Heart

The two brothers look at each other for a few seconds. They both look like they're 100 percent healthy, but they have had two completely different experiences. One has nearly died multiple times while the other has had an easy time. Kenpachi is visibly annoyed by the staring.

"Are you lovebirds going to talk or just stare at each other?" asked Kenpachi.

"What took you so long to get here, Ichigo?" asked Kuroi.

"I defeated the Dordoni guy and went to find you, but I sensed Rukia's spiritual pressure drop and I ran to save her. When I found her, I thought that I would have to fight someone, but Byakuya already dealt with the Espada and now I'm here," said Ichigo.

"I don't think I can take Ulquiorra alone. I'll need your help," said Kuroi.

"Why do you want to fight Ulquiorra?" asked Ichigo.

"Ulquiorra most likely has Orihime again. Another Espada popped up and took her to one of these pillars. We have to find her and rescue her again," said Kuroi.

"Why didn't you rescue her the first time?" asked Ichigo.

"Some Espada got in my way. We won't fail this time," said Kuroi.

"Do you want to come with us, Kenpachi?" asked Ichigo.

Kenpachi starts to walk away.

"That girl is your responsibility. I'll go find everyone else. Hopefully, I can get a good fight," said Kenpachi.

"We have no time to waste. Let's go," said Kuroi.

Kuroi and Ichigo rocket towards the pillars in the distance. Before they can get close, a few giant Hollows appear from under the sand. Without hesitation, they easily defeat the fodder Hollows and continue on their mission. A couple minutes pass before they reach a red pillar. They see a large number of masked enemies standing near the red pillar.

"Who are these guys?" asked Kuroi.

"I didn't get a good look at them, but after I defeated Dordoni, I saw them approaching his body. I don't know what they did to him, but they did something," said Ichigo.

"Who are you people?" asked Kuroi.

The leader of the group responds by darting towards Kuroi and clashing blades with him.

"The name's Rudobon. I'm the captain of the Exequias and I have come to take your lives," said Rudobon.

"You killed that Dordoni guy, didn't you," said Kuroi.

"He was already a failure. He failed once again and Lord Aizen wanted him to be dealt with," said Rudobon.

"You guys must be a strike team or something. I would love to spar with you guys, but I have something to do, so please move," said Kuroi.

"I can't do that," said Rudobon.

"If you don't want to move, I'll move you," said Kuroi.

Seconds pass before Rudobon's blade burns to ashes. Rudobon notices this and he jumps back.

"Ichigo," said Kuroi.

"Already on it," said Ichigo.

"Jigsuga Tiensho!" exclaimed Kuroi and Ichigo.

The two soul reapers launched a combined special attack to destroy the majority of the Exequias.

"There are still a few left? They are more durable than I thought," said Ichigo.

"It doesn't matter how durable they are. We have to-," said Kuroi.

Kuroi stops talking when he hears someone laughing loudly. He looks down and sees Renji swinging his blade to defeat the last few Exequias.

"Renji," said Kuroi.

"El Directo!" exclaimed Chad.

"It sounds like Chad is here too," said Ichigo.

"You fools! Don't let the distraction of some mortals stop you from completing the mission!" exclaimed Rudobon.

"Next dance: Hakuren!" exclaimed Rukia.

Before Rudobon can react, his right arm is frozen in a large block of ice.

"Rukia, you recovered quickly," said Ichigo.

"Stop worrying about me. Go and save Orihime. We'll take on these guys," said Rukia.

"Thanks. We won't let you guys down," said Kuroi.

Kuroi and Ichigo rocket towards the pillar. They sense Orihime's spiritual pressure and reach the correct level. They move their hands and place them on the pillar.

"Hado Number 31: Shakkaho!" exclaimed the two soul reapers.

Instead of a large sphere of red energy being created, the wall just explodes, shocking the two people inside of the pillar. The two soul reapers land in front of the albino Espada and Orihime.

"Kuroi. Ichigo," said Orihime.

"Just hand her over and we won't have to fight," said Kuroi.

"Is that a threat? We just fought like a couple hours ago and you lost badly," said Ulquiorra.

"I have help this time. I won't lose to you again," said Kuroi.

Ulquiorra pulls out his Zanpakuto.

"Do you remember what I told you last time? You won't be walking after this fight," said Ulquiorra.

"I don't know what you told him last time, but I'm here now, so we won't die," said Ichigo.

"This may be our first time fighting, but it will be our last," said Ulquiorra.

"Bring it," said Kuroi.

The two soul reapers dart towards the Cuarto Espada. Their blades clash and create a small shockwave that shakes the room. Ulquiorra jumps and tries to kick the two soul reapers, but they easily dodge his leg. Ulquiorra flies to the top of the ceiling and then rockets towards the two soul reapers.

"Getsuga Tensho," said Ichigo.

Ichigo launches a Getsuga Tensho at Ulquiorra, but he easily cuts it in half. The divided Getsuga Tensho hits the pillars in the room and destroys a little bit of them. The albino Espada flash steps behind Ichigo and tries to slice him on his back, but his blade clashes with Kuroi's.

"It's dumb to try to sneak attack in a 2v1. I thought that you were smarter than this," said Kuroi.

"A regular sneak attack isn't my plan," said Ulquiorra.

Kuroi looks at Ulquiorra's finger and sees a cero being charged up. Kuroi tries to kick Ulquiorra's arm, but he only moves it a few inches. Ulquiorra launches the cero and it grazes the two soul reapers.

"You've gotten faster. Was it because you fought Grimmjow or was it because you wanted to save Orihime?" said Ulquiorra.

"It should be obvious. Any person with a heart will want to save someone in need. You can't become human if you don't have a heart," said Kuroi.

"Becoming human? What are you talking about?" asked Ulquiorra.

"I can see that you're faking emotions and facial expressions because you want to be more human. It's ironic that even with all of that power, you just want to be a regular human being," said Kuroi.

"You don't know or care about what I want. You're only trying to persuade me to let the girl go and betray Lord Aizen. It won't happen," said Ulquiorra.

"I actually do-," said Kuroi.

Before Kuroi can finish speaking, Ulquiorra tries to stab him in the face. Kuroi dodges at the last second. Ulquiorra turns around quickly and tries to slash Kuroi, but Ichigo grabs his arm that's holding his blade. Kuroi takes advantage of the situation and tries to slash Ulquiorra on the chest, but all he does is cut his shirt a little bit and leave a small cut on his chest.

"I swear I put more strength into that swing. You must have skin made out of steel," said Kuroi.

"You need your Hollow mask on to actually leave a scratch," said Ulquiorra.

"I'll use it when I use it," said Kuroi.

"Have it your way then," said Ulquiorra.

Ulquiorra rips his hand out of Ichigo's grip and kicks him in the stomach, sending him flying. Ulquiorra then turns his focus to Kuroi and quickly punches him in the face. He then slashes him a few times on his stomach. He kicks him in the face and Kuroi is sent flying to the side. Ulquiorra raises his hand and charges a cero. Before he can release the cero, Ichigo appears in front of him with a Getsuga infused blade.

"Are you trying to hit me with another one of your Getsuga Tenshos? You should know that it doesn't work on me," said Ulquiorra.

Ulquiorra releases the cero and it hits both of the soul reapers. The cero also blows a hole into the wall. The smoke clears and it's revealed that they didn't get disintegrated by the cero.

"How did you survive that with minimal damage?" asked Ulquiorra.

"We work well together," said Ichigo.

"Aaaah!" exclaimed Orihime.

Kuroi and Ichigo turn their heads and see Orihime being harassed by two Arrancar.

"Orihime!" exclaimed Kuroi.

Kuroi darts towards Orihime once he sees part of her dress get ripped off.

"Don't get any closer! If you do, I'll gouge her eye out!" exclaimed the Arrancar.

"Jigoku Pi-," said Kuroi.

Before Kuroi can launch his Jigoku Piasa, Ulquiorra grabs his blade.

"Ulquiorra," said the Arrnacar.

"I didn't do this to save you. If you had done this before the fight started, I would have killed you for touching her, but I need them to be only focusing on me," said Ulquiorra.

"Get out of my way!" exclaimed Kuroi.

"Make me," said Ulquiorra.

"You want to be friends with her, so why do you not want to save her from those weirdos?" asked Kuroi.

"You're my opponent. You have to kill me first before you can save her," said Ulquiorra.

"You want to see the power of my Hollow mask, right? Come and-," said Kuroi.

Kuroi stops speaking when the wall to their left breaks. Everyone in the room turn their heads to see Yammy standing where the wall once was.

"Ulquiorra, I came to lend you a hand," said Yammy.

"When did I ask for help Yammy?" asked Ulquiorra.

"Don't be such a party pooper. That soul reaper brat looks like he's gotten stronger. Let me have a try at whacking him," said Yammy.

"I see that you have recovered quickly, but your job is not here. Deal with the people below," said Ulquiorra.

"Don't be stingy, Ulquiorra," said Yammy.

"Your selfishness increases when you get like this, Yammy. That's your flaw," said Ulquiorra.

Yammy turns to look at Orihime and the two Arrancar. He then slaps the blonde-haired Arrancar into a wall.

"Menoli!" exclaimed the Arrancar.

"Ulquiorra, what are these girls doing here?" asked Yammy.

"Ask them," said Ulquiorra.

"Ok. What are you little bugs doing here?" said Yammy

The girls don't respond.

"If you don't want to answer, die like the little pests that you are!" exclaimed Yammy.

"Yammy!" exclaimed Ulquiorra.

"What, Ulquiorra!" exclaimed Yammy.

"Don't kill Orihime. Lord Aizen ordered me to protect her. I don't care about what you do to the other one," said Ulquiorra.

"I knew you cared," said Kuroi.

"Shut up and focus on fighting me," said Ulquiorra.

"I can't kill you, redhead, but I can kill your little buddy," said Yammy.

"I didn't come here to die," said the Arrancar.

The Arrancar pulls out her Zanpakuto and positions it in front of her.

"Nasty girl, where did you hide that sword in your outfit?" asked Yammy.

"Poison, Escolopendra!" exclaimed the Arrancar.

The Arrancar turns into a centipede-like creature.

"I won't be beaten by you, Yammy!" exclaimed the Arrancar.

The Arrancar uses one of her centipede legs to swing at Yammy, but she misses and hits a pillar.

"Was that all you got?" asked Yammy.

"I'm gonna to kill you and Ulquiorra and everyone else with my poison!" exclaimed the Arrancar.

Instead of allowing the female Arrancar to continue to blabber, Yammy just smashes her with his giant fist. He then picks her nearly unconscious body.

"I refuse to lose to a retarded brute like you," said the Arrancar.

"What did you just say!" exclaimed Yammy.

Yammy angrily smashes her against the wall, breaking a part of it.

"Am I a retarded brute now?" asked Yammy.

The female Arrancar doesn't respond.

"I can't hear you! Wait, she's dead? What a waste of time," said Yammy.

Yammy drops the female Arrancar's body and it falls to the infinite desert. Yammy turns around and sees Orihime standing behind him.

"You should be glad that Lord Aizen wants you to stay alive because I would squash you like a little bug," said Yammy.

"You're too weak to be talking like that!" exclaimed Tatsuki.

"Who said that!" exclaimed Yammy.

"Behind you," said Tatsuki.

Yammy turns around and sees Tatsuki standing in the hole that he created.

"Who are you?" asked Yammy.

"Someone who's way stronger than you," said Tatsuki.

"Prove it," said Yammy.

Instead of responding with words, Tatsuki jumps down and kicks Yammy in the face. The ground beneath him breaks like his nose. Yammy falls through the floor while Tatsuki uses his body as a trampoline to jump to her friend.

"Why are you here, Tatsuki?" asked Kuroi.

"I came to deal with this brute. You guys need to focus on that albino guy," said Tatsuki.

"Can you take him?" asked Kuroi.

"Probably. Even if I couldn't, I wouldn't give up and run away. You should know that," said Tatsuki.

"Good luck," said Kuroi.

"Thanks, but I don't need it," said Tatsuki.

"Tatsuki, look after Orihime. She is prone to being kidnapped and harassed," said Kuroi.

"I'll protect her with my life," said Tatsuki.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Ulquiorra. We'll use our Hollowfications now," said Kuroi.

"Hollowfications?" asked Ulquiorra.

Ichigo and Kuroi put their hands over their faces and their Hollow masks appear on their faces.

"So, Ichigo can also Hollowfy? Why didn't Lord Aizen tell me this?" thought Ulquiorra.

While Ulquiorra is stuck in thought, the two soul reapers speed blitz the Espada. They both either charge up a Getsuga Tensho or a Jigoku Piasa. Instead of launching them, they clash with Ulquiorra's blade and nearly break it. Ulquiorra notices his blade breaking and jumps out of the way and through a hole in the wall. The two soul reapers launch their combination of attacks, but Ulquiorra is barely able to dodge it. Kuroi and Ichigo jump out of the hole in the wall and try to follow Ulquiorra, but he charges up a cero and releases it. They easily tank the cero and Ulquiorra rockets up.

"Why are you running, Ulquiorra? I thought you were stronger than this," said Ichigo.

Ulquiorra doesn't respond and continues to fly up. The two soul reapers continue to follow him until they fly through the dome.

"This is above the dome of Las Noches. Why did you bring us up here?" said Kuroi.

"Espada ranked four or above can't release under the dome," said Ulquiorra.

"Why is that?" asked Kuroi.

"Las Noches could be destroyed if we did," said Ulquiorra.

"How strong is your release?" asked Kuroi.

"I'll show you. Isolate, Murcielago," said Ulquiorra.