A Predator Among Us
A single moment and Aaroniero's presence, as the rest of the Espada would know it, vanished. During the subsequent moment an instantaneous feed of information would be fed into their minds, giving them each a vivid mental picture as to what happened. It would be almost as clear as Ulquiorra's ocular feed he employs when crushing one of his eyes.
"Farewell, Espada!"
Rukia Kuchiki shouted aloud as she cut her Zanpakutou through Aaroniero's head-tank. Crimson liquid spilled out and sent the heads of Aaroniero rolling as the rest of his monolithic form dispersed into a knee deep pool of emerald juices. Those juices themselves would soon dissipate and evaporate into thin air , just as the weary and cut Shinigami would descend to the ground onto her hands and knees.
Looking over, the young female Shinigami would glare at the heads writhing in place over the scarlet hued juices. One was quite still and groaning. The other was considerably less so.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! THE PAIN! AIZEN PLEASE MAKE IT STOP! I CAN'T BEAR IT ANY LON-GRK?!"
After wailing for some time, the secondary head of Aaroniero was stabbed through the skull's temple. Gargling his final breaths, all that remained was the other head, visibly contorting a skeletal glare at Rukia. As Rukia walked over to him with sword raised, he'd chuckle out loud with a sign of resigning.
"To think you were able to best me. I was too careless to underestimate you..."
Without another word, Rukia cut him in a perfect bisecting half. This would create nothing but a blank screen of static for all those "tuning in" as it were. All would verify the last moments with the testifying signature of Rukia's Reiatsu still strong in the air while Aaroniero's wasn't.
To the rest of the Espada, Aaroniero was dead.
The Raging Sea Palace, Upper Terrace
"Shit!" Exclaimed Emilou Apacci, one of the three Tres Bestias. Her heterochromic eyes glared at the approximate direction she felt Aaroniero's Reiatsu disappear, in conjunction with the mental images she was shown. Gritting her teeth, she turned her head towards her superior's direction, whom was looking in an entirely different direction of the upper Palace's terrace.
"Lady Harribel!" Emilou shouted, "what should we do?!"
"Why are you bothering her, Emilou?" Franceska Mila Rose asked her companion. Her left brow raised scrupulously at Emilou, placing her left hand on a jutted out hip while waving her free hand in an emphasizing manner. "you do realize she's just as aware of this broadcast as we are right? If she wanted us to do something immediate, she would have told us so."
"I wasn't talking to you, fuckin' whore!" Emilou snarled, her face immediately invading Franceska's personal space to glare up at the taller Arrancar.
"Whatcha say, bitch?!" Franceska growled back, ramming her head against Emilou's forehead whom pressed it back with equal vigor. Both of them would be enamored with comedically bulging veins across their cheeks, further emphasizing their hotblooded nature.
"Please, stop shouting," Spoke Cyan Sung-Sun, the last and most feminine by appearance of the Tres Bestias, in a chastizing manner. "your voices, as well as your faces, are giving me more of a headache than they usually do. Please cut the unnecessary vulgarity down to a minimum you two harlots can handle."
"What's that?!" Emilou and Franceska shouted at once, their cheeks sliding against each other as they locked widened eyes incredulous rage at their comrade.
Cyan raised her left arm to cover her mouth below the bridge of her nose. Narrowing her eyes, she turned her head to glance at them from the side, "Are you two hard of hearing from your deafening shouts? Let me repeat it in a more eloquent manner. You two wretched sluts are a pain to listen to as much as it is to behold visually. I'd rather not hear you anymore than I see you so please. Shut. Up."
"DO YOU WANT TO DIE?!" Emilou and Franceska shouted with upraised hands. The prior cracking her knuckles while the latter clawed them at her sides. Both looked eager to pounce at their friend for verbally goading them.
"That's enough, you three," A calm, commanding voice came from their superior, Tier Harribel, the Tres Espada. Her body didn't shift or move despite the obvious order she made regarding her subordinates. Hearing them stop, she felt she could continue, "if you used your Pesquisa responsibly, you would feel other forces at work since Novena's passing."
"Other forces?" Emilou inquired, her eyes widened while Franceska's narrowed, Cyan remaining foremostly impassive.
The Espada grew silent upon them inquiring the nature of her words. A sigh escaped her collar-hidden mouth, eyes briefly closing then opening. "You'll see soon enough. All I ask of you is that you remain where you are so that you can see it properly."
"Yes, Milady," The Tres Bestias said as one, synchronizing their absolute loyalty to their Lady. All they did now was turn their bodies to walk over and stand next to their superior. In just a short few minutes, they would all but forget about their fellow Espada's death and keep their senses appraised to what Tier was waiting for.
They could only wonder what it could be...and why it captured her attention so vividly.
The Empty Crown Palace, Throne Room
"Huh, so he got himself killed?"
Those were the words that escaped the Segundo Espada, Baraggan Louisenbairn's lips. He sat upon a bone-clad throne, leaning his left jaw against a clenched fist as he tapped his aged fingers on the right sided armrest. Within the ample lit room had no furnishing or decoration, only lined up with a dozen large Hollow skulls mounted on each one with various shapes to each.
"Stupid punk," Barragan huffed with irritation. "I would have killed you years ago, had it not been Aizen's meddling in keeping infighting down to a minimum. Your feast upon hundreds of my subordinates was going to incur my wrath sooner or later. Damn shame I wasn't the one to watch you wither to dust."
Closing his eyes, Barragan heaved a sigh, "I congratulate you, Shinigami, for slaying the piece of garbage that he was. For that, I won't have my subordinates hunt you down like the dogs you and your interloping colleagues are."
The Howling Wolf Palace, The Lobby Quarters
"Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrk!" Lilynette Gingerback called out with her hands cupped over her mouth. Walking through every hall and collosal proportioned room Aizen designed for such an esteemed Espada, she wondered if it was all really worth the trouble. Considering his nature, he wouldn't bother looking in most of them at all.
Walking past a tall doorspace, the lime haired Arrancar stopped dead in her tracks to see where the man in question was. A resoundingly loud chorus of snores echoed the confines of the room; a insignificant one with a small ceiling light and a door leading to the outside of the palace at the bottom of a walled off stairwell.
A mischievious look crossed her face as she spotted the sleep ridden companion of hers. Comedically, she tip-toed over towards Starrk's reclined frame, crossing the room's vast space in under half a minute. Seeing that an arm was looped over his eyes, she felt no problem would befall her master plan.
Using her right hand, she pointed downwards at the gaping mouth that continued to grate out snores. A sudden plunge of knuckles and an outstretched digit would befall the man, cutting off his air supply. After a handful of gurgles of waking protest were made, Lilynette quickly extracted her hand out of his mouth as a wide-eyed man began coughing and spluttering aghast with alarm.
"The Hell...?!" Starrk began to sputter out, his eyes drawing over to Lilynette's frame, "oh..."
"Heh," Lilynette grinned cheekily. She bowed her body to one angle, placing the back of her left hand against the jutting hip while using the right hand to be raised up into a peace sign. "yo, Starrk!"
"Uhhhhhhhh," Starrk groaned with weary eyes, his lips covered in drool and his brow beading a few drops of sweat. Turning promptly to face his back to his companion, he said aloud in a tired tone, "leave me alone and let me sleep..."
Bulging small veins covered Lilynette's face as her exposed eye open wide in an outraged manner. Forward flipping to face Starrk on the other side, Lilynette grabbed him by his shoulders and began stomping over his crotch, "GET UP! GET UP! GET UP! GET UP! GET UP! GET UP!"
"AH! STOP IT! NOT MY CROTCH!" Starrk barked out in pained retort.
After the beatings subsided, Lilynette knelt over the cushion prone Starrk. Her gaze looked curiously at the melancholic daze his eyes seemed to have, his mouth held in a semblance of a bored grimace. It didn't seem like he cared in the slightest for what had just happened.
"Aren't you," Lilynette cocked her head slightly to the left, trying to catch Starrk's eyes, "even a little bothered by what's happened?"
"What do you expect me to do about it," Starrk asked without turning his head, "he's dead. Me hunting down the Shinigami who killed him won't change that. 'Sides, I don't think Aizen wants us all hording in on the intruders, given what happened in that meeting with Grimmjow-"
"You're still afraid," Lilynette interrupted, causing Starrk to halt his speech but not turn his wall-locked stare. Lilynette took a sit over his chest, her palms still resting over his shoulders as she examined him with her pink eye. "you're afraid of...getting close to your comrades, aren't you?"
"How many have we seen become brittle and die before our eyes, Lily?" Starrk asked, coining the nickname for her when he was being serious. Turning his gaze to hauntingly look up with a emptiness that she knew all too well. The sight of sadness that none of the Espada would ever fulfill.
"Is that why, you coop yourself up in here, away from everybody else?" Lilynette asked as her eyes were drawn down to the Arrancar's Hollow hole. Looking through it, she could see the darkened silhouette of the cushions he laid upon. In a metaphorical sense, she could also see the bottomless pit that depression couldn't be alleviated. "is that why, you only let me go out and talk with the others?"
"Of the two of us, it's better if I don't mingle with the others," Starrk admitted in a lower tone, "after all, between the two of us, my Reiatsu is much higher than yours. It's better this way."
"I see," Lilynette bowed her head, closing her eye as she let out a small sigh, "alright. I guess we do nothing, as usual."
"That's the plan, Lilynette," Starrk answered as he slouched an arm over his eyes, renewing his slumber, "not until Lord Aizen says otherwise..."
The Seer Palace, Meditation Chambers
Zommari's eyes opened wide. The transmission that just reached him upon his comrade's death disturbed him to no end. One of the Shinigami interloping Hueco Mundo, penetrating the defenses of Las Noches, had fought and killed an Espada singlehandedly. The one known as...
"Rukia Kuchiki, hm?" Zommari narrowed his eyes, his mind's eye locking onto the stoically hardened face. Her cold eyes glaring down at Aaroniero with not but spite and outrage. Her strikes upon Aaroniero's two heads were ruthless and calculated, not leaving any room for error.
"The Last of the First Generation Espada falls to your blade," Zommari spoke aloud as he kept his meditative stance, both palms pointed upwards with his sword lying in front of him in its sheathe. Breathing in and out through his nostrils, the Espada continued to contemplate the situation. He could feel the faint traces of the gradual regression of Reiatsu that was the killer's.
After what seemed like a few minutes of further meditation, Zommari's person seemed to evaporate, his sword disappearing in tandem. His feet would tap simultaneously near the exit of his meditative space, the scabbard in his left hand held just below the spiked disc guard. In the seconds that followed his performance of high speed movement, Zommari would finish his new initiative aloud in the empty hallowed halls of his Palace, making purposefully slow strides emptying the room.
"It shall be by my blade that you die, Shinigami!"
The Debaucherous Palace, Main Hall
"MASTER SZAYELOPPORO! MASTER SZAYELOPPORO!" Two bulbous egg shaped Arrancar shouted as they bounced towards their master. One bore hair while the other lacked any, making that their only distinctive character traits to tell them apart.
"AARONIERO IS DEAD!"
"SHINIGAMI KILLED HIM!"
"KILLED BY A SHINIGAMI AARONIERO ARRURUERIE WAS!"
"Oh?" Szayel turned his head casually to examine his Fraccion tell him the news. Placing his right forefingers to his temple, he himself began examining the mental images that were broadcast to him. A look of understanding crossed his face as he nodded with verbal affirmation, "it's true. It seems Aaroniero was finally done in by someone. Quite a messy end he ha...hmmm?"
Narrowing his eyes, his words drifted off to silence as he noticed something else. A secondary set of senses beyond his Pesquisa detecting Reiatsu and the Synchronized Cognition that projected the events that transpired minutes before death. An additional set of sensors only he himself had designed and placed on a particular place to aid him of observing those of the Espada ranks.
"Intriguing," Szayel said with a thin smile.
"W-What...the Hell...are you talking about?!"
"Hmmm?" Szayel turned to examine his opponent. With his desert cloak torn and his Shikhakushou ragged around the edges, obvious signs of bruising and cuts were seen from the various bouts of Cat & Mouse had between the two. All things considered, he looked miserable for fighting an opponent of his stature.
Waving his hand dismissively, he tapped his sword's edge upon the ground below in a casual manner, "Are you losing the ability to understand words? I obviously confirmed that a comrade of mine, the Novena Espada, was slain by one of your comrades. You shouldn't wear such a barbarically incredulous expression. I am congratulating your comrade after all."
"That's not it," Renji said with a heaved growl, eyes narrowing sharply at him, "something's wrong, isn't it?! What's going on out there?"
Pushing up the rim of his glasses with his spare hand, Szayel spread a toothy grin, "I don't feel inclined to spoil that."
"ANSWER ME!"
"Or what?" Szayel inquired with amused, half mast eyes.
A sudden dramatic swing of his sword by Renji, blocked instinctively by the back of the Arrancar's hand, the one wielding the sword. Such a display was more of a scoffing gesture at how petty a maneuver was. This would be further emboldened by the amused expression passively worn upon his face.
"I calculated you'd do something like that," Szayel said with a lower tone. "it's all in vain. Even a ridiculous monkey like you should realize by now. A Shikai of your level cannot harm an Espa-"
A sudden fluctuation of crimson-hued Reiatsu would be felt, causing the Espada's eyes to briefly flare open wide at the sensation. Moments later a violent explosion would be had along the edge of the contacted blade, leaving a wafting bath of steam and smoke to surround the standing Espada.
"If you're not going to give me straight answers, then I'm done fighting you!" Renji snarled aloud, pupils shrunken and mouth open agape with bared teeth of indignant frustration. "now move!"
"Tsk-tsk-tsk," Szayel breathed out as the steam revealed a small cut made above his right brow, "such a stubborn one you are. Allow me to educate you on the definition of futility, Shinigami."
Palace of the Fallen Blades, Outermost Corridor
"This Reiatsu...!" Ichigo gasped sharply, his sandal feet skidding to a halt in the middle of a pillar laden hall. Looking around he could feel it, faintly spiking just before fading upon the recesses of his senses. It came from what felt like a good distance away from the Palace he was still navagating and it belonged to someone he knew.
"...belongs to Rukia Kuchiki," A voice from the top of the stairwell finished, attracting Ichigo's gaze up. There, with hands pocketed in the folds of his hakama, was the pale skinned vampiric Arrancar. Stepping down purposefully with each step he looked down and scrutinized the pair of individuals beneath his gaze. His Reiatsu, unlike that of Grimmjow's, seemed so much more composed and controlled. To someone like Ichigo, it was impossible to gauge just how strong he was.
Reaching the middle of the stairwell, he halted to stare impassively at Ichigo, "That was what you were going to say, wasn't it?"
"You're," Ichigo began, his eyes widened as much as the child Arrancar Nel's was, "Ulquiorra!"
"You say that name, yet I don't remember giving it to you," Ulquiorra said frankly, the tone curt enough to sound insulted at Ichigo saying it so freely. Unwilling to descend further from the staircase, the Arrancar sighed with a purposeful closing of his eyes. "no matter. Allow me to enlighten you on what you haven't figured out yet. Rukia Kuchiki has just slain the Novena Espada, Aaroniero Arrurerie."
"What?!" Ichigo gasped aloud.
"Apparently, while you and your comrades were busy fighting the Privaron Espada, Rukia encountered the Ninth ranked of the Espada. You should feel proud of that accomplishment, even if it is a futile one," Ulquiorra reopened his eyes to glare down at Ichigo pointedly. "there are still nine other Espada, including myself, before you even reach Lord Aizen. The reality is that because of Rukia's victory, she will become prey for the other Espada, one way or another."
Hearing this caused the Substitute's expression to quickly change into a visage of alarm instead of relief. Turning on his heels, Ichigo began to dash from the stairwell towards the end of the hall, intending to exit the palace as soon as possible.
"Aren't you going to fight me?" Ulquiorra called out from his perch.
Hearing his voice, Ichigo felt disinclined to continue, only taking a moment to look over his shoulder up at the white garbed Arrancar, "As far as I know, you haven't done anything personal against me or my comrades. I don't have any reason to fight you, at least right now."
"I see," Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes, "so if I told you the reason that Orihime Inoue came to Las Noches was because of me, would you still think otherwise?"
The sound of thunder followed by a flash of light would be the answer made by the Substitute. With Zangetsu held aloft to the side, steaming from the release of excess discharge of Reishi, Ichigo's vehement glare fixated upon the localized explosion of his rapidly fired technique. When the steam would dim, it would reveal Ulquiorra's silhouette and the staircase itself. A large gouge would be carved into the infrastructure of the stairwell, only halting just around the point where the Espada stood. He'd appear unscathed, with an upraised right forearm that appeared to have taken the brunt of the attack.
"Bastard! You're the reason Orihime was called a traitor!" Ichigo snarled aloud, swinging his blade in his direction in a proclaiming manner. "do you realize what you've done?!"
"Found a reason to fight me yet?" Ulquiorra inquired rhetorically, goading him with his stoically dispassionate posture, entirely ignoring Ichigo's question.
"Yeah, I have!" Ichigo said with a hardened expression. Setting down Nel next to his feet, he gestured with his free hand. "stand back, Nel. Just like last time."
"Ichigo...?" Nel quietly quivered up at her orange-haired friend and protector.
"Don't worry about me," Ichigo said with a smile, returning his gaze back to Ulquiorra whom just stared down at him with mild curiosity, "he doesn't seem to want to budge. I'm not going to mess around..."
Clasping his hand over his right arm, he could hear a mild squeak and quick scampering of little limbs to escape what was to come. Leaping up into the air, Ichigo would shout loudly as he'd bring his sword above his head, the blade already becoming enshrouded by a veil of dense Reiatsu. "...I'm going full power from the start!"
From the moment Ichigo shouted, Ulquiorra's attention was singularly fixated upon him. A twister of crimson outlined black Reishi cycloned in the air of the high ceiling within the hall. The ground shook and the air quaked with the intensifying Reiatsu, rising higher and higher. Narrowing his green eyes at the whirlwind of climaxing power, he'd breathe out in an expectant sigh, "Bankai again?"
Then, the typhoon of Reishi dispersed. As the shockwave of bristling winds lapped over the Espada's garments, something appeared out of the steaming air currents high above his head. Wreathed in a longer and more elegant kosode, Ichigo's Shikhakushou transformed into a more sleek appearance, composed of black and red silk. Bodily clinging to the Shinigami, the attire seemed to be a mass of Reishi, a power cloak of sorts to display the sheer amount of Reiryoku he possessed. The black sword itself was hyper compressed Reishi, and to his eyes, seemed to be a very durable weapon.
But then something clashed with the elegance and smooth features of Ichigo's Bankai. A white alabaster mask, crafted of plaster and bone clung to his face. With red painted lines etched onto the left side, golden eyes glared through angled eye holes, mirroring the menace the visible rows of teeth laid bare and clung together. Combined with his Bankai, his assimilation of Reishi wasn't just Shinigami but also...
"...Hollow Reiryoku?!" Ulquiorra thought with widened eyes of shock.
In that moment of shock, Ichigo had incidentally chose to strike. His body blurred forth with a speed that hadn't been displayed in his fight with Yammy or even his second confrontation with Grimmjow. Like a wraith of black with a face of white and red, Ichigo's form appeared with a leap of Reishi propulsion, leaving a elliptical shockwave from where he formerly had hovered high within the ceiling vista. Thrusting his sword forth, it would barely be blocked by the back of Ulquiorra's unpocketed left hand, partially embedding its tip into the pale flesh.
"Ngh?!" Ulquiorra grimaced visibly, finding the very foundation he stood upon collapsed within a wave of black-red Reiatsu. With the staircase collapsed, his feet pressed against the air reflexively, projecting Reishi particles from the bottom of his feet to keep from falling outright along with the debris turned stairs.
"What kind of Reiatsu is this?!" Ulquiorra thought with bafflement, his eyes drawn to the sword that hungered for more of his hand's flesh. Employing his own Reiatsu through his Hierro, he kept the offending penetrating object from pushing further. The fact that he had to focus in order to keep from being injured was ludicrous in the Arrancar's mind.
All of the immediate attention he placed into the blade's edge kept him from noticing the silhouette of a trespassing limb. Arcing forward, Ichigo's hand suddenly grappled Ulquiorra's face, covering the left half with his palm while his thumb wrapped around the bridge of his nose and his forefinger curved around his left brow. The slap of flesh and pressure behind Ichigo's arm strength was enough to make the Arrancar bow back half a foot, still reeling from shock at the situation.
"I don't have time for your games, Ulquiorra!" Ichigo snarled aloud, his Hollowfied voice magnifying the sheer menace of his newfound Visored form before the Arrancar's eyes.
To punctuate his words, a bright crimson light shined blindingly over Ulquiorra's face, expanding till it was equal to his own head in mass. The mighty thrum that echoed the hall's space and rattled his skull caused his mind to query a numbing question he never conceived this enemy to possess.
"A...Cero?!"
A deafening shriek would sound as Ulquiorra's entire body be consumed in a fiery blast of crimson Reishi. The spirit particles would throttle his person through pillar after pillar, smashing the reinforced columns into fragmented bits, just short of the columns themselves toppling downwards. Just short of striking the wall, the Arrancar would clench his fingers into a fist and give the Cero a high powered punch. The result would redirect its current away to bowl over a number of other pillars, reducing a large portion of the wall into oblivion with a mighty explosion.
"His Reiryoku and Reiatsu. If I didn't believe my eyes, it's almost as if I'm fighting an Arrancar instead of a Shiniga-" Ulquiorra trailed off upon seeing a dark silhouette expand over him from above. As his emerald eyes looked up with renewed alarm, his mouth parted briefly to emit a gasp. Black and red Reishi currents of a colossal height trailed from a overhead raised black blade, held by both hands in the process of swinging it downwards. Unveiling his right hand upon instinct, the Espada crossed both arms over his head, knowing the momentum the Cero had created inhibited him from dodging.
Reishi coated blade would meet both arms. A shower of sparks would momentarily sprout forth, complemented by a elliptical shockwave that crushed and toppled more support pillars. The clash between both mutual Reiatsus was great enough to cause cracks within the overhead ceiling, webbing out and crumbling from the force placed upon its physical integrity. The struggle was taking a toll on the very battlefield they initiated this fight within.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" A Hollow roar from splitted skeletal teeth of Ichigo's mask, and he'd push his blade completely downwards, creating a thin veil of black-red Reiatsu to propel the Arrancar himself downwards into the ground below him. Visible tears across Ulquiorra's sleeves would be seen by his attacker, with even thinner lacerations made over his forearms by the very weapon he used to thrust him downwards.
"I'm being overpowered?!" A breath of air escaped Ulquiorra's lungs as those thoughts came to the surface. His back slapped hard against the ground, cracking and indenting the tiled flooring, creating an uproar of debris and plaster smoke. He'd find his body sprawled and half buried within the rubble, a look of incomprehension crossing his normally assured and stoic visage. "I've severely underestimated this human. His powers have grown far greater than my original estimates of him back in the World of the Living!"
The sensation of a high pressured kick would be felt on Ulquiorra's chest, catching him once again by surprise. Blowing back any detritus from his floor segmented form, it would further destroy the tiled landscape, tentatively staying above the next floor down from where they stood. With the ceiling barely holding together as well, Ichigo's next move -Ulquiorra surmised- would surely topple this part of the hall completely.
"GETSUGA," Ichigo enunciated in a guttural tone, swinging his crimson black outlined mass of Reishi down in a pendulum strike, aiming to collide it where Ulquiorra's Hollow hole resided, "TENSHOU!"
And just like that, everything came crashing down. Within the wake of the massive black arc of Reiatsu employed Reishi, the crescent shaped blaze would encompass the floor underneath Ichigo's feet and send Ulquiorra plummeting downwards. Creating a perfect bisection of the floor before and ahead of him, the hall all but collapsed with a shower of concrete and sulfur, the ceiling itself raining down with parts of the wall with it. It would join floor after floor, as the sound of the seemingly endless descent of Ulquiorra and Ichigo's ultimate and currently only technique would seem to fade away like dying thunder.
Staring downwards, Ichigo began to heave with exertion. Bits of his mask began to crumble and collapse down to join the dark hole that his attack created. As the final parts of his Hollow shards fell downwards, a bright crimson light would be seen below, followed by an uproaring plume of flames that rose all the way up in front of the Shinigami's hovering frame. While he flinched at its rise, he the lack of sensing Ulquiorra's immediate return gave him a sense of relief and success.
Lowering his blade, he turned around and kicked off the air towards the only part of the hall that he had been heading to that was still intact. Dropping by a cracked pillar, Ichigo placed his free hand on it and glanced down at the trembling Nel, smiling at her, "You alright?"
"D-D-Dat was quasy Itsygo!" Nel sputtered out loud. Hobbling up to her feet, she grasped at Ichigo's black clothed skirt, staring up at him with wide unbelieving eyes, "using all dat powa at once! Your bwody bein' hurt all up! Why you so weckwess?!"
Ichigo's eyes were wide with surprise as the usually upbeat and positive Nel dissolved her rants into heavy sobs. His tender smile would return as he bent down at rubbed her masked head, trying to reassure the best way he could. "Hey, what's with all the tears? I'm okay now, alright? I wasn't even touched in that battle."
"A-A-Are you shur?" She asked with quivering lips, sniffling comically with large eyes.
"Yeah, just a little winded. Never had to use that much Hollowfied power all at once in my Getsuga Tenshou. Not to mention the Cero," Ichigo explained readily away, waving nonchalantly as he stood tall. "but it's okay now."
The succinct buzzing of a Sonido would counter Ichigo's very words. Turning slowly with heavy trepidation, Ichigo saw with quickly increasing dread the state his enemy was in. Scorch marks seemed to cover the majority of his uniform, the fabric of his kosode's shoulders and chest seemed to have a number of holes where the burns were the greatest. A single line seemed to be no wider than a hair cut down Ulquiorra's chest, sporting no blood other than wafting trails of steam and an angry purple bruise. Other than that, the massive explosion and point blank release of his Getsuga Tenshou seemed to have no desirable effect.
"Was that it?" Ulquiorra asked, his voice no longer holding any form of amusement. "that technique you just used now was far more powerful than that Cero you used before. You even managed to work past my guard and overpower me when I was off balance. But, if this is the best you can do, I only have one word to summarize the totality of your strength..."
Punctuating these words with a purposefully slow rise of his right hand, a single index finger pointed at Ichigo's direction as his stoic gaze seemed to double as a glare, "Disappointing."
At that instant, no audible or visible sign of priming could be witnessed before Ichigo's eyes as a voluminous mass of emerald Reishi discharged from Ulquiorra's fingertip. Only thanks to Ichigo's hyper awareness within his Bankai was he able to turn his head and note that Nel was still beside him. Without hesitation, his hand swung over his face the same moment his body crouched down and wrapped his sword wielding arm around Nel. Taking the full brunt of the attack, Ichigo felt nothing but a wave of searing pain overlap his body and rip apart what little durability his Bankai's attire possessed.
As his ears rang, he leaped out of the hole the Cero had created. Tumbling down to land on the sand below, Ichigo gasped raspily, glancing up at the hole from which his nemesis created. Without hesitating, the burned and bleeding Shinigami took off in a full on sprint, aiming to get as far away from the battlefield as possible.
"Nel! Are you alright?!" Ichigo yelled in panicked inquiry. Feeling no movement, let alone a response, Ichigo quickly became alarmed. The force of the shockwave he couldn't deflect with his body he could only conclude that it rattled her enough into unconsciousness.
"Stay with me, Nel! I'll get us out of he-!" Ichigo tried to reassure the toddler under his arms, till what came out of the corner of his eye gave him pause. Gaping with disbelief, he saw Ulquiorra easily overtaking Ichigo, matching him step for step in a sprint visibly more casual than his.
A sudden whirl of white-hued movement and a sand-ridden explosion would be sounded. While Ichigo's form would be whirling in a pinwheeling manner towards one of the towers, Ulquiorra's leg just now began to become visible, dipping down to the ground to signify the end of his kick. Following the tap of his sole onto the sand below, a distant shattering of infrastructure was heard as Ichigo's body spiraled into the interior of the spyre the Arrancar punted him into.
Through a quick employment of Sonido, Ulquiorra appeared before the Shinigami, heaving and bleeding heavily. Narrowing his eyes, the Espada re-pocketed his hands into the folds of his hakama, walking casually towards the downed opponent with little regard, "You used that strange mask to shield yourself from my Cero? An impressive testament to your Bankai's hyper speed. However, this time it shattered, perhaps easier than the first time you donned it. You're at the limits of your strength, human. It's over."
What the Arrancar expected next was the eventual collapse of such a wounded body or the pained resignation of a beaten warrior. He hardly perceived him thrusting his sword suddenly into his upper left pectoral, cutting straight through the cloth of his burnt kosode and impacting into his reinforced skin. The Shinigamified Hollow looked down incredulously at the offending weapon, shortly before looking onto the wielder.
"Who...the fuck...would surrender...to you?!" Ichigo snarled exhaustedly at his enemy, the light in his eyes far from burned out. A smile seemed to stretch across his face, a sound and look of confidence building up behind his visage as he spoke, "you're the top Espada, aren't ya?! So if I kill you, that's the same as declaring my victory over all the others!"
"Is that so?" Ulquiorra inquired rhetorically, his left hand wrapping easily around the black blade that pushed against his chest. Applying a miniscule amount of force to coerce it away from his body, he angled it so that he'd push aside the remains of the left flank of his kosode top. Seeing the look of confusion grow quickly across the Shinigami's face was enough to give Ulquiorra a form of content, "unfortunately for you, that foolish assumption is incorrect."
What Ichigo saw was mind-boggling. An italic tattoo in the shape of the number four appeared over the left pectoral muscle, "Th-Th-The Fourth?!"
"Correct," Ulquiorra said blankly, "I am Ulquiorra Schiffer, Cuatro Espada. In terms of strength, skill, and abilities I am the fourth strongest of the Espada."
"N-No way," Ichigo gulped and breathed heavily with disbelief. Any further breathing halted with the immediate intrusion of a knife-hand thrust of Ulquiorra's right hand. Looking down at the set of digits buried into his torso, he felt pain and confusion flood his mind, only able to hear the slow beats of his heart echo every last word Ulquiorra spoke to him.
"Ichigo Kurosaki," Ulquiorra began, "you have no hope of defeating me. Even if you were to defeat me, you'd have to go through four others to reach me. After that, there is three others above me in terms of powers and abilities. Try as you might, facing me in battle one thousand times over will provide nothing but defeat. Your quest to save Orihime Inoue..."
Withdrawing his hand, a shower of blood would be seen, shortly following a deadly silent fall of Ichigo's body onto the cold floor.
"...is over."
Chapter 2 - A LOVEless Encounter
A Few Minutes Ago...
"Everything should be in place," Aaroniero said to herself, finishing the final touches of evidence to back up her proclaimed demise. Having grabbed spare robes from one of the interior hidden closet spaces within her domain, she placed it accordingly in a way that would mimic the aspect of her body's fall right over sampled blood of her own prior to attaining her new body. She even cut her old body's skulls in a manner that would dictate accurately what she falsely sent to the rest of her comrades.
"With irrefutable evidence left here, I should be able to move freely without too much suspicion," The Espada in disguise thought with a stoic nod. Placing a hand over the bound collar of her beige desert robe over her Shinigami Shikhakushou, she grimaced visibly. "as much as I revolt wearing their uniforms, I can't use my own for surely raising unneeded questions."
Turning on her heels, she exited the shadowy lair of hers and entered the world of light. Leaping out of the hole, her body free falled down, gently landing in a crouch. Standing upright she allowed herself to inhale deeply and exhale.
"There's an abundance of Reiatsu signatures," Aaroniero noted verbally. She turned her head left to right, feeling a number of them colliding as much as there were those remaining active or on the move. After a few moments of thought, Aaroniero placed both sets of forefingers to either of her temples and closed her eyes. "time to engage my Busqueda la Mente!"
An ominous silence would take place as a invisible pulse would be sent out from Aaroniero's mind. Visible images began to appear within Aaroniero's mind, detailing the exact location, position and permeating power coming off each signature. Even the most subdued sources would be within Aaroniero's perception, all culminating in a large net of information that he'd use to track each signature and discern his next move.
"Aizen is located within the White Citadel at the heart of Las Noches. I can feel him and his two Lieutenants along with Wonderweiss still located inside. It doesn't appear they're moving," Aaroniero noted with a relaxed sigh escaping her nostrils. She'd continue her assessment as she'd furrow her brows. "Renji Abarai is currently combatting Szayelopporo in his Palace. A number of Arrancar including Uryu Ishida are also within his vicinity. I doubt they're going to leave that place intact, knowing their techniques have undoubtedly increased.
"Tier's remaining alert but doesn't seem to be intending on moving, her and her Tres Bestias. Same thing goes for Starrk and Lilynette. Barragan and his own Fraccion too. Nnoitra seems to be a good deal away as well," She continued dictating as she came across their presences, her brows slowly unfurling into one of satisfaction. However, they tightened when she felt familiar presences that unnerved her. "Ulquiorra seems to be fighting, no, beating Ichigo Kurosaki just outside of the Privaron Palace. He'll surely be slain by someone of his caliber. Grimmjow is surprisingly elusive with his own actions. It's like he's heading in the opposite direction, though I'm not sure where. I cannot pinpoint Nnoitra's direction of path as rational, he seems to be just drawn to the large Reiatsus in Las Noches, a primal instinct on his part. Now I should look for-"
Eyes widened as Aaroniero found two signatures, recognizable by her alone. Clenching her eyes closed once more, she focused on their signatures once more, finding them to be at the opposite end of the Privaron Palace. A delighted smile, too carnal for the likes of Rukia, stretched across Aaroniero's face at the catch she found.
"Zommari's on the move here, most likely intent on finishing my killer off," Aaroniero thought with a bemusing chuckle, rising up from her crouched stance. "It'll be hard to throw him off my trail, given I used Cognition Synchronization to detail the supposed end of Rukia and I's fight. I'll just intend to finish my business quickly before he arrives."
With plan enacted, Aaroniero kicked off the sand and disappeared with a rapidly deployed Shunpo. Her figure disappearing in a blur of high speed movement, she'd leave behind the battle that marked her next stage of evolution and the demise of one of Las Noches' intruders.
"Found you!" Aaroniero exclaimed as she landed softly near the bodies of two individuals. Blood, still moist, soaked the pale grains they lied upon only a dozen meters apart from each other. Despite their very still appearances, she could tell they were both alive through some miracle or force of will.
Approaching the first, Aaroniero would kneel just above the orange afro head of the defeated Arrancar.
"Gantenbainne Mosqueda," Aaroniero said in a low tone, her eyes drawing to a half mast as she regarded the Shinigamified Hollow. "you were a natural Arrancar, and one of the few to retain his placement as part of Aizen's initial selection of Espada. As Séptima Espada, your only flaw is that you prided your personal strength rather than acknowledge your enemy's skills. Zommari's replacement of you was inevitable and your defeat at the hands of a human only cemented your failed status."
Placing her left hand over his face, Aaroniero would then finish with widened eyes of cold detachment, "At least know your power will be better served at my own possession!"
What would take place was horrific to any beholder. Her hand transformed into a five prong tendril with a hungry maw at its center. Squelching forth in a subdued shower of brain matter and flesh would be consumed as the gluttonous secondary tube dug into the skull of the unconscious Arrancar. Seconds later, a powerful suction of Reishi absorption -similar to Gonzui- would be felt, tearing apart the spiritual body of Gantenbainne. All of the tissue, blood, and aesthetic remains would be funneled into the maw, sending visible bulging contortion up the arm and into Aaroniero's gullet.
In less than half a minute, Aaroniero would have devoured the entirety of Gantenbainne. His essence absorbed now fully assimilated into her being.
"In the grand scheme of things, your Reiatsu isn't as impressive as the other high ranking Espada," Aaroniero commented to herself, examining her tendril hand revert back into its dainty feminine form. "but you have gotten stronger since I last saw you. Perhaps you were around Yammy's level, prior to his released state anyways. Hardly matters, really. What's yours is mine now."
Rising to her feet, she turned around to examine the other fallen man. Narrowing her eyes she could feel the faint amount of Reiatsu clinging to his body, somehow attracting the Reishi around him to pour into his wounds. Widening her eyes it just dawned to her that even with Rukia's knowledge of this man she didn't know what this man was until just now.
"Sado Yasutora has Hollow powers?!" Aaroniero thought with widened eyes of surprise.
"I've finally found you," The words suddenly rattled Aaroniero's ears as instantly as the buzzing of Sonido nary a few meters behind her. Operating purely on instinct she dashed to her left using a rush of Shunpo, avoiding the downward slash that created a fissure of bisecting force accompanied with a singular shout. "Shinigami!"
A shower of sand would begin to rain downwards as Aaroniero thumbed her sword out of its scabbard lock. Adjusting her eyes she'd see the silhouette of a rather big Arrancar, someone easily a head foot taller than even Ichigo. As the dust would settle, a mandarin coat would be tightly fitted to his muscular frame, leading down to a standard hakama and a pair of martial artist sandals fitted to his bare feet.
"Zommari!" Aaroniero thought internally with a visible scowl, unsheathing her sword in a purposely slow manner. "He found me quicker than I would have liked..."
"You move well, Rukia Kuchiki," Zommari noted calmly, turning to face his enemy with sword in hand. Raising the blade to be level with his own shoulder, Zommari's posture remained upright and composed. Nothing seemed to be able to rattle him outwardly as his only goal lied before his eyes. "perhaps your boast of holding back against Aaroniero wasn't totally without some truth. His methods were always some of the most underhanded of the Espada."
"Is that a fact?" Aaroniero inquired sharply, her eyes glaring back at Zommari as she raised her blade with both hands on its grip. "and you're a fair player?"
"Not..." Aaroniero would begin to hear, suddenly feeling the rushed sensation as much as she would see the rapid high speed movement performed by the Arrancar. Spinning upon the balls of her feet, she would parry a thrust towards her back, sending a vast array of sparks to flourish between her and the Espada. During the parry, she would flip backwards, landing a snap kick with her right foot to his chin.
"...Entirely!" She would hear upon landing on the ground, his body seemingly appearing to her left, already slashing diagonally downwards towards her neck.
"Hadou #33," Aaroniero began to mutter upon swinging to parry Zommari's sword swing, causing a shower of sparks from the collision. The color of the orange sparks shifted dramatically to a luminous azure shine emanating from her blade. It would only be the sudden realization cast from Zommari's eyes face just before the blade itself would cut through his own, releasing a monstrous gale of fiery blue energy into his body. "Soukatsui!"
As the wafting flames of searing Kidou would peter away into the horizon, Aaroniero would hear the sudden buzzes of Sonidos. Followed up would be four bodies identical to Zommari, charging towards her with thrusting blades aimed at ever angle possible.
"Gemelos Sonído!" Aaroniero thought with realization, eyes scowling around at the four Zommaris, all of which had their swords thrusting at her direction.
"It's over!" Zommari declared openly through all four mouths. It was during the fraction of time their blades took to reach Aaroniero's personal space that it would give her time to respond accordingly. She swung her blade, all the while crouching as low as she could to avoid the collision of blades above her head that took a few flecks of hair off the top.
"Some no Mai," She spoke lowly to herself, "Tsukishiro!"
An instant later, the ground would glow a bright circle of white light. Following up with a leap via Shunpo an ice pillar would be erected in place over the sandy ground where all four Zommaris stood. Seconds later the ice would shatter, along with the visages of Sonido Clones residing from within.
"Impressive," Zommari would voice aloud, his body buzzing half a dozen meters behind Aaroniero, causing her to slowly turn to face him as he spoke, "to have the skill to see through my Gemelos Sonído and react accordingly without a hint of hesitation is astounding for someone of your level. You're a lot stronger than I gave you credit for, Shinigami."
"I don't intend on giving you the same advantage I gave him," Aaroniero proclaimed stoically, raising her beautiful Shikai to bear, holding it at an inverted angle parallel to her right cheek. "I assume you're an Espada?"
"Indeed," Zommari nodded his head. Grasping the collarless top of his top, he stretched it down to reveal the top of his left pectoral muscle. There, a distinct black tattoo numbered as seven would be seen. "I'm the Séptima Espada, Zommari Rureaux."
"Since you already know my name, I see no point in my own introduction," Aaroniero responded with narrowed eyes. Taking time in the staredown to comprehend his options, Aaroniero began to ponder. "Zommari is a skilled opponent when it comes to Zanjutsu and the Hohou Arts. Dragging a battle out here my draw some unwanted attention from the wandering Espada. I rather finish this quickly so I may conclude my business here."
Raising his blade in a goading manner, Zommari noticed that his opponent had yet to make the first move to renew their battle. "What's the matter, Kuchiki? Are you not going to make your move?"
"I'm just thinking," Aaroniero responded curtly.
"Oh?" Zommari inquired, visibly curious yet still very much composed.
"If you're two ranks above the last Espada I killed, why do you seem weaker in comparison?" She questioned, her expression eliciting a goading smile.
"Please," Zommari glared vividly at his target, "don't compare me to the bottom of the totem pole. Aaroniero may have been a crafty opponent and perhaps a bit more Reiryoku than I or the Octava Espada do. But there is one reason why Lord Aizen placed me above the other two."
"Do tell," Aaroniero further jabbed, looking obviously unimpressed, even while in a prepared posture.
"The special ability that lies within my released form," Zommari revealed with a matter-of-fact, if not outright prideful tone. Crouching down, the Arrancar aligned his blade to be horizontal to his upper torso. Slowly releasing his fingers from the Zanpakutou's hilt, the Arrancar placed his hands up in a meditative stance, with palms upright and forefingers touching.
Just short of clapping his hands together, Zommari would hear an opposing shout from his enemy.
"Sai!"
"What?!" Zommari exclaimed with shock, finding his hands narrowly halted from clapping together. The binding energy cast upon him was magnetically drawn towards his back, aiming to physically restrain his two limbs. Scoffing incredulously, Zommari began to press his palms together, "you think you can halt my actions with such a puny spell?!"
"Bakudo #4, Hainawa!" Aaroniero would follow up with a sudden follow-up swipe of her arm, discharging a serpentine flowing golden rope of energy that would entwine around Zommari's wrists all the way up to his shoulders. The binding energy, further reinforced by Sai, would effectively immobilize Zommari's arms.
"Are you that afraid of my Ressureccion, Shinigami?!" Zommari inquired brazenly, visibly struggling to rip the Kidou using sheer force.
However, he would fail to get the chance.
Faster than Zommari had witnessed the Shinigami moving prior, Aaroniero would thrust her white blade straight into his right pectoral. The Arrancar could only gape at how the edge had specifically targeted his Hollow hole, straight over where his nipple would have been. Such precision combined with force caused the right side of his torso to crack and squelch with visible muscular tear, outright bypassing any Hierro he might have boasted of possessing.
"H-How did you-?!" Zommari began to inquire, eyes shakily glancing down at the shorter Shinigami.
"You were always such an arrogant bastard," Aaroniero's darkly stated, looking upwards with a menacing gleam in her eyes. Pupils would contract and shift into outright slits, predatorily sneering at the sweat-beading face of her colleague. Purposely she would let her own Reiatsu slip into Zommari's corpse so he would know precisely mocked him.
"Impossible!" Zommari uttered aloud, his face contorting one of realization and horror, "you're-!"
"San no Mai," Aaroniero enunciated with a widespread, tooth sparkling smile. Swinging the blade in a arc to bisect him from the right pectoral to the left shoulder, an instantaneous flash freezing wave would encompass the wound outright, allowing for a clean frozen cut. "Shirafune!"
The shocked expression would be all that Zommari would be allowed to show as his upper half wetly crunched and slapped onto the ground left of his enemy. An audible kick would be made by Aaroniero as she'd kick the lower half over the cleanly severed other half.
Sheathing her blade back into her scabbard, Aaroniero chuckled sinisterly down at her slain ex-comrade, "Serves you right, you show-off. An unceremonious end is fitting for someone who was all about flair and the dramatic. Don't worry, though; I'll make sure to use your powers for a greater calling than you ever had for Lord Aizen."
Placing her hand over his remains, she swiftly transformed it into the Glotonería hand she employed over Gantenbainne. A sickening squelch of shredded muscle and bones later, Zommari's bodily remains would be devoured and absorbed into Aaroniero. His aspect and everything that made him who he was, would be preserved within her own core.
"Now," She said to herself, reverting her hand back to normalcy. Upon sheathing her blade she turned to look at the distant yet still face prone Sado. A swift leap over to his side she eyed him down at her feet. "what am I going to do with you?"
She knew she had options to consider at this point.
While she knew the raging battles taking place elsewhere would attract the most attention, Zommari's disappearing Reiatsu would certainly attract someone's notice. Devouring as many promising individuals, especially those with Hollow powers, would be within her best interest. Then again, she couldn't ignore the cons to that choice either.
"If I devour Sado, people will start wondering where he is or what happened to his body. There is a small chance that Ichigo Kurosaki may come looking for him. Though with the number of Espada present in Las Noches on top of Aizen's two Lieutenants, I doubt that will be a large issue," Aaroniero noted to herself, cupping her chin as she examined Sado's unmoving body at her feet.
A distant Reiatsu would suddenly catch her attention. With her eyes gazing in awe at what she could assume would be a cacophony of explosions and shockwaves, she knew it could only be Ichigo Kurosaki and Grimmjow Jeagerjaques.
"Wait a minute! Wasn't Ichigo being beaten by Ulquiorra? What's going on?!" Aaroniero found herself doubting what was going on. Immediately she placed her fingers against her temples, activating her advanced Pesquisa to analyze the situation. She began by scoping out the Reiatsus with the highest output and the ones with largest concentration.
"It seems Uryu Ishida and Renji Abarai are still in battle with Szayel. I don't sense Ulquiora's Reiatsu anywhere. Was he killed? I can't be certain someone of that caliber was taken down by anyone, let alone someone who was obviously on the receiving end last time I checked. Grimmjow seems to be involved somehow, as he's the one fighting Ichigo who's a bit stronger than he was before. With the way I'm feeling this, their battle is coming to a close soon," She noted. Scanning the other areas of Las Noches, she could tell Ichigo's battle was receiving the most attention by the other high ranking members. Most notably the Tres and Quinto, each of them watching from notable distances the ensuing battle being had.
"This invasion seems to be getting more complicated with Ichigo's involvement," Aaroniero thought aloud, releasing the Pesquisa as she opened her eyes. Smiling with a conniving light in her eyes, she could only chuckle to herself, "perhaps I can use that to my advantage. With all eyes on you, I doubt they're even paying half a mind to what's going on with Szayel's actions."
A sickening stir of her left hand turning back into a hungry five prong mouth transpired later. Kneeling down, she proceeded to have her tubular proboscis sink its teeth into Sado's body. She could only laugh as she watched with carnal fascination as his body would be broken down and be absorbed into her being.
"The more leverage I gain, the better I stand a chance of surviving this invasion. The more I consume the more I evolve. And soon, before anyone will know it," Aaroniero would finish as the last visible bulge of essence flowed up her arm and into her core, reforming her hand just as she smiled towards the horizon. "I will become unstoppable!"
A/N: This Chapter was a fun one for me. Not just for the fact I could pit a Rukia-esque fight against Zommari, but it was the first time I could literally see Aaroniero using his knowledge of the other Espada and use it against them.
EDIT NOTE: I added in an entire new battle. While I had hesitated, for reasons of increasing the Chapter length beyond comfort levels of some readers, I came back wanting to add this in regardless. Please comment and let me know what you thought of it ^^
Also writing out the various perspectives and changing them up a bit to suit my narrative style was equally enjoyable. I hope you all liked what I did with them, hopefully adding some character development to each well known Espada. Maybe a little more insight, by my own opinion of course, as to what their opinions are of Aaroniero or even what their own personalities are like for, well, why they are what they are.
Food For Thought: Aaroniero's specialized Pesquisa, by the way, translates from Spanish to English as, "Mind Search."
Please leave your thoughts and comments below in the Review Section. I hope this story captivates your attention as much as it is enjoyable for myself to write. Until then, I shall see you all on the next update of A Predator Among Us!"