Arc 2 Ch6 The Ulquiorra Chapter Part 2

...

I tilted my head the slightest at the sight of the steaming Espada on the ground. Ulquiorra stood just beside him, a frown on his face as he stared at me. The bat hollow had just randomly reappeared before us, the former eight espada slung over his shoulder.

"You didn't kill him right?" Nel questioned, a bemused and worried expression on her face.

"That should be fairly obvious," Ulquiorra mumbled distractedly.

"Sssorryyy...on't do it gain." Grantz muttered, a wheeze to his voice as his eyes spun. The dopey expression on his face resembled a fainted pokemon more than a hollow from here.

"What did you do to-"

"The question here is, what am I to do with you?" Ulquiorra spoke over me, his arms crossed. Grantz's form twitching the slightest.

"Uh... Maybe we should take him to Lord Groban?" Nel offered from the side.

I held in the urge to sigh, thankful Nel seemed to have made up her mind on my offer.

Ulquiorra nodded, "I'll wake him up,"

"Cool. So anything-"

"He's awake."

I blinked-

"He's very angry. We're leaving now. Nel, take Grantz to his room. I am letting him explain Urahara Kisuke's presence."

I blinked again, a smile slowly growing on my face. "Kisuke's my reinforcement? What happened to Shunsui? And Yoruichi?"

Ulquiorra blinked, clearly recognising the names. "...Crap."

"What-" And before I could finish my next question, the room promptly lit up.

"I'll join you soon," Nel called out, earning a nod from Ulquiorra.

...

"... Aizen Sosuke." the irritated sounding voice came through before anything else. The cloud of haze disappearing as quickly as it came.

I eyed my new, extremely dull, surroundings, entirely ignoring the slanted throne in the middle.Josh Groban's irritated, sleep-deprived face almost causing to snort. Though thankfully it seemed to quickly fix up, the lines disappearing almost instantly as he fixed a passive look instead.

"I am quite surprised-"

"Where's the tattoo?" I questioned him, idly staring at the strange entirely white- Made from bone? Mask just ontop of the throne. It looked more akin to a skull than any hollow mask I'd ever seen.

Josh Groban twitched, his smile straining. Though he surprisingly managed to contain the sudden brief wave of bloodlust from sticking around.

"It did not suit him," Ulquiorra calmly answered from my side, a civil look on his face.

"Riveting, I have to say Ulquiorra, I am rather surprised you took the initiative in capturing this... Creature."

"I much prefer the term shinigami, thank you very much,"

"I did no such thing," Ulquiorra remarked, earning a surprised look from the gag character I'd inadveribly brought into existence.

"Oh?" Josh Groban stated, entirely ignoring my comment.

"Yes, he himself walked into my quarters,"

Josh Groban blinked.

"What?"

"I got lost,"

"I, personally, don't believe that," Ulquiorra gave his own two cents on the matter.

"What do you mean he walked into your quarters?"

"Am I being ignored?" I promptly gestured towards Josh Groban.

"One moment he was not there and the next-" Ulquiorra made to explain the art of walking through space and time.

Josh Groban turned his gaze towards me, his eye narrowed at my lonely finger. "... It does not matter," He eventually stated, slowly raising himself up from the throne. "All that does is that you are here," He stated, his grin stretching. "Alone," He raised one of his trademark guns.

I, of course, given the building ball of energy and Ulquiorra's passive expression simply smiled. The action, though admittedly earning a tick from the other, did not in fact slow down the build up of energy.

"Any last words?" Josh questioned calmly, his narrowed eyes clear. Ulquiorra on seeing my non-plussed reaction warily took a few steps away from me. His eyes swapping between the two of us.

"Yes, actually, if you fire that, Ulquiorra will stop you." I remarked, pointing at the bat espada in question.

"I don't think I will," Ulquiorra immediately stated. Earning, to my surprise, a startled reaction from Groban. Though both espada kept their attention on me.

Admittedly enough, I was surprised to see that the mere threat of any chance at Ulquiorra's interference seemed to steady the gun in his hand. His sole eye narrowing further. "Ho? Care to explain why?"

I raised a single eyebrow, "I believe those were my last words, I am going to have to charge you for any more,"

He twitched, "Your funeral-" He started, his hand straightening, his finger about to push the trigger-

"Yours too," I shrugged, a lackadiaslca smile on my face. The expression not remotely budging the slightest, even as Josh Groban fired.

...

I turned my head the slightest, eyeing the black mark on the wall beside me, before locking my gaze on the surprised espadas.

"Nel... What are you doing?" Ulquiorra questioned, panicked.

The female espada in question was currently stood right in front of me, her back facing me, her hands spread to the sides as they made to cover me from Groban's line of sight.

Ulquiorra himself currently had a wide-eyed look on his face, his hand outstretched, whiffs of reiatsu oozing out of them. The espada had geniune shock showing through as he stared at Nel. Had it not been for him, Josh Groban's blast would've reached it's target, that been me, going through Nel in the process.

"Nel-"

"I don't know..." She remarked, wide-eyed, her body tentatively shaking.

Truly, an Oscar-worthy performance, if I do say so myself. Nel was slowly but surely proving herself my favourite Espada by far.

So many talents!

"Step aside," Josh Groban remarked, a dangerous tone to his voice.

"I... I can't," Nel answered back, her hands shaking the slightest as she locked gazes with Groban.

"What have you done?" Ulquiorra questioned, his expression slowly turning neutral, even as his body bent the slightest, going into a stance.

"Ho? Come now, you don't think I'd come back here unprepared?" I questioned, giving the bat espada an amused look. Nel, even against Groban's simmering anger, stood her ground between me and the leader. Reassured that Ulquiorra wouldn't, no matter most circumstances, hurt a friend.

Particularly, his friend.

"Come back?" Ulquiorra questioned, "This is your first visit to Huaco Mundo," He stated matter of factly.

"Explain yourself Nel," Josh Groban, evidently still set on ignoring me, demanded.

"I... I don't know," She stated, wide-eyed, "I just can't let him die!"

"But of course, I demanded you protect me with your life after all," I remarked crossing my arms, my smile growing.

That, certainly, seemed to catch Josh Groban's interest as he finally locked gazes with me and glared.

"You dare presume to order my Espada?"

"Oh! I am not ordering her... She just happened to be one of the few to meet my condtions-"

Josh Groban's anger rose as he seemed to come to a conclusion, what conclusion that was? I wasn't entirely sure, "You dare attempt to control-" However whatever he'd been about to say seemed to die off as a veritable cloud of rage filled the room. My breath hitching in my throat as my focus snapped towards Ulquiorra.

"This is your first visit to Huaco Mundo," Ulquiorra repeated, a dark look on his face. "I rather hate being ignored,"

Seeing my chance, regardless of the pressure in the air, I immediately nodded. "I am well aware."

His eyes, somehow, narrowed further. "I am sorry," Ulquiorra's sarcastic voice, admittedly, felt wrong to hear. "But I seem to be repeating myself... Like I said. You have not been here before, therefore you cannot claim to have come back. You claim to know me, yet again, I do not recall giving you the chance to learn anything about me. I would appreciate it if you stopped lying to my face-" And as the Espada went on, the pressure practically skyrocketing, I barely noticed the fact that both Nel and Josh Groban were in truth barely keeping up with the conversation going on. Their bodies exerting themselves more and more to stay awake, the leader in question's anger long gone in favour of shock as he watched me evidently take the pressure without issue.

In responce to the bat's growing tirade, I promptly rolled my eyes and made my point as clear as possible.

"I am from the future,"

The pressure vanished, as perhaps the most incredulous expression I've seen yet, appeared on the Espada's face. His brow furrowing as he blinked.

"... Prove it."

"Enough of this, Nel step aside this instant, Ulquiorra don't take anything he says seriously, the bastard's obviously lying-" Josh Groban immediately cut in, a harried tone to his voice, an irritated expression on his face. I could see clear as day, the fact he didn't and likely would've never believed me. At least, under quite literally any other scenario, it would've held true.

Unfortunately for him, I threw a damn good case.

Because if there was one thing Nel made clear to me, in an attempt to warn me not to instigate the espada in question, it was that in the world's revamped history, Ulquiorra had never, at least in view of any other being, including Josh Gorban and herself, arguably the two most likely to know, needed to release his sword.

Not once, in the past two thousand years.

"Enclose, Murciélago. Did I get that right?"

I held the smile on my face, even as Huaco Mundo shuddered.

...

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