Bleach: Heart of a Hero

by Blackdrag-rose

Hueco Mundo: Szayelaporro's Surprise

Renji had been running down the hallway that he had picked when he and his friends had been forced to go down five different passages, after Sombra used some sort of ability on them to make sure he could teleport to them if they were in need of assistance, and instead of having the powerful Arrancar running beside him he had Dondochakka running behind him, ruining the entire mood of the venture. Since he was ignoring Dondochakka, who said something about Nel missing at one point, the only thing that he could do to keep himself from turning around and killing the Arrancar behind him was keeping taps on what everyone else was doing since their separation. Of course he was jealous that Ichigo was paired with Sombra, especially considering the power that he poured out when he reached whoever their opponent was, but that didn't stop him as he continued down the path that he had been following the entire time, with no end in sight. What did make him stop, however, was when he felt something happen to Rukia and the same thing happen to Chad moments later, though from what he could tell Uryu was the lucky one, as his opponent seemed cocky or something and left an opening for the Quincy to exploit, meaning that he and Uryu were the only ones that weren't hurt... and he wasn't counting Sombra at all, since he was likely too powerful for the opponents he came across and could finish them off without being hurt at all.

Despite all of his thoughts, however, he eventually came to a stop that wasn't caused by what his friends were doing, as the path in front of him finally changed and it wasn't something that was good, because right in front of him rested two different passages he could take... and it wasn't long before Dondochakka stopped a few steps behind him and looked around like they were in someone's territory, likely an Espada's if the chattering of his teeth was anything to go by.

"Wh... what's wrong, Renji?" Dondochakka asked, his voice telling Renji how scared he was at the moment, not that Renji actually cared, but that just meant that one of the creature that swore to serve Sombra wasn't going to go too far, not if he was scared by just stopping in the middle of a hallway, though he kept his eyes moving as he tried to figure out the reason behind why they stopped here.

"There's a fork in the path." Renji explained, as he was debating whether he should take the path on the right and have Dondochakka take the one on the left, or if he should take the one on the left and have the Arrancar take the one on the right, but knew that this would have been easier if Sombra were here, to feel what was down each direction, "Up until now it was just a straight path. I wonder which path I should take..."

"D... Don't scare me like that, don'tcha know!" Dondochakka said, interrupting Renji's thoughts once more with his ridiculous use of 'don'tcha know', something that he had been trying to ignore because it was a stupid thing to say and it appeared that it was something that the Arrancar liked to use when he spoke, which might have been the reason why Pesche had been the one talking when they were outside Las Noches earlier, "It doesn't matter which path we take, don'tcha know. I'm scared enough as it is, don't make it worse."

It was in the following moment that the section of the floor behind Renji opened, revealing a trapdoor of some kind, and Dondochakka fell into the abyss, calling out for him to save him, though before Renji could actually do anything about the situation he was in the floor beneath his feet did the same thing and he fell into the abyss as well, before the trapdoors closed above their heads. Renji fell for a few minutes, making him wonder what the hell was going on this time around, before he eventually saw a light beneath him, where he eventually came out of the tunnel that he had been falling through and actually exited it like he was a little kid on a playground. As he landed on the floor, however, he found that he was in an odd chamber that didn't seem to have any openings for him to leave through, but then again his vision of the area wasn't the best since there was a cloud of smoke covering the immediate area around him, which was why he kept his hand on his Zanpakuto as he readied himself for whatever was coming next. The only good thing that he could tell at the moment was that he didn't have to put up with Dondochakka, as it appeared that the two of them might have been separated, which was good for him so he could focus on what was happening and not focus on an idiot that was slowly driving him insane.

"This is wonderful!" a voice said, male by the tone that Renji heard, but at the same time he couldn't tell where it was coming from, which was why he glanced around the smoke filled area that he was in as he tried to pinpoint the location that his enemy was coming from, just in case he was attacked, "I placed numerous different traps around here, but I never believed that someone would fall for the simplest one. Oops, excuse me, I haven't introduced myself yet."

Renji turned to what was behind him as he heard the sound of a door opening, even though he still couldn't see who his opponent was, and heard the sounds of someone stepping out of wherever they had been hiding, meaning that the fight between him and his opponent might be starting soon.

"I'll only say it once. I hope someone with such a low degree of intelligence can remember it." the voice said, though at the same time the smoke rushed through the opening that had been created and cleared out of the area, allowing Renji to see a pink haired Arrancar, whose mask formed some glasses in front of his eyes, standing near him, while at the same time he pulled something out of his ear and seemed to stash it in his odd attire, like it had a pocket, "I am the Octava Espada, Szayelaporro Granz."

"The Octava... Espada? I see, you're one of the ten that oversee the other Arrancar." Renji replied, though this was a stroke of good luck on his part, even if he fell for a trap that his enemy had set, because if he actually found one of the ten powerful Arrancar that were Aizen's pawns to destroy Soul Society, like Szayelaporro claimed he was, than that meant he was going to cut the Espada's power down by removing him, though at the same time he heard Dondochakka's voice coming from behind him and moved out of the way.

Fortunately, since he knew where Dondochakka was coming from, Renji moved back and smiled as he put himself out of range of the tunnel, only for a new one to open in the wall beside him a few seconds later, to which he was crushed into the floor by Dondochakka landing on top of him. At first Dondochakka complained about his bottom hurting, since he crashed into Renji, and then complained about the fact that the tunnel was scary, before he really freaked out when he noticed Szayelaporro standing nearby, glaring at him with a disapproving look in his eyes.

"You... you're Szayelaporro, the Octava Espada!" Dondochakka said, to which he jumped backwards a little, giving Renji the space he needed to finally get off the ground and not be crushed by a heavy Arrancar, but it wasn't like Dondochakka was paying attention since he was pointing at the Espada that was near them, "Hueco Mundo's greatest researcher and a specialist at making spirit-based weapons! But you're research is protected by secrecy, so people like me would never know anything about what you do..."

"Sorry, but I don't have time to waste on you." Renji spoke up, as while it was interesting to see that one of them knew a little about their opponent, even though that information was clearly limited when Dondochakka stopped talking before he even interrupted him, before he turned around and glared at the Espada that was his main target.

"Oh, don't we look scary." Szayelaporro said, to which he raised his hands up for a moment, not in the surrendering type since he held them in front of his face, and he kept the same strange friendly look on his face, like he was trying to make himself seem weaker than what he actually was, "Give me a break. Even though I'm an Espada, I'm not very good at fighting. That big guy over there is correct, I'm a simple researcher. When I'm here, in my lab, I gather data on different spirit patterns. It's the most enjoyable thing in the world to me. Oh, and of course, you're fantastic. Your patterns are completely different from the ones that I've already finished researching... and don't get me started on the differences in Sombra's patterns from everything, even yours. Since your patterns were so interesting I decided to give you a welcome of the highest quality. I hope you'll come along with me... what do you say? Never mind, you can't turn me down."

"Sorry, but I didn't come here to chat with you." Renji replied, to which he pulled his scabbard up and gripped the handle of Zabimaru, as he knew that to defeat an opponent that was an Espada he was going to need his Bankai, if he remembered the fight that Captain Hitsuguya had with the Espada Arrancar that fought him and the others before Orihime and Sora were taken, "I came to take you out and cripple Aizen's army. To be honest, I don't care about your statistics, nor do I care about your 'welcome party'. If you want to talk to be, then do so while I carve you up and dice you into a pile of pieces. But I'm not going to hold back against an Espada... Bankai!"

As Renji started to finish his statement he drew his Zanpakuto from it's scabbard and let the wind gather around the blade, the energy gathering as he started to release the final form of Zabimaru as the wind kicked up, and not a few moments later the attire that came with his Bankai, along with the large snake head that he could control, formed in the air around him as he focused on the Espada... though when he swung the head at Szayelaporro, however, it struck something that shined brightly before the entirety of his Bankai shattered and he was left with his sealed Zanpakuto.

"Wh... what happened?" Renji asked, though at the same time the sudden destruction of his Bankai, the strongest form of his Zanpakuto, both shocked him and made him sweat, because he had needed it to defeat just one of the Arrancar that had followed Grimmjow to the World of the Living, and without it he had a lower chance of victory.

"See? This is what happens when you don't listen to everything I have to say." Szayelaporro stated, causing Renji to turn towards him once more, his face baring a wonderful expression that he loved to see on his opponents when something like this happened, though at the same time he smiled at the Shinigami that was in front of him, "You can't use your Bankai in this room."

"I can't... use my Bankai?!" Renji repeated, as that was still something that was alarming, given how strong Zabimaru's final release was, but he was hoping that the Espada would tell him how he could go about fixing the problem that had been created, otherwise he was definitely screwed.

"That's correct. It's nice that you verbally confirmed it." Szayelaporro said, though his tone told Renji that this was the type of person that liked to look down on those he was fighting, which irritated him more than he was willing to admit, but he needed a plan while he listened to the Espada, "Not bad... for an idiot. Allow me to explain: I have complete information on your Bankai. From it's form, abilities, and Spiritual Pressure, to even it's reishi composition. I used all that information to seal your Bankai away in this palace."

"Complete information on my Bankai?" Renji inquired, as there was something about the explanation that he had been given that didn't make sense, and seeing how he had nothing better to do for now he figured that he might as well figure out what was wrong, "Only those who have fought against it first-hand should know about all that. How in the world is it possible for you to know all that when you've never fought it before?"

"My older brother... do you remember my name?" Szayelaporro replied, though as he made his own inquiry he found that his opponent was simply staring at him, meaning that he likely didn't remember what he had told him earlier, when he first entered this chamber, "Oh well, I guess I'll say it once more. I name is Szayelaporro Granz... Yylfordt Granz was my older brother."

"Him?" Renji said, as he remembered the blond haired Arrancar that had followed Grimmjow to the World of the Living, who he had fought, witnessed transform into a bull-like creature when he used his Resurreccion, and was only able to defeat because he was caught off guard by the release of his full power.

"Oh? You remember that scum? I must thank you for that." Szayelaporro stated, as he honestly didn't care much for the Arrancar that had been his brother, not with all the information he was able to gleam from his battle, and at the same time he noticed that his words seemed to have annoyed Renji a little, "Allow me to clarify something; I'm not here to avenge my brother. Only a fool would think of something like that. I gained all the information I have on your Bankai from the Rokureichu, my special Spirit-Recording Bugs. I placed them all over my brother's body when he was healing from his wounds... to me, he was just a box that happened to be carrying my Rokureichu, and I'm not childish enough to get mad at you for breaking the box."

"You're the real scum here." Renji said, to which he glared at the Espada for a moment, as while he knew that most of Aizen's Arrancar didn't seem to care for each other, based on what Captain Hitsuguya said when his opponent noticed that Rukia killed her opponent, but he was surprised to find that Yyfordt's brother didn't care about him at all.

"What a completely unexpected complaint." Szayelaporro remarked, as he honestly wasn't expecting someone that was fighting the Arrancar to say such a thing, especially after he explained what he had done, though at the same time he wrapped two of his fingers around the handle of his Zanpakuto, "I'm stunned. But that doesn't change the fact that you no longer have a way to win, nor the fact that you cannot escape this area. Please, don't struggle. This is the first time I've seen an individual who can use Bankai in person. I'm actually quite excited. I want you to die in as close to perfect condition as possible."

Renji growled and transformed Zabimaru into it's Shikai form, where he swung it towards Szayelaporro and watched as the Espada used his own Zanpakuto to block his attacks, but as that happened he continued to swing his arm over and over again, finding that his opponent's statement about not being much of a fighter was correct, as he hadn't attacked once yet and it looked like he might actually have the advantage. It appeared that, despite having an intense and complete knowledge of his Bankai, the Espada didn't have a full understanding of his actual movements and that, in turn, allowed him to slowly dominate the fight, even though his foe was still blocking his attacks and doing nothing else. Szayelaporro, for the most part, said nothing as he focused on blocking the attacks and seemed to be attempting to follow them, which only confirmed that he was one of the weaker members of the Espada and that Renji could find a way to beat him at some point in time, after wearing down his defenses. When at last an opening presented itself, one that he didn't think he was going to find so suddenly, Renji grinned and declared that he was going to deliver the finishing blow, before his opponent could activate his Resurreccion or access his true power... the only problem he soon faced as that the shocked look on Szayelaporro's face disappeared and it returned to what it had been when he said that his Bankai would no longer work in this room.

"Just kidding." Szayelaporro said, to which he raised his Zanpakuto and effortlessly knocked Renji's attack out of the way, as there was no reason for him to even bother doing what he had been doing for the last few moments, before he swung his sword and loosed a reiatsu bolt that cut Renji's chest, forcing him to kneel on the floor in front of him, "Let me tell you something; your swings are pretty slow. They're even slower than the information that I have on you. Did you even notice that I was just making you dance on the palm of my hand?"

He could see it the moment he made the comment, the Shinigami had glanced at the position of his feet and seemed to understand that he had barely moved at all, as he was still in the exact same location that he had been in from the moment Renji started his attack, indicating that he was the one who had the advantage and that it would take more than what his opponent was giving him before he was defeated.

"Good. You seem to have noticed what I'm talking about." Szayelaporro continued, to which Renji stared at him once more, showing him that, despite the situation that he was, the Shinigami was trying to figure out what he could do to win the fight, or at least make it so neither of them won, "Yes, I was able to dodge your attacks without moving much. I was simply testing you to see how good your attacks were for myself. Honestly, they're far below my expectations. Is this the best you can do without your precious Bankai?"

Renji growled and swung Zabimaru again, but this time around Szayelaporro decided that it was time to at least give his opponent an idea as to why he was a member of the Espada, as he activated his Sonido and slipped right by Renji, appearing a slight distance behind him, before a gash was cut into his left shoulder and some blood went flying, but not enough to actually kill him just yet. Renji, apparently not liking the situation that he was in, tried to attack Szayelaporro again, to which the Espada simply knocked the attack out of his way with a single swing of his own Zanpakuto and then flashed behind his opponent once more, where he cut part of the cloak off and dropped Renji to the ground.

"I can see your attacks. They won't work on me anymore." Szayelaporro commented, though at the same time his opponent got back up onto his feet and stared at him, as if believing that he still had a chance to win, which meant that he needed to punish him some more before ending the fight.

It was in that moment that Renji spotted two round shaped Arrancar hopping over to where they were standing, and he worried that his opponent was calling in backup to have them kill him, but for the most part it seemed that they were here for something else... and they were excitedly calling out 'Master Szayelaporro' over and over again.

"Lumina and Verona?" Szayelaporro inquired, as he was certain that he had given his Fraccion orders not to bother him unless it was either extremely important or he called for them to enter the battle, since he was known to have his own followers battle his enemies from time to time, "What's wrong?"

"Aaroniero died!" the two Arrancar said, to which one of them simply repeated the statement a second time while the second one repeated the word 'died' at least three times, telling Renji that there had to be something wrong with them for such a thing to happen, but that didn't bother Szayelaporro at all.

"Hmm... it's true, I have the report." Szayelaporro stated, as he raised his right hand to his right ear for a moment, as if trying to figure something out, before looking at the ceiling for a few seconds, though that was eventually followed by him turning his gaze towards his opponent, "I was so engrossed by what I was doing that I didn't notice it. How very interesting. Shinigami, it appears that Aaroniero, the Noveno Espada, got into a fight with... I believe her name was Kuchiki? Anyway, it seems that one of your friends managed to kill one of the Espada, though not without the action taking her life in the process. Congratulations, that's quite the accomplishment, especially since three of your other friends were able to defeat three of the Privaron Espada, who are all at the level that Aaroniero and Yammy are at."

"That is where you would be wrong, Szayelaporro. Rukia's not dead yet." Renji spoke up, as he could still feel her reiatsu, even if it was getting fainter as the minutes ticked by, but that only informed him that she had turned down Sombra's offer to heal her wounds so she could progress onward, meaning that she was as stubborn as he remembered her being, "Trust me on this, if Rukia, one of Sombra's friends, was dead, you'd be feeling an incredible amount of reiatsu that felt angry and had a feeling that it wanted to kill someone. Rukia's not dead, and once I figure out how to kill you I'm going to find her and make sure she's okay."

"That was not the reaction I was expecting... and yet that is what makes you so amusing." Szayelaporro remarked, as he had been expecting the Shinigami to attack him again, out of sheer anger for him suggesting that one of his closest friends was dead, but it seemed like Sombra had more of an effect on them than he originally thought, "But let me tell you this; you can't cut an Espada with just a Shikai."

This time around Renji smiled as he prepared himself to fight again, because part of what his opponent said might very well be true, it was hard for someone like him to cut an Espada with just his Shikai, but on the other hand someone like Sombra could easily slice and dice one if he so desired... and thinking about Sombra made him wonder what he and Ichigo were doing at that very moment.

---

Ichigo, since the moment Sombra had disappeared from the area behind him, had been running down the passage that had connected to the chamber that Dordoni had kicked him into, where Sombra soundly defeated the Privaron Espada like it was nothing. He was both annoyed and happy with the Arrancar, as it appeared that he was using that strange teleportation ability that he had showed off to go to the aid of Rukia and the others, if they needed it anyway, and yet the part he was annoyed about was that he had yet to return to his side. Nel, who he was carrying under his right arm, had been oddly quiet the entire time he had been running, only to pause whenever he sensed one of his friends fighting, but then resumed running once he determined that they were going to win the fight they were in. He had paused for a few seconds longer than he intended when he felt Chad's reiatsu flicker, like he was going to die, but when he felt Sombra appear near him he was able to determine that the Arrancar had saved Chad's life, as well as the life of another ally from the feel of the reiatsu that was with Chad's. That told him that Sombra must have recruited another Arrancar into the growing army that was apparently rightfully his, since he was the Dios Hueco, and personally if Sombra could activate the power that they were told about, and steal the Espada from Aizen, that would be useful, as they'd be able to get Orihime and Sora back in no time.

Of course he paused near some stairs when he felt Rukia's reiatsu flicker again, just like Chad's had, but it appeared that she was going to be stubborn about this, as Sombra was nowhere near her and that might have been why he went to Chad so suddenly, causing Ichigo to growl for a moment.

"W... What's wrong?" Nel asked, showing that, despite the fact that she and her 'brothers' had sworn themselves to Sombra, even if he wasn't the level they claimed he'd be, she was still a child and therefore easily worried about what Ichigo was feeling and got upset when her friends were hurt before her eyes.

"Rukia's reiatsu is starting to get weaker." Ichigo replied, though at the same time he mentally cursed Rukia for being so stubborn, because it would have been easy for Sombra to slip into his Bankai, use that unnamed healing power of his, and then revert to his base state before anyone came looking for him, and Rukia wouldn't be in this mess if she bothered to ask for aid.

"So you've noticed." a voice said, to which Ichigo's blood ran cold for a moment, as he recognized the voice from when the first two Arrancar showed up in the World of the Living, though that was followed by him glancing up to the top of the stairs for a moment, where he found Ulquiorra standing at the top step, "I thought that you were just a kid that possessed only brute strength. Amazingly, you do have some decent senses. It's been a while, Shinigami."

"Ulquiorra..." Ichigo replied, though this wasn't good news, because he knew that this guy was one of the Espada that Aizen had created, especially since Yammy listened to his orders last time he saw him, but at the same time this meant that his path might be blocked.

"You remember my name. I don't think I ever specifically told you my name." Ulquiorra stated, though at the same time he started walking down the steps that were in front of him, keeping his eyes on Ichigo and the little Arrancar that he was holding onto, as he was here to do something before his Lord was threatened, until he came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, "Oh well. Rukia Kuchiki is as good as dead. More accurately, she killed the Noveno Espada after he sliced a deep gash into her chest and delivered a number of cuts across her body, where she'll bleed out in due time."

"Don't you dare make assumptions." Ichigo stated, as he didn't want to deal with this at the moment, because if he knew the Espada like he thought he did, based on what he had seen, a fight was coming and that would prevent him from heading to Rukia's aid, "Her reiatsu only decreased, so she's not dead. Besides, you weren't there fighting her, so there's no way that you can know what happened to her."

"Synchronized Awareness," Ulquiorra said, to which Ichigo raised an eyebrow for a moment, as he had no idea what the Arrancar was talking about, something that Ulquiorra planned on explaining, "That was one of the Noveno Espada's abilities as well as one of his roles. He could immediately convey information about the enemies he fights to his comrades. That's how I, as well as the rest of the Espada, know what happened to Rukia Kuchiki."

Ichigo growled and started to walk away from Ulquiorra, partly because he was sure that getting into a fight with this Espada would be a disaster for him, since he was carrying Nel, and partly because Rukia was in need of assistance at the moment, as he seemed to be the closest one since Sombra wasn't helping her.

"Where are you going?" Ulquiorra asked, because based on what he had seen so far he knew that Ichigo would have remained near him until he was defeated, even if such a thing wasn't possible at the moment, not with the gap in their level of power, though his voice stopped the Shinigami in his tracks, "I thought I told you that she's going to die."

"And I told you that I don't believe you." Ichigo stated, though this time he wasn't going to turn back and stare at the Arrancar that was near him, because he didn't want to be drawn into a battle at the moment and wanted to find a new exit that would allow him to get close to where Rukia was.

"You sure are stubborn." Ulquiorra stated, though at the same time his thoughts were drawn to the Arrancar that was usually following Ichigo around, to keep him out of stupid situations, and wondered how Sombra was able to stand being around someone like the Shinigami, "Is it really alright for you to leave without killing me?"

"I have no reason to fight you at the moment." Ichigo replied, to which he noticed that Nel was staring at him with a confused look in her eyes, meaning that even a child knew something that he seemed to be missing, "You haven't hurt any of my friends yet, so there's no reason for me to engage you at all."

"Is that so?" Ulquiorra inquired, as that was flawed reasoning, especially since there were reports of the Shinigami attacking Dordoni simply because he was blocking the way, like he was, and Lord Aizen had told him that he had done the same thing to the other Shinigami that he fought while he was trying to save Rukia, all because the Shinigami he fought were blocking the way forward, "So what if I told you that I was the one that brought both Orihime and Sora Inoue to Hueco Mundo?"

In the following moment Nel found herself falling to the floor as Ichigo finally let go of her, though at the same time Ichigo flashed over to where Ulquiorra was standing and swung his uncovered Zanpakuto at the Arrancar, who used the side of his right arm to block the attack without his arm being cut in the process.

"I'm glad that I believed Sombra," Ichigo growled, as he was happy to hear that his friend had been right in stating what happened to Orihime and Sora, even if Soul Society chose to believe that Sombra was lying, "because that means that he was right in saying that neither of our friends came here of their own free will!"

"I see. So Lord Aizen was right in thinking that Sombra would have noticed what happened." Ulquiorra said, as he was beginning to see why his Lord had been so eager to draw the powerful Arrancar into Hueco Mundo, even if it meant losing some of their forces in the process of Sombra's invasion, "You're words indicate that Soul Society believes that she is a traitor, which is also as Lord Aizen planned, and that they will not come here to aid you. Regardless of all that, do you have a reason to fight me now?"

Ichigo frowned for a moment as he pushed with his power and kicked up some dust into the air, allowing him to back away from Ulquiorra as the Espada returned his right hand to his pocket, but as Ichigo came to a stop he knew exactly what he was getting himself into... and, since it appeared that Sombra wasn't around, he'd have to fight Ulquiorra with everything that he had, just so he could get to Rukia and save her.

"Since you're going to block my way, I have no choice but to use all my power to get by you." Ichigo said, to which he held Zangetsu to the side and let the reiatsu of his Bankai flow out of his Shinigami attire, as he intended to slip right into his most powerful form and hit Ulquiorra with everything he had, "Bankai."

Ulquiorra watched the mass of reiatsu that covered Ichigo for a few seconds, wondering if the Shinigami really felt that his Bankai would be enough to defeat someone of his level, yet he made no move to walk anywhere else as he stared at the top of it when Ichigo, in his Bankai attire, burst out of the top. When he finally noticed his opponent, however, his eyes widened for a moment when he found a Hollow's mask on Ichigo's face and that his reiatsu now matched what a Hollow possessed, though as that happened Ichigo took the opportunity to prepare a Getsuga Tensho, one that was circular shaped and formed in the air all around him. A few seconds later Ichigo swung his sword and the wave came barreling towards Ulquiorra, who simply raised his hand from his right pocket and stopped the wave from hitting him, but in the split second that he did that Ichigo flashed down as well and his eyes widened again as he noticed that Ichigo's blade was now pressed against his hand. The ground around Ulquiorra buckled as Ichigo finished his swing, knocking him backwards through the air and sending him through four pillars, even though when Ulquiorra neared the fifth one he flipped backwards and let his feet touch it, as he used it to propel himself back into the fight and shattered the part of the pillar that his feet had touched. He was shocked by the fact that Ichigo possessed both a Hollow's mask and the reiatsu to match, but as he neared his opponent he noticed that he was charging up another Getsuga Tensho, one that he touched down on the floor and held his hand out to stop when it came barreling towards him... and he even had to use his left hand as well to stop the wave from crashing into his body, before the reiatsu surged past him and cut through a number of pillars that were behing him as dust was kicked up into the air.

Ichigo, on the other hand, huffed for a few seconds as the mask he had been wearing cracked and shattered, falling to the floor in the process, before he turned around and walked over to where Nel was laying, who was happy to see that he was alright and that he hadn't been hurt at all... even though she was clearly worried about the fact that he overdid it to get rid of Ulquiorra, but at the very least the way was open once more.

"My, my. Even with both hands, I couldn't completely stop it." Ulquiorra said, his voice stopping Ichigo cold as he turned around and stared at the Espada as he picked himself up and revealed that part of his attire had been ripped up by the attack he took head on, "I'm a little surprised. Now then, was that everything you had?"

"Wh... what the hell?" Ichigo stated, as he couldn't believe that his attack didn't even draw blood, it simply cut up part of Ulquiorra's attire and left markings that could make one think that something had tried to burn him, but that didn't stop him from being slightly worried about his chances, not enough to where he'd bother Sombra.

"It seems that it was... what a pity." Ulquiorra said, though at the same time he raised his right hand and pointed at Ichigo for a moment, who readied himself by making sure that he was protecting the young Arrancar that was behind him, but that didn't stop Ulquiorra from charging his green Cero for a few seconds and then firing it at his opponent.

His Cero connected with Ichigo for a brief second before going through the wall behind him, giving the Shinigami an exit point that he had been searching for, but Ulquiorra expected this and followed him outside, into the lit interior of Las Noches, where he found his foe trying to use the dust that kicked up from his Cero hitting the sand as cover, all while still carrying the little Arrancar. In the moment before he caught up Ulquiorra noticed that the upper left portion of Ichigo's Bankai attire had been damaged by the blast, as had his arm and chest area, though when Ichigo mentioned trying to hide someplace to hide Ulquiorra flashed up beside him and surprised the Shinigami, before turning and kicking him diagonally into one of the large red diagonal pillars that rested all throughout Las Noches. A few moments later he followed Ichigo to the cavity that had been created by him colliding with the pillar, with his opponent removing himself from a pile of rubble as the small Arrancar likely came to rest behind another pile, but his focus was on Ichigo and no one else.

"You brought out the mask again in order to block my Cero, correct?" Ulquiorra inquired, because if his opponent had taken the Cero head on the damage would be more severe, and since it wasn't he could assume that the mask had come into play once more, even if Ichigo couldn't use it anymore, "You have impressive reflexes, no doubt from training with the likes of Sombra and Urahara Kisuke. But this time, your mask shattered in less than a second, and I doubt that you will be able to use it again, for some time anyway. Give up."

"You think I'm just going to give up?" Ichigo replied, though at the same time he did something that Ulquiorra didn't expect, he had the strength to lift his Zanpakuto up and drove the tip into the upper left area of his chest, close to where the shoulder was, "You're the top Espada, aren't you? If I beat you, than this entire war is as good as over."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not the Primera Espada." Ulquiorra said, to which he grabbed the blade of Ichigo's Zanpakuto and pulled it away, allowing it to rip some of the fabric and undo break the links between the left and right side of his jacket, which let the left side flap open and reveal the number four on the left side of his chest.

"Four?" Ichigo inquired, though that information stunned him, as the thought of there being three more Arrancar that were more powerful than Ulquiorra, and were closer to Sombra in terms of power, came as a shock that he wasn't expecting, and made him wonder if Sombra knew that piece of information.

"Yes. I am Ulquiorra Cifer, the Cuatro Espada." Ulquiorra replied, deciding that he might as well confirm Ichigo's thoughts, since they were likely going to be the last ones that he ever had, though his facial expression did not change as he spoke, "The fourth most powerful member of the Espada."

It was in the following moment that Ulquiorra raised his hand and drove it right into Ichigo's body, though he targeted the sternum area, exactly where his own Hollow hole was located, and all Ichigo could do was look at him with shock in his eyes, though whether it was from the information he revealed to him or his current actions he did not care to find out.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, you cannot beat me." Ulquiorra stated, though at the same time he ripped his hand back out of Ichigo's chest and let his foe collapse on the floor in front of him, as he knew that their game was over, "Even supposing you could, without Sombra's assistance, there are still three other Espada that are more powerful than I. No matter how many times you stand back up to continue the fight, you will never achieve victory... though it appears that I have overestimated your abilities. You did not improve as I had anticipated. You're finished. If you can still move in that condition, then I suggest that you leave Hueco Mundo immediately. If you can't move, then just die. Either way, your journey ends here."

Ulquiorra barely paid attention to Ichigo as the reiatsu that formed his Bankai shattered and returned him to his base Shinigami form, though once that was done he turned around and left the area behind, as he needed to change into some undamaged clothing before he checked up on Orihime and Sora.

---

Grimmjow was doing his best to not make a scene, as he was in the middle of infiltrating the seemingly empty palace that Ulquiorra kept Orihime and Sora locked up in, since Aizen assigned the Cuatro Espada to look after them they would be located in the area that he lived in, while following the reiatsu in the air. Unfortunately he could feel that there were two more Arrancar in the building as well, neither of them a threat for someone like him, but at the same time it would be bad if he was found out before he could complete what he was trying to do, since one of them might tell Ulquiorra about him and what he had planned. The good news was that the Espada he didn't want to run into at the moment wasn't present, as it appeared that he was elsewhere in Las Noches, meaning that he might be able to get away with what he had planned, but as he walked by one of the hallways one of the doors burst open and fell backwards, and, as luck would have it, he was in the same area that Orihime and Sora were in. Judging by the reiatsu that they were giving off he could tell that both of them were in trouble, why he had no idea, and then he noticed that the other two reiatsu were coming from the same room that the pair he was looking for was coming from, to which he silently approached the door and peered inside the area that Orihime and her brother were being kept in.

His immediate concern were the two teenage-looking Arrancar, both female, that were currently tormenting both Orihime and Sora, though the one closest to him had long black hair that was done up in two pigtails, a slender build to her body, and a pink right eye, since her left eye was covered by the remains of her Hollow mask, even though her outfit was designed to show off part of her stomach area and part of her chest. The other Arrancar was more tomboyish thanks to her features, had short spiked blond hair, her mask fragment covered her right eye and left her with a single green left eye, and her chest revealed some of her cleavage as well, much like her partner in crime, though she wore a more appropriate dress as opposed to what the first girl wore. Grimmjow knew the girls as Loly Aivirrne, who was the black haired girl, and Menoly Mallia, the blond haired girl, and they were Aizen's aids, meaning that them coming here had to do with the fact that they didn't like Orihime and wanted to 'teach her a lesson', and bonus torment since Sora was with his sister at all times. Orihime and Sora, on the other hand were dressed up in Arrancar attire that matched what Ulquiorra wore, only slightly modified to fit their frames and show that he had domain over what happened to the two of them, even if he was acting under Aizen's orders, and currently Orihime looked like she was in the middle of a beating by Loly while Menoly had Sora pinned against the wall... and had a Cero at the ready, like she was going to obliterate Sora before he could rush to his sister's aid.

"What are you two doing?" Grimmjow asked, to which he noticed both Loly and Menoly sweat as they turned their attention to him, as they hadn't notice him enter the room through the doorway, but at the same time he needed to stop them before they took things too far, "I see that the two of you just waltzed right in while Ulquiorra was gone."

"We did, and we're having a blast." Loly said, though at the same time both she and Menoly wondered what the hell he was doing here, as they hadn't noticed someone coming down the hallway, while both Orihime and Sora seemed concerned about the situation as well.

"Neat. Now get out of the way." Grimmjow stated, to which he walked forward and moved Loly away from Orihime, noticing the bruises that were all over the visible areas of her arms and face, which Loly decided to take the chance and attack him, only for him to punch her in the gut and knock her into the wall opposite of the couch that Orihime was standing near.

"Grimmjow!" Menoly shouted, to which she tossed Sora through the open door and charged at the Sexta Espada with her left hand, where her Cero was located, and Grimmjow caught the attack with his left hand, only to sigh as he charged his own Cero and obliterated Menoly's arm, part of the left side of her body, and a good portion of her head, before the remainder fell to the floor.

"Lord Aizen will make you pay when he finds out about this!" Loly stated, though at the same time she coughed up some blood, as the punch to her gut hurt more than she was expecting, not that she should have expected anything less from the Sexta Espada.

"You idiot, Aizen can't do anything to me." Grimmjow said, though as he spoke he walked over to her and pushed her against the wall, as he didn't have time to waste on her, even though he could see that she was afraid of what he might do to her since he blew part of Menoly away, "I know you and you're friend weren't the smartest Arrancar around, but surely you felt the vibrations that have gone through Hueco Mundo since the last Espada meeting. The true ruler of Hueco Mundo and Las Noches has come to take his throne, and if you oppose him he'll crush you worse than Aizen would once he found out what you did to one of his frien..."

It was in that moments that he felt something that he had been hoping to avoid feeling again, he felt the sinister feeling of Sombra's reiatsu return in full force, meaning that he must have noticed that Ichigo was down and his earlier anger must have increased, meaning that he needed to hurry up, to which he pulled away from Loly and walked over to where Orihime was sitting.

"W... Why?" Orihime asked, as she wasn't entirely sure as to why Grimmjow had come here, in the nick of time no less, to save both her and Sora from the two Arrancar that were picking on them, and she felt like an answer would be nice before she did anything else.

"One, because you healed my left arm. And two, you're one of my true Lord's friends." Grimmjow said, to which he noticed that Orihime and Sora, who walked in after being thrown outside the room, seemed to know what he was talking about, even if they didn't understand what he meant, "You can heal yourself, right?"

"Yeah, she learned how to do that in Soul Society." Sora replied, to which Orihime nodded her head in agreement, which was good for Grimmjow, as he didn't want to arrive at their destination with damage on either of them and have it blamed on him, "Why?"

"Because we're getting out of here and going to where Ichigo is laying." Grimmjow stated, though that got the reaction that he was hoping for, as a look of hope returned to their eyes and Orihime got onto her feet, meaning that they knew what they were doing next.

Of course Orihime also stopped to make sure that Loly's wounds were healed, and Grimmjow made sure to stop her in her tracks with a simple glare, before she used the healing technique of hers to mend Menoly's body back to what it had been before Grimmjow blasted her with his Cero... and then, once she was done with those two idiots, she quickly mended both her and her brother's wounds before the three of them left the room, though Grimmjow hoped that they weren't too late to save Ichigo as well.

---

Renji found himself in a bit of a pickle, as no matter what he tried against Szayelaporro it didn't seem like most of his attacks were doing anything, but at the same time he was relieved to see that his opponent couldn't completely read his movements, as he was able to get Zabimaru's extended head behind his foe's back and forced him to move. There was also the few moments where the Espada simply stopped his attack and forced Renji to increase the sheer power that he was using, slightly wounding his foe in the process, but it wasn't much in the grand scheme of things, not when his opponent had more tricks up his sleeve. He even attempted to encase the Espada in a trap that had Zabimaru wrapped all around him, which failed since his foe slipped through it and appeared in front of him, and his opponent even insulted him by breaking off one of the white blade fragments of his Zanpakuto, which he tossed back to the two Arrancar that were behind him, allowing them to play with the fragment while the fight continued... that was, however, until Szayelaporro said something that just insulted Renji further.

"I'm bored." Szayelaporro stated, to which he sighed and sheathed his Zanpakuto, because now that he knew all of the attack patterns that his opponent could use he could easily dodge them with little effort and he'd emerge unharmed, meaning that there was no point in him having his sword out anymore.

"Excuse me?" Renji asked, as this was what he hated about the scientist type of people, once they reached a certain point in their studies of a specific topic, such as Szayelaporro's studies of him, they ceased what they were doing and simply ignored the object that they were studying in favor of something different.

"I said, I'm bored!" Szayelaporro replied, though at the same time he mostly ignored the two members of his Fraccion that were playing with the blade fragment behind him, as it kept them busy until he needed their services again, for whatever reason he might need them, "Have you lost the ability to comprehend speech? Your Zanpakuto is a power-type, it doesn't have any special features, the principles behind how it changes shape are quite simple, and when you use your trump card it ceases being your trump card... I hate to be rude, but there's nothing more for me to see."

Renji growled as he reverted his Zanpakuto back to it's sealed form, because at the rate things were going it appeared that he wasn't going to be able to best the Espada that was in front of him with any sort of skill that he had, and he hated the grin that was on Szayelaporro's face at the moment... though that was followed by the Espada pulling out a detonator of some kind and he pressed it, to which parts of the walls and floor broke apart as a number of Arrancar, of varying shapes and sizes emerged and filled the area behind his opponent.

"What in the world are those?" Renji asked, though at the same time he had the feeling that he might know what they were, since he recalled that the Arrancar that followed Grimmjow had been called by a specific name that he couldn't recall at the moment, but even then he didn't like his odds.

"Fraccion." Szayelaporro said, noticing that his foe understood what he was saying and knew what the term meant, but at the same time that did nothing for him now, as he was growing tired of this game and wanted to end it, unless something interesting happened in the next couple of minutes anyway, "As proof of our supremacy as Espada, we can make any Arrancar, those eleven or greater, into our subordinates. Some Espada only keep one, others practically have a small army, and some choose to have none. My Fraccion are rather unique. I had Lord Aizen transform the Hollows I experimented on into Arrancar, ones that would serve as my Fraccion. You are no longer worthy of being killed by me, so I shall let my Fraccion have the honor of killing you."

Renji would have said something, though he jumped back when the ground beneath his feet started to shake, as that was when another Arrancar, a giant by the size of the creature, emerged from under the ground where he had been standing moments ago. He then discovered that all he could really do at the moment was dodge the palm attacks that the giant Arrancar sent his way, to which he let his new foe smash the area around him while trying to figure out how to get to his real enemy, but he slowly found that the giant was all he could focus on as Szayelaporro had the other members of his Fraccion stand back and watch. One time when the giant tried to grab him, however, Renji growled and swung his sealed Zanpakuto forward, letting the tip dig into the palm of his current opponent, who stopped in the process, before he swung his arm to the right and cut a very minor cut into the giant's hand, which was followed by his foe starting to go out of control and the Espada claiming that calming the giant down was going to be hard to do. The giant started attacking everything around him, including the walls and the floor around him, before eventually targeting Renji once more and prepared to smash him into the floor... but before the fist could reach him a powerful arrow surged through the air and struck the giant in the left side of his body, and then punched a diagonal hole through his body as he was forced into a large crater in the floor.

It wasn't hard for Renji to recognize the blue arrow that had flown through the air, to which he looked off to the left and found Uryu standing in the middle of a hole that he must have punched into the wall by the same arrow that he used to hit the giant... just proving how skilled Uryu was in sensing reiatsu and using it to his advantage.

"You made a mistake of not using Sekkiseki to construct this building... I could feel Renji's reiatsu through three layers of wall." Uryu stated, to which the smoke cleared and Szayelaporro noticed him standing there, though at the same time he had his bow at the ready as he stared down at all the enemies that were in the chamber, which were currently crowding around the fallen giant and making a scene over it's defeat.

"Everyone, shut up!" Szayelaporro said, raising his voice for a moment and caused his Fraccion to stop what they were doing at the moment, where they looked at him as he stared up at the newest arrival, though the bow he was carrying interested him, "Our guest looks like he has something that he wants to say. Let's hear the boy out."

"Thank you for your consideration." Uryu replied, noticing that the Arrancar that was down near Renji did a mock bow of sorts, but he understood that his soon to be enemy was showing him that he took all of his enemies into consideration before he made his own move, "Now, sorry to be so abrupt, but there's something that I'd like to confirm. Are you one of the Espada?"

"Well discerned." Szayelaporro answered, to which he clapped for a few seconds, as he was happy to have a more intellectual opponent this time around, especially since he had been growing tired of battling Renji, "Indeed, I am the Octava Espada, Szayelaporro Granz."

"Octava, meaning you're the Eighth Espada." Uryu said, as that was incredible news for him, because after hearing what sort of power Grimmjow, the Sexta Espada, possessed he was glad to have someone of Szayelaporro's level, even if his foe was trashing Renji, "Well, I am relieved that you aren't in the more powerful ranks."

"That's true, I'm one of the weaker Espada. Please be at ease," Szayelaporro replied, though even if he was actually one of the weakest Espada at the moment he was more than enough for his enemies, and he just needed enough time to study his enemies to defeat them, "because regardless of what you do, I'm stronger than you. By the way, who are you supposed to be exactly?"

"Uryu Ishida, a Quincy." Uryu answered, though at the same time his left hand moved behind his back and gripped one of the Seele Schneider that were attached to his belt, as he was waiting for an opening that he could exploit and end this in an instant.

"A Quincy? That rare specimen that fought with the whore." Szayelaporro stated, to which he chuckled for a few moments, though at the same time he beckoned to the doorway he had come from when Renji and Dondochakka fell for his trap, where the door opened and one of the more mature members of his Fraccion grabbed a weakened Cirucci, who they threw against the ground that was near Renji before returning to their master's side, "Somehow she managed to convince the Exequias to spare her life, and I was actually getting ready to end her when your friend fell for my trap, so she get's to sit and watch as you all die before meeting her end. I get both a Bankai user and a Quincy as my opponents. I swear, if Yammy was here he'd be shouting that he was lucky."

"I certainly feel like bragging as well, since I get to fight an opponent with so many openings." Uryu said, to which he flashed through the air while Szayelaporro was distracted and reappeared some distance to the Espada's side, who was surprised by his movements and the fact that he had a Seele Schneider, in the form of an arrow, attached to his bow and ready to be fired, "Game over."

In that moment Uryu loosed his arrow and it struck Szayelaporro in the chest, causing a look of shock to appear on the Espada's face as he fell to his knees and his head faced the floor, but before Uryu could do anything he noticed something odd, the reiatsu that made up the arrow of his bladed arrow started to head towards the ceiling before being broken entirely... where the Seele Schneider fell to the floor as Szayelaporro got back onto his feet and faced him, without a single wound on him.

"Ignorant fool! Did you really think that your arrow had pierced my body?" Szayelaporro asked, though he laughed at the same time, because Uryu was in the same predicament that Renji was in and he clearly didn't know it, something that he needed to rectify, "You should have realized that something was wrong when I knew who you had fought against, even if she actually didn't have any information for me that I couldn't gain from a sample of her reiatsu. I've already finished analyzing all of your abilities, Quincy, and I already had this chamber modified to seal your powers away as well, just in case you were unlucky enough to find your way to my palace."

A few seconds after he paused in his speech Uryu watched as his bow broke apart on it's own accord and he stared at his hand for a moment, finding that no matter what he did he couldn't form it anymore, only confirming what their foe had told him and he backed up to where Renji was standing, as this was even worse than what he had been thinking about when he decided to come here and help the Shinigami out.

"We can turn this around, right?" Renji asked, as he wasn't used to having an opponent that could seal their powers and abilities, though at the same time he looked over at the Arrancar that was refusing to look over at Uryu, indicating that the Espada spoke the truth, she must have fought Uryu earlier.

"Of course... it all depends on one thing." Uryu replied, as there was one thing about Seele Schneider that the Espada clearly didn't know about, and that was purely because he didn't use it in his battle against Cirucci, because it would have been a waste to use it early on, "How long can you distract him?"

"Honestly, I'd say about twenty seconds or so." Renji answered, because after everything he had seen so far, based on the previous times he tried to hit Szayelaporro with Zabimaru, there was a chance that the Espada would cut him down and just kill him, something that he was willing to chance.

"That's more than enough time." Uryu said, because with his speed he'd be able to do what he was planning in a matter of moments, without their opponent seeing what he had planned, and if Renji acted like he thought he would they would be able to either severely damage Szayelaporro or outright kill him.

"Everyone, stand back." Szayelaporro commented, to which his Fraccion nodded their heads and backed away from where he was standing, indicating that they were listening to what he wanted them to do, "I want to see what they came do in their wretched condition."

Renji smiled as Uryu moved out of the way, allowing him to start swinging a fully extended Zabimaru around in the air above his head for a few moments, noticing that the Espada was staring at him with a smirk on his face, before he swung his arm and the blade flew towards where his opponent was standing. When Szayelaporro blocked his attack, and made it so the tip of his Zanpakuto's blade moved behind him, Renji grinned as he rushed forward and grabbed onto the collar of his opponent's attire, while at the same time Zabimaru wrapped around both him and the Espada before the tip embedded itself in the ground behind him, trapping the two of them at the moment.

"What are you trying to pull? Because I'm afraid that you're not my type." Szayelaporro said, though he was actually disappointed in what Renji had done, because he had been expecting some sort of good tactic against him and yet all he got was something that he had defeated earlier.

"The power difference between you and me, when I'm bound to my Shikai, is definitely a big one," Renji stated, though at the same time his left hand started to blaze as he formed the beginnings of Hado Number 31: Shakkaho, as he intended to use it against both him and the Espada, "I know that I won't get the upper hand fighting you at close-range either. The thing is, even with the huge gap in our power, you'll definitely feel it if I shoot you point blank. Here's the thing, I've always sucked at Kido. I would get scolded constantly for losing control and having my spells explode. So, let's have a little test to see which one of us can take more punishment! Hado Number 31: Shakkaho!"

He was fortunate that Szayelaporro never thought that he would use Kido against him, especially since he was sure that he never used any against his brother, and the red ball glowed as flames appeared around his hand and increased in size in the process, though that was before he detonated his spell at point blank range. The area in front of Renji exploded as both he and the Espada took the power of the Kido spell, damaging both of them in the process while forcing Zabimaru to stop wrapping around them and return to it's state in Renji's hand, and he was sure that the surge of power also scorched the ceiling just a tiny bit. As Szayelaporro backed off and took a few steps backwards, however, Renji grinned as he noticed that he had blown open the Espada's attire and burned both his chest and part of his face, though at the same time he fell to the floor as he noticed that their enemy was some distance from him... and, if he was seeing things right, had walked right into whatever trap Uryu was waiting to spring.

"Curse you! A lowly Shinigami making a fool out of me." Szayelaporro said, as he couldn't believe that one of his foes would have willingly sacrificed his own body to hurt him in such a manner, though at the same time he reflected that he needed to change his numbers once this battle was over.

"Just as predicted." Uryu commented, appearing in the smoke some distance behind Szayelaporro with one of his Seele Schneider drawn and pointed right at the Espada, whose eyes widened for a brief moment, since he had briefly forgotten he was there, before glancing at him once more, "When Abarai attacked you, regardless of whether or not the attack succeeded, I knew that you would retreat in the opposite direction. I could also tell the distance that you would take during your retreat, because you have the habit of looking down on your opponents... and that includes your habit of running just out of your opponent's range after they've attacked you."

"So what?" Szayelaporro asked, though at the same time he merely glanced back at the Quincy and didn't turn his whole body towards him, as he knew that he still had the upper hand in this situation and that he'd be able to stop them from defeating him, "You yourself have a penchant for sneaking up on people from behind. Do you think that you've won now, Quincy?"

"Yeah, I do." Uryu stated, to which he changed the hold on his Seele Schneider, so that the blade portion was facing the floor, before he stabbed the floor that he was standing on and caused the area around him to glow, though that was before Szayelaporro noticed that five glowing blue lines were connected to where he was standing, forming a pentagram with the five Seele Schneider that he had been carrying.

"But how? I sealed all the reiatsu in your weapons!" Szayelaporro asked, because none of this made any sense to him, as there was no way that Uryu should be able to use these bladed arrows of his, while at the same time he found that the reiatsu had wrapped around his legs and prevented him from moving from the center of the pentagram.

"That just means that there were aspects about them that you didn't know about." Uryu replied, though at the same time he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver tube that contained some special water, the final ingredient to one of the greatest abilities that a Quincy with Seele Schneider had access to, "Shall I explain your current situation in a way that's familiar to you? Hasta aqua... it's over, Szayelaporro Granz."

In the following moment Uryu tipped the silver tube and let a drop of the special water fall through the air, where he found the Espada staring at it, before it landed on top of the Seele Schneider that he had been holding only a few moments ago, which was followed by it glowing as the five bladed arrows loosed a surge of power that rushed towards where his opponent was trapped. When the five surges of power crashed into Szayelaporro, and joined together, Uryu watched as a singular torrent of reiatsu surged towards the ceiling as his opponent suffered the sheer power that was being used against him, which moved outward from where he was standing and enveloped the entire pentagram, but in the simplest form it was a simple explosion that was incredibly powerful. As the explosion consumed their opponent Uryu flashed over to where his friend and the two Arrancar were standing and walked over to them, while at the same time ignoring the worried Arrancar that were Szayelaporro's followers, as their task was done, even if he needed to recover the Seele Schneider once the attack was done.

"Wh... what was that technique?" a voice asked, though at the same time Uryu was surprised to find that it wasn't Pesche or Dondochakka asking the question, rather it was Cirucci, who had pulled herself onto her feet and walked over to Renji, that had asked the question.

"Sprenger, also called Explosion." Uryu explained, though as he spoke he stopped by Renji's side and helped him back onto his feet, because regardless of what happened with the Espada they needed to be ready for the next round of battle, even if it was just against the Arrancar that followed Szayelaporro, "The practitioner draws a pentagram using a combination of five Seele Schneiders and silver tubes, and then destroy anything that's inside the border. The tip of a Seele Schneider's hilt have the ability to store spirit particles released by the enemy during a fight, and I let them consume that stored power to instantly reform their blades. And using them I drew the Quincy Zeichen, the Quincy Symbol, before using the spirit energy left inside one of the silver tubes to trigger the massive explosion that you just saw. It is a very powerful technique, but the downside is that it takes some time to set up and that it's near impossible to use in a one on one battle, which is why I needed someone I could trust to distract Szayelaporro so I could prepare."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, pal." Renji remarked, as he couldn't believe that Uryu had something like this as his trump card, and it was an impressive one that had to have killed the Espada they were fighting, but that didn't stop him from smiling, as it was rare that a Quincy would trust a Shinigami, especially given Uryu's history.

"Abarai, I'm really grateful for your assistance." Uryu said, because out of the three potential allies that could have helped him he knew that the Shinigami was the only one that would have done what he needed to do, as he knew that both Pesche and Dondochakka would have failed him, before he turned back towards the weakened Arrancar, "Cirucci, the reason I didn't use it against you was because it would have been impossible for me to use it against a fast opponent like yourself... that, and Pesche wouldn't have been able to do what Abarai just did."

"That doesn't change the fact that I hate you." Cirucci stated, as it was the Quincy's fault that she had nearly been killed by the Exequias, even if it was her good fortune that they believed her and that Szayelaporro didn't have the chance to end her existence either, thanks to the Shinigami's arrival.

"Damn you..." Szayelaporro said, causing the group to turn towards the smoke as it finally dissipated, revealing that his body was burned from the explosion and that the entirety of the upper part of his Arrancar attire was gone, save for part on his right arm, and he seemed pissed off about what just happened, "I... already told you... that I've analyzed all of... your reiatsu. Even if I've never... seen the technique before... you still used... your own reiatsu... I can reduce the force generated, keeping the damage... contained, at least, you ignorant clowns!"

That last part was directed at his Fraccion, where he grabbed the head of one of the round Arrancar and pulled him over to him, where the Arrancar glowed for a moment before it transformed into a dark purple colored sphere, one that was slightly larger than a Cero, and Szayelaporro started to eat the sphere that was once a member of his Fraccion, much to the shock of the group that was watching him. The real shocker was that eating the sphere actually healed all of the Espada's wounds, as all the burn marks that Renji and Uryu had put on his body, including the damage dealt by Sprenger, disappeared as the Espada's body returned to normal and a smile appeared on Szayelaporro's face as he finished off the sphere that he had been eating.

"What's wrong? Why are you so surprised?" Szayelaporro asked, though before that he had to tell the other round Arrancar not to make a scene, because he could easily make another one to replace the one that he had just transformed into a sphere and devoured, "I told you that my Fraccion was special... they're all healing aids. If I'm ever wounded in battle, just like right now, I can turn them into a special sphere and eat them, mending my injuries and returning my body to it's pristine condition. It's what my Fraccion was made for. Now then, before we resume our battle, I need to get out of these rags and change into a new set of clothing, and then we can conti..."

"That won't be necessary." a voice said, to which Uryu and Renji glanced to their left for a moment, because Sombra stepped out of the shadows and faced the Espada that they were fighting, causing Uryu to smile, because the moment their foe started to heal he decided to call Sombra to this area, only he wasn't expecting the Arrancar to appear as quickly as he had.

The other thing that Uryu wasn't expecting, in addition to the sinister feeling of Sombra's reiatsu and the angry look on his face, was the fact that his Arrancar Zanpakuto was currently in his right hand and that it seemed to be glowing just a bit, making him wonder what Sombra was planning on doing... and yet, regardless of what he was seeing, he knew that Szayelaporro's days were numbered, especially when there was the possibility that Sombra might be getting ready to reveal his true power.

Comments

[prism heart]

Welp, there will be 1 less scientist soon

[Midnight Moon]

Szayelaporro, your only hope now is to join your True Lord... Even in the EXTREMELY unlikely event that you found a counter to his previous powers that he can't work around, this will be his first time he's used the full extent of his true power.

[Emperorxeno]

Moar

[Silent_Knight]

B4 i start this chapter i have a bad feeling that something is gonna happen to someone sombra really cares for and will piss him off and only then will the arancarr that allied themselves with Aisen realize they fucked up

[Black--Soul]

The Hollow Researcher will get a way better death than in the original i think...