Extraneous Variables

A/N: Welcome my dear readers. There was a bit of confusion about those that read Unexpected Kingdom. Why yes, this is an alternative universe of my own story at the request and cooperation of NaomiShihoin. We thought it could use some more whumpage. Despite it being an AU of my own work (is that meta or what?) the story is very different. The same characters are used, and the beginning is a strikingly similar situation. However, things deviate relatively quickly.

WARNINGS: Posted once, will not be repeated.

This story contains:

Graphic Lemons and Limes (though lemons are focused on Ichigo)
Dub-con and Non-con situations
Graphic torture scenes
Blood, gore, and death
OMEADA DIES

Pairings used: HaremXIchigo (Ulquiorra, Grimmjow, Starrk, Szayel, Nel), GgioXSoiFon, RenXRukia, YoruichiXKisuke, JushiroXShunsui, UryuuXNemu, and more I haven't decided on yet.

Constructive reviews welcomed, flames will be used to fuel the fire I burn Aizen with.

I don't own Bleach and I don't get paid for this.

And PLEASE if you want to use elements from my stories, ASK. I've had blatant theft of my stories lately and it has left me contemplating if I want to continue writing fanfiction.

Edited and Re-uploaded: 5-2-14.

Chapter One

First Variable:
Ichigo

Ichigo fell in a heap and as all the stress drained away. They'd been had; all of them had been had. Aizen had planned everything, from beginning to end, and had been ahead of the every step of the way. The only consolation Ichigo had was the fact that Rukia was alive by their invasion of soul society. If they hadn't interfered, she would have died, and even though everyone would have found out eventually about Aizen's treachery, it would have been too late. So no matter what, he was sure that it was worth it. Every little bit of what they'd done had been worth it because she was still alive, and Chad was alive, and even Ishida's annoying ass was alive. He was beginning to doubt his own survivability, though, as he was losing his vision. Granted, he was curious as to how much more durable this soul form was than his human body.

Don't die, he heard in his head and his eyes flew open and he found that he was staring at Inoue. The voice hadn't come from her, obviously, and he thought he knew that voice. He hoped he was wrong. He stared at Inoue. She was crying, and he wondered why did she have to cry all the time, he really didn't care for that sort of thing. True, he was more than nine tenths dead, he was sure, but still. Stop with the tears, he wanted to tell her. He also wanted to tell her to stop giving him the goo goo eyes. But he didn't want to hurt her feelings and he knew that it would lead to more tears if he did tell her there wasn't a shot in hell that he'd ever have anything to do with her. Instead, he smiled at her and sighed, feeling the strange magic knit his body back together. He was very grateful for what she did for him. Without her, he was certain he would have died even with the fourth division bussing around the hill.

His heart though beat suddenly loud in his ears and he sat up and groaned. "What the hell…" he muttered.

Inoue frowned. "Kurosaki-kun?" she said. "What is it; you shouldn't get up yet…"

He shook his head. "Something…different…"

Manic laughter sounded in his head. Just helping you along, there, my king…I've got some plans for you, and I can't put them off any longer.

"What are you doing, you b-bastard," Ichigo muttered, staring into space, at a point somewhere past Inoue's head.

"Ichigo, who are you talking to?" she asked, looking behind her to see no one.

"Ah, damn," he groaned, doubling over as a wave of pain shot through him. "Stop it, stop it, dammit, stop it you hollow bastard!"

The shield shattered and Inoue stepped back, watching as black reiatsu tinged with red began to whip around Ichigo's body. By now, Rukia had come to stand beside her as Byakuya had been taken to the fourth, and Ishida, Chad and Renji had all started heading toward him. Unohana stopped and stared. She knew there was something different about Ichigo, but she hadn't had a chance to examine him yet. Black reiatsu though, that was something she hadn't encountered often in her long life.

Finally the black receded and he sat there for a moment before he fell backward and unmoving. The others paused but started when he started to giggle in a voice that was not his own, high pitched and positively insane. They all rushed over toward him to find him staring up with eyes that had changed from the normal deep brown into black sclera and gold irises, still giggling.

"Ichigo?" Rukia asked, crawling over to him.

"Hey midget," he said amid the giggles. "They're coming for him and you can't stop him," he said in a sing song voice. "They're gonna take 'im away, and he's never gonna be the same….gonna be the King, you know…" He burst out laughing again and held his hands up in the air and stared at them as the nails began to turn black. "Ha, king, I gotcha now, fuckers never knew what happened, you'll be the one to rule, my king oh my king," he giggled and sat up and sprung to his feet. Everyone jumped back from him.

"Look at you, you don't get it, do you?" he asked; the orange of his hair fading to white and his skin paling. "He's a fuckin' hollow, he's me, you bitches don't get it! And we're going to take it to Aizen, the fucker…"

He giggled again and stared at his rapidly whitening hands. "Oh feels good to be in control, Ichigo," he muttered and stared at them. "Your friends can't believe that you've been hiding me so well, you know, king. You have no idea what he is!" he screamed the last at them and then started laughing again. "This will be good! So strong you are, but you'll find out what strength is…"

Renji had Zabimaru in shikai and pointed at him when he turned around. "Who are you?"

The creature in Ichigo's body grinned. "Why don't you recognize me, Red? I'm your friend, Ichigo!"

"Like hell, what are you?" Renji said, pressing Zabimaru into the white neck.

"I don't have a name, at least not now, I used to have one," he said softly. "I guess I pay rent by givin' Ichigo my power. But I got so much more to give him; the old man has his powers locked up tighter than a drum. Might explode if we let it all go, you know. But those arrancar, they're close, and they triggered something…something inside us that I can't stop. Oh the old man didn't expect this…"

"Old man?" Renji asked.

He nodded. "Zangetsu, of course, dumb asses, well, sort of. I'm not sure which of us is the Zanpakutou anymore. Now, if you excuse me, I give him…oh a day or so before they come kidnap his ass and drag him to Hueco Mundo…they're already here after all, they've been watching for Aizen and wanting to see how much of a danger Ichigo here is, which he is the only danger to Aizen there is. I feel the power, and if I were outside I'd be after Ichigo's ass just like them. But alas, those traits got erased after I became one with his mother. Damn mother's instincts…"

"What?" Rukia said, moving forward. "Who is going to kidnap him?"

The pale face smiled. "Gee I wonder indeed. Why don't you check with old Mayuri-chan about what a beta hollow is? And you might just understand. And maybe ask Urahara about Ichigo's dad and White. That's a name I haven't used in a while. Oh, he's getting pissed with me, I better let him out. He's gonna be a prissy little bitch from now on, so watch out…"

With that there was a burst of reiatsu and Ichigo staggered backward, blinking his brown eyes which seemed to be different somehow. He swayed on his feet for a minute before he dumped himself face first into the ground. Inoue immediately threw her shield over him and shook her head.

"Nothing to heal…I mean, nothing new, he still needs rest…but he shouldn't have passed out."

They headed off to the fourth with him and waited. Once there, they realized he'd changed in a few subtle ways. Rukia thought she was seeing things as she scanned his sleeping form but she called Uryuu into the room.

"Ishida, tell me, does he look different?" she asked, staring at him.

Uryuu pushed his glasses up and frowned. "Yeah…like…I can't explain it. He's more…or less…I don't know."

They looked up to see Kurotsuchi and Urahara coming into the room together. Rukia arched a brow at the shopkeeper.

"You never listen to what I say, Kisuke! If you had you wouldn't have ended up where you were for the last hundred years…" the eccentric taichou said with a growl to his voice.

"Mayuri, really. I listen, if I didn't you'd still be in the Maggot's nest, now wouldn't you?" Urahara said, obviously annoyed with him.

Mayuri leaned against the wall. "You do like to keep reminding me, don't you, taichou?" he said with venom to his tone.

"I left that title long ago, Mayuri, now I'll see to my charge, thank you," Urahara said. "Isshin is counting on me to keep him alive."

Urahara cast a couple kido spells and then looked at the confused looking pair. "I'll explain later, Rukia-san, now you're sure the thing that was in Ichigo said to ask about hollow betas?"

Rukia nodded. "Yeah, very sure. And he said to ask you about White. What does all that mean?"

Urahara sighed and rubbed his head. "I don't think this has gone at all according to plan."

"So it is true?" Mayuri said, his eyes lighting up as he looked at Ichigo's body. "Can I dissect him, please? I am dying to know what Aizen did with White."

Urahara glared at Mayuri. "You are not dissecting Ichigo."

"You honestly don't think the Old Man will let him live, do you?" Mayuri said, eyeing him. "I mean, I could figure out how it got there, and then find out how he got the…"

"No, he is not going to kill him, Mayuri and you aren't dissecting him, and that's final! I'll take him and hide him like I did the Visored if it comes to it," Urahara said with a snort. "The Old Man knows better than to mess with those I am protecting. Besides, you're going to need him and the Visored to take down Aizen now that he's shown his true colors."

"Why would anyone want to dissect Ichigo or kill him; what is going on? What in the three worlds is a beta and who is White and what was that thing that took over Ichigo's body?" Rukia said, throwing up her hands in exasperation.

"Ichigo is special, Rukia, he's…he's got a hollow that was passed to him from his mother that shares his soul…it was Aizen's fault, he had created this hollow, built it from shinigami souls, and named it White. It was a hollow without a hollow hole, and entirely black save his mask. It infected Masaki, Ichigo's mother. I stopped it from hollowifying her, because she couldn't handle it like the Visored, she was a Quincy not a shinigami. It linked Ichigo's father to her soul and he gave up his powers to stay in the World of the Living. We considered the thought that it could pass to Ichigo, and after what we've seen, it passed to him, becoming one with his soul," Urahara said with a sigh. "His father requested that I train him and help him along the way if I could confirm that the hollow had come to be inside him. It has, obviously from what you and Kuchiki-taichou witnessed. This has happened before, hollow powers in a shinigami, Aizen's experiments caused it a hundred years ago and they were supposed to be destroyed. I saved them, along with Yoruichi and Tensai, and helped Isshin and Masaki when he left Soul Society, and then when Ichigo came into his shinigami power."

"And what is this beta thing?" Rukia continued.

"That's where it gets complicated. Ichigo is partially a hollow, or at least he has an inner hollow, and it seems that that hollow is a beta. Alphas are dominate hollows, betas are the submissive hollows. All alphas can impregnate, all betas can become impregnated. Hollows are collections of souls that mimic base instincts, and one of those driving instincts is procreation. While it is not necessary, they are driven to procreate just like they are to consume souls. Gender is unimportant because hollows are collections of souls of both genders. Dominance and submission are the markers of who is in control, and who can bear and mother babies. And if he's not lying, that means that the hollow may have activated the hollow beta aspects in Ichigo…" Urahara said with a sigh.

"He said something about a mother's instinct?" she said.

Urahara gasped. "Of course! The hollow was in Masaki before it passed to Ichigo. Even if the hollow had been a dominate type before, going through the process of motherhood could easily have altered it to become more motherly and forced it to become a beta. From what Isshin said, it was powerful, and from what I've heard from you and the others confirms it has a domineering personality, yet it still submits to Ichigo."

"He said there were arrancar near that had triggered the change," Rukia said. "What would that matter?" she asked, looking down at the unconscious body.

"They're animals, so they all release various pheromones, and the proximity, with the hollow coming to the surface during the fight with Byakuya-san may have initiated the alterations to suit the hollow's nature…" Urahara said, looking upward with a thoughtful look on his face.

"That's why he looks different," Uryuu said, pushing his glasses up and staring at Ichigo. Urahara frowned and looked down.

"Oh dear."

Mayuri looked. "What is it? I don't know the boy."

"He's matured, fully; the childish effects of his appearance are gone. I'd say he's aged three or more years. His face has softened, become less angular, and his eyes are slightly larger and wider apart. You can see here, his body shape has altered to be less masculine and more neutral in appearance. Granted, Ichigo wasn't the most muscular male I've ever seen, but still. This is subtle but obvious. Betas are usually very neutral looking when I've seen arrancars, even the female appearing ones tend to look neutral," Urahara pointed out.

"So what do we do?" Rukia asked.

Urahara shook his head. "We wait."

They didn't wait long because at that moment Ichigo chose to wake up and look around the room and blink rapidly.

"Um, I don't think I'm dead," he said. "So what's with the faces?"

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

"So what's he so worried about one shinigami for?" Grimmjow asked, rolling his eyes as he stepped into the garganta beside Ulquiorra and Starrk. "Especially to bring you out, primera."

Starrk sighed and shook his head. "No se, mi amigo. It is unclear to me as well. Aizen says that he is an uncontrolled variable, and he wants to know his threat. And if he is a threat, to bring him back."

Grimmjow rolled his cerulean eyes and sighed. "Really, and we can't engage anyone yet?"

Starrk shook his head. "No, we are to sneak inside the seiretai using the devices that Szayel gave us, and keep the reiatsu masking devices activated at all times so we are undetected by the shinigami," he said, pausing to yawn. He'd left Lillinette behind so he wouldn't be able to use his resurreccion anyway.

Grimmjow grumbled some more, and Ulquiorra was passive as usual about the entire situation. He would do as Aizen ordered. It wasn't as if he had anything else to occupy himself with. The events that unfolded around their extraneous variable were interesting, however. They watched as his power level began to skyrocket in ways none had ever seen. Then, after Aizen's treachery was revealed and he was taken with the other two traitor shinigami via negacion, they watched from the hill at the truth of the variable.

"Fuck me," Grimmjow muttered. "He's a fuckin' hollow and a shinigami? But he's not an arrancar?"

Starrk nodded. "He's not just un hollow, mis amigos. Esta Vasto Lorde…"

Grimmjow hadn't wanted to admit it, he'd never become vasto lorde himself, he was adjunca class when he'd turned into an arrancar. But he felt the barely contained power. Starrk glanced at Ulquiorra who was staring at the scene as the hollow took over and actively altered the soul form. That in itself was a thing none of them had ever seen. It was as though there were multiple souls residing in the body.

"If he has the power of a vasto lorde class arrancar…and he obviously has the power of a captain class shinigami, we must take him to Aizen-sama," Ulquiorra said with a nod and looked at the other two. "We watched him defeat a third seat of the eleventh, the captain of the eleventh, and the lieutenant of the sixth with bankai followed by the captain of the sixth. He is dangerous to Aizen-sama."

Starrk frowned and looked back, watching the boy fall after the incredible amount of hollow energy he had been putting off and he closed his eyes sensing the…oh. He was the first among them to sense it, he could see. He had the highest degree of power, of course, so it wasn't unusual that he sensed the pheromones first. This would change things, however. Even the stoic Ulquiorra could not resist the allure of something like this.

Grimmjow grinned. "I hope he lets me have a go at him, that'd make a damn good fight," he said nodding thoughtfully.

"Too many shinigami for us to move now, let us retire," Starrk said with a sigh. "We will move later, he is unprotected, no doubt, at least from the likes of us. I am convinced that he will come out to find us at some point."

They moved away and camped out in the Rukongai, well away from anyone else. When Ulquiorra had walked away to patrol Starrk glanced at Grimmjow. "You sensed it."

Grimmjow looked at the lazy espada. "Sensed it?"

Starrk nodded, looking up at the sky. "Si, the power, but not only that, he is una beta with that much power."

Grimmjow frowned. "But what of it? Aizen wants him dead, or at least under his control…"

"Have you been around hollow betas?" he asked, staring still at the sky.

Grimmjow shook his head. "Nah, can't say I have."

"I have, at least before I became so powerful they died in my presence. No, you will find that once he is near, you will turn Heuco Mundo upside down to save him and protect him. No, he will call your corazon, mi amigo. And you will answer."

Grimmjow snorted. "I don't have a heart, none of us do, remember?"

Starrk turned to him and smiled. "Ah you believe that now. Wait, and you will see that there is something there and una beta will ignite a flame in your corazon."

Ulquiorra returned and Starrk stood to take a patrol. Grimmjow watched him carefully. If that was true, where would Ulquiorra stand? He knew a little bit about alphas and betas, there were some betas among the espada, but they were either too old like Lord Barragan, or too crazy like Szayel and novena to have any effect on the alpha males of the group. He wondered if Aizen even knew about the dynamic between the two types of hollows.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Ichigo woke up sore as hell. He stumbled off the bed into bathroom and into the bath because he felt grimy. Then he walked out and was drying his hair which felt odd for some reason and he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. The ensuing yelp brought Renji and Uryuu both running into the bath and then they both stopped and stared.

Ichigo was staring wide eyed at himself in the mirror and completely still, one hand still on the towel he was drying his hair with, the other holding the one around his waist. What had caused his problem was the fact his skin was fading out to white. And there were bright red marks streaking his face across his cheekbones that looked too similar to that dumb hollow mask he kept finding on himself after fights. So far the lightening hadn't turned his skin entirely white, but the shading was noticeable. Also on his chest were three broad black lines that looked like Renji's tattoos sweeping over either shoulder that came to a stop in a large black circle in the center. His hair felt weird because it was longer, down to the small of his back. His fingernails and toenails looked the same, but had taken on a black color.

He turned and looked at Renji and Uryuu both of which were staring with gaping mouths at him. "Ichigo?" Renji asked, having seen the transformation the day before.

"I…I…what the hell!" he said, dropping the towel off his head and leaning over to examine his face closer. "I've got hollow marks on my face! And my chest! Oh that bastard, I'm gonna kill him even if I die in the process, what the hell did he do to me?"

In his mind he heard a manic laugh. Just setting you up, king.

"Setting me up, you no name hollow bastard, turn me back the way I was!" he said to the mirror, growling. "I don't want this, make me normal again!"

Ain't gonna ever be normal again. Don't you feel them, the powerful alphas? They're going to come get you soon…and then…well, we'll see. The rule of hollows…it is an attractive thing.

"Come get me, what the hell are you talking about?" he said, frowning into the mirror. "Who is coming to get me and what the hell is an alpha? Talk to me you hollow bastard!"

The voice laughed but was quiet. Ichigo ran a hand over his hair and looked at Renji and Uryuu and sighed. "I swear, can I not have a normal life for ten minutes?"

Renji shook his head. "We should get Unohana-taichou, Ichigo, see what is happening…and Urahara is here too…Ishida, will you go for him?"

Uryuu sighed and nodded, leaving as Renji led Ichigo out of the bath and back into his room. Ichigo went to reach for his clothes and Renji shook his head. "Wait, man, she's gonna want to see that," he said pointing to his chest. Ichigo looked down and touched the black lines.

"Well, I guess I could say they're tattoos…huh…" he said and looked up as Unohana came in followed shortly by Uryuu and Urahara.

"Oh dear," Urahara said as he came in and looked him over as Unohana cast a kido on him. "Do you feel okay?"

Ichigo shook his head. "I feel…weird. Like I'm about to jump out of my skin, and I can't seem to get cooled off, I feel like I'm under a heating lamp or something…" he said sighing. "Can I put on my hakama at least?" he said, looking at her. "Don't think anything down there's changed."

She looked at him. "Let me see first," she said. Ichigo felt the blood rush to his face and nodded, grabbing his hakama but dropping the towel and she nodded after confirming he had no marks on his legs or pelvis. He slipped on the hakama quickly and tied his obi before he jumped back on the bed and sighed deeply.

"This is going to be hard to explain," Unohana said. "His physical body, the soul form, is taking on more hollow aspects. Whatever happened yesterday, it initiated an alteration so deep that it doesn't even read as an alteration on the diagnostic spells. That's why Inoue couldn't do anything to change it. And there's a pheromone being emitted, rather densely, but I don't think anyone here could detect it. I'm unsure the result and what range it might have."

Ichigo shifted uncomfortably, rubbing his hands over his upper arms and his eyes darting around the room. "I feel so…jumpy," he said. "Like…I don't know. I need to find something," he said, starting to get up and move toward the door.

Urahara put his hands on him and pushed him back to the bed. Ichigo tipped his head to the side and stared at him for a moment. Then he closed his eyes and Urahara saw that they were fluttering and the next thing he knew he was slammed into the wall and blinking in surprise as Ichigo burst away with the distinct sound of a sonido, leaving them all to stare at the empty doorframe.

"This could be bad," Urahara said. "I…whatever that was…I've never seen him do that. He didn't shunpo, he used a sonido like an arrancar. Get Byakuya and Yoruichi, they can catch him, no one has a faster shunpo right now…"

Renji and Uryuu followed him out and before long they were spreading out over the seiretei trying to figure out where Ichigo had gone. Within a few moments of searching Renji sensed a rise in Ichigo's reiatsu and headed that direction to find him fighting with Byakuya, but he wasn't even paying attention, he kept glancing around him as he deflected the blows. Byakuya was obviously annoyed, having fought him before. There was something different, of course, for one, Byakuya was trying not to harm him. For another, Ichigo seemed to be able to deflect anything that came his way.

Renji dropped beside Byakuya and yelled, "Ichigo!"

Ichigo turned back and blinked, his eyes flickering between brown and glowing red for a second then back to brown. "Renji?" he said, pausing and staring at his sword as if he hadn't realized he was fighting. "Where…what…where am I?" he glanced around him then grimaced. "Oh, they're closer…closer…" he said softly. "Coming to me…they are…"

"Ichigo! What is going on? Why'd you run off?" Renji said, holding Zabimaru up defensively.

Ichigo shook his head. "They're here…gotta find them…so…hot…" he muttered and looked around turning his back on them. Renji saw the black was extended over his shoulders and down his back now. The three red marks on his whitening face that had gotten even darker red since he left the fourth division. Byakuya and Renji both started when they heard three bursts of sonido and looked up to see three white clad figures crouched on the building near them.

"Well, well, shall we take our prize home?" Grimmjow said, leaping down and landing closest to Ichigo.

Ichigo practically purred out loud, startling both Renji and Byakuya, who exchanged glances. They saw the hollow hole in the approaching figure's stomach. He was an arrancar…but they felt nothing, no reiatsu, nothing from him.

"Who are you?" Byakuya said.

Grimmjow smiled. "Grimmjow Jagerjaquez, at your service, shinigami. Sexta espada of Aizen's army. Call us the hollow retrieval service."

Ichigo dropped Zangetsu and drug him behind by the hilt wrapping as he walked toward Grimmjow and stared up at the taller arrancar. He released a loud burst of sound that sounded like a mixture between a hollow cry and a growl.

"Aren't you excitable, pet?" Grimmjow said, arching a blue brow at him. "You gonna fight me?"

Ichigo growled in return and grinned at him before he leaped forward and bit him on the forearm hard enough to draw blood.

Grimmjow stumbled back. "What the hell?" he said as Ichigo dropped to a crouch and licked blood off his mouth.

Starrk smiled. "Don't do anything, Grimmjow, he has marked you. You may be worthy, he hasn't decided yet," he said, dropping down smoothly, followed by Ulquiorra.

"Does it matter? We must take him to Aizen-sama immediately. He is the extraneous variable," Ulquiorra said.

"You're such a spoilsport," Grimmjow said. "Can't you see he's beggin' for it?"

Starrk moved forward and held out his hand at Ichigo and he tilted his head to the side and then in a similar fashion bit into the back of his offered hand, leaving it bleeding. "Interesting, mi amor, you have fangs when you bite."

"Ichigo!" came a female cry and Ichigo's head snapped up to see Rukia who came running toward him.

She stared at the unusual scene before her. Ichigo was crouched before the three white-clad figures with blood dripping from his mouth and his sword held loosely at his side. His eyes were wide and flickering between glowing red and normal brown. He was still half dressed, and the deep black lines had connected around his back with the ones in the front.

"What happened, Ichigo? Why…what…" she said, glancing between him and the three figures. "Why are there arrancar here? And why didn't we know it, nii-sama?"

Byakuya looked at her. "I do not know what is happening, and I am attempting to ascertain that information currently, Rukia."

Rukia moved up to Ichigo and kneeled carefully beside him on the ground. She planted both hands on his shoulders and looked into his eyes. "Ichigo, are you in there?"

Ichigo blinked, the red glow flickering off and on a few times. "Rukia?" he said. "What's happening? Why am I here..." he said and then his eyes fluttered and his head snapped around. His eyes fixed on the pale green eyed arrancar. He shook Rukia's hands off him and leaped forward and bit into Ulquiorra's forearm suddenly and staggered backward, wiping the blood off his mouth.

"The hell…" he muttered. "What…I…"

He then threw his head back and released a hollow sounding roar and fell to his knees. The three arrancar nodded at each other. Starrk moved forward and grabbed him by the arm. "Come, mi amor. Your time here has ended. You are a danger to yourself and all those around you in this state."

Ichigo stared at him and his eyes slipped closed and he was completely slack in his grip. Starrk nodded to the others. He looked to the shinigami.

"Perdoname, I do not mean to intrude upon your home, shinigami, but the return of un powerful beta is paramount to our kind. I fear if he remains with you, there will be much…destruction. As it is…I am unsure of the outcome."

"We must return him to Aizen-sama, Primera. That is our orders," Ulquiorra said. "He is captain classed and vasto lorde class, he cannot be left to stand against him."

Grimmjow rolled his eyes. "Don't act like you aren't keen on fucking him, too. I plan to get at least one fight out of him before Aizen does something to him."

"Silencio, both of you," Starrk said, hefting Ichigo's body over his shoulder easily and taking his Zanpakutou with his free hand and resting it on the opposite shoulder. "We will deal with the situation in Las Noches. Right now, open the garganta, por favor."

"Wait, stop, what are you doing with him?" Renji yelled.

Starrk looked at him. "You are his amigo, si? Then I should tell you I do not know his fate. But I do not know my own destiny, mi amigo. I only know that Aizen waits in Las Noches. And Aizen is best known by you, so you must determine what you will do knowing that we take your amigo to him because Aizen fears him above all else among the shinigami's forces."

Starrk turned to enter the garganta and Byakuya, Rukia and Renji all moved to attack. Ulquiorra released a cero meant to divert them, and when the smoke cleared all of them were gone and the garganta was closed.