Anyway, eventually, they had to split up. Ichigo apologized to Sora, telling him to survive long.
Sora was confused. Why would he tell him that? What kind of opps did Sora's appearance have?
He would be fine.
Sora—or rather, Ichigo in disguise—strode through the halls of Las Noches, the weight of the situation finally settling in.
He looked like Sora.
He sounded like Sora.
But he sure as hell wasn't Sora.
So when Ulquiorra Cifer stepped in front of him, arms crossed, his cold green eyes piercing through the disguise, Ichigo's soul screamed.
Oh. Shit.
The former Fourth Espada tilted his head slightly. "It has been some time. I have trained since our last encounter."
Ichigo's internal monologue was spiraling into chaos.
Oh, so this was why Sora apologized to him before the end. This was Sora's opp.
It couldn't be that bad, right?
Looking at Orihime giving him a supportive look—oh no. She was already setting her highest level of healing power.
'Oh great, he trained. Sure, why not. Not like he was already an absolute nightmare before. Haha. Hahaha.'
His body, however, had other ideas.
As if Sora's essence had infected his soul, Ichigo smirked and let out a mocking scoff.
"Tch. Not interested in small fries."
...
Why the fuck did he say that?
Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Very well."
And just like that—he moved.
A blur of black, a flicker of green energy—Ulquiorra was already on him.
Ichigo barely dodged, barely blocked, but made it look like he was bored.
Which was absolutely not the case, because his entire being was on high-alert panic mode.
"Alright, alright," Ichigo muttered to himself. "Think. What would Sora do?"
Then he realized.
Sora used guns.
Ichigo had never used a gun before.
But hey, what's the worst that could happen?
(Death. The answer was death.)
He pulled out Sora's gun, channeling Reishi into it—or at least, pretending to—and fired off a massive, all-consuming "Sturmregen."
The sky darkened as thousands of concentrated Reishi beams surged forward, consuming Ulquiorra in an explosive blast.
The very fabric of space itself around him shattered from the sheer force, the collapsing fragments crashing onto him with devastating impact.
Ichigo, playing his role, smirked.
"Hmph. You're not even worth my time."
The dust settled.
Ulquiorra stood up from the debris, his body battered but still very much intact.
For the first time in the fight, he let out a small sigh.
"...I apologize for holding back."
Oh. No.
The Espada closed his eyes.
A moment later, an overwhelming surge of Reiryoku flooded the battlefield.
He wasn't just releasing his Resurrección.
He was skipping it entirely.
"Segunda Etapa."
Ichigo.exe Has Stopped Functioning.
As the transformation completed, a dark aura loomed over them, crushing the air with sheer pressure.
Ichigo's soul wept.
Oh lord, oh fuck.
He was so dead.
And yet—his mouth betrayed him.
"Hah. That's cute. Not threatening at all."
...
Why was it in Sora's DNA to be this much of an asshole?!
Someone could not be this much of a dick, right?
Like come on, it was as if he knew how to be the perfect asshole.
This strength of Ulquiorra was even stronger than Ichigo... mind you, Ichigo was in his Bankai state already. His Hollow Mask was on, mind you, but the disguise just made it look like he still appeared as Sora.
Ulquiorra didn't react. Instead, he calmly raised his shirt, revealing his Espada number.
It was no longer 4.
It was 1.
...
WHAT.
As if that wasn't bad enough, Ulquiorra tilted his head.
"There is one stronger than me," he admitted.
Ichigo felt an ounce of hope.
"Oh yeah?" He scoffed. "Then who's the real number one?"
Ulquiorra's next words shattered his soul.
"Coyote Starrk. Espada 0."
Oh fuck.
Ichigo barely held back his panic, forcing himself to smirk.
He flipped the gun in his hands, pretending like he was choosing not to use it, when in reality, he had no idea how to fire it properly again.
"I don't wanna waste my bullets," he said smoothly, drawing his Zangetsu instead.
Bankai had already been activated.
He pointed his blade at Ulquiorra, ignoring every single warning bell ringing in his head.
"Come at me."
And thus, the battle began.
With Ichigo and Ulquiorra clashing like crazy.
As Ulquiorra slammed Ichigo into a nearby pillar, he came out looking unscathed.
"Is this the best you can do?"
To that, Ulquiorra began forming two lances made of green energy.
"Luz de la Luna."
Ulquiorra then proceeded to launch the lance at Ichigo, who instinctively wanted to dodge it.
However, the Sora cosplay refused to lose cool points and instead had Ichigo catch the lance... it burned so much.
KABOOM.
As the explosion settled, Ichigo looked refreshed, as if he had not just caught such a powerful attack.
"Next time, aim for my back," Ichigo added, pointing at his back, acting as if the attack didn't hurt.
It did. Matter of fact, his hand was burned and would have been blown to bits if not for Orihime's healing coming in clutch and restoring his hand before he himself realized he was hurt.
Yes, the reason Ichigo could pretend was all because of Orihime, providing the godlike assist.
Healing him so fast that Ulquiorra couldn't even notice when Ichigo took damage.
"Do you believe you can fight me while protecting her?" Ulquiorra asked.
"It's fine. After all... you are weak."
Hm... yeah, Sora was a dick.
A/N