Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters shown except for the 5 random arrancar. Everything else is Tite Kubo's
Chapter 3
The seven companions have successfully broken into Los Noches. None of them know what to expect, or how difficult their enemies will be to defeat. They walk down a long hallway anticipating the end when they are attacked by 5 low ranking arrancar. Ichigo and Renji stay to deal with them while the others continue on.
"I'll take the three on the left, you get the two on the right." Ichigo says calmly to Renji
"No way! I want three, you only get two." Renji replies emphatically.
"What!?! No! I said I get three!" Ichigo stammers
"I just said I get three! You can get your sorry butt over it!" Renji screams at Ichigo
"Listen here moron! I want three! You can go die in a corner for all I care!" Ichigo yells
The five arrancar just sit there dumbstruck as the two idiots argue over who gets to fight more foes. They all wonder how weak the two consider them if they aren't worried at all about the hopefully soon coming fight. They plot to surprise attack the distracted duo in front of them just as they come to a decision.
"All right. How about we each get two, then attack the last one together." Ichigo proposes.
"That works, but if one of us finishes our first two before the other, they can then attack the remaining one." Renji negotiates.
"Alright, deal. Let's go." Ichigo says finally.
Just as the five arrancar are ready to attack Ichigo and Renji make the first move. They both make an epic leap right in front of the arrancar, both of them cutting off one of their heads. Two down, three to go. The last three formed a triangle with each of them facing outwards to try and fight off the attacking soul reapers. Too bad for them, they were versing two very powerful foes and did not stand a chance against them. Renji quickly sends one to the void while Ichigo plays around with one of them laughing his butt off at how feeble he is. Unfortunately for Ichigo, he played around too long as Renji had already dealt the final blow to the last one by the time he had pulled his blade out of the enemy he had just cut down.
"How could you kill the last one without me! We agreed to kill him together!" Ichigo screams
"We decided that whoever killed his two first could defeat the last one. Remember?" Renji replies cooly
"I thought I'd get done first! That's the only reason I agreed to that!" Ichigo bellows
"What! Do you think I'm some kind of worthless wimp!"
"Well, now that you mention it… Kinda."
"What!!!! How can you say that! I'll show you! Howl, Zabimaru!"
"Hey! Put that thing away. We don't have time for this. We can kill each other some other time. Right now we need to focus on defeating the Espada and rescuing Orihime. Gott it?"
"Fine. You wait Kurosaki, I'm going to defeat you."
"I'll worry about that when it becomes an actual possibility."
The two continue to argue vehemently as they catch up to the others. Unfortunately, the reunion doesn't go well as Jinta mocks him for killing less than the freeloader. Ichigo is more than frustrated when they come to their next challenge: The 9th Espada.
"Hello intruders. My name is Aaroniero Arrurue. I am the 9th most powerful Espada. Also, I am the only remaining member of the original Espada. Which of you fools will I be fighting."
"Me. I will oppose you Aaroniero Arrurue." Ichigo exclaims.
"Are you sure about this Ichigo? You sure you want to fight him. One of us can instead." Urahara states simply
"I'm sure. He's all mine. You guys keep on going."
"Very well, you shall be my victim then." Arrurue says to Ichigo.
"I guess so. Shall we go then?" Ichigo replies.
The two attack each other simultaneously, both trying to get the upper hand early on.
The two fight ferociously, as hard as they can, but neither seems to gain an advantage. Ichigo finally does what he didn't want to have to do.
"Bankai." Ichigo says with determination. He wants to win this fight and will do whatever it takes.
Now that his sword has shrunk and his speed has more than doubled, the fight is his to win. Arrurue doesn't stand a chance against Ichigo while he is in his bankai state. All he can do is try and fight off the vicious onslaught against him. Ichigo dashes around like mad, stabbing and slashing at every available place to hit Arrurue. The Espada manages to fend off every blow aimed at him, except for one. Unfortunately for him, the blow was fatal, and split his head in two. No matter how hard he tried, he simply wasn't a match for Ichigo Kurosaki.
Ichigo runs as fast as he can without exhausting all of his energy to catch up to the group. Hopefully the rest of the fights ahead will go as simply as that one did. Ichigo finally catches up to the group right as they're coming out of a super long hallway, waiting in the room there for them is none other than the eighth Espada: Syazel Aporro Granz.