The lights never stopped.
Ichigo's was a blur filled to the brim with specks of light, he had just received a powerful blow to the head.
Why?
That question had him pinned to the ground of the forest below. He felt 'it', no 'him' claw at the boundary of his very being, his hollow it wanted to fight, it told him to fight!
His clothing was torn and all he had left of his Bankai cloak was just a sleeve, the rain washed over him, this guy was strong, his hollow was stronger. Those facts were obvious, but that did not matter to him, he was Ichigo Kurasaki a protector, not a monster.
He gripped the hilt of the katana shaped Zangetsu and stumbled to his feet.
The tall man, was in the air, not a care in the world.
Zommari stood in the air like deity observing lesser creatures wander about without direction, nor purpose.
The number seven Espada sighed. The boy was pathetic in his opinion - unrefined and without purpose, beings like him only must serve those with true purpose and a goal to strive for. Like himself with Aizen, to the Espada Aizen was a force unlike any before.
Whatever plan you had, Aizen had endless counters, no matter your strength Aizen was hundreds of times stronger. In spite of those things it was the way Aizen carried himself, that made the Espada aspire to be like him. Aizen walked the lands with the demeanor of one who knows the true mysteries behind the world, it was as if he had achieved enlightenment.
Since he turned into an Arrancar Zommari strove to reach that state of being of Aizen. So when the opportunity arose for him to go to the home of the substitute soul reaper dove at it. He had hoped to find something that could elevate his attainment in the boy, but all he found was disappointment.
"Goodbye Ichigo Kurasaki, perhaps you could be more helpful in the next life." With his right hand extended Zommari charged a lavender Cero, he would eradicate the boy and destroy his allies in a single move.
A lavender filled the dark and rain swept environment. The beam of spiritual energy moved with killer intent and force until.
"Danku!" The name of the incantation reached the Espada's ears as he saw his attack explode against a transparent barrier.
"It appears you have arrived..." Zommari turned around.
There he saw a young and handsome man with black hair that sported several ornaments that divided his hair to create bangs. The man wore the standard black and white garbs of the Shinigami, however he wore a short-sleeved white haori.
"Captain of the Court Guard squads." The man ignored the seventh Espada and locked eyes with the injured soul reaper below them.
"Byakuya! Be careful he's-"
"Your concern is not needed, Kurasaki. I will end this man before he causes any further harm." The man responded with a tone of absolute assurance, he then drew his sword and pointed it at his foe.
"Sadly for you, I doubt you could aid me in understanding that which Lord Aizen has obtained, this is farewell." Behind the tall and muscular man the Garganta began to open, the dark void however was then sealed off by red and blue blocks.
"What?" The Espada dodged an ice projectile and a whip covered in flames.
He gained distance and saw a man with red hair and a cloth head band, next to him was a short young woman with black hair. In the man's hand was a segmented sword with a black spine.
The woman held an all white sword that had a long ribbon the same color as the blade, it looked beautiful due to its pure color.
The two flew down with great speeds to the orange haired boy below.
"Ichigo! Damn you, really are banged up."
"Stop it, Renji. Come on Ichigo, we're getting out of here." The duo each slumped one of Ichigo's arms over their shoulder and took off for the Seireitei.
Zommari took the chance and used Sonido to try and intercept and kill all three of them.
Instead his path was blocked by the blade of Byakuya.
"You caught while I used Sonido, impressive for a Soul Reaper." The arrancar took a ready stance, in time with his opponent mirroring the action.
"Your words mean less than nothing to me, you abomination." The soul reaper captain breathed out, stilled his heart and tightened the grip on his blade. Behind him was his little sister, subordinate and ally.
The only thing that mattered was their safety.
Leg muscles in both men tightened and released.
The duel began. Sparks flew as the two swords met, left and then clashed once more.
The two incorporated their respective movement techniques, long ranged attacks such as Kido and Ceros as well.
Byakuya's swordsmanship centered on dealing damage to vital points while expending as little energy as possible. If his sword could not reach that point his spell would do it instead, however he encountered an issue early on.
Zommari created after images that had actual mass behind them, the complexity of their swordsmanship decreased with every new clone. Instead they would fire off Balas instead of any fancy technique.
Both combatants were the personification of stoic the other one could barely understand the other. Byakuya was prodigy with the blade and Kido so spells wove in and out to provide cover in dire times, despite his abilities his foe seemed to rival him in that regard as well.
The rain poured and was battered away with each and every clash of steel, explosions were created as a result of their physical might.
Zommari cursed in his mind.
The Soul Reaper captains were the opposites of arrancar down to their color of dress. If the Espada are the demi-gods of Hollows, then the Captains were the demi-gods of regular souls and Byakuya was one of their greatest members.
Zommari concentrated and allowed his lavender spiritual energy to intertwine with the tendons of his legs, bolster the speed of neurons and then increased the sharpness of his blades edge of his blade. These actions made his overall amount of spiritual energy plummet by ten percent.
He moved with an unparalleled speed compared to before, four clones manifested and moved in from other directions coupled with his own ludicrous speed this attack was unavoidable and could not be blocked.
For an instance victory was in the second Espada's sight until his path as well as his clones were blocked by pillars of sakura blossom leaves. The pillars moved in and crushed their prey.
The original Zommari escaped unharmed, however each of his clones were destroyed and his spiritual energy was depleted by another ten percent.
"Your zanpaktou's Shikai I assume? Only those who have obtained Bankai can call for their Shikai without their activation command."
"You are well informed of our ways, monster, for my Senbonzakura wiping away your existence from this world is perhaps the only thing that calms it, after your last pathetic attempt on my life." The head of the Kuchiki clan waved his hand and large pillars of deadly sakura petals rushed towards the white clad man.
Said man tossed his blade ahead of him, it almost appeared that he sacrificed it to the storm of petals.
"Suppress Brujería!" Spiritual energy released and caused a torrent of power so great the surrounding environment changed to greater extent unlike any before. The dark clouds became the home of a plethora of dark skulls similar to that seen in Mexican festivities.
Lotus buds all white in color formed around the area, while Zommari sat cross legged on a lotus flower while his entire body was covered in eyes that bore a flower symbol for pupils.
"Behold Soul Reaper my truest form augmented by the power given to me by Lord Aizen! I am Zommari Rureaux, the one who wields and embodies the aspect of death known as Intoxication!" His being surged with power, the high he gained from using it was unlike any form substance one could use.
This was the ultimate form of ecstasy!
The captain, however stared on without care, waved his hand and commanded the petals to form a tornado that eviscerated everything in its path. The Espada smiled and using his hands created an odd sign.
Soon the white lotus buds blossomed and revealed several sets of eyes, these eyes locked on to a single petal each of the zanpakuto, the light faded from them.
The tornado stopped.
As a result the sound of metal scraping against one another was heard.
The action left Byakuya rooted in his position. The ever observant Espada on his high did not allow this chance to slip through his fingers, another version of him used another odd hand sign.
As a result the skulls that rested on the clouds all opened their mouths, the original took control of the captain's petals which he used to slash all over his body.
The blood was taken over by the lotuses, which made the petals fall and regain their pink color.
The blood then flew with blistering speeds to meet the waiting mouths of the skulls, which closed and opened each of dozens of skulls revealing large Ceros. With a command they fired space around them twisted and turned as they flew with more power than any nuclear armament ever constructed by humans.
Byakuya was enveloped by the beams, his body completely cloaked by the lavender-red light.
"Hahahahaa! Finally do you know your place now Soul Reaper!? I am the one who shall obtain the enlightenment of Aizen and even more-!"
Pain, that was what Zommari knew he was going to experience as he saw multiple large swords rose from the earth. And then they turned into a maelstrom of sakura petals.
"Senbonzakura Kageoshi." The voice of Byakuya came from behind him and before he understood, his body was ripped to shreds.
His muscular body became minced meat as a result of the millions of tiny blades that tore him to pieces, soon the only thing that remained was a bloody and bruised Byakuya.
His garbs were torn and he had burn marks, while entire holes appeared on his body but he moved on. He stared off to the locations of the other fights, shook his head and followed the path of Rukia and Renji.
...
Within the meeting room of the Espada Aizen sat alone. He simply sat with his hands intertwined while a holographic projector displayed the going ons of the five regions within Hueco Mundo.
The crystals that represented the Espada appeared again, and like before the one shattered.
"Zommari is dead? No matter, Gin is already on his way to the human world."
His attention returned to the monitor until he heard another crystal shattered.
"Barragan? He's dead? Now this could prove to be a problem, no, Chronos is ninety-five percent complete and I still have arrancar that I could use. Everything is proceeding as they should." The former captain reflected on the events so far, his worries were pushed aside as he began searching for new hollows to turn into arrancar.
...
Within Szaeyl's dimension the great trees that stretched towards the sky were all being scorched a cinder the Grimmjow held the corpse of the former king of Hueco Mundo no visible would could be seen. At the same time neither could any signs of life.
The alien duo made sure their blue and red flames reached every corner of the realm before they reunited with the sixth Espada.
"So any plans mister Hero?" The blue haired man spoke as he tapped his foot.
"Yup. First we torch, second we leave, third we get Harribel and Starrk on our side. Join up with Gwen and Rook, team up with the Soul Reapers, beat Aizen's ass and boom everybody lives happily ever after." The Pyronite used his blue flames to illustrate his entire plan, but added a miniature version of him with a cape striking a triumphant pose.
The Espada blinked dryly and then asked the alien amalgamation.
"This guy is your world's number one hero?" The white haired beast nodded.
"How have y'all survived this long?" The only answer Grimmjow received was a confused shrug.
"Hey, that's mean! I'm a great hero!"
"We are doomed." The sixth Espada simply sighed at his potential destruction.