his efforts were paying off, as Rukia truly seemed to believe what he was telling her.
"I look that way when I'm taking something seriously." Rukia said, as she couldn't believe that Kaien would do something like this, especially when they were in the middle of enemy territory and since it was only a matter of time until Aizen figured out where she had disappeared to.
"Okay, okay. Don't be mad at me." Aaroniero replied, to which he sighed as he rested one of his gloved fingers on the floor in front of him, where the fact that he was returning to the conversation seemed to appease Rukia since she calmed down and stared at him, "At any rate, that's how I got my body back. I took one of the Espada's places and have been waiting for a chance to get my revenge on Aizen. You saw the sky outside, before I invited you inside my domain. Aizen had that sky put into the ceilings of Las Noches, basically allowing him to monitor anything and everything that the light touches. That is why we came in here, so he couldn't see what we were doing... but you know what, Kuchiki? I'm glad that out of all the people that could have come here, you're the one that arrived. I've got a plan, and right now you're the only person that might actually make it work... but first, there's somewhere we need to go. Follow me."
"Yes, sir!" Rukia said, slipping back into her role when Kaien had been alive, as he had been her superior when Captain Ukitake wasn't around, and as Aaroniero got up and turned so he wasn't facing her, no doubt to take her to where they needed to go, she got up and ran towards him.
What Rukia wasn't expecting, however, was for Aaroniero to draw his Zanpakuto and stab at her, where her reflexes kicked in and the blade barely missed the right side of her head, where she put some distance between the two of them as she wondered if he was testing her again, to make sure that his estimates that she was the only one that could assist him were accurate enough to stop Aizen... only she felt a shallow cut appear on her left cheek and blood touched the side of her face, causing her to stare at his backside.
"Well, well, you've improved more than I expected, Kuchiki." Aaroniero said, to which he glanced back at Rukia and found that some drops of blood had fallen to the floor, while at the same time she looked completely stunned by what he had done, before he faced her again, "What's wrong, Kuchiki? You look so surprised. This makes me happy, because back in the day an attack like that would have killed you instantly, and there's nothing more gratifying to a leader than to see their subordinates grow."
"H... How much of what you just told me was true?" Rukia asked, because now she was doubting her own memory and feelings, as while Kaien did try attacks like that, to improve her skills in battle, she really thought she had proven that she believed him, unless she was terribly and horribly wrong.
"Everything." Aaroniero replied, to which he noticed that Rukia's expression and stance didn't change at all, as she still seemed shocked and she was still kneeling on the floor while she ignored the bleeding cut he left on her cheek, "Is it so strange that I'd try to kill you? Did you forget what happened? I'm Kaien Shiba, former Lieutenant of the Thirteenth Division, and I have lived in Hueco Mundo ever since I fused together with that Hollow. And you are Rukia Kuchiki, the woman who killed me with her own two hands. You understand what I'm doing now, right? You haven't forgotten what it felt like to stab me, have you? All of that really happened."
Rukia looked down at the floor for a moment, as it appeared that her earlier feelings were correct, this was Kaien and, instead of helping her like she thought he was suggesting, he was trying to kill her to get revenge for what happened all those years ago, maybe to present her body to Aizen and get close enough to kill him.
"Are you ready to die by my hand, Kuchiki?" Aaroniero asked, though at the same time he held his Zanpakuto at the ready, because regardless of what happened he was going to make sure that he put an end to this, even though it was going to end with Rukia's death either way, where he noticed that Rukia looked at him in surprise, "I said, are you prepared to atone by letting the man you killed all those years ago kill you?"
"Normally, I would have said yes, but not right now." Rukia stated, though at the same time she glared at Kaien for a few seconds, as she knew what she needed to do before she was attacked once more, "As long as I keep running the burden of my sin will never disappear, no matter how many years pass. If killing me would do anything to alleviate your grudge against me, then I would gladly give my life to make things right. But first I intend to aid my friends in bringing both Orihime and Sora Inoue home, back to Karakura Town where they belong, and I need to be alive for that to happen. Until that happens I cannot give up my life, even for you, Kaien-dono."
Rukia sat where she was for a few moments, staring at Aaroniero as she thought about what she had just said, and braced herself for what was going to happen next, as there was no telling what the Arrancar was going to do in response to what she had done... but when he raised his hands, like he was surrendering to her, but that only confused her for the moment as she stared at him.
"Sorry. It was a joke... I was just kidding." Aaroniero replied, doing his best to look like he had been kidding and that he actually wasn't trying to kill Rukia, like it was just a test that she had passed with flying colors, and if she followed the pattern he had established already he knew that he had her without even doing anything, before he walked over to where she was sitting, "Of course I would like you to pay for what you did, but there's no way I'd do something as stupid as killing you. I told you earlier, remember? I have something I wanted to ask of you, for my plan to topple Aizen. If you really want to atone for what you have done, there's only one thing you can do for me, Kuchiki."
"Really? Something I can do?" Rukia asked, though at the same time she was beginning to wonder just what was going on at the moment, because based on what she had seen so far there might be a trap or something waiting for her, and she slightly ignored the few seconds Aaroniero ruffled her hair.
"Yes... bring me the heads of your friends, including Sombra." Aaroniero stated, where he noticed a look of shock appear on Rukia's face the moment he told her what she had to do to appease him and get rid of the sin she committed by 'killing' him all those years ago, "It shouldn't be too hard for someone like you, since you should know all of their strengths and weaknesses... and, with the help of an 'ally' of mine, you can easily catch them off guard before they notice what's happening behind them. Do that and I'll forgive your sin, and it will give me the opportunity to take out Aizen while he's distracted by the fact that his greatest foe is dead."
"Even if you say your joking, you just crossed the line." Rukia said, to which she stared up at her opponent's eyes for a few seconds, as she knew what was going on and cursed herself for being so foolish to believe that this was Kaien, since he never would have asked her to kill anyone that she considered her friend, "You have no idea what you're asking of me, especially since you're asking me to kill Sombra, a Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar that is in the process of ascending to a level we have never seen before, and you think that I know enough about him, including the vast amount of powers that he has access to, to even have a hope of killing him? Please, Sombra would sense me before I got near him and would feel my attack coming before I even had a chance to get close to him... also, Aaroniero Arruruerie, I wont stand for you for insulting Kaien-dono any longer! A monster like you would never be Kaien, as he never used tests like that to test the soldiers beneath him and he would never make someone choose between themselves and their friends. Arroniero, for everything you have done in my presence, I'm going to destroy you..."
In the following moment she gripped the hand that was on top of her head and shoved the Espada backwards as she stood up, surprising her foe for a moment since it appeared that he wasn't expecting her to figure out the truth that he wasn't who he said he was, before she grabbed the handle of her Zanpakuto.
"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" Rukia called out, to which her Zanpakuto transformed into it's Shikai form as she readied herself for what she was going to do, which she followed up by jumping towards her opponent and swung down at him, where she forced Aaroniero to use his own Zanpakuto to block her attack.
A few seconds later Aaroniero knocked her backwards, where she sailed through the air and touched the side of the building that they were in, before she rushed towards her opponent once more and attacked him again, this time actually forcing him backwards for a few seconds, which was all she needed.
"Some no Mai," Rukia said, holding her Zanpakuto to the side as she readied herself for the first dance, as she fully intended to kill the Noveno Espada because he was the enemy and because he was sullying Kaien's memory, before she flashed to the area right behind her foe, "Tsukishiro!"
Second before the pillar of ice was able to form Aaroniero jumped out of the area and ran away, but once the pillar formed she growled and followed after the Espada, because she wasn't going to let him get away after everything that had happened since she entered this building. For a moment she thought that she had cornered her opponent and started to use her next power, Tsugi no Mai, Hakuren, but before she could even start the movements Aaroniero used his speed to slip by her and headed towards the area behind her. Rukia blocked the attack that was coming her way and then launched into a series of attacks that were supposed to hurt her opponent, who simply blocked her attacks while taunting her by saying that she had some nerve to kill the same man twice, but at this point she refused to believe his lies and used her power to knock him backwards. As Aaroniero sailed through the air Rukia made the necessary movements and started puncturing the ground four times, though as the ice formed in the air around her she focused on her foe and then, before he had a chance to do anything, she loosed Tsugi no Mai, Hakuren, and let the ice ripple through the air as it sailed towards the Espada that she was fighting.
When Aaroniero dodged the attack and landed on the ground, however, he proclaimed that she would never be able to defeat him with the way she was fighting, before laughing like a madman for a few moments, as if he believed that he would actually defeat her without any resistance.
For the next few minutes Rukia did her best by going on the offensive, as she lashed out at Aaroniero with everything she had, but as the battle progressed, as the Espada apparently commanded some obscuring mist to appear in the air around them, she had to be careful and not let her opponent take control of the fight. Unfortunately her opponent was faster than she originally thought he'd be and he seemed to be playing with her, as he grinned regardless of what she tried to do and seemed to be having fun as he attempted to kill her by stabbing at her, sometimes even aiming at her chest like she had done to Kaien. Even though her focus was on Aaroniero she still cursed herself for falling for his trap, as there was on way that the person she had killed could have been alive and should have known that something was wrong when he introduced himself to her as 'Aaroniero' and not 'Kaien'. She even tried to use the first dance, Tsukishiro, on her opponent when he disappeared into the mist and charged back at her, but, as she was starting to figure out, he simply avoided the pillar of ice and she was forced to follow after him again, all while he taunted her and asked if this was all the power that she could muster for their battle... and he continued to claim that he was Kaien, since she had practiced the movements for both of the dances in front of Kaien before his eventual death.
She felt Uryu and Chad's reiatsu again, as well as the fact that their opponents were definitely Espada level enemies, and Aaroniero told her that her friends were fighting the Privaron Espada, former Espada that were officially stripped of their Espada rank and demoted to a three digit number, but she knew that they couldn't be taken lightly, since they used to be part of the group that she and her friends were trying to take out.
While Aaroniero was talking Rukia performed the steps necessary for Hakuren, and fired it at her target so he would jump into the air, she followed through by attacking from a different direction, which seemed to interest her opponent for a moment, but he still blocked the attack that she used against him. Unfortunately Aaroniero forced her backwards and landed on the ground near where she had landed, where he declared that he was tired of her not believing him when he said that he was Kaien, before holding his Zanpakuto out to the side with the blade facing the ground.
"Surge through the seas and rage through the skies," Aaroniero said, to which he started to spin his Zanpakuto like Rukia remembered him doing, meaning that she had missed something in the entirety of their battle, just as the blade glowed and started to take the shape of a trident that was crossed with a Japanese spear and a Chinese halberd that also bared a crystalline appearance, an appearance that wasn't as crystalline as Sombra's Zanpakuto, "Nejibana."
Rukia remembered this Zanpakuto, as it bared a horsehair tassel that was blue instead of the normal red that was connected to the Chinese halberd and it also contained the power to manipulate the water in the area that Kaien had been in, meaning that the Hollow that had eventually become Aaroniero, who fused with Kaien all those years ago, had also taken his Zanpakuto, and she knew that 'Nejibana' also meant 'Twisted Flower'. Aaroniero told her to take her stance as he finished the Zanpakuto's transformation into it's Shikai form, before charging at her and lashed out at her, where Rukia guarded against the attack and was once more reminded of the fact that each attack that Nejibana did was followed by flowing water that Kaien would then eventually use against whoever he happened to be fighting. Despite the fact that she knew that Aaroniero wasn't Kaien, regardless of what he said, she also knew that her opponent had all the skills and techniques of her former mentor, as he was attacking her like he would and that was forcing her to guard before something happened to her. The terrible thing was that she had never figured out a perfect style that could counter and defeat the dance like techniques that Kaien had developed when he was using his Zanpakuto, especially the crushing power that he used in his attacks, meaning that the best she could do was block and dodge the attacks as she looked for an opening to exploit... and, if she really needed to, there was always the option to call Sombra to the area that she was in and see if he could smash Aaroniero for her, even if she hated calling on someone for assistance in what was supposed to be her personal battle.
Despite her focus on the battle Aaroniero used another one of Kaien's favorite techniques and hooked the head of his trident around the blade of her Zanpakuto, where he pulled it back and stole it from her hand, where she stood there for a few seconds as her weapon hit the ground to the right behind her. When Aaroniero claimed that she was finished, and readied himself to do just that, Rukia jumped forward and called out her next attack, as she used Hado Number 33: Sokatsui point blank and tried to hit her target, who moved out of the way and let the attack hit the wall behind him, only for her to notice it punched a hole all the way through the structure, though when the light shined down on the Espada he jumped out of the way and landed some distance away from where she was standing. In that moment Rukia wondered if there was another reason behind why the building had been built in the manner that it had been, as she had to believe that the real reason was that light was Aaroniero's true weakness and that staying in the light would weaken him, hence his jumping out of the way, even if the actual Kaien would have stood in front of her and finish the fight... though as she considered what was going on she decided to test her thoughts, as she brought her hands together in front of her as she focused on her opponent.
"Bakudo Number 4: Hainawa!" Rukia called out, noticing a look of shock appear on Aaroniero's face for a moment, as she loosed a rope made from pure reishi that surged towards her target and wrapped around him, but she ignored his following statement as she prepared the next stage of her attack, "Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Carriage of thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six! On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens. Bakudo Number 61: Rikujokoro."
In the following instant Aaroniero managed to break out of the first Bakudo, but he wasn't fast enough to avoid the empowered six beams of light that struck his body and pinned him to the area that he was standing in, allowing her to drop into the stance for her final Kido that was part of the serious that she had started.
"Hado Number 73: Soren Sokatsui!" Rukia called out, where she made a pushing motion with both of her hands, with their palms touching, as she loosed a powerful torrent of blue energy at the stunned Espada, where she watched as she hit both him and the wall behind him, meaning that her attack had to have worked.
Of course her true target was never the Espada, rather it was the wall behind him, and as the light flooded the area that he was in she watched as he screamed in pain as the light tore into his face, because his face literally started to melt and break apart... until at last she saw the true face of her opponent, a cylinder that could have belonged in Captain Mayuri's lab that had two spheres floating inside it, both with parts of a Hollow's mask and both baring the number nine in the part of their heads that weren't covered by their mask.
"I suppose the jig is up." Aaroniero said, though he took a moment to touch the side of his cylinder, just to be sure that it was there and that Rukia had done exactly what he thought she had done, before he stood up straight and stared down at her once more, where Rukia noticed that the two heads either talked in unison or one after the other, which was actually a little creepy, "What's done is done... we might as well reintroduce ourselves. We are the Noveno Espada, Aaroniero Arruruerie. Please, don't make us repeat ourselves for a third time... and don't ask about our faces, as we have grown tired of hearing people's opinions about them a long time ago. Now then, you used Rikujokoro, or Six Rods Prison of Light, against us, when among the current Captains it is your older brother, Captain Byakuya Kuchiki, who is the most skilled in using this particular Kido. A double incantation with both Rikujokoro and Soren Sokatsui... unfortunately, we do not possess any memories of you being able to perform that type of technique, or the individual spells that you used to create the double incantation. But, just like we told you earlier, you're a fool... you could have seriously injured us if you just targeted our body and not the wall, as the result would have been the same either way."
"True, I could have done that." Rukia replied, though she didn't take her eyes off of her opponent, as he shattered one of the six rods and broke out of the prison she had put him in, meaning that he was gearing up for the next round of their battle, which had to be his Resurreccion, which was why she reached for her Zanpakuto as she spoke, "I realized that the sunlight would rob you of your shapeshifting powers and decided to force you to take your true form once more. It may not seem important to you, but it's very important to me that I verify what your true form looked like... and, now that I know that you aren't Kaien, without a doubt remaining that you might be who you said you were, I can fight you without holding back any of my own power."
In the following moment Aaroniero disappeared from where he had been standing moments ago and appeared behind her, confirming that he was definitely one of the Espada based on the speed that he was demonstrating, but she glanced back at him, all while he started to change shape again.
"Don't take us lightly." Aaroniero stated, though at the same time the cylinder that his heads were contained in were sucked into the new head that was forming, the same one that Rukia had been seeing the entire time they had been fighting in this building, "We can't use your power when in the sunlight, that is true, but as long as we stay in the shadows we can use it as much as we want. Honestly, I don't know if it's there for security or because he wanted a sky similar to what he used to see before coming here, but I still can't believe that he tried to recreate the sunlight from the World of the Living... especially when Hueco Mundo is so conveniently covered in nothing but darkness, and that includes the fact that there are others out there that are like me, who can only use their abilities in the natural darkness of this world. However, you said that you believed that my ability was shapeshifting, right?"
"That's right." Rukia said, though as she said that she turned around and faced her opponent, as while talking allowed her to form a plan of attack it also gave her foe time to decide whether or not it was time to release his Resurreccion and bring this fight to an end.
"Well, that's not quite right... you should know what it really is." Aaroniero said, though he was pleased to see that Rukia was taking this seriously, especially since his original plan to use her to kill some of the invaders had fallen apart before he could actually put it in motion, before he decided to get the show on the road, "Let me tell you something; I am the only Gillian among the Espada. Alone, I didn't have nearly enough power to become a member of the Espada, but here I am, a full-fledged member, given the number nine. The reason that I am in the Espada is because out of all the Arrancar, I am the only one that is capable of evolving without any limitations! The power to merge with another spiritual entity originally belong to Metastacia, who used it to take over Kaien's body when they fought, and when Metastacia died, and his body returned to Hueco Mundo, I ate him and absorbed his power for myself!"
In the following moment Aaroniero set Kaien's Zanpakuto to the side for a moment and grabbed onto his gloved hand for a few seconds, before he pulled the glove off and revealed a terrifying looking appendage that seemed to have a mouth at the very end, along with some tentacles that moved in the air in front of him.
"My power is named Glotoneria, and I can gain a Hollow's abilities after they die." Aaroniero explained, though at the same time Rukia's eyes widened in shock, as it made sense as to why he also asked her to bring him a dead Sombra, as he wanted to become the strongest Arrancar in all of existence, "Like I said, when Metastacia came back with Kaien's body I ate it and gained this ability. You weren't wrong to feel a familiarity to this body, because this body really did belong to Kaien Shiba, until his demise at your hands! The muscles retain all his experiences and his reiatsu retains all it's memories... I simply studied the data that I was given and acted accordingly to what I knew. You're finished... it's time that I showed you what an Espada's sword release lo..."
"There's no need to brag about showing me your Resurreccion," Rukia said, though at the same time she was terrified of what was going on, so much so that she wondered if Sombra would come running if she sent the command that he had told her and the other about, "I saw Grimmjow's Resurreccion when he fought Sombra in the World of the Living."
"Swallow her whole, Glotoneria!" Aaroniero called out, to which his lower body transformed into a huge, purple blob-like mass resembling an incredibly bloated invertebrate or octopus, Rukia wasn't sure which, with dozens of stubby tentacles, large red eyes, and large mouths complete with teeth, leaving the upper part of his body resting on the top of the massive creature, before he stared down at her shocked face, "That's a nice expression on your face... you're terrified, aren't you? Fear me even more! This form is the result of combining the strength of every Hollow I have ever eaten. And don't think that the Resurreccion of an ordinary Arrancar, like the ones that followed Grimmjow to the World of the Living, even compares to that of an Espada. My Glotoneria can call upon the powers of all the Hollows that I've consumed at the same time. I've eaten thirty-three thousand, six hundred and fifty Hollows. You're all alone, against someone that commands the powers of some many Hollows!"
"That's where's you're wrong." a voice said, to which Rukia's fearful expression disappeared and a smile replaced it, because Sombra stepped out of the nearby shadows and stared at the massive creature that was standing in front of Rukia, where he glanced at the Espada she was facing, "Don't bother explaining anything to me, I can guess, based on the various emotions that have been racing through Rukia for the last few minutes, that you have been attempting to mess with her mind and get her to do something that she doesn't want to do... besides, I was able to beat Grimmjow in his Resurreccion, and you're on a lower level than he was, so you don't stand a chance of defeating us."
"How... did you get here?" Aaroniero asked, though at the same time he could feel a sinister feeling in the air as he finally realized who was standing nearby, a sensation that Grimmjow had explained when he told the rest of the Espada, and that included his replacement, about his fight, before he noticed the ebony blade in Sombra's right hand.
"Sorry, I'm not going to explain my powers to you." Sombra replied, though at the same time he glanced at Rukia and noticed that she had tightened her grasp on her Zanpakuto, where she nodded to him for a moment, before he faced the enemy that was in front of them, "Here we come, Aaroniero."
Aaroniero frowned as both Rukia and Sombra charged at him, as it was hard for him to decide who he wanted to kill since he wanted to consume Sombra and take his power for himself, though at the same time he also wanted to kill Rukia to calm the part of him that was Kaien. In the end he focused on Sombra, waving the tentacles of his lower body at the powerful Arrancar that was his target, while at the same time he let his upper body focus on defending himself against the couple of attacks that Rukia sent his way when she thought he wasn't paying attention. He still had no idea how Sombra had found his way here, not when the doors didn't open, but it appeared that Rukia knew about the ability that the other Arrancar had used and that he'd be able to get the information once he consumed Sombra and his power, but first he had to catch him and kill him. At the same time he noticed a few things, as the shadows around the room actually moved as if something was manipulating them and either shielded Sombra or lashed out at the tentacles that came at him, Sombra also used the ebony Zanpakuto he was holding and cut off the tentacles that he didn't use the shadows on, and he even disappeared sometimes and moved to a new location. Rukia, on the other hand, continued to follow the same predictable pattern that the part of Kaien in him remembered, allowing him to counter the attacks that were coming at him and used the water based abilities of the trident he was holding in his right hand against the ice abilities of the Zanpakuto that Rukia was using against him.
Sombra, on the other hand, watched as something annoying happened, as it appeared that Aaroniero grew tired of Rukia's attacks and swung the trident like he had been doing earlier, only this time he did so in a manner that actually broke Rukia's Zanpakuto in half and cut a deep gash into her chest... before he raised his left hand and grabbed onto her weakened form as the top half of her Zanpakuto fell to the floor and she appeared to be lifeless, where the Espada glanced over at him once more.
"This will be your fate soon enough," Aaroniero said, to which he grinned for a moment, because with one of his enemies taken care of he knew that he could win, so long as he prevented his opponent from releasing his Resurreccion and his full power.
Sombra stared at the Espada for a moment, wondering why he thought that he was in a position that he could win this fight, before he sighed and his power surged forward, causing the entire area around him, just like he did when he showed all of the Hollows before this point his power.
Grimmjow had been minding his own business, in his own room once more like Aizen had ordered the Espada to do once he told them that Sombra was here, and he sweated a little as he felt the reiatsu he was searching for fluctuate every now and then, just as he suspected since it appeared that Sombra was gaining allies every now and then. For a moment he felt Sombra and Ichigo stop when they reached the chamber of Dordoni, in Tres Cifras, and his sweat was justified when the sheer power of the powerful Arrancar caused the air of Hueco Mundo to shudder, the sign that the Dios Hueco was slowly approaching their true power. He actually felt back for Dordoni, as he knew the feeling of fighting Sombra when he was angry at something, even if it happened to be his own friends' ignorance or dense nature, and knew that the Privaron Espada was gone, but not by Sombra's hand, indicating who had been behind Dordoni's death. It was some time before he felt the sheer power return in full force again, but this time he felt the sinister nature of the reiatsu that he was feeling and knew that it was like when he fought Sombra the first time, meaning that whoever he was fighting was either going to emerge from the fight in a wounded manner... or they were going to die a very painful death at the hands of the Dios Hueco, and this time it was all Aizen's fault that this was happening.
He honestly couldn't believe that Aizen thought it was a good idea to bring the most powerful Arrancar to Hueco Mundo, or more specifically Las Noches, and expect something else to happen, and it was only a matter of time until Sombra tore his way to where Aizen was waiting and struck him down.
"Damn it! I can't take this anymore." Grimmjow growled, though at the same time he got up from where he was sitting, grabbed his Zanpakuto, and headed outside his room, as there was someone that he needed to see before he let the building and sought out the soon to be ruler of Hueco Mundo, "I refuse to serve someone that's going to get us all killed... and it's time to announce my true intentions."
He knew that once one of the other Espada figured out what he was doing, and who he was going to see before he sought out Sombra, they were going to either tell Aizen or come at him with everything they had, and hopefully his next actions would convince Sombra that he wasn't on his enemy's side anymore... otherwise he was sure that the powerful Arrancar would exterminate him and finish what he started in the World of the Living a month ago.
"You think that you have the strength and power to kill me?" Sombra inquired, though at the same time the shadows surged forward and pierced a good number of Aaroniero's tentacles, where they morphed into hooks that prevented the large body of the Arrancar from moving, along with a few more piercing the larger part of his body, spilling blood in the process as he focused on his opponent, "Please, you barely have the power to do anything."
"Oh, you think you're so powerful that you can't lose to a Gillian?" Aaroniero asked, though that pissed him off, as the words that were said annoyed him more than he was willing to admit, but at the very least this situation allowed him to target Sombra without having to worry about Rukia anymore.
"I know that I'm stronger than a Gillian ranked Arrancar," Sombra replied, to which he sighed for a moment as a slight smile appeared on his face, as he knew what was coming next as he caught the glance that Rukia gave him without even alerting Arroniero to what she was planning on doing, "but it doesn't matter that much, not when we've beaten you."
Aaroniero glanced over to Rukia for a moment as she seemed to regain consciousness, something that he wasn't expecting since his strike should have killed her, but he grinned as she coughed for a few seconds and moved her hands until the shattered katana was pointed at his head, making him wonder what she was trying to do... though as all this happened he also noticed that some bits of ice actually started to form on the hand that was gripping the collar of her Shinigami attire.
"San no Mai," Rukia said, though at the same time she lifted her head and faced Aaroniero, who seemed surprised that she was still alive and was still fighting, but as she did that she wasn't going to waste the opening that had opened itself to her, "Shirafune."
Sombra watched as the ice in the air around them formed the upper part of a katana blade, extending from where the Zanpakuto had been broken, and since the blade was near Aaroniero's face when it reformed it also pierced the Espada's head before he was able to do anything. A few seconds ticked by as the area around the icy blade froze, revealing the Arrancar's true face once more, and Rukia informed him that she had been entrusted with Kaien's head, before she swung her Zanpakuto and cleaved apart the cylinder that the two heads were resting in. The result was that the cylinder shattered and green liquid erupted from parts of Aaroniero's body as the mass in front of him dissolved into nothing, like he was reverting back to his base form, though the green liquid surged into the outer parts of the area they were in as Sombra caught Rukia and gently placed her on the floor, all while ignoring the rants of the remaining head, since the one that Rukia had hit was now cut in half... until he grew tired of listening to it and used one of the shadows to pierce it, forever silencing the Noveno Espada, before drawing in his power as he sheathed his Arrancar Zanpakuto.
"Do you want me to mend your wounds?" Sombra asked, because he could shift into his Bankai for a moment and use the healing power to rapidly repair the damage that Rukia had been dealt, even though he knew something that she didn't and didn't say anything about what he knew.
"No. Give me a few minutes alone with Aaroniero's remains so I can let go of the past," Rukia replied, though at the same time she did let Sombra prop her up against the side of the wall that they were near, giving her the ability to stare at the Espada's remains, while the pieces of her Zanpakuto were placed near her, "besides, I'm sure that Ichigo needs your help more that I do... it feels like he's heading for a powerful foe."
"As you wish, Rukia." Sombra said, though at the same time he wondered why his friends were so stubborn, as he saw no reason to refuse his healing services before he left, but since Rukia wanted to take the hard way out he simply sighed and vanished from where he was standing, so he could see what was happening with Ichigo.
Rukia chuckled as she stared at the Espada that she had defeated, while using Sombra's presence as a distraction to get the killing blow, and knew that the ones that came after Aaroniero, those with the numbers eight and higher, would be much more difficult than she and the others were expecting... but if they were anything like Aaroniero they would underestimate Sombra when he appeared, letting her friends kill them in the process, and then they would be able to leave Aizen to their more powerful friend. A few seconds later she closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall that she was leaning against, as she needed a few minutes to herself before she did anything else, and she hoped that she was able to get moving again before one of the other Espada found her.
While Ichigo and Sombra were busy battling Dordoni, and Rukia encountered Aaroniero and followed him into the building that was in front of her, Uryu found himself in what appeared to be a large chamber with a high number of cylinder shaped pillars, ones that covered three-fourths the size of the chamber he was in. He knew that, based on the levels of reiatsu that were coming from the Arrancar near his friends, that he didn't have to worry that much, as Sombra's power was more than enough to overcome whoever his opponent was, even if he let Kurosaki fight them first, and he knew that Rukia was strong, so there shouldn't be a reason for her to get caught off guard. He also sensed that Chad had found an opponent as well, making Renji the only one out of their group that hadn't found a foe yet, as his senses determined that there was someone else in the chamber with him, which was why he carefully walked into the chamber while he wondered what the others were getting themselves into, before focusing on the task at hand.
Not even a few seconds after entering this part of Lash Noches he had to dodge something that was thrown at him, which appeared to be some sort of disc shaped blade that was connected to a whip, as not a few seconds later his opponent withdrew it and allowed him to figure out where his enemy was hiding, or rather standing since she wasn't hiding at all.
His opponent was dressed in the Gothic lolita style of Japanese fashion, inspired by the Victorian version based on what he was seeing, though he also noticed that the Arrancar had short purple colored hair, had purple colored eyes, black fingernails and light purple teardrop markings on each of her cheeks. Her outfit consisted of a frilly dress with large, poofy sleeves that cut off at her shoulder and a pair of knee-high boots, while at the same time she also wore fingerless, evening-style gloves, as well as leg warmers that attached to garters at her thighs. The interesting thing was that she had wings on her back, ones that looked like they were simply additions that were added to the back of her back and went with her outfit, and the remains of her Hollow mask happened to be positioned in her hair, right above the left side of her forehead, while at the same time Uryu thought it resembled a spiked hairpin. She also seemed annoyed that she had missed her target, even though she withdrew the disc shaped blade and readied herself again, though Uryu wasted no time in calling his bow into existence as he started to run, as he didn't want to get caught by the weapon and knew that he needed some time to plan his attack out.
The Arrancar, as he noted from the number of times that he dodged the attacks that were coming his way, and even used his bow to block one of them while giving him a sense of where his opponent's power was in terms to what he had felt before, had terrible aim at times and it was likely from a lack of training, but her reiatsu was powerful and that worried him... there was also the fact that she had no problems shattering the tips of the pillars that were in her way as she send the blade of her Zanpakuto after him. After a few moments of running around and dodging her weapon, and the large sections of the pillars that she broke off to crush him, Uryu stopped behind one of the pillars and calmed himself, as he needed a plan before he did anything else, and fortunately his opponent didn't send another attack out at him while he was doing all this.
"Hiding won't save you!" the Arrancar called out, though at the same time she pulled her disc blade back to where she was standing and tightened her hold on the whip portion of it, with her left hand since the hilt of her Zanpakuto was in her right hand, before she frowned for a moment, "How many times must I tell you?! There's no gett..."
Uryu took the chance and flashed through the air while his opponent seemed distracted, as he needed to test some of his thoughts out before he actually tried to fight her seriously, just like Sombra did against all of his opponents, and he fired an arrow at her backside, where the Arrancar turned around and used the disc blade to block his attack.
"...ing away from me." the Arrancar finished, to which Uryu noted that the remains of her smile had disappeared and a frown had replaced it, telling him that she was unhappy with what he had just done, but since this was a battle between the two of them he couldn't afford to play nice, "Don't attack me when I'm trying to talk. You don't have a delicate touch, do you? Jeez, I hope all Human men aren't like you."
Uryu sweated for a moment, as he honestly wasn't expecting his opponent to stop his arrow so suddenly, though as the Arrancar talked she spun her disc blade around for a few seconds before sending it after him, to which he flashed out of the way as it barreled into the bottom of the pillar he had been standing near, sending it crashing to the floor. Not even a second later the Arrancar called out to him, telling him that he shouldn't be running from her and that he was a weirdo, causing him to frown as he told her 'look whose talking' before dodging the next attack and loosed another arrow at his opponent. This time around the force of the arrow knocked the Arrancar backwards and forced her to do a backflip through the air, as she had to leave the pillar she had been standing on behind and landed on another one with her frown still on her face as she focused on him. Uryu knew that he might be in trouble, as his opponent was a very light Arrancar that was unlike all the other ones he had heard about, and she was able able to swiftly block his arrows when he fired one at her, meaning that he needed to keep attacking her until he figured out how he was going to land a direct hit, otherwise he'd be forced to call on Sombra for aid if things dragged out in the Arrancar's favor. He knew that Sombra would be able to figure out her weakness and bypass it before she had a chance to use her Resurreccion, if he was inclined to end the fight before it actually began, but right now he wanted to see if his plans could work without forcing his friend to come here and help him... especially since he wasn't sure if it was a single use type ability that he had given them or if could be used more than once, and he'd rather not waste it just yet.
A few seconds later he jumped out of where he was hiding and loosed an arrow at his opponent, who swung her disc blade at him, but this time around he verbally called out 'Turn', causing the arrow to spin and avoid the disc blade, and then added 'Fly' to increase it's speed as it hit the pillar his foe had been standing on, even though she moved a second or two before the arrow hit the pillar. From what he was able to tell his opponent's weapon moved in a straight line, while also keeping an open mind that it might be able to change direction since he had heard about weapons like that, and quickly came to the conclusion that he had to avoid attacking her head on, like Kurosaki would, as he should be attacking her from positions that she wasn't expecting, as it was the greatest way to overcome her defenses and damage her. As such he fired an arrow towards the ceiling, intentionally giving himself away as his opponent called him a 'dork' as she swung her disc blade at him, but he smiled as the arrow obeyed his thoughts and corrected it's course, allowing it to fly at her, only she jumped backwards and let the pillar she was standing on take the damage as she landed on another one. That, in reality, was all part of Uryu's plan as he started to run around the area that he was in, forcing his opponent to swing at him in the process, and he'd fire either two or three arrows at a time, depending on how quickly the Arrancar reacted to him being out in the open, though the arrows were intentionally fired away from his target and struck the tops of the pillars that she could stand on, eliminating them in the process.
There was even a moment where three of the arrows were sent directly at the Arrancar, since she was anticipating them hitting the pillars, and she swung at the trio with her disc blade, breaking them before they could reach her, but at the very least this was giving Uryu a chance to study her before seriously attacking her... and the second time he tried to hit her in such a way his earlier guess was proven right, as the Arrancar curved the path of her disc blade and shattered his arrows in an entirely different fashion.
"Are you stupid or what? Your just dug your own grave!" the Arrancar called out, though at the same time her frown turned into a smile as she recalled her disc blade once more, this time keeping it near her so she could stare down at her pitifully weak and retarded opponent, "I tricked you. I made you break all those pillars, so you'd leave yourself wide open. There were so many of them that I didn't feel like breaking them down on my own. Now I can weave my Zanpakuto all over the place, all thanks to the room you provided me with."
True to her word the Arrancar started spinning the disc blade and used new tactics against him, forcing Uryu to run and rethink his plan, because it had been going great until she revealed that she was only using him to take out the pillars so she'd have more room to attack him from different angles, but at the same time his plan had been to destroy them to limit where she could run off to. This time around, when he was forced to use his bow as a shield, the Arrancar gladly struck him with more power than she had used the last time around, as this time his bow broke apart and she cut into his left shoulder a little as he jumped back towards the opening he had come from, but he knew that even if he ran either the Arrancar in front of him would chase him or he might find an even stronger opponent that he couldn't defeat.
"How does that feel? Does it hurt, white four eyes?" the Arrancar asked, though at the same time the smile shifted into a frown as she thought about something, as Uryu was conserving his energy as he considered what sort of plan he should use this time around, "It looks like you don't even have the strength to respond. I guess... Who the hell are you?"
Uryu was surprised for a moment, as he was sure that he hadn't sent the distress command that would alert Sombra to what was going on, and he was relieved to find that he hadn't done that, as standing at the opening that he had come through was Pesche, who was now the Arrancar's target as she pulled her disc blade back and fired it at him this time around, to which he freaked out and jumped out of the way, only to crash into a nearby pillar.
"Wait a minute, you're Pesche, right?" Uryu inquired, just to be sure that he had the name right, but at the same time he knew that his memory hadn't failed him, even though he knew that entering this area meant that the weaponless Arrancar, who was reminding him of Aisslinger since he seemed to be in a permanent released state, was going to have to run like he was.
"Actually, it's Pesche Guatiche," Pesche replied, knowing that he and his brother, Dondochakka, hadn't really given their full names to anyone in a long time, and had forgotten to do the same thing when they were in the presence of the Dios Hueco, before he fell to the floor, "and you are Uryu Ishida."
"Well, at least one of you remembered my name." Uryu said, to which a light smile appeared on his face for a few seconds, as with how caught up Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka were with Sombra's existence as the Dios Hueco he was sure that he and the others would have been forgotten about.
"That smile... do you love me?" Pesche asked, though that was followed by Uryu's smile shifting back into it's normal expression, as he couldn't believe how idiotic the Arrancar was acting, especially since they were going to be under attack from the female Arrancar any moment now.
"Shut up!" the female Arrancar called out, to which she swung her Zanpakuto and let the disc blade fly at them, where both Uryu and Pesche dodged the incoming attack as it struck the area between them, though that only encouraged the two of them to continue running as she started to target them once more, though she decided to address the one that was called 'Uryu' for a moment, "Who is that termite-looking guy? Is he a termite?"
"Wha..? A termite? How rude!" Pesche stated, to which he got up and pointed a finger at the Arrancar that Uryu had been fighting the entire time before his arrival, though at the same time Uryu stared at him like he had lost his mind, even though his arrival changed all the plans that he had already come up with to take out the Arrancar, "Call me a stag beetle at the very least."
"Honestly, there's not much of a difference between them." Uryu commented, even though this gave him a chance to actually think of a new plan to topple the Arrancar so they could move forward, because he didn't want to spend too much longer in the presence of the foe that he had been fighting.
"There's a huge difference between them!" Pesche replied, sounding upset for a moment, even though Uryu truly didn't care what sort of insect Pesche thought he was, especially since he had no idea what the Arrancar looked like before his transformation into his current state, "Stag beetles are black, shiny, and cool!"
"Not to mention your armored parts are white." Uryu said, as it appeared that he might have been paired with the more insane member of Nel's group, though it was hard to tell if Dondochakka was above Pesche or not, since he barely knew either of them.
"I don't need that from you!" Pesche stated, to which he pointed an accusing finger at Uryu for a moment, while at the same time staring at the clothing that Uryu was wearing, as if he found something offensive about the attire he had chosen for this venture, "You're completely covered in white clothing!"
"But it's fine if I'm wearing this, as it's customary for a Qunicy to wear all white." Uryu replied, though at the same time he knew that the Arrancar was getting annoyed with them, which was why he decided that it was time to refocus on their enemy and not worry about Pesche.
"I told you to shut up!" the Arrancar loudly said, though that was when she swung her arm and the disc blade came at them once more, forcing them to dodge the attack once more, before she retracted the disc blade and stared down at the two of them with a smile on her face, "It seems that the termite is a friend of yours."
"No, not really." Uryu stated, to which he considered the situation that they were in, because he had one thing that might be able to help him win this battle, but at the same time he honestly didn't want to reveal that he had them now, not when he was sure that their enemies might be watching them, "He and his 'brothers' told Sombra that they would serve him once he gained control over Hueco Mundo, so he's more of a reluctant ally, since I'm one of Sombra's friends. Think about this for a moment, the new ruler of this world has come to take his throne and you're fighting..."
"I have lost interest!" the Arrancar said, to which she swung her Zanpakuto and the disc blade came at them, to which Uryu dodged the attack, and noticed that Pesche did the same as well, before he started to run once more, forcing the Arrancar to change her angle to follow after him.
As Uryu ran away from the Arrancar's attacks, and continued to figure out how he was going to defeat her with her speed and reflexes, Pesche followed after him and informed him that the reason that he was here was because he was trying to find Nel, who had ran off in search of Ichigo. Pesche also mistakenly thought that Uryu was Kurosaki, something that he remedied the instant it happened, even though it appeared that Pesche had a hard time remembering Kurosaki's face, as he thought that Uryu was talking about Renji when he mentioned a spiky haired Shinigami, even though he said 'orange-haired' instead of 'red-haired', but in the end he decided not to worry about him too much. When the Arrancar's weapon caught up with them, however Pesche knocked Uryu out of the way and told him to leave this to him, as he had the ability to create a liquid that was incredibly slippery and he used it on the disc blade, covering it in the liquid, which in turn allowed it to basically bounce off his shoulder when the weapon struck him. The only disappointing thing was that Pesche ruined the moment by revealing that he didn't care about the Arrancar's panties, causing her to cover the area for a moment and caused Uryu to glare at him as well... and then he sighed as Pesche decided to declare war on the Arrancar and loosed a good bit of liquid at her, forcing her into the air.
What Uryu and the Arrancar weren't expecting was for the liquid to spread over the top of the remaining pillars and covered all of them, so it gave Uryu and Pesche the chance to watch as the Arrancar slipped on the liquid, hit her head on the pillar, and fall down to their level, which was what he had been planning on doing at some point, so at the very least Pesche aided him by bringing the Arrancar down to their level... and Pesche, not knowing when to shut up, informed Uryu that this liquid was his 'Infinite Slick', not that Uryu really cared all that much.
"Rip off, Golondrina!" the Arrancar declared, apparently growing annoyed with the fight that they were having and had decided that it was time to bring an end to this battle, before she was covered in a vortex for a few moments as she finally released her Zanpakuto, the one thing that Uryu had been trying to avoid.
Not even a few seconds after the vortex appeared two large wings erupted from the area in front of them, no doubt coming from the Arrancar's back and likely gave her the ability to fly, though what really surprised Uryu was that there were ten crescent-shaped blades, five on each wing, that took the place of feathers. As the vortex disappeared he noted that the Arrancar's mask had become a beak-like headpiece with a large, feathery mane protruding from it, covering most of her body and trailing past her legs, while at the same time she also gained a long prehensile tail, which emerged from her back, and Uryu suspected that it wasn't just for show. Uryu also noticed that large pieces of armor that resemble the disc of Golondrina's sealed state, now that he knew the name of her Zanpakuto, had formed around her shoulders, and that her arms had become long and slender, with large claws in place of her fingers.
"From the way you're fighting, you don't seem to be taking me seriously." the Arrancar said, though her tone told them that she was annoyed with them, which was understandable considering what just happened, but Uryu prepared himself for whatever was coming next, "You're the first enemies I've fought in a long time, so I was going to take my time with you. I, Arrancar Number Ciento Cinco, Cirucci Sanderwicci, am going to crush you! Now then... which one of you should I slice first?"
In the following moments the Arrancar, now called Cirucci, flapped her wings and flew towards them, where she also used those wings to carve the pillars around her in half and used them to try and crush both Uryu and Pesche, who resumed running as Uryu noticed that the blades on her wings were vibrating. Cirucci called out that Uryu, or 'four eyes' as she called him, and informed him that all he was good at was running away, even though she was trying to kill the two of them for Aizen, but Uryu paid no attention to that as he avoided the attacks that were coming his way and focused on what he was going to do next. Uryu then decided, as Pesche decided that they would fight side by side, to jump up on the broken pillars and took to the air, where he summoned his bow back and loosed some arrows at Cirucci, who used one of her wings to knock the arrows away like they were nothing, but it was information that he needed and was grateful to have her give him. He could tell that the blades on her wings were vibrating at high speeds, as the sounds they made were evidence to that, and the second test produced the same results, but before he could progress further in his thought process he had to get Pesche out of the way of one of Cirucci's next attack and then continued running as he considered what he was going to do next.
He had an idea that might work and called out for Pesche to use his 'Infinite Slick' once more, though he found that his thoughts about it were true, because in that moment it was revealed that Pesche had lied about the name and had actually run out of... and when Pesche slipped on his own ability, what was left of it, Uryu used his Hirenkyaku to grab onto Pesche and pull him out of danger, before reappearing on a nearby pillar as Cirucci struck where he had been laying.
"Did you feel it connect?" Uryu asked, though at the same time he felt his opponent's mood shift for a moment, as she seemed a little surprised by the fact that she had missed her target, but at the same time he was planning on getting rid of Pesche before he cost him his life.
"Ah, I know what that was." Cirucci replied, where she glanced back at where Uryu was standing, but at the same time she was preparing something else for him, as he and his termite friend were really annoying and she wanted them to die so she could relax, "That was Shunpo, Flash Step, wasn't it?"
"Actually, that's the Shinigami version. Mine is called Hirenkyaku." Uryu answered, though at the same time there was no harm in telling his opponent the name of his movement technique, especially since she was going to have a hard time hitting him now that he was getting serious, as this was dragging on and he wanted the battle to be over soon.
"How are they different?" Cirucci asked, to which the blades on her left wing glowed for a moment as they detached from her wing and flew towards where Uryu was standing, where he flashed out of the way and let them slice through the pillar, turning it into a number of blocks before they embedded themselves in the wall behind the pillar.
When Uryu appeared on the second pillar, however, Cirucci launched the second set of blades from her other wing and tried to hit him again, but he just avoided the attack and appeared on a pillar that was close to the entrance, where he tossed a crying Pesche to the side and used his bow to fire an arrow into his sash, sending him flying into the opening that he had come through when he was following the tunnel he had picked. As that happened Cirucci raised a hand and the blades returned to her wings, meaning that she could reload them with ease, but at the same time Uryu knew that he needed to take them out before this battle went on too much longer, as he had the feeling that she had more surprises for him and he honestly didn't want to see them. It appeared that he had no choice, as the blade feathers prevented him from doing anything, so he landed close by his opponent and had his bow disappear as he reached behind his back and pulled out one of the special thin rectangular objects that he had brought with him... and when the next blade attack came at him he swung at them and cleaved them in half, before spinning the device around as he noticed a look of shock appear on his opponent's face.
"What... is that?" Cirucci asked, as she had no idea what her foe had done to her blade feathers, but seeing them get cleaved in half like that, from someone that used a bow, worried her and made her wonder if her chances of winning had suddenly disappeared all of a sudden.
"How unfortunate." Uryu replied, to which he stopped spinning the device he was holding and held it so it was pointed off to his right, revealing that it appeared that he was wielding a blade of some kind, while at the same time he kept his eyes on his opponent, "I was really hoping to hold off on using this for a little while longer. Before Urahara-san snuck me out of the hospital, I had him help me find my father's secret and hidden warehouse, allowing me to recover these from there, especially since he won't be using them anytime soon. This is Seele Schneider, or Soul Slasher, the only edged weapon that a Quincy uses."
"So you're a thief!" Pesche stated, pointing his accusing finger at Uryu again, though at the same time he also remained hidden in the hallway, as best he could, because he didn't want Cirucci to attack him again, even if it meant that he couldn't converse with Uryu like he had been doing earlier.
"No, though judging by how large the warehouse was I'm sure that my father could be called such," Uryu said, as he recalled all of the Quincy artifacts and weapons that had been stored away inside that warehouse, never to see the light of day again since his father hated being a Quincy, "I just borrowed a few things with every intention of giving them back to him when we leave Hueco Mundo."
"You aren't a Shinigami... you're a Quincy." Cirucci said, though at the same time she smiled, as she now understood the reason behind the bow and the speed, while Uryu glanced back over at her, since he knew that she'd attack him again at some point in time.
"Oh, you know about us. That's a rare honor these days." Uryu replied, because it was rare to find someone that actually knew what a Quincy was, especially since a good number of them had been killed so long ago and most of the survivors were hunted down by Mayuri and his goons.
"I heard that they were a troublesome clan that were exterminated by the Shinigami." Cirucci stated, to which her earlier smile reappeared, because if the Shinigami were able to destroy the entirety of the Quincy, and leave only one or two behind from the sounds of it, then she should have no problem finishing off her opponent.
"I figured as much." Uryu said, as that appeared to be everything that the Quincy, if they were remembered as a group at all, were known for, their extermination, and yet he didn't let that bother him, because he still didn't care about it and wasn't about to change his tone, to which he flashed behind Cirucci and swung at her, getting her to use her wing against him before moving backwards after making contact.
"Then why are you aiding the Shinigami?" Cirucci asked, because based on the reports that she and the other Privaron Espada had been given the one that Lord Aizen was interested in was the Shinigami called Ichigo Kurosaki, and she would have loved to face him in battle so she could rip his head off, "It doesn't make any sense!"
"Oh, but I'm not aiding the Shinigami... I'm aiding Sombra, the Dios Hueco and future ruler of Hueco Mundo." Uryu answered, to which he noticed a look of recognition appear in Cirucci's eyes for a moment, indicating that she knew what he was talking about while confirming what he and the others had been told by Pesche and Dondochakka, "Besides, right now I'm more worried about the blade feathers on your wings than I am about the history of my clan, or the fact that you think I'm helping the Shinigami."
Even as he said that, and landed on the floor near his opponent, the remaining five blades on Cirucci's right wing had the exposed tips removed, as the portions of the blades fell to the floor while a look of pure shock appeared on his opponent's face for a moment.
"Did you forget what happened a few moments ago?" Uryu inquired, as he had a hard time believing that his foe could have forgotten what he did to her other wing, but at the same time it appeared that she had forgotten, "It wasn't a fluke or a one-time increase of my reiatsu. Vibrating objects, like those blades feathers of yours, can be destroyed or damaged by hitting them with something that moves at a higher frequency, such as my Seele Schneider, which can be likened to a chainsaw if it helps you understand what I'm talking about. The surface of the blade is made of spirit particles which vibrate three million times a second. In case you didn't know, Quincy are talented at perceiving reiatsu, and at a glance I could tell that your wings were vibrating at 1.1 to 1.3 million times per second, not even half of what Seele Schneider is capable of doing."
"I see... in other words, my wings won't work against you." Cirucci said, to which she sighed for a moment as she shed the broken blade feathers on her left wing, though at the same time the pieces that resembled the sealed form of her Zanpakuto and the arms attached to them fell off as well, leaving her with a normal pair of arms and fingers as she touched the floor.
"I didn't think that you could freely separate parts of your released form like that." Uryu commented, as it wasn't something that the other Arrancar he had been told about had done, and that might have been because the Shinigami they were fighting caught them off guard, but that didn't make him lower his guard.
"They're not separated... I ditched them." Cirucci replied, though at the same time she growled as she stared at the opponent who had cost her more than he knew, while also preparing an attack that would cost him his life if she could stall him long enough, "I'll never be able to return to that form again. In case you didn't know, the true name for when we release our swords is Resurreccion, and it gives us back the attacks and abilities that we had when we were Hollow. The only way to turn back to our Human form is to seal those abilities back into our swords, though changing form without reforming the blade is like cutting off an arm. And, since we're talking about attacks, what I was using earlier was eating up a lot of reiatsu, so if the wings and arms aren't going to be useful I might as well get rid of them, let's me use the reiatsu for something else during our fight... like a single weapon that's focused on your demise!"
As she said that the parts of her Resurreccion that were the wings finally broke off, though that was when Uryu noticed that her tail was moving, as it's top split in half and a pink crescent shaped mass of reiatsu formed between the two points, all while Cirucci was sweating from all the reiatsu that she was using. Cirucci informed him that the Arrancar were solders and the Espada were their leaders, so failure wasn't an option, before she attacked him with the attack that her tail had formed, knocking Uryu backwards a little after a few seconds of blocking the reiatsu with his edged weapon. In the following moments Uryu found himself back where the battle started, him avoiding Cirucci's attacks while trying to come up with another plan to defeat another aspect of her that he didn't even know about, and yet this time he could tell that she was getting tired, much faster than he was. After a few moments he found himself guarding from another attack, much like the first one he encountered, and instead of being pushed back he fought against his opponent's power and ended up slicing a gash into the attack, knocking Cirucci back a bit... only for her to rethink her attack and transformed it into an energy wave that mimicked the appearance of an actual sword, like Kurosaki carried when he was in his Bankai state or one of the katana that Sombra carried.
Cirucci even proclaimed that if two swords were equal in power, assuming that both her attack and Uryu's Seele Schneider were at the same level of power, than the longest one of the two had a greater chance of victory, which actually explained why her attack was shaped the way it was.
"The same strength? I think you're misunderstanding something." Uryu said, as he couldn't believe that his foe honestly believed that she had a chance at winning this fight, because the reality is that she was closer to losing the battle than she thought she was, "Seele Schneider's reiatsu vibrations aren't meant for cutting. Due to it's extremely ripid vibrations, it is able to soften the reiatsu around the area it cuts, thus making the reiatsu easier to steal. Allow me to educate you a little; all Quincy fight by collecting the spirit particles in the area around them and forming spirit weapons, usually bows, to battle whoever or whatever their opponent is. Seele Schneider is the best tool for doing that. The spirit particles that make up your sword are as good as mine."
As Uryu explained all this, however, he demonstrated what he was talking about by actually absorbing some of Cirucci's spirit particles from her blade, making her sweat in the process, but at the same time that meant that he would be ready for what came next... especially since Cirucci was getting ready to charge at him.
"Also, there's one other thing you're mistaken about... Seele Schneider isn't a sword." Uryu added, to which he formed his spirit bow and switched his hold on the edged weapon, allowing it to act like the arrow that it was as it nocked it into position on his bow and took aim, "Quincy only use bows as arrows."
Not even a second later he released the arrow and watched as it flew through the air, cutting the entirety of Cirucci's sword in half, causing her eyes to widen in the process, before it found it's target and pierced her chest, sending all the spirit particles into her body before it all disappeared, to which Cirucci crashed to the floor and the depleted Seele Schneider did the same as well, allowing Uryu to collect it and return it to his belt.
"Cirucci Sanderwicci, as the victor it is within my right to determine whether you live or die," Uryu said, though at the same time he sighed, as normally he would have either killed her or left her alone to face her fate, but since there was another aspect to this war he couldn't do either of those things, "and I know that you would rather die, after facing such a defeat, but I'm not going to kill you. Sombra, the Dios Hueco, is recruiting all Hollows and Arrancar to his side, those that are willing to serve the true ruler of Hueco Mundo, and I'm sure that you would find a new home if you decided to forgo your alliance to Aizen."
"I... I hate... you!" Cirucci stated, though as she spoke Uryu noticed that there were tears, not sweat, running down her face, but he wasn't sure if that was because of the fact that he wasn't killing her, or the fact that Sombra was actually recruiting new allies and severing their connections to Aizen, the 'Usurper', just like Pesche claimed that the legend of the Dio Hueco said.
"I know." Uryu replied, as he had known, just from the amount of time that he had spent in this area, that the Arrancar he had fought didn't like him, and while he may have shot her where her spiritual powers came from Orihime could easily repair the damage by nullifying what he had done, before he turned around and walked away from her, "Come on, Pesche, let's get moving."
Cirucci, despite not being able to watch them leave, could hear both the Quincy and the strange Arrancar that had been with him leave the chamber that they had been fighting in, heading down a different path than the one they took to reach her area of Tres Cifras. A few moments later she felt the beak-like headpiece, the flowing mane, and the tail break apart as her Resurreccion shattered, forcing her to revert back to her previous state as her Zanpakuto formed nearby, but she did nothing as she laid there, as she had no idea what she was going to do in her current state.
"Cirucci Sanderwicci," a voice said, to which she shifted her gaze to the best of her ability and her eyes widened when she found the Exequias and their leader Rudbornn Chelute, the horned leader of the execution squad, standing near her, though she knew who had spoken, "We have come for you. Please, do not resist."
"W... Wait." Cirucci replied, knowing that, regardless of what happened, she'd be taken to Szayelaporro's lab and have the information on her fight taken from her in some manner, as she had never bothered to figure out what the Espada did during his experiments and studies, and she'd rather not die just yet if she could help it, "T... Take me to Szayelaporro... I have some information that's better... passing on verbally, instead of... whatever he does. Let him... decide my fate."
"As you wish." Rudbornn stated, to which he sheathed his blade and stood back up, where the rest of the Exequias sheathed their blades as they followed his lead, before he turned towards two of his followers and pointed at them for a few seconds, "You two, take her to Szayelaporro's lab, then come back and rejoin the group. There are more invaders to chase and more fights to clean up."
Cirucci mentally breathed a sigh of relief, because at the very least the Octava Espada would keep her alive until he was done with his tests and had gotten all the information he could out of her, and she offered no resistance to the pair of the Exequias that picked her up, returned her Zanpakuto, just an ordinary blade instead of a disc blade, to it's scabbard, and carried her towards the lab in question... though she only hoped that she could survive long enough to meet the Arrancar that Uryu had been talking about and see what he was really doing.
While the others were dealing with their enemies, and figuring out how to beat them in the process, Chad found that his opponent wasn't anything like the Arrancar that he had heard about and seen during the couple of attacks on the World of the Living. The reason was because the moment he entered the square chamber that his foe was located in the Arrancar wasted no time in attacking him, not even saying anything to him, and he barely had enough time to call his armored right hand into existence before the battle started. Of course he was surprised by the power that his foe had, meaning that he had to be an Espada of some kind, and he had even been forced into one of the walls during the opening moments of the fight, where the Arrancar claimed that he wasn't even worth being called a warmup, but when Chad fired a blast at him the Arrancar jumped out of the way and seemed to smile for a moment as Chad readied himself for the next attack that was coming his way. What he wasn't expecting was for the Arrancar to knock him against the floor a few moments later and send him flying into the wall behind him, this time denting it with the form of his body, but at the same time he got a good look at his opponent before he did anything else.
His opponent, from what he could tell, had brown eyes and a big burnt orange afro-style haircut with thick sideburns and a goatee, though his outfit had been modified from the original style to match his particular style, including large frills on his collar and thighs. The remains of his Hollow mask appeared to be some sort of sunglasses-shaped plate on his forehead with four teeth coming out above each eye, while at the same time there is a blue star in the center of the mask fragment, though Chad had no idea what purpose the star served. Attached to his wrists appeared to be some sort of punch daggers that had hinges attached to them, though at the moment they were pointed up the Arrancar's arms and hadn't been use against them, but Chad had the feeling that the two pairs of daggers were his Zanpakuto, as he didn't see the ordinary blade that the other Arrancar had.
"Guess you weren't cut out to go against Arrancar Ciento Siete, Gantenbainne Mosquede." the Arrancar said, though at the same time he revealed his name to Chad, as if he felt that Chad was done for without even offering a challenge to him, but that meant good things for Chad.
Chad let the smoke from his collision with the wall swirl around him for a few seconds, shrouding him from his opponent's view, before he burst out of where he had been resting and rushed towards Gantenbainne as his reiatsu gathered in his right fist, fully intending to beat his foe down.
"You're little Human punches will never connect if you can't use Sonido." Gantenbainne stated, though at the same time he flashed up to where Chad was and grabbed onto his head with his left hand, surprising Chad with how fast his foe was, before he was sent flying against the ground again and crashed into the wall again, "I believe I've said that a few times now, haven't I, Sado Yasutora? Or do you prefer Chad? Either way, if you want to keep coming at me like you have been, then I won't stop you from trying to reach me. You'll still die in the end."
"We'll see if I die or not." Chad replied, to which he pulled himself up and readied another blast in his right hand, but even as he did that he knew that this opponent might be too much for him to handle, so much so that he considered calling for Sombra to come and help him, but he wanted to be absolutely sure before he did something like that.
In the following moment Chad charged forward and swung at Gantenbainne, who grabbed his punch with his left hand before delivering a pair of punches that knocked him towards the ceiling, but Chad then used his new height to gather his power and punched at his opponent again, who jumped out of the way as he hit the ground where the Arrancar had been standing seconds ago. Before he really had a chance to do anything, or even raise his defenses, Gantenbainne rushed at him and kicked him once more, sending him to the floor some distance away from him, but, just like the last few minutes had gone, the Arrancar didn't chase after him and simply stared at him for a moment.
"Look, I'm holding back as much as I can." Gantenbainne stated, as he honestly wanted a fair fight, because it had been a long time since he had anyone to fight since the other Privaron Espada kept to themselves and rarely came into the area that he called home, before focusing on Chad again, "I'm trying to be nice here. So I'll say it again: you're going to die if you keep this up."
"I'm not ready to die yet!" Chad declared, though at the same time he picked himself off the floor and faced his foe, where he channeled more power into his right hand and readied himself for what was going to happen next, as he was still unconvinced of whether or not he needed to call for any aid.
"Man, you've got guts." Gantenbainne said, to which he smiled for a moment, because while he wanted a more fair fight he was pleased to see that his foe was at least trying to fight him and not running away like a baby, though at the same time he prepared himself for what was coming next.
In the next few seconds the two of them charged at each other and let their fists connect, where Chad fell to his knee for a moment as Gantenbainne stopped a few steps behind him, but at the same time an opening presented itself, to which Chad swung his fist and punched the Arrancar in the side of his face, sending him flying straight into the same wall that he had sent Chad into the last few times.
"It is as I said, I'm not ready to die yet." Chad said, to which he stood up straight and faced the Arrancar, because he knew that his attack didn't have the power necessary to defeat such an opponent and knew that he needed a plan of attack to defeat Gantenbainne before things got out of hand.
"I understand how you feel now, Chad." Gantenbainne spoke up, though as he pulled himself out of the small hole that had formed around him he decided to call his opponent by the name he preferred to be called, based on the amount of information that they had on the Human, and he was still a little surprised by the fact that the Human had been able to punch him in such a way, "You want an all-out fight, don't you?"
"That's correct." Chad replied, as he had known that his opponent was holding back, before he had been told that a few moments ago, and since it appeared that all his friends were fighting their enemies at their full strength, so that they wouldn't be able to be chased should they survive the encounter, he decided to do the same, "I must move on from here, and you need to be defeated before I can do that."
"Sounds like fun." Gantenbainne replied, because the way Chad talked he had the feeling that he might still be holding something back, just like he was holding back a good portion of his power and his Resurreccion, to which he flashed through the air and got the battle started once more.
Chad barely had time to react as Gantenbainne appeared behind him and punched him a few times, stunning him for a few seconds, before bringing his hands together above his head and used them to knock him into the floor, where a small crater formed around him. When the Arrancar jumped into the air, and came back down to punch at him, Chad rolled out of the way and let his opponent hit where he had been laying a few seconds ago, though as he stood up once more he noticed that Gantenbainne was now using the daggers that were attached to his wrists, adding a new level of danger to the fight. As such the first thing he did, when the Arrancar came at him again, was dodge a few of the attacks to the best of his ability, but that soon changed when Gantenbainne changed tactics and used his fists, with the daggers, in a rapid fire barrage of punches that were all aimed at Chad's chest area, stunning him and causing him to cough up some blood in the process, before the Arrancar punched him down into the ground with a 'Ciento' that followed the final punch, leaving Chad in a Human sized crater.
"Get back on your feet, Chad." Gantenbainne said, as the moment he finished his attack he had backed up to give his opponent some space, because it was time to see if his guess was right about what the Human had left to give him or if his skills were getting rusty thanks to having no enemies to fight for a long time, "I know you're still hiding your true power. You're strong, I can tell that by our exchanges so far, and I can tell that someone like that shouldn't be fighting like you are at the moment. This should be a fair fight, for God's sake... you have no response? That hurts my feelings!"
Gantenbainne raised his left hand, with the daggers still out, and let a bit of his power dance between the two blades as he swung his arm down towards Chad, who snapped his eyes open a second later and did something that caused the area between them to detonate, forcing Gantenbainne to sweat as he stared at what was in front of him.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to hide it." Chad said, as he honestly hadn't been trying to hold anything back against such an opponent, rather he had been thinking about something that had stirred in him the moment they came to Hueco Mundo and hadn't told the others about his discovery, "It's just that ever since we came to Hueco Mundo, my powers felt different than they did in the World of the Living. It confused me, and I was unable to get a hold of my true powers until now. But now, I finally have it under control. I'll be able to fight with my full strength from now on. Brazo Derecha de Gigante... or Right Arm of the Giant. This is my right arm's true form."
As the smoke cleared Gantenbainne stared at the black armor that had encased Chad's right arm and hand, as it had transformed into a shield of some kind that now protected him, with markings that resembled teeth, a nose, and basically could protect his entire arm at this point... though at the same time he backed off so he could get a good look at Chad's new arm while wondering what sort of power he might have gained from the sudden change.
"I never realized it until now, or maybe I just didn't want to accept it, but my inner power stirred in excitement when we first came to Hueco Mundo," Chad continued, to which he glanced at the transformed armor that was around his right arm, as it was strange to see that it had changed from what he had been using the entire time, but oddly enough it felt better having this armor and not the older armor, "It's a feeling that I never got when I went to Soul Society. The longer I stayed here, the more the feeling of excitement grew, and when you rained those attacks down on me... well, it was the first time that feeling settled down. At first I thought that the feeling was linked to my eagerness for the fights that I would be getting into, but ever since I came here my power has been alight with joy that's akin to coming back here... it's as though the brutal homecoming of it's kinsman had reminded it of what it really was. Truth be told, I've been suspicious of my power since the day I gained it, because it's different than the abilities of the Shinigami and Quincy, and I've finally found out the answer. My powers are less like those of the Shinigami and Quincy, rather they're more like the powers that belong to a Hollow."
As he neared the end of his statement Chad began to release the true power of his right arm, with a large amount of blue energy, the same he used in the arm's prior form, emitting from the upper part of the shield as he prepared to attack Gantenbainne with his new might, and when he loosed his punch the power surged forward and barreled into his foe, and that including blasting him through the wall that was behind him, allowing them to move into a new chamber. Following the attack he had fired off, and he kept his surprise to himself, Chad walked through the hole he had made and kept his eyes on his foe as he entered the new chamber, where Gantenbainne flashed up to him and tried to kick the right side of his head, only for Chad to surprise him when he used his arm to block the attack entirely. For a moment he wondered if he had gotten faster or if Gantenbainne had gotten slower, though instead of focusing on that he waved his foe off and sent him flying up to the upper part of a pillar, where the structure beneath the Arrancar's feet cracked as he looked down at it in surprise, opening him to another attack as Chad jumped up to where he was and punched at him, sending the shockwave through the pillar and the ones that were behind it.
When Gantenbainne tried to use his Sonido to flee, however, Chad caught up with him and knocked him towards another pillar, though when he tired to punch him again the Arrancar flashed out of the way as he collided with the pillar, breaking it as his foe remained in the air and Chad returned to the ground, but that was only for a second as Chad used his new speed to get behind Gantenbainne and punched him into the floor, where he landed some distance away and started to slowly approach his opponent. From there Gantenbainne tried a few tests to really test Chad's powers, finding that he was faster and stronger than he had been before his arm's transformation, and that the first one resulted in him being blown into another wall as part of it broke on him. He was also sure that Chad's speed had increased because he tried to use his Sonido to get into a good position to attack Chad, before he fired another empowered blast at him since he appeared to be charging one at the moment, but, as he expected, his foe was able to keep pace with him and brought him to a point where he was outpaced, resulting in another blast that destroyed some of the pillars and sent him into the floor, covering him in smoke for a moment.
Since it appeared that Chad was now using his full power, and the true form of that power, Gantenbainne decided that enough was enough and released his power while mumbling his Release Call to himself, allowing the smoke to vibrate for a few moments before he was ready to go.
"I hope you didn't forget about us." Gantenbainne stated, to which the smoke cleared and revealed his true form to Chad, as his arms had grown longer and were now covered in dome-shaped, armor plating, while his punch daggers now resembled dragon heads, and at the same time more plates also extended down his back until they stopped in the form a tail, giving him an appearance reminiscent of an armadillo, "We have a true form, too, remember? Don't we, Draga?"
Chad readied himself as Gantenbainne lowered the part of his mask over his eyes and then connected his hands together, finding that the two dragon heads and his arms seemed to connect perfectly like they were a cannon or something like it, before he felt some power being drawn in while his foe said 'Dios, ruego nos perdone', meaning that he was praying that God forgave them. That was followed by a large burst of energy that raced towards Chad, who had just a few seconds to raise his arm in defense, before the energy tore through the pillars around him and destroyed a good portion of the area around him, though as Gantenbainne raised his mask fragment in surprise Chad used the smoke cover to do one thing with his left arm, and that was transform it as well.
"I'm sorry, Gantenbainne, I left one thing out." Chad said, to which he waited for the smoke to clear before he lowered his right arm, though since that would be a few moments away from happening he decided to tell his opponent something before he revealed the truth to him, "This really is the true form of my right arm, and I know that the soul of my Abuelo, who taught me to use my strength to protect others, resides within it. At first I didn't understand what he told me, but now I finally do, as the power within my right arm is only meant to defend... and during my training, deep within myself, I finally found the power to attack."
Gantenbainne stared at Chad's left arm as the shield was lowered, because instead of being black with red markings, like the right arm was, the left arm was covered in white armor that had a red stripe running down the length of his arm and only stopped at the center of the back of his hand. In addition to that his fingertips had a red diamond shaped marking that covered them, while a spike protruded from Chad's left shoulder, make by the armor, and two more spikes, smaller than the first one, extended over his chest, resembling claws.
"It's name is Diablo... Brazo Izquierda del Diablo, or Left Arm of the Devil." Chad explained, making sure that his opponent had a chance to see the full true form of his left arm, since he was the first one that had the honor of fighting this new power since he hadn't shown anyone it, before he started to walk towards Gantenbainne.
Gantenbainne clearly didn't like the name of his attack, or the fact that he had another trick of his sleeve, as he pulled his hands near each other and charged two balls of reiatsu that he combined into a single powerful attack, one that he threw at Chad a few moments later, but it did nothing as Chad raised his left hand and caught it, before crushing it as he closed his fist. Gantenbainne understood that Chad was now fighting at full power, now that both of his abilities were out in the open, so he gathered his power together into a single mass and sent a powerful burst of reiatsu, that shifted into the form of a dragon's head, that raced towards his opponent, but Chad surprised him again by raising his left hand and braced himself as the attack struck him. A few moments later the attack broke apart and the Arrancar realized that he was now fighting a losing battle, as it appeared that Chad was even stronger than what he had been expecting, to which he flashed up to where his opponent was standing and tried to kick him into the ground, only for Chad to catch the leg with his left hand and threw him into one of the few standing pillars, breaking it in the process. Gantenbainne tried several other attacks after that, as he loosed small blasts at Chad, tried to get behind him, and even tried to punch him, but when he tried the last one Chad pushed forward and started pushing him backwards, where he found himself being pushed all the way into one of the nearby walls.
When they reached the wall in question, and Chad stopped him once he was against the wall, Chad raised his left arm into the air and Gantenbainne watched as five small blue disks formed at the tips of Chad's fingers, before he formed a fist with his fingers and prepared for the strike that he was planning.
"La Muerte." Chad said, to which he punched Gantenbainne right in his chest, stunning the Arrancar for a moment before his Resurreccion shattered, though that was followed by a large skull shaped hole was carved into the wall behind him, like he was a sacrifice to something.
The force of his attack not only cracked Gantenbainne's mask fragment, removing the area with the star, but the skull hole blasted an actual hole in the wall, where Chad walked out into an open area that had a sky that mimicked what the World of the Living had, while at the same time the defeated Arrancar landed on the ground some distance in front of him, with some blood that indicated that he had been wounded by the attack. A few seconds later Chad walked forward and let both his left arm and his right arm return to normal, as in the armor disappeared as quickly as he had formed them earlier, before he eventually stopped beside the downed Arrancar, who he knelt beside.
"Gantenbainne, it was because you fought me with everything that you had that I was able to grasp my true power and understand it." Chad said, as he felt that he might as well thank the Arrancar for allowing him to gain a better idea of what his power was capable of before he moved onto the next opponent, "You have my gratitude, because thanks to you I'll be able to survive the upcoming battles and rejoin my friends, including Sombra and Ichigo."
"You're friends... with the Dios Hueco?" Gantenbainne asked, as he had felt the powerful Arrancar arrive in Hueco Mundo and had been dreading coming into contact with him, since he was able to best Dordoni with a single attack, but if this was the strength of one of the people who followed the most powerful Hollow around he could admit defeat, "I see... then I'll warn you and hold on to what life I still have until he claims this world as his own... there's an Espada coming this way, and he might just kill you if he catches you off guard."
"There's no need to run. I'm already here." a voice said, to which Chad turned to the side and found someone that was carrying the strangest weapon he had ever seen, as it appeared to be a giant axe-like weapon with two crescent blades that were fused at the backs, standing near them, "Sup? So you're leading the charge, huh?"
"No, that would be Sombra." Chad replied, though at the same time he knew that this Arrancar was far stronger than Gantenbainne, meaning that he was definitely stronger than he was and that he might be in trouble, which was why as he formed both his left arm and his right arm he sent the signal, as he wasn't about to fight someone of Grimmjow's level without Sombra assisting him, "Who are you?"
"My name is Nnoitra Gilga, and I am the Quinto Espada." the Arrancar said, though at the same time he shifted his stance and readied his axe weapon, showing Chad that he was getting ready for a fight, which meant that he needed to have his guard up as he waited for Sombra to appear.
"What are you going Chad?! Run for it!" Gantenbainne called out, because despite the pain he was in, as that La Muerte attack he had taken had been more powerful than he originally thought it would be, he didn't want someone who had fought him with his full power to fall so soon after his victory.
Chad, despite waiting for Sombra to appear, did what he thought was best at the moment, he charged forward and tested his opponent's defenses by punching him a few times, though as he did that he found that his attacks, now fully awakened thanks to his battle with Gantenbainne, did absolutely nothing to the Espada that was in front of him.
"Nah, he's as good as dead." Nnoitra said, to which he raised his axe weapon into the air and swung it down on Chad, barely giving him the chance to defend himself as a deep gash was cut into his chest, causing him to cough up some blood as he fell to the desert floor that was under his feet and his armored arms reverted back to normal, only for Nnoitra to frown as he looked down at Chad for a moment, "I knew it. You're weak as hell. Not even worth bragging about. At least there's another powerful foe nearby, otherwise I'd actually kill you instead of leaving you to bleed out."
Chad said nothing as he weakly felt Nnoitra lift his weapon back to where he carried it and wandered off, hearing something about a 'Tesra' person being nearby and stating that Chad needed to be killed, but as the seconds ticked by the voices got softer and softer until the Espada and his minion were gone. One thing he had caught was that someone Nnoitra called 'Aaroniero' released his Zanpakuto, meaning one of the weaker Espada, and he briefly felt Rukia's reiatsu in the same area, but that was all Chad was able to feel as he closed his eyes and focused on not dying, until his eyes were forced open when a familiar reiatsu entered the area he and Gantenbainne were in.
"Sorry I'm late Chad, I was helping Rukia deal with her oppon..." Sombra said, as he had teleported into the area that Chad was in, to which he ignored the ceiling that was above them as his eyes widened when he noticed the condition that one of his friends was in, "What in the world happened?"
"He was attacked... by the Quinto Espada... Nnoitra Gilga." Gantenbainne replied, though at the same time he was surprised by how suddenly the other Arrancar had appeared, but what shocked him was the sheer power that was coming from the person in front of him.
"I see. The Espada above Grimmjow." Sombra said, as he wasn't expecting the defeated Arrancar that Chad had fought to answer him, but at the same time he wasn't about to leave his friend on the ground in a pool of his own blood, even though there was only one way he could fix this without resorting to the long process of healing Kido, to which he drew Shokyo and prepared himself, "Bankai."
Gantenbainne watched as the Arrancar transformed his attire into a suit of armor that belonged to a knight, with a broadsword to match, though before he could say anything Sombra picked him up with some sort of levitation ability and gently placed him beside Chad, which was followed by a crystalline dome appearing over the two of them as Sombra worked the healing properties of his Bankai upon them. He stood there for a moment as the wound on Chad's chest stopped bleeding and closed, allowing his friend to open his eyes and smile, while at the same time he quickly mended his opponent's wounds as well, making sure that the two of them were as good as they could get with his skills. Once he was sure that both of them were ready to go, and didn't need any additional attention, Sombra pulled his power back and sealed his Bankai, knowing that the brief burst of power would draw attention and that they needed to move, even though it appeared that he was needed elsewhere and not where Chad was.
"Thanks for the aid... though it's a shame that you got here after Nnoitra left." Chad said, as he could already imagine the damage that Sombra would have done to the Espada that had wounded him in such a way, while at the same time noticing that his friend seemed to be sensing something else.
"Oh, I intend to find him and pay him back for what he did to you." Sombra replied, and he meant it, as it sounded like one of the Espada felt that his friends were worthless and treated him like trash, before he glanced at the Arrancar that was staring at him, "And you are?"
"I am Gantenbainne Mosqueda," Gantenbainne answered, to which he dropped to one knee and bowed to the new ruler of Hueco Mundo, as just the brief showing of Sombra's power had been enough to show him that the legend was true and that change was coming, "I, like those that you have come across before entering Las Noches, swear to serve you, the new ruler of Hueco Mundo, and do as you command."
For a moment Sombra felt that the whole 'Dios Hueco' thing was starting to get out of hand, as now a good number of Arrancar and Hollows were vowing to give him their allegiance and follow his orders, but at the same time he wondered if some of the Espada might do the same once they realized that they had no chance of beating him... and, since he was sure that enemies were coming, he decided to just accept Gantenbainne into the fold and get moving.
"Very well then, welcome to the club." Sombra said, as he really didn't want to think that he was taking over Hueco Mundo, but at the same time it was starting to look like his assault on Las Noches was giving him the ability to slowly take over everything that Aizen had built, "For right now the two of you should hide your reiatsu and continue to where they're keeping Orihime and Sora, or at least try and find one of the other groups so we can get back together. I'm not saying that you shouldn't fight anyone, but please double check who your enemies are before things get out of hand, as we wouldn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to either of you, not when one of the Espada think you're both done for... though if you do see Nnoitra again, Chad, don't be afraid to signal me so I can teach him a lesson. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to make sure Ichigo and Nel are okay... and something tells me I'll be called away from them before they reach whatever is in the next chamber they're heading to."
Chad had no idea what was going on with the others, but he nodded his head and watched as Sombra vanished as quickly as he had appeared, no doubt surprising his new ally, though since Sombra was right about the possibility of enemies coming he and Gantenbainne headed off into the area in front of them, hoping to disappear before they were spotted... and he hoped that whoever called upon Sombra next had a good reason, as the powerful Arrancar looked angry and he didn't want to be the one that set him off.
Renji had been running down the hallway that he had picked when he and his friends had been forced to go down five different passages, after Sombra used some sort of ability on them to make sure he could teleport to them if they were in need of assistance, and instead of having the powerful Arrancar running beside him he had Dondochakka running behind him, ruining the entire mood of the venture. Since he was ignoring Dondochakka, who said something about Nel missing at one point, the only thing that he could do to keep himself from turning around and killing the Arrancar behind him was keeping taps on what everyone else was doing since their separation. Of course he was jealous that Ichigo was paired with Sombra, especially considering the power that he poured out when he reached whoever their opponent was, but that didn't stop him as he continued down the path that he had been following the entire time, with no end in sight. What did make him stop, however, was when he felt something happen to Rukia and the same thing happen to Chad moments later, though from what he could tell Uryu was the lucky one, as his opponent seemed cocky or something and left an opening for the Quincy to exploit, meaning that he and Uryu were the only ones that weren't hurt... and he wasn't counting Sombra at all, since he was likely too powerful for the opponents he came across and could finish them off without being hurt at all.
Despite all of his thoughts, however, he eventually came to a stop that wasn't caused by what his friends were doing, as the path in front of him finally changed and it wasn't something that was good, because right in front of him rested two different passages he could take... and it wasn't long before Dondochakka stopped a few steps behind him and looked around like they were in someone's territory, likely an Espada's if the chattering of his teeth was anything to go by.
"Wh... what's wrong, Renji?" Dondochakka asked, his voice telling Renji how scared he was at the moment, not that Renji actually cared, but that just meant that one of the creature that swore to serve Sombra wasn't going to go too far, not if he was scared by just stopping in the middle of a hallway, though he kept his eyes moving as he tried to figure out the reason behind why they stopped here.
"There's a fork in the path." Renji explained, as he was debating whether he should take the path on the right and have Dondochakka take the one on the left, or if he should take the one on the left and have the Arrancar take the one on the right, but knew that this would have been easier if Sombra were here, to feel what was down each direction, "Up until now it was just a straight path. I wonder which path I should take..."
"D... Don't scare me like that, don'tcha know!" Dondochakka said, interrupting Renji's thoughts once more with his ridiculous use of 'don'tcha know', something that he had been trying to ignore because it was a stupid thing to say and it appeared that it was something that the Arrancar liked to use when he spoke, which might have been the reason why Pesche had been the one talking when they were outside Las Noches earlier, "It doesn't matter which path we take, don'tcha know. I'm scared enough as it is, don't make it worse."
It was in the following moment that the section of the floor behind Renji opened, revealing a trapdoor of some kind, and Dondochakka fell into the abyss, calling out for him to save him, though before Renji could actually do anything about the situation he was in the floor beneath his feet did the same thing and he fell into the abyss as well, before the trapdoors closed above their heads. Renji fell for a few minutes, making him wonder what the hell was going on this time around, before he eventually saw a light beneath him, where he eventually came out of the tunnel that he had been falling through and actually exited it like he was a little kid on a playground. As he landed on the floor, however, he found that he was in an odd chamber that didn't seem to have any openings for him to leave through, but then again his vision of the area wasn't the best since there was a cloud of smoke covering the immediate area around him, which was why he kept his hand on his Zanpakuto as he readied himself for whatever was coming next. The only good thing that he could tell at the moment was that he didn't have to put up with Dondochakka, as it appeared that the two of them might have been separated, which was good for him so he could focus on what was happening and not focus on an idiot that was slowly driving him insane.
"This is wonderful!" a voice said, male by the tone that Renji heard, but at the same time he couldn't tell where it was coming from, which was why he glanced around the smoke filled area that he was in as he tried to pinpoint the location that his enemy was coming from, just in case he was attacked, "I placed numerous different traps around here, but I never believed that someone would fall for the simplest one. Oops, excuse me, I haven't introduced myself yet."
Renji turned to what was behind him as he heard the sound of a door opening, even though he still couldn't see who his opponent was, and heard the sounds of someone stepping out of wherever they had been hiding, meaning that the fight between him and his opponent might be starting soon.
"I'll only say it once. I hope someone with such a low degree of intelligence can remember it." the voice said, though at the same time the smoke rushed through the opening that had been created and cleared out of the area, allowing Renji to see a pink haired Arrancar, whose mask formed some glasses in front of his eyes, standing near him, while at the same time he pulled something out of his ear and seemed to stash it in his odd attire, like it had a pocket, "I am the Octava Espada, Szayelaporro Granz."
"The Octava... Espada? I see, you're one of the ten that oversee the other Arrancar." Renji replied, though this was a stroke of good luck on his part, even if he fell for a trap that his enemy had set, because if he actually found one of the ten powerful Arrancar that were Aizen's pawns to destroy Soul Society, like Szayelaporro claimed he was, than that meant he was going to cut the Espada's power down by removing him, though at the same time he heard Dondochakka's voice coming from behind him and moved out of the way.
Fortunately, since he knew where Dondochakka was coming from, Renji moved back and smiled as he put himself out of range of the tunnel, only for a new one to open in the wall beside him a few seconds later, to which he was crushed into the floor by Dondochakka landing on top of him. At first Dondochakka complained about his bottom hurting, since he crashed into Renji, and then complained about the fact that the tunnel was scary, before he really freaked out when he noticed Szayelaporro standing nearby, glaring at him with a disapproving look in his eyes.
"You... you're Szayelaporro, the Octava Espada!" Dondochakka said, to which he jumped backwards a little, giving Renji the space he needed to finally get off the ground and not be crushed by a heavy Arrancar, but it wasn't like Dondochakka was paying attention since he was pointing at the Espada that was near them, "Hueco Mundo's greatest researcher and a specialist at making spirit-based weapons! But you're research is protected by secrecy, so people like me would never know anything about what you do..."
"Sorry, but I don't have time to waste on you." Renji spoke up, as while it was interesting to see that one of them knew a little about their opponent, even though that information was clearly limited when Dondochakka stopped talking before he even interrupted him, before he turned around and glared at the Espada that was his main target.
"Oh, don't we look scary." Szayelaporro said, to which he raised his hands up for a moment, not in the surrendering type since he held them in front of his face, and he kept the same strange friendly look on his face, like he was trying to make himself seem weaker than what he actually was, "Give me a break. Even though I'm an Espada, I'm not very good at fighting. That big guy over there is correct, I'm a simple researcher. When I'm here, in my lab, I gather data on different spirit patterns. It's the most enjoyable thing in the world to me. Oh, and of course, you're fantastic. Your patterns are completely different from the ones that I've already finished researching... and don't get me started on the differences in Sombra's patterns from everything, even yours. Since your patterns were so interesting I decided to give you a welcome of the highest quality. I hope you'll come along with me... what do you say? Never mind, you can't turn me down."
"Sorry, but I didn't come here to chat with you." Renji replied, to which he pulled his scabbard up and gripped the handle of Zabimaru, as he knew that to defeat an opponent that was an Espada he was going to need his Bankai, if he remembered the fight that Captain Hitsuguya had with the Espada Arrancar that fought him and the others before Orihime and Sora were taken, "I came to take you out and cripple Aizen's army. To be honest, I don't care about your statistics, nor do I care about your 'welcome party'. If you want to talk to be, then do so while I carve you up and dice you into a pile of pieces. But I'm not going to hold back against an Espada... Bankai!"
As Renji started to finish his statement he drew his Zanpakuto from it's scabbard and let the wind gather around the blade, the energy gathering as he started to release the final form of Zabimaru as the wind kicked up, and not a few moments later the attire that came with his Bankai, along with the large snake head that he could control, formed in the air around him as he focused on the Espada... though when he swung the head at Szayelaporro, however, it struck something that shined brightly before the entirety of his Bankai shattered and he was left with his sealed Zanpakuto.
"Wh... what happened?" Renji asked, though at the same time the sudden destruction of his Bankai, the strongest form of his Zanpakuto, both shocked him and made him sweat, because he had needed it to defeat just one of the Arrancar that had followed Grimmjow to the World of the Living, and without it he had a lower chance of victory.
"See? This is what happens when you don't listen to everything I have to say." Szayelaporro stated, causing Renji to turn towards him once more, his face baring a wonderful expression that he loved to see on his opponents when something like this happened, though at the same time he smiled at the Shinigami that was in front of him, "You can't use your Bankai in this room."
"I can't... use my Bankai?!" Renji repeated, as that was still something that was alarming, given how strong Zabimaru's final release was, but he was hoping that the Espada would tell him how he could go about fixing the problem that had been created, otherwise he was definitely screwed.
"That's correct. It's nice that you verbally confirmed it." Szayelaporro said, though his tone told Renji that this was the type of person that liked to look down on those he was fighting, which irritated him more than he was willing to admit, but he needed a plan while he listened to the Espada, "Not bad... for an idiot. Allow me to explain: I have complete information on your Bankai. From it's form, abilities, and Spiritual Pressure, to even it's reishi composition. I used all that information to seal your Bankai away in this palace."
"Complete information on my Bankai?" Renji inquired, as there was something about the explanation that he had been given that didn't make sense, and seeing how he had nothing better to do for now he figured that he might as well figure out what was wrong, "Only those who have fought against it first-hand should know about all that. How in the world is it possible for you to know all that when you've never fought it before?"
"My older brother... do you remember my name?" Szayelaporro replied, though as he made his own inquiry he found that his opponent was simply staring at him, meaning that he likely didn't remember what he had told him earlier, when he first entered this chamber, "Oh well, I guess I'll say it once more. I name is Szayelaporro Granz... Yylfordt Granz was my older brother."
"Him?" Renji said, as he remembered the blond haired Arrancar that had followed Grimmjow to the World of the Living, who he had fought, witnessed transform into a bull-like creature when he used his Resurreccion, and was only able to defeat because he was caught off guard by the release of his full power.
"Oh? You remember that scum? I must thank you for that." Szayelaporro stated, as he honestly didn't care much for the Arrancar that had been his brother, not with all the information he was able to gleam from his battle, and at the same time he noticed that his words seemed to have annoyed Renji a little, "Allow me to clarify something; I'm not here to avenge my brother. Only a fool would think of something like that. I gained all the information I have on your Bankai from the Rokureichu, my special Spirit-Recording Bugs. I placed them all over my brother's body when he was healing from his wounds... to me, he was just a box that happened to be carrying my Rokureichu, and I'm not childish enough to get mad at you for breaking the box."
"You're the real scum here." Renji said, to which he glared at the Espada for a moment, as while he knew that most of Aizen's Arrancar didn't seem to care for each other, based on what Captain Hitsuguya said when his opponent noticed that Rukia killed her opponent, but he was surprised to find that Yyfordt's brother didn't care about him at all.
"What a completely unexpected complaint." Szayelaporro remarked, as he honestly wasn't expecting someone that was fighting the Arrancar to say such a thing, especially after he explained what he had done, though at the same time he wrapped two of his fingers around the handle of his Zanpakuto, "I'm stunned. But that doesn't change the fact that you no longer have a way to win, nor the fact that you cannot escape this area. Please, don't struggle. This is the first time I've seen an individual who can use Bankai in person. I'm actually quite excited. I want you to die in as close to perfect condition as possible."
Renji growled and transformed Zabimaru into it's Shikai form, where he swung it towards Szayelaporro and watched as the Espada used his own Zanpakuto to block his attacks, but as that happened he continued to swing his arm over and over again, finding that his opponent's statement about not being much of a fighter was correct, as he hadn't attacked once yet and it looked like he might actually have the advantage. It appeared that, despite having an intense and complete knowledge of his Bankai, the Espada didn't have a full understanding of his actual movements and that, in turn, allowed him to slowly dominate the fight, even though his foe was still blocking his attacks and doing nothing else. Szayelaporro, for the most part, said nothing as he focused on blocking the attacks and seemed to be attempting to follow them, which only confirmed that he was one of the weaker members of the Espada and that Renji could find a way to beat him at some point in time, after wearing down his defenses. When at last an opening presented itself, one that he didn't think he was going to find so suddenly, Renji grinned and declared that he was going to deliver the finishing blow, before his opponent could activate his Resurreccion or access his true power... the only problem he soon faced as that the shocked look on Szayelaporro's face disappeared and it returned to what it had been when he said that his Bankai would no longer work in this room.
"Just kidding." Szayelaporro said, to which he raised his Zanpakuto and effortlessly knocked Renji's attack out of the way, as there was no reason for him to even bother doing what he had been doing for the last few moments, before he swung his sword and loosed a reiatsu bolt that cut Renji's chest, forcing him to kneel on the floor in front of him, "Let me tell you something; your swings are pretty slow. They're even slower than the information that I have on you. Did you even notice that I was just making you dance on the palm of my hand?"
He could see it the moment he made the comment, the Shinigami had glanced at the position of his feet and seemed to understand that he had barely moved at all, as he was still in the exact same location that he had been in from the moment Renji started his attack, indicating that he was the one who had the advantage and that it would take more than what his opponent was giving him before he was defeated.
"Good. You seem to have noticed what I'm talking about." Szayelaporro continued, to which Renji stared at him once more, showing him that, despite the situation that he was, the Shinigami was trying to figure out what he could do to win the fight, or at least make it so neither of them won, "Yes, I was able to dodge your attacks without moving much. I was simply testing you to see how good your attacks were for myself. Honestly, they're far below my expectations. Is this the best you can do without your precious Bankai?"
Renji growled and swung Zabimaru again, but this time around Szayelaporro decided that it was time to at least give his opponent an idea as to why he was a member of the Espada, as he activated his Sonido and slipped right by Renji, appearing a slight distance behind him, before a gash was cut into his left shoulder and some blood went flying, but not enough to actually kill him just yet. Renji, apparently not liking the situation that he was in, tried to attack Szayelaporro again, to which the Espada simply knocked the attack out of his way with a single swing of his own Zanpakuto and then flashed behind his opponent once more, where he cut part of the cloak off and dropped Renji to the ground.
"I can see your attacks. They won't work on me anymore." Szayelaporro commented, though at the same time his opponent got back up onto his feet and stared at him, as if believing that he still had a chance to win, which meant that he needed to punish him some more before ending the fight.
It was in that moment that Renji spotted two round shaped Arrancar hopping over to where they were standing, and he worried that his opponent was calling in backup to have them kill him, but for the most part it seemed that they were here for something else... and they were excitedly calling out 'Master Szayelaporro' over and over again.
"Lumina and Verona?" Szayelaporro inquired, as he was certain that he had given his Fraccion orders not to bother him unless it was either extremely important or he called for them to enter the battle, since he was known to have his own followers battle his enemies from time to time, "What's wrong?"
"Aaroniero died!" the two Arrancar said, to which one of them simply repeated the statement a second time while the second one repeated the word 'died' at least three times, telling Renji that there had to be something wrong with them for such a thing to happen, but that didn't bother Szayelaporro at all.
"Hmm... it's true, I have the report." Szayelaporro stated, as he raised his right hand to his right ear for a moment, as if trying to figure something out, before looking at the ceiling for a few seconds, though that was eventually followed by him turning his gaze towards his opponent, "I was so engrossed by what I was doing that I didn't notice it. How very interesting. Shinigami, it appears that Aaroniero, the Noveno Espada, got into a fight with... I believe her name was Kuchiki? Anyway, it seems that one of your friends managed to kill one of the Espada, though not without the action taking her life in the process. Congratulations, that's quite the accomplishment, especially since three of your other friends were able to defeat three of the Privaron Espada, who are all at the level that Aaroniero and Yammy are at."
"That is where you would be wrong, Szayelaporro. Rukia's not dead yet." Renji spoke up, as he could still feel her reiatsu, even if it was getting fainter as the minutes ticked by, but that only informed him that she had turned down Sombra's offer to heal her wounds so she could progress onward, meaning that she was as stubborn as he remembered her being, "Trust me on this, if Rukia, one of Sombra's friends, was dead, you'd be feeling an incredible amount of reiatsu that felt angry and had a feeling that it wanted to kill someone. Rukia's not dead, and once I figure out how to kill you I'm going to find her and make sure she's okay."
"That was not the reaction I was expecting... and yet that is what makes you so amusing." Szayelaporro remarked, as he had been expecting the Shinigami to attack him again, out of sheer anger for him suggesting that one of his closest friends was dead, but it seemed like Sombra had more of an effect on them than he originally thought, "But let me tell you this; you can't cut an Espada with just a Shikai."
This time around Renji smiled as he prepared himself to fight again, because part of what his opponent said might very well be true, it was hard for someone like him to cut an Espada with just his Shikai, but on the other hand someone like Sombra could easily slice and dice one if he so desired... and thinking about Sombra made him wonder what he and Ichigo were doing at that very moment.
Ichigo, since the moment Sombra had disappeared from the area behind him, had been running down the passage that had connected to the chamber that Dordoni had kicked him into, where Sombra soundly defeated the Privaron Espada like it was nothing. He was both annoyed and happy with the Arrancar, as it appeared that he was using that strange teleportation ability that he had showed off to go to the aid of Rukia and the others, if they needed it anyway, and yet the part he was annoyed about was that he had yet to return to his side. Nel, who he was carrying under his right arm, had been oddly quiet the entire time he had been running, only to pause whenever he sensed one of his friends fighting, but then resumed running once he determined that they were going to win the fight they were in. He had paused for a few seconds longer than he intended when he felt Chad's reiatsu flicker, like he was going to die, but when he felt Sombra appear near him he was able to determine that the Arrancar had saved Chad's life, as well as the life of another ally from the feel of the reiatsu that was with Chad's. That told him that Sombra must have recruited another Arrancar into the growing army that was apparently rightfully his, since he was the Dios Hueco, and personally if Sombra could activate the power that they were told about, and steal the Espada from Aizen, that would be useful, as they'd be able to get Orihime and Sora back in no time.
Of course he paused near some stairs when he felt Rukia's reiatsu flicker again, just like Chad's had, but it appeared that she was going to be stubborn about this, as Sombra was nowhere near her and that might have been why he went to Chad so suddenly, causing Ichigo to growl for a moment.
"W... What's wrong?" Nel asked, showing that, despite the fact that she and her 'brothers' had sworn themselves to Sombra, even if he wasn't the level they claimed he'd be, she was still a child and therefore easily worried about what Ichigo was feeling and got upset when her friends were hurt before her eyes.
"Rukia's reiatsu is starting to get weaker." Ichigo replied, though at the same time he mentally cursed Rukia for being so stubborn, because it would have been easy for Sombra to slip into his Bankai, use that unnamed healing power of his, and then revert to his base state before anyone came looking for him, and Rukia wouldn't be in this mess if she bothered to ask for aid.
"So you've noticed." a voice said, to which Ichigo's blood ran cold for a moment, as he recognized the voice from when the first two Arrancar showed up in the World of the Living, though that was followed by him glancing up to the top of the stairs for a moment, where he found Ulquiorra standing at the top step, "I thought that you were just a kid that possessed only brute strength. Amazingly, you do have some decent senses. It's been a while, Shinigami."
"Ulquiorra..." Ichigo replied, though this wasn't good news, because he knew that this guy was one of the Espada that Aizen had created, especially since Yammy listened to his orders last time he saw him, but at the same time this meant that his path might be blocked.
"You remember my name. I don't think I ever specifically told you my name." Ulquiorra stated, though at the same time he started walking down the steps that were in front of him, keeping his eyes on Ichigo and the little Arrancar that he was holding onto, as he was here to do something before his Lord was threatened, until he came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, "Oh well. Rukia Kuchiki is as good as dead. More accurately, she killed the Noveno Espada after he sliced a deep gash into her chest and delivered a number of cuts across her body, where she'll bleed out in due time."
"Don't you dare make assumptions." Ichigo stated, as he didn't want to deal with this at the moment, because if he knew the Espada like he thought he did, based on what he had seen, a fight was coming and that would prevent him from heading to Rukia's aid, "Her reiatsu only decreased, so she's not dead. Besides, you weren't there fighting her, so there's no way that you can know what happened to her."
"Synchronized Awareness," Ulquiorra said, to which Ichigo raised an eyebrow for a moment, as he had no idea what the Arrancar was talking about, something that Ulquiorra planned on explaining, "That was one of the Noveno Espada's abilities as well as one of his roles. He could immediately convey information about the enemies he fights to his comrades. That's how I, as well as the rest of the Espada, know what happened to Rukia Kuchiki."
Ichigo growled and started to walk away from Ulquiorra, partly because he was sure that getting into a fight with this Espada would be a disaster for him, since he was carrying Nel, and partly because Rukia was in need of assistance at the moment, as he seemed to be the closest one since Sombra wasn't helping her.
"Where are you going?" Ulquiorra asked, because based on what he had seen so far he knew that Ichigo would have remained near him until he was defeated, even if such a thing wasn't possible at the moment, not with the gap in their level of power, though his voice stopped the Shinigami in his tracks, "I thought I told you that she's going to die."
"And I told you that I don't believe you." Ichigo stated, though this time he wasn't going to turn back and stare at the Arrancar that was near him, because he didn't want to be drawn into a battle at the moment and wanted to find a new exit that would allow him to get close to where Rukia was.
"You sure are stubborn." Ulquiorra stated, though at the same time his thoughts were drawn to the Arrancar that was usually following Ichigo around, to keep him out of stupid situations, and wondered how Sombra was able to stand being around someone like the Shinigami, "Is it really alright for you to leave without killing me?"
"I have no reason to fight you at the moment." Ichigo replied, to which he noticed that Nel was staring at him with a confused look in her eyes, meaning that even a child knew something that he seemed to be missing, "You haven't hurt any of my friends yet, so there's no reason for me to engage you at all."
"Is that so?" Ulquiorra inquired, as that was flawed reasoning, especially since there were reports of the Shinigami attacking Dordoni simply because he was blocking the way, like he was, and Lord Aizen had told him that he had done the same thing to the other Shinigami that he fought while he was trying to save Rukia, all because the Shinigami he fought were blocking the way forward, "So what if I told you that I was the one that brought both Orihime and Sora Inoue to Hueco Mundo?"
In the following moment Nel found herself falling to the floor as Ichigo finally let go of her, though at the same time Ichigo flashed over to where Ulquiorra was standing and swung his uncovered Zanpakuto at the Arrancar, who used the side of his right arm to block the attack without his arm being cut in the process.
"I'm glad that I believed Sombra," Ichigo growled, as he was happy to hear that his friend had been right in stating what happened to Orihime and Sora, even if Soul Society chose to believe that Sombra was lying, "because that means that he was right in saying that neither of our friends came here of their own free will!"
"I see. So Lord Aizen was right in thinking that Sombra would have noticed what happened." Ulquiorra said, as he was beginning to see why his Lord had been so eager to draw the powerful Arrancar into Hueco Mundo, even if it meant losing some of their forces in the process of Sombra's invasion, "You're words indicate that Soul Society believes that she is a traitor, which is also as Lord Aizen planned, and that they will not come here to aid you. Regardless of all that, do you have a reason to fight me now?"
Ichigo frowned for a moment as he pushed with his power and kicked up some dust into the air, allowing him to back away from Ulquiorra as the Espada returned his right hand to his pocket, but as Ichigo came to a stop he knew exactly what he was getting himself into... and, since it appeared that Sombra wasn't around, he'd have to fight Ulquiorra with everything that he had, just so he could get to Rukia and save her.
"Since you're going to block my way, I have no choice but to use all my power to get by you." Ichigo said, to which he held Zangetsu to the side and let the reiatsu of his Bankai flow out of his Shinigami attire, as he intended to slip right into his most powerful form and hit Ulquiorra with everything he had, "Bankai."
Ulquiorra watched the mass of reiatsu that covered Ichigo for a few seconds, wondering if the Shinigami really felt that his Bankai would be enough to defeat someone of his level, yet he made no move to walk anywhere else as he stared at the top of it when Ichigo, in his Bankai attire, burst out of the top. When he finally noticed his opponent, however, his eyes widened for a moment when he found a Hollow's mask on Ichigo's face and that his reiatsu now matched what a Hollow possessed, though as that happened Ichigo took the opportunity to prepare a Getsuga Tensho, one that was circular shaped and formed in the air all around him. A few seconds later Ichigo swung his sword and the wave came barreling towards Ulquiorra, who simply raised his hand from his right pocket and stopped the wave from hitting him, but in the split second that he did that Ichigo flashed down as well and his eyes widened again as he noticed that Ichigo's blade was now pressed against his hand. The ground around Ulquiorra buckled as Ichigo finished his swing, knocking him backwards through the air and sending him through four pillars, even though when Ulquiorra neared the fifth one he flipped backwards and let his feet touch it, as he used it to propel himself back into the fight and shattered the part of the pillar that his feet had touched. He was shocked by the fact that Ichigo possessed both a Hollow's mask and the reiatsu to match, but as he neared his opponent he noticed that he was charging up another Getsuga Tensho, one that he touched down on the floor and held his hand out to stop when it came barreling towards him... and he even had to use his left hand as well to stop the wave from crashing into his body, before the reiatsu surged past him and cut through a number of pillars that were behing him as dust was kicked up into the air.
Ichigo, on the other hand, huffed for a few seconds as the mask he had been wearing cracked and shattered, falling to the floor in the process, before he turned around and walked over to where Nel was laying, who was happy to see that he was alright and that he hadn't been hurt at all... even though she was clearly worried about the fact that he overdid it to get rid of Ulquiorra, but at the very least the way was open once more.
"My, my. Even with both hands, I couldn't completely stop it." Ulquiorra said, his voice stopping Ichigo cold as he turned around and stared at the Espada as he picked himself up and revealed that part of his attire had been ripped up by the attack he took head on, "I'm a little surprised. Now then, was that everything you had?"
"Wh... what the hell?" Ichigo stated, as he couldn't believe that his attack didn't even draw blood, it simply cut up part of Ulquiorra's attire and left markings that could make one think that something had tried to burn him, but that didn't stop him from being slightly worried about his chances, not enough to where he'd bother Sombra.
"It seems that it was... what a pity." Ulquiorra said, though at the same time he raised his right hand and pointed at Ichigo for a moment, who readied himself by making sure that he was protecting the young Arrancar that was behind him, but that didn't stop Ulquiorra from charging his green Cero for a few seconds and then firing it at his opponent.
His Cero connected with Ichigo for a brief second before going through the wall behind him, giving the Shinigami an exit point that he had been searching for, but Ulquiorra expected this and followed him outside, into the lit interior of Las Noches, where he found his foe trying to use the dust that kicked up from his Cero hitting the sand as cover, all while still carrying the little Arrancar. In the moment before he caught up Ulquiorra noticed that the upper left portion of Ichigo's Bankai attire had been damaged by the blast, as had his arm and chest area, though when Ichigo mentioned trying to hide someplace to hide Ulquiorra flashed up beside him and surprised the Shinigami, before turning and kicking him diagonally into one of the large red diagonal pillars that rested all throughout Las Noches. A few moments later he followed Ichigo to the cavity that had been created by him colliding with the pillar, with his opponent removing himself from a pile of rubble as the small Arrancar likely came to rest behind another pile, but his focus was on Ichigo and no one else.
"You brought out the mask again in order to block my Cero, correct?" Ulquiorra inquired, because if his opponent had taken the Cero head on the damage would be more severe, and since it wasn't he could assume that the mask had come into play once more, even if Ichigo couldn't use it anymore, "You have impressive reflexes, no doubt from training with the likes of Sombra and Urahara Kisuke. But this time, your mask shattered in less than a second, and I doubt that you will be able to use it again, for some time anyway. Give up."
"You think I'm just going to give up?" Ichigo replied, though at the same time he did something that Ulquiorra didn't expect, he had the strength to lift his Zanpakuto up and drove the tip into the upper left area of his chest, close to where the shoulder was, "You're the top Espada, aren't you? If I beat you, than this entire war is as good as over."
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not the Primera Espada." Ulquiorra said, to which he grabbed the blade of Ichigo's Zanpakuto and pulled it away, allowing it to rip some of the fabric and undo break the links between the left and right side of his jacket, which let the left side flap open and reveal the number four on the left side of his chest.
"Four?" Ichigo inquired, though that information stunned him, as the thought of there being three more Arrancar that were more powerful than Ulquiorra, and were closer to Sombra in terms of power, came as a shock that he wasn't expecting, and made him wonder if Sombra knew that piece of information.
"Yes. I am Ulquiorra Cifer, the Cuatro Espada." Ulquiorra replied, deciding that he might as well confirm Ichigo's thoughts, since they were likely going to be the last ones that he ever had, though his facial expression did not change as he spoke, "The fourth most powerful member of the Espada."
It was in the following moment that Ulquiorra raised his hand and drove it right into Ichigo's body, though he targeted the sternum area, exactly where his own Hollow hole was located, and all Ichigo could do was look at him with shock in his eyes, though whether it was from the information he revealed to him or his current actions he did not care to find out.
"Ichigo Kurosaki, you cannot beat me." Ulquiorra stated, though at the same time he ripped his hand back out of Ichigo's chest and let his foe collapse on the floor in front of him, as he knew that their game was over, "Even supposing you could, without Sombra's assistance, there are still three other Espada that are more powerful than I. No matter how many times you stand back up to continue the fight, you will never achieve victory... though it appears that I have overestimated your abilities. You did not improve as I had anticipated. You're finished. If you can still move in that condition, then I suggest that you leave Hueco Mundo immediately. If you can't move, then just die. Either way, your journey ends here."
Ulquiorra barely paid attention to Ichigo as the reiatsu that formed his Bankai shattered and returned him to his base Shinigami form, though once that was done he turned around and left the area behind, as he needed to change into some undamaged clothing before he checked up on Orihime and Sora.
Grimmjow was doing his best to not make a scene, as he was in the middle of infiltrating the seemingly empty palace that Ulquiorra kept Orihime and Sora locked up in, since Aizen assigned the Cuatro Espada to look after them they would be located in the area that he lived in, while following the reiatsu in the air. Unfortunately he could feel that there were two more Arrancar in the building as well, neither of them a threat for someone like him, but at the same time it would be bad if he was found out before he could complete what he was trying to do, since one of them might tell Ulquiorra about him and what he had planned. The good news was that the Espada he didn't want to run into at the moment wasn't present, as it appeared that he was elsewhere in Las Noches, meaning that he might be able to get away with what he had planned, but as he walked by one of the hallways one of the doors burst open and fell backwards, and, as luck would have it, he was in the same area that Orihime and Sora were in. Judging by the reiatsu that they were giving off he could tell that both of them were in trouble, why he had no idea, and then he noticed that the other two reiatsu were coming from the same room that the pair he was looking for was coming from, to which he silently approached the door and peered inside the area that Orihime and her brother were being kept in.
His immediate concern were the two teenage-looking Arrancar, both female, that were currently tormenting both Orihime and Sora, though the one closest to him had long black hair that was done up in two pigtails, a slender build to her body, and a pink right eye, since her left eye was covered by the remains of her Hollow mask, even though her outfit was designed to show off part of her stomach area and part of her chest. The other Arrancar was more tomboyish thanks to her features, had short spiked blond hair, her mask fragment covered her right eye and left her with a single green left eye, and her chest revealed some of her cleavage as well, much like her partner in crime, though she wore a more appropriate dress as opposed to what the first girl wore. Grimmjow knew the girls as Loly Aivirrne, who was the black haired girl, and Menoly Mallia, the blond haired girl, and they were Aizen's aids, meaning that them coming here had to do with the fact that they didn't like Orihime and wanted to 'teach her a lesson', and bonus torment since Sora was with his sister at all times. Orihime and Sora, on the other hand were dressed up in Arrancar attire that matched what Ulquiorra wore, only slightly modified to fit their frames and show that he had domain over what happened to the two of them, even if he was acting under Aizen's orders, and currently Orihime looked like she was in the middle of a beating by Loly while Menoly had Sora pinned against the wall... and had a Cero at the ready, like she was going to obliterate Sora before he could rush to his sister's aid.
"What are you two doing?" Grimmjow asked, to which he noticed both Loly and Menoly sweat as they turned their attention to him, as they hadn't notice him enter the room through the doorway, but at the same time he needed to stop them before they took things too far, "I see that the two of you just waltzed right in while Ulquiorra was gone."
"We did, and we're having a blast." Loly said, though at the same time both she and Menoly wondered what the hell he was doing here, as they hadn't noticed someone coming down the hallway, while both Orihime and Sora seemed concerned about the situation as well.
"Neat. Now get out of the way." Grimmjow stated, to which he walked forward and moved Loly away from Orihime, noticing the bruises that were all over the visible areas of her arms and face, which Loly decided to take the chance and attack him, only for him to punch her in the gut and knock her into the wall opposite of the couch that Orihime was standing near.
"Grimmjow!" Menoly shouted, to which she tossed Sora through the open door and charged at the Sexta Espada with her left hand, where her Cero was located, and Grimmjow caught the attack with his left hand, only to sigh as he charged his own Cero and obliterated Menoly's arm, part of the left side of her body, and a good portion of her head, before the remainder fell to the floor.
"Lord Aizen will make you pay when he finds out about this!" Loly stated, though at the same time she coughed up some blood, as the punch to her gut hurt more than she was expecting, not that she should have expected anything less from the Sexta Espada.
"You idiot, Aizen can't do anything to me." Grimmjow said, though as he spoke he walked over to her and pushed her against the wall, as he didn't have time to waste on her, even though he could see that she was afraid of what he might do to her since he blew part of Menoly away, "I know you and you're friend weren't the smartest Arrancar around, but surely you felt the vibrations that have gone through Hueco Mundo since the last Espada meeting. The true ruler of Hueco Mundo and Las Noches has come to take his throne, and if you oppose him he'll crush you worse than Aizen would once he found out what you did to one of his frien..."
It was in that moments that he felt something that he had been hoping to avoid feeling again, he felt the sinister feeling of Sombra's reiatsu return in full force, meaning that he must have noticed that Ichigo was down and his earlier anger must have increased, meaning that he needed to hurry up, to which he pulled away from Loly and walked over to where Orihime was sitting.
"W... Why?" Orihime asked, as she wasn't entirely sure as to why Grimmjow had come here, in the nick of time no less, to save both her and Sora from the two Arrancar that were picking on them, and she felt like an answer would be nice before she did anything else.
"One, because you healed my left arm. And two, you're one of my true Lord's friends." Grimmjow said, to which he noticed that Orihime and Sora, who walked in after being thrown outside the room, seemed to know what he was talking about, even if they didn't understand what he meant, "You can heal yourself, right?"
"Yeah, she learned how to do that in Soul Society." Sora replied, to which Orihime nodded her head in agreement, which was good for Grimmjow, as he didn't want to arrive at their destination with damage on either of them and have it blamed on him, "Why?"
"Because we're getting out of here and going to where Ichigo is laying." Grimmjow stated, though that got the reaction that he was hoping for, as a look of hope returned to their eyes and Orihime got onto her feet, meaning that they knew what they were doing next.
Of course Orihime also stopped to make sure that Loly's wounds were healed, and Grimmjow made sure to stop her in her tracks with a simple glare, before she used the healing technique of hers to mend Menoly's body back to what it had been before Grimmjow blasted her with his Cero... and then, once she was done with those two idiots, she quickly mended both her and her brother's wounds before the three of them left the room, though Grimmjow hoped that they weren't too late to save Ichigo as well.
Renji found himself in a bit of a pickle, as no matter what he tried against Szayelaporro it didn't seem like most of his attacks were doing anything, but at the same time he was relieved to see that his opponent couldn't completely read his movements, as he was able to get Zabimaru's extended head behind his foe's back and forced him to move. There was also the few moments where the Espada simply stopped his attack and forced Renji to increase the sheer power that he was using, slightly wounding his foe in the process, but it wasn't much in the grand scheme of things, not when his opponent had more tricks up his sleeve. He even attempted to encase the Espada in a trap that had Zabimaru wrapped all around him, which failed since his foe slipped through it and appeared in front of him, and his opponent even insulted him by breaking off one of the white blade fragments of his Zanpakuto, which he tossed back to the two Arrancar that were behind him, allowing them to play with the fragment while the fight continued... that was, however, until Szayelaporro said something that just insulted Renji further.
"I'm bored." Szayelaporro stated, to which he sighed and sheathed his Zanpakuto, because now that he knew all of the attack patterns that his opponent could use he could easily dodge them with little effort and he'd emerge unharmed, meaning that there was no point in him having his sword out anymore.
"Excuse me?" Renji asked, as this was what he hated about the scientist type of people, once they reached a certain point in their studies of a specific topic, such as Szayelaporro's studies of him, they ceased what they were doing and simply ignored the object that they were studying in favor of something different.
"I said, I'm bored!" Szayelaporro replied, though at the same time he mostly ignored the two members of his Fraccion that were playing with the blade fragment behind him, as it kept them busy until he needed their services again, for whatever reason he might need them, "Have you lost the ability to comprehend speech? Your Zanpakuto is a power-type, it doesn't have any special features, the principles behind how it changes shape are quite simple, and when you use your trump card it ceases being your trump card... I hate to be rude, but there's nothing more for me to see."
Renji growled as he reverted his Zanpakuto back to it's sealed form, because at the rate things were going it appeared that he wasn't going to be able to best the Espada that was in front of him with any sort of skill that he had, and he hated the grin that was on Szayelaporro's face at the moment... though that was followed by the Espada pulling out a detonator of some kind and he pressed it, to which parts of the walls and floor broke apart as a number of Arrancar, of varying shapes and sizes emerged and filled the area behind his opponent.
"What in the world are those?" Renji asked, though at the same time he had the feeling that he might know what they were, since he recalled that the Arrancar that followed Grimmjow had been called by a specific name that he couldn't recall at the moment, but even then he didn't like his odds.
"Fraccion." Szayelaporro said, noticing that his foe understood what he was saying and knew what the term meant, but at the same time that did nothing for him now, as he was growing tired of this game and wanted to end it, unless something interesting happened in the next couple of minutes anyway, "As proof of our supremacy as Espada, we can make any Arrancar, those eleven or greater, into our subordinates. Some Espada only keep one, others practically have a small army, and some choose to have none. My Fraccion are rather unique. I had Lord Aizen transform the Hollows I experimented on into Arrancar, ones that would serve as my Fraccion. You are no longer worthy of being killed by me, so I shall let my Fraccion have the honor of killing you."
Renji would have said something, though he jumped back when the ground beneath his feet started to shake, as that was when another Arrancar, a giant by the size of the creature, emerged from under the ground where he had been standing moments ago. He then discovered that all he could really do at the moment was dodge the palm attacks that the giant Arrancar sent his way, to which he let his new foe smash the area around him while trying to figure out how to get to his real enemy, but he slowly found that the giant was all he could focus on as Szayelaporro had the other members of his Fraccion stand back and watch. One time when the giant tried to grab him, however, Renji growled and swung his sealed Zanpakuto forward, letting the tip dig into the palm of his current opponent, who stopped in the process, before he swung his arm to the right and cut a very minor cut into the giant's hand, which was followed by his foe starting to go out of control and the Espada claiming that calming the giant down was going to be hard to do. The giant started attacking everything around him, including the walls and the floor around him, before eventually targeting Renji once more and prepared to smash him into the floor... but before the fist could reach him a powerful arrow surged through the air and struck the giant in the left side of his body, and then punched a diagonal hole through his body as he was forced into a large crater in the floor.
It wasn't hard for Renji to recognize the blue arrow that had flown through the air, to which he looked off to the left and found Uryu standing in the middle of a hole that he must have punched into the wall by the same arrow that he used to hit the giant... just proving how skilled Uryu was in sensing reiatsu and using it to his advantage.
"You made a mistake of not using Sekkiseki to construct this building... I could feel Renji's reiatsu through three layers of wall." Uryu stated, to which the smoke cleared and Szayelaporro noticed him standing there, though at the same time he had his bow at the ready as he stared down at all the enemies that were in the chamber, which were currently crowding around the fallen giant and making a scene over it's defeat.
"Everyone, shut up!" Szayelaporro said, raising his voice for a moment and caused his Fraccion to stop what they were doing at the moment, where they looked at him as he stared up at the newest arrival, though the bow he was carrying interested him, "Our guest looks like he has something that he wants to say. Let's hear the boy out."
"Thank you for your consideration." Uryu replied, noticing that the Arrancar that was down near Renji did a mock bow of sorts, but he understood that his soon to be enemy was showing him that he took all of his enemies into consideration before he made his own move, "Now, sorry to be so abrupt, but there's something that I'd like to confirm. Are you one of the Espada?"
"Well discerned." Szayelaporro answered, to which he clapped for a few seconds, as he was happy to have a more intellectual opponent this time around, especially since he had been growing tired of battling Renji, "Indeed, I am the Octava Espada, Szayelaporro Granz."
"Octava, meaning you're the Eighth Espada." Uryu said, as that was incredible news for him, because after hearing what sort of power Grimmjow, the Sexta Espada, possessed he was glad to have someone of Szayelaporro's level, even if his foe was trashing Renji, "Well, I am relieved that you aren't in the more powerful ranks."
"That's true, I'm one of the weaker Espada. Please be at ease," Szayelaporro replied, though even if he was actually one of the weakest Espada at the moment he was more than enough for his enemies, and he just needed enough time to study his enemies to defeat them, "because regardless of what you do, I'm stronger than you. By the way, who are you supposed to be exactly?"
"Uryu Ishida, a Quincy." Uryu answered, though at the same time his left hand moved behind his back and gripped one of the Seele Schneider that were attached to his belt, as he was waiting for an opening that he could exploit and end this in an instant.
"A Quincy? That rare specimen that fought with the whore." Szayelaporro stated, to which he chuckled for a few moments, though at the same time he beckoned to the doorway he had come from when Renji and Dondochakka fell for his trap, where the door opened and one of the more mature members of his Fraccion grabbed a weakened Cirucci, who they threw against the ground that was near Renji before returning to their master's side, "Somehow she managed to convince the Exequias to spare her life, and I was actually getting ready to end her when your friend fell for my trap, so she get's to sit and watch as you all die before meeting her end. I get both a Bankai user and a Quincy as my opponents. I swear, if Yammy was here he'd be shouting that he was lucky."
"I certainly feel like bragging as well, since I get to fight an opponent with so many openings." Uryu said, to which he flashed through the air while Szayelaporro was distracted and reappeared some distance to the Espada's side, who was surprised by his movements and the fact that he had a Seele Schneider, in the form of an arrow, attached to his bow and ready to be fired, "Game over."
In that moment Uryu loosed his arrow and it struck Szayelaporro in the chest, causing a look of shock to appear on the Espada's face as he fell to his knees and his head faced the floor, but before Uryu could do anything he noticed something odd, the reiatsu that made up the arrow of his bladed arrow started to head towards the ceiling before being broken entirely... where the Seele Schneider fell to the floor as Szayelaporro got back onto his feet and faced him, without a single wound on him.
"Ignorant fool! Did you really think that your arrow had pierced my body?" Szayelaporro asked, though he laughed at the same time, because Uryu was in the same predicament that Renji was in and he clearly didn't know it, something that he needed to rectify, "You should have realized that something was wrong when I knew who you had fought against, even if she actually didn't have any information for me that I couldn't gain from a sample of her reiatsu. I've already finished analyzing all of your abilities, Quincy, and I already had this chamber modified to seal your powers away as well, just in case you were unlucky enough to find your way to my palace."
A few seconds after he paused in his speech Uryu watched as his bow broke apart on it's own accord and he stared at his hand for a moment, finding that no matter what he did he couldn't form it anymore, only confirming what their foe had told him and he backed up to where Renji was standing, as this was even worse than what he had been thinking about when he decided to come here and help the Shinigami out.
"We can turn this around, right?" Renji asked, as he wasn't used to having an opponent that could seal their powers and abilities, though at the same time he looked over at the Arrancar that was refusing to look over at Uryu, indicating that the Espada spoke the truth, she must have fought Uryu earlier.
"Of course... it all depends on one thing." Uryu replied, as there was one thing about Seele Schneider that the Espada clearly didn't know about, and that was purely because he didn't use it in his battle against Cirucci, because it would have been a waste to use it early on, "How long can you distract him?"
"Honestly, I'd say about twenty seconds or so." Renji answered, because after everything he had seen so far, based on the previous times he tried to hit Szayelaporro with Zabimaru, there was a chance that the Espada would cut him down and just kill him, something that he was willing to chance.
"That's more than enough time." Uryu said, because with his speed he'd be able to do what he was planning in a matter of moments, without their opponent seeing what he had planned, and if Renji acted like he thought he would they would be able to either severely damage Szayelaporro or outright kill him.
"Everyone, stand back." Szayelaporro commented, to which his Fraccion nodded their heads and backed away from where he was standing, indicating that they were listening to what he wanted them to do, "I want to see what they came do in their wretched condition."
Renji smiled as Uryu moved out of the way, allowing him to start swinging a fully extended Zabimaru around in the air above his head for a few moments, noticing that the Espada was staring at him with a smirk on his face, before he swung his arm and the blade flew towards where his opponent was standing. When Szayelaporro blocked his attack, and made it so the tip of his Zanpakuto's blade moved behind him, Renji grinned as he rushed forward and grabbed onto the collar of his opponent's attire, while at the same time Zabimaru wrapped around both him and the Espada before the tip embedded itself in the ground behind him, trapping the two of them at the moment.
"What are you trying to pull? Because I'm afraid that you're not my type." Szayelaporro said, though he was actually disappointed in what Renji had done, because he had been expecting some sort of good tactic against him and yet all he got was something that he had defeated earlier.
"The power difference between you and me, when I'm bound to my Shikai, is definitely a big one," Renji stated, though at the same time his left hand started to blaze as he formed the beginnings of Hado Number 31: Shakkaho, as he intended to use it against both him and the Espada, "I know that I won't get the upper hand fighting you at close-range either. The thing is, even with the huge gap in our power, you'll definitely feel it if I shoot you point blank. Here's the thing, I've always sucked at Kido. I would get scolded constantly for losing control and having my spells explode. So, let's have a little test to see which one of us can take more punishment! Hado Number 31: Shakkaho!"
He was fortunate that Szayelaporro never thought that he would use Kido against him, especially since he was sure that he never used any against his brother, and the red ball glowed as flames appeared around his hand and increased in size in the process, though that was before he detonated his spell at point blank range. The area in front of Renji exploded as both he and the Espada took the power of the Kido spell, damaging both of them in the process while forcing Zabimaru to stop wrapping around them and return to it's state in Renji's hand, and he was sure that the surge of power also scorched the ceiling just a tiny bit. As Szayelaporro backed off and took a few steps backwards, however, Renji grinned as he noticed that he had blown open the Espada's attire and burned both his chest and part of his face, though at the same time he fell to the floor as he noticed that their enemy was some distance from him... and, if he was seeing things right, had walked right into whatever trap Uryu was waiting to spring.
"Curse you! A lowly Shinigami making a fool out of me." Szayelaporro said, as he couldn't believe that one of his foes would have willingly sacrificed his own body to hurt him in such a manner, though at the same time he reflected that he needed to change his numbers once this battle was over.
"Just as predicted." Uryu commented, appearing in the smoke some distance behind Szayelaporro with one of his Seele Schneider drawn and pointed right at the Espada, whose eyes widened for a brief moment, since he had briefly forgotten he was there, before glancing at him once more, "When Abarai attacked you, regardless of whether or not the attack succeeded, I knew that you would retreat in the opposite direction. I could also tell the distance that you would take during your retreat, because you have the habit of looking down on your opponents... and that includes your habit of running just out of your opponent's range after they've attacked you."
"So what?" Szayelaporro asked, though at the same time he merely glanced back at the Quincy and didn't turn his whole body towards him, as he knew that he still had the upper hand in this situation and that he'd be able to stop them from defeating him, "You yourself have a penchant for sneaking up on people from behind. Do you think that you've won now, Quincy?"
"Yeah, I do." Uryu stated, to which he changed the hold on his Seele Schneider, so that the blade portion was facing the floor, before he stabbed the floor that he was standing on and caused the area around him to glow, though that was before Szayelaporro noticed that five glowing blue lines were connected to where he was standing, forming a pentagram with the five Seele Schneider that he had been carrying.
"But how? I sealed all the reiatsu in your weapons!" Szayelaporro asked, because none of this made any sense to him, as there was no way that Uryu should be able to use these bladed arrows of his, while at the same time he found that the reiatsu had wrapped around his legs and prevented him from moving from the center of the pentagram.
"That just means that there were aspects about them that you didn't know about." Uryu replied, though at the same time he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver tube that contained some special water, the final ingredient to one of the greatest abilities that a Quincy with Seele Schneider had access to, "Shall I explain your current situation in a way that's familiar to you? Hasta aqua... it's over, Szayelaporro Granz."
In the following moment Uryu tipped the silver tube and let a drop of the special water fall through the air, where he found the Espada staring at it, before it landed on top of the Seele Schneider that he had been holding only a few moments ago, which was followed by it glowing as the five bladed arrows loosed a surge of power that rushed towards where his opponent was trapped. When the five surges of power crashed into Szayelaporro, and joined together, Uryu watched as a singular torrent of reiatsu surged towards the ceiling as his opponent suffered the sheer power that was being used against him, which moved outward from where he was standing and enveloped the entire pentagram, but in the simplest form it was a simple explosion that was incredibly powerful. As the explosion consumed their opponent Uryu flashed over to where his friend and the two Arrancar were standing and walked over to them, while at the same time ignoring the worried Arrancar that were Szayelaporro's followers, as their task was done, even if he needed to recover the Seele Schneider once the attack was done.
"Wh... what was that technique?" a voice asked, though at the same time Uryu was surprised to find that it wasn't Pesche or Dondochakka asking the question, rather it was Cirucci, who had pulled herself onto her feet and walked over to Renji, that had asked the question.
"Sprenger, also called Explosion." Uryu explained, though as he spoke he stopped by Renji's side and helped him back onto his feet, because regardless of what happened with the Espada they needed to be ready for the next round of battle, even if it was just against the Arrancar that followed Szayelaporro, "The practitioner draws a pentagram using a combination of five Seele Schneiders and silver tubes, and then destroy anything that's inside the border. The tip of a Seele Schneider's hilt have the ability to store spirit particles released by the enemy during a fight, and I let them consume that stored power to instantly reform their blades. And using them I drew the Quincy Zeichen, the Quincy Symbol, before using the spirit energy left inside one of the silver tubes to trigger the massive explosion that you just saw. It is a very powerful technique, but the downside is that it takes some time to set up and that it's near impossible to use in a one on one battle, which is why I needed someone I could trust to distract Szayelaporro so I could prepare."
"Flattery will get you nowhere, pal." Renji remarked, as he couldn't believe that Uryu had something like this as his trump card, and it was an impressive one that had to have killed the Espada they were fighting, but that didn't stop him from smiling, as it was rare that a Quincy would trust a Shinigami, especially given Uryu's history.
"Abarai, I'm really grateful for your assistance." Uryu said, because out of the three potential allies that could have helped him he knew that the Shinigami was the only one that would have done what he needed to do, as he knew that both Pesche and Dondochakka would have failed him, before he turned back towards the weakened Arrancar, "Cirucci, the reason I didn't use it against you was because it would have been impossible for me to use it against a fast opponent like yourself... that, and Pesche wouldn't have been able to do what Abarai just did."
"That doesn't change the fact that I hate you." Cirucci stated, as it was the Quincy's fault that she had nearly been killed by the Exequias, even if it was her good fortune that they believed her and that Szayelaporro didn't have the chance to end her existence either, thanks to the Shinigami's arrival.
"Damn you..." Szayelaporro said, causing the group to turn towards the smoke as it finally dissipated, revealing that his body was burned from the explosion and that the entirety of the upper part of his Arrancar attire was gone, save for part on his right arm, and he seemed pissed off about what just happened, "I... already told you... that I've analyzed all of... your reiatsu. Even if I've never... seen the technique before... you still used... your own reiatsu... I can reduce the force generated, keeping the damage... contained, at least, you ignorant clowns!"
That last part was directed at his Fraccion, where he grabbed the head of one of the round Arrancar and pulled him over to him, where the Arrancar glowed for a moment before it transformed into a dark purple colored sphere, one that was slightly larger than a Cero, and Szayelaporro started to eat the sphere that was once a member of his Fraccion, much to the shock of the group that was watching him. The real shocker was that eating the sphere actually healed all of the Espada's wounds, as all the burn marks that Renji and Uryu had put on his body, including the damage dealt by Sprenger, disappeared as the Espada's body returned to normal and a smile appeared on Szayelaporro's face as he finished off the sphere that he had been eating.
"What's wrong? Why are you so surprised?" Szayelaporro asked, though before that he had to tell the other round Arrancar not to make a scene, because he could easily make another one to replace the one that he had just transformed into a sphere and devoured, "I told you that my Fraccion was special... they're all healing aids. If I'm ever wounded in battle, just like right now, I can turn them into a special sphere and eat them, mending my injuries and returning my body to it's pristine condition. It's what my Fraccion was made for. Now then, before we resume our battle, I need to get out of these rags and change into a new set of clothing, and then we can conti..."
"That won't be necessary." a voice said, to which Uryu and Renji glanced to their left for a moment, because Sombra stepped out of the shadows and faced the Espada that they were fighting, causing Uryu to smile, because the moment their foe started to heal he decided to call Sombra to this area, only he wasn't expecting the Arrancar to appear as quickly as he had.
The other thing that Uryu wasn't expecting, in addition to the sinister feeling of Sombra's reiatsu and the angry look on his face, was the fact that his Arrancar Zanpakuto was currently in his right hand and that it seemed to be glowing just a bit, making him wonder what Sombra was planning on doing... and yet, regardless of what he was seeing, he knew that Szayelaporro's days were numbered, especially when there was the possibility that Sombra might be getting ready to reveal his true power.
Sombra stared at the area that was in front of him, taking in what was currently happening at the moment and thinking about what must have transpired before his arrival in the large chamber, while at the same time taking in the wounds that Renji had suffered during the battle and the fact that Uryu was in better shape than Renji. From what he could tell, from just a glance, some of Renji's wounds were self inflicted, no doubt in an effort to hurt the Espada that was near them, and Uryu didn't seem all that hurt from the battle, meaning that he must have been lucky to avoid being hurt in some manner, before he moved onto the next two individuals that he wanted to think about. Pesche and Dondochakka seemed to be confused by his sudden arrival, even though he could tell that they were remembering what he had told his friends earlier, and they weren't hurt at all, meaning that they must have avoided the fight that his friends had been in, meaning that they were either cowards or didn't like to fight period, but at the very least Nel would be happy that they were alright. After that he noticed another Arrancar standing nearby, a female one that had been staring at Uryu with a look of anger in her eyes, but the look in her eyes was replaced by one of confusion and fear, meaning that she was surprised by his sudden arrival and how much power he had, even if he wasn't showing his entire hand to everyone.
Once he took stock of what was going on, and knew that his friends were safe for the moment, he turned his head and glared at the Espada that was standing near his current position, where he noticed that the jacket part of his attire had been blown to pieces, save for a part near his right hand, and one of his shoes was missing... and then he glanced behind the Espada and noticed the number of strangely shaped Arrancar standing behind him, meaning that they were his Fraccion and followed his every command.
"So, you're the foe that Renji and Uryu have been fighting," Sombra spoke up, as he had noticed that the room had become quiet, no doubt because of his arrival and the fact that he forbid the Espada from going and changing his clothing to something that wasn't rags, to use the Arrancar's words, "Judging by the reiatsu that you possess, and my own knowledge from the others that I have seen, I believe that it is safe to say that you're one of the nine remaining Espada, a rank or two lower than Grimmjow if my estimates are correct."
"You are correct." Szayelaporro said, to which he clapped for a moment, as it was unusual for two enemies to figure out that he was an Espada without him saying anything to them, even though he had to tell Renji who he was and what his rank was before the battle started, before his hands returned to his side, "I am Szayelaporro Granz, the Octava Espada."
"The Eighth Espada, meaning you're two ranks below Grimmjow." Sombra stated, though he was still not seeing the reason behind why his friends were having so much trouble, other than the fact that it appeared that the Espada had a healing techniques that had caught both Uryu and Renji off guard.
"Indeed I am. So please, be at ease," Szayelaporro replied, though he wasn't too surprised that Sombra had been able to figure out where he rested on the scale of power, mostly because he already knew that the Arrancar had the potential to beat Grimmjow in a fight, but there was one thing that he knew that no one else knew and that would prove to be his trump card in this battle, "If you would give me a few minutes to change clothes, into something that's not a pile of rags at this point, then I'll gladly fight you and your friends until you're all dead."
"You talk big for someone whose weaker than Grimmjow," Sombra said, as it almost sounded like the Octava Espada felt that he had the upper hand with all the members of his Fraccion standing behind him, like he felt that they would be able to overcome him if the battle were to start, before he sighed for a few seconds and focused his attention on the foe he had come to defeat, "I was able to beat Grimmjow with only my Arrancar Zanpakuto and the power that came from it, so what makes you think that you can beat me?"
"This room is designed to seal away the powers of those that I fight, provided that I have a chance to study their reiatsu and spirit patterns." Szayelaporro stated, reminding most of the enemies he had been fighting of the fact that he had taken their powers away from them and left them with next to nothing, though where he expected to see fear on their faces he saw only interest, as if they were curious if he could do anything like that to Sombra, "Take the Shinigami, for example; he fought my older brother, Yylfordt Granz, when Grimmjow and his Fraccion attacked the World of the Living, and, by using some special bugs that I tagged him with, I was able to gain all the information I needed to seal his Bankai away. The Quincy, on the other hand, he had the honor of fighting that whore over there and the Exequias brought her to me once their battle was over, giving me a chance to study a good portion of his abilities and understand his reiatsu, so much so that I was able to reduce the damage of his last attack and keep it contained. The only recordings I have, in regards to your powers, are what Grimmjow told us after you bested him and what I was able to gain from the body of Dordoni, who you fought and severely wounded in your encounter, and it was all thanks to the Esequias that I have the information that I need to seal your powers as well!"
Sombra raised an eyebrow for a moment, as it sounded like hard work to study the individual reiatsu and spirit patterns that everyone possessed, as in him and his friends, and modify this palace to seal the powers of whoever his foes were, provided that Szayelaporro had the information he needed on whoever entered his domain. At the same time, however, he found that his Arrancar Zanpakuto was still glowing and he didn't feel any different, not that it would be easy for the Espada to seal his powers when he hadn't even demonstrated a fourth of the over all the battles he had been through in the last few months. As he considered all of that he was a little sad to hear that Dordoni had perished, meaning that the enemies he had stalled were some sort of execution squad, and he thought about who Uryu had fought, as in the Arrancar that was glaring at him, and knew that she had to dislike Szayelaporro for what he called her, as he knew that it wasn't nice to call a woman, even if she was an Arrancar, such a name.
"Hey Uryu, whose you're friend?" Sombra asked, as he figured that if he ignored the Octava Espada for a minute or two, and got the name of the Arrancar that had survived her fight with Uryu, he might piss off his soon to be foe and create an opening, but even if that didn't happen he was going to smile when he revealed his hand, and he even turned his head away from Szayelaporro to look back at Uryu and the Arrancar.
"First off, she's not my friend." Uryu replied, though he had a hard time trying to figure out if Sombra was messing with him or if he was just asking to get a response out of him, before he glanced over to the Arrancar as well, "Secondly, this is Cirucci Sanderwicci, who introduced herself as Arrancar Number Ciento Cinco. Cirucci Sanderwicci, this is Sombra, the Dios Hueco that I told you about earlier."
"It... It's an honor to make your acquaintance, Lord Sombra." Cirucci said, because now that she had felt the power that had been coming from the other Arrancar she could easily confirm what had happened to Dordoni, as she would have been a fool to not side with the Dios Hueco, "Is... is it true that you're taking Hueco Mundo and Las Noches back, as well as severing our ties to Aizen?"
"Yes. As the Dios Hueco I am taking back Hueco Mundo, including Las Noches, and I am accepting any Hollow or Arrancar that wishes to join me, just like Dordoni and Gantenbainne did," Sombra answered, as he figured that telling the truth was best at this point, because while his original plan had been to destroy the Espada and Aizen's plans, and his original plan didn't include seizing control of this entire world, he was growing used to being asked this question, and he now had the makings of a small but powerful army, "If you would like to join us, then you are more than welcome to. I do, however, have a question; do you like it when Szayelaporro calls you by that word?"
"What, you mean 'whore'?" Cirucci replied, to which she noticed Sombra nod his head, even though Szayelaporro let out a sigh at all the time they were wasting, before she shrugged in return, "Honestly, I've hated that word since the first days he called me it, but he's one of the Espada and I'm just one of the Privaron Espada... what could I do but simply stand there and let my 'superior' call me whatever he wanted?"
"Well then, that gives me something else to think about once this battle is over." Sombra said, because he didn't approve of Szayelaporro calling Cirucci a whore, as it almost sounded like he was using his position as an Espada to get away with badmouthing those that were his allies, before deciding that it was time to get back to the reason that he had come over here in the first place.
"Like I said, your powers have been sealed by my palace." Szayelaporro stated, though he was surprised that Sombra felt that he could win a battle with nothing more than his pair of Zanpakuto, because based on what he had heard he needed both the Arrancar Zanpakuto and the powers it granted him to defeat Grimmjow and that he needed the Shinigami Zanpakuto and it's powers to defeat one of the strongest Captains Soul Society had, so if he sealed both of those powers his foe had to be helpless, "There is nothing you can do to beat me."
"That, Szayelaporro, is where you are wrong." Sombra replied, to which he held his right arm out and pointed the tip of his Arrancar Zanpakuto at the Espada, who raised an eyebrow for a moment, before he turned his head back towards his friends and allies, "Guys, you might want to take cover... things are going to get interesting and I don't want any of you caught in the crossfire."
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Renji said, to which he hightailed it and hid behind one of the large sections of the floor that had been ripped up when the giant Arrancar had pulled itself from the floor, though once he was there the others joined him, but only Pesche and Dondochakka were truly terrified of what was going to happen next, and that was because they seemed to be cowards.
"Please, do you really think you can beat me with just your swords?" Szayelaporro asked, because without any of the special powers that the two blades offered Sombra, and he had some information on what both of them did, he knew that this fight was as good as his, and then the legend of the Dios Hueco would die down for another thousand years.
"When did I ever say that I was planning on using Shokyo doing this fight? I'm only going to use Rey and the power that sleeps inside myself," Sombra stated, though at the same time he turned his hand and made sure that the tip of his Arrancar Zanpakuto was pointed back towards his hidden Hollow hole, "Make them tremble, Rey de la Oscuridad."
Szayelaporro watched in disbelief as Sombra's Arrancar Zanpakuto brightly glowed for a moment, more so than what it had been doing the entire time he had been in the chamber they were in, before a pillar of black energy erupted from the ground that was around Sombra's hooves, which went right up to the ceiling and stopped there as the chamber shook under the power that was being released. He immediately considered this to be an impossible act, as he had set the entire palace up to seal the powers of those that he had data on and while he didn't have all the data on Sombra's abilities, like he did for Renji and Uryu now, the room should have stopped his Resurreccion from happening, and yet the palace was failing him. A few seconds later the pillar seemed to turn into a solid mass that started to pull itself apart, the shadowy fragments disappearing into the various shadows that lingered all over the chamber that they were in, and his eyes widened as he gazed upon his foe, while at the same time Renji and the others peeked out from their hiding spot to see what was going on for themselves.
In front of Szayelaporro rested a mass of shadows that seemed to dance in the nonexistent wind, but after a moment those shadows started to pull back as well, revealing the form of Sombra standing there, though as more of the shadows pulled back everyone noticed that he was no longer wearing his Shinigami attire. This time around Sombra was wearing the iron armor that his pony self had been wearing, back when he and his past self had battled for control over his body and his power, and found that he looked like an ancient king that had taken to the battlefield, as opposed to the knight that he appeared to be when he used his Bankai. A few seconds later more of the shadows retreated from his body and an iron crown appeared on his head, identical to the one that he possessed a few minutes ago, though that was followed by the shadows restoring to him his lush red cape, making him look like the form that Rey took on when they battled each other, and when his eyes opened the strands of purple energy returned in full force, along with his crimson eyes being surrounded by the grayish sap green colored sclera, completing the dark look he had possessed a lifetime ago. The only difference between his Bankai and his Resurreccion, to Renji and Uryu anyway since they had seen the Bankai in action, was that Sombra had no weapon... but, when they considered what he was able to do in the past, they knew that such a thing wouldn't slow him down at all.
"Im... Impossible. You shouldn't have been able to release your Resurreccion!" Szayelaporro commented, as the chamber had been designed to prevent this sort of thing from happening, because he had studied all the times that they had records of Sombra's powers and knew that he had cracked the code like he had for the other two, but this just made him wonder if the power of the Dios Hueco couldn't be sealed by what he had created.
"I guess that means your palace isn't as perfect as you believed it to be." Sombra stated, though at the same time he stared at the enemies that were currently in front of him, as he knew that it was time for them to get started fighting and he was curious as to how many of them would chose to go against him, "Now then, shall we get the show on the road?"
"Fraccion! Destroy him!" Szayelaporro commanded, as with all the various strengths and abilities that he had grafted into the Hollows that became his Fraccion, along with the addition of the healing aid ability, he knew his followers would be able to put a dent in the foe that stood in front of them.
Sombra held his right hand off to the side for a moment as the shadows vibrated, something that the now advancing members of the Fraccion ignored, though he pulled out a weapon that resembled a scythe from the shadows, the only differences between his and an ordinary scythe was that the handle of his was straight from the head piece downward, where halfway down a black crystal was attached to the joint as the lower half of the handle diagonally faced the ground near his hooves. The head of the weapon seemed to be made out of a single black crystal, one that had been separated into two different sized pieces with the smaller fragment facing Sombra's direction, while the cutting part had the majority of the crystal, and it seemed very sharp as the group stared at him. Before Szayelaporro could say anything, and even call out a command for his Fraccion to pull back, Sombra flashed through the air and time seemed to slow down, only for each member of his Fraccion to have deep gashes cut into their bodies as they were tossed around like they were rag dolls, all of which indicated that Sombra was moving faster than he expected and that the chamber wasn't doing anything to restrict his powers in the slightest.
When Sombra touched the floor again he was facing the piece of the floor that Renji, Uryu, and the others were hiding behind, where he stood straight and swung his scythe like he was getting the blood off of it, before snapping his fingers and caused the Fraccion to drop to the ground, all of them killed in a matter of seconds, though he followed that up by turning back towards Szayelaporro.
"Such a waste. Your Fraccion was made up of Gillians, all too weak to do much without surprising their enemies or using your chamber to their advantage." Sombra commented, though at same time he let go of the scythe and it simply floated in the air near him, where he occasionally twirled his right hand or fingers and the weapon danced to the tune that he seemed to be playing, before his eyes darted back towards the Espada, "Szayelaporro, I'll tell you what I told Grimmjow when we dueled in the World of the Living; release your Resurreccion. It's your only chance of surviving this battle... even if the chances of you surviving are incredibly low already."
"Wh... What did you do to my Fraccion?" Szayelaporro asked, because now, thanks to the wounds that they had sustained, his only source of healing aids had been decimated, meaning that if he were to battle Sombra and survive he wouldn't be able to heal at all.
"Isn't it obvious? I killed them." Sombra replied, though now he was wondering if his enemy was starting to lose his mind, even though it honestly didn't matter to him at this point, because if Szayelaporro went too much longer without revealing his true power he was just going to strike him down and be on their way, "I call this weapon Guadana de la Desesperacion, or Scythe of Despair, and it is one of the dark weapons that I used during my time as the king of the Crystal Empire, as the mere sight of it caused many to lose hope and succumb to the shadows. It also served as one of the main weapons I used in my battles against those that tried to topple me, though now it serves as a weapon to use against my foes, and I could channel the shadows along it's edge to create empowered attacks, like an energy wave. Szayelaporro, make your move and decide your fate... I grow tired of you doing nothing."
Szayelaporro stared at Sombra for a few moments, trying to determine what was the best course of action at the moment, fighting the powerful Arrancar and his unknown abilities or falling back and trying to figure out those abilities for a future battle. As he did all that he remembered Grimmjow's warnings, that Sombra was strong and that he believed that the activation of the Arrancar's Resurreccion would only increase his power more than it already was, and while he could confirm that he still didn't feel the desire to serve the Dios Hueco, meaning he still wasn't at that level yet. He still wanted to change his attire, but seeing how his opponent wasn't giving him the opportunity he guessed that he could move on with the battle anyway, and most of the Resurreccions that he had seen in the past generally gave their user some form of attire to replace what they had been wearing earlier, and he was no exception to that observation. In the end he came to the only conclusion that made sense to him, to which he sighed and gripped the handle of his Zanpakuto once more, but while he drew it he planned on making sure that Sombra suffered for what he had done before the battle was over.
"Very well then, I shall show you my power." Szayelaporro replied, as he realized that the same thing had happened to Grimmjow, he had been pushed into a corner and had chosen to show his enemy what he was really capable of, though he disliked associating himself with the Sexta Espada, "Sip, Fornicaras."
Sombra watched as Szayelaporro raised his Zanpakuto until it was high in the air, where it remained for a moment, before he started to swallow the blade as it released a purple glow from his mouth, indicating that he was finally releasing his Resurreccion and using his full power. Szayelaporro's body then swelled to a much larger mass, much less than what he had seen when Aaroniero transformed, before releasing spiritual energy into the air, which covered the Espada's immediate vicinity in a fine mist that for a few moments, no doubt to hide his transformation. When he could see his foe again Sombra noted that the lower half of the Espada's body had become a multitude of purple tentacles reminiscent of a sea anemone, though that was soon followed by his feet extending from under the tentacles, which were replaced by a layered dress-like garment moments later. Szayelaporro's upper torso, on the other hand, became a segmented and form-fitting gray garment, with white sleeves extending from the elbow and down to a wide opening at the wrist that reveal a purple interior, where three small dark purple extensions span upward from the elbow, while four long dark purple strands, that looked like falling drops, hung from the underside of the sleeve itself. Szayelaporro's hands turned white as his fingertips become slightly elongated and purple, while his hair gained various purple drop-like strands as well, and his mask seemed to take on the shape of a headdress with fan-like coverings on both sides of his head.
The most interesting thing to Sombra, about the entire transformation, were the four long gray branch like structures that could be called wings, despite the fact that he clearly couldn't fly with them, and each of them had twelve evenly spaced red strands that resembled falling drops... and, with just a short glance at them, Sombra knew that the wings were dangerous, meaning that he'd have to remove them at some point during their battle.
"The wait is over." Szayelaporro declared, because despite the fact that Grimmjow would flee at the sight of Sombra's Resurreccion, and he was fairly sure of that statement, he still felt that he could win the battle and deliver their enemy's head to Lord Aizen, regardless of whatever powers he still commanded, "How it is time for your demise!"
Sombra watched as a dark colored liquid burst out from Szayelaporro's back and flew into the air for a few moments, where the droplets started to fall on the entire area around the Espada, but since he knew that there had to be a specific purpose behind this technique he extended the shadows and formed a barrier around his friends so they wouldn't be bothered by the attack and he used his speed to avoid the droplets before they could touch him. At the same time he noticed that the droplets that had hit the floor seemed to do nothing, which didn't sit well with him as his horn glowed a little more, where he magically gathered all the droplets that had struck the floor and pulled them into a single sphere as he flashed around the chamber. Szayelaporro seemed to be following him, intending to strike him with the droplets for some reason, and Sombra ensured that all of the droplets in the air never reached the floor by pulling them into the sphere as well, effectively making the attack entirely useless in the grand scheme of things. It took Szayelaporro a few moments to realize that nothing was going to happen if he continued to launch more of the droplets out of him, so he decided to cancel the attack and the last of the droplets fell towards the floor, where Sombra drew them into the sphere he had been building... and then, just to be sure that it was nowhere near him, his friends, and his new allies, Sombra hurled it through the air and watched as it struck the Espada in the chest, who merely glared at him in return.
"I don't know what those droplets were supposed to do, but I know it was in my best interest to avoid them." Sombra stated, though at the same time he shifted his fingers and his scythe came near him again, because if this was all his opponent's Resurreccion could do he was just going to end the battle now and move onto the next enemy.
"They're supposed to land on my opponent, or opponents, and create a copy of them that has the same abilities and form that they do," Szayelaporro replied, because at this point he know knew that it would be hard for him to reach his foe with the liquid that he had expelled from the back of his body, but at the same time he had a few other abilities that he could use to regain his hold on this situation, "It's called Carbon-Copy, though this is the first time that I've actually had someone avoid all of the droplets by simply dodging them and using the speed they possess... I guess Grimmjow was right when he told us about your speed, though I never thought I'd be saying something like that."
"That's an interesting ability you have. I'm glad that I stopped the droplets from touching me." Sombra said, as he could already imagine the sort of damage that the palace they were in would take if there were multiples versions of himself attacking him, because he was sure that the entire place would come crashing down on top of them, but that one thought told him how he was going to restore Uryu and Renji's powers, "Now then, I believe it's time that we kicked things up a notch and got serious... or as serious as I can get with an opponent such as yourself."
Szayelaporro started to open his mouth, so he could inquire as to what Sombra was talking about, though that was before he noticed the shadows in the room moving like they had a mind of their own, no doubt because Sombra was controlling them, and he watched them as they sunk into the corners of the chamber, only for cracks to start appearing on all of the walls that were in the chamber. His eyes widened as he understood what Sombra was doing, he was going to destroy the palace that they were standing in and restore the powers he had taken from his companions, but even as he though about that, and started to wonder how he could counter it, Sombra smiled as the cracks started to glow with a sinister dark color. In that moment Szayelaporro figured something out, his opponent was using a combination of his own control over the shadows and his reiatsu to do what he was seeing, like setting a trap and then springing it whenever he desired, but at the same time he knew that his palace was not built to withstand the pressure of losing all of it's walls and the ceiling. A few moments later the walls and ceiling exploded as they were ripped apart, scattering dust and debris everywhere around them, and at the same time Szayelaporro had to use another one of his own techniques to protect himself from the falling rubble... but when he emerged he intended to make Sombra pay for making a fool out of him, first by removing his companions and then destroying his true foe with the rest of his power.
Grimmjow had been as careful as he could be in making sure that both Orihime and Sora followed after him, even though Sora was the one carrying his sister, because they needed Grimmjow to keep his eyes and ears, as well as his senses, open while they were traveling through Las Noches. Sure, he had wasted a few precious minutes in dealing with both Loly and Menoly, outright killing one of them in the process while scaring the other one, and had wasted another few minutes on letting Orihime heal the two that had tormented her and her brother, even if it meant bringing Menoly back to life in the process. Grimmjow had no idea why she was like that, how she could be so kind and compassionate to those that had been so horrible to her, and yet he was amazed by what she was able to do, which was great considering that they were going to need that power to undo the damage that Ulquiorra had done to Ichigo. Honestly, he wasn't too surprised to find that the Cuatro Espada had gone after Ichigo, not after he caught the emotionless Arrancar studying something about the Substitute Shinigami, a point that Orihime made sure he remembered, which happened after his failed assault on the World of the Living... as best he could figure out there was something special about Ichigo that made certain enemies follow his movements and Ulquiorra was doing just that, and that was why he had gone out of his way to take Ichigo down before he reached his destination.
His attention shifted for a moment as he felt the decreased pressure of Ichigo's reiatsu, as they were now running through the sands outside the building since it was a quicker mode of transportation instead of running down the halls where Ulquiorra might find them, and smiled as he beckoned with his head and flashed up to the pillar in question... and as he came to a stop he found Ichigo laying on the floor in front of him, to which he gently shifted his body so he could see his chest, finding a hole punched into his sternum.
"Itsygo..." a voice said, to which Grimmjow turned to the left for a moment and spotted a child-like Arrancar, a little girl from the sound of her voice, hitting the ground before she looked up, where she had some tears in her eyes as she stared at Ichigo's fallen form, meaning that she must have been traveling with him and Sombra until the more powerful Arrancar had deviated from the pack, before she noticed that he was even there, "G... Grimmjow... the S... Sexta Espada!"
"Hey, don't worry about Ichigo kid." Grimmjow replied, to which he walked over to her and smiled, as this had been part of the reason that he had rescued Orihime and Sora in the first place, before he rubbed her damaged mask and caused the tears to stop, "He's not dead yet, not by a long shot... and I brought someone that can help him. You can heal him, right Orihime?"
Orihime and Sora appeared in the entrance of the area that Ichigo had been knocked into moments after Grimmjow did, not in time to see him move Ichigo a little, but that didn't stop them from seeing the hole in his chest that had been punched into his body by one of the other Espada. Orihime wasn't surprised to hear that Grimmjow was asking her if she could do something, as she was still trying to determine the limitations of her own powers, but after seeing the state that Ichigo was in she nodded her head and spoke the words, allowing two of her Flowers to move into formation and form a barrier around Ichigo as she focused on what she needed to do.
"What happened to him?" Sora asked, because this was the first time that he had actually seen Ichigo in such a state, as Yoruichi had carted Ichigo off to someplace where he could rest while they were in Soul Society and most of his wounds had been healed by then, even if Orihime had to use her power after Aizen fled to make sure he didn't bleed out, but this was the first time he found Ichigo in possession of such lifeless eyes.
"Itsygo was tryin' ta protect me and he got hitted by a Cero." the little Arrancar, who called herself Nel, explained, but she was much calmer than she had been moments ago, because the sudden arrival of Grimmjow, who had promised that Ichigo would be okay, stopped her from crying her eyes out again, "He also got kicked really hard. Itsygo only got hurt cause I was here..."
"Hey, it's not your fault he got hurt. It's because his opponent was Ulquiorra." Grimmjow replied, speaking to both Sora and Nel at the same time, while also letting Orihime understand that the Espada he was talking about had no mercy for those that were his targets, "Ulquiorra has this odd quirk of his, one that I'm not sure he even notices that he has himself, but he has a habit of stabbing opponents that catch his eye in the same area that his Hollow hole is located in, just like I have a habit of stabbing weaklings in the same area that my own Hollow hole is in. I don't know how much damage Ichigo was able to inflict on Ulquiorra during their battle, before it came to this, but we have some time before he replaces his damaged clothing and discovers Loly and Menoly in your room... and they're bound to tell him the truth, that I took the two of you against Aizen's orders to keep you in that room."
"O... Orihime?" a voice asked, to which all of them turned towards the healing barrier for a moment as life returned to Ichigo's eyes, causing tears of happiness to form in both Orihime and Nel's eyes as Sora stood beside his sister, leaving Grimmjow to keep an eye out for any enemies, "Nel and... Sora? Grimmjow?! What are you..."
"I'm not here to fight or kill you, if that's what you're thinking." Grimmjow replied, as he meant what he said earlier, when he told both Orihime and Sora why he was busting them out of the room they had been confined to, and that didn't stop him from flashing his signature grin, "I'll tell you what's going on later, after..."
"After what, exactly?" another voice asked, to which Grimmjow froze, as he could have sworn that they had more time than what they had been given, before he turned around and found Ulquiorra standing in the opening of the area that he had knocked Ichigo into, "What are you doing, Grimmjow? Why are you intentionally healing an enemy that I defeated? Why did you remove the woman and her brother from the room I put them in, when Lord Aizen entrusted the two of them to my care?"
"Let me make one thing clear; I'm done taking orders from someone that's going to get us all killed." Grimmjow replied, though he knew that if Ulquiorra had any expressions he would have shown some level of shock at his statement, but at the same time he focused on the glare that the Cuatro Espada was giving him, "I know you, of all the Espada, have felt the air of Hueco Mundo shuddering every now and then with the frequency increasing over time... Sombra's coming into his power as the Dios Hueco, our world is telling us that it is happening, and you go out of your way to fatally wound one of the people that he calls his friends. I barely did anything to him and he not only beat me into the ground, but he also removed my arm and reduced it to ash, so I can't imagine what sort of pain he'll put you through when he finds out what you did to Ichigo. You should reconsider your options, Ulquiorra, and join us... I'm sure Lord Sombra would love to have someone of your power join forces with him."
"I see... so it's treason." Ulquiorra said, though as his body shifted, the telltale sign that he might be getting ready for an attack, Grimmjow sprung into action and charged towards the Espada that was going to try and stop them, where he swung his right hand and let his target block the attack as their reiatsu bashed heads for a moment.
Grimmjow, having expected that to happen, smiled as his reiatsu gathered in front of the palm of his right hand for a few seconds before he released a Cero that knocked Ulquiorra backwards, or made him jump backwards since it was hard to tell what the Cuatro Espada was doing. In the following seconds Ulquiorra flashed through the air and appeared above his head, which was a tactic that he sometimes used in battle, and Grimmjow noticed that he was pulling his reiatsu together to form a Cero in front of his right pointer finger, which was aimed directly at him. Fortunately Grimmjow had been expecting this to happen and raised his right hand into the air, allowing the Cero to touch the palm of his hand as Ulquiorra's eyes widened for a moment, which was when he used a little bit of his reiatsu to form a Cero that caused both of theirs to detonate, blowing away the ceiling of the room they were in and the upper part of the pillar, but it was for a good cause. Ulquiorra went flying back through the smoke, with his eyes trying to find his target, and that gave Grimmjow just enough time to dig something out from his pocket as he flashed into the air behind his opponent, where he reached out of the dust that was around him and grabbed onto Ulquiorra's jacket... and, as Ulquiorra turned to look at him, he barely noticed Grimmjow moving the edge of his jacket a little to reveal his Hollow hole, where Grimmjow slipped a tiny black cube into the center of his Hollow hole.
That was followed by a number of wide white and dark purple lines appearing in the air around Ulquiorra for a moment, wrapping around him not a few moments later as they formed a cube around Grimmjow's target, before the cube disappeared and Ulquiorra, who had been inside it, disappeared with it.
"What... did you do?" Orihime asked, though at the same time the protective shield she had summoned to protect herself, Sora, and Nel disappeared as the three Flowers associated with it returned to her hairpins, as she was curious as to what had just happened to Ulquiorra.
"Aizen gave each Espada a Caja Negacion, a Negation Box, to punish our subordinates." Grimmjow replied, though at the same time he lowered himself down onto the area in front of the group and looked down at his right arm, as it was burned from the two Ceros colliding with each other, "It's a powerful tool that can permanently seal weaker Hollows in an alternate dimension, but they're not meant to be used against the other Espada... so Ulquiorra, with his reiatsu, should be able to break out of the alternate dimension in two, possible three, hours, giving us enough time to enact my plan."
"Your plan?" Ichigo asked, as he had been quiet since Ulquiorra revealed himself, because he wasn't ready to fight someone like him again, and based on what he had seen in the World of the Living he had the feeling that Grimmjow was here for him.
"We're going to heal you back to what you were at before you fought Ulquiorra," Grimmjow said, though even as he said that Orihime surprised him once more, as she extended the healing barrier so that he was included in the healing, and he knew that because the burns on his hand were disappearing, "actually, we'll heal the both of us back to one hundred percent. Once we're both ready, and both Orihime and Sora are ready to go, the five of us will head out to where the rest of your friends are and make sure that they're okay, healing them as necessary, before meeting back up with Sombra and whoever he's managed to recruit. After that... well, it's up to the true Lord of Hueco Mundo to tell you..."
Grimmjow paused when he felt the awakening of a sinister power coming from where Szayelaporro's palace was located, indicating that Sombra must have been annoyed with something and was showing off his Resurreccion, and at the same time he felt bad for the Espada that had caused Sombra to do what he was doing, as that meant that Szayelaporro was either going to die or be tormented until he saw the light that he had seen earlier. Not even a few minutes later he felt the air shudder as he heard an explosion, where he guessed that Sombra had to have destroyed the building that he was currently fighting in, meaning that the group could afford to take their time while Orihime healed them, because he didn't want to interrupt Sombra when he was in the middle of a fight, not after what happened the last time he fought the powerful Arrancar and lost his arm. He could tell that the others were surprised by what they were feeling, and that he wasn't too shocked by the reiatsu, but for the most part they knew to keep their mouths shut as they waited for him to tell them they were moving out... even if he was planning on spending the next few minutes feeling the battle that was unfolding in Szayelaporro's ruined palace so he could determine just how strong Sombra was when he used the power that had been his before he became an Arrancar.
Renji and the others that were inside the dark dome watched as the dust and rubble finally came to a stop, the shadows somehow protecting them from any sort of damage, once more surprising them by the type of power that Sombra had access to, before finding that the palace was destroyed, revealing the open area of Las Noches once more. Renji wasn't surprised that Sombra would destroy the palace, just in case it had more secrets that Szayelaporro was planning on revealing to them over the course of their fight, and he was glad to find that his power had been restored thanks to the destruction of the palace, meaning that Uryu's powers had been restored as well. Pesche and Dondochakka stared out at the ruined palace with surprise written on their faces, or at least that was what Renji thought was on Pesche's face since it was hard to tell what he was thinking without actually saying anything, while it was rather easy to tell what Dondochakka's expressions were because he always revealed what he was thinking. Cirucci, on the other hand, stood there with a look of amazement on her face, as Sombra hadn't used a Cero to obliterate the palace, he used a power she had never seen before and was quite amazed by what she had seen, making her even more interested in what else Sombra had in store for them to witness.
As he took stock of what everyone was thinking and feeling, however, he noticed that Szayelaporro must have been buried by the rubble and that he had to be fighting his way back to the surface, but at the same time he didn't see Sombra anywhere, making him worry that something had happened to the Arrancar that had assisted them.
"What happened to Sombra?" Renji asked, as he refused to believe that the Arrancar had been crushed by the rubble that had fallen because of him destroying the walls and ceiling of the palace, but at the same time he was having a hard time pinpointing where their friend was located, "Did he leave?"
"No, he's still here." Uryu replied, to which he noticed that Cirucci nodded her head, which made sense considering that she was an Arrancar and might be able to follow Sombra's reiatsu better than they could, before Uryu glanced around as he sought out where their friend was hiding.
Before anyone could say anything the shadows that were below the rubble moved for a moment and a shadowy figure, looking more like a wraith or a specter that had a head that resembled Sombra's, burst out of the rubble, though as they watched the figure took on a more normal form and Sombra, still in his Resurreccion, landed near them, where he waved a hand and the dome vanished as his scythe appeared near him.
"That was my Shadow Form power," Sombra said, knowing that his friends and new allies were curious as to what sort of power he had used to avoid being crushed, even though he could have just used another barrier to protect himself from the rubble, but he felt like making sure a few more of his abilities were working like they were supposed to, "basically I become one with the shadows and take on a shadowy form that allows me to move around however I wish, and the best part is that I cannot take any sort of damage in his form and could attack my enemies at the same time."
"That's... incredibly unfair." Renji commented, as that sounded like an ability that could easily be abused, if it did exactly what Sombra said it did, and yet he had the feeling that there was more to this than what they had seen, but before he could say anything else the ground shook, indicating that their enemy wasn't done yet.
As Sombra expected Szayelaporro wasn't done yet, as the Espada must have covered himself with his wings and enlarged the red strands for form a protective cover around him, because a globe shaped object pushed itself from the ground and rose into the air, before the strands shrunk and pulled back, revealing an undamaged Szayelaporro, who was glaring down at Sombra as he touched the floor.
"My, my. Look at what you've done to my palace... how will I ever explain this to Lord Aizen?" Szayelaporro inquired, though at the same time he seemed to be thinking about something, as he was more interested in finishing off Sombra than even bothering with the enemies that were behind him, because if he could take out the main target he'd be able to crush all of them instantly, "Very well, I guess I'll fight you myself... and show you the true power of my Fornicaras."
Sombra stared at the Espada as one of the wings rushed towards him and attempted to flank him, though he waited for a few seconds for the red strands to enlarge once more before phasing into his Shadow Form and slipped right through the cracks that had been formed as the strands attempted to close around him, before returning to his normal state seconds later. Before Szayelaporro had a chance to retract the exposed wing, or even send another one out to grab him while he was distracted, Sombra raised the scythe and swung at the exposed wing, where he loosed a black energy wave, much smaller than a Getsuga Tensho, and severed the limp instantly, causing Szayelaporro to scream in pain for a moment as he lost the limb. The next target that the Espada went after, instead of fighting Sombra, was his friends, but he was actually expecting that and the shadows responded to his desires, as several sharp spikes rushed out of where they were hiding and penetrated some of the enlarged strands on the remaining three wings, almost binding Szayelaporro to the spot that he was standing in. Sombra wasted no time in moving in for the next attack when that happened, as not a few seconds later the three remaining wings went flying through the air, all of them falling down around the ruined area that they were fighting in, before Szayelaporro backed away for a moment, as he now understood what Grimmjow had been saying about Sombra.
Instead of attacking his opponent in the normal way, in his physical form, Sombra shifted back into his Shadow Form and rushed at the stunned Espada, where he avoided the hand that reached for him before swinging the scythe, opening a diagonal gash in his opponent's body that went from his left hip and stopped at his right shoulder, all while blood burst out of the open wound as Sombra separated himself from the weak Espada.
"Besides acting as a cover for you, what were those wings supposed to do?" Sombra asked, because if the 'true power' of Szayelaporro's Resurreccion rested in those four wings than his opponent was as good as finished, as there would be no way for him to win the battle that he was in, and he let the scythe float nearby to see if his foe would talk, otherwise he'd end this here and now.
"I had another power, Teatro de Titere, or Puppet Theater, that required those wings to use them," Szayelaporro stated, because right now his best plan of attack was stalling his opponent while he silently gathered his reiatsu, without showing Sombra what he was doing, because if his Resurreccion's abilities didn't work than he figured he'd try something else before his opponent struck him again, "Normally I would envelope my opponent, or one of them as the case would be against you and your companions, and create a voodoo doll of them, where I could inflict pain on a foe by hitting the doll and crushing the organs that were inside it, by opening the doll, in a way that deals no damage to who it's supposed to be, to remove the pieces that resemble organs. Without my wings both it and Telon Balon, my Curtain Ball ability I used when you dropped the ceiling, are useless and most of my powers are gone... until I drop out of my Resurreccion and go back into it at a later date."
"I see... so in other words, your finished." Sombra said, which meant that there was no reason for him to do anything to the Espada anymore, not when most of his power had been stripped from him by his actions, before he flexed his hand and the scythe returned to him, as he guessed it was time to end this.
"No, your the one whose FINISHED!" Szayelaporro replied, to which he was grateful for all of his blood that was in the area around them, as it was easy for him to dip his fingers on both his hands into the blood and create a pair of circles in front of him not a few seconds later, where both of which seemed to be aimed directly at Sombra as his reiatsu flared and the lightning-like strands pulled themselves together, "Take this, Gran Rey Cero!"
The first Gran Rey Cero was definitely meant for Sombra, as not a few seconds later Szayelaporro fired the attack and it raced through the air, intending to strike Sombra down for his actions, but before it could reach him Sombra swung his arm and the head of the scythe caught the Cero, knocking it off course as it soared into another structure that was nearby and blew up the upper part of the building. As the first one missed it's target, however, the Espada grinned as he turned towards Sombra's friends and fired the second one at them, where Sombra flashed through the air and raised his left hand towards the attack, where he stopped it before it could go any further and threw it to the side, where it exploded when it touched the ground, while at the same time Szayelaporro looked at him with a look of shock on his face. Sombra, on the other hand, reflected over how weak those two Gran Rey Ceros were, as the one that Grimmjow had fired had more power behind it, and it was either because his focus had been split between the two attacks or that was just the gap in the power between the Octava Espada and the Sexta Espada. Normally anyone that attacked his friends, just like he had attempted to do, would either suffer fatal injuries or they would die, but this time he was still in the mood to see if another one of his powers was still usable, to which he called upon the shadows once more and they started to gather.
Uryu, Renji, and the others watched as the shadows gathered together in a pool behind Szayelaporro for a moment, who stared at them with a look of shook and fear on his face, before they formed a elegant looking mirror that had a darkened glass staring at the Espada... before shadowy tendrils erupted from the glass surface and wrapped around Szayelaporro's arms and legs, eventually pulling him into the mirror before he was trapped in whatever world Sombra had sent him to.
"Puerta a las Tierras Sombrias, or Gate to the Shadowlands." Sombra explained, to which he waved a hand and the mirror floated into the air, just like the scythe did when he didn't want to use it, before he let the scythe do the same thing as he turned back towards his friends, "The world that I just sent Szayelaporro to is a world where one's fears are used against them, along with other things that are only known to them, beasts that might prey upon them, and unimaginable terrors that would leave any sane person too terrified to sleep for days if not weeks on end. There's a spell I developed that would trap someone who uses a certain type of magic on the doorway in their own personal nightmare until they're able to snap out of it, or if someone manages to do just that without being caught in the spell as well. I want to see if I can't convince our foe to see the error of his ways and change, otherwise I'll just end the fight and head out to whoever needs my help next... or maybe just continue on my way towards Aizen's location and end this war before it starts."
"I'm now convinced that it's a good thing that you're on our side," Renji remarked, because the more he learned about Sombra and his powers the more he was convinced that Soul Society was fortunate that they hadn't made an enemy out of him, despite the fact that the Captain-Commander didn't want to assist Sombra in this venture, "otherwise Soul Society would be completely screwed."
Sombra thought about that for a moment, because in his weakened state, after battling a Changeling Queen, both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had beaten him, and when he tried to retake the Crystal Empire he had struck too soon, resulting in his body being shattered... but then he shook his head as he focused on the area around them once more, because there were a few new reiatsu signatures that were entering Las Noches and one was coming towards the area that they were in. His senses were proven correct as Captain Mayuri, now dressed with a new headpiece that made him look like a Egyptian Pharaoh and his teeth were golden colored, approached the group with his Lieutenant walking behind him, though the smile on his face reminded Sombra that he was likely here for the corpses of those that had been killed so he could experiment on them, something that he was going to have to correct before the Captain was allowed to leave Hueco Mundo.
"Captain Kurotsuchi, Lieutenant Kurotsuchi," Sombra spoke up, where the two Shinigami faced him as they arrived in the area, eying the scythe and the mirror that were floating near him for a few seconds before they looked at his new armor, which was different than his old armor, "I was certain that Captain-Commander Yamamoto said that Soul Society wasn't going to come here and fight Aizen's army. What changed your minds?"
"Oh, we were planning on invading Hueco Mundo from the start, our timeline just got shifted when the enemy stole that girl and her brother." Mayuri replied, though he couldn't fault the Arrancar for thinking that, as he and most of the remaining Captains hadn't been told this until they had all returned to Soul Society, before he glanced around for a moment and ignored the people that were near them, "I felt the presence of another powerful Arrancar over here, one that's supposed to be an Espada, and yet when I arrive I see that there aren't any enemies around with a reiatsu to match and no body to be seen. What happened to your opponent?"
"Oh, I banished him to the Shadowlands for a few minutes." Sombra answered, though at the same time he seemed to think about something as he glanced at the mirror again, where he found someone pounding on it and a smile graced his face, to which he flexed his hand and the two objects lowered down to where he was standing, "Ah, it seems that he's decided that he's learned his lesson... I'm eager to see if he's willing to change rulers."
Before Mayuri could say anything Sombra snapped his fingers and the mirror sprouted a few tendrils for a moment, where a few of them reached into it's center and pulled something out of it, where Renji and the others watched as a terrified Szayelaporro was pulled out of the Shadowlands and was deposited on the floor, before the mirror disappeared as quickly as it had formed.
"So, how did you like the Shadowlands, Szayelaporro?" Sombra asked, to which he knelt near the Espada, who seemed absolutely terrified of what he had been through for the last few minutes, before the strange Resurreccion shattered and Szayelaporro returned to wearing his ruined attire.
"It... was terrifying..." Szayelaporro replied, as what he had seen inside the mirror had been unlike anything that he had seen or heard before, making him wonder what else Sombra could do with his power over the shadows, because that power was completely different.
"It generally is to those visiting it for the first time," Sombra said, as the few ponies that he knew about that had practiced in Dark Magic, before his fall, had all delved into the Shadowlands and never came back, before he focused on the Espada once more, "So, are you going to follow Cirucci's lead and fall under your new lord, or am I going to have to bring an end to this?"
"First, I have a question." Szayelaporro said, where Sombra raised an eyebrow for a moment, as he was curious as to what the Espada could possibly ask him at the moment, but that was followed by him deciding that he might as well give him a chance and nodded his head, "How did you overcome the power of my palace, which is designed to seal the powers of those that I have information on?"
"You can't seal his powers... trust me, I tried." Mayuri commented, as it was something that the Captain-Commander had asked him to do, to see if he could seal Sombra's powers in case he turned against him, and he found that such a thing was impossible, "There's something special about his reiatsu that makes it impossible to seal his powers and restrict him to just using his Zanpakuto, and that's not taking his Kido into consideration."
"I... I see." Szayelaporro replied, as he recalled finding something like that in his own research and knew that it had to be true, before he sighed and sheathed his Zanpakuto, which was followed by him kneeling to the obviously more powerful Arrancar, "Lord Sombra, in light of what I have seen and what I have learned, I... I forsake the Usurper known as Aizen Sosuke and pledge to serve you for as long as you control Hueco Mundo."
"Good... now you have my permission to change into some better attire before we move out." Sombra said, referring to the fact that the first thing Szayelaporro had asked of him was to change his clothing to something that wasn't ruined, and knowing that he was talking to the scientist Espada he knew that he had to have an area that hadn't been blown up that contained more of his clothing.
As Szayelaporro nodded his head, and Mayuri looked at him with a look of interest in his eyes, Sombra glanced in the direction that Ichigo and Grimmjow's reiatsu were coming from, as it seemed like there was another Espada near them and that they might be battling someone that wanted them both dead... which served as the next destination for him to reach, while figuring out just how many Shinigami had come to Hueco Mundo and recovering the rest of the Arrancar that had chosen to serve him.
Renji and Uryu were still sort of shocked by what they had seen over the last few minutes, as they had no idea that the power of Sombra's Resurreccion was so powerful that it made the likes of Szayelaporro shut up about his powers and submit to the will of the more powerful Arrancar. Sombra, on his own, was powerful, when his used his Bankai he was even stronger than ever, and the power that his Resurreccion used was so terrifyingly powerful that they were sure that the rest of the Espada had felt him release it, but at the same time they were also terrified of the fact that they could have been forced to fight that power. Sombra's powers, from what little they had seen so far, were incredibly powerful and he also had access to a realm called the 'Shadowlands', which had to be a realm of terror or something, judging by the terrified look on Szayelaporro's face when he was brought out of the mirror. Renji knew he was right, that Soul Society wouldn't even stand a chance of winning a war if they were forced to go against Sombra, and right now he counted themselves lucky that he was on their side, because he didn't want to imagine what a trip to the Shadowlands looked like and he didn't want to even ask the Espada what he had seen... he actually felt bad for the guy, even though he had got what was coming to him for even thinking of battling Sombra in the first place.
A few moments later, after Sombra finished relaying his first order to the Espada, Szayelaporro nodded his head and headed off to dig through the rubble, though at the same time Sombra stretched his arms for a moment, as it had been a long time since he used his full power and he was happy to see that everything was as it should be.
"You're sparing him?" Mayuri inquired, because as far as he was concerned the Espada belonged to Aizen and Sombra, despite not wishing to follow the Captain-Commander's orders, had just spared the life of one of their enemies, when he knew that the Arrancar could have easily finished him off, "He's one of Aizen's Espada, one of the enemies that you said you were going to decimate when you were talking to the Captain-Commander earlier."
"That was before I learned of the existence of the Dios Hueco," Sombra replied, as it had been the information regarding the true ruler of Hueco Mundo that had caused such a change to his original plan, even though they were still following what he had in mind to the letter, just with some minor changes, and that was when he noticed the odd look Mayuri was giving him, "it means Hollow God. Allow me to explain the situation: all Hollows, and the Arrancar that have been created so far, have the innate knowledge of the classifications that they can become; ordinary Hollows, Gillians, Adjuchas, and potentially even Vasto Lorde, depending on what fate has in store for them. In addition to all of this is a fifth classification, the Dios Hueco, where one Hollow every one thousand years is lucky enough to evolve through all the stages a Hollow can become, eventually evolving into a creature that is so powerful that it takes control over the entirety of Hueco Mundo and rules the inhabitants of this world. As it turns out a Dios Hueco has been born... and it's me."
"That still doesn't explain why you let an enemy live." Mayuri said, though at the same time the existence of another class a Hollow could become seemed likely, since he did read about a story so long ago that many considered it to be a mere story that wasn't based on reality, even though the Captain-Commander claimed that it was all true.
"The Dios Hueco has the power to command both Hollows and Arrancar," Sombra stated, to which he recalled how he managed to convert Nel and her brothers to his cause, including Runuganga and apparently three of the Privaron Espada, minus Dordoni, and now even one of Aizen's Espada, "and, as it turns out, many can seek out the Dios Hueco and pledge themselves to their new ruler. As you no doubt noticed, from my earlier fight, Szayelaporro didn't care what I was while we were fighting, but when I showed him my true power he changed his tone and swore to serve me... just like some of the other Arrancar that I have encountered so far. Think of it this way, Captain Kurotsuchi, I changed Szayelaporro, Cirucci, and a few more Arrancar into allies that now want to tear Aizen down."
"I see... so you're taking over Hueco Mundo then." Mayuri commented, though he had to admit that he was interested in how this war was going to play out now, especially since there was no telling what Sombra would do once he had full control over this world, before he looked around the ruined building that they were in, "Well, since it appears that the Espada you were fighting is now an ally, I guess that means I won't have the pleasure of killing him and taking him back to the lab for my experiments... I wonder if he's got an area where he keeps the corpses of those he's finished with, or just a storage area for them in general. Hueco Mundo is such a treasure trove, and I'd hate to leave without getting something to make the visit worthwhile."
"If you're talking about taking the bodies of those that have died, than forget about it." Sombra said, as he had heard what Mayuri did to the Quincy from Uryu, back when they returned to the World of the Living after 'rescuing' Rukia from her 'execution', and heard a story or two from both Urahara and Yoruichi, though at the same time the Captain turned and looked at him, "As of right now anything and everything that Szayelaporro has in his possession, weapons, bodies, and whatever inventions he's created, belong to me and the new rule that I'll be putting in place, once I claim control over Hueco Mundo and those the live here. If you want to take something back to Soul Society, then you'll have to talk to both myself and Szayelaporro and see what we think about what you want."
"Now wait just a min..." Mayuri started to say, though that was before he found himself on the floor, as his body was now laying on the floor and the shadows had wrapped around his arms and head, forming what he knew to be an executioner's stand, minus the offending blade, and his Zanpakuto was floating in the air near Sombra.
Sombra seemed ready to say something, though before he could open his mouth Nemu flashed into the air behind him with the intent to strike him for attacking her Captain, but as it so happened Sombra was faster with his reflexes, as the shadows erupted from the ground and wrapped around her arms, legs, and most of her chest, binding her to the wall fragment that was nearby and prevented her from moving.
"Let me make something clear, this isn't a debate." Sombra stated, as he was growing a little tired of the Shinigami thinking that they could walk over him and do whatever they wanted, or rather those that were of that mindset like Mayuri was, before he stared into the Captain's eyes, "I may not rule Hueco Mundo yet, but it's only a matter of time until my true power as the Dios Hueco awakens, and you, Captain Mayuri, are currently a guest in what is becoming my world. As such you will obey the rules that I set forth, just like the Arrancar will once I tear them away from Aizen, and you will ask both Szayelaporro and myself about items that you wish to take back to Soul Society... but, if that proves too much for someone like you to handle, I can always arrange for you to take a trip through the Shadowlands. Oh, and if you so much as attack one of my allies while you're here... well, I think you know what would be coming next."
Mayuri stared at the Arrancar that was in front of him, surprised by the sudden tone shift of the conversation, but at the same time he knew that Sombra wasn't bluffing, because when he mentioned a trip to the 'Shadowlands' the mirror that Szayelaporro had been pulled from had formed behind him again, it's dark surface staring at him with a hunger to transport more people that have offended it's master to the realm that it connected to. Based on what little he actually knew about the realm Sombra talked about, since this was the first he had heard of it, he knew that it was safe to assume that the Shadowlands were a realm of pure terror, where one was forced to face their fears and their worst nightmares, including terrifying monsters and who knew what else. Part of him, the scientist that catalogued everything and studied whatever he could get his hands on, actually wanted to know what was on the other side of the mirror for himself and observe the monsters in their natural habitat, but at the same time the last remaining fragments of his sanity were what won the battle, as they voiced the opinion that he might end up dead and he'd never be able to study anything new if something ended up killing him on the other side of the mirror.
This was one of those rare times where he actually listened to the fragments of sanity that he had left, even though most Shinigami thought he was insane, and decided not to push his luck, to which he nodded his head and Sombra waved a hand, to which he and Nemu were freed from the shadows that had been keeping them locked in a single position... and, as a bonus, his Zanpakuto floated back over to him, where he stashed it back where he normally kept it, since he knew that attacking Sombra was almost impossible at this point.
"It seems another has learned their place in the pecking order." a voice said, to which Szayelaporro, now dressed in a much cleaner version of his attire, the same type that Uryu had blown apart earlier, stepped out into the open and approached the group, "Lord Sombra, I am ready to depart whenever you are ready."
"Good, then here's the plan." Sombra stated, to which he looked out at the remainder of Las Noches and knew that it was only a matter of time until Aizen made his move, something that he aimed to stop, "Our first order of business is to find and recover all of our allies, though I know that Rukia is in Aaroniero's palace, Chad and Gantenbainne seem to be staying close to the walls of Las Noches, and it appears that Ichigo and Nel have been reunited with Orihime and Sora, and that includes the unlikely addition of Grimmjow. Szayelaporro, do you know where Aizen is stationed?"
"Yes, in the fifth tower of Las Noches," Szayelaporro replied, as that was where the main throne that Aizen sat in was located, and where all of the passages in Las Noches eventually lead to, if someone like Gin wasn't messing with the controls all the time, and it was where Aizen had to be located at that very moment.
"Then that is where we shall meet up." Sombra said, though that was when the group watched as he turned in a different direction and focused on who was currently fighting, as he was curious as to what Grimmjow was doing near Ichigo and the others, before he vanished as quickly as he had arrived, taking the scythe and other shadowy objects with him, leaving the others to stare at where he had been standing.
"You know, Aaroniero told us about that ability, but it's still strange to see it in use." Szayelaporro stated, as the sudden appearance of Sombra had been what threw off his earlier attacks and strategy, before the Arrancar overpowered him completely and made him feel useless.
"You're telling me," Renji said, because despite the fact that Sombra had told them to use that technique when they were in trouble it was proving to be the quickest mode of transportation for him since they were all spread out, though he did have to wonder what he was investigating this time.
Mayuri, on the other hand, sighed in defeat as he realized that the scientist Espada that was standing near the group wouldn't likely want to share any of his research subjects with him, and fighting him was out of the question since Sombra could wipe the floor with him instantly, so he guessed that he was forced to follow Sombra's lead... and while he hoped it might earn him some points with the soon to be ruler of Hueco Mundo, as helping his subjects was a good thing, he knew that his requests were going to be denied, so he just followed Szayelaporro's lead and hoped that things changed.
Ichigo, despite having a hole punched into his sternum by Ulquiorra earlier, was feeling better than ever and it was all thanks to the healing powers that Orihime possessed, though at the same time he knew that he couldn't allow his mind to wander from the situation that he was in. When Grimmjow first attacked the World of the Living he had been an enemy, one that wanted to deliver both his head and Sombra's head to Aizen, but now the Sexta Espada was standing near him, like he was a friend or something, and he had no idea what was going through his head. At the same time, however, he was grateful to Grimmjow for bringing Orihime and Sora to him, since it meant he could be healed and brought back to his full power, and that included hurting himself while he fended off Ulquiorra, even banishing him to another dimension for some time to give them enough time to heal from their injuries. He guessed that Grimmjow had to be telling the truth, that he was severing his ties with Aizen and was joining Sombra, who was clearly much more powerful than any Arrancar he had seen so far, and that included the sheer power of his Resurreccion, leaving him and the others to feel a familiar sinister sensation that came when Sombra channeled his true power.
"You know, I feel bad for Szayelaporro," Grimmjow commented, as he had felt the power that Sombra commanded when he was only using his Arrancar Zanpakuto and knew that the Octava Espada, who hadn't really done anything to annoy Sombra, was done for, "He didn't do anything that deserved facing Sombra's true power, and yet he's going to get the beating of his life... I can't help but feel sorry for the poor bastard."
"Yeah... if you say so." Ichigo said, though at the same time he didn't care too much, since this Szayelaporro was still one of their enemies, but he did agree that no one, maybe save Aizen, deserved to fight Sombra when he was using his full power against them, and even then he knew that this wasn't all of the power that his friend could bring to bare in a fight, not when he had two Zanpakuto he could release, before he turned toward Grimmjow, "So, what did you say we were going to do once we were healed?"
"We're going to find Sombra, join his group, and then help him take control of Hueco Mundo." Grimmjow stated, as he knew what was coming, he could feel it in the air every now and then like all the other Hollows and Arrancar could, and he wanted to be on Sombra's side when the moment happened.
"Well, we might have a problem with that," Sora said, as he was looking over the edge of the area that they were in and had spotted Nnoitra, one of the Espada, standing near the base of the pillar they were in and was currently staring up at them, along with another Arrancar standing some distance behind him, "We've got company."
"Damn it, I wish I had another Caja Negacion I could use, because that's Nnoitra Gilga," Grimmjow told the group, as he had been curious as to who Sora had seen and his eyes widened a little when he spotted another superior Espada standing near their position, "He's the Quinto Espada, the one between Ulquiorra and myself. He's also not about to let us leave without a fight..."
"Then let's give him one." Ichigo replied, to which he heaved Zangetsu back onto his back and prepared himself as he stepped up to where Grimmjow was standing, because now that they had Orihime and Sora on their side, and they were no longer near Aizen, they could focus on their retreat at last, "What do you say, Grimmjow?"
Grimmjow glanced at Ichigo for a moment, wondering if he was suggesting what he thought he was suggesting, and when he noticed the smile on the Substitute Shinigami's face his own signature smile returned, to which he nodded his head and together both he and Ichigo jumped down to where Nnoitra was standing, who was wearing his own signature smile as they landed near him.
"What is this, Grimmjow?" Nnoitra inquired, though at the same time he didn't mind what he was seeing right now, as he never did like the Sexta Espada to begin with and occasionally thought about getting rid of him, and held his weapon at the ready, "You siding with the enemy?"
"I'm siding with the side that will win this war, and survive at the same time," Grimmjow replied, though at the same time he grew his Zanpakuto as Ichigo did the same thing, because he knew that the Espada in front of them wasn't going to let them pass, "I'll say this once, Nnoitra, either get out of our way, die, or join the rightful ruler of Hueco Mundo."
"How about I kill the both of you and Aizen's pet?" Nnoitra stated, as he saw Orihime staring down at them with her brother standing near her, but he focused his attention on the enemies that were now standing in front of him, even though he was sure that there was someone else in the area, "Tesra, stand back for a moment... I'll deal with both of these ants on my own."
As the other Arrancar nodded his head, however, Grimmjow glanced at Ichigo, who nodded his head in return, and the two of them separated themselves for a moment, causing Nnoitra, who only had one eye since his left eye was covered by an eye patch, to glance at Grimmjow first before looking at Ichigo, clearly debating which of them he wanted to target first when the battle started.
"Bankai." Ichigo called out, as he was holding Zangetsu towards the Espada that was in front of him, to which the wind kicked up as the dust covered him for a few seconds, though when the transformation was finished, and he was wearing the appropriate attire, he swung his arm and cut the dust apart, indicating that he was ready to battle.
"Grind! Pantera!" Grimmjow said, having moved his own Zanpakuto into the appropriate location that it needed to be in and let himself be covered by dust as well, though a few moments later the cover broke apart as he unleashed the power of his Resurreccion, returning to his more panther like form and growled for a moment.
The moment both of their releases were complete Grimmjow roared, vibrating the air around them for a few seconds, before both he and Ichigo rushed forward and charged at Nnoitra, who used both the bladed edge of his large axe-shaped weapon against one opponent while also letting the back side of the handle to hit the second one. Ichigo, being on the receiving end of the head of the weapon, swung his Zanpakuto and blocked the attack with his might, while at the same time Grimmjow jumped over the back end of Nnoitra's weapon and swung his claws at the Quinto Espada, who let him run his claws against his chest before backing away. It was as Grimmjow thought, Nnoitra's Hierro was just as hard as he remembered it being and cursed himself for not knowing how they were supposed to get through it, but at the same time it was two on one unless Nnoitra's lone Fraccion decided to join the battle, even if it would be against Nnoitra's orders and likely hurt himself in the process. Ichigo, taking advantage of the fact that Nnoitra turned and looked at Grimmjow for a moment, slipped under the head of their opponent's weapon and charged at his exposed chest, where he found that the Espada in question didn't even bother trying to dodge and let the edge of Zangetsu run over his body, not even cutting him before Ichigo jumped backwards as well.
"What the hell is this shit?" Nnoitra asked, to which he didn't even bother to look at the two enemies that he was fighting, because he couldn't believe them at the moment, though at the same time he maneuvered his weapon back into position and readied himself for the next bout, "Are the two of you really this weak? Both of your attacks sucked."
"Coming from the Espada with one of the strongest Hierro's," Grimmjow replied, though at the same time he knew that Nnoitra couldn't take them both out at the same time, not when both he and Ichigo were slightly faster than what their enemy was, but that didn't mean they could take any chances, "but don't worry, we'll find a way to cut through your armor and wound you."
Nnoitra grinned and charged at Ichigo, intending to take out the intruder first before dealing with Grimmjow, before swinging at his target, causing Ichigo to duck as the head of the large weapon came at him, though at the same time Ichigo used another opening to try and cut his opponent, only to find out that he had failed again and jumped backwards to avoid being crushed. While that happened Grimmjow raced forward and kicked at the side of Nnoitra's head, barely moving it a little, and unleashed a few punches and kicks while Ichigo distracted the Espada, before retreating as well, as he didn't want to get carved up by the most bloodthirsty of the Espada. Once the two of them touched down on the floor once more they shifted where they were standing as Nnoitra swung his weapon at them, avoiding it as best they could, before charging at the exposed Espada and, just like last time, found that their attacks did nothing, to which the two of them were forced to pull back and think of a new strategy. Of course that meant that they had to avoid the next few attacks from Nnoitra, who didn't seem to care which of them he killed first, and after a few minutes they were forced backwards once more, where they stood some distance away from Nnoitra and stared at him for any weaknesses that they might be able to use against him.
Grimmjow, on the other hand, knew that Nnoitra's Hierro was tough and hard to cut, but actually fighting it was proving to be much harder than what he thought it would be, as he had no idea how they were supposed to deal with something like this, not without killing themselves in the process.
"Damn, he's just like Kenpachi." Ichigo remarked, remembering back to the days when he and the others were invading Soul Society to save Rukia and he had his battle with the Captain of the Eleventh Division, though at the same time he noticed Grimmjow staring at him, "When I fought Kenpachi the first time I found that I was unable to cut him in the first few minutes of our battle, but when I focused on beating him and steeled my reiatsu I found that I was able to cut through his seemingly iron-like skin. Nnoitra has to be like him; he's got an incredible amount of reiatsu that it allows his already durable Hierro to become seemingly invincible, meaning all we have to do is adapt to his power and see if we can match, or overcome, it."
"You know, you may be a little dense at times, but that's an interesting idea." Grimmjow commented, to which he raised his right hand a little and touched the edge of Ichigo's Zanpakuto, where he nicked two of his fingers and prevented the blood from dropping, before he grinned as he looked at his ally, "Come on, let's show him just what he's up against... and don't forget your mask this time."
Ichigo had to resist the urge to facepalm, as he had completely forgotten that he had needed his mask to even do a little damage to Ulquiorra, and he had only succeeded in putting dust on the Espada's chest while damaging his clothing, before he nodded and moved his hand into position as Grimmjow moved. Nnoitra, on the other hand, raised his eyebrow for a moment as he wondered what they were going to do next, as the two of them were splitting apart once more, but after seeing their last failed attempt he knew that he could beat them as he swung his weapon and beckoned for them to strike. Ichigo, seeing the challenge being thrown his way, focused his mind and pulled his hand back, allowing his Hollow mask to form over his face and let the air around him shudder for a moment, but once that was done he flew through the air and charged at Nnoitra, easily dodging the attack that was coming his way and swung Zangetsu at his opponent's arm, nicking it a little in the process as a drop of blood fell from the tip of his blade. It was exactly what he had been thinking about, that the Espada was just a stronger version of Kenpachi, and before the axe-shaped weapon crushed him be flashed backwards to get out of the way... though where that would have been the end of his mask, and the power boost that it gave him, he found that the mask stayed on his face without any signs of cracking.
He honestly didn't want to thank Ulquiorra for nearly killing him, and giving him more control over the powers of his inner Hollow in the process, but right now he was willing to take what was going on and gathered his reiatsu around Zangetsu's blade for his next attack.
"Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo called out, to which he swung his arm and let the energy wave fly through the air, his target being Nnoitra, who was just standing there like this was all a game to him, but if that was how he was going to react than he and Grimmjow were going to take the victory for themselves.
"Please, do you really think a puny attack like that can hurt me?" Nnoitra said, as his body was more than willing to take the force of the attack and show his enemies that they couldn't kill him, even if he considered the slight minor cut in his Hierro to be a fluke.
"Yeah, especially when it's combined with this." Grimmjow replied, to which Nnoitra, who had ignored him the entire time he was focused on Ichigo, started to turn back, but thanks to his stupid spoon shaped headpiece he couldn't see what Grimmjow was planning in time, despite the blue streaks that were gathering above his right hand, "Gran Rey Cero!"
Nnoitra barely had time to react as both the Getsuga Tensho and the blue Gran Rey Cero, fired seconds apart from each other, raced towards him and struck him from both sides, causing a massive explosion that dented the desert that they were in and caused both Grimmjow and Ichigo to land near each other as they surveyed their work... and when the dust cleared they found that part of Nnoitra's headpiece had been destroyed, there was steam coming from his back, and there was a light gash on his chest.
"I take it back, that was rather exciting." Nnoitra said, to which he shook his arms for a moment, as there was still some dust on him from the explosion, before he focused on his enemies, "Hopefully you two can keep it up, otherwise I might have to kill your friends to get you excited about this fight."
"Master, are you alright?" Tesra asked, as it was unusual for his master to take such a powerful combination of attacks at the same time, and he knew so because of all the times he had watched the Espada that he served battle the enemies that Lord Aizen wanted him to take care of.
It was in that moment that Grimmjow and Ichigo's eyes widened, as Tesra must have moved while they were busy fighting Nnoitra, because Sora had been brought down here and knocked into one of the stone walls, Orihime was standing with Tesra behind her, preventing her from doing anything, and Nel seemed to be shaking at the moment.
"You bastard," Ichigo stated, as he couldn't believe what he and Grimmjow were seeing, because those three weren't even a part of this battle and their enemy had targeted them anyway, "This was supposed to be a fair fight between the two of us and you... you didn't have to involve Orihime, Sora, and Nel like this."
"This is a fight, of course it ain't fair." Nnoitra replied, though he was happy to see that Tesra had done as he had silently desired and made sure that the viewers of this battle were nearby, so when the time came to spice things up he'd just kill one of them and make both Grimmjow and the invader angry, before he looked at the little Arrancar that was closer to him than she was to the others, "You said her name was 'Nel', right?"
In the following seconds Nel stopped shaking and slowly turned her head until she was looking at Nnoitra, though while she was still scared about what was going on the grin that Nnoitra wore all the time only widened a little, as he was pleased with what he was seeing.
"Yeah, that's your estigma all right." Nnoitra said, pointing to his own face for a moment, in the exact same area that the red line on Nel's face was located, which stopped everyone for a moment and caused him to stare at them in return, as he was curious about something, "I thought it was you when I saw the mask, though it looks like you've taking a liking to living outside Las Noches' walls. Does that broken mask of your's still ache?"
"What the hell are you doing, Nnoitra?" Grimmjow asked, because while he was sure that there was an Espada before him called Nel, as in there being one before he joined the Espada, he was sure that she was killed at some point in time and the body was never found, but at the same time both he and Ichigo looked for an opening that they could use to get at Nnoitra before he did anything foolish.
"Well, since he's the one that brought her this far, I guess I might as well tell you before you die," Nnoitra replied, to which he turned his attention back towards Ichigo and Grimmjow, who were ready for the next round of the fight to begin, even if he wasn't ready yet, "Here's the story, she's Nel... Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, the former Tres Espada."
"It's... a lie..." Nel said, though at the same time Ichigo and Grimmjow could see that the little Arrancar was crying, like she hated being accused of something that she wasn't, and that only seemed to disgust Nnoitra in the process, which also annoyed the duo in the process, "I'm... not an Espada... There's... no way..."
"Now it's my turn to say 'what the hell are you talking about'," Nnoitra commented, to which his smile turned into a frown, as his fun was officially ruined for the moment as he now had to deal with Nel all over again, "Don't tell me that you forgot who you were and how annoying you could be. You deceived all these guys and used them to get into Las Noches, just so you could find your way to me and finish our battle... didn't you?"
"I... didn't deceive... anyone..." Nel replied, and Ichigo knew that it was the truth, as the first thing she and her brothers did was swear themselves to serve Sombra, when they met them anyway, "I'm... I'm not after anything! I was... just having fun with Itsygo... and following Sombra's orders to stay near him."
"What a load of crap!" Nnoitra said, to which he raised his arm and his weapon followed suit, as he intended to clear up this headache before anything else happened, while at the same time noticing that both Ichigo and Grimmjow were readying themselves, "I never liked you to begin with, Nelliel, and now you're as good as dead!"
As Nnoitra started to swing his weapon down on Nel, intending to execute her without her even being able to defend herself, Ichigo flashed into the area between them and swung Zangetsu, cutting another light gash into Nnoitra's chest and stunned him, allowing Grimmjow to leap over his shoulder and kick Nnoitra in the face, sending him backwards into the sand for a few moments.
"First off, it's doesn't matter if she's an Espada or just a normal Arrancar, because she's our friend." Ichigo stated, as he couldn't believe that their fight had been interrupted because Nnoitra wanted to attack Nel while she was defenseless, and he could tell that Grimmjow was annoyed as well, "And secondly, even if she was a former Espada, like you claim she is, she's under Sombra's protection, so if you hurt her you'll have to contend with the Dios Hueco."
"Well, it seems like she has amnesia," Nnoitra stated, as nothing he had said so far seemed to have any effect on the little Arrancar, save making her cry like the annoying baby that she was, before he looked at his opponents, "but it's to be expected, since I did a really good job of cracking her head open the last time I saw her."
"So that's why there's a crack in her mask and some of the teeth are missing." Grimmjow commented, as he had noticed something odd about the mask that Nel wore, namely the items he had mentioned, but now it all made sense why it was like that, and it was because Nnoitra hated Nelliel and hurt her to the point where she became the Nel that they were seeing right now.
"Exactly." Nnoitra said, though he was a little surprised that Grimmjow even cared enough about someone he had only just met, so much so that he had spotted the crack and missing teeth, but at the same time it didn't matter, "In the end, however, it hardly matters how much I tell you, because even with the power you two are putting out you'll never be able to kill me, meaning that I'm going to take my time letting Nelliel watch as both Tesra and I beat all of you into the ground and torture you until your bodies are paste! Then, after I've executed all of you in front of her, I'm going to end her life as well... and then I'm going to hunt down and slaughter the remaining members of your group and any other Espada that might have defected as well."
The moment that the thought of watching all her friends die crossed her mind, especially after having seen what Ulquiorra did to Ichigo earlier, broke something inside Nel and she screamed for a moment, before her screams were silenced by a explosion that rocked the area around her and knocked everyone away from her, all while causing a look of shock and fear to cross Nnoitra's face as a familiar reiatsu returned. As pink smoke filled the area, and Ichigo briefly wondered why it was pink, the silhouette of a person appeared for a moment and everyone saw that it belonged to a woman that was about the same size as Ichigo, in terms of height anyway, and they waited for the smoke to clear before being able to see anything. When the smoke and dust cleared they were able to see Nel again, but instead of there being a child, like there had been moments ago, in her placed stood a full-grown curvaceous and well-endowed adult with long waving greenish-blue hair, just like her other form had. The gown she had been wearing earlier was now torn into two parts, a skirt and a top, with a single strip connecting the two parts, while at the same time her mask was less cartoonish than it had been earlier, and now it sported a pair of horns that really made it look like the fragments of a Hollow's mask... and, to complete the look, Nel's Zanpakuto had formed in her right hand as well, indicating that she was now back at her full power, for however long it lasted.
"Hello, Nnoitra." Nel said, her voice sounding more mature than it had been in her child form, confirming that she had returned to her former form at long last, while at the same time she took a few steps forward and faced the Espada that they were facing.
"Nelliel." Nnoitra growled, as this wasn't what he was expecting, the return of the one Arrancar that he hated in all of Hueco Mundo, and he gripped the handle of his weapon at the same time, because he was going to enjoy carving her open and ending their battle at long last.
"So this is what you really look like." Grimmjow commented, though he had to say that he was impressed, as he never had a chance to meet her before the disappearance of her and her Fraccion, but now he was glad that they were on the same side, as he assumed that the threat of her friends dying had been what brought about the transformation.
"Yes, and it was all thanks to Ichigo protecting me while I was in my child form, as that allowed me to eventually return to my true form." Nel replied, showing one more change in how she talked, because when she was a child she referred to Ichigo as 'Itsygo' and in her adult form she called him by what his name actually was, "Proper thanks will have to wait, as Nnoitra isn't about to let me walk out of here without attempting to kill me... so now it is my turn to fight him."
Both Ichigo and Grimmjow opened their mouths to say something, especially since she had only returned to her former body and too much strain might make her revert back at the wrong time, though that was when the wind kicked up and moved the back of her top a little, revealing the large number three that was there, to which they decided to say nothing and let her make her move. Nel charged forward and crossed the gap between her and Nnoitra, who growled and immediately raised his axe-shaped weapon into the air, like he was going to execute her or something, but Nel was faster than him and quickly drew her Zanpakuto, cutting a horizontal gash into his chest and causing him to look down in surprise as some of his blood went flying. It confirmed what Ichigo and Grimmjow had been attempting, sharpening their reiatsu so that their attacks could actually cut through Nnoitra's Hierro, and their attention was drawn back to the battle, as before Nnoitra's weapon could hit Nel she caught it with the blade of her Zanpakuto and knocked it out of it's path towards her. That action allowed her to remain in the air for a little while longer, where she performed a roll as she faced the Espada while she was upside down, before she swung her foot and kicked him backwards, forcing him through the air for a few moments... but when he landed on the ground Nnoitra charged at her once more and started swinging his weapon at her, where she ducked and weaved as she avoided the attacks, sometimes even using her Zanpakuto to block them before they even had a chance of hitting her.
It went like that for a few moments, where Nnoitra tired and failed to hit her before he cleaved a boulder in half, where Nel moved into the air and tried to pin him to the ground, only for him to dodge as the boulder shattered, but she ended up using the dust cover to sheathe her Zanpakuto and punch Nnoitra when he wasn't expecting it, sending him flying into another boulder in the process. Nel stood there for a few seconds, staring at Nnoitra as he picked himself up off the ground, though as that happened the reiatsu around the Espada gathered as he stood straight up and held his arms out, where he stuck his tongue out and launched a yellow Cero at Nel. Not a second later Nel raised her empty right hand and stopped the Cero the moment it struck her hand, without detonating, and opened her mouth, where Ichigo recalled what happened against Dordoni earlier, to which the group watched as she sucked the Cero into her mouth. She held her back for a moment, like she had done earlier, before she snapped back to attention and fired a Cero back at Nnoitra in return, only this time it was pink colored and Grimmjow could tell from just a glance that it was more powerful than what had been fired at her a few moments ago... where Nnoitra stood there, entirely freaked out, as the Cero collided with his chest and exploded, covering him in smoke as he took the full force of the attack.
In the next few seconds Tesra let go of Orihime and charged at where his master had been standing, showing that he had more concern for Nnoitra than keeping their enemies contained, letting Nel turn around and walk back to where Ichigo and Grimmjow were standing... though that was before the serious look faded from her face as a smile replaced it, and she charged at Ichigo and wrapped her arms around him, showing that she held the same fascination for him that she had while she was in her child form.
"I'm so happy that you're okay, Ichigo!" Nel said, showing her concern for him after Nnoitra threatened to torment him and the others before killing them, while at the same time Orihime blushed for a moment as Grimmjow kept his attention on where the Espada they were fighting had been standing.
"I'm fine, Nel... Nnoitra didn't have a chance to hurt either of us." Ichigo replied, as he was shocked by what was happening at the moment and didn't know what to do, while still finding that his mask was still on, something that he removed so he could wait and see if he needed it again.
"Still, you might want to have Orihime check the crack in your mask," Grimmjow commented, causing the pair to stop what they were doing and look over at him once more, as his claws were at the ready as he stared at the smoke, because he knew that it was a matter of time until Nnoitra came back, "It's only a matter of time until Nnoitra emerges from the smoke and attacks us again, and I'd rather not have you revert back to your child form at the wrong time, despite the fact that Ichigo and I know what we need to do now."
"Right." Nel said, to which she let go of Ichigo and approached Orihime, who nodded her head and two of her Flowers formed the healing barrier around her mask, though that was when the group watched as Tesra went flying through the air and collided with one of the boulders that were near their position.
"Cero Doble... I forgot that it was your special talent." Nnoitra spoke up, where the group found that the right side of his jacket, the sleeve area, had been destroyed by the explosion, his right arm had burn marks on it, and a small portion of the right side of his spoon headpiece had been ripped off as well, "You absorb a Cero that is being fired at you and make it even stronger by adding your own Cero on top of it, and if I had been any weaker than I currently am that could have seriously injured me. What's wrong, Nelliel? I thought you were going to end this quickly, just like all the other times we fought before I cracked your head open!"
"I see... that is unfortunate." a voice said, to which Ichigo and Grimmjow's eyes widened as the air in front of them rippled as Sombra flashed into the area between them and Nnoitra, though the real reason behind their stares wasn't because of his sudden arrival, but because of the form he was wearing and the power he was generating, "So, which rank do you have?"
"I am Nnoitra Gilga, the Quinto Espada," Nnoitra replied, though at the same time a smile appeared on his face, as he knew that Sombra was the strongest invader of them all and, by coming here, he'd be able to have one of the greatest fights of all time, and he readied his weapon accordingly.
"You're Nnoitra?" Sombra inquired, as he remembered what Gantenbainne had told him when he went and healed both him and Chad of their injuries earlier, that Chad had been attacked and cut down by the Quinto Espada, and when the Espada nodded his head he sighed as he extended his hand and let his scythe float in the air near him, "Good. I told Chad that I would make the Espada that attacked him pay for what happened to him... and that Espada was you."
Grimmjow watched as Sombra, in his Resurreccion, charged at Nnoitra and dodged the incoming attack that was coming his way, though it only looked like Nnoitra's attack was much slower than what Sombra's speed was at and that only served to annoy the Quinto Espada. Sombra remained of the defensive for a few moments, or that was what it seemed like he was doing, and simply avoided the attacks that his new foe were sending his way, but even when Nnoitra was able to get his weapon close to him he simply phased into his Shadow Form and let the head of the weapon pass through him, shocking his opponent in the process. The battle seemed to be annoying Nnoitra at the same time, since he couldn't even hit Sombra at all, but at the same time Grimmjow knew that this was a one sided battle and that Sombra was merely biding his time, because with the power he possessed he knew that the powerful Arrancar could swing his sinister looking scythe once and the battle would be over in an instant. There were even several instances were Sombra flashed through the air and appeared somewhere within the personal space of the Espada that he was fighting, causing Nnoitra to swing at him in response, but in the end the result was the same, he missing his target as Sombra landed in a different location and the battle continued in that manner.
Not even a few minutes later Nnoitra and Sombra landed near each other and stared at each other, as Sombra was purely reacting to the attacks that were coming his way and was waiting for the Espada to make a move against him before doing something... though that was before Nnoitra grinned as a thought occurred to him.
"Tesra, crush them all!" Nnoitra called out, where the group that was watching the battle observed as the named Arrancar pulled himself out of the rubble he had been thrown into and dusted himself off, before facing his master and bowed his head for a moment.
"As you wish, Master." Tesra replied, to which he immediately drew his Zanpakuto, which appeared to be a rapier that had a chakram embedded just above the hilt and a guard that was made out of a scaled ribbing, before his reiatsu flared for a moment, "Crush, Verruga."
The wind kicked up for a moment and showed the Arrancar for a moment, causing both Ichigo and Grimmjow to raise their weapons as they waited for him to emerge in his Resurreccion, though not a few moments later the wind and dust died down and they were allowed to see their foe once more. When they could see him again they found that Tesra had become a large, warthog-like creature, as his mask had grown to cover his entire face and also had a pair of tusks grow out of it as well, while his hair had grown into a mane. On his chest rested six exclamation point-like markings, three per pec, and his mask had a large scar covering his right eye, where he wore an eye patch when he was in his more Human form, though the overall tone of his large body was that he was strong and that his attacks were likely powerful, meaning that the two of them would have to avoid his attacks when the fight actually started. At the same time, however, Sombra was unimpressed as he avoided the sneak attack that Nnoitra sent his way, as the reiatsu that was coming from Tesra wasn't that great and both Ichigo and Grimmjow could beat him in moments... even though there was someone approaching the area that they were in, another Shinigami that had followed Mayuri into Hueco Mundo.
"You know, it's interesting that you think that his Resurreccion means anything," Sombra commented, causing Nnoitra to look at him while Tesra glared at where he was standing, indicating that they were both annoyed with what he had said, even though he honestly didn't care, "Ain't that right, Zaraki?"
Not even a second later Zaraki, with Yachiru riding on his shoulder, appeared near Tesra and grinned as he felt the sheer power that was coming from Sombra, though at the same time Tesra noticed him standing there and demanded to know who he was, to which he got no answer. Nnoitra, on the other hand, dropped down to the ground and placed a finger against the sand, where Sombra noticed that he was trying to figure out just how powerful the newcomer was in terms of the enemies he was fighting, and shock appeared on his face as he called out a warning. That came seconds too late, as the moment Tesra raised his fist towards Zaraki, with the intent to hurt him, Zaraki swung his Zanpakuto and cut a perfect vertical gash into the Arrancar's body, going through the mask and through his chest, causing Tesra to fall to the ground and revert back to his more Human form with a pool of blood around him. In that exact moment Ichigo and Grimmjow realized that Sombra had been right, Tesra's Resurreccion meant nothing thanks to the fact that a new ally had arrived, though Ichigo noticed that Zaraki seemed bored with his current opponent and faced the Espada that they were all facing, who actually seemed worried by this turn of events.
"Kenpachi, what are you doing here?" Ichigo asked, though right now he wasn't sure that they even needed the Captain's help, not with Sombra standing in front of Nnoitra, but even as he said that Zaraki glanced at him for a moment before staring at their foe again.
"Urahara opened the way for him, Captain Mayuri and his Lieutenant, and two other Captains." Sombra replied, as he had been searching for any additional reiatsu that might have come to Hueco Mundo recently and it appeared that four Captains had come to assist them in whatever manner they could, "They're here to kill Aizen's Espada and weaken his overall army, that way when the battle actually begins he'll have a limited number of soldiers to send after the Captains that remained behind. Of course there's always something unexpected around every corner, as none of them could have known that I'd be taking control of Hueco Mundo, as my right as the Dios Hueco, and free those that want to live from Aizen's control, just like I did with Szayelaporro and a few of the other Arrancar that we've encountered so far."
"Which reminds me," Grimmjow said, to which he moved close to where Sombra was standing and knelt before the powerful Arrancar, as it was high time that he announced his intentions to the person that he wanted to meet since his arrival and stop being one of Aizen's pawns, "Lord Sombra, I, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, forsake the Usurper known as Aizen Sosuke and pledge to serve you for as long as you rule Hueco Mundo."
"Likewise I, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck," Nel echoed, to which she stepped out of Orihime's healing barrier, just as it was withdrawn, with her mask restored to it's former glory, as the crack was gone and the four missing teeth had come back as well, though she chose to keep the scar from the event as a reminder, and she knelt beside Grimmjow, "forsake the Usurper known as Aizen Sosuke and pledge to serve you, the true ruler of Hueco Mundo, for as long as you live."
"I accept your pledges and welcome you to my side of this war," Sombra stated, where he noticed that Grimmjow was wearing a pleased smile on his face, indicating that he had gotten what he wanted and was ready to do whatever needed to be done, while at the same time Nel also seemed happy, like she knew that he was the best ruler that Hueco Mundo could have asked for at this point in time, before he faced Nnoitra, "Zaraki, before you and the others, or just you depending on what you all agree to, battle Nnoitra there's something I wish to show him."
Zaraki said nothing as Sombra flashed through the air, at speeds that were faster than what he remembered the Arrancar possessing during their last battle, and Nnoitra swung at him the moment he should have materialized in front of him, but that was when Sombra revealed that he was using his Shadow Form and his body solidified after the head of the axe-shaped weapon went by him. In the following seconds Sombra kicked Nnoitra with his right hoof and sent him flying up into the air, just from the sheer power of his reiatsu alone, and the Espada stared at the ceiling of Las Noches in surprise for a moment, unsure of what had just happened. That was then followed by Sombra appearing above him and swung at his chest with his right arm, where the fist made contact with his target and Nnoitra was sure that one of his ribs might have cracked under the pressure, though that was before he went flying through the air and collided with the floor, only to cough up some blood as he emerged from his crater. Before he could get too far, and find out where his opponent had gone off to this time, Sombra appeared in front of him and raised his right hand towards his face, only that was when Nnoitra found his right pointer finger staring him in the face with a small black Cero with a green outline starting to form just in front of Sombra's finger.
"Let me make one thing clear, Nnoitra, you cannot beat me." Sombra said, though at the same time he wasn't even considering finishing off this opponent himself, as he was going to leave that to someone else, "This Cero is pointed directly at your head, your forehead to be exact, and a single shot will bring about the end of you, though even if you decided to swing your weapon at me I'd just fade into my Shadow Form and fire the attack anyway. Your only hope of survival is to forsake Aizen and join us... and I'll leave the decision up to you, though you might want to make the decision quickly, as it looks like Zaraki is ready to kill someone."
When Nnoitra said nothing Sombra cancelled his Cero and flashed back to where Orihime, Sora, and Yachiru were standing, giving him a good view of the battle that was to come, though that gave Nnoitra the chance to pull himself together and face his opponents with his usual smile.
"Seems like this guy can't take a hint." Ichigo stated, though even as he said that he, Nel, and Grimmjow readied themselves and their weapons, and that included him putting on his Hollow mask once more, before he turned towards Kenpachi for a moment, "Just so you know, this guys' skin is extremely tough, but if you sharpen your reiatsu, like I did in our battle in Soul Society, you'll be able to cut him."
"And don't worry about Nnoitra claiming that four on one is unfair," Nel added, as there was something from her past, that was associated with the Espada in front of them, that she felt that she needed to share before the battle got started once more, "When I was an Espada, and Nnoitra was a lower rank at the time, he occasionally killed entire colonies of Hollows, sometimes even ten at a time against him, while looking for the Vasto Lorde that call Hueco Mundo home, so he's not about to complain that this is unfair. Also, don't bother aiming for his eyes, the remainder of his Hollow mask and his Hollow hole are located right where his left eye would be, and that's why he wears the eye patch."
"Oh, it doesn't matter if it's one on one or four on one, cause I'll kill all of you!" Nnoitra stated, because while he had sensed Zaraki's reiatsu, and knew that it was strong, he could still overcome the odds that were stacked against him and kill the four enemies that were in front of them, which was why he brought his weapon down on where the four of them happened to be standing.
Ichigo, Grimmjow, and Nel jumped to the side as Nnoitra attacked them, with Zaraki raising his Zanpakuto to catch the head of their enemy's weapon and the two struggled like that for a moment as they both grinned, though that was short-lived as he knocked the Espada away from him. As that happened the trio rushed him, avoiding the attacks that were sent their way and swinging their weapons as necessary, though with Sombra watching over their fight the three of them felt better knowing that he was there and it drove them to do better than ever before. The result of that was that Grimmjow's claws were able to cut through Nnoitra's Hierro like he was cutting through butter, allowing him to grab onto their opponent whenever he wanted and hurl him at one of the others, so that they could deal some damage as well. Nel, who could already cut their foe, found that the restoration of her mask stabilized her former powers and allowed her to duck and weave through Nnoitra's now familiar attacks without being scratched, even though she did cut him once or twice on his exposed arm before pulling back. Ichigo, fueled by the desire to save Orihime and take her back to Karakura Town, also found that his swings were empowered as well, as he was able to leave small cuts in Nnoitra's body, but for the most part, if he wasn't using a Getsuga Tensho, he really left most of the fighting to Zaraki, who seemed to be the opponent that the Espada was focusing on at the moment.
In the span of a few minutes Nnoitra focused the majority of his attention on Zaraki, who seemed to be enjoying the time that the Espada was dedicating to him, while at the same time making sure that he kept his eye on the other foes that were around him, since Ichigo, Grimmjow, and Nel were still attacking him and wounding him every now and then... but it was hard to do that when the collisions between him and Zaraki vibrated through the air and shook the sand around them, all signs telling him that he was the opponent that he wanted to beat first. Nnoitra's excitement grew when he was able to land a cut on Zaraki's left shoulder, sending blood through the air in the process, but since the secret of how to overcome his Hierro had been revealed that only meant that his opponent was able to cut his shoulder in return, before the two of them backed away for just a few seconds. When Zaraki swung his weapon and knocked Nnoitra into the air, however, the Espada grabbed onto the chain that connected his weapon to himself and swung it through the air, like he was creating a cyclone, before throwing it down to where his opponent was standing. Zaraki, on the other hand, stepped to the side and let the weapon hit the ground beside him, which he followed up with grabbing the chain and pulled Nnoitra down to where he was standing, before grabbing his head and slammed him into the large boulder that was near them, as he recalled Nel's warning and didn't both striking the area behind the eye patch.
"I'm not one to take the advice of others when I do battle, but, since she seems to know what she's talking about, I'm inclined to believe one of Sombra's allies." Zaraki stated, though at the same time he turned his attention to the Espada they were fighting, who growled and yanked on the chain for a moment, pulling his weapon back to his hand and readied himself for the next round of their battle, "Besides, your skin is definitely pretty tough... but now I know exactly what I need to do to cut you, which means our battle is going to get more dangerous for all of us."
To prove his point Zaraki went on the offensive once more, causing Nnoitra to defend himself with his axe-shaped weapon as he parried the attacks that were coming his way and avoided some of the more dangerous attacks, all while noticing that the other three were watching to see if Zaraki learned what they had told him. The moment came when Zaraki swung his Zanpakuto and knocked Nnoitra's weapon out of the way, who wasn't even worried and even moved his left arm in front of his chest, but that was when Zaraki smiled and swung his weapon downwards, cutting a gash into the Espada's arm and causing a look of surprise to appear on his face. It was what the others were waiting for, as they were making sure that their ally knew what sort of level his reiatsu needed to be sharpened to in order to cut their opponent, and while Nnoitra was stunned Zaraki reversed his swing and cut a second gash next to the first one, which was when Nnoitra jumped backwards and stared at his arm for a moment. Once he got over the fact that all four of his opponents had been able to cut him, and Sombra was able to break a bone without even using any weapons at all, Nnoitra jumped into the air and attacked Zaraki again... but this time around, when Zaraki defended against the attack, he grinned as his Zanpakuto dug into the metal of Nnoitra's weapon and severed part of it in the process.
When Nnoitra landed a few steps away from Zaraki, however, the group found that the upper parts of the upper half of his axe-shaped weapon had been cut off, as two blades were laying nearby, and there was a horizontal cut on Nnoitra's face, indicating that more than just his weapon had been damaged. The fact that he had been damaged seemed to break something in the Espada, as he stood there for a moment and exposed another weakness, because Zaraki charged at him and he only regained himself as the Captain swung his Zanpakuto, cutting another gash into his opponent's exposed chest as he knocked him backwards. Nnoitra then let his tongue out and fired a Cero right at Zaraki, though no one called out to him, because they all believed that he would be just fine, and they were proven to be correct when he extended his right arm and caught the attack with his hand, before hurling the attack off to his right, where it soared through the air and collided with one of the boulders, blowing it to pieces in the process. When Zaraki started to approach Nnoitra, however, the Espada really became desperate and charged at his current opponent, though when he swung his right hand at Zaraki all he succeeded in doing was knocking off his opponent's eye patch, revealing that he actually had two functioning eyes and not one that was messed up... though with the sudden increase of his reiatsu, which stunned Nnoitra, Zaraki grinned as he swung his Zanpakuto downward and cut a vertical line into the Espada's body, letting blood burst from the wound as his opponent backed up.
While all this happened, and blood dripped onto the sand between him and Zaraki, the white eye patch he had been wearing fell apart as well, revealing his mask fragment and the location of his Hollow hole, but he barely paid it any attention as he focused on the one foe that he really wanted to kill, more than Nelliel at this point.
"You moron. You knocked my eye patch off." Zaraki commented, though at that point his smile turned into a frown, as there was a good reason that he wore the thing to begin with, besides using it as a trump card to increase his reiatsu by an explosive amount, before he faced the Espada, "Now I can't hold back any more. Let me tell you something; that eye patch you knocked off is a seal. I use it to suppress a good bit of my reiatsu, so I can take my time and savor each fight for longer periods of time, instead of finishing them instantly. You know, you're the first person that's taken the full force of one of my swings and managed to stay standing despite the damage I've dealt... though the question becomes will you die standing, or do you have any fight left in you before you die?"
"There's no way... that something like... this... will kill me!" Nnoitra declared, to which he started to gather his reiatsu, forming a yellow aura around him and creating a small shockwave in the process, before he reached the point where he lifted his weapon into the air above his head and readied himself, "Pray, Santa Teresa!"
The moment he uttered the Release Call for his Zanpakuto, the one thing that Sombra had been keeping an eye on since all Espada had a Resurreccion and Nnoitra hadn't shown him yet, Nnoitra's reiatsu started to flow out from the empty space of the top blade, knocking up a wind that forced everyone to stand their ground as they waited for the dust to clear. When the dust cleared they found that Nnoitra had gained an extra set of arms, which had taken on an insect-like carapace and included clawed hands, with each of his four hands holding a large scythe-like weapon as well, which actually seemed to resemble the appendages of a praying mantis and had a small golden tassel at the end of each staff. Nnoitra also gained a golden marking extending from his forehead to below his right eye, as well as a pair of horns on his head that resembled a crescent moon, with the left horn being slightly longer than the right. The Espada even gained several white, tendril-like appendages around his torso which extend over the sides of his abdomen, while his Hollow mask became torn, with the teeth extending over the hole itself, to make him look even more threatening than before... and the wounds that Zaraki had dealt to his body had closed up as well, though the one on his chest and the vertical one of his face ended up leaving a scar where they had been moments ago.
"So, how does it feel to see an Espada release their Zanpakuto for the first time?" Nnoitra asked, as he had to imagine that his opponents were scared of him, save for Grimmjow and Nelliel since they had both seen him in this form at one point in time.
"To be honest, you're not that intimidating," Zaraki replied, to which he jerked a thumb back towards Sombra, who was studying the battle that was going on in front of them, as he remembered what happened the time that the two of them had fought, "Sombra, on the other hand, was intimidating back when he invaded Soul Society and that's only with him having the ability to use his Bankai... so I can only imagine how intimidating his Resurreccion had to be for the first person that fought it. Between you and me, I'm more curious if he can combine the two, because a battle against both of his powers would be one for the ages. Besides, you do have some excellent reiatsu... I'm going to enjoy this."
Zaraki charged into battle once more and swung his Zanpakuto down at Nnoitra, who used one of the back arms to block the incoming attack with the blade it was carrying, before using the one that was below it to cut a diagonal gash into the Captain's chest, causing blood to fly for a moment. Despite hitting the sand, however, Nnoitra immediately assumed that his opponent was dead from the first attack and moved into a better position to attack the remaining three foes that were near him, though before he could do anything Zaraki's reiatsu surged once more and the group found his reiatsu taking the shape of a skull, the same one that Ichigo had seen during the final moments of their clash, before Zaraki swung down at him and forced Nnoitra to back off, minus his upper right arm. Of course that didn't last very long, as all Nnoitra had to do was focus his reiatsu and a new arm replaced the one he had lost, to which he surged forward and grabbed his missing weapon, arming himself will all four of them again as he charged at Zaraki once more. For a moment it seemed like Zaraki was on the ropes, as he couldn't quite handle four weapons at the same time and was knocked into one of the structures nearby, but when Nnoitra went to check on him Zaraki kicked at him and then forced him to guard with all four handle sections of his weapons... until Nnoitra revealed his next ability, as it turned out he had two hidden arms that he had been saving and the right one tore through Zaraki's side, coming out of his back in the process.
Once he removed his new hand from Zaraki's body, and let the Captain back up while coughing up some blood at the same time, Nnoitra revealed that both of his new hands could also wield the same weapon as his other hands did, as they shot out the weapons from their wrists and collected them, giving him six scythe-like weapons to do battle with.
"Hey Shinigami, your friends should join in the fun." Nnoitra shouted, though at the same time he charged forward and started swinging at Zaraki again, though since it was six weapons against one it was much harder for Zaraki to actually fight back... but when he glanced back at Ichigo, Grimmjow, and Nel for a moment, even if he got cut in the process, the three of them understood what he wanted from them.
While Nnoitra was focused on attacking Zaraki, who defended and attacked to the best of his ability, Grimmjow was the first to make his move, as he waited for the perfect opportunity to strike and it appeared when Nnoitra's defenses were lowered, to which he leveled his right elbow at the Quinto Espada and grinned. A few seconds later the five dark green crystalline darts that rested on each of his elbow, five on each one to be exact, launched themselves through the air and struck his target right in the back, causing him to stagger forward for a moment, making him pleased that his Garra de la Pantera, or Claw of the Panther, had such an effect on their opponent. The opening he created was to see just how much stronger his Hierro had gotten, allowing all four of them to sharpen their reiatsu accordingly, and Zaraki did just that, even though his first swing did nothing to actually hurt Nnoitra and he ended up getting cut in the process, but he just grinned and continued fighting back. Nel, despite this being the perfect time for her to show off her Resurreccion, held off on using her full power and used her already grand power to move through the air and attack Nnoitra whenever she desired, causing their foe to growl as he constantly switched from trying to behead her to cutting Zaraki, and then having to deal with Grimmjow appearing and disappearing. Ichigo's contribution to the battle, on the other hand, was a powerful Getsuga Tensho that Nnoitra blocked with all six of his weapons, even though he was wearing his mask, but, like last time, that was just a distraction that allowed Zaraki to continue testing his edge and figure out the necessary strength they needed now... and it was well worth it, because soon enough he was able to cut a small gash into Nnoitra's right cheek, which revealed the sharpness they needed to turn the tide of this battle in their favor.
Despite their discovery Nnoitra even cut a gash into Zaraki's neck, causing the Captain to knock him backwards for a moment as the others dropped down near him, as he looked like he might have an idea and that there was a chance that he needed them to assist him.
"At this rate, he'll end up killing me," Zaraki commented, as both sleeves of his Shinigami attire had been cut off and he had a number of cuts that were bleeding, though while Ichigo was surprised by this statement he did have one idea they could use to end the fight, "I've got no choice... I have to use Kendo. It's been a while since I've used it though, so can you stall him for a few moments?"
"Sure, I've got one more technique that might do the trick," Grimmjow said, to which he flexed his claws for a moment, as he had been waiting to use this particular technique against someone that wasn't Sombra, before he turned to the others, "I guess that means that we'll need the strongest Gran Rey Cero and Getsuga Tensho that the two of you can pull off to make sure he doesn't move anywhere besides in the direction that Zaraki is standing in."
Ichigo and Nel nodded before the three of them flashed away from where the Captain was standing, as Grimmjow placed himself high above Nnoitra's back, Nel positioned herself some distance to Nnoitra's left, and Ichigo did the same thing on their foe's right side. Grimmjow prepared himself as his reiatsu gathered for a few moments, especially since his claws glowed blue as he did so, before making a slashing motion with each of his arms, creating five large blades that were connected to his claws and happened to be made out of reishi. This was his strongest attack, Desgarron, meaning Laceration, and with ten blades he was capable of swinging all ten of them at the same time, to which he roared for a moment and swung his right arm towards Nnoitra, loosing the five blades that were attached to his claws, before doing the same thing with his left arm and let the remaining five blades follow the first pair. Nnoitra, glancing back for a second to see what was happening, used his uppermost arms and their weapons to block the incoming attack, which actually pushed him forward a little bit, but he smirked as he realized that he was definitely stronger than the traitorous Sexta Espada, to which he turned his attention back to his real opponent... but unfortunately that never happened, as he was forced to use his remaining right arms and weapons to block Ichigo's empowered Getsuga Tensho and his remaining left arms to stall Nelliel's pink Gran Rey Cero, boxing him into the position he was in as he battled three powerful techniques at the same time.
While all this was going on Zaraki remembered what he had been taught when the Captain-Commander forced him to attend a Kendo class, because wielding a weapon with two hands, as it turned out, make an attack much more powerful and it was because it made him even stronger that the lessons were stopped... but while Nnoitra was stuck in a single area he brought his Zanpakuto level with the middle of his body and grabbed it with both of his hands, before pulling his arms above his head and swung.
"Shit..." Nnoitra managed to say, as the moment he noticed what the Captain was doing, resulting in a wave of yellow energy barreling towards him, he realized that having all four of them fight him at the same time had been one of the dumbest moves had had ever made, and once Zaraki's attack hit him he lost the strength to hold the other three back, allowing him to be caught in an explosion that rocked the area around them.
When the smoke cleared at long last, and Ichigo, Grimmjow, and Nel had returned to Zaraki's side, they were allowed to see the damage that their combined assault had dealt to Nnoitra's body, though they were surprised to see that he was still standing, despite the fact that his left arms were missing, half of his left horn had been cleave clean off, and his body had nearly been cut in half, causing all the blood they were seeing around where he rested.
"You're still alive?" Zaraki inquired, as he was just as amazed as the others were, because that had to be the strongest attack he had used in a long time, much stronger than the ones he used in his fights against Ichigo and Sombra, and yet the Espada was still alive, "I've got to admit, you're one tough bastard, but this is where our battle ends. I'm not obliged to go out of my way and kill everyone I fight, I do it when I feel like it, and I'm not about to kill someone that clearly can't fight back and is going to die anyway."
"You know, if you bow your head now, Sombra will give you a place in his new kingdom and heal you," Grimmjow said, as Orihime could easily handle the wound that Zaraki had dealt to the Espada, and while he may not actually like Nnoitra he knew that Sombra wanted to save as many Arrancar as he could.
"As is... I'd serve... that weakling..." Nnoitra stated, to which he pushed himself back onto his feet and used some of his remaining reiatsu to generate the missing parts of his arms, though one of his right ones would have to be used to keep his body together as he continued the fight, "Lord Aizen will be the..."
In the following moments Sombra sighed and an elegant mirror appeared behind Nnoitra, causing the others to look at him in surprise as he appeared nearby and faced the defeated Espada, though just like last time his reiatsu flared as the surface rippled, to which the shadows burst forth and formed chains around all of Nnoitra's arms and his legs. The group watched as he banished the Quinto Espada to the Shadowlands, where he would spend the rest of his days in a realm of pure terror as he faced his own fears and nightmares, though once his target was gone Sombra closed the gate and let the mirror disappear until he needed it again. He glanced over to the Arrancar that had been following Nnoitra and noticed that Zaraki must have killed Tesra instantly, as his reiatsu was gone and his body was still, before he turned towards the group and readied himself, as two of them were eager to hear what he had to say.
"Grimmjow, Nel, Ichigo," Sombra said, to which the two Arrancar that were present stood at attention, causing Ichigo to do the same thing, while at the same time Orihime, Sora, and Zaraki stared at him, "As of right now the majority of our group is heading to the fifth tower of Las Noches, where Aizen's throne room is located, and where our foe might be waiting for us. What I want you to do is stay here for a few minutes and heal your wounds, especially you Zaraki, and then move out once you're ready to go, though while you're doing that I'm going to check on Rukia and see what's going on over there, as it appears that another Espada has moved into the area that she's laying in. Once I'm done checking up on her, and I'm sure that she's okay from her battle with Aaroniero, we'll join you and Szayelaporro's group for the final attack on our enemy's base... though if you find Aizen before that then make sure you contact me so I can take him out."
"Yes sir!" Grimmjow and Nel replied, their expressions showing Sombra that they were happy to actually be doing something for the greater good of Hueco Mundo, while at the same time Ichigo seemed confused as to what was going on at the moment, just like when they invaded Soul Society.
Sombra nodded his head and flashed through the air, heading back to the area that Aaroniero's palace was in and where Rukia was resting, because it appeared that there was one more enemy that needed to be taken out before they all started the main assault on Aizen's main base... and then, when Aizen and the remaining Espada had been taken out, or possibly recruited into the new order of this world, the war between the traitorous Captain and Soul Society would be over at long last.
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.
Ichigo was shocked by how quickly Sombra condemned those those female Arrancar to the Shadowlands, the strange and terrifying realm of terror that his friend had access to in his Resurreccion, and yet his friend seemed to be fine with it, as if being sent to that realm was a just punishment for trying to kill Orihime and Sora. Sure, he had been expecting Sombra to cut the two of them down and leave them in a pool of their own blood, just he did with a number of enemies that he had fought until he released his Arrancar Zanpakuto, but he honestly wasn't expecting that sort of reaction. At the same time he noticed that Ulquiorra was staring at Sombra as the elegant mirror floated away, as if he was curious as to what they had just seen, and he couldn't blame the Quatro Espada for being that way, not when he had been thinking the same thing, before he shook his head slightly and focused on the task at hand. Despite the fact that Sombra was standing nearby he had to defeat the Espada that was in front of them so they could get Orihime out of here, and that was without relying on the immense power that was coming from Sombra at the moment, which might be able to take out Ulquiorra before he even had a chance to use his Resurreccion.
With that thought in mind Ichigo readied himself, as he was eager to get the battle started once more, and Ulquiorra noticed his movements immediately, where he seemed to ready himself for the next attack that would be coming at him, but before either of them had a chance to attack they felt the floor shake for a few seconds.
"What's that?" Ichigo inquired, though at the same time the shaking was followed by a few sounds that resembled the floors beneath them being broken, just like he had done when he raced up to where Orihime and Ulquiorra were standing, and yet both Sombra and Ulquiorra seemed to know something that he didn't know, which annoyed him.
Not even a moment later the sounds stopped as another hole was punched into the floor near where Ulquiorra and Ichigo were standing, one that was larger than Ichigo's hole, and Sombra watched as Yammy, who seemed a bit larger than the last time he had seen him, stepped out of the hole he had made and grinned.
"Ulquiorra! I came to pitch in!" Yammy loudly said, though as he said that he finished pulling himself out of the hole and stood on the floor that everyone else was standing on, causing Ichigo to actually worry now that he was here, while at the same time Sombra still didn't move, as he could best the Diez Espada with little effort.
"When did I ask for your help, Yammy?" Ulquiorra inquired, to which he glanced back at the Arrancar that had come up to the floor that they were fighting on, as it was worth making sure that the oaf had an order to follow, even though he knew something about Yammy that none of the invaders knew.
"Don't be such a wet blanket." Yammy said, though even as he spoke he noticed Ichigo standing nearby and his grin seemed to widen even more than it had been earlier, which wasn't a good sign to those that were watching him, "Hey, it looks like that Shinigami brat has toughened up a bit since the last time we fought. Lemme have a turn with him."
"Oh? It appears that you have made a full recover, then." Ulquiorra stated, indicating that it must have taken some time for the larger Espada to recover from his arm being severed and that it was likely back to a hundred percent, even though Sombra still wasn't concerned by this news, "Regardless, I'm afraid that your job lies elsewhere. You can either go back to sleep or head down to the bottom of the tower, where there are a number of Captain-class Shinigami, as well as a few Lieutenants and some traitorous Arrancar, attacking the guardians of the tower."
"Traitors?!" Yammy asked, as if the thought of some Arrancar defecting from Aizen's side had never occurred to him before, but that was followed by his grin remaining on his face as he looked at Ulquiorra was once, telling Sombra that he was interested in what was happening, "Anyone we know?"
"Grimmjow, Szayelaporro, and apparently the revived Nelliel." Ulquiorra replied, though at the same time he was still impressed that Sombra had been able to find and restore the former Tres Espada to her former level of power, not to mention getting her and two of the current Espada to bend their knees to him.
"You kidding me? Grimmjow's an enemy?!" Yammy said, to which Sombra noted that Yammy's tone indicated that he was even more excited about what was going on, meaning that he might be looking for a fight and that he might leave to seek one out, before he looked at Ichigo again, "Awesome! But before that, why don't you let me have a turn with him? Don't try to gyp me, Ulquiorra!"
"Your greatest weakness is how selfish you become in that state, Yammy." Ulquiorra stated, telling the group that Yammy had some issues and that they effected his personality, which meant that whatever was happening to the Diez Espada was making him more selfish than he normally was, meaning that Sombra needed to keep an eye on him before he did anything dangerous, "Though if you're that eager for a fight, then maybe you should challenge Sombra to one."
"What? He's here too?" Yammy asked, to which he turned his head and found Sombra standing near one of the pillars, where Orihime was standing since she wanted to protect Ichigo, and his grin seemed to sour for a moment, as if recalling the beating that Sombra had given him back in the World of the Living, and that was before he got his Arrancar Zanpakuto back and regained the power that had been his, "Cool! I'd love to beat you into a pulp!"
"Too bad you won't get the chance." Sombra replied, because he had felt the reiatsu of one of their friends rapidly approaching where they were standing and had positioned himself near one of the holes that rested in the side of the tower, as he could see outside and knew that Yammy wouldn't notice someone coming until it was too late.
Yammy, instead of waiting to see what he might be talking about, raised his hand and tried to strike Sombra down where he stood, though before his hand even reached him a Quincy arrow flashed through the opening that was nearby and stopped the hand in it's tracks by hitting Yammy's right shoulder... and, like Sombra had felt, Uryu appeared in the hole that had been blasted into the side of the tower, where he looked at the people in front of him and knew exactly what he was going to do to help Ichigo out.
"Uryu?" Ichigo asked, though at the same time he noticed that Ulquiorra seemed to be waiting for something special to happen, because despite the number of times his defenses were lowered the Esapda seemed to be uninterested in attacking when he foolishly lowered his guard, "What are you doing here?"
"Get your act together, Kurosaki, and focus on your opponent... I can handle this one myself." Uryu stated, though at the same time he jumped into the area that they were standing in and touched the floor, where he smiled as he faced the direction that Ichigo and Sombra were in, "As you no doubt know, Rukia and the others are still fighting outside, as they've engaged an Arrancar called Rudbornn Chelute and his army of loyal followers, while Grimmjow is leading the other Arrancar in a mission to convert a number of the attacking Hollows into allies for our side. I thought he was insane for even wanting to try, but it appears that I was mistaken, as some of the more intelligent Hollows are flocking to his side, to join the true ruler of Hueco Mundo... and that also includes a second sand Hollow called Battikaroa, whose the Sand Guardian of Las Noches, so you've got another guardian for your future palace."
Sombra nodded his head, as it was good to hear that there were intelligent Hollows that were flocking to the tower, even the one that was supposed to be guarding it, and that they just so happened to be following Grimmjow's example, falling in line to avoid annoying him. It was sad that Rudbornn didn't want to follow the others, but then again it seemed like he was fiercely loyal to Aizen and that the only way one might be able to break him was if he unlocked his true power as the Dios Hueco, but instead of focusing on that he and Uryu noticed that Yammy was getting back up, meaning that his fight with Uryu was far from over. The first thing that Uryu did was comment on how thick Yammy's Hierro was, since one of his arrows, with all the power he had put into it, hadn't been able to do all that much damage and had barely pierced Yammy's skin, before declaring that the two of them would be opponents and jumped into the hole that Yammy had come from, to which the Diez Espada grinned and followed after him, allowing Ichigo to continue his battle with Ulquiorra. As the battle resumed, and Ichigo continued in vain to try and pierce Ulquiorra's defense, Sombra kept some of his senses open for what was happening on the floor below them, as he was interested in feeling what Uryu was up to and what sort of plan he had for Yammy.
He could tell that Yammy enjoyed using his Bala technique, as he was firing them at Uryu and even took some more arrows in the process, but for the most part it seemed like the Diez Espada was falling for whatever plan Uryu had come up with. When Sombra focused on the battle in front of him, however, he found that Ichigo still refused to use all of his power and summon his mask, and it wasn't because of the fact that he was present, he was just afraid that Orihime might get hurt by his reiatsu and wasn't willing to pull out the mask while she was so close. That was an annoying thing to think about, that Ichigo didn't trust the fact that he'd protect Orihime from any stray bits of his heavy reiatsu, but in the end Sombra didn't let it get to him, because while it was a little annoying that Ichigo didn't trust him at the moment he knew that there was someone else that was more annoyed with Ichigo than he could ever be. Eventually his attention returned to the hole that Uryu and Yammy went down as he felt a wild surge of reiatsu coming from the level below them, one that was followed by an explosion and Yammy cursing... and he could hear Uryu claiming that he had done Yammy in before another explosion occurred, and that was followed by Yammy cursing as his voice got softer and softer, like he was falling towards the lower end of the tower.
A few moments later Uryu jumped back up to the floor that Sombra, Ichigo, Ulquiorra, and Orihime were on, stopping the fight once more as Ichigo turned and looked back at him, though at the same time Sombra knew that Yammy wasn't entirely defeated, but he could be happy that the Diez Espada was out of the way for now.
"What's with that expression, Kurosaki? Do I look like a ghost to you?" Uryu asked, though it was mostly because he noticed that Ichigo seemed relieved to see him, as if he thought that the explosions were actually him getting hurt, "That explosion just now came from a special mine that Kurotsuchi gave me, one that's designed to activate when an Arrancar sets off its reiatsu sensor. Everything went according to my plan, as Yammy never suspected that I was leading him towards the mine, especially since I made sure that the explosion would allow him to fall all the way down to the ground level of this tower. Any other questions?"
"I never asked any to begin with... you just started talking on your own." Ichigo said, though at the same time he let out a light chuckle, as it was good to have Uryu up here as well, especially since that meant the could do what he was planning on doing, "Take care of Orihime for me. If any of my reiatsu gets through her shield, protect her with your body if you have to."
"I don't need you to tell me that, Kurosaki." Uryu replied, though at the same time he moved closer to Orihime, to show that he understood what Ichigo was talking about, while Sombra stared at Ichigo, since he knew that the true battle between him and Ulquiorra was going to start soon.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Ulquiorra." Ichigo stated, though at the same time he focused on the Espada in front of him and raised his left hand towards his face, the sign that he was getting ready to put on his mask and fight for real, as this was the only way he had the necessary power to defeat one of the Espada, "Here it comes. This is the Hollowfication that you wanted to see so badly."
Sombra watched as Ichigo pulled his hand back and his mask formed with an intensity that shook the immediate area around his friend for a moment, though that was instantly followed by Ichigo charging forward, with a Getsuga Tensho wrapped around the blade of his Zanpakuto, before he swung at Ulquiorra. The interesting thing was that his Hollowfied strike was enough to crack Ulquiorra's blade, as Sombra was sure that he was Zangetsu bite into Ulquiorra's Zanpakuto, and the force of the attack knocked the Espada backwards, who did a backflip as he stared at Ichigo, who used the rest of his swing to blast another new hole in the side of the tower. Ulquiorra seemed to think that fighting outside the tower was a better idea and let himself fall through the new hole, luring Ichigo outside as he fired a Cero at him, but in the end he lowered his eyes a little when he found that Ichigo had used the edge of Zangetsu to stop the attack and wasn't even phased by his ability to remain unharmed. In the following moments Ulquiorra changed tactics, as he flashed behind Ichigo and headed towards the ceiling, causing Ichigo to turn around and follow after him as they flew through the air, and Sombra followed behind him as well, as he was curious as to what the Quatro Espada was doing... before Ulquiorra reached the ceiling and swung his Zanpakuto at it, carving a hole into it that almost resembled a Garganta.
When the three of them passed through the hole Sombra immediately spotted the change from the day filled interior of Las Noches to the night environment that was Hueco Mundo, complete with the moon that never changed positions, and he landed near where Ichigo landed, before glancing up at the top of the pillar that was in front of them and found Ulquiorra standing on top of it, where he stared down at the two of them.
"Is this... the top of Las Noches' roof?" Ichigo inquired, as it appeared that it took longer for him to recognize where they were than it took Sombra to figure it out, though at the same time he was also ignoring the Espada for a moment, which confirmed one of his weaknesses once more.
"That's correct." Ulquiorra said, causing Ichigo to turn around and glance at the top of the tower, where his foe was waiting for him to notice him so he could explain what was going on, and he was fortunate that Sombra was present as well, so he wouldn't have to explain this twice, "There are two things that we, the Espada, are prohibited from doing within Las Noches. The first is the Cero that is reserved for the Espada, the Gran Rey Cero. The second is that the Espada with the ranks Quatro and higher releasing their Zanpakuto. Both are so powerful that they could destroy Las Noches."
It was in that moment that Ulquiorra shifted his right hand and pointed the tip of his Zanpakuto down towards Ichigo, though at the same time Sombra knew what was coming, as the explanation told him that the Resurreccions of him and the three Espada above him were so powerful that they might destroy Las Noches.
"Enclose, Murcielago." Ulquiorra stated, revealing that he fully intended to unleash his Resurreccion and that he was going to fight Ichigo with all of his strength, though that was before he was consumed by a burst of black and green reiatsu that fell on the area around them like a green colored rain.
When that was over Ichigo and Sombra found that Ulquiorra's appearance had changed, as large bat wings had formed on his back, looking like he could actually use them to fly around the area that they were in, and his mask had also changed, as his Hollow mask was centered on his head and had two large horns, one on either side of his head. Sombra also noticed that Ulquiorra's hair had grown longer and wider than it previously was, since it now reached the middle of his back by the looks of it, while the lines on his face had turned black and became broader, and more triangular, than what they were in his sealed form, and his fingernails had lengthened as well. In addition to all that his Arrancar attire had changed as well, as it was more form fitting and closed at the top, while at the same time becoming more like a robe towards the bottom, though Sombra knew that Ichigo was stunned by the sudden change in Ulquiorra's appearance while he, on the other hand, was interested in what was going to happen next when the Espada resumed the battle. What impressed Sombra was the sheer power of the reiatsu that was coming from Ichigo's foe, as it was much greater than what he had been thinking it would be, and he knew that if Ichigo wasn't careful he'd have to step in to prevent his friend from dying a very painful death.
"Don't get shaken." Ulquiorra said, though his voice caused Ichigo to hold Zangetsu at the ready, indicating that he was fully prepared for the next part of their battle, even though Sombra knew that Ulquiorra had something more to say before he attacked, "Don't drop your guard. Stay fully alert. Don't get distracted for a single moment."
What happened next further impressed Sombra and made him happy that he was still in his Resurreccion, as the instant he stopped speaking Ulquiorra flexed his right hand a bit and a green energy javelin formed in his right hand a second after the gesture was made, which was followed by his flashing down to the area right in front of Ichigo, causing his eyes to widen as he realized what was going on... and a burst of green energy rocked the area before Ulquiorra appeared behind Ichigo, who was kneeling on the ground and huffing. The reason that had happened was because part of his mask had been cut off in the process of Ulquiorra's attack, and it was surrounded by blood, but Sombra knew that the reason Ichigo had survived the attack was because he used a Getsuga Tensho to block his head being removed, hence the explosion Sombra had seen a few seconds ago.
"You released your Getsuga Tensho on instinct." Ulquiorra commented, to which he turned a little and glanced at the wounded form of Ichigo for a moment, as he was slightly impressed by the skills that his foe was in the process of learning and developing, even if didn't matter for this fight, "Wise move. If you hadn't done that, your head would be rolling by my feet right now. I will admit that your Hollowfication powers are increasing, as you are now able to maintain your mask for longer spans of time. But it broke so easily... what a pity."
Sombra watched as Ichigo seemed to freeze for a moment, as he was observing Ulquiorra as the Espada raised his right hand and hurled the javelin like it was supposed to be thrown, and he was proven right when Ichigo moved out of the way a little to avoid the attack, before a second one that he hadn't seen hit him in the upper area of his right shoulder, which knocked him backwards with the force of the attack. As Ichigo was forced backwards he embedded Zangetsu in the floor beneath his feet and tried to stop himself from moving, while also using his hand to restore the fragment of his mask that was missing, before Ulquiorra flew after him, confirming that his wings allowed him to fly. Ulquiorra quickly caught up with him and swung the new javelin he had created at Ichigo, this time using it as a melee weapon that allowed him to remain close to Ichigo as his tremendous power pushed him away from the hole he had made earlier, even though Sombra had no problems keeping pace with them so he could see what happened before even attempting to convince Ichigo to switch places with him.
"Ichigo Kurosaki, hit me with your Getsuga Tensho." Ulquiorra stated, to which a look a surprise appeared in Ichigo's eyes for a moment, as it was interesting to have a foe telling him what he should be doing in the middle of a fight, "Try to hit me with it. Your ultimate form as allowed you to fight on par with the Espada. Hit me with your Getsuga Tensho, if it truly is your ultimate technique. I shall show you the difference in our strength."
"Hit you with a Getsuga Tensho?! Give me a break!" Ichigo snapped, to which he forced Ulquiorra back a little and stood still, allowing the Espada to climb to a decent height before staring down at him, while at the same time Sombra came to a stop nearby as well, "I don't need you telling me how to use my own attacks!"
Sombra would have sighed at that, because Ulquiorra had provoked Ichigo into doing exactly what he wanted, but at the same time he was interested in what the Espada was trying to pull and watched as Ichigo let a powerful Getsuga Tensho form around his blade... but when he swung it at Ulquiorra, however, the attack looked like it hit a barrier or something before eventually tearing itself apart and dissipating, leaving Ulquiorra unharmed.
"As I thought, you're still stuck at the Human level." Ulquiorra commented, indicating that he had been carefully watching Ichigo and had been thinking about his powers, since he first put on the mask when they battled earlier, and now he was confirming his thoughts, "Interestingly enough, your black Getsuga Tensho is similar to our Cero."
"Cero?" Ichigo inquired, though his tone revealed that he was trying to figure out why Ulquiorra would make that sort of statement, even though Sombra recalled the one that he had used against Yammy and understood that there might be some similarities between the two attacks, before he glared at Ulquiorra like he was angry, "Don't even associate me with that crap!"
"It seems that you have forgotten what happened when Yammy and I first came to your world." Ulquiorra said, as that had been when Sombra showed off just what sort of Cero he was capable of firing in his sealed state, even if that made him wonder what his released Cero looked like, before he pointed his left pointer finger at Ichigo and let black strands with a green outline start to form a small sphere in front of his finger, "Let me show it to you again, before you die. This is one of the types of Cero that the Espada can use in their Resurreccions... Cero Oscuras."
A few seconds later Ulquiorra fired the Cero Oscuras at Ichigo and the entire area around Ichigo was engulfed in darkness for a moment, even though Sombra could see his mask shattering under the pressure of the attack and likely did a good amount of damage to him in the process. When he noticed Ichigo again he found that the majority of the jacket part of his Bankai had been destroyed, as only the right sleeve and part of the front and back of it was intact, while at the same time it appeared that he was missing part of the lower section of his attire, the part that covered his left leg. What was interesting about the explosion was that it actually, somehow, knocked Ichigo into the air, as if Ulquiorra had been planning that the entire time, and he certainly took advantage of the situation and used one of his wings to knock Ichigo through the air, sending him crashing into one of the pillars and created a little room for him to lay in, just like he did to him earlier, during their last encounter. At the same time Sombra floated into the air and remained nearby, as he knew that the time had come for Ichigo to stop being stubborn and let him assist him, because at the rate he was going he was going to end up dead, especially since Ulquiorra might have learned from his last mistake when he punched a hole in Ichigo's sternum and he recovered thanks to Orihime's assistance.
"Now do you understand?" Ulquiorra asked, though as he spoke he stepped on the air that was beneath his feet and slowly walked over to where Ichigo was attempting to pull himself up into a position where he could fight, while also giving him time to talk before the next attack was thrown, "Your form and attacks may resemble an Arrancar, but our powers are worlds apart. It is reasonable for a Human or a Shinigami to copy a Hollow once they've grown to a certain point of power, but even then a Human could never stand as an equal to a Hollow."
When Ulquiorra reached Ichigo both he and Sombra noticed that the black and yellow combination that came with the Hollow mask faded from Ichigo's eyes, as his mask was gone at this point, and he tried to attack Ulquiorra again, resulting in him being thrown through the wall as Ulquiorra swung his javelin at him, sending him flying through the air. Ulquiorra then followed after Ichigo, noticing that he was still holding onto his Zanpakuto despite the injuries that he was gaining from even attempting to fight, where he swung at Ichigo again and knocked him backwards, causing him to collide with some falling rubble and shattered it into a large number of smaller fragments. Before Ichigo could even understand what was going on, or even attempt to get his focus back, Ulquiorra appeared below him and struck him with the javelin once more, sending him flying through the air and caused him to collide with the side of one of the pillars, only for Ichigo to bounce towards the top of that same pillar and come to a stop on the top, where Ulquiorra landed near him and Sombra flashed into the air nearby to observe... even though it ended in Ulquiorra holding Ichigo by the part of his jacket that hadn't been ruined, meaning that he was looking for something besides Ichigo's defeat.
"Why don't you drop your sword?" Ulquiorra inquired, as that was the reason he had been attacking Ichigo like he had been, because he refused to drop his Zanpakuto when the gap in their individual powers was so great, before he glanced to the side and stared at Sombra for a few seconds, "Why don't you call for aid, against an opponent you cannot defeat? Do you still believe that you can defeat me, without assistance, despite the clear difference in our strength?
"Who cares... whose stronger..." Ichigo managed to say, though at the same time he shifted his eyes down so he could stare into Ulquiorra's eyes, especially since he planned on fighting to the bitter end if he had to, "Did you think I'd give up because you're stronger than me? I knew you were strong from the very beginning, since the day you and Yammy first came to the World of the Living. Showing off your strength now doesn't change anything! I... I'll beat... you... Ulquiorra..."
"Ichigo, you need to bow out and switch with me." Sombra stated, causing the two of them to glance over at him for a moment, as he was growing tired of this and wanted to make sure that nothing happened to his friend, because at the rate he was going he wasn't going to be alive much longer, "Ulquiorra is clearly too much for you to handle, so you need to step back and ask for help."
"No! I'm fine!" Ichigo stated, causing Sombra to frown for a moment while Ulquiorra stared at him with what could have been a look of confusion, as if he didn't understand what Ichigo was doing right now, and Sombra had to admit that Ichigo was being incredibly stubborn right now, "I'll... I'll beat him... on my own..."
"Nonsense." Ulquiorra said, to which he tossed Ichigo forward and let him hit the rock that had been brought up here thanks to his collision with the side of the pillar, though at the same time Sombra noticed that Ulquiorra's reiatsu was building and knew that Ichigo was definitely in trouble, "Ichigo Kurosaki, those are the words of a man that is ignorant of true despair. Allow me to educate you... behold true despair."
As Ulquiorra mentioned that he was going to 'educate' Ichigo his reiatsu started to pour out of the area around him once more, retaining the black and green color they knew, and Sombra watched as parts of him started to change as his white Arrancar attire was completely devoured by what he was doing, revealing his slender white torso that now bared a marking that looked like black blood was dripping from his Hollow hole and his Espada number had disappeared. His waist became covered in something that Sombra guessed was similar to black fur, which happened to cover both of the Espada's arms and legs, while his fingers grew claw-like extensions and his feet shifted to resemble talons. The irises of his eyes turned yellow as the sclera become green, while at the same time the tear-like marks under his eyes increased in size once more, as well as completely turning black. The most interesting part of the transformation was that Ulquiorra's mask was completely gone and that what had once been horns had transformed into two large bat ears, though he also had some of the black fur-like substance create two fluffy tail-like extensions, one pointed to the left and the other to the right, and he even possessed a long tail that he could likely use in battle.
If it weren't for the fact that his own reiatsu was so powerful and overwhelming to those that he had met, and the fact that he was the King of Darkness that had inspired fear and despair in his enemies, Sombra would have felt Ulquiorra's now immense and powerful reiatsu install despair into his own heart, but he stood his ground and focused on the battle, as he knew that it would be over soon enough.
"Resurreccion: Segunda Etapa." Ulquiorra said, to which Sombra immediately understood that this was a second release for his true form, meaning that his power was going to be even greater than his previous state and that Ichigo really had no chance of victory, while at the same time Ichigo pushed himself to stand once more, "I am the only Espada that has developed a second release. Even Lord Aizen has not seen me in this form. Yet despite this, you still have the will to keep fighting?"
Sombra glanced at Ichigo, who swallowed for a moment as he focused on what Ulquiorra was doing, and noticed that his friend was terrified of what was going on, showing that he might not be as dense as he thought he was, as he still felt some fear and it showed when he noticed that his hands were trembling, and he knew Ulquiorra had seen it as well.
"Very well, I shall turn your body to dust if that's what it takes," Ulquiorra said, to which he shifted his right leg to the side for a moment and knelt close to the top of the pillar, showing Sombra that he was taking a new stance for the next part of the battle, before he glanced at Ichigo for a moment, "to make you understand."
Not even a second later Ulquiorra leapt forward and seemed like he was going to attack Ichigo from the front, causing him to raise his Zanpakuto in response to guard the area in front of him, but Ulquiorra then moved himself so fast that he came from Ichigo's right, passing by him and grabbing onto the side of Ichigo's head with his right hand, which allowed Ulquiorra to hurl Ichigo through the air with ease. As Ichigo flew through the air, and collided with the top part of one of the other pillars, Ulquiorra walked to the edge of the pillar that he was standing on and stared at the dust for a few seconds, but when he found that Ichigo was trying to push himself up again he spread his wings and took to the air, to which he zeroed in on his target and readied himself once more. Ichigo, seeing him coming, tried to swing Zangetsu at his foe and Ulquiorra moved out of the way, before landing behind him and attacked him again, where the force of his palm knocked Ichigo into the air and then he used his tail to not only shatter the part of the pillar below Ichigo, but also send him flying back towards the pillar he had thrown him from.
While all of this happened Ichigo seemed to find time to pull his mask back onto his face and empower himself once more, though at the same time Sombra knew that it wouldn't help that much now, not with the power that Ulquiorra was putting out in his Segunda Etapa state.
"You're a fool, Ichigo Kurosaki." Ulquiorra stated, though at the same time he flew after Ichigo, displaying the fact that his power was more than enough to overpower Ichigo and that there wasn't much he could do to stop him, while also striking Ichigo and sending him even closer to the other pillar, "You hope to fight and defeat an opponent whose strength is so great, it terrifies you. You also hope to defeat such an opponent without calling for aid... that's incomprehensible."
Ulquiorra followed that up by nearing Ichigo and pressed his open right hand against Zangetsu's edge, forcing it back into Ichigo's face as he shattered his Hollow mask and sent him flying through the tops of one pillar, before he collided with the top of a second pillar that was some distance behind that one.
"If you are doing this because you have a soul, then souls do nothing more than injure Humans." Ulquiorra said, to which he raised his right hand in front of his face and slowly closed it into a fist, as if he was crushing something that meant nothing to him, while keeping his focus on Ichigo's location, "You will die because of your soul."
"Ichigo, you should really consider switching with me." Sombra said, as he knew that now was the best moment for his friend to admit defeat and escape death, because if Ichigo did that then he would gladly step in and show Ulquiorra why he was the Dios Hueco.
"No! Thanks for the concern, Sombra, but I've got this." Ichigo stated, where the smoke cleared and both Sombra and Ulquiorra found that he was standing on a lone piece of the top of the pillar that had survived the collision that he had been involved in, "Besides, I'm not fighting because I want to win... I'm fighting because I have to win."
"Nonsense." Ulquiorra said, to which he decided to end this part of the battle as Sombra brought his palm to his face, as he couldn't believe that his friend was this dense, and he flashed forward, where he wrapped his tail around Ichigo's neck and pulled him down to the top of the one pillar that wasn't even damaged.
Sombra sighed as he landed nearby, because he couldn't believe that this was actually happening when Ichigo could have avoided this fate, and the only reason he wasn't stepping in to stop what was coming next was because he could feel Zangetsu stirring... and before Ulquiorra could do anything Uryu, riding a light blue disc that was formed from his flight skill, came up to where they were and both he and Orihime jumped off, only for Orihime's eyes to widen when she looked up at the pillar that Ichigo was being choked on.
"So you came, woman." Ulquiorra commented, as he had been torn between whether or not Orihime would have come up here to check on Ichigo, even if she had help in getting up here, though what he was more interested in was the fact that Sombra was actually letting him get away with this, before raising his right pointer finger up so it was level with Ichigo's chest as he started to form a Cero Oscuras, "Perfect timing. Watch carefully, as the man that you entrusted all your hope is about to die."
Just as Orihime screamed out the word 'NO', at the top of her lungs, Ulquiorra proceeded to fire the Cero Oscuras and blasted a hole in Ichigo's chest, effectively killing him in the process as a shocked look graced his face and would remain there for some time. That was followed by Ulquiorra releasing Ichigo's body from the hold that his tail had and let him fall, where Sombra flashed into the air, grabbed his friend's body, and then flashed down to where Orihime was standing, knowing that it would take a moment or two for Zangetsu to make his move, while noticing that Ichigo's Zanpakuto landed near where they were standed.
"I... I can't believe you didn't stop this from happening." Uryu said, as he was under the impression that Sombra could have stopped Kurosaki from being killed by Ulquiorra, if something bad had happened during the battle, and yet here they were, staring at the dead body of their friend.
"Oh trust me, I tried to stop him from fighting a battle he wasn't ready for," Sombra replied, though at the same time he stopped both Orihime and Uryu from rushing to Ichigo's side, as he could feel the reiatsu starting to build and knew what was coming, "besides, if I'm right about what's coming next, he'll be back on his feet in no time and will know that sometimes it's okay to ask for help when you're overwhelmed."
"Nonsense. Ichigo Kurosaki is dead." Ulquiorra said, to which he flew down to where they were standing and landed nearby, as he was keeping his distance between himself and the other Arrancar, because a fight between them would likely break out at some point, meaning that attacking the other two was pointless.
"True, Ichigo is dead." Sombra stated, though as he said that the nearby shadows moved and picked up both Orihime and Uryu, pulling them off to the side so they wouldn't be in the way for what came next, which was when he felt Zangetsu's reiatsu start to spill out of Ichigo's body with nothing to hold it back, "Zangetsu, on the other hand... well, I think I'll be quiet and let him do the talking for himself."
Just as he said that a surge of reiatsu engulfed Ichigo's body, covering it for a few seconds, and when it died down a few moments later Sombra glanced back as the others stared at what was going on, as it appeared that he was the only one that had noticed what was going on with his friend's body. The first thing he noticed was that Ichigo's short hair had grown longer and straighter, reaching down to his waist, and that his Hollow hole, which was where Ulquiorra blew out Ichigo's heart, was decorated with markings that stretched from the hole across his chest and shoulders. He now possessed retractable claws on both his fingertips and his toes, with small furry red tufts, two starting from his collarbone and stretching around his neck and one on each of his wrists and ankles, and white skin that definitely belonged to a Hollow. In this form his Hollow mask was different, as it now covered Ichigo's entire head, and the markings were different, for it had four spike-shaped marks, two of them stopping by the forehead and the other two stretching past the eyes and teeth, going past his chin and joining with the marks on his chest. There were small marks resembling a heart, but with the top and bottom open, extending from the inner corners of his eyes, and the mask even featured two long forward-pointing horns, with black strips extending from their center towards the tips.
Sombra had to admit that Zangetsu looked intimidating, though when he felt the sheer power of his reiatsu dying down for the moment he knew that it was a good thing, because his reiatsu indicated that Zangetsu was actually a Vasto Lorde ranked Hollow, one that just happened to be at Ulquiorra's level... possibly even greater than that since they had no idea what sort of power was lurking within his body.
"Impossible. You can't be alive." Ulquiorra said, his tone revealing that he had no idea what was going on and that he hadn't seemed to have noticed the difference in the feel of Ichigo's reiatsu, which was Zangetsu's reiatsu at the moment, and he took a few steps away from where he had been standing while observing his opponent, "How have you taken that form? Who are you?"
Zangetsu barely moved as his opened his right hand, to which his blade pulled itself from the ground and flipped through the air as it came back to his hand, an indicator that the battle was getting ready to begin and Sombra moved back to where Orihime and Uryu were standing... though a few seconds later Zangetsu caught his blade and swung it towards the ground, causing part of the immediate area of Las Noches' roof to crack and buckle under the sheer power that he was generating.
"Didn't you hear me?" Ulquiorra asked, though at the same time he stood his ground and faced his opponent, as he was surprised by the sudden gust of wind that had accompanied his foe's action, even though his face remained the same as it had been earlier, "I want to know who you are."
"Oh, I heard you." Zangetsu replied, as it was his voice that came from behind the mask and not Ichigo's, surprising both Orihime and Uryu in the process, since they weren't familiar with what happened between Ichigo and the spirit of his Zanpakuto, before his reiatsu started to form a red aura around him, "I'm ZANGETSU!!!!"
The moment he finished saying his name Zangetsu let out a roar that was focused on his reiatsu, causing the entire area around him to shake as Uryu wondered if his friend had suddenly transformed into a monster based on his new appearance and the roar. As the reiatsu died down, and the air stopped shaking, Ulquiorra raised his right pointer finger and let it face Zangetsu as he charged a Cero Oscuras, intending to finish the next stage of their battle before it could even begin, before a look of pure shock flashed onto his face as Zangetsu moved his upper body like he was bowing and pointed his horns at Ulquiorra, where a crimson red Cero formed between them. Not even a second later Zangetsu fired his Cero and let it collide with Ulquiorra's Cero Oscuras, where Sombra watched as Zangetsu's attack devoured Ulquiorra's and kicked up a large amount of fire and smoke from the two Ceros colliding with each other. The pillar of flame and smoke went high into the air above them, showing just how much power Zangetsu had packed into his attack despite only charging it for a few seconds, and Ulquiorra pulled himself out of the smoke so he could stare at the destruction, even though Sombra could tell that he was trying to figure out how all of this was happening, since he likely believed that it was Ichigo he was fighting and not a true Hollow. Just to prove that it actually happened Zangetsu flashed into the air that was behind Ulquiorra, while putting some space between the two of them, and immediately charged up a second Cero, where not even a few seconds later there was another collision as Ulquiorra fired his Cero Oscuras at it and repeated what had just happened not even a minute ago... and this time, when he emerged from the flames, Zangetsu appeared behind him and caught his left hand as it reached out to punch him, before swinging his blade down and severed his left arm halfway up from where his left elbow rested, which he proceeded to hit him with and knock him to the ground.
In addition to all of that happening Zangetsu roared once more, just to show that he wasn't to be underestimated, and Ulquiorra landed nearby and let some of his blood drip onto the ground beneath his feet, before growling as he focused his reiatsu, causing the stump to shake before he actually regenerated his arm, shocking both Orihime and Uryu while Sombra raised an eyebrow in interest.
"My greatest attribute isn't my offensive capabilities, but my regeneration powers." Ulquiorra explained, as he knew that some of them would be interested in what had happened to him, though at the same time he flexed his fingers and made sure that his new hand and arm were in working order, before glaring at his opponent, "Unlike the other Arrancar, who have lost the majority of their regenerative abilities, I saved the ability to quickly regenerate everything but my brain and internal organs, instead of sacrificing it for brute strength like the others. I don't know how you transformed into that state, Ichigo Kurosaki, but you'll never defeat me, even with this power boost of yours, if you stop and stare at me after tearing off a single arm."
As he said that Ulquiorra brought his hands together, with an oval or circular shaped opening between the palms of his hands, that he poured some of his reiatsu into, as a green sphere started to form between his hands, though a few seconds later, when he was ready, he pulled his arms back and the green sphere expanded out into the form of a glowing javelin that was much larger and more powerful than the smaller ones that he had been using in his previous form.
"Lanza del Relampago!" Ulquiorra said, to which Sombra understood the name as 'Lance of the Lightning' in Spanish, before the Espada grabbed it and took a stance that made it look like he was going to throw the weapon at Zangetsu, who was also staring at it as he waited to see what happened next, "Stay away from me. Stay where you are. I would prefer not to set this off near me."
With that said Ulquiorra brought his arm back and threw the Lanza del Relampago through the air, where Sombra watched as it raced towards Zangetsu and went right by his head, as Zangetsu didn't move at all and the lance came within a few inches of hitting the side of his head, before the lance flew out into the distance and struck the ground... producing a massive explosion that dwarfed the size of Las Noches and produced a gust of wind that belonged to a storm, maybe a powerful tornado or a low level hurricane.
"I missed. It truly is hard to control." Ulquiorra commented, his tone revealing that he could produce some incredible attacks while he was in his released state or his Segunda Etapa form, only he had problems controlling the trajectory of his lances, before his held his left hand out for a moment and a new Lanza del Relampago formed above his palm.
Zangetsu, despite the power that the Espada was showing off, flashed through the air using Sonido and reappeared a few steps behind Ulquiorra, who turned around in shock as he realized that he hadn't even felt his opponent move with his Pesquisa, further confirming that Zangetsu was incredibly powerful in his own right since he could move on a level that Ulquiorra couldn't follow. As all of that raced through Ulquiorra's mind, however, Zangetsu made his move, as he swung his right arm and let the edge of his blade connect with the edge of his opponent's lance, the impact forcing Ulquiorra to move backwards in a defensive position as his feet tore through the ground, but instead of following after him Zangetsu flashed up to the top of the nearby pillar and made it look like he was going to fly down the side of it to attack him again. Ulquiorra noticed this and flared his wings, allowing him to take flight as he sailed along the edge of the pillar with his lance in his left hand, but before he could even reach the top of the pillar Zangetsu flashed through the air and appeared near his opponent, where he used his empty left hand and pressed it against Ulquiorra's head, slamming him into the side of the pillar and breaking parts of it off in the process. Zangetsu then raised his blade into the air and swung it down on his opponent, the force of his attack destroying a good portion of the pillar and forced Ulquiorra into the air, to which Zangetsu flashed onto the surface of one of the falling fragments of the pillar and kicked off it as he soared towards his enemy, who used his lance to defend himself as the two of them engaged in aerial combat.
Despite the fact that Sombra could still follow what was going on, neither Orihime or Uryu were having the same luck that he was having, as both Ulquiorra and Zangetsu were flashing through the air and attacking each other at speeds that were making it impossible for his friends to see what was happening above their heads.
It really became interesting when Ulquiorra tried to fire another Cero Oscuras at Zangetsu, as the Hollow flashed behind his foe and knocked him down into the top of the undamaged pillar, letting the incomplete Cero fire of in random bolts that tore the top apart, though that was followed by Ulquiorra landing on the ground and facing the sky once more as he sought his opponent. Zangetsu, instead of following after him, heaved a massive boulder, taken from the ruined pillar, above his head and focused on where his foe had landed, which was when he hurled it through the air like it was nothing and caused Ulquiorra to frown as he noticed it coming. Sombra, however, knew that Zangetsu had something planned and he was proven right, as Zangetsu used the boulder as a distraction and Ulquiorra fell for it when he used the tip of his lance like a thrusting weapon to shatter the fragment into a thousand pieces, allowing Zangetsu to use the rubble as cover as he approached Ulquiorra from below. It almost worked, as Ulquiorra noticed the attack coming at the last moment and pulled himself back as the tip of Zangetsu's blade passed by his face, though when he landed a few steps away from his foe he switched hands, letting the lance be in his right hand, and prepared to stab Zangetsu with it... before the Hollow flashed forward and appeared right in front of Ulquiorra, with his open left hand catching the head of the lance as the energy battled his own power.
A few moments later Zangetsu crushed the head of the lance, letting out a significantly smaller detonation this time around, and let the smoke cover them for a few seconds, though Ulquiorra's eyes widened when he noticed Zangetsu's yellow eyes staring at him... followed by Zangetsu switching the direction of his blade as he brought it down on his foe, cutting a diagonal gash into Ulquiorra's chest, going from his left shoulder to his right hip while also cutting off a good portion of his left horn as he collapsed on the ground.
"I... I don't believe it..." Uryu said, as they had seen the ending of the battle quite easily, especially since it was happening some distance in front of where they were standing, but that didn't change the fact that he was shocked and surprised by what was going on at the moment, "He won..."
"Curse you... I never imagined that I would lose to a Human that could transform into a Hollow." Ulquiorra said, as if one slightly deep cut across his chest was enough to make him admit defeat, though Sombra had to guess that this was the first time he had been overpowered in such a manner and that doing this was the best action he could take, "The very idea is ludicrous."
"I told you, I'm not Ichigo... I'm Zangetsu, the spirit of his Zanpakuto and his inner Hollow." Zangetsu stated, though at the same time he raised his right let and rested his foot against Ulquiorra's head, where he pointed his horns right at his chest, indicating that he wasn't finished yet, "It's not a Human transforming into a Hollow, rather it's a Hollow that's claiming control of his 'partner's' body to destroy their enemy."
"I see... you'll show no mercy." Ulquiorra commented, and he was proven right a few moments later, as that was when Zangetsu started to charge another Cero, though this time it appeared that the Espada wasn't even going to attempt to block it or even fight back, "I guess you really are a Hollow. Go ahead, I have no reason to live now that you've bested me in battle... do it."
Zangetsu proceeded to comply with the request, as he loosed his Cero and blew a massive hole in the roof of Las Noches, where those that were below them were likely seeing the beam strike the ground, before the smoke cleared over the next few minutes... where Sombra found that Ulquiorra had been critically injured, as his left wing, left arm, and the entire area below his ribs had been blown away, before Zangetsu hurled him over to one of the rocks and let his body hit the ground nearby.
"It's over." Sombra said, to which he stepped forward as Zangetsu walked over to the fallen form of Ulquiorra, who seemed to be unconscious from the power of the explosion and the shock of losing a good portion of his body, "I think he's earned his punishment for killing Ichigo. Wouldn't you agree, Zangetsu?"
"If you say so, Lord Sombra." Zangetsu replied, because in all honesty he still didn't care for Ichigo, not after all the time that his supposed partner called upon the other power inside him instead of who he was supposed to be allied with, before he glanced at the fallen form of Ulquiorra once more, "Shall I finish him off, or are you going to try and convert him like you did to Grimmjow?"
"I'd like to see if he sees the truth," Sombra stated, though at the same time he glanced over at Orihime and beckoned for her to come over to them, where she glanced over at Ulquiorra's body as Uryu followed after her, "I know it seems strange to heal an enemy that was just defeated, but I'd appreciate it if you worked your power on Ulquiorra's body for a few minutes. Once I figure out what to do with them, as in which side he's willing to serve, and then we'll focus on what happened to Ichigo, though something tells me that he still wont accept the truth."
Orihime stared at the body that was near Sombra, who she had originally assumed was Ichigo the entire time, and found that whoever was in possession of it was staring at her as well, to which she walked over to where Ulquiorra was laying and raised her Soten Kisshun around him.
"You do realize that you're insane, right?" Uryu asked, though as he said that he glanced at the fallen body that was near where they were standing, as he couldn't believe that Sombra was willing to bring back the foe that Ichigo, or rather Zangetsu as it turned out, had gone through the effort to defeat, but he guessed that if the Espada tried anything funny he'd either be beaten by Zangetsu or sent to the Shadowlands as further punishment.
"He's an Arrancar, one that deserves a chance at a life that's not ruled by Aizen." Sombra replied, as part of the reason he was doing this was because Aizen didn't seem to care about the lives that were at stake and that he believed everyone was expendable, and he intended to free as many of the other Arrancar as he could before they all were killed in Aizen's plan to kill the Soul King, "Besides, if Ulquiorra decides to continue attacking us I'll just step in and finish the job... or maybe I'll send him to the Shadowlands. It all depends on what he does next."
Uryu stared at Sombra for a moment, trying to determine the real reason behind why he was so hellbent on saving as many Arrancar as he could, before he decided to admit defeat and stood nearby, keeping his eyes on Zangetsu, who stood near the powerful Arrancar like he was a bodyguard or something. In his mind something didn't add up, how Ichigo's Zanpakuto spirit could be the inner Hollow that he complained about and got worried about when it tried to take over, and yet, despite his appearance, the creature was content to have a ruler that acknowledged his existence. If what Sombra said was true, that this was the true Zangetsu, then he wondered what the other one, the old man that he recalled Ichigo talking about when he mentioned his Bankai training, had to be, because if he wasn't the real Zanpakuto spirit than that meant he was something else entirely, something they might not even be aware of. While all of this ran through his mind, however, he watched as Orihime's Soten Kisshun started to perform what it was known for, as the lower part of the Espada's body started to piece itself back together, like it had never been destroyed in the first place, and once she did that she also restored his missing arm and the part of his horn that had been cut off, effectively making his body as pristine as it had been when she and Uryu arrived up here.
Once Orihime was done she pulled her Flowers back into her hairpins and backed away from Ulquiorra, allowing Sombra to be the one to stand in front of him, though not a few seconds later the Espada's eyes snapped open as a look of confusion appeared on his face, especially when he pulled himself up and found that his entire body had been restored to it's former glory, as if he hadn't been hit by Zangetsu's Cero.
"I... don't understand." Ulquiorra said, though at the same time he picked himself up and found that he was able to stand just fine, while also making sure that the being that bested him stayed where he was standing as he focused on Sombra once more, "I threatened several of your friends before you came to Hueco Mundo, then killed one of them with you present... and yet you show me mercy by sparing my life and healing my injuries. Why?"
"Your just following the orders of someone that doesn't care for you and the other Arrancar he's created." Sombra replied, though he was happy to see that Ulquiorra was willing to talk instead of continue fighting, as that meant he might be able to convince him to side with them, "Besides, I felt that getting decimated by Zangetsu, and having a good portion of your body blown apart in the process, was a good punishment for what you've done so far. In regards to showing you mercy, well, let's just say that I'd be an evil king if I showed no one mercy, I'd be a terrible king if I didn't show my subjects that I'm willing to punish them for their actions... so an equal amount of the two makes me a kind and fair king, the type of king that Hueco Mundo will need once this is all over. The real question is this: whose side are you on?"
Ulquiorra stood there for a moment, thinking about it, and came to the conclusion that Sombra actually seemed to know how to rule a kingdom, as he was making it sound like he would be a fair and just ruler that would inspire those that followed them, while also possessing a side of him that wouldn't hesitate to deal out the punishments to those that broke whatever rules or laws that he decided to pass once he claimed this world as his own. He then reflected on what Sombra did during the beginning stages of his battle with Ichigo, where he cast both Loly and Menoly into a realm he called the 'Shadowlands', a place that sounded like a realm of pure terror that he inflicted on those that took something from him and he wanted to make those offenders suffer. He then assumed that it was his good fortune that Sombra was feeling as merciful as he was, otherwise he was sure that he would have only been healed to maximize the pain and suffering that he would have experienced in the other dimension that he had access to. With Zangetsu standing beside him, almost like a bodyguard of some kind, he knew that him winning a battle was extremely low, even if he fought Sombra on his own, and as he looked at the faces of those around him he found that Sombra's Human friends weren't even scared of him, just making him even more interested in Humans than he had been prior to his talks with Orihime.
In the end Ulquiorra came to a decision, though in his head he found it interesting that he would make the same choice that Grimmjow and Szayelaporro did, as he knelt before the powerful Arrancar that was standing in front of him and bowed his head.
"I shall follow the lead of the Espada that have defected to your side," Ulquiorra said, though while he, just like many of the Espada and Arrancar, was grateful to Aizen for granting him more power and an existence among the Espada, he knew that siding with the Dios Hueco was the best move he could make, "and, as they said, forsake the Usurper and join the true ruler of Hueco Mundo."
"It's good to have you on the team." Sombra replied, and he meant it, because Ulquiorra was a powerful Arrancar and he was likely the one that he would make the Guardian of Hueco Mundo if he had to leave for some period of time, but once that was taken care of he turned towards Zangetsu, "You know, Zangetsu, if you don't like staying with Ichigo you should consider moving out, especially since we're in Hueco Mundo and you used to be a normal Vasto Lorde ranked Hollow before this happened."
"Moving... out..." Zangetsu repeated, as if he was having some trouble understanding what Sombra was talking about, but then he thought back to what he had been thinking about when he fought Ichigo, in his inner world, earlier and knew what was going on, "Sure, let's give that a try."
Zangetsu took a few steps away from where the others were standing and planted his blade in the top of Las Noches' roof, where Sombra watched as his reiatsu formed an aura around him once more and shook the air that rested all around the group, before he closed his eyes. A few moments later his reiatsu surged out of the Hollow hole in his chest and covered him in a large cloud of red smoke, though while all this happened Sombra felt something very interesting, he felt the reiatsu of Zangetsu separate from Ichigo's reiatsu. To prove his point the wind kicked up a few seconds later and revealed an interesting sight, Ichigo, without all the Hollow markings and mask, stood on Sombra's immediate right with a look of confusion on his face, especially since the last thing he actually remembered was the hole being blasted into his chest, which was now gone. Off on Sombra's left, however, stood a white version of Ichigo, which meant that it was Zangetsu standing before him, and his attire was just as wrecked as Ichigo's was, while also being white as opposed to Ichigo's black colored attire... though the interesting thing was that he possessed the same black markings that he had put on Ichigo's body when he transformed, coming from a Hollow hole that was in the same spot it had been in while he controlled Ichigo's body, and the red tufts remained on his wrists and around his neck.
Sombra then watched as Zangetsu stepped forward with a smile on his face, where he guessed that the remains of his Hollow mask must have formed the tufts around his neck, before he picked up a white version of his Bankai blade and pulled away from Ichigo... who was busy examining his chest, as he knew that he should have been dead and was confused as to what was going on.
"How do you two feel?" Sombra asked, as he could guess that Zangetsu felt better than ever, especially since he had decided that he would no longer be tied to someone that wouldn't pay attention to him, but felt that he should ask the question anyway.
"Better than ever." Zangetsu replied, though at the same time he found that he could attach his own blade to his back, like he and Ichigo did when they were carrying the Shikai form of himself, before he stood at attention and noticed that Ulquiorra was standing up as well.
"Didn't... Didn't I have a hole in my chest?" Ichigo inquired, as that was the most interesting thing to him at the moment, that the hole that had been blasted into his chest had sealed itself up and was gone, before his mind registered who had spoken and noticed that his 'inner Hollow' was now outside his body, "Ah, what are you doing out here?"
"Well, I did just close the hole in your chest so you could continue living." Zangetsu stated, though at the same time he raised a finger and poked Ichigo in the shoulder, causing him to jump backwards and grab onto his version of their Bankai blade, as if a fight was going to break out, "Look, Ichigo, I'm going to be clear on this, so pay attention: I'm moving out of your body and I'm taking my power with me. Go ahead and have full with the Old Man, though don't worry too much about your own power, I decided to be nice and let him keep using the Bankai he taught you... even though it was originally mine to begin with."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Ichigo said, though at the same time he felt some sweat running down the side of his face, either from his recovery or from the fact that his Hollow was in front of him he had no idea, but that didn't stop him from raising his blade towards him.
"Ichigo, leave Zangetsu alone." Sombra stated, causing a look of surprise to appear on Ichigo's face once more, like he was concerned that he had lost his mind or something, before he sighed as he thought about what he was going to say and how much of it Ichigo was going to accept, "Look, I'll say this one time and then we're moving onto more important matters: this being right here, which you refer to as your inner Hollow, is the real Zangetsu and he's had enough of you not accepting who he is, so he's decided to leave you and forge his own destiny."
"But Old Man Zangetsu is just fine." Ichigo replied, though that was before a number of hands were raised and met the forehead of the person that raised them, causing him to raise an eyebrow as he looked at all of them, "What? You act like I said something completely stupid."
"Ugh, let's just leave him be." Zangetsu said, as he wasn't in the mood to deal with Ichigo's idiocy right now, not when there were bigger and better things for them to be doing, as he felt a powerful presence in the area below them and knew that Sombra had felt it as well, "I think it's time we head down to where the others are waiting and deal with the rest of our enemies... and then we can focus on seeing how much longer it will take before you unlock your powers as the Dios Hueco, because I really want to see you at your full power."
Sombra nodded his head before he jumped into the large hole that Zangetsu had formed with his Cero, which was when the others followed after him and they began their descent towards the interior of Las Noches, as it appeared that Yammy might have released his Resurreccion while they were busy... and he was eager to finally claim Hueco Mundo before seeing what else he needed to do before he unlocked his full power as well.
Rukia was in a pickle, because since she had frozen the arm of Rudbornn, the leader of the Exequias, the Arrancar had turned his attention to her and immediately released his Resurreccion, Arbol as he called it, which allowed his right side to be wrapped in branches as he was pulled into the air so he could look down at her. What she was worried about was the fact that four lightning bolt shaped branches sprouted from Rudbornn's back, facing the right side like the branches, and each one possessed a skull that created more loyal soldiers for her to fight, which was why she hadn't been able to assist the others in taking out their enemies. Since the large sand Hollow had declared his allegiance to Sombra, calling him 'Lord' Sombra like everyone else, a number of the large Hollows that accompanied him also followed his lead, joining the forces of Grimmjow, Szayelaporro, and Nel as they tore their way through the enemies that stood against them. Renji and Chad, on the other hand, had come to her aid and stopped her from being stabbed multiple times, but before they had been able to do that Rudbornn had encased his left side in branches and generated four more lightning bolt branches, doubling the amount of enemies that she had to fight.
Despite the fact that the three of them were fighting together, and taking out the enemies that were around them while Renji was in his Bankai state, they couldn't get to Rudbornn at all, meaning that they needed a plan of attack so they could overcome their foe's power and then join the others... especially since Rudbornn was complaining about how, despite his 'god-like' power, he was unable to become one of the Espada and that they were showing a new level of stupidity for challenging the 'almighty' Espada.
"He's kind of like a fruit tree." Renji commented, as he noticed how Rudbornn looked, since there were some branches that were wrapped around his waist and happened to be attached to the ground below where he was standing, and came to a conclusion that made sense to him.
With that statement he and Chad got into a debate about what a tree actually was and whether Rudbornn resembled a plant, instead of a tree, but Rukia remained silent as she thought about what had been said, as she was beginning to see some similarities between their foe and a tree. From what she knew trees and plants couldn't grow in icy climates, unless they were the types that could grow in those areas, but since this was Hueco Mundo, and both water and snow didn't seem to exist in this world, she knew that Rudbornn would have been based on the types of tress that survived in the desert areas of a world. If she was right in her thoughts her Zanpakuto's abilities might be the only way for them to actually defeat Rudbornn, without having to involve Sombra and the others that were busy, and she focused her mind when she noticed that more soldiers had dropped down into the area around them and prepared themselves for the next stage of their battle, causing her to ready herself as Renji and Chad did the same thing.
"There's no end to them..." Chad stated, to which he dropped the conversation that he and Renji had been having for the last few moments and focused his attention on the enemies that were near them, while at the same time readying the first form of his right arm at the moment, as he wanted to keep his true power hidden for a few more minutes.
"What's the game plan, Rukia?" Renji asked, though at the same time he coiled the snake part of his Bankai around them, to protect them a little and serve as the first attack that they would use against their enemies, but he was only asking Rukia because she had been fighting Rudbornn long before he and Chad came to help her.
Before Rukia had a chance to reply they felt a surge of reiatsu that didn't belong to Ichigo or Sombra, though by their opponent's words it was the Espada that had been left in charge of Las Noches, Ulquiorra, who had finally released his Resurreccion, but since Rudbornn was distracted she signaled to Chad and he nodded his head, before loosing an El Directo at their foe... but it was in vain, as Rudbornn used his own subordinates to form a wall in front of him, killing a number of them and leaving a hole in front of him, before they disengaged and formed ranks once more.
"Well? Now do you understand?" Rudbornn asked, as if he felt that he was going to win this battle and kill all three of them, before moving onto the Arrancar that were finishing the other enemies off at the moment, "My ability knows no limits. With my feelers, I can produce an infinite number of fully evolved soldiers. Submit now and accept your fate."
"Renji, Chad, I have a plan." Rukia said, keeping her voice low enough so that only her friends could hear what she was saying, while at the same time keeping her eyes on their opponent as she played out what she was planning in her head, though she hoped that this was enough to defeat Rudbornn, "I'll start off by using Hakuren against him, hopefully freezing all of his soldiers in the process. Chad, I need you to attack the frozen soldiers and try to get in one good shot at him before he has a chance to recover, allowing you, Renji, to use Zabimaru to finish him off before he can produce any more soldiers or even recover."
Renji and Chad nodded their heads in agreement, as it was better than anything they could have considered at the moment, and Rukia took a step forward, where she stabbed the ground four times and allowed ice particles to flow through the air for a moment, before loosing an avalanche of cold air as she called out 'Tsugi no Mai, Hakuren'. She was pleased with the results of her attack, as Rudbornn's soldiers got in the way and froze themselves where they were standing, locked in the form of a wall in front of the Arrancar, to which she nodded to Chad and he stepped forward, since it was his turn to attack. Chad then revealed the true form of his right arm, the one he had unlocked during his battle with Gantenbainne earlier, and loosed a powerful blast that surged through the air in front of him, one that struck the ice wall and blasted a large hole in it, destroying a number of their foe's soldiers in the process. Renji, seeing that it was his turn, swung his sword and the snake version of Zabimaru rushed forward, spinning around as it prepared to fire a beam of energy at their target and smashed through both of the wall fragments that were left behind... but before it could get close more of Rudbornn's soldiers dropped down on it and forced Zabimaru over the nearby edge, preventing their master from taking any damage at all.
Fortunately while all this happened Rukia found herself covered by the dust for a moment, to which she stabbed the ground in front of her and activated another one of her techniques, one that she hadn't shown off yet and would prove to be the downfall of Rudbornn as the ice reached for her target.
"That was a rather impressive combo." Rudbornn commented, as he was actually impressed that they had the power to pull something like that off, especially since he was wearing them all down, but that didn't mean that he was going to let them leave this area, "Freezing my army, then breaking through and launching straight into an attack on me. I was truly an excellent combination, but it was flawed. With an infinite army at my command, no attack will ever reach..."
"Juhaku." Rukia said, just as the dust cleared and Rudbornn noticed that she had been hiding herself the entire time, but even as that happened she grinned as her power took effect and started to freeze the roots that were attached to her foe's waist, including his entire body slowly being covered in ice, "Sorry, but you're the one with the flawed strategy. That combo attack was designed to draw your attention away from me, allowing me to ensure that your branches became frozen so they can't bare any additional soldiers. Your the one that's finished, not us. You should have never let me see how your ability works, especially since frozen trees cannot bare fruit."
Just as she finished saying that, and Rudbornn completely froze over, a giant Arrancar waved his hand and smashed through the area that was where the frozen Arrancar was standing, shattering him into a thousand pieces while creating a hole in the wall they were standing on... causing her, Renji, and Chad to jump back down to the sandy floor as they stared at the newest opponent that had appeared before them, while the rest of the fighting stopped as well.
"What the hell is happening now?" Renji asked, though at the same time he managed to slip out of his Bankai state to prevent Zabimaru from being destroyed, which he was thankful for since there was no telling what was going to happen to them now, especially with a new enemy so soon after the last one.
"That's... Yammy?!" Chad replied, though as he said that he noticed the sheer size of the Arrancar that had beaten him during the first attack on the World of the Living, when he and Ulquiorra came to investigate Sombra, who overpowered one of them instantly.
"Yammy? Isn't he the Espada that Captain Hitsuguya warned us about?" Renji inquired, as he recalled what the Captain had said, that Yammy wasn't to be underestimated at all, but at the same time he had no idea where on the ranking system their new enemy rested, something that had been failed to be passed to them.
"Yeah, but something's off." Chad said, looking at the one thing that didn't make sense at the moment, because their opponent's size was throwing him off and he had no idea what it actually meant, "I fought him once, in the World of the Living, and he was a giant back then... but I don't remember him being this huge when we fought."
That was the truth, because at his current height Yammy seemed to be at least half as tall as the wall he had smashed through, maybe even a little bit bigger than that, but before any of them could do anything Yammy growled and his body was surrounded by an angry red aura as he proclaimed that he'd make a 'four-eyed twerp' pay, meaning that he had battled Uryu for a few moments and was angry at him. As the three of them got ready for what was coming next, however, a red beam, that belonged to a Cero, punched through the roof of Las Noches and struck the ground near where they were standing, but fortunately it didn't hurt them or their Arrancar allies, and even the Hollows that had sided with them had moved out of the way as well. The only thing that Rukia was concerned about was the fact that the reiatsu that was attached to the attack seemed like it belonged to Ichigo, but there was something about it that made her hesitated to say that it was one of her friend's attacks, as it felt like it belonged to a Vasto Lorde ranked Hollow and not her friend, and that included the fact that Ichigo couldn't fire a Cero on his own... not unless his skill with his mask had evolved to the point where he could have done something like that, which was something that she decided that she'd rather not think about as she turned to face Yammy once more.
The three of them stood there for a few moments, trying to figure out what was going through Yammy's head before they attacked him, before Rukia felt something interesting happen to the odd reiatsu that had accompanied the red Cero, and that was the fact that Ichigo's reiatsu was separated from the Hollow reiatsu that had been attached to the attack, but the heavy reiatsu still remained, meaning that Ichigo's foe wasn't dead... and, if she was feeling things correctly, it almost felt like all three of those reiatsu, including Sombra's, was coming back down to their level.
"Strange... why's Ulquiorra coming down here with his opponents?" Yammy inquired, though it was clear that he was talking to himself, despite feeling exactly what Rukia and the others were feeling, before he turned towards the enemies that were in front of him, "You three ain't good enough. I slept and ate like crazy to build up my reiatsu. There's no way in hell that I'll get to use that reiatsu on you pushovers!"
During that statement Yammy flexed his muscles and shredded his jacket, ripping the entire thing apart, but at the same time it revealed something to the three of them, Yammy possessed the number Ten on his left shoulder, telling them that he was the weakest member of the Espada... while at the same time somehow causing his body to grow just another inch or two in height, causing them to wonder what was going on.
"Check it out, he's the Diez Espada." Renji said, staring at the number for a moment, as while he and Uryu had fought the Octava Espada, Szayelaporro, he also knew that Chad had engaged the Quinto Espada, Nnoitra, and Rukia had the honor of facing the Noveno Espada, Aaroniero, but they were all still alive, "It looks like we won't have to bother Sombra at last... we finally found the weakest member of the Espada. Let's kick his ass!"
"You? Kick my ass? You weak-ass babies?" Yammy replied, showing that he could hear them from where they were standing, despite the distance between the two groups, but at the same time there was a hint of anger in his voice that caused the three of them to ready themselves for the coming battle, before he gripped the handle of his Zanpakuto a few moments later, "Don't make me laugh. Be enraged, Ira!"
The moment he uttered the Release Command, and the trio understood what he was doing, Yammy's Zanpakutō exploded in an intense surge of reiryoku that covered the Espada, where they jumped back and watched as their foe grew to a monstrous size, one that was reminiscent of what the Japanese people called a kaiju. His skull ridges become more pronounced, taking on the appearance of two large purplish-gray head coverings, extending to the back of his head, while the remains of his Hollow mask fused to his face, becoming his actual lower jaw, and the red markings of his extended back from his face into two long flame tattoos. The majority of his body was still tan in color, as his thin ponytail become longer than before, though his body went through some drastic changes, because while his torso remained largely the same, Yammy ended up growing eight large elephant-like legs on each side of his lower body, which now extended back from his torso. These new legs of his were connected to his body by white carapace-covered joints, leading up to the base of a bony tail club, similar to those of an ankylosaurus, an armored dinosaur, while at the same time each of his new legs had three large toes, which extended backwards from the front to the back of the leg. Large purplish-gray cylindrical tubes form on his elbows, which can be used as piston-like rams. The interesting bit was that he also gained five large, black cylindrical tubes on his back, which were about half of the length of the tubes that had appeared on his elbows, and he had six black rounded nodules along the length of his forearms.
The only thing that worried the three of them, however, was during the transformation process Yammy's Espada number had changed, as the Ten changed to a Zero as the one that was in front of the zero melted away until it was gone, leaving their opponent with a number that none of them had even thought about before this point in time.
"Okay, what the hell happened this time?!" Renji asked, as this wasn't something that any of them were expecting, but while others would be fearful of Yammy's new power he wasn't, not when Sombra's reiatsu was of the same level, though at the same time he stared at the number for a few moments.
"Did someone tell you guys that the ten Espada run from One to Ten?" Yammy inquired, though at the same time all three of them raised their eyebrows for a moment, as it had been Grimmjow that had told them, or more accurately Sombra, about the number system of the powerful Espada, "The rankings of the Espada go from Zero to Nine. I am the only Espada that can change his number by conserving power before using my Resurreccion. I am the Cero Espada, Yammy Llargo!"
The moment Yammy revealed what was going on, and that either he or Grimmjow were lying about the rankings, the massive Arrancar threw a punch at where the trio were standing, causing them to scatter before one of them were hit and kicked up a bit of sand in the process, before Renji swung his Shikai at Yammy and found that the edges of Zabimaru did nothing to their opponent. Rukia, seeing that another punch was coming towards her friend, stopped below the arm and released an ice circle around where she was standing, though when she jumped out of the way as she activated her first dance, Tsukishiro, and a pillar of ice surged towards the sky, piercing Yammy's extended left arm and stalling it so Renji could get out of the way, but that didn't last long as the Espada shattered her attack with ease. Since the attack was still coming their way, and they were a little shocked by what had happened, Chad rushed forward with the true form of his right arm and loosed a powerful blast as he punched Yammy's fist, where the two of them battled each other for a few moments before Yammy overpowered Chad and forced them all backwards again... where Chad, using the smoke and sand as a cover, activated his left arm and readied a Le Muerte that struck Yammy in the face, but as he landed they found that Yammy had taken no damage from the attack.
Renji, seeing that they had no choice, slipped back into his Bankai and swung his snake at Yammy, who punched Zabimaru in the face and shattered it into pieces, but that was what Renji wanted as he used the fragments to bind Yammy where he was standing with a red link between the pieces... but when Rukia and Chad unleashed another attack on their foe Yammy used his reiatsu to shatter their attacks and knock them backwards, where they flashed backwards and stared at their foe.
"It seems that you could use some assistance." a voice said, where Rukia and the others turned to look at who was behind them and found Grimmjow, still rocking his panther form, standing there with a grin on his face, while at the same time Nel landed beside him and stared up at Yammy.
"Yeah, he might be more than we can handle." Rukia admitted, as so far none of their attacks had worked and that was annoying, especially since she had battled someone that was stronger than Yammy, because she honestly didn't buy the fact that the rankings were Zero to Nine instead of One to Ten, before something came to mind, "Hey, you told Sombra that the Espada are ranked One to Ten, but Yammy just told us that they're actually ranked Zero to Nine... so which one of you are right?"
"Yammy is incorrect, the rankings are One to Ten." Szayelaporro replied, as he flashed into the area as well and stared up at the Espada that the trio had been fighting the entire time he and his fellow Arrancar were dealing with the Hollows, even though many of the Hollows listened to Grimmjow and joined their side, "In this state he's more selfish and angry than he could ever be in his original sealed state, and one of the things he's angry about is being the lowest ranking member of the Espada. While there is no real 'Cero' Espada, as Yammy likes to call himself in this state, his power is definitely stronger than what he possesses in his sealed state, something that you must have realized at this point in time... and it seems like he's getting ready for the next attack."
Yammy opened his mouth and a red Cero formed in front of his face, though as he fired it Nel flashed in front of the group and held her hand out, stalling the attack in it's tracks for a few seconds before she opened her own mouth and sucked it up, like she had done to Nnoitra's Cero earlier, which was followed by her firing it back at their foe and let it explode on his face. True to form her Cero Doble had left some scorch marks on Yammy's body, just like she had done to Nnoitra, but at the same time the Espada was still standing, indicating that he was going to be hard for them to take out, even if they all worked together and combined their powers together to hurt him. Grimmjow, taking advantage of the fact that Yammy was distracted by the attack, rushed through the air and appeared behind their foe, where he leveled his right elbow and then his left elbow at Yammy's back, where he launched all ten of his Garra de la Pantera at his foe, to which the ten crystalline darts flew through the air and struck Yammy in the back, causing his upper body to stagger as the darts struck his back... but even as he flashed out of the way, to avoid the incoming fist that was aimed at him, he realized that even with his power they might not be able to defeat their foe as quickly as he had hoped.
"Yeah, he's just as strong and as tough as I remember him being." Grimmjow commented, causing both of his fellow Arrancar to nod their heads, as while Szayelaporro might not have engaged Yammy in battle he was still able to observe their foe and was using his brains to their advantage, causing Grimmjow to glance at him, "Szayelaporro, do you have any suggestions for us? Because at this point all I can think of is waiting for Lord Sombra to return from Las Noches' roof, as I'm sure that his power could put Yammy in his place without needing to do too much."
"I'm sure that I could come up with something, but it doesn't appear that we need to do that." Szayelaporro said, as he had noticed the arrival of some familiar reiatsu that were descending towards where they were standing, something that Yammy clearly had missed since it didn't appear that he knew more enemies were coming, "Our Lord, and his allies, are coming to aid us, so I think it's time we stepped back and let them show us what happened above Las Noches."
Rukia started to wonder what the Arrancar was talking about, but that was when she felt the arrival of Sombra's reiatsu, along with Ichigo, Orihime, Uryu, and two other reiatsu that she didn't recognize, before they glanced up at the pillar that Ichigo had flown up earlier and noticed that Sombra was coming down towards them... and he wasn't alone, not with the small group that was following behind him.
"Getsuga Tensho!" a voice called out, one that Rukia immediately noticed wasn't Ichigo's voice, though as she and the others watched what was happening near Yammy as a black wave of energy, with a red outline, surged down towards the Espada and collided with the side of his neck, sending Yammy into the sand as the attack cut a deep gash into his neck.
For a moment Rukia, Renji, and Chad wondered what was going on, though when they looked back up into the sky, to get a better look at the group that had been following Sombra, they found that there were two Ichigos following him, the one that was their friend and a white one that resembled a Hollow, or maybe an Arrancar since he had a Hollow hole in his chest and some odd items that generally belonged to an Arrancar. As the group got closer to them Uryu and Orihime came over to where they were standing, causing Sora to rush over from where he had been fighting so he could check up on his sister, before the three of them readied themselves as Ulquiorra, in his Resurreccion, landed near them, where Grimmjow actually seemed interested in what he was seeing.
"Well, look who decided to make the smart move and join Lord Sombra's side." Grimmjow said, as that was the only reason the incredibly powerful Arrancar would have spared Ulquiorra's life, especially given the fact that he nearly killed Ichigo and might have actually done it earlier, before focusing on the other Arrancar's body, "Though that's not the Resurreccion that I remember you showing us and Aizen."
"Segunda Etapa, a second release that I've developed in secret." Ulquiorra replied, though even as he said that he still possessed no emotion in his voice, showing that he was more focused on what they were currently doing before he talked about what his new form was like, but before he could say anything else Yammy stirred and got back up.
"You actually managed to scratch me, you piece of shit!" Yammy exclaimed, though at the same time he touched the left side of his neck, where the attack had hit him, and growled when he noticed that his blood was on his hand, something that should have been hard to do while he was in this state, "Okay, where's the wise guy that thought he could get away with this?"
"I'm right here." Zangetsu answered, to which he flashed down into the area that Yammy was standing in and stared at the massive Arrancar, though at the same time he noticed the number on his shoulder for a moment and determined that it honestly didn't matter what rank Yammy was, not after he tore Ulquiorra apart, "Sup?"
"Ichigo Kurosaki?!" Yammy declared, his voice full of anger, as he hated Ichigo purely because he was the first one that was associated with Sombra in his mind, even if all Ichigo had done was remove one of his arms earlier, and seeing him again just pissed him off even more, "You've got some nerve showing up in front of me!"
"Actually, my name is Zangetsu." Zangetsu replied, though even as he said that Ichigo flashed down and stood beside him, something that he mostly ignored since he was trying to have some fun, before he jerked a finger to the person that had once been his 'partner', "That's Ichigo, so don't confuse him with me ever again... otherwise I'll kill you!"
Yammy seemed to take offense to that comment, as he raised his fists and started firing huge Balas at him, though while Ichigo flashed out of the way, to dodge the attacks and not get hit, Zangetsu grinned as he swung his right arm several times, allowing his blade to cut through the group of Bala like they were nothing, causing Yammy to stall when he saw that happen. Zangetsu took advantage of that and raised his left arm, leveling it with his opponent's head, and his reiatsu flared as a crimson Cero, one that wasn't as strong as his true form's Cero since he was in his own sealed state, formed above his hand, before he fired it at his target. Yammy, seeing the attack coming, opening his mouth and fired his own Cero at it, but it was in that moment that Rukia and that others learned that the newcomer wasn't playing around, as his attack overpowered Yammy's and destroyed it, before barreling into his target's chest. The resulting explosion knocked the massive Arrancar backwards and caused him to crash on the ground, with his head and body laying against the sand, though the observers were lucky they had moved to the side when they did, otherwise he could have crushed them if they were unlucky, and now stood on a nearby structure to watch the battle.
"Okay, now I'm seriously confused." Renji commented, though at the same time Yammy forced himself back up and charged at the newcomer, who grinned and flashed around in the sky, causing the Espada to glance around and wave his arms as he tried to swat the Hollow-like Ichigo, "Who is that guy and why does he look like Ichigo?"
"His name is Zangetsu." Sombra stated, to which he touched down behind the group and stared at the battle that was taking place, as it appeared that Yammy was much slower at times in his Resurreccion and he had trouble even catching Zangetsu, who was just cutting little cuts into his opponent's body when the opportunity presented itself, "And, before any of you ask, yes, I do mean that he bares the same name as Ichigo's Zanpakuto, though the reason behind that is because he is the real Zangetsu, not the Old Man that Ichigo told you guys about. Since he's the true spirit of Ichigo's Zanpakuto, someone that Ichigo's supposed to be in tune with, that's why he shares the same form that Ichigo does, despite the fact that he was also Ichigo's inner Hollow... up until a few minutes ago anyway."
Rukia stared at the Hollow-like Ichigo, Zangetsu she mentally corrected, and realized what Sombra was saying had to be true in some sense, as she had heard a few tales of some Zanpakuto spirits falling out of harmony with their respective Shinigami, where they would refuse to grant their partner the use of their unique powers and, in rare cases, even abandon their supposed partners because of the fact that the Shinigami, for whatever reason, couldn't hear the voice of their Zanpakuto anymore, where they ended up losing that part of their power in the process. Despite losing Zangetsu, however, Rukia could tell that Ichigo was still strong and, from what Sombra had just said, there was another spirit inside their friend that had been acting as his Zanpakuto spirit, meaning that Zangetsu must have grown tired of being ignored and abandoned Ichigo for someone else, someone like Sombra from the sounds of it. While she thought about this, however, she also noticed that Ichigo did seem worried, but the look on his face told her that it was more about the fact that his 'inner Hollow' was running around and not because his Zanpakuto spirit had abandoned him, meaning that their friend was more dense than she originally believed him to be... and in that moment, when she reflected on what she had learned, she found that she couldn't blame the real Zangetsu for his actions, not when his partner was someone like Ichigo.
She glanced over to Renji for a moment and found that he was nodding his head, as he recalled what she had been thinking about and knew the same things that she did, meaning that they knew that Ichigo had messed up and that he wasn't likely going to even attempt to fix what had happened, even though there weren't any stories about a Shinigami being reunited with the spirit of their Zanpakuto.
"Hold still, you damned insect!" Yammy shouted, as it appeared that he was growing tired of trying to hit his opponent with his hands, since he kept failing from the looks of it, though at the same time it appeared that a look of annoyance flashed on Zangetsu's face for a moment.
"Insect, am I? Okay I'll hold still," Zangetsu replied, to which he stopped flashing around and faced his opponent dead on, where Yammy grinned and reached for him once more, though that was when a smile returned to Zangetsu's face as he swung his right arm and cut a gash into Yammy's outstretched hand, causing him to jerk back for a moment as he yelped in pain, "but be careful, because this insect stings!"
"You'll pay for that!" Yammy declared, though that was when he started moving again, trying to punch Zangetsu into the ground or one of the structures that was nearby, causing his foe to dodge him once more as they resumed the dance that they had started earlier.
Zangetsu just grinned as he flashed through the air and found that Yammy could move his legs and his tail to attack him, though he took more fun in inflicting some pain onto his opponent first, as when the end of the tail came at him he swung his right arm and cut through the Hierro that was protecting it, sending the end of the appendage flying off into the distance as Yammy howled in pain. Zangetsu also removed half of one of Yammy's legs, even though that really didn't matter in the long run considering how many his foe had, and noticed that it seemed to serve as a point of anger for the Arrancar, but even with his rage fueled mind he couldn't touch him at all. Even when Yammy tried to smash him between his hands he simply flashed out of the way and continued his attack, as there was no reason for him to actually do anything else besides dodge, and he occasionally drew blood just to make the Arrancar continue attacking him with all of his power and might. He quickly came to the conclusion that the only thing that made his opponent's Resurreccion special was the fact that anger seemed to be a way for him to slowly power himself to new heights, but at the rate he was going, which was minor at best, Zangetsu knew that he'd kill Yammy before his foe even had a chance to reach the level of power that he was trying to build up to.
Eventually Zangetsu grew tired of how his opponent was fighting and jumped backwards with a bored expression on his face, though at the same time Yammy seemed to notice it and stopped as well, causing the large group of Arrancar, Humans, and Shinigami to stare at the pair for a few moments as they wondered what the two were planning.
"You know, it was more interesting and exciting when I was fighting Ulquiorra," Zangetsu commented, because the 'Cero' Espada was proving that he was just as weak as he originally thought he was, and at this point he honestly didn't feel like finishing the battle, not when there were more worthy opponents attacking the World of the Living, "You're not even worth using my full power against, much less me actually ending your life. It's been interesting, Yammy, but I'm going to find more worthy opponents to battle..."
"You insolent pest!" Yammy shouted, because clearly he was annoyed by the fact that he wasn't 'worthy' of facing off against Zangetsu's true power and swung his fist at his opponent, only to find that it stopped before it could even reach it's destination, "Okay, whose stopping me this time?"
"That would be me." Sombra said, though as the smoke cleared Yammy's eyes widened, because instead of Sombra being in his Resurreccion he had finally decided to retract his power and returned to his base form, allowing Rey to reform his blade and scabbard, where Yammy also noticed that Sombra had stopped him with just his left arm, "Sorry, Yammy, but I would have to agree with Zangetsu... you aren't the type of opponent that requires me to use two-thirds of my power, or even the full height of my power. I could beat you in my base state that it's not ev..."
"Please, someone like you would need your full power to stop someone like me." Yammy growled, though at the same time the rest of the Arrancar glanced at each other, as they weren't sure what the large Arrancar was trying to pull, as Sombra's Resurreccion would have been overkill on it's own, so saying that he needed his full power was like he had a death wish or something, "I am the strongest member of the Espada, so much so that Szayelaporro, Grimmjow, Nnoitra, and even Ulquiorra are trash before my might! You may have terrified some of them, and beaten others, but your power is nothing compared to the strength and anger that I possess!"
Sombra said nothing to that as he used a little more pressure and knocked Yammy's arm back, though while his foe was stunned he drew both of his Zanpakuto from their scabbards and rushed forward, going on the offensive as Yammy tried to hit him. Despite Yammy's boasts that he was the strongest and toughest of the Espada, something that didn't sit well with the three current members of the group that were watching them at the moment, Sombra found that there was no weight behind his opponent's words as he swung his blades and cut several gashes into Yammy's chest. He also reversed the hold on his Zanpakuto and used his Kaiten Kenbu to carve even deeper cuts into his opponent's arms, legs, and his chest, all of which annoyed and angered Yammy as he tried, in vain, to grab him and crush like, though Sombra was mostly doing this because he noticed that while anger seemed to be Yammy's friend, it was also his enemy. It wasn't hard to figure out that anger was a dual-edged sword for the Espada in front of him, as while it increased his power it also left him blind to how one was supposed to battle and that, right there, was the key to defeating Yammy, all he had to do was make him so angry that he lost sight of what was important... and then, with one powerful attack, he'd defeat the Espada that was his opponent and bring an end to this battle, allowing them to rest before he started the invasion of the World of the Living, to defeat the rest of Aizen's forces.
In the end Sombra found the opening that he was looking for and loosed a Cero Oscuras right into Yammy's chest, blowing a hole in the left side of his body and knocking him backwards, bringing an end to the battle without needing to use any of his true powers... but as he stepped away from his foe, however, Yammy bolted back up into a sitting position and seemed to be focused on something else.
"I see that you have no idea when to give up." Sombra said, though at the same time he sighed, as he had some hope that Yammy would have remained silent and stayed down, so he could try to change him for the better once Aizen and his allies were done for, before he faced his foe once more.
"It hurts..." Yammy commented, referring to the number of wounds and missing body parts that he had sustained in his battles with both Sombra and Zangetsu, but at the same time Sombra noticed that Yammy's body was bulking up more than it had been earlier, and his reiatsu seemed to be building once more, "You guys are really pissing me off!"
"It seems like he's losing his mind, now that he's fighting you." Zangetsu stated, because while he had decided not to bother killing Yammy, and had decided to walk away from the boring fight, he had been watching their foe and knew that he seemed to be going insane.
"I'll make you pay... I'll make you PAY!" Yammy said, though as he said that his muscles and his entire body seemed to be freaking out because of what he was doing, while at the same time he seemed to be getting even taller than what he already was, "I'll make you pay, dammit!"
In the following moment Yammy was surrounded by a red pillar of reiatsu that had an angry feeling to it, a pillar that raced towards the ceiling and pushed against it for a moment, but Sombra stared at the pillar as he waited for Yammy to reappear, since it appeared that his foe still wanted to fight. When the pillar disappeared Sombra noticed that all of Yammy's wounds had been healed, every single one of them by the looks of it, and any damage that had been done to his mask had been reversed, but at the same time he also noticed that Yammy was definitely taller than before and he was much bulkier than his previous state. The black piston-like protrusions on his back become more like extensions of his vertebrae, which was interesting in Sombra's eyes, and he gained two massive horns on his back as well, though he gained multiple horns on his head, with some covering his lower jaw, and crack-like markings frame his eyes. Yammy's arms were now positioned in knuckle-walk position, and his legs were hairy, ending in short, stubby toes, giving the Espada an ape-like appearance that was vastly different from the form he had taken when he released his Resurreccion. The other thing that Sombra noticed was that Yammy's tail had also become more hairy and ape-like, and potentially losing the large club if it had been attached still, while he lost the extra sets of legs as well... though he knew that Yammy was much stronger than he had been moments ago, but despite that fact he still didn't feel the need to use either his Bankai or his Resurreccion against his foe.
A few moments passed before Yammy seemed to take a breath, if the steam that came out of his mouth was anything to go by, and he stared at Sombra as he regained his focus, meaning that he was getting ready to continue the battle and attempt to smash them into the ground.
"That was good, you scum. I'm at the real peak of anger now." Yammy declared, his voice echoing throughout the area that they were in, allowing everyone to hear him while he focused on the one enemy that he wanted to take out at the moment, "My Resurreccion's name is Ira. The raging beast. Anger only makes me stronger. Make me more and more and more angry! That's all I need... all I need for you to die an ugly death right here!"
In the following moment Yammy lifted his fist and threw it towards Sombra, who let Shokyo float in the air nearby as he used his right hand to stop the fist from hitting him, though when the two of them collided Sombra found that Yammy's power boost seemed to have some impact, as it pushed him back a little bit... before he came to a decision and flashed backwards a little bit, where his foe stared at him as Zangetsu flashed over to a nearby location so he could join the others as they watched what he did next.
"I'll admit something, you're definitely pretty strong in your 'rage' form." Sombra said, though at the same time he held both of his blades at the ready, like he was going to attack Yammy again, but this time around the group noticed that both of them were glowing, indicating that he was planning something that they had never seen before, "Since your using your full power against me, and there's the fact that you'll be dead in a matter of seconds anyway, I'll reward you for being one of the first enemies, in quite a long time, to actually push me back, even if it's just by a tiny bit, by showing you my full power... Awaken, Blades of the King."
Not a few seconds later both of Sombra's Zanpakuto glowed brightly before enveloping him in a sphere of silver colored reiatsu, something that Renji remembered when he first activated his Resurreccion, and that was swiftly followed by the sphere exploding into a pillar of pure energy that rocked the air around him and shook the ground. This time around something interesting happened, as the pillar that Sombra was in struck the ceiling of Las Noches and caused the entire structure to melt away like it didn't exist, exposing the crescent moon of Hueco Mundo in the process, and that only caused the area around the moon to shudder in response to what Sombra was doing. Despite the layers of sand that were all around them the ground noticed several cracks forming beneath the structure they were on, like Sombra's power was effecting more than just the air and the sky, before Rukia's eyes widened as stars started to appear all around the moon, something that was completely different from what she and the others had seen so far. Even the Arrancar that were standing near them seemed shocked by what was going on, though at the same time some of them, like Grimmjow and Zangetsu, were grinning like they knew what was happening, causing the others to watch and wait for the pillar to disappear... and, as if beckoned by their thoughts, the stars disappeared, the air stopped shaking, the ground went still, and the pillar finally disappeared as the energy that made it up surged outwards from where Sombra was standing.
When they were allowed to see Sombra again, however, the group immediately thought that he had only activated his Resurreccion, because of the type of armor that he was wearing, but when the rest of the smoke cleared they found that his king armor was now made out of silver, unlike the iron of it's previous state, like it had been constructed for a king that was good, instead of an evil one like he had been, according to Sombra anyway. He retained his lush red cape, now made to fit his more regal form, and the crown that accompanied it had also been changed, as it was also made out of silver, but what interested the group was the fact that his hair color, his eye color, and the color of his reiatsu had changed as well. This time around Sombra's hair took on the silver color that his reiatsu possessed, and the same color appeared in his eyes as well, though in addition to that he still had the strands of energy emitting from his eyes, purple strands coming from his left eye and brilliant blue colored stands coming from his right eye, and his sclera retained the grayish green sap color it had earlier. Despite the addition of the strands he looked like a cross between his knight form and his dark king form, as if he combined his Bankai and his Resurreccion together... and, at the same time, Rukia and most of the others couldn't even feel his reiatsu anymore, revealing that he had ascended to a level that they couldn't even feel.
In fact the only ones that could feel Sombra's power now were the Arrancar that were standing around them, and the looks on their faces told Rukia so much about what was going on, especially since she remembered what they had been told when they first came to Hueco Mundo.
"I'll give you one chance to forsake Aizen and join me," Sombra stated, though at the same time he focused on Yammy and no one else, as he wanted to end this battle quickly before bringing an end to the battle that was raging in the World of the Living, "otherwise I might have to kill you."
Yammy, instead of replying, raised his fist and swung at Sombra once more, though this time around Sombra didn't move as the attack came at him and the group watched in shock as Yammy's fist did nothing to push him back this time around, though that included Yammy breaking all of the bones in his fist in the process. As Yammy yelped in surprise, and held his ruined hand tightly, Sombra raised his right arm as he flashed forward, allowing him to punch Yammy's chest while the massive Arrancar was distracted, though that was accompanied by the sound of broken bones and some blood bursting out of Yammy's mouth to show that he was wounded. Sombra then flashed out of the way as Yammy tried to hit him, avoiding both the attack and the blood in the process, before snapping his fingers and causing a thick crystal pillar to burst out of the ground, puncturing Yammy's stomach for a moment as Sombra walked down the edge of it, heading away from where his foe was standing. In that moment Yammy, not understanding how much trouble he was in, opened his mouth and gathered his reiatsu, as he intended to obliterate Sombra with a Cero, but Sombra, on the other hand, faced his foe and held his right hand out, where strands of silver energy pulled themselves together as he formed his own silver colored Cero... one that, when he fired it, shattered the Cero that Yammy had been charging and detonated in the Espada's face, forcing him backwards in the process.
Sombra flashed over to where Yammy was standing and delivered a few punches and kicks to the Espada's exposed body, cracking the bones that his attacks came into contact with, before he appeared behind Yammy's head and punched him so hard into the ground that his body was engulfed in a red explosion... one that reverted him back to his sealed state and his Zanpakuto landed nearby, though Yammy coughed as Sombra landed nearby and picked up his blade.
"I'll kill you for that!" Yammy shouted, to which he charged at Sombra and swung his Zanpakuto at him, though this time around Sombra didn't bother to dodge as the blade of his sword struck his neck, where Yammy's eyes widened in sheer shock as he found that he hadn't done anything to Sombra's neck, "Wh... What's going on here?"
"It's like Grimmjow said, I'm the Dios Hueco." Sombra replied, though at the same time he focused his mind and the shadows responded, where an elegant mirror, one large enough to accommodate Yammy's size, formed nearby and chains surged out of the darkness, wrapping around Yammy's arms and legs, "I'll let you spend the next hour in the Shadowlands, to see if we can't fill your head with some sense as to who you attacked, before I make the final decision regarding your fate."
Yammy let out a string of curses as the shadows pulled him towards the mirror and send him to the realm of pure terror that he had access to, before Sombra sighed and sent the mirror away, as it was time for him to focus on what they were going to do next and he could tell that the others were gathering nearby, including the Captains.
"Lord Sombra, what are your orders?" Grimmjow asked, though as he said that he and the other Arrancar, now realizing what had happened, knelt before their true king and bowed their heads in respect, as they all knew that angering Sombra was the one thing they didn't want to do.
"We'll take the next few minutes to rest up and make sure everyone is prepared for our return to the World of the Living," Sombra commented, reminding them that Aizen was still a 'threat' and that he needed to be taken care of, before he turned towards the open area nearby and smiled, "He thinks that he's trapped us inside Hueco Mundo, but this isn't the first time that he's underestimated my abilities... and something tells me that it won't be the last time that he does such a thing."
Grimmjow smiled, as it appeared that their lord had a plan in mind to deal with the Usurper and his allies, including any Arrancar that foolishly tried to stand against the true ruler of Hueco Mundo, and he could tell that the Shinigami were interested in what he had planned... though he knew that Aizen wouldn't be expecting them to attack his forces so soon after he left for the World of the Living, and he was going to enjoy watching their lord deal with Aizen.
Captain Hitsuguya stood near the other Captains and Lieutenants that had followed the Captain-Commander to the World of the Living so they could battle Aizen and the remaining Espada that he brought with him, though from his count there were three, the big three he realized, and roughly ten lesser Arrancar with them. From the looks of things the female Espada, whose jacket covered part of her face while exposing the lower part of her breasts, had three female Arrancar that were her loyal followers, the elderly male Espada had six male Arrancar standing behind him, and the final Espada, who looked like a tired young man, only had a little girl as his follower. When Aizen, Gin, and Tosen appeared, however, the group of Shinigami watched as Yamamoto unsealed his Zanpakuto for a moment and sealed the three traitors inside a flaming fortress that was also their prison, allowing the groups to deal with the Arrancar that had assembled near the enemy they came to defeat. Fortunately it appeared that the elderly Espada, Baraggan by the sounds of it, sat on a throne and tried to break the four pillars with massive Hollows that obeyed his commands, only for the four Shinigami they had posted on the pillars, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Kira, and Hisagi, to slay their foes... thus forcing Baraggan to send out four of his followers to do battle with the four Shinigami, even though he called them his 'dragons' and the four Shinigami he referred to as 'ants', only encouraging them to do their best to defend the pillars.
Despite the display of power from the four Arrancar that had been chosen to do battle, three of them were defeated, one by Yumichika, one by Kira, and one by Hisagi, though Ikkaku stubbornly refused to use the power he used earlier, during Grimmjow's invasion of the World of the Living, and the pillar he had been guarding had been destroyed as he suffered yet another defeat. Fortunately Urahara had foreseen the possibility that a pillar might be destroyed and had gifted them some totems of sorts that acted like the pillar would, allowing them to place the devices down and prevent the return of the real Karakura Town, which is what the Arrancar were trying to do, and Captain Komamura used his Bankai to defeat the Arrancar that had defeated Ikkaku. From that moment forward Captain Soi Fon and her Lieutenant, Omaeda, engaged the remaining two Arrancar that followed the elderly Espada, Captains Ukitake and Kyoraku started the battle with the tired Espada and his lone follower, while he and Matsumoto engaged the final Espada, where Hitsuguya left his Lieutenant to engage the three Arrancar that followed the female Espada. As the following battles began, however, he also noticed that both Soi Fon and Omaeda managed to finish off the pair of Arrancar that they were fighting, causing the elderly Espada to crush his throne and reveal that his Zanpakuto was a large axe of some kind, one that he intended on using against them so he could crush them.
Of course he was also worried about Matsumoto, as it appeared that she might not be able to actually take the three powerful Arrancar on in their sealed states, but fortunately she was aided by the timely arrival of Lieutenant Hinamori Momo and managed to push the trio back for a moment... but before they could really do anything, and see which side had the upper hand, Hitsuguya noticed that all of the remaining Arrancar stopped for a moment as he and the other Shinigami felt the air shudder for a few moments, before returning to normal.
"What in the world was that?" Hitsuguya inquired, as that was the first time he had ever felt something like that in a long time, save for when Sombra used all of his impressive powers against whoever his opponents were, and it worried him that a new enemy might be coming to face them on behalf of Aizen's orders.
"That, Captain, could either be your salvation or your doom." Harribel replied, as she and the other Arrancar already knew what the brief shudder had been, especially considering what Ulquiorra had told them and what Grimmjow had warned them about during their last meeting, and she was sure that the ordinary Hollows in this world knew what was going on now, "The Dios Hueco has awakened his true power, and He's on his way here."
Hitsuguya had no idea what this 'Dios Hueco' was supposed to be, as it was a term that he and the others had never heard before, but the way that his foe mentioned the being, a 'He' by the sounds of it, it could either be an ally that could save them or an enemy that could destroy them all... and, in that moment, he wished that Sombra was here with them, as he had the feeling that this was a being that only the powerful Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar could defeat.
Sombra stood on one of the remaining fragments of the large crystal that he had used to impale Yammy mere moments ago, a small fragment since it was the size of a small boulder, and surveyed what his friends and allies were up to, making sure that all of them were ready for what they were about to do. True to his word he was giving them some time to rest and recover from the various fights they had been in, allowing both Grimmjow and Ulquiorra to drop out of their Resurreccions and take on their normal forms again, though Ulquiorra had to go back to his palace to get some new clothing, since his Segunda Etapa form shredded most of his attire to pieces. The remaining Arrancar rested as well, though Nel followed after Ulquiorra and asked about her old chambers, where she found that Tier Harribel, the current Tres Espada that preferred to go by Harribel, had kept part of her palace the same way that it had been when Nel was in charge, along with an area that contained the last set of her attire, kept by Harribel as a reminder of who came before her. While that happened Orihime used her Soten Kisshun to mend Ichigo's body and reversed the damage that Ulquiorra had caused to the jacket of his Bankai attire, though she did the same thing to Zangetsu as well, since his attire had mirrored the damage that Ichigo's had taken... though Zangetsu sighed and reverted back to his base state, revealing that he could look like a Hollow version of Ichigo's base Shinigami state, something that still annoyed him as he slipped his large Shikai blade onto his back.
Fortunately it was Grimmjow that had the solution, as he disappeared for a moment and returned baring a set of his own attire, with the open jacket that he preferred to wear, and Zangetsu smiled as he switched into something new, as this allowed him to further separate himself from Ichigo. Ulquiorra returned seconds later, wearing his own attire once more, and Nel flashed into the area behind him, wearing her customized uniform once again, one that Sombra found to be a tight fitting long sleeved shirt with shoulder pads and puffy cuffs. He also noticed that the uniform had a black line starting at Nel's collar and went down the left side of her chest, before heading off to the side, and that there were two thin black sashes around her waist, one of which held her Zanpakuto.
Once they had returned the Arrancar gathered together, likely because they were interested in what they were going to be doing next, though Sombra glanced over to the Shinigami that were standing nearby, as they had remained silent for the most part and had said nothing to him since he beat Yammy. From what he could see Captain Mayuri was pissed about not being able to gain any study material while he was here, anything exciting since Sombra had okayed a few specimens to be gifted to the scientist, ones that Szayelaporro had no trouble letting go of, and the experimental Garganta equipment he had found in the ruined lab had been confiscated by Szayelaporro, ruining his mood. Captain Unohana actually seemed happy about the fact that so many lives had been saved, thanks to Sombra gaining control of the situation that had unfolded before them, while Zaraki, on the other hand, seemed a tab bit annoyed that he wasn't able to fight him at all, as Sombra had politely declined to fight him, in favor of saving his strength for Aizen. Byakuya, however, may have been wearing the same expression he had been wearing since his arrival in this world, but Sombra could tell that the fact that none of them could feel his reiatsu bothered the Captain, as it told him that he was on an entirely different level than what he and the others were on. The remaining Lieutenants and Hanataro were also shocked by what had transpired over the last few moments, but they remained silent and watched what was going on with some interest, as they had no idea what was going to happen next.
Sombra found himself reflecting on the thought of his power once more, as he glanced down at his right arm for a moment and stared at his armored hand, because while he had been assuming that the combined powers of his Bankai and his Resurreccion would have been wonderful he hadn't been expecting this. The release of his full power had pushed him to the level that Grimmjow and the others talked about, the level of the Dios Hueco, and now he stood on a level that only one other individual had stood on before, the previous Hollow that had the honor of ascending to this state, before their demise when they attacked Soul Society. Thanks to this he had no idea just how strong his attacks were and how destructive they could be, despite Yammy giving him a good first glimpse at what he was capable of, and he eventually sighed as he focused his mind for a few moments, first to recreate the elegant mirror from before and let it float near him, as he would need it later, before allowing a silver aura to wrap around him as he sealed both of his Zanpakuto once more, but even then he could tell that his base power had been boosted to a new level, putting him far beyond what he was originally capable of. He guessed that when the chosen Hollow reached this point, and ascended to being the Dios Hueco, their power was pushed to a point that only a few could even dream about, meaning that he would likely need some time training before he fully mastered his new power.
He glanced up after doing that and found that everyone was looking at him, the Arrancar awaiting their orders, his friends waiting to see what he did next, and the Shinigami wondering if he was going to remain on their side or turn against him now that there was no one that could best him, save possibly Yamamoto, before he decided that they were all ready for what he had planned.
"Since it appears that everyone is ready, I'll tell you what we're going to do." Sombra said, finding that all of them were silent, keeping their mouths shut until he finished explaining what the plan was, to which he continued with his brief explanation, "We're going to go to the World of the Living, stop the war between Soul Society and Aizen, save as many of the Arrancar as we can, and then I'm going to deal with Aizen. It's as simple as that."
"Except you're forgetting one small detail," Mayuri commented, causing Sombra to glance at him for a moment, as he was interested in why the Captain felt that he was forgetting something important, or at least important in his eyes since he was shaking his head in annoyance, "Aizen locked the Garganta we used to get here and your scientist won't let me near the device he's made to study the Garganta, so it's impossible for us to leave Hueco Mundo."
"Actually, all Arrancar can make their own Garganta, and I am no exception," Sombra stated, where he glanced at the open area behind him and glared at it, to which Hueco Mundo seemed to understand what he was doing and a large Garganta opened before their eyes, one that possessed a silver outline that didn't belong to how an Arrancar got from this world to the World of the Living, "or, as you no doubt noticed, I can make a King's Garganta. I'm sure that, as we're crossing to the other side, you'll find out why the gateway is called that."
Ichigo raised an eyebrow as he and his friends followed after the group of Arrancar that were following Sombra, as the moment he stopped talking Sombra headed towards the Garganta, but when they arrived his eyes widened as a crystalline walkway started to form in front of Sombra. It was almost like some force was weaving together a path for him to take, so he didn't have to expend his own concentration doing what he had done on their way to Hueco Mundo, and, once they were all inside the passage between worlds, he noticed that an image of Karakura Town appeared off in the distance, showing them that they were heading for their destination. One thing that Ichigo was certain about, besides the fact that no one had any idea what Sombra was capable of anymore, was that the Captains and the Espada that were fighting were going to be surprised when they arrived and took notice of what Sombra was like... and there was no telling how Soul Society was going to react, nor if the three remaining Espada were going to follow Grimmjow and Ulquiorra's lead and join Sombra's side.
Hitsuguya discovered something interesting, and that was after the few seconds that the air had shuddered most of the Arrancar had stopped fighting, as if they were curious about whatever they were feeling, and that gave Matsumoto and Hinamori time to get close to him so they could potentially form a strategy for when the battle started back up. At the same time the three Arrancar that the ladies had been fighting, Cyan Sung-Sun, Franceska Mila Rose, and Emilou Apacci, gathered behind their leader and stared at them, clearly wanting to continue the fight that they had been having until they were interrupted by Hinamori's arrival. Of course none of them could actually resume the battle that had been taking place, as not a few moments later the air shook for a second and Hitsuguya diverted his attention away from his foe, which was dangerous for him to do in this situation, and glanced at the direction the shudder had come from, where he found a crack forming in the air, one that reminded him of the passages the Arrancar used to travel between worlds. This wasn't good news for them, because if Aizen had more Arrancar awaiting his call, than just the ones that he and the others had been fighting the entire time, he had the feeling that they might be doomed, regardless of whether or not this was the 'Dios Hueco' his opponent told him about... and the odd thing was that this Garganta had a silver outline to it, but whatever that meant he had no idea, since he was more worried about their chances of winning this war.
He could tell that he wasn't the only one watching the Garganta, as all of the battles that had been taking place had stopped in their tracks and their combatants were looking over at where it was opening, and soon the passage that the Arrancar used to go between worlds was established. What was interesting was that there seemed to be a decent amount of people coming from the passage, as the first ones to arrive were Orihime and Sora Inoue, Uryu, Chad, and Ichigo, who moved out of the way as the rest of the group came out after them. The second group contained Captains Mayuri, Zaraki, Byakuya, and Unohana, along with Renji, Rukia, Isane, Hanataro, Nemu, and Yachiru, but the interesting part was that both Zaraki and Byakuya were missing their Captain's kaori, no doubt from their battles, and that they moved out of the way for the final group to join them. That was when Hitsuguya felt some sweat rolling down the side of his face, as seven different Arrancar walked through the passage and stood near the opening they had come out of, and one of them looked like Hollow Ichigo Kurosaki that was wearing the same attire that the blue haired Arrancar was wearing, before the group turned around and knelt before the opening. It was in the following moments that a new figure appeared in the passage and Hitsuguya's eyes widened for a second as Sombra stepped out of the Garganta, with an elegant mirror floating in the space behind him, where he came to a stop in front of the group that had stepped out before him and let the passage close as quickly as it had formed.
The strangest thing that he discovered was that he could no longer feel Sombra's reiatsu, something that he noticed the other Shinigami had noticed as well, but right now there was no telling if he had decided to change sides and attack them or if he was on their side and was here to defeat the remaining Espada... though at the same time he had no idea where this 'Dios Hueco' was, because it hadn't walked out of the passage with everyone else.
"So, Grimmjow was right, Sombra was the Dios Hueco all along." Harribel commented, though at the same time she noticed the slight vibrations in the air that allowed her and the other Arrancar to understand what Sombra was, even if they couldn't feel his reiatsu at all, and she noticed her Fraccion nodded their heads in agreement.
"Wait, Sombra was the being you were talking about?" Hitsuguya asked, as that wasn't something he was expecting to hear, despite the sheer power that the Arrancar in question possessed in his Bankai state, and he could tell that both Matsumoto and Hinamori were confused as well.
"Yes, it appears that Sombra has finally ascended to the highest classification that a Hollow can reach," Harribel said, though as she said that she slipped her Zanpakuto into the sheath that rested on her back, as she had the feeling that she wouldn't need it anymore, and heard the sounds of her Fraccion doing the same thing, "The Dios Hueco is also commonly called the Hollow God, a being that all Hollow and Arrancar are destined to serve when the chosen one reaches this point, which is why I said that he could either be your savior or the bringer of your doom, as the power of the Dios Hueco is so powerful that only your Captain-Commander could possibly deal with him... at least that was what happened a thousand years ago, when the last Dios Hueco rose to the height of their power."
It was in that following moment that another Garganta, this one even larger than the one that Sombra had walked through, appeared nearby, though the Espada, who knew what had been coming since Aizen told them his plan ahead of time, thought that it was strange that Wonderweiss and Hooleer, the massive Hollow that had aided Aizen and his allies in their escape from Soul Society, were coming so soon... meaning that he either anticipated the arrival of Sombra's forces, or that Wonderweiss got bored and came to aid them without even bothering to check if it was time to do so.
"Lord Sombra, that's Wonderweiss Margela," Grimmjow stated, causing the other members of Sombra's Espada, those that knew who he was talking about, to nod their heads as well, indicating that he was correct, while at the same time he found it amusing that the others let him speak first and that they agreed with him, especially when he took their past into consideration, "He's the last Arrancar that Aizen made before this assault, the seventy-seventh if my memory is correct, and while he might seem like a child right now he's known to show signs of aggression for no reason."
"So that's the other reiatsu I felt in Hueco Mundo." Sombra commented, though at the same time the Arrancar him stood up and faced the newest arrivals, as it appeared that their journey from Hueco Mundo to the World of the Living set off whatever alarm Wonderweiss was tied to, "Three Espada remain, with four Fraccion standing behind them, and an unknown Arrancar standing off on the side... I wonder if they're as smart as the rest of you are."
"I think the old guy looks like he's about ready to kill someone." Zangetsu said, staring at the old man that was holding onto a rather large axe for a few moments, before shifting his gaze around to the remaining potential enemies that were currently around the area, "If I had to guess which order they were in, I'd say that the chick is the new Tres Espada, simply because we were told that earlier, the old dude has to be the Segunda Espada, and that would leave the tired looking guy as the Primera Espada."
"Based on their reiatsu, I'd say the same thing." Sombra replied, though as he said that he took a step forward and started to walk towards the Espada that were staring at him, as it was time to see just how many enemies they had at the moment, while noticing that the large Garganta remained open, meaning the large Hollow might leave once it's task was completed, before he glanced at the others for a moment, "Just stay here for a moment and watch what's about to unfold, because I'm sure one of these Espada isn't going to like a change in authority."
As Sombra expected the three remaining Espada, who were still bound to Aizen's will, flashed into the area near him and their Fraccion, a little girl for the tired Arrancar and three ladies for who he assumed was Harribel, joined them as well, but they also kept their distance in case he attacked them. Wonderweiss and the Hollow, on the other hand, remained where they were standing, apparently watching what was going on before they made their own move, to which Sombra decided that it was time to get the show on the road as the mirror floated into the area behind him, especially since the Shinigami that had been battling the Arrancar neared them as well.
"As you no doubt know by now, I am Sombra, the Dios Hueco." Sombra said, addressing his fellow Arrancar, as they were the ones that he was interested in, while at the same time noticing that the Shinigami seemed to be wondering what he was doing, "Allow me to make one thing clear to all of you: now that I have ascended to the final classification that a Hollow can reach, one that is unrivaled by those that came before it, I have claimed Hueco Mundo as my domain and have currently freed Gantenbainne Mosqueda, Cirucci Sanderwicci, Szayelaporro Granz, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, and Ulquiorra Cifer from Aizen's clutches."
"One cannot 'claim' Hueco Mundo, as it is mine to rule," the elderly Espada stated, sounding annoyed with what Sombra had said, though at the same time his fellow Espada glanced at him like he might have a screw loose or something similar to that, but Sombra remained silent and let him talk, "I am Baraggan Louisenbairn, the Segunda Espada and God-King of Hueco Mundo, which is temporarily on lone to Aizen until his war with the Shinigami is over and Soul Society is his to either rule or destroy. If you make such a bold claim about taking Hueco Mundo as your domain, like you just did, then I shall be forced to show you the price of your arrogance and claim your life."
"While I understand that I could simply use my new power to force you into my rule, it is not my desire to become a tyrant to you and the other Arrancar," Sombra replied, speaking to the remaining two Espada, as they seemed to be the smartest of the trio, while at the same time beckoning to the Arrancar that had joined them, "Let me clarify something: the Arrancar that are standing over there have sided with me because they either knew that I was the true king of Hueco Mundo, or they didn't want to be under Aizen's rule anymore, or they found that it was wise to join me, especially given the power I command. Here, allow me to demonstrate what I mean..."
Sombra beckoned to the mirror for a moment and it floated over to where they were standing, to which the glass surface shimmered for a moment before some darkness seeped out of it, only for Starrk's eyes to widen as Harribel stared at it in shock, as both Loly and Menoly were temporarily withdrawn from the Shadowlands... though all three of the Espada, including their Fraccion and the other Shinigami, noticed that there were shackles on their wrists and ankles, and they looked like they had been tormented by something.
"When I use the full power of my Resurreccion I have the power to manipulate the shadows around me, as well as open a gateway to the Shadowlands," Sombra explained, though at the same time he noticed that both Loly and Menoly realized that they were no longer in the realm he had sent them to, but they were remaining still so he didn't do anything to them, "basically it's a realm of pure terror, one that uses your own fears and nightmares to torment you, and that includes whatever terrors the realm naturally creates on it's own and the monsters that call it home. I sent those two to that realm because they decided to head to where Ulquiorra was keeping Orihime and Sora, where they proceeded to beat them with the intent of killing the two of them, and if it weren't for Grimmjow's timely arrival one of them could have died... and, when Aizen decided to come to this world, they decided to attack Orihime again, so I, upon learning what they did, punished them accordingly. Trust me on this, a good number of those that suffer the fate of seeing what the Shadowlands have to offer tend to think twice about their life choices and change course, while some are fated to remain in that realm until the day they die, and right now both Nnoitra and Yammy are suffering because they stubbornly decided that they'd rather side with Aizen.
Of course there's also a few that have suffered such a fate and I withdrew them to see if they changed their mind on the manner we were talking about, but some are stubborn enough to refuse what's good for them and earn a permanent place in the Shadowlands... which reminds me, I need to see what Loly and Menoly think ab..."
"Please! Don't send us back to... to that place!" Menoly pleaded, though as she and Loly seemed to realize that he might actually send them back to the Shadowlands, if they sided with Aizen over the true king of Hueco Mundo, Harribel noticed that both of them were definitely bothered by what they had seen, "We'll forsake the Usurper known as Aizen Sosuke and do whatever you want! Just don't send us back there!"
As she said that, and Loly actually did the smart thing and followed her friend's lead by repeating her statement with the same frightened voice that Menoly had, Sombra nodded his head and snapped his fingers, to which the shackles came off their wrists and ankles, freeing them from the mirror, to which they rapidly thanked him and moved some distance behind him so they could see what was going to happen next.
"So, you tormented a bunch of whores." Baraggan said, to which both Loly and Menoly went stiff for a moment, as that was a term that was used by certain Espada that thought whoever they were talking about was lower than everyone else, and that meant the Segunda Espada thought they were dirt, where they noticed a frown appear on Sombra's face as Baraggan said that, "Am I supposed to be impressed? I did that when I was the God-King of Hueco Mundo, to teach all female Hollows their place in my world, and your method isn't as impressive as mine are, so that's a mark against you as the next God-King, if I chose to believe your claims."
"You're acting like Szayelaporro did, before I taught him a lesson," Sombra commented, though at the same time he sighed for a moment, as he disliked people that thought poorly about those that were around them, even their allies in some cases, before he glared at Baraggan and focused on what he was going to do next, "What about the two of you? How do you feel about your ally's thoughts on the two Arrancar that are standing behind me, who have chosen to renounce Aizen and join my side?"
"It annoys me, especially when he calls my Fraccion by that term," Harribel replied, to which she knew that Sung-Sun, Mila Rose, and Apacci were nodding their heads in agreement, as none of them liked how Baraggan treated them, as he stubbornly clung to a position that was no longer his, especially considering what they felt earlier, "When you said that you taught Szayelaporro a lesson, what exactly did you mean?"
"He treated Cirucci the same way that Baraggan's treating these two, as he called her a whore and felt that it was his right to kill her." Sombra said, as that was what he determined from the way the Octava Espada had spoken, before he activated his Resurreccion and smashed Szayelaporro into the floor, "To put it in simple terms, I used the power of my Arrancar Zanpakuto and bested him in combat, gave him a taste of the Shadowlands, and then withdrew him to see if he had learned his lesson. As you can see he's aware of his position in the new order of Hueco Mundo and now he no longer refers to female Arrancar as 'whores', rather he respects them as he should have been from the beginning. What about you, Primera Espada?"
"Frankly, I never liked the word to begin with. I always felt that my fellow Arrancar should be respected, regardless of their own personal opinions and beliefs," Starrk stated, to which he rubbed the back of his head for a moment, because the one time he tried to get Baraggan to stop using the word the Segunda threatened to release his Resurreccion and kill all of them, only for Aizen to stop him from doing that, "Anyway, my name is Coyote Starrk, so you don't have to call me the 'Primera Espada' all the time, though I prefer to be called Starrk. Allow me to introduce Lilynette Gingerbuck, more commonly known as my only Fraccion, even though my power is so enormous that I have to seal part of it inside another Arrancar and not inside a Zanpakuto, like the rest of the Arrancar you've met."
"Meaning that, while clearly being a distinct and separate being, she's your other half." Sombra said, as he was seeing what Starrk was talking about, because when he opened his senses for a moment he could tell that both Starrk and Lilynette's reiatsu signatures were nearly identical, save for a few minor differences.
"Aizen said you were quick to figure things out, though it's interesting to see you figure it out on your own." Starrk said, even though he knew that he had given away the secret that he and Lilynette had been keeping, though at the same time he came to a conclusion in regards to the unspoken question, as not a moment later he knelt before the powerful Arrancar and Lilynette followed his lead, "Lord Sombra, the two of us, Coyote Starrk and Lilynette Gingerbuck, forsake the Usurper known as Aizen Sosuke and pledge to serve your new order."
"Likewise I, Tier Harribel, shall forsake the Usurper and join the true king of Hueco Mundo," Harribel added, to which she knelt before Sombra and her Fraccion followed her lead, echoing her words while switching out her name for theirs, revealing that the one wearing the long dress, that had sleeves going past her hands, was Cyan Sung-Sun, the dark skinned Arrancar with a three-sectioned crown and collar around her neck was Franceska Mila Rose, and the tomboyish Arrancar, whose right eye was icy blue colored and her left eye was amber with a red outline around the actual eye, was called Emilou Apacci.
Sombra also learned that the three female Arrancar that followed Harribel were also known as the Tres Bestias, or the Three Beasts, and the reason behind the name was that Sung-Sun had been a large white snake with a gray underbelly when she was a Hollow, Mila Rose had been a lioness, and Apacci had been a deer, one that had some decent antlers and a horn in the middle of her forehead, which was reflected on her mask fragment.
"I accept your pledges and welcome you all into my growing empire," Sombra said, though he was happy that two of the three Espada were this smart, as Baraggan had said nothing except challenges to him in the time that he had been talking to them, and he noticed that the Arrancar that were now joining him seemed happy in their own ways, as they stood up and started walking toward where Loly and Menoly were standing.
"Traitors!" Baraggan stated, as the moment both the Tres Espada, the Primera Espada, and their Fraccion swore to serve Sombra he knew what his first duty was, as the sole remaining Espada that was allied with Aizen, and that was to kill all of them, which was why his axe was at the ready, "All of you are going to pay for this."
"Open your eyes, Baraggan. There's a new king in charge of Hueco Mundo." Harribel replied, though at the same time she stood near Sombra as Starrk did the same thing, while her Fraccion and Lilynette tended to Loly and Menoly, "You know how the tale goes: when the Dios Hueco reaches their full power no Hollow can best them, and that they have the power to forcefully make Hollows and Arrancar join their army. You can either join us, and serve our new Lord, or you can stand against us and hope that he shows mercy on you."
"It's okay. It's clear that he doesn't want to join us." Sombra said, though as he said that he focused on the Segunda Espada once more, who was staring at him like he was everything that was wrong in the world, before moving two of his fingers in the direction of the main group he had arrived with, as there was someone that was eager for battle, "Here's the thing, Baraggan, I'm sure that you're incredibly powerful, for being the Segunda Espada, but since you're the previous ruler of Hueco Mundo I'll have the others stand back and face you myself."
"You? Fight me?" Baraggan inquired, because he was curious as to why Sombra seemed to believe that he was so much stronger than he was, especially given his own unique powers, though at the same time Starrk and Harribel, along with the rest of the traitors, backed away from Sombra.
"That's right." Sombra replied, to which he sighed for a moment as he withdrew Rey, because right now there was no need for him to absolutely destroy his opponent, and readied himself for the battle that was going to take place, "I'll show you, as well as the rest of the Arrancar, who the true king of Hueco Mundo is... and then, once I'm done with you, Aizen and his allies will feel the sting of defeat as well."
Baraggan barely had time to register that his opponent had moved before he found himself flying through the air, where he collided with one of the buildings that were below them, and Sombra lowered his right leg, which he had used to kick his foe, before thinking about what he had felt moments ago. He had felt the speed of his attack slow down as it approached the elderly Arrancar, but at the same time it hadn't been enough to actually stop him from reaching his target, meaning that it was something that he needed to watch out for when he moved to attack his foe again. When Baraggan got back up the two of them engaged each other in the area that was between them, where Sombra noticed that his newest followers flashed over to where the rest of his followers were standing, and they were joined by the Shinigami that they had been fighting, before he dodged the next attack and focused on the battle in front of him. Despite Baraggan's appearance he was fast and his attacks were strong, as he occasionally loosed a brief slash of reiatsu that collided with a building and tore it in half, while at the same time Sombra noticed that whatever power his was using to slow down his attacks didn't work as well as he thought it did, as he kept slipping through the field that Baraggan was generating and that seemed to annoy him. At the same time used both his speed and his power to push Baraggan around, deflecting the axe that was being swung at him and occasionally unleashed a series of slashes that were designed to test his opponent's guard and reflexes, so he could figure out when and where he should strike.
Sombra employed the same tactic that he used against all of the other enemies that he fought since he appeared in the World of the Living, he started out by showing off a little bit of his power to match what his foe was using and studied how his foe fought, so he could figure out his abilities and the weaknesses that his foe possessed. Despite the size of Baraggan's axe, which had two large heads that would hit someone, Sombra dodged them easily and made sure that his foe had a hard time hitting him, especially since he also reached out for him with his hand, something that Sombra also avoided as he continued fighting. The next time Baraggan flashed behind him and tried to touch him, to do whatever his power allowed him to do, Sombra flashed out of the way and returned in front of where his foe was standing, where he grabbed onto Baraggan's head with his left hand and hurled him into the side of a building, one that fell apart the moment the Espada collided with it. Once that happened Sombra glanced at his hand for a moment, which had some steam emitting from his palm, revealing that his power was definitely stronger than it had been before he used both his Bankai and his Resurreccion against Yammy, meaning that Baraggan really didn't stand a chance against his full power... before he focused on the building and kept his eyes and senses open for his foe, as he didn't want to lower his defenses at the wrong moment.
"What's wrong, Baraggan? Don't tell me that's all you've got." Sombra said, because if this was how powerful he was in his base state, and how ineffective his opponents would be if he personally fought them, he was going to have to rethink how many battles he was going to partake in, before he noticed Baraggan pull himself from the building with a slight frown on his face.
"Im... Impossible. He's pushing Baraggan back?!" Soi Fon asked, as she had dared to get close to the fight, which was a building near the battle, so she could see what was happening at the moment, but that did nothing to prepare her for the fact that Sombra was currently pushing Baraggan around and bypassing his defenses, "Omaeda and I couldn't even though him when we were fighting..."
"Well, Sombra is the Dios Hueco, the strongest classification that a Hollow can reach." Grimmjow commented, though as he said that he flashed down onto the roof that the Captain was standing on and watched the fight as well, because now the rest of the Espada could see why he had been so eager to side with Sombra, "The power of the Dios Hueco is on a level that is far beyond what a Vasto Lorde can possess, especially someone like Starrk or Baraggan, and right now I know that Baraggan doesn't stand a chance against Lord Sombra... and it's only a matter of time until he gets serious and shows off more of his true power."
It seemed that Baraggan got a little serious from that point, as he got more aggressive in his attempts to touch Sombra with his hands after increasing his speed, but Sombra still moved out of the way of his outstretched arm and struck at the Espada, knocking him around the area that they were battling in every now and then. When Baraggan tried to attack from behind, to cleave him in half, his attack completely missed as Sombra flashed out of the way, appearing in the air behind the Espada as he swung down at him, where Baraggan raised his axe and blocked the attack, though the force of their attacks colliding caused the air around them to shake in the process. A few moments later Sombra applied a little more pressure and knocked Baraggan's axe backwards, surprising his foe in the process, before he shifted how his blade was facing and cut a diagonal cut, going from his right shoulder to his left hip, into Baraggan's chest. The force of his attack knocked Baraggan back into the side of a nearby building, shattering all the windows that were around him and formed a crater around him, though at the same time Sombra remained where he was standing and stared at his opponent, as he wasn't going to get serious if his opponent didn't show him how strong he really was.
"You insolent brat! I can't believe that you actually managed to pierce my Heirro." Baraggan said, as it was a surprise that his foe had managed to wound him at all, especially since it was unusual for him to see his own blood, but this just confirmed that his foe was a Vasto Lorde, as that was the only rank that could wound him.
"Seriously? That's the best insult you can come up with?" Sombra asked, though at the same time he sighed, as it appeared that he might actually be wasting his time with this battle, before he glared at his opponent as he considered what he wanted to do, as he could end this now or patiently wait for the Espada to show off his full power, "Look, I'm going to be honest with you for a moment, the only way you have a chance, and it's a slim one at that, of besting me is if you release your Resurreccion and face me with your full power."
A few moments later Baraggan flashed up to where Sombra was standing and landed on the top of one of the nearby buildings, where he stared at the foe that he was currently fighting and could tell that Sombra was waiting for him to make the next move, but in that moment he decided that it was time to end the battle and kill all his enemies.
"It's time I ended this charade!" Baraggan stated, to which he moved his axe so that the head was facing the ground, while at the same time he could see that his foe was staring at him with some interest in his eyes, "Feel free to tremble in fear! Rot, Arrogante!"
The moment Baraggan uttered the Release Call the slit-eye on his axe released some red reiatsu for a few seconds, which was followed by it generating numerous jet-black and purple colored flames that consumed his entire body, causing Sombra to raise his eyebrow as he watched what was going on. A few moments later a skull emerged from the flames, with a crack over it's right eye like Baraggan possessed on his actual face, and Sombra was sure that his foe's entire body had been turned into a skeleton, like the flames had burned away his flesh and muscles. As the flames died down and started to disappear Baraggan's body become draped in a purple cloak, with a pitch-black tattered fur collar around his neck area and the fringes of his cloak, which gives him a macabre appearance strongly reminiscent of a lich. Several lengths of golden chain, which were originally worn like a belt around his waist, now dangled out of his sleeves, while the slit-eye from his Zanpakuto was now resting at the center of his chest near his neck, like it was an elegant pendant. The sandals of his uniform become white, pointed-toe boots, while his crown-like mask fragment became a full, extravagantly decorated, bejeweled crown, with a chain running downward on the left side, making him look like a skeleton king of some kind and confirmed that he was the previous ruler of Hueco Mundo.
Once Baraggan's transformation was done, and his full power was unleashed, he took a step forward and let his right foot touch the roof he was standing on, where Sombra watched as the ceiling and the area around his foot rotted away until a hole was left behind, one that he was standing above.
"Most interesting." Sombra commented, as he was actually a little surprised to find that such a power existed, though at this point it appeared that Shinigami, Arrancar, and the Visored had a number of skills that seemed foreign to him, to which he glanced back up at his foe for a moment, "It appears that your power is either over time or the ability to rot anything that you desire."
"You might not be aware of this, but each Espada represents an aspect of death, something that can even influence our own powers and ideology," Baraggan replied, though he had to admit that Sombra's ability to determine what sort of power he possessed, with only seeing it in action one time, was amazing, just like Aizen said it was, "these aspects are solitude, rage, sacrifice, emptiness, despair, destruction, intoxication, madness, greed, and old age. The aspect of death that I hold domain over is that of old age, meaning that everything around me will age, wither, and die, and you shall suffer such a fate for your impudence. Respira."
Sombra stared at the black and purple smoke-like miasma that Baraggan unleashed, as it started to rot and devour the part of the building that he was standing on as it reached for him, but even then Sombra found that his best course of action was to keep his distance, especially since it appeared that anything that got close to Baraggan rotted away as his power took effect on the area around him. He also noticed that his foe seemed to have a set distance for his attack, as it only reached where he had been standing moments ago and the entire circular area between where he had been and where Baraggan was standing had eroded away, leaving a crater behind. It appeared that his only chances of fighting off his foe, in his current state anyway, were to keep his distance and use either the Kido spells that he knew, his Cero, or even some of the magic that he knew, all of which would be effective and might damage his foe, but at the same time he might be better off using his own Resurreccion and ending this quickly, as there was no telling how long Baraggan would focus on him until he decided to attack the others. The interesting part was that Baraggan was following after him now, as if he was trying to catch up and 'punish' him for what he had said earlier, before he decided that it was time to honor his opponent and show off his power to the Shinigami that were watching them.
He came to a stop on a nearby building and faced the Espada that he was fighting, because in the off chance that his foe might try to injure his friends and allies he had moved away from them, before he raised Rey once more and pointed it's tip towards his Hollow hole.
"Baraggan, to honor you for showing me the height of your power, I shall do the same thing," Sombra said, to which Rey started to glow, telling everyone that he was bringing his original powers back to the surface and noticed that a few of them seemed a little scared, though that was only because they suffered in the Shadowlands, before he focused on the Espada in front of him, "Make them tremble, Rey de la Oscuridad."
Much like the last time Sombra released his Arrancar Zanpakuto, and took on his Resurreccion, a pillar of black reiatsu engulfed him for a few moments, though when the pillar was gone he emerged from the smoke with his dark king attire on and had the familiar dark strands of energy emitting from his eyes, something that caused Baraggan to tilt his head for a moment as he stared at him. Sombra seized the opportunity that was presented to him and held his right hand out, to which his scythe materialized from the shadows and he grasped it immediately, before flashing forward and swinging at Baraggan, who swung his own right hand and summoned a sinister looking axe, with two heads like his last one, out of the right sleeve of his cloak, but that didn't matter in the end. Sombra, seeing the attack coming, flashed through the air once more and appeared behind Baraggan, where he swung his scythe towards the ground and a red line appeared on his foe's robes, indicating that he had actually done some damage to his opponent, who was surprised that he had gotten through the area that should have started rotting his body. Baraggan then turned toward where Sombra was standing this time around and swung the axe at his foe, noticing that a faint aura surrounded his body, but he mentally grinned as his axe bite into Sombra's side and caused him to falter for a moment.
His joy was ruined not a few seconds later, as Sombra's body transformed into what a wraith looked like, and it appeared that his foe hadn't actually taken any damage at all, meaning that this was either a fake Sombra, meant to divert his attention, or his opponent was messing around with him.
"You're likely wondering how I'm not hurt and how I managed to hurt you," Sombra said, though at the same time he stared at Baraggan as the Espada took a few steps backwards, allowing the area he had cut into to pull itself back together and make his body whole, "This is my Shadow Form, where I become one with the shadows and take on a form that prevents me from taking any damage, while at the same time I can attack you as I desire. Here's how it is, Baraggan; your power over time allows you to rot away anything that is around you and even kill the enemies that you're fighting at any given moment, if they get caught in your attacks anyway, while my power, on the other hand, is over the element of darkness, allowing me to manipulate the shadows however I desire. I noticed that my Guadana de la Desesperacion, or Scythe of Despair, was immune to your powers over time when I launched my first attack, which is why I stood my ground and took your axe in such a manner while using my Shadow Form, as I wanted to see if my thoughts had been correct, and it appears that they are."
"Your thoughts?" Baraggan inquired, though as he said that he seemed to realize that his chances of winning seemed to have disappeared, because the Shadow Form technique really blew all of his plans out of the water, especially since it seemed like his foe might not have a time limit in that state.
"It would appear that your power over time has no effect on my shadows," Sombra replied, as his scythe had easily slipped through Baraggan's aura and cut into him, if one could actually cut a skeleton, and his Shadow Form prevented him from taking any damage from both his foe's attack and the miasma he used earlier, "You know, it's a shame that your so stubborn about there being someone stronger than you, especially someone that is taking control of Hueco Mundo, otherwise I might have considered sparing your life, but, after seeing that you won't budge an inch towards being a servant, it seems that the proper course of action is to end this."
Baraggan barely had time to move as Sombra swung the scythe again and carved another diagonal red line into his robe, where he found a faint red mist emitting from the cuts and realized that, despite the fact that he was a skeleton, he seemed to be bleeding in a way he never imagined possible. Sombra wasted no time in moving away before the axe came at him again, even though he slipped back into his solid form, and readied himself as he swung the scythe, where a small dark wave rushed through the air and struck Baraggan in the side, which sent him flying into the side of a building, one that rotted away moments later. When the Espada regained himself he went on the offensive once more, using both his axe and his Respira to try and bring Sombra down, though that was when he learned that his foe hadn't been joking around, as the Shadow Form allowed him to bypass his attacks and deal his own while he was in a protective state of sorts, which resulted in Baraggan being pushed around like he was a weakling, much like he had been doing to the Shinigami that he had been fighting earlier. At one point Sombra flashed out of where they were fighting in while Baraggan was thinking about his earlier fight, causing the Espada to look around for his opponent, but that was when Sombra appeared in the air above him and pointed his right pointer finger down at him, while the scythe spun in the air nearby.
Not a few seconds later a powerful Cero Oscuras barreled into Baraggan's body and sent him flying into the ground, where the blast consumed the small block that he had been knocked into and ended up damaging his body, as part of the left side of his skull shattered and disappeared while his pendant was destroyed.
"I will never forgive you for this!" Baraggan stated, to which he forced himself to stand once more and faced his foe, who was just staring at him at this point, where he readied his axe for the next stage of combat, "I AM THE KING OF HUECO MUNDO! I AM A GOD! I AM IMMORTAL!"
"Fool, you aren't immortal at all. Nor are you a god." Sombra said, though as he said that he flashed down into the area in front of Baraggan and swung the scythe at him, allowing the curved edge of the head to pierce the area where his foe's heart would have been, where he noticed more red mist was emitting from the wound, before he pulled the scythe out and let it float nearby as the Espada fell to his knees, "It's a shame that you couldn't admit that you were no longer the king of Hueco Mundo, as it would have been interesting learning about your type of leadership from you, instead of seeing if I could find someone that knows what you did before Aizen showed up. Have you anything to say, before I finish this battle and end your existence?"
Baraggan had no idea what had actually happened, but it felt like the head of the scythe went right into the core of his being and shattered it, broke the one thing that was keeping him alive, and as the red mist started to pour out of his wounds he noticed that both his axe and his body were starting to break apart, indicating that he, the king of Hueco Mundo, was actually going to die.
"I have... just one thing to say." Baraggan admitted, though even as he said that he could feel the bones and his robes falling apart as well, confirming his own thoughts on what his fate was going to be, before he stared at his foe and saw that Sombra felt sorry for him, that he had chosen this path and fate for himself, "I want you, as one king to the next, to kill Aizen Sosuke and take back Hueco Mundo."
"Don't worry, I have special plans for Aizen," Sombra said, where he glanced at the flaming fortress for a moment, which included the strange Arrancar and the large Hollow, and knew that it was time to get the show on the road, before he turned back towards the Espada in front of him, "Farewell, Barrggan Louisenbairn."
Sombra watched as the rest of Baraggan's life essence broke free of his body and evaporated, destroying what was left of the former king of Hueco Mundo, before he flashed up into the air and faced the flaming fortress, which was about the time that the remaining Arrancar said something to the Hollow before flashing through the air as it targeted him of all people. Thanks to his recent power up, as the Dios Hueco, Sombra was able to tell that Wonderweiss seemed to be missing some critical aspects that the other Arrancar had, like all forms of rationality, memory retention, speech, and even intelligence, to which he sighed as he shifted his stance and moved out of the way, before catching the Arrancar's face with his left hand. Instead of cutting him down, like one would think, he focused on his newest powers, those that came with being the Dios Hueco and were ones that he hadn't tested yet, and delved into Wonderweiss' for a moment, where he found the area that he had been thinking about and noticed that the aspects seemed to be sealed off by something, only for him to flip a switch inside the Arrancar's head before he released him. It took a few moments for Wonderweiss to realize that something about him had changed, though he still knelt and spoke to Sombra, like he was pledging himself to the new order, to which Sombra beckoned for him to join the others and turned back towards the flaming fortress once more, just in time to see the large Hollow use his breath to put out the flames... revealing Aizen, Tosen, and Gin for him and the others to see.
A few seconds ticked by before Aizen started to walk forward, followed by both Gin and Tosen, to which Sombra did the same thing and headed towards where the Usurper and his allies were standing, as it was time to bring an end to Aizen's schemes, even if it meant that Sombra had to go through all three of them to do it.
Sombra came to a stop when he and Aizen were close to each other, just like when he and his friends were stopping Rukia's 'execution' and the traitorous Captain revealed his plans to him, to steal the Hogyoku and escape with it, though while they weren't within arm's reach of each other that could easily be fixed by one of them moving. It gave him a moment to see that Gin was wearing a robe that would have belonged to an Arrancar, which was white and might be covering his previous attire, though his robe was open near the top in a narrow v shape and went down to his waist, closed to below the hips, and then open again to the hem. Tosen was likewise dressed in some Arrancar themed attire, only it appeared that he had let his braids let down, he was still sporting the same orange scarf, his attire was also a robe that seemed to have been modified for fighting, and his Zanpakuto currently rested on a string-like attachment, allowing him to draw it when he needed it, while Gin's blade had to be inside his robe. Aizen, on the other hand, wore a robe that was like Gin's, only his was open like a jacket would be and revealed the Arrancar inspired clothing underneath it, complete with a pink sash around his waist, one that his Zanpakuto rested on, and he seemed to be staring at the situation that was unfolding at the moment.
"Well now, this is a surprise." Gin commented, as he was currently staring at Sombra, because he could have sworn that Aizen's plan had been designed to trap the Arrancar in Hueco Mundo, and he was sure that Aizen was thinking about what could have allowed his escape, "Aren't you supposed to be trapped inside Hueco Mundo?"
"That was your plan, and it did work for a little bit." Sombra replied, though at the same time he didn't seal his powers back into Rey, not when he knew that a fight was going to break out between them at one point and he needed to have his abilities at the ready, "However, you couldn't have foreseen that I would have ascended to the level of the Dios Hueco and gain the ability to use a King's Garganta, which overruled your ability to shut me inside Hueco Mundo. Nor could you have known that I would have used that ability to come here and free the remaining Arrancar that were under your control, or at least save those that chose to serve the true ruler of Hueco Mundo, especially since Baraggan decided to stand against me and suffered for his decision."
"I see. So it appears that you have defeated my Espada and converted the survivors to your side." Aizen said, as he had noticed that Baraggan was the only one fighting since the arrival of Sombra, a battle that he felt since he couldn't see thanks to the flaming fortress, and right now it looked like both Starrk and Harribel were standing with the rest of the traitorous Arrancar that he created, though he was a little surprised to see Ulquiorra standing with them.
"That's right." Sombra stated, though it was hard to tell if Aizen was displeased with what he had done or if he was curious as to how he managed to convince them that he was the one they should be following, before he focused on something else for a moment, "What do you call that big Hollow that Wonderweiss was standing near?"
"Oh, he's called Hooleer. He's Wonderweiss' favorite." Gin answered, though he had to wonder what the importance of the name meant to Sombra, who immediately flashed out of the area that they were in, appeared near the Hollow and said something, before returning a few seconds later like he hadn't moved in the first place.
Everyone watched as the large Hollow, Hooleer, carefully turned itself around and walked back into the Garganta that it had used to get here, even though Wonderweiss was the one who opened the passage, and a few moments later the large Garganta had closed, confirming Sombra's suspicions that Hollows were now willing to follow his orders, before facing his foes.
"Well, now he's on his way back to Hueco Mundo, so Wonderweiss can have fun with him later." Sombra said, though as he prepared to say something more he felt the air stir for a moment, along with several more reiatsu signatures appear near them, "It seems like we have company."
It was in the second following his statement that Shinji appeared nearby, dressed in the same attire he had been wearing the last time he had seen the man, and Sombra noticed that the remainder of the Visored were standing nearby as well, waiting for something to happen.
"It seems that we arrived in time for the main event." Shinji said, to which he glared at Aizen for a moment as both Gin and Tosen tensed up a little, before he noticed something interesting and turned to look at Sombra, "I could have sworn that you said you were going to decimate Aizen's forces, not let the majority of them live and let them stand by your friends and allies."
"That was before I knew about the Dios Hueco," Sombra replied, though at the same time he didn't take his eyes off of Aizen, as that was the person that needed to be defeated and he wanted to be sure that there weren't any nasty surprises waiting for him, "Besides, what are you and the rest of the Visored doing here? I didn't think that any of you would willingly help the Shinigami in their war against Aizen, much less come to stand beside one of their allies."
"Look, we came to deal with him, not talk to you." Shinji stated, showing that he hadn't changed in the amount of time that Sombra and the others had been in Hueco Mundo, before he shook his head and turned away, "Besides, Yoruichi insisted that we come and check on the situation, as she felt the others return and couldn't feel your reiatsu at all, and there's the fact that there's a strong barrier covering this place, so we had to circle around and find someone to let us in so we could have a crack at Aizen. Speaking of which..."
In the moment Shinji said that he and the others wanted a crack at Aizen, something that Sombra had come to do on his own anyway, the Visored drew his Zanpakuto from it's scabbard, something that was immediately discarded, and flashed up in front of Aizen as he prepared to bring his blade down, only for him to get out of the way as Tosen, sensing the attack, swung his own Zanpakuto at Shinji's head. Shinji, surprised by Tosen's sudden movement and the suddenness of the blade being in front of him face, pulled himself back as Tosen carried out his attack, to which he leapt back and landed near Sombra, who noticed that the left side of his face had been cut, just above the eyebrow.
"I missed?" Tosen inquired, as he didn't hear the sound of something falling to the ground, which would have been the indicator that he had struck something, though at the same time he still held his blade at the ready, indicating that he'd attack again if he sensed them move, or heard Sombra move since no one could feel his energy anymore.
"Don't be ridiculous, you hit me." Shinji said, though even as he said that he raised his empty hand and rubbed at the cut area, not surprised to find blood there since he could feel it, but he was still shocked by how quickly Tosen had moved from where he was standing and got into position to attack him, while noticing that Sombra didn't even seem phased by their enemy's action.
"I wanted to slice off everything above your left eye. I don't consider that a hit." Tosen replied, showing that his standards must have changed in the brief time that he was in Hueco Mundo, as a cut like that could have been called a hit in Sombra's book, though that was followed by Tosen readying himself for the next attack.
"Big talk coming from the small fry." Shinji stated, as it was something like that, when an opponent scored a blow and didn't consider it a hit, that actually annoyed him, and yet he knew that Tosen would have to be incredibly foolish if he thought that he could reach him, especially with Sombra standing near him.
"You must really hate the fact that you're going to be killed by a 'small fry'." Tosen said, though it sounded like he might be in a hurry or just wanted to get Shinji out of the way before he did something to Aizen, which is why his focus was on where Shinji was kneeling and not on Sombra.
In the following moment Tosen charged at Shinji's location and was surprised by what happened next, as Captain Komamura flashed into the area near them and used the edge of his left gauntlet to deflect the tip of the blade from it's path, as it now pointed diagonally towards the ground, instead of at where Shinji was standing, though Tosen seemed to sense the arrival of a familiar foe and flashed backwards, putting some distance between him and them.
"Sombra, allow me to assist you in taking out Tosen." Komamura said, though his eyes were on the traitorous Captain that he had once called his friend, who he thought he knew as well as a brother for a long time, up until he betrayed them all and sided with Aizen, before he turned his full attention back to Tosen and stared at him, "This is the opposite of what happened that day, when I blocked Zaraki's blade and saved your live. I never thought that I'd have to save someone from your blade one day."
"Komamura, I knew that, without a doubt, that one day our blades would cross," Tosen replied, indicating that he knew, from the moment that he sided with Aizen, that he would have to fight the person that he had come to know as his best friend, before he stood up and pointed his blade at them, "and that one of us would die when that day came."
Not even a moment later Sombra watched as a new weapon, one that looked like a thin rod with two scythe heads attached to the top of it, with one inverted, wrapped around Tosen's blade before facing the ground, and that was when he noticed that it was attached to a chain that a weakened Hisagi was holding onto, along with a second identical weapon in his left hand.
"I'm sorry, Captain Komamura, Sombra, but please, let me join this battle." Hisagi asked, though his eyes were on Tosen, indicating that he had come here to fight his Captain and either show him how strong he had gotten since his betrayal or restore his Division's honor by defeating their traitorous Captain in battle, "It's been a while, Captain Tosen. I've come to express my gratitude to you."
"Interesting choice of words." Tosen commented, though as he said that he made no move to removed his Zanpakuto from Hisagi's Shikai state, as that was what Sombra knew the scythe-like weapons had to be, before he turned his head towards the huffing Lieutenant, "Are you being sarcastic?"
"No, I wanted to thank you for everything that you've taught me." Hisagi replied, as he had known that his former Captain wouldn't have guessed what he was referring to when he said that he had said, but he was more than willing to tell him exactly what he meant before continuing, "I've learned many things from you over the years, and I'm really grateful for your lessons. So now I'm going to use every skill you taught me to make you come back to your senses... and I'll bring you back to Soul Society!"
"You? Make me come to my sense?" Tosen repeated, as if he found something interesting about that statement, while also keeping notice of how Hisagi was breathing, before he seemed to get ready for what was going to happen in the near future, "You haven't changed, Hisagi. Suzumushi."
Sombra watched what happened next with some interest in his eyes, as the moment Tosen uttered the name of his Zanpakuto the blade vibrated and the chain came undone, freeing his weapon in the process and allowed him to drop Hisagi's scythe-like weapon at the same time.
"Hisagi, I thought I told you 'Those who do not know fear, have no right to go into battle'." Tosen said, to which he turned his head towards his former Lieutenant, who was keeping his gaze on his former Captain at the same time, "That is what I meant when I said that you haven't changed at all. Even now, your words don't have a shred of fear in them."
In response to that Hisagi growled and pulled his second weapon back up to him, before charging forward and swinging down on where Tosen was standing, though Tosen sensed the attack coming and flashed out of the way, only to appear above the Lieutenant's head and swung down at him, where a timely warning from Komamura managed to get Hisagi to block the Tosen's Zanpakuto with the rods of his weapons. Hisagi tried to trap the edge of Tosen's Zanpakuto with the two heads of his weapons, but Tosen pulled his blade back and kicked Hisagi backwards, before blocking the incoming attack that was coming his way and let the air shake around them, all while saying something about how the fact that Hisagi didn't know true fear meant he could never beat him. That was an interesting comment to make in the middle of a fight, because since he was in his Resurreccion he could easily send Hisagi to the Shadowlands and install a level a fear in him, just like he did to Szayelaporro, Loly, and Menoly, but at the same time he crushed that thought and turned it to dust, as he knew that they could do without him punishing the Shinigami that were assisting him, even though Shinji had flashed behind Aizen and was now attempting to draw out Gin while Tosen was busy.
Of course everyone stopped when Aizen shifted his stance, as there was no telling what he was up to since this was his war, but Sombra continued to stare at him, because once Gin and Tosen were taken care of he was going to show Aizen his power and deal with him.
"Truthfully, I had no expected this outcome." Aizen commented, as his eyes lingered on the former loyal Espada that he had gathered, because it was amusing that they shifted sides so easily, instead of trying to fight for him, before he turned towards Sombra, "I went through a lot of trouble to gather those Espada, and yet you simply walked into Hueco Mundo and took them like they were your new toys. I am also disappointed in you, Sombra, because it appears that you no longer have any reiatsu. Even if you were suppressing it, I'd still be able to feel a bit of it, which means that you must have found a way to discard your reiatsu, knowing that you'd never be able to beat me in a battle of reiatsu."
"That is where you are wrong, Aizen." Sombra said, as it was amusing that his foe thought that he had sacrificed or even discarded his reiatsu, something that he knew to be impossible, and he decided to inform him of why he was wrong before the battle resumed, "I didn't discard my reiatsu, I simply ascended to a whole new level... one that's currently beyond anything you can feel. Besides, I know that you won't take a step forward until the rest of your subordinates are taken care of, so we'll just beat both Tosen and Gin before moving onto the main event, where I'll gladly demonstrate my power while I'm beating you to a pulp."
"Nonsense. You cannot defeat him." Tosen replied, to which Sombra turned his attention to the enemy that Hisagi and Komamura were focusing on, one that he could be fighting as well, even though he was simply watching his opponent's movements before joining the battle himself, but it seemed like that opened a hole in his defenses, as Komamura flashed towards him and swung his Zanpakuto at him.
Sombra watched as Komamura and Tosen went at it, one attacking and one defending as they danced through the area in front of him, allowing Aizen to move back so he had a good spot to watch the battle from without being pulled into the battle, while at the same time Gin moved so Shinji would be out of the way as well. When Tosen flashed behind the larger Captain, to attack him from the side, Komamura used his metallic gauntlet and bashed the blade backwards, before turning around and swung at him in return, only for the blind fighter to block the incoming attack as well, showing that, despite their current situation, that they were equal to each other in terms of strength. Komamura then tried to punch Tosen while he was blocking his attack, but what actually happened was Tosen dropped down and planted a foot against Komamura's chest, using him as a point so he could jump backwards, only for him to block the incoming attack that Hisagi sent his way, who had been trying to attack him while he was distracted. In fact Tosen smashed the weapon further out of the air and rushed at the weakened Hisagi, who blocked the incoming attack with the other weapon and then had to defend himself against the onslaught of attacks that Tosen had for him, showing that he was taking this fight serious and was waiting for Sombra to enter the battle... and while he waited for Sombra to move he swung his Zanpakuto and forced the second weapon out of Hisagi's hand, opening him to an attack that might take him out of the battle instantly.
Fortunately Hisagi wasn't in a horrible situation as Tosen made it look like, as he gripped the chains of his Shikai and pulled the two weapons back towards him, the blades seemingly trapping Tosen as their sharpened edges approached him, but Tosen flashed out of the area and Hisagi grabbed the two rods to ready himself once more... though as Komamura swung and forced Tosen backwards, as he tried to attack Hisagi again, Sombra sighed and took a step forward, causing them to look at him.
"Very well then, I'll join the battle." Sombra said, though at the same time he held his hand out and let the scythe float away, where it spun like it did every other time he let it do it's own thing until he called it back to him, before he moved his cape a little and revealed Shokyo resting in her scabbard, which he kept hidden by the shadows and was only revealing it now, before he drew his Shinigami Zanpakuto and let it transform into it's Shikai state.
A few moments later Sombra flashed through the air and brought the broadsword down on where Tosen was standing, surprising both Hisagi and Komamura with his new speed, but Tosen managed to parry the attack and flashed away from where he had been standing, which allowed Komamura to attack him and forced their blades to meet once more. Despite the fact that he couldn't actually see them when they attacked, Tosen proved that he had the ability to at least tell where an attack was coming from and block it, even though Sombra's attacks could shake the air when they collided with his Zanpakuto if he wanted, something that he avoided since he wanted to keep testing Tosen's defenses as both Hisagi and Komamura fought beside him. Truthfully he didn't need the help, not in his current state and not against an opponent like this, but since they had all assembled to break Aizen, who he wasn't planning on sharing with anyone, the least he could do was let some of the others assist him in taking Tosen and Gin out, all so he could focus on the true foe and not have any distractions. An interesting thing that Sombra noted during their fight was that when Tosen dealt with Komamura or Hisagi his power remained the same, never changing for them, yet he seemed to be boosting his power when he attacked the broadsword, showing Sombra that, despite his earlier comment, Tosen knew who the real threat was and was trying to beat him in his own way.
Despite the interesting aspect that Sombra had noticed he knew that it didn't matter at the moment, since Tosen's power was even lower than Aizen's and his own, and he knocked Tosen back with a single swing, but when he saw his foe stand still for a moment he held his left hand out and both Komamura and Hisagi stopped, knowing that he had sensed something and backed off to stand beside him, so they could see what was going on.
"Lord Aizen was right, you are powerful." Tosen commented, as if he had been testing his own strength against the power that Sombra commanded, which would have been fine before his ascension and now it was just a source of amusement for him, "It appears that, in order to defeat you, I'll need to use my true power."
"Your Bankai?" Komamura inquired, as that was the only power that they knew that Tosen had, even if Sombra was starting to wonder if there was something more, as some of those attacks had a familiar hint of a Hollow's power backing them, "Very well then, I shall use mine as well."
"My Bankai?" Tosen repeated, though this time his tone confirmed Sombra's thoughts, that Tosen had unlocked a new form of power that none of them had known about before this point in time, "Don't make me laugh. Lord Aizen has given me a power that is far beyond that of my Bankai."
In the following moment Tosen raised his left hand and brought it to his face, with dark purple strands gathering at the area that was between his palm and his face, before the air shook a little as his reiatsu responded to his command, which was followed by him being covered by some wind as he finalized what he was doing. A few moments later, as a shocked and annoyed Komamura asked Tosen about how far he had fallen, Sombra noticed that when the wind broke apart Tosen was now wearing a Hollow mask, just like a Visored would, only his seemed to cover most of his head, neck, and throat, with the exception of a small hole in the back for his hair. The mask had a smooth white surface, with the only feature being a bilateral line down the middle, separating the mask into two portions, while Tosen's outfit had changed as well, because the orange strap on his shoulder was gone and he gained a chest plate with a pair of small slim shoulder guards, both of which had designs that were similar to his mask, and Sombra also sensed that his power had gone up, just like the Visored did when they put on their masks.
"So he gave you the power of Hollowfication, only it's a perfected version of what the Visored do." Sombra said, as he guessed that the change to the chest, neck, and shoulders had come with a Hollowfication that had been granted by the Hogyoku, which had definitely make Tosen much stronger than when he was a Shinigami, all while noticing that Hisagi seemed uncertain of what was going on, as if his former Captain's action really shook his world.
"You catch on quickly, just as Lord Aizen said." Tosen commented, though at the same time he flashed through the air and appeared before Hisagi, who barely had time to even register what was going on before Tosen swung his Zanpakuto towards the ground and cut the chain of his target's Zanpakuto in half, as well as cutting a gash into Hisagi's chest, which sent him down to the roof of the nearby hospital.
"Tenken!" Komamura called out, to which a light blue phantom arm of a giant, wielding a massive phantom version of his Zanpakuto, formed in the air behind him, making Sombra realize that he had never actually seen what the wolf Captain's Bankai looked like.
In the following moment Komamura brought the blade down on Tosen's back and the massive blade followed suit, showing Sombra that he intended to crush Tosen with the larger blade since his wasn't anywhere near Tosen, but the sad part was that all Tosen had to do was raise his right arm and he blocked the attack with his Zanpakuto. Not even a second later Tosen knocked the phantom blade out of existence and spun around, kicking Komamura in the side, with enough power to force him to cough up blood and send him flying, before flashing into the air behind him so he could elbow the stunned Captain into the ground. Before Komamura could even reach the ground Tosen attacked him again, weakly testing his defenses before using both of his feet to kick him again, sending him crashing into an entirely different building than the one he had been heading towards moments ago, all while this told Sombra that Aizen must have changed Tosen for the sheer purpose of defeating him.
"It's odd." Tosen commented, to which he landed in an area that was close to where Sombra was standing while also allowing him to be near Komamura, just in case the Captain felt like attacking him, even though it was easy to tell who Tosen was talking to, "That half-Shinigami boy that they consider an ally has the power of Hollowfication as well. Must they scorn me so much for gaining this power?"
"Ichigo didn't willingly take on that power, he went through it to tame Zangetsu." Sombra said, as at the time Zangetsu had been trying to take over, whether it was because he knew what he had been before hand or just because his instincts told him to do that, and he could hear Zangetsu growl for a moment, indicating that he hated that moment, "You, on the other hand, willingly chose to take this power into yourself, where the other Captains might be scorning you because they felt that you had more than enough power with just your Bankai and that you didn't need to do this to yourself. I guess to them they see it as corruption..."
"Corruption?!" Tosen repeated, as if the very notion of him being a corrupt individual was an incorrect one in his eyes, even if he was blind, but Sombra remained silent for now, recalling a familiar conversation with someone that he had turned against and destroyed, "How is it corrupt for Shinigami to become closer to Hollows? Such words would come from a narrow-minded dualism that deems Shinigami and Hollows as good and evil."
"NO!" a voice shouted, to which Komamura burst out of the rubble that he had been in and stared up at Tosen, as he had heard every word that had been said and knew that Sombra's observation was more accurate than he might even know, though it was possible that he had some knowledge of this himself, "You betrayed your comrades, you betrayed your friends, and you even betrayed your subordinates... all for the sake of gaining this excessive power. That, Tosen, is called corruption."
Before Tosen had a chance to even do or say anything a chain appeared in the air above his head and fell down to where his neck was, where Hisagi, despite being wounded, pulled back as hard as he could and yanked Tosen right into the top of the building that he was standing on, only for the Lieutenant to grab onto Tosen's throat as he prepared to end this fight, even if it meant Tosen's death.
"It appears that I didn't step in far enough." Tosen said, referring to the earlier swing that had knocked Hisagi out of the air and sent him down to the building they were on top of, but at the same time he sensed the hesitation that was coming from his former Lieutenant, "How naive of me."
In that instant Sombra learned that Hisagi, through the training that Tosen had given him, always started a battle by moving back so he could dodge anything by a hair, when drawing his Zanpakuto, and it was that instinct that had been carved into his body by training that had saved him from Tosen's earlier attack. Sombra had to admit that it was a good tactic, to always pull back a little when entering a battle, and knew that it was similar in some aspects to what he did, start small and then increase his power as necessary, depending on his opponent's strength, but he remained silent as the two remained in the same position for a few moments. Of course, as Sombra suspected, Tosen took the opportunity that was presented to him and stabbed Hisagi in the chest, before pushing him off his Zanpakuto and let him hit the ground below them, all while commenting that he was afraid of being assimilated into Soul Society and die as one of them, which made him wonder why Tosen didn't just stick to being a wandering soul, instead of becoming a Shinigami. It seemed like a terrible decision on his part, if he truly feared dying as a Shinigami, to join the very people that he was afraid of becoming similar to and dying as one of them, and he guessed that the reason he was able to do this was because Aizen must have convinced him that he was going to do something when he completed his mission.
"Bankai." Komamaru called out, to which Sombra felt his reiatsu flare for a moment as the rubble behind him started to shake, meaning that he was actually going to see his Bankai before this battle was over, to which he focused on what was happening with some interest in his eyes, "Kokujo Tengen Myo'o."
That was when a giant, around a hundred meters tall by Sombra's estimates, erupted from the rubble and showed him that it was actually a suit of armor, one that wielded the large form of a blade that wasn't like Komamura's Zanpakuto and his armor looked like it was samurai in origin, while both Komamura and his blade had a faint red glow that seemed to be connected to his Bankai.
"Tosen!" Komamura shouted, staring at his opponent as Sombra stood nearby, as he wanted to see what happened when the battle resumed, while preparing to crush his former friend into the ground and end his madness, "I'll do whatever it takes to open your eyes!"
"How foolish of you, Komamura." Tosen replied, to which he raised his right arm and pointed the tip of his blade at Komamura, even though he was grateful for his friend being this foolish, because it would allow him to see how powerful he was before turning on Sombra, "You've seen my power, yet you persist with the thought that you can beat me with the likes of your Bankai?"
"'The likes of your Bankai'?! That sounds like something one of the Espada would say." Komamura stated, though this just confirmed that Tosen had fallen from the light and that he was taking to the path he had chosen for himself, even if it was the wrong one.
"Do not compare me to the Espada, for I have surpassed them all." Tosen said, though as he said that Sombra noticed that some of the Espada, namely Starrk and Harribel, were irritated with that statement, showing that they weren't happy with their former Commander's opinion that he was now stronger than all of them, "And that includes you and the rest of the Shinigami as well. I have surpassed all of you!"
"Please, if you wish to test that statement then you'll need to face me." Sombra said, because the statement that Tosen had made meant that he was stronger than all of Aizen's enemies, and while that might be true for a good portion of them it was wrong when he entered the equation, especially with the power he had gained from his ascension.
Tosen seemed to pause for a moment, as if he was actually thinking about facing him in battle, and Komamura used that opening for the first swing of his Bankai, as the giant mimicked his movements, and he crushed the building that their foe had been standing on, before swing towards Tosen as he flashed to a new part of the sky. Sombra stood there for a moment as Komamura continued his assault, swinging at Tosen with the massive blade of his Bankai, and watched as Tosen dodged the attacks before allowing the blade to crush the building that was below him, to which Komamura glared at him as he floated down to a position to stare at him. Sombra knew what was going on, as Tosen's speed and power was much more than what Komamura was capable of, meaning that the Captain was at a disadvantage at the moment and that he didn't seem to know that, but it also didn't seem to bother him at all.
"You said that I couldn't beat you with the likes of my Bankai, right?" Komamura commented, to which he turned around and glanced at Tosen once more, showing that he had been thinking about what his former friend had said earlier, when he revealed his sinister power, "However, the truth is that the difference in power between you and Tengen Myo'o is like that of an infant and an adult."
"When your arrogance goes that far, it's almost pitiful." Tosen said, as if he felt that Komamura was talking about him being weaker than the giant Bankai, even though Sombra knew that, from what he could tell, Tosen was currently the stronger one of the two, "Very well then, Komamura. I shall bring that arrogance of your down to the ground."
Sombra watched as Tosen used his speed and rushed through the air between him and Komamura, dodging the downward swing of the giant's blade, something that Komamura stopped and then redirected at the new area that Tosen flashed into, which allowed the former Captain to flash onto the hand of the giant and stabbed it, causing a similar wound to appear on Komamura's right hand. That was interesting in Sombra's eyes, as it appeared that the giant not only mimicked the Captain's movements, hence the swings that matched Komamura's swings, but they also shared a bond that meant that if the giant was wounded the same wound would appear on the Captain's body. It was a dual-edged sword, as the destructive power of the giant Bankai was exceptional and he was crushing the buildings like they were nothing, but to someone that knew the weakness, like Tosen did, it was a severe disadvantage that could be turned against him in a matter of moments, which seemed to be what Tosen was doing as he flashed out of the way of the giant's left hand and appeared nearby. Komamura growled as he found where his target was standing and swung down at him again, only this time Tosen cut a gash into the area near his right wrist, cutting a similar gash into the Captain's arm, though when Tosen shifted position the Captain swung his left arm and hit his target into the ground.
"Don't you think it's foolish to use such a Bankai against someone that knows it's weaknesses?" Sombra asked, to which he flashed over to where Komamura was standing, as the Captain was still staring at the area that he had hit Tosen into, who was now standing on the air nearby.
"It's the only thing we have to use against him." Komamura replied, as while he, along with many of the other Captains, had faith in Sombra's power he couldn't tell how a battle between them would go, not when he couldn't feel anything from the Arrancar that was standing near him.
"No, it's not. I'm still part of this battle, since it's me that Tosen wants to destroy," Sombra stated, as he knew why this was happening and decided that it was time to tell Komamura the reason why Tosen was toying with him, in case he hadn't figured it out on his own, "he's only playing around with you and Hisagi so he can test out the power that he's been given, before even focusing on the main target he needs to defeat. Trust me on this, if he was so inclined he could end this battle with you in a single instant and move onto me, but he wants to see how strong he really is before that happens, hence why you're still fighting him."
While he said that the smoke around Tosen cleared, showing that his left arm had been twisted and was bleeding from taking the blow from Komamura's Bankai, meaning that despite his power boost he could still be damaged, though that was before his arm twisted back into it's normal position and the blood stopped flowing, showing Sombra that the connection between him and his new Hollow was higher than the Visored, showing them that he had the power of Instant Regeneration on his side.
"I recall you saying that Komamura and the others consider my new power an act of corruption." Tosen said, to which Sombra flashed into the air and put himself between the two of them, because he wanted to see what the former Captain had to say, while at the same time Komamura stood his ground and stared at Tosen, "You voiced the thought that they might consider me tricking my friends and subordinates as another act of my 'corruption'. Let me ask you this: if someone who joined an organization for revenge were to forget his purpose and live peacefully while working for that very organization, wouldn't that be corruption as well? To my unseeing eyes, that's more corrupt than what you're suggesting Komamura and the others are accusing me of doing."
"So, you became a Shinigami purely for revenge?" Sombra asked, though even as he said that he noticed that a line appeared on Tosen's mask, exactly where his mouth would be located, and knew that something was happening, which was why he held Shokyo at the ready, as he was sure that the battle would begin soon enough, "Tell me, Tosen, did you start to walk this path because you lost someone precious to you, someone that you loved with all your heart?"
"I did. She told me that she was going to marry a Shinigami and create peace." Tosen said, though he had no idea how Sombra could have figured that out from him saying that he wanted revenge, but at the same time that told him that his foe might have some experience in that field, something that they didn't know about until now, "The man who killed her was the Shinigami that was her husband, because he killed one of his colleagues over a petty disagreement and when she scolded him for his actions he turned on her and cut her down as well. She wished for world peace and had a stronger sense of justice than anyone else at the time, and because of that she had chosen to fight for what she believed in, yet she couldn't do that. I gained this power so I could grant peace to the world, to cut through the evil like the clouds that my friend told me about, and none of you will stand in the way of my mission!"
"Tosen, among everyone that is gathered here, I'm likely the only one that really understands what you're going through and the pain that you feel." Sombra replied, though even as he said that he could tell that many eyes were on him, especially since he could feel Yoruichi, Urahara, and Isshin's reiatsu entering the area near them, "Let me tell what why I'm saying that, and it's not because I'm lying to you. Back before I became the being that's standing before you, before I turned toward the path of revenge, I was just a young colt that had very little friends, save for one sweet mare that was around my age, who I formed my friend bond of friendship with. Every year, at the same time, I would be bedridden by an unimaginable pain that raced through by body, tearing me apart, and it was only because of my friend and her presence, which later evolved into her healing powers, that I was able to survive the event that was hurting me. Eventually she went to a faraway city to gain more knowledge, to heal me to the point where I wouldn't be in pain every year, and because I was young and stupid I grew angry at her for leaving and found myself resenting her, so much so that I left the empire that I was living in and wandered into the frozen land around my home.
I eventually found a cave that gave me the horn that I possess right now, but not a few days later I met another mare that warmed my heart, especially since she was looking for a place for her and her sister to live, so they could move away from their abusive mother. Long story short I fell in love a second time, this time with the eldest princess of an entire empire, and she did the same with me, but instead of coming with me immediately she headed home to get her sister before their mother returned, and that was the last I heard of her. Thanks to an enchantment I had placed on her, as a precaution since she was heading into her mother's territory, I found out that her mother was responsible for killing her and, in my anger, I started down a path of revenge that put me in the history books. My first action was to steal an artifact from my former home and turn the ruler of that empire into a solid statue, which I shattered in my anger, before I seized control of the empire and became the King of Darkness that the inhabitants grew to fear, least they get hurt or tormented in the process. It was a means to an end, because eventually I was able to draw out the Queen that had killed the second love of my live and shattered my own heart in the process, and, to make the story short, I waged a terrible war against her that tore the area around us apart.
In the end, Tosen, I struck her down and she revealed her hand to me, as she had enlisted the aid of my enemies, a pair of royal sisters called Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, to take the empire I had captured, and in my weakened state the two of them struck me down when I went to challenge them... what I'm trying to say is that the path of revenge often has a price that will only become known to you at the worst moment, even though I got my revenge, as the queen's subjects killed her. The reason was because she drew in their power and killed hundreds, maybe even thousands, of them to keep up with my power, and they turned their anger on her and lifted the younger princess to the throne, but that's a story for another day."
"You think that, just because you have a similar tale to mine, that it makes you equal to me?" Tosen asked, though at the same time he had the feeling that none of them had been expecting the Arrancar to say what he had said, especially that he had two previous loves and had lost them both in one form or another.
"No, it doesn't. I just wanted you to know that there's someone that understands what you're going through." Sombra replied, though as he said that he held his blade at the ready, because he knew that Tosen was going to attack someone again and he wanted to be sure that he was the one that he targeted, as Komamura wouldn't be able to stand against the power that Tosen commanded.
Sombra rushed forward and swung his blade at Tosen, who responded by blocking the blow with his Zanpakuto, but it was in that moment that he understood that Sombra wasn't messing around, as the sheer power behind his attack caused his arm to shake before he was knocked backwards through the air. Despite the power boost that Tosen was given, in order to combat him, Sombra showed him just how outclassed he truly was, as he dodged every attack that Tosen sent his way, even closing his eyes at one point and letting his body move on it's own as he felt his foe come at him. If he wanted to fight on an even playing field, and fight like a blind person, Sombra was more than able to do so, and he had done it a few times while he was training to prepare for the battle with the previous Changeling Queen and the Royal Sisters, but right now his actions were simply him showing everyone how outclassed Tosen was. Tosen also parried his attacks and made sure to put some distance between them before attacking again, and he even attempted to strike down Komamura's giant Bankai as a distraction, but Sombra still moved to intercept him and knocked him away, which served as a reminder that his speed and senses weren't to be underestimated, both of which he was well known for, even if his power was why people remembered him right now.
In fact, just to show everyone just how strong he had gotten recently, he actually let one of Tosen's attacks slip by his blade and let the edge of Tosen's Zanpakuto collide with the side of his neck, where Sombra sighed as the blade stopped without penetrating his neck... to which he sliced open Tosen's chest and kicked him backwards, where his foe's Instant Regeneration kicked in and healed the wound until it was gone.
"Let me ask you something, Sombra: what is justice?" Tosen asked, to which Sombra raised an eyebrow as he looked at his opponent, because he was still bent on trying to answer that one question and wanted to continue to talk about his past, including why he was doing what he was doing, while at the same time the mask cracked open and moved like a mouth, showing Tosen's real mouth in the process, "Is it to forgive the man that killed my beloved friend!? That is certainly virtuous! It's admirable, sickeningly so! But even if something is virtuous, is it justice? NO! Living peacefully without avenging the dead is evil!"
A few seconds later Sombra flashed over to where Tosen was standing and grabbed onto his mask, where he hurled the talkative former Captain through the air and sent him into the side of a building, one that collapsed the moment he came into contact with it... and, just to show him that he wasn't holding back, Sombra also loosed a wave of dark energy into the smoke, blowing the entire foundation of the building up.
"Don't talk to me about what is considered good and evil, Tosen." Sombra stated, as he was quite possibly the only person in this world that even had an understanding of what the word 'evil' truly entailed, especially with his time as the King of Darkness when he reigned over the Crystal Empire, "Like I said, I walked down the same path that you did and I caused unimaginable suffering upon those that I conquered, so much so that upon my defeat, mere moments before I was banished for a thousand years, I activated the strongest curse I could inflict upon the domain and stole them from my world for that same number of years. I walked the path of revenge and fulfilled my darkest desire, crushing the ones that caused my heart so much pain, and the price was far more than I was willing to pay... so tell me, Tosen, are you willing to pay the price that is coming your way?"
"You make it sound like your a god when you say it that way!" Tosen shouted, to which he burst out of the rubble and came to a stop in the air that was near Sombra's position, though despite the fact that he couldn't see most of Tosen's face Sombra had to assume that his statement had annoyed his foe, before he moved his right hand and held his Zanpakuto so the blade was pointed towards the ground, "Suzumushi Hyakushiki: Grillar Grillo."
Not even a few seconds later the area around Tosen darkened as his reiatsu spiked once more, especially since his Zanpakuto glowed for a moment like an Arrancar's did, though that was followed by him being enveloped in a shroud of darkness that was nothing like Sombra's own shadows. When the area returned to it's natural brightness Sombra found that Tosen had undergone his own Resurreccion, as he had taken on the form of an Arrancar that had returned to their Hollow roots, hence the fact that there was now a large Hollow hole in the center of his chest and that his head was covered by an interesting mask. Tosen was now hunched over and his body was covered by black fur, where he also possessed four insect-like arms that had clawed hands and he had four insect-like wings growing out of his back, giving him the power to fly if he so desired. In addition to all of that there were a pair of spiraling horns growing out of the hunch of his back, while his head appeared to be that of a cricket, based upon his large bulbous eyes, and his teeth appeared to be jagged, though for what purpose he needed them for Sombra honestly didn't care. Komamura and the other Shinigami that were watching this fight had to be concerned now, since Tosen's power had reached another level, but at the same time he wasn't concerned, not when Tosen's new move had actually cost him the match, something that he didn't seem to be aware of just yet.
A few more seconds ticked by and Sombra watched as Tosen started to open the eyes that his Resurreccion had given him, revealing that his new color in this form was green, but at the same time it appeared that this new ability of his gave him reason to smile.
"I... I can see!" Tosen declared, his voice having a happy tone to it, as if he was actually pleased to have been granted this ability, though at the same time Sombra stood there and stared at him, especially since he repeated the same statement several times in a row while laughing like a madman, "So this is the sky! So that's what blood looks like! So this is the World of the Living! And this is what you look like... Sombra... Komamura. My former friend, you are much uglier than I imagined you would be."
"You know, if you don't have anything nice to say then you shouldn't say anything at all." Sombra stated, causing the former Shinigami to turn towards him, allowing Tosen to take in his form for the first time since he arrived in this world, though he still made no move to attack his foe.
"Lord Aizen was right, you do look like a pony that's merged with a Human!" Tosen said, his voice making it sound like this was all humorous for him, even though that was the best way to describe Sombra's appearance to a blind person, before he stared at Sombra once more, "What's wrong, Sombra? Weren't you going to kill me?"
"There's no need for me to raise my blade towards you, not anymore." Sombra replied, to which he held Shokyo to the side and let the blade revert to it's original katana form before he sheathed it, which he then followed up with the resealing of his Arrancar powers, forming Rey's blade that he returned to it's scabbard as well, before he sighed and faced Tosen once more, "You should be feeling it's effects soon enough."
"What are you..." Tosen started to say, though that was before all four of his hands gripped his head and he screamed as if something was torturing him, despite the fact that Sombra hadn't actually done anything to him, before he turned both of his eyes on Sombra, "You... what did you do to me?"
"Nothing. This is the price you have to pay for walking the path of revenge." Sombra answered, to which he watched as Tosen huffed as he fell to one knee and continued to grip his head, where cracks were starting to form in the mask, and that included some forming all over his body, "You can feel it, can't you? Hueco Mundo, despite being a completely different realm from the World of the Living, is telling you what I am, that I am the Dios Hueco, the Hollow God, and that information is wrecking havoc on your body, because there is something that you failed to take into consideration. You see, Tosen, in your haste to use your Resurreccion you failed to recall what Grimmjow and the others must have warned you, Gin, and Aizen about, that all Hollows, including the Arrancar, will seek out the legendary Dios Hueco when they come into their full power and serve them to the end of that Hollow's reign. In your current state, Tosen, you're half Shinigami and half Arrancar, meaning that the Hollow side of your soul is trying to assert it's dominance over you and subdue you, so it can serve the one Hollow that is destined to rule over Hueco Mundo, while the Shinigami part of your soul is trying to hold on, least you be swallowed by the power that Aizen gave you."
"Im... Impossible." Tosen said, to which he fell to both his knees as the cracks started to get larger, and that included the fact that his reiatsu, which was now black with a purple outline, started to leak out of his body, like he was getting ready to explode or something, "Lord Aizen gave me this power! Someone like you can't use it against me!"
"Oh Tosen, it's because you used your Resurreccion that you've lost this match." Sombra replied, though at the same time Komamura did the smart thing and retracted his Bankai, while Hisagi flashed into the air near them as well, "If you had stuck to using just the Hollow mask you would have been fine, as Hueco Mundo's influence wouldn't have affected you if you stayed at the level of a Visored, but it's because you stepped onto the level of an Arrancar that this is now happening to you. I can feel the Hollow inside you, trying desperately to get out and claim your power so it can swear it's fealty to me, and, at the same time, I can feel the Shinigami side of you fighting that power back with all your might, but that is where Aizen made a mistake, as your fusion with your inner Hollow is so perfect that you both have the same level of power when you two cross blades in a fight. If one of you had been stronger than the other, instead of around the same level, we wouldn't be having this conversation and the deed would be done, but since both of your powers are so close to each other we'll have to wait and see what fate you'll decide for yourself."
Tosen let out a growl as he tried to force himself back onto his feet, so he could resume the battle, before letting out another screech as a bout of pain rocked his body, where Sombra watched as the cracks on Tosen's mask grew even larger, like his Hollow side was trying to burst out and take over, and that inflicted pain on the former Shinigami as he fought against his new power. To Sombra it was both sad and painful to watch, as he reflected on what had happened to him when he had been training years ago, when he first gained his curved horn and the power of darkness, and knew that he had been in the same position, fighting a power equal to his own, but the difference was that he had won and it appeared that Tosen might be losing. Of course, as he reflected on that, he noticed that Tosen was holding his ground, standing against his new inner Hollow, and the reiatsu that was breaking out of his body was growing to the point where he was going to explode, which was why he turned towards Komamaru and Hisagi, where they nodded their heads and backed off, leaving the two of them along once more. As that happened Tosen coughed and arched his body backwards a tiny bit, where Sombra watched as the cracks started to branch out and reach his Hollow hole, where the reiatsu leaking out of him seemed to increase, signaling that the battle Tosen and his inner Hollow were having was reaching it's end.
"M... Mercy..." Tosen managed to say, though at the same time Sombra heard the hint of his inner Hollow, indicating that both of them knew that they were in a stalemate and that they wanted someone to assist them, especially since it appeared that he might understand what was coming next.
"Mercy? You sided with someone that's trying to upset the natural balance and you're asking for mercy?" Sombra inquired, though at the same time he sighed, because he understood that Tosen was only trying to fulfill his sense of justice and it had been what lead him to finding Aizen, who took advantage of the blind man to further his own sinister goals, "Very well then, Tosen, I will show mercy and end this."
In the following seconds he flashed through the air and appeared some distance behind a stunned Tosen, where only the highest ranking members of the Shinigami and his own followers even noticed him pull his Zanpakutos out of their scabbards and deliver a series of slashes to Tosen's chest before sheathing them.
"Kaiten Kenbu." Sombra said, to which blood burst out of Tosen's new wounds and he staggered for a few moments, before the volatile reiatsu that was pouring out of him detonated, creating an explosion that consumed the entirety of Tosen's body and forced some of the watchers to cover their eyes for a few seconds.
Sombra glanced back as the smoke cleared and found that nothing remained of Tosen, as his body had been blown apart with nothing remaining and there was no telling if his soul had even survived what had happened to him, but he knew that he'd be keeping his eyes on the sands of Hueco Mundo, in case the Hollow he had been merged with made an appearance, before he turned his head towards Aizen.
"So, you've dealt with another of my subordinates." Aizen commented, as he was rather surprised to find that such a thing had happened to Tosen, because his plan had been to use his loyal follower to kill some of the Captains and maybe even wound Sombra, but it seemed like the direct plan was needed, "Very well then, it seems like it's my turn to take to the field and end..."
Instead of letting Aizen finish his statement, like someone else would have, Sombra glanced over to where Zangetsu was standing and beckoned his head to Gin, causing the former Zanpakuto spirit to grin as he went to aid Shinji, before Sombra flashed in front of Aizen, whose eyes widened for a moment. In the following second he swung his right fist upwards and hit Aizen's chin, knocking him into the air with a powerful uppercut, before he raised his right leg and kicked the traitorous Captain in the chest, sending him flying through the air and into several buildings, collapsing all five of them in the process as Sombra lowered his leg. It took a few seconds for Aizen to start to pull himself up, but as he did that he staggered for a moment and coughed up some blood, with surprise written on his face, something that Sombra knew was etched onto the faces of several of the Shinigami that were watching this transpire, but he paid it no mind as he focused solely on his foe. While his Zanpakuto were still in their scabbards he planned on drawing them eventually, as it would be disrespectful towards such a powerful foe if he didn't at least draw one of his weapons, and he planned on showing Aizen just how powerful he had become since his ascension.
Regardless of what happened next, in terms of what Aizen had planned, Sombra was going to show him that all the plans he had made meant nothing before the power of the Dios Hueco and that the power that he possessed wouldn't be enough to deal with the force that was now standing before him... and then, when everything was said and done, peace would finally return to this world.
"I'm surprised, Sombra." Aizen said, taking a moment to collect himself before flashing into the air near Sombra, while at the same time noticing that Gin was now preoccupied with two opponents, meaning that his ally was going to be busy for some time, but at the same time that meant he and Sombra wouldn't be interrupted, "I was not expecting your base strength to be that strong, certainly not on the level that you displayed, but you failed to kill me in that instant. That was the only opening you will get from me."
"Aizen, if I wanted to kill you in an instant, and end this war at the same time, I would have done so." Sombra replied, as it would have been easy for him to bypass Aizen's defenses if he returned to wielding the full power of the Dios Hueco, and that included cutting him down in the process, but at the same time he wanted to see what sort of power his foe had unlocked before he actually ended their fight, "Think of it this way; you get a chance to fight for your life and show me why so many Shinigami seem frightened when they consider the notion of even fighting you, despite the fact that they gathered here to do just that. Once I've seen enough of your power, or you reach the point where you are no longer able to fight back, then I will bring an end to our battle and stop this pointless war that you're waging on Soul Society, the Shinigami, and the Soul King."
"Such overconfidence will be your downfall," Aizen stated, though at the same time he held himself at the ready while drawing his Zanpakuto from it's scabbard, as he knew that his foe could cross the gap between them in moments, just like he could do to the Shinigami around them, "Let me ask you something, Sombra. Why do you want to fight me? Is it because you have a grudge against me, for ordering Ulquiorra to kidnap Orihime and Sora? No, it couldn't be that, seeing how you managed to save them and ensure their safety, and judging by what I can see it appears that none of your other friends have died in your invasion of Hueco Mundo, so you can't hate me from the bottom of your heart..."
"Oh Aizen, I don't hate you, not like some Shinigami do." Sombra said, as he could tell that Hitsuguya, at the very least, hated the traitorous Captain from the bottom of his heart, while the rest of the Shinigami seemed to have a variety of emotions on their faces, though that was followed by him turning his attention to his foe, "If I hated you, as you apparently think I might, you'd be dead in an instant and we'd never be having this conversation, but there's a very good answer to your question. The Soul King, from what I've read, is the linchpin and his existence keeps the balance between Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, the World of the Living, and potentially even Hell itself in check, so your plan to make the Oken and invade his palace is a horrible one. What do you think will happen if you succeed in killing the Soul King? The balance between the four realms will be thrown into chaos and everything will be destroyed, so instead of doing whatever you think will happen you'll simply destroy the world... that, in itself, is enough reason to fight you."
"So, it's a sense of responsibility." Aizen replied, though even as he said that he understood that Sombra was much more knowledgeable than he originally believed him to be, making him wonder where he had gained his knowledge from, before deciding that it wasn't worth the time to figure out, "You won't be able to reach me with that. The will to fight without hatred is like an eagle without wings. You can't protect anything with a sense of responsibility. Your powerless friends only serve as weights to crush your legs..."
While Aizen was talking, and claiming that he couldn't protect anything or anyone with his blades, Sombra flashed through the air and appeared behind his foe, where he brought the back side of his left leg down on Aizen's shoulder, knocking him out of the sky and sending him crashing into the ground, creating a small crater in the process. At the moment Sombra was sticking to the Hakuda, or hand-to-hand combat, techniques that Yoruichi had taught him so long ago, as a way to experiment with his new power as the Dios Hueco, despite being in his base state, and right now he was impressed that his power was able to knock around Aizen like he was nothing, confirming that they were on entirely different levels. Still, despite their current differences in power, he sensed that there was something odd about Aizen's reiatsu, like he had done something to himself before coming to the World of the Living, and it wasn't the same power that he had given Tosen, meaning that he had to be careful from that point forward, since there was no telling what sort of power his foe had given himself or when he would use it. He wasn't sure if Aizen even noticed the differences in their powers, since he had said that he was being 'overconfident' and that it would spell his downfall, but before he could complete that thought he noticed that Aizen was getting back up and knew that the battle would be resuming soon.
As the traitorous Captain turned and looked up at him, so he could focus on where he was standing, Sombra flashed behind him once more and felt the air shift as Aizen turned his body, where he flipped over his opponent as he dodged the tip of his Zanpakuto, allowing him to land behind his foe before he completed his swing. Not even a moment later Sombra lifted his right hand and pressed the tips of both his index finger and his middle finger against Aizen's exposed shoulder, where he used Tsukiyubi, or Thrust Fingers, to send Aizen flying through the air and caused him to crash into another structure that was near them, collapsing the entire building in the process. Before his foe had a chance to recover from what he had done, and retaliate, Sombra rushed through the air and neared Aizen's position, where he jumped into the air as Aizen swung his Zanpakuto at him, allowing his hooves to touch the edge of the blade for just a second, before he kicked out and forced the tip into the ground, surprising Aizen by his power again. As Sombra landed he readied another Hakuda technique, as he raised his right fist and punched Aizen in his stomach, using the Ikkotsu, or Single Bone, technique to force him to cough up some blood before he went flying into the side of a nearby building... before flashing forward and using Sokotsu, or Double Bone, against his foe, where he raised both of his fists and hit Aizen in two places at the same time, causing massive internal damage as his foe coughed up more blood, and the building collapsed on top of him once more.
Sombra flashed a few steps backwards and stared at the rubble, though at the same time noticing that the sheer power of his first attack had forced Aizen to let go of his Zanpakuto, as it was still stuck in the ground where he had left it, but he ignored it as the rubble moved and his foe pulled himself out so he could stand straight once more.
As Aizen flashed forward and grabbed onto his Zanpakuto, freeing it from it's prison moments later, Sombra stood near it and raised his arm to block the incoming attack, showing Aizen that his Hierro was much stronger than he thought it had been, before pushing his arm back and opening another hole in his foe's defenses. In the following instant Sombra decided to kick things up a notch, as he pulled both Shokyo and Rey from their scabbards and swung them at Aizen's exposed chest, cutting two faint diagonal lines into his robes while also drawing blood, causing the former Captain to jump backwards in surprise. Despite Aizen doing that, and trying to put some distance between them before deciding what attack he should use next, Sombra rushed towards him and parried the incoming attack that Aizen swung at him, but since he had two blades all he really needed to do was block the attack with one Zanpakuto and use the second one to cut into Aizen's chest. While all of this was going on, and he started to knock Aizen around like he was a rag doll, Sombra noticed that the wounds he had dealt to Aizen's body weren't bleeding, as the moment the wounds were made they did bleed a little, but after that it appeared that the bleeding stopped entirely. To confirm or deny his suspicions on what was going on Sombra opened Aizen's defenses again and promptly switched his hold on both of his Zanpakuto's handles, to which he flashed behind his foe as six lines appeared on his body, cutting the front of his robe to shreds... and, to see if he was right, he flashed back to where Aizen was looking so he could get a good view of what was going on.
As he suspected the wounds only bled once, when he cut them into Aizen's body, which told Sombra that something was going on, because his Kaiten Kenbu technique had dropped some powerful foes before this moment and no one walked away from it without serious injuries... but even as he thought about that Aizen started to chuckle as he pulled himself back into a standing position, as if he found something about this entire fight to be humorous.
"What's so funny?" Sombra inquired, because right now he was more interested in figuring out why Aizen's wounds weren't more serious, though if it turned out that his foe had Instant Regeneration or something he was going to be slightly annoyed.
"Despite my earlier statement, you still failed to kill me, Sombra." Aizen said, though secretly he was impressed by the sheer power that his foe was bringing to bare against him, as he never would have expected that the base power of the Dios Hueco would have been this strong, but at the same time he knew that victory would be his in the end, "Despite your best efforts, all you could do was injure me... not that these injuries mean anything."
In that moment Sombra watched as cracks, possessing the coloration of the Hogyoku, branched out from an area of Aizen's chest and moved to cover all the area that he had cut into, where the wounds that he had delivered glowed for a moment and disappeared almost immediately, confirming his suspicions.
"Don't worry, it's nothing like the Instant Regeneration that certain Arrancar possess," Aizen continued, where he noticed that Sombra was staring at him with some interest in his eyes, a sign that he was curious about what an opponent was doing before the next attack came his way, "meaning that I didn't undergo a Hollowfication to gain this power. This is, just it's compulsion to protect it's master. Here, allow me to show you what I mean."
As Aizen said that he raised his right hand, still holding his Zanpakuto towards the ground, and pulled back the side of his jacket, where Sombra stared at Aizen's chest and found that the Hogyoku was embedded inside his chest, with four small lines pointed in the four main directions surrounding it.
"So that's where the Hogyoku went... you embedded it inside your chest." Sombra commented, though at the same time that made Aizen's 'Instant Regeneration' more like a 'Protective Regeneration', since it appeared that the Hogyoku was assisting him at the moment, making him wonder if he could rip the object from his foe's chest and take that ability away before it became a problem.
"Very good, you recognize it." Aizen said, to which he lifted his left hand and touched where one of the remaining cuts was located, one that was fading away as he moved his hand, and Sombra noticed that Aizen touched some silver colored reiatsu that disappeared a few seconds after he touched it, "You're stronger than I had originally planned on you being, when you came back to defend Karakura Town... even if you weren't part of my original plan, to test the growth rate of Ichigo Kurosaki by sending him against Soul Society and some of my Arrancar, it is wonderful to see well you have grown in such a short amount of time."
"It's not every day that I get a compliment like that," Sombra stated, and that was true, as the only one that had actually bothered telling him that, before he came to this world, was the strange being that taught him is dark powers, and when he did come here, to this world, it was Urahara and Yoruichi who filled that void, "but don't think that flattery will get you anywhere with me. Despite the fact that the Hogyoku is in your chest, granting you whatever powers and abilities it might be giving you, I'll find a way to bypass those powers and bring you down."
"Like I said, your overconfidence will be your undoing." Aizen replied, as that appeared to be something that was wrong with his foe, since his massive power boost he seemed to think that everyone was beneath him, meaning that he had no idea what was happening inside his opponent's body at the moment.
Before Aizen had time to react Sombra rushed forward and delivered another powerful uppercut that knocked him into the air, giving him just a few seconds to see that both of Sombra's Zanpakuto were floating in the air near the building, before Sombra flashed into the air above him. As he realized that his foe was up to something Sombra brought his leg down and sent Aizen flying into the crater that had been made minutes ago, before Sombra flew down towards him and unleashed a series of ultra-high-speed punches with both of his fists, causing the entire city block around them to break under the pressure of the attack that he was using this time around. It was the greatest of the Hakuda techniques that he had learned from Yoruichi, one called Raioken, or Thunder King's Fist, and it was basically just a series of punches that were quite powerful, especially since only a master in the art of Hakuda could actually perform this technique to it's full potential. When the last punch was thrown Sombra noticed that Aizen didn't seem to be moving, despite the fact that he could still feel his reiatsu, so he jumped out of the enlarged crater and called his Zanpakuto over to him, where he grabbed them and waited for Aizen to get up, as he was eager to continue the battle they were having, even if it seemed incredibly one sided at the moment.
It took a few moments for Aizen to pick himself up and come at him again, though this time around Sombra noticed something that alarmed him, his opponent had gotten slower since the last bout they had and his attacks didn't seem to have that much power behind them, as opposed to their earlier strength, and he quickly knocked Aizen back into the ground, to which he landed nearby and frowned at his foe.
"Based on what I'm seeing, it appears that you've gotten much slower and have lost quite a good deal of your power thanks to my Raioken." Sombra commented, and he was sure that Aizen had noticed the drop in his power, something that had to be related to the Hogyoku, the one object that he still didn't know the exact location of, "You haven't reached your limits, have you?"
"You're right. It appears that I've reached my limits... my limits as a Shinigami, anyway." Aizen replied, though at the same time he lifted his head and faced Sombra, and as he did that Sombra noticed that the lines on Aizen's chest got bigger and the Hogyoku was starting to pulse, "My soul is going to be restructured. The Hogyoku's will is finally beginning to understand my thoughts. You can tell, can't you? That the Hogyoku has a will of it's own?"
"Yeah, and I'm honestly not very surprised by that at this point," Sombra said, as there were some magical artifacts from his home world that acted like the Hogyoku did, sometimes with the power boost and sometimes without the power boost, though he was telling the truth when he said that he wasn't surprised, "And, based upon what you just said, it appears that the Hogyoku is finally starting to understand you and your desires, even if they aren't what's best for this world, seeing how you're trying to kill the Soul King and everything."
"Something that I was unaware of until it became it's master." Aizen added, to which he wondered if Sombra had been telling the truth or if he was lying to distract him, but for now it was too late for him to do anything to stop what was going to happen in the very near future, "Let me ask you this; do you know what sort of power the Hogyoku has? Is it the power to dominate two opposing forces, like the boundaries between Shinigami and Hollows? No. The true power of the Hogyoku is the ability to manifest the powers of those around it. What I'm saying is that the miracles that happened around Ichigo Kurosaki, Rukia Kuchiki, and Urahara Kisuke were all manifested by the Hogyoku's will. The reason why Urahara Kisuke mistakenly believed that the Hogyoku's power was to bend the boundary between Shinigami and Hollow was, because he was it's creator, that was what he desired at the time, saving the Visored from becoming Hollows. Rukia Kuchiki passed all of her spiritual powers onto Ichigo Kurosaki and lost her Shinigami powers because she was still suffering from killing Kaien Shiba. It is my believed that, by being near Ichigo and Rukia, that both Sado Yasutora and Orihime Inoue were able to gain the incredible powers that they used to defend themselves and save those around them, when your Quincy friend had his duel with Ichigo.
I, alone, knew about the Hogyoku's true power... though it's more accurate to say that I knew it's power wasn't the ability to bend the boundary between Shinigami and Hollows, like Urahara Kisuke believed it to be, because if that were the case Shinji Hirako and the other Visored would never have reached the forms they currently possess. The experiment I did on them both confirmed the Hollowfication process and even confirmed the powers of the Hogyoku, when Urahara went to use it on them, allowing me to make my hypothesis on the Hogyoku's true power and eventually I set my plan in motion so I could take it away from Urahara. Naturally, however, there are limits to the power that the Hogyoku has, as I'm sure that, before you found your Arrancar Zanpakuto, you're deepest desire was to recover your missing weapon and the memories that were trapped inside it, something that not even a sleeping Hogyoku could manifest."
"So you're saying that it can only manifest the desires of those it's near, so long as they have the power to allow such a thing to happen?" Sombra inquired, to which he noticed Aizen raise an eyebrow for a moment, before lowered it and chuckled for a few seconds, indicating that he remembered that he was much smarter than many of people that Aizen could be fighting at the moment, before Sombra noticed that the blue lines had disappeared and white strands of reiatsu were starting to pour out from where the Hogyoku was resting, "It appears that your conversation is bearing some fruit, as you've managed to survive long enough to reach the next stage of your 'evolution'."
"Indeed, and it appears that the Hogyoku is so aptly named." Aizen said, as the white strands started to form a new white robe over what he was already wearing, something that he seemed to have been waiting for and was enjoying as he stared at Sombra, "It had the power to destroy the wall that separates those that are gods from those that aren't!"
Just as the new robe solidified over Aizen's body, however, a red beam pierced his right shoulder and Sombra looked in the direction that it came from, where he found Urahara standing on top of a roof, even if it was attached to a fallen building, and he had to wonder why Urahara had come out of hiding, because he could handle this fight on his own.
"So, you've actually come out of hiding," Aizen commented, to which he turned his head and looked in the direction that the attack had come from, where he found the one person he really disliked standing nearby, with his cane pointed at him with some smoke coming from the bottom part of it, "Urahara Kisuke."
"It's been a while, Aizen." Urahara said, though at the same time he thought back to the time period that he was referring to, when he had to save Shinji and the others from becoming Hollows, an event that ended with him, Yoruichi, Tessai, and the others being forced to flee to the World of the Living.
"Yes, around a hundred years." Aizen confirmed, almost as if he had been counting the number of years since the last time he had actually seen Urahara, though his tone revealed that he would have been much happier to not see Urahara at all, since he wanted to focus on beating Sombra into the ground, "And please, don't look at me like that. Everything that is in the process of evolving looks ugly..."
"Who said anything about 'looking ugly'?" Urahara inquired, though at the same time he glanced at Aizen's chest and spotted the Hogyoku rather easily, while the hole his attack had created filled in and disappeared, "It seems I was right, that it was only a matter of time until you merged yourself with the Hogyoku."
"I rather you use the word 'subjugated', not 'merged' or 'fused'... but yes, I have subjugated the Hogyoku that you could not control." Aizen stated, though at the same time he readied his blade, as he was going to put an end to his 'rivalry' with Urahara once and for all, and then he could return to fighting Sombra, "You have lost the chance to control the Hogyoku, now that I have subjugated it."
In the following moment Aizen, his speed having returned to him, flashed through the air and appeared in front of Urahara, though before he could thrust his Zanpakuto into Urahara's chest Sombra used his own speed to get Urahara out of the way, by placing him a few steps backwards from where he had been standing, and then used his own Hierro to stop the Zanpakuto from puncturing his chest, much to Aizen's surprise.
"Carriage of thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six!" Sombra said, though at the same time he used his speed to move through the air and move both himself and Urahara some distance away from Aizen, even though he neared him for the incantation that he was speaking, while also pointing his right hand towards where his foe was currently standing, "Bakudo Number 61: Rikujokoro."
Not a few seconds later six beams of light, empowered by his incantation, surged through the air and struck Aizen's chest, pinning him to the area that he was currently standing in, though even as that happened Sombra knew that his foe had enough power to shatter them if he so desired.
"So, what do you plan on doing to me, after tying me up with such a weak Bakudo?" Aizen inquired, though his tone revealed exactly what Sombra was thinking, that it was low enough that someone of his power could shatter it, but at the same time he also sounded like he was interested in seeing what else he had in store for him.
"He calls a Bakudo with the full incantation 'weak'. Well, that was just the beginning," Sombra replied, though even as he said that his reiatsu gathered and he focused on his target, as he was going to have to do this in rapid succession if he wanted to get the job done, which was why his empty right hand was facing Aizen, while he called Rey over to his left hand, in case he needed it, "Bakudo Number 63: Sajo Sabaku."
In response to what he was doing yellow energy sparked into existence, forming a think golden yellow colored rope that circled the area that Aizen was standing in, though when Sombra closed his hand into a fist the rope wrapped around Aizen's chest and bound his arms to his sides, preventing him from moving for the moment.
"Bakudo Number 79:" Sombra continued, taking note of Aizen's confusion for a moment as he brought his right hand back towards him and had the palm face Aizen, indicating that he was switching to another spell that he had learned before the incursion into Soul Society, "Kuyo Shibari."
Nine black colored holes appeared in the sky in front of Aizen, eight of them forming a perfect circle around his stunned body while the ninth one rested directly above his chest, adding another layer of immobilization to what he was doing, as he needed Aizen to be perfectly still for what was coming next.
"Limit of the thousands hands," Sombra recited, though at the same time he switched his hold on Rey's handle and pointed the bottom end of it towards Aizen, while at the same time the sky around him darkened as ten pink colored energy points formed around him, "respectful hands, unable to touch the darkness. Shooting hands unable to reflect the blue sky. The road that basks in light, the wind that ignited the embers, time that gathers when both are together, there is no need to be hesitant, obey my orders. Light bullets, eight bodies, nine items, book of heaven, diseased treasure, great wheel, grey fortress tower. Aim far away, scatter brightly and cleanly when fired."
"Do you think that I'd let you use such a Kido?!" Aizen asked, as he recognized what Sombra was attempting to do and immediately started to abandon the plan of sitting through his foe's spells, because this was one spell that might actually do some damage, considering who was firing it at him.
"Too late, Aizen!" Sombra declared, to which the ten energy points glowed even brighter than before, because with the incantation complete their power was at the highest point they could contain, which he figured would be enough to help him get through whatever was happening to his foe's body, "Hado Number 91: Senju Koten Taiho!"
The moment the technique's name was uttered the ten energy points raced through the air and collided with Aizen's stunned body, generating an immense destructive explosion that rocked the air all around him and would have blown apart any buildings that were still nearby, had Sombra not demolished all of them at this point thanks to the earlier stages of their fight. Sombra stood there for a few moments, feeling the reiatsu that was in the air around them as he waved a hand and collected Shokyo so he could sheath one of his blades, which he did moments later, though he was only keeping Rey out, as there was no telling how much damage Aizen could have taken or if he had emerged unharmed. A few seconds later, when all the smoke was gone and the sky was back to normal, Sombra sighed and turned around, where he swung his Arrancar Zanpakuto through the air and parried the incoming attack that Aizen was sending his way, the force knocking them both backwards a little bit. That gave Sombra the chance to see that the right part of Aizen's head was covered by a hood that was made out of the same material that his new robe was made out of, suggesting that the Hogyoku was still preparing him for the next stage of his 'evolution'.
"I suspected that you might parry my attack, and I was right." Aizen commented, though at the same time he actually smiled for a moment, because despite the situation that he was in he had to admit that his foe was rather impressive, as there weren't many that could use that many spells in a row and not be tired out, "I'm impressed, Sombra, that you managed to use four different spells, from two different classes, in rapid succession without losing your stride... it seems that Urahara has taught you well."
"I was always a quick study," Sombra replied, referring to both his ability to learn things from books and those that he was training against, as well as being able to quickly figure out what someone was saying and finish their statement before they had a chance to do the same thing, "It appears that whatever damage my attack did to you is already gone, but I'm not disappointed by that at all. It just means that the next couple of attacks that I use will have to be that much more powerful and even more devastating."
"By all means, come and try." Aizen said, as if he was giving Sombra an open invitation to come and attack him, and he was, because the more power he experienced the stronger the Hogyoku was going to make him, until he surpassed the height of Sombra's power and destroyed him, "There's no reason for me to even bother dodging any of your attacks, much less a Kido that's in the nineties, so do come and attempt to destroy me."
Sombra responded immediately, as he rushed towards where Aizen was standing and switched Rey into his right hand, as there was another power that Urahara had taught him when he was still in the basics of his training, back when he was explaining how Shinigami operated and what potential weaknesses they might have. He never had a reason to use this technique, since he was already strong enough to beat every Captain when he unlocked his Bankai, but now seemed like the perfect time to try it out, since the method was pretty straight forward and he was sure that Aizen wouldn't be able to see if coming until it was too late. Not a second later he rushed through the air and swung at his foe, prompting Aizen to block his attack, but that was exactly what Sombra wanted as he quickly flashed out of the area, though it was as he made that movement that he lightly rested his open hand over the wrist of the hand that Aizen used to defend himself. To be sure that his foe didn't figure out what he was doing, before he was finished, Sombra attacked him again, using the same tactic as the last time, and had to stop himself from grinning as he lightly touched the other wrist as well, allowing him to jump a little further back and stand straight.
Fortunately, as Sombra had been told, the moment two wrists were sealed the effects would take place seconds later, as yellow cuffs made of energy formed in the area around Aizen's wrists, causing a look of shock to appear in the former Captain's eyes as he recognized what was going on this time.
"That's right, Aizen, I've sealed the reiatsu vents that every Shinigami have in their wrists." Sombra said, though even as he said that the air shook as purple strands of energy formed in the air around Aizen, indicating that Sombra's newest plan was having quite the effect on him, "You will be incinerated from the inside out by your own reiatsu."
The moment he finished talking Aizen was enveloped in a column of light, one that had to be generated from the sheer power that the former Captain possessed, and Sombra moved away from the pillar so he could observe what was going to happen next... and that included him looking off to the side, where Urahara was standing, causing him to realize something about the time he had been training with the former Shinigami.
"You were preparing me to fight Aizen from the very beginning, weren't you?" Sombra asked, though he was not accusing Urahara of doing anything, merely making an observation based on what was going on at the moment, and merely looking his friend's face told him what he wanted to know.
"Yes, though part of me wanted to help you as well." Urahara replied, as he was used to Sombra figuring things out like this, but at the same time he honestly expected the Arrancar to be upset with him, which was something that he was happy to see he was wrong about, "It seems that, by helping you, we have a champion that can actually force Aizen into submission and end this war, before someone gets killed."
"Well, the battle's not over yet, and I think that finally pushed him to complete the first stage of his evolution." Sombra said, as he turned his head back towards the column of light as a figure emerged from it, before the entire column broke down and disappeared.
Aizen, like Sombra had predicted, had undergone a bit of a change, as he was now a phantom-like figure of some kind and his new attire was covering his entire body, where his face was covered by a white canvas while his attire, which was that of a cloak now, was split into four sections as the Hogyoku moved up to where his heart would be. Sombra could tell, just from staring at him, that Aizen's power had gone up, indicating that he was correct in his thoughts that he had gone through the first evolution at long last, but at the same time his power still wasn't enough to make Sombra worry all that much, not if he stuck to his previous strategies. Aizen looked at his wrists for a moment, where two golden yellow bands remained, and he reached into his own skin and plucked the seals out, or maybe it was like his entire body was a separate dimension and he was removing a foreign object, before he discarded the seals and flashed down to where Sombra was standing, with Sombra still being able to keep up with his speed.
"I was right, Urahara should be proud that you learned everything you could from him." Aizen stated, though he had to take a moment to wonder what sort of scenario they would be in if he was the one that found Sombra and not Urahara, would he have been a loyal pawn or another obstacle, before he returned to the matter at hand, "You tried both Kido and Bakudo spells, which failed, and now your attempt to incinerate me has failed. What's your next move?"
Sombra smiled for a moment as he brought the remainder of his base power to the surface, as he had been fighting at fifty percent of his base power the entire time and, since it appeared that the Hogyoku was only going to make Aizen stronger and more durable over time, he knew that he needed to boost the power that he was wielding, but even then he wasn't convinced that he needed any of his real power just yet. The air around him vibrated for a few moments, causing those that were watching from afar to stand their ground in shock, even if they couldn't feel his reiatsu, and those that were close to him had to back away to a safe distance, all while he put Rey in his left hand and drew Shokyo in his right hand once more. The instant he was ready he charged forward and started swinging at Aizen, who used both his Zanpakuto and his feet to block the attacks, but despite that he could hear some small grunts every now and then, telling him that his foe wasn't expecting him to be this strong. Fortunately the good thing about this situation was that Aizen was entirely focused on what his arms and hands were doing, like he was making sure he couldn't use his Kido spells, but he failed to account for Sombra's horn, which glowed every now and then when he pulled out one of the more arcane spells that he he recalled when his memories had returned, something that he hadn't shown off until now.
Bolts of violet colored energy, the color of the arcane powers that some ponies could command, burst into the area around them and targeted Aizen, who noticed that he was being targeted and let Sombra jump backwards as he started hacking at them, using his new strength to destroy them like they were nothing. He would have been right with that thought, because Sombra had created a storm of insignificant bolts that would stall Aizen and prevent him from finding the real dangerous attacks, and a moment came when a hole appeared in Aizen's defenses, one that Sombra decided to take advantage of immediately. He pulled more of his magical power into one of his blades and swung it at Aizen while he was distracted, releasing a large violet colored crescent wave of energy that resembled a Getsuga Tensho, but where Ichigo's attack would have done nothing at this point Sombra's attack struck Aizen in either the side, his chest, or even his back and knocked him around, leaving cracks that the Hogyoku had to heal. That, of course, was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of powers that Aizen had never seen before, as there was a whole library of magical attacks locked away inside Sombra's mind and he was going to use whichever spells he needed so he could smash through the shell that was currently surrounding his foe's body.
The interesting thing to Sombra was that his spells were definitely having some impact on Aizen, as his body cracked whenever he was struck, despite the Hogyoku healing those cracks moments later, and he noticed that the larger ones took longer to heal, meaning that while he was powerful he was still having a hard time defending against something that he knew nothing about. That was good news for Sombra, considering that he was forming a sphere of magical energy above their heads, or more accurately above the clouds that he had pulled into the area to hide the real attack, and all of the spells that Sombra was using against Aizen were preventing his foe from figuring out what was going on. The most interesting part was when Sombra used an arcane spell that punctured the stomach area he found that there was a purple void of some kind filling Aizen's body, like his insides were completely different than they were before, and none of it seemed to leak out of the hole that the Hogyoku refused to heal, which was just fine since it appeared that Aizen hadn't figured out what was going on yet. When his attack was ready the clouds burst open and the violet colored ball descended upon where Aizen was standing, engulfing the former Captain the moment it came into contact with him and generated another massive explosion that rocked the area that they were in, though Sombra flashed to the roof of a building so he could see what was going on with his foe.
When the smoke cleared he found that Aizen's robe had returned to normal, the holes he had made earlier having disappeared entirely, but even as that happened he watched as the head piece of Aizen's current form started to crumble before his eyes, revealing that the purple void became the inside color of Aizen's new robe, while at the same time he retained his former appearance, with some longer hair, flowing down to the stomach area, and his eyes were now grey colored with violet colored sclera, almost looking like a Hollow's eyes despite the different colors.
"Thank you, Sombra, for you have allowed me to finish the Chrysalis Stage of my evolution from a mortal to a god at an incredible pace." Aizen stated, as if he believed that Sombra was actually helping him ascend to a new level of power, much like Sombra had done in Hueco Mundo, but even as he thought about that he knew that the battle was far from over, especially since gave Aizen another power boost.
"Your welcome, I guess." Sombra replied, as he honestly didn't care about Aizen's evolutions at all, because despite the power boosts that he was getting from the Hogyoku he knew that he was still stronger, but at the same time the gap between the height of his base power and Aizen's growing power was growing smaller with each form his foe gained as this battle progressed, meaning soon he'd need to use either his Bankai or his Resurreccion to enlarge the gap again.
"Your Kido failed, your Hakuda failed, and your odd powers failed," Aizen commented, indicating that he was keeping track of the various abilities and powers that Sombra was using against him, and the number of strategies that were used to bring him down, "What's next? Your Bankai, or maybe your Resurreccion?"
"I see, so you think you can handle one of my other forms." Sombra said, to which he shifted his stance and sheathed Shokyo for the moment, where he noticed that Aizen was staring at him with some interest, like he had curious to see what he did next, where he held Rey out and readied himself, "Make them tremble, Rey de la Oscuridad."
Sombra waited for a few seconds as the dark reiatsu gathered around him, transforming his Shinigami attire into the dark armor he wore several times before this point in time, and when the change was over, and his former power had been brought back to the surface, the pillar broke apart and he stared at Aizen as he assumed his Resurreccion.
"Your Resurreccion is truly magnificent." Aizen stated, though while he had studied this form a little, while Sombra was battling the unfortunate Szayelaporro earlier, he knew that there had to be more abilities stored away in this form than what he knew about, especially since that seemed to be what his Bankai did, to which he readied himself for when the battle between them continued, "I look forward to breaking it and showing you who is stronger."
"Now you're the one that's being overconfident." Sombra said, though at the same time he let Shokyo float in the air nearby, as there was no reason for him to use it or one of the other dark weapons that he had access to in this form, not where they wasn't a reason to use them yet, and he noticed his action had confused Aizen, which he hadn't been going for but would gladly take advantage of.
The shadows started to gather around Sombra for a moment, causing Aizen to ready himself for the incoming attack that he was going to unleash, but the reality was far different than what he was expecting it to be, as Sombra shaped the shadows into his Bala Oscura, his Dark Bullets, and loosed a surge of them at his target. Aizen barely had time to move as the entirety of his attack slammed into his chest, causing surprise to cross his face once more, like he wasn't expecting Sombra's speed and power to be this strong, and forced him to cough up some blood in the process, no doubt shocking him even more, especially since he was likely thinking he was a god or something. While that attack distracted him, and kept him stunned in one place, Sombra took the opportunity to form a dark sphere above his hand and flashed over to the area above Aizen's head, letting go of that sphere, before returning to where he had been standing moments ago, and when the first attack was over he activated his Prensa Oscura, his Dark Press, and forced Aizen into the ground as gravity turned against him. He hadn't used either of these attacks since Rey had taken over and dominated Grimmjow, something that had caused the Espada to turn against those that weren't listening to him and join his growing forces, but he was happy to see that they worked exactly like what he remembered.
After a few moments Aizen grew tired of that attack and with a swing of his Zanpakuto he shattered the sphere into a thousand pieces, but Sombra had been anticipating that and had planned accordingly, as the instant his attack fell apart he flashed forward and appeared behind Aizen... who fell to one knee as his hand went towards his chest, where one of the observers would notice that something was missing, and they would be right since Sombra was holding the Hogyoku in his right hand.
"I was curious if the Hogyoku could be removed from your chest, or if it was permanently affixed there," Sombra commented, though as he said that he let the small sphere float in the air near him, so he could keep an eye on it, and watched as Aizen collapsed on the ground where he had been standing, as if the removal of the Hogyoku had actually killed him, and he would have stayed with that thought had he not noticed his foe's reiatsu.
Not even a minute later the air shook as Aizen was able to push himself back into a kneeling state, though as he let out a scream his already powerful reiryoku surged towards the sky and enveloped him, creating a bright violet colored pillar that drew everyone's attention to it. While that happened Sombra felt Aizen's power grow once more, to which he sighed and silently activated Shokyo as well, pushing him back into his Dios Hueco state without alerting anyone to what was going on, as he used the shadows to hide what he was doing and kept the coloration of both his armor and his hair in his Resurreccion state. When the pillar faded he noticed that his foe had taken on a new form, yet again he mentally added, and noticed that there was now a hole in the center of Aizen's chest, exactly where the Hogyoku had been moments ago, with a cross in the middle of it. The form-fitting white robe that his foe had been wearing, since his first transformation, had lengthened and flared out at the ends, though what really interested Sombra was that Aizen's irises had vanish, and that included both of his eyebrows and the hair curl which usually hangs over his face. The more aspects of this new form were the diamond-shaped object that was embedded in his foe's forehead, what purpose it served he had no idea, and Aizen gained three sets of butterfly-like wings that were growing out of his back, which was strange when he thought about it, but he knew that Aizen would be coming for him soon enough.
The moment he thought about that Aizen glowed brightly and disappeared for a moment, only to appear in the area near the Hogyoku, informing Sombra that it was some sort of teleportation technique he had used, and he watched as the small orb was pulled into the cross that was in the middle of his foe's chest.
"Now do you see, Sombra, it is pointless to try and defeat me." Aizen said, as if he felt that he was the one that was winning this battle and that he was merely taking his time until he tired Sombra out, though at the same time Sombra didn't care because he had noticed that the Hogyoku's light was getting weaker as time passed, "You tried Kido, Hakuda, your own powers, and even resorted to taking the Hogyoku straight out of my chest, and all of them failed. You can't kill me, no matter how many times you try to do so. It's unfortunate, it really is, but at least your efforts to kill me have allowed me to ascend to a level that puts me far beyond what I originally possessed, and for that you have my gratitude and a promise for a quick death."
Sombra sighed for a moment as he flashed forward and grabbed onto Aizen's head, shocking him for a second as he burst into the air and headed towards the sky above them, though when he reached a certain point he turned around and hurled Aizen towards the ground, creating a brand new crater some distance from where they had been fighting, but when it was all said and done Sombra noticed that Aizen was holding his face as he considered what had just happened to him, and, as he landed nearby, he noticed that his foe's Zanpakuto happened to be merged with his right hand.
"Stand and ready yourself, Aizen," Sombra said, though at the same time he held his hand out and a crystalline broadsword, sharing the same form of Shokyo's Shikai state, appeared in his right hand, but he kept his true power hidden for now, as he wanted to test Aizen's current power before bringing the rest of his power to the surface, "It's about time we brought an end to this fight."
"Bring this fight... to an end?" Aizen replied, his tone revealing that he was thinking about something that must have been plaguing his mind, something that he was only able to reach a conclusion on thanks to the amount of time that he had spent fighting Sombra, before a smirk appeared on his face, "I understand now, why I can no longer feel your reiatsu. I was right, you did discard it since you knew that battling me in a battle of reiatsu would never work in your favor, and instead used all that power to drastically increase your physical strength, even though I'm not entirely sure how you were able to discard your reiatsu in the first place. But please, do despair, because I'm about to teach you that the power you were counting on to beat me no longer matters, not when it's put against my incomparable power."
As Aizen said that the Hogyoku glowed for a moment and the three sets of wings behind him opened, the tips actually becoming pointed in the process, and when the deed was done he stood straight and readied himself, where Sombra watched as his foe broke apart and used his teleportation power once more. Sombra didn't bother to glance around, as he determined that Aizen was coming from the left side and swung his fist at the incoming attack, allowing the force of his own motion to parry his foe's attack for a moment before forcing Aizen back a little, while the force of his punch shattered the majority of the building that was near them. As Aizen backed off for a moment, an odd decision in Sombra's mind, he took a moment to glance over at the ruined area that had been affected by his punch, as part of the ground had been broken as well and it almost looked like a diagonal slash had gone through the area, based on what was left of the building that had taken the blow. It reminded him of when he fought Yammy, how his punches had been able to shatter the giant's bones and cause and immense amount of pain in the process, so he was curious to see just how strong he was when he used half of his full power against Aizen.
"You parried that well," Aizen commented, as he had also taken a moment to stare at the wreckage that had been brought by the collision of their attacks, even if Sombra had been able to parry his attack with his fist, before he turned his head and stared at his foe, as he deserved his full attention, "How shocked you must be though. The landscape changes with a single swing of my sword... that is how powerful I am now. To be honest, I had no idea that I had improved my abilities to this extent. I'm happy, Sombra, because thanks to you I will be able to test the power that transcends that of Shinigami and Hollows to my heart's content."
In that instant Aizen flew forward and swung his blade at Sombra, who raised his the broadsword and parried the attack before it could even hit him, but what was interesting was that Aizen continued his assault, where Sombra sighed and parried the series of swings that Aizen send his way. The interesting thing that Sombra noticed was that the only areas that were torn apart were the ones that were in the direction that his fist or his blade were swung in, indicating that his power was much greater than what his foe was using, and it appeared that Aizen still had no idea what was going on. The two of them continued like that for a moment, exchanging blows as Sombra went on the offensive as well, where the destruction of his attacks was much stronger than when he blocked his foe's attacks, but despite that happening the area around them was flattened to the point where it looked like they were fighting on a flat area of some kind. After about a minute of doing that Sombra decided to change it up by actually dodging the next attack and moving to the roof of one of the nearest buildings, noticing that Aizen's attack didn't change the area around him, and he even noticed Aizen coming at him from the sky, all while his foe claimed that he could follow 'such slow movements', before Sombra jumped out of the way and let Aizen crash into the building, flattening it and the area around him.
When Sombra landed on the ground, in the larger flattened area that they had created, he spun around and used the crystalline blade to block Aizen's next attack, though this time they stood there as the wind was pushed back from where they were standing, indicating that they were going to be standing there for a moment.
"What an odd coincidence, my evolution has my Zanpakuto merged with my right hand and your forms prevent you from doing just that," Aizen said, indicating that there was more that he was staring at and trying to analyze while this battle was taking place, while at the same time Sombra wished that he'd just shut up and fight, "perhaps this is the true form of a Zanpakuto? If so, then how unfortunate for you. This just confirms that our forms are on entirely different levels. If I so wish I could shatter your Zanpakuto in a single swing!"
The instant Aizen said that he pulled his right arm back and then swung it at Sombra, though this time around Sombra raised his left hand and caught the swing before it could reach him, stopping it in it's tracks and caused the ground behind him to shatter and break as a large crescent hole was carved into the earth behind him. He could see the confusion in Aizen's eyes as he stared at his stalled blade, something that he clearly wasn't expecting to happen, to which he decided that he might as well ask Aizen what he was thinking about, just to see if they could get this battle moving on.
"What's wrong, Aizen?" Sombra asked, causing Aizen to look away from his stalled blade and focus on him once more, which was good because if he so desired he could swing his sword now and end this battle, "Why are you so surprised? Is it really so impossible that I caught your Zanpakuto, before it could reach your target? Tell me, does seeing something like this, something that you cannot understand, scare you?"
"Interesting. Something that I cannot understand?" Aizen asked, to which he jumped backwards and put some distance between them, though this time Sombra simply lowered his arm and stared at his foe, because he was curious as to what Aizen had to say, "Don't talk as though you've won. That was just a case of your physical strength momentarily exceeding mine. Miracles like that happen from time to time, but I am a being that surpasses even that. In that case, I will see to it that miracles like that never happen again by crushing you to pieces with Kido!"
The instant Aizen mentioned that he was going to use one of the Kido spells he raised his left hand into the air and pointed his index finger towards the sky, while at the same time a dark aura appeared around him, indicating that it had to be a powerful Kido spell that he was planning on using.
"Seeping crest of turbidity." Aizen recited, allowing Sombra to understand exactly which Kido he was planning on using, as he recognized the first statement of the incantation, but at the same time he stood still and let his foe do what he was going to do, "Arrogant vessel of lunacy! Boil forth and deny! Grow numb and flicker! Disrupt sleep! Crawling queen of iron! Eternally self-destructing doll of mud! Unite! Repulse! Fill with soil and know your own powerlessness! Hado Number 90: Kurohitsugi!"
Sombra watched as the sky darkened as Aizen completed the incantation and uttered the name of the spell, which was when multiple boxes of black energy appeared in the area around him, each of them topped off with cross-shaped spears, before they multiplied and closed in around him. As that happened Aizen stated that, since he was a being that transcended both Shinigami and Hollow and that this was a Kurohitsugi with the full incantation, the spell unleashed enough energy to warp both space and time, and that it wasn't something that someone like him could even begin to understand, despite what he had learned so far. Sombra stood there as the large box finally sealed around him, trapping him inside a different dimension for the moment and he was sure that Aizen had a smug look on his face, before he sighed and pushed his reiatsu outwards, causing the entire box to shatter into a thousand pieces and noticed that Aizen was shocked by this turn of events, if the sweat rolling down the side of his face was any indication.
"It seems that you really don't understand the situation that you're in." Sombra said, to which he focused his attention on Aizen once more and stared at him, as it was good to see that his foe might be realizing that he wasn't going to win this battle, not at the rate that it was going, "My power is still much greater than what you possess. You remember the first time we crossed blades, after your newest transformation? That destruction was caused by my attack, not yours. Now it's my turn to attack."
Aizen barely had a chance to move as Sombra rushed through the air and swung his broadsword at him, cutting a diagonal gash into his chest that went from his left hip to his right shoulder, and as the blood flew through the air Aizen broke apart, reforming on one of the buildings so he could have a moment to touch his wound.
"And now you're retreating from me. How odd." Sombra continued, as he was starting to wonder if his foe could actually feel his reiatsu or if he was starting to understand that he wasn't going to win this battle, "What's wrong, Aizen? Why are you running away all of a sudden?"
"I see. Are you pleased that you stopped my Zanpakuto?" Aizen inquired, though his tone revealed how annoyed he actually was, meaning that he was growing annoyed with the fact that he was the one being hurt and that Sombra hadn't taken any damage at all, "Are you pleased that you destroyed my Kido? Are you pleased that you managed to cut my body? Don't be so full of yourself, you inferior HOLLOW!"
The moment he said that the diamond on his forehead shattered and he seemed to still, causing Sombra to raise his eyebrow for a moment as he watched as blood dripped from the area in question and an eye of sorts seemed to be looking at the area around it, before lines appeared on Aizen's face and his eyes focused on him once more. Sombra then stood his ground as another violet colored pillar enveloped Aizen, this time generating enough force to push whatever debris was around him away from the area they were in, and he could hear Aizen's screams as his body was changed once more, before the pillar shattered and blood seemed to pour out from the area his foe had been in. This time around it appeared that Aizen had taken on a distinctively Hollow-like form, because the diamond-shaped point oh his forehead had opened and now revealed a vertical black third eye, while at the same time the skin on his face split open down the middle and pulled back around the sides of his head to reveal a blackened, demon-like skull. Aizen gained three holes running vertically down his chest, with the Hōgyoku floating in the center of the top hole, which had lost the cross it bore earlier, while his feet become single claws and both his hands and feet become black colored. The butterfly-like wings had also changed as well, as they had become a set of six sheet-like wings, with eyes set upon the center, adorned with Hollow-like skulls, and trailing into tendrils, and, to top all of that off, it appeared that his robe had merged to his skin completely, meaning that he was no longer wearing any clothing at this point in time.
As all this happened, however, Sombra also felt the sudden increase in Aizen's power, just like the previous times he had forced Aizen to transform, and the light of the Hogyoku was growing dimmer, meaning that it might be realizing that Aizen wasn't the strongest person in the area.
"Yes. This is inexcusable, isn't it, Hogyoku?" Aizen said, drawing himself up to his full height once more as he stared down at Sombra, who was focusing on him the entire time, while his tone revealed that he was talking to the orb that was giving him these transformations, "That I let a Hollow get the better of me."
The moment he said that one of the Hollow skulls on his wings moved and charged what could pass for a Cero, one that was thrown at where Sombra was standing, though instead of getting out of the way Sombra merely extended his hand and let the attack hit his palm. A few seconds later the area around him exploded, as Aizen's attack had detonated it's charge and consumed the area around him in a powerful explosion that carved a good sized circular crater into the ground beneath their feet, all while forcing Aizen to back off so he could observe the damage himself. It wasn't long before some of the flames parted and revealed that the attack had done nothing to Sombra, as mere seconds before it detonated he had slipped into his Shadow Form to avoid taking any sort of damage, even though he believed that he could have emerged unharmed in the first place, and as the opening revealed itself he shifted back to his solid state again.
"I see, so my attack did nothing to you." Aizen commented, though that was when he flew through the air and reached out with his left hand, grabbing onto Sombra's neck before extending the six wings, which had their eyes open as he came to a stop and their Ceros combined into a solid ring with three larger rings resting in the air above them, all while the creation of the rings got rid of the flames and smoke from his earlier attack, "Can you hear me, Sombra? Indeed, for a time, you became a being that seemed to surpass the limits of both Shinigami and Hollow, but now it appears that you have somehow lost that power since you ventured into Hueco Mundo. You're not even worth trying to understand as you currently are. I, am true transcendent being, will kill you, and by doing that I shall break free from both Shinigami and Hollow alike. It's over, Sombra!"
"Over, you say?" Sombra replied, shocking Aizen for a moment as he looked into his eyes, showing him that he had purposely lowered his guard for a moment to see what he would do next, and now that he was close he had decided to bring an end to this fight, "I couldn't agree more."
The moment he said that Sombra swung his right arm and used the edge of the blade to knock Aizen backwards, which also tore apart the rings that were above them as he remained where he was standing, but soon his foe regained himself and stared at him.
"We've dragged this fight out long enough, Aizen, and it's about time we ended it." Sombra said, to which his reiatsu gathered in the air around him, as it was time that he revealed his true power to his foe and stopped holding back, even though his full power would likely end this in a matter of seconds if he so desired, "I hope your paying attention, because I'm about to show you the full power of the Dios Hueco."
The instant Sombra finished talking the silver color of his reiatsu came back and replaced the darkness that he had been using, though at the same time the coloration of his armor changed to reveal the true gleaming silver king armor that he was wearing, while his hair and eyes returned to having a silver color to them as well, despite the fact that the energy strands were still two different colors to reflect his two powers that went into making this form. As the change ran it's course he held his right hand out and let the broadsword he had been holding break apart, disappearing as fast as it had appeared, before he focused his attention on Aizen, who seemed shocked by what was going on at the moment. Sombra knew that he wasn't the only one, as he was confident that a number of the Shinigami that were watching them were stunned or shocked by his transformation, even if they couldn't feel the sheer power that he was generating, something that the Arrancar couldn't feel either, as they only knew that he was the Dios Hueco and that was it.
"What... is that form?" Aizen asked, as while it wasn't that much different from Sombra's Resurreccion he knew that there was something different about it, something that he couldn't place his finger on, and it didn't help that he couldn't feel his foe's reiatsu or power at all.
"I told you, this is the power of the Dios Hueco." Sombra replied, though at the same time he shifted his stance and readied himself, as he was going to give Aizen a taste of the power that he had been granted, before bringing an end to this fight, "Here I come, Aizen."
Aizen didn't even have a chance to see Sombra move as he flashed through the air, as one second there had been a gap between them and the next his foe was right in front of his face, meaning that he didn't have time to raise his right arm or move out of the way as Sombra gripped his shoulders and gently lifted him further into the air. From there Sombra flashed up to where he was now floating and punched him in the chest, the force of the blow knocking the wind out of him while causing the air to vibrate and forcing him to cough up some blood, but that was just the start as Sombra knocked him around the area they were in, following a triangular pattern while kicking or punching him like he was one of those training dummies he heard that Humans practiced on. Aizen could feel his bones breaking from each impact, the Hogyoku barely having a chance to mend the first break that had happened before the second and third one were made, and he was stunned by the sheer power that were being each of the blows, though he could tell that Sombra had to be telling the truth, that this was the power of the Dios Hueco. By the time a minute passed Sombra sent him flying back towards the crater he had formed, where his foe flashed down to the air below him and punched his back, right where the upper hole was located, though the force of the attack knocked the Hogyoku loose, sending a jolt through his body as he decided to go on the offensive.
When Aizen flashed to the side and regained his footing, so he could stand straight, he rushed froward and swung his blade at Sombra, but this time around Sombra swung his fist at the blade and Aizen watched as the impact of his fist on the metal shattered his Zanpakuto into two halves, the smaller fragment attached to his handle while the larger fragment fell to the ground near them. He remained stunned for a few seconds, giving Sombra enough time to unleash a series of devastating blows on his body, which suffered further damage as some of his bones shattered, though the more interesting part was when Sombra swung his arm at his left wings, as Aizen felt his wings being severed from his body and screamed in agony for a moment, as it was something else that the Hogyoku was having trouble healing. As the left wings were destroyed, however, that was when things really got bad for him, as Sombra had another attack ready and grabbed onto the side of his head, sending him flying through the air so he could collide with one of the nearby buildings, and before the attack was over Sombra raised his right hand and charged a silver colored Cero that caused the air around him to shake for a few seconds. Once the attack was ready Sombra fired it and let the blast zero in on where Aizen was standing, consuming the entire area around him in an explosion that mimicked the one that Aizen had used against him when he ascended to his newest form... and sometime after his attack detonated he noticed a fragment of a body land near his position, which appeared to be Aizen's body without the wings or the black parts that had been on him since he emerged from the previous pillar of energy.
Sombra flashed to an area that was near the fallen Aizen and noticed that he was now back into a more normal form, as his white skin had reverted back into a white robe, the Hogyoku had returned to where it had been before his first evolution, and while his left eye possessed the grey and purple coloration his right eye was pure grey... and, based on what he was feeling, Sombra had to guess that the Hogyoku had enough of Aizen, as his power was back to what it had been before the very first evolution.
"What will you do now, Aizen? You cannot fight me anymore." Sombra asked, because at this point using his full power against Aizen would likely result in the former Captain being utterly destroyed and erased from existence, though at the same time his eyes were focused on the Hogyoku.
"The Hogyoku has determined that I shall continue to grow until I break you!" Aizen replied, though at the same time he forced himself to stand once more, showing Sombra that he still possessed the long hair from earlier as well, before he pointed what little remained of his Zanpakuto at his foe, "You can't kill me, no matt..."
"Oh Aizen, you should be smarter than this." Sombra stated, cutting Aizen off in the middle of his sentence, surprising him for a moment, before he sighed and stared at the foe that he had set out to defeat, while at the same time raising his right hand towards Aizen's chest, "The Hogyoku has stripped you of the powers that it previously gave you, meaning that all the power you have gained during our battle is gone, and your Zanpakuto lies broken and unable to be used against me anymore. The Hogyoku is rejecting you as it's master... and I think it's ready to leave you as well."
Just as he said that the Hogyoku glowed for a moment before the hole around opened, allowing it to slip out of the area of Aizen's chest that it had been stuck in, leaving a confused Aizen behind as he stared at the orb he had worked so hard to get his hands on, where Sombra let it be encased in a crystalline orb that would keep it safe, and not put it back to sleep, while he determined what to do with it, even though he let it float near where he was standing.
"S... So what if you take the Hogyoku from me?" Aizen asked, though at the same time he coughed for a moment, as he wasn't expecting something like that to happen at all, and he stared at his foe as the hole in his chest sealed up, leaving a small indent where the orb had been resting, "I've still absorbed a good deal of it's power! You can't kill me!"
"Maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong." Sombra said, to which he accessed the shadows that were around them and a new elegant mirror, this one five times bigger than one he would have made for someone of Aizen's size, appeared nearby, causing his foe to stare at it with a worried look in his eyes, indicating that he had to know what this was and was now terrified of what he might do to him, "Here's the thing, Aizen, killing you would be too easy for all the pain and suffering that you have inflicted on both Soul Society and the World of the Living, while letting you rot in a prison would only give you the chance to master these 'powers' that you've absorbed and make your escape when an opportunity presented itself. No, for someone like you the only acceptable punishment is to be tormented by your own fears and nightmares, for the rest of whatever life you have left, in the deepest reaches of the Shadowlands, where the greatest offenders are taken to be tortured."
Not even a moment later the surface of the mirror glimmered for a moment, which was followed by a storm of dark chains bursting out form the Shadowlands and wrapped around Aizen's body, because instead of going for just his arms and legs they wrapped around his entire body and prevented him from moving at all. Aizen seemed to know what was going on this time and struggled against the chains, which only tightened their grip on his body as they lifted him into the air, causing the former Captain to stare at the mirror that they were all connected to, where Sombra could tell that his mind was already imagining what sort of horrors awaited him. Sombra stood there and watched as the chains dragged Aizen towards the mirror, something that he fought in vain with what remained of his strength, before Aizen screamed as he was pulled into the Shadowlands, where Sombra observed as the keepers of that plane of existence started hauling him off to the deepest reaches, a place that very few had ever returned from. Once Aizen was gone from the surface, and the shadows had pulled back into the mirror, he waved his hand and the mirror turned back into the shadows that it had been formed from, severing the connection to the Shadowlands until he needed it again, before he sighed and turned away from where Aizen had been standing moments ago.
Despite the fact that Aizen was defeated he knew that it would take Soul Society some time to fix up all the damage that had happened before he and his forces had emerged from Hueco Mundo, so they could return the real Karakura Town to it's rightful resting place. Gin, who appeared to be wounded from his fight with Zangetsu, and that was easy to figure out thanks to the cuts on his arms and legs, had noticed that Aizen had been stopped and promptly surrendered, though at the same time he had something that he wanted to share with the Captain-Commander before his fate was determined and he was sentenced to whatever punishment he was given. Personally he felt that the Shadowlands were perfect for a traitor like Gin, but right now he was going to be nice and let Soul Society handle his punishment, as he had his own subjects to return to now that both of the previous rulers of Hueco Mundo had been taken care of and he was sure that the other Arrancar were interested in seeing what he had to say next. His friends, on the other hand, were likely more interested in making sure that the war with Aizen was over and that their lives could return to normal, and he knew that they would be happy to hear that their thoughts were correct, especially since they had witnessed the end of Aizen and his plans to kill the Soul King.
As he walked towards those that were gathering near the edge of the area that he had fought Aizen in he knew that, at some point in the future, he would have to figure out a way to get back to Equus, to the continent of Equestria, and speak to those that he had left behind, to clear somethings up before he moved on with his life... but for right now he was going to celebrate his victory over Aizen and his plans, with his friends and allies, and then worry about the future once that was over.
"I... I don't believe it!" Ichigo said, as he was stunned by the sight in front of him, because they had just witnessed one of the greatest fights in the entire world and the outcome, despite being what he expected, still shocked him, which was why he was staring at Sombra at the moment, "He won..."
"Of course he won, you idiot." Zangetsu replied, though at the same time he managed to keep the grin on his face, because despite the fact that it appeared that his former partner was still an idiot he was more than happy to see a glimpse of Sombra's true power, something that even the Hogyoku recognized by the looks of it, "He's the Dios Hueco, the Hollow God, and there's now way that someone like Aizen, even with those power boosts he got, would have been able to turn the tides on him and beat him in battle."
"That's not what I was going to say." Ichigo snapped, to which he faced his former inner Hollow once more, though he didn't know what was worse, the fact that the Hollow was outside his body or that fact that it had been inside him until his last battle with Ulquiorra, "What I was going to say was that he managed to emerge from the battle without taking even a single scratch or wound in the process. Is Sombra's power really so great that not even Aizen, who was empowered by the Hogyoku, could do a single bit of damage to him?"
"Apparently his true power is far greater than what we originally thought it was." Grimmjow said, though he was smiling as well, because the previous Dios Hueco's power, from what he knew, wasn't as great as Sombra's was, meaning that they would have a much more powerful ruler in Hueco Mundo, "I knew that his true power had to be on a higher level than the previous Dios Hueco, especially since Sombra's Resurreccion was so powerful, but I never imagined that he'd be this strong and be able to take out someone with Aizen with little effort."
"Honestly, I'm glad that he's on our side." Hitsuguya commented, as his attention was on the destruction that Sombra and Aizen had caused to the fake city, while at the same time the Captain-Commander was busy making sure that the ruined pillar was restored to it's former glory so they could safely switch the fake Karakura Town with the real one that was inside Soul Society, before turning towards Sombra, "I knew he was strong, from the moment Captain Byakuya first mentioned his existence, and I knew that he was getting stronger and stronger with every challenge that he faced, be it his own Arrancar Zanpakuto or something else... but I had no idea he'd be able to fight Aizen, in all his various forms, and still be able to beat him so soundly."
"Everyone is in agreement on that end." a voice said, to which Ichigo looked off to the right of where their small group was standing and watched as Yoruichi flashed up to where they were standing, though he noticed that her eyes were solely on Sombra, "Urahara and I knew, from the very moment we started teaching him, that Sombra was strong and that his power might be beyond what we were capable of determining, since there was a chance that he was stronger that an Adjuchas ranked Arrancar, and we thought it would have ended with him being the strongest Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar in all of Soul Society's history... boy, were we wrong on that one. The Dios Hueco... the Hollow God... the strongest Hollow to ever grace Hueco Mundo... it seems like a fantasy brought to life and pitted against the one person that wanted to bring about the end of the world."
"Well, that fantasy turned reality is your boyfriend," Ichigo stated, recalling what he had learned before he and his friends had followed Sombra into Hueco Mundo, something that was still odd when he considered it, but right now he was more than fine with how the world around them worked, "Good luck trying to tame him, Yoruichi."
"Boyfriend?" Grimmjow inquired, though at the same time he thought about what Humans liked to do and the terms that they came up with, but his knowledge of them seemed to be limited, as he had no idea what Ichigo was talking about and that worried him.
"He means that the two of them are lovers." Nel said, as she had remained near Grimmjow's side, purely because she wanted to be close to their Lord when he returned from the battle with Aizen, though the news that Sombra was already in love meant that things weren't going to happen, before she sighed, "Oh well. I was going to ask him about that, if he had someone in mind to be the Queen of Hueco Mundo and rule at his side, but it seems that he's already got someone to fill that role, even if she's not an Arrancar or even a Hollow... though I wonder if he'd be interested in having a second lover, to appease the residents of Hueco Mundo."
"Excuse me?" Yoruichi inquired, to which she turned towards Nel for a moment, as she couldn't believe that the Arrancar would even suggest something like that, while at the same time she noticed that Ichigo and Grimmjow seemed concerned about what was going to happen next, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, the previous Dios Hueco, before the war against Soul Society, had a harem of lovers." Nel replied, recalling the information that only Hollows and Arrancar learned after a few years of living inside Hueco Mundo, which came shortly after the discovery of the final classification's existence, "I was just saying that it's entirely possible that Sombra might follow in his predecessor's footsteps and take one or two more lovers, even if it's to experiment on his likes and dislikes... or whatever he wanted to do."
"Ladies, there's no need to argue." Harribel stated, to which she stepped towards them and caused both Nel and Yoruichi to look at her, as they were curious as to what she was going to say, "Since Starrk doesn't like to lead, or really do anything that is considered work, and since Baraggan is dead, leadership of Hueco Mundo would have fallen to me, if there had been no Dios Hueco around at the time. Wouldn't it make sense for him to want to get together with the one that would have become the Queen of Hueco Mundo?"
"And I'm getting out of here while they talk." Ichigo said, to which he, Grimmjow, Hitsuguya, and Zangetsu moved out of the area that they had been standing in and headed over to where Sombra was standing, as it appeared that he was remaining in one spot and was staring at the Hogyoku that was imprisoned in a dark orb.
As they approached Sombra, however, they found that Urahara was approaching him as well, though since he had been the one to create the Hogyoku, before Aizen stole it, Ichigo was sure that the former Shinigami was going to ask Sombra what he was going to do with it, so he decided to keep his mouth shut as they stopped near the duo.
"I'm proud of you, Sombra. You defeated Aizen and saved the world." Urahara said, because that was a good thing to do, save the world from someone that wanted to destroy it, but at the same time he found that the Arrancar was staring at the orb that was floating above his hand, "What are you going to do with the Hogyoku?"
"I'm going to put it somewhere safe, where no one else will be able to get to it." Sombra replied, though at the same time he tapped his right fist on the air near him, like he was knocking on a door or something, and that was when a large circular metal door, made out of steel and adorned with several gemstones, appeared in the air in front of him.
"Sombra, what is that?" Ichigo asked, because he was worried that Sombra was thinking of hiding the Hogyoku in the same place that Aizen was located in, as he was sure that the former Captain would try to find it if he knew where the orb was resting, and he could tell that he wasn't the only one that was interested in figuring out what was going on.
"There are two entrances to the Shadowlands," Sombra explained, though as he said that the circular door opened and revealed his destination, but he turned and looked at the group that was near him first, since he knew that it was best to tell them what he was doing, "the first is the mirror, which allows me to teleport those that I want to punish to an area where they'll be tormented by their fears and nightmares, or send them to the Keepers, who are charged with watching over the lowest areas of the realm of terror, where the serious offenders are sent. The second entrance is by this circular door, as it allows me to enter a private study that's built into one of the mountains that oversees the pits that the others are sent to, and there's absolutely no way for someone to get to the study from the pits, trust me on that one. This study is where I keep some of the more important treasures and relics that I've, um, stolen since I became the king of the Crystal Empire, and it's a place where only I can enter... though I think it might be time I returned some of this stuff..."
Ichigo's eyes widened as the door opened and revealed the area that Sombra would be putting the Hogyoku in, as when he said it was a study he thought his friend was joking around, as the area that they were seeing looked more like a ancient treasury with all the gold coins, jewels, statues, and artifacts that looked like they should belong in a museum or something similar to that. Sombra, once the door was open, walked through it and was pleased to find that everything was as he remembered it, because off to the right sat the stairs that lead to the observation deck, back when he was evil and loved to watch ponies being tortured, and the actually study area where he practiced some of his spells in the privacy of an entirely different world, so his foes wouldn't learn of what he knew. There were other odds and ends around the place, like a bedchamber for when he got exhausted, an elegant bathroom that mimicked the one in the Crystal Palace, a meditation area, and a few other rooms that he'd have to check out later, before he focused on what he was doing here. He stepped forward and entered the vault area, where all the stolen treasures rested, before using a bit of his power to make a new pedestal rise out of the floor, one that he put the Hogyoku on and let it float there, being the center of attention like Aizen would have wanted, before he turned around... which was when he found Ichigo hitting the barrier between this world and his world, bouncing him backwards and causing him to rub his head.
Sombra chuckled for a moment before he stepped out of the study area and closed the door, to which it sealed itself up and disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, before he turned his attention to the group that was standing near him with an assortment of looks on their faces.
"Like I said, only I can enter the study area, since I created it for my own privacy, and I'm the only one that knows how to open the way to the Shadowlands." Sombra said, though at the same time he turned and headed towards where Yoruichi was standing, because he had the feeling that the two towns were going to be switched soon and he wanted to make sure that the others were out of the way for when that happened.
"You know that Central 46, when their replacements are chosen, are going to want to punish Aizen, right?" Urahara asked, though at the same time he and the others followed after Sombra, even though he was looking at the exterior of the large barrier he had helped construct and was happy to see that Soul Society had teams hidden near the town so they could begin the work of shifting the two towns once more, even if they were repairing the broken pillar.
"Yeah, I know that." Sombra answered, though at the same time he sighed and the wind whipped around him, where Ichigo and the others watched as his armor morphed back into his gray Shinigami attire and both of his Zanpakuto reformed on his belt, exactly where they belonged, before he smiled at them, "Unfortunately they won't be able to come up with an effective punishment for the former Captain, which is why he'll be staying inside the Shadowlands for the rest of his life. And here's an added bonus they might not even consider; since I'm the only one that knows how to access that part of the Shadowlands, a secret that's not written down anywhere and can only be gained from me, when death finally claims me Aizen will be stuck in that realm, forever."
"Death will have a hard time even attempting such a thing," Zangetsu said, as he could already imagine that it would be old age that would claim their Lord's life, and not death in a battle like many would assume, meaning that he'd be able to rule over them for many years to come, before a new question came to mind, "So what now? Do we declare war on the Captains of Soul Society, or are we heading back to Hueco Mundo to start your reign over your new world?"
"That's the question, isn't it?" Sombra replied, as he had known that many of his new followers would want to know what his plans were and he could see that Zangetsu wanted to smack Ichigo around for a few minutes, before he looked at the sky for a few seconds, "For now we'll assist the Shinigami in making sure that this fake Karakura Town is ready to be transferred with the real Karakura Town, which they might need help working on from the looks of it and it seems like Szayelaporro is already hard at work doing just that. Once the two versions of the town have been switched with each other, and the people are safe and sound, then we'll head back to Hueco Mundo and set up the new order that will replace whatever Aizen had set up during his time in Las Noches."
"And what about Yoruichi, Nel, and Harribel?" Ichigo inquired, because at the moment the three ladies in question were currently arguing over whether Sombra would only have a single lover or have more than one, something that he wasn't terribly interested in but figured that he might as well ask Sombra what he had in mind for them.
"For now, I'll stick to having a single lover," Sombra said, though at the same time he could tell that both Yoruichi and Nel seemed to be the more calm of the trio, even if Yoruichi had no idea what the two Arrancar were talking about, before he thought about something that he hadn't considered before this point, "though that reminds me; at some point in time I'll have to figure out exactly what the previous Dios Hueco did before their war against Soul Society, so I can learn from his or her mistakes and endeavor not to repeat them. I will admit that it's very interesting that the previous Dios Hueco had a harem of lovers before their demise, especially since I have no idea if they were a Hollow or an Arrancar and I'm sure one of the other Arrancar would be willing to tell me the truth of my predecessor's nature."
Ichigo, on the other hand, didn't honestly care too much about that information, because he wasn't a Hollow or an Arrancar and naturally assumed that all residents of Hueco Mundo didn't care about that sort of thing, but even as he thought about that he had to guess that there were things about the Hollow world that Soul Society and their allies didn't know about. He could already imagine Mayuri trying to figure out how the residents of Hueco Mundo went about their personal business, especially since he had no shame and no sense of privacy, and shuddered when he considered what sort of punishment Sombra would inflict on the Captain if he tried such a thing. Sombra didn't seem to mind the fact that he might have to have multiple lovers in the future, though even if that were the case he could tell that he would put Yoruichi at the top, as she was his first and would always remain in that position, regardless of what happened and what he learned about Hueco Mundo. He also didn't like the look in Grimmjow's eyes, like he was a panther looking for something that wasn't his prey, and decided that he might as well stop thinking about what he was seeing, because right now he wanted to go home and relax, and maybe explain to his friends what had been going on... especially since he was sort of a jerk to them to prevent them from getting too close to them, just in case Aizen decided to use them against him and his friends.
What Ichigo found was that Nel didn't seem disappointed when she learned that Sombra was sticking to a single lover at the moment, since he was their ruler and it was within his right to do what he wanted, and he could tell that Harribel was a little disappointed, but at the same time she also conceded the point that he needed more information on what his predecessor did before he really came to a conclusion on the matter.
Despite Sombra's personal issues, and the fact that he might have three potential lovers in the future, both he and the group that surrounded him, made up of Shinigami and Arrancar, headed outside the barrier that was around the fake version of Karakura Town and let the rest of the lower ranked Shinigami get to work. Many of the lower ranked Shinigami did as Mayuri and Urahara directed, as they were the ones that knew how to repair the Tenkai Ketchu, or World-Shifting Binding-Posts as they were also known as, and it wasn't long before the Shinigami were able to put it back to the way it was, fully restored and the barrier strengthened to it's peak. Once that was done Urahara stalled Mayuri for a bit, taking about whatever he might have found in Hueco Mundo, which got the Shinigami scientist a little depressed since Sombra had prevented him from getting any new research material, and Szayelaporro even told him that he'd make up some informational pieces for him, provided the Captain could convince Sombra to let him return to Hueco Mundo for a time in the future. The reason Urahara stalled Mayuri was because the mad scientist wanted to activate the transfer sequence the instant the pillar was restored, where a number of the lower ranked Shinigami were still inside the barrier, and his actions allowed those Shinigami to evacuate the area and join the growing group that was standing near Sombra... though once everyone was outside the fake town the three scientists joined them and Mayuri activated the transfer sequence, causing the fake town to glow blue as the barrier formed a large box in front of them.
Sombra watched as the Shinigami performed the transfer sequence and switched the two towns, as not even a few seconds later he felt the arrival of a number of souls, the inhabitants of Karakura Town, and he knew that Ichigo had some explaining to do when he got home... and that also included the fact that Isshin was going to have to explain himself, as Ichigo was staring at his father the moment he noticed that he was wearing his own Shinigami attire.
"Sombra, you have our thanks for helping take Aizen down and bring justice to Gin and Tosen," Yamamoto spoke up, causing the group to turn towards him, where some Captains were a little surprised that he was actually thanking Sombra for his assistance, but at the same time they knew that it would put them on good terms with the powerful Arrancar that now controlled Hueco Mundo, "What will you do now?"
"We're heading back to Las Noches, so we can begin our own repairs." Sombra replied, as some of the buildings that had been built into the fortress that Aizen had controlled earlier had been damaged thanks to the battles that had taken place, and there was the fact that Nel would need a place to sleep as well, since Harribel currently owned the place she had previously owned, "During that time I'll be putting in a new order for the Arrancar that have joined me, nothing too restrictive, and I'll have to deal with the fake roof that Aizen built, but eventually I'll have the beginnings of a new empire and maybe control what the ordinary Hollows do. Though there is something I should do before we head home..."
Sombra turned towards the town and recalled that the graveyard had next to no visitors, in the time he had been in the town, along with the fact that there were a few temples around the area outside where the four pillars had been resting, small and hidden structures that a lot of people didn't visit either. In the end he picked out one of the temples and flashed down to where his chosen temple was located, where he felt the others following him, but when he arrived he waved his hand and felt Hueco Mundo respond, where a Garganta formed in the structure, though it took the shape of a rectangular gateway that mimicked a Senkaimon. The interesting part was that the rectangular sections of the gateway were made out of crystal, just like the quartz trees that grew in Hueco Mundo, though once that was done he turned away from the gateway and faced the Captains that had followed him into the temple, along with his friends. He knew that they were interested in what he was doing, he could tell that with a single look at their faces, and he intended to tell them exactly what he was going to do, though the Arrancar understood his hidden meaning without needing to be told what he had done.
"What you see before you is a gateway to Hueco Mundo, an instant one that I can open and close whenever I, or whoever I entrust control of it to, desire." Sombra explained, though at the same time the Garganta shimmered before the fortress of Las Noches appeared on it's surface, or more accurately the inside of the fortress, "I guess you could say that it's exactly like the one that Aizen opened to get here, for his invasion, but this one is more permanent than his will ever be... and, to make sure that there's a line of communication between all three realms, I shall grant both Soul Society and the World of the Living one of these."
In that moment three dark spheres that were perfectly smooth, and were roughly around the size of someone's head, appeared in the air near them, though to someone that understood him they would be interested in the fact that they weren't made out of crystal, but he'd just tell them that everything he made didn't need to be made out of crystal, even if that was his specialty.
"These are special communication spheres that will allow you to communicate between the realms," Sombra told the group, where one of the spheres floated over to Captain-Commander Yamamoto, who allowed his Lieutenant to gently take hold of it, while the second went over to Urahara, who nodded his head as he accepted it, before the third floated in the air near him, "with them you'll be able to speak with someone inside Hueco Mundo from either Soul Society or the World of the Living, and that includes receiving calls in the reverse direction. If something important happens, like another Captain turns traitor or a war breaks out for example, you can quickly communicate that information to whoever you deem it necessary, in case it involves either or both of the remaining two realms... and it can also be used to arrange visits, in case a Shinigami or one of my friends wanted to come over, and vise versa for the other realms."
"You make it sound like you're expecting something to happen." Ichigo said, though at the same time he stared at the sphere that Urahara was holding onto, as he had no idea that Sombra could have produced such an artifact, but he had to wonder if he was able to do it because of his new position and not because of his old powers.
"Ichigo, just because Aizen's been defeated, and his plans broken, doesn't mean that we should get lazy and ignore the possibility of there being other threats," Sombra stated, to which several heads nodded in agreement, especially since Rukia and the other Shinigami were used to there being in dangerous situations, "this just allows all of us to be in the loop in case something happens that the others need to be aware of."
Yamamoto and Urahara nodded their heads, agreeing with Sombra's statement that they shouldn't be lazy and that they should improve their skills for the future, before he turned towards the gate that he had made and waved his hand, opening the way back to Las Noches. He stood there for a moment, letting the Arrancar that had chosen to side with him enter the gateway and head back home, though he knew that this was familiar to him because he had taken over the Crystal Empire, but the main difference between then and now was that Hueco Mundo was his to rule because he was the Dios Hueco, not because he had conquered the land and beat the previous ruler. That make him remember what he had to do when he went back to Equus, if such a thing was even possible, and that was reforge the statue he had shattered so long ago, maybe even give the former ruler of the Crystal Empire her spark back, even though he knew that she would continue to dislike him anyway. He also wondered, for a moment, how Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor were doing, since he knew they were ruling the empire the last time he had shown up, though he had the feeling that they'd try to destroy him again, since the only time they had seen him was when he tried to take the empire back.
His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a hand on his shoulder, where he found Yoruichi standing beside him with a smile on her face, because despite everything that had happened recently their bond was still there and she wasn't about to let it shatter or break due to his new position.
"Come on, the others are waiting for us." Yoruichi said, to which she stepped forward and approached the Garganta gateway that had been opened, though she was really interested in seeing what was in store for her now, "Besides, I'm kind of eager to see what Las Noches looks like, especially once you take control of it."
Sombra smiled and nodded his head as he followed Yoruichi into the gateway, as the next following days were going to busy for them and the rest of the Arrancar, since they had a lot to repair, including Szayelaporro's palace since Sombra had blown the thing to pieces, and a new order to install... but at the same time he was looking forward to the challenge that the future held for him, Yoruichi, and the other inhabitants of Hueco Mundo.
The first thing that Sombra had the Arrancar do, upon their return to Las Noches, was fix up Szayelaporro's palace, find a good spot for Nel and her Fraccion, which was Dondochakka and Pesche, to reside and build their own place to live, and do the same thing for Zangetsu. Surprisingly enough Sombra found that it took them roughly two hours to rebuild the destroyed palace, where Szayelaporro told him that they were always constantly rebuilding or smashing stuff when Aizen was in control, since the members of the Espada changed quite a lot before becoming the ten he knew. As such most of the original palaces, save for Aaroniero's, had been smashed when the original Espada was demoted and the new member that took their position, though Harribel had kept some of Nel's things to remember the member she had replaced as the Tres Espada. Since no one wanted to build on the remains of Aaroniero's palace they also demolished it, taking all of a few moments to do so, before they got to work building two new palaces in different parts of the fortress, all while making sure they were connected to everything else that existed in Las Noches. Sombra, for the most part, did as he said he would and removed the roof of Las Noches, since many of them liked the night sky, but, since he was the Dios Hueco, he also added in a few hours of the day where the natural light of the sun was replicated in this world, surprising him for a moment before he guessed that Hueco Mundo obeyed the will of the Hollow God.
Once he had done that, however, Sombra used his power to modify the five pillars that made up the palace of Hueco Mundo, shifting them into a single mass that he remade into a quartz version of the Crystal Palace, and it took him some time to remodel the insides to match his memories. Part of the reason why he did that was because he disliked the notion of sleeping in the bed that Aizen had been sleeping in, despite the fact that Rey had gladly slept in the bed of Princess Amore after he shattered her, and Yoruichi agreed with his statement, though she was amazed by his designs, even if he was mimicking what was in his memories. The bedrooms and bathrooms were put where he remembered them, as were the library, ball room, and a number of other rooms that existed in the palace, though the one room he made a change to was the throne room, as a second throne sat next to the one that he would sit on, when such a thing was necessary. The two thrones were for him and Yoruichi, though while that decision no doubt annoyed some of the other Arrancar, like Harribel, Sombra knew that they weren't going to lash out at her, not when the threat of the Shadowlands loomed over their heads, a place that terrified the smartest of the Arrancar.
Yoruichi, seeing how many of the Arrancar might not like her since she dressed like a Shinigami, also had her own custom Arrancar style attire created for her, which was really just the same as her old clothing, the colors being the only thing that were inverted from the original... though while some didn't seem to care about her decision others seemed happy that she was accepting the fact that she was, technically, the Queen of Las Noches and Hueco Mundo, since she was the one that was closest to Sombra's heart at the moment.
By the end of the week Sombra was impressed that they were able to repair all the buildings that needed to be repaired, including the hole that Ichigo and Renji had punched into the side of Las Noches' outer wall, had built several new buildings for Nel, Zangetsu, and for whatever else they needed, and that included cutting the size of Las Noches' walls in half, as Sombra felt their original size was too much. Almost all of the Arrancar were surprised when they found the bathrooms inside the new palace, since there wasn't any water in Hueco Mundo, but once again they were stunned by Sombra's control over how things worked, as he was able to draw a bath in what was supposed to be a desert environment. He then revealed that part of his experiments as the Dios Hueco was what sort of control he had over Hueco Mundo and how it looked, because if his ascension caused stars to appear for a few moments, and he was able to modify the five pillars so easily while adding in a few hours of sunlight, he figured that creating a source of water might not be as impossible as Szayelaporro thought it would be. Sombra also explained that it had to have been the power of the previous Dios Hueco that had turned Hueco Mundo into such a desolate place, meaning that since he was far stronger than the first one of his kind he was able to overturn that power and reshape Hueco Mundo as he desired, though it was more than the realm listened to what he was suggesting and found a way to do it... and the reason he told them this was because he felt they should know the truth.
Once he showed off the new additions he had made he also modified the palaces of his followers, allowing them to have their own bathrooms, spas, or whatever type of water relaxation area they wanted in their domains, even though he found that Harribel wanted an oasis that she and her Fraccion could relax in... and when he came by about two hours later he discovered that the four of them were relaxing in their Resurreccions, as one of the rules that he removed was the whole deal about the Cuatro Espada and higher releasing their swords.
Despite many of their differences Sombra found that the majority of the Arrancar were actually trying to get to know each other, as friends and not colleagues, and that they were finding success with those that they interacted with, though Zangetsu was included in that thought. The most interesting part about that was that Grimmjow, formally the lone wolf after the death of his Fraccion, found some of the other Arrancar befriending him and started hanging out with him, and even Zangetsu, the true outsider considering he had been a Zanpakuto spirit until he abandoned Ichigo and embraced his nature as a Hollow, found the same thing happening to him. The other thing that made Sombra happy was that some of the Arrancar had taken to Yoruichi's presence, not all of them since only a week had gone by, but what interested him was that Harribel's Fraccion were the ones to befriend her first, setting an example for the others to follow. Yoruichi was happy to have some friends once that happened, though at the same time Sombra also knew that staying in this world all the time wasn't a good idea, which was why he planned on heading back to the World of the Living for a day to see how Ichigo and the others were doing.
In fact when the day of his visit arrived, something he arranged with Urahara, he made his way to the room that the gateway to the World of the Living rested, as he had moved it shortly after the palace was completed, and found Ulquiorra standing outside the throne room.
"Lord Sombra, I take it you're heading to the World of the Living?" Ulquiorra asked, though at the same time he still retained his usual expressions, despite the fact that he had some interest in Humans, or more accurately Orihime, though Sombra knew that time would change him, even if it was by a little bit.
"Yes. Yoruichi and I are heading to a party that Urahara is throwing to celebrate Aizen's defeat." Sombra replied, as that was what he had discovered when he had made the call to the World of the Living, despite the fact that it took some time to organize everything for the event, "You know, Orihime is going to be there. You sure that you don't want to come along and see how Humans celebrate something?"
"Maybe next time, my Lord." Ulquiorra answered, though as he said that Sombra had to think that the Arrancar had briefly considered going since Orihime, the Human girl that had peaked his interest in Humans, was going to be there, but at the same time Sombra decided to let the Arrancar do as he desired, "I shall watch Las Noches in your stead."
Sombra nodded his head, as despite Harribel's position as the third strongest Arrancar, after himself and Starrk, she didn't like watching over Las Noches and Ulquiorra, who had done that duty for the previous ruler, was more than happy to do so again for him. Since he had someone to watch this world while he was away, and would be in range of the sphere in case something happened, he continued down the path he had been following and joined Yoruichi, who was dressed in her normal attire, before they stepped through the gateway and headed back to the World of the Living. It took the two of them a few moments to arrive in the World of the Living, confirming that the gateway worked like it was supposed to, and after they walked outside the temple the other side was hidden in they flashed into the air and made their way to the park where the others were gathering, though it would be impossible to miss with the number of reiatsu signatures that were gathering in the area. When they arrived at the area that they would be celebrating in Sombra found that all of his Human friends were present, including the inclusion of Tatsuki, which told him that Ichigo must have broken the news to her and she was adapting to the world that she was beginning to see, and a few Shinigami were there, such as Renji and Rukia, as their respective Captains were busy and couldn't make it.
"Sombra, Yoruichi, I'm glad you could make it." Ichigo said, welcoming them to the party, as it appeared that they had been in the process of starting and was happy to see that his friend had been able to make it, especially given his new role as the King of Hueco Mundo.
"I wouldn't dream of missing this celebration," Sombra replied, where he noticed that Yoruichi went off to see what Urahara was doing, since it had been a week since they last saw each other and she didn't trust him to try anything while they were gone, before he turned and looked at someone who he didn't think would be here, "I take it you finally told Tatsuki the news that your a Substitute Shinigami?"
"Yeah, and some other things as well." Ichigo answered, his meaning being that he likely had to tell her who Sombra was and why he had lied about not seeing him, before Orihime suddenly disappeared, before he sighed, "However, that's brought up a new issue... she wants to become a Shinigami, like me, so she can help protect Karakura Town from Hollows and other threats."
"Good luck trying to convince Soul Society to let that happen." Sombra said, though he wasn't all that surprised by Tatsuki's sudden desire to help Ichigo, as he could tell that the two of them had a long history together, as friends, and that she didn't want Ichigo to shoulder this burden alone, even if he had Chad, Orihime, Sora, and Uryu to help him defend their beloved town.
He honestly had no idea what the Captain-Commander and the rest of the Shinigami were going to do if Ichigo asked them about such a thing, since he was the Substitute Shinigami for the town, but at the same time he guessed that it hardly mattered to him at all, not when his duty was keeping Hueco Mundo in one piece. At the same time, however, he had the strangest feeling that something was going to happen in the near future, because right now they were resting from their war with Aizen's army, recovering their strength, preparing for the next battle, and repairing anything that might have been broken. It was the prime opportunity for something to go wrong, something that he had warned Ichigo about after Aizen's defeat, and as much as he didn't want another war or event to happen he had the feeling that they were about to be caught in the storm of another war. Even Shokyo and Rey agreed with him, something bad was coming their way and they needed to be prepared for it, but for now he returned to the party and made sure to prepare himself for whatever their next foe brought to the table, as he had the feeling it was going to be much different than anything they had faced in the past.
Rukia smiled as she walked down one of the many passageways of the Seireitei, because it had been two days since the party she and her friends had, to celebrate the downfall of Aizen and his plans, and so far it seemed like peace had returned to the World of the Living, and to Soul Society as well. She knew Sombra well enough to know that he was worried that something else would happen in the future, something that would shatter the peace that they had fought to create, and while many didn't agree with that thought she found that maybe it was time that the King of Hueco Mundo was wrong for once, even if some Arrancar would dislike her for even suggesting such a thing. It was odd to think of her friend as the ruler of an entire realm, technically two if she were to count the Shadowlands since Sombra was the only one that could open the door to that place, but despite her feelings towards such a thing Sombra had taken to the role with ease, which she guessed made sense considering that he had been a king before his death. The other thing was that despite their new alliance with Hueco Mundo, something that had never happened before this point in time, there were still Hollows for them to take care of, though for the most part a fair number of them seemed to be sticking to Hueco Mundo, as it appeared that Szayelaporro was trying to create something that would sate their hunger... something that Captain Mayuri deemed to be impossible and yet continued to read the updates despite his position on the matter.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she neared the training area that her Captain, Ukitake, was standing in, though he was accompanied by Captain Shunsui, a number of Shinigami from the Eighth Division, the Sixth Division, and the Thirteenth Division, causing her to pause as she wondered what the commotion was all about... though that was when she found out what was going on, as she spotted two familiar figures in the clearing in front of them and knew what was happening.
"Howl, Zabimaru!" Renji called out, though this time he was up in the air, above the crowd that had gathered to watch the training session that was happening at the moment, and he transformed his Zanpakuto into it's Shikai state, which he proceeded to swing down at his target in the hopes of hitting him.
Renji's opponent, as Rukia expected, was none other than her brother, Byakuya, who raised his own Zanpakuto to block the attack and did so without fail, before flashing up into the air behind Renji and swung down at him, forcing Renji to use the side of his Zanpakuto to block the attack. Rukia smiled as she watched them, as it appeared that seeing Sombra's true power, and how he had dominated those that he fought, had convinced a number of Shinigami to continue their training, something that she had been doing the previous day with her own Zanpakuto, Sode no Shirayuki, but she knew that they could only grow their strength until they reached their limit, something that Sombra seemed to be without considering his vast powers. Her thoughts were interrupted by Renji once more, as this time he called out 'Take that!' and tried to push her brother around, like he was the Captain or something, and eventually Byakuya did pull away from where Renji was standing, only for him to called out the Release Call for his own Zanpakuto.
"Scatter, Senbonzakura." Byakuya said, to which his blade glowed and broke apart into the thousand small blade fragments that resembled cherry blossoms, something that Renji had gotten right during one of their previous fights, and he sent the blade fragments flying at Renji.
The lower ranked Shinigami that were observing the battle seemed to think that Renji was in trouble, since Byakuya was pushing him backwards, but at the same time Rukia seemed to be the only one, save for the two Captains she was standing near, that seemed to understand what Renji had up his sleeve.
"Bankai!" Renji called out, after getting some distance between him and Byakuya once more, to which he was shrouded by a red sphere of reiatsu for a few moments, something that broke apart when the snake head burst out of the sphere and he appeared in his Bankai attire, "Hihio Zabimaru!"
"Bankai." Byakuya calmly said, to which he raised his Zanpakuto and pointed it towards the ground, where he let go of it moments later and let it fall, but instead of hitting the floor it faded away like it was falling through water as the area around them darkened, which was proceeded by a number of larger blades forming two rows behind him, rows that shortly transformed into a storm of blade fragments, "Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."
It was a scene like this that played out every time the two of them trained, as it would start with them in their base forms for some time, then Renji would activate his Shikai and attack again until Byakuya decided to do the same thing, if only to defeat Renji quicker, and it was always Renji who activated his Bankai first, something that Byakuya still didn't need to use in order to defeat Renji, but used anyway to show him the still incredible gap in their power. Rukia knew all of this because she knew those two better than anyone, since one was her brother and the other was her best friend, but that didn't stop her from watching the fight as she wondered when the moment of Renji's first victory would happen, as she had the feeling that he'd beat Byakuya at some point in time, even if it took him a thousand more years before they reached that point. As Byakuya prepared to attack Renji, however, Rukia noticed something that only her brother noticed, as one of the blade fragments actually cut into the glove on her brother's right hand, the shock of such a thing happening stunned him for a moment, but then he regained himself and sent the blades after Renji, forcing him into the air as they continued their training session. What usually happened at this point was that Byakuya would cover his foes in the millions of blade fragments by sending them all straight at his target, but this time around it was Renji who changed the script, as he used his Hikkotsu Taihou, the Baboon Bone Cannon that was fired from the mouth of the snake's head, and broke through the petal cloud that was in front of him, before firing the attack at Byakuya... who swung his hand upward and the fragments quickly reformed in front of him, catching the blast and blowing some parts of the walls around them to pieces without hurting anyone.
Rukia, despite whatever was going through her brother's mind, was impressed that Renji was improving his skills and was getting better at reading what Byakuya was able to do, but what stuck in her mind was the lone fragment that had cut into her brother's glove, as that was something that had never happened before.
"You used your Bankai." Renji commented, while at the same time landing on the ground nearby, as it was always a good sign if he could force his Captain to do such a thing, before he noticed that his Captain was more serious than he usually was, especially since he seemed to be sealing his Zanpakuto once more, "Captain, is something wrong?"
"No." Byakuya replied, though as he said that he knew that Rukia was there and that she was looking at his glove as well, as he had known that one of the few people that could catch up with his movements and see if anything happened to him was his sister, which was why he focused on what just happened.
"My, that was an impressive fight." Shunsui said, to which he and his Lieutenant walked over to where they were standing, clapping because of the short training battle that they had just gone through, and at the same time Ukitake joined them as well.
"Lieutenant Renji, that was most impressive." Ukitake added, voicing his agreement to what his friend had said, not that Rukia was surprised by such a thing, because the two of them were as thick as thieves and usually agreed on whatever was going on, "You've certainly improved your skills since your last training session."
"Thank you very much Captain Ukitake, Captain Shunsui." Renji said, as it wasn't every day that two of the remaining Captains bothered to tell him that he was improving his skills and that he had impressed them in the short amount of time they had been sparring.
"That's all for today." Byakuya stated, though as he said that he turned around and headed for the entrance of the area that they had been sparring in, to which Renji bowed his head and thanked him for taking some time out of his day to train him, before Renji resealed his own Zanpakuto as well.
"Brother..." Rukia said, causing Byakuya to see where she was standing, because once she noticed that the training session was over she had moved herself to the main entrance of the area, where she knew her brother would walk through if he didn't use Shunpo to get out of here, and she was happy to see that she had been right in predicting which method he'd be using to leave the area.
"You saw it, didn't you?" Byakuya inquired, though at the same time he walked out to the area that Rukia had used to enter the training area and headed towards the Sixth Division offices, allowing Rukia to fall in behind him for a moment as they walked down the street.
"Yeah... one of the blades entered your Hurtless Area." Rukia replied, to which she fell in beside her brother, though what she was talking about was the special area of Senbonzakura that Byakuya could stand in without having to be worried about the blade fragments hurting him in the process, hence the reason that it was called his Hurtless Area, and it was something that only they knew about, as she was sure that not even Renji realized it yet.
"It only cut the glove and didn't cut my hand." Byakuya commented, as Rukia was likely the only one that he'd even share this information with, especially since she was the only one that knew about the special area of his Zanpakuto, but that brought another thought to his mind, "Have you been having problems with Sode no Shirayuki?"
"She's been a little unresponsive lately, but I'm not worried about that." Rukia answered, as most Zanpakuto took a great deal of time and training with in order to get their names, their Release Call, and any techniques that they might possess, and her thoughts on the matter might have been because of the fact that her Zanpakuto had been damaged in the fight with Aaroniero, leading to this moment of silence between the two of them.
"Captain Hitsuguya and Lieutenant Matsumoto are supposed to be attempting their own conversations with their Zanpakuto later." Byakuya said, though he didn't say anything more than that, because he knew Rukia was smart and knew that she understood that she wasn't the only Shinigami that was experiencing the same problems, to which she nodded her head and headed off towards the Tenth Division's offices to see if the pair was still there.
Rukia, sensing that something might be wrong, decided to use her Shunpo and headed over to where the Tenth Division's offices were located, though because of where the training had taken place she was actually able to get there rather quickly. When she arrived she found Captain Hitsuguya standing in front of the shrine that was outside the offices, holding his Zanpakuto in front of his face with the tip pointed toward the sky, and she paused for a moment as she felt the chill that came with he used his Zanpakuto as bits of ice danced in the air. Soon enough the ice was dancing around the air and seemed to shift according to Hitsuguya's reiatsu, though as the wind kicked up he snapped his eyes open and called out his Zanpakuto's name, 'Hyorinmaru', at the same time, to which he held his blade to the side and it disappeared as the area around his feet seemed to freeze. Whatever happened next Rukia had no idea, because that was when the Captain's eyes were focused on his inner world, where the true form of his Zanpakuto rested, and knew that he was communing with Hyorinmaru, something that she knew not to interrupt least she weaken the bond between them... though a few seconds later he was suddenly snapped back to reality as his blade reformed in his hand, causing Rukia to rush over to him as he looked around in confusion.
"Captain Hitsuguya, are you alright?" Rukia asked, because now she was starting to fear a trend, because the sudden ejection of the Captain from his own inner world meant that Hyorinmaru didn't want to speak with him, confirming that the Zanpakuto, all of them from the looks of it, were becoming unresponsive all of a sudden.
"Yes... I'm fine." Hitsuguya replied, though he wasn't surprised to find Rukia standing nearby, because thanks to the time that she had spent with Sombra, even if it wasn't all that much, she had learned one or two of his tricks and seemed to know what happened to him, to which he looked down at Hyorinmaru's blade once more, "I'm just... not entirely sure what happened just now, when I tried to commune with my Zanpakuto."
Before Rukia could say anything a cup, one of the cylinder shaped ones that they used to drink tea and other sorts of drinks from, went flying through the nearby window and surprised them for a moment, but then they calmed down when they heard Matsumoto loudly saying 'Come out already', indicating that she was also having problems with her Zanpakuto at the moment.
"Come on out, Haineko!" Matsumoto loudly said, to which she stabbed the tip of her Zanpakuto into the wooden floor and let go of it, where she stared at it's blade from the area near one of the sofas, since this was going to take some of her energy just to get her Zanpakuto to listen to her, "You better not be ignoring me! How dare you call me an old lady?! Quit being such a bitch! Are you even listening to me?! You are such a brat! You're ridiculous, selfish, and fickle! I'd like to see who made such a useless Zanpakuto..."
"Matsumoto!" Hitsuguya stated, as he had opened the door in time to see Matsumoto sitting on the sofa and staring at her Zanpakuto, which wasn't even near her at the moment, and glared at her, though at the same time both he and Rukia entered the room that she was in, "Why are you throwing a tantrum?"
"Don't startle me like that, Captain." Matsumoto said, as if she was behaving like a child instead of the grown adult that she actually was, something that annoyed Hitsuguya to no end, and when she beckoned to Haineko for a moment she noticed that Rukia was present as well, even if she decided to say nothing to her just yet, "I was just trying to have a conversation with my Zanpakuto... not that Haineko wants to listen to me and come out when I tell her to."
Rukia would have said something, but that was when both Momo and Isane entered the room through another door, to which she kept her mouth shut as she listened to what was going on, as it appeared that the due was delivering flyers for the next Lieutenants meeting, something that interested Rukia as well. It was in that moment that Isane asked what Matsumoto was doing, as her Zanpakuto was still embedded in the floorboards, to which Matsumoto simply responded with since they had fought some rather tough foes earlier, the Tres Bestias that followed Harribel being the most recent fight for them, she sought to increase her power for the future, before retorting that Haineko was both 'stupid' and 'useless'. In that moment, as Momo talked about the connection between she and Tobiume, her Zanpakuto, Rukia took a moment to think about Zangetsu, who had abandoned Ichigo because he never got the acknowledgement that he so rightfully deserved, and wondered what Haineko had to be thinking since Matsumoto wasn't treating her like a lot of the other Shinigami treated their Zanpakuto. Even Isane's Zanpakuto, Itegumo, wasn't very responsive and was acting like the other Zanpakuto that were acting the same way, making Rukia wonder if seeing Zangetsu abandon Ichigo had convinced them to do the same thing, before pushing that thought away, since Zangetsu was a special case since there had been two souls inside Ichigo's inner world.
"You know, Momo and Isane are right." Rukia commented, to which the two named Lieutenants turned towards her as Matsumoto pouted for a moment, something that a Lieutenant shouldn't be doing, "Remember what happened in Hueco Mundo, where Zangetsu abandoned Ichigo because he refused to listen to him and treated him like he was nothing, all because he listened to someone he thought was Zangetsu? If you keep treating Haineko the same way she'll eventually try the same thing and leave you behind."
Despite her warning, that Haineko could potentially abandon her of her own accord if she wasn't careful, Matsumoto simply waved her hand and dismissed her warning, stating that Haineko did this all the time and that she was used to it, meaning that she believed that she would get her Zanpakuto to listen to her again at some point in time. Rukia, knowing what Captain Hitsuguya would do, simply sighed and bid the others goodbye, leaving them to their conversation as she headed back to her Division's area, so she could figure out what was going on and if she could determine why Sode no Shirayuki didn't want to commune with her either. It was odd to see so many Zanpakuto not wanting to listen or even talk with their wielders, meaning that something strange was happening at the moment, and she couldn't help but wonder if something like this was happening with Ichigo and Sombra, before she decided that it wouldn't happen to Sombra, as she had the feeling that it might be impossible for such a thing to happen given his current situation as the Dios Hueco. The thought of Shokyo not listening to Sombra would be weird, considering that she was the only Zanpakuto that actually gave her wielder the Bankai information willingly, but that didn't do anything to make her stop worrying about what was going on in Soul Society at the moment.
The rest of the day seemed to go by the same way for Rukia, as there were several Shinigami that she knew, like her Captain and some of the other Lieutenants, mentioning the same thing about their Zanpakuto not being as responsive as they usually were, but for the most part she was able to ignore it and go about her day. When nighttime came around both she and Ukitake got a message from a Hell Butterfly, that an emergency meeting would be held on Sokyoku Hill, the place where she had nearly met her end, and they moved out immediately, because they had the feeling that this was about the current happenings with the Zanpakuto, or maybe something even worse. It didn't take them long to arrive at the area where Rukia had nearly died, not with them using their Shunpo to get up there, and they weren't surprised to see almost all of the remaining Captains and their Lieutenants standing around, though there were some seated members that had joined them, though Ikkaku and Yumichika had joined them to represent Zaraki and Yachiru, who were currently absent and would be back at some point in the future. The only Division without any representatives present at the moment was the First Division, the one that Captain-Commander Yamamoto was in charge of and it was a surprise that his Lieutenant, Chojiro Sasakibe, wasn't there either, meaning that they might be running late despite the fact it was them that called this meeting in the first place.
Not even a few moments after she and her Captain arrived at the meeting area, and started to see just how many of them were actually gathered for this event, Hitsuguya and Matsumoto landed near the group and approached them, but even Rukia could tell that one of them was curious about what was going on.
"Ukitake, what's going on?" Hitsuguya asked, though even then he could tell that most of them seemed to be confused by the message they had received, and Rukia, thanks to her time following Sombra around, knew that something like this meant bad news for everyone, "Why was this meeting called?"
"I have no idea. No one's heard anything about this meeting." Ukitake replied, to which he glanced back at the rest of the assembled Shinigami for a moment, because this was the sort of thing they didn't need at the moment, especially so soon after the end of their war with Aizen.
Rukia remained silent as the rest of the Captains, Lieutenants, and seated members talked for a moment, discussing whatever they wanted while they waited for the Captain-Commander to show up, but what interested her was the odd fog that was rolling into the area that they were all standing in. The fog prevented them from really seeing each other and forced them to stand their ground for a few seconds, though during those few seconds she heard the sound of someone walking over the bridge that connected the execution grounds to the tower she had been imprisoned in. The talking ceased as the fog moved around the area, telling her that everyone was focused on it and what it could mean, though after some time the dense fog moved out of the way and a figure appeared in the distance, one that they soon discovered was actually Lieutenant Chojiro, who was shocked about something and the moment he saw them he collapsed on the ground, causing Captain Unohana and Lieutenant Isane to rush to his aid, finding that he had gone into cardiac arrest while the remaining Shinigami looked for whoever could have put him in such a state.
As they focused on him Rukia, was well as Ukitake and Hitsuguya, noticed a tall thin man with pale colored skin and shaggy, dark brown colored hair, with two bangs that crossed over the bridge of his nose, standing nearby, though he also had turquoise colored eyes that were circled by spiked purple ovals. The stranger was wearing a long, white, robe-like coat, where the collar of the robe was covered with some thick fur and featured a purple ascot that was fastened by a ruby brooch, while in addition to all that he also wore a wide sash at his waist that was decorated by a purple stripe, he had boots that had pointed tips, and, oddly enough, he also had purple manacles on his wrists. The oddest thing about the mysterious stranger was that he had long fingernails, longer than anyone Rukia had seen in Soul Society, the World of the Living, and Hueco Mundo, so she had to wonder why this man's nails were so long, but at the same time she gripped the handle of her Zanpakuto like many of the others were doing.
"Your Captain-Commander won't be joining you." the stranger commented, though at the same time the moon shed some light on him and revealed his features to the rest of the Shinigami, but instead of being annoyed he seemed to like it, like he was showing that anything and everything that happened from that point forward was all part of whatever plan he had constructed and was now putting into effect.
It was in that following moment, just as Hitsuguya was going to ask who the stranger was, that Matsumoto and two of her fellow Lieutenants flashed into the area in front of the main group, though at the same time they were outdone as Komamura touched down in front of the stranger, close enough so he could glare down at the man with an intense look of anger in his eyes.
"You said that the Captain-Commander isn't coming, didn't you?" Komamura asked, though even as he asked that question he growled, because Yamamoto was the one that he owed a debt of gratitude towards, for everything that he had done since Komamura became a Shinigami, and he wasn't about to let it go unpaid by some stranger that suddenly appeared out of nowhere, "You scum! What have you done to Yamamoto-dono?"
Instead of answering the question the stranger just stood there with a smug look on his face, almost like he found something funny about the entire situation and believed that he had the upper hand, to which Komamura's reiatsu spiked for a moment as the rest of the Shinigami held their ground, as they knew that it was unwise to interfere when he was annoyed like this.
"You have no answer? Fine, then I shall force the answer out of you!" Komamura snapped, to which he gripped the handle of his Zanpakuto and drew it, swinging it through the air and forced the stranger back towards the edge of the area they were standing on, though as the stranger loosed a gust of wind at him and the others he focused on what he was going to do next, "Bankai. Kokujo Tengen Myo'o."
Rukia watched as the massive armored Bankai that belonged to Komamura formed behind him, ready for war with the stranger that was standing in front of him, and Komamura even told the stranger that he would be forced to reveal where the Captain-Commander was being held, which only caused his foe to tell him that his Bankai wouldn't work on him, which caused Rukia to wonder what he could have meant. Of course they found out moments later as Komamura swung his blade towards the stranger, believing that his Bankai would do the same, but this time they watched in shock as the giant turned his blade downwards and tried to strike Komamura, who managed to get out of the way before he was even able to be hit.
"Now isn't this fascinating?" Mayuri asked, as he was happy to see that something new was happening, especially after the last stunning failure to get any sort of research material from Hueco Mundo, before he focused on what he and the others had just seen, "His Zanpakuto attacked it's master... how fascinating."
It was in that following moment that the giant was consumed by a gust of wind and reiatsu that prevented them from seeing what was going on, but when all of that was done Rukia's eyes widened when she noticed a large muscular man with red colored skin that was standing near the stranger, one who hadn't been there moments ago. The newcomer had short spiky hair that was blue colored and had an ornate golden headpiece on his forehead, though his eyes and mouth seemed to contain the same bright yellow fire that crackled every now and then, while he wore a black shawl over his neck and shoulders. He was carrying a whip of some kind in his left hand and in his right hand he carried a blade that looked like the sealed form of Komamura's Zanpakuto, though thanks to what Rukia knew, about Zangetsu, she knew exactly what was happening; Tenken, who was Komamura's Zanpakuto, was abandoning his partner, though she only had the feeling that this was going to be the start of a nightmare. She was proven right not seconds later, as Tenken, who frowned when Komamura figured out his name as well, lashed out at his former partner with his blade and used the whip to open a hole in the Captain's defenses, one that was used to cut a gash into Komamura's chest and send him into the ground, shocking those that were present by this turn of events.
What happened next was that Captain Hitsuguya and Captain Soi Fon drew their blades and got ready for battle, using their Release Calls in the process, but as both of them did that, however, Rukia noticed that neither of their Zanpakuto were listening and Tenken knocked Hitsuguya backwards, causing him to look down at his Zanpakuto in surprise.
"Im... Impossible! I can't go into Shikai form." Soi Fon said, though as her eyes widened for a moment, as she couldn't believe that this was even happening, Hitsuguya nodded his head as well, indicating that his Zanpakuto had done the same thing and wouldn't transform like it was supposed to.
Renji, Matsumoto, and even Ikkaku called out their Release Calls as well, trying to unleash the true power of their Zanpakuto, though while both Renji and Matsumoto failed instantly Ikkaku seemed to generate some reiatsu, before his stalled and remained in it's sealed form.
"I... I can't believe it. I can't feel any reiatsu coming from my Zanpakuto!" Renji stated, causing the other Shinigami to look at their Zanpakuto and found that they were in the same predicament, that none of them could feel anything coming from their respective Zanpakuto, almost as if all of them had been abandoned by their partners.
"Indeed, there isn't any reiatsu inside Ashisogi Jizo either." Mayuri commented, though unlike the other Shinigami he was immensely interested in what was going on, because while Zangetsu was the first case of a Zanpakuto abandoning it's master, or 'partner' as many called their blades, he couldn't get his hands on the former spirit, since he was an Arrancar and was under Sombra's rule, but this changed everything, "How fascinating. I'll get to run some experiments anyway. I truly wonder what in the world is going on!"
"Oh, it's quite simple." the stranger said, though at the same time Rukia watched as Tenken walked over to where the stranger was standing and stood beside him, almost like he was the leader, confirming Rukia's earlier thoughts, "Your Zanpakuto are no longer with you. I freed them from you foolish Shinigami."
Rukia noticed something odd, as when the stranger was talking he raised his right hand and put it over his face for a moment, though when he opened his eyes again his right one had blood dripping from it and he leveled his arm to his right, where several explosions rocked the area of the Seireitei that was behind him.
"Don't worry, that wasn't me. That was your Zanpakuto acting on their own." the stranger continued, though as he said that he pulled his right hand away from where it was resting and wiped the blood away from his eye, before bringing it back to his side for the moment, meaning that he might use it again in the near future, "They have been freed from your imprisonment, and now they are taking their anger out on all of you, for imprisoning them against their wills. This is merely a greeting. This is so you will understand just how powerful my comrades are. Behold, the true forms of the Zanpakuto that you thought you owned."
The moment he said that more figures, what Rukia assumed were the attacking Zanpakuto spirits, flashed into the air above them, though the first one was a pair that contained a tall curvaceous woman with green fur covering most of her body, with the exception of her chest and abdomen, who had a boy floating close to her, who had a white robe that revealed his abdomen and his snake tail, though they were chained together by a long chain that connected to a collar around the boy's neck and rested around the waist of the woman. The next one was a tall muscular man that had brown colored skin and long orange hair that reached all the way down to his legs, though what interested Rukia was the black dragon shaped tattoo that stretched across the spirit's chest, a dead give away as to who his partner used to be. The third spirit was an obese man with a flat nose and no shirt on, though he had short red hair that was spiked in five different locations, but that meant he was Omaeda's Zanpakuto spirit, since he was the only obese Shinigami in all of Soul Society, which made Rukia feel a little sorry for the spirit. After that spirit came a dark skinned man, who was really close to the shadows that Sombra controlled, that was thin and well-toned in terms of his body, though he wore dark gray strips of cloth around his neck and shoulders, his wrists, and his lower body, while also wearing gray boots with curled toes.
Near that group of spirits rested another group of five, in the air meaning that they had been attacking the Seireitei as well, though the first one in the lineup appeared to be a little girl that had a nice looking kimino on, though her weapons seemed to be some large bells that could be swung in whatever direction she desired. After that came a pilgrim like spirit, in terms of Japan's ancient past thanks to the wooden object he was wearing on his back, though there were several lightning bolt like marks on the man's attire that revealed what element he was associated with, even though his eyes seemed to be entirely black colored. Following him was a spirit that also wore no shirt, making Rukia wonder how many of them didn't have shirts on, though the interesting part about him was the orange mohawk running down the back of his head and the interesting feathers that were attached to his wrists, almost like they were attached to his arms like a pair of wings or something. Rukia felt sorry for the next one, again she had no idea why, though it was a gaunt man that was carrying a large metal ball above his left shoulder and had a large slab of stone pressed against his back, all thanks to the chains that were wrapped around his chest. The next one caused Rukia to falter, because it was a young woman with pale colored skin and pale lavender colored hair, though at the same time she noticed that the lady was wearing a white kimino and she could have sworn that some ice danced in the air in front of her... making her wonder if Sode no Shirayuki had really abandoned her as well.
What shocked Rukia was that there was also a small female looking spirit that could easily resemble a bee or a hornet of some kind, and her right arm looked like a stinger, which immediately told her that Soi Fon's Zanpakuto spirit was also rebelling against them.
As Hitsuguya questioned if this was actually happening, however, a tall man with an icy blue, X-shaped mark extending across his face, with gray colored eyes and long teal-green colored hair, which reached his lower back, appeared near him, allowing them to see that he wore a dark blue chestplate underneath a pale blue kimono. A tall light skinned man formed near Byakuya, one that seemed to be dressed up like a samurai of some kind based on the armor he was wearing and the mask that covered his face, but it wasn't hard to tell who it was as the Zanpakuto spirit glanced at Byakuya before heading over to the stranger. Near Mayuri stood a small yellow skinned creature with butterfly-like wings and a halo above it's head, though it stared at the area in front of it and walked away from Mayuri, who didn't seem all that upset, rather he was interested in what was going to happen next as he waited for the last of the Zanpakuto to appear. The last one to appear was another curvaceous woman that had turquoise colored eyes, olive colored skin, and chin-length maroon hair, which happened to be styled into two cat-like ears at the top and framed her face with several long bangs, though she also had pink fur covering her forearms, her pelvis, her feet, her left leg, and most of her upper torso. There has also a tuft of white fur covering her neck and extending down to the middle of her chest, along with a ring of white fur around her right thigh, though she also had a long pink colored tail and claw-like nails... and, based on the annoyed look she gave Matsumoto, which turned playful as she flashed over to the stranger's side, Rukia could tell where Haineko stood as well.
"Who in the world are you?" Byakuya asked, though at the same time he walked to the head of the pack and stared at their new foe, because despite the situation they were in Soul Society had a powerful ally that would hear about this soon enough, one that might be able to stop it before it got out of hand.
"My name is Muramasa." the stranger replied, showing that he didn't care if they knew his name or not, though at the same time his tone caused Byakuya to glance at Rukia and Renji, who barely nodded their heads in agreement, before he glared at all of them, "Tonight brings an end to the rule of the Shinigami. From this point forward the Zanpakuto will be ruling over the Shinigami!"
The moment he said that Muramasa formed a blade in front of his hand and stabbed it into the ground in front of his feet, which released a burst of reiatsu that caused the earth to rise up in sections, putting the rebellious Zanpakuto spirits above their partners, though at the same time Rukia knew that they were in trouble... and she hoped that she or Renji could escape so they could send a message to Sombra and Ichigo about what was going on, as she had the feeling that they would be able to help them end this madness before it got out of hand.
Sombra and Yoruichi walked down the street that was near the river of Karakura Town, as they had both decided to take a break from staying inside the castle of Las Noches and ruling over Hueco Mundo, where the two of them returned to the World of the Living and left Ulquiorra in charge of the castle once more. Sombra was actually pleased to have a new place to rule over, allowing him to use his prior knowledge as the King of the Crystal Empire to better himself as the King of Hueco Mundo, and while it was taking time for all of the Arrancars to warm up to Yoruichi's presence she was happy to have the few friends that she had already gained. All in all Sombra really couldn't complain about his new life, as before he came here he had been a hateful spirit that was trying to reclaim the Crystal Empire and had absolutely no desire to even attempt to be a hero, and now, on the other hand, he had been restored to his former glory, without the madness that had plagued his mind, he was the king of an entire realm, and he had at least one beautiful lady that he loved. The only thing that made him pause in his thoughts were Harribel and Nel, the only two Arrancar ladies that had shown some interest in him, though while he knew that Nel might be that way because of the short time they spent near each other, when they were invading Las Noches, he also knew that Harribel might be that way because of his position as the King of Hueco Mundo, and the fact that he was the Dios Hueco.
He still had no idea if he wanted to follow in the footsteps of the previous Dios Hueco, who apparently had a harem of lovers at one point before their demise, but at the same time he was still only two weeks into his reign and there was no need to rush things, which was why he shelved that thought and continued walking. The only other thing about his life that had changed, since he became king, was that he finally replaced his previous gray colored Shinigami clothing with the white Arrancar clothing, one that had an open jacket over his new white robes, though he had two sashes that formed an x on his waist, one that was black and one that was brilliant blue, indicating which of his blades rested on which sash.
"You know, it seems like Ichigo's getting rather lazy since we've been gone." Yoruichi commented, though at the same time she came to a stop for a seconds, as her senses revealed that there were at least five Hollows hanging around the town at the moment.
"True, but in the past he always had me helping him and now he's having to adapt to switching between a student and a Shinigami, depending on what he needs at a given time." Sombra said, though as he said that his own senses found the Hollows that Yoruichi was talking about, as he had been ignoring them in favor of spending time with her, and he could tell that they knew he was there, causing them to back off and return to Hueco Mundo, "Though one perk about being the Dios Hueco is that my mere presence in this world is driving the Hollows in Karakura Town back to Hueco Mundo, so Ichigo won't have to..."
Yoruichi turned her gaze towards Sombra for a moment and found that he was focused on something, as he seemed to be sensing something that she hadn't picked up on yet, but at the same time that made her chuckle, because his level of power allowed him to sense when and where Shinigami, Hollows, and Arrancar were arriving, a power that he used to great effect before the invasion of Hueco Mundo.
"A Senkaimon is going to open soon, roughly in the immediate area around us." Sombra stated, because with his ascension to his new state he could even determine which form of travel was being used, meaning that if he sensed a Garganta opening, despite the permanent one in the abandoned temple, he knew that some Arrancar were coming and the fact it was a Senkaimon meant that more Shinigami were coming to the World of the Living, "I count two reiatsu signatures moving towards the World of the Living; the first one belongs to Rukia, as I'd never mistake her reiatsu, but the second one feels that is should be familiar, even though I've never felt it before."
Yoruichi was sure that this was the first time that Sombra had actually bothered to feel the reiatsu of whoever was coming through a Senkaimon or a Garganta, but that didn't stop her from being amazed by the fact that he was able to tell her exactly who was coming their way, even if there was one signature that he didn't recognize. Before she even had the chance to say something the air shuddered for a moment as she felt the second signature that Sombra had felt, one that she didn't recognize either, though at the same time Ichigo, in his Shinigami attire, flashed into the area that they were standing in and seemed surprised to see them. That confirmed that he had not been practicing his skills like he had been told to do, as Sombra had told Ichigo that he needed to practice his skill in sensing where enemies were located and the whereabouts of his allies, but now wasn't the time for them to be worrying about that, since she knew that both she and Sombra were more interested in the other reiatsu signature that was following Rukia.
"Sombra? Yoruichi? What are you guys doing here?" Ichigo asked, allowing his attention to be taken away from the strange reiatsu that he had been feeling for the last few minutes, though at the same time he was surprised, as he was sure that Urahara would have told him they were coming, since he held the communication sphere that belonged to the World of the Living.
"Just taking a break and enjoying the World of the Living for a few minutes." Sombra replied, as it was not their intention to get caught up in whatever happened next, but since they were already here, and the event was coming towards their position, he knew that he'd assist Ichigo in solving whatever Rukia was coming to warn them about, before he turned his head towards the sky, "Though it seems that the Senkaimon is getting ready to open."
Ichigo glanced up at the area that Sombra was looking at and found that he was right, a Senkaimon was opening right before their eyes, though not a few moments later his eyes widened as a wounded Rukia tumbled out of the passage between this world and Soul Society before falling to the ground, where he burst into the air, caught her, and then flashed down to where Sombra and Yoruichi were standing.
"Rukia! Just hang in there and we'll take care of your wounds," Ichigo said, showing his concern for Rukia's well-being, especially since it looked like she had been in one hell of a fight, one that could rival her battle in Las Noches, before he faced her again, "What happened?"
"Ichigo? Is that you?" Rukia asked, though as she said that she opened her eyes a little, showing that her strength had been depleted from whatever battle she had been in, though she smiled when she saw that Ichigo had caught her, and that smile widened even more when she noticed Sombra and Yoruichi standing nearby, "Good, Sombra's here as well... I won't... have to explain... things twice..."
"Something must have happened in Soul Society for her to come here and seek you out, Sombra." Yoruichi said, not that she wasn't surprised, because at this point Sombra was Soul Society's greatest ally, all because of the sheer power he possessed and the fact that he could destroy most of them in a fight with only his Bankai or his Resurreccion, and she even noticed that Sombra nodded his head as well.
Before anyone could say anything a second Senkaimon started to open and they flashed up to the top of the street that they had been standing near, allowing the second gateway to open on the river side, but this time a young woman stepped out and touched the ground, which seemed to freeze the immediate area around her. Sombra could tell, from the way the lady looked that she wasn't a Hollow or an Arrancar, because she was missing both the Hollow hole and a mask fragment that would have reflected what she used to be, but at the same time, as he felt her reiatsu a little more, he noticed that she was wearing a white kimino and ice seemed to dance in the air around her for a few seconds. Yoruichi carefully took Rukia as Ichigo stood near Sombra, no doubt making some of the same conclusions that he had made mere seconds ago, but that didn't change the fact that this foe was going to provide an interesting fight, especially if she was who Sombra was thinking she was.
"Are you the Shinigami that's on duty here?" the lady asked, though her icy blue colored eyes were focused on Ichigo and not on Sombra, which made sense considering that she had been chasing one Shinigami and would have moved onto the second one that was in her sights.
"Who are you, lady?!" Ichigo asked in return, as he wasn't about to answer the question until he knew exactly who he was dealing with, though at the same time he also noticed that Sombra hadn't even reached for one of his Zanpakuto, as if he wasn't going to assist him in this fight.
Instead of responding to his question the lady shifted her gaze and swung her right arm at the area that they were standing on, releasing a torrent of snow at them, which would become ice when it struck it's target, to which Sombra and Yoruichi, including Rukia, flashed out of the way. At the same time, however, Ichigo jumped into the air, pulled Zangetsu from the cloth on his back, and fired a low powered Getsuga Tensho at the attack, shattering the ice into pieces before racing towards the lady, who moved out of the way as the wave crashed into the area she had been standing in a few moments ago. Sombra, his keen eyes able to track movement and his senses allowing him to tell where someone went, found the mysterious lady standing on the top of one of the nearby bridge's support pillars, putting her in the path of the full moon as well, and a few seconds later Ichigo, once more revealing his poor tracking abilities, followed Sombra's gaze and found his target.
"Hand her over to me." the lady said, her voice reaching them despite the fact that she hadn't shouted at them, but even as that happened Sombra noticed something interesting, the lady was holding the Shikai form of Rukia's Zanpakuto in her right hand, giving him another piece to the puzzle.
"I'm not handing Rukia over to you!" Ichigo stated, as he hated people that hurt his friends and, when he came to their aid and helped them out, demanded that he turn his friends over to those that had been tormenting them earlier, "I don't know who you are, but I'm not letting you take Rukia!"
"I see." the lady replied, to which she flashed through the air and appeared to Ichigo's right, a movement that Sombra caught while surprise appeared on Ichigo's face, but at the same time something seemed to have clicked in the lady's mind as she glanced at Ichigo, "You're the Substitute Shinigami, aren't you?"
"How'd you know that?" Ichigo asked, though at the same time he jumped away from the lady and put some distance between them, showing Sombra that, despite his lack of tracking practice, Ichigo still displayed common sense and moved away from an enemy they knew nothing about.
Just like before the lady didn't say anything to Ichigo, rather she moved her right arm and started making the same movements that Rukia did when she used 'Some no mai, Tsukishiro', the first technique that Rukia had showed off when Grimmjow and his Fraccion invaded the World of the Living.
"Some no mai," the lady said, to which Sombra felt her reiatsu gather for a moment, indicating that she was definitely getting ready for an attack and that she wasn't playing around, while at the same time Ichigo seemed stunned by what the lady was doing, as he was standing there like he had been frozen to the ground, "Tsukishiro."
Ichigo stood there for a moment, just as the ice circle formed in the ground beneath his feet and the pillar started to ascend towards the sky above them, but he once more displayed his common sense by flashing into the air and getting out of the pillar as it turned into a solid piece of ice, which would have kept him trapped there for a few moments, before the pillar shattered and collapsed on itself.
"Tsugi no mai," the lady continued, to which four points were pierced into the ground in front of her and started to pour ice particles into the air in front of her, though as she prepared herself for her second attack she pointed the tip of her blade right at ichigo's position, "Hakuren."
Ichigo, despite the situation that he was in, remained calm and loosed another Getsuga Tensho at the attack that was coming at him, destroying it instantly, though he followed that up and flashing above the lady and swung down at him, only for his blade to get stuck in the ground as the lady's form shattered... but Sombra, keeping track of the two fighters, immediately noticed where the lady appeared and knew that Ichigo would find her as well, and he did so not even a few moments later, without his help this time.
"Who the hell are you?" Ichigo asked, though at the same time he held his Zanpakuto out and made sure that it was pointed in the direction of the lady that had attacked Rukia and was so bent on getting to her, despite the fact that Sombra was standing nearby, before he considered something else, "Both Tsukishiro and Hakuren are Rukia's attacks."
"Actually, they are powers that Rukia is able to use with her blade, because they came from her Zanpakuto," Sombra corrected, as Zangetsu was the one that the Getsuga Tensho originated from and both he and the Old Man that had taken his place had granted Ichigo the use of that technique, and the same was true for the rest of the Shinigami and their Zanpakuto, before he turned his head towards the lady, "which means that you're Sode no Shirayuki."
"I'm impressed, you do catch on quickly." the lady, Sode no Shirayuki, replied, though at the same time she offered Sombra the same smile that she had been wearing the entire time she had been here, one that seemed both happy and sad about what was going on.
Ichigo moved to strike Sode no Shirayuki down while she was distracted, but Sombra flashed in front of him and held his right arm out, stopping him from doing anything, while at the same time giving Sode no Shirayuki the chance to open another Senkaimon so she could head back to Soul Society... and not a few seconds later she was gone, with only the few pieces of ice left behind to even suggest that she was there to begin with.
"Sombra, why'd you stop me from preventing her from leaving?" Ichigo asked, because this was the first time the Arrancar had actually stopped him from putting down a foe that they were fighting, one that was on her way back to Soul Society so she could do whatever she had been doing before she chased after Rukia.
"Because Sode no Shirayuki took on a manifested form and attacked Rukia, acting like she wanted to kill Rukia for some strange reason." Sombra replied, as there were some pieces of information missing from this puzzle, meaning that it was too soon for them to strike down one foe before they knew what they were facing, which was why he turned towards where Yoruichi was standing and moved away from the river, "Ichigo, I'm not sure if you understand what just happened, but a Zanpakuto spirit just tried to kill it's partner, the Shinigami that they are bound to, and if one of them is acting like this, and chased Rukia to this realm, then I'm sure that something is happening in Soul Society. It's better that we let Sode no Shirayuki head back to whoever her master is and get the whole story from Rukia, once we have Orihime tend to her wounds... and besides, I need to contact Las Noches and call in some backup."
"You need to call in backup?!" Ichigo inquired, as that was also a first, since he knew that Sombra could deal with any foe that came to declare war on the World of the Living, Soul Society, and Hueco Mundo, before he decided to sate his curiosity and find out who his friend had in mind, "Who are you going to call?"
"Grimmjow might be willing to help, since I know he's looking for a good challenge," Sombra said, because after fighting by Ichigo's side the Arrancar that had set him down the path of the Dios Hueco had mentioned that Ichigo wasn't bad to fight beside, even if he was a little dense at times, "and I might be able to get Nel to come as well. Oh, and I should ask Zangetsu to join us as well. He'll enjoy some time away from Hueco Mundo."
"But... Zangetsu's right here." Ichigo commented, gesturing to this large blade for a moment, as he never understood why Sombra called his former inner Hollow by the name of his Zanpakuto, nor did he understand why Sombra and all of his friends brought their palms to their faces when he said that, "What?"
Sombra sighed and shook his head as both he and Yoruichi headed into Karakura Town, so they could get Rukia to Urahara's shop for some rest, and then he'd make the call to Hueco Mundo, but at the same time he was hoping that whatever was happening in Soul Society, with the Zanpakuto, made Ichigo finally understand who the real Zangetsu was and how poorly he treated him... though even as he flashed through the air he had the strangest feeling that Ichigo might never learn the truth, something that he guessed only time would tell.
It didn't take Sombra and Yoruichi long to get back to Urahara's shop, who was a little surprised to see that Rukia was with them and that she was wounded, but he welcomed them in immediately and sent word for Orihime to join them, since her power would be able to mend Rukia's wounds. At the same time Ichigo called in both Uryu and Chad as well, since they deserved to know what was going on at the moment, because Rukia was their friend as much as she was his friend, and just in case the World of the Living was attacked they needed to be ready for anything. Of course Sora, who lived in this world and watched over Orihime, while helping her train to the best of his ability, came along as well, though the only reason that Sombra hadn't commanded him to live in Hueco Mundo was because he wanted the younger Arrancar to live his life the way he wanted, and he knew that once Orihime crossed over to Soul Society, and left the World of the Living behind, he'd come join him and the others. Orihime and Sora were the first to arrive at Urahara's shop, allowing Orihime to get to work on healing Rukia's wounds and making sure that she was ready for the return trip to Soul Society, as they all knew that she wasn't about to stay here while the other Shinigami were in need of assistance.
When Uryu and Chad arrived the group gathered in the room that Urahara generally had guests stay in while they told him about their woes and problems, though once Ichigo returned to his Human state he told both his friends and Urahara about what he, Sombra, and Yoruichi discovered earlier.
"You're sure that this mysterious lady's name is Sode no Shirayuki?" Uryu asked, as he had been thinking about Rukia's Zanpakuto the entire time, because based on what happened in Hueco Mundo, where Zangetsu split himself from Ichigo, he had come to the conclusion that either Zangetsu's actions had more effects than what they were aware of or someone else was behind this latest event.
"Sombra was sure that her name was the same as Rukia's Zanpakuto, and the lady even confirmed it in her own manner by saying that he caught on quick." Ichigo replied, though he still couldn't believe what he had seen, that the spirit of his friend's Zanpakuto had abandoned her and attacked her in such a way, even to chase her to the World of the Living and stop when she found him and Sombra standing there, "But still, for the spirit of her own Zanpakuto to materialize and attempt to kill her, that's... that's... it's just insane to think about."
"Well, regardless of how insane this all sounds, I've taken the liberty of contacting Soul Society." Urahara said, to which he gestured to the sphere that was sitting nearby, the same one that Sombra had used the moment they came to his shop and contacted Hueco Mundo, "We should be able to reach Captain Ukitake, or whoever is near the sphere, and get an idea on how the Seireitei fared after the attack, because if one Zanpakuto is doing this than I have the feeling that more might have done the same thing and attacked their former partners at the same time as Sode no Shirayuki."
"Urahara-san," Tessei spoke up, though at the same time he opened one of the screens and showed himself to the group that had assembled in the area that they were in, but the look on his face told them that something had happened while they were talking, "Rukia has regained consciousness... and the Arrancar have arrived as well."
Sombra got up from where he was standing and walked into the hallway that would allow him to reach the front of the shop, as he knew that two of the Arrancar he had called for would be willing to come and assist them, both for their own reasons, though he was curious to see if anyone else had come with them. When he reached the front of the shop he found both Zangetsu and Grimmjow standing nearby, clearly waiting for an invitation to enter the building, and Nel was there as well, though he raised an eyebrow when he found Harribel standing against the side of the nearby fence, staring at the Arrancar that she had come with. It didn't take a genius to know why Harribel was here, because he had asked for three of his followers to come, while only expecting two to show up, but it seemed that Nel coming here had caused Harribel to come as well, meaning that she was still focused on trying to determine whether he was going to follow what the previous Dios Hueco did or not... even though he had the feeling that he knew exactly which side of the decision she wanted him to be on.
"Lord Sombra, we came as quickly as we could." Grimmjow said, though once he said that the others moved over to him and they stood at attention, something that they might not be used to but were willing to adapt to since he was the King of Hueco Mundo.
"At ease. There's something you should be aware of before we head inside," Sombra replied, noticing that all four of them seemed interested in what was going on and relaxed a little, since they weren't in enemy territory and could relax until he gave them their mission, "An hour or two ago, while Yoruichi and I were trying to relax by walking near the river, a Senkaimon opened and Rukia, wounded from a prior battle, emerged from it, where Ichigo, who came because of some strange reiatsu, caught her and asked her what was going on. After that a second Senkaimon opened and a woman, who I have identified as Sode no Shirayuki, emerged from it and promptly attacked Ichigo, all to get at Rukia and end whatever battle she had been in earlier, before retreating to Soul Society after I announced who she was."
"Sode no Shirayuki... as in the spirit of her Zanpakuto?" Zangetsu asked, though at the same time he understood why he had been called here, because if the enemy were the spirits of the Shinigamis' Zanpakuto than it made sense to call in someone who was like them, especially since he ditched Ichigo the moment he was able to.
"That's correct." Sombra said, though he was glad that they all understood what he meant, because once Zangetsu said his statement the other three Arrancar understood the situation as well, "We know for sure that one Zanpakuto spirit has abandoned their partner, since Rukia was attacked, but we were getting ready to see just how many of them have done the same thing and what the situation of Soul Society is. What we're going to do is get the whole story from Rukia, see what sort of damage the Seireitei has suffered, and then render assistance to the Shinigami as necessary, especially since they might not be able to defeat their former partners without some form of aid, all while figuring out why this happened now, so soon after Aizen's defeat. Are you ready to see what happened?"
"Of course, my Lord." the four Arrancar said, speaking almost at the same time, while also bowing their heads a little, though this showed Sombra that they had managed to put their differences aside and work as a unit, which was good for what they were about to do.
"Though I do have a question." Zangetsu added, causing the other three to look at him for a moment, as they were curious as to what he had to ask, especially since they were here to stop the Zanpakuto and save Soul Society, "If the Old Man abandons Ichigo, like Sode no Shirayuki did to Rukia, is it okay if I'm the one that engages him and put him in his well deserved place?"
Sombra knew that Zangetsu hated the Old Man that had caused Ichigo to turn away from him, to accept the wrong being as his Zanpakuto spirit and eventually made Zangetsu hate both him and his supposed partner at the same time, yet at the same time he also knew that this might actually be the only chance for him to get his revenge and maybe even force Ichigo to see the truth. In the end Sombra nodded his head, indicating that if such a thing happened he could be the one to engage the Old Man, which put a smile on Zangetsu's face as he thanked him for the chance to fight the being that he hated far more than Ichigo. Once that was taken care of, and the other Arrancar were ready to go, Sombra lead them into the shop and walked over to the room that Rukia was laying in, surprising the group by the fact that four Arrancar had come to assist them, but Rukia smiled, as she knew that they needed all the help they could get. As Grimmjow, Harribel, and Nel stood around the room, to prepare themselves for the tale that Rukia was going to tell them, Zangetsu glared at Ichigo, who met his eyes for a moment, before sighing and stood beside the area that Sombra was sitting in, his actions indicating that he still hated Ichigo and that there might not be anything Ichigo could do to weaken that anger.
Once they were all ready Rukia recounted what happened, about the strangeness of what she observed during her brother's training session with Renji, the sudden stop of Captain Hitsuguya's session with Hyorinmaru, Matsumoto's mistreatment of Haineko, and what the Lieutenants had said to each other before she headed back to her own Division's offices for the evening. When she got to the emergency meeting, however, she knew that all of them were interested in what happened next, especially since it appeared that only those with named Zanpakuto had been summoned to the hill that she had nearly been executed on. She then described the arrival of the Lieutenant for the First Division, who had collapsed due to heart problems, before revealing the being behind everything that happened after that point, a man who called himself Muramasa and claimed that the age of the Shinigami was over, though as she mentioned all the claims that he made Sombra seemed to focus on one aspect, that he spoke like he was a Zanpakuto as well, freeing his fellow spirits to incite a war with the Shinigami... and even then she could tell that Sombra found something about that entire thought to be odd and out of place, but he kept his mouth shut as she continued talking, where she revealed all the descriptions of the spirits that she had seen.
It was then that she revealed that Muramasa claimed that three Zanpakuto, Katen Kyokotsu, Sogyo no Kotowari, and Mizazuki had used their reiatsu to seal Captain-Commander Yamamoto away, because Ryujin Jakka decided not to join the other rebellious Zanpakuto, something that struck Sombra as odd when she said it, but he still kept quiet and let her finish her story on what happened.
What happened next was sheer chaos, because at first the Shinigami tried to fight against their Zanpakuto, but with two wounded soliders weighing them down as easy targets, and the fact that it was hard to fight so many powerful individuals without their own powers, the Captains, Lieutenants, and seated members were forced to withdraw. It was a good choice on their part, as Ashisogi Jizo used it's Bankai from, a creature that Uryu described as a 'monster baby of nightmares' from his first experience with the thing, and prepared to spray poison on them, only for Zabimaru to use it's Bankai as well and fire it's energy blast from it's mouth at the same time. From that point forward was when everything fell apart, allowing them to come to the chaotic part of Rukia's tale, as the Shinigami split to make the rebellious Zanpakuto do the same thing, and even though the Captains and Lieutenants were the ones their former partners wanted to kill, for their own reasons, some of the spirits still attacked the other Shinigami as well, causing damage all over the Seireitei in the process. Rukia admitted that she and Renji were heading back to the Thierteenth Division's offices to use the sphere that Sombra had given Soul Society, as Yamamoto trusted Ukitake to keep it safe for whenever they needed to use it, but in the end they were intercepted by two spirits, who she guessed were Gonryomaru and Kazeshini, and were saved by the timely arrival of Byakuya, who eventually engaged Senzonzakura in battle... before disappearing in a cloud of petals, as his reiatsu vanished after that moment, even though she and Renji continued running as per her brother's instructions.
Of course she and Renji were then ambushed by Sode no Shirayuki, forcing them to be separated from that point forward, and Rukia even admitted she had no idea how she was able to find a place where she could open the Senkaimon back to the World of the Living, before coming to what everyone knew by that point in time.
"A Zanpakuto rebellion," Zangetsu commented, being the first one to speak after Rukia finished talking, though at the same time many heads nodded their agreement to what he had said, as Sombra and the other Arrancar had been thinking the same thing, before a grin appeared on his face, "how interesting. It's obvious who Lord Sombra will be going after, once we get to Soul Society... provided Muramasa doesn't run away like a coward when the other Zanpakuto tell him whose come to play."
"Still, the Zanpakuto are defying their partners and attacking them," Urahara added, as that was the meat of the topic that they were discussing, the fact that something was causing the Zanpakuto to manifest themselves in new forms and attack their partners, "I've never heard of such a thing happening. This is worrisome, especially since a Zanpakuto's true form resides within their Shinigami partner, and even their Arrancar partner, in Sombra's case."
"I've been nearing to ask this for a while now, but never found the best chance to ask." Uryu said, showing that he had been thinking about what he had learned before, when Zangetsu abandoned Ichigo, and was added the new information to what he had already figured out, "What's a Zanpakuto's true form?"
"We have a mind and a body that controls our powers." Zangetsu stated, to which Urahara nodded his head for a few seconds, indicating that he was correct, but at the same time he looked at Uryu and ignored Ichigo, who was going to miss everything he said anyway, "Shinigami are supposed to become more powerful by communicating with us, which should evolve into both of us learning what sort of Shikai form they'll share, and by intensive training and the will to eventually dominate us they unlock their Bankai. Remember, that large blade that Ichigo carries in his base state was my base form, when I was still trapped inside him, and my power was too great to be sealed inside an ordinary katana like most of the other Zanpakuto... and I don't think I need to remind you of what my blade looks like in my Bankai state."
"So Zanpakuto have a blade form and a manifested form." Chad stated, which made sense to him, even though he had no idea what sort of specifics went into a Zanpakuto and the bond it had with a Shinigami, something that Sombra, Rukia, and Urahara understood.
"Naturally, my Benihime is the same way as the rest of the Zanpakuto." Urahara added, reminding some of them that he had been a Shinigami before coming to the World of the Living, something that Sombra and the other Arrancar hadn't forgotten, and Sombra was happy to see that Ichigo knew that as well.
"How's everyone else doing?" Ichigo asked, referring to the Gotei 13 that had been protecting the Seireitei and the rest of Soul Society, as he was sure that Rukia had to know something about the Captains and other Shinigami that she had left behind, before coming to this world.
"Don't worry, we're doing just fine, despite what happened last night." a voice said, to which Ukitake's face appeared in the communication sphere that was sitting nearby, before he pulled back a little to show them that he and Captain Shunsui were standing in a room with Captain Unohana, "At the moment the Seireitei is in shambles, all thanks to our Zanpakuto rebelling against us and attacking a good majority of the buildings, so we're currently using the Fourth Division's barracks as our headquarters for the time being. We've got relief officers working around the clock, tending to the countless wounded that are scattered throughout the Seireitei, though while we're doing that Captain Soi Fon and all of the Covert Ops are out searching for the hidden Zanpakuto, as they disappeared during their assault and we haven't seen them since. Captain Mayuri, on the other hand, is holed up in his lab, researching this latest phenomenon in the hopes of discovering what happened to our Zanpakuto and if there's a way to return things to how they had been before Muramasa showed himself."
"It seems like you guys have strengthened the security of the Fourth Division's aid station," Sombra commented, as he could hear more Shinigami in the background, working to either improve the defenses or tend to the injured, but all this told him was that they were in need of assistance before the Zanpakuto attacked again, "but with Muramasa running around there's no telling when he'll strike again, or how many of the other spirits he'll use in his attacks, meaning that we'll want to head to Soul Society sooner, rather than later."
"Speaking of spirits, how are your Zanpakuto doing?" Ukitake asked, causing Sombra to glance up for a moment while Ichigo rubbed the back of his head, as neither of them had been expecting that question, "We're curious if this is an isolated event, as in it only happened in Soul Society, or if whatever caused the Zanpakuto to abandon us was able to reach the World of the Living as well, and potentially even Hueco Mundo."
"Both Shokyo and Rey have been the same since I learned how to wield them." Sombra replied, though that would have been cause for alarm, if whatever had affected the rest of the Zanpakuto had been able to influence both of his blades, as they contained his individual powers and losing them could make him weaker than his current level, which was why he was glad that nothing was wrong with them.
"I haven't noticed anything wrong with Zangetsu either." Ichigo added, though at the same time he glanced over at his former inner Hollow and noticed that he was mad at him again, an emotion that he seemed to be stuck at, before focusing on the communication sphere again.
"That's good. It seems like Muramasa's power can't reach the World of the Living." Shunsui commented, to which he seemed to think about something, be it the situation they were in or the fact that Ichigo and Sombra weren't effected by this strange event, before he faced the sphere on his side of the link, "Lord Sombra, when should we be expecting you and your reinforcements?"
"We'll be leaving soon." Sombra replied, where he found that his announcement wasn't a surprise to Yoruichi or Urahara, since they knew him better than anyone else, but at the same time he focused on the sphere, as there was one thing he wanted to know before they even considered leaving the shop, "Rukia said that she last saw her brother being attacked by Senbonzakura, before she and Renji were attacked by Sode no Shirayuki. Do you have any news on what might have happened to Captain Byakuya?"
"Not right now, but we're still looking." Ukitake said, though Sombra understood what he didn't say, as right now he and the other Shinigami that had their Zanpakuto spirits taken from them were focusing on what they could do in this situation and if they could recover their partners before something happened, "We'll see you, and your soldiers, whenever you arrive in Soul Society."
That was immediately followed by the communication being cut, indicating that there wasn't much more for them to learn before they went through a Senkaimon and headed to Soul Society, but even as Ichigo told Rukia that her brother was okay, as he knew that Byakuya wouldn't die that easily, Sombra had to wonder what Muramasa's true goal was. If Muramasa was a Zanpakuto spirit, and Rukia's description of him seemed to validate that thought, then that made him wonder what happened to his partner, because all Zanpakuto supposedly died when their respective Shinigami died, which meant that Muramasa's partner had to be alive, somewhere in one of the four realms of existence. While he considered this possibility, however, Rukia insisted that they leave immediately, as she was able to travel in her condition, but Sombra cancelled her decision and told her to rest some more, because despite her desire to leave he knew that her body was only healed enough for her to walk, while fighting was an entirely different thing at the moment. He knew that if she got into a fight she'd risk her entire life, and while he knew that she might see it as a sign of weakness he preferred to make sure that his friends were fine before they marched into Soul Society, though at the same time he was sure that the Captains could wait another couple of hours for their arrival.
At the same time he knew that his fellow Arrancar didn't like to be kept waiting, especially since he called them here for a specific task, but they continued to surprise him by stating that they'd wait until he was sure that Rukia could move without falling, even if he didn't want her to fight just yet. That, of course, meant that Ichigo and Zangetsu had to stare at each other while they waited for Rukia to recover, even with Orihime's assistance, but for the most part they remained silent and said nothing to their former partner, even if ichigo had no idea who his former inner Hollow actually was. While they waited Uryu, Chad, and Sora made sure that Karakura Town was safe, not that it mattered since all the other Hollows knew he was here and would go elsewhere in their hunt for food, or just go back home until they were sure that Sombra had done somewhere else. The wait also gave Sombra time to think about the rebellion that was taking place, or more accurately the parts of it that made little sense or the parts that he felt he needed to think about, but for the most part he knew that without all the information it would be impossible for him to put everything together on his own, even though he'd have to actually ask Muramasa what his true goals were if he wanted to figure everything out.
After another hour and a half had passed Sombra had Rukia walk around a little and decided that she was in good enough condition to return to Soul Society, along with making sure that she didn't go overboard when they got there and that she would head to the Fourth Division's building if she needed assistance... though when she accepted, and went back to wearing her Shinigami attire, the group of Arrancar joined her, Sombra, Yoruichi, and Ichigo as they headed to the underground training area and opened the way to Soul Society. As they walked into the gateway that would take them to their destination Rukia knew that Muramasa's plans were done for, because Sombra was going to figure out what he was doing and then shatter his plans before they had a chance to really take off, and that brought a smile to her face as they headed towards Soul Society.
It didn't take long for the passageway they had been walking through to reach Soul Society, where the group walked out into a ruined part of the Seireitei and found that there weren't any Shinigami in the immediate area, but at the same time Sombra was able to figure out where everyone was gathering. Once everyone was on their side of the Senkaimon the gateway closed behind them, though once that happened Sombra told his fellow Arrancar to head to the area that the majority of the Shinigami were gathering in, the Fourth Division barracks, and told Ichigo to go with them, so Shunsui and Ukitake knew that they were there, while Yoruichi headed off to find Soi Fon so she could see what progress she made in her search for the other Zanpakuto. Rukia, on the other hand, wanted to head off to the Sixth Division's barracks and see if Renji had any news about her brother, even though they had just gotten an update not even two hours ago, but Sombra decided that while the rest of the Arrancar figured out who needed their help he'd go with Rukia, to ensure that she didn't do anything stupid since she hadn't fully recovered yet.
Once his orders had been given out the Arrancar pulled Ichigo towards their destination, since he wanted to go with Rukia and Sombra, and Sombra purposely made sure to watch them head off into the distance before they headed out to the Sixth Division's barracks, where they found a good number of Shinigami moving things around in preparations for their move to the Fourth Division's barracks, to better fortify their defenses, and Rukia headed right to the office, where they found Renji standing on the other side of the door.
"Rukia! I was worried about you!" Renji said, to which he stepped forward and placed his hands on her shoulders, an action that was followed by him shacking her a little to be sure that she was actually there, before he stopped when he noticed who else was standing there, "Sombra, what are you doing here?"
"Ichigo and I heard that you guys had a problem on your hands and came to help." Sombra replied, though he knew that since Renji hadn't been near the sphere when the link between Soul Society and the World of the Living had occurred, where three Captains learned what was coming next, it was time to tell Renji what was happening, "I brought four Arrancar with me, to make sure that the Zanpakuto rebellion is dealt with in a timely manner, though I brought Harribel, Grimmjow, Nel, and Zangetsu to help deal with this Muramasa."
"Is Ichigo still ignoring Zangetsu?" Renji asked, because it felt odd that literally every Shinigami that had witnessed the end of the war with Aizen knew that the white Ichigo lookalike, who also had a Hollow hole and mask fragment, was the former spirit of Ichigo's Zanpakuto, something that Ichigo hadn't figured out on his own.
"Unfortunately." Sombra said, though he still had hope that this incident told Ichigo the truth of his Zanpakuto and that he had been beyond rude to the being that was supposed to be his partner, a bond that had been shattered and was likely impossible to reforge now that Zangetsu was his own being.
"Well, hopefully he figures it out soon, otherwise I'm sure that Zangetsu will snap and kill him." Renji stated, as they all knew that it was only a matter of time until the former Zanpakuto spirit snapped and attacked Ichigo with the intent to kill him, and this time he wouldn't have the power to stop Zangetsu, before he sighed and let go of Rukia, "So, what can I do for the Dios Hueco and my closest friend?"
"I was wondering if you found any trace of my brother." Rukia replied, though she was grateful that the conversation had returned to the reason why she had come here in the first place, because talking about Ichigo and Zangetsu could only get them so far in the grand scheme of things.
"I sent out a search squad some time ago, but they haven't reported anything yet." Renji answered, though at the same time he knew where Rukia's focus was going to be and glanced over to Sombra, who nodded his head, indicating that he'd be keeping track of her for the time being, "Look, there's no way that the manifestation of Senbonzakura would be able to kill Captain Byakuya that easily, so have faith that he's out there, searching for the whereabouts of the missing Zanpakuto spirits, and that he'll show himself when he's ready to come back."
"You're right," Rukia said, to which she sighed as she turned towards the hallway she and Sombra had walked through to get to this room, as there was something that she wanted to do while she tried to recover from her previous battle with her Zanpakuto spirit, "I'm going to go for a brief walk and clear my head, so I can return to our mission with more focus and not be a burden to anyone else."
Sombra raised an eyebrow to that, as he had never considered Rukia a burden and wondered why she even thought about something like that, but he said nothing as she headed into the hallway and made her way outside the Sixth Division's barracks, to which he sighed and bid farewell to Renji as he followed after Rukia. As he walked some distance behind Rukia, however, he knew that she didn't have a destination in mind, rather her focus was on what happened when Muramasa showed himself and the events that followed his arrival, such as her being attacked by Sode no Shirayuki and Byakuya engaging Senbonzakura, only to disappear and causing her current worries to be her main focus. He could sort of understand what she was going through, since he had worried about Radiant Hope before his naive nature caused him to consider that she had abandoned him, but at the same time he knew that he'd never truly have the same worry as Rukia did, since he never had a sibling that he cared for, though that didn't stop him from wanting to make sure that his friend didn't push herself past her limits, when she could fall at any moment.
His thoughts came to a stop when he noticed that Rukia had come to a stop, near a wooden gate that had ice growing around the sides of it and Shinigami frozen in place in blocks of pure ice, and on the other side of the wall they heard the screams of more people being attacked, though when they walked through the gate the duo found Sode no Shirayuki in the middle of her assault against the Shinigami that were in the area.
"Stop it!" Rukia shouted, to which she charged forward and leapt over her former partner's head and landed in front of her, though at the same time she kept her hand on the handle of her Zanpakuto as she stared at the lady that had been inside her blade, "Stop this, Sode no Shirayuki!"
"Rukia Kuchiki, I no longer follow your orders." Sode no Shirayuki stated, though this time around Sombra, who was standing nearby on one of the walls, noticed that the earlier look that he had seen in the spirit's eyes, where she had been both happy and sad, was gone and in it's place was what appeared to be a loathing gaze.
"What... did you say?" Rukia asked, though at the same time this only confirmed that Muramasa had done something to all of their Zanpakuto, something that may or may not be reversible, which caused her to sweat as she stared at the spirit of her blade.
"I'm free from your control." Sode no Shirayuki said, to which she continued to stare at Rukia and ignored the person that was standing nearby, despite the fact that he possessed his own Zanpakuto that Muramasa would be interested in talking to, and maybe convince her to join their cause, "I am free. You have no right to stop me."
"Fine, you're free," Rukia replied, though even as she said that he glanced at the frozen Shinigami that were around them and knew that this wasn't what her Zanpakuto should be doing, because it seemed like something Sode no Shirayuki would have been forced to do against her will, "but why are you attacking, and hurting, innocent people?"
"I am simply going as I please." Sode no Shirayuki answered, to which she looked at the closest Shinigami that was imprisoned in ice for a few seconds, recalling how she froze him quite easily, before glancing back to Rukia, "And I will not look lightly upon anyone that interferes with my desires, even if that someone is you."
"To be honest, I really don't want to fight you." Rukia said, though at the same time she tightened her grip on the handle of her Zanpakuto, because she had the feeling that this had been a terrible decision on her part, especially since she still wasn't fully healed from their previous fight, "But..."
Sode no Shirayuki didn't even give Rukia a chance to say whatever she was thinking about saying, as she flashed through the space between them and swung her right arm down towards her in a crescent fashion, allowing the ice that was gathering to strike the ground and freeze it as Rukia dodged the attack.
"Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" Rukia called out, though as she moved through the air, and drew her Zanpakuto, she noticed that the events of the previous night had been true, as she couldn't even go into her Shikai form, causing her to frown as she landed on the ground near her former partner.
"Of course it wouldn't go into it's Shikai form," Sombra commented, causing Rukia to glance over at him for a few seconds, something that Sode no Shirayuki did as well, but she was interested in what he had to say since he was observing their battle and forming his own thoughts on what Muramasa had done to the Zanpakuto, "It appears that the separation between the two of you is deeper than I originally thought, as it appears that Sode no Shirayuki no longer resides in your katana, meaning that the spirit in front of us is in possession of all the powers and abilities that you could use with your Zanpakuto."
"He was able to figure that out almost immediately, something you and your fellow Shinigami failed to understand when Muramasa made his announcement last night." Sode no Shirayuki said, her tone revealing that she was still impressed with Sombra's skill at figuring out what was going on, but at the same time she turned her head back towards Rukia, as she was her opponent and that wouldn't change unless Sombra stepped in to aid her, "Like he said, I no longer reside within your katana. Up until now, you've had free reign over my powers as a Zanpakuto, something that your fellow Shinigami did with their Zanpakuto, and it was something I permitted... because I didn't have a choice in the matter."
"You didn't have a choice?" Rukia asked, though at the same time that didn't make sense to her, because it wasn't like she had forced her Zanpakuto to do anything against her will, as they were partners and they were supposed to work together, something that had changed with Muramasa's arrival.
"But things are different now." Sode no Shirayuki continued, ignoring Rukia's question as she brought her hands together and pulled them apart, allowing her right hand to grab the handle of her Zanpakuto, in it's Shikai form, as it materialized in front of her, which she pointed at Rukia moments later, "I am free to use my powers as I please. I'm sure that, up till now, you considered my power to be your own, but you are mistaken. In reality, you are incapable of fighting on your own! Some no mai, Tsukishiro!"
Rukia's eyes widened as she realized what was coming next, as the ground beneath her feet glowed as a circle of ice formed around her, to which she jumped into the air and got out of the way as the ice tower of the First Dance formed where she had been standing moments ago, something that she stared at for a few seconds as she touched down on the roof of the nearby building.
"It's supposed to reach up into the heavens within the area that is drawn by your blade." Sode no Shirayuki spoke up, as she knew exactly what Rukia was thinking about at the moment, because it was the same thought that she must have had when she first attacked her and Renji earlier, "Isn't that right?"
The moment she asked that Sode no Shirayuki swung her right arm and another circle formed on the top of the roof that Rukia was standing on, to which she forced herself back into the air and avoided the second attack, because while she was surprised by what was going on she knew that she needed to be ready for anything. In the following seconds she flashed into the area behind Rukia and raised her left hand, where she blew some cold air onto her opponent and watched as ice formed on Rukia for a moment, but it was minor as she knocked her foe into the ground and landed nearby.
"Are you saying that I can't do anything without you?!" Rukia asked, though at the same time she huffed for a moment, because she knew that Sombra was right in his thoughts about her not being ready for a fight, even though she also knew that he was allowing her to fight because she'd tell him to stand back and let her fight her own battles, to which she forced herself to stand as she faced her Zanpakuto spirit once more, "Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws. Hado Number 33: Sokatsui!"
Sombra watched as Rukia launched the blue torrent of flames at Sode no Shirayuki, which was a powerful Kido spell depending on who used it, but unfortunately as the spell struck her foe the Zanpakuto spirit used her ice breath on the incoming spell and froze it before it could touch her, forming a pillar in front of her that shattered moments later.
"Why are you so surprised that I stopped your blue fire?" Sode no Shirayuki inquired, though Sombra was impressed by the fact that she was able to stop that powerful spell as quickly as she had, though even as that thought crossed his mind he knew that she wouldn't be able to stop it if he used it, "You're clearly underestimating me... very well, I see that I must correct your way of thinking."
Sode no Shirayuki flashed through the air and appeared behind Rukia, knocking her back with a single swing of her blade, something that she followed up by moving into the air and swinging her left arm at Rukia, forming icicles that raced through the air and struck the ground where Rukia had been standing moments ago. Even as she forced Rukia to run around the area that they were in, with Sombra watching them, Sode no Shirayuki banished her blade and used both of her arms to attack Rukia with the icicles that she was using at the moment, all while staring at her target. While that was going on, however, Sombra observed that Sode no Shirayuki was a beautiful being, not one that he would mess with, and that she was the most beautiful Zanpakuto in all of Soul Society, even though he was fond of thinking the same thing of Shokyo from time to time. The sad part about it was that he was beginning to sense the hatred and loathing that was within Sode no Shirayuki's heart, emotions that she held towards Rukia and likely had been used by Muramasa to call her into this world, to use her in whatever his plans were, making him wonder if the other Zanpakuto spirits were like this and had so much hatred for their Shinigami partners in their hearts.
"Why, Sode no Shirayuki?!" Rukia asked, though at the same time she jumped around the attacks that her former partner was sending her way, as she was trying to figure out what she was seeing in Sode no Shirayuki's eyes, something that she knew Sombra had seen already and was likely thinking about, "Why do you look down at me like you hate me? I am you and you are me! Haven't we stood and fought together all these years?! We practiced and learned our powers under the watchful eyes of Kaien, who praised our abilities and made sure that we knew how to fight against our enemies with the powers we unlocked. Have I really hurt you that badly, by keeping your power all to myself?"
"Whenever you reflect on the distance past your reiatsu weakens." Sode no Shirayuki commented, to which she flashed through the air and appeared behind Rukia, whose eyes widened in surprise as she discovered where her foe had disappeared to, as she knew what was coming next.
Sode no Shirayuki swung her right arm down towards Rukia, apparently having reformed her blade while Rukia was distracted, and Rukia replied in the sense that she was defending herself from what was coming next, creating a burst of icy energy that would freeze the area around where she was striking... though a few moments later, when Sode no Shirayuki pulled back and landed on the roof of a nearby building, she found Rukia huffing in the middle of field of ice, only she fell to her knees seconds later.
"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren." Sode no Shirayuki stated, to which she pointed the tip of her blade at Rukia's position and released a torrent of icy particles at the area she was targeting, causing Rukia to stare up at her with surprise on her face as her attack struck the area that she was standing in.
"Getsuga Tensho." a pair of voices declared, to which Sombra, being the only one who was able to see what happened before Sode no Shirayuki's attack hit Rukia, watched as both Ichigo and Zangetsu, with Ichigo wearing his Bankai attire and Zangetsu still in his base state, flashed into the area and swung their blades at the incoming torrent, shattering the ice before it had a chance to truly form around the area that Rukia was standing in.
"Ichigo? Zangetsu?" Rukia asked, as she was surprised to see the pair of them come to her aid, especially since Sombra was standing nearby and could have intervened if she called out to him for assistance, "What are you two doing here?! It's too dangerous for one of you to be out in the field, especially since we have no idea how Muramasa is causing the Zanpakuto to rebel against us."
"True, but I can't sit on the sidelines while my friends are being hurt." Ichigo replied, to which he glanced back at Rukia for a moment, even though part of his statement referred to Sombra, who was standing on the sidelines as he watched the battle with Sode no Shirayuki take place.
"Besides, there's a reason that Lord Sombra brought some Arrancar as reinforcements," Zangetsu added, though at the same time he stared at the spirit that was their opponent, because he was more focused on the fact that a battle would be starting soon and was less worried about what happened before they got here, "we're going to help you stop this rebellion before it gets out of hand."
"Two Ichigo Kurosaki's..." Sode no Shirayuki commented, as it was strange to consider that there could be two copies of the same person, even though it was clear that their personalities were completely different, but something tugged at the back of her mind, something that she felt was important despite the fact that she couldn't place why she suddenly felt that way, especially since she was looking at the white Ichigo.
"Hey! My name is Zangetsu!" Zangetsu snapped, as he wasn't about to have a Zanpakuto spirit call him by Ichigo's name, not after all the suffering he went through while he was trapped inside Ichigo's body, though at the same time he pointed the tip of his blade at Sode no Shirayuki, "Hey Ichigo, try to keep up with me!"
Rukia watched as Zangetsu threw his large blade through the air, all while hanging onto the cloth end of it, and the tip of the blade broke the top of the roof as Sode no Shirayuki moved out of the way, but that seemed to be what Zangetsu wanted as he flashed behind her and swung downward, the force of his attack knocking her backwards. Ichigo tried to attack from behind, though he had to bail when their foe waved a hand at him and sent out a wave of icicles, forcing Ichigo to dodge the attacks as he put some distance between the two of them, even though Sode no Shirayuki had to contend with Zangetsu's next attack moments later. Sombra sighed as the duo started fighting, as he could already tell that, of the two of them, Zangetsu was the only one that was willing to put an end to this fight in a timely manner, as his attacks were on point and forced Sode no Shirayuki towards Ichigo, who failed to take advantage of the opening and held back, often allowing the spirit they were fighting to target him in some manner, all because he was holding back his power since he didn't want to destroy Rukia's Zanpakuto. He could see why that might be a good idea, since they had no clue what might happen if one of the Zanpakuto spirits were defeated, but at the same time that didn't mean that he could waste every opening that Zangetsu was giving him, all to keep Sode no Shirayuki intact for later.
"You're soft, Ichigo Kurosaki." Sode no Shirayuki commented, though at the same time she avoided the next thrust attack that Zangetsu sent her way and danced around Ichigo's attack, as she had noticed the same thing that Sombra had been thinking about, "You're holding back because you think that I am still Rukia Kuchiki's Zanpakuto. You'll regret that decision of yours soon enough. Some no mai, Tsukishiro."
This time around Ichigo reacted slower to the attack than he did in the World of the Living, whether it was because their opponent wasn't messing around or due to something else Sombra had no idea, but thankfully Ichigo seemed to notice what was happening beneath his feet and flashed out of the way. Sode no Shirayuki was anticipating that, as she moved into the air behind him and swung down at him, where Ichigo blocked the attack and noticed that the moment their blades connected ice started to form on his blade, indicating that attacking this opponent and locking blades with her wasn't the best idea in the world. Not a few seconds later he jumped backwards and smashed the ice that had been forming on his right hand, as it branched off from the blade and wrapped around his hand, before raising his left arm to defend himself as Sode no Shirayuki breathed her icy breath on him, forcing him into the ground as both Sombra and Zangetsu shook their heads, even though Zangetsu also brought his palm to his face as well. While all this was happening Sombra noticed something interesting, as the hatred and loathing that he had sensed in Sode no Shirayuki's heart was genuine, because the spirit smiled in Rukia's direction moments after sending Ichigo into the ground, indicating something that very few would recognize, and he knew what he was seeing.
Sode no Shirayuki, as Rukia's former partner, knew how she could torment Rukia and shatter her will to fight back, because she had been close to Rukia's heart until Muramasa showed himself and separated them, and this was just giving her the chance to show off her power and her desire to inflict pain on Rukia.
"Does it hurt, Ichigo Kurosaki?" Sode no Shirayuki asked, though at the same time she kept an eye on Zangetsu, as she was still trying to determine why he was so important, but for the most part her attention was on Ichigo, "Your ally gave you so many openings, and yet you couldn't bring yourself to use any of them."
"Sorry, but I'd rather fight on my own than use an opening that guy creates," Ichigo stated, though as he said that he let his reiatsu flare and prepared himself as he readied another Getsuga Tensho, because he had the feeling that he was going to have one attempt at this before Sode no Shirayuki got the better of him.
"Regardless of what you do, you hesitate to strike me." Sode no Shirayuki added, speaking the one thing that Sombra, Rukia, and even Zangetsu were thinking, though as she did that her own reiatsu gathered, as she was going to freeze her current foe where he was standing and then shatter him into a thousand pieces, "Allow me to teach you that any shred of hesitation will be the cause of your downfall!"
In the moment that Sode no Shirayuki was focused on Ichigo, and seemed to be ignoring someone important, Rukia jumped into the air and tried to hit her Zanpakuto spirit in the back of the neck, as that would have finished the battle before it got any worse, but in the end Sode no Shirayuki blocked the attack, dispelling her power for a moment, and swiftly followed that up with sending Rukia down to where Ichigo was standing, where she touched the ground like nothing had happened.
"Ichigo, I know you and Zangetsu came to help, but I have to ask you to stay out of this." Rukia said, though at the same time Sombra watched as Ichigo turned off his own power and the energy he had been gathering dissipated quickly, showing that he could listen to what his friends said, "Sode no Shirayuki is my Zanpakuto, so it should fall to me to be the one to stop her rampage."
"What in the world are you doing this time?" Sode no Shirayuki inquired, because so far she knew that Rukia didn't have it in her to fight her, meaning that it would be a one sided battle until she was dead, but after everything she had been through killing Rukia wasn't something she would lose sleep over.
"Sode no Shirayuki, if you must hate someone, than hate me." Rukia replied, to which she turned her full attention to her Zanpakuto spirit as Zangetsu returned to Sombra's side, most likely to observe what happened next, but this time around she had a plan in mind and wanted to go through with it.
"I do hate you. In fact I absolutely loath you!" Sode no Shirayuki stated, though at the same time she pointed the tip of her blade at Rukia, noticing that she seemed to be preparing for something this time around, and narrowed her eyes as she continued talking, "Therefore, to truly make you suffer for everything you've done to me, I shall take away everything and everyone that you hold dear. Your family, your friends, even your pride as a Shinigami! All you need to do is sit and watch me while I work."
"That's what I expect from my Zanpakuto... you truly know how to make me suffer." Rukia said, which made sense considering that Sode no Shirayuki knew what she cared about since she had been apart of her, as her beloved partner that she was lucky to have, before she sighed and lowered her blade, "I wasn't lying when I said that you were beautiful, Sode no Shirayuki, and I would be lying if I didn't say that I was proud of you and the fact that you were my partner... but you're also right about one thing, you don't belong to me anymore. You got your wish... your free. Just to make it official, from one partner to another, I hereby set you free. So please, overcome the hatred that has consumed you, and know that I am eternally grateful for the time we spent together as partners."
"You're just going to keep living... without me?" Sode no Shirayuki inquired, as she couldn't believe what she was hearing at the moment, so much so that she descended towards the ground and touched down in the area below where she had been floating seconds ago.
"Yes." Rukia replied, though at the same time she knew that Ichigo, at the very least, seemed confused as to what she was doing, while Sombra and Zangetsu, on the other hand, had faith in her secret plan, which was why she started to slowly walk towards Sode no Shirayuki, "Even if I lose everything and have to crawl across the earth... even if I have to go back to Rukongai... Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Carriage of thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six! On the wall of blue flame, inscribe a twin lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait at the far heavens."
It was in that moment, after asking Rukia if she really was okay with losing both her and everything she cared about as a Shinigami, that Sode no Shirayuki realized what her former partner was doing, as it had been used against Aaroniero some time ago, and raised her blade as a sphere of icy energy formed around her, though since it had barely formed Rukia pushed through it. Not moments later Sombra heard Rukia call out 'Bakudo Number 61: Rikujokoro' and felt the six rods of light trap both her and her Zanpakuto spirit, stunning them in the middle of the sphere, but at the same time he made sure that both Ichigo and Zangetsu stood back, as this was no longer a fight that they had any business being a part of and indicated that it was all up to Rukia. A few seconds went by, where Sombra noticed Rukia's Zanpakuto fell out of the sphere and hit the ground nearby, meaning that she must have let go of it to speak directly to Sode no Shirayuki's heart about letting go of her anger, hatred, and sadness, before a glowing blue light appeared in the middle of the sphere, a spell that he recognized from his own Kido training. The last thing that he heard, just as the bright light grew even larger than before, was Rukia saying that she was freeing Sode no Shirayuki and followed that up with "Hado Number 73: Soren Sokatsui', which resulted in a bright, nearly blinding, explosion that engulfed both Rukia and Sode no Shirayuki... but as it turned out that was the moment that a new reiatsu appeared in the immediately area, changing the outcome of Rukia's attempt to stop her Zanpakuto spirit.
When the smoke cleared Sombra found a large hole in the ground, with Rukia resting to one side of it, and sure enough the enemy made their move, as the moment Ichigo rushed down to check on her was when a stranger appeared on the other side of the crater, with a weakened Sode no Shirayuki standing behind him... a stranger that matched Rukia's description of Muramasa, the being that was responsible for the rebellion that was currently taking place and Ichigo turned to face him as he finally felt his reiatsu.
"That was an impressive fight." Muramasa stated, even though he had to cut in and prevent further harm from befalling Sode no Shirayuki, since she was one of his allies and there was no reason for her to fall so soon after he freed her and the other Zanpakuto, "I didn't expecting things to go this far, not in a battle between a Shinigami and their former enslaved Zanpakuto, but it has given me something to think about."
"Muramasa, we meet at last." Sombra said, to which both he and Zangetsu jumped down to the edge of the crater and stared down at the Zanpakuto that was causing trouble for the Shinigami and the rest of Soul Society, though at the same time their main foe glanced up at him for a few moments, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Sombra, the Dios Hueco, meaning 'Hollow God', or the King of Hueco Mundo as I am more commonly called among the Shinigami, and this is one of my followers, Zangetsu."
"Frankly, I don't care who you two are, as I'm more interested in Ichigo Kurosaki," Muramasa replied, taking note of the fact that both of them seemed a little annoyed by his statement, before he turned his attention to the Substitute Shinigami, "after all, I allowed Rukia Kuchiki to head to the World of the Living so I could draw you here, to my world, so I could free the last enslaved Zanpakuto spirit from their 'master'... though it looks like there's one more that I can free, once I'm finished with him."
"Look who thinks he's the newest Aizen, for planning on luring Ichigo to Soul Society." Zangetsu commented, because if this foe had the intelligence of their former enemy, who was stuck in the Shadowlands for the rest of his life, he wouldn't have come to them until the time was perfect, just like Aizen did the first time Sombra came to Soul Society.
"For once I can agree with you on something," Ichgio said, as that might have been the first time he and his former inner Hollow agreed on anything, to which he turned his blade towards Muramasa and readied something, "Muramasa, it was foolish of you to reveal yourself so suddenly, because with the three of us standing here you don't stand a chance at leaving this area without your rebellion falling apart... and I'll be the first one to strike!"
"You arrogant fool!" Zangetsu snapped, though his words fell on deaf ears as Ichigo charged at Muramasa and forced him out of the area that Rukia was resting in, to which he and Sombra watched as the pair moved into one of the nearby streets that surrounded the area that they had found Sode no Shirayuki in, where Sombra let the wounded Zanpakuto go, since Muramasa was more important at the moment.
Sombra and Zangetsu moved into the air and kept their distance from Muramasa, since they wanted to observe his movements before engaging him in battle, though as they did that Sombra noticed that Nel flashed into the area as they were leaving and took Rukia to the Fourth Division's barracks so she could heal. Based on what little action they saw since the battle started Muramasa was blocking Ichigo's attacks like they were nothing, even though Ichigo was trying his hardest to hit him, and that was shortly followed by Muramasa extending his right hand and loosed a burst of wind that caused Ichigo to close his eyes for a moment. Sombra, on the other hand, watched as Ichigo opened his eyes seconds later and seemed to stumble a little as he tried to hit something that was around him, before he spun around in the air, telling Sombra that Muramara had some sort of illusion based power that also allowed him to mess with his target's reality, and that was before making Ichigo hit the floor with his head and then pinned him to the floor and knocked the blade out of his hand, indicating that he was going to do something as he floated in front of Ichigo's body and raised his empty right hand towards his chest.
"Listen to my voice. Obey your instincts and break your soul free." Muramasa said, though at the same time Sombra held Zangetsu back, as it appeared that they were going to see exactly what happened when the Zanpakuto spirit freed those that he was targeting, especially since a black reiatsu circle formed behind Ichigo, "Abandon your fear. Look forward. Move forward and never stop. You'll age if you pull back. You'll die if you hesitate. Come! Your name is Zangetsu!"
As Muramasa said that he pierced Ichigo's chest with his hand and pulled out a black rope like substance, which also consumed Ichigo in a mass of reiatsu that poured out from the circle behind him, though when the smoke cleared a few moments later he was back in his base form and so was his blade... and some distance from him was Muramasa with a smile on his face, with the Old Man, wielding the base form of Ichigo's Zanpakuto, in front of him.
"Zangetsu, why are you...?" Ichigo started to ask, but that was when the Old Man raised his blade and rushed at where he was laying, as if he was going to force him to stand and fight him, but before he could reach his target a third big blade, with inverted colors of the one that Ichigo held, clashed against his and forced him backwards.
"Well what do you know, I got my wish anyway." Zangetsu said, to which he pulled his arm back and rested the edge of his blade across his shoulders, a position that he liked to keep it in when he was in the middle of a fight, before he stared at his opponent, "Old Man, I've got a bone to pick with you, and I'm going to enjoy this way more than I should."
Sombra crossed his arms as he stared at Zangetsu and the Old Man, as he knew that they were going to put on a fierce battle and that they were likely going to need a different spot to fight in, since too many innocent bystanders might be caught in what was coming next, but at the same time this was the best chance Ichigo had to learn the truth about his Zanpakuto and the spirit that had abandoned him... and then, once the battle was over, he'd focus on Muramasa and end this rebellion before he could finish what he had started.
"Who in the world are you supposed to be?" Muramasa asked, though he was actually surprised by the fact that he had withdrawn Zangetsu from Ichigo Kurosaki's body and pulled him into this world, not even a few moments ago, only for him to get knocked backwards immediately by someone who looked like the Shinigami he had been targeting for some time, something that confused him greatly.
"I told you, my name is Zangetsu... though I wouldn't be surprised if you failed to understand me, since Ichigo has that very same problem, despite what his friends tell him." Zangetsu commented, but the whole time he talked he kept his eyes on the Old Man that was in front of him, as he felt so many emotions just by staring at him, even though the strongest one of the bunch was his intense burning hatred for the other spirit he had been living with until his departure, before he thought about something else, "Hey, Lord Sombra, do you think we should move this fight somewhere else? Honestly, I don't much care for the Shinigami or Soul Society, but since they're your allies, and they might get mad at us if I blow this entire place away, I'll let you decide if we fight here, in the Seireitei, or if we fight somewhere else... though once you make a decision I'm starting the fight."
"No, we should move this elsewhere." Sombra said, to which he flashed into the middle of the area between Zangetsu and the Old Man, surprising Muramasa with his sheer speed for a moment, before his horn flared as he accessed one of his magical abilities, one of the few that he could use in his base state, which he spread to his hands as he waved them around for a few seconds, "Greater Teleportation."
Muramasa watched as a rectangular aura appeared on the ground around them, a light blue one that made him think about the Kido that Shinigami used all the time, and could barely move as everyone in the immediate area around him started to vanish before his eyes, before the same thing happened to him. One second he was standing in the middle of a street, where he had freed Ichigo's Zanpakuto spirit, and the next second he was standing in a mountain area that had been flattened, which served as a training ground for the Lieutenant and Captain level Shinigami when they didn't want to practice inside the Seireitei. The technique that had been used was unlike the Forbidden Kido that he had heard about and had never seen in use, Kukanten'i, which apparently allowed the user to teleport a specified portion of space from one location to another, and Jikanteishi, a spell that supposedly froze the time of the area around the user, also specified in some manner. Despite never having seen those two Kido in effect he was sure that Sombra had done something similar to that, teleporting himself and everyone around him to a new area to fight in within a few seconds, though the fact that he could do that, without any preparations or anything, meant that he might be a formidable opponent that he'd have to keep his eyes on, to figure out how he was going to get at his Zanpakuto.
While all this went through Muramasa's head, however, Sombra glanced at the area around them for a moment and studied where the pair would be fighting in, finding that it was a decent spot for two spirits to go all out and fight like they mean it, before he picked up Ichigo and pulled away, leaving Zangetsu and the Old Man to fight each other, even though he could feel a fair number of reiatsu signatures coming their way, ones that had to belong to the rest of the spirits that had betrayed their partners.
"Old Man, there's one thing I have to ask you before we start," Zangetsu said, though at the same time he lifted his blade up and readied himself, because he knew that once he had the answer to his question he was going to attack his target and destroy him, while noticing that his Lord was dropping Ichigo off on the ground so he could pay attention to what was going to happen next, "Why did you leave our 'partner'?"
"I merely wished to see which of us was stronger," the Old Man replied, to which he held his blade to the side, in a stance that indicated it could be brought into the battle immediately, before he stared at Zangetsu, as a part of him was curious as to why the former Zanpakuto spirit asked the question, "After you left, and started serving Sombra while living in Hueco Mundo, Ichigo lost the power to manifest his Hollow mask, something that he worked hard to acquire, but he was still strong and I was curious as to which of the two of us was the strongest in our current situation... and right now you're interrupting the match I was going to have with him."
"Me? Interrupting your match?" Zangetsu stated, to which he laughed for a moment, because he found what the Old Man had said to be funny, especially given the current circumstances of his departure from Ichigo's body, before he drew serious once more and faced his foe, "Please, we both know that without me, the true source of his power, there's no way he can win a fight against you, because I was the one that helped him every step of the way while you tortured him, and nearly killed him, with your ridiculous training exercises so he could gain both my base form and my Bankai. We both know that the real reason is because you like to torment him and break his body, especially since your training for him to learn my Bankai nearly resulted in the destruction of his entire body, something my power had to hold together while he was being cut apart by Byakuya. You're not the one who saved him time and time again, Old Man, and you always made sure that you got the credit for everything, while making sure I was the 'evil one' that he couldn't trust... I hate you, Old Man, and I am going to DESTROY YOU!"
The first thing that Zangetsu did was switch his hand from holding the actual handle of his blade to the cloth that was wrapped around it, allowing him to swing the entire blade above his head for a few seconds, before he flashed through the air and appeared behind the Old Man, whose eyes widened as he realized where his foe was standing. Not even a second alter he pulled the cloth in a way that brought the blade down on where the Old Man was standing, causing an explosion of rock that sent his foe up into the air, which he fully intended to have happen since he flashed into the air behind him and swung his blade again. This time around the force of his attack sent his foe right back into the ground, to which he rushed down to where the Old Man was standing and turned to the side as an attack came his way, because the difference between the two of them was that he was able to move quickly with the larger blade, since it was his weapon after all, while the Old Man's speed decreased since he wasn't used to wielding his base form. When the Old Man got up and attacked him, with his slower attacks, Zangetsu grinned as he parried the first attack and then loosed a series of five slashes at his opponent, finding that the Old Man could block them all easily, but the sixth attack that came after the first group was much stronger and quicker, allowing him to knock the Old Man backwards, who touched the ground with his left hand once before flashing around the area they were in.
Zangetsu recognized the technique immediately, as it was the whole flashing around and making a dozen copies of himself to fool his opponent into attacking the wrong one, similar to how Ichigo had showed off his Bankai to Byakuya the first time around, but he was no fool. To someone that could follow reiatsu around, such as Sombra for instance, tracking the Old Man was child's play, and since Zangetsu knew this trick he knew exactly where to attack, as he hurled his blade at a point that was diagonally to his left and forced the Old Man to parry his attack, cutting off the technique he was trying to use and pushed him backwards for a moment. When he moved to retrieve his blade Zangetsu also rushed forward, as he intended to attack while the Old Man's defenses were open, though when the Old Man regained himself and pointed his blade at him, without the reiatsu gathering or anything, Zangetsu moved to the side, avoided the attack entirely, and then hurled his foe into the rock wall nearby by grabbing onto his face and throwing him through the air. The sad part about all this was that he wasn't getting any satisfaction from beating the Old Man, not when he was hiding his true power from him, and he was going to keep pushing him until either he got what he wanted or he outright cut the Old Man down and ended the fight they were in.
A few moments later he noticed some movement and the Old Man burst out of the smoke, landing on the ground nearby, but this time around blue bits of reiatsu were being pulled into his blade, indicating what he was going to do, to which Zangetsu held his blade up into the air as his own black and red reiatsu gathered around his blade.
"Getsuga..." the two of them said, their blades glowing for a moment as they finalized their preparations for their next attack, before Zangetsu grinned as they both, in unison, swung their blades at their targets and called out the second half of the technique's name, "Tensho!"
The two crescent wave attacks, one blue and one black with a red outline, rushed through the air and collided with each other, blowing up upon contact and blowing a small hole in the ground, though Zangetsu wasn't too surprised since it didn't take very much of his power to actually counter the Old Man's attack. Not even a few seconds later the Old Man surged through the smoke and tried to attack Zangetsu while his gaze was obscured by the results of their attacks colliding with each other, but Zangetsu expected that tactic and moved out of the way, allowing his opponent's blade to pass by his head before kicking the Old Man in the chest, sending him out of the smoke once more. This time around the Old Man went on the defensive as Zangetsu chased after him, because wherever he landed, be in the ground, the side of the mountain, or even one of the nearby boulders, Zangetsu would appear either above or behind him and swing down at where he was standing, blasting a hole in the ground, cutting a gash into the rock wall, or completely destroying the boulder that his foe stood on for a second. To truly show that he was on the defensive the Old Man also avoided his attacks to the best of his ability, ducking and weaving before moving into his own attack, something that Zangetsu would either block or dodge, until the Old Man scored a lucky hit and cut a shallow diagonal gash into his chest, one that his Instant Regeneration healed in seconds.
The Old Man frowned for a moment as he stared at his foes open chest, as Zangetsu still wore the same outfit that Grimmjow did, as he liked it and didn't much care for the attire that Ichigo wore, but at the same time he knew that keeping his blade in the base form wasn't going to help him, not with as fast and as powerful as his foe was.
"I... I don't believe it." Ichigo commented, as he had been watching the entire fight, from Sombra's side, and had been surprised by what he was seeing, because he never thought that the Old Man would be pushed back in such a manner, especially to his former inner Hollow, "He's... he's pushing Old Man Zangetsu back."
"Yes, Zangetsu is putting on a good show." Sombra said, this time ignoring Ichigo's insistence to call the Old Man by the name of his Zanpakuto, especially since his former partner was standing nearby, but even as he thought about that he noticed more reiatsu signatures closing in on their location, though now he knew that the other spirits, the Captains and Lieutenants, and the rest of his reinforcements had come to watch the battle, "Though it will be awhile before they decide to bring an end to this fight, so relax and enjoy the show."
Ichigo looked at Sombra for a moment, wondering why he was so calm when Old Man Zangetsu was being pushed back, but decided to say nothing, because he hoped that his Zanpakuto spirit would win the fight and beat his former inner Hollow, so he could beat Old Man Zangetsu himself.
"What's the matter, Old Man? Are you getting tired already?" Zangetsu inquired, though he had to say that he was still impressed with the abilities that the Old Man possessed, as he was the only one that was able to actually hurt him in a battle, both inside Ichigo's inner world and out here, in the world where both of them would fight each other, "Or have you decided to lay down your weapon and surrender?"
"I was just recalling the last time we fought." the Old Man replied, even though the last time they actually crossed blades was before Ichigo's Visored training, resulting in Zangetsu being the dominate one during that time period, but he hadn't forgotten the tricks his foe had used and knew how to turn them against his foe, "I've beaten you before and I'll beat you again today."
"Oh really?" Zangetsu asked, to which he held his blade at the ready and beckoned for his foe to come at him once more, because it appeared that the Old Man had a plan of attack this time around and he was eager to see exactly what sort of thing happened this time around, "Come and try!"
The Old Man went on the offensive, though what was different this time around was that he was actually dodging Zangetsu's attacks for the first few moments, surprising Muramasa at the very least, but Zangetsu didn't seem to mind, not when he started doing a bunch of random attacks that had no pattern to them. One instance was when Zangetsu dodged an incoming attack and used his speed to get into the air diagonally behind the Old Man, where he swung his blade by using the cloth, though this time, when it was knocked back, he continued with his assault and used the cloth to direct the next few swings he sent towards the Old Man, who had trouble dodging his technique. He called this style of his 'Deadly Darts', where he took on the position of a mid-range fighter, though the benefit was that his swings were that much stronger, as he could leave craters wherever his weapon struck and inflict serious damage at the same time, if he was lucky enough to catch his target. The only reason the Old Man was able to dodge him was because of his speed, which was something that Zangetsu took into consideration when he used this against him, but for the most part it appeared that the power behind his attacks was too much for his foe to handle, as he could see the strain in the Old Man's eyes whenever he tried to block this type of attack... before he knocked him into one of the large boulders that were resting nearby and withdrew his blade by grabbing onto the cloth.
Not even a few seconds later the Old Man surged out of the area that the dust had come from, heading right for the position that Zangetsu was standing in, though even as the attack came at him Zangetsu parried the incoming blow and pushed his foe backwards, before continuing what he had been doing. He lunged at the Old Man and swung his blade around by the cloth, allowing it to spin through the air and become even more dangerous than it had been before, and even if his foe dodged his attack there were plenty more where that came from, especially since he could flash around the battlefield that had been chosen for him and use any direction to attack from. In a matter of moments Zangetsu found that he was the one controlling the battle, as he was pushing the Old Man around like it was nothing, making him wonder what was going on or if his new form was just that strong, despite the fact that he hadn't released his Bankai or his true power, but he decided to focus on that later as he swung his blade downwards and sent the Old Man flying into the ground. From there he smiled as he raised his left hand and pointed it right at his target, to which his reiatsu flared as he generated a red Cero, which served to remind those that knew him that he was also a Hollow, or an Arrancar, and that he could fire one of these as well, before he fired it and let it detonate on the area that the Old Man had been knocked into... to which he watched the explosion as he landed nearby, keeping his smile on his face at the same time.
Zangetsu knew that if this had happened while he was still in Ichigo's body, and was allowed to fight the Old Man like this, he'd be a beast of pure instinct and would have been wounded a few more times, but thanks to his current state he knew that the upper hand was still his, especially since they weren't using their full power yet... though when the smoke cleared he found the Old Man standing straight with his blade facing him, but the fact that his reiatsu was increasing told him what his foe was doing.
"So, we're doing that now." Zangetsu commented, to which he raised his blade until the tip was pointed at his foe while the cloth wrapped around his right arm, which was the major difference between what he was doing and what the Old Man was doing, since the cloth never wrapped around his foe's arm, before his reiatsu flared as well.
"Bankai!" the two of them called out in unison, which was followed by two fierce releases of Zangetsu's final stage as a Zanpakuto, kicking up wind and dust in the process as one was light blue colored and the second was white colored, and when everything settled down the Old Man appeared with just the weapon that came with this state, while Zangetsu appeared in his Bankai state with his usual grin on his face.
The moment the two of them were ready they rushed at each other, the Old Man seeming to glide above the ground while Zangetsu flew straight at him, though the moment their blades connected the air vibrated for a few seconds as the wind was knocked up, indicating that they were both strong, but Zangetsu continued his assault without delay. Sombra could tell that the weight of the base form had been slowing the Old Man down, since it technically wasn't a weapon that he was tied to, and that releasing it had allowed him to regain his true speed, but the problem was that by doing it in this manner he had allowed Zangetsu to do the same thing, basically putting them back at the same level they had been at when they started the battle. That became evident when the Old Man swung his blade and sent a black Getsuga Tensho at Zangetsu, who stood still and sighed as he waved his arm at it, splitting the attack into two halves that struck the rock wall some distance behind him, causing the entire wall to collapse as he grinned, because showing off like that, against the one being that he hated more than Ichigo, made him feel better, especially since his current opponent wasn't the expert of his techniques like he thought he was.
Not even a moment later he appeared in front of the Old Man, grabbed onto his head before his foe could even move from where he was standing, and hurled him through the air, causing him to hit a larger boulder in the process and kick up some dust as well, though while all this happened he noticed that Ichigo seemed to be staring at them in shock, but not in the manner that he had been hoping for. A second later another Getsuga Tensho came racing at him, to which he sighed and raised his hand towards it, stopping it in it's tracks with just the palm of his left hand, before he crushed it by forcefully closing his hand, which was when the Old Man appeared in the air above him with the intent of piercing him from above with the tip of his blade. Zangetsu, on the other hand, thrust his left hand into the air and released the remains of the attack he crushed, letting the fragments hang there and caused the Old Man to back off, who flashed down to the area near him and loosed a series of attacks at Zangetsu, who closed his eyes and dodged the attacks. Despite the fact that he was no longer connected to Ichigo, since he had abandoned him and all that, he could feel the presence of the Old Man's Bankai blade and could dodge it accordingly, though at the same time he found that his foe had more experience than Ichigo did with this form... but in the end the Old Man swung at him and he raised his left hand, stopping the blade from hitting him, before he opened his eyes and stared at his foe.
The Old Man actually seemed surprised, something that annoyed Zangetsu since this was still his blade and not the one that his foe was supposed to be using, before he gripped the edge of his foe's blade and kicked him in the chest, to which he forced the Old Man to let got of the blade and knocked him backwards... before he shattered the blade that his foe had been using and tossed the fragments to the side, allowing him to stare at his opponent as he thought about what had happened so far.
"You're stronger than Ichigo, when it comes to both Shikai and Bankai," Zangetsu said, and that was true to some extent, especially since his foe had only hit him once and his Instant Regeneration had mended his wound in a matter of seconds, though he knew that one observer would be shocked by what he said, "but let's face it, Old Man, you'll never be stronger than me if you keep using the power I LET you use. If you want a chance to actually beat me, before I get annoyed and use my full power, you should call forth your truth power and fight me with the power you inherited, otherwise you won't be able to survive what comes next."
"No." the Old Man stated, causing Zangetsu to raise one of his eyebrows in surprise for a moment, because it appeared that his foe was lacking common sense, just like Ichigo lacked a pair amount of it almost all the time, but at the same time he had to admit that this action wasn't what he was expecting and made him curious as to what the Old Man was planning next.
"Excuse me?" Zangetsu asked, to which he growled for a moment as he marched forward, where he grabbed the Old Man by the shadowy fabric that formed him cloak and pinned him against one of the boulders that he hadn't destroyed during their battle, "It seems that you didn't hear what I just said. The only way you'll be able to beat me is to use the power that you inherited from Ichigo's parents, just like I gained the power of a Shinigami from his father, otherwise I'll end up destroying you and ending this battle before you even realize what's going on. The power you displayed during our previous fights, the same power that you used to dominate me when we first arrived in Ichigo's inner world, that's the power that would allow you to fight on par with me and potentially even overcome me before I have a chance to release my full power, and I know you understand that fact. So let's not play around anymore, Old Man, otherwise I will break you into a thousand pieces and knock that Muramasa creep around a few times... though if that's not enough to entice you to battle me with your full power, and you remain a coward, I could just target Ichigo and end this."
The Old Man stared at him for a few moments, as if he was trying to determine whether or not he was being series about what he had said, before he sighed and waved his right hand, where he opened his cloak and revealed that he had a white shirt and black pants, though in that instant the reishi in the air gathered and formed a bright blue broadsword with a guard that looked like a pair of wings, something that he grabbed and pointed it's tip at his foe.
"Very well, Zangetsu, I shall show you my power once more." the Old Man stated, to which his cloak moved back, as if it was a cape instead of a cloak, and as he focused on his opponent he noticed, in the corner of his eye, that Ichigo was shocked by what he was doing, something that would have to wait until later as he directed his full attention to the person that he was facing.
Zangetsu rushed forward as the Old Man charged at him, their blades meeting once more as they neared each other and the air shaking in response to their blades meeting, but as they pulled away from each other a few moments later, however, the Old Man gathered some reiatsu and swung his hand as a blue crescent appeared in front of him, where a pair of large arrows were loosed and raced towards the area that Zangetsu was standing in. Zangetsu noticed the arrows coming his way and smiled as he swung his blade at them, using the wind to knock them out of the air as he stared at his opponent, who flashed through the air and rushed at him while he was taking out the arrows, to which their blades met each other again. This time around the Old Man went on the offensive and displayed that his speed when he was using his true power was actually greater than when he was borrowing Zangetsu's power, as this time when he pulled back and flashed through the area around them the clones he made actually were copies of him, each possessing a bit of his reiatsu to make finding the real one even harder than before, and they all attacked Zangetsu in rapid succession, just like he did to Ichigo during his Bankai training. The only difference that Zangetsu discovered was that this time all of the clones were trying to kill him, not beat him into submission like all the other times they fought, to which he growled for a moment as he flashed around the area that they were in, swinging his blade at the foes that came near him while also trying to find the real Old Man so he could loose a Getsuga Tensho at him.
While the two of them were flashing around in the air, and Ichigo was watching the battle with a look of shock in his eyes as the person who had the advantage switched from Zangetsu to the Old Man and back again, Sombra determined something about the Old Man. His power seemed to be just like Uryu's, to gather reishi from the area around him and use that to form arrows that could be used against his opponent, though that made him wonder why the Old Man had such a power, even though he now understood why the spirit had been trying to hide it in the first place. The more he considered what was going on the more he was convinced that his thoughts were correct, in the sense that Ichigo had inherited his Shinigami power from his father, which made sense seeing how Isshin was a retired Shinigami that was hiding in the World of the Living with his family, but this revealed that there was another power sleeping inside Ichigo's body, one that he must have inherited from his mother. Since he he never met Masaki Kurosaki, Ichigo's mother and Isshin's wife, he had no idea if he was right or if he was wrong, but seeing how the Old Man could form what appeared to be a rather large Quincy bow and could fire decent sized Quincy arrows in rapid succession, and even use the reishi in the area around him to form a broadsword, he had the feeling that his thoughts might be right... which he decided to keep to himself for now, as it appeared that he wouldn't be able to get anywhere with Ichigo, who was so focused on the fight that he might have overlooked something important once more.
Just as Zangetsu and the Old Man clashed in the middle of the area that they had been fighting in, where the collision of their powers created a crater beneath them, Sombra turned his head to the side for a moment and watched as Renji and the rest of the important Shinigami flashed into the area near them.
"Sombra, what's going on?" Renji asked, as the moment he, and the rest of the Captains and Lieutenants, felt the arrival of an individual that shared a similar reiatsu to Ichigo and Zangetsu they came running, especially since the reiatsu of Muramasa was in the area as well, before he noticed that Ichigo's true Zanpakuto spirit was fighting the one they had assumed was his Zanpakuto spirit.
"Zangetsu and the Old Man are battling each other at the moment," Sombra replied, though at the same time the Old Man waved his left arm and loosed several more arrows at his target, where Zangetsu danced around the area that they were fighting in and let the arrows hit the ground around him before charging into the air once more, before he thought about something else that was going on, "and it appears that the rest of the Zanpakuto spirits are gathering in the area as well, to see what the outcome of this fight will be. I will see that each of them possess their own unique forms, to set them apart from their former partners, though I think I can tell who some of them belong to just by looking at them."
Renji turned his head towards the area that Sombra was looking at and found all the Zanpakuto spirits that he and the others had seen, when Muramasa revealed himself to them and announced his intentions, standing nearby, staring at the two combatants as they broke the area around them. As he moved to do something Sombra held his hand out and shook his head, indicating that this wasn't the time to strike since they could disperse in a matter of seconds, to which Renji let out a sigh as he and the others settled in for the rest of the fight, which was when Zangetsu loosed a Getsuga Tensho at the clones that were coming at him from the side and blew them away, despite the fact that the Old Man was forming more of them from the reiatsu that was around them. Sombra could tell what was going on with the fight, as the Old Man was hiding behind all the clones that were attacking Zangetsu in an effort to exhaust his foe's power, allowing him to move in when Zangetsu was weakened and end the fight in an instant, though at the same time the look in Zangetsu's eyes told him that he knew what was going on, indicating that he had seen this tactic before and that he had a plan to get around what the Old Man was doing. Renji knew that Sombra had faith in Zangetsu, and frankly he didn't want to get on the bad side of the Zanpakuto spirit turned Arrancar that had once been inside Ichigo, to which he focused on the fight as well and said nothing, as he knew that one of them was going to bring an end to the fight.
Not even a minute after the Shinigami and the Zanpakuto spirits arrived to watch the fight the clones that the Old Man made flashed into the air all around Zangetsu, filling the air with at least twenty to thirty of him, before they all started to loose a storm of arrows at their target, forcing Zangetsu to stay where he was for the time being. Zangetsu let the arrows come at him as he switched his hold on his weapon, letting go of the handle and grabbed onto the chain that was below it, allowing him to extend his reach with his blade as he started to rapidly parry all of the arrows that were coming his way, knocking them out of the air in the process. When he had enough of the arrows he grabbed onto the handle of his blade again and swung his arm towards the clones, allowing a Getsuga Tensho to lash out at the surprised clones and cut down a fair number of them in the process, maybe ten at the most, but it served to get the rest off his back for a moment as he looked for the main foe that he wanted to defeat, who seemed to have vanished. Of course he then realized that this was all a distraction, as it was one of the oldest tricks the Old Man used when they fought inside Ichigo's inner world, and he looked up in time to see the Old Man loose a large arrow from the bow that had formed in the sky, something he had missed when he was fighting the clones, and he barely had even a second to consider his options as it barreled into his chest and sent him right into the ground.
That was followed by the arrow detonating when he reached the ground, consuming him in a violent explosion that rocked the area around them, to which the Old Man lowered himself to one of the nearby boulders as he watched the smoke, though he also made sure that his clones backed off as well, as he wanted to be prepared for anything and everything that his foe could throw at him.
"This is what I expected from someone like you, however, you made one mistake... you didn't kill me!" Zangetsu said, to which the smoke parted and revealed that he was standing in the middle of the crater, with some marks on him that indicated that he had been hit, before the Old Man realized that he was holding his blade pointed towards the ground that he was standing on, "I think it's about time that I showed you my true power... Slay them all, Frenetico."
The moment Zangetsu uttered the words necessary to access his true power, with a name that meant 'Berserker', a black circle of reiatsu, with a red outline, formed around him and started spinning, expanding outwards from where he was standing, and the Old Man even took a step back as he stared at what was happening before his eyes. Not a few seconds later the spinning reiatsu formed a miniature twister of sorts and completely covered Zangetsu from the sight of everyone that was watching them battle, which then drew close to his body for a moment or two before detonating like a explosion, kicking up a massive cloud of smoke that filled the area around him. When the smoke cleared fear filled Ichigo's body as he gazed upon the Hollow form he had taken on when he was fighting Ulquiorra, or rather the form his inner Hollow had taken on after possessing his body, but this time the only major difference was that the upper part of his Bankai attire was completely gone, indicating that he didn't need it while the power coming from him showed off that he was at his full potential, and the lower body part of the attire was just fine. The air was filled with bits of reiatsu that broke off from the transformation, allowing the Captains, Lieutenants, and Zanpakuto spirits to understand what was going on, and he could tell that Muramasa was completely confused by what was going on at the moment.
Zangetsu roared with all his might and the force of his voice shattered all of the clones that were in the area around him, surprising many of the viewers that were watching the two of them fight, even though the Shinigami were surprised by his true form, before he swung his blade at the Old Man. The force of just his swing shattered the ground between them, just like he did when he was fighting Ulquiorra some time ago, and the Old Man raised his left hand to form a powerful arrow that he planned on using against Zangetsu, one that seemed on the level of the previous one he had used against his foe. Zangetsu pointed his horns at his foe and his reiatsu flared in response, to which his crimson Cero formed between his horns as the Old Man's eyes widened in surprise, though not even a moment later their attacks were released and collided with each other, where the Cero consumed the arrow and blew up, consuming the area between them and blasted a large crater into the floor. As fire burst into the air around them, followed by a lot of smoke as well, the Old Man flashed into the air and stared down at the destruction that had occurred below him, because this was new since he had never fought Zangetsu with his full power unleashed against him, and he barely had time to figure out what to do next as his foe flashed into the air above him and swung his blade down on him, to which the force of the attack knocked him down towards the ground when he attempted to block it.
As the Old Man crashed into the ground a few moments later, and coughed because of what happened, Zangetsu pointed his head down towards where he was laying and started charging a second Cero, one that was loosed a few seconds later and collided with the area that his foe was in, consuming the area around the Old Man and kicking up more smoke and fire in the process. Muramasa, deciding that the battle had gone on long enough, flashed into the air and summoned his blade, so he could attack Zangetsu from behind, but in reality his attack was stopped by Sombra, who made sure he didn't get close to the duo that were currently fighting... before he spun around and kicked the Zanpakuto spirit so hard that he went flying into a rock wall.
"I know that you're excited, Muramasa, but wait your turn." Sombra said, to which he touched down on the ground near the area that the enemy leader had been thrown into, before he glanced back at the fight that was taking place at the moment, "Once Zangetsu and the Old Man are done with their fight, and we've settled this nonsense, I'll be sure to end this pointless war that you've started... but for now just stay right there and relax, because you won't want to miss what happens next."
Zangetsu remained in the space that he was standing in for a few seconds, waiting for the Old Man to make the next move, and he grinned as his foe burst out of the smoke and started to retreat from where they were fighting, to which he used his own speed and flashed over to a spot that was in front of where the Old Man was heading. From there he ran forward, his clawed feet racing against the ground as he zeroed in on where his foe was located, surprising the Old Man when he finally figured out where his opponent was approaching him from, and Zangetsu swung his blade at him, where he loosed an empowered Getsuga Tensho through the air at the same time. Instead of having the chance to dodge the attack, since it was coming too fast for him to actually dodge, the Old Man swung his blade and blocked the attack, all in an attempt to push it back and create an opening that he could use to wound his foe, but at the same time he felt that Zangetsu had the same time, because his reiatsu appeared in the space behind him. The reason Zangetsu did that was so he could swing his blade again and trap the Old Man between two Getsuga Tenshos, just like he did against Byakuya some time ago when he was forced to possess Ichigo's body so they could stay alive, and sure enough the Old Man let the second attack collide with his back, blowing up the entire area around them as Zangetsu landed on a nearby rock and waited for his foe to reappear.
This time around, when the Old Man burst out of the smoke, things were different, because he charged at Zangetsu and the two of them moved into the air, allowing their blades to do the talking as they swung at each other, where the only sounds that could be heard were their blades making contact and the nearby flames that were dying down. The Old Man was eventually able to create a small opening, one that he used to kick Zangetsu away from him and force him towards the ground, but even as that happened Zangetsu grinned and swung his blade at his foe, where the force of the swing flattened the area around him as he surged back up to where his opponent was floating. From there the Old Man moved out of the way, allowing the smoke and pieces of rock to provide him with some cover as he sought out a good place to attack from, though even as he prepared to strike Zangetsu surprised him by flashing into the area behind him. At that moment Zangetsu swung down at the Old Man, who blocked the incoming attack and found himself being thrown back down towards the ground, to which he flipped backwards and touched down on the earth that was below him, where he gathered some of the reishi in the air and started forming another arrow that he'd use against Zangetsu... but, as he was expecting to happen, his foe appeared on the ground nearby and countered his attack, the moment he loosed it, with another Cero, kicking up more smoke and fire in the process.
When the Old Man flashed up to a good vantage point, so he could observe the destruction and come up with a plan of attack, Zangetsu appeared above him and flew downwards, grabbing onto his neck in the process, before he hurled his foe at one of the rock walls that were nearby and consumed the area around him with a well placed Cero... though when the smoke cleared the Old Man emerged from the fire and collapsed on the ground, where his blade shattered and it seemed like he was done for.
"I should kill you for everything that you've done to me," Zangetsu stated, as he flashed down to where the Old Man was laying and stared at him, but at the same time he did nothing else but look at his foe, because it appeared that his full power, which was no longer restricted by the Old Man, had been too much for his foe to keep up with, "but what would the point of that be? You'd just go right back into Ichigo's body and continue living as his main source of power, just like you wanted to be since the first time we saw his inner world, a place that, oddly enough, was the only thing we ever agreed on, since we preferred a wild place with animals and nature, not the skyscrapers that we got in the end."
"Zangetsu, why were you so eager to fight me?" the Old Man asked, to which he coughed as he pushed himself back up and took a sitting position this time around, indicating that the fight might as well be over for them, before he looked up at his foe, "What drove you to abandon Ichigo?"
"You're kidding, right? Your part of the reason I left." Zangetsu stated, as he couldn't believe his luck, because it seemed like both Ichigo and the Old Man were having problems, but at the very least the Old Man was more than willing to call him by his true name, something that he'd never get from Ichigo, "Since the day his mother died, the same day we became aware of our existence inside his inner world, you trapped me and the majority of my power inside a seal or a prison of your own design, only letting out scraps of my power whenever you needed to help Ichigo out. You kept me that way for years, never letting me talk to you and even when I managed to get some words out, so our 'partner' could hear me you silenced my words before they could get too far, and when the day I could reveal myself came you locked me away and presented yourself as his Zanpakuto spirit, telling him that my name was your name and that I was only a Hollow. You only accessed my power to train Ichigo, taking the credit for being the one to help him whenever he needed help or when he faced a powerful opponent, and instead of seeing me as an ally, like he should have, he saw me as an enemy that needed to be imprisoned and forgotten about."
Before saying anything else Zangetsu delivered a powerful upper cut and knocked the Old Man into the air, where he spun around and kicked him once more, forcing him to take a few steps backwards instead of flying through the air, but this time he didn't care as he let his blade fall out of his hand as he punched the Old Man in the face.
"Do you even understand what I've been through?" Zangetsu asked, though as he said that he stared at the Old Man with every ounce of his hatred being brought to the surface, something that kept the Old Man from moving away from the area as he stood straight up, "No, what am I saying, of course you don't understand the pain I've been through. Sure, my goals were to take over his body and use his power further down the line, but in the beginning I was just a simple spirit, one that was bound to become the weapon of a Shinigami if he ever unlocked his power, and you stole everything from me! The other Zanpakuto spirits might be rebelling against their partners, for whatever reasons I don't care enough to learn about, but there's a difference between me and them, and that's the fact that they managed to converse with their partners and bond with each other... something that you stole from me and ensured that I would never get to experience, all because you wanted to keep Ichigo for yourself. So guess what, Old Man, you can have Ichigo and float in that stupid inner world of his without me, because I'm never going back to that damned prison you stuck me in."
"So I was right, you do hate me." the Old Man commented, as he had the feeling that Zangetsu would be like this, that his anger and hatred would be fierce when he started talking, but before he could say anything more his foe punched him in the face once more.
"Hate you? I loathe you, Old Man." Zangetsu stated, to which he raised his left hand and grabbed his foe's face, where he made sure to apply enough pressure so he could lift the Old Man into the air as he spoke, "From the moment you showed yourself to Ichigo, and presented yourself as his Zanpakuto spirit, you poisoned his mind and turned him against me, just like you kept me imprisoned for all those years, and in the end my desire to be his Zanpakuto shattered, giving rise to a burning hatred for the both of you. I gave up on dreaming of the day that he'd come to his senses and recognize that I was his true partner, something that he'll never accept despite our best efforts to tell him the truth, and fully embraced my nature as his inner Hollow, as I figured that I might be able to win if I took over his entire body. Even after I took you out, and became the sole voice he could hear, he never listened, not even when we were fighting in the Visored's hideout, and he bested me so he could put you back on the shining pedestal, while I faded into the deepest pit of his inner world... at least until Ulquiorra came along and set me free, though I never got any thanks for saving his life over the last couple of months, something that I can blame you for as well.
Besides, I hate Ichigo because he refuses to believe the truth, listens to a liar that nearly kills him every time the two of you train, and keeps insisting that you are 'Zangetsu' while I'm just his 'inner Hollow', so you can keep him as your partner, because I've moved onto bigger and better things."
Zangetsu held his right hand out and called his blade back to him, though as it did so he changed it back into it's base form, which he drove right into the Old Man's chest the instant it was back in his hand, causing the Old Man to cough up some blood as he realized what was going on, before he pulled his hand off his head and withdrew his larger blade as he shrunk it once more, all while letting his foe stumble backwards with a bleeding vertical cut in his chest.
"I hate you too," Ichigo stated, to which Zangetsu glanced behind him for a moment and noticed that Ichigo had moved into the area behind him, meaning that he had listened to what was going on, even though he might still not know who the real Zangetsu was, "Old Man, it seems the fight is finished... but I have to ask something. Is... is it true what he said? That he was the original Zanpakuto spirit and you took over a long time ago?"
Zangetsu was glad that his final form still had the skull mask over his head, preventing his emotions from being seen by those around him, because he was confused and shocked by the sudden turn this was taking, but at the same time he heard the Old Man cough as he stood straight once more.
"Ichigo... yes, it is true." the Old Man said, where he noticed that Ichigo had a look of shock appear on his face, like he couldn't believe what he was hearing at the moment, before he sighed, "I'll tell you the truth: I never wanted you to become a Shinigami, so I did everything in my power to bind your true power and kept it hidden from you, which was why you could only see ghosts for the longest time. The reason I did that was because you would be risking your life and limbs, exposing yourself to various perils, and experiencing pains that would ruin your life, to the point where I considered a potential end goal where I'd be the one to cut you down, to save you from all this pain and suffering. However, after having seen you overcome so many trials already, even overcoming Zangetsu leaving you, I've decided to change my mind and do everything in my power to aid you... even if it means using my power to mimic the techniques and power that your former Zanpakuto spirit possessed, allowing you to have the same power before you lost him."
"I... I see." Ichigo replied, to which he turned towards the being that was standing nearby, who happened to be staring at the two of them, since he was technically interrupting the battle that had been taking place in this area, "I... I guess I owe you an apology then... Zangetsu."
"Just because you finally figured out who I am doesn't mean I'll forgive you," Zangetsu stated, though at the same time he growled for a moment as he gripped the handle of his blade, to which he faced the Old Man once more as his reiatsu gathered around the blade, "As for you, Old Man, have a taste of my wrath for everything you've done!"
Ichigo barely had a moment to understand what was going on as Zangetsu, as in the former Zanpakuto spirit that had abandoned him and who he had thought was someone who wanted him dead all this time, swung his arm and loosed a powerful Getsuga Tensho right into the Old Man, where the explosion consumed him and kicked up dust as he carved a deep gash into the ground behind his target. When the smoke cleared both he and Ichigo found a shattered blade that resembled his Bankai form, though as he noticed that Ichigo tapped his chest, indicating that the other spirit was back where he belonged, before Zangetsu stared at the remaining Zanpakuto spirits that were standing off in the distance.
"They have to be shaking in their boots." Ichigo commented, though at the same time he released a powerful burst of reiatsu as he shifted back into his Bankai state, indicating that he was going to stand by the real Zangetsu's side if the remaining spirits came at them, "Especially since Sombra bashed Muramasa away earlier, when he tried to interrupt your battle with the Old Man."
"I still hate you, Ichigo," Zangetsu said, to which he held his blade to the side once more, because there were a fair number of enemies that had amassed in the nearby area, all of which he would gladly fight and destroy, since that was the reason they came here in the first place, "It will take more than calling me by my real name to mend the wounds that you have inflicted on me, and make me like you, so don't think this gets you anythi..."
"Um, hi..." a voice said, to which Zangetsu and Ichigo watched as a spirit with a pink cat tail appeared in front of them, though at the same time Ichigo noticed that she was rubbing her arm for a moment and was staring at Zangetsu, "I... I know we're enemies, but... but, I... I think your hot!"
Zangetsu and Ichigo stood there for a moment as the spirit seemed to realize what she had said, to Zangetsu of all people, before she bowed her head and flashed out of the area that they were standing in, though all she really did was return to where the other spirits were standing. Not a few seconds later Sombra stood near the pair, noticing that some of the rebellious spirits seemed scared of Zangetsu and his power, but at the same time he stared at Muramasa, who was staring at them right now, and he knew what he had to do next, though he was certain that the Zanpakuto spirits were going to be utterly shocked by what he did next.
"It seems that Muramasa's presence is keeping the other Zanpakuto spirits from leaving the area," Ichigo commented, as he had noticed that some of the spirits appeared that they wanted to leave the area after witnessing Zangetsu's power for themselves, but at the same time Muramasa's presence seemed to be stopping them from leaving, despite the fact that one of the spirits came to them and then flashed away later.
"Yeah, which means that we'll need to take him out." Zangetsu said, as he understood that this rebellion would fall apart without the figurehead, which was why he had his blade at the ready and he was itching to fire a Cero at the foe that was currently standing in their way, before he glanced backwards for a moment, "Lord Sombra, do you want us to take this guy out now, or should we let them retreat and lick their wounds for a future battle?"
"You should both pull back for now." Sombra stated, though at the same time he stepped forward and walked up to the point where he was standing in front of the pair, who were looking at him as he paused, despite the fact that his eyes were on Muramasa and no one else, "I'll step forward and test his strength for myself, because he has to have some decent power if he's able to cause some many spirits to manifest themselves in this world."
"Sombra, are you sure you want to do that?" Ichigo asked, causing Zangetsu to glance at him for a moment, because he was surprised that Ichigo was even thinking about inquiring what Sombra was thinking about doing right now, but he kept quiet as he waited to see what happened next, "I mean, if he was able to draw out the Zanpakuto spirits of the Captains and Lieutenants, including drawing out the Old Man from my inner world, there's the possibility that Muramasa might even be able to draw out both Shokyo and Rey from your inner world."
"Indeed, he might be able to do that," Sombra said, as he had been thinking about that the entire time he had been watching the battle that had been happening, but at the same time he turned his head back towards the spirit that was standing off in the distance, "but, at the same time, there's a chance that he might not be able to do anything to them at all... you'll just have to wait and see what happens when we start fighting."
Ichigo seemed to want to say something, as it seemed wrong for the Dios Hueco, the King of Hueco Mundo, to step forward and face a foe that could take out the power of both of his Zanpakuto and take over their minds, but before he could do anything Zangetsu grabbed his shoulder and shook his head, to which Ichigo sighed and the two of them flashed out over to where the other Shinigami and Arrancar were standing.
"What's Sombra thinking?" Renji asked, though at the same time the other Captains seemed to have a good idea what was going on, even though he was mostly confirming what was going on, because with all their Zanpakuto spirits gathered in a single place he knew this was a bad idea.
"He's going to engage Muramasa, obviously." Grimmjow commented, though as he said that he sat on the edge of the cliff that they were standing on and stared out at the slightly ruined area that was in front of them, where the rest of the Arrancar focused on their Lord as well, before a wide grin appeared on his face, "This will be interesting."
Zangetsu nodded his head in agreement, because they had all seen Sombra best Aizen in no time despite the fact that he had tested the power that the Hogyoku had given Aizen, before noticing that the spirit with the pink cat tail had left her comrades and was standing near a boulder, even though he was sure that she was staring at him, before he focused on the incoming fight that would happen soon, as he'd deal with her later.
"So, who are you again?" Muramasa asked, because he had been solely focused on Ichigo Kurosaki and his enslaved Zanpakuto spirit, but even as he thought about that he noticed that this person was different from everyone else that he had encountered so far, which was why he was asking about who they were.
"As I told you earlier, my name is Sombra, and I am both the Dios Hueco, or Hollow God if you prefer, and the King of Hueco Mundo," Sombra replied, but at the same time he wasn't surprised to see that Muramasa was caught up in what happened earlier and didn't seem to care about him, but now that the previous battle was over the spirit would be forced to focus on him now, "I got called in to assist the Shinigami with the little 'rebellion' that you've been causing, which means that you should have acted fast and prevented anyone from leaving Soul Society, or sending messages to the World of the Living or Hueco Mundo, because now that I'm here you won't be able to succeed in your mission."
"Is that so?" Muramasa inquired, though as he said that he glanced at the blades that were attached to his foe's belts, as both of them seemed to be Zanpakuto, which made him think about something that he had been thinking since he first encountered Sombra, "Those blades on your belt, are they Zanpakuto?"
"Indeed they are, but please, don't worry about them." Sombra said, to which he slipped his hands into the pockets that his new jacket had, because right now he knew that he didn't need to do anything to Muramasa yet, not when the battle had yet to start, and he noticed that his foe raised an eyebrow in surprise, "You'll find that the next step you take will spell defeat for you and your rebellion."
"Interesting." Muramasa stated, to which he raised his right hand and loosed a gust of wind at Sombra, who found that the Zanpakuto spirit used his power to 'freeze' him to the ground that he was standing on, where a smile appeared on his face as he moved forward, indicating that he was going to do what he did to Ichigo on him, "Listen to my voice. Obey your instincts and break your souls free. Abandon your fears. Look forward. Move forward and never stop. You'll both age if you pull back. You'll both die if you hesitate. Come! Your names are..."
Before he had a chance to complete his statement a crystal pillar, which grew to the height of Sombra's head, rose out of the ground on his left, while at the same time a mass of shadows formed on the ground to his right, though everyone, as in all Shinigami, Arrancar, and Zanpakuto spirits, watched as Shokyo stepped out of the large crystal pillar and stood to Sombra's left, before Rey, in his pony state, jumped out of the swirling shadows and landed on his right. The instant that was done, and Muramasa barely had time to process what had happened, Sombra sighed and pulled his arms close to him, snapping the enchantment that had been placed on him like it was nothing, where he noticed that Muramasa was surprised by what he had done, before growing serious again.
"It seems that I might have... miscalculated... how much power I needed to use to restrain you," Muramasa stated, to which he pulled both his hands out and beckoned to the two newcomers, one that was what he assumed was a pony and the second looking like a cross between a pony and a lady, before a smile graced his face, "but that doesn't matter at all now, not when I have freed your Zanpakuto from your enslavement and have released them so they can do as their instincts tell them to do. Tell me, our new brother and sister, what are your names?"
"I am Shokyo, meaning Crystal Heart." Shokyo stated, though at the same time she stared at the opponent that stood in front of them, knowing that he didn't seem aware of what was happening at the moment, which was why she and Rey were waiting for the command to attack, "I represent the Shinigami powers that Sombra gained before he was able to regain his former powers, and I am the Zanpakuto spirit that is one of his partners."
"And I am Rey de la Oscuridad, meaning the King of Darkness." Rey added, though as he said that he grinned and flashed his smile at Muramasa, who took a small step back for a moment, which showed that even now, in his base state, he could still scare those that were his enemies, "Unlike Shokyo, who represents Sombra's Shinigami powers, I am the version of him that represents his Arrancar powers, and I am also who he used to be, before he became the Arrancar that he currently is."
"What do you mean by 'partner'?" Muramasa asked, but even as that question came out of his mouth he noticed that Sombra was stretching his arms and his legs, like he was getting ready for something, meaning that he needed to be on his guard for what came next, "Don't you mean that he's your former master?"
"Nope. When we say 'partner', we mean it." Rey said, to which he took a few steps away from Sombra, as it felt good to be out in the real world for a change, especially since the last time he got a chance to do this he had smashed a very foolish Grimmjow into the ground, before he glanced back at Muramasa, "Look, I represent who we used to be, before this guy became the dominate personality, but now that he's proven that he's much stronger than me, without Shokyo getting involved, there's no reason for me to turn my back on him and not offer him our former powers."
"Muramasa, you seem to be interested in saving Zanpakuto that are 'enslaved' by the Shinigami," Shokyo said, though she also took a few steps away from Sombra, in the opposite direction that Rey went, and kept her eyes on their target at the same time, because both of them knew what was coming next, "What if I told you that we're not like that? What if I told you that I willingly offered Sombra my name, the Release Call to use my Shikai form, the knowledge of my abilities while I'm in Shikai form, and the powerful Bankai that is the ultimate technique of every Shinigami? There is no need for the likes of subjugation between us, rather there is a level of understanding and communication that is unprecedented among Zanpakuto and their partners, so there really is no reason for either of us to listen to your orders, since we're not leaving Sombra's side and joining you."
"Then why did you bother heeding my summons at all?" Muramasa asked, though at the same time he was utterly shocked, because he had never heard of a Shinigami being able to forge such a strong connection with their Zanpakuto, one that not even he could overpower and use against the Shinigami, and he had never heard of an Arrancar being able to do something like that either, meaning the existence of two Zanpakuto spirits that would reject his philosophy so willingly was concerning, especially with the other spirits watching them.
"Because we wanted to see how you'd react to something like this happening." Rey said, though as he said that the shadows gathered near his position, to which his horn glowed and he pulled his katana out of the swirling mass, which he turned towards Muramasa with his grin still on his face, "Oh, and just so we're clear, this isn't going to be a battle between you and Sombra, it's going to be a battle between you and the three of us, so prepare yourself, because you're going to be in a world of pain soon enough."
Muramasa barely had time to summon his blade as Rey rushed through the air and swung his blade diagonally at him, causing him to defend himself against a very powerful base attack that he wasn't expecting, before he was forced to jump backwards and assess the situation that he was in. Unfortunately he failed to account for the remaining two enemies, as a shadow fell over him and he noticed Shokyo had flashed into the air above him, where she brought her blade, a beautiful katana that didn't have the ebony tint that Rey's blade had, down on him, applying enough force to send him flying back into the ground. As he impacted the ground Muramasa discovered two things, the first being that Sombra was simply watching his Zanpakuto spirits fight him, while the second was that Rey had to be close to his blade for it to be any good, not that it actually helped him at the moment. His best course of action would be to find a way to take out Rey, as he seemed to be the more aggressive of his current opponents and he knew that he could use that to his advantage, but at the same time he needed to keep his eyes open for the moment that Sombra decided to jump into the battle, because a being like him would change things in a matter of seconds.
He coughed as he carefully removed himself from the crater that had formed around him, a small one by the looks of it, but that did nothing to lift his mood, because he could tell that the two opponents he was facing were still in their base states and they were already gaining the upper hand, so for now he could use that to his advantage and lower their guard until it was time to strike at them.
"Don't lower your guard for a moment, or even think that I won't enter the batter until a later time." a voice said, to which Muramasa froze where he was standing, because in the span of a second Sombra had vanished from where he had been standing and was now standing behind him, with his back facing him, and his voice was serious, "I normally try to stay out of the battles of others, so they can resolve them on their own, and only join in when that battle involves me, but you tried to separate my partners from me, so that means you should be expecting me to jump in whenever I want."
Muramasa, acting on the belief that his main target would be behind him if he swung his blade at him, decided to go with his plan and swung at the area behind him, though instead of hitting Sombra, or even finding one of his blades there to stop his, he found Rey had rushed towards him as Sombra flashed away, parrying his attack instantly. In the following instant something collided with his back and knocked him into the ground nearby, just as Rey flashed away from where he was laying, and that was before Muramasa discovered that the new attacker was Sombra, who rapidly moved into the steps of the Raioken technique, where each punch cracked the ground around him and wounded Muramasa's body with the sheer power his base form possessed. When the last punch was thrown, and Muramasa coughed instead of flashing out of the area, Sombra picked him up by his shoulders and hurled him into the sky, giving him the briefest of chances to regain his balance as Shokyo rushed over to where he was standing and swung at him, though as he parried the attack he found that this Zanpakuto spirit was just as strong as Rey was, meaning that his chances of winning this match went down the instant he found out how powerful Sombra was in his base form.
Shokyo knocked him towards the ground and remained in the air above him, causing Muramasa to wonder if one of the others was coming to attack him this time, just like they had a habit of doing when he was distracted, but instead of that happening Shokyo shifted her blade into her left hand and what appeared to be a crystal spear formed in the air to her right, allowing her to easily grab the weapon and use it as she desired. Shokyo shifted her gaze towards Muramasa and threw the spear down at him, which would have been easy to dodge on it's own, but when it flashed and became a cluster of brilliant blue crystalline spears, between ten to thirty of them, he knew that dodging them was going to be nearly impossible, not without getting hit in some manner. Sure enough several of the spears cut into his body, as there were a few cuts on the sides of his body, on his arms and legs, and his right cheek had been cut as well, but despite the fact that he knew that Shokyo wasn't trying to kill him quickly, so he could be shared between the three of them, Muramasa knew that, if the female spirit was serious, she could kill him instantly if she so desired. The same could be said for Rey, as the pony spirit was quick to rush at him when an opening presented itself, his normal attacks were powerful on their own, and dodging bullets made from the shadows around them seemed impossible to dodge as well, though they hurt as much as the spears did and knocked him into the ground with ease.
When Muramasa stood up a few moments later, however, he noticed that both Shokyo and Rey stood near him, both looking like they were going to attack him next, and he held his blade at the ready, since he had no idea which of them was going to be the first one to strike, but before he could do anything the sky darkened, as if some sort of evil force was taking control over the area around them.
"Seeping crest of turbidity." Sombra recited, though unlike Aizen, who had pointed his index finger at the sky to do what he had wanted to do, he could channel the power of his Kido direction into the sky while he focused on the spirit that was between them, "Arrogant vessel of lunacy! Boil forth and deny! Grow numb and flicker! Disrupt sleep! Crawling queen of iron! Eternally self-destructing doll of mud! Unite! Repulse! Fill with soil and know your own powerlessness! Hado Number 90: Kurohitsugi!"
Muramasa watched as a large box of dark energy formed around him, stopping him in the area that he was standing in as the walls formed around him and stretched towards the sky that was above him, and before long he found himself trapped inside the box and cut off from the rest of the world. A few moments later a series of cuts were slashed into his body, as if something or someone was attacking him without him being able to see them, and as his blood flew into the air above him he watched as the box suddenly fell apart, allowing him to hit the ground and cough up some blood as he realized that they might actually be on two separate levels.
"You know, he's got enough power to cause so many Zanpakuto spirits to materialize," Rey commented, to which both he and Shokyo flashed down to the area near Sombra, but he was more interested in the fact that Muramasa couldn't stand against their combined power, much less the power that Sombra commanded when he used one of the Kido spells that he had access to, "but even with all that power he's no match for the base power of the Dios Hueco, much less the combined power of all three of our base states. Seriously, did we really consider this guy much of a threat?"
"His current power, while keeping the other Zanpakuto spirits materialized, is that of a high level Gillian, or a low level Adjuchas," Shokyo added, though while she shared Rey's views on this battle, in the sense that all three of them didn't need to be doing this, she knew that Sombra wanted to show Muramasa how outclassed he was, especially since the only way for him to stand a chance against them was to stop the rebellion and take all his power back into his body.
"He'll run away before long." Sombra stated, though at the same time he stepped forward and drew his Zanpakuto from their scabbards, causing the pair of spirits to focus on Muramasa and do the same thing, "There's an end goal he's working towards, so either he'll tell us what his plans are or we'll force him, and his allies, to flee from the area and come back at another time. So until either of those events happen we'll keep attacking him, and there's a Hado spell I want to try out while we're doing this, so we'll see if I get the chance to do that before he makes a decision on what to do... and before I do that, and use the spell I'm thinking about, it's time I use Kaiten Kenbu."
Muramasa, hearing that there was both a spell and a technique he hadn't seen before, got up and started to take a step backwards, so he could avoid Sombra's attack, but that was followed by Sombra flashing through the air and stopped some distance behind his target, where Muramasa watched as six diagonal gashes, three going down to his right side and the other three doing the same for the left side, appeared on his chest and blood burst out of them. As he pushed himself away from Sombra, however, both Shokyo and Rey attacked him at the same time, their blades meeting on top of his blade as they pushed him towards the ground once more, showing him that they were keeping him within range of the spell that Sombra was planning on using against him. Rey was the one that knocked him away from where the due was floating, which was followed by Muramasa finding that Shokyo was the one that was attacking him now, either with her crystals or with her blade, confirming that her base state was powerful and that he might not be able to stand against the power that she, Rey, or even Sombra were capable of wielding on their own. What he wasn't expecting was for the shadows to reach up and grab onto his legs for a moment, where he was pulled down back to the ground below them and found Rey waiting for him, where he blocked the attack to the best of his ability, before Rey grinned and used the shadows to cut into his arms and legs... and then he used the shadows to form a black orb that was pressed against his chest, only he found himself being pushed into the ground.
He had never seen a technique like this, where the shadows manipulated the gravity of the area around him in some manner, and he had no idea how to combat a power like this, but even as he thought about that he tried to fight against the gravity that was opposing him at the moment... though as that happened he noticed that both Shokyo and Rey had moved out of the way, and that Sombra was standing near his current position with his reiatsu gathering in the area that they were standing in.
"Prepare yourself, Muramasa, because this is the strongest Hado spell I have access to," Sombra said, though at the same time the ground cracked a little as he stood there, surprising Muramasa, as this sounded like the spell that he had briefly mentioned earlier, when he was talking to his Zanpakuto spirits, "Hado Number 99: Goryutenmetsu."
Muramasa watched as the ground around him ruptured, sinking and collapsing in chunks while some parts of the ground rose up in five well placed pillars, which transformed themselves into five massive serpent dragons that were staring down at him... and before he had a chance to react, even though there wasn't much he could do without breaking the orb that was keeping him trapped, the dragons raced towards him and violently exploded as they collided on the area that he was trapped in.
"Very impressive." Zangetsu commented, as when the smoke cleared he flashed down to where Sombra, Shokyo, and Rey were standing, where he found a massive crater that was even larger than the one that Aizen had formed when he transformed into his final state, and right now it didn't seem like Muramasa had survived, "I wasn't expecting that attack to do this much damage to the environment."
"Truthfully, neither was I." Sombra said, as he was staring at the massive crater that rested in front of him, because this was one of the few Kido spells that he hadn't practiced in the underground training area that Urahara had, which now made sense by the destruction that was in front of him, but now he understood the reason why, "I also only poured a tenth of my power into that attack, so just imagine how strong it would be if I bothered to charge it for more than just a couple of moments like I did."
"You would have blown the entire area away if it was at full power and had it's incantation." Ichigo added, though he was shocked by what he was seeing, something that he knew the Shinigami and the Zanpakuto spirits were feeling as well, because the Shinigami were shocked that he had pulled off the strongest Hado in existence without any strain on his body and the Zanpakuto were staring with their mouths open.
"Well, Goryutenmetsu doesn't have an incantation," Sombra stated, as he remembered back to when he had read the books Tessei had lent him and recalled the question he had asked, before he refocused on what was going on at the moment as he felt Muramasa's reiatsu flicker in the crater, "it's already so powerful without the incantation, so if there was one the spell would be even stronger... and this entire area would have collapsed on itself. Best that we have it without the incantation, that way nothing terrible happens if someone evil decided to use it..."
Ichigo raised an eyebrow as Sombra stopped talking all of a sudden, though at the same time he noticed that some of the Zanpakuto spirits had moved to the edge of the crater and reached into it, where two of them took the offered help and hauled Muramasa out of the crater, though his body was littered in cuts and blood, and part of his robe had been destroyed after taking such a powerful direct attack. He raised his blade, as a well placed Getsuga Tensho would shatter the ground beneath the Zanpakuto spirits and drop them into the massive hole that was in front of them, but he was surprised when Sombra, Shokyo, and Rey held their arms, and hoof, out to stop him, to which he sighed as he lowered his blade and watched what happened next. The Zanpakuto spirits that weren't holding onto the wounded and defeated Muramasa glanced at them for a few seconds, to be sure that they weren't going to do anything to them, though when Sombra shook his head one of the spirits, who was carrying a small shrine on his back, nodded to the others and they flashed out of the area they were standing in. The only Zanpakuto spirit that remained behind for a few seconds, the one that had told Zangetsu that he was hot, stared at them for a few seconds before flashing out of the area as well, leaving the Shinigami and the Arrancar to their own devices for who knew how long.
"Well then, it seems like we have an opportunity to tell the others the news about what Muramasa's doing." Rey said, though at the same time a new crystal pillar and a new mass of swirling darkness appeared near Sombra, the signs that they were returning to their blades, "And then, with everyone properly informed of what's going on, we can put an end to this rebellion and do something else."
Sombra nodded as his Zanpakuto spirits returned to their blades and the means of them entering this world vanished entirely, though as he turned around both Zangetsu and Ichigo returned to their base forms as they followed him back to the rest of the Shinigami, who needed to be informed of what was going on and what they had discovered... and maybe even tell them how to regain their rebellious Zanpakuto spirits in the process, especially since Ichigo managed to regain the Old Man earlier, despite it being Zangetsu that did the deed.
Despite how fast the rest of the Zanpakuto spirits were going, to carry their wounded leader to their hideout so he could rest and recover from the massive beating that he had suffered, there was one spirit among them that held back and took her time as she used the tree branches to follow after them. Haineko sighed as she noticed that the rest of the spirits were getting further and further away from where she was, but at the same time she found that her mind was focused on one thing and nothing else, and that was the being that had been fighting before that creature with two spirits let Muramasa 'free' his 'partners', before they smashed him into the ground. If what she had heard was correct, and she thought it was correct, the being was called Zangetsu, his power was incredible and made her think twice about everything that she had come into contact with recently, and, before the battle that Muramasa had taken part in had started, she had actually gotten close to him and his former partner, Ichigo Kurosaki, where she called him hot. As the others continued towards their cave hideout she landed on the path that would take her to it and walked towards her destination, as she needed to think about what she had done and what she was going to do now, especially since many of them had to wonder if their rebellion was even going to work, especially with such a foe standing in their way.
She had gone up to one of their enemies, one of the beings that served the King of Hueco Mundo, and had said that he was hot, like she was interested in him, before getting embarrassed and moved out of the area, but despite all that she had seen what had to be some sort of interest in Zangetsu's eyes. She wasn't sure if the interest had been like she was feeling, or if it was because he found it amusing that an enemy was saying that to him, but that didn't change what she had done and that her allies were going to add that to the list of things that they held against her. It reminded her of what happened when she tried to communicate with her former master, Matsumoto Rangiku, a name that would normally sour her mood, but right now that didn't happen, making her wonder what was wrong with her as she approached the entrance of their hideout, to which she sighed and walked down the steps that she eventually came to. Her body followed the movements that she was used to doing as she followed the path that was in front of her, allowing her to focus on the fact that her mind was thinking about something else, before she found herself in the chamber that she and the other spirits gathered in when they were waiting for Muramasa to arrive and deliver their orders to them. As she walked into the chamber she turned to the right and moved to the side, where she leaned against a boulder and wondered why she had approached one of their enemies in such a manner, while at the same time the others made sure that Muramasa was somewhere resting, to recover from his battle.
"I can't believe that those three messed up Muramasa this badly." one of the spirits, the large ogre-like spirit called Hozukimaru, stated, though even as he said that the rest of the spirits spread out and tried to recover from what they had seen earlier, though they focused on the one that was speaking at the moment.
"That guy wasn't a Shinigami... he was something else entirely..." another spirit, the being with the black body and red outline, Kazeshini, added, though his tone indicated that he was unsure of whether or not he'd want to battle someone like Sombra, if he was able to do this much damage to their leader, who had to be the strongest spirit among their group, and he noticed that some of the others were nodding their agreement to his words.
"He said that he was an Arrancar, the Dios Hueco, and the King of Hueco Mundo." the man with ice on his hands and feet, Hyorinmaru, added, indicating that he had heard what their new foe had said and that he seemed to be thinking about something that he had seen during the fight, "I don't believe that he'll be an easy enemy to defeat, in our current state anyway, but if we had Ryujin Jakka we might stand a chance against him."
"We don't need Ryujin Jakka to beat him," one of the two beings that made up Zabimaru, the lady that was called Saru, stated, to which she turned towards the path that she and the others had walked down with the little boy, Hebi, following after her, before they both glanced back at the group, "He won't be expecting another attack so soon, so we'll surprise them and take out some of them before they realize what's going on."
Haineko watched as Saru and Hebi headed up the stairs and left the cave system, to hunt a being that they didn't have a chance to defeat, but she kept quiet as she let them face their chosen fate, before she looked down at her feet and wondered if she should leave as well, to find someone else.
"Something wrong, Haineko?" a voice asked, to which Haineko turned her head and found Tobiume, the small girl that was dressed in the kimono and wielded bells, standing nearby, yet she found that any annoyances she might have felt for the other female spirit didn't even come to the surface at the moment, "You seem distracted by something... or is it that you're distracted by someone?"
"I'm... thinking about Zangetsu..." Haineko replied, which was followed by her rubbing her arm for a moment as she looked at the pool of water that was on the other side of the chamber that they were all gathered in, though at the same time she noticed that some of the other spirits were looking at them, all because Tobiume had bothered to ask her if something was bothering her.
"Oh, you're thinking about how we'll kill him." Kazeshini said, though he grinned as his body shuddered for a moment, something that was common since when he attacked his foes he sometimes shifted into a twister form to strike and his body occasionally shuddered because of his powers, before he walked over to the nearby table and sat down in a chair that he immediately leaned back in, "I'm sure that Muramasa will have a plan to deal with him, once he recovers from his fight and wakes back up, though I would like to meet him in battle, to see whose the better killer between us."
"Idiot, she's not thinking about how we'll kill Zangetsu," Tobiume stated, causing the other spirit to glare at her while some of the others raised their heads, as they were all interested in what she assumed Haineko was thinking about, even if she didn't want Tobiume to say anything that was on her mind, before she turned her head to the side a little so she could look at Haineko, "she wants to get in his pants... don't you, Haineko?"
"Now that's funny." Hozukimaru said, to which he and some of the others chuckled for a moment, thinking that what Tobiume had said was funny, while at the same time Tobiume smiled a little, as it seemed that one or two of the spirits seemed to know Haineko as well as she did, before the large spirit stopped laughing, "Get real, Tobiume. There's no way that Haineko, as stupid as she might be at times, would be thinking about do anything with one of our enemies, especially one that happens to be standing between us and our freedom from our masters."
"Y... Yeah. Get real, Tobiume." Haineko stated, trying to act like her usual self in front of the other spirits, despite the fact that the younger female spirit had put such an image in her head in the first place and the fact that the spirits were reminded of what her former master thought of her, before she headed towards the stairs on her own, "I'm... going for a walk. I'll be back before Muramasa recovers from his ordeal."
Truthfully all she wanted to do was to get away from Tobiume, so she could be alone with her thoughts, but even as she breached the surface her mood was ruined as she heard the spirit in question declaring that she'd follow her, just to be sure that she didn't try anything funny... to which Haineko sighed as she walked, as she was sure that Tobiume was going to bother her and prevent her from figuring out what was going on with her, and that meant that this was going to be a very long and annoying walk.
After Sombra and the assembled Shinigami returned to the Fourth Division's barracks, with the Arrancar keeping watch on the area around them in case some of the Zanpakuto spirits doubled back to fight them while they were talking, Sombra explained that Muramasa was taking the frustrations that each of the Zanpakuto were feeling and used those as his anchors to materialize them in this world. The Old Man, manifesting at Ichigo's request for a few moments, confirmed that this was some sort of hypnotism that Muramasa was performing on the spirits, though he also revealed that once one of the spirits were defeated they would return to normal, even if he recommended that the Shinigami partner of the spirit in question struck the final blow. He also guessed that simply defeating them might break the hypnosis on it's own, but to truly reclaim their partners the Shinigami were going to have to find them and deal with them in whatever manner they could, because they wouldn't return to their former partners without overcoming what had come between them, as in what frustrations had allowed their foe to cause these separations.
While the others continued chatting about what Sombra had discovered, and what they might be able to do in the future, Renji quietly excused himself and headed out towards the area of the Seireitei that he had fought Ichigo in, back when his friends had come to rescue Rukia, though this time he was looking for clues as to where Captain Byakuya might have gone after his own Zanpakuto attacked him.
"He's just as clueless as ever." a female voice said, stopping Renji in his tracks after he reached the area that he was heading to, though he knew that it couldn't be one of the Arrancar, as they figured out what he was doing and he denied their offer of assistance, since this was something he had to do on his own.
Renji turned towards the long stretch of stairs that were nearby and found a woman sitting on one of the steps, with a smile on her face as they stared at each other, though something about her seemed familiar to Renji, despite the fact that he couldn't figure out why he felt that way.
"You're... Aren't you...?" Renji started to say, but despite what he was feeling he still had next to no idea which of the remaining Zanpakuto spirits that he was staring at, even though a few of them were easy to spot when they abandoned them and joined Muramasa's side, before he turned his head to the side as he stared at her, "To be completely honest, I'm drawing a blank here. Who are you supposed to be?"
"You seriously don't know?" the woman replied, her expression shifting into one of anger for a few seconds, just to show that she wasn't happy with what she had heard, before it returned to normal and she stood up, "Goodness gracious. That's very rude, Renji. And here we've been holding hands for years now."
"For years?" Renji inquired, to which he considered what he knew about the mysterious lady that was in front of him, because either she was a spirit that belonged to one of the seated members, one of the Lieutenants, or worse one of the Captains, so he might be able to fend her off until he figured out who she was, "Sorry lady, but I've never been involved with any hairy woman in my life, even if they are a Zanpakuto spirit."
The woman said nothing as the little boy that had been standing behind her the entire time finally revealed himself to Renji, though as a look of surprise appeared on his face, since he assumed that it was only the two of them in the area, he also nothing that the two of them were bound by a chain of some kind.
"How about now, Renji?" Saru asked, though she was sure that she and Hebi were wasting their time, as it appeared that their former partner wasn't going to be able to figure out who they were and why they had come here, despite what all the other spirits had done after their abandoned their masters, "Do you recognize us now?"
"Wait a second... a monkey and a snake..." Renji commented, though even as he said that the duo walked down the steps that they had been standing on and approached him, despite the fact that he was more shocked by the information that he was figuring out, "It... it can't be. The two of you... you're Zabimaru, aren't you?"
"What's this? You look rather surprised." Saru said, something that was to be expected, because the form that all Zanpakuto showed their Shinigami masters, inside their inner world, happened to be different from the one that each of them actually dreamed of taking one day, which was why they, Zabimaru, were split into two beings that made up the same Zanpakuto spirit.
"You used to be a regular monkey with a snake tail!" Renji stated, remembering the time that he had showed both Ichigo and Sombra what Zabimaru looked like, when he interrupted their Bankai training, and this clearly wasn't what he was expecting, "Of course I'd be surprised! And don't make it sound like this is such a small detail, because one spirit suddenly splitting into two different forms, even tied together, doesn't make any sense, especially since one of you is a woman and the other is a small boy!"
"That's not really important at the moment, now is it?" Saru inquired, though at the same time both she and Hebi came to a stop as they stared at Renji, who seemed to be getting ready for a battle that was definitely coming, "Renji, do you know just how heavily you relied on us and our power?"
"Really? I was relying on you?" Renji asked, as he hadn't thought about that fact, since there were some Shinigami that heavily relied on their Zanpakuto partners and others that worked with them to overcome some sort of ordeal, before he shook his head and stared at his foes once more, "Sorry, but I honestly don't have the time to waste on dealing with you two right now, not with my Captain sti..."
"Oh Renji, did you really think we'd let you get out of here in one piece?" Hebi asked, though even as he said that Saru grinned as well, showing their former master that they were responding to his movements and that were getting ready for something big, "Because we're here to finish you off and weaken our enemy's forces."
Before Renji could say anything the two spirits raised their arms, Saru raising her left arm and Hebi doing the same with his right arm, though when they were leveled with each other their red reiatsu flared for a moment, which was fine since they were being serious about their statement.
"Right, because you heard a voice that told you to obey your instincts." Renji commented, recalling what Sombra had told him and the others earlier, before he came out to see if he could figure out where his Captain went, and he stared at the pair that was in front of him, "So tell me, why must we fight?"
"Because it is in our nature!" Saru replied, though at the same time Renji noticed that the Shikai form of his Zanpakuto formed in front of their hands, though he had no idea which of them had possession of the blade at the moment, which he found out seconds later as Saru pulled her hand back, "Go get him, Hebi!"
"Already on it, Saru!" Hebi stated, to which he grabbed onto the handle of their shared Zanpakuto and raced at where Renji was standing, swinging his arm around and extending the blade to it's full length so he could crush Renji where he was standing, which was the entire reason they came out here in the first place.
Renji jumped backwards as the blade crashed down on where he had been standing a few seconds ago, though as he focused on the little boy that was attacking him, someone that he couldn't bring himself to attack at the moment, Saru rushed at him from the side and lashed out at him with her foot, something that he had to dodge as he jumped backwards and safely landed on the floor nearby. Despite Renji doing that Saru grabbed onto the chain that was wrapped around her waist and started spinning it in the air above her head, allowing her to spin Hebi around and swing him through the air, to which he drew his blade and blocked the incoming attack, where he found himself being pushed back by Hebi's attack for a few seconds. When he came to a stop, and so did his current opponent, Renji pushed back against his foe and knocked Hebi backwards into the air, though as that happened the Shikai blade disappeared and he hit the ground, only for him to swing the chain and send Saru, with the missing blade, back at Renji. This attack, despite Renji blocking it, sent him flying back into the wall that was behind him, just like he had done to Ichigo during their rematch, and the ground was carved up in the process, but in that instance he understood that trying to simply defend wasn't going to work against their tactics and made him regret not bringing some aid with him, since it's technically two on one right now.
"I figured that he'd put up more of a fight." Hebi stated, though as he stopped beside Saru, who was retracting their blade, they stared at the hole that had formed just a few seconds ago, because they had come here for a specific reason and if it ended so suddenly they would feel cheated.
"He had better not be finished yet, otherwise we'll trash this place and take out Sombra as well." Saru said, but even as she said that a slight grin appeared on her face as Renji picked himself up and emerged from the hole in the wall, which meant that he was ready to continue fighting, "You should realize that this is pointless, Renji, because your weak and you don't have the strength to defeat us."
"Excuse me?" Renji asked, because that was something new that he wasn't expecting, though at the same time he made sure to ready himself for whatever they had planned next, as there was no telling what they had planned and which of them might be coming at him next, "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Oh Renji, that's the most important part of our decision." Saru stated, though even as she said that Hebi rubbed the back of his head for a moment, meaning that it was up to her to tell Renji what was going on, which was why she was still staring at their former master, "We don't want to get weak. What we want is to grow stronger and stronger, and to do that we can't be chained to such a weak master like you. The reason we left you, Renji, is because you are a weak man and we wanted out."
Renji growled as he summoned an aura of his reiatsu around him, but instead of attempting to call out his Shikai, which he knew that was impossible since Zabimaru didn't want to give him the power that had been his, and he intended on showing his foes that he wasn't as weak as they thought he was. He charged out from where he was standing and jumped into the air as Hebi tried to strike the ground where he had been standing, since Saru had thrown him at him, but as he moved into the air Saru rushed at him and summoned their blade back to her, using the force of the collision to send him back towards the ground, only he managed to safely land and plan his next move. Before he had a chance to do anything Hebi called the blade over to him and used it to knock Renji backwards, showing that their tag team tactic was much stronger than he originally thought it would be, but at the same time he knew that they either wanted him dead or they were testing his strength before truly abandoning him to a life without his Zanpakuto spirit. Before they had a chance to do something he rushed forward and attacked Saru, though even as he struck the duo moved away from him, which was why he headed up into the area that Ichigo had fought Captain Zaraki in earlier, even though it had been rebuilt after Aizen's defection... and right now it was going to have to suffer through another battle before he defeated both halves of his Zanpakuto spirit.
It took a few moments to reach the area that he wanted to fight in, instead of the area that his Captain had suddenly disappeared in, and both of his foes dropped down into an area near him, but despite the fact that they came here to kill him, or so they claimed, both Saru and Hebi stalled for a moment, which was all he needed.
"Maybe you guys are right. Maybe I am weak." Renji stated, to which he noticed that Saru raised her eyebrow for a moment while Hebi stood there like he was tired of the fight, which was why he intended on finishing this as soon as he could, after he got what he was thinking off his chest, "But here's the thing that you might not have considered, and that is the fact that there is a being in this world that is so strong that he'd take someone like me, and that includes the two of you, out in a matter of seconds. But so what? Sombra started as a soul that eventually evolved into Adjuchas ranked Arrancar, one that was able to evolve even further and become the strongest Vasto Lorde in all of Soul Society's recorded history, before pushing his power to his limits and became a being that hasn't been seen, in both this world and Hueco Mundo, for the last thousand years. After seeing how powerful he's gotten over the months, and all the training that he went through, I am more determined to push myself to whatever limits I might have to accomplish my goals and defeat the opponent that I have been training to defeat.
That, Zabimaru, is why I have been training nonstop since I achieved my Bankai, because I know that I can get even stronger than I am now, and some day I will amass enough strength so that I can finally overcome my opponent and defeat him in battle... and you two reinforced that thought in my mind."
The moment Renji said that he shifted his stance and placed his hand on his blade, causing both of his foes to stare at him like he had lost his mind, before he gathered his reiatsu and prepared himself, because this was either going to work or he was going to fail at something else.
"Howl, Zabimaru!" Renji declared, though as he did that he moved his hand down the length of his blade and grinned as it transformed into it's Shikai form, causing both Saru and Hebi to stare at him in shock, as if they weren't expecting such a thing to happen, but this only confirmed what Sombra had told him and the others earlier.
"It seems that your determination has let you take part of our power back," Saru commented, to which she gripped the chain that was attached to Hebi's neck, who grinned as he understood what was coming up next, especially since Renji seemed to have no idea what they were doing, "but did you honestly think that this resolve of yours is enough to defeat the two of us and force us back into submission? Please, your resolve won't help you defeat us! Bankai!"
Smoke surged out of the area around where she was gripping the chain, followed by the red reiatsu that matched Renji's reiatsu forming a sphere and shrouded the duo from Renji's sight, but when the smoke and the reiatsu vanished he found Saru standing there, wielding the baboon snake that was his Bankai.
"Hihio Zabimaru." Saru said, though even as she said that her grin widened as she swung her arm, to which Hebi, who was the massive baboon snake that could be directed with the handle that replaced the Shikai handle, burst into the air and pointed it's head at Renji, "Hikotsu Taiho!"
Hebi opened his mouth and fired a dense burst of reiatsu at Renji, who dodged the attack and moved out of the way, but at the same time he didn't even bother attacking the Bankai form of his Zanpakuto, because until Sombra he didn't have the power to defeat his own Zanpakuto in this state, and the top of the building he had been standing on exploded as the attack struck it. Despite that thought, however, he couldn't resist the urge to try and swung at the large snake a few times, finding that Saru was manipulating the snake and completely avoided all of the attacks like they were nothing to her, before she directed Hebi right into Renji's back, where he dropped his blade and it fell into the top of the building he was passing over, while he hit the building near it. What just happened proved him right, that attacking his Bankai with his Shikai was a terrible idea, and at the same time he realized something, that because of the time he spent training with Zabimaru, to develop both of their skills, his foe knew his every weakness and strength, which meant that he needed to do something that his foes wouldn't see coming at all. Despite the fact that he was terrible at using Kido spells, especially when his skills were compared to someone like Sombra, it was the only thing that he could do in this situation and maybe, possibly, come out on top, which meant that he had to gamble his chances at winning.
"Unlike your pathetic excuse for a Bankai, we have no blind spots." Saru commented, though at the same time, as she stopped on the building near their foe, Hebi wrapped around her and looked down at Renji, because they knew that it was only a matter of time before they destroyed Renji, which was before Hebi returned to his original form and left their Bankai state behind for now, "You can't defeat us, Renji, and it's only a matter of time until we tire of wrecking you and accomplish what we came here to do."
"That's what you think." Renji said, to which he raised his hands for a moment and his reiatsu flared for a moment, because this was going to be something that his foes weren't going to see coming, though his foes didn't seem to care what he was doing as they stared at him, "Bakudo Number 4: Hainawa."
In the following moment two ropes of yellow reiatsu raced forward and wrapped around the arms of his targets, to stop them from moving for a few seconds at max, but even as he considered what he was going to do next he found that both of his enemies seemed to be regarding him like he was an idiot.
"Really? This is what you were planning?" Saru asked, to which both she and Hebi shattered the ropes that had been wrapped around their arms, showing that Renji's power wasn't as great as he seemed to think it was, "You're terrible at Kido, so much so that you're a danger to those around you when you use any of the spells. I never actually thought that you'd even attempt to do something like this, but even though you've done this it just proves how desperate you truly are, and it proves that you can't beat us at all."
Despite her words, and her desire to break his spirit before they 'killed' him, Renji gathered his reiatsu and started throwing a series of Hado Number 31: Shakkaho, the red sphere spell that he had used as a light in Hueco Mundo, and forced both of his enemies to dodge his attacks as he chased after them. Sure, a few of them blew up in his face, but since he was facing his Zanpakuto spirit he persisted and continued firing at his targets, forcing Saru up the nearby wall, where she actually climbed up it like a monkey would, before she reached the top of the building and gripped the chain, to which Hebi went flying towards Renji's blade. What the snake wasn't expecting was for the blade to fold over on itself a little, as if it was broken or something, though at the same time Hebi intended to use it as Saru used their blade and pulled on the chain, causing the two of them to rush towards where Renji was standing, since he was between them. Renji was expecting something like that, considering that both of his foes seemed to have missed something obvious, because he turned towards Hebi and loosed the strongest Shakkaho that he could muster, to which he grinned as the burst shattered his weakened blade and scattered the blade fragments everywhere.
As both Saru and Hebi seemed to realize that something was wrong, and just before they could move, Renji activated his Higa Zekko technique, using the scattered blade fragments to attack his foes while they were distracted, causing both of his foes to scream out in pain as they both crashed into the roof behind him and actually reverted back to their Shikai form, meaning that victory was his.
"I may be weak, Zabimaru, but as long as I have the desire to get stronger, then I will continue to get stronger." Renji stated, though at the same time he walked over to where his Zanpakuto spirit was located, staring at the blade that they had formed when he bested them, before a thought crossed his mind, "No... I WILL become even stronger... and I would like to have you along for the journey, Zabimaru."
"You're not bad, Renji." Saru spoke up, causing him to smile for a moment, as he had been hoping that one of them would have said something before he decided to leave the area, "We've come to our senses and have broken free from the hold that Muramasa placed on our minds, so we're ready to rejoin you, partner, and free the other spirits from the hold that he's placed on the others."
"I'm glad to have you guys back." Renji said, to which he gripped the blade and held it over his shoulder, just like he did sometimes when he was facing someone, before he turned in the direction of the Fourth Division's barracks and left the area that they had been fighting in, because this just confirmed what Sombra had told them.
So far they had freed two of the Zanpakuto from Muramasa's hold, which wasn't much in the grans scheme of things, but it was a good start considering that there was no telling what their foe had planned, and, with Sombra and his allies aiding them, their chances of winning were greater than they were before... and he was looking forward to seeing what sort of plan Sombra had in mind for taking the leader of the rebellion out.
With Zabimaru defeated and freed from Muramasa's mind control, along with the fact that the two spirits were sorry for what they had done so far, Renji traversed the Seireitei and headed back to the Fourth Division's barracks, because he wanted to inform the others that Sombra had been right in what he told them. It wasn't long before he came across other Shinigami, who were busy moving things around and getting their defenses in order, because even with four powerful Arrancar helping them, and that wasn't even counting Sombra's presence, the Captains wanted to be ready for any attacks that might come their way. He couldn't blame them for thinking that way, not when Saru and Hebi had come to the Seireitei to attack anyone that they could find, to clear the way for their former allies as one would originally think, and there was no telling how many of the remaining Zanpakuto spirits might come their way, to kill or defeat them so they could further whatever plan Muramasa was working towards. He knew that most of the Captains agreed with Sombra, that their foe was planning something, while at the same time none of them were shocked to find that he had already figured out that something else was up with this rebellion, though all Sombra had to do was learn more about their foe and he would likely figure out what his true goal was.
Renji smiled as he landed in front of his destination, to which he switched Zabimaru back to it's sealed state and walked into the barracks, nodding to the Shinigami that he happened to walk by, though when he reached the meeting room that the others were sitting in he came to a stop and knocked, before walking in when he heard the return knock.
"Ah, Renji, it's good to see that you made it back here safely." Sombra spoke up, because thanks to his ability to sense reiatsu, which was likely the strongest sense anyone in Soul Society had ever seen, he had noticed that one of his friends had returned to the Fourth Division's barracks mere moments after he landed outside the building, though at the same time, when he noticed the look on Renji's face, he smiled as the others turned towards the door, "And, unless I'm wrong in my thoughts, it appears that you managed to recover Zabimaru as well."
"Yes, I have freed Zabimaru, or Saru and Hebi as they prefer to be called, from Muramasa's control," Renji replied, to which he nodded his head a little and both of the spirits he had fought earlier appeared behind him, though this time they were much more calm than they had been when earlier, allowing the assembled Captains to be at ease, "Sombra, it seems that you were right in what you were telling us earlier, that Muramasa is amplifying the frustrations that the Zanpakuto are feeling on a daily basis so he can draw them to his side. The only way to free them is to find and fight them with everything that you have, just like I did with these guys a few minutes ago, though if you're not careful they'll use what they know about you against you, making you go through some... unusual... tactics to defeat them."
"You're telling me." Saru commented, as she was still a little sore over Renji beating her and Hebi by using both his terrible power over Kido and the power of his Shikai blade, but at the same time Hebi rested his tail against the floor and raised himself so his head was level with Renji's head, "I never thought that we'd lose to you because of a combination of Kido and our own attacks... it definitely caught us off guard."
"I'm relieved that we've confirmed Sombra's information, not that I didn't trust him to begin with." Ukitake said, as he and the others had felt that Sombra and Zangetsu had told them everything they needed to know about Muramasa's powers, in terms of 'freeing' their Zanpakuto from them, but at the same time having this confirmed by a third person was a good thing for all of them.
"But you know, it will take a while for everyone to find their partners." Shunsui added, as he had been thinking about something the entire time they had been sitting there, though even as he said that he glanced up and looked at the pair of spirits that represented Zabimaru, knowing that not all of the spirits would do what they did, "I mean, it's not like our partners aren't going to wait for us. Saru, Hebi, do either of you remember where Muramasa's base is located? If we knew where they were camping out we'd be able to free more of them from his control and end this rebellion a whole lot faster than the speed we're going at."
"Sorry, but it seems that we really don't remember much after we were 'freed'," Hebi replied, to which he rubbed the back of his head for a moment, as both he and Saru had been thinking about what questions the Shinigami would ask them and what answers they could possibly give in return, "Now, if you wanted to know which Zanpakuto have been 'freed', we'd gladly offer that to you, but I have the feeling that you already know whose been taken from their partners and are currently fighting against you."
"It's okay. It makes sense that Muramasa would place something like that on that of your minds." Sombra said, his voice causing the group to turn and look at him once more, even though he had been thinking about something that had revealed itself to them, especially since this sounded like something their foe would do, "He wants to keep the location of his base a secret, so if a Zanpakuto spirit that knows where it's located is defeated they'll lose the information of where the hideout is located, to keep it safe until he makes his move. We'd have to have one of the rebellious Zanpakuto spirits see the truth of this situation, that they really don't stand a chance against their former partners now that we're here to help out, before we find out where their hideout is located... end even then we might not need someone to betray them, as Yoruichi is carefully searching for Captain-Commander Yamamoto's reiatsu as we speak."
"Right, I forgot she was here as well." Renji said, though Sombra's statement meant that Yoruichi must have parted ways with them at some point when they were coming back to this building, before he even thought to go searching for clues as to what happened to his Captain, though that caused a thought to come to mind, "How's Rukia doing?"
"She's just fine. Isane is looking after her right now." Ichigo replied, because before this meeting had been called Sombra had let them get themselves situated and the first thing he did was go looking for where they were putting Rukia, while at the same time he was a little uncomfortable with Zangetsu following him around, even though the Arrancar in question was currently leaning against the nearby wall, "She's still worried about Byakuya, but I promised her that we'll find out what happened to him and either save him, if he's injured, or assist him in whatever he's doing, even though Sombra thinks that he's trying to defeat Muramasa in his own way, without telling us."
"That reminds me," Saru spoke up, to which she turned her attention to Sombra, who looked up from what he was looking at and met her gaze, something that told her that she was definitely staring into the eyes of a being that she and Hebi couldn't beat on their own, making her regret her earlier words to the other Zanpakuto spirits, "If you're here to stop this rebellion, then why didn't you just kill Muramasa when you had the chance? You could have ended everything the moment we pulled him out of that crater, or even before that, and yet you let him and the others go. Why would you do something like that?"
"Because we don't know what his endgame is." Sombra answered, though at the same time he looked down at what he was looking at a few seconds ago, which Saru realized was a chessboard and the white pieces had a slight advantage over the black pieces, like it was a representation of the rebellion, "We know that Muramasa said that he desires the freedom of the Zanpakuto spirits and the subjugation of the Shinigami that were the partners of those very Zanpakuto, but even then something doesn't add up. His words seemed to convey the very message that he told you guys about, that he wants the status quo to flip on it's side and let the Zanpakuto take over, but at the same time it makes you wonder who his partner was, before he became the being that he currently is. It makes you wonder what sort of Shinigami wouldn't tell their superiors that their partner was acting funny, when the first signs appeared, and I already have a few ideas as to what might be going on... but without knowing what his endgame is, what he's actually striving towards, I won't waste our time speaking of hypothetical answers, not until we know more about the situation."
"Still, it seems that Soi Fon had a similar idea to what you said," Ukitake said, speaking about one of the missing Captains at the moment, as both she and Mayuri had departed the moment they got back to this area, stating that they had their own assignments to worry about, "I heard her saying that she might send Omaeda to the records to see if he can't find anything about a Zanpakuto called Muramasa, so we might be lucky and find something out... especially if she's right and we find something nice for us along the way."
Zangetsu, who had been quiet the whole time they were talking, since he was thinking about the one spirit that might actually betray the others if someone asked her to, shifted a little and shifted his gaze towards where Sombra was sitting, who nodded his head a tiny bit, before a grin appeared on his face.
"Come on Ichigo, let's find Ikkaku and get out of here." Zangetsu stated, causing Utikake to raise an eyebrow for a moment, but that was when he and the others realized that Sombra must have already felt the presence of a few enemy Zanpakuto spirits and had issued a silent command to the spirit who had been leaning on the wall, who knew which spirits were coming as well if his words were to be believed, "We've got some hunting to do."
Renji watched as Ichigo sighed and followed after Zangetsu, because he didn't envy his friend since the spirit of his Zanpakuto had abandoned him and was now his own being, and there was no telling what would happen between the two of them, but he simply shook his head as the Captains dismissed him, as both he and his partners needed to take a break before they did anything else. While Renji walked away from the room Sombra looked down at his board and thought about it for a moment, where Rey, who was controlling the black pieces through his horn, moved a piece and knocked one over, a silent gesture about his thoughts on the future, before Sombra replied in kind and knocked out another black piece in the process. Both they and Shokyo knew that some spirits would be lucky and knock out their partners in the battles to come, just as they were likewise convinced that most of the Shinigami would end up just fine, which was why they had agreed to stay their hand and not join in the battles to come, not until they knew what Muramasa was planning. That, in turn, would allow the Shinigami the chance to reclaim their partners on their own, even if one of the Arrancar stepped in to stall them, and bring the rebellion that much closer to ending, but for now they had to be patient before they made their move, otherwise Muramasa would get away, and that was the one thing that had to be prevented.
While Sombra remained in the meeting room Zangetsu lead the way towards the spirits that he had felt, because he knew that there were two of them in the same area, along with a third one that was in a completely different area, but for now he, Ichigo, and Ikkaku were focused on the task at hand. It really wasn't hard to find out where Omaeda was located, since he was walking slowly with his own group of Shinigami and was chowing down on some fish crackers, but as the three of them landed, with Zangetsu on top of a building and the other two on the ground for some reason, Zangetsu got a good look at the two spirits that were in the area, just as Omaeda's group was taken out and the Lieutenant was left standing on his own. The first spirit he noticed was a large ogre-like being, whose reiatsu seemed to be nearly identical to Ikkaku's own, while the second one was a large fat being with no shirt on, though this time Zangetsu didn't need to feel any reiatsu to know whose partner he was, on account of the bag of fish crackers that he was carrying and the large frame that his body happened to have. His thoughts were even confirmed not a few seconds later, as the fat spirit revealed that he was Gegetsuburi, the Zanpakuto spirit that had been Omaeda's partner, and before long the two of them, despite getting off to a great start, drew their weapons to determine who the better of the pair was, though that was before Ichigo and Ikkaku knocked down part of the wall they were standing behind and stepped into the area, all while knocking Omaeda out in the process.
The other spirit, who Gegetsuburi identified as Hozukimaru, seemed annoyed about the latest development, but before he could actually do anything Ichigo rushed at the fat spirit and knocked him away, leaving Ikkaku standing there with his former partner... especially since Hozukimaru rushed forward, with his Shikai, to attack Ikkaku, who defended with his scabbard for a few seconds.
"I was waiting to see you again, partner." Hozukimaru stated, though at the same time he grinned, as this was perfect for him, but even as he said that he noticed that Ikkaku was motioning for his allies to leave them alone, confirming that they would fight the way they both believed in.
"At first I thought Zangetsu was crazy, but after seeing that weapon of yours I think he's telling the truth." Ikkaku said, though as he said that the two of them were knocked away from each other by their own power, showing that they were both strong in their own rights, "You're Hozukimaru, aren't you?"
"Indeed I am," Hozukimaru replied, as he was happy to see that just his weapon alone was enough to show his former partner who he was, but at the same time he felt that maybe more was necessary to confirm this in Ikkaku's mind, "but, if my words and weapon aren't enough for you, your free to try something else to confirm my identity."
"Oh, there's only one thing that Hozukimaru and I could perform in perfect unison," Ikkaku stated, to which he smiled for a moment as his foe seemed to understand what he was referring to, especially since only one other being could know the dance as perfectly as he did, "What do you say? Shall we perform it together?"
"Certainly." Hozukimaru answered, though that was when a large smile appeared on his face as he walked over to where Ikkaku was standing, causing both Ichigo and Gegetsuburi to stop what they were doing and turn towards them as Zangetsu raised an eyebrow at them.
In the next few moments the two of them performed what Ikkaku called his 'Lucky Dance', the very same one that he showed off to Ichigo when Rukia was going to be executed, and what was impressive was the fact that Hozukimaru was able to stay in sync with his former partner, to the point where each of their steps happened at the same time and they ended the dance at the same time. Gegetsuburi and Ichigo didn't seem all that interested in their dance, as Ichigo knocked the larger spirit into the courtyard of the nearby building, though at the same time Zangetsu clapped his hands a little, to show that he remembered the dance and that it was performed perfectly by the two of them, who gave him a little bow before they faced each other again.
"Just as I thought, you're dance was perfect, Hozukimaru." Ikkaku stated, though even as he said that he had a grin on his face, something that was mirrored in his Zanpakuto spirit's face, and Zangetsu had the feeling that the two of them would engage each other soon, "I heard that your powers will return to me after I beat you. Is that true?"
"Do you think you have what it takes to defeat me?" Hozukimaru asked in return, though at the same time he stood at the ready, because if Ikkaku said that then he was serious about fighting, which he had been hoping for since that was the reason he had followed Zabimaru out into the Seireitei.
"Damn straight I do!" Ikkaku said, to which he drew his blade from it's scabbard and attacked, as he needed to overcome his partner's power and show him just how strong he really was, all while Hozukimaru blocked the attack with a grin on his face.
Zangetsu had to admit that there were some strange Shinigami out there, especially from the Eleventh Division, but as the battle between Ikkaku and Hozukimaru started he stood on the edge of the building he had chosen and watched the duo as they engaged each other. The two of them were like a storm of blows, as it was either Ikkaku who was attacking and Hozukimaru who was defending, or it was Hozukimaru that was attacking and Ikkaku who was defending, as it seemed to alternate between them and whoever was defending usually got a few minor cuts for their troubles. Zangetsu could tell that their fighting style was the same, something that he considered strange since he and Ichigo had two entirely different styles and most Zanpakuto spirits seemed to be the same way, but that didn't stop him from enjoying the battle as the two of them clashed in the area around them. It got even more interesting when Hozukimaru separated the three sections of his weapon and turned it into a three section staff, showing that he was getting serious and even surprised Ikkaku for a moment, since he was on the receiving end of the weapon's hidden trick, but that wore off in the heat of the battle and Ikkaku displayed that, even without his Zanpakuto's power, he was a force to be reckoned with, even impressing his former partner in the process.
That all changed when Hozukimaru slammed the back end of his weapon into the ground and activated his Bankai, the technique that Ikkaku kept hidden from most people, before two rather large blades, like spades of some kind, fell out of the sky and landed on his left and right, along with a large crescent blade that floated just above his shoulders. Since he had never seen something like this, as he never had the opportunity to observe Ikkaku's fights after his first battle with Ichigo, Zangetsu waited on the nearby building as the battle resumed, but this time Hozukimaru started to overpower his former partner and it clearly showed with Ikkaku's movements, since he wasn't used to fighting something like this and might not have had an idea of how to counter it. This Bankai, from what he could tell, was called Ryumon Hozukimaru and it appeared to be a melee type, and unfortunately the fun was mostly over as Ikkaku went on the defensive and was bashed into the gate that was behind them, blowing him into the courtyard that Ichigo was fighting in, though it wasn't like they were interrupting anything since Ichigo had sliced Gegetsuburi's weapon in half and let part of it collide with his face, knocking the fat spirit out in the process.
As Ikkaku picked himself up, and Ichigo asked if he was okay, the area was surrounded by a number of Covert Ops Shinigami, along with Captains Soi Fon, Ukitake, and Shunsui standing on the roof of the building that Ichigo had been fighting in front of... and, since the battle had been ruined, Hozukimaru put his blades in the ground for the moment as he looked at the enemies that were ruining the moment.
"That's far enough, Zanpakuto." Soi Fon stated, causing the spirit that Ikkaku was fighting to turn towards her for a few seconds, no doubt because he was annoyed that she had ruined their fight, before a light smile graced her face, "We have the area secure. You won't be escaping anytime soon."
"At least we can save two more spirits from Muramasa's hold." Zangetsu commented, to which he flashed over to where Ichigo was standing, causing the Captain of the Second Division to look at him for a second, even though his focus was on the foe in front of him, "Maybe you or Gegetsuburi can tell us where Muramasa is hiding..."
"That's interesting and all, but we're done for today." Hozukimaru stated, though as he said that he gripped the part of his Bankai that rested above his back and the eyes of the dragon crest glowed for a few seconds, before he slammed it into the ground in front of him and released a burst of reiatsu that knocked the Covert Ops away, giving him the chance to seal his Bankai and escape in the confusion.
Zangetsu grinned as he grabbed onto Ichigo's shoulder and the two of them chased after the spirit, as he had to know something that they needed to learn, leaving Soi Fon and the other Captains to deal with the defeated Gegetsuburi, as the two of them were focused on the spirit that was running towards the edge of the Seireitei... but as that happened a storm of pink blade fragments slowed them down, even though Zangetsu scattered them with a swing of his blade, and off in the distance they both noticed a figure that disappeared a few seconds later.
"Hey, Ichigo, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Zangetsu asked, because there were only two beings in Soul Society that could create a storm of pink blade fragments that resembled flower petals, one being a Captain level Shinigami and the other being the Zanpakuto spirit that was the partner for that Shinigami, and what little he had seen didn't resemble what Senbonzakura was supposed to look like.
"Yeah, Byakuya isn't as missing as everyone thinks he is." Ichigo replied, showing that he understood what his former Zanpakuto spirit was talking about, though at the same time he noticed that Hozukimaru was gone as well, which was fine since they had a direction they could head in now, "So, shall we go see if we can't find him and figure out what in the world he's doing during this crisis?"
"Not without backup." a voice said, to which Harribel dropped down into the area near them, causing the two of them to smile, since she was a powerful ally to have on their side, since they might be walking into a trap that Muramasa might be trying to set for them, before she moved in the direction that the two of them had been thinking of moving in.
Together the three of them flashed out of the Seireitei, following the aura that had been left behind, and headed into the wilderness that was in front of them, but at the same time they kept their guards up, because there was no telling what sort of dangers awaited them in the forest that they were heading towards.
Haineko mentally sighed as she walked along the path that she had chosen the moment she left the cave that the rest of the Zanpakuto spirits were hiding out in, though the reason behind her sigh was because Tobiume was walking beside her and wouldn't leave her alone. All she wanted was a nice walk in the moonlight, so she could have some time to think about what was going on with her life at the moment, and she would have returned to the hideout when she was good and ready to do so, but with Tobiume following her, however, her mood had been ruined instantly. At the same time her mind turned towards the being that she had spoken to earlier, Zangetsu, and knew that she had been right in her statement, as he was hotter than most of the spirits and Shinigami that she had seen so far, but the one thing that still confused her was the fact that he was the former Zanpakuto spirit that had been tied to Ichigo Kurosaki's blade. Something must have happened for the two of them to split into two separate beings, without being tied to each other anymore, and it seemed like she was the only one that might have caught onto that fact, since the others didn't seem to care about Zangetsu, as they considered him an enemy... but, at the same time, maybe he was their true savior, who could actually free them from being tied to their Shinigami partners.
Despite it being the wish of all the Zanpakuto that Muramasa had gathered, to be freed from their former masters or partners, depending on who was asked, all she really wanted in life was respect from her peers and possibly even love if she found someone that took her heart, and right now there was no one, among both the Shinigami and the Zanpakuto, that respected her at all, which was the cause for another sigh as she walked.
"You know, I think Hyorinmaru left at the same time we did," Tobiume commented, as it had taken her a few moments to catch up with Haineko when she left the hideout earlier, even though she had caught up in no time, before the younger looking spirit glanced over at the spirit that she was walking with, "Hello? Are you even listening to me?"
"Yes, I am." Haineko replied, because despite how she was treated, like an idiot that didn't listen to instructions since her partner was the absolute worst partner she could have been paired with, she believed in trying to treat others with respect and not call them names, not unless they did something to deserve it, "I've been thinking about other things while we've been walking..."
"I see you're still drooling over him. How pathetic." Tobiume said, returning to her position that Haineko liked all of the men that she came across, but in reality all she had been looking at were the Zanpakuto spirits and had found that not one of their allies were remotely interested in her, hence why she thought about Zangetsu and the potential that only she seemed to see, "You really need to stop thinking about getting in his pants and focus on whatever mission Muramasa has for us when we get back to the hideout, because this walk is taking a lot longer than I thought and I'm getting tired of wandering around the forest with you."
Normally Haineko would have just made a retort to what her companion had said and keep exchanging blows with her, but at the same time she decided that she'd rather focus on something else and that something wasn't what Tobiume had told her to focus on... but, despite her thoughts, she realized that the younger spirit had stopped and turned around, only to see Tobiume looking off towards the sound of a waterfall.
"What's wrong now?" Haineko asked, because she wanted to get back to the hideout and finish this walk, as Tobiume had been right about one thing and that was that she was growing tired of this walk as well, mostly because of the spirit that was her company.
"I think I spotted Hyorinmaru." Tobiume replied, though before Haineko could say anything her companion headed off towards the sound of the waterfall, causing Haineko to sigh as she followed after her, because hopefully this would be exciting and give them a reason for why they had been gone so long.
It didn't take the two of them long to find the river and the waterfall that was connected to it, though as Haineko came to a stop she opened her senses and didn't feel any reiatsu that matched the spirits that they were allied with, all while Tobiume stood near the edge of the rock they were on and looked around the area.
"It's official, we might need to get you some glasses," Haineko said, because this entire evening, besides making sure that the two of them stayed out of trouble, was turning out to be extremely boring, especially since she had been hoping to bump into one of their allies, "there's no one else here."
"Maybe I ought to get you a new brain, to cure your stupidity." Tobiume fired back, though as Haineko turned to glare at her they both found a newcomer standing nearby, as Senbonzakura had appeared near the waterfall and was staring at them, before heading off in the direction of their hideout, "Huh... I had no idea he was there."
"Neither did I." Haineko said, as it was hard to pinpoint the location of a Captain class Zanpakuto spirit, especially one that appears and disappears as quickly as Senbonzakura does, before she glanced at the other side of the river, where another path rested, and spotted Ichigo Kurosaki running along the path, "I wonder what he's doing all the way out here, in the middle of the night."
"Well, he's not out for a walk, that's for sure." Tobiume replied, to which she smiled for a moment, because it seemed like now was the best time for her and Haineko to relieve their boredom and capture an enemy, allowing them to weaken Soul Society for Muramasa's plans, before she jumped over the river and headed over to intercept her target.
Haineko was sure that this was a terrible idea, as there were two other reiatsu signatures in the area that she knew, one being the Arrancar that Matsumoto's Captain, Hitsuguya, had fought, while the other seemed to be identical to Ichigo's, meaning that it had to be Zangetsu, but since all she saw was the Substitute Shinigami she followed after Tobiume and hoped that this went by quickly. Before she could even do anything Tobiume wrapped part of the cloth that her bells were tied to around Ichigo's neck and shoved him to the ground, before pulling back as she landed on the ground in front of him, as if saying that she was going to block his path. Instead of appearing directly behind Tobiume, like she usually would, Haineko flashed a few steps behind her companion, mostly so she could watch and observe the fight, because she had a bad feeling about this situation, especially since she was trying to track the other reiatsu signatures she had felt before they came over here.
"Are you serious, Ichigo? Can't we go anywhere without new foes grabbing you?" a voice asked, to which Haineko stalled as Zangetsu, accompanied by another woman, flashed into the area behind Ichigo, though both of them seemed annoyed with what happened to Ichigo, before Zangetsu seemed to realize who was standing near him, "Actually, on second thought, I'm more okay with you getting tripped up this time around. That cutie from earlier is here."
"Cutie? You mean Haineko?" Tobiume asked, noticing that there were three enemies instead of one, like she had originally thought, but at the same time she felt that they could overcome the odds and best all three of them, even if she had zero faith in her companion's abilities, "Please, who in their right might would even consider a stupid old hag like her to be cute? I'm sure that you'd like someone that's younger and more slender than her."
"Seriously? No offense, but you look like a little girl." Zangetsu stated, though even as he said that he was annoyed at the Zanpakuto spirit that was in front of him, because the spirit that he had been interested in meeting again looked hurt when the little girl said that she was a 'stupid old hag', and he could tell that Harribel was annoyed as well, "I don't have much of a preference, since most of the time I was busy trying to get Ichigo to listen to my voice and take back my position as a Zanpakuto spirit, but I have no interest in being romantically involved with someone that looks like a little girl. Now the cutie, on the other hand, I'd consider going on a date or an adventure with her... sure, she seems to be a few years older than me, but honestly she's got a smoking hot body, and I bet she's a lot smarter than you give her credit for, so I'll throw the whole age element out the window for her."
"Great, you're just as stupid as she is. It's a match made in heaven." Tobiume said, to which she sighed for a moment, as she couldn't believe that she found someone that actually thought that Haineko was cute, hot, and smart, before she stared at her current foe, "Look, she's just a dumb cat that no one likes and she's incredibly lazy, to the point that she never seemed to listen to what her master told her to do, though it's a miracle that Muramasa has been able to get her to do anything that she's told."
"Not to beat a dead horse, but she's got a point Hinamori." a new voice said, to which Zangetsu looked to the side and found both Matsumoto, who was Haineko's previous partner, and a little girl, who had to be Hinamori, standing nearby, but her words also ticked off Zangetsu, "I know it's mean coming from another Zanpakuto spirit, since they're supposed to be allies in this rebellion of theirs, but she's absolutely right, Haineko is just a dumb cat that almost never responds to me when I try to talk with her, even when I really try to connect with her... makes me wonder why I ever considered her to be my equal in the first place."
"Harribel, why don't you and Ichigo continue on without me?" Zangetsu commented, causing the female Arrancar to glance at him for a moment, though when she noticed how annoyed he looked, at how an enemy was being treated, she nodded her head and tapped Ichigo's shoulder, before the two of them flashed out of the area.
"Finally, someone who understands what Haineko is." Tobiume said, as if she was praising something for the fact that Matsumoto agreed with her statement, while at the same time Haineko noticed that Hinamori seemed horrified by what she was hearing, and she even ran her bells a little as she did that.
"I never thought that I'd agree with another Zanpakuto spirit over how my former partner acted over the many years that I've known her." Matsumoto stated, to which she shook her head for a moment, as if she felt that there was nothing wrong about what she was saying, especially since she had been saying it for a long time, while also ignoring the look on Haineko's face, "Honestly, I feel like a complete moron for acting like she was my equal. Sometime after I gained control over her Shikai she started getting lazier and lazier, sometimes taking a long time before coming to talk with me and other times coming immediately when I wanted to discuss a topic with her, but in the end she turned into a dumb lazy cat that started acting like a bitch whenever I managed to speak with her."
"Matsumoto, aren't you being a little rude to her?" Hinamori asked, because while she and other Shinigami knew that communication was key to understanding one's partner and unlocking their powers, including training with them in both this world and their inner world, Matsumoto seemed to have forgotten that fact.
"Not in the slightest, because it's the truth." Matsumoto replied, where she shrugged her shoulders for a moment as she spoke, because despite what Hinamori thought about her, and how she worked as a Shinigami, she wasn't the one at fault in this situation, as it was all Haineko's fault.
"No, it's not! You're the one who started to verbally abuse me shortly after gaining said Shikai!" Haineko snapped, as she felt that she might as well try to correct the issue, because she wasn't the horrible Zanpakuto that her former partner thought she was, and she could tell that Zangetsu was willing to listen to both sides before doing anything, "The bond between Shinigami and Zanpakuto is built on communication, so the reason you determined that I was 'stupid, lazy, and a bitch' is because you damaged the bond that existed between the two of us, making it a little harder for me to hear your voice as the years went by. To make matters worse you adopted a habit of slamming me into whatever was nearby when I wasn't prompt about responding to your summons, be it boulders, wooden floors, whatever metal objects you can find, and even the furniture at times, and, to top it all off, you even chipped me a number of times over the years, making me useless until you mended the blade, something you blamed me for as well!"
"It's the only way to get your attention, since you act like a giant baby at times." Matsumoto stated, to which she moved her hands for a moment, as if she was saying that what Haineko had said was completely wrong or that she had no idea what she was talking about right now, like she was implying that she was an idiot, "Though let's be honest, Haineko, you're a brat that acts like everyone is inferior to you and you have terrible tastes in both clothing and perfume... how in the world your my Zanpakuto spirit I have no idea, because you're nothing like me."
"Truth be told, the only reason Muramasa bothered to free her is because she's a Zanpakuto spirit," Tobiume added, though at the same time that gave her the attention of those that were near her, both her enemies and the spirit that was supposed to be her ally, to which she seemed to chuckle for a moment as she continued talking to them, "She's the former Zanpakuto spirit for a Lieutenant, but she's worthless in a fight, she get's distracted easily, and, if you're strong enough, she might run away without even fighting. Let's face it, she was only freed because of what she was, though personally I think Muramasa wasted his time in freeing her as well..."
"That's enough, Tobiume." Haineko said, as she was getting annoyed with this conversation and the fact that they weren't getting anywhere with it, especially since she wasn't the only one that was annoyed about what was happening at the moment, before she took a step back, "Look, why don't we let Zangetsu and his friends pass? I don't want to tangle with someone like..."
Before she could finish her statement Tobiume spun around and slammed one of her bells into Haineko's face, a blow that sent her onto her back and caused her to rub the side of her face for a moment, as she couldn't believe that Tobiume was so stubborn to believe that they stood a chance against Zangetsu.
"I guess I was wrong. You aren't a coward, you're a pussy!" Tobiume snapped, as she couldn't believe that Haineko couldn't muster the courage to face their foes in battle, before she sighed and turned towards the trio of enemies that were currently standing in front of her, "Fine. I'll destroy all three of them and tell the others that you couldn't muster the courage to fight anyone, that you were too busy thinking about getting into Zangetsu's pants or something and didn't care about fighting any of Mur..."
Haineko's eyes widened as Zangetsu stepped into the area beside Tobiume and swung his blade at her, the sheer force of his attack knocking the wind out of her as she collided with one of the trees and coughed up some blood as the crushed tree fell on top of her.
"She's lucky I went easy on her, otherwise you'd be picking up the pieces of her blade." Zangetsu commented, though his words were directed to Hinamori, who was stunned by what he had said and nodded her head to indicate that she heard what had been said, before he sheathed his blade on his back and walked forward, where he gently lifted Haineko up and held her like he was rescuing her, "Lieutenant Matsumoto, as of right now I am taking Haineko back to where Lord Sombra is waiting and make sure she is treated for any injuries left over from that attack, and, once she's ready, I'm sure that my Lord will want to have some words with her. Lieutenant Hinamori, you need to have a heart to heart with your partner, because she needs to work on that foul mouth of hers and she needs to stop treating those around her like they're nothing but toys for her to play with or people to throw insults at whenever she wants."
"Am... I in trouble?" Haineko asked, though at the same time she noticed that Hinamori looked ashamed by what her Zanpakuto spirit had done and Matsumoto, her own partner, didn't seem all that concerned for what was going to happen to her in the very near future.
"Not if I have anything to say about it." Zangetsu replied, to which he flashed into the air and headed back towards the Seireitei, as he intended to leave both of the Lieutenants behind so they could deal with Tobiume, and at the same time he made sure to keep Haineko close to him as they moved through the air.
Haineko remained silent as they headed back towards the Seireitei, as she was happy to see that there was someone in this world that seemed to care about her in some manner, though she decided to put her faith in Zangetsu and hoped that Sombra didn't strike her down the moment she met him for real... but she did have to wonder what Ichigo and the other woman were up to, since they were still heading through the forest near Muramasa's hideout.
Normally Ichigo would have thought that he was lost, since he had been following a path that had been going on forever and didn't seem to be going anywhere, but at the same time that statement would have been wrong, since it was Harribel that was leading the way at the moment. The area they came to, a few minutes after leaving Zangetsu behind in an area where two Zanpakuto spirits were blocking the way, had a number of rocks and stone structures everywhere, like it was a training ground of some kind, and when they arrived Harribel held up her hand to stop him from going any further. Ichigo would have asked what was wrong, since he wasn't really feeling anything at the moment, but before he could even say anything the Arrancar drew her blade from the sheath on her back and jumped into the air in front of where they had come out of the forest, where she spun around and sliced apart the four incoming serpent ice dragons that happened to be coming their way. Ichigo knew that she was powerful, since she was the Tres Espada when Aizen was in control of the Arrancar, and just the look she shot his way told him to stay out of the fight, to which he nodded and headed off in another direction, since she could handle this on her own.
Harribel was pleased to see that Ichigo wasn't entirely stupid, since she could handle this foe, who was currently separated from his Shinigami partner, and she landed on a long stone nearby, where she looked down at the ground and found a tall man with an icy-blue x shaped cross over his face, though his power told her exactly who he was.
"I was expecting to find Ichigo Kurosaki here," the man stated, to which he stared up at Harribel for a moment, as if he was thinking about something important, but he quickly determined that he must have missed his mark and Muramasa's foe had run off once more, "Who are you?"
"I am Tier Harribel, the third strongest Arrancar under Lord Sombra's rule, though you can call me by my last name, since I prefer it to my first name," Harribel replied, though at the same time she remained where she was standing, as she knew that her foe could strike out at her at any moment and she wanted to be ready, "Judging by your reiatsu, and that fact that it's familiar to someone else's reiatsu, I think I know whose Zanpakuto spirit you are, based on those ice based attacks that you threw at me."
"You know who my master is?" the man asked, though his words revealed something, that he seemed desperate to find the Shinigami that he had been tied to before Muramasa came and interrupted whatever connection he shared with his partner, who he referred to as master.
"Wait, did you forget who your Shinigami partner is?" Harribel asked, because that might actually pose a problem to saving him, if he couldn't remember who he was supposed to be partners with, but at the same time she didn't lower her guard, since it might be a trap that was waiting to be sprung.
"That's correct. I do not know my master's name, nor my own... I have forgotten everything, and Muramasa promised me that he'd help me recover what I had lost." the man stated, to which Harribel noticed the conviction in his eyes, which revealed that he wasn't going to back down from a fight if she wanted one.
"Hyorinmaru, I feel sorry for you." Harribel said, to which she flashed through the air between them and appeared behind the Zanpakuto spirit that was standing in her way, whose eyes widened as he realized that she was being serious about wanting to fight him, "It seems that you were so loyal to Captain Hitsugaya that you refused to join Muramasa's side, only for him to force you to forget everything that you knew so you'd join him to get it all back... it's sad to see something happen to someone like you. Isn't that right, Captain Hitsugaya?"
"Indeed it is." Hitsugaya stated, to which he dropped down into the area that Harribel and Hyorinmaru were standing in, as he had the feeling that if Ichigo and Zangetsu ran into the forest they might find some Zanpakuto spirits, and after seeing two of the rebellious spirits already defeated he was happy to see that his spirit had also been found as well, before he faced the Zanpakuto spirit that was his partner, "My name is Hitsugaya Toshiro, Captain of the Tenth Division, and you are Hyorinmaru, my partner. I've come to free you from Muramasa's control and bring you back to where you belong."
Instead of waiting for an answer, like anyone else would have done when confronted by their Zanpakuto spirit, he drew his own blade from it's sheath and rushed at Hyorinmaru, though at the same time Harribel, who knew some of the powers that his blade commanded, rushed in as well, like they were double teaming the spirit. Part of the reason behind their dual attack was because Hyorinmaru was the spirit of a Captain level Shinigami, meaning that he was dangerous to fight against alone and Hitsugaya was happy to have some assistance in the fight against his own Zanpakuto, especially if that someone was the Arrancar that he had been forced to fight before Sombra's arrival as the Dios Hueco. Hyorinmaru kept the pressure on them as he swung his blade and many icy serpent dragons flew at the two of them, but just like earlier Harribel proved that she was too strong for those attacks and sliced through them like they were nothing, while at the same time Hitsugaya did the same thing, showing that they were more than prepared for what their foe was throwing at them at the moment. The interesting thing that Hitsugaya learned was that any Kido spells he used, be they Hado or Bakudo, froze when Hyorinmaru touched them, rendering them useless, though strangely enough he didn't use that ability against their blades, preferring to fight the two of them in a fair fight, instead of freezing them solid.
Eventually, however, Harribel was forced to take over the fight as Hyorinmaru knocked Hitsugaya into a boulder that collapsed on top of him, burying him for a moment, but that didn't stop her from parrying her foe's attacks and dodging any ice attacks that came her way. What she was really doing was buying her ally time, as she had determined that each Shinigami needed to understand something about themselves or their partners before they were able to save their Zanpakuto from Muramasa's control, since that seemed to be the case for Renji's blade, and that was what she was trying to get Hitsugaya to learn. She knew that if the young Captain could figure out what he needed to figure out he'd regain a portion of his Zanpakuto's power, just like Renji did, and then he might be able to overcome whatever happened to his partner, freeing him from their enemy's control, which would help them put an end to this rebellion. Her feelings proved to be correct, as it took some time for Hitsugaya to find deep inside him that he could use to regain part of his power, and instead of slowly wearing his Zanpakuto down, like Renji attempted to, he poured all of his power into a single attack that froze Hyorinmaru and him together.
A few moments later Harribel watched as the large ice structure in the air collapsed and Hyorinmaru floated down towards her with a smile on his face, complete with an exhausted Hitsugaya in his arms, to which she sheathed her blade as the spirit indicated that he was free and remembered everything... to which she lead the way back to the Seireitei, as it seemed like there was no reason for her to be out here anymore, not since she felt a movement that could only be Sombra making his way through the forest, and she pitied whoever he came across.
"Did you enjoy your stroll, Muramasa?" Sombra asked, even though he was leaning on a tree near what appeared to be some ruins, but he had waited long enough before he spoke those words, which happened mere seconds after a small Garganta, about the size and shape of a Human, appeared in the ruins, allowing the leader of the rebellion to walk through and fall to one knee.
"How... did you know I was going to come out here?" Muramasa inquired in kind, because if his foe was capable of finding him when he did something like this, to stabilize his own body, he was sure that he'd soon lose that ability and he'd fade out of existence.
"You headed into the Forest of Menos and absorbed a few Gillian, not to mention an Adjuchas, to keep your body from falling apart after our encounter." Sombra replied, shocking Muramasa with his words, as no ordinary foe would have been able to tell the rebellious Zanpakuto spirit what he had been doing and be so accurate in what he said, before he stared at Muramasa's shocked expression, "I told you, I am the King of Hueco Mundo, the Dios Hueco, and the realm I rule over tells me when something's happening while I'm not there, and all I really had to do was track your reiatsu to this location and wait for your Garganta to open."
"So, what are you going to do now?" Muramasa asked, because despite the Hollows he had absorbed into his body, to repair the damage that had been done and keep himself from fading away, he hadn't recovered enough of his power to get into another fight, especially not against the foe that was standing in front of him.
"I'm not here to kill you, if that's what you're thinking about." Sombra said, to which he stopped leaning forward and stepped towards the part of the ruins that consisted of the stairs and the area that was in front of the trees, where his expression grew serious, "Actually, I came to find some friends of mine, and you just so happened to be in the same place that they were in. You can come out now, Byakuya, Senbonzakura."
As if on cue Byakuya and his rebellious Zanpakuto spirit flashed down into the area in front of him, like they were going to attack him at the same time, but even as Muramasa started to grin, like he thought that he had won the battle before it had even started, Sombra tapped his right leg against the ground, where the sound of his hoof tapping the earth caused a dark spherical barrier to wrap around them, as if the darkness was sealing them in another dimension.
"So, you're using Kido to attack us." Senbonzakura stated, to which he formed his blade and readied himself, as he was going to put an end to this before it even had the chance to get started, all while finding that his foe was just standing there, staring at them, "I'm going to finish th..."
"Please, there's no need for you two to act around me." Sombra said, his words stalling the Zanpakuto spirit for a moment as Byakuya shifted his stance as well, though it wasn't one that indicated that he was going to attack, "Let me guess; you broke Muramasa's hold over Senbonzakura the night the Zanpakuto rebelled against their partners, but instead of helping the others overcome the new danger you slipped into the shadows, as if you're looking for something or someone important... someone that's not the Captain-Commander. And don't worry about anyone else hearing what you have to say, as this spell prevents anyone else from learning what happens inside this sphere, so only I will know what the two of you have to tell me."
"You are correct, I freed Senbonzakura shortly after the rebellion started." Byakuya stated, though at the same time his partner stood straight and banished his blade, knowing that if his Shinigami partner was willing to trust Sombra with their secret mission then he should be able to do the same thing as well, "And you are also correct about the fact that I'm not actively searching for the Captain-Commander, even though staying near Muramasa will lead me to wherever he'd hiding him. Muramasa is the Zanpakuto spirit of the blade that Koga Kuchiki, my uncle, used to wield before he was imprisoned for some crimes that I will not discuss, no matter what you say, and his partner eventually broke him out of his cell, only for him to kill those that threw him in jail. My grandfather, Ginrei Kuchiki, aided Captain-Commander Yamamoto in sealing Koga away a few hundred years ago, but they could not find Muramasa, as he had slipped into the shadows and was believed to have disappeared entirely, until he arrived and revealed that he was starting the Zanpakuto rebellion that you and your allies have come to stop."
"Which means that he's holding the Captain-Commander, not to free Ryujin Jakka, but to learn the location of where Koga was sealed away." Sombra said, showing that he understood part of Muramasa's motivations for starting this little rebellion of his, though at the same time Byakuya nodded his head as Senbonzakura looked at him like he was shocked that he figured things out so quickly, before he looked at his friend, "Would it be incorrect of me to say that you, as the head of the Kuchiki Family, are charged with making sure that Koga stays locked inside his prison and, in the event that he is actually released, are also likewise charged with the responsibility of dealing with him?"
"No, you would be correct." Byakuya answered, though he had grown used to Sombra being able to piece together the main parts of a story by simply hearing bits and pieces of it, which was why he wasn't as surprised as Senbonzakura was when Sombra opened his mouth, "If Muramasa succeeds in freeing Koga from his prison, something that my grandfather worried about since the day that my uncle was sealed away, it will be up to me to deal with him, which might not happen now that you're standing in Muramasa's way."
"Meaning that you're keeping an eye on Muramasa and his activities, just in case he releases Koga." Sombra added, to which the Captain nodded his head in agreement, while at the same time Senbonzakura glanced around the area that they were standing in, "Very well then, I will inform the others that you aren't betraying us and that they have to act like you really are, because knowing some of them they'll forget which side your really on and think your one of our enemies, so you will be able to move in front of Muramasa without arousing some suspicion... even though you'll have to do something for him once you two leave the area with him."
Byakuya nodded his head in agreement, as having Sombra on his side and understanding that they might be in some trouble if Koga was released from his hidden prison was a good thing, before Sombra tapped the ground once more and the sphere came undone as all three of them drew their blades. Within a few seconds of the sphere disappearing they jumped away from each other and made it look like a small fight had been going on, for Muramasa and Ichigo, who had arrived moments ago, before both Byakuya and Senbonzakura moved over to where the rebellious Zanpakuto spirit was standing and fled the area with him. Sombra grinned for a moment as he sheathed his blades and ignored the confused expression that was on Ichigo's face, as it appeared that Muramasa had no idea that he knew what was going on and that both Byakuya and Senbonzakura were deceiving him, and even then any doubts he might have would be taken care of when he got back to his hideout. He would remain true to his word, to give some of the Shinigami that he trusted the news of what their fellow Captain was doing, but at the same time this would allow their ally to move in the shadows without their enemy knowing what was going on around him.
The rebellion would be over soon, he knew that much from what he had seen so far, though at the same time Sombra knew that it was a matter of time until Muramasa messed up, as everyone messed up from time to time, and he would be sure to make the most of that moment when it arrived... but first he needed to have a word with both Zangetsu and the spirit that he had been carrying, as that was going to be an interesting moment in this rebellion, and then he could focus on their enemy and his goals.
Zangetsu carefully moved through the air as he made his way back to the Seireitei, knowing that some of the Shinigami that were keeping their guards up would want to stop him once they realized that he was carrying one of the Zanpakuto spirits that had rebelled against their partners, but he wasn't about to let them stop him. He was going to do exactly what he had said to Matsumoto and Hinamori a few moments ago, and that was take Haineko to the Fourth Division's barracks so Captain Unohana, or even Lieutenant Isane, could give her a check up and be absolutely sure that she was fine, especially since she had been attacked by someone she had considered an ally. There was another reason for him to prolong meeting any of the Shinigami that were running around the Seireitei, and that was because he was absolutely pissed that one of them, a Lieutenant no less, could be so horrible to their own Zanpakuto partner, as Matsumoto seemed to think that everything was Haineko's fault. Sure, he hadn't been acknowledged as a Zanpakuto spirit by Ichigo, not until some time after he had separated from his uncaring partner and became an Arrancar, but seeing another spirit go through something similar to what he went through made him angry, especially when Matsumoto didn't even rush to Haineko's side when she was attacked by Tobiume.
While he thought about all that, and tried to cool himself down before he reached their destination, he also recalled Haineko asking if she was going to be in trouble, including him telling her that he'd basically do everything in his power to convince Lord Sombra that she was innocent, though he honestly hoped Sombra saw it the same way he did.
Despite lowering his speed a few times, and making a few more steps than he actually needed to, Zangetsu was able to get them into the courtyard of the Fourth Division's barracks quite easily, surprising a number of the Shinigami that were guarding the area, but when they saw him, however, they backed off and left him to his business. Several of the higher ranking Shinigami came out to see what was going on, though none of the Captains had shown up yet, but he paid them no mind as he walked up the stairs and stepped into the building he had come to, making sure to turn slightly since he was holding onto Haineko. Some of the Fourth Division medics paused to look at them for a moment, just to be sure that their eyes weren't deceiving them, before returning to their important work, allowing him to make his way to Rukia's room, which just so happened to be the last place that he knew Isane was working in. Zangetsu was fine with everyone ignoring them for the moment, as the medics were more focused on tending to the wounded Shinigami that had been put in such a condition by the other Zanpakuto spirits, and it also allowed them to reach their destination without being stopped at all... though when they entered the room Zangetsu discovered that Isane wasn't present, causing him to sigh for a moment as he gently shifted his stance and let Haineko stand on her own.
Fortunately, despite some of the high levels of reiatsu being thrown around in the area he had come from, Rukia was still resting, which was good considering that she had used quite a bit of power and failed to free Sode no Shirayuki from Muramasa's control, but he knew that she'd be up in no time.
"Are you okay?" Zangetsu asked, though as he let go of Haineko, who stood up and stretched her legs for a moment, he stared at the mark that had been left behind by the bell that Tobiume had used to hurt her, as he was worried that it might be worse than Haineko thought it was, "Does it hurt?"
"It stopped hurting a few minutes ago." Haineko replied, to which she smiled for a moment, as this was the first time in years that anyone had actually shown any concern for her well-being, though while she had been hoping that her partner would have been the one to do it she was more than willing to settle for Zangetsu being concerned, "Besides it aching for a couple more minutes, and leaving behind a bruise for a day or two, I'm perfectly fine."
"Alright, but I'm still going to see if I can't find anyone to tend to it, before we go see Lord Sombra." Zangetsu stated, though his senses informed him that his Lord was back in the forest they had come from and happened to be moving back towards the Seireitei, meaning that he must have gone to talk with someone and was coming back to inform them of what he had discovered, "I'll be right back."
Haineko nodded and watched as Zangetsu headed outside the room that they were in, where he moved to the side and started his hunt for someone that might be of assistance to them, causing her to sigh as she looked around the room that she was in, as well as spotting the Shinigami that Zangetsu might know. It made sense that he'd know Rukia Kuchiki, since Ichigo knew her and he likely had access to those memories at some point in time, but she could tell that the young Shinigami was exhausted from her battle and was recovering, despite the fact that her Zanpakuto partner was still on Muramasa's side. A few seconds later she pushed that thought to the side and looked out the window that was nearby, mostly so she could look at the night sky and ignore the fact that the other Zanpakuto would consider her a traitor to their cause, before she decided that it honestly didn't matter what they thought of her, since most of them hated her to begin with anyway. The reason most Shinigami, and their Zanpakuto for that matter, hated her was because Matsumoto spread those horrible rumors about her being a lazy and uncooperative Zanpakuto, causing her to sigh as she took a seat nearby, while making sure not to sit on her tail, before she put her head in her hands.
She had agreed to free herself from Matsumoto so she could live an exciting life without being chained to someone that utterly despised her, to someone that was so willing to damage her blade if she wasn't fast about responding to her summons, but so far her 'exciting' life was full of pain and boredom, making her wonder if she had made the wrong decision and if it was too late to correct it.
"Excuse me." a voice said, to which Haineko's ears, which were actually cat ears that were hidden by the hair on her head, twitched for a moment, causing her to pull her head out of her hands and looked up at who was talking to her, only to find a female Captain standing in front of her, with Zangetsu nearby, "You are Haineko, are you not?"
"Y... yes I am." Haineko replied, though even as she said that she felt something under her eyes, to which she rubbed away the tears that had formed for no reason, even though she had the feeling that her discovering that most Shinigami and Zanpakuto likely hated her had been the cause of the tears, "Who are you?"
"Captain Unohana, of the Fourth Division." the Captain answered, to which she offered Haineko one of her smiles, as it appeared that the Zanpakuto spirit in front of her was sad over something and would need time to come to terms with whatever she was feeling, before she held a hand out, "Zangetsu told me that one of your fellow Zanpakuto spirits hurt you when you were trying to get out of a dangerous situation, that being getting into a fight with Zangetsu at your ally's insistence, and that he wanted to be sure that you were okay before the two of you meet up with Sombra, so I decided to come check on you myself."
"Okay." Haineko said, though she followed that up with taking the hand that was offered to her, where she allowed Captain Unohana to help her back onto her feet and then had her sit in a nearby stool, so she could see what sort of problems she had to deal with before they could leave the room.
As it turned out, after a few minutes of studying her body with whatever healing Kido she was using, Unohana was able to determine that there was nothing seriously wrong with her, all that had been left behind was the bruise that she was sporting, something that she mended easily. When Haineko inquired why she bothered to heal it, since it would have done so in a few days and that she needed her reiatsu for the other wounded Shinigami, Unohana simply said that it was a small thing and took next to no energy for her to mend, and there was the fact that she was going to be meeting Sombra soon, who would have gone out of his way to heal it as well. Unohana also explained that Zangetsu told her the situation was more shocking than she originally thought, that she hadn't left Matsumoto simply for her own selfish reasons, like some of the other Zanpakuto spirits had done, but rather because she had been hurt too many times and was growing so tired of the same thing happening over and over again. Before she could ask how Unohana figured that out, however, she was reminded that Isane would visit Matsumoto from time to time and usually came back with little instances of where Hitsgaya's Lieutenant would be mean to her blade, something that she told Hitsugaya about, despite the fact that Matsumoto failed to understand the message.
In the end Haineko found out that there were some Shinigami, the Captain and Lieutenant of the Fourth Division, that had been concerned that Matsumoto was going to do something horrible to her blade, meaning that she had a few more friends than she originally thought she had, and she walked out of the room a few moments later looking pristine, as the bruise was gone and she wouldn't have to worry about it. Once they were done with her checkup Zangetsu made sure she stayed close to him as he headed towards the room that his Lord was waiting inside, the same being that had dominated Muramasa earlier and could have easily struck him down right then and there, ending the rebellion before it got even worse, but she was sure that the King of Hueco Mundo had a plan. Haineko also noticed that a few of the wounded Shinigami were glaring at her as they walked by, like it was her fault they had been wounded, and she informed Zangetsu that she actually hadn't lifted her blade to anyone since she had been freed, as the only foe she wanted to face was her partner, so she could try to get some respect out of Matsumoto, but as of their last meeting that plan was no longer one that she was willing to follow. Zangetsu shocked her once more by saying that he believed her, that he knew that she didn't hurt the Shinigami they were walking by and that her only desire was to gain some measure of respect from her Shinigami partner, and the reason behind him believing her was because he tried to get Ichigo to realize he was the 'real' Zangetsu, who the Old Man was pretending to be for a long time.
Haineko thought about what little Zangetsu had actually said about his ordeals, though even with knowing only a little about what he had been through she came to the conclusion that they had to be kindred spirits, that both of them had suffered at the hands of their Shinigami partners in some manner, but Zangetsu had freed himself, which interested her the instant she made that connection... and before she could ask how he had done that they came to a stop outside a room that had a closed door, one that separated them from where Sombra was sitting.
"Lord Sombra is on the other side of this door." Zangetsu said, informing Haineko of something that she might not even be aware of, since it was impossible for anyone in this world to feel the power of the Dios Hueco and both Hollows and Arrancar had to be told where he was by feeling what Hueco Mundo told them, "I don't know what's going to happen once we step inside, but I promise you that I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure he sees that you aren't the problem, that you're just like what I was some time ago... a Zanpakuto spirit whose tired of being abused by the one person whose supposed to be their partner, even if the abuse is different than what happened to me."
Haineko nodded her understanding, as at this point she knew that running away wouldn't make any difference if she suddenly decided to run, especially since both Zangetsu and Sombra could catch her quite easily, and watched as the door opened, revealing a room where Sombra was sitting at a table, which had some tea items resting in front of him, and an open chair sitting near him. The sound of the door opening caused him to look up at the game of chess that he had been playing by himself, or rather against one of his Zanpakuto spirits since his horn was glowing and one of the pieces was moving right before her eyes, but it seemed like he and whichever spirit he was playing against had reached a stalemate in their game, which was put away the moment Zangetsu stepped into the room. Haineko hesitated for a moment, as being this close to the King of Hueco Mundo, a creature whose reiatsu she couldn't even feel, was more intimidating than she originally thought, before she steeled herself and walked into the room as well, which closed a few moments later, which she assumed was because of Sombra's 'magic' powers. As she walked towards the table, seeing how there were seats set aside for both her and Zangetsu, she felt the presence of another Arrancar on the other side of the door, but this time around she accepted that this was happening and took a seat near Sombra, while at the same time Zangetsu sat at the opposite end of the table from his Lord, allowing the two to be near each other while they talked.
Before anyone said anything Sombra's horn glowed once more and the four walls of the room flashed for a moment, like he had done something to them, before he reached forward and poured a cup of tea, where he handed one over to her, which she accepted, before a second was levitated over to Zangetsu, who took it and sipped on it for a few seconds, something that Haineko followed... only to discover that the tea had a sweet taste to it that seemed to calm her nerves, which she guessed she needed after everything that happened to her recently.
"I have sealed the room, so there's no need to worry about someone barging in," Sombra explained, knowing that Zangetsu knew about his magical powers and the number of Kido that he could perform, even though part of this was a Kido spell and another was an actual magic spell, "and there's no need to worry about someone hearing what we're going to talk about. I have given Grimmjow the only key to the seal, which has been placed on the other side of the door that you came through, and it will glow green when the time comes to open the seal, so we'll have some peace and quiet before I decide to unseal the room. Now that the explanation is over, and we can enjoy our calming tea while we talk, allow me to introduce myself: I am Sombra, King of Hueco Mundo, though I am also known as the Dios Hueco, or the Hollow God if you prefer, which is a being that only comes around once every one thousand years and is granted a level of power that is far beyond what a Vasto Lorde is capable of commanding. You, according to what I have learned from both the Shinigami and Zangetsu, are Haineko, a name that means 'ash cat' if my translation is correct, and you used to be partnered with a pretty powerful Lieutenant, up until recently anyway."
"Yeah, that's me." Haineko replied, though she remembered her Shinigami partner learning that Sombra liked to gather facts and bits of information before actually using them, making her wonder when he learned that she was the blade that was tied to Matsumoto.
"Don't worry, Rukia and Renji told me bits and pieces of each named blade that the current Shinigami have," Sombra said, as it had been an interesting learning period where he figured out how many named Zanpakuto there were in Soul Society and gained a good idea of their individual powers, "and don't worry about any bias I might have picked up from their stories, or rumors, about certain blades. I prefer to see things happen and form my own opinions, and the same is true for when I learn new pieces of information, as I like to form my own thoughts on something that happened or on someone that I'm meeting for the first time, so you won't have to worry about me being angry at you for whatever it is that Matsumoto said... not until I form my own thoughts on the subject anyway."
"What Lord Sombra means is that he'll sit in his chair and listen to your story." Zangetsu explained, as sometimes there were instances where an explanation was clearly given and other instances where someone needed to explain a piece of information before they could begin, "Just take your time and tell him what happened to you."
"Well, I guess it all started a long time ago, back when I first came into existence," Haineko said, as she remembered the days exploring Matsumoto's inner world, a place that she had long called a resort that was merged with the largest shopping mall in the entire world, since it contained everything her partner liked and changed all the time to match whatever style was in, "Exploring my partner's inner world was fun, because there was always something new for me to look at, try on, or experience after Matsumoto first discovered something's existence, and there was even a place where I could train without wrecking everything. When I felt she was strong enough I started calling out to her, trying to get her to hear my voice so we could converse and I could see if she was worthy to wield the power that I had developed, and despite the time it took for my voice to reach her, as it took some time and some additional training to help her out, I was overjoyed when she finally heard my voice and I could give her my name. It was the beginning of a beautiful partnership, where we'd train together to help her understand my powers, we would spend some time shopping and trying things out in her inner world, and for a time it felt like I had a really close friend that understood me and would never leave me..."
"But then you let her learn your Shikai." Zangetsu stated, as he recalled what Haineko had said, back when she had been confronted by her former partner and Matsumoto had said to her at the time, while at the same time Sombra remained silent as he listened and took a few sips of his own tea.
"Yeah, everything was going great until then," Haineko continued, nodding her head to confirm what Zangetsu had said, to which she took a few sips of her tea and felt herself calming down a little, meaning that Sombra knew that this was going to be somewhat emotional for her, since she liked being friends with Matsumoto, and all of this was just dragging it back to the surface, "Matsumoto was strong, both her teachers and I agreed on that fact many times, and some of the Shinigami were surprised that I hadn't given her my Shikai command, but part of me felt that she wasn't ready for it, that once she had it she'd stop coming by and I'd start losing my friend. I kept the power of my Shikai from her for some time, trying to make her ready for the responsibility that came with it, but one day she begged me to teach it to her, so she could catch up with Gin, who she had a crush on for some time, and I reluctantly gave her the information when she bested me in battle. I was overjoyed when she reached her goal, to become a Lieutenant, but since that day she got comfortable in her new position and stopped coming to hang out with me, whether I wanted to practice my skills or help her learn, and after some time I started training on my own.
Unfortunately things only got worse after I gave her access to my Shikai, and it all started with Matsumoto telling some of her friends that I was 'stupid' because I had a horrible fashion sense, because I 'wasn't getting with the times' and stuck to some older clothing that I happened to like. At first it stung a little, though I felt that maybe she was just trying to help me out and inform me that I needed to dress more like an adult, and while I did that I wondered why she couldn't just come tell me that to my face, instead of spreading rumors about me. For the next month she made all sorts of remarks about me, my taste in clothing or perfume, my mannerisms, and anything else that she wasn't too fond of, all to the other Shinigami that were around her, and soon whoever would listen to her believed that I was going from an incredible partner and was becoming a 'lazy, stupid cat that acts like a brat'. It hurt to have my best friend call me names and treat me like I was nothing, especially when she stopped coming into her inner world to meet with me for our meetings, so one day... I decided I wouldn't heed her call to show her how it felt when her partner didn't come when she was called, only the consequences were more severe than I thought they'd be."
"What did Matsumoto do to you?" Sombra asked, though at the same time he could tell that this wasn't something that Haineko wanted to talk about, even though she was pushing herself to tell both of them the tale of what actually caused her partnership to suffer and become what it currently was.
"Matsumoto... she... she swung me at something and shattered my blade into several pieces," Haineko replied, though this time she stalled for a moment, as the point in time that she was talking about was painful and she could have easily perished as a result of what her partner had done, if not for one of the scientists that saved her life anyway, "What I was doing at the time was thinking about my actions, since I had refused to come when Matsumoto called for me, and before I could actually do anything else my body was wracked by an intense pain, like I was being split into multiple pieces or something. In a moment of anger my partner shattered my physical form, nearly breaking my spirit in the same way, and all I had was the will to continue living, something that allowed me to get through the pain and piece myself back together, while my blade recovered with Matsumoto's help. Obviously I recovered and my powers were just fine, they were just the same despite my recent injuries, but in that moment of anger Matsumoto did more than wound me, she caused a fracture to form in the bond we have forged in the time following us first finding each other.
After that happened, well, she never did apologize for breaking me like she did, saying that it was my fault that I put her in the situation that resulted in her breaking the blade like that, and since that day our bond was never the same as it was in the past. Matsumoto took to calling me more horrible names, to reflect her anger towards me not listening to her that one time, adopted a new habit of using my physical form to strike objects out of frustration, and even chipped me in the process, but never once did she apologize for any of it. In her mind it was all my fault, that the reason I was a 'lazy, stupid cat' was because I didn't want to take anything serious and refused to come when I was called, but, as you both know, the bond between a Shinigami and a Zanpakuto is important, so her constant damage strained the bond we had and prevented me from hearing her voice many times over the years, until she got used to it. Sure, I was able to hear her call me when the situation was dire, but other than that she deemed me as her 'stupid bitch of a Zanpakuto', that I was a 'worthless piece of trash' that she was stuck with, and... well, you get where I'm going with this."
"Yeah, I do." Zangetsu stated, to which he drained the rest of his tea and set the cup down on the table that they were sitting at, where he realized that there were worst partners out there and that he might have actually been a little lucky, since Ichigo wasn't as bad as Matsumoto was, before he glanced over to his Lord for a moment.
Despite the amount of time that he had been in Sombra's presence, and knew some of his mannerisms, Zangetsu already knew that it was next to impossible to tell what the King of Hueco Mundo was thinking at any given time, though right now Sombra was clearly thinking about what he had learned. From what he knew his Lord had always been like that, making it seem like he wasn't there so he could get the whole story about whatever was going on, straight from the source, and generally he knew which side of an argument was right and which side was wrong. There was even the fact that Sombra was the first one to figure out that he was Ichigo's Zanpakuto spirit and that the Old Man wasn't who he said he was, despite Ichigo taking forever to figure it out, meaning that he had an eye for detail and must have been keeping an eye on Haineko's emotions during the entire tale. Haineko, for the most part, seemed relieved to bring the tale to an end, and he couldn't blame her for wanting to split from her abusive partner, especially after hearing what Matsumoto had done to her, and right now she seemed confused as to what she needed to do next, so he moved his chair over to where she was sitting and rested a hand on her shoulder, calming her down as a weak smile appeared on her face.
He knew that it took some determination to tell a complete stranger, especially someone who was standing against the Zanpakuto spirits and the 'freedom' that Muramasa was promising them, the story that Haineko had just shared, but right now it was out of his hands and all he could do was wait and see what Sombra did.
"So, there are others out there that are hurting their Zanpakuto partners," Sombra commented, indicating that he had been thinking about what he had just learned, where he could tell that Zangetsu believed Haineko's tale, that Matsumoto was to blame for their falling out, and he couldn't blame him for thinking that way, not when he saw the same thing in her eyes while she talked, "Very well then. Zangetsu, as of right now there will be a second objective to our current mission, and that is to see how many Zanpakuto spirits are truly tired of being tied to their Shinigami partners, whether they are like Haineko and are being abused or if it's just Muramasa playing on their frustrations. Right now I think there's only two other spirits that are in your old shoes, meaning that there's someone other than Haineko that we have to find and talk to, but first we're going to truly free Haineko from Matsumoto and let her walk a new path, free to make her own decisions without having to be broken over them."
"What do you mean by 'truly freeing' me?" Haineko asked, because as far as she knew Muramasa had already freed her from Matsumoto, but at the same time she knew what happened to Zabimaru, that they were beaten by their partner and taken back, meaning that their freedom was limited no matter what happened.
"It means that you would be separated from your partner and become two separate beings," Sombra said, to which he raised a hand and beckoned to Zangetsu for a moment, as he was the prime example that he had to offer anyone about what he was talking about, "As you no doubt know, Zangetsu used to be the Zanpakuto spirit that was partnered with Ichigo Kurosaki, but after so many attempts to get him to see the truth, that the Old Man wasn't his actual Zanpakuto spirit, Zangetsu had enough and split his soul from Ichigo's, allowing him to take all his power and leave Ichigo's inner world, becoming his own being that was no longer tied to Ichigo. I've been studying all the Zanpakuto that have been freed from their partners, in the manner that Muramasa has been using, and despite what he tells you there are still a few strands connecting a Zanpakuto spirit to their Shinigami partner, meaning that there is still a connection that allows a Shinigami to recover their partner from his influence. The method that Zangetsu used, to pull himself away from Ichigo, was where he severed all those stands that connected him to his partner and then, once they were all gone, he pulled his soul free and became a new being... of course there's no way to know if the process is painful or not, considering that Zangetsu was in control of Ichigo's body at the time."
"Wait, so you're telling me that in order to free myself from Matsumoto, completely, I have to break these strands and then pull my soul away from her soul?" Haineko inquired, though from what she gathered Zangetsu must have just cut the strands in half and then yanked his own soul out of Ichigo's body, but the part about pain made her worried.
"Yep. That's all there is to it." Zangetsu said, to which he got up for a moment and looked out the window, where he noticed Matsumoto standing outside, chatting with some of the Shinigami, which meant that she was either looking for them or she didn't care, and he had the feeling he knew which option she was going with, "Like of it this way, you're opening your true heart and accepting your true nature, because I went from a Zanpakuto spirit and became an Arrancar, and it's been the best decision that I've ever made. Before Lord Sombra came along the other Arrancar were either trying to kill each other or kill whoever Aizen's enemies were, but once he took control several friendships have been formed among our ranks, including me making friends with both Grimmjow and Ulquiorra, so if you decided to join us, and left Matsumoto behind, you'd find yourself among friends in no time."
Part of Haineko didn't like what Zangetsu was implying, that the 'true heart' of a Zanpakuto spirit was the core of a Hollow, the very creatures they were designed to purify as their Shinigami partners used them, and that by opening their 'true hearts' they would become just like him, an Arrancar in service to the King of Hueco Mundo. From what she could tell the four Arrancar that had come with Sombra seemed friendly towards each other, like whatever hatred they had felt for each other had been erased, and it sounded like joining them might be better for her, especially if it meant being freed from the abuse that she had been suffering for a long time. She also guessed that it would be the exciting change that she had been hoping for when she agreed to join Muramasa's cause, even if she hadn't actually hurt anyone or done anything for his rebellion, and if she did become an Arrancar, like Zangetsu did, she could always hide the Hollow hole with some article of clothing, even though she thought she could rock the Arrancar themed attire the others were wearing. She smiled for a moment as she envisioned herself in the clothing that Harribel was wearing, or maybe she'd be able to design a similar dress in the future, and she knew that her smile seemed to improve the mood of the room, that the duo might know what she was going to do.
In the end Haineko got out of the chair that she had been sitting in and knelt before the King of Hueco Mundo, while at the same time she kept her smile on her face, because if his promises were true, that the Arrancar weren't trying to kill each other and had become friends, than maybe she could escape the abuse and find where she truly belonged.
"Lord Sombra, I would be honored to join you and leave Matsumoto behind." Haineko said, because while she had once thought of Matsumoto as a friend, the only friend that she might ever have in this world, that bond had been broken beyond repair and her partner was doing nothing to make it right, so she was going to change her life for the better and escape before she was broken beyond repair.
"And we would be honored to have you join us." Sombra replied, though while he and his followers hadn't come here to actually free some of the Zanpakuto from their partners, as that defeated the original purpose of their mission, he was amending their mission and making sure they reunited the Zanpakuto that weren't being abused to the partners they had been forced to leave, while gathering those that were like Haineko and freed them from abuse, "We'll perform the event in the morning, before everyone gets ready to continue their tasks in taking care of the wounded and keeping an eye out for any of the other spirits, but there is someone that we'll need to keep an eye out for, since she'll come running once we start the process. Zangetsu, once you see Matsumoto enter the area that we're doing this in, since she's bound to come and look at what we're doing, I need you to restrain her until Haineko is free, just in case her meddling with the process does something we're not expecting. Once that's done we'll figure out what our next step is in stopping Muramasa's rebellion, before he has a chance to complete his plans and escape from our grasp."
Haineko had the feeling that Sombra knew something that she and the others didn't, that there was more to this rebellion than what she and the other Zanpakuto spirits had been told, but at the same time she decided to trust her new Lord, especially since Zangetsu did, and see what he had planned... even though she was excited for what the morning brought, since she was finally freeing herself from Matsumoto's abuse at long last.
Despite the fact that she should have been excited for what the morning had for her, since it was going to be the start of a new chapter in her life, Haineko found that within ten minutes of the meeting being over she was exhausted, to which she was carried over to the area that Zangetsu and the other Arrancar had been given for the duration of their stay in Soul Society. Zangetsu explained the situation to his comrades and friends when they arrived, that she was just like he had been and that she would be joining them in the morning, once she had freed herself from her Shinigami partner, and she found that three of them were interested in seeing a new face join them. Harribel, on the other hand, she couldn't read at all, though she had the feeling that the powerful Arrancar was pleased to see that Sombra was rescuing those that were being unfair treated by their partners and offering them a new life, even if it would be different from the one they had known in the past. Haineko did apologize for her exhaustion, since she wanted to stay up and chat with them for a while so she could understand what she was getting herself into, but the other Arrancar knew that she needed her strength and let her drift off to sleep the moment her head hit the pillow.
When morning arrived, and Zangetsu shook her awake when it was time to leave, Haineko yawned for a few seconds before following the Arrancar out of the building they were staying in and headed towards the Fourth Division's barracks, the courtyard to be exact, where she found Sombra standing outside the building.
"It's not too late for you to back out and go back to being a Zanpakuto spirit." Grimmjow commented, as he knew that this decision must have been hard for Haineko to come to, especially since Zangetsu gave him and the others a brief idea of what she had been through, and there was always the chance that she'd back out of it before they got started, "None of us will hold it against you if you suddenly decided to change your mind..."
"No. I've had enough of being abused by my partner." Haineko stated, though she appreciated that one or two of the Arrancar actually cared for her well-being, especially since they barely knew her, and this time she was going to do exactly what she said she was going to do, which is why she stepped forward and approached Sombra, "Lord Sombra, I'm ready to change my life for the better."
"It's good to hear that your standing firm on this decision," Sombra replied, to which he stepped out of the way and beckoned for her to step forward, allowing Haineko to stand in the exact center of the courtyard, the location where she would separate herself from Matsumoto and become her own being at last, and escape being abused, "What you'll want to do is gather your reiatsu until it forms an aura around your body, something that is preceded by the air shaking for a few moments, which is the sign that you'll want to close your eyes and focus on breaking the connections between you and Matsumoto. Zangetsu was able to get it over with in a matter of moments because he was merged with Ichigo, but since the Shinigami would frown on us killing Matsumoto, even if you restored her life seconds later, we'll have to do things this way and let you take your time. Once you get to a point where you feel the bond between your souls is ready to break, and separate you two into two separate beings, you'll be surrounded by a gust of wind for a few seconds... after that you'll be your own person, free to do whatever you want."
Haineko nodded her head and watched as Sombra backed away, just as some of the lower ranking Shinigami seemed to notice that they were doing something, before she sighed and focused on what she had been told, to which her reiatsu gathered around her. As she did that she formed her blade in her right hand and stared at it for a few moments, where she thought about what she was doing and imagined what Zangetsu had done would have been the same thing if he hadn't taken over Ichigo's body, before she focused her mind on the task that she was trying to accomplish. Her white reiatsu flickered and increased as she stood there, the air shaking for a moment at the same time, though as she did that she found that more Shinigami, including Captain Unohana and her Lieutenant, came out to see what they were doing, but it was easy to tell that none of them would bother what she was doing. She didn't know if they knew what happened to Zangetsu or if they were interested in what was happening, but she remained in the same place that she was standing in and let the air shake around her, allowing her full power to gather in the area as she prepared herself, before she closed her eyes and tried to visualize the strands that she had been told about earlier, feeling two strands attached to her arms and two more attached to her legs.
It seemed so simple, that she could find them as easily as she had, before she focused her mind and power on one of them, which was when she found that the strands that were keeping her tied to Matsumoto were stronger than she thought they would be, as the first one she tackled with her power just vibrated and pushed her back. It was almost like the strand was saying that the bond between them couldn't be so easily broken, but after all the pain that she had been through over the years flashed back up to the surface, and her aura strengthened as a result of her determination to free herself, she focused on the strand that she had just attacked and redoubled her efforts. Of course the strand tried to resist what she was doing, just like it had done moments ago when she first struck it, but this time around Haineko found that she was putting some dents in the defenses that she was encountering, because after a few moments she felt her power sink into the strand, weakening it more than it already was, before she gave it a final push and the strand unraveled. It was like a part of her had been liberated from Matsumoto's soul, which was why she was doing this in the first place, and the fact that this was actually possible made her grin as she turned her attention to the second strand, because she was going to cut her way through the four strands and then separate her soul from her former partner's soul... and then, once she reached that point, she'd be her own being with the power to do whatever she wanted, even though she'd also be following Sombra's orders from time to time.
"What in the world is going on out here?" Matsumoto asked, as she had felt that there was a large gathering of both Shinigami and Arrancar in the courtyard of the Fourth Division's barracks, and she was right since there were a number of people gathered to watch what was happening, before she winced as a small cut formed on her left hand, "What the... who in the world attacked me?"
"No one attacked you, Lieutenant Matsumoto." Zangetsu replied, though at the same time he did as his Lord had told him to do, he appeared behind the confused lady and grabbed both of her shoulders, because if she did anything to Haineko this could get ugly real fast, "All that happened was that Haineko used her power and broke one of the smaller bonds that exist between the two of you, a strand that was keeping her tied to your soul, though it appears that the act of breaking such a thing had a small reaction. I guess it's to be expected, especially since the only event of a Zanpakuto spirit leaving their partner is, well, when I left Ichigo during his adventure into Hueco Mundo, and that was a clean separation since I was in control of his body, so I guess a separation like this is going to have some pain involved, at least for the Shinigami anyway. It seems that Haineko might be able to get some revenge for all the pain you put her through over the many years you two knew each other."
"Wait, she's abandoning me?!" Matsumoto exclaimed, though as she said that she attempted to move, only to find that Zangetsu's strength was enough to keep her where she was standing, meaning that she couldn't tackle Haineko and stop her from doing what she was doing, "Let go of me! You can't take my Zanpakuto spirit away from me!"
"We're not the ones who drove her to do this, I merely told her what she had to do and let her make the decision all on her own." Sombra stated, as he had been waiting for Matsumoto to arrive and knew that Zangetsu would prevent her from doing anything that could endanger her former partner, which was why he walked over to them so he could be near them as Haineko worked to free herself, especially when she turned her attention to her next target, "Besides, why do you suddenly care what happens to Haineko? From what I've learned in the last couple of hours you only cared about her when you were trying to get her Shikai, but then, once you managed to learn that, it started to turn into you only cared about yourself and started tormenting her with names that tore her down, and that's not forgetting about the times you chipped her edge and even shattered her blade in a fit of anger."
"That... that bitch!" Matsumoto said, to which she fought to get Zangetsu off of her, because she couldn't believe that Haineko would be so stupid to run to someone else and complain about her, though she was forced back as a cut appeared on her other hand, mirroring the first one, "I'm going to beat some sense into her, once I figure out how to get you to stop holding me down like this."
"And there it is, the attitude that Haineko despises more than anything in the world." Zangetsu growled, to which he glared at Matsumoto for a moment, the act of which caused her to pause in her movements as she locked her gaze with his, where he allowed her to understand that he was annoyed with her, "You're too self-centered to care what's happening to the spirit that's supposed to be your Zanpakuto spirit, because it has to be all about you and you never gave Haineko a second thought after you gained control over her Shikai. All you did was keep her trapped in your inner world, locked the door, and made sure to forget where the key was located, leaving her to live a life where she couldn't communicate with you, despite her attempts to reach you while also making sure to keep her skills ready for when you needed her assistance or wanted to train. Did you ever stop to think what happened when you shattered her blade in your fit of anger? No, I'm going to guess that you didn't care and that you simply rushed to repair the blade, instead of checking on your partner, like you should have. Were you aware of the fact that when you broke Haineko's blade that one time, and shattered it into several fragments in the process, that you nearly killed her in the process, and that it was by her own determination and will to live that she was able to hold herself together until you got her blade reforged?"
Matsumoto paused for a moment, as she remembered the day that Zangetsu was talking about in great detail, as it had been the turning point in her relationship with Haineko, but she realized that he was also right, she had never even considered what she had done to Haineko that day and how she had damaged their bond, and it shocked her to hear that she had nearly killed her partner by doing what she had done.
"That's right, you should be shocked by that piece of information," Zangetsu said, though at the same time the wind burst out of where Haineko was standing, as her aura had grown that much stronger over the last couple of minutes and she must have shattered the next obstacle, considering the third cut that formed on Matsumoto's right leg, "Ever since that day she's been trying to reforge the old bond that the two of you had, because she wanted things to return to normal, and yet all you did was ignore her and remained the same self-centered person you were since that point in time. Haineko said that overtime she had trouble hearing your voice and only came out when the need was great, like when you went up against Harribel's Fraccion, and her growing frustration at you not treating her with a shred of respect caused her to join the rebellion when Muramasa contacted her. Let's face the facts, you forced Haineko into the position that she slowly found herself in and kept beating her with either harmful names or chipping her blade when you got annoyed, so I think it's only fair that you lose the Zanpakuto spirit that's supposed to be your partner."
"No. You can't take her from me!" Matsumoto stated, to which she struggled against Zangetsu's hold as a fourth cut appeared on her left leg, but this time around she didn't let that stop her from trying to get to her Zanpakuto spirit, to which she glanced at the bright white aura that was wrapping around Haineko at the moment, "Haineko, you stupid cat! You can't just abandon me like this!"
Before Zangetsu could do anything, as it appeared that Matsumoto didn't get the fact that her name calling was doing more damage and wasn't fixing the problem that she had created over the years, a white wavy beam burst out of her chest and raced towards the aura that was around Haineko, where it connected to the Zanpakuto spirit as well. Zangetsu knew what it was, as Haineko had reached the point where all she had to do was open her true heart, accepting the fact that she was leaving behind her position as an abused Zanpakuto spirit and that she was taking up a new position as an Arrancar, all while leaving behind her Shinigami partner. All she had to do was unbind her soul from Matsumoto's soul and take her power back into herself, just like he had done when he was separating himself from Ichigo, and then she would be her own being at long last, free to do whatever she wanted and gain the respect of those that she chose to associate herself with in the future. A few moments later he watched as a crack formed in the middle of the connection between their souls, causing Matsumoto to scream in pain for a moment as Zangetsu gently released her and let her sit on the ground, but he knew that this was because of the two souls, who were supposed to be bound until death, were being separated from each other, and since it was Haineko that was going though the effort to pull them apart, Matsumoto was the one to suffer.
Despite the pain that Matsumoto was in, since it had to feel like her soul was being broken into two halves, she forced herself to stand and faced the wind vortex that was now forming around Haineko, though as the moments ticked by the cracks continued to form in the connection between them, where Matsumoto forced herself to keep calm and not scream in pain as the bond was breaking before her eyes. When the connection between them actually snapped in half, freeing Haineko from her abusive partner, Matsumoto was knocked onto her back as her half of the connection slammed into her, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared, and she couldn't help but scream once more as she felt the pain of losing someone that had been close to her for a large portion of her life. Haineko, on the other hand, looked down at the piece of the connection that surged into her chest and kicked up a torrent of reiatsu, dust, and wind that prevented everyone from being able to see her, even though a few Shinigami rushed over to Matsumoto and helped her onto her feet as she stared at the torrent of energy in front of them. Zangetsu stood beside the other Arrancar for a moment, as they were all studying what was happening before their eyes, while Sombra stood nearby, as he was eager to see if this method worked as well as Zangetsu's possession and separation method did, before the wind died down, the dust fell to the ground, and the surge of reiatsu died down.
When the smoke cleared Sombra found Haineko standing where she had been standing moments ago, though this time she was holding her Zanpakuto in it's sheath, but while she looked the same there were some changes, which was mostly the small white tiara that had to be her mask fragment, though since they couldn't see her Hollow hole Sombra assumed that it was above her chest and below her neck, meaning that it was hidden by her fur like chest piece.
"I'm... I'm free!" Haineko exclaimed, to which a happy smile appeared on her face as she realized what she had been able to do, especially since she looked over her form for a moment and found that she seemed to be almost the exact same as before, only now she was no longer tied to Matsumoto, before she looked over at the nearby Arrancar and knelt towards her new King, "Lord Sombra, Zangetsu, thank you for freeing me from my former partner. I will gladly join the Arrancar that are following you and serve you as well."
"It's nice to have you join us," Sombra replied, to which he and the other Arrancar smiled at Haineko, especially since Zangetsu moved forward and helped their newest member onto her feet, before he considered something as Matsumoto glared at him, "We'll take some time to get you situated as a member of my growing empire, and whatever duties you might have in the future, before we start thinking about the rebellion and the rest of the Zanpakuto that Muramasa is still controlling at the moment."
As Haineko and the other Arrancar agreed with him, and his followers helped Haineko understand the difference between what she had been and what she was now, Sombra glanced in the direction that the forest ruins were in and knew that it was only a matter of time until Muramasa made his move, and then they'd attack him in return... but until then he'd focus on making Haineko feel better about her decision and get her moving down the right path, to mend the wounds that Matsumoto inflicted on her, and he was sure that Haineko would enjoy the changes to her life.
Muramasa walked through the forest after he, Byakuya, and Senbonzakura flashed out of the area that Sombra had been standing in, as he was thinking about what happened when the powerful being had suddenly appeared in the area that he had been planning on coming to before heading to his hideout. Sombra was a wildcard that he wasn't expecting to come across during his mission, his power was greater than anything he had encountered so far, and both of the Zanpakuto that he wielded stood against what he and the remaining Zanpakuto spirits were plotting, even if he was keeping his real plans a secret from them. There was also the case that Sombra allowed both Byakuya and Senbonzakura to flee the area without so much of a scratch, but he figured that he must have used quite a lot of his power to fight him earlier, where he had been utterly dominated in battle, though at the same time he wasn't willing to rule out that someone was trying to trick him into lowering his guard, so they could strike out at him in the future. Sombra was a being that happened to be rallying the weakened Shinigami, boosting their defenses with some of his own forces and encouraging them to do their best against the odds that they were facing, meaning that it would be hard for them to do anything in the future, especially if they ended up facing him or Zangetsu again.
Eventually he came to the entrance of his hideout and moved inside, with both of his companions following after him as he lead the way, and it wasn't long before he came to the area that the rest of the Zanpakuto spirits were standing in, but when he came to a stop he found that Hyorinmaru and Haineko were missing, which wasn't great in the grand scheme of things, but he could work with what he was given.
"Byakuya Kuchiki?!" Kazeshini asked in surprise, as he and the other spirits had noticed who was standing between Muramasa and Senbonzakura, though the fact that a Shinigami was here, in what was supposed to be their secret hideout, ruined everything that they were working towards.
"What's he doing here?" Hozukimaru inquired, though this was one of the few times that he would even agree with the crazy whirlwind Zanpakuto that had been partners with a Shinigami that hated his Shikai form, while at the same time he and the others readied themselves as Muramasa walked over to the pool of water that was nearby.
"What in the world is going on?" Suzumebachi, the small hornet like Zanpakuto spirit, stated, as she didn't like this one bit and she had no idea if her special two hit power of hers would be able to take out a Captain of Byakuya's caliber if he suddenly turned against them.
"Lord Muramasa, what's the meaning of this?" Ruri'iro Kujaku asked, knowing that all of them were thinking the same thing that he had mentioned, though at the same time all of them were itching to draw their Zanpakuto so they could cut the Captain down before he attacked them.
"Why in the world did you save me?" Tobiume inquired, as shortly after she had been knocked into a tree Matsumoto and Hinamori locked her in a cage to be carted back to the Seireitei, for whatever they had planned, and Byakuya had come in and knocked out the three guards so she could be freed from the cage, even though it seemed that her rescue must have happened before Byakuya revealed his intentions to their Lord, "Why did you turn your back on the Shinigami and follow Lord Muramasa here?"
"I am only doing as my pride dictates." Byakuya stated, keeping his expression the same that everyone and their Zanpakuto knew, because there was only one person, in this room anyway, that needed to know his real goals, while at the same time the Zanpakuto seemed shocked by what Tobiume had said.
"We came here because we ran out of patience with people like you." Ruri'iro Kujaku said, as his particular partner liked to call him names, beat him against boulders in his annoyance, and even call him by the wrong name when using his Shikai form, only to draw out a fraction of his power, "Personally, I'd rather not work with someone like you."
"True, it defeats the point of letting loose." Hozukimaru added, because that was one of the reasons that some of them had pulled away from their masters, especially since some of those Shinigami didn't like certain aspects of their Zanpakuto and kept those parts hidden from everyone.
"Byakuya Kuchiki, I would like you to prove to us that you are truly willing to betray the Shinigami that have long been your allies and join our rebellion." Senbonzakura spoke up, as this was the first time he was speaking since the meeting with Sombra, something that he had put into the back of his mind as he refocused on their real mission, "That is, if you're up to what I have in mind."
"So, a test of loyalty." Byakuya commented, though this was something they had planned on doing and knew that his partner had something in mind for this, especially since it might involve weakening their enemy's forces for Sombra and the other Shinigami, once they get the information that they're after, "What do you want me to do?"
"Kill your younger sister's Zanpakuto, Sode no Shirayuki, right here and now!" Senbonzakura stated, to which his statement caused a number of the spirits around them seemed shocked that he had such a demand for his Shinigami partner to go through to prove himself.
"What the hell are you thinking, Senbonzakura?" Sode no Shirayuki demanded, as she couldn't believe that he was even thinking about having Byakuya kill her, because in all honesty she knew that most of the spirits in this area might not have a chance to beat him if he suddenly turned on them.
"Yeah, why are you asking him to kill one of us?" Suzumebachi asked, because even if it was to switch a Lieutenant level blade with a Captain level Shinigami, which would be a good idea if it was just two Zanpakuto, she knew that all of them hate Byakuya, regardless of what he did.
"If anyone other than a Zanpakuto's partner defeats them, like Soi Fon defeating Zabimaru instead of Renji doing it, that Zanpakuto will never return to normal." Senbonzakura stated, though there was no way to prove whether that was true or not, because there wasn't an instance of someone else defeating another's Zanpakuto, as Zangetsu beating the Old Man didn't count at all, "There's a chance that killing Sode no Shirayuki will cripple Rukia Kuchiki, so I am curious to see if he is capable of doing such a thing to his own sister, who worked hard to get to where she is."
"You want me to kill her?" Byakuya inquired, though even as he said that most of the spirits around him drew their blades and readied themselves for a fight, as if believing that he wouldn't actually go through with this, but after seeing that Zangetsu had freed the Old Man he knew what he had to do, "So be it."
Before any of the Zanpakuto could react to what he was doing Byakuya drew his own blade and rushed through the space between him and Sode no Shirayuki, whose eyes widened in surprise as she summoned her own blade, only for his swing to knock her back into the air. He then followed Sode no Shirayuki as she retreated to the area above the pool of water that Muramasa was staring at, where the two of them clashed in the air above everyone, shocking the Zanpakuto with the mere fact that he was willing to fight and destroy his own sister's partner. When he slammed his target into the side of a sharp rock, however, she blew a cold wind at him and forced him backwards, allowing her to move once more as she sent a series of ice shards at him, though that all turned out to be a distraction as Sode no Shirayuki flashed over to the ground behind him and performed the steps for 'Tsugi no mai, Hakuren'. Byakuya countered with Hado Number 4: Byakurai, where he used the bolt of lightning against the wave of frozen air that was coming his way and forced his foe to move into the air once more, abandoning her attack for the moment as she considered a new plan of attack. While he chased his target, however, Byakuya learned that Sode no Shirayuki believed that he had absolutely no chance at beating her in a fight, especially without his Zanpakuto partner assisting him, though he decided not to let her words get to him, like they would get to any lesser opponent.
Of course while all that happened Sode no Shirayuki revealed her hand, using 'Some no mai, Tsukishiro' six times in rapid succession to force him backwards through the air as he avoided the attacks, eventually coming to a rest against the edge of the cavern, which was when she used a seventh Tsukishiro behind him, where the pillar of ice seemed to encase him like all the others she had used it on... but the reality of the situation was different than what she thought it was, just as the ice towers crumpled and revealed that he had left his scarf inside part of the last tower.
"Way of Onmitsu, 3rd of the Shihō: Utsusemi." Byakuya commented, to which Sode no Shirayuki's eyes widened as she recognized the technique that had been used against one of the Espada, one that Rukia had only found out about when she asked her brother how his battle went, "Bakudo Number 61: Rikujokoro."
Sode no Shirayuki found herself stuck between six golden yellow rods, the same ones that Rukia had used against her in their earlier battle, and before she even had the chance to move Byakuya fell down towards where she was floating, spun around, and sliced right through her body... though as he landed nearby, and sheathed his blade, Sode no Shirayuki's physical form reverted back to her Shikai blade, just like every other Zanpakuto that was defeated, before the blade snapped in half and the fragments landed on the edge of a fragment of the last ice tower.
"It seems that we underestimated your devotion to betray your fellow Shinigami and join our side," Muramasa said, though at the same time Senbonzakura jumped into the area in front of him and collected the fragments of Sode no Shirayuki's blade, as while it was a tragic loss he did have something the Captain could do, while he held a hand out and stopped the other Zanpakuto from doing anything drastic, "especially since you didn't hesitate to strike down and kill your own sister's Zanpakuto... it speaks volumes about your resolve. But if you step out of line, and do something that betrays your new comrades in any way, you'll find that there will be no one to protect you against their fury."
"Noted." Byakuya replied, as he suspected that many of the Zanpakuto weren't too happy about his presence and that they might try to start something, which was why, since it appeared that Muramasa needed some time to think about what he had found out, he just walked away and headed to a different part of the cave, with Senbonzakura staying behind to keep an eye on their real target.
Muramasa frowned as the rest of the Zanpakuto went back to what they were doing, though it wasn't because all of them were so eager to kill Byakuya the moment he showed himself, rather he was worried about the two missing spirits that were part of their rebellion. Losing Hyorinmaru, a Captain level spirit, was bad enough, especially considering his powers over ice, but to lose Haineko, a Lieutenant level spirit, at the same time was terrible, even though he still had the feeling that they'd be able to win with what they had at the moment, provided Sombra didn't get involved. As he stood there the other Zanpakuto spirits conversed with each other, where it appeared that all of them seemed to be worried about their allies, though the only one that could possible know what happened to Haineko was Tobiume, who revealed that she had been knocked into a tree by Zangetsu and was out cold when she was stuffed into the cage that she was freed from minutes later. Since that seemed to be the situation that he was stuck with he had to guess that Haineko had been captured, no doubt to be studied by the Captain that doubled as a scientist, and the information would be used against them in some manner, but even if that was the case he knew how to get the answer, and that was just to ask Suzumebachi to fly out and spy on their enemies.
When the first rays of morning arrived, and most of the other Zanpakuto spirits were still asleep, Muramasa quietly approached the little Zanpakuto spirit that used to be partnered with Soi Fon and asked her if she could spy on their foes, to see if they couldn't rescue Haineko and confuse their enemies, and not moments later Suzumebachi flew out to see if she could find anything of use to their cause.
"Truthfully, I hope Haineko is rotting in a cell somewhere." a voice said, to which Muramasa turned around a little and found Tobiume standing nearby, though her words indicated that she must have been listening to the order that he gave to Suzumebachi and didn't approve of him trying to rescue their comrade.
"What makes you say that?" Muramasa inquired, though at the same time he wondered if he had used a little too much force on her when he was trying to convince her to join their side, as her personality seemed different from when she was inside Hinamori's inner world, where he rescued her from.
"She's a coward that couldn't even stand the thought of facing Zangetsu in battle, unlike me." Tobiume replied, though at the same time she lightly shook her bells, perhaps indicating that she didn't care about Haineko anymore, before she glanced in the direction of the Seireitei, "Though I doubt Matsumoto even cares about her anyway... I swear, those two have one of the worst relationships in all of Soul Society, and it's all Haineko's fault."
"Hey, you shouldn't be too hard on her," another spirit, Ruri'iro Kujaku, spoke up, showing that their conversation was drawing some of the others to seek them out, even though it was going to be over soon enough, since Muramasa had other things he needed to be doing at the moment, "I mean, her Shinigami partner is one of the laziest and downright useless Lieutenants in the entirety of the Seireitei... I daresay that she's even worse than your partner."
Muramasa stopped paying attention to the conversation after that point, as both Ruri'iro Kujaku and Tobiume got into a heated argument about which of their partners, as they included all of the Shinigami that one of the Zanpakuto had been bound to recently, was the worst Shinigami in all of Soul Society. Once again he wondered if this was because of his tampering with their frustrations to get them to join his side, or if they naturally hated each other and loved to argue just to hear themselves talk, but he did find it amusing when they bashed their former masters with insults, ones that would likely be used against targets when they encountered each other again. He knew that all of them were eager for battle, in one form or another, and that they were waiting for him to give the command to attack the Seireitei, but for now he wanted to wait until he got Suzumebachi's report on what was going on before he decided what to do next. The only one among them that wasn't doing anything was Senbonzakura, as he seemed to be keeping his eyes on Byakuya, who was lurking somewhere in the shadows and observing them, and he was fine with that, as it meant that someone was making sure that their guest didn't do anything he wasn't supposed to do.
He spent some time staring at the other Zanpakuto spirits, listening to them argue over what was going on and what they liked to talk about, before he heard the sound of Suzumebachi flying into their hideout, to which he waved a hand and the others, noticing his movement, stopped talking as he approached the Zanpakuto spirit he sent out to see what happened to Haineko and if there was anything they could exploit.
"What did you learn?" Muramasa asked, though at the same time he noticed that Suzumebachi was shocked about something, meaning that she must have uncovered something important that had shocked her, which held the interest of the other Zanpakuto that were standing nearby.
"Their defenses are the same as before, but there is something new I found," Suzumebachi replied, to which she glanced around for a moment and stared at the other spirits for a moment, as the others were going to be shocked by what she had to tell them, "It's about Haineko... she's betrayed us!"
"WHAT?!" Kazeshini exclaimed, while at the same time the other Zanpakuto spirits were shocked by what their little scout had to tell them, because the Zanpakuto spirit that used to serve Matsumoto had joined them to get away from her master, so hearing this was quite a surprise.
"It's true, but she didn't join the Shinigami and her former master," Suzumebachi said, as she remembered what she had felt earlier, when she observed what happened, before she turned towards Muramasa and prepared herself for what she was going to say next, "I'm not entirely sure what happened, but somehow she's stopped being a Zanpakuto spirit and has become more like those Arrancar that are following Sombra, as her reiatsu now seems to be eerily similar to each of their individual reiatsu... and, based on what I saw, it appears that she's separated herself from her master, who screamed in pain as that happened."
"Right. Haineko, the lazy cat, joined a force of warriors that are incredibly dangerous." Tobiume stated, to which she shook her head for a moment, as she couldn't believe that Haineko would do something like that and leave them behind, especially when they were in the middle of a rebellion, "Look, if we head into the Seireitei, I'll take it upon myself to find her and see what the truth of the matter is..."
"Actually, this might be what I was waiting for," Muramasa stated, causing the Zanpakuto spirits turned towards him for a moment, and he noticed that Byakuya stepped out of the shadows so he could see if a mission was going to be given to him or not, "Byakuya Kuchiki, it seems that it's time for you to get to work for the betterment of our rebellion."
Byakuya nodded his head and readied himself for whatever the Zanpakuto spirit had in mind for him, though at the same time he was curious as to what happened to Haineko, but he was sure that Sombra was behind the change and that he would learn about it in the future, before listening to what Muramasa wanted... all while wondering how many of the others Sombra had told the news to, that he wasn't actually betraying them, before determining that he and his partner would figure that out soon enough.
Despite all the power that she had poured into breaking herself away from Matsumoto, who was very angry with her and had been hauled away by two of the Captains before she could do anything she might regret, Haineko found that she was still full of energy and that Zangetsu had a plan to help her burn through some of it. What that plan entailed was the two of them heading back to the area that Sombra had fought Muramasa in, an area that she was surprised to return to so quickly after having been here only a day or two ago and witnessing Sombra's power for herself, before Zangetsu had her start showing him how she fought. It was a nice change of pace, that she was actually training with someone and trying to boost her own skills, instead of sitting inside Matsumoto's inner world and doing absolutely nothing but train and hope her former partner came to talk to her, though she quickly found that Zangetsu, despite only using a fraction of his true power, was a tough opponent to spar against. She had witnessed his power and knew that Zangetsu was strong, which didn't bother her as much as it did the previous night when Tobiume told her to fight him, but even with him holding back for her sake he was still a tough opponent, which allowed her to gauge where she rested and how much stronger she could become in her new Arrancar state.
From what she could determine she was in the Adjuchas level that she was told about during her training, based on what Zangetsu revealed to her, and she would tell that Grimmjow, who was watching nearby, was interested in just how powerful she really was, but when Zangetsu raised his hand and started to charge his crimson Cero, however, Haineko gathered her reiatsu and a white sphere appeared in front of her hand. A few moments later, when they both fired their attacks, the area between them exploded as the two attacks connected, kicking up flames and smoke in the process, but as that happened both Zangetsu and Grimmjow grinned, which Haineko discovered the reason for when the smoke cleared and revealed a decent sized crater where the two Ceros collided with each other.
"Um, oops?" Haineko said, as she wasn't sure that she could have copied the attack that was unique to Hollows and Arrancar like that, but even then she could tell that it wasn't anywhere near the level of power that the rest of Sombra's followers could command, especially since Sombra himself was on a whole different level.
"Hey, you did good to keep up with me when I use this much of my power." Zangetsu stated, though at the same time he held his blade to the side and the cloth wrapped around it, indicating that they had reached the end of their first training session, before he put it on his back, where it rested with ease, and approached Haineko as she sheathed her own blade with a smile on her face, "In time we'll get your power up to a more appropriate level, for someone who feels like an Adjuchas ranked Arrancar, but for now you're power is more than enough to stand against the enemies that we're currently dealing with."
"I'd say that she's got some decent power in her already." Grimmjow added, as he was staring at the crater that had been formed between Haineko's Cero hitting the low powered Cero that Zangetsu had fired at her as a test of her power, one that seemed to have succeeded by the looks of it, before he turned towards the pair, "If you think that she's got more power inside her, I believe you, though it seems like the two of you were definitely made for each other, especially if what I've seen so far is any indication."
"Are you jealous that I didn't take an interest in you when you and the others watched Zangetsu's fight?" Haineko inquired, because it sounded like Grimmjow might be a little jealous that Zangetsu was able to find someone to share his heart with, but at the same time she wanted to see what the situation was before she did anything else.
"Maybe a little, but I'm not about to fight someone like him, especially with his power." Grimmjow replied, as he knew that Zangetsu was much stronger than him, especially since he was the second most powerful Arrancar under Starrk, or third if they were counting Sombra as the first one, "I'll find someone to love in the future, though right now I'm glad to have someone like you on our side, as you're adapting quite well to fighting like an Arrancar."
Haineko rubbed the back of her head for a moment, as she was happy to see that her new friends were pleased that she was able to keep up with them, even if they were still holding back a good chunk of their power when they were training with her, before she parried the incoming attack from Grimmjow, as he was showing her not to lower her guard around any enemies that she might be fighting in the future, and before long she found that they were resuming her training session. While they were doing that she found that there were others observing them, one of them was even Matsumoto, and she was sure it was her former partner by her reiatsu, but she refused to be distracted and focused on the pair that were taking turns showing her how an Arrancar could fight, even though each of them had their own style and usually didn't copy what the others did. It was interesting to see the duo attack her, where she guarded against whatever they sent at her and she retaliated with her own attacks, and she was already learning from how they swung their arms and their blades, though it would be some time before she was on their level of skill, despite her efforts to close the gap between them.
She, Zangetsu, and Grimmjow took a few breaks while they trained, mostly to let her calm down and regain some of her energy, before they continued with whatever the more experienced Arrancar had in mind for their training, though they didn't stop for lunch and continued into the evening... and when they stopped for the evening the three of them headed back into the Seireitei so they could help guard the area, even though Sombra made sure that she was stationed elsewhere so she didn't get upset with her former partner.
As the evening fell upon the Seireitei, however, she heard that both Renji and Rukia were heading to the Sixth Division barracks to search for any additional information on what Byakuya might be doing, as it appeared that Sombra had told some of the Captains and Lieutenants he was playing Muramasa. It came to a shock to Haineko when she first heard that bit of information, as it meant that there was something they needed to know before the rebellion was completely taken out, but she was willing to put her faith in Lord Sombra and his plans, especially when she and Zangetsu stood on one of the roofs of the nearby buildings as they stared at the area their target would be heading towards. Truth be told she still wasn't one for a stakeout type of mission, but since she was actually being put to work, and she could actually get behind something like this, she watched the barracks that would be attacked soon and watched as both Renji and Rukia headed inside on their own. Grimmjow, on the other hand, headed out to a different area once the two of them were situated in, allowing them to keep watch over the area as they ignored the Shinigami that were milling about the zone around them, though Haineko kept her reiatsu low since she didn't want Matsumoto to find her and annoy her.
It took some time, and they were well into the night, before anything interesting happened, as she and Zangetsu saw some of the Shinigami escaping the barracks with small cages that contained the Jigokucho, the Hell Butterflies that were used for communication and travel by the Shinigami, and it seemed that they were hiding themselves in case enemies were in the area... though while Zangetsu stood outside, to keep his eyes open for the other Zanpakuto spirits, Haineko leapt towards the barracks and entered the building.
"Brother." she heard Rukia say, which meant that she was close, as the moment she turned the corner she found Rukia standing in one of the hallways, where the Jigokucho were usually kept, and a few steps in front of her stood the Captain level Shinigami that was her brother, Byakuya Kuchiki.
"Rukia. How much do you know?" Byakuya asked, because he wanted to know how many actually knew about his mission before he did anything else, though at the same time his partner stood nearby so they could deliver something to his sister, as he didn't trust the fragments to remain with the other Zanpakuto spirits.
"Lord Sombra gave us an idea of what you're up to." Haineko stated, causing Rukia to turn for a moment, as she hadn't noticed that she had arrived in the hallway that they were all standing in, before she sensed something near her and drew her blade, where the blade remained in front of Senbonzakura's neck as he appeared behind them, "What, were you thinking of ambushing us while we were talking?"
Senbonzakura shook his head a little, in the 'no' fashion, before extending his hand and dropped two white blade fragments, which fell to the ground in front of Rukia, whose eyes widened as she realized that she was looking at the halves of Sode no Shirayuki, and Haineko knew what was going on.
"It's okay, she's not entirely gone," Haineko said, to which she lowered her blade and knelt beside Rukia, as she knew exactly what was happening at the moment, since she had been through the same thing years ago, when her blade had been shattered by her partner, and noticed that Senbonzakura was walking over to his partner, "All we have to do is take her to that one Captain, whose also a scientist, and we should be able to restore her to her former glory, especially since it worked for me years ago."
"Besides, I hope you aren't thinking of leaving just yet." Renji added, to which he appeared in the area between them and where Byakuya was standing, though at the same time he was smiling as he drew his Zanpakuto, "We're got to make this convincing for the other Zanpakuto spirits, which is why I'll gladly focus on fighting you, Captain Byakuya, and both Saru and Hebi can face your partner."
Haineko barely had time to say anything as the wall behind Byakuya exploded and the two spirits that represented Zabimaru stepped out of the hole they had made, with a grin on both of their faces, before they charged at Senbonzakura and forced him outside the barracks, by creating another hole in the wall. Byakuya, on the other hand, simply drew his blade and parried Renji's incoming attacks, showing that he understood what they were doing and was playing along, even though it would be some time before more of the Zanpakuto spirits showed up and attempted to help them. She and Rukia watched as both Byakuya and Senbonzakura took to fighting outside the building they had been in, their 'battles' wrecking the roofs of the buildings that were around them, and despite the fact that they should have been holding back Senbonzakura released his Shikai and chased Saru and Hebi into one of the buildings as Byakuya and Renji had a battle of Kido, which Byakuya was better at given his experience. Haineko knew that this wasn't a battle that she should intervene in, since it appeared that the combatants might be using their own prior battles to fuel their desire to defeat each other, and before long she discovered that they were really getting into the fight, as the damage to the surrounding area only increased as time moved on.
That thought was further reinforced by the fact that both Saru and Hebi activated their Bankai, where a single blast from their Hikotsu Taiho obliterated the building that they had fled into as they resumed the battle with their foe, which was followed by Senbonzakura activating his own Bankai... and in the following few seconds both he and Byakuya knocked Saru, Hebi, and Renji to the ground, which made sense considering that the Captain and his partner were much stronger than the trio they had been fighting. Of course something interesting happened, as not a few moments after they 'bested' their foes Haineko watched as Kazeshini, Tengen, Hozukimaru, Gonryomaru, and Ruri'iro Kujaku flashed into the area around them, though it appeared that most of them wanted to kill Renji and capture Zabimaru so Muramasa could see if he could get them back on their side. As she took a step forward she found a number of Keigun, the branch of the Onmitsukido that Soi Fon was in charge of, flashed into the area around them and formed a perfect circle around them, and not even a few moments later Soi Fon stopped at an area above them so she could stare down at them.
"Don't move. You're all under arrest." Soi Fon stated, though at the same time Ikkaku, Yumichika, Kira, Hisagi, and Ichigo flashed into the area around them, showing that they had planned this out according to what Sombra had told them earlier, before Zangetsu stepped down onto the building near Soi Fon.
Instead of listening to what she was saying, however, Kazeshini drew his blades and cut down a few of the Keigun that were around them, allowing the other Zanpakuto spirits to break out of the area that they were standing in, though both Kira and Hisagi chased after the crazed spirit, Yumichika pulled his former partner away, and Ikkaku made sure to go elsewhere with Hozukimaru, while Tengen and Gonryomaru pushed Soi Fon out of the area. Ichigo and Zangetsu, on the other hand, released their Bankai and charged at Senbonzakura and Byakuya, just to make it seem like they were still enemies and not pretending to do battle with each other, before Haineko realized that there were more spirits in the Seireitei than what she had seen so far. From what she could tell Wabisuke and Suzumebachi were in the surrounding area for sure, doing whatever they wanted, and Ashisogi Jizo seemed to be wandering around the Seireitei, no doubt looking for something fun to do, but as she debated on what she wanted to do she felt the presence of a spirit that she disliked more than anyone else, and that was Tobiume.
As she moved towards the area that her former Zanpakuto spirit partner was in, since the two of them had fought side by side when the rebellion started, despite her not actually hurting anyway, she stopped for a moment as she noticed both Ikkaku and Hozukimaru touch down in the area they would be fighting in, where she paused to watch them. She found the battle interesting as the two combatants attacked each other and blocked some of the attacks that were coming their way, though it was only a matter of time until Ikkaku was knocked back into the water behind him, which was when he burst out of the water and activated his Shikai, mimicking what his Zanpakuto partner was doing. There movements were in perfect sync with each other, their attacks being the exact same as they danced around the area that they were battling in, and it wasn't long before Ikkaku drew some blood from his partner, which only caused the two of them to grin as they continued fighting each other, though Haineko wasn't worried about them since this was how a lot of Zaraki's Division acted when they fought their enemies. From that moment Ikkaku got even more serious than he had been a few moments ago, as he went on the offensive and forced Hozukimaru to defend himself, before eventually hitting him with the bottom end of his staff weapon, a blow that knocked the spirit through a rock, smashed through a shrub that was behind that, and into the side of a building.
That show of strength was nothing compared to what happened next, as that was when Hozukimaru activated his Bankai and started pushing Ikkaku backwards, which made sense considering that he was using his full power and Ikkaku didn't have access to that power anymore, but Ikkaku grinned as he continued fighting. While the tables turned, however, Hozukimaru revealed that he was annoyed with how proud Ikkaku acted, only to get beaten down by those that he fought, and that Ikkaku would earn the right to say such things again when he had the strength to back up his claims, though Haineko knew that he was just eager for a fight and siding with Muramasa would allow him to test the strength of his partner, before he went back to his previous position. Ikkaku's next attack might have sent him into the ground, but at the same time he was able to put a dent in the blade that Hozukimaru was using for his Bankai, and despite the fact that his Shikai was cut in half he still fought his partner with all his strength, showing that he was still quite strong and that he shouldn't be underestimated, though by the end of the next series of attacks the blade that Hozukimaru had been using was reduced to nothing by Ikkaku. Despite their injuries Haineko was impressed by what they were able to do, and when the red dragon on Hozukimaru's chest glowed he summoned the central part of his Bankai as Ikkaku put part of his blade on the ground, to signify where he couldn't cross, before the two of them engaged each other once more.
Haineko had to cover her eyes for a moment as the two of them collided with all their might, shaking the area around them as the other combatants around the Seireitei had to feel what was going on, though when the dust cleared, and she was allowed to look at them again, she found that Ikkaku was more injured than earlier, but even as he hit the ground Hozukimaru grinned and reverted back to his Zanpakuto form, showing that Ikkaku had won the fight, before she nodded her head and continued moving towards her target's destination.
"Oh, you aren't going anywhere." she heard Tobiume say, though at the same time, as she reached her destination, Haineko found that a few Shinigami must have encountered Ashisogi Jizo, based on the fact that the smaller spirit was now trapped under some rubble, and she could tell that her target was glaring down at the Shinigami below her, "Now that the distracting cat is out of the way, I can take you all out in no time."
"Not so fast." Haineko replied, though she arrived just in time to flash between Tobiume and the Shinigami, where she spun around and kicked the fireball that had been thrown towards the trio, which slammed into the remains of the nearby building and further buried Ashisogi Jizo, before she flashed over to the side of the roof that her foe wasn't standing on at the moment, "What's up, Tobiume? Did you miss me?"
"Haineko... so Suzumebachi's report about you betraying us was correct." Tobiume said, but at the same time her words indicated that she didn't believe the report when it was given to her and the others, before she glared at Haineko as she felt the reiatsu in the air, as there was something unusual about her former ally, and not the odd tiara that she was currently wearing, "What in the world did you do to yourself?"
"I freed myself from my abusive partner, that's what I did." Haineko answered, though as she said that she raised her hands for a moment and undid part of her collar, which was the tuft of white fur that rested around her neck at all times, which allowed her to pull down the upper part of her top and reveal the area between her chest and her neck, where her Hollow hole rested, though as shock appeared on Tobiume's face she put everything back in place, "Though I'm no longer a Zanpakuto spirit, rather I'm a newly born Arrancar in service to Lord Sombra, and right now my mission is to assist his forces and the Shinigami in squashing your rebellion."
Tobiume had a few seconds to even consider what she had been told before Haineko was finished putting her attire back in place, though once she was ready Haineko pulled her blade from it's sheath and flashed over to where her foe was standing, forcing Tobiume to summon her own blade from the flames of her bells to block the incoming attack. The first thing she noticed was that Haineko's strength was greater than it had been the last time they had seen each other, which made no sense to her seeing how they had been near the same level yesterday, and that her blade was being pushed back as she tried to defend herself. The next thing she noticed was that Haineko was actually eager to fight her, meaning that in addition to what she had done to herself she must have also overcome her cowardly nature, but at the same time she had to wonder if she had been wrong to assume that Haineko was a coward, as she clearly wasn't one right now and there was no way she could have changed so drastically in a single day. While she was distracted thinking about what she had just discovered, however, Haineko revealed that she was paying attention and kicked Toboume in the chest, the force sending her off the roof that they were fighting on and into the side of another building, giving the Shinigami time to run as she focused on defeating the one Zanpakuto spirit that she really didn't like all that much.
As Haineko floated in the air near the other building she was grateful that she could get the Shinigami out of the area before Ashisogi Jizo got out of the rubble he was trapped in, as that would have spelled disaster for everyone caught by his poison, and even if the spirit was mad he'd likely chase Isane and the two Shinigami she was with, which was why she was focusing on Tobiume at the moment.
"So you got what you always wanted, to be free from your master," Tobiume remarked, to which she pulled herself free from the section of the building she had slammed into a few moments ago, all while determining that Haineko's new strength needed to be taken seriously, "and yet now you stand in our way of being free as well? You stand in the way of me and the other Zanpakuto freeing ourselves from our masters and pursuing our own lives, something that you actively fought for when Muramasa freed you!"
"You might be right about me standing in your way, but that's because most of you have crappy reasons for wanting to leave your partners to begin with." Haineko stated, to which Tobiume paused for a moment, as she was curious about what she was saying, only for her to sigh for a moment as she thought about what she had been told, "Gonryomaru was annoyed that his partner didn't stand out and that he didn't have much of a presence in the First Division, even though his partner is the Lieutenant under the Captain Commander. Suzumebachi ditched Captain Soi Fon because she hated her devotion to Yoruichi, along with her poor wardrobe decisions, her inability to apparently take care of herself, which is stupid if you ask me, and the fact that Soi Fon hates her 'flashy' Bankai, which I've never even seen before. From what little I could get out of him Gegetsuburi ditched his partner because he hated both his appearance and his personality, which he hates even though he's a mirror image of his former partner anyway. Zabimaru left Renji because of his weakness and their personal desire to keep growing stronger, though based on what I've heard and seen it seems like they've finally managed to come to an agreement on something, since they're letting Renji use their power again.
Katen Kyokotsu, from what little I can remember, simply left their partner because they either hated how lazy he had become over the years or disliked his arrogant attitude, though honestly I'm still not sure which of those is the right one since I haven't seen them since they were freed. Kazeshini, well, he left Hisagi because his partner disliked his Shikai state and never understood him, and Hozukimaru claims to have left Ikkaku because he hated how boastful he was without having the power to back up his claims, even though I'm inclined to believe that it was because he wanted a fun and exciting battle that they could both enjoy. Ruri'iro Kujaku ditched Yumichika because his partner keeps calling him the wrong name so he'll only exert a fraction of his power, even though he's also been threatened by being broken many times over the years and isn't well respected by his partner at all. Sode no Shirayuki was resentful towards her partner for being forced to lend her whatever power she had, and I'm honestly not sure why Senbonzakura left his partner, even though they're both allied with Muramasa now. And last, but certainly not least, is you, Tobiume, as you were annoyed with how weak Hinamori was on her own and wanted to become stronger on your own, since you didn't want to be chained to your partner and help her grow into her power."
"Thanks for the reminder," Tobiume growled, as she hated Hinamori for her weakness and her devotion to Aizen, a man that had betrayed her and was still kept close to her heart, as she believed that Aizen could be redeemed in some manner, if Sombra ever let him out of the Shadowlands, "thought what about you, Haineko? Wasn't the reason you left your master because you wanted to experience an exciting life without being chained to her anymore? If that's true, then aren't you being a hypocrite?"
"That is what I told you, because the truth would have only made all of you that much more eager to kill every last Shinigami you could get your hands on." Haineko replied, though while she usually wasn't pleased with the fact that she had lied to her fellow Zanpakuto spirits, back when she joined their cause, she wasn't ashamed of telling them that one lie, as it saved more lives than she could ever know, "Long story short Matsumoto went from being my best friend in the world and turned into a partner that pretty much hated everything about me, called me all sorts of horrible names over the years, told terrible lies to the other Shinigami, and, when I dared to resist her summons one time, she shattered my physical form into several pieces and nearly killed me. That's right Tobiume, I nearly died when she broke my blade and had to rush me to Captain Mayuri's place to put me back together, though it was only through my determination and my will to live that I managed to survive at all, and since that day our bond was damaged beyond repair and kept getting worse... until I finally found a way to separate myself and truly become my own being, to live my life as I desire and maybe find true happiness elsewhere, even if it means becoming an Arrancar to do so."
"You nearly... died?!" Tobiume inquired, though even as Haineko nodded her head, to confirm that she was telling the truth, Tobiume recalled the day that Hinamori came to her inner world and told her what happened, that Matsumoto had broken her blade and that she was extremely worried about it, but no one had known that Haineko had nearly died that day and now she realized just how abusive Matsumoto had been towards her partner.
"Out of all the Zanpakuto that Muramasa called to his side, only I seemed to have any real desire to leave my 'partner' behind and seek a new life," Haineko stated, though at the same time she sighed and raised her blade, as she was going to continue the fight she had started and bring down Tobiume, before she hurt anyone else, "Now then, raise your blade once more and let's finish this fight."
Tobiume raised her blade as Haineko charged at her, parrying the attack that followed the charge and got a reminder that her former ally was stronger than she remembered her being, though even as she did that she had to keep an eye out for Haineko's feet, just in case she tried to kick her again. Not even a few seconds later she was forced backwards through the air, though instead of turned her blade to dust and using her power against her, like she suspected, Haineko followed after her and continued swinging at her in a relentless series of attacks, showing Tobiume that whatever had happened had made her even stronger than before. When the next attack came at her, however, she jumped back into the air and called out her Release Call, 'Snap', and called forth her Shikai form, allowing her to fire incredibly potent and destructive fireballs at her target, causing Haineko to jump backwards and dodge the attacks that were coming at her. Despite the fact that she was forcing her opponent to flash around the area and avoid her fireballs, however, Tobiume had the feeling that she was fighting a losing battle, as it felt like Haineko was holding back to see how strong she actually was and whether or not she needed to use her Shikai as well.
Of course her plans were thrown off course as Haineko got above her and knocked her down towards the building they had been fighting above with a well placed swing, though her eyes widened as Haineko leveled her left hand with her and gathered her reiatsu, forming a white sphere that belonged to a Cero, one that collided with her chest and destroyed the building that was below her as well. Haineko stared down at the flames for a moment, keeping her eyes open for her opponent, before Tobiume charged out of the flames and rushed towards her, where she noticed that her foe was definitely wounded from her attack, though she dodged the incoming attack and swung at her target, causing Tobiume to stare at her in shock as she reverted back to her blade form, which snapped in half. Once that happened she sheathed her blade and collected the fragments of her foe, as she knew that they could put Tobiume back together and hopefully overcome what Muramasa did to her, before she moved out of the area and headed back towards the part of the Seireitei that the others were still fighting in.
As she headed back towards the main battle, where Zangetsu and Ichigo were still fighting Byakuya and Senbonzakura at the moment, she could tell that Yumichika was still losing to Ruri'iro Kujaku, Hisagi was having trouble with Kazeshini despite the fact that someone was helping him, and it felt like Captain Soi Fon had taken out Suzumebachi. At the same time she felt Wabisuke enter the battle with Hisagi and Kira, even if Kazeshini was weakened, and that seemed to turn the tide of their battle, but before she could even consider what to do the area around them was engulfed in a bright yellow aura that only belonged to one being, Kenpachi Zaraki. This was a shocking turn of events, that the missing Captain would suddenly return in such a manner, and she arrived in time to see the powerful Captain appear in the building that the others had been fighting on top of, though she kept her distance as she waited to see what happened next.
"You're late." Soi Fon commented, as she and Yoruichi flashed into the area that everyone was gathering in, along with the two spirits that remained from their fight, while everyone else stopped what they were doing to observe what happened now that Zaraki had joined the battle.
"Shut up. I got here as quickly as I could when I heard what was happening." Zaraki replied, to which he glared at Soi Fon for a moment, as he didn't want to deal with her at the moment, before he turned his attention towards the enemies that were standing around his fellow Shinigami, "How then, you did remember to save someone for me, right?"
In that moment Wabisuke flashed down to where Zaraki was standing and struck at him, but in the next instant he discovered that his foe had taken no damage at all, which was followed by Zaraki turning around and slicing right through the Zanpakuto, reducing him to his blade form that split in half to show that he was defeated.
"So where were you?" Zangetsu asked, as keeping Zaraki distracted allowed Haineko a moment to flash over to where they were standing, grab the fragments of Wabisuke, and then get out of the area before she was mistaken as an enemy and slain for real, something that would annoy him greatly.
"Some Hollows were reported near the Rukongai a few days ago, so we went to go check them out." Yachiru stated, showing that she had been hiding on Zaraki's back the entire time and had moved out of the way when she noticed Wabisuke attack her Captain, though now that the threat was gone she was back where she belonged, until she needed to get off anyway, "But when we got there we didn't any anyone... they likely ran for it when Sombra stepped into Soul Society, since he's their King and didn't want to upset him."
"Well, either way I'm about to have some fun with whoever is left." Zaraki commented, though even as he said that he noticed Byakuya standing nearby, without his Captains attire on, and a grin appeared on his face as he pointed his blade at his intended target, "Maybe I'll carve you into little pice..."
Before he could finish the statement, and the threat that accompanied it, one of the walls off in the distance was torn apart as a large monster from someone's nightmares came barreling towards them, though the Zanpakuto and Haineko recognized it as Ashisogi Jizo in his Bankai state, meaning he was pissed... and, before he could fully reach them, a wall of white pillars formed in front of the charging monster, with Sombra appearing near them.
"Brethren-in-arms withdrawing for the distance of eight sun and standing still; blue bolt, white bolt, black bolt, red bolt; sinking into the ocean together seeking redemption." Sombra recited, showing that he had more tricks up his sleeves than anyone really knew, even though his attention was on the barrier that he was forming at the moment, just as he leveled his hands with the first set of pillars, "Ryubi no Jomon."
More pillars joined the first set, strengthening the defense as Ashisogi Jizo collided into the shield-like barrier that was forming before their eyes, with the blue tiled roof and the blue bar that was summoned when Sombra waved his hand to the right, though everyone that was watching was amazed that he had stopped the Bankai empowered spirit so easily, even if there were more ways for Ashisogi Jizo to get around the barrier. Of course the moment he stunned the spirit was the moment it's downfall was assured, because that was when Mayuri stepped out and activated a device that caused his Zanpakuto spirit to explode, raining a few blade fragments down where he had been standing, which he collected with a smile on his face. That smile caused the remaining spirits in the area to flee before they were blown apart, and Byakuya took the opportunity to flee with them, though as that happened Sombra held a hand out and shook his head, stopping the Arrancar from following them for now, as they'd fight the rest of their enemies soon enough. As the barrier collapsed, and Zaraki kicked some of the rubble since his fun had been ruined, Haineko joined the other Arrancar as they gathered near their Lord, though as that happened Yoruichi, who had been gone for a while, flashed into the area near him and smiled as they were reunited... and they were joined by some of the Captains, who were eager to see if Yoruichi had uncovered anything in the time she had been gone.
"We've taken out a number of the rebellious Zanpakuto, even if some are in a comatose state at the moment and need to be put back together," Sombra said, to which the Arrancar smiled and nodded their heads, as most of them had engaged their enemies at one point or another since they came to Soul Society and they were all happy to be of some assistance to the Shinigami, especially Haineko, since this was all new for her, before Sombra turned towards Yoruichi and nodded his head for a moment, "The floor is yours."
"I'm pretty sure I've found their hideout, or at least one of it's entrances." Yoruichi stated, which caused some of the Captains that were around them to smile as well, as taking out Muramasa meant that the end of the rebellion was fast approaching, "And, more importantly, I've also uncovered where they're hiding the Captain-Commander."
Sombra smiled as he heard that news, as this meant that they could track down the remaining Zanpakuto that haven't been seen since they were first released from their partners and free them from Muramasa's control, and it also meant that they could finally bring an end to the rebellion... and, since he knew the true reason this was happening, this news meant that the end of Koga was fast approaching as well, all he needed was the man's location and everything would crumple before Muramasa's eyes, and then there would be peace in Soul Society once more.
Instead of heading out immediately, and attacking while the remaining Zanpakuto spirits were fleeing, Sombra called his forces back to the part of the Fourth Division's barracks where they could sit outside and relax a little, allowing the healers to tend to the wounded while they determined which enemies had been taken out. From what he could tell Yumichika had managed to overcome Ruri'iro Kujaku in their battle, and he knew the name because Haineko was kind enough to tell her what his true name was, Ikkaku had taken out Hozukimaru in a fair fight, Wabisuke had fallen when Zaraki arrived, Soi Fon had taken out Suzumebachi, and they all knew that Ashisogi Jizo had been blown apart by Mayuri, but they were impressed when Haineko revealed that she had fought, and defeated, Tobiume earlier. That meant that they had cut Muramasa's forces in half, as a good number of the Zanpakuto had been freed from his influence, but Ikkaku, Yumichika, Hisagi, and Kira would be out of commission for some time, leaving Renji and the other Shinigami to watch over the Seireitei while Shunsui, Ukitake, and Zaraki followed Sombra to the area they would be talking in.
While they headed to the building in question, and got themselves situated, the sun started to rise in the distance, but Sombra intended to give some of them some time to rest before they attacked their foe's hiding place, so they could free the remaining spirits and stop their enemy's plot at last.
"So, you found and took out the little girl that was tormenting you earlier." Zangetsu commented, speaking to Haineko as they walked into the area, with his arm over her shoulders, showing that he was showing the same interest in her that she had shown to him earlier, "Was she surprised by your sudden power boost?"
"Yes, Tobiume was shocked by the power I had gained." Haineko replied, to which she smiled, as it felt good to be around people that actually cared about her, and she was happy to see that her mentor was pleased with what she was able to do, especially so soon after their first lesson, "You should have seen the look on her face when I started to charge up my Cero, because she was so surprised by what I was doing that she didn't even attempt to defend herself, and I did damage her before I sliced her in half."
"That's excellent!" Zangetsu said, because that meant that if Haineko was able to learn how to use something properly in the first day he had taught her, since he had only taught her how to fire a Cero yesterday, she had some good potential to be a strong Ajuchas ranked Arrancar, "Once we're done with this mission, and we get back to Hueco Mundo, I'll start your real training and see how well you do against me when that happens, because you have the possibility to become even stronger than you already are."
"I'm already looking forward to when that happens." Haineko stated, because she had the feeling that Zangetsu was right, that her power could only get stronger from this point forward, before they came to a stop and faced their Lord, who was sitting down near Yoruichi, "So, what are we going to do next?"
"We're going to hit Muramasa's hideout and free the remaining Zanpakuto from his control," Sombra replied, as that was the main reason that he had been called to aid the Shinigami in the first place, before he glanced at the three Captains that were in front of him, "and, since he's already in the same area anyway, we can free Captain-Commander Yamamoto at the same time. Once we've saved the remaining spirits and the Captain-Commander we can put a stop to this rebellion and Muramasa's plans, and then all we have to do is make sure there are no consequences of this rebellion before we head back home."
"I have the general area of where his hideout is located," Yoruichi added, to which she pulled a map out from the small pack that she was wearing and rolled it out, showing the forest area that Haineko and the others had been in before Zangetsu took her away from the area, "because I found his reiatsu coming from an area that has a number of underground caves and an equal number of entrances."
"I know that place, because it's where we gathered when Muramasa called us to his side." Haineko said, staring at the map for a moment, as it looked like the area that the entrance she and the others used to enter the hidden hideout, to which she nodded her head and pulled herself up, "Yep, that's the same cave system that we used for our meeting area, though I was unaware that there were more entrances than the one that we used."
"Meaning that Muramasa is likely hiding in one of the other paths." Ukitake commented, as he had been thinking about all of this since the moment they started talking, though he knew they were fortunate that Haineko was helping them now, as she might know some of the passages they could take.
"You know, I'm honestly getting tired of them attacking us whenever they want to." Shunsui said, echoing what he and most of the other Shinigami were feeling at the moment, even though the Arrancar weren't tired of it since they were used to their enemies coming at them, "I say we gather what forces we can spare and attack their hideout, before some of them muster the courage to come and attack us again, and finally put an end to this nightmare, before Muramasa is able to do whatever he is working towards."
"There'd be someone for me to fight if I went with you guys, right?" Zaraki asked, because he was all for waiting for enemies to come to him, but at the same time there were still some Captain level Zanpakuto spirits running around and he was eager to break some of them.
"Yeah, there should be a few more hiding inside the caves." Yoruichi replied, though she and the others knew that all they had to do to get Zaraki to come with them, if they really wanted him to come with them, was to tell him that there would be some stronger fighters in the area and he'd jump at the chance to have a good fight, "Though if you decide to come with us, like it seems like you're planning on doing, just make sure you don't nail the Captain-Commander on accident while we're trying to reach where he's being held."
"The old fart wouldn't die if I accidentally hit him." Zaraki said, though at the same time he gave her a wide smile as he considered what he was talking about, as fighting the Captain-Commander was something he had considered a few times over the years and knew what he was talking about.
"Okay, so whose coming with us?" Sombra asked, because right now he could easily make his way through the cave system that Muramasa was hiding in and stop the rebellion on his own, but right now Yoruichi was more than enough to lead the way to their destination and he wanted to see who wanted to join him.
In the following moment he watched as Shunsui, Ukitake, Zaraki, Ichigo, Zangetsu, and Haineko nodded their heads, indicating that everyone in the area around him wanted to come with him for the final battle of this rebellion, before he got up from where he was standing and glanced at the remaining Arrancar that were around them. Nel, Harribel, and Grimmjow nodded their heads, indicating that they understood the hidden command to assist the remaining Shinigami and Captains that were guarding the Seireitei, before he nodded his head and Yoruichi flashed out of the area, causing the rest of their group to follow after them. As the group made their way out of the Seireitei, and headed for the forest that their enemy was hiding in, many of the Shinigami waved at them as they went by, the smiles on their faces indicating that they had seen Sombra at the head of the pack and knew that the rebellion was coming to an end at last if he was getting involved for real. At the same time the sight of Zangetsu and Zaraki, both powerful warriors in their own right, was another indicator that they were going to stop the rebellion in it's tracks, and Sombra was sure that the sight of the other two Captains filled the other Shinigami with hope, though as they flew through air he noticed Renji and Rukia smiling as they left the Seireitei and headed out into the forest that Yoruichi was heading towards.
Despite the distance they had to travel to reach the first entrance of the cave system, which was actually the nearest one when they considered how many of them there actually were, it was still early morning when they arrived at the area that Yoruichi was leading them to, to which they all landed near the opening and opened their senses so they could see what was in the area around them.
"I sense the reiatsu signatures of Kazeshini, Gonryomaru, Tengen, Katen Kyokotsu, Sogyu no Kotowari, and Minazuki hiding somewhere in the caves, along with Muramasa." Sombra commented, as he could feel the various reiatsu that were nearly identical to some of the Shinigami that were near him and some that were identical to some Shinigami that were still in the Seireitei.
"Aye, and there's Captain-Commander Yamamoto's reiatsu as well," Ukitake added, as it was easy to tell that their commander was somewhere inside the cave, though at the same time he felt something else that was in the cave that he and the others hadn't thought about, "including a powerful barrier, one that has to be keeping him contained in a single area until Muramasa gets what he wants from him."
"I guess Muramasa can't control Ryujin Jakka, so he had to seal Yama-jii in a barrier." Shunsui said, using his nickname for the Captain-Commander while he spoke, as he used it all the time and no one seemed to really care when he used it around others, "We're lucky we don't have to fight Ryujin Jakka, since he's the strongest fire type Zanpakuto in the entirety of the Seireitei, and I honestly don't think that there's anything that can stand against him... no offense Sombra."
"None taken. I'm also unsure if I'd be able to stand against Yamamoto and his partner," Sombra admitted, because from what he knew Captain-Commander Yamamoto and Ryujin Jakka were a fearsome pair when it came to both battles and just being a figurehead, and from what Ulquiorra told him it was the Captain-Commander that slew the previous Dios Hueco when their forces invaded Soul Society, "but right now there's no time to consider what would happen if the two of us decided to fight each other, as we have an enemy to take the battle to, before he completes his mission."
"So the old fart is in the back of the cave, right?" Zaraki inquired, as the thought of seeing Sombra and Yamamoto in a battle to the death, with powers that he could only imagine in his head, was enough to excite him more than he already was, before he stared down at the cave once more, "I don't care if the Zanpakuto are using this as their hideout or not, so I'm just going to barge in and take out whoever is in my way... you guys can take whoever is leftover."
Sombra, Yoruichi, Ichigo, Zangetsu, and Haineko watched as Zaraki marched into the opening that was in front of them with Yachiru riding on his shoulder like usual, before both Ukitake and Shunsui sighed and followed after him, as they knew that the rest of the group would head to the other entrance and see if they found any enemies along the path that was over there. Sombra was sure that the two Captains would be able to find and overcome their Zanpakuto, since it seemed that they might be going in the direction of their former partners, and he had the feeling that Zaraki would either find someone to fight or he would get lost and then destroy the entire area around him until he found an opponent, so he turned his attention towards where they were going. It wasn't long before they found the entrance that Yoruichi wanted them to use, where they rushed into the opening and started using the stalagmites that were growing out of the water in front of them as steps as they moved through the area cavern that was in front of them. Sombra followed the reiatsu that was in the air, just like Yoruichi was doing at the moment, and the two of them were the first ones to enter a larger cavern that was deeper underground than the first chamber, but as they entered it Sombra came to a stop and held a hand up, to which the rest of his group came to a stop as well behind him.
He could tell that Ichigo was confused as to why they were stopping, since they were supposed to be looking for where the Captain-Commander was being held, but at the same time Yoruichi, Zangetsu, and Haineko could feel the faint presence that he had detected.
"You can come on out, Kazeshini." Sombra loudly said, letting the Zanpakuto spirit in question know that they had figured out that he was in the area that he was supposed to be guarding, while at the same time Zangetsu and Haineko gripped the handles of their blades as they waited for something to happen.
"Should have figured that I'd never be able to hide from you." a voice replied, to which the group looked at the top of the highest stalagmite that was in the cavern that they were in and found the wounded spirit standing up there, but at the same time he appeared that he was going to fight them to the death, even if that resulted in him breaking, "No matter, I'll just kill all of you and prove to Muramasa that you were nothing to be scared about."
Before Sombra could say anything to take, since it was five on one and most of them could break the wounded spirit in no time at all, Ichigo flashed into the air and rushed at the area that Kazeshini was standing in, to which he sighed and shook his head, causing both Zangetsu and Haineko to let got of their handles. He had the feeling that Ichigo was getting annoyed about being on the sidelines, especially since he and some of his forces had come to assist the Shinigami, but in the end it didn't matter why he had chosen to do this, rather he was going to let Ichigo beat the spirit so they could collect his blade fragments before they went to see Muramasa. Sombra watched as Kazeshini turned into a red mist for a few seconds, allowing him to quickly reach the area that Ichigo was in, before wrapping around his target and forming behind him, with his legs wrapped around his body and his arms forming his Shikai blades to keep him trapped. It became clear that he was attempting to outright kill Ichigo by dropping both of them right into the cluster of sharpened stalagmites that were below them, but before they even managed to reach the area in question Ichigo released his Bankai and broke out from Kazeshini's hold, which wasn't hard to do considering that the spirit was weakened from his previous fight.
In fact the battle was over in a moment, as Ichigo rushed at Kazeshini and swung at him, where the spirit growled for a moment before he reverted back into his Shikai blades and shattered before hitting the ground, though once that happened Haineko rushed forward and grabbed the fragments, so they could put him back together once Muramasa as his rebellion were finally stopped.
"Well, that was boring." Zangetsu commented, as he had been expecting the Zanpakuto spirit that was guarding the area to be one that belonged to a Captain, and even if it didn't belong to a Captain it would still have the power to stand up to Ichigo, before he glanced at the side of the cavern, "Hopefully those two Captains found and beat their Zanpakuto spirits, though honestly I hope those spirits are somewhere else... so we can find and smash them instead."
Sombra knew that Zangetsu was annoyed that Kazeshini didn't last long, and was probably even more annoyed about the fact that he fell to Ichigo so suddenly, but at the same time he glanced at the ceiling and spotted a hole in the ceiling, which he knew would take them to the area that Muramasa was hiding in... and he was sure that Shunsui and Ukitake could handle whatever they found in the part of the cave system that they had found themselves in.
Ukitake kept his eyes on the area around them, as he and Shunsui were keeping their eyes and senses open for anything and anything that would allow them to find their Zanpakuto partners, though even as they did that he found that the area that they were walking into was more lit than the passage they had been walking through earlier. He wasn't surprised to find that Sombra and his group had gone in a different direction, since there was more than one opening for this cave system, and he also wasn't surprised to find that Zaraki had gotten lost, since he was the first one to enter the darkness and he was known to get lost almost all the time. Based on what he was feeling Sombra and the others would be in the area that Muramasa was standing in shortly, meaning that the rebellion might be over in the next few minutes, but before that happened he and Shunsui were looking for their former partners so they could figure out what they needed to do before they ended up in a fight. While they walked he noticed that Shunsui wasn't in the mood to talk, which was understandable considering that their Zanpakuto partners were around here somewhere, but eventually they came to a stop as they entered a cavern that the reiatsu was coming from.
The other thing about the cavern that he discovered was that there were a number of small pools in the stone in front of them, like they were forming a set of steps up to the other entrance that the cavern had, though they looked around the area for a moment to see if they could figure out where their partners were hiding.
"This is a rather pretty area." Shunsui commented, though at the same time, as he recalled everything that happened since the Zanpakuto rebelled against them, he knew that they couldn't lower their guards, not when this seemed to be the perfect place to ambush someone.
"Could you be a little more serious?" Ukitake inquired, but at the same time he knew that it was a foolish question to even consider asking, as the only person that could make his friend serious was Shunsui himself, and that all depended on the situations he found himself in, "You're taking this too lightly, especially since this is Muramasa's hideout."
"Don't say it like that." Shunsui said, though he couldn't fault Ukitake for thinking that he was acting too carefree, as that was generally how he acted most of the time, since he had to relieve himself of the stress of being a Captain of the Gotei 13 in some manner, before he looked at the area in front of them again, "Anyway, it doesn't seem like we'll be able to go any deeper into the cave without climbing up these 'stairs'..."
Before he could say anything else both he and Ukitake noticed the arrival of a tall woman that had violet colored hair, that was styled in two corkscrew pigtails with bangs framing her face, though she was wearing a red ribbon around her neck and had a black eye patch covering her right eye, while her left eye was turquoise colored. The lady wore an indigo cape with an imprint of a large skull and the two blades of Katen Kyokotsu on it, and a long, dark dress with a significantly low-cut neckline, exposing her large breasts, though she also had a golden bone headdress on her head. From the symbol on her attire Shunsui knew that this had to be his Zanpakuto spirit, or at least one of them since he knew that there were generally two of them, but for now he was happy to see that one of them was nearby, even if he didn't like the look that she was giving them. Ukitake also realized that she was one of the spirits that made up Katen Kyokotsu, since he and Shunsui were two of the three beings that had two Zanpakuto, in the sense that when they activated their Shikai their blades became a pair of powerful weapons for them to use against their enemies, even though he generally carried one Zanpakuto and Shunsui carried a daisho sword pair, a tachi and a wakizashi.
"What game would you like to play?" a voice asked, though at the same time she raised her right arm so she could cover her mouth with her sleeve, an odd habit when they considered what she was doing, but that statement confirmed that there was more than one Zanpakuto spirit in the area, as there was no way that Katen Kyokotsu sounded like a little child that was eager to play games, "Let's play!"
"Who's there?" Ukitake asked, though even as he said that both he and Shunsui glanced around the cavern that they were standing in, because it was hard to figure out where the pair of voices, as there were two nearly identical voices that had spoken when the lady raised her sleeve to her mouth, were located since they seemed to echo throughout the entirety of the part of the cave they were standing in.
"He wants to know who we are!" one of the two voices replied, almost as this was a game and they were having fun just talking, causing the two Captains to glance at each other for a moment, because neither of them were sure what was going on at the moment, before the second voice spoke up, "Sure does! You sure you don't know who we are?"
It was in that moment that two young boys with light green eyes and silver hair, which happened to be pulled back into ponytails and hung down in large bangs in front of their faces, dropped out of the part of ceiling that they had been hiding in and fell on Ukitake. That gave Shunsui the chance to see that the two kids were wearing large, triangular blue hats with small red fans on either side, along with light blue robes over kimonos that had vertical red and yellow stripes near their waists, light beige colored hakama, and blue colored shoes. If he had to guess these were playful spirits that might take the appearance of scholars, but at the same time they seemed to be pleading with Ukitake to play with them as they tugged at his face from behind his back, where his friend simply smiled as he laid on the ground. If it wasn't for the fact that he had determined that the lady was one of the spirits that made up Katen Kyokotsu he would have labeled the kids as his Zanpakuto spirits, since they wanted to play and his blades were the same way, but the reiatsu that he felt from them indicated that they were Ukitake's Zanpakuto partners.
"It seems that they won't let us move forward without playing with them first." Shunsui commented, which he found to be odd since it was his Zanpakuto that liked to play games and not Ukitake's, but at the same time it seemed that the time they spent together might have rubbed off on the spirits of his friend's blades.
"It seems to be that way." Ukitake said, as he agreed with his friend, that playing with the spirits might be the best way to figure out why they decided to leave them in the first place, instead of wasting energy fighting, "Besides, even though I know they're Zanpakuto, I can't bring myself to fight against children."
"This is going to be tougher than I originally thought." Shunsui stated, because while it was entirely possible for Sogyo no Kotowari to be defeated without an actual battle, since they were Ukitake's Zanpakuto spirits, he knew that Katen Kyokotsu wouldn't be that easy to deal with, which is why he walked over to where the lady was standing.
"Now then, who are you two?" Ukitake asked, as he knew that they were playing games and that the first one they wanted to play was him guessing who they were, but he wanted to be absolutely sure of that fact before he said anything, because he could easily upset them and he didn't want that at the moment.
"Who do you think?" the first little boy playfully asked, though at the same time he glanced at his brother, who was grinning as well, because it seemed that they might have fooled their partner with their appearances and that it might actually be taking some time for him to figure out who they were, before the second spoke up, "Huh?"
"Could you two possibly be Sogyo no Kotowari?" Ukitake inquired, because if they were going to act that way, when he asked who they were while following the game that they were playing at the moment, he was just going to say what was on his mind and then move on from there.
"Bingo!" the two boys exclaimed, to which they got off of Ukitake and ran over to the base of the steps that were near where they had dropped down on him, before turning around and looking at their partner, who got up a little so they could face each other, "Man, you figured that out too quickly! It's no fun when you do that!"
"Sorry, I didn't mean to ruin your game by correctly guessing who you were on the first try." Ukitake replied, as he hadn't been expecting them to take him guessing their name correctly in such a manner, even though it appeared that they might just be messing with him for whatever game was coming next, before he stood up and faced them, "How about we play something else?"
"Yeah! That sounds like fun!" the boys said, showing their enthusiasm for starting a new game, though that was before they turned towards each other, indicating that they were thinking about something and were going to talk with each other before coming to a decision, as they even took turns talking while Ukitake stood there, "What game should we play? How about a fan-throwing game? Yeah, that sounds like fun!"
Ukitake watched as they pulled out what appeared to be a scroll of some kind and proceeded to say 'a one, a two, and a three', before two fans popped out of the scroll and floated in the air above them, where they spun around and looked like yellow spinning saws, causing him to go on the defensive since it seemed like he was going to be attacked soon.
"So then, what game would you like to play?" Shunsui asked, as he had taken his time to get up to where the tall lady was standing, giving him a few moments to observe how Sogyo no Kotowari acted around their partner, and quite frankly he found it impossible to imagine two energetic boys being Ukitake's Zanpakuto spirits, before he turned his full attention to one of his partners as Ukitake dealt with the boys and their fans.
"Unfortunately, I'm done with playing games with you." the tall lady replied, though at the same time she actually lowered her arm back to her side, allowing Shunsui to see her mouth move and confirm that it was her talking and not a third spirit that was hiding somewhere near them.
"Come on, don't be that way." Shunsui said, to which he wondered what he had done to his Zanpakuto partners to deserve such a cold shoulder, since it seemed like Katen Kyokotsu hated him with a passion, before he thought back on everything that they had been though over the years, "You know, we've known each other for a long time now and we've been through quite a lot since we first started talking to each other, back when I first found you. Why don't you just return to your sheath and we can talk about why you're upset with me and, more importantly, why you joined Muramasa."
"You can forget about us returning to you." the tall lady stated, though her tone revealed that Shunsui was going to find out why his partners had left him for Muramasa in the first place, which would help him understand what he needed to do to rescue them from Muramasa's control, "We're sick and tired of you and your smug attitude."
"Of course you'd mention 'we', since there's two of you." Shunsui said, because despite what one of his partners thought about him, and he honestly had no idea where she got the idea that he was smug since he was more lazy than anything else, he had felt the presence of the other half of his partners nearby.
Shunsui turned around for a moment and found that the second spirit of his Zanpakuto had pulled herself out of the water that was in the pool that he had been standing in front of, though she was much younger and shorter in appearance than the other spirit, meaning one was an adult and the other was either a teenager or a kid that hadn't matured. has turquoise eyes and chin-length violet hair, which is styled so only her right eye is visible, with a skull decorating it. The second spirit was wearing a dark top that happened to covers her lower face, her neck, and her arms, along with a pair of close-fitting shorts and knee length socks, though over all that she was wearing a purple, hip-length coat fastened at the front by a dark purple sash, and the tops of her thighs and the middle of her torso were left exposed. In her right hand she carried the Shikai form of the blades that he used in battle, holding it reverse of how he and everyone else wielded their blades, meaning that she was more like a ninja than anything else, and since she carried one of the blades he had to guess that the taller lady carried the second blade in the set. Once he had been given enough time to observe her form, and see how different it was from the first spirit, the younger spirit charged at him and started swinging her blade at him, to which he mentally sighed and drew his blades to parry the attacks.
Most would assume that he was just holding back and choosing not to actually fight his Zanpakuto spirits, since they knew his movements better than anyone in the world, and others would think that he didn't want to go too rough on them since they were ladies, but it was just the fact that they were his partners that caused him to go on the defensive as the younger spirit tried to cut him down.
"Most unimpressive." the tall spirit finally said, when the younger spirit stopped and made sure that her blade was pressed firmly against the one that Shunsui was using to defend himself against her, "I had always believed that you were stronger than this. Is this really all you've got inside you?"
"You're asking too much of me as it is, as I'm having a hard time bringing myself to actually fight you ladies." Shunsui admitted, to which he wondered if Sombra had been put in this position, back when he had been fighting his Arrancar spirit inside his inner world, but then shelved that thought and faced his foes once more.
"Is that so? Well, we can't afford to accommodate your whims." the tall spirit replied, though in that instant a drop of water fell from the ceiling and hit one of the pools near them, to which the younger spirit shifted her stance and moved the tip of her blade until it was within a few inches of Shunsui's neck, indicating the danger he was in, "We're the guardians of this area, meaning Sogyo no Kotowari, Kyokotsu, and myself."
"This is tearing me up inside, it really is." Shunsui commented, because in that same moment that the water fell he had drawn the second of his blades to stop the taller spirit's, Katen he guessed since she called the younger one Kyokotsu, blade from reaching the other side of his neck.
Katen let a smirk appear on her face for a moment, because as long as their former partner remained this way they'd be able to overcome him and strike him down, exactly as Muramasa intended for them to do when he assigned the four of them to guard this area, before she and Kyokotsu went on the offensive together. Over in the distance, however, he could make out Ukitake running after Sogyo no Kotowari, so he said nothing as he focused on his own battle, since it would be some time before they were able to figure out a way to overcome their partners and restore order to their bonds. Ukitake, on the other hand, had avoided the fans that had been thrown at him by the pair of young boys and was now chasing after them, mostly because it seemed like running was something they enjoyed doing, though at the same time they were still holding onto their dangerous fans, which they had caught and were running around with so they could get a better vantage point to throw them again. It was in that moment that he had an idea, one that might change how the three of them were taking this, though at the same time it could easily upset them on some level and make them use their swords against him, since he knew that they could pull them out whenever they desired, like all the other Zanpakuto spirits were capable of doing.
"How about you hand those fans over to me and we can play something else?" Ukitake asked, though while he knew that his words might not register in their minds for a moment he knew that they were still listening to what he said, even if they didn't agree with the words that he chose to speak, and besides, after hearing that Tobiume kept her blade hidden inside her bells he had an idea where Sogyo no Kotowari were hiding their blades, hence his request, "Otherwise I might just stop playing with you two."
That seemed to be the trick, as the moment he threatened them with their playtime ending, and the only person they wanted to play with leaving the area, the two young boys came to a stop all of a sudden and he did the same thing behind them, as it was good that he was right in his thinking.
"You mean these?" the first boy asked, though at the same time they turned and looked at Ukitake for a moment, all while holding the fans up in their collapsed forms, which made it easier for them to run around them with them, before his brother mimicked his actions, "These?"
"That's right." Ukitake said, to which he sat down in front of them and smiled for a moment, because he was eager to see if his thoughts were right or if they were messing with him in some manner, because there was no telling if this fun seeking attitude they had was their original personality or if it was Muramasa messing with them, "If you hand them over to me, and let me hold onto them for a while, I'll play tag or whatever game the two of you want to play until Sombra completes his mission."
"Sombra? The King of Hueco Mundo? Here?" the young boys inquired, as they were still using their desire to speak in turns against anyone who talked with them, as it was always the boy on the left that started and the one of the right usually finished whatever they were saying, before they looked around the cavern, "I don't feel anything. Neither do I. Is he playing a game with us?"
"Sombra's position as the Dios Hueco prevents anyone from feeling his reiatsu," Ukitake reminded them, as he had been told this when they first discovered the powerful Arrancar's new position, after he had witnessed Aizen get beaten into the ground by Sombra's sheer destructive power, "but he's here, making his way to Muramasa's position. It won't be long until he breaks the Captain-Commander out of his prison and ends the rebellion, so why don't you two hand over those fans and we can keep playing some games until he's finished his mission?"
"Really? You'll play with us?" the boys asked, though it was hard to tell if they were more shocked or concerned by what he had just told them, or if they were more interested in seeing if he was telling the truth about playing with them until Sombra stopped the leader of the rebellion.
"That's right, but only if you give me those fans." Ukitake replied, though he was fortunate that they were paying more attention to playing games than actually caring what happened to Muramasa, because if they were more worried about their leader they would have run into the area that Sombra was in and would have been snapped in half by either Zangetsu or the King of Hueco Mundo himself.
"Pinky swear!" the boys stated, to which he held their empty hands up and locked their pinkies together, showing him the promise that they wanted him to make, so they could believe what he said and know that he wasn't lying to tell, and he could tell, from looking in their eyes, that they hoped that he was telling the truth.
Ukitake smiled at them and held his hands out, promising that he'd play with them if they handed over their fans, only for the two boys to shoot lightning out of the tips of their fans, something that he had to avoid, before the duo retreated and exclaimed that he had fallen for their trick, to which Ukitake sighed and kept his smile, because as long as they were distracted he was winning, and right now that was all that mattered to him.
"You know, I expected more out of them." Katen commented, as while she was letting Kyokotsu do all the fighting at the moment, since Shunsui was simply defending and had, somehow, already regained the ability to use the Shikai form of their blades, as that was what he was using to defend himself at the moment, "What's wrong? You haven't been able to land a single attack since the battle started."
"That's right, I haven't hit either of you once, but neither are you two fighting me at your full power." Shunsui replied, as he meant it in the sense of their Shikai form, because he knew that if they released their Bankai his chances at winning would be almost gone, and so would Ukitake's chances of keeping his partners in check until Sombra was done, "Let me remind you about something you should know, and that is that my two swords move at a different pace. You two, being my Zanpakuto, take advantage of that while we're fighting, when we're on the same side, and right now neither of you have even considered using that advantage against me. While an enemy is at the mercy of my wakizashi's speed, my tachi swoops in for the final blow, as that is the most common method that we have used our blades for, but the interesting part is that right now the wakizashi has been doing all the attacking and the tachi has barely moved an inch since our battle started. It's not that I can't stack up to you and land a hit, it's that you're deliberately keeping me locked in a position where all I can do is defend and not use the full extent of the power I have access to."
"Goodness, like sure is difficult when you have such a skilled master." Katen said, as she had been expecting Shunsui to figure out what they were up to sooner or later, but it was only the beginning of their battle and he had figured out that they were fighting in an entirely new manner, meaning that, despite his words and actions, he was taking this seriously and was waiting for them to do the same thing, "But now that you know our tactic, that means we'll be forced to take this much more serious than we already are."
"Good. The longer I can keep you stalled, the more time I can buy Sombra." Shunsui commented, to which he shifted his stance and readied himself, because if Ukitake mentioned their ally and Sogyo no Kotowari didn't seem to care than he saw no reason not to do the same thing, because even if Katen and Kyokotsu charged off it would be too late for them to stop whatever Sombra was doing.
"Wait, the King of Hueco Mundo is heading after Muramasa?" Katen asked, though the only reason she was the one talking was because Kyokotsu was a mute, which she was fine with since it gave her time to stall their opponent, but now they stood there and stared at their former master.
"Yeah, he's probably already made contact by now." Shunsui replied, which was followed by him raising his blades towards his Zanpakuto partners, as he would gladly stand in their way to let Sombra finish the rebellion, and he could tell that the pair was debating what to do next.
While neither of them had actually beaten their Zanpakuto in battle, as that was the original plan when they came to this cave system, both he and Ukitake were pleased that they were keeping Katen Kyokotsu and Sogyo no Kotowari from leaving the area they were in... and soon Muramasa's rebellion would be over, so all they had to do was be patient and their partners would be freed from the influence that was making them act this way, and then life would return to normal at long last.
"So, this is where he's been hiding the Captain-Commander." Sombra commented, as he and his group had flashed up to the hole in the ceiling the moment he knew it was there, though now he was staring at the green barrier that was in front of them, which just so happened to be where Yamamoto was peacefully sitting.
The barrier in question was like a pyramid, with five sides instead of four, and outside the barrier rested five special posts that allowed the user of the technique to cut themselves off from the outside world and go into a trance like state, to keep whatever they knew safe from those that would misuse it or to give them some peace and quiet. In the situation that he found themselves in he knew that it was more about keeping the location of Koga's resting place, where he was sealed away, kept safe from Muramasa, who must have either been trying to break into it or he was keeping Yamamoto inside it to be sure he didn't flee when his back was turned. At the same time it gave the Captain-Commander the ability to keep his Zanpakuto partner safe from the influence of Muramasa, as it was rather easy for him to find the frustrations that the spirits felt all the time and use them against the Shinigami, which had to make him mad since he couldn't get at the information that he needed to know. While he stared at the barrier, which would be rather easy for someone like him to break if he so desired, the rest of the group studied the area, looking for their enemy since he wouldn't just leave the Captain-Commander alone like this, but it wasn't long before he found the source of his target's reiatsu.
The interesting fact was that the moment he locked onto where his foe was standing he spun around and waved his right hand, like he was blocking something, and the rest of the group watched as he deflected a blade that was thrown at him, only for it to fly into the waiting hand of Muramasa, who had emerged from where he had been hiding while they were distracted by the barrier.
"There you are." Sombra said, though at the same time he moved his hand in a different manner, one that informed the others that he'd take care of the situation on his own and they backed away immediately, before he turned his full attention to the one that was responsible for the rebellion.
"I knew that it was only a matter of time until you came here, Sombra." Muramasa stated, though as he said that he floated down to where his target was standing and touched the ground, as he needed the Arrancar to do something that would aid his mission, "It would see that it is our fate to keep crossing blades with each other."
"Please. The last time we fought I let you go because we had no idea where the Captain-Commander was located, and I didn't know what your endgame for this rebellion was." Sombra replied, though now the situation had changed, as he could easily break their foe into pieces and end everything he set in motion in one moment, but at the same time he had a different plan in mind, which was why he was standing straight and neither of his hands were near his Zanpakuto, "This time around I know why you decided to cause the Zanpakuto to rebel against their partners and cause all the chaos that you've sown so far, so if I so desired I could just end this right now. Though if we're going to be talking for some time, we might as well have everyone in attendance... isn't that right, Byakuya, Senbonzakura?"
At this point in time Byakuya wasn't surprised to learn that Sombra knew that both he and his partner were present, as they had been standing near the Captain-Commander's barrier since they discovered he was here, and now that they had been called out they stepped out of the shadows and stood nearby.
"Good. Everyone that needs to hear this is present." Sombra said, as he was pleased to see that Byakuya had the bright idea to stand near Yamamoto until his arrival, because if everything happened as he intended it to they'd be leaving for the area their true target was imprisoned in, before he focused on Muramasa once more, "Now then, I believe it's time that we got started, Muramasa. Does the name Koga Kuchiki ring any bells?"
"H... How do you know that name?" Muramasa asked, as he was under the impression that the Shinigami had buried all the records of his master, including where he had been hidden, thus the entire reason for him going through all the effort to get the information he needed.
"You're a Zanpakuto, and as such your name is written in the records, along with the names of the other Zanpakuto that have appeared over the years, the names of their individual powers, and the name of their partner." Sombra replied, though while he was lying about the fact that he had learned the name from the records, which was basically the same area that Aizen got his information on the Hogyoku, it was true that Muramasa's name and information would be in the records, meaning it was easy to fool his foe into thinking that he had the upper hand, "It was rather easy for me to find some time to get inside the records and look up your information, as well as the fact that Koga is labeled as dead, and yet there is no records detailing how he died or where he was buried. From what I can tell the only living person who knew what happened to your partner, and could tell you that information, is the Captain-Commander, though when he found that you were looking for that very information he locked himself inside this barrier and cut himself off from the rest of the world, all by putting himself into an unconscious state. Basically you needed to enter his mind to get the memories and information that you were looking for, and he knew that you'd be after that, which is why you staged rebellion in the first place... all so you could buy yourself some time to figure out how to break the barrier and get what you needed."
"Wait, so he never intended to fully free the Zanpakuto from their partners?" Zangetsu asked, because while he knew that his Lord was great at piecing things together, even to the point where he and some of the others had no idea what was going on at any given moment, he was outraged by what he had heard, especially when he learned what Haineko had been through for the longest time.
"Sombra, you are correct. I needed Yamamoto's memories to get what I needed," Muramasa stated, because now that his foe knew why the rebellion had happened in the first place he figured that he might as well admit his entire plan, in the chance that it would buy him some time to get away from him and start again, hopefully when he went back to Hueco Mundo and stayed there, "and, as you no doubt know, he created this barrier to prevent me from entering his inner world and seeing into his mind. You are also correct in the sense that I only manifested the Zanpakuto was so I could throw Soul Society into chaos, thus giving me more than enough time to figure out how to break the barrier and get what I needed, but even then I never planned on Sode no Shirayuki accidentally getting you involved in my plans. In order to get anything done I had everyone, both Shinigami and Zanpakuto alike, believe that I had already captured the Captain-Commander, as it rallied the Zanpakuto and caused some weakness in the Shinigami that were my enemies, leading to the perfect storm of turmoil that I could have asked for... that is until you showed up and ruined everything."
"You... you BASTARD!" Haineko shouted, as she couldn't believe what she was hearing, that the rebellion that she and the others had joined, to free themselves from their terrible and sometimes abusive partners, had been a front for Muramasa's plans, that he never intended to keep his word to them, and it was only because Zangetsu stopped her from charging forward that she was able to remain in one spot.
"It was incredibly rude of you to dangle something like that in front of the Zanpakuto, especially since some of them aren't too happy with their partners," Sombra commented, as Haineko was one of the few Zanpakuto that hated how their relationships had degraded over time, before he focused on Muramasa as Zangetsu calmed Haineko down, "especially when your ultimate goal was to find the place that your partner, Koga Kuchiki, was sealed away in and break the seal so he could come back to this world. You told the Zanpakuto that they would be free, when you wanted to go back to your partner's side, but in the end I don't blame you for trying, not when you were trying to fill the hole that had been left inside your heart when he was imprisoned. I'm not saying that it justifies what you did..."
"It doesn't matter now anyway, not when I failed to break the barrier and get the information I needed." Muramasa stated, as he didn't want to listen to what Sombra had to say, because it sounded like he was going to damn him for even trying to put his world back together, to which he summoned his blade and prepared for his retreat.
Sombra chuckled for a moment, shocking Muramasa in the process, before he turned towards the pyramid shaped barrier and tapped on it, like he was knocking on a door, before pausing for a moment, to which everyone watched as the walls of the barrier came undone and Captain-Commander Yamamoto got onto his feet as he took in his surroundings once more, as there were more people here than he was expecting.
"King Sombra, I was wondering when you were going to show up and break the barrier." Yamamoto said, though while his voice still held it's serious tone, something that he always used when he was talking these days, he noticed that the one being he had been hiding from was still present, "And I'm curious as to why Muramasa hasn't been taken care of yet, when he could easily reach into my mind now."
"If he so much as moves to attack or to reach into your mind, I'll cut him in half," Sombra stated, to which he heard Muramasa gulp for a moment, as if he wasn't expecting something like that to be said, before he turned towards the Captain-Commander, "As I'm sure you already know, since you hid yourself in such a manner, he came looking for the location of Koga Kuchiki's prison, so he could break the seal and free his partner at long last. Would it be alright if I asked you where the prison is located?"
Yamamoto considered the request for a moment, as he had intended to keep Koga sealed inside his prison until the day the banished Shinigami died from being inside the seal for too long, but at the same time he remembered what Sombra did to Aizen and how easily he was able to decimate the traitorous Captain. He knew that Koga was powerful, hence why they had to use a sneak attack of sorts to seal him away in the World of the Living, but where Aizen was much stronger that Koga, before he merged with the Hogyoku, he knew that Sombra was far stronger than whatever power resided inside the banished Shinigami. Normally he would have said no in such a situation, as it would have been one of his fellow Shinigami asking or one of the Central 46 asking about it, but since it was Sombra, the Dios Hueco and the King of Hueco Mundo, he decided that he was going to bend the rules.
"Koga Kuchiki is imprisoned on an island that resides in the middle of a lake, somewhere in the area around Karakura Town," Yamamoto replied, though at the same time he thought about the information that Sombra would need for the mission to be a success and tapped his cane for a moment, "You can copy the information you need into a crystal or something, so long as I am willing offering to let you look at it, correct?"
Sombra nodded his head before resting a hand on the Captain-Commander's shoulder, to which he found that the information he would have been searching for had come to the front of Yamamoto's mind, showing that he wanted this to be over at long last, and he quickly copied the information regarding the unsealing process into a crystal that formed above his right hand. Once that was done he pulled away from the Captain-Commander and nodded his head, to which Yoruichi escorted Yamamoto out of the cave, so they could find the others and share the news with them, before Byakuya stepped forward and a number of Jigokucho, one for him, Senbonzakura, Sombra, Ichigo, Zangetsu, Haineko, and even Muramasa flew down and gathered around them. As that happened he raised his Zanpakuto and opened a Senkaimon in the air in front of him, since they couldn't use the large one, as that would only upset Muramasa, before they all stepped into the passage between realms and headed for the World of the Living once more. Sombra knew that some would consider him crazy for what was going to happen next, when they reached their destination, but at the same time this marked the end of the rebellion, so he was going to focus on finding their target and seeing what happened when Koga was finally free from his prison.
He did, however, find it interesting that Muramasa was so willing to trust him now that he had the key to unlocking the seal that was holding his Shinigami partner in a banished state, and soon he'd bring an end to the goal that Muramasa had been working towards since the moment Koga had been sealed away... and then, once both of them had been taken care of, he could focus on helping the Shinigami rebuild and focus on whatever threat would come next.
Despite traveling by the informal Senkaimon, since the formal one was the massive one that Sombra and his friends had used when they were returning to the World of the Living after saving Rukia, it didn't take them long to reach the other side of the passage, allowing them to exit in an area near the lake that Captain-Commander Yamamoto had told them about just a few minutes ago. Sombra stepped out of the passage between worlds and looked around the area, finding that the place Koga Kuchiki was sealed away in was near their current position, though as he stepped forward the rest of his group came out after him, taking a look of their surroundings before doing anything else. Zangetsu and Haineko kept their eyes on Muramasa, since there was no telling what he was going to do, and both Byakuya and Senbonzakura remained silent as they stepped out as well, though out of all of them Ichigo was the last one that emerged from the passage, and he was the only one that didn't trust what was going on at the moment. Sombra was fine with that, because since he held the crystal containing the information Muramasa needed to undo the seal his partner was trapped behind, something he had been entrusted with, their foe was willing to follow his lead until he got what he wanted... even if he had no idea that he was walking into a trap, considering what Byakuya had revealed to Sombra earlier and that they would be acting upon that in the next few minutes.
When they were all outside the passage, and the Jigokucho departed from where they were standing, the Senkaimon closed behind them and left them to their own devices, though as Sombra and the others turned towards the island that was in the middle of the lake Muramasa coughed for a few moments, and they sounded painful.
"Are you feeling alright?" Sombra inquired, because while he knew that many Shinigami would be okay with some sort of illness or something claiming the existence that Muramasa was clinging to, which would result in his death, he wanted to make sure that he stuck around to see what happened when he broke the seal.
"I'm running out of time." Muramasa stated, though at the same time he stood up and moved the back of his hand towards his face, wiping away the blood trails that came from his coughing fit, before he stared at the island that was his destination, "I'm about to end a lone battle that has been going on for ages... I can hold out long enough to do what we came to do, and then I'll change the world!"
Sombra stared at him for a moment before nodding his head, to which the group flashed through the air and headed over to the island that a large tree was standing on, though when they landed in front of the tree they found a number of the Jigokucho resting on the trunk of the tree, including the ones that they had used to get here. As the group came to a stop the number of butterflies flew away from the tree, making Ichigo wonder if they knew what was going to happen in the next few moments, before Sombra handed the crystal over to Muramasa, who crushed it's surprisingly brittle structure and gained the information that had been copied into it. Once that had happened, and he knew exactly what he needed to do to break the seal, Sombra nodded his head and the rest of their group backed up a little as he did the same, allowing Muramasa to be the one standing in front of the tree when Koga came out of it, before Muramasa raised his right hand and pointed his palm towards the trunk.
"Gather round the supreme being with thy cleansing black souls, offering blood, a pact, and an alter." Muramasa recited, to which blue electricity danced along the entirety of the tree, showing that it had to contain the prison that his partner was sealed away in, though once that happened he focused on what he was doing and nothing else, "Fly hence from the blackened heavens, my beloved ebon sacrifice. Offer the holy chalice to the evil spirit residing behind the seal, lifting the six locks that have been passed down since antiquity. Now open, coffin once lost!"
The instant he finished the incantation the air in front of them cracked in every direction, as if a glass mirror or a window had cracked from his words, before the barrier shattered and the tree disappeared entirely, showing that there was never a tree to begin with and that it had been hiding an interesting looking coffin that had four golden headed halberds stuck in it, with the heads outside the coffin.
"As you might have guessed, inside this coffins rests my master, Koga Kuchiki." Muramasa said, though at the same time he smiled for a moment as he thought about what was going on, that he had finally accomplished what he had set out to do after his master had been sealed away, "He was a powerful Shinigami that sought to control Soul Society, but when he tried to do that Captain-Commander Yamamoto and Ginrei Kuchiki managed to seal him away and kept the location of his prison known only to the two of them, hence why I targeted the Captain-Commander. Everything I have done has been for this moment..."
As he said that Muramasa focused his reiatsu into making his eyes glow, as it was part of what he needed to do to break the seal, and the prison that his master was in pulsed with blue electricity, just like the barrier that had been hiding it had done when he started his incantation, before the chains that were tied to it snapped off and crumbled to the ground below it, where they turned to dust and vanished. Sombra and the others watched as the face of the coffin cracked and had a blue glow coming from the inside, showing that the coffin was going to break and that they were moments away from Koga being released into the world once more, before the surface of the coffin shattered and the halberds were forced into the ground near where they were standing. As the light faded away, and let them see what was going on, it wasn't hard to see what had happened, as Koga floated where the coffin used to rest, though while he must have been fit and youthful in the past his current appearance was malnourished and withered, showing that the passing of time had not been kind to him. It appeared that he was wearing a mouth guard and a pair of gauntlets, from the time before he was imprisoned, but the mouth piece was broken so it only covered his nose area and left his mouth open, though the chest part of his Shinigami attire had been destroyed and left him bare chested, even though he still wore a red scarf and a necklace from his previous life... and, as Sombra expected, Koga was carrying his version of Muramasa's blade, even if the upper half of it was missing, which explained all the pain that Muramasa had been in recently.
After a few moments of floating in the air Koga finally opened his eyes and touched the ground beneath him, where he stared at the group that was near him, though Sombra could tell that his gaze was mostly focused on Muramasa, who was overjoyed to see that his master was freed at last, before Koga took a breath and exerted his power, causing the group to stand their ground as his reiatsu passed by them... though once that was done, and everything returned to normal, Muramasa decided that it was time to make his move.
"Koga, you've awaken at long last!" Muramasa said, joy filling his voice as he held his arms out, showing that he was pleased with that had transpired in the last few minutes, so much so that he approached his master and hoped that he was also pleased with what he had done, "You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment! Now, let's got make your dreams come true at last!"
"Mura... masa!" Koga replied, showing that the number of years he had been sealed away had taken their toll on his body, as it sounded like he was having some trouble talking, but at the same time just hearing his voice seemed to make Muramasa even happier than he already was.
It was in that moment that Koga stabbed Muramasa in the stomach with the remainder of his Zanpakuto, surprising the group the instant that it happened, while at the same time shock appeared on Muramasa's face as he looked down at where his stomach was located, as if he couldn't believe what was happening.
"Koga... why?" Muramasa asked, though at the same time he fell to his knees and stared up at his master, whose expression had warped into one of pure anger the moment after he was stabbed in the stomach, as if Muramasa had done something wrong and had angered his master, "Why did you...?"
"You didn't come, even though I called for you when I was about to be sealed away." Koga stated, to which Sombra immediately understood what was going on, as it was the same problem that Haineko and Matsumoto's bond had, only it was much worse than what Haineko had put behind.
"You... called for me?" Muramasa asked, because shortly after he freed Koga from his prison cell, as he had gone into custody and he had freed his master from his previous resting place, he had suffered a few bruises from Koga's anger and a few harsh words, but he never thought their bond had been strained to the point where he couldn't hear his master calling for his aid.
"You refused to lend me your power." Koga stated, showing that he was more than annoyed by what had happened all those years ago, though at the same time Sombra's group, understanding how an abusive relationship hurt the bond between a Shinigami and their Zanpakuto, watched and waited to see what happened next.
"I never heard you call for me, I swear." Muramasa replied, as he remembered countless days sitting in Koga's empty inner world, surrounded by nothing but water and stone pillars that were spread apart from each other, waiting for his master to call on him for something, only to receive silence, "I waited for you to call me for so long. I've always wanted to help you with all my body and soul, no matter how dire the situation, whenever you called for me... but I went for so long without ever hearing your voice. Eventually I found out that you had been sealed away. That's why I've been working so hard to release the seal..."
"What's the point if you're not there when I need you?!" Koga snapped, showing that the years of being sealed away must have messed with his mind, though at the same time Sombra had the feeling that he had been mentally unstable and that was what resulted in him being sealed away, and that the years inside that coffin had only messed with his insanity more than anything else he had experienced before that moment, though that was before Koga reached down and ripped the blade from Muramasa's stomach.
As Sombra held a hand out to stop anyone from getting involved, since this wasn't their fight and he knew that Byakuya was waiting for the perfect opening, Koga growled and kneed Muramasa in the chin, knocking him backwards onto the ground behind him, where he landed on his side and his blood started to seep out of the wound in his stomach, despite his efforts to stop it from happening.
"As your Shinigami, I am the one that created your powers!" Koga stated, as that was a fact that every Shinigami had to learn when they first took an Asauchi and started spending time with them, to mold them into the blades that would eventually become their Zanpakuto, including the spirits that resided inside the blade, "You're supposed to do everything that I tell you to do!"
"Weren't we... comrades?" Muramasa asked, though at he same time he had to wince for a moment, as he shifted his gaze and his body so he could stare at his master's face, all while putting additional pressure on his wound, which didn't seem to be getting any better.
"Comrades?" Koga inquired, almost making it sound like he had never thought of Muramasa that way, despite the fact that Muramasa was willing to do anything and everything for his Shinigami partner, "You're nothing more than a sword. You're just a tool... so don't get cocky, you worthless tool!"
As Koga raised his arm, so he could use what was left of his blade to strike out at his Zanpakuto spirit again and inflict even more damage on him, Sombra beckoned with his hand and most of the group backed up some more, though at the same time Byakuya flashed forward and drew his blade, stopping Koga's strike in it's tracks.
"I honestly cannot believe that you called your own Zanpakuto a tool and attacked him." Byakuya stated, to which he glared at his uncle, a man who sullied the name of the Kuchiki family with his mere existence, and he was thankful that Sombra was allowing him to uphold the mission that his grandfather had given him so long ago, "You don't deserve the title of 'Shinigami'."
The instant he said that both he and Koga raised their blades and jumped backwards, putting some distance between them for when the battle resumed, though when they landed Byakuya could see that Koga was staring at him, studying his choice of attire since he had returned his scarf to it's natural place around his neck.
"That silvery-white windflower scarf, and those kenseikan," Koga commented, referring to the hairpieces that Byakuya was wearing when he said kenseikan, while at the same time showing that he remembered a great deal about his time before he was sealed away, "You're from the Kuchiki Clan, aren't you?"
"I am Byakuya Kuchiki, the Twenty-eighth head of the Kuchiki Clan." Byakuya replied, showing Sombra and the others that his family was old since it had so many heads to lead it, but at the same time he focused his attention on Koga, since he was the person he had come to defeat.
"The Twenty-eighth head... I see, so a great deal of time has passed since I was imprisoned." Koga said, as if he was remembering the year it was in Soul Society before he was sealed away and had been making the calculations in his head, or he didn't care and just make the comment to show that he now knew how much time he had missed, "So, has Ginrei kicked the bucket yet?"
"I don't want to hear his name pass your lips again." Byakuya stated, as his grandfather had been a good man and was well respected by the Shinigami that still remembered him, including the Captain-Commander, and he wasn't about to let the one who disgraced his family name say the name of his grandfather in such a manner, "You have no right to speak his name after you soiled the Kuchiki Clan's honor."
"Is that so?" Koga asked, to which he shrugged for a moment, because personally he didn't want to talk about the man that had helped seal him away either, a man that he despised as much as every other Shinigami in existence, before he focused on his foe, "So what's your plan, Mr. Head of the Kuchiki Clan? Are you planning on sealing me away again, after giving me a few minutes of fresh air and some time with my worthless sword?"
"No. I cannot allow you to live any longer." Byakuya replied, though at the same time he was still annoyed that Koga was treating Muramasa like he was a tool, as that was a character trait of a Shinigami who had lost their harmony with their Zanpakuto, a state that Matsumoto had been dangerously close to reaching, "I will kill you for soiling the Kuchiki Clan's name and honor."
"Well, you're certainly arrogant enough to belong to the family." Koga stated, as he remembered how arrogant the members of the family that he had known had been, before he shifted his stance and readied his blade, "Whatever. I've got enough reason to fight you, if you really are the head of the Kuchiki Clan."
"K... Koga... use me." Muramasa spoke up, as he finally mustered the strength to stand once more, even if he kept his left hand on his stomach to slow the bleeding as best he could, all while noticing that both Byakuya and his master had turned their heads towards him once more, "My power is always with you..."
For a moment it actually seemed like Koga would listen to Muramasa and call him back to his inner world, restoring his actual blade as he turned and faced Muramasa with his blade held out, only for something shocking to happen as Koga brought his left hand down on the blade and shattered it, with two large fragments falling to the ground while what little of it remained was stuck to the handle, which Koga discarded as Muramasa fell to his knees once more.
"You'll just get in my way." Koga stated, to which he turned towards one of the halberds that was resting nearby and grinned as he grabbed onto it's handle, as it would be the perfect weapon for the battle that was going to start, before he glanced at his worthless Zanpakuto once more, "I don't have to use an unstable, and unreliable, sword like you. I can handle this on my own."
"Don't you understand what a Zanpakuto is?" Haineko asked, as she couldn't believe that another spirit was suffering the same thing that she had been through, that Muramasa's partner wouldn't forgive what happened in the past and even turned his back on Muramasa.
"A Zanpakuto is a tool, nothing more." Koga replied, where he noticed that a few of the observers looked like they were also the same as Muramasa, Zanpakuto spirits to be exact, though for the most part he had no desire to use any of them against his enemies, "I can always find a replacement, be it an existing Zanpakuto, another Asauchi to form a more reliable weapon, or even one of the blades that was used to seal me away all tho..."
Koga stopped for a moment as an unnatural darkness filled the air around them, as he had never seen anything like it before, and when he found the source of the power he noticed that it was the strange pony creature that had a faint dark aura around him, with a glare that would have stunned him where he stood... and before he could say anything the air was back to normal and so was the creature in question, but out of all of them Byakuya knew exactly what hadn't been said as he turned towards Koga.
"Sombra is very upset with how you are treating your Zanpakuto," Byakuya said, because if Sombra had been in the mood to actually fight Koga he was sure that his uncle would be sent to the Shadowlands, to suffer an eternity of torture alongside Aizen and whoever else was trapped inside that realm, "though you should count yourself lucky that he hasn't made a move toward you yet... otherwise you'd be dead on the ground before you had a chance to fight back."
Before Koga could say anything, however, Muramasa's body shook for a few seconds, no doubt from what he had just done, and that was immediately followed by strands of black-red colored reiatsu erupting from his body, before a scream ran out as everyone jumped into the air, leaving him in the center of a sea of black-red reiatsu. Sombra knew what it was the moment he saw it, as Muramasa's despair at being abandoned by his partner, someone who he had trusted and even risked his very existence for, had caused him to lose control of his reiatsu and the power he had absorbed from the number of Hollows that he had taken into his being to keep himself from falling apart until the seal was released. As the seconds ticked by a large number of Menos Grande, the foot soldiers that he and Ichigo fought in the beginning when they were just beginning to understand their powers, emerged from the sea of reiatsu, which was then followed by the sea vanishing as Muramasa was trapped inside a sphere of reiatsu. Of course there were some perks to being the Dios Hueco, as his mere presence stopped the group of Menos Grande from doing anything stupid, to which Byakuya nodded his head and chased after Koga, since he was the reason that everything was happening in the first place, leaving the others to watch what happened to the unfortunate Zanpakuto spirit that was now trapped in a sphere that floated high in the air, knowing that they couldn't do anything but watch and wait.
As Byakuya flew through the air the blade fragments of Senbonzakura followed after him, forming a blade in his right hand as they charged into battle with the person they had come to defeat, knowing that this was going to be a spectacle for those that were observing them.
Koga assumed a battle stance as Byakuya rushed at him, their weapons clashing against each other as they danced around in the air above the Menos Grande, who seemed to be watching them as well, though Byakuya blocked several of his foes attacks as Koga did the same thing. It was interesting, as Koga's movements showed that he was skilled enough to use whatever weapon he wanted, which confirmed his statement about finding a new weapon to use as his main weapon, but at the same time Byakuya focused on parrying the attacks that were aimed at his head and his organs, before pushing his foe's weapon back and swinging his Zanpakuto at Koga's face. Koga actually let the blade get close to taking off his head, like he was using this as an exercise to wake his muscles up, before he blocked his Zanpakuto and then spun around until he was behind his foe, so he could attack him from behind, to which Byakuya spun around and parried the attack that was aimed at his back, before they went back to attacking and parrying attacks that were aimed at them. That, of course, was before Koga did something different, as when he found Byakuya blocking his attack, so he could use his own in the next few seconds, he shifted his halberd and caught the head of his foe's blade, trapping it as he swung the bottom of his halberd at his foe.
Byakuya let it get close and then pulled his head back, letting the bottom of the halberd pass by his head as he pulled his blade free, to which he swung his blade again and Koga parried the attack with the handle of his halberd, showing that he remembered all the techniques and movements that he had been taught, meaning that this fight was going to take a while before one of them won.
"I must say, you do have the skills that are necessary to be the head of the clan." Koga commented, as he had been studying his opponent's movements and found that Byakuya was certainly correct in his statement, that he was the current head of the clan, but at the same time that only made him want to kill him even more than before, "But there's more to being the head of the clan than skill with a blade. How's your Kido?"
Byakuya watched as Koga pulled back and put some distance between them, though as he pointed the tip of his halberd at him as a fireball formed on it's head, to which Koga called out 'Adamantine Blast', or Kongobaku as it was more commonly called, and loosed the fireball at him. Byakuya jumped backwards as the fireball was launched and raised his hand at his target, to which he used Hado Number 33: Sokatsui and fired a torrent of blue energy, to which the two Kido spells raced through the aid and collided with each other, canceling each other out when they finally met. It made sense that a Kido spell in the Thirties would be cancelled by a second Kido spell that was also in the Thirties, though even as that happened Koga created a circle of green energy below him and started firing multiple blasts that seemed to form a cage of some sort, a spell called Raging Light Fang, or Gaki Rekko. This time around Byakuya dodged the beams that were coming his way and retreated to the ground level, where he raised his left hand and fired off four Hado Number 4: Bakurai at his target, where each of the four pale colored lightning missed their target as Koga dodged his attacks, though this time he appeared in the area behind Byakuya.
Not even a second passed before Koga swung his halberd at him and called out his next attack, which was Glacier Vapor Storm, or Hyoga Seiran, and loosed a massive wave of ice at him, to which Byakuya used Bakudo Number 81: Danku and formed a vertical glass-like barrier behind him, preventing him from taking damage while the wave of ice headed passed where he was standing, taking out a few of the Menos Grande in the process, before he had his Zanpakuto form a petal shield around him as the barrier cracked, protecting him from the ice as the barrier collapsed.
"Your Kido is nothing but a joke, when compared to my Zanpakuto, Senbonzakura." Byakuya stated, as the moment the attack ended he used the blade fragments to shatter the ice around him and then reformed his blade once more, as if nothing had happened to him.
"Don't overestimate yourself, kiddo." Koga replied, as so far he wasn't sure if he was impressed with his foe's power over Kido or if he should feel sorry by his lack of powerful spells, since one of the spells he had used was in the Fifties and the other had been in the Sixties.
When Koga attacked him again Byakuya jumped backwards into the air, only for Koga to use the same technique that Muramasa used when he was stopping his targets where they stood, showing that he could use his Zanpakuto's powers even though he had shattered Muramasa's blade. As Koga proclaimed that he got Byakuya, and that he couldn't even lift a finger anymore, Byakuya truly released his Shikai and used the large strands of blade fragments to shatter Koga's hold on him, allowing them to continue the battle once more, though when Koga used the halberd to defend himself his weapon finally shattered due to it's age and the power that Byakuya was using against him. He then used that opening to flash behind Koga and swung his blade at him, bifurcating his body in the process, but as that happened he discovered that the Koga he had been fighting was an illusion and that it disappeared a few seconds later as another Koga appeared some steps in front of him, before flashing behind him and cutting his shoulder just a bit. As he stumbled forward he slashed at his foe once more and cut him in half again, but that turned out to be another illusion as Koga appeared in the air above him, but when he swung the fragment of the halberd that he was holding another cut appeared on his right shoulder, to which he discovered that the one in the sky was an illusion and the real one was in front of him.
Byakuya, shocked by what was going on at the moment, and knowing that someone like Sombra wouldn't be caught off guard in such a manner, flashed backwards and put some distance between them, though this time he found that his foe wasn't following after him, giving him a chance to figure out what was going on.
"What did you do?" Byakuya inquired, because he was sure that his foe would mention what he had done and was going to take advantage of that, and if by some chance he died to Koga, or came close to it, getting Koga to talk would reveal his powers to Sombra, who would wreck Koga so badly it would be painful to watch.
"Muramasa can control other Zanpakuto." Koga stated, as right now he felt like talking, because his first fight since leaving his prison was going well and he was sure that whoever was watching the battle wouldn't be able to figure out what his fighting style or abilities were, "But that ability came from my own special power. I can send my reiatsu into whoever my enemies are and throw off all five of their senses. I have complete control over what my opponents perceive. You wouldn't be able to see me correctly, despite the fact that I could be standing right in front of you. Even your depth perception doesn't match the reach of your sword. You can't fight against me anymore... and the funny thing is that I wouldn't have been able to use this technique if you had closed your heart to me, like Ginrei and Yamamoto did when they sealed me away."
To prove his point Koga tossed the fragment of the halberd's handle, that he was still holding onto, at Byakuya, who swung at it and cut through an illusion as the real one hit his chest and fell to the ground, though it hadn't hurt him at all and caused him to look back up at his foe.
"You let down your guard because I broke Muramasa." Koga added, though at the same time he used his power and started making multiple illusions of himself, to prevent Byakuya from seeing his real movements as the illusions phased in and out of existence.
"You're wrong, because I challenged you without closing my heart so I could kill you." Byakuya replied, though he was fortunate that his foe had revealed his hand to him, since that gave Sombra the change to understand his powers in case he needed to be pulled out of the fight, but he'd cross that road if he reached that point, "If I had closed my heart to you, I could have sealed you away again, but doing so would have prevented me from killing you."
As he said that Byakuya prepared to release Senbonzakura once more, though Koga was annoyed with what he had said and grabbed one of the other halberds, as the other three went flying after Muramasa's episode, to which he threw it through the air and used his power to confuse Byakuya as to where it was going, only for it's disarming area behind the head to capture his hand and knock his Zanpakuto away from where he was standing. Byakuya attempted to move away as Koga sent the second halberd at him, only for it to pin his other arm as well since he couldn't figure out where they were coming from in time to dodge them, which was when Koga used Hyoga Seiran against him, but this time around when Byakuya used Bakudo Number 81: Danku to defend himself the attack came from his right side, freezing the lower part of his body and preventing him from moving.
"You're pathetic!" Koga stated, his tone taking on the type one would expect when they were winning a fight, even though the only person that Byakuya knew who didn't do that was Sombra, as he would normally gloat or proclaim his victory once the battle was over, if he bothered to do that anyway, "You're just a baby that can't do anything without his Zanpakuto! Truthfully, it doesn't matter how skilled or experienced my enemies are! Everyone will bow to me in the end! Yes, this is all my power! No one can beat me, even if I don't have my Zanpakuto! But enough of that, why don't we finish this now, head of the Kuchiki Clan!"
Koga readied the fourth and final halberd as he took on a new stance, showing that he was ready to end this, before he rushed forward and held the tip of the blade steady so it could pierce Byakuya's head and kill him instantly, but just before it could reach his target a surge of flowery blade fragments stopped the blade from hitting his target.
"Master, if you've lost control of your senses," a voice said, to which Koga watched as Byakuya's blade released itself and Senbonzakura formed behind Byakuya, with his right hand on his partner's shoulder while his left hand stopped the attack in it's tracks, "then I shall become your eyes and fight for you."
The moment he said that Senbonzakura pushed Koga's attack back and shattered both the ice and the halberds that were keeping Byakuya pinned to the ground, though as a blade formed in Byakuya's hand Koga declared that he would strip his Zanpakuto of his perception as well and pointed at Byakuya, who held his blade out and released it, activating his Bankai as the area around them went dark for a moment. As Koga's eyes widened in shock, since he had no idea that Byakuya could use Bankai, Byakuya did something he usually didn't do, instead of just releasing his Bankai he moved straight into the Senkei stage, forming a dome around them with four rows of blades circling them.
"Senkei, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi." Byakuya stated, knowing that the only way for someone to see the end of this fight was if Sombra had activated his Resurreccion and had an eye on the inside, but at the same time he focused on his foe as he prepared to end their battle, "This is Senbonzakura's true form. In this form, he drops all pretense of defense and focuses everything into defeating whoever our enemy is. While we're in here it doesn't matter if you've thrown off my sensory perception or not, as my blades will find you, no matter where you are."
"No matter where I am, huh?" Koga inquired, though at the same time he took a new battle stance as he readied himself, to which his blue colored reiatsu formed a light aura around him, showing that he was preparing for what was to be the end of their battle, "The same goes for me as well!"
Byakuya stood there as he called one of the blades to his right hand and let his white aura form around him as he took his own battle stance, showing that he wasn't about to let someone else survive the Senkei stage of his Bankai, all while making sure to keep Koga within his sight. It wasn't long before Koga made the first move and Byakuya followed his steps, though this time around when their weapons clashed their reiatsu pushed against each other, trying to dominate the other for a few seconds, before they passed by their foes, which only caused them to turn around and clash with each other once more. When Koga used his immobilization trick, to keep Byakuya from moving, Senbonzakura briefly appeared as a phantom and used a number of the blades to pierce the strands that were holding his partner down, freeing him before he faded again, allowing Byakuya to attack a confused and shocked Koga, even though he nearly took his head off and forced his foe to back up a little. Instead of chasing after him, like he should be doing, he waited for Koga to come to a stop before even deciding what his next move should be, since he wanted to make sure his foe died while putting up a decent fight, just like he knew Sombra and his friends would have done in his stead.
"Damn it. Why are you so powerful?!" Koga asked, as right now he was surprised that Byakuya could even keep up with his movements and that he was able to free himself from his powers, even though he'd still have trouble if he took away his senses like he did before the Bankai was activated.
"Because both of us are fighting you." a voice said, to which the phantom of Senbonzakura appeared behind Byakuya once more, showing that they were doing exactly what he said they were doing, all while Byakuya kept his eyes on Koga in case he decided to try something while they were talking.
"Shinigami and Zanpakuto are two in one." Byakuya added, reminding Koga of what he had learned when he was first learning all of this back when he attended the academy, especially since he had forgotten all of this and had done one of the few things a Shinigami should never do to their partner, "We only reach our true potential when our souls begin to resonate with each other. You, who cast aside everything in your vanity, can never defeat us."
"Shut up! You're the ones that don't get it!" Koga snapped, as he remembered why he had been pushed to do what he had done and had been forced to suffer such a long imprisonment, especially since his sword was so useless and didn't help him when he was being sealed away, "No one acknowledged my greatness, no matter how many deeds I did. They branded me as a traitor and cast me aside, so I decided to create a place where I belonged and acted upon that plan. Those with power rule! I will become the King of a new world!"
"How foolish." Byakuya said, as he remembered what his grandfather had told him, that Soul Society had tried to lessen or even seal Muramasa's power, for fear of a Zanpakuto rebellion happening all those years ago, and Koga seemed to think it was about taking away his powers, causing him to believe that everyone was against him and sent him down the path that lead to his imprisonment, "The tragedy is that you failed to see where true power lies. The power you needed was the ability to communicate with others as well as your Zanpakuto."
"I never needed anyone and I never will!" Koga stated, to which he raised his weapon and prepared himself, because right now it appeared that talking was going to get them no where, meaning that it was time for them to end their battle and see who the winner really was, "My powers are unique. No one can come close to my ultimate power!"
"There there is nothing more for us to say." Byakuya replied, though at the same time he braced himself, as he knew that it was time for them to bring an end to both Koga and this fight, as there was no reasoning with someone who had spent so long with their own insanity and nothing else, "You can curse your own immaturity for preventing you from recognizing your own overconfidence. Koga, I shall now perform my duty as the head of the Kuchiki Clan, which has been handed down to me by my grandfather, Ginrei. Shukei: Hakuteiken."
As soon as he said that the four rings broke apart and pooled their power together, forming the majestic white wings and white halo of his final attack, the White Imperial Sword, though while it might have failed to defeat Ichigo in their previous battle, since he was more wounded at the time, this time he knew he'd hit his mark. Despite everything that had been said so far Koga admitted that this was a pretty impressive technique and that there weren't many heads of the clan that were as strong as Byakuya was, which struck Byakuya as odd considering what Koga had been saying up until he saw this attack. At the same time, however, Byakuya told Koga that he was only showing him this attack as a final act of respect, since Koga was once a member of his clan and hadn't been bad until something unfortunate happened, which only caused his foe to proclaim that he'd smash the attack and sever his ties to the Kuchiki Clan at last. When Koga was ready he charged forward and let his reiatsu gather around him, just like Byakuya was doing with his final attack, and soon the two of them collided in the middle of the dome, their reiatsu fighting against each other for a few moments as both of them fought for dominance... only for a large explosion to erupt where they were fighting as the dome disappeared, where Byakuya stood where Koga had been and Koga was standing where Byakuya had been moments ago.
As Byakuya stumbled Senbonzakura materialized and stopped him from hitting the ice they were standing on, though when they looked back at Koga they found that, despite being severely wounded, he was fighting on and was calling for Muramasa to come to him, as if he forgot what he had done to his partner... and when he called out Muramasa's name one last time his body gave out and his reiatsu collapsed on itself, allowing his lifeless body to fall into the lake and drift to the bottom, letting the two of them leave the area and flash over to where Sombra's group was standing.
"Lord Sombra, the deed is done... Koga is dead." Byakuya said, to which Senbonzakura nodded his head in agreement, showing some confirmation to what Sombra had felt while they were inside the Senkei dome, before he thought about something else to say, "And... thank you for allowing me to fulfill my duty as head of the Kuchiki Clan. I know you wanted a piece of him, though I hope you are pleased with the results."
Normally he would never act in such a way, since it was too out of character for him, but at the same time he was talking to the King of Hueco Mundo, the Dios Hueco, one of the strongest beings in the entirety of the four realms that made up this world, and if Sombra wanted he was sure that he could be killed without even seeing the attack coming, hence why he wanted to be on his good side.
"Since he got what he deserved, I'm happy to have stood by and let you fulfill your duty." Sombra stated, as while he would have liked to have torn Koga apart, for his arrogance and his vile treatment of Muramasa in the short time since he was released from his prison, he was pleased to see that Koga got what he deserved, before turning his head towards the sky once more.
"How is Muramasa doing?" Senbonzakura asked, as while he, and most of the Zanpakuto, might not like the spirit for what he had done to them, turning them against their partners and creating the chaos that he brought with him, he was still worried that being broken and abandoned might have some severe consequence for Muramasa.
"He was stable during your fight," Sombra replied, as he had been keeping an eye on the Zanpakuto spirit's condition as he remained trapped in a sphere of his own reiatsu that floated above the lake, though right now Muramasa was in pain, if the strands of pure black energy that were coming out of his body were any indication, which were now increasing in size and numbers, "though it seems that the death of Koga is having another effect on Muramasa. It seems that all the Hollows that he's absorbed over the years, to use their reiatsu to keep himself materialized as he sought a way to release the seal and free his partner, are starting to break out of his body and return to this world, and yet it seems that there might be something else happening at the moment."
As he said that the black strands branched outwards from where Muramasa was floating and dozens upon dozens of normal Hollows, ones that weren't even Gillian like the Menos Grande that were waiting for something to happen, started to pour out of his body, freeing themselves as they waited for the rest of their trapped kind to do the same as well. After a few more moments Sombra noticed that the sphere collapsed into a small black-red colored black hole, as it started to suck in all the Hollows that had been released from Muramasa's body, starting with all of the lesser Hollows that were hanging in the air around the lake. Once all of the lesser Hollow had been absorbed, however, the group watched as the force of the black hole started to pull the Menos Grande off their feet, as one of them had decided to try and walk through the forest behind them, to explore oddly enough, and it had been pulled into the air and had it's head facing the black hole as it flew towards the hole. The group watched in surprise as the Menos Grande flew towards the hole and slowly vanished into it's depths, as if they were being taken back into Muramasa's being, though when the last one disappeared the sphere enlarged until it was at Muramasa's height and pulsed like a heart a few moments, before exploding and loosing a torrent of dark blue reiatsu into the air for a few seconds.
When the torrent disappeared, and the smoke cleared, Sombra found that Muramasa had been transformed, as he had gained bone-like armor on his chest, complete with long shoulder-pads and a helmet-like mask with long horns, with large teeth on its lower edges, and a visor-shaped eyehole, through which his now glowing red eyes could be seen. He also had tufts of gray fur around his neck and collarbone, while his arms become long and slender, with long, curved blades sticking out from his elbows, allowing him to swing his arms and either attack or defend himself if he got in a fight with someone. The interesting part was that his Hollow hole was located where his heart would be, though what Sombra was really interested in was the dozens of fang-like, inward-pointing protrusions that rested around the hole, and he also had a large amount of purple fur hanging from his waist. Sombra could tell that Muramasa had undergone a Hollowfication, as he had the feeling of an Arrancar to him now, and he just floated there, in the middle of the air, showing that his new nature was causing him to pause as he felt the power of Hueco Mundo upon him, informing him of what Sombra was and confirming what he had been telling him the entire time.
At the same time, however, Sombra knew that it was only a matter of time until something snapped and Muramasa started attacking the area around him, to which he gathered his reiatsu once more as he brought his hands to his sides, showing the group that he was going to make his move as they gave him some space.
"Bakudo Number 99: Kin." Sombra said, to which he brought his hands, with his first two fingers intertwined while the second two fingers remained in a fist formation, together in front of him, all while his eyes remained focused on his target as the rest of the group waited to see what he was doing.
In the following seconds two black strands of spiritual fabric wrapped around Muramasa's arms, moving in such a way to bind his arms to his back before he was brought down to the ground, where the front of his body rested against the earth as the fabric was pinned to the ground with thin square iron shafts, which would help restrict Muramasa's movements for the foreseeable future.
"With you're power, I bet you could keep him here for hours without tiring," Senbonzakura commented, as that was one way to stop a fight from happening, though at the same time it wouldn't do anything in the long run, since Muramasa was still a threat, in whichever form he took, "but what are you going to do with him?"
"Zangetsu, Haineko," Sombra said, to which the two former Zanpakuto spirits stepped up for a moment, as they were curious as to what their Lord wanted of them this time around, before focusing on the spirit in front of them, "It appears that Muramasa has been consumed by his despair, but despite that happening it seems that he is still fighting to preserve himself in some manner, even after being betrayed by his partner like that. What I'm going to do is send the two of you inside his body, to his inner world, where you should try to convince him that there is still another road that he can walk that doesn't involve him dying, especially since his bond with Koga is starting to fade... and if he's still connected to his former partner when Koga's reiatsu fully disappears, well, I'm sure you can guess what will happen next."
Haineko knew what Sombra was talking about, that Zanpakuto were born with their Shinigami and died with their Shinigami, but in this moment they had a chance to break that bond between Muramasa and Koga, something that could only happen by Muramasa's hand, before she nodded her head in agreement. When Zangetsu did the same, since he knew what their Lord was doing, the two of them walked forward and sat down on opposite sides of Muramasa's bound body, to which they placed a hand on his shoulders and closed their eyes as Sombra worked his power over them. A few moments later, once the Kido spell was ready, Sombra uttered the name of the spell, 'Tanma Otoshi', before the two of them found themselves, or rather their mental avatars, being sent into the inner world that Muramasa was contained in, all while the world went dark for them seconds later.
The next thing Zangetsu and Haineko knew they were standing on top of what could be either a stone or marble column, which rested in the middle of what appeared to be either a never ending lake or an ocean based on all the water that rested in each direction they looked in. As they took in their new surroundings the duo noticed that there were a number of columns like the one that they happened to be standing on, though at the same time many of them seemed to be in the process of collapsing, reflecting the state of Koga's mindset before his death, meaning that they had a limited amount of time before the entire place collapsed on them and Muramasa was lost forever. Despite the time limit that they were facing Haineko noticed that this was the only cluster of columns around them, meaning that Muramasa had to be nearby, and when she beckoned to one of the cracked columns Zangetsu nodded his head, indicating that he was thinking the same thing that she was thinking, causing a light smile to appear on her face as they both looked around for the spirit that they had come to talk to.
Not even a few seconds later they heard the sound of someone walking on the water, near the column that they were standing on, to which they turned their heads and glanced down at the water in front of them, where they quickly found Muramasa standing still with his gaze pointed directly at them.
"Zangetsu? Haineko? I didn't expect to see either of you again, much less in this place." Muramasa commented, to which he kept his hands in his pockets, as he remembered the battle that Zangetsu had with the Old Man and knew that he didn't have nearly enough power to challenge him, and even if he fought Haineko one wrong move would cause her boyfriend to cut him down, "How did you get here?"
"Lord Sombra used a variation of the Tanma Otoshi Kido spell to send us here." Zangetsu replied, because he saw no reason to lie to the spirit in front of them, especially since they were here to convince him to cut the last bond that tied him to Koga and free himself, before he glanced around the area they were in once more, "I've got to say, you've got a nice inner world to live in. Mine was just a bunch of skyscrapers that rested sideways, like a partially inverted world, though whenever Ichigo let despair take hold of him it always rained nonstop... the Old Man hated the rain for some reason, one he never bothered to tell me about."
"That's weird, mine was a combination of a mall and a resort," Haineko said, though as soon as she said that she found that Muramasa was staring at her, like she had said something she shouldn't have, before she waved a hand as if she was dismissing the fact, "Look, my former partner liked to shop in a lot of stores and she loved to relax in the various resorts that Humans have made all over the World of the Living, and eventually I grew bored of it since Matsumoto stopped coming to see me after a time, leaving me alone with the same shops to visit day in and day out. But why are you lingering in a place like this? Koga's dead, which means..."
"I do not understand why I have been called here either." Muramasa replied, to which he jumped into the air and landed in front of the pair, as the column they were standing on had more than enough room for them, and to show that he didn't desire battle he summoned he blade and stuck it into the top of the column, out of his reach as he stood a couple of steps away from it, "I wonder, did my reunion with Koga summon me here, or is this merely an illusion that will eventually fall apart as I fade away? Regardless of the answer, it's going to break soon... but even so, I'm actually kind of glad that my fate has been intertwined with Sombra's, as it allows me to accept my fate and talk with someone for a few moments, before I meet my end."
"That's how you want to die? By talking?" Zangetsu asked, as that was a surprise, because he had figured that they would have to fight the spirit in front of them before they could even get to this stage, drastically reducing the time before they lost him, but at least this saved them some time.
"I am done fighting." Muramasa said, to which he glanced out at the columns that were around them, just as one of them cracked and fell into the water, causing ripples to form for a few moments, before he sighed, "I spent years fighting Hollows, consuming their reiatsu and beings to keep myself stable as I searched for clues as to how I could free Koga from the prison he had been sealed in... and yet it seems that he had called for me many times before he was sealed away by Ginrei and Yamamoto, though I never heard his voice when he did so."
"That's because the bond between you two had been damaged." Haineko stated, to which she sat down across from Muramasa and stared at him, while at the same time Zangetsu stood behind her as he made sure to keep an eye on the area they were standing in, though Muramasa looked surprised for a moment, "Communication is key between a Shinigami and their Zanpakuto, but when the Shinigami starts abusing their partner, be it calling them names or hurting either their physical or manifested forms, that bond is weakened and the Zanpakuto starts hearing their partner's voice less and less as time goes on. Out of all the Zanpakuto in Soul Society, and that includes Zangetsu and Lord Sombra's partners, I'm likely the only one that might even understand what you are going through, because I was also abused by my Shinigami for a number of years, and she never apologized for what she did to me."
"Haineko, you don't have to tell that tale again." Zangetsu commented, as he knew what story she was thinking of telling Muramasa, as it had to be the same one that both he and Sombra had heard after he saved her from Tobiume and Matsumoto, but at the same time he knew how much relieving this memory was and didn't want her to go down that path all over again.
"It's okay... it's heartbreaking, when you consider what I've been through, but it won't break me." Haineko said, though she appreciated Zangetsu saying that, showing that he was concerned about what would happen if she told the story again, especially after what happened the last time, before she sighed and turned towards Muramasa, "I guess, since we have some time, I might as well give you some information on what happened before our bond soured and caused me to consider joining your 'rebellion'."
Haineko described the days following her first awakening in Matsumoto's inner world, the same one she described to him earlier, and revealed that those early days had been wonderful and eventually turned into the greatest days of her life when her partner earned the right to know her name. She smiled as she recounted the days she spent with her partner, both of them training with each other and unlocking whatever powers she possessed, and that included the days that they spent relaxing and just enjoying each others company as they explored Matsumoto's inner world. Of course she faltered for a moment, as when they reached the point that she gave her partner her Shikai, because she earned the right to know it after besting her in combat, that was the beginning of their bond going downhill, since Matsumoto took to calling her names and disrespecting her in front of the other Shinigami, creating the first cracks in their bond. After that she found that Matsumoto stopped coming to meet with her and stayed out of her inner world, keeping Haineko trapped without being able to talk to her partner, and, in an effort to show Matsumoto what it felt like when her partner didn't listen to what she had said, she ignored her partner's summons one time.
"What happened when you did that?" Muramasa asked, because he had to admit that the tale Haineko wove was an interesting one, even if he wore the same expression he wore before this point in time, but seeing the pained look on Haineko's face told him that something horrible must have happened.
"Matsumoto took her anger out on Haineko's blade, shattering her physical form by hitting it against something else in the area she was in," Zangetsu replied, though at the same time he touched Haineko's shoulder and made sure that she knew that he was there for her, since this was a very painful memory for her to constantly relieve, before he faced the spirit in front of them once more, "The effects of that action nearly killed Haineko, as she felt like her body was breaking and it was only because of her determination and her will to live that she was able to survive long enough for Matsumoto to realize that she had done something wrong and take the fragments to Mayuri to reconstruct the blade. Fortunately Haineko survived that experience, with no negative consequences in regards to her body or her powers, but that event damaged their bond more than anything else before that point in time and it only soured Matsumoto's opinion of Haineko from that point forward."
"Why didn't you tell me and the others about that?" Muramasa inquired, as while now it was revealed that he hadn't been working to set the Zanpakuto free from their partners, or masters depending on which one someone asked, that didn't mean he couldn't be curious as to why Haineko didn't tell anyone the truth.
"Mostly because Matsumoto told the other Shinigami that I was worthless and stupid," Haineko answered, though she remembered some of the looks she had gotten when she first joined the other Zanpakuto spirits in their meeting area in the cave, where they damned her before even getting to see if the stories and rumors were true, "so there was a chance that they would think I was lying for attention, or, if they actually believed me, they would be out for blood and would have killed much more Shinigami, more than the number of them that have died so far. In the end my desire was real, I wanted to be free, and it was by discovering Zangetsu and what he had done, and talking with Lord Sombra, that I was able to finally break myself away from Matsumoto and pursue my own goals, without being chained to an abusive partner."
"I still don't understand how you were able to do that." Muramasa stated, as when he learned that Zangetsu had actually broken himself away from Ichigo, and had let the Old Man take his place, he was shocked and surprised, but just hearing that a second spirit did the same thing made him wonder if such a thing was truly possible.
"We left our lives as Zanpakuto behind," Haineko replied, to which she reached up and undid the part of her collar that she needed to undo, allowing her to pull her top down a little and show off her Hollow hole, while at the same time Zangetsu brushed off part of his jacket and did the same thing, "and, by breaking the strands that bind us to our partner and awakening our true hearts, we were able to separate our souls from our partners and truly become our own entities, meaning we are truly separated from our Shinigami. By awakening our true hearts we became Arrancar, giving us a power boost to our individual powers, and we serve Lord Sombra, who is both the King of Hueco Mundo and the Dios Hueco, or the Hollow God if you prefer."
"Muramasa, there is a way for you to survive this, without having to die." Zangetsu said, though as Haineko put her clothing back in position, hiding her Hollow hole again, he focused on the spirit in front of them, where a flickering white colored strand attached itself to Muramasa's chest, though it was linked to the center of the sky, "Your bond with Koga is weakened to the point where all you have to do is decide what is best for you, as in living your life to the fullest and making amends for the trouble you've caused, or just take the easy way out and let it all end. Before you make your final decision, however, allow me to tell you something that I have learned about Lord Sombra, something that I was only able to figure out thanks to what Ichigo learned, and that is our Lord started as an innocent child, eventually growing into a tyrant that ruled an entire kingdom, and then, through some odd circumstances that I still don't know about, he was able to become a force of good. You may think that you can't redeem yourself, Muramasa, but based on what little I know of Lord Sombra he did far more than what you did, and yet he was able to find a way to counter those odds, managed to prevent going to Hell for his actions, and then forged a new destiny that didn't reflect his past... so if he's able to do all of that, in the last couple of months, then I'm sure you can reverse your reputation as well."
He had known that Sombra was powerful, and even his transformed state in the World of the Living confirmed part of what Zangetsu had told him, but hearing that Sombra had once been evil, more so than him, and that he was able to make a good name for himself shocked Muramasa. At the same time he glanced at the pair in front of him, as both Zangetsu and Haineko seemed content with their new lives, where they appeared to be proud that they had been Zanpakuto for a time and were happy with what they had done to themselves, making him wonder if he could ever find a happiness like they had found, or at least one that was similar to what they had. As he thought about that he noticed that the remaining columns were starting to crack and pieces were falling into the water around them, while pieces of the sky seemed to be breaking down as his Hollow side started to show itself again, but this time he had to wonder what it would be like to live in a world where people understood him, even if those people were Arrancar. He considered living in a world without a master, especially since Koga was dead, but then he thought of something that he had not even thought to consider before that moment, as both Zangetsu and Haineko now served a new master, the King of Hueco Mundo, and realized what Zangetsu was telling him.
In the next moment, as the inner world continued to break down around them, Muramasa decided to do something that would surprise everyone on the other side, back in the World of the Living, to which he got up and walked over to his blade, something that he stared at for a few seconds before sighing. Without pausing for even a second he jerked his weapon free from the top of the column they were standing on and sliced right through the strand of reiatsu that kept him tied to whatever fragment of Koga's soul he had been tied to, allowing part of the strand to vanish as the other part raced into his chest. Zangetsu and Haineko smiled as that happened, before they closed their eyes and let the bright light that emitted from Muramasa's body carry them back to the World of the Living, and their own bodies, so they could show their Lord what they had been able to do with the time they had been given.
Sombra patiently kept his hands in the style that would keep the Bakudo in place, as there was no telling if Muramasa would rage while both Zangetsu and Haineko were inside his inner world, though he was pleased to find that the hollowfied Zanpakuto spirit was just resting on the ground, completely still. He soon found that there was no reason to worry, because after ten minutes both of the former Zanpakuto spirits stirred and moved once more, nodding their heads as they stood up and stretched their bodies, while also standing clear of Muramasa's body as Sombra undid the Bakudo that was keeping him down by pulling his hands apart. What happened next was a sphere of blue energy formed around Muramasa, completely different from anything that had happened so far, but Sombra was able to tell that Zangetsu and Haineko had done what he had asked of them, as the reiatsu that was coming from Muramasa felt the same as what happened to the duo when they became Arrancar. Everyone else backed up as they gave him some room, though based on the white strands that appeared in the sphere every now and then it was clear that he was changing, to which Sombra stood up and watched as the final stages of the transformation were finished.
When the sphere disappeared, and the smoke cleared, Muramasa, in his original Zanpakuto form, stood before them, though it wasn't long before Sombra found that part of him had changed, as his blade was laying nearby and part of the visor that had been in front of his right eye remained, as the remains of his Hollow mask, and he had the feeling that he knew where Muramasa's Hollow hole was located.
"Lord Sombra, I... I thank you for the chance to live in a world with a new master and a chance to atone for the events that I have caused in the last week." Muramasa said, because he felt much better than he had been recently, as he found that he no longer needed to absorb the reiatsu of anything to keep himself in a stable condition, and all the Hollows that he had absorbed no longer filled his head, as if they had been merged into one single being at last, before he grabbed his sword and knelt before his new master, "I promise to serve you to the best of my abilities."
"I look forward to seeing good things from you in the future," Sombra replied, as he knew that Muramasa had been like him once, starting out working for the greater good and then turning back because something happened, which was why he wanted to give the new Arrancar a chance to prove that his past didn't define who he was, before he stepped in front of him and helped Muramasa back onto his feet.
He knew that Soul Society wasn't going to like the fact that he had freed a third Zanpakuto from their partner, one that they likely felt should be executed for his crimes against them, but Sombra had a different opinion on the subject and was going to give Muramasa a chance to redeem himself, as he knew that Muramasa deserved a chance to make things right and to forge a new destiny, especially after what he had been through. For now he had a new follower to introduce to the others that were in Soul Society, as well as introducing him and Haineko to the ones that hadn't come with them, and he was sure that many of his followers, including the Shinigami, would be looking forward to some relaxation now that the rebellion was officially over... and maybe Muramasa could begin his trip down the path of redemption sooner, rather than later, and show the Shinigami that he was sorry for his actions, even though time would tell what happened next.
With Koga defeated, and Muramasa freed from such an abusive partner, who Byakuya had killed, Sombra and his group opened a Senkaimon back to Soul Society and headed back to tell everyone the news that the rebellion was officially over and to share what else had happened since they left to deal with Muramasa's hideout. It didn't take them long to get back to their destination, where many Shinigami were happy to see that they had returned from their mission with success, though at the same time a good deal of the entirety of Soul Society wasn't pleased to find that Muramasa was alive, even less so when they discovered that he was one of Sombra's followers now. Sombra had accounted for this, because Muramasa's recent actions had resulted in a great deal of property damage, a number of deaths, and strains to the relationships between Shinigami and their Zanpakuto, and he assured the Shinigami that things would be different now that the rebellion was over. At the same time he made sure that Zangetsu and Haineko took Muramasa back to the building that he and the other Arrancar were staying in, because while the rebellion might be over he wanted to be sure that there were no lasting side effects from Muramasa releasing all the Zanpakuto of the Captains, Lieutenants, and seated members of the Gotei 13, who had been defeated in some manner since his arrival.
As he was giving that command, however, one of the Shinigami from the First Division approached him and the rest of his group, to which Byakuya and Senbonzakura excused themselves, allowing him to see what the Captain-Commander wanted from him before he did anything else.
"Can I help you?" Sombra asked, because he was sure that the Shinigami didn't need him and the Arrancar to assist in cleaning up the destruction that had occurred during all the fights, since that was mostly the fault of a good number of the brainwashed Zanpakuto, but he was interested in what he might be told.
"Captain-Commander Yamamoto sent me to ask you if you'd join him in his office." the Shinigami replied, though based on his tone Sombra assumed that the normal message would be a request, but given that Sombra was the King of Hueco Mundo and a visitor he knew that the way the request was worded had changed for him.
"It's likely just a follow-up on what happened after we left my hideout." Muramasa commented, as Yamamoto had given Sombra the key to unlocking Koga from his seal and then departed from the area with Yoruichi Shihoin, and he could tell that his new Lord understood what he was talking about, showing him that he and the others might not need to make such comments while he was around.
"Agreed. Which means that you guys should head back to where Grimmjow, Harribel, and Nel are waiting," Sombra said, as it was time to introduce the newest Arrancar to the others, so Muramasa could understand what he had gotten himself into and what he was going to do to reverse his reputation, before the trio nodded and departed, to which he turned towards Ichigo, "So, Ichigo, what are you going to do now that the rebellion is over?"
"I'm going to head back to Karakura Town, tell Urahara and the others what happened, and then I'm going to finish my schoolwork before I do anything else." Ichigo replied, though at the same time he wondered why he had bothered to come to Soul Society and try to stop the rebellion on his own, because once Sombra was called in it became pointless for him to even be there, "But first I'm going to check on Rukia and Renji, see how the two of them are doing, and then I'll head back home and pick up where I left off... and try to relax before the next major threat reveals itself."
Sombra nodded his head, as relaxing should be the focus of a number of Shinigami and Arrancar now that the rebellion was officially over, and it wasn't long before Ichigo dropped out of his Bankai state and flashed through the air as he headed back to the Fourth Division's barracks. Once that was done he turned towards the Shinigami that was patiently waiting near him and beckoned for him to lead the way, to which the two of them headed out for the office building of the First Division, which was constructed entirely different than most of the buildings in the Seireitei. He knew that many would think he was crazy for allowing Muramasa to go free, but at the same time he knew that the former spirit had only done what he did because he was looking for his partner, so since he had gone from being evil and became a good person he was sure that Muramasa could do the same. It was going to take some time and a lot of good deeds, but he was sure that the Shinigami would come to understand what Muramasa's intentions are and forgive him in time, allowing him to focus on what he was doing as he and the Shinigami beside him rushed towards the First Division's barracks.
It didn't take him long to reach their destination, where the Shinigami walked him up to a rather large door and opened it, showing an interesting looking deck like area that allowed someone to watch the sun set and stare out at the entirety of the Seireitei from a single spot, even if they could only see twenty-five percent of it.
"Lord Sombra has arrived." the Shinigami announced, allowing Sombra to step out into the open area that Yamamoto wanted to talk to him in, though as he did so he found the Captain-Commander sitting at a table with two cups of tea sitting in front of him, before a single glance had the Shinigami excuse himself and close the door behind him.
"It's nice to see you again, especially since last time we were in a hurry to stop the rebellion." Sombra said, though at the same time he knew what to do and stepped forward, to which he walked up to the table and took the seat that had been set out for him, "I take it that you already know what happened to Muramasa and that you want to know what happened after we went to the World of the Living?"
"Indeed." Yamamoto replied, though he wasn't surprised that Sombra knew that he had already figured out that something had happened to Muramasa, as he was used to the Arrancar knowing far more than he told anyone, before he poured some tea for them and set one down in front of his ally, "Would you like anything to eat while we talk?"
"No, this tea is more than enough." Sombra said, to which he picked his up and sipped on it, finding that it was the same blend that he used when he was calming Haineko down, which made sense considering that it was the same type that Urahara had him drink when he was living in his shop, "The reality is that Arrancar don't actually need to eat or drink anything to keep their bodies going, not like Shinigami, who need to eat and drink to replenish their reiryoku, so most of us either don't eat anything or we do because of old habits... though the only one of us that actually had to eat, to build his power, was Yammy. But you did not ask me to come here so we could discuss what an Arrancar ate and what they don't eat, you asked me to come here so you could figure out what happened to Koga and what I'm going to do with Muramasa, now that he's an Arrancar."
"Word has spread that you not only spared Muramasa, but that he's one of your followers now." Yamamoto stated, once again not surprised by how well Sombra was able to determine what someone was thinking of, especially when he had all the pieces of the puzzle, but even then he had no idea what the full extent of Sombra's abilities were, "I am curious as to why you would do such a thing."
"He started out like me, an innocent person who thought they were doing what was right," Sombra replied, as he was sure that Zangetsu had shared what little he knew about his past with Muramasa, hence why he and Haineko were able to convince him to give up on Koga and embrace a new destiny, "then a tragic event happened that shifted his view on reality and caused him to take his first steps towards freeing Koga, even if it meant doing actions that many would consider to be evil. The thing is that I was able to eventually put my dark past behind me and forged a new future that did not reflect my past, so if I was able to do something like that, in the few months since I became an Arrancar, than I think it's possible for someone like him to do the same thing. Don't worry, I'll make sure that there's always one of the other Arrancar with him, since trouble's bound to happen sooner or later, and he'll have plenty of chances to fix the mess he made and maybe, just maybe, convince the Shinigami that he's not as bad as they think he is."
"I see." Yamamoto said, as not a lot of people knew what sort of history Sombra had, before he became the Arrancar that he was, but at the same time he found that whatever history he had was a good influence on what he did, for them and for his own kingdom, before he sipped on his own tea and thought about something else, "What about Koga?"
"Dead. Byakuya and Senbonzakura killed him." Sombra answered, though at the same time it was a fitting reward for what he had done to his Zanpakuto, because anyone that willingly shattered their blade like that, and inflict so much damage upon their partner, didn't deserve to have a Zanpakuto at all, in his opinion anyway, before something else crossed his mind, "You know, after dealing with Koga, it's got me thinking about how many more ancient enemies the Soul Society might have and when they might show up in the future. Maybe you could fill me in on what those might be? I could assist you in taking them out, if one of them happened to show up anyway."
Yamamoto considered it for a moment, as there were a few things he could think of that someone like Sombra could take of rather quickly, though part of him wondered if it was necessary for such a thing to happen, considering that they'd be too reliant on him if something bad happened. At the same time he had to admit that one or two of the enemies he was thinking about could only be defeated by someone like him or Sombra, making him truly weigh his options on the matter, and he could tell that Sombra was okay with waiting for an answer, since it seemed like he was thinking about any possible threats that he might take out on his own.
"There are a few, but none that you need to concern yourself with immediately." Yamamoto said, causing Sombra to raise an eyebrow for a moment before snapping his fingers, to which Yamamoto glanced around the room as the same seal that was used to keep him and Haineko from being interrupted appeared around them, with the 'key' floating near Sombra, indicating that they could speak without others knowing, "First off there are the Bounts, a tribe of artificially created beings that can live indefinitely as long as they consume souls, though I believe that Humans created the story of vampires from their existence, despite the fact that we're positive they were exterminated. There is also several rumors that something is up with the Kasumioji Clan, but these are just rumors and I won't trouble you with them until we have some solid evidence that anything is happening, especially since noble houses, even the lesser ones, are known to make trouble for the others at times. The third potential threat is that of Ginjo Kugo, the previous Substitute Shinigami that came before Ichigo, though it has been some time since he did anything in the World of the Living and it seems as if his reiatsu has disappeared, so you won't need to worry about him. And last, but certainly not least, is the long dead Father of the Quincy known as Yhwach, who I personally killed a thousand years ago, so you won't have to worry about him suddenly showing himself at some point in the future either."
Sombra stared at the Captain-Commander for a moment, because he was sure that he wasn't being told the entirety of the truth, before simply nodding his head and let the seal break apart, as it appeared that they were going to engage in small talk while they finished their drinks. His mind was focused on other things at the moment, because given how his home world worked, in terms of dealing with villains, no one was ever truly defeated and usually came back after a great deal of time, only to surprise those that were around the target of whoever had survived. Based on Yamamoto's words he had to assume that the Bounts were still alive, or at least a few of them anyway, there was a chance that something would happen with the Kasumioji Clan in the near future, and he was sure that this Ginjo was only hiding his reiatsu, to prevent himself from being found until he was ready... but Yhwach, on the other hand, that person was definitely alive. Based on the fact that his own physical form had been shattered and he had been reduced to a mere shadow, and then to a soul when he tried to take the Crystal Empire a thousand years ago, he had the feeling that out of all of the threats the one he'd focus on was Yhwach, especially if it took someone like Yamamoto to take him out.
In the end Sombra simply told the Captain-Commander that he'd be on standby if any of the threats showed up, as he thought they might, and excused himself so he could make sure that his newest follower was settling into his new life as an Arrancar, though he could tell that Yamamoto knew that he'd be keeping an eye out for any of the threats, since there was no telling when they'd show up and attack them. When he returned to the barracks that he and his followers were staying in he found that Muramasa was there, as were the others, though Grimmjow wasn't too surprised to see that he had freed another Zanpakuto spirit and Nel knew that their own forces were growing quite well, even though Harribel simply nodded her head and accepted him into the group without delay. Muramasa seemed surprised by the fact that they were so willing to accept him, since they had been enemies earlier that day, but at the same time he was willing to do his best to make his new master, or Lord as he quickly picked up, happy, and they knew that he would have a chance to make up for his wrongdoings in the future.
"Lord Sombra, what's our next course of action?" Harribel asked, because while she knew that they might be in Soul Society for another day or two, to be absolutely sure there weren't any consequences for what happened when Muramasa caused the rebellion, she was interested if some of them might be going home soon.
"We're going to make sure that there aren't any serious consequences because of this rebellion," Sombra replied, as he knew that Harribel understood what he was thinking of, just like Zangetsu and Grimmjow seemed to understand it as well, before he glanced out at the Seireitei once more, "I have the feeling that we're going to find something to keep us busy for a few days before we can go home, and that the Shinigami might need our help with something."
He was positive that there was something they were overlooking, as he was sure that they weren't done with the rebellious Zanpakuto, and Haineko told him that she already delivered the fragments of the spirits she had defeated to Mayuri while he was talking to Yamamoto, but he was sure that they would figure out what that something was in the very near future.
The following morning Sombra got an interesting invite that he wasn't expecting, as Byakuya was inviting the entirety of the Sixth Division to come to his mansion and watch the cherry blossoms bloom, as well as have some food and have a good time, and he suspected that both Rukia and Renji would be there. The reason he was likely doing that was because he, Renji, Senbonzakura, and Zabimaru destroyed the Sixth Division's barracks in their mock battle, to make it convincing for the other Zanpakuto spirits, and they were already hard at work repairing the damage that had been caused to that area, along with the building that Rukia and Sode no Shirayuki destroyed during their battle as well. It was surprising that Byakuya would do such a thing, much less invite Sombra to something that was supposed to be for his Division, but maybe him being there would ease the tension that everyone else felt and actually enjoy themselves, so he guessed it couldn't hurt to accept the invitation and relax a little. What truly surprised him, however, was the fact that Byakuya was also extending an invitation to Muramasa, most likely because he was the Zanpakuto of Byakuya's uncle and there would be a good chance for him to try and make a few friends, though the invite also mentioned that if Muramasa refused Byakuya wouldn't hold it against him, since it might be too soon for him to really do something like that.
"I am... surprised... that he'd invite me to the party as well." Muramasa commented, though as he spoke both he and Sombra walked down the street, with him diverting his eyes from the few Shinigami that were walking in the same area that they were in, "I don't think the other Shinigami will appreciate me being there."
"Well, you can stay for a few minutes and then excuse yourself if you want," Sombra said, as he had accepted the invite without delay and had told the other Arrancar that they were free to relax in whatever manner they saw fit, though he had the feeling that Zangetsu and Haineko were going to have some fun, "At the very least Byakuya won't be upset if he sees that you made an attempt to make some new friends, and then you can go do whatever you want with your spare time while I unwind."
Muramasa said nothing as they stopped at the gate of the Kuchiki Manor, where Sombra knocked and they were let in the moment the Shinigami on the other side noticed who was at the door, to which he remained silent as the two of them walked into the area where the party was being held. It was there that they found the Sixth Division, those that hadn't been wounded by the Zanpakuto and those that had recovered from their minor injuries, were enjoying themselves and didn't seem to notice who was standing near them, but in the next few moments Muramasa found that he was wrong, in an entirely different manner. Instead of the Shinigami being interested in him, since he made several Zanpakuto betray their partners, they were focused on Sombra and zeroed in on him, allowing the two of them to separate while he took the crowd in a different direction so Muramasa could try his hand at making friends with those that were near him. A few Shinigami glared at him, meaning that they knew that it was his fault the Seireitei was in the condition that it was in, but seeing that he was an Arrancar told them that they shouldn't try anything, not when Sombra was nearby and their Captain, who was approaching the grounds, would be displeased with their actions.
Despite his best efforts to find anyone to talk to, that weren't high up in Soul Society's ladder, he ended up stopping in front of both Renji and Rukia, who seemed like they were enjoying themselves now that Rukia had healed from the injuries she sustained during her fight with Sode no Shirayuki, and the light glares in their eyes meant that it would be some time before he fixed things.
"Muramasa." Renji stated, as his glare was more intense than Rukia's was, meaning that she either knew something that her friend didn't or she had been told what happened when her brother came back to the manor after they came back from the area that Koga was sealed away in, "You've got some nerve coming here, after what you did."
"Relax, her brother invited me to this party," Muramasa replied, though he hoped that his first encounter with the Shinigami, after the rebellion was over, was going to be a success, but since it was these two his chances of that happening went right out the window, "besides, I had the feeling that I would be unwanted by the other Shinigami, so I'll just spend a few minutes seeing what this part looks like and then I'll leave. Either way, shouldn't you be with the Captain right now? It seems a crowd is starting to form around him."
"Nah, the others need to bond with him more than I do." Renji said, to which he glanced in the direction of his Captain, who had stopped to chat with some of the other members of their Division, before shaking his head and turning back towards the former spirit that was in front of them, "I'm surprised you accepted his offer to come, and that he even sent you one to begin with."
"Renji, my brother was just being nice." Rukia stated, though at the same time she focused on the Arrancar that was standing in front of them, knowing that his rebellion had allowed her to reconnect with Sode no Shirayuki, just like the other Zanpakuto had reconnected with their partners, save for Haineko and Ruri'iro Kujaku, "I heard that the entire incident was so you could figure out where your own Shinigami partner was located, all so you could free him and do whatever it was that you had planned... and then something happened when you found out where he was imprisoned, or at least that was all my brother was willing to share with me."
"That is the gist of what happened, and yes, that also makes me a hypocrite." Muramasa said, though the second part was directed at Renji, who had started to open his mouth so he could say something and closed it when he figured out that he was the one it was directed to, "I made up the lie about wanting to free the Zanpakuto so I could sow chaos, get the information I needed, and then free my previous master so he could rule the entirety of Soul Society... only things didn't work out as I anticipated and Koga broke my physical form, and I was convinced to take a new master in his place."
Rukia and Renji glanced at each other, as what Muramasa just told them indicated that he was an abused Zanpakuto that had turned away from their partner, like Zangetsu and Haineko did, but before they could say anything several of the Shinigami ran over and pulled Renji away, either because they were too nervous to talk to their Captain or they wanted him present Muramasa had no idea. Rukia sighed and walked away from the area that she was standing in, though at the same time, instead of being left alone, Muramasa followed after her and commented on the fact that her brother was letting them use the mansion for whatever event was going on, even though he was surprised that none of the Shinigami seemed to care about his presence all that much. Rukia revealed that her brother just wanted everyone to relax and unwind from the fights with their Zanpakuto, where she glanced at him when she said that, to which Muramasa nodded his head, as he understood that she was still upset with him turning Sode no Shirayuki against her, before they reached a room that he suspected was hers, based on a few rabbit plushies that were laying around the room.
Not even a moment later they both heard the sound of someone scream, though while Rukia headed there without her blade, as this was supposed to be a party, Muramasa made sure his was at the ready, since all Arrancar seemed to carry their weapons on them... though when they reached their destination they found two beings, one being a satyr and the second being a man with a black sword smashing up one of the rooms that some souls had fled from.
"Stop it!" Rukia called out, to which the two beings stopped what they were doing and turned towards them, though the looks of aggression on their faces indicated that they weren't happy about something, "Who in the world are you two supposed to be? Control yourselves!"
The pair of enemies attacked immediately, the black sword wielding being causing Rukia to dodge the attack and get behind them as Muramasa parried the incoming attack from the satyr with bladed claws as his weapons, before moving to Rukia's side, since letting her get hurt was a surefire way to make Byakuya mad at him.
"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren." the pair heard, indicating that Sode no Shirayuki was on the other side of the wall that was behind them, to which they jumped out of the way and watched as a torrent of ice barreled through the wall, catching the two beings off guard.
Rukia and Muramasa flashed outside the building and watched as ice formed where the torrent went through, but even as that happened the cat-claw wielding was the first to emerge and Sode no Shirayuki blocked the incoming attack that was thrown at her, before knocking the being back, who decided to flee at that moment. As that happened the blade sword wielding being raised his blade in an attempt to slice her in half, though before that could happen Muramasa flashed between them and raised his hand towards the being's head, using his power to stop him in his tracks. He was lucky that it worked, as it stopped the being and caused him to lower his weapon, but at the same time he delved into the being's core, like he did when he tried to free the Zanpakuto from their partners, and found nothing but an empty void that seemed to be looking for someone to fill it, like a nameless blade seeking their partner. In fact while he was feeling this emptiness, one that felt familiar to him, he couldn't help but wonder if he had found another blade that was like him, expect this time there would be no happy ending, not if the being joined them once he had calmed down.
"Did they hurt you, Sode no Shirayuki?" a voice asked, to which Muramasa turned his head slightly and found that Senbonzakura was also standing nearby, making him wonder why the blades were still manifesting when his hold had been broken on all of them and he had withdrawn the fragments of his power.
"I'm fine, Senbonzakura." Sode no Shirayuki replied, though she appreciated the concern, since that could have been ugly if Muramasa hadn't acted and she was sure that Senbonzakura would have stepped in as well, before she turned her head slightly, "Lady Rukia, are you all right?"
"Yeah, but... why are you guys manifested?" Rukia inquired, not that she wasn't grateful or anything, since Sode no Shirayuki did save her life by coming when she did, but at the same time this only left her confused since she was so sure that the Zanpakuto had gone back to normal, "Didn't you guys go back to being our swords?"
"We didn't agree to that." Sode no Shirayuki stated, as while the mind control that Muramasa had put on all of them had been broken, either by a Zanpakuto's partner freeing them or Captain Mayuri working hard to 'deprogram' them and return them to normal, none of them had actually agreed to go back to being stuck inside their blades.
"It's your own fault for misunderstanding what we said." Senbonzakura added, as the Zanpakuto meant that they were taking a break and returning to their blades for a time, but even then they were still able to manifest and be their own beings whenever they wanted, though they were more mindful of what their partners wanted of them than they originally were, especially since Muramasa no longer controlled them.
"What's all this ruckus?" a new voice asked, to which they all turned and found Byakuya and Sombra walking down the path that was near where they were standing, before the two of them noticed that Muramasa was stalling a being that neither of them recognized, "And who is he?"
"He and another being like him attacked the room that we're in front of," Muramasa explained, though even as he said that he lowered his arm and found that the being barely moved, meaning that he must have done something right to keep him in a suspended state, "I think we might want to see what in the world is going on now, because when I stopped him I peered into his inner world and found a void that feels like the same emptiness that I used to feel, after I discovered that Koga was sealed away and that I was on my own."
Sombra stared at the humanoid being that was wrapped in black cloth, not like Kazeshini since this guy had openings in the cloth that revealed his skin, and knew that if Muramasa thought that this guy was another Zanpakuto spirit that he had to be right in some regard. Byakuya seemed to be thinking about that as well, because despite the fact that many didn't like Muramasa he was sure that his uncle's blade had to be on the right track, to which he had Rukia, Senbonzakura, Sode no Shirayuki, and Muramasa follow him, while at the same time Sombra made sure that the being was contained as they headed towards the Twelfth Division's barracks. Some of the Shinigami looked at them as they walked down the street, mostly because of the being that they were bringing with them, and while they thought that Muramasa was doing something wrong Rukia was quick to tell whoever spoke that this wasn't the new Arrancar's fault, though since they didn't know what caused it they were heading to Mayuri's place to see if he could figure something out. That action surprised Muramasa once more, since he wasn't used to someone else standing up for him in such a manner, to which he nodded his head in gratitude as they moved towards their destination, where they encountered fewer Shinigami as they got close to where they were taking the being.
Nemu was there when they arrived, which made sense considering that this was the Twelfth Division's barracks, and she beckoned them inside when she noticed that they had something new for them to understand, where they eventually found the area that Mayuri was in... to which he stared at the stunned being that they were carting around and did a few minor tests while Rukia, Byakuya, and Sombra sat down, since Muramasa was keeping the being stunned.
"Well, this is a rare treat." Mayrui commented, as it had been some time since he had something new to study, as the mind controlled Zanpakuto had been interesting for him to study, but at the same time it wasn't anything new, since there were a few records about Muramasa's abilities in the area that all the information on Zanpakuto was stored in, "Someone came to visit me for once, instead of me heading out to visit someone to gain any information. So, what can I do for the two of you, and both Sombra and his newest follower?"
"I'm curious if you know anything about our Zanpakuto still being in their materialized forms," Rukia stated, though at the same time she noticed that neither Sode no Shirayuki or Senbonzakura were offended by what she had said, which made sense considering that she had asked them that earlier.
"I may have freed them, and a number of the other Zanpakuto, from his mind control, but I never said that I would be able to return them to how they were before he showed up." Mayuri stated, to which he held up his own Zanpakuto for a moment and had Ashisogi Jizo appear in front of him for a moment, allowing the spirit to fly around his chair in a circle for a few seconds before returning to his blade, where he put it back where it belonged, "There you have it. Now, if you don't mind, I have some tests to run on the information that you've brought me so far."
"What about him?" Sombra asked, where he gestured to the being that was stunned at the moment, who Muramasa seemed to be keeping contained without seeming stressed out by what he was doing, while at the same time Mayuri glanced at him for a moment, "We originally came to ask about him and what he might be apart of."
"Ah. Him." Mayuri said, to which his usual smile appeared on his face, as that was something that he would willingly talk about with the people that were in front of him, and, despite the fact that he had only gotten the information a few moments ago he already had something he could tell them, "He's a rampant Zanpakuto that was materialized by the powers of your newest follower earlier. Are you aware of the fact that Muramasa also materialized the Zanpakuto of the rank and file Shinigami as well?"
"I did no such thing." Muramasa stated, though despite the fact that he was keeping the majority of his attention on the being, or rampart Zanpakuto, that was in front of him he turned towards the Captain that they were talking to, who glared at him, "All I did was materialize the Zanpakuto of the Captains, the Lieutenants, and the seated members of each Division... I never materialized the Zanpakuto of the lesser Shinigami of the Divisions, since their blades wouldn't be as powerful as the others."
"Hmm, maybe your reiatsu leapt from the Zanpakuto you materialized to the Zanpakuto of the Shinigami that they attacked moments after your announcement." Mayuri remarked, though at the same time he didn't honestly care what the spirit thought, because he would figure out what was really going on at some point in the future, which meant more research and tests were needed, "Either way, a number of the Shinigami that had their Zanpakuto manifested were unable to force their partners to submit to them and ended up dead in the process, so you see, a rampant Zanpakuto is a blade that has lost their master."
"Normally, as you all know, a Zanpakuto dies when their master does." Nemu added, showing that she knew more about Zanpakuto than she seemed to show, especially since she didn't have her own weapon to fight people with, before she glanced at her Captain for a moment, "There must be some abnormality with them."
"These aren't Zanpakuto, Shinigami, or even Hollow... they're an entirely new phenomenon." Mayuri said, as this was the exciting part about what they had brought him, because the being seemed like a Zanpakuto spirit and clearly wasn't one at the same time, or at least it was to him, "Let's see... I think I'll call them Toju, or 'Sword Fiends'. Maybe if you left that being with me for a while I could give you more information on what's happening to them... or you could go catch the other one that attacked your mansion. Oh, before I forget, there is one thing I should mention, and that's the fact that these Toju are capable of wielding their Zanpakuto powers to the fullest, meaning they're in a state of constant Bankai and will be incredibly dangerous for some people."
Sombra nodded his head in understanding, even though this wasn't something that would bother him at all, before he beckoned for the others to follow him out, where he noticed that Mayuri frowned when Muramasa directed the stunned Toju outside the barracks, depriving him of the specimen they had found. The moment they were outside the barracks he had them move some distance away from where Mayuri's lab was located, only to stop a few minutes later, which was where he asked Muramasa if he could delve into the spirit's inner world again and see if he could establish a connection to him, or at least explain that there was a master he could serve.
"What do you mean by that?" Rukia asked, because as far as she knew these Toju weren't like the Hollows and spirits that Sombra was calling to his side, turning them into Arrancar to expand his growing empire, but at the same time she found that her brother was interested in what was going on.
"Captain Mayuri called them rampant Zanpakuto, and admitted that they could still use their powers." Sombra stated, though at the same time Muramasa shifted a little, showing that he understood what he was talking about already as he delved into his work, before he decided to explain himself, "Basically that means that, despite his classification that they are 'Toju', masterless blades that are rampaging, they're still Zanpakuto spirits that are looking for a place to belong, or a master that they can serve to the best of their ability... almost like what Muramasa was when he first showed himself. I believe that it might be possible to convert these Toju into Arrancar, be they high powered Gillian or low powered Adjuchas, but at the very least they won't die and be forgotten, which seems to be the thing that they are trying to fight as they look for someplace to call home."
"It's admirable that you're willing to go through this, for complete strangers." Byakuya said, because he could see why Sombra would go through the effort of saving Zangetsu, since he was the spirit of Ichigo's Zanpakuto, and why he might do the same for Muramasa, since they had been walking down the same path, but doing this for a random spirit, who had lost their partner, was what really caught him off guard.
Sombra said nothing to that, because in some ways even Haineko was a complete stranger to him until he learned more about her, and yet he had stood by and helped her separate herself from her abusive partner, but even as that thought crossed his mind the wind kicked up around the Toju they had captured. It seemed that Muramara's work was a complete success, as he had convinced the poor Zanpakuto spirit to walk a new path and was now his own being, with a more humanoid form, his own Hollow hole and mask fragment, and everything else he needed to be an Arrancar. As he considered what he was going to say, however, he found that both Zangetsu and Haineko flashed into the area that they were standing around in, though while they were both worried that something might have happened they were shocked to see another new Arrancar standing near Muramasa, before they smiled and welcomed him to his new life.
"It seems that our next objective is clear," Sombra commented, causing everyone to turn towards him for a moment, as it was time for him to tell his forces what they were going to be doing for the foreseeable future, until this side effect of the rebellion was over, "Muramasa, you and Zangetsu should take our new ally back to the barracks and tell the others that we'll be on the lookout for the rest of the Toju that were born from the fires of the rebellion, as something tells me there are more of them than we think there are. I'm going to go explain the situation to the Captain-Commander and see if he can let us use a larger building for bringing all the Toju together, where we can free them and get them situated in their new lives as Arrancar, even though I might want to build a gateway to Hueco Mundo soon, considering that there were a good number of Shinigami that fell when the rebellion started."
"What about me?" Haineko asked, as she wanted to be of assistance, and she knew that Sombra was aware of that fact as well, but at the same time she was eager to see what sort of assignment her Lord had for her, especially since they had no idea how many Toju there were in the Soul Society.
"For now I want you to stay with Rukia and see if you guys can't capture that other one that attacked her earlier, when she was at the Kuchiki Clan's manor." Sombra replied, though for right now, since they had next to no information on how many targets they would be going after, he wanted to be sure that they had some time to rest and relax while they tried to find their target, before he smiled and rested a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry, I know that you'll do just fine on this assignment and pass with flying colors."
Haineko nodded her head in understanding, which was followed by Sombra, Zangetsu, and Muramasa departing the area with the newest Arrancar, though before anyone could say anything Renji ran up to them and told Byakuya that it was almost time for the changing of the Seireitei guard, to which Byakuya told Rukia that this was in her hands and that she was allowed to use Senbonzakura as she saw fit, to which he and Renji left as well.
"So, how are we going to capture that Toju?" Sode no Shirayuki inquired, as while they could refer to it as a Zanpakuto, since it was clear that they could also be transformed into Arrancar like some of the spirits that Sombra released from their partners, it was easier to think of them differently to make the mission easier.
"Here's a thought: why don't we go destroy a barracks?" Senbonzakura asked, to which both Rukia and Haineko were surprised that Byakuya's partner would even suggest something like that, especially in the state that the Seireitei was in at the moment, "We could draw all of the Seireitei's attention to us and maybe shock the ruffian out of hiding!"
"We're trying to restore the Seireitei, not destroy it." Rukia stated, though she had to resist the urge to growl or show any anger, since this wasn't something that she wanted to deal with at the moment, and she could tell that her newest ally was thinking the same thing.
"Then how about we freeze everyone in the town, including the ruffian?" Sode no Shirayuki offered, because if Rukia didn't want to destroy something, and she was sure that her partner wasn't in the mood to do that, then freezing an area sounded like the next best thing to her, "The town itself would be unharmed in the process, and we'd have a chance to be sure that we caught the target before he had a chance to free himself."
"How about we stay away from the destructive plans?" Haineko inquired, as she honestly couldn't believe that, even with being bested by their partners and having Mayuri deprogram them, these two Zanpakuto were still seeking to blow something up to get a job done, "Why does violence have to be the first solution anyone thinks of?"
"Well, what would you suggest we do?" Senbonzakura asked, because right now he wasn't sure what the Zanpakuto turned Arrancar was thinking, especially since most the Arrancar he knew were prone to starting a fight the moment they found a decent opponent, "So far Rukia hates everything we've thought of... maybe she'll like your idea."
Haineko had no idea what they should do, she honestly didn't, but since she was new to this whole problem with the Toju she asked what had happened when the first one, which had been part of a pair of attackers, and discovered that both the new Arrancar and the runaway had been attacking a party. She thought about that for a moment, as it sounded strange to even consider such a trap, before she had them follow her to the Tenth Division's barracks, where she found that Captain Hitsugaya was still in, working on paperwork, and that Matsumoto wasn't nearby. Mayuri had been quick to inform the remaining Captains aboout the Toju, meaning that it saved them some time when Haineko offered her idea to the young Captain, surprising her companions as well and making them wonder why they hadn't thought of it first, and it was only further boosted when Matsumoto came in and declared that it sounded like a wonderful idea, causing Hitsugaya to sigh and sign off on them having a small party to celebrate their hard work. In reality it was a cover so Rukia and the others could be hiding in wait to see if the runaway Toju returned, to terrorize another party, but Haineko insisted that she'd be find hanging out with the Shinigami and keeping an eye on things from the center of the crowd.
In no time at all they were able to gather everything they needed for their trap, causing the Shinigami of the Tenth Division to smile as each of them sat down in the courtyard of the barracks and enjoyed themselves, especially when Sode no Shirayuki toasted them for a hard day's work... to which Matsumoto and Haineko, being at the center, down their sake drinks without delay, surprising the spirit that was standing over them.
"Oh my, you two certainly know how to drink." Sode no Shirayuki commented, as that wasn't something that she was expecting when this plan had been offered to her and the others, but at the same time it certainly made it seem like this was a party that everyone was enjoying.
"You bet we do, we used to play games like this all the time in my inner world." Matsumoto replied, remembering the number of times that she and Haineko would play drinking games, though they both had a high tolerance for this sort of thing, meaning that it would take more than one large red bowl of sake to take either of them out, "Though to be honest, I never thought that I'd be ordered to go drinking, especially with how my Captain hates me doing this sort of thing."
"The only sad part about being an Arrancar is that I can't get drunk anymore... believe me, Zangetsu and I tried that the night the rebellion was over and we woke up without a hangover." Haineko added, though at the same time she laughed for a moment as she noticed a blush appear on Matsumoto's face, as her tone revealed that the two of them had done a little more than just drinking that night, before she decided to poke her former partner a little, "What's that look on your face for? Don't tell me you want the details on what we did last night?"
"H... Haineko! Now isn't the time or the place to be talking like that!" Matsumoto remarked, as she honestly didn't want to know what her lazy partner did last night with one of the strongest Arrancar in Hueco Mundo, and she wasn't even counting Sombra since he was on an entirely different level.
"Relax, I wasn't planning on telling you anything anyway, I just wanted to mess with you a little." Haineko said, though she had to admit that seeing her former partner so flustered over thinking what she might have done with Zangetsu last night was amusing to observe, before she looked at the party around them, "Trust me, the rampant Zanpakuto that we're looking for will show up at some point, we just have to be patient and draw him out of hiding."
Despite saying that she was immune to the effects of sake and alcohol, which was true, Haineko did had some of it every now and then, mostly to keep up the appearance that they were having fun as the evening gave way to the night, and a good number of the Shinigami ended up drunk or passed out after having a good time. Something that she and the others weren't expecting was for Senbonzakura, the Zanpakuto of Byakuya Kuchiki, to get drunk and fall back onto the ground, leaving his mask crooked as a drunken Matsumoto laughed at him, as she was completely drunk and didn't have a care in the world. In the end, however, it seemed that their plan to draw the Toju out with a party was a bust, as he didn't show up at all, but the event wasn't a complete waste of time, as it gave the Tenth Division some time to relax and unwind from their ordeals, especially since they were forced to be constantly on guard when the rebellion was going on. Sure, they might not have found their target this time around, but they were happy to see that their plan had some benefits to it, even though Captain Hitsugaya left them to put out the fires and whatnot, which made sense considering that this was their plan to draw the Toju out of hiding.
When they finished up, however, Haineko noticed that Rukia and Sode no Shirayuki were sitting on one of the rocks that was nearby and seemed to be looking at either the moon or something that was in the area around them, but at the same time she knew that this was some alone time that they needed.
"Sode no Shirayuki, what's wrong?" Rukia asked, because despite what some of the Zanpakuto thought, about their partners or masters not understanding them, the rebellion had brought them closer to actually understanding each other, even if that drove some partnerships apart, like what happened with Haineko and Matsumoto.
"It's nice to talk to you like this, despite the fact that we Zanpakuto are tools made for fighting." Sode no Shirayuki replied, as the freedom that the rebellion had given her, along with the other Zanpakuto, had been refreshing, but at the same time she had the feeling that it wasn't going to last much longer, "I think there's something in our hearts that we're lacking, but I'm not sure what that something is. You know, before Muramasa showed up, I was proud of my powers, so I thought that it would be nice to move about as I please, and he took advantage of that weakness in my heart... back then I truly believed that I could do anything on my own, but the rebellion has made me realize otherwise. There's nothing a weapon like myself can do without you there to serve as my heart, as I would simply be a weapon of destruction if I was left on my own."
"You're wrong, Sode no Shirayuki. You aren't a weapon of destruction." Rukia said, though at the same time she faced her partner and gave her a smile that revealed that she believed otherwise, especially when she considered everything that they had been through over the years, "We've always been together. You were always there to protect me, even during the hard and painful times. You have no idea how much you've helped support me over the years. I was able to stand strong because I had you with me, so please, don't say you can't do anything."
Haineko smiled as she watched the two of them, as it appeared that they were finally getting over the tension that had been created between them thanks to the rebellion and they connected their hands for a moment, but that was before the three of them noticed the reiatsu of someone attacking someone nearby and they moved out immediately. When they turned around the corner they found the satyr Toju standing on some steps in front of three startled Shinigami, though as they entered the area the being turned toward them and caused his violet reiatsu to appear, before he started spinning around like a twister and knocked Rukia back as she attempted to block the attack. As that happened the three Shinigami ran out of the area, leaving Rukia, Sode no Shirayuki, and Haineko to deal with the Toju that was standing in front of them, who happened to be grinning at them as he readied his claws to cut them down where they stood. Sode no Shirayuki waved her hand and directed a stream of icy wind to form a vortex around their enemy, allowing Rukia to get out of the way as it attacked her again, but as that happened the Toju spun around the stopped the attack entirely before charging at her. Sode no Shirayuki dodged the attack and appeared behind their foe, trying to attack him again with the icy wind, but that was followed by him spinning back and hitting her a little, causing some hair to drop in the process as the strands were cut off, though this time, when he moved to attack her again, Haineko drew her blade and parried the attacks that happened to be coming their way.
As that happened the Toju also went after Sode no Shirayuki, who dodged the attacks that were aimed at her, but despite that there was something they needed to do and it seemed to be working quite well, because it prevented the satyr from seeing Rukia readying herself, as she fired a Hado Number 33: Sokatsui that barreled into the satyr's back and sent him flying forward. When the Toju got back up Rukia fired the same attack again, followed by Sode no Shirayuki using Some no mai, Tsukishiro to freeze the ground below their target when he was wounded, seemingly trapping him inside the pillar of ice that she had summoned. What happened next was that Haineko called out, as she was paying attention to the reiatsu in the air around them, and Rukia tackled her Zanpakuto spirit to get her out of the way, as the Toju threw one of his claw blades at her and hurt Rukia in the process. As the Toju leapt into the air, after freeing itself from the ice, Haineko flashed into the air as well and kicked him back down into the ground, as she wasn't about to let either of her companions get hurt once more, especially since they could easily beat this guy and capture him. Rukia and Sode no Shirayuki glanced at each other for a moment, as Haineko kept their opponent stalled, before she felt the presence of Rukia's Zanpakuto spirit transferring back into her blade form... which was followed by them forming the steps of the Hakuren technique, to which Haineko leapt into the air and let the torrent of ice crash into the Toju.
When the dust cleared they found a construct of ice in front of them, with the satyr trapped inside it, to which the pair smiled as Haineko sheathed her blade, as it would take some time for the ice to thaw and let them get the satyr, but at the same time that gave one of the Arrancar time to catch up with them. Since Mayuri couldn't be trusted with anything, not without ruining something, one of them was going to make sure he did some simple tests on the satyr before handing him over to Muramasa, who was going to attempt to reawaken him as another Arrancar. At the same time, however, Zangetsu flashed into the area and informed her and Rukia that their incident at the manor and over here wasn't the only one that the Shinigami had reported in, meaning that there were more Toju for them to hunt down and capture, even though it would take some time for them to find all of them and end whatever was happening. It also meant that they wouldn't be leaving just yet, meaning that Haineko might have to spend some more time in the area of her former partner, but at the very least she and the others could show the Shinigami why it was good to be friends with Lord Sombra, as they sought the remaining Toju and stopped them.
She only hoped that this incident would help Muramasa get over his past, as he deserved more after being so poorly treated by his previous partner, and that the Shinigami accepted him for who he was trying to be, but she guessed that only time would tell what would happen next.
After breaking the satyr Toju out of the ice that Sode no Shirayuki had formed around it, to keep it from doing anything else to her, Rukia, and Haineko, Zangetsu made sure that the Toju was safely escorted back to the Twelfth Division's barracks and delivered into the waiting hands of Captain Mayuri. When he did that, however, he reminded the Captain that he was only allowed to run his tests and no experiments that would destroy the Toju, since they were going to save as many of them as they could, and Mayuri growled before following the satyr into the barracks. It was clear that he wasn't too happy about the newest foe being claimed by Sombra, and transformed into new Arrancar, but at the same time he also knew that it was best to keep the King of Hueco Mundo happy, considering that his power could overcome anything that was thrown at him, by any of the Captains, and that a fight with him would destroy more of the Seireitei in the process. As such Zangetsu waited for Muramasa to arrive, where the two of them stared at the Shinigami that were watching them as they patiently stood there, because only two people could free the Toju from their current state and one of them were Muramasa, which was why Sombra was leaving this task to him.
After an hour or two Mayuri walked out of the testing area and declared that he had more information, though based on his face the information merely confirmed what he had told Muramasa and the others earlier, but at the same time the duo got the sense that he wasn't telling them anything. Despite that, however, he moved out of the way and let them take possession of the Toju, where they headed outside and headed to a more appropriate area of the Seireitei, as neither of them wanted to do what they were planning in front of the Twelfth Division's barracks. When they arrived at the area in question Muramasa had Zangetsu undo the Toju's bindings before holding his hand out and focusing his mind, where he delved into the being's inner world and sought out the core of his spirit, just like he had done when he was convincing the Zanpakuto to join his rebellion and when he had freed the previous Toju from his current state. A few minutes passed by before the wind surged and wrapped around the being, where he opened his eyes and smiled as he and Zangetsu stared at the more humanoid being that was no longer a satyr, rather he was a newly born Arrancar and seemed to have calmed down at long last.
Once that was done they headed back to their residence and let the new Arrancar join the others, especially the being that he had been with earlier, and Sombra informed them of what they, as a unit, were doing, before telling the duo that their first order would be to fix everything that they broke during Byakuya's flower viewing event and the Tenth Division's relaxing party, causing them to bow their heads and acknowledge their orders.
"It's nice to see that we can do something for these guys." Haineko commented, though as she observed the two new Arrancar, who were getting used to not being in a fit of rage over losing their partners and were remembering what it was like to serve someone, Zangetsu stopped beside her and faced the duo as well, before she sighed, "Kazeshini must have killed a few hundred Shinigami during the time that he was under Muramasa's control... not that he seems to care, since he's eager to kill Hisagi and whoever gets in his way."
"We don't have the exact number of dead Shinigami, but I have the feeling there's more than a few Toju running around the Seireitei and the surrounding area." Zangetsu replied, though he understood why Haineko said what she had said, because she didn't have the best relationship with her former partner and she wanted to make sure that anyone who was without a partner found their way to them, to serve the one that saved her, before he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, "But there is a good thing about what we're doing, we'll save as many of them as we can and make sure they have a better life when we get back to Hueco Mundo."
"Speaking of which, it seems that some of the Toju might have escaped to the World of the Living." Sombra spoke up, causing Haineko and Zangetsu to glance at him for a moment, while at the same time the rest of the more senior Arrancar faced him as well, before the actions caused the two new Arrancar to do so as well, "Nel, I want you to take our new friends here back to the World of the Living and head back to Hueco Mundo, though while your there I want you to inform the others that there will be more allies coming in the next couple of days, and tell Szayelaporro that we might need to create some smaller housing areas to house everyone. Once that's done, and they're situated, you can come back and help Harribel and Grimmjow in their search for the Toju that are running around the Seireitei, since they'll be helping Muramasa by containing them until he can help them understand that there are other options out there. Haineko, I want both you and Zangetsu to use a Senkaimon and head to the World of the Living, to search for some of the Toju that have fled to that realm and try to convince them that there's a better life for them than just being in their current state, or at least stall them until they can be contained."
Haineko's ears perked up at the mention of her and Zangetsu being sent to the World of the Living, as she had never been to that world, since she had been contained in Matsumoto's inner world for the longest time without being able to do anything, and while she would rather be heading there on vacation or something she was fine with the orders she had been given, since she'd be heading there with Zangetsu. At the very least it would allow them to get away from Matsumoto and do something else, especially since she didn't want to be in the same area as her, and while Haineko knew that Zangetsu didn't want to be near Ichigo he was eager to do Sombra's will, meaning that both of them were eager to leave when the morning arrived. The other Arrancar seemed happy with their orders, even if a one or two of them wouldn't be doing anything for the near future, meaning that all of them were waiting for the morning to arrive so they could start following Sombra's orders and bring glory to their growing empire. The two new Arrancar seemed confused as to what was happening, since this was entirely new to them and they weren't used to the calm feeling that they were now experiencing, but at the very least they were willing to wait and see what was going to happen next.
With their orders in mind, and midnight coming ever closer, Haineko and the other Arrancar decided to take a few hours and get some rest before they separated, all while Sombra kept an eye on the building by closing his eyes and meditating as the night passed by them.
When morning arrived Haineko and Zangetsu were the first ones to move out, heading for the Senkaimon so they could head to the World of the Living, and the moment they reached their location the Shinigami nodded their heads as they moved out of the way, allowing the duo to slip into the space between realms. The two of them moved fast, making sure to keep away from the walls around them, while two of the Jigokucho followed after them to make sure that they remained safe on their journey to the World of the Living, an indication that the Shinigami trusted them and wanted to make sure that Sombra's followers remained safe. With both the speed that they were traveling, and the fact that they were making sure not to stop because of the walls and the dangerous cleaner that could come out of nowhere if neither of them were careful, they were able to reach the other side of the passage and jumped out into the air above Karakura Town, where Haineko found that they were near a shrine that Zangetsu told her contained a passage to Hueco Mundo, the same one that would be in use when Nel and the newest Arrancar came through the passage.
Once the Jigokucho were gone the two of them jumped into the air and felt the reiatsu in the area around them, even though there was one target they were going to head over to, because both of them knew that if they stayed in the area near Ichigo they would have a good chance of finding the Toju that had come to this world... and in no time they found the person in question walking down a street with one of his friends, Keigo according to Zangetsu, and they stopped when they felt the reiatsu of their target.
"What's wrong, Ichigo?" Keigo asked, though at the same time he grinned as he looked at his friend, who was staring at the sky as he felt the reiatsu that was in the air around him, to the best of his ability anyway, before Ichigo shifted his gaze and glared at his friend for a moment, "Did you sense something that cannot be seen?"
"I see... maybe I did!" Ichigo replied, but even as he said it he was just joking around, since he had told his friends about his duties as a Shinigami, to make up for the fact that he had been a jerk to them when he was heading into Hueco Mundo earlier, even if they didn't believe him part of the time.
Keigo freaked out and started crying as Ichigo messed with him, claiming that he had no idea what Ichigo was talking about, the fact that he couldn't see or sense whatever Ichigo was talking about, and then claimed that his friend was making no sense as he ran off into the distance.
"Your friends are weird." Haineko commented, causing Ichigo to turn around as he noticed that she and Zangetsu were standing nearby, indicating that he must not have noticed that they were there until she had said something, before she waved at him for a moment, "What's up Ichigo?"
"What in the world do you two want?" Ichigo asked, because while he could handle Haineko's presence, since she was someone he hadn't spent any time with and barely knew, he really didn't want to be in the same area that Zangetsu was in, especially since his former partner hated him, "You heading back to Hueco Mundo?"
"Nope. We're doing Lord Sombra's will." Zangetsu replied, though as he said that both he and Haineko moved into the air a little, where he grinned at Ichigo as they turned in the direction of the reiatsu that they had felt earlier, "If you follow us you might learn a thing or two about what we're doing in the World of the Living, and why Lord Sombra stayed in Soul Society for the time being."
Haineko and Zangetsu flashed into the air and followed the reiatsu that they had felt moments after arriving in this world, heading to an area that Haineko learned was a construction area, one that happened to have some ruined cables in the air above them. It was an interesting area, as everything around her indicated that the Humans of Karakura Town were building a new building and that they were concerned about the ruined cables, including the wrecked containers that rested in front of them, but at the same time that wasn't what they were interested in. It didn't take them long to survey the area until they found a man, who was wearing a pink robe around the upper part of his body and was carrying a spear, weakly wandering down one of the streets, meaning that he must have been injured in some manner. That made sense to Haineko, because if the man was the Toju in question his injuries had to be the product of him being hurt when he was separated from his Shinigami partner, either by his partner, who he killed, or by one of the other Shinigami that had been trying to take him out. The man stopped for a moment as a trash truck drove by him, to which the duo used that as their chance to flash down into the area in front of him, revealing that they were standing in his way when the truck finally left the area, surprising the man in the process... and, at the same time, Ichigo dropped down behind them in his Shinigami form, indicating that he was worried about what the duo had said earlier.
Zangetsu didn't want anything to do with Ichigo, given their history, but at the same time their Lord had given them an order and he intended to do his best in regards to what they had been told, which was why he was more focused on the being in front of them and not on the person who was standing behind him and Haineko.
"There you are." Zangetsu commented, though at the same time he raised his right hand and gripped the handle of his blade, because if this guy was like the other Toju they had encountered he knew that he was going to attack them and they would need to raise their defenses, something that Haineko agreed with as she did the same thing.
"H... Have you come for me?" the man asked, though while his voice seemed a little weak his stance indicated that if he sensed danger, like the two of them were doing since they were gripping their weapons, he might attack them before even attempting to talk with them, which seemed to be what he was going to do.
Fortunately Zangetsu was the quickest of them all, as the moment the man shifted his stance and charged at them he undid the cloth around his blade and swung it, parrying the attack that was coming his way as both Haineko and Ichigo moved out of the way to attack from another direction. As that happened they noticed that the man's upper right arm was cut, confirming their suspicions that he was wounded from a prior fight, before Zangetsu knocked the Toju backwards and raised his blade once more, with a grin on his face, as this guy seemed to have some skill with his spear. At the same time Haineko held her hand out and stopped Ichigo from interfering, as both Zangetsu and the Toju charged right at each other and swung their weapons at their foe, where Zangetsu found that his foe's blade couldn't even cut through his Hierro, but that didn't stop the Toju from trying to hurt him, where he restrained himself from cutting the guy down immediately, as doing that would kill him entirely, the opposite of what they were after. Ichigo frowned as the two of them fought each other, as he was surprised that Zangetsu was holding back in a fight for once, though even then he parried the attacks that were coming at him and used his own attacks to force his foe to move around the area they were in.
After a few minutes Zangetsu moved to the side and grabbed onto the handle of the spear, allowing the blade to pass by where he was standing as he held the edge of his own blade against the side of the Toju's neck, surprising him the moment he noticed what was going on.
"Who are you?" Ichigo asked, because he had been studying the man's attire, what he could see under the robe as he followed the man's movements during the fight, and he was confused as to what the man was supposed to be, "It doesn't seem like you're a Shinigami or a Hollow..."
"He's a Zanpakuto that lost his master." Haineko explained, causing Ichigo to turn towards her for a moment, as he wasn't expecting something like that to be said, while at the same time she and Zangetsu kept their eyes on the poor being that was in front of them, "We'll explain everything to you later, but right now we have to keep him contained until we can convince him that there's another path he can take, or rather another master for him to serve, or Muramasa arrives to help him see what's happening around him."
The mere mention of a 'master' caused the man to freak out, his following words confirming that he was seeking the Shinigami that had been his partner and he flashed into the air to get away from them, so he could continue the search that he was on, but as Hitsugaya appeared in the air above them the Toju flashed out of the area and disappeared before any of them could stop him.
"Interesting, his speed is as good as his power." Zangetsu commented, though at the same time he stretched his arm for a moment, as it had been some time since he fought someone that made him interested in them, before he sheathed his blade once more as he stared into the air above them, "Captain Hitsugaya, what are you doing here?"
"I was ordered to come here and inform Ichigo of the current situation, and maybe assist you two in finding the Toju that you were hunting." Hitsugaya replied, though at the same time Ichigo looked like he was confused, which made sense considering that this was all new to him, before he sighed and beckoned for them to follow him, "Come on, we're heading to Urahara's place so I can inform you as to what's going on since you left Soul Society, and what Sombra has planned for the new beings that we've discovered."
The first thing they did was return to where Ichigo had left his body, since Keigo wasn't there anymore, before he was back in his body and followed him towards the area that Urahara's shop was in, who welcomed them with open arms and set the table for them, placing some cups of tea down when it was ready. Once everyone was ready Hitsugaya explained the situation to Ichigo, Urahara, and Tessai, revealing that the rebellion hadn't ended with the 'defeat' of Muramasa and him joining Sombra's side, as it appeared that Kazeshini's actions of killing many of the lower level Shinigami had created a new predicament, the rise of the Toju, the Zanpakuto that no longer had masters. Ichigo was surprised by that, since he had been convinced that the rebellion was over and that Soul Society could recover from what had happened, but he remained silent as Hitsugaya explained that Sombra was gathering the Toju and converting them into Arrancar, giving them both their sanity back and the master that they craved, hence why Haineko and Zangetsu were here. Ichigo didn't need to be told that Sombra suspected that some of them must have wandered into the World of the Living, since they had found one earlier, but at the same time he was shocked that he was going to be dragged into this as well, which was just another part of his job as the Substitute Shinigami of Karakura Town.
As Ichigo confirmed that he'd help them to the best of his ability, because it would help Sombra in whatever he was planning with the Toju, a noise was heard on the other side of the door, which opened a few moments later and revealed a shocking surprise, as Matsumoto appeared in the doorway with a small grin on her face.
"Matsumoto..." Haineko said, as she couldn't believe that her former partner had come to the World of the Living as well, because she had been eager to get out of Soul Society and separate herself from the Shinigami that was currently standing in front of them, though at the same time Matsumoto glanced at her for a moment.
"I thought you were drunk." Hitsugaya stated, because after the party that Rukia and the others had thrown earlier, and how drunk some of the Shinigami had been when it was over, he had been sure that Matsumoto would have been out of commission for some time, though at the same time he glared at his Lieutenant, "What are you even doing here?"
"Oh, I came to hang out with Orihime." Matsumoto replied, to which she reached into the little pack that she was carrying on her back and withdrew a notepad that had a number of ideas that she had planned out for the next time she came to the World of the Living, especially now that she had some time to relax, "You know, go shopping, maybe have some lunch at one of the malls, take some pictures, and maybe go to one of those dances that I've heard so much about the last few times I've been here."
Haineko frowned for a moment, as that was generally what she and Matsumoto did when they had fun in the inner world she had been trapped in for a long time, before leaning back against the wall behind her, because she realized that she wasn't even invited to what her former partner had planned. It would have been an interesting way for them to try and rebuild the bond that had been shattered over the years of neglect, something that she wasn't going to stop trying to strive for, but she didn't shed a single tear over it, since it was within her former partner's attitude to see her as trash and not care about her at all. Just thinking about that caused her tail to twitch in annoyance, something that Zangetsu and Matsumoto noticed when it happened, before she growled as she pulled herself from the wall, walked by her former partner, and headed outside the building, as just being in the same room as Matsumoto was ruining her mood and she didn't want to be angry while she was trying to make Sombra happy.
"Was it something that I said?" Matsumoto asked, as she knew that Haineko was angry at her, for the years of neglect that she had put the spirit through, but since it was clear that they had been separated from each other she didn't see much of a reason to try and fix their broken bond.
"Yeah, you could say that." Zangetsu remarked, though while he wasn't surprised that Matsumoto was just as bad as Ichigo was, in terms of communicating with their former Zanpakuto spirit, at least Ichigo was trying to mend the broken bond to the best of his abilities, while Matsumoto seemed convinced that stomping on it was the correct course of action for her to take, "You know, it's interesting to see that, despite all the pain and misery that you put Haineko through over the years, she still wants to believe that the old you, the one she knew all those years ago, is still there and that you'll see just how much pain she's been hiding from everyone. Just being near you depresses her, makes her remember all the bad memories of when you turned your back on her, and hearing that you, someone who she considered to be her best friend despite everything you put her through, are chasing a new friend to hang out with is annoying her more than she's willing to admit or even show. Even now, when she's separated herself from you, she's still in pain and your constant insistence that she's not worth it, by words or actions, makes her remember the past... so if you want to put this behind you, and never have it come back, you should at least try to make amends to her."
Matsumoto stared at Zangetsu for a moment, as she remembered the sudden shock when she learned that her fit of anger all those years ago had nearly killed her partner when she broke her physical form, before realizing something about the situation, that Ichigo was starting to make amends with Zangetsu, even if it was slow progress, meaning that she might as well try as well... before she nodded her head in understanding and headed in the direction that Haineko had gone in, only to stop when she came to the front area of the shop and found where Haineko was standing.
"What do you want?" Haineko inquired, as she felt her former partner coming her way and really didn't want to talk to her at all, but at the same time she knew that her mood was going to sour even further than it already was, though she tried to ignore Matsumoto to the best of her ability.
"Zangetsu chewed me out for what I said," Matsumoto stated, where she noticed that Haineko wasn't too surprised by what she had said, as if she knew that Zangetsu would have done that the moment she walked out of the room, and at this point she couldn't blame the spirit for thinking the way she was thinking, "He's annoyed that I turned my back on you and that the first thing I did was announce that I was thinking of spending time with someone else, rather than even taking a few seconds to try and fix the bond between us. There is something that I didn't tell the others, and that's the fact that Orihime doesn't even know I'm coming, so she's not actually planning on spending the afternoon doing what I said... and, despite thinking I know what your answer will be, I still have to ask the question. Haineko, do you want to come with me and spend a few hours just hanging out with Orihime, instead of spending your time hunting for the lone Toju that Zangetsu can find on his own?"
Haineko was honestly surprised that Matsumoto was even considering asking her if she wanted to do anything with her and Orihime, especially since her former partner hated her more than anything in the world, but at the same time she could see that, despite being chewed out by Zangetsu, she was actually offering to take her on her proposed adventure with one of Ichigo's friends. She knew what was going on, Zangetsu was trying his hardest to convince Matsumoto to change her lazy and annoying attitude, to maybe get her to see that she had been hurting her over the years, to which she sighed and nodded her head, deciding that she might as well make an attempt to enjoy herself. The moment she did that, however, Matsumoto smiled and pulled her back inside the shop, where they stopped by Urahara and her former partner informed him that they needed two gigai for what she had said earlier, surprising some of the others by the fact that she had changed her mind so suddenly, and the fact that Haineko was willing to even give her a change, considering their past and what happened. Zangetsu, of course, was the only one that wasn't surprised by what had happened, since that was what he had been trying to do when he spoke to Matsumoto a few moments ago, but before long Urahara came back out and delivered the pair of gigai to them, along with a pill that would allow Haineko to separate her soul from the device, even though he wasn't sure if an Arrancar could use a gigai at all.
With those in hand she and Matsumoto left the shop, just after Zangetsu wished them a good time while he made sure to find the Toju that they were looking for, and while Haineko planned on trying to enjoy herself she was still one of Lord Sombra's followers and wanted to make him proud, so if the Toju came near her she was going to stop having fun and capture him before he escaped again. It didn't take them long to reach the area that Orihime lived in, where the local Arrancar, Sora Inoue as Matsumoto revealed to her, and Orihime was surprised when the two of them showed up on the other side of her door, but she smiled and welcomed the two of them into the building.
"Lieutenant Matsumoto, this is quite a surprise." Orihime commented, though at the same time she glanced at the person behind the Shinigami and discovered that she was an Arrancar, based on the reiatsu that she was feeling right now, who smiled and waved at her a little, "Oh, hello, I don't believe we've met before."
"I'm Haineko, one of Lord Sombra's followers," Haineko said, to which she raised her hand and returned the wave that had been sent her way, before the door closed behind her and she nudged her former partner in the side, to which she gestured toward Orihime for a moment, "Matsumoto has something she wants to ask you."
"Really?" Orihime asked, to which she faced the Shinigami for a moment, who seemed to be focused on something else, or someone else, at the moment, before her actions caused Matsumoto to turn towards her once more, "So, what did you want to ask me about?"
"I was curious if you wanted to hang out today." Matsumoto replied, where she pulled out the list that she had pulled out earlier and held it out towards the Human, who looked at the list that she had been offered and actually smiled for a moment, as it appeared that she liked what she saw, "Though we'll need to borrow some clothes from you, since these gigai don't come with clothing and I, um, sort of forgot to get some before coming here."
Orihime seemed surprised by that fact, but at the same time she nodded and beckoned them into the room that the Shinigami had built their communication device in, which they had pulled out shortly after Aizen's defeat, and while Haineko stood outside the door Orihime placed a spare school uniform inside the room before closing the door. A few minutes later Matsumoto opened the door and Haineko noticed that she looked completely Human, just like when one of them used one of the gigai's in general, and that she was dressed as a teenager that attended the local high school that Ichigo went to, even though she had the front of it open a little to expose her chest. Once that was done it was Haineko's turn to head into the room and slipped into the gigai, where she was shocked to find that she could actually use it, before putting on the attire that had been offered to her, finding that she looked like a teenage schoolgirl with some interesting hair, but at the same time her tail was gone, something that she would miss while she was in this state. At the same time she found that the gigai also hid her Hollow hole and her mask fragment, giving her the appearance of a normal Human, something that she found herself staring at for a few moments as she looked at the mirror that was in the room.
While Orihime declared that the both of them looked cute, where Haineko finally pulled herself back from the mirror and turned towards her, Matsumoto declared that they weren't done yet and pulled the front of Haineko's neck area down a little and exposed her chest a little, causing her to sigh as Matsumoto pulled back from her.
"Say, Matsumoto, I've been wondering something since you guys showed up." Orihime spoke up, causing Matsumoto to turn towards her as Haineko adjusted her shirt to show less of her chest, since she wanted to be different from her former partner, "How were the Zanpakuto able to return to their original states?"
"Well, when a Shinigami calls out the name of their Zanpakuto, during training or real combat, it allows the pair to synchronize and fight together." Matsumoto explained, recalling what she had been told when she was learning all of this for the first time, while at the same time Haineko resisted the urge to sigh, since now wasn't the time for something like that to get in the way, "Captain Mayuri tested out a number of different methods to return the Zanpakuto to their original forms, all by making use of that connection between the pair, though he claims that the keywords to what he said were synchronization and interference, before saying we wouldn't understand everything he said. He revealed that all of the Zanpakuto that Muramasa had brought under his control for his rebellion, or at least the majority of them, were unstable in those two regards and that all he had to do to break the brainwashing was stabilize those two points, thus restoring them to their original mindsets. From what he could tell Muramasa destabilized the existence of all our Zanpakuto by using their anxieties against them, like how Kazeshini hates how peaceful Hisagi is or how Gegetsuburi blames his fat appearance on Omaeda's own body and lifestyle, and restoring those points allowed them to return to how they had been before he came along... though not without some consequences."
"Consequences?" Orihime asked, as she was curious as to what could have happened that both Sombra and the large number of Shinigami couldn't prevent from happening, while also noticing that Haineko decided that she had spent too long staring at her reflection and walked out of the room, like the conversation wasn't something that she even wanted to listen to or be included in.
"You know how Haineko introduced herself as an Arrancar, right?" Matsumoto inquired, causing Orihime to nod her head, as that had been the first thing Haineko had done the moment they came to this building and met her, in person, for the first time, "Well, before the rebellion she was a Zanpakuto spirit, mine to be exact, and it turns out that the reason she joined Muramasa and the other spirits was because I was such a horrible partner, so much so that she undid the bond between our souls and separated herself, becoming an Arrancar like Zangetsu did. I won't lie to you, Orihime, it seems that I was possibly the worst partner any Zanpakuto could have asked for, seeing how my own partner decided to abandon me and apparently hates me more than anything in the world, and the only reason she's here is because her boyfriend told me that rebuilding our bond had to start with me trying to make it up to her."
"I... I had no idea things between you two were this bad." Orihime said, as she had heard that the bond between a Shinigami and their Zanpakuto was built on communication and working like a team, or submission as the Shinigami called that step, before she thought about something else Matsumoto had mentioned, "Wait, did you say that Haineko found herself a boyfriend?"
"Actually, significant other is more correct in this situation." Matsumoto replied, because based on what little Haineko had said during the party the previous day, before they drank their sake and enjoyed themselves, she knew that her former partner was definitely in love, "Anyway, Haineko's in love with Zangetsu, the former spirit of Ichigo's Zanpakuto, and they may or may not have done something with each other the night Muramasa's rebellion was over, but Haineko gave me no details, so it's hard to see if she was telling the truth or if she was just messing with me. With the exception of Zangetsu and Muramasa, who both left their partners, Haineko is the only other Zanpakuto that has abandoned their partner thanks to the circumstances that forced the decision to be made, a decision that I am ultimately responsible for, since I made her choose this path. I am hopeful that this venture, even if I originally didn't plan on including Haineko, will take her mind off the past and maybe get her to forgive me a little for what I did to her, because losing her felt like a piece of my soul had been carved from my body... and now that she's free, making her own choices, I've come to realize that I must have been horrible to her over the years, which is why she resents me so much. Hopefully she sees that I'm not as horrible as she thinks I am, otherwise whatever is left of our relationship is going to become nothing more than dust and disappear forever."
Despite her words Orihime could tell that Matsumoto was having a hard time believing that she was truly the one that was at fault for this happening, that she believed that Haineko should be feeling horrible about their separation and the fact that she caused her partner so much headache over the years, due to poor communication. It seemed like she was trying to patch things up with Haineko, that much appeared to be true, but Orihime wasn't sure if it was because Zangetsu had asked her to, or if she was trying to get her former partner to admit that she was wrong to abandon her like she had done, though she decided to stop talking about it. Clearly, despite covering it up pretty well, Orihime could tell that the separation had hurt Matsumoto in more ways than one, no doubt just like Haineko had been hurt in the past, but it wasn't her place to get between them, rather she made it her mission to try and get the two of them to forget about what they had been through and pulled Matsumoto out into the room that Haineko was in, before taking them outside her house a few seconds later. Once that was done she locked the door and started walking down the street with the pair walking behind her, as she remembered Matsumoto's list of what she felt like doing and had a few places in mind that matched up with what she had seen, meaning that she might just succeed in what they were doing.
For the next two hours the three of them wandered down the streets, stopping ever now and then to have their pictures taken in one of the booths that were along the street, occasionally entering a shop that had an item that one of them might be interested in, or pausing by a place that had food, since they were a tad bit hungry. Orihime learned that Matsumoto was more interested in shopping than anything else, since she was the one that found new things that she was interested in and either bought it or walked out with a sigh, meaning that they were sold out and would be that way for at least a week. Haineko, on the other hand, did enjoy herself a little, cracking a smile every now and then, but it was easy to tell that something was distracting her, and Orihime didn't have to look very hard to find Zangetsu watching them from the rooftops above them, all while keeping track of whatever they were looking for. She was on a mission, that much was obvious, and while she was having some fun it was clear that Haineko was trying to make Sombra happy, to prove that she wasn't whatever she happened to think of herself, though despite the desire to find out what was making them act this way Orihime decided that she really didn't want to know their terrible past, especially if the two of them were hurt in some manner because of what happened.
Another thing she learned while they were walking was that Arrancar didn't need to eat or drink anything to survive, like Humans and Shinigami did, rather the only reason they bothered to do that was either because of the habits they developed or because they wanted to try something new. Orihime remembered all the times she had seen Sombra at one of their parties, as he usually either ate nothing and let everyone else have something to eat, or he just drank his tea and had some fun with his friends, but it did reveal that Arrancar weren't quite like Humans, despite their humanoid bodies and how they acted. Despite that piece of information Haineko ate whatever was offered to her, since she didn't want to be rude and waste money in the process, but at the same time she kept her eyes on what Zangetsu was doing and noticed that the sky was darkening, meaning that rain was coming and that their time with Orihime was drawing to a close. Of course she also noticed that Sora was following them, keeping an eye on his sister despite the fact that Zangetsu was near her, but that just meant Orihime would be safe if they got attacked by the Toju they had seen earlier, or by one of the other ones that were hiding themselves at the moment.
"Wow, you really know your way around Karakura Town, Orihime. I never would have guessed that there would be a photo booth over here." Matsumoto said, as she was paying more attention to what they were doing and was ignoring the fact that, since her Captain was in this world, that she should be keeping an eye out for the Toju that Haineko and Zangetsu were searching for, "The World of the Living changes so much between my visits... it's a wonder that I don't get lost whenever I come here, for either missions or for my own fun."
"Well, you might want to stop worrying about having fun." Haineko stated, as she came to a stop and stared at a much larger building that was clearly under construction, just like the first one that they had encountered the Toju at when they first came to the World of the Living, to which Matsumoto and Orihime came to a stop as well as she pulled out the pill she had been given earlier, "It seems that the Toju's reiatsu is coming from that building, but at the same time it seems that something happened to him, because there's a hint of a Hollow's reiatsu mixed into his own, meaning that he might be even more dangerous than he previously was."
"Wait, you were searching for him the entire time?" Orihime asked, because before they reached the area that they had been shopping in she learned what Haineko and Zangetsu were doing here, in the World of the Living, but she was surprised that Haineko was doing the job that Sombra had assigned to her.
"Lord Sombra wanted us to find the Toju that came to this world and contain them," Haineko explained, though at the same time she walked in the direction of the building that the reiatsu was coming from and kept her pill at the ready, so she could separate from her gigai and assume her true form once more, "but right now it seems that fighting him will be the only way to stall him, since we need either Muramasa or Lord Sombra to get him to see the light. Orihime, I think that you and Matsumoto should move on and enjoy yourselves, because this guy is going to be strong and I don't want you to get hurt in case he targ..."
"No, we'll go there together." Matsumoto stated, as she wasn't about to let Haineko have all the fun, which was why she followed after Haineko the moment her former partner started walking away from the street that they had been following for the last few minutes.
Haineko frowned for a moment as she decided not to worry about Matsumoto, as she reached an area that was near the building and was private enough to let her swallow the pill, separating her from her gigai, which she hid in the area that they were in and flashed into the sky, heading for the reiatsu of their target, just as it started raining. It didn't take her long to get to the area that the Toju's reiatsu was coming from, or meet up with Zangetsu since he was nearby as Sora came near them with her gigai, but despite that fact she also noticed that her former partner and Orihime were running down the alley between the buildings as they looked for the Toju. It didn't take her long to find a gray skinned creature that was standing on one of the containers that were hanging in the air, with the spear that Toju had been holding onto earlier, and before anyone could do anything the creature swung it's weapon and cut through one of the chains, dropping the mass of iron beams down on where Matsumoto and Orihime were standing. Before either of them were hit Haineko flashed down and grabbed onto her former partner, pulling her away as Orihime followed after her, confirming that they shouldn't have come with her and Zangetsu, before coming to a stop, which allowed her to put Matsumoto down as she focused on their foe.
"I told you to leave this to me." Haineko snapped, as she couldn't believe that Matsumoto was so foolish to bring Orihime to an area that would get her hurt, especially since her former partner accidentally dropped her pill the moment she grabbed onto her to prevent the beams from crushing them.
As Matsumoto opened her mouth to say something, however, Haineko turned back towards their target as the Toju dropped down into area near them, where she was surprised when she discovered that the Toju wasn't a Zanpakuto spirit anymore, rather he had transformed into a Hollow. The Toju's Hollow mask had large horns on either side of his head, an elongated neck, white bone pads on his shoulders, a somewhat gaunt upper torso with a Hollow hole between his pectoral muscles, and brown fur on his forearms and legs. He also had small spikes protruding from his elbows, large white hands, a ball-shaped lower torso that is covered in brown fur and black protrusions, and skeletal feet, showing that he had either transformed on his own or he had merged with a Hollow before hand. Haineko knew, from when they found the Toju earlier that morning, that he was going to attack soon enough, which was why she pulled her Zanpakuto from it's scabbard and readied herself for what was coming next, which was a good move on her part since the Toju charged at her and tried to pin her against the wall that was behind where she set Matsumoto down. What she ended up doing was lightly slice into her foe's hand and jumped over his head the moment she was free, even as the Toju growled for a second, which allowed Haineko to flash over to a part of the alley that the others weren't in, causing the Toju to turn towards her and ready itself, indicating that it was going to come her way again.
Sure enough the Toju charged at her again, though at the same time Haineko brought her power to the surface as she parried the attack, the air vibrating as their weapons collided with each other and fought for dominance, but since the Toju was torn between two mindsets, by how jittery he was acting, it was easy for her to stand her ground and push him back whenever she wanted.
"Wh... where is he?" the Toju asked, showing that, despite his Hollow appearance, he was still looking for the person that he had been partnered with before Muramasa arrived, someone that the poor guy wasn't going to be able to find, especially since he was dead, "Where is my master?!"
"Look, I know you don't want to hear this, but you're master is gone." Haineko replied, where she found that just saying that caused her foe to press against her blade more than he had been doing so far, but at the same time she either needed to stall him or convince him of what he had to be feeling, "However, there's another path you can take, because there is someone saving the Zanpakuto that don't have someone to call their master or their partner, offering them a new life without having to worry about death or being captured by whoever they're running from. Right now you're more Hollow than Zanpakuto, but Lord Sombra has had many Hollow and Arrancar flock to his side once they realized what he was doing, and, based on what I've heard, you should be feeling the innate desire to find him and pledge yourself to the growing empire that he's established in Hueco Mundo."
The Toju roared for a moment, as if the notion had caught him by surprise or something, before he pulled back and tried to flee, but even as he did that Haineko chased after him, because she wasn't going to let him get away without even attempting to restrain him, and followed him into the center of the building that was under construction. From there she headed towards the roof of the building, slicing her way through the beams that were rained down upon her by the Toju, especially since she couldn't use her Cero without blowing part of the entire structure to pieces and annoying so many people in the process. It didn't take her long to find the area that the Toju was standing in, where she landed near him and went on the offensive, pushing him back towards the edge of the structure, though when they neared the end her foe jumped through the plastic protector behind them, leaving a hole where he went through, and landed on a nearby crane that Haineko landed on as well. She had to admit that this particular Toju was a challenge to contain, meaning that his speed and power were even greater than before, but at the same time that meant they had to be on the lookout for more like him, as there had to be others of his kind that had merged with Hollows or anything else.
As she readied herself to go on the offensive once more, however, the Toju opened it's mouth and fired a red Cero at her, where Zangetsu's blade struck the area in front of her and cut the attack in half, sending the fragments off into the distance before the duo was reunited.
"I was right, he'd make an excellent addition to Sombra's empire." Zangetsu said, to which Haineko nodded her head in agreement, but even as that happened a new reiatsu appeared in the area near them, one that they were quickly growing used to feeling, "And it appears that Muramasa has come to help us."
The moment Zangetsu said that a familiar shape dropped down in between them and the Toju that was standing in front of them, where Muramasa stood up and held his hand out, stopping the Hollowfied Zanpakuto in his tracks almost immediately, before he got to work. As Haineko sheathed her blade, and Zangetsu collected his, she noticed that Orihime, Sora, and Matsumoto were staring up at them, wondering what was going on, while at the same time Captain Hitsugaya and Hyorinmaru came to a stop on the part of the crane that was behind them. She knew that if Hitsugaya attacked the Toju it would be over, the poor Zanpakuto would be dead before he even knew what hit him, but at the same time she was happy to see that he and his own partner were just observing what was happening before them, since they had been busy when she became an Arrancar. The only way they knew that convincing the Toju to accept the other path was a success was when the wind kicked up and shrouded the Zanpakuto from their sight, and when that happened a few seconds later the group watched as the spirit returned to being Human-sized... and, while he seemed to be wearing his old attire now, his mask fragment was a fraction of a helmet that contained one of his horns on it.
While Zangetsu and Muramasa welcomed the new Arrancar to their group, since they would be returning to where Sombra was located soon enough, Haineko knew that she and Zangetsu had done a good job at keeping him busy until their ally had arrived and knew that Sombra would be pleased with their work.
"Good work you guys." a voice said, to which Haineko nearly jumped out of her skin as she turned around and found that Sombra was standing on the edge of the crane, like he had been there the entire time, before she calmed herself and remembered that it was nearly impossible for them to find him the normal way, as all an Arrancar could do was feel what Hueco Mundo told them, before she and the other Arrancar knelt before their king, "Please, there's no need to do that right now, not when all of you did a good job saving another Zanpakuto from what could happen to them if they go too long without finding someone new to serve... so I'll take our new friend here back to Hueco Mundo and let you guys have the rest of the day off, so enjoy yourselves."
Haineko and Zangetsu smiled as Sombra beckoned to the newest addition to their forces and disappeared with him, just as suddenly as he had arrived, but at the same time at least they had proven, both to him and to Matsumoto, that they were able to follow orders and get the job done. As such the two of them decided to hit the town after all, once they got Zangetsu a gigai that was modified to not resemble Ichigo, because they were going to have some fun with the time they had been given, and maybe freak out Matsumoto by the time morning arrived once more.
True to what Sombra said, he escorted the newest Arrancar back to Hueco Mundo, where he found that Szayelaporro told him that what he had in mind for the entirety of Las Noches, to transform it into a more livable area for the Arrancar that joined his empire, could happen. That was good news, as he was planning on transforming Las Noches into a mirror image of the Crystal Empire with buildings that were modeled after ones in either Soul Society or the World of the Living, while at the same time leaving the modifications he had already made in place. The Arrancar behind him was surprised that he had so many plans for the world that he ruled over, just like the others were surprised when he revealed his goals to them, but for now he was taken in by the other former Toju, who were happy to see that he was freeing as many of them as he could, before Sombra smiled as his followers went back to what they had been doing before his arrival. He was pleased to see that so many of them were happy with his first set of changes, adding objects around Las Noches to make it more lively, and he included water related items into that thought, especially since Nel and the others liked the pools that had been installed since he claimed this world.
That reminded him of the fact that the previous Dios Hueco transformed this world into the desert that Soul Society had labeled it as, to make the Hollows angry and turn them into what they currently were, something that would take a long time to get through, but his changes were making everyone happy and he was going to make sure to turn this place into a realm unlike what it had been earlier.
While he walked around Hueco Mundo, making notes of what needed to be changed in the future, which he would act upon when the aftermath of the rebellion was taken care of, he knew that Zangetsu and Haineko would enjoy their time in the World of the Living, a reward for their hard work so far. From what they had been told, and his own calculations, there were around two to three hundred dead Shinigami, meaning that there were potentially three hundred Toju that he and the others needed to find and make them see that there was another person they could serve. If they were like the ones that had already been saved, who were happy to have someone to call master at long last, it wouldn't take too long for his forces and the Shinigami to find the remaining Toju, allowing Muramasa to inform them of what was going on and awaken their true hearts. Many of the deaths could be blamed on Kazeshini, who didn't deny killing a good number of Shinigami when he was first freed from Hisagi's inner world and even claimed that he had a good time when he did so, but at the same time that only made everyone want to focus on finding the remaining Toju and saving them, so they could focus their full attention to rebuilding the Seireitei.
Sombra came to a stop on the walkway between two of the buildings of Las Noches, the one in front of him being the chambers of Harribel and her Fraccion while the one behind him was where Nel had built her new home, before he turned and looked at the world that stretched out around him. Hueco Mundo was changing, both by his constant modifications to the entire realm and the various buildings that are being built at the moment, though at the same time he found himself wondering if the reason he was changing this realm to look like the Crystal Empire in some places was because he might be homesick, for the real place he came from. At the same time he knew that returning to Equus might not even be possible at this point in time, since there weren't any crystal mirror portals like the one he had been thrown through when he was a soul, to which he sighed as he kept staring at the realm around him, where in the distance he found a few Hollows just hanging around and not attacking each other. It appeared that breaking the changes that the previous Dios Hueco made to this world, and reverting it back to how it had been a thousand years ago, was making the Hollows happy, which brought a smile to his face as he considered what he was going to do next.
Eventually he sighed and went back to what he was doing, to which he walked away from the spot that he had been standing in and continued checking on the realm that he was ruling over, where he noticed the newest additions to his empire already grasping the reality of their situation and adapting to their new lives.
Despite the fact that he should have stayed in Hueco Mundo, overseeing the work that needed to be done to the world around him, he eventually returned to the World of the Living and found that Zangetsu and Haineko were definitely enjoying themselves. Matsumoto and Captain Hitsugaya seemed to have disappeared, meaning they went back to Soul Society to tell their superiors that their mission had been completed, even if Matsumoto seemed to be of the mind to have come here to have fun and nothing else, where he tapped the air and opened the way to Soul Society. The Shinigami that were near the Senkaimon when he walked out of the passage weren't surprised to see that he had returned, since some of his followers were still helping them tidy up and reign in the remaining Toju, so they simply looked the other way and continued whatever they had been doing before he arrived, allowing him to head back to the building that his followers were living in for the duration of their stay in Soul Society. He found that Muramasa had returned to Soul Society as well, meaning that he must have come here with Matsumoto and Hitsugaya so he could continue his duties, to which he simply nodded his head and joined his followers as they prepared to turn in for the night.
The next three days were slightly normal, because while the Shinigami continued to rebuild the Seireitei both they and Sombra's followers sought out the Toju that were supposed to be running around, though unlike the last few encounters the newest ones didn't cause any damage to anything and weren't all that important to mention, as some of the Toju were smart and turned themselves in, while others needed Muramasa and the others to change their minds. Sombra was happy to rescue as many of the Toju as possible, since they would only disappear if something actually caused them to revert back to their sealed Zanpakuto state, and the other Arrancar were happy to have more of their kind on their side, so they could train them and help them adapt to their new lives. Rukia and some of the other Shinigami were happy to see that he was extending his hand towards as many of the Toju as possible, especially since the same thing could have happened to them if their partners had actually killed them, but that didn't stop some of the more experienced Shinigami to worry that he was expanding his empire so quickly... not that it mattered, since all the Hollows of Hueco Mundo were part of his empire and this was just adding to his soliders, but Sombra said nothing to that as he went about his business and helped the newly born Arrancar that were coming into the area they were residing in for the moment.
"Lord Sombra, how many more of them do you think there are?" Muramasa asked, though even as he said that he walked beside his new master, as they were walking down one of the streets of the Seireitei, but his words indicated that he was focused on the mission that he and the others were trying to fulfill.
"With three hundred dead Shinigami, that means three hundred Toju," Sombra replied, though at the same time he focused his mind on feeling the reiatsu in the air around them, searching for any that belonged to the other Toju that were currently missing, and so far it appeared that they were hiding until they could make their move, "so far we've only been able to find a dozen Toju, maybe twenty at the most, so it will be some time before we're able to find the rest of the Toju and convert them into Arrancar. At the very least the Shinigami are willing to assist us in finding and restraining the various Toju that have been reported so far, hence why you've been a little busy helping awaken their true hearts and save them from fading away, but at the same time we're moving too slow to save all of them. If only we can find someone who knows where the Toju are gathering, because then we'd be able to convert a great deal of them in an instant, but for now we'll have to settle for finding and saving the ones that come out of hiding, whether it's because they're looking for their dead partners or trying to cause chaos."
Muramasa knew that Sombra wanted to wrap up this situation quickly, since it was already dragging on longer than the actual rebellion did, but at the same time there wasn't much they could do at the moment, because while Sombra was searching for the reiatsu of the Toju, who just so happened to be hiding at the moment, his forces were making sure to find out where large numbers of soldiers could gather, and not in the cave system he used earlier, as that was entirely empty. There was also the fact that Sombra was right, they hadn't found a single Toju that knew where the others were located, meaning that they would have to do things the way that they and the Shinigami were currently doing things, even if that meant letting a good number of the Toju fade from existence in the process. Muramasa determined that the large number of remaining Toju had to be scared of Sombra, based on the sheer power he commanded when he was in his base state, and that they were only coming out whenever he wasn't present, despite the fact that they couldn't see him or feel his reiatsu on their own, so that just told him that they would have to wait for their enemies to come out of hiding before they saved them. At the very least there were a few brave Toju that were willing to continue to do damage to the Seireitei and the area around it, as that allowed someone to arrest them and hold them until he arrived, but something told him that soon such actions would come to an end... and hopefully they saved enough of the Toju before all of the remaining ones disappeared as suddenly as they had arrived.
As the two of them continued walking, however, Muramasa glanced in the direction of the large Senkaimon and had the feeling that the next Toju that would show itself would appear in the World of the Living, where Haineko and Zangetsu had found the last major one that had shown up, and hoped that it had the information they were looking for, otherwise this was going to take forever, before shaking his head and followed after his Lord once more, allowing his attention to be turned to what was happening in the Seireitei. That just meant that Sombra had a great deal of faith in those that were guarding the World of the Living and knew that, if something did happen while he was in Soul Society, Ichigo and the others would be able to handle whatever happened and would contact him if they found a Toju, to which Muramasa placed his trust in his Lord's choices and focused on the task at hand, leaving the World of the Living to Ichigo and whoever was helping him at that very moment.
Renji remained silent as he walked out of the Senkaimon that had been opened for him, Saru, and Hebi, which meant that they needed three Jigokucho to get to the World of the Living safely, since there were technically three of them instead of just two, like all of the other Shinigami that were paired with their Zanpakuto spirits. He had originally thought that the World of the Living was clear of Toju, since Captain Hitsugaya said that the only one to be in this realm had been saved and converted into an Arrancar, but at the same time it seemed that someone had determined that there were more in the area around Karakura Town and thought it best to send him and his partners to investigate. Truthfully he, like nearly every other Shinigami who had their Zanpakuto spirit manifest, wished that both halves of Zabimaru would return to their blade and stay there, since he gave them more than enough time outside their blade as it was, and he wanted to keep the destruction to a minimum, since both Saru and Hebi liked to destroy whatever was around them when they fought. He had actually considered asking them to return to their blade, so he could call them out when he got here, but both of them flat out refused to listen and had insisted they come here in their materialized form, though even as he thought about that Saru and Hebi joined him as the Senkaimon closed and the Jigokucho flew off into the distance.
Once they were all present Renji started searching for any unusual reiatsu signatures that didn't belong to Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, Orihime, Sora, or any of the other Arrancar that might be in Karakura Town at the moment, as he had been told that there had to be one more Toju in this world and he was going to capture it so Muramasa could bring it over to Sombra's side, just like the others.
"There's a froggie! A froggie!" Hebi stated, a happy look appearing on his face as he noticed a green frog jump along the path that was in front of them, while at the same time his statement ended up snapping Renji and Saru out of their attempts to scan the area around them for the Toju they had come to stop, though when he attempted to jump after the frog and play with it Saru gripped the chain and yanked him back, "That hurt! What's your problem?!"
"What's yours?" Saru asked in response, as right now they were on an important mission and she knew that they couldn't afford to be distracted by something as little as a frog, especially since there was no telling where their target was even hiding at the moment, "We don't have time to play around with frogs."
"I know, I just wanted to get close and look at it!" Hebi replied, even though he had been thinking of doing something entirely different, but even as he said that he knew his neck hurt a little, as Saru could be a little rough when she pulled on the chain and yanked him around.
"Remember, I let you two come with me because I determined that we could capture whatever Toju I was told about that much quicker," Renji spoke up, causing the two spirits to turn and look at him for a moment, as he had gotten used to being the one to try and separate them whenever they got like this, but at the same time this was the wrong moment for them to be doing this, "that, and both of you begged to come with me while I searched for our target, so I don't want to hear the two of you argue the entire time we're here."
"Yeah, I know." Saru remarked, though even as she said that she loosened her grip on the chain and let Hebi fall back to the ground, where he landed on his feet and glared at her for a moment, which she returned in full force as Renji sighed and turned to do something else, but when she tried to move Hebi stalled her by tugging on the chain, "Come on Hebi, no more goofing off. What do you want this time?"
"We're going to split up and search for the Toju, right?" Hebi asked, as that was what it sounded like to him, which was why he was currently holding up the section of the chain that was near his neck, the same part that he had tugged on to stop his other half from getting too far away from him, "But we can't do that, not unless you remove this."
"Fine, but I want you focused on finding our target and capturing him, okay?" Saru stated, her words indicating that they had done this once or twice since they were returned to their right minds, meaning that Hebi liked to mess around and have fun, instead of doing his job, so if she detected that he wouldn't be up to the task she was going to keep the chain on and drag him behind her as she did their job.
"I won't goof off this time around." Hebi replied, though even as he said that he found that Renji was watching them, silently hoping that Saru kept him chained up so they could get moving, but he was fine with that, since he was more worried about what his other half could do with the chain still attached, "I swear that I'll remain focused on our mission and that I won't play around."
Saru sighed and leaned close to Hebi's neck for a moment, where she carefully undid the chain that was connected to his collar and pulled herself back when the deed was done, though as soon as that happened both she and Renji sensed the presence of their target, which was close to where they were standing, and ran in the direction it came in, while at the same time Hebi stayed behind and grinned at the river as he spied a fish. It wasn't hard to find their target, as Renji found that it was hard to miss a well-toned man with a multicolored body standing along the riverbed, especially since the man's lower torso was white colored, his upper torso was black colored, and there was an arrow-shaped strip of orange dividing the two along the bottom of his pectorals. The Toju was wearing slightly baggy white pants that were held up by a thin black belt, which lengthened into a narrow apron with a white arrow shape in the center at the front, and he had knee-length black boots. He was also wearing a short black-and-white cape which ended in two long fins that was attached to the flat part of his shoulders, and he had shaggy hair that was primarily dark blue colored, but it also had a crescent-shaped streak of yellow hair arching out past the back of his head toward his back on either side of his head. The most interesting part about this Toju was his weapon, as it appeared to be a boomerang of some kind that was yellow colored, had two large openings that allowed him to hold onto it, and seemed to end in two lightning bolts, but while it seemed to be part of the design Renji knew that their foe could have powers they didn't know about and readied himself for whatever tricks their foe had up his sleeves.
As he stopped on the ground near their target, however, he also made sure to use his Release Call, transforming his Zanpakuto into it's Shikai form, as he had the feeling that their target was going to attack and not listen to anything they had to say, and he was right in his thinking since the Toju hurled his boomerang at him, forcing Renji to jump into the air to avoid the spinning attack before it could hit him, though as he landed he forgot something important as the boomerang struck him in the back and knocked him to the ground.
"You're too green!" the Toju stated, his tone revealing that he was the type that was arrogant when something went their way, be it a battle or a simple conversation, and he grinned as he held his hand out so he could grab his weapon when it returned to him, so he could finish his foe off before he had a chance to fight back.
"So are you!" Saru said, surprising the Toju for a moment, to which she swung her own Shikai blade at their enemy as he started to dodge the attack before he could be hit, to which she smirked for a moment when she cut a small gash into the Toju's left arm, near the wrist.
The Toju frowned for a second as he jumped into the air and started to head away from where the two of them were standing, causing both Renji and Saru to follow after him, intending to capture him before he did anything else or actually endangered someone, where they discovered something interesting about their opponent.
"He's much quicker when he's running away from us." Renji commented, as the Toju's power was greater than what he originally thought, and that was true of his speed, but at the same time he knew that if their target got away they would have to search the entirety of Karakura Town before finding him again.
"Hebi should be able to cut him off... he's finished." Saru replied, because she was hoping that Hebi was being true to his word and was seriously watching the fight that they were in, as that would allow them to take down the Toju that they were chasing and subdue him for whenever Sombra or Muramasa returned to this world, before they noticed that their target was concerned about seeing Hebi on the ground that he was heading towards, "Hebi, get him!"
Hebi smiled for a moment as he turned around, as he had easily caught the large fish that he had seen in the water just a few moments ago, though before he could do anything else the man that he assumed was the Toju swung his weapon at him and knocked him through the air, causing him to collide with Saru and stall her, thus allowing their target to put some distance between them, and caused Hebi to drop his fish in the process.
"Damn it! What in the world were you doing, Hebi?!" Saru asked, because a few moments after being hit she flipped around and landed on the ground, where she held her other half for a moment as she noticed that their target was gone, something that annoyed her to no end, especially since he had promised to be serious just a few minutes ago.
"It's okay, we managed to hurt him during our encounter." Renji stated, to which he held his Shiaki across his right shoulder, while he was looking at the small blood spots that were on the ground in front of them, indicating that Saru's attack had done more to him than they originally thought it did, "He couldn't have gotten too far, so we'll just focus on following him and restraining him once we find him."
"You might be fine with it, but I'm not." Saru said, to which she stood up after letting go of Hebi, who stood on the ground near her and Renji with an annoyed look on his face, something that annoyed her a little more, "Seriously, I cannot believe that you would do something like this the second I disconnected the chain. I am so going to let you have it when we get back to Soul Society."
Hebi glared at Saru for a moment as Renji told them to get moving, where the three of them flashed through the air and headed over to the park that was nearby, though this time around they separated and landed in three different parts of the area that their target had landed in, so when Hebi touched the ground he made sure to keep himself away from his partners as he thought about what happened a few moments ago.
"Geez, what's her problem?" Hebi commented, as he was talking to himself as he walked down the path that was in front of him, because he wasn't concerned about someone hearing him since the only ones that would be able to see him were Ichigo and the Arrancar that patrolled the town, "I never get to do stuff on my own, so cut me some slack when our target catches me off guard."
Hebi paused for a moment when he spotted a blood spot near a tree, to which he looked up at the area that was hidden by the branches and found the Toju that they were looking for positioned on the tree, trying to hide himself from the three of them, to which he smirked for a moment as he used his tail to lift himself up to where their target was sitting at the moment, before calling out to him.
"Hey, why don't you just surrender and come with me?" Hebi asked, because it would be better than chasing the guy around all day, especially while he was wounded and trying to hurt them in return, though at the same time he could tell that the Toju was taken aback by what he had said.
"I finally get to move on my own." the Toju replied, referring to the fact that he had been tied to a Shinigami and had killed his partner to get to the position that he was in right now, even though he wasn't too pleased that his latest enemies were trying to take this away from him and seal him back into his Zanpakuto state, to which he shifted his weapon as he prepared for battle once more, "I'm not about to give up this newfound freedom that I've discovered!"
"Is it really that great, being separated from your partner and being able to do whatever with your powers?" Hebi inquired, because while he was interested in something like that happening, not to the extent that the Toju were trying to do and to the extent that Haineko and the others had done, he felt that talking would give him some information and stall the Toju until the others arrived to subdue him.
"You bet! Being independent is great, kiddo." the Toju answered, where he smiled for a moment as a new plan formed in his mind, as he had noticed something by observing the young boy in front of him and the others that he had appeared with, something that might work to his advantage, especially since he lowered his weapon as well, "You can do whatever you want in a state like this. It's a miracle that we even get to experience something like this, instead of being trapped inside our blades for the rest of eternity."
"A miracle?" Hebi asked, though even as he said that he had the feeling that this was going to be a recurring theme between the two of them, where he'd be asking questions and the Toju would be answering them to the best of his ability, all while one of them looked for an opening to escape and the second kept his eye on him.
"You'd better believe it." the Toju said, where he directed his smile towards Hebi once more, to show that he wanted the boy to believe what he was saying and connect with him on some level, even though he was interested in seeing what happened next, "And, if you let me go, you can spend even more time on your own! The second you capture me, they'll chain you up and restrict your movements again."
Hebi thought about that for a moment, as he recalled that Saru was going to let him have it when they finally finished their mission, but before he could get too deep into his thoughts he heard something in the surrounding area and turned his head to see what was going on, though when he determined that it was nothing he turned around and found that the Toju had taken advantage of him being distracted and had left the area.
"Damn it! He got away again." Saru spoke up, to which she and Renji flashed into the area that Hebi was in, as both of them had finally zeroed in on where their target was located, but she was annoyed to find out that it was just Hebi using his tail to glance at what was in the trees, "What are you doing, just standing around and checking the trees?"
"I... thought the Toju was in the tree, but found nothing when I investigated it." Hebi replied, though as he lowered himself to the ground he pointed at the blood spot that he had seen earlier, showing that he had been trying to find the Toju, without admitting that he had talked with their target and accidentally let him go.
"Either way, I'm disappointed in the fact that you're still goofing off." Saru said, though as she said that she raised the end of the chain that connected to Hebi's collar, because at the rate things were going it was better for them to be linked together, instead of being separated from each other.
"Hold it right there!" Hebi stated, where he pointed at Saru for a moment, who paused when she noticed that he was standing up to her for once since they had materialized, while at the same time Renji stared at them as he thought about what they were going to do, "I don't want to spend my entire life attached to that damn chain! And don't you dare say that I'll only get in the way if you don't chain me back up! Are you really that eager to finish our mission and return to being an ordinary Zanpakuto? I can finally move on my own, and I don't want to be shackled to you so soon after being let go!"
Saru stared at him, like he had lost his mind or something, but before she could move Renji held a hand out and told her to stop, since they needed to be united instead of divided, as in working together instead of against each other, and Hebi took the opportunity to flash out of the area and leave the pair behind. A few moments later Hebi flashed down onto the street that a large number of Humans were walking up and down, where they didn't notice him at all, and he walked down the street as he raised his hands until they were behind his head, as he had some things to think about before he even considered looking for the Toju. As he walked he realized that he didn't want to hang around with Saru all the time, since she was a massive jerk to him all the time, nor did he want to hang with Renji as well, since he was content to stand there and let them work things out between them, so he found that it was best to remain separated from each other as he enjoyed his freedom. It was in that moment that he realized that he was a lone snake for the moment, meaning that he could technically do whatever he wanted before his partners bothered to come looking for him, and his eyes lit up when he realized that, to which he grinned as he looked at the market that was nearby and realized what he could do first.
Hebi grinned as he walked into the building and found his way to the delicious rice balls that he recalled Renji and the other Shinigami eating when they came to the World of the Living, where he picked up a good number of them and sat down on the ground, as his first desire, now that he was on his own, was to pig out without anyone scolding him on what he was doing to himself.
"Hold it right there." a voice said, to which Hebi stopped what he was doing and looked to his left, where he found a young girl standing nearby and happened to be glaring at him, almost like she could see him and that he was doing something wrong, which irritated him more than he was willing to admit.
"What is it?" Hebi asked, because he was getting hungry, since he hadn't had a time to eat breakfast before he, Saru, and Renji had been sent to this world to hunt for the Toju that had shown up on their radars, and he didn't want to be bothered by someone that could actually see him, since there weren't supposed to be many like her in the town.
"Don't give me that. You were going to eat all of those without paying for them first!" the girl replied, showing that not only could she see him, but she had sensed his intentions for the sandwiches that were laying in front of him, which was why she was bothering him at the moment.
"What's wrong with eating when you're hungry?" Hebi inquired, speaking the truth of his situation, though at the same time all he had to do was summon his blade, while hoping that Saru wasn't using it, and scare the girl off before she did anything that attracted attention to him, "Now buzz off before I send you flying."
"Excuse me! There's a kid over here that's trying to eat something without paying!" the young girl said, though she made sure that her voice was loud, as it would allow someone else to realize that someone was taking the food that was in front of him, even if the other Humans couldn't see him or would only see the food that fell on the floor.
Hebi considered what the girl was doing, just as he heard the sound of someone else approaching where he was sitting, and decided that doing anything else would eventually cause Renji and Saru to come running, to which he got up onto his feet and fled the building as the girl dealt with whoever came to see what she was talking about. Despite the fact that his meal had been interrupted, before he was able to eat anything, Hebi headed back to the park and found some pigeons that he could play around with, to which he grinned as he jumped towards them and made sure to scatter them, before finding a larger frog than the one he had seen earlier and chased it around the park. After some time he took a quick nap to get some of his energy back, since scaring the pigeons and catching the frog had taken some of his energy, but when he woke up, and found that the Toju's reiatsu was nowhere near him, he got up and headed to another market area, one that had a number of buildings that contained the stores. As he walked down the street he found his mouth watering as he stared at all the food related items that were available, to which he stopped when he heard a lady asking for some eggs and some chicken breast, which made him decide to chose that same shop so he could get something.
Unfortunately he discovered that the old man that was in charge of the shop couldn't hear him or see him, so despite his desire to get a drum stick and some eggs of his own no one wanted to give him anything, where he determined that he wouldn't be getting anything and moved on... eventually coming to an area where he could sit on a rail and stare at the people that were coming out of the shop area he had just exited.
There were a number of people that visited that area during the time he was there, buying all sorts of food items for them and their families, but slowly he found himself getting hungrier and hungrier, which he wouldn't have been feeling if he had been tied to Saru like always. It was annoying, that the one time he detached himself from Saru he couldn't do anything and he was slowly starving himself in the process, but for the most part he was hoping that there was someone out there that could see him and would give him something while he stared at the Humans. While he sat there he heard a number of them talking about the various food items that they were buying, be it any type of meat, eggs, pasta, and anything else that went over his head, though all that did was make his mouth water as he wondered if he should attempt what he had been doing earlier, before the brat stopped him. At the same time he didn't want to take his chances of finding the same girl that could see him again, because then she would likely take him down and restrain him before he had a chance to run away, which was why he was doing things this way and not risking himself.
"Hey, kid, what are you up to now?" a familiar voice asked, to which Hebi snapped out of his hunger focused mind and turned to the left for a moment, where he found the young girl from earlier standing near him, though she looked a tad bit annoyed that he was still in the area that she was in.
"You're that kid from earlier." Hebi commented, showing that he was able to recall her, despite their brief meeting, and then noticed that there was another young girl behind the first one that seemed to be confused, meaning that either her friend or sister couldn't see him at all, which was a little interesting to him.
"Hey, Karin, who are you talking to?" the younger girl asked, talking to the first one for a moment, allowing Hebi to know the girl's name, though at the same time Hebi was focused on the fact that he had been called a kid and that he was being bothered again.
"Oh, Yuzu, I'm talking to the weird kid in the strange outfit that's sitting on the rail." Karin replied, though she wasn't surprised to see that her sister had come over to see what she was doing, since she would have gone the same thing if her sister had started to talk to someone that everyone else couldn't see.
"Nice to meet you, kid in a strange outfit." Yuzu said, to which she smiled for a moment and bowed her head for a few seconds, as if she could see Hebi and was acting accordingly, but at the same time Hebi knew that she was only making her sister happy since she clearly couldn't see him at all.
"So, I have a question. Are you hungry?" Karin asked, though as she said that Yuzu seemed to be ignoring them and was doing something else, which was fine since she was the only one that could see Hebi at the moment, where she made an observation that she had seen moments ago, "Because you've been drooling for the last few minutes."
"Was not." Hebi replied, to which he raised his right arm and made sure to get rid of whatever drool had formed while he was staring at the Humans that were wandering around the shopping area in front of him, before deciding that the girl, Karin, didn't need to know the real answer, "Besides, it's none of your business."
"Fine then. Let's go, Yuzu." Karin stated, though since she had known that the boy would be incredibly stubborn, given their first meeting earlier, she had something in mind and placed a onigiri on the pole near the boy while both he and Yuzu were distracted, before she and her sister left the area that Hebi was in.
At first Hebi wondered what in the world was wrong with the girl, since they had encountered each other twice and she had interrupted what he was doing, meaning that he didn't like her very much, but even as that happened he glanced to his side and found an onigiri, the same ones that he had been trying to eat earlier, sitting near him. He growled for a moment, as he couldn't believe the nerve of Karin, to stop him from eating a few of these when he was hungry and then place one on a pole near him, but then his hunger got the better of him and he tore the package open, devouring the rice ball that had been placed near him. Once it was gone, however, he wondered what he should do, since he still had a number of desires he wanted to do before he was chained to Saru again, but then he changed his mind and charged off in the direction that Karin and her sister had gone in, deciding to do something about them first before he tackled the other items on his list. It didn't take him long to find the two girls walking down one of the streets, even if he didn't sense any reiatsu coming from them, but once he found them he landed on the ground and glared at Karin for a moment, from the back since she had no idea that he was even there at the moment.
He knew that it would be easy for him to run and never see these two again, since he didn't want to be bothered by them again, but at the same time he knew that he needed to get something off his chest and steeled himself as he started down the path that he couldn't back away from.
"Hey, kid!" Hebi said, to which he noticed that his voice stopped Karin in her tracks, while at the same time Yuzu kept on walking, which made sense considering that she couldn't see or hear him at all, before Karin turned back and noticed that he was standing near them.
"It's you again." Karin commented, though at the same time a light smile appeared on her face, as she could see the rice on the kid's face, showing that he must have eaten the package she had left for him to eat, but at the same time that could have been a bad move or a good one, though which she wasn't sure of yet, "Did you want another onigiri?"
"As if I would want another one," Hebi stated, as he couldn't believe that she would even suggest something like that, even if he sort of wanted a second one and would run away with it if she actually offered him another one, "especially since I didn't eat the one you left for me a few moments ago."
"Honestly, I'm amazed that you could lie about something like that, given the evidence on your face." Karin said, where she pointed at her own face for a moment, indicating the areas that she was referring to, though at the same time Hebi was shocked that she had noticed something he had overlooked.
"Do you think the kid in the strange outfit is still hungry?" Yuzu asked, showing that she was more observant than what Hebi thought she was, since she had noticed that her sister had stopped walking and immediately zeroed in on what she was doing, especially given what happened earlier.
"Huh... so ghosts can get hungry as well." Karin commented, as that wasn't something that she had heard of, since Ichigo was usually the one that could see and interact with ghosts, something that she had only gained recently and was still getting used to, especially since she wasn't as experienced as her brother was.
"I'm not a ghost, I'm a Zanpakuto." Hebi stated, though at the same time he had the feeling that if he revealed that piece of information to Karin, since it appeared that she might know someone that could see him and the other spirits that lingered around the town, he could make this go a lot faster and get her to understand what he was.
"How does this sound? Let's have the kid in the strange outfit come home with us." Yuzu spoke up, as she had been thinking about what their brother did and knew that if they brought the stranger to their house Ichigo would know what to do with him, since seeing into the other world was their brother's specialty, "We can ask our brother about him whenever he get's home and figure out what's wrong with him."
Hebi and Karin looked at each other for a moment, surprised by the fact that Yuzu would even suggest something like that, but at the same time he decided that it might be worth the effort, to which he followed the sisters to their place of residence, which turned out to be a very familiar clinic, one that he was having trouble remembering where he had seen it in the past. When they reached the clinic Yuzu declared that she was going to make some tea and proceeded to do so, which was served to Hebi just a few minutes later, even though he was sitting at the table and had made sure to move his chair into a position that indicated that someone was there, but she put it across from where he was sitting and smiled at the empty chair near it.
"Our dad and Ichi-nii are out right now, but would you mind hiding yourself when they arrive?" Karin asked, though as she asked that Hebi sipped from the hot tea and glanced at her, indicating that he was listening to her and what she was saying, even if he didn't really care about her desires, "Though I'm sure that Ichi-nii will be able to see you at some point after he get's back home."
"Ichi-nii?" Hebi asked, as the only person that he remembered, from the memories that he got from observing Renji's movements from inside his Zanpakuto, was Ichigo Kurosaki, but at the same time he decided to ask what he was thinking before they did something else, "Who's that?"
"Our big brother. He can see ghosts as well, and other things." Karin explained, but she left it at that, because she wasn't about to share more about her brother than what she had said, especially since Hebi was a stranger and hadn't given her his name in the time they had been near each other.
"So you're always with someone." Hebi commented, though as he said that he lowered his cup and turned towards Karin, who seemed surprised by what he was saying, even if she had no idea what he was actually going to say to her while her sister was gone, "That's lame. See, I'm on my own at the moment, which means I can do whatever I want."
"Lame?" Karin asked, as she failed to see the point of what Hebi had said, especially when she remembered what he had been doing earlier in the store that she had first seen him in, which made her frown for a moment as she focused on who she was talking to, "Besides, you couldn't even get your own food earlier... and being on your own all the time isn't that great. What about your parents?"
"Sorry, but I don't have any of those." Hebi replied, though given his size anyone would assume that he was the product of Renji and Saru's union, or at least the weird people would assume that, before he glared at Karin once more as he focused on something else, "Besides, I told you earlier that I'm a Zanpakuto."
As Karin revealed that she didn't understand what he was talking about, which made sense considering that she had no idea what a Shinigami was, Hebi found Yuzu serving him some pudding that would have gone towards their brother, which he immediately liked the moment he devoured it whole. Despite the fact that he was half of an actual Zanpakuto, since Saru wasn't present, Hebi introduced himself as 'Zabimaru', because it was only fair to tell them a name that they could call him by before he left their clinic, before Yuzu determined that it was time to play a game, even though she couldn't see Hebi at all. The first thing they tried was a game station, one that they tried to teach him how to play and found that he didn't get the controls of the game that they had chosen, before moving onto a board game that he didn't understand the reasoning behind and found that none of it was fun. After that Yuzu decided to turn on the television, the box shaped device near the couch that she and Karin sat at, and Hebi found his attention was grabbed by the show that came on a few moments later, as he had never seen anything like it, not even during his time observing from Renji's blade, and he stopped paying attention to anything around him as he focused on the screen. Karin and Yuzu seemed happy to see that he was happy with this selection, even if he didn't give the other two suggestions much of a chance, and before long both of the girls were fast asleep, though when he noticed it he smiled and nodded off on the floor as well, since it would give him energy to hunt down the Toju when he woke up.
It was some time before he heard anything that could have woken him from his slumber, though despite the fact that he was sleeping he heard a familiar voice speak at one point and might have heard a door open as well, meaning that someone had come home and would see him in no time.
"Again, I have to thank you for allowing me to come in, given recent circumstances." a voice said, to which Ichigo walked into the room with Muramasa standing behind him, though as that happened Ichigo noticed that the television was on and that it needed to be turned off since no one was watching it.
"Hey, you're turning over a new leaf and correcting your mistakes, though I'm surprised that you don't want to stay on the roof and meditate, since that's what Sombra did in the past." Ichigo replied, as while it was weird being friends with someone who tried to destroy Soul Society, or break it a little and then conquer it, he was okay with the situation since Muramasa was one of Sombra's followers, before he noticed that Hebi was sleeping on the floor and tapped him, "Hey, what are you doing in my house? Renji and Saru are worried about you."
"Who are you again?" Hebi asked, because right now he was tired and his brain was having trouble keeping up with his body as he rubbed his eyes, though he was shocked awake when he noticed Muramasa standing behind Ichigo, since he was the one that had forced him and Saru to do what they had did before Renji saved them.
"Ichigo Kurosaki, the Substitute Shinigami for Karakura Town." Ichigo answered, though at the same time he stood up and mentally sighed, because while he was happy to have found where Hebi had been hiding he wasn't too happy to find that he was in his house, since that meant that his sisters might have fed him while he was gone, "Though seriously, what are you even doing here?"
It didn't take Hebi long to realize that he was in the house that being to Ichigo Kurosaki, someone who knew Renji and was going to rat him out whenever he wanted, to which he growled and charged out of the room the moment he realized that he was screwed, though at the same time he heard the sound of Karin getting up as well... but as he headed out into the streets he eventually came to a stop as he cursed his luck, that he ended up in the worst possible spot of all.
"Yo!" a voice said, to which Hebi stopped what he was doing and glanced up at the top of the pole that was near where he was standing, where he found the Toju that he had been talking to earlier staring down at him, as if he had been following him the entire time he had been separated from Saru and Renji, "Looks like you're still on your own. Well? Were you able to enjoy your freedom? Regardless of whether you enjoyed yourself or not, I have to thank you, because I was able to buy enough time to heal my injuries with the time you gave me. Now that you are separated from the others I can take you out one by one, instead of three at the same time."
"So that's what you were planning." Hebi replied, though at the same time he frowned, as he couldn't believe that he had been tricked by their foe earlier, to which he raised his right hand for a moment and summoned his blade to him as he stared at his target, "Listen, I'm not going to kill you... rather I'm just going to capture you until Muramasa or Sombra arrive to show you that there's another place for you to live in, where you can do what you want while also serving a new master that will make sure of your abilities and won't hurt you at all."
The Toju seemed surprised for a moment as Hebi attacked him, waiting for a few seconds for his target to get on the ground and struck the floor, forcing his foe into the air, which allowed the Toju to hurl his boomerang at him and caused Hebi to defend himself with the edge of his own blade, before forcing the weapon backwards. When the Toju landed on the ground Hebi surprised him by swinging his weapon and missing his mark, but that was what he wanted as the tip of his weapon bounced off of several edges and trapped his foe in a web of his outstretched weapon, before collapsing it into a sphere that prevented his foe from moving and then swung it again, allowing him to retract his blade as the Toju hit the ground directly behind him. Of course a few moments later Karin entered the area and the Toju knocked her out with a smile on his face, indicating that he was planning something sinister for her, causing Hebi to growl as he waited for his foe to reveal what he wanted, even though there was a surprise waiting for him in the area near them.
"The girl's dead if you attack me again," the Toju stated, causing Hebi to frown as he stood there, especially since the Toju moved his weapon a little so it's edge would be near Karin's neck, but not a few seconds later the shadows wrapped around his arm and forced him away from her, allowing Hebi to run over to her.
"Sorry, but I'm not too keen on people attacking the siblings of my friends," a voice said, to which Sombra stepped out of the shadows and kept the Toju pinned to the ground, while at the same time Hebi seemed surprised to see him while both Ichigo and Muramasa rushed into the area, "Muramasa, if you would be so kind as to make this Toju see the light... and then we can focus on making him see that attacking Humans is a big no-no."
Muramasa nodded and approached the downed Toju, though as he entered the being's inner world and started his side of the mission both Renji and Saru flashed down into the area that they were in, but while they were annoyed by the sudden arrival of Sombra, since he was supposed to be in Soul Society, both of them were happy to see him. Sombra informed them that he had been in the process of heading back to Hueco Mundo, to personally check on the progress that his followers were making on the changes he wanted to make, and had noticed Hebi's fight, but seeing Karin get hurt had annoyed him and he decided to intervene, stopping the fight before anyone got seriously hurt. Hebi, seeing that he had some time, asked Ichigo not to say anything to Karin when she got up, since he'd be going back with Renji and Saru once this was over, though after that he apologized to his partners for being so foolish, but while he was sour when they revealed that they had gone with his desire to be free and used it as bait for the Toju, to pull him out of hiding, he was happy to be of assistance in some manner, especially since he wasn't chained the entire time. It just showed him that Renji had come up with a good idea without telling him anything, and he promised that he'd try to do better in the future, even though he had no idea how much longer he and Saru had until they returned to their lives as spirits inside Renji's blade, something that he wanted to ignore for as long as possible.
It didn't take long for Muramasa to convince the Toju to change his life, as a minute or two after Sombra's arrival he was more like an Arrancar than he had been moments ago, though once that was done, and the shadows had pulled away from his body, Sombra escorted him back to Hueco Mundo, so he could learn from the other Arrancar and then have an appropriate punishment for trying to kill a Human that happened to be the sibling of one of his friends. Hebi, on the other hand, was more than happy to have the chain reattached to his collar, because he was finally returning to where he really belonged, and while Sombra went back to his kingdom, and Ichigo took Karin home, he joined Renji and Saru as they opened a Senkaimon and headed back to Soul Society with Muramasa walking behind them... but this time he had a better view on life and was actually looking forward to working alongside his partners in the days to come.
The former boomerang Toju wasn't too happy when he finally got his assignment, as Sombra and the other Arrancar decided that, based on his earlier actions, he should spend a week or two helping Ichigo and Sora keep Karakura Town safe from anyone that wanted to disrupt the balance that had been created in the town. It was mostly his dislike at having to work with the person who's sister he had taken hostage, but at the same time Sombra reminded him that it was only for a short time and that he was allowed to wander the town as he saw fit, living like he had when he was still a Toju, but Sora was his superior and one of the other Arrancar would be checking in with him from time to time. It wasn't the worst punishment that Sombra could think of, as he had done much worse when he was the tyrant of the Crystal Empire, though this one would allow the former Toju to understand where he had gone wrong and even come to like his life as an Arrancar, since he didn't have to fear disappearing anymore, a threat that the other Toju still faced. Ichigo, upon hearing the news, wasn't too happy about it either, but since Sombra was his friend, and he didn't have the power to oppose someone like him without being destroyed, he agreed to show the former Toju the ropes and see if he could learn.
With that taken care of Sombra returned to his work on Las Noches, making sure that the new buildings were laid out as he wanted them to be and that there was enough separation so that the Arrancar that would eventually live in them wouldn't be too close to their neighbors. It was an interesting challenge, changing what both the Arrancar and the Hollows were used to, though it was one that Sombra found he was able to get through quite easily, mostly since the other Arrancar happened to be interested in his plans and that he could also use his influence over Hueco Mundo to change something about the world. One such instance was adding a few 'natural' lakes to the world, both inside and outside Las Noches' walls, and even cutting the ground up a little to make a flowing river that went through the area that they were all living in, surprising and impressing the Arrancar that were currently in this world. It would take some time for everyone to get used to the sight of water, since it was something that the previous Dios Hueco had taken from the residents of this world to make them angry enough to attack their previous ruler's enemies, but Sombra smiled as he walked along the path that he was following, seeing that his work was already having a good effect on his new kingdom.
It wasn't just the landscape of Hueco Mundo that was slightly changed since his return, as he made modifications to the large square shaped building that was Las Noches, the first being the erasure of the false sky, since it was no longer necessary thanks to him tampering with the moon to have a day and night cycle again, while the second was where he lowered the height of the wall to a more appropriate size. The reason was because if they were going to keep growing the number of Arrancar that resided in Las Noches he was going to make sure their wall was actually a border so there would always be someone surveying the four directions, meaning four guards at any given moment with shifts with the ones that would replace them, meaning they could confirm or deny anything Szayelaporro saw on his radars. He knew that such a thing wasn't entirely necessary, given the power of some of his followers and his own immense power, but he felt much better having someone to guard the border between them and the outside, even if there weren't any enemies in this world in the first place... he was also preparing because of the threats that he had been warned about, as while most of them sounded easy to defeat he wanted to be sure he could see the real foe when he came knocking.
Despite what Captain-Commander Yamamoto said, about destroying this particular foe a thousand years ago when he attacked Soul Society, Sombra was making sure that his empire was ready for the day that Yhwach returned, because something told him that the Father of the Quincy wasn't dead and that he'd be back to complete his mission, though he told no one what his plans were for now, as he didn't want to make the Arrancar upset and let them relax before he was needed once more.
For the next two days Sombra found that he was busy with the recent modifications that he wanted to make to Las Noches and Hueco Mundo, which was fine since he had nothing better to do since Soul Society didn't come calling for his assistance at all, but that didn't stop Muramasa from returning with more Arrancar that had been created from some of the Toju that Renji, Rukia, and the others had caught, allowing Muramasa to work his magic on them. All of the latest recruits, if they could be called that, had been loners before their capture and there wasn't anything special about them, at least in terms of how they drew attention to themselves before they were confronted by whoever had captured them, but at the same time Sombra was happy to welcome another dozen to Hueco Mundo, even if he knew that they were running out of time before the majority of the Toju disappeared. The other Arrancar knew that he was doing everything in his power to save as many of them as he could, but with barely getting even a sixth of the number they knew that it was annoying him on some level, so they remained silent and let him do what he needed to do, to which he returned to his work as he contemplated where he might be able to find one of the larger groups that had to be hiding, as that would help them in the long run.
"Even when hearing that we're only getting a few Toju at a time, and that the clock is running out, you remain calm and collected without a sign of stress," Yoruichi commented, as she had returned to the World of the Living after they had dealt with Muramasa, though she had returned to her love's kingdom to see what changes he was making and see if there was anything she could do to help, "I honestly don't know how you can cope with being the ruler of a kingdom and not be annoyed by all the stress that such a position can bring."
"Remember, I used to be a king of another empire when I was alive." Sombra replied, though at the same time he looked out at their growing kingdom, because despite the fact that they were slowing saving the Toju he was still happy to see that they were doing something to the ones they were able to find, "Well, a tyrant king was what I was, but I gained some experience from that time and now I know what not to do for my kingdom, meaning that Ulquiorra and the others will have a better ruler than Aizen and Baraggan ever were."
Yoruichi nodded her head, as from what she had learned, from the Arrancar that had survived Aizen's rule, none of them were happy with the Shinigami that had taken control of Hueco Mundo and that they had been happy to see him trapped in another world for the rest of his life. Sombra coming into his power as the Dios Hueco, and seizing control of Hueco Mundo in the process, had been the best thing for Ulquiorra and the other Arrancar, as now they were all alive and wouldn't have to worry about being cut down by someone who was displeased with them. She hadn't forgotten that Sombra had been a ruler before coming here, not after everything that she had learned since he had beaten his past self and asserted his new personality, the one that she had fallen for, as the dominate personality, but since she still didn't know everything she knew that Sombra was telling the truth about this. Still, despite what she was thinking about, she also knew that stress wasn't something that had ever bothered Sombra, not since he first appeared outside Urahara's shop and even now it didn't bother him, causing her to smile as the two of them stared out at the kingdom that Sombra was building, because she had the feeling that Sombra would figure out how to save the groups of Toju that were hiding in the area around the Seireitei.
She also had the feeling that Sombra was thinking the same thing, that he'd find the large groups of Toju that were missing and save them before they faded out of existence, and she was eager to see what would happen the next time he went to Soul Society to help them find the Toju.
It was the third day since the boomerang Toju had joined Sombra's growing empire, where Muramasa once again found himself walking down one of the streets as he sought out more of the Toju, though as he did that he nodded towards some of the Shinigami that were walking in the opposite direction. He found that Lord Sombra had been right, that doing a number of good deeds had convinced the lower ranked Shinigami, those that really didn't know what he had done, to accept him and treat him like an ally, and even those he had wronged were growing used to his presence. One thing he had determined was that his new master was growing a little annoyed by their lack of ability to find a large number of the Toju, so they could cut down the number of them before they faded out of existence, and, while he didn't tell anyone this, even Muramasa was growing annoyed by the fact that they were unable to locate the larger groups. He figured that it would have been easy, since all the Toju were harassing the Shinigami and some even messed with the World of the Living, but it appeared that their targets were much smarter than what they assumed they were, causing him to frown a little as he continued walking down the street he had been traveling down.
After a few moments he stopped when he spotted Lieutenant Isane walking towards the relief building that the Fourth Division was stationed in at the moment, since all the repairs weren't done yet, before getting the feeling that something might be getting ready to reveal itself and followed after her... though he stayed back a bit and just walked in silence, but when she entered a room he considered leaving the area, before hearing something that stopped him.
"That's strange..." he heard Isane say, though her tone revealed that she found something odd in the room, even though whatever she had said before that had been lost to him, since he had been so far from the door and only heard this part of her statement.
"What's wrong?" the other person in the room, Ise Nanao, asked, though at the same time Muramasa stopped as he leaned against the wall, because while he had been sent back to Soul Society to search for the Toju he had to wonder if he might have uncovered the beginnings of another one.
"I can't seem to find the tea leaves." Isane replied, revealing that she had come to this room to have a tea and cookie break with Ise, though even as he heard that Muramasa was already wondering if he was already wrong in his thoughts about what he was going to walk into.
"That is odd, since we just bought some a few days ago." Ise said, where Muramasa heard her get up from whatever she was doing and walk over to the area that Isane was standing in, followed by the sound of some things moving as she gathered her own thoughts on the matter, "Strange, they're not here anymore."
"You know, over the last few days we've found that we're missing a number of things that we keep on hand." Isane stated, revealing that something must have happened recently and that someone was stealing things, even if she had taken some time to reveal that to anyone, "Like rice and miso."
"Odd, my Captain even told me that someone found his secret stash of sake, where he keeps his favorite sake, and stole that as well." Ise replied, showing that something was definitely going on in the Seireitei at the moment, where Muramasa decided to make himself known and knocked on the door to show that he was outside, "Come on in."
"Sorry, I was just passing through this building and heard that someone's stealing things." Muramasa said, because while he had the feeling that this might not help his Lord build his empire, as he had the feeling that a Toju wouldn't be doing something like this, he did want to erase his bad reputation and this was another good deed he could do for the Shinigami he had wronged, "Maybe I could be of assistance?"
Before either Isane or Ise could say anything Hanataro rushed up to the door behind him and huffed for a moment, where he stated that Hanamaru had gone missing, causing the two Lieutenants to look at each other before pulling the Shinigami with them as they headed to where Captains Shunsui, Ukitake, and Unohana were stationed. As Muramasa followed after the trio he discovered that Hanamaru was one of the chickens that they had been raising, surprising him for a moment, since he wasn't expecting something like that to be a thing, but he remained silent as they headed back to the area that Hanataro had come from. When they reached that area the group discovered that the security systems that had been placed in the area had managed to snap a picture of the culprit, though at the same time Hanataro found out that the remaining three chickens were gone as well, before Ise determined that they needed to tell the Captains about the event that was unfolding before them. As he suspected the three Captains were surprised to find that they were there, along with Muramasa walking behind them, but Shunsui and Ukitake stopped what they were doing to see what the two Lieutenants and Hanataro wanted, since it might effect whatever they did next.
"Captain Shunsui, Captain Ukitake, it appears that we have a situation." Isane said, to which she nodded to Hanataro, who walked forward and placed the picture that had been captured on the table in front of them, where Muramasa found that it seemed to be a blur of whatever had been stealing things over the last two or three days, "According to Hanataro this is the clearest picture that our security system was able to take of the culprit, though it seems that even the best wasn't enough to get a clear image of whoever's stealing food, animals, and tools. According to the report that we were given the culprit broke into the Fourth Division's barracks, just before daybreak, and made off with all four of the chickens that they had been raising."
"Chickens?" Ukitake asked, because while this was definitely interesting, since Shunsui had told him about his missing sake and some of his own subordinates reporting missing things as well, he was more surprised by the fact that the Fourth Division had chickens, while at the same time unknowingly echoing Muramasa's thoughts on the matter.
"Ever since the rebellion started, and recently finished, no one's been able to go home yet," Isane explained, where Muramasa noticed that she would have said something about him, but since he was present she had changed what she was going to say while also getting the point across, even though Muramasa had the feeling that most of what was happening was his fault anyway, "so the Fourth Division has been trying to maintain the food supply by raising chickens and building a greenhouse, and, if you want my opinion, the tomatoes and eggs are fantastic."
"Anyway, I was the one that was assigned to watch over the chicken coop." Hanataro added, showing that it was because he had come to due his duties that he had discovered the missing chickens, who he must have gotten sort of attached to since he had tears in his eyes at the moment, "They were all so happy last night, but this morning, when I arrived, I found that they were gone, even though there weren't any tears or holes in the wiring around the coop."
"Which means that the door was opened, and that it wasn't an animal that got to them." Muramasa commented, to which the three lower ranking Shinigami nodded their heads in agreement, showing that they agreed with him, even if this would be put on him since it was likely a hungry Toju that had taken the chickens.
"It's starting to found like the culprit is another one of those Toju." Shunsui said, to which Ukitake nodded, as that seemed to be the only likely answer to what was going on at the moment, but even then he wasn't too happy about finding out that another lost spirit was causing problems for them.
"I won't deny that there's the possibility of that being the case," Unohana added, to which she set down the papers that she had been reading from and looked up at the group that was standing in the room with them, even if she had no particular target for her stare, "but there's not enough information for us to tell if it's a Toju or another Shinigami. I would think that all of the named Zanpakuto spirits have been reunited with their partners and are no longer running around causing chaos, save for Kazeshini anyway... that spirit is a troublemaker."
"It would appear that the culprit's trail leads to the underground waterways." Ise said, where Muramasa glanced at the window and found a Shinigami walking away from the room that they were in, showing him that they must have moved a little faster than what he was expecting, since he had no idea they had called for someone to follow any tracks that had been uncovered inside the area the chickens had been in.
"If it's a Toju that's stealing things, then I'll go with whoever is selected to chase after it." Muramasa stated, which made sense to the Captains, since he was the only one that could enter the inner world of the raging Toju and calm them down before they really hurt someone, even if it turned them into an Arrancar in the process.
Shunsui nodded his head and immediately set out for another part of the Seireitei, where the group followed after him and left Unohana and Isane behind, since both of them were going to be busy and couldn't afford to assist them in their mission, though Muramasa was surprised by who they were going to visit. It wasn't hard to determine that the plan was to send Hanataro, Ise, and him into the underground waterways, so they could search the area for signs of the Toju and capture it, as well as find it's hiding place and return the stolen goods to their rightful owners. At the same time it wasn't just the three of them that were going into the underground waterways, as Shunsui, upon arriving outside the Eleventh Division's barracks, revealed that they were here to see Ikkaku and asked that both he and Hozukimaru join the group on their venture into the underground. Once the duo was outside the barracks, and were sitting down, the group explained the reason behind their visit, that they were coming to him and his Zanpakuto for assistance in figuring out who was behind the recent thefts that were starting to plague the Seireitei and stopping the culprit, even if they were supposed to capture the target after they found it.
"Okay, but why do you need my help?" Ikkaku asked, to which he moved his Zanpakuto's scabbard until it was pointed right at Muramasa, who remained standing where he was and didn't let the movement get to him, since he had seen more during his time as Koga's partner, "I mean, you've got one of Sombra's Arrancar following you around. I'm sure that you don't need my help at all..."
"Despite the lack of evidence, we're convinced that the target is a Toju." Shunsui replied, to which Ikkaku stopped talking and stared at him, because based on what he knew the Toju were strong opponents, worthy enemies for those that served under Zaraki Kenpachi, and he could see that Ikkaku knew what he wasn't saying, "Your job will be to keep the others safe while they look for the Toju, and if you do find it it'll be up to the two of you to restrain it so Muramasa can work his magic on it."
"A Toju... this might be interesting." Hozukimaru remarked, as the thought of fighting one of the powerful Toju had interested him the moment they learned who might be behind the thefts, something that Ikkaku mirrored quite well as they faced the group, "Either way, this will be a good way to kill some time, instead of spending the whole afternoon watching novices trying to learn skills that they aren't ready for."
With both Ikkaku and Hozukimaru on board the group headed back to the entrance that the trail had gone to, where Hozukimaru opened the door and let everyone else walk down the stairs in front of them, leaving Shunsui and Ukitake to wish them luck before the wooden door closed behind the group. Once that was done the two Captains returned to the room that Captain Mayuri was letting them use, as his Third Seat was helping them with a side project, because while the group would be looking for the Toju they would be using some of the more advanced technology to make even more accurate maps of the underground waterways, killing two birds with one stone as Unohana put it. All of them had agreed that this would have happened someday, where they would have needed better maps of the waterways, and while they wished this was happening long after the rebellion none of them were going to argue over the timing, as it worked out for everyone in the end. Sure, they had only come up with the idea once they heard that the thief had gone into the underground waterways, but at the very least this would eliminate one of the projects that the Captain-Commander would have assigned to them at some point in the future, so they remained silent and watched the screen as the group continued their search for their target.
While that was happening above ground Ikkaku lead the way down whatever passage he was directed down, while Ise and Hanataro stood behind him and Muramasa walked in front of Hozukimaru, allowing them to protect the trio while keeping their eyes open for anything or anyone that might be down here.
"This place is kinda creepy, huh?" Hozukimaru commented, because this was the first time he recalled being down here, as Ikkaku never came down to a place like this, or at least he never did while carrying his Zanpakuto, but at the same time he wasn't scared of an underground area at all.
"Sure is, and there are a lot of rumors about this place." Hanataro replied, surprising Muramasa by how scared he sounded, as if there was something about this place that made him nervous and made him want to leave, even if he was holding his ground at the moment, "Like the one where they say that you can hear the sounds of those who got lost and died when they were enlarging the waterways a long time ago."
"That's a good one." Hozukimaru said, because he found the idea of a Shinigami's soul lingering after death, or the souls of whoever had built this place, to be an amusing one, since he was sure that death was what awaited a fair number of Shinigami and the souls outside the Seireitei's walls, "Maybe that's our thief's true identity!"
"Don't be silly, that's just an old ghost story." Ise stated, though her tone suggested that they better focus on what they were here to do and less on trying to scare each other over old stories that didn't even matter anymore, not when she was sure that they could overpower anything that came at them.
Of course just as she started to mention that ghosts can't exist in Soul Society a water droplet fell onto the back of her neck and freaked her out, causing Ikkaku to be on guard as if something was actually wrong, before Hanataro informed her of what happened and Ise immediately calmed down so they could keep moving forward. Of course what they weren't expecting was for Hanataro, being the first one to get in front of a still Ikkaku, to walk into a wire that activated a fiery explosion, even though not a few seconds later he, Hozukimaru, and Muramasa flashed over to a new passage, all while Hozukimaru was holding Ise and Hanataro under his arms.
"It appears that we have announced ourselves as unwanted visitors," Muramasa commented, though at the same time he was pleased to find that the damage wasn't that bad, because if the explosion had been much greater than what it was it could have brought the ceiling down and cause even more damage to the Seireitei, "especially since that was a well placed booby-trap."
"That means that our target must be hiding somewhere near our current position." Ise added, as she understood where Muramasa was going with his statement and decided to expand upon it, even though her words would easily excite both Ikkaku and Hozukimaru into getting ready for a fight, "We should proceed with caution from now on."
The group nodded and returned to the original passage that they had been walking down, finding that it wasn't actually damaged at all and that the first trap was designed to scare them off, before continuing down the passage that they had chosen to follow. It wasn't long after the first trap that they came upon a piece of the walkway that was a different color than the rest of it, even if it rested in the middle of their path as a square and not an entire strip, where Hanataro revealed that all they had to do was walk around it to move onward. As he did that, by walking around near the stone wall, he stopped as he accidentally activated a switch with his foot, one that sunk into the ground, and he feared that the tile would explode or something, but as the seconds ticked by he found that he must have been lucky, as nothing bad was happening to him and the rest of his group. Ikkaku, of course, was rightfully annoyed with Hanataro, since that could have exploded or something, but just as he was about to lay into him, however, they were stopped by the sound of rushing water, causing them to turn towards the direction they had come from... just in time to see a tidal wave of water come from the passages they had walked by and rush towards where the five of them were standing.
Of course the group tried to outrun the water, and Muramasa even flashed some distance ahead to try and avoid it, but eventually the water caught up with all of them and swept them into a larger chamber that anything they had been walking through so far, all while making their clothes wet from the experience.
"Damn it! Where the hell are we?" Ikkaku asked, though at the same time he and the others made sure that their heads were above the water, allowing them to see an area that didn't match what little stories he had heard about the underground waterway, which only annoyed him.
"I have no idea, but it dragged us some distance." Ise replied, as she was in the same boat as all the others, she had no idea where in the world they were at the moment and that meant that they might get lost from this point forward, which wasn't good since they also had no idea where the Toju was hiding.
"Hey, Hanataro! I thought you knew this place like the back of your hand!" Ikkaku stated, as they had heard that the only ones that knew the underground waterways the best were the Fourth Division, which Hanataro was a member of and should have the same understanding as the rest of his Division.
"I do, but I've never actually been this deep into the waterways before." Hanataro said, because he had never seen a reason to come down this deep in the past, especially since he didn't know a way to get down here without something doing what happened to them.
Before Ikkaku could say anything else something grabbed onto his leg, something that felt like a thin tentacle of some sort, which pulled him beneath the water and caused the rest of the group to remain on their guard, as best they could anyway, only they paused when a large mass appeared in the water below them. That was before a large number of tentacles, attached to whatever mass was below them, burst out of the water and used the waves to force the remaining four of them away from each other, and one tentacle remained alone as they discovered that it was holding Ikkaku in it's grasp. As Hozukimaru noticed that his partner was being held captive, and there was no telling what the tentacle was going to do to him, he started swimming towards his target, only for Ikkaku to tell them to leave while he dealt with the creature that had grabbed on, even though it seemed like he had no idea if his statement would be true. Just as he said that the creature that was restricting his movements pulled him back beneath the water, using the waves to send the group down another passage and forced them up onto a walkway that happened to be near them.
Muramasa coughed for a moment as he pulled himself out of the water, just as the others did the same and tried to get their clothing aired out, even though he'd have to do something about the smell later, when this mission was done, and he stared at the area they were in as he kept his guard up.
"What in the world was that?" Ise asked, because she had never heard of a creature residing beneath Soul Society in the past, and she could tell Hanataro was of the same opinion, meaning that they were dealing with something that had a number of unknown powers and might actually cause problems for them.
"I don't know, but Ikkaku, he... he..." Hanataro replied, though at the same time he wasn't sure what was going on at the moment, as seeing the tentacle monster capture Ikkaku hadn't been something that any of them were expecting and had no idea what they were supposed to do next.
"Don't worry about him." Hozukimaru stated, causing the group to glance at him for a moment, since he was staring at the direction they had come from and where his partner had last been seen, before he smirked, "Zanpakuto and their partners share the same heart and soul, so if I say he's not dead, then he's not dead."
Muramasa wasn't surprised to hear a Zanpakuto spirit say that, since almost all of them had gone back to normal after he had started his rebellion, though before he had the chance to say anything Hanataro started to smell something unusual and the rest of the group caught the strange scent as well. Not even a few seconds later Hanataro got up and started walking in the direction that it was coming from, while the others walked behind him as they kept their guards up since this could be another trap by their mysterious enemy, though it only took them a minute or two to find the area that it was coming from, a small camp that seemed out of place since they were in the underground waterways. What they found was that the tent, where a Toju likely rested, was a small one, not that the size really mattered when the Toju would be more dangerous than a normal Zanpakuto, but near the tent was a number of items that were on the list the Ise had been given earlier, before they came down here, confirming that this was the camp of their mystery thief. Hanataro, upon seeing that the smell was coming from the five chicken kabobs on the makeshift stove in front of the tent, was concerned for the chickens he had been raising, while at the same time Ise found the container that her Captain's favorite sake had been stored inside, confirming that they had found the home of their target.
"It appears that all the stolen goods, that got taken from all the barracks, are down here." Hozukimaru said, his words confirming what Hanataro and Ise had found, though at the same time Muramasa investigated the area around the camp to be sure that there weren't any additional traps that they might accidentally trigger while they wandered around the camp and looked at what had been taken.
"So it would seem." Muramasa stated, though as he said that he stopped in his tracks as he looked at the miniature form that was standing nearby, as it was a being that barely came up to his knees and was wearing a brown cloak to cover the rest of their body from sight, even if he could see a red glowing eye, "And it appears that we have company."
"Hey, hold it right there!" Hozukimaru stated, as he and Ise had turned when Muramasa spoke and found the figure that he had found, though as that happened the being seemed frightened and tried to run, only for him to flash down the passage that it started heading down and appeared in front of it, stopping it in it's tracks, "You won't be able to get away from me that easily!"
The being backed up and ran away again, where Ise moved towards the other side of the same passage that it was trying to run down, where she and Hozukimaru kept it contained in the area that the camp was in, before directing it back towards Hanataro and Muramasa, where it tripped on a rock and caused it to stumble out of it's cloak, to which it slammed into Hanataro's head and sent them both to the ground. What Muramasa discovered, while Ise helped their companion, was that the thief was a small white-colored robot-like figure with a cylindrical torso and spherical head, who had thin arms and legs with flat hands and feet, a rectangular mouth, and a round, completely black right eye, though what really interested him was that the being's left eye was a long, vertical gauge with several measurement marks, which covered a good deal of his face. He stood there for a moment, wondering if this was the Toju that they had come to take care of, or if this was an actual Zanpakuto spirit that had been awakened during the rebellion and had gone missing at some point in time, but regardless of which option was right he kept his guard up, because of the fact that they needed to head back and save Ikkaku from those tentacles soon.
Once Hanataro was fine, and he confirmed that, the four of them stared down at the tiny robot that was resting in front of them, who seemed to realize that he had been caught and got on his knees, where he bowed his head towards the group, as if offering it as an apology for his actions.
"I'm sorry." the robot being said, his tone revealing that, while he was still slightly terrified by what was going on at the moment, that he was deeply sorry for what he had done, meaning that he must have stolen all these items to keep himself alive and felt guilty when he took the items from their resting places.
"What in the world is this thing?" Ise asked, because she had never seen a Zanpakuto spirit like this, and she actually would have thought that this little thing could have been a spirit that was tied to one of Captain Mayuri's subordinates, and she noticed that Muramasa had never seen him before this point in time.
"I don't know," Hozukimaru commented, to which he turned his head towards the being that was bowing to them at the moment, because he had the feeling that they had caught the thief red-handed, but at the same time that meant that there was either a monster down here for another Toju, since his partner was still fighting it, "Little one, raise your head so we can get a good look at your face."
As the robot being did as he was told, and seemed to calm down a little more in the process, Muramasa noticed that Hanataro seemed to think that he knew who the being was, but then he shook his head, revealing that while it seemed a little familiar to him he still had no idea who was in front of them. Hozukimaru and Ise started to question the being immediately, trying to determine who in the world he was, what he had done to Ikkaku, why he had chosen this area to be his home, and a number of other questions that only caused the robot to repeat the phrase 'I'm sorry' after each question was asked, only annoying the duo more than they already were. For a moment the actions Muramasa recalled what sort of personality that Hanataro had, as the robot seemed to mimic it quite well, making him truly wonder if something had caused Hanataro's Zanpakuto spirit to manifest and become lost in all the chaos, but before he could say anything he felt something coming their way. His thoughts were correct, as part of a nearby wall burst open as Ikkaku went flying through it and crashed into the ground near them, showing that the robot being was not the one that was connected to the tentacles they had seen earlier, but that only caused him and the others to stare at the wall that now had a decent sized hole in it... because their true foe was coming for them, meaning that they would meet the real Toju that had been hiding down here in the underground waterways.
The Toju was a red well-toned humanoid figure with several long tentacles in place of legs and white pads where his hips would be, though he had two large, outward-pointing blades connected to his flesh on either side of his upper torso, giving him four blades in total, along with large white fins on either side of his head, razor-sharp teeth, and a human-like face with six yellow eyes, meaning two in his normal eye sockets and four on his forehead.
"So, the monster has shown himself at last. Ise, stand back with the others." Hozukimaru stated, where Ise nodded her head and headed back to where Hanataro was resting, who happened to be focused on the downed form of Ikkaku at the moment, while at the same time Muramasa stood off to the side, as he knew that the other spirit would weaken the Toju so he could attempt to free it, before Hozukimaru summoned his weapon, "This ought to be fun. Bankai!"
Muramasa was surprised that Hozukimaru was starting with his full power, when they had been sent to come and calm down the Toju that was in front of them, but he said nothing as the Zanpakuto spirit was surrounded by a powerful gust of wind that covered his body for a few seconds, though when the wind died down he found that Hozukimaru now had his Bankai weapons in both of his hands and resting on his shoulders. Before doing anything else he spun around his weapons, awakening his truly terrifying power, and then hurled one of the blades at the being in front of them, where they watched as the blade slid right off the being's body without hurting him in the process, surprising Hozukimaru by what had just happened. Just as that happened the Toju reached forward with his tentacles and wrapped around the spirit's chest, pulling Hozukimaru into the air and prevented him from doing anything else, causing Ise to growl as she charged and fired a Hado Number 31: Shakkaho at their enemy, where the red burst collided with the Toju's face and didn't seem to do anything to it, as it roared a little to show that it wasn't damaged at all, before hurling Hozukimaru down one of the passages near it.
"Hanataro, Muramasa, you two should help us." Ise stated, as she knew why Muramasa might be holding back, since he was supposed to be freeing the Toju when it was weakened and could easily assist them in weakening the creature they were fighting, but she didn't understand why Hanataro was acting this way, "I mean, you both have your own Zanpakuto, so you should be able to do something to this thing."
"But, my Zanpakuto is meant for healing," Hanataro replied, which made sense considering that he was a member of the Fourth Division, who were the medics of Soul Society, but then he rubbed the back of his head for a moment as he got ready to admit something he had failed to mention, "besides, I didn't think that I'd need my Zanpakuto while we were down here, not with Ikkaku, Hozukimaru, and Muramasa helping us, so I left it back in my room at the barracks."
The fact that Hanataro had left his Zanpakuto behind caused Ise to lower her guard, allowing the Toju to extend one of his tentacles and wrapped it around her, lifting her into the air and pulled her away from where Muramasa and Hanataro were standing. Before Muramasa could do anything the robot being pulled out a Zanpakuto from his pile of stolen goods and drew the blade, where he found it was a katana that had a gauge carved into the center of it's being, just like the markings on the robot's eye, to which he drew the blade and stabbed Ikkaku's back. As he stared at what was going on he noticed that Ikkaku's wounds healed before his eyes as the gauge filled with a red light, as if the damage was being siphoned out of the Shinigami's body and drained into the blade, while at the same time the robot's eye started to fill up as well. Hanataro's eyes widened as he recognized both the Zanpakuto that the robot was using and the technique that was in use at the moment, before before either of them could do anything the gauge filled up completely and that seemed to satisfy the robot as he pulled away from Ikkakku... which was followed by his chest opening up as an enormous cannon emerged from the depth's of the being's body.
"Infuse, Akeiro Hisagomaru." the robot declared, to which Muramasa watched as the robot loosed a powerful red burst of energy from the cannon, which raced towards where the Toju was standing and incinerated the being's body, breaking it apart in a matter of moments, while charring the ground in front of him, and when the light faded the Toju was gone, save for the fallen tentacle that Ise had been wrapped in.
Muramasa was stunned, that the Zanpakuto spirit of Hanataro's blade was so powerful on his own, as he decimated the Toju that they had come to capture, before assisting Ise as she tried to climb out of the water, allowing her to come to terms with what just happened as she rushed over to Ikkaku. A few seconds later Hozukimaru joined them, seeming a little annoyed that he couldn't have fought the Toju at all, before making sure that his partner was fine, but even as that happened Muramasa remained near the water, as there was something there that the others hadn't noticed yet. What he had discovered was that the Toju hadn't been truly defeated, as it appeared that he must have had a technique to save the core of his being thanks to the water around them, because a much smaller version of his monstrous form emerged from the area behind him. Since their foe was weakened it wasn't hard for Muramasa to raise his hand and use his own technique to stall the Toju where he was standing, allowing him to delve into his inner world and converse with him while the rest of his group focused on making sure Ikkaku was okay.
It didn't take him long to calm down the sea of anger that he found inside the Toju's inner world, which was another surprise that he wasn't expecting, and when he opened his eyes he found that the being had taken a more humanoid form, while having some fins behind his ears, white colored, that were both his Hollow mask fragments and a reminder of what he had been earlier. Fortunately Hisagomaru, as that was who the little robot was, actually had a spare set of stolen clothing that the new Arrancar could wear, which he put on immediately since he was nude the moment he finished his transformation into his new state, and once that was done the group collected a few of the stolen items, like the sake and the tea leaves, before heading back to the surface. Another good thing about having Hisagomaru on their side was that he knew the underground waterways better than most did, even Hanataro for that matter, so he was able to lead them right to one of the exits, allowing them to return to the streets of the Seireitei with ease. From there they headed back to the Fourth Division's barracks, where some of the Shinigami along the way smiled at them, as the fact that they had recovered all four of the missing chickens, as the little robot had been making something that wasn't chicken kabobs, told them that they had caught the thief and that all the stolen supplies would be returned in due time.
Captains Shunsui, Ukitake, and Unohana had returned to the barracks after leaving the Twelfth Division's barracks, once they determined that part of their plan was no longer valid, and were pleased to see that the group had returned relatively unharmed, even though Ikkaku refused to be checked into a bed, as he stated that he felt fine, so Hozukimaru stood by the door to be sure his partner didn't fall over while they told the Captains what happened.
"So, the thief was this guy right here," Shunsui commented, as he was staring at the robot the entire time the group had told them exactly what happened in the underground waterways, even though he did glance at the new Arrancar once to be sure he was standing there, "the materialized form of Hisagomaru."
"That's correct." Ise said, though while it was hard to believe that they had found a missing Zanpakuto spirit and a Toju in the same area she was happy that it happened that way, before she turned her heard towards Harataro, who was smiling as he held the four chickens at the moment, "Why didn't you tell us that he was the spirit of your Zanpakuto when we first encountered him?"
"Well, truth be told, I wasn't sure he was my Zanpakuto spirit when we first found him." Hanataro replied, though as he said that he rested a hand on the shoulder of his partner, who was standing in front of him and happened to be staring at the desk Shunsui was sitting at.
"That's just like you, Hanataro." Shunsui said, as he, Ukitake, and Unohana knew that Hanataro had some difficulty telling people what they needed to know at a given moment, but at the same time it sounded like he had only realized that the robot was his partner when he fired the cannon they had been told about, before a new thought came to mind, "But that begs the question: how did he materialize in the first place?"
"He came to talk to me," Hisagomaru spoke up, where he moved himself so he could rest on Hanataro's left shoulder, though once he was in place he raised his hand and pointed at Muramasa, who raised an eyebrow for a moment, "He was the one that caused me to materialize in the first place. But, unlike the other Zanpakuto, there was nothing about my master that made me dissatisfied and I refused to join the rebellion, so I was caught off guard when I suddenly found myself in my master's bedroom when the others were called to do battle with you. I tried to go back into my Zanpakuto, I really did, and when I exhausted all my options I came to the conclusion that I must have been rejected by my partner, so I ran away and headed into the underground waterways, to become a recluse for the rest of my days... I was filled with despair and thought my master hated me..."
"You are correct, I did talk to you before the rebellion started." Muramasa admitted, because Hisagomaru had been one of the last Zanpakuto spirits he had gone and talked to, even though he was the only one to side against him, before he turned towards the Captains, "He's the only Zanpakuto that didn't have any problems with his partner, not like how Haineko was so angry at how Matsumoto treated her or how Zabimaru thought that Renji was weak and didn't deserve their power, so since I couldn't use anything against him I left him alone. It seems that when I called for the Zanpakuto to join me, at the start of my rebellion, I accidentally called him out of his Zanpakuto as well, even though I only intended to call those that had joined my side... so I'm sorry for any pain or torment that you have endured over the last week."
"Besides, Hanataro doesn't hate you." Hozukimaru added, causing Hisagomaru to turn back and look at him for a few seconds, where he gestured to himself for a moment, as there was something he needed to say and telling the small spirit would help him as well, "As you can see, and as you will find in the days to come, all of the spirits haven't been able to return to normal, despite the fact that Muramasa has released his hold on everyone... it seems that it's taking a long time for his reiatsu to depart from us and the Toju he accidentally created."
Shunsui nodded, understanding what the Zanpakuto spirit was saying, before staring at Muramasa, as it appeared that his rebellion, all to get his own partner back, had more effects than what they had originally thought and that they would have to keep an eye out for whatever else might happen. At the same time the newest Arrancar seemed to be eager to get out of here, which made sense considering that there was someone he needed to meet and swear his allegiance to, so he and Ukitake dismissed the group so they could get back to whatever they had been doing before the chickens had been reported missing. Ikkaku and Hozukimaru would be heading back to their Division's barracks, so they could either relax or continue their training, and they were eager to get back to their Captain, because they were the first ones to leave the room that they were standing in. Ise, Hanataro, and Hisagomaru were going to head back into the underground waterways with a larger group and recover the rest of the stolen items from the makeshift camp, but before that Hanataro had to return the chickens to their coop and make sure they were ready to go before he could join them. As such the Captains let the group break into three smaller groups and head out on their own, allowing them to return to their own work, since they were still trying to rebuild the rest of the Seireitei so they could go back to their own barracks and stop taking up Unohana's space.
Muramasa smiled a little as he left the Fourth Division's barracks with the newest Arrancar that would grace Lord Sombra's growing empire, because while he had only been able to save one of them again, and not a large group like they were hoping to find, this was one less Toju that they had to worry about. He was sure that he, the other Arrancar, and the Shinigami would be able to find one of those large groups that were hiding and save more of the Toju, though there was a wide vast area for them to search and he knew that if they could find a single Toju, that belonged to a large group, they could do what Lord Sombra wanted them to do. Of course as he walked he noticed that his companion was nervous, since he was only now understanding who his new master was thanks to the information that he got from Hueco Mundo, but at the same time that condition would fade away when he finally met Sombra, who would be eager to meet the newest member of his empire, and he told his companion that piece of information. That might not have done much in the grand scheme of things, but at the same time it let his new friend know that things would be changing for him, just like what happened to the rest of the Toju that they had saved in the past, and he walked with a small smile on his face.
He knew that Sombra would be busy, because he was always busy putting together a working empire, which let his subordinates help the Shinigami and prove that they could be allies, but something told him that things would be changing soon enough, they just had to be patient and wait for whatever he was feeling to arrive.
Haineko yawned for a moment as she stretched her arms, as right now she was standing outside the building that she and the other Arrancar had been granted, the larger one that was closer to the Senkaimon so Lord Sombra or someone else could take the newly born Arrancar to Hueco Mundo, though she was relaxing a little before her next assignment. Two days had gone by since Ikkaku, Ise, Hanataro, Hozukimaru, and Muramasa went into the underground waterways and came back out with both Hisagomaru and a new Arrancar, stopping the thefts and saving another Toju in the process, even though Muramasa was forced to clean his clothing since he and the others had fallen into the water while they were down there, since he smelled a little when he got back. Fortunately it was easy for them to clean his clothes, since Hanataro had a method to get the smell out of them, and not even a few hours later Muramasa was able to walk around with clothing that smelled like roses, to which he thanked Hanataro for assisting him before returning to his duties. It had been interesting when he got back to the building, as some of the others had insisted on him getting his clothing cleaned, and Haineko smiled as she thought about it for a moment, before considering what had happened after that, since things got interesting when the following day arrived.
The reason she thought about that was because the day after the thefts had been taken care of, and the stolen goods returned to their respective owners, she heard that Ikkaku, Iba, Kira, and Hisagi had gone off to Rukongai to take care of some Toju that had been sighted in that area. Muramasa, of course, had gone with them to save the Toju that they managed to find when they arrived, but the interesting part about that mission was that Kazeshini had attacked the group on their way to Rukongai, all in an effort to hurt or even kill Hisagi, surprising Hisagi's companions by his rather sudden appearance. Truthfully, she wasn't surprised to find that Kazeshini was acting independently of his partner, since Hisagi hadn't been the one to best Kazeshini earlier, and he was acting like he was still following someone's orders, even though Muramasa stated that none of the Zanpakuto were under his control, since that would only make Sombra disappointed in him and lead to some punishment if he had done that. Everyone who knew Hisagi also understood that he disliked the way the Shikai form of his Zanpakuto looked, as it looked like a pair of weapons that were designed to reap lives, and that meant that he was stuck with a difficult Zanpakuto spirit, since Kazeshini was more than willing to kill his partner, and himself, while he hunted down his targets.
Haineko knew that Kazeshini had been formed some time before Hisagi's Captain had come in and shifted his view on the world around him, as Hisagi's current personality didn't match the personality and mindset of his partner, though despite all that their communication was actually better than some of the other bonds she had seen, even if they happened to be fighting each other while trying to capture the Toju.
Unfortunately the Shinigami had been late and the Toju had disappeared before their arrival, and she knew that Hisagi wasn't happy about the Toju getting away from them, even if he may or may not have blamed his Zanpakuto spirit for getting in the way. While they had been talking among themselves, and not paying attention to the area around them, Muramasa had confronted Kazeshini, where he was aided by both Hozukimaru and Wabisuke as he attempted to tell the spirit to calm down and stop being so crazy, since he was only making things harder for the other Zanpakuto and might even sour more of the bonds that his fellow spirits were trying to fix. Haineko had been there as well, as she had been trying to find the crazy spirit in an attempt to get him to calm down, because it was like Muramasa had been trying to tell him, that the Shinigami were frightened of the possibility of the other freed spirits becoming like Kazeshini, which would only cause more of the spirits to flock to Sombra's side, something she was trying to prevent. Despite her best efforts she and Muramasa couldn't convince Kazeshini to change his mind, so while Muramasa went back to help the Shinigami in their hunt for the Toju, wherever they were hiding, Haineko went back to where Zangetsu was stationed and had joined him, leaving Kazeshini to what he was doing.
What happened after that was the discovery of a Toju, one that Muramasa freed after Hisagi restrained it, and once that was done Kazeshini attacked Hisagi again, showing that he didn't care what his partner was doing and would attack him whenever he desired. Apparently things got interesting after that, as Hisagi fled from the area and continued to do his job, hunting for the other Toju as Muramasa took the new Arrancar to the building they were stationed at, but the truly interesting fact was that Kazeshini found a man that had been cut down by a second Toju and had been tasked with keeping a baby safe. She would have thought that Kazeshini, a spirit that existed to reap lives and leave corpses in his wake, would have ended the man's life and taken out the baby, but she, and those that had heard the story, had been happy when they heard that the spirit had actually taken the little baby and left the area. From what she could tell he wasn't too pleased to be taking care of the baby, especially since it cried every now and then, depending on the area that they were in and whatever Kazeshini happened to be doing at any given moment, especially since the baby apparently wet itself at one point and freaked the spirit out in the process.
It really got interesting as Kazeshini actually kept the baby safe, since it prevented him from actually trying to battle Hisagi when he got near him and the other Shinigami some time later, allowing the group to continue their search while he took care of the baby that was messing with him. When Kazeshini found an abandoned shack to put the baby in, while it was sleeping so it would be safe from harm, the group of Shinigami actually found more red-eyed Toju, as it appeared that a small group of similar shaped Toju had taken control on the area and were asserting themselves by killing everyone in the area around them. Fortunately three of the four Toju were easy to capture, allowing Muramasa to restrain them for now, while the trident wielding member of their group went after the building that Kazeshini was in, though instead of cutting him down, like he would have gone, he smacked the Toju to the ground and restrained him, surprising his partner in the process as he delivered the Toju to Muramasa. From there Muramasa freed all of the red-eyed Toju and helped them awake their true hearts, transforming them all into Arrancar and cutting down the number of targets they had to search for in the future, though before anything else happened Kazeshini returned to the shack and found that a lady was tending to the crying baby, who Kazeshini asked to take care of the baby as he returned to the battlefield.
From what Haineko understood Hisagi had told his Zanpakuto partner that he'd never finish their battle if Kazeshini kept sticking to sneak attacks, like he occasionally did when Hisagi was his target, and this time around the violent spirit walked out into the open and openly challenged his partner to a fight. Despite not seeing the battle for herself, since she had been elsewhere at the time, she heard from the other Shinigami that had been present that the battle between the two had been fierce, where their blades could have easily cut through parts of the buildings and the surrounding are if they were inclined to do so, but both Hisagi and Kazeshini focused on their foe and let nothing else distract them. Even the group of newly born Arrancar confirmed that statement, as both of the combatants attacked each other with the desire to finish the other off, almost like neither of them were concerned for the area around them, and in the end it was Hisagi that had cut Kazeshini down. With his defeat looming over him Kazeshini realized what it meant to be a Zanpakuto and realized that he was going to revert back to normal, or at least enter the same state as the other Zanpakuto spirits that had actually been defeated by their partners, and found that they'd be fighting to protect something, where it appeared that he agreed with his partner, instead of fighting him.
Hisagi, from what Haineko heard, called Kazeshini a hypocrite, since his Zanpakuto spirit never wanted to do anything like that before, and Kazeshini even agreed that he was one, but after that event the new Arrancar were escorted to the building that Sombra was using as their base of operations... and, if the rumors were to be believed, the five former Toju had been part of a much larger group, one that they and Muramasa were going to take care of, leaving Haineko and the others to watch for any other Toju activity.
While Muramasa was busy chasing the other Toju, and saving them wherever they were hiding, Haineko found her excitement in training with Zangetsu, even though they had to be very careful if they were training inside the Seireitei and really couldn't cut loose if they were anywhere near the various districts of Rukongai. Their only choices, if they wanted to cause a mess, were to either go back to the hole that Sombra had made when he battled Muramasa or head back to Hueco Mundo and battle off in the distance, so they'd be near Las Noches in cause either of them were called for a mission. They remained in Soul Society, just training in the forest around the Seireitei, though they did have to stop their sessions to help the influx of arrivals, as it appeared that there were around fifty Toju in the area that the five had been starting to claim as their own, and in addition to helping Muramasa save more of the dangerous Toju they would also be making things up to the Shinigami by cleaning up the area and helping them rebuild. Sombra told them that it was the best way for them to fix their relationships with Soul Society, while also proving that the Toju deserved to be given another chance, and many of them were happy for the chance to prove themselves, showing their true personalities while also showing that their anger was just a product of them being without a Shinigami master or partner.
Haineko and Zangetsu smiled as they watched the newest members of their empire join Lord Sombra and then head out to aid the Shinigami, or their fellow Arrancar, in whatever manner they thought was best, be it assisting the rebuilding process or finding the remaining Toju. What was really interesting was that both of them saw Kazeshini running around the Seireitei, offering presents to the various individuals that he had tormented when he was under Muramasa's control, as an apology for his actions, despite the fact that Muramasa told them that he never intended for the violent Zanpakuto to become as violent and destructive as he had been during the first stage of his rebellion. It was an unexpected side effect, just like he accidentally knocked Hisagomaru out of Hanataro's Zanpakuto when he called the others to his side, but at the same time they were happy that he had calmed down quite a lot, even if he had to ask Sombra to take one of the presents to the World of the Living, since it was for Ichigo. Sombra didn't seem to mind the change in Kazeshini's attitude and personality, as if he had been expecting something like this to happen when Hisagi beat him, and he told the spirit that he'd deliver the package to Ichigo while he was in the World of the Living, since he had to take the new Arrancar to Las Noches and would stop by once they had been safely delivered to their destination.
Which brought Haineko back to what she was doing at the moment, two days after Kazeshini had been beaten by Hisagi and had some sense knocked back into him, because Sombra had taken the new Arrancar to Hueco Mundo and she had the feeling that it would be a while before anything interesting happened in Soul Society again, meaning that the next Toju was likely to hit the World of the Living... she just needed to be patient and see if she was right in her thoughts, which would be when their Lord returned to them in the near future.
"We're making better progress than we were before," Sombra commented, to which he looked out at the number of newly formed Arrancar that were finding their place in his growing empire, especially since there were fifty new additions that needed to be added to the rosters and everything else that he told Szayelaporro to make note of, "especially since we were lead right to one of the large groups of Toju that we've been trying to locate."
"Indeed we are." Ulquiorra said, as he was looking out at the state of his Lord's growing empire, because while he had originally felt that such a plan wouldn't work, that the Toju would disappear before too many were captured, seeing this many had changed his mind, because now they had a sixth of the recorded number of dead Shinigami that had been given an Asauchi, meaning that a sixth of the created Toju had been captured and freed, "Soon we'll be able to pull our forces out of Soul Society and get to work on the next stage of your plan, even though none of us are really sure what you are planning for at the moment."
"Captain-Commander Yamamoto told me about the number of potential enemies that Soul Society might face in the future," Sombra explained, recalling the list that he had been given during their meeting, along with the one that he was the most interested in preparing for, before he turned his head slightly, so he could look at Ulquiorra, "and out of all of those enemies there was only one I deemed a true danger to Hueco Mundo, the World of the Living, Soul Society, and even Hell itself. That foe is Yhwach, the Father of the Quincy, and Yamamoto seems to think that he's dead, killed by his own hand almost a thousand years ago, but in my personal opinion I don't see it that way... I'm willing to bet that Yhwach is alive and is planning on making a move when Soul Society is vulnerable, so we just have to be patient and strike when he's least expecting it."
Ulquiorra remained silent for a few moments, as it sounded like this 'Yhwach' was one of the strongest beings in the entirety of the four realms that made up their world, someone that only his Lord could take on and defeat whenever he finally decided to reveal himself, and decided that the best course of action was to nod his head in agreement... because now he had the feeling that the empire was also being made to deal with whatever army the Father of the Quincy was putting together, which they would discover whenever their foe showed himself.
"You know, since the others have this covered, you should take a day or two off." Sombra said, causing Ulquiorra to turn his head towards his Lord, who had gone back to looking out at his new kingdom with a smile on his face, as this time it felt like he had truly earned his position, since he stole the last one from it's rightful owner, "I know that you've been keeping taps on the World of the Living, as I expected you to do since we have no idea where any of these enemies are, and that you've been keeping a close eye on a certain Human girl that happens to go to the same school that Ichigo goes to during the day. You must really miss Orihime, if you're going to one of Szayelaporro's spare consoles to make sure that she and Sora are doing okay, even though they should be fine since all Hollows know to stay away from my friends and Ichigo can stall anyone else that get's in the way."
Ulquiorra opened his mouth to say something, to deny what his Lord was suggesting, before he stopped himself and considered what had been said, especially since he had been growing interested in Orihime during her time in Las Noches, even if it had been because she was a Human that stuck to her stubborn ways. At the same time, however, there was the fact that his Lord was good at determining what someone was thinking and sometimes even what they felt, meaning that any feelings he did have towards Orihime might very well be seen and considered before he was even aware that he was feeling that way. It was a dangerous game to play, because no matter what choice he made Sombra would either tell him that he still needed to take some time off or nod his head and act as if he hadn't said anything, but he also knew that whichever option he took would eventually result in some time off. He also considered that something else had been proven recently, that Arrancar, regardless if they were originally Hollows or Zanpakuto, could find love, a concept that he was actually interested in pursuing since it was something that he had never studied before, so while he didn't share those feelings with a Human he was interested in seeing if he could find some Humans that were like that to study while he was in the World of the Living.
"Very well then, Lord Sombra, I shall take some time off." Ulquiorra said, because he knew that it would be wise not to argue with a being that was capable of defeating someone without taking any damage at all and had the power to force a Hollow or Arrancar to do what he wanted, a power he didn't like using, and that wasn't even considering his innate power over the shadows at all, "I shall return once I've had my fill of the World of the Living and the Humans that call it home... or if I find any Toju and return them to your growing empire."
Sombra nodded and left Ulquiorra to his business, causing the Arrancar to mentally sigh as he headed for the gateway between this world and the World of the Living, since he figured that the sooner he started taking some time off the sooner he'd be allowed to get back to his work, something that he was sure his Lord could handle in his stead. It wasn't long before he stepped out into the shrine that the gateway connected to, even though he was still a little surprised that the Shinigami allowed such a stable connection between two of the realms to exist in the first place, before determining that none of them wanted to go against Sombra, not with the power he commanded. When he walked outside the shrine he discovered that Sombra had not been wrong when he revealed that the 'sun' that hung in Hueco Mundo's sky mimicked the real one, as both of them were in the same position, showing that it was morning and that the Humans he was looking for would be heading to the school they attended. As such he moved into the sky and kept his reiatsu at a level that wouldn't influence anyone in this world, as Sombra would surely punish him if he accidentally killed someone while he was here, all while making his way to the building that Ichigo and his friends would be heading to, as he did have some small amount of interest in how Humans learned the subjects they needed to learn before they joined the working force of their world.
Sure enough he found the high school quite easily, he recognized it from the various times he searched the area from one of Szayelaporro's consoles, silently confirming that his Lord knew that he was interested in Humans still, before he came to a stop and looked down at one of the classrooms. It was rather easy to find the room that Orihime, dressed in her school attire, was in, since Sora was floating outside the room his sister was in and merely nodded towards him as he came to a stop near him, allowing him to see that Orihime was being approached by another girl from behind, even though he had the feeling that this happened a lot in the past, based on the fact that Sora wasn't doing anything.
"Orihime, I'm so happy you're okay!" the red haired girl, Chizuru Honsho if Ulquiorra was remembering her name correctly, exclaimed, though at the same time she wrapped her arms around the front of Orihime's body from where she was standing, even though she was more interested in Orihime's chest than anything else, despite the fact that Ulquiorra noticed some tears on her face at the moment, "I heard that a high school girl got attacked yesterday, and I was so worried that you were the one that was hurt, my darling Orihime!"
Ulquiorra remained silent for a moment as two more high school girls mentioned a 'phantom attacker', because based on what he had observed yesterday there had been no attack on anyone, but that might have been due to the fact that he stopped watching after an hour of observing what had happened since his last visit. As he stood there he noticed another one of Orihime's friends, Tatsuki, lightly strike Chizuru in the head, forcing her to release Orihime while at the same time confirming that this must have happened a number of times in the past, showing him why Sora hadn't tried to separate the first girl from his sister. Once that had been taken care of he observed the rest of the classroom, ignoring the fact that Tatsuki glanced at both him and Sora for a moment, since he had been told that she could actually see him and the other spirits, where he found that Ichigo was indeed in this class as well, and it appeared that Rukia had come to the World of the Living for some reason as well. However, as he looked at them for a few seconds, he noticed that Ichigo seemed to be taking a nap at the moment, like he hadn't gotten enough sleep or something, and a few seats away Rukia was drawing rabbit shaped heads in her notebook, instead of paying attention to the class she was in.
He knew what was going on, as both Ichigo and Rukia's reiatsus were coming from another part of town, meaning that they were dealing with the lost souls that still lingered in this world as they raced against the Hollows that still came to this area, which told him that the beings inside their bodies were Kon and Chappy, the Mod-Souls that existed inside those green pills they ate to separate their Shinigami forms from their bodies, or from her gigai in Rukia's case.
Ulquiorra changed his focus a few moments later when the teacher entered the room and informed the class that she would be introducing their newest classmate, where a high school girl, around the age of the others from what he could see, walked in and wrote her name on the board. As she did that Ulquiorra noticed that the girl had dark brown colored eyes and short black colored hair, which had bangs that curved inward, though she was currently wearing a uniform that must have been from the high school she was transferring from, a uniform that consisted of a short-sleeved white shirt, a light blue colored vest, and a dark blue skirt. Despite the fact that he, Sora, and the others could easily read the name that was written on the board, the teacher introduced the new girl as Kyoko Haida and asked the class to be nice to her, to which the girl bowed her head a little and said that it was nice to meet them. The only thing that Ulquiorra noticed, as Kyoko took her assigned seat, was that the class seemed to welcome her with open arms, even if she was mostly silent during the time they were talking to her and only spoke a few times, causing the others to try and make her feel as welcome as they possibly could.
As all of this happened, and the first lessons of the day started for the class, Ulquiorra couldn't help but wonder if there was something going on in Karakura Town at the moment, since it appeared that both Ichigo and Rukia were going to remain outside their bodies and let the Mod-Souls attend their class for them... and it was only when those first couple of lessons were over that anything actually happened.
"Hello." Kyoko said, as she had waited for the lunch break to walk over to Orihime's desk, since she was placed some distance away from where Ichigo's friend sat, though at the same time both Ulquiorra and Sora watched what happened with some interest, even if their reasons for being here were completely different.
"Oh, hello." Orihime replied, to which she smiled at Kyoko for a moment, even though the other girl had her right arm in front of her body and was gripping her left arm, showing that she had to be a little nervous about meeting someone new, despite her earlier performance in front of the entire class.
"Would you mind telling me your name?" Kyoko asked, though while Ulquiorra found it to be an odd request, just in the way the question was phrased, he didn't move at all and watched them, because if anything actually happened he knew that Sora would be the first one to react, especially if his sister was involved in some manner.
"Sure, I'm Orihime Inoue." Orihime said, showing that she didn't find anything wrong with the situation, since she had been asked that by many of the 'new' students that had come from Soul Society, who had no idea who she was before they came here, and she smiled at Kyoko as she said that, "It's nice to meet you."
Kyoko remained silent for a moment, as if she found something wrong or interesting about what she had just been told, but before she or Orihime could say anything else Tatsuki came in and called Orihime to join her for lunch, though as that happened both Ichigo and Rukia headed off to their own area, so they'd be away from the others in case the real Ichigo and Rukia returned from their mission. While she was distracted Kyoko left the classroom and went to have lunch on her own, where Ulquiorra stared at her for a few moments, to be sure that she wasn't up to something, before returning his attention to the classroom that rested in front of him and Sora.
"So, since we have some time, I have a question." Sora commented, as he had been surprised when Ulquiorra flashed into the area that he was in, since he was making sure his sister was safe from harm, and there was something he needed to know before the lessons started once more, "What brings you to the World of the Living? I could have sworn that you disliked this world and wanted nothing to do with it."
"Lord Sombra told me that I should take some time off," Ulquiorra replied, though despite the fact that he agreed to do what he had been told, even if he felt it was a waste of time since he had work that needed to be completed in Las Noches, he did find that there was some interest seeing how Humans interacted with each other, "I figured that I could use the time I've been given to learn more about Humans, especially since your sister showed me that there were more to her kind than I originally thought."
"I see," Sora said, to which he turned his attention to where his sister was standing, or rather where she was sitting since she was currently eating lunch with her friends at the moment, before turning his gaze a little and found something interesting, as Ulquiorra seemed to be staring at the same area that he was looking at, "Oh, now I get it. sure, you say that you're interested in Humans, but the reality of the situation is that you miss Orihime, since she was the one that got under all of your beliefs about Humans and their hearts."
Ulquiorra said nothing to that, because he honestly didn't know why both Sora and Lord Sombra thought that he missed Orihime, who clearly liked Ichigo more than anyone else in the world, but even as he thought about that fact he also considered something else. From what Lord Sombra had told him, based on what he had learned by being with his friends for some time, Rukia and Renji were best friends that had been as close as brother and sister before Rukia had been adopted into the Kuchiki Clan, though it was hard for a bond like that to be taken apart or dismissed. At the same time he realized that, despite the fact that Orihime loved Ichigo, to some small degree since he had been the one that Orihime had visited before he took her to Hueco Mundo, the Substitute Shinigami still considered her a friend and he knew that whatever feelings she had for Ichigo would fade with time, if he continued to ignore her feelings. Despite the fact that his Lord was in love with a Shinigami, the polar opposite of a Hollow, he knew that the possibility of an Arrancar falling in love with a Human was non existent, even if he didn't have any feelings towards Orihime at all, which was why he focused on the small group of Humans that he was interested in observing and remained silent.
Eventually the students returned to class and the duo watched them once more as the lessons resumed, where they found that Kyoko was smart and was able to breeze through some of the tougher math questions that stumped many of the students, save for Uryu, who happened to be the smartest student in the room. When some of the students went out for their gym class they also discovered that Kyoko was good at sports, showing that she must have been on a team or something back in her previous high school, leaving Ulquiorra to wonder why she had come here in the first place. The other students didn't seem to mind the fact that their newest classmate was close to Uryu's level of intellect and was good at sports, in fact they welcomed her even more when they found that out, and as the hours ticked by Ulquiorra watched the Humans go about their day, until it was time for them to leave. He and Sora watched the Humans, where Sora focused on his sister as Ulquiorra observed the interactions of the other Humans, as a number of them were chatting and making plans with each other, before the two of them moved out of the area and silently followed after Orihime's group, who just so happened to be chatting about Kyoko and what she had shown them throughout the day.
Interestingly enough none of them seemed to know why Kyoko had transferred to their school, while at the same time Kyoko herself apparently didn't know why she had come here either, telling Ulquiorra that something was definitely going on at the moment and that he'd have to keep watch over the town while Sora kept Orihime safe.
While Sora followed after his sister's group, and made sure that they got to their individual houses safely, Ulquiorra started to move all over the town, keeping his eyes open for anything that might show where this 'phantom attacker' was hiding while keeping his senses open in case someone came looking for him, so his defenses would be ready in case he was under attack. For a time he found that nothing interesting happened, save for seeing how Humans reacted when they were buying things for dinner, where some of them seemed to get their supplies later than when some of them should have gotten them, though there were a number of Humans that were just buying snacks and nothing else. It was strange to see how different Humans were, since one could do something and the one next to them would sometimes do the opposite, before the day gave way to the evening and the sun started to set, reminding him that he had pretty much wasted the day observing Humans, only to learn nearly nothing exciting about them. When he considered that, however, he came to a stop at the top of a building, as it appeared that the only way that he was actually going to learn a lot about Humans and how they acted was by following the one Human that had peaked his curiosity in the first place, while also denying that he had any feelings for her, despite the fact that it was possible for an Arrancar to experience love.
Before he could explore his thoughts further he felt the presence of a new reiatsu signature, one that disappeared not even a few seconds later, and heard the sounds of the police cars that the Humans used when something terrible, like a car crash or a murder, happened, to which he flashed through the air and headed towards the area in question... and when he arrived at the area he found that both Ichigo and Rukia, in their Shinigami attire, were already investigating the area, like a Toju had been there or something.
"Well I'll be, I never thought I'd see you outside Hueco Mundo." Ichigo commented, though as Rukia leapt down to get a closer look at the crime scene, where Ulquiorra noticed that another high school girl, one that he didn't know, had been attacked, Ichigo focused on the Arrancar that had killed him when they were trying to get Orihime back, "So, Ulquiorra, what's the occasion?"
"Lord Sombra told me to take some time off, so I did." Ulquiorra replied, to which he glanced at the area they were in and didn't see anything that would point them in the direction of the person or being that attacked the girl, who was still breathing and was only in shock at the moment, meaning that the attacker either didn't have time to finish the job or had done what they came to do, "I intended to study your fellow Humans, in an attempt to understand them better, but it seems like there's a Toju to hunt down and capture."
"Unfortunately, Rukia's phone can't find the being responsible for this attack and the previous one." Ichigo stated, to which he sighed for a moment as he looked up at the sky, as there was something interesting about this scenario that he had only just figured out, "You know, this is one of those times where I wish Sombra was actually here, so he could take one look at the scene that Rukia's looking at and not only figure out where our target is located, but also the reasons behind why they're targeting high school girls. He's got this unnatural ability where all he has to do is either get a single piece of information or a few bits, sometimes even none at all, and he could tell you anything you wanted to know about who you're looking for, what they're plans are, and if they're goals are even obtainable... especially since several of the enemies we've encountered tried to destroy Soul Society and failed thanks to him being there."
"Indeed. Lord Sombra's powers have no equal." Ulquiorra said, and that was the truth, as the first Dios Hueco had been strong, which made sense considering that they were supposed to be the strongest Hollow of them all, but Sombra was much stronger than his predecessor, as he was able to manipulate the entirety of Hueco Mundo and was changing it for the better, and that wasn't counting the other powers he had showed off so far, "If a Toju was attacking your fellow classmates, or at least your fellow students, I'm sure Lord Sombra would have found the target and would have subdued them long before this second attack even happened."
"Speaking of which, what did Kon do inside my body?" Ichigo asked, as he had the feeling that Ulquiorra had been observing a certain someone and knew the answer to his question, even though he could just ask Sora the next time he saw Orihime's brother, since he did come by every now and then, just to tell him if anything happened that he needed to be aware of.
"He napped while the other students were coming to class and got some mistakes on the questions that your teacher asked the class," Ulquiorra answered, though from what he had learned so far Ichigo was trying to be a good student, a task that had been easy when Sombra was still just a lone Arrancar and had turned hard when his friend claimed all of Hueco Mundo as his kingdom, "Don't worry, your teacher said that the questions he answered, and got wrong, were some of the harder ones, so your reputation in class is the same as before. Chappy, on the other hand, drew in Rukia's journal the entire time she was in class, so I'm going to say that whatever notes she had before today are terrible and will likely have to rewrite them at some point in time, depending on how much longer she's intending on staying in this world. If I didn't know any better I'd say that she was looking for any opportunity to come to this world, to be with the one person that means a lot to her, and I'm not talking about Renji, since she'd be back in Soul Society if that was the case."
"And if I didn't know you as well as I think I do, I'd say you were trying to suggest something." Ichigo stated, though as he started to take a step away from Ulquiorra, however, he noticed that Rukia was investigating something and would be out of earshot for a moment, to which he turned back towards the Arrancar that was standing near him, "Actually, I take what I just said back. You are suggesting something, aren't you?"
"It seems that finally accepting the fact that Zangetsu was your Zanpakuto spirit, despite his separation from you, has given way to a better understanding of your surroundings." Ulquiorra stated, as before the separation he was sure that Ichigo would have kept walking and never thought about this again, but now, after finally uncovering the truth, he had grown a little smarter and had caught onto what he was suggesting quite easily, before he glanced in the direction that Rukia was in, "But, to answer your question... yes, Ichigo Kurosaki, I am suggesting something."
"What are you... talking..." Ichigo started to say, though he stopped himself when he noticed that Ulquiorra had been looking in the same direction that he had glanced in a few moments ago, to see what Rukia was up to at the moment, and that caused him to frown for a moment, "Oh, I see what you're doing. You think that just because she keeps coming here, to the town that I'm protecting with my life, and keeps appearing in my school whenever she's on a mission from Soul Society, means that she has to be in love with me? Well, in case you haven't noticed, she's the one that's in charge of protecting this town, on orders from Soul Society, so it makes sense that she'd be in the same area that I'm in, to work with me and provide a unified front against those that would seek to do the town harm. Besides, what does someone like you know about love anyway?"
"Nothing." Ulquiorra admitted, catching Ichigo off guard for a moment, almost like he didn't expect him to answer the question at all, before he glanced out at the town that rested around them and focused on something else, which would force Ichigo to remain nearby while he talked, "I know nothing about love, Ichigo Kurosaki, and that is one of the reasons I have come here, to see what happens when Humans fall in love with each other, or at least try to understand their various emotions better. At the same time, however, I was able to see something that you seem to have missed..."
"Rukia isn't in love with me... if anything she'd be in love with Renji." Ichigo stated, as he couldn't that he was having this conversation with Ulquiorra, the one Arrancar that was terrible with emotions since they were an entirely new concept to him, before shaking his head as he turned away, though not quick enough for Ulquiorra to see the slightest instances of a blush appearing on the Substitute Shinigami's face, "Since it seems that you're not taking this seriously, I'm going to keep investigating the area and see if I can't find anything that will help us find the Toju that's responsible for these girls being attacked, and see if we can't stop that from happening again."
Ulquiorra stood there for a moment as Ichigo, who still seemed to be as stubborn as he usually was, jumped into the air and flashed out of the area that they were in, showing that he was going to think about what he had just said before he did anything else, though before he moved he heard a cough behind him and noticed that Rukia had come up to where they had been standing, oddly enough after Ichigo disappeared from the area.
"What do you think Sombra would say if he heard you say that?" Rukia asked, because while Ichigo and Ulquiorra seemed to have thought that she hadn't been able to hear them, since she had been busy studying the area for signs of their target, she had actually heard their conversation, hence the annoyed look on her face.
"Considering everything that my Lord has said, he'd likely say the same thing." Ulquiorra replied, as he knew that his Lord had likely seen this lingering in the background and had said nothing, since he wasn't in the mood to tell people that someone was in love with them, before he turned his attention to Rukia for a moment, "So, are you going to tell him how you feel at some point in the future?"
"Are you going to tell Orihime how you feel?" Rukia inquired in return, causing Ulquiorra to raise an eyebrow for a moment, as it appeared that he was doing something that was showing people that he was interested in keeping an eye on Orihime, even if they had a different idea of what he was actually trying to do, "Tell you what, Ulquiorra, if you confess your feelings to Orihime at some point in time, regardless of how she takes it, I'll do the same thing to Ichigo and see how he takes it... what do you say? Do we have a deal?"
Despite the fact that he didn't have any feelings for Orihime, something that some of the people he had talked to had said that he had since he was more focused on her than anyone else at the moment, Ulquiorra decided to agree to what Rukia was saying, where she smiled, as they both knew that nothing would happen, unless he suddenly changed his mind while he was in the World of the Living. Once that was done Rukia chased after Ichigo, to tell him whatever she had found at the crime scene, while Ulquiorra simply watched the town from a number of the rooftops that were around the area, keeping an eye open for anything that might disturb the peace. He found that no Toju appeared to hunt down more of the high school girls and none of the Hollows that he had felt earlier had stuck around, meaning that he and the Shinigami were the only ones left, save for Uryu and Ichigo's Human friends, making it easier for him to do his job. Despite what he had thought earlier he still spent some time thinking about Orihime, about how Kyoko seemed interested in her and the fact that he felt she was in immediate danger, but he knew that time would tell him what was going on and that he would discover the truth soon enough.
When morning arrived he found himself returning to the high school, where he found Orihime and her female friends watching Kyoko as she played basketball with the rest of their class, though while he was somewhat interested in their game he was more worried about any potential threats that might be in the area. After some time one of the other girls accidentally knocked Kyoko to the ground, to which Tatsuki had Orihime take her to the nurse's office, though as the two of them walked towards the building another girl knocked over a stone container with some flowers. Instead of waiting for Sora to catch them, since he was trying to protect her from danger and stupid stuff like that, Orihime used her Flowers to form a shield and broke the container before it could hurt either of them, to which she returned them to her hairpins and tended to Kyoko once more. In that moment some red flags were thrown, as Kyoko revealed that she had known that Orihime was special, because she had powers and only special people had abilities like Orihime did, before adding in the fact that she also had powers, despite the fact that she didn't show off what she meant, causing Ulquiorra to wonder what was happening at the moment.
Even Orihime didn't like where this was going, since she claimed that her powers were only unique, among all the various powers that she had seen since she first gained her Flowers, and she even denied being special, something that really got under Kyoko's skin... especially since she threatened to reveal what Orihime could do to her classmates, so they would think she was a freak of nature or something, something that pissed Sora off actually annoyed Ulquiorra more than he was willing to admit to anyone.
"Why?" Orihime asked, her voice stopping both Sora and Ulquiorra before they did anything, as it appeared that she was trying to understand why Kyoko would purposely ruin her life, all because of the fact that she had abilities that would make her different from everyone else, "Why would you do that?"
"Because I had a friend called Mai in the past," Kyoko replied, though as she spoke Ulquiorra held out a hand and stopped Sora from doing anything, because at times like this it was best to get all the information before they lashed out at whoever was attacking their friends, even if it was his sister who was being targeted, "she was the only one that I ever considered to be a true friend. I was able to talk to her about everything, it didn't matter what I wanted to talk about, and we really understood what the other was saying, so I thought that she would accept me, since I was a little different from those that were around us... but when she found out about my power, and I mean she figured out what I was able to do, she called me a freak and told me to stay the hell away from her."
"Well, do you think we could put our abilities aside and be normal friends?" Orihime inquired, because she knew that someone like Kyoko only desired a friend, even if they felt that they didn't deserve one, and after spending so much time in the company of incredibly strong people she felt that she could handle having another one like her, maybe to the point where they could integrate her into the group and further protect the town.
What happened next was that Kyoko cringed as if she was in pain for a moment, as if the notion of being friends with someone didn't interest her and actually upset her, before she fell to a knee and a surge of violet reiatsu poured our from where she was kneeling, causing Ulquiorra to recognize the signature now. In the middle of all the power that was being poured out he also saw something that confirmed his thoughts, as a Zanpakuto materialized in Kyoko's right hand for a second, long enough for him and Orihime to see it, before Kyoko regained control of herself and forced the blade to vanish as quickly as it had appeared, before containing her reiatsu as well. When Orihime tried to comfort her, however, Kyoko got up and ran away, leaving a stunned Orihime behind, though as that happened Ulquiorra had Sora stay near his sister as he followed after the new girl, where he remained in the sky as he stared down at Kyoko as she ran away from the high school and entered the town. It was an interesting development, that the newest student at Karakura High would have a Zanpakuto, but at the same time the reiatsu signature told him that the Toju that Rukia and Ichigo were currently searching for had bonded with a Human, meaning that saving the spirit might not be possible for some time.
Eventually Kyoko came to a stop in one of the alleys, about five minutes from the high school, where she seemed to freeze for a moment as a faint signature formed in the area around her, telling Ulquiorra that the spirit of the Zanpakuto she was parred with happened to be speaking to her in some manner. A few moments later the faint feeling increased as Kyoko's expression changed, showing that the spirit of the Zanpakuto she had found was now in control of her body, but right now it seemed like the spirit was trying to comfort Kyoko in some odd manner. What interested him next was the fact that the spirit seemed to realize that he was near them, as it flashed Kyoko out of the alley they were in and was heading off in a completely different direction, no doubt heading for the area that Mai, the girl that Kyoko had briefly mentioned, happened to be in. In that moment he understood what the spirit was going to do, she was going to kill Mai for treating Kyoko as she had, forcing Kyoko to give into despair and open herself fully to the spirit that was now possessing her body, but even if that was wrong he knew that letting the Toju get it's way wasn't the right course of action, which was why he flashed into the air and followed the reiatsu trail that his target was leaving behind.
It was late into the evening when he found Kyoko's possessed body, who was currently chasing another girl, Mai he soon realized, up several flights of stairs and forced her up onto the roof, only to throw her at the ground when she arrived, but as Ulquiorra moved to intervene he noticed that Kyoko stopped the Toju, to which he stood back and watched, all while keeping himself ready for combat. The following events happened in rapid succession, as it seemed like Kyoko seized control over her body and tried to calm Mai down, who ended up fainting right away when she saw a flicker of the Toju's face on Kyoko's own, leading an already defeated Kyoko to remain where she was sitting for a moment, just as the sun finally disappeared and gave way for the moon and the stars, which would come some time after sunset. Just as Kyoko accepted that she would be an outcast, that no one would accept her, a violent storm of violet reiatsu erupted from where she was sitting, to which Ulquiorra flashed down, grabbed Mai, and moved her away from the surge of power, as this was something that he hadn't been expecting to see happen, especially so soon after figuring out that Kyoko was carrying one of the lost Toju. He then watched as the Toju asserted itself, merging it's soul with Kyoko's own, which in turn caused her legs to merge into a single solid mass, which transformed into the lower body of a naga, like Sora and Sung Sun's released states, only this one was black colored... while her skin turned pale colored, her hair became dark green colored, her eyes turned pale yellow colored with red colored slits, and her uniform transformed into a pale kimono, all while she lost her mouth in the process.
During all of this Orihime opened the door that Mai had run out of and had to stop when the transformation took place, where her eyes widened when she realized that Kyoko was no longer standing in front of them and the Toju that Rukia and Ichigo had materialized in the World of the Living.
"It seems that I have company." the Toju said, to which she turned her head towards Orihime and Ulquiorra, even though Sora seemed to be held up somewhere else at the moment, showing that she was going to fight them and then continue with whatever plan she had in mind, "Very well, I shall silence you two first, then I can focus on getting my revenge on the one who abandoned me."
Ulquiorra glared at the Toju for a moment, issuing a silent challenge for the creature to come and attack either of them, and sure enough his foe raised her claws, which had been hidden in the sleeves of the kimono, and tried to strike Orihime down, where Ulquiorra flashed between them and grabbed the claws with his left hand. As he stalled the Toju in her tracks, surprising her in the process, Ulquiorra knew that there was no reason for him to use his Zanpakuto against such an opponent, because she was around Sora's level of power at the moment, which meant she was a Gillian at best since that was what Sora was. If she was an Adjuchas ranked Toju, on the other hand, he would have drawn his Zanpakuto and blocked the attack, but since that wasn't the case he settled for grabbing her claws and stopping her, which was when he raised his left foot and kicked her in the chest, hard enough to send her flying backwards while also being soft enough to avoid breaking her body, since this was still technically Kyoko's body, despite the Toju merging with her and molding her body to fit her true form. That was the problem, that hurting the Toju would hurt Kyoko, so if he were to cut down his foe he'd kill a Human girl, something that Lord Sombra wouldn't stand for, so he had to restrain himself until he came up with a plan that didn't involve severely hurting Kyoko... though there was also the option that the two lost souls were so bound together that the only way to save them was for Muramasa to arrive and have them unite into a single being that would become another Arrancar.
He was sure that Lord Sombra would have a problem with that as well, again since Kyoko was a Human, which was why he was trying to think of a way to save both of them without hurting Kyoko, only it seemed like he was better off stalling her until Muramasa arrived, and he didn't like the thought of that happening.
"Bind them, Serpiente." a voice called out, where Ulquiorra felt the release of Sora's Resurreccion from behind the Toju, as not a few moments later another body wrapped around the Toju and stunned her, where Ulquiorra recognized the brown lower body of a naga anywhere, as that was Sora's color, before Sora grabbed onto the Toju's arms and held both of them in a manner that prevented their foe from doing anything.
"Sorry we're late, I was busy dealing with another Toju in Soul Society when Rukia told me what was going on at your high school," another voice said, where Muramasa flashed down to where they were standing, though truthfully he was exhausted, as every day they were finding more of these guys and he was getting tired of going between the three realms that they had access to, "Don't worry, Sora told me what the situation was, so I'll get to work immediately."
Ulquiorra knew that Muramasa was working himself to the bone, to prove that he wasn't the villain that he had shown himself to be when he first attacked Soul Society, but right now he was the only one that could speak to a Zanpakuto's heart and convince them to change their ways, to which he nodded and let the Arrancar approach the two naga. It didn't take long for Muramasa to open himself to the Toju, though this time around he found himself in a mostly dark area that had only one light, which happened to be over the phantom form of the girl that was being consumed by the Toju that had taken over over body. The reason that he thought that way was because the phantom form of Kyoko was already starting to change into the form of the Toju, as the area below her knees had turned into the black snake tail of the Toju, her hands had been turned into claws and parts of her arms were covered by the kimono, a good portion of her hair was dark green colored, and one of her eyes was normal colored, since the other side of her face possessed the Toju's colors. The only major difference was that there was a faint dark blue heart in the middle of Kyoko's chest, the same symbol that was used when representing the heart, so he knew that Kyoko must have been carrying the Toju for a few days, especially since it had progressed so far in it's desire to have it's own body.
As he stepped forward, however, the phantom form of the Toju appeared in front of the phantom Kyoko, showing that she was protecting the heart of the girl that she was merging with, meaning that separating them might not even be possible anymore, not if this was something that Kyoko was letting happen and was okay with it... but, despite that fact, he was going to try and separate them into two separate beings and focused on what he was going to do next.
Ulquiorra and the others watched as nothing seemed to happen for a few moments, as he knew that it would take some time for Muramasa to do whatever he did when he was in the inner world of the Toju that he was trying to save from their current state, before something happened. A violet light erupted from the Toju, showing that Muramasa had done something to the being that was merging with Kyoko's body, but when the light faded a few moments later he and the others noticed that Kyoko, in her school uniform, was kneeling on the ground in front of them. The difference between how she looked earlier to how she looked now was obvious, as a Hollow hole had been punched into her collar area, there was a small mask fragment that resembled a head band of some kind under her hair, and the Zanpakuto she had been holding onto earlier was resting in front of her, where they found that it had two blades that were close to each other, instead of a single blade like most Zanpakuto. Even Sora, who had been wrapped around the Toju during Muramasa's venture into her inner world, had been surprised by the sudden turn of events, to which everyone turned and looked at Muramasa as Sora moved to the side and joined them in looking at their companion.
"Muramasa, what happened?" Ulquiorra asked, because as Sora moved away Kyoko opened her eyes and showed that her right eye was her normal color, while at the same time her left eye contained the colors of the Toju that had been possessing her body, like they had been merged into a single being or something.
"I... conversed with them for a few minutes." Muramasa replied, though at the same time Kyoko actually swayed for a moment, showing that everything she had been through had been tough on her body, before she closed her eyes and fell asleep, another change that they weren't expecting, "The Toju was hurt from losing her Shinigami, as it seems that she was one of the few spirits that didn't actually kill their Shinigami partners when they were accidentally materialized during the Zanpakuto's attack on the Seireitei, meaning that Kazeshini is likely the one that killed her partner. Kyoko was hurt from nearly everyone rejecting her when they found out about her ability to sometimes see bits of the future, deeming it as 'freaky' and her being a 'freak', so instead of listening to Orihime, who would have accepted her with open arms, she sunk further into the arms of the Toju. I tried to get them to separate into two beings again, because the Toju was killing Kyoko by what she was doing, but in the end I determined that doing that would be impossible, so I informed them of what would happen if they opened their true heart and became an Arrancar... so allow me to introduce Kyoko Haida, an Arrancar born from the union of a Human girl and a lone Toju."
"You did your best," Orihime said, to which the others nodded their heads, even though they would have to find Rukia and change the memories of everyone that knew Kyoko, but at the very least the pained girl she had met earlier would find a place where she belonged and would be accepted, "How do you think Sombra is going to take this?"
"It's sad that this happened, but it seems like it was unavoidable." a voice said, to which the group turned their heads and found that Sombra had arrived at some point in the last few moments, meaning that he had heard what happened to Kyoko, before he turned towards the group, "We'll take her someplace where she can rest, and I can get the whole story on what happened to her... and then, Muramasa, you're going to take a well deserved break and get your energy back, because you can't keep working yourself to the bone. In fact all of you should take a break and calm down, instead of worrying yourselves over every little thing and trying to fix whatever happens in Karakura Town, so you don't crash when something terrible happens."
"Well, there is that festival this weekend." Orihime commented, causing the group to turn towards her for a moment, as some of them were interested in what she had to say, while at the same time Ulquiorra noticed that she was looking at him for a moment, "Maybe we can take some time off and go to it? We can go in pairs, or by ourselves and meet up at some point... though personally, I wouldn't mind going with Ulquiorra."
Sombra smiled for a moment, as it appeared that giving his followers some time off had born some interesting fruit, as Orihime had been the one to offer doing something with the normally emotionless Arrancar that was standing near him, and instead of turning her down Ulquiorra recalled that Arrancar could use the gigai as well, where he agreed to experience more about how Humans operated in groups, even if he knew there was another reason behind why he was agreeing to go with her. At the same time Rukia and Ichigo, who were late arrivals, had heard what Orihime had said and nodded their heads, showing that the festival was a good idea for everyone at the moment, even if he noticed the glance that Rukia was shooting in Ichigo's direction and knew what was going to happen at some point in the future. At the moment he and Sora would take Kyoko someplace safe, so they could ease her into the world that she had been pulled into and then, when she was ready, determine which world she would be assigned to, even though he felt that she would want to remain here, in the World of the Living, to save those that had been her friends at one point in time.
He was sure that Orihime and Ulquiorra were going to have fun at the festival, just like Rukia and Ichigo would have fun in their own way, and he felt that they all deserved some time off, since he had the feeling that they were going to need their full attention in the days to come.
The two days following Ulquiorra heading to the World of the Living had been interesting, as Haineko, who had gone to Hueco Mundo with Muramasa to deliver another Arrancar to their kingdom, had discovered that Ulquiorra, inside the gigai that he had been given by Urahara, was spending time with Orihime. She could tell that, despite the Espada's former insistence that he had no emotions and was simply studying the Humans around him, Ulquiorra definitely had feelings for Orihime and was only acting upon what he was feeling because their Lord was in love with a Shinigami, something that had been strange when she discovered it and had accepted it in no time. It wasn't hard for her to see that an Arrancar could fall in love with a Human, if another Arrancar did the same to a Shinigami, nor was she surprised when she saw the look on Rukia's face when she was spending time with Ichigo, as it seemed to be the same situation that Ulquiorra was in. She found it interesting and sort of humorous, as it seemed like Ichigo had no idea what Rukia was feeling, but since he was able to figure out that Zangetsu had been his Zanpakuto partner, though it would take some time before he figured out what was going on and came to terms with what he discovered.
What she wasn't expecting to find, when she actually returned to Hueco Mundo, was a humanoid looking Arrancar that was called Kyoko Haida, who she discovered was a Human that had been rejected by so many people in her life until she eventually gave up on humanity, allowing her heart to merge with the Toju that she had found. As it turned out Muramasa had tried to separate the two of them, since he didn't want Kyoko to disappear as a Human, but the Human girl had given up entirely, so he had told them what was waiting for them if they opened their true hearts, resulting in the being that Haineko met when she returned to Las Noches. From what she heard the new Arrancar's Resurreccion was a naga, just like Sora and Sung Sun's transformed states were, making her wonder just how many naga there were in Hueco Mundo, or at least how many of them there would be if more snake-like Hollows became Arrancar as well. Kyoko, from what Haineko saw, was already adapting to her new life, as she joined the other new recruits in learning what it meant to be an Arrancar in service to Lord Sombra, as well as determining what sort of powers she possessed in her sealed state, something that came as a surprise to her when she first found out about that, before nodding her head and doing her best to make her instructors proud.
Personally, Haineko didn't know the Tres Bestias, the three Arrancar that worked like a team and had served under Harribel until Sombra came along, as well as she should have, but from what she could see the three of them were quite effective in their teachings, especially since some of the more powerful Arrancar, like Grimmjow and Zangetsu, were busy saving the rest of the Toju and the others didn't want to train the new recruits. Fortunately Sombra had been planning ahead when he was remaking Las Noches, as there were plenty of houses and buildings for all the Arrancar that were being brought to Hueco Mundo, so much so that it almost looked like he was copying Soul Society's layout, only improving it so no one got confused as to where everything was. This meant that all of the new Arrancar would have a place to live and do whatever they wanted when they weren't on duty or hanging out with whatever friends they made, and there were even a few civilized Hollows that happened to be moving around Las Noches as well, as they wanted to experience what the Arrancar were experiencing for themselves. It also showed that Hollows, given the right circumstances, weren't just the mindless or aggressive monsters that the Shinigami had been protecting the souls of the dead from, once more breaking the notions that Soul Society had labeled them with when they were first discovered.
Hueco Mundo wasn't the same world that it had been nearly a month ago, as she knew that Captain Mayuri wasn't too pleased with what Sombra was doing to this world, but there wasn't much he could do to stop him, meaning that all he could do was sit on the sidelines and watch what happened.
"Ah, Haineko, this is a pleasant surprise." a voice said, to which Haineko stopped in her tracks and bowed her head slightly as her Lord landed on the walkway behind her, because thanks to the fact that no one could feel his reiatsu it was hard to keep track of him, which was only made somewhat easier thanks to Hueco Mundo telling her and the others were he was at any given moment, "I thought you'd be back in Soul Society, having a good time with Zangetsu, thanks to the training he's been giving you and the fact that he's managed to improve your life to the point where you're smiling more often when you're near Shinigami."
"I was just dropping off a Toju that Muramasa and I found," Haineko replied, though at the same time she raised her head, as Sombra was fine with the initial bowing of their heads and made them stop doing so after a certain period of time, so they could look at him while they talked and not feel like an underling all the time, "I'm actually heading back to Soul Society right now, as it appears that Matsumoto and some of the Tenth Division's Shinigami will be heading out on their patrol soon, to continue the hunt for the remaining Toju that haven't been found, since the majority of them are still in hiding at the moment, and Muramasa will be joining us in case we do find some Toju."
"That is good to hear." Sombra said, because while they were running out of time, since there were more than two hundred Toju running around unchecked at the moment, he was glad that they were saving as many of the Toju as they possibly could, but finding the hiding place of a group would speed things along at an unbelievable pace, before he turned towards Haineko for a moment, "I'm actually on my way to speak to the remaining Espada that are in Las Noches at the moment, as I just came from a brief meeting with one of the other remaining Vasto Lorde ranked Hollows that have been minding their own business since I defeated Aizen and claimed this world as my kingdom. She's asked if she could move into an area near Las Noches, to be around more of her kind and learn how to control her power so she doesn't crush those that are near them, and while I could have easily denied the request I decided to be nice and told her that we'd find a spot for her new cave in no time... at least this dragon is easier to deal with than the ones back home."
"Right." Haineko stated, as she knew that her Lord could check the surrounding area and determine where the best spot was on his own, but asking the other Espada meant that he was being sure they weren't planning on putting a new building or something in whatever area he came up with, before part of his statement clicked in her mind, "What, you mean the Vasto Lorde you talked to was a dragon?!"
"Indeed, and a polite dragon at that." Sombra replied, because while he had seen a number of creatures wandering Hueco Mundo, and learned about a number of them from the records that Szayelaporro had been building since he became an Arrancar, discovering a dragon Hollow had been an interesting part of his day, "Either way, I shall speak with the others and figure out where we can put her new home... but you, on the other hand, should return to Soul Society as soon as possible, before Matsumoto and her team are ready to depart and start their search for some of the remaining Toju. Who knows, maybe you and Muramasa will find the key to the location of one of the larger groups that we're looking for while you're helping them scout the area out."
Haineko knew that Sombra had the feeling that they'd find one of the groups at some point in time, something that many of the Arrancar believed in since their Lord was never wrong and he was rarely surprised by anything, and even she had a hard time thinking that he'd be wrong in his thoughts, to which she nodded her head and bid him farewell. After that she headed for the gateway between worlds, where she found Muramasa waiting for her, to which the two of them said nothing as they returned to the World of the Living and headed out for the area that they had come out in when they used a Senkaimon to leave Soul Society with the latest Toju they had saved. It didn't take the two of them very long to reach the area in question, nor did it take very long for a pair of Jigokucho to come out and accompany the two of them as they opened the way to their destination, meaning that they would arrive unharmed and could return to their duties without any sort of delays. Thanks to the Shinigami assisting them, since that was the reason they and the other Arrancar could travel between the realms so quickly, Haineko and Muramasa were able to return to Soul Society quite easily, where they nodded their heads to the guards that were guarding the Senkaimon and headed out for the area that they would be working in for the rest of the day.
It wasn't long before they reached the Tenth Division's barracks and found the group of Shinigami that Matsumoto would be leading during their mission, though while Muramasa turned down the offer of a brown cloak, since he didn't need it, Haineko only took one in case she needed it for something else.
From there the two of them headed out with the Shinigami that were making their way towards the forest, where they found Matsumoto, wearing her own brown cloak, waiting for them, but since everyone knew the mission she simply nodded her head and they moved out into the forest in front of them. The only good thing that came with stopping the other Toju, and freeing them, was that the attacks on the various districts of Rukongai had stopped, meaning that the Toju that remained had grown smart as to what was happening and were trying to stop it, which was bad since they needed to find them. Their only option was to scour the forest and see if they couldn't find any Toju that hadn't fallen in line with what the rest of their kind were doing, which might make it easier for them to discover where the others were hiding, but for now they had to be careful and see what awaited them in the forest. Haineko would have preferred if it was just her, Muramasa, and Zangetsu doing this, since they could stun the Toju long enough for Muramasa to do his job, but she wasn't about to argue with the Shinigami in charge at the moment, not since they were running out of time before the Toju started to disappear forever.
They followed the small group for around thirty minutes, keeping their eyes on the area around them as they looked for the Toju that were supposed to be in the area, before Matsumoto came to a stop on a nearby rock platform and glanced at the area they were in, causing Haineko, Muramasa, and the four Shinigami to stop as well.
"I sense a faint reiatsu nearby." Matsumoto stated, to which Haineko and Muramasa focused their senses as well and found what she was talking about, which meant that a Toju, weaker than most of the ones they had encountered in the past couple of days, was somewhere near their current position, "We should split up and look for it."
"Matsumoto, leave this to me." Haineko spoke up, causing her former partner to glance at her for a moment, almost as if she didn't trust her at all, something that she was used to feeling since the day she gave Matsumoto the ability to use her Shikai, before she glanced at the area they had been heading towards, "You guys should continue to survey the area and see if you can't find any other reiatsu signatures... maybe there will be more than just this one."
"Can you handle this on your own?" Matsumoto asked, because while she had come to accept that Haineko was no longer tied to her, leaving her with a permanently useless Zanpakuto, she still felt that there were times where the cat got in over her head and was worried that this was one of those moments.
"I appreciate the concern, but I've got this under control." Haineko replied, though it was odd to see that there had been the slightest bit of worry in her former partner's eyes, showing that having their souls separated from each other, and learning why the separation had occurred in the first place, had shown Matsumoto that she had been terrible to her over the years and was trying to make up for it.
Haineko waited for a moment, giving Matsumoto a chance to nod her head before she and the others flashed out of the area to continue their survey of the rest of the area, before she jumped into the air and followed the faint reiatsu that her former partner had discovered. Fortunately it didn't take her long to find where the source of the reiatsu was coming from, as she landed on a rock pillar and stared down at a field of red flowers that she didn't recall ever having seen before this point in time, but that wasn't what she was focused on. What she was actually staring at was the sleeping figure of a light-skinned, lean and haggard looking young man with shaggy indigo colored hair, which fell down over his face in several long bangs while also being cut very short on the backside of his head. The young man was wearing an ornate, gold-white pauldron on his left shoulder that happened to cover the left side of his neck and his left pectoral as well, though he also had a black, snake-like bracelet on his left forearm, and wore a red sash wrapped around his waist while an exomis, which was just a tunic of sorts, was tied to his left shoulder. She knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that the young man was a Toju, as his reiatsu had a familiar edge to it that only belonged to the other Toju that were still at large, to which she held one hand close to her blade, because if this was a trick, and he was just faking being asleep to lure someone in so he could sneak attack them, she wanted to be ready.
As she flashed down into the area and approached the young man, however, the sound of her feet moving the flowers caused the young Toju to stir, as when she got close her target pushed himself into a sitting position and faced her, but at the speed he was going Haineko knew that he wasn't a threat to anyone, especially when he stared at her with his violet innocent eyes, showing that there was more to him than she originally thought. Before she could even ask him anything, to see if he knew where the other Toju were, he doubled over in pain and collapsed once more, showing that he must have been hurt recently and that he wasn't going to be able to move for some time, not on his own and not without the pain coming back. In that moment Haineko was glad that she had thought to bring the cloak with her, as she unfurled it and spread it out as gently as she could, where she made sure to place the clearly wounded Toju on the cloak before bundling him up, to which she picked him up and headed off in the direction that Matsumoto and the others had gone in. It also didn't take her long to find where the others had wandered off to, as her former partner and the other Shinigami were standing near five trapped Toju as Muramasa worked his power on them, though they did turn their heads when she landed and were surprised when they found that she was carrying another spirit.
"I found him resting in a field of red flowers, not far from here," Haineko said, though at the same time two of the Shinigami approached her and gently took the spirit from her arms, where the young man briefly opened his eyes and smiled at her for a few seconds, before losing consciousness once more, "I'm not sure what hurt him, but he's definitely wounded and needs attention before Muramasa can attempt to awaken his true heart... I don't think he would survive the transformation into an Arrancar until he's fully healed, or at least close to that point."
"Captain Unohana or one of the Fourth Division healers can tend to him until he's ready." Matsumoto replied, but she was surprised by the fact that the Toju in question seemed to have a pretty face and that Haineko didn't even stop to consider what else she had been seeing, but then decided that Zangetsu was who she was focused on and didn't want to annoy the powerful Arrancar in some manner, before she turned her head a little, "Hey, Muramasa, how long do you think you need to help them awaken their true hearts?"
"Give me ten minutes and I'll be done." Muramasa answered, where he closed his eyes and focused on his part of their mission, as he delved into the inner world of the Toju in front of him and searched for the soul of the being that he was trying to save.
"You know, I honestly didn't think this plan was going to work as well as it did." Matsumoto said, though she kept her voice low so she didn't disturb Muramasa as he worked, but while she did blame him for the destruction he caused, and creating the scenario that made her lose Haineko, she had to admit that he was a nice person to work with and was doing everything in his power to make his reputation better than it had been a few days ago, "I guess I should have known that the Toju couldn't resist attacking a group of Shinigami that were just passing through their territory... though playing the bait, while being a little silly, did work like a charm."
The plan had been for Haineko and Muramasa to hang back and let the Shinigami pull the Toju out of hiding, using them as bait for the Shinigami hating Toju, but that had changed a little thanks to the discovery of the young man that was being taken to the Fourth Division's Relief Station, despite the fact that the original plan worked like a charm and none of the Shinigami had been hurt in the process.
"Captain Hitsugaya agreed with the plan, so he'll be happy to see that it worked." Haineko replied, to which she leaned against one of the trees and stared at the small group of Toju that they had been able to find while they were out here, as while it was a small number it was better than nothing, "Hopefully one of these guys know where the other Toju are hiding out, so we can capture all of them and end this before it gets too serious."
Matsumoto nodded her head in agreement, because while the reports of the Toju attacking had been decreasing over the last few days, since those that were saved were never seen by the rest of their kind again, until they were saved as well, they still knew that there were a lot of Toju missing, meaning they couldn't lower their guard at all. The two of them stood there for a few moments, watching Muramasa work as he freed the five Toju in front of them from their madness and transformed them into Arrancar, where they seemed surprised by the changes they had just gone through and were willing to listen to what he had to tell them about being an Arrancar. Once they got the basic idea of what they were and what their duties would be, something that Sombra or one of the other senior Arrancar would tell them about, the five new Arrancar followed Muramasa as he moved back towards the Seireitei, so he could get them adjusted to their new lives and see if they knew anything that might help them save the others. As they moved out of the area Matsumoto and Haineko followed as well, because Haineko was going to make sure the young Toju rested and recovered from his injuries, so he could go through the process as well and join someone before he disappeared entirely.
It took them a few minutes to retrace their steps and return to the Seireitei, though upon arriving Muramasa's group headed back to the area that the Arrancar were staying in, while Matsumoto and two of the Shinigami headed back to the Tenth Division's barracks to give Captain Hitsugaya the good news, leaving Haineko and the remaining two Shinigami to carry the wounded Toju to the Relief Station and get him taken care of.
Fortunately when they arrived it wasn't hard for them to find someone that would help them, as one of the healers noticed that the Toju was wounded and understood that forcing him to awaken his true heart would only kill him in his weakened state, which was why they had them carry the Toju to an empty room. From there Haineko remained near the window, watching as one Shinigami tended to the various wounds that there on the young man's body and made sure that they were set up to heal in time, before nodding her head and departed from the area, leaving both Haineko and the wounded Toju alone. She knew that it would take some time for the young man to heal, and awaken from his slumber for that matter, so Haineko moved a seat over to the window and positioned herself so she could keep an eye on the Toju and stare out at the Seireitei if she got bored of doing that. She also knew that she didn't have to stay here, that a messenger would be sent when the young man woke up so they could figure out what had happened to him, and if he knew anything that might help them, but she felt better waiting here and being the first one to see him, just in case he was in need of more aid or if he needed something.
She sat there for a minute, staring at the wounded Toju while she did so, and she only looked away from him when she heard a knock on the doorway, where she found Matsumoto standing there, making her wonder why her former partner was even here, since she should be reporting the success of their operation to her Captain.
"Matsumoto, what are you doing here?" Haineko asked, though at the same time she watched as Matsumoto pulled out another chair and took a seat near her, where she pulled out the container of sweets that she usually kept hidden in the Tenth Division's barracks, but that was when Matsumoto surprised her by offering some to her, to which she actually took some, despite the fact that she didn't need to eat anything, "Shouldn't you be reporting the success of our operation to your Captain?"
"I decided to keep you company, until the young man recovers." Matsumoto replied, but she smiled for a moment, as she was surprised that Haineko had taken some of the sweets that she kept hidden from everyone else, though that told her that maybe, just maybe, they could restore a fraction of their former bond at long last, "Besides, the Shinigami that were with us could easily tell the Captain that the operation was successful, and then spread the word on how we can ambush them in the future, since the Toju will be after us and not you, Muramasa, or the other Arrancar if one of them decided to come assist us."
Haineko knew that most of the other Arrancar were busy looking for the remaining Toju, using different plans than what she and Matsumoto had used, while one or two remained at their building so they could assist the newly born Arrancar that were delivered to them, until Lord Sombra or Muramasa came to take them to Hueco Mundo. She knew that they were lucky that awakening a Toju's true heart made their anger go away, so they didn't tear up the area around them after their transformation, otherwise she was sure that the Shinigami would have ordered the death of the Toju, instead of working so hard to capture them. She was also surprised by the fact that Soul Society was allowing them to do this, that they were okay with Sombra claiming the Toju as Arrancar and adding them to his empire, but at the same time they hadn't raised their objections towards her Lord, so she guessed it was fine. She then wondered if the Shinigami knew about Kyoko, what happened to hear in the World of the Living and the choice both she and the spirit that had merged with her body, had made, though she decided that she wouldn't mention it, in case they didn't know, as she didn't want to start an argument between them and Soul Society until the Toju were captured.
As she thought about all of this she opened her mouth and tossed the bits of the steamed buns, Matsumoto's favorite snack in the entire world and one she kept hidden for times when she needed to truly relax, to forget about the problems that she was facing, into her mouth, where she chewed on them for a few seconds and swallowed, though her mind was focused on what she was doing and who she was watching.
"Oh, did you hear what happened yesterday?" Matsumoto asked, causing Haineko's ears to twitch for a moment, as she wasn't expecting them to have some idle conversation while they were waiting for the young man to recover from his injuries, but at the same time it gave her something else to do.
"Yesterday?" Haineko inquired in return, though as her former partner nodded her head she thought about what she had learned earlier, because she had heard a rumor about something, or someone, destroying one of Captain Mayuri's main labs, as he always kept a pair at the ready in case he accidentally blew up his main one, "Well, from what Muramasa told me he was able to free a hammer wielding Toju with the assistance of both Senbonzakura and both spirits that make up Zabimaru, though the Shinigami around them were more willing to praise Captain Byakuya's Zanpakuto spirit and do nothing of the sort for either Saru and Hebi. According to what I heard both of them were supposed to write letters of apology to the Shinigami, as it had to do with their time under Muramasa's control or something like that, and in the end the two of them defied Renji's orders and wrote insults towards their partner before heading out into the Seireitei. From what little I heard after that it seems like someone snuck into Captain Mayuri's barracks, messed around with some of the controls for the entire place, and ended up blowing the entire research station to pieces while the Captain was off collecting information for whatever he was researching at the time."
"You know more than I thought you did," Matsumoto said, though this time around she wasn't insulting Haineko at all, because she was curious as to whether or not her former partner was keeping track of what happened in the Seireitei while she and the other Arrancar were here, before deciding to continue with her statement, "though it wasn't 'someone' that broke into the Shinigami Research and Development Institute, or the SRDI for short, rather the culprits were Saru, Hebi, and Senbonzakura. From what I've heard both of Renji's spirits headed there to see if they could figure out if Captain Mayuri knew more about the whereabouts of the Toju than he was letting on, since his absences lately made them think that he was trying to get some research done on the beings that Sombra wouldn't let him study at all. When no one appeared at the door, to let them in, they pulled some of the bars on one of the windows apart and broke into the Twelfth Division's barracks, though I also heard that Saru's hide rear got stuck between two of the bars and she nearly chocked Hebi to death, since he was chained to her and was dangling in the air for a few moments... and it wasn't until Senbonzakura walked by them that they were freed from their current predicament."
"Really?" Haineko said, though at the same time it was easy to imagine such a thing happening, especially with how the two spirits of Zabimaru acted towards each other and whatever scenario they happened to be in at a given moment, before she turned back towards Matsumoto and gave her former partner most of her attention, "So, what happened after the two of them were freed? I take it there was a reason that Senbonzakura broke into the SRDI's building at the same time Saru and Hebi did?"
"Apparently looking for information on the other Toju as well," Matsumoto replied, answering the second question first, as it was the easiest of the two to answer without disrupting the flow of the tale that she was telling Haineko, before she continued with something else that was interesting, "According to what I heard, and this is a rumor so it may not even be true, Senbonzakura actually punched a hole into the side of the building so he could get in, which strikes me as odd considering whose Zanpakuto spirit he's supposed to be. Anyway, from there the three of them wandered around the SRDI, looking for anything and everything that might help them uncover where the rest of the Toju were hiding, and, by some terrible luck on their part, they got trapped inside one of the large test tubes that Captain Mayuri had set aside when he learned that Sombra wasn't going to let him experiment on the defeated Arrancar or any of the larger Hollows that he had seen in his brief time in Hueco Mundo. I'm not entirely sure what the three of them did, but I did hear Saru and Hebi telling Renji that they had refrained from attacking the glass of their container, even though Senbonzakura released his Shikai and failed to damage the glass, as it had been made to contain a Toju, if Captain Mayuri was lucky to find one without Sombra finding out.
After that, and before Senbonzakura destroyed the container before the Shinigami of the Twlelfth Division arrived to see what the problem was, Ashisogi Jizo showed himself and attempted to assist the trapped spirits, though apparently he tried to give them a banana and that failed... and, when he did get the remote that controlled the container they were trapped in, both Saru and Hebi swear that Ashisogi Jizo broke the device and left them behind."
"I bet Senbonzakura hated that." Haineko commented, as right now she was learning that there was more to Byakuya Kuchiki than she originally thought, especially if his Zanpakuto, which should have been a mirror image of his uncaring persona, was willing to attack the glass container and possibly even Ashisogi Jizo.
"From what I heard, he activated his Bankai and destroyed the container." Matsumoto said, though she was pleased to see what Haineko was following along and not interrupting her all the time, meaning that she was interested in what she was hearing, even if she wasn't sure how much of it was true and how much was fabricated, "From there the story gets strange and hard to piece together, but from what I've been able to figure out the three spirits ran through the building and arrived at a room that was designed to spy on the entirety of the Seireitei, and that one building couldn't be watched, no doubt because Sombra smashed whatever device Captain Mayuri put there, to watch your movements and see what Sombra did when something interesting happened. After that things got crazy, as it appears that, in an effort to shut down the alarm that came from Senbonzakura breaking their container, the trio started pressing buttons on the computer they found and, well, let's just say that their actions caused some minor explosions all over the Seireitei, hence why a few Shinigami are here in the Relief Station being treated for explosion injuries.
Once that happened, well, that was when Ashisogi Jizo made himself known and appeared in his Bankai state, which only prompted Senbonzakura to challenge him to a battle, in the middle of the SRDI no less, and that, in turn, caused Saru to turn Hebi into their own Bankai and loose a Hikotsu Taiho at the pair... which only resulted in stopping the battle before it began, and destroyed the SRDI in the process."
"Ah yes, I heard that Captain Mayuri wasn't too pleased about that." Haineko said, though as she revealed that she had actually heard most of what Matsumoto had told her, save for some of the more interesting bits, her former partner smiled, showing that she liked the fact that Haineko had actually let her talk and not interrupt the story that she had been trying to tell her.
"Oh, he was horrified to find that it had been destroyed upon his return," Matsumoto stated, to which she grinned for a moment, because while she had actually been on one of the exercise machines during the time the spirits had been messing with the controls, and had been thrown off of it as a result, she was fine with the outcome, "though personally I'm kind of glad they did that, since the destruction of the computer means that whatever personal information Captain Mayuri was able to gain on everyone in Soul Society has been erased, and I'm sure he never thought to back any of it up on his spare computer."
Haineko had the feeling that Senbonzakura had a problem with his temper, meaning that it must have come from Byakuya when he was younger, showing that everyone changed with time and that a Zanpakuto spirit mirrored whatever personality their partner had, even though a spirit didn't change to match a new personality, much like how she didn't take to Matsumoto's lazy nature, which was different from what she was in the past. At the same time she noticed that her former partner seemed to be thinking about something as well, maybe even the same thing that she had been thinking about just now, before she turned her mind towards what had happened so far, because she was still trying to figure out how they could do Sombra's will and find the larger groups.
"You know, this isn't as exciting as the destruction of the SRDI, but something else happened yesterday," Matsumoto added, causing Haineko to turn towards her once more, as she was curious as to what else she might want to talk about while they were waiting for the young man to wake up, "I heard that Lieutenant Ise was spending the afternoon with one of the spirits of Katen Kyokotsu, the spirits that belonged to Captain Shunsui's Zanpakuto, though she was seen walking around the Seireitei with the young girl, Kyokotsu. From what I heard Ise had to interrupt her Captain's relaxation to remind him that they were still in the middle of capturing the remaining Toju, though instead of heading out and helping us find the Toju, like he's supposed to, Captain Shunsui and Katen stayed behind, leaving Ise and Kyokotsu to head out and continue the work that Shunsui was supposed to be doing."
"Really?" Haineko asked, as that was interesting as well, because if she was right about what Matsumoto was talking about she might know the Toju that happened to be at the end of this story, as she had met a strange one that Muramasa had brought in before last night and he had claimed to have been bested by a little girl.
"Yeah, and I even saw Kyokotsu attack Ise when the Lieutenant touched her shoulder," Matsumoto replied, showing that there had been something wrong with one of Captain Shunsui's Zanpakuto spirits, something that only the Captain could have fixed or told Ise about if he had thought to warn her ahead of time, "Ise said that everything was fine and ran off to find Kyokotsu, who apparently found the reiatsu of the Toju that they had been sent out to find, though from what I heard it was a man in a strange uniform, with some oddly styled hair and a beard of sorts. From what I heard the pair didn't get off on the right foot, since Ise had to stop Kyokotsu from toying with the Toju, as they're supposed to capture them and await Muramasa's arrival to help them awaken their true heart, and at some point while the two were 'fighting' with each other the Toju managed to get away from them. Captain Shunsui was surprised by some of the events that happened while the two were together, even more so when Ise told him that she and Kyokotsu could work together, as if she was disregarding what happened earlier, and she became determined to get her 'partner' to open up to her."
"Captain Shunsui has some interesting Zanpakuto as his partners," Haineko stated, as she had seen the pair of Katen Kyokotsu when they were in the middle of the rebellion, back when they were all under Muramasa's control, but she really found it hard to believe that the two ladies were Shunsui's Zanpakuto spirits, since Katen seemed to be close to his lifestyle and Kyokotsu was the opposite.
"You're telling me." Matsumoto said, to which he popped another piece of her treat into her mouth, as she recalled her failed attempts to get Kyokotsu to open up to Ise, since she promised to help her, and in the end it had been the small suggestion of Captain Shunsui, to relax and watch the cherry blossoms, before shaking her head, "Long story short, since most of this happened while I was busy doing something else, Captain Shunsui and his Zanpakuto were able to contain the Toju that had attacked Ise and Kyokotsu, allowing Muramasa to free him from his maddened state and created a new Arrancar to serve Sombra."
"Yeah, I saw him arrive last night." Haineko spoke up, causing Matsumoto to raise an eyebrow for a moment, like she wasn't expecting her to have seen the former Toju in question and had been hoping to surprise her with a light tale about a new addition she'd have to meet in the future, before she sighed, "I know we're doing a good job, rounding up as many of the Toju as we can, but there are still roughly two hundred and forty of them out there, and with each day that passes they draw ever closer to fading away and never being able to do anything else. I just wish that we could find where the others are hiding, to end this madness before we actually lose one of them to the terrible fate we're trying to prevent, but they're really good at hiding from us, which makes this more difficult than it already is."
Haineko was considering saying something to that, as she felt that there was more to the story than what Matsumoto was telling her, but before she could say anything a sound caused both of them to stall, as the young man that was resting in the nearby bed had moaned and he was starting to stir, causing her to get up and move to his side, so she could ease him into a sitting position and not inflict more harm to his body.
"Hey, take it easy." Haineko said, though at the same time, as the young man started to awaken from his slumber and move his body, she did what she had been thinking and gently moved him into a sitting position, while at the same time Matsumoto moved out of the room so she could get a healer and send a message to Muramasa, "You're still hurt, but we're doing everything in our power to make sure your wounds are treated and that no harm comes to you while you were recovering from whatever happened to you."
"Th... Thank you very much." the young man replied, to which he did nothing as Haineko moved his body into a sitting position and made sure that a pillow was behind his back, allowing him to have some better support while he got used to his new surroundings, before he looked at her, "So, um, why are you helping me?"
"It's like I said, you were hurt and needed attention," Haineko stated, where she made sure that his bandages were still intact and that there wasn't anything wrong with him, but since she wasn't well versed in the art of healing there wasn't much she could do at the moment, "Why do you ask?"
"I'm one of the people that you're chasing after, aren't I?" the young man asked, showing that he understood that she and the Shinigami were chasing after the Toju that were attacking the Seireitei and the districts of Rukongai, meaning that he was smarter than the other Toju that she and the others had found so far, "And instead, you've been kind enough to heal my wounds and bring me someplace safe, even though the home of the people that are chasing me and the others isn't my idea of safe. Aren't the Shinigami hunting down and killing beings like me?"
"Actually, we're trying to save all of you." Haineko replied, though as the young man raised his eyebrows in surprise, showing that he had no idea that the situation was different than what he thought it was, she gently undid her collar and lowered the part of her top to reveal her Hollow hole, before returning everything to normal once more, "We refer to masterless Zanpakuto as Toju, but while many of your kind are angry and lash out at the Shinigami, all in an effort to find your partners and a normal existence, that's not the only path you guys can take. Look at me, I used to be a Zanpakuto spirit as well, but due to some extreme circumstances, not like what you guys are going through, I awakened my true heart and became an Arrancar, and I've been helping save as many Toju as we could find, because there is someone that you guys can serve, while losing your anger as well."
"Toju... that's what the Shinigami have been calling us," the young man said, to which he started to think about what he had been through since he first materialized outside his master's Zanpakuto, before dooming him to the existence that was now his life, causing him to look at Haineko, "but personally, I think I'm just a normal Zanpakuto that has lost his master. Look, my master was a cowardly Shinigami and I share that same trait, so I knew that in order to survive being on my own I had to join the group of Toju that was forming, since the Shinigami were hunting for us and I thought that they'd kill me if they found me... but now, knowing that they were trying to save beings like us, makes me feel sort of ashamed that none of us even considered such a thing and kept hiding from you."
"You were part of a larger group?" Haineko inquired, as that was an interesting piece of information that she wasn't expecting to hear, especially since she and the other Arrancar had been tasked with finding the larger groups of Toju that were hiding from them, to which the young man nodded his head, "How many Toju were in your group?"
"Two hundred... maybe two hundred and thirty." the young man replied, though at the same time he noticed that a strange look appeared on Haineko's face for a moment, something that made him wonder if he had said something that he shouldn't have said, "Um, is something wrong?"
"Wrong? No, everything is right!" Haineko said, because this was what she and the others were waiting for, as the young man was the key to locating the remaining Toju and saving the majority of them in a single instance, even if that would leave a few individual strays for them to hunt down in the future, "We've been trying to locate the larger groups of Toju that have been hiding in the area around the Seireitei, to free them from the fate that they are currently facing if they keep going down the path they're walking, and now we've finally found someone that can actually show us where they're hiding, so we can free them and prevent a single Toju from dying. Don't you see? You're the only one we've saved that knows where the others are hiding, you're the only one that can help us save all of them and let them continue living in an existence that's vastly different from what they're currently experiencing... you'd be a hero to all of them and the other Arrancar of Hueco Mundo once we've saved the others from their painful existence."
"Indeed." a voice said, to which Haineko turned her head and found Muramasa standing in the doorway, along with Matsumoto standing behind him, though the looks on their faces told Haineko that they had heard the fact that the young man knew where the majority of the missing Toju were hiding, before he walked into the room, "Young man, if you would allow me to peer into your inner world, and share some truths with you, you'll awaken as an Arrancar and leave your existence as a Toju behind... and then, with Lord Sombra on your side, we can head to where the others are hiding and save them before something happens to them."
"Young man?" the young man inquired, though that was before he realized that Muramasa was talking to him and not someone else, which was when a weak smile appeared on his face for a moment, leading Haineko to believe that he was going to share his name with them, "I guess it would make sense for you to call me that, since you don't actually know what my name is, so allow me to correct that mistake; I am Narunosuke, and... and I would be honored to help you guys save the others from the path they are following."
Muramasa nodded his head as he approached Narunosuke and held his hand out, allowing him to delve into the spirit's inner world like he always did, though this time around it was a quick process as he came back out not even a few seconds later, and Narunosuke followed him, baring his own Hollow hole in the middle of his chest and a mask fragment that looked like a curved snake emblem appeared on the right side of his face. With the deed done Narunosuke climbed out of the bed, slipped his scabbard into his belt, and turned towards them, stating that he was ready to get underway and show them where the other Toju were hiding, which was when Muramasa took them to the Thirteenth Division's barracks, as there was something there that they needed to use first. It was there, in front of Captain Ukitake, that Muramasa used the special sphere that Sombra gave to Soul Society to contact Hueco Mundo, since that was where their Lord was last seen, and sure enough he appeared on the other end in no time, showing that he was prompt about answering a message that was supposed to be for him. Haineko was happy when a smile appeared on their Lord's face, as it meant that he was pleased with their work and that he was happy that this entire event would be behind them soon enough, before telling them that he was bringing in the cavalry, meaning that he was going to bring every Arrancar in his service to Soul Society and prevent any of the Toju from running away... and, at the same time, use some of their powers in unison with the ability that Muramasa possessed, meaning that he intended to free all of them at the same time.
Ukitake was shocked by the news, more so by the fact that Sombra was coming with his entire army than the fact that they had finally found the Toju's hiding spot, and not even an hour later he, along with the rest of the Shinigami, stood in front of the large Senkaimon as a force of sixty, if not seventy, Arrancar marched through the gateway with Sombra leading all of them.
Once they were present, and the rest of the Arrancar joined them, Sombra had Narunosuke lead them right to the cave system that the rest of the Toju were hiding out in, which was some distance away from the cave system that had been Muramasa's hideout during the rebellion. Like Muramasa's hideout the Toju had chosen one that had a number of entrances and exits, but this time around they were ready for something like that, as Sombra had them all separate and form small groups at each entry point, though their orders were to make sure that the Toju were pushed into the central cavern, where they would begin the ceremony. Haineko joined Zangetsu near one of the passages, and they were also accompanied by Kyoko, who seemed utterly surprised by what they were doing and the fact that there were more realms to their world than what she had known about, though Haineko assured her that they'd make sure she wasn't harmed at all while they did this. She seemed to believe them, either because she felt safe or the fact that she knew she could trust them since they were also Arrancar, but regardless of the reason why she stood beside them as they waited for Sombra's signal to begin the operation, while the Toju were unaware of what was coming their way.
The moment everyone was in position, and Sombra was sure of it, each of the groups felt a silent command be issued to all of them, to which Haineko, Zangetsu, and Kyoko delved into the passage in front of them at the same time the other groups did the same, where they drew their blades and prepared themselves. The Toju were clearly not expecting an attacking force to find their hideout and strike out at them, as the first few that the trio found retreated immediately, as if thinking that greater numbers meant something, and even then the larger groups that they encountered could only hold them back for a few moments, not when the power of Zangetsu's swings was enough to send his targets onto their backs and both Haineko and Kyoko prevented the others from fleeing. Based on the layout of the passages it wasn't long before they found Grimmjow's group, where the Toju joined forces and immediately retreated again, showing that, despite the intense anger they were all feeling, the masterless Zanpakuto were still smart and knew that they needed more firepower to deal with the enemies in front of them. Little did they know that they were running into a trap, as the closer they got to the central cavern the more the number of Toju in the group they were chasing grew, but so did the number of Arrancar that were chasing them, ultimately preventing their targets from doing anything in face of the overwhelming force that had found their hideout.
It was like the Toju knew they were outmatched, that no matter what they tried the Arrancars would keep coming until they were cornered, and the unlucky few that actually tried to push them back were knocked to the floor, hard enough to make them stop attacking while also being light enough to avoid killing or wounding them.
A few minutes later Haineko, Zangetsu, and Kyoko pushed their group into the central cavern of the cave system that all the Toju had been hiding in, where they stood guard at the entrance they had come through while the rest of their group made sure that the Toju were standing in the middle of the area. As they stood there the three of them watched as the rest of the groups started pouring into the cavern that they were in, with the Arrancar standing in front of every exit that could possibly be used to escape the area, showing the Toju that they were trapped. It wasn't long before Sombra stepped out of one of the passages, in his Resurreccion state no less, and waved his hand, where Haineko watched as the shadows of the Toju were connected together, revealing that Sombra really did intend to use some of their powers to speak to all of the beings in front of them and not take a couple minutes for each of the Toju. Once that was done he nodded his head and Muramasa stepped forward, where he extended his hand and focused his mind on the one Toju, who was a green skinned creature, what Humans would call an 'orc', that had some metallic armor and a deadly looking weapon, indicating that he must have been the leader of the group, before he got to work and started talking to the beings that were in front of them.
It didn't take long for the first Toju to transform into an Arrancar, starting with the leader and spread out like a tidal wave of sorts, as when one changed those around them did so a few seconds later, until Haineko was watching a sea of changes take place as the number of angry Toju was replaced by newly born Arrancar. It took about five minutes for them to transform the Toju into Arrancar, leaving none of them behind, and while a number of them were still confused by what was going on they all bowed their heads and knelt towards Sombra, showing that they were acknowledging him as their new Lord and master. As that happened Sombra retracted his shadow powers, separating the shadows of the new Arrancar from each other, before returning to his base state and raised his fist into the air, where the Arrancar stood up and saluted him, to which he smiled before he walked back through the passage he had taken to get to the central cavern that they were all in, only this time the army he had formed followed after him. When he emerged from the cave system he could see that the Captains that had followed him to this area were a little surprised when they found out that he had succeeded in saving all of the Toju that had been inside the cave, but at the same time the fact that he had turned all of the Toju into Arrancar meant that the after effects of Muramasa's rebellion had been dealt with.
The rest of the Shinigami, however, were shocked by the sudden arrival of an Arrancar army that emerged from the forest near the Seireitei, but that didn't stop Sombra from leading them to the area that the Senkaimon was in, where he waved his hand and tore open a temporary King's Garganta to Hueco Mundo, allowing Ulquiorra and the others to take the army back to their kingdom and get them settled in.
"It seems that the Toju are finally finished," Shunsui commented, though at the same time he and some of the other Captains stood near Sombra, who was making sure that the gateway stayed open and that his subjects returned to Hueco Mundo without harm coming to them.
"No, there are still seven of them out there." Sombra remarked, causing the Captains to look at him for a few seconds, as if he had said something that none of them were happy with, since they wanted this to be over and didn't want to worry about any rogue Zanpakuto spirits anymore, before he turned towards them, "Don't worry, once we're done getting everyone settled into their new homes in Hueco Mundo I'll send a few Arrancar back to help you find and capture the remaining Toju... and then, at long last, you'll be free to return to your normal operations."
Sombra knew that many of the Shinigami had been hoping for a swift end to the Toju incident, and had been hoping for the finding of all of these new Arrancar to be the end of the Toju, so hearing that he calculated that seven more were still out there wasn't something they wanted to hear, but right now they would be able to breath easier now that the vast majority of the Toju had been taken care of... and, as he promised the Captains, he'd send a few Arrancar back once everyone was situated and finish this incident off at last.
A week went by since Sombra called the entirety of his army to Soul Society and had Narunosuke lead him to the resting place of the majority of the remaining Toju, who had been surprised to find a powerful group of enemies waiting for them and had been calmed down relatively easily. It was in times like this, where the population was suddenly increased by some event that had happened, where Sombra was happy with the fact he had planned ahead and built a large number of buildings and structures for the rest of the beings that would become his followers, as none of the former Toju had to bunk with the rest of his followers and wait for him to build more buildings for them. The Arrancar that had been with him since he claimed Hueco Mundo were happy with what he had done, as a few of them were former Zanpakuto spirits and were overjoyed that he had saved the rest of the spirits that didn't have masters, while others were just happy to have more of their kind to interact with. From what he was able to tell the number of followers that he had was evenly split down the middle, in terms of gender anyway, and while a good number of them were just Gillian ranked there were quite a number of Adjuchas among them, not that any of them seemed to care about the power ranking anymore.
Despite that fact, however, all of the Arrancar knew that there was some ranking to Las Noches, as Sombra did keep the notion of the Espada, the ten strongest followers that he had at any given moment, in terms of Arrancar, and that seemed to please everyone that served him.
The former Toju were pleased with their new existence, as they finally had a place to call their own and didn't have to worry about moving anymore, they weren't consumed by a blinding anger for the Shinigami anymore, and they finally had someone that they could serve with everything they had, finding a new purpose at last. The former Toju started their training the day after they returned to Hueco Mundo, and found someplace in Las Noches to call their own so they had a good nights sleep before they got started, and Sombra was pleased to find that all of them were eager to begin learning what it meant to be an Arrancar. While all that was going on, and he left the training to the Arrancar that were assigned to be instructors at the moment, he headed out and talked with the dragon Hollow that wanted to live near Las Noches, as he had, thanks to Szayelaporro's research, found an area that she could live in, which made the Hollow happy as he manipulated the surrounding area to form her new home, creating a cave for her to call home. He was also sure that the rest of Las Noches would be happy to have another Vasto Lorde hanging nearby, just in case they found themselves without him there to defend them against any dangerous threats, and he had the feeling that both Starrk, Harribel, and Ulquiorra would be happy to have another member of their rank nearby.
Once that was done he returned to Las Noches and headed to the room that the communication sphere was resting in, where he tapped it and opened a link to Soul Society, which was where Muramasa, Zangetsu, and Haineko were staying for the moment since he was sure that there were some Toju left in Soul Society. The trio reported that they were assisting the Shinigami in their repairs, since it only seemed fair to help them out while they were looking for the remaining Toju that he was sure were lurking in the area around the Seireitei, since there were seven of them left, based on the count he made when they had freed the Toju in the cavern. Truthfully he knew that the trio wanted to leave, since they were eager to meet the newest arrivals of their kingdom and finally relax, but they knew that he was counting on them to keep an eye out for the remaining Toju, so he could collect them when they were saved, before the connection was terminated as he moved on to the next task he wanted to take care of. He walked out of the chamber that the communication sphere was in and used the walkway that was connected to the building to head out into Las Noches, where he looked out over his empire and observed the Arrancar that called Las Noches home with a smile on his face.
Everyone was happy and it seemed like an ordinary kingdom, with the Arrancar going about their day and doing whatever they needed or wanted to do, and while he did that he glanced over at the training grounds and wasn't surprised to find that Kyoko was still there, trying to better herself for the future. He had to admit that Kyoko, despite the fact that she hadn't been a Hollow before her transformation, and knew nothing about the world that she had been thrust into thanks to the Toju that had merged with her body, was adapting quite well to her new life and was showing signs of being an incredibly powerful Gillian ranked Arrancar, or maybe even a low ranking Adjuchas if she was lucky. It wasn't just her innate ability to see bits of the future, hence why the Toju had sought her out to begin with, that was allowing her to keep up with her training, rather it was her determination to prove herself and keep herself from being discarded, something from her time as a Human since she had been rejected by nearly everyone she revealed her powers to, but at the same time he had no intention of abandoning her, not after hearing what she had been through. It was like what happened with Haineko and Zangetsu, they had been hurt in some manner and he extended his arm out to them, pulling them into a world that they could thrive in, and that was what he had done for Kyoko, something that she seemed grateful for as she dodged the incoming attack and knocked her instructor onto her rear.
In that moment he decided that she was going to be of the Adjuchas class one day, as her skill with her weapon was impressive, despite only recently getting it, and her ability to adapt to the battle she was in was the same way, something that Kyoko definitely seemed proud of.
"It's amazing what you've been able to do in just a month's time." Yoruichi said, where she flashed down to where her love was standing, allowing her to look out over the empire that hadn't been in Hueco Mundo some time ago, though at the same time Sombra found that she was wearing her Arrancar attire, instead of her normal clothing, "It's also amazing to see the Hollows of Hueco Mundo calm down and act differently than what we originally thought about them, showing me that there is more to this world than we first thought."
"The Hollows are happy because I've changed Hueco Mundo from a desert and am returning it to how it looked before the first Dios Hueco was chosen." Sombra replied, though he continued to smile as he looked out at the empire that was his to lead, because he was proud of the fact that he had been able to change both the world around him and the fact that the Hollows changed in accordance to his improvements, "You know, I originally felt that being the Dios Hueco was going to be hard, even given the experience I had in the past, but now, after seeing how they're all reacting towards the changes I've made I can tell that I had nothing to fear at all, not if everyone's happy with me."
"I'm sure that you would have been a good ruler, regardless of which realm you were chosen to rule over," Yoruichi added, because based on what she had seen so far, during her time in the new Hueco Mundo, she was sure that the Hollows and the Arrancar would be happy with Sombra as their leader, and she was positive that the same thing would have been true if Sombra had been sent to Soul Society or Hell, that things would have changed for the better, before she stood beside him, "You know, both Nel and Harribel are still curious if you're going to take more than one lover, to follow in the footsteps of your predecessor, though neither are willing to bring it up to you, since they know your busy with making sure your kingdom is up to your specifications."
Sombra wasn't surprised to hear that the two Arrancar were still thinking about that, since they had started talking about it after Aizen was defeated and occasionally mentioned it, to remind him about what the previous Dios Hueco did before their demise. At the same time this was the first time Yoruichi had mentioned such a thing, while her tone told him that she was actually interested in what he was thinking, meaning that she had to be okay with the idea of sharing him with the others, since she had a habit of adapting to the beliefs that Hollows and Arrancar possessed.
"Are you saying that you're okay with sharing me with them?" Sombra inquired, as while he was fine with sticking to a single lover he couldn't deny that he was interested in the idea, because during his time as king of the Crystal Empire he had stuck with no lovers, since his mind was torn by what happened before be became king, so he had no experience in something like that.
"It's worth trying out and seeing if we like it." Yoruichi replied, because while she would have preferred keeping Sombra to herself, in terms of love, she also knew that hearing that he tried things out with Harribel or Nel, or even both or all three of them, would likely appease the Hollows and Arrancar more than they already where, "The question is do you want to give it a chance?"
"You know, if all three of you are up to it, I think I'll give it a shot," Sombra said, as this was turning out to be quite the interesting day for him, but at the same time he made no move to leave the walkway just yet, as there was one thing he wanted to do before he and Yoruichi talked with Harribel and Nel, "but first, I want to be absolutely sure that the Toju threat is taken care of and that we've saved them all... and then we can see what the others think about your idea."
Despite what a few of the Captains were thinking, that Sombra was just looking for an excuse to keep some of his soldiers stationed in Soul Society, Yoruichi had know him longer than they did and knew that if he said there were seven Toju that they had missed, then there were seven more for them to hunt down and save before they disappeared. Once he was sure that all of the Toju had been saved, and converted into Arrancar, she knew that Sombra would withdraw the three Arrancar that were still in Soul Society and leave the Shinigami to their business, until he and his army were needed for whatever threat came next. It also made sense that he'd want to save anything that resembled fun for when he actually had time to have fun, since he was a ruler first and a warrior second, which was why he was so focused on making sure that this incident with the Toju was over, for them and Soul Society, and that made her happy that he was willing to expand so much of his energy helping others out. In the end she nodded her head in agreement, as she was sure that Nel and Harribel could wait a while before they got the answer to the question that they had been asking for some time, and they would be happy with whatever answer Sombra gave them, once he was done with the Toju.
Since she had faith in Sombra's ability to determine that something was happening, or would happen, she was sure that the remaining Toju would make their move soon, since that was what Sombra had to be thinking about right now, and then they could finally relax and focus on something else... they just had to be patient and wait for someone to tell them that the Toju were on the move again.
While Sombra was busy in Hueco Mundo, making sure that everything was fine and that his subjects had everything that they needed, everything seemed to be peaceful in Soul Society, since the amount of incidents had dropped to zero in the days following Sombra's action of taking all of the former Toju to his empire. For the most part the Shinigami were able to continue their repairs without having to stop and chase down another menace, though despite the fact that many were sure that the Toju were done for they were slightly confused as to why three Arrancar were still hanging around the building that had been given to their forces for the duration of their stay. They, like their Captains, believed that the threat was over and that the three Arrancar could head back home, though the Captain-Commander trusted Sombra's belief that there were still seven more Toju running around and was glad to have the assistance, because if they weren't chasing any threats he knew that he could have the three Arrancar assist with the rebuilding effort, something that Muramasa seemed okay with, confirming that he was making things right and improving his reputation with them. Zangetsu and Haineko, for the most part, were working with the other Zanpakuto, to see if they could find any of the seven that Sombra was looking for, without blowing up part of the Seireitei or anything, like what happened with the SRDI's building a week ago.
Of course they were all interrupted when a young man with white skin, with a few meat cleavers strapped to a strap he wore diagonally across his body, burst through one of the windows of the building that he had been running through and landed on the ground, before turning his head as three Shinigami spotted him... though as he hurled one of his cleavers at the Shinigami Kazeshini, the first one to respond to the Toju's reiatsu, moved into the area and used his own weapon to knock the cleaver out of it's path.
"That's a nice weapon you got there." Kazeshini commented, though at the same time he turned towards the cleaver wielding Toju, who still had two more attached to the strap he was wearing, and knew that he was going to have to wear his foe down so Muramasa could save him when he arrived, "You know, since I've got to wait for someone to come save you, why don't we see whose is stronger!"
Hisagi flashed into the area that the Toju's reiatsu was coming from and frowned for a moment when he saw that his Zanpakuto spirit was already here, where Kazeshini started to swing his scythe-like weapons at the Toju, light enough to force him to defend himself as the Shinigami backed away to give him some room. He wanted to go all out, he really did, but his orders were to wear the Toju down and prevent him from escaping, so Muramasa could work his magic on him and turn him into an Arrancar, though that didn't stop him from grinning as he swung at his target and forced him to defend himself with one of his two remaining cleavers. For the most part the Toju parried his attacks well, showing that he had some promise as an opponent, if he was allowed to fight the being when everything was said and done, before he forced his foe into a nearby street that would force Hisagi and the others to move if they wanted to see how the battle came to an end. The Toju seemed concerned for his safety, since he seemed to be sweating and considering his options on what was going on at the moment, though that was before Kazeshini paused as the Toju dropped his weapon and started to act like he was choking... though before he could do anything the Toju burst into orange flames for a moment, where the flames, which felt like reiryoku, burst out in all directions and left the spirit.
As the flames disappeared, however, Kazeshini raised his eyebrow in surprise as he found a Zanpakuto, without any sort of reiatsu coming from it, resting on the ground in front of him, meaning that something had killed the Toju before Muramasa even had a chance to arrive and save him.
"Kazeshini, what did you do?" Hisagi asked, because after defeating him, and returning him to his original state before his mind had been controlled by Muramasa like the rest of the Zanpakuto spirits, he had been hoping that the blood lust that his partner felt had been taken down a notch, but he was disappointed in what he saw.
"Nothing... I did nothing but chase him into this area." Kazeshini admitted, because something was wrong with the situation that he had found himself in, and he was sure that, despite the scene that was in front of him, Hisagi knew that he hadn't killed the Toju on accident or anything, since his orders were to capture it, "He just suddenly burst into flames and his reiryoku poured out of him..."
"Now that sounds odd." a voice said, where both Kazeshini and Hisagi turned to look behind them as Renji, Saru, Hebi, and Muramasa arrived in the area behind them, though while they did that Muramasa looked at the fallen blade with a look of concern on his face, showing that he understood that something was going on, before they determined that it was Renji that had spoken, "What could have caused him to suddenly lose all of his reiryoku?"
"Maybe he expired?" Saru commented, as that was something that they had been warned about when they first learned of the existence of the Toju, which was the reason that Sombra had asked them to find as many of the Toju as they could and save them before such a fate befell them, "This is likely what happens to a Toju after a certain amount of time, so I guess it's a good thing that we managed to save as many of them as we could, otherwise we'd have a sea of dead Zanpakuto just laying around and collecting dust."
"Still, the suddenness of him expiring seems odd." Hisagi stated, to which he picked up the Zanpakuto that was on the ground and noticed that there wasn't a single trace of the reiatsu he had been feeling earlier coming from the blade anymore, confirming the fact that the Zanpakuto spirit must have expired, "Either way, this means that there's only six more Toju running around the Seireitei, so we should be on the lookout for them in case the same thing happens to them, though telling Sombra that one of them expired isn't going to be good, since he's been so bent on saving as many of the Toju as he possibly can."
"Yeah, he might not like the news of one of them expiring," Renji said, as he had seen what happened when Sombra was annoyed or upset about something, kind of like the time where he was fighting Szayelaporro and used a number of powers that had turned the tide of the battle easily, before shaking his head, "We'll have to tell him eventually, so it might be best if we inform him that the remaining Toju might expire soon and just let the six of them expire, but something tells me that he'll insist that we try to save them anyway."
Renji and Hisagi glanced at each other for a moment, knowing that neither one of them wanted to make the call that brought the Dios Hueco back to Soul Society, to which they nodded their heads and silently agreed that they would inform the Captains once they had some time to see if anything else happened, before walking away from the Zanpakuto spirits that were behind them.
"Honestly, I don't see why Sombra would case about one expired Toju," Hebi said, to which he sighed for a moment and looked up at the sky, because there were just some things in this world that he didn't understand and the being that was known as Sombra was one of them, "especially when he has an entire army in Hueco Mundo."
"Given his own history, it's a matter of granting others the second chance he was never given," Muramasa spoke up, as he remembered what Haineko and Zangetsu had told him, about their Lord starting out as an innocent youth and becoming the dreaded king that history remembered him as, before overcoming all of that and proved that one's past did not define who they were, something that he was trying to do as well, "besides, he promised that he'd help Soul Society deal with the Toju, so what happens to them is his concern, since he knows they can be saved. Finding out that one of them actually expired is going to annoy him, as it means that we're running out of time to save the others, and he might bring in more Arrancar to help the Shinigami search for them, but we have no way of actually knowing that he'll do until someone tells him what happened to this Toju."
"Regardless of what Sombra does, we need to have a talk." Kazeshini said, because there was something about this entire situation that didn't sit well with him, which was why he banished his scythe-like weapons for now and turned away from the spot the Toju had been standing in moments ago, "I think it's about time the Zanpakuto got back together and had one last meeting, away from our Shinigami, and we should invite Zangetsu and Haineko as well, since they both deserve to know what is going on as well."
Muramasa knew that if Kazeshini was taking something serious, like he was doing right now, than he and the others should listen and do as he suggested, to which he and the two spirits of Zabimaru nodded their heads before they went their separate ways for now. He was sure that Lord Sombra would hear of this, one way or another, so he decided to wait until morning and see if someone had told him what was going on, to give Renji and Hisagi the chance to contact Hueco Mundo and relay the news, but this situation seemed worse than it actually was. The way that Kazeshini acted told him that they might not be dealing with the Toju expiring, rather that another one of their kind was drawing in enough power to keep himself from expiring, even if it meant killing off the rest of the Toju and whoever got in their way. Since it seemed that Kazeshini knew something he decided to trust the Zanpakuto spirit, which was why he headed for the building that Zangetsu and Haineko were in, surprising them by his sudden arrival, especially since they had been getting ready to head out and help the Shinigami as well.
Both of them were happy to hear that they had found one of the missing Toju, though they were surprised when he told them that it had burst into flames and it's reiatsu had disappeared completely, leaving it's Zanpakuto behind, to which they glanced at each other and nodded their heads, showing that they understood that this could be a problem. As such the three of them headed for the one spot, in the entirety of the Seireitei, where they might have a simple meeting and be able to depart the moment it was done, the spot where Zaraki had fought both Tosen and Komamura back when Ichigo and the others were invading Soul Society. The only way they knew where the battle had taken place was because it was recorded in the records, something that Muramasa could easily access since he was only looking for the battles and not any specific information about a powerful relic, and before long they were headed out to the area in question. Of course since it had been in the afternoon when the Toju had been found, and it was the late afternoon when Muramasa found out where the battle took place, the trio got to the area in question as the moon rose into the air, though as they came to the area they stopped as they noticed that two of the spirits were already present.
Hozukimaru and Ruri'iro Kujaku were sitting in the area that they were going to be meeting in, apparently sharing some sake with each other as they talked about the moon, and not even a few moments later Kazeshini and both halves of Zabimaru walked up the street, to which the trio joined them and entered the area as a group.
"What's going on here?" Hozukimaru asked, though at the same time he noticed something interesting, since he had never seen both Kazeshini and Zabimaru hang out before today, and he could tell that Ruri'iro Kujaku was thinking about something else at the moment, "You two never hang out. In fact you tend to stay away from them as well."
"Yeah, well our partners have been spending more time near each other," Kazeshini replied, answering the first part of the statement, since it had been directed towards him, Saru, and Hebi, before the three of them sat down as the Arrancar did the same thing, "and we occasionally work with the Arrancar since they're only doing what their Lord asked them to do, but that's not important right now."
"Good, because I think this was his failed attempt at teasing you guys." Ruri'iro Kujaku commented, though at the same time he finished what sake was in his cup and set it down, as he had been hoping to drink a little more before the others arrived, before turning towards the group that had called them here, "So, why did you decide to call this meeting? Especially at a time like this?"
"There's no easy way to say this, especially considering who we're talking about, so I'll just say it," Kazeshini said, to which he looked at the assembled Zanpakuto spirits that had come, far less than he was hoping to see, but at the very least they could spread the message once the meeting was over, "We found His tracks."
"Are you serious?" Hozukimaru asked, because if Kazeshini was talking about who he thought he was talking about, and he had the feeling that he was doing just that, than the remaining Toju were in trouble, which made it a good thing that so many of them had been saved and taken to a different realm.
"Definitely." Kazeshini replied, where he glared at the group for a moment, to show them that he was being serious, and while most of them knew who he was talking about both Muramasa and Zangetsu seemed confused, which he was okay with since he planned on explaining himself anyway, "The Toju I was chasing after earlier suddenly stopped all of a sudden and his reiatsu was just drained out of his body, returning him to his Zanpakuto state, even though there wasn't a trace of him left in the blade at all... that was His move alright."
"From what Captain Mayuri could tell, all Toju have a finite amount of reiatsu that keeps them in their current state," Saru added, reminding them that there had been something they had learned and failed to inform Sombra about, but at the same time that fact didn't matter very much, not since so many of the Toju had been saved before they even neared that point, "and, from what the Captain determined, once they run out of that amount of reiatsu they would disappear, even though Muramasa saved them before they could get to that point."
"So they had a chance to go extinct from the start," Zangetsu commented, to which he leaned back a little and stared at the group, who turned their heads and looked at him for a moment, since he was happy about what they had been able to do, "I guess that means that Lord Sombra's plan to find and save as many of them as we could worked better than he could have hoped for, especially since it appears that the others might expire before we find them... but something tells me that you aren't talking about that right now."
"Yeah, the guy we're talking about can steal another Zanpakuto's reiatsu and use it as his own." Kazeshini said, to which Muramasa and Zangetsu raised their eyebrows for a moment, as that sounded like an incredibly dangerous ability for someone to have, "The problem is that this particular spirit surpassed his master in strength, and that's mostly because his master was holding his power back, but now that his Shinigami is dead he can use his powers however he desires, which is a problem for everyone."
"I see, so he's going to overpower whoever is in his way and take their reiatsu for himself." Muramasa stated, though as he said that he said his hand to his chin, showing that he was thinking about something, even though he was happy that three of them had transformed into Arrancar, since it made them much safer than the others, "The Shinigami will be hard pressed to defeat someone like him, so it might be best if we skipped all the unnecessary pain and just called Lord Sombra in before anything else happens... he could stop this Toju before the situation gets out of hand."
"While you do that, I think we should set a trap for him." Ruri'iro Kujaku added, to which he stood up for a moment and looked at the moon, something that he found beauty in, despite Hozukimaru's opinion that it was far too bright for their meeting, before he decided to say what he had been thinking about the entire time, "And we even have the perfect bait; me. Now, before any of you say anything, let me tell you that Yumichika and I have been talking about the status of our relationship, since I was freed from your mind control, and we have come to an agreement that we would like to propose to Sombra when he next visits Soul Society. We've decided that since we cannot get along, without our own desires and lifestyles getting in the way, and the fact that Yumichika will not relent on his punishments whenever I don't feel like coming to his aid, since he refuses to use my true name, that we should go our separate ways, permanently... as in he's willing to let me separate my soul from his and become an Arrancar."
"Are you sure you want to do that?" Haineko asked, because she knew that most Zanpakuto were in agreement with their partners, that they should remain the way before Muramasa showed himself, she was surprised to hear that there was another spirit that wanted to separate himself from his partner.
"I know, I don't have the track record that you have with Matsumoto," Ruri'iro Kujaku said, as he had thought about that fact for a while now, figuring that someone was going to object because of what he was saying, before he sighed and looked at Haineko, "but Yumichika likes to call me names, chips me against whatever he lashes out at when I decide to ignore his summons, and refuses to call me by my real name unless he's away from everyone else and is sure that no one can see him when he activates my true power, a power that he hates with all his heart. We've agreed that, since Sombra is taking in Zanpakuto spirits that aren't happy with their Shinigami partners, like you and Zangetsu, that he might do the same for me if we asked him."
Haineko had nothing to say to that, because she didn't know that Sombra would do if he was approached with such an idea, so she remained silent as Kazeshini told them that they would spread out and tell the other Zanpakuto spirits about the dangerous Toju that he had discovered. Once the meeting was over Haineko headed out to the area that she knew two of the spirits, Tobiume and Kyokotsu, were in, as they were joining Matsumoto, Hinamori, and Ise in a bar so they could enjoy the night, and while she had been invited she had been planning on doing something else, but the threat that Kazeshini had mentioned told her otherwise. The group was happy to see her when she arrived, as if they knew that she had taken her time before joining them, and welcomed her immediately, though while she didn't actually need to eat any of the food she did so out of habit and did the same with the sake that was offered to her, since she couldn't get drunk at all, but while that happened she glanced at the Zanpakuto and told them that 'He had been found'. Tobiume and Kyokotsu glanced at each other, understanding who she was talking about while the Shinigami were too focus on the meal to hear what she had said, before they went back to what they were doing so they could make sure everyone was up to speed when morning arrived.
Haineko learned that the other half of Captain Shunsui's Zanpakuto, Katen, was at the barracks drinking sake with her partner, meaning that Kyokotsu would tell her other half, in some manner, that they had confirmed the existence of a dangerous foe that might endanger the Seireitei... and, when the dinner was over, Ise and Hinamori had to pull a drunken Matsumoto away from the bar as Haineko went the other way with her fellow spirits.
As the three of them headed out, however, Haineko felt something that she wasn't expecting to feel so soon, as she noticed the flash of another Toju's reiatsu appear somewhere in the Seireitei, though before they could even move in the direction of it, so they could save the Toju, the reiatsu disappeared as suddenly as the cleaver wielding Toju's when he was fighting Kazeshini. That worried her, as that meant that there were two permanently dead Toju that couldn't be saved anymore, though as she started walking forward she had to stop a few seconds, because the reiatsu of a second Toju doing what the first one did, appearing and disappearing rather suddenly. That was three beings that the dangerous Toju had destroyed, meaning that three Toju were still unaccounted for, but that only told her that they needed to gather their forces and prepare for the being's arrival once more, because if they did gather together they might entice the being to come out of hiding and doom himself, especially since Zangetsu and Muramasa would be with them. Eventually she came to a stop and told both Tobiume and Kyokotsu to talk with the others without her, causing them to stare at her for a few seconds before they moved forward, where she turned to the side and headed to the Thirteenth Division's barracks, as she came to a decision about whether or not they were going to tell Lord Sombra about this.
It didn't take her long to find the barracks that she was searching for, though when she arrived she knocked on the door and patiently waited for someone to come and let her in, because while she was aware that time was of the essence she wasn't going to just barge in like she owned the place, and she was a little surprised to find Rukia standing on the other side of the door, since she figured that she'd be back at her manor or in the World of the Living.
"Haineko, what brings you here this late into the night?" Rukia asked, because it was getting close to midnight and she was surprised to find that Haineko was still up, especially since she knew that Arrancar needed sleep, if Sombra was anything to go by, but at the same time an Arrancar only came here for one reason, even if she was hoping that she was wrong in her thoughts.
"Kazeshini found something earlier that I think needs Lord Sombra's attention, but he and the other Zanpakuto think they can deal with it on their own," Haineko replied, showing that she knew that the being the others had found needed someone like her Lord to assist them before someone was hurt, while at the same time she noticed that Rukia was a little surprised by her response, "They were planning on telling him later, but the Toju in question has killed three of his own kind already and it's only a matter of time until the other three are taken out as well, so I figured that it would be best if someone told Lord Sombra about the situation before it escalated any further than it already has."
"That sounds like Kazeshini," Rukia said, to which she shook her head as she waved Haineko into the barracks, as this sounded like something that needed to be done quickly, especially if the dangerous Toju had already killed three of the other Toju and might be targeting the other three that they were looking for, "I was helping Captain Ukitake with the rest of the paperwork, for the repairs done to the area of the Seireitei that we're stationed in, when you arrived, but based on what little you've told me, and the look on your face, I can tell that this is more important than what we were doing, and I'm positive that the Captain would agree with me."
Haineko nodded her head and followed Rukia into the barracks, where they walked down the hallway that would take them right to the room where the communication sphere was in, and while she believed that it would have been better for the Shinigami to just hand it over for the duration of their stay she was also fine with this. It wasn't long before they came to a stop at the room that the sphere was resting in, where Rukia opened the door and entered the room with Haineko, who approached the dark object and rested her hand against it, where she thought about Hueco Mundo for a moment and waited for the connection to be made. At first Yoruichi appeared on the other side, which made sense considering that she was spending more and more time in Hueco Mundo, before she moved out of the sphere's sight and they were left with nothing for a few seconds, though that was followed by Sombra stepping into view and only stopping when he was ready to talk with them.
"Ah, Haineko, I was expecting a message from you and the others in the morning, but this works as well," Sombra said, because since it had been a week, and there had been no reports of the remaining Toju showing themselves at all, he knew that it was time to withdraw his forces and let the Shinigami run things their way, since they could contact him once the other Toju showed up in the future, before he noticed the look on her face, "Did something happen since the last time I talked with you, Zangetsu, and Muramasa?"
"You could say that, Lord Sombra." Haineko replied, though at the same time she knew that Kazeshini wasn't going to like what she was doing, but it was better if they had Sombra on their side, instead of just lashing out at the Toju that he had confirmed the existence of earlier, "Earlier this afternoon one of the seven missing Toju made an appearance in Soul Society, a man that was wearing two cleavers attached to a strap around his chest, and was carrying a third one in his right hand, to use as his main weapon against those that tried to stop him. Kazeshini was the first one to encounter the Toju and proceeded with the goal of capturing him in mind, but what actually happened was that the Toju in question burst into orange flames and returned to his Zanpakuto state, and from what he said he couldn't feel any reiatsu coming from the blade. Naturally both Renji and Hisagi believed that it was just a matter of the Toju expiring and didn't even bother to consider that maybe another Toju had siphoned the cleaver Toju's reiatsu, to extend it's own existence, and Kazeshini gathered a few of the spirits earlier and told us that he knew who was behind this odd occurrence, even though he didn't say the spirit's name at all.
The spirit's name is Kirikaze, meaning 'Mist Wind' when you translate it, and his powers allow him to generate wind of whatever power he desires, the ability to transform into mist if he so desired, and apparently the power to absorb the reiatsu of the other Toju, since he struck down two of the others on my way here, hence the reason I decided to contact you before he has a chance to go after the other three."
"Based on what you're telling me, it sounds like Kazeshini is trying to get the others to join him," Sombra commented, showing that he was thinking about what he had just been told, and while he seemed a little sad that three of the Toju had perished, since he had been trying to save them all, that sadness was gone in an instant, making Haineko wonder if she might have envisioned the look on her Lord's face for some reason, "so they can all attack this Kirikaze at the same time, hopefully wearing him down to the point where either Muramasa can step in and free him, or they knock him down to the point where he shatters into a thousand pieces. Very well then, I shall be in Soul Society in the morning, so tell Kazeshini not to do anything reckless until I arrive, though something tells me that even if you did get the message through he'd just ignore you anyway and lash out against Kirikaze with whoever decided to aid him."
"I will try to tell him to stand down until you arrive," Haineko said, though at this point she wasn't surprised to find that her Lord had figured out what was going on and seemed to have a plan in mind for what to do when he arrived, but before the link between the two realms was disconnected there was something else she needed to say, "Also, from what I was told both Ruri'iro Kujaku and Yumichika have come to an understanding with each other, as in they can't stand each other and want to separate their souls from their partner, despite the fact that nothing terrible has happened to Ruri'iro Kujaku, save for being called a name he hates and being based other objects from time to time when he doesn't come to his partner's aid."
"Of course they would be having problems as well." Sombra replied, showing that he must have know about their problems ahead of time and had been hoping that they would have come to some sort of agreement that wasn't about separating them from each other, before he shook his head and looked at the sphere on his end, "Okay, I'll talk to them when I get there, and after Kirikaze is taken care of, so hopefully they don't do something incredibly stupid before I have a chance to talk some sense into them... but knowing them, since it's mirrored in other Shinigami as well, something tells me that they'll do something stupid before I get there to assist all of you."
Haineko nodded her head and the link between the two realms was disconnected, though once that was done, and Rukia knew that the Zanpakuto were planning something insane without telling their partners what they were thinking of doing, which was why she headed out with Haineko the moment the connection was gone. As they headed outside the barracks, however, Haineko noticed that the various Zanpakuto spirits were already on the move, as it appeared that Kazeshini and the others had told the rest of the spirits about the fact that Kirikaze had been found, meaning that all of them were going to converge on their foe and attack him. While the two of them headed through the Seireitei, keeping an eye on where their main target could be located, Haineko noticed that Zangetsu and Muramasa flashed down into the area behind them and moved beside them, but the looks on their faces told her that they had been unsuccessful in trying to stop the spirits before they did anything stupid, despite the fact that they hadn't heard what their Lord had said. The Zanpakuto were preparing for battle, following the faint trail of Kirikaze's reiatsu to Rukongai, meaning that they needed to head there as well and try to stop them before they did anything stupid, which would happen since it appeared that Kazeshini was running the show at the moment.
When they arrived in the last area that Kirikaze's reiatsu had come from, however, Haineko found that their target must have already moved out of Rukongai, as she didn't see any signs of him anywhere and the trail she had been carefully following had ended at one point, meaning that they needed to be careful as they looked for their foe.
The four of them had searched the area of Rukongai they had come to for a few minutes before spreading out and surveying the other districts around them, as they needed to find the area that Kirikaze had gone off in so they could get ahead of the Zanpakuto and stop their stupid plan from becoming a reality. As time moved on, however, Haineko let a smile appear on her face as she eventually sensed the arrival of Kirikaze's reiatsu once more, though this time it was coming from another part of Rukongai and she headed out immediately, where she found the others had noticed what she was doing and followed after her immediately. While they headed out towards the area that their target's reiatsu was coming from Haineko noticed two interesting things, as the first one was the fact that the other three Toju had shown themselves at last, as their individual reiatsu signatures were in the immediate area of each other and they seemed to be moving, bring her to the second fact, which was Kirikaze chasing after them. That was bad, since they were supposed to save the Toju and Kirikaze was stalking them, meaning that the other three might end up dying before they managed to reach the area that they were in, which was why she was moving as quickly as she could and knew that the others were doing the same thing. When they arrived at the area that the reiatsu signatures were coming from, and came to a brief stop, Haineko saw what was a humanoid lion Toju, a humanoid ape Toju, and a square Toju that was just a walking face run out of a street and separate into three different directions.
Of course that was when Kirikaze showed himself, showing them that he was a large, green colored muscular being with long, white colored bovine-like horns, bovine-like ears, and completely red eyes, though he had a long, black stripe-like plate on the top of his head that was kept in place with a small gold pin on his forehead, along with his nose having a piercing, which was a large gold ring. Kirikaze wore a large metal pauldron with an extension covering his neck on either shoulder, which were connected with a brown belt and gold buckle that cover part of his pectorals, and he also wore metal gloves, gauntlets, and greaves, though he had large, angular black shoes that covered his feet and dark gray pants that were held up by a brown belt with a golden Y-shaped buckle. The large Toju's weapon was a dual-edged sword, a large one that matched his large frame, though not even a moment large he turned to his left and cut down the lion Toju before it could get far away from him, destroying the Toju as he tore it's reiatsu from it's body. Once that happened he turned around and threw his blade through the air, impaling the ape Toju not even a second later and repeating the process that happened to the first one, where Haineko was shocked by how quickly he was acting as he transformed into mist and surged around the face Toju, consuming him as quickly as the others, before he reformed in his physical form and roared as his orange reiatsu filled the air around him.
"I certainly didn't expect him to be so big," a voice said, to which Haineko and the others watched as Hozukimaru, who was the one that had spoken up, and the other Zanpakuto spirits stepped out into the area that their foe was standing in, where they all stared at Kirikaze, showing that they weren't going to give up since they knew that he was running around, even if standing down was the best move for them, "Whatever, let's get this over with and take him down."
"That won't be necessary," a voice replied, to which Haineko, Zangetsu, and Muramasa looked to the side as Sombra, in his Resurreccion, appeared before them and the Zanpakuto spirits that had prepared themselves for battle, where he stared at the Toju in front of him as the shadows vibrated, "Cristales de Anulacion."
The group watched as the shadows surged forward for a moment and seemed to wrap around Kirikaze's wrists for a few seconds, surprising everyone that was watching the large creature, because it appeared that nothing was happening save for stalling Kirikaze, before Sombra completed his task. Haineko's eyes widened for a moment as the shadows pulled back, revealing a circular cuff of black crystals that were attached to Kirikaze's wrists, almost like they were growing out of his skin, and when the Toju focused on his powers, to turn summon a powerful gust of wind and knock them all around, nothing happened, much to the spirit's confusion. Not even a few seconds later Kirikaze tried something else, as in he attempted to turn into his mist form and attack Sombra from behind, but as the group observed what was going on they found that this power was unable to be used as well, and when the Toju grabbed onto one of the larger crystals he tried to siphon it's power into his body, before finding that not even that power worked. Haineko had never seen anything like this, that a simple skill could take away someone's abilities and prevent them from being used, though as they stood there Sombra's horn glowed for a moment and several shadowy chains wrapped around Kirikaze's body, preventing him from moving and allowing Muramasa to get to work, especially since his deadly power had been taken care of.
"Lord Sombra, what did you do?" Zangetsu asked, because he hadn't been expecting something like this to happen when Haineko told them that she had contacted their Lord about the situation, but that didn't stop him from glanced at the various Shinigami that decided to flash down into the area as well.
"I used an ability that I used to use all the time when I was alive," Sombra replied, and that was true, he used this one ability to take away the powers and abilities of those he was facing, before he glanced to the side and found Renji, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Hisagi, Kira, Matsumoto, Ise, and the various Captains whose Zanpakuto were about to be involved in a big battle flashed into the area around them, "Cristales de Anulacion is a power that allows me to pretty much nullify the powers and abilities of an opponent that I use the technique against, hence why it's translated name is 'Nullification Crystals', and the only way for Kirikaze to lose the crystals is if he beat me into the ground and I lost my concentration, or if I willingly got rid of them."
"Wait a second, are you saying that you've always had access to this ability?" Renji asked, causing some of the group to turn towards him for a moment, while at the same time Sombra nodded his head to confirm that his Resurreccion had access to the power that he was only now showing off, "Why didn't you just use this against Aizen? You could have taken away his powers and prevented him from doing anything, meaning we could have locked him in a prison or executed him without sending him to the Shadowlands for the rest of his days."
"Well, I had just unlocked the power of the Dios Hueco and Aizen was the only challenger that I could test my new power on without him being utterly destroyed," Sombra answered, causing Zangetsu to nod his head in understanding, as part of the reason he had refrained from using the ability was because it would have taken the fun out of showing Aizen just how screwed he was, a lesson that had taken some time for the traitorous Captain to learn, "Remember, the old me would have sealed Aizen's powers and cut him down without a second thought, to get rid of an obstacle, but I wanted to see just how strong my power truly was and he was the perfect opponent for me to fight against... and besides, he truly deserved to be sentenced to the Shadowlands until the day he dies, since he wanted to disrupt the balance of this world by killing the Soul King. Since Kirikaze has some troublesome abilities, like turning into a cloud of mist, commanding the wind, and absorbing reiatsu, this was the perfect ability to nullify his powers and make it that much easier for us to capture him, as well as take him someplace where we can harness his power and deal with his rage."
Most of the Zanpakuto spirits thought that Sombra was a little insane for even suggesting that Kirikaze could be tamed, since his partner couldn't do that when he was alive, but Sombra was up to the challenge and it wasn't long before Muramasa stepped away from a humanoid creature with two white bovine horns growing out of the sides of his head, showing them that the process had been successful. The moment that was done both Yumichika and Ruri'iro Kujaku approached him, stating the case that Haineko had told him about earlier, that neither of them wanted to be tied to the other anymore, and despite the fact that Sombra knew they could compromise and be wonderful partners, since he was positive that they could have two Release Calls, depending on which power Yumichika wanted to use, the two remained stubborn and set in their ways, to which he sighed and simply nodded towards them once. As such he and the others watched as the duo went through the same process that both Zangetsu and Haineko went through, but this time around neither of them were hurt because they were both agreeing to the separation, because when Zangetsu had done it there had been no pain since he was merged with Ichigo's body and Haineko's attempt had caused Matsumoto pain, or rather just a few cuts and some heartache. He honestly thought they had made a stupid decision, as Yumichika wasn't as bad as Matsumoto had been and he felt they could fix their relationship, but since neither of them wanted to compromise he simply watched as they separated their souls and Ruri'iro Kujaku stood with with the rest of the Arrancar, since he now possessed a Hollow hole in his stomach and some white feathers in his hair to represent his mask.
The moment the pair was separated, and both were ready to continue their lives without their partner, Sombra and the others watched as the Zanpakuto spirits glowed blue for a few seconds, where they all dissolved into nothingness and returned to living inside the blades that their partners carried, showing Sombra that all of them had intended for this to be their last battle, something that he had interrupted. In the end it was for the best, since they had no way of knowing if Kirikaze would have actually killed one of them in the process of their fight, stripping their partner of all their powers in the process, and they could have easily killed him, the last of the Toju, in their desire to protect their partners from someone like him, hence why he was glad that he had moved when he had. Now that everything was said and done, and the effects of Muramasa manifesting the spirits of the Zanpakuto had finally run their course, Sombra knew that it was time for them to officially pull out of Soul Society and return to Hueco Mundo, though not before Matsumoto insisted on him coming to the World of the Living soon so they could celebrate the fact that everything was returning to normal at long last.
As Sombra and the others headed out of Soul Society, however, he knew that there was no such thing as normal in this world, since there was no telling when one of the other threats that Captain-Commander Yamamoto told him about could show up out of nowhere, so he resolved to remain on his guard and see what the future held for all of them.
Five days had done by since Kirikaze had been contained by Sombra's power, one that he hadn't shown his friends and allies in the past, because he wanted to test his powers as the Dios Hueco against Aizen, and things had been slightly busy for both Soul Society and Hueco Mundo. Rukia, Renji, and the rest of the Shinigami had continued to work on the ever dwindling list of repairs that needed to be made to the Seireitei, since there had been a few at the time that Kirikaze was attacking the remaining Toju in Rukongai, and so far nothing else had blown up during their repairs. Haineko, Zangetsu, and Muramasa, now accompanied by both Ruri'iro Kujaku and Kirikaze, had done what Sombra asked them to do, as in they gathered what supplies and possessions they had acquired during their time in Soul Society and departed from the building they had been staying in, which was in pristine condition, since Haineko wanted to make a good impression on their Lord's allies. As the five of them departed from the Seireitei they were greeted by some of the Captains and Lieutenants, who wished them a safe journey back to Hueco Mundo, before they stepped into the Senkaimon and headed back to the World of the Living, though upon their arrival they found the gateway back to their home and headed through it.
Sombra, on the other hand, had been extremely busy during the time since they found and converted Kirikaze to his new state, as he spent a good deal of his time making slight changes to Hueco Mundo, to make it better for his subjects as he added in a few different areas to the map, like a ocean and a mountain. He also spent some time making sure that there were enough buildings to house each and every Arrancar that had previously been the Toju that terrorized Soul Society, even though some of them were Hollows that had evolved on their own, to see what was going on for themselves. He was happy to see that his citizens were happy and were embracing their new friends, be they former Zanpakuto spirits or the Hollows that had been living outside Las Noches' walls, and that all of them seemed to be working towards a brighter future for all of them. He still felt that Ruri'iro Kujaku had made a rash decision to abandon Yumichika, when their relationship wasn't as strains as the other Zanpakuto spirits, but seeing him interact with the others, and actually enjoying his new life, made him decide that he might as well not bother the former spirit and let him live his life the way he wanted to, just like he had done for Haineko earlier.
Speaking of which he occasionally spotted Haineko and Zangetsu hanging out when they were off duty, which made sense considering that the two of them had fallen in love during the first few moments of Muramasa's rebellion and had moved on from that point, but at the same time he was happy to see them living their lives to the fullest, just like the rest of the beings that called Hueco Mundo home.
He came to a stop for a moment and stared out at his kingdom from the balcony of his crystal palace, as Las Noches now looked like a perfect replica of the Crystal Empire, though at the same time he thought about what he had been able to do recently, in terms of helping Soul Society out. As of now Hueco Mundo and Soul Society were allies in every sense of the word, meaning that if something bothered one the other would come to their aid at some point, even if his kingdom might not do that since they had him to ultimately defend them, and that was already affecting how the Shinigami operated when they went to the World of the Living. Instead of hunting down Hollows and purifying them, like they used to do, Rukia and the others were in a race against the Hollows to claim the lost souls that lingered around the entire world, because now some souls would go to Soul Society and either linger in Rukongai or become Shinigami themselves, some would be brought to Hueco Mundo and become Hollows, and a few of them were so foul that both sides agreed to send the offending souls to Hell.
In the beginning of his stay on this world, when he had no idea who he was and didn't have access to any of his true powers, Sombra remembered thinking that the possibility of Soul Society and Hueco Mundo living in harmony was slim at best and even then it might not work at all, but that had changed with his discovery of the Dios Hueco and the fact that he now controlled the entirety of Hueco Mundo... and the fact that his true power seemed to frighten a good number of the Shinigami, hence why they allied with him and wanted to stay on his good side.
"You know, it never ceases to amaze me just how much one person can change Hueco Mundo." Sombra commented, though at the same time Yoruichi stepped out of where she had been standing, as she had grown used to there being someone in this world whose speed matched hers and also possessed the skill necessary to know where she was at any given instant, especially since she had trained him to be a match for her, "We all thought that this world was just a barren desert with some forgotten buildings, since that was the extent of the research that went into studying this world, but never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I'd be the one with the power to reshape this world."
"The power of the Dios Hueco is, as I've heard and seen, one of the greatest powers in our world." Yoruichi said, to which she stepped forward and stopped when she was standing beside Sombra, where she looked out over the kingdom that her love ruled over, this time with a more gentle fist that would rise to defend his citizens if trouble ever decided to show itself to them, "I know Captain Mayuri is still trying to understand the nature of how you are able to manipulate the very essence of Hueco Mundo and create something that, in his eyes, shouldn't be here at all, even though you and some of the others have told me that you're simply restoring this world to how it had been before the first Dios Hueco showed up and took control over everything."
"My predecessor wasn't the nicest Arrancar around," Sombra admitted, as he had taken some time to learn about the Hollow that had become the first Dios Hueco, the one that waged a three way war between Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and the Quincies that followed Yhwach, a war that they lost when a younger Captain-Commander Yamamoto cleaved his predecessor in half, and supposedly killed the Father of the Quincy as well, "From what I've learned about him, based on the tales that the others have told me, he turned what could have been called a paradise into a barren wasteland, then he made the Hollows hate the Shinigami, apparently putting the blame on them from the 'destruction' of their world, and then, once they had a taste for their enemy's blood, he declared war on Soul Society. There's a number of other things he did to the beings of this world, torture and whatnot, all in the name of strengthening his forces, but at the very least he died quickly after his rise to power, allowing his forces to slowly forget what he had done to him until those events became the history that Grimmjow and the others instinctively know about."
"I'm also glad to see that it didn't take much to change their opinion on the Shinigami he tried to make them hate with every fiber of their being," Yoruichi added, referring to the fact that once Sombra started making his first changes to Hueco Mundo, to see what he could truly do with his newfound power, the Hollows started to calm down and seemed to lose their hatred for Soul Society, instead directing it towards hating the first Dios Hueco, while at the same time praising Sombra, since they knew he'd never do something like that to them, "That even goes for Harribel, because I know the moment she learned that you were in love with me I became something she loathed, as she couldn't imagine the most powerful Hollow, in all of existence, falling in love with a Shinigami, something that existed to purify Hollows and guide their souls to another realm. Over time, however, she's discovered that part of her was still being fueled by the anger she felt as a Hollow, towards the first Dios Hueco, and, just like the rest of your empire, she's put that behind her and has become more likeable as a person, so much so that she actually talks to me like I'm an equal. I'm honestly not sure how you were able to make such a drastic change in everyone that calls Hueco Mundo home, from just turning it back to it's original form, but I'm not complaining at this point, not when Nel, Harribel, and I are content with being equals... not to mention actually being friends with each other as well."
Sombra chuckled at that, because shortly after they returned from turning Kirikaze into an Arrancar, and brought the rest of his forces back from Soul Society, he had an interesting night with two of the strongest female Arrancar in all of Hueco Mundo and the love of his life, who was also quite possibly the strongest female Shinigami right now. Of course he didn't care much for the whole 'strongest' part of the equation, rather he focused on the three ladies that wanted to have some fun with him and made sure that no one interrupted them while they were having fun, especially since no one could get through his magical barriers. Interestingly enough some of the Hollows had taken to calling the three ladies by a name that none of them bothered to stop the spread of, and that was Tres Reinas, meaning Three Queens, showing him that many of his subjects knew that all three of them had shared a night of fun with him and knew that he wasn't going to throw two of them to the side after all that. In fact the name sparked a new bond of friendship between Yoruichi, Nel, and Harribel, as he had seen two or even all three of them hanging out from time to time, showing him that it didn't matter if they were Arrancar or Shinigami, because they had forged a friendship where some would have through it was impossible to do so.
At the same time, however, Sombra was sure that all of the impossible occurrences that happened in Hueco Mundo were driving Captain Mayuri insane, since it ruined a lot of what he and Soul Society knew about the relationships between Shinigami and Hollows, and that was another reason to chuckle.
"You know, after everything that's happened recently, I'm only really surprised by one thing," Yoruichi continued, even though she took a moment to let Sombra think about what she had said and the fact that he was quite happy with his new life, which was a major reason why she had taken so long to bother asking him this, "rather, I'm surprised by your decision to replicate the Crystal Empire in Hueco Mundo and mold Las Noches in the face of your old home. Are you sure that you won't get homesick, staring at a place you called home for so many years?"
"Honestly, that thought never crossed my mind," Sombra replied, though at the same time he thought about what he had left behind, even though the only thing that the ponies of Equestria remembered of him was that he was an evil tyrant and that he had been destroyed by the Crystal Heart after a thousand years of imprisonment, "All I've ever done to my home world is cause pain and suffering to those that I conquered, so much so that everyone remembers me as the 'King of Darkness', a being of unimaginable evil and terror that devours hope, love, and all happy thoughts. I know that I'm not like that anymore, and I've put that past behind me at long last to embrace who I am now, but even then I honestly don't think I'd be welcomed back with open arms... in fact, now that I think about it, it's better that we stay here and not even consider heading back to my home world, not that they'd come looking for me anyway."
Despite the fact that she knew that Sombra was happy with his new life, and was focused on leaving his dark past where it belonged by creating a shining future for both Shinigami and Hollows, Yoruichi could tell that there was still some unfinished business that he would like to wrap up, even if it was no longer possible for that to happen. She was likely the only person, in Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and the World of the Living that had a chance to determine what Sombra was feeling at any given moment, or even what he was thinking, but even then there was a chance that she was wrong and that he was merely thinking about the past, before sealing it away. She also knew that with all the powers he had access to at this point, and all the knowledge that had returned to him thanks to Rey telling him everything he used to know, that he might be able to open a gateway to his home world, but he was taking his duties as the King of Hueco Mundo seriously and was putting his subjects first. After a few more moments of considering what she could do, to try and convince Sombra that he should try to head back home and see if he could show the others that he had changed, before coming to the conclusion that Sombra had already considered all of this and felt that it was best if he remained here... to which she said nothing and nodded her head, showing that she, once again, trusted his judgement and his decisions.
Sombra smiled and pulled Yoruichi close, as it would allow them some time to remain alone before he had to return to his duties, though even as he thought about that he knew that it would only be a matter of time until Soul Society told him when their party, to celebrate the repairs and the fact that he saved so many of the Toju, would happen, but until then he'd focus on his tasks and keep his subjects safe.
Sombra had been right in his thinking that there would be a celebration of sorts, though while he expected it to be in Soul Society, since they were the ones that had been under repair recently, he was a little surprised to find that they had set up a large get together in the same place that they had their last party, which was after Aizen's defeat. All of Soul Society's Captains, Lieutenants, and seated members, those that Sombra knew anyway, would be present at the party, leaving those they trusted behind to keep an eye on things, the Visored were invited, as Yamamoto had something that he wanted to ask them before the event was over, and Sombra went as well, along with a number of his Arrancar, since he figured that some of them deserved a break after all their hard work. As one would expect Yoruichi, Harribel, and Nel were some of the first ones chosen to come with him, along with Zangetsu, Haineko, Grimmjow, Ulquiorra, Kyoko, and a few of his higher ranking followers, though while some would think the military might of Hueco Mundo had been cut in half they were still in good hands with the Espada that remained. Sombra was sure that the others would be safe, since there weren't any foes that would come and attack them while he was gone, so he focused on what he and his group were going to do as they stepped out of the gateway and headed towards the area that the party would be taking place in.
When they arrived, however, Sombra found that Ichigo, Uryu, Chad, Orihime, and the rest of his Human friends were present as well, including some of Ichigo's classmates, the ones that could see the hidden world that the others shouldn't be able to see and were still adjusting to what they could now see and interact with.
"Ah, Sombra, you made it." Ichigo spoke up, as he was happy to see that their friend had been able to take some time off from his duties as the King of Hueco Mundo and come have some fun with them, while at the same time making sure to keep a level gaze with Zangetsu, who grinned at him as he and the other Arrancar dispersed around the area.
"I wouldn't miss the celebration of keeping Soul Society intact and stopping another threat," Sombra replied, though at the same time he watched as Kyoko walked over to where Orihime and Taksuki were standing, since that was who she wanted to spend some time with, before he turned back towards Ichigo, "So tell me, how have things been since I took over Hueco Mundo and started improving the lives of both the Arrancar and the Hollows that have become my subjects? Surely something interesting must have happened that you, or those that follow me, haven't told me about."
"Other than racing your Hollows to judge a lost soul, everything has been quiet for the most part." Ichigo stated, and that was the truth, because now he didn't have to worry about actually killing the Hollows that came to the World of the Living, rather he had to keep an eye on the accidents that happened and make sure he found the souls of those that had died in some manner, before the Hollows got to them first, before he looked over at Orihime's group, "Tatsuki's still trying to convince Rukia and the others to let her become a Shinigami, since she's tired of me risking my life, all on my own despite the fact that Chad, Orihime, and Uryu are standing beside me, and she's a little sad that Kyoko died... I mean, you know, 'passed on', since she's one of your subjects and all."
Sombra nodded his head in understanding, because one of the things that they had to do after Kyoko had become an Arrancar, and moved from the World of the Living to one of the afterlife realms, was make it so that those in Ichigo's school thought that she had been transferred to the wrong school and had moved again, while at the same time making sure that no one thought of her as dead. The reason being was because Sombra had stationed her in Karakura Town, so she could help Ichigo, Sora, or the Hollows whenever someone needed assistance, and there was also the fact that she liked to spend time as a Human, allowing her to go out and hang with people that she could consider her friends. Urahara was okay with having a few gigai on standby, for when a Shinigami or an Arrancar wanted to walk around like a Human and hang with Ichigo's friends, or friends that they had made during a previous excursion, which allowed Kyoko to split her time between being an Arrancar and being a Human, even if she knew that she'd have to return to her true self at some point in time. Of course that didn't stop some of them from wishing they had got to her before she gave herself to the Toju that had merged with her body, so perfectly that Muramasa was forced to turn her into an Arrancar, but surprisingly she was perfectly fine with her new life... which was why Sombra was fine with what had happened, because Kyoko was fine with it and didn't blame anyone for what happened to her.
She was an interesting girl, who had adapted to her new life rather quickly and didn't seem to back down from what was thrown at her, though at the same time her ability to see glimpses of the future was also interesting, especially since she felt that something big was going to happen in the next few hours.
"Don't worry, Kyoko is adjusting to her new life and responsibilities just fine," Sombra said, though he smiled as he said that, because it was the truth and Kyoko was happy to be of assistance if she was needed by someone in the area that she was in, before he turned towards the Shinigami that were approaching him, "Rukia, Renji, how are you guys doing?"
"Just fine, especially since our Zanpakuto have returned to us and the Toju are no longer a threat." Rukia answered, to which she and Renji stopped when they got close to Ichigo and Sombra, though once they did that she held her hand out and offered a drink to Ichigo, which was mostly soda or tea since this wasn't the time for sake, while Renji offered one to Sombra as well, "What about you? Has anything interesting happened in Hueco Mundo lately?"
"Nothing much, except reforming Hueco Mundo's landscape to make everyone happy and making sure that the Vasto Lorde ranked Hollow, whose also a dragon, has a nice cave to live in." Sombra replied, though at the same time he noticed that one of the drinks was some tea and accepted it, to which he took a sip from it and let it float in the air near him thanks to his magic, before he shrugged, "Other than that, nothing else has happened."
"A Hollow... that's shaped like a dragon and has the power of a Vasto Lorde?" Renji asked, though when Sombra nodded his head, to confirm that he had said something like that, Renji sighed and rubbed the back of his head for a few moments, showing that the news didn't comfort him that much, "Man am I glad that you're on our side, because at this point I don't think we'd be able to knock a dragon out of the sky, much less even get close to hurting one with all the soldiers that would be protecting it. And that's not counting the fact that there are still four other Vasto Lorde that you haven't found yet, so who knows how much stronger Las Noches will get when you find and recruit the others."
"Actually, there are five remaining Vasto Lorde in Hueco Mundo," Sombra stated, causing the duo to look at him for a moment, to which he tapped himself, a silent reminder that he wasn't from this world, something that many of the group knew, even if most of the Captains didn't have that information yet, but when he saw some blank glances he decided to be a little direct, "Remember, I'm not originally from this world, so technically there is one more Vasto Lorde running around Hueco Mundo, meaning that there are five left, not four."
"That makes it even worse." Renji said, because he didn't want to think about what would happen if Sombra got his hands on the last of the Vasto Lorde, as his army was already formidable and any further additions would only make them that much harder to defeat if a war sudden broke out between them, not that one would considering the fact that Sombra didn't want one to happen anyway.
"Personally, I think it's great that you've managed to convince the Hollows that we're not their enemies," Rukia stated, as she knew that Renji didn't like the idea of fighting a Vasto Lorde, especially since Zangetsu, who was a Zanpakuto spirit that had become an Arrancar, was stronger than the Primera Espada that had been under Aizen's command, "though it does make things interesting when we come to the World of the Living so we can send the lost souls to Soul Society, since we're also racing the Hollows that are hunting for the ones that are either supposed to become Hollows or those that need to go to Hell."
"All their anger and hatred was caused by my predecessor, the first Dios Hueco," Sombra explained, to which his cup came over to him and he sipped from it, something that he could easily do with his magic and not even bother giving it a second thought, before he focused on the duo in front of him, "Hueco Mundo wasn't always the desert that you were told that it was, rather it had been a paradise of sorts that was ravaged and destroyed, and the blame was put on the Soul Society, even though they hadn't done anything to the Hollows before that point in time. Restoring Hueco Mundo to it's previous state, to the paradise that it had been before my predecessor came along, has lifted the spirits of the beings that all my kingdom home and have caused them to realize that their anger and hatred was better directed at the memory of the first Dios Hueco. Of course, seeing how I have let certain things go since I came to this world, they have gotten their anger and hatred off their chests as well, allowing them to enjoy their new lives as citizens of my growing empire... though based on the number of Hollows and Arrancar that are coming I might have to either expand Las Noches or create more town like areas around Hueco Mundo."
"Sounds like fun." a voice said, where Sombra looked to the side and found that Yachiru was standing nearby, while at the same time Zaraki was elsewhere, as it appeared that the powerful Captain was bored out of his mind and was merely letting her do as she desired.
"Indeed it is." Sombra replied, though as he said that both Rukia and Renji walked over to another part of the party, something that he was fine with since he didn't want to hog all their attention when they could converse with everyone else that was around him, before he thought about something else, which was when he turned towards the Lieutenant that was standing near him, "So, Yachiru, when are you going to tell Zaraki the truth?"
"What are you...?" Yachiru started to ask, though before she could complete that sentence she noticed that Sombra had a hand on his Shinigami Zanpakuto, where she sighed and sipped on the drink that she had been carrying, "I should have known that you would have noticed what I really am... but don't tell Ken-chan what you know. I'm waiting for the best opportunity to tell him the truth, he just needs to discover something first."
Sombra nodded his head in understanding, as he knew that there were times where someone had to do something specific before they could gain a specific piece of information, and the reason he knew that was because when he was learning the secrets of Dark Magic he had to go through something similar. The lessons were painful and horrible, so he would never tell anyone about what he went through to become the King of Darkness, but he did understand that there were times where one had to do something before they gained some information or an item in return. While he thought about all of that, even if he didn't think about everything that he had been through, he felt a slight shift in the air and glanced over at the punch bowl that was in the middle of the party, one that Orihime and the other Humans had been drinking from since none of them wanted any sake or tea. The vibration he had felt reminded him of his home world, or more specifically a being that had been the reason he had been teleported to this world in the first place, to which he raised an eyebrow as he stared at the punch bowl for a few seconds, causing Yachiru and some of the others that were near him to glance at the bowl as well, though they were confused as to what was going through his mind.
As a good number of the people that were attending the party turned and looked at the punch bowl, so see why Sombra was so interested in it, the bowl started to shake for a moment, causing the people near it to back away from it in surprise, before a very familiar chimera being burst out of the bowl... though at the same time Sombra watched as Discord fell face first onto the ground and moaned for a moment, all while both the Shinigami and the Arrancar grew their weapons, save for the Captain-Commander and himself.
"Hopefully that's the last time I botch the entrance into another world," Discord commented, though at the same time he picked himself off the ground and stood up, where he focused on himself for a moment as he got rid of the dust and dirt that had gotten on his body, before he even bothered to glance at the area that he was in, "Now then, it's time I got started... looking for my... oh, hello."
"What in the name of Lord Sombra are you?" Harribel inquired, though even as she said that she had her sword at the ready, because if the creature tried anything, with all of them standing around it, she was sure that they would come out on top, especially since their Lord was standing near them.
"That, Harribel, is a Draconequus, a chimera creature of incredible power," Sombra replied, to which he took a few steps forward and the people between him and Discord parted, as they could tell that this was someone that he either knew or was someone that only he could deal with, before he came to a stop near the spirit that had apparently come looking for him, despite his earlier thoughts on the matter, "Everyone, allow me to introduce Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, who can manipulate reality with a snap of his claws, or even mess with the minds of those that he's going up against."
"You know me so well, Sombra," Discord replied in kind, though at the same time he smiled for a moment, as while it was unusual for him to be introduced to the people that a displaced pony had encountered, before he could even say his own name, there was one part about what he had said that was actually wrong, "though you may want to rethink how you introduce me from this point forward, as I'm not longer just the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, rather I am the God of Chaos that messes with reality for fun."
"Really? Then congratulations on moving up the ladder," Sombra said, as he wasn't sure if there was any difference between a 'Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony' and a 'God of Chaos', since some ponies did consider Discord to be a primal force that never really went away, despite him being sealed some time after the Crystal Empire disappeared due to his most powerful curse, "I, too, have become a god. I have become the Dios Hueco, the Hollow God as it were, and I am the King of Hueco Mundo, an ally to Soul Society, and I'm also the worst nightmare of any villain that seeks the end of this world, though if you'd like confirmation on my feats you can ask my friends or followers if you'd like."
"It seems your arrogance hasn't changed at all, since you aren't on the same level as Sunset and the others," Discord stated, showing that he had information about something that Sombra had never thought about before, though not even a few seconds later his expression changed to one of confusion as he thought about something that Sombra had said in the last few seconds, "Wait a second... did you just say you had friends? I must have messed up if that's the case, since I know for a fact that Sombra, the dreaded King of Darkness, had no room in his heart for friends, instead he had the desire to conquer everything around him and enslave his defeated enemies."
"Look moron, don't say anything bad about our Lord," Zangetsu replied, to which he moved his blade in such a manner that it was resting close to the being's neck, waiting for their Lord to give the word so he could take the creature's head clean off for insulting him, "Sure, he may have started out as a villain in your world, but since coming here he's been nothing but a warrior of justice, protecting the innocent from those that would seek to do them harm, and he even beat up Aizen, a guy whose plan would have resulted in the destruction of this world had he killed the Soul king. Lord Sombra is no longer the same person that you might remember, as he has put his past behind him, conquered the darkness in his heart, and has become a better person that Shinigami, Hollows, and Arrancar admire and respect."
"Just like the Sirens and Chrysalis," Discord commented, though while he had tried to keep his voice low Sombra was still able to determine exactly what he had said, but the part of the statement that interested him the most was the mention of Chrysalis, someone he barely knew, despite the fact that she was the younger sister of the changeling that he had grown attached to before he gave into the darkness and became the terrible king that he had been, "Well, seeing how he's not telling me that he'll enslave me and my friends, along with the rest of Equestria, and the fact that I don't actually sense any malice or dark feelings from him, I guess you'd be right in saying that he's changed... Celestia and Luna aren't going to believe this when we get back home."
"Discord, I have no intention of going back to Equus," Sombra stated, as he had this conversation with Yoruichi earlier and he was sticking to his decision, because he was positive that the Princesses would rather run him through before even giving him the chance to speak his mind, "I'm just fine living here, on this planet, protecting the souls of the dead and making sure that no one tries to disrupt the balance between the four realms that make up this world, since I'm positive that there's a foe waiting to do just that. Go back home and tell whoever your superiors are that I'm staying here, in the new kingdom that I've established in Hueco Mundo, and inform them that it's better if they forget I even existed..."
Sombra stopped before he could finish his statement, as Discord decided to be brave and get really close to him, so he could rest his hands on both of his shoulders, but he sensed that this wasn't in a threatening manner and moved his left hand a little, to which the Shinigami and his followers backed off for the moment.
"Look, Sombra, as much as I want to leave you here, to continue down the path you've started walking down, the reality is that I can't do that." Discord said, to which he looked off to his left for a moment and found a point where two trees formed an arch with their branches, which was perfect for him to use, before he glanced back at the displaced pony he had come to find, "As terrifying as you might be, since I don't have a full understanding of what powers you've gained while you've been here, there is a being that is so much stronger than you that even thinking about what she could do to me... well, let's just say that getting on her bad side is something that I don't want to do. She told me to locate all of the ponies that were displaced by the crystal mirror, make sure that all of you have finished your individual journey's, and then bring you back so you can see what sort of changes Equestria has gone through since you left."
Sombra raised an eyebrow to that comment, as he recalled that there had been a list of names in the library that the crystal mirror his soul had been shoved into, meaning that there were a number of displaced ponies that he knew nothing about and, if he were to believe what Discord was telling him, some changes had happened to the place he had once called home. There was also the fact that there was a displaced pony, a lady by the sounds of it, that had the power to make the likes of Discord shiver in fear, or at the very least acknowledge that he wasn't the biggest dog around, which peaked his interest, since that didn't match up with what he remembered. He had to admit that it was sounding like it might be in his best interest to head back to Equus and see what the changes were that Discord had mentioned, despite the fact that he knew this could be a set up to get him away from the world he was now calling home, though when he peered into the spirit's eyes he knew that he wasn't lying. As much as he didn't want to head back to Equus, and see what happened when he arrived, it wasn't hard for someone to see that he was interested in observing everything that Discord had told him about, so much so that he could tell some of his followers were smiling and nodding their heads, as they knew that he had done nothing wrong and suspected that he'd be welcomed with open arms.
"Very well, Discord, you have peaked my interest enough to make me reconsider my previous decision." Sombra said, as it was rare that he did such a thing, because he generally made one decision and stuck to it until he found an obstacle or some piece of information that made him change his plans, and this time it was the fact that there supposedly was a being that was even stronger than he was, "I take it you would like to leave for Equus immediately?"
"As much as I hate to interrupt this party of yours, Sunset told me to get you back to Equus the moment you agreed to come along," Discord replied, though at the same time he waved his arm towards the arch between the trees, which was followed by a tear in the fabric of reality opening before them, one that would take them back to the planet they were both originally from, "Come along, we don't have time to waste on standing around."
"Now wait just a minute." Zangetsu stated, to which he and some of the Arrancar stood between Discord and the portal he had opened, because while they knew that their Lord would be okay on his own it didn't sit right with them to just let him leave on his own, "Did you really think that Lord Sombra was going to go anywhere without a military escort? Especially since the first thing that came to your mind was that he was the same person you think he once was?"
"In fact, I was actually going to ask that same thing," Sombra added, because while he knew that Discord wouldn't do anything stupid, since he feared the response of the mysterious pony that outranked him if he became damaged in some manner, it never hurt to have a few guards with him, just in case, and seeing Discord nod confirmed that he could take some of them with him, "Yoruichi, Harribel, Nel, Zangetsu, Grimmjow, you five shall accompany me to Equus and act as my escort for the time being, though despite the fact that I don't think any harm will come to us it's better to be safe than sorry, especially given the mysterious nature of the pony that Discord mentioned."
"You mean the six of us." Ichigo stated, to which he stepped forward and came to a stop beside Sombra, because if his friends was going back to his home planet, where danger might be waiting for him, he wasn't about to let him face it alone, not after everything they had been through.
"Considering the size of the other groups, this is acceptable." Discord commented, indicating that whoever had made the trip back to Equus had come with larger groups than what Sombra was bringing with him, though at the same time Sombra nodded his head and the rest of his forces stood back, showing that they knew that they would return to Hueco Mundo and keep it intact while he was gone.
Sombra knew that some of Ichigo's friends wanted to come with as well, but considering that there were seven of them already, and there was no telling how long the gateway between worlds would stay open, he decided that six of his closest friends was more than enough. As he approached the portal Zangetsu and the others bid farewell to those that were around them and, one by one, joined him in standing near Discord, so that the moment they were all ready to go he ushered them inside the gateway between worlds and they set off for a planet that only Sombra knew about. Not even a few seconds later the group stepped into what appeared to be a tunnel of sorts that connected the world they had been in to Equus, though at the same time there were a number of other entrances and exits scattered throughout the passage they had found themselves in. There was even a straight path for them to follow, one with rails and laid out like an actual walkway that Sombra had seen in Soul Society and used in Hueco Mundo, to form bridges between buildings, meaning that they were able to advance along the path that Discord had created for them quite easily, all while the spirit floated in the air near them, making sure that they reached their destination intact.
It did take the group a few minutes to reach the other side of the passage between worlds, giving them more than enough time to observe the area around them, but when they reached the second portal Discord flew through it and the others followed Sombra as they stepped into the unknown together.
When they stepped through the other side of the portal, however, Sombra glanced around for a few moments and took in the sight of Ponyville, a place he had only seen when he had come to use the crystal mirror for his own purposes, though he found that it matched his brief memories, as it was a medieval village of sorts that had bits of modern technology mixed into it. Off in the distance he spotted a familiar crystal palace, the same one that housed the crystal mirror he had used, and even further away he could see what appeared to be a school of sorts, one that just so happened to have a varying degree of reiatsu coming from it, or rather magical energy since this was his home planet. He heard a number of gasps as the rest of his group walked out of the portal and joined him, as most of them had seen what lurked in his inner world, an image of the original Crystal Empire, and knew that none of them were expecting such a town to be the area that they would appear in. Ponyville was impressive, especially considering that it had one been the home of ponies, since they had been replaced by humanoid beings that resembled the body that he now possessed, but even as Ichigo and the others took in their surroundings there was something else that he kept his focus on, besides the fact that the portal had dropped them off some distance from the edge of the town.
What Sombra was keeping track of was the group of powerful energy signatures that were coming their way, with at least three of them feeling familiar to him, since two of them belonged to the Princesses that had defeated him and the third was one of the ponies that had defeated him when he returned from his imprisonment... but he could faintly sense the presence of a fourth figure accompanying the trio, one that was much stronger than anything he had encountered so far since he woke up in Hueco Mundo.
It only took a minute for the four energy signatures to arrive at the area that they were standing in, causing his group to reach for their weapons for a moment, but Sombra raised a hand and stopped them from doing anything, since he wanted to see what the beings did when they landed in the area near them. The first being that Sombra noticed, as they landed nearby, was a tall lady with a light fuchsiaish gray coat, who had long hair, which was made up of multiple colors and flowered with some power that wasn't the wind, though she was wearing some sort of black cuirass over a golden yellow robe and carried an interesting scepter with her. The next being that Sombra acknowledged was the slightly smaller lady that stood next to the first one, at a height that made sense considering that they were sisters, though she had a dark blue coat and long hair that was moderate cobalt blue colored, which moved in the same manner that her sister's did, and she was wearing a silver dress that was fit for royalty to wear, along with being able to be worn in battle as well. The third member of their group was definitely Twilight Sparkle, as Sombra recognized her purple colored hair that had a few streaks of different colors mixed into it and, like the other two, had a tail that matched, though she was wearing some sort of attire that made her seem like there was more to her than he remembered.
Once he observed the three of them, and took note of how all of them looked, Sombra turned his attention to the fourth being that was standing nearby, a lady that, despite being slightly shorter than Celestia and slightly taller than Twilight, was wearing a set of attire that made her look like an Egyptian god. Her coat was amber colored, while her hair and tail possessed a brilliant amaranth color that had light apple green colored stripes to it, but even then Sombra could tell, from just a glance, that her power was no laughing matter, even if he had no idea what sort of power she possessed or how strong she really was, since he could only feel a fraction of her true might... and, just like the trio that were standing near her, she had a horn on her head, just like he still had his horn.
"Sombra, former king of the Crystal Empire, it is good to see you again," Celestia spoke up, though at the same time he could tell that she was choosing her words with care, since she clearly wasn't sure if he could be trusted or not, which might be because she might be cautious of his escort, since some of them were powerful in their own right.
"Princess Celestia, it is good to see you and your sister, Princess Luna, as well," Sombra replied, to which he bowed his head in respect, no doubt surprising the sisters for a moment, since the last time they had seen each other had been on the battlefield as enemies, before he did the same to the duo that he hadn't mentioned yet, "Twilight Sparkle, it's also nice to see you as well, despite the last time we saw each other when the Crystal Empire returned from when I cursed it, and, um... I'm sorry, but I don't think we've been introduced to each other. I, as you no doubt know, am Sombra, the new King of Hueco Mundo and the Dios Hueco, the Hollow God if you prefer, even though I think I'll need to explain what those things to are to all of you."
"Indeed. I am Sunset Shimmer, the God of Destruction for our entire universe," the fourth lady said, though at the same time the group behind Sombra stiffened, as hearing that she was a god, much less one that ruled over the realm of destruction, had been quite a shock, before she turned her head towards them and beckoned to the trio near her, "Allow me to introduce Celestia, my Angel and personal trainer in the aspects of magic that I might not know or fully understand, Princess Luna, the sole ruler of Canterlot during the time that Celestia and I are off world, and Twilight Sparkle, the God of Creation, or Kaioshin, for our universe. I'll explain everything in detail later, when you get around to explaining what you went through, but for now you've got me curious... who are the soldiers that you've brought with you?"
"Allow me to introduce Zangetsu, the Primera Espada and the strongest Arrancar under my command," Sombra said, where he moved his hand towards the people that had come with him, mentioning who they were just as his hand was level with them, "Tier Harribel, the Tres Espada and leader of the Tres Bestias, who are three powerful Arrancar that serve under her and follow her orders, though these days she makes sure that any order she gives is one I agree with, since I am the one that rules over Hueco Mundo. Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, the new Quinto Espada to replace the deceased Nnoitra, though she prefers to go by 'Nel' these days, followed by Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, the Sexta Espada and the first one that realized that I was in the middle of taking over Hueco Mundo when I arrived with some of my friends to stop Aizen Sosuke's plans, not to mention save the world. This lovely lady, that's standing close to me, is Yoruichi Shihoin, a Shinigami whose skilled in hand to hand combat and personally trained me when I first found myself in the world that I was sent to, even though I had no memory of who I had been and forged a new persona, and she's one of my lovers. And finally we have Ichigo Kurosaki, the Substitute Shinigami for Karakura Town, the place I called home for some time, and he's one of the closest friends I have in the world I was sent to."
"It's a pleasure to meet all of you." Twilight spoke up, though while Sombra had been talking she noticed that all of the people that Sombra had brought with him had weird masks on their face, some of them had holes that went all the way through parts of their chests, and their individual powers seemed quite strong, exactly like Sombra felt, before something else came to mind, "Wait, you said that you made friends with Ichigo and some of the other people in the town you were sent to, and you even mentioned that you stopped someone's plan, since that man was trying to destroy the world that you found yourself living on... does that mean you're not the same Sombra that ruled over the Crystal Empire?"
"I am still the same Sombra that you know about, but I have put my dark past behind me," Sombra stated, though he couldn't fault Twilight for thinking about that, since she knew that he had been horrible towards the ponies that had called the Crystal Empire home a thousand years ago, "I am no longer the dark and evil being that you once knew, rather I am a force of good that protects the innocent and tears down villains that want to destroy the world."
Celestia and Luna stared at him for a moment with shock on their faces, showing Ichigo and the others that they knew of Sombra's past, which made sense considering that they were the ones that had beaten him in the past, but hearing that he was a completely different person than he had been a thousand years ago, and saved people instead of tormenting them, was quite a shock for the two of them.
"Is that so?" Sunset asked, because that was interesting, since she knew about Sombra's past as well, but at the same time something came to mind and she was curious as to whether or not Celestia agreed with her, only for her mentor to nod her head for a moment, "Before we sit down and start going over what happened to you, to bring you to the point where you put your dark past behind you and took up being a force of good, how about we head out and see how well you do in a battle against Celestia?"
Sombra raised an eyebrow for a moment, as he wasn't expecting someone to issue a challenge to him while he was here, but at the same time he had to admit that the thought of engaging in a battle with Celestia, whose power was greater than what he remembered, interested him greatly.
"Sure, I'm up for a short battle." Sombra answered, though at the same time he knew that the battle to come was going to be an interesting, since he knew that Celestia was strong and that she would test him to the limits of his new powers, which would actually allow him to understand the true power of the Dios Hueco.
Sombra watched as Celestia waved her scepter and formed a large spherical barrier around them, showing that they were apparently heading off world when they broke through the atmosphere of Equus, though at the same time he was actually interested in seeing what was going to happen next... and he was sure that, despite her calm exterior, that Celestia was thinking the same thing, meaning that they were going to enjoy the battle they were heading towards.
Sombra had to admit that he never thought that he'd be traveling through space, staring out at the stars and the various planets that rested in the vastness near his home planet, but that was exactly what they were doing at the moment as they rode in the spherical barrier that Celestia had created. He wasn't the only one that was amazed by what they were seeing, as Ichigo and the others were staring at the various planets and moons that they were going by, showing that all of them were excited about what they were seeing, and maybe making Ichigo wish that he had brought the rest of his friends along for the ride. Sunset, Twilight, Celestia, and Luna weren't as amazed by the sights, showing Sombra that they must have done this sort of thing in the past and were used to seeing all the stars that were around their planet, even though it appeared that they were heading to someplace that was a good distance away from where Equus rested. Of course it wasn't long before he decided to ask them why they were going so far away from their home world, just to have a short battle, and Celestia told them that Sunset didn't want ruin to come to Equus by some of the more powerful beings battling each other, which was why they had found a dead planet, one with no life at all on it, and were using it as their battleground, even though the world in question was on it's last legs.
Sombra had a feeling that the planet they were heading to was in the process of breaking apart, slowly by the sounds of what he and the others were told, but before thinking about that he turned his attention to the terms that he and the others had been told when he greeted the group. Twilight, from what he learned, held a position that basically meant that she had to create new worlds, and sometimes even an entire galaxy, to balance the damage that her counterpart god, who just so happened to be Sunset, did to the rest of their universe, depending on what was happening at any given moment. Celestia, as she was introduced earlier, was the Angel that watched over Sunset, training her in all aspects of magic and even hand to hand combat, though that didn't meant that they didn't train with swords and other weapons, as Sunset's training with a sword had been the reason that Celestia had gotten her old weapon out and started using it again. Then there was Sunset herself, the God of Destruction, a being that was capable of obliterating an entire planet in an instant, who was capable of erasing threats to the safety of her universe with a single word and some of her power, and could even blow an entire galaxy to pieces, since she had done that to stop the spread of something most foul some time ago, which they had been alerted to thanks to one of the displaced ponies landing in the area in question.
All of this would lead one to believe that Luna was the weakest of the four, since she was just a Princess, one that could move the moon of their planet and summon the stars when night was happening, but Sombra knew that she was just as powerful as her sister, though while many would consider her a mortal still he believed that she was a god as well, meaning that things were going to get interesting.
It wasn't long before they reached the planet that they would be battling on, one that would have looked a lot like Earth if it wasn't for the volcanic activity that was happening at the moment, the ash cloud that covered a good portion of the lower part of the planet, and what looked to be a violent storm raging in part of the upper half of the planet. What interested Sombra was the fact that there was some sort of large ship of some kind, one that was definitely made for traveling through space, resting near the moon, making him wonder if someone had come to this world to investigate it, though Sunset didn't seem surprised to see the ship at all. For a moment he thought that they would be heading to part of the planet that wasn't under a lot of stress, but that turned out to be wrong as Celestia guided them down towards the storm that was brewing, to which the group readied themselves for whatever they were going to discover when they breached the atmosphere. When they actually did that, however, Sombra found two young ladies floating in the air, both possessing the same body that he and the other transformed Equestrians had, though it was easy to recognize the rainbow haired girl as Rainbow Dash, while the second girl wore a stetson hat that she carried with her at all times, like she wasn't afraid to lose it or damage it, though if his memory served she was called Applejack.
He wasn't too surprised to find that it took him a few more moments to determine who they were, since he hadn't interacted with them at all and only knew them thanks to the tales he heard while he was in his soul state, but as they got closer to the ground one thing became certain, and that was the fact that the storm seemed to be because of what Rainbow was doing. Upon further inspection of the area they were heading towards he found another interesting sight, as there were more transformed Equestrians on this planet than he originally thought, because he instantly spotted who he assumed was Rarity, who was dressed in martial arts clothing that mimicked what the other two girls were wearing, Pinkie Pie, who was wearing some ancient armor for some reason, and Fluttershy, who was dressed as a medic, indicating she was concerned that someone might get hurt. In addition to them were a gray coated transformed pegasus and a griffin who were standing side by side, wearing the same odd attire that made them look like thieves, and near them rested a trio of young ladies who were dressed in casual clothing, though the pendants around their necks identified them as the trio of Sirens that Star Swirl had banished, meaning they must have redeemed themselves to get this far. He then noticed two more young ladies, though while one of them was wearing some slightly revealing robes he noticed that she had a trio of horns, two of which curved back towards her, while the other seemed to be a mix of a transformed Equestrian and a dragon, one that had a curved horn like his, only hers was crystalline and was blue colored.
Sitting close to the group of transformed Equestrians was what appeared to be a changeling that had gone through the process as well, though while she was wearing the same attire as Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity, an odd decision in his mind, he was certain that he knew who she was... but he shelved that thought for a moment as Celestia brought them down near the group and dispelled the barrier, allowing them to stretch their legs once more, just in time for the battle to be brought to a halt.
"It seems like you two were having fun." Celestia commented, though at the same time the storm that had been up in the air disappeared, showing that Rainbow must have created it since there was some lightning dancing around her hand for a few seconds, "It would appear that my suggestion to bring you all here, for some training, worked to some degree, even though it seems most of you just sat around and watched the battle take place."
"Well, you did say that you had something special planned for us today," Rarity spoke up, though as she did that she and the rest of the ponies gathered around the group that had come with Celestia and the others, where her eyes zeroed in on the clothing that the Arrancar were wearing, "That's not the type of clothing that I would usually make, but given the fact that a good number of ponies had ascended to their new forms, and desire more than just dresses, maybe I can take some notes before we get started."
"I'm sure that one of my Arrancar might be willing to let you take a few measurements," Sombra said, causing the group to turn towards him for a moment and let shock appear on their faces, though he wasn't surprised by that at all, since most of them knew that he should be dead and weren't expecting him to be alive again, even if he was technically a soul that had evolved to a new state, "though allow me to introduce myself. I am Sombra, King of Hueco Mundo, though I am also the Dios Hueco, the Hollow God. It's a pleasure to meet all of you."
He and the others learned that the pegasus, who was the only one that had retained her wings, was Derpy Cooper, formally Derpy Hooves, and that the griffin was her sister, Gilda Cooper, while the three girls that had the pendants were indeed the Sirens he had heard about, Adagio Dazzle, Sonata Dusk, and Aria Blaze. The demon-like girl was called Lyra Heartstrings, who apparently slew demons and fought some large enemies, while the dragon-like girl was revealed to be Trixie Lulamoon, who had the titles of Archmage and the Spell-Weaver, though Sombra could tell that they were both proud of their achievements. The last of the transformed Equestrians, the changeling that preferred to sit by herself while Rainbow and Applejack were fighting, was also the last one to get up and approach them, though Sombra knew that she was actually staring at him and none of the others, making him wonder if she was who he thought she was.
"Sombra, as in the terrifying unicorn that fought my mother and made it possible for her generals to finally overpower her when she was weakened from her fight with you?" the changeling asked, though her tone suggested that there was more to this than what everyone knew, while at the same time Sombra knew exactly who was standing in front of him, as there was only one changeling that fit the statement that she had given him.
"I would assume that by 'mother' you're referring to Queen Crudelis?" Sombra inquired in response, where he noticed that the mere mention of the former queen's name caused her to cringe for a second, confirming his suspicions as to who she might be, "Then yes, I am the same Sombra that knocked the former changeling queen down, allowing her generals to take their rage out on her when they finally got their hooves on her... though that means that you're Chrysalis, the sister of my beloved Amaryllis, who was killed for falling in love with a unicorn, and not another changeling."
"Yeah, that was my mother's reasoning, but I've finally put her and my horrible past behind me." Chrysalis said, but even as she said that Sombra noticed that the memory of losing her sister was one thing that she couldn't put behind her, and that might also include the pony she fell in love with, before she shook her head, "Look, I just wanted to say thanks for taking her down, for me and the Hive that I inherited after she was taken out... I won't do into details, but she was a massive pain in my rear and I'm glad she's gone."
"We brought Sombra here so I can test his power for myself," Celestia said, causing the groups to turn back towards him for a moment, though at the same time Chrysalis nodded her head, showing Sombra that she must have done the same thing and that she didn't want to think about the past anymore, before she turned towards Sombra, "I take it you are ready to begin our little bout?"
"Indeed I am," Sombra replied, though as he stepped forward, towards the edge of the cliff that they just happened to be standing on, something came to mind as he turned back towards the group, as he had noticed that most of the group weren't carrying weapons, save for the odd canes that Derpy and Gilda were carrying, "You don't have a problem with me using either of my Zanpakuto in our fight, do you?"
"I take it you mean the blades that you are wearing at your waist?" Celestia inquired, as she and the others had been looking at the pair of katanas that Sombra was carrying and knew that there had to be something special about them, otherwise he wouldn't be carrying them, though that was when Sombra nodded his head, "Not at all. Feel free to use them against me, or not if that's your preference, because I will use the same weapon I used against you a thousand years ago, before you sealed the Crystal Empire away."
A ray of light pierced the sky that rested above them, one that Sombra stared at as Celestia let her scepter float off to the side and flashed over to the area in question, where a lance struck the ground near where she was standing, though Sombra had to correct himself a moment later, as the large axe-like head made him realize that it was a halberd, one that had a lance's tip as well. He remembered the weapon well, because it was just like Celestia had said, this was the very weapon that she had used against him when he realized that Queen Crudelis had formed an alliance of sorts with her and Luna, to weaken him to the point where he could be brought down. It had been a cunning strategy, one that he never expected to go up against, especially since Crudelis hated the Royal Sisters with a passion that was rivaled by what he felt towards the former queen, and in the end he had been defeated, resulting in him acting like a sore loser and taking the Crystal Empire into banishment with him. Right now, however, the fact that Celestia was summoning it already meant that she was under the assumption that he'd start using his Zanpakuto against her, instead of swinging his fists at her, which told him that it was time to show her that he had changed since the last time they had fought each other and reveal the fruits of the training he had gone through.
As Celestia pulled her weapon from the ground, and spun it around to show that she was ready for their battle to begin, Sombra flashed through the air and appeared behind his opponent, where he raised his left leg into the air and got ready to bring it down on Celestia. Before he could even make contact he noticed that Celestia's body was already moving, as the head of her weapon had been swung back towards him, so he flashed out of the way and appeared near her right side, letting the weapon finish moving through the path it was going through before attacking again. The moment he saw what he was looking for he rushed forward and spun around, intending to bring the front side of his leg against Celestia's body and knock her through the air, but what his leg hit was the metal handle of the halberd, showing him that his foe hadn't lost the speed that she had once possessed, meaning that he needed to use all of his base power before she decided to turn the tide of battle against him. Before he committed to that, however, he gathered his reiatsu and made sure it was ready in his right fist, to which he charged towards his target and flashed above the head of the halberd when Celestia swung at him, where he raised his fist and swung downward at her, intending on using the Ikkotsu, the Single Bone, technique that he used on Aizen against her.
What actually happened was that Celestia raised her left arm and caught his attack before it could hit her chest, but where one would assume that his attack would have broken her arm or fractured her bones, since it was a powerful attack on it's own, Celestia barely moved an inch... before she let go of his fist and kicked him in the chest, sending him a few steps backwards with not a look of surprise on his face, like Ichigo might have expected, but one of happiness.
"That was a good attack, Sombra, but I can tell that you're holding back against me." Celestia said, though unlike the last time she and Luna had fought against Sombra there was something different about his smile, as a thousand years ago it would have been because he hurt one of them, but now it was like he had finally found someone that could push him to test his full power, which actually worried her given what she knew about him.
"That attack was Ikkotsu, or Single Bone, a hand-to-hand technique I picked up while I was training with Yoruichi, in an effort to jog some of my missing memories," Sombra replied, though at the same time he guessed that it was time for him to show off the true power of his base state, since it was too early for him to consider using either his Bankai or his Resurreccion against Celestia, "Speaking of which, my beloved Yoruichi is known as the Flash Goddess, as in she's the fastest Shinigami in all of Soul Society and give some of my Arrancar quite the challenge... so tell me, do you think I spent enough time with her to pick up some of her tricks?"
Celestia realized what was going on and swung her halberd accordingly, as she attacked the area to her right as her foe tried to surprise attack her, but as her weapon made contact she discovered that she had been played, as she had cut down the afterimage of Sombra, showing that he could be anywhere... and that was before two fists, both with an empowered version of the technique Sombra had just used, rested against her back for a few seconds, before she went flying through the air and had to correct herself as she huffed.
"And that, Celestia, was Sokotsu, or Double Bone." Sombra stated, to which he stood straight for a moment and looked at his hands for a moment, as while he could tell that he had hurt Celestia he also knew his attack hadn't done that much damage, meaning that her power as a god was much stronger than his 'mortal' power, since he wasn't channeling the power of the Dios Hueco at the moment, which only made him interested in this fight even more, "It's basically the same as Ikkotsu, only the user has to use two fists instead of one, as you no doubt figured out by experiencing it yourself, and there's the fact that I'm now channeling all of my base power into my attacks."
"Really? That's good to know." Celestia replied, where she stood straight up and stared at her opponent, because she realized that Sombra must have been going at fifty percent of his base strength, though if this was all of his base power that she was fighting against she had to wonder what sort of transformation he had up his sleeves, "But, as you no doubt know, I won't let the fact that you're using all of your base power against me intimidate..."
She didn't have time to finish her statement as Sombra flashed through the air once more, though this time around she found something interesting, as when she swung her halberd at her foe Sombra stopped the head of her weapon with his left arm, somehow not drawing blood in the process and didn't leave a gash or cut at all. In the following instant, and taking advantage of her confusion, Sombra forced the halberd backwards and went on the offensive, where he unleashed a powerful series of ultra-high-speed punches with both of his fists, the force of which knocked her into the ground and formed a small crater around her in the process, before Sombra jumped backwards and readied himself for the next stage of their battle. The Raioken, Thunder King Fist, technique was a powerful attack and generally caught his foes off guard, especially when he used his speed to surprise his opponents, but at the same time he knew that it wasn't enough to take someone like Celestia down, rather he expected her to get back up and shake off the effects of his attack, which was why he was readying himself for what was coming next. Sure enough Celestia pulled herself out of the crater and showed that his attack hadn't really done much, as all she did was brush off the dust that had gotten on her attire, though at the same time he felt the air heat up a little, an indication that his foe was getting more serious.
Sure enough when Celestia attacked him again she called her magic into the area around them, though the reason that he knew that was because she started sending fireballs at him, in an attempt to distract him while she searched for an opening to use against him, so thanks to his new speed he was able to avoid the attacks. Of course he was proven right a few moments later, as Celestia got into the air above him and charged the solar energy into the tip of her halberd, allowing her to loose a powerful ball that could have been called a miniature sun at him, one that he destroyed by swinging his arm at it and let his power blow it apart. As that happened Celestia launched a series of attacks at him from a different number of directions, causing him to either avoid the attacks that were coming at him or parry them, since this time she was using her weapon against him while sometimes adding in a fireball to confuse him. What he wasn't expecting her to do was pull in the various bits of power that she had scattered around the area around them, which he assisted with thanks to the fact that he had either broken or avoided her attacks, allowing her to loose a crescent wave of energy into his back, sending him into the ground and forming a small hole around him.
A few moments later Sombra pulled himself back up and stood straight, though at the same time he raised his right hand and drew Shokyo from her scabbard, where he silently released her Shikai form, since unlocking the Bankai form allowed the wielder to release the Shikai without uttering the Release Call, before he stared at Celestia.
"I've never seen a weapon do that before." Celestia commented, as with everything she had seen, from all of the various adventures that the displaced ponies had been through, this was something that was entirely new, which made her cautious since it could surprise her, "What is it?"
"She's not an 'it'. She's my Shinigami Zanpakuto, Shokyo, a name that means 'Crystal Heart', and she definitely has her own soul and personality," Sombra replied, though he couldn't fault Celestia for saying that, since this had to be the first time she had seen something like this, where he took a moment to move the blade for a moment, to demonstrate that he knew how to use the broadsword, "All Zanpakuto, with the exception of Ichigo's blade, have a sealed form, a Shikai form, and a Bankai form, though what you are seeing right now is Shokyo's Shikai form, something that I can release when I call out the Release Call, but since she has entrusted me with the information of her Bankai I can skip that step, which is why you could see her transform from a katana and become a broadsword, without hearing me say anything. Here's the more interesting part, releasing her Shikai form allows me to access part of Shokyo's power and use it against whoever I'm fighting at any given moment, so it's time I showed you what we're able to do together."
Celestia watched as Sombra charged at her and swung his blade at her, where she raised her halberd and blocked the attack, but this time around she was surprised, as the sheer act of releasing the blade's second state had actually boosted Sombra's considerable power once more, showing that his power was connected to the blades he carried. That actually made her worry for a moment, because while she could still guard against this power, and could boost her own power by unsealing more of it, she knew that this blade wasn't at it's full power, if what Sombra said was anything to go by, and that wasn't even considering the fact that he had a second blade he had said nothing about. She had to assume that the other blade was like the first one, that it had multiple forms that boosted Sombra's considerable strength to new levels, but even then Sombra's words told her that there had to be some sort of power that each blade commanded, which could only be accessed by releasing parts of their power, meaning that she had to be careful when fighting him. Not even a few seconds later she was forced backwards and steadied herself, confirming that releasing the Shikai had boosted Sombra's power, but that was followed by Sombra's power flaring for a moment as he held his left hand out, where a number of blue crystalline spears formed in the air around him.
She used her speed to move through the air, avoiding the spears when Sombra hurled them at her, but at the same time she knew that this power had to represent one of the types of magic that he was known for, even if it was the lesser of the two, making her worry when he was going to summon his darkness and turn it against her. As that happened, and she touched the ground at last, Sombra raised his sword and hurled a blue energy wave, his Seiga, Energy Fang, at his foe, who swung her halberd at the attack and loosed a wave attack in return, causing the two attacks to cancel each other out and allowed her to focus on something else. Celestia then followed that up by loosing a miniature sun at Sombra, who, oddly enough, stood in the same place that he was standing in when he sent the energy wave at her, though as the attack neared him Sombra raised his hand and a crystalline barrier, his Shukan, Guard's Barrier, snapped into existence to stop the attack from hitting him. As the smoke formed around him, shielding him from Celestia's sight for a moment, which was when he raised his reiatsu further and unleashed his Bankai, causing a surge of energy to be pushed out from where he was standing for a moment... though when the smoke cleared Celestia's eyes widened for a moment as she took in the silver crystalline armor, which belonged to a knight and not a king, that Sombra was now wearing.
"Bankai, Isamashii Hogosha Shoteikoku." Sombra said, to which he raised his head for a moment and stared down at his opponent for a moment, who was clearly shocked by what he had just done, and he was sure that some of the watchers were also surprised, "The translated name of this form is Valiant Guardian of the Crystal Empire. I know, it's sort of ironic considering that I used my dark powers to take control of the Crystal Empire, but at the same time I feel that the name is appropriate, as it shows that I'm truly no longer the evil unicorn that you and Luna defeated, and this form allows me to use the full power of my crystalline powers."
Celestia had time to raise her halberd as Sombra attacked her again, showing that her thoughts were once more confirmed, that releasing the power of one of his blades had boosted his already considerable power to a new level and made it tougher for one to fight against him. In response to that Celestia raised her own power as well, to equal Sombra's level as she pushed him backwards, but that seemed to be what he wanted as Sombra flashed around the space that rested around her, making her keep track of where he was at any given moment and kept her weapon at the ready, since she had no idea what sort of power this state actually gave him. Of course that didn't prepare her for the fact that her foe flashed into the space behind her and swung his weapon at her, though as she raised her halberd to defend herself she noticed that the ground was shaking as a large number of blue crystalline spikes burst out of the ground and started reaching for her, causing her to jump backwards so she could avoid the attack. She knew that it was dangerous to let any of Sombra's attacks hit her, because his power wasn't to be messed with and there was no telling how dangerous these attacks actually were, but for now she was sure that if she kept avoiding his attacks he'd eventually change his mind and draw out the rest of his power, which was what she was waiting for.
Of course that changed when she found herself up against a large crystalline wall, one that hadn't been there a few seconds ago, showing her that Sombra was more skilled at creating things that his foes didn't see while they were slightly distracted by another attack, before she stared at the crystals that were coming towards her, which were far larger than what they were a few moments ago... and, before they could even hit her, she smiled as she readied herself for what was going to happen next, since this would catch Sombra off guard.
"Lunar Divide." a voice said, where Sombra watched as his Hatakesho, his Field of Crystal, technique was horizontally cleaved in half by a light silver energy wave, one that had been quicker than most of the attacks that Celestia had been using so far, before Sombra stared at Luna, who was standing in front of her sister, though she was carrying a longsword that had a pair of wings that resembled her old pair near the guard, which was a crescent moon, "Come now Sombra, you honestly didn't think that Celestia would be the only one fighting against you, did you?"
"Truth be told, I knew it was only a matter of time until you showed up." Sombra admitted, because it had taken both of the Royal Sisters to take him down a thousand years ago, even when he was exhausted from his fight with Crudelis, and they definitely needed to stand together if they wanted to best him again, though even as he did that he drew Rey as well, preparing himself for the next attack that would be coming his way.
Together both Celestia and Luna charged at him, swinging their weapons at him as they formed him back into the air, though this time around Sombra parried the attacks that were coming his way while accessing the hidden powers that both of them were waiting for him to use. As the three of them exchanged blows with each other Sombra gathered bits of his reiatsu and loosed a few waves of energy at his foes, blue coming from Shokyo and black coming from Rey, though that brought something interesting as both sisters either dodged the attacks or cancelled them out with one of their own. Of course that wasn't all he could do at the moment, since he had access to all the crystalline powers that Shokyo possessed and even used a really thick crystal pillar to stop one of Luna's attacks, while at the same time swinging Rey around and using the shadowy powers to knock one of them out of the air, though his Bala Oscura, his Dark Bullet, technique was ultimately dodged when he loosed a storm of small ebony blasts at them. He even tried a new tactic, as in forming small circular areas on the ground that would give way towards his Pilar Abisal, his Abyssal Pillar technique that had massively damaged Grimmjow during their fight, but, as he expected, both Celestia and Luna dodged the areas that the pillars would form in and prevented being hurt in the process... and when he tried to use his Prensa Oscura, his Dark Press, technique, Luna swung her blade and cleaved the sphere in half, destroying the attack before it could hurt them.
He could tell that his foes were using at least fifty percent of their power, or close to it anyway, but right now they were working in perfect unison and it was clear that to get anywhere he'd have to either seal his Bankai and then release his Resurreccion, or unleash both of his blades and take on his full power once more.
Before Sombra could make a decision on what to do, since it wasn't a decision he could make lightly since his foes were incredibly powerful in their own right, he had to parry several silver streaks that were coming his way, showing that Luna intended to keep him busy, which was when Celestia came down at him from above and swung her weapon down at him, loosing a wave of power that knocked him down into the ground. As he fell both of the sisters continued firing a series of magical attacks at him, being either waves of energy or elemental attacks that were stronger than they had been a thousand years ago, and while he dodged some of the attacks he found that the ground below him was burning. It made sense, considering the fact that Celestia was the Sun Goddess and one of her affinities was for solar based powers, as well as fire based powers, which resulted in burning the area around wherever the attacks hit, though what he was more interested in was the fact that those attacks would severely burn someone if they got hit, while he, on the other hand, could use his shadows to avoid the spells if he really wanted to. Of course as he dodged the next attack Luna appeared above him and swung down at him, where the energy of her attack carved a slight gash into the chest of his armor and knocked him to the ground, where he landed near the crater they had formed earlier and remained still, where both of his foes flashed down to the other side of the crater and stared at him.
He had to correct his earlier thoughts, as neither of the sisters were using half of their full power against him, rather they seemed to be using between fifty to seventy-five percent of their individual power, meaning that he was only going to have a rough time if he kept trying to fight them with only half of his power, because if they picked up the pace and used all their power they could really hurt him.
"I must admit, based on what I've heard, I had to assume that neither of you went on an adventure of your own and gained any special powers of your own," Sombra commented, though as he said that he focused his reiatsu and released his hold on his Bankai, reverting back to his base state once more, and then made sure that Shokyo returned to her sealed state, as this would confuse his opponents and open their defenses for when he showed his hand, "and while that may be true you still went through a similar process that the others and I went through, boosting your already considerable powers to an even greater height. I can tell that you're trying to get me to use all my might against you, while keeping this world intact since the flames aren't charring the entire area around us, though I think you'll be surprised by what you see when the full power of the Dios Hueco is used against you."
"Yet you sealed your blade and lowered your power," Luna remarked, as that worried her, because based on what she and Celestia knew there was always a reason behind what Sombra did, so the act of sealing one of his weapons and cutting off it's power made her wonder if he had a trick up his sleeve, hence why she and her sister had their own skills at the ready, "Surely you aren't thinking of admitting defeat already?"
"No, it's just that awakening the power of the Dios Hueco is much easier when both of my Zanpakuto are in their sealed states," Sombra replied, to which he held his blades out, in a style that looked like he was getting ready to attack one of them, before both of them started to glow, the sign that he was getting ready to show off his real power to those that were watching them, "Awaken, Blades of the King."
Celestia and Luna watched as Sombra was engulfed in a silver colored sphere of energy, different from the same silver colored energy that had been used against him so far, though before they could do anything that sphere burst apart and morphed into a pillar of raw power, one that shook the entire area that was around them. A few moments ticked by before the energy started to disappear, though as that happened the two sisters looked at Sombra as he emerged from the pillar, where they found that he was clad in a suit of armor that resembled what he had worn when he was the King of Darkness, though instead of it possessing the colors they were used it they found that their opponent was wearing a silver suit of armor that made him look more regal. Even his crown had transformed, leaving behind the bone like form it had been in previously and took on the appearance of metal, silver to be exact, though that was before they noticed that while his sclera retained the color that came from using Dark Magic, while his actual eyes turned silver, one eye had the purple strands coming from it while the other had blue strands, showing that he had changed since the last time they had fought each other, worrying the two of them for a moment. The only thing that seemed to be missing this time around was both of the blades that Sombra had carried with him, showing that awakening their true power must have merged his body with those same powers, but even then they had to be ready for anything and everything.
Of course they discovered that doing that was much harder than they originally thought, as Sombra disappeared from their sight for a moment, like he had vanished or something, and before either of them could do anything Celestia went flying backwards through the air, with some pain in her chest like she had been punched, while at the same time Luna was sent moving in the opposite direction by a similar attack, where they found Sombra standing right where they had been standing moments ago.
Luna knew that it was possible that his speed had increased to the point where he was quicker than they were, since they weren't using all of their power at the moment, but it was still shocking to see her sister, who was using the same amount of power that she had used to best Chrysalis in their earlier battle, being knocked backwards. Despite that fact she stopped herself from going too far backwards and finally stopped herself from moving, where she focused on where her target was standing and burst back though the distance that was between them, only this time it seemed that Sombra wasn't going to dodge her attack. In fact when she lashed out against him, after closing the gap between them, she swung her weapon at him and found that he didn't do anything at all, rather all she did was hit the armor he was wearing and found that not a single scratch or dent had been made, like her power was useless, but that didn't stop her from repeating her attack a few times to see if she got the same result. What annoyed her a little was the fact that Sombra eventually raised a hand and removed the gauntlet that he had been wearing, allowing her to actually target his hand and turn the tide of battle back to their side, but as Sombra parried her attacks with his hand she found that she wasn't even cutting him, making her wonder what was going on as she eventually pulled back and stared at him, allowing him to replace his gauntlet while she stood down.
Of course Celestia chose that moment to drop a massive flaming sphere down on where Sombra was standing, one that she recognized as one of the more powerful fire type spells, the Flame Emperor, one of Sunset's favorite fire type attacks that she used in some of her battles... a fireball that Sombra stopped by simply turning towards it and raised his hand to the sky, where he loosed a small silver beam of energy into the sphere and blew the entire thing apart.
"Luna, what you just experienced was the strength of my Hierro, where I use my reiryoku to make my skin incredibly hard, like steel for instance, and stop your blade from cutting me." Sombra explained, because unlike what happened in Hueco Mundo, where Ichigo, Nel, Grimmjow, and Zaraki adapted to the strength of Nnoitra's Hierro and eventually cut through it, neither of the Princesses knew much about this technique and wouldn't be able to find a good way to cut him in their current state, "And that attack that I used to cancel your massive fireball, Celestia, is something that Hollows call a Cero, sometimes called a 'Zero' or a 'Doom Blast' depending on who you ask, and it's power it influenced by how long the user decides to charge it. There are two more types of Cero that an Arrancar, like myself, can use in battle, those being the Gran Rey Cero and the Cero Oscuras, though I'm unique, as while the Cero Oscuras is only used by Arrancar in their Resurreccion, their true forms, I can perform the same technique in my base state."
"Just how many techniques did you learn while you were gone?" Luna asked, because the way things were sounding it appeared that Sombra had picked up more tricks than they originally thought, and based on his tone the Gran Rey Cero had to be the strongest of the three types he could use, but she had the feeling that he was trying to trick them into thinking that one of the two Cero attacks was the strongest, when they could be about equal.
"Oh, I learned plenty of techniques while I was picking up the pieces of my past," Sombra replied, though at the same time his horn glowed as he worked his reiatsu into the area around him, where Celestia and Luna watched as the sky grew dark as an aura, which also happened to be dark, formed around Sombra, "Seeping crest of turbidity. Arrogant vessel of lunacy! Boil forth and deny! Grow numb and flicker! Disrupt sleep! Crawling queen of iron! Eternally self-destructing doll of mud! Unite! Repulse! Fill with soil and know your own powerlessness! Hado Number 90: Kurohitsugi!"
Luna watched as multiple boxes of black energy appeared in the area all around them, focused on the area that she was standing in at the moment, and discovered that each of the boxes was topped off with some strange cross-shaped spears, before they seemed to pull themselves together and form a massive box with her trapped inside it. Before she could even do anything the box was sealed, trapping her in what appeared to be an alternate dimension of sorts, though that changed when a series of cuts appeared on her chest, her arms, and her legs, breaking her out of the dimension as quickly as she had been put in it, to which she staggered and fell to one knee for a moment. She was surprised by the sheer amount of damage the attack had done, especially since she didn't see an attack coming her way at all, and she knew that Celestia was worried about her, but this just confirmed the fact that if they wanted to beat Sombra they had to be ready for anything and everything, because if he had more techniques like that then they could be finished before they got serious and used more of their power.
"That was Kurohitsugi, or Black Coffin, a powerful Kido spell that's in the Nineties, though the Hado classification are more for actual battle, since Bakudo is for creating barriers and Kaido is for healing." Sombra commented, knowing that the sudden appearance of all the darkness and the boxes had caught the Royal Sisters off guard, since this wasn't an attack that they were familiar with, so it might not work on them again, but he still had ninety-eight more spells he could surprise them with, and that wasn't counting the other two classifications, "It's just one of the many techniques that I was taught by some of my dear friends, though the damage varies from user to user, whether they use the incantation or not, and the user's overall reiatsu, so you could have easily taken less damage from that attack, but you did take it like a champ, despite the surprise that was written on your face when it activated. Here's another technique for the both of you to witness... Bakudo Number 81: Danku."
Celestia watched as the solar wave of energy she had been spending at Sombra's back, while he was distracted by talking with Luna, was stopped in it's tracks as a transparent wall of sorts appeared behind her target, where the attack detonated, but when the smoke cleared the destruction was on her side of the barrier and none of it had gotten around to even touch Sombra.
"Or Splitting Void, a defensive Bakudo that stops attacks in their tracks," Sombra continued, where he turned back and glanced at Celestia, who was a little surprised to see that he had stopped her attack so quickly and rather suddenly, but at the same time he smiled, "Don't worry, I won't use this against you all the time, otherwise the battle would be unfair and we'd have to bring an end to it at some point, since neither of you would be able to touch me if I did that..."
Before Sombra could finish his statement he felt a surge of power coming from Luna's direction, where he turned back towards her and watched as her attire transformed into an ancient suit of armor that was silver colored, darkened by her own power, while at the same time her skin darkened to a very dark blue color. His eyes widened for a moment, as he remembered seeing this once in the past, as ponies used to refer to this as Luna's 'Nightmare' form, later becoming the being known as Nightmare Moon if the stories were true, and he knew that she used the majority of her power when she was in this state. It didn't take her long to go through the transformation, showing that she was in control of herself when she stared up at him again, but that was followed by her bursting through the air and reached where he was standing in a few seconds, where he raised his arm and blocked her incoming punch, where he discovered that she had left her weapon behind and was going to fight with her fists now. At the same time, however, he also realized that her power was nothing to laugh at, because the sheer force behind her attack caused the air around them to shudder for a moment and his arm actually moved back a little bit, showing that all of his new power might not have put him above the sisters. Not even a few seconds later Luna raised her other fist and punched him into the air, which actually pleased him since this was the first time since he became the Dios Hueco that he was being pushed back, and it was good to see that the event happened against the sisters that were responsible for his first defeat.
"Oh, we're not worried about your techniques," Celestia said, though at the same time the area around her heated up some more as Sombra turned and glanced down at her, as he could tell that something was going to happen, "Shortly after both of us took on our new forms, some time after Sunset returned to Equus with her new friends and family, Luna and I trained with her for some time, allowing Luna to finally master her full power, without the fear of being devoured by it being present anymore. Now, if Luna was able to master the Nightmare, and turn it's power and form into something she can use whenever she wants to access her full power, whose to say that I wasn't able to do the same thing and tame a greater power that I had been hesitant to use in the past?"
Sombra watched as Celestia's hair heated up and became pure fire, in looks since he couldn't feel any heat coming from it at all, though at the same time her attire didn't change all that much, meaning that the attire of an Angel must be more special that what Luna was wearing, even though the golden yellow color turned bright red to mimic the flames that were now Celestia's hair... and a moment later, as she touched the ground, the ground immediately around her hooves just happened to be burned, like they got close to the sun or an intense fire at the very least.
"This, Sombra, is what Luna and I refer to as my 'Daybreaker' form," Celestia continued, though as she said that she moved her body, shifting her arms and legs to make it look like she was getting ready to defend herself against an attack that might come her way, even if Sombra felt that it was more like she was getting ready for her own attack, "it's just like my sister's form, where it allows me to use an even greater percent of my power without the fear of becoming a monster or something, though if you want to get technical we're both at seventy-five percent for sure. The only one that's been able to stand up to us when we're in these forms, and outright best us in a battle, is Sunset, though you'll find that our strength is not to be underestimated."
Sombra immediately found himself going on the defensive as both Celestia and Luna charged at him, attacking him at the same time and in perfect unison, showing that they had reforged their old teamwork after a thousand years of being apart from each other, forcing him to use his arms and hands to defend himself. One thing he immediately discovered was that the fiery aura that Celestia had, which had burned the ground around her a few moments ago, didn't seem to affect Luna at all, though at the same time he had to wonder if Luna's own aura was preventing her from getting hurt, but he couldn't think about it for too long since he was in the middle of parrying their attacks and avoiding their fists. It was clear that they weren't playing around, because even though Luna backed away a few moments later, to wander off to another area of their battlefield, Celestia kept him busy, though this time around when he fired a Cero at her she simply swung her fist and bashed it to the side, sending it off into the distance, where it hit a small hit and tore the area apart. Luna, on the other hand, took that opportunity and started firing off silver energy blasts at him, as well as shards of ice and even bits of lightning, which he either avoided or stopped with a Danku, since he wasn't about to let the attacks hit him, but even then he had to keep his focus since Celestia continued to advance towards him.
He had known ahead of time that it was going to be interesting to fight the two of them again, even if it originally was just going to be him verses Celestia, but after a minute or five of letting them have control over the battle he let his inner darkness return in full force and caused them to stop attacking for a moment, as they both knew that his power over the shadows wasn't to be underestimated.
"We may have him on the defensive for now, but he's still the King of Darkness," Luna remarked, as she flashed over to where her sister was floating and stared at Sombra, because they both knew that he had to have some sort of trick or attack that could turn the tide against them, hence why they were being cautious about this entire fight, "He could change the flow of this battle in an instant if we're not careful."
"Indeed." Celestia said, as she was waiting to see what Sombra did with the shadows, because that was what had made him a terrifying opponent in the past, hence why they needed some assistance in wearing him down, otherwise the fight a thousand years ago would have had a different outcome.
She would have said more, but is was in that moment that Sombra charged at them and waved his hand at them, as if he was going to send the shadows after them, which encouraged both of the sisters to get themselves higher in the air so they could avoid the attack before they were even hit. What actually happened was that they were fooled, as no shadows came flying at them, rather Sombra flashed directly below them and truly swung the shadows at them, hitting Celestia's left arm and Luna's right arm in the process and caused a few black crystals to sprout on their arms, meaning that the first attack had been a diversion. He had fooled them both into thinking that he was attacking them with the one thing that would cut off their powers and make the fight easier for them, opening their defenses for a brief moment, an opening that he used without missing a beat, and while one of their arms had crystals on them their power wasn't the same as it had been before, as the type he used meant he needed both of their arms to sever their connection to their magic. Instead of giving them a chance to do anything Sombra made sure to close the gap between them as they separated from each other, allowing him to pick who he wanted to go after in the hopes that the other would be able to attack whatever opening he would present to them in the next few moments.
Of course since this had originally been a battle between him and Celestia, despite knowing that Luna would have come in at some point, Sombra targeted Celestia and swung his fist at her, though while she blocked it the sheer force of his attack knocked her higher into the air. That was followed by him flashing above where Celestia was heading and swung his leg down at her, knocking Celestia out of the air and sent her flying towards the ground, forcing her to regain control of herself before she touched the ground, despite the fact that it was a surprise that they were back down here again. When Sombra reached the ground he went on the offensive immediately, making sure that Celestia's attention was on him as he threw a few punches her way, forcing her to defend herself once more, though he made sure to keep an eye on what Luna was doing at any given moment, since she seemed to be staying away for now. Sombra knew that he could have just taken away both their magic and left them with whatever power they were using to fly, and their strength, but if he did that it wouldn't be that interesting and the excitement he had felt earlier would be gone, though he also knew that, given the fact that both were much stronger in this form, and the fact that he had never used his nullification powers against a god before, he had the feeling that they'd break the crystals sooner or later.
His thoughts were proven right a few moments later, as when he punched Celestia backwards she actually fell to a knee for a moment, showing that she had to be stressed with the lack of magic to aid her, but even as that happened he glanced to the right for a moment and waved his hand at the silver colored sphere that was coming his way, destroying it instantly... which in turn allowed Celestia to throw a punch and knock him backwards, one that actually staggered him and told him that they were still being serious about trying to defeat him.
What he wasn't expecting, however, was for both Celestia and Luna to be standing side by side a few seconds later, confirming that the sphere had been a diversion and not a serious attack, before the two of them raised their crystal covered arms and gathered their power. The sphere they formed a few seconds later was much quicker and was also more powerful than what he expected it to be, since it struck him in the chest and knocked him backwards through the air, but even as he regained control of himself he found that both of the sisters were up in the air above him, where it seemed like they were gathering their power for another attack. Of course that was his initial assumption, as the moment he locked onto where they were floating he noticed that it was an illusion, a trick to repay the one he had used on them a few moments ago, rather they flashed in front of him and kicked him at the same time, allowing the force of their blows to send him flying towards the ground, in an area that was near where the crater was located. A few moments later he landed on the ground and had to cough, because while this was a battle he could get behind, since he was actually being pressured by his foes for once, he knew that it would all be over soon, especially since both of the sisters were gathering their power into a massive sphere that was made of red and silver energy, almost looking like an eclipse from where he was standing at the moment.
A few seconds later the sphere was sent down towards his position, where Sombra raised his hand towards his mouth for a second, cutting a light gash that allowed him to form a light circle of blood in the air in front of him, before he started to pull his own power into the area as he charged up his silver Gran Rey Cero with his right hand, while at the same time he held his left hand out and gathered some more power to form a Cero Oscuras, as he was going to combine the two strong Cero attacks and take his foes' attack out in an instant. Once he was sure that the attack was ready he fired the two Cero into the air and watched as they spiraled around each other, apparently knowing what he intended to do and merged together to form a single silver colored Cero, with a dark outline, that slammed into the face of the sphere and halted it's descent. Not even an instant later the ground around him cracked, showing that he was fighting some serious power from two opponents who were currently restricted on how much magical power they could use at the moment, but even as he thought about that he felt the crystals that were on both Celestia and Luna's arms slowly break from where he was standing, indicating that they were coming undone and that the sisters were getting their full power back. As such his own attack was getting push back, for the first time since he found himself in Hueco Mundo, and as he poured his full power into stalling the attack, and even attempting to push it back, the best he could do was stop the sphere for a few more seconds, which was when the crystals shattered and the sphere came down towards him, beating his attack like it meant nothing in the grand scheme of things.
When the sphere got really close to where he was standing, however, Sombra did the smart thing and broke himself away from the attack, shifting into his Shadow Form before the sphere could actually hit him and moved out of the area as the large attack struck where he had been standing and blew a decent sized crater into the ground... but as he appeared some distance away, and solidified his body, Celestia appeared to his left and punched him in the side of the face, sending him over towards Luna, who knocked him into the ground with a kick.
"You know, despite what we said a few minutes ago, you're the third strongest member of those that were displaced by Discord's tampering with the mirror," Celestia said, though her tone revealed that she believed that the fight was over, that she and Luna had beaten Sombra and that it was time for him to admit his defeat.
"Third? I'm the third strongest out of everyone?" Sombra asked, to which he straightened himself for a moment and made sure he wasn't terribly injured, but while the last attacks had left bruises, which would heal in no time, the result of his struggle against the sphere proved that he couldn't beat them, before he glanced at the others, "Who among them is stronger than me? I'm curious to hear whose power is stronger than what I just showed you."
"Rainbow Dash and Applejack," Luna replied, where she noticed that Sombra turned to her with a look that was most definitely disbelief, something that she had once assumed the dark unicorn was incapable of making, but this just proved that he had changed, "Please, I wouldn't lie to you about something like this... it's just that both of them have special circumstances as to why they're both stronger than you."
"You know it, Princess Luna." a voice said, where Sombra turned and watched as Rainbow dropped down into the area that they had been fighting in, another sign that they knew that the fight was over, before she smiled at them, "Still, you guys put on one awesome fight, one that's got me really excited for the reason as to why you decided to bring all of the displaced ponies back to this planet."
"Right, I never actually told any of you what would happen after Sombra's test." Celestia replied, where the ways she said the word 'test' told Sombra that it was all about judging how much stronger he had gotten, though while he was one of the strongest beings in his new world it appeared that it would be some time before he could beat either Celestia or Luna in a fight, but when she spoke again her voice reached the others as well, "Sunset has seen a few of you fight since your various returns to Equus, and even fought against some of you in the process, but now that you're all back, she's curious to see how well all of you work as a team, and both Luna and I are in agreement with her. That is why, before we head back home, all of you will come down here and engage in a battle against Sunset, where she has agreed to let you use all of the powers that you have gained during your adventures."
Sombra had no idea that a second battle had been planned ahead of time, revealing the reason that all of the other displaced ponies had been brought to this planet as well, and he could tell that he wasn't the only one that was shocked by the news, but then he found himself smiling. Sunset, according to what Celestia and the others had said, was supposed to be the strongest of them all, in regards to her, Celestia, Luna, and Twilight, but if it was a battle with him and the others against her, with both Rainbow and Applejack by his side, he was sure that they could do something to Sunset. Celestia seemed to understand what he was thinking and issued an hour notice, allowing him and the others to prepare themselves accordingly for the fight, giving him some time to rest and recover his strength, though he sealed his true power for now and focused on recovering his power... as something told him that he was going to need everything in his arsenal if he and the others wanted to succeed in beating Sunset, and even then he had no idea what to expect, which only made him more excited for what the incoming battle held for them.
Sombra used the hour that he and the others were given to the best of his ability, because while he would have liked to head over to where Yoruichi and the rest of his group were standing he knew that it was in his best interest to remain down here and survey the area. At the same time, while he was making sure he knew where the mountain and the other landmarks were located, he and Rainbow were joined by the other displaced ponies that had gathered on this planet, where he noticed that a few of them were eager to see what sort of power Sunset possessed, while one or two seemed a little worried. He had to guess that such a reaction was warranted, since there was no telling what sort of abilities their foe had as the God of Destruction, especially since her strength was supposedly even stronger than what he had faced when he was battling both Celestia and Luna a few minutes ago. After seeing the power that the Royal Sisters commanded, and being bested by their combined powers before he could force them to use all of their power, he wasn't sure that he believed that Sunset could be even stronger than them, but he guessed that he'd figure out the truth soon enough, since it was only a matter of time until they fought Sunset.
Despite those thoughts he found himself glancing over to the area that Sunset was sitting in, where it appeared that she was meditating before their battle started, and knew that she had to know a lot of their powers before hand, meaning that they were walking into a battle that was going to start out in her favor.
"What are you thinking about?" Rainbow asked, as she had heard stories, from both of the Princesses and sometimes even one of the ponies that called the Crystal Empire home, about Sombra and what he was able to do, though seeing his power firsthand like that had been interesting, because it meant that he was powerful and not to be underestimated in a battle, while also meaning that he could be of assistance in the battle to come.
"I'm studying Sunset Shimmer, to see if I can get a sense for how strong she truly is before the battle starts." Sombra replied, though while that was part of what he was doing he knew that he wasn't going to get any information from it, as it appeared that nothing was emitting from their soon to be foe's body, "Celestia said that Sunset's supposed to be stronger than her and Luna, something I've never actually heard them admit about anyone before, so I'm hoping to figure out some of her powers before she comes at us, especially since I haven't seen her do anything since I first met her."
"She doesn't have that many powers, not like you do," Rainbow said, though at the same time she sat on a white cloud that she had brought with her, where Sombra understood that her innate pegasus powers were helping her do that, since all pegasi were capable of manipulating clouds and the weather, "Honestly, the only thing that any of us should be worried about, in terms of Sunset and her abilities, are her three Aspect forms, since they represent the greatest powers that she was able to acquire during her own adventures."
"I've heard about those forms, but I've actually never seen any of them in action before." a voice said, where Sombra noticed that Rarity and the other displaced ponies were starting to gather near him and Rainbow, though they were all keeping themselves at the ready, since once the hour was up Sunset would get up and come after them.
"The three forms are strong and not to be underestimated," Applejack stated, as she, just like Rainbow, had seen the three forms in actions in the past, and they knew that all of them were strong from what they had seen, but at the same time she knew that they couldn't afford to take Sunset lightly, "The Aspect of the Dragon might be the weakest of the three, but the power that it grants her is incredibly powerful, since she gained all of those powers during her time on the planet Nirn, and it was that power that allowed her to form a grand army to deal with a threat on that planet. Then she has access to the Aspect of Darkness, a representation of her own inner darkness and evil nature, which even has a few shadow based abilities that she can make use of in a battle, but that's not the real problem that we could be facing. Her third Aspect form, the Aspect of Destruction, is the strongest of the trio and is not to be underestimated at all, because with that power she could easily tear the area around her apart and possibly even split the world in half if she wanted, so we must be cautious if she reaches that point."
Sombra had to admit that the Aspect of Darkness sounded like it could have some abilities that were identical to the powers that he possessed when he released Rey, but without actually seeing the Aspect forms in use it was hard to tell what sort of powers they had and how he could plan for them.
"So, Sombra, what's the plan?" Chrysalis asked, because there was one thing that she had figured out before the others had even considered it, that they would be fighting with the King of Darkness, a unicorn that history said was one of the smartest enemies that Celestia and Luna had faced, meaning that they had the advantage.
"Right now, without having seen any of her powers, it's hard to even think up a plan of attack," Sombra admitted, as it was easy for him to make a plan for a battle with the Royal Sisters, because he knew their powers and had fought them before, but right now this was an opponent that he knew nothing about, before he thought of something else and glanced at the people around him, "though there is a way around something like that. Since we've been given an hour to rest and make ourselves ready, why don't all of you quickly give me and idea as to what sort of powers and skills your unlocked during your own adventures, because we might be able to create a plan of attack that will surprise Sunset enough for us to win the upcoming battle."
It was a tactic that he had never really used before, since he always knew what sort of powers his enemies had and what abilities his allies possessed, but this time around he knew nothing about Sunset's skills or the abilities that the other displaced ponies had acquired. If they wanted him to be the leader, as it appeared that Chrysalis' suggestion had been the one they agreed on, because it appeared that Rainbow and Applejack had actually fought Sunset in the past and lost, but if that told Sombra anything it was the fact that their superior numbers might work out this time around. What he found out about his allies was that Gilda and Sonata could control the wind, Aria had the power to manipulate fire, Adagio could use the water around them to their advantage, Derpy and Rainbow had two different levels of control over lightning, Applejack could speak to the earth beneath their hooves and use it against her foes, Lyra had control over Light and Shadow, which Sombra assumed was different from his powers, while Trixie was a master of the arcane. That left Rarity as a user of four types of magic from the planet she had been sent to, those being soul, lightning, fire, and shadows, while Chrysalis didn't have a specific affinity, rather she possessed a powerful magical transformation that made her dangerous when it was in use, a fact that Sombra filed away for later... and Pinkie, well, her powers seemed strange and odd, since it seemed like she had access to six different styles and was waiting for the chance to use them again.
Based on all the information he was able to gain from his allies, his team as it were, Sombra had a good idea of their strengths and weaknesses, something that he was sure Sunset was familiar with, but at the same time it also gave him the chance to create a few plans of attack already, preparing them for the battle ahead. They were going to have to use their full power against Sunset, that much he could tell them right off the back, and so far it seemed like all of them agreed to that idea, even if they were going to warm up for a moment or two when the battle started, to get a sense of Sunset's powers before the actual battle started. His plan was simple, they just had to beat Sunset before she had a chance to reach her full power, something that he was confident that all of them would be able to do if they worked like a team, which just so happened to be part of their exercise, if they chose to believe why they had been brought here. Sombra was sure that no lies had been told, he was just cautious since most of them had no idea what sort of powers their foe had and those that had seen her powers were warning the others of what movements to look out for, since some of Sunset's attacks would be easily recognizable once she started making the movements for them. Any information that he could gain on their foe was good for all of them, as it allowed them to understand why Sunset's attacks were dangerous and why they would either want to avoid them or attempt to use them against their foe, even if he had the feeling that they would be sticking to the techniques that they had gained during their own adventures.
Eventually they came to a stop as the hourglass that was keeping track of how long they had been standing around lost the last grains of sand, to which Celestia waved a hand and banished it back to where she had gotten it from, though as she moved out of the area Sunset stopped her meditating, opened her eyes, and stood up, allowing her to walk over to where the group was standing so they could get the show on the road.
"I take it the thirteen of you have been sharing information with each other, about the various powers you all possess and how you're going to beat me?" Sunset inquired, seeing that some of the group definitely seemed ready for their fight to begin, though at the same time she shifted her stance so she could guard against incoming attacks while also dealing out her own when the time was right, before staring at her opponents, where Rarity nodded her head, answering her question so they could move forward with their battle, "That's good to hear, since teamwork is one of the reasons that this battle is happening in the first place. Now then, come and show me just what you guys have been planning for the last hour and I'll respond appropriately."
The first thing Sombra and the others did was spread out, forming a circle around Sunset, who simply turned her head and looked at all of them, clearly trying to determine which of them would be coming at her first so she could plan her first attack accordingly, even though there were a number of possibilities they could use at the moment. Instead of going at Sunset alone or in groups of two, since it appeared that those had failed in the past, all of them charged at her, coming from different angles and at different times, though the first one to reach her was Rainbow, as Sombra expected considering that it seemed that Rainbow was incredibly eager for battle. In fact she had activated a technique she called 'Thunder God's War Cry', a move that basically enhanced her speed to an incredible level, since it appeared that Rainbow still liked being the fastest around, but it seemed to be working quite well, as she was able to push Sunset backwards, right into the waiting arms of the others that were eager to show Sunset how strong they had gotten. It was Pinkie, Rarity, and Chrysalis that assisted Rainbow, their fists joining the series of attacks that their friend was using against Sunset, who could only parry so many attacks at her current level of power, since a few managed to get through and hit her a little in the process, leaving very small marks behind as they moved into the air.
One thing that Sombra found interesting was the fact that Sunset's dodges almost looked like she wasn't even paying attention to the enemies around her, rather it looked like her body might be moving on it's own, but if that was the case than she couldn't handle the sheer number of enemies and attacks that were coming her way. A moment later Sunset jumped backward and escaped from the group that was attacking her, though as she did that she ran right into Lyra, who attacked her like she was wielding a pair of weapons in both of her hands, forcing her to parry the attacks with her own fists as she her eyes open for the others, since she was sure that someone else was coming towards her. Sure enough she was right, as she had to raise her right arm for a moment so she could catch the punch that Applejack was sending her way, though that was before Applejack forced her arm back and dropped into a series of punches and kicks that targeted a number of spots on Sunset's body, stunning her and keeping her in place for a few moments. When the series of attacks was over Applejack kicked the center of Sunset's chest with both of her hooves, sending her flying through the air for a moment, though before she could even hit the ground Sunset corrected herself and got ready for another attack, only for Pinkie to drop down from above and bring the backside of her right leg down on her shoulder, knocking her out of the air and forcing her to the ground for real.
Despite only seeing it for the first time Sombra knew that Applejack's Harvester's Barrage, the attack she had locked Sunset in for a few moments, was definitely powerful and was glad to have known about it ahead of time, though it seemed that even if Sunset knew their powers or skills it was next to impossible for her to determine when they were going to use them and how they would be used, turning the tide of battle in their favor instantly.
Sunset had just enough time to pick herself out of the crater that had been formed around her, reminding herself that Pinkie's strength came from six Eco powers that were inside her body, which she could access at any time she wanted, and the faint red aura around Pinkie confirmed that the Red aspect was in use, hence why her raw strength had exceeded her own for a moment, before she found herself under attack once more. This time around it was Trixie that had come after her, another odd choice considering that she liked to cast spells and stand back, but the fact that she was half dragon all the time meant that she could tangle with people that used their fists to fight, since the scales on her arms, hands, legs, and feet were incredibly tough. She lashed out at Trixie and frowned for a moment as she punched a hole in what she soon discovered was an illusion, something that her current foe still prided herself on since she was great with illusions, before the real Trixie appeared to her right and knocked her back into the air, sending her right into the waiting arms of Sombra, who took up dodging her attacks and dealt his own in response. Sombra knew that she was strong, that much he had seen so far, but the fact that he was interested in was that Sunset actually couldn't keep up with all of them at the moment, even if most of them were using seventy-five perfect and some were even below that, but this was either her way to study how they worked as a team or her power was far less than what he had been told... and since he never labeled either of the Royal Sisters as liars, as they were always truthful towards him, he had the feeling that Sunset was just bidding her time until she released her power.
As Sombra knocked Sunset away, however, he noticed that Rarity hurled a dark screaming sphere into a small portal near her position, one that sent the sphere directly into Sunset's side and blasted her backwards, though since he didn't recognize the attack he had to assume it was one from the world she had been sent to. Gilda and Derpy were waiting for her after that, though while they seemed to be the weakest of the bunch, based on the power they were generating, they still dodged Sunset's attacks and delivered their own to her, seriously making Sombra wonder if someone had actually lied to him about her strength. Of course, as he thought about that fact, Sunset actually got serious and knocked the two away from her, giving her a chance to regain her footing for a moment as she thought about what had happened, though that was when Chrysalis jumped in and resumed attacking her with Pinkie by her side, but this time around there was a change as Sunset started blocking the attacks more and stopped taking so many of them, even if they didn't hurt her all that much to begin with. Fortunately the two of them had a plan, as they knocked Sunset higher into the air and made sure that she was focused on the foes in front of her, which would have meant that she ignored the existence of Trixie even higher up in the air, who was using a blue pair of dragon wings she had unfurled from her back to get up there... and, when Sunset was in position, she leveled her arms with the god and used a beam of arcane energy to send her flying back towards the ground, showing that they were the ones dominating the fight at the moment.
When the smoke cleared they found a new crater near the old one, where it appeared Sunset was resting inside it for some reason, though at the same time Sombra and the others gathered near it, because he sensed that something was off and it appeared that he wasn't the only one that was worried.
"Even though we were preventing her from doing much, we can't have beaten her already." Chrysalis commented, to which she got some nods from the transformed Equestrians that were standing near her, confirming that they all knew that something was wrong with this situation and that they were keeping their guards up.
"Especially since none of us are using our full power against her," Sombra added, which was strange since Sunset was supposed to be even stronger than this, from what he had heard anyway, though that only told him that something didn't add up and he was trying to figure out what that something was, hopefully before Sunset activated one of those Aspect forms of hers and took control of the fight.
"Wait, do you hear that?" Pinkie asked, as she heard something that sounded like an ancient language or something, but instead of it being a conversation it sounded like chanting that happened to have a beat to it, akin to the war drums and chanting that Trixie heard when she had to deal with the Horde, "It sounds like chanting..."
Sombra honestly wasn't surprised to see that Pinkie was the only one that seemed to notice anything odd about the sound, since he and the others didn't detect anything like that, though it could have been because his focus was on the crater in front of them, where Sunset's power increased to a point that was beyond what they had been fighting so far. A few moments later, when the surge he had felt died down, he and the others stared at the crater as Sunset floated out of it with a faint blue aura around her, though as she came to a stop Sombra also noticed that she had some scales on her arms and her chest, making him wonder what had happened to her.
"It's been a while since I've used this Aspect, so I might be a little rusty," Sunset commented, though at the same time she seemed to be thinking about something that was tied to this form, which Sombra realized had to be the Aspect of the Dragon, but if scales were the only thing that came with this power boost, from what they could see anyway, it made him wonder why it had been included with the other two, "Now then, who wants to go first?"
In the instant following Sunset's question Trixie, who had remained in the air and seemed to have been forgotten about until now, flew down towards the unsuspecting god and readied some arcane energy against her claws, as her plan was to swing her arm and loose an energy claw attack, but before she could reach her target something strange happened, and that was the fact that Sunset moved behind where Trixie was floating.
"I think it's time we ground you for a moment," Sunset said, to which she turned her head and stared at Trixie for a few seconds, leaving Sombra and the others to wonder what she had planned for their companion at the moment, before her aura flared for a moment, "Joor Zah Frul!"
To Sombra and the others it was like Sunset had just spoken the strange words, though they left her mouth in such a way that made him wonder if she had Shouted at Trixie, like she was projecting the words themselves at her target, and not even a moment later Trixie found herself unable to fly straight, forcing her to land as if some vast weight had been eased onto her body, preventing her from doing anything with her wings at the moment.
"What... did you do?" Trixie asked, because even during her time in Azeroth, learning all about the various types of magic that existed in that part of their universe, she had never seen a spell that could instantly knock a dragon out of the sky, especially since she was the new Spell-Weaver.
"The first planet I went to, Nirn, was home to a number of interesting and fascinating races," Sunset explained, though at the same time she could tell that the others weren't all that keen on hearing what she had to say, hence the reason that she was going to be brief and then get back to the fight, "one of them, the Nords, had a number of tales about a legendary warrior called the Dragonborn, who could defeat dragons and take their souls. Truth be told, thanks to a certain centaur that I had to hunt down, I only took one of their souls and allied myself with the rest, even managing the erase the Nords' burning hatred for their former tormentors, but that's a tale for another time, for when we're not trying to have a battle with each other. The dragons of Nirn spoke with Words of Power, either debating with each other or even fighting with Shouts, which is what I just did to you, Trixie, though this was a Shout that was created by the Nords of Skyrim to defeat the dragons that had enslaved them, but it's only real use is for knocking them out of the sky for a limited amount of time, so it's not permanent."
"I have the feeling that there's more to this than what she's telling us." Chrysalis commented, as while this wasn't the first time she had heard about this, since the people that Sunset had been traveling with during her second adventure, Ratchet and Clank she recalled, had told her about this adventure and their meeting with Ysmir, she knew that there had to be more to this than what they had been told.
"Indeed there is, but like I said, we can talk about it some other time." Sunset said, showing that she was listening to those that were below her, before she took a breath and seemed to be readying herself for something else, causing the group to get ready as well, "Yol... Toor Shul!"
What erupted from Sunset's mouth was a torrent of fire, one that was different from all the other types of fire that Sombra had seen before this point in time, to which he and the others got out of the way, even taking Trixie with them, just as the fire touched where they had been standing and littered the area in small dancing flames. Sombra knew that there were more types of powers in the world, since he had learned more from the place he had been sent to and had figured out that all the others had various powers as well, but this was something he wasn't expecting, that words actually had power and that it could command the elements. While the others separated from each other, to put some distance between them and Sunset, Sombra decided to rush her and see if he could force her to either abandon this power or move forward to the next Aspect that she had access to, where he pulled Shokyo from her scabbard and prepared to use her against Sunset, only for the Shout 'Zun Haal Viik' to escape her lips. Not even a moment later Sombra found out something interesting, whatever power Sunset had used on him forced his Zanpakuto from his hand, where it went flying down towards the ground and embedded itself in the ground, where he decided not to pull out Rey, in cause she could use it again, and instead used his fists this time around.
Sunset was game for what he had planned, as she raised her hands and parried the attacks that were coming her way, though at the same time Sombra knew that the others were keeping themselves at the ready and were preparing some attacks that would allow them to topple Sunset's new power, so they could finish the battle quickly. As Sunset parried the incoming attack that was coming her way, however, Sombra noticed that she didn't seem to have anything else to use against him, like she had already used up all of her tricks so far, though at the same time he didn't believe that fact and threw a few punches at her while keeping his guard up, since he was sure she had more Shouts in her. Regardless of whether or not she was going to use any of the other Shouts against them, and turn the tide against them, Sombra made sure that Sunset's attention was on him and no one else, though all that changed when he noticed that a number of his companions were ready to get going. Rainbow and Applejack, being the first ones to react, flashed up to where they were fighting and loosed a beam of blue energy at Sunset, where the majority of the others followed their lead and their beams flew through the air, colliding with where their foe was standing and covered her with smoke for a moment as each of the attacks exploded when they came into contact with her.
Sombra, who had moved backwards when the attacks were heading towards Sunset, watched as the smoke cleared, but when they were able to see their foe again he noticed that her form seemed to be like a wraith, though at the same time it appeared that she had taken no damage from their attacks, before whatever form she was in faded away and returned her to normal.
"Fiem Zii Gron... otherwise known as 'Become Ethereal'," Sunset stated, showing that she definitely had a trick up her sleeve, since it had saved her from taking damage from their attacks, before she stared at Sombra, who seemed to be the only one interested in facing her up in the air, even though Rainbow and Applejack floated down to where he was floating and faced her, "basically it let's me take on a spectral form that makes me invulnerable for a short period of time, while also preventing me from actually attacking you guys in return."
"Now I can see why she was so feared in the first world she was sent to." Applejack commented, showing that she had heard the tales of what Sunset did in Nirn, before the planet was obliterated by someone else, but at the same time she kept her guard up, since there had to be more than this to what Sunset was able to do.
"Actually, I wasn't the one that was feared in Skyrim... that honor belongs to Tirek." Sunset replied, to which Sombra raised an eyebrow for a moment, as this was the first time he had heard anything about the evil centaur, especially since this was the first time Sunset had mentioned his name and Sombra could tell that she didn't like the creature at all, before she focused on them once more, "But let's focus on something else, like the fact that the three of you shouldn't have gotten so close to me, since you don't know all the Shouts I'm capable of using, like this one: Fus... Ro DAH!"
Sombra, Rainbow, and Applejack felt a powerful wind-like burst escape from where Sunset was standing, the force of which knocked the three of them backwards like they were mere dolls, but fortunately that opened up Sunset's defenses, as Pinkie spun around and kicked a number of small dark purple spheres through the air, where they collided with her target's body and stunned her in the process. Lyra and Trixie appeared above her, combining the golden energy wave that had a ebony aura around it, coming from Lyra, with the silvery energy claw attack that Trixie had been preparing, to which the two attacks barreled into Sunset and knocked her down towards the ground. Sombra discovered that while Sunset was indeed powerful, if her first Aspect form was anything to go by, she couldn't keep track of what all thirteen of them were doing at any given moment, meaning that they could get some attacks through her defenses and keep the tide of battle in their favor. That thought was confirmed when Gilda, Derpy, and the Sirens joined forces for their next attack, as they combined their energies into a single powerful beam of energy that slammed into Sunset's back, sending her into the ground as another crater formed around her body, which was when they dropped down to where Sombra was floating and stared at the new area their foe had been knocked into.
While they waited for Sunset to show herself once more, however, Sombra flashed over to where Shokyo happened to be embedded in the ground and freed her, allowing him to return her to her scabbard as he flashed back to where his companions were floating, since he had the feeling that he'd need to awaken his true power at some point.
"It seems like our combined power is pushing her back," Derpy commented, though at the same time she had a hard time believing something like that, since Sunset was supposed to be one of the strongest beings in their universe, but she had the feeling that it was because of Sombra, Rainbow, and Applejack that they were winning this fight, "but remember to keep up your guards... she still has two more Aspect forms that we haven't seen yet and there's no telling when she'll decide to bring them, and more of her power, out for us to face."
Sombra opened his mouth to say something when a mass of shadows burst out of the crater that Sunset was currently resting in, though it took him a second to determine that it was actually a mass of darkness that was identical to what he was able to do, meaning that something must have happened to give her control over this power. A few moments later Sunset emerged from the crater that she had been thrown into, though as she did that Sombra noticed that the scales had disappeared from her skin, only to be replaced by the fact that her coloration had darkened to a dull gray coloration that was nearly identical to his own coloration. As she floated out of the crater he also watched as the Dark Magic mist emerged from her eyes, complete with her actual eyes taking on the scarlet red coloration with the eerie green sclera that completed the look, but that was also followed by Sunset's hair turning into a mass of darkness that moved with the wind. For the most part it seemed like most of them were surprised by her sudden transformation, meaning that they hadn't seen this form before, but at the same time Sombra readied himself for what was to come, since this would be the first time he had fought someone that had command over Dark Magic, even if he was the master of this type.
Not even a moment later a large black crystal surged towards where they were standing, diagonally from where their foe was standing, causing the group to spread apart a little to avoid being hit by it's spiked tip, though as Sombra came to the conclusion that, yes, this was the same power that he had access to he noticed that Sunset standing on the edge of the crystal and that she was ready for battle. As Rainbow charged at her, intending to knock her off the crystal and send her back towards the ground, Sunset turned around and parried the punch that was headed her way, though this time around the force of her own attack knocked her opponent backwards, showing Sombra that she had to be using around seventy-five percent of her power. While she was doing that, and the others were keeping her distracted, Sombra pulled Rey out and released his Resurreccion, allowing him to take on his darkened king armor and his powers over Dark Magic, as well as take on the form that many associated with the King of Darkness, before he held his hand out and his scythe materialized in his hand, which was followed by him charging at Sunset and swinging his weapon at her.
In the following moment Sombra noticed something interesting, as Sunset turned towards him and raised her left hand for a moment, using her own control over the darkness to parry his attack with her bare hand, where he found that he couldn't even cut her a little with the edge of his scythe, but that didn't stop him from attacking her. Sunset, after knocking his attack backwards, held her hand out and tried to knock him backwards with the force of her power, but since Sombra was more experience in the art of using Dark Magic he didn't go flying at all, rather he stood his ground and prevented Sunset's power from sending him anywhere. While he was doing that the Sirens attempted to strike her while she was distracted by fighting him, but that was when the shadows around them vibrated and formed three shadow Sunsets that stood in front of the three Sirens, each one blocking their attacks like they were the real Sunset, before they were knocked backwards and were forced to separate from each other. Before anyone could do anything more shadowy clones of Sunset walked out of the shadows and made sure that there was one for everyone around her, though Sombra knew that this technique was called 'Shadow Replication', one that allowed the user to create clones of themselves, so they could deal with multiple enemies at the same time. The only reason Sombra had never used this form was because his Resurreccion was more than enough for him, as he didn't feel the need to send out two or three clones of himself, since part of this technique meant that each clone had the same level of power as their master did when the technique was first activated.
The downfall of this attack was that if the user was taken out the clones would fall apart, something that was easier said then done when one took the user's power into consideration, though the greatest weakness of this technique was the fact that it failed in the face of a master of Dark Magic... as not a few moments after the power was activated Sombra waved his hands and the clones broke apart, turning into mere shadows again before disappearing completely.
"Remember, I am the King of Darkness," Sombra stated, though at the same time the others found that their foes had fallen apart and were getting close to where Sunset was floating, where he focused on their foe and kept his eyes open for any tricks she might attempt to use against him, with the shadows anyway, "You might be using the same power that took me some time to master, but it is because of that mastery that I can break apart certain techniques you're clearly thinking about using and even turn them against you, so don't think that using this Aspect against us means that victory will be yours or that you can take us down that easily."
"I'll keep that in mind while I'm in my Aspect of Darkness form," Sunset replied, as she honestly hadn't been expecting Sombra to do that, since it wasn't one of the recorded powers that Celestia and Luna had told her about, but then again it made sense, considering that Sombra had been the only one that had access to Dark Magic a thousand years ago, to which she readied herself for everyone to come at her.
Sombra charged through the air and went on the offensive with his scythe, allowing the shadows to aid him as he lashed out at Sunset, who used her own shadows to counter what was coming at her, but even as that happened Sombra knew that the others would come when her guard was open. The air shuddered a little as their powers collided with each other, showing him that Sunset, despite not being a master of Dark Magic like he was, could hold her own while battling the darkness that he commanded, and she was able to guard against his scythe quite well, which was interesting to see since none of his other opponents had been able to do this. What surprised him was that Rarity came up and joined him, where she lashed out at their foe with her fists, though while that happened Sombra felt a familiar darkness around her as well, but for now he was going to focus on Sunset and not get into a discussion with someone else, where he lashed out with the scythe and cut down some of the shadows that were coming at them. That, in turn, allowed Rarity to channel her power into her own attacks and knocked their foe backwards, where Sombra continued with the attack and swung his right arm at her, using the tip of the scythe to gather the shadows in the area around them and sent a wave of darkness at Sunset, who raised her hands and stalled the attack as it came towards her.
Fortunately that kept her busy for a few moments, giving the others time to get themselves into position before they fired beams of energy through the air, colliding with Sunset from every side and caused the wave of energy Sombra had sent at her to explode with the rest of the attacks, where not even a few moments later he saw her fall from the sky and collide with the ground below them.
"Ah yeah! She can't handle our power!" Rainbow said, because when she and Applejack had fought her in the past they had lost, as she was able to focus on the two of them to a level that was beyond what they were expecting, but now Sunset was failing in face of what they were bringing to bare.
"True, but we can't be overconfident in our abilities," Applejack relied, though at the same time she and the others dropped down to where Sombra was standing, but they were all staring at the crater that Sunset had fallen into, because all of them knew that there was one more thing for them to defeat before the battle was over, "remember, she still has the Aspect of Destruction, the strongest one in her arsenal, so we have to be prepared to go all out when she calls that form into our battle."
"Indeed, we should be cautious." Sombra agreed, because right now he suspected that they were being lead to a point where they would be overconfident, as there had to be a reason behind why they were tearing Sunset apart like this and he had no idea what that reason could be, which was why he stood at the ready and the others followed suit, "Something about this situation seems wrong, like we're walking into a trap, so keep your guards up and we'll see what happened to Sunset after our last combined attack."
Just as he said that the area around Sunset detonated, like something had exploded, though as they watched what was going on a pillar of sinister cyan energy erupted from where their foe had been laying, but when Sombra looked at Rainbow and Applejack's faces he knew what was happening. This is what they had been waiting for, the awakening of the final Aspect, the Aspect of Destruction, meaning that Sunset was bringing her full power to bare against them, which was when he and the others separated from each other and did what their foe was doing, they activated their full power as well. It didn't take Sombra long to awaken the power of the Dios Hueco again, allowing him to step into battle in his silver king armor, though as he did that he noticed that Gilda had some wind dancing around her arms and legs, which Derpy was mimicking with the lightning that she commanded, though Rarity, on the other hand, had the Dark Magic mist coming from her eyes at the moment, but he decided that he'd focus on that later. Trixie didn't have much change about her body, rather all that happened was that she had a blue version of the Dark Magic mist coming out of her eyes, while Lyra grew two demonic wings from her back, one golden and one shrouded in shadows, all while allowing her to pull two bladed weapons out of her horns, her Netherlight Warglaives, that she'd use in the battle to come.
Pinkie was still wearing the armor that she had been wearing the entire time, where one half of it was light blue colored and the other half was dark purple colored, but over it she wore a gray robe that was open so people could still see her armor, and she carried an ebony staff that was likely made of metal, though she also had six different colored spheres floating in the air behind her, confirming that this was her powered up state, the Sage of Six Ecos form that she had told him about earlier. Adagio, Sonata, and Aria were next, as they generated brilliant blue colored pillars for a moment, though when they emerged Sombra discovered that their tails had been transformed into fish-like tails, or more like a representation of their old Siren forms, which came complete with them growing transparent wings from their backs, which looked like the fins of a fish, and their sclera were blue colored now, with strands of blue energy coming from their eyes. Chrysalis, interesting enough, had a drastic change as the coloration of her skin turned nearly bone white, like the masks of the Hollows and Arrancar that Sombra was ruling over, while both her hair and her tail took on a crimson red color, but her eyes had an interesting change as well, as her sclera had turned black and her irises had taken on a golden yellow color, making her look more intimidating than before.
Sombra was caught off guard for a moment as both Rainbow and Applejack were consumed by two spheres of energy, where Applejack was surrounded by a light green colored sphere that almost felt like the type of energy that was currently coming from Twilight, while Rainbow was covered by a sinister purple colored sphere. It wasn't long before the two of them emerged from their transformations, though what he found was that Applejack was now wearing the attire of a Kaioshin, mimicking exactly what Twilight was wearing right now, and she even had an aura that made him think he was standing next to a god that had been hiding her true power from them. Rainbow, on the other hand, emerged wearing a set of Egyptian attire that matched what Sunset was wearing, the attire of a God of Destruction, and came complete with an aura that made her feel like a god as well, further confirming that she and Applejack were dangerous individuals and were good allies to have in a fight. Originally he had been thinking that their Avatar forms were just a transformation that boosted their power and made them better fighters, but now he knew better and understood that they were gods in training, like replacements for Sunset and Twilight, though that only made him wonder why there were two beings capable of using the potent destruction energy, when there should only be one, according to what he had been told.
Before he could properly question anything that he was seeing the pillar of sinister cyan energy surged into the sky above their heads, instantly darkening the entire area that they were in, making it look like they were going to be fighting in the middle of a storm or something, but Sombra suspected that this was the least of their concerns, as not even a second later the pillar started to unravel before his eyes. Floating in the middle of the air, perfectly between the ground and the sky, was none other that Sunset, though this time around her skin had taken on a crimson coloration, one that made her look more dangerous than before, and while she still possessed her cyan colored eyes her sclera had turned black, adding to the new look that she was going for. The only thing that was different about this form was the pair of demonic wings that grew out of her back, though they were mostly black colored with the leathery parts between each set of bones was red colored, something that completed the dangerous look that Sunset had been going for, and this time around Sombra could truly feel the sheer power that she commanded.
"Here it is, the height of my power... the Aspect of Destruction." Sunset said, though at the same time she looked down at the assembled group of foes, as this would be the first, and possibly only, time she would ever have the chance to see how well she could fight enemies while using all of her power, before she shifted her stance a little, "Now then, it's time we brought an end to this fight."
As Sombra and the others started to react Rainbow burst into the air and charged at Sunset, their fists connecting not even a moment later, causing the air to vibrate as two beings that wielded the power of destruction fought each other, all while everyone else followed after Rainbow and prepared themselves. What was interesting was when one of them joined the fight, as when Rarity joined, and split Sunset's attention between her and Rainbow, Sombra watched as Rarity's body seemed to move on it's own a few times, dodging attacks that would have hit her and dealing low powered punches of her own, but he recognized the technique instantly. The ability to use Dark Magic often came with great benefits for the one that was using it, as he knew thanks to all the skills he had acquired due to his training, though the ability to dodge attacks without actually thinking about it, like Rarity was doing, was one of the more rare abilities, one that he hadn't gained during his own training, but he guessed that his acquisition of the other skills he had made the need for such a power redundant, hence why he never got it in the first place. Still, it was a good power for them to have on their side, as it prevented Rarity from taking any damage while she and Rainbow attacked Sunset, though before long both he and Applejack joined the fun and really put the pressure on their foe, since it seemed like she was having trouble dealing with all four of them at the moment.
Of course what he wasn't expecting was for Sunset to actually get a hit, as she struck Rarity in the chest, somehow getting around the defensive aspect of Dark Magic, and knocked her out of the air with an incredibly powerful punch, to which Sombra made sure that the shadows grabbed her and safely deposited her on the ground. Fortunately the rest of the group charged up into the air and forced their foe to divide her attention between twelve opponents, each of them lashing out at her from a different direction, making her choose which attacks she could afford to take and which one she needed to block before the others reached her. Even teleporting out of the area wasn't the best move, as he and the others zeroed in on where she was flying and continued their battle like nothing had happened, all while the air shook and the ground seemed to break when they got near it, just showing that the sheer power they were fighting was enough to break the world around them. This was what he was expecting the entire time, that Sunset's power would have such an effect on the area that they would be fighting in, and the fact that it was only showing up now meant that she must have been holding back, no doubt to test their skills without decimating them in battle, but that didn't stop them from lashed out at her with the elements that they had access to, prompting her to respond in kind to defend herself. It was rather interesting to watch as Sunset called fire into existence and had it take the shape of four serpent dragons, all of which were made of fire, where Aria actually seized control over one of them and used against one of the remaining three, leaving Adagio to pull some moisture out of the air and form her own ice dragon, one that froze the flaming dragon she targeted, though while Sonata couldn't use the wind, without empowering the remaining dragon, Rainbow was more than happy to punch it in the side of the head and destroy it, while Aria detonated hers as well.
Despite all that happening there was the other power that Sunset possessed, the power of Destruction, because when Chrysalis sought to hit her in the back with an attack Sunset merely held her hand out towards it and it disappeared from existence, like it had never existed in the first place, leaving them to use punches and whatever else they could get away with as she started knocking them to the ground. It didn't take much for Sunset to actually knock them out of the air, since all she had to do was gather her power and thrust the air into their chests, almost like she was using that Shout from earlier, but even as they fell Sombra wasn't about to let her have the last laugh, not when he reached out with the shadows and wrapped a chain around his target. Sunset barely had time to understand what he was doing before he yanked her out of the air as well, so when he and the others hit the ground, and landed on their feet, he made sure that she joined them and crashed on the ground between them, but even then it didn't appear that knocking her out of the air was going to help them win this battle. As such he came up with a desperate idea, one that would combine the abilities and powers of all the other displaced ponies into a single series of attacks, and he had given them the idea shortly before the battle started, in case they reached this point, but now that they had come to this moment it was time to see if they could even do anything to Sunset while she was in this state.
As everyone split up, and put some distance between them and Sunset, Sombra charged at their foe with the shadows chasing after him, because he was going to have a single shot at this and hoped that he could get away with what he had planned, which was why he threw a fist at Sunset when he got close, only to be punched in the gut in return. The reality of the situation was that he had wanted her to do just that, since his horn had glowed for a moment just before he reached her, allowing him to swap with his shadows and appear behind her, covering her in a shadowy mass that morphed into a number of crystals that grew out of her arms and legs, stripping her of her power for a few moments, giving him the change to lightly touch her shoulder for a second.
"Carriage of thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six!" Sombra recited, deciding that now was the time that he and the others showed Sunset just how strong they were when they worked like a team, the entire reason behind this battle in the first place, and he focused his reiatsu on what he was preparing to do, since it would let the others know the time had come to put his plan into action, "Bakudo Number 61: Rikujokoro."
Not even a few seconds after he recited the chant for the spell six beams of light surged through the air and struck Sunset in the chest, forcing her to stand where she had been standing for the last few moments, though once that had happened he jumped backwards and got out of the way, since he had something else he needed to do before they got underway, even if it forced Sunset to hold still.
"I should have known that you'd use your crystals against me at some point," Sunset commented, though at the same time she sighed, as this was the first time that she had been powerless to do anything except struggle, and the beams of light that were forcing her to stand still prevented her from doing even that, "so I guess that means that I'll just have to sit here and wait for you to release me... or I could just try to break out of this and continue the fight anyway."
"That Bakudo is only the first step in what we have planned for this battle," Sombra replied, though as he said that he extended his hand towards Sunset, while at the same time his reiatsu flared once more, as this was going to be identical to the combo he used against Aizen, with some alterations to the plan, "Bakudo Number 63: Sajo Sabaku."
The moment after he said that a mass of yellow energy sparked into existence behind his back, where it raced forward and formed a think golden yellow colored rope that circled the area that Sunset was standing in, though when Sombra closed his hand into a fist the rope wrapped around his foe's chest and bound her arms to her sides, while at the same time including her wings, preventing her from doing anything for some time. Before he could move onto the next Kido spell that he needed to use, before the others attacked, a number of elemental chains, made of fire, water, earth, wind, light, darkness, and the powers that Pinkie and Trixie commanded, burst out of the ground and added themselves to what he was doing, showing him that the others wanted to make sure that Sunset was unable to move against them.
"Bakudo Number 79:" Sombra continued, taking note of the fact that Sunset was surprised by what they had been able to plan in such a short amount of time, before he brought his right hand back towards him and had the palm face the imprisoned god, indicating that he was switching to another spell that he had learned, "Kuyo Shibari."
In the following moment nine black colored holes appeared in the sky in front of Sunset's body, eight of them forming a perfect circle around her stunned body while the ninth one rested directly above her chest, allowing him to add another layer of immobilization to what they were doing, because for this to work as he had planned they needed Sunset to remain in a single spot, and he was sure that she wouldn't be moving for some time, hence why he jumped backwards as the ninth hole made it's appearance. Not a few moments later Applejack flashed into the area and rapidly carved four symbols into the ground near Sunset, though as she jumped away from the area Sombra watched as something happened in the four directions that the symbols had been carved in, as the symbols lifted into the air a few seconds later and surged off into the directions. A moment later four serpent dragons, each one far larger and more menacing than the ones that Sunset and Adagio had used earlier, formed before their very eyes, where one formed from the earth around them, the second from the flames that ignited where the symbol rested, a third from the wind itself, and the fourth forming from the moisture in the air. These were the Primordial Dragons, powerful manifestations of the elements that both gave life to a planet and took that same life away, which was Applejack's strongest attack in her arsenal, one that was capable of doing massive damage to whoever she was fighting. While that happened the storm above their heads finally opened, though as that happened Rainbow appeared in the air above them and grinned as she held her hand towards the sky, which was when energy surged up towards a central point of the sky, like lightning dancing at her command... though that was before something roared and a fifth serpent dragon, the same size as the other ones and made out of lightning, burst out of the storm and stared down at Sunset.
Sombra knew that it was the second ultimate attack that Rainbow had created, the Wrath of the Thunder God, which was just as powerful as the dragons that Applejack commanded, but at the same time he noticed that she had a clone standing off to the side, apparently gathering power for the first attack she had made, showing that she was readying herself for the end of the battle.
The air vibrated as the rest of the displaced ponies pulled their power together for what was their ultimate attack, so that all of them could contribute to defeating Sunset, though while some, such as Gilda and Derpy, could only channel their power into a single beam, others had attacks that really interested him. For instance Rarity summoned twelve orbs into existence around her, though since she had command of four elements from the world she was sent to she had four sets of three, allowing her to combine each set into what she called a Nova category attack, before fusing all four of them into the powerful sphere that she called her Forbidden Reorigination. Lyra was in the middle of creating what she called a Netherlight Blast, by fusing the two elements that she had access to into a single attack, while Trixie also formed a sphere attack that was called an Arcane Bomb, meaning pure power in the shape of a sphere. Pinkie held her staff towards Sunset, where the six spheres around her seemed to be glowing as their energies pooled together at the tip of her staff, indicating that her attack was more of the beam variety, hence the reason it was called Prism Beam, while the Sirens were in the middle of pooling their power into a single beam attack from the three of them, showing that they worked better as a team, especially when they didn't fight each other. Chrysalis had her right hand facing their opponent, pooling her energy together in the same manner that Ulquiorra did when he was charging his Cero, to which he raised his hand and stabbed his thumb for a moment, where he leveled his hand with Sunset as well and started to prepare a Gran Rey Cero, to be sure that they had enough firepower for what they had in mind.
The signal to attack came a few moments later, as one of the chains that had been placed before Kuyo Shibari just happened to snap under the strain of keeping Sunset in a single spot, but fortunately that was as far as she got, because the moment it happened was the exact moment that Rainbow and Applejack loosed their attacks. The five dragons zeroed in on where Sunset was imprisoned, colliding with her body and detonated with enough force to blow away anyone that was standing near their foe, hence why Sombra had them stay some distance away from Sunset once he started sealing her in place. Before the smoke even had a chance to clear Rarity and the others that had formed sphere attacks hurled their techniques at the crater, where they exploded one after another as they came into contact with their foe, making the crater even deeper than it had been before, while at the same time preventing their foe from moving. Once that was done he and the displaced ponies that made beams added their attacks to the equation, their beams flying right into the middle of the crater, where they also detonated when they came into contact with something and only made the crater go even deeper into the ground, showing just how strong they were. After that one would assume that they were finished, that everyone had used every powerful attack they had, but the truth was that there happened to be one more, as the clone that Rainbow had made of herself jumped into the air and handed over the small sphere she had been making, where the real pony girl grinned as she focused on it and pulled her hands apart, forming a lance of energy that caused the area her to shake for a moment.
He could have easily mistaken the lance Rainbow was holding, the Lightning Lance as she called it, for Ulquiorra's own technique, the Lanza del Relampago, but the differences between the two were that Rainbow's lance was incredibly fast and was extremely powerful, as she hurled it into the crater to be sure they knocked Sunset out... resulting in powerful hurricane level winds that caused them all to stand their ground before everything was said and done, leaving a massive crater in the area all their attacks had hit.
"I honestly can't believe that worked as well as it did." Rarity commented, though at the same time she and the others gathered at the edge of the crater, where they looked down into the depths and didn't see a sign of Sunset anywhere, who had to be incredibly hurt due to all the chains and techniques that were used on her, "You don't think we went overboard against her, do you?"
"She was using her full power, so it stands to reason that we should have done the same." Sombra replied, as while he knew that Rarity and some of the others would be shocked by what they had just done as a team, as they beat their God of Destruction with all their might and had put her in a massive crater, he knew that some had been hoping for a win and was happy to deliver that to them, "Though it might be some time before she decides to come out and face us, since we showed her the height of our powers and the fact that she can't stand against all of us at the same time... though I hope she isn't angry with us for beating her in a battle th..."
Before he could finish that thought a pillar of pure fire shot out of the crater and struck the sky where the cyan pillar from earlier had hit, setting the sky on fire in the process, causing Sombra to wonder if they had actually pissed off Sunset and she was taking it out on the planet they were fighting on, before he felt a presence inside the pillar and turned towards it as the others followed his lead.
"I'm not mad, Sombra," a voice said, though at the same time Sombra paused for a moment, as it was coming from directly behind them, meaning that something had definitely happened to their opponent, he just needed to determine what that something was, "rather, I'm pleased by how well you and the others work as a team. You've won this battle, I won't deny you that victory, but I am curious if you'll indulge me for a few more minutes."
As Sombra and the others turned around they found that Sunset was indeed standing behind them, back in her amber coloration and that there weren't any additional colors in her eyes, but where one would expect to find that she had reverted to her base form, before the Aspects, they would actually find that her demonic wings had undergone one final transformation, as they had taken on the appearance of phoenix wings, complete with the tips being on fire and being sized to fit her body, and both her hair and tail had caught on fire as well. The other alarming fact was that it seemed like her power had gone up as well, beyond what she had used against them in her Aspect of Destruction form, meaning that they must have pushed her to the breaking point and forced her to evolve to a new level, granting her an even stronger Aspect form in the process, as strange as that sounded. Rainbow, annoyed that Sunset wasn't laying on the ground like they had planned, was the first one to strike and raced towards where the god was standing, only for Sunset to appear behind Rainbow, who staggered for a moment, like she had been punched in the stomach, and fell to the ground like a rock. Applejack and the others charged at her from different angles, allowing Sombra to observe for a moment, but what he found was quite shocking, as this time around it was neigh impossible for them to even touch Sunset, while at the same time she knocked them down one at a time, dropping them like flies with her new power.
In not time at all it was just her and Sombra, who noticed that, despite the power of her new Aspect of the Phoenix form, Sunset hadn't crippled any of his companions, rather she did enough to force them to their knees and bow out, to which he sighed and sealed his power, choosing to admit defeat in the face of such power.
"Wouldn't you say that you won now?" Sombra asked, though at the same time he noticed that Sunset didn't advance on him after he sealed his powers, knowing that he had admitted defeat and that he wasn't in the mood to be knocked around by a new power that their foe had only just gained, to which he checked on the others as well.
"No, you still win since I wasn't expecting this to happen." Sunset replied, as she was going to remain true to her word, because the fight was between their full power and her full power at the time they started, so she wasn't about to break it just because they had pushed her to the point where she got a new Aspect out of it, one that might just help her out when she found Tirek in the future.
Sombra nodded his head in understanding, as it would have seemed unfair for her to claim victory had she counted the use of such a power, especially since it hadn't been there at the start of their battle, but he was happy to see that their God of Destruction was one that remained true to their word. The others, however, weren't as happy as he was, since they weren't expecting such a form to come out of nowhere, but Sombra did remind them that they must have experienced the sudden acquisition of a new power in their own adventures, one that turned the tide of battle in their favor, to which they thought about it and decided not to pursue it any further. It did please Rainbow to hear that they had bested Sunset in a battle at long last, even if she and Applejack needed the other displaced ponies to do so, and soon enough each of them were powering down, returning to their base states, despite the fact that Sunset was studying her new Aspect in great detail for the future. Once everyone knew that they had won the battle, showing that they were all strong in their various ways, they had to cut the celebration short, as the ground near them cracked for a moment and separated into two halves, like there was an earthquake or something, prompting Celestia and the others to come get them, as it appeared that the planet might be breaking beneath their hooves.
When they started to move Chrysalis had them stop, as she explained that the reason the spaceship was near the moon was because she and her new friends had taken a break when the call for this battle came in, hence she was planning on leaving once the battle was over, but instead of leaving immediately she had the docking bay open for them so Celestia could fly them to safety. That was perfect in Sombra's mind, as it allowed Celestia to carry the displaced ponies and his group to safety, leaving Sunset behind since she could fend for herself, though at the same time Celestia told them that once all the displaced ponies had returned Sunset was planning on detonating this planet anyway, since it's only use had been as a battlefield where no one would have gotten hurt. It didn't take them long to reach the ship in question, where all of them moved towards the windows as the ship started to fly away from the planet, but as they did so the surface of the planet shook as it started to fall apart, revealing the molten rock under the surface as the atmosphere started to dissolve before their eyes. When they turned in such a way that prevented them from seeing the planet the group turned towards the screens in the middle of the room that Chrysalis had brought them to, where they watched as a link to what was happening behind them appeared on the screens, only Sunset seemed to be walking away from the planet that they were leaving behind.
It took a few moments for the planet to reach the state that Sunset was waiting for, but eventually it reached the last second of it's life and finally detonated in a fiery explosion, ending the life of the place that she and the others had fought on in the past, but now they could look towards the bright future that was ahead of them as they headed back to Equus.
Sombra sat in the lounge area of the ship that he and the others were traveling in, taking in everything that he had learned since he came back to his home world and the fact that most of what he knew was no longer correct, as so much had changed during the time he was in Ichigo's world. Twilight explained to him that Ponyville, as well as most of Canterlot and the Crystal Empire, had gone through the Ascension Process, basically the same process that he and the other displaced had gone through, but while he and the others gained immense power from their adventures the others that went through the change didn't. That, in turn, lead to her and the others opening a school that let them teach everyone else about their powers and how they could use them, along with the fact that fights between students weren't allowed, since some of them were quite strong and could really mess up the area around them, and, oddly enough, the transformed ponies listened to the order and didn't fight each other. He even found out that there were other towns, villages, and cities that had gone through the process, but where there were ponies that ascended to a new level there were those that stayed as ponies and continued with their old lives, somehow finding a balance between both types without a battle breaking out.
It amazed him that Twilight and Discord could come up with a method that mimicked the effects of the mirror that he and the others had gone through, even if some of them, like Trixie, Lyra, Gilda, and Derpy, didn't actually walk through the mirror and were displaced by the effects of Discord tampering with the effects he put on the mirror.
"So the reality is that it's all Discord's fault that everyone was sent to other worlds." Yoruichi commented, as she had opted to stay near Sombra while the others explored, because she had the feeling that none of the futuristic components of this ship would be integrated into Hueco Mundo, especially not after everything Sombra had done to make the realm like what it used to be a thousand years ago, something that was still odd when she considered it.
"Well, he originally intended to use Starlight as bait to send Sunset somewhere else," Twilight replied, as this was part of the tale that she didn't like at all, more specifically what would have happened to their planet had Sunset come into her powers as the God of Destruction in her own time, "Here's the truth as to why Discord did what he did: when it comes time for a God of Destruction to come into their power, and actually assume their role as the god that destroys planets and threats to the balance of their universe, the energy they generate from their ascension, in one way or another, destroys the planet that they ascended on. Basically Sunset's sheer power would have detonated Equus, wiping out everything in a blinding flash... I guess you can say that we're lucky he somehow found out about her future as our God of Destruction and acted as quickly as he did."
Sombra could tell that Twilight, despite being thankful that Discord had gotten Sunset away from Equus before she reached the level of a God of Destruction, wasn't too happy with the God of Chaos, since it was his fault that Sombra and the others had been sent away to other parts of their universe, especially since Sunset had trashed a few planets in the process of her adventure with Starlight, if what they had told earlier was to be believed. Normally one would have found that the existence of other worlds, which could sustain life like Earth could, to be quite the shock to their lives, more so if there were more planets like the one they lived on, but for someone like him, who knew of the existence of four realms that made up the world he called home, he wasn't too surprised by the news. He was less surprised by the existence of a number of 'alien' species that lived on all the planets that Sunset had briefly told them about, since she knew he didn't much care for specifics since he'd be staying in Hueco Mundo, and he associated his lack of surprise to the fact that he knew about Hollows and Arrancar, things that were strange to those around him. Even their Captain, Ratchet, was a feline-like creature called a Lombax, who were apparently renowned engineers in the galaxy they came from, and it appeared that he was Sunset and Starlight's brother, since they grew up with him when they were under the effects of Discord's spell, hence why he agreed to help Sunset carry them all back home when the battle was over.
Once all of that had run through his mind, and he wasn't entirely sure about some of it since he had other matters that needed his attention, he decided that now was the time to tackle something that he had been trying to figure out since Twilight first mentioned it a few minutes ago.
"And this backlash that you mentioned earlier," Sombra said, speaking up for a moment, as he had been keeping quiet for some time while they were talking, since there had been some pieces of information that Yoruichi was interested in and it gave him some knowledge on what was going on at the same time, "I take it that Discord was behind that as well, even if he didn't intend for it to happen?"
"Yeah. Discord originally cast an enchantment on the mirror that made everyone that entered it lose their memories, revert back to being four years old, and sent them to part of our universe." Twilight explained, though her tone revealed that the places they had been sent to had to be random, as if the mirror had sent each of the displaced that had walked through it to a location where they would be able to grow into their individual powers, "After we caught onto what he had done, which was after Sunset got back, Discord promised to undo what he had done to the mirror, though the act of taking away the enchantment caused a magical backlash that knocked Lyra, Trixie, Gilda, and Derpy to the planets they were sent to. Of course I should have shut down the mirror after that, to prevent it from being used, but it was the only thing that was helping us locate the others, though that only lead to Rarity, Chrysalis, somehow the Dazzlings from the world that the mirror originally connected to, and yourself using the mirror... though none of us are quite sure why you were affected by the memory loss part of the enchantment, since it was supposed to be gone at this point in time."
"Oh, that was because I pissed him off before I was sent flying through the mirror," Sombra stated, remembering what had been one of his final moments as the evil King Sombra, before he lost his memories and became the new Sombra that was sitting in the chair at the moment, "remember, before I found myself in Hueco Mundo for the first time I was still the dreaded King of Darkness, the evil master of shadows that wanted to conquer everything and everyone. What happened was that the old me told Discord that I was going through the mirror and that I'd come back with the power to enslave both him and whoever his friends were, even including Fluttershy as the first pony that would be enslaved upon my return, which got a reaction out of him. Discord basically put a curse on me, to force me to lose my memories, and then threw me into the mirror, sending me to Hueco Mundo and putting this whole adventure into action, even though it would have happened differently had he not stopped me for a chat."
"Which would mean that he lied to cover up what happened to you," Sunset said, as she was sitting nearby and had been listening to their conversation, though at the same time she had reverted back to her base state, leaving behind the new Aspect form that she had gained from their battle, which she would be able to access later, though Sombra was a little surprised that she was taking his side on the matter, "Remember, Discord used Starlight as bait to get me away from Equus, even going so far as to give me a golden bracelet that prevented me from using any of my magic for years, until a crack formed in it and my power started to pour out of it, so I'm more willing to believe your side of the story."
"Now that everyone's back from their adventures, I think it's time we turned off the mirror anyway," Twilight added, showing that she had been thinking about turning it off for some time, but because most of them had been missing she had been keeping it on so they could survey the universe for wherever everyone had wandered off to, only for Sunset to nod her head in agreement, "Wouldn't want someone else to wander into the castle, step into the mirror, and head off to another part of the universe, otherwise we'll never get any peace and quiet."
"Well, we'll need to be getting back to Hueco Mundo soon as well," Yoruichi said, as she knew that the other Arrancar could hold down the fort while they were gone, but since they had done what they came to do, and showed the gods the power that Sombra now commanded, she felt that it was time for them to head back.
"Indeed... though there is something that I need to do before we leave." Sombra stated, as there was one thing that came to mind that he needed to do, someone that he needed to check on, before he left his home planet behind, where he noticed both Twilight and Sunset were looking at him, "It's time I visited the Crystal Empire, the real one that I took over a thousand years ago, and finally set things right, though I don't think there's any possibility of saving Princess Amore, not after what I did to her."
Yoruichi had no idea what Sombra was talking about, since he preferred to keep his sinister past a secret, though it was more like certain parts of it he didn't feel like sharing with anyone, but at the same time she knew that if he said that there wasn't anything they could do for someone he had hurt, even a thousand years ago, than it was the truth and that he wasn't trying to give false hope to those that were around him. Sunset and Twilight, on the other hand, seemed to know what he was talking about and nodded their heads in understanding, showing him that he'd have the chance to do what he needed to do, even if that meant meeting Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor, the new rulers of the Crystal Empire and it's inhabitants. She actually wondered what would happen when they arrived at the Crystal Empire, since there was the chance everyone would freakout when they discovered that Sombra was alive, in a different sense of the word since he was an Arrancar, though she hoped that everyone remained calm and collected when they arrived, as she didn't want something bad to happen while they were there.
Fortunately they didn't have to wait long to return to Equus, as they had been on their way there the entire time since they boarded the ship, though once they reached their destination Captain Ratchet told them they were just above Equus' atmosphere and that Celestia would be taking them back down to the surface... though as they gathered in the docking area, where the smaller spaceships were located, Sombra discovered that one of them was staying on the ship.
"Chrysalis, aren't you coming back to Equus with us?" Sombra asked, though at the same time he knew that his visit to their home planet was only temporary, as he intended to leave the moment his business in the Crystal Empire was over, so he could resume his duties in Hueco Mundo.
"No... it holds too many bad memories for me," Chrysalis replied, knowing that, out of all everyone that had been displaced by Discord's tampering with the mirror, the only one that would even understand what she was going through was Sombra, especially since her sister had fallen for him and he showed her the same feelings back, before she shook her head and pushed the memories back, "besides, Ratchet is technically my commanding officer and we only took a break from our latest mission to come here for the battle that Sunset had planned. Once we drop you guys off we're heading back to Planet Igliak, or more specifically Meridian City, to meet up with Starlight, Isaac, and the others so we can resume our mission and take the fight to the latest Supervillain that thinks they can take over the galaxy, or wipe out an entire species for whatever reason they have in mind."
"Well, then I wish you and the others luck in your mission." Sombra said, because it appeared that Chrysalis, just like him and some of the others, had turned over a new leaf and left her life as a 'villain' behind, becoming a protector of the innocent and a threat to those that sought the destruction of a galaxy's order, just like he didn't tolerate anyone or anything that would threaten the safety of his new home.
Chrysalis smiled for a moment and waved her hand as Celestia surrounded them in her barrier technique, to which Sombra and the others were lifted into the air and were pulled outside the docking area, allowing them to descend through the atmosphere and head back to Ponyville. While they were traveling through the space between the ship and the planet, however, Sombra and the others glanced at the Starship Hyperion, the name for the ship they had used to get back to their home planet, as it glowed blue and seemed to flash through space itself, disappearing entirely and showing them that Chrysalis was heading off to resume her latest adventure. Once the ship was gone, and Sunset confirmed that it would be some time before she and Ratchet would be in the same area again, they resumed their trek down to the planet below them, where Yoruichi inquired as to how they had been able to contact the starship, to ask Ratchet to bring Chrysalis to the planet they had been fighting on earlier. Twilight revealed that Sunset still had her communicator, from when she was traveling alongside Ratchet and the rest of her group, and that was how they had contacted Ratchet to make sure Chrysalis was present for what Sunset had in mind, so that way, if they needed to contact him in the future, they had a method in place that would allow them to get in touch with Chrysalis.
It took them a minute or two to reach the area of Ponyville that they had departed from earlier, back when Sombra and the others had first encountered Sunset, Celestia, Luna, and Twilight, though when they reached their destination the barrier came undone as everyone touched the ground once more.
"Well, we had better get going," Rarity said, though at the same time she and the other displaced, those that lived in Ponyville before they had been sent to the worlds they had gone to, separated themselves from Sombra's group and turned towards their homes, "Sweetie Belle and the others are still practicing their skills near the Everfree Forest, to figure out how strong they really are, and we'll likely need to stop them before they burn something down... especially since they accidentally burnt down a shed the last time they were doing this."
"Tell them that I'd like to talk with them once I get back from helping Sombra out," Twilight stated, showing Sombra that this had to be a replacement for what Sweetie Belle and her friends were up to when they were ponies, though he said nothing as Rarity and the others nodded before heading back to their homes, so the elderly siblings could stop their younger siblings from doing anything dangerous.
Sombra watched as Rarity's group broke up and disappeared as they went their separate ways, some heading to their homes while some were going to look for their siblings, before he nodded his head and Celestia beckoned for them to follow both her and Twilight as they floated into the air. This time around it appeared that they would be flying towards the Crystal Empire, instead of using the barrier like the last two times, though instead of leaving them alone to their devices Luna and Sunset came with them, to see what happened when Sombra returned to the Crystal Empire. Sombra and his group made sure to keep up with Celestia, since she was faster than most of them thanks to her position, but at the same time it allowed them to observe the landscape that they were passing by, mostly giving Yoruichi and the others a sense for what Equus was like, since Sombra had never actually described his home world to them. It was safe to say that they were surprised by the appearance of the planet he had come from, even though it was all things he had seen before, but what Sombra did look at was the school that they flew by, the one that Twilight and the others taught at since they were the strongest of the transformed at a specific element, before they continued onward and resumed their journey towards the Crystal Empire and what he needed to do when they got there.
Thanks to their speed, and the fact that it was impossible for the Crystal Empire to move, Sombra found that it didn't take too long for them to reach the outskirts of their destination, where he and the others descended towards the ground when they reached the barrier that was keeping the winter conditions outside the empire. When they touched down on the ground Twilight stepped forward and nodded her head as she passed through the barrier, to which Sombra and the others did the same thing, where Sombra was pleased to see that the barrier understood that he was different from who he had been in the past, otherwise it would have prevented his entry entirely. Once all of them were inside the Crystal Empire, and didn't have to worry about the wind and snow that was on the other side, they started to walk forward as they followed Twilight, who was going to take them right to the palace so they could meet up with Cadance and Shining Armor, as she called them by their names since she was more familiar with them, where Sombra would call them by their titles when they met them.
"No way. Is that... is that the King of Darkness reborn?" one of the transformed crystal ponies asked, as this was just confirmation that Twilight had been telling the truth, that the Crystal Empire had done what Canterlot and Ponyville had done by going through the Ascension Process, though while Sombra could see that they were wearing more modern clothing he also knew that the mere sight of him was causing the majority of them to back away in fear.
"It is!" another crystal pony replied, confirming that they still held him and his terror deep in their hearts, which made sense considering that he had been terrible to them until his timely defeat at the hooves of Queen Crudelis, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna, even if he had been a sore loser at the time, "Hopefully the Princesses are escorting him to the palace, to present him to our new rulers and suffer a fitting punishment for what he did to us."
"Some don't consider being sealed away for a thousand years, and then having my mortal body destroyed, to be a fitting punishment for what I did," Sombra commented, keeping his voice low at the moment, since he found that there was no reason for him to tell the crystal ponies that he was actually an Arrancar, an evolved soul or spirit as it were, since he felt that the knowledge of Hueco Mundo might freak some of them out, "Oh well, that doesn't bother me at all, as I knew that the chances of showing them that I had reformed, and was no longer the Sombra they once knew, was already rather slim since they don't trust me. Let's just get to the palace and get this over with, before some of them decide to ignore your presence and actually attempt to lash out at us... especially since I don't want to see anything happen to this place before we head back home."
Twilight nodded her head, as she didn't want any harm to come to the place that her foal-sitter and her big brother were ruling, especially since Flurry Heart lived here as well, to which she continued to walk forward and headed right for the palace, the heart of the empire, even though she knew that some of the guards will have already informed the couple of their arrival, and who they had brought with them. As they walked Sombra let a smile appear on his face, because while he knew that the crystal ponies didn't like him, based on how they stood back and glared at him when he walked by where they were standing, he found that being in the true Crystal Empire, even for a short period of time, to be relaxing, allowing him to prepare for what he needed to do when they reached the throne room. Sure enough it didn't take them long to reach the throne room, where the guards took one look at the group and moved out of the way, though when the door opened Sombra found a young transformed mare, maybe just a few years older than Twilight, standing near the throne, though her moderate violet colored hair, with moderate rose and pale gold streaks, was easily recognizable. Sombra had to admit that the brilliant blue dress that Princess Cadance was wearing, while revealing a little bit of the top of her chest, fit her more than she might think it did, and he had the feeling that she had different color combinations of the same dress somewhere... and, as they walked into the throne room, she turned and stared at them, though Sombra could tell that she was focusing on him.
"So the guards were right, you're back from the dead once more," Cadance said, though at the same time she didn't have the same opinion as the rest of her empire, because the moment she saw Sombra enter the throne room, with Twilight and the other Princesses standing near her, including some mysterious beings she didn't know, she knew that he must have changed, as there was no way Celestia would allow Sombra to get this far if he was still evil.
"Princess Cadance, technically I'm not alive in the manner that you're thinking about," Sombra replied, as that was something that most of the transformed ponies seemed to be ignoring the fact that he was a transformed soul and not a flesh and blood person like they were, since an Arrancar's body mimicked a Human's, but that was something he could correct at another time, "but we can talk about that some other time, as I'm sure that you're more interested as to why I came all the way here, when I could have just gone back to my new home."
"I will admit that I have been wondering why you came back to the Crystal Empire," Cadance stated, though as she said that she walked towards them, where the only sound they heard was her walking over to where they were standing at the moment, before she eventually came to a stop, "My citizens were concerned the moment they saw you, as they thought you had come back to take control of the empire once more, but I know that, from just seeing how you entered this room, you aren't the same Sombra that took control of the Crystal Empire a thousand years ago. So tell me, why did you decide to come back to your old kingdom?"
"I'm going to put Princess Amore's statue back together, even though there's nothing I can do to save her at this point in time," Sombra replied, as most crystal ponies knew that he had turned their previous ruler into a solid black crystal statue in his rage, though they didn't know that it was because he had found out that she knew what he had been and let the power of the Crystal Heart, powered by the Crystal Faire, hurt him for a number of years, leading to Radiant Heart to leave for Canterlot to see if she could find a cure, and he had shattered that statue into a number of pieces to ensure she never broke out of the enchantment, "though I plan on modifying the statue before I depart, so the crystal ponies can remember the ruler that came before me, since she was more loved than I will ever be."
Cadance raised her eyebrow for a moment, as she expected a number of other things when she asked the question, but hearing that Sombra intended to reforge the statue of the previous ruler, which had been her prison for all of a few minutes considering what happened to her, was definitely interesting.
"Where's Shining Armor?" Twilight asked, as she expected to see her brother at some point, since they had walked through the entire empire with it's former ruler, the King of Darkness, and she had been expecting him to be here, with Cadance, but right now she didn't see him anywhere.
"Right here." a voice said, though that was followed by a knight, wearing a light blue set of armor that looked more like what the guards they had walked by had been wearing, teleporting into the throne room, where his sapphire blue hair, which had different blue colored streaks in it, gave away who he was.
"Prince Shining Armor, it is good to met you for real, given what happened during our last encounter," Sombra said, as the last time they had seen each other it was when Shining Armor was protecting Twilight and her friends as they ran towards the barrier that prevented him from entering the Crystal Empire, where he took away the transformed unicorn's magic with his black crystals, "Sorry for nullifying your magic when we first met, that version of myself wasn't the nicest pony around and deserved what came to him... though it did result in me turning over a new leaf and taking out several of the villains that tried to ruin the balance of the planet I was sent to."
Shining Armor glanced at the Princesses that had come to the Crystal Empire, including his little sister, and discovered that they were confirming the fact that Sombra had, in fact, turned over a new leaf, that the transformed unicorn in front of him was no longer the dreaded King of Darkness, rather he was someone else that had turned Sombra's dark life around and made it better.
"Well, it's nice to meet the new you as well," Shining Armor replied, because if the Princesses and his little sister were going to vouch for the new Sombra, as they were doing at the moment, than he was going to trust their judgement and hope that the visit was short, since their citizens would be asking questions soon enough, "Now then, you said that the reason behind your visit is to restore Princess Amore's statue, and that you were planning on changing it a little before you went back to Ponyville?"
"That's correct. Though to get to where the statue is located I need to access my hidden chamber," Sombra stated, to which he noticed that Twilight's eyes lit up, because he had taken great care to hide the area that was his study, so much so that the only way one would be able to find it was if he told them where it was located, even though this one was much smaller than the one he had in the Shadowlands, which held all of the dangerous knowledge he had learned, "which means that I need to use the throne room for a moment. Don't worry, I'll put it back to how it was once I'm done here, I just need a moment to open the way and then we can head down to where Princess Amore's statue is located."
Cadance and Shining Armor glanced at each other for a moment, knowing that Twilight had told them that someone needed to use Dark Magic in the throne room to even get close to where Sombra's study was located, even though a single glance at the transformed unicorn in question revealed that the one they were heading to was just a workshop that he kept hidden from everyone. Since neither of them knew how to wield Dark Magic, and Twilight couldn't muster the power to constantly wield it like Sombra could, none of them had dared open the way since the Crystal Empire had been saved, so the royal pair walked over to where Celestia and Luna were standing, getting out of Sombra's way. Once they were in position, and were away from the center of the room, Sombra focused his mind and the strands of Dark Magic emitted from his eyes once more, as the opening spell was rather easy and didn't require the power he held in his Resurreccion, before he fired a small beam of energy at the crystal above the throne. A shadow immediately fell over the center of the throne room, generated by the crystal he had struck, and when it reached a certain point the carpet crumpled, the illusion disappearing under the power of the spell he used, before it stopped and revealed that there was a walkway heading down into the depths of the palace, even though there technically wasn't anything down this way if one were to look at the palace from the outside.
He had gone through a lot of effort to create the spiral staircase and the area that it lead to, as well as the inverted staircase that lead to where he had kept the Crystal Heart, though since they existed in a small separate space, connected to the palace, it was easy to fool ponies into thinking that it didn't exist. With the way open Sombra jumped into the middle of the passage and floated down to the bottom level, to which he turned his head towards the ceiling and watched as the rest of the group followed after him, as they were all curious as to what he was doing and wanted to see what was down here for themselves. It didn't take him long to reach the bottom level, the circular area that seemed to only have one doorway and the stairs that would take someone back to the throne room, but at the same time that was the point of his other illusion, that it kept the other door hidden until he used the spell that would reveal it, hence why no one thought to look in this area for his workshop. He waited for a few moments, to let everyone else catch up with him, though as they started touching down in the area around him, however, he noticed that Twilight was staring at the door that, if the correct spell was used on it, would take someone to where the inverted staircase was located, or show them one of their worst nightmares if the incorrect spell was used, and, judging from her expression, he could tell that she didn't like it.
"Something on your mind, Twilight?" Sombra asked, as he just wanted to know what her expression meant before he opened the second door that was in the area, as it was interesting to see Twilight be a little shaken, especially since she was used to seeing what Sunset did to planets that needed to be destroyed.
"No, it's just... that door brings back memories..." Twilight replied, recalling how she and Spike had been lured into their own worst nightmares by her opening the door, since she thought she had opened it correctly the first time, before she shook her head and cast the memory back where it came from.
"It's a Nightmare Door, or a Door of Fears if you prefer." Sombra explained, though at the same time his horn glowed and the frame of the door followed suit, as he felt that now was the time to clean up the area a little, since there was no reason for the door to be here since the Crystal Heart had been found, "Basically it shows whoever gazes into it their worst nightmare or fear, just like what happens to those that are banished to the Shadowlands... but, since it was made to guard the Crystal Heart, and you've already recovered it, I guess it's time I uninstalled it."
The moment he said that his horn flared for a moment, where the group watched as the door shattered into a number of shadowy fragments, which were absorbed by his own shadow, though where they expected that to be all he was doing he kept the Dark Magic going as he reached out for the other doorway, one that caused both Cadance and Shining Armor to jump when it appeared near them and unlocked itself.
"Originally when I constructed this place I installed two doors, the first being the Door of Fears," Sombra explained, to which he stepped towards the one that he had conjured into existence, while at the same time Twilight expected the first one, finding that it was now permanently connected to the inverted staircase, without having to go through the process of casting the spell every time someone came this way, "the second was an Illusory Door, meaning that it blended in with the environment around it and made it neigh impossible for anyone else to find, not unless I told them where it was located and gave them the spell to unlock it. Behind this door lies a passage, one that will take us to the location of Princess Amore's statue and whatever else I left in my workshop, where I'll do what I came to do and then we can leave before one of your citizens decides to take matters into their own hands."
As the group agreed with him, that it would be best to get underway, Sombra turned the handle and walked into the passage that was in front of them, one that had more than enough room for everyone, though while it was short it did bring them to a second door, which allowed them to enter a larger chamber than the room they had been in a few moments ago. This chamber had a number of bookshelves, each filled with the lesser knowledge on how to wield Dark Magic, since all the major stuff was sealed away in his more private study, though even then he remembered all the various topics that were detailed in the books and determined that a good percentage of it would have to be taken with him, since he was sure that Celestia wouldn't let anyone else learn from his entries. Other than the bookshelves there were a few desks with a number of ingredients, back from the time when he tried his hoof at alchemy, though while he got the hang of it he determined that it would never be useful and eventually stopped bothering with it. The room was exactly like how he remembered it, especially since all the dangerous stuff had been moved out before he went to war against Queen Crudelis, but resting in the middle of the chamber was a pile of black crystals, ones that looked like they could form a statue of some kind, which were what he came to find.
Once he found that all the fragments were where he remembered them being, not that it mattered since he was the only one that could have opened the way here and was merely checking to be sure they were all present, Sombra drew his power back to the surface and the various fragments lifted into the air, allowing the others to watch as he found the base and started building from there. Each piece, upon finding where it was supposed to go, reconnected itself to the whole statue and didn't move at all, merging and becoming a single piece instead of staying as multiple pieces, allowing him to reform Princess Amore's legs, body, and head while he worked. At the same time, since he was able to multitask much better these days, he had a circular door appear out of the darkness and tendrils, with hands at the end, emerged from his study area, as he had a personal assistant of sorts that kept the place in order, one that only showed itself to others when he wanted to, but at the moment he had the creature claim the majority of the knowledge that was trapped down here, to prevent another pony falling down the path that he took. Truthfully he expected Twilight to get upset over losing out on all this knowledge, but she seemed to understand that he knew what was best for each book and said nothing, though he also knew that she was overjoyed to see that he was leaving a few books behind.
It only took him about five minutes to claim the books and knowledge that he deemed too dangerous for someone like Twilight to get their hands on, allowing him to close the door to his personal study once his assistant was on the other side, before he got to work assembling the statue... where not even a minute later he and the others were staring at a statue of a unicorn mare that had a look of terror on her face.
"Behold, the final expression Princess Amore wore before I killed her," Sombra said, though at the same time he sighed, as there hadn't been a single bit of life coming from the fragments as he put them back together, and he had done a few checks to be sure that he was right, so he knew that she was gone for good, before he frowned as he stared at the statue in front of them, "and, before anyone asks, let me clarify what I mean. In my rage a thousand years ago, by finding out that she knew why the Crystal Faire was hurting me each and every year, I cast a powerful spell on Princess Amore and sealed her inside this statue, one that held her terrified expression, before I shattered it and killed her at the same time, hence why I said that it might be impossible for me to help her recover... her soul has moved onto whatever plane comes next for ponies that have died."
"But you said that you were going to modify the statue," Cadance commented, as while she was still sad that they couldn't reverse Princess Amore's fate, because she had been hoping that Sombra would be wrong in his thoughts about what he could do, she did recall what the former king had said, "How do you plan on doing that?"
"Like this." Sombra replied, though as he said that he stepped forward and touched the neck area of the statue with his left hand, where he closed his eyes and focused on the Princess Amore that the ponies of the Crystal Empire had looked up to, and not the one that he had seen before he truly gave into his anger and hatred.
Cadance and the others watched as Sombra's magic pulsed over the surface of the crystal statue, melting away the darkened appearance that it currently possessed and replaced it with a coloration that would have matched Princess Amore's crystallized appearance when she was under the effects of the Crystal Heart. Once Sombra was sure that her body was as it should be he focused his attention on her face, taking away the terrified expression she was currently wearing and replaced it with one of the more joyful smiles that he had seen her wear over the years, a genuine one and not one that he imagined her wearing. Normally the art of manipulating crystals was hard, for those that weren't talented in the field or for those that needed more training, but he was always talented in both crystal magic and Dark Magic, hence why changing the appearance of the statue, from one of terror and despair to one of hope and beauty, was well within his powers, and not a few minutes later he pulled his hand back and smiled as he stared at his work. Standing before them was the statue of Princess Amore, but this time she looked like someone had cast a spell on her and merely froze her in her crystallized form, or had used magic to form a statue in her likeness, back when she was alive, and right now this was the best he could do for the Crystal Empire.
He wasn't sure where Princess Amore's soul had gone, since he had no experience in the afterlife of Equus, but at the very least the citizens of this empire could remember their former ruler with smiles on their faces, something that he was more than happy to accept at this point in time.
"There, your citizens should appreciate this, even though it's up to you two to either reveal who made this or just say you found it," Sombra said, to which he removed his hand from the statue and stared at it for a moment, as it truly looked like the real thing, which was the point, though it was much better than leaving her as a broken statue forever, before he turned and headed back towards the passage they had walked through, using his magic to carefully carry it and the remaining books outside, "I'm just going to bring it, and the books, up to the throne room, and then I'm going to seal this area off so that no one accidentally finds there way down here, despite the fact that there's nothing left to be taken, so you'll have solid floors from this day forward."
It didn't take him long to get the statue and the books back up to the throne room, where he determined that the guards must have stayed outside the throne room since they entered it, and as he set everything down the rest of his group caught up with him, landing all around the opening that he had created earlier. Once everyone was up with him, and no one was down in the depths anymore, he used his Dark Magic to seal the opening in the floor, this time adding a permanent lock to the crystal, meaning that no one would be able to open it again, effectively sealing off the small space that was tied to the palace. Twilight was overjoyed to have some new reading material, which was basically just the basics of learning how to wield Dark Magic and nothing too serious, though he could tell that Celestia and Luna were planning on going over them to be sure that there wasn't anything harmful in them. Sombra was fine with that, as he had the more dangerous tomes in his possession and there wasn't much the being that taught him how to wield Dark Magic could do if they decided to find another apprentice, not with his level of control over both the darkness and the Shadowlands, and he knew that, in time, the Royal Sisters would agree with his decision.
Of course what Cadance did was stare at the statue that Sombra had crafted, no doubt because of the fact that she might be Princess Amore's descendant, but at the same time he hoped that she and Shining Armor ruled their kingdom better than he did, since the crystal ponies deserved a better life.
"So, Sombra, what will you do about the Umbrum and Radiant Hope?" Celestia asked, because she had noticed that there was something that the former king hadn't thought about since he came back to his home planet, no doubt because it was painful for him, "I mean, weren't you trying to free the Umbrum when you were King of the Crystal Empire? That's what we were told when Radiant Hope came and told us about what you were trying to do."
"Once upon a time I sought that, but not anymore," Sombra replied, though at the same time it was an interesting question, one that he hadn't actually thought about since he had completely forgotten about them, before he sighed and drew Rey from his sheath, as he had something in mind to get rid of them, "in fact I might be able to make sure they don't threaten Equus at all..."
Celestia watched as Sombra focused on what he was doing, as he released his Arrancar Zanpakuto and assumed the form that was associated with the King of Darkness, where he then turned towards the left wall of the throne room and knelt for a moment, where the shadows seemed to vibrate for a few seconds. In the following moments a small oval, which bared the green part of one's eyes when they were channeling Dark magic, appeared in the air near Sombra, forming a small portal in the process, though it wasn't long before some shadowy tendrils reached in and gently pulled out a young mare that Celestia and Luna hadn't seen for a thousand years. It wasn't hard for them to recognize the grayish heliotrope coloration of the mare's coat, which was a pink-purple color, or the light grayish arctic blue mane and tail she possessed, and it was hard to mistake the golden medical staff, a caduceus as they were called, that was the mare's Cutie Mark. The only thing that surprised both of the Royal Sisters was the fact that Radiant Hope was alive after a thousand years, as she had been outside the Crystal Empire when Sombra's spell sealed it away, so they naturally assumed that she simply decided to disappear and never talk to them again, making them wonder where she had been the entire time.
They also felt that Sombra was being rude to her, since he was ignoring her, but as it turned out he was still focused on something else, as a few seconds later a series of screeches could be heard from the portal, one that Sombra glanced at and closed the moment Radiant Hope was safe, before he reverted back to his base form.
"Sombra, what did you do?" Cadance asked, as it appeared that he must have done something to the Umbrum, no doubt brought upon by Celestia inquiring what he was going to do about them, but she had to admit that she was curious as to what he had done, even though he was tending to the exhausted mare that was near them.
"The Umbrum were imprisoned deep below the Crystal Empire, hence why I created the mines and forced so many ponies to dig into the depths," Sombra replied, as it wasn't common knowledge that the Crystal Empire was sitting on a host of shadow ponies that would have tried to conquer the empire, but now they were safe from that danger, "after remembering what I intended to do, however, I used my new powers and sent that prison to the Shadowlands, where the Umbrum can reside for the rest of eternity. Some of them might be lucky and be chosen to take on the form and duties of one of the tormentors, though most of them are going to be living through their own nightmares and fears for the rest of their existence, all without a way to get back to the Crystal Empire, so you won't have to worry about seeing any of them again. It also appears that Radiant Hope had found her way to the prison and was living with them for the last thousand years, hence why she doesn't look like she's aged a day, so I retrieved her and brought her here, where she can heal, before I sealed the Umbrum in another plane of existence."
"And this is why my friends and I, along with Soul Society, are allied with him," Ichigo commented, speaking for the first time since the battle on the destroyed planet, as he and the others had been trying to get over everything that they had seen since they came to this planet, especially the power that Sunset and the others commanded, "he's a force of justice and order that is so powerful that not even the strongest Shinigami can hope to challenge him... we're better off having him on our side and calling on him for help if the situation requires it."
Sombra would have chuckled or said something to that, since it would have been interesting to see how he and Captain-Commander Yamamoto fared in a fight against each other, but before he could actually do anything he heard a few coughs and turned towards Radiant, who had opened her eyes and was feeling the effects of not having anything to eat or drink after a thousand years, hence why Shining Armor went to get a guard that could fetch them something before she ended up hurting herself. It wasn't long before the guard came back with some water and something light, since they didn't want Radiant to cause chaos on her stomach so soon after leaving the realm of the Umbrum, but despite the small amount she was being given she seemed happy to have something after such a long time. At the same time, however, he knew that she was also happy to have found her way back to him, since they had been friends for a long time, despite the fact that the past him had foolishly believed that she had abandoned him and threw that bond away like it was nothing, though it was a little amusing to see her so confused by their new forms, while she was stuck in her pony state.
"Sombra, it's good to see that... you're doing well." Radiant spoke up, though it was clear that it would take some time before she was back to normal, which was understandable since she had been stuck in the realm of the Umbrum, before she glanced around her once more, "But you must tell me... what has happened since we last saw each other?"
It was in that moment that Sombra knew that they were going to be telling Radiant what had happened since his return, as a shadow, some time ago and the events leading up to what was going on around her, so Twilight suggested that they tell her back in Ponyville, leaving Cadance and Shining Armor to tend to their citizens about the fact that many had heard about Sombra's return. It was definitely better than sticking around and letting them see Sombra again, since most of them still didn't like him, something that both of the rulers of the Crystal Empire agreed with, to which they let Twilight teleport them all back to her castle in Ponyville, where they could relax and tell Radiant everything that had happened recently. Sombra knew that it would be a lot to take in, especially the news that he was technically an evolved soul and not a living pony anymore, but Radiant seemed eager to hear the tale that he and the others had to tell her and he wasn't about to leave her hanging, and hoped that her opinion of him had improved when the story was over.
Sombra had been correct in his thoughts that it would take some time to fully explain the situation to Radiant Hope, since she was still confused as to how she had been pulled out of the realm of the Umbrum and brought to the Crystal Empire, before being taken to Ponyville, a place she knew nothing about. As such Twilight informed her that her brother and his wife were the ones leading the Crystal Empire these days, as Radiant had been given a moment to understand that the beings she had seen in the throne room were actually Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor, only in their transformed state since the empire had undergone the Ascension Process sometime after Ponyville and Canterlot did. She further explained that Sombra had come back from his imprisonment with the intent to conquer the empire again, since it had been taken from him, and described what happened after the Crystal Heart had been returned to it's rightful place, only at that point she had to stop since she had no idea what actually happened to Sombra after that point in time, as he hadn't told them much about his journey. It was understandable, since he had spent a great deal of time coming to terms with the fact that he and the others weren't the only transformed Equestrians in all of Equus, and there were some species that had taken the change after seeing what Equestria was capable of.
In fact Sombra intentionally waited for Radiant to know the specifics behind the Ascension Process, and gave her some time to truly understand what she had been told, before he bothered to get around to the beginning of his story, since this might be the only time he'd have to tell her and the others had had happened to him.
He told everyone how he eventually found out that the explosion that decimated him, which had rippled out of the Crystal Heart when it was returned to it's pedestal, destroyed his severely weakened mortal form and prevented him from turning into a shadow, like what happened during his first defeat, meaning that he had been reduced to wander around Equestria as a mere soul. He described what he did next, as he made his way here, to the palace that Twilight was living in, with the intention of using the special crystal mirror to send himself to another world, one where he could gain the power he deemed necessary to dominate anyone that got in his way, before coming into contact with Discord. He then revealed that the reason he had been sent through the mirror, instead of being sent to Tartarus for his actions, was because he had pissed off Discord by threatening to enslave everyone he cared about, including Fluttershy, and that very threat caused the Spirit of Disharmony, now God of Chaos, to curse his soul before flinging him through the mirror. On the other side of the mirror he told them of his first encounter with Hueco Mundo and his new form, before the curse fully seized control of his mind and stripped him of his memories, causing his Arrancar Zanpakuto to go flying once the spell had done what it was supposed to have done.
After that Sombra explained, in detail, his first meeting with Urahara Kisuke, the former Shinigami turned shopkeeper that eventually became one of the three people that taught him about the world he had found himself in, and the rest of the people that worked in the shop that became a temporary home for him. He described the training he had gone through, to awaken a mere fragment of his sealed power, and then told them about his encounters with the Hollows that were attacking Karakura Town, ones that he took out since he was supposed to be working to keep the Humans safe until a Shinigami came to claim the souls of the dead. His meeting with the real Yoruichi, who was clearly a woman and not a male, based on the voice of her cat form, had gotten a few laughs out of the assembled group, since he had been shocked by what he had discovered, but eventually he returned to what he had been telling them and got to the point where he first met Rukia, something that Ichigo was interested in hearing about. From that point he went into detail about the night Ichigo took on Rukia's responsibilities and became a Substitute Shinigami, which originally was a crime until both of them showed Soul Society that they were wrong to think that way, before promising that he'd get back to that later.
Once he reached that part of the story he shifted gears, briefly describing the various Hollows and encounters that they had following Ichigo getting some power into his body, though he did reveal how Ichigo's friends, Chad, Orihime, and Uryu either got their powers or showed them off to Ichigo, as that was what Uryu did. The encounters interested the group, especially the arrival of the hooded figure to help Sora become an Arrancar by removing part of his mask, which was the way all Hollows had been doing that, and his second appearance during the Hollow invasion that was accidentally set off by Uryu's attempt to prove that Quincies were better than Shinigami, which was the first time Sombra had fired his base Cero at something. What came after that was a shock to the group, as they learned of Renji and Byakuya's arrival in the World of the Living, to capture Rukia for the crimes she had committed and to see what her sentence would be, before Byakuya beat both Ichigo and Sombra in battle, leaving them to die as he and a weakened Renji carted Rukia back to Soul Society through a Senkaimon. From there Sombra described his training in his inner world, to unlock the power of his own Shinigami Zanpakuto, where he had to explain that he had carried an Asauchi with him and that part of his power, his ability to use crystals, had been imprinted on the blade he had been using in battle.
Sombra knew that his story was interesting, since he could tell that Twilight was writing notes on everything that he said and even noted that Arrancar, while possessing a form that was similar to a Shinigami or Human, didn't actually need to eat or drink anything, it was just his practice to drink tea that calmed the nerves.
When they were ready to continue Sombra went into detail about their 'assault' on Soul Society, as it was a simple mission to rescue Rukia that turned sour when they were stopped at the main gate, prompting them to enlist the help of one of Urahara's old friends to get them inside the Seireitei, only for them to be separated. It wasn't until after they had gotten back together, after everything was said and done, that Sombra knew what everyone else had been doing, so at first he told the group about his own encounters, with Yumichika and Ikkaku, then the rest of the Eleventh Division, which was followed by meeting Renji again, and then, not a few hours into the next day, he, Ichigo, and the rest of their small group were found by Zaraki Kenpachi, the Captain of the very Division they had escaped from the previous day. Ichigo look over for a moment to tell them about his fight with Zaraki, one that had nearly killed him since he wasn't actually expecting the Captain to be as strong as he had been, and it was only because of Yoruichi's arrival and medical attention, as well as being moved to a new area, that he had even survived the encounter, despite his later shock and surprise when he found out that Yoruichi was a woman and not a male cat. Sombra, having gone onward with the rest of their group, detailed how he bumped into Byakuya outside Rukia's cell and trashed the Captain before he could use his Bankai, the final form of a Shinigami's Zanpakuto, before having to retreat when the rest of the Captains came running to investigate his power, only that prompted him and Ichigo to begin training for their own Bankai.
While they were doing that Sombra told the group about what the others were doing, as Uryu, Orihime, and Sora had bumped into Captain Mayuri, revealing that his was the one behind the recent horrors that had been committed against the Quincies and Uryu's grandfather, leading Uryu to make the ultimate sacrifice in using a technique that could have stripped him of his powers, though it failed since he failed to kill Mayuri. In the end the three of them survived the battle, even though Orihime had run away before it actually began, but fortune was not on their side as Uryu was taken captive by Captain Tosen, while the day prior Chad had been taken out by Captain Shunsui. He revealed that he and Ichigo, by the end of their first day of Bankai training, were the only fighters besides Yoruichi that hadn't been captured, though they kept their friends captive because one of the Captains had been reported as dead, so they were the prime suspects in the murder, even if none of them had been there when it happened. Sombra then skipped most of the training he and Ichigo had gone through, save for mentioning that Renji found them and thought it was extremely unfair that he had been doing the same training that he and Ichigo were doing, before accepting his fate and did his own training. Of course they then discovered that the day of the execution had been moved up, so they wrapped up their training and went out to stop their friend from being executed for crimes that certainly didn't involve being burned alive by a flaming phoenix, as that was the order the Captains had been given.
Sombra skimmed over the next few events, as it was him and Ichigo stopping the execution, making sure that an injured Renji ran off with Rukia, then fighting Byakuya while Yoruichi came in and took Captain Soi Fon somewhere else to fight while the Captain-Commander chased after two Captains that destroyed the phoenix with a sacred treasure. He told them about their battle with Byakuya, how Ichigo found himself losing when the power of his Bankai started to tear away at his weakened body, eventually bringing Zangetsu, the real one that was sitting with them, to the surface so Ichigo didn't die, which was also the point where Sombra figured out who he was and surprised him by mentioning the name, even thought it would take some time for Ichigo to figure out the truth for himself. Once Byakuya was defeated they were graced with Aizen's presence, revealing himself to be alive and that he had faked his own death to move about freely, all so he could rip out the Hogyoku from Rukia's chest, which was the whole reason he had staged her execution with the massive phoenix, and Sombra gained the information that he planned on becoming a god, by forcing his way into the Soul King's palace and killing him. He did, however, have to explain that he found that information out later, when he was helping Ichigo train, and skimmed over the time that he and the others spent in Soul Society, save for his battle with Zaraki and the encounter he had with Soi Fon, eventually leading a confused version of himself to experience love for the first time, with someone that had feelings for him.
After that they returned to the World of the Living and came into contact with the Visored, Shinigami that Aizen had experimented on a hundred years ago, where Urahara had to use the Hogyoku, his invention that had been the goal of Aizen's plots, to stop the Visored from becoming Hollows, transforming them into Shinigami that could manifest a mask and grant them Hollow-like powers. It was around that point that he and his friends came into contact with Ulquiorra, Yammy, and the rest of Aizen's Arrancar, where Grimmjow was the one that returned his Arrancar Zanpakuto to him and got beaten up in the process, by the old Sombra no less, prompting Sombra to go into his inner world and battle Rey, the spirit of his Arrancar Zanpakuto and the representation of his old self, where he eventually won. From that point it was a matter of getting used to his old powers and the sudden fear that some Arrancar felt for him, before they discovered that the traitorous Captains, Aizen, Tosen, and Gin, were planning on destroying Karakura Town to create a key that would allow them to enter the Soul King's palace, giving Aizen the chance he needed to kill the one thing that was keeping the entirety of the four realms in balance with each other. Upon discovering what Aizen's plan was, and that both Orihime and Sora had been kidnapped, Sombra, Ichigo, Uryu, and Chad mounted an attack on Hueco Mundo, which eventually lead to Sombra discovering the existence of a certain legend among Hollows and Arrancar.
Sombra revealed that every one thousand years a specific Hollow was supposed to climb through the ranks, going from an ordinary Hollow and passing the level of the Vasto Lorde, becoming what they referred to as the Dios Hueco, the strongest Hollow in all of Hueco Mundo. Even though his power wasn't at the level that he had been told about, since he hadn't combined his Bankai with his Resurreccion, Sombra found that both Hollows and Arrancar were willing to serve him, willingly he added, and his plan changed from killing the Espada to showing them the true path they could take and create a new empire in Hueco Mundo. Many Hollows and Arrancar, either feeling his ever increasing power or suffering defeat at his hands, swore to serve him and take down whoever sided with Aizen, where Sombra paused for his followers to confirm what they had done for themselves, even if Radiant and the others were surprised that Sombra had let Ulquiorra live after he killed Ichigo, who only survived because of Zangetsu, who ditched him moments later. From that point it was a simple matter for Sombra to tell them about how he returned to the World of the Living, helped take down Aizen's forces, and then brought ruin upon Aizen himself, with the power of the Dios Hueco, before tearing the Hogyoku from his chest and sentencing the traitorous Captain to spend the rest of his life in the Shadowlands.
After that he told them about the changes he made to Hueco Mundo, as the Dios Hueco was capable of modifying the world all Hollows called home and he reverted it back to what it had originally been, a paradise of sorts, with the inclusion of a replica Crystal Empire inside Las Noches, where he and the other Arrancar lived. From there he went into detail about an event that he and the Captain-Commander called the 'Zanpakuto Rebellion', which was just the attempt of a lone Zanpakuto, Muramasa, convincing many of the others to come to his side and rebel against their partners, where Sombra and a few of his followers were called in to help quell the rebellion. He told them about how a few Zanpakuto actually followed Zangetsu's lead and separated themselves from their partners, the first being Haineko, the spirit of a Lieutenant that got tired of being treated like dirt and eventually became an Arrancar, and Zangetsu's girlfriend. The short version of the story was that Muramasa was trying to free his partner, Koga, and eventually succeeded, only for Byakuya to beat his shameful ancestor and restore his family's pride, before Muramasa joined the transformed spirits and started helping the Shinigami clean up his mess, following Sombra's example that his past did not define his future.
What was interesting to Sombra, as he wrapped up what happened with the arrival of the Toju, and them becoming Arrancar as well, was that Sunset seemed to be smiling when he mentioned what he had done and the message that his followers had spread to Muramasa, showing that she must have been an example of someone's past not defining their future and that she had overcome her own demons as well.
"That's... quite a lot to take in." Radiant commented, as she had known that the tale was going to be long, given the amount of time that she had been told about, but even then, with everyone shortening their stories to the best of their abilities, she still discovered that the shortened version took quite a while to tell.
"Tell me about it." Ichigo said, though while he had been through everything that Sombra and the others had talked about, since he and Sombra had been fighting side by side for quite a while now, it was still shocking to hear just how much they had been through since his friend arrived in their world.
"I know that it's a lot to take in, but that's what has happened to me since we last saw each other." Sombra stated, as most of this conversation had been for the benefit of Radiant, even though his adventure had also been directed to Sunset and the others, so they could understand that he had changed for the better, "I'm now the King of Hueco Mundo, all of my followers are letting go of the hatreds that had been instilled in them by the previous Dios Hueco, Soul Society is willing to call on me if anything happened that they can't take care of on their own, and I have friends in all three realms that I have been to in the last few weeks."
"Well, it's good to hear that you have friends and that your allies will reach out if they need your assistance," Celestia said, because the new Sombra that was sitting before them was worthy of being a king of an entire realm, one that he was in the middle of changing back to the paradise that it used to be, and knew that the planet he now called home was in capable hands, if she was correct in her thoughts anyway.
"Indeed. How long are you planning on staying in Ponyville?" Luna asked, because she shared her sister's view on the Sombra that was sitting before them, that he was completely different from the one they had known a thousand years ago and deserved what he was getting, though she wanted to know how long he'd be staying here, since he had a small force that could really do some damage if they were provoked.
"We'll be leaving in the morning," Sombra replied, noticing that there were some shocked expressions in front of him, as it appeared that both of the Royal Sisters thought he would have stayed for a few more days, to get used to the changes his home world had gone through and maybe make some more friends, "Look, I know that I've changed and Ponyville seems to be a haven of sorts for those that have broken the rules, only to change their ways in some manner, but with everything I did to the Crystal Empire they're not going to sit back when they realize that I'm still around. It's better that I head back to the version of Earth that I was sent to and continue living there for the rest of my days, tending to the beings that call Hueco Mundo home while dealing with whatever challenges decide to show themselves, as Captain-Commander Yamamoto did tell me that there were a few threats that might be lingering about the place."
Part of him knew that allowing so many Equestrians to go through the Ascension Process could be a problem in the future, especially since some of them were the crystal ponies that he had tormented a thousand years ago, so part of his reason for leaving so soon was because he didn't want an angry mob to descend on Ponyville at some point. There was no telling what sort of damage would be done, as he had no way of knowing if any of the godly ponies would be here at the time of the assault, and to be perfectly honest he didn't want to know what might happen if he stayed on Equus, hence the reason he wanted to leave. He guessed that he was sort of like Chrysalis, as both of them had their own reasons for wanting to leave their home world, though while the former changeling queen was hurting over the loss of her sister, and the pony that had won her heart, he wanted to leave before someone disrupted the peace because he was present. He might not be the same King Sombra, in the eyes of Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadance, and that included Prince Shining Armor, but that didn't apply to those he had ruled over before, though he had the feeling that both Cadance and her husband had told the crystal ponies that he had been a specter or something, one that came to reveal a lost treasure before fading away completely... and for now that was the best he could ask for, as he hoped that this would make them think he was dead and forget about him in time.
Besides, while he trusted that most of the Shinigami he knew would have returned to Soul Society after the party had been stopped, on account of Discord's untimely arrival and insistence that Sombra visit Equus for a few moments, he had the feeling that Mayuri would try to sneak into Hueco Mundo and learn more about them, despite his opinions on the matter, hence why he wanted to get back, before finding out that the Captain had been killed by one of his Espada.
"Then we should let you guys get some rest before you leave in the morning," Sunset said, surprising Sombra for a moment, as she knew that some of the displaced wanted nothing more than to find their way home, once they recalled what had been lost, while there were others that wanted the opposite, to leave the past where it belonged, and the former king was just like Chrysalis, so she couldn't blame him one bit, before another thought came to mind, "Oh, about Aizen... did you want to be destroy him for you? I could erase his existence and you would never have to worry about him leaving the Shadowlands."
"Thanks, but I'm fine with him being trapped where he is." Sombra replied, though he understood why Sunset had made the offer, because Aizen was a dangerous man and could still be a threat to the world he had once called home, but the only one that could open the gates to the Shadowlands was him, so there was no chance of Aizen leaving, not unless he pulled him from that realm for a few moments.
Sunset stared at him for a moment, imaging how easy it would be to simply destroy a threat to the stability of one of her worlds, since it was her duty to get rid of threats like that, before nodding her head, as she determined that she might as well trust Sombra's opinion on this matter, since he was the one that imprisoned Aizen to begin with. Once she came to a conclusion on the matter, and saw no reason for them to be staying up well into Luna's night, something that she and Celestia had to stop the story for so they could change the time of day, to which the group started to go their separate ways while Twilight showed Sombra's group the rooms that they could stay in for the night. Ichigo, of course, was a little surprised by the decision to stay here and knew that he'd have to tell his father where he had been, since his old man never stopped bothering him, especially after he found out that his old man was actually a former Shinigami, but he also trusted Sombra's opinion on what punishment Aizen should have gotten and determined that he could afford to stay the night without causing problems.
Sombra, on the other hand, had one of the larger rooms, big enough for himself and one other person, so tonight he would be sharing a room with Yoruichi, letting Harribel and Nel know that things would be back to normal when they returned to Hueco Mundo.
"It seems that we've had an eventful time in your home world," Yoruichi commented, as she found that Twilight and the others gods they had met, including the other transformed ponies they had encountered earlier, were nicer than what she was thinking, despite the fact that she was surprised by the sheer power that Sunset commanded.
"Indeed, though it was more than I was expecting." Sombra said, because he had been worried about other things when he said that he didn't want to come back here, but after battling both Celestia and Luna, where he found that they had control over their own darker sides, facing off against Sunset, whose power concerned him because it didn't seem like she had any limits, and dealing with his past in the Crystal Empire, "At the very least I was able to save this world from the rest of the Umbrum and pulled Radiant out of their realm before she was accidentally trapped in the Shadowlands, which would have hurt her more than the Umbrum could have."
"I bet once she's calmed down, and has gotten used to living in this era, she'll go back to the Crystal Empire and pick up where she left off a thousand years ago." Yoruichi added, as she knew that Radiant would need some time to come to terms with the world that was around her, since it wasn't like the time period that she originally came from, and she was sure that Twilight and the others would be able to help her adapt, "Though to be honest I'm a little surprised that you didn't offer to take her with us, since she was the first person you ever fell in love with."
"I've already ruined her life once, by sealing away the Crystal Empire while she was outside it, forcing her to endure the darkness of the Umbrum realm for a thousand years," Sombra replied, showing that he had been thinking about the possibility of bringing Radiant with them, back to the world he called home these days, and had determined that it wasn't the wisest move he could make, "I'm sure that she has ponies that are worried about her, despite being an orphan like I was, and that they'll be happy to see that she's okay, that I didn't hurt her in some manner and that she was finally returning to them... and then, at some point in the future, hopefully she'll settle down with someone and have a family of her own to take care of."
Yoruichi smiled as she wrapped an arm around Sombra, because she knew that he had changed from what the ponies of the Crystal Empire believed him to be, that he was a loveless being that ruled with an iron hoof, a tyrant king that tormented whoever stood against him and used fear to get what he wanted. Rather he was compassionate, kind, and took the time to understand what was going on before jumping to a conclusion, and at the same time he had found the time to make friends and forged an alliance between Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and those that called the World of the Living home, something that has never happened before in the history of their world. Sombra was a guardian of the innocent, a protector of the lost souls that wandered around the world, and wouldn't stand for anyone trying to disrupt the balance that he intended to keep intact, if what he did to Aizen and the other foes he had faced was any indication. She was proud of him, as a master was proud of their student, and she was even happier to be the one that taught him the meaning of love, which ultimately allowed him to regain his missing heart and forge a new destiny for himself, one that she and the others were proud to be part of.
A few minutes later both she and Sombra turned around and walked over to the bed that they would be sharing, as Sombra definitely needed some time to recharge his batteries after all the power he had used so far today, against both of the Royal Sisters, against Sunset, and in his attempts to please the crystal ponies, and soon enough the two of them were fast asleep, letting their worries disappear for a time.
When morning arrived the duo climbed out of the bed and stretched their arms as they headed back down to the dining area that had been set up for their group, where Sombra was pleased to find that his fellow Arrancar were already up, though they were being polite and were sampling some of the food that was offered to them for breakfast, despite the fact that many of them didn't need to eat at all. The only exception to that was Ichigo, since he was the only Human among their group, though Yoruichi, despite not actually using any of her own powers and didn't need to get back her energy, was polite and also sampled some of the food that was being offered, since she wanted to know how the food of Sombra's home world tasted before they went back home. Sombra wasn't too surprised to see that Radiant was up as well, though he paused for a moment when he discovered that she was more Human that she was the previous night, as she looked like a young lady that was like Twilight and the others, showing that Discord, who was sitting nearby, must have pushed her through the Ascension Process before he and Yoruichi came down the stairs. What he discovered, as they took their seats, was that Radiant actually wanted to go through with the change, as she would have felt out of place if she remained in her pony form while those around her walked around in their transformed states, though she was wearing a white robe over her new body, something that she said she had to get used to doing now that she was like everyone else.
It was during the morning meal, where Sombra had some tea while the others talked, that Radiant brought up the news on what she had decided to do since she had been brought back, though even as she said those words Sombra already had a small idea what her plans were.
"As exciting as exploring a new world sounds, I've decided to stay here," Radiant said, though she was pleased to see that Sombra nodded his head in understanding, as the last time she had chosen something over him, even if it had been for the purpose of discovering a way to heal his body, he had thrown a massive fit, as that was what she called his decision to learn Dark Magic and conquer the Crystal Empire, but he was far more mature about her decision now, "Don't get me wrong, I'd love to head to your version of Earth with you and see what it has to show me, but there are things about this new age that interest me, with all the history that I've missed and all the medical advancements that have been made, so I'd like to stick around and see what else has changed since I've been gone. That's not taking into consideration all of the technological advancements that have been made, all the various species that are scattered throughout the world, and everything else that has been uncovered since I locked myself away in the realm of the Umbrum... there's so much I've missed over the last thousand years, so much so that I feel it would be wrong to just leave without knowing what happened to my home."
"That's understandable." Sombra replied, as the first thing he had done was ask about the reason why there were so many transformed ponies, back when he and his group first arrived in Ponyville, and he had done the same thing she was doing now, learning about what had happened and putting everything else at the back of her mind until she had all the knowledge that she could possibly want, "I'd make the same decision if I were a scholar that had been trapped in a dark banishment spell for a thousand years, going out and seeing what happened to the world I called home, but, as you know at this point, I'll be heading back to the version of Earth that is my new home. Since I know you're eager to see what my new kingdom looks like, and the other realms I mentioned, maybe Discord would be willing to help you travel to the Earth that I call home... provided he doesn't have either of you arrive through a punch bowl and land with your faces on the ground, like when he came to check up on me earlier."
"That's the first, and the last, time that something like that will ever happen." Discord commented, speaking up for a moment, though he could tell that Sombra didn't mean anything by what he had said, he was just telling him that he'd prefer not having his guests arrive through a punch bowl, which he was going to try and prevent from happening again, not that he planned on traveling the other worlds all that much in the coming months.
"Either way, I don't think I'll be visiting for a few weeks at the very least, maybe even for a few months," Radiant said, returning to the conversation that they were having, since she didn't want to be caught up in the madness of Discord, as it was taking some time to get used to the fact that the Spirit of Disharmony, or rather God of Chaos, was sitting near her at the moment, when the last she heard he had been turned to stone, "but once I'm done with my studies, and have gotten used to both my new form and the power that it might have given me, I'll come visit you guys."
"And I'll be glad to greet you whenever you decide to come over for a visit," Sombra replied, and he meant it, as it only felt right that he be the one to be there when she and Discord arrived, whenever she decided to come by, before he turned his head towards Twilight, as there was something he needed to say before Discord opened the way back to the world he called home, "Also, allow me to say that I'm thankful that you allowed us to stay in the castle overnight, instead of just sending us back to our world once we were done telling you guys about what happened since I woke up in Hueco Mundo some time ago."
"Oh, don't worry about it." Twilight said, where she waved her hand in a dismissive manner, as she didn't mind letting the displaced spend some nights in her castle, especially since a few of them didn't have anywhere to rest when they came back from their adventures, "Considering how large this place is, this might be the only time that a decent number of the rooms will ever be used by someone that's not myself, Spike, Starlight, whenever she's here, and Sunset, especially since both Celestia and Luna usually spend their nights in Canterlot."
Sombra nodded his head in understanding once more, as both Celestia and Luna were Princesses of Equestria, even if Celestia had pushed a fair number of her duties, if not all of them, to Luna so she could devote more of her time to being Sunset's Angel, teaching her whatever magic she didn't tell her about when they were originally student and teacher. From what he had seen recently Spike, the young dragon that had been part of the reason behind his defeat when he and the Crystal Empire returned, had been busy lately, either traveling to the Dragon Lands or was currently helping out one of the displaced in some manner, hence why he hadn't seen him since their arrival in this world, though it was for the best since the young dragon would have freaked out the moment he saw him. Starlight, on the other hand, was one of the ponies that lived off world, much like Chrysalis and himself, though she was with her brother Ratchet almost all the time, helping him save the parts of the universe that they traveled to, which explained why she wasn't here, even if Twilight missed having her around so they could share their knowledge with each other. In fact while all of this was going through his head, as he recounted where the mentioned ponies were located, he noticed that Celestia said something about Rainbow and Applejack's father, the being who raised them before their adventure, coming by that afternoon to pick both of his daughters up for something he had planned.
The only things that concerned him about that exchange was the slight mention, a mere whisper considering how low Celestia said the line to Sunset, of the being's name, which was 'Beerus', the fact that the mentioned being was also a God of Destruction, which explained much about the two girls and how they fought, and the fact that the universe Equus was located in was actually 'Universe 13', while Beerus was coming from 'Universe 7'... but he made it look like he didn't hear any of that, because for now none of it concerned him, and it appeared that Sunset had everything under control.
After half an hour went by Discord pulled out what Sombra concluded was a pocket watch of some kind, as he knew that trying to understand the chaos of the God of Chaos could ruin one's mind, something that he'd like to avoid since he had an empire to run, and stated that now was the time to open the way back to the planet Sombra had been sent to for his adventure. As such Sombra and his followers gathered outside the castle that they had spent the night in, with Twilight standing nearby with Celestia and Sunset, before Discord turned towards the open area in front of him and waved his arm at the open area in front of him, forming another gateway to the version of Earth that Sombra called home. It wasn't long before Discord was leading them down the tunnel-like passage that existed when he used his 'shortcuts', as that was the term he used to describe what they were doing, and this time around Sombra and his followers just followed after him, not even bothering to look at the planets that they were passing by, since it didn't look like anything had changed since the last time they were using the passage... but, at the same time, it appeared that their journey would be short, since Discord flew through the second opening and they followed him through.
Sombra had to admit that Discord's passages, while not as great as the Garganta he and the other Arrancar used before he created the more permanent connection between Hueco Mundo and the World of the Living, were quite impressive, as they stepped out in the same area that the party they had been attending, when Discord arrived, had been held in. Discord brought them back to the very place they had been in earlier, despite the fact that he could have gotten the location wrong or something, but before anyone actually said anything the God of Chaos excused himself when everyone was on their side and headed back through the passage, disconnecting it not even a moment later. Sombra's guess was that now that he had found everyone that had gone through the mirror, or had been affected by the backlash, Discord's next task was likely to do something to the mirror to prevent this sort of thing from happening again, before he could finally relax and take some time off. In the end, after thinking about it for a few moments, he came to the conclusion that it didn't really matter if he knew what Discord was doing, because he was Celestia, Twilight, and Sunset's concern, allowing him to focus his mind on other things, like what was going on in his empire since he had been gone.
"You know, I have to admit that visiting your home world was rather interesting." Ichigo said, as he had been a little surprised by everything he had seen and learned, just like everyone else had been, but at the same time he was glad to see that his friend had some fun while he was there, since it had been a long time since someone had been able to push him while they were fighting, before he sighed and rubbed the back of his head, "Well, I had better get going. My dad's going to freak out when I get back and demand to know where I wandered off to, without telling him anything I might add, so it might be some time before he lets me go."
"Tell him I said hello and that if he has any problems with you being away for a day he can come talk to me, as I'll tell him why we were gone for so long." Sombra replied, though if he knew Isshin like he thought he did, where he might need to rethink some aspects of it since he didn't know why he was stuck in the World of the Living, he was sure that the man was just concerned for his son and wouldn't come to Hueco Mundo to talk, but the invitation to do so was there in case Isshin wanted to chat.
Ichigo nodded his head and ran off in the direction of his house, since he had stayed in his Human state and hadn't bothered to use Kon to shift into his Shinigami state before they left the party yesterday, leaving Sombra, Yoruichi, and the other Arrancar to do what they needed to do, which was turn towards the direction of the gateway to Hueco Mundo and moved out immediately. It didn't take them long to reach the temple where the gateway was located, allowing them to step through and pass into the realm that Sombra ruled over, where both he and his fellow Arrancar smiled as they returned to their home, especially since many were waiting for his return. Haineko was one of the few that had been standing near the gateway, waiting for both her Lord and Zangetsu to return to Hueco Mundo, and Sombra was happy to see the two lovebirds embrace once they stepped out of the gateway, though at the same time he found Muramasa and Szayelaporro waiting for him as well. With a nod of his head he dismissed the others, allowing them to take a break and do something else for a time, since it had to have been somewhat stressful watching him fight against Celestia, Luna, and Sunset without being able to jump in an assist him, but even as the others walked away he could tell that all of them were happy to be back home, which pleased him to see that no one hated each other anymore.
Despite the fact that he'd rather do something else, as there were still parts of Hueco Mundo that needed to be restored to their former glory, as parts of the paradise that his predecessor messed up, he knew that something must have happened in his time away and was eager to hear what his followers had to report.
"Szayelaporro, Muramasa, did something happen while I was gone?" Sombra asked, as he expected the news to be about Mayuri attempting to get access to something he didn't approve of, which was common these days, though the looks on their faces told him that his thoughts might be incorrect, which would be nice.
"A group of Gillian and Adjuchas ranked Hollows, lead by a Vasto Lorde ranked Hollow, arrived earlier this morning, with the leader asking to see you as soon as possible." Szayelaporro replied, though at the same time his tone told Sombra many things, including the fact that no one had gotten hurt in the process of the new Vasto Lorde's arrival, which might have been because of the Vasto Lorde dragon that lived near Las Noches.
"It appears that she wants to swear her fealty to you, and to commit some of her troops to your growing empire as well," Muramasa added, as both he and Szayelaporro, acting in Sombra's absence, had asked the new Vasto Lorde if they could help her with something and got that as an answer, something that would please their Lord, since it meant good things for their entire empire.
Sombra smiled as he had the duo lead him towards the location of the newest Vasto Lorde, because with Starrk, Harribel, Ulquiorra, and the dragon accounted for, and that included the dead Baraggan, he had met five of the ten Vasto Lorde that existed in Hueco Mundo before his arrival, and now he was meeting the sixth member of the group. His empire was already strong, especially since he had so many powerful Arrancar, but hearing that the newest Vasto Lorde wanted to join them meant that they were going to keep growing and expanding, hence the reason he had expanded Las Noches' walls some time ago and was thankful that he had done so. It was only a matter of time until they found the remaining four Vasto Lorde that called Hueco Mundo home, and determined what they were going to do when he finally met them, but for now he could focus on the meeting that he was heading towards, while Yoruichi walked beside him. His journey might have ended, just like all the other displaced he had met earlier, but he was sure that it was only a matter of time until another one started, and he was looking forward to seeing what the future held for him, the rest of the displaced, and the Gods that watched over their universe, because he was sure that whatever happened next was going to be far bigger than anything they had encountered so far.
Something told him that whatever was coming was going to involve his universe and the other twelve that he knew nothing about, why he felt that way he had no idea, but that only made him eager to see what happened next, and he was sure that he wasn't the only one that felt that way.