Preperations

Vlad moved through the halls of Las Noches, silently, like a ghost. He entered a room where the Numero's stood talking to each other, eating, and brawling for no apparent reason. Vlad moved to one of the large tables where the Numero's of the 80's sequence sat. All the way from 80 to 89 excluding Vlad who was formerly 87. He sat down in his chair, they were lauging but they stopped whatever they were doing when they saw the bloody 8 on his face. They just studied him for a moment.

"So it paid off, eh Vladdie boy?" said Numero 84, Marques Banshee. A short bald Arrancar with a big gut and a big mouth to match. His remained of hie hollow mask was a pair of circling spiral ram horns.

"Yes it did and I am now the Octava Espada so please refrain from calling me Vladdie." said Vlad tapping his hand on the table.

"Alright, Alright. Mr. Dracula, Don't go and impale us now! Ha ha you fuckin Vamp-" laughed Numero 82, Cregen Blanz. A large muscular hollow with light brown skin and red eyes. His lower jaw with their large boar like tusk protruding from them was the remains of his Hollow Mask.

Vlad moved quickly and grabbed Cregen Blanz by the throat and threw him on the table, Vlad shoot his hand forward in a motion taht would rob Cregan's Left eye but he halted a second away from the lightly tinted Red Eyes. All the arrancar stopped what they were doing and watched Vlad now, finally noticing him for the first time and with the Bloody 8 on his face.

"You will watch the way you speak to me or I shall rip out your tongue and make you eat it." said Vald releasing his grip. The rest of the Arrancar at the table weren't surprised and any comments that would insult Vlad Dracula would be halted.

Vlad sat back down in his chair and gestured for his men to lean in close to him. Vlad smilied revealing his Vampiric Teeth.

"Now be honoured that I choose you scum to be my Fraccion:, Tyran Nosaur Rex (80) Ceran Ailver(81), Cregan Blanz (82), Yoken Kanon (83), Marques Banshee (84), Hieron Grantiz (85), Cray Misdev (86), the Neuva 87Hien del Mar, Hortensio Finten the Neuva 88, and the Neuva 89 Siqen Phyciso. You are the select I choose to be in my Fraccion so don't let me down. Or I will rise you on a stake like Cregan Grantz said."

Vlad had make his pick and then he began to leave after choosing his Fraccion and going to tend to a few things in Las Noches that required his attention. The Fraccion followed now filing depending on their Numero from lowest in front to highest in the back. First things first get his face tattooed, it wastsrating to get annoying.

"OOOOOHHHHHHHHHH DDRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCUUUULLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!

a high pitch squeel echoed from behind the closed doors ... and the numeros from numbers 13 to 23 all flinched with absolute terror, as they were the primary guinea pigs at the hands of the demented owner of this voice.

Without much care in the world for property damage and for his own physical well being, Merrow slammed in with the speed of a supercharged bala, and enough force to match the impact of a boulder being thrown off a cliff ... by a giant. His target? The newly inaugurated Octava Espada, Vlad Tepes Dracul (III? Not that Merrow cared).

Flying in, there was no hope for the new Espada ... no Espada, past or present ... or even recent future, had not, did not and would not evade this blow .... all in the sense of brotherhood, for Merrow(the guiltless child that his 'fractured' mind was) treated his loyal kind as brothers ... and traitorous ones as scum.

But, focusing back to the present, Merrow was only a mere centimeter from colliding into Vlad ... and really even if the Octava was whammed by the blow, the damage would be minimal to him ... although he'd be blown backwards and all his fraccion would be knocked to the side, but the worst part was that he was going to be glomped by the twelve-year-old appearing child of an Espada, who refer to him in a sibling-like manner as 'nii-san'.

Vlad was surprised and while he was turning around to react he was slammed his 'sibling' ,Merrow Miuzerra, knocking over several of his Fraccion although some of the larger ones remained strong but still wobbled a bit. This random act was rather strange coming from an Espada but Vlad would have time to question it later. As Vlad landed on the floor and broke out laughing. It was strange but Merrow reminded him of his baby brother Radu before Mehmet had his way with him. How Vlad hated that man and if he ever found him he would kill him.

"Nii-san? It means brother no? I am not that great with Japanese." Vlad then remained on the floor for a moment and smilied at Merrow. He patted him on the head and decided he would play along and said "What is it that you want Nii-san?"

Vlad watched the little boy with curiosity. This little one was an Espada although he didn't look like it, though Vlad kept his mouth shut about that. He had to be strong to be an Espada so he wouldn't question him. Vlad just smilied and waited for a response from his fellow Espada.

Merrow couldn’t help but giggle like the silly little child he was (in the ashen black crevice that was his heart).

He playfully tapped Vlad on the head and proclaimed, with a wide grin on his face, ”Baka! If I’m referring to you as older brother, than you should only have to refer to me by name!”

Personally, Merrow hated the fact that his fellow arrancar had to refer to him by rank (and for most of them, as their superior) … he always longed for a more familiar means of communication, and to do that he took advantage of his youthful appearance and mannerisms to make it reasonable for him to refer others as ‘big brothers’. ALTHOUGH … he was probably just as old if not older than most arrancar in Las Noches … which made this reversal of honorifics all the more ironic.

It was just right after that comment by Merrow that the young Espada realized that he had knocked Vlad down … and was consequently sitting on him. Hastily apologizing, the young Espada stood up and moved a little bit away, in all a childish fashion.

”Is this short BRAT really all that trouble? God fucking damn it all! You stupid wimps, if you won’t do anything then I WILL!!!” ” Number 27, a no-name arrancar who always listened to the complaints of his fellow ‘20’ series arrancar being experiment on by none other than the childish Merrow, cried out in disgust at finally seeing the Espada. Without hesitation, he drew his blade and began to call out the release phrase, intending to make an end to the mockery of the Espada that was the brat.

”Vapo- …!”

His release phrase was cut short, as was his life. The talking head attempted to cry out the rest of the release phrase, but the voice box and vocal cords had all been severed … as was the head from neck up. The body of the former Numeros twitched ever so slightly, as the head crashed down on another table with a splat, but then it too collapsed onto the ground. All from a taboo word …

Merrow eyes shone alight with their strange color, as quite clearly he was no longer the same child. Malicious lights were brightly shining in the orbs, his mouth partially agape with teeth barred as a savage sadistic grin appeared, a rather low and cold laugh emitted from the same mouth that had procured a once sweet buttermilk and bubbly-like sound.

”You bastard … I am … NOT … short!” the once sweet and innocent child spat out venomously at the corpse. But it was at this juncture he noted that his bloody act of severing the numeros head off had not produced unnecessary results … his white clothing(the common attire of all arrancar) was now stained crimson.

”Awww … crud. And I just changed recently too damnit .. and my sword, good grief.” he muttered to himself as he used his free hand (right) to rip off the sleeve of his left arm and then use the fabric to wipe the blood off. It was there, tattooed in Arabic numerals, a number “4” on his left forearm.

But the young arrancar paid no heed to the clamor that had arisen from the slaughter of the Numeros … nor the gasps at the sight of the tattoo and the indistinct chatter about how a kid could have been ranked so high. Merrow focused his attention back to Vlad, who probably had gotten up after this unfortunate event, but the child had also reverted back into his sing-song façade and carried on with the previous conversation.

”Oh yes, nii-san! I need to borrow some of the rooms in your Palace later. The palaces are passed down to each Espada, for them and personal Fraccion to make as homes. Since you’re the new Octava, and perhaps the greatest scientist to walked the halls of this Castle was as well … I was just wondering if I could test a theory about the rooms of the said palace?” he asked aloud with a friendly amiable grin of youth and trust … and with a pleading look as well, Primera-sama is still mad at me for entering his own palace without permission and then blowing part of it, and ordered to have to ask for permission first before entering any other Espada’s palace … and … I never had a chance to ask Kano-kun, your predecessor, if I could do this … … so may I, pleeeeeaaaaaaseeeeeeee?”

His eyes gave off a shining bambi-like pleading look and an innocent angelic cherub face shone towards the direction of Vlad, despite the act of cruelty displayed just now.

OOC: The original post was much shorter, so I add the Numero 27 part to make it a bit longer and more interesting.

Vlad Dracula the III simply got up and brushed of the dust that landed on his clothing when he slammed to the ground by his 'younger brother' ,Merrow Miuzerra, a childish looking member of the Espada. Dispite his appearance and mannerism he was the '4th' top for of the 10 Blades. Though it didn't change his view of the young Espada because to Vlad the Number on his face and the Number on Merrow's arm were just that: a Number.

The Dragon's Son shrugged as the 4th jestered his quick apology and wasn't at all bit surprised by the sudden act of violence and the decapitation of the 27th Numero. He was always a loud mouth so it was about time he got what he deserved. The Impaler Prince crouched down next to the body and dipped his hands in the pool of blood that was forming. He licked the blood on his fingers.

"Bitter..." said Vlad simply as he turned his attention back the 4th's request. Bitterness in one's blood ment low tolerance to disease and showed ones Organs to be sick. He was going to die. If not today some other day but he would soon. Vlad snapped his fingers as his bats came to feed on the corpse. They quickly dispersed at the sound, it told them that his body wasn't fit to eat.

For a few years now Vlad had been taking 'care' of the bodies of his fellow Arrancar when they died. This was part of the reason Vlad had become powerful enough to become an Espada, by devouring the remaining spiritual pressure and blood of the stronger Arrancar. Their deaths gave the Devil's Son power, it was similiar to the way Hollow devour Souls to become stronger.

Vlad looked at the 82nd Espada and made a gesture as if telling him to take care of the body. Which he did. He bowed grabbed the body and the ehad and disappeared to some location where the less fit Arrancar rotted away. Almost all the Numero knew of Vlad's little side job but they didn't really care much for comrades, they just made sure they wouldn't end up like them and become part of Vlad, now and forever.

He turned his attention back to the youbng one. He sighed and smilied at the young one showing his vampiric teeth. He patted him on the head again and said finally.

"Don't destroy my new Palace but you may use it as long as you need it. Just tell me when your gonna be there so I can get out of your way so you can carry on with your buisness. Little Brother."

Xane walked in through the hole created by the younger Espada, and moved to the corner. He had seen the bloodshed done by the younger Espada and it amused him. He chuckled and laughed and clutched his stomach as he looked at the bloody body of the now dead Arrancar. "Oh joyous day! Not everyday you get to see such violence...unless you go out your way to do so..." He thought about the times he had spent in the forest and smiled to himself. He turned those cold, psychotic eyes upon Merrow and tilted his head with a gentle smile. "So...what did he do? I was only here for the killing...Not that I really care, but I figured I'd attempt to be polite." His gentle smile turned sinister, and he flicked his eyes to Vlad. "And you. Tsk. Just don't let anybody down. Don't end up like that nobody who got killed. I really don't care if you die, or anyone else dies. Death is natural and will come, but at least take someone down with you, or let them never forget you as long as they live. Tsk. He couldn't even do THAT. Not a single damn thing did he do right! What a joke..." He nodded though as if responding to something. "The fight was good though. Interesting trick with the bats...there may be a use for them in the future..." It looked like a plan was forming inside his head. Maybe there was...maybe.

Xane pushed off the wall and exited the corner, and crouched in the pool of blood that formed around the body of the now dead Arrancar. "Pitiful..." He looked up at Vlad. "Don't end up like this guy. Course he never stood a chance against Merrow, but even so. Flapping your yap, rather than fighting gets you killed. Pay more attention to the damage done to you rather than the damage you're giving. That's also how people get killed. Trying the give the most amount of damage from the get-go means you'll have nothing when you really need it!" Xane stood, his boots covered in blood but either he didn't notice or he didn't care, he looked at Merrow. "You and I should chat sometime. I believe there are...things, that could benefit us both. Especially with your newly gained permission." He smiled and chuckled. Turning to look at Vlad he looked him up and down as if he had never seen him before. "Hm...I suppose he could be useful too...those damned bats...yeah...you could be very useful..."

(( A bit short but I don't feel well >.< So sue me! ))

”Nah uh uh!” Merrow stated with glee at the sight of someone attempting to drag the corpse away, a Fraccion to the Octava, judging from the timing of the attempt and the reaction from that respective Espada. The young arrancar moved hastily, with enough speed to make it seem like he had just simply materialized before said Fraccion … and put a rather harsh boot onto the corpse square into its chest.

”|Leave the corpse be. Numero Veintisiete has some interesting choices in the genetic pool, his corpse must be dissected first before disposed of. After all, a traitor’s flesh is a specimen that must be shared amongst our scientific community. Nnnnn … fufufu … I’ll make GOOOOOOD use of the cadaver, first … maybe a nice steak along with a couple or so of genetic breakthroughs. To think . . . that scum like him possessed what it was that I desired dearly for my research. So ironic that such an advancement comes from the vilest of things.” the young Espada gave another one of his trademark leers at the much taller Fraccion whose grip was upon the corpse. But Merrow had no intention of letting the corpse rot so soon, and quickly seized the body and was already at the door before said Fraccion had a chance to notice such.

”You can keep the head though! I have no interest in pea-sized brains nor thick boned craniums” he added in a joking matter, dumping the corpse outside into the hallway … into the waiting hands of other fellow ‘scientists’ … really his Fraccion, who had accompanied him to acquire this corpse. Killing #27 for calling him short was just a bonus, that and reason to make small talk with the new Octava.

”Danke, Vlad-nii-san, no worries! I’ll let you know in advance. And hello Senor Septima! How goes the day for you? he smiled warmly for his fellow Espada who had decided to join in the room to see the sight of a poor Numero being butchered. ”I’d love to chit and chat, but now the lab beckons! If you need me, I’ll be in the most modernized and oddly gray and unpleasant appearing building in Las Noches. Oh and Vlad-nii-san, you had better get that little bloody carving on your face treated … the more exposure to open air, the higher the chance of infection … a sad side-effect of our flesh from the development of our hierro” he noted gravely with, again, a childish voice and manner … almost like a near infantile being explaining the simplistic views of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ taught to it by it’s guardians at that time.

With a simple grin and a rather inane look to Xane that literally screamed, ‘if you want to talk, let’s do it somewhere else. Too many people in this room’ and was clearly over-emphasized. The young Espada quickly turned about and made his leave from the room.

OOC: Short, so what … bite me XD I have finals coming up soon … so might be somewhat inactive or may come up with shitty posts for the next few days as I brace myself for those annoying tests >.<;;

Oh yes, will post Grantz’s lab soon.