Again, I do not own Bleach nor do I make any claim to do so. Tite Kubo is the only one who can. And on another note, I am super, uber, UBER sorry it took so long. Thank you for your patience, enjoy, and please review (I may have gotten rusty).

Ichigo and his allies arrived at Hueco Mundo to find it a massive melee event. Harribel, Rukia, Orihime, and the others were all fighting to the best of their abilities. At the front lines, stood Chad, Renji, Rukia, Isane, Nirgge, Kenpachi, and Starrk. Chad had released both of his arms and was wailing on any Arrancar that was unfortunate to get close to him, with periodic uses of El Directo and El Muerte to inflict more widespread damage. Renji was cutting down Arrancar in great sweeping motions with his Bankai, Hihio Zabimaru, and used Kido to cut down any nearby Arrancar, though half of the spells exploded in his face ('Typical' Ichigo chuckled). Rukia, through complex combinations of Kido, Hakuda, Zanjutsu, and her Shikai abilities, fought off tens of Arrancar simultaneously. Isane had released her Zanpakuto, Itegumo, and was fighting with extraordinary speed and grace, given her height, against tens of Arrancar at once. Next to them was a large, green-haired Arrancar, with a elephantine trunk and curved tusks erupting from his white helmet ('Nirgge Parduoc' Ichigo remembered.), reaping away Arrancar with his long trunk while punching away. Completing the phalanx was Coyote Starrk who, strangely, had discarded his guns and was fighting with a pair of knives, one rather long and slender, like a Kodachi, and the other shorter and stockier, like a Bowie Knife, which he used to cut down any Arrancar that got too close. Despite their skill, speed, and power, the phalanx found itself on the retreat from the sheer numbers.

Fortunately, the phalanx enjoyed three lines of support. From behind, Barragan, Choe, and Uryu acted as artillery, shooting Cero and spirit arrows into the midst of the encroaching horde, decimating the enemy's ranks and leaving massive gaps. In addition to the artillery, Orihime used her Santen Kesshun to deflect Cero attacks from the horde and protect the phalanx and artillery, while Unohana used a series of Kido barriers to protect their flanks and prevent the enemy from outflanking them, and the combined efforts of her Zanpakuto and Hanataro managed to prevent their allies from taking serious damage.

From above, Harribel, Dordonii, and the eagle Arrancar('Avirama Redder.' Ichigo corrected himself) flew overhead, thinning the horde by using Cero and their own unique abilities. Harribel swooped down and tore many Arrancar to pieces with her claws while knocking them aside with her powerful tail. Dordonii dove and swerved throughout the horde, kicking and punching those nearby, and using his cyclones to destroy large tracts of Arrancar. Redder shot his feathers at the horde, killing many, and then strafing the thinned ranks with his talons. They moved with such speed and grace that they did not get so much as scratched, no matter how close they flew to the enemy.

Lastly, Lilynette, Barragan's and Harribel's Fraccion, Nel, and... Byakuya, Kurotsuchi, and Nemu(?!) darted in and out of the ranks, killing everything, using their high speed to duck and dodge. Lilynette had released her Zanpakuto, transforming herself into a figure very similar to Apache, but with tan fur and spiral horns on top her head and the outer sides of her wrists. Using her new-found speed and agility, she kicked and gored Arrancar left, right, and center. Accompanying her were the other Fraccion, who had all released their Zanpakuto: Apache was covered in red fur, and had antlers on her head and split hooves on her feet; Mila Rose had grown a golden mane of hair running down her back, and her white armor now covered her legs up to her mid-thighs and her forearms, which now ended with hooked sharp claws; Sun-Sun's lower body had fused and elongated, and was covered in jade scales, like a snake's tail, and her mask remnants fused and extended back over her head, like a cobra's hood. Just as impressive was their fighting prowess: Apache was the swiftest of the three, dodging and running to and fro, taking down her opponents with well-aimed kicks; Mila Rose was the strongest, slicing and dicing everyone within range, and throwing Arrancar THROUGH(!) each other whenever they got too close; And Sun-Sun was mind-boggling flexible, twisting her body to tangle Arrancar among themselves, and them wrapping them with her tail and squeezing them into oblivion. 'Yikes! They're GOOD! I'll enjoy having them later.' Ichigo filed for later as he turned to the others.

Barragan's Fraccion was just as good: Ggio Vega, the guy with the saber-tooth tiger skull, traded his Arrancar robes for a black-and-white stripped form-fitting suit, with orange paws and a long braid. His Zanpakuto had become a trio of square blades, two of his forearms and one on his braid, and was now zooming around, hacking and stabbing at whoever was unfortunate enough to cross him; Findor Carias, the one with the puffy soldiers and high-heeled boots, was now covered in segmented armor, like a lobster, and had two crab claws on his hands, the right being MUCH larger than the left.

Ichigo, not wanting to see what the last one ('What kind of a name is "Charlotte Cuuhlhourne" for a GUY?!') was up to ('If THAT'S his NAME, I don't wanna know what his Resurrecion is!'), he decided to check on the others. Using her equine speed, Nel darted back and forth, kicking and trampling at all she could, and deflecting attacks with her Cero Doble and Lanzador Verde, laying waste to over fifty Arrancar at once. Nemu was darting in and out, kicking, punching, and...drilling?!... at enormous speed, scattering Arrancar everywhere. Mayuri, her "father" had released his Bankai and was now spreading his poison...POISON?! 'Dordonii, blow your wind so Mayuri's poison won't blow toward us or our allies!' he mentally yelled urgently. Dordonii, nodding once, set his cyclone snakes to contain the poison. 'The rest of you, concentrate your reiatsu to this level! And Mayuri, if ANY of our allies gets poisoned, I'll send you where you belong: the Egyptian Museum Exhibition!'. He inwardly smiled when he saw Mayuri flinch from his threat and started watching the poison's progress much more closely, after a desperate flurry.

He sighed in relief when he saw everyone follow his instructions, and he turned to Byakuya. Along with his speed and swordsmanship, he frequently used his Zanpakuto Shikai ability to wipe out huge tracks of Arrancar. To prevent the enemy from outflanking him, he used high level Kido, and never faced one side for more than two seconds. 'What a fighter! Maybe when this is all over, I'll ask him for a rematch.' Ichigo thought, smiling. Amazingly, and reassuringly, despite the losses the horde had taken, the horde never seemed to run out of soldiers. "Looks like there's plenty for all of us. Help yourselves." he said to their reinforcements, grinning like Kenpachi, and they charged into the fray.

Half an hour, they had been fighting non-stop, each using their particular abilities: Tessai and Hachi Flashed behind the phalanx and used their Kido to reinforce their current defenses as well as funnel the enemy horde, so the phalanx could maximize the potential damage without overexerting themselves; Rojuro had joined the artillery and, after Hollowfying and releasing his Zanpakuto, used his Melody attack to wipe out large numbers of Arrancar, by roping them together and eviscerating them; Momo, Omaeda, and the Captains had squeezed, bullied, and ordered, respectively, their way into the phalanx and were using their respective abilities to burn, crush, and slash Arrancar by the hundreds; the rest had released their Zanpakuto, save Yoruichi, and in the case of the Vizards donned their Hollow masks, and joined those immersed in the horde to kill as many as they could.

Rangiku had formed a circle of ash around herself, 90% holding Arrancar at bay while the other ten percent "dissolved" their unfortunate victim. Izuru had managed to cripple and decapitate tens of Arrancar using his Shikai, and showed no sign of stopping. Shuhei had released his Zanpakuto, a pair of sickles bound together by a chain ('That's unexpected.' thought Ichigo), and was slicing and dicing Arrancar everywhere. Each of the Vizards had split off and donned their masks, and were now taking down Arrancar with incredible speed and power. Yumichika and Ikkaku, working in a tag-team fashion, had slain hundreds of Arrancar between them, keeping their opponents off-guard by rapidly switching from slashing to stabbing. Yoruichi, Soifon, and Kisuke worked together as well, alternating between defensive barriers, hand-to-hand combat, and swordsmanship.

At the moment, Ichigo was hovering in the air, watching the fight, and trying to pick out his next victim, when he noticed something impossible: the Arrancar horde was taking on EXTREME casualties, but the horde was NO SMALLER THAN WHEN IT STARTED! 'What the HELL is going on?!' Ichigo thought as he dove back into the fight, along with Harribel on his right and Dordonii on his left, both coming at him. Kicking, slashing, and punching while flying, the trio managed to cut a massive 60 meter horizontal divide in the horde.

'That'll give us a little reprieve at least.' Ichigo thought as the trio ran back, finished off the rest, and rejoined the phalanx, bringing, and in some cases dragging, the others with them. "What the HELL was that for?!" Ikkaku yelled in fury. "BAKA! There's something fishy going on here, and it ain't your BREATH!" Ichigo yelled back, pointing out to the battlefield, where the horde continued to advance... at a very slow pace.

"Ever notice how weak and slow they are? And yet how they continue to advance, even though we've been slaughtering them for half an hour?" Ichigo asked, in a pedantic tone like a professor explaining the obvious. "And now we're getting tired, so we can't keep doing this...and DON'T DARE ARGUE!" he added, reading their imminent interruption. "We need to figure out what's going on, or we're gonna die.". The two Squad 11 Shinigami, though seething, realized his point: they were both low on energy and were beginning to show fatigue.

"Funny, I'd never thought I die like this: torn apart by a very BORING horde." Yumichika casually said, though that struck a cord in Ichigo's mind. "What...was...that...last...part?" Ichigo asked, very slowly as though disbelieving himself. "I said 'torn apart by a very BORING horde'." Yumichika repeated himself. "Louder." Ichigo said, as though he was about to die. "I SAID BORING! BORING! BORRRRRIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGG! WHAT'S SO DAMN IMPORTANT?!" he yelled in response, and then the answer hit him like 70 tons of bricks, on ton atop another.

The same happened for the rest, and they took a better look at the enemy. Sure enough, the horde was boring, for a very simple reason: they were all EXACTLY alike. They were all humanoid, 1.75 meters tall, in white form-fitting robes, like what Aizen was wearing, and had horns, claws, and arm-blades...without a SINGLE bit of difference. "This...is...IMPOSSIBLE!" Ichigo yelled out. "Indeed." Mayuri said, and everyone nodded in agreement. "Every Hollow is the result of a soul's inability to pass on." he continued. "And when they Hollowfy, their form is derived from their experiences, feelings, and memories." Byakuya added. "Meaning that every Hollow, and by extension Arrancar, is unique." Shinji responded. "So to find this conformity by chance alone is so infinitesimally small, it's virtually impossible." Harribel added. "Even if it were the result of a cloning Arrancar, every time we destroy a clone, it would lose the reiatsu it used to create the clone." Stark injected. "Even if they were as weak as these, eventually, the Arrancar wouldn't have enough reiatsu to continue making clones.". "So, they must be MASS-PRODUCING these Arrancar, like a FACTORY!" Ichigo concluded, eliciting a eyebrow launch from everyone around. "So no matter how many we destroy, they have access to limitless reinforcements." Komamura added, depressing everyone except Squad 11. "Not unless we destroy the factory. And I bet I know where it is." Renji said, surprising everybody. "If you look at the horde, there are two places where they are at the highest density. In one place, the Arrancar are stationary. In the other, the Arrancar are moving at us. Since the exit from the factory HAS to be open, the second MUST be where the factory is." he explained, earning a few words of praise, and even a "Good eye." from Byakuya, making him beam like an idiot.

"And just HOW do we get there?" Ichigo asked, bringing Renji's moment of glory to an abrupt end. "You've NO plan?" he asked, further embarrassing Renji. "And you HAD to start acting like a hotshot." he added, smirking. "SO what's YOUR brilliant idea?!" Renji retorted furiously, eliciting Ichigo's scowl, but before they could fight, Rukia ran up and bonked them both on the head (Three Stooges Style). "This is NOT the fight for a fight you two!" she yelled angrily, and bringing them back to reality. "Right. Harribel, I take it you can't use your Flood like last time?" Ichigo inquired, and Harribel nodded in confirmation. "And I can't use my guns nor Barragan his poison." Stark added, confusing everyone around. "Right after you left, we tried using our aforementioned abilities, when something absorbed our reiatsu, and locked it away." he explained, and Ichigo, Kyoraku, Ukitake, and everyone else who was at the Fake Town widened their eyes in recognition. "That's JUST like what happened to Yamamoto and Wonderweiss!" Kyoraku said, and everyone nodded in confirmation. "But to seal his reiatsu, Wonderweiss lost all his higher mental functions. To seal away the reiatsu of three Espada, they would have to sacrifice a LOT more." Ukitake voiced out. "So, our target is the weakest...thing in the horde...like that stationary area of high concentration Renji saw!" Ichigo said, and patted, or whacked , Renji on the back saying: "I take back what I said. You're a GENIUS!", scaring Renji for a minute. "Huddle everyone!" Ichigo said, and they crowded together.

A few minutes later, they separated and reformed the lines, plus a second line behind the phalanx, composing of Renji, the Hollowfied Vizards, Nel, the remaining Arrancar, and Ichigo. Renji yelled out "Bankai!" and his Zanpakuto transformed into a giant segmented snake, that opened its mouth and shot out a massive barrage of red reiatsu. "Hikotsu Taiho(Baboon Bone Cannon)!" he added as the attack carved a twenty meter path through the horde to the area in question. After that, the Vizards and Arrancar, twelve total including Pesche and Dondochakka, simultaneously released their Cero, giving the horde a multicolored burst of pure POWER, and carving out yet another 40 meters through the horde. Lastly, Ichigo and Nel, cutting their hands with their Zanpakuto, released a double Gran Rey Cero, cutting another eighty meters!

And AMAZINGLY, after all that, the area had not been breached. Instead, it had thinned as more Arrancar were diverted to cover the area under attack, though large tracts were still missing. Ichigo, seeing this, simply grinned and said "Just what we wanted. Renji, another round please.". "Gladly." Renji said and began the assault again, and more Arrancar, this time from the front attacking the phalanx, were assigned to guard the target.

'Just as he planned. Perfect.' Yoruichi thought as she and Soifon raced through the horde, dodging and flexing as though they did not exist. 'As long as he keeps them busy, this should be a snap.' she continued as they honed in on the target. A few minutes later, they arrived at the target's location, and discovered it virtually unguarded as all the others were called to defend the front.

'Guess they're not very bright. Thankfully. Guess we won't have to worry about getting through their defenses.' Yoruichi thought as she and Soifon circled around to the back...and almost retched at the sight of their target... while Soifon very NEARLY FAINTED!

'I knew a lot would be sacrificed for those abilities, but not THIS much!' she thought as she tried to look again. The "target" was a bag, about five meters wide and ten meters tall, hanging from a hook that resembled a Hangman's Noose inside a semi-open cocoon, and full of some sickening yellowish, organic-looking fluid. On closer examination, they realized that the bag contained...a brain...with tentacles reaching throughout the bag...the ONLY solid thing in the whole thing.

'The lengths Aizen went to to secure his goals. I knew he was bad, but THIS...IS...SICK! Not even MAYURI would do something like this!' she thought, sickened of the obscenity of the moment, and feeling a twinge of guilt upon realizing that she had to kill it. 'Can I KILL that?' she wondered, faltering in her resolve. 'I have to. Our lives are at stake. OK...here...we...go!' and they charged.

Sensing a new presence amongst them, the Arrancar guards turned and received a kick in the face from Yoruichi, and a barrage of punches from Soifon. While Soifon handled the guards, Yoruichi headed for the bag, and drew her Zanpakuto for the first time in years. She started to slash at the bag, but found that it was much tougher than she reckoned, for she found herself flung away at the first attempt. 'Guess this WILL be a challenge.' she thought, and started again, this time, thrusting into the bag while pressing her knee against the pommel to maximize its power...not so much as a scratch.

After several attempts and no success, she saw a weak point in the bag: the fluid, while obviously important for life support, was also augmenting the bag, by redistributing itself to any area under an attack against the bag. 'I guess the brain's reacting to what it senses through the fluid and the tentacles.' Yoruichi hypothesized. 'But, if I can move fast enough, I can make it believe that there are two attacks coming at it from opposite. Then the brain will distribute fluid to counter those two attacks, stretching itself. And if I attack hard enough, then it'll stretch so thin, the bag will have no support and I'll be able to stab the brain!' and she smiled as she readied her attack.

Inhale...Exhale...Inhale...Exhale...ATTACK!

Using the speed that earned her title "Goddess of Flash", Yoruichi stabbed the brain on one side, and then the opposite in VERY short order, stretching the bag long ways, just as she planned. And she made her third attack, aiming for a spot where the bag directly touched the brain. Her Zanpakuto cut into the bag!

And the brain dropped below the cut and into the safety of the fluid. Yoruichi, seeing her brilliant plan fail, cursed herself for failing to think 3-D. Just as she was getting depressed, she noticed that as the fluid returned to its original distribution, there was a large, deep cut at the place she had stabbed...fit to burst...and the brain did not seem to take notice. 'It can't feel damage to the bag, just changes in the fluid's distribution!' she realized, and smirked, forming a new plan. She attacked again, this time where she struck last, stabbing a few centimeters above the cut. The brain, as predicted, shifted the fluid to protect the brain, straining the bag in the process. Both forces pushed with greater and greater intensity.

….until...

….the bag burst open from the inside, spilling the sick yellow fluid and the brain onto the sand. Yoruichi, seeing the brain helpless, hesitated to deliver the final blow, but remembered the need and raised her hand...when the brain began convulsing and writhing like a mad octopus, bringing a new wave of nausea over Yoruichi.

Just as quickly as it began, it finished, as the brain stopped convulsing and lay still. Even then Yoruichi did not get her chance, for the brain began to disintegrate, its tentacles drying up and crumbling to dust, and the brain shriveling up. Within a minute, the brain was nothing but a pile of gray-pink dust, a pitiful shadow of what was once there. Seconds later, a MASSIVE wave of reiatsu rushed out from the brain, followed by a yell of relief from the remaining Espada, who then roared in triumph, their powers returned to them.

Grinning widely, they unleashed their fury at the unfortunate soldiers: Starrk opened fire with his guns, massacring the enemy, and carving a cut into the army 75 meters long and 25 meters wide. Barragan took his turn, expanding his throat and spitting out a noxious, foul-smelling, viscous substance all over the enemy army for over 150 meters, where they became stuck to the ground and melted away, like in some acid. Harribel, though, was FAR more furious, for she had unleashed a barrage of water cyclones, ten meters in diameter, and spinning at over 120,000 revolutions a minute! When this attack connected with the ground, it scoured the land itself, leaving trenches over 100 meters in diameter, and the air pressure ALONE sent the enemy soldiers more than 200 meters away while grinding its unfortunate victims into oblivion. Combined, the Espada had destroyed 80 percent of the enemy army.

….and it was STILL coming! 'This is getting MAJOR MONOTONOUS!' Ichigo thought furiously, annoyed by the lack of a challenge. He was about to launch another attack when he saw something in his peripheral vision: a metallic gleam in one of the trenches Harribel's cyclones made. Curious, Ichigo flashed toward the mysterious gleam, where he saw something that boggled his mind.

Under the sand was a HUGE cavern, large enough to fit more than twenty palaces inside. The cavern was partitioned into two sections: the first was white, tidy, and cramped with sophisticated machinery; the second was much, much, MUCH larger, black, and teeming with movement. 'Hold on a minute...those are Gillians...THOUSANDS of them!' Ichigo realized. 'But why are they down there and not up here?' he wondered, looking further over the cavern for the answer. Connecting the two sides was a tube leading from the second to the first, shaped like a weird angular, 3-D capital T. The lower half was standing vertical in the second chamber, where the Gillians moved one by one into it. The section glowed for a split second, followed by a roar that traveled through the tube to the upper section, which Ichigo noticed was filled with holes...holes in the EXACT shape and size as the soldiers they were fighting above!

'So THAT'S it!' Ichigo realized. 'They're dividing the reiatsu of Gillians, which is tremendous in itself, and dividing it into hundreds of standardized soldiers.' Sure enough, the holes opened up, and the soldiers poured out, lined up, and started walking. 'And judging from the sheer numbers of Gillians, they could make hundreds of millions of soldiers. Even the Espada would tire eventually.' he continued, noting the still-coming stream of soldiers. 'In order for us to really turn this around, we'll have to take out this factory.' and jumped back to Harribel.

"Listen Harribel, I'm gonna need you to pull off another flood. Can you do it?" he asked. "For you, Ichigo, I'll do anything." she answered, and prepared for her dance. "Not just yet." Ichigo said, and, closing his eyes, projected his thoughts to all of his allies: 'Listen everyone. There's a subterranean factory that churning out soldiers like there's no tomorrow. Unless we destroy it, we'll never win this battle. But Harribel's got that covered: she'll use her flood powers to destroy the factory, and to make sure it all goes that way, everyone that can do barriers stay down here and direct the flood waters toward the factory, which is in that hole in the ground. As for those who can't do barriers, either fly up to avoid the flood, or stay behind those erecting the barrier. Once you're in position, erect the barriers and Harribel will start the flood. Go!'.

Receiving the message, everyone rushed into their positions: Hachi, Tessai, Kisuke, Yoruichi, Orihime, Momo, the captains, and the lieutenants, excepting Kenpachi and Renji, lined up in a wide octagon on the highest ground, took their stances, and erected their barriers; the Vizards, Espada, and the rest gathered behind the barriers, grateful for the chance to take a breath; and Minazuki hovered above to shield them from the expected torrential rain.

Seeing everyone ready, Ichigo turned to Harribel and said "Hit it Harribel.". Nodding once, Harribel started her dance, twisting and writhing, storm clouds gathering, the sky growing dark. Soon, lightning struck, and with a roar of thunder, the deluge began. The rain fell, slowly at first, but steadily gathered speed and intensity. Very soon, the battlefield was flooded once more, the soldiers washed away by the downpour alone. The factory fared little better...the flood water came pouring through the hole, crushing the ground beneath, quickly filling the cavern, and drowning everything there. For a grand finale, Harribel imbued the water with her reiatsu, creating maelstroms, slicing, crushing, and shearing everything left. The force and intensity of the attacks destroyed the last support of the cavern, causing the roof to collapse, and creating a VERY large swimming pool.

"That ought to come in handy for us." Ichigo said to Harribel noting the aftereffects. She began to nod, but something caught their eye...something in the water...something MOVING!

'Shit!' Ichigo cursed and yelled out mentally 'Get away from the water! NOW!'. Everyone, feeling the magnitude of the alarm, threw themselves from the water as fast as they possible could.

And just as well...for a HUGE thing rose out from the water...long...tapered...and covered with inverted discs..like red blood cells...or suckers. 'Like a squid tentacle!' everyone thought at once. It waved side to side, feeling desperately for a target, its reach growing longer with each try, and its speed growing higher to match. Fortunately, everyone managed to dodge it despite its growing speed...except one: Barragan. His size and now cold-blooded physiology made him slow and cumbersome, and an easy target for the moving object. Soon, it wrapped itself around his leg and, in a display of incredible strength, it began dragging him into the newly formed in-desert swimming pool. Barragan, instinctively knowing that he must NOT allow that, reached down and bit the tentacle with all the power in his jaws: more that 5000 pounds per square inch, like a crocodile. His efforts were rewarded with the sickening crunch and crackle of breaking bones...

...and a roar of agony from the former King of Hueco Mundo. The tentacle was completely unharmed, and it continued pulling Barragan. Seeing their God-King in danger, his Fraccion bore down on the tentacle, aiming their Cero at the EXACT same spot on the tentacle...to NO effect! "IMPOSSIBLE!" they cursed as they attacked with everything they had...and STILL no effect! In fact, if anything, they themselves were getting dragged with him!

"You guys, get away from Barragan. Everyone else, stay away. Orihime, us your Koten Zanshun to cut the tentacle. NOW!" Ichigo ordered out, both vocally and telepathically. "Am I nuts, or are you putting King Barragan's life in the hands of this HUMAN GIRL?!" Avirama yelled out, furious at Ichigo's decision. "Don't you know how ser-ious...this...is?" he stammered as Ichigo glared at him, his Hollowfied eyes showing a natural disaster just NANOSECONDS from occurring: Mt. Ichigo erupts. Reddei, a city in nearby vicinity, missing and presumed destroyed. "Ooooohhhhhh-kaaaayyyyy. I'll shut up now." he said and darted away as fast as he could. "Orihime, if you please." Ichigo said, bowing slightly as if at a formal party.

"Hai. Koten Zanshun...I REJECT!" she yelled out, a light emanating from her left hairpin which zoomed straight at the tentacle...and cleanly sliced it...like a hot knife through butter! Everyone could only stand in shock and amazement at Orihime's power. 'Mental note: NEVER get on her bad side.' everyone, even the Espada, thought. The only exceptions were Ichigo, Uryu, Rukia, and Hachi. They did not have time to think about this, for the tentacle writhed in pain and withdrew into the pool, which they realized had turned from clear azure to a toxic black. Soon after, something emerged from the pool... a giant black creature, easily the size of Yammy at his maximum size, but this thing was very different.

It did not have arms or hands, but it DID have hundreds of writhing tentacles: some tapered to long thin points; others ended with stingers like scorpions; and others finished with three prongs or claws, reminiscent of leech jaws. The tentacles lined the sides of the creature, in rows of up to five at times, protruding from a chitinous exoskeleton, like a millipede. The top tapered to a triangular head, shaped like an arrow, its five eyes lying just beneath a shelf of chitin, above eight interlocking mandibles set in a 3-D space: one pair horizontal; one vertical; and two diagonal. Everyone withdrew in revulsion and pity for the deformed abomination.

Despite its size and awkward body plan, whatever it was was VERY fast, as it lunged with twenty tentacles and bore down on the party...only just missing them. The creature lunged again, spreading its tentacles wide, trying to capture everyone at once. Fortunately, while it was larger and could hit multiple targets at once, its brain was VERY primitive, since it could not follow more than one person at once. This made it EXTREMELY slow to react to changes in its environment, and oblivious to new danger.

'This gives me an idea.' Soifon thought, realizing the creature's extremely low reaction time, and she flashed toward the creature. 'If I can sting him with Suzumebachi, then he'll die.' she thought as she closed in...and stung once, then twice. However, she soon realized that her plan would not work THIS time, for the creature was NOT dead. Hell, it did not even slow down. A closer look revealed why: the creature was covered in the toxic sludge from the pool below, which was now encasing it in new chitin. In top of it, the chitin was continuously being replaced by the sludge. Thus she could NEVER hit the same spot twice because the strikes would NEVER overlap.

'OK. New plan.' Soifon thought as she raced up and down the creature, looking for a vulnerable spot. She then tried the tentacles, seeing that they NEVER grew new skin. She dove in towards an inactive appendage, and thrust, stinging it once. She thrust, aiming to sting again...and watched as the arm fell out of its socket, derailing that idea too.

'Let's try again.' she thought, and aimed for a new tentacle, only to watch the whole sequence repeat itself. 'I could keep trying and see if that still happens, but I'm not THAT stupid.' she thought, flashing towards a jawed tentacle aimed at Hanataro...and managed to kick it away just as it closed in on his hair. Feeling a gust of air, Hanataro turned and saw the tentacle being kicked away, and nearly fainted.

"If...you...can't...fight...GET...OUTTA HERE!" Soifon yelled at the poor medic, who just nodded and ran off. 'So, HOW do we fight THIS thing?' Soifon wondered as she looked it over again. Looking for inspiration, she looked across the battlefield, and saw Momo using her Bankai in the hopes of burning it to death. Her efforts proved futile, as it simply detached its arms before it could be consumed in the fire. It seemed that it could detach ANY limb that was under attack...

'But, could it grow them back?' Soifon asked, looking toward the limbs she had attacked. Sure enough, they were there, good as new. 'So much for that.' she sighed, feeling her hope evaporate...then she looked into the face of the creature.

'Wait a MINUTE. Its face ISN'T covered in that sludge, and it CAN'T detach its face OR grow the chitin continuously. It would mess up its brain, and any damage to that would be as fatal as a successful immolation from Momo!' she realized and flashed above the creature's head. 'Just as I thought.'. The creature's face was completely unchanged from when the battle began.

'Now for a target. Someplace unguarded by chitin. Not the eyes. It would just thrash around, which leaves...'. She gulped, readying herself for her attack, and threw herself into the lion's mouth...literally.

She flashed in front of the creature's jaws, and stood there, completely still. Seeing her frozen in place, the creature opened it jaws, and thrust forward, looking forward to tasting Su-Shinigami. Just as its jaws closed, Soifon flashed inside, hitting the back of the throat, making it gag for a moment. 'I might just do the same if I don't get this over with.'. Desperate to get over the most disgusting mission of her career, Soifon thrust upward, into the palate. Fortunately, the creature was so stupid it couldn't feel the pain, giving her the chance to stab TWICE.

As Suzumebachi hit its target, the creature froze as a large butterfly formed on the spot. Soifon smiled almost to the point of grinning. A few grapefruit-sized drops of drool, and the fear of swallowing a mouthful of monster saliva, though, kept her mouth ZIPPED SHUT. 'Now I just gotta wait.' she thought, feeling slime accumulate all over her, and praying that she would get out soon.

Outside, everyone, tiring from the monster's regeneration and armored defenses, stopped and watched in horror at the apparent suicide of Captain Soifon. Their horror turned to rage as they prepared to attack again...but the creature froze in place...then started to glow...RED!

"What the hell's that?!" Ichigo asked, confused at the turn of events. "That's her Shikai ability." Omaeda explained. "If she hits you in the same spot twice, you're dead.". Ichigo nodded, then felt his eyes widen in understanding. "Omaeda, for once you might ACTUALLY have been useful." he said, earning an irate twitch of the big guy's forehead. "That's what happened! She went to the ONE place it wasn't armored or capable of regeneration: the monster's gullet!".

As he said those words, the creature seemed to implode, leaving behind two things: a giant black-outlined butterfly; and a slimy, and very disgusted Soifon. She flashed down as everyone gathered around her to congratulate and thank her...only to watch in amusement as she pulled off Omaeda's robes and wiped herself off with it. "Hey!" he started, only to get a fist in the mouth, followed by a bunch of slime in the face, as she shook the last of it from her hair. "While you're useful, TRY to keep it up." she said, putting an end to all his complaints, and starting up a laugh fest.

"Look at you." a gravely voice said, prematurely ending their laughter. "They're already relaxing, and it's only the appetizers and first course so far.". They turned toward the voice to see a lone Arrancar standing in front of the ruins. He was tall and broad, with a barrel-like chest and long, thick limbs. For an instant everyone thought they were looking at a resurrected Yammy...but they soon discounted that idea. His mask fragments encased his head like a white, broken helmet, with a sloping forehead that projected well in front of his face, like an oversized baseball helmet. Along the edges, they could see strands of shock-white hair and a matching, scraggly beard. Stretching from his left eyebrow across to the right lower jaw and down the neck was a jagged scar, like a lightening bolt. His sleeves were cut, revealing a very fair skin tone and a continuation of the lightening scar along his right arm, and across his back was a harpoon, nearly as long as Nnoitra's scythe and pure white save the joints.

"Yay! It's our turn now!" two voices called out from behind him, drawing everyone's attention. Two child-like Arrancar stood on either side, excited grins splitting their faces and their eyes lit with pure sadism. Apart from that, however, they could not be more different.

One, tall and rather lanky, crouched low to the ground, like a cat about to pounce on a poor mouse. Her mask remnants were confined to the sides of her exceptionally long face, like a muttonchops beard. Her robes were reduced to a simple tunic and pants, revealing her long, thin frame, like someone had grabbed her by the head and feet and stretched her out, and on her right, her Zanpakuto, two straight, double-edged knives, each about the length of a kodachi, hung from her yellow belt.

The other, shorter and with longer arms, pounced up and down in glee, laughing or chattering like a monkey. Her mask remnants, distinctively wrinkled, were on top of her nose and spread across her cheeks. Her robes stuck to her body like a second skin, showing off her athletic, limber, but undeveloped build. Her Zanpakuto was nowhere to be see, though a very large, gold belt hung across her naval.

"Well, wait are we waiting for?" more voices called out as one last figure stepped out from behind the ruins. This Arrancar was smaller than the first, and had red hair, among which were his mask remnants: a pair of white, triangular protrusions, resembling a cat's ears. His skin had a reddish tinge, like a stereotypical Native American, and his robes had trailing threads from the sleeves, like Redder, though his chest was covered instead of bare. But one look of his face make everyone do a double-take.

He had a pointed face, with narrowed slits for eyes, complete with a wily grin plastered on his face. "No way! Gin?!" everyone yelled out simultaneously as he simply smiled in amusement. "No! That can't be!" Ichigo answered back. "I beat him to an inch of his life. That CAN'T be him!"

The Gin look-alike simply laughed in mild amusement. "Oh so sorry. Where ARE our manners?" he asked, sarcastically, gesturing to the other four Arrancar. "I am Mallvado Zzorri, Arrancar number 101, formerly the fifth Espada." he continued, giving a very deep bow, dripping in sarcasm. "And I'm Mosstera Gullo, Arrancar number 108, formerly the seventh Espada." the lanky one pipped in, copying Mallvado's sarcastic bow. "And I'm Pannzius Kunnko, Arrancar number 106, formerly the eighth Espada." the shorter one chattered, following suit before quickly jumping up and down in glee.

"And I'm Mokka Paccifuccos, Arrancar number 104, formerly the tenth Espada." the first one rumbled, like a volcano nearing eruption. "Now that we all know each other, why don't you tell us your names?" Mallvado asked, looking up from his bow and smiling widely.

"Why should we? So you can get our names right on our tombstones?" Ichigo asked, drawing looks of surprise from all four former Espada. "Sorry, but I don't think so. You guys would probably fuck them up just to spite us." he added, earning a gasp from those around him. "But thank you for telling us what we needed to know about you guys." he added, mimicking Mallvado's smile perfectly while taking up a battle-stance...

...when a hand grabbed him by the hair and pulled him back. "Sorry son, but I think you've fought enough for today." Isshin said, holding firm, despite Ichigo's best efforts to escape. "But I'm the strongest one here! Let me go! You need me!" Ichigo yelled, struggling to free himself, nearly ripping his hair out in the process. "Hate to do this, but it's for your good." Isshin said, and yanked Ichigo toward him with surprising strength, and threw his son into Orihime's bust... face-first much to the surprise of both parties.

Everybody burst out in laughter as the two new lovers each turned redder than tomatoes, and promptly fainted, eliciting a great roar of laughter from all the witnesses. Their laughter echoed across the desert and rattled what was left of Aizen's palace. "Oh Ichigo, you're still so innocent." Yoruichi giggled, a sly smile working across her face, imagining all the things she wanted to do with Ichigo. "Ichigo, you REALLY have a lot to learn." Kisuke muttered alongside Yoruichi. "Can you BELIEVE this guy?! He swept us all off our feet, utterly ANNIHILATED Aizen, won the hearts of almost ALL the girls here, and he faints at THAT?!" Apache yelled. "That maybe so, but you WON'T speak of him in that manner" Harribel answered fiercely, bringing Apache's laughter to a halt. "He will learn soon enough. We will make sure of that.".

"Sorry to break up your laugh-fest, but we have a BATTLE to fight." Mallvado said before launching himself before the defenders. Isshin reacted fastest and intercepted the former Espada before he reached the group, then prepared to do battle with him...just when he felt a strong hand pull him back, throwing him to the ground. "Hey! Who did that?!" Isshin yelled as he pulled himself up.

"I did! What about it?!" a voice called up from below, drawing Isshin's attention. "Oh hey Hiyori." Isshin replied, his anger completely replaced by his signature (and annoyingly childish) playfulness. "How's it been? I see you STILL haven't killed Shinji yet. Are you getting soft...or just nice?" he asked, quickly earning a well-aimed kick to the face. "Ah shut up you monkey!" Hiyori snapped as Isshin fell backwards onto the sand. "Hey I resent that comparison!" Pannzius yelled, turning red with indignity. "Oh you do, do you? What are you gonna do about it? Cry?" Hiyori remarked, daring the former Espada with her eyes. "No. I'll dance...on your TOMBSTONE!" Pannzius yelled back and Sonido'd in front of her.

"Temper, temper." Hiyori teased, as she dodged Pannzius with ridiculous ease. "Look who's talking snaggle-tooth." Shinji muttered, only to receive a side kick from the all-too aggressive former Lieutenant. "What was that?! You gotta problem pal?!" Hiyori raged, stomping poor Shinji face-first into the sand. "Yo." Pannzius said, drawing Hiyori's attention. "This is all very funny, but I got a score to settle with you. So...DRAW!".

What happened seemed to surpass the speed of light as two flashes, one metallic silver and one gold, flew at each other and clashed, the resulting clang echoing across the desert. When everyone recovered their hearing, they saw that Hiyori and Pannzius had crossed Zanpakuto, and were now pulling against each other with as all of their strength. Unfortunately, it seemed that Pannzius had the upper hand, as her Zanpakuto was larger, shaped like a flattened whip, and was wrapped around Hiyori's near the tip, so she had to pull harder to keep hers. Realizing her disadvantage, Hiyori reversed her grip on her sword and pushed it upwards with all her available strength, pulling Pannzius' tip toward the tsuba. Just as Pannzius was registering what had happened, Hiyori reversed her footing and pulled on her Zanpakuto downward with tremendous force and fury (both of which she had in abundance). Everyone, including the former Espada, watched in astonishment, or amusement in the case of the Vizards, as the monkey Arrancar was sent skipping over the sand, her whip-like blade trailing behind her.

"Well, that was entertaining." Mallvado said, drawing everyone's attention. "But now it's our turn. Prepare yourselves." and he drew his Zanpakuto, a black rectangular sword with a blood-red star-shaped tsuba and a serrated blade. Picking up on his cue, both Mokka and Mosstera drew theirs. Mokka pulled his harpoon from behind his back and took a stance as he twirled it around in his hands, so quickly that it became a blur. As he twirled, he pulled his left leg back, crouched down, keeping his left leg straight while bending his right. As he finalized his position, he held his Zanpakuto at a slight downward angle, gripping the butt with his right for power while holding his weapon, just a quarter of the length down, with his left for aim and stability.

Mosstera drew her two blades and began twirling them in both her hands, all the while spinning and pirouetting as she went. As she approached the group, she spun faster and faster, until a miniature sandstorm formed around her and her captive audience began suffering from vertigo. 'I envy Ichigo and Orihime.' Apache and Mila Rose thought, their faces turning green as Sun-Sun's hair, while their sister felt her head spinning. They were relatively lucky, as everyone else felt their STOMACHS spinning.

Thankfully, Mosstera decided to be merciful though no less dramatic. She bent down and, like a figure skater, stuck out a single leg, before jumping up and flipped, all the while still spinning. When she landed, she crouched down; her head and neck level with her hands and knives, her left held out for quick jabs, and her right held close for defense and powerful stabs; her legs bent at a perfect saddle position, standing only on the balls of her feet, optimizing balance and reflex. Only one word could describe it all: PERFECTION. Everything PERFECTLY balanced and optimized.

…..well, ALMOST perfect. A closer look revealed that Mosstera was QUITE green in the face, and looked ready to vomit her guts out at the SLIGHTEST disturbance.

Tragically, or humorously, depending on your point of view, Mallvado provided a MASSIVE disturbance. He guffawed so loud, what remained of Aizen's palace completely collapsed, as did quite a few nearby sand dunes. He laughed so hard, he had to hold his weapon underneath his stomach to keep from falling over. Luckily for him, Mosstera was quite a way from him, as she promptly vomited everything left in her stomach, breaking her perfect stance.

"How... many times...will...you...DO that?" Mallvado asked, struggling to regain his breath and his balance, as Mosstera fought to recover her stance, and her dignity. "You do that EVERY time, and it all ends up the same: you spin, you twirl, you flip, you puke. Not that I'm complaining.". "Until I get it RIGHT." Mosstera replied with surprising calm. "I WAS the most athletic of all the Espada. This sort of thing only shows I've been out of practice. Once I'm back in shape, I'll never puke again.". "You realize that you've been practicing that for QUITE a while, even from before you were demoted, and you STILL puke." Mallvado said, sounding faintly confused. "I know, but I'm getting better." Mosstera answered, completely unfazed or oblivious to where Mallvado was going.

"If you two could save it for AFTER the battle," Mokka interrupted. "then lets GO!" and with that the remaining former Espada charged. Everyone prepared for contact, when they were intercepted by the Vizards in a flash and a whoosh. "You've been fighting for QUITE a while. Let US handle this" Shinji said, as he intercepted Mallvado's Zanpakuto. "And maybe learn something.". The last remark earned QUITE a few ticked-off looks from the audience.

"I'll take this guy. Kensei, you and Mashiro take care of the weasel girl. Lisa, you and Love handle the harpooner." Shinji ordered as he pushed Mallvado off of him. "Rojuro, you've got the monkey. Hiyori, you and Hachi are back...OW!" he screamed as someone kicked him from behind, sending him tumbling over the sand, and into his opponent, HEAD-FIRST.

"Hey, what the big idea?!" he yelled as he pulled himself off his unconscious opponent. "Since when do YOU determine who I fight?!" Hiyori yelled back. "I'LL handle the monkey! ROJURO is back-up!" she screamed as she marched right up to her unfortunate victim. "Rojuro has a whip weapon, like the monkey. You've got a glorified BUTCHER knife! How will you compensate for the range?! I figure he's got the best chance of WINNING the fight!". "You think that LOW of my abilities?! I was a LIEUTENANT!" Hiyori screamed. "And I was a CAPTAIN!" Shinji responded, shortly receiving a kick to the face. "Hey, quit that! You want the monkey? FINE! Go for it!" he yelled, surprisingly intelligible despite the blood coming from his nose. "Thanks. I knew you'd see things my way!" Hiyori smirked as she turned to her opponent, Pannzius, who had just gotten back from her skip across the desert.

"She's got spunk. I'll give her that." a voice muttered, drawing Shinji's attention away. "But will it be enough?" Mallvado drawled as he raised his Zanpakuto level to his jaw, his left hand ahead to provide aim. "It's worked thus far. Why change a winning formula?" Shinji replied as he resumed

his stance and charged at his opponent.

Kensei and Mashiro charged toward Mosstera, who simply smirked. Kensei drew his Zanpakuto and held it with the blade pointed toward his elbow while Mashiro jumped up and prepared a drop-kick. Mosstera simply spun to her left and punched Kensei in the gut, knocking the wind out of him to everyone's surprise. "How...How...?!" Kensei stuttered, as he tried to regain his breath. "That's for me to know and you to find out." Mosstera replied as she turned to face Mashiro, who was still stunned that her captain was taken down so easily, and found herself tumbling over the sand from one punch to the gut.

"Don't be fooled by my physique." Mosstera boasted. "Of all the Espada, I have the greatest physical strength. Against me, even Yammy was a baby in comparison. If you wish to defeat me, you will have to do MUCH better. Otherwise, its no fun." and she resumed her stance. Kensei struggled up and charged again, this time with greater caution. Just as Mosstera tried a punch, Kensei flashed away and out of his opponent's reach...or so he thought. Mosstera appeared just before him and punched again, hitting him three times right in the solar plexus, then finished with a drop-kick, smacking him to the ground.

Kensei struggled to stand up, then doubled over, coughing, Mosstera watching from above, grinning widely. "THIS is the power of a CAPTAIN?!" she exclaimed. "Man if I knew it was going to be this easy, I would have pulled my punches!".

"Go easy on THIS!" a voice yelled out, surprising Mosstera. She barely turned when a pair of feet hit her dead center in the face, followed by three wheel-kicks to the jaw, and a drop kick on her head. She slammed into the sand, leaving behind a large crater. Kensei looked up and then felt a weight on his head, forcing him back into the sand.

"Wow Kensei, you're not doing so good!" a voice remarked from above. "Is there anything I can do to help?" it asked, infuriating Kensei, who threw his head back, sending Mashiro flying. "Well for ONE thing: DON'T stand on my HEAD!" he yelled, thoroughly ticked-off. "I was only worried! Why are you such a meanie?!" Mashiro whined as she pulled herself up. "Meanie! Meanie! Kensei's a MEANIE!" she whined, throwing a tantrum. "Not NOW, Baka!" Kensei yelled as he tried to stand, only to double over as his vision dimmed and his head swam. "Sorry Kensei, but no fighting for now!" Mashiro said, her tantrum completely forgotten. "I'll handle this weasel. Later!" and she flashed away as her enemy worked her way up.

Mosstera, pulled her Zanpakuto before her and dodged another of Mashiro's kicks, but before she could initiate a counter-attack, Mashiro yelled "Mashiro StepKick!", stepped up over her knife, and landed a kick straight in the face, knocking her back. Mashiro then grabbed Mosstera's left hand and knee-kicked her right in the temple, and even then did not stop. Yelling "SpeedKick!" she launched a barrage of kicks straight into Mosstera's chest, taking care to hit the solar plexus especially hard. Finally, she yelled "Mashiro PowerKick!" and kicked Mosstera right under the chin and sent her flying across the sand.

"Wow, I had such a hard time!" Kensei exclaimed, finally succeeding in standing up. "How did you counter her so easily?!". "It's simple. She's all about counter-attacks." Mashiro said, and Kensei felt his ego deflate after realizing such an obvious fact. "How'd you know?". "I noticed that she NEVER initiated an attack, but waited for us." she replied, taking the tone of a professor explaining that two plus two equals four. "I figured she'd try the same thing, and I simply planned one move ahead. And it worked! YAY!" she yelled, her pedantic tone completely forgotten.

"Looks like you're tougher than I thought." Mosstera remarked, having risen out of the sand with not so much as a bruise. "Guess I'll have to make it harder." she smirked as she flashed toward them.

Hiyori and Pannzius savagely flashed at each other, striking at every opportunity. Pannzius had the advantage in terms of range, having longer arms and a much longer Zanpakuto, but Hiyori was stronger, or just hit harder. Pannzius tried to whip her Zanpakuto around to entangle Hiyori, but she flashed away and appeared behind her monkey opponent, ready to decapitate her with one swing...only to snarl in rage as her opponent flashed away JUST in time.

"Sorry. Better luck next time." Pannzius mocked as she stuck her tongue out and began twirling her Zanpakuto above her head. Growling in fury, Hiyori launched at her, only to get smacked across the face as Pannzius brought her Zanpakuto down while maintaining the twirling motion. Soon, Hiyori felt blood run down her arms and sides as Pannzius' Zanpakuto cut across where she had been hit. Furious at the situation, Hiyori flashed away, looked down at her wounds, and sighed in relief. 'They're only shallow ones. None in the neck or armpits. But this isn't working.' she thought, anger quickly emanating from her stomach. 'No gotta think, not just charge head-on. DAMN! Maybe Shinji was right. No! I got into this. Now I've gotta get outta this. Think, damn it! THINK!' she thought, trying to calm her anger. Then, smirking, she drew her Zanpakuto, and charged again.

"They never learn." Pannzius muttered as she began twirling her Zanpakuto again, awaiting for her opponent. When she was within range, Pannzius lowered her still-spinning Zanpakuto just as before...but to her surprise she felt the Zanpakuto tug against her towards her opponent. "What the...?!" she began just as a sandal found it's way into her face and halfway to her brain, courtesy of the Hiyori Express.

Pannzius once more found herself flying across the desert sand, but righted herself up much more quickly this time, flipping herself up on one hand, followed by a reverse somersault, and lowered into a crouch on all fours. "Guess comparing you to a monkey was a bit unfair on you." she said, standing up. "You wrapped your Zanpakuto around mine when I lowered it, and then pulled before I realized it. Very clever. For that, you're promoted..." she said as Hiyori smirked. "...to chimp." she finished, earning Hiyori's fury anew. "CHIMP?!" she yelled, and charged head-on once more. 'Here we go again.' Pannzius sighed as she ran to intercept.

Shinji and Mallvado circled one another, looking for an opening, flashing back and forth to try to throw the other off balance. 'He's waiting for me to make the first move.' Shinji observed as he flashed behind his enemy to try an attack from behind, but Mallvado was too fast and blocked him. 'So much for that. Should I try again, or get comfortable? This could last all day.' he continued as he flipped away and resumed his stance. 'I'll try to wait him out, but I'm going for the first opportunity.' he decided as he stepped to the side, careful to keep Mallvado in his sights. Mallvado kept stepping side to side, then stopped and began to chuckle.

"Waiting for me to make the first move I see." he said, making Shinji frown in frustration. "Guess I'll have to oblige. Otherwise I'll die from boredom. Here I GO!" he said as he flashed ahead and took a wild swing at Shinji. Shinji effortlessly dodged it, only to feel something bang against his head, making him stagger back. Mallvado quickly followed through with slash across Shinji's left bicep, inflicting a deep wound and taking out a lot of flesh. Mallvado tried a second swing, but Shinji recovered just in time, parried the attack and thrust into Mallvado's left arm, just below the shoulder. But, while his aim was true, straight for the armpit, his opponent was not, as Mallvado dodged to the right just in time, so Shinji pierced down the middle of the arm and not the armpit.

"Not bad." Mallvado said. "That's the first time anyone survived that attack." "Thanks." Shinji said, superficially smiling. 'This guy's Zanpakuto can't thrust or stab but its cut is superb and it causes massive bleed-out. Plus, it can bludgeon, and it's faster than I thought. I'll have to be careful.' he thought as he resumed his stance.

Kensei and Mashiro darted in close for another attack on Mosstera. By now, Mosstera had quit relying purely on counter-attacks, and began taking the fight to the Vizards. All three Flashed at each other, Kensei thrust high while Mashiro attempted a sweeping kick at Mosstera's legs. Mosstera, focused on Kensei, found herself flat on the ground, starring up in the sky, Kensei bearing down on her, preparing to finish her with a stab to the face...

….when Mosstera blocked the attack, tucked her leg under Kensei, and kicked him over her head, sending him barreling into Mashiro. As Mosstera picked herself up, she looked up and saw both Vizards tumbling across the sand, eventually smashing into a piece of standing wall, knocking Mashiro out as she hit the wall directly on the head. Kensei, his eyes squinted in pain, pulled himself up into a kneeling position, and started to stretch his arms up, then out to the side, trying to work out some of the pain and soreness. As he stretched them downward, he began to feel the pain and fatigue ebb away from his arms, allowing him to slowly open his eyes. 'Well now to get back to...oh SHIT!' he thought as he realized that one of his hands came a bit close to the chest of his former lieutenant.

Awkwardly too close.

"Sorry!" he said quickly as he pulled himself away from the awkward scene with almost super-Flash speed. Dusting himself off, Kensei turned back to his opponent, but not before sparing a quick glance at Mashiro...and felt himself burn when he saw the stupid grin on her face. 'We're fighting for our lives, and she's taking a NAP!' he thought, furious at the idea. 'Note to self: Berate Lieutenant on Proper Conduct During Battle! You've got a weasel to deal with.' and he Flashed back to the battle.

"Ready for Round Two?" Mosstera taunted upon Kensei's approach. "Yeah. For Victory!" Kensei yelled as he charged. "Here we go again. Here we go again." Mosstera said, sing-song manner, as she casually took her battle-stance. As Kensei drew nearer, she crossed her two blades into an X-shape and waited to strike, to decapitate Kensei through a simultaneous outward pull of her blades.

At the last minute, she pulled her blades, scraping Kensei's neck and drawing blood, and revealing the network of arteries and ligaments beneath. A bit further and the pure white of bone could be seen. A millisecond later, the vertebrate had been fully severed and Kensei's head rolled across the sand, his body collapsed in an immobile heap at Mosstera's feet.

Or at least it should have been so. A second look and Mosstera found Kensei's head retained a permanent link to his crouching body. 'How?!' Mosstera pondered in disbelief as Kensei sprang up and delivered a bone-shattering uppercut to her mandible, followed by a series of punches to her solar plexus and ribs, causing her to spin in mid-air. Kensei topped his attack with an ax-kick to the top of her head, sending her plummeting to the ground, a trip accelerated by Kensei standing on her head on the way down.

Upon landing, Kensei back-flipped and prepared to finish her off with a stab to the head. Only to be stopped by a massive surge of reiastu...a surge that actually knocked him back a few paces. As he regained his balance, he watched as Mosstera picked herself up and, shaking the sand off her head, altered her grip so the blades pointed toward the wrist and her fingers wrapped around the guard rather than the hilt. "OK. Now it's personal. Gyakusate, Oso Demoniaco (Slaughter, Demonic Bear)!" she yelled as her blades seemed to disintegrate and form a cloud around her, occluding her from view.

When she re-emerged, she was greatly muscled up, like she had undergone a decade worth of weight training instantaneously. Strangely enough, she retained her relatively lanky build, as her neck seemed to stretch forward, and her mask fragments extended to give her a white helmet with protruding eyebrow ridges. To top it off, she gained razor-sharp claws for hands and a long bushy tail, dark fur surrounded by gold. "Well, ready to die?" Mosstera growled, and crouched down, waiting to begin.

'Guess I should use it.' Kensei thought, bringing his hands to his face, ready to put on his mask. Suddenly, Mosstera appeared right before him, forcing him to Flash away just as her claws raked across his face. 'Did she get faster?!' he wondered as Mosstera attacked again, managing to scrape Kensei's cheek across the face, drawing blood (for real!). A cracking sound later showed that the shock-wave from the attempted swipe had shattered the foundation of one of Aizen's towers.

'What do I do?' Kensei pondered as he fought to keep calm. 'At this rate, she'll wear me down. If I can release Bankai and summon my Hollow mask, I would be able to fight on a more even footing.' he thought as he felt a glancing blow to his side shatter the bones beneath. 'But releasing Bankai takes time.'. A second blow landed in his stomach, and he started tasting blood. 'My Hollow mask is faster but it does not pack as much energy in the initial burst.'. A casual backhand sent him flying across the sand. 'So, I'll need to Hollowfy first, then release Bankai.' he realized as he dodged the follow through.

'Maybe if I...' he thought as he jumped up to gain altitude, prompting Mosstera to follow him. 'It just might work.' he decided as Mosstera closed in for another attack. Surprisingly, Kensei, back-flipped and began falling to the ground. Bewildered, Mosstera stood stunned, before deciding to follow him. Just as Kensei was about to hit the ground, he tucked himself and tumbled, weakening the force of the fall, and bringing him up just as Mosstera was upon him. Tucking his leg up, he caught her in the chest and kicked up, knocking the wind from her and buying himself some time. Flipping himself up, he held his Zanpakuto so the blade faced outward at a flat level to his hand, while the other hand went to his face. "Bankai!" he yelled, releasing a gust of wind across the desert as sand, kicked up by the release of his reiatsu, enveloped him. Shortly afterward, the sand was blown violently away as he stood, his white Hollow mask covering his face, turning to face Mosstera, who was just beginning to get back up.

"Now we're getting somewhere!" he announced as she charged. Kensei met her head-on, but crouched and punched her to her solar plexus, then uppercut her under the chin, undermining her balance. Unlike last time, she remained standing, and she boasted "I'm too sturdy for that.". "Then how about this?" Kensei asked as he unleashed a torrent of wind that encircled Mosstera, picking up sand and completely blinding her, as sand and grit ground at her eyes.

Mosstera, unable to see, found herself kneeling as she tried to regain her senses. Squeezing her eyes shut, she struggled to get up, trying to hear, or perhaps just smell, something over than the ongoing sand twister around her. Then, hearing an increase in pitch in the wind's howl, she felt herself being picked up off the ground, and the speed of the spin increased as well. Puzzled though she was at this turn of events, she barely had time to contemplate its meaning, as she felt a series of punches raining down on her, many of them hitting the same spot again and again. Eventually even she could not shrug off the pain and fatigue much longer, and she began to panic.

In desperation, she thrust her claws in the direction of where she felt the punches originate, only to scream in agony as the sand and wind tore her flesh to ribbons. More punches rained down, weakening her further. Again she attempted to retaliate, only to suffer the same fate. "Sorry, but after what you've done to me, you're not getting off so easily." Kensei yelled, if only to be heard over the roar of the wind.

A few more punches and the wind began to die down, enough so that Mosstera could stand again, if only for a few seconds. Soon after vertigo took over and she promptly vomited onto the sand. Once she emptied her stomach a second time, she staggered to her feet and tried to effect a stance. "Damn you. Damn you. Damn YOU!" she yelled as she blinked the sand out of her eyes, trying to see her enemy. "Shut up will you." Kensei said, his voice to her left. She lunged, hoping to take him by surprise, but he dodged pathetically easy. "You know, I must confess that you gave me a genuinely new experience." he said, dodging her repeated attempts to attack him. "You introduced me to someone more annoying than Mashiro. Well, thanks and good-bye." he concluded before punching her for the last time. Aiming for the eye orbits, the most vulnerable part of a human skull, his punch went straight through her head and exited out the other side. Mosstera collapsed in a heap before disintegrating into spirit particles.

Meanwhile, Hiyori and Pannzius were driving each other nuts with their taunts and insults, and the fight was becoming ever-more intense. Forget Zanpakuto; they soon found themselves locked together, Pannzius with her head in Hiyori's arms, and Hiyori with her head held by Pannzius' legs. In the midst of the pain and fury, both found themselves wondering 'How the hell do we get outta this?!'. Everyone else had a better question: How did they get into that mess in the first place?

Que Flashback:

Hiyori charged toward Pannzius, holding her Zanpakuto tightly, fury flooding her mind as she swung as hard as she could. Pannzius, smiling smugly, simply jumped up and over the strike. As Hiyori fought to regain control, Pannzius landed on top of her opponent's Zanpakuto, squatted down, and gave Hiyori a mock kiss. Turning red from fury and embarrassment, Hiyori froze, her train of thought just leaving the optical station on the way to the brain. Taking her chance, Pannzius jumped up from her crouch, pushing her opponent's Zanpakuto deep into the sand, taking Hiyori with it, and landed some distance from her.

Chattering madly, Pannzius did a little dance as she watched Hiyori struggle to get her Zanpakuto out of the sand. After Hiyori failed the first few exertions, she took a deep breath and tried again, only to find herself kissing sand as her Zanpakuto snapped back down and sunk further. This sight caused Pannzius to start crying in laughter. 'She can't even handle her own weapon!' she thought as her vision blurred...

….at a most inopportune time it turned out. Hiyori, in her fury, had finally pulled herself and her Zanpakuto out of the sand and turned to her chattering monkey opponent. Realizing that she was blind, Hiyori took her chance and Flashed over and kicked the monkey Arrancar in the stomach, abruptly ending her laugh-fest. Just as Pannzius opened her eyes and blinked away her tears, Hiyori followed through with a kick to the face, a punch to the ribs, and a head-butt. Though dazed from the last attack, she found herself grinning in triumph in her finally fruitful efforts.

Her moment of triumph was short-lived though, as Pannzius had regained her senses and slapped Hiyori in the face, provoking the same from her now furious opponent. For a few priceless seconds, the two girls just slapped each other one after the other. Then Pannzius started to punch Hiyori, but was caught and taken into a headlock. As Hiyori began raking her over the top of her head, Pannzius twisted herself at the hips, pulled her legs over her back, forcing Hiyori to lean forward and grabbing her head with her feet.

Which is how they ended up in their present predicament.

End Flashback:

As Hiyori and Pannzius struggled to get free of their deadlock, Rojuro, partly from concern for his teammate, and partly from an aversion to dying of laughter, brought himself out of his idleness, and Flashed over to the girls. 'Looks like I have to do this the hard way.' he thought and pressed a couple of pressure points on the girls, causing them to freeze up. After they had frozen, Rojuro had a very simple time of unlocking them. 'Guess I'd better skedaddle. Hiyori will kill me for this if I don't.' he thought as he Flashed away.

Once Hiyori regained her ability to move, she turned toward Rojuro and yelled "Remind me to kill you later, bozo!". "I'll put it in my schedule." Rojuro cavalierly responded. "Now back to business." Hiyori muttered as she resumed her stance. "Looks like I'll have to take it up a notch." Pannzius said, and pulled out her Zanpakuto. 'Just what I was thinking." thought Hiyori as she Pivoting on one leg, she turned so her right side faced Hiyori. Then, holding her Zanpakuto in her left hand, she held it up over her head as if in a pretext to attack. Then she ran her right hand along its length, until there was an arm span of distance between her hands. Finally, she lifted her right foot up, so she looked like a monkey hanging from a branch above the ground. Concurrently, Hiyori held her Zanpakuto at her right side, the blade pointing straight up, her right hand above her left.

"Dasshute, Demencia (Escape, Madness)!" "Buttegire, Kubikiri Orochi (Chop Cleanly, Beheading Serpent)!" Pannzius and Hiyori yelled respectively. Two massive blasts of reiatsu blew out and collided with each other, creating a brief but very intense sandstorm.

When the sand settled, Hiyori was holding her Shikai weapon, a gigantic serrated butcher knife, in the same vertical position, ready to chop down on her monkey opponent. Her opponent, Pannzius was standing in much the same position, but now she was covered in black fur and was much more muscled than she was before, looking like a bipedal chimpanzee.

'No wonder she was so monkey-like.' Hiyori thought as she took in Pannzius' new look. 'Maybe I shouldn't do this. Yeah right!' and she Flashed forward. At the last minute, she chopped down, cleaving Pannzius right down the middle. Obviously slain, Pannzius collapsed, leaving Hiyori triumphant.

Or so she thought, as she felt a tap on the shoulder. Annoyed, Hiyori turned and had to do a double-take as she saw Pannzius standing there before her, very much alive. 'Impossible!' Hiyori thought and tried a second attack. This time, Pannzius slipped under it and punched Hiyori in the ribs, shattering them on contact, and knocking the wind out of Hiyori. 'She's gotten stronger.' Hiyori observed before another punch hit her in the gut. As she doubled in pain, Pannzius followed through with a barrage of punches to the gut, solar plexus, and ribs. 'She's faster too.' Hiyori thought as she tasted blood and tried her best to hit her target. Unfortunately, her opponent's new speed combined with the damage she took meant that her attack was slow and weak. Pannzius simply jumped over it and kicked Hiyori in the nose. As she skidded across the sand, Pannzius somersaulted and appeared behind her, setting herself up for a perfect follow-through, and kicked Hiyori in the backside, sending her back where she came from.

Pannzius repeated the process another two times, and Hiyori lay in a heap, battered, bloodied, and barely conscious. Pannzius, seeing this, began to laugh hysterically and started to dance. Hiyori, hearing how she was being made a laughingstock, forced herself up, and raised her hand to her face. 'Looks like I gotta do it.' she admitted and summoned her Hollow mask.

A blast of reiatsu cut Pannzius' dance short once more, and she turned to be her opponent standing up and seemingly reinvigorated. "Yeah!" she yelled and she charged. This time though, Hiyori intercepted her, and punched her in the gut, causing her to double over. 'How'd she...?!' she wondered as Hiyori began a barrage of punches to the solar plexus. As Pannzius fell to her knees, Hiyori raised her weapon up, ready to finish her, only to very nearly collapse herself.

"Looks like you're at the end of the line." Pannzius said as she stood up and kicked Hiyori across the face. "Seems a shame to keep this all to myself." she said as she raked her hand across her arms, pulling out some loose hair. Holding them to her face, she blew air across them, adding her reiatsu into them, transforming them into solid copies of herself. "The more the merrier." she sang as she and her doubles prepared to finish Hiyori off.

Just as they were to deliver the death blow, Hiyori unleashed a Cero that destroyed the doubles and caused Pannzius to back-flip away. "Guess I need to make some more friends." she said as she pulled out more hairs, making over a hundred copies, at the exchange of two bald spots on her arms.

"What will you do now, Shinigami?" she mocked as she and her doubles surrounded Hiyori and took a battle-stance. "Charge, Monkey Brigade!" she yelled, her doubles racing across the sand.

Just as they reached Hiyori, a reddish surge of energy cut across the landscape, cutting down all the doubles and slashing into Pannzius' legs, preventing her escape. As she fell to the ground, Hiyori Flashed toward her, raising her Zanpakuto so that it was perpendicular to her opponent's neck. "Gee, and I was thinking that I could play with you some more." Hiyori said, sarcasm barely disguised. 'Guess I won't get to show off my Shikai effect. Guess I'll save it for carrot-top in his training.' she thought as she reared back and chopped across Pannzius' neck, cutting down to the spine before getting caught. With a great heave, Hiyori pulled it through and chopped the head all the way off. 'Better go see the doctor.' she thought as she Flashed toward Unohana.

She had just arrived when she collapsed from sheer exhaustion.

Shinji and Mallvado, now well into the fight, were back to their standoff phase, neither one willing to make the first move. Both had been feigning attacks up to that time, trying to get the other to make a mistake or trip up on their defense, but neither had any luck. Aside from a few cuts and bruises, they looked as though the fight had just begun, and both were getting bored. "Guess I'll have to take the initiative and end this." Mallvado said and raised his Zanpakuto, holding it in a double-handed grip above his head, over his left shoulder, the blade pointed to the ground, his knees half-bent with the right leg ahead of the left. Then he yelled "Shukkete, Corazon Roto (Bleed, Broken Heart)!". His Zanpakuto turned red as a blood-colored, viscous fluid seeped out from the fragmented blade. The fluid then rained down onto Mallvado, coating him in what seemed to be blood. Once he was completely covered, the fluid hardened, then turned black, seemingly immobilizing him.

Just as Shinji took a step to further examine his opponent, the hardened fluid cracked, and blew apart, very nearly goring into Shinji. When he looked back, he saw that Mallvado had acquired a kind of red armor that covered his sides, thighs, and upper arms. His mask fragments had enlarged and extended down his cheeks, flaring out into triangular-shaped muttonchops. His lower arms and calves were now black, and ended with claws instead of hands, though were still highly dexterous. Behind him, Shinji could see something swishing back and forth. Something gold-colored.

"Well, let's get down to business." Mallvado said and charged forward. Shinji only JUST managed to Flash away before Mallvado's claws tore through him. 'He's fast.' he thought, as he dodged another attack. As he stopped by a remnant of Aizen's towers to get his bearings, he felt Mallvado's reiatsu behind him, and managed to Flash away yet again. Unfortunately for the tower, Mallvado's claws ripped right through it. 'He's strong too.' Shinji thought, inwardly beginning to panic. 'Should I Hollowfy? Too soon?' He asked himself as he continued dodging attacks...

….that is until he felt a nasty rip in his left arm. Looking down he saw blood flowing from a lemon-sized hole. 'And that was just from a swipe!' he realized as he dodged the follow-up. "All right no more messing around." he said and pulled his hand to his face, gathering forth his Hollow reiatsu. As he mask formed, he charged, forcing Mallvado to dodge. Just as Mallvado Flashed away, Shinji caught up and slashed before Mallvado could Flash away. 'Looks like I'm faster.' Shinji thought as he pressed his advantage. Mallvado could only JUST dodge and evade. 'I'm getting bored.' Shinji thought as he swung his sword wide, only to drop down to his knees, faking Mallvado and leaving him without time to react. Grinning wide, Shinji thrust forward, aiming straight for the heart...

….only to be stopped DEAD in his tracks. Mallvado, grinning, grabbed Shinji's Zanpakuto, pulled it to the side, and punched Shinji right in the mask, shattering it. "Did you honestly think that it was so easy?" Mallvado taunted as Shinji collapsed, his power drained from him. "Sure you MIGHT have been faster, but my Hierro is MUCH tougher than you gave it credit for. What I lack in speed, my Hierro makes up for. However..." he trailed off as he towered over Shinji.

"...my GREATEST power is not strength nor speed." he finished as Shinji looked up. Grabbing him by the shirt, he pulled up, looking him straight in the eye. "Wanna see my true power?" he asked, clearing not expecting a negative answer. "Look behind me." he said, pulling Shinji up over his head, and Shinji saw what it was that was swishing earlier: a tail.

Nine tails actually, constantly swishing back and forth. The color was so pure gold, that Fort Knox MUST have been filled by the efforts of forgers, not miners.

"Like it, do you?" Mallvado asked, smirking. "Well, too bad. Cause I have to kill you now." he grinned as his tails fanned out in a peacock-fashion. "Well, THEY love YOU!" Mallvado yelled as his tails swished, they began to shimmer, then shine brightly in a light rivaling the sun, forcing Shinji to close his eyes. When he opened them, Mallvado seemed to freeze solid, but before he could attack, he felt a sharp pain in his gut, knocking the wind out of him, then he felt a sharp ripping sensation in his left arm along with a loud cracking before his body was thrown by thirty meters.

'How did he...? Wait, I get it: disorientation. As I focus on his tails, he forms an afterimage in my head, allowing him to sneak up on me.' he realized as he pulled himself up, taking care to avoid watching the tails again. Looking down, he saw a large chunk of flesh missing from his arm as well as a broken bone fragment protruding from the wound. 'Guess I have to use it: my Shikai.' he thought as he Flashed back to his enemy. "I get it. Now let me show you MY true power. Taorero, Sakenade (Collapse, Counter Stroke." he said as his Zanpakuto's pommel became a large ring and the blade became punctuated with holes. Mallvado watched with scorn as the blade began to spin around the pommel and said "Wow it matches your personality: very weird. What is it supposed to do?". "Patience, and all will be revealed. Noticed a distinct scent?" Shinji replied, smiling as his opponent's face turned to shock. "Too late to hold your breath now. Welcome, to the Inverted World." Shinji said as Mallvado watched his world turn topsy-turvy. "Well, here I come." Shinji said as he launched his attack. Mallvado moved to block from the front, but felt the blade slash across his back from behind. 'What in hell?!' he wondered as blood flowed from his back. 'I get it. EVERYTHING'S inverted. Up and down. Left and right. Back and forth. Guess I need to get serious.' he thought and turned to face Shinji again.

Only to see Shinji come at him from the front again. "Think I'll fall for that TWICE?!" he yelled as he turned to face the back. "Got ya!" he yelled as he swung to intercept Shinji's slash...only to feel the slash across his right arm. 'Damn! The direction that I take damage is also inverted!' he thought as he assess the damage. 'Just a scratch. No big deal.'. He turned but did not see Shinji anywhere, so he turned round and saw Shinji charge again. Mallvado turned back to intercept, but Shinji jumped 'down' to attack from 'below'. He turned up to block, but saw Shinji turn 'left', so he turned on reflex to block, but felt a sharp slash from his lower back, severing four of his tails. 'Damn it! He's good! And I have to invert everything in my head, slowing my responses.' he thought as he resumed his fighting stance. 'This time, I have to hit him, or he'll wear me down. Here it goes!'.

He saw Shinji run to him from the front, so he turned back to intercept, but Shinji crouched 'up' so he turned downward and made to sweep with his sword, but saw Shinji jump 'down'. 'Now!' he thought as he leaned forward, giving Shinji the best view of his remaining tails. As they shimmered again, Shinji hesitated in his attack. 'Here it goes!' Mallvado thought as he thrust upward to attack... only to see Shinji Flash away. As he frantically searched for Shinji, he felt a sharp pain in his eyes, as Shinji's sword slashed across them, blinding him. Mallvado, screaming in pain, lost himself and felt a new thrust in his throat, severing his carotid artery. Falling to the ground, he heard Shinji say "Not bad. You're the first that lasted this long in a while. You figure things out quickly, just not quickly enough.". As Mallvado disintegrated into spirit particles, Shinji Flashed back to Unohana just before he began coughing up blood.

Lisa and Love, getting progressively tired, circled Mokka, taking turns attacking him using Flash Step, but could not inflict a fatal blow. Whenever they ventured too close, Mokka would swing his harpoon around, trying to hit them. 'His Hierro is too tough and his harpoon's too fast.' they thought as they dodged another swing. Eventually Lisa managed to thrust hard enough into Mokka's arm to draw blood, eliciting a roar of rage, but had to withdraw to avoid his counter-attack. As she recovered, she saw Mokka begin to rotate his harpoon above his head, trailing behind a large, heavy chain as long as the harpoon that ended with a large heavy ball. As Lisa watched, she felt herself being blown back by the wind being generated by Mokka spinning his harpoon. Mokka soon began speeding up the spinning, creating a miniature sandstorm and forcing both his opponents to cover their eyes. Though she was blinded by the sand, Lisa could see a dark object bearing down on Love to her left...

...which was growing larger by the minute. "Love, look out!" she yelled out, but was too late. The ball hit Love straight in the sternum, knocking him back across the desert. Before she could worry about her teammate, she saw Mokka throw his harpoon straight at her heart. She flashed away JUST in time. As she regained her footing, she saw that the force of the throw was so great that it created another sandstorm, destroying three sand dunes in its flight, eventually embedded itself, three-quarters deep in the sand. Peeling herself from the spectacle she had just witnessed, Lisa turned back to Love, worry clear on her usually calm face...

….and sighed in relief when she saw Love on his feet, looking back at her through yellow eyes behind his white, ogrish Hollow mask. As he lowered himself to charge back into the fight, he briefly stumbled and grasped his chest where he had been hit. Lisa, seeing him double-over, started to run toward him, but he waved her back. "No. It's all right. Just a little sore." he said, trying to calm her down. Reluctantly, Lisa turned back to Mokka and prepared to continue the fight. 'THAT was FRIGHTENING!' Love thought as he resumed his stance. 'If I hadn't donned my mask at the last second, I would've been KILLED! And even THEN, it ALMOST took me out! We'd better finish this quick!' and he charged, bringing his sword up and yelled "Uchikudake, Tengumaru (Crush down, Long-Nosed Goblin)!" and his Zanpakuto changed from a katana to a giant black club, with spikes running down the sides. As he closed in on Mokka, he jumped as Mokka tried to sweep him off with a swing to the feet and pulled his Zanpakuto down hard. Mokka, still struggling with the inertia of the swing, had only enough time to look up and see the giant club swing down upon him.

Love, seeing his enemy unable to escape, smirked as his Zanpakuto made contact, only to feel himself flying across the desert, tumbling over and over in midair, wrecking havoc with his inner ear canals and inducing nausea, which grew worse as he continuing tumbling. While in midair, he saw why he was performing midair acrobatics: Mokka had used Sonido to dodge the attack, then FLICKED him with one FINGER, sending him flying.

'Damn it!' Love cursed as he prepared for another attack. "Lisa, high next time!" he yelled, hoping she get the message. Seeing her give a curt nod, he charged, straight at Mokka and his now-spinning harpoon. Just as the heavy ball was about to make contact, he ducked and tumbled, dodging the ball, taking Mokka by surprise. "Lisa, NOW!" he yelled, swinging his Zanpakuto as fast as he could, distracting Mokka as he closed in, forcing Mokka to parry his attack...

….exactly as Lisa smashed down on Mokka's head with the blade end of her Zanpakuto, forcing Mokka face-first into the sand. Lisa looked down at her fallen foe, and grinned with delight that they had finally managed to hit their tiresome foe.

At that moment, they felt a tremendous rise of spiritual pressure emanating from their foe. Turning, they saw Mokka pull himself up, his reiatsu emitting itself as a huge, dense aura around him. "Bastards. Bastards! BASTARDS!" he yelled, pure rage emanating in waves from him, wiping up the sand itself into a frenzy. "I'LL KILL YOU!" he yelled as he held his harpoon up as though to throw it and roared "Utsu, Venganza (Avenge, Revenge)!". His harpoon then released pure white reiatsu that covered him from head to toe. Once covered, he began to grow to enormous size, surpassing even Yammy in his released form. His head grew larger and elongated, almost like a torpedo with eyes on the side, his mask remnants and hair combined to make his new head almost pure white. His robes tightened on him, almost sticking to his skin, but the tailing end of his robes split into a pair of flukes, like a whale's tail. His legs grew thicker and seemed to bow under his new weight, and they gained a pair of triangular blades akin to a whale's dorsal fins, as did his arms, which also grew thicker as he enlarged in size.

As Lisa and Love looked up in awe and fear, Mokka roared, firing his Cero in their direction. Fortunately for them, their reflexes saved them JUST in time. Furious, Mokka punched the ground, sending a shock-wave through the earth and causing the now barely standing ruins to sink under the sand, erasing all sign that they ever stood. As he continued his onslaught, all Love and Lisa could do was dodge and evade, albeit just barely. After a while, Mokka seemed to tire and his attack slowed, giving them the opportunity to hit back, firing their own Cero at him, but all that did was make Mokka even angrier, and his attacks resumed, with even greater ferocity as he fired a Bala from his arms like a machine gun.

While Love and Lisa managed to evade most of his attacks, a stray shot hit Love square in the gut, sending him flying back behind the lines. Before Mokka could gloat, however, Lisa took the opportunity to attack him from behind, smashing him on the back of the neck with her Zanpakuto, then following it up with a barrage of punches to the same spot, moving so quickly it looked like a single punch. For the finale, she fired her Cero at point-blank range, toppling him onto the sand, sending a large cloud around him. Lisa, now totally exhausted, Flashed back to the lines to try and recuperate. Just as she returned, everyone felt a huge increase in spiritual pressure, almost crushing them under it. Fighting against the sheer pressure, they turned to its source and saw slowly but surely Mokka rise, his eyes blood-red and looking furious. "Bitch. You think THAT would defeat me?!" he yelled. As he rose, he remembered the last time he faced an opponent that gave him such a fight: the last days of his life.

Que Flashback:

He was a young but experienced whaler, operating from Nantucket and New Bedford. While still young, not even thirty years old, he became quite famous for his skill in whaling, killing more whales than men twice his age and making him a well-coveted prize for ships and companies alike. One day, he was sitting at a bar, drinking and telling tales of his exploits, awing his audience with his skill, bravery, and exquisite story-telling. However, while they loved every minute of it, he was bored, as he had told the same stories for five years, and yearned for a challenge.

Well, he got his wish, for an old man scoffed at his tales, and told him of a giant, ferocious, albino sperm whale from the South Pacific, which came to be named Mocha Dick, for the Mocha Islands. Fascinated and exhilarated by such a story, the young whaler searched for a ship heading south, hoping to catch the fabled whale for himself.

One day, he spotted the whale in question and headed off in a longboat, alongside most of the crew. As they pulled up on the whale, he took careful aim and threw his harpoon, striking Mocha Dick square in the back, blood gushing out like a geyser.

A huge mistake, as the whale dove straight down, taking the longboat with him and nearly drowning the crew. While the whaler managed to stay afloat, even managing to scramble to another boat, the whale was not finished with the crew by any means. He came up near a second longboat, breaching so powerfully that his whole body threw itself out of the water, and as he came down, he crushed the longboat underneath him. The whaler, exhilarated by the sheer power and ferocity of Mocha Dick, reached down for another harpoon and urged the men to follow the whale, as it turned on the fourth longboat, turning it over with its flukes and breaking it in two. As the last longboat followed the whale, it turned on their ship, swimming with such speed that it seemed almost demonically fast. As it neared their ship, it seemed to ram it with its head, punching a hole in the hull and forcing the ship to turn landward.

Seeing their ship fleeing the scene, the men in the longboat tried to turn away, but the whaler, determined to the point of obsession, pressed them on, bearing down on Mocha Dick. Once at the edge of his range, he threw his harpoon and pierced the whale's back once more. The whale sounded, leaving the rope slack, and the men perplexed...then the whale breached underneath them, throwing them into the sea. The whaler, fighting his way to the surface, searched for a harpoon or knife or anything to fight with, only to fell a huge pressure on his waistline and saw that some rope had entangled him around his waist, rope that was attached to the harpoon that he had thrown at the whale. Now the whale was diving, dragging him along with it. Despite his desperate efforts to free himself, the whale dragged him deeper and deeper until he drowned.

Upon his death, he became furious and, unable to move on, became a Hollow, taking on much of the attributes of the one responsible for his death. After evolving to Adjuchas, he continued his rampage, killing and eating others simply to relieve his rage, eventually meeting Aizen, who transformed him into an Arrancar, Mokka Paccifuccos, named after the cause and place of his death, all he could remember, and even became the tenth Espada...until Yammy was born and he was replaced. Enraged, he plotted revenge, even if it meant execution at Aizen's hands. But before he could gain revenge, Yammy died at the hands of these puny weaklings...

End Flashback:

….weaklings that were now beating him. Feeling fully enraged, he grew even larger and more muscular, akin to Yammy in his enraged form. Fully grown, he charged up a Cero and fired at the lines, forcing Hachi and Tessai to put up an emergency barrier. The barrier held, but the force was so great that the earth was gouged out, forming a perfect imprint of the barrier they just used.

"All right, enough of this." Hachi said as he and Tessai lowered the barrier. "I guess we have to take him out. Rojuro, I think it's our turn to play.". Rojuro nodded as he and Hachi donned their Hollow masks, and Flashed toward Mokka, who fired a series of Bala at them. Using Flash Step, the two remaining Vizards managed to elude the Bala fire and fired their own Cero back, aiming at the eyes, the one weak point left in Mokka's armor, but neither hit the mark and simply infuriated Mokka further.

"OK, new plan." Hachi said as he and Rojuro evaded another attack. 'Let me try this.' he thought as he used Kido to form a series of barrier to encase Mokka in a tight-fitting cage of sorts, stopping him in his tracks. Unfortunately, the barriers were stretched so much that it was not strong enough to hold Mokka back and he broke through it with sheer brute force, forcing Hachi to fall back. 'OK that didn't work.' Hachi thought as he Flashed around Mokka, hoping to distract him. Thankfully, Mokka was so enraged he was not thinking rationally or clearly and followed Hachi.

'Thanks Hachi. Let me try now.' Rojuro thought as he watched Mokka follow Hachi, firing Cero after Cero in a futile effort to hit him. Flying high over Mokka, he whipped his golden whip toward the back of Mokka's head and began to tap on the whip, causing a vibration to travel down the whip to Mokka's head. Upon it's arrival, the vibration created an explosive shock-wave, stunning the gigantic former Espada. Seeing their chance, Hachi and Rojuro both fired their Cero at the toppled giant, hitting him in the same spot that Rojuro's shock-wave had hit, followed by a final barrage of Bala, causing a cloud of sand and dust to rise around the fallen giant. As both Vizards stopped to catch their breath, Mokka simply laid face-down, perfectly still and immobile, and everyone waited for him to disintegrate...

….but it never came. Instead, to everyone's shock and disbelief, Mokka, slowly and without much coordination, rose to his feet, his eyes still blood-red in rage and his head cracked and dented but largely intact. "FOOLS!" he yelled. "My Hierro is thicker than before. But more importantly, I have chambers in my head, neck, and chest filled with gel, which acts as shock absorbers. And they are MUCH deeper than any of your weapons. In other words: YOU CAN'T HURT ME!" he roared as he charged another Cero, forcing his enemies to dodge. As they ran around him, they fired a series of Bala and an occasional Cero, taking care to hit the same spot each time.

After about thirty round trips, they stopped to assess the damage, but to their great shock and disappointment, all they did was slightly dent the Hierro, without any penetration further in. Mokka, seeing they stopped, raised his arms and pounded the ground, sending tremendous shock-waves through the earth, knocking the Vizards off balance. As they struggled to get off the ground, Mokka fired a Bala in their direction, but wobbled before firing, so he missed, albeit barely. Grateful for their good fortune, they Flashed away, hovering above the huge Arrancar, leaving him to wonder where they had gone.

"All right, what do we do now?" Hachi asked, keeping his voice low so as to not attract attention. "None of our attacks worked." Rojuro whispered back. "What about your Kido? Could you not just decapitate him?". "Not now. His reiatsu is too high, too dense, and his neck is too thick." Hachi explained, a downcast tone in his voice. "The best I could do is try and delay him. But we need more.". "Fortunately, I think I have an idea." Rojuro said, earning a surprised look from his teammate. "You see he's in a daze, almost like he's drunk or nearing a knockout. I think our attacks to his head did more damage than he let on. And I noticed that his head began leaking some fluid from inside through the cracks.". This last statement caused Hachi to look and sure enough, white fluid was leaking from the cracks in Mokka's head. "This means that his "gel" is really just a very dense liquid." Rojuro continued. "If he can drain enough from his head or neck, then his brain loses that protection and his Hierro loses its support. We need to keep attacking the same spot and drain it of the liquid, then I can finish him off." he finished, just as Mokka looked up and spotted them.

Roaring in rage at being fooled for so long, he fired his Cero, without wobble this time, but the Vizards, to his fury, managed to evade him yet again. This time, Flashing behind him, they flew at him at high speed, just below Flash Step, and kicked him in the same spot they hit before, knocking him senseless and making the cracks run deeper, accelerating the leakage but only slightly. Taking advantage of Mokka's disorientation, Rojuro gave a barrage of punches, followed by a double Cero from both Vizards, forcing the giant down on his knees. 'Again!' both thought as they prepared to fire another double Cero...when they were hit from behind and sent flying.

As they came to a gradual halt, they watched the giant rise again, even more slowly and with less coordination than last time, meaning that they were on the right track, but this time he did not stand up but stand crouched as he looked at them. "BASTARDS!" he roared. "I'LL KILL YOU!" he yelled and fired a Bala barrage at them, forcing them to Flash away. 'What was that?' they wondered as they ran. Then they saw something move behind the giant: his tail flukes. 'Oh them.' they thought as they ran to the side, and saw that the tail flukes were moving up and down to deter them from hitting him again. 'Great. So much for our plan.' Rojuro thought as he and Hachi continued dodging. 'If we want to hit him again, we need to get rid of those tail flukes.'. Rojuro then moved to attack the tail flukes, tying them up with his whip...

...but when they moved up, his arms were nearly ripped from their sockets. 'DAMN! He's too strong!' he cursed as he released the tail flukes, sending him flying backward. Mokka, having felt the tension on his tail flukes, slowly turned around to face them. Acting quickly, Hachi fired a Bala as Mokka's left eye turned to him, temporarily disorientating him and giving him time to catch his teammate as he flew backwards.

"You OK?" he asked, looking him over for injuries. "Yeah, only a few sore places." Rojuro replied. "Now, how do we deal with the tail flukes?" he asked, looking over as Mokka rubbed at his eye. "I doubt we can cut them off, or tie them to his legs." Hachi said, pondering their options. "He's too strong and his reiatsu is too dense.". Suddenly, in a flash of inspiration, he asked "What if we tie them to each other?". At Rojuro's confused expression he explained: "If his tail flukes are tied together, then they have to move in unison, making them easier to dodge. Also, in order to untie them, he would have to use his hands, as his tail flukes seem to have a limited range of motion, so he can't just snap them apart. If we do that and attack enough times, we should be able to do enough damage to complete our plan.". "But the only thing to tie them together is my Zanpakuto." Rojuro objected. "We should have sufficient ability to retrieve it when the time is right." Hachi reassured Rojuro, though Rojuro only nodded reluctantly.

Flashing forward, Hachi stopped before Mokka and fired another Bala in his eyes, blinding him, but he managed to launch another Cero in Hachi's direction. Rojuro, taking advantage of Hachi's distraction, Flashed behind him and swung his whip around the tails again, tightening them against each other. Mokka, feeling the tension again, began to thrash them around, but Rojuro managed to tie them together just before Mokka could move fast enough and then Flashed away. Hachi, seeing his friend Flash away, ran to the right of Mokka to get a shot at the back of his head. As the tail flukes fell to the ground, Hachi fired a Cero at the spot, aiming for one of the deeper cracks before landing a punch in the same area. As Mokka turned toward Hachi, Rojuro Flashed to the other side and fired his own Cero along with a solid kick for good measure.

After continuing this for about half an hour, both the Vizards and Mokka were low on breath. By now, the cracks were much wider and the dent was deeper, showing that most of the liquid support had leaked through. In addition, Mokka had tired himself out by firing wildly, but the Vizards were even more fatigued, as they had relatively smaller reserves of reiatsu to draw on. Not to mention that they had to work harder to Flash all over the place while Mokka only had to turn around in circles.

'The end game is near.' Rojuro thought as he fought to catch his breath. 'It could end based on what the next move is. So who will make the first mistake?' he pondered as Mokka began to tense all over.

"Damn. Damn! Damn! DAMN!" he roared, as he rose to his feet for the first time in a while. "This time, I will crush you." he yelled and the spiritual pressure sky-rocketed, forcing both Vizards to their knees. 'What the hell?! I can't move at all!' Rojuro asked no one in particular. 'It feels like...like I'm at the bottom of the ocean.' he realized as he saw Mokka's shadow move closer to him. "This is my special ability: pressure control." Mokka explained. "All creatures, even Shinigami and Hollows are adapted to certain kinds of pressures on their bodies. Fluctuating that pressure wildly causes internal damage, and can even kill if it changes enough. But my body is able to flex internally, so I can use this however I please. Unlike you. Now die!" he yelled as he slammed down hard on Rojuro...

….only to see that his fist never made contact. It just hovered over him, as though pushed out by some hidden force. "What the hell happened?!" he asked, as he tried to increase the pressure, but found himself unable to. "I happened." he heard someone reply. Turning he saw Hachi standing up as though nothing was wrong. "I can use my Kido to take the load off." Hachi explained, infuriating Mokka. "I can also use my barrier this way." he said, and he erected barriers around Mokka, more specifically, the base of his tail flukes. The barriers then formed a square that severed the flukes, and Rojuro's whip from the rest of his body. Mokka, confused, turned and saw what became of his tail flukes, temporarily turning down the pressure. Enraged, he turned to Hachi and tried to crush him again, but Hachi formed a barrier that, to everyone's surprise, flexed inward, then bounced back like a spring, throwing Mokka off balance. "DAMNED VIZARD!" Mokka roared as he regained his footing. "FROM PERDITION'S CORE, I FIRE AT YE!" he roared, preparing to charge another Cero, but Rojuro had other ideas. Seeing his chance, he Flashed to the fallen tail flukes, retrieved his whip, then Flashed to the back of Mokka's head. Swinging hard, he flew his whip into the dent, penetrating deep into the head, and tapped the whip in quick succession, sending three vibrations into the skull. The vibrations, amplifying themselves along the way, turned explosive at the end, but because it was inside the head, the explosions were more contained, liquifying Mokka's brain, finally killing him.

As Mokka collapsed for the final time, Rojuro and Hachi made their way back to the lines for treatment. Upon examination, Unohana discovered that the successful attacks caused some internal bleeding, which deteriorated with the prolonged fight. However, Mokka's pressure increase was the worst, as it ruptured several internal organs, including some alveolar sacs, for the lungs were slowly filling with blood. Fortunately, they received treatment just in time, though they were under Captain's orders to not fight or spar for a while.

While everyone began to relax, as the war was over, evidenced by the disintegrating reiatsu of Mokka, the last of Aizen's Arrancar, a portal opened some distance from them. Readying themselves for another fight, they breathed a gigantic sigh of relief, along with some grumbling, as Captain Yamamoto emerged, exhausted but still standing strong. "How is the situation?" he demanded. "All is well sir." Byakuya answered. "Aizen is dead, as are the rest of his Arrancar. His palace is destroyed, and his support is disbanded.". "Excellent. It seems the war will soon be over." Captain Yamamoto said to everyone's puzzlement. "'Soon'?" Byakuya asked. "Why not now? Is there some military business we have not finished?". "Yes." Captain Yamamoto replied. "You must..."

"...destroy the remaining Arrancar." he finished, pointing out Harribel, Barragan, and the others, causing everyone to balk. "I do not think that is possible, for they are our allies." Byakuya said, maintaining his calm expression but seething inside at his superior's orders. "Allies?! Impossible!" Yamamoto yelled in utter disbelief. "You are Shinigami. You have been given orders. Obey!" he raged. "No, I will not." Byakuya replied, drawing his sword and preparing to fight. "Mutiny then?! So be it!" Yamamoto roared, his reiatsu rising, paralyzing the lieutenants, Fraccion, and others of low reiatsu...

….but also waking one with VERY high reiatsu up.

"Why that old fart?!" Ichigo muttered as he pulled himself up. Opening his eyes he noticed two things immediately: an intense spiritual pressure, higher than even Aizen and his Espada put together; and Orihime laying underneath him, her face still red from their collision. 'I'll kill him for this.' Ichigo thought as he jumped and landed in front of Captain Yamamoto. Out of reflex and fear, Yamamoto slashed at Ichigo, who parried it as though an amateur threw it, surprising Yamamoto greatly.

"That is the first time in centuries that anyone has done that." he said. "Feel honored, Arrancar." he continued, earning an intense increase in spiritual pressure from Ichigo. "Are you blind, or just senile old fart?!" Ichigo asked, sarcasm and intent to murder marinating his voice. "I'm Ichigo Kurosaki you baka!" he yelled, freezing Yamamoto in shock.

"K-K-Kurosaki?!" he stuttered, this train of thought having a hard time starting its engines. "What happened to you?! You're...you're...furry!" he stuttered, earning a raised eyebrow from their captive audience. "Let me explain." Ichigo began. "No too much. I'll make it short. I came here to rescue Orihime. Got lost. Beat up the Beast. Ate the Beast. Gained her powers. Beat up three Espada. Befriended the others. Gave Aizen an uber-pounding. Came back here. Fought some more. Fainted with Orihime in her bust. And now just woke up." he explained at a fast pace, everyone even more confused than before.

"So if I am correct, you have crossed deeper into Hollow territory?" Yamamoto asked after a five-minute pause. "If so, then you must also be destroyed!" he declared, readying for a fight. "I save the world, including the Soul Society, and I get an Execution Warrant?!" Ichigo replied. "Talk about gratitude!" and he took a stance, ready to fight tooth and claw, everyone charged with excitement.

For this could be the fight of the century...

...no the MILLENIUM! The two most powerful beings ever to exist going head to head. What will happen next?

Well, there's Chapter 14 at long last. Thanks for your patience. I wanted to use this chapter to draw attention to the Vizards because they received the least amount of spotlight so far, and the rest need to see that they are good people and reliable allies. Now, Yamamoto has to give them some leeway, especially if he does not want a civil war on his hands. FYI, I got the idea of Mokka from Mocha Dick who was a real whale and the inspiration for Moby Dick. Also, back in those days. "Dick" was a generic boy's name, like Tom or Paul.

BTW, I am thinking of introducing a member of the royal family, perhaps the Spirit Prince or something. Please vote yes or no. Please read and review.