Within Emptiness I Hear It
The Beat Of The Heart
Substance Within The Void
If That Is True, Then Can Even The Heart Be Empty?
"Enclose, Murciélago."
When Ulquiorra uttered those words, Ichigo had donned his mask. Where the latter's Reiatsu became a violent maelstrom of dense Reishi that weighed on the land so much that it created a flat landscape of crackling sand particles, the other spewed up into the sky. The burgundy outlined typhoon of energy was dispersed just as a rain of emerald Reishi petered and pattered across the land, hissing and sizzling upon contact.
Both of the warriors in their ultimate forms now stood a mere few meters away from each other. Ichigo in his Bankai and his new mask, now with a pair of red lines running from the top over his eye slits to the top row of his exterior teeth. Shadows rimmed with crimson ebbed from his body as his breath echoed in a Hollow fashion, making all the more intimidating to the observers.
On the opposing end was Ulquiorra whose body gained new attributes while changing his wardrobe. Gone were his tattered, battle-worn uniform in exchange for a sleeveless garment that was akin to a robe of alabaster. His mask fragment turned into a full kabuto with horns frayed in either direction as his hair grew long and flowed down to the center of his back. Bat shaped wings sprouted from the back at a moderate width from his shoulders and backside, emulating his vampire features ever so more clearly. Black, unarmed hands bore nothing but black painted lines over his digits. His eyes, now holding noticeably dark tear strokes down his face, trained on his opponent with the utmost seriousness just as the Substitute Shinigami geared up for battle.
"Their power is so palpable," Renji gasped out, his mouth agape at the feeling and sight he witnessed before his eyes. "I feel like the oxygen was sapped from the area and chains have been wrapped around me. Just what kind of level are they at now?"
"Believe it or not, you could get used to this if you tried," Uryū replied, retaining a cool composure despite the pressure he could feel coming from the two beings. Turning to look over at Orihime, whom he was surprised was standing looking resolute and stoic at the scene unfolding before her. For the first time it was the only occurrence he ever thought the young Inoue was fearless. Standing next to her was an equally reserved Nelliel, but the Quincy could see that her eyes quivered ever so slightly.
"Regardless," Uryū continued, turning his head to look directly at the Lieutenant. "We should get back. I feel we might get caught in a crossfire if we're not caref-"
It was during this instance, that Ulquiorra launched his attack.
A single twitch of the hand and a lance of turquoise Reishi formed into his grip. Dashing forward with a blurring rush of momentum, he slashed around to decapitate Ichigo only to be met with a rising parry. The resulting shockwave and flash of luminous Reiatsu caused both the Quincy and the Shinigami to fly back in a hurricane of wind. Blowing back past them for nearly a kilometer in radius, the follow-up swing of Tensa Zangetsu created another visible flash of spiritual lightning and another ear piercing shockwave.
"Got ya!" Orihime cried out as she used Santen Kesshun to cushion Uryū's frame.
"Thanks!" He replied gratefully over the roar of attacks now a bit farther away. Wincing against the triangular barrier he turned to see Renji had unintentionally glomped face first into Nelliel's chest. When she released him, his face was a flushed red and he was gasping for air, causing her to visibly worry. "He's fine! I guess you took him off guard!"
"Ah! Is it because I'm an Arrancar?!" She cried out over the roar of continuous crashes between the two warriors.
"It's because your soft chest cushioned me too perfectly," Renji thought as he tried to hide his face with an immediate turn to watch the battlefield. "Dammit, I almost suffocated. I'm almost jealous of whoever's got her eyes on him..."
Any further dialogue was halted as the battle continued to grow in intensity. They all watched with rapt attention as the two seemed to move at dizzying speeds few could ever gauge. Crashing figures discharged sprays of electricity, following each with a cacophony of shockwaves that continued to shake and rattle the landscape around them. Even if they were surrounded by a host of Hollows and Shinigami, they'd have completely ignored them.
The only world that existed was their fight and their desire to win.
"Impressive, Ichigo Kurosaki," Ulquiorra dryly complimented, his Luna de la Luna sparking in constant friction against the black as night blade Ichigo held. "To think you could match me in my form in terms of speed and power, it's almost funny. Are you sure you're not an Arrancar yourself?"
"I'm not a monster like you, Ulquiorra!" Snarled out the Substitute Shinigami, his golden eyes glaring heatedly at Ulquiorra's emerald stoic orbs. Sliding his sword around the Espada's Reishi weapon, he jabbed a number of high-speed thrusts, all of which were side-stepped or parried with expert footwork and timing. All the while Ichigo kept howling as he attacked with all of his might against his foe.
It was during one of the Visored's jabs that the Arrancar swung both of his wings inward, unleashing a buffet of Reiatsu that crashed into him. Halting his momentum as he was jarred by the sonic wave of force he narrowly swiped his blade at a thrust of the Shinigamified Hollow's lance. What he failed to detect right away was a simple palming gesture sent towards him, briefly sparking a crimson light just before the air popped and his body was sent careening backwards in the wake of an instantaneously fired Bala.
Wincing from the force that sent him shredding through the field of sand, he halted his momentum after a quarter of a mile had passed, flipping head over heels to land back on his feet. His eyes widened when he saw the lance was thrown his way, mere meters away by the time he regained his balance. Without even thinking it, he charged his Reiatsu into his blade, producing an aura of deep onyx with a rivulet of dark crimson. With a swing, he shattered the lance, its shards of light dissipating within the air.
"Good counter," Cuatro Espada complimented blandly as he appeared behind the Visored, swinging his blade down at his shoulder only to be reflected by the energy wrapped Zanpakutō. "You used a Getsuga Tenshō by condensing its power around your sword, shattering my Luz de la Luna."
"Yeah, I'm full of surprises!" Ichigo shouted in retort, his elbow jabbing out to catch an unsuspecting Ulquiorra in the chest. While the attack normally would have only stunned him for a second, the wreathe of black Reiatsu coming off his limb caused the Arrancar's eyes to widen and his mouth to spew out spittle at the impact he suffered. Flying backwards at an uncontrolled rate, Ichigo was free to turn on his heels and leap after the airborne opponent, swinging his Getsuga wrapped blade towards him.
Within an inch of being cut by the fire filled Reishi blade, Ulquiorra evaporated within the use of a well timed employment of Sonido. As the sand was cut and spread out with an explosive wave of spiritual reinforced pressure the Substitute Shinigami was treated to a rare sight. He could see where the Arrancar was heading. While the sands were still being parted by his blade he turned his head around his shoulder as if time stood still, watching the Arrancar take a momentary second to cradle his tattered midsection where hints of a bruising was seen.
A summoning of Luz de la Luna was made for each hand, allowing the Cuatro Espada to launch one lance at Ichigo while holding one at bay.
"Not this time!" He roared out loud as his body moved in a black blur, crashing through the first projectile made by the lance by endowing himself in a curtain of Getsuga Reishi. Stopping short just where his foe's Reiatsu emitted plain as day from him, he unleashed a flurry of thrusts, converting his aura of Getsuga into a number of Getsuga Thrusts; dozens of hilt-less blades of compressed energy aimed to crash into him at near point blank.
Just like before, Ulquiorra managed to evade at the last second, but this time Ichigo was prepared with a counterattack. Swinging around in a spin to slash at the same time as an inverted Arrancar took a swing with his own turquoise spear, their clash created a disturbing flash of light followed by a forceful wind to beat across each other's persons. But as they clashed, Ichigo concentrated and focused, just like he had been told. To that end, he wanted to offset his opponent any way he could.
"Heh," Ichigo chuckled through his mask, making it no secret to his impassive faced enemy.
"Do you find something funny, Ichigo Kurosaki?" He inquired in as blank and uninterested tone as he could manage.
"It's just that," He began, still pressuring against the Espada's weapon. "I've been able to see your movements just now. This got me thinking. Either what you say is true and I'm becoming a monstrous freak like you. Or you seem to becoming more human."
It was a subtle expressive widening of his eyes and a not so subtle explosion of Reiatsu that sent Ichigo reeling back a good dozen meters that made him realize he struck a nerve. Even more so than what words his opponent chose to speak back.
"Me, becoming more human?" He asked with a lethal glare emanating from his otherwise expressionless face. The air was thick with his out pour of Reiatsu, creating violent cracks of flashing ebony colored Reishi to spiral around the air in and around his immediate vicinity. "Absurd. Just like the notion you'd ever become a true Arrancar with those imitations of Hollow powers you have."
"Fake or not," He replied with a hidden grin, brandishing his sword with one arm while keeping the other at his side, fist clenched tightly. "It'll be enough to kill a bastard like you!"
Without retorting, Ulquiorra rushed forward in the wake of collapsing the air around him. Spinning his lance around he began a series of jabs and slashes at Ichigo, enough that it put him on the defensive. The aim to completely overwhelm him with pure offense was his ambition and he'd show him just how frail his powers really were-
"CERO!" Ichigo announced with a Getsuga infused parry, shattering Ulquiorra's weapon in an instant of making him weaponless. With his free hand already pointing at the Arrancar, the compressed sphere of deep red was unleashed in a violent expulsion of force. Sending him spiraling backwards the Substitute Shinigami only felt enough reprieve from his attack until a turquoise wave of Reiatsu tore it in half, revealing two spears in either hand.
But the results were far different than the last time he used a Cero on Ulquiorra. Back then he was experimenting, trying a new technique just to gain an edge. Now that he had a far better grasp of the subject, the wounds were plain as day; charred skin that oozed pus and blood ebbed across the arms of the Espada, having taken the majority of the attack without harm done to the rest of his body.
"It just dawned on me that your Getsuga is quite a resemblance of a Cero," He muttered out, his eyes narrowing at the vapor exuding hand that Ichigo lowered to his side. "It's no wonder you were able to fire a much more effective one this time around. It actually did quite a bit of damage. Not that it matters in the end."
"Don't compare a Getsuga to a Cero!" Ichigo snarled out loud, almost disgusted to have the two put side by side. "Zangetsu taught me that technique, not a damned Hollow! It's my Zanpakutō's true power, not that an emotionless bastard like you would understand."
"On the contrary, I understand the relationship between Shinigami and Zanpakutō is usually quite intimate. In fact, it's probably the envy of most Arrancars that you have a reliable ally to call upon to use their strength to bolster your own," Ulquiorra countered coolly, tilting his head slightly to the side. "It is of my opinion, it's remarkable coincidence that your prided technique, a skill you claim your Zanpakutō taught you, resembles the Cero we Espada use in our released states."
It was within that sentence that Ichigo's blood ran cold. He remembered the Cero he spoke of all too well. The very one that Nelliel, in a bout of rage, had used against Nnoitra and utterly destroyed him in his released state as well. While the method of firing was different, the Reishi's use was ultimately the same.
"What are you using my technique for? I was the one to use the Black Getsuga Tenshō, not you. You simply copied my own ability, you damned brat!"
"Is that what he meant? Is it a Hollowfied nature that my Getsuga is dyed in black? But, that means-" Ichigo tried to think, but his train of thought was cut off when the familiar sound of a low bass thrumming was heard. Looking up, he saw as much as he felt an enormous gathering of Reiatsu to be infused into a pitch black sphere of Reishi. There was no denying it what he felt within his heart. The Cero Oscuras and his Black Getsuga were practically the same!
"Cero Oscuras," The Espada whispered out loud, unleashing a damning pillar of roaring Reishi that streaked through the wind. Ebbing of light emerald on its outside it was a pure wave of blackness. And for the first time, Ichigo could witness the visual horror of seeing nothing but an abysmal void aiming to eradicate him.
Through this realization he had used up any time to plan an evasive maneuver he charged into the bleak colored Reishi wave. Growling with guttural fervor, his blade was the only thing between him and unquestionable pain or near death. Grinding his teeth behind his mask, the Reiatsu ebbing from him wildly swirled around his sword, creating a counter of sinister red outlined darkness. Rising up so high it seemed to pierce the very sky and opaque the moon from all observers' point of view.
"Getsuga Tenshō!" He howled out loud, his mask separating at the teeth to show his own set of teeth bared as he yelled out his attack. Swinging it forward, it parted the sea of black with his own scorching bleak force of power. Funneling forward it looked like a monstrous twister of crimson outlined shadows, snarling and howling with its own ferocity as if it was alive.
"My Cero-!" Ulquiorra thought as he witnessed his own output of Reishi completely overpowered and felt an oncoming rush of momentum from his opponent's attack. A blinding feeling of pain followed by him using Sonido to the left and he was on the ground. The shrieking Getsuga continued to fly across the horizon, carving a path of destruction before it finally dissipated in the distance. When the light of the moon returned, all could see Ulquiorra and what kind of injuries he sustained.
Tears of crimson corrupted the impeccably white sand that the Arrancar stood upon. Dripping incessantly, it trailed off where his arm used to be and was now a charred stump that wasn't completely cauterized. Steam ebbed off his scorched right side of his slender designed uniform, revealing part of his face along with his exposed side was burnt less severely but most noticeably. Despite all of the pain accompanied with losing a limb and damage to his skin, the Espada didn't flinch nor did he sweat profusely. It was unnerving for Ichigo to see, but he dismissed it as simply a brave front.
"You're still fast enough to avoid my Getsuga Tenshō," He murmured out as he approached him with a Shunpo, landing directly in front of him. "You're one tough bastard, I'll give you that."
"You think this triumph of yours matters? Only a human could possess such a narrow minded view," The Espada retorted with a spat of disdain. "I admit, our powers seem quite close to the point of confusing it as equal or even yours being superior. But where you may experience damage or injury, I happen to naturally remedy it far easier than you can imagine."
Before the Substitute Shinigami could question him what he meant, a hissing gout of blood and smoke ebbed from the stump of the Arrancar's arm. Within seconds, a new arm had sprung forth, and his burns were erased seemingly quicker than his limb being renewed. Experimentally clenching his fist before opening his palm, he waved his hand in demonstration, "There. As easy as exhaling air, I can regenerate any injury you give me. I alone among the Espada have retained my natural Hollow powers of regeneration over gaining more power."
While the Visored knew he himself never possessed such wild powers, he knew there had to be some catch to what Ulquiorra claimed. Even his experience of fighting Hollows he knew that they needed time to restore their bodies and even then, the head was always the most vital spot. And with a body of a Shinigami, the Cuatro Espada may be even more vulnerable than what he'd like to admit. Furrowing his brows Ichigo raised his blade to point at his foe directly with a single hand.
"Let's see how confident you are after I've taken that head off your shoulders," Ichigo snarled with a guttural edge through his mask.
"Can you?" Ulquiorra questioned with a dry blink. "You obviously believe so given my current state of powers is matched by yours if not slightly surpassed my own. Your adaption to powers set before you and the experience from past battles have made you a significant more of a threat than I ever gave you credit to be. Honestly, I wanted to simply destroy you for the destruction of Las Noches and interfering with Lord Aizen's plans. Now, I believe you'll be putting Lord Aizen in danger if you are allowed to live and escape this plane."
The strawberry haired man wanted to quip but he was cut off as a ominous pull on the environment was felt. The pit of his stomach lurched and his whole being grew heavier. His eyes widened as a ominous pulse of Reiatsu flourished off of the Espada. Expanding outwards it soon created an eclipsing dome of pitch black Reishi that waved past his body, giving him a cold chill in his blood as it flourished out past Renji, Uryū, Nelliel and Orihime.
"What is he doing?!" Nelliel inquired sharply.
"I thought you'd know that, being his ex-partner!" Renji barked as he felt himself drop to a knee just as the Quincy buckled at the feeling the same as Nelliel did.
"I was his peer, his teacher and his comrade. But this...I never felt this kind of strength coming from him! It's almost like he's-"
"Aizen..."
The faint ghost of a whisper cut through the dialogue like a razor, earning everyone's turn of the head to look straight at Orihime. Her continuous courage had been both inspirational and an awe to witness since she began fighting. But now, as she looked on, a look of pale colored terror was painted across her face. Pupils contracted and her mouth parted, she continued to speak in the same haunting tone. "His power...it's so cold and overwhelming...it reminds me when my eyes met Aizen's."
The implications were terrifying but unmistakable. As the others turned to look on, Nelliel's own throat grew parch and her mouth parted as she wordlessly called out Ichigo's name. She knew he couldn't hear him, but she herself felt something horrible was coming and she couldn't do anything to protect him this time.
"Ichigo...please...don't die!"
Chapter
12
I
Am
Hollow
"What is that Reiatsu?!" Nanao spoke out with alarm, feeling a wave of an inner cold swim through her very being. Even the moon seemed to grow dimmer in the distant horizon of darkness that sent a visible wave that passed over them like a violent gust of wind. She didn't know if it ever stopped flowing along the sands of Hueco Mundo, only that it came from a simple expulsion of excess Reishi; some of it being so intoxicating she swore it was reminiscent of her time being choked by the Captain Commander's own power.
"Please tell me it's that Ichigo guy," Sentarō gulped, feeling incredibly insignificant, even at a distance when feeling such strength.
"B-But he'll beat him, right? It's not like he'll lose and make us fight 'em?" Kiyone tried to joke, laughing nervously before realizing no one joined in.
"Captain?" Isane questioned Byakuya whom simply made a slight turn to look over his shoulder. Seeing his expression unmoved, she knew what the answer was going to be before he spoke.
"We continue our search. We'll deal with whatever problems the Substitute Shinigami is unable to handle on his own," He crisply declared, taking more steps across desert towards where he felt faint signatures of his adopted sister's Reiryoku.
It was all they had to go by, but it was better than simply wandering aimlessly. Not even Kakushitsuijaku was able to properly gauge a location to determine her location despite the adamant faint presence of her lingering Reishi in the air. Still, between all of them, they had to find at least something regarding Rukia Kuchiki's whereabouts.
"S-Should we-"
"Let it go, Momo," Nanao sighed in answer to her shorter Lieutenant. "If he wasn't a strong guy, the Captain Commander wouldn't have sent us to help him when he needed it. I'm sure he can pull through."
"Right," She smiled, feeling less worried about their ally failing and them having to confront this massive force that echoed across the wasteland.
"Enough stalling," Byakuya announced, stepping forward in a beginning of a sprint before he disappeared in a rapid series of Shunpo. As the others followed behind his brows creased in a rare sign of worry. Since coming to Hueco Mundo he had nearly been wrested of his own free will and struck down his own comrades on the behest of a vile Arrancar. And now, his sister disappeared along with Lieutenant Sasakibe. He didn't want to believe the possibility she was killed and her body destroyed because of this trace he discovered. He wanted to hope, but he dare not speak what was on his mind to anyone.
"Do your duty, Ichigo Kurosaki," He finished within his mind as he rapidly propelled himself across the sands of the other worldly earth. "And I'll do mine."
"Segunda Etapa," Ulquiorra finished declaring as a deranged ripping sound finished as his transformation completed. Gone was the trappings of white and bone colored helmet, now replaced with a physical appearance that radically altered his visage. Dark lines ran more bold on his face from his pale yellow eyes, his hair spreading around his crown with now a pair of arching hornes coming from the sides of his head. Up to his elbows was a consistency of black fur, fingers elongating into macabre detailed nails that imitated claws. His Hollow hole on complete display had a gruesome streak of black running down to his waist, completely wrapped by more black fur that formed a v-shape tress behind him while a long bush ended tail whipped around his form. Clawed feet matching his hands gave him a truly beastly look while retaining a human shape that continually ebbed a horrendous amount of abysmal Reiatsu as a result of his multiplied Reiryoku.
Ichigo had no words, he was so in shock that such power existed that he may as well not been using Bankai or his mask at all. The gap between them was so plain as day it made it hard for him to conjure the will to even more out of his stupor.
"Yes, that's an appropriate response, Ichigo Kurosaki," The Cuatro Espada finally spoke, his words snapping Ichigo out of his daze enough for him to renew his grip on his weapon. "I never have used this form in combat before. Not even Lord Aizen knows about this level, this power beyond a Shinigami's Bankai or what imitation of Hollow powers you possess. You could say this next level of Murciélago's powers is its truest state. With that being said, do I still look human to you, pretender?"
Still at a loss for words as to what to do, Ichigo remembered the only kind of power that was close to this feeling. It was back when he fought Aizen for the first time. Even while running on fumes he attacked the man in his Bankai but he deflected it with a single finger. For a moment, he couldn't even function not by the feat alone; it was the depths of the immense Reiryoku he felt behind the single digit that held back the totality of his power with such ease. Just staring at Ulquiorra's eyes just gave him that same eerie sense of overwhelming strength.
And he had no idea how he was going to beat someone of this level!
"No answer? That's just fine," Ulquiorra replied smoothly, his body leaning forward in a three-armed crouch; akin to how an animal would prepare to strike. "I'll just show you the true gap between our powers, pretender!"
Ichigo knew from the momentum that his opponent propelled at, he wouldn't be able to get much time to react. Raising his blade up at a diagonal angle he prepared his defenses. If he could at least fire a Getsuga, perhaps he could-
"NGH?!" The Visored reacted as his whole body jerked to the side, his head grasped by a black hand that grasped him from the right. Eyes widened at the jerking motion and his sight still was seeing a phantom image of the Arrancar's flying frame. It wasn't until that he was catapulted through a body of sand, essentially parting the white sea of particles, that he realized Ulquiorra had adjusted his position with a Sonido.
Not allowed an instant of respite or forethought, the skidding Shinigami felt a sharp kick from his enemy as he instantaneously timed his attack at the moment of his deceleration. Half of his mask shattered in an instant, blood flying off from long lacerations made across his face that nearly cut into his eye. Even still, his eyes were closed by the sudden spasm of pain as he was sent whipping up high into the moon-lit sky.
Without any real plan, Ichigo raised a hand up to repair his mask, enduring the pain his face felt as he desperately tried to look around as he forced himself to a stop in the sky. As blood seeped underneath the mask and dripped past his jawline, he held his blade with such a shaking grip that it felt his hands were vibrating. One flapping sound echoed behind him and the Substitute gulped, turning slowly to see Ulquiorra lazily pressing his finger into his back.
A mute declaration of attack later and Ichigo felt his whole backside light up in a turquoise blaze as he became a comet of precise velocity. Impacting the sand floor with enough power to push him past the canopy of the Menos Forest, his body crashed and cracked through multiple mineralized branches of Reishi. Within the darkness he was able to see the moonlight peter through, only for it to become an image of a winged bat as his enemy followed after him.
Grasping a branch, Ichigo pulled himself around and spun back towards the speeding Ulquiorra. Howling out he unleashed a storm of thrusts, using his incredible speed and Getsuga wrapped edge to add power to every strike. Just when he thought he saw the attacks connect he found himself flabbergasted that they were easily parried...by the Arrancar's wings!
"Is this what you call a counterattack?" Ulquiorra inquired dryly, his hands residing at his sides as his larger appendages kept up with ease against his lesser opponent. "Pitiful."
"GRRRR!" Ichigo snarled, concentrating on a two fold attack. Swinging his blade around in a figure eight movement before it was lifted over his head and just nary over his still smoldering coated back. "Getsuga," A guttural growl, followed by an ungodly howl as he swung his blade at the unmoving Espada. "Tenshō!"
Like a torrential wave of blackness ebbing of dark red, it spread outward and consumed many of the branches and rising tops of the crystalline trees within the forest. The result was the complete collapse of some of the residually hanging body of sand above them. As it rained down, light snaked in, revealing more of the haunting sight as it peeled back the layers of shadows along Ulquiorra to Ichigo's outward holding blade.
To the young man, it was a sinking feeling in his stomach at the sight; a marvelous black blade running down to its tip touching the trail of similar hue skin just below a hollow hole. But not a trace of the attack could be seen that caused a downpour of sand around them. Not even the razor edge even pushed against the steel-like Hierro surrounding the Cuatro Espada. His own golden eyes met Ulquiorra's, seeing not just annoyance but...disappointment.
"It is as I suspected," The Arrancar whispered, his eyes closing. "They were all just words. It mustn't exist in the way she described."
"What are you-GLK?!" Ichigo began to to question until he felt the cold grip of his enemy's hand clenched around his throat. The movement was all but too quick for his eyes to follow, and thus his own sense of Reiatsu was rendered null. Grinding his teeth behind his mask, he felt his sword pushed aside with a single finger with Ulquiorra's free hand.
"This Heart that keeps you fighting on, and propels you forward. It's all just a liability you humans, and by extension Shinigami, possess that pushes them into an early grave," He remarked coldly, his anger barely subdued as his grip tightened around the orange haired man's neck. "What reason do you have to fight, if you can't up your so-called big talk with real strength?"
In an instant, Ichigo replied by letting out a gargled snarl. But instead of it simply being unintelligible gibberish, his mask opened with his own mouth. A quick release of a bright light of crimson-white Cero swam outward, colliding into Ulquiorra's face with a mighty explosion that shook the air around them. The shockwave was enough for the Visored to regain his balance and be released out of the chokehold. As he rubbed his neck with one free hand, he looked up with apprehension as Ulquiorra blew back the smoke with a single wave of his right wing.
"I've known you were stronger than me. How couldn't I? You killed me the first time we fought," Ichigo replied through his mask, enrapturing Getsuga around his Zanpakutō. When it was seeped in a pitch black that was wreathed in a dim red, he readied himself as his opponent slowly tread closer. "But, that doesn't matter. I have people counting on me. Someone who'd die for me in a heartbeat. I can't stop fighting until I win because I MUST-"
Just as the blade swung towards Ulquiorra, he saw the Arrancar lazily sidestep the attack. At the same time his left hand appeared in his field of vision, its back colliding into his face and swinging outward in a backhand motion. The explosive Reiatsu unleashed at that moment was enough to completely shatter his mask into dust, ushering his mouth to spew out spittle and blood as the rest of his body was sent careening backwards. Before he got very far, his foot was entangled by his tail, yanking him back around to be snap kicked upwards and then palmed to somersault head over heel into a larger crystalline tree within the dark.
His vision swam, only barely making out the yellow eyed demonic visage of his enemy coming closer. As blood leaked out of his mouth, he shakily raised his blade in defense, barely making out what Ulquiorra spoke in retort.
"You hold that sword with such an empty ideal, it might as well be a blunt stick," The Espada ridiculed Ichigo, his body bathing in the darkness in an almost revelling sensation. It was here he was in his best element. The very visual medium of his own state of emptiness that Hueco Mundo was known for by the darkness. "Saying that you're fighting because you have attachments, that people rely on you and that you have to is a paltry comparison to my own duty. I must kill you, Ichigo Kurosaki, because Aizen demands there to be no survivors that threaten his kingdom. He knows that my purpose is assurred because my confidence in what I aim to do is pure. Your own misguided attempt of showing what The Heart or any human can achieve against a superior being is foolish if not outright ignorant of your own inability to understand what you are lacking."
"What is...that...pray tell?" Ichigo wheezed out, sweat starting to crawl off his face as the sclera in his eyes return to a normal color just as his yellow irises shift to hazel.
"Your use your Hollow mask when you fight but it has no weight, no true cohesion. It would be like if I rejected my easily mistakable appearance of humans to show my truest Hollow self. I embody what I am in its entirety and it is unmatched. You just play pretend, hence your moniker I rightfully bestowed upon you," He explained, his body once more a little more than a sword's reach away. "The sword you swing around may as well be a toy considering how it and the mask of your are so closely tied. Such a waste of such power when you use it so foolishly."
A tail lash out later and Ichigo felt himself throttled across the canopy, his body careening through the tops like glass, shattering around him in abundance as he was incapable of fighting back at this point. Every swipe, every slap and every twitch seemed to cause an excruciating amount of pain. The power was so easily controlled and released it was mind boggling to think that Aizen had similar if not even greater power than this Espada of his. How could he measure up? Did he ever stand a chance?
Then, he remembered Ulquiorra's choice of words. He seemed almost disgusted with how Ichigo controlled his Hollow abilities. It wasn't like that with the others. People either exhibited momentary surprise or just simply were confused. Out of all of them it seemed Ulquiorra understood its nature best if only because he himself was a Hybrid Spiritual Being. If even what a modicum of what he said was true, what was holding him back?
"What is there to be angry about?" He remembered, suddenly visualizing himself holding Nel in her child form while a shallow cut was made on him that was shown visibly by the trail of blood on Dordonii's hand. He ridiculed as he spoke, his Sword Released Form as apparent as the Bankai he wore in readiness.
"If your objective is to 'protect your friends' and my objective is to 'defeat you at full strength', then what I'm going to aim for is not you, but that little bebé. Nothing more."
He remembered that encounter and tried to think hard why he had held back so long. He shouldn't have hesitated to use all of his power to crush his enemies, then and there. But he kept it back, claiming it was for the sake of reserving strength for stronger opponents. No, it was something else, something deeper.
Feeling himself flung across the air again, he harnessed another current of Getsuga around his blade. Throwing it quickly, his eyes didn't immediately register Ulquiorra's hand but instead a crimson Cero. Dodging instinctively, he remembered the bright day scenery from his fight with Grimmjow. He had put himself against his opponent in his Bankai, once again holding back his Hollowfication. Just as the Arrancar prepped his Gran Rey Cero, he looked back over his shoulder and then shouted at his opponent to stop. It was only by the skin of his teeth that he donned the mask in time to break the attack...and remember the look of horror Orihime gave him.
"This stupid mask is a reminder of the monster that I have harbored in my soul!" Ichigo thought with disdain, donning it once again with a grimace as he tried to fend off a few more swipes from Ulquiorra. Each time he felt like his arms were about to be ripped out of their sockets just from parrying. Another unseen kick and he cried out in his hollowed tone as he crashed through more Reishi built trees. "Why?! Why do I have to use the face of a monster that hurt so many people?! My mother, my sisters, Orihime, Chad, Rukia...all of them been harmed or scarred by freaks of Hell!"
"Come on, I can take care of this guy!"
His mind suddenly flashed to the time that Yammy was drawing his sword, the sickening lurch in his stomach as his body was about to be possessed by his own Hollow from within. From that point on, things went bad to worse, all because he denied the full rein his internal demon yearned to have over him. Would things have went better if he had? He couldn't think that way because all of his strength and will was surrendered to someone not other than himself-
"Do you trust me, Ichigo?"
Ichigo remembered such words come back to his mind, the presence of the Old Man he desperately wanted to return. Now more than ever, but something also felt off. As he recounted as he verbally told him all of his power was his to command and that all he needed in return was strength to fight, the power he felt flow through him wasn't what he'd expected. In fact it felt more like the presence of his mask now that he thought about it.
"That's right," Ichigo pondered as he tried to wrench himself out of the bottom floor of the forest that he was rag dolled through. Trees laid scattered all around and clattered like fragments of glass. Blood ebbed from his skull down over his face, making his eyes hardly open at all. His uniform was cut and slashed but still intact, but his mask was once again ripped apart by his foe. As he saw the last fragments fall to the ground and dissipate his dust, he closed his eyes in remembrance. "He called my Hollow myself. Zangetsu never once trained me formally. I always had to get through this guy. I'm now starting to wonder why."
As he awaited his attacker to come back for another round of beatings he recalled how many times he was so close to death only for his mask to save his life. The first time when Tessai was about to use his binding Kidō and he emerged as a Shinigami with a mask donned on his face. The next was when he nearly been felled by Renji's attacks and the next by Kenpachi Zaraki. Each time it was when his life was threatened, his Hollow was the one to give him strength or protect him.
"Why would that bastard want to save me? Keep me alive if he hated me so much?" He thought as he pondered harder. Then, he knew that from the first mention of Ulquiorra how his Zanpakutō technique resembled a Hollow's Cero was too hard to ignore that something was incredibly off. His own Shinigami abilities, so basic and purely destructive in their means akin to the nature of a Hollow which made using its own powers like second nature. It felt connected. His Shinigami powers were Hollow all along. "Then why did the Old Man keep that from me? Why didn't that other guy clue me in? What the Hell is-"
A second later, and Ulquiorra's fist crashed into the side of his skull, causing his eyes to roll into the back of his head as he was sent tumbling head over heels across the ground yet again.
"I think I'm about done, Ichigo Kurosaki," He whispered as he watched the distantly retreating form of his enemy. Raising his hand up, he splayed open his clawed digits purposefully as he declared a bit louder. "It's about time I finish this charade."
The fight roared on even from their unseeing eyes. The overwhelming ocean of Reiatsu that Ulquiorra had flooded the space of desert they all stood in was so numbing that they couldn't try to sense Ichigo. All they knew was that the longer the battle dragged out, the more damage the Substitute Shinigami was taking. The only indication he wasn't killed yet was that the sounds of battle were still occurring, even under their feet.
But that was all there was of knowing. The only assurrance their best chance of beating Ulquiorra was being a punching bag. None of them could hope to follow his attacks nor comprehend his strength when the Cuatro Espada revealed this new transformation. With little effort, he turned Ichigo's new found powers right on his head. Driving him down past the sandy sea, he was now crashing through the forest began to shift and stir under their feet.
One particular set of rumbles caused pits form in the sand, causing all four of them begin to drop down into the pale barked woodland.
Within the descent, Renji thought quick and used his already released Zanpakutō to stretch out across the air. Despite the numerous collapsing trees surrounding them, his wire-linked series of blades found purchase with a thick limb and wrapped around it. Pulling his arm around Nelliel, he swung himself through the shower of sand and flipped up to land on another opposing tree's branch.
"Thanks," Nel replied with a smile.
"Just consider it payback for...well, before," Renji remarked with a slight flush expression.
"Dammit, Ichigo!" Uryū swore out as he formed a Reishi platform, allowing both himself and Orihime to steady themselves a couple dozen meters away from them "What's the matter with you? You're not going to just lose to this guy, are you?!"
"He will," Orihime breathed out loud, earning a look of shock as he saw Ichigo's most adamant believer was faltering now. Her eyes dilated to almost the size of pins, her hands shook at her sides. "How...how can anyone survive against that? H-How-"
Uryū didn't have the words of encouragement she needed. Looking across at Nelliel he could tell the other woman's brief smile was wiped away when her eyes traced across the ground. She looked desperate, wanting to find any trace someone she treasured was still alive. He didn't know Nelliel long but as a child she had a benign innocence that was...unfounded in most Hollowity. And for all of the annoyance Pesche and Dondochakka possessed, they were well founded and meaningful Arrancars who took their guardianship of Nel seriously. They fought with all the strength for the most righteous of reasons something that put his belief in Hollows into incertainty.
"We have to find him!" Nelliel cried out, bringing Uryū out of his stupor and brought alertness to both Renji and Orihime. Her sword filled scabbard shook in her left hand as she turned to all three of them. Eyes full of panic and seriousness, she waved her hand around as she continued to yell above the explosions and crashes below their feet. "Ichigo needs us! He's fought for us, it's time we help him!"
"Are you insane?!" Renji shouted at her, his sword flailing towards the destruction seemingly kilometers below. "That monster is tossing him around like a ball. We won't have a chance in Hell of stopping him. What kind of plan could even come close to succeeding?"
"It's not a matter of stopping him or even beating him," She argued, her eyes glaring into Renji's with a fierceness that made him take a step back on the branch. "He's your friend, and he didn't need to fight. He never had to fight for any of you yet he's here, rescuing people and defending others who he doesn't owe anything. I may not know many Shinigami but he's the best shining example of selflessness and honor I've ever seen. If you want to let someone like that die, then I know why Hollows love to kill Shinigami so much. You disgust me!"
"YOU DON'T THINK I WANT TO HELP?!" Renji snarled, fighting past his initial apprehension to raise his sword slightly as his anger was starting to get the better of him. "He saved Rukia! He fought against the one man I wanted to beat and did just that! I may hate his guts but I respect him for what he is! But I'm a warrior, not a saint. I will not throw my life away in a suicide attempt for the sake of just trying!"
"You-!"
"Lady Nel! Lady Nellllll!~"
"-who?" Nel turned on her heel, looking up to see someone on the edge of the pit of sand they fell in was none other than Pesche. Catching sight of him, she saw he was flanked on the side with both Aaron-Chad and Dondochakka.
"Dondochakka! Pesche!" She cried out, waving at them so they could see her. "I'm here!"
"Oh thank the sands!" Pesche shouted aloud, jumping down and followed by his bulkier comrade with Aaron-Chad behind. After some careful leaping the three landed at their midst, with Uryū and Orihime now joining them on the same branch. The echoes of the attacks now drawing quieter and longer intervals between each, they knew it was a matter of time before their friend met an untimely end.
"I'm assuming there's a plan," Aaron-Chad piped up, earning a look from everyone. Seeing almost everyone just looked away or couldn't muster up a reply earned a sigh from the Exequias. Turning to look at Uryū, he proposed with a hand up. "I know it's a long shot but...I think I have an idea. If we can at least get him away from Ulquiorra for a few moments, Orihime could use her abilities to allow Ichigo to recouperate. Perhaps this ordeal could give him the boost he needs in order to fight on par with Ulquiorra's new form."
"How will that work?" Renji looked skeptically at the usually few worded man.
"No, he's right," Uryū rebuked as he turned to look at the Shinigami and the others. "Ichigo's powers have grown greater after each battle. He's not the same person when we entered Hueco Mundo. I'm sure Orihime can attest to that."
"Is it true?" The Shinigami asked the woman who began to nod her head, her disposition becoming less of panic and more hopeful. Sighing, he looked over at Chad he grinned slightly. "I know this is a dumb idea but a challenge of taking a guy on Aizen's level got my attention. How are we going to get to him and make him distracted?"
"Alright," Aaron-Chad began, unfurling his plan into motion. He needed time to make sure his main body could finish evolving. If someone like Ulquiorra found him before the process was finished, it'd be the most damning consequence. He had to save Ichigo at all costs if only to just survive Ulquiorra's reprisal and knowledge of what exactly he had done. "This is what we should do..."
A lasting explosion that shot upwards through the sea of sand, Ulquiorra finally took hold of Ichigo's neck. He had long suspected he lost consciousness awhile back. Still something within him stirred his being to such levels that he'd dare say it was the equivalent of anger. Not wanting to dwell on the fact he exhibited an emotion such as that, he kept up his assault, surprised the Substitute's body hadn't crumbled under his touch.
It was just a testament to how stubborn he was. His now bare torso was peppered with lacerations, burns and bruises yet still had yet to look truly destroyed. Seeing that he had yet to relinquish his grip on his sword even after all the punishment he knew that he needed to taste true defeat. It'd cost him his life, but it mattered little to him. He just wished the woman was within sight before his end was met.
Why he desired that he had no idea why if only to drive a point across.
"Your Heart is what killed you, Ichigo Kurosaki," He stated as he pulled back his spare arm, aiming it for the same spot he stabbed in their prior fight. "Allow me to take it from you so in death you'll feel what I do. Nothing!"
It was in this instant that he almost didn't hear it. A distant roar and a blast of Reiatsu that came out of a not too distant pit. Turning his gaze he didn't have time to see the silhouette's frame and only that a lance was sent spiraling towards him. One that built up momentum and became a spinning drill of Reishi wrapped steel.
"So, you've come to die with him," Ulquiorra stated aloud, his spare hand now gesturing at the land. With a flash of light following a shockwave, the weapon was sent sprawling away in a haphazard manner, now devoid of the power it was thrown with. "Commendable attempt but annoying at best. Let me finish and I'll be right-"
It came completely unexpected. Within the bout of superior Reiryoku that his former superior had, a power welled up underneath him. Striking upward with ferocity that clamped over his whole body, the maw of a bone-bodied serpent sent him spiraling up into the sky. In the confusion he had lost his grip on Ichigo and his limp body was sent sprawling to the side, now caught in the arms of Nelliel, weapon returned in her grip.
"Desperate, aren't we?" Ulquiorra asked dryly, his wings spread out, unleashing a pressure that completely tore apart the Bankai. Sending its fragments raining across the sand he saw the Shinigami who had rose up from beneath the surface glare daggers up at him. Amidst the fragment, however, Aaron-Chad swung his right arm, unleashing an El Directo point blank. With a wing remaining upward in its blocking motion, it waved back and crashed into his shield arm, sending him impacting into the sand where the rest of the Bankai segments. "My Pesquisa isn't so easily pierced to not have sensed your presence, human."
"Ngh," Aaron-Chad winced, rising up with a stumble as he looked up at the Cuatro Espada. But in a blink, he was already in front of him. With instinct he pulled back his left arm and swung it in hopes of connecting La Muerte. Before it even reached his face it was caught at the bicep and tricep with his tail. A twisting jerk later, and his arm was pulled out of its socket, earning a yell of pain from his mouth. That was silenced when the same limb he yanked out bodily collided into his defenseless side, sending him skipping across the sandy surface.
Nelliel was running to the spot Orihime was waiting. With Uryū standing by her side, she barely was two dozen meters away before Ulquiorra appeared. Stopping with a skid that almost slammed herself into him, she saw both Renji and Aaron-Chad in his clutches. Flicking their bodies with an effortless show of force, both were tumbled in unconscious heaps. With Aaron-Chad's one-armed state bloodied and bruised while Renji's now Bankai deprived blade barely held in his grasp bled out in the sand.
"I see your strategy," Ulquiorra he spoke directly at Nelliel, his glare of anger apparent as much as the annoyance edging his voice. "You wanted to Reject the Phenomena of Ichigo's injuries in hopes of allowing him to gain more strength. Such an occurrence transpired already to bring him back from death and fight Grimmjow, as he wanted, allowing him to best him at his peak. Considering how this place ended up, it is likely he had this done to him again after battling whatever forces Aizen had left. Now you wish to use this power once more to awaken a greater power than earlier. Unfortunately for you, I have no intention of allowing any of you to complete this task."
The sound of an arrow sang out, alerting the Espada to an attack from behind. His wing batted it effortlessly away from his head, not even needing to turn his head to know where it was intending to strike. When the Quincy appeared above his head, he pulled back the bowstring of Reishi and charged his Ginrei Kōjaku.
"Licht Reigen!" Uryū shouted as he unleashed a storm of Reishi filled arrows, all potent in their own right. As they cascaded across the sand to create a storm cloud of blue and white, Nelliel propelled past the now defending Ulquiorra to Orihime's side. Setting him down before her she raised her lance up as she looked back at her.
"I know you want to help but focus on protecting him," She told the young girl who hesitantly nodded at her. "We'll do all we can to buy you some time. Make it count."
Ichigo blinked, realizing he suddenly wasn't in immense pain or sudden jerking motion. Looking around he found his perspective flipped and his stationary placement of footing was on a horizontally aligned skyscraper. Clouds filled the sky, rumbling and crackling, threatening to break what little peace has befallen this world of his own making. But then, he remembered he wasn't alone.
Turning to look over his shoulder, he half expected to see the Old Man standing atop an unremarkable sword perch. Instead, it was a bleached inverse of himself, lazily leaning back while looking up at the sky. His feet were kicking idly and his breath coming out in exaggerated sighs of impatience and contempt.
"You-!"
"Yup. Still here," Ichigo's Hollowfied self interrupted in his usual eerie, distorted echo of his own voice. Despite Ichigo's alarm and his grip on his sword, the Bankai clad spirit had no intention of moving from where he was. He kept staring upward with an almost bored look in his eyes. "Damn storm's ruined my view. Can you do me a solid and just hand me your body if you don't want to die? I'd hate to lose my only chance of freedom to slip away just now."
He instinctively flinched and took a step back on the irregularly placed skyscraper. The last time he lost control he was completely conscious and he felt like he was on auto-pilot. Worst, it took away what pride he had as a warrior and an individual he had, only fueling his loathing for the being he was. Yet, even as he stared on, the paled copy just look back with a grimace of annoyance that was almost just like his own.
"He's been saving me ever since the beginning. My powers came from him just as much as it has from the Old Man," The young man concluded as his stare returned to a determined glare and his stance strengthened rather than cowered. "He may piss me off and be greedy for control, but everytime he had I was in a place way over my head. Byakuya would have killed me if he hadn't taken control. I don't know how strong Yammy is but if the fight kept going on, Ulquiorra most certainly could have killed me. Did he know how strong my enemies were and kept me out of harm's way? Has he been protecting me this whole time while feeding me the same old story?"
"What are you here for, King?" Doppelganger asked the Shinigami bodied man before him, leaning his hand into an open palm with a mixture of annoyance and boredom.
"I have some questions for you," Ichigo finally spoke, his tone serious as was the visage of his face.
"What do I look like, Customer Support? Go bug someone else with-"
"Number One," He kept speaking, much to the pale man's chagrin. "If I'm just a body to possess to you, why have you been protecting me from the very beginning?"
The question was enough to shake the confidence in the apparent Hollowfied being before the young man. If only for a few moments, his face was full of shock and eyes widened. Turning it into one of humorless disbelief, he raised a hand as he replied, "What makes you think I give a damn about you? I'd sooner kill you than protect your sorry ass-"
"I've been thinking and it makes too much sense," The Substitute Shinigami continued, not allowing the rejection to be fully said by the inhabitant of his soul. Pointing his finger he jabbed at his face from where he stood, not moving closer or backing away as the words came from his mouth. "Your power was always there, backing me up or letting me survive. Even back when I first fought Renji, your power allowed me to survive and numbed the pain when I should have been overcome by it. And every time my wounds should have killed me your mask was always keeping me safe.
The only time you possessed me was to keep me from dying. I realize that now with Byakuya that I shouldn't have been able to beat him the way I had. And even with Yammy, Ulquiorra could have easily killed me back in the World of the Living. You knew I was outmatched so you kept me from fighting," Lowering his head to look down at the ground, seeing his own reflection on a window before his feet. Blinking at it he sighed heavily at this new revelation he had come to. As much as he wanted to not acknowledge it, the truth was there. Closing his eyes, he looked up and opened them as his now lowered hand gripped tightly at his side. "You helped rekindle my fighting spirit, reinforce my resolve and kept giving me strength every time I fought whether I lost or won being irrelevant."
For the first time Ichigo had known him, his paled reflection seemed to look grimly solemn. Staring back at him with a layer of mystifying seriousness while also guarded with a veil of contempt. He had no idea what he was thinking right now other than he was taking his words with the utmost seriousness. Even as the Inner World's skies roared with thunder and cracked with lightning, he kept silent as the lightning overcast them occasionally with every now and then crack electricity surrounding them.
"So, what do you want, a cookie?" The Hollow asked in a bemusing grin. "I want you strong so you are worth taking as my own. Isn't it obvious? I wouldn't want to take control of someone so weak. The better the prize the more its quality becomes apparent. I don't give a damn about someone unless he benefits me. And seeing you're the only bastard I have contact with, it seems that my sight of you is simply out of selfish desire. That's all."
"Is that right?" Ichigo inquired with a sardonic smile of his own.
"Afraid so," His copy replied with his grin still retained.
"If that's the case...then why bother trying to get me to call you Zangetsu," The orange haired man insinuated, this time wiping the smile quickly from the Hollow's face. His own smile diminishing, he knew that his next question was something he came up with the answer on his own. He just wanted to hear it from the source. "Which leads me to my second question. Who are you and, who is the Old Man? If both of you calls themselves Zangetsu then I get the feeling someone is lying to me. So I want answers. Now!"
"You know you could die if you keep hanging around here," The Spirit commented, looking up at the storming sky. "That Arrancar's going to rag doll your unconscious body before he drills a Cero between your-"
"ANSWER THE QUESTION, DAMMIT!" Ichigo roared out, his voice piercing the sound of the thunder surrounding him.
Sighing, the Inner Hollow rose up and faced Ichigo. Taking strides towards him the look of anger seemed to permeate his overall stoic visage. Such countenance was only broken when he was within arm's length as an arm was pulled back and thrust to punch Ichigo in the face. The fact that he saw his punch halted when Ichigo grabbed the wrist before the knuckles could find purchase against his face only made him angrier.
"Get out," The Hollow snarled. "I got nothing to say to you."
"No!" The Shinigami barked back, holding back the powerful arm with his own strength. "I want answers! Now!"
"You really think that after all this time I'd just answer that?!" His other self countered, wrenching his hand from the Shinigami's grasp. Dryly chuckling, he sneered as he pointed at Ichigo, his eyes full of anger as much as his voice contained. "You're such a dumbass to be led on a leash. Just because a guy tells you he's your Zanpakutō you're just going to buy it? Didn't you once thought it was strange how he knew everything there was to the Soul Society, to Zanpakutō techniques and then just happened to be hiding me behind his man-skirt? No Zanpakutō born outside of the Soul Society would even have an inkling as to how things work there, period!"
The confirmation was damning. The man he assumed was Zangetsu was just someone posing as his real Zanpakutō. The person whom he acknowledged, sought out as a mentor and a confident this whole time was a man draped in black with eyes hidden behind a visor. The fact his own powers seemed to not reflect the image of the one who pretended to be and instead was the one known as a Hollow always felt off.
Then again, there was that one time when he first met his mirror image that now echoed in his mind.
"Now you shall have a test whether or not you are able to wield me, Ichigo. If you want to return, first you are to take me from yourself."
"Tensa...Zangetsu," Ichigo spoke aloud, his eyes regaining focus and staring at the still begrudging entity. "That's your real name."
"No shit, Sherlock," He snarked back with a sour glare.
"So, my Shinigami powers were always Hollow by nature," Ichigo stated aloud.
"Of course. Why else would you only be taught one technique that releases absorbed Reiatsu through a sharp blade? Plus, it's the only technique I've ever known so what else is there to teach?" He asked rhetorically with a waving gesture.
"It's the only one?" The strawberry haired man asked with a few blinks of almost disbelief.
"You only need one to beat all others!" He proudly puffed out his chest, thumbing it with an odd pleased grin. "I mean, if you can't beat them with Getsuga Tenshō, you can always just cut him till it dies."
"Uhh...fair point," Ichigo relented with a sheepish chuckle. "I don't think I could get around to practicing a complicated technique. Then it'd really take me years to use it."
"Yeah, you are kinda dense like that," The spirit laughed, though in part was to the Substitute's Chagrin. But it was enough to get him to laugh slightly at himself, if only for the fact he knew he wasn't that smart about things of this nature.
"So...now that I know," Ichigo led on, his disposition now retaining a bit of a seriousness to it. "I was thinking instead of me borrowing your power, you could lend it in full-"
"You want me to possess you?" Zangesu interjected with confusion.
"No," He answered with a shake of his head. Stretching out his hand towards the Hollowfied Zanpakutō he smiled sincerely at his spirit. "I want us to fight as partners."
For awhile, the Hollow Zanpakutō just looked at him with confusion. He had expected a demand of more power or him to sway to his mastery now that he knew the truth. Instead he offered a hand as if he was calling him a friend. It was a rare feeling, something he himself hadn't known since his conception.
Looking up at him with a serious expression that mimicked something akin to one of Ichigo's, he inquired, "You trust me to fight with you. A partner. Just like that."
"This isn't me just blindly following the words of another. It's me making a decision of my own accord and placing experience as a foundation for my trust in you as justified," Ichigo declared aloud, his eyes gaining a tint of hidden anger behind it as he finished speaking. "I'll deal with the Old Man later, but right now, I want us to work together. I can't do this without you, Tensa Zangetsu, and I mean it!"
"Heh, if you want me to hold your hand so much we might as well be dating," Zangetsu joked, enjoying the look of irritation on the Shinigami's face. Despite that, he reached out and clasped his palm with his own. As a result, the storm-filled world became charged with a brilliant surge of light that wiped out the world and became filled with just the swirling energy enrapturing the two of them.
"Now, let's kick this guy's ass!"
"Now, that was valiant," Ulquiorra declared, his body unmarked while his opponents looked ragged and beaten. "If not entirely pointless. What can I expect from so-called rescuers of such trash, anyways?"
"Bastard," Uryū snarled out loud, taking a step forward as his own left arm had been torn off during their battle. Pulling out a Seele Schneider he used Hirenkyaku to close the distance between them, swinging it at the Arrancar's face. "Don't underestimate us!"
"Or what?" He inquired with a bored tone, mocking him as he used his tail to punch his chest before slapping him across the face. With teeth flying out of his blood spewing mouth, the bespectacled man was sent flying head over heels before crashing near Nelliel's four-hoof feet. Turning to see the former Tres Espada panting as she received bruises and cuts along her centauress form, he asked with a tilt of his head. "Next?"
Grimacing at her condition and the enemy's taunt, she resisted the urge to turn to look over at Orihime and Ichigo. She knew based on Ichigo's Reiatsu that it was still faint. She had a lot to recover for him and time they didn't have. No matter how strong she had become this was just damage inflicted on a scale they couldn't prepare for. Pulling back her lance, she threw it with a heave, sending it spiraling once again at her enemy.
"This again," He sighed aloud, his hand reaching out to flicker it back with a Bala explosion like he had before. During his focus on that, she used Sonido to appear to his right. What he saw this time caused a momentary spike of alarm. A rosy colored crackle of erratic Reishi didn't need to tell him what she intended to use.
"Gran Rey Cer-" She began to chant until he reached out and caught her hand, twisting it with a vicious snap. Letting out a scream of pain as her hand was broken, he followed up with a punch to her abdomen that made her bowl forward to her knees. A kick to her face opened a gash on her cheek as she was sent, out of her dematerializing Release Form no less, crashing next to Orihime. Gasping for air, her vision fogged as she saw her look between Ichigo and the now fading Tres.
"It seems this is the end for you," Ulquiorra stated to her as he took haunting step after step to stand over her. Pulling back an arm, he coldly finished as he thrust downward. "Farewell, comrade."
The sound of glass cracking and a rush of wind was heard. His eyes blinked to see the shield had stopped his assault, triangular in shape but orange-gold in hue. Turning to see Orihime stopping her recovery of Ichigo's Reiryoku, her sweating forehead depicted the stress of moving her spirits so fast and making a barrier in such a time. Still, with a yanking motion, the light cracked into dissipating fragments and left her completely defenseless.
"You can't even stand the sight of me killing someone you barely know? You're as naive as the boy," The Arrancar growled, his hand now pointing to prime a Cero. Black as night that ebbed a turquoise hue, the Cero Oscuras began to ramp up power as he intended to obliterate his ex-peer. "Watch closely as the one person who's left to stop me disappears."
"Don't you dare!" A voice, guttural with menace and raw of hatred broke through the air. A sudden bristling of light followed by the rise Reiatsu that made the ground thunder. When all turned to gaze, a pitch black mantle of energy ebbed from Ichigo's face as he slowly stood up, hair lengthening from his scalp till it touched down to the lowermost part of his back. With only the cuffs of his sleeves restored, crimson tufts of fur now behind adjoined with it. Skin as white as chalk took up his complexion now devoid of injuries along with a hole at the center of his upper torso, with black markings spread up and over his shoulders. A mask fully formed that now had a similarity to his old one but instead had a pair of arching, forward facing horns. Golden eyes shined through the slits and clawed feet to fingers flexed, sword in hand now wildly glowing red along with his whole body. As his words came out, they were hollow, rough and legitimately terrifying to hear. "Get away from her, Ulquiorra!"
"I-Ichigo," Orihime stuttered aloud as she looked up with stark surprise and horror at what he looked like. The fact he had a hole in his chest petrified her. Had Ichigo completely gave himself into Hollowfication, like her brother?!
Nelliel couldn't have been more surprised than Orihime, just unable to rasp out a breath to call out his name. Her better, however, simply stared with his own brand of surprise. To feel such a tumultuous presence rise up and almost a completely different Ichigo come forth wasn't anything he expected. The woman hadn't been there long enough for the human to regain his powers. No, this was something completely unprecedented.
"Your power feels different than before," Ulquiorra declared, now feeling the signature had shifted from simply two presences to a defining singular one. It was the same presence he had felt back in the World of the Living, back when Yammy and himself had encountered the Substitute Shinigami. The flux of power had two different energies like when Ichigo used his mask before, but now it seemed it was stabilized and only dependent on one source. "I feel only one source of strength. Where is the other? What did you do?"
"Last chance," Ichigo took a step forward, his growl bearing menace as he stared with purpose at him. "Step away from Nelliel!"
"And if I don't?" He asked daringly, retaining full confidence in his abilities.
That was, until Ichigo bent at the knees and leaped forward. The streak of momentum that carried him was enough to cause the Arrancar to take a step back and nearly get cut down the middle. The force of the sword swipe was enough to collapse the body of sand, cleaving it down the middle and creating a thirty meter long fissure where it separated and became a dark crevice that deepened long down to the Menos Forest's canopy.
In his haste to backpedal, he saw that Ichigo had scooped Nelliel under arm protectively. Glaring at the man, he could only watch with annoyance as he was able to deposit her next to Orihime.
"Thanks for what you did, Orihime," Ichigo thanked her, his Hollowfied voice still raspy but holding the same compassion that his friend knew all too well. "Please find the others and tend to their wounds. I'll handle this now."
"O-Okay," Orihime nodded, feeling slightly less afraid. Despite appearances, he seemed like the old Ichigo she adored. Watching him turn his back she could only stare at the hole that was prominently displayed. Looking down at Nelliel, she just wished he didn't have such an ugly scar while fighting for the sake of protecting them. "Please be careful."
"No promises," Ichigo he growled, earning a shiver down Orihime's spine. "I intend to kill this guy."
As he spoke that, the familiar thrum distantly sounded the ignition of Reishi. Seconds later a column of thundering darkness raced towards Ichigo, Orihime and Nelliel. Not even with an ounce of hesitation he swung his sword in a straight line upward, cleaving the attack in a straight line, making it peter to the side at an angle with only a fraction of its power remaining intact. With only traces of turquoise Reishi flames flickering across the bed of sand between Ichigo and Ulquiorra, the latter stared on with wordless shock while the prior growled aloud.
"Now it's my turn!" He howled out, leaning his head forward and began prepping his own attack. A loud revving was sounded as a spiraling ball of crimson colored Reishi rapidly expanded till it was of a substantially large radius. Yelling out as he unleashed it, the Reishi clashed with a follow-up Cero Oscuras that Ulquiorra generated in his defense.
A glorious fireball was created when the two opposing Reishi collided, sending out an air popping shockwave between the two. Waves of sand elapsed as the flames burrowed deep into the bed and burned its way to the canopy's top. As smoke billowed upward, Ulquiorra flew upward, astonished that his Cero was cancelled out.
Ichigo kept up with his enemy, leaping upward and preparing another Cero to fire at his target.
"There you are," The Espada sneered with his arm swiveling around to gesture at him. A crackle of black Reishi and another Cero Oscuras flew forth, crashing into Ichigo's. Just as before another mighty cancelling blasts of power detonated before his eyes. Unable to question how such a thing was possible, he felt a rush in the air, surprising him he didn't feel the man sneak up behind him. An iron grip was felt on his wing just before a painful separation was felt from both it and his left arm, causing both appendages to fall to the grained earth along with its owner.
Crashing to the ground ungracefully, he slowly pushed himself back up, panting slightly from the agony of two lost limbs. Ichigo simply stared at him in the sky, daring him to make the next move. Letting out a groan, his arm and wing came back in a wisp bout of shadow made flesh. Shrugging off the injury, he stood back up and stared back at his enemy from the distance.
"You surprise me, pretender, that in order to become victor you'd sacrifice your own humanity for the sake of killing me. A brave attempt if not utterly foolish." Ulquiorra clasped his hands together, creating a turquoise gleam of light before spreading it either direction. Creating it is a double-edged spear of Reishi, hissing in the air before the Arrancar like a mesmerizing weapon of fiery illumination. "Lanza del Relámpago. With this next attack I'll ask you to stand still. I rather not unleash this at close range."
Flipping it around in a one-handed grip he gave it a good toss, sending the whistling missile aiming straight at his head. With Ichigo leaning slightly to the left, it easily avoided him by passing over his shoulder, its whines echoing into the far beyond as it sped beyond sight. What happened next cause him to look over his shoulder with shock. An explosion of upward blasting Reishi flew up into the starless sky, blasting away what looked like a cityscape of sand and sending a hurricane's worth of blast wind with sand flowing towards them like a raging tide.
"He did that with one attack?" Ichigo thought with surprise as he turned to look down at his stoic opponent. With renewed determination, he gripped his sword tightly. "Doesn't make a difference. I'll just have to cut him down before that thing makes contact with me!"
"Sorry, I'll try again," He whispered aloud in mock apology, his hand unfurling enough to create a new one in the blink of an eye. "It's such an unwieldy attack that I hadn't realized my aim was off. This time will be-"
A sudden buzzing sound permeated the air just as Ichigo disappeared from his sight. Turning to look over his shoulder his mouth was agape as he realized what happened within his own mind. He slipped completely past his gaze and by extension evaded his Pesquisa. He didn't use Shunpo to do it; it was a Sonido!
With a short burst of movement followed by the slash of his sword, a collision of titanic proportions was felt as the sand blew back from their exchange. Skidding back on the soles of his feet with his hand locked on his weapon he found himself on the receiving end of a charging Ichigo. Spinning his spear around swiftly, he began parrying the Hollowfied Shinigami as they began to do battle. Each and every time they traded blows Ichigo managed to get a kick in followed by a punch. Some others that slipped in were a slash to his face through the eye and another across his arm and then a leg. Even amidst combat he continued to regenerate effortlessly, never slowing down in his attempt to fight his aggressor off.
Performing another Sonido of his own to gain distance, he held his weapon with one hand until he saw his opponent disappear. Looking around to where he could be he suddenly heard a loud crack. Shifting his person to look towards one of the pits beyond his scope, Ichigo hauled up what looked like an enormous segment of the crystalline tree that had collapsed in the forest below. Hurling the building-sized formation with a single hand it moved like a catapulted artillery round.
"Like that's going to do any damage," He murmured aloud, thrusting his spear forward. Watching it shatter into dust he was so fixated on his own action that Ichigo diving at him didn't occur till nearly a second too late. Bowing his body back he could feel the air part before the black tip that narrowly missed the bridge of his nose. Twirling his lance around he moved forward to stab him in retaliation. Met halfway, Ichigo's free hand grasped the weapon's tip, causing a chaotic crackle of force between his fingers. "Impossible! You're holding it with your bare hand?!"
Not answering other than pushing the weapon back before crushing it in his palm, causing a dispersal of air around them. When the sand parted, Ichigo's mask parted to reveal his open mouth, his eyes glowing with sheer menace. The Arrancar gasped just prior to Ichigo slashing down at his torso, taking the upper half of his left adjoined horn with the swipe. As crimson jetted out of his chest he fell to the ground limply just as Ichigo charged a wafting amount of Reiatsu into his blade.
"Not allowing me to recover are you? How very Hollow of you," He remarked with a still voice, watching his enemy coldly stare him down.
"I'm not taking any chances," Ichigo stated with hatred lace around his words. "Now this is for my friends, and Nelliel, you bastard! Getsuga Tenshō!"
In a single wave of towering midnight dyed Getsuga, an explosive sphere of burning Reishi filled the entire vicinity between Ichigo and his opponent. The detonation sent a blistering wind that stung Orihime's skin as she continued to restore Nelliel's health. As the dark light that dimmed the moon's rays died down they could see from the distance that the violence had finally closed.
The battle, had been won.
A/N: Whew! The Chapter is finally done, as is Ichigo's climactic battle with Ulquiorra!
What's that? Aaroniero is still not around? Given her character is kind of, well, evolving I think it is warranted she stay out of the grand picture. All the hard work she put into keeping a low profile would be kind of wasted if she just Leeroy Jenkins the whole deal, now wouldn't it?
Other than that, I had a lot of fun reliving this reimagining of Ichigo vs Ulquiorra. From their dialogue back and forth to Ichigo's epiphany that led to his confrontation with the "Real" Zangetsu, I hoped you all enjoyed all of this development I'm giving to the other Main Characters and periphery support cast. Despite Aaroniero being the secret main character and hero of the story (hero being defined in the loosest term) I like the cast of BLEACH and I want to give them all as much of a proper due as possible.
And before you all ask, no, Renji's Bankai isn't vaporized. He planned to let his enemy blow back his Bankai segments, just like how he did against Byakuya's Shikai. Hence why Aaron-Chad was hiding inside the raining fragments to get in a sneak attack. I loved sneaking that bit of genius in, even if it was for naught.
Anything else? Ah, I guess that's it. Next Chapter shall be more or less a transition from this Arc's closing and the entering of the next hurdle; the Fake Karakura Town Arc!
Expect GREAT THINGS I'll be doing there. Sadly that will mean Aaroniero will be not around for the next couple of Chapters. But have no fear, she will make an appearance in possibly 3 if not 4 chapters at the latest. She is not one to be kept out of the spotlight even in her undercover role!
With that being said I want to take some time and thank LastationLover5000 for helping me proofread and correct mistakes where seen in this Chapter. Had it not been for my friend I'd be having some mess I'd mistakenly overlook. Again, thank 'em and go ahead to the portfolio of stories that he's got in the works!
Until then, I bid you all farewell and hopefully you enjoyed reading this Chapter. See you all again next time in A Predator Among Us!