"Come, Rika." I said grimly as Ulquiorra disappeared with a sonic boom and swung his sword at my neck, where it was met with a clawed hand as Rika came out of my shadow.
Her new form as an Arrancar was different than what she had looked like down in Urahara's basement. Instead of looking like a little girl, she looked like a grown up version of the young girl she had first appeared as, with a blue sleeveless dress and a pair of bone fragments in the shape of hairpins in her hair.
She apparently had a small shapeshifting ability that allowed her to change how old she looked and even allowed her to grow claws but not much beyond that.
"Stop bullying Cain!" And she was much more expressive now. As Ulquiorra learned when she yelled and threw a punch that sent him flying away when he blocked it.
"Who is that?!" Ichigo yelled as he Shunpo'd beside me.
"Tell you later." I said with a frown as I took several shots at Ulquiorra while he was distracted with Rika, only for the bastard to either evade of counter them with his sword. "Don't hold anything back." I told Ichigo before shooting at Ulquiorra with my sword aimed at his neck for a stab.
Except the bastard just raised his arm and instead let the sword pierce it so that he could force it away from a fatal blow. Followed by taking advantage of my shock at his act to try stabbing me in the neck.
I kicked him away before his sword could come close, making him fly and impact the ground while the movement teared the blade out of the flesh, leaving half of the arm I had stabbed behind. But when the dust was blown away, it revealed that his arm was already back in prime condition.
"High speed regeneration." I muttered with a strained grin. I knew he had that ability and was good enough with it to regrow his eye and limbs but seeing him do it this quickly without releasing his sword? What a monster.
"Bankai!" A huge wave of spiritual pressure washed over us as Ichigo yelled out and then appeared behind Ulquiorra, his black sword enveloped in black energy.
Evaded by Ulquiorra ducking under it and slamming his elbow in Ichigo's gut. Followed by a kick at his temple that sent him away before the Arrancar had to jump away in order to avoid Rika slashing at him with her claws.
Taking advantage of Ulquiorra being preoccupied, I went to Ichigo's side and hauled him up by his shoulder.
"Dude, what did I just tell you about not holding back? He's tearing you apart!"
"Screw off." The orange haired Shinigami coughed as he regained his bearings. "I can't keep the mask on for too long, was trying to find an opening before using it."
"How long can you keep it up?"
"...six seconds."
That was a lot shorter than I had been hoping for but I guess I had taken him out of his training with Shinji and the gang early.
"Get ready to put it on." Still, it was better than nothing.
I materialized my gun and took several shots at Ulquiorra, aiming for where he would be in order to dodge Rika. Followed by Sonido'ing to the same spot with my sword already slashing at him.
The Arrancar simply turned slightly to the side and threw his sword from one hand to the other, letting the shoulder of the side that used to hold his sword get pierced by the shots while raising the sword to block me. Showing no signs of pain.
This kind of regeneration, he was making full use of the fact that he could heal from almost anything as long as he didn't get hit in specific places like his brain or internal organs. No hesitation in sacrificing limbs to get leverage in battle.
And he was only the fourth strongest Arrancar under Aizen.
Still, if he had one flaw, his physical strength was lacking compared to me. As demonstrated by the way he flew away when I put extra strength into my next swing.
I knew that Ulquiorra in his released state had managed to throw Ichigo in Bankai around like a rag doll, pushing him through the towers on Las Noches with little to no effort. But in his unreleased state?
There was none of that pure physical power.
"Get over here!" I yelled as I thrust my hand forward in his direction and let the gravity pull him in. Finally making him make an expression beyond a poker face, wide eyes. "Now!"
"Getsuga Tensho!" A black wave of energy blasted towards Ulquiorra, on it's way to intercept his trajectory towards me.
Check mate.
"Like hell!" Except not?
Instead of hitting Ulquiorra and hopefully putting him down, the wave of energy was intercepted by Yammy who started punching the air, each punch sending forth a condensed ball of spiritual energy.
They didn't stop Ichigo's attack, but they did weaken it to the point the energy simply sent Yammy back, making him hit Ulquiorra and get him out of my gravitational grip.
I scowled as I turned to Ichigo, who had his mask on but it was already dissolving in the air while the orange haired Shinigami panted.
Still, he was in a far better condition than Yammy who had burns all over his body and looked like he was just one wind away from toppling down.
"...we are leaving." Ulquiorra said, his face serious.
"And you think we are going to let you do that?" I asked with a smirk as Rika appeared beside me and growled at them.
"Yes." Only for Ulquiorra to point his finger at us and prepare a green Cero.
Only to immediately swipe his arm towards Tatsuki and others and shoot it.
"Fuck!" I yelled as my feet started to move before I could think and I slashed the energy blast in half, letting it dissipate around us.
When I looked back up, I only saw Ulquiorra's eye for a moment before the black void of the Garganta swallowed it and closed.
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