"Okay, boys and girls," Szayel's voice came through everyone's earpiece, "communications are up and running."

"Yammy and I are in place, watching his limousine pull up now. He has multiple goons, all armed," Ulquiorra's spoke in his usual monotone.

"Harribel, get there. Nnoitra, Grimmjow, are you in place?" Szayel continued.

"Yeah, yeah... Nothing in the back. He ain't escaping," Grimmjow yawned. Murmuring to himself, he lit a cigarette, "Don't see the big deal, it's just one guy."

"Almost there," Harribel said, the sound of her Yamaha could be heard.

"Alright, Yammy, get down to his dojo and wait for him." Leaning away from his microphone he yelled out to the front of the van, "Keep the engine running, Zommari." He only nodded.

"The guards are down," Aaroniero hissed into the radio.

"Starrk, where are you?" No one replied. "Starrk!"

Grimmjow laughed into his hidden microphone, "looks like someone took a nap... Lucky bastard..."

"Goddammit Starrk..." Everyone knew Szayel face palmed, "So I guess we're doing it without him... again..."

"Ready to go to work," Yammy snickered.

In the back of the van, Barragan sat across from Aizen. Neither one trying to look at the other. Aizen sipped on some tea, "Don't fret. Zaraki Kenpachi may be a monster, but he is far from invincible."

Barragan glanced over at him, "I'm not worried about that. I just don't like this van."

At the sound of the protest, Szayel rolled his chair around to face the other two, "Aw, that hurts my feelings..."

"Oh, shut up," the older Espada crossed his arms.

Outside, Harribel pulled up on her bike, grabbing everyone's attention. Kenpachi just smirked as she pulled off her helmet with a swish of her hair, "The hell she think she's at?" She just sat there, waiting. Shrugging it off, Zaraki fixed his coat and headed inside, "Watch her boys... I don't think I can take much more funny business today..."

Two of the guys started towards her, strutting all the way. Both were wearing fedoras and making their guns visible. Three others waited by the limo with smiles.

"Lost, are we?" One of the two grinned. Harribel gave a "are you kidding me?" look and reached to the backpack behind her on the motorcycle. All five guys immediately started to pull out their guns by reflex.

"Woah, guys," Harribel stopped moving all together—her hands in the backpack, "Can't a girl pull out her toys without some hostility?"

All of the guys stopped instantly at the comment; each one starting to blush as their minds went to work. As she reached deeper in the backpack, she moved slower as all the guys stared unblinkingly.

Then someone cried out in pain inside the dojo and all five goons turned to see just as Harribel pulled out a tommy gun and let loose a stream of bullets. The two closest didn't have a chance, but the other three ducked behind the limousine. Every time one of them tried to peek out to shoot, she would shoot a short spray of bullets to make them retreat. Out of nowhere a rocket exploded into the limo, killing two of the three instantly; the third was bleeding and trying to get away when Harribel finished the job.

Across the street, Tousen tossed the empty RPG to the side while Gin leaned on his sniper rifle, chuckling, "My, my... Breaking out the big guns?"

Tousen walked away, apathetically, "Just following orders."

"Wasted if you ask me," Gin wore his ever present smile. He wasn't paid anymore attention.

"Guys! Help!" Yammy's voice called out over the radio. Then came three bangs and another yell. Harribel raised her gun and made her way for the front while Grimmjow and Nnoitra took off inside to help.

"We're coming Yammy!" Grimmjow threw his cigarette away as he put on his knuckle duster.

Laughter could be heard before another shot and another yell. "Who sent ya? Hmm?" Kenpachi asked. Grimmjow and Nnoitra turned the corner, ready but found Zaraki's .45 revolver waiting for them. Grimmjow dived back behind where they came from; Nnoitra tripped—barely missing the first bullet—then rolled back to his partner, dodging the second one as well. Kenpachi cursed as he tossed his empty revolver away and left the wounded Yammy where he was.

"Okay, shoot him!" Grimmjow half-whispered, half-yelled.

"I don't have a gun!" Nnoitra yelled back, pulling out a large dagger with a double crescent design in the hilt, "You shoot him!"

"I don't have a gun either 'cause I thought you had the gun!" Grimmjow pointed accusingly.

"Starrk has guns! He always has the guns!"

"Starrk's not here!" Grimmjow swung at Nnoitra who just ducked under, "And just 'cause he has guns doesn't mean we shouldn't have guns!"

"Then why don't you—" Nnoitra started before he was interrupted.

A sword sliced right above Grimmjow's head, stabbing into the corner. "Are you ladies done fussing yet?" Kenpachi grinned as he pulled back the sword for a second strike. The taller one lunged at their target, dagger leading the way. The entered a knife/sword fight as Grimmjow prepared to strike just in case.

"You've got balls, I'll give you that," Kenpachi laughed while keeping the dagger at bay. "But you should never bring a knife to a sword fight!" And with that, he instantly knocked the dagger away towards Grimmjow who barely dodged it. The giant leaned back, ready for the killing blow but then someone whistled. Everyone turned to look at the figure in the doorway.

"This is where I say something catchy," Starrk said then fired six times, hitting his target each time. Kenpachi started to fall over, catching himself with his sword. Starrk looked at the other two curiously, "Where're your guns?"

Before either could respond, Zaraki suddenly jumped at Grimmjow, throwing him in line of Starrk. "You're mine!" The bleeding giant ran toward the only one with a gun, using the helpless one as a sort of shield. Nnoitra reached for his dagger to throw while Starrk tried to duck to the side for a clear shot.

Then Kenpachi's body fell limply in mid-charge as blood sprayed from where a bullet pierced his skull.

"I hit 'em~?" Gin snickered over the radio. Everyone let out a universal sigh.

"Well, not the most graceful job but pat yourselves on the back, we just made some money," Szayel played with his hair while talking through the radio.

"How's Yammy?" Harribel asked as she walked in the dojo, wearing a fedora.

"I've seen better days," Yammy half-laughed before coughin up blood.

"Asshole shot him in each leg and arm," Grimmjow spoke as he and Starrk tried to help their friend up to get him to the van.

Aizenn sighed and began tapping impatiently, "Either hurry or leave him." Everyone felt a nerve hit at the suggestion. Barragan shifted to look Aizen in the eyes, but it was Ulquiorra who caught Aizen's attention.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear you," Ulquiorra's eyes glared as he walked slowly down the van.

"Hurry up... or leave the dead weight..." The two glared at each other.

"Still didn't quite catch that..." He had nearly reached Aizen when a gun cocked. Tousen held his 9mm to Ulquiorra's head.

"Are you threatening me?" Aizen grinned.

Ulquiorra looked out the corner of his eye then back to Aizen, emotionless as always, "That depends... Say it again."

Another gun cocked. "Put it down," Starrk spoke to Tousen. "Ulquiorra, back off... We've had enough wounded..."

Tousen lowered his gun, as did Starrk, and Ulquiorra took his seat on the other side of the van, next to Yammy. He just crossed his arms and closed his eyes. Everyone else soon joined the rest inside, and they made their escape, leaving everything.


Not too long afterwords...

"Hitsugaya Toshiro?" Officer Kaien looked confused at the sight of his fellow officer, "What's the Boy Genius doing here? Aren't you after that gang, Espada or something like that?"

The shorter cop walked over with his hands in his pockets. His partner, the busty Matsumoto, seemed either bored or tired or both. "That's why we're here. They were."

"Oh? What makes you say that?" Kaien looked down at his little note pad as if double checking, "We've checked out the weapons, and they all come from the Family. It seems like some internal conflict of some sort... question is why..."

Kaien looked around from the rooftop, like a hawk surveying the area.

Hitsugaya walked over next to him, "The reason is that they wanted it to look like an internal conflict—a nice way to hide, dontcha think? Blaming someone else..."

"So the Espada were targeting this guy from the Family," Kaien considered this hypothesis for a moment. "This gang isn't exactly that high on the Family's priority list, so why go and piss them off?"

Someone brought Toshiro a cup of coffee. He sipped on it for a second, "Two possiblities: they're capable of bringing down the Family, and they want them to know that—which means we can too," Hitsugaya couldn't help but smile, "or they just didn't know."

Kaien walked off with a wave, "Looks like we'll be working together then if our baddies are crossing paths so."

Toshiro looked down at his coffee with a frown. "It's too hot."


"What the hell are you saying?" Barragan slammed his hand on his cut of the money.

"It's like I said," Szayel fixed his glasses, "The guy we just wacked was with the Family, and evidently they really didn't appreciate the gesture."

Everyone seemed calm about this except Barragan; his mind went to work while he poured himself a drink. Something seemed to click in his head.

"Don't worry so much, we'll be gone before they even know where to look," Harribel spoke from under her new fedora.

Barragan looked at her slyly, "It's not that..."

Grimmjow walked in from the next room, grabbing a beer from the fridge. He made his way across the room, stopping next to Starrk. "Oh~ who's the text from!" He laughed, kneeling down.

Laying across the couch, Starrk closed his phone and gave his friend an annoyed glare, "Go away, please."

"Ha! I knew it!" Grimmjow snickered as he stood up and took a seat in a nearby chair. He slouched down in the chair with one arm thrown over the back side.

Starrk just shook his head and went back to his phone.

"Isn't she supposed to be in class right now?" He chuckled at his friend's expense.

"There's no point in telling you once again that she's not that young, is there?" Starrk leered.

Harribel got up and walked over to Grimmjow, "She is a bit young, Starrk, but don't let dickhead bother you." She slapped the back of Grimmjow's head, causing him to spill his beer, "I think it's sweet."

Nnoitra looked at his phone then tossed it to the side, "Yeah, even I'm a little jealous, man."

Everyone immediately knew that he was talking about his ex, Nel. Grimmjow started to make a joke but Harribel slapped him again.

A phone started to ring and everyone turned to watch Aaroniero answer his. He was sitting in a corner, hidden from the light so no one could really see him; everybody had thought he was sleeping. No one could make out exactly what was said over the phone, but they could tell it was Aizen. There was a pause as everyone waited for the two to finish.

"So," the Espada finally hung up, "Ulquiorra's still there with Yammy; Aizen, Gin, Tousen, and Zommari are all heading back."

Barragan chugged his third glass of strong smelling alcohol and started rubbing his chin, desperate to change the subject, "Who's running the Family, anyway? Isn't it Isshin Kurosaki?"

"Not anymore, it wasn't but a year or two ago that someone had him assassinated," Szayel gave his usual look while playing with his hair, "Now it's his son, Ichigo Kurosaki."

The older Espada started laughing hysterically, and everyone else gave him a curious look. He waved them off, "Sorry, I just got a crazy idea." He poured himself another glass.


"You feed my dog?" Yammy sucked some drink through a straw as best he could; each of his limbs were in a separate caste, and they all prevented any movement.

Ulquiorra didn't move in the chair, "I did." Without changing expression, he crossed his arms and legs, "I also put your money in the usual place."

Yammy let his head back and smiled, "What would I do without ya, buddy?"

"Probably just end up dead in a ditch somewhere," Ulquiorra stated coldly.

"You need to not worry as much, man," The wounded Espada laughed. "Ain't no Family coming for me in here and just in case Szayel fixed up a transfer so I can't slow y'all down. It's all good."

Ulquiorra closed his eyes as if to take a nap, "Idiot."

Down the hall an elevator opened and three figures walked out. The one on the right pushed his glasses up while reading some book in German; the one on the left was huge and wore a bright pink, flowery shirt. The one in the middle, who had unusually long hair, pulled his orange sucker out of his mouth, "Which room?"

"1010," The smaller of his companions answered without looking up from his book.

"King said to make it quick," Shirosaki grinned, holding the sucker between his teeth.