Well, guys here we are once again with another chapter. This one I feel you guys will like more than the others due to the participants involved. I'm really curious to get your input on what you think about our versions of these battles, so please leave us a review to let us know what you think. It would really mean a lot.

Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo and Shounen jump. Fairy tail is owned by Hiro Mashima and weekly shounen magazine. I own NOTHING. This is all just for fun!

Kisuke weaved and parried, stone-faced, as Gin launched his attacks. This was becoming a problem. Ichimaru Gin was by no means impossible to overcome, but he could not be dismissed, either. He was a killer of the kind that would have made a hell of a career in the Stealth Corps if he had a bit more self-restraint, a peerless prodigy of murder.

"Really, I'm disappointed," said Gin. He held up his Shinsou, aiming the sword using the forearm of his free arm as a stabilizing point, "I expected a lil' more from somebody as important as yerself, Mr. Urahara Kisuke."

His zanpakutou extended rapidly, but Urahara had already read his aim, already side-stepped the attack. The blade shortened and extended again and again, effectively firing lethal arrows at Kisuke, but none of them found their mark.

"My apologies," Kisuke said, making sure to drip a little anger into his voice, hoping to lull the psychopath into a false sense of security, "but I don't have the time to waste on the likes of you."

"See," said Gin, "you're free ta ignore me. Try it. Just go fer Aizen."

"We both know that's not true," said Kisuke, eyes narrow. "I don't know why you're loyal to Aizen, but I do know I'd sooner trust his word than yours."

"Loyal?" said Gin, slowly lowering his blade so that its tip fell under the wide sleeve of his free arm, "Nah. But yer tryin' to take somethin' from me. Somethin' I waited real long for. Can't let you do that, Mr. Urahara Kisuke."

"You want to kill Aizen, too."

"Your words, not mine," said Gin with a shrug. "Besides… I ain't goin' to say no to killin' the likes of yerself. Always did like puttin' the high and mighty in their place."

Just like that, Shinsou shot out through his sleeve. Kisuke couldn't read the attack's direction, but he didn't need to. Shinsou ran through his after-image, and Kisuke himself re-appeared right in front of Gin, blade raised and crackling with red energy. Gin's eyes, usually almost closed, widened as he raised his short blade to parry. He only barely managed; Kisuke's blade scraped against his shoulder.

"I realize that you spent an entire life surrounded by people afraid of you," said Kisuke calmly, staring the killer in the eye, "and I realize you've spent most of your life being brighter than everyone around you. But, now you need to realize that there's a pecking order."

At his will, Benihime crackled with red energy, arcing through Gin's guard and raking across his chest, a bloody cut left where the lightning touched the psychopath's body. Gin staggered back, quickly putting distance between the both of them.

Kisuke raised Benihime, feeling her crying for blood in his mind, resisted the urge to let her have her fill, and pointed its tip at Gin.

"I'm a better killer than you ever have been, Ichimaru Gin, and I am brighter, too. You are beneath me, just like you're beneath Aizen."

"You think you're goin' ta goad me that easy?" Gin hissed, his eyes narrowing as he stared at Kisuke with the gaze of a predator denied. "You think that's all it takes?"

"I think I can see you cracking from all the way over here," said Urahara calmly, "but thankfully, I won't be dealing with you."

Gin cocked his head. "Yeah?"

There was a sudden flash of movement, and suddenly there were two shinigami flanking Gin, taking up positions with their blades at the ready. Captain Hitsugaya Toushirou, a fiercely determined expression on his face, and Matsumoto Rangiku, a sombre expression on her face.

"I figured Aizen would not leave himself undefended," said Kisuke with a smirk, "so I made sure to suggest to a couple of allies that I would need a hand from at a critical time. It seems Tenth finished up their fights just in the nick of time. I'll give you this, Gin: I can't afford to ignore the likes of you. But, neither can you afford to ignore the likes of Hitsugaya Toushirou."

"Traitor," Hitsugaya said coldly, "surrender now, and you will be given a trial. Fail to do so, and we will not hesitate to kill."

"I'm sorry, Gin," said Rangiku, "but we're not holding back."

"Now that's just cheatin'," said Gin, shaking his head in mock disbelief.

"Cheating is how I end up on top when the deck is stacked against me," Urahara said cheerily. "Captain Hitsugaya, I'll leave the rest to you."

Hitsugaya nodded. "Just disrupt Aizen's sickening ritual. We'll take care of him."

For a moment, Gin's expression hardened, as if he would take on all of them at once. Then he sighed.

"It won't do you no good," he said to Kisuke. "You'll still lose. The only one that knows how to kill him is me."

"I'm a man of many talents, Mr. Ichimaru," said Kisuke, "and he's not the first man to have underestimated me."

With that, Kisuke dashed up and away, shooting toward Aizen. A blade shot up to stab him in the back, but a wall of ice blunted its strike. Kisuke would have smiled if he weren't so sure he might die in the coming minutes. His plan had worked so far, but even the best-laid plans had a tendency to fall apart when they clashed with reality.

Renji was controlling the pace. The battle was intense as they paced back and forth across the skyscape, but his hard work with a blade was paying off. Luppi Antenor was dangerous, but his form was lacking and his foppish mannerisms hid a sloppy approach to combat.

It felt good to just fight, just go without holding back. Anger burned in his chest, hate, and anger, but it was anger with a purpose. Anger well-controlled, molded to be a useful tool rather than a berserker's frenzy. He had been utterly destroyed, annihilated, and humiliated in their first foray into Hueco Mundo, and to face a battle he could more than handle filled him with confidence. Sure, one could say that a young captain faced with the primero on his very first military deployment was hardly a fair test of his skills, but life didn't care about fair, and Renji didn't care for excuses. Right now, all that mattered was triumph, to not fumble away the edge he was working up toward. His blade rose and fell, and although Luppi deftly managed to weave away from any serious hit Renji threw at him, the espada was finding no openings. Renji intended to give him none.

Luppi fired off a set of bala, skipping back a good few paces as Renji dodged them. Flipping around his blade to hold it in a reverse grip, Luppi sighed, spinning his weapon around casually. Peacock, Renji thought. Like a young cadet who had just gotten his blade, and was fixated on how cool he would look throwing it around.

It's just that this cadet is also a lethal killing machine with the power to rival a captain's, Renji reminded himself.

"You're no fun at all," said Luppi, shaking his head. "Lord Aizen gave me all this power, and you have to go and take this whole fight thing so seriously I can't even show it off."

"What are you going to do next, pout?" Renji shot back gruffly. "I'm not here to indulge your fantasies. Get serious if you want to defeat me."

"Now, that would be even less fun," said Luppi, a cruel smirk on his face. "I'd hate to just kill you right away, mister junior captain."

Renji's grip on the hilt of his blade tightened, but he refused to rise to such a basic taunt. Instead, he surged forward, blade raised high. Luppi raised his blade for a parry, but Renji feinted, twisting his blade to the side. His sword raked against Luppi's cheek, drawing blood, cutting deep. Luppi shrieked, reeling back. Renji followed up mercilessly, kicking Luppi in the chest. The arrancar staggered back, nearly losing his balance. Swaying in the air, it was all he could do to avoid tumbling down toward the ground. Renji relented, flicking the blood from the side of his blade.

"You asshole," Luppi hissed. "That was my face you got, you killjoy son of a bitch!"

"Almost your neck, too," said Renji with a confident shrug. "But, please, keep going like this. It suits me just fine. You're going to end up dead."

Luppi grit his teeth. His free hand went to his face, his palm reddening with blood as he touched the cut. It was a nasty gash, right down to the cheekbone, ruining the predatory handsomeness the espada had had until now.

"You're going to pay for that," he hissed, all the flippancy was gone from his voice. His reiatsu rose, and Renji matched it, preparing to go all out himself.

"Strangle," cried Luppi, "Trepadora!"

As the light faded, there stood Luppi. His body was much the same as before, but his chest was encased in a large, rounded bone construct, like a solid ribcage. On his back, a construct of sorts was mounted, and from it sprouted eight long, rounded appendages, moving about like they had minds of their own. Renji nodded, almost approvingly. That would give the espada some range. Unfortunately for him, range would not be an issue for Renji.

"Bankai," Renji cried, "Hihio Zabimaru!"

The massive bamboo serpent came to life, its coils loosely wrapping around Renji as its massive head reared up and stared down at Luppi.

"Alright then, espada," said Renji. "Let's see what this junior captain can do."

Luppi's smile was cruel and joyless. "Let's."

He lashed out, the appendages on his back lengthening as they surged toward Renji. Unimpressed, Renji flicked his wrist, and the tail end of the bamboo serpent heeded his call. It coiled around Renji, forming an impenetrable wall. The tentacles lashed against the serpent's body, finding no purchase as they clawed at the segments. The serpent's head reared up, and with its jaw open it struck. Luppi skipped back a few paces, meeting the strike head-on.

"Boring," he said dismissively, his appendages wrapping around the serpent's neck as it came in. All eight of them wrapped around the serpent, around its neck and its closest segments, stopping it dead in its tracks. The serpent strained against it, but Luppi strained harder, holding it in place. Then the arms slid into the joints, and with one forceful movement, he tore the serpent apart. The head came off, along with four more segments, collapsing to the ground.

"Really," said Luppi, "you were able to defend, but the moment you attack, you fall apart. You really are a rookie, aren't you?"

The espada took a few more steps forward, his tentacles writhing gleefully. A triumphant look on his face, he moved them forward to attack once more. But, then he saw it. Renji was smiling.

Luppi saw it a second too late. The head was reattaching to the main body, along with the segments Luppi had thought severed, and it came at him again from the side. Luppi begun to leap to the side, away from the gigantic serpent skull, but the jaws clamped shut around him, gigantic teeth sinking into his flesh.

"Dumbass," Renji said contentedly. "You thought it would be that easy? Putting it back together is the first thing my bankai taught me to do."

Luppi, wincing in pain, let his appendages surge out, clawing at the serpent, trying desperately to break free. Renji moved the tail in his hand, and in response the serpent flailed around, shaking Luppi violently back and forth, shifting the espada around in its mouth, chewing on him. When Luppi, bloodied and desperate, continued to struggle, the serpent slammed its head into the ground, driving the teeth into his body as deep as they could. Luppi cried out in agony, blood dripping from his mouth. Contemptuously, the serpent flung him away, into a building. Luppi crashed into a wall, falling onto the street.

Almost unbelievably, the espada stood up. He looked a brutally bloodied mess, his white clothes red with over a dozen puncture wounds. It was like he had been stabbed, over and over, by an enthusiastic but not very precise knife murderer.

"Nice trick," he hissed, trembling. "Almost hollow-like, deceiving me like that."

"Can't help it if you're dumb enough to underestimate your opponent, dipshit," said Renji, eyes narrowed. "Junior captain. You're not exactly a top-ranked espada yourself, but I'm taking you seriously. If you'd done the same, you wouldn't be a dead man walking."

"Now who's being arrogant?" snarled Luppi, leaping forward with his appendages out, spinning viciously through the air. Despite his grievous injuries, it didn't seem like he had been hurt critically- or, perhaps he was just that mad. It didn't matter to Renji. Quickly, he directed his serpent outward, its segmented body coming down to crush the espada. Luppi screamed with anger, and working in furious tandem, the tentacles slashed and cut at the serpent. Wily and quick, Luppi avoided the serpent's slower movements, severing several segments with ease. Crying out triumphantly, he surged toward Renji, his tentacles keeping the serpent's movements at bay. Renji, despite his best efforts, couldn't stop him.

Fine.

"Hadou one: Shou!" Renji cried as Luppi closed the distance. As if running into a wall- again- Luppi came to an abrupt halt, tossed back a few paces. The brief instant was all Renji needed to reassemble the serpent, which hissed ferociously as it wrapped protectively around Renji.

"Kido ain't my strong suit," said Renji, letting the snake's tail rest over his shoulder, "but it don't mean I won't use it. A good captain learns more than one art. The same goes for espada. Or, are you a one-trick pony?"

Luppi shook his head, like an animal trying to shake off a flea, and bared his teeth at Renji.

"Shinigami asshole," he spat, and the tentacles started to spin around behind his back, whipping up into a frenzy. "You think you're better than me?"

"You're the one who's all banged up because you're too arrogant to fight like you mean it, so you tell me," said Renji coolly.

Still bleeding, Luppi launched himself forward, his battle arms lashing out in a flurry of blows. Hihio Zabimaru's coils tightened, and the appendages slammed against the hard shell of the serpent's body to little effect. Snarling, Luppi forced one arm through a crack, sending it straight toward Renji. As it surged forward, several sharp, pointed tips extended from the arm, like a set of huge needles. Renji, caught unawares, took the hit right to his chest. He grunted, gritting his teeth against the sudden pain.

"Got you," Luppi hissed, twisting the arm, mauling Renji. "Now who's the dumbass?"

"Still… you," Renji grunted, grabbing hold of the tentacle with his free hand, yanking it free from the wound. He bled copiously but kept his legs planted firmly on the ground. "Did it maybe occur to you that you got a little too close trying to strike me?"

Renji braced himself and tugged hard at the arm. Luppi was pulled closer toward the serpent, overbalancing. As he fell the serpent broke its protective formation and lunged at the espada, quickly wrapping its body around him. Luppi struggled and thrashed, but the process was over within seconds. He was firmly in Hihio Zabimaru's grasp now, and it was tightening.

"You… bastard…" Luppi gasped as the serpent constricted, tighter and tighter, grinding him against the hard edges of its segments. There was the sound of bone snapping as the grip continued to tighten, against all of Luppi's efforts.

"I'll kill you!" Luppi rasped, squirming like a trapped animal, desperation coming through his voice, "I'll kill you, you shinigami bastaaaaarrrd-"

The air was pushed out of his lungs, and his cry ended in a dry wheeze. Hihio Zabimaru finally relented, and Luppi dropped to the ground, quite limp. Slowly, Renji approached him, the serpent's head hovering just beside him. He was not about to get careless, not now.

Luppi lay there broken, but still breathing. Miraculously, he still seemed conscious. His eyes locked with Renji's in a baleful glare, and suddenly, his tentacles lashed out. Boneless, they had not broken from the embrace. Renji had been ready, however, and leaped back as the serpent began to shield him. They were almost shockingly quick, and Renji had to dodge several strikes. Even broken, Luppi's mental command of these arms had not lessened.

"Have it your way," said Renji. At his command, the serpent's head lunged at Luppi, lying helplessly still at the ground. It scooped him up into its jaws, biting down and raising him high up into the sky. The tentacles lashed at its thick, bony segments, but the serpent did not care. It was an impotent, desperate attack, the work of a creature on its last legs.

"I will do you this one last honor," said Renji, his reiatsu building up, "and put you out of your misery quickly. Hikotsu Taihou!"

The serpent's head flung Luppi high into the air, then lunged up after the paralyzed arrancar as a massive surge of energy surged from the base of its tail to the opening of its maw. The last thing Luppi Antenor saw was a massive beam of red light, overwhelming his entire field of vision.

Back down at the ground, Renji stared up. Once he was entirely sure, once he saw the ashes drifting down on the wind and sensed the espada's signature dispersing, he dismissed his bankai. He nodded to himself, feeling oddly content.

But, only for a moment. The city was still crawling with monsters that needed killing, and his division needed him. Junior or not, he would do his best and hope it was enough.

The flames were blazing hot, and even from thirty yards away Rukia felt like her skin was ready to crackle. Zancrow's flames were pushing her kidou spell to its limits, and she could feel the seal of her danku cracking. Then again, that was the point. The fire, trapped between her seal and the two buildings in the street where she stood, was expending a ridiculous amount of power for nothing. The street looked like an image of hell, charred and blackened, the ash of everything that had been combustible littering the air.

She wasn't sure how many times she had baited the brute this way, but she was sure it was too many. Finally, the spell broke, and Rukia was ready, already preparing her counter-attack.

"Hakuren!" she cried, and a wave of ice rushed through the gap just as the fire subsided for a moment. She managed her reiatsu output with extreme care, making sure not to expend any more of her power than absolutely necessary. The flood of ice crashed through the street, entrapping Zancrow and encasing him once more. Unlike before, though, Rukia took the brief moment of paralysis as an opportunity to advance, not run away. Under the cover of the rising steam, as Zancrow started to break free, she closed the distance. Zancrow smashed the ice wide open with a roar. Mist covered the whole block as he let out a loud, infuriated roar, raising his fists into the air like some kind of ape. The mist blocked her line of sight, but a creature his size was hard to miss. Rukia came in from the side, aiming the tip of her blade at Zancrow's chest.

"Third dance," she whispered, "Shirafune!"

At once her blade lengthened. Ice built up to form an extension of her sword, shooting up like an arrow. The tip caught him just under the armpit, cutting through his fiery flesh. The icy blade pierced his hierro with relative ease, and Rukia channeled more of her own energy into it, pumping pure cold into the espada's body.

"Son of a bitch!" Zancrow snarled, twisting his body and lashing out. The connection was broken, and Rukia jumped out of the way, dodging a swipe from his massive arm. She felt the pure ray of heat wash over her as she rolled out of the way, dashing down the street and around the corner. Zancrow, finally free again, turned around and chased after her, but Rukia had dashed through a doorway and into one of the buildings. She flinched as she saw the terror the espada had inflicted. Charred corpses lay still in the hallway, cooked alive. At least it had been quick, judging by the way they had fallen.

She forced herself to focus. Her plan had worked so far. Zancrow was as much of a simpleton as Captain Zaraki, using brute force as a solution to everything she had thrown at him. It was a little ironic. He had mocked her for doing the same thing over and over without success, yet he had used only raw force and here she still was, alive and kicking.

She was worse for wear, though. Even conserving her energy as carefully as she could, it had been nothing short of draining to throw one wave of ice after another at him, constantly having to be wary of a single attack ending her outright. She had expended most of her spiritual power, and she knew she had to settle this soon.

On the other hand, Zancrow was getting slow. His fire burned much more weakly than it had done before, and his movements had gotten slower and slower. He was running on fumes, too, and so long as she played that game, so long as she kept fighting on her own terms, he would keep wearing himself out. He would keep getting more and more frustrated until finally, he made a fatal mistake.

That was the idea, at least.

I can do this, she told herself. I can win. I will win. For my brother, and for my clan.

The wall behind her crumbled in as a frustrated Zancrow, bellowing furiously, smashed right through the building to get to her. Damn it- he had found her more quickly than she had expected. Rukia dashed through a doorway, nimbly skipping down a hall. A furious Zancrow, plowing through doors, walls, and a ceiling he couldn't even fit under, followed after. A gout of fire surged from an open palm, but Rukia was already out on the street again, patting out little fires taking hold of her uniform.

Behind her, only seconds behind, Zancrow crashed through the building walls with an infuriated roar. A second later, Rukia felt her clothes nearly catching fire again as he spewed fire at her, cascading recklessly down the street. Rukia, already double-timing it, added a burst of shunpo to her movement and dashed around a corner. Zancrow, breathing heavily, charged after her. His breathing was ragged, and the intense glow of heat that had surrounded him was coming on and off like a glitch in a video. One moment he was radiating heat, and the next all she could see was a charred-black body underneath.

Zancrow came at her, leaning against the building he had halfway demolished as he finally caught up. Just as he rounded the corner, he was struck by a wall of ice yet again. Rukia felt drained as the ice surged forward, but judging by the monster's reaction, her plan was on track. When the fight had begun, he had torn free within seconds. Now he was completely encased in ice, a vague dark lump inside a miniature glacier.

Come on, you big ugly bastard, Rukia thought to herself, break free. Use that fire. Use the last of your power.

She took one breath, then another. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest like a jackhammer. It was a deafening sound, even over the cries and moans of battle in the distance, even over the fire burning around her.

Come on. Come on!

He was still for some time. The smart thing, Rukia knew, would be to try to break himself free by force, starting with the weakest point. If he came out of this still standing, how much fight would she have left in her? Enough? She was doubtful. Certainly not so much that she dared use another hakuren. This was the last blast she could give with what she had left.

As the seconds went on, she took a few deep breaths, forcing herself calm. Blade raised, she stared at the ice. She couldn't let her anxieties overrun her, not now. The longer this went, the better it was for her. This ice… even an espada would eventually die if he was encased in it.

She saw the first hint of steam, and felt almost relieved to realize he wasn't dead yet. He still had fight left in him, but he was running on fumes now. He had to be. There was a crack in the ice, and even more steam started to spring out. Without hesitating, Rukia leaped on top of the long streak of ice she had created, and rushed forward.

Zancrow cried out with fury, smashing the ice open. A burst of fire shattered his cold shackles, but it petered out almost immediately. The blazing inferno he had meant to create had ended up a petty spark. How had it come to this? He was tired. Tired, and cold. He was so weary that even his anger felt muted, weak. He just wanted to lie down and sleep, to recover…

Later. Later, after he had slaughtered that shinigami girl. When he got his hands on her-

The battle cry rang out like that of a small but very spirited rodent, comically petty. But, it caught him completely off guard when the shinigami ran right toward him, through the steam, blade pointing forward for a simple stab. Zancrow tried to raise his hands, lash out and grab her, but he was too late and too slow. He felt the length of her blade slide into his chest, down to the hilt, and his eyes widened. She held on to it, feet planted against his chest. Shocked, he staggered back a few paces and slipped on a piece of ice, falling onto his back.

"You… what the hell…" he said, giving her a hateful stare. He felt nothing from the stab. Nothing… at all. In fact, his body was starting to go numb. Deathly… cold.

"It's over," said the shinigami.

"The hell it is!" snarled Zancrow, desperately raising an arm to grab her. His survival instincts were kicking in- somehow, some way, this weak little girl had brought him low, brought him to death's door. Unless he got her off him now-

"Bakudo eight: Seki!" Cried Rukia, and Zancrow's hand was thrown to the ground. She was kneeling on his chest, feeding reiatsu right into her blade, letting its icy magic freeze him solid from the inside. His fire had died now, leaving him with coal-black skin. He raised his other hand to strike her, but Rukia was already preparing her next spell.

"Bakudo nine: Geki!" she cried, forming a seal with her free hand. The spell completed, and a red glow encased the espada. Zancrow's hand came to a stop only inches from her head, a shimmering red field of paralysis keeping him still.

"H-how…" he wheezed.

"Just be quiet," Rukia said. "It'll be over faster that way."

"Never!" Zancrow spat, mustering a last burst of heat. Steam rose from his chest, but after a few seconds it died out. Slowly, he started to cool. Slowly, the flesh around Rukia's blade started to freeze solid. Rukia looked him in the eye as she slowly killed him, slowly turned his insides into ice. The defiant look never left his face. There was no fear there, only anger and disbelief. He was defenseless now, but Rukia did not hold herself back. How many innocents had he killed?

No- it was not revenge. It was self-preservation. If he got up, if he somehow managed to fight again, then she was sure she would be all but helpless to fight back. She was on her last leg, her reiatsu output dangerously low. She had drained herself almost completely.

"I will give you purification," she muttered, as if to convince herself. "I will put your soul to rest."

"Keep… telling…" he wheezed, drawing a last, gasping breath. Zancrow died mid-sentence, frozen solid at last.

Rukia sat there leaned against the hilt of her blade for some time. How long, she didn't know; several minutes, at least. Her shikai sealed without her even noticing it, she was so low on energy. When she was sure he was dead, truly gone, she wrenched the blade free. She fell off his body, tumbling onto the street. After taking a minute to catch her breath, she sat up, pointing her blade at his mask fragment. She was going to be a woman of her word. She would purify him. That much she would grant him.

Briefly, she wondered if her brother would be proud. As she thrust her blade down, her thoughts went to him, and to Ichigo.

Live.

Nnoitra lashed out again, but for the umpteenth time, his heavy polearm struck air. The woman was bouncing around like a rubber ball, always anywhere except where he would hit her.

"Stand still, you bitch!" he cried. He was past losing his temper. He had spent ten minutes chasing her now, and not once had he come close to striking her. She laughed at him every time, which only made him angrier. How dared she? That bitch, always out of his grasp- always evading him, always making him feel worthless.

"Is this what Karakura's defenders are made of, huh?" he sneered, lashing out in a wide arc against his enemy. She somersaulted over his blade, a grin on her face. He came in with a low backswing, but she went into a split and the blade sailed harmlessly over her. Before he could even take a step forward to follow up, she was fully on her feet again.

"Cowards, all of you," he hissed. "No fuckin' wonder you're crumbling."

"I'm not sure I'm the one crumbling," said the purple-haired bitch, a cocky smile on her face, "and I must be doing something right."

"You know, we heard you were supposed to be hot shit," Nnoitra hissed, "Urahara Kisuke and Shihoin Yoruichi. Ex-assassins, ex-captains. Real deadly. But all you can do is run away, can't ya? You're all hype and no fight."

"Why don't we test that?"

The arrogance of her tone nearly drove Nnoitra mad. Who was she to look down on him? How dared she? Letting out an animalistic snarl, he lashed out again with a wild swing, coming down on her. To his surprise, she remained where she stood, taking the hit. To his even greater surprise, she caught the blow. Her knees buckled a little, but she held firm. Nnoitra grit his teeth. She held a short blade in her hand- little more than a knife. A knife. She had blocked his strike with that puny blade?

"Don't feel too bad," she said, as if reading his mind. "That's my zanpakutou. You have a decent kick to your hits, I'll give you that."

"Don't fuckin' condescend me!" spat Nnoitra, pulling back his massive polearm and swinging it around for another attack. This time she went on the attack, neatly charging in under his wide swing, lashing out with her blade. Nnoitra could barely even follow her speed; in the blink of an eye, she had sliced across his chest a dozen times, following up with innumerable punches. The impacts of her fists sent him stumbling back a little, and a kick almost made him overbalance. Sliding back and regaining his balance, it was Nnoitra's turn to grin.

"Ouch," he said mockingly. "Yeah, you sure fucked up my jacket there. Dunno how I'll recover from that one."

As intense as her attacks were, he had barely felt them. Her knife had turned his jacket into rags at the front but hadn't even scratched his super-thick hierro. Grasping his weapon with renewed confidence, he sized her up.

"You got enough strength to block one hit. So what?" he said triumphantly. "You can't hit for shit. And, eventually… you're going to get tired."

"If you say so," said Yoruichi, casually shaking her hand. "Yeah, ouchies. Your skin's pretty tough, isn't it? It's about the only thing you've got going for you."

"All I need when you can't even hurt me."

He took a step forward, bringing up his weapon for a heavy, two-handed swing. Yoruichi flipped over it, landing with one foot on the hilt of the weapon, her other lashing out with a fierce kick. Her foot impacted with his nose and Nnoitra felt his head spin, reeling back, momentarily stunned. When he shook his head to clear it up, he saw her face right in front of his, smiling mockingly at him. She was balanced on the hilt of his weapon, standing as firmly as if it were solid ground.

"Just like I thought," she said, smiling, "you've still got your weaknesses. I wonder if that eye of yours is as hard to pierce as your skin."

"BITCH!" screamed Nnoitra, lashing out with one hand. Yoruichi laughed as she jumped away from his strike, and the espada charged after her in a blind rage. He would kill her. He would break her bones and eat the marrow, and he would do it while she was still alive so he could wipe that fucking smile off her face.

But, she was always out of reach still. She had stopped jumping around, though- she moved away, but she seemed different now, contemplative, as if looking for an opening.

Well, let her look.

There was a sudden burst of energy, and the woman's shirt shredded to pieces as raw energy emanated from her shoulders. Jumping forward, she somersaulted over another swipe with ease and delivered a devastating kick to Nnoitra's head. There was something explosive about the hit that hadn't been there before, and Nnoitra reeled back, stunned. Yoruichi went on the offensive now; landing on her feet, she lashed out with several heavy blows, jabbing quickly and hard. Each hit rattled him, shook him to the core, and only now did he realize how skilled she was. She kept hitting his joints, his throat, his solar plexus, every single weak spot that would keep a body stunned and destabilized. Unlike before, Nnoitra could feel these hits.

Unfortunately for her, he didn't have any weak spots.

Although overwhelmed at first, Noitra lashed out with a backhand. She couldn't have expected it, because it caught her right across the waist, sending her tumbling back. Nnoitra threw his polearm at her with a triumphant cry- but with cat-like agility she had landed on her feet and leaped out of the way, landing gracefully. She folded an arm over her midsection, breathing heavily. Nnoitra grinned.

"Yeah, that's what I fuckin' told ya," he gloated. "You can't hurt me, you dumb bitch. Was that you gettin' serious? 'Cause it ain't gonna cut it!"

"You know what? You're right," said Yoruichi. "I was testing you before, but even shunko doesn't seem to do much. I guess I don't have time to play around."

"Play around?" Nnoitra sneered. "You still think you get to act all high and mighty after failin' like that?"

Yoruichi stood upright and held her knife-sized zanpakutou pointed down. She crossed her arms, getting into a stance.

"Call the thunder, Raitora," she said, the mirth was gone from her voice. There was a brief crackle of lightning, and in a flash, the blade was gone. In its place were thick wrappings around her wrists and fists, held together by what looked like golden ropes, studded with large, round beads over the hands. Nnoitra's eyes narrowed. She was, what, maybe six yards away? Easily within striking distance-

Suddenly he reeled back. Forced to take one, two steps back, Nnoitra shook his head. What- what had happened? She had… punched the air, from all the way over there, and… it had hit? The air crackled with static electricity, and the beads on her still raised fist glowed a light blue with electric sparks.

"Like I said," Yoruichi stated, stretching herself a little and cracking her knuckles, "I don't think I can play around with you anymore."

"You-"

What would have been a profanity-laden tirade was cut short as she lashed out. Taking a few steps forward, Yoruichi boxed at the air, each strike bypassing Nnoitra's defenses and hitting home like a fist to the face. There was a hiss in the air with each hit as electric power discharged each time, making his vision white-out and momentarily stunning him. He managed to raise his polearm, but it did him no good. Yoruichi simply walked around him, calmly dishing out a series of punches, each one forcing Nnoitra back a step, each one sending waves of pain through his body. He wasn't sure how long it went on, but at some point, he slammed into a wall. There was a brief pause, and Nnoitra breathed heavily, raising his head just in time to see her flying through the air with a spinning kick, releasing a huge blast of electricity with her foot.

Nnoitra screamed as thousands of volts coursed through his body. Every fiber of his being was rife with pain. It was only by supporting himself on his polearm that he kept himself upright.

"You see," said Yoruichi calmly- and how he hated that calm; it was worse than her laugh because now he truly felt she looked down on him- "armor is all well and good, but it doesn't do a whole lot against pure force. And," she said, clacking her fists together to release a burst of lightning, "I've got plenty of that."

She stepped up closer, and although Nnoitra tried to raise his blade to defend himself, he was much too slow. She rained down punches by the dozen, her arms moving more quickly than his eyes could follow, and each one was a blast as strong as any he had taken before. Nnoitra's body was ravaged by the electric shocks, twisting and convulsing. The wall behind him started to crumble as he thrashed and cramped against it, the espada forcefully pushed into the brick and mortar by the sheer power of the assault. Nnoitra was helpless, only finding respite when she finally decided to relent. Shocked- literally and figuratively- Nnoitra collapsed to his knees, then fell flat on the ground.

The woman stared down at him for a few moments, carefully inspecting him. Was he through yet?

"P-pray…" he hissed, clutching his zanpakutou desperately, "Santa Teresa!"

Cackling joylessly, Nnoitra stood up. His power surging, there was a brief glow as he transformed. With his six bone-covered arms, each one holding a scythe, he felt on top of the world. His injuries had healed, and his weapons wouldn't move slowly anymore.

"You're in for it now, bitch," he hissed. She stood still, staring him down, seeming unimpressed. It was infuriating. Screaming with anger, Nnoitra lunged for her, all six arms at the ready. Each one lashed out in tandem, six scythe blades cutting right through her-

Right through an after-image. Only for a moment did Nnoitra get to think he had actually hit; the next, she reappeared just out of reach. Attacking in a frenzy, Nnoitra was like a whirling dervish of blades, the scythes moving like some sickening death machine. Anybody facing it head-on would have been overwhelmed. That was how things worked.

And yet, she was always just where he wasn't. Little streaks of lightning were all he caught, the afterglow of her presence, of Yoruichi always being where he was not.

"God damn it, you stupid bitch!" he snarled. "STAND STILL! FUCKING DIE ALREADY! DIE!"

Frothing at the mouth, he continued, uselessly, to try to catch her. How long it went on he wasn't sure, but he was sweating, driven near to emotional exhaustion with anger and frustration.

"Pathetic."

It came from behind him this time. Nnoitra spun on his heel, a scythe cutting through where she stood, but she was already gone.

"You're a mad dog."

She stood to his left now, just out of range like always. Just three, four yards away, yet still as distant as the moon.

"Shut UP!" he spat.

"I'm sorry I haven't ended it sooner," she said, and the pity in her voice reignited Nnoitra's anger, "but I had to make sure I didn't mess up and get myself hurt for no good reason. I'll try and make it quick."

Nnoitra's arms trembled, and he raked two blades against the ground.

"That's it, you condescending bitch? You think you can just… end it, without even using your bankai?"

"Yes."

The sheer confidence in her voice was a greater insult than any he had ever received, and Nnoitra lunged at her again, mindlessly, even though he knew he couldn't reach her. Unlike before, though, her disappearance was followed by a sharp pain. Before he even knew what happened, Nnoitra was down on one knee, two hands on the ground just to prop himself up. She had hit him in the knee joint from behind, he realized, and he hadn't even sensed it happen. Ignoring the white-hot pain in his knee, ignoring the pain from the electric shock, Nnoitra stood up again. But before he could stand fully upright he was hit in the side and stumbled, nearly overbalancing. Before he could right himself she came in again. He saw her this time, if only because she was right in front of him. Blue, electric sparks, a blur in the shape of a person, and a heavy punch to his solar plexus that made him gag and spit, and then she was gone again.

Then came an ax kick, hitting him in the back of the neck, driving him down to his hands and knees. The next kick caught him in the side, throwing him to the ground. As he lay there she came in again, driving another ax kick into his gut. The air knocked out of his lungs, Nnoitra still tried to catch her, lashing out with all six blades at once. She seemed to flicker out of existence, only to reappear a little ways away. Nnoitra, too stunned to even let out his rage, tried to get to his feet. He got onto his knees before a fist caught him in the temple, and the electric shock made him blackout. He woke up again moments later, flailing on the ground. Yoruichi had straddled him, one hand around his neck. Electricity flowed through his body in intervals, shocking him repeatedly.

"I'm sorry, but that'll take a bit," she said, sounding genuinely regretful. "You're a tough nut to crack, I'll give you that."

"You bi-"

She cracked him in the face and another jolt of electricity ran through him. The punch slammed the back of his head into the asphalt, and he saw black for a moment. He opened his eye, sneering at her. There she was, that bitch of a woman, looking down on him. Too fast, too strong…

How dared she?

There was another crack, and things went dark for a moment. He looked at her one last time, her fist raised. The last thing Nnoitra Gilga saw was Yoruichi, fists crackling with lightning, looking down on him.

Then, it all went dark one final time.

He was truly relentless. Byakuya and Ichigo made a formidable team, smoothly supporting one another, each emphasizing the other's strengths while mitigating the other's weaknesses. Where Ichigo's blade was insufficient, Byakuya's would defend. Where Byakuya's arm lacked the strength to deliver a powerful enough blow, Ichigo would lash out and cut deep. Whenever one of them engaged the espada, the other would quickly find another angle of attack to push him back, never allowing Ulquiorra the time to counter.

Most espada would have fallen before this onslaught. It would have taken an absolutely monstrous difference in power and skill to defeat. Yet, despite all this, Ulquiorra held firm. He had taken wounds, yes; he had been slowed by Byakuya's dome of blades and cut by Ichigo's Getsuga, but they could not hurt him so quickly that he could not regenerate, nor could they pierce his defenses quickly enough to pile wound upon wound. With flawless, unbelievable speed and skill, the espada was constantly keeping up. He had been pushed to his utmost, with great wings spreading from his shoulders and great horns protruding from his helmet-like mask fragment, and a long spear in hand, but his utmost was more than enough.

And, they were getting tired. Byakuya had already expended more than half of his dome of blades, and he felt the effect of the bankai's ability drain on him. He hadn't used it for this long since… ever, actually. Ichigo, for his part, was breathing heavily. Neither of them was slowing just yet, but soon they would. And, when one of them took an injury they couldn't recover from, when one of them fell, then the next one would fall in short order. Byakuya and Ichigo knew it, and Ulquiorra knew it.

There was another lightning-fast exchange as Ulquiorra surged forward, stabbing and thrusting with his bright lance. They held firm, but he was the one taking the initiative now. When the fight had begun, they had pushed him hard, the espada just barely keeping up with their rapid attack pattern. Now it was they who were only just keeping up, only barely fending off his ferocious attacks. A thrust came just millimeters short of piercing Ichigo's guard, and he could feel the thrust as if it had slid into his flesh, the little burst of air that told him he had just had yet another intimately close brush with death. The rapid set of thrusts ended as suddenly as they had begun, and both shinigami took a step back, breathing heavily.

"I must admit one thing. Last we met," said Ulquiorra, as dispassionate as ever, "I said you were unworthy of this."

He flexed his free hand, clawed and deep black, to indicate his resurreccion.

"You were, once. But, no more. You have risen to face me and pushed me farther than any shinigami I can remember. You have made yourselves worthy of dying to the tip of my spear, and for that I congratulate you. But, you will die here, today. You know it as well as I do."

"It matters not," said Byakuya, short of breath, "if we live or die. All that matters is that we do our duty honurably. If I die, I will die as I lived, serving the Gotei."

"I agree," said Ulquiorra, "it does not matter."

"Hell," Ichigo muttered, less inclined toward grandstanding, "we're not beating him this way, are we?"

"Obviously," said Byakuya, eyes locked on his opponent.

"Nothing for it," Ichigo muttered, "I'm going to pull out all the stops. I just hope it won't backfire."

"Whatever it takes," said Byakuya.

Ichigo curled his hand in front of his face, and pulled the mask on. He had conserved its use, having only so much time to utilize it, but now that wouldn't be an issue. Because now…

Because now, Ichigo's skin started to turn white. Now, his fingernails grew longer, forming claws. Now, his mask was plain white with two thick, irregular red lines running from top to bottom over the eye holes. Now, he was more monster than man.

Ichigo felt the darkness creep into his head, and it took all his willpower to force it to go only so far. It was like walking a tightrope in a storm. Unlike normally, when the hollow had a small presence constantly held in check by a well-practiced wall of willpower, the hollow was taking over- and he was letting it, having to fight it every moment.

In retrospect, he should have used this from the very start, before he had started to grow tired, but he had feared using it. Besides, it was too late for regrets now. He shot Byakuya one last glance.

"Make the best use of this that you can," he rasped, his voice reverberating with a deep, cruel overtone, "and if I can't come back, do your best to take my head."

Byakuya wasted no time on emotional pleas; he simply nodded. Ichigo felt grateful. His friends would have tried to reason with him, and if they tried to reason with a monster it would get them killed. Byakuya understood, more than anyone, the cost of defending what was worth defending.

Ichigo lunged, blade in hand. His attacks were savage and fast, overwhelmingly powerful, and Ulquiorra suddenly found himself pushed back. He evaded the first strike with ease, his lance sliding through Ichigo's- the monster's- guard for a clean counter-attack. It pierced his side, cutting deep, but Ichigo only laughed, a piercing shriek of glee. With one hand, he grabbed Ulquiorra by one of his horns with one hand and cut a deep gash across the espada's chest. Momentarily stunned, eyes wide with shock, Ulquiorra stumbled back. Not a moment later, Byakuya's Senbonzakura cut across his back. Blood sprayed in both directions, the espada truly injured for the first time yet.

It didn't last, of course. A black cero formed instantly at his mouth, and the bestial Ichigo had to twist out of the way. Byakuya barely parried a thrust as the espada spun around, seemingly unaffected by the pain of his injuries. He moved back in an instant, catching a series of clumsy, careless swings from Ichigo, laughing maniacally with each hit.

"What have you become?" Ulquiorra said, eyes narrowing. "This is more than that paltry mask you had before. What are you?"

"Come find out, big boy!" cackled Ichigo.

Byakuya, for his part, was only a little less concerned than Ulquiorra. He had known about the boy's hollow powers for some time now, of course, but although they seemed unnatural and revolting he had not questioned it. Ichigo had exercised enough control that Byakuya had not spent much time thinking about it, but here and now…

Ichigo felt more like a hollow than a shinigami, radiating malice. Yet, the power he commanded was undeniable. As Ichigo lunged at Ulquiorra again, the spear stabbed him several times, but he seemed not to even notice, preferring to reap an equally bloody toll on Ulquiorra in return. His injuries were closing over quickly, just like the espada's. Ulquiorra, realizing his attacks were taking no effect, was forced on the defensive.

Byakuya's eyes narrowed. Monstrous or not, this presented a golden opportunity. Muttering an incantation under his breath, he prepared a spell while the espada was occupied.

"Bakudou sixty-three: Sajo Sabaku!" he cried, pointing two fingers at the espada. From his fingertips a band of yellow sprung, quickly wrapping around Ulquiorra's chest. Glowing chains bound the espada's arms tightly.

Normally, Byakuya wouldn't have expected much even with a fully chanted spell taking effect; the espada was simply too powerful to be restrained for very long by anything but the strongest of binding arts. But, with his arms suddenly bound, locked in a lightning-fast exchange with a monster of his own caliber, it spelled disaster. The chains, which would normally have broken from Ulquiorra's own strength, were cut to shreds one by one as Ichigo laid into the espada, wild and heavy swings from his black blade cutting deep into Ulquiorra's flesh. As the chains shattered not a second after being cast, Ulquiorra staggered back. His white skin was stained red with blood, his torso a bloody mess. It looked like a drunken butcher had gone mad and just hacked at a piece of meat blindly.

Yet even in this state, Ulquiorra had the presence of mind to fire off a cero, momentarily forcing Ichigo aside. In that instant, the spear lashed out, impaling the half-hollow. His face fiercely determined, Ulquiorra twisted the weapon in the wound while pushing Ichigo back, and the half-hollow cried out in pain for the first time. As Ulquiorra wrenched the spear tip free, Ichigo immediately went on the attack, but Ulquiorra parried and moved in close, his claws raking against Ichigo's neck. There was a spray of red and Ichigo gurgled, staggering back.

There was a momentary break. Ulquiorra, breathing heavily, clutched his gut. Byakuya could see he was trying to stop his entrails from spilling out. Ichigo, for his part, was clutching his throat. Both of them were expending a lot of spirit energy all at once, boosting their healing abilities. They were both of them letting their unnatural constitutions do their part, repairing damage that would be fatal to just about anyone else.

"He's… real badly hurt," Ichigo croaked, and it was as if the hit had restored some humanity in him. "Think you can do that again?"

"He handles himself incredibly even when he's taking mortal wounds," said Byakuya. "I think I will need to do better. But, yes… kidou will do."

Ichigo nodded. "I don't got long," he croaked, sounding desperate. "The darkness… is taking me."

"I do not need long," Byakuya assured him.

Ichigo nodded.

He's all but gone, Byakuya thought. But, already a plan was forming.

Ulquiorra looked up. His torso was still horribly scarred, skin scraped off or torn beyond helping, but he was holding himself together, the red and bloody mesh now no longer bleeding. Ichigo, likewise, seemed to have healed the deep gash in his neck.

Then there he went, charging in with a maniacal laugh. Ulquiorra met the attack with measured strikes, now taking care to defend each strike without overextending. The battle was slowly turning in his favor again; now that the shock of facing such a furious enemy had passed him, the sheer recklessness and fury of the half-hollow was no longer enough. Ichigo still got his hits in, but they were fewer, and he was taking more damage in return. The time he was buying them was measured in seconds.

Carefully drawing on his draining reserves, Byakuya held up two fingers, focusing on Ulquiorra.

"Seeping crest of turbidity," he started, "Arrogant vessel of lunacy! Boil forth and deny! Grow numb and flicker!"

Byakuya could, objectively speaking by any reasonable standard, be called an expert on kido. He understood both its theory and its practical application in-depth, and not only practiced what he knew but regularly made an effort to broaden his understanding of the subject. Only a handful of people in the Gotei were better than he at the demon arts, but even he felt a great hesitance to use this spell. It was complex and dangerous, and he had never executed it in battle before.

"Grow numb and flicker! Disrupt sleep! Crawling queen of iron!"

Ichigo was skewered deeply, thrown aside with a gurgle. Ulquiorra turned his eye toward Byakuya, sensing the energy building up. Byakuya's eyes widened, realizing he might only have a moment to dismiss the spell and defend himself. Stubbornly he continued, knowing he might die the next instant. He had to trust Ichigo. He had no choice.

"Eternally self-destructing doll of mud!"

Ulquiorra lunged forward. Byakuya steeled himself, ready to be run through, but suddenly Ulquiorra stopped dead in his tracks. A white, clawed hand had grabbed at his ankle, holding him in place. Ichigo was grievously wounded, run through in several places. A great, black burn gash on his shoulder spoke to a cero caught point-blank.

"We're not finished, you bat freak!" he cackled.

"You stubborn creature, just die already!" Ulquiorra snarled, spinning around to lash out with his spear.

"Unite! Repulse!"

The spear caught Ichigo in the chest once, twice. Ulquiorra was stabbing at him frantically, desperate to break free. A third stab did it; Ichigo's grasp finally came loose.

"Fill with soil and know your own powerlessness!"

Ulquiorra broke free, stumbling away from Ichigo. In that very moment, darkness enveloped him.

"Hadou ninety: Kurohitsugi!" Byakuya cried.

It was imperfect. Byakuya knew it the moment he felt the spell complete. It lacked power and precision, inferior to any of his earlier attempts when he was at his best. But, it was complete. It was functional.

The cube of darkness covered Ulquiorra and faded but a moment later. Blood poured from every part of the espada's body, ravaged by destructive energies. He stumbled, barely keeping his footing. Ichigo, himself wounded, lunged at Ulquiorra with a mad howl. He had lost the grip of his sword now, just clawing madly at the espada with his hands. The spear caught him in the chest on the way in, but Ichigo kept going, tearing into the espada. Reeling back under the maddening assault, Ulquiorra nevertheless resisted, stubbornly pushing back the half-hollow. He twisted the spear with one hand and grabbed Ichigo's neck with the other. Slowly, ignoring the deep, red gashes cut in his flesh, he wrestled Ichigo down.

"This time, I will kill you for good," he hissed, "you and your entire misbegotten kind!"

"Misbegotten he may be," came Byakuya's voice, "but he will not die this day."

Ulquiorra looked up. The dome of blades was gone. White, blinding energy radiated from the base of the captain's blade, taking the shape of two great wings spreading out behind him, a halo framing his very being.

"Shukei: Hakuteiken," said Byakuya, grasping the blade in both hands, charging forward. Ulquiorra tried to stand up to face the captain, but Ichigo's clawed hands wrapped around his weapon hand, holding him down. The espada kicked at him, trying to break free, but Ichigo only laughed.

"You're gonna get it now, big boy!" he cackled.

The blade struck true, cutting through the espada's shoulder and carving through his torso, through his spine, until finally it stopped inside Ulquiorra's body. Byakuya poured everything he had into the blow, knowing that if this did not do it, then nothing would.

Ulquiorra's arms hung limp at his side. The spear dropped from his hand, falling to the ground far beneath them. Ichigo, bloodied, stood up and grabbed the espada by one of the horns of his helmet.

"How did you…" Ulquiorra said in disbelief.

"That's easy, dipshit," said Ichigo. "We just ripped and tore till it was done."

Even at death's door, Ulquiorra seemed to have no fear, only mild surprise.

"So… be it," said the espada. "Lord Aizen… will take all of your heads anyway. The plan… will continue. It is out of your hands."

Ichigo turned to Byakuya.

"What're you waiting for, dumbass?" he said gleefully. "Finish the job."

Although he was loath to take orders from a creature such as this, Byakuya needed no more encouragement. He raised his blade, and with one clean sweep he severed Ulquiorra's head from his shoulders. The body tumbled down toward the ground, but Ichigo held on to the head. A cero manifested in his hand, and with a contemptuous motion he threw the severed head into the air, obliterating it.

"Just making sure," he cackled.

Byakuya, breathing heavily, stared Ichigo down. His skin was plain white, and his aura was deeply vile, evil…

But deep down, he sensed the core of a human.

The question was if Ichigo still knew it was there.

The hollow flexed its claws and stared at Byakuya. He was wounded, certainly, but Byakuya, himself, was near total exhaustion. If it turned on him…

There was no it. He chided himself for thinking that way. Before him was a comrade in arms, in need.

"Kurosaki Ichigo," he said sharply, "return to your former state at once. This is disgraceful. Unbecoming."

The half-hollow cocked its head, but there was a twitch in one of its arms, an involuntary move.

Byakuya lowered his blade.

"Do you not remember the family you fought to defend? The honor with which you have carried yourself? Remove that mask at once, or I will be forced to conclude I was right all along."

Ichigo raised a clawed hand, as if to strike, but paused mid-move. Deciding to push it, Byakuya continued.

"That you are but a mere commoner after all, incapable of overcoming your natural inferiority. That your victory over me was a fluke."

"Listen here, you stuck-up noble bastard-"

His voice was fluctuating, going in and out of the deep reverberation as one hand shot out, grabbing Byakuya by the collar.

"You are a weakling and a coward," said Byakuya dispassionately. "Unhand me. You are not fit to walk the ground I walk."

The clawed hand, still raised, jerked and suddenly grabbed at the mask.

"NO!" cried the deep voice. "No, I'm so close! We can be strong-"

With inexorable force, the hand tore at the mask, cracking it chunk by chunk. Suddenly, as if it had never been there, it cracked and vanished. Ichigo's skin turned a healthy shade of pink, and his claws vanished. Still holding on to Byakuya's shirt, he stared him down. Slowly, he let go.

"Thanks," he muttered, "you stuck-up noble prick."

"I assumed it would take some strong emotion to stir you," said Byakuya, his tone the verbal equivalent of a shrug, "such as the contempt of a nobleman. It seems I was right."

"…Yeah," Ichigo muttered. "It was- it was real close. I almost lost."

"You would have had the strength to come back. I have never met anyone with such willpower as yours," said Byakuya earnestly. "I merely expedited the process."

A bit taken aback, Ichigo just nodded. Then he looked down, where Ulquiorra's body had fallen.

"Fuck me," he muttered. "We actually did it."

"…Yes," Byakuya said, elation rushing through him as he realized the espada was finally gone, that he had finally done something right. "Yes, we did."

We're slowly yet surely reaching the end of the arrancar arc everyone. Not many fights left to go. I'm really happy with how all of these have turned out. Rukia in particular really got to show what she can do. Also, don't worry, I do plan to explain why some Fairy Tail characters have ended up here, like Zancrow eventually but that will be for a later time.

I'm curious to get your feedback on Yoruichi's shikai. I was really hoping the final arc would answer that question at least but it is still unknown as of this moment. I felt like what we went with worked rather well with her.

Finally, we move onto our version of the Ulquiorra fight. We've already had him clash with Ichigo and Byakuya a few times now and it's finally reached its conclusion. While I am personally a huge fan of how it went in cannon, due to my writer's preferences we decided to go a different route. Have no fear, you'll all get that double horned berserker Hollow Ichigo eventually but in this case, it's just being built up to a bit more. In this case, Ichigio's new power-up is basically the 2nd vizard mask he received in cannon after his final battle with Ulquiorra fight. It didn't really add or change all that much in cannon, but here I feel like it's made a much more noticeable impact.

Please do let us know what you thought of this chapter in a review. I'm very excited and eager to hear what you all have to say.