The first few paragraphs are basically a recap.
- means scene change
==means flashback
Chapter is roughly 3300 words.
I do not own Bleach. It is owned by Tite Kubo, published by Shonen Jump Magazines and animated by Studio Pierrot.
Chapter 1- Rue your friendship
"Kurosaki Ichigo. Use your Getsuga Tenshou. You are at your strongest form, and Getsuga Tenshou is your strongest attack. Use it." Ulquiorra ordered Ichigo, while clashing his weapon to Tensa Zangetsu. "I'll show you, how much stronger I am than you."
Ichigo knocked Ulquiorra into the air with a swing of his sword. "Use Getsuga Tenshou? Don't order me around, I was planning on it!" Black reiatsu gathered around Tensa Zangetsu's blade as it was raised high over Ichigo's head. "Getsuga Tenshou!" The Getsuga shot out and swept over Ulquiorra.
The Getsuga subsided and a plume of ash was remaining. A black wing jutted out of the ash before it flexed, blowing the ash away. "Just as I thought; you're just a human after all."
Ichigo's dark irises widened as the ash dispersed revealing Ulquiorra's unscratched form. "How did you take that without any damage?" Ichigo muttered to himself.
"Your Getsuga resembles my Cero." Ulquiorra commented on Ichigo's attack. The comment however annoyed Ichigo.
"Cero? Don't even compare me to that crap!" Ichigo glared through his masks slits at Ulquiorra.
Ulquiorra frowned, "You have not seen it. Then I will show you the cero only an Espada at its full power can use, the black cero." Ulquiorra raised his finger as black reiatsu gathered at the tip of his finger. It condensed into a small ball, as Ulquiorra's finger was fully erect pointing at Ichigo. "Cero Oscuras!"
The black cero shot out from Ulquiorra's finger as it expanded rapidly. The Cero slammed into Ichigo and quickly smeared his presence with its own. The Cero went on a path of destruction as it annihilated much of Las Noches' dome. In the wake of the Cero, Ichigo was nowhere to be found.
"At least now you will be a full hollow or shinigami." Ulquiorra frowned at how Ichigo was defeated so easily. Then Ulquiorra remembered his orders to take care of Las Noches. Without an afterthought, Ulquiorra went down into Las Noches intending to finish the remaining shinigami and humans.
It wasn't long until Ulquiorra had reached Yammy, who was in his released form fighting two shinigami and a human.
"…Ichigo…"
Ichigo's eyes shot wide open. He surveyed his surroundings, tall buildings were all on his sides, when he realized he was in his inner world. He looked around until he saw a slim figure standing in the middle of everything.
Ichigo stared at him, taking in his features. The person was dressed in all black, and was wearing a hood over his head. Not only that, he was also holding Tensa Zangetsu in his right hand.
"Do you know why I called you Ichigo?" asked the person.
Ichigo growled out, "What? Cut the crap only Zangetsu should be here."
"Oh that's right, you have never come here in Bankai state." He pulled down his hood, and revealed his face. He looked like Zangetsu but in his youth, he did not have the trademark sunglasses, nor did he have any facial hair.
"Wait." Ichigo pressed his head against his hand. "You are Zangetsu?"
"Wrong!" He jumped down and grabbed Ichigo's wrist. "What do you call your bankai?" Ichigo's eyes widened, "I am Tensa Zangetsu." Tensa Zangetsu swung his sword upwards.
And Ichigo jumped back, but a drop of blood came down from his chin.
"Oh, Ulquiorra!" Yammy turned his head over his shoulder to look at his comrade. "What happened to that human you were fighting?"
"Dead.", was Ulquiorra's only reply.
Gasps came from below. Renji's eyes were open and his mouth was dropped in disbelief.
'How can Ichigo lose?'
Chad's jaw was tight as he clenched his fist. He remembered him and Ichigo going back to back fighting against bullies in their younger days.
Rukia's hands were white from gripping the hilt tightly. Her mind brought up memories of her and Ichigo arguing resulting in Ichigo getting hit.
'…Ichigo!'
"Tch, I wanted to kill him after I finished with these worms." Yammy referring his opponents as worms.
"Yammy why have you released your sword; you should not have any trouble against trash this weak." Questioned Ulquiorra, as he felt their reiatsu, they weren't even taicho-level reiatsu but at least higher than a fuku-taicho. "Sometimes it makes me wonder why Aizen-sama even considered making you an espada."
"What was that Ulquiorra" Yammy was annoyed by Ulquiorra's comments. "Are you forgetting I am the Cero Espada?" Yammy pointed to his shoulder where the number zero was tattooed.
"And?"
"That means compared to me you are utter trash, Ulquiorra!" as Yammy pointed his finger at Ulquiorra and glared.
Ulquiorra was not impressed by Yammy's gesture "Rank has little to do with our fighting abilities, it was only meant to show how high our reiatsu was. In fact, Grimmjow's Fracción were more effective than you were." Ulquiorra taunted him by grouping him with deceased Numeros.
Ulquiorra then added, "If it was ranked by fight abilities, then I would be the Cero, and you would remain as Diez."
Yammy snarled, "Really now, why don't you prove that to me, Ulquiorra!"
"You were originally an Adjuchas before you became an Arrancar. I was a Vasto Lorde before I turned into a Arrancar. A hollow from a lower evolution cannot beat a hollow at its peak."
"I have had enough of that talk Ulquiorra, fight!" Yammy raised his fist as he prepared to punch Ulquiorra.
"Such a simpleton." muttered Ulquiorra, as he flexed his wings to charge at Yammy head-first. Ulquiorra stopped as a huge kido washed over Yammy's side.
"What's this? Fighting between comrades?" Zaraki Kenpachi asked as he stepped on a rock with his sword on his shoulder. Kenpachi grinned at the large size of Yammy.
"That hurt damn it!" Yammy howled in irritation.
"This will only prove that shinigami are superior to hollows." commented Byakuya, after seeing the sight of his enemies ready to fight each other. "It appears the large one has the most reiatsu."
"Great, then he's mine!" Kenpachi grinned before dashing forth towards Yammy.
"You kill them; I will not sully my hands with trash such as this." Ulquiorra said before he turned his back to Yammy.
Ulquiorra watched as Yammy was being man-handled by the eleventh squad captain. He would not bother intervening that was until, "Did you kill Ichigo?" He turned his head and stared coldly into Rukia's violet eyes.
"I did, what of it?" came the cold and short reply. He expected the small woman to shout, but he did not expect she would attack him. Ulquiorra dodged the attack by side-stepping, Rukia then sliced at Ulquiorra. The attack was slow by Ulquiorra's standards but would have been enough to land a hit on Syazel or Aaroniero. He jumped back creating some distance between them.
He quickly spun around and caught Chad's right hand before it hit him in the head. Chad's eye glared hard at Ulquiorra, who returned a glare of his own. Chad normally wouldn't attack this rashly, but the news of Ichigo's apparent demise had shaken him. He could only see red as he saw Ulquiorra.
He flexed his left hand before attacking Ulquiorra with a left hook. Ulquiorra moved his head out of the way avoiding Chad's left arm. Ulquiorra looked up, as he saw Renji attacking with his bankai.
Ulquiorra quickly swatted Chad aside with his wing, before catching the giant snake's head with one hand. The impact from Renji's attack had caused the area, Ulquiorra was standing on, suck in itself. Ulquiorra's eyes shifted to behind him as Rukia shot a Sokatsui out.
The blast engulfed Ulquiorra's backside, while it did not do much damage, Renji had gathered reiatsu into his bankai. Ulquiorra turned his head and his eyes widened as a ball of red reiatsu shot out at him point-blank. The explosion kicked up sand, covering Ulquiorra's presence.
"Did we get him?" asked Renji as he landed next to Chad.
Rukia shook her head and answered, "No, I can still feel his reiatsu." True to her words the sand had cleared and Ulquiorra stood there unscratched.
"How can you think you can win against me when I defeated Kurosaki Ichigo at his full power, when together the three of you can't possibly hope to match him." Questioned Ulquiorra, perplexed by why the three of them were fighting with no chance of victory.
The three of them glared at Ulquiorra before Rukia answered, "Because we are his friends and that's what Ichigo would do."
Ulquiorra closed his eyes, "Friendship?" Ulquiorra muttered as a memory came to him.
He was in a pit, he watched his comrades. They were all snarling and grinning, perhaps in delight at the chance of killing him.
"If friendship has gotten you three this far, then this will be where it ends. I will make the three of you rue your friendship with Kurosaki Ichigo." Ulquiorra formed his weapon before slashing at Renji.
Having little time to react, Renji blocked it, however Ulquiorra's attack left a crack on the segments. Renji scowled as the giant zanpakuto attacked Ulquiorra from behind. Ulquiorra buzzed off with sonido, as the attack harmlessly stopped before hitting Renji.
"El Directo!" Ulquiorra blocked the attack by using his wing as a shield. He lifted his wing, as Rukia appeared in front of him.
"Some no mai, Tsukishiro!" The ice quickly covered the tip of Ulquiorra's wings and feet. Frowning, Ulquiorra broke the ice and jumped out of the circle.
As he was still in the air, Renji attacked by having Hihio Zabimaru bite down on Ulquiorra's wing. Frowning, Ulquiorra moved his arm to point at the zanpakuto until his arm was binded. Rukia had used a low level bakudo on his arm.
Ulquiorra glared at the petite shinigami. "Trash." Ulquiorra easily broke the kido by slightly raising his reiatsu, and he pried the zanpakuto off of him. Chad jumped up, and attacked Ulquiorra from behind.
Ulquiorra was knocked into the sand, as he formed his weapon.
Ulquiorra threw his weapon at Chad, who blocked it with his right arm. The giant skidded back several meters as he tightened his jaw, straining under the pressure before the weapon dispersed. Chad had managed to block it, but just barely.
Quickly forming another, Ulquiorra he slammed his shoulder into Renji and slashed him across the shoulder. Rukia jumped up and tried to blindside him, but she was knocked back into the air by his wing.
Ulquiorra charged for Chad and broke through his armored arm. The spike pierced into Chad's shoulder. Chad grunted and tried to counter attack. Ulquiorra however did not relent and slashed him across the waist. Ulquiorra then jumped back but he was caught by Chad.
Coughing up some blood, Chad then punched him with his left hand. The attack connected, but Ulquiorra was almost completely unfazed. Save for him sliding through the sand.
"Now for the two of you." Ulquiorra moved to attack, but was stopped when he felt Yammy's reiatsu spike in his direction. A red light slammed into Ulquiorra as he turned in its direction. Yammy had used a cero but did not pay attention to who was in the way. The cero pushed Ulquiorra back as it traveled across Las Noches.
"Looks like this giant idiot hit his own ally! What an idiot!" Kenpachi shouted as he cut Yammy again.
Yammy groaned and grunted as he was slashed again and again. He attempted to grab Kenpachi, but the captain pierced through his hand. Kenpachi ran up across Yammy's arm, and slashed Yammy across the nose.
Yammy went down howling from the pain, his whole body plummeting backwards. "You little worm!"
Yammy pulled his fist back until a sudden and massive increase of reiatsu came in the direction Ulquiorra was hit by the cero. A black cero engulfed Yammy's cero and went above the dome of Las Noches, and Ulquiorra stood there in a new form.
"The hell is that form, Ulquiorra?"
"Ressureccion, Segunda Etapa. I am the only arrancar that can go beyond the first release." Ulquiorra flexed his wings to their full extent.
Kenpachi grinned before turning back to Byakuya. "Oi, Kuch-" He was stopped when he realized Byakuya was going after Ulquiorra. "Damn it, all get back here!" Kenpachi stuttered as he wanted to go against Ulquiorra instead of Yammy. He was stopped from going after Byakuya when Yammy slammed his fist onto the ground in front of him.
"You little worm!"
Kenpachi was annoyed by how stubborn this guy was, yet he was so weak "Tch, what a pain in the ass."
"Bankai, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."
"Nii-sama!"
"Taicho!"
Byakuya charged at Ulquiorra, while the one million strong petals quickly engulfed Ulquiorra's vision. Mimicking Byakuya's charge, Ulquiorra sped straight toward the captain.
The cherry blossoms quickly shielded Byakuya as many more went out to encircle Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra attacked the shield of petals while he got engulfed by the petals.
Byakuya shunpo'd a few meters away from Ulquiorra.
Byakuya glanced at the collection of sakura petals. Then he turned his back to where Ulquiorra was, "Senbonzakura Kageyoshi, Go-"
A black cero broke through the attack, leaving Byakuya surprised and shocked at how he broke through so easily. "A good attack. I was surprised I could not break through. However, it cannot defeat me."
At that same moment, Yammy rose up after getting cut down, "You stinkin worm!" He shouted the same line several times before his muscles begin to bulge and undergo a new transformation.
Yammy now only had two legs rather then the many he had prior. Everything under his waist was covered in a brown fur. "My ressureccion is Ira. I am a beast of anger, you will suffer a pitiful death shinigami! Make me angry, anger me more! It will just make you more humiliating!"
"Tch, at least you got stronger." Kenpachi was annoyed as he jumped up and attacked him. At least now, he hoped Yammy could fight decently.
Ichigo grunted as he got forced back by Tensa Zangetsu.
"Old man err I guess you aren't an old man now… Why are you doing this?"
Tensa Zangetsu sighed before replying "Show me your Getsuga Ichigo."
Ichigo had a confused look on his face and he scowled. "What? My Getsuga?"
"Yes. Attack me with your Getsuga Tenshou."
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Ichigo raised his sword above his head and gathered his reiatsu forming a massive whirlwind of reiatsu. "Getsuga Tenshou!"
The attack charged into Tensa Zangetsu who raised his sword to Ichigo's direction. Ichigo watched as his attack charged into Tensa Zangetsu. His eyes widened as he saw something break through his attack and head straight for him.
Ichigo barely dodged it by jumping upwards. He looked over to his Getsuga and saw that it was cracked before it shattered.
"Wh-what the hell was that?"
"You will learn of it soon enough." Before Tensa Zangetsu attacked Ichigo.
Elsewhere, Byakuya skidded back. He was in terrible condition, similar to how Rukia and Renji were.
Rukia was the least injured compared to himself and Renji. Rukia was thrown around by Ulquiorra, either by being grabbed and chucked or by getting hit by his tail. However her petite body would probably not last long under that sort of treatment.
Renji's bankai was cracked in several segments. Renji would not last long, as he had a hole through his abdomen, it was painfully obvious that Renji had broken several ribs and his left arm was fractured in several places. He had also gone through the same treatment Rukia had gone through, only he was dragged across the ground.
Byakuya had a large gash through his shoulder, and several smaller cuts were on his wrists and ankles. His scarf had been discarded while avoiding Ulquiorra's cero. His kenseikan were all cracked from being slammed into the ground several times.
"Time to finish this." Ulquiorra said as he pointed his finger at the three of them. Ulquiorra did not fire his cero because Ishida appeared directly above Ulquiorra with his bow activated.
"Licht Regen!" Ishida shouted as he let loose all one thousand two hundred arrows on Ulquiorra. "Attack him, Kuchiki-san!"
Immediately, Byakuya attacked Ulquiorra while directing his attacks. The petals scattered the cloud of sand and concentrated on Ulquiorra.
"Tsugi no mai, Hakuren!" The snow and ice slammed into Ulquiorra leaving him as a frozen block of ice. Ishida landed down next to Renji.
"Thanks for the save Ishida!" Renji croaked out while breathing hard.
Ishida took in their condition, "Sorry I'm late. I had to take Inoue-san to Kurosaki."
Rukia's eyes widened in realization. "Y-you mean, Ichigo survived?" Ishida nodded. "How is he?"
"He had very little reiatsu left. It was a surprise he could still maintain his bankai." Ishida looked away before answering. "He was in bad condition. If I was late he would of died."
The casing of ice cracked and shattered as Ulquiorra stood there unscratched wiping off some ice from his shoulder. Ulquiorra took a step forward and pounced in front of Byakuya, and tried to grab his neck. Byakuya's sakuras blocked the attack, and tried to surround him.
Ulquiorra jumped into the air, before Byakuya could completely surround him. Ishida and Renji appeared next to him and were attacking him in unison. Ulquiorra fended off both attacks with his wings.
"Bakudo 61, Rikujokoro" Ulquiorra was bounded as he felt the six rods dig and burn into his flesh.
"Sokatsui/Soren Sokatsui!" Byakuya and Rukia fired their kido off at the same time, engulfing Ulquiorra in a blue light.
The attack cleared and Ulquiorra came out only slightly singed by the attack. "Your efforts of defeating me is futile."
"Tsugi no ma-"
"I told you, it was useless!"
Rukia was interrupted from firing her attack as Ulquiorra's tail smashed into her side sending her sliding across the sand.
Byakuya charged at Ulquiorra from behind, only to get knocked aside by his tail. Ishida charged up wielding Seele Schieder, Ulquiorra grabbed Ishida's wrist before any contact could happen.
"Shi-!" Ishida could only curse before Ulquiorra tightened his grip and broke Ishida's wrist. Ishida howled out in pain before he was tossed aside.
"Bastard!" Renji attacked by charging his attack point-blank to Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra simply fired off his cero diverting the attack. Ulquiorra followed up by pouncing in front of Renji and face planted him into the ground.
"Shukei Hakuteiken!" Ulquiorra turned around and Byakuya had cut Ulquiorra's arm off by the shoulder. Then he tried to cut Ulquiorra across the waist, but he was pushed aside by Ulquiorra's free arm. As Byakuya was sent into the air, Ulquiorra brought his tail down on his chest.
Ulquiorra then turned around and caught a white sword just inches from his face. Rukia bit her lip. "Sokatsui!" She aimed the attack for Ulquiorra's head, however the attack had no effect. Ulquiorra then used his wing and knocked her into the ground.
"Your efforts are valiant but all for nothing, shinigami." Ulquiorra charged up his cero and was ready to finish off Rukia until Yammy blindsided Ulquiorra with the back of his hand.
"Yo, Ulquiorra, why don't you die!"
A/N Alright this is a fanfiction that I was wanting to write in a while. Unlike the past two fanfictions that I made, if any of you still remember 'Bleach the Betrayal' and 'Bonds'. This one is planned out, as I have more then 10 chapters mapped out. I also realize that this fight is a little too extensive to be in the first chapter, but what can I say? There ain't very many options as to make conversations during the Ichigo vs Ulquiorra chapters. I'll decide if I should add Ichiruki scenes as I write the next two chapters.
Constructive criticism and reviews are appreciated.