This is a Bleach fanfiction story that I am teaming up with Openminded15 (from fanfiction.net) to write. We do not own anything associated with the Bleach series and/or its characters. However this story is an original idea as some of the characters may seem a bit OC as we have also thrown in some completely OCC characters for this story. Please leave your comments and reviews telling us what you think. Thank you!

Key guide: bold - hollow voice, italic - zanpakuto voice, *mental speech*, "regular speech", 'thinking', bold italics - attacks, (author notes/translation)

Chapter Thirteen: Hakurai's final transformation

After a while of waiting around, there was a knock on the door. Yamamoto answered the door with a hand on his zanpakuto just to be safe. It was Starrk, with Nell close behind him.

"Sorry it took so long. I found Nell but, when I went to go talk to Tier she didn't want anything to do with this." Starrk said. Nell was excited to see Ichigo and tackled him into a giant bear hug. She was in her child-like form.

"Hey, Nell. Long time, no see." Ichigo chuckled.

"Will the plan still work with only three Arrancar with us?" Rukia asked.

"We should be fine. Ichigo would need one with him to make sure he doesn't get attacked and the rest of us should be okay with what we got." Shinji said.

"Yeah but, I've been thinking about our plan. What if we split up into groups? Ya know, attack Hakurai from a couple different angles. He wouldn't know what hit him." Grimmjow suggested.

"How many groups were you thinking of?" Rukia asked.

"I dunno. Three or four. Just enough to confuse him for a second to give us the upper hand."

"That sounds more stable than just one group. But, if we were to split up into groups like that, we would need Tier on our side." Ichigo adds.

"Do I have to go back to Hueco Mundo then?" Starrk asked as he sounded a bit annoyed that he would have to go back there again.

"No, I'll go there and talk to her. I'll bring Nell here with me." Ichigo replies. Starrk was more than happy to find out that he didn't have to go anywhere else for a while. He gladly opened up the portal to Hueco Mundo for them as a thank you for letting him be lazy. Before Ichigo and Nell left, Ichigo warned everyone to stay inside and assured them all that he would be back.

In Heuco Mundo, the place was nothing but dry white sand. Nothing has changed from last time Ichigo was here. Not that he expected any change. He let Nell lead the way through Hueco Mundo, since she knows her way around this place more than Ichigo does. After what seemed like hours of walking, they found where Tier was. She was sitting underneath on of the dead trees scattered about Hueco Mundo.

"If this is about coming to fight along side you to defeat Hakurai, don't even bother. I don't want any part of it." Tier grumbled, sensing their presence.

"You're one of the only Arrancar that would even think twice about helping us. We need your help or else the Seireitei will be in danger." Ichigo stated.

"I don't care about what happens to the Seireitei." Tier replies bluntly.

"Who knows what Hakurai will do after the Seireitei is gone. For all we know, he could come to Hueco Mundo and seek to take control of this place as well." Ichigo states as he could feel the mental nudge of his inner hollow. Tier didn't reject him right away this time. This time, she had to stop and think. Tier could care less about Hueco Mundo going down in flames but, she had the rest of the Espada to think about. She was always very protective of them. As she was thinking, Nell walked up to her and hugged her arm.

"Please Tier. We need you." Nell looked up at her with her wide child eyes.

"No." She was very blunt this time. She stood up and shook Nell off of her arm. Without saying another word, she flash stepped away leaving Nell and Ichigo alone.

"Dammit." Ichigo mumbled. "Well, it looks like we will just have to do with who we have right now."

"Itsigo are you sure there aren't any other Arrancars that would want to help?" Nell asked. Ichigo smiled a little at the way she pronounces his name.

"Sadly, no. All of the other Arrancars would want me dead within the second they see me or any of the other Shinigami." He replies while patting the skull on her head. "Don't worry, we will do just fine with the help we have." They turned around and headed back to the Seireitei. They would need to rethink their strategy a little more before they decide to attack Hakurai.

Meanwhile up over the Seireitei, Hakurai sits above the clouds watching Ichigo and his friends. They have been very quiet lately. Ever since he had sent the two Arrancars to test Ichigo. Hakurai watched that fight and was surprised when he had seen Ichigo's vasto lorde form take place. He knew now that Ichigo has a power that none of his new henchmen could fight. No matter how many Hakurai tested him, the teen seemed to surprise even him. Defeating every and any opponent that he was put against. He noticed Ichigo was now in Hueco Mundo with a little green haired girl.

"What are they up to now?" Hakurai pondered before he could feel his powers shifting once again. The experiment knew that this was going to be the last transformation that he was going to go through. His body became even bigger than before as his body took on a solidify form. His body was still in a draconic form. White scales lined his body like armor as some of the exposed skin turned a brilliant lime yellow color as well as bright sky blue color. Six clear fabric wings grew from his body as his he had a total of four glowing all yellow eyes with no visible irises and/or pupils.  Three glowing yellow scales sat in the middle of his chest (see Yugioh card "Number 68: Paladin Dragon Damocles").  Hakurai came out of the transformation as he stretched out his large wings.  "I have to do something to stop these guys before they can stop me.  This Kurosaki kid is my biggest problem." Hakurai stated.