Disclaimer: -Sobs pitifully-

Authors Note: I was So Excited and happy with the response, so when the reviews stopped coming for three days, I died a little inside.

Warnings: In which we rewind ourselves in Ulquiorra's Musings and Ichigo receives a Nasty surprise.

Kuso Gaki!

The End of Endless Tag

Ulquiorra Schiffer, Cuarto Espada of Sōsuke Aizen's Hollow army, stood silently in front of the throne room's doors in his usual pose: slightly slouched, hands in his pants pockets, and that utterly indifferent look upon his face. Reptilian eyes of emerald, cold and uncaring, surveyed the stark, empty hallways; with a rustle of his coat-tails, he began to walk briskly down the Eastern Hall. Although it was almost impossible to discern the different expressions that went along with his feelings (assuming the impassive Arrancar actually had any), Ulquiorra was in a relatively interested mood. The focus of his ponderings was the curious being that was Kurosaki Ichigo.

The Espada had no solid opinion about the quasi-Shinigami, despite the fact that he had always managed to surprise him and at least attempt to drastically change his viewpoint. His feeling toward the boy had always hovered just between admiration and disgust. When he had first met the Substitute, he had been mildly interested in the raw power and potential the boy had, and then in his random fluctuations in spiritual pressure; as well, it wasn't very common to find a being capable of cutting through Yammy's rock-hard skin.

His expectations had risen slightly on their second meeting. It was then quite apparent that Kurosaki was definitely not your average over-powered kamikaze Shinigami. The boy had somehow blended the natures of the Death God and the Hollow far beyond the Vaizard and even the Arrancar had ever attempted. He had regained his Shinigami powers at the same time as he'd had his heart partially devoured by his newly awakened Hollow. The boy was indeed a true hybrid; unlike the Vaizard, whose Shinigami powers were most dominant, and the Arrancar, who were vise versa. He was, justly, a force to be reckoned with.

However, the boy was weak. Not in terms of power, but of mentality. Ulquiorra could practically smell the fear rolling off Kurosaki in waves. In any other situation that would have probably been understandable, considering the vast difference in power at the time of their first meeting. What truly irked the Fourth Espada was that fact that the boy was not afraid of him but of himself; afraid to release his inner Hollow and take advantage of its power. In any other situation the human was headstrong, cocky, and arrogant. No-- the boy was weak. He refused to embrace his nature and by doing so had cut his own power in half. It was positively disgusting.

He had let the boy live in hopes that Kurosaki would rise to his expectations. He had been sorely disappointed.

The pale Espada moved swiftly down the hall with purpose and soon entered the familiar domain of the Décimo Espada. Aizen's instructions echoed through his head. He had been ordered to bring along one Espada companion to detain the three who were accompanying the target. After a brief overview, he had decided to take Yammy. The other Espada all either had a grudge against the orange-head or just didn't think about the consequences of disobeying orders. Now, he wasn't saying that Yammy didn't fit in either category (in fact he was rather in both) but the Tenth Espada was the easiest to control. Any other brought along would have probably resulted in conflict.

Stopping in front of the only room located in the hall, his eyes were drawn to the large black ten painted neatly onto the stark white door. The familiar presence of the large Espada pulsed gently from within; asleep, he noted. Reluctantly pulling his hand from his pocket he rapped the door with the back of his knuckles in a vague show of courtesy. As he waited he couldn't help but return to his previous musings. He had often wondered if the final fight would have lasted longer if the human had not been towing around the traitor Neliel. He quickly banished the thought. There was no use in wondering about what could have been; the only road to take was the one he made with his own hands.

"What is it, Ulquiorra?" The deep rumble was tinged with irritation. Yammy stood in the doorway scratching his bare chest, which was littered with small welts and faint scars. Most of the Arrancar had become bored out of their minds without any missions to accomplish or enemies to kill. Many of them had resorted to fighting amongst themselves, much to Yammy's pleasure. Aizen, predictably, didn't seem to care, it was very apparent that the Números, Privarón and Fracción were expendable.

"We're leaving shortly," Ulquiorra's calm demeanor caused the Tenth's pupils to dilate in sudden excitement, "Aizen-sama has entrusted us with a mission..."

A few hundred miles away from the two Espada exchanging pleasantries, the Desert Brothers and One sat in a loose circle. Half lidded chocolate eyes stared dully across the circle into those of the big boned Don Chakka. Beside the strawberry blond sat the tiny, impatient figure of Nell, who seemed to twitch every few-odd moments. Pesche, who was at the opposing end, had to wonder what was causing his young master to fidget so violently. Pesche fiddled with the end of his loincloth as he snuck glances across the circle; the uncomfortable silence was almost tangible as he studied each group member.

Nell had matured after the Shinigami Invasion; whether from the actually incident itself or from the bits of her memories that had surfaced, he didn't know. When they had found the newly transformed Ichigo, she had put two and two together and had then demanded that they tell her what had happened. For her own safety, he had only given the bare essentials and that, apparently, was enough. Pesche smiled wistfully from under his mask as he watched his young master, memories from their past life flashing unbidden though his mind's eye. His and Don Chakka's loyalty to the ex-Tercero Espada was unwavering; he would die for her and although the statement remained unsaid, she knew that.

Nell sat cross-legged with her arms folded over her chest. Her ordinary childish grin was turned down at the corners in an irritated frown and he, remembering the situation, replaced his own smile with a similar expression of displeasure. His eyes shifted to the next member of the group.

After the final battle, she had refused to believe that Ichigo had died. When the Arrancar troops had moved out, she had gone looking for him. Pesche and Don Chakka could do nothing but follow with bleak hope. After a few days, even Nell had eventually begun to doubt the survival of her hero. It was when she had decided that she wanted to at least find his body was Ichigo found.

Bawling in the sand like there was no tomorrow with red-gold hair, chocolate eyes, and a black cloak, there was no doubt that this was Ichigo. The Shinigami appeared to have succumbed to the same symptoms that Nell had, a seeming eternity ago: a loss of memory and a strangely Chibi-fied appearance. Nell immediately set to work on reacquainting herself with the shadow of her affections; it really wasn't hard seeing how confused and desperate he was.

Pesche's eyes curved up in a smile again; he preferred this Chibi-Ichigo to the child's true adult form. Where Ichigo was serious and sarcastic, this child was much more likeable. No longer having a reason to wear his constant frown and 'tough guy' image, he was all smiles and laughs. Without the heavy weight of responsibility constantly on his shoulders, this Chibi-Ichigo was true to his nature; he cried when he was sad, he smiled when he was happy. Without his friends and family to look after--the smile melted off of Pesche's hidden face. Unable to continue his train of thought his eyes moved onto the final character of the circle.

Don Chakka was… Well… Don Chakka was Don Chakka.

"So…" Don Chakka's voice was tentative and weak; it seemed that he was aware that he was the source of the tension that floated loftily above their heads. Nell glared daggers at the big boned Hollow and Ichigo continued to stare dully into space.

"I still t'ink you cheated," her voice was accusing and filled with childish malice.

Pesche abruptly stood causing the other hollow to scuttle back in alarm. Pointing one finger into the air and placing the other hand on his hip he declared, "Yes, yes! Don Chakka!" swinging the sky raised finger down, he pointed at the still frozen hollow, "You have obviously cheated! There is no way that you could have caught the faster and stronger Nell! Now, apologize!"

"What, yansu!" The accused hopped onto his feet in anger and imitated the other by pointing his own finger at him, "How can you cheat at endless tag, yansu!" Pesche slumped visibly in confusion at the counter attack. But as quickly as he was stumped, the flame of indignation was lit once again.

"It doesn't matter! You've obviously cheated! Isn't that right Ichigo-chan?" Pesche turned towards the blond and kneeled until they were at eye level. Snapping out of whatever reverie he was in, the youngest beamed a blinding smile;

"What's the question, again?"

"You can't bring Ichigo-chan into this, yansu! You know that he can never disagree- you're taking advantage of him, yansu!"

"What?! Never! Right, Ichigo-chan?"

"You're doing it again, yansu!"

"Am not!"

"Are too, yansu!"

Ichigo smiled warmly as they bantered back and forth. Dusting his cloak off, he stood and ambled off, confident that they would find him in the generally flat landscape if he wandered too far. Nell, who had been gleefully watching the argument, turned to watch the bubbly blond play aimlessly in the sand. Smiling, she watched as he raised his hands and walk in a curved arc, performing a balancing act for an invisible audience. Curious, she watched Ichigo suddenly stop and crouch to inspect something in the sand. Ignoring the two (now wrestling) Hollows behind her, Nell stood and followed the path that Ichigo had trailed in the sand. Hovering behind the now silent boy, she asked tentatively, "Berry-tan?"

"Nell-chan, what's this?" the question answered with another, Ichigo turned. His hands were cupped carefully as to not hurt the being he had found. In his hands he held a small beige colored lizard. Nell laughed and reached out to pat the lizard,

"It's a lizard Berry-" she froze as the tips of her chubby fingers came into contact with the skull like casing that enveloped the animals head. Her own reiatsu was in the lizard: how was that possible!? Shivering, she tried to fight off the panic that had begun to creep over her senses; she had a very bad feeling about this.

"Oh, really? Pesche, Don Chakka! Look what I found!" Excited and happy, Ichigo obliviously bounded past the frozen Nell. Stopping in front of his two 'older brothers' he proudly showed them his newfound prize, "It's a lee-are-zarde," he stumbled over the new word. Pushing the animal up to their faces he pleaded, "Can I keep it?"

"Oh... I don't know," a suddenly skeptic Pesche placed one of his hands under his chin in the classic thinking pose. It would have looked quite practical if the lanky limbed Hollow wasn't squished under his brother.

"Oh, come on Pesche," The cheetah printed hollow laid sprawled over the smaller. Resting his head atop one of his hands he continued "Let Ichigo-chan keep it. What are you going to name it Ichigo-chan, Don Chakka Junior, yansu?"

"What!" Pesche, who seemed a little thinner than usual, erupted from the sand and sent Don Chakka flying though the air, "If anyone, Ichigo-chan would name it Pesche Junior!"

"Lies, yansu!" Ichigo sighed as the two brothers were at each others throats once more. Sitting in the sand he held the lizard's thin arms and tugged gently, making the limp lizard move in the sand as its' tail twitched in annoyance.

"Drop the lizard," Nell, who had snapped out of her thoughts, trembled as she forced her suddenly heavy feet towards the group. Voice rising in a panicked pitch she trilled, "Drop the lizard, Ichigo!"

Startled, Ichigo stared at Nell in a confused fear. She had never called him by his real name, and he had never seen her never seemed so scared. Strong, dependable Nell who, although she seemed younger then him, had a strange understanding of the world around them, and a strange understanding of him as well. "N-Nell?"

Pesche and Don Chakka had both stopped tussling in the sand as soon as they heard the panicked note in their young master's voice. Their eyes made contact with Nell's olive green ones, and an immediate understanding was reached. Something was wrong, terribly wrong. Pesche shot forward and snatched the lizard from Ichigo's hands, heedless of the boy's startled cry. Squeezing the small animal his eyes widened as he felt Nell's reiatsu fluctuate in place of its own. "Don Chakka!" Pesche threw the lizard onto the sand and killed it under the heel of his foot.

"I got it, yansu!" Don Chakka opened his mouth to the point of dislocation, and from it, the huge familiar shape of their Pet, Bawabawa, shot out. The worm-like hollow spread itself out, already aware of the situation, whimpering and growling in a language that only Don Chakka knew. Moving at an almost unbelievable speed for someone his size, he darted forwards and clasped his large hands around Ichigo before jumping onto Bawabawa's monstrous back. Pesche similarly scooped up Nell and joined the others. Under a silent command, Bawabawa shot forwards and sped away from Las Noches.

Behind them, the dead lizard spilt its black inky blood into the sand. The second lizard emerged from its hiding place before inspecting its fallen comrade. Dilated eyes reflected the mangled body of the corpse before him. A brief moment passed and the second lizard was tailing the Trio and One, its maw spattered with blood.

Ichigo stayed in a terrified silence as the wind snapped and bit as his face. Pesche and Don Chakka had never treated him this roughly before; did he do something wrong? Tears unbidden sprang to his eyes, what in the world was happening? He curled into a ball shivering and Don Chakka tightened his grip on the youngest in protective reassurance. Suddenly and unexpectedly, he was flung into the air when a suffocating amount of reiatsu pressed down at them in a sickening parody of a gust of wind. Landing in the sand he bounced and rolled with a wail of terror. Stunned, he sprawled on his front as stared blankly out in front of him.

The suffocating spirit pressure continued and distance off, Ichigo could make out the shape of Bawabawa, who laid nauseatingly still. Its master who had been flung the farthest distance, convulsed but otherwise lay motionless. Pesche, a little closer struggled to get up but collapsed in exhaustion. The tears spilled over as he located Nell. Five strides away, the mint-haired girl struggled and sat up awkwardly on her knees. His view was suddenly obstructed as a black sandaled foot stepped in front of him. Unable to move he listened, petrified, as he heard Nell give a shuddering, stuttering gasp:

"Q-Qua-Quathro Ethpada, Ulquiorra-sa-sama!"

Authors Note:

BWAHAHAHA My Cliff Hanger is so evil and smart and -Gets shot by angry readers-

So, I'm pretty happy with this chapter, let me know what you guys think. my Beta Kermit's Sister made everything flow and correcting my stupid errors. So Many thanks and Cookies to her! It seems like my chapters are getting longer and longer, haha.

Without Author's Note: 2552 Words:

Ulquiorra: It seems that the plans are all going according to plan.

Yammy: Huh? What plans?

Ulquiorra: ... You are one of the stupidest beings I've had the chance to meet. And that's why you're so useful.

Yammy: Wait, What?!

Pesche: Exactly!

...

Pesche: What?

Yammy: Can I kill it?

Ulquiorra: Be my guest.

Pesche: What! No! And I Finally got some screen Time!

Nell: Hmm, I wonder where Zyu is?

Ichigo: -Places fist in his palm- Oh! Her? Last time I checked she was shriveled in a corner Moaning about the lack of reviews. Apparently she got alot in the beginning and then had the flow abruptly stopped. Pft, what a pathetic creature.

Don Chakka: Wait, Yansu! then how did this chapter come out?

Ulquiorra: That is not for you to know.

Ichigo: Are you implying something?

Ulquiorra: It seems we've run out of screen Time.

Ichigo: Wait, What? Stop no-!