Dead Man Walking

Kuroi's inner world is one ripped straight out of a classic fairy tale. The mountains seem to be as tall as the heavens. The rivers and lakes are as clear as freshly cleaned car windows. The wildlife is mostly fantastical creatures that wouldn't exist in our world. In this inner world, an amalgamation of monster and woman sits on a cliff, meditating. The inner Hollow continues to meditate until it hears a familiar voice.

"Take care of Orihime, please. I know that you see her as a friend and Aizen ordered you to, so please don't hurt her," said Kuroi weakly.

The inner Hollow opens its eyes and instantly gets up. It hops off the mountain and flies towards a large tree. Under the tree lies the beat-up body of Kuroi. The inner Hollow lands in front of its master and shakes him.

"Come on. Wake up. Wake up," said Seishin.

Kuroi slowly opens his eyes and sees his inner Hollow shaking him.

"Seishin, why are you shaking me?" asked Kuroi.

"We saw you beat up and we came to help," said Seishin.

"I don't think I'm going to make it through this fight, Seishin," said Kuroi.

"Don't say that. You always win fights. You'll win this one," said Seishin.

"Grimmjow and Byakuya were different. Ulquiorra is on an entirely different level of power. I nearly died fighting him one on one and I'm on death's door even with Ichigo's help. I just can't do it," said Kuroi.

"Don't give up. You never give no matter what. You have to keep on fighting until you can't move anymore. You can't give up until you die. You have to save Orihime from Aizen," said Seishin.

"Ulquiorra won't hurt her. She'll be safe until my father gets here," said Kuroi.

"Are you going to quit on her? Are you going to quit on your friends? Are you just going to let Aizen win?" asked Seishin.

"I don't want to just sit there and die, but there's nothing I can do," said Kuroi.

"It is. Let us take over. We can help you win," said Seishin.

"The Hollow mask is the extent of your power. He can easily just punch it and break it. It's pointless," said Kuroi.

"You're just giving up like the horny loser that you are," said Seishin.

"What did you say?" asked Kuroi.

"Our souls are connected. We see, hear, feel everything you do. If you're just going to quit, you should have just joined the Espada. At least you would purposely be helping him," said Seishin.

"If I can't beat Ulquiorra, I stand no chance against Aizen. I'm just too weak," said Kuroi.

"So, all of that training was for nothing? You're just going to give up because you can't win. You're not Kuroi. You're a shell of him. You're just a weakling with a lot of excuses. How pathetic," said Seishin.

"If I try to hit him with a Jigoku Piasa, he'll just tank it. If I hit with a cero, it won't affect him. If I try to slice him, his skin won't be affected. If I try to use kido, he'll just walk it off. I'm screwed," said Kuroi.

"You're not screwed if you let us help you. We can win if we-," said Seishin.

"What do you not understand, Seishin! I'm practically dead! No matter what I do, I'll still die! Even if you take control, I'm still going to be sent to the Soul Society! Oh wait, I'm already in my shinigami form, so I'll just be reincarnated! Maybe in my next life, I'll be strong enough to save her! I don't want to give up, but I can't do anything! I'm sorry!" exclaimed Kuroi.

Seishin hugs her friend tightly as tears roll down her face.

"I don't know what I'll do without you. If you die, I don't think that I'll be able to stay the nice little girl that you love. Even with my power, you still will die to that albino freak. I'm so sorry," said Seishin.

"Don't blame yourself, Seishin. I want you to take over my body if I die. Protect my friends and defeat Aizen. Succeed where I have failed. I beg of you," said Kuroi.

"I won't fail you," said Seishin.

"Thanks, I-," said Kuroi.

Before Kuroi can finish speaking, he stops blinking. His heart stops beating as a hole appears in his chest. He stops breathing and doesn't fall to the ground because he's stuck in his friend's hug.

"Kuroi, what's wrong," asked Seishin.

Kuroi doesn't respond and Seishin starts to worry. She stops hugging her friend and sees his body just fall to the ground.

"No. No. No. Not yet," said Seishin.

Seishin flips over Kuroi's dead body and starts to give him mouth to mouth. The resuscitation won't work on a dead body.

"Come on. Come on. Wake up," said Seishin.

Kuroi doesn't wake up. Seishin stares into his lifeless eyes and her face becomes one of pure shock and fear. Seishin gets up and backs away from her friend's dead body. The tears that were already falling from her eyes start to increase. She starts to breathe so heavily that it looks like she's about to pass out.

"No!" roared Seishin.

Once she roars, Kuroi's entire inner world starts to change. The clean ground and clear waters turn into black sludge. Kuroi's dead body flows down the black sludge ocean. The sky turns pitch red as a blood moon rises in the sky. The once magical creatures turn into giant demons. Seishin reverts to her Hollow form and rises into the air.

"Ulquiorra killed my friend! I will dismantle him limb by limb! He will pay for this with his life!" exclaimed Seishin.

Back in the real world, the Cuarto Espada stands before two familiar enemies, but their appearances have completely changed.

"Kuroi. Ichigo," said Orihime.

"It's impossible that you can still be alive. What is that form? What have you become?" said Ulquiorra.

Ichigo and Kuroi don't respond. They reach out towards their Zanpakutos and they fly into their hands. They move their blades and destroy the ground around them.

"Can you hear me? I asked questions," said Ulquiorra.

The two soul reapers respond by yelling at him.

"It seems that you guys can no longer speak. If you need to know, our fight is over. You can leave," said Ulquiorra.

The two soul reapers respond by charging a Gran Rey Cero.

"They're charging ceros? Humans can't do that," thought Ulquiorra.

The two soul reapers launch the ceros and Ulquiorra is barely able to dodge them. The ceros hit the dunes miles away and blow them up. It even destroys part of the dome.

"That was a strong one. How are they able to do that?" thought Ulquiorra.

Before he can continue to think, the two soul reapers appear in front and behind him. Kuroi rips off his right arm while Ichigo rips off his left one. Ulquiorra rockets to the ground to escape the double team. He then proceeds to regrow both of his arms.

"My greatest power is not my strength or speed. It's my regeneration. Among all of the Espada and Arrancar, I have the best regenerative abilities. I can regenerate anything other than my brain and my internal organs. I can't be beaten so leave," said Ulquiorra.

The two soul reapers just look at the Espada.

"If you don't want to leave, then I'll force you to," said Ulquiorra.

Ulquiorra moves his hands and creates a javelin-like weapon out of his spiritual power.

"This is Lanza Del Relampago. I don't want to fire it up close, so please stay back," said Ulquiorra.

Ulquiorra launches the javelin at the two soul reapers. It hits them and they just tank the attack.

"They tanked it? No way," said Ulquiorra.

Kuroi and Ichigo speed blitz the Cuarto Espada and launch a tiny Getsuga Tensho and a Jigoku Piasa at him. Ulquiorra easily swipes them away.

"Did you think that you could defeat me with those weak attacks? That barely hurts," said Ulquiorra.

Ulquiorra creates two Lanza Del Relampagos and tries to hit the two soul reapers with them, but they just grab it. They use their other arms to slash the Espada's chest with their Zanpakutos. The albino Espada falls to the ground in pain.

"I never thought that I would be beaten by a pair of humans. Even though you two had to become Hollow-like to beat me, a defeat is a defeat," said Ulquiorra.

Ichigo steps on Ulquiorra's face and the two young soul reapers start to charge up a cero.

"No mercy huh? I understand. I did kill you both. Just do it," said Ulquiorra.

The two soul reapers launch the combination of Gran Rey Ceros and hit the Fourth Espada point-blank. The combination of Gran Rey Ceros creates a small nuclear explosion. As the smoke clears, the burnt husk of Ulquiorra's body lies in front of them. Ichigo grabs his body and throws him a few feet away. Kuroi walks up to the body of Ulquiorra and puts his Zanpakuto above his head. He tries to bring it down on Ulquiorra's head, but Uryu grabs his Zanpakuto.

"Don't do this, Kuroi. Killing a defenseless enemy is not the way," said Uryu.

Kuroi doesn't respond.

"Are you even listening to me? Kuroi. Kuroi!" said Uryu.

In Kuroi's inner world, Kuroi's dead body flows through the black sludge ocean. As the ocean goes over a cliff, the dead body's hand starts to move. He opens his eyes a few seconds later.

"Where the hell am I?" asked Kuroi.

Kuroi starts to look around and sees all of the black sludge engulfing him.

"Where did all of this sludge come from? It's supposed to be sand in Hueco Mundo, not this stuff. I must be in my inner world. And if I woke up in my inner world, that must mean that Seishin is controlling my body, but why would my inner world look like this? Oh right. I died in her arms, so she must be having a mental breakdown. I have to get out of here," said Kuroi.

Kuroi tries to climb out of the sludge, but it's super sticky and he can't move. He tries some more to move, but he still can't.

"This sludge is just like the real-life one. I guess I'll just take the easy way out," said Kuroi.

Kuroi flexes his spiritual pressure and the sludge around him is blasted away. Kuroi hovers into the sky and sees the state of his inner world.

"This place has gone downhill. Now, where is Seishin?" said Kuroi.

Kuroi looks around and feels a large spiritual pressure coming from miles away. Kuroi rockets towards the spiritual pressure and sees his inner Hollow hovering above the sky, crying and screaming uncontrollably. Kuroi slowly flies towards his inner Hollow.

"Seishin, I'm fine. You don't have to control my body anymore," said Kuroi.

Seishin doesn't respond because the only thing she can see is red.

"She doesn't hear or see me for some reason. I guess I have to make her feel something. I know what she needs," said Kuroi.

Kuroi grabs Seishin's face and gives her a nice ol' smooch. Seishin notices this and reenters the inner world. She enjoys the kiss for a little while until she finally backs away and hugs her friend.

"You're back, Kuroi!" exclaimed Seishin.

"I didn't know that Orihime's ability was so strong. I was dead, but she somehow brought me back. I see that you've made a mess of this place," said Kuroi.

"I'm sorry. I was just confused and sad, but you're back, so I'm happy now," said Seishin.

"Can you return my inner world to normal? It looks like Hell," said Kuroi.

"I'm on it," said Seishin.

Seishin revert's back to her human form and the world starts to change back. The creatures become magical again. The land and clear waters become normal again. The sky becomes blue once again.

"Now, I must return. Can I have my body again?" said Kuroi.

"We can work together. This power that we unlocked was enough to destroy the monster. If we work together, we can be strong enough to defeat Aizen. We can save everyone together," said Seishin.

"How can we do that?" asked Kuroi.

"Just follow me," said Seishin.

"Ok. I trust you," said Kuroi.

Kuroi and Seishin start kissing once again and Kuroi regains control of his body. His eyes move and look at Uryu.

"Do you hear me, Kuroi?" asked Uryu.

"I'm fine. You can let go," said Kuroi.

"I won't let you kill him," said Uryu.

"I won't," said Kuroi.

Uryu removes his hand and Kuroi steps away from Ulquiorra.

"How did you get so strong?" asked Uryu.

"You can thank my inner Hollow. It kicked in once I died," said Kuroi.

"Are you going to return to normal?" asked Uryu.

"Maybe later. We still have to beat Aizen," said Kuroi.

"So, what do we do with him?" asked Uryu.

"I don't want to do this, but Orihime can heal him. He's not a complete piece of trash, so he doesn't deserve to die. Orihime, can you-," said Kuroi.

Kuroi stops speaking when he sees Ichigo approaching Orihime.

"Ichigo!" exclaimed Kuroi.

Ichigo doesn't respond.

"White must be still controlling him. I'll break the control," said Kuroi.

Kuroi walks over to Ichigo and cuts off his left horn. Ichigo's skin starts to crack and fall off. He falls face-first and reverts to normal. The hole in his chest closes up. He quickly gets off the ground and starts to look around.

"What happened?" asked Ichigo.

"We both got killed by Ulquiorra. Then, our inner Hollows took over and helped us defeat Ulquiorra," said Kuroi.

"Is he dead?" asked Ichigo.

"Nearly," said Kuroi.

"What do we do now?" asked Ichigo.

"That Yammy guy is still down there. His spiritual pressure has exploded, so he must have entered his Resurreccion. His spiritual pressure is larger than Ulquiorra's," said Kuroi.

"Can we beat him?" asked Ichigo.

"He's stronger than Ulquiorra, but not by much. We can take him," said Kuroi.

"I don't know if I'll be much help. I can't access that power voluntarily," said Ichigo.

"Maybe you can if you stop fearing White. He may be a psychopath, but he's in your body. You're the king of your castle. He's just a servant to you. He should be scared of you. If you lose control, I'll deal with you. I promise," said Kuroi.

"Fine. Let's deal with this Espada," said Ichigo.

"Orihime, heal Ulquiorra first. He can die any second now. I'll come get you later. We have work to do," said Kuroi.

Ichigo and Kuroi jump off the pillar and head to fight the Tenth Espada. Orihime carefully walks over to Ulquiorra and starts to heal him. The albino Espada slowly opens his eyes as his friend heals him.

"Do I scare you, Orihime?" asked Ulquiorra.

"Of course not. You're just confused and you don't know where your loyalty lies, but we'll work on that," said Orihime.

Ulquiorra starts to smile.

"I would like that," said Ulquiorra.

Back in the sky, Kuroi and Ichigo continue to freefall until they see a large Arrancar under them.

"When did that brute get so big?" asked Ichigo.

"That must be his Resurreccion. We have to deal with him quickly," said Kuroi.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Ichigo.

"Combo?" asked Kuroi.

"But, we have to do something different and I know what we can do," said Ichigo.

"What is it?" asked Kuroi.

"Can you shoot ceros?" asked Ichigo.

"Yeah. Can you still fire Getsuga Tenshos?" said Kuroi.

"Yep," said Ichigo.

"Then I know what we can do. Plus, put on your Hollow mask. We need all the power we have" said Kuroi.

Ichigo puts his hand over his face and a new Hollow mask appears on it.

"Cool mask," said Kuroi.

"It must have evolved after White took over. Let's see how much power it has," said Ichigo.

Ichigo starts charging up a Getsuga Tensho and Kuroi starts to charge up a Gran Rey Cero. A few seconds pass as they get closer to the giant.

"On my count. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Now!' said Kuroi.

"Special Combo: Gran Rey Getsuga Tensho!" exclaimed the two soul reapers.

Kuroi releases the Gran Rey Cero and Ichigo releases the Getsuga Tensho. The combination of attacks hit the strongest Espada and severely injure him. The attacks also cause a lot of environmental damage. The warriors who were originally fighting the Espada are blown away by the attack. Ichigo and Kuroi land in front of the Espada.

"Maybe we put a little too much power into that attack," said Ichigo.

"He's still alive. Let's finish him off," said Kuroi.

"Do you bugs believe that you can kill me. You guys just got a lucky shot. You won't do that again," said Yammy.

"We won't have to. Hado Number 54: Haien," said Kuroi.