Ren's vision went dark for a second. We just talked about mutual aid, and in the blink of an eye, you want to throw hands?
Seriously? Are you missing a few screws?
Looking at the grin on Lilynette's face... yeah, she probably actually is missing a few screws.
Little U's expression remained unchanged. He had no great interest in battle and shook his head in refusal. "No interest."
Lilynette looked crestfallen, then shifted her gaze to Ren. Before Ren could even open his mouth to decline, she curled her lip in a blatant look of disdain.
"Hey! What's with that face?!" Ren was beyond annoyed. Even if he planned to refuse anyway, what was with that "one look and I'm unimpressed" vibe? A provocation? That had to be a provocation!
"You're not even a Vasto Lorde. Fighting you is boring," Lilynette said bluntly. "Once you evolve into a Vasto Lorde, come find me for a fight. It shouldn't be too long now!"
"No. I love peace. I don't like fighting," Ren said without a second thought. Fighting the future Primera Espada? He'd rather just let someone stab him and get it over with!
Lilynette, undeterred, pressed on: "Let's have a match! By then, you'll be a Vasto Lorde with a massive power boost. You'll definitely want someone to test it on!"
"Impossible. I am a pacifist!"
For the next several minutes, no matter what Lilynette said, Ren dismissed her with a repetitive "I love peace."
Seeing that Ren was a lost cause, Lilynette turned back to Little U, demanding a duel. Little U, however, truly had zero interest in such things. He watched the two—one animated, one stubborn—and tried to perceive their thoughts through their eyes.
"What is he doing?" Lilynette whispered, leaning into Ren's ear.
"He's observing us."
"Why? Is he a pervert?"
"Little U has a hard time understanding emotions. He's trying to find answers by watching us."
Lilynette nodded. Then, she planted a petite foot on Ren's thigh and pointed a finger at Little U. "Just watching won't make you understand 'heart' or 'emotions'! Only battle is the most direct way to transmit feelings! Come! Fight me!"
Little U froze, then nodded slowly. "Fine. Let us fight."
"???" Ren's head filled with question marks. "Wait, why did you agree to that?"
"Because she said it would help me understand what emotions are. By the way, what are emotions?"
Ren looked like he'd swallowed a fly. He ignored Little U's question because Lilynette was already losing her patience, and a pistol-like object had suddenly appeared in her hand.
"Wait a minute!"
"What? Little U already agreed!" Lilynette pouted, dissatisfied.
"You can fight, but only if you pull your punches!" Ren looked at them both with extreme gravity.
"Pull punches? What does that mean?"
Both Lilynette and Little U looked confused. In the world of Hollows, there was no such concept as "pulling punches." Battle only ended when one side was utterly destroyed or surrendered. To Lilynette, "having a fight" meant a life-and-death struggle until one of them was boroboro.
Hearing Ren mention this new term, Lilynette's curiosity was piqued.
"Pulling punches means..."
Ren looked at Lilynette, then at Little U, and decided to demonstrate. He raised a fist and punched himself. "This is how we usually fight."
They both nodded.
Then, Ren repeated the motion, but stopped his fist exactly one centimeter from his own chest. "This is pulling your punches!"
"Emmm... so, just not actually hitting? Showing mercy?" Lilynette mused.
"Exactly! Precisely! Show mercy!" Ren nodded frantically.
"That's easy!" Lilynette agreed instantly.
Ren's gaze then fell on Little U. After a brief hesitation, the white-clad Hollow nodded. "I will try."
"Nice!" Lilynette leaped up in joy. She blurred into the distance and shouted back at Little U, "Get over here!"
Little U stood up calmly and, in the blink of an eye, was standing before her.
The two faced each other. No more words were needed; they instantly transformed into two streaks of black shadow!
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The moment they clashed, the sonic booms and shockwave ripples made Ren feel physically ill.
"Good grief! As expected of the peak of Hueco Mundo. Just the air pressure from their exchange could shred me a thousand times over!" Ren hid behind a sand dune, watching the two shadows collide, a bitter smile in his heart.
He had thought that as an Adjuchas, he was already quite strong—that even if he wasn't a Vasto Lorde, the gap wouldn't be insurmountable. But seeing them move for real, he realized how hilariously wrong he was!
In front of these two, whether it was speed or power, he was far outclassed. Against them, he'd likely be one-shot before he could even blink.
Suddenly, the two combatants broke apart. In the next instant, the sky filled with countless points of green light. Upon closer inspection, thousands of emerald Ceros blanketed the heavens, raining down toward Little U!
"Cero Metralleta!"
Facing this overwhelming barrage, Little U's eyes widened. A look of genuine shock appeared on his normally stagnant face. But there was no time for dazing!
Little U unfurled his wings, and his silhouette vanished instantly!
RUMBLE!
In the distance, a series of mushroom clouds rose as if a nuclear carpet-bombing were taking place. Ren shivered behind his dune.
Suddenly, a dark-green Cero sliced through the night, appearing instantly before Lilynette.
"Ha!"
Lilynette grinned, raising her gun and firing. The two Ceros collided in mid-air, a brilliant flare of energy tearing through the darkness like a second sun, illuminating the entire world.
Rumble—!
Seeing that they were about to escalate into a full-scale bloodbath, Ren raised his voice and roared toward the sky: "STOP!!!"
Ren's voice reached them, and Little U and Lilynette froze instantly. Though Lilynette looked a bit reluctant, she had given her word, and she intended to keep it!
Ren let out a massive sigh of relief. He had been truly worried they wouldn't listen and would end up crippling each other. That would have been a disaster.
Fortunately, while Lilynette loved trouble, she craved companionship even more. Now that she'd finally found others of her kind, she wasn't about to lose them. Little U's logic was even simpler: follow the rules Ren established.
The two blurred back to Ren's side. Lilynette complained, "Honestly! I hadn't even finished warming up yet!"
"If you'd finished your warm-up, Little U and I would probably be dead!" Ren laughed weakly.
Lilynette basked in the compliment, waving it off with a smile. "Fine, fine. I'll forgive you this time. Once you both get stronger, we'll have a real, soul-stirring fight!"
Ren and Little U shared a look of mutual helplessness. Little U, in particular, had felt the clear gap during the brief exchange. Lilynette's Cero Metralleta had left him without any room to counter. Speed, power—everything was superior.
For some reason, that strange feeling he'd felt during his Arrancarization flared up again.
"I want... to become stronger!"