But if Ben and Nnoitra thought that their battle had gone unnoticed, they were sadly mistaken. In fact, Aizen, the Espada, and all of their Fraccion had witnessed Ben getting attacked by Nnoitra, Apache defending Ben, and Ben turning into Way Big. The sight was enough to leave all of them speechless.
"Di…did you just see?" Yammy asked.
"I did!" Szayel cried happily. "I did! I know Ben has powerful forms but not even I could've imagined that he had a form like that!"
"He beat Nnoitra like a rag doll," Baraggan said, not pleased with that one bit.
All of Baraggan's Fraccion were still looking in shock. Now they knew that Aizen had been telling the truth that Ben could beat them. Especially with a form like that.
"It seems Ben always manages to have an ace up his sleeve" Ulquiorra said in his emotionless tone. "This form, Way Big, is probably one of, if not the, most powerful form in Ben's arsenal."
Starrk was still wide eyed. "Wow," he breathed.
"Aizen-sama," Harribel said. "May I leave now?"
"Yes," Aizen told her. "You may tend to your Fraccion."
Nodding, Harribel left the others, who continued to talk about Ben's form Way Big. Aizen found himself more and more intrigued by Ben. Ben had forms that could bend any of the elements to his will, had useful powers like duplication or regeneration, and of course he had forms that granted incredible physical power. In short, Ben was a one man army. Thinking of this, Aizen's mind drifted back to what Ulquiorra had recently told him.
Ben Tennyson is more of a threat than Ichigo Kurosaki.
I couldn't agree more, Ulquiorra. Aizen thought. I couldn't agree more.
---
But Harribel's mind was on more than just that. She recalled how angry Ben had been when Nnoitra had hurt Apache, and then when he had attempted to harm Mila-Rose and Sun-Sun. She had seen Ben turn into Way Big and pour all his anger into the blows he dealt Nnoitra. Then, how Way Big had threatened Nnoitra if he ever went near his friends again.
Ben Tennyson. She thought. Thank you again.
---
Ben was running down the halls to try and find where Apache, Mila-Rose, and Sun-Sun were at. He was yelling out their names, not caring who he ran into along the way. He still had some left over anger from his fight with Nnoitra and wasn't scared of taking it out on anyone who messed with him.
"Ben!" called a voice that instantly brought relief to Ben.
"Harribel!" he called. "Apache's hurt! She…"
"I already know," Harribel told him. "Follow me."
Trying to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat, Ben followed her to a room where a woman wearing clothing similar to a medic's outfit had just put the finishing touches on some bandages that were wrapped around Apache. Mila-Rose and Sun-Sun were sitting on either side of her. All three of them turned their heads to see who had walked in.
"Ben!" They cried happily. "Harribel-sama!"
"Hello, girls," Harribel said.
"Hey, Apache," Ben said as he walked to her. "How are you?"
"In pain," Apache groaned as she rubbed her bandages. "But I'll feel a lot better if you tell me that you beat the crap out of Nnoitra."
Ben grinned at her. "Don't worry about that." He said.
"It was amazing," Mila-Rose said. "Ben turned into some kind of giant called Way Big."
"So you keep telling me, Mila-Rose," Apache groaned. "I just want to know if he whooped that jerk Nnoitra."
"He did," Harribel said. "I had witnessed the event. Nnoitra was helpless against Ben."
Wonder and admiration filled the looks of the girls as they stared back and forth between Harribel and Ben. Ben was strong enough to defeat the 5th Espada. Just what else was he capable of?
"Heh," Apache said. "Looks like we owe you again, Ben."
Ben shook his head. "I'm always there for my friends."
And hearing Ben say those words brought a comforting feeling to all four ladies. But for some reason, each of them found themselves wanting to be something more with Ben than just friends. Even Harribel realized that she felt this way.
I couldn't be… Harribel realized as she came to only one conclusion.
---
For the rest of the day, Ben stayed with his teammates to make sure that Apache recovered. They talked about Way Big and teased Ben for keeping such a powerful form a secret. Well, Apache and Mila-Rose did. Sun-Sun on the other hand complimented Ben for waiting until the right moment to use such a powerful form. Harribel said nothing, merely watching her Fraccion and finding herself feeling content at just being near them. A good amount of time later, Ben had been told that Aizen wanted to see him.
Ben found himself in a massive throne room, where Aizen was sitting on a platform with stairs on either side. Standing next to Aizen's throne were two girls. One had black hair in pig-tails while the other had short brown hair.
"Hello, Ben," Aizen said in that sickely pleasant voice of his. "I hear you had a quite a day."
Ben simply nodded.
"You see, Ben," Aizen said as if reading Ben's thought. Just recently, Grimmjow had been demoted and stripped of his rank as the 6th Espada.
This caught Ben off guard. He had never considered the possibility of Espada getting demoted. What did Grimmjow do to lose his rank?
"He acted against my orders and led a suicide mission against the agents of Soul Society. They wiped out all of his Fraccion."
Ben's eyes widened in shock. He had never personally known Grimmjow's Fraccion, but he felt bad that all of them had gotten killed. He wondered how Grimmjow was feeling about it.
"I am currently considering all possible candidates to replace Grimmjow as the 6th Espada," Aizen continued. "But the one person who seems to fit the bill is the one who I have just called to me."
Ben's jaw dropped when he realized what Aizen was talking about. Aizen smiled at Ben.
"I know you are not an Arrancar, Ben Tennyson," he said to Ben. "But would you consider becoming the 6th Espada?"