Hi. Real life took a lot longer to handle than I thought it would so that affected the production of this chapter. That's just the kind of stuff that happens. But here it is finally and as an added bonus I'm putting up a brief summary of the story on my front page so that you can take a look at that if you forgotten some things. I've tried to make it somewhat informative without being spoilerific. That said, let's get on with the chapter.

"We're just going to kill all of them."

There was a short, tense pause after the words had left Richard's mouth. The shinigami stared at the grim reaper who only smirked at their shock. Even Evadne glared at her colleague, thinking that he could've phrased the truth less incriminatingly.

Once the shock had passed the protests came in a large variety of forms.

Toshiro and Komamura rather loudly told the two grim reapers that they had no reason to take the vizard's lives.

Shunsui, Juushiro and Retsu took a calmer approach by trying to defend the vizards with logic and structured explanations.

Soifon glared at the two increasingly annoying guests.

Kenpachi just scratched his ear and wondered why he should care about a bunch of guys he just met wanting to kill a bunch of guys he'd never met at all.

Mayrui honestly didn't give a shit.

Byakuya observed the grim reaper in silence.

It was something of a mess to hear anything that the captains so in a rather ironic turns it was Richard that silenced the room by loudly clapping his hands together a few times.

"I'm sensing some disagreement here." The gray haired man said, his smirk never disappearing from his lips. "And I wonder why. We're just doing what we're all supposed to do to those whose souls are of unnatural mixtures. Perhaps one of youcould explain where this deviation from the declared laws of our society is coming from."

The shinigami exchanged glances and Retsu stepped forward. "I can understand why our appreciation of the vizard may seem strange to you. I remember the days when even just suggesting the possibility of a union between the souls of shinigami and arrancar was met with severe reprimands. But the events of this last year has made us question we were taught about the subject."

Neither Richard nor Evadne said anything, allowing Retsu to continue.

"For us the vizard appeared out of nowhere and treated us as allies in the battle against Aizen despite having been sentenced to death by our superiors. If it hadn't been for them a fair number of my comrades would've perished against Aizen's espada." Toshiro and Soifon kept their disagreement about requiring the vizards' aid to denying mutters while Kyoraku nodded calmly at the medic captain's words.

"The laws regarding vizards and the like were created without any real knowledge about them. Fear dictated what were to be done with them and fear prevented anybody from pursuing the intricacies of the matter any further. At least, it was impossible to do so without being labelled a criminal. But as the vizard group led by Shinji Hirako showed that day, vizards aren't necessarily malevolent beings. So it is our belief that vizard and the laws regarding them should be reconsidered. Though, I doubt that you will agree with this assessment since you do not share the experience. I hope that our word is enough to at least make you reconsider the matter before going forward with it."

Richard faced Retsu's motherly smile with a blank expression for a few minutes before responding with a flat yet somehow taunting voice.

"It's not."

As the shinigami captains' eyes widened Richard quickly elaborated to avoid any interruptions. "As touching as your story is," He began with his usual polite and conversational voice. "It really doesn't hold any weight for us or our mission. The law is the law and that is what we follow. You're welcome to try and change it if you so wish. But until then Shinji Hirako and his group are criminals by their very existence and must be dealt with as the law commands."

The grim reaper tilted his head down slightly, as if to avoid eye contact. "Besides," His tone was now dark and foreboding. "There have been research done in regards to vizards and their behaviour." He chuckled inwards at the stunned surprise emanating from the shinigami. "Sanctioned research preformed by an old colleague of ours. The results were very conclusive. As far as we're concerned vizards are beings of destruction that are just waiting to tear out of their hosts and kill whatever they see. It's better for the world to just kill them and end the threat there before they become a real problem."

A tense silence settled in the great hall.

"And what of Kurosaki Ichigo?" Toshiro questioned harshly.

"What of him?" Richard retorted conversationally.

"He's a vizard too. Are you going to kill him as well?" Toshiro asked, understanding fully well that he didn't have to actually explain himself.

"He's a conundrum to say the least." Richard answered in a way that made it sound like he was thinking out loud rather than directly talking to another person. "What to do with a human who might turn into a monster before he dies? Personally I would lock him up just to be safe…"

A sudden and intense but subtle burst of killing intent washed over the two grim reapers, stopping Richard mid-sentence. Evadne's reiatsu flared up in response but Richard just grinned and resisted the urge to chuckle.

"Yeesh. This punk is popular." The prison warden held up his hands in a calming manner. "Now now. There's no need for that. Until the matter has been properly assessed Ichigo Kurosaki is completely safe. That's why we sent an operative to the human world after all. To see if Kurosaki is on the level."

"And what has this operative told you so far?" Byakuya quickly and coolly questioned.

Richard blinked a few times as he considered how annoying the head of the Kuchiki house was being with his questions. With supreme effort Richard avoided revealing anything spontaneously and responded. "Young lieutenant Graystone has been disappointingly inefficient. We will deal with that matter once this meeting is over."

"He is the lieutenant of your captain-commander?" Byakuya asked rather impolitely.

"Yes he is." Richard answered automatically as a tiny suspicion slipped through his mind and he held in a curse as Byakuya asked the follow-up question that the grey-haired captain feared.

"Then he is the lieutenant that's missing." Evadne sent a sharp glare in at Richard, figuring that the breech in information was his fault.

Richard responded with a counterglare that ignored any authority that Evadne had over him. "Don't look at me like that. I'm the one doing all the work here." He said loudly in their native language, ignoring any pretence that things were going the way they wanted them to.

"Perhaps," Juushiro began as he was one of the few shinigami present that wasn't containing a certain amount of smugness. "It would be best if you explained things from the beginning."

Both grim reapers sent each other a grumpy eye before mentally sighing and deciding that it was best to stay on the same side. "Oh well. At least we don't have any other breeches of information." Richard reasoned while becoming more and more exhausted with the problems that were piling up.

Renji had expected his meeting with Hanatarou to yield interesting and exciting new information that would further his involvement in the investigation of the grim reapers exponentially. That might still happen but it he needed to wade through a veritable sea of whining from a Hanatarou, who for once actually was miserable rather than just looking the part.

"And after we ate lunch I showed her that giant cherry blossom tree outside the fifth division and we thought it was nice and we said that we should eat lunch by it some time but now that might not happen and…" Hanatarou's voice gave out and he was reduced to whimpering into the table.

It was the twelfth time it happened by Renji's count.

The red-head sighed quietly and kept his annoyance to himself. Because he was honestly sympathetic with the oft-mocked medic and figured that if he focused on the virtue of patience he would be rewarded. At least he hoped that was the case.

"And," Hanatarou sniffled and lifted his head temporarily to make eye-contact with Renji. "I was really starting to like her." He lowered his face onto the table again and looked so depressed that Renji momentarily forgot his current ambitions and actually reached out to comfort his friend.

"It's ok." He reached over to pat the medic on the shoulder. "All couples fight you know. Though I guess that it's not a good thing for it to happen so early in a relationship." Hanatarou groaned loudly into the table, as anybody would at such poor words of consolation.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm sure it's not that serious anyway." Renji said, trying to save the situation but that just caused Hanatarou to groan even worse.

"Yes it is." The short man complained.

"Come on." Renji urged. "It's just a case off…" And that's when his face turned as red as his hair in embarrassment as he realised that he didn't actually know what Hanatarou and Lucy had been fighting about. Hoping that he hadn't missed it being mentioned Renji cautiously asked Hanatarou about the reason why his possible girlfriend was angry.

"It's because the guy they sent to the human world has gone missing and they suspect that Ichigo-san and his vizard friends are responsible and when I said that it was impossible for Ichigo-san to do something wicked like that Lucy got really mad." An entire minute of silence ticked by. "I probably shouldn't have said that."

Renji had stopped blinking and was trying to come up with an appropriate response. "Yeah. You're probably right." Was the best he could come up with since what he just heard was just the thing he'd been waiting for.

The question now was what to do with this information. Rushing away to inform Ichigo about it would be something that Ichigo would do and Renji is much smarter than that, according to himself.

"Should I inform captain Kuchiki, or does he already know? Maybe I should try keeping a closer eye on our esteemed guests to figure out their next move. Or maybe…"

A combined groan and whimper pulled the red-head out of his musings. He regarded the seriously unhappy Hanatarou for a moment. "Or maybe I should take some time to help this guy out before I start hunting for sensation and glory." And with that Renji temporarily pulled himself out of the events that were transpiring to kindly help out his fellow man.

Dizziness coursed his mind like a storming river.

The grim puppet was clearly inferior to his own spiritual dwelling. Spatial voyages would not discomfort him this way otherwise.

But his arrival was assured at least and he was stumbling through grim territory.

Upon salvaging his wits from his exodus, Leiiaborous began moving his grim puppet in the plentiful shadows of a forest. For hours he did so as the lands changed. Withering and falling apart the closer he moved.

Not caring to count time Leiiaborous was unaware of the hour when he reached it.

A black circle. Leaves broke to dust as they touched it. The ground was sinking around it. Power leaked out and polluted everything.

Leiiaborous stretched out a puppet limb in the air above the circle and pulled it back instantly as he felt a wicked presence that would rip and devour whatever it wanted.

It was here.

A complicated undertaking was facing him.

How to enter the circle?

"…and now we're just waiting for back-up. When they arrive later today we will go into the real world and retrieve lieutenant Graystone." Richard finished, his voice somewhat hoarse from recounting the events behind his group's current behaviour. Though, he had left out a few small details.

"And kill the vizards." Byakuya interjected, earning a large smile from Richard.

"Well, we have to get around to that at some point." The grey haired captain reasoned.

"Look," Shunsui interjected before Byakuya and Richard put aside pleasantries and started tearing into each other. "I understand that you're under a lot of pressure and that you wish to just take off and save your comrade and punish whoever it is that's hurt him." The two grim reapers narrowed their eyes at the implication that the vizards weren't the one who hurt their subordinate. "The fact that you're both able to stay so calm is a testament of your level heads."

"We're not that easy to flatter." The prison warden muttered in his head.

"But please take a step back and reconsider your options a bit further. Wouldn't it be better if some of us joined your search? The vizard will most likely be more willing to appear than if you go alone and perhaps we can get you to see our point of view in regards to how complicated matters with the vizard are."

A heavy silence covered the room and Richard and Evadne considered the proposal. Outright refusing it would just lead to more discussions, which would be aggravating and time-consuming. At the same time there could be some value in bringing a shinigami along to lure some of the vizards out of hiding. Of course, there was no guarantee that would work or that it wasn't a trap, they still weren't sure what kind of relationship the shinigami actually had with the vizard group. And even if it wasn't a trap the shinigami didn't quite seem to comprehend that they had been planning on dealing with the vizards whether Michael had been kidnapped or not.

No matter how he turned it there were pros and cons with all possible scenarios and Richard knew he needed to discuss things with his appointed commander. But he also realised that the shinigami most likely wouldn't give them the time to discuss matters thus forcing them to go with the option of bringing along a shinigami captain which would probably jus be a hassle.

"What we really need now is a distraction of some sort. Preferably one that benefits us more than them."

Apparently the gods of well timed coincidences were on Richard's side this day. Because just as he finished that thought a hell butterfly fluttered into the room. It silently flew up to the two reapers and addressed them with Nicodéme's voice.

"Apologies for interrupting but I felt that it would be prudent to inform you that captain Sigfridsson and his team have arrived rather early." The hell butterfly dispersed into nothingness after the message was delivered and Richard flashed his assembled hosts a big grin, sending a chill down most of their spines.

"Oh my. Looks like we're going to have to put this meeting on hold for a bit so that you can meet our reinforcements."

Ten minutes earlier, in a forest south of the Gotei 13 HQ

Beileag grumbled bitterly as her hair whipped all around her head and an uncanny light shone on her face. It was a rather odd reaction when faced with a bright and shining tunnel that led from one end of the world to the other through the use of complex spells and other intricate machinations that most people, Beileag especially, wouldn't understand.

Part of it was that she'd already walked through the thing when she and the other grim reapers who were currently visiting the east first arrived, so any awe that might be felt had already passed for her. But mostly she was grumpy because of who was coming through it this time around.

"They are going to aid us in saving lieutenant Graystone you know. You could show some gratitude." Nicodéme said with diplomatic voice as he held up his hands from which yellow energy bands connected him to the tunnel thus keeping it open and stable.

"I will." Beileag muttered. "I'll show it by not pointing out how much they'll slow us down when they do that or gloat when I need to save their asses."

"I fear that captain Hawkins is having a bad influence on you. I've had this fear for fifteen years now you know." Nicodéme was about to continue but Beileag beat him to the punch.

"I fear that captain Kneller is going to blow you up one day and the rest of us with you but you don't hear me bitching about it." The red head said with a sharp tone, indicating that if the conversation continued it'd turn ugly. Nicodéme shut up as he didn't need the stress of talking about his captain and imagining what terror the man was inflicting upon his surroundings during Nicodéme's absence.

"They're getting close now." Nicodéme said conversationally after a few minutes as a few dark shapes appeared towards the end of the tunnel and they were steadily moving closer at a walking pace.

"Goodie." Beileag said under her breath as four figures dressed in the concealing hooded cloaks of the grim reapers stepped out of the portal.

Three of them were fairly average sized while the last one to exit the portal was frighteningly large. You could just feel the raw power emanating from the giant in spades. Even Beileag reluctantly straightened out her back in this presence.

One of the average sized reapers stepped forward while pulling back his hood and addressing the two lieutenants. "Lieutenant Lumiére, lieutenant Greer, always a pleasure to, even if the circumstances could've been better." It was a dark skinned man with short, neatly trimmed black hair that ended with a short, rather contrasting, ponytail and the most professional expression that Beileag ever cared to witness. A scythe with an armlong handle and freshly polished blade was strapped to his back.

Nicodéme bowed lightly in greeting as he closed the portal. "Likewise lieutenant Wilson. It is very reassuring to see so many of the second division's top members present."

"Of course it is." A confident, bordering on arrogant, voice said and the grim reaper to the right of Wilson pulled his hood back so that he could run a hand through his shoulder-length, spiky red hair. His other hand loosely held his scythe, which had a long, thin handle and a long indescribably sharp blade. "Every last one from our division is worth at least three of any other division's fighters."

Lieutenant Wilson was about to admonish his comrade for disrespecting his colleagues' abilities when the other redhead present spoke her mind. "Dwaah. Listen to the cute little fourth-seater trying to make himself sound big."

The male red head rolled his eyes in an exaggerated manner and scoffed in a most natural fashion. "Hah. That's rich coming from a third division dwarf." He extenuated his words by bending down to look Beileag in the eyes.

The shorter reaper didn't miss a beat and responded with a brilliant smile that didn't gel with her horrid tone. "And that's funny coming from a guy who makes less money than his much awesomer little sister. Tell me again, how does it feel to be a shame to the family?"

An exaggeration perhaps, but apparently it was a touchy subject because in the blink of an eye the fourth seat reached out to strangle Beileag but he was pulled back by the third of the average-sized grim reapers, though this one was noticeably taller than the two men.

"Settle down fourth seat Greer." The grim reaper said with a harsh female voice as she pulled her red-headed comrade away from the prison lieutenant. In the struggle her hood got knocked off, revealing a woman with a sharp face marred by a number of scars, crystal clear blue eyes and flowing blonde hair that was allowed to cascade down her shoulders after being imprisoned within the dark confines of the hood.

"You are of the second division. Show some dignity!" The blonde ordered. "Or so help me," She pulled a heavy looking scythe off her back and held it threateningly in the air. "I'll be forced to punish you."

The male Greer instantly calmed down and stood down, prompting the blonde to release him.

"Well done third seat de Wit." The massive grim reaper in the back said with a booming voice as he pulled back his hood. In simple terms this man was ruggedly handsome. He had the kind of face that was macho enough for men to instantly think it look tough cool yet handsome enough to make most women swoon at the mere sight of it. He had light blonde hair that was perfectly trimmed and a well-groomed beard that covered the lower half of his face. A large, very heavy-looking scythe with a black blade was strapped to his back. Stern, dark blue eyes methodically scanned the area before settling on the two grim reapers that were there to greet him and his team.

"Lieutenant Lumiére. Lieutenant Greer." He greeted with a stoic expression.

"Captain Sigfridsson." Nicodéme returned the courtesy. Beileag just straightened her back and said nothing, the most respect she'd ever show the imposing man before her. "I thank you all for arriving on such a short notice."

"I should've come with the rest of you from the beginning." Nicodéme shivered at the deep and harsh voice.

"Captain Erasmus wanted this to be a peaceful mission. For as long as possible that is, and…"

"I know her reasons. But I didn't agree with them. Unfortunately the captain-commander gave captain Erasmus the main authority over this mission."

"And see where that brought us." Iain sniggered beneath and instantly regretted it when his captain glared in his direction.

"This is not a joking matter Greer. The life of a comrade is at stake. Take us to the rest of your little troop so that we may get to saving lieutenant Graystone." Nicodéme nodded and hastily lead the second division members towards the castle. Captain Sigfridsson followed with a steady step that indicated he was usually the one in front. His subordinates walked after their captain in a casual march.

Beileag stood still for a few minutes, took a deep breath and then followed the rest of the group while muttering curses, hoping that her former captain wouldn't hear her.

"Euuhhhhhhhhhh…" Loly moaned as she stumbled down the street that led to Orihime's home. Her already invisible body was further concealed against spiritually aware people by a cloak that she'd stolen from Aizen's supply closet before the former espada members had destroyed Las Noches.

"Hungry… so hungry." The arrancar's stomach agreed with her as it grumbled painfully. Her hunt for regular hollows to eat had gone impossibly bad. Each time she'd neared one of the voracious beings an arrow bright blue energy had pierced their masks and killed them. And that kept happening like a bad comedy routine until she could barely move out of starvation.

"Songs should be sung about me just for being able to walk in this condition." As the food-gods seemed intent on mocking her endlessly Loly decided to move on to her original plan and aimed herself at Inoue Orihime.

"Soon… soon this will be over and I can get to eat. I just have to find the princess and…" Loly's train of thoughts stopped as she noticed the very person that had was her goal for this little exhausting excursion.

Orihime was walking the down the street in the opposite direction with Tatsuki by her side. The two of them talking animatedly about something Loly couldn't hear nor bring herself to care about. She just needed to walk five meters, reveal herself and then finally properly begin her mission.

"So I think that a chocolate-chip and mayonnaise bottom would be great for with my ramen cake." Orihime mused excitedly as she swung her school bag around in the happiest manner possible.

Tatsuki smirked at her best friend's behaviour while dodging the schoolbag at regular intervals. "That's nice Orihime but is that really what you want to talk about?"

"Of course it is Tatsuki-chan!" The strawberry haired healer said with what Tatsuki would call a hilariously serious pout as she got up in the karate practitioner's face. "You must always put as much thought and consideration as possible into every dish in your mind. That way each one will be a delectable memory for life. Isn't that a wonderful thought worth spending some time on?"

"Sure it is buddy." Tatsuki decided to have some fun with her friend. "But are you sure that you don't want to talk about something else. Like something that happened yesterday while you were inside Ichigo?" Tatsuki got a satisfying yelp and a striking blush from the other girl. "And that's related to an answer that he's apparently promised to…"

"STOP!" Orihime suddenly screeched, resulting in the two girls staring at each other. Confusion shining in Tatsuki's eyes while apprehension filled Orihime's.

The healer sighed and explained herself. "I am happy that I finally confessed and that me and Ichigo will have a talk about it and all. I'm happy to just be happy about it. Do you understand?" Tatsuki nodded for Orihime to continue. "But if I start to talk about it I'll really start to think about it and then I'll just start to think about bad outcomes and I don't really want to do that."

Tatsuki had to keep herself from chuckling at how cute she found her friend's meekness. So she opted to smile lightly instead. "I get it. You've thrown yourself out there and done pretty much the only thing you really could do. Now it's all in Ichigo's hands and you can't do anything but wait." Orihime nodded. "It's ok Orihime. Waiting is always scary. Especially when it's for a big moment. But you'll be fine. Regardless of what kind of answer that lazy ass Ichigo gives you, you'll be fine." She gave Orihime a reassuring grip on the shoulder. "Until then however let's assume he'll give you a positive answer and just talk about food and other stuff. OK?"

Orihime nodded and smiled. "Yeah. I'd like…" Orihime's eyes widened suddenly and she quickly pushed Tatsuki away when a shimmering green needle that was as long an arm hit her in the neck. The healer instantly went stiff and started falling.

Tatsuki reacted quick enough to catch the healer before she hit the ground. "What the hell just happened?!" The dark haired girl yelled at nobody in particular. Orihime's eyes had glazed over but remained open and she was still breathing, Tatsuki let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. Best she could tell Orihime was paralysed and she guessed that the needle was too blame. Before she could decide on what to do a shrill breath made itself heard right above the two teen.

Instead of looking up and wasting precious second Tatsuki jumped to the side, with Orihime in her arms, just in time to see a long white pincer stab into the ground where they had been.

"Thin little girls without meat are tasteless. But orders are orders. So don't move any more, thin little girl. When I am done here I can eat other fatter treats."

It was a hollow with a mantis-like lower body that was as large as a car. The upper body was that of a thin woman with the arms ending in long pincers that were strong enough to destroy concrete. The mask was thinner than most other hollows, its teeth where long and razor-sharp and dark green cracks formed a crooked x-shape in middle of the whole thing. Long and wild brown hair was hanging out from the head giving her a deranged appearance.

A thousand thoughts race through Tatsuki's head and she tried to decide on what to do when the hollow charged at them. The black haired girl tried to move run back but slipped due to shock and momentarily forgot the extra weight she was carrying.

"SHIT!" She yelled in her head as she saw death approaching them.

When the hollow was inches away from them a pair of white and black boots appeared out of nowhere and slammed feet-first into the hollow's face just as the legs and body that was wearing the boots materialised in front of Tatsuki's eyes.

The hollow was sent crashing across the street and a girl with black hair put up in twin-tails and dressed in all white landed ungracefully before the humans. Hunger had made its mark on Loly. She was breathing heavily and sweating even though the attack had been pretty simple. Loly hoped that she could deal with her opponent in this condition.

"Nothing else to it I guess." She thought with a sigh and glanced back to where Tatsuki still hadn't moved from her fallen position.

"Th…thanks." Tatsuki breathe out. "That was really damn close. Who are…?"

"Shut up human. If you have time for talking then run instead of sitting there like an idiot." Loly grumbled.

"Hey. Watch the attitude." Tatsuki responded in a natural reaction.

"I said, SHUT UP!" Loly roared as she got up in Tatsuki's face. "And take her away from here." She pointed down to the still paralysed Orihime. "I'm trying to save the princess here and I'd rather not screw up because some girly moron turned out to be stupid!"

Normally Tatsuki would respond equally fiercely but the sudden shift from serious girly talk to unexpected assault and rescue from physical spirits and then getting yelled at by a rude stranger confused her brain. So she resorted to the most tried and true response of people with confused brains.

"Huh?"

Ok. Next chapter is going to be action-packed and will include one of the team-ups I've been dying to write since I started this fic. Should be fun. Please review and tell me what you think.