Bleach: Masks of the Espada (Added Chapter 62)

[Spirit of DMG]

This takes place several centuries after the original series, so I've aged and replaced a few of the characters. And, that's not all! There will even be a few original characters that are completely my own and based on YCM members! (If you want in send me a Bio. If I like it, I'll use it. Maybe. Make sure the Layout is the one I use. Like this.)

[spoiler=Bios]
[spoiler=Evanescent Noir]
[img]http://i51.tinypic.com/15wly78.jpg[/img]
Name: Evanescent Noir
Age: Unknown
Race: Arrancar
Zanpakuto: Aizas
Release: Godmod
Info: Evanescent is odd in that he recalls his life as a human, despite having been a Hollow for centuries. There appears to be a relationship between him and Ulquiorra Schifa. Like Ulquiorra, he possesses Segunda Etapa. Before becoming an Arrancar, his body resembled a crow. There are rumors that he's more powerful than Ulquiorra, and that he is a true Vasto Lorde.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Donovyn M. Gerra]
[img]http://th01.deviantart.com/fs19/300W/f/2007/279/e/e/Dark_Quincy___Shinigami_BSP_by_Kaze_11.jpg[/img] (make the hair longer and black)
Name: Donovyn M. Gerra
Age: 20000
Race: Vizard
Zanpakuto: Evanescence
Release: Fade Away
Info: The only known descendant of Sosuke Aizen. He neither remembers nor cares about his life as a living human, though he has kept track of his years since his human birth. All he knows is that he's somehow descended from Aizen the Defector, and he takes pride in his dark heritage.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Daisuke Hirako]
[img]http://i53.tinypic.com/29ff6sz.jpg[/img] (Lose the tail and the ears)
Name: Daisuke Hirako
Age: 15
Race: Substitute Soul Reaper/Quincy
Zanpakuto: Szelechneider
Release: Fire
Info: A decedent of Uryu Ishida and Yuzu Kurosaki. He is truly the last Quincy, as he was announced completely Sterile, he has no siblings, and his parents died when he was 8. That was also when he unlocked his Quincy powers, destroying the Hollow that attacked them. However, he has not let the tragedy keep him from enjoying life, or Yaoi. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Lichroy Creator]
[img]http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs14/f/2007/079/3/5/Naruto_Bleach__Uzumaki_Taicho_by_EiffelArt.jpg[/img]
Name: Lichroy Creator
Age: unknown
Race: Soul Reaper
Zanpakuto: Lichking
Release: Rise
Info: Captain of Squad 12, succeeding Mayuri Kurotsuchi. Although he was originally to be assigned to Squad 11 to replace the aging Kenpachi Zaraki, he requested instead to fill the (at that time) vacant position of Squad 12 Captain and Department of Research and Development. Since then, there have been several new developments, including an easier to carry skin to replace the Gigai. "It combines the convenience of Urahara's Portable Gigai with the ease of use of the original Gigai."[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Elphemia Da Putana]
[img]http://i54.tinypic.com/2eowcjn.jpg[/img](a little less...Chibi-ish)
Name: Elphemia Da Putana
Age: 16
Race: Human
Zanpakuto: N/a
Release: N/a
Info: Daisuke's best friend since they were kids, and the only one who knows of his Quincy powers. She secretly has a crush on Daisuke, and although she pretends to dislike the constant glomps from Daisuke, she revels when they "accidentally" connect. Although neither one know it yet, she has latent powers within her. Ancestors include Chad Yasutora and Ururu.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Dios Deus]
[img]http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/5262/333xqvr.jpg[/img](Make this male and that's it...)
Name: Dios Deus
Age: unknown
Race: Arrancar
Zanpakuto: Negativo
Release: Go Mad!
Info: Dios is ranked as the second most powerful of the New Espada. Not much is known about his past, except that he apparently made himself an Arrancar as a Gillian. It's through intense training in his Resureccion that he became as powerful as he is.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Mary-Sue Miladie]
[img]http://theanimeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/sweet-Lolita.jpg[/img] (Add a Bonnet-like Mask fragment.)
Name: Mary-Sue MiLadie
Age: Unknown
Race: Arrancar
Zanpakuto: Frieza
Release: Destroy
Info: Mary-Sue died as a child. After her tragic death, she became an earthbound spirit, tied to her home. Because of this, she became a Hollow. Through her strong will she reached Adjucha level within a single century. It is unknown if she is a Vasto Lorde or if she became an Arrancar through other means. What is known is that her ressurecion is very deadly.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Mizuki Shoujo]
[img]http://th03.deviantart.net/fs30/300W/f/2008/173/3/6/Blue_haired_girl_by_Terkys.jpg[/img]
Name: Mizuki Shoujo
Age: Unknown
Race: Soul Reaper
Zanpakuto: Aguinti
Release: Soak them through
Info: Mizuki is the third seat of Squad Six. She is one of the few people who know her captain personally, and one of even fewer who can persuade him to take time off of training. Though she's highly ranked, Mizuki prefers to settle problems non-violently when it's possible.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Megami Shoujo]
[img]http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs30/i/2008/048/b/1/red_hair_by_melivillosa.jpg[/img]
Name: Megami Shoujo
Age: unknown
Race: Soul Reaper
Zanpakuto: Seika
Release: Burn
Info: Megami is the Lieutenant of Squad Six and one of the few people able to persuade Donovyn to take time off of training. It is unknown exactly how close she and her Captain actually are, but they seem to be pretty close.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Fuuta Nari]
[img]http://planetrenders.net/renders/albums/userpics/11489/Sanji.png[/img]
Name: Fuuta Nari
Age: unknown
Race: Soul Reaper
Zanpakuto: Luigi
Release: Crush and Enflame
Info: Fuuta is the successor to Shigekuni Genryuusai Yamamoto as Head Captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. He can be very strict when dealing with major issues, but outside of formal meetings, he can be very personable. Shortly before his predecessor stepped down, Fuuta was announced as Lieutenant of Squad One, due to his mastering his Bankai as a fifth seat.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Itachi Ninjow]
[img]http://media.animegalleries.net/albums/Naruto/zabuza/naruto_zabuza0031.jpg?=123[/img]
Name: Itachi Ninjow
Age: unknown
Race: Arrancar
Zanpakuto: Asesino
Release: Empower me
Info: Itachi is Arrancar number 8 of the New Espada. His mask covers the bottom part of his face, forming a ninja-esque mask. Though his rank in the group is low, his skills as an assassin, combined with his powers as an Arrancar, make him very dangerous.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Jennifer Barc]
[img]http://quizilla.teennick.com/user_images/K/KI/KIT/kittenplush66/1130283688_ysshow015b.jpg[/img]
Name: Jennifer Barc
Age: 32
Race: Human
Zanpakuto: N/a
Release: N/a
Info: Jennifer is the mayor of New Karakura. Though she has no actual powers, she is able to see and interact with spirits. She tends to use this ability to seek counseling from the deceased who display high intellect and planning. She feels that this is the best way for her to lead New Karakura Town.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Rinnie Barc]
[img]http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/065/2/a/_Winter_Breath__by_Kuronekowo.jpg[/img]
Name: Rinnie Barc
Age: 8
Race: Human
Zanpakuto: N/a
Release: N/a
Info: Rinnie is Jennifer Barc's daughter. She's able to see and interact with spirits, and she uses this to escape the loneliness that comes with being the mayors daughter. Due to her mother being the mayor, most human children won't play with her.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Kailie Kyouku]
[img]http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/011/6/0/ripping_the_heavens_by_wickedalucard-d36y1wu.jpg[/img]
Name: Kailie Kyouku
Age: unknown
Race: Arrancar
Zanpakuto: Kurtana
Release: Reflect
Info: Kailie's past in largely unknown. What is known is that when she was found by Mary-Sue to become an Espada, she seemed like she was simply looking to be accepted.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Kana Shoujo]
[img]http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/349/0/d/red_tribute_by_wickedalucard-d34xgje.jpg[/img]
Name: Kana Shoujo
Age: unknown
Race: Soul Reaper
Zanpakuto: Ushi Oni
Release: Bury Mine Enemies
Info: Kana is the only Shoujo sister not in Squad Six. She is the youngest, but still very powerful, as evidenced in her being Squad Eleven's Third Seat. Like her sisters, she's easily able to convince Donovyn to take time off of training.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Ubisuke Kisahara]
[img]http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs39/i/2008/342/f/8/OMG__drunken_Itachi_by_Nivalis70.jpg[/img]
Name: Ubisuke Kisahara
Age: unknown
Race: Soul Reaper
Zanpakuto: Remo
Release: Scream
Info: Ubisuke is a defected Soul Reaper from Squad 12. He's very powerful, but felt that battle didn't suit him at all. Instead, he now owns a small candy shop in New Karakura Town.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Zavara]
Name: Zavara
Age: unknown
Race: Arrancar
Zanpakuto: Dragon King
Release: Roar
Info: Zavara is usually easy going. He is generally polite and generous. However, he also has displayed symptoms of Multiple Personality Syndrom. His alternate, Jazeth, has a tendency to be psychotic, even sadistic, making him well suited for battle.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Cherry Sakuran]
Name: Cherry Sakuran
[img]http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh186/nekoruru/85fdda8abad5a2baae1d52dfb4457361.png[/img]
Age: unknown
Race: Arrancar
Zanpakuto: Senbonsakura
Release: Scatter
Info: Cherry is a fairly quiet Arrancar. She doesn't speak about herself often, but she is quite powerful. On D's suggestion, she was promoted to Eighth Espada upon Itachi's promotion to Third Espada.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Nelson Elreigner]
[img]http://alldeathnote.com/images/characters/light.jpg[/img]
Name: Nelson Elreigner
Age: unknown
Race: Soul Reaper
Zanpakuto: Karanagu
Release: Thunder
Info: Nelson is the Captain of Squad 13. His father dreamed of being a Soul Reaper, but was never able to master the necessary skills. When his father failed to graduate the Soul Reaper Academy, Nelson made it his mission to become a Soul Reaper, and has excelled.[/spoiler][/spoiler]
[spoiler=The Quincy Reaper Arc]
[spoiler=Chapter 1: The Quincy Reaper]
Daisuke walked through the streets reading the latest chapter of [i]Loveless[/i]. Things had been quiet in the city lately, and he hadn't had to risk anyone seeing him in action in the last month. That also meant that he was able to read those Yaoi manga he'd been too distracted to read due to Hollow activity. He turned the page of the manga and heard an explosion somewhere to his left. Then he slumped his shoulders and head, looking in the direction of the explosion.

The Arrancar looked at his enemy, brushing his hand through his blonde hair. The Soul Reaper's mid-back black hair moved in the wind caused by the explosion. Evanescent blew on the finger he'd fired his Cero from. "You're good," he told Donovyn, "not too many people can brush aside a Cero bare-handed." The two stared at each other for several seconds.

Donovyn smirked as he held his fingers clawed. Against any Hollow other than Evanescent, it would have been effortless. His hand was burning, but he wasn't about to let an enemy know that. He looked at the palm that deflected the Cero, and then at the building he had thrown it toward. He prepared for a lunge toward Evanescent, and Evanescent, fighting without his weapon drawn, took a stance that said he was ready.

Daisuke rounded the corner to see a Soul Reaper fighting against a humanoid Hollow. The only thing that told Daisuke it was a Hollow was the mask fragment. A half-helmet with a spike coming out of it, sitting on the left side of his head. He stood in awe, wondering exactly what he was seeing. The Soul Reaper had just plunged his Zanpakuto point first into the Hollow, who had blocked the attack with the palm of his hand.
The Soul Reaper pushed his glasses up his nose, having jumped back a few feet. Daisuke was standing there, mouth agape, thinking, "[i]I've never seen this kind of thing. That's clearly a Hollow, but, it looks like a man. And...how is he able to block a sword bare handed? And, the looks on their faces...they know each other! What's happening?[/i]"
"Know what? I don't care! That's a Hollow, and I'm going to get rid of it!" Daisuke said, forming a simple long bow. He took aim at the Hollow, while unbeknownst to him, the Soul Reaper prepared for a strike. Daisuke let the arrow fly, while the Soul Reaper launched his attack.

Evanescent felt new Spiritual Pressure in the area, and looked with his eyes to see a reishi arrow flying toward him. Then he noticed Donovyn launching his own attack. A split second later, he vanished and appeared behind the new fighter. Donovyn's attack sliced through the arrow, and a split second later he was standing before the new fighter. Evanescent and Donovyn glared at each other over the new fighter.

Donovyn moved his eyes to the bow in the boys hand. "A Quincy, huh? Didn't think there were any of those left."
Evanescent snorted, "Seriously, I thought that Ishida guy was the last."
"Must have had a kid or two."
"Only way to explain that bow, isn't it?"
"Definitely," Donovyn agreed, before both of them disappeared.

Daisuke remained standing there, seeing the Hollow and Soul Reaper fighting again. Though short, they had definitely had a conversation about him. He swallowed hard, noticing that they were rushing at each other, not far from him. "[i]How can they possibly be this strong. What's going on? They clearly know each other, or they wouldn't have spoken. And...this shock wave. Every time they clash...I can feel it.[/i]" Daisuke was thinking, holding his hands up to defend his face against another shock wave. Then he heard the Hollow say "Well, that's gonna have repercussions."
Looking down, he noticed the Soul Reaper's Zanpakuto sticking out of his navel. When he looked back at them, he noticed both of them were looking at him. The two exchanged glances, then looked back at him. "I'm tired. This has been going on too long, and I'm kinda bored now. We'll settle this in the next 2,000 years, but, not today," the Hollow told the Soul Reaper, before opening what looked to be a portal.

Donovyn walked over to the boy and gripped his Zanpakuto. The moment his hand came in contact with the hilt of the sword, there was a blast of energy. Over Donovyn's shoulder, Evanescent could be heard saying "So that's how it happened, and so it happens again. With a Quincy no less." Donovyn pulled the blade out of Daisuke's abdomen, and knelt down, out of breath.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 2: Confusion]
Donovyn stood within the Captain's Meeting. When he looked around, he saw that no one was surprised about this. "If I may, Head Captain," an elderly captain spoke up, "it's not that bad. When Sosuke Aizen defected," Donovyn couldn't help but crack a smile at the mention of that name, "it was a rag tag team headed by a Substitute Soul Reaper who defeated him. Not to mention, it was the same team who defended the Soul Society when the Bounts attacked."
"I'm well aware of that fact, Captain Zaraki. However, do I need to remind you that that Substitute worked [i]with[/i] a Quincy, and did not [i]double[/i] as one?" the Head Captain replied. Captain Zaraki bowed and returned to his position. "Does anyone else think that I need to be informed on events of the past? If so, now's the time to tell me."
"Well, sir," another captain spoke up, "I trust you know this already, but, well, sir, Captain Gerra and Evanescent have been fighting for centuries. It's as much a vanity project for him as his duty. Though, in all that time, this is the only incident where something like this has happened. In fact, I think we may be able to make this work to our advantage." Everyone turned to look at him.
"Captain Creator, explain what you mean by that. How do you plan on turning this "Quincy Reaper" situation to the advantage of the Soul Reapers?"
"Well, first off, I think it's clear that even though this boy is still part Quincy, and that it's more than likely his Soul Reaper powers are modeled off his Quincy powers, he's still a Soul Reaper. That means, the Quincies are now truly extinct. Unless of course, there's another one hiding in the wood works, which I highly doubt. That would mean that we're the only ones who can teach him to control his newly acquired Soul Reaper powers."
"Captain, this is all very interesting," Donovyn stated, "but how does it acquit me of my mishap?"
"We open up the gate for him, and allow him into the Soul Society, and train him. He may view Soul Reapers as an enemy, but I doubt it. According to your report, he only fired one shot, at Evanescent. That means he may view us as allies. That means we can give him a seat on your squad."
"I've heard enough. Captain Creator of Squad 12, return to your position." The Head Captain stated. Captain Creator did so. "Captain Gerra of Squad 6, in light of Captain Creator's assessment of the situation, I won't punish you for the incident that occurred in your vanity project. However, the Quincy Reaper is now your responsibility. If he runs amok with his powers, you'll find out what the Shokyoku can do!"

Daisuke stared up at his ceiling, trying to figure out what had happened. He'd clearly been stabbed, though probably by accident. Not only that, but the Hollow just left when he clearly had the perfect opportunity to finish the fight once and for all. On top of that, he was sure that he was having an out-of-body experience. Wearing a Shihakusho of all things.
The most odd thing was what he had strapped to his waist. He could have sworn that was a Quincy weapon, except that he'd never owned that blade. Nor did he have any idea of where to get one. Adding to the weird string of events, the weapon vanished when he re-entered his body. One strange thing after another happened that night.
"The worst thing that happened, though, was I lost my copy of [i]Loveless[/i]! Hold on, where was the Chain of Fate? If I was having an O.O.B.E., there should have been a Chain of Fate. Was all that just a dream? Did I dream of having that manga in my hands?" Daisuke broke down and began crying in his room.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 3: Refusal]
"Alright, it's still here!" Daisuke exclaimed when he found the [i]Loveless[/i] manga he'd lost yesterday. He thumbed through the pages to see if any of them were damaged, and was ecstatic to find that they were all in mint condition. He found the place that he was at when the Hollow and the Soul Reaper started destroying the city and started back home, reading the manga. He finished reading the manga just as he got to his front door. He looked back over the city, and opened the door into his home.
"Enjoy your promenade?" he heard someone say from his living room. Daisuke ran through the house to find someone sitting on his couch. He stood there, staring, but the person didn't even turn to see if Daisuke was there, but continued talking. "You didn't seem very hurried when you came up to your door, so I figured that you must have been on a promenade. Was I wrong?"
"What's a promenade, first off, and second off, how did you get in here?"
"Well, a promenade is, put simply, a leisurely walk. Not in a hurry to go anywhere, just going somewhere. As for your second question, I came in through the door. You forgot to lock it," he said. He finally stood up and turned around. His black hair fell mid-way down his back, and his stance showed that he was completely relaxed.
Daisuke blinked several times. "Okay, now that my vocabulary just expanded by one word, who are you?"
The man just blinked. "I was wondering when you'd ask that one. Honestly, I was expecting that to be the first thing you asked. I don't pretend to be an expert, but usually the first thing someone asks when they see someone they don't know, just sitting on their couch, is who they are."
"So then, who are you?"
"I'm Captain of Squad 6. My name is Donovyn M. Gerra. You, my friend, are my responsibility. It may have been an accident, but you did get your Soul Reaper powers from me during my fight with Evanescent."
"So you're a Soul Reaper?"
"And you are a Substitute Soul Reaper."
"My name is Daisuke Hirako, and I'm a Quincy."
"[i]The[/i] Quincy. Or rather, you used to be. You see, that blast of energy last night was approximately seventy percent of my powers transferring into you. You may consider yourself to be a Quincy, but the fact is, you aren't. Not any more, Quincy Reaper."
Daisuke just stared. "I'm a Quincy. I'm not a Soul Reaper, I'm not a Quincy Reaper, whatever that is. I am the last Quincy."
"Then shoot me."
"Do what!?" Daisuke said, completely surprised. He had to be imagining things. A man claiming to be a Soul Reaper was claiming that Daisuke was also a Soul Reaper. "You're a Lunatic!"
"Then prove it. If you're a Quincy like you say, then you'll be able to give me a non fatal wound with a reishi arrow."

Donovyn watched as Daisuke just sighed and took a firing stance. He wasn't worried about anything. There was no chance of Daisuke firing an arrow, not any more. Daisuke took a deep breath, and held out his arm. Nothing happened.
He held out his arm harder, then harder. He looked at his hand quizzically. Donovyn held his arms out, puffing out his chest. "I-I don't get it. Are you doing something to block my bow?"
"I'm not doing anything, Daisuke. When my Soul Reaper powers got transferred into you, they wakened the Soul Reaper powers inherent in any soul. However, since you were born a Quincy, your Soul Reaper powers tied in with your Quincy powers. You can't use one unless you use both. The catch is, you can't use Soul Reaper powers unless you're in soul form."
Daisuke stood there staring. "[i]As expected, he still doesn't believe me. Now, let's see if my other theory is true.[/i]" Donovyn took a glove out of his pocket, and slipped it onto his hand. The glove had a design that looked lie a skull surrounded by a blue fire. "Now, let's try a little experiment," he said, rushing forward, the very next second pushing Daisuke's soul out of his body.
Daisuke looked down at himself, confused, then to his body. His eyes grew so wide, Donovyn was somewhat afraid they'd pop out of the boy's head. "Do you believe me now, Daisuke? That robe you're wearing is a Shihakusho, a Soul Reaper robe. Look at your waist: unless I'm mistaken, your Zanpakuto bares the shape of the Quincy Weapon Szelechneider." Daisuke held the weapon in his hand, and a reishi blade appeared on the hilt.

Evanescent stood before a group of Arrancar. The leader was in a position that his features were hidden by shadows. "So you're saying that a Quincy has gained Soul Reaper powers?" he leader asked him. Evanescent nodded. "You are aware that this could complicate things a great deal, and yet you just let him go?"
Evanescent knelt down before the groups leader, smiling a confident smile. "At first I figured that the incident would have killed the boy. But after Donovyn grabbed the sword, a fair amount of his powers transferred into the boy. There's a forty percent chance the Captains would punish him for this, however there's a sixty percent chance that the boy will receive a battle pass. I have since thought of something that would be of great interest to you."
The leader's featureless face revealed nothing, but a nod of the head said it all. Evanescent continued. "The boy was a Quincy. That means that the Soul Reapers may not fully accept him. He has crossed a line, and it may be that he will feel like he doesn't belong anywhere. However, there's also a strong chance that the boy will feel he has tasted power.
"Think about it, he has both Quincy and Soul Reaper powers. Perhaps we can tempt him into being interested in Hollow powers. All we need to do is push the Vizard captain to his full extent, something that should be relatively simple given his current weakened state. Since he's the one who gave the Quincy Soul Reaper powers, the Quincy boy may wish to gain all three power sets. That's where we can get him on our side."
The group leader leaned back. "Well, now that you bring this to my attention, I believe you may be correct. However, getting him on our side will be your job, since you let them get away in the first place. This 'Quincy Reaper' is your responsibility. If he gets in the way of finding the masks of the original Espada, then you will be severely punished."[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 4: A New Enemy]
Daisuke was once more walking through the streets. He was thinking about what had happened last night. The Soul Reaper who'd said his name was Donovyn had managed to convince him that the Quincies were no more. The last one had become, quite by accident, a Soul Reaper. That would have been inconvenient if not for the Battle Pass he'd been given.
Daisuke rounded a corner, looking at the Battle Pass. The words that Donovyn had spoken echoed in his head. "[i]I'll come back for you in a week. Hopefully, you will have decided that you need to be trained to control your Soul Reaper abilities. Otherwise, I'm afraid that I'll have to take back that Battle Pass to keep you from running amok.[/i]"

Elphemia was walking through the street when she saw Daisuke walking her way. He was staring at something in his hand instead of paying attention to where he was walking. Instead of moving out of his way, she just kept walking until they knocked into each other. "Oh, um, hello Daisuke. What'cha got there?"
"Wha-oh! Elphemia, well, uh...you know I am-was-am...uh...well, I have powers?"
"Ummm...yes. I recall, you said you're a Quincy," Elphemia answered, blinking in confusion.
"Well, I'm kind of...not...a Quincy...anymore," Daisuke told her. She looked even more confused than she had been. "Well, I was kind of in an accident involving a Soul Reaper and a Hollow. And, well, the Soul Reaper kind of accidentally transferred part of his powers into me, and so now, I'm a Soul Reaper. So, I can't use my Quincy Powers unless I also use my Soul Reaper powers, and, um, I kind of need to be a soul to use Soul Reaper powers, so, I kind of, sort of, need this to become a soul without dying forever, and well..."
"You're babbling," Elphemia interrupted him. "So, basically, this thing lets you go into Soul Reaper form, is that it?"
"Basically, yes. One other thing, though, I might be going away for a while. I'll hang around for a week, but, then I might go away. I don't know exactly how long it'll take, but still, it could be a while."
"So, these Soul Reapers, do they wear mask parts?"
"No...though, the Soul Reaper I met was fighting...something. I think it was a Hollow. I mean, he had a mask fragment, kind of like a helmet, well, half a helmet. Anyway, he said something about a Cero, and, well, I know [i]that's[/i] a Hollow power, so, I guess he was a Hollow."
"I think I heard about Hollows with only part of a mask. They're called Arrancars, or, something like that. Basically, they're very powerful Hollows who've managed to somehow remove their Mask, though they still retain a fragment of it, and in doing so, they gain a humanoid appearance and Soul Reaper powers. At least, that what it says in Orihime's Diary."
"Oh, right, your family was close friends with Orihime. Figures you'd have read her diary."

Dios stood on the roof of a building, watching the two kids talking. He grinned, recognizing the boy. "So, that's him. The former Quincy, the one who gained Soul Reaper powers. Doesn't look so tough."
Dios held his hand to them, palm facing out, a green ball forming in his palm. The ball exploded outward, destroying the building the two were standing under. "All right, that should...what?" Dios exclaimed, seeing what had happened. The girls left arm had changed into something like a white shield, with a skull design imprinted on it in red, and she was using it to keep the two of them safe from debris. "Well, I wasn't informed that there were other people with special powers around here. This could complicate things."

Several people had gathered around, staring at the damage. Daisuke was staring at Elphemia, specifically her left arm. It didn't seem that anyone else had noticed that the girls arm had transformed. "E-Elphemia...your arm..."
"Yeah...see, these powers appear sporadically in our family, and, well, I kind of inherited them. They appeared about the same time as your Quincy powers," she told him, holding her arm up to block another green blast, similar to the one that had destroyed the building. Daisuke could see from her face that she was struggling to keep the blast at bay. "[i]Don't have any choice, do I[/i]?" Daisuke thought, taking out his Battle Pass. "Would have been nice if I was told how to use this thing," he cursed, slapping himself in the head with it.
The next thing Daisuke knew, he was watching his body fall to the ground. He took the hilt that was tied to his waist, and held it ready, as the Reishi blade appeared from it. He sliced through the blast, and managed to hold it off. "Elphemia, I know you just held this off for a while, but, do you have any attacks that can counter this?" he asked, struggling. It felt like whoever fired this attack was also pouring more and more energy into it.

Elphemia threw her punch so that the energy she returned missed Daisuke, but intercepted the blast of green energy. The attacks canceled, and Daisuke knelt down from exertion. "Okay, I have no idea what that was," he said.
"Do you think that was a Cero?"
"If it was, it was one of the most powerful Ceros I've ever seen," Daisuke told her. She looked up at where the blast had come from, and noticed someone who looked like a man coming down from the roof of the adjacent building.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 5: The Vizard Captain]
The man who stood before Daisuke looked fairly normal. Daisuke would easily have mistaken him for a human if he hadn't already figured out this man was an Arrancar. "That's an interesting power your girlfriend has there. You're the only person I've seen around here matching your description, and from the looks of you Zanpakuto and use of a Battle Pass, I gather you're the Quincy Reaper I was sent here to find," he said, walking toward them. Daisuke could do little more than stare.
He'd never fought an Arrancar before, and only fired one shot against that other Arrancar. Still, that one shot, and indeed the entire encounter, told him everything he needed to know. "[i]I can't win against him. My Quincy powers aren't enough to defeat him. Not to mention that I have to use these unfamiliar powers in order to use those. All I can do is these Melee attacks, and there's no way that's enough.[/i]"
"That number 2 tattooed to your forehead. I take it that means they did manage to find a replacement within the decade. Guess I lose that bet. And from that small mask fragment, making you almost perfectly humanoid, I'm also guessing that you're fairly powerful."
All three of them looked toward the source of the voice who had spoken. None other than Donovyn was standing there, not even attempting to put up his guard. All of a sudden, Daisuke felt a blade slide along his neck. His eyes widened at the realization that he was being held hostage. Then he heard the Arrancar whisper into his ear: "Drop your weapon."

Donovyn scratched his head. Whoever this new Arrancar was, he definitely wasn't going to make things easy. To top things off, Daisuke had dropped his weapon, meaning there was no way he could help. If suspicions were correct, he was still a long-range fighter anyway. The girl with the odd arm wasn't showing to be much use either, just standing there in shock.
"Look, I happen to know that you're a bit weaker than Evanescent. The two of us have been fighting for at least the last thousand years. You know what that means, don't you? That means I'm as strong as him, and [i]that[/i] means you don't stand a chance against me. Basically, you're screwed."

Dios stared at the Soul Reaper who'd just shown up. "Yeah, he told me about you, Mr. High-and-Mighty. From what I gather, you're even able to deflect a Cero bare-handed. Though, I also gather that you've been keeping secrets. Don't think we can't notice something like that."
The two continued to hold each other's gaze a few moments, before the Soul Reaper shifted his gaze slightly. "So, that's it, isn't it? You want me to show you the full extent of my power, and in order to do that, you hold him hostage? It isn't like the Soul Society really cares about him. At this point it's only interest for his abilities. If you did kill him, that'd save time for the rest of us."
The proclamation the Soul Reaper had just made confused Dios. The Soul Society held interest in the boy for his powers, but didn't care if he died. That didn't sound right to him. Plus, his voice was too calm. No one was that calm when a star prospect was put in danger.

Elphemia couldn't understand what was happening. Out of nowhere, some Soul Reaper had appeared. Then he was saying that it didn't matter if Daisuke died or not! Another odd thing was that even though he was talking to the guy holding Daisuke hostage, his face was turned toward her, and his head was tilted toward the Arrancar. Then her eyes widened with a realization.
She snuck around behind the Arrancar, charging an attack of her own the entire time. The Arrancar and the Soul Reaper were locked in a staring contest; the Soul Reaper apparently ensuring that the Arrancar didn't notice her. "Hey, are you going to do something, or will you just stand there staring at me. I mean, are you hoping I'll do a trick if you stare long enough?" the Arrancar asked, annoyed. Elphemia was behind him, ready to launch the attack.
"Actually, yes, I am. Whoever you are, play dead," the Soul Reaper said, a note of sarcasm in his voice. The Arrancar lowered his sword, laughing. Elphemia took the chance to strike, hitting the back of the Arrancar's head with full force. Daisuke dropped down just in time to avoid the blast and grabbed his sword, before running out of the way.

The blast of energy the girl released cleared, revealing a very angry Arrancar. He turned around, and knocked the girl back several feet. Donovyn held his sword pointing toward the Arrancar. "HEY! If you wanna see the full extent of my power, then take a good look!" he yelled, black energy gathering around his hand. Daisuke, Daisuke's friend, and the Arrancar all looked at him.
"Fade away, Evanescence!" Donovyn shouted, his sword's blade began twisting. When the blade's Shikai release was finished, the sword's blade was twisted, like a screw. "But wait, there's more," Donovyn told them. From where he was standing, he wasn't able to make out their expressions, but he imagined that they were looking surprised. He placed his right hand above his left eye as black energy formed around it; as he moved his hand over his face, the energy formed into a mask.
It was a very simple mask, solid white, with elegant black swirls running over it. The eye holes showed eyes that had been dyed with a yellow tint, a fiercer, more feral look to them. There were no horns, no spikes, it seemed just enough to cover his face. The only thing on the mask other than the swirls was what looked like two jaw lines. "This is where it ends," Donovyn said, holding his sword back, ready for a thrust.

Dios stared at the Soul Reaper. He wasn't able to make out the Soul Reaper's face, but it looked lie he'd donned a Hollow mask. That meant that his job was done, though now the problem became how to survive the attack he was no doubt preparing. Then he noticed what looked like energy spinning like a drill speeding toward him. He didn't even hesitate about what to do at that moment.
"Go mad, Negativo!" he yelled. Dark blue energy blasted outward. When Dios was visible again, his sword had vanished, and Dios was dressed in what looked like a Soviet Russian military uniform. In addition to that, the energy blast Donovyn had launched vanished when it came within ten feet of Dios, and the girl's arm had returned to a normal-looking arm. "Well, this concludes my job," Dios said when the energy blast finally completely dies down.

Daisuke stared as the dark blue energy once more swirled around the Arrancar, his zanpakuto returning to it's sealed form. When he was once more dressed in his normal Arrancar clothing, he opened the same kind of portal the other Arrancar had used. Daisuke saw a grin on the Arrancar's face just before the portal closed. "Well, I can't say I was expecting that," he heard someone say. When he turned his head, and saw the Soul Reaper.
"Wh-who are you?" he asked the Soul Reaper standing before him.
"I told you. Captain of Squad Six, Donovyn M. Gerra."
"I know that, I mean, before the portal closed, that Hollow-that Arrancar-he had a grin on his face. That's not normal for someone who just got attacked like that."
"Well, if you're wondering exactly what he wanted, what he wanted me to use my full power. He got it. Well, unless you count the fact I hadn't used my Bankai," Donovyn told him. Daisuke was lost after that. The Soul Reaper sighed. "Well, let's just say he only wanted me to Hollowfy." Daisuke blinked.
"I'm what's called a Vizard. A Soul Reaper who's gained the ability to use Hollow Powers. Similar to an Arrancar-a Hollow who gained Soul Reaper powers-but in reverse," Donovyn explained. That cleared everything up, and Daisuke's blank stare changed into a look of amazement. "Though, what I wanna know is, who is this girl?"
"Oh, that's Elphemia Da Putana. She's a friend of mine, though, I didn't know about those powers of hers until a few minutes ago," Daisuke answered. The Soul Reaper began showing genuine interest. "I know you only wanted me to go, but, if it's okay with her, would you consider taking her back too? I mean, those Arrancar are attacking us for something, and she could help us," Daisuke said, trying to convince him to see things his way.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 6: Random Time Skip]
Dios stood before the group. "I trust everything went well, Dios?" the group's leader asked.
"It did indeed. The Vizard captain used his mask, and the Quincy Reaper saw. Everything went according to plan. All we have to do now is wait for him to come to us. In the mean time, it would be a good idea to resume our original operation, don't you think?"
"Yes, it would. So, until such time that the Quincy Reaper comes to us-be it as friend or foe-you will return to searching for the Masks of the Espada," the group leader said, stepping out of the shadows. She appeared to be a young girl, no older than age 14.
"As you wish, Lady Mary-Sue." [hr]

Daisuke stood locking eyes with Elphemia. He drew the sword strapped to his waist, and held it pointing upward, as reishi blade extending toward the sky. "Are you ready, Daisuke?" Elphemia asked. Daisuke grinned. It had taken several months, but he had done it, and now he was ready to try it out.
"The real question is if you're ready, Elphemia. This next move is one you haven't seen me do before, and you'd better have toughened up a bit to deal with it."
"Careful, Daisuke. It was your idea to bring your girlfriend here, you don't wanna kill her before the battle, do you?" Donovyn said from his seat in the tree in the training yard.
Daisuke's eye twitched. That happened any time Donovyn called Elphemia his girlfriend. He'd stopped shouting about it, as that only made Donovyn say it more often. "Sadistic bastard," Daisuke muttered. "Now, time for the reveal! Fire, Szelechneider!"
A reishi blade shot out from the bottom of the weapon, and both blades curved back into a bow shape. The reishi solidified into a slender black long bow, though the part that used to be a hilt, now a grip, remained unchanged. Elphemia's eyes widened at the sight of Daisuke's newly acquired Shikai. Daisuke pulled back the bow string, and a silver-colored arrow formed. Elphemia raised her right arm, and it once again turned into the white-and-red shield.
"You two are training, again?" someone asked from behind Daisuke. Daisuke turned to see a young woman with pink hair. "Come on, isn't there something you three should be doing?" All she got were three blank stares. The young woman sighed, and told them, "It's Christmas!"

"Come on, Donnie, tell them to take the day off and have fun! Even Kenny's more festive than usual," Yachiru told him.
"I was wondering why he was wearing cotton hems around his Shihakusho," Donovyn said,flatly. He looked at the two people he'd been training ever since the accident.
"Ohh, Hira mastered his Shikai?" Yachiru asked.
"Uh-uh. I only managed to use it just last night. I'd say it's far from mastered," Daisuke said.
"Well, I'd say even just that deserves one day off, considering what day it is, Donnie!"
"Fine, take the day off, have fun," Donovyn relented. He jumped out of the tree and began walking away.

Elphemia looked back and forth between Donovyn and the female Soul Reaper. She looked to be about twenty or so, though, Elphemia had learned a while ago to not judge a persons age based on looks. "Umm...where's he going?" she asked the female Soul Reaper. She just looked down at the ground and sighed. It was a couple moments before Elphemia got an answer.
"Captain Mikuo never celebrates the holidays with the rest of us. Whenever he hears that it's a holiday he just disappears," she answered. Elphemia blinked a couple times, then remembered that this Soul Reaper enjoyed giving people weird nick-names, so she figured she was talking about Donovyn. "We don't know where he goes or why he refuses to celebrate, but..." Elphemia looked after Donovyn.

"Milady MiLadie, I hope that this brings us one step closer to being together forever," the cloaked man said, handing Mary-Sue a colorfully wrapped box. Mary-Sue took the box from him and sat it on her lap. She looked at the cloaked man, though she couldn't see much. He was human in shape, though he wore a Hollow Mask. An all white mask across his face, with elegant black swirls and a jaw outline being the only decorations.
"If this is what I think it is, D, then it is very helpful indeed," she told him. "Tell me, am I allowed to open this and the other one?" she asked of him, holding the gift in her hands. When he nodded, she carefully ripped the paper off the box and opened it. Inside was what looked to be a right jaw set. She produced another box from a cabinet beside her chair, and inside of that was a pair of glasses.
Mary-Sue smiled and looked him inn the eye. The eye holes gave his eyes a yellowed tint, but she could make out tenderness in them. "This is very gracious of you, D. I must ask how you managed to find two of the Espada Masks in one year, we've been searching for three and only found one." She nodded toward a bare tree, decorated only by an eye patch.
"Well, I have a lot of free time, and quite a few people who listen to me, no matter what," D told her, kneeling down. He looked into her eyes, and she smiled. He stood, and she handed him the mask fragments. He placed them on the tree with the eye patch, and his eyes showed that he was pleased. "This means that there are only seven things keeping us apart, Milady," D told her, embracing her, holding her close to him.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 7: Celebrations]
Daisuke walked up to a Soul Reaper he'd managed to make friends with during his time spent training. "Hey, Mizuki, what's going on?" Daisuke asked, receiving a hug from the female Soul Reaper. The two looked around, smiling, enjoying the holiday. "Hey, shouldn't someone be on the look out, I mean, just because it's Christmas doesn't mean the Hollows won't attack, does it?" Mizuki laughed.
"Well, Daisuke, the Arrancars you've been talking about tend to stay within Hueco Mundo, and rarely go into the Human World. Also, they appear to be part of a group that's been around for a few years, and they never went into the Human World on Christmas, so, we're fine doing this," Mizuki told him. Daisuke nodded, and looked at Elphemia, who appeared to be talking to a group she'd never hung out with before. Mizuki and Daisuke started giggling, enjoying the Christmas spirit. The only Soul Reaper who hadn't Christmased up their attire was Captain Creator, who stood leaning against a wall, fiddling with some gadget in his hands.
Mizuki had donned a Santa hat, Daisuke had put jingle bells on his wrists, and Elphemia, the only human in the Seireitei, had put on a rather skimpy Santa outfit. "So, I just have to wonder, how did you persuade Donovyn to give you the day off of training? I didn't think someone that focused on training you two would let you take the day off just because it's Christmas," Mizuki was saying, "I mean, he's a nice guy and all, but still, he wants you to master your Bankai as soon as possible." Daisuke looked at her, surprised. A man that determined was that easily swayed?
"Uh, we didn't," Daisuke began, blinking, "Lieutenant Kusagichi convinced him." Mizuki looked at him. "Well, I told her that I'd figured out how to use my Shikai last night, and she told Donovyn that I'd earned the day off, because it was Christmas and all, you know?" Mizuki blinked some more, and looked over to Elphemia. "Is it surprising that a young lady that cute persuaded Donovyn to do something?"
"No one here is young. Except maybe you and Elphemia," Mizuki pointed out.
"You know what I mean, though."
"Yeah, I do. Well, the thing is, the only people who've been able to persuade Donovyn to take a break from training-for any reason-are me and my sisters," Mizuki said. Daisuke was the one who looked surprised now. "Well, we're special to him, you know? He thinks of us as his own sisters, so, he does things for us. He lets us have the small things we ask for," Mizuki informed him.
"Then why did he let us take the day off with so little convincing from her?" Daisuke asked himself.

D took his place beside Mary-Sue. Around them sat ten Arrancar, arranged in order of their rank within the group. Evanescent sat in the chair just around the corner of the table from D, on Mary-Sue's right. The Arrancar with the number two tattooed to his forehead sat across from him. It rotated from odd numbers on the right, and even on the left.
Mary-Sue stood up, and raised her goblet. "Does everyone have their eggnog? Today, D here has delivered to us two more masks. That brings our total up to three masks of the original Espada!" The Arrancar raised their goblets. D stood up and took a bow, as Mary-Sue offered a toast of "To D, and to the success of the New Espada!"
Mary-Sue and the other Arrancar took a deep swig of eggnog from their goblets. "So, this means that thanks to this guy, we have seven masks to find, right?" Mary-Sue looked at him, and D knew it was more his tone than his words. "I mean, how does he find two masks in one year, when we only find one in three years? I'm not sure I trust him." Mary-Sue closed her eyes and looked down, smiling.
"Trust me, Dios, this man is trustworthy, at least as far as I'm concerned. Whether you trust him or not, he did bring us two masks. That and my word should be enough for you to trust him. Now, all of you, we've prepared a feast in celebration of our latest acquisitions, so, without further ado, let's bring in the food and eat!" Mary-Sue exclaimed enthusiastically. Several Arrancars came out of doors on either side of the chamber carrying platters of food, most likely pilfered from the World of the Living.

Elphemia and Daisuke were chatting with each other in a corner, commenting the beautifully decorated pine tree in the middle of the room, and wondering what Elphemia's family was doing about now. "Honestly, though, I have to wonder why you aren't like Donovyn about now. You know, vanished and probably sulking under a rock," Elphemia said, looking at the tree topping. It resembled a man with spiky orange hair, carrying a sword with no hilt that was almost as tall as he was. "So, how do you keep from doing that?"
Daisuke laughed a little. "Well, back in the World of the Living, I'd spend the morning with you and your family and the afternoon reading [i]Ouron High school Host Club[/i]. Though, around here, it's not as big a deal, since no one has any real family. Or if they do, they don't remember each other being family," he answered, noticing the look on Elphemia's face. "Well, from what I gather it's unheard of for a Soul Reaper to have any memories of when they were alive."
"Well, they've been in the Soul Society for centuries. It's hardly surprising none of them remember such things. It's like the very first step as a child. No one remembers when, how, or why they took their first step," someone said to both of them. Daisuke and Elphemia both turned to see who it was, and saw the Head Captain walking toward them.
"H-Head Captain Nari!" Elphemia said, she and Daisuke both bowing low. "What brings you to this corner of the room?'' She hadn't been expecting someone as important as this man to come and talk to her. She'd thought a man with such an imposing rank would have more important things to do than talk to a couple of kids. The Head Captain chuckled and motioned for them to stop bowing.
"It's okay. I only require the formalities during Captain's Meetings. So, please, you can call me Fuuta," he said, raising Daisuke into a standing position. "Where did you two learn to be so formal all the time?" Elphemia just continued to look at him.

Daisuke followed Elphemia's lead. From what Donovyn had told Daisuke, this was the same guy who'd threatened one of his own Captains with death for an accident. It was hard to believe that he was now wearing a Santa Clause-themed Shihakuoho, and a Santa hat. "So, um...why are you talking to us? I mean, not to be rude or anything, but, it just seems that you'd be more interested in being just about anywhere else wight now," Daisuke asked.
"Well, if you must know, I was wanting to know if you two had any idea where Donovyn vanished to. You've been training with him for months now, so, it just seems that you'd have the best idea of where he ran off to," Fuuta told them. Daisuke thought about that for a second, and then looked at Elphemia, who also seemed to be wondering if she knew. Finally Daisuke spoke up.
"Well, sorry Head, I mean, Fuuta, we learned a lot about him in our training, but, nothing to indicate where he runs off to during the Holidays. All we know is how he acts and thinks...most of the time. Okay, we have no idea how he thinks outside of our training," Daisuke confessed. Fuuta shrugged and sighed. "Why, is he needed for something?"
"No, mainly I was wondering if someone had finally figured out where he runs off to. He's been doing this ever since he became a Soul Reaper."

D and Evanescent stood talking to each other, looking at the tree. Three mask fragments adorned the otherwise bare tree. "I wonder where Ulquiorra's mask is. You seem to be very close to him," D said to Evanescent. Evanescent stood quiet for a few moments.
"Yes, we were very close. In fact-and I've never told anyone else this, so keep it secret- Ulquiorra and I are, well, were, thanks to that spiky headed Soul Reaper, brothers."
"Really? I've never heard of someone having memories of their family."
"I'm unique. I have memories of my life as a human. As far as I know, I'm the only person, in the Soul Society or Hueco Mundo, to have something like that. In fact, once my brother's mask is found, it'll become the topping for this tree," Evanescent said. He looked into D's eyes, and then the two stood silent a while longer.
"It's time I left. I'll be back, and when I do, hopefully Ulquiorra's mask will have been found," D said, turning to walk off. Evanescent looked after him, and then back to the tree.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 8: Training Resumes]
"He vanished all day yesterday, and no one saw him at all last night, either," Daisuke told Elphemia. "Don't you think we should just start without him? I think he'd be happy to see us training when he shows up." Elphemia looked at her right hand, then at Daisuke. Daisuke looked at the hilt of his sword, without calling forth the reishi blade.
"Besides, I think my arm needs more than one day of rest after more than two months of training without any rest. What about you? Surely you also need some rest," Elphemia told him. Daisuke just looked at her and shook his head. He held the sword hilt so that the blade would be pointing up if he'd actually had the blade in place.
"Naw, we got the day off yesterday, so I didn't get a chance to practice with my release. You go ahead and slack off if you want, I'm going to stay here and practice with my new bow," Daisuke told Elphemia. She shrugged and sat down under the tree that Donovyn usually sat in. Daisuke looked up into the tree only to see it empty, as he expected. "Now, fire, Szelechneider!"
Two blades shot out of the hilt, one going up, and the other going down. Both blades bent toward Daisuke and turned black. The reishi in the blades solidified so that the bow was completely solid. Daisuke placed his hand where the string should have been and pulled back, a string of reishi formed between the tips of the bow, not quite touching the tips, and a slender silver arrow formed on the string. Daisuke fired the arrow at a training dummy, since Elphemia was resting under a tree.
The arrow Daisuke fired pierced through the dummy without any problems. The immediate area of the dummy reverted to reishi and scattered. Daisuke's eyes widened as he witnessed what the arrows he fired from his weapon were capable of doing. He looked back to Elphemia, who wore a similarly surprised expression on her face. Daisuke fired another arrow at the dummy's head, and watched that dissipate as reishi, and he heard clapping coming from the side.

Daisuke pulled back his bow string and took aim. However, he lowered his weapon, and was very happy as Donovyn walked into the training area, still clapping slowly. Elphemia stood up, surprised that he'd come back so soon. "Daisuke, that's quite an impressive Shikai you've got there, I'm sure you're Bankai will be very powerful indeed. Elphemia, were you hoping I'd been killed?"
"Um, no, sir. It's just that, well, I was just wanting to wait for you to return before I started doing anything. That way all of my progress is under your guide," Elphemia said, bowing before her master. Donovyn laughed a little, clearly seeing through her ruse, but not denying her words. Elphemia stood, and Donovyn looked her over.
"I wonder just how powerful you really are, Ms. Da Putana. It just seems to me as though your power might just be a bit more than just your right arm, or at least, it should be. More importantly, though, we'll have to awaken it. Your power isn't like a Soul Reapers; it doesn't rely on something like a Zanpakuto. Nor is it a Quincy's powers; bows and arrows have no defensive capabilities, and Quincy powers don't include transformations of the body," Donovyn stated.
"So, then, how do I train to get stronger. The sparing sessions I've had with Daisuke have helped me control them better, and I've got much more stamina, but, the power itself has yet to get any stronger."
"That's the problem, isn't it. I'd be willing to bet you possess Hollow powers somehow. Though, it'd be nothing short of a guess, and I honestly don't know how to train you to strengthen Hollow powers."
"But wait, aren't you half Hollow, Captain Gerra?" Daisuke inputted.
"I'm not half Hollow, I'm a Vizard. There is a difference, and I'm still a Soul Reaper, despite possessing Hollow powers. That being said, that alone doesn't mean I know how to improve them, plus they're only the basic ones. Cero, Sonido- which is redundant considering I already possess Flash Step-and things of that nature. Plus, as a bonus, I can regenerate to a limited degree. Small injuries like an amputated finger and such, nothing major," Donovyn finished.

Elphemia took in what Donovyn was saying. It did seem that her blasts resembled a Hollow's cero, from what she saw the day she'd entered the Soul Society. Not only that, but the skull design on her arm when it transformed seemed like something that'd be related to Hollows. "[i]If that's true, then that means that there's only one place I can go to get stronger. There's only one problem: How am I supposed to get into Hueco Mundo[/i]?"
Elphemia looked up from her hand to see Daisuke and Donovyn looking to a red-haired Soul Reaper running toward the area. She got there pretty quick, and began panting to catch her breath. "C-Captain," she began, "there's a report of a Hollow attacking New Karakura town. It appears that he's after a specific citizen." Donovyn looked at her for a few seconds before speaking.
"Is it an arrancar?" he asked. The red haired Soul Reaper shook her head. "Very well, Lieutenant, I'll take these two to see if they're ready for battle, and then come back once the problem has been taken care of," he stated, nodding toward Elphemia to join him. Daisuke grabbed Elphemia by the hand, and they Flash Stepped until they got to a Senkaimon. Donovyn opened the gates, and the three of them departed to the World of the Living.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 9: A Test of Powers and Loyalty]
Daisuke and Elphemia followed Donovyn to the area of New Karakura Town that was being attacked. "Remember," Donovyn started saying, "when fighting a Hollow, the best thing you can do is to attack from behind, and aim for the head. Considering you held off an Arrancar's Cero, this shouldn't be too difficult, but don't get too reckless." Daisuke and Elphemia nodded, as they entered the World of the Living. Daisuke and Elphemia landed behind Donovyn, who was staring up at something the other two hadn't yet seen.
Daisuke followed his gaze, only to meet with something he'd never expected to see. He found himself at a loss for words when he saw what he'd be testing his powers against. Several moments of stunned silence later, he finally managed to speak. "Wh-what is [i]that[/i]?" he found himself finally asking. The sound of Daisuke's voice cured Donovyn enough to turn around and continue the lesson.

"[i]That[/i]," he said, "is what's known as a Menos Grande. Their official classification is a Gillian, the weakest of the three Menos classes." He turned around to look at it again. "[i]Though, what I'm not telling them is that these are still fairly strong. The less they know about Gillians and the Menos, the better[/i]," he thought, his eyes narrowing, "[i]I know I'm the one who told them to send a strong Hollow to test the usefulness of these two, but to send a Gillian...[/i]"
"You two go ahead and give it your best shot. I'll be watching, so if you get into trouble, I'll be able to help. Remember, we came here to test your abilities in battle, so that's what we're going to do. This may be stronger than a normal Hollow, but the principles are the same, so remember what I told you," he told them. The two of them ran past him, toward the Gillian, while Donovyn jumped up to the top of a building to watch.
Donovyn watched Daisuke and Elphemia run up to the Gillian. Predictably, the Gillian began charging a Cero, Elphemia transformed her arm, and Daisuke released his Shikai. Daisuke fired his arrow, which was destroyed by the Gillian's Cero. Elphemia jumped in front of Daisuke and blocked the Gillian's Cero for Daisuke. "At least they're working as a team...somewhat. Maybe I should start making them do team building exercises," Donovyn commented.

Daisuke lowered his arms, which he had put in front of his face when the Gillian fired its Cero, and saw Elphemia blocking it from hitting him. The training must have been paying off, because she wasn't showing as much effort in blocking it. "Thanks Elphemia," Daisuke said, jumping out from behind her, forming another arrow. With the Gillian now focused on Elphemia, Daisuke was able to aim at the Gillian's head, and fired his arrow. The arrow connected with the Gillian's top jaw.
The Cero stopped, freeing Elphemia to move around, but the Gillian remained standing. Daisuke looked up to see part of its mask missing, but no further damage. "My arrows aren't going deep enough. Elphemia, think you can hit that same spot?" Daisuke asked. Elphemia nodded.

"I might be able to. Can't you hit it, though?"
"There's a chance. Telescoping is a one-in-a-million shot, though. There's a better chance of you hitting it."
"Well, I can try, but if I'm attacking then I won't be able to stop you from getting killed again," Elphemia said, pulling her arm back, preparing an attack. "[i]All I have to do is drive this thing back. I should be able to follow it. Once I get there, I should be able to get stronger.[/i]" The Gillian began charging another Cero, while Daisuke released another arrow.
Elphemia launched her attack at the same time the Gillian fired its Cero. The attacks met half way, leaving Daisuke's arrow to hit the Gillian right above the eye. The Gillian moved back, letting out a roar, and ending its Cero. The energy from the Cero and Elphemia's attack canceled each other. Elphemia began charging another attack, running toward the Hollow.

Elphemia launched her attack while the Gillian was stunned from Daisuke's arrow. Her attack hit it square in the jaw, all but shattering it. Daisuke took the opportunity to fire a third arrow, hitting the Gillian's mask in one of the holes formed by the cracks from Elphemia's attack. The arrow sunk nearly half way into the hole. The Gillian vanished, just like any Hollow who's head was split by a Soul Reaper's Zanpakuto.
Donovyn jumped down from the perch he'd been watching the battle from. He began clapping slowly, a small smile on his face. "Good job, you two, very good indeed. I like the teamwork I saw, though you could use a bit more practice in working together," he told them. "Just remember this: you two may have taken out a Gillian, but that doesn't mean much. You two got lucky, of you hadn't hit that mask the way you had, I may have had to step in. Don't expect this to happen next time, if there is one."[/spoiler][spoiler=Chapter 10: Bells]
"So that Hollow was a Gillian, you say? Interesting, so Gillians are attacking New Karakura Town. When Sosuke Aizen defected, Karakura Town sat on a prime spot to create a key to unlocking the Royal Dimension. However, New Karakura Town doesn't sit anywhere near such a site. Why would a Gillian attack?" Head Captain Fuuta asked upon hearing Donovyn's report.
"I can't say, sir. However, what I can say for certain is that the Quincy Reaper and the girl handled it nicely. Even so, I think it would behoove us to train them as a team."
"You think so, Captain Gerra?"
"I do, Head Captain Nari, however, they won't feel the need to push themselves beyond their limitations unless they are put in real danger. I think Squad Twelve's Captain Creator would be best suited for such a thing."
"You want me to train those two? Are you joking Donovyn?" Captain Creator asked, clearly not liking the idea at all.
"If I was joking there would have been mention of a duck, a bar, a glass of water, and a bill. Seeing as none of those things appeared at all, no, I'm not joking," Donovyn said. "However, if you want, I can share a few jokes," he continued, inciting a glare from the Head Captain, "of course, such pleasantries are best saved for another time."
"I do believe that the Squad Six Captain is correct, Captain Creator. The job of training the Quincy Reaper and the Human Girl to work as a team falls to you. Your technology makes you the best suited to handling team training," Head Captain Nari announced.
Captain Creator closed his eyes and groaned. "Fine...I'll train them. On one condition: if either of them end up dead, I won't be held accountable. Is that okay?" Donovyn nodded slightly.
"Very well, in that case, this Captain's Meeting is over," Fuuta said, banging the floor with the Head Captain's staff.

Evanescent stood before Mary-Sue. "Lady Mary-Sue, it seems that D in fact under estimated the Quincy Reaper. Though he did have help from his friend, he did defeat the Gillian we sent as a test of their strength," he said. "There is one more thing as well. The girl's powers closely resemble those of Hollows."
Mary-Sue leaned forward in her chair. "Are you saying that she might be worth the effort to bring her here for training?"
"I am. If she has figured out that her powers are those of Hollows, then she'll know that she needs to seek training from Hollows to increase their strength. It should be much easier to get her than the Quincy Reaper. On top of that, if the girl joins us, odds are, he'll join us as well."
"I don't know about that. I mean, sure, they helped each other, but the fact remains they took down a Gillian. That's no small feat for a Soul Reaper without a Bankai and a human girl," Dios put in.
"That's true, Dios, but I don't think the girl will be satisfied with taking down a Gillian with help, or even alone. Human nature is to not be satisfied with anything less than perfection. She won't be happy until she can take down an [i]Adjucha[/i] by herself, and even then, she might still wish to gain power," Evanescent explained.
"It's quite easy to see how we can make this work to our advantage then. All we have to do it track down the girl when she leaves the Soul Society, and persuade her to come with us. After she comes to us for training in her Hollow Powers, all we have to do is wait for the Quincy Reaper to come to us of his own free will," Mary-Sue said, giggling at the end. "Well done, Evanescent. Your intellect is one of our key assets."
Evanescent bowed low. "Thank you, Lady Mary-Sue. Praise from you is high praise indeed."
"Itachi, I trust that you'll be able to bring her here. Preferably alive," Mary-Sue said, smiling.

Elphemia watched as Daisuke practiced with his Shikai release without supervision again. She was laying against what she called "Donovyn's Tree" watching him. He actually had a nice cluster on the dummies, but she wasn't about to say that; odds were she'd end up blushing. When she looked around, she didn't notice their master coming anywhere near the training area, not that they'd notice if he were coming. What she did notice, though, was a man with spiky yellow hair was coming.
Daisuke lowered his weapon, and Elphemia stood up. The man Flash Stepped the last several feet and stopped behind Daisuke. Elphemia blinked, not having been expecting visitors. "Uh, Captain, not to be rude, but, who are you? Where's Donovyn?" Elphemia asked, surprise not quite hidden in her voice.
"Donovyn thought you two needed some training as a team, rather than the way you've been doing it. To that end, he sent me in his place, feeling that the technology I have at my fingertips was more effective than anything he'd manage to do," Captain Creator explained. Elphemia stared, not quite comprehending Donovyn's plans, and Daisuke walked over to stand beside Elphemia.
"Okay, so, Donovyn sent you to train us to work as a team? I thought we knew how to work as a team. Taking down that massive Hollow should be proof enough," Daisuke protested.
"Indeed, for a human and a Soul Reaper without a Bankai, such a thing is no small feat. However, Donovyn feels that it was mostly luck that allowed you to do so. You see, every living thing, even the solitary ones, have an instinct that allows them to work together when they need to. However, Lions, who spend their whole lives living as a group, are better with teamwork than Tigers, who are normally solitary hunters. As such, it takes very little imagination to conclude that training increases your sense of teamwork," Captain Creator explained.
"So, what do we have to do?"
"It's five o' clock now, so, you should be able to get it done before noon. There's a couple restrictions, however. Daisuke is not allowed to use his Shikai, and Elphemia is only allowed to use her transformed arm as a shield. As a concession, I won't use my Bankai."
"So wait, we're facing a Captain's Shikai, trying to do whatever it is you expect us to be able to do, before noon, and you expect us to not use our abilities?" Daisuke all but shouted.
"It won't be much of a training session if it were easy, would it? Besides, the longer you protest my rules, the less the time you have to get the job done, and might I remind you that you don't even know what it is yet? If you want more motivation, then I'm happy to announce that if you fail, I'll tie you to that tree and force you to watch me eat my lunch."
"All right, fine, what is it you want us to do?"
"It's quite simple," Creator said, holding up a couple of bells, "you just have to get these bells from around my waist."[/spoiler][/spoiler]
[spoiler=Search for the Masks Arc]
[spoiler=Chapter 11: Teamwork]
Daisuke just stared at Captain Creator. After blinking for several moments, he finally managed to speak. "So, you're saying that you're going to restrict yourself to your Shikai, while I'm restricted to my sealed form, Elphemia is restricted to acting like a shield, and all we have to do is get a pair of bells?"
"That's the gist of it, yes," Captain Creator answered.
"And what will that prove?"
"Nothing. Think of this as a pre-test. Once I complete your team training, you'll do the same thing, a post test. If you perform better, then you will pass."
"If not?"
"Then you'll be spending more time with me."
Daisuke and Elphemia just looked at each other for a few moments. "I suppose we'd better pass, then," Elphemia said. Daisuke nodded; his black bow turned back to reishi, the blades reverted to being straight blades, the bottom blade retracting. Elphemia held her left arm parallel to the ground, and it transformed into the white shield bearing the red skull markings. "I guess we'll start, then," she said when she was ready.
Captain Creator smirked, "All right, since you both seem to be ready, I guess then that I'll go ahead and start. It's five-o-three, so then you get nearly seven hours to get these bells. Good luck with that," he said, Flash Stepping away. Daisuke blinked several times, looking around to see if he could spot his new trainer. No matter where he looked, Captain Creator seemed to have simply vanish.

Lichroy looked down at his pupils. "[i]This is going to last a while. They can't even think to look in the only tree in the entire training ground...I wonder if Captain Gerra ever thought to tell them someone who's mastered Bankai doesn't need to call their Shikai...[/i]" He drew his sword, and an instant later, hit shifted from being a Katana to being a long sword. He threw the sword down to the ground, where it stuck straight up.
Daisuke and Elphemia looked up to him, and he smirked. "You two might wanna pay attention to that sword. The end result will shock you, believe it!" The two of them looked at the sword, where they saw that the ground was beginning to crack, and from the cracks emerged what looked to be a clone of Lichroy. "Didn't I tell you that you'd be shocked?" he asked as the two of them looked back up at him.

"Okay, this is meant to teach us to work together, right? The first thing we have to do is get rid of this clone," Daisuke said, looking to the clone and speaking to Elphemia.
"All right, and how do you intend to do that? Stare him to death? We can't use ranged attacks, and there is no doubt that he's a better swordsman than you, Mr. Quincy."
"That's true, but I think I know how to do it. I might not be able to out fight him, but I think I'll be able to at least block his attack. When I do that, all you have to do is run around him and give him a good punch to the face. After you do that, I'll stab him, then you take the sword," Daisuke told her.
"That might actually work. There's only one way we'll find out for sure, though, isn't there?" she said. Daisuke ran toward Captain Creator's clone. The clone jumped back rather than attacking, and then jumped up and over Daisuke, landing behind him. Daisuke quickly turned around, and saw Elphemia had run forward and grabbed the clones arm to keep him from attacking.

Lichroy smirked and the clone tossed the blade back a few feet with a twist of the wrist. The blade once more sunk into the ground. The clone that Elphemia had grabbed a hold of disintegrated to dust and rock. Lichroy chuckled at the look on the faces of the trainees. "You're gonna have to do better than that," he said.
Another clone formed from where the blade hit the ground. "Okay, it might not be as simple as I thought it would," Daisuke said. The two trainees stood looking at the clone, unsure of what to do about it. Elphemia ran toward the clone, attempting a punch to the face. Daisuke ran after her, ready to strike if the clone dodged.
Elphemia quickly switched from offense to defense as the clone struck. Daisuke took the opportunity to jump over Elphemia and strike the clone in the head. The clone disintegrated the way the other clone had, and Elphemia grabbed the sword before it hit the ground. Lichroy Flash Stepped behind Elphemia, hands clasped together, two fingers on each hand held up. He jabbed his hands forward, striking her in the rear and sending her several feet forward.
The blade sunk into the ground when she landed, and Lichroy jumped back into the tree as a third clone formed from the ground. "Just so you know, that's not going to work. I'm faster than either of you, so trying to prevent me from forming those clones is completely useless," he announced. Daisuke grimaced, causing Lichroy to laugh hard and loud. Elphemia ran forward and successfully landed a punch on Lichroy's clone.

Elphemia laughed a little. "Hey, Dai-Chan, this is fun, you should try it!" she shouted. The clone vanished and appeared behind Daisuke, who wheeled around and narrowly missed the clone with his blade. Elphemia and Daisuke jumped back to back. "Why do I get the feeling I only succeeded in hitting that clone because the original was distracted?"
"Probably because you only succeeded in hitting the clone because the original was distracted."
"Then we should distract him again, shouldn't we?"
"You know how to do that? Either way, we're not getting into that tree with him."
"Then let's get him down here. I'll try getting the blade again, and when he tries jabbing my butt again, you grab the bells," Elphemia suggested. Daisuke nodded.

"Rinnie, come inside, okay? You can play with your little friend tomorrow," the woman called from the front door. The girl quickly said goodbye to the girl and ran to the woman. The two embraced, and went into the building. When the door was closed, the little girl turned and began walking off happily.
Itachi quickly appeared in front of her, sneering. He grabbed the chain on the girls chest, licking his lips. "Wh-who are you?" the girl asked, breaking away and falling to the ground, landing on her butt.
"It's not important who I am, but you can call me Itachi Ninjow," he said, holding her down by her head until she was transformed into a glowing ball that he quickly devoured.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 12: The Crown of Barragan]
Evanescent walked around the trees of the forest. As with all trees in Hueco Mundo, none of the trees had leaves; they all were bare, with naked branches. "Hmm...where did he go? Hard to believe that I managed to lose him that easily," Evanescent muttered in a low voice. He knelt down, one hand on the ground.
After a few moments, he stood up and headed to his left. He walked for several minutes before heading to his right. After several moments, he came upon a large, spider-like Hollow who wore, in addition to his own unimpressive mask, what looked to be a crown on top of his head. The Hollow looked at Evanescent and stood his ground. "What do you want with me?" the Hollow asked.
"You have something I'm interested in," Evanescent answered simply. His eyes drifted to the crown on the Hollow's head. "I'm here to take it from you, by force if necessary." The Hollow guessed where Evanescent's eyes were resting, and laughed. He locked eyes with Evanescent, defying him to take to crown.
"You don't know who I am, do you? You're small for a Hollow, and there's no way you'll be able to defeat me if a battle," the Hollow said, clearly confident in his strength. "I am the King of the Hollows. That is why I found this crown. I challenge you to take it off my head."
"You are mistaken. The Hollows have no king. The ruler of Hueco Mundo and thus the Hollows is the Queen. Lady Mary-Sue Miladie. That crown once belonged to Tres Espada Barragan, and I am here to claim it in the name of the New Espada, Lady Mary-Sue's highest ranking followers."
"I know not of this 'Mary-Sue' who calls herself queen. I wear the crown, and thus I am the strongest Hollow. That alone makes me the King."
"I've heard enough of this inane drivel," Evanescent said, holding one hand up. The next moment, the Hollow's head was destroyed, allowing the crown to fall to the ground. "You were nowhere close to being strong enough to become a king of anything. I wonder if I should have wasted a perfectly good Balla on you," he said, picking up the crown. "That's four masks down. Six more to go."

Itachi once more waited on the roof of the building overlooking the girl and her mother. The girl had been disappointed to find that her newest friend wasn't around to play anymore. "I guess she moved on," she had told herself as comfort. Itachi couldn't help but give a malicious grin at hearing those words. The girl's mother once again called her inside for lunch.
Itachi jumped down to the ground, and walked up to the door of the house. "I guess lurking around and eating a few children isn't enough to warrant a call out for those two. I might have to start doing some damage," he said as he walked inside without knocking. "I know you two can interact with me," he called out, almost yelling. The woman came out and asked what he wanted, to which he replied, "Just this."

Daisuke and Elphemia stood panting. They had defeated several clones, and each time the clone had reformed. The Captain had remained in the tree, except when Elphemia had grabbed the sword from the clone. Daisuke had come close to taking the bells from him, and each time he'd been thrown back several feet. Now they stood facing yet another clone, with Captain Creator informing them that it was almost noon.
"Captain, an Arrancar has been detected in New Karakura Town!" Yachiru said, running toward the training area. The Captain looked at her, somewhat annoyed that his training session was interrupted.
"So then do something about it. Besides you aren't even my Lieutenant, you're Kenpachi Zaraki's. Go tell him about it," he said, not letting up on Daisuke and Elphemia for anything.
"I did. Donovyn overheard and said that Dai-Chan and Elphy-Chan should handle it as part of their training. That naturally means that you'll accompany them to oversee their teamwork training," Yachiru told him.
"FINE, WHATEVER!" he said, violently relenting. The clone disintegrated, and the long sword turned back into a katana. The Captain jumped out of the tree and grabbed his sword. "Come on. I might as well get this over with. Captain-Commander Nari will make me do it anyway. Yachiru, have back up arranged just in case."

Itachi stood facing the two women. He had ripped the souls out of both of them, but hadn't severed their Chains of Fate. Both of them stared at the bodies, which he had piled up in a corner on the other side of the room. "Don't worry, I won't kill you unless I have to," he began, then paused for a couple seconds, "or if I get bored waiting for the Soul Reapers to show up." Mother and daughter hugged each other even tighter, cowering further into the corner.
"Why are you doing this?" the mother asked, trying to shield her daughter. The man, the bottom half of his face covered by a bone-like mask, just laughed.
"Why am I doing this? I was told to find someone, and I figure that if I stir up a little trouble, then they'll come to me. It'll save a lot of time, and I find this particular method of flushing them out to be fun. [i]That[/i] is why I'm doing this," he said, ice in his voice. He relished in the moment the woman's eyes widened in shock and disbelief.
"You're a monster!" she yelled, "A stark raving mad man!"
"On the contrary, I'm perfectly sane compared to the man who got ranked six places higher than me. That is the mad man, I'm just the man who enjoys inflicting pain. I think I'll keep this up until my target gets here," he said, taking a step closer to the two women huddled in the corner.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 13: Ninjarrancar]
Lichroy and the others arrived at the house where the Arrancar was holding two humans hostage. "This is the mayors house!" Daisuke and Elphemia said in unison. Lichroy sighed, lowering his head.
"Well, that's just wonderful. Now I have to be careful not to harm the people he's holding in there. If anything happens to them, it'll somehow be my fault. That's the last thing I need to happen."

Donovyn stood in his quarters, looking out the window. A girl with red hair came running in, and took a couple deep breaths. "Sir," she began quickly, then slowed down a bit as she continued, "the three of them have arrived in the World of the Living. They have yet to engage in battle, but it should begin at any moment." Donovyn nodded in acknowledgment, and she asked "Sir, if I may, why are you so interested in pushing them?"
"It's simple, Lieutenant. I created the Quincy Reaper quite by accident. I want him to get as powerful as he can as fast as he can. His zanpakuto's sealed form is more powerful than most, as it's based on the Quincy weapon Szelechneider. It's Shikai converts any spirit material into reishi. I can only imagine what his Bankai is capable of.
"However, there is no doubt in my mind that the Arrancars are trying to get him on their side. If they succeed, whether through manipulation or if he just chooses to join them to become a vizard himself, then the Head Captain will have my head. Make no mistake, although that is part of the reason I want to prove that he can be useful to us, I also find it intriguing to see what a Quincy who's gain the powers of a Soul Reaper is capable of doing. The reason I sent him into battle twice in a row is so that he can gain battle experience as quickly as he possibly can," Donovyn explained. He looked into her eyes and gave a warm smile, before finishing by asking "Does that satisfy your curiosity, Megami?"
"Yes sir, it's quite sufficient," she said, returning the smile.
"Good, then come in, let's have crumpets and tea, shall we?" he asked, motioning her to sit at the table. Megami smiled and the two walked over to the table and sat. Donovyn uncovered a plate that sat on the table, while Megami began pouring the tea. "Thank you, Megami," Donovyn said as she handed him his cup. She nodded in acknowledgment as she took a crumpet from the plate.

Itachi picked up the girl's Chain of Fate. "I wonder how hard it is to sever one of these things with my bare hands," he said, gripping it in both hands. He began pulling his hands apart, steadily increasing the amount of force he was pulling with. The girl began whimpering with each pull. He doubted she knew what he was trying to do, but there was no doubt she knew it wasn't good for her.
"Please, stop what you're doing! Do you really want to break a child's Chain of Fate?" her mother asked loudly. That comment just made Itachi laugh loudly, and pull even harder.

"Great," Lichroy said as he ran up the stairs, "he's trying to break the girls Chain of Fate. This is the last thing I need to have happen. Elphemia, prepare for an attack. I'll break the door, and you just hit him in his face," he said as they reached the door. Elphemia transformed her arm and began charging an attack.
Lichroy broke down the door, and Elphemia launched her attack a second later. The arrancar dropped the girl's chain and bent backward. "Well, it's about time you people showed up. I was beginning to grow bored with my little game," he said, chuckling. He fired a Balla at Lichroy, which hit him before anyone had time to react.

The girl with the strange arm stared at the Soul Reaper captain, shock written into her shaking muscles. His arm had been severed from his body, and he was bleeding profusely. Another Soul Reaper showed up to the scene not too long afterwords, and his eyes widened at the scene. The man in the mask just chuckled.
"I think you've seen that I can't be beaten so easily," he said, pointing at the girl. "Here's what I drew you out for: I know from looking at you that you happen to possess the powers of a Hollow, girl. Soul Reapers can't help you, that should be obvious. That blast was similar in many ways to a Cero, so why don't you come with me? We can help you become stronger," he said, clearly trying to convince her.
The girl with the strange left arm looked at him, confusion in her eyes. The newly arrived Soul Reaper drew his sword, which looked different from the sword of other Soul Reapers Rinnie had seen around town. The blade looked to be made of Reishi, and the hilt had no guard. He held it so the blade was facing upward, toward the ceiling. "Fire, Szelechneider," he said calmly; a second blade shot from the bottom, and both of them bent back toward the Soul Reaper, solidifying into a black longbow.
The man in the mask laughed again, a habit of his Rinnie was beginning to find annoying. The Soul Reaper pulled back on his bowstring. "Honestly, do you think you'll be able to hit me with a projectile? I'm too good to be hit by any kind of long range attack," he said cockily. The Soul Reaper fired his arrow, and the man in the mask vanished.
When he reappeared, it was behind the Soul Reaper, who was punched across the room. The black longbow turned back into the hilt of a sword, and its owner stopped moving. Jennifer held Rinnie so tight she thought she'd be unable to breath. "Now you see what a Hollow is capable of doing. We can teach you to better use those powers of yours," the masked man told the girl as he opened up a portal.
The girl's arm reverted back to normal, and she nodded, clearly too shocked to speak. The man stepped in after her, and the portal closed. The Soul Reaper with the blade-less sword regained consciousness, and he looked around. "Wh-what happened?" he asked, looking around. "Why am I seeing double?"[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 14: Rejection Feels Good]
Jennifer looked at the scene before her. One Soul Reaper was missing an arm and bleeding all over the area, and a younger Soul Reaper was looking around confused. Her and her daughter's bodies had been piled up in the opposite corner. "Rinnie, I think they've gone, we should see if we can get back in our bodies now," she said gently to her daughter. The girl nodded, and the two got up and walked across the room.
Rinnie returned to her body first, the Chain of Fate recoiling into her body, followed by her Soul. Jennifer followed, suit, and nodded toward Rinnie. Rinnie walked over to the Soul Reaper who lay bleeding on the floor, while Jennifer walked over to the one looking confused. She explained everything that happened, and he looked shocked and saddened when she explained about the girl. He fell to the floor, looking helpless, holding his head with his hand.

Rinnie looked down at the wounded Soul Reaper. He was somehow still alive, but he was losing blood, and fast. She pressed on a flower pin she wore on her chest. Two of the six petals broke off-one settling above his head, the other below his feet. "What is she doing?" she heard the boy ask behind her.
"She's healing him. She somehow has the ability to do that, even when no one else in our family I can think of has that power," her mother answered.
"Elphemia, that girl who went with the Hollow, she's descended from Chad Yasutora, one of Ichigo Kurosaki and Orhime Inoue's friends. She has access to Orihime's Diary, you know, that book that's rumored to exist, but only with one copy that speaks of the Soul Society and Soul Reapers and such. Well, obviously it exists, but only a few people have access to it, and Elphemia is one of them. I heard her talking about it, and it seems that Orihime had the same kind of power. She was able to restore something that didn't exist, actually," he said, his voice sounding more like he was trying to calm himself down than actually explain something.
"I reject," Rinnie said quietly, an orange barrier forming around the fallen Soul Reaper, between the two petals of the flower pin. Slowly, the Soul Reaper's arm began re-forming, and the bleeding stopped. He moaned softly, opening his eyes. He blinked once, and then a shocked look came over him, apparently realizing that he was unable to move. "It's okay," Rinnie began, "I just need a few more moments to heal you completely."

The orange light faded, and Lichroy sat up, looking at the girl who'd healed him. The first thing he noticed was that she wasn't a Soul Reaper, and the second thing was that she didn't have a Chain of Fate attached to her chest. "Y-you shouldn't be able to see me," he said, mildly surprised. She giggled a bit and walked over to Daisuke. Lichroy just looked after her.
"Wait a minute, how can you two see us? It made sense when your souls had been forced out of your bodies, but now that you two are back in your physical bodies, it should be impossible for you to see Soul Reapers," he explained in a demanding tone. The woman, who appeared to be the mother of the girl who'd healed him, was the one who answered him.
"We don't know exactly how we're able to see the souls of the dearly departed. All we know is that our family sees dead people," she told him. "One thing I don't get is why that guy took the girl with him, even though he seemed more interested in killing the two of you. She didn't seem all that powerful, so, what does he want with her?" All four of them sat in silence for several seconds before Daisuke spoke.
"Donovyn told us a while back that he thought Elphy-Chan's powers resembled those of Hollows. It could be that he developed that same theory after she blasted him. I mean, he'd know what Hollow powers look and feel like, so, maybe he thought they'd be able to train her, get her on their side," he said, sounding slightly concerned. Lichroy looked at him, considering his words carefully. When he finally spoke, it was while he was opening up the Senkaimon back to the Soul Society.
"That only means one thing for you, boy. You might be new to being a Soul Reaper, but you're going to have to master your Bankai. These Arrancars are even more powerful than the ones Aizen had under his command, and that means that unless you master your Bankai, you won't stand a chance. We're going back to the Soul Society, and you two, I don't feel like replacing your memories the way I'm supposed to, so just don't tell anyone about this, okay? Otherwise I don't care what kind of trouble I get in, I'l go ahead and kill you," he said, opening up the gate.

Rinnie watched as the two Soul Reapers walked through the gate that had opened up in the room. After they'd gone, the gate closed, leaving no trace that it had been there at all. She and her mother made a promise that they'd be sure not to tell anyone what had happened; after all, they'd managed to keep secret they were able to see ghosts at all. Rinnie looked out the window. It was late, but there was a woman, who looked to be around 20, or so rushing through the streets with what looked to be a rather large bottom jaw line.
The girls raven colored, neck-length hair moved a bit as she ran up to their home. She ran past the window, being chased by what looked like a rather large centipede with a pair of scythes on it's front arms. Rinnie ran down to the front door and opened the front door as the woman ran through it. Her clothes were torn, as thought she'd been wearing them a while. When Rinnie saw the chain on the woman's chest, she knew why the creature was chasing her: she was a spirit, and the Hollow wanted to devour her.
"Please, take this," she said, handing Rinnie the jaw line. "I don't know what's so special about that thing, but since I got it, those things have been coming after me like there was no tomorrow." Rinnie took it from her, as the scythes began crashing through the door.
"Captain Creator never could do anything half way unless he was personally interested, could he?" she heard a voice say from behind her. Rinnie turned around as the same gate the two Soul Reapers had left in closed behind a female Soul Reaper with red hair. Rinnie's front door crashed in, prompting the Soul Reaper to lunge forward, slicing the creatures head in half. The creature disappeared, and the Soul Reaper turned to face the soul of the woman. She fell backward, attempting to crawl away.
"It's all right, you've got nothing to worry about. I won't kill you like I did with that Hollow. What I have in mind for you is much better; I'm going to give you a Konsou," she sad gently. The woman looked at the Soul Reaper with a confused expression, and she simply said "think of it as me helping you 'go to Heaven,' it's a pleasant experience," she said, lightly touching the bottom of her sword to the woman's forehead. A soothing light surrounded the ground beneath the woman's soul, and when it vanished, she was gone.

Megami looked at what the girl had in her hands. She could have sworn that she'd seen something like that before. "Wait a minute, let me see that!" she said, taking it from the girl without waiting for a response. A terrified expression came over her face as she saw what she held in her hands. "This isn't good," she said quietly. She quickly opened up the Senkaimon again and rushed through it, leaving the girl behind.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 15: The Soul Reapers Search for the Espada Masks]
Megami stood before the thirteen Captains holding the jaw line in her hands. "Head Captain Nari, I brought this with me from the World of the Living. Unless I'm mistaken, this is the mask fragment that once belonged to Sosuke Aizen's tenth Espada. The Hollow I was dispatched to take out was chasing a woman who had delivered this to the daughter of New Karakura's mayor," she explained. The Head Captain looked at the mask fragment in awe, as did all the captains, save Donovyn.
"But if that's true, then what does that mean?"
"It means that the Soul Society needs to search for the masks," Donovyn spoke up. When everyone looked at him, he proceeded to ask, "Exactly how much does anyone know about Hollows?" he asked, looking around. No one spoke up, so he continued "It's quite possible that when a Hollow finds another Hollow's mask, they gain power. For instance, if a powerless Hollow finds an Espada Mask, then they might be able to use a Cero," he explained.

Fuuta listened to Donovyn's speculative concerns, thinking over what he was saying, and what it would mean if he were right. "So if this newly formed Espada group were to find the masks of the original espada, who knows what would happen? Is that what you're trying to say?" The Squad Six captain nodded gravely. "If that's the case, then we should find them first. However, that just leaves the problem that we have no idea where these masks even are," he said with serious consideration.
"Though, I have been studying Hollows for a few months now," the Squad Twelve captain spoke up. "I could take that mask fragment to my testing area and put it on one of the subjects. That would allow me to test the effects of an Espada Mask of a normal Hollow," he said, clearly intrigued.
"Are we even sure that this is an Espada Mask, though?" Donovyn's Lieutenant asked. Everyone looked at her, questioning looks on their face. "It's just, it's a lower jaw line. I know there were two of the Original Espada who had that, but, something that generic, are we sure this is either of them?" Fuuta sat back in his seat, completely unsure of how to proceed.
"I would like to conduct testing either way. I have several powerless Hollows as test subjects, and if I put that on one of them, and they launch a Cero, it's an Espada Mask," Captain Creator said. Fuuta looked at him, and nodded his approval for the testing.

Lichroy couldn't help but chuckle when his test was approved. Donovyn's Lieutenant walked over and handed him the Mask. Head Captain Nari dismissed the Captain's Meeting, freeing Lichroy to move down to the former training grounds. He walked across the field to cages he'd set up, about twenty of them, each containing one Hollow. He held up the Mask, causing each Hollow to slam into the bars of the front of the cage.

Elphemia stood before several Arrancar, with the one who had brought her there standing with his hand on her shoulder. The young lady sitting in the chair before the others wore a smile on her face. "Very good, Itachi," she said, "now it's just a matter of time before he comes to us." The door behind them opened up, and a blonde Arrancar, wearing a half-helmet like mask on the left side of his head walked in, holding what appeared to be a crown. "Ah, Evanescent, I see you managed to find another one?"
"Indeed, Lady Mary-Sue. The Crown of Barragan is ours now. That means that we've got four of them."
"And what of the other Mask?"
"The Hollow who was to deliver it never showed up."
"Betrayal?"
"I investigated. I failed to find him, though I did see evidence of a battle, in the same place Itachi collected the girl," the Arrancar identified as Evanescent nodded toward Elphemia, "though interrogation revealed that he had left before the battle, and it was a female Soul Reaper who dispatched the Hollow and took the Mask to the Soul Society." The young lady, who looked to be only fourteen, fell back in her seat.
"It won't be long before the Soul Reapers begin searching. We need to revamp our efforts, we have to find the remaining five before they do," she said, her eyes narrowing. Elphemia looked back and forth between the two. Evanescent took his place to Mary-Sue's left, while Itachi stood four spaces away on her right. "Now, that just leaves the matter of this girl," she said, looking at Elphemia.
"It's obvious that she needs much more training. She's weak, but I think Kailie can fix that problem, don't you?" Itachi suggested, looking at a woman wearing a Yukata. The number 5 was tattooed to her cheek, and she nodded.
"Red hair seems to be popular around here..." Elphemia noted to herself, looking the girl over with her eyes. When Mary-Sue dismissed them, the girl in the Yukata, Kailie, motioned Elphemia to follow her, which Elphemia did.
"Have you got a problem with red hair?" Kailie said as they walked down an empty hall. Elphemia's eyes widened and she found herself unable to speak. "I hope that's a 'no,' otherwise there might be a problem between us. You may end up dead rather than strong," Kailie told her as they reached the end of the hall.

Kailie pulled back her arm, and fired a rapid blast toward the wall. Rather than blow up, the wall just pushed back, and split down the middle. The two halves moved in opposite directions. When she looked at the girl she'd been assigned to train, she noticed a confused expression on her face. "It's called a Balla. Not as strong as a Cero, but twenty times faster," Kailie explained.
The girl nodded, still looking confused. "Oh, and the wall was something Mary-Sue came up with. It's a secret door to the training grounds. I can help you with battle experience, but you're going to have to figure out how to strengthen your attacks on your own. They're Hollow powers, so work from there," Kailie explained to her.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 16 - Elphemia's and Daisuke's Intense Training]
Elphemia and Kailie stood in the training field. There wasn't much in it, and this one didn't have any trees for her trainer to sit in all day. "It's completely surrounded by high rock formations, so there's no chance of anything going awry," Kailie stated as Elphemia looked around. Elphemia looked at Kailie, who was also taking in the surroundings. "There's a high concentration of reishi in this place, so you should be able to learn reishi based attacks like yours fairly easily. Don't mistake 'easily' for 'quickly', however.

Daisuke looked around at the massive room. Aside from several columns of rock, a couple rivers, and a small pool just large enough for a bath, there was nothing. "My sisters and I found this room during exploration back before we became Soul Reapers. It's the perfect place to train. We have no idea when it was made, how, or by who. All we know is that it's too perfect to have been an accident," Donovyn said.
"I thought you were the only descendent of Aizen. What do you mean 'you and your sisters' found this place?" Daisuke asked, curious.
"One other thing we found is the reason we all have Bankai. Probably, it's the reason the last Substitute had Bankai. It's also the reason you're going to have Bankai," Donovyn said, avoiding the subject. Daisuke looked at him as he dug around in a pile of rocks, pulling out what looked like a training dummy. "Who else could have made this thing but some previous Tech Division."

Elphemia took a deep breath, trying to draw in as much reishi as she could. She allowed the energy to build up to the point where she was almost unable to contain the energy. She threw a punch, drawing in more energy as she did so, and allowed the momentum of her punch project the attack forward. Kailie easily deflected the attack upward with just one hand. "That's better, but it still isn't good enough," she stated.

"Three days? That's it?" Daisuke asked. Donovyn just nodded, not taking his eyes off Daisuke. "You're certain that this is going to work? I mean, my Zanpakuto is different from other Soul Reaper's," he said stated, taking it out, and allowing the blade to form. Donovyn chuckled a bit.
"Well, there's only one way to find out if it's going to work, isn't there?" he asked Daisuke, nodding his head toward the dummy. "It's a pretty simple process, and I haven't seen any draw backs to it. Mizuki took two days, Megami and Kana took three, and I only took ten hours. Care to find out how long you're gonna take?"
"All right, then here it goes," Daisuke said, plunging his blade into the Dummy. Starting at the point where the blade touched the Dummy, the sword was drawn into it. "Wh-what the?" Daisuke said as the hilt was drawn out of his hand. A gust of wind swirled around the Dummy, and when it died down, where the Dummy once stood was a man with short blue hair and matching eyes. He wore tight, white pants, and a matching shirt with gloves, the shirt bearing a blue cross with the central beam stretching from top to bottom, slightly to the right, and the cross bar running the width of the shirt. He wore a mantle, and square rimmed glasses.
"I should have figured as much. The Quincy Reaper has a Quincy sword who's spirit takes the form of a Quincy. How did I not see that one coming a mile away?" Donovyn asked as he stood there, not permitting interest to show on his face. "I take it you know what to do, Mr. Szelechneider?" he finished, looking at the man in white. He nodded and Donovyn flash stepped a few rock pillars away.

Kailie fired a Cero at Elphemia, who naturally blocked. "Girl, you'd better start taking this seriously," she said, an intense look in her eyes. Elphemia looked back at her, the same kind of intensity showing in her eyes. She began charging another attack, which Kailie wasn't about to let happen. She vanished, and then appeared again, holding Elphemia's hand where she couldn't move her arm.
"You make it too obvious when you're about to attack," Kailie told her. Elphemia spun around, knocking Kailie's head with her own fist.

"Heh, I wonder how Daisuke's gonna figure this one out," Donovyn said, watching Daisuke fight his Zanpakuto's spirit. The spirit of Szelechneider was using a short bow that could fire multiple arrows at a time, while Daisuke was forced to use any Quincy or Soul Reaper spells he was able to perform. "Maybe I should have taught him a few spells. He could use a couple Kido...maybe a Hado..." Donovyn muttered to himself. Daisuke dodged another flurry of arrows as he threw a loose rock he'd found at Szelechneider.

Daisuke jumped back to avoid an arrow Szelechneider fired at him. His eyes widened as he lost his footing, and he fell backward. He rolled to the side, dodging a couple more arrows. "Are you even trying to defeat me?" Szelechneider shouted at Daisuke, "You haven't launched a single attack at me this entire time!" Daisuke stood up and took out a small box-like object.
He ran toward Szelechneider, jumping from side to side to avoid Szelechneider's attacks. He threw the tiny box at Szelechneider, who shot an arrow at the box, destroying it before Daisuke could do anything. "You're going to have to do better than that, Daisuke," he said, in an almost taunting voice. Daisuke clenched his fist, and bit his bottom lip, unsure of how to continue. He was getting tired, and he only had one Quincy Item to help him.

Elphemia had Kailie by the head, and Kailie had Elphemia by the neck. Elphemia launched her attack, and Kailie fired a Cero. The two attacks met as soon as they were launched. The two fighters were forced back several feet by the resulting explosion. "Well, in this short a time, you've managed to match my Cero. You are getting better at this," Kailie told Elphemia.
"There is one thing, though. I'm getting the feeling that there's more to your power than we've seen. I don't know how you'll be able to tap into it, but before your training is finished, you will be able to use the full extent of your abilities," she finished, barely able to stand. Elphemia looked at her. She'd sensed something different about her power since she'd come to Hueco Mundo, but she didn't know what it was. As she began to charge another attack, Kailie's eyes widened, as she stated, "If we continue at this rate, you're going to kill yourself."

"What's your point? If I don't push myself, I won't be able to surpass my current limits, will I?" she stated, launching an attack toward Kailie. Kailie pushed her arms forward, catching the attack in her palms, charging two Ceros, one in each palm. She launched one of the attacks, causing an explosion that threw her back against the rocks. Just before she hit the rocks, she fired the second attack, hoping that when the smoke cleared, both of them would still be breathing.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 17: Training Take 2]
Daisuke was resting in the small pool, resting from the day of intense training. He'd managed to dodge all the attacks, but he was exhausted, and he'd managed to get skinned up from sliding against rocks when he fell. When his zanpakuto's spirit reverted to a training dummy, he'd thought he had won, but then Donovyn told him that the sun had set, and he'd have to resume training in the morning, so he should rest in the pool. The first thing Daisuke noticed was that his scratches had completely healed. "Man, what's in this water?" he couldn't help but ask.
"How in the world should I know?" Daisuke heard someone respond. It definitely wasn't Donovyn; it was a female voice. He quickly looked around only to find that it was Donovyn's Lieutenant who had come to check up on him.
"What are you doing here? Can't you see I'm in the spring?" he asked, hoping she couldn't see anything she wasn't supposed to.
"I was ordered here by Captain Gerra, Dai. It's not my fault you decided to be in the water when I showed up..."
"Wait, Donovyn told you to come here?" he asked her. "Speaking of, where did he run off to this time?" She just shrugged her shoulders and sat down cross-legged looking at him. "Would you please look away? At least long enough for me get out and put on some clothes?" he asked.
"Well, here's a towel to dry off with when you get out," she said, placing it on the ground next to him. "Just to let you know, I'll be overseeing your training until it's finished. Captain's orders," she said, walking behind a rock, giving him some privacy.

"You can come out now," Daisuke said after a couple minutes. Megami stood up and walked around to see him. He was dressed, but still drying his hair. Apparently he decided to go completely under before getting out. "By the way, I don't think I ever heard you called by name," Daisuke noted, looking her right in the eye.
"Lieutenant Megami Shoujo. Please don't forget it," Megami answered.
"Wait...your name is...'Goddess Girl'? For real?" Daisuke said. Megami's eyes narrowed and her hand went to her zanpakuto. This kid needed to be taught a lesson. As she was about to unsheathe her sword, she felt something rush by her head, and narrowly miss Daisuke's.
"Looks like your training is resumed, try not to die to painlessly," she told him before jumping up to the top of a nearby rock formation.

"Too...painlessly? I just made her mad, didn't I?" Daisuke asked himself before jumping to avoid three more arrows. "Come on, isn't my life complicated enough without all this going on at one time?" He ducked behind a rock to give himself time to think before he got skewered. "Come on, Daisuke, think: your newest trainer is ticked at you, and your zanpakuto is trying to kill you, and you don't have any clue how to stop either of them. Yup, you're pretty much screwed."
"Are you not even going to try to defeat me anymore, Daisuke? You were a Quincy most of your life, you know all my tricks," Szelechneider was saying. [i]Yeah, but that doesn't mean I can counter them. It also doesn't mean that I know all my Soul Reaper tricks. On top of that, it doesn't help that my trainer want me to die a painful death and then get raped by a drug dealer with AIDS.[/i] Daisuke heard a flurry of arrows hit the rock he was hiding behind.
"Come on, Daisuke, you know full well what all the weaknesses of an archer are. Use them to your advantage." [i]Why did I not pay any attention to what that kid in[/i] Spiral [i]said near the end?[/i]
"Hold up, that's it! I paid more attention to it than I intended," he said, running out from behind the rock that was his only form of protection.

Donovyn stood on top of a large building in the World of the Living. His view overlooked a small candy shop on the edge of New Karakura town. He scanned the area for anything odd. "I was told that there was a Hollow in the area. Did someone else already dispatch it?" he said to himself.
"It would seem not," he said, Flash Stepping away from the shop. When he stopped running, he was standing directly in front of a Hollow, who appeared to be a toad wearing a small spiked mohawk on his head. "You there, I don't suppose that row of spikes on your head is natural?" The Hollow looked down at him. "I'm waiting," Donovyn said.
"Who wants to know?"
"I do. I think you'll find that you'll want to cooperate, for more than one reason. As a Soul Reaper, I'm going to have to dispatch you either way, but depending on your answer, you may be useful to me. Granted you'll still be killed, but I'll get my answer no matter what. I would just prefer to know before I dispatch you," Donovyn remarked. The Hollow just laughed, raising one hand, prompting Donovyn to mutter "Well, I'll just have to hope."
Donovyn drew his sword, and held it up. The Hollows hand was pierced by the blade, causing him to raise it back up, screaming in pain. "That's quite enough out of you. Fade Away, Evanescence!" he said, the blade of his sword twisting into the shape of a drill. Black energy began swirling around the base of the blade. Donovyn thrust his sword toward the Hollow, aiming toward his head, and the energy began following the path of the blade's twist.
The energy appeared to pass straight through the Hollow without causing any damage, while Donovyn's blade straightened out. The Hollow laughed loudly as Donovyn sheathed his sword. "Is that the best you can do, Soul Reaper? Look at me, I haven't even got a scratch!" he boasted. Donovyn looked up at him. He began to chuckle evilly.
"On the contrary, you've lost," he said, raising his right arm. The Hollows eyes widened as his own right arm raised as well. "You see, Evanescence's attack may not cause any kind of physical harm, but it's the most powerful Zanpakuto you'll ever encounter. I have complete control of your body, and you can only imagine what I plan on doing to you," Donovyn explained. He pulled a jar out of his pocket, which he threw at the Hollows chest.
The jar shattered, spilling it's contents. The Hollow chuckled, stating "This is nothing but water, Soul Reaper. Have you lost it?" Donovyn chuckled and pulled out another jar. This one containing something moving. He threw it at the same place, and it too broke.
The Hollow began screaming in pain, unable to do anything. "That was Sugar Water, and those things that are biting you over and over again are Fire Ants. They exist in the Soul Society as well as in the World of the Living. As you may well have guessed, I keep a population of them. They will inject you with their venom, crawling over you, biting you, and you will die a slow, miserable, painful death," Donovyn said, laughing manically, and throwing more Sugar Water onto the Hollow.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 18: The Fading Coyote]
Evanescent stood on another building, in another town. Everyone he could hear was speaking a language he couldn't understand. "Was I wrong, then? I could have sworn my pisquisa had indicated it was here," he said, looking over the area. He saw nothing to indicate that his quarry was where he was.
He jumped down, and began walking around the town. Nothing of interest caught his eye. "It's possible that a Soul Reaper already found it. That would certainly be inconvenient," he commented to no one. Then he saw what he wanted to see: there was a soul who was wearing around his neck a bottom jaw line, with sharp teeth protruding from it.
As Evanescent walked closer, the Soul sat on the curb. He didn't seem to notice Evanescent at first, but he turned his head in Evanescent's direction. He said something that Evanescent couldn't understand. "It's obvious that you're not a Hollow," Evanescent began, "so just hand me what you have round your neck and I'll leave." He pointed to the young mans neck.
He looked at Evanescent, his blue eyes giving Evanescent his answer: "I don't know what you're saying." Evanescent grabbed his own neck, looking at the man. Slowly and unsurely, he followed suit, grabbing the jaw line he wore as a necklace. Evanescent nodded, pointing to himself. The man pointed between himself and Evanescent, who nodded, holding out a hand.
The young man shouted something that was clearly meant as a "no" and ran. Evanescent sighed, and used his Sonido to move in front of the man, who fell backward. Evanescent pointed to his own mask: a half-helmet on the left side of his head, a single horn growing from it, then at the jaw line around the mans neck, then to himself. The young man blinked, holding up a single hand to try and defend himself. A red ball appeared in his hand, which shot toward Evanescent.

Donovyn threw the spikes on the Head Captain's desk. "Another Espada Mask, Captain Gerra?" Head Captain Nari asked.
"Or a third of one. If I recall correctly, this one came in three separate pieces," Donovyn answered. The door opened, and Lichroy stepped through the door. Head Captain Nari and Donovyn looked at him as he threw down the jaw line he had tested.
"That's an Espada Mask all right," he began, "and it seems that whoever wears it, Hollow or not, gains basic Hollow Powers. It works on the same premise as Donovyn's Hollowfication."

Fuuta listened to what Lichroy told him and sighed. There was no possible way that could be good. Having a Vizard as a Captain was one thing, but he'd proven trustworthy, and his mask was one that only he could wear. However, if this new Espada Group that was suspected to exist got hold of masks that could give just anyone Hollow Powers, [i]Then there's no way we could stand any kind of chance without recruiting more Vizards.[/i] "What do you suggest we do about this?" he asked.
"We either find the remaining masks or we find any Vizards that are wandering around," Donovyn suggested. Lichroy and Fuuta both looked at him like he was insane. "Well, if we find any masks that have yet to be found, then there's a chance that we'll have more of them, and we'll be able to make a few temporary Vizards. However, if we find pre-existing Vizards, then we'll manage to stand a chance. Preferably, though, we could do both, and then we'll have a much better chance," Donovyn explained.
"That's true. It's not like we can survive a second conflict with a group of Hollows that are probably even more powerful than Aizen's Espada. That strength of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads has stagnated, and the Arrancar have gone unchecked for centuries," Lichroy stated.
"Captain Creator, you are to go to the Tech Division immediately to find any data we have on Arrancars, preferably the most recent data we have. Captain Gerra, you and your Quincy Reaper are to track down any and all Vizards both in the Soul Society and the World of the Living, immediately!"
"All due respect, that might be impossible. You see, he's in Bankai Training, and I have no idea how to stop the method he's using, short of him being successful. However, I will take him to search as soon as he's finished," Donovyn stated. "And before you ask, Lichroy, the answer is 'no, I will not take you to see the area.' However, I will let you examine the tool when I can. I'd like to know more about it myself."
"All right, Captain Gerra, you're on standby until such a time as the Quincy Reaper is able to search. Captain Creator, have you got any excuses?" Lichroy shook his head to indicate he had none. "Perfect, then go do your job," Fuuta commanded. Lichroy bowed out of respect, and left the room for the Tech Division.

"So we have two and one-third masks, and there's a total of ten," Donovyn said. He nodded and left the Fuuta at his desk.

Evanescent grabbed the mask from behind and lifted it over the young man's head. "I don't know how you managed to use a Cero, weak as it was, but I think this will stop you from doing it again," Evanescent said, knowing the man wouldn't understand a word of it. He grabbed the young man by the head and held him on the ground. The young man's body began glowing, and transformed into a ball. He devoured the ball and looked around at the damage, before returning Hueco Mundo.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 19: Day 3]
Daisuke sat in the pool recovering from his last attempt. He'd been hit several times, though he'd somehow managed to avoid being killed. [i]Most likely that's only because Szelechneider doesn't[/i] want [i]to kill me.[/i] "Man, I have got to figure out what's in this water and make my own pool like this back home. Even the wounds from his attacks have already healed."
"Are you sure that plan would even work?" Megami said from behind him. Daisuke blinked several times, but didn't object to anything she said. "You deserved everything you got."
"What do you want me to do? Look, I didn't mean to offend you or anything, I'm sorry," Daisuke said, looking at her.
"Either die or succeed. I'd prefer the former, the captain wants the later. It's up to you, you know."

Donovyn walked into the training area in time to overhear their conversation. When Megami finished speaking and Daisuke had sunk to his nose in the water, he spoke up. "Just letting you know, you've got about one minute before you get to make that decision," he said, making sure to keep a smile on his face. "Megami, care to give him some time to sort it out?" he said, motioning for her to join him. Megami Flash Stepped to him, and the two of them Flash Stepped away from Daisuke.
The two stopped when neither of them could see Daisuke anymore, but from the reishi arrows they were seeing, Bankai Training was back on. "It would seem that I should have gotten someone else to take my place while I was gone," he said, looking her in the eyes. "What did he do, anyway?"

Evanescent stood before the New Espada, with the most recently acquired mask in hand. "It wasn't too difficult to acquire, though somehow, he was able to use Cero and Sonido. The Cero wasn't very powerful, and the Sonido wasn't very fast, but he was still able to use them," he explained. His statement got him a few inquisitive looks. Kailie spoke up first.
"Are you saying that the previous Uno Espada's mask only granted vestiges of power? Then what of the masks belonging to the weaker Espada?"
"I doubt it was the mask granting vestiges of power, Kalie. More like he didn't know how to use it, or perhaps it had more to do with that he wasn't a Hollow to begin with. That being the case, the mask could grant any of us-or perhaps anyone who naturally has Hollow Powers-much more power than it did him," Evanescent explained to her.
"That's good thinking, Evanescent. With that information in mind, I can think of a good way to use that mask," Mary-Sue told him. Evanescent nodded his understanding, and placed the mask on the tree that held the others they had collected. "That means that we now have five masks," Mary-Sue commented with a giggle. Evanescent bowed and took his place in the line-up.

"There's nothing that I can do to make it better, is there?" Donovyn asked Megami after she'd explained why she was mad at Daisuke.
"Nope."
"Nothing I can do at all?"
"Nope."
"So, you're just going to stay mad at him for calling you by the literal translation of your name?"
"Pretty much."
"It's just a name, and it is yours."
"I know that."
"Then why be mad?"
"It was the way he said it."
"All right, then."
"Can you just let him get killed?"
"I do that, Head Captain Nari kills me. Though, if it happens during Bankai Training, then there's nothing I can really do."
"Fine, then. Let's go check on his progress," Megami said, walking toward the training area.

Several hours later, Daisuke stood facing Szelechneider, breathing hard. No doubt Megami was persuading Donovyn to be angry with him too. That's exactly what he needed: A Soul Reaper Lieutenant and her Captain to both be mad at him. [i]Can't worry too much about that, though. Right now, I have to focus on not getting killed by my own zanpakuto.[/i]
Szelechneider held his bow toward Daisuke, pulling back the string as a reishi arrow formed. Daisuke began running in a circle around the spirit. When Szelechneider missed several shots, Daisuke started running toward him. "As if that's going to work," the spirit announced, firing another arrow, piercing Daisuke's chest. Daisuke fell to his knees, exhausted and now wounded.

Donovyn sat with Megami in front of the training area. The sun was beginning to set on Daisuke's third straight day of training, and he still hadn't succeeded. Donovyn put his arm around Megami's shoulder, and she leaned in on him. "Should we go check on the kid's progress?" Donovyn asked gently. Megami shook her head against his shoulder.
Donovyn put his head softly on hers. "Okay. We'll just sit here until Sunset, okay?" he asked just as softly. Megami nodded her approval of that idea. The two of them sat, Megami with her head resting on Donovyn's shoulder, Donovyn with his arm around Megami's shoulders, his head resting softly on hers. The sun was setting slowly, and the sky began turning from blue to shades of red.

Daisuke had begun a grappling match with Szelechneider. He was bleeding heavily, staining Szelechneider's white shirt blood red. He'd managed to pin down his zanpakuto's spirit, making his bow and arrow attacks useless. The spirit was fighting back full force, and Daisuke could feel his strength failing. He finally crashed his own skull into Szelechneider's.
Szelechneider managed to force Daisuke off of him, and stood up. Daisuke himself struggled to stand. Szelechneider's bow vanished from sight. Daisuke's vision was beginning to blur from the blood loss, but he could see Szelechneider shaking his head. When Szelechneider ran toward Daisuke, Daisuke landed managed to land a solid punch on the same area Szelechneider had taken a hit from Daisuke's skull.

Megami had drifted off, and Donovyn smiled. The sun had nearly completely set, and there had been no word from Daisuke. Donovyn had nearly forgotten that Daisuke was even in the training area when he came out. Daisuke threw down the training dummy, and then collapsed. Donovyn patted Megami until she woke up, and motioned his head toward the collapsed Daisuke.
Megami Flash Stepped away, and Donovyn picked up Daisuke and the Dummy. He dropped off Daisuke at the Squad 4 Barracks, explaining what he knew. Then he carried the dummy to Lichroy's quarters. He knocked on the door then Flash Stepped away. When that was done, he appeared at the door to his own quarters and stepped inside, where he lay down in the bed where Megami was already underneath the covers.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 20: New Year's Day]
Kana stepped through the Senkaimon, holding a mask in her hand. When she stepped into the Soul Reaper's Common Area, the first thing she noticed was that it was crowded, and the next thing she noticed was that Donovyn was conspicuously absent. Mizuki and Megami walked over to her and gave her a group hug. "Nice to see you again, Kana," Mizuki said, looking into her brown eyes. Kana looked around to room before responding.
"It's good to see you again, too. You, too Megami. Where's Donovyn, though?" she asked them both.
"He's wherever he normally is when he vanishes for the Holidays," Megami began. "No one has any clue." Kana lowered her eyes. She'd been hoping to be able to deliver her find directly to her older brother. "What's that you've got there?" Megami asked.
"Oh, It's something that I found after I killed that Hollow I was sent out to take care of. I was hoping to give it to Donovyn when I got back, except he isn't here," Kana answered.

"No masks, D?" Mary-Sue asked as he walked through the door.
"I'm afraid I've not found any since my last visit, milady MiLadie," he answered. Mary-Sue giggled at his pun.
"Oh, come on! If any of us made that pun, we'd receive a Cero in the face!" Itachi blurted out, stepping before her.
"None of you would have the sense to deliver it at an appropriate time," Mary-Sue answered, eyes closed, facing away from him.
"Do you even know who this guy really is? I mean, he shows up for each Holiday, and then vanishes after the sun goes down!" Itachi continued in protest, pointing toward D. "I've never seen him around Hueco Mundo between holidays. Have any of you?"
"I'm well aware of who he [i]really[/i] is, Itachi. All you need to know about him is that he's helping us to collect the masks," Mary-Sue told him, her eyes narrowed on him. Itachi stepped back into his place, defeated.

"So, did Daisuke at least get his Bankai?" Kana asked. She had been gone for a few days, so of course she was curious.
"Well, I don't know. He came out of the training ground with the dummy, but I'm not sure if he won or not. He's being treated by Squad 4 right now, but I don't know if he's dead or if he managed to win. I'd like it to be both," Megami answered. Mizuki bopped her on the head.
"Please don't. You know we're rapidly approaching a crisis situation, and someone like him could prove invaluable," Mizuki told her. "Either way, now isn't the time to talk about such things. It's New Year's Day. We should be celebrating now."
Kana giggled and turned around. "You two go on ahead, I'm going to put this in Donovyn's study, okay? I'll join you when I'm finished with it," Kana told her two sisters. Megami and Mizuki smiled and nodded, before turning around and rejoining the crowd. Kana wasted no time in racing to Donovyn's study, so that the first thing he'd see when he returned was Kana's find.
On her way back to the Common Area, she took her time. She never bothered to Flash Step or run. Her pace all the way there was slow, and she kept imagining what her older brother would say when he found that mask in his study. The praise she'd receive for doing such a good job. Upon reaching the Common Area, the first thing she did was find her sisters.

D stood in front of the tree with Mary-Sue. The others had all been dismissed to do whatever they did when they weren't around, leaving D and Mary-Sue alone. "I see you've managed to find a couple more of them. That's good," D said, looking Mary-Sue in the eye. Although his mouth was covered, his eyes showed that he was smiling.
Mary-Sue nodded, smiling. "That means that we've got half of them. I don't think it's going to be much longer now, before we don't have to be separated for most of the year," Mary-Sue said, wrapping one arm around D's shoulder. D responded by wrapping his arm around hers. Both of them stood there in silence, looking at the tree.
"Do you have to leave after today, D?" Mary-Sue asked, looking up at him.
"I'm afraid I do. I'd love to stay here with you, always, but if I did that I'd be unable to contribute, at least the way I can now. That's why I have to go after today," he answered. He took Mary-Sue by the chin and tilted her head to look into her eyes. "I promise, though, one day, very soon, we will be together forever."
The two of them hugged each other tight. Mary-Sue burred her head in D's chest, with D holding placing his hand on the back of her head. "I love you, D," Mary-Sue told him, in a voice low enough that only he could hear her. D answered in a voice equally low, just for her ears.
"I love you, too. Nothing will ever change that."

Rinnie and her mother walked through the streets together, greeting the people they met along the way. Since it was New Year's Day, Rinnie had talked her mother into taking her to the candy shop on the edge of town. Things had been fairly peaceful for the last couple of days, and they'd replaced the door that was destroyed not long after Christmas, so she'd given in easily. Rinnie held her mother's hand as they walked to the shop, her face beaming. Her mother looked down and giggled at how large Rinnie's grin actually was.
"Well, there it is," her mother said, pointing to the small shop. "What do you think they've got in there? Think they have your favorite?"
"I don't know what they've got," Rinnie answered. "I think they at least have something I like, it is a candy store after all!"
"Oh, God. I'm going to be letting a little kid loose in a candy store," her mother said, slapping her forehead. They both laughed as they walked into the shop.[/spoiler][/spoiler]
[spoiler=Arc 3: Ubisuke and the Mayor Arc]
[spoiler=Chapter 21: The Shop Owner]
Jennifer walked into the Candy Shop on the edge of town, leading her daughter by the hand. Rinnie immediately began running around, looking at everything in the shop. Jennifer walked up to the counter, where there was a man, wearing a necklace that looked like it was made of bone, watching Rinnie run around. "So this is what a kid in a candy store looks like. Now I've got a point of reference," he said. Jennifer laughed, watching her daughter visually sampling everything in the shop.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. She insisted we come here, with it being New Year's Day," Jennifer said as Rinnie ran up to the counter with her selection of chocolate bars and lollipops. The clerk scanned the items, and handed them to Rinnie in a plastic bag. Jennifer handed the man the money, before taking Rinnie's hand and leading her out of the store to go home. "Did they have everything you like?" Jennifer asked her daughter.
"M-hm" Rinnie answered, looking up at Jennifer with a big grin on her face. Jennifer returned the smile, glad her daughter had such a good time.

Ubisuke watched after the woman and her daughter until they'd left the store. The little one had certainly been enthusiastic about her visit, and her mother was nice to talk to. "I wonder if those two plan on coming back any time soon?" he said, walking into the back of his shop. Not too many people came in, but the ones that did seemed pretty enthusiastic about it. "It would be nice to see those two again at some point."
In the back of his shop, he noticed that someone had come into it. "Hey, you're not supposed to be in here! The shop is in the front!" he shouted. The man just looked at Ubisuke. He wore an all white suit, with a mask, made from the same material as Ubisuke's necklace, that covered the bottom half of his face.
"Do you even know what that necklace of yours actually is?" he asked. Ubisuke clutched at his necklace, glaring at the guy. "That's something that we want, and you're going to hand it over if you value your life." Ubisuke could tell that this guy wasn't messing around. "I dare you to do try me," the guy finished off.
"How did you even get into the back of my shop anyway?" Ubisuke asked, trying not to sound scared.

Lichroy stepped through the Senkaimon and landed just outside a shop on the edge of New Karakura Town. He rushed into the shop, and upon looking around, his eye twitched at the sheer number of sweets. A man wearing a pinstripe hat flew past him, smashing into the wall behind him. His eyes widened when he saw who had thrown the man across the room. "You! I remember you!" Lichroy shouted.
The man laughed. Although his mouth was covered, it was obvious just by looking at his eyes that he had an open-mouth smile underneath that mask. "So, you survived, did you? And you still have your arm, I see! It's not often that I get to destroy the same object twice!" he said. Lichroy narrowed his eyes.
"Look out, this guy...he's not a normal Hollow. And I know that he's a Hollow just from that hole in his chest."
"Yeah," Lichroy began, "he's an Arrancar." Lichroy placed a hand on his sword. "Rise, Lich King," he said, drawing his sword. As he drew it from it's sheath, the sword turned from Katana to Long Sword. The Arrancar began making the same movements that had destroyed his arm in their last encounter.
This time Lichroy reacted with a slash of his sword. After several seconds of struggling, Lichroy demolished the attack. "As if I'd be hit by the same attack twice!" he yelled. The Arrancar launched another of the attack. This time, Lichroy allowed his sword to be knocked out of his hand.

The Soul Reaper's sword sank into the floor. Strangely enough, he was laughing. Ubisuke found it strange, but even more strange was that the cracks appearing around the blade didn't make sense for the fact that a sword had caused them. "You can't judge my abilities by what you see. Believe it!" he said.
A hand shot out of the cracks, grabbing the sword by the hilt, and then a clone of the Soul Reaper emerged from the ground. The clone rushed at Arrancar, swinging the sword. The Soul Reaper Flash Stepped to the side lines, beside Ubisuke. When Ubisuke looked back at the clone and the Arrancar, each was pushing against the other with their swords. Ubisuke could see a red glow forming in the Arrancar's hand, and his own eyes widened.

"Who are you?" Dios asked when he managed to catch D alone. He never did trust the guy, but he never managed to talk to him either.
"Me? I'm D. You did pay attention when Lady Mary-Sue addressed me, didn't you?"
"I know what you're called when you're hear, but, who are you? Arrancars have mask [i]fragments[/i]. You have a full mask. You aren't an Arrancar, so who are you?"
"Who I am when I leave this place is unimportant. At least as far as you're concerned. So, if I may, I would like to bid my fare-wells to milady, and then depart. It's awfully close to the end of the day, and I should be leaving before I'm missed too much where I should be," D said, attempting to push past Dios. Dios grabbed D's wrist, and spun him around.
He looked into D's eyes, but the yellowish tint to them made them impossible to place to any face that he knew. It wasn't that he couldn't just break the mask, he easily could. That would cause trouble, though. He had never seen Mary-Sue's ressurecion, and he wasn't too keen on having it used against him. He let out a low growl, and released D's wrist, walking away from him.

D walked into Mary-Sue's personal room without knocking. She looked at his reflection in the mirror she was looking into. "Leaving already, D?" she asked, her eyes displaying sadness. "It's okay, I knew you would after today. It's nice that you showed up to say 'good-bye' though." She turned to face him.
"As soon as we have all ten of the Espada Masks, I will come here for good," he said, walking over to her. She placed her hands on his chest, resting her head between them. He wrapped his arms around her, and there they stood. Mary-Sue was sitting in her chair, and D stood. "My people have already found a part of Leroux's mask, and they're looking for more of them. Once all of them have been found, I will bring the ones in my possession to you, and then I won't ever leave you again, but for now I must."

Ubisuke couldn't believe what he'd just witnessed. A bankai that convenient shouldn't be possible, yet he'd seen it with his own eyes. After the gargunta had closed, and the Soul Reaper had sealed his sword again, Ubisuke stood up. "Wh-Who are you?" he asked when he could trust his voice again. The Soul Reaper opened the Senkaimon and looked at him.
"Captain of Squad Twelve, Lichroy Creator," he answered, then turned back to the gate.
"Aren't you even going to help me clean up?" Ubisuke pleaded. Lichroy just stepped through the gate without a word. Ubisuke looked at the massive damage. There were toppled shelves, broken shards of glass, and ruined candies everywhere, plus he had only just then noticed that that Soul Reaper had slipped his necklace off of him. "This place looks like a battle took place!" he said, almost whining, "Oh, right, one just did... I'm gonna have to close up for at least a month to make this place presentable again!"[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 22: 2 Out of 3 Doesn't Work]
Donovyn appeared outside his room. When he opened the door, the fist thing he noticed was Kana sitting on his bed holding something. She run running a finger down whatever it was, and looking at the floor, as though she were about to cry. Donovyn walked slowly across the room, and sat on the bed next to her. "Hello, Kana," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
She looked up at him, a small smile appearing on her face. "Where were you, Donovyn? I found this on my last send out. I wanted to give it to you," she said, handing him what she'd been holding. Donovyn took it and looked it over.
It looked to be big enough to cover a woman's breast, and still cover half of her face as well. "This looks like it's one of the Espada Masks we've been ordered to find. Good work, Kana," he said, smiling at her. Kana's face lit up at the compliment, and the smile. She threw herself at him, almost knocking him over, wrapping her arms around him in a hug.

Lichroy handed the necklace to Head Captain Nari. "I've already confirmed that this is another piece of the three part mask fragment that Donovyn found. That means we've got one and two-thirds of them, sir."
"Make that two and two-thirds. Kana Shoujo of Squad Eleven just gave me another mask," Donovyn said, walking into the room. He put the mask down in front of the Head Captain. "So, there's one more of these things laying around somewhere," he said, taking the necklace in his hands. "We find the last piece of this mask, and we'll have three. Meaning that there will be seven we don't have."
"Yeah, and we'll have to assume that the Arrancars have those seven, unless we find them first," Lichroy said, thinking out loud.

"The only way we'll ever now, though, is if they attack us to get the ones we have," Fuuta answered. This was troubling news, indeed. So far, the Soul Society had managed to find only three of them, and one of them was incomplete. Meanwhile, they could only guess at how many masks the Arrancar had managed to find. "Worst case scenario, they end up with whatever we don't have right now," he said.
"So, is there anything that we could possibly do to win, even if that does come to pass? I mean, we have greater numbers but, if they find the masks, who knows how powerful they'll end up becoming?" Captain Creator asked.
"That's where Donovyn and his Vizards come in," Fuuta said. "We'll have three different powers going for us. Hollow, Quincy, and Soul Reaper. Wait a minute..."
"Yeah, what is it?" Donovyn said, looking puzzled.
"If a Vizard can put on a Hollow Mask and gain Hollow Powers, what happens if a regular Soul Reaper puts on one of these? Would it work the same way? I mean, yeah, the original owner is long since dead, but, it's still a Hollow Mask, isn't it?" he answered. Captain Creator looked at him, and seemed to be mulling it over.
"Yeah, I suppose it could work. Donovyn, you know how Hollow Powers work, so, why don't you put one of these things on, and try it? If you can use a Cero or something without putting on your own mask, then, in theory, it should work for anyone," he explained. Donovyn put on the mask he'd just brought in, and began charging a Cero in his hand. "Well, that works, but, just to be sure," he took the mask off of Donovyn, and put it on himself.

Lichroy successfully pulled off a Cero himself. "Hey, Head Captain Nari, where's the other masks we have?" Donovyn asked.
"Why?" Head Captain Nari asked in response.
"We only have two-thirds of this one," Donovyn said, holding up the necklace. "Don't you think we should see if it works?"
"Why don't you just put on the necklace?" Creator said, setting down the mask he'd put on. He pulled the necklace over his head, and attempted the Cero, to no avail.
"Now can we bring out the second piece? Might work with two-thirds of the mask," Donovyn said, smirking. Head Captain Nari moved across the room, and Donovyn watched as he brought out the spikes he'd gathered from the last Hollow he'd fought. Creator put those on his head, and still failed to produce a Cero. "Seems we'll just have to find the third part. Wasn't it a pair of earrings?"

Mary-Sue sat in her room, looking in the mirror. It was a few minutes ago that one of her followers had presented her with a pair of Earrings. He'd found them just laying around, and so thought she'd like them. They looked quite good on her, and the only thing that could have made her like them more was had D given them to her. "You called for me, Lady Mary-Sue?" Dios asked from her doorway.
"Indeed, according to Kailie, the girl is as strong as she's going to get. I want her to improve on her physical strength as well as her battle skill, and your ressureccion is perfect for such training, don't you agree?" she said. She smiled at Dios, who sighed.
"Yes, I suppose it is. Fine, I'll train her, though, you don't mind if she ends up dead, do you?"
"If that girl ends up dead on your watch, then it'll be you who follows her. You don't mind that, do you?" Dios pursed his lips, and turned around. "I wonder how many masks D has found," Mary-Sue mused aloud as she turned back to the mirror. "It was nice of Zavara to give these to me, though."

Dios opened the door to Elphemia's room to find her looking through her clothing in her underwear. She looked up and turned around, seeing him standing in her door way. Almost immediately afterwards, Dios was met with a pillow to the face. "Can't you knock?" she yelled.
"Whether I can knock on a door or not isn't the question here. The question is if you can remember where the training area is well enough to meet me there in an hour to continue your training," he said, walking away without closing the door.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 23: The Mayor's Daughter]
Daisuke was waiting for Donovyn at the training grounds where he'd practiced with Elphemia and the Captain. He'd been told to wait at the training area, though he didn't know why, and Donovyn was running late. "Hello, Daisuke. I see you showed up early," Daisuke heard Donovyn say fro behind him.
"Uh, Donovyn, you're late," Daisuke said, turning around.
"No. You're early. I'm right on time," he said. Daisuke just sighed, and rolled his eyes. "Either way, that's not the point. The point is, Head Captain Nari wants you and I to find as many Vizards as possible. That's why I asked you to come here today, because we're going to be trying to find them," Donovyn explained.

Rinnie answered the door to see who was knocking. The man who was standing there was the same man who had been standing behind the counter at the candy shop. "Uh, hi mister," Rinnie said, somewhat confused by his presence.
"Hello, miss. Is your mother home, by any chance?" he asked, looking past her.
"Um, yes, she is. MOM!" Rinnie said in answer. She waved the man inside, and walked off to find her mother. She found her mother in her bedroom, wearing only her panties, looking for other clothes to wear. "Hi, mom. Did you just wake up?" Her mother nodded. "There's a man downstairs looking for you," Rinnie said, closing the door behind her as she walked out of the room.
Having informed her mother of the visitor, Rinnie went downstairs to entertain their guest until her mother was ready. He was sitting on the couch, looking at pictures that were hanging on the wall. "I see your mother likes displaying pictures of you and her," he said, without turning his head. "Who does she get to take them, or does she just use a time delayed camera?" Rinnie sat on the couch beside him.
"She gets her friends to take the pictures for her," Rinnie said. "I'm Rinnie, by the way," she said, holding out her hand to him, "What's your name?"
"Huh, oh," he said, taking her hand in his, "Kisahara, Ubisuke Kisahara."

Jennifer came down the stairs just in time to hear the man on the couch introduce himself. She smiled and walked over. She sat down in the chair opposite the couch, stating "My name's Jennifer Barc, the mayor of New Karakura Town. What can I help you with?" Ubisuke squared around on the couch, and began speaking.
"Not long after you and your daughter left my shop, it was attacked. I didn't know what was going on at first, but, the guy seemed really interested in my necklace. I managed to get that stolen by the Soul Reaper who'd been sent to get rid of him. The thing is, though, this guy was a Hollow. That much I could tell by the mask fragment, and the hole in his chest.
"He wasn't just any Hollow, either. As I said, it was a mask [i]fragment[/i]. That would mean that he's an Arrancar. I don't know if you've heard of them, but they're dangerous. I know you and your daughter are at least able to see spirits, what I don't know is if you're able to do anything with them. If either of you can do anything, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me help you train to become stronger with your abilities," he explained, never once taking his eyes off her.
Jennifer knew about Rinnie's powers, but he didn't. He was right, they needed to do something, and fast. Even if the Arrancar had only just started with whatever they were planning to do, there was no time to waste. Especially since the Arrancar he'd described was the same one who'd attacked her and her daughter not too long ago. [i]He was after that girl when he attacked us, and now he's attacking a candy shop. What does he-what do[/i] they[i]-want?[/i]
"Odds are, whoever this is that attacked you, and not too long ago, us, isn't working alone. There's no way any kind of Hollow would set a trap for someone, and then attack a candy store for a necklace-"
"Unless he was working with someone else, who had a plan for both the girl and the necklace," Ubisuke said, cutting her off. Jennifer nodded. "Isn't that just perfect. It's one thing dealing with one psychotic Arrancar, but if there's two of them, then..."
"It's more than two. When he attacked us, he mentioned something about someone ranked six ranks higher than him. We're dealing with an entire organized group, Mr. Kisahara. She's got powers," Jennifer said, nodding toward Rinnie, "Make sure she isn't harmed."

The New Espada had assembled in the main hall, the only one permitted to be absent was Dios. Itachi stood before Mary-Sue, bleeding onto the floor. "So, what you're saying, is that the Soul Reaper Captain is more powerful than you had estimated?" she asked upon hearing his report. Itachi nodded, hoping that would suffice as an answer. "I'm not worried. D must have found at least a few of the masks we're missing by now," she said, leaning back in her chair.
"With all due respect, Lady Mary-Sue, I must agree with Dios on the point of D. I'm not entirely sure how much we can trust him. I know he presented us with two of the masks we currently possess, but how do we know he won't double-cross us once all of them are found?" Itachi asked, kneeling before her. Mary-Sue looked down at him, her eyes narrowed.

"He won't double-cross us, Itachi Ninjow, and that's all you need to know. Go to the infirmary, and get yourself cleaned up, you're bleeding all over my nice clean floor," she stated firmly. Itachi bowed before her, and left the room. "Zavara, go find someone to clean up Itachi's bloody mess." The Arrancar standing across from Kailie, who's mask formed an upper jaw line, dragon's fangs in place of the canines, bowed and stepped out as well, and Mary-Sue continued, "Evanescent, what is your opinion of D?"
"He seems trustworthy enough, Lady Mary-Sue. He has genuine interest in our acquiring the Masks, and it seems that he has genuine interest in you as well. I had a conversation with him when he was here for Christmas, and I believe that he is on our side," Evanescent answered, bowing when he was finished.
"In that case, this matter is settled, this meeting is dismissed," Mary-Sue said, nodding to acknowledge Evanescent's reply.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 24: Dios's Training]
Elphemia stood looking at Dios, just as requested. "Okay, so, now what are we going to do? Remove that ridiculous tattoo on your forehead?" Dios stared at her, drawing his sword.
"You're jealous because that tattoo signifies that I'm the second strongest Espada. During your training with me, you'll find out why that is. You see, we'll be training with my Resureccion," Dios explained. Elphemia transformed her left arm into it's shield form. Dios chuckled, saying "Go mad, Negativo."
Dark blue energy blasted outward from Dios. When Elphemia could see him again, his sword had vanished and he was dressed in a Soviet Military Uniform. Instinctively, Elphemia tried to launch one of her energy attacks. She was surprised to notice that her arm had reverted back to normal. "W-what is this," she asked, looking at her hand. Dios chuckled before speaking.
"You see, Negativo creates what amounts to a Negative Zone. This cancels out any energy attacks within ten feet of me. Unless you can outclass me in melee combat, you can't stop me. This is how you're going to train with me," Dios said. "Oh, and, any supernatural transformations are also canceled. Unless it's another Arrancar's Resureccion, you can forget it."

"Do you even know where to find any Vizards?" Daisuke asked as he and Donovyn trudged through the Soul Society's jungles. They'd been walking for several hours, and hadn't seen any sign of anyone living there.
"I don't have a clue," Donovyn said, completely nonchalant. Daisuke slapped himself on the forehead, and kept walking.

Elphemia rushed Dios, attempting to punch him in the gut. Dios grabbed her arm, and slapped her across the face. He then threw her across the room. "As though beating me would be that easy," he said. Elphemia ran at him again, this time, when Dios caught her arm, she grabbed his and tried to spin around.
Dios slapped her in the face again, and pulled his arm in the opposite direction of her spin, causing her to let go of his arm. He used the momentum to slap her face again, causing her to fall, to the ground. "Oh, come on. Surely you aren't done [i]yet[/i]," Dios said, looking at her. Elphemia jumped off the ground and punched Dios square in the jaw.

Dios grabbed his jaw, glaring at the girl he was assigned to train. He wasn't allowed to kill her in his training, but he was going to make her wish he had. He delivered a punch straight to her gut, then ran around, stopping behind her, kicking her high into the air. He jumped as hard as he could, and spun around, leg outstretched above her, and delivered a swift kick to her gut, sending her down to the ground. She hit the ground, leaving a crater that was several feet wide.

Ubisuke and Rinnie stood looking at each other in an area beneath a shop in Old Karakura Town. It was large and largely empty, except for a few rock pillars scattered through the area. Rinnie looked around in awe. "Wow, Mr. Kisahara, is this all yours?" she asked. Ubisuke chuckled, shaking his head.
"No, no, I don't own any of this. It belongs to the federal government like everything in Old Karakura. I don't see any signs saying to keep out, so, this is a good area to train people in," Ubisuke explained. "I found it here a while back. In fact the shop above us is what made me build that candy shop in New Karakura, in case you were wondering about that."
So, what are we going to do? For training, I mean?" Rinnie asked, trying to understand everything that Ubisuke had just told her.
"Well, first, we need to find out the current extent of your powers, and then we'll find a way to make them more powerful," Ubisuke explained.

"You have no idea where we're going, do you?" Daisuke asked.
"I know it's near trees," Donovyn answered.
"We must be getting close, then," Daisuke said, leaning back against one of the many trees in the forest where they'd set up camp.

Elphemia stepped out of the crater, panting and holding her left arm. "Heh, that was unexpected," she managed to get out. Dios landed a few feet away from her, crouching down. A few seconds later, he stood up straight, turning his head to face her. The two looked in each others eyes as Dios walked toward Elphemia, who could barely stand.
"Now you see what you'll be able to do once I finish with your training. Now, come on, hurt me some more. I felt that last punch you pulled off, and there's no way you can have no strength after that. If you're training with me, then I know you've already come a long way," Dios said, a somewhat psychotic smile plastered on his face.
"Careful, Dios, you don't want to overdo anything," Elphemia heard someone say. She looked at the door to find the source of the voice. An Arrancar whose mask resembled an upper jaw line with exaggerated canines walked forward. "Remember, she is just a human female," he said. Dios snorted and looked back to Elphemia.
"Whatever, Zavara, just stay out of my training sessions," he said to the other Arrancar. "As for you, are you really so weak you can't even handle a small barrage like that?" Elphemia took a step forward, attempting to punch Dios in the face. Dios slapped her in the face yet again, causing her to fall to the ground. "Yeah, we're done for now," Dios said, walking away.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 25: Rinnie's Silent Attack]
"Well, that's interesting. May I ask where you got something like that?" Ubisuke asked upon seeing Rinnie demonstrate her powers.
"Well, I have no idea how I acquired them, but I do know that they've come in quite useful," Rinnie answered.
"And when I'm done training you, you won't even need to say a word in order to use them. Then they'll be even more useful than they are now," Ubisuke told her, "Now, let's see what you've got right now, launch an attack on that rock over there, we'll do that until we see exactly how destructive that technique of yours is." Rinnie nodded,pressing on the flower pin on her chest. One of the petals of the flower pin broke off, forming a small figure clad in black and red. The figure chuckled a bit, and then looked at Rinnie.
"I thought I had told you not to call me for nothing!" he said, delivering a kick to her forehead. Ubisuke's eye twitched a bit at the sight. [i]What's wrong with this picture?[/i] The small figure that was part of Rinnie's own powers continued with his barrage of kicks as Rinnie ran around in circles trying to avoid them. [i]This is gonna be a long, if mildly entertaining, day if this keeps up.[/i]
"Hey! We don't have time for this!" Ubisuke said in a somewhat commanding voice. He continued in a friendlier tone. "Look, I don't know what your history is with the girl, Kubusi, was it? Well, anyway, this isn't for no reason. I need to know what this girls, and by extension, your destructive potential is. That way, I know how hard to push the two of you to increase it."
The figure rushed at Ubisuke screaming "The name's Tsubaki!" Ubisuke knocked him to the ground with a flick of the wrist. Tsubaki stood up and flew up trying to punch Ubisuke in the face, only to be knocked to the ground again.
"Easy tough guy. I'm here to help you, though it's obvious that there's no way you stand a chance against me without Rinnie giving you your orders. However, she'll just be able to think the commands when I'm finished with her," Ubisuke said after knocking Tsubaki to the ground for a minute. "Though, if you like being a living yo-yo I could keep it up all day."

Daisuke and Donovyn were now walking through an open plain, still searching for the Vizards. "Where are we this time?" Daisuke asked.
"Looks like we're in a prairie, or maybe a plain," Donovyn answered, looking around.
"What's the difference?"
"Not sure."
"Any clue where we're at?"
"Nope," Donovyn answered. Daisuke sighed, and the two of them kept walking.

Elphemia crawled out of the third crater she'd been kicked into since she began her training with Dios. She wasn't progressing very fast as far as being able to defeat him. One thing she was progressing rapidly in was her ability to withstand his brutal attacks. Her strength was fairly limited as a teenage human female, but she was able to use strategy to at least hit him. [i]Thing is though, every time I land a hit, all it does is make him mad. Gonna have to end it with one hit, then.[/i]
She ran at Dios, who quickly caught her hand with his own. She swung at him with her other hand, and hit him on the side of his face. Dios proceeded to hit her in the gut with his free hand. Elphemia collapsed on the ground, holding her stomach where he'd hit her. [i]This is gonna be more difficult than I thought it would.[/i]
"Come on, girl, I know you can still get up after that," Dios said, standing over her. Elphemia sprang up off the ground, knocking him in his jaw. Dios gripped his jaw and groaned, backing up a few steps. "Oh, you're in for it now, girl," Dios growled. Elphemia jumped on top of him, knocking him to the ground.
She hit him in the face several times before he grabbed her arm and threw her off of him. She hit the back wall of the training area, causing several cracks to appear in the stone around the point of impact, before falling to the ground. She got off the ground, panting. "Is that the best you can do?" she asked, wiping blood away from her mouth. Dios chuckled a bit, stepping toward her.

"Well, that's no small feat," Ubisuke commented when Rinnie had used Tsubaki to cut the lower half one of the stone pillars in half. "However, take a look at this," he said, drawing a sword he'd been carrying sheathed underneath his shirt. He slashed upward, causing a large blast of fire to shoot outward, completely obliterating three of the stone pillars at once. When Rinnie looked back at him from the destruction, he was holding a dagger-like knife, with a ring at the base of the hilt. "Though, I imagine that a cutting force like yours can do a lot more, if you can make it more powerful."
"You mean...I can do more than that?" Rinnie said, wide-eyed. Ubisuke nodded, causing Rinnie to jump up and down squealing. Ubisuke covered his ears, squeezing his eyes shut. Rinnie stopped jumping and squealing after a few seconds. "Oh, sorry," she said, chuckling.
"Now that I'm bleeding from the ears, can we please get to the training for that attack of yours? You know, the one that you're gonna be able to use with just a thought?"

"How long are we gonna be wandering around like this?" Daisuke asked, flopping down next to the camp fire they'd set up for the night.
"I have no idea," Donovyn answered, nonchalant.
"You're useless," Daisuke sighed.
"Pretty much," Donovyn responded, stretching out and looking up at the sky.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 26: The Mayor Attacked]
Jennifer walked through the front door. "Rinnie, I'm home!" she yelled. When she didn't get an answer, she called again. "Rinnie! Rinnie, what do you want for dinner?" She slapped herself on her forehead. "That's right, she's off with that shop owner."
She walked into the kitchen, and to the refrigerator. "Okay, since Rinnie's not home, Jennifer, what do [i]you[/i] want for dinner?" she asked herself. Finding nothing she wanted in the fridge, Jennifer walked across the room to the cabinets. Sighing, Jennifer questioned if there was anything good in the house. "Okay, I guess I'll just settle for a frozen TV Dinner," she said, walking to the freezer.

"That's right, Lady Mary-Sue, they're training together," Kailie reported. "It seems that Itachi's unsuccessful attack on the shop prompted the owner to seek out the little girl and help her strengthen her powers." Mary-Sue narrowed her eyes, considering the news. "That's not all, though. It seems that this shop owner is a former Soul Reaper Captain, so this could easily be trouble."
"And you're certain you heard correctly?"
"Yes. They'd left the window open, so there's no way I misheard."
"Should I go after them, Lady Mary-Sue?" Itachi asked, sounding somewhat surprised. Mary-Sue quickly shot him a look, and her response was very stern.
"I don't think so, Itachi Ninjow. You've already failed against the Soul Reaper. No, this time, Zavara is going to go out. At least I know that [i]he[/i] knows what he's doing," she said, nodding toward the Arrancar standing across from Kailie. "We already have the Soul Society aware of our actions. The last thing we need is for more people to align themselves with the Soul Reapers. The sooner we nip this one in the bud the better."

Elphemia fell to her knees panting. Dios stood over her, gripping his jaw, moving it back and forth. "I'll admit, you are getting better. Maybe training with you like this isn't pointless after all. Of course, you're never going to beat me," he said, shifting all his weight to one foot. Elphemia looked up at him, her eyes narrowed to slits.
Dios chuckled, holding his wrist over is mouth. "Do you really think you're in any kind of position to continue? You can't even stand up, let alone fight," Dios said, pushing her head to the ground with his foot. "Just lay there and rest. Come find me when you can at least walk."
Dios walked into the hallway from the training grounds without even looking back at Elphemia. "You're supposed to be training the girl, Dios," he heard someone say.
"She exhausted herself. If I had continued to fight her, there's no way she'd have survived. As it stands, she can't," Dios replied. He turned to face the one who'd spoken. "That doesn't bother you, does it, Evanescent?"

Itachi stood on top of the building across from the home he'd attacked a week earlier. [i]It doesn't seem like the girl's around. Or the Soul Reaper for that matter. There goes that chance. Still, may as well do [/i]something [i]so I don't feel like I wasted a trip to the World of the Living.[/i]
Itachi jumped down from the roof, and walked to the front door of the familiar home. A few feet from the door, he launched a series of Balla at the hinges of the door. He kicked the door with enough force that it cracked the wall on the other side of the room. Using his Sonido, he was against the wall and looking into the kitchen in under a second. [i]Hmmm, she's here. At least I get to do something.[/i]
Itachi stepped into view of the woman, who was rummaging through the freezer for something. [i]Oh, come on. I didn't come here for an easy snack.[/i] He pounded the wall hard. The woman turned around, and her eyes widened when she saw him. "Remember me?"
The woman ran through a door on the side of the kitchen, and Itachi ran after her. [i]Not quite what I was hoping for, but still good. Let's have some fun.[/i] When Itachi stepped through the door, he noticed that it was in the middle of a hall way, and his target didn't have any spiritual pressure to sense. "Looks like I get to have a bit of fun around here," he said out loud, chuckling wickedly.

Jennifer stood with her back to a closet door. She was being hunted in her own home, that had to be what was happening. The guy moving around in the hall was the same guy who had attacked her and her daughter about a week before. No doubt he was also the guy who had attacked that shop owner. [i]Why is he here now? Last time he said that he was here to lure out some girl, but why is he here this time?[/i]
She heard a loud [i]thump![/i] down the hall. Clearly he was banging the doors listening for a reaction, tears welling up in her eyes. It wasn't long before he banged on the door she was behind. She had to cover her mouth and hold her breath to keep from making any surprised noises. When after what felt like an eternity, but was actually only ten-seconds, she let out her breath as silently as possible.

"Are you sure that there are even any Vizards in the Soul Society?" Daisuke asked, trekking through a marsh.
"I haven't got a clue that there are any Vizards other than myself anywhere," Donovyn answered. Daisuke slapped himself in the head, and continued walking.

Itachi moved out of the hall, and into a child's bedroom. He looked around, and checked the closet. He let out a low "hmmm," and walked over to the window. Pulling the curtains apart, he noticed that it was closed. "Aside from a couple storage rooms and closets, this is the only room in the hall. She's still in the house, though, I know that."

Jennifer dared to slip out of the closet, closing the door gently, as not to make any loud noise. She moved as fast as she dared, hoping to remain undetected, back through the kitchen, to the living room. She slipped out the front door, and ran through the street. [i]Gotta get somewhere safe, preferably a restaurant. I should have just gone with a ham sandwich.[/i][/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 27: Rematch]
"Come now, I can't let you get that woman," Itachi heard a familiar voice say. He turned, his hand on a doorknob in the hallway. His eyes widened when he noticed who was talking. "I mean, come on, if that girl gets killed that's just more paperwork for me. I'll be the one who has to find a replacement for the mayor, come up with an alibi that doesn't involve us, it'd just be a pain."
"You're that Soul Reaper from the other day. You won't push me back again, I don't care how many Blanks you summon!" Itachi said, waving his hand laterally between himself and the Soul Reaper.
"Yeah, I know. I thought that last battle of ours would have taught you to stay in Hueco Mundo. Though, it seems to me you're intent on making my job difficult, so I'm just gonna kill you this time," he said. Itachi formed a Cero in his hand and the Soul Reaper drew his sword. "Ban-" the Soul Reaper got out as Itachi launched his Cero at him.

Lichroy caught the attack with the side of his Zanpakuto. He held it off for several seconds, before being pushed back through the wall. He stood up amidst the rubble, pulling a small, cube-shaped device out of a pocket inside his Shihakusho. "Seems as good a time as any to field test this," he said, pushing a button on the device. A small hole opened up on the side facing away from him, and launched a blast of energy similar to a Cero down the hall, hitting a second Cero launched by the Arrancar.
"Hado number three, Pale Fire Flash!" he shouted as the Cero overpowered his own attack. Lichroy's Hado clashed with the Arrancar's Cero, which had been severely weakened from the attack the device had made. The Arrancar appeared in front of him and slashed with his own Zanpakuto, meaning that he wasn't going to be able to release his Zanpakuto just yet.
"You see, I don't care how many Blanks you call on in this battle for a very simple reason. You aren't going to be able to use you're Bankai. I'm going to make sure of that!" the Arrancar said, smugly. Lichroy pressed another button on the device he held, causing a short, sharp blade to come out along the bottom. He jabbed it into the Arrancar's stomach, pushing another button.
"Good bye, I'm afraid I'm going to have to hurry this up before more damage is done," Lichroy said, holding his Zanpakuto pointing at the Arrancar, who was doubled over from a surge of electricity generated by the device stuck in his stomach. He stepped over to the Arrancar, as he managed to pulled the device out of his stomach.

"You just made me mad, you know that? That's all you did," Itachi said, grabbing the Soul Reaper by the head, and tossing him down the hall. "Empower me, Asesino!" he shouted before the Soul Reaper hit the end of the hall. Black energy swirled around him, blasting everything in the hall away from him. When the energy cleared, his mask had gone from just covering the bottom half of his face to covering everything but his eyes, and his robes, of which he normally wore only the bottom half, had turned black, and formed over his entire body, fitting rather snugly.
He lifted the large sword he now carried and began spinning it around. "Bankai!" he heard the Soul Reaper cry out. Itachi swung the sword down, creating a large shock wave that ripped through the hall way.

Daisuke sighed, following Donovyn's Flash Steps up the mountain. [i]Why even bother asking?[/i]

"Very good," Ubisuke said, watching Rinnie launch Tsubaki straight from the pin with only the words "I reject." The attack may only have split one quarter of one column, but it happened. "Well, at least you're making something happen. All we need to do is keep up the training, and it won't be too long before you make it happen at the same strength as when you showed up. Imagine what you'll be able to do with the full phrase."
Rinnie nodded, then faced another stone column. "I reject!" she said, waving her arm in front of her. Tsubaki shot from the pin again, racing toward the column. The split this time wasn't much better from the one before it. Rinnie kept trying, refusing to give up.

The shock wave hit Lichroy's out-stretched, armored hand, where it died. He plunged the large long sword into the ground. The Arrancar vanished from the end of the hall way, and reappeared having been knocked down. A white figure, whose head had been stretched into a point had appeared. The hall was soon filled with them.
The Arrancar began slashing through the Blanks as fast as he could, but they just kept coming. Lichroy couldn't help but laugh, and his plate-mail suit caused his voice to sound deeper as it resonated. "Give it up, the Blanks are always fairly constant in number, and I can call forth as many as I want. You're not going to win, believe it," he said. The Arrancar roared, launching Ballas and Ceros like there was no tomorrow.
It didn't seem to matter how many Blanks he destroyed, they just kept coming. He spun his huge sword around again, as electricity began accumulating in the hole near the tip. He roared, slashing the sword toward Lichroy, launching a blast of electricity from the sword. The attack tore through the blanks, forcing Lichroy to Flash Step out of the way. [i]Well, I can't say I was expecting that. This could prove to be slightly difficult.[/i]

Itachi rushed to the Soul Reaper, his Sonido enhanced by his Ressurecion, attempting to impale the Soul Reaper on his sword. The Soul Reaper, however, grabbed his sword, pushing it to the side, preventing him from being able to use it. The Soul Reaper disappeared, reappearing on the wall, before kicking off of it, attempting to slash Itachi in half. Itachi blocked the sword slash, and launched a Balla point blank. The Soul Reaper survived the blast, but his helmet was knocked off.
"You're decent. I suppose you deserve to know my name. Espada Number Eight, Itachi Ninjow," Itachi said, swinging his blade to rest on his shoulder.
"Captain of Squad Twelve, Lichroy Creator," the Soul Reaper responded, stabbing the ground again, angling the hilt away from him.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 28: The Ultimate Assassin! Itachi's Strongest Attack!]
"Do you feel that?" Ubisuke asked as Rinnie made slow progress. Rinnie looked around, unsure of how to answer. "Stay here and keep working while I have a look around upstairs." Rinnie nodded and returned to her attempts at making her attack silent and powerful. Ubisuke Flash Stepped over to the stairs and ran to the shop above the training field.
[i]Something doesn't feel right. This place is supposed to be abandoned, so why is there Spiritual Pressure all of a sudden?[/i] When he reached the top of the stairs, he looked around, searching for some sign that someone was there. He ran to the door of the shop, looking around outside. [i]This isn't good. I know there's someone here. Someone powerful. So, then, where are they?[/i]

Jennifer sat at a bar, taking small bites out of a ham sandwich. [i]Wish I'd at least changed into street clothes. It's so embarrassing being in here with everyone staring at me like this... Is that really because of my clothes, though?[/i] She took another bite of the sandwich, slowly chewing as she reflected on her misfortunes.

"I think we're getting close, Daisuke," Donovyn said as they began descending the mountains. Daisuke shot him a look, narrowing his eyes into a cynical look. Donovyn slid down the side onto a rocky outcrop. "Don't hold me to that, though," Donovyn added. Daisuke sighed. [i]Should've known...[/i]

Lichroy pulled a small, capsule-like device from his plate-mail armor. When he pushed a button on it, the device expanded into a large mask that extended down to his chest, and looked to be custom made for a woman with exceptionally large breasts. Itachi's eyes widened when he saw it. Lichroy put the mask on, chuckling the entire time. "Now, let's get down to business, shall we?" he asked, charging a Cero in his hand.
"You seem to have some pretty convenient technology on hand, don't you, Captain?" Itachi asked, smirking and charging his own Cero. The two of them launched their Ceros at each other. Lichroy grunted with effort as he tried to sustain his Cero. "Not so easy to use those borrowed powers of yours, is it?"
The two attacks exploded, sending both combatants backward. Lichroy looked up to see Itachi standing at the other end of the hallway, which by now was full of Blanks and decimated tables, lamps, and doors. Itachi was spinning his sword in circles above his head. A black ball was appearing in the center of the circle he'd been tracing. "This is my ultimate attack," Itachi said as the black sphere moved in front of him, "Negro Apocalypsis!"
Itachi slashed the ball with his sword, causing a large vortex of energy to engulf everything in front of it. Inside the vortex, lightning bolts rushed at everything within range. Lichroy summoned several Blanks to defend him from the lightning. It wasn't long, however, before he got hit with one of the lightning strikes. He collapsed to his knees, panting.
[i]Okay, that's enough of that.[/i] Lichroy picked up his sword, and rammed the blade through one of the Blanks he had summoned. The blade began glowing, shooting a large blast of energy in Itachi's direction. Lichroy could hear a crackling sound coming from where his blast hit Itachi's attack, and could feel his sword vibrating in his hands. The resulting explosion threw him several feet backward.
[hr]
"He's waking up!" Keiko shouted. Lichroy groaned, sitting up and looking around.
"What happened? Where am I?" he asked.
"Squad 4 Barracks, we found you unconscious," Keiko answered, checking his temperature. "You need to rest some more. The house you were fighting in was destroyed, though we didn't find any casualties."
"That's great. More paperwork..."

"Zavara, do you plan on doing something about the girl and the Soul Reaper any time soon?" Mary-Sue asked after hearing that Zavara had yet to attack. "You [i]do[/i] know where they're at, don't you?"
"Yes, Lady Mary-Sue. I'm well aware of where they are, but the time is not yet right to attack them. The girl has been training almost non-stop the entire time, so very soon, she will be exhausted, and then I'll launch my assault," he answered. May-Sue smiled, giggling a bit. "There's one other advantage that I noticed. The Soul Reaper is beginning to believe that his sensing my presence is nothing more than his imagination. He won't be expecting me when I finally do attack."
Mary-Sue giggled upon hearing Zavara's plan. "Very good, Zavara. I knew there was a reason I trusted you with this," she said, smiling.
"It's good to hear your praise, Lady-Mary-Sue. I won't let you down," Zavara said, bowing. He walked out of the room, and walked to the training area. [i]Better make sure Dios isn't doing something stupid. He has no sense of restraint.[/i] He sighed when he saw Dios in the hallway.
"Let me guess, you killed her, didn't you?" he asked. Dios sighed, directing him to ask Evanescent.

Elphemia struggled to her feet, taking several deep breaths. "Great... He closed it off," she muttered. She staggered over to the wall, breathing hard the entire time. The wall opened, with the same Arrancar who constantly showed up in her training with Dios. "Hey... your name is Zavara, right?"[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 29: The Eighth Arrancar's Pride]
"Lady Mary-Sue, he's awake," a young girl Arrancar said, bowing.
"Is that so, Maria?" Mary-Sue asked, smiling. Maria noded. "Bring him in, then." Maria went to the doors of the room. When she opened them, Itachi was being carried in by two other Arrancar.
"Please tell me you at least managed to accomplish something, Itachi," Mary-Sue said to him, tilting her head.
"The Soul Reapers have technology capable to reproducing our attacks, among other things. It also seems that by donning the masks, they're able to become temporary Vizards," Itachi answered.
"Hmm, I suppose I can forgive you over-stepping your bounds for that. At least now we won't be caught off guard by such things. Though, I must ask what led you to believe you were able to get away with it in the first place."
"I apologize Lady Mary-Sue. I thought that if I were to eliminate the Soul Reaper and the girl, your faith in me would be restored."
"Well, it seems you failed in your attempts to accomplish Zavara's task. There was no sign of any Soul Reapers in the area, either, so I must assume you lost your bought. Though, you did succeed in destroying the house," Mary-Sue said, chuckling. Itachi lowered his head.
"Then I failed. I will destroy that Soul Reaper, mark my words! If it takes one battle or a hundred, I will have that Soul Reaper's head on a pike!" he said, hitting his chest with his fist.
"I'm quite certain you will succeed sooner or later, but next time you attack an unauthorized target, failure will be the least of your worries. Understood?" Itachi turned and walked away from Mary-Sue's smiling face.

Zavara walked down the stairs to see the Soul Reaper and his student with their backs to him. [i]It seems that they haven't noticed me yet. I knew hiding my Spiritual Pressure was a good idea.[/i] Zavara opened his mouth, forming a Cero between his jaws. The girl spun around, and her eyes widened.
"I reject!" she said, an orange shield forming in front of her. Zavara's Cero hit the shield dead center.
"Not bad. I guess I need to work on charging an attack without giving away my presence like that," Zavara noted.

"Next time we look at a map," Daisuke said when they finally reached the bottom. He brushed off the dust that was covering him. "That way I won't need to get this stupid thing replaced next time."
"Right. I'm certain a map will tell us the location of the Vizards. Need I remind you that no one knows where they are? Some people don't think they even exist any more. Other than me, of course," Donovyn pointed out.
"And you're just now telling me about that because?"
"I'm not one of them."
"And that alone means that you're right?"
"Basically," Donovyn answered as he resumed walking.
"When we get back, remind me to kill you," Daisuke groaned, following him.

Zavara appeared behind the girl, ready to strike. Moments before he was about to strike, the Soul Reaper caught his hand. Zavara began charging a Cero in his mouth, only to be knee kicked in the back by the Soul Reaper. Zavara collapsed to the ground, his hand still being held in place by the Soul Reaper. Zavara began laughing softly, then spun around, knocking the Soul Reaper in the face.
He grabbed the Soul Reaper by his shoulders, charging a Cero only two feet from the Soul Reaper's face. "I reject!" he heard the girl say. Zavara quickly turned his head, firing his Cero in that direction. The Soul Reaper kneed him in the gut, then vanished and appeared in front of the girl, holding off the Cero with his zanpakuto. Zavara looked up, growling.

Ubisuke smirked, holding his zanpakuto straight up. "Scream, Remo!" he shouted, slashing the zanpakuto down and to the side. The katana shortened, taking on the form of a kunai knife. The Arrancar vanished, appearing in front of Ubisuke, punching him in the gut. Ubisuke was sent flying back into Rinnie, and both landed several feet back.
Ubisuke slashed the knife through the air, sending out several reishi needles along the path of the slice. The Arrancar was hit across the chest with the needles. He growled, firing off a flurry of Ballas aimed at Ubisuke. "I reject!" Rinnie cried, setting up the shield in front of her and Ubisuke. The Ballas hit the shield, as the shield began to crack.
Ubisuke slashed several times, sending out over a thousand needles toward the Arrancar. The Arrancar vanished from view; Ubisuke looked around, searching for him. The Arrancar appeared behind Rinnie, and threw her several feet behind him, before launching a Balla straight into Ubisuke's stomach. A few seconds passed, and Ubisuke was shot through the gut with a Cero. Ubisuke made one feeble slash with his Zanpakuto before be blacked out.

Itachi stood in his quarters, looking into a mirror. He wasn't seeing his own reflection, what he was seeing was the fight with the Soul Reaper who had called himself Lichroy. [i]They said they didn't see him anywhere, but why am I still alive? He said he'd kill me, so why didn't he. A Soul Reaper would be able to tell when their opponent was dead... Is he trying to insult me?[/i][/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 30- Rinnie Versus Zavara]
The Arrancar was about to deliver a final strike to Ubisuke. "I reject!" Rinnie shouted, causing Tsubaki to shoot toward the Arrancar. The Arrancar held out a hand, blocking Tsubaki from reaching him. Rinnie grunted from the effort of trying to overpower her opponent. Tsubaki was thrown to the side, enciting the Arrancar to laugh.
"Is that really all you've got? That pathetic excuse for an attack?" The Arrancar asked after he'd finished laughing. He disappeared, and then appeared again behind her. He slapped the side of her face with the bak of his hand, sending her several feet to the side.

Donovyn and Daisuke found themselves walking through another plain, having found not a single Vizard. [i]Don't say anything, Daisuke. He's got no clue where we are, and he has no idea if we're anywhere near them. So just don't say a word.[/i] "It's just on the other side of this plain, I'm sure of it," Donovyn said.
"Are you absolutely certain?" Daisuke asked.
"About seven percent." Donovyn said without hesitation. Daisuke slapped himself in his forehead.

Evanescent and Maria stood over the town, looking around. "Evanescent, are you sure there's a mask around here?" Maria asked.
"No, I'm not. Still, there's only one way we're going to be able to find them, and that's searching everywhere," Evanescent answered. Maria looked around, unsure of how to continue.
"How are we supposed to track these things down? Do they have their own Spiritual Pressure, or enhance the Pressure of the ones who wear them?"
"I don't know. All I know about them for sure is that they give non-Hollows Hollow Powers. I've faced off with a powerless Soul who'd gotten hold of one," Evanesent answered. Maria floated to the ground and started wandering around town.

Jennifer gasped, dropping her cup of tea. "Something's wrong," she whispered, walking to the front door. [i]Should I just leave? I've never just left during business hours before, but, I can't shake the feeling there's something wrong.[/i] She heard something that sounded like Rinnie screaming in pain, and rushed out the door. [i]I'm coming Rinnie, just stay calm, I'll be there soon. I wish I knew where I was going to be, though.[/i]

Zavara knocked the girl in the face again. "I reject!" she shouted, sending that figure toward him, this time he dodged it. When he looked behind him, he could see it had split the stone pillar. [i]Looks like she has got some fight, after all. I should do something about that.[/i]
He used his Sonido to get behind the girl, and thrust his elbow down on her head. "Not much of a threat. I can't believe I've wasted my time here. Huh?" He looked over to the area where the Soul Reaper's Reishi needles had been thrown. They were all sparking with what looked to be lightning.
The Soul Reaper had managed to stand up, albeit he was panting heavily. "Ryu Raikami!" he shouted. The lightning from the needles shot up and out from the needles, gathering all in one place. The Lightning shot down toward Zavara in the form of a dragon. He drew his zanpakuto, holding it above his head.
"A dragon, huh? Roar, Dragon King!" he shouted, slashing downward with his sword. A blast of energy shot out from him, enough to knock Rinnie back half a foot. The Lightning Dragon sailed over him. Zavara's robes had turned jet black, and most of his mask had disipated, and the fangs had moved up to form what looked more like ears.
The Lightning dragon made a second pass at Zavara, and this time, Zavara aught the dragon by the fangs. "You think this is going to stop me? I am the Dragon King! No dragon is going to defeat me!" Zavara blasted the dragon with a cero, destroying it completely.

"Ubisuke!" Rinnie said, running over to him. "I reject!" she said, two of the petals of her pin breaing off, forming an orange shield around Ubisuke.
"Quite an interesting power, girl," The Arrancar said, chuckling. "Too bad I'm here to kill ya."
"You're not killing anyone," a voice said from the stairs. "Especially not my daughter." The Arrancar looked around, and located the source of the voice.
"What are you going to do? What does a human expect to be able to do against me?" he laughed, before turning toward Rinnie again. His nails began glowing blue. "Enigma-" he began, before being cut off.
"PUT YOUR HAND DOWN, NOW!" Jennifer shouted from the stairs. The Arrancar's eyes widened, and his nails stopped glowing as he put his hand down. Jennifer straightened up, taking on a professional appearance. "Now, go back to wherever it is you came from, and don't ever let me catch you even looking in my daughters general direction with malicious intent, I will rip your head clean off your shoulders." The Arrancar turned around, opening up his path bak home, his Resurrecion being sealed.

"Ha ha! I knew it! I knew I was right!" Donovyn said, turning to Daisuke.
"What were you right about, being lost again?" Daisuke said, just before being knocked in the forehead.
"Take a look over there. That is where the Vizards are."[/spoiler][/spoiler]
[spoiler=Return of the Vizards Arc]
[spoiler=Chapter 31: Manifesting]
Donovyn and Daisuke Flash Stepped the remainder of the way to the building. "Are you sure they're here? It looks like it's been abandoned for years," Daisuke asked. Donovyn looked around, and spotted what he was looking for. He pointed to a corner of the building, directing Daisuke to look as well.
"See that? People don't put new cameras in abandoned buildings," Donovyn said. He and Daisuke stepped into the building, looking around. [i]Where are they? I know they're here.[/i] "OI! I KNOW YOU'RE IN HERE!" he yelled.
"Warn someone next time you do that," Daisuke said, turning a his pinky finger in his ear. "So, other than me bleeding from the ears, what did that accomplish?"
"That," Donovyn said, pointing to the door in the back of the building. The door had opened, revealing a young man.

"You [i]didn't[/i] finish them? May I enquire as to [i]why[/i]?" Mary-Sue asked Zavara. The other nine Arrancars had gone completely silent.
"I don't recall much, Lady Mary-Sue. Jazeth had taken control early on, so I only have glimpses. He was just about to launch Enigma Charge, and after that, nothing," he answered. Mary-Sue's eyes narrowed on him. "I swear, I'm telling the truth!" Zavara said, as Mary-Sue leaned bak in her chair.
"Evanescent, take care of that woman Zavara mentioned. Dios, take another crack at the Soul Reaper and the girl," Mary-Sue directed. Evanescent and Dios bowed, walking toward the door. "The rest of you, to your quarters."

"Shouldn't Donovyn and Daisuke be back by now?" Kenpachi asked. Yachiru walked toward where he was sitting on the porch of the Squad Eleven barracks.
"I don't know, they are looking for a group that may not even exist," she answered.
"Well, they sure are taking their own sweet time," Kenpachi answered.

Daisuke looked around. They'd been taken to a room below the building. "Okay, why is nothing ever above ground? Everything around here is hidden underneath something," he had said. What he was surprised about, however, was the number of Vizards that had existed without anyone knowing about it.
Their leader, the man who had shown them in, stepped forward. "My name is Cielo Kage, who are you, and why have you sought us out?"
"My name is Captain Donovyn M. Gerra of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. I'm the Captain of Squad Six. We have come to seek your help against the Arrancars. We fear that they have formed a second Espada group, and are seeking out the masks of the original Espada," Donovyn spoke up.
"Are you aware that the original Espada group killed all of the Vizards in existence at one point?" Cielo answered.
"I'm aware. However, despite that they may be stronger than last time, so are we"
"We? What do you mean 'we'? Either way, I don't think we're gonna help you."
"And why not?"
"Simple, the way we trade leadership here is by beating the strongest of us. I don't think you're gonna be doing that any time soon," Cielo said, donning his mask. A Black base, with Crimson, spiky extensions.
"This can not be easy, can it?" Donovyn said, donning his own mask.
"You're a Vizard?" Cielo asked, shocked.

Cielo looked at the Soul Reaper in front of him wearing the Hollow Mask. White with Black swirls, and no other decoration. "You still think I'm not gonna beat you in a fight?" Donovyn asked, drawing his sword. Cielo attempted to Flash Step behind Donovyn, only to be caught by the wrist. He looked over to Donovyn and saw the his sword was no longer in his hand.
[i]Wait, did he?[/i] Cielo looked up, and noticed his opponents sword falling toward him. His wrist was released, and the sword caught before it hit him. "I win this round. Had I not caught my sword, you'd be dead," Donovyn said, removing his mask.
"So, is he..." Cielo began, nodding toward the boy who ame in with Donovyn.
"Huh," Donovyn said, turning his head to the boy. "No. Though, now that you bring him up, why don't you train him for a while. I've got to report back to the Head Captain that we've found you. Why don't you take him back after you've finished his training?" he finished, Flash Stepping out of the room.
"So, kid," Cielo began, "What's your name?"
"Daisuke Hirako," the boy answered.
"Daisuke, huh. Can you manifest? That is, bring your Zanpakuto's spirit into our world?" Daisuke thought about something for several seconds before answering.
"No, I've never managed it," he finally answered.
"That so? It's quite simple," he said, holding his sword parallel to the ground. Only a couple seconds later, there was a blonde girl, who looked no older than twelve, stood beside him. Daisuke's eyes widened as they moved over the girl. "Daisuke, this is the spirit of my Zanpakuto, Maria."

Evanescent looked over the old ghost town. "So, this is Old Karakura Town. How quaint," he said, moving toward the source of the Spiritual Pressure. [i]Now, let's see what gave Zavara such a hard time that his psychotic half would take over.[/i] As he reached the building he'd been looking for, he was met with the Soul Reaper.
"Can I help you?" he asked. "If you've come seeking me about my wreck of a shop in New Karakura, I'm afraid I have more pressing matters I must attend to." Evanescent placed a hand on his sword, drawing it without taking his eyes off the Soul Reaper in front of him. "Why can't the bad guys just make things easy? Just once I'd like for them to turn around and leave at the first sign of conflict instead of being the ones who cause it."
"Then why don't you just go back to your shop and clean up? We've got what we need from you. If not for your insistence on training the girl, our business with you would have been concluded," Evanescent said, leaving the Soul Reaper wide-eyed.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 32: A Clash of Rivals]
"That's good news. So, escentially they're your private army now, yes?" Fuuta asked upon hearing Donovyn's report.
"Yes, that's about what it means," Donovyn answered.
"By the way, Squad Six Captain, we've recieved word of another Arrancar attack. We didn't send out a Soul Reaper last time, because the attack was on a former member of Squad Twelve - a defector - and the Arrancar didn't seem overly powerful," Fuuta began.
"So, what's different about this one?" Donovyn interupted.
"It's your old sparring buddy," Fuuta informed him.
"I see," Donovyn said, exiting the room.

Ubisuke stared the Arrancar in the eyes. It wasn't too long ago that another Arrancar had tried attacking him during training. Though that one had at least tried sneaking up on them. "You're stark, raving mad, you know that?"
"I assure you, Evanescent isn't the one who's mad," a voice said behind Ubisuke. The first Arrancar was the one who answered it.
"What are you doing here, Dios. You're supposed to be hunting that woman from Zavara's report."
"I know, but my Pisqesa tells me that she's around here somewhere. Looks like she never left."
"That makes things easier, doesn't it?"
"So," Ubisuke pointed to the Arrancar who'd shown up first, "Your name is Evanescent, and that," he continued, pointing behind himself with his thumb, "is Dios. Right?"
"It is indeed," the one called Evanescent said. "Though, I must ask how knowing our names will help you at all."
"Oh, it won't. It's just nice to know," Usbisuke answered. "My name is Ubisuke Kisahara," he said, unsheathing his sword. "Now, prepare to Scream, Remo."
"Nice Zanpakuto. Very ninja-esque. I must wonder, in a battle of Ninja, how Itachi lost to you," Evanescent noted.
"He's too sane. He doesn't have an instinct for madness," Dios said, grinning.

"Is that so. I'm afraid I missed the introductions, Evanescent. May I ask for names?" Donovyn asked, appearing behind Evanescent. "This Soul Reaper-"
"Ex-Soul Reaper. He defected from Squad Twelve," Donovyn interupted.
"This Ex-Soul Reaper, here, is Ubisuke Kisahara. Though, I imagine you were asking about our newest Second Espada. His name is Dios Deus."
"Really, sounds as though he's some kind of god."
"A god of madness, maybe."
"Quite fitting, I fought him a while back. He seems completely mad. It works that he'd be a god of such." Donovyn looked at the Kunai Knife in Ubisuke's hand. "Zanpakuto doesn't look like much."
"That's his Shikai. According to Zavara it's quite powerful."
"Is that so?" Donovyn said. "Ubisuke, you take him," Donovyn said, gesturing toward Dios. "I'll take Evanescent."
"I notice your the only Soul Reaper they ever send for me," Evanescent said.
"We've proven time and again I'm the only Soul Reaper able to go toe-to-toe with you and walk away." Donovyn said, Flash Stepping backward as Evanescent spun around, attempting a wrist strike.
"I suppose we have," Evanescent said, using Sonido to attempt to strike Donovyn's chest. Donovyn Flash Stepped away, launching a Hado at Evanescent. The Hado was caught in Evanesent's hand, and deflected toward Ubisuke. "How long are you gonna play?" Evanescent asked. He rushed toward Donovyn, drawing his sword.
"Until you decide to get serious as well," Donovyn answered, drawing his own to defend himself.

Ubisuke had barely dodged an attack from Donovyn and Evanescent, and was now being charged by the Arrancar identified as Dios. He jumped to the side, slashing downward with his Zanpakuto, and sending out several Reishi needles. Dios easily dodged the needles with his Sonido, and rammed a shoulder into Ubisuke. "W-what happened? I didn't even see anything..." Ubisuke said, gripping his stomach.
Dios pointed to the tattoo on his forehead. "You see this? Do you know what this means?" he asked. Ubisuke just stared. "Do you recall that other Arrancar? The one that you just barely managed to hold off?" Ubisuke responded with a nod. "He had a six somewhere. That's right," Dios continued, noting the look on Ubisuke's face, "These tattoos are our rank. My strength is ranked as second only to him," Dios finished, pointing to Evanescent.
[i]And I couldn't even finish the guy ranked at six.[/i] Ubisuke slashed several times in quick succession, sending out thousands of needles. Dios laughed, having been pierced by several dozen needles. "Is that the best you can do? Slash wildly with your knife and hope you hit something?"
"No, this is," Ubisuke said as the needles began giving off electricity.
"That's your attack? Electrified accupuncture?"

The electricity from the needles in Dios shot upward, and he followed its path. The electricity from every single needle that was shot out joined together in the form of a dragon. "Well, that's an interesting tehnique you've got there," he said. The Soul Reaper slashed his zanpakuto, and the dragon began flying toward Dios. [i]If I get hit with that, it could be a problem.[/i]
Dios drew his own zanpakuto, grining. "Go mad, Negativo!" he shouted, the familiar dark blue energy surrounding him. Dios laughed as the dragon vanished when it got within six feet of him. "This is the end for you, without use of reishi, you can do nothing," he said, running toward his opponent.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 33: Melee Specialists]
"Sir," a Soul Reaper said to Fuuta, "we've just reieved a Hell Butterfly, and it appears that one of the Arranar is able to negate all Reishi attacks."
"I see, in that case, I only see one logical choice of action."

Dios ran toward Ubisuke, who held up his zanpakuto in an attempt to block. Ubisuke's zanpakuto reverted to it's sealed form, but Dios brabbed it anyway. "Arrancars have iron skin, and without Spiritual Pressure behind your attacks, you're not going to cut me," he said, punching Ubisuke in the face. Ubisuke let go of his sword as he was thrown back a few feet. [i]Damn, anything within that range gets cancelled, and I don't stand a chance against him without being able to use Soul Reaper abilities.[/i] "Come on, are you giving up?" [i]I probably should.[/i]
Dios ran toward him again, and this time Ubisuke threw his own punch, which landed on Dios's jaw. Dios's punch landed in Ubisuke's gut, causing him to fall to the ground. [i]I'm fighting a Soviet Soldier in his own ressurection. Of course I'm at a disadvantage.[/i] Ubisuke shot upward, aiming to knock Dios in the jaw with the top of his head.
The sneak attack succeeded more in injuring Ubisuke than Dios. Dios gripped his jaw, groaning, and Ubisuke gripped the top of his head. "Ow, ow, ow," he said. Dios's groans turned into growls, as he rushed toward Ubisuke again. Ubisuke ducked below Dios's attack, and thrust his wrist into Dios's chest.

Evanescent and Donovyn had been rushing and clashing to the opposite part of town. "Well, I think it's time we began to take this thing seriously, don't you?" Evanescent said, ginning. Donovyn returned the grin before answering.
"Yeah, let's cut through the bull and go at each other, full force," he said, donning his Hollow Mask. They both released their zanpakuto at the same time. "Fade away, Evanescence!"
"Godmod, Aizas!" Black feathers swirled around Evanescent like a tornado. When it died down, his blonde hair had grown in length to match Donovyn's, and his half-helmet had shifted to a forehead protector, with horn-like projections coming out of each side. His Arrancar robes had remained roughly the same, except the color had become black. "Though I think you're right, we should just go straight to the top." He began screaming, as an explosion of Spiritual Pressure occured.
Evanescent's hair now resembled black feathers, and the top half of his robes had vanished. The lower half had become black feathers, and his eyes closely resembled those of a crow. "Indeed," Donovyn chuckled, "Now, I guess I'll release my bankai." A cloud of black energy surrounded him, and at it's dispersal, Donovyn was wearing a black cloak, the hood up, holding a sabre rather than a Katana. "Shall we?"

"Hey," A voice said from behind Dios. A few seconds later, he felt the tip of a sword pressed against his back. "You seem tough, mind if I have a go?"
Ubisuke looked at the new arrival. "You, it figures that they'd send you to face a guy like this, Captain Zaraki." Kenpachi grinned, slashing his sword, cutting Dios's back, sending him forward.
"How did you do that?" Dios asked, growling. "Get out here!" Ubisuke spotted movement over to the side, and before he knew what was happening, Kenpachi had been punched in the face by a girl. Kenpachi's face showed that he was more surprised than Ubisuke was. "Elphemia, take care of him. Evanescent is busy and I'm going to go ahead and take care of this mess," Dios said, turning his attention back to Ubisuke.

Kenpachi growled as he faced the girl. [i]My Spiritual Pressure is being blocked by something that Arrancar is doing, but it should be a simple matter of him walking away for that to end.[/i] He ran a few feet away from the Arrancar, and then turned around. The girl followed, then stopped, eyes wide in shock. "Wh-what is this?" Elphemia asked, barely able to speak.
Kenpachi grinned, and slapped the girl away, before running back to the Arrancar he'd been sent to fight. He laughed manically, enciting the Arrancar to turn around, surprised. He slashed downward, as the Arrancar held out his hands to block. The blade passed through his hands, and the front of his body. "How an your sword pass through our Iron Skin that easily?" he asked.
"Did you think that all Soul Reapers kept their swords equally sharp?" Kenpachi asked in repsonse. "I regularly sharpen mine until it passes through Iron as though the metal were butter." The Arranacar backed out of his range. "Well, that'll never do. Elphemia, we're leaving. Evanesent can handle things himself here," he said, opening a Garganta.
The girl who had been slapped into submission by Kenpachi ran through the opening, followed by the Arrancar who'd called her. Kenpachi took his eyepatch, which he'd taken off upon entering the World of the Living, out of his pocket, and put it back on his face. "Captain Zaraki, what just happened?" Ubisuke asked. "I've never seen something like that happen before. With the girl... I know you're strong, but that... Your eyepath... why's it red now?"
"To answer all of those questions at once, I've gained a significant amount of Spiritual Pressure since you defected. The Department of Research and Technology had to develop another eyepatch, whih was capable of surpressing my Spiritual Pressure even more effetively than the last one," Kenpahi said simply. "Shame he left though, I was just starting to have fun."[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 34: The Sixth Captain and the First Espada]
"Well, Evanescent, are you ready?" Donovyn said as he held his sabre horizontally in front of him. Evanescent laughed, his fingers glowing black.
"I most certainly am," he said as he slashed toward Donovyn. The glow around his fingers intensified, and launched at Donovyn with the force of a train going thirty miles an hour. The blast hit Donovyn's sabre, and was absorbed into the blade. The sword glowed black, briefly, and then returned to normal. "Watch behind you," Evanescent said, appearing behind Donovyn, and slashing at him from behind.
Donovyn vanshed from view. Evanescent quickly spun around, launching a purple Cero behind him. Donovyn slashed downward, absorbing the Cero. When Evanescent looked around him, there were about a dozen of his opponent. Evanescent chuckled a bit.
"You think such cheap tricks are going to beat me, don't you? You aren't the only one who picked up a few new tricks, Donovyn," he said, golden energy flowing over him. "Lanza del Diablo!" he shouted as the energy flew out in all directions, taking the form of several small projectiles. The projectiles ripped through the copies, destroying them. As the copies faded from view, the real Donovyn held his sword pointing toward Evanescent, a shield forming from the tip.
Evanescent turned around, noting that only one Donovyn was left standing behind a shield. "So, that's how your Bankai works," he said. He rushed toward Donovyn, using Sonido to reach him almost instantly.

Ubisuke and Kenpachi looked toward the direction of Donovyn and Evanescent's battle. "What awesome power," Ubisuke said. Kenpachi let out a small "hmm" in acknowledgement. The two walked toward the shop, feeling the shockwaves of every clash the two warriors made. "How is it posible someone that strong can exist?"
"They're freaks. Both of them," Kenpachi answered. "I don't like what either of them are capable of, especially that Arrancar. Hollows like him were supposed to be wiped out long ago. Why he exists as a Hollow makes no sense."
Ubisuke said nothing as they walked into the shop, and down the stairs. Rinnie was hard at work, still training to launch an attack without speaking. She was down to a whisper, barely audible. Her strength was compromised, each strike punching a hole through the rock, but not doing much else. Jennifer was overseeing it while Ubisuke was away.
"She's come quite a way, hasn't she, Mister Kisahara?" Jennifer said when she noticed Ubisuke and Kenpachi. "Who's your friend there?"
"I'm the captain of Squad Eleven, my name is Kenpachi Zaraki. Now that one of the Arrancar has been driven off, if not fatally wounded, I just need to wait for Donovyn to finish with that other one, and we'll both be going," Kenpachi answered.

Daisuke stood beside the spirit of Szelechneider. Cielo and the other Vizards applauded him, Cielo - Still standing by his own spirit, Maria - wearing a small smile. "Okay, so, not to say this wasn't completely pointless, but how is it useful?" Daisuke asked.
"Simple," Cielo began, "If you can manifest the spirit of your Zanpakuto, that shows that you're in complete synch with it. Remember, your Zanpakuto is an extension of your own soul, and no one else has exactly the same Zanpauto. Thus, if you can manifest the spirit your soul created, then it an bump the strength of your attacks considerably." Szelechneider smiled, mirroring Cielo's smile. "Well, that's about all I've got to teach you. If we've got no other business, I guess we should go to the Seireite."
"Wait, one more thing," Daisuke requested. "We're searching for something, the Masks of the original Espada." Cielo's expression told Daisuke he was confused. "We have reason to believe a group of Hollows, the same one the Captain explained about before, are searching for them as well." Cielo nodded toward one of the Vizards, who walked through one of the doors.

Donovyn swung his sword down, blocking another slash from landing. "It seems that you indeed have figured out my Bankai. Took you long enough to figure it out," he said. "Though, I'm sure you didn't think that I was a one trick pony." Donovyn stood in a horse stance, yelling as his Spiritual Pressure soared.
Evanescent narrowed his eyes, waiting for Donovyn to attack. [i]He's never pulled this one out. What exactly is it he's planning to do?[/i] Donovyn had become completely coated in what looked to be grey Spiritual Energy. When he slashed his sword, all the energy he had collected bursted forth at once.
Evanescent held out both his hands to block the attack. The attack pushed Evanescent back several feet before passing over him. When the attack cleared, Evanescent had reverted back to his original release. Donovyn flashed behind him, and bonked his head with the hilt of his sword. "I win," he said.
"Like hell you win, what was that?" Evanescent asked.
"Did you believe Evanescence was just a clever name my Zanpakuto spirit came up with? Evanescence is derived from your name, Evanescent, and I'm sure you can figure out the meaning from there. Don't worry, though, your Segunda Etapa will return you you in about three hours, since it was a natural transformation of something that still exists," Donovyn explained, sealing his Zanpakuto back to it's sealed state, and taking off his mask. Evanescent sealed his own Zanpakuto, and opened up a garganta.
"Well, then, I guess we'll continue this another time, Captain," he said before stepping through.

Donovyn walked down the stairs, just as Rinnie launched another attack. "Interesting move, young miss. Though I don't think that's it's full potential. May I see a demonstration of all you've got?" he asked.
"Sure, captain," she answered. "Tsubaki, I reject!" she shouted. Tsubaki emerged from the pin on her chest.
"About time," he said, flying off. The impact destroyed the last several pillars, and left a half-inch incision on the wall.
"Quite an attack," Donovyn commented. "Well, congratulations. Come on, Kenpachi, we've got to report to Head Captain Nari about things here."[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Shpater 35: The Last of the Masks]
Daisuke walked into the Head Captain's office, followed by Cielo and two other Vizard. Daisuke approached Fuuta, bowing his head. "Where've you been, Daisuke?" Fuuta asked, acknowledging him.
"Training. Donovyn instructed Cielo to teach me something. He taught me manifesting. In any case, they have the last two masks," Daisuke said, pointing toward the Vizard, each carrying one mask. One resembled Evanescent's, but reversed, and the other was designed to cover the entire face.
"So, we've got four and a third masks, right?" Fuuta asked.
"Yeah, we've got four and a third," Daisuke answered.
"Well, then, what are we gonna do with them? Wait around, or take the fight to our enemy?" Donovyn asked, walking into the room. Fuuta and Daisuke looked over as Kenpachi followed behind him. "Evanescent escaped, sir. There was a lot of collateral damage in Old Karakura town, but we needn't worry, that can be blamed on natural causes, the city's ancient," he continued. Fuuta nodded.
"The other one escaped, too. I managed to wound, him though. I doubt he'll be too much of a problem for a while," Kenpachi summed up.
"We have to assume that the Hollows have the masks we have yet to find. Therefore, we must surprise them before they figure out what the masks can do, if they haven't already. We'll attack first thing tomorrow," Fuuta said. Donovyn and the others nodded.[hr]

Kenpachi walked through the forest, looking for something to fight. "Ehhh, this is so boring. Why can't time go by faster?" he said to himself.
"So, you're bored?" he heard someone say behind him. He turned around, looking for whoever it was that had spoken. "Would you like a fight?" they said, dropping down from the trees. He stood up, his bare chest displaying the number eight. "My name is Itachi Ninjow, and I'm the one who killed you."
"Is that so," Kenpachi answered, drawing his sword. "My name is Kenpachi Zaraki, and I'm afraid I'll be killing you." The two rushed at each other, clashing swords. Kenpachi jumped back, knocking Itachi to the ground. He jumped on Itachi, aiming to pierce his heart.
Itachi rolled to the side, causing Kenpachi to stab the ground. "I heard that your sword can cut through our Iron Skin as easily as it does paper, Kenpachi," Itachi said. "I also heard that you're strength rivals our own." Kenpachi pulled his sword out of the ground, chuckling. "That means that you're my ticket to a higher rank," he said, clashing swords with Kenpachi yet again.
Kenpachi grinned, aggressively slashing toward the Arrancar, as the Arrancar matched him blow for blow. "My honor," Itachi said, "The rank I deserve," he slashed again, aiming toward Kenpachi's head, "you are going to help me attain both!" He jumped into the air, slashing at Kenpachi, as Kenpachi held his sword to block.
"If you really want to kill me, then why not just release your sword and end it?" Kenpachi asked. Itachi chuckled.
"The answer to that is simple, Captain. If I can defeat you, the only Soul Reaper ever to become captain without so much as knowing your Zanpakuto's name, without using any powers, then I'll be granted a much higher rank within the Espada. In addition to that, I'll be able to restore the honor I lost when I failed in my mission to elimiate that woman!" he shouted, thrusting toward Kenpachi's chest.

Mary-Sue smiled as D walked into her room. "Milady, I've brought you something," he said, holding out 5 identical boxes. Mary-Sue's face showed she didn't understand. "That Twelth Captain is quite a genius, and his work made it so much easier to leave with these," he said. He pushed a button on one of the boxes, and a row of spikes emerged from it.
"I'm guessing you have the necklace and earrings that go along with this already," D said, noting that she was wearing the earrings. Mary-Sue pulled the necklace out of a drawer, and put it on. "Well then, I think you may be able to accessorize with that," he added, throwing her the spikes, "maybe as a bracelet or something." He pushed another button on each of them, an Espada Mask emerging from each box. "We've got them all, Milady MiLadie," he said.
""D, that's wonderful news!" Mary-Sue said, running over to him. He slid his mask off as the two kissed. "Are you able to stay now, or must you leave again?" D held her in his embrace, looking into her eyes, as she brushed some of his jet-black hair out of his eyes.
"I'm afraid I'll have to leave for a while more. I assure you, however, it will be very soon before I will be able to stay permanently. Itachi has gone off on one of his escapades. You'll be able to use that as an opening to enter the Soul Society," D strategized. The door opened as D put his mask back on, and Itachi stepped through, out of breath and bloody.
"This escapade... proved fruitful," he said.
"Itachi, you're getting blood on my carpet," Mary-Sue stated. "D, be a dear and assemble the Espada to a meeting, I'll be there shortly." She turned to her mirror and began applying lipstick. D bowed and walked out of the room. Itachi looked after him a few seconds before following suit.

Fuuta sat in his chair, looking out. Something had him extremely irritated. "Where are the Captains of Squad Six and Squad Eleven," he demanded to know. It was the captain of Squad Four who answered.
"No one has seen them in hours, Head Captain. Last I heard, Captain Zaraki had gone out for a stroll. I haven't seen or heard from Captain Gerra since yesterday, sir," he said, bowing.
"Well, that's the least of our worries, Captain Shoujo," Fuuta began. The other captains looked on in confusion. "You see, when I went to gather the masks we had collected, to figure out who'd be best to weild which one, they were missing!"
"Someone stole five of my containment boxes as well, sir. This was probably a pre-meditated strategy," Captain Creator put in.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 36: iMake Preparations]
Itachi threw what he'd been carrying on the floor in front of Mary-Sue. "That's one less captain to worry about," he said. The Arrancar, Elphemia, and D all looked upon Kenpachi's severed head.
"That's no small feat, Itachi. Even in his advanced age, Kenpachi Zaraki was quite strong, and his sword was quite sharp," D commented.
"Enough to cut through iron," Dios added, his wounds bandaged up.
"I'm well aware of how powerful he was. I killed him, and without using my ressureccion, on top of that," Itachi said. Mary-Sue examined him with her eyes. After several intense seconds, she chuckled.
"It would seem that your current rank is a little low. Itachi Ninjow, I do believe that your tattoo is inaccurate," she said. She thought for a second, then smiled. "Itachi, go get that eight on your chest replaced with a number three."
"What?" the Arrancar standing next to Evanescent asked. "We already have a Third Espada!" he continued in protest. He was swiftly met with Mary-Sue's Zanpakuto through his left eye.
"And now we're in need of a Third Espada," she said sweetly as his body crumpled to the floor. "Hmm... although, now we're in need of a new Eighth Espada."
"I do believe there was one Arrancar who has proven herself to be on Itachi's level, up until now," D said. Mary-Sue looked at him questioningly. "Cherry Sakuran, Milady. She qould make quite a nice Eighth Espada, don't you think?"

Fuuta pinched the bridge of his nose, growling a bit. "This is a disaster. It's an absolute disaster!" he shouted. Lieutenant Kusajishi had returned from her hunt for Captain Zaraki, and informed him that his body had been found.
"I don't suppose anyone found Captain Gerra yet?" he said, clearly irritated. No one spoke up, and Fuuta sighed, leaning back in his seat. "Well, I think Captain Zaraki's death proves that we're not going to out fight them. We're going to have to make sure that our strategy is better than theirs. That's the only way we're going to even stand a chance, unless the Squad Six Captain shows up again."
"Do you have a plan, just in case?" Captain Creator asked. "Even if Donovyn does show up again before the battle, he can't defeat Evanescent. They're evenly matched, and Evanescent is a master escape artist. We'll need a plan to defeat him at least. Not to mention that none of us even know the name of their leader."
"Yeah, I know," Fuuta answered. He gave a dramatic, frustrated sigh. "Lietenant Yachiru can fill in as Captain of Squad Eleven, until someone finds a permanent solution. That leaves the matter of Captain Gerra."
"He is the decendant of Sosuke Aizen, you know," the captain of Squad Thirteen spoke up. "I think we all know where he is right now."
"Nelson, are you seriously suggesting that he's defected? Betrayed us all?" Fuuta asked. "I can see him turning his back on his position, such matters never meant much to him, but I doubt he'd ever turn his back on the Shoujo sisters!"
"Yeah, and before Aizen defected, no one could see him turning his back on that pretty little lieutenant of his. Too bad the only person who was there is gone now. That's pretty convienant for him, isn't it?" Nelson asked. Fuuta sighed relentingly. Nelson stood, watching as the other captains groaned, knowing he was correct.
"Still," Keiko spoke up, breaking the silence, "I don't think it was Donovyn who killed Kenpachi." The other captains looked to her. "Kenpachi was beheaded, and left at the sight. That's not Donovyn's style. He would have tortured Kenpachi before killing him. He's sadistic that way..."
"Yeah," Fuuta responded. "By the way, Nelson, Captain Zaraki wasn't the only one. Yachiru was there too. If Donovyn did kill Zaraki as a sign of defection, he would have done it in a way that left no doubt it was him. That confidence of his wouldn't allow anything else. He has a right to that level of confidence, as well."

Kailie Kyouku, Elphemia da Putana, and Cherry Sakuran stood facing each other. Elphemia had transformed her left arm. Kailie had released her Ressureccion, and Cherry had just drawn her Zanpakuto. "Scatter, Senbonsakura," Cherry said, her Zanpakuto's blade splitting into several thousand blades, reflecting light to give the illusion of Cherry Blossoms. The blades spun around Cherry, and her Arrancar Robes opened up around the stomach, the lower robes raising up to mid-thigh, the new number eight tattoo displayed on her stomach.
Her mask, which normally looked to be a small cresent around her left eye had become a small rectangular plate around her forehead. "Alright, Cherry," Kailie began, "This is a training fight, not a real one. Try not to get anyone killed around here, okay?" Cherry nodded, and swung the hilt of her blade in a wide arc. The many small blades followed the arc outward toward Kailie and Elphemia. Elphemia held her arm as a shield, blocking the many blades.
Kailie jumped upward, and sent a small line of fire toward Cherry. Cherry jumped backward, and thrust her hilt toward Kailie. All the blades rushed toward Kailie. Kailie attempted to blast the blades with her fire, but Cherry manipulated the blades around the counterattacks. Elphemia rushed toward Cherry, preparing for a punch.

Donovyn walked through the front gate of the Seireite. "Donovyn!" he heard a familiar voice say. He turned around, to see Daisuke running toward him. "Where've you been? Fuuta held a Captain's meeting while you were gone!" Donovyn looked at him, confused.
"Really? Why'd he hold it today? Following his usual pattern, it should've been tomorrow," he said, avoiding the question.
"Well, you see, you and Kenpachi both went missing, five of Captain Creator's box things vanished, and so did all the masks we've recovered," Daisuke informed him.
"Except, I didn't go missing. I'm right here," Donovyn said. "What do we know about who took the 'box things,' as you put it?"
"Nothing, but that's not even the worst part! Captain Zaraki turned up dead during the meeting!" Daisuke told him. Donovyn thought about that for a second, and walked off in the direction of Fuuta's room.

"Lady Mary-Sue," Zavara said, bowing, having entered her room. "Kailie Kyouku, Elphemia da Putana, and Cherry Sakuran are in the training area, as requested."
"That's good to hear, but, it's not the reason you're here, is it?" she asked, looking at the row of spikes she'd fastened to her wrist.
"Well, Cherry wants to thank D personally, for recomending her as an Espada. She also wants her friend, Anada Xel, to be listed as her Fraccion," Zavara answered.
"Anada is listed, then. Though, D already left, so she'll have to wait a while. He still has business to tend to elsewhere," Mary-Sue said, in a somewhat lilting voice. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 37: Cielo and Nel]
Nel sat on the front porch of his barracks, watching Cielo slice at the training dummies with a wooden sword. [i]I'm not sure I trust him. Never trusted Donovyn much, either. It's bad enough they're the same kind of being as Arrancar, but when was the last time you met a trustworthy man who's name was related to darkness?[/i] Nel stood up, and began walking toward Cielo.
"Something wrong, Captain?" Cielo asked. Nel just stood there, looking Cielo over, and said nothing. "You want something, then?" Nel brushed the hair out of his eyes and began circling Cielo, as if looking for something. Cielo continued looking at him, a confused look upon his face.
"Cielo," Nel began. He paused a few seconds, as if pondering over his next few words. "Once a Soul Reaper successfully gains control over Hollow Powers... How hard is it for them to keep that control?" Cielo looked even more confused at the question than the captain doing his best imitation of a Vulture before the feast. "I'm waiting for my answer, Cielo."
"Well, it's actually not difficult at all. It's actually more difficult maintaining the power than controlling it," Cielo answered. Nel raised an eyebrow, and Cielo continued. "Well, all Soul Reapers have an inner Hollow, but in most it's kept dormant just by their being in the Soul Society. A Vizard is that rare Soul Reaper who's inner Hollow has been woken up. Once they defeat that Hollow and gain control, then the hardest part is maintaining the powers over a length of time."
"So it's really that easy to do it," Nel asked. "I don't believe it."
"Well, it sounds easy, but, well, when was the last time you fought yourself?" Cielo asked.
"I guess that does add some form of difficulty," Nel conceded. Cielo looked at him questioningly.
"Why are you asking me these questions, Captain?" Cielo asked, clearly confused. Nel said nothing, and just walked away. [i]If a Vizard has that much control over two sets of powers, then they're even more dangerous than if they had little control over the second set. I'm going to have to do something about that.[/i] "Just what was that questioning about?" Cielo asked the air, turning back to the training dummy.

Cielo rushed toward the dummy, and swung his sword. His wooden sword was cut in half - Nel had Flash stepped between him and the dummy, his sword drawn. "What do you think you're doing, Captain?" Cielo asked, jumping back and throwing the wooden sword away. Nel just stared, raising his Zanpakuto up to the level of his face. [i]What is Captain Elreigner think he's doing? Why did he just randomly do that?[/i]
Cielo made a run for his Zanpakuto, perched up against a tree at the edge of the ground. Nel Flash Stepped in front of him. [i]How did he manage that? There's no way he could be that fast![/i] "I'm sorry, Cielo Kage, but my Flash Steps are second in speed only to Captain Gerra's," Nel told him, killing intent clearly in his voice. [i]Okay, maybe he can be that fast.[/i]
Cielo stood before the Soul Reaper captain, holding his left hand over his right eye. "Alright, since you insist on a fight, then I'll just have to give you one. Don't blame me if you end up dying, though," he said, getting serious. Black energy began forming around his fingers, and a mask began to form from the energy. Nel stood at the ready, his eyes narowed maliciously.
Cielo rushed his hand across his face, donning his mask. The black base, with the crimson spike extentions, coupled with the yellow-tinted eyes made him look menacing, even without a sword. He rushed toward Nel as fast as he could. Nel blocked him with the flat edge of his sword. Cielo launched a barrage of punches, aimed at vital parts of Nel's body.
Nel Flash Stepped back, drawing out Cielo's Zanpakuto, holding both blades aimed at Cielo. "You think you'll be able to defeat me, just because you're armed and I'm not?" Cielo asked with a slightly distorted voice. He assumed a horse stance, holding his arms at his side, as a yellow orb began forming at his wrists. Nel moved to Flash Step toward Cielo, who launched his cero at the same moment.
Nel blocked with both swords, but was thrown back against the tree. He stood up to try to continue the fight, but found himself unable to move. Cielo rushed over to Nel, who attempted to slash at him. Cielo grabed Nel's arm, preventing the attack. He took his own Zanpakuto from Nel, and picked up his sheath.
He tied his sheath to his waist, and placed his sword inside his sheath. Nel looked up at him, still eager to fight. "I don't know what that was all about," Cielo said, taking off his mask, "but next time you fight a Vizard, expect a cero." He turned around, and ran off. [i]What was that? Why would the Captain attack his own ally?[/i]

Nel slowly and shakily stood up, and looked after where Cielo had gone. [i]Well, I learned one thing. He won't be much of a threat to us. He could easily have killed me, but he chose not to. The fight did what it was meant to.[/i]
He staggered over to his barracks, using his sword as a cane to help. "Never did I expect someone could grow that powerful by gaining Hollow Powers. The amount of power he's got at his disposal, I'm just glad they're on our side. At least this way we've got a chance against those Arrancar," he muttered. He groaned, reaching the steps of his quarters, and sat down.
"I only hope that none of the Vizards betray us. We're already at a disadvantage in this fight, the last thing we need is for them to gain any allies," he continued muttering to himself. He layed his head back, looking up to the sky. He took a deep breath, feeling the warmth of the sun on his face. "I wonder if I should send a Hell Butterfly to Squad Four," he said to himself.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 38: Funerary Procession]
Daisuke stood beside Donovyn, Megami on the opposite side of the captain, the other eleven captains and their Lieutenants gathered around as well, gazing upon Kenpachi's casket. Yachiru, who stood beside the empty space that Kenpachi should have been standing in, was clearly the most upset. She wasn't even attempting to hide the emotion: Tears poured from her eyes, and her wailing was deafening; she was on her hands and knees, Kenpachi's old Captain's garb in her hands. The others stood, tears falling from their eyes, their grief quiet. Donovyn and Lichroy, however, were entirely unfazed.
Thirty minutes later, when Yachiru had managed to at least allow someone to be heard, Fuuta made his way to the covered still-covered Head Stone. "I'm quite certain I don't need to explain why we're here today," he began, "Kenpachi Zaraki was among the most powerful captains the Soul Society has ever seen. He was an inspiration to us all; the only Soul Reaper to ever become Captain without a Bankai, in fact, he didn't even know the name of his Zanpakuto. He sprang up out of nowhere from the Rukon district, with his Lieutenant, Yachiru Kusagichi. He quickly made his squad, Squad Eleven, arguably the most powerful squad among the Thirteen. He lived through the defection of Sosuke Aizen, and the ensuing battle with his Espada.
"Captain Zaraki was easily on par with the fifth most powerful of these Espada. Throughout his life, Kenpachi earned the respect of many of us. Depite his age, Kenpachi never lost any strength, in fact, he even gained strength as he aged. His Spiritual Pressure was enough to cripple most people, were they not braced. He wasn't a noble, he didn't know any nobles personally; the only noble he ever had contact with was former Squad Six Captain Byakuya Kuchiki, and even then, they only met on the job," Fuuta finished, stepping down so that the next Captain could speak.

Mary-Sue sat in her room, looking at herself in the mirror. [i]D will be coming back soon. All he needs do is tend to some formalities to avoid suspicion.[/i] She smiled at the thought of being together with him. She looked at the braclet she'd acquired from him, still smiling.

Itachi sat meditating in his room, attempting to gain greater control over his Spritual Pressure. His tattoo had been changed to read "3"; a jump of five ranks. They'd be infiltrating the Soul Society within a few days, an he was going to prove that he was still under-ranked. [i]I will show that I'm more powerful than Dios. Hell, I'll prove that I'm more powerful than Mary-Sue![/i]

Cherry looked around her quarters. There wasn't much in them: A mirror, a bed, and a dresser to hold her clothes. The part that she liked most was that it adjoined to the quarters of her best friend and Fraccion - Anada Xel. She walked up to the door separating the two rooms, and knocked. The door opened, and revealed who she was looking for.
"Hello, Cherry, enjoying being an Espada?" he asked, running a hand through his shoulder-length blue hair. Cherry smiled and nodded. "So, how can I help you?" he asked, spinning around as his cloak-like robes flowed around his legs. He sat on his bed, while Cherry walked over to sit in the chair in front of his dresser.

Dios stood in the training ground, staring down Elphemia. "Think you've got it yet?" he asked. Elphemia transformed her left arm into the shield, and then held her right arm, and in a fist, toward Dios. Her arm turned black, with a red stripe running up the to the shoulder from her fist. "Now, let's see what you've got," he said.
Elphemia ran toward him, the black right arm charging with lightning. She threw a punch at him, which he blocked with both hands. The lightning ran up his arms, shocking him so he couldn't move. She threw another punch with her left arm, which sent him flying back several feet. When he landed, she threw a punch at the ground.
"Dios Muerte," she muttered. The lightning traveled along the ground, and shot along Dios's body. He let out a scream, and reached for his Zanpakuto. The lighting caused his arm to twitch so that he couldn't get a good grip on his sword. Elphemia ceaced the attack after a few seconds, to avoid doing any serious damage to her trainer.

Yachiru returned to her position from the Stone, tears still welling in her eyes, voice still shaky. Her words have moved everyone, save Donovyn and Lichroy, to more tears than they had before. The Second captain and Fuuta both stepped up, each taking hold of one of the ropes anchored to either side of Kenpachi's casket. "Thank you all for the kind words on Kenpachi's behalf," Fuuta stated, as he and the Second Captain severed the ropes from their anchors. "And now, we lay Captain Zaraki to rest."
The two gently lowered the casket into the ground, making sure it was lowered smooth and level. It took a minute for the casket to reach the bottom of the grave. Once it was lowered in, Yachiru was allowed to carry fistfuls of dirt to cover Kenpachi's casket. When she'd done that, Fuuta and the Second Captain unveiled the Head Stone, reading "Kenpachi Zaraki, Captain of Squad Eleven. R.I.P. You crazy son of female dog." This encited a small chuckle, even from Yachiru. After the unveiling, it was time for the Lieutenants to leave, so the Captains could finish the burial; Yachiru was the last to leave.

Donovyn looked after Yachiru, catching the shovel tossed to him by Fuuta. "So, I'm guessing that was you who came up with that epitaph, Ze’Borova?" he asked, digging into the pile of dirt meant to cover Kenpachi. The Second Captain chuckled, looking at Donovyn with one gold eye, and one blue eye. The two emptied off their shovels into the grave, freeing Ze’Borova to run a hand through his golden, spiked hair. The two had dug into the pile of dirt again before Donovyn recieved his answer.
"Well, I didn't want [i]everything[/i] about this to be melancholy. Besides, Zaraki was never serious, or depressing, or anything like that. I wanted his epitaph to reflect that about him, so I wore Fuuta down, to get that on his stone," Ze’Borova answered. Donovyn could swear that the two cross-shaped scars on Ze’Borova's face were glowing with humor just then. "And, hey, it cheered Yachiru up a bit, didn't it?"
"Yeah," Donovyn answered, "yeah, it did do that." The two worked in silence for a few minutes after that. The twelve captains finished the work around noon, meaning that they'd be walking down to lunch. Donovyn walked with the other captains until they reached the Seireite, when they separated, each going to their own Barracks. He sat beside Megami, who was crying on the edge of his bed.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 39: Xel's Black Cherry]
Evanescent knocked on Cherry's door. It was a few seconds before Cherry opened the door, allowing Evanescent to enter the room. "Master Evanescent, what brings you here?" Cherry asked, sitting on her bed. Evanescent looked around the room before sitting in the chair at the dresser. Cherry sat looking at him, waiting for him to answer before speaking again.
"Well, I heard we had a new face in the New Espada. I know Elphemia and Kailie trained you, but I want to see personally how good you are," he answered, after looking around the room for several seconds. Cherry looked at him, apparently confused. "It's quite simple, really," he said, reading her expression, "I want to see you in the training ground, so that I may fight you and learn first-hand what you're capable of." Evanescent went silent, waiting for Cherry to answer.
"So... you want to fight me, so you can see if I'm strong?" Cherry asked. Evanescent said nothing, looking at her. "Just so that I'm clear on what you're asking," she added.
"That's pretty much what I'm saying. Your fraccion can join us. I doubt either of you stand a chance against me alone. Even if you team up, you probably won't be ablne to defeat me, but I'll be the one who decides if you're worthy of being an Espada," Evanescent told her. "Lady Mary-Sue added you on D's request, and while I trust their judgement, I prefer to for myself how strong someone is."
Cherry pursed her lips and and mulled over his request for a few seconds. "Well, if that's what you want, then, very well," she said, turning to the door leading to Anada's room. "Anada, come out here, we're both heading to the training ground with Master Evanescent!" she called. Anada entered the room after a few seconds, looking from Evanescent sitting in Cherry's chair, and Cherry, sitting on her bed. Evanescent stood up and walked out of the room; Cherry and Anada followed.

A few minutes later, Anada walked into the training ground behind Evanescent and Cherry. Evanescent walked into the middle of the training ground, and stood facing Cherry and her fraccion. "So, here's how it's going to work. The two of you will attack me with everything you've got. As you know, I possess a second Ressureccion - Segunda Etapa - but I won't use it. However, if you two have anything beyond your initial Resureccion, then you might want to use them to prevent complete embarassment."
Cherry wasted no time drawing her Zanpakuto. Evanescent held out one hand as she rushed at him using her Sonido. He grabbed her Zanpakuto, and held it in place. "Scatter, Senbonsakura," Cherry muttered. Her blade split into several smaller blades, which circled around Evanescent, randomly striking at him.
The blades bounced off his skin, but he still had to block them from hitting his eyes. Anada seized this opportunity to attack. He touched his thumbs together, and did the same with his pinkies. A small purple sphere formed in the space between them. He launched the Cero while Cherry kept Evanescent busy with her Senbonsakura.
The Cero connected with Evanescent's chest, and the resulting exposion scattered the blades. The dust cleared a few seconds later, revealing Evanescent clutching a burned chest and a torn robe. "Nice tactics. I see you two work well together. Let's see if you can achieve the came results now. Godmod, Aizas," he said, drawing his Zanpakuto.
"Anada, you may need to use your Ressureccion now," Cherry said, looking at Evanescent.
"I think so, too," he agreed, drawing his Zanpakuto. He held it at arms length, his left hand on the blade, at arms length. "Howl to the moon, Yaichi." The blade glowed in a bright, blue light, blinding both Evanescent and Cherry for a couple seconds. When the light subsided, Anada had turned into a blue-furred dog, holding a pipe in his mouth.
"Now," Anada said, without moving his mouth, "I think we'll see some results, Master Cherry." Anada rolled the pipe over, and tilted his head so that the opening of the pipe was facing Evanescent. While Evanescent was focused on Anada, Cherry took the cue to send all of her blades toward Anada, who inhaled through the pipe. The blades all entered the pipe, and were held there for a few seconds, as a purple glow could be seen gathering in the pipe. When Anada exhaled, it shot a thin purple beam, in which Cherry's blades could be seen.
Evanescent side-stepped the blast, which blasted through the back wall of the training area. "Like it?" Anada asked, seeing Evanescent's shocked expression. He lowered his head, positioning the pipe into it's original position. "I call it Cero Volver. It's a special kind of Cero only I can use. It's got the same power as a normal Cero, except it's more concentrated, and I can mix my opponents attacks into the energy as well," he added, chuckling.
"Interesting ability. I imagine it's quite useful," Evanescent said, rushing behind Anada. Cherry swung her blade around, gathering all of her blades around her. While she was doing that, Evanescent grabbed Anada by the tail, and Anada swung around and bit him on the hand. Cherry stabbed the ground with her hilt, sending all the blades into the ground as well.
Anada wriggled free on Evanescent's grip, and ran to stand by Cherry. Several large blades shot up around Evanescent, who looked wide-eyes at them. "This is the ultimate form of my Zanpakuto. Scatter, Senbonsakura Kageyoshi," Cherry said as the blades all split into approximately fifty million small blades. They all shot toward him at the same time.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 40: Daisuke Vs. Donovyn]
Donovyn stepped out of his quarters, and began walking through the Squad Six barracks. Daisuke stepped out of a small building beside the western wall of the barracks. "Something going on, Donovyn?" he asked, seeing the captain. Donovyn looked over to him, and then Flash Stepped away. Daisuke looked confused, and followed.
"There a reason you're following me, Daisuke?" he asked, standing in the middle of the street. Daisuke looked at him, still confused.
"Yeah, what are you doing? Fuuta hasn't called a meeting, I'd have heard the call. So, what's going on?" Daisuke answered. Donovyn chuckled.
"If you must know, I'm going to see someone. Does that make you happy?" Donovyn answered.
"No, not really. Who is it?" Daisuke asked. Donovyn sighed, drawing his Zanpakuto. Daisuke took a step back and put a hand on his own Zanpakuto. "Why are you being so secretive of her name?"
"You just assume it's a girl?" Donovyn said. "Well, yeah, it actually is," he added, Flash Stepping behind Daisuke. Daisuke drew his Zanpakuto and blocked Donovyn's sword. "Heh, I taught you well, Daisuke. Everything you know in fact." He spun around, the resulting clash knocking Daisuke's Zanpakuto out of his hands, and proceeded to grab Daisuke's bottom jaw, knocking him to the ground. He grabbed it again and held him there. "But not everything [i]I[/i] know."
Daisuke let out a muffled scream, and tried to pull Donovyn's arm off of him. Donovyn raised his Zanpakuto, and Daisuke kicked Donovyn off of him. "Dude, what is your problem?" he asked, rushing to grab his Zanpakuto. He Flash Stepped over to Donovyn, who had gotten off the ground.
Donovyn shifted his sword to hold it with two fingers, and the blade resting on his arm. "Ready for a little something I whiped up during my free time? I've had a lot of that, so expect this to be pretty powerful," he said, aiming his palm toward Daisuke. Daisuke jumped off the ground, hoping to hit Donovyn over the head. "Bakudo number seven eighty-three: Frietz."
A black box appeared around Daisuke in mid air. Donovyn shifted his Zanpakuto so the blade was pointing toward the sky. Several dark clouds appeared, swirling above the box Daisuke was trapped in; lightning flashed between them. Donovyn twirled his sword around, and stabbed the ground with it. Once he did so, several thin beams of energy, along with half a dozen bolts of lightning, struck the box, which exploded in mid-air.

Fuuta ran to his window, having heard an explosion. "What was that?" he asked, noticing dark clouds dispersing over a small area. "That's...not normal," he noted. He jumped down and ran off toward where he'd seen to clouds. [i]What was that explosion, and why did it come from the same direction as those clouds? Are they connected in some way?[/i]
It wasn't long before he reached his destination, and stood shocked at the sight. Daisuke was laying on the ground, battered and burned, his Zanpakuto laying on the ground, broken in half. He looked around, and saw no one around. [i]This-this isn't happening! First the masks vanish, then Kanpachi is killed, and now this? What's next!?[/i]
Daisuke groaned, but showed no other signs of life. Fuuta ran over, and placed two fingers on Daisuke's neck. "Okay, so he's alive. He's going to need medical attention, though," he said, wraping Daisuke's left arm around his shoulders. He was soon joined by several more Soul Reapers who'd heard the explosion.
"Head Captain, what happened?" Mizuki asked, dressed in a thin night gown. The same question was repeated by other Soul Reapers, most dressed in night clothes, others dressed in their Shihakusho.
"I don't know, Mizuki," Fuuta answered. "I don't see your captain anywhere. Where is he?" he asked.
"I don't know. When I heard the explosion, the first thing I did was run to wake him up, but when I got there, he wasn't in his room," Mizuki answered. Fuuta groaned, looking down slightly. [i]Well, isn't that perfect? Now Donovyn's gone missing.[/i]
"Captains, meet me in the meeting room. I'm calling an emergency meeting. Mizuki, Megami, you see if you can't track down Captain Gerra. Someone get Daisuke here to the Squad Four Barracks," Fuuta ordered. "Something's going on here and I don't like it," he added.
Mizuki Flash Stepped away in search of her brother, and Megami followed. Another Soul Reaper grabbed Daisuke's right arm and threw it around her shoulder, freeing Fuuta of his weight. "Everyone else, back to your quarters, get some sleep. I have a feeling you're gonna need it," Fuuta said. The crowd dispersed, some of them having random conversations. The Captains all headed toward the Meeting Hall.

Mizuki ran all through the Seireite, but failed to find Donovyn. [i]Where is he? Come on, Nii-San, where did you go? Why was Daisuke so badly injured?[/i] Tears began filling her eyes as she ran through the streets.
She jumped up onto the roof of a nearby building, leaving behind a trail of tears. [i]Where did you go, Nii-San? Why would you leave me behind?[/i] Megami jumped up behind her, looking around. "Where did he go? Why would he leave his sisters behind like this?" Mizuki asked the air.
Megami walked over to the opposite edge of the roof, and sighed. "I don't know. It doesn't make sense that he would leave us behind, does it?" she said. She gasped, her eyes going wide. "You don't think he had anything to do with Daisuke, do you?"
"I don't even want to consider that as a possibility Megami," Mizuki told her. [i]But, that explosion... and those clouds... Those are just like the ones in that Bakudo he developed...[/i] "I know he's innocent," she said, trying more to reassure herself than Megami. "Keiko would call us silly for talking about him like this," she added, clutching her arms around herself, and falling to her knees. "Wehave to find Nii-San," she began, fighting back tears. "Nii...San... where-where is he?" She looked up to the sky. "NIIIII-SAAAAAAAAAN!"[/spoiler][/spoiler]
[spoiler=The War Arc]
[spoiler=Chapter 41: The Dream]
Daisuke stood in a white abyss. There didn't appear to be a floor, or for that matter, anything. He looked around, but found nothing to indicate that he was anywhere besides alone. "I guess... this is what the middle of nowhere looks like," he told himself. He took a step, and realized that there was no floor.
He was carried several feet by the momentum of his movement. He closed his eyes and shook his head. When he opened them again, he was in his living room. "Daisuke, it's your turn," he heard a familiar voice say to him. He turned to see Maria's brown eyes looking at him impatiently.
He took a box from the pile at his side; the box sparkled in the light from the Christmas Tree. He tore the paper from the box, and took out a small cross on a string. His eyes widened, recognizing it, and knowing it's purpose. "Thanks, mom, I get to fight Hollows now?" he asked, looking up.
"Almost, Daisuke, first you have to learn how to use it," his mother told him. She reached over to take a box from her pile, as Maria leaned over to give him a hug and compliment his gift. Daisuke looked down at it, sliping it onto his wrist. When he looked up again, he was greeted with his house being on fire, and a Hollow holding Maria in it's grip; the smile on his face faded into a look of horror.
His mother lay bleeding on the ground in front of him, screaming Maria's name. He looked around for his father, but couldn't find him anywhere. He held out his arm, forming the Quincy's Bow. The Hollow laughed as Daisuke shot an arrow at it. The arrow caught the Hollows shoulder.
The Hollow ripped open a garganta, vanishing into Hueco Mundo with his sister. "No! Bring her back here!" he heard his mother yell. He felt tears well up in his eyes. His mothers screams began getting weaker and weaker. He knelt down beside her, holding her in his arms as her final breaths escaped her lungs. "Please, bring her back," she told him as her heart stopped.
He clutched his mother's body, fighting back tears. "MARIA!" he shouted, looking to the heavens as tears fell from his eyes. He began spinning, the ground giving way. He held Megami's body to his chest, grabing his Zanpakuto. He watched as Mizuki used her Zanpakuto in an attempt to put out the fires breaking out in the Squad Six Barracks.
"You called, Daisuke?" Megami's assailant asked. Daisuke looked into eyes he could have sworn were Maria's. She brushed her light brown hair out of her matching brown eye. Her mask covered her left eye, and wrapped around to the back of her head, stopping at the top of her head. Her lips were thin, but red enough that they were still attractive, just as his sisters had been. The chuckle she gave also reminded him of her.
"What's the matter, Daisuke, don't you recognize your own sister?" he heard someone ask. Daisuke watched as she walked toward him, and heard Donovyn chuckling. It was only at that moment he saw his former teacher standing behind her, wearing his Hollow Mask. "I did tell you, didn't I? That you had guessed correctly about me going to see a girl? Well, here she is, aren't you happy you know who it is now?"
Donovyn laughed manically, charging a Cero in his hand. "Come on, Daisuke, didn't you vow to your mother that you'd get your sister back? She's right there, so take her! Return her to your mother!" he said laughing. Daisuke trembled, holding his Zanpakuto tightly in one hand, and Megami's lifeless body in the other. Tears fell down his cheeks, but he held back the sobs.
"You bastard," he said quietly. "How? How could you do something like this!?" he screamed at Donovyn. "She trusted you! Megami had taken you as her brother, and this is how you repay her loyalty?" Maria drew her Zanpakuto, causing Daisuke to fall backward.
"It couldn't be helped, Daisuke. Not everything in the world is completely clear-cut like you seem to want it to be," Donovyn told him, ask he Flash Stepped to the roof of a building that had been spared flames. Daisuke threw a small box-like object at Donovyn.
"Grietz!" he shouted as the box grew around Donovyn. Donovyn launched his Cero, as Daisuke Flash Stepped behind him. The Cero destroyed the Quincy Spell, and hit the building, obliterating everything, including Megami's body. Daisuke stabbed Donovyn through the heart. "I had my sister stolen from me! I didn't have a choice, so don't you sit there and tell me you had a reason for throwing away what you had!"
"Throw it away? Good idea!" he heard someone say behind him. Daisuke's eyes widened as an arm reached over his shoulder, grabing Maria's hair. Daisuke dropped his Zanpakuto, causing the reishi blade to retract, and spun around. He saw an Arrancar he recognized holding Maria by the hair, but he didn't pay that any attention.
He looked into the lifeless eyes of his sister: he saw the shock that accompanied the bleeding wound in her chest, a wound he'd caused. Then he looked at the Arrancar holding her. It was the Arrancar who had attacked him not long after he'd met Donovyn. The Arrancar gave a loud, sadistic laugh before throwing Maria's body off to the side, and then launched a Cero, obliterating the body. "NOOOOOO!" Daisuke cried out, reaching for her.
He closed his eyes and pounded the ground, as the laughter of the Arrancar faded. "No, no, no, no," he kept repeating. He tossed and turned, before sitting upright, gasping. He looked around, not sure where he was. He continued breathing hard, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"Oh, good," he heard someone say, "you're awake." He looked over to see Keiko tending him. "I would have begun your treatment sooner, but the Head Captain called an emergency meeting. It sounded like you were having a bad nightmare." He lay back down, trying to recount the dream.
"Captain Shoujo?" he asked. Keiko looked at him, and he continued. "How long does it take for a soul to become an Arrancar?"
"I don't know. No one does for certain," Keiko began. "Aizen's Espada didn't contain very many natural Arrancars, but we do know that all of them, even the artificial ones, were Adjucha level when they became Arrancars. Why?"[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 42: Valentine's Day]
Keiko's eyes widened at Daisuke's recounting of his nightmare. "Well, that's some dream," she said, not knowing what else to say. Daisuke gripped at the sheets, while Keiko prepared a drink fo him at his side. The two sat in silence for a few minutes, with the only sound coming from Keiko's mixing of Daisuke's drink. "Here," she finally said, "drink this, it'll help your injuries."
"Thanks" Daisuke said, sipping the drink. "So... you do know who it was, right? Who attacked me... whenever?" Keiko thought about that for a minute.
"Well, no, we don't. It was only last night, by the way, that you were attacked," Keiko answered.
"It was Donovyn. Donovyn attacked me," Daisuke told her, taking another sip of his drink. He looked over to see that her eyes were almost poping out of her skull. "I don't know why he did it, he just... Well, I followed him out of the barracks. When I caught up to him, I started asking him where he was going, and then... he attacked me. Thing is, he used a Soul Reaper spell that I'd never heard of before. He said that he developed it himself..."

Mizuki walked in just as Daisuke explained how Donovyn had ended their fight. She dropped the card that she'd been holding, and took a step back. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Her brother had used his new Bakudo - one that he developed to defend his friends - to attack those same friends he had tried to protect. Not only did he attack Daisuke, he then left Daisuke to die.
[i]Wait a minute. When I watched him test Frietz, he obliterated everything inside of the box. There's no way that Spell could have left Daisuke with only a burn and not even a single broken bone. He wasn't using it at full power. He wanted Daisuke to stay alive, I knew it![/i]
She picked up the card, and walked over to Daisuke. [i]But, he still vanished, and he still attacked Daisuke for no apparent reason. I wonder why he did that...[/i] "Daisuke," she said, handing him the card, "I couldn't find Donovyn, but when we looked back over the scene of the attack, we found this. It's addressed to you." Daisuke took the card from her, noticing the large black heart on it's front cover, and read through it.
"Daisuke, hope you're having fun. I may not be able to show you, but I have gotten a lot stronger. Sending Vaentine's Love: Elphemia da Putana," he read out loud. He blinked for several seconds after reading the card. "Wait a minute... it's Valentine's Day?"

Mary-Sue smiled as D walked into the room. He walked between the two rows of Arrancar, with Elphemia standing beside Dios. "I'm back for good this time, Milady. There is nothing more I need do, and Elphemia, I delivered your message to Daisuke," he announced. Mary-Sue gave a small, happy laugh, with a large grin on her face.
"That's quite good to hear, D. This is the perfect day to get that news as well," she said. She summoned a few Arrancar from the edges of the room, who approached to just behind the rows. "I think some wine is in order. Get the good bottles from the back of the wine cellar. The rest of you, to the Dining Hall."
The Arrancar bowed, and walked toward the doors. The Espada, along with D and Elphemia, began walking toward the Dining Hall. They all sat at the table in their assigned places, as the servants poured wineinto their cups. Mary-Sue stood up and held her glass up, and began speaking. "As you've heard, our friend here, D, has finally come to stay," she began, with the Espada giving a quiet applause.
"As such, I propose a toast," she added, everyone at the table taking a deep drink from their glasses. "As well, it is now February Fourteenth, Valentine's Day. If you look under your chairs you will see a package addressed to each of you." Each of the Espada looked underneath their seats, and came up with a small package. They noted that each one bared a [i]SWAK[/i] in the same color as Mary-Sue's lipstick.
Maria opened her package first. Her eyes lit up with happiness as she took out what was in the box. What she held in her hand was a small ball of chocolate, which she ate without any hesitation. She gave a small laugh as she pulled out another ball of chocolate, inciting the others to follow suit. "It's very tastey," Evanescent commented after trying a piece, "Is it a recipe that you came up with yourself, Lady Mary-Sue?"
"It is indeed, Evanescent. I've been experimenting with chocolate recipes during my free time for that past year," she answered, giggling a bit. She watched as the others each tried her chocolate, each one enjoying the taste. Dios was the last person at the table to try the chocolate, and was the only one who didn't react to it. "So, since the pleasentries have been taken care of, I'd like to ask something of you, Dios Deus," Mary-Sue said sweetly, resting her chin on her laced fingers.

Daisuke sat in his bed, surrounded by other Soul Reapers. Several of the females had brought him gifts. Mainly chocolate, and flowers, and other romantic things like that. The males brought him cards with phrases that read "[i]You're one cool dude[/i]," "[i]You're awesome[/i]," among other similar phrases. Lichroy had brought one that read "[i]Get well soon[/i]," and then left.
"Are you feeling okay," Megami asked. Daisuke nodded, and he could tell that she was genuinely concerned. [i]So, I comment on her name, and then I have to almost die a few months later for her to actually forgive me? Am I the only one who sees something wrong here?[/i] "I don't suppose you've seen Donovyn around today, have you Daisuke?"
"Sorry," Daisuke said without thinking, "I haven't seen him. I've asked other Soul Reapers, and they haven't seen him either. No one's seen Donovyn since yesterday." Ze’Borova walked in past the other Soul Reapers, Fuuta shoulder-to-shoulder with him. The look on their faces showed that they didn't come here for a friendly visit.
"Daisuke, I'm sorry to have to ask you this, especially considering what day it is," Fuuta began. Ze’Borova looked down, a grim look on his face. "Considering that you said Donovyn had attacked you, and that no one has seen him since then, we have no choice but to assume he's defected. We have to assume the worst at this point. We have to assume that he's working with the Arrancar."
"Daisuke," Ze’Borova spoke up, as Daisuke's face became shocked. "You're going to have to go after him. Try to get that girl back on our side if you can, and if you can't, well..." Daisuke's face showed that hewas hoping to hear anything but what came next. "You're going to have to kill her, too. We'll give you back up, there's no way you'll be able to win this fight alone."[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 43: Dios, The Mayor, And Rinnie]
Dios and Elphemia sat on the roof of the shop opposite the building their targets were in. Elphemia noticed the sunrise first, and Dios nodded. "Keep your Spiritual Pressure hidden," Dios whispered. Elphemia nodded, and they both jumped down from the building. They noticed that the locks were broken from Zavara's failed attempt at assassination.

Ubisuke woke up, hearing the cans clang against each other. [i]Their back. I knew they would be.[/i] he grabbed his Zanpakuto, which had been resting on a rock, and prepared for a fight. When an Arrancar dropped down from the stairs, he imediately launched a powerful blast of fire from his Zanpakuto.
"So, you had an alarm system in place. Interesting, I hadn't even noticed it," the Arrancar said, stepping forward out of the fire. "And look at that, you scorched my robes. I don't think I'll be forgetting that any time soon," he said. Ubisuke stepped back, holding his Zanpakuto at the ready.
"Scream, Remo," he said, releasing his Zanpakuto. "I don't know what you want, but I do know that you're not getting it," he said, swinging his Zanpakuto. A girl jumped down, her left arm in a shield-like form. The needles that shot out from his Zanpakuto bounced off of ther arm, without even scratching it. Ubisuke just launched several more strikes, attempting to at least do some damage to the girl and the Arrancar.

Elphemia kept her arm held up as the Soul Reaper kept up his assault. He had apparently not recognized them, else he'd have taken up a different tactic in his attacks. After thirty seconds, and thousands of needles, they started sparking. Dios grinned, drawing his Zanpakuto. "Go mad, Negativo," he chuckled.
Elphemia's arm reverted back to it's original form, and the needles dissappeared. A look of realization came over the Soul Reaper's face as he seemed to remember his two attackers. "I see you finally figured it out," Dios said, grinning, "You're attacks are worthless against me. It doesn't matter how many of those needles you throw, anyu spirit attack you have will just be cancled when it gets within six feet of me."
He rushed toward the stunned Soul Reaper, raising his fist. Ubisuke's Zanpakuto reverted to it's sealed form as Dios got closer. "Yeah, I remember you now," Ubisuke said, a small note of fear in his voice. Dios's punch connected with Ubisuke's stomach, sending him back several feet. "This doesn't look good," Ubisuke muttered.

The Arrancar began running at him again, readying for another strike. "STOP!" Jennifer screamed from behind him. The Arrancar stopped in his tracks, a shocked look over his face. Jennifer walked closer to the Arrancar, and told him to turn around. She stood face to face with him, staring him in the eyes.
"Now, I want you to seal your Zanpakuto," she said coldly. Dios did so, albeit while trying to keep it released. "Next, I want you-" she was cut off by an attack hitting the side of her face. When she managed to look at her attacker, she was surpried to see that she was looking at a young lady, her left arm shield-like. The girl's right arm turned black, with a red stripe running from her fist to the shoulder.
"That's an interesting ability you've got there, woman. My Ressureccion should have negated [i]all[/i] non-physical techniques. Obviously your technique relies on something other than Reishi," Dios said, chuckling. "Not that it's going to matter a few minutes from now, anyway. You're not going to be walking out of here today."
The girl punched the ground with her right arm, and the Arrancar chuckled. "Dios Muerte," she said as lightning shot from her fist and through the ground. The lightning ran along the ground, and through Jennifer's body. Jennifer let out a loud, shrill scream, which resonated through the room.

Rinnie was stirred from her sleep by her mother's scream. She could see Ubisuke curled up in pain, while her mother was being tortured, while a man stood to the side, enjoying the spectacle. She traced one of the petals on the flower pin on her chest, and then swung her arm toward the girl. Tsubaki shot from the pin, shooting toward the girl at high speed, leaving a half-inch trail in the ground along the way.
The Arrancar vanished from his position, and appeared between Rinnie and the girl, his sword drawn. Rinnie's eyes widened when she noticed that he had sliced Tsubaki in half in that brief instant. She traced over three of the remaining petals, forming a triangular shield in front of her. The Arrancar disappeared again, and she heard his sword clash with her shield.

Ubisuke pushed himself up, and took aim at the girl with his Zanpakuto. He launched a powerful fire blast at her, forcing her to give up her assault. She began charging an attack in her left fist, and began running at him. Jennifer collapsed, still twitching due to the massive ammount of electricity that had run through her body. [i]I don't think Zaraki is going to show up this time. We're in trouble.[/i]
The girl launched her attack from only four feet away, forcing Ubisuke to block it with the flat edge of his Zanpakuto. The force of the blast puched him back a few feet, the effort to stay on the ground causing him to drop after the attack faded. "Okay, I was trying not to do this in here, but, I don't think I've got much choice," he said. The girl readied herself for an attack, placing her shield arm in front of her. Ubisuke released his Zanpakuto, and swung it in front of him as he called out "Bankai."[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 44: Ze’Borova and Daisuke]
Daisuke walked with the Second Captain through the Seireitei. "Where did you say we were going again?" he asked.
"It's an artificial Garganta. It only works for about four minutes at a time, but it's the only way for Soul Reapers to get into Hueco Mundo," Ze’Borova answered. "Lichroy made it, in case you were gonna ask about that, too."
"Okay, now, let's say that by some miracle we actually defeat the Arrancar. How do we get back?" Daisuke asked. Ze’Borova thought for a second before answering.
"I have no idea," he said. Daisuke just sighed and continued walking. [i]It's like looking for the Vizards with Donovyn all over again. At least we know where we're going this time.[/i] The two of them walked in silence for a few minutes before either of them spoke again.
"Where exactly is this artificial Garganta anyway?" Daisuke asked, trudging along behind Ze’Borova.
"I'm not sure," Ze’Borova stated. "I've never actually used it before."
"So, why are you coming with me instead of Creator? Didn't you say he was the one who actually ade the thing int he first place?" Daisuke asked.
"Because Lichroy said no to guiding you, and the only other person who knows where it is isn't here," Ze’Borova answered. [i]Okay, maybe we don't know[/i] exactly [i]where we're going, but at least we have a vague idea.[/i] Ze’Borova continued, "I do know that it's somewhere 50 miles south of the Rukon District. It'll be somewhere near a waterfall. Only thing is... there's about 47 waterfalls in that area." [i]A really vague idea.[/i]

Lichroy stood in the lab at the Department of Research and Development, tinkering with a device on a table in front of him. One of the Soul Reapers who worked in the lab full time approached him, and waited for acknowkedgment. "Yes, what do you want. Just come out with it," he said.
"Sir, why didn't you accompany Daisuke to find that Garganta you made? Surely you remember where you made it at?"
"Of course I do. It's ninety-two point three-seven-two-zero-six-three Kilometers south of the Rukon District, in the fourth side chamber from the entrance, in the cave behind the limestone waterfall," Lichroy answered without looking up from his tinkering. The other Soul reaper blinked before saying even a single word.
"So then, why not guide him there?"
"I didn't feel like it. Besides, I needed a new coffee maker."
"Do they know where it is?"
"They know the general location." The other Soul Reaper sighed before walking off. "Finally," Lichroy told himself.

Ubisuke's Zanpakuto extended to become a thin blade the length of his own body. He gripped the hilt with both hands, and held the sword in front of his face; electrical sparks began to jump off the blade. "Dorogon Remo," he said as the electricity shot rapidly from his sword and tookt the form of a giant dragon.
"Oh, not this again, don't you have anything else you can do with that sword of yours?" the girl asked as she began charging electricity in her right hand. Ubisuke swung his sword, causing the lightning dragon to move toward the girl. The girl swung at the dragon, her fist connecting with it's snout. "Dios muerte!" he heard her shout, and a few seconds later, the dragon exploded at the point where it connected with the girl's fist. Only a second later, Ubisuke could see the girl running toward him, charging another attack in her fist.
Ubisuke swung his sword straight down, sending electricity into the ground around him. "Ekibyo Dorogon Remo," he said as the electricity shot out of the ground around his foe, spiraling upward. The electricity began to form into another dragon, which began to dive toward the ground. It wrapped around the girl, coiling tightly. A second later, the dragon exploded, the girl trapped inside.

"Here we are," Ze’Borova said, motioning to a very run-down neighborhood, "Welcome to the Rukon District." Daisuke looked around, and noticed people dressed in rags, merchants selling fruits and vegetables, at prices it looked like most of the people who needed them couldn't pay. He heard a merchant yelling about a kid stealing one of his apples, and ran over. He noticed a small girl with the same color hair as him, dressed in clothes that looked like they were about to break away and fall off. A thought popped into his head, one that he didn't think likely, but hoped was correct.
Daisuke took some money from his Shihakusho, and tapped the merchant on the shoulder. He spun around and looked like he was about to hit Daisuke for helping the girl escape. His expression slowly changed to one of surprise as it dawned on him that he was looking at a Soul Reaper. "I'd like to buy an apple, please," Daisuke told him. The man said to wait while he got back the apple the girl had stolen. "That's actually the one I wanted to buy."
"Wait, you mean, you want to buy the apple she took?"
"Yup," Daisuke answered simply. The girl tried to hide the apple from view as the man took the money from Daisuke. "I'll handle it," he said as the merchant started to turn around. The merchant shrugged and walked away, and Daisuke knelt down before the girl, who seemed determined not to lose her apple. It was then that Daisuke noticed that the girls eyes were blue, not the light brown of his sister.
The girl looked near to tears and Daisuke reached into his Shihakusho again. He noticed that her tears began to fall, and handed her a small sum of money. "There now, no tears," he said, wiping the ones that existed from her face. "Next time you want something to eat, try to get some money first. I hear people give out free change to people who provide entertainment. Try playing an instrument, or singing, or perhaps dancing. You look like you'd be a good dancer."
"Thank you, Mr. Soul Reaper," she said, taking the money before running off. Daisuke smiled as he watched after her.
"You really think dancing will work?" Ze’Borova asked, walking up behind him. Daisuke shrugged before answering.
"Works where I'm from. And I meant what I said when I told her she looked like she'd be good at it." Ze’Borova shrugged, and walked away, calling Daisuke to follow.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 45: Tomb]
The smoke cleared from Ubisuke's attack. He fell to his knees, breathing heavily. He looked upon the scene, shocked beyond words, trembling at what he saw. [i]There's no way! I put every ounce of my Spirit Energy into that attack, there's no possible way anyone could have survived![/i]
Certain as he was about no one being able to survive, there in the middle of the explosions radius, stood his opponent, and it seemed that her powers had evolved. She was encased in what looked like armor, which formed to her body. The left side of her body was covered in white with pink stripes running across it. The right side was black with red stripes running in the same pattern. "That's it, I think this fight's gone on long enough. Time to end it," she said.
She began walking toward him, electricity arching between her fingers. Ubisuke raised his Zanpakuto, attempting to bring forth his dragon. The electricity sparked from the blade, but before he was able to build up enough power, the sword reverted back to his Shikai. [i]No, why'd this have to happen now of all times?[/i] He swung his Zanpakuto, which was caught by the girl; electricity traveled through his Zanpakuto and into his body.

Jennifer watched as the girl continued her assault on the Soul Reaper. She tried to stand up, her legs still shaking violently. "Leave him alone," she said weakly. The girl released Ubisuke's Zanpakuto, and stood looking at her. Ubisuke collasped, gasping for breath as his Zanpakuto returned to it's sealed form.
Lightning began arching between the girl's fingers once again. She moved her arm back to begin punching. "Whatever you're doing, stop it," Jennifer said, still breathing hard. The girl scowled, but lowered her arm. "Now, seal your powers, I want to to look like a girl again."

Dios shifted his eyes to see that Elphemia was under the influence of the woman's powers. [i]That simply won't do. I should do something about that.[/i] He smirked, taking his right hand off his Zanpakuto, charging a Cero. He shifted his eyes toward the girl he'd been attacking.
He could see that her eyes were widening behind her cracked shield. She screamed when he held his arm toward her mother. She began running to try to intercept the attack at the very instant he'd fired it. The woman turned her head just in time to notice the attack before getting hit by it. The woman's daughter fell to her knees, wide-eyed at the sight.
"Now, where were we?" he asked, stepping closer to the girl. He held his Zanpakuto out while Elphemia returned her attention to the Soul Reaper. "Oh, I remember, I was just about to shatter that pesky shield of yours." He chuckled just before he rushed into the shield once more. The sword clashed with the shield, shattering it on contact.
"Well, so much for that strategy, huh?" he said, standing over her, grinning and chuckling. He stabbed the pin on the girl's chest, making sure not to kill her in the same move. "Can't have you making another shield, can we?" he laughed as the pin shattered. Dios sheathed his sword, and kicked the girl across the room. She stared back at him upon landing, wide-eyed, hope lost from her eyes.

"Dios and Elphemia are certainly taking their own sweet time in finishing off their targets, aren't they?" D asked. He and Mary-Sue were sitting on opposite ends of her bed, looking at each other.
"I figured they would. You know how Dios gets when he's fighting, especially if the fight would be boring without him messing around," Mary-Sue answered, tracing her finger over one of the flower designs on her pillow. "We needn't worry about them, however. With Zaraki gone there's nothing the Soul Society can do to stop us. Why don't we just lay here and enjoy what time we have alone together, and would you please remove that mask so I can see your face?"
"I suppose so," D answered, removing his mask and moving to sit beside Mary-Sue. She lowered the hood of his cloak as he cradled her face gingerly in his hands. They smiled warmly as Mary-Sue ran her fingers through D's long black hair.

"Give me a break, this is the fifth waterfall we've checked around!" Daisuke shouted as he and Ze’Borova stepped away from one of the waterfalls in the area the Garganta was located in. "It's just... you'd think he'd make something that important easier to find. Or at least give better directions to it." Ze’Borova sighed, and looked up at the sky.
"We'll, knowing him he has a pitiful reason for not coming himself, and an even more pathetic reason for not giving us half-way decent directions to this thing. Still, we're in the general location, so the only thing we can do at this point is keep looking. I've known him about as well as anyone for a while, so I may be abnle to figure out about where he put it," he finally said. Ze’Borova stood thinking for a few minutes, occasionally looking around at one of the six waterfalls within sight. "I can't think of a single thing that could help us."
[i]Yeah, I'm not surprised by that at all anymore. It's kind of scary.[/i] "Oh, wait. There is one thing I can think of. There's only one waterfall around here who's surrounding rock is made of Limestone. It kind of stands out, so it's the perfect place to hide something important like that. Thing is... that really doesn't make it easier to find. We'll still have to search for it a while," Ze’Borova said, sighing at the end.

"Dios, don't you think it's about time you ended it? Seriously, stop playing around so we can get back," Elphemia said, strapping the Soul Reaper's Zanpakuto to her own hip.
"Yeah, I guess. This is getting boring anyway," Dios said, giving a light tap on the girl's face. She had long since ceased to move on her own. "She looks plenty dead to me. Come on, let's go," he stated.[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Time for Plan "B"]
"Hey, Ze’b, I found it!" Daisuke shouted. "There's only one small problem," he stated when Ze’borova walked into the chamber. The two of them stared, wide-eyed at what they'd spent a significant amount of time searching for. The arch that was the frame of Lichroy Creator's artificial garganta had been smashed, rendering it broken beyond repair. "How did that happen, though?" Daisuke said as Ze’borova walked closer to the mess.
"I think this is how," he said, picking up something from the reckage. "If I'm right, Lichroy will find that this is a blasting cap. This isn't an unfortunate accident, Daisuke. Someone doesn't want us entering Hueco Mundo." Daisuke sat on the floor of the cave, trying to run through various explainations for what he was seeing.
"I can only think of one thing that can explain why there was an eplosive charge set to blow up something this important," Daisuke finally muttered.
"Yeah, same here. I just hope I'm wrong about it, though. If I'm right, then we're in for the fight of out lives here," Ze’Borova told him. Daisuke looked at the captain before him. He didn't know much about his current traveling partner, but what he did know made the statement even more terrifying.
This was a man who once went toe-to-toe with with a Vasto Lorde, and forced a retreat. If he was scared to fight Captain Gerra, then Daisuke wouldn't stand a chance. "We need to report this, Ze’b. Fuuta won't like it, but he needs to know."
"Yeah, and the sooner we tell Lichroy, the sooner he'll be able to think of some alternate way of getting into Hueco Mundo. He made this one, so it should be a cinch to make another one. Or at least he already knows how it's done."

Mary-Sue looked over the New Espada, D standing on her right. "I trust you all know what we're here for," Mary-Sue began. She moved her eyes, studying everyone. "In three days, we invade the Soul Society at it's heart: The Seireitei, where the Soul Reaper forces are concentrated. We'll divide up their forces into five parts."
She looked over them again, eyeing their reaction. "You'll each be with your Fraccion, and your partner's Fraccion as well. D will go on ahead, you'll find out why when the time comes. Evanescent and myself will go to the middle of the Seireitei. The rest of you will go to the corners and cause as much trouble as you can. We want the Soul Reapers to go investigate.
"The Northwest corner will be covered by Dios and Kailie. Naturally, Elphemia will go with them. Southeast will be covered by Cherry and Eise. Itachi and Odin, you're on Southwest. Draco and Zavara will go to the Northeast."
A girl with brown hair, her mask covering the top right quarter of her head, looked over at her. "Don't think I forgot about you, Maria. You have a special job, much like D. You'll go in in the morning, and make sure that Quincy is distracted. Lure him out of the Seireitei. Remember, he may not be aware of it, but he [i]can[/i] still use his Quincy powers. I don't want him with the main forces when the attack goes down."

Fuuta lowered his head, sighing. "What a pain. This is a major set-back."
"I don't think I'll be able to make a new one by the end of the week, either," Lichroy stated.
"Wait, don't you know how to do it already? Shouldn't that make it easier the second time around?" Ze’Borova asked.
"Well, yes and no." He noted the confused look on Ze’Borova's face and continued. "Well, I know how to do it, yes, but it's not enough just to know how. Actually doing it is another problem entirely. I can't just throw things together and snap my fingers, you know. There's a lot that goes into it, certain materials I need, that I can't just find laying around on the street. If I'm going to connect it to Hueco Mundo - an entirely different dimension to this one - then I'm going to need materials from [i]that[/i] dimension, not this one."
"And of course we need a way to actually get there," Fuuta noted. "That's just perfect." He closed his eyes, and lowered his head. "So, either we find another way into Hueco Mundo, or we wait for them to come to us. Any ideas of how to get there?"
Fuuta looked at each of the Captains in turn, hoping that one of them would be able to tell him anything. "I guess no one has any ideas," he sighed. "So then, does anyone at least have a plan for what we [i]can[/i] do about our situation?" He looked around again, hopeful of an answer. Each of the other Soul Reaper captains simply looked at the floor, deep in thought.
"What do you think the odds are of us finding Captain Gerra?" Captain Elreigner asked.
"I doubt their anywhere close to decent," Captain Creator interjected. "He's the only other person who knew where that Garganta was, and if that thing was destroyed, well..."

Daisuke stood alone in his old training ground, holding his Zanpakuto vertically, facing a target he'd sat in front of the tree. [i]Creator said that when a Soul Reaper masters Bankai, they're able to release their Shikai without calling it. Let's try that one out, I might need it.[/i] He tried several times slashing his sword through the air, unsuccessfully. [i]Okay, I need to ask someone how to do that.[/i]

"Are you almost done?" Itachi asked. He stood facing a man clad in a purple robe, holding a large broad sword. Both Espada had released their Zanpakuto, trying to make themselves stronger in preparation of the upcoming invasion. "Come on, Odin, if that's the best you've got, how weak are the Espada ranked below you?" The seventh Espada looked up at his opponent, raising his sword above his head.
Itachi began spinning his sword above his head, as Odin started running toward him, his sword coated in fire. The two swords clashed, sending fire and electricity over the entire area. Both combatants jumped backward, and rushed toward each other again. "Well, at least you lasted longer than last time," Itachi said, stabing the ground, Odin's sword laying ten feet away.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 47: Darkness Approaches]
Daisuke was still attempting, without success, to release his Zanpakuto without calling it. "You're not going to be able to do it just by swinging the sword around," he heard a voice say from behind. "You have to feel out the spirit, and coax it to the surface." He thought he recognized the voice, but he pun around to make sure his desperate ears weren't playing games with him. He grinned when he confirmed the voice's owner, elated at his unexpected appearance.
"You came back. You really came back," he said, feeling a huge pressure lift from his shoulders. "Where have you been?" he asked, a small laugh escaping his lips.
"I've been... busy. Anyone can tell that something big is stirring with the Arrancar. Have you noticed that all the masks we've gathered have vanished, and yet we've yet to see a single Arrancar either here or in the World of the Living?" Donovyn stated. Daisuke thought about this statement for a minute. [i]Donovyn attacked me not long ago; he could have killed me, easily, but he didn't. Now he won't even say where he was or what he was doing. What was he doing that was so important? Then again, he did say something about meeting a girl... Maybe something to do with continuing his bloodline?[/i]
"I guess you're right," he finally said out loud. He ran through what Donovyn told him about releaing his Zanpakuto without calling it. "Okay, feel the spirit, and coax it to the surface," he muttered under his breath. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, while attempting to feel Szelechneider. "Okay, let's try it now," he said, swinging his blade.
A second blade shot from the bottom of the hilt, and both blades curved and turned jet black. His Shikai had released without being called. "Sweetness," he said, grinning. He placed a hand between the tips of the bow, forming the arrow and reishi string. He fired the arrow, and watched the effect he was so familiar with.
"And it doesn't lack for power, look at that," he stated.
"I should hope it's just as powerful, otherwise that'd mean you're doing something wrong," Donovyn answered.

Donovyn left Daisuke to his training, and walked toward Squad One's Barracks. [i]If I'm gonna be here a while, I might as well let Fuuta know about it. Besides, there's something I need to talk to him about.[/i] At the entrance to the Squad One Barracks, he noticed something he wasn't expecting: Ze’Borova and Lichroy talking to each other. He crept behind a nearby tree to hear what they were discussing.
"All I'm saying is, I don't think we can trust him," Lichroy was saying.
"Even if that is the case, what are we going to do about it. You said yourself that we can barely force the Arrancar to retreat, and we know he's far stonger than any of the Arrancar, except Evanescent," Ze’Borova stated.
"Look, you have so much Reishi it isn't funny, right? Plus you have the original Lightning-based Zanpakuto. Between that and my inventions, we may stand a chance against him."
"Well, that is true, albeit a long shot. Say, half a mile?"
"Look, I've been working on a way to focus Reishi into a small point. Kind of like the way Daisuke- well, all Quincies, really- can do with bows and arrows. With the ammount of energy you possess, and if this thing works, then we'll be rid of Donovyn and the Espada in one shot." [i]Heh, so Lichroy doesn't trust me? That might complicate things a bit. And he's got a new invention? That might be useful.[/i] Donovyn grinned a bit.
"In theory, it might work if I can put all my Reishi into one small point, they may not stand a chance. Still, that'd be dangerous. If it goes off prematurely, well, then [i]I[/i] don't stand a chance." Donovyn chuckled at Ze’Borova's remark. [i]Very good point, Captain Preyn. I'll have to inform Evanescent about that if you decide to use it a couple days from now.[/i]
"Look, it will work. Have you noticed that every time Donovyn shows up, something goes missing, and shortly after that, so does he?" [i]You always were the smart one, Lichroy. A bit[/i] too [i]smart. Lady Mary-Sue will be quite displeased when she hears that you've figured it out.[/i] "The only reasonable explaination is that he's been leaking information to the Arrancars."
"Well, how do you know it was him? I mean, Cielo said something about Nelson attacking him for no real reason. Not only that, but he has a tendency to disappear as well. I don't spend too much time around here myself."
"Hmm, I guess you're right..." Lichroy conceeded. [i]Well, that's good, he's having second thoughts about it.[/i] "Still, I think we should do some testing on my new gadget. It may yet come in handy, if not against Donovyn, then against the Arrancar. We know they're up to something. Besides, it could be used by unseated officers later. Though, I still don't trust Donovyn."
Donovyn stepped out from behind the tree, acting as though he had only just shown up. Ze’Borova and Lichroy both looked at him. He gave a small wave and a nonchalant grin. "Hey, how's it goin, guys? Been a while, hasn't it?"
"How long have you been there?" Lichroy asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Not long. Mind if I get through there? I need to talk to Fuuta about something," Donovyn said as an answer, tilting his head a bit.
"Yeah, sure. I'm sure Fuuta has some questions he'd like to ask you as well," Ze’Borova said, giving him enough space to squeeze through.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 48:The War Begins]
[i]Donovyn answered all of Fuuta's questions to satisfaction. Once that was out of the way, Donovyn explained to Fuuta about an impending invasion of the Soul Society by the end of the week, and suggested that the main forces be assembled at the main entrance to the Seireitei. With the Soul Reapers prepared for battle, two days passed fairly quietly.[/i][hr]
Maria followed D's directions to the Squad Six Barracks, and headed straight to Daisuke's room. She knocked on the door, and then flashed to the roof. Daisuke opened the door, and looked around for the source of the knock. Maria giggled, and gave Daisuke just enough time to make out that someone was there before running off again.
Maria smirked and giggled, looking back to make sure she was being followed by Daisuke. [i]Good, everything is going according to plan.[/i] She made a quick turn to her left, heading out of the Seireitei. Every several seconds, she'd look back to make sure that Daisuke was still following her. She lead him into the forest a fair distance from the Seireitei.

A Garganta opened up right above the Seireitei, and was soon followed by four others. Donovyn stood on a roof overlooking the Soul reaper troops positioned at the Main Gate of the Soul Society. "Showtime," he muttered, giving an evil chuckle. He rested the blade along his arm, holding the hilt with two fingers, and aimed his palm at the group of Soul Reapers. "Bakudo number seven eighty-three: Frietz."
A black box appeared around the entire group, while Donovyn moved his Zanpakuto to point toward the sky. Dark clouds swirled over the box, with lightning flashing between them. Donovyn's chuckles grew more and more manic as he twirled his Zanpakuto around, and stabbed it into the roof he was standing on. One single black beam- large enough to cover the entire box -shot down from the sky. Twenty bolts of lightning repeatedly struck the box.

Mizuki looked out her window, witnessing the entire proceedings of Donovyn's Bakudo. She heard the resulting explosion, and felt the shockwave, which was powerful enough to rattle the glass of tea she had on the table. "No," she whispered, her eyes widening. Tears began forming in her eyes, and her grip tightened on the window sill. "Donovyn... why are you doing this?"

Lichroy looked out the window of his lab to see the clouds from what he recognized as Donovyn's Bakudo dispersing. "So, I was right about you after all. Looks like it's time for me to break out what I've been working on," Lichroy stated, turning toward a door leading to a side room of the research facility. [i]Just wait until they see this bad boy. I might even be promoted to Squad Zero for this contraption.[/i]

Ze’Borova sighed when he heard the explosion. He'd been watching the goings-on since he first noticed the clouds. He'd hoped they were simply a freak atmospheric phenominon. "There's only one explaination for that now. The black beam, lightning, and explosion can only mean one thing," he told himself.

Fuuta closed his eyes and lowered his head. "There's no way that's good," he said. He looked up from the spot where the Soul Reaper's once stood- there was nothing left from the explosion -to the Garganta that stood over the center of the Seireitei. He locked eyes with the Arrancar he recognized as Evanescent. "Evanescent, I see you're the leader of this group."
Evanescent laughed, causing Fuuta to look confused. "I see you've been misinformed," he stated. A second later, he added, "You see this girl I've come here with? This is Lady Mary-Sue. She's the leader of the New Espada, and take my word for it, she's much stronger than mysef."
Fuuta's eyes widened in shock. [i]That girl? That small child is... stronger... than Evanescent? But... how could she be? That's not even possible... is it? Even Donovyn, the stongest Soul Reaper I've ever known... is only... on par...[/i]
"I see you need... a demonstration," the girl said, giggling innocently. She gave a smile that is normally seen only on the most innocent of children, forming a small pink ball in her hand. She looked around her surroundings, like a child looking around a candy shop for the first time. "There will do nicely." She held her hand to aim four feet to Fuuta's right, and fired her Cero.
The small ball, barely big enough to cover one third of her palm, exploded outward, forming a stream of energy. Fuuta looked to his right, only to see that the small child's attack had vaporized everything in it's path. "And that's barely even a third of my power, without releasing my Zanpakuto," she said, giving an innocent giggle at the end of it. [i]One-third? Only one-third? So much power, and she's just like a child![/i]

Daisuke kept following the girl through the forest. [i]Who is she? She looks like... but she can't be...[/i] He thought back to when he was just a child first discovering his Quincy abilities. On instinct, he formed a Quincy bow, and fired off a round toward his opponent. She fell to the ground, and he followed.
[i]Okay, that's weird. Didn't think I'd ever see this thing again.[/i] "She did say... you'd still be able to use that. Though, it looks to me like you didn't know it until just now," the girl he'd been chasing after said, getting up off the ground. "Should have expected it, guess I alway was the slow one."
"Okay, make sense, who are you?" he asked, thinking he knew the answer, but wanting to be wrong.
"Don't you recognize me, Dice? I suppose it has been a while," she said, turning around to face him. "It's me, Maria Hirako."[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Chapter 49: Maria]
[i]Maria Hirako and Daisuke Hirako now stand facing each other. However, it is not as brother and long-lost-sister. Rather, it is now as Soul Reaper and Hollow. In order to understand what is about to happen in the near future, we must take a look at the past.[/i][hr]

Maria chased her brother around their yard in the middle of a game of tag. Both were able to smell the fresh peach cobbler their mother had cooking on the stove. "I'm gonna get you, Dice!" she said, giggling. Daisuke turned around, and began running in a wide circle around Maria. Maria ran to intercept Daisuke, who tried to turn around.
However, Daisuke failed to avoid being tackled by his sister, and both laughed as they lay on the ground. "Okay, you beat me at tag, but do you think you can win this?" Daisuke said as he started tickling Maria. The two laughed even harder as they rolled around on the ground in a tickle fight. Their mother stepped out of the house, laughing and shaking her head, clearly amused with her children. The two stopped rolling around, Daisuke on top of Maria, and both ran toward their mother.
"Okay, kids, that's enough," she said when they started tickling her. "It's time to go inside and eat." The two kids laughed, running into the house, racing each other to the dinning room. Maria reached her seat first, exclaiming her victory. "And for coming in first place, you get to be served first," their mother said as she walked into the room carying a pot of food.
A loud roar could be heard from outside. A large hand smashed through the ceiling, knocking a candle to the carpeted floor. The fire spread quickly, forcing the family to evacuate their home. Maria looked up in shock as her home was slowly consumed by flames. The large creature that she had learned to recognize as a Hollow turned it's head toward her.
It reached toward her, and all she was able to do was whimper in fright. Her mother jumped in front of her, firing an arrow from a reishi cross-bow. The Hollow blocked the arrow with it's hand, and her mother pulled back the strong for a second shot. The Hollow let out a pained scream upon getting shot, and reached her the woman who had fired the arrow at it. Despite having another arrow shot into it's hand, it grabbed her, and began squeezing.
Maria could hear her mother's screams as her bones broke. She was thrown to the ground, and was being surrounded by her own blood; obviously the bones had pierced the skin. Before she knew it, Maria was being lifted off the ground, and the Hollow was opening it's mouth. "Maria! Mariaaaa!" she heard her mother yell. She didn't know any Quincy techniques, and thus couldn't defend herself from this attack.
Out of nowhere, the Hollow let out a pained scream. Maria looked around to see that Daisuke had regained consciousness, and was preparing to fire an arrow. The Hollow ripped open a Garganta, and crossed into Hueco Mundo. "Good, good. Now, give me a test subject," Maria heard someone say. The Hollow lifted Maria to it's open mouth, biting off her lower half.
Maria began screaming, feeling a pain overcoming what was left of her body. The next thing she knew, she was staring the Hollow that had abducted her in the eye, feeling a need for revenge. He began feeling a mask forming over her face, and let out a primal scream. Her past had become a blur, but she could remember one thing clearly. She pulled her arm back, and forced it forward, smashing the Hollow's mask, and cracking the Hollow's skull.
"Good, good. Now, calm down and follow me," a girl said; apparently she'd been standing behind the Hollow that Maria had just destroyed. Maria was beginning to feel hungry, and she moved to grab the girl in what appeared to be a bonnet. The girl shot a small ball of energy at her hand, causing her to pull back. "D, could you do something about her, please?"
A man with long black hair appeared in front of Maria, wearing what looked to be a Soul Reaper's suit, and holding a sword with a twisted blade toward Maria. He blasted a beam of black energy toward her, which passed harmlessly through her body. "Shall we, Milady?" He and the young girl began walking, Maria following against her will. "Think it'll work this time?" the man asked. The girl nodded, prompting the man to ask "And if it still doesn't?"
"Well, if it doesn't work yet, then we'll find another subject and try again. You can play with her if you want," she answered. The three walked in silence, Maria struggling against the force holding her to them the entire way. The three came into view of a building, very large and ravashed with time. Maria tried to pull herself back, continually forcing her body, letting out a yell as she did so.
The man stumbled back, and looked over his shoulder, his cold grey eyes showing he was displeased. He growled and lunged forward, pulling Maria off balance. Her eyes widened as she recovered her balance. [i]How did that happ- No! That attack, it somehow linked us together![/i]
"Can we hurry up? She's starting to annoy me," the man said to his companion. The girl nodded, as they all broke into a run. The two jumped, landed on one foot, and lunged forward, disappearing from view; Maria followed half a second later. "Ready?" the man asked, all three standing in front of a large wooden door.
"Definitely, let's get her to the toy room," the girl answered.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 50: The Toy Room]
Maria was led to a small, empty room. "Thank you, D, that'll do," the girl said, smiling. The man smiled back, nodding his head. Maria felt as if restraints were lifted from her wrists and ankles as the man turned and left the room. "Now, are you ready to play, Maria?"
Maria glared at the girl, a gutteral growl escaping her throat. "You've been a Hollow now for approximately three hours. It's time that I attempted to do this again," she said. Maria narrowed her eyes, disbelieving what she was hearing about her becoming a Hollow. "Now, Maria, it's time you knew my name. My name Mary-Sue Miladie, and I'm going to make you an Arrancar."
Mary-Sue walked over to the far left wall of the room. She giggled, picking up a small cube, with a blue shimmer. "This, is the Sokoku. It can turn any Hollow, even one as recent as you, into a powerful Arrancar. Well, in theory, anyway, it's still experimental."
Maria backed away, not wanting to partake in any of what she was hearing. "You really shouldn't run, that would only make it more painful than it needs to be," Mary-Sue giggled. Mary-Sue turned around, facing her with the Sokoku between her thumb and forefinger. "I don't know why you'd want to escape anyway, Maria. You're so much more powerful now than you were as a Quincy, and I'm offering the chance to gain even more."
"Why would I want to become something that I so thoroughly despise?" Maria asked.
"Oh, I was afraid you'd be one of the Hollows who forgets how to speak, but it would seem that I was wrong," Mary-Sue stated, walking toward her, breaking the Sokoku. The small shards falling on the floor. The blue energy that was contained in the glass beginning to swirl around her fingers. Maria backed away, up toward the door of the room. "You won't escape, and besides, no one is coming to your rescue."
"Answer my question, why would I want to become an Arrancar?" Maria repeated. Mary-Sue giggled.
"You don't have a choice in the matter," Mary-Sue stated, jumping towards Maria, and landing with her hand on Maria's mask. "I chose you to become my latest test subject because you were already powerful. By combining your Quincy Powers with the powers of a Hollow, well, you will be quite a force to be reckoned with, won't you?" Maria began thrashing around, Mary-Sue's fingers cracking Maria's mask. Maria thrashed harder with each second, destroying many of the instruments in the room.
"No one is coming to save you, Maria. That brother of yours doesn't care. He only fired that arrow to keep up appearances with you. Your mother always did love him more, you were only a conveniance; you only existed to make people think you had a happy family. That your mother cared. Just give in, Maria, you know I'm right."
"No! You're lying! Stop!"
"I'm not lying, Maria."
"IT'S ALL A LIE! MOTHER WOULD NEVER PICK A FAVORITE BETWEEN US!"
"But she did."
"I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT!" Maria stated, crashing through the door, and knocking Mary-Sue off. [i]No, it can't be true! It just can't![/i] Tears welled up in Maria's eyes. [i]It can't have just been for appearance. Daisuke couldn't have aimed better than he did, he'd only just started learning.[/i]

D walked out of the hall toward Mary-Sue, looking in the direction Maria had run. "Did it not work?"
"No, it worked. The energy was absorbed, at least, and the doubts have been planted. The only question that remains is if it'll work farther than that," Mary-Sue answered, picking herself off the floor.

Maria's mind raced through many scenes from her life, installing in them evidence that her mother had loved Daisuke more than her. Evidence to show that Maria's sole purpose for exsistance was to make people think that her mother was a family person. Breaking the last cookie in half slightly unevenly, and handing Daisuke the bigger half. Slightly more cerial in Daisuke's bowl. A slightly more expensive Christmas gift. One more brithday present than she'd gotten. Everything that even slightly favored Daisuke became evidence of favoritism.
[i]It can't be true, can it. But, it is, isn't it? Daiskue's aim was better than that, he could have nailed that Hollow between the eyes without hurting me. He just didn't want to save me, he only wanted to make it look like he did. That's why he missed.[/i]
Maria began screaming, the cracks Mary-Sue had made to her mask beginning to spread, forming a spider web shape over the extent of the mask. As the cracks spread and deepened, some small portions of the mask falling off, her screams became louder. When the cracks could no longer spread, the pieces of the mask flew from her face, leaving only the upper left corner of the mask to wrap around her head, covering her eye. Her body began to shrink to its original size and shape, the transformation leaving her ehausted. As she stood up, she heard clapping from behind her.
"Very good, Milady. It would seem that your process worked, she definitely became an Arrancar. And look, your formula worked as well as the process," she heard D state. She turned around to see him bending down to pick something up. He stood up holding the Sokoku, which had been destroyed in the process od turning her into an Arrancar. "Quite amazing that you were able to iron out all the kinks at the same time."
"Yes, the only question remaining is whether the Sokoku will work next time, as it was destroyed as part of the process, reforming or not," Mary-Sue answered him. "Still, that's an experiment for another day, we'll just have to see next time."
"We'll do that one when we find a suitable subject. Preferably one that won'y kill the Hollow we use for the abduction." Maria looked to the ground. "Still, at least that served to show that we had picked correctly."[/spoiler][/spoiler]
[spoiler=Betrayal Arc]
[spoiler=Chapter 51: The War Resumes]
"They said you'd never come for me, Daisuke. I tried to never believe them, I really did, but you never showed up. They were right, and, since you never showed up, that means that I owe no allegiance to you," Maria stated.
"Maria, please, I tried to save you that day! But the Hollow escaped into Hueco Mundo, and I never learned how to enter it! You have to believe me!" Daisuke pleaded of his sister.
"YOU HAD YOUR CHANCE TO PROVE YOURSELF" she yelled, drawing her Zanpakuto. "NOW YOU'LL HAVE A CHANCE TO REDEEM YOURSELF IN HELL! STRIKE, GENREI KOJAKU!" Her sword began glowing blue, but quickly turned black. [i]This can't be good. She has all three power sets now.[/i] The energy began radiating out of the sword, forming a circle in the air, strings forming from edge to edge. [i]What is... That's looks like... Is that the weapon Orihime described Uryu using!?[/i]
"Okay, if that's how you want it, then I won't hold back!" Daiuske said. He took a deep breath while Maria's weapon was still forming. "Fire, Szelechneider," he sighed, releasing his Shikai. He fired an arrow into the air. "And now, Bankai." The arrow split into many smaller projectiles, which fell to the ground, piercing it while leaving no signs of entry.
The two energy surges from brother and sister collided, exploding in mid air. Maria was positioned as to have just fired: her hand open behind her weapon. Her Arrancar robes had changed to red, her midriff now exposed, and the lower half of her robes had shortened to her knees; a black version of the Quincy's cross on each piece of clothing. Daisuke was surrounded by multiple bows, while holding what looked to be a standard Quincy bow in his hand. "I see you've mastered your Ressureccion, Maria," Daisuke noted.
"I note you've mastered your Bankai, Daisuke," Maria responded. She pulled back the center horizontal string on her weapon. Daisuke pulled back the string on the bow in his hand. Maria fired her weapon, sending out hundreds of arrows from her weapon. Daisuke released his bow string, firing arrows from all the bows surrounding him.
"All trained Quincys know about Genrei Kojaku. To be fair, my Bankai is a slightly modified version of the weapon you hold in your hand," Daisuke stated.
"That's interesting, Daisuke," Maria replied. Though, if we're being honest about our weapons, mine is not limited to firing twelve hundred arrows like the standard Genrei Kojaku. As it's clear that we both possess more power sets than merely that of the Quincy, we both know that both of our weapons are modified to fit the power sets we now possess. That means, you should be expecting surprises from me. However, I think I know well enough how your powers work."
She pulled the string back on her weapon. Reishi began pouring in from the air around her, collecting in the middle of the string. Daisuke pulled back the arrow on his weapon, forming a golden arrow, waiting for her to fire. Maria released the string, sending a Cero-like burst of energy toward Daisuke. Daisuke released his own arrow, firing the golden arrow from his main weapon, followed by several standard arrows from the surrounding weapons.

The golden arrow clashed with the beam of energy, piercing through it without much effort. The arrow exploded inside Maria's beam, prompting the other arrows to fade. [i]I see, he can fire over two-hundred arrows at once, but if the lead arrow is destroyed, the others fade. He's got all those weapons, but all I need to do is destroy the one in his hand. The others are just accessories. That just leaves the problem of getting to it...[/i]

[i]I understand. Her charge is powerful, but it's easily negated with an arrow. That means that I have an advantage. Still, by the time I'm able to follow up on it, she'll be ready to counter my strike. Unless...[/i]

Ze’Borova stood, watching a trio of Arrancar, along with a girl he was sure he recognized, fire Ceros into the walls of the Seireitei. [i]Looks like they've got us dancing to their tune. If we split our attention amongst these obvious distractions, our main forces are divided. But, if we don't stop them, then the Seireitei is destroyed. That Bastard obviously knows what he's doing. I don't much like where this is headed. That guy has a "2" on his forehead...[/i]
Ze’Borova placed his right hand over his left eye. [i]Looks like I don't have a choice: I have to take care of this, fast.[/i] He slashed down, revealing a mask marked with lightning prints. "Howl in Armageddon, Raikou," he said, tracing the length of his blade with his hand. In the wake of his hand, electrical sparks charged from his Zanpakuto.
He held his hand toward the Arrancar who appeared to be the weakest of the group: A man with shoulder-length blue hair, who's mask covered his nose, and rose up between his eyes, then branched out to cover his eyebrows. A Cero formed in his hand, which he charged with electricity. [i]Well, let's see if this will work.[/i] He fired the electricity-charged Cero at the Arrancar. [i]Ha, dead-on.[/i]

Fuuta stared wide-eyed at the small child with Evanescent. "Let's say that demonstration of your power didn't faze me. What will you do then?" he asked.
"Well, then that means that you will leave us no choice but to fight us, and I highly doubt you want to do that," Mary-Sue stated. [i]She's right, I don't want to fight these freaks of nature. But, I [/i] can't [i]just surrender.[/i] "I highly suggest you give up. But, if you don't want to do that, then I know someone who can arrange decent funerals. Of course, we both know him, don't we?"[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 52: A Matter of Pride]
Creator rushed toward the Southwest Corner of the Seireitei, feeling a familiar Spiritual Pressure. "Well, looks like he doesn't know when to quit. Oh, well, it's a drag, but I guess I'll have to beat this guy. Again," he muttered. He turned a corner, and noticed a pair of Arrancar standing around. "Hey, Miloti, I guess you didn't learn your lesson last time."
"My name is Itachi, Soul Reaper," one of the Arrancar stated. "And, if you think that this time around will be like the last fight, then you're sadly mistaken. Odin, stay out of this."
Creator noted a change in the tattoo on the Arrancar's chest. "I guess that your IQ dropped. The number on your chest is lower than the last time I saw you."
"Pitiful Soul Reaper, that number is my rank! Killing that pathetic captain of yours, what was his name? Zaraki? Well, whatever, earned me a two rank promotion within the Espada. That number testifies that my strength is recognized as being two places higher than the last time we met."
"That so? Well, then I guess my strength would be recognized as negative infinity within the Espada," Creator stated smugly. He smirked, pulling out his Zanpakuto. "Rise, Lichking."
Itachi unsheathed his own Zanpakuto. "You really think you're going to be able to defeat me with just your Shikai? Empower me, Asesino!" Creator stabbed the ground with his sword before Flash Stepping to the top of a neighboring wall. Itachi stood before the clone, growling in frustration. "Don't waste my time!" he yelled, swinging his Zanpakuto over his head, tracing a red circle with the tipof his sword.
He slashed down, cutting into the ground. From the tip of the sword, a thin red layer of energy began covering the ground. Creator's clone charged at Itachi, only to fall onto the ground mid-run. Itachi rushed him using Sonido, slicing the clone in half. The sword clattered to the ground, failling to penetrate the energy layer.
"Like it, Soul Reaper, it's a new technique I invented just for you! I call it 'Bakando Jeshin.' It coats the ground with an impentetrable layer of Reishi. It's also quite slippery. Unless of course, you know the secret," Itachi laughed.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get the joke," Creator said, jumping down off the wall. He casually walked over to his fallen sword, and picked it up without any trouble. "I can't use my Shikai, so I have to use my Bankai against you, and then you think you'll be able to win using cheap parlour tricks." He tapped the energy layer with his sword a few times. "You can buy this thing at any decent magic shop."
He turned to look at his opponent, and sighed. "Well, I guess we'll just have to do things the annoying way," he said, raising his Zanpakuto to point at his opponent. "Bankai," he said in bored monotone. "Are you ready? Let's go," Creator said, pointing his sword at Itachi, Blanks appearing throughout the area.
"A rematch long awaited for. You cost me my honor last time I met you, boy, but now, I'm getting it back," Itachi stated, rushing Lichroy with Sonido. Lichroy countered with Flash Step, creating a shock wave that knocked several blanks to the ground.

Elphemia stepped in front of Anada, blocking the Cero that had been fired at him. The electrified Cero forced the transformation of her arms, allowing her to absorb the electricity, and nullify the attack. "Well, it'd seem that there are more Vizards here than we had originally expected, huh, Dios?"
"It certainly would. Anada, do you mind taking care of him for me?" Dios asked. Anada nodded, drifting to the ground to face his opponent.
"Hello, Soul Reaper. My name is Anada Xel. May I ask your name?"
"My name is unimportant. But, if you must know the name of the man who is about to kill you, it's Ze’Borova Preyn."
"You're fairly confident. And I woud guess you've already released your Zanpakuto. In that case," Anada stated, drawing his Zanpakuto, "I should be allowed to release my own. Howl to the Moon, Yaichi." The sword was engulfed in a blue light, which surrounded his body, morphing it into that of a dog. The sword itself to the shape of a pipe, which he gripped with his mouth.

Maria and Daisuke stood trading blows. [i]Okay, time to change tactics.[/i] Daisuke pulled back the string of his bow. This time, the arrow that was formed was a standard Quincy Arrow. Maria pulled back the string of her own bow, the energy being gathered this time was Green. They both fired at the same time, Daisuke releasing a flurry of arrows, Maria releasing thousands of small projectiles.
Daisuke's arrows and Maria's attacks canceled each other out, until Daisuke's golden arrow was destroyed in one of the explosions Maria's attack caused on contact. The bow Daisuke held in his hand morped into a sword, which he used to block many of Maria's attacks. "It seems that you're able to change the appearance of your Bankai, Daisuke. But, do you think that that's going to be enough to defeat your little sister?"

Creator stabbed his sword through a Blank's head, sending a large blast of energy at Itachi. "Oh, come on, not this again," Itachi stated. Itachi Sonido'ed out of the way of the attack, landing on a nearby wall. "That might have worked in the confines of a hall way, but out here where I have room to dodge, that attack is a joke!" Then he felt a sword at his back.
"Is it now?" Creator said. Itachi could see his shadow, clearly Creator had planned every detail of the fight. "Good-bye." Creator's attack hit point blank, giving Itachi no time to dodge. Creator looked around as the energy layer over the ground faded away. He stabbed the ground with his sword, and watched it go clean through. "Seems that's over. Now, what was your name?" He asked, looking at the Arrancar who had accompanied Itachi. "Barabara?"[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 53: Sibling Play]
Donovyn watched Ze’Borova begin his fight with Anada. [i]As it is, Ze’B has the advantage. However, Anada has the element of surprise. Not only do the Soul Reapers not know the full measure of how the masks work, but Ze’Borova doesn't know about Xel's special attack.[/i] Donovyn's ears perked as he heard footsteps behind him.
"Donovyn, why? Your own sisters, why would you betray us?"
"Megami, I see you've come. I was rather hoping you wouldn't, though. There's a very simple reason why I'm doing this," he stated without turning to look at her. "The Soul Society has everything wrong. The Hierarchy of the Souls, the duties of the Soul Reapers, everything. Everything is wrong. When something is incorrect, it's the responsibility of the one who noticed it was incorrect to correct it. I noticed. I'm correcting it."
Megami said nothing for several seconds. "But, if it means betraying everyone who ever trusted you..."
"Not everyone. Lady Mary-Sue and I have been working together for quite some time. Even longer than the Espada know. I've never betrayed her. Nor have I ever betrayed you, Megami."
"You've never betrayed me? You've been working with Hollows! You've betrayed every Soul Reaper in the Seireitei! You killed out main troops!"
"They needed to go. By relying on those troops, the others were being underworked, and when someone is underworked, their skills dull. Look what happened to Zaraki when he hadn't seen any real combat in a century," Donovyn observed. Megami was stunned into silence. "And, Megami, I have never lied to you, or Mizuki. Nor have I lied to Keiko or Kana. In fact, I had been working on a way to make sure that all four of you were safe during the fighting."
"But, what about all your other friends? What about Daisuke?"
"By howing up, you have prevented me from keeping you safe, Megami. What about Mizuki and Kana?"
"What about-"
"Where are Mizuki and Kana, Megami?"
"They headed to the North East corner to inspect the disturbance there."
"Then there is nothing I can do. And as for Daisuke, I had been attempting to bring him over to the side of truth for months. However, he has resisted every effort to bring him to us. Hopefully, Elphemia will be able to convince to make up with his sister. Of course, Maria may be... somewhat relunctant to work with him."
"I thought that Maria Hirako was lost ten years ago. You mean she..."
"Was used in an experiment by Lady Mary-Sue. She's the first Hollow to be turned into a powerful Arrancar - strong enough to be named as the tenth Espada - after only five hours as a Hollow."
"Donovyn... Even if you are my brother, the things you're saying... I can't allow you to succeed in your plans, Nii-San!" Megami yelled, pain clear in her voice. "Burn, Seika!" she yelled. Donovyn sighed.
"Megami, I'd rather not have to fight you, but you leave me with little choice," he said, unsheathing his sword. He turned to see Megami rush him, the blade of her sword completely covered in flames. She slashed at him several times, keeping both hands on her hilt. Each swing was blocked by Donovyn's blade, which was guided by a single hand. "Megami, it isn't too late. Get Mizuki and Kana, find Keiko, and the four of you can leave the Seireitei before things get more dangerous than they are now."
"I can't allow you to do this, Donovyn! We're Soul Reapers, and we will protect the Soul Society at all costs!" she jumped back before leaping into the air. Tears fell down her face as the flames on her blade grew hotter and larger. "RYUHONO, MESASHAGI!" she shouted as she fell through the air, swinging her blade down. Her blade clashed with Donovyn's, resulting in a massive fireball.

"It seems that one of the sisters has found Donovyn," Draco noted to Zavara. "And look, here's two more of them," he added as two female Soul Reapers rounded the corner where they were standing.
"See? All we did was let our Spiritual Pressure be felt, and they came to us. No need to destroy everything in our path. I wonder if Dios is too busy to have noticed that..."

Dios watched Anada make another failed attempt to maul the Soul Reaper. "Think we should give him the mask?" he asked, just before sneezing.
"We'll let it drag on a little longer," Cherry suggested. "And, gezundheit. I guess someone's talking about you." Dios gave her a confused look. "They say that when you sneeze, it means someone's talking about you."
"I thought that was your ears ringing."
"Meh. Some say one, others say the other. I dunno."

"Mizuki... those guys look tough," Kana said to her sister. Mizuki nodded, and continued looking straight ahead.
"I'm guessing that you two are Shoujo sisters," one of the Arrancar said. "It's nice to meet you, my name is Zavara. I've worked with your brother for quite some time, and he's told me that both of you are pretty strong. This should be fun."
"Fun? You're saying that it's going to be [i]fun[/i]?" Mizuki said. "And what do you mean, you've 'worked with him'? I want you to undo whatever you've done to him, and I want it now!"
"'Done to him'? My dear lady, I've done nothing to him. He was already with Lady May-Sue when I was still an unranked Arrancar. I'm afraid I've done nothing to him. And, before you say anything about Mary-Sue having done something to him, from my obervations, the two are in love."
Mizuki was stunned. "I-in love?"[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 54: Gods Vs. Tech]
Creator watched as Itachi's body fell to the ground. "Well, that's over now. I didn't even have to use any of the stuff I'd been working on. He wasn't as strong as he thought."
"That might be true, Soul Reaper," the other Arrancar stated, walking over to Itachi's corpse. "However, there is one thing that you didn't yet know about what we're capable of."

Ze’Borova fired another electrified Cero at Anada. Anada spun the pipe around in his mouth, and inhaled, catching Ze’Borova's Cero in the pipe. Upon exhaling, Anada fired an electrified deep purple beam, no wider than Anada's pipe, toward Ze’Borova. Ze’Borova's eyes widened as he Flash Stepped out of the way of the attack. "What was that?" Ze’Borova asked, staring at the clean punture through the stone he was standing in front of.
"Cero Volver. My own Cero mixed with any attack my pipe is able to absorb. No matter what you throw at me, I can send it back, far more concentrated than what you send to me," Anada stated. He used the opportunity of Ze’Borova's distraction to Sonido his head into Ze’Borova's stomach. Ze’Borova was sent flying into the wall behind him.
"Well, it seems that I'll just have to stop playing around. Bankai," he said. He held his sword above his head, enciting a lightning bolt to strike the blade. When Anada was able to see his opponent again, he was wearing a blue cape with red lightning bolt patterns upon it, and eleectricity was coursing through his body. His sword, however, remained roughly the same. "Raikou Zeus." He swung his blade, sending a massive jolt of electricity sweeping the entire area.
Anada jumped over the attack, only to be hit with a Cero at the height of his jump. When Anada hit the ground, he noted that an eye patch was laying on the ground next to him. He looked up, and noticed that Cherry's arm was out-stretched. [i]Well, he's powerful enough that I need this. Guess I have no choice.[/i]
He picked the eyepatch up, and thre it into the air. He jumped, avoiding another Cero, and putting his head in a position to don the eyepatch. Upon donning the mask, his body began to glow white. His dog-like body became bipedal, as four extra arms grew from his sides. He landed on two legs, each of his six arms now weilding a sword. His original mask flattened, but still bore the patterns of a dog's face, with the addition of the outline of an eyepatch.

"My name is Odin, Soul Reaper. Tell me, do you know why we had so vigorously hunted these masks? It's because when an Arrancar dons the mask of another, powerful Arrancar, their Ressurecions combine. It's like having two Ressurecions at the same time," Odin told him. He picked up what looked to be the bottom jaw of a man. "So, if I put on Yammi's old mask, this will happen."
He put the mask around his neck, and drew his Zanpakuto. "End, Ragnarok." Yammi's mask began glowing brightly, as a strong wind began glowing, eminating from te Arrancar identified as Odin. When the wind dies down to where Creator could see his opponent, he was clad in a purple robe, holding a Broad Sword. His muscles had grown to over twice what they had started as.
Odin vanished from Creator's sight. Creator spun around, his sword clashing with Odin's. "I must admit, you're fast. It'll take more than just raw speed to win, though," Creator said, pulling a small metal disk from his Shihakusho. He placed the disk on his Zanpakuto, causing the disk to expand and conform the shape of the long sword he weilded.
He slashed at three of the Blanks around him, absorbing them into his sword. "Okay, Odin, it's time that you said goodbye!" he yelled, spinning his blade around. Odin held his hands out to catch the attack, only to be thrown through two walls. He broke free from the ruble that had fallen on top of him, and used Sonido to get behind Creator. "Not this again. It was cute at first, but now it's just annoying," Creator said, blocking another attack.
"You're not a god, no matter what your name is, and regardless of how purple your robes are. If you were, you'd have finished me off by now," Creator stated as though it were proven fact.
"And if you were as strong as you've made yourself out to be, you'd have finished me off by now, Soul Reaper," Odin stated, moving away from Creator. "Let's see how you like this," he said, his sword igniting. Creator immediately began absorbing more Blanks into his sword, which began glowing white, and vibrating in his hands. "It's over, Soul Reaper!
"I'm afraid you aren't going to beat me so easily, not while I have all these Blanks to power my attacks!" Odin swung his sword toward Creator, releasing a huge wave of fireaimed at his enemy. Creator stabbed his sword through the head of one of the Blanks, releasing an equally large blast of energy toward the oncoming attack. "Odin, you aren't going to win. Care for me to explain why? It's because, while you are using two Ressureccions at once, the second one is a Poe-Type. All it's good for is brute strength and a boost to your speed!
"My Bankai is an Energy-Type. That means that it permits long-range energy attacks, and provided that I have Blanks around, I'll be able to power up my attacks indefinitely. You'll never be able to win, because the Blanks are always constant in number, I'll never run out. But you? You're going to give into exhaustion at some point. Your friend was over-confident, and he fell. You will do the same!" Creator explained.
As Creator spoke, his sword began vibrating more and more violently as his attack tried to overcome Odin's attack. [i]Looks like I have no choice. I have to use it.[/i] He pushed a button on the bottom of the hilt, causing a purple glow to engulf the sword. The energy blast from Creator's sword grew to twice it's original size, and took on the purple glow. His attack burst through Odin's attack, only to explode before reaching it's true target.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 55: Sisters Betrayed]
Donovyn locked eyes with Megami, his sword still being held by one hand. The two siblings held each other's swords off, despite Megami pushing down with both hands.

Maria continually fired her arrows toward Daisuke, with Daisuke countering with his own arrows each time.

"That's right, Mizuki. Donovyn is in love with the leader of the Espada. Regardless of how he may have acted while he was here, he's worked for us for years, helping us track down the masks," Zavara told Mizuki. "Face it, Donovyn has never been loyal to the Soul Society. He's only been using it to aid in his own ambitions."
"No, I refuse to believe you. Donovyn would never do that. He loves us! He helped me and my sisters gain Bankai. Keiko was named Captain solely on Donovyn's recomendation!" Mizuki protested.
"I called Donovyn out as a traitor, not a liar. When Donovyn said that he loved you four, he wasn't lying," Zavara assured. "I can see why he loved you so much. You're very pretty, and very loyal." Mizuki's eyes watered.
Zavara Sonidoed his way to just in front of Mizuki. He placed his lips on her forehead. "We don't need to fight each other. It's not like we've sworn an oath to be mortal enemies. All I want is for our goal to be met. Unfortunately, I'm under strict orders not to reveal those plans to anyone," he almost whispered.
"What's that matter?" Kana asked. "You're a Hollow, and on top of that, you invaded the Soul Society! We aren't about to get all flirty with you!" She ran toward him, unsheathing her sword while she ran. She swung her sword, only to be unable to cut her opponent.
"Clearly," Zavara said, "you are unacquainted with Arrancar. You aren't going to defeat one of us so easily." He turned his attention toward the small Soul Reaper. "I'm not going to fight. I just need to keep you here while the Lady tends to her business elsewhere."

Donovyn placed two of his fingers on Megami. "Bakudo number one: Kai." Megami curled up, her arms behind her back, paralyzed. Donovyn turned back to the fight between Anada and Ze’Borova. [i]So, Anada is using Nnoitora's mask? Thought he might need it.[/i] Donovyn watched as Ze’Borova made several attempts to strike Anada with lightning, only to end up dodging a Cero Volver.
Anada Sonidoed behind Ze’Borova, who turned to block the following attack, only to Flash Step away from the other three arms. "And Anada is only a Fraccion. Not even strong enough to be ranked as a real Espada," Donovyn chuckled to himself. "Megami," he said, turning around to face his sister. "I won't tell you exactly what I'm doing. It'll come out soon, regardless of how things turn out.
"I will say this, however. If I had intended to do more than what I have already done, don't you think I'd have done it by now? Now is not the time for explaining. We aren't able to accoplish our goals just yet. We need the Soul Reapers out of the way first. For that to happen, the Seireitei must fall."
"You're a Soul Reaper, Donovyn. You may possess Hollow Powers, but you're not a Hollow! You are a Soul Reaper!" Megami yelled, on the verge of crying.
"Megami, I'm well aware of that fact," he said softly. He placed a hand on her head. She shot him a dirty look, showing that she disapproved of the contact. "Megami Nee-Sama, I'm sorry. I wish I could tell you more, but at the moment, I don't wish for anyone, aside from MiLady to know the ultiate goal. Even the Espada themselves don't know exactly why they're fighting."

Maria pulled back the vertical center string of her bow. [i]It's time to use this attack now.[/i] Black energy began forming into the shape of an arrow. Daisuke pulled back his own bow string, forming his own arrow. Maria fired her arrow, which split into thousands of arrows as soon as it left the bow. Daisuke held his bow horizontally, causing the bows surrounding him to fade.
Daisuke fired his arrow, which upon leaving the bow, turned to a golden glow. Daisuke's arrow plowed through Maria's onslaught of arrows. Maria's arrows hit Daisuke dead on. Daisuke's arrow pierced through Maria's bow, and her body.

Creator's sword continued to vibrate so he could barely hold it, emiting a high-pitched whir. Odin held his sword above his head, holding on with both hands. Creator sliced through even more Blanks, intensifying the glow and vibrations of his sword. [i]This is annoying. Having to go through this any Blanks for one Hollow.[/i]
The flames on Odin's sword continued to grow in intensity as the whir from Creator's sword continued to get higher-pitched. Odin dissappeared from Creator's view, and a jiffy later, Creator was surrounded by a light-blue sphere, through which he was able to see a sea of flames, destroying all the Blanks he had summoned. The flames dyed down a second later, followed by more Blanks emerging from no where to take the place of the ones destroyed by the fire. "What in the world was that?" Creator heard Odin ask. Creator turned around to see his foe standing behind him.
"It's not a good idea to send someone after an enemy without knowing for sure that they can win. I gathered the reports on all the Arrancar who previously attacked, including one Dios Deus. Reports are not the best thing to do a reconstruction from, but I'd say that my Negative Zone Generator isn't half bad, would you?" Creator asked. "In fact, I'd go as far as to say it's supperior to the original, since mine allows me to continue using my attacks, while eliminating only my opponents. It even enhances the strength of my attacks."

A small girl wandered around in the woods, lost. She came across soeone laying on the ground, who appeared to have been killed by several arrows, though no signs of anyone else could be seen. [i]What happened? I feel like I should know him. He's wearing the clothes of a Soul Reaper, but what's he doing here of all places?[/i][/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 56: The Head Captain's Bankai]
"It feels like Creator's already finished off one of your Arrancar. And Ze’Borova is wearing down another one," Fuuta stated. "At this rate, you won't prove to be as effective as you thought. There is no need to surrender."
"On the contrary, Head Captain," Mary-Sue stated. "Itachi was only ranked number three because of his accomplishments. He did slay Zaraki, however, he was over-confident. I actually expected him to fall in this invasion. As for the one your Second Captain is fighting, he isn't even an Arrancar. He's a fraccion. Weaker than even my tenth Espada, who appears to have done away with that Quincy Reaper of yours."
[i]Ze’Borova is fighting a Fraccion? But, that level of Spiritual Pressure... How is that coming from a Fraccion? No matter, that's not my fight. My job is to stand my ground right here, and cut off the invasion at the source. I have to kill Mary-Sue.[/i]
"I am the Captain-Commander of the Soul Reapers Thirteen Court Guard Squads! I will never give up, especially not against Hollows!" Fuuta yelled out, drawing his sword. "Crush and Enflame, Luigi!" he called out. A green fire engulfed his sword, as the blade began condensing. When the flame dies down, Fuuta was holding what seemed to be a simple mallet.
"If that's the way it's going to be, then I guess there's no choice. Evanescent, deal with this, [i]por fa vour's[/i]."
"Yes, milady," Evanescent said simply, before jumping down to Fuuta's level.
"I guess it'd be foolish for me to go at you with a Shikai, wouldn't it?" Fuuta asked. Evanescent merely narrowed his eyes. After a few seconds of silence, Fuuta held his arms across his chest. "Bankai," he stated. The ground began cracking around him; Green fire erupted from every inch of each of the cracks.
When the fire died down, the shape of Fuuta's weapon had not changed, but the size was twice his own. "Imperial Luigi," he stated, the Kanji symbol for "Loyalty" glowing red on the side of the hammer's head. Fuuta held the hammer one-handed above his head, causing the head of the hammer to ignite into the same green flame that surrounded him. "Now, Incindia Rakana!" he yelled before slamming the ground with his hammer. The impact caused a single crack to head toward Evanescent, who countered the attack by launching a Balla between himself and the crack. The Balla stopped the attack from reaching him, causing a large green muchroom cloud of fire.

Ze’Borova dodged another Cero Volver, inciting a chuckle from Dios. "So, this is what they teach at the Soul Reaper Academy? How to charge your eneies attacks and then dodge them?" he asked. "Give me a break, though. Surely a Captain has more attacks than just one. I'm not impressed with this idiot's performance. He needs to make this more fun to watch."

Ze’Borova held his sword horizontally in front of his chest. [i]Now, it's time to show what I'm really made of.[/i] He allowed his Spiritual Pressure to be released all at once, crippling Anada. He thrust the sword froward to arm's length, keeping it horizontal. The walls and ground began crackling, until electrical discharge released from all of them at once, hitting Anada before he had a chance to react. Anada could be heard screaming as teh electricity fried every nerve in his body.

When the electricity died away, all that was left was the mask of Nnoitora Gilga. Donovyn turned as he heard Megami chuckle. "Soul Reapers aren't quite so easy to to subdue, are they? Even with all that power, that Hollow still didn't stand a chance against Ze’Borova," she stated, standing up. "And as for your Bakudo, you should have realized that it wouldn't hold me for long."
"I know that, Megami. Don't you think that if I wanted to hurt you, I would have done it by now? You've been laying there defenseless more than long enough for me to end your life. I told you already, I have no desire to kill you, or our sisters," Donovyn stated. "Now, go find Mizuki, and Kana, and get out of here. Keiko is more than able to handle herself against Dios and those ranked below him, and Lady Mary-Sue and Evanescent won't harm her."
"Do you here yourself? They're Hollows, of course they'll hurt her!" Megami yelled. "You're talking about them as though they were human, have you forgotten what we learned about Hollows in the Aoul reaper Academy?"
"Of course not. Hollows are little better than animals, looking for human souls to feed on at all times. However, as they get more powerful, they begin feeding on other Hollows, and become Gillian, a collective mass of Hollow consciousnesses, all vying for control of the body. When one personality becomes strong enough to subdue the others, the Gillian is able to move with enough purpose to feed on other Gillian and become an Adjucha. The Adjucha is then able to use reasoning and formulate plans. The trade off is, should their consciousness ever weaken, and the others-who are still there-are able to pull him back into the chaos, the body becomes a Gillian yet again, and this time, he's unable to evolve back into an Adjucha.
"Of course, if the Aducha is able to gain enough power, he's then able to become a Vasto Lorde. A Hollow who's completely human in appearance, aside from the fact he still has at least a fragment of his mask at the very least, and he still has the hole of a Hollow. However, at any point in Hollow evolution, said Hollow is able to remove his mask and become an Arrancar. He won't be as powerful as a Vasto Lorde, but he will be more powerful than he was. However, removeing the mask of just any Hollow won't result in any significant power increase. In order to become as powerful as Anada was-before he donned the mask of Nnoitora, that is-the Hollow must be Adjucha.
"What you seem to not pay attention to is what I stated earlier about becoming an Adjucha. The Hollow regains their Human sense of reason. As Hollows, they are beasts. However, as an Adjucha, and consequently an Arrancar, they become more human-like. Not just in appearance, but they are able to feel emotions, and they are able to coe up with reasons for what they do. They aren't beasts anymore. They are sentient beings capable of intellect, and even sympathy. That's something they [i]don't[/i] teach at the Academy."[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 57: More Fighting, Naturally]
In the Southeast corner of the Seireitei, Keiko stared down two Arrancar. She drew her sword without saying a word. "It's time that you learned why Hollows try to avoid the Soul Society," she stated. "Confuse, Mira," she stated. Her sword began glowing a shimmering blue in response to the command.
"Well, that was anti-climactic," the pink haired Arrancar noted. "I expected more than that from a Captain's release. Of course, I suppose that Shikai usually are simple. I guess your Bankai will be more exciting."
"Cherry, let's just get this over with, okay?" The other Arrancar, a young man, asked. He drew his own Zanpakuto, stating "Freeze, Hyoriku." The sword coated itself with ice, just before exploding. The dust settled, revealing that he now had ice wings, and his arms had become made of ice. "Let's get this over with," he stated, spheres of ice forming in both hands. "Rage, Ryojashi!" He crashed the two speheres together, causing the to glow blue, and shoot toward Keiko.
The sphere passed straight through her, and crashed into the wall. Before he knew what happened, he was washed away in a current of water. He crashed into the wall, the ice generated by his ressureccion freezing the water around him, pinning him to the wall. "Well, I'd say that backfired, wouldn't you, Arrancar?" Keiko asked, coming into view in the middle of the street. "Should have learned what I can do before you tried to fight me.

Cherry stood watching the brief scuffle. [i]It seems that her Zanpakuto is able to manipulate both water and light. That means she can hide anywhere, and then launch an attack from behind while her opponent is busy with an illusion. I shouldn't have sent Anada to help Dios. I can't feel him anymore.[/i]
"No time to worry about that, now," she told herself, drawing her Zanpakuto, "Scatter, Senbonsakura." Her blade split into several smaller blades. Several large blades appeared out of the ground, which then split into fifty million tiny blades, all of which rushed toward the Soul Reaper Captain. There was an explosion of water, scattering the blades of Senbonsakura Kageyoshi. The Soul Reaper Captain stood where she had been, now in the middle of a giant, whose body was made of water.
"That's a powerful ressureccion, Arrancar. More like a Soul Reaper's Zanpakuto than an Arrancar's. But now, I'm afraid I'll have to end you, and Kaki Mira will make sure that you don't go anywhere," Keiko stated. She held her sword out to her side, the blade glowing white. The water giant's body began glowing as well, it's hand forming into an axe.

"That does it," Ceator stated. He had been thrown through a wall by Odin. "It's time I finished this so I can do something important!" He stuck his sword in the ground, and took a small box out of his Shihakusho. He stuck that on the hilt of his Zanpakuto. He repeated this twice more.
He picked up his Zanapkuto, and rushed toward Odin. He pushed one of the boxes he had placed on his Zanpakuto, and the blade began spewing water toward the Arrancar. The attack was easily blocked, but some of the water went into the Arrancar's eyes. He pushed the other box, covering the sword with an electrical current. He stabbed the Arrancar through the stomach, and again pushed the first box.
"It's over, Odin," He stated as the blade ejected water into Odin's body, allowing the electrical current to travel throughout Odin's body. Odin screamed in pain, his body being fried. Creator jumped back, and stabbed another Blank through the head. The attack hit Odin dead on, causing an explosion that left a large creator where the Arrancar had been standing. Creator's sword vibrated hard enough that Creator had to release it.
"Well, at leasts the fight's over," he said, returning the sword back to it's sealed form. He walked over to the crator, noticing that only Yammi's mask remained. "Well, wouldn't want that falling back into the wrong hands, would we?" he asked himself, jumping down intot he crator. He picked up the mask, and sliced it in half with his sword. "There, that takes care of that problem.

Ze’Borova walked over to where Anada had stood. The Arrancar's body had turned to dust from the attack, no doubt reforming into it's human state somewhere in the Rukon District. However, Nnoitora's mask remained. "Hm, I need to do something about that," he stated, firing a Cero at the mask. "That's one down, you should consider going back to Hueco Mundo now!" he yelled up to the remaining three invaders.
The red-haired girl dropped down to his level. "It seems that you're stronger than we thought you'd be. Though, it seems that you've been weakened considerably. I guess using that attack isn't good for you." Ze’Borova said nothing. He just stood where he was, panting. "I guess I should seize the opportunity, huh?" she said, drawing her sword. "Reflect, Kurtana."
The Arrancar's robes changed into a Yukata, her sword's blade becoming twice it's original length. [i]That's the big change? Doesn't seem like much changed.[/i] The Arrancar dissapeared from sight, only moments before Ze’Borova noticed that he was inside a transleucent blue sphere, surrounded by fire. "How many of these Arrancar have fire-based releases? Can't someone be more original?" he heard Lichroy ask. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 58: Non-Violent Battles]
Zavara walked over to the wall, sitting down in front of it. He patted the ground next to him, asking for the Soul Reaper to sit next to him. Neither responded, but Draco rolled his eyes. "Be nice, Draco. I have no wish to fight these girls," he stated.
"If you don't want to fight, then let Jazeth out. Remember, we're trying to conquer the Seireitei here," Draco told him.
"Then conquer the Seireitei," Zavara said, waving his arm in a dismissive manner. "But at the moment, I only wish to talk to her," he added, pointing toward the Elder of the two sisters. "If you want to do something else, well, I'm sure she will accomadate you," he added, pointing toward the one who had attacked him earlier. The blue haired Soul Reaper walked over to him and sat down.
"Okay, if all you want to do is talk, then okay," she stated.
"This is stuipd! We're Hollows, they're Soul Reapers, we're enemies by our very nature!" Draco yelled at Zavara.
"Perhaps we are, Draco. But, why are we enemies? Is it really our nature, or is it because no one wants to work out what actually started the perpetual cycle of violence between Hollow and Soul Reaper? Or perhaps there is an inherent requirement for Hollows and Soul Reapers to fight, though, maybe Arrancar are above Hollows. Perhaps Arrancar are closer to Soul Reapers than Hollows, and are therefore able to befriend one another," Zavara stated.
"Zavara, stop being stupid!" Draco yelled. Zavara continued to sit where he was, refusing to even comment. "Fine, if you're going to be that way, then fine. I'm going to actually do what I came here to do!" He drew his sword, holding it above his head. "Explode!" he swung his sword to the ground, "Archfiend!"
The air around him crackled, causing an explosion. The Arrancar's robes had become red, accentuated with outlines of scales. His sword had become claws, wrapping around his fingers, and extending to form points. "I like that method of thinking," the younger Soul Reaper stated, placing a hand on her own sword. "Bury Mine Enemies, Ushi Oni!" she called out, unsheathing her sword.
Her sword's blade extended, coiling itself into a spring. "Now, I think we should get started," she stated, slashing her sword. The sping uncoiled, heading straight for Draco. Small flames formed on the tips of his claws. He slashed his claws, causing an explosion that forced the Soul Reaper's Zanapkuto away from him.

"A Hollow is a Hollow, no matter what they call themselves!" Megami screamed at her brother.
"Megami, please try to see it my way. There is a reason why I'm doing this, it's very important that I succeed. Nay, that [i]we[/i] succeed," Donovyn said.
"Then you leave me no choice. As your lieutenant, I must stop you from working with these Hollows!" she said, her Zanpakuto catching fire. "GODDESS FLARE!" she shouted, slashing her sword horizontally. The fire worked its way off the sword, forming into the shape of a flaming eye. The eye surrounded Donovyn, who did nothing to hold it off.
The flaming eye shrunk, spinning around it's target. Donovyn looked down and to his left. "Ah, I remember you demonnstrating this technique. In fact, I think you've used it a couple times while we were hunting Hollows a while back," he said. The edge of the eye shot strings around him, forming a net to keep him in place. "Three, two, one."
The flames grew bigger and hotter, spinning faster and faster, heating up the air to cause an explosion. The dust settled after a few minutes, revealing Donovyn standing unfazed, although his clothes had been badly burned. Megami's eyes widened as he came into view. "I hope you realize now, your Shikai isn't enough to defeat me." Megami bowed her head, and closed her eyes.
"You're right. I hate using this, but I have no options," Megami said. "Bankai."

Cherry continued trying to slash through the creature standing in front of her. [i]Wait, if this is another illusion she's set up...[/i] "Eise, watch my back!" Eise nodded, flying to stand with his back to hers. While Eise kept a lookout for any attacks coming toward him, Cherry continued trying to cut through the water creature toward the Soul Reaper controlling it.

"My name is Zavara, by the way," Zavara said, introducing himself to his companion, "What's yours?"
"Mizuki. Mizuki Shoujo."
"Mizuki," Zavara repeated. "That's a nice name. That's a water name. People who bear such names are usually calm, able to assess any situation, no matter how chaotic." He chuckled. "Not like 'Zavara,' I don't even know what kind of name that is."
Draco launched another explosion, which his opponent dodged. "That's Kana Shoujo, by the way. Forgive her if she doesn't warm up to you quickly. She's had nothing but bad experiences with Hollows."
"Why do Soul Reapers always get the good names? I mean, 'Zavara?' 'Dios Deus?' That one's just sad. It means 'God God.' What kind of name is that? 'Draco' is fairly cool. Until you see that his Ressureccion is a rip off of a dragon in a children's card game. Just watch," Zavara said.
Draco had started gathering energy in his right palm. "Absolute Powerforce!" he yelled, thrusting his palm forward. Kana's Zanpakuto caught the energy blast emenating from Draco's palm, the spring forcing it back at him.
"Yeah, I guess. At least his is more clever than Kana's. It's name is "Archfiend" and it looks very little like what it's supposed to be. Wait until you see Kana's Bankai. Speaking of which, Kana, I don't think you'll be able to beat him with just your Shikai. Might wanna use your Bankai."
Kana growled, holding her Zanpakuto in front of her. "Yeah, I guess so. Bankai!" Her Zanpakuto began glowing white, and morphing into the form of a giant bull.
"I see what you mean..." Zavara said, sighing. "Well, at least it's a clash between power-types. That at least makes them somewhat even. I still don't see why it has to happen. If it were just for fun, like, loser buys the sake, that'd be one thing. But these two want to see each other dead."
"You really are different, aren't you?" Mizuki asked. Zavara nodded before speaking.
"Most people look at Soul Reapers and Hollows and only see what's different. But, when a Hollow takes off his mask, and becomes an Arrancar, he not only gains Soul Reaper powers, but he also gains Characteristics that are generally only associated with Soul Reapers and Humans. Thus, once we become Arrancar, we have so much more in common with each other than what's different." Mizuki thought about this statement for a few seconds. "Hey, what's that over there?" he stated, pointing at a giant pillar of fire in the distance.

Megami rushed toward Donovyn, her red gown flowing behind her. She slashed downward, the pillar of fire that was now her blade crashing down upon him. [/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 59: The Beginning of the End]
Kailie watched as her attack faded, revealing her new opponent. [i]That's odd. That looks exactly like Dios's Negative Zone. What's more, I've heard of this one. That platemail tells me that this is a guy Itachi always lost against. He was higher up than me, this could be trouble.[/i]
"Now, it's you and me," the new arrival stated, walking toward her.
"Actually, I'd say it's you and me," Dios stated, landing in front of him. "And I assure you, I won't be quite so simple," he stated, drawing his sword. The Aoul Reaper just yawned.
"Is that meant to scare me?" he asked. He swung his sword downward, Dios blocking the attack.

[i]Damn, I can't even summon any Blanks in this condition. I might have been able to get back to Bankai, but that last fight was just too much strain on me.[/i] Creator jumped back, pulling a container from his Shihakusho. He threw the container at the Arrancar, who sliced it in half. "Now, Ze’Borova, a lightning strike, now!"
Ze’Borova began growling, his blade crackling. Creator rushed in, preventing the Arrancar from releasing his Zanpakuto. Ze’Borova slashed his sword, sending a wave of electricity throughout the area. Several small explosions occured in the air, each one sucessively larger than the last, until the air combusted, sending fire over the entire area. Creator Flash Stepped out of the area, followed by Ze’Borova.
The flames settled, revealing that both Arrancar had survived. Ze’Borova used both his Sonido and Flash Step abilities to rush the female, dispatching her without difficulty-her body had been burned beyond repair. The other Arrancar, however, was able to block his strike, along with all his subsequent attacks. "That's cool. It really is. I don't know what happened to cause that fire, but Kailie obviously wasn't up to it."
[i]Just who is this guy? How could he have survived that inferno? I mixed that gas myself! It burns at over a million degrees, no one could have survived being inside of it![/i] Creator stared, wide-eyed. [i]Are Vizards really that fast? Speaking of, where are Cielo and the others?[/i]

Cielo woke up, finding himself and the other Vizards detained. A voice rose up over the clamor of chains rattling. "I see everyone's awake. Good, now I can explain what needs to be explained." [i]Figures whoever did this would use a voiice diguiser.[/i]
"As you've noticed, you've all been chained to the wall. But there's more to it than meets the eye. You see, inside those walls are a bomb. One bomb, in the shape of a room. Right now, there is a flow of electricity flowing through the chains, the wall, the bomb, and even you. The entrance to the room is just large enough for one person to fit through. If the circuit you all form with the room is broken, a short will occur. The resulting short will trigger an explosion one second later. I wish the fastest of you luck," the voice said, and laughed as it trailed off.
"Cielo, you have to do it," one of the Vizard insisted.
"Go for it," another said.
"It has to be you," a third chimed in. One by one, each of the Vizard told Cielo that he had to be the one to escape.
"No, I'm not going to escape here if it means you all have to die!" Cielo yelled.
"Cielo Kage," a small girl said, chained to the wall beside him. "The Soul Reapers need help. Some of the Arrancar have been defeated, but I can feel it. Donovyn has betrayed them. One of the other captains is a Vizard as well, but nowhere near as powerful as Donovyn is. They need the help of annother Vizard to match the strength of Donovyn and the two strongest Arrancar. You're the strongest one here, it has to be you."
"Kesley..." he barely managed to say. Cielo closed his eyes, and sighed. [i]If I escape, all of these people will die. But if I don't, then exponentially more people will die. They all seem to be willing to lay down their lives so that I can help our allies.[/i] "In that case, brace yourselves!" he yelled. He stood up, yelling, leaning forward.
The chains snapped, and he Flash Stepped out of the room just in time to escape the explosion. [i]Kesley, I'm sorry, I will make sure that your sacifice isn't in vain![/i] He donned his Hollow mask, using both flash step and Sonido to make it to the nearest fight. [i]That goes for all of you![/i] "Cry Out, Maria!" Cielo called as he drew his blade, which upon being drawn curved slightly.
Cielo landed on top of one of the walls, watching the fight happen. [i]I see, so that's the other Vizard Captain. He seems to be holding his own, wait, what's that![/i] The Arrancar jumped, donning a row of spiked teeth. "Go mad! Negativo!" he yelled. Blue energy erupted out his body, changing his Arrancar robes into a Soviet Military uniform.

"Well, this fight will last for about ten more seconds," Elphemia stated. "Weird, though, I thought Maria would be back by now." She looked around, and noticed a man watching the fight between Dios and the Soul Reaper. "Whatever, where's, oh, there she is." Elphemia rushed toward her, as fast as she could go.
"Maria, what happened?" she asked.
"I... Daisuke... Daisuke wouldn't change sides, so, he..." Maria collasped. Her body disintigrated in Elphemia's arms, leaving her holding Baragon's crown.
"Daisuke's dead now?" Elphemia asked herself. "In the end, he went up against his own sister to do what's right. And here I am, betraying him just to gain more power. No more, I refuse to let Daisuke have died in vain!" She rushed back to Dios, transforming her arms.
"DIOS DEUS! I'M NOT LETTING YOU CONTROL ME ANYMORE!" she shouted, launching one of her energy attacks. Dios's Negative Zone canceled out the attack, leaving him unharmed. When Dios rushed back to the Soul Reaper, the other man rushed in to protect him.

"I don't know your name," Cielo stated, blocking the Arrancar's sword with his own blade, which had reverted to it's sealed form. "But you need to go. Find the Head Captain, and help him, I can fight this fight." He didn't turn around, he didn't need to to know that his request had been granted.
"I get it, you two are Vizards, just like that sixth captain of yours."
"I'm not a member of the Court Guard Squads. I just don't like Hollows," Cielo stated. A girl rushed in, knocking the Arrancar out of the sky. "I guess you've fought him before?" Cielo asked her.
"Yes, he trained me. But now my friend is dead. He died trying to bring me back, and I'm not going to let him have died believing in me, only to turn my back on his sacrifice. Elphemia da Putana doesn't work that way!" she said.
"Is that so, Elphemia? Well then, I'm just going to have to execute you!" The Arrancar said, throwing his sword toward her. Elphemia's left arm transformed into a shield, blocking the sword. She caught the sword, and transformed her right arm. She threw the sword into the air, and launched a blast of energy at it, destroying the blade.
The Arrancar let out a roar, reverting back to his original form. "You little b****! I'm going to get you!" he said, launching a Cero toward her. She blocked the Cero with her shield arm, but he didn't let up. Cielo rushed in toward him, but the Arrancar nailed him with a Balla. He used his Sonido to get behind Elphemia, grabbing her mouth with one hand, and holding her arms with the other.
The Arrancar, Elphemia in tow, rushed down toward Cielo. "Good-Bye, Elphemia! And you, too, whoever you are! Tonight, we all dine together in Hell!" He began charging a Cero in the hand covering Elphemia's mouth.

Dios let go of Elphemia's mouth, and used his other to throw her towards his opponent. Both he, and the masked Soul Reaper launched their Ceros. The two Cero grinded past each other, both hitting their intended targets. The smoke cleared, revealing that Elphemia and the Soul Reaper had succumbed to Dios's Cero, but Dios had managed to survive.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 60: D-Day]
Draco and Kana continued to clash with each other, exchanging blows, and blocking each other's attacks. "I don't know what it is," Zavara began saying. "But I think I feel something for you. It doesn't make sense."
"No, it doesn't. We've known each other for what? Five minutes?" Mizuki answered.
"That's what doesn't make sense. How long should it take for feelings to form?"
"About.." Mizuki dodged one of Kana's attacks, hearing a "sorry" from her sister, "a month. At least."

[i]I know Mizuki, Keiko, and Megami aren't going to like this, but I have to do it.[/i] Her opponent launched another beam, which Kana used her Bankai to absorb. She rushed toward him, wrapping the bull around both of them. "What is she doing!" Mizuki yelled. Kana returned the charge that her opponent had fired.

Mizuki screamed, breaking down into tears. "She... she killed herself. She killed herself to kill Draco," She said through tears. Zavara placed his arms around her, giving her a hug.
"There, now. I'm sure she did what she felt she had to do to protect her family. I know I sound insane, but if someone threatened you, I'd probably do the same thing," he stated.
"I'm glad to hear that you feel that way, Zavara," they heard a voice say. "Because since you've just turned traitor, I have no choice but to make you live up to that comment!" he stated, forming a Cero in his hand.
"Dios, I can see from here that you are wounded, and you seem to have lost your Zanpakuto. Don't fight me," Zavara told him. Dios launched his Cero. Zavara drew his sword to defend himself, only to realize that Dios's Cero was aimed at Mizuki. "Roar, Dragon King!" he said quickly. He slashed his sword downward, releasing a blast of energy just powerful enough to knock Mizuki out of the way of the attack.
She looked at the Arrancar, his new black robes, and what appeared to be ears, holding off the attack with one hand. "Dios, you might be ranked four places higher than I am, but that means nothing anymore. I am able to use my ressureccion, but you no longer possess your Zanpakuto. We're even now. And I'm going to destroy you!" he yelled, rushing Dios.

Fuuta knocked another Cero out of the way with his hammer. "Miromai Kakasoji!" he yelled, swining his hammer into the ground. Green fire rose up from the ground where Evanescent had stood. A lightning bolt struck Evanescent, causing an explosion.
"Head Captain, go! The only hope we have of ending this is the Shokyoku."
"Right," Fuuta stated, returning his Zanpakuto to its sealed form. "I'm trusting you to hold them off, Ze’Borova Preyn!" he added, Flash Stepping away.
The smoke cleared, showing Ze’Borova his opponent. [i]Is that? It couldn't be...[/i] The smoke completely cleared, allowing the Arrancar to come into focus. "Ulquiorra!" he yelled, rushing his opopnent.
"Close," the Arrancar stated. "I am Ulquiorra Schifa's brother. I am Evaescent Noir." [i]So, this is the Evanescent Donovyn's been chasing after for centuries. That would mean they've been training, not trying to kill each other. What do I care, he looks like Ulquiorra.[/i]
"YOU'RE DEAD!" Ze’Borova yelled, launching a powerful electrified swipe at Evanescent. Evanescent blocked the attack easily. He pulled out what looked to be the missing half of the mask on his head.
"This is my brother's mask. Since he's gone, it passes of to me," Evanescent stated, placing it on his head before pulling out his Zanpakuto. He launched a Balla at Ze’Borova. "Godmod, Aizas," he stated while his opponent was busy. Ze’Borova growled at the sight of his Black Robes and new forehead protector. Ulquiorra's mask had move to the top of Evanescent's head, taking the same form as in Ulquiorra's ressureccion.
"You look too similar to Ulquiorra. I'm going to kill you for that," Ze’Borova stated. He held his sword above his head, gathering Lightning into his sword. He placed his other hand on his sword's hilt. He Sonido-Stepped toward Evanescent, slashing down on him. Evanescent blocked the sword with one arm, though he was still conducting the electricity.

Cherry gathered all of her blades into several circular saws, and sent all of them one after the other into the same spot, to no avail. "Cherry, I don't think that she's using and illusion. I think I can do better than what you're doing," Eise said. Cherry nodded, and the two Arrancar spun around. Eise gathered his twin balls in his hand.
He blasted the two spheres as though they were both Ceros. The giant water creature began freezing from where they hit. "Now, Cherry, hit it!" Eise stated. Cherry sent all of her blades toward her frozen enemy. The blades cut straight through the ice, toppling the giant. The water crashed to the ground, and then proceeded to rush toward Cherry and Eise in the for of a wave.
Eise attepted to freeze the wave, but ended up dashing out the way. Cherry, meanwhile, blasted the wave with one of her Ceros. "Eise, do it!" Cherry stated, placing on a huge mask that covered her from her nose to her breasts. Her body glowed, and the mask shrunk to fit her better. Eise placed on a pair of glasses, and his body glowed brighter, causing four long tentacles to grow from his body.
"Now, Soul Reaper, you're finished!" Eise called out.
"Is that so?" the Soul Reaper answered. "How will you defeat me, when you can't even find me?" she said, appearing behind Eise. Eise moved one of his tentacles to capture her in the one of the several balls dangling from them. The tentacle connected, and passed right through her.
"Enough with these illusions you coward! Come out and fight like a warrior!" Eise stated, just before being pierced through the skull with an icesicle.
"How fitting," the Soul Reaper stated. "By the way, my name is Keiko. Keiko Shoujo," she whispered as she sliced Eise in half, destroying both him and Szayelaporro's mask. "Now, it's your turn, Cherry, was it?"
"Yes, it is. So, now it's just you and me, Keiko. I must say, I was expecting you outfit to change with your Bankai, but the only difference is the massive ammount of water you pulled fro the atmosphere," Cherry stated. "That, combined with the illusions you insist on employing is kind of annoying."
"Perhaps, although, if we're talking about aesthetics, your outfit is pretty. If only I didn't have to kill you, it wouldn't be wasted," Keiko stated. Cherry moved her hands, encircling herself with her many blades. Keiko held her sword in front of her, encircling herself in an identical fashion with her water. The two launched their attacks, which countered each other perfectly.

Donovyn stood on the rooftop, blocking each of Megami's attacks. Megami screamed and cried, constantly attacking with regret. "Megami, I can sense the hesitation and regret in your attacks. Just stop, already. I've said it before, if I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead."
"I can't let you side with them, Donovyn, I have to stop you, and if killing you is the only way to do that, then so be it! Seikano!" she yelled. The fire from her sword turned jet-black, and took the form of a pheonix.
"Megami, don't! At this range, you'll end up..." The pheonix dove toward Donovyn, who caught it in his hands. He Flash Stepped backward, the pheonix following. "Stop this attack at once, Megami, you're only going to hurt yourself doing it!" He put on his mask, and quickly launched a Cero toward the pheonix.
The pheonix quickly reformed around the Cero, and engulfed Donovyn. [i]Megami, I know what you're about to do, but this attack of yours... you can't do it. Please...[/i] The pheonix exploded, leaving Donovyn where he floated in the air. His mask crumbled away, revealing tears rolling down his face. "You were so intent on stopping me, that you sacrificed your life. There was no way you had enough energy left to do that without channeling your own life force into that explosion..."[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 61: Final Moments]
Donovyn floated down to view his sister's body. "That was foolish, Megami. If only you hadn't done that, you could have seen a world without war. A world where racial differences are non-existant. You know that I would be able to survive that, so why did you do it? Megami Shoujo, I wanted to turn all Soul Reapers into Vizards, and all Hollows into Arrancar. The Sokoku can do it. By doing that, every Spirit Being would escentially be the same, meaning that none of them would have a reason to fight each other."

Jazeth rush toward Dios, charging a Cero in his mouth. He reached into his robes, pulling out a left jaw set. He placed it on his face, and fired the Cero once his robes had become a set of light blue armour. Dios dodged to the side, rushing toward Jazeth, aiming a Cero at his head. His hand was caught, Jazeth reaching out and grabbing Dios's other wrist as well.
"And, now Dios, prepare to be defeated," he said as his nails began to glow blue. "Enigma Charge!" he shouted. The blue glow on his nails grew brighter, extending outward. The glow took on the form of a dragon, circling around the two fighters. Jazeth jumped back just as the dragon engulfed Dios. [i][i]So, this is what happens inside Enigma Charge. I've always wondered about that. But I will not be consumed by energy![/i][/i]
He began firing Ceros and Ballas in as rapid succession as he possibly could. "I will not be defeated by this!" Dios shouted as theva mouth of the energy dragon moved toward his hand.

"As if that's all it'd take," Jazeth said, a manic grin on his face. He held his hand at the dragon. "Now," he said, the dragon firing it's own attack.

Dios fired his own Cero at the dragon's attack, to no avail. He was hit dead-on with the dragon's blast. The dragon closed it's mouth around him.

Jazeth watched as his dragon flew off the ground, carrying Dios with it. The dragon's body began glowing, returning to five seperate beams of energy, returning to Jazeth's nails. No sign of Dios was seen upon the dragon's fading.

Evanescent, now in Segunda Etapa, rushed toward his opponent. "You're being annoying!" he shouted.
"I am Ze’Borova Preyn! Ulquiorra Schifa detroyed my home, my family, and every single one of my friends! I am going to end you!" Ze’Borova shouted, his sword looking as though it were made of electricity.
The mask Ulquiorra once wore had become simply two hornlike projections from Evanescent's head, Evanescent's own mask had become much the same, the tips touching Ulquiorra's. At these connecting tips, Evanescent placed his two index fingers. The space encompassed by the two masks began glowing green. "This is the attack performed by the spirit of two brothers! Double Cero Cannon!" Evanescent shouted. The two glowing areas shot out two identical green ceros.

Ze’Borova slashed downward at the oncoming Ceros, launching a stream of lightning between them at the Arrancar. Nelson watched as Ze’Borova failed to withstand the onslaught. "Well, I thought for certain that he'd live. I guess all that Spiritual Pressure he had just put too much of a strain on his own body. He wasn't ready to handle that kind of power."
He Flash Stepped over to Ze’Borova's opponent, his sword drawn. "Who are you?" he asked.
"My name is Evanescent Noir. Who are you, Soul Reaper Captain?"
"Nelson Elreigner," he answered, pulling out a mask of his own, which appeared to be a simple skull, horns curled up on it. "And I have this." Evanescent's eyes widened as he placed it on his head. "Thunder, Karanagu."

Keiko continued lashing water at Cherry, while Cherry sent clusters of her blades toward Keiko. Keiko would Flash Step to move behind Cherry, and Cherry would move to stay in front of Keiko. "I've had enough of this," Keiko noted. She held her Zanpakuto in front of her face, closing her eyes. The blue shimmer of her blade intensified. "Solar Flare!" she shouted.
The bright light from her sword blinded Cherry. Keiko rushed Cherry, who sent several of her blades toward Keiko. Keiko slashed her sword, sending water toward Cherry, which froze into icesicles. Keiko was caught in the barrage of Senbonsakura Kageyoshi. The attack stopped, freeing Keiko to watch her opponent's body break down. "I-I guess this one's a tie," she said, her vision failing.

"Zavara, what... what was that?" Mizuki asked after Zavara had sealed his ressureccion and removed Grimmjow's mask.
"I'm sorry you had to see that, Mizuki. That was my... other. Jazeth tends to emerge when I'm in a fight. Makes sense, I guess... he is more willing to fight than I am."

[i][i] [/i][/i]Mary-Sue watched as Fuuta got closer to the Shokyoku blade. She drew her sword, holding it in front of her face. "I can't very well allow that, now can I? Destroy, Frieza." Her blade glowed softly, as her body morphed. She grew a long, slender tail, her hair receeded, and her scalp turned purple. Her robes vanished as her body lost all signs of gender. Her shoulders became the same sahde of purple as her head had.
"Now, I think it's time to end this," she stated, pointing a finger at the Soul Reaper who was beginning to untie the blade. "Bye-Bye," she said, blasting a small amount of energy at her target. The target fell to the ground, dead.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Chapter 62: Mary-Sue's Vision]
[i][i] [/i][/i]"Quite powerful, aren't you? Mary-Sue heard someone say behind her. She turned around to see a Soul Reaper clad in platemail facing her. "Ah, yes, I've noticed you. That's quite an upgrade you've created on Dios Deus's Negative Zone."
"Yes, it is," he said, eyeing her over. "I guess that means you'll have to rely on physical combat to beat me. I thought you were a girl, but, when you're naked, we see that you have no gender at all."
"Very funny. This is my ressureccion, Soul Reaper, I assure you, I'm quite beautiful in my normal state," she said. "Not that it matters much to you. You're nowhere near the man Donovyn is." She rushed toward the Soul Reaper, holding her fingers like claws.
"As if that'll work," he blocked the attack with his Zanpakuto, and pushed her back. "Disgusting creatures like you, and by that I mean Hollows, all of them, don't have what it takes to defeat me."
"Disgusting you say? You think we're disgusting? I assure you, we are not the disgusting ones. I confess to our short-comings. You are the ones who, as a whole, deny that you have any.
"Although we are Hollows who have gained Soul Reaper powers, we are still Hollows. As such, we must devour other living things to stay alive ourselves. However, you are even worse. Those Soul Reapers who have gained Hollow Powers, are still Soul Reapers. Soul Reapers hunt down Hollows just because they eat humans, but they don't even think about why.
"You see, we Hollows do what we must to survive. Although some of us may have chosen to become Hollows, not all of us did. I know I didn't chose this life, but just because I didn't chose it doesn't mean I won't try to preserve it. It's the only life I've got! So, of course I'm going to do whatever I must to keep on living it!
"What about you? What makes you any better than me? You have to eat, too, don't you? Do you ever stop to consider where your food comes from? It comes from living things, that's where! You have to kill something in order to eat, just as Hollows do! Granted you kill it 'humanely' first, and then eat it, but that doesn't change the fact that you kill something to eat!
"Humans do the same thing, but you protect them. Did it ever occur to you just how many cows have died for human dinner? How many chickens were slaughtered so that humans could have a snack on the way to their jobs? Even the vegetarians have to kill in order to eat something! Are plants not living things that must die for them to eat something?
"So, then, why do you protect the miserable beings? Is it because we chase them down? Becaue they're afraid of us, and run to avoid being eatten by us? Well, true though that may be, does the chicken not run from the butcher? Do the cattle not feel fear when they realize what's about to happen to them?
"So why is it okay that Humans kill for food, but yet Hollows can't? How is a Hollow killing a human any different from a human killing a cow? At least when we kill, we eat everything. When a human kills a pregnent Sow, they eat the Sow's meat, and discard the fetus! Yet, that's perfectly okay, according to you, but what we do is worth our death, at least according to you Soul Reapers; and you're the ones who make those decisions, it would seem."
Creator scratched his head for a second. "Yeah, that's interesting, now, good-bye," he said, ignoring everything Mary-Sue had just stated. He pushed for the electricity and the water to be ejected from his sword. He slashed at Mary-Sue, who held her hand to block the sword. Her skin remained uncut, though the electricity still entered her body.
"And, while you're paralyzed," he Flash-Stepped to the Shokyoku, and severed every rope holding the giant blade in place. "Wipe the convicted fromthe face of existance, Shokykoku!" Creator yelled. The blade rose from the ground, black fire taking on the form of a pheonix surrounding it. The pheonix rushed toward Mary-Sue, who launched several blasts of energy toward the bird. Creator laughed as the bird engulfed Mary-Sue.
Several blasts of energy emerged from the flaming bird, but to no avail. The bird absorbed all of its victims Reishi, leaving her a withered husk, which fell to the ground. Her body reverted back to its original form. Donovyn appeared in the sky as the bird flew off in search of the last remaining Arrancar. Creator stepped over to Mary-Sue, plunging his sword into her chest before Donovyn was able to reach them.[hr]

Donovyn sat tied to a chair in the Tower of Penance, a seal surpressing his Soul Reaper and Hollow Powers placed on his back. "You could have avoided this, you know," Head Captain Yachiru stated. "If you hadn't sided with the Arrancar, and improsoned me here as well, you could still have your Captain's position."
"Screw the Captain's Position," Donovyn stated. "Not like any of you care why I did it. All you know is that you defeated a group of Hollows and stripped their Soul Reaper Ally of his reason to live."
"You did betray everyone, even all four of your sisters died because of you." Donovyn said nothing. "Why did you do it, anyway?"
"So make everyone the same. Not in terms of who they are, but what they are. With the Espada Masks, and without anyone working the Kido Cannon, and by using the Sokoku, Mary-Sue and I would have enough Reishi between us to make every Hollow an Arrancar and every Soul Reaper a Vizard. That way, they're all the same type of being: Half-Soul Reaper, Half-Hollow. One less thing to fight over.
"The Arrancar would be allowed, then, to eat as much as they need to survive. Now, we wouldn't let them go on a rampage, those who ate more than necessary would be punished. But, as Arrancar, they do need significantly less human souls to survive, and they're even able to draw nutrients from the same kind of food as us. Some, but not all they need to survive. Though, the bottom line is, I wanted to blur racial lines, and try to eliminate war."
"I get it, trust me, I do. You just wanted peace, and to do that, you did what you thought was necessary. Unfortunately, you still have to be tried as a traitor, and you will be found guilty."[hr]
Five minutes before Donovyn's trial
Head Captain Yachiru, along with Nelson and Lichroy-the only Captain-rank survivors, walked in to escort Donovyn to his trial. When they walked in, they found his ropes snapped, and his guard unconscious. They found a note on the chair reading:
[i]"The guard is innocent. I broke my own ropes. You may have surpressed my powers, but my natural strength was enough."[/i]
They looked over to the guard, and noted that his Zanpakuto was missing. Then they looked over to the corner, and saw Donovyn: He had rammed his guard's Zanpakuto through his own heart.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Chapter 62 (: Mary-Sue's Vision]
"Quite powerful, aren't you?" Mary-Sue heard someone say behind her. She turned to see a Soul Reaper clad in platemail armour. "To take out the Head Captain with but one shot. Granted, he was a bit side-tracked," he said pushing a couple of buttons he had placed on his Zanpakuto. "However, let's see how well you're able to handle someone who's a bit more willing to kill their opponent than he is."
"That would be interesting, wouldn't it, Lichroy?" D stated, appearing behind Creator. "I'm sorry, Lichroy, but I'm afraid I've made too many personal sacrifices-not all of which I was willing to make-getting this far. I can't let you stop me from acheiving this."
"Donovyn, I knew you would be on their side," the Soul Reaper stated. "However, those 'sacrifices' you refered to were not sacrifices at all. You turned your back on the Shoujo sisters, as well as all of us. It doesn't matter how you look at it, an apple is an apple and an orange is an orange."
"Is that so? Who made you Soul Reapers the judge of what is what and what is not? Granted, some things can not be changed, for example, although we are Hollows who have gained Soul Reaper powers, we are still Hollows. As such, we must devour other living things to stay alive ourselves. However, you are even worse. Those Soul Reapers who have gained Hollow Powers, are still Soul Reapers. Soul Reapers hunt down Hollows just because they eat humans, but they don't even think about why.
"You see, we Hollows do what we must to survive. Although some of us may have chosen to become Hollows, not all of us did. I know I didn't chose this life, but just because I didn't chose it doesn't mean I won't try to preserve it. It's the only life I've got! So, of course I'm going to do whatever I must to keep on living it!
"What about you? What makes you any better than me? You have to eat, too, don't you? Do you ever stop to consider where your food comes from? It comes from living things, that's where! You have to kill something in order to eat, just as Hollows do! Granted you kill it 'humanely' first, and then eat it, but that doesn't change the fact that you kill something to eat!
"Humans do the same thing, but you protect them. Did it ever occur to you just how many cows have died for human dinner? How many chickens were slaughtered so that humans could have a snack on the way to their jobs? Even the vegetarians have to kill in order to eat something! Are plants not living things that must die for them to eat something?
"So, then, why do you protect the miserable beings? Is it because we chase them down? Becaue they're afraid of us, and run to avoid being eatten by us? Well, true though that may be, does the chicken not run from the butcher? Do the cattle not feel fear when they realize what's about to happen to them?
"So why is it okay that Humans kill for food, but no Hollows don't? How is a Hollow killing a human any different from a human killing a cow? At least when we kill, we eat everything. When a human kills a pregnent Sow, they eat the Sow's meat, and discard the fetus! Yet, that's perfectly okay, according to you, but what we do is worth our death, at least according to you Soul Reapers; and you're the ones who make those decisions, it would seem."

Creator scratched his head, pretending to think about it. "Yeah, that's a nice little speech there. Now, here's what I think of it," he stated, rushing toward her. Donovyn quickly appeared in front of him, his Shikai released. "So, you've released your Shikai against me? Am I that big a threat to you now?"
"Shove it, Lichroy. The only reason I released my Shikai against you was to avoid wasting time!"
"Are you saying that that eye sore of a girlfriend can't defend herself?"
"You're going to regret you said that," Donovyn stated, vanishing a fraction of a second before the Arrancar unleashed a Cero from the tips of its finger. Creator's technologically induced Negative Zone proved to be able to block the attack, but was not able to block the head butt that followed.

Evanescent spun around, blocking the strike that had been made from behind. "You aren't too bad. Although, I must say that I'm the slightest bit disappointed. The way you talked yourself up, I was expecting you to be able to do damage."
"I'm going to make you eat those words, Arrancar," the Soul Reaper stated. He reared up: He had taken on the form of a centaur, his Zanpakuto taking on the form of a spear. As he charged up another attack, he gathered electricity at the tip of the weapon. His front hooves hit the ground, and he charged forward. Evanescent began charging another Double Cero Cannon.
"This is the power of Nelson Elreigner! Kikishi Karagaru!" He swung the weapon, simultaniously releasing a Cero-launched from his mouth-and the electrical curent from his Zanpakuto. The two mixed in mid-air, spiraling toward Evanescent, who released his Double Cero Cannon. The two attacks clashed in mid air. Both sets of energy pushed against each other, Evanescent's pushing Nelson's back.
Evanescent touched the tips of his two masks with his fingers, and his attack pushed through Nelson's attack, leaving him only enough tie to move out of the way. "You see, Soul Reaper, the mask I wear once belonged to my brother. As such, I am able to acquire immense power from it. However, the original bearer of the mask you wear has no connection to you, aside from having a similar name. Because of that, you can not get much power from the mask."

Donovyn sealed his Zanpkauto, watching as Mary-Sue toyed with Lichroy. "Do you see now, Soul Reaper? That power you claim to have is only an illusion. You fight for the purpose of killing Hollows. I fight for a vision of the future: A future in which there is no need for Soul Reapers and Hollows to clash!" Mary-Sue stated, punching him to the ground.
"Yeah, that's nice. But I have a job to do, and that job entails killing you!" Lichroy stated, standing up. He looked to his side, and noticed that he'd been thrown to one of the ropes sealing the power of the Shokyouku. He sliced the rope, prompting Mary-Sue to rush toward him. She wasn't able to reach him before he severed the last anchor rope from the blade.
She fired another Cero at him. As Donovyn watched, he noticed that as Lichroy's Negative Zone protected him from Mary-Sue's blast, it began to shimmer. [i]I'd say that's a significant upgrade over Dios's original. Still, it's not perfect. His artificial Negative Zone can only supress so uch Spiritual Pressure before it begins to weaken.[/i]
"Wipe the convicted from the face of existance, Shokyouku!" Lichroy yelled. The giant, spear-like blade erupted into the form of a pheonix, nearly twice as large as the blade it came from. "This is the end for you, Arrancar. As well as you, Donovyn. For the protection of all my stuff, and the Soul Society, you two must perish, along with any other remaining Arrancar!"
The Pheonix engulfed Mary-Sue, who had proceeded to fire multiple Ceros and Ballas in an attempt to free herself. "No! My lady!" Donovyn yelled. He could hear Lichroy laughing as his mask formed without any physical motions. "BANKAI!" he shouted, his Zanpakuto going directly from Katana to Sabre, and his Shihakusho taking on the form of a cloak. His Spiritual Pressure soared, and collected around him taking on a grey color.
Donovyn slashed his Zanpakuto downward, releasing the entire blast of energy toward the giant pheonix. The bird opened its mouth, collecting the entirity of the attack inside itself. "You helped me design Shokyouku, Donovyn. You really should have known better than to pull that one out on it," Lichroy commented as the bird abandoned Mary-Sue in favor of its new target. Donovyn, now surrounded by the bird, attempted several attacks on the blade which ated as its spine.
[i]That's not good. I made sure that in the event either Mary-Sue or myself were trapped in here, we'd be able to break the blade! Lichroy, he tampered with my designs![/i] "That's enough," he heard Lichroy state. "Find the other Arrancar and deal with them, I can handle these two now."
The bird left Donovyn just in time for him to see Mary-Sue look up to Lichroy on her hands and knees. The latter plunged his sword into her skull. "She was a Hollow, Donovyn," Lichroy said as Mary-Sue's body dissolved. "But you, Donovyn, [i]Captain[/i] Donovyn Mikara Gerra, are a Soul Reaper. A Soul Reaper with Hollow powers, but a Soul Reaper none the less. I never trusted you, though. That's why, even when you were just an assisstent working with me to make an enhanced version of the blade Ichigo Kurosaki destroyed, I quadruple checked the designs, ensuring that escape was impossible unless the target was released."

Nelson panted before the Arrancar, who showed no signs of fatigue. As he charged his opponent, he noticed what appeared to be a giant, flaming bird rushing toward them from the execution grounds. [i]So, that thing got released after all? Well, that doesn't matter...[/i] "I'm finishing this one myself, right now!" he yelled as he spun his Zanpakuto over his head, ice crystals forming on the blade. The Arrancar held his hand over his head, forming what looked to be a spear.
"Lanza del Muertos!" he said, barely above his normal voice. He lowered his arm to point at Nel. The spear moved toward him, splitting into numerous smaller versions of itself. Nel swung his sword, which he had been holding behind him. Ice cascaded from his blade, freezing all of the attacks his opponent launched. "How'd you do that? I thought that only Keiko was able to use two elements!"
"Well, I prefer that no one know my Zanpakuto's true nature. You see, while controlling two elements is powerful, it's also nice to have an ace in the hole. You were led to belive that I only had electricity. Therefore, having Ice along with it, and releasing that power only on what was supposed to be the last attack gave me an advatage. Not that it matters any more!" he said, charging another ice attack. "The ice I control is below Absolute Zero in temperature! You and me are dying together today!" he said, rushing toward his opponent as the Shokyouku overtook the both.

"Evanescent's Reishi is dissipating," Zavara told Mizuki.
"So is Nel's."
"I guess that means he was too stubborn to leave well enough alone and abandon the fight."
"That means it's going to be coming for us soon."
"Yes, it does," Zavara said, leaning in and kissing Mizuki.
"Should we try to fight it?" Mizuki asked, leaning back.
"I was told it absorbed Reishi and Spiritual Pressure, and that it then used what it absorbed to become stronger."
"It does, but we won't be able to out run it either."
"Then we'll just kiss until it gets here and takes us."[hr]
Yachiru walked into the room where Donovyn was being held, chained to a chair. She examined the seal upon his back: It had been engraved into his skin, and was repeated five times, each copy only a centimeter from the one preceeding it. "Even you can't use Kido with five suppression seals on your body," she said.
"At least the new Head Captain knows how to gauge the strength of seals," Donovyn said, the pain of his voice more emotional than physical.
"That's enough, Gerra. You know better than to speak to your higher-ups like that," he heard Lichroy say. Donovyn answered him only with a low, but hostile growl. "You deserve this pitiful state. You were more powerful than any of us, but you just had to make plans to turn us all into Vizards."
"It was to eliminate fighting in the world. I also had plans to turn all the Hollows into Arrancar."
"Donovyn," Yachiru stated, before Lichroy could speak, "I know what you wanted: Peace. You had found love in a creature that you were supposed to be enemies with, and you were trying to share that love with everyone else. Despite Captain Lichroy's input, and the fact your actions led to the deaths of all the Captain Rank Soul Reapers save for myself and Captain Lichroy, and the fact you had tied me up in a tower, I think that your intentions will be enough to spare you. I found detailed maps of routes for your sisters to take to avoid the battle, and notes on how to set up a peaceful way of living with the Hollows. I think you may even be allowed back as a member of the Expedition Squad." Donovyn said nothing. "I'll see you before the Trial starts, Donovyn. I really do think you'll be able to redeem yourself in their eyes."[hr]
[i]Five minutes before Donovyn's trial...[/i]
Head Captain Kusajishi walked in to escort Donovyn to Central 46. She noticed that the guard was unconcious, and his Zanpakuto was missing. She ran through the division, the door of which was left open, and found a note by Donovyn's discarded chains.
[i]Yachiru, I know you're the one reading this. You were wrong, I was able, after several minutes of meditation, to manage one Pale Fire Flash, just strong enough to break the chains. The guard was off-guard just long enough for me to knock him unconcious. You'll note burns on my arms from my attack, if you need evidence. The guard is innocent. I have a gift for you, a kitten wandered into my Barracks last week. I left him in my own quarters, an area the invasion was planned to spare. If that much went according to plan, he's safe. He answers to Zaraki.[/i]
There was no mistaking the handwriting: Donovyn was never a master of Penmanship, and he was the only person Yachiru knew who crossed double "T"s with a single bar. She looked over in the corner, and gasped at what she saw: Donovyn had stolen his guard's Zanpakuto, and rammed it through his own heart.[/spoiler][/spoiler]

[Blake]

You made me... AIZEN?! Mixed with Ulqui?! ;_; I don't Godmod, though...

[Spirit of DMG]

Yup ^.^ Aren't you proud of that fact?

[Fusion X. Denver]

Well DMG, I think it's good.
You write action well and the 1st chapter's a good hook into the story.
The one flaw I find in it is that you have the narrator already knowing the characters rather than their names being introduced through the story. It causes a bit of alienation from the reader since he wasn't "introduced" to the character, if you know what I mean.
But I like it, looking forward to chapter 2.

[Shadow Zero]

Black shouldn't be Aisen, I should be Aizen. Just saying, based on my past history and stuff.

[Fusion X. Denver]

Shadow?!
You actually read a fanfic?? >.>

[Shadow Zero]

Not yet, no, but I did see Black-sans comment.

[Spirit of DMG]

Fusion: What I was trying to accomplish was to section off the story so that the story itself has no main character (kinda what I gather from yours. I liked that layout, so I used it) but each section has its own main, and each section is from their PoV. Note how Evanescent and Donovyn were listed as "the Hollow" and "the Soul Reaper" when Daisuke's name was used.

Anyway, new chapter being added now.

[Fusion X. Denver]

I guess I hear you, but glad to hear I was of help ^.^
I loled at Creator's bio, he's fitting for Squad 12 captain.
I dunno about Daisuke crying at the end, but good developmental chapter.
And just wondering:
[quote name='Donovyn Mikara Gerra' timestamp='1291317038' post='4824377']
If he runs amok with his powers, you'll find out what the [b]Shokyoku[/b] can do!"
[/quote]

Did you mean the Hogyoku/its successor, or was that a reference to me? Just curious.
Chapter 3 should be good.

[Spirit of DMG]

hmmm...remember that huge blade at the end of Rescue Rukia Arc? Thought it's name was Shokyoku. Could be wrong...but wasn't that destroyed, come to think of it? ...that things successor either way.

[Fusion X. Denver]

It's name was Shokyoku?
Weird coincidence...
That's what you meant, now it makes more sense.

[Sploda]

You made me look like Naruto.

...

For that I will eternally hate you.

[Spirit of DMG]

yeah, I was going for something like that. Though, did I at least come close to your personality?

[Sploda]

Not really, I sound power hungry and cocky.

And I'm only power hungry.

[Dr. Cakey]

[spoiler='Growing Praise and Adulation Episode 8: I Don't Know What 2 Call This']
Chapter 1: The Quincy Reaper
[b]For some reason, there are very few Bleach fics ‘round these parts. Maybe people identify with Naruto’s main characters more. You know, being loathed by millions of people everywhere. And it’s a shame, because Naruto fanfics, no matter how good, always leave me with same taste in my mouth as a rollicking Duel Academy tale.[/b]

Daisuke walked through the streets reading the latest chapter of [i]Loveless[/i].
[b]Okay, analysis time. I read Chapter Characters (to quote Crab Helmet), and now that I think about it, I shouldn’t have, so the characters can unravel for me and whatnot. See, this is cleverly done characterization here – most people would just have their main character walking around for no particular reason.
[/b]
Things had been quiet in the city lately, and he hadn't had to risk anyone seeing him in action in the last month. That also meant that he was able to read those Yaoi mangas he'd been too distracted to read due to Hollow activity.He turned the page of the manga and heard an explosion somewhere to his left.
[b]I would have cut at the previous period, but it has been transformed into an enzyme binding the ‘activity’ and ‘He’ substrates. This makes it abundantly clear Donovyn didn’t do this in Word. I actually wanted to stop in order to point out that the plural of manga is also manga, not mangas. A basic rule for dealing with foreign words is to pluralize them however they would be pluralized in the native language. Japanese has no plural. QED.[/b]

Then he slumped his shoulders and head, looking in the direction of the explosion.

The Arrancar looked at his enemy, brushing his hand through his blonde hair. The Soul Reaper's mid-back black hair moved in the wind caused by the explosion.
[b]Hrm…see, ‘mid-black’ isn’t really a word. You can tell exactly what’s going on – Donovyn imagined the hair and typed black, then thought about it for a few minutes and decided it was kind of lighter than that. If he’d given it a few more seconds we might have had ‘light black’, which would have been hilarious. Anyway, I’d advice not indicating the precise source of the wind, since as we read it dawns on us that the explosion’s there to cause the wind to call attention to the hair so we know what color it is.
[/b]
Evanescent blew on the finger he'd fired his Cero from.
[b]The problem here is that you’ve named the Arrancar here rather than up there, when you called him an Arrancar. This makes it look like there’s Evanescent, and a nameless Arrancar.[/b]

"You're good," he told Donovyn, "not too many people can brush aside a Cero bare-handed." The two stared at each other for several seconds.
Donovyn smirked as he held his fingers clawed. Against any Hollow other than Evanescent, it would have been effortless.
[b]Quick warning: Bleach is dreadful at establishing any sort of base-line for power. Want an example? Menos Grande – there, what did you think of? Was it the first episode when a lone one appeared and Ichigo nearly killed himself making it fall over? Me, too. But skip ahead a couple thousand seasons and our heroes are carving swarms of them up in the Menos Forest like they’re Goombas. They act more like Macy’s parade floats than hive-minded fusions of Hollow.

My point is this. The Cero is a colossal outpouring of spiritual energy – it’s the ultimate expression of brute force. Rather, that’s what it should be. In his fight with the Visored, Starrk flat out said a Cero wouldn’t be strong enough to finish off his opponents (even if they stood still long enough for him to hit them). The point of my point, then, is please be careful who Donovyn (the non-author Donovyn) is, because if he can knock aside Cero with one hand, he has no business being the main character.

Anyway, I think I’ve halted the fight long enough.[/b]

His hand was burning, but he wasn't about to let an enemy know that. He looked at the palm that deflected the Cero, and then at the building he had thrown it toward.
[b]Assuming that we’re both thinking of Bleach’s Cero and Evanescent didn’t just throw a large zero at him, there shouldn’t be a building to look at. Or a building behind that one. Or behind that one. Just [s]sayin[/s]’Saiyan.
[/b]
He prepared for a lunge toward Evanescent, and Evanescent, fighting without his weapon drawn, took a stance that said he was ready.

Daisuke rounded the corner to see a Soul Reaper fighting against a humanoid Hollow. The only thing that told Daisuke it was a Hollow was the mask fragment. A half-helmet with a spike coming out of it, sitting on the left side of his head.
[b]You could have joined this clause to the previous sentence with a dash or semi-colon. Which reminds me – take a sip.[/b]

He stood in awe, wondering exactly what he was seeing. The Soul Reaper had just plunged his Zanpakuto point first into the Hollow, who had blocked the attack with the palm of his hand.
[b]<333333333333333333333

Anyone who blocks swords with their hand can have my children. Even if neither of us have ovaries, the power of blocking-swords-with-your-hand will make it possible.[/b]

The Soul Reaper pushed his glasses up his nose, having jumped back a few feet. Daisuke was standing there, mouth agape, thinking, "[i]I've never seen this kind of thing.
[b]If you have it in italics, you don’t need quotes.[/b]

That's clearly a Hollow, but, it looks like a man. And...how is he able to block a sword bare handed? And, the looks on their faces...they know each other! What's happening?[/i]"
"Know what? I don't care! That's a Hollow, and I'm going to get rid of it!"
Daisuke said, forming a simple long bow.
[b]Keep in mind, in the Bleach universe the weakest melee attack is inherently stronger than the strongest projectile. The only thing standing between Daisuke and death right now is the fact that he’s a main character.[/b]

He took aim at the Hollow, while unbeknownst to him, the Soul Reaper prepared for a strike. Daisuke let the arrow fly, while the Soul Reaper launched his attack.

Evanescent felt new Spiritual Pressure in the area, and looked with his eyes
[b]As opposed to looking with...?[/b]

to see a reishi arrow flying toward him. Then he noticed Donovyn launching his own attack. A split second later, he vanished and appeared behind the new fighter. Donovyn's attack sliced through the arrow, and a split second later he was standing before the new fighter. Evanescent and Donovyn glared at each other over the new fighter.
[b]You don’t need to call him ‘the new fighter’ three freaking times in a row.[/b]

Donovyn moved his eyes to the bow in the boys hand.
[b]Boy’s.[/b]

"A Quincy, huh? Didn't think there were any of those left."
Evanescent snorted, "Seriously, I thought that Ishida guy was the last."
"Must have had a kid or two."
"Only way to explain that bow, isn't it?"
"Definitely," Donovyn agreed, before both of them disappeared.

Daisuke remained standing there, seeing the Hollow and Soul Reaper fighting again. Though short, they had definitely had a conversation about him. He swallowed hard, noticing that they were rushing at each other, not far from him. "[i]How can they possibly be this strong.
[b]He said, a previous injury preventing him from making the inflection necessary to ask a question. And to answer the question: because this is Bleach. Don’t worry, they’ll become weaker as the story progresses so that one of them (probably the Arrancar) can be defeated.[/b]

What's going on? They clearly know each other, or they wouldn't have spoken. And...this shock wave. Every time they clash...I can feel it.[/i]" Daisuke was thinking, holding his hands up to defend his face against another shock wave. Then he heard the Hollow say "Well, that's gonna have repercussions."
Looking down, he noticed the Soul Reaper's Zanpakuto sticking out of his naval.
[b]‘Naval’ means ‘having to do with or pertaining to the navy’. While I have no doubt characters this overpowered/awesome would be able to stick one sword through the entire U.S. Navy, I’m willing to gamble that you meant ‘navel’.[/b]

When he looked back at them, he noticed both of them were looking at him. The two exchanged glances, then looked back at him.
[b]So they looked at him, and then they looked at him. In other words, nothing happened.
[/b]
"I'm tired. This has been going on too long, and I'm kinda bored now. We'll settle this in the next 2,000 years, but, not today," the Hollow told the Soul Reaper, before opening what looked to be a portal.
[b]I think Daisuke has more pressing concerns than interpreting the physical attributes of a Garganta.[/b]

Donovyn walked over to the boy and gripped his Zanpakuto. The moment his hand came in contact with the hilt of the sword, there was a blast of energy. Over Donovyn's shoulder, Evanescent could be heard saying "So that's how it happened, and so it happens again. With a Quincy no less." Donovyn pulled the blade out of Daisuke's abdomen, and knelt down, out of breath.
[b]To summarize: some guys fought, a less awesome guy watched them fight, he got hit with a sword. I have nothing to work with. Normally, I’d say this was well written, but recent chapters necessitate that I raise my standards, so this is…adequate. I’m just not feeling anything – everything about this just leaves me indifferent. Pretty lame review, huh?[/b][/spoiler]

[Spirit of DMG]

Well, um...thanks for the review...O.o...well, Bleach might have no base-line, but would think a powerful Arrancar rumored to be a Vasto Lorde might have a more powerful Cero than a random Gillian (Plus, I'm not Bleach, and this is my FF). And, um, yes, I didn't use Word. I don't have it. I've tried getting it, but...it didn't work out well. Anyway, for me, it's a choice between Wordpad and Notepad. You see my dilemma. I do see several good points in there I will try to keep in mind. The main reason I used Evanescent's name after "The Arranacar" was to establish that there was an Arrancar. Guess I could have reversed that to get the same effect. As for the building, well, I would imagine that there'd be at least [i]some[/i] sign there was once a building there. "Looked with his eyes" as in he didn't need to turn his head to see it. and, lessee, as for Daisuke being concerned with Evanescent's Garganta, that section was written from Donovyn's POV, not Daisukes. and either way, note how any time an anime character gets injured, especially a key character, he always seems to worry about that injury after everything else has resolved, and then he notices that he has a sword sticking from his belly button. Speaking of which, I should fix that, shouldn't I?

[DL]

@Cakey - I laughed so hard I cried. + rep

@Fanfic

1. I don't read Loveless......anymore.
2. Loveless was good, but I wouldn't cry over it being a dream...for long.


Anyway, it's pretty good, and entertaining.

Altho Zaraki seems a bit less....Zaraki-ish here, maybe it's just old age?

[Spirit of DMG]

Chapter 3 is now up!

[Fusion X. Denver]

One question, how'd Daisuke find his manga when he wasn't home?
His book bag? You'd think he would have looked there where it's hard to go by unnoticed >.>
Interesting chapter, I didn't think you'd make Daisuke such a prominent character, but there you go.
I wonder if Evanescent is in a new Espada group >.>

[Spirit of DMG]

To answer that question, Fusion, is very simple: he went back to the spot where he dropped it and hoped it was still there. As for if Evanescent is part of a new Espada group, well, we'll find that one out in future chapters, won't we?

[Fusion X. Denver]

LOL
Elphemia xD
Good chapter I guess, though would Daisuke really be able to block a Cero as a first-time Shinigami?

[Spirit of DMG]

Well, Fusion, keep in mind that he was a Quincy before the incident. As such, his Shinigami (aka: Soul Reaper) powers are modeled on his Quincy Powers, as Captain Creator pointed out. Consequently, his Zanpakuto, in it's sealed form, is modeled on the only bladed Quincy Weapon, Szelechneider. Uryu pointed out how that works in his fight with Ciricci. I won't try to recall the specifics of what he said, but, basically, yes, [i]he[/i] could, though not for long.

[Fusion X. Denver]

I think I get it?
Well alright, looking forward to Deus' powers and DL's new ones.
And Elphemia in action of course x333

[Sploda]

I refuse to have any link to your "Captain Creator" due to:

1. You want me to look like Naruto
2. I sound like a Effing Superhero.

[Nexev]

It's funny how chapter one is called the Quincy reaper when a more accurate title would be:

LOOK AT ME, I'M SUPER AWESOME AND THERE IS BLACK AND BLACK IS SUPER AWESOME AS WELL! WE ARE SO COOL! THIS PERFECTLY DESCRIBES THE SETTING CAUSE BOOM I BITCHSLPAPPED A SPIRIT NUKE AND BOOM! BLACK COMPLTETLY RIPS OFF AIZEN!

OH AND THERE IS A QUINCY GUY.

BUT AREN'T I SO AWESOME WITH MY MAGICAL MAGIC POWERS? HUH? HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH?

Just looking at the characters this looks pretty bad.

And the first chapter is less then stellar as well.

So, yeah, definitely needs work.