- The Hollow Threat is a collaborative role-play between Ten Tailed Fox and LaviBookman.
The Disturbance[]
Excitement was stirring up the usually dull and boring day. Within his vast palace, Herrera Tresckohen listened as one of his minions issued a report that was highly unusual. The presence of several individuals were detected entering the deserts of Hueco Mundo. The arrancar warlord ordered a small group of arrancar followers to investigate, and kept a second team in reserve for if the circumstances worsened. He knew that telling his men to avoid combat in any circumstance would only encourage the hollows to attack. If they were felled by the intruders, they fell because of their own stupidity.
Within his palace of Las Noches, the arrancar waited. And a part of him hoped for some entertainment.
Several Garganta had opened up several miles away from the city-sized fortress of Las Noches. The top four Espada landed in the sand followed by Raian Getsueikirite, their leader. Quickly they gathered in a group, "The army is on it's way. Before long, Soul Society will be arriving here. We need to fortify our defenses today." Raian explained. Baraggan looked back towards Las Noches, "If we took back Las Noches, we'd have a good place to launch our counter measures." he said. Raian dawned his mask to hide his identity, "Very well then. Ichigo?" Raian said, looking back.
Another Garganta opened and Ichigo Kurosaki landed in the desert, "Remain here and hold down the fort. Espada, let's go pay the King of Las Noches a visit." Raian commanded. With that, Raian and the Espada flashed away.
As Raian's army piled into Hueco Mundo, Herrera was quick to see the danger to be had and summoned his direct subordinate to his side. He had little clue as to the intentions of these people, but they do not seem to be familiar with his rule. "Lucia, come with me."
The two used sonído, moving to intercept the advancing fugitives.
Sensing the oncoming Arrancar, Raian used his mastery of speed techniques, combine with his skills in aerobics to flip high above the sands while his Espada comrades plowed forward. As the oncoming Arrancar came into sight, Raian made a move he knew would lead to a confrontation. He slapped his two hands together, pulling them apart to form a blue rod of Kidō. "Bakudō #62, Hyapporankan!" he declared, launching the rod, which burst into dozens of other rods and sped towards the oncoming Arrancar.
Herrera gritted his teeth as the kidō rained down upon the two, though they quickly separated to evade the majority of the strikes. The king was bothered by the display: not by the strength of the spell, but the nature of it. That was a shinigami spell: what are shinigami doing here? Distracted by the kidō, Herrera was not able to immediately notice the other arrancar charging his way, though Lucia's perceptiveness warned him before it was too late.
"He's not alone!" Lucia called out over the din of the luminescent rods streaking around the two.
Herrera's attention, brought back to the ground, quickly recognized several of the arrancar on the ground. They were former comrades of his, from his years as a pawn of Aizen. Misguided fools: working with shinigami, one after another. Have the hollows lost all independence since the Hōgyoku?
Raian dropped down on Herrera, a massive kick aimed for the Arrancar king. Harribel wheeled around this confrontation and plunged straight for Lucia. Starrk was to the left, firing a massive Cero from his Hollow hole. Baraggan came from the right, swinging his axe-shaped Zanpakutō, releasing his own maroon Cero. Ulquiorra stood back, ready to give assistance.
"Lucia, up!" Herrera yelled to the other. He grabbed Lucia's hand, and she gripped in turn. In conjunction, the two used their forward momentum to begin spinning and, at Herrera's call, launched themselves into the sky. Herrera stretched out his claw arm as Raian came down upon him and Lucia responded by throwing the arrancar king. The spinning motion allowed Herrera to easily evade the aerial kick, with his clawed hand delivering a clean swipe to the shinigami's torso, with extended fingers for maximum range.
Meanwhile, as Lucia was landing, she sent a flurry of bala, kicking up the sands of the Hueco Mundo desert and dove in. Within the opaque field, she fired a cero at the closest arrancar, which so happened to be Ulquiorra. As the sands returned to the earth, Lucia leaped back up, to quickly rendezvous with Herrera: the numerical disadvantage will prove troublesome.
Herrera's claws were met with resistance; the source was Raian's Hierro. Ulquiorra barely avoided being hit head on by Lucia's Cero, making a sharp barrel to the left. All four Arrancar flashed into position, forming a circle around Lucia and Herrera. Raian, however, stood in the center facing them. "Lucia Botta.....I didn't expect to see you again." he muttered.
Herrera was surprised when his claws did not leave a mark on Raian, quickly backing off before a countering move could be made. The other arrancar surrounding him and Lucia made him slightly annoyed, though it could not be helped: they would have torn his army apart with their coordinated strength. He was doubtful that his Red Devils would be annihilated, but there would be some casualties. Then, Herrera noticed someone that he knew quite well, years ago. "Baraggan, I thought you were dead."
Lucia narrowed her eyes as she recognized Raian. The action only expressed her feelings since she was incapable of sight. It has been a long time since she saw Raian, back when Akujin was gathering power of his own. She held no attachments to Akujin beyond an obligation to help him, for helping her gain a greater power.
"You changed a lot, Raian Getsueikirite. I almost failed to recognize you," she answered, in her usual, quiet tone.
Baraggan narrowed his ancient eyes, "Herrera! So you're still alive and kicking. I thought you'd gone off and rotted after that stunt you pulled at Las Noches." he scowled. He then slammed his giant axe into the desert sand, kicking it up into the air. "So it is you who have defiled my throne. I'm here to reclaim it!"
Raian made a motion with his hand, "Now, now Baraggan. Don't get riled up. This guy has quite a large sum of reiatsu." he said, calming his teammate before returning to Lucia. "And Lucia! My how you've changed. Your reiatsu is as calm as I remember it and I see you've gone and found you a new boss." he noted, looking over to Herrera, "Herrera, was it? I suppose you're the new king of Hueco Mundo these guys were talking about when I found them."
"Correct," Herrera replied, ignoring Baraggan for the moment. He lifed a clawed hand towards the shinigami. "I may not know what you are doing here, but you're trespassing on my domain. Is this the latest attempt to overcome Soul Society, perhaps? You took a wrong turn to get there. I'll let you off on attacking me if you intended to be fighting shinigami."
Raian narrowed his eyes from beneath his mask, "You're correct, somewhat. This is an attack on Soul Society for it's atrocities, but my army is on it's way here to draw Soul Society away from it's Seireitei. We are simply the advanced search party, you could say. Our goal is to use that," he said, pointing to Las Noches in the distance, "as our base of operations for our counterstrike on the Shinigami."
"I see, but I'm not quite interested in leaving Las Noches just for your little diversion," Herrera said, "especially when it comes to him."
Herrera gestured to Baraggan with the same clawed hand. He did not have to explain his distrust for the other. He held his gaze on the wizened arrancar for a moment before returning his attention towards Raian.
"If you actually spent the time to learn anything of the happenings in Hueco Mundo, I would expect that you would also be prepared to compromise with me," the arrancar king continued, shifting his eyes to look upon each individual that was present. Baraggan, Starrk, Harribel, Ulqiorra. Nostalgic, but pitiful that they continue to cling to a shinigami leader. "Especially since it appears that we have a common enemy."
As he spoke, Herrera was already gathering information about Raian and his recent dealings. He has been in close proximity with another strong individual very recently: some time before he arrived at this area of Hueco Mundo. It was a slightly familiar one, though Herrera could not exactly pinpoint the owner of that fragment of reiatsu.
"I'm no Aizen Sōsuke." Raian responded. "I haven't come here to make false dealings with the Hollow kind. Unlike most Shinigami, I know that Hollows and Arrancar alike just want to be left to their daily lives just as the Humans do in the real world. Las Noches is necessary for the fall of the Shinigami Order. I have every intention of laying my hands on it any way I can." he explained. "I do not believe in using idle words or twisting them to get my way. I have seen my goal and plan to obtain it."
He then motioned to the former Espada that surrounded him, "These are my comrades. My equals. They follow me because I do not see myself, a Shinigami, above Hollows such as them. They too share my goal and my confidence. What you plan to do with this information is up to you. Whether you are hostile or friendly is, again, up to you, but do not be deceived; if you plan to attack, I will kill heartlessly and move on."
"I almost feel inspired enough to applaud, but I am still not convinced to give up Las Noches," Herrera answered, "I can accommodate your… search party, however I have several unconditional requirements."
The arrancar king paused for a moment, allowing the other to listen more closely.
"One, you may not have any more than one of your subordinates at your side at any time. The rest will be remain in quarters that will be arranged for them. If Soul Society decides to assail Las Noches, I will allow them to roam the palace, so long as they do not violate this term. Two, you will not make any move to cause aggression within my men or make any attempt to sabotage the palace. Lucia will be accompanying you and whomever you choose to be at your side to ensure that my men are not the ones to start any conflict while you are within my palace. Three, Baraggan cannot enter Las Noches at any time. Four, once your objective within Hueco Mundo is complete or you fail to follow the conditions that I have set, you and your followers are to leave Hueco Mundo immediately. I reserve the right to demand that all of you leave before your objective is completed, in your own definition. Five, don't hide from me the other individual that is lingering around Hueco Mundo. I would like to know who is within my domain."
Baraggan's reiatsu flared, "What?! Las Noches was built by me! I shall enter it whenever I please. Rot! Arrogan-!" he began, but was stopped by Raian's hand signal. "Hold your fire, Baraggan." Raian commanded. "But, he dares openly defy me!" Baraggan protested. "It is of little consequence my friend. Herrera, my fifth subordinate is none other than Kurosaki Ichigo of Karakura Town. I would not have hidden him from you if I planned an all out assault. Besides, had he attacked, we would not be having this conversation right now, and Las Noches would be a pile of soot." Raian explained politely, though his reiatsu soon filled the air in a demonstration of raw power. "I will accept your terms for now, however, I caution you with some conditions of my own; if Soul Society attacks, they will not show you the pleasantries that I have. They will attack Las Noches, of that much I am certain. When they do, if you attempt to stop my army's movements in this realm in any way, I will turn on you and turn your army into ash."
Kurosaki... hmph, he has quite the all-star crew, Herrera thought. The arrancar kept such thoughts to himself, noting Lucia's restless shift in posture.
"I have already placed Soul Society's mannerisms to hollows into consideration. My army are no pushovers, so I would expect the movements of your followers to not be so drastic," Herrera replied. "However, I am an understanding person. It is not difficult to forget what has been spoken."
The arrancar king opened the palms of his hands to Raian, giving a smile. It was not a smile that held a pleasant feeling to it, but not one wholly of malice. It was a difficult face to read.
"Now, if you excuse Lucia and myself, we have some arrangements to make," Herrera finished. He turned around and began walking away from Raian, to step out of the circle that Raian's arrancars made with Lucia in tow. If he was not stopped, Herrera and Lucia sonídoed away.