A gasp resonated as Ulquiorra drew his head, arching his back as he drew in a lungful of breath before choking and coughing, forcing him back to his kneeling position. Nnoitora and Grimmjow were inarguably and unequivocally flabbergasted. Ulquiorra was a human? His mask was gone; the Hierro which had drained all color of his skin was gone, releasing a pinkish hue to appear on his skin; and the Hollow hole that marked his presence in the echelons of the Espada. . . was now gone. The only things that had remained were the green hues of his now-human eyes and the sable number '4' on his breast. Seeing his sword on the ground as he bled, he reached with his right hand for the hilt, and as he seized it, a deep violet outline pulsed outwards, fading away. Ulquiorra felt a surge of energy rush through him, refreshing him and slowing the flow of blood from his wounds. Ulquiorra stood upright, resuming his previously rigid, upright stance as he opened his eyes to gaze coolly at his enemies. Sword held firmly in his right hand, Ulquiorra felt his opposing hand tingle with a familiar, yet strangely new energy. Behind him, Orihime uttered quietly,
"U-Ulquiorra?" The former Espada turned his gaze to the maiden behind him, and, to Orihime's incredulity, let a small smile form on his lips. He explained himself,
"Well. . . Now you know my reasoning behind all this. Just wait. I'll free you from here." Orihime stared, noting Ulquiorra's soft tone, rather unlike the apathetic person whom she had known moments ago. The ex-Espada turned his gaze back to his opponents, who were shaking off the shock of the preceding moments' events. Nnoitora began to cackle as he realized the implications of what had transpired,
"Grimmjow! Ha-ha-haaaa!!! Can you believe it??? It's preposterous! Hah! He's turned into a good-for-nothin' HUMAN!" Grimmjow was less amused by the fact than he was worried — Ulquiorra had simply stood back up, none the worse for wear. Nnoitora, in the meantime, was laughing it up to the brink of mania. He just couldn't believe it! Ulquiorra consequently unleashed his power, letting it seep across the battleground in rhythmic waves. Nnoitora immediately stopped laughing and frowned,
"Is it your Goddamn purpose to contradict me at every turn!?!? I'm sick of your crap! Grimmjow, I'm ending this, with or without you! I've toyed with him enough!" With a cry, Nnoitora shot two arms out from the sides of his body, totaling to six arms. Exposing the bottom of his wrists, the Quinto Espada, from each of the new arms, shot out two black shafts that flicked out two extra scythe blades, completing the full set of cutting blades. Grimmjow curled his fingers, arms thrust out in front of him, claws glowing blue as they surged with energy and shot beams of energy behind him. The beams were shaped like elongated versions of the claws that spawned them, and Grimmjow proudly announced the name of this technique,
"Desgarrón! This is my ultimate technique, Ulquiorra. . . I'm gonna shred you to pieces." Both Nnoitora and Grimmjow charged Ulquiorra, dragging their weapons with them. Ulquiorra watched the duo, and to him, they seemed to be moving somewhat slowly. It was then that Ulquiorra noticed the same sensation that engulfed his left hand flow over his face. I understand now. . . Fully confident of his actions, Ulquiorra brought his left hand to rest in front of his face as his opponents drew ever closer. Grimmjow flinched, taking notice of his opponent's familiar stance. . . He couldn't possibly. . !? Just as Nnoitora and Grimmjow came within striking range, Ulquiorra flung his hand down to bring about the darkest shroud of green accompanied by a resounding Sonido. Both fighters gaped as their target disappeared from their view, but their surprise only increased exponentially as Grimmjow burst out in a spray of blood as his ultimate technique was shattered apart behind him. Nnoitora wasn't spared either as he noticed that he lost feeling in his arms — all six of them, in fact, as they had been severed at the biceps. Grimmjow fell to the ground almost completely limp — he had been cut vertically across the chest and abdomen, and Desgarrón had been smashed to bits. Nnoitora stopped himself from falling as he roared in a bloodthirsty mix of anger, agony, and shame. As the two turned to view their attacker, they noticed the unmissable alterations that lay before them: two horns, stemming from a pearl-white helm that was ribbed across the wearer's neck. Ulquiorra turned, revealing the Hollow mask that now veiled his face. The quintessential skeletal teeth were plainly visible as they supplemented the almost dramatic upturned eyes of the mask which seemed to be in a constant state of weeping. To add to that effect, thick, green tears spanned from the bottom of the mask's eyes, across the teeth, and thinning as they traveled down to the chin. Quite simply, it seemed that the old remnants of Ulquiorra's helm had been added to so as to form this new mask. Ulquiorra's eyes were now blackened, and his irises had become a dim gold.
Grimmjow was gawking at a sight too familiar as he recalled his last battle with a certain stubborn shinigami. . . Goddamn it, Ulquiorra! What the hell are you bastards doing to yourselves?? Grimmjow brought himself up as he tried to focus his reiryoku into his chest wound, attempting to seal the deep gash. Nnoitora growled, focusing his own reiryoku to dissolve his severed arms and scythes. The golden mist that was Nnoitora's amputated limbs flowed into his body through the sliced appendages still remaining. Orihime, in the meantime, was peering into Ulquiorra's eyes, trying to find some sliver of the humanity she had just seen before. All she could see were the dark, golden eyes staring back at her from under that ghastly mask, and they did nothing but frighten her. Nnoitora was now focused enough to shoot out all six of his arms out at once with a satisfied chuckle of a breath. Flexing his arms and hands, Nnoitora returned his one-eyed gaze to Ulquiorra's altered visage. Thrusting the sextet of arms out in front of him, fingers curled, he began forming a Sun-hued sphere of energy that almost seemed to be creating its own gravitational field, as everything in its vicinity was drawn to it. Wind was starting to pick up around it, and Ulquiorra felt air whoosh past him and make his clothing flail wildly as he watched Nnoitora gather sufficient energy for his attack. The dense sphere was pushed forward by the six black scythe handles that shot out of Nnoitora's wrists, and as Nnoitora flung out all six arms outwards — flicking out the blade of each scythe in the process — he howled,
"GRAN REY CERO!!!!!!!"
The dwarf of a Sun erupted in a vaguely conical explosion, careening towards Ulquiorra, who remained unconcerned by his former subordinate's display of power. He struck down with his katana, slicing the Gran Rey Cero as it flowed past, cleaving it into two halves that disintegrated the ground around Ulquiorra, but left him unharmed. The ground on which Ulquiorra stood shook below him as Nnoitora swept through the smoke with his hexad of reaping knives. The two collided, releasing a spherical blast of air that crumbled the ground below them, sending a considerable piece of the tower sliding down the diagonal slope as the fighters met with their blades. Grimmjow, watching from below, had nearly staunched the flow of blood from his deep torso wound, and leapt into the air after Nnoitora and Ulquiorra, summoning Desgarrón as he flew. Nnoitora and Ulquiorra had been matching each other, but it was apparent that Ulquiorra wasn't putting much effort into his offensive. He blocked every one of Nnoitora's nearly imperceptible strikes with ease, and Grimmjow's appearance with Desgarrón hadn't done much to hinder that ability. Sending all ten of the azure blades to descend upon Ulquiorra, Grimmjow sped behind him, hoping to divide his attention. Ulquiorra lifted his free hand and fired two barrages of five Bara blasts — one from each finger — that each tore through the lacerating claws. Grimmjow scratched at Ulquiorra, but met Ulquiorra's blade instead of his back. Nnoitora still attacked, and Ulquiorra was still able to intercept the scythes with his own zanpaktou, despite the distractions. Nnoitora was increasing his speed, enraged with each strike parried, until he was finally bashed away with a flat palm to the chest, skidding backwards through the air. Grimmjow was caught off-guard and was quickly sent flying with a kick to the gut. Ulquiorra then used a Sonido to ambush Nnoitora from behind and kick him with even greater force to collide into Grimmjow and send them both sprawling into the sand.
Ulquiorra vanished with a buzz yet again, this time appearing before Orihime while simultaneously sheathing his sword. Ulquiorra raised his arm into the air, pointing a finger at the dummy sky. A green light kindled at its tip, and a thin beam of energy shone, shooting out into the sky, through it, and out into the dark night of Hueco Mundo.
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Elsewhere, a certain group riding atop a strange serpent-like creature took notice of the immense reiatsu that had appeared concurrently with a beam rising from Las Noches. Kurosaki Ichigo stood from his seat on Bawa-bawa, gazing towards the vast castle that lay ahead of them. He suddenly felt three familiar reiatsu, along with a fourth that was new to him. But only one interested him the most — the faintest of the four, and the most familiar — Inoue Orihime's. Rukia stood behind him, questioning him,
"Ichigo, do you feel that?" She had felt Orihime's reiatsu just as he did, but was also unsettled by the colossal reiatsu that crashed upon them. Ichigo grabbed hold of Zangetsu, leaping into the air and drawing the cleaver, freeing it from its wrappings. Rising higher into the air, Ichigo was engulfed in crimson darkness as he called out,
"Bankai!" As he landed, Ichigo swept outwards with Tensa Zangetsu, sweeping away the remnant energy as he charged forth with Shunpo. His friends called after him, bidding him to wait, but they were far too late. They all scrambled: Rukia taking Nel in her arms as she sped away; Ishida taking Chad and Pesche as he disappeared with Hirenkyaku; Renji taking Dondochakka after the latter returned Bawa-bawa to the confines of his stomach. Ichigo raced across the sands of Hueco Mundo with multiple Flash Steps, looking only to the now-dissipating Cero beam. The sand in front of Ichigo rose, birthing the guardian of Las Noches: Lunaganga. Remembering Lunaganga's regenerative abilities, Ichigo stopped in his tracks, yelling to the behemoth,
"I don't have time for this!!" Ichigo lifted Tensa Zangetsu over his head and swung it down, yelling "Getsuga Tenshou!" as he released an arc-wave large enough to engulf Lunuganga's head. The attack connected, melting the sand into glass, causing Lunaganga to topple back to the ground, scattering sand everywhere. Ichigo charged through to the other side and resumed his trail towards Las Noches, his friends not far behind.
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Having blasted a hole in Las Noches ceiling, Ulquiorra took hold of Orihime and took off, Orihime's Shun Shun Rikka spirits returning to her hairpins as she rose. Ulquiorra and Orihime cleared the dome and landed some distance away from the opening, as Nnoitora and then Grimmjow flew out soon after. Glancing down at Ulquiorra, they saw that he was charging an attack in his outstretched hand, and the green orb of energy was growing in size, swirling like a hurricane. Nnoitora and Grimmjow charged the former Cuarto, Nnoitora screaming, "Ulquiorra!!!" Behind his mask, Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed, and he spoke the three deadly words that would finally end this:
"Gran Rey Cero."
A deafening sound engulfed those present, and Nnoitora was swallowed up by the gargantuan discharge of reiryoku, taking the brunt of the attack while Grimmjow was spared the worst. Nevertheless, when the all-encompassing Gran Rey Cero receded, both Espadas fell to the ground in burnt heaps. Grimmjow was fried, but Nnoitora's scythes had been reduced to almost nothing, and the edges of Nnoitora's body had even been disintegrated at some points. This was not at all surprising, seeing as the Cero had been almost as large as Las Noches itself. Ulquiorra, lowering his right hand, quickly and instinctively swiped the hand across his face, dispelling the mask with a flash of dark green. Behind him, a voice called out softly amongst the low ring that was the Santen Kesshun shield being dispersed,
"Ulquiorra?" The addressed one turned, seeing the woman he had regarded so coldly filled with concern in her eyes, "are you all right?" Ulquiorra was frankly surprised. He hadn't expected her to seem so worried about him. He, who had brought her to this place. Well now I'll bring her back. He walked up to the girl, feeling something different as he approached. Contentment? Is that it?
"You're hurt. You're still bleeding. . ." Ulquiorra looked down at himself, noticing the cuts that lined his body. The small ones had closed up, but the larger ones still had some blood flowing from them. To his right, Ulquiorra noticed a dark blur shoot over the edge of Las Noches's dome, and before he knew it, that blur had appeared before him, holding a blade as dark as the surrounding night before his throat.
"Get away from her. . . Ulquiorra!"