Prologue: Crushed

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A red light, in between the horns of the Vasto Lorde... No, it  was far too abnormal to be called a Vasto Lorde.

It was something greater, a monster born from a boy named Ichigo Kurosaki.

Ulquiorra had been blitzing him, mauling and tearing at his form when he had first fought him in his Bankai and Vizard Mask state. The human before him had abandoned a portion of his humanity to bear such a vicious power, yet it still wouldn't be enough.

It was far too easy, like swatting a fly with a casual backhand. A fly could not be compared to human, and neither could a human be compared to a Hollow. Let alone a Vasto Lorde. That was when he coiled his tail around his neck, watching as the teenager struggled to break through.

He had to wonder... Why? Why struggle so much? It was worthless, to battle against an opponent that far eclipsed him in every way.

Power, speed, Spiritual Pressure, Reiatsu, Reishi, and everything in between... Ulquiorra Cifer would leave Ichigo Kurosaki in the dust.

That was until he had blown a Cero Oscuras through his chest, the black and green concentrated blast leaving a sizable hole enough to leave even the most tenacious of Shinigamis dead. 

Throwing him off the pillar of Las Noches, the Fourth Espada watched with boredom as it fell slowly to the ground, Ichigo's friends rushing to save him.

It was all so useless... Something he could never understand from these humans. They had claimed these actions came from the 'Heart,' but he could never understand what that was supposed to mean.

Could it be held? Was it tangible? Could it have been seen?

All things which his eyes cannot perceive, Ulquiorra does not believe exists.

Case and point, Ichigo Kurosaki winning, he could not see such an event occurring at this very moment...

Until it had.

Somehow, someway, the man had risen, a great torrent of Spiritual Pressure shooting into the sky. A primordial and unknown force that was the most similar to a hollow emitting in vast amounts. It was something never seem since the three Spiritual Worlds had been one primordial soup floating in an endless sea.

It was... Surprising. From the moment Ulquiorra had seen it, he knew he had been completely outclassed, even if such a thing had been an impossibility before. He was the fly now, and the being before him... The one who would swat him away.

His rational mind had concluded he wouldn't win against such a beast... So why? Why did he continue fighting it? Why did he lay out all his techniques against it even if it was worthless in the end?

Not even he knew, but he tried.

Cero Oscuras

Lanza Del Relampago

Hierro

High Speed Regeneration

None of it had worked, all were overpowered. Even when he went forward, flapping his wings and flying in for a direct physical confrontation, he was completely overpowered.

It was predictable, but he couldn't help but feel even more surprised as the fight continued on. Who knew... An emotion such as surprise.

He felt no fear, he felt no love, he felt no anger, he felt no sadness, he felt... Nothing. Except surprise...

A strange feeling boiled up in his chest, realizing that, throughout the fight, he had felt something.

Even if it meaninglessly disappeared in the end, its echoes remained in his body, like a scar etching itself into flesh.

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