It was an extremely bizarre sensation. Strange appendages, impossible to tell whether they were tentacles or tumors, wrapped around their bodies, writhing as if they were licking them.
A split second later, before they could even process what had happened, Uryū Ishida and Yasutora Sado were spat back out.
"Uryū!" Yasutora Sado immediately rushed over to check on Uryū Ishida.
"I'm fine..." Uryū Ishida moved briefly and realized he was unharmed. "What was that...?"
"Mmm-hmm..." Szayelaporro licked his lips. "I'm full now~"
Uryū Ishida looked at Szayelaporro and quickly noticed the change in his body.
On the strange wings behind Szayelaporro, two red growths had swollen noticeably, like water balloons being steadily filled, their surfaces almost translucent.
With a wet, viscous sound, the two growths burst open. Two palm-sized dolls dropped from within, made in the exact likeness of Uryū Ishida and Yasutora Sado.
"Can you feel it?" Szayelaporro's fingers closed around the two dolls, his thumbs rubbing over their heads. "This sensation..."
The sensation of being touched.
Uryū Ishida and Yasutora Sado's heads tilted uncontrollably to the side, as if a giant finger had pressed down on them.
"Interesting, isn't it? After feasting on your data, I created these remote controls to manipulate you." Seeing Yasutora Sado charge at him, Szayelaporro flicked the doll that closely resembled him. "In that case..."
Bang!
An invisible force struck Yasutora Sado in the head. A chilling sound came from his neck as his head snapped sideways, and he crashed heavily to the ground.
"Sado!" Uryū Ishida hurried to check on Yasutora Sado.
"You still have time to worry about others?" Szayelaporro clenched Yasutora Sado's doll in his palm, freeing his fingers to grip the lower half of Uryū Ishida's doll while his other hand held the upper half. "You'd be better off worrying about yourself."
Uryū Ishida's pupils shrank sharply. Reflected in his wide eyes was the motion of Szayelaporro pulling with both hands.
With a soft pop, Uryū Ishida's doll was torn in two.
Uryū Ishida's body trembled, and he felt... nothing.
Huh?
"Could you not make such a stupid face? Have you never even played with a doll before? Did you really think your body would split apart too?" Szayelaporro's fingers shifted, one fingertip probing into the lower half of the doll. "Of course dolls can be taken apart. It would be terribly boring if there were nothing inside."
"That..." Uryū Ishida stared at the tiny toy-like object pinched between Szayelaporro's fingers. "What is that?"
"This? It's the stomach." Szayelaporro pinched it, and the little object shattered.
"Pfft!" Agony twisted through Uryū Ishida's abdomen, and he spat out a large mouthful of blood.
"Uryū!" Yasutora Sado growled and rushed at Szayelaporro. He knew his own abilities could not help Uryū Ishida. The only thing he could do was take the doll back from Szayelaporro.
But the moment he took a step, his legs gave out, and he fell to the ground.
"I forgot to mention," Szayelaporro said, snapping the small object he had taken from Yasutora Sado's doll. "There aren't only organs in here. There are tendons too."
The powerful muscles in Yasutora Sado's legs visibly warped, no longer able to support his large frame.
"Don't be like that. If it hurts, you should scream. Otherwise..." Szayelaporro chuckled softly. "How am I supposed to enjoy torturing you?"
Szayelaporro leisurely toyed with another little piece. "All right, time for a riddle. Which part do you think this is?"
"Szayelaporro is enjoying torturing them..." Dondochakka, hiding in the shadows, stared at Szayelaporro in the distance. Without realizing it, his large hand clenched around a piece of rubble.
"They are Muten Natsu's companions. And since Muten Natsu is with Nell now, that makes them Nell's companions too." Pesche took a deep breath. "If they're our companions, then we can't just stand by and watch."
"Pesche..." Dondochakka lowered his voice. "That's Szayelaporro! Are you insane? Have you forgotten what happened back then?"
"It's because I haven't forgotten that I can't just stand by."
"But didn't we already decide? We were going to protect Nell, keep her from being hurt by Nnoitra and Szayelaporro, keep her away from every disaster and every pain." Dondochakka grabbed Pesche's wrist. "She's already lost everything and forgotten everything. If we step in, knowing Szayelaporro, he'll definitely find Nell again..."
"Dondochakka!" Pesche cut him off. "Nell has already started moving forward. Are you still going to keep lying to yourself?"
Dondochakka's grip on Pesche's hand slowly loosened.
"Nell hasn't forgotten everything. All these years, we tried again and again to take her far away from the Palace of Las Noches, but in the end, we always found ourselves wandering nearby. She simply can't remember. That doesn't mean she's forgotten." Pesche's gaze was firm. "And she hasn't lost everything either. She still has us. And she has... Muten Natsu."
"So it really was him..." Dondochakka's voice sank. "The boy Nell used to talk about all the time. The one who would do anything to protect his companions."
"That's why Nell followed him, no matter what. Because in him, Nell saw that boy from the past, and the old self she can no longer remember." Pesche looked steadily at Dondochakka. "What about us? Are we going to keep running, or are we going to..."
"Do you even have to ask?" Dondochakka stood up. "Of course we're following Nell's lead!"
"Oh!" Pesche patted Dondochakka, then leaped into the air and charged toward Szayelaporro first, opening his mouth to spit out a stream of viscous liquid.
"Hm?" Szayelaporro shielded himself with his wings while turning to look behind him. "What is this...?"
Splat!
Using the previously sprayed mucus as cover, Pesche fired another, faster stream of liquid that struck Szayelaporro's hand dead-on.
The viscous liquid was extremely slippery. The moment Szayelaporro's fingers exerted the slightest force, the dolls of Uryū Ishida and Yasutora Sado slipped out of his grasp.
Pesche slid past on the slick liquid and reached out to catch both dolls. "Great! I got them!"
Szayelaporro frowned and moved his wings toward Pesche.
"Urgh!" Dondochakka opened his mouth, and the enormous Bawabawa emerged from within.
Bawabawa slammed forward, launching Pesche into the air.
Pesche flipped and landed on Bawabawa's head, while Bawabawa crashed into Szayelaporro's tumor-like wings in his place.
"Nothing but a combat spirit insect..." Szayelaporro easily held Bawabawa back with his wings. "And you think that can hurt me?"
"What about this?" Pesche jumped onto Dondochakka's shoulder, and the two of them condensed a Cero in front of themselves at the same time.
The yellow and purple spheres of light resonated with each other. The energy spilling from them linked together, instantly multiplying the amount of condensed Reishi several times over.
"Cero Sincrético!!!"
With their voices joined as one, all of the compressed Reishi was released, forming a Cero far beyond anything ordinary and swallowing Szayelaporro whole.
Boom!
A violent torrent of power swept through. Amid the roaring dust, Szayelaporro's figure appeared.
Beside him, large chunks of brick and stone had shattered, and even the wall behind him had been pierced through, proof enough of the attack's power.
Yet the target of that attack, Szayelaporro himself, was completely unharmed.
"Huff... huff..." Pesche was panting hard. Clearly, that attack had drained him badly. "Why...? Why didn't it work?"
"For people of your level to produce an attack like that, it must have taken quite a long time..." Szayelaporro brushed back his hair. "I don't know exactly how long, but I do know this. It takes very little time to analyze and break down your Reiatsu."
Dondochakka stared at him in disbelief. "What... did you say?"
"You didn't seriously think I wouldn't recognize you just because you changed your masks, did you? I knew all along. The first time I saw you, I recognized both of you immediately." Szayelaporro's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Pesche Guatiche and Dondochakka Birstanne, Fracciones of the former Third Espada, Nelliel."
"Back then, I thoroughly studied the combat styles, Reiatsu composition, and fighting habits of all three of you. That was how I created a device to suppress your power and let Nnoitra tear off your masks." A cruel grin curled across Szayelaporro's face. "You already lost once. How have you learned nothing? You waited so long after appearing before me to launch your attack. During that time, I had already finished updating all the data I had on you!"
"No..." Pesche straightened despite his trembling body. "We knew from the start that we couldn't defeat you with our strength alone."
"Oh?" Szayelaporro raised an eyebrow. "Then you..."
"La Muerte!"
A clenched fist slammed toward Szayelaporro, only to be blocked by his wings.
Reiatsu erupted from Yasutora Sado's fist, shattering several growths on the wing.
"So your attack was just meant to give them a chance to catch their breath." Szayelaporro looked back at Yasutora Sado. "Too bad you wasted it. Your tendons are severed, and you can still stand?"
"You said it yourself. The medium for my Fullbring is my skin." Yasutora Sado growled as the armor covering his arms grew downward, spreading over his legs. "Even if you sever my tendons, I can still... stand with my skin!"
"What good is standing? You'll only fall again." Szayelaporro swung his wings. "This time... I'll peel that skin right off you!"
Bang!
Yasutora Sado raised his right arm, and the shield armor on his forearm blocked Szayelaporro's wing.
The patterns on the shield armor shifted, and terrifying spiritual energy began to gather.
"With something like that?" Szayelaporro sneered. "Your left hand, the one meant for attacking, couldn't even hurt me, yet you think you can attack me with your defensive right hand?"
Yasutora Sado clenched his fist. "Not me..."
"Us!" Uryū Ishida placed his hand on Yasutora Sado's shoulder, and the patterns on the shield armor over Yasutora Sado's right arm gradually changed into the shape of the Quincy Cross.
This room had been carefully designed by Szayelaporro and possessed the ability to suppress the power of Quincy Masters.
Here, Uryū Ishida's Reishi Arrows would disperse, and even Ginrei Kojaku could not take form.
But the room could not affect Yasutora Sado's Fullbring.
Uryū Ishida could not use his Reishi Armament, but he could help Yasutora Sado control the Reishi Particles.
"Grua Tirar!" Yasutora Sado threw a punch, and terrifying spiritual energy took the shape of an arrow, piercing through the wing in its path and striking Szayelaporro directly in the chest.
The razor-sharp spiritual energy punched through his chest, tearing out through Szayelaporro's body in a spray of blood.
The instant the spiritual energy dissipated, Szayelaporro collapsed to the ground and went still.
Uryū Ishida and Yasutora Sado swayed, nearly falling, and only managed to stay upright with the support of Pesche and Dondochakka.
"Huff... Pfft!" Uryū Ishida tried to let out a long breath, only to cough up a large mouthful of blood.
Yasutora Sado was no better. After all, Szayelaporro had made a mess of both his internal organs and tendons. He had landed that final attack through sheer stubbornness alone.
Now that the enemy was down, they were beginning to run out of strength too.
"The commotion here will draw other Arrancars soon..." Uryū Ishida forced out the blood rising in his throat. "We have to leave, now."
"Where do you think you're going?"
A dark Reiatsu descended from above, like a deep swamp pouring over them, chilling them to the bone.
Everyone turned toward the source of the Reiatsu. Szayelaporro, who had already been struck down, was standing again.
His long wings had wrapped around several Fracciones, and those Fracciones were shriveling at a visible rate before finally crumbling into ash.
"The reason I keep so much trash around is to make use of it." The wound on Szayelaporro's chest healed rapidly. "They were created by me as medicine to begin with. Whenever I'm injured, I only need to eat them, and I recover."
Uryū Ishida's voice trembled. "You monster..."
"You should call me a genius." Szayelaporro clapped his hands. "All right, everyone, well done. It seems you can no longer offer me any more surprises. This pleasant, drawn-out performance has finally reached its curtain call."
The twisting mass of wings swept toward them, and the malice in Szayelaporro's eyes was completely unconcealed.
However...
"Bankai. Konjiki Ashisogi Jizō!"
A strange voice rang out, followed by an abnormal Reiatsu rising into the air.
A gigantic worm with a golden infant's head smashed through the wall, breathing out a purple poisonous mist that spread around them.
"What is this..." Szayelaporro was enveloped by the purple poisonous mist, and his expression twisted instantly. "What kind of monster...?"
His voice cut off abruptly as the infant-headed worm lowered its head and bit down!