-Several Moments Earlier, Human World-
His laughter echoed out. His body taking in every attack thrown at him. Whether it was from the Quinces, Shinigami, or whatever the hollowed scum threw at him. All of it practically bounced back towards them, with his own tax.
The two captains before him, whose names he hadn't bothered to learn, had spent the past who knows how long trying to put a stop to his rampage. Their attacks, whether it was the long-haired shinigami's kido, or his crazier colleague's natural raw power, simply bounced off of him. His skin breaking down with every hit before reforming.
His body itself grew with every passing second. Giving his main targets more and more to damage. Their thoughts likely surrounding some kind of non-existent limit. Giving him more and more ammunition to throw against them.
The two captains before him relentless in their attacks. Even if neither had yet to bother releasing their swords.
Though given he hadn't either, he supposed it was fair.
Even if he was technically outnumbered. Well. He had been at the start.
As of now, he'd already released a good hundred hollows from within his own inner realm. Half of which we're currently still alive. Even if they were slowly been whittled down by the Shinigami's reinforcements?
Though he was fairly certain the five Quincy on the ground were only retaliating against those hollows directly trying to attack the city.
Which was, in his mind, rather fair really. Given the first time he'd laid eyes on them, there had been six waiting for him. The first of which to lay his reishi arrows on his modified skin happened to also be the last. The others realizing that, unlike the shinigami's blades, their attacks had a different effect on him entirely.
Every Zanpakuto that managed to cut his skin resulted in a newly formed hollow, one cultivated within seconds, and directly based on the blade that had struck him.
The biggest of them, the only one seemingly incapable of not fighting without his blade, resulted in a practical glass-cannon. Incredible strength, with not a single point in resilience.
The one that looked like a female on the other hand, had resulted in Hollows that favoured speed above all else.
The Quincies attacks, on the other hand, at least their attacks on him specifically, resulted in something far more mundane. Every arrow to puncture him, created a direct link to the attacker, which allowed him to fill them with pure hollow reiatsu. A literal death sentence to any Quincy.
The first one, the big one with the bells on his hair, once again made to charge towards him. His bloodthirsty grin mismatched with his blood-soaked robes.
"Ehahahaha!" His laughter echoed, entirely misplaced. "I can do this all bloody day! Hollow!"
He sincerely doubted that.
"I'll have your name, if it's the last thing I do!"
He doubted that even more.
Instead of bothering to dodge, as he'd pretended to need to during the start of their scuffle, Yammy took the attack head on. Literally allowing the man to strike his head with what should've been a fatal move. Instead, he watched as the skin on his face ripped open, another hollow formed instantly, one that rocked the crazed shinigami with a thunderous punch, shattering it's own arm in the process as it sent him rocketing towards his associate.
The, somehow, even less calmer shinigami promptly moved out of the way, his hands raised in another attempt to use his kido. This time, one in the 70s.
Kido, unlike a zanpakuto's strike, didn't result in creating any newer hollows. Instead, his skin took in the attacks, raising his own personal resilience to it, before reducing the shinigami's himself. The man making no sign of remotely noticing.
Briefly understanding the attack thrown at him, the effect temporary until another art was used, Yammy made a picture-perfect copy, albeit without the incantation, before shooting it directly at the irritated shinigami. The man wasting more of his reiatsu in his attempt to dodge.
Down below, he watched as his small army of hollows once again tried to breach the Quincy one currently hiding the rest of the vermin from him.
The hollowed shinigami, on the other hand, elected to bide their time and attacks. Only intervening when absolutely necessary.
Not that he could blame them.
The moment he so much as had a whiff of their hollowfied reiatsu, his body automatically drained it mercilessly.
All in all, Yammy was admittedly having a good day. And frankly, if not for his orders to delay his guaranteed victory, he would've long since dealt with the trash sent to stop him. And really, he wasn't entirely sure why Groban had insisted on said order. If he, the weakest of the +Espada was having such an easy time dealing with the captains before him, it spoke wonders of what those higher than him could do.
Really, if they wanted, they could've just as easily taken out the entirety of Soul Society. He quite frankly couldn't see how they'd lose.
Of course, that was the moment everything went wrong.
Unlike the others around him, he was the first to notice the sudden incoming breach... Of what? He wasn't sure.
But even he, as uneducated as he was (According to what near every other +Espada barring the green one said) understood what a Bankai was.
What he didn't understand was where the word had come from, for none of his current targets had spoken it-
He watched, his eyes widening as the very sky before him promptly split open. His home, showed through from the other side. The two captains before him, for the first time since they'd laid eyes on him, finally stopped to take a breather. Their own eyes fixated on the breach in space before them.
Sending out his own reiatsu towards, he found his confusion worsening as his reiatsu simply went through it, almost as if the breach wasn't in truth there... Or perhaps it was a mere mirror into his world? A visual breach in space as it were.
Yet what sort of visual power allowed him to sense those on the other side? He could not recall any hollow capable of such a thing.
"A-Aizen!?"
He blinked, not recognising the long-haired coward's word. his own gaze briefly latching onto the thousands of Hollow on the other side. All of them staring down towards him-
No... Not him...
Squinting his eyes, Yammy was surprised to see a single, sole, Shinigami on the other side. One lazily pointing his blade further up in the sky.
His fingers tensed the moment he felt the one with the bells on his head once again attack him. This time using both of his hands. To no avail-
Only, to his own shock, for the first time since the battle had started, no hollow had formed. Worse yet, looking down, Yammy's eyes widened further when he realised every hollow he had created, had disappeared- Yet they couldn't have died, given he could still feel his link towards them. Almost as if they'd been called back-
Yet the only time that would ever be the case was if Ulquiorra was- He cursed. For there was simply no way the greatest of them could've possibly fallen!
With a snarl, he back-handed the bell-wearing weirdo on the face, sending him rocketing towards the ground. The other, having noticed the lack of his army of hollows, elected to charge him with his own blade.
Raising his hand again, his eyes still fixated on the breach in space, Yammy fired off a point-blank cero at the man. Once again catching him off-guard, given that had been the first time he'd elected to use his hollow powers.
Yet his own eyes simply could not stray from the breach, his senses telling him it reached out further than just the human world, his body for some strange reason fidgeting. Fear and helplessness for whatever reason filling him-
Until he understood.
Until he'd seen the meteor.
...
-Huaco Mundo, Grantz-
He just couldn't see it. No matter how he squared his eyes, no logical reason came to mind.
Aizen had had them on check. He could've easily had just as much as asked them for whatever consession he'd wanted.
Plan or not, there was no need to offer them one himself. A concession that encompassed Soul Society no less. That was in truth worth more than anything else they would've gotten from him on their own. Not for lack of trying. Not to mention the fact, given Aizen was holding the actual ritual itself, meant they got to choose first. And really, that alone gave them more power than most realised.
Grantz held in the urge to gulp. Mostly due to the toxic atmosphere.
And frankly given Groban's current history with the shinigami, he had a very good idea on what the man planned to take.
"Grantz, activate-" Speak of the devil and he shall respond. He held in the urge to show any reaction to the hollow tongue been used, the other +Espada either too busy to notice or simply care.
Though at the very least it meant Aizen Sosuke wasn't going to understand them. The man currently busy setting up the forbidding seal.
"-Protocal Zero."
He instinctively whistled at the words. Having done millions of simulations of the process itself, he supposed if anyone warrented the maximum output, it was the shinigami before them.
Protocal Zero itself was more or less Ulquiorra's final defense measure for Huaco Mundo. Conscious or not, the Bat +Espada could be forced to activate it. The process itself allowing Ulquiorra to choose any of the Hollows in his realm and awakening their abilities to their absolute peak.
And given he'd been in charge of overseeing it's development, he felt certain he knew every possible outcome. Allowing Ulquiorra to use any means necessary, the Zero part, guaranteed them a positive result.
Even if it meant Ulquiorra would be out of commission for a month, taking out Aizen Sosuke would be worth it. In Groban's eye at any rate.
All they in truth required was the guarantee that the bastard before them wasn't hiding in his illusions.
"I choose-"
He wasn't entirely sure if it was even necessary for Groban to admit his choice... Given Aizen Sosuke hadn't stated the need of doing so.
Still. He figured, idly turning up to the comet falling towards them. All around them, whiffs of white light breached through. The atmosphere itself once again changing.
"Zanpakuto." He watched as the very concept of it disappeared. The bankai surrounding them promptly lost it's only foothold in the world. It's effects removed indiscriminently.
And just like that, Grantz watched as Aizen Sosuke's face paled for the very first time since he'd gotten here.
The first hints of... Something filled his expression. His mind idly noting the fact that they had been fighting Aizen's real body.
His own gaze, his relief at the changing air ignored, turned towards Ulquiorra. His reiatsu mixed to match the necessary command.
Within seconds, Ulquiorra's eyes opened up. With a dull look to his face, the hollow promptly spread his hands apart, rising to the sky within moments. Seemingly out of nowhere, more reiatsu poured out of each limb. Sparks of lightning circled the being rapidly. All of it focused and concentrated towards the only lifeform not meant to be in the realm.
Aizen's gaze seemed to switch between Groban and them, clear bemusement in his eyes-
"Don't mind me. Kind of just lost my voice of reason. It'll take a moment." Aizen Sosuke shrugged, idly chuckling for a moment. Entirely ignoring the concentrating reiatsu, currently been aimed towards him. One finger on his chin, while the other lazily held his blade.
Grantz blinked.
He just... blinked.
"Primordial: Roaring-" Ulquiorra's voice, barely reaching them, echoed out bringing his attention back to the matter at hand. The +Espada having settled for one of his own personal abilities.
There were three possible results in Ulquiorra's primordial class of abilities. All of them, thankfully, meant very little aftereffects for him and his colleagues.
The poor bastard on the other side?
Well.
That was neither here or there, really.
It was too bad, he supposed. He would've been curious to see how Aizen would've tried to take back his concession, albeit keeping theirs, for he surely would've-
"I choose-"
Too little too late.
"-victory."
Grantz froze.
"Paradox." Ulquiorra finished off with a new one. Unconsciousness took over him as his body essentially went into hibernation for the next month. The aftereffects of Aizen Sosuke's Bankai brought back with him. The glistening Impactor back in it's place in Huaco Mundo's skies.
"When the stars align..." Harribel's haunted voice filled his surroundings. The shark empress the only other +Espada to bother keeping track of Ulquiorra's powers.
"Stars?" Grantz questioned with a snort, almost manicly. "The damn galaxies have aligned for him!"
...
Hope You Enjoyed! Don't forget feedback!
Regarding the latest review about one of my other stories, again I'd like to reiterate that I intend to complete all of the stories I've started. Albeit with Grindelwald's Tale, I am heavily considering rewriting the last ten or so chapters. More than likely starting just after the tournament start as the writer's block on it has been rather severe.
Regardless, I'd appreciate it if all reviews are kept to their correspondent stories. And yes, I do in fact read every single one, there's absolutely no need to try and get my attention for a particular story by posting a review on another. Unless the two are in any way linked.