Disclaimer: I do not own bleach, etc.

"I can't believe that these worthless infiltrators have already killed three of our Espada" Gin says angrily, "It is ridiculous! They should have been the ones to die!"

"Relax Gin. All will be fine. Even if they do somehow manage to defeat the remaining seven, there is absolutely no chance of us being defeated." Aizen says calmly.

"It's true, Gin. You're just overreacting. Calm down. Aizen-sama has the strength of two captains at least. They have an ex-captain and a substitute, what do you expect them to be able to do to us?" Tousen adds.

"That is a good point. You're right Tousen. As usual." Gin concedes.

"Though I must admit Gin, I too am not happy with how this invasion of theirs is going. They've been smart to target the weaker arrancar. I'm not going to let them play by their own rules any farther, however. It's our turn to take the fight to them." Aizen decides.

As if on cue, Ulquiorra appears. "Yes Aizen-sama?"

"Ulquiorra. Destroy our intruders. Take Nnoitra with you. I have grown tired of our uninvited guests". As commanded, Ulquiorra left to find Nnoitra and inform him of the orders. Aizen continues, "If Ulquiorra and Nnoitra do not deal with them, then we will have no choice but to send Stark after them, which I am loathe doing."

"Sir. I have a question. Why did you have Ulquiorra kidnap that Orihime girl anyway? What was the point?" Gin interrogates.

"The point is none of your concern, Gin. I have a plan for her. If I deemed it important for you or Kaname to know, I would have told the both of you now wouldn't I. You two are dismissed". Gin and Tousen both leave the chamber immediately, neither being idiotic enough to tick off Aizen.

"How powerful do you think the future opponents will be, Urahara?" Jinta asks

"I have no idea. The eighth one was a challenge for me, if for no other reason than I made the fatal mistake of underestimating him. I would say that the next few opponents would be unbelievably strong. I doubt Aizen is going to tolerate us running around here much longer. He's probably planning a counter as we speak. Now, Aizen isn't an idiot, in fact he might be one of the most cunning and intelligent people to ever exist. He won't send his strongest troops out first; he doesn't think we're worth it."

"I hope he sends Ulquiorra! I want to kill that bastard!" Ichigo interrupts, "He's the bastard that kidnapped Inoue to begin with!"

"Calm down, Ichigo. Screaming about things won't get us anywhere. Let's think of a strategy here. As for you wanting to fight Ulquiorra. Yes, you should be the one to defeat him. Now. If I think I know Aizen as well as I hope I do, I anticipate he will probably send number six or seven with him. He wouldn't send four and five together. Now, if he sends Ulquiorra, Ichigo will handle him. If he sends number seven, I want Rukia and Ururu to confront him. Number six is Tessai's to defeat, and on the off chance five is sent, Renji and Jinta will fight."

"I have to go with the freeloader!??! What did I do to deserve that!?" Jinta complains.

"Get over it. I'm not thrilled to be stuck with you either" Renji responds.

Ironically enough, they meet the opponents Urahara had just been talking about at the end of a particularly long corridor. Standing in front of them are Ulquiorra and Nnoitra. Urahara was not actually expecting the fifth to be sent. This threw all of his plans out.

"Hello intruders. You're attempt to storm Los Noches and rescue that Orihime girl is pointless. I don't understand why you did it at all. You will all die in this futile attempt--"

"DIE!???! They will be lucky to simply die. I am going to mutilate them far beyond death. They're gonna suffer greatly." Nnoitra interrupts sadistically.

"You guys really believe that don't you? Ya'll are all insane. Nothing you people do will keep us from rescuing Orihime!" Ichigo says proudly and defiantly.

"You keep telling yourself that foolish human. Let's get this started then, shall we?" Ulquiorra replies.

"Let's"

Ichigo and Ulquiorra flash step far away so that their battle won't destroy everything. Ulquiorra does not expect a challenge at all. He's already defeated Ichigo once, and he has no reason to believe he won't do so again.

Ichigo draws his sword first and takes a fighting stance immediately afterwards. He has grown wary of Ulquiorra and does not plan on underestimating him again. Ichigo's goal is to win this battle, at whatever costs. Ichigo strikes first, swinging Zangetsu vertically down on Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra blocks the blow lackadaisically by simply catching it between his index finger and thumb. "Is that all you have? This will be easier than I thought." Ulquiorra taunts.

"You know I hate you, right? I will find a way to kill you." Ichigo promises while struggling to release Zangetsu from the hand of his rival.

"You wish you could kill me. You never will though. Accept it. I'm not letting you go this time."

This time Ulquiorra instigates the battle. He draws his zanpakutou and hacks at Ichigo's left shoulder. Ichigo deflects the blow and swings Zangetsu back around at Ulquiorra. They spend the next twenty minutes of combat going through a series of attacks, blocks, and dodges; neither one of them gaining any ground. It is a complete standoff. As they both get more and more frustrated, they begin using the fanciest and hardest techniques that they have. Ulquiorra jumps back and prepares to shoot a cero at Ichigo, but Ichigo reacts instantly, flash stepping directly in front of Ulquiorra, impaling him in the shoulder with Zangetsu.

"You actually hit me." Ulquiorra says in disbelief as he removes himself from Zangetsu. He couldn't believe the man he thought inferior in every way had injured him.

"I'm just getting started. I'll do more than just hit you, wait and see."

The battle rages once more. Nothing has changed though. Neither side can gain the advantage, despise what they do. "Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo yells, sending his blue blast at Ulquiorra. The Espada simply knocks it aside half heartedly, as if the energy was no more than a mosquito. This is bad Ichigo thinks to himself. He's out of ideas and has no choice.

"I've had enough of this! Bankai!" Ichigo exclaims.

"Good. Come at me will all you got. I want killing you to be satsifying."

The battles reaches an epic climax. Every blow the contenders throw has immense power. Unfortunately for Ichigo, Ulquiorra has a greater amount of stamina than him. He realizes this once he starts to fatigue and Ulquiorra looks just as good as he did when they began. The fight was turning badly for Ichigo. He couldn't keep up with the wicked blows dealt by Ulquiorra. The Espada was just too fast and powerful to contend against. Ichigo then falls to his last resort, putting on his hollow mask.

Renji was panting heavily. Nnoitra, the fifth Espada, was not going easy on him. Renji was hoping they would be close to the same level, but it was becoming more and more obvious to him that he was far beyond outclassed. Nnoitra wielded his odd crescent shaped weapon superbly, not making any mistakes. Despite all of Renji's best efforts, he couldn't touch the man in front of him.

"Just give up already. You know you won't win. Just stop now and I'll kill you quick and painless."

Right then Jinta, being the bold child he is, jumps down on Nnoitra from above, slamming his club down on the Espada's head with as much force as possible. He was out of luck though. Nnoitra had the hardest head of all the arrancar. It barely gave him a bump.

Turning around slowly, Nnoitra glares at the child. "Now why would you do a moronic thing like that, boy? You have a death wish too?" At the last word, he crashes his sword down on Jinta. The boy barely rolled aside, avoiding the deadly weapon by three inches max. He jumps up and runs as fast as he can. Nnoitra follows the boy closely, swinging his weapon just close enough to scare the kid, but not enough to actually cut him. His sadistic game gets cut short unexpectedly by a sword flying towards him. He notices the blade too late and gets sliced across the arm.

"Hah! Who's going to die, Nnoitra? Don't you know not to turn your back on your enemies?"

"I'll kill you for that! No one cuts me! NO ONE!!!!" Nnoitra screams while rushing at Renji, "I swear to God! I'm going to hack your freaking head off!"

Renji wasn't as prepared for the onslaught as he originally predicted. Nnoitra came hitting fast and hitting hard, swinging his weapon in the most intricate patterns that he knew; he had lost all self control. His only goal was the total annihilation of Renji, nothing else in the world mattered. Somehow, Renji managed to avoid or block every attack.

"I have no choice. Bankai, Hihio Zabimaru!" Renji exlaims, summoning his bankai.

Renji immediately sends Zabimaru at Nnoitra, hoping that he will be caught off guard and Zabimaru will conquer him easily. Renji isn't that lucky though, Nnoitra takes an epic leap to avoid the beast rushing at him.

"If that's how ya wanna play it fine. I will release my zanpakutou as well. Pray! Santa Teresa!!"

DAMN IT!!!!!! Is the only thing that Renji could think. He couldn't create a plan or a strategy, only despair about what he knew was coming. Nnoitra now had four arms, each carrying one of his crescent shaped swords, and could be described as closely resembling a mantis. Renji sends Zabimaru at Nnoitra in one last effort to destroy him.

"HIKOTSU TAIHO!" Renji roars, firing a dense intense ball of pure spiritual energy at Nnoitra from Zabimaru's mouth. The blast impacts right at the center of Nnoitra's chest, injuring him greatly, but Nnoitra is simply too powerful in his released state.

"I told you that you didn't stand a chance!" Nnoitra cackles maniacally. He then walks up right up to Renji, blocking all of his attacks effortlessly. In four quick slices, Nnoitra ends the proud warrior's life. Nnoitra gave him two deep gashes across his chest, one across the lower abdomen, and the last practically severed his head. Renji falls to the ground impossibly slow to Jinta, who had only managed to find refuge because of Renji drawing the psychotic killer off of him. The realization that he would never be able to mock Renji Abarai hurt Jinta deeply. He was going to miss the freeloader. Nnoitra walks away from the battle scene not even interested in the young child he had tortured earlier.

"AAAAAAAAAAH!" Ichigo screams while starting a saber lock with Ulquiorra. "Why won't you die already!?"

"I thought we went through this. I'm not going to be the one that dies here." He responds emotionless.

The two have been fighting ceaselessly for two hours, Ulquiorra slowly gaining the advantage. Ichigo's mask was already half gone, and was disappearing faster than he wouldv'e liked. "Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo screams, putting the last of his energy into that one strike. The blow connects, but it doesn't do enough damage to Ulquiorra to defeat him. He strides over to Ichigo and looks at the boy gasping on the ground.

"You were pathetic and idealistic to believe you ever had a chance. Goodbye Ichigo Kurosaki."

Right as Ulquiorra goes to deliver the final blow, Ichigo calls upon his absolute last reserves of strength and jumps to his feat while thrusting his sword at Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra parries the attack and counters swiftly, stabbing Ichigo through the heart. Ichigo is defeated. Kneeling there spewing blood; he falls to the ground face first, never to rise again.