Byakuya leaves to find Soi Fon, and the three Espada head to the meeting place of choice. Unfortunately, that's Ichigo palace. He really hopes only the Espada and their fracción are there. He doesn't feel like dealing with more people. He's not sure he can deal with more people without pulling his hair out.
The Espada and co. mingle in the fracción quarters, tending to their wounds and counting their losses. Grimmjow was reluctant to come, but he lost his entire fracción to the invasion. Needless to say, he's pissed. When one forms a fracción, it's more than a group of servants or soldiers: it's family. The are family, and one will do anything to save them. And Grimmjow couldn't do that. He was too busy following orders like a good dog, and he paid the ultimate price.
"Ichigo," Starrk greets.
"Hey, Starrk. Thanks for coming."
"What are you going to do to stop the blood shed?" Harribel cuts in.
It seems those two are not the only ones concerned. The entire room stills at the question.
"That's why we're here," Ichigo states.
"So what now then?" Grimmjow snaps.
Ichigo resists the urge to roll his eyes. "I need help. I'm not sure if you guys can help me with it, however."
Starrk and Harribel glance at each other. Nel gives Ichigo a thumbs up.
"What do you need?"
"Information. Does the Cero Espada have an significant powers that the other Espada don't?"
"Like what?" Szayel tilts his head, wincing as his last remaining fracción tightens the bandage around his torso.
"I... I managed to, I guess, summon some lesser Hollows in the World of the Living? By screaming?"
While the rest look curious or confused, Ulquiorra grins. He fucking grins. Ichigo is scared. He doesn't care that it's a small one, he's still grinning.
"Please stop that," he begs. "I'm getting goosebumps."
"You have potential for the true power of the Cero Espada," Ulquiorra proclaims.
"Okay, what?"
"That's a thing?" Nel quirks an eyebrow.
"Aizen said the same thing when I called the Hollows," Ichigo recalls.
"Yammy couldn't do that," Grimmjow states.
"That's why Aizen was fine with Yammy dying," Harribel realizes.
"Yammy didn't have what it takes to be the Cero Espada. That's why he was also the Diez Arrancar," Syazel adds.
"What makes you so special, Kurosaki?" Grimmjow growls.
"Ya know, I've been wondering the same thing myself."
"Ulquiorra, how do you know about the true power?" Starrk questions.
"Aizen felt he could trust me more than the rest of you trash."
"Makes sense," Nel and Ichigo nod.
"Do you know any other of the powers? Or if I could harness the power of controlling other Hollows better?" Ichigo asks.
"Why?"
"So I can gather the números, and we can go to Karakura Town to stop Aizen. It'll help the Gotei 13 see that we aren't the enemy."
"That'll never happen. We're Hollows. We'll always be the enemy," Harrible states bitterly.
"Then prove that we're more."
Ichigo words seem to be enough to make them think about it, but is it enough to convince them? He hopes so. He needs their help.
"I do not know if I can help harness it," Ulquiorra starts, "but I'm sure your instincts will be an adequate teacher itself."
"I guess. That's kinda how it happened to begin with, though."
"When you need them, they'll help."
"Great, so we're getting the números then?" Starrk confirms.
"Yes. Is everyone ready to head out? We need to go to the throne room. It's bigger in there," Ichigo states.
"Let's go," Nel nods.
They get to the throne room without much resistance. It was mostly getting any Arrancar they came across to safety being the problem. Ichigo managed to hold back any attacking Shinigami while the rest of the Espada got the resisting números force to the safety. This happened a couple of times, and of all those times, the Shinigami recognized Ichigo.
"It's you. You're him. The Kukchiki princess's toy."
That's what they all said. Every. Single. One.
How the hell do they know about Rukia and him? Wait, how the hell do they even know about him? He racks his brain once they arrive to the throne room. He told Ukitake that he was doing this for Rukia. Did he tell Shunsei, and Shunsei made it sound a lot more... intimate than it actually is? God, he is going to kill those two idiots.
"The Kuchiki princess's toy, huh?" Nel teases.
"I am going to commit a double homicide when I see those two again, I swear to Christ. I can't tell anyone anything," Ichigo complains.
"Who?" Lilynette, Starrk's fracción, asks. She reminds Ichigo of Yuzu.
"Captain Shunsei and Captain Ukitake. Those two knuckleheads have been best friends for centuries. They have also been a huge pain in my ass for months."
"Sounds like they're good people," Starrk jokes.
"Their hearts are in the right place. When Rukia was sentenced to death for sharing her powers with me, they were the only captains who had my back with saving her. Doesn't mean they don't know how to be assholes," the ginger grumbles.
"Your girl was sentenced to death? By her own Gotei 13?" Grimmjow frowns.
"You're serious?" Nel gawks.
Ichigo looks between everyone staring at him - which is everyone in the room, by the way. That's at least twenty something people. They are all equally shocked.
"You didn't know that?" Ichigo exclaims.
"Why would we know that?" Syazel responds.
"Because that was apart Aizen's plan to steal the Hogyoku that Rukia was hiding inside her torso," Ichigo blinks. "Does Aizen not tell you his plans?"
"No. Should he have?" Ulquiorra tilts his head.
"Are you fucking kidding me? That's what leaders do. They find a problem and have their team help them learn how to solve said problem."
"Aizen never did that."
"Because Aizen is not a leader," Harrible states. "He's a dictator. He's using us for his own agenda."
"All the more reason for you to help me stop him," Ichigo states. "I watched him rip a stupid jewel out of an innocent young woman just because he wanted it. He tried to cut me in half because I tried to stop him. He's threatening both me and Gin with the harm of the women we love. He's sending the números to their graves! Grimmjow lost his fracción! When is enough-enough?"
"Then what do we do next?" Grimmjow growls.
Ichigo sets the blue haired jerk with a look. Don't get the ginger wrong, he still hates that prick, but for now he is a valuable asset.
"I call the números and we storm Karakura Town. We surround Aizen and take the Hogyoku from him."
"You've got to be more specific then surrounding the mad man," Szayel snorts.
"Right. We have the números lock the Espada and Aizen into a kill circle. I will bring two people who I think can get Tousen and Gin to turn their backs on Aizen while you guys distract him," Ichigo starts.
"Just like that?"
"Is it wise to corner Aizen?"
"It's exactly what we want. Once Aizen loses the last of his loyal followers, he'll turn to the Hogyoku. The Hogyoku, however, holds a consciousness and a standard. Aizen loses that standard when we take his zanpakuto from him."
"Take his zanpakuto?" Nel repeats in disbelief.
"Trash. Do you even know the power that zanpakuto holds?" Ulquiorra narrows his eyes.
"Of course I do. And something tells me Gin and Tousen know the zanpkuto's weakness better than anyone else."
"Interesting. You think they know how to deactivate the zanpakuto's illusion powers?" Harrible asks for confirmation.
"That's exactly what I think. Gin isn't here for Aizen, he's here for the woman he loves. Something tells me Gin was never really on Aizen's side to begin with."
"When did you discover this?" Starrk asks.
"Oh, when they took the woman I love," he shrugs.
"Right," Grummjow mumbles.
"How ironic," Syazel comments.
"So what happens after that?" Nel redirects the conversation.
"He'll turn the Hogyoku, be rejected, and I'll get the stupid jewel."
"Why do you get the jewel?" The blue haired jerk demands.
"Because I am going to hide it from the Shinigami. After this all blows over, I plan on leaving to find a way to destroy it or find a better hiding spot."
"Still, why do you get it?"
"We don't need another Aizen," Nel snaps.
"What do we get out of this?" Harrible crosses her arms.
Ichigo hums in thought. "I'll arrange a deal with the Gotei 13 to let us all live, and maybe even elect a new leader of Las Noches in both mine and Aizen's place. Someone who has good intentions for the Arrancar, and reasonable enough to get along with our Shinigami counter parts. Hell, I'll even see if coexistence can happen in the Soul Society for those who want purpose beyond these walls."
The Espada think about it. They exchange glances around the room, their eyes holding feed back and thoughts. Finally, Harrible gives a low chuckle.
"I'm in."
"Yeah, me too."
"You know I'm in," Nel grins.
He sighs in relief. He finally convinced them. If they weren't so sick of Aizen, they probably never would've followed along with this plan. Thank god for someone always being a worse person.
"Great. Lemme call the números now. I need to concentrate, so a little silence would be appreciated."
Ichigo calls forth the inner vasto lorde, asking for him to guide him one more time. Instinct takes over, the breeze from Ichigo's dense power running through his hair. He widens his stance slightly, and takes a large breath of air. A shrill Hollow cry erupts once again. It scratches his throat from the force and power behind the roar. A small part of his mask builds on his forehead, but stops there. The already shaking walls crumble, and Aizen's throne shatters.
The roar ends, leaving Ichigo drained. He stumbles for a moment, and Nel steadies him with a strong hand. He gives her a nod of thanks before straightening up. He fixes his hair out of his eye, hand scrapping off remnants of his Hollow mask, and studies the Espada's faces. They're impressed and a little curious.
Footsteps mid-sonído are heard in the hallway. From the broken double doors, hundreds of números enter the throne room. They're all badly injured. Everyone is missing pieces: some have both physical and emotional pieces missing while others are missing their friend. Ichigo can feel the loss in the room latch onto him, and it's making him sick to his stomach.
"You called, Kurosaki-sama?"
Menoly and Loly are at the forefront of the remaining Arrancar army. They look the same as Ichigo left them, yet more hopeful. That's good. They need that.
"I did. Now, everyone! Listen up! Here's the plan!"
He lays out his plans to basically overthrow their leader. Not one soul objects. Menoly and Loly must've said something because Ichigo was sure more had faith in Aizen. Keyword was. It doesn't take long to catch the números up to speed before the Shinigami show up.
"No one move! By order of the Gotei 13, I command you to surrender!" A familiar voice echoes through the large room.
"Renji?" Ichigo frowns.
The números crowd parts for Ichigo to see who interrupted the war meeting. Standing a little ways into the room is Lieutenant Abarai Renji with a platoon of Shinigami. They're as bloody as the next guy, yet standing strong with zanpakuto in hand.
"Renji, is that you?" Ichigo calls.
"Ichigo?" Renji squints through the parted crowd.
"Yeah, it's me. What, you fucking blind?" Ichigo jokes.
"Oh, yeah. It's you. I'd recognize a soulless ginger anywhere."
"Says you, eyebrows."
Anger turns the lieutenant's face as red as his hair. He stomps over, his platoon hesitant to follow. Renji goes to blow up in Ichigo's face when he notices the physical difference. The eyes, the markings, the teeth, and so on are all different than the last time Renji saw Ichigo.
"... Ichigo. What happened-"
"I don't want to talk about that right now. At the moment, I was getting my forces ready to attack Aizen," Ichigo rolls his eyes.
"YOUR FORCES?" The redhead shouts.
The Espada wince from their sensitive ears. "Shut up, asshole! I'm right here, you don't have to break my ear drums!"
"Since when did you take over Aizen's army?" Renji demands.
"Since I became the Cero and technical general of said army. Please, Renji, lives are at stake. I can't waste anymore time here than I have to."
Renji gives a long sigh. He sheathes his weapon and prompts his platoon to follow.
"What do you need me to do?"
Ichigo takes a second to admire his friend Renji before getting to the point. "Gather the Gotei 13 forces and bring them here. These two girls, Menoly and Loly, are in charge of the Arrancar until I call them to battle in Karakura Town. When you get back, talk to them about the plan."
"You trust these girls?" Renji asks, studying the small framed sisters.
Ichigo turns to the sisters. They appear as pridefully as one could expect.
"With my life," he smiles at them.
Renji nods in understanding. "I'll handle things from this side. I've got a lot of questions, but I'm guessing these girls can help with that. So, I guess, see you later?"
Ichigo grins, clapping his friend's shoulder. "Later, man. Espada! We're moving out!"