WARNING: This chapter gets very gory at some parts. You have been warned. Please do not flame because of it. Read at your own risk

Chapter 12

Ichigo might as well have left a grove in the floor with all the pacing he was doing outside his uncle's office. His father and his uncle were talking inside and had oh so kindly locked him out. He sighed, groaned and then screamed at the ceiling.

"That isn't going to help ya know," Grimmjow said lazily from his spot against the wall.

"Shut it. I should be in there with them! I made a promise…"

"Yeah, ya did," Grimmjow interrupted, "but right now you need to let the adults handle it."

Ichigo growled at him but Grimmjow just shrugged it off as nothing. He understood why Ichigo was acting the way he was. Their first attempted ended horribly and it had been much to long since then. For all they knew, the young man was really dead this time. Grimmjow didn't even want to think of how Ichigo would be if that was the truth.

"I can't take this anymore!" Ichigo stomped over to the door but before he could open it Grimmjow grabbed him and locked Ichigo's arms behind his own back. He struggled against Grimmjow's restraining grip. Thrashing back and forth, and growling like a caged animal. "Let me go!" Ichigo pulled hard trying to get away from Grimmjow.

"You know as well as I do I can't let you do that. Now stop struggling you little shit. Sit, be a good boy, and wait for them to finish before I just knock you out instead!"

Ichigo stopped his struggles and turned his head to Grimmjow. His eyes screamed anger and murderous intent. "What did you just say?" the captured gritted out through clenched teeth.

"Ya heard me Strawberry," Grimmjow gave him a trademark smirk, overly sharp teeth and all. Luckily he closed his mouth before the back of Ichigo's head met with his. With a not so silent curse, Grimmjow instantly let go to cradle his now aching head. Ichigo made another dash for the door. "No you don't," Grimmjow leapt at him, taking the orangette down at the knees.

The two inside the office seemed fairly unaffected by the crashing sounds on the other side. "Do you think we should stop them?" eyes looked up from under a striped hat at the man across the table.

"Let the two fight it out for a little while. We are almost done with the preparations, and Ichigo needs to let off some steam," Ishhin sighed.

"I just hope they don't break anything," Kisuke continued to tinker with the small trinket in his hands, "There are many things that cannot be replaced if broken on my shelves, and even more that the side effects could be dire."

"I'm sure they will be fine. Have you finished?"

Kisuke made one last adjustment and handed the item over to Ishhin. The small gold pendant shimmered in the dim light. The crystal in the middle shined just enough to show the blood red color of its contents as it swirled around slowly. Isshin gathered up the chain accompanying the artifact and placed it a small bag.

"Remember, if he is a Hollow now, that will not be of any use. Instead you will need to use this," Kisuke pulled out a small bottle seemingly from nowhere and slid it over to Ishhin. "You have syringes already. Inject the entire bottle. He will be unpredictable and deadly. Do not go into this thinking you will be saving your son Isshin. You will most likely just be collecting a demon."

"I know. It's why I won't let Ichigo do this."

Urahara rested his hand on his half-brother's and tried to smile in encouragement. Isshin gave him a brief glance but quickly hung his head with a sigh. They both knew that Shiro would not, could not, be truly human anymore at this point. Too much time had passed. Aizen had played too much. The young man would be broken in one way or another. They just needed to be ready to handle it.

Another crash and string of curses brought the two's moment to a sudden stop. They sighed. Isshin wiped his forehead, "Better go break them up."

They opened the door to the main area of the shop. Grimmjow was on his back with Ichigo pinning him down; arm raised ready to punch the bluenette in the face. Grimmjow wasn't making it easy though. He was thrashing, growling, and biting. Ichigo began to swing but was stopped by a strong grip. He looked up into his father's eyes and visibly relaxed from the look boring into him. He sat back, releasing Grimmjow's arms in the process. "Enough," Isshin softly spoke and released his boys arm. Grimmjow pushed Ichigo off of him and got up before helping his lover as well.

"So what's the plan?" Ichigo looked expectantly at the two elders in the room.

"The plan is for you two to stay here with your uncle Ichigo. I'm going alone," Isshin's tone was stern.

If looks could kill, Ichigo's father would be lying dead on the floor. Did his ears deceive him? His father was planning on leaving him here as if he was weak and helpless. He gritted his teeth, "No, I'm coming with you. I promised Shiro."

"Ichigo, don't fight me on this. The best thing you can do for your brother right now is stay here," Isshin was serious. His voice, demeanor, and face showed no signs of the usually eccentric man. Normally this would have been Ichigo's sign to give up the fight, but this was different. He already failed once; he wasn't going to fail again just because no one would give him a second chance.

He stood up tall and looked straight into his father's eyes, "No."

Isshin sighed and gave a slight nod of the head. Before Ichigo could blink, there was a sharp pain in his neck. His vision blacked and he started to fall. He was out before Grimmjow caught him. "Sorry son. I'll be back as soon as I can. If he wakes while I'm gone, make sure Ichigo stays here."

"Dontcha worry about that. I got ways of makin' him stay," Grimmjow smirked.

With a few more parting words, and the small bag of items secured over his shoulder, Isshin left the shop. He didn't know how this would end, but he feared the worst.

Shiro's stomach growled loud enough that it seemed to echo off the walls. The pains were getting to him. The taste of stale copper never left his mouth anymore. His teeth were permanently sharp. His incisors, now fangs, just barely poked out from under his top lip. He felt frail, yet, so strong. Like something inside was changing and growing. This new power scared Shiro. He couldn't lie to himself. He knew what was happening. The demon side had told him. Slowly, he was turning into a Hollow. And the more he gave into the hunger pains, the faster he turned.

Another wave hit him and he clenched his stomach as well as he could given the bindings. Painful moans gritted through his teeth. Once the pains dulled he was left panting.

"Ya understand it won' be long now right?" the demon inside sounded tired. He was fighting the inevitable just as much as Shiro. As much as the demon wanted control, he had clearly explained that becoming a Hollow was not taking control. It was giving into madness and instinct. And it was something that was almost impossible to change back from.

Pain shot through him again. Shiro growled through the pain. His mind was going blank slowly and he knew the control was leaving. He looked down and watched his hands turn into claws. It had started.

Isshin walked through the sliding glass doors and was met with the familiar smell of antiseptic hospitals always seemed to have lingering about. It was one of the many reasons he chose to have his own clinic instead of working in one. It hadn't changed much from years ago. A few new plants, and the front desk was updated for the times but that was about it. The receptionist was a new addition as well. She was young, no more than her early twenties, and probably a volunteer. That would make things easier for him.

He approached the young woman and with a few short words later, he was being escorted by another volunteer to Aizen's office without a problem. Isshin was grateful this was working so easily but at the same time couldn't shake the feeling this was too easy. It was almost as though he was expected.

The escort stopped in front of a large wooden door on the top floor of the hospital. The name plate on the door looked worn but still was clear with the words "Dr. Sosuke Aizen" engraved on it and painted black. He knocked before opening the door and announced the arrival of the guest. Isshin heard a familiar voice give some simple instructions to his escort before he emerged and ushered Isshin in. The young man left without another word leaving the two alone.

"Please Isshin, sit," Aizen smiled as he gestured to the high back, white leather chairs in front of his desk. Taking a book from one of the many shelves lining the right wall of the office, he took a seat himself behind his desk in his own throne like chair made of matching white leather.

"I'm not here to talk Aizen. Where is my son?" Isshin kept his position in the middle of the office.

"Right to the point as always. You never were one to beat around the bush. Of course maybe that is why I liked you so much in school," Aizen sighed, "If only you would have seen things my way. We could have gone so far Isshin. So, so very far."

"I ask you again. Where is my son?" Anger was rising with Isshin's every word. He knew Aizen's games well enough and was not willing to play them.

"Tsk tsk, now now, don't get angry," Aizen was smiling again. His eyes were gleaming with an almost excited look. It sickened Isshin to no end.

"You don't understand what you are dealing with here Aizen. This isn't like in school. This isn't mutating cadavers and rats."

"Oh Isshin, you wound me with how little you understand of my work. Tell me Isshin, what is something all man has strived for?" Aizen flipped open the book he had brought with him to his desk.

"I'm not playing your games," Isshin glared at the man.

"It is just a simple question Isshin. No games," Aizen smiled down at his book, "Again, it is simple, what have all men wanted?"

Isshin glared at the man in front of him. He made no move to answer.

"Fine, if you will not humor me and answer, I will just tell you. It is very simple really. Immortality. The ability to live forever. To never perish from any disease. To never grow old and feeble. To regenerate from any would or injury. Imagine the possibilities of what a man could accomplish if he never had to worry about dying!" the man began to laugh. He was clearly insane. "Now you are probably wondering, what does this have to do with your son right? Well that is quite simple. Your family has demon blood. Demon's are immortal."

"Only pure demons. My son is far from pure," Isshin cut him off.

"Oh but you see Isshin, that is not a problem if the demon is separated from the human," Aizen stood, book in hand. He took a place next to Isshin, "See here? All you need for pure demon blood is to separate the two souls, make the other takeover, and with a week of feeding, the human is gone and you are left with a pure demon. With all the research your crazy brother does, you should know this."

"It doesn't work. There is no way to separate the souls fully without exorcism and that results in death of the demon soul," Isshin shot back.

Aizen chuckled darkly, "Oh there is one other way, it is risky, but it is worth it."

Isshin turned white, "You aren't. You can't be. Aizen, you don't know what you are messing with! You are putting everyone at danger! Stop this madness!"

"Madness? You were always a coward Isshin. You had so much potential but…" Aizen was cut off by the door to his office flying open and crashing into the wall. "This isn't the time Dr. Granz!"

The young man looked as though he had just been in a fight, and a violent one at that. His normally clean and styled hair was messy and wet with sweat and blood. Blood splatter had created intricate patterns on his clothes from head to toe. His face was glazed over with sweat. His expression could be described as nothing more than a look of utter horror. "He's broken the binds! He's gone berserk sir! He has killed seven guards already and fed from three. Sir we can't even sedate him!" Dr Granz couldn't stop his voice from cracking.

"What do you mean? Why didn't you shock him? Those were implanted for a reason!"Aizen expression changed quickly from one of annoyance to pure anger.

"We…we did sir," Dr Granz opened one of his hands. A handful of small, metal nodes dripping in blood and flesh fell from them. "He pulled them out sir…with his own claws."

"What did I tell you Aizen! Shiro will kill everyone here!" Isshin did not care if he was sounding desperate. He knew what needed to be done and sure as hell wasn't going to let someone's ego get in the way.

"I will not let some out of control brat ruin all I have worked for! Wake Patients 4 and 10 immediately! Bring them to the boy's cell but do not go in until I get there."

"I don't know how much longer the room will hold him sir," Dr Granz said. Worry was laced in his voice.

Aizen glared at the young doctor with what only could be described as bloodlust in his eyes, "Then you better hurry." The doctor ran out without another word and Aizen turned to Isshin, "This was your doing wasn't it? I don't know what you did, but I will find out."

"You brought this upon yourself. I did nothing. Now if you will excuse me, I need to go save my son," Isshin moved around Aizen and made a line for the door. He wasn't expecting the swing to the back of his head. He fell hard to the ground and his vision was fuzzy. He looked up to see Aizen looking down at him.

"You will not ruin my work again Kurosaki," with those parting words Aizen left the office making sure to lock Isshin inside.

Aizen met the other three outside of Shiro's room. As ordered, Dr Granz had got patients 4 and 10. Ulquiorra had his typical emotionless look on his face. His posture spoke the same until Aizen arrived, where it changed subtly to show he was ready to take orders. The other patient, Patient 10 was a man name Yammy Llargo. The man was unnaturally tall and looked as though he had been pumped with steroids since birth. It wasn't too far away from the truth. The man did not have the brains to match the brawn, but with the line of work normally assigned to him, he didn't need it.

The four of them heard the screams and roars coming from behind the door. There were multiple crashes as if the now hollowfied young man was trying anything to get at fresh meat in the rest of the hospital. Each man outside wore a different expression concerning what was going to happen next. Aizen, cool and collected as always still had a layer of anger under his mask. Szayel Apporo Granz still had a look of horror but was greatly trying to hide it with overconfidence. Yammy almost looked excited at what was to come. A look of definite anticipation at the chance to fight was in his eyes. Ulquiorra on the other hand looked almost bothered. Emotionless as he was, one could still tell that dealing with this trash again, as he would call it, was not high on his things to do list.

Aizen handed Ulquiorra a syringe full of a light blue liquid, "Yammy, you will need to fight him down. Ulquiorra, you will need to sedate him with that. Once he is sedated we can bind him and I will take what I need. After, the boy can be disposed of however you decide. Dr Granz, be ready for the extraction. Have all the instruments ready for when I call. I will wait here for you two to finish. Do not fail me."

Dr Granz took that as his queue to leave. Ulquiorra bowed to his guardian, "As you wish. Let's go." Without another word, he grabbed the brute behind him and the two entered Shiro's chamber.

The place reeked of blood and death. The once white padded walls were now soaked and dripping crimson. Guards that could barely be describes as being once human covered the floor as it they were some part of a serial killers sick jigsaw puzzle. A faint crunching could be heard from one of the piles of flesh. The two turned their attention towards it and saw their target.

Shiro's hair had grown down to his waist. The bottom was dripping red with blood soaked up from the floor. His already unnatural pale skin was now stark white with red waved lines running down his legs and arms. His clothes were in shreds and what was left had blended with the blood creating a sickening violet. Claws dug into his more recent meal creating drip patterns down his arms and off his claws onto the floor. A long thick, red tipped tail was swinging back and forth behind him. Too involved in gorging himself, he did not notice the newcomers.

"Stay quiet," Ulquiorra whispered to his companion, "He has not noticed us. We can use this to our advantage." Yammy grunted in response. With that, the two edged forward through the gore maze on the floor.

They made it halfway to the feeding hollow before one wrong step caused a bone to crunch under Yammy's unnaturally large foot. Shiro's head shot up from his meal. A piece was forgotten and still hanging from his teeth. Shining gold on black eyes glared at the two and a growl escaped Shiro's bloodstained mouth. His tail swished around violently as he stood. His claws twitched ready to rip into the two new meals he was presented. Stepping over his now forgotten food source, he stood ready to attack. He lifted his head to the ceiling and let out an ear splitting shriek allowing them clear view of the tell tale mark that labeled him a Hollow; a hole about three inches in diameter all the way through in the center of his chest.

Before the other two could blink, Shiro was on the move. He jumped to the ceiling and used his claws to cling to the padding lining it. Another sudden movement had him flying down; a claw aimed straight for Yammy's back. The brute caught glimpse of Shiro just in time to dodge him. He grabbed his arm in the process and threw Shiro into the nearest wall. The padding helped cushion the impact but not enough. Shiro was stunned for a second before getting right back on his feet and going in for another attempt. He charged head on at Yammy. "To easy," Yammy thought, but as soon as he was about to grab the hollow by the head, Shiro had changed direction, attacked, and shot off again. A dark cackle echoed through the room as blood splattered out from Yammy's back and he fell to his knees in a hiss.

"He's fast. Get back up. You need to get him entangled with you. So I can inject him with the sedative. Let him attack them grab him," Ulquiorra tried to track Shiro's movements as he gave his orders. But, the young man's movements were too fast for the human eye to track. One blink and he was gone. He heard Yammy grunt as he stood from the floor, "Get ready." The two waited for what felt like hours for Shiro to attack again. They would hear his shriek or cackle but as soon as they turned in the direction of the noise, he had moved to another area of the room. It seemed he liked to play with his prey before striking. It was no wonder any guard sent in had fallen.

"I'm getting tired of this. Come on you little pussy! Get down here and fight!" Yammy had grown impatient. He never would have guessed that impatience would sign his own death certificate. Shiro took the challenged and pounced. He landed right on top of Yammy's back. Claws from his hands took hold in his shoulders. Talons that went unnoticed before, from his feet dug themselves into his hips. Yammy cried out in pain and started to flail in an attempt to dislodge Shiro from him. It only caused the wounds to be dug deeper. Shiro threw his head back and cackled at his newest prey's struggles.

Ulquiorra took this as his chance. Quietly he moved in on the hollow; syringe ready in hand. Before he could strike, Shiro brought his fangs into Yammy's neck. He strong jaws clamped down and a sickening crunch echoed through the room. The big man fell, and Shiro held on until he was flat on the ground. He pulled his head up, ripping flesh from Yammy's neck. The man's screams of pain soon turned to gurgles as his mouth and lungs filled with blood.

Shiro dislodged himself from his perch. His head snapped around giving full attention to only other live person in the room. Baring his teeth and growling in warning, Shiro hunched over ready to attack the small male. His tail twitched back and forth dangerously.

Ulquiorra ignored it all and kept moving. He had fought this trash before. In his mind, becoming hollow could not make him that much more powerful than he was before. "Accept your fate as you did last time trash," he held up the syringe ready. Shiro cackled at him and with a quick lash of his tail, the syringe fell to the floor. Ulquiorra went to reach for it, but Shiro's taloned foot met with it first as he stepped forwards. He towed over the smaller male and growled down at him. For the first time in many years, Ulquiorra believed he may have felt fear before everything went black.

When the sounds coming from inside the room went to almost nothing and no one had called for him, Aizen had gotten curious. Furious at the incompetence that was being shown, he decided to look himself.

He opened the door and the smell of fresh blood assaulted his nose. He scanned the room until stark white caught his attention. There was Shiro, hovered over the biggest and strongest of his patients eating as though it was his last meal. He gasped at the display and was quickly met with gold on black eyes. The thing smiled at him before it shrieked and pounced.

Shiro's belly was full, if not engorged, but the hunger just couldn't be satisfied. With the door to his cell now open, a specific sent caught his nose. It seemed so familiar but his mind could not seem to process it. Following his instincts, Shiro followed the scent. He ended at a wooden door. The smell was coming from behind it and everything was telling him he needed to get in.

Without a second thought, he smashed through the door and sniffed the air inside. Following the scent, he looked down to a man laying on the floor. He watched as the man slowly started to get up and rub the back of his head. Shiro growled softly to get the man's attention. He watched the man look up slowly. The man's eyes grew wide with fear and he slowly started to push himself away from Shiro until he couldn't anymore. Shiro just stared at the man cowering on the floor. Every instinct was telling him to kill the man, but something needed to know why he looked so familiar.

Author's Note: Hope this chapter was worth the wait. Please review if you have anything to say at all. They really help. And Happy New Year to everyone!