Chapter 25: End of a rivalry I

Ichigo, Yoruichi and Halibel were making their way through the halls of Las Noches rather easily. Anyone who did get in their way were dealt with fast and clean as the trio made it to a large room with a single door on the far wall. Standing there was the visage of a certain, pale espada as he had his hands in his pockets and walked towards the trio calmly. While both Halibel and Yoruichi prepared themselves for a fight, Ichigo remembered this espada from before and walked over to meet him. The girls stayed back but kept themselves at the ready just in case.

"It seems we meet again, Ichigo Kurosaki." He started as the two met in the center of the room.

"Yep." Ichigo started as he looked at the espada with a raised brow. "So, what's your name anyway? I never caught it back when we were in Karakura Town."

This time it was the espada's turn to raise his brow as he looked down on the chibi. "I am espada number three, Ulquiorra Cifer." He continued to examine Ichigo and could only stare in what the boy thought was confusion. "I do not understand."

Ichigo tilted his head. "Understand what exactly?"

"Why both Lord Aizen, Grimmjow and several other soul reapers change in front of you."

"Oh." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly and chuckled a bit. "It's actually because of a move that happens whenever I use my speed called Yuwaku Shimasu."

Ulquiorra blinked a few times as he knew what that meant, the girls knew what that meant, but it seemed that Ichigo didn't. Ulquiorra had no clue just what this type of move meant for others or even why this boy had such power to influence others, but he was certain that this boy could change people's entire lives if he wanted to. It was actually a pretty terrifying thought that just with a simple movement, Ichigo has essentially created utter chaos. It made Ulquiorra question his master, Aizen, whenever said usually calm and composed man went on a rage filled tirade about the boy. Or how the normally battle hungry, no nonsense Grimmjow grew obsessed with killing Ichigo ever since the mission in Karakura Town. Even those male soul reapers seemed to be hateful towards the boy to an unhealthy and obsessive degree. This boy was nothing more than chaos given form and while Ulquiorra wanted to strike him down to rid Lord Aizen of his obsession, something stopped him, or rather someone did.

"KUROSAKIIIIII!"

Everyone turned back towards the entrance way and saw Grimmjow with a crazed look in his eyes as he rushed towards Ichigo. Ichigo didn't hesitate as he drew his blade and blocked the attack, though the force of it all pushed him back and the two went through a wall to the sands of Las Noches. The girls and Ulquiorra rushed over and saw a massive shockwave of sand as the two clashed repeatedly. Ulquiorra once again noticed the obsession of wanting to kill Ichigo in Grimmjow's movements and eyes. This would be the last time these two fought as there was no way of stopping this in a conventional way. He turned towards the two women and saw that while they seemed prepared to step in, they stayed their hands for some reason that was odd to the third espada.

"Why?" He asked them as they kept their eyes on the battle, seeing Grimmjow firing a cero only for Ichigo to cut it in two.

"You mean why aren't we helping Ichigo?" Halibel started. Ulquiorra nodded as they heard another loud clash. "It's because Ichigo told us not to get involved once he fights Grimmjow once more."

"He means to end this himself?" Ulquiorra asked them as the two down below clashed once more.

"Yep." Yoruichi spoke up as she crossed her arms. "He wants to end this rivalry of theirs and prove that he is better than Grimmjow."

Ulquiorra scoffed at this notion and continued to watch the battle. "A foolish idea."

"Childish really." Halibel's rebuttable caught him off guard. "Ichigo is still a child and will always be that way, but he is strong willed and determined to protect the ones he cares for. I know that personally."

"His power is what changes people for better or worse." Yoruichi started as Grimmjow kicked Ichigo only for the chibi to block it with his wings. "If it wasn't for him and his Yuwaku Shimasu, I would remain stagnant in my own strength. He changed me without even knowing it, and that is what makes him something Aizen or Kisuke or the thirteen-court squad or even any of you espada will never comprehend about him."

"And what would that be?" Ulquiorra asked, genuinely curious about the answer.

Yoruichi smirked and turned towards him. "He is truly the walking embodiment of unpredictability."

Ulquiorra went wide eyed at hearing that as he thought the boy chaos personified, but now hearing this, he began to doubt himself. One thing was for sure though, this battle would end with one of these two dying.

[Sands of Las Noches]

Ichigo was flying around the large red pillars of Las Noches as Grimmjow continued to fire cero after cero towards the chibi. Grimmjow stood high in the air and continued to fire at the boy all with a manic grin on his face.

"Come on Kurosaki!" He yelled out as he continued to fire ceros at the chibi. "I want you at your best so I can prove my superiority! Show me your full power!"

Ichigo cut through a cero and fired one of his own. Grimmjow dodged as he felt Ichigo kick him in the back of his head, sending him skidding on the air. Ichigo didn't relent this time as he flew fast towards the espada and brought his blade down. Grimmjow regained himself and blocked the attack. The two began to clash as Ichigo used his small size to his advantage to maneuver around Grimmjow. Ichigo was fast but not using sonido as he now knew it would only make things worse in the end. The two continued to clash until Grimmjow smirked devilishly. He used sonido and landed on the sands before stabbing his blade to the ground.

"Oh no Kurosaki!" He started as he cut his finger on his blade and aimed it at Ichigo. "You don't get to take this lightly! There's only one way this ends; either you die, or I do, and I plan on beating you at your best!"

"Bring it on then." Ichigo readied himself as he recognized this attack as a Gran Rey Cero. He would have to use more of his strength to block it or he could just dodge it. Either one worked for him really.

Grimmjow smirked and aimed his hand to a large tower off in the distance before his energy gathered and he shouted out. "GRAN REY CERO!" The attack launched from his hand and headed straight for the tower.

"Uh, I thought I was over here not there." Ichigo said to himself.

Ulquiorra went wide eyed for a moment as he knew exactly who was there. "The human girl is in that tower."

Both Halibel and Yoruichi were shocked at what he said and quickly warned Ichigo who was still watching the attack sail passed him.

"ICHIGO!" Yoruichi shouted out, getting his attention. "TATSUKI IS IN THAT TOWER!"

Hearing this, everything seemed to sit still as Ichigo looked to the tower and felt a familiar presence that was most definitely not a hollow. He went wide eyed as he knew this person as his friend from before he died. Just like last time in the park, Grimmjow was using Tatsuki to his advantage and firing a Gran Rey Cero at her just to entice Ichigo or kill him. Ichigo saw the cero and began to see red in the worst way. Within a second, Ichigo was already in front of the Gran Rey Cero and easily destroyed it with a swipe of his sword. For the first time in his life, whether a human or a hollow, Ichigo was truly angry. His eyes shined red with malice and discontent as he stared directly at Grimmjow, knowing exactly what he did, and gritted his teeth.

Grimmjow grinned as now it was a true fight to the death. He brought his sword to him and swiped a hand over it, releasing his Resurreccion, and roaring into the sky, sending a shockwave all around. He stood at the ready as he knew that Ichigo would have no choice but to release his own Resurreccion as well, something he has never done before.

"Come on Kurosaki!" Grimmjow yelled out. "Show me everything ya got!"

Ichigo narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had trained in his inner to do this but has never done it before in reality, so it was time to really show Grimmjow just how serious he could be. Ichigo held out his sword and closed his eyes. His wings began to glow orange as his sword did the same thing. Both Yoruichi and Halibel watched on as they had never seen Ichigo do this before and wondered just what he was going to do. Suddenly, Ichigo's energy exploded as everyone was shocked by this turn of events. Ichigo opened up his eyes and his energy stopped in midair, causing Grimmjow and Ulquiorra to feel a sense of malice and fear while Yoruichi and Halibel felt a sense of warmth and comfort.

"Drenar todo el color, Orenji."

Ichigo's energy encased him and suddenly, the color all around him drained away into the energy itself. The faux sunlight became dim, and the blue sky of Las Noches became grey same as the sand and pillars. Grimmjow's blue hair and fur drained away into the ball of energy and became grey as well. Ulquiorra could feel the little color that was on him slip away and go into the ball as well. The two felt dread and fear intensely, a feeling entirely new to Ulquiorra. The girls on the other hand still had the color on the both of them, and they only felt comfort from this. Suddenly, the ball of energy turned orange with a white highlight around it. The energy cracked and broke away, showing Ichigo in his Resurreccion.

He stood there, still a chibi, but his wings were crackling with orange lightning. He was wearing a white outfit that covered his entire body and had orange fur around his wrist, ankles and neck. His hands were clawed and crackling with the same orange lightning, and his feet were the same as well. What was the most surprising or frightening depending on your perspective, was that there was a small dragon on Ichigo's shoulder. The dragon had white scales and wings and an orange underbelly. Its eyes were completely black and staring directly at Grimmjow. Ichigo's head was encased in an orange dragon mask with sharp teeth and blacked out eyes as well. He looked directly at Grimmjow and caused all of the manic obsession in his eyes to be replaced by fear. All of the rage and anger he usually felt when he saw the chibi, was gone and he took a step back on instinct. He gritted his teeth and took a step forward to regain his fighting spirit, but that was when something truly unexpected happened.

"Now, I'm gonna hurt you Grimmjow." Ichigo said as he was now standing right next to Grimmjow. Said espada looked down and saw those eyes and shuddered. "And I'm gonna hurt you really, really badly."

The next chapter will be the second part of this fight. Hope that Ichigo's Resurreccion sounds cool to ya'll.

Stay awesome and as always...

PEACE!