//------------------------------//
// Hueco Mundo: Zangetsu's Return 
// Story: Bleach: Heart of a Hero 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

Ichigo was shocked by how quickly Sombra condemned those those female Arrancar to the Shadowlands, the strange and terrifying realm of terror that his friend had access to in his Resurreccion, and yet his friend seemed to be fine with it, as if being sent to that realm was a just punishment for trying to kill Orihime and Sora. Sure, he had been expecting Sombra to cut the two of them down and leave them in a pool of their own blood, just he did with a number of enemies that he had fought until he released his Arrancar Zanpakuto, but he honestly wasn't expecting that sort of reaction. At the same time he noticed that Ulquiorra was staring at Sombra as the elegant mirror floated away, as if he was curious as to what they had just seen, and he couldn't blame the Quatro Espada for being that way, not when he had been thinking the same thing, before he shook his head slightly and focused on the task at hand. Despite the fact that Sombra was standing nearby he had to defeat the Espada that was in front of them so they could get Orihime out of here, and that was without relying on the immense power that was coming from Sombra at the moment, which might be able to take out Ulquiorra before he even had a chance to use his Resurreccion.

With that thought in mind Ichigo readied himself, as he was eager to get the battle started once more, and Ulquiorra noticed his movements immediately, where he seemed to ready himself for the next attack that would be coming at him, but before either of them had a chance to attack they felt the floor shake for a few seconds.

"What's that?" Ichigo inquired, though at the same time the shaking was followed by a few sounds that resembled the floors beneath them being broken, just like he had done when he raced up to where Orihime and Ulquiorra were standing, and yet both Sombra and Ulquiorra seemed to know something that he didn't know, which annoyed him.

Not even a moment later the sounds stopped as another hole was punched into the floor near where Ulquiorra and Ichigo were standing, one that was larger than Ichigo's hole, and Sombra watched as Yammy, who seemed a bit larger than the last time he had seen him, stepped out of the hole he had made and grinned.

"Ulquiorra! I came to pitch in!" Yammy loudly said, though as he said that he finished pulling himself out of the hole and stood on the floor that everyone else was standing on, causing Ichigo to actually worry now that he was here, while at the same time Sombra still didn't move, as he could best the Diez Espada with little effort.

"When did I ask for your help, Yammy?" Ulquiorra inquired, to which he glanced back at the Arrancar that had come up to the floor that they were fighting on, as it was worth making sure that the oaf had an order to follow, even though he knew something about Yammy that none of the invaders knew.

"Don't be such a wet blanket." Yammy said, though even as he spoke he noticed Ichigo standing nearby and his grin seemed to widen even more than it had been earlier, which wasn't a good sign to those that were watching him, "Hey, it looks like that Shinigami brat has toughened up a bit since the last time we fought. Lemme have a turn with him."

"Oh? It appears that you have made a full recover, then." Ulquiorra stated, indicating that it must have taken some time for the larger Espada to recover from his arm being severed and that it was likely back to a hundred percent, even though Sombra still wasn't concerned by this news, "Regardless, I'm afraid that your job lies elsewhere. You can either go back to sleep or head down to the bottom of the tower, where there are a number of Captain-class Shinigami, as well as a few Lieutenants and some traitorous Arrancar, attacking the guardians of the tower."

"Traitors?!" Yammy asked, as if the thought of some Arrancar defecting from Aizen's side had never occurred to him before, but that was followed by his grin remaining on his face as he looked at Ulquiorra was once, telling Sombra that he was interested in what was happening, "Anyone we know?"

"Grimmjow, Szayelaporro, and apparently the revived Nelliel." Ulquiorra replied, though at the same time he was still impressed that Sombra had been able to find and restore the former Tres Espada to her former level of power, not to mention getting her and two of the current Espada to bend their knees to him.

"You kidding me? Grimmjow's an enemy?!" Yammy said, to which Sombra noted that Yammy's tone indicated that he was even more excited about what was going on, meaning that he might be looking for a fight and that he might leave to seek one out, before he looked at Ichigo again, "Awesome! But before that, why don't you let me have a turn with him? Don't try to gyp me, Ulquiorra!"

"Your greatest weakness is how selfish you become in that state, Yammy." Ulquiorra stated, telling the group that Yammy had some issues and that they effected his personality, which meant that whatever was happening to the Diez Espada was making him more selfish than he normally was, meaning that Sombra needed to keep an eye on him before he did anything dangerous, "Though if you're that eager for a fight, then maybe you should challenge Sombra to one."

"What? He's here too?" Yammy asked, to which he turned his head and found Sombra standing near one of the pillars, where Orihime was standing since she wanted to protect Ichigo, and his grin seemed to sour for a moment, as if recalling the beating that Sombra had given him back in the World of the Living, and that was before he got his Arrancar Zanpakuto back and regained the power that had been his, "Cool! I'd love to beat you into a pulp!"

"Too bad you won't get the chance." Sombra replied, because he had felt the reiatsu of one of their friends rapidly approaching where they were standing and had positioned himself near one of the holes that rested in the side of the tower, as he could see outside and knew that Yammy wouldn't notice someone coming until it was too late.

Yammy, instead of waiting to see what he might be talking about, raised his hand and tried to strike Sombra down where he stood, though before his hand even reached him a Quincy arrow flashed through the opening that was nearby and stopped the hand in it's tracks by hitting Yammy's right shoulder... and, like Sombra had felt, Uryu appeared in the hole that had been blasted into the side of the tower, where he looked at the people in front of him and knew exactly what he was going to do to help Ichigo out.

"Uryu?" Ichigo asked, though at the same time he noticed that Ulquiorra seemed to be waiting for something special to happen, because despite the number of times his defenses were lowered the Esapda seemed to be uninterested in attacking when he foolishly lowered his guard, "What are you doing here?"

"Get your act together, Kurosaki, and focus on your opponent... I can handle this one myself." Uryu stated, though at the same time he jumped into the area that they were standing in and touched the floor, where he smiled as he faced the direction that Ichigo and Sombra were in, "As you no doubt know, Rukia and the others are still fighting outside, as they've engaged an Arrancar called Rudbornn Chelute and his army of loyal followers, while Grimmjow is leading the other Arrancar in a mission to convert a number of the attacking Hollows into allies for our side. I thought he was insane for even wanting to try, but it appears that I was mistaken, as some of the more intelligent Hollows are flocking to his side, to join the true ruler of Hueco Mundo... and that also includes a second sand Hollow called Battikaroa, whose the Sand Guardian of Las Noches, so you've got another guardian for your future palace."

Sombra nodded his head, as it was good to hear that there were intelligent Hollows that were flocking to the tower, even the one that was supposed to be guarding it, and that they just so happened to be following Grimmjow's example, falling in line to avoid annoying him. It was sad that Rudbornn didn't want to follow the others, but then again it seemed like he was fiercely loyal to Aizen and that the only way one might be able to break him was if he unlocked his true power as the Dios Hueco, but instead of focusing on that he and Uryu noticed that Yammy was getting back up, meaning that his fight with Uryu was far from over. The first thing that Uryu did was comment on how thick Yammy's Hierro was, since one of his arrows, with all the power he had put into it, hadn't been able to do all that much damage and had barely pierced Yammy's skin, before declaring that the two of them would be opponents and jumped into the hole that Yammy had come from, to which the Diez Espada grinned and followed after him, allowing Ichigo to continue his battle with Ulquiorra. As the battle resumed, and Ichigo continued in vain to try and pierce Ulquiorra's defense, Sombra kept some of his senses open for what was happening on the floor below them, as he was interested in feeling what Uryu was up to and what sort of plan he had for Yammy.

He could tell that Yammy enjoyed using his Bala technique, as he was firing them at Uryu and even took some more arrows in the process, but for the most part it seemed like the Diez Espada was falling for whatever plan Uryu had come up with. When Sombra focused on the battle in front of him, however, he found that Ichigo still refused to use all of his power and summon his mask, and it wasn't because of the fact that he was present, he was just afraid that Orihime might get hurt by his reiatsu and wasn't willing to pull out the mask while she was so close. That was an annoying thing to think about, that Ichigo didn't trust the fact that he'd protect Orihime from any stray bits of his heavy reiatsu, but in the end Sombra didn't let it get to him, because while it was a little annoying that Ichigo didn't trust him at the moment he knew that there was someone else that was more annoyed with Ichigo than he could ever be. Eventually his attention returned to the hole that Uryu and Yammy went down as he felt a wild surge of reiatsu coming from the level below them, one that was followed by an explosion and Yammy cursing... and he could hear Uryu claiming that he had done Yammy in before another explosion occurred, and that was followed by Yammy cursing as his voice got softer and softer, like he was falling towards the lower end of the tower.

A few moments later Uryu jumped back up to the floor that Sombra, Ichigo, Ulquiorra, and Orihime were on, stopping the fight once more as Ichigo turned and looked back at him, though at the same time Sombra knew that Yammy wasn't entirely defeated, but he could be happy that the Diez Espada was out of the way for now.

"What's with that expression, Kurosaki? Do I look like a ghost to you?" Uryu asked, though it was mostly because he noticed that Ichigo seemed relieved to see him, as if he thought that the explosions were actually him getting hurt, "That explosion just now came from a special mine that Kurotsuchi gave me, one that's designed to activate when an Arrancar sets off its reiatsu sensor. Everything went according to my plan, as Yammy never suspected that I was leading him towards the mine, especially since I made sure that the explosion would allow him to fall all the way down to the ground level of this tower. Any other questions?"

"I never asked any to begin with... you just started talking on your own." Ichigo said, though at the same time he let out a light chuckle, as it was good to have Uryu up here as well, especially since that meant the could do what he was planning on doing, "Take care of Orihime for me. If any of my reiatsu gets through her shield, protect her with your body if you have to."

"I don't need you to tell me that, Kurosaki." Uryu replied, though at the same time he moved closer to Orihime, to show that he understood what Ichigo was talking about, while Sombra stared at Ichigo, since he knew that the true battle between him and Ulquiorra was going to start soon.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Ulquiorra." Ichigo stated, though at the same time he focused on the Espada in front of him and raised his left hand towards his face, the sign that he was getting ready to put on his mask and fight for real, as this was the only way he had the necessary power to defeat one of the Espada, "Here it comes. This is the Hollowfication that you wanted to see so badly."

Sombra watched as Ichigo pulled his hand back and his mask formed with an intensity that shook the immediate area around his friend for a moment, though that was instantly followed by Ichigo charging forward, with a Getsuga Tensho wrapped around the blade of his Zanpakuto, before he swung at Ulquiorra. The interesting thing was that his Hollowfied strike was enough to crack Ulquiorra's blade, as Sombra was sure that he was Zangetsu bite into Ulquiorra's Zanpakuto, and the force of the attack knocked the Espada backwards, who did a backflip as he stared at Ichigo, who used the rest of his swing to blast another new hole in the side of the tower. Ulquiorra seemed to think that fighting outside the tower was a better idea and let himself fall through the new hole, luring Ichigo outside as he fired a Cero at him, but in the end he lowered his eyes a little when he found that Ichigo had used the edge of Zangetsu to stop the attack and wasn't even phased by his ability to remain unharmed. In the following moments Ulquiorra changed tactics, as he flashed behind Ichigo and headed towards the ceiling, causing Ichigo to turn around and follow after him as they flew through the air, and Sombra followed behind him as well, as he was curious as to what the Quatro Espada was doing... before Ulquiorra reached the ceiling and swung his Zanpakuto at it, carving a hole into it that almost resembled a Garganta.

When the three of them passed through the hole Sombra immediately spotted the change from the day filled interior of Las Noches to the night environment that was Hueco Mundo, complete with the moon that never changed positions, and he landed near where Ichigo landed, before glancing up at the top of the pillar that was in front of them and found Ulquiorra standing on top of it, where he stared down at the two of them.

"Is this... the top of Las Noches' roof?" Ichigo inquired, as it appeared that it took longer for him to recognize where they were than it took Sombra to figure it out, though at the same time he was also ignoring the Espada for a moment, which confirmed one of his weaknesses once more.

"That's correct." Ulquiorra said, causing Ichigo to turn around and glance at the top of the tower, where his foe was waiting for him to notice him so he could explain what was going on, and he was fortunate that Sombra was present as well, so he wouldn't have to explain this twice, "There are two things that we, the Espada, are prohibited from doing within Las Noches. The first is the Cero that is reserved for the Espada, the Gran Rey Cero. The second is that the Espada with the ranks Quatro and higher releasing their Zanpakuto. Both are so powerful that they could destroy Las Noches."

It was in that moment that Ulquiorra shifted his right hand and pointed the tip of his Zanpakuto down towards Ichigo, though at the same time Sombra knew what was coming, as the explanation told him that the Resurreccions of him and the three Espada above him were so powerful that they might destroy Las Noches.

"Enclose, Murcielago." Ulquiorra stated, revealing that he fully intended to unleash his Resurreccion and that he was going to fight Ichigo with all of his strength, though that was before he was consumed by a burst of black and green reiatsu that fell on the area around them like a green colored rain.

When that was over Ichigo and Sombra found that Ulquiorra's appearance had changed, as large bat wings had formed on his back, looking like he could actually use them to fly around the area that they were in, and his mask had also changed, as his Hollow mask was centered on his head and had two large horns, one on either side of his head. Sombra also noticed that Ulquiorra's hair had grown longer and wider than it previously was, since it now reached the middle of his back by the looks of it, while the lines on his face had turned black and became broader, and more triangular, than what they were in his sealed form, and his fingernails had lengthened as well. In addition to all that his Arrancar attire had changed as well, as it was more form fitting and closed at the top, while at the same time becoming more like a robe towards the bottom, though Sombra knew that Ichigo was stunned by the sudden change in Ulquiorra's appearance while he, on the other hand, was interested in what was going to happen next when the Espada resumed the battle. What impressed Sombra was the sheer power of the reiatsu that was coming from Ichigo's foe, as it was much greater than what he had been thinking it would be, and he knew that if Ichigo wasn't careful he'd have to step in to prevent his friend from dying a very painful death.

"Don't get shaken." Ulquiorra said, though his voice caused Ichigo to hold Zangetsu at the ready, indicating that he was fully prepared for the next part of their battle, even though Sombra knew that Ulquiorra had something more to say before he attacked, "Don't drop your guard. Stay fully alert. Don't get distracted for a single moment."

What happened next further impressed Sombra and made him happy that he was still in his Resurreccion, as the instant he stopped speaking Ulquiorra flexed his right hand a bit and a green energy javelin formed in his right hand a second after the gesture was made, which was followed by his flashing down to the area right in front of Ichigo, causing his eyes to widen as he realized what was going on... and a burst of green energy rocked the area before Ulquiorra appeared behind Ichigo, who was kneeling on the ground and huffing. The reason that had happened was because part of his mask had been cut off in the process of Ulquiorra's attack, and it was surrounded by blood, but Sombra knew that the reason Ichigo had survived the attack was because he used a Getsuga Tensho to block his head being removed, hence the explosion Sombra had seen a few seconds ago.

"You released your Getsuga Tensho on instinct." Ulquiorra commented, to which he turned a little and glanced at the wounded form of Ichigo for a moment, as he was slightly impressed by the skills that his foe was in the process of learning and developing, even if didn't matter for this fight, "Wise move. If you hadn't done that, your head would be rolling by my feet right now. I will admit that your Hollowfication powers are increasing, as you are now able to maintain your mask for longer spans of time. But it broke so easily... what a pity."

Sombra watched as Ichigo seemed to freeze for a moment, as he was observing Ulquiorra as the Espada raised his right hand and hurled the javelin like it was supposed to be thrown, and he was proven right when Ichigo moved out of the way a little to avoid the attack, before a second one that he hadn't seen hit him in the upper area of his right shoulder, which knocked him backwards with the force of the attack. As Ichigo was forced backwards he embedded Zangetsu in the floor beneath his feet and tried to stop himself from moving, while also using his hand to restore the fragment of his mask that was missing, before Ulquiorra flew after him, confirming that his wings allowed him to fly. Ulquiorra quickly caught up with him and swung the new javelin he had created at Ichigo, this time using it as a melee weapon that allowed him to remain close to Ichigo as his tremendous power pushed him away from the hole he had made earlier, even though Sombra had no problems keeping pace with them so he could see what happened before even attempting to convince Ichigo to switch places with him.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, hit me with your Getsuga Tensho." Ulquiorra stated, to which a look a surprise appeared in Ichigo's eyes for a moment, as it was interesting to have a foe telling him what he should be doing in the middle of a fight, "Try to hit me with it. Your ultimate form as allowed you to fight on par with the Espada. Hit me with your Getsuga Tensho, if it truly is your ultimate technique. I shall show you the difference in our strength."

"Hit you with a Getsuga Tensho?! Give me a break!" Ichigo snapped, to which he forced Ulquiorra back a little and stood still, allowing the Espada to climb to a decent height before staring down at him, while at the same time Sombra came to a stop nearby as well, "I don't need you telling me how to use my own attacks!"

Sombra would have sighed at that, because Ulquiorra had provoked Ichigo into doing exactly what he wanted, but at the same time he was interested in what the Espada was trying to pull and watched as Ichigo let a powerful Getsuga Tensho form around his blade... but when he swung it at Ulquiorra, however, the attack looked like it hit a barrier or something before eventually tearing itself apart and dissipating, leaving Ulquiorra unharmed.

"As I thought, you're still stuck at the Human level." Ulquiorra commented, indicating that he had been carefully watching Ichigo and had been thinking about his powers, since he first put on the mask when they battled earlier, and now he was confirming his thoughts, "Interestingly enough, your black Getsuga Tensho is similar to our Cero."

"Cero?" Ichigo inquired, though his tone revealed that he was trying to figure out why Ulquiorra would make that sort of statement, even though Sombra recalled the one that he had used against Yammy and understood that there might be some similarities between the two attacks, before he glared at Ulquiorra like he was angry, "Don't even associate me with that crap!"

"It seems that you have forgotten what happened when Yammy and I first came to your world." Ulquiorra said, as that had been when Sombra showed off just what sort of Cero he was capable of firing in his sealed state, even if that made him wonder what his released Cero looked like, before he pointed his left pointer finger at Ichigo and let black strands with a green outline start to form a small sphere in front of his finger, "Let me show it to you again, before you die. This is one of the types of Cero that the Espada can use in their Resurreccions... Cero Oscuras."

A few seconds later Ulquiorra fired the Cero Oscuras at Ichigo and the entire area around Ichigo was engulfed in darkness for a moment, even though Sombra could see his mask shattering under the pressure of the attack and likely did a good amount of damage to him in the process. When he noticed Ichigo again he found that the majority of the jacket part of his Bankai had been destroyed, as only the right sleeve and part of the front and back of it was intact, while at the same time it appeared that he was missing part of the lower section of his attire, the part that covered his left leg. What was interesting about the explosion was that it actually, somehow, knocked Ichigo into the air, as if Ulquiorra had been planning that the entire time, and he certainly took advantage of the situation and used one of his wings to knock Ichigo through the air, sending him crashing into one of the pillars and created a little room for him to lay in, just like he did to him earlier, during their last encounter. At the same time Sombra floated into the air and remained nearby, as he knew that the time had come for Ichigo to stop being stubborn and let him assist him, because at the rate he was going he was going to end up dead, especially since Ulquiorra might have learned from his last mistake when he punched a hole in Ichigo's sternum and he recovered thanks to Orihime's assistance.

"Now do you understand?" Ulquiorra asked, though as he spoke he stepped on the air that was beneath his feet and slowly walked over to where Ichigo was attempting to pull himself up into a position where he could fight, while also giving him time to talk before the next attack was thrown, "Your form and attacks may resemble an Arrancar, but our powers are worlds apart. It is reasonable for a Human or a Shinigami to copy a Hollow once they've grown to a certain point of power, but even then a Human could never stand as an equal to a Hollow."

When Ulquiorra reached Ichigo both he and Sombra noticed that the black and yellow combination that came with the Hollow mask faded from Ichigo's eyes, as his mask was gone at this point, and he tried to attack Ulquiorra again, resulting in him being thrown through the wall as Ulquiorra swung his javelin at him, sending him flying through the air. Ulquiorra then followed after Ichigo, noticing that he was still holding onto his Zanpakuto despite the injuries that he was gaining from even attempting to fight, where he swung at Ichigo again and knocked him backwards, causing him to collide with some falling rubble and shattered it into a large number of smaller fragments. Before Ichigo could even understand what was going on, or even attempt to get his focus back, Ulquiorra appeared below him and struck him with the javelin once more, sending him flying through the air and caused him to collide with the side of one of the pillars, only for Ichigo to bounce towards the top of that same pillar and come to a stop on the top, where Ulquiorra landed near him and Sombra flashed into the air nearby to observe... even though it ended in Ulquiorra holding Ichigo by the part of his jacket that hadn't been ruined, meaning that he was looking for something besides Ichigo's defeat.

"Why don't you drop your sword?" Ulquiorra inquired, as that was the reason he had been attacking Ichigo like he had been, because he refused to drop his Zanpakuto when the gap in their individual powers was so great, before he glanced to the side and stared at Sombra for a few seconds, "Why don't you call for aid, against an opponent you cannot defeat? Do you still believe that you can defeat me, without assistance, despite the clear difference in our strength?

"Who cares... whose stronger..." Ichigo managed to say, though at the same time he shifted his eyes down so he could stare into Ulquiorra's eyes, especially since he planned on fighting to the bitter end if he had to, "Did you think I'd give up because you're stronger than me? I knew you were strong from the very beginning, since the day you and Yammy first came to the World of the Living. Showing off your strength now doesn't change anything! I... I'll beat... you... Ulquiorra..."

"Ichigo, you need to bow out and switch with me." Sombra stated, causing the two of them to glance over at him for a moment, as he was growing tired of this and wanted to make sure that nothing happened to his friend, because at the rate he was going he wasn't going to be alive much longer, "Ulquiorra is clearly too much for you to handle, so you need to step back and ask for help."

"No! I'm fine!" Ichigo stated, causing Sombra to frown for a moment while Ulquiorra stared at him with what could have been a look of confusion, as if he didn't understand what Ichigo was doing right now, and Sombra had to admit that Ichigo was being incredibly stubborn right now, "I'll... I'll beat him... on my own..."

"Nonsense." Ulquiorra said, to which he tossed Ichigo forward and let him hit the rock that had been brought up here thanks to his collision with the side of the pillar, though at the same time Sombra noticed that Ulquiorra's reiatsu was building and knew that Ichigo was definitely in trouble, "Ichigo Kurosaki, those are the words of a man that is ignorant of true despair. Allow me to educate you... behold true despair."

As Ulquiorra mentioned that he was going to 'educate' Ichigo his reiatsu started to pour out of the area around him once more, retaining the black and green color they knew, and Sombra watched as parts of him started to change as his white Arrancar attire was completely devoured by what he was doing, revealing his slender white torso that now bared a marking that looked like black blood was dripping from his Hollow hole and his Espada number had disappeared. His waist became covered in something that Sombra guessed was similar to black fur, which happened to cover both of the Espada's arms and legs, while his fingers grew claw-like extensions and his feet shifted to resemble talons. The irises of his eyes turned yellow as the sclera become green, while at the same time the tear-like marks under his eyes increased in size once more, as well as completely turning black. The most interesting part of the transformation was that Ulquiorra's mask was completely gone and that what had once been horns had transformed into two large bat ears, though he also had some of the black fur-like substance create two fluffy tail-like extensions, one pointed to the left and the other to the right, and he even possessed a long tail that he could likely use in battle.

If it weren't for the fact that his own reiatsu was so powerful and overwhelming to those that he had met, and the fact that he was the King of Darkness that had inspired fear and despair in his enemies, Sombra would have felt Ulquiorra's now immense and powerful reiatsu install despair into his own heart, but he stood his ground and focused on the battle, as he knew that it would be over soon enough.

"Resurreccion: Segunda Etapa." Ulquiorra said, to which Sombra immediately understood that this was a second release for his true form, meaning that his power was going to be even greater than his previous state and that Ichigo really had no chance of victory, while at the same time Ichigo pushed himself to stand once more, "I am the only Espada that has developed a second release. Even Lord Aizen has not seen me in this form. Yet despite this, you still have the will to keep fighting?"

Sombra glanced at Ichigo, who swallowed for a moment as he focused on what Ulquiorra was doing, and noticed that his friend was terrified of what was going on, showing that he might not be as dense as he thought he was, as he still felt some fear and it showed when he noticed that his hands were trembling, and he knew Ulquiorra had seen it as well.

"Very well, I shall turn your body to dust if that's what it takes," Ulquiorra said, to which he shifted his right leg to the side for a moment and knelt close to the top of the pillar, showing Sombra that he was taking a new stance for the next part of the battle, before he glanced at Ichigo for a moment, "to make you understand."

Not even a second later Ulquiorra leapt forward and seemed like he was going to attack Ichigo from the front, causing him to raise his Zanpakuto in response to guard the area in front of him, but Ulquiorra then moved himself so fast that he came from Ichigo's right, passing by him and grabbing onto the side of Ichigo's head with his right hand, which allowed Ulquiorra to hurl Ichigo through the air with ease. As Ichigo flew through the air, and collided with the top part of one of the other pillars, Ulquiorra walked to the edge of the pillar that he was standing on and stared at the dust for a few seconds, but when he found that Ichigo was trying to push himself up again he spread his wings and took to the air, to which he zeroed in on his target and readied himself once more. Ichigo, seeing him coming, tried to swing Zangetsu at his foe and Ulquiorra moved out of the way, before landing behind him and attacked him again, where the force of his palm knocked Ichigo into the air and then he used his tail to not only shatter the part of the pillar below Ichigo, but also send him flying back towards the pillar he had thrown him from.

While all of this happened Ichigo seemed to find time to pull his mask back onto his face and empower himself once more, though at the same time Sombra knew that it wouldn't help that much now, not with the power that Ulquiorra was putting out in his Segunda Etapa state.

"You're a fool, Ichigo Kurosaki." Ulquiorra stated, though at the same time he flew after Ichigo, displaying the fact that his power was more than enough to overpower Ichigo and that there wasn't much he could do to stop him, while also striking Ichigo and sending him even closer to the other pillar, "You hope to fight and defeat an opponent whose strength is so great, it terrifies you. You also hope to defeat such an opponent without calling for aid... that's incomprehensible."

Ulquiorra followed that up by nearing Ichigo and pressed his open right hand against Zangetsu's edge, forcing it back into Ichigo's face as he shattered his Hollow mask and sent him flying through the tops of one pillar, before he collided with the top of a second pillar that was some distance behind that one.

"If you are doing this because you have a soul, then souls do nothing more than injure Humans." Ulquiorra said, to which he raised his right hand in front of his face and slowly closed it into a fist, as if he was crushing something that meant nothing to him, while keeping his focus on Ichigo's location, "You will die because of your soul."

"Ichigo, you should really consider switching with me." Sombra said, as he knew that now was the best moment for his friend to admit defeat and escape death, because if Ichigo did that then he would gladly step in and show Ulquiorra why he was the Dios Hueco.

"No! Thanks for the concern, Sombra, but I've got this." Ichigo stated, where the smoke cleared and both Sombra and Ulquiorra found that he was standing on a lone piece of the top of the pillar that had survived the collision that he had been involved in, "Besides, I'm not fighting because I want to win... I'm fighting because I have to win."

"Nonsense." Ulquiorra said, to which he decided to end this part of the battle as Sombra brought his palm to his face, as he couldn't believe that his friend was this dense, and he flashed forward, where he wrapped his tail around Ichigo's neck and pulled him down to the top of the one pillar that wasn't even damaged.

Sombra sighed as he landed nearby, because he couldn't believe that this was actually happening when Ichigo could have avoided this fate, and the only reason he wasn't stepping in to stop what was coming next was because he could feel Zangetsu stirring... and before Ulquiorra could do anything Uryu, riding a light blue disc that was formed from his flight skill, came up to where they were and both he and Orihime jumped off, only for Orihime's eyes to widen when she looked up at the pillar that Ichigo was being choked on.

"So you came, woman." Ulquiorra commented, as he had been torn between whether or not Orihime would have come up here to check on Ichigo, even if she had help in getting up here, though what he was more interested in was the fact that Sombra was actually letting him get away with this, before raising his right pointer finger up so it was level with Ichigo's chest as he started to form a Cero Oscuras, "Perfect timing. Watch carefully, as the man that you entrusted all your hope is about to die."

Just as Orihime screamed out the word 'NO', at the top of her lungs, Ulquiorra proceeded to fire the Cero Oscuras and blasted a hole in Ichigo's chest, effectively killing him in the process as a shocked look graced his face and would remain there for some time. That was followed by Ulquiorra releasing Ichigo's body from the hold that his tail had and let him fall, where Sombra flashed into the air, grabbed his friend's body, and then flashed down to where Orihime was standing, knowing that it would take a moment or two for Zangetsu to make his move, while noticing that Ichigo's Zanpakuto landed near where they were standed.

"I... I can't believe you didn't stop this from happening." Uryu said, as he was under the impression that Sombra could have stopped Kurosaki from being killed by Ulquiorra, if something bad had happened during the battle, and yet here they were, staring at the dead body of their friend.

"Oh trust me, I tried to stop him from fighting a battle he wasn't ready for," Sombra replied, though at the same time he stopped both Orihime and Uryu from rushing to Ichigo's side, as he could feel the reiatsu starting to build and knew what was coming, "besides, if I'm right about what's coming next, he'll be back on his feet in no time and will know that sometimes it's okay to ask for help when you're overwhelmed."

"Nonsense. Ichigo Kurosaki is dead." Ulquiorra said, to which he flew down to where they were standing and landed nearby, as he was keeping his distance between himself and the other Arrancar, because a fight between them would likely break out at some point, meaning that attacking the other two was pointless.

"True, Ichigo is dead." Sombra stated, though as he said that the nearby shadows moved and picked up both Orihime and Uryu, pulling them off to the side so they wouldn't be in the way for what came next, which was when he felt Zangetsu's reiatsu start to spill out of Ichigo's body with nothing to hold it back, "Zangetsu, on the other hand... well, I think I'll be quiet and let him do the talking for himself."

Just as he said that a surge of reiatsu engulfed Ichigo's body, covering it for a few seconds, and when it died down a few moments later Sombra glanced back as the others stared at what was going on, as it appeared that he was the only one that had noticed what was going on with his friend's body. The first thing he noticed was that Ichigo's short hair had grown longer and straighter, reaching down to his waist, and that his Hollow hole, which was where Ulquiorra blew out Ichigo's heart, was decorated with markings that stretched from the hole across his chest and shoulders. He now possessed retractable claws on both his fingertips and his toes, with small furry red tufts, two starting from his collarbone and stretching around his neck and one on each of his wrists and ankles, and white skin that definitely belonged to a Hollow. In this form his Hollow mask was different, as it now covered Ichigo's entire head, and the markings were different, for it had four spike-shaped marks, two of them stopping by the forehead and the other two stretching past the eyes and teeth, going past his chin and joining with the marks on his chest. There were small marks resembling a heart, but with the  top and bottom open, extending from the inner corners of his eyes, and the mask even featured two long forward-pointing horns, with black strips extending from their center towards the tips.

Sombra had to admit that Zangetsu looked intimidating, though when he felt the sheer power of his reiatsu dying down for the moment he knew that it was a good thing, because his reiatsu indicated that Zangetsu was actually a Vasto Lorde ranked Hollow, one that just happened to be at Ulquiorra's level... possibly even greater than that since they had no idea what sort of power was lurking within his body.

"Impossible. You can't be alive." Ulquiorra said, his tone revealing that he had no idea what was going on and that he hadn't seemed to have noticed the difference in the feel of Ichigo's reiatsu, which was Zangetsu's reiatsu at the moment, and he took a few steps away from where he had been standing while observing his opponent, "How have you taken that form? Who are you?"

Zangetsu barely moved as his opened his right hand, to which his blade pulled itself from the ground and flipped through the air as it came back to his hand, an indicator that the battle was getting ready to begin and Sombra moved back to where Orihime and Uryu were standing... though a few seconds later Zangetsu caught his blade and swung it towards the ground, causing part of the immediate area of Las Noches' roof to crack and buckle under the sheer power that he was generating.

"Didn't you hear me?" Ulquiorra asked, though at the same time he stood his ground and faced his opponent, as he was surprised by the sudden gust of wind that had accompanied his foe's action, even though his face remained the same as it had been earlier, "I want to know who you are."

"Oh, I heard you." Zangetsu replied, as it was his voice that came from behind the mask and not Ichigo's, surprising both Orihime and Uryu in the process, since they weren't familiar with what happened between Ichigo and the spirit of his Zanpakuto, before his reiatsu started to form a red aura around him, "I'm ZANGETSU!!!!"

The moment he finished saying his name Zangetsu let out a roar that was focused on his reiatsu, causing the entire area around him to shake as Uryu wondered if his friend had suddenly transformed into a monster based on his new appearance and the roar. As the reiatsu died down, and the air stopped shaking, Ulquiorra raised his right pointer finger and let it face Zangetsu as he charged a Cero Oscuras, intending to finish the next stage of their battle before it could even begin, before a look of pure shock flashed onto his face as Zangetsu moved his upper body like he was bowing and pointed his horns at Ulquiorra, where a crimson red Cero formed between them. Not even a second later Zangetsu fired his Cero and let it collide with Ulquiorra's Cero Oscuras, where Sombra watched as Zangetsu's attack devoured Ulquiorra's and kicked up a large amount of fire and smoke from the two Ceros colliding with each other. The pillar of flame and smoke went high into the air above them, showing just how much power Zangetsu had packed into his attack despite only charging it for a few seconds, and Ulquiorra pulled himself out of the smoke so he could stare at the destruction, even though Sombra could tell that he was trying to figure out how all of this was happening, since he likely believed that it was Ichigo he was fighting and not a true Hollow. Just to prove that it actually happened Zangetsu flashed into the air that was behind Ulquiorra, while putting some space between the two of them, and immediately charged up a second Cero, where not even a few seconds later there was another collision as Ulquiorra fired his Cero Oscuras at it and repeated what had just happened not even a minute ago... and this time, when he emerged from the flames, Zangetsu appeared behind him and caught his left hand as it reached out to punch him, before swinging his blade down and severed his left arm halfway up from where his left elbow rested, which he proceeded to hit him with and knock him to the ground.

In addition to all of that happening Zangetsu roared once more, just to show that he wasn't to be underestimated, and Ulquiorra landed nearby and let some of his blood drip onto the ground beneath his feet, before growling as he focused his reiatsu, causing the stump to shake before he actually regenerated his arm, shocking both Orihime and Uryu while Sombra raised an eyebrow in interest.

"My greatest attribute isn't my offensive capabilities, but my regeneration powers." Ulquiorra explained, as he knew that some of them would be interested in what had happened to him, though at the same time he flexed his fingers and made sure that his new hand and arm were in working order, before glaring at his opponent, "Unlike the other Arrancar, who have lost the majority of their regenerative abilities, I saved the ability to quickly regenerate everything but my brain and internal organs, instead of sacrificing it for brute strength like the others. I don't know how you transformed into that state, Ichigo Kurosaki, but you'll never defeat me, even with this power boost of yours, if you stop and stare at me after tearing off a single arm."

As he said that Ulquiorra brought his hands together, with an oval or circular shaped opening between the palms of his hands, that he poured some of his reiatsu into, as a green sphere started to form between his hands, though a few seconds later, when he was ready, he pulled his arms back and the green sphere expanded out into the form of a glowing javelin that was much larger and more powerful than the smaller ones that he had been using in his previous form.

"Lanza del Relampago!" Ulquiorra said, to which Sombra understood the name as 'Lance of the Lightning' in Spanish, before the Espada grabbed it and took a stance that made it look like he was going to throw the weapon at Zangetsu, who was also staring at it as he waited to see what happened next, "Stay away from me. Stay where you are. I would prefer not to set this off near me."

With that said Ulquiorra brought his arm back and threw the Lanza del Relampago through the air, where Sombra watched as it raced towards Zangetsu and went right by his head, as Zangetsu didn't move at all and the lance came within a few inches of hitting the side of his head, before the lance flew out into the distance and struck the ground... producing a massive explosion that dwarfed the size of Las Noches and produced a gust of wind that belonged to a storm, maybe a powerful tornado or a low level hurricane.

"I missed. It truly is hard to control." Ulquiorra commented, his tone revealing that he could produce some incredible attacks while he was in his released state or his Segunda Etapa form, only he had problems controlling the trajectory of his lances, before his held his left hand out for a moment and a new Lanza del Relampago formed above his palm.

Zangetsu, despite the power that the Espada was showing off, flashed through the air using Sonido and reappeared a few steps behind Ulquiorra, who turned around in shock as he realized that he hadn't even felt his opponent move with his Pesquisa, further confirming that Zangetsu was incredibly powerful in his own right since he could move on a level that Ulquiorra couldn't follow. As all of that raced through Ulquiorra's mind, however, Zangetsu made his move, as he swung his right arm and let the edge of his blade connect with the edge of his opponent's lance, the impact forcing Ulquiorra to move backwards in a defensive position as his feet tore through the ground, but instead of following after him Zangetsu flashed up to the top of the nearby pillar and made it look like he was going to fly down the side of it to attack him again. Ulquiorra noticed this and flared his wings, allowing him to take flight as he sailed along the edge of the pillar with his lance in his left hand, but before he could even reach the top of the pillar Zangetsu flashed through the air and appeared near his opponent, where he used his empty left hand and pressed it against Ulquiorra's head, slamming him into the side of the pillar and breaking parts of it off in the process. Zangetsu then raised his blade into the air and swung it down on his opponent, the force of his attack destroying a good portion of the pillar and forced Ulquiorra into the air, to which Zangetsu flashed onto the surface of one of the falling fragments of the pillar and kicked off it as he soared towards his enemy, who used his lance to defend himself as the two of them engaged in aerial combat.

Despite the fact that Sombra could still follow what was going on, neither Orihime or Uryu were having the same luck that he was having, as both Ulquiorra and Zangetsu were flashing through the air and attacking each other at speeds that were making it impossible for his friends to see what was happening above their heads.

It really became interesting when Ulquiorra tried to fire another Cero Oscuras at Zangetsu, as the Hollow flashed behind his foe and knocked him down into the top of the undamaged pillar, letting the incomplete Cero fire of in random bolts that tore the top apart, though that was followed by Ulquiorra landing on the ground and facing the sky once more as he sought his opponent. Zangetsu, instead of following after him, heaved a massive boulder, taken from the ruined pillar, above his head and focused on where his foe had landed, which was when he hurled it through the air like it was nothing and caused Ulquiorra to frown as he noticed it coming. Sombra, however, knew that Zangetsu had something planned and he was proven right, as Zangetsu used the boulder as a distraction and Ulquiorra fell for it when he used the tip of his lance like a thrusting weapon to shatter the fragment into a thousand pieces, allowing Zangetsu to use the rubble as cover as he approached Ulquiorra from below. It almost worked, as Ulquiorra noticed the attack coming at the last moment and pulled himself back as the tip of Zangetsu's blade passed by his face, though when he landed a few steps away from his foe he switched hands, letting the lance be in his right hand, and prepared to stab Zangetsu with it... before the Hollow flashed forward and appeared right in front of Ulquiorra, with his open left hand catching the head of the lance as the energy battled his own power.

A few moments later Zangetsu crushed the head of the lance, letting out a significantly smaller detonation this time around, and let the smoke cover them for a few seconds, though Ulquiorra's eyes widened when he noticed Zangetsu's yellow eyes staring at him... followed by Zangetsu switching the direction of his blade as he brought it down on his foe, cutting a diagonal gash into Ulquiorra's chest, going from his left shoulder to his right hip while also cutting off a good portion of his left horn as he collapsed on the ground.

"I... I don't believe it..." Uryu said, as they had seen the ending of the battle quite easily, especially since it was happening some distance in front of where they were standing, but that didn't change the fact that he was shocked and surprised by what was going on at the moment, "He won..."

"Curse you... I never imagined that I would lose to a Human that could transform into a Hollow." Ulquiorra said, as if one slightly deep cut across his chest was enough to make him admit defeat, though Sombra had to guess that this was the first time he had been overpowered in such a manner and that doing this was the best action he could take, "The very idea is ludicrous."

"I told you, I'm not Ichigo... I'm Zangetsu, the spirit of his Zanpakuto and his inner Hollow." Zangetsu stated, though at the same time he raised his right let and rested his foot against Ulquiorra's head, where he pointed his horns right at his chest, indicating that he wasn't finished yet, "It's not a Human transforming into a Hollow, rather it's a Hollow that's claiming control of his 'partner's' body to destroy their enemy."

"I see... you'll show no mercy." Ulquiorra commented, and he was proven right a few moments later, as that was when Zangetsu started to charge another Cero, though this time it appeared that the Espada wasn't even going to attempt to block it or even fight back, "I guess you really are a Hollow. Go ahead, I have no reason to live now that you've bested me in battle... do it."

Zangetsu proceeded to comply with the request, as he loosed his Cero and blew a massive hole in the roof of Las Noches, where those that were below them were likely seeing the beam strike the ground, before the smoke cleared over the next few minutes... where Sombra found that Ulquiorra had been critically injured, as his left wing, left arm, and the entire area below his ribs had been blown away, before Zangetsu hurled him over to one of the rocks and let his body hit the ground nearby.

"It's over." Sombra said, to which he stepped forward as Zangetsu walked over to the fallen form of Ulquiorra, who seemed to be unconscious from the power of the explosion and the shock of losing a good portion of his body, "I think he's earned his punishment for killing Ichigo. Wouldn't you agree, Zangetsu?"

"If you say so, Lord Sombra." Zangetsu replied, because in all honesty he still didn't care for Ichigo, not after all the time that his supposed partner called upon the other power inside him instead of who he was supposed to be allied with, before he glanced at the fallen form of Ulquiorra once more, "Shall I finish him off, or are you going to try and convert him like you did to Grimmjow?"

"I'd like to see if he sees the truth," Sombra stated, though at the same time he glanced over at Orihime and beckoned for her to come over to them, where she glanced over at Ulquiorra's body as Uryu followed after her, "I know it seems strange to heal an enemy that was just defeated, but I'd appreciate it if you worked your power on Ulquiorra's body for a few minutes. Once I figure out what to do with them, as in which side he's willing to serve, and then we'll focus on what happened to Ichigo, though something tells me that he still wont accept the truth."

Orihime stared at the body that was near Sombra, who she had originally assumed was Ichigo the entire time, and found that whoever was in possession of it was staring at her as well, to which she walked over to where Ulquiorra was laying and raised her Soten Kisshun around him.

"You do realize that you're insane, right?" Uryu asked, though as he said that he glanced at the fallen body that was near where they were standing, as he couldn't believe that Sombra was willing to bring back the foe that Ichigo, or rather Zangetsu as it turned out, had gone through the effort to defeat, but he guessed that if the Espada tried anything funny he'd either be beaten by Zangetsu or sent to the Shadowlands as further punishment.

"He's an Arrancar, one that deserves a chance at a life that's not ruled by Aizen." Sombra replied, as part of the reason he was doing this was because Aizen didn't seem to care about the lives that were at stake and that he believed everyone was expendable, and he intended to free as many of the other Arrancar as he could before they all were killed in Aizen's plan to kill the Soul King, "Besides, if Ulquiorra decides to continue attacking us I'll just step in and finish the job... or maybe I'll send him to the Shadowlands. It all depends on what he does next."

Uryu stared at Sombra for a moment, trying to determine the real reason behind why he was so hellbent on saving as many Arrancar as he could, before he decided to admit defeat and stood nearby, keeping his eyes on Zangetsu, who stood near the powerful Arrancar like he was a bodyguard or something. In his mind something didn't add up, how Ichigo's Zanpakuto spirit could be the inner Hollow that he complained about and got worried about when it tried to take over, and yet, despite his appearance, the creature was content to have a ruler that acknowledged his existence. If what Sombra said was true, that this was the true Zangetsu, then he wondered what the other one, the old man that he recalled Ichigo talking about when he mentioned his Bankai training, had to be, because if he wasn't the real Zanpakuto spirit than that meant he was something else entirely, something they might not even be aware of. While all of this ran through his mind, however, he watched as Orihime's Soten Kisshun started to perform what it was known for, as the lower part of the Espada's body started to piece itself back together, like it had never been destroyed in the first place, and once she did that she also restored his missing arm and the part of his horn that had been cut off, effectively making his body as pristine as it had been when she and Uryu arrived up here.

Once Orihime was done she pulled her Flowers back into her hairpins and backed away from Ulquiorra, allowing Sombra to be the one to stand in front of him, though not a few seconds later the Espada's eyes snapped open as a look of confusion appeared on his face, especially when he pulled himself up and found that his entire body had been restored to it's former glory, as if he hadn't been hit by Zangetsu's Cero.

"I... don't understand." Ulquiorra said, though at the same time he picked himself up and found that he was able to stand just fine, while also making sure that the being that bested him stayed where he was standing as he focused on Sombra once more, "I threatened several of your friends before you came to Hueco Mundo, then killed one of them with you present... and yet you show me mercy by sparing my life and healing my injuries. Why?"

"Your just following the orders of someone that doesn't care for you and the other Arrancar he's created." Sombra replied, though he was happy to see that Ulquiorra was willing to talk instead of continue fighting, as that meant he might be able to convince him to side with them, "Besides, I felt that getting decimated by Zangetsu, and having a good portion of your body blown apart in the process, was a good punishment for what you've done so far. In regards to showing you mercy, well, let's just say that I'd be an evil king if I showed no one mercy, I'd be a terrible king if I didn't show my subjects that I'm willing to punish them for their actions... so an equal amount of the two makes me a kind and fair king, the type of king that Hueco Mundo will need once this is all over. The real question is this: whose side are you on?"

Ulquiorra stood there for a moment, thinking about it, and came to the conclusion that Sombra actually seemed to know how to rule a kingdom, as he was making it sound like he would be a fair and just ruler that would inspire those that followed them, while also possessing a side of him that wouldn't hesitate to deal out the punishments to those that broke whatever rules or laws that he decided to pass once he claimed this world as his own. He then reflected on what Sombra did during the beginning stages of his battle with Ichigo, where he cast both Loly and Menoly into a realm he called the 'Shadowlands', a place that sounded like a realm of pure terror that he inflicted on those that took something from him and he wanted to make those offenders suffer. He then assumed that it was his good fortune that Sombra was feeling as merciful as he was, otherwise he was sure that he would have only been healed to maximize the pain and suffering that he would have experienced in the other dimension that he had access to. With Zangetsu standing beside him, almost like a bodyguard of some kind, he knew that him winning a battle was extremely low, even if he fought Sombra on his own, and as he looked at the faces of those around him he found that Sombra's Human friends weren't even scared of him, just making him even more interested in Humans than he had been prior to his talks with Orihime.

In the end Ulquiorra came to a decision, though in his head he found it interesting that he would make the same choice that Grimmjow and Szayelaporro did, as he knelt before the powerful Arrancar that was standing in front of him and bowed his head.

"I shall follow the lead of the Espada that have defected to your side," Ulquiorra said, though while he, just like many of the Espada and Arrancar, was grateful to Aizen for granting him more power and an existence among the Espada, he knew that siding with the Dios Hueco was the best move he could make, "and, as they said, forsake the Usurper and join the true ruler of Hueco Mundo."

"It's good to have you on the team." Sombra replied, and he meant it, because Ulquiorra was a powerful Arrancar and he was likely the one that he would make the Guardian of Hueco Mundo if he had to leave for some period of time, but once that was taken care of he turned towards Zangetsu, "You know, Zangetsu, if you don't like staying with Ichigo you should consider moving out, especially since we're in Hueco Mundo and you used to be a normal Vasto Lorde ranked Hollow before this happened."

"Moving... out..." Zangetsu repeated, as if he was having some trouble understanding what Sombra was talking about, but then he thought back to what he had been thinking about when he fought Ichigo, in his inner world, earlier and knew what was going on, "Sure, let's give that a try."

Zangetsu took a few steps away from where the others were standing and planted his blade in the top of Las Noches' roof, where Sombra watched as his reiatsu formed an aura around him once more and shook the air that rested all around the group, before he closed his eyes. A few moments later his reiatsu surged out of the Hollow hole in his chest and covered him in a large cloud of red smoke, though while all this happened Sombra felt something very interesting, he felt the reiatsu of Zangetsu separate from Ichigo's reiatsu. To prove his point the wind kicked up a few seconds later and revealed an interesting sight, Ichigo, without all the Hollow markings and mask, stood on Sombra's immediate right with a look of confusion on his face, especially since the last thing he actually remembered was the hole being blasted into his chest, which was now gone. Off on Sombra's left, however, stood a white version of Ichigo, which meant that it was Zangetsu standing before him, and his attire was just as wrecked as Ichigo's was, while also being white as opposed to Ichigo's black colored attire... though the interesting thing was that he possessed the same black markings that he had put on Ichigo's body when he transformed, coming from a Hollow hole that was in the same spot it had been in while he controlled Ichigo's body, and the red tufts remained on his wrists and around his neck.

Sombra then watched as Zangetsu stepped forward with a smile on his face, where he guessed that the remains of his Hollow mask must have formed the tufts around his neck, before he picked up a white version of his Bankai blade and pulled away from Ichigo... who was busy examining his chest, as he knew that he should have been dead and was confused as to what was going on.

"How do you two feel?" Sombra asked, as he could guess that Zangetsu felt better than ever, especially since he had decided that he would no longer be tied to someone that wouldn't pay attention to him, but felt that he should ask the question anyway.

"Better than ever." Zangetsu replied, though at the same time he found that he could attach his own blade to his back, like he and Ichigo did when they were carrying the Shikai form of himself, before he stood at attention and noticed that Ulquiorra was standing up as well.

"Didn't... Didn't I have a hole in my chest?" Ichigo inquired, as that was the most interesting thing to him at the moment, that the hole that had been blasted into his chest had sealed itself up and was gone, before his mind registered who had spoken and noticed that his 'inner Hollow' was now outside his body, "Ah, what are you doing out here?"

"Well, I did just close the hole in your chest so you could continue living." Zangetsu stated, though at the same time he raised a finger and poked Ichigo in the shoulder, causing him to jump backwards and grab onto his version of their Bankai blade, as if a fight was going to break out, "Look, Ichigo, I'm going to be clear on this, so pay attention: I'm moving out of your body and I'm taking my power with me. Go ahead and have full with the Old Man, though don't worry too much about your own power, I decided to be nice and let him keep using the Bankai he taught you... even though it was originally mine to begin with."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Ichigo said, though at the same time he felt some sweat running down the side of his face, either from his recovery or from the fact that his Hollow was in front of him he had no idea, but that didn't stop him from raising his blade towards him.

"Ichigo, leave Zangetsu alone." Sombra stated, causing a look of surprise to appear on Ichigo's face once more, like he was concerned that he had lost his mind or something, before he sighed as he thought about what he was going to say and how much of it Ichigo was going to accept, "Look, I'll say this one time and then we're moving onto more important matters: this being right here, which you refer to as your inner Hollow, is the real Zangetsu and he's had enough of you not accepting who he is, so he's decided to leave you and forge his own destiny."

"But Old Man Zangetsu is just fine." Ichigo replied, though that was before a number of hands were raised and met the forehead of the person that raised them, causing him to raise an eyebrow as he looked at all of them, "What? You act like I said something completely stupid."

"Ugh, let's just leave him be." Zangetsu said, as he wasn't in the mood to deal with Ichigo's idiocy right now, not when there were bigger and better things for them to be doing, as he felt a powerful presence in the area below them and knew that Sombra had felt it as well, "I think it's time we head down to where the others are waiting and deal with the rest of our enemies... and then we can focus on seeing how much longer it will take before you unlock your powers as the Dios Hueco, because I really want to see you at your full power."

Sombra nodded his head before he jumped into the large hole that Zangetsu had formed with his Cero, which was when the others followed after him and they began their descent towards the interior of Las Noches, as it appeared that Yammy might have released his Resurreccion while they were busy... and he was eager to finally claim Hueco Mundo before seeing what else he needed to do before he unlocked his full power as well.