Sea of Agony

To become the king, Ika was going to need to get a foothold in Hueco Mundo, a base of operations where he could rest his feet and weary eyes in a moment of weakness, before pressing on. He needed an army, and if the screaming hive of souls beneath the cliff overhang was anything to go off of, well.. He'd have his way in due course.

But first, to make the alliance official. Rhydderch was a cunning cunt of a man, wise beyond his years and bent seemingly only on his own self-preservation. When Ika appeared he pretty much sold out immediately, gathering up his army and more or less obligating them to Ika's whims. His only request was that he could be Ika's second, and that he get a say before any of the more reasonably powerful hollows under his advisement were slaughtered. The terms were, of course, agreeable. Ika was more than happy to let this arrangement take whatever form it needed to but now was the time to plan for his future engagements. He raised his arm to the door, tapping on it lightly as he waited to be let in expecting that his host would probably have the area arranged rather nicely. What he found, was even more exciting than that.

As the door opened, a sprawling kingdom lined with soldiers of all levels of power, plucked from the cliffs below were monsters well beyond their tenure. "I see you've prepared a gift for me Rhydderch.. excited to place the rest of Hueco Mundo's kingdom under my heel hm?.."

Aaaaaaand there it was. That unmistakable Reiatsu. The mostly prim and proper aura that could only belong to a shinigami. That very aura that also contained a twinge of instability that could and probably would challenge and topple the current order this world had been stuck in for ages.

He was finally here. About damn time too.

The hollows in the room went silent as a quiet knocking came from the direction of the front gate of the main yard. There wasn't a sound apart from the grinding of dust beneath Rhydderch's boots as he dropped from his seated position on a large stone to the ground below. With the wave of his hand, the soldiers at the door pulled it open. After all, it was impolite to make guests wait.

He raised his arms, smirking as the hollows around him let out am assortment of battle cries or roars if they were incapable of the former. "Oh absofuckinlutely. Things have gotten way to damn stale around here. And in the human world. And you wouldn't be here if the Gotei was keeping things interesting, now would you?" Rhydderch slid a cigarette into his mouth. Slicing into his thumb with a sharp fingernail, he raised the smouldering wound to the coffin nail and lit the end with the radiant heat. "Real question is, where do you plan on getting started?"

Ika was admittedly more than a little impressed with the Arrancar's theatrical presentation. He was a man of means no doubt, someone who had come to understand the pleasures one could expect from a life of tyranny and good taste. "Stale is an understatement, your kind sits on their hands and waits to be conquered, the time in between is usually just you guys being thankful they grant you the grace of being allowed to live. I think it's about time for a paradigm shift around here, and it's going to start with, well you my dear friend."

Ika gave Rhydderch a wink and a slap on the ass before waltzing his way to the throne in the center of the now well lit castle. "This throne is mine, this castle is mine, your life is mine, and the same goes for anyone else around here." Ika leaned forward, head in his hands as he pondered where to go next. "If anyone objects you may raise your hand.."

Those who'd been around long enough to know this was a test were wise and kept their hands at their waist, the one who was not that wise was a bit worse for wear. Ika raised an eyebrow, and before the man could speak up to relay his thoughts he was forced to deal with a hole in his head, courtesy of a lazily raised finger and a silently cast Hadou 4 courtesy of his new king. As the man faded into dust, gurgling obscenities as the light fled his eyes Ika would loosely turn his attention to the rest of the gathered crowd. "Not the most articulate repose I've ever heard but I appreciated his courage in speaking his piece. Guessing the rest of you are in agreement?"

Ika looked out over the bunch, quite confident that he had stymied any hopeful rebellions. "Perfect, god I love democracy. We march on the nearest kingdom at dawn, pray tell which one that might be my.. oh my what position suits you.. You know what, why don't you choose your role of subservience to me and I'll tell you if it fits. I was thinking advisor.."

Rhydderch had figured anyone who objected to this decision had been dealt with. As it turned out, he hadn't. But leave it to the new guy to deal with this display of defiance in a particularly flashy manner. He couldn't help but crack a smile, his eyes flashing to really drive home that this guy was the real deal and that do defy him was to defy Rhydderch himself.
"Advisor has a good ring to it. That is, if that's what you're looking for." Rhydderch shoved his hands in his pocket, digging around for something.v"Or a general. Honestly, any position that lets me see what you're planning to the end is fine with me." he final found what he was looking for, pulling out a link from a chain of fate. He'd pulled if off one of his victims turned soldiers, charged it with his own Reiatsu, and kept it as a trophy along with a few other memorable ones. "Now if you're looking for a place to start, I can make a suggestion. The south ain't prepared for a real assault, and I have some soldiers ready to cause problems behind lines. Up to you if you wanna play it that way, though."

A shadowed Figure who had stood silently until now took a stride into lit portion of the room the two leaders were negotiating in with a wide crescent moon smile, "'soldiers ready to cause problems behind lines' now now, there's no need to refer to me so harshly," he took a shallow breath as he paused for a moment, turning his attention from Rhydderch to the Shinigami visitor,  s"and allow be to introduce myself, I'm Milis Veneno, I tend to be used as Rhydderch's problem solver and all round swell guy. ever so pleased to meet you." MilIs gave a small bow but  behind his black glasses his serpentine eyes remained locked on Ika.

Ika heard Rhydderch's plan and began to stroke his chin, slowly considering the implications of such a move in light of his goals. "I don't think an attack is necessary, I'm sure I can get them to fall in line the old fashioned way and-"

As Ika was preparing to finish, a very handsome and obviously powerful serpent esque figure took the stage and made a quick introduction. His role in this equation was rather clear, he was the muscle of the operations and judging by their power-level, the relationship they had with Rhydderch was one of convenience as opposed to submission. Ika smiled coyly, nodding his head slightly to greet the man before turning to Rhydderch. "My my Rhydderch, you've been holding out on me! When you said you had an army I expected cannon-fodder, soldiers to be thrown through the wood-chipper of war to come out misshapen and battered. Dead in most cases but this man.. this man is no cannon fodder at all, why.. he's a weapon. You say your name is Millis? Tell me more about yourself and your relationship with my friend here. I'm very curious to know more."

Rhydderch smirked at the partial comment Ika had managed to get out before he got distracted. Sure, the attack may not be necessary, but Rhydderch was a man of many plans. Full frontal attack? It would be good to have men behind lines to cause problems and tear shit up. No attack? Spies were always a good thing. Either way, he stood with his decision. Especially with Millis. The enemy wouldn't know where to focus their efforts if he got serious.

"Oh, him? Believe me he's more than a weapon. Real ace up the sleeve material, a guy to keep an eye on." Rhydderch followed Ika's gaze towards the living nuke that had just entered the room. He was impressed, which was good. Everything was going according to plan. He leaned in closer to Ika's ear, whispering in a hushed tone. "Guy's a real monster. Got real potential. Hell, he even makes me nervous sometimes. Definitely gonna want him in your inner circle, that's for damn sure."

"Now now, there's no need to talk so highly of me, I'm just a new arrival who'd be lost without good ol' Rhydderch's help." Millis words escaped a shark like smile, but dripped with insincerity. "I just felt that if the boss was working with someone it was about time I met them, and I must say, He paused briefly eyeing Ika up and down, I'm impressed. I didn't think your kind would bother getting their sandals dirty in a place like this."

He then turned his attention back to Rhydderch with the same cocky smile "I am ever so sorry for interrupting you little meeting, but I'm sure you understand my curiosity, I've never seen one of his kind before. And while appreciate a complement I fear you think too highly of me, but please continue with your conversation.

The cheeky and ill-mannered nature of Millis coupled with the high praise he was receiving from Rhydderch was enough to make Ika's face coil into a sly smile. "Oh my kind rarely has interest in getting their sandals dirty, but I'm not exactly your run of the mill Shinigami and I don't personally share their feelings of trepidation when it comes to this wasteland you call a home. I don't share in their anxious apprehension about the monsters that reside here. Frankly, it's always come across as a bit of a joke. The Shinigami by and large see themselves as moral arbitrators of the world at large, see themselves as separate and different from the monsters that scour the sands here in Hueco Mundo but I believe we are all one in the same. We're all beings driven by power and self-preservation, even if they lie to the occasional peon and convince him he's dying for something greater. It's all the same flavor of shit, but it's the world we were dealt."

Ika paused for a moment, approaching the man with a small smirk on his face. "If they had their way I'd be killing you right now, and we'd never get to see what you could become. They'd seek balance through extermination, what good is that? I believe we can have three thriving ecosystems, where as they want to believe there can only be one."

Ika backed up and approached Rhyddrch. "And so I've grown bored and tired of watching you all wait for extermination. We will either welcome it with open arms at their door, or fend it off once and for all. That is my plan, a message must be sent."

It was a pleasant surprise to see someone like Ika, Shinigami or not, pay attention to things outside the Gotei for once. So long as things fit their skewed version of order, they did whatever they pleased. Hell, he still remembered watching (from a comfortable distance) the annihilation of most of the Quincy. Lucky for them, the shinigami at the time had a tendency to start off hard but fail to follow through. But this guy? Rhydderch would have loved more guys like him to be around when he was still alive. Either way, this guy seemed like a good choice to side with. The soldiers he'd amassed hadn't revolted and had stayed in line, and Millis was playing nice. So far so good.

"That's a level of commitment I haven't seen in a long time. Problem is, is this a message the current Cap Com is going to receive in the way you want?" Rhydderch flicked the remains of his cigarette aside, pulling out a new one. He didn't light it, instead offering Ika and Millis a cig for themselves. "What's the current top dog like anyway? I had ol Doku down but I haven't had any run ins with this new chick."

Upon seeing the conversation headed towards more serious topics, and having his own little objective completed, it was time to leave. Millis smiled as cordially as he could looking to Rhydderch's offer of a cigarette "I'll have to refuse, and I'm afraid I must be going. You understand, so many people to kill and so little time to enjoy it." He then turned to Ika with the same smile, "and I'll be saying goodbye to you as well, it was interesting meeting one of your kind, and try to to be too hard with old Rhydderch, we'll still need him after you're done playing. Without a another word he turned and strode away leaving the two men to continue their conversation.

Ika received the cigarette happily, placing it between his lips with a healthy amount of enthusiasm as he snapped his fingers to light it. He waved goodbye to Millis, giving him a wry wink as he went pacing out the door before turning his attention back to his new friend Rhydderch. "Oh the new Captain Commander? Shiori.. she grew up poor, very poor. First Captain Commander ever appointed who got there without noble blood, only got the position because I told the old man to get fucked while he was on his death bed. She's good, just doesn't understand the politics of the position quite yet, certainly doesn't understand the intentions and whims of those guiding her and that will almost certainly be her undoing."

Ika smiled slightly, letting the smoke from his cigarette waft in the air. "No fault of her own of course. She can't control the hand she was dealt. She did well to make it this far frankly, played it out about as well as one could expect but once you're in that seat.. you can't bluff anymore. You've got to show your hand and I worry that hers is fairly weak. In the spirit of full transparency, I don't intend to kill her. If she becomes a problem I'll deal with her but I think killing off the older generation and some of their excess will be what's best for us going forward."