Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Negative Space ❯ Can-O Whoop Ass ( Chapter 3 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

"Isa, you can't go chasing after him like you are now," Raacharg reasoned as I paced across the center of my rock.

"I have to," I growled as my fists clenched and relaxed over and over.

"Be smart," he said. "Going now when you are at half power will just make you a victim."

"I know, but he has my zanpakuto. Outside of a cero, I'm useless," I argued back.

"Outside of another Arrancar showing up, you're practically invulnerable."

"Practically is not good enough," I snapped as I stopped pacing and my eyes landed on that stupid couch. My teeth ground together as I wished for a moment that I was superman and could burn holes through it with my eyes. "If I end up being his crony that means you will be to. I can't accept that. You are mine, this place is mine, and I am owned only by myself. I will not be a puppet like I was for Aizen."

"Would it really be that bad?" He asked suggestively.

"Yes," I responded immediately.

"You've said before that you have served others outside of Aizen," he began saying. I shot him a hefty glare, but he seemed completely unfazed as he continued. "-and the only reason you hated Aizen so much was because he betrayed you. If this Espada guy-"

"Nope, it's not happening," I interrupted. He ignored me.

"If this Espada guy is so strong, do you really have a choice?"

"I'll give him a damned choice. Give me my zanpakuto back and I'll leave him alone, or don't and I'll take it back one way or another."

Raacharg let out a huff and trotted over to his couch. Jumping up onto the cushions his gaze was focused on the words that had been carved into the fabric. "He wants you to go to him."

"Did the words 'come and get it' not define that expectation already?" I answered, making air quotes.

"You never think clearly when you're frustrated," he blandly pointed out as he glanced back at me.

I frowned at him, holding his gaze for a long and stubborn moment. It took me a bit, but I let out a sigh and tore the ruined tank top from my body. Tossing the shredded garment to the side I fell onto my lounger with a huff. Staring up at the ceiling, I prepared myself for one of Raacharg's moments of brilliant clarity. He always thought things through far better than I could outside of a fight. It was frustrating that he was so good at reading other people, but we each had our strengths. I was the power, the speed, and the muscle while he was the senses and the mind behind our partnership. When we were trying to figure something out beside combat, he was always the one to come up with the plans.

"It's clear that your power isn't on the same level as his. You know it and he knows it," he started out as he started turning in place, his feet patting the cushion down in a manner that was more habit than anything. "I was listening to the entire exchange, and I believe you might have to look at the situation a bit differently."

"How so?" I asked.

"He came here thinking you weren't a Privaron Espada, and left wanting you to work for him. He doesn't want to just kill you, he wants to use you for whatever purposes that Espada these days have. You need to use that to your advantage."

I let my head loll to the side to I could watch him as he finally laid down on the cushions and began panting in a contented manner. He was such a dog…

"I was waiting up top after you two descended the stairs. I had been waiting for your Negative Space to envelop the area, but when it didn't I couldn't help but to hover. It was only a few minutes, but when he emerged with your zanpakuto I knew what had happened."

"Yeah yeah, I know that part. He knocked me out cold because I was an idiot and didn't get out of his way before I called out to Amechania," I said as I waved off his words with a lazy hand.

"What you didn't hear," he continued despite my clear disinterest in continuing this conversation, "was what he said to me as he left."

"Oh?" I said, perking up with his words.

"Well -first off- he called me a dog and that really irritated me, but then he asked me if I had known you as an Espada and why you had taken me as your Fraccion."

"Why would he ask that?" I quirked a brow at him as I rolled onto my side and propped my head on my hand.

"He made it clear that he is chasing power, so I believe he is still trying to gauge your strength," he explained as he lifted his paw and flipped it over in a casual gesture.

"What does it matter to him? If he really understands how the Espada Numbers work, he should know that being number 10 or number 1 is irrelevant. It's not a difference in power between all the numbers, once we've released our resurreccion it's a difference of one number." I let out a sigh. "Does he even realize that I could have been any number and still ended up as 100? It just means I was the first one to be discarded."

"I'm sure he understands that. After all, if what he said about being the second Numeros created then he was around during the entire time Aizen was. Do you suppose that the fake 10th Espada never revealed his resurrection to the others?" Raacharg speculated.

"I don't know," I mumbled as I began chewing on my bottom lip in thought. The only people who had ever seen my resurreccion were long dead now, whether it be me who killed them or another. Raacharg had seen it before, but only from a distance so I couldn't really consider him a survivor. He was more like a bystander.

"I know that you will not abandon your zanpakuto to him, so we need to make plans for how to confront him," Raacharg started saying. I promptly tuned him out as I returned to my own thoughts. He always tried to over-prepare for engagements. Yes, he was the diplomat, but from the way this Grimmgarb guy acted I believed it would be more of a fighting conversation rather than a stroll in the gardens sort of chat.

"Fine, fine, fine," I said to stop Raacharg's plotting babble as I waved him off dismissively. "But, we're going now. I refuse to let him keep my zanpakuto."

"You're too weak," Raacharg argued back. I ignored him as I rolled up into a sitting position then stood.

"That's your opinion. You've never been within the boundaries of my resurreccion. My Negative Space doesn't care about how much reiatsu you have. Inside it's walls, we are all powerless."

Raacharg let out a long and frustrated sigh and covered his face with is paw. "If you insist on fighting, at least put a shirt on."

Tearing across the dunes of Hueco Mundo's desert under the high and mighty moon was a lot like running up and down mountains of loose snow. As soon as the sun went down everything seemed to lose its residual heat, basking the world in an ominous cold. I liked the nights in Hueco Mundo though. For me, someone who wasn't scared of the things that lurked on the surface, this place was like a quiet wonderland. A quiet wonderland filled with dead trees, sun bleached bones and sand.

"Can you tell where we need to go yet?" I asked as I glanced up at the underside of Raacharg's mask.

"We need to get closer to Las Noches before I will feel them," he answered. I shifted my arms under his hind legs, raising him a bit higher as I leaned further forward into my sprint.

"I'm glad that we live so far away, but it is a damned long run to get there," I grumbled.

"Don't waste energy trying to get there faster," he scolded as his claws sank into my shoulder just enough to make me feel the sharp points through my new jacket. I had dug around in my closet before we left to find a new tank top and jacket. I couldn't very well go charging into Las Noches topless like I had been when I tore off the shredded excuse of a tank top earlier. I had planned better this time though and had zipped myself into a sports bra first. If everything was going to get torn up or burned off, at least the sports bra would stand a better chance of going undamaged.

"If I want to waste energy going faster, I will," I snapped back. "And watch your claws. Just because this jacket will most likely get ripped up today doesn't mean that you have to help it."

"I can't help it. When you run so fast I have to hold on," he reasoned back.

"I get it, but can't you do it without the claws?"

"Do I look like a cat? My claws don't retract like that," he snapped.

"Well, maybe they should," I said with a shrug, knowing it would tick him off.

I felt Raacharg prickle with anger, but his words were cut short when I crested a particularly tall sand dune and stopped to take in the sight of the compound before us.

Las Noches.

The one monument that had stood for hundreds of years, dominating the horizon of Hueco Mundo. This had always been the seat of power, whether it be a building or not. Before it had been Aizen's palace, it had been a gathering place scored with pillars that Baraggan would string his defeated opponents upon. Before that, it had been the gateway to the world of the living and the Soul Society that we Espada controlled. Well, we meaning one of the Espada at the time that was especially good at it. When he was butchered by a Soul Reaper we gave up the whole portal idea. We had moved underground after that, leaving the space to Barragan so he could play the part of a fake king. Unfortunately, he forgot he was fake. Talk about an ego.

All those tunnels that existed in the sand were carved ages ago by the hollows that served us. They weren't always white rectangular hallways and giant rooms, but that was what Aizen had wanted. For someone who had broken ties with the 13 Court Guard Squads, he sure did like to make things look like they belonged to a Soul Reaper.

From the point where I had stopped, the walls that marked Las Noche's perimeter stood like an ever looming wall of white rock. I couldn't help but to frown as my eyes wandered up the wall and I was forced to lean back just a bit for my gaze to reach the top. Of course I would have to go up this thing.

"Well, where to?" I asked Raacharg as I glanced back at him.

He lifted a paw from my shoulder and pointed with one claw at a tower that stood on the south side of the compound. "There."

I nodded and shoved off from my spot, willing myself to move quickly up the wall. If Raacharg could feel them then certainly someone could feel us. Not that our arrival would exactly be a surprise when he had my zanpakuto, but I didn't want to give him ample time to prepare.

Running across the top of Las Noche's perimeter allowed me a glimpse into the compound I hadn't seen in years. It wasn't much of a compound anymore though. The once glorious white walls were still there, but many of the interior buildings had fallen into ruin. The ceiling that had once encased the entire land inside was no more than chunks of debris that had sunk into the sand to stick out like boulders from the sea like surface of sand. Like a maze that a giant had trampled through, the buildings within the massive walls had been mashed in areas but left completely intact in others. I didn't know how I had never woken during whatever catastrophe had occured to do so much damage up here on the surface, but somehow I had gone completely undisturbed. My prison had been so far below that no light ever penetrated, and no sound either…

I lifted my gaze away from the ruins and toward the tower Raacharg was guiding us to. It was one of the four towers that joined the walls of Las Noches. These towers were so massive that it made me wonder about what I was getting myself into. I didn't know exactly how many of the fakes were left, but there were at least two as well as Ganten. With four towers that lead me to believe there should have been three or maybe even four. I didn't know how things worked here, but Arrancar always had a big ego. Espada were like supremely egotistical fucks. Given that fact, the fakes could only be worse. Without Aizen to control them, surely they needed space and a place to reside that would satisfy their egos.

"Can you feel how many are in there?" I asked as my mind turned towards figuring out the best way to enter.

"Five or six, including the Espada," he answered.

"I'm guessing that hot head is there too," I grumbled more to myself than him.

"Yes, Luien is there. Knowing how Espada work, I would imagine they are all his Fracciones or those he chose not to tie to him. You may have more than just a fight on your hands," he said as he leaned a further forward like he was eager for what was to come.

"You're sure that they are in that tower?" I asked as my eyes went to the ground just outside the wall. It was a long fall, but Raacharg could handle landing from such a height.

"That is what I just said," he replied in an annoyed tone.

I dropped from my sonido abruptly enough to make Raacharg lose his grip on my back and fall forward. A surprised shout escaped him as I caught him mid flight and held him up in front of me like he was a puppy.

"You aren't strong enough for this encounter," I said as I met his golden eyes with my own. Our eyes were similar in color, both golden though mine was more honey while his was more pineapple. It was mostly because I had shared a bit of power with him when I made him mine, turning his eyes from brown to what they were now. It was the one trait that was so easily changed in us beings who were made of reishi.

"I know," he said with a dejected sigh. "Will you be alright on your own from here on?"

"I'll be fine," I said, flashing him a confident grin. "One way or another I'll come back. I am very, very hard to kill."

"If I have to dig you up from Las Noche's dungeon again, I will be mad." His gaze was so serious that I couldn't help but to laugh.

"I'm going to throw you over the wall now. Suppress yourself and say hi to Ruruganga for me if he stops you," I said with a another laugh before I tossed him over the side of the wall. I didn't bother to watch him fall -knowing he would be fine- and took off towards the tower once more.

I was about to be getting myself into some serious shit inside of that tower. Five Numeros were probably more than I could handle if I had my zanpakuto, but these were most likely "good enough" to be the fake Espada's Facciones. Not having my zanpakuto was like walking into a biker bar with a piece of their motorcycle in my hands and no gun. I was asking to get my ass kicked. It couldn't be helped. I had to get my zanpakuto back. Part of me still couldn't believe he had taken it. I mean, seriously? That was my zanpakuto. It wasn't like he could use it. The only purpose he had for taking it was to lure me in.

Coming up to the tower I had a moment to consider my options. I could...

A: find a door to go through. That didn't sound like any fun and would probably be all too predictable.

B: Stand outside while pretending I had a boom box and attempt to serenade him out with my angry, cursing shouts. As amusing as that would be, that probably wouldn't do anything but annoy him.

C: Break a hole in his tower. Also amusing, but probably a bad way to start the conversation.

Hmm… What to do? My senses really weren't all that good, but if I got close enough I would know where each one of them was. Yeah, that's what I'd do.

Suppressing myself as I came up to the tower's side I shoved off Las Noche's wall, aiming for one of the windows that appeared to lead inside the tower. I barely caught the bottom ledge with one hand as my momentum started to falter, but quickly secured my grip with both hands before I kicked off the side of the tower and flipped around into the window's opening. I held my hand up, ready to fire off a cero if needed. Fortunately, the room appeared to be an empty living space so I jumped out of the window's opening and down to the floor.

I walked around the room for a moment, allowing myself to take in my surroundings to give myself clarity on my possible fighting ground. Knowing your environment was almost as important as knowing your opponent. It was an average room similar to what I had seen in many of the rooms designed to house the Numeros. As Espada, we had our own personalized spaces. Grimmgarb jaggedpants didn't strike me as a white walls and furniture type of person, so this room must have belonged to one of his cronies.

"Boring," I mumbled to myself as I walked over to the bed and sat on it's edge.

Oh…

This was nice.

This was really nice! This bed was so plush that I sank into the mattress like I had sat down on a giant, fluffy marshmallow. I flopped over, unable to stop myself from experiencing the luxurious softness that this bed possessed. I had to find out where they had gotten this marvelous creation from and steal one for myself.

"...She was on this side of the tower when she suppressed herself."

My head spun, allowing my eyes to catch sight of the door. I flipped off the bed and ducked behind it to hide myself as I listened for more words to be said.

"She could be anywhere," a lighter voice belonging to a girl or perhaps even a younger boy said. "Grimmjow said to spread out so we can cover more ground, but I really don't see what the point is."

Grimmjow? Was that really his name? I had no idea what his last name was, but I had thought I knew his first. Huh. That was better than Grimmgarb...

The first one let out a light, almost whining sigh. They had to be just outside the door. "I don't understand why he's bothering. Without her zanpakuto she's as good as useless."

I rolled my eyes. If it wouldn't have been totally stupid I would have popped out on them and attempted to kick the shit out of them on principal.

"You should have seen his expression when he was holding her zanpakuto. I don't know what she did, but I think it freaked him out."

My brows furrowed. I had done something like that? Maybe Amechania had been running long enough to start affecting him? That would explain what they were describing, but he probably didn't understand my abilities well enough to know what had been happening.

"Nothing freaks Grimmjow out," the girl/man child said lightly. "He was probably thinking about how he would use it against her."

"I doubt he wants to use her own zanpakuto against her," the other one said as I heard the door's handle turn and click. I quietly scuttled under the bed, finding that it was just barely far enough off the ground for my chest and butt to fit under. "You should have seen the way it sparked when it shrank. That thing is angry."

"You talk like it has a personality. We aren't Soul Reapers." I felt the bed sink and with it the space beneath the bed got a lot tighter. At least they hadn't noticed the impression of my butt on the comforter.

"Maybe she can control it from a distance or something," the other one suggested as I heard a drawer slide open from across the room. Their completely wrong assumption made me grin to myself. They were giving me a lot more credit than I deserved. When my zanpakuto got too far away it lost the power that I had pushed into it, making it shrink into its dagger form. I wasn't so connected to my zanpakuto as to be able to control it from a distance. A few feet, yeah – but not miles.

"I don't think she's that capable," the one sitting on the bed commented as they bounced a few times, making the air woosh out of my lungs. "What is wrong with your bed? It's all lumpy."

Well, shit. There went the element of surprise. I turned my palm up to face the person above me on the bed and my other one to the floor beneath me and prepared myself for them to figure me out.

"Your bed is hard as a rock," the person across the room griped. "Of course mine would feel lumpy compared to that. Now get off mine before you wrinkle the sheets."

"Too late," the one above me mused as they bounced one more time and hopped off.

"You are so annoying," the one across the room said with a exasperated sigh.

"And you are a neat freak!"

"Oh do shut up." whatever the other open had been messing with slammed closed. "Let's get going. I've got what I need."

I listened in utter silence as two sets of footsteps moved back towards the door and it closed softly behind them. Letting out a sigh and let my face rest on the floor for a moment. That had been close, too close.

After my moment of silent relief I slid out from under the bed and got to my feet. I needed to figure out where everyone was before that happened again. Leaning back against the wall I closed my eyes and opened myself to the part of me that sensed spiritual pressures. It took a minute for the bodies to come alight in my mind and another minute for them to make more sense than just a feeling. I really wasn't very good at this sort of thing and never would be, but given enough time to prepare I could function enough to serve my purposes.

Raacharg had been right in his count. I could clearly sense five people moving about. Grimmwhatever was clearly present with his spiritual pressure sticking out from the rest and shining like an azure light like his eyes in my mind. The rest of them were dull in comparison to his light. Clearly he was trying to draw me out. He had my zanpakuto, so of course he would know that I would target him.

Letting my eyes slide open, I knew where I needed to go. I needed to do my best to avoid his minions or wasting energy on them if I wanted to achieve a favorable outcome, but other than that I just needed to go down.

Easy peasy.

I stepped to the center of the room and looked at the floor. I didn't know how spaced out these floors were, or how many levels were between him and I, so a careful powered cero would be best. If I cut through too many levels I would pass him. Hrmm…

Pointing a finger at the floor I focused my reiatsu into my fingertip to created a tiny ball cero. With a thought, that little ball turned into a beam no larger than a pencil and shot down into the floor. Knowing that this release of power would give my presence away, I turned quickly to cut a hole in the floor beneath me. I made the hole's edges intermittent so I wouldn't break it with just my weight. I wanted a controlled fall, not a tumbling mess.

Once I was satisfied with my hole I stopped and nodded at myself. There was no time like the present.

"There you are!" One of the people from a moment ago shouted from the doorway that was now open. I hadn't noticed the sound of the door opening again with my cero, but it didn't matter.

"Toodles," I said as I lifted my hand and flapped it at them in a lazy wave just before I slammed my foot down. The floor gave and I fell one level. I had enough time to glance around and ensure that this wasn't the room I was looking for before I felt the floor begin to give with the force of my impact and I continued down to the next level in a spray of broken concrete and dust. I continued this pattern for a few more levels before I was falling through the air in a well lit room that must have been a few stories tall.

This had to be my stop. Only someone with a huge, insurmountable ego would turn his personal area into this sort of place. The room was a damn near tropical paradise compared to the sandy dunes outside. Plants of varying shapes and styles occupied the corners of the room like small forests of exotic vegetation and a humid, almost sticky quality clung to the air. It made me want to wipe at my skin to try and remove the sensation, but I held still. I was somewhat used to the way the world of the living made me feel, and this wasn't far from it.

I kicked away from the layers of floor falling beneath me and let them land in a pile of debris. I hit the ground in one powerful, controlled thud as I landed on my feet and let my body absorb the jarring movement. I lifted my eyes first, finding the thief himself standing a good twenty feet away with a smug grin turning the corner of his mouth. Those azure eyes of his were equally as smug as his grin, but despite that I could tell he was waiting for me to do something. What, well, even I didn't know yet, but something.

I stood slowly, drawing my feet to shoulder width apart and turning my body slightly to give myself a smaller form to look at. I didn't look any different from before aside from the black tank top and fresh jacket, but his eyes were carefully looking me over. Maybe he thought I'd stashed some other tools in place of my zanpakuto? That was a good thought, but I hadn't.

"I'm assuming you've been expecting me since you have my zanpakuto," I said plainly.

"I was expecting you in a few days, yes," he answered smoothly as he turned his body to fully face me. "With how hard you took my hit, I assumed you'd be out for some time."

"Yeah, well my body just heals on its own when I'm unconscious," I said with a shrug.

"Coming here alone probably wasn't the best idea," he started to say as he pulled my zanpakuto from wherever it had been behind him and flipped it around his hand like it was just any old long bladed dagger. "Where's your Fraccion?"

"He's not my Fraccion. He's an Adjuchas, but he's my Adjuchas." I took a step towards him and pointed away from us towards the direction that I knew Raacharg would be in. "He stays out of whatever shit happens here. This confrontation is between you and me and my goddamn zanpakuto."

"You're awfully protective of that little mutt," he commented sharply as he caught my zanpakuto's hilt to stop it's spinning.

Maybe I was just too old to understand how these young Arrancar worked, but his tone made me believe he was like a child in comparison to the Espada I had once worked with. He was young, fiery, but clearly lacking any appreciation for those beneath his thumb. Not that I wanted to really lecture him, but maybe he needed to understand what I came from...

"You're right, I am. I don't know how you fakes treat each other, but this is how we are meant to function. We Espada are the protectors, the enforcers and leaders while those who stand behind us support and care for us. They watch our backs when we cannot, and in turn we protect them from those who mean them harm." I sucked in a deep breath in an attempt to calm myself, but ended up blowing it out in frustration.

I heard those two dickless twats from before land on the ground beside the pile of debris I had made, but I refused to break our locked gazes to give them any sort of attention. If they chose to attack, I would deal with it, but I didn't think Grimmjow would allow it. He had gotten between his other Fracciones when they had tried to jump in on a fight between us. I didn't know if it was smart to trust him to do that same now, but I had a feeling that I understood that part of him. It was the same part that of me that urged to win a battle of my own volition, though my motivation was not wanting to hurt my allies and his appeared to be proving he alone was stronger than an opponent.

"Verona, Loly, make yourselves scarce," he ordered after a moment as he broke from my gaze.

I would never admit that his words made me happy, but they did.

"Are you sure, sir?" One of them asked in a small voice.

"Why the fuck are you questioning me?"

Since he had broken our gaze first I allowed myself to shift so I could glance back at the two from the corner of my eye. One of them appeared to be a young teenager with black pigtails and a mask that covered one eye. Overall, she was rather unimpressive while the other one… what the fuck was the other one? Most of the time Arrancars looked Human, but that thing was like a beetle with arms. I didn't even know what to call it.

Ms. Pigtails looked like she wanted to argue back, but instead she bowed her head. "My apologies, sir."

Together the two backed away. I didn't know if it was my presence or Grimmjow's that made them not want to present their backs into our direction. He had said his aspect was destruction, and I had a feeling that often translated into spontaneous violence. With that thought, I didn't bother keeping track of them once they were a good distance away and turned my attention back to Grimmjow.

"You want me to be your Fracciones, right?" I asked.

"Something like that," he answered as his gaze followed the movement of his subordinates.

"When I was an Espada, I treated those under my wings with respect and trusted them to have my back. They were my children, disciples with potential and deserving of my attention. If you treat all of your Fracciones like unappreciated dirt, then there is no way that I will ever allow myself to be under your thumb."

Maybe my words had come off making me sound like a stuck-up cow, but I had been completely honest when I said that I had been a god. This man was only a god because of Aizen's little toy. He hadn't earned it. He was given power before he deserved it and now he appeared to be no better than a damned tyrant.

"The Numeros left after our war with the Soul Society were mostly less than desirables," he said as his eyes finally returned to me and he began spinning my zanpakuto around his hand once more. "Those who were loyal to me are all dead, leaving me with the leftovers from all those who died in the World of the Living."

"And they chose you over any of the other remaining Espada?" I asked, clearly skeptical of his words.

"You either serve an Espada or you are food," he repeated. I wanted to roll my eyes, but he continued. "Halibel and Nelliel wouldn't have most of them, so they became my problem."

I quirked a brow, but kept my mouth shut. He didn't know that I was completely clueless about the current state of things and I intended to keep it that way.

"So, you got all the misfits and the undeserving," I said slowly.

He nodded. "My Fracciones, the ones that I chose, all were defeated and died at the hands of Soul Reapers. I understand what it means to actually care for your people, but these fucks aren't worth my time. They are the leftovers that remained after the Espada they served were defeated."

"And so you treat them like garbage," I said flatly.

"Most of them aren't worth any more than that to me," he answered simply. "However, I do understand your request. I am the only one who knows about your dog, and you have my word that I will not go after him."

I lifted a skeptical brow at him. "You'll leave him alone even when I leave here not being your subordinate?"

That got a grin out of him. "If you manage to magically make it out of here without being one of my Fraccion, you'll still have my word."

I let out a snorting laugh and shook my head. "Just remember that when I leave you lying on the floor in a puddle of blood."

"I'd like to see that," he mused. I knew it was in jest, but he had no idea what I was capable of.

It was time I educated this incredibly handsome and arrogant man child.

"Grimm-something or another, was it?" I asked. "You're fire happy miscreant said your name once upon a time, but I've slept since then and you never bothered to introduce yourself."

His head tilted to the side and his eyes narrowed. Slowly he let out a laugh and turned, giving me his back. He lifted my zanpakuto by the very end of its hilt and abruptly threw it at the wall on his other side. I couldn't help but to gape at him as my zanpakuto's blade sank into the wall and stopped. It was perfectly balanced as a dagger, but that he was able to throw it so well made me think he had been practicing with it before I got here.

"My name is Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, the 6th Espada." He turned back to me, a vicious and teeth baring smile plastered across his face. Those eyes of his were sharp and hungry like an excited predator had set its sights on me as his hand flew back to gesture at my zanpakuto from where its blade was buried in the wall. "Come and get your zanpakuto, Isabellia Vaccio. If you can."

That smug son of a tooth pick…

I lifted my hand and pointed a finger at him, firing off one of my bullet like ceros. He dipped out of the way and I kept firing, trying to get ahead of his movement. He was a slippery little bastard. He dodged my shots several times without using his sonido, so I upped my game and used two hands to fire off several rounds in close succession. He phased out of my sight as he increased his speed into sonido, but with only him to focus on I was able to keep the feeling of his presence in my head.

I felt him transition away from my zanpakuto and turned so I could block his pointed thrust that was aimed for my middle. I spun away from him, setting myself up for a nice shot at his back. He vanished again and I felt him retreat ever so slightly to most likely set up his next attack. I didn't bother even glancing at my zanpakuto before I slipped into my own sonido and darted toward it.

"I don't think so," I heard him call out just before he slammed into my side, knocking me awry.

Thankfully I had been expecting his hit, making me able to spin my body in midair and skid across the ground on my hands and feet. I wasted no time finding my footing and stood with my hands out, firing another barrage of ceros in his direction.

Our fighting went on for several minutes, which was far longer than it had at my rock. He was playing with me, but I was also looking for an opening on his fighting style. So far I had only come up with the understanding that he was most devastating in close combat, so I had chosen to distance myself from him no matter how far it put me from my zanpakuto. I had tried several times to go for it, but every time he was between me and it. I needed to find my opportunity and to refrain from blindly charging in or he'd get me. I only had the energy to be able to heal myself two, maybe three more times depending on how bad it was. Maybe less than that if I wanted to actually use my resurreccion. I needed to be smart about how this fight went and-

A swift kick caught my arm and I felt something crack before I shot across the room in an uncontrolled tumble. I didn't know how he had gotten so close to me when I had thought he was still twenty feet away, but clearly he had moved faster than my senses could track. Even as I rolled across the ground in ball so I could protect my most likely broken arm, all I could think about was how he had moved so fast. Obviously he could move faster than my eyes could track, but my senses too? That was just stupid.

Finally hitting the wall my body flopped to the floor in a heap of tattered clothes and scratches. I didn't waste any time getting to my hands and knees as I flushed my body with power to heal my broken bone. Unfortunately, I couldn't target just my arm and had to waste energy on the scratches that had marred my skin. My healing was like an overall effect that normally was exactly what I desired, but now it was such a waste.

I started getting to my feet and as I lifted my head he was just there, right in front of me. He took hold of my jacket before I could get away from him and used it like a purse strap to toss me back into the center of the room. The jacket tore with the force of him heaving me around with it and it fell from my body as I flew through the air. I managed to catch my footing before I could stumble and fall and used my momentum to sling curling ceros at him. He dodge, of course, but it allowed me a chance to regroup and center myself. I just needed to hit him with my cero. That was it. Just one fucking hit with my tiny ass cero to his leg and he would be like a mosquito with no wings. Annoying ass bastard.

I felt him stop behind me and turned just in time to counter his lightning blue cero with one of my own. White smoke burst from our colliding reiatsu making me shy away from its sting. I saw his form in the smoke just before his hand shot out and his pointed fingers thrust into shoulder, piercing through flesh and sinew as his hand passed clean through me.

I blinked up at him in shock only to be greeted with that vicious smile of his. Of course he was enjoying this. I shouldn't have expected otherwise. If I had been doing this to him it would have given me a grin that stretched ear to ear, but coming from him to me it just seemed so wrong. This was not how the battle was supposed to go. Not at all…

His hand withdrew from my body in one swift pull, dragging me forward until I lost my balance and fell to one knee. My good arm rested on my thigh, holding my body up as my mind struggled to comprehend just how damaged I was. Fuck me. This fight wasn't supposed to be going this quickly. He was wearing me down, forcing me to heal to waste away my energy. He wanted me powerless. That shit basket.

It took almost all I had to heal the wound, and even still I refrained from completely mending my skin. I just needed muscles, sinew and bones to fight. Fuck this guy and his goddamn stabby hand.

"That was a cheap shot," I grumbled. My breathing came out heavier than I liked, but I couldn't help it as I clambered to my feet. I thought that I had a lot more energy than this when I came here, but the ceros had worn me down. That was the last time I was going to be able to heal myself after a hit like that. I needed to get my zanpakuto or I was going to be toast. My Negative Space was the only thing that would allow me to win against this dipstick.

Maybe I needed to change tactics? I had been staying away from him because of his superior speed, but it clearly wasn't working. I needed to get close, to force him to take my cero. If I could put enough power into it and keep him from darting away, I could do something to him. Maybe it would be enough to give me a window of opportunity to get to my zanpakuto.

I leaned forward, giving myself a firm stance before I launched at him with a burst of power. He didn't bother drawing his zanpakuto like I thought he might, but his hand still red with my blood formed into the point he was so fond of making.

I shifted my body weight abruptly, feigning to the right and swinging at him. He moved to block it and I quickly shifted back, intending to hit his upper arm right in that lovely bundle of nerves that made your whole arm go numb if they were hit just right. He vanished with his sonido and I spun, tracking him by the feeling of his spiritual pressure and praying that I wouldn't be wrong in what I was feeling.

I felt him lash out with his pointed hand and I dropped my shoulder just before he made contact. I threw a knee at his gut only to hit his arm instead and quickly retaliated by throwing an elbow at his jaw. Somehow I actually connected with his face, but my small victory was short lived when his own fist met my face instead. Blood rushed into my mouth from the cuts on my inner cheek, but I ignored it as I stepped back to allow myself room.

I jabbed at him more as a distraction as my feet worked on their own to set myself up. He fell for it, blocking my punches and dropped his hands from where they could guard his face. I stepped forward, spinning my body in one powerful motion that started my tornado kick. My foot connected with that sculpted cheekbone of his and he stumbled back. I followed him, unleashing a barrage of kicks and punches that landed more often than not in his disoriented state.

This was my chance.

I gathered a cero in my palm and thrust it at him. For a moment the urge to smile victoriously was so strong that I actually started to grin. Then, his fist connected with my diaphragm, completely knocking the wind out of me.

I sagged on his fist that remained against my gut, unable to suck in a breath despite my body's almost frantic attempts to restart my lungs. I started to push myself away from him, but his hand clamped down on my ponytailed hair and forced me to look up at him.

"You can't win," he murmured as those intense azure eyes met my own golden gaze. He wasn't more than a little scuffed from my kicks and my cero. Sure, I hadn't had the time to put more than a moderate umph into it, but still.

I couldn't respond to him without air in my lungs, nor could I spit blood in his face like the rebel in me wanted to. So, I settled for trying another cero. His hand closed over mine, smothering the light I had been forming.

"Just accept it," he growled before he released me and stepped back so quickly that I didn't even have a chance to react let alone fall. His foot swung out, catching me unprepared in my gut and sent me fly back. I hit the ground and rolled for a few feet before I came to a stop. Disoriented from the spinning but finally breathing I laid there for a moment to collect myself. I didn't really have anything left to give my body to heal. I… I was screwed. I would fight him until I could no longer move, but I really was screwed.

"You're running on empty, aren't ya?" Grimmjow asked, his voice sounding far too close for comfort. I felt the toe of his boot dig into my side just before he flipped me over onto my back. I let out a grunt with the forced motion and glared at him.

"If you'd give me my zanpakuto back, I could make this a lot more interesting," I commented roughly.

"As much as I want to know what your resurreccion is, I don't think now is the time." He said calmly as he knelt down beside me. His hand went to some inner pocket in his jacket, and I chose that time to kick my leg up. I caught his arm before he could grab whatever it was and used the momentum my kick had given me to propel myself into a roll that put distance between us.

I got to my hands and knees and spat blood from my mouth. The roll had made me dizzy, so I kept my eyes fixated on the ground beneath me as I said, "my resurreccion scared you, didn't it? You only had a taste and now you don't want to feel it again. The loss of power, becoming no better than what are once were-"

I cut myself off as I felt his spiritual pressure spike and lifted my head. Apparently my words had pissed him off because he held a cero that was far bigger than the ones I had used on him in his hand. Those azure eyes of his were burning with some indiscernible emotion as he thrust his cero at me. Holy shit balls Batman, this was going to hurt.

I didn't have time to curl into a ball or to avoid his cero, so I focused what energy I did have left into the surface of my body to reinforce my hierro. It was going to hurt no matter what I did, but I could reduce how much damage I actually took. I dropped my upper body and covered my head with my arms, allowing the cero to mostly hit my back and arms.

It was all burning blue light and pain that seared down my skin like little shocks of electricity and fire in one potent mixture. It didn't take long to end, but it had been more than enough. I couldn't seem to gather the strength to keep myself on my knees and elbows and slumped, my body slowly falling until I was lying on my side. I had nothing left to energize my body, nothing to give to heal myself, and barely enough to stay conscious. His cero had hurt. Like, really really hurt. If I had been at full power it would have been little more than an irritation, but he had worn me down. Fucking fake ass Espada…

"I suppose this is your empty then," he commented as I watched his feet stop just beside me. I couldn't react as his foot pressed to my shoulder and rolled me over just like he had done earlier, but this time I couldn't react. My Can-O Whoop Ass had run out.

He knelt beside me as his hand returned to his jacket to retrieve whatever it was that he had been going for earlier. I had a moment to wonder if he had handcuffs or something hiding in his inner pocket, but froze when I saw a tiny black cube with glowing dark purple edges clasped between his fingers. There was no way… Did he really intend to use a Caja Negacion on me? Really?

"Being an Espada I would think this could only last a day at most on you, but weak as you are I think you'll be stuck inside of here for much longer."

I couldn't help but to gape at him. He didn't know… he really didn't know. How didn't he know?

"Don't worry, if it's too long I'll let you out and give you a chance to reconsider my offer," he said as his hand rested over my chest and pulled down on the collar of my tank top to expose the hole that resided between my breasts. He held the Caja Negacion over my exposed hole and paused for a moment. "Or will you reconsider now?"

"Fuck you and the horse you're riding on you goddamn fake," I spat out. I wanted him to do it. He had no idea what he was doing.

"I thought you'd say something like that," he mused as he released the black cube.

I couldn't help myself and smiled despite the effort it took. I was going to turn him into my personal bitch. He just didn't know it yet, but the slight look of uncertainty that passed over his face with my changing expression made me think he might actually know he'd just fucked up.

The black cube passed into my chest and like a car getting jump started, energy exploded through my veins. The banners of darkness that typically generated with the release of the Caja Negacion appeared and started to form a box around me, but I called out to the boundaries it was creating and pulled it into me. Profanities spilled from Grimmjow's mouth as the black banners covered my body like black bandages. My back arched of its own accord and my muscles seized all at once as the darkness seeped through my skin and into my body. It felt good, like taking lightning into my body that zapped at the empty reserves of my spirit energy to energize me like a battery.

Caja Negacion, or a Negation Box, were tools I had created with my resurreccion. Each cube of darkness had taken all the power that resided within me and days to create. They were strong enough to forever trap anything that was weaker than myself, or stronger for a period of time, in a space of nothingness. A Negative Space.

My Negative Space, the one that I could create with my resurreccion was far more powerful than those little cubes, but they were horrible enough on their own. If it had been up to me, I never would have created those tiny devices of eternal punishment. After my battle with Aizen, the fight that forced me to accept my subservient status to him, he ordered me to create them. I had known it was possible to separate my Negative Space separate from myself, but I had never done it on principal. Being ordered to do it was like tearing myself into pieces all for someone else's gain, but I hadn't had a choice. It was obey Aizen's wishes or die.

At the time I had hated every moment it took me to create those horrible little cubes. But now? Now I couldn't be more elated. When I had delivered all twenty of the Caja Negacion to Aizen he had accepted them like they were gifts fit for a king, and they had been. Two per Espada, a gift of the perfect punishment. Just one was more than enough to deal with any rebelling subordinate, but now it was more than enough to completely replenish my nearly bottomed out spirit energy.

It only took me a moment to regain control of my body once I had processed most of my incoming spirit energy, and I used that quick turnaround time to my advantage. I thrust myself off the ground and instantly into a sonido that took me clear across the room. Grimmjow had removed himself from between me and my zanpakuto when he had knelt beside me, so I easily took hold of its hilt and tore it from the wall. I wasted no time extending its hilt into a spear twirling it around so I held it up with the blade pointed towards the ground.

"Pacify, Amechania!" I bellowed as I slammed her blade into the floor, signaling the release of my resurreccion.