Ok so I seriously did have the majority of this chapter done when I posted chapter 32, I just… never took the time to finish it. Ah, I'm sorry I'm the worst at updating this story. It's harder for me to focus and write for POHM pretty much because of how I made the first twenty or so chapters. This story was first published back in 2013, but I wrote the first few chapters before then. My writing has since changed. I'm older and more experienced and I honestly believe I'm a better writer now than I was back in 2013. It's easy for me to see that, with this story, I tried to throw in and connect far too many characters than I could/can handle. We're on chapter 33 and I'm only starting to tie up some loose ends. Please do me a favor and be patient with these updates. I'm trying to connect some of the previous character connections in this story with the endings for particular characters and for the story as a whole. This is making the writing flow a bit slower, though, and I know this story will take a bit more time to finish. This year is almost over and I know I can't wrap up POHM by the end of it, but I do think this story will be finished before the end of 2018. It's looking like there will be about 42 (?) chapters, but don't hold me to that. Anyway, let's move onto the actual chapter!

The quote today is from Grimmjow's Fraccion: Edrad Liones.

"A pack is there to kick you when you're down and to make sure you don't stay down long."

Isshin Kurosaki:

"Dad?! You're a-a?!"

Ichigo was never great at making an entrance. This was one of his more poorly timed ones. He somehow managed to enter the room with me, Ryuuken, and the three Espada minutes after Uryu had disappeared with Orihime. Masaki would be proud of how similar our bad timing is.

"Ichigo, keep moving! Uryu and Orihime are running ahead, most likely looking for you guys. I'll explain the whole Shinigami thing later." I felt a kick under my captain's cape, reminding me of her presence. "Oh yeah, take Rukia."

"What?!"

I locked swords with the blue and pink duo. They both looked pissed that I could take the two of them while distracted. Their obvious rage grew as my cape moved aside to reveal Rukia's small form hiding underneath. She jumped off, having been able to heal the rest of her injuries during the fight. She quickly joined up with Ichigo. He seemed ready to kiss her and punch her at once. He soon realized that this wasn't the time nor place for either of those actions, so he quickly turned his attention back to me.

"You sure you don't need any help?"

The pink one tried to attack from behind, but I quickly threw the blue one away, then turned to block and toss the pink one.

"I'm good."

He nodded, turned to leave, then a burst of light distracted us all. The lifeless Espada who had been quietly fighting Ryuken emitted a brilliant glow. He sprouted wings and horns, and now held a beam of that brilliant light.

"I don't have time to mess around with you."

At that comment, Ryuken's face darkened. He wasn't having an Espada down talking him, especially not with all these witnesses. Cooley, Ryuken pushed up his glasses, then raised his bow.

"Likewise."

The room began to fill with blinding white and blue light. While the pink and blue Espada were distracted, I grabbed Ichigo's attention and directed him to go. He understood. I saw blue out of the corner of my eye and turned with more than enough time to block his poorly formed attack. I knocked him aside. When I looked back again, Ichigo and them were all gone.

I tried to see how Ryuken was doing, but the light was too bright to see anything.

I got kicked to the ground. When I refocused, I saw blue, only this time he had long hair and was coming in for another hit. I grabbed his foot, but he just balanced on my hand and used the other foot to get me in the side. I heard a rib crack. Damn, I should've paid more attention. Speaking of paying attention… I quickly scanned the area for the pink man. He didn't seem to be present. Dammit, I could've sworn he was unconscious. Before the blue Espada could get a third kick in, I shoved him off me.

"Where's your pink friend?"

Blue scowled. "Granz?" He quickly looked around, not letting me out of his view entirely. "That asshole left? Eh, whatever. I can take you by myself, anyway. If I had to battle your glasses friend," Blue squinted at the battle beside us, "then I would be a bit more cautious. Still, I'm sure I could take him alone. And he's far stronger than you."

I smirked.

"He is stronger than me, you're right. You are wrong about my level of strength, though. I also think you're underestimating just how... determined Ryuken can be when his pride is on the line."

His smile spread into a feral grin as maniacal laughter flew out of him.

Ichigo Kurosaki:

"So were you on his back the entire fight?"

Rukia hit me with her sheathed sword for the second time in only a few seconds. When Renji handed it to her, she had practically screeched with joy. Renji and Chad were running behind us. We weren't using shunpo because of Chad. It didn't hinder us, though, since we weren't trying to get anywhere in particular.

"Is that really all you got out of my recap?!"

I laughed. God, Rukia was fun to mess with.

"Don't worry, I got it. Ishida has Inoue and he's running around Las Noches probably looking for us, but he's one hundred percent invisible so we just have to run around like idiots until we literally bump into him."

She nodded; we kept running. This plan was one of the worst I've ever been a part of. If Ishida were here, he'd laugh at me… But if Ishida were here, we wouldn't need that stupid plan at all. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice the man sleeping on the floor until I literally tripped over him. As I crashed towards the ground, I heard Renji and Rukia barking out laughs. I managed to catch myself on my forearms so that I was planking over the now yawning man.

Not just any yawning man… This was the highest ranked Espada: Coyote Starrk. I remember from our "welcoming" ceremony and that time with the third Espada. He was far stronger than any of us and he was seemingly loyal to Aizen. In summary, we were screwed.

Hooded brown eyes looked at me as I scrambled to my feet. With another yawn, he sat up, then looked me up and down again. "...Ichigo, right?" I nodded, Renji and Rukia stopped laughing. "Why are yo-"

He was cut off by a long scream of, "ssssstttttttttaaaaaAAAAAARRRRRKKKKKKKKK," as his fellow number one Espada charged down the hallway toward him. He was fast to jump up and start running away from her and, luckily, us. She kept running and screaming, "Get your fat ass back here you lazy shit! Aizen says we have work to do! We're supposed to be getting into position for the invasion, you fuck-face!" Eventually, she was out of earshot.

We stood still, thinking of the meaning of her words.

C'mon, King, it's not that hard! She literally said the exact words! In-va-sion. They're doing it now. And you're walking around looking for your fucking boyfriend!

Are they really invading now? Is that why no one has tried to stop us?

You're a fucking moron, you know? Are you seriously this useless without the Quincy?

Rukia grabbed my arm, causing me to quickly look down at her. "Ichigo, we have to keep moving. The faster we find them, the faster we can get back and help out." I nodded and we started running again.

Szayel Aporro Granz:

Fuck that. I didn't have time to die in a battle with that mutts father, so I snuck out. Maybe I could still operate from my lab… Make sure the plan, as fucked as it had become, is still working. Uryu would leave, though with Inoue, and we would invade the human world. I was almost back to the lab when I saw Starrk running towards me. He grabbed my wrist and made me start running beside him.

"Let go, you dog! What is this? Where are you taking me?"

Starrk sighed, but kept his grip tight around my wrist. I couldn't get out of it unless I cut off the damn thing.

"Lillianette wants me to do paperwork. She keeps trying to trick me into thinking Aizen is starting the invasion, but that's not happening for another month."

I forgot to breath for a second. Lillianette could be lying, as Starrk said, but she was most likely telling the truth. And the fact that I wasn't told about the invasion meant that I wasn't needed for the invasion. It meant that I would die today in Hueco Mundo. It meant that everything I had done was for nothing.

"Starrk! Let's go to my lab, you can hide there!"

He took a second to think, then he directed us towards the lab. We were there in record time. I opened the doors and led him inside, locking the main door behind us. We delved deeper in; I locked a door every time we opened one. He didn't seem to question my madness. Instead, he willingly followed me into the heart of my lab. The screens were still lit from my earlier monitoring. Starrk, upon realizing this was our final destination, laid on the floor and started napping. I started studying the monitors, looking for Aizen.

He was in the conference room, talking with Gin, Tousen, Harribel, Zommari, Aaroniero, Barragan, Yammy, and Nnoitra.

I felt myself stop breathing once more. This vision was damning. Schiffer, Jeagerjaques, and I would die here in Las Noches. If not from a battle with those two fathers, then from the blade of one of my fellow Espada. Not that we were ever actual partners. No, we were only together because Aizen forced us together. Espada are meant to be by themselves. They're not supposed to grow attached.

Starrk snored from his place on the floor. I felt my lips twitch up to a soft smile before I could process it.

Hollow aren't supposed to develop emotional attachments. The six Espada in that room made me feel nothing. They could be complete strangers to me. And yet, this man on the floor made me smile.

I stopped looking in on Aizen's meeting for a moment to check on Jeagerjaques. Jeagerjaques could be lumped into the people who made me smile category. He was genuine, always. I would never trust him to have my back, but I know he would never lie to me. Schiffer, though, would lie to me in a heartbeat. He'd say he's with me, then stab me in the back. That's why, even though he's not currently in the meeting, he still counted as "those Espada in Aizen's meeting."

Jeagerjaques and the Shinigami were both soaked in dust and blood. Tens of thousands of cuts littered their broad bodies. They were pretty equally matched, no clear winner making himself apparent. Instead, they kept jumping and dodging and thrusting until they both were panting. Jeagerjaques kicked The Shinigami in the side hard enough to make him hit the wall, leaving a crater upon impact. Without giving Jeagerjaques the time to be proud of his kick, the Shinigami jumped out of the crater, and came down particularly hard on Jeagerjaques. Blood started pouring out of Jeagerjaques' side. It suddenly became clear that he wouldn't be the victor.

Schiffer, on the other hand, didn't have a scratch on his porcelain skin. The Quincy didn't have any injuries either. They stayed close to each other, but they never actually touched. The second one got too close for comfort, the other would dash back. Their fight wasn't messy, but it was intense. Surprisingly, they were able to remain in only a small part of the room, simply running in a box shape around another. I was about to look away from their standstill, when the Quincy got clipped by one of Schiffer's javelins. He was thrown back by the force, but managed to stop himself from hitting the wall by using his reiatsu as a yielding shield behind him. The Quincy immediately re-entered the battle, angrier than before.

My wandering gaze forced me to see Jeagerjaques again. He wasn't moving. Instead, he lay panting on the floor. He would bleed out within the hour, and, if he somehow didn't die of blood loss, Aizen would send someone to finish the job. I was doomed to die, too. With all the information I have, there's no way that Aizen wouldn't triple check my death, but there was hope for the Grimmjow. I used the intercom to call my brother.

Grimmjow Jeagerjaques:

The Shinigami looked down at me, then cleaned the blood off his sword. He sheathed it and went to leave. Was it really that obvious that I wouldn't last much longer? This wasn't how I pictured my end; who really imagines dying at the hands of a fucking Shinigami in a pool of their own blood and sweat? My eyes drifted to that glaring light of the Quincys and Schiffers battle. Unlike with me and this fucking Shinigami, there was no clear outcome of their battle.

The blood was up to my ears now. Everything felt slower, foggier. The Shinigami was gone, leaving a pathetic version of me to bleed out on the floor of Uryu's cushy room. This was fucking stupid. After all the shit that's happened, why the hell do I have to go out like this?

And what about the plan? Was it entirely pointless? I knew there was the possibility of dying, but I had assumed the blow would be delivered by Aizen himself, if by anyone at all. Fuck, and everyone else. What would happen with them? Granz left me here once he saw he wouldn't fair well against the Shinigami, but there's no way Aizen would let him live that much longer. And that Maid Hollow… well, she'll be dead before I am. And my pack, …what would happen with them? Would Aizen destroy the whole thing just to spite me? He had done the same with Granz' fraccion. Hopefully, my shitty pack would put up one hell of a fight. They'd show Aizen what kind of men followed the Sixth Espada.

I lost consciousness for no more than a second, but, in that time, a group of Hollow had entered the room. Yylfordt smirked, "he wasn't kidding. You look like shit, boss."

Edrad hummed in agreement, "I think it's about time ya got outta this shit-hole."

"It's time all of us did," Shawlong added. "I'm not in the mood to die again."

Back then, my Fraccion had been defeated by a embarrassingly weak group of humans and Shinigami alike. With little to no hope, left, I went to the smartest Hollow in Hueco Mundo. I begged him, and he eventually relented with the phrase, "You'll owe me one," dripping from his lips. Without much delay, he simply said he'd bring them back. When I questioned him, he hushed me and said that I wasn't allowed to ask him any questions. If I did, he would refuse to bring them back. I dropped off the bodies in his lab; the next day, they were doing better.

Di Roy unwrapped the blue scarf from his mask and knelt down to wrap it across my chest like a bandage. "You owe me a new scarf. This ones gonna get ruined."

"Are you done? We need to move him already," Nakeem budded into D Roy's demands.

Yylfordt pulled out a syringe and pushed up my shirt. "This is gonna hurt a lot." With that as his only warning, the needle was pressed into my chest. I felt my heart stopping, yet again. But this time it felt reassuring. My life was to be saved by my pack of five fuckups. This wasn't the end for me. This wasn't the end for them, either. We were gonna be fine.

While we were coming up with our shitty plan, I had asked Szayel how he managed to bring back my fraccion those months back. He had laughed at me and said something along the lines of,

"They weren't ever dead. I implanted a safety mechanism inside their brains while you were out. It's a fail safe that basically shuts down their bodies incase of a near death experience. They will appear dead to those around them, until I 'bring them back' by healing their wounds and turning off the mechanism."

He had went behind my back to fuck up my pack and yet what he did changed the course of history. They lived past that first battle. Now, I would live through this last one.

I lost consciousness for an indiscernible amount of time. This time, when I awoke, my view included a red flop of hair as Edrad carried me on his back, and the pale sand of Hueco Mundo under his feet. A gentle wrapping of reiatsu told me that the rest of my pack ran around us in some sort of protective formation. I couldn't turn around, but something told me that Las Noches was far enough away that we wouldn't be able to discern its shape. I felt the reiatsu of my pack as the ran besides Edrad. I wasn't sure where exactly we were headed, but that didn't matter.

Finally, we were out.

[ Grimmjow Jeagerjaques / End ]