Extinction

Prologue: Sangre

A garganta opened under the night sky of Hueco Mundo. At least, it can be assumed it was night...

A slim figure stepped out of the black hole. Its presence was immediately felt by all who resided in Hueco Mundo. From the Gillian deep below the surface of the sands in the Menos Forest to the former Espada in Las Noches, all paused and took notice of the new reiatsu as it made itself known.

"Something is... different than the way I remember it," the newcomer said quietly. They glanced around. Red eyes rested upon the white fortress that was Las Noches. "I don't quite remember my home looking like that..." The new being disappeared with a burst of sonido.

The being next appeared deep in the Menos Forest. It glanced around, searching for any signs of life. While it could feel the reiatsu of hollows around it, it made no move to react. They were mere Gillian-class Menos. They stood no chance against it. However, there was a particular reiatsu that sparked its interest not too far off. It masked its reiatsu and used sonido once again, going directly through a few Gillian with ease.

Grimmjow Jeagerjaques occasionally gave into his baser instincts. After all, as an Arrancar he was still a hollow. The hole was not there just for show. Though the feeling was not as prevalent, he still felt the need to eat souls every now and then. So, that was why he was in the Menos Forest finishing off a few unlucky hollows who happened to cross his path.

Disgusting, but they'll do until next time. I should get back to Las Noches now, he thought.

For 10 years, he had toiled in Hueco Mundo with the Espada who had been spared from the war. The truce between them and the shinigami was shaky to say the least. There was no written paper saying that they were at "peace." They basically said: "If you don't mess with us, we won't mess with you." The Espada mostly had Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends to thank for that. If not, the shinigami of Soul Society would have definitely executed them all.

Grimmjow had merely jumped from a tree when he felt the reiatsu behind him. He was immediately on his guard as he turned to face... nothing. Raising an electric blue eyebrow, he turned again, raising Pantera. The being in front of him blocked the strike with the back of their hand.

"You are a strange-looking one," it said.

Grimmjow pushed it away, but he had the sneaking suspicion that it had "allowed" itself to be thrown back. He took in the sight of it. It was obviously a hollow, the type of which was a mystery. He could not spot a hollow hole on it anywhere. Its mask resembled a Venetian mask. Red horns that resembled those of a Nubian ibex protruded from the top of its head, curving around the back, and were about a meter in length. Small red markings curved down to the right and left from the narrow left eyehole like eyelashes. A black 7-point star covered the right eye. The hollow had long auburn hair that was in a high ponytail just between its huge horns. Red and black markings covered what Grimmjow could see of its pale skin.

And that's what confused him. It was actually dressed. It was dressed sort of like Halibel. It wore red hakama tied with a white sash and a red bandeau top. That solidified the fact that the hollow was of the female persuasion, although it was not particularly well-endowed.

"So what are you? Half-shinigami or something?" the hollow asked. She said the word with mild distaste. She began approaching Grimmjow. He stood up straight, keeping Pantera raised. The hollow disregarded it completely. "And what do you plan on doing with that?"

"What does it matter what I am? And I can do a helluva lot with this thing." Grimmjow prepared to attack again. Before he could, he felt a hand on his wrist. His eyes widened a bit. He noticed the hollow standing next to him.

"Do you always attack without just cause? I have given you no reason to attack me... yet," she said. She squeezed Grimmjow's hand slightly. Grimmjow felt his wrist snap like a twig under the pressure as it bend in an awkward angle and he dropped Pantera. She released him almost gently and he stumbled forward, holding his wrist to his chest.

Her reiatsu is so low! It's fucking MINUSCULE compared to mine! How the hell did she do that? he raged in his mind as he glared at the hollow. She was currently staring off into space.

"You are wondering how I did that; how I could possibly be stronger and faster when my reiatsu suggests otherwise." She glanced over at him. "You wouldn't be able to survive under the pressure of my reiatsu. I'm simply suppressing it below yours at the moment. Now tell me. What exactly are you? I wouldn't want to have to beat it out of you."

"Fuck you," Grimmjow spat. The hollow sighed. She appeared in front of him and grabbed hold of his mask fragment.

"Is this key to some hidden power of yours? You have both the reiatsu of a hollow and a shinigami. I despise shinigami. Would it hurt terribly if I were to tear this off?" She pulled lightly. Grimmjow tried to squirm away from her. "Don't move. You'll only make it worse on yourself."

"You bitch! Let go of me!"

"That wasn't very nice." She pulled harder.

A yellow cero hit the hollow, making her release Grimmjow right before she tore off his mask fragment. Grimmjow jumped back into a tree, holding his bleeding face. He looked to his left and saw Halibel. She was holding Tiburón. She glanced at Grimmjow and then at the hollow. Her eyes narrowed when she noticed her handiwork.

The hollow's mask had shattered on the right side. A red eye with a black sclera was staring at the shattered pieces in its hand with mild interest. Then the hollow let out a tired sigh.

"Damn. I suppose this one served its purpose for today. I'll make another later," she said. She dropped the pieces from her hand. Then she removed the rest of the mask. Grimmjow was a little shocked. First, she looked like a pale, chubby-faced teenager with gigantic, curved horns protruding from her forehead. Another 7-point black star was tattooed over her eye, much like her mask. Second, it was the fact that she had simply removed her entire mask as if that was something hollows did every day. Then she glared over at Halibel. "You're even stranger than he is. Cute outfit, though."

"Who are you?" Halibel asked. She did not sheathe Tiburón.

"Finally," the hollow looked at Grimmjow, "a SMART question. I don't think you deserve an answer, though. You broke my mask. But, I can tell you're stronger than he is." She faced Halibel again. Halibel began charging another cero.

"I'll ask once more."

"And if I don't answer?"

"Who are you?" Halibel repeated. The hollow simply watched Halibel. "Very well." Halibel prepared to release the cero. She never saw the hollow move. She did not have time to stop her cero.

Grimmjow saw the massive explosion. He started jumping towards the site. When he arrived, he only saw the hollow. Halibel was nowhere to be seen. He jumped down and began stalking over to her. She turned around and blocked his strike deftly.

"Relax, baby blue. She's right there," she said while pointing up in a tree. Grimmjow glanced up. Halibel was up high, holding her side. She was covered in her own blood. Her jacket was blown open and half of her mask was missing. The hollow watched as she panted.

"What are you?" Halibel asked. The hollow smirked.

"I am a hollow." She squeezed Grimmjow's good hand, breaking every bone. "I am THE hollow. I am the first. I will be the last. Hueco Mundo is my domain and I will not let some half-shinigami sell-outs dwell here. Apparently, the biggest mistake I ever made was leaving that fool Barragan in charge while I was gone," she said. She threw Grimmjow back.

"You mean Barragan wasn't the king of Las Noches?" Halibel asked weakly. The hollow stared at her blankly.

"That idiot said that?" Halibel nodded. "NO! I leave for a few centuries and everything goes to hell..." the hollow said with a sigh. Halibel looked at Grimmjow, who was recovering slowly. Then she looked back at the hollow. "What happened to Las Noches?"

"A shinigami named Aizen..."

"I don't need to hear anymore." The hollow glared up at Halibel. "The shinigami have had their chance. They have intruded on my domain one too many times." She released some of her reiatsu. Grimmjow immediately fell to his knees, struggling to breathe. Halibel struggled to stay on the branch in the tree. It felt as if their bones were being crushed. Then the hollow let up, returning to masking it. She turned to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Grimmjow asked.

"To find my followers. There's a reason Vasto Lorde don't dwell out in the open," she said. Then she stopped and turned her head. "And to answer your question, I am Sangre Negra. Remember it well, shinigami-hollows. I'll allow you to live for now, but you are on my list."

Elsewhere, in a completely different realm, a reading came up in the 12th Division. Akon raised an eyebrow as he stared at the screen. The reading for the reiatsu level that had just suddenly appeared in Hueco Mundo could not have been right. Then it suddenly disappeared as if it had never existed in the first place.

Odd. It was higher than that of even the average Vasto Lorde. What in Hueco Mundo could possibly have that sort of reiatsu? he asked himself. It could just be a malfunction in the monitors with them reading more than one hollow at a time. No need to worry.

Akon continued to go about his work, not giving the reading another thought. It would be far too late when he realized his grave error.

Grimmjow did not like his new predicament. One minute he had been minding his own business, having a light snack. The next, he was on the verge of having his mask fragment forcibly ripped off and both hands broken. He knew he could heal on his own accord. However, his mask fragment was a different story. It would heal, but it would heal at a far slower rate than his broken bones. That was why he was being dragged through the streets of Karakura Town with Neliel Tu Oderschvank towards Orihime Inoue's home.

"Is this really necessary?" Grimmjow asked. Nel turned and glared at him. "Fine."

"Your mask is fractured, dummy. It's dangerous for it to be like that. It's practically hanging off your face!" Nel yelled at him. Although they were in gigai at the moment, Nel had seen the damage that the mysterious hollow had imparted on Grimmjow and Halibel and she was none too pleased.

"Whatever," Grimmjow mumbled as they came to the apartment building.

Orihime opened the door on the second knock. She smiled when she noticed It was Nel, a frequent visitor. She saw Grimmjow moping behind her and immediately let them in.

"What brings you all to me?" Orihime asked as she led them to her living room.

"We have a favor to ask." Nel faced Grimmjow. "Get out of that gigai," she commanded. Grimmjow stared at her for a moment before reluctantly obeying. Orihime watched him. She tried not to gasp when she saw the horrid state of his mask fragment. The bottom portion was indeed practically hanging off. Dried blood was around it. Grimmjow crossed his arms and looked away. "Can you fix it?"

"I think so. I fixed yours after so many years. Grimmjow's shouldn't be too hard." Orihime moved over to him. "Soten Kisshun, I reject." The shield appeared around his face. "Do you mind me asking what did this? You didn't get in a fight with Ulquiorra, did you?"

"No," Grimmjow spat.

"Nope, although I am sure he thinks it would have been more dignifying if he had fought Ulquiorra... and lost. But, Grimmy got beat up by a girl," Nel quipped. Orihime looked down at her and Grimmjow shot her a look of death.

"She was NOT a girl. She was a fucking MONSTER." He sighed. "She called herself Sangre-something-or-other. She seems to have a real hatred for shinigami."

"What do you mean by 'monster'?" Orihime asked. "And she hates shinigami?"

"She's a hollow, but she was... different. She was strong; even stronger than Halibel. She could take off her mask at will," Grimmjow said as the shield disappeared. Orihime stared at him in amazement.

"She could just take off her mask? Like Ichigo and Shinji?" she asked. Grimmjow nodded.

"Yeah. But she was an actual hollow. Halibel cracked her mask and she just got rid of it afterwards. It didn't seem to affect her at all."

"Does Urahara know this?"

"I told the hat man this. He didn't seem all that concerned until I told him that she said that she was THE hollow. He seemed pretty concerned about that one." Grimmjow recalled his conversation with the store owner.

"Can you describe this mystery hollow for me?" Urahara asked. Grimmjow sighed, somewhat annoyed with this line of questioning. He hated coming to the transient world. All he wanted to do was see Orihime and leave. Nel shoved him in the ribs and he gave her an evil glare.

"She had an odd mask. She also had these ridiculously huge horns on her head. Even when she took her mask off the horns stayed. She had a lot of markings on her arms and chest. She had a tattoo of a star on her right eye and red hair. Good enough?" Grimmjow asked. Urahara nodded.

"You seem to remember her pretty well even if she kicked your butt," Nel mumbled while giggling. Grimmjow looked down at her.

"It was kinda hard not to notice because she was so different, Neliel." Grimmjow glanced back at Urahara as Nel kept giggling. "She also said something about being 'the hollow,' whatever that means."

Urahara tilted his hat back to look at Grimmjow. Those words carried more meaning than Grimmjow knew.

"Thank you, Grimmjow. You should see Orihime as soon as possible," he said. Nel looked at him.

"What about this mean hollow who attacked Grimmy and Tia?" Nel asked. Urahara smiled.

"I promise it'll work itself out."

Grimmjow touched his newly-healed mask fragment. He looked back at Orihime.

"Second time you've fixed me up. Thanks. Tell the strawberry everything I've said here." He turned to leave.

Orihime nodded and watched Nel and Grimmjow go. She sat there for a moment, thinking. Then she got up and moved to the phone. She dialed Ichigo's number. He would want to hear about the new hollow and the danger she posed.

"Hello, Ichigo? I just spoke to Grimmjow and Nel... Yeah, they're fine... Listen. I have something to tell you. Could you come get me... Thanks." She hung up.

Little did she know that it would be the last car ride she would take as a living person.

AN: "Sangre Negra" together literally means "black blood" in Spanish.

You know the deal: I don't own Bleach. I wish I did, but sadly that dream won't ever come true.