Aah, a relaxing chapter. After all the pain and suffering, a light relaxed chat among friends.

--Updated with more friendly banter that giveth Neliel Tu the opportunity of being smart, as per Savrik's observation, and clarifying the Espadas' predicament, as per Maidros' observation. Thank you guys, you're priceless :) --

Chapter 25 - Where Szayel Aporro and Grimmjow agree with each other. A clear sign of the Apocalypse, if you ask me.

It had taken long minutes for the Quincy's swords to finally drain the better part of Kenpachi's reiatsu; for the first few, Byakuya had watched the process through narrowed eyes, ready to intervene at any point when the other captain might have dropped beneath a safe level. Yet, judging by the fact that Kenpachi had not stopped cursing in a booming voice, and by the fact that Yachiru had not stopped giggling every time that he did, the captain of the 6th judged that Kenpachi was safe enough, and in no significant amount of pain.

When the shimmering blue curtain finally faded, leaving a transparent, slightly writhing and liquid looking mass in its wake, the captain of the 6th thought it safe to come back down to the platform. The rest of his group remained in the air; Ichigo had not sheathed Zangetsu, and did not take his eyes off Stark.

Kenpachi's reiatsu had not been fully subdued. It probably could not be – faint gusts of it, that made it feel as if Kuchiki had been standing knee-high in a lukewarm river, still continued to flow outwards. The explosion had taken away whatever was accumulated around him; what the Quincy's weapons scattered now was the mere regenerative current of it, which was still strong enough to give a physical sensation.

'…impressed,' Lilinette winced against Stark's shoulder.

'Alright,' Stark sighed, in response. 'The things you make me do, Lilinette, honestly…'

Though she was growing weaker by the minute, the Fracction looked up and scowled menacingly. Guessing that little else would satisfy her, the Segunda solemnly turned towards Szayel.

'Szayel Aporro,' he ceremoniously said, carefully pronouncing each syllable, 'I am impressed. Mildly disgusted, as usual, but in overall, impressed.'

'Yeah, dude, that was like, wow!' Grimmjow exclaimed in turn, seeing it fit to give Szayel a congratulatory slap across the shoulders that caused the Octava to slide ten feet forward through the air.

'I see getting kicked in the skull has not increased your eloquence, Sexta.' Szayel Aporro snapped, over his shoulder.

'Nah,' Grimmjow shrugged amusedly, allowing himself to drift downwards. '…skull's thick enough to prevent me from growin' an advanced vocabulary tumor.'

Ichigo only realized his oversight in staying behind when Grimmjow landed besides Ulquiorra, and flipped the Cuarta over with the tip of his sandal. The Quincy's reiatsu had left a deep, straight cut across Ulquiorra's chest, at the level of his Hollow hole; the raw flesh under the pale skin was of a pale, disgusting pink.

The human boy rushed downwards, but his haste came far too late. Stark and Szayel had already landed around the Cuarta's frail body, effectively claiming him as their own – still looking undecided, Neliel had placed herself in a neutral position between the two camps. Yet, though her still obvious neutrality was somewhat reassuring, the absence of Kenpachi's deafening energy rendered Stark's reiatsu overwhelmingly present, making Ichigo feel as if he had been breathing in the approach of a blizzard. Ichigo inched forward, but Byakuya promptly stepped in his way, blocking his path.

'Byakuya…'Ichigo began to protest, his words cut out by the other Shinigami's dark leer.

'How many times must I repeat myself, Kurosaki Ichigo,' Kuchiki snapped. 'We are not on familiar terms. If you absolutely must address me, you will address me as Captain Kuchiki…'

'Ya, Captain Kuchiki, Bya-kun,' Yachiru chimed, 'but they're gonna eat Crying-Cute-Whitey-san by the time we finish calling you Captain Kuchiki, Bya-kun.'

'Life is hard when you're surrounded by idiots, ain't it, dude?' Grimmjow offered his commiserations to Byakuya's horrified grimace.

'You, in particular, would have no idea,' Szayel sighed. He kneeled by Ulquiorra's side, taking the Cuarta's pulse with quick, practiced fingers.

'He is not dead,' Isane said simply; the Octava looked up in surprise, then nodded. The woman Shinigami's reiatsu sensing abilities must have been tremendous, he thought. Ulquiorra's energy was barely more than a trickle, and though his hand was in direct contact with the Cuarta's dead skin, Szayel himself could not feel it over Stark's. He could, however feel the flutters of a faint, irregular pulse.

Ulquiorra's eyelids trembled, and it took momentous effort for him to drag his eyes open. He tried to focus, but his eyes slipped closed once more. With impassible gestures, the Octava straightened, not looking at either of his two companions, nor noticing Ichigo's frown and questioning leer. He ran his fingers though his hair, looking up and addressing the sky.

'Lumina,' he called.

His earplug hissed painfully, and he shrieked, jumping to the side as if the sound had physically assaulted him. With desperate speed, he pulled the earplug out of his ear, holding it a foot away – and indeed, the sound burst out of the receptor, loudly enough for all to hear it.

'…ro-sama, that was brilliant! We are reading low and steady from Captain-class Shinigami presence number three!' The Fracction's ecstatic voice chanted.

'I think you have just ruptured my eardrum,' Szayel menacingly muttered.

There was a shriek, then a crackle.

'Uhm. Lumina says she is very sorry…' Verona's voice shyly hissed through.

'Ulquiorra is still alive. One of you get over here with the device,' he snapped into the receptor, then brutally shoved it in his pocket, where it continued to crackle loudly.

'Will captain Kenpachi recover?' Kuchiki asked, in a low, measured tone.

Szayel stepped forward, adjusting his glasses.

'He is unhurt.' The Octava responded.

'Yuh,' Kenpachi confirmed, flexing pointlessly against the lines of energy that still kept him prisoner. 'Just can't move much,' he grinned. 'Weak and whiny, but smart. Reminds me of the Kurosutchi devil…'

Szayel Aporro cringed at the comparison.

'Your actions are surprising, Arrancar,' Byakuya continued, on the same flat tone. 'Captain Zaraki Kenpachi's reiatsu has never been subdued before…'

'Oh fuck, don't get him started…'Grimmjow whimpered, shielding his eyes with his palm. It was, however, too late – Szayel grinned wide, with climactic satisfaction.

'There we go with the intellectual masturbation again,' Stark sighed, clasping Lilinette closer. Isane frowned; barely visible, but painfully obvious to her reiatsu reading senses, dark lines of energy had started flowing from the man to the young girl that tightly clung to him. The seemingly endless exodus of Lilinette's reiatsu, which had, for a few moments, tethered on the brink of extinction, had stopped. Quite on the contrary, it seemed to be growing, as if the young girl's body had had the ability of weaving darkness into burning light. But then, Isane thought, the two patterns of energy were not different in nature, only in manifestation. She exchanged a glance with Byakuya, who had nodded silently, guessing her thoughts.

'The Quincy Zeichen places five of the Seelenschneider into a pattern that traps an enemy's reiatsu,' The Octava purred. 'Then, for a normal Sprenger, the contained energy is released into an explosion. Given my simple, yet masterful modification to the Zeichen pattern – I merely reversed the channeling direction, by placing them with the conductive cylinder outwards - they do not concentrate the reiatsu into an explosion, but rather drain it endlessly, rendering him harmless for as long as he is inside the pentagon. As per Stark's instructions, which came quite close to being Stark's glorious last words,' Szayel Aporro said, with obvious and malicious satisfaction, 'I did not kill him.'

'You can't kill Ken-chan,' Yachiru shrugged.

'I would normally take that as a challenge, pest,' Szayel hissed, then adjusted his glasses. 'Now,' he said, 'with at least some of the idiots out of the way, the rest of us may actually have an intelligent conversation.'

'I would assume that you have had found out what you were seeking to learn. You've had sufficient proof of our strength, Kuchiki Byakuya,' Stark said, softly, letting Lilinette stand. 'As well as sufficient proof of our good will.'

'About time you brats gave us some proof of good will,' Grimmjow completed. 'You've caused sufficient trouble and noise already.'

Byakuya lifted his chin, but remained silent for a few seconds, exchanging a long glance with Isane, then, with Kenpachi.

'Aizen can't not have heard that,' the captain of the 11th awkwardly shrugged, answering a not yet stated question. 'Was as loud as I ever got.'

'…but if he has,' Isane breathed, 'what is he doing? Will he not move at all? What is Aizen waiting for?'

'Prolly waiting for y'all to finish Stark off, as for the original script.' Grimmjow drawled, cracking his shoulder and sheathing Pantera. He looked to Stark, raising an eyebrow to prompt him into doing the same; the Segunda took no notice. 'If you were stupid enough to press this on and actually achieved that, losing Ulquiorra would be a fair price.'

As if returned to life by the mention of Aizen's name, Ulquiorra cringed, and painstakingly rolled to the side, leaning on his elbow; the Sexta looked over his shoulder, watching his former companion's efforts with open amusement.

'Ya look pale, Ulquiorra,' he mocked. 'And a bit dusty.'

Oblivious to it all, the Cuarta stubbornly raised himself to one knee, his arm bent over his injury, and, watching him struggle, Ichigo could bring himself to remember none of the rage that had driven him so far. As if all the punishment Ulquiorra had taken had been enough to erase the memory of all previous interactions, he simply could not see the kidnapper of Inoue Orihime in the frail, wounded Arrancar. It was all unfair, he thought, glancing at Stark's pointy and indifferent features, and somehow reading the attentive tension that lied beyond the drowsy glance – from the beginning, this had not been a battle, but a slow execution that the Second Espada had no intention of interrupting.

'I don't think trusting this guy is a good idea, Byakuya…eh, Captain Kuchiki,' he quickly corrected, to Byakuya's furious glance.

'Trusting me is better than fighting me, kid,' Stark lazily responded.

'But only slightly less dangerous,' Szayel off-handedly snickered.

'You're a fine one to speak on the subject of trust, Szayel Aporro,' Neliel cuttingly intervened. The Octava bit his lip, but produced no response. With a dark eye, which clearly showed it had lost an argument with Verona and had had to come out on its own, Lumina shyly peeked over the edge of the platform. It looked about, then quickly disappeared from sight only to peek in again, obviously not knowing if it was safe for it to come out. After giving his Fracction a murderous stare, Szayel had gracefully waved his fingers, prompting it to bounce forward and hastily present him with the package it carried under its arm. Lumina then wisely hid behind her Espada, only leaning to the side from time to time and hiding away with small, frightened whimpers every time that the Shinigami looked its way.

'Listen, guys, Ichigo,' Neliel began, gesturing wide towards the Shinigami, 'we might have gotten off on the wrong foot here…'

'We have been on the wrong foot since the beginning of time,' Stark cut her off. 'But this time, we obviously have the same objective. None of us want Sousuke Aizen to succeed in his plans, and none of us want him, or Ichimaru Gin…'

'…or fucking Tousen…'Grimmjow snarled.

'…in Hueco Mundo,' Stark finished, not minding the Sexta's interruption. 'I hoped that I had made my intentions of not fighting you clear on our previous encounter, and though the fact that you sought to test my strength as well as my resolve by setting your bulldog on my back does not make me thoroughly happy, I can accept it was needed.'

'What are the terms of the alliance you are proposing, Second Espada?' Kuchiki asked.

'I find the title insulting,' Stark drawled, making Isane cringe at the sudden change of flavor in the reiatsu around them. 'Be so kind as to avoid using it.'

'Very well,' Byakuya nodded.

'I am not proposing any sort of alliance.' Stark answered, slowly and finally sheathing his scimitar. 'I assume you originally came here to thin the ranks of the Espada; two of you have already succeeded. One of you,' he continued, looking over his shoulder at Szayel Aporro, who had dispatched Ulquiorra back to the floor with a quick knee to the chin, 'has failed. I propose that you leave the Espada to us, and see to your own kind…'

'Excuse me, Stark,' Szayel purred, no trace of genuine apology in his voice. He cursed quietly under his breath, encountering much more resistance than he had anticipated, and leaned his full wheight on Ulquiorra's wound to keep him in place. 'I fail to see the intelligence in a passive tolerance accord, under the present circumstances.'

'…have to say he's right,' Grimmjow muttered, awkwardly scratching his head. Agreeing with Szayel clearly pained him, and he'd only spoken with half a voice. 'The stealth jumping of Halibel might have worked until now, but now that we've blown off the top of the tenth tower, I think we can safely say we poked God in the eye. Ain't no stealth from here on. Might as well take advantage of where we stand; it's not like the Duchess, the Cheshire cat and the bloody paladin will care much for your delegation of tasks, and make sure they attack us one by one.'

'Another correct and rich literary reference,' Szayel muttered. 'Mayhaps for lack of a zanpakutoh, Ulquiorra hit you over the head with a book? I am concerned about your health, Grimmjow.'

'Keep biting my ass, and I'll be concerned 'bout yours too,' the Sexta snarled in return. 'What the hell are you doing back there?' he snapped, turning around.

'Seeing to it that Ulquiorra stays down,' Szayel answered, looking up and frowning.

'Captain Kurosutchi's sekki shackles?' Isane asked, rapidly recognizing the device that the Octava had placed on Ulquiorra's wrists, and immediately feeling its effects on the Cuarta's reiatsu. 'Where did you get those?'

'You let Tesla loose?' Stark asked, snappily turning around. 'Szayel Aporro…'

'Where is the danger in that, under the present circumstances?' the Octava sighed, in a tone that showed he felt insulted by the interrogation. 'Oh dear,' Szayel breathed sharply, placing an alarmed hand over his lips, 'he may run to Aizen, and blow our cover! Certainly, the fact that Yammy is now roaming God knows where and the fact that you have reduced Ulquiorra to a pulp will not draw Aizen's attention – yet, Tesla will for sure! Whatever shall we do! The woe, the unspeakable panic!'

His eyes narrowed, the left corner of his upper lip curling upwards in disgust. 'Let's be serious,' the pink-haired Arrancar continued, rising to his feet and clenching his hands behind his back. Stark shrugged, accepting the point.

Behind him, Ulquiorra struggled to his knees, but could force himself no further. Aside from completely sealing his reiatsu, the accursed device even stripped the air of any loose particles of spirit energy, rendering any hope of recovery vain.

Grimmjow unceremoniously lifted him by the shoulder, and pulled him forward before letting him drop again – Ichigo winced in the Cuarta's stead, drawing Stark's attention for a brief moment. The boy with the odd reiatsu was no Shinigami, the Segunda thought; his energy had nothing in common with that of his companions. Nor was his strange compassion for Ulquiorra shared by any others in his group.

'Are you expecting reinforcements, Shinigami?' Szayel asked, stepping up next to Stark.

'No,' Byakuya answered simply. 'The rest of the Gotei are otherwise occupied.'

'In the human world?' Szayel sweetly asked, making Kuchiki and Kenpachi look at him with suddenly tense attention. 'There is no need to look that surprised,' the Octava followed. 'While I have had the misfortune of only running across hopelessly mentally challenged folk of your kind, of which vice-captain Abarai is a striking example, I do not underestimate your overall intelligence. I assume you predicted that Aizen would strike at the human world first – it is, after all, easier than immediately going after the Sereitei. I therefore also assume that you would be prepared to face him there, and not here.'

'I can neither confirm nor deny that assumption,' Byakuya responded flatly.

'You do not need to, your numbers and various strengths help with the inference. You have brought a wall smasher,' he continued, indicating Kenpachi, 'you yourself, captain Kuchiki are quite adept with your Shumpo – therefore, a fast mover, and half of your troupe consists of healers. Your group is not an attack force, it is a search and rescue party,' Szayel chuckled. 'And, since you have not left, I think I can safely assume have not yet found whatever you were here to rescue. Inoue Orihime, I wager.'

'And a few others,' Ichigo snarled. 'Like, Renji and Ishida…'

'And Nemu-chan,' Isane softly completed.

'The fact that you are divided is not good.' Stark started slowly, ignoring the two. 'If the majority of the Gotei's offensive force is indeed in the human world, your position here is at least precarious, Captain Kuchiki.' Kuchiki did not bother to contradict him.

'No more than yours at the moment,' the captain of the 6th said, calmly. 'But unlike you, Hollow, we can still withdraw to Soul Society. I would rather we did not, with our mission unaccomplished, but I will not pointlessly endanger anyone for longer than I have to.'

The Segunda lazily looked at Szayel Aporro, chewing on Byakuya's dry statement. The Shinigami captain was right – neither of the two groups alone stood any chance against the five remaining opponents, and the army of Numeros that lay in waiting. What made it all even worse, Stark thought, was the fact that the encounter with Kenpachi had made him aware of the fact that his presence could not rival Aizen's.

'I thoroughly dislike their kind,' he non-directionally said, at long length.

'I believe they tend to have little patience for ours,' Szayel Aporro answered dryly.

'I'd rather chew off my arm then actively collaborate with them,' Stark continued, pointlessly arguing against an unfair universe.

'Feel free,' the Octava impassively shrugged. 'Since you are not a power type, the absence of an arm should matter little when you regain the use of your brain and stop refusing to accept the obvious.'

'He's right, Stark, and you know it.' Grimmjow added, in an unusually soft voice. 'Aizen won't let this go, now. With only Halibel and Barragan, an' without his little lapdog here,' he added, giving Ulquiorra a painful shake, 'things are turning a tad complicated. He won't let us – or them,' he continued, tilting his head towards the Shinigami, 'leave Hueco Mundo and join the rest of the Gotei, and while we are here, we're no match for him.'

'Have both of you gone mad?' Stark furiously hissed, spinning on himself. His voice had dropped to a whisper forcing the other two closer; even Neliel had slowly approached. She'd shifted aside from Szayel Aporro, and leaned on Stark's arm, trying to get his attention. He had ignored her utterly. 'What am I saying?' he muttered, looking up at the sky. 'One of you was mad to begin with and the other spent his life looking to get hit over the head!'

'What do you think will happen after we win against Aizen – if we win against Aizen?' Stark grumbled. 'Who do you think the Gotei will go after once he is dead?'

'The same people they would go after if they win against Aizen alone,' Szayel smirked. 'Perhaps if we refrain from – excuse me, Neliel Tu – pissing against the wind in this one occasion, we might actually lower the probability of a massive Gotei clean-up of the unnatural creatures in Hueco Mundo…By two thirds of a percentage, but…'

'Not all of us preserve our wretched existence by bending over and saying – 'Oh, please, do me without ointment!' Szayel Aporro,' Grimmjow muttered. 'Look, dude,' the Sexta began, ignoring Szayel's furious blush and turning to Stark. 'They may be fuckers but they are fair fuckers. In the end, they didn't off me. Or Neliel Tu, for that matter.'

'That's because they had no clue what she was,' Stark snapped.

'That was even after,' the Tercera said, softly squeezing Stark's arm. 'Listen. I trust them, and I trust Ichigo…let me finish!' she said, pressing each syllable, in an uncharacteristically commanding voice. 'Look, I know how you feel, I am not gonna ask you to trust them as well.'

'You might as well ask me to commit ritual suicide right now,' the Segunda snarled.

'However,' Neliel followed, her insistant stare forcing him to turn his head and meet it. 'this isn't all about trust. You're not thinking straight, either – you're letting your rage get in the way of your reason. I've known you for a long time now, and that's one of the few things I haven't seen you do.'

Stark smirked.

'Firstly, Kuchiki is right.' Neliel implacably followed. 'They can still retire, in which case, we are screwed. They may not retire, and we choose to act separately, in which case Aizen takes us all in turn - they are screwed, and we are screwed as well. Together we could actually face him down, if not outright defeat him. Just consider it – all of us together make ten captain class presences. That's more than the Gotei ought to have deployed in the real world…'

'Big boobs and she can count!' Grimmjow snickered; Neliel dryly smacked him over the head, not even looking his way.

'If you discount the ooze in the jar,' Neliel continued, calmly, 'we're nine. Still enough.'

'We would be four even without them,' Stark faintly protested. 'Aizen only has four left, and if we act fast…'

'You can't take Aizen, Stark.' she whispered apologetically, wrapping her arm around his and giving it a tight squeeze. 'We've just seen you can't.'

'Oh, bloody hell,' Stark sighed, in utter defeat. He looked to the side at Lilinette, as if asking for her approval; she returned a stern, unpleasantly cold glance. 'What do you want me to do? I don't see any other course of action. I told you I cannot face this Kenpachi thing – we have seen I was right, and Aizen should, by all accounts be worse.' he grunted, knowing that she felt betrayed. Seen through her eyes, his weakness grew to tremendous, unforgiveable proportions, and he looked away in rage and embarrassment. 'Seriously, Lilinette…what do you want me to do?'

The Fracction bit her lip and remained silent, staring blankly ahead. Stark took a deep breath, seeking to still the insidious self loathing that had started filling his veins with lead, then faced up to Byakuya.

'The remaining Espada were Vasto Lorde before the Hongyaku,' he said, in a neutral tone. 'One of them is stronger than I am, the other is comparable to me. They have seven equally dangerous Fracctiones in between them…'

'Disgusting,' Ulquiorra hissed. Grimmjow rendered him silent by a quick and dry slap with the back of his hand.

Up next - Can Ulquiorra possibly get into more trouble? Szayel says he can.