I struck the dark slimy wall that separated me from Hueco Mundo, from my home.

“Fuck!”

My fist throbbed, sending protests with every blow. But, I didn’t stop. I couldn’t allow a stupid dimensional prison to stop me.

“How could I be so foolish?”

All I could do was curse myself over it. I could have done so much more. Defeated the Espadas faster… I could have dispelled Aizen’s illusion from the start…

Still, I chose to play along, allowing my rage to take control of me, just so I could get revenge on them for bruising Orihime.

Man! It sounded so stupid, especially now that I had the chance to calm down.

‘That’s right! You're a complete idiot.’ My zanpakuto spirit agreed inside my mind. ‘You had an amazing zanpakuto such as myself helping you and plenty of opportunities to take Aizen off guard. And yet, you chose not to do so.

“Fuck!”

I couldn't help but curse myself once more. I had a whole plan centered around my zanpakuto spirit, Ignición. I had been ready to use him to dispel Aizen’s illusions anytime.

However, I was too full of myself, too immersed in my rage to see the bigger picture and the enemy’s tricks.
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Regardless of my regrets, I had to get out of here. I needed to get back to Aizen and ensure my family's safety.

Thus, I continued pummeling the dimensional wall separating me from my freedom.

Each blow sent shockwaves through my knuckles, trembling in protest against the relentless assault, while my nerves flared with pain.

Even adding an extra layer of armor from my disassembled tail was not enough to diminish the pain I was feeling in my hands.

Sweat flowed from my forehead down to my face and chest, sometimes obstructing my sight until I cleaned it with a part of my tail.

Fortunately, after what felt like an eternity, I managed to create a small crack in the space confining me.

“Just a little more!”

I could only encourage myself to continue, to persist until I get out of here.

Crack by crack, the dimensional prison began to give way, revealing the fake blue sky of Las Noches.

“Almost there!” I exclaimed.

A big smile formed on my face as light illuminated my face. The heat dissipating a cold I never noticed because of my desperate struggle.

Finally, a big hole finally opened, just the right size to pull my head out of it.

I grasped its edges with my hands, trying to widen it further. The edges vibrated with such intensity that my hands’ armor trembled.

“Still too hard.” I muttered through clenched teeth.

I commanded my red wings to move for the first time, using them to add an additional pull to expand the hole.

That seemed to do the trick as the dimensional prison started fracturing. The solid dark walls crumbled like grains of sand.

A deafening shattering sound akin to a thousand glasses breaking echoed around me.

Thankfully, that lasted only a moment, as the sound of Las Noches hit me. It was full of explosions, and the air felt heavy, unlike its usual stillness.

Although I was elated by the feeling of freedom, I had to be cautelous, so I positioned my tail armor like a shield before me as I emerged from my prison.

Expanding my senses, I managed to discover the current situation of the castle. It seemed that many battles had ensued while I was imprisoned.

Most of these battles seemed to be over.

I could only sigh in relief after sensing the spiritual pressure of Nel, Pesche, DondoChakka. They were accompanied by three of my subordinates and seemed to be rushing to one of the remaining clashes of spiritual pressures.

Now, only three battles remained.

One was that of Ichigo against Ulquiorra atop the dome of Las Noches, out of the structure in the darkness of Hueco Mundo.

I didn’t feel like saving him… Besides, Orihime was not there to behold his death, so it was an easy decision.

The other was that of Yammy against the combined might of Kenpachi and Byakuya. For now, Yammy was surviving by constantly evolving, which granted me some window of opportunity before I had to intervene.

However, the last battle was the one that concerned me the most.

It was a battle between Mayuri Kurotsuchi against my lovely Cirucci.

And she seemed to be losing badly if I took into account her diminishing spiritual pressure and the faint ones of Asguiaro and Luppi’s beside her.

Choosing the one where I should intervene was quite easy, I had to save my woman.

Without a moment’s hesitation, I unleashed the full force of my Sonido, intent on destroying Mayuri for daring to touch my family.

This time, I felt no need to hold back against him as he was not an arrancar.
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Sora/Renato’s failure has already cost him some subordinates.

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Omake: Luppi’s arrogance

There was a time where Luppi Antenor believed he could easily stomp any captain of the Gotei 13 under his heel.

But, today’s situation broke that notion.

“Unhange me already, you wench!” Luppi howled, full of shame as he hanged from a peculiar fork-like device.

Despite fighting with every ounce of his strength, that damn captain with the stupid smile had dozed him with a weird pink cloud.

Then, his body had grown heavy, and before he could comprehend what was happening, the fork had pierced through his right shoulder, stomach, and left leg.

“Please, wait patiently while Mayuri-sama collects more specimens.” The stupid and stiff shinigami told him.

The audacity of this woman was over the top.

Fortunately, just when he was feeling despair, Acidwire’s spiritual pressure resonated once again within the confines of Las Noches, and he seemed to be heading their way.

“You’ve failed, shinigami! My darling is coming to pick me up!” The stupid Cirucci exclaimed, bursting into laughter.

And, much to his own surprise, Luppi couldn’t help but join in her mirth.

After all, Acidwire was finally proving to be useful for something.