[Day 9 inside Las Noches]
The orange-haired Soul Reaper ran, down the empty dark corridor, the little arrancar Nelliel tucked under his arm. The shadows of the blu-ish dim corridor were deep.
Then, as he ran, Ichigo Kurosaki suddenly felt Rukia's spiritual pressure decrease greately, alarmingly. She was injured; possibly defeated. He skidded to a halt, looking back in the direction he sensed her from, the little arrancar in his grip being jolted by the abrupt stop.
"Oogh-ah.." Nelliel looked up at Ichigo. "Is there something wrong, Ichigo?" She asked.
"Rukia..." He had to go help her. She was in trouble. Her spiritual pressure had decreased so much that he could barely sense it. That meant she was seriously injured. He had to get there fast...Before it was too late.
*There was a staircase behind them. And suddenly, just then, Ulquiorra appeared at the top of it, behind the orange-haired Soul Reaper.
"So you've noticed." He said.
-Ichigo heard the voice behind him, and up, a voice that belonged to someone very powerful-and familiar. Ichigo's eyes went wide, and he swung around toward the source of that voice, and powerful spiritual pressure, to see the figure at the top of the steep staircase, in a white arrancar uniform that he had seen before, with a pastel blue and green zanpakto that he had also glimpsed before, his figure silhuetted by the light beyond the entrance above/behind.
"I thought you were a kid who possessed only brute strength." The arrancar said. Ichigo felt the famliarity increase as the voice spoke again.
"Quite frankly, I'm amazed that you have some decent abilities." Ulquiorra said, gazing down at the shocked orange-haired Soul Reaper.
He was distinctly familiar-
"I know you..." Ichigo said, sure of it.
"It's been a while, right, Soul Reaper?"
Nel's mouth hung open, her big bronze eyes wide with fear and awe, making a soft gawking sound.
The Espada began descending the steps, his footsteps echoing in the stark silence of the long corridor around him. Blak hair-green eyes, lines going down his pale face-and the hollow mask on the left side of his head, with the horn jutting out of the top side...
Again, Ichigo said, "I know you..." He remembered where he'd seen this guy before-He was the arrancar that had deflected Kisuke Urahara's benehime with the swatt of his hand, so effortlessly; and he'd grapped Grimmjow's arm, just as he was about to kill Rukia; descending up in the ray of the negacion, returning back to Hueco Mundo...
And his name was...
"Ulquiorra." Ichigo said. And he was an Espada.
"How interesting, that you know my name. I don't think I ever told you my name before." Ulquiorra said. Nel watched the Espada, frighted, her face frozen in a look of astonishment and shock. Ichigo stood by, his eyes on Ulquiorra, his entire body tense.
Ulquoirra reached the foot of the steps, and stood there, facing him.
"At any rate, Rukia Kuchiki is dead."
What?
"More accurately, she and Espada number nine killed each other. Her entire body was covered in wounds. And she was run through by a trident. She couldn't have survived."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Ichigo said. " Just a moment ago, I felt Rukia's spiritual pressure decrease. You weren't fighting her. There's no way you could kno-"
"Syncronized awareness." The Espada explained, cutting him off. "That was one of Neuveno Espada's talents. He had many responsibilities, and that was one of his roles. In the exact instant that he first engages in battle, he can convey information on his enemy."
Ignorant and unbelieving of Ulquiorra's lie, Ichigo turned away, and began to walk away from him. He had to go help his friend. He didn't care what Ulquiorra said. He knew she was still alive. And Seiko was still here, and remained out of danger. But Rukia needed his help now. He had to go back.
"Where are you going?" Ulquiorra asked. The orange- haired Soul Reaper halted for a second.
"I'm going to save Rukia." He answered.
"She's dead."
Ichigo was silent for a moment, then replied, "I don't believe you."
"You're very stubborn." The Espada said. "Is it a good idea to leave without killing me?" He asked.
"I have no reason to kill you." Ichigo said.
"And what do you mean by that?" Ulquiorra inquired.
"You may be my enemy," Ichigo said, "But the fact is, you havn't hurt a single one of my friends yet."
Ulquiorra was silent. Then he said, "I see." This boy was not aware that he had been the one to force Seiko to come to Hueco Mundo in the first place.
"What if I tell you-That I was the one who forced Seiko Kumori to come to Hueco Mundo?" Ulquiorra inquired. That certainly got a response. It took only a millisecond for Ichigo to take in what the Espada had just said. And then he was gone, reappearing right in front of Ulquiorra, his sword pressing against the back of the Espada's hand, and his spiritual pressure risen all around him in a cloud of fury.
[Nel was dropped in the process, "Wu-ahh!" She yelped, as she fell to the floor.]
"You kidnapped her and brought her here! I suspected that she didn't come to Hueco Mundo of her own free will!" Ichigo yelled, infuriated, but his attack not causing any damage, as Ulquoirra blocked it effortlessly with one hand.
"How unnexpected." He replied. "You had some doubts about the girl, didn't you? Despite that, you and your friends came to save her."
"D*** you!" Ichigo exclamed. "Do you understand what you did! Because of your actions, Seiko is being called a traitor!" The bright light of his spiritual pressure flowed in spiked waves around him, Ulquiorra remaining unaffected by its power.
"A traitor, yes." He replied softly. "If she were not being called that, it would mean that we grossly miscalculated."
"Kh- You b*******!" Ichigo pressed Sangetsu's blade harder against the Espada's rigid hand.
"Is that enough to fight me now, Soul Reaper?" Ulquiorra inquired, gazing at the furious boy indifferently. Ichigo let his spiritual pressure erupt, and skidded back, dust clouds whirling about. He shifted back, Sangetsu ready, feet spread.
Nel, who layed on her belly on the cold floor as the explosion of spiritual pressure whirled intensly around herm her hands over her ears, and her eyes sqeezed shut. Then she slowly opened her eyes, lowering her hands, looking up to see Ichigo, standing in front of her, his back facing her, (his front facing the Espada Ulquiorra) sword held down pointing towards the ground.
"Uh-Ichigo?" The little arrancar said.
Ichigo didn't look at her, but said,
"Nel. Make sure you stay back."
"But-Ichigo-" She said, persistant.
"He doesn't want to let me get by." Ichigo said, looing towards the Espada, naiive confidence plastered on his face, his gaze steady. "But unfortunately things won't turn out the way that he'd like." Then Ichigo fell back, shifting his stance, his head down.
I must move quickly. I'm going to go at this guy- The determined orange-haired Soul Reaper looked up at his oponent, much stronger than he. With everything- Dark energy began to pulsate from Sangetsu's hilt, out around the huge blade. I've got!
The blak energy erupted and engulfed him, as Ichigo shouted, "Bankai!", the transformed, sleek blak sword pointing at the Espada standing in front of him, the loud roar of the spiritual pressure filling the air.
Ulquiorra stood watching the Soul Reaper, observing, his hands resting comfortably inside of his pockets. A huge blast extending up from Ichgio's completely obscured figure, shooting all the way up to the ceiling high above. The wind of the pressure ruffled Ulquiorra's uniform, and his hair.
"A bankai, is it?" He said, staring up at the intense, smoky plume created by Ichigo's bankai release. But the smoke parted, and the Espada caught a glimpse of his face-covered by a hollow mask-his eyes transformed into two yellow, smoldering pupils inside blak pits.
What? The Espada thought, his eyes going wide. The hollowfied Ichigo stood suspended high in the air above, holding his sword horizontally in front of him, his left hand on the blade. Then, he rose it above his head, summoning the raw, dark energy up around him, in preparation for the attack.
The view Ulquiorra had from below was a dark spiral of energy, like a twisted maelstrom, twirling around the Soul Reaper. Then the energy drew together, and hurtled down towards him, Ichigo emitting an animal, hollow-like roar, as he shot down straight towards Ulquiorra.
The Espada calmly, unflinchingly brought a hand out of his pocket to meet the crashing wave of intense, dark power. But when it made contact, he realized the force was even stronger than he'd calculated. Ulquiorra's eyes went wide, as he was forceably pushed back, the ground beneath his feet instantly crumbling under the pressure.
Ichigo drove forward more, giving another hollow-like roar. The raw power sent Ulquiorra suaring backwards through the air, crashing relentlessly through three huge pillars, until he flipped in midair to right himself, and pushed off of the forth, the stone instantly crumbling and caving in on the impact of his wake. He soared back towards Ichigo, who stood ready for another attack.
sWhat is this form? And how can he posess such spirit energy? Ulquiorra thought, astonished at the power of the attack, and the unexpected developement of the Soul Reaper.
It's as if-he's one of us.
Hollowfied Ichigo brought his bankai up over his head once again, as the Espada rebounded back from his first attack, only seconds passing between that time and now. Ulquiorra stood prepared to face the second wave, and counter it.
"It's over." Ichigo said, the hollow-like eyes of his gleeming with the intent to destroy, now.
"Getsuga-Tensho!" He swung his bankai. The dark, powerful energy flew again at the Espada. Ulquiorra again met the attack with one hand, to block the immense energy. But even this time, it was too powerful . The raw power forced his hand back, one, two, three beats, roaring around him, threatening to consume him, until Ulquiorra forceably brought his other hand up, in attempt to keep it at bay. But the energy was just too much.
Impossible- Ulquiorra thought, his eyes wide as the attack over took him, and consumed him, with a deafening roar.
-Ichigo panted, his shoulders heaving up and down with utter exaustion of his power. His mask crumbled, the peices slowly cracking and falling off of his face, to the ground. He struggled just to stay standing, while trying to catch his breath.
-But the Espada was not dead, or even defeated-merely temporarily overwhelmed with this new power Ichigo had obtained. He lay on the ground amonst the wreckage, his uniform now tattered and torn from the raging attacks of Ichigo.
-The little arrancar yelled.
"Ichigo!" She flew through the air-
"Nel?" The orange-haired Soul Reaper said, turning to look, just before she rammed right into him, with such force that he was sent tumbling backward, and smacked right into the back of a pillar.
The little arrancar balled unashamedly. "Ichigo!" She sobbed, grabbing the shocked Soul Reaper's collar, yanking him back and forth.
"I thought you were going to die! I thought you were going to die! Don't die!" She exclaimed.
"W-who knows, I still might." The orange-haired Soul Reaper replied, as he was jerked back and fourth by the histeric arrancar.
She stopped, and looked up at Ichigo dolefully, tears still falling from her eyes. "Look at you, a complete wreck, but you still use your powers to fight with! Stop that! It's naughty crazy! I was really worried about you-and you were fighting, and I was scared!" She gasped for a breath, then continued. "So don't, don't do that anymore. Don't do it!"
The orange-haired Soul Reaper gazed down at the little arrancar compassionately, as she continued to cry and yammer on about him getting hurt and putting himself in danger. "Sorry, Nel." he said. "I guess that-you got pretty scared."
The little arrancar looked up at him, showing herself to be a complete wreck, emotionally.
"Oh Ichigo!" She cried, her nose running profusely. Ichigo looked down at himself, and saw that it was on him.
"Gah! Your snot!" He exclamed. "Come on Nel, that's gross!"
"Back it goes." She said, sucking it back up with a smile.
"How nice..." said the Soul Reaper in relief. Then he got up to his feet slowly, lowering the little arrancar off of his lap and onto the floor in front of him.
"Are you ok, Ichigo?" She fretted.
"Yeah, I'm okay. We can't waste any more time hanging around here."
-The brief, amusing exchange gave the beaten Espada more than enough time to recover from the unnexpected overpowering.
A figure rose from the dust hanging around like a haze in the air, from the intense fight that had only just took place, and apparently, was not over. Ichigo turned his head slowly, his eyes widening in utter shock when he saw-
"What?" He whispered, barely audible. "How?"
Ulquiorra stood there, alive, with nothing more than a tattered uniform.
"Impressive." The Espada said to him. "Even using both my hands, I couldn't stop it. I must say, I'm quite surprised." But... "Was that it?" He asked the astonished Soul Reaper. "Finished, Ichigo?"
Ichigo had used everything he had against him. And it had taken its tole on him. Ichigo just stared at Ulquiorra, shocked. After all that-and he was still alive...
"I cant-" He stuttered.
Ulquiorra closed his eyes. "Hm." He brushed the shoulder of his uniform off. "Yes, it would appear it was." He said, opening his eyes to look at Ichigo, lifting his hand out, his index finger pointing towards the spent Soul Reaper.
Ichigo gasped, jumping back in horror. He was going to-
"How unfortunate." said the Espada, a green cero forming on the tip of his index finger, quickly enlarging, then exploding, blasting out straight at Ichigo. A blinding flash of energy, lethal, and barely avoidable.
Ichigo drew his hollow mask at the last second, in the moment he had to react before he and Nel were hit. It absorbed the attack, but it wasn't enough. They were basted out, through the wall of the corridor, thrown far, crashing into the sand of the desert.
Ichigo ran, ran, in order to escape him, to get Nel away-The left side of his Shihaksho completely blasted off, leaving his torso and arm bare, scarred, and charred skin. He held Nel under one arm as he sprinted as fast as he could.
"Nel!" He yelled, to the unconscious arrancar. "Are you alright? Try to hold on! I'm gonna find you somewhere that's safe. You can rest!"
Yet he wasn't fast enough to escape Ulquiorra. The Espada sonidoed, easily overtaking the Soul Reaper, running right beside Ichigo. He turned to look at him, and his left leg flew out, and kicked Ichigo in the gut, with such tremendous, effortless power. Ichigo, with the little arrancar in his arms, was sent flying back through the air, until he crashed through a pillar, debris and rocks tumbling down, and crashing on top of him in the impact, creating a large, hollow cave in the huge column...
-Ulquiorra followed.
-Ichigo yelled agonizingly as he slowly manuevered a huge chunk of rock off of his back, grimacing in pain with the effort. Once it was off, he fell foward onto his hands, panting, trying just to stay conscious.
Ulquiorra appeared in the opening of the huge hollow he had created, standing in front of Ichigo.
"I'm impressed by your reaction time." He said. "You used your mask to block my cero. But this time, it shatterd instantaneously." He walked in towards Ichigo. "I'm afraid you won't be able to bring it out again. You've nothing left to hold me off. It's time to give up."
But Ichigo abruptly jabbed his sword into Ulqiorra's chest, halting the Espada in his tracks. Ulquiorra stared down at the perisistant Soul Reaper.
"I'll never surrender." He said. "You're the leader of the Espada, aren't you? So-" Ichigo lifted his head up to look at him, with a weak grin. "It's very simple. What I have to do is defeat you in battle, and this war is as good as over."
"...I see." Ulquiorra said. "It looks like you have been mis-informed."
What? The Espada reached up and grabbed Ichigo's bankai, moving it, tearing his jacket open, so he could see the number 4 that was tattoed on his bare, sculpted chest.
Ichigo's eyes widened. His sword lowered. "You're...number four?"
"Correct." He replied. "Espada number four, Ulquiorra Schiffer. Of all the Espada, my power is ranked...Fourth."
Ulquiorra's hand rose up, towards Ichigo, and thrust out.
Ichigo gasped. He looked down slowly at the fist embedded in his chest, in shock.
"Ichigo Kurosaki. It's pointless." Ulquiorra said. "You cannot defeat me. Even if you were lucky enough to succeed, there are three Espada ranked above me who are much stronger than I. Try as many times as you like."
He pulled the hand out of the Soul Reaper's torso, blood spurting out from the hole. Ichigo gasped, then fell facedown to the ground, defeated. "The result will always be the same. It appears that I have grossly overestimated you. You're developement-didn't meet my expectations."
Ichigo lie there, motionless, as Ulquiorra peered down at him. "This is the end, then." The 4th Espada said, and turned, walking out slolwy.
"If you can still move in that condition, leave Hueco Mundo immediately. If you can't move, than die there."
Ichigo could hear the Espada as he walked away, clinging to consciousness, just barely, desperate to stay alive-he had to save Seiko...But...he couldn't move. The blackness was closing in.
"No matter what, your path ends here, Soul Reaper." Ulquiorra said, and dissapeared.
Ichigo's bankai slowly dissipated, it's dark energy seeping out of his body and his blade, the sword reverting back to it's normal form, as he slipped into unconsciousness. It couldn't end like this. He had to save Seiko, no matter what-but... He couldn't. He had failed...for now.