A/N: WAT. THE. FUUUUUUUUUUCKK? ? ? ?

WHO HERE IS CAUGHT UP WITH THE MANGA? ? ? ? I.E., READ CHAPTER 485 (I THINK) ON WEDNESDAY? ? ? AND SAW WHAT I THINK I SAW? ! ? ! ? !

Oh my God, guys, I am so excited! ! ! Caps lock, bold, italics, and underline are not enough to express my excitement! ! I'm not going to say what it is in case there are other people reading who haven't caught up, but…Someone review and talk about it, or PM me and talk about it. Because I NEED TO TALK ABOUT IT!

AAAAHHHHH~~~!1~!`1!11~!1

Now I can talk about real stuff ~~ HOLY SHIT GUYS. 1. We cleared 100 reviews! This is a record for me as it usually takes at least 20 chapters for me to get that high! :D So thank you all very much, you have NO idea! 2. THERE WERE 20 FNICKING REVIEWS ON THE LAST CHAPTER. My mind has been blown. I didn't know that was humanly possible for me. Thank you all SO MUCH again, I love you all. Every review gives me a mini spaz attack, you have no idea~!

Ulquiorra could only stand in shock as the smiling, toothy blond man raised his free hand to his forehead and dragged his fingers swiftly down his face and to his chin. Just as before, with Mr. Ichigo and Mr. Kensei, a white mask appeared on his face, trailing strips down the back of his head. Ulquiorra's eyes widened impossibly when he saw the man – Mr. Shinji's – eyes. They were black and gold, unnatural and frightening.

Ulquiorra cringed, sure that Mr. Shinji had only come to simply kill him himself. But the masked man whirled around and raised his sword to the bird. Ulquiorra shut his eyes tightly, wincing with each crash, feeling the wind from Mr. Shinji's movements and the heat from the fire bird course across his body.

He kept his eyes closed tightly, his eyelids aching, for what felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes until the clashing stopped. Tentatively opening them, he saw Mr. Shinji holding his shoulder and grimacing in pain. His mask was broken, only covering one eye and his forehead, and as Ulquiorra watched, the mask dissolved until his eyes were back to their gray-brown. The man's face was covered in soot and his bangs were singed on one side. But, despite his obvious pain, the man still managed to turn and smile reassuringly at Ulquiorra, revealing the same piano teeth as Nnoitra.

Nnoitra ~

Ulquiorra turned to look at his comrade, who was hanging from the block with his mouth wide open, displaying the aforementioned piano teeth. To his right, Hallie was also staring in shock, her blond lashes not covering her sea-green eyes at all. Her collar had slipped down a little, showing about half an inch of the awful scar that mottled the bottom of her face.

"All right, kiddoes. Down we go."

Mr. Shinji's eyes flicked down, and Ulquiorra's did too. The captain were all standing stock still, eyes glued to the scene above – or all but three. The captain-general looked as though his mind had been blown, while Tôshirô Hitsugaya was looking angry and pacing while keeping his gaze trained upward. The third was Captain Unohana, who was still bent over Lilinette.

"How?" came 'Porro's voice from farther down the line.

Mr. Shinji grinned. "You kids didn't think I'd come get you with only myself, right?"

As if cued, the air around them shimmered and seven more people appeared. Ulquiorra recognized one, and opened his mouth before he could stop himself.

"Mr. Kensei?"

The man's mask didn't turn towards him, but Ulquiorra thought he saw the yellow eyes behind the carved-out holes flick briefly towards him.

Ulquiorra was too surprised to even notice how weird it was that all of the new people were standing on the sky, without any kind of support. However, he heard Aaroniero clear his throat.

"Um…are you guys flying?" Aaroniero asked quizzically.

"Who cares?" Starrk howled. He threw himself against the blocks again, struggling to free himself and get to his sister. "Let me out!"

Ulquiorra's neck and arms were aching. He attempted to roll his shoulders, but he couldn't. Still paralyzed, then. He winced and looked at Mr. Shinji, feeling his upper body beginning to shake.

"Okay, Lisa, you're in charge of the first two," Mr. Shinji said, and a woman with a cross-shaped mask and a long braid nodded and zoomed to Starrk and Barragan. "Kensei, you grab the next two."

Mr. Kensei took fast, deliberate steps across the sky and with sure strong fingers yanked the blocks off of Hallie's hands, tossing them over his shoulder. The girl fell forward suddenly, her feet still pinned to the wood. Mr. Kensei's arm wrapped around her and she fell against his chest while he ripped the last black from her feet.

She clung to his shoulders, still clearly terrified.

Mr. Kensei reached for Ulquiorra. The blocks felt like magnets as they separated from Ulquiorra's hands, and he gripped Mr. Kensei before he had a chance to fall. His feet parted from the block, and he held tightly to Mr. Kensei's bulky arms, trying not to look at the scary bone mask.

A guttural growl emitted from the man's throat. "Who's getting the Kurosaki kid?" Mr. Kensei called, his eyes flicking to his few remaining comrades. Mr. Shinji, among them, was no longer smiling.

"I will," he said, and dove toward the ground, his hair and tie streaming behind him. Ulquiorra couldn't look away from the man, who he was sure was going to hit the ground right by Captain Ukitake's feet, but instead, Mr. Shinji scooped Sora up into his arms, made a hairpin turn against the air, and soared back up to them.

"How come Shinji only has to have one kid?" grumbled a blond girl with a red tracksuit and a unicorn-like mask. "It's not fair."

"You don't have any kids, Hiyori," pointed out a man with a tux, long wavy hair and a mask with a bird beak. He had Nnoitra and Grimmjow on his back, who both looked like they were trying to hold on for dear life.

"And anyway, Kurosaki Sora is the most important one, seeing as he's the one the Soul Society will be trying to get back the hardest, and if he has so much as a scratch on him when we get back, Ichigo will rip out our spines and beat us with them," said a man with a star-shaped afro, an aqua tracksuit, and a mask with two tiny horns protruding from it. Zommari and 'Porro were clinging to his back.

"Lovely image, Love," said a huge man in a green suit, with pink hair and a clown-like mask. He had Yammy trying to fit his arms around his thick neck, but the boy was so large himself that the man didn't seem to have room for any others. "I really wanted that image in my mind."

"I know you did, that's why I said it," said the man with the afro, shrugging and almost making Zommari and 'Porro slip from his back. He quickly scooped them back up, looking alarmed.

"Can we get back on track?" said the woman with the braid, sounding irritated through the growl that her mask caused her to have. "I think the captains are getting restless." She looked down, but upon seeing Captain Kyoraku's beaming face and dorky thumbs up, she blushed and quickly looked back at her comrades.

"Plus, my mask is getting tired!" complained a girl with green hair and a strange orange-and-white jumpsuit and buggy mask. Aaroniero – the smallest of all of them – was slung carelessly across her shoulders, and seemed to be struggling to stay on.

"Pssh, hush, you. Your mask can endure longer than any of us here," said Mr. Shinji. He wrapped his arms securely around Sora. "Let's just get this over with."

The crew flowed easily into formation. Ulquiorra shifted so that he was riding piggyback on Mr. Kensei's back, sharing the space with Hallie, who still appeared to be scared. Feeling Mr. Kensei's back muscles rippling under his tiny body gave Ulquiorra strength, and he reached out for Hallie's arm.

"It's okay," he said. "We're safe now."

"Do you…really think we…aren't going…to die?" Hallie whispered, not looking at him. Her eerily blond eyelashes were aimed downward, like she was watching her lips as she spoke.

"Yes," Ulquiorra said. "I told you, didn't I?"

She looked at him. The two of them were bouncing with every confident step Mr. Kensei took, but he could still see the emotion in her sea-colored eyes.

"But Lilinette," she said.

Ulquiorra tried; he really did. But he couldn't stop his eyes from sliding down to the figure on the rocks, which were much closer now that Mr. Kensei had descended from the beam of the Sokyoku. He could now see her eyes, which were closed; her nose, scrunched up in pain; her mouth, covered in blood. A hole had been torn in her chest, and her neck and limbs were bent at awkward angles.

"What a way to go," murmured the blond man with long hair.

"Have a little respect, Rose," snapped the one called Love.

"What does it matter? They're all in denial, anyways," said the one called Rose, reaching up and patting Grimm's blue head fondly. "Isn't that right, Schiffer?"

Ulquiorra tore his eyes away from Lilinette and gulped nervously. How had he known that pretty much all he was thinking when he looked at Lilinette – besides ew, blood – was how badly he really needed a back massage?

"Do not presume," he snapped, and then looked even more surprised because he didn't even know what presume meant, much less denial.

"Not this one," called the woman carrying Starrk and Barragan. Starrk was still pounding on her shoulders with his fists, hollering at her to release him. Although he was clearly strong, she was evidently sturdier than she appeared. Her dainty feet with their neat black knee socks and plum Mary Jane's landed squarely and surely on – on air…without stumbling.

Ulquiorra had to think that sentence over a couple times in his head before giving up. There was no way to make it make sense.

"He's going all out," the woman continued, "I think I might even have to –"

"Lisa!" snapped Mr. Shinji. "Concentrate."

The woman – Lisa – shrugged, but shut up as Mr. Shinji halted. Mr. Kensei, under Ulquiorra and Hallie's feet, also stopped, his boots coming to a close on air, and yet the shock from the stomp traveled up his legs and into Ulquiorra's bones.

"Head Captain!" Mr. Shinji shouted from behind his mask. "Explain yourself!"

Ulquiorra pulled himself up over Mr. Kensei's buff shoulder and peered down at the assembled Soul Reapers below, who he hadn't been able to see clearly earlier. They were all standing scattered on the hilltop, but when the Head Captain opened his mouth, they grudgingly got into a loose formation behind him.

"I refuse!" called the old man. His hands were fisted securely on the top of his staff, and his hair blew in the wind. "I think you are the ones who should explain yourselves, Hirako Shinji!"

Mr. Shinji chortled. "If you can refuse, then so can I," he said cheekily.

"I wonder how long it took him to get his eyebrows that long," Grimm mused aloud.

Mr. Love choked down laughter.

Sora Kurosaki gripped Mr. Shinji's collar tighter and stared down at the assembly below. Ulquiorra could see his arm shaking from fear.

"You cannot do this!" proclaimed the Head Captain. "If you attempt to rescue the Espada, we will be forced to kill the boy, Kuro –"

He stopped abruptly and seemed to be grinding his teeth.

"That's right!" Shinji laughed. "You can't kill any more children, Head Captain. We have all of them with us! How can you expect to destroy something you don't even have?"

The Head Captain's eyes narrowed. He shrugged his shoulders, but it wasn't a movement that suggested defeat or lack of interest in the situation – it seemed to signal much more. "My hand is forced, Hirako Shinji. If we cannot simply kill the Espada children, we will have to kill you as well."

His thick white coat fell to the ground. The wood of his staff seemed to peel away, until only a purple-handled sword was left.

"Aw, you don't have to get undressed for us, Head Captain," drawled Mr. Shinji.

"It's too late to apologize," growled the Head Captain.

"It's too late to apologize," Nnoitra sang, which only served to infuriate the captain further.

"Shut up! Are you fucking retarded?" the girl with blond hair – Hiyori – snapped. Nnoitra shrank back.

"It's too late!" the Head Captain yelled again.

"The temptation! It's too much!" Nnoitra moaned quietly. Grimm patted the back of his spoon hood reassuringly.

"You've forced my hand," said the Head Captain again. He looked really mad now. He slowly drew his sword. Every inch of the blade that was revealed made Ulquiorra's heart beat faster. The sun gleamed off of it. "All things in the universe turn to ashes! Ryujin Jakka!"

From nowhere flowed the flame, so hot that it seared Ulquiorra's face from even that high in the air. He winced, jerking his body backwards and letting go of Mr. Kensei's back to shield his paper-white skin.

"Whoa!" Mr. Kensei said, stumbling in the air. In front of him, Mr. Rose turned to see what was happening.

"Kensei! Watch it!" Mr. Love howled as Ulquiorra's center of gravity passed the balance point and he tumbled backwards, freefalling from his savior's back through the sky. His eyes were open wide in shock, and he heard Hallie's high-pitched scream as she was jerked from her safe position on Mr. Kensei as well and was sent on a direct trajectory toward the hard ground.

"Kensei!" yelled Mr. Rose, and he leapt from his standing position on the air to chase after him. Ulquiorra heard Grimm yell in terror, but he was so focused on the ground approaching so quickly that he couldn't look up and see.

He had been saved only to go and die again. Today's just not my day, is it, he thought, his mind hysterical from terror. He could only watch the ground getting closer, as his hair whizzed and scratched his face, and his eyes dried from pressure, his uniform being nearly ripped from his body, bile rising in his throat, and the ground was getting closer and closer and closer –

"Reign over the frozen heavens, Hyorinmaru."

The voice was so soft that Ulquiorra wasn't even sure if it was really speaking or not, but in the next second, he landed with a hard thump on something hard.

As soon as the urge to vomit from terror passed him, Ulquiorra realized that he wasn't lying dead on the ground.

He was alive.

And he was sitting on an ice dragon.

He heard two successive thump-thumps behind him, and was nearly thrown from his seat again, but he grabbed onto a frozen spike to keep from tumbling to his third death that day. Twisting around and trying to see through his tunnel vision, he saw two figures dazedly righting themselves behind him – one with a hay-colored mop of hair, and one with an azure theme about his face.

With a creaking and a slight jostle, the ice dragon took flight again, flying high into the sky. They were sitting next to the huge wings, Grimm being just in front of them. If Ulquiorra looked at the right angle, he could see all the way through the belly of the dragon to the swinging tail and shocked faces of the Vizards below. He looked up, following the line of icy spikes with his eyes, all the way up to the translucent blue head and ruby red eyes. He gripped the spike before him tighter and shivered; the ice was melting a little bit from his body heat, and the freezing water was soaking through his clothing.

The dragon circled and landed back on the ground behind the captains. Ulquiorra saw the neck lower and the head nose the ground. A small, white-haired figure strode forward toward them, and put his tiny hand on the dragon's snout.

"Good boy," Ulquiorra was almost sure he could hear Hitsugaya whisper.

"Thank you, Captain Hitsugaya," called the Head Captain.

"Hey! Give them back!" yelled Mr. Shinji, outraged. He rounded on Mr. Kensei and Mr. Rose. "How could you guys let them fall?"

"I'm sorry! It was that damn Ryujin Jakka!" Mr. Kensei protested.

"You should have been more careful with the prisoners," said the Head Captain. "But now we have them back. And this time we're not letting them go."

Ulquiorra turned and met eyes with Hallie and Grimm.

"Uh-oh," he whispered, and the dragon took flight again.

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