BACK-DROP
History:
3,022 Years Ago
Born in central Nubia to a seer and a wiseman, Cirujano was known as Apedem. While pregnant with Apedem the seer was plagued with dreams of her son creating a weapon that would lay waste to entire cities. His wiseman father convinced her to carry the child to term and keep an eye on him. If the weapon was one that could be used to benefit the family, then so be it.
As a boy, Apedem possessed his father's wisdom. He learned of all animals, plants, and rocks at an age where others were being taught to simply recognize local landmarks should they ever get lost.
As a teenager, he developed the seer abilities of his mother. His dreams showed him visions of what then made little to no sense; men that rode horseless carriages of metal and man-made birds that spat giant towers of fire and smoke at the land below. He would only learn thousands of years after his death, that those dreams were brief fragments of future events. Still, he pushed against what a wiseman of his day was supposed to be by telling others of his dreams.
It didn't take long before his parents began to think that he was touched in the head; that their son had gone crazy. Disproving their claims of his mental instability was easy enough. He would show them something amazing, something neither had ever seen before. Something he had seen many times while sleeping. He would teach them all to write. Using stone, and chisel, he would teach them to send detailed messages to each other regardless of the distance between them.
Only shortly after doing this, the implications of the creation were fully realized by his parents. He was far too talkative, far too open with those who were not friend or family. It wasn't long before he was killed. Killed by who? Not even he knows this. The face of his murderer was veiled.
Watching his family and friends go on without it, enjoying the creation he had given without even acknowledging his existence was torture for his soul. It was this that led him down the dark path of Hollowhood. He tried hard to bury the memories, while etching the lessons that they taught into his heart.
3,000 Years Ago
His early days in Hueco Mundo were spent scavenging, looking for the remains of hollows previously killed by others who actually possessed the ability to fight. He would scurry underground behind groups of hunting Arrancar just low enough to avoid detection and then crawl above ground to eat when it was safe. For nearly a thousand years, he existed in the afterworld living like this, scavenging. Tracking groups of hollows, waiting until they battled others or turned on each other, and then surfacing to eat the scraps that remained. The hate for his condition and himself that he developed as a result would be inconceivable to any whom were free to walk Hueco Mundo without fear. Still, there was one benefit gained by living this bottom feeding lifestyle; Nadroj developed skill with hiding his reiatsu. Learning to hide his reiatsu meant he had an easier time following hollows because he could remain at a closer distance; lose them less often. As disgusted as he'd grown with himself, he'd grown accustomed to this. He couldn't help but wonder how he would fair were he part of a group above ground, more specifically, how long before he would be killed. Regardless how large the group he tracked was, they would always be wiped out within a few centuries.
Though he pressed on, he knew that were he above ground, he'd likely die within days. No one would waste their time forming a group with such a useless hollow.
2,000 Years Ago
That is until one day he was discovered. He was pulled up from the ground by an Adjucha in charge of his own group of hollows.
“How interesting…” She said. “A sea animal, like I was when I was younger. Except this one is even more useless.” The long transparent hair like appendages hanging from her head wrapped around his form, injecting him with her potent venom. She dropped Nadroj. “Not squishy like I was, but far more gross.” She laughed as Nadroj curled up from pain caused by her venom. “I don’t even know if I want to eat this one. Who wants it?” She said in constant laughter.
“Well we can’t eat it now. I don’t want to eat any of your poison. I don’t even think I would eat it if it even if it wasn’t poisoned.” The hyena looking hollow of her group chuckled. “It looks like a giant pickled piece of poop.” Everyone laughed hysterically.
The jokes and laughs at his expense continued until their leader kneeled down beside him. He was no longer squirming in pain. “Now that’s impressive.” She said.
Nadroj attempted to escape underground. One of her group grabbed him. “He’s alive? But. . .no one has ever been able to live for more than a few minutes after being injected.”
The hyna sniffed Nadroj’s body thoroughly. “Joba, I don’t smell any poison.”
A wave of gasps came from the group. Frightened, a wave of thick liquid came from Nadroj’s body and landed on the nose of the hyena. The group laughed as strange creature was dropped and kicked away.
“It threw up on me! Oh…OH! That’s fowl!” The hyena shouted.
“Let’s hope it’s vomit.” One of the group yelled, causing yet another wave of laughter.
Nadroj needed to escape, never had he been pulled above ground before. If only his form was different. The hyena approached Nadroj yet again.
“No, get away.” Nadroj shouted.
“It can talk?” The hyena said grabbing at its vomit covered nose. “And it’s puke. . .it’s hard! I…I CAN’T FEEL MY NOSE!”
“Well aren’t you just full of surprises. You just found yourself a group to travel with.”
1,000 Years Ago
The leader of the group called herself Kalita. Nadroj found that her group wasn’t exaggerating when they referenced the potency of her toxin. She’d believed that her poison made her invincible. Though unintentional, Nadroj taught her that this was not the case. Kalita was thankful for this, so thankful in fact that she not only took Nadroj into her group, but also under her wing. She helped him to understand that he was more battle capable than anyone had originally assumed. Within the span of one hundred years Nadroj gained complete mastery of his abilities.
The group faced their toughest battle within this timespan. A group of three fought their group of twelve and mowed them down to a mere five. The enemies they fought were all Adjuchas.
“Hyetro!” Kalita screamed. His head was removed from the rest of his body by the giant jaws of the leader of the opposing group. Nearest they could tell, the beast was some type of large lizard. Its fire covered form made it impossible for the group to rely on Kalita’s special toxin. This same lizard used its fire to prevent Kalita from taking out its teammates by scurrying to their defense whenever she got too close.
“There are but five left.” The lizard laughed. “Something tells me that a group this group won’t be enough to make us Vasto Lords. In fact, their weakness may cause us to revert to Gillians again.” They laughed as they bit, pecked, and ripped away at the hyena's corpse, until there was nothing left.
Nadroj had grown attached to this group. As weak as he still considered himself to be, he refused to sit idly by and do nothing. His slow movements made it difficult for him to catch up to the burning lizard. But now that they had been so distracted by the hyena’s corpse, Nadroj finally managed to catch up. His belly, or what one would assume was his belly grew exponentially. Within seconds he’d grown three times his normal size. This increase was due to his desire to produce more vomit than he’d ever produced before. He didn’t care if he’d explode from his attempt. All that he knew, was he had to show how grateful he was to his host party.
His size continued to increase until his vomit began to spill from his mouth. He was nearly twenty times as large as he once was. Still, this much vomit wouldn’t be enough. If only there was a way to cover the lizard completely. As the vomit surged from his mouth, the liquid converted into a fast moving gas.
“What the hell is this?” The lizard said as Nadroj’s cloud engulfed it’s burning tail, back legs and eventually shoulder blades. The flames on these parts of its body flickered and then died out completely after Nadroj caused his gas to convert once more. This time into a sticky tack like substance.
“Kalita!” The ribbon worm yelled. “His fire on his-“ He had no time to finish his sentence. The lizard swung its mighty tail in an attempt to silence him. Kalita saved him just in time, knowing it wasn’t necessary given his rapid healing ability. She carried him up into the sky, flying through the air skillfully, as if it were water, dodging wave after wave of cero.
“No Kalita!” Nadroj pleaded. “Now is your chance, avenge the others! The fire on his-“
“Nadroj.” She interrupted. “I knew that you would be useful. I want to thank you so much for joining us.”
He grew confused. Was she saying goodbye? She never spoke like this to anyone. Why was she speaking to the newest member of her party like this? She spoke so softly.
“I gave the order for the others to scatter after Hyetro was killed.” Aside from you, he was the only other one of us to ascend into the next stage of evolution.”
“I. . I don’t understand.” He muttered. Was she saying that he had evolved? Further still, by sending the others off, had she given up on them?
“It’s just you and me now. Hyetro would have joined us if he’d stuck to the plan.” She continued. Nadroj began piecing things together. It would appear that three of the group, and only three were even capable of evolving. He didn’t even know that he’d evolved.
She had no intention of turning on the others, just sending them on their way so that they don’t wastefully consume what could be used to help those that still could, evolve. It had always been said that hollows who have the potential to become Vasto Lord were a rarity.
“It would appear that hollows that have the ability to even become Adjuchas are rare as well.” Nadroj cut in. “I understand now. But Kalitra, if we allow a group like this to stand in our way to ascension then-”
“They won’t” She laughed. She took a nose dive down. “Now that their leader has been taken care of, the rest should go down relatively easy.”
Nadroj squirmed in excitement. As they made their way down to the desert floor the lack of enemy fire confirmed his suspicions. She knew she didn’t have to save him from being attacked, she saved him to distract the lizard from what actually happened. She administered her poison before she carried Nadroj off. Her speed was imperceivable. She released Nadroj once they reached the ground. Sure enough the lizard laid stretched out on the ground, motionless.
“Get away from our meal!” Kalitra shouted, drawing the attention of those enemies that remained. Nadroj’s size was once again exponentially larger than it should be. He unleashed his gas once more which instantly covered their enemies. The large cloud solidified, trapping them in place. Like insects trapped in amber, the were frozen in place. Much like many of Nadroj's days as a lower hollow, their fate was to be eaten alive.
Nadroj was given the leader of the group to consume. He was the only one of the group to fear nothing from her toxin. He developed immunity to its effects centuries ago. He didn’t know how long it took for him to consume the giant corpse, but when he did, he saw a new hollow in his wake. A pristine white mask with cut outs for bright purple eyes looked back at him.
Her form was completely transparent. Tendrils from her head wrapped around her humanoid form. She was dangerous looking, and this is what made her beautiful. He knew that he had nothing to fear from this newcomer. “I have reached my goal.” She said. It was definitely Kalitra. “Now to help you reach yours.”
900 Years Ago
“What is it?” A long serpent like Hollow said, poking at a focused Nadroj with his tail. A hundred years had passed since he last saw Kalita. Even though he’d faced plenty of foes, some weaker, some stronger, he never once forgot the direction he was heading during his long journey. It was his drive that fueled him. He would see Kalita again, or avenge her death.
“It’s clearly a hollow, but I’ve learned that squishing things tend to be poison things.” A bird hollow screeched as it landed. “Who wants to chance it?” It squawked.
Nadroj felt the pull of regression tug at his core. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten. It’d been a while since crossing paths with another hollow. Should he regress, there was no telling what would happen to his mind, or his memories of Kalita. He stopped in his tracks. For a second, he wondered if forgetting about her would be for the best. He wanted to slap himself for even raising that question. Then again, slapping himself with entrails would be a waste.
He twisted his squishy body until the two were in sight. The stream of vomit that proceeded shot from his mouth and transformed into a chaotic cloud of swirling energy similar in intensity to the human world’s sun. The two didn’t even have time to scream before their bodies were engulfed. The plasma cloud settled quickly into a harmless gas which disbursed rather quickly, leaving behind the crisp darkened bodies. This was a trick he picked up when the first Hollow he met on his pursuit of Kalita dared to get in his way. As his anger consumed him, so did the burning fury of this very attack.
The eerie feeling of regression vanished the moment he bit into the neck of the serpent. What he wouldn’t give to taste Death God again. Whatever took Kalima was clearly stronger than the God of Death they faced in the human world. It would appear that Hueco Mundo is an even bigger danger than the human world is for Hollows. Especially with that thing running around.
He thought about its form, its power constantly. It said that it was both Gillian and Arrancar. He’d come to the conclusion that if it were being honest, with what he was, this ‘Arrancar’ was something else, entirely different from the usual evolutionary trail Hollows take. He was a Gillian yet had only part of a mask. It actually looked as though large pieces of his mask were broken off, or removed purposely.
“Is that what an Arrancar is?” He thought as he turned to continue along his path. “If he is a Gillian and achieved that power by removing his mask. The power that I could achieve as an Adjucha would dwarf his own.” He’d also considered that possibility the reason Kalita was taken was so that she could have her mask removed. He rarely entertained that idea, being that she never returned to look for him.
“No. . .if her mask were removed and that made her an Arrancar, surely she would have enough power to overcome him. She would have returned.” He continued his long and difficult journey. At the very least, he’d toughened due to hardships faced.
“Then again. . .” He thought as he reminisced about the time that Kalita decided that it would be just the two of them. “ She discarded them so easily. But, that’s because they couldn’t become Vasto Lords. I can.” He said self-assured. Doubt quickly followed. “But what if she didn’t think that I could become an Arrancar?” He had half a mind to attempt to rip his mask off. He didn’t want to risk being wrong though.
“Perhaps if I just remove a small piece and-“ His thoughts were interrupted by the approach of a very strong spiritual pressure. It approached him quickly. He hadn’t come across such speed since that day one hundred years ago. As it grew closer, his suspicions were confirmed. It was the creature that took Kalita; the Arrancar.
He quickly burrowed beneath the sand. He erased all traces of his reiatsu, just like he use to when he scavenged from below the desert sands. The Arrancar had arrived. “Just a bunch of bones?” He said. He was of course referring to the bone remains of the two that Nadroj had eaten. He was ready to attack. This was the chance he was waiting for. With his new power, not even this Arrancar would survive his assault for long. H would torture the truth out of him, and if necessary, avenge Kalita.
“Look at the trail it left in the sand you idiot.” Another voice shouted. He found it strange that he couldn’t sense the second presence, he however, had no time to question why. The trail in the sand it was referring to was the one he left.
He sprung up from the sand and immediately locked eyes with the very same foe that took Kalita from him. The intense fury he felt from that day came rushing back. He poured every single once of it into his searing plasma cloud. It engulfed the Arrancar. “WHAAA…WHAAAT IS THIS!! IT BURNS!” It shouted.
Next Nadroj needed to deal with his ally. It stood on air. As it looked down at him, Nadroj froze. He no longer questioned why he couldn’t sense it. Its reiatsu was so large, that it engulfed his senses without him ever even realizing. This one was shaped like a human female. Its forehead was covered by a bony plate, it had a sword fastened to its waste, and long yellow hair. Its skin was as pale as starlight. It laughed. “HOT!” That crap was hot!”
“No!” Nadroj yelled as he looked over to his longtime foe. He fanned the cloud away revealing nothing more than a couple of red blisters on each cheek. “That was my strongest attack. . .no way he.”
“Oh forget that you giant piece of crap!” With that, the Arrancar was on top of Nadroj, blade drawn. “We don’t need you. I’ll kill you here.”
“Nope nope nope! Savago” The feminine Arrancar overhead laughed. Nadroj’s mind raced, bombarded with the impossibility of it all. He knew that voice. It changed slightly, but it was Kalita. Did she really trade Nadroj in for this Arrancar? “All strong Hollows are to be brought back to the doctor for the proposition.”
“Ka…KALITA!” The ribbon worm shouted with all of the force he could muster. “Why. . .why didn’t you come back for me?”
“Oh..no way!” She laughed in response. “Nadroj?” In a flash, she was at his side. She snatched him from underfoot. “No…way…Nadroj, it is you!” He could now see her bright purple eyes. They were new. “We have so much to catch up on you!”
“Yeah, that’s great, you know each other. Time to head back now.” Savago interrupted. “Right, of course. We can talk along the way.” She laughed. “Or not.” She said. It took Nadroj a while to realize that they were in a completely different location. They stood beside a large bot structure. It’s size was only matched by some of the pyramid structures he’d seen in the human world.
This bot stood on a single corner yet, it was completely stable. “Savago can catch up.” As she approached the bot, a small split in it appeared. Nadroj was met with a scene of chaos, and excitement. A rowdy crowd of dozens of Arrancar flooded this space. The spiritual pressure was almost too much for him to take. There were Arrancar fighting. Arrancar eating and drinking, Arrancar dancing.
“We’re going to see the Doctor. NEVER thought I’d-” A metallic black hollow with a dome shaped body and misshapen head made its way to her through the crowd.
“My darling Kalita.” He spoke jovially. “What have you brought for me? This must be what our sensors picked up.”
The two began talking.At first, Nadroj could barely wrap his head around everything that was happening. As the two went back and forth in their dialogue Nadroj was able to slowly piece together just what was happening. They made their way over the crowd and eventually came to settle in a room lit by red light.
Kalita was here by choice. She’d been helping this man, this ‘Doctor’ gather Hollows so that he could build an army; a formidable force to match what he called Seireitei. This Hollow was hoping that Nadroj was a Vasto Lord, but his sensors were imperfect, so he had no way of knowing. After seeing his form he knew that he was not though.
Kalita placed Nadroj on a long smooth stretch of metal. There was a table beside him. A top it were chunks of boney mask plates. It appeared as though Nadroj was right. Arrancar were made by having their masks removed.
“Ok don’t move Nadroj, it will feel like no time has passed at all when you wake up?” Kalita said. Smiling. She then nodded to the bot. One of its sides opened like a door a cornucopia of wire, cords, needles, knives, and who knows what else sprung from his body.
“Wha…what is this?!” Nadroj shouted. He began to squirm.
“Just keep him still until I can administer a sleeping aid.” The bot asked Kalita. She quickly complied. “You’ll thank me for this Nadroj. All of your struggle is going to be-” Once his would be operator was in reach Nadroj covered his opened side in a spray of vomit. It instantly solidified.
“What in Hueco Mundo is this?!” It shouted as it began to lose its balance and fall to the floor. “What have you done you fool?!”
“Doctor, no, it’s alright. He’s just nervous.” Kalita said calmly. “You’re not damaged, you can still perform the operation. He just needs to liquefy that stuff.”
“Make him do it fast.” He replied. “This is for his own good.”
“I know. Nadroj. Trust me. You will never have to worry about regressing or fighting for your survival anymore. The power you’ll gain from this will-”
“Trust you?!” Nadroj had heard enough. He did comply though. The bot Hollow was once again airborne, dripping with Nadroj’s secretion.
“Good, now, onto the operation.” The Doctor said, clearly frustrated.
“No! I will remove my own mask. If and when I choose.” He said as the final stage of the hardening of his heart passed. Kalita disgusted him. For her betrayal he wanted nothing to do with her, or her allies. He would not forget what she put him through. But for now, he was powerless to do anything against her, or anyone else in the entire compound for that matter. This wouldn’t always be the case though. He needed to learn more about this process.
“What are those? How does it work? What kind of Hollow are you?”
The bot stared for what seemed like an eternity before finally breaking out in laughter.
“Kalita, you know him. Why didn’t you bring him with you the first time you arrived?”
Kalita joined in on the laughter.
“In all my years, never has one so curious laid on my table.” He chuckled. “Fine, fine, I’ll explain everything to you. Let me begin with these.” He said retracting all of his gadgets but his tiny blades. “These are obsidian blades. Obsidian provides the sharpest edge imaginable. When harvested correctly the edge of an obsidian blade reaches molecular thickness.”
“Obsidian? As in the product of human world volcanos?” Nadroj responded.
“Yes, yes…oh Kalita, this one is a fast learner.” His laughing ceased. “I like him.” He said putting his little knives away. “So be it. If you don’t want to become an Arrancar you don’t have to. But I have a feeling that sooner or later, you’ll realize that you’re missing out on something fantastic.”
“You don’t say. Then why aren’t you an Arrancar yet?” Nadroj responded.
“Witty, a fast learner, and perceptive. You’ll have a special place here.” The bot said turning his back to Nadroj and Kalita. “I am not an Arrancar yet because I have yet to perfect the process. When I do though. I will ascend into the ranks of Arrancar. For now, Kalita is the closest I’ve come and I believe that this is because she’s a Vasto Lord. I am not.”
“I see…then what are you Bot? I can sense that you barely have more reiatsu that the average Gillian. Perhaps you’re in between Gillian and Adjucha? And what kind of form are you. I’ve never seen such a strangely shaped animal in the human world, and we do tend to mimic those forms in Hueco Mundo.”
He caught the doctor off guard. This was made clear when he quickly turned, clumsily knocking over some of his instruments on the wall closest to him. “Now that’s interesting. Only my electronic sensors would be able to pick up on a reading so specific. You may be of great use to me, depending on how developed your sensing skills are or how well developed they can become.”
800 Years Ago
Nadroj studied under the Doctor for nearly one hundred years. He was preview to technology that the human world was several centuries away from even being able to conceive of. During this time he learned of science, he learned the different realms, he learned of rare Hollows like the bot whom were not animal based, but concepts and ideas somehow made corporeal. The wonders of the world were infinite. There were worlds that changed his perception of self and others, worlds of wonder so unreal that they caused his mind to become lost just pondering over them. And yet still, there were worlds he had yet to see.
All of this knowledge and experience wasn’t given for free though. He was tasked with helping the bot refine his research methods using his sensing ability. This in turn lead to more reiatsu sensitive sensors that could give readings evern more precise than Nadroj’s own. Most importantly to the Doctor, he believed that he found the way to perfect the Arrancar making process.
What he discovered was that as the mask was removed spikes in reiatsu and spiritual pressure caused splintering of the sections of the mask cut, even though they were being cut with the thinnest blades in existence. These splinters most likely lead to damage in the development of an Arrancar’s reiatsu circulatory and expulsion systems. This meant that even if the result yielded a powerful Arrancar, a single split or chip created irreparable damage and that Arrancar will never be as powerful as it could have. Training may make them more powerful, but they their power would have increased more for the same amount of training had the damage never occurred. Even though a patient is put under, for pain, their being unconscious only lessens the level and frequency at which the spikes occur. Further still, because they are unconscious they can’t put any effort into controlling their reiatsu; not that they could during the painful procedure.
He also discovered by, with a group of Arrancar so large with their power so much greater than the bot that ruled them, why no one ever rose up against them. He’d convinced them that he had some type of special power. The ability to instantly kill anyone that he wanted. In truth, he would implant an explosive behind an eye near the brain after the operation. Since they didn’t know when the actual operation was over, they were none the wiser. It was genius. It took Nadroj decades to catch on.
The time had finally come. Nadroj had decided to undergo the operation. He’d he spread the rumor that he’d come to the decision to not only remain awake but not use any pain killers. This impressed Savaga, Kalima, the doctor, and every other Arrancar that heard of his decision. This was of course a lie. He’d developed a drug that eliminates physical pain while keeping reiatsu sensitivity intact or heightening it when taken in certain doses. He hid this from the Doctor as well. He didn’t fear the pain. Instead he feared what would occur if his assumptions were wrong and he weren’t able to complete what he had planned to afterward. Still, pain may screw up his attempt to perfectly control his reiatsu. As he lie on the operating table
Kalita approached his side. The two barely spoke in the century long gap. She was always looking for more Hollows for experimentation, and he usually kept to himself when not in the Doctor’s presence, not that she ever went out of her way to look for him. “And to think I almost came back for you after I recovered. I was wrong to have assumed that you’d died. After all, you had seen me in battle countless times prior, it only makes sense that you picked up something, at least enough to survive.”
His anger soared to new heights. To think, that her faith in him was so easily tossed out. He ripped through anyone that challenged him during his hundred year journey, only to find that the creature he admired, thought so little of him. She would pay, dearly.
“Good luck Nadroj.” She said, leaving the room.
The operation started the moment the doors slid shut. He was ready. He’d been preparing himself for years. Any touching of a Hollow’s mask causes a spike in reiatsu regardless of how minute. His own mask sensitivity spots were mapped along with whether a spot caused a spike of dip in his spiritual pressure or reiatsu. The cutting patterns and order in which mask sections would be removed were studied daily. He couldn’t be any more prepared.
As the bot hacked and carved away at Nadroj’s mask he followed the plan to the ‘T’. A hack near the outer most point in section A meant lowering reiatsu expulsion, where as a hack in the very next space adjacent meant exerting it to the fullest to compensate for the dip that would occur otherwise. There were few sections in between where he could let his reiatsu emission remain normal, but these were far in between and short in comparison.
“By the moon…” The Bot laughed. That was unexpected, and NEARLY caused Nadroj to lose his concentration. But at this point it didn’t matter. There was but one section remaining according to the plan. The mask fragment that would remain would be minimal. Suddenly, a series of loud cracks and thuds echoed from his body. His form toned as bone and muscle sprouted from it.
“BY THE MOON!” The Bot shouted yet again.
“One last needle and we’re done.” Nadroj’s new eyes shot open. A short, focused, and intense burst of reiatsu shot from his head and cut the mechanism from the Bot’s body.
“That won’t be necessary Dr. Bot.” Nadroj said sitting up.
“What….what are you doing Nadroj, lay down.”
“You don’t have to fear me betraying you doctor. I will be eternally grateful.” He said, making his way over to the nearest reflective surface. He looked at his new face. The only part of his mask that remained was a thick sliver which ran from his new hair line down to the tip of his rounded nose. “Unless you betray me that is.” As he finished he noticed something. He held an object in each hand. A pair of swords. They were similar in design to what samurai used in his travels to Japan. They were katana style blades, made of not metal, but obsidian from the look of it; just like the bots own surgical knives. A sharp cracking noise came from his face. The boney plate piece that remained from his mask crumbled and fell to the floor.
“By the moon…” The bot repeated. There were a few choices of kosode hanging on the wall. They had no way of estimating what size he would be after becoming an Arrancar. He picked one that fit him loosely yet comfortably.
“I don’t feel like I need the recovery time that our other patients have, but I’m going to rest just in case. We can run tests in the morning.” Nadroj would keep his word, but he would also be sure that now that he had power, he would begin plotting on ways to get revenge.
That night Nadroj woke to the sound of an intruder in his room. “Kalita. Sneaking around now are you?” He said, not even bothering to sit up from his bed. “Were you sent by the Bot?”
“Yes” Her voice rang in the darkness.
“He wants me alive I assume?”
“Yes.”
“So he sent his most powerful Arrancar to capture me….alive?” He laughed. She didn’t respond. “And if I’m not alive, then he will take it out on you?” Again, no answer. “I need you to leave. Tell him that I won’t count this as a betrayal on his account being that he just doesn’t want to let one of his creations go. You have nothing to fear though Kalita. You are his strongest. He wouldn’t just kill you with his so called ultimate power.”
“You mean that little bomb I removed nearly a century ago?” She laughed. “You would think he’d make a special transparent bomb for me since it was likely I’d have a transparent release.”
“Release?” He said springing up only to find that she was standing on the ceiling over his bed looking down at him.
“Yes, an Arrancar release.” She said pointing at his zanpakuto. “Show me yours.”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
She grabbed both him and his zanpakuto. Her movements were still incredibly fast, but now, Nadroj could see a blur which at least indicated the path she was taking. In moments they were outside, standing about a mile or so away from the bot’s laboratory.
She grabbed hold of her sword. “Picadura, Medusa” (Sting, Jellyfish) she said, plunging her own zanpakuto into her belly. It was instantly absorbed into her form which turned almost completely transparent. Her heart, brain, and lungs were slightly less transparent.
“This is a release.” She said. Her voice was slightly gargled, as if her throat was filled with water. “Show me your release. Search your mind and heart for it. Use your instinct to find-”
“Pervivir, Gloton de Fondo” (Survive, Bottom Glutton) He zanpakuto melded to his body and clung to it, transforming him. He collapsed to the ground. Though his torso remained, he had no legs to stand on His form was squishy and the bones he did have seemed flexible.
“You’ve got to be joking.” She laughed. “I’ve never seen an Arrancar release without legs. What is this? You must have other skills. Try stranding in air.”
Though he’d just become an Arrancar, focusing energy into his bottom half to become airborne seemed simple enough. And it was. Manipulating reiatsu in this form seemed to come naturally. It was extremely easy. At this rate, he could master what took several centuries to master in previous form, in mere hours. The two did just that. They spent hours going over techniques like bala, cero, and sonido, which was something he couldn’t actually master.
It was just like old times. He questioned whether or not revenge was worth it. She didn’t care about anything but having fun and being free. Kalita was no different than the teenage girls of the human world living carelessly and in the moment. She simply wanted Hollows of her own caliber to do it with. He quickly pushed the thought from his mind. His vengeance didn’t have to be so extreme. He could instead ruin her fun.
“Kalita. I changed my mind.” Nadroj said, catching a weakly charged cero she’d fired a second earlier. “I changed my mind.” He suspended it before him, and watched its usually unstable form dance before him.
“Tell the bot that I’m treating his act as an act of betrayal.” He crushed her cero to what could only be described as clumps of glittering dust.
“Are you leaving?” She asked.
“Yes. I hope you don’t get into too much trouble.” He said descending. Without having to explain how to revert once released, he did it.
“Aww, he’d have never found out about his bomb otherwise.” She said joyfully.
“Good bye. . .this time.” As he walked off he could make out her mumbles.
“We live more than once Nadroj. . .”
700 Years Ago
He discovered the avocado and various other fruits. He watched the green thumbed masters even produce new or more desirable fruits buy mixing and matching branches from similar fruit trees. Actually, he brought an orange tree back to Hueco Mundo with him. While in the human world he replaced many of the branches from one orange which grew oranges with seeds with branches from an orange tree that grew oranges without seeds. The seedless tree's roots were dying, but near he could tell without the Doctor's equipment, the rest of the tree was healthy. This was how he discovered the process of grafting. This technique would of course be used later to climb the ladder and make strides towards achieving his main goal.
After a few decades of roaming the human world, Nadroj had moved to a part of Hueco Mundo he’d never been before. He took all of the knowledge and skills he gained from the bot with him. He walked, and walked, for the most part ignoring curious on looking hollows. His hunger was present, however he hadn’t felt the pull of regression since the day he changed. He could now eat whenever he wanted to and could find food as opposed to absolutely needing to find food to survive.
There were many nights where he’d sit and look up at the moon and compare it to earth’s own. The Doctor once told Nadroj that Hueco Mundo’s moon and that of the human world were once the same until the reflection the their moon was took on a form of its own. He didn’t buy it. Though they looked the same, the feelings that he got from viewing each one was different. Perhaps it was due to the memories associated with each realm.
“Why does our moon seem more vibrant than theirs?” He laughed at the silly question. What in Hueco Mundo was he doing and what was his purpose? A brief glint of something caught his eye. It was coming from the moon. “Did you hear me?” He laughed harder. His laughter continued until he saw what it was coming at him.
It was a giant squid approaching from the sky at breakneck speeds. “What the hell?” It was on a collision course with him and showed no intention of slowing down. He could hear loud shouting coming from it. He lept back, and showed a skill he previously though he could not master given the circumstances under which he was being taught; sonido. The crash sent a tsunami like sandy wave across the desert.
When everything settled he could hear the shouting more clearly. They each had distinct voices with one common trait. A trait he’d never actually been exposed to prior. It wasn’t until about seven hundred years later until her understood that this trait was a HEAVY British Accent.
“Oy, whadda’ya mean I’m tellin’ ya we shoulda’ taken the first royt not tha first left! Bloody hell you’ve done got us lost now you have.” It was a shark looking hollow with legs and arms. His allies were a turtle, an octopus, and a whale. Oddily enough they all had hands and legs. They had to be Vasto Lords. If the shape of their bodies weren’t enough evidence, the amount of spiritual pressure they were giving off was all the proof one would need.
Should he reveal himself to them though? He decided he was going to just leave. “Oh…oh my. Bloody hell what’s that smell?” It smells bloody amazin doesn’it doesn’it?” The sea turtle Hollow shouted. It’s coming from bahoyened that dune yea it is.”
“I may have to fight. Though, their collective power is greater than my own, separately they’re easy pickings. I’d have to take them down one by-”
“Gawt him gawt him. . .it’s a cute little Black man it is.” The octopus said as it made its way over the sand dune. He was fast. He didn’t see speed like that since his days with Kalita, before she was an Arrancar. The octopus released a cero at Nadroj. It was easy enough to dodge, but the sea turtle was waiting for him. He was thrown to ground where the whale awaited.
“Oy, what’s a human doin all the way wayeva we ah? He smells loyke one a those littelle yummy sea cucumbahs our predatah cousins in the human wahld eat all the toyme. ” The whale laughed, kicking Nadroj towards their giant squid Hollow. It swatted Nadroj towards the waiting jaws of the shark. “Ah we in Hueco Mundo again?” A barrage of bala got the best to close its mouth, but the turtle was on him again before he knew it.
One by one they took turns knocking Nadroj around. It was a British game of badminton and Nadroj played the least desirable role of birdie. There attacks weren’t hurtful, but they were extremely annoying. “DAMN IT!” Looks like one of them did have the ability to hurt Nadroj. It was the giant squid they travelled on. Nadroj’s back got stuck on its razor tooth lined suckers. It pulled Nadroj towards its mouth. He’d already begun charging a cero. He didn’t release it until he was inches from the great beast’s behemoth mouth. It’s beak broke. It released Nadroj immediately.
As he stumbled backwards he found that he’d fallen into yet another combo based trap. Except this time, the attacking sea turtle was focused on the squid. Everyone was. They couldn’t take their eyes off of it. It coiled up to protect itself from harm. They all rushed to check on it. Nadroj began to run. He paused for a moment and began charging a cero. He could finish at least one of them now if he wanted.
They were so concerned with the squid and comforting it. He decided to run instead. He lept from dune to dune using his sonido often to put as much distance between himself and them as possible. He wasn’t doing anything but wondering, seeing the sights, when they attacked him because he smelled good. He was reminded of the theory the bot taught him in relation to how the human world and Hueco Mundo mirror each other in terms of a life based hierarchy. It’s not just a Hollow eat Hollow world. No, other factors come into play though. After all, in the human world, the ribbon worm is a bottom feeder. Nadroj however, is an Arrancar. Yet still an Arrancar that’s attacked by would be predators were he an actual ribbon worm? This was odd to say the least. Regardless, why should he be hunted or looked down upon because of what he is?
This was something he’d change. Here began his journey from bottom feeder to apex predator.
590 Years Ago
It took only a decade to begin his attempted rise to the level of apex predator. His idea was a simple and interesting one. In theory, it would work. All of those at the bottom of the proverbial food chain had skills to defend themselves from those that would otherwise harm them. These were usually abilities that the creature hunting them did not possess, though if they did, they would have less fear of the others that in turn hunted them, and were higher on the food chain. Why? The higher up on the food chain, the less sophisticated a beast’s mode of defense. From the ability to sprout bone, or even make the skin poison to the touch, to brute strength and oversized claws. The natural abilities of the animals grew less impressive the further up the food chain an animal was placed. Of course, there were humans and their need to rely on invention to subdue others, but Nadroj already had this. He only sought to bring his physical self to the same level as his intellectual self.
He would combine the abilities he could, the abilities of others at the ‘bottom’ , with his own. Such a creature in the natural world would have nothing to fear. Predators of the past would avoid and even fear it. Of the ten years that past, it didn’t even taken a year to fine tune just how he would achieve the abilities of others. In fact it was the easiest part, taking only a few months. The principle was inspired by something he’d learned from the Doctor so many years ago.
Spiritual beings with inherent regeneration shared a common spiritual marker undetectable without aid from technology. In the case of hollows, there were fewer still with advanced regenerative capabilities which shared a similarly mutated marker all their own, or rather the development of a second. The purpose of the second marker, or what it repaired most efficiently depended on its placement alongside other markers which determined things like form, or special abilities. Further still, there were three known charges of spiritual markers depending on spiritual race. So called malignant races like Hollows each had the same type of charge. He was a malignant being. This was one factor which limited the candidates who he could even gain an ability from. The next factor which limited who he could gain an ability from was based on marker sequencing. His own sequence was placed in a way so that his mutated marker sat beside markers which determined where his insides would be placed. This was why he could regenerate his organs.
This was why he had no choice but to limit his collection of abilities to those who possessed regenerative abilities related to the internal physical being. He’d met one that met such requirements when he studied under the bot. A salamander Hollow with the marvelous ability to maintain movement of his lost limbs. Returning to a man that attempted to kidnap him and plant a bomb in him would seem risky to anyone but Nadroj. He knew the hollow though. So long as Nadroj gave him what he wanted, he would have no issue with allowing Nadroj to use a member of his would be army. It wasn’t Nadroj that he wanted, he respected his protégé to a point. What he wanted was the secret to Nadroj’s own perfected Arrancar state.
Returning to the Doctor’s fortress took the majority of this ten year span because he’d traveled so far from it after his departure. He wondered what he would find there. Would Kalita still be playing loyal servant to the Bot? What if the bot already learned the secret to perfecting the Arrancar making process?
His questions were all answered within moments of arriving. Kalita abandoned the bot half a century ago. The Doctor hadn’t yet perfected the process and was more than willing to trade Nadroj information in exchange for his secret. The bot even threw in all of the supplies that Nadroj and a small regiment of Arrancar could carry. It Doctor hadn’t a care in the world now that he knew how Nadroj accomplished what he did. He would soon become a perfect Arrancar. Nadroj took full advantage of the offer and all of the Arrancar that left with him were just happy to leave the confines of the bot for a mission other than a mission.
Nadroj began setting up his own base of operations several thousand miles away. The Arrancar were free to leave. To thank them for their help, and to brush up on his surgical skills, he used his new equipment to remove the explosives that were placed in their heads. A few vowed to stay with him due to this. He in turn vowed to show them the worlds. His next task however, needed to be done alone. He would search for the Arrancar that inspired his journey, the salamander. During the surgery, this Arrancar suffered not only a dangerous drop in reiatsu, but its invisibility was triggered near the end. A small miscalculation when the bot was trying to insert his explosive device lead to the salamander developing brain damage. The bot didn’t even bother activating the device. The resulting Arrancar was a failure and the Doctor didn’t bother attempting to repair the damage, not that it could be fixed.
The bot set him free. There was no space in his army for such a beast. His last known location was a cave in Menos Forest. It didn’t take Nadroj long to find this “Creature”; a name given to him by the bot. Nadroj could see why the Doctor gave him his name. This could hardly be called an Arrancar. His form was hardly humanoid. It wasn’t amphibian either. Creature stood well over ten feet in height, this wasn’t including his tail. Near half of his mask remained intact. His long oversized, overly muscular legs and arms caused him to walk in squatted position. Unbearable pain coursed through his body each time he attempted to stand up straight. He’s been forced to live a horrible existence for almost as long as Nadroj was gone. Nadroj would have attempted to fix this, especially considering that it was partially his fault for Creature’s misshapen state. Had he shared his secrets from the start, things would have turned out differently.
Creature could barely form a complete sentence, but after a few exchanges, he agreed to follow Nadroj without putting up a fight. In exchange for his help, Nadroj would look into his pain, possibly cure the thing that ailed him. After returning to his makeshift laboratory, Nadroj examined his form very thoroughly with his own reiatsu sensing skills and his new machinery. It was just what he thought. The misplaced bomb was lodged in a part of his brain that controlled motor function and another that aided in sensation. It was causing his pain. It was removable, but the brain damage couldn’t be fixed by any method Nadroj knew of or had yet to discover.
He didn’t repair it right away. He had no way of knowing whether Creature would keep his word. The first thing he did was extract what he needed from him: tissue from his tail, finger segments, toes, feet, all of his removable limbs. The tissue was replaced instantly. These tissues then had the remnant reiatsu condensed. The closest living reishi particles surrounding them crystalized in an attempt to cling on to life. These were then grafted into his own body in the exact same areas, relative to proportion. The crystals dissolved once the condensed reiatsu fizzled out. They didn’t fizzle out automatically. They slowly fizzled, as was planned, to give the living, yet crystalized reishi time to become confused and believe that they were never separated from the reiatsu of its original host. This was only possible due to their similar mutated healing marker and Nadrojs own reiastu control which allowed him to match the frequency at which the condensed reiatsu dispersed. The process wasn’t much, but it would have been a brilliant site to any scientist or surgeon viewing it closely under a microscope. They weren’t forcefully absorbed. His living reishi found a new home, but did his abilities follow?
The process took months. During which time, the amount of focus required prevented Nadroj from operating on Creature.
He grew angry. He lost his temper just as Nadroj was preparing to operate. Creature no longer trusted him. In fact, when instructed to lay down on the operating table, Nadroj was met with an incredibly quick and powerful back hand. The force of the giant hand shattered his ribcage. The bones instantly burst out through his back.
“CREATURE!” Creature shouted. The shockwaves from his burst intensified the already ridiculous amounts of pain Nadroj felt. “CREATURE…PAIN! LIES!”
Nadroj landed on his back after what seemed like several minutes of plummeting through the air. He coughed up more blood than he’d ever done previously. Those Arrancar that stayed with him instantly rushed to his aid, cutting in to Creature with their zanpakuto.
“PAIN!”
Nadroj attempted to watch the battle, but after blinking, it was over. Creature began to make his way towards Nadroj, still grounded, laying on his stomach. He was in pain, and there was no way he’d be able to beat this beast; at least not in his current form. The aspiring apex predator rose his zanpakuto and began his release. But something felt different. “Pervivir, Gloton de Fondo” His zanpakuto didn’t cling to his body.
Creature rose his hands. This was the killing blow. Nadroj rolled onto his back. Creature brought down his hands. The sheer force threw Nadroj into the air, though Creature didn’t directly touch him. The pain he felt instantly trigged a memory of the first time he’d entered his resurrected form. This was no different. His old release didn’t feel right because it didn’t come from his heart, it came from a memory. The next set of words did come from his heart though.
“Reinado, Quimera!” He said placing his zanpakuto to his lips as he began falling. A wave of intoxicating energy washed over him. His zanpakuto liquefied. He instantly swallowed the thick black substance. His body began its transformation just in time, because Creature was there waiting for him. His form liquefied, poured like rain onto the beast. Those drops rolled from his grotesque body and crawled across the white sand and formed Nadroj’s twisted new form. He looked like a smaller, more toned version of Creature, though his form was black with gold specks.
The new power he felt was exhilarating. He was so distracted by his accomplishment that he’d forgotten about his attacker who quickly grabbed him and flung him across the sky ripping a leg off in the process. The pain was instant, but new bone sprouted from it instantly. Muscle, tendon, and vein stretched over it slowly. He’d been airborne for nearly a minute and his new leg was almost complete. More importantly though, he’d realized that he accomplished his original goal. He could feel his old leg as though it were still attached, up until the new one was finished.
“Excellent.” He said as he regained his balance and stopped his senseless flight. He stood in midair. Creature was nowhere in sight, but he could still sense him. He widened his mouth dislocating his jaw in the process. He turned to greet creature with a tremendous wave of pinkish vomit. It grew sticky as he lept over Creature’s attack while continuing the flow. Creatures movement’s slowed as his arms began to stick to his sides and his legs began to stick to one another. Soon his movements stopped all together. Only his head remained free of the pinkish sludge. Those eyes looked upon his captor with untamed rage and fury.
“Creature. I know that you barely understand me. But I promise you, I have not gone against me word.” He said as Creature began falling from the sky. “I am like you. I don’t like to be betrayed either. Trust me Creature. I will fix you.” His genuine words appeared to have reached him. The rage subsided. Nadroj converted the holding agent into a gas, freeing Creature just before they reached the ground.
The two just looked at one another for what seemed like ages before Nadroj reverted back into his sealed state. “Come with me Creature.” He said, beginning the journey back to his laboratory. Creature complied.
The surgery went smoothly. Though Creature, or C as he renamed himself, was free to go, he too stayed with Nadroj.
580 Years Ago
He'd seen and dealt with his own Death Gods, curiously spoken with and fought Quincy and Bount. Nadroj moved even further away from the Doctor’s bot fortress and eventually settled. He and his ever growing number of assistants worked to build a more established laboratory complex. It wasn’t as extravagant as the bot’s own, but it was more than acceptable considering what he was intent on doing with it. His underground fortress was just as large as the expansive bot and set within a few hundred miles of a newly emerged group calling themselves the Espada who began building a fortress that became known wide and far as Los Noches.
All the while Nadroj not only worked on mastering his new resurrection, which as far as he was concerned was a near blank canvas given his goals, but also searched the endless deserts of Hueco Mundo in hopes he’d find other Hollows whom fell into the same category that he and Creature did. At first he was unsuccessful, despite the ever growing number of Hollows who allowed themselves to become test subjects in exchange for the Arrancar surgery. Eventually, he did come across a starfish Hollow with the power of bifurcation. It was an interesting skill. If it chose, instead of regenerating a lost limb, it could regrow multiples. Mock-ups of this power augmentation have been in the works for centuries.
Nadroj could see the benefits of having his name spread far and wide like those of the warring kings, and queen. Hollows with abilities that may fit what he’s looking for would instead seek him out so that they could be tested as candidates. He however saw this becoming a potential problem. Hollows constantly formed war parties of their own, and frequently challenge the eachother. For this reason, those whom left after their Arrancar surgery were asked to at least try to keep his name and what he desired out of conversation.
After being asked to join multiple war parties, and refusing, he saw that the each could potentially become a problem. Eventually he sought exclusion. He created his own floating laboratory. While constantly moving, future warlords found it impossible to predict his whereabouts.
24 years ago
Not too long after completing his grand flying laboratory did Nadroj come upon a creature he'd never seen before. It referred to itself as a Fullbringer. It was a human that gained the powers of a Hollow. Experimentation after experimentation lead to the creature's secrets.
After its soul chain and soul sleep were exposed to Hollow reiatsu while still in their developing stages, a marvelous adaptation occurred. They began to cultivate Hollow reiatsu. This in turn changed his body and gave him spiritual abilities humans wouldn't ordinarily have. This led to the formation of several theories on Nadroj's part. Each of which proved to be true.
The most relevant theories to Nadroj's current state were those relating to the evolution of spiritual entities and the development of reiatsu based genetics research. Thanks to this human, Nadroj was able to force his own body to the evolutionary process granted to those who become Vasto Lords. He is the first artificially created Vasto Lord in all of history. Further still, he found a better way to acquire new abilities and make better use of the abilities he naturally possessed.
Side Notes: This character doesn't gain power/tiers in the way others do, via training. He cheats biology by manipulating it.
Abilities where damage or length of durational effects are not specified are decided by effected characters.
Roleplay Sample: http://www.bleachstory.net/t7509-300-years-ago-pt-1private
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