BLEACH: Shattered Melody
Chapter 1

The quiet Espada snoozed silently in his quarters, constantly blowing a strand of his wavy hair into the air with each snore, only to have it fall back into place. His arms lay on his stomach; his only goal was to have a peaceful nap. His chest heaved up, when all of a sudden, a girl was sitting on his torso, a huge grin on her face. It was time to wake up Stark.

In a blur, her hand shot at the Espada’s nose, the fingers locking on the side of the nostrils, then swiftly coming together. And the necessary response followed. Stark’s mouth opened to take in air, and like a missile, the girl stuffed her other hand into her superior’s mouth. She jumped off of the Espada’s chest and watched the gag response.

Stark jarred upward, coughing, his eye twitching. “Lilinette!? What the hell!?”

The girl’s expression changed from being playful to completely serious. “We have a problem.”

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A twisted mass of bone and brown, bubbling flesh impaled a Menos Grande in the throat. The titanic monstrosity that controlled it pulled back on the arm. Bone ripped through what most would consider a wrist, each driving directly into the Hollow’s body, dragging it with the creature’s limb. Its head lurched forth, the jagged fanged maw opening wide. Both rows of teeth sank into the Hollow’s neck, severing it and leaving the body to crash into the white sand. A monstrous roar escaped from its mouth, blasting back the rest of the Menos defense force of Las Noches.

A gray haired man watched silently from the top of one of the castle walls, that composed Sousuke Aizen’s fortress. Though it was difficult to tell how he could watch the fight with his eyes constantly shut. His grinning lips parted, and his cold voice, laced with a tone perfect for sarcasm, mockingly started.  “This could be a fun show.” Gin’s eyes slowly opened, his ice blue irises finally able to get a good look on the creature that was assaulting Las Noches. “Well, well. Never seen that before…”

The howling creature was covered in a thin, stretched layer of rotting flesh, all except for the tail, composed completely of bone, a few attachments of visible muscle. It was walking on six legs, upright, with two lanky arms, one of which was being licked, as apparently, whatever it was enjoyed the taste of blood, the other scooping up an Exequias, a member of the execution squad, and popping the unfortunate Arrancar into its snout-like maw. It continued lurching forward, slaughtering the hollows that came in its range. Suddenly, a blur bounded across the skies, just over Gin.

A muscular, tan skinned Arrancar stood in front of the monster. With a sideburn on each side of his head, ridges on the bald scalp, and what appeared to be a jaw bone in front of his mouth, this strange Arrancar, the Tenth Espada, didn’t even bother grabbing his sword. Yammy’s head tilted back as he let out a hearty laugh. “This is gonna be the easiest fight ever! Damn Menos can’t handle this thing! It’s just a giant target!” Yammy’s fist began to glow with a bright red energy. The Tenth Espada launched himself into the air, his fist drawn back. “I’m gonna knock your teeth through the back of your head!!!”

Gin shook his head. “Ah well. He never was the brightest.”

It simply opened it’s mouth. A slime covered tongue launched from the creature’s mouth, wrapping around Yammy’s torso and dragging him into the fang ridden maw. “WHAT!? NO!!!” Loud crunches filled the air, making the Exequias squad on the ground cringe, and considering their only job was to kill people, that was saying something. It gulped down its treat.

“Ah well. If you want something done, I suppose you hafta do it yourself…” Gin reached for the sword at his side, when another white blur jumped across the skies. “Or not…”

Dozens of white lines came into visibility. The monster collapsed, legless, armless, headless, as parts slid along the slants created by the marks.  A small Arrancar, a sad expression on his face, two cyan tear-like vertical stripes on each cheek, stood atop the disembodied head, both green eyes staring downward at his prey. His blade still rested at his side.

Gin chuckled. “Didn’t even need your blade then, hmm…? Ulquiorra?”

“Of course not. It was nothing but trash.”