"Now, Ben," he said. "I would like to see your skills against Gantenbainne now."
Big Chill looked over at Gantenbainne. He didn't look very threatening, so he couldn't tell if he should use a different form or just stay as Big Chill.
"However," Aizen suddenly said. "I would like to see as many forms as I can, so I would like for you to use any form aside from Humungousaur, Jet Ray, and Big Chill, please."
Big Chill groaned, once again another action that no one had ever used in front of Aizen before. He was robbed of three of his best forms. "Fine then." He said. He touched the dial. This time, he became a seven foot tall plant creature with a head that looked like an orange flame.
"Swampfire!" he cried in a nasally voice.
Szayel licked his lips. "My, how interesting." He said as he looked Swampfire up and down.
Ben resisted the urge to blast Szayel. That guy was just getting grosser and grosser. But Ben struggled to ignore him as he turned to face his new opponent.
Gantenbainne took a fighting stance. "You did pretty good to hold your own against Dordonii and Cirucci," he said. "In the name of God, let us have a good fight."
Swampfire got a good look at the man's weapons. They were twin blades that were on either side of the handles that he held in his hands. Sparks connected from the blades.
"Let's go," Gantenbainne said.
Swampfire made the first move. He raised his hands and shot streams of fire out. But in a flash, Gantenbainne had vanished.
"How is he doing that?" Swampfire groaned, reminded of when Dordonii had been using that move. If he remembered correctly, Dordonii had called it Sonido.
That's when Swampfire was aware of some kind of low boom noise behind him. He turned around to see Gantenbainne behind him.
"Too slow," the Privarion Espada said. He punched Swampfire in the gut, and his eyes widened when his fist punched right through him. He could feel nothing but plant life and gunk as he did. Grimacing in disgust, he noticed that Swampfire just looked at him as if he hadn't been hit at all. Then he grinned.
"Nice try," Swampfire said before slamming his fist into Gantenbainne's face. The blow knocked him back, but he quickly regained his balance. He looked at the hole his fist had made. Then he did a double take when he saw the wound instantly close up.
"High speed regeneration!" he gasped.
This caught Ulquiorra's interest. So this boy had a form with regenerative properties. Perhaps the boy did have potential.
Gantenbainne scoffed. "Just because you can regenerate doesn't mean you'll win, Tennyson. You got fire power but it's useless against my Sonido."
Swampfire frowned. That Sonido has become a big bother. He had to find a way to immobilize Gantenbainne.
"Then let's try this," he said, pulling some seeds out of his body and throwing them on the ground near Gantenbainne's feet. Suddenly the seeds grew into massive plants that wrapped themselves around Gantenbainne's body. He struggled as best he could, but the vines soon covered his entire body, making him unable to use his Sonido or even move at all.
"Now that's more like it," Swampfire said. "That takes care of you."
"You think so, Tennyson?" Gantenbainne asked. "I'm afraid you're wrong."
The vines which encased Gantenbainne suddenly exploded. Swampfire covered his eyes to block any flying debris. When he uncovered them, he saw that Gantebainne had changed. His arms were now covered in strange plating that were big and roundish and they went all the way down to his hands, where the blade weapons had become like dragon heads. Ben could also see an armored tail from behind him.
"Take a good look, man," Gantenbainne said. "This here is Dragna. Now the real fight starts."
He put his fists together and shot a blast of energy at Swampfire. Swampfire tried to dodge but he hadn't moved out of the way in time, causing his arm to be blasted off. Grunting at what happened, Swampfire made a vine grow out of his shoulder, attach to the severed limb, and pull it back to his body.
"Not bad," Gantenbainne said as he saw this. "That's a pretty handy form you've got there."
Swampfire's response was a blast of fire. But Gantenbainne merely shielded himself with his armored platings.
"Sorry, kid," Gantenbainne said. "But you don't stand a chance now."
Swampfire frowned. He considered going Ultimate Swampfire, but thought against it. He realized what he could use instead. Touching the Ultimatrix dial, Swampfire transformed again. This time he was a small, pure white being with a wide head and green eyes.
"Echo Echo!" he called out in a mechanical sounding voice.
"You making fun of me, Tennyson?" Gantenbainne asked as he looked at Echo Echo. "You expect to beat me with that puny form?"
"Didn't anyone ever tell you, Gantenbainne?" Echo Echo asked in his mechanical voice. "Divide and conquer!"
Everyone's eyes were on Echo Echo as suddenly more and more of him appeared. Then, all the copies looked at Gantenbainne and released a powerful sonic blast at the Privaron Espada. Gantenbainne howled in pain as he covered his eyes.
But the sonic wave did more than that. There was enough Echo Echos to send Gantenbainne crashing into the wall, pinned down by the hammer of sound that he was being struck with.
While his armor plating protected him from physical attacks, not even he could protect himself against sound. Grunting, Gantenbainne managed to use his Sonido to appear behind the small army Ben had made.
He fired an energy blast, which sent the Echo Echos flying. They responded with another sonic scream at him. But since they were scattered now, Gantenbainne had been hit by an all angled sonic blast. He fell to the ground, shaking his head to clear his now scrambled senses.
"Had enough yet?" the lead Echo Echo asked.
Szayel looked like he was on the verge of having a heart attack. More! He resisted screaming aloud. More! I must see more!
Gantenbainne got back up to his feet. Shaking his head, he grinned at Echo Echo.
"You're a pretty good kid," he told Ben. "And this is a good match."
"Thank you, Gantenbainne," Aizen said suddenly. "That will be all for today."
Gantenbainne and Echo Echo both looked at each other. Then, much to Echo Echo's surprise, Gantenbainne held out his hand.
"Thanks for going all out with me, Ben Tennyson. You're a strong fighter."
Echo Echo smiled. "Thanks," he said as he shook Gantenbainne's hand. "You too."
With that, all the Echo Echos joined together and Ben turned back to normal.
With that smile on his face, Aizen turned to look at his Espada.
"So, my Espada," he said. "What are your thoughts on this?"
Yammy scoffed. "So the kid managed to wound some lousy Privaron. Big deal. I'd kill him easily."
Ben glared. "Funny," he said. "I seem to remember beating you up."
Yammy snarled at Ben, but backed off as he knew that Aizen wouldn't like it.
Aaroniero spoke up. "Ben has our respect." He said in a high pitched voice. Then he spoke in a guttural voice. "It would be good to keep him around."
"I agree with Aaroniero," said Szayel. "It was so wonderful to see all those forms and powers Ben showed us today. And I'm certain that the ones we've seen are just the tip of the iceberg. I'm anxious to see more."
Zommari spoke now. "If Aizen-sama approves of Ben Tennyson, then I will stand by Aizen-sama's decision."
Grimmjow yawned. "I don't care what you do with the kid. Let me know if he turns into something worth fighting."
Nnoitra spoke up. "It looks like little Ben here might save me from boredom if he's got some good forms in that wrist thing of his."
Ulquiorra spoke next. "Ben Tennyson has displayed a wide variety of forms each with their own different powers. I can see some uses for that."
Harribel was silent for a moment. "Ben has displayed resourcefulness that is to be admired. He chose forms that would give him an advantage over his opponent when the odds were against him. This shows that Benjamin also has good knowledge of his forms and how to use them properly."
Barragan on the other hand merely remained silent and refused to even look at Ben. Starrk scratched his head before speaking.
"He's okay," he admitted. "But that Echo Echo form is just too noisy for my taste. Do me a favor Ben and make sure not to use that around me, okay?"
"Uh," Ben said, really uncertain how to respond to that. "Sure."
Starrk nodded. "Thank you."
Aizen now turned his smile at Ben. "It would seem that the Espada are in favor of you, Ben Tennyson. And I think spending time with them will be good for you to understand Las Noches and any other questions you might have.
"Thanks," Ben said to him.
Aizen then looked at everyone. "I think it would be best if Ben was made a Fraccion."
This drew attention from both Ben and Espada. Most gave Aizen looks of surprise. Szayel looked at Aizen with a look of glee on his face. Baraggan on the other hand was looking at Aizen with fury. Ben could even see the old man's body shaking as if he was going to explode. He quickly looked away and back at Aizen.
"Uh, a Fraccion?" Ben asked him. "What is that?"
Aizen turned that smile of his in Ben's direction.
"A Fraccion is one who serves under an Espada," Aizen explained to Ben. "And I think you would make an excellent Fraccion."
"I agree," Szayel said while standing. "In fact, I would like to request that Ben join my Fraccion. With my genius and Ben's forms, we would make a great team."
Ben was thinking the exact opposite. He didn't want to be in the same room alone with Szayel. He was disgusted with the pink haired man.
"Normally I would allow you to do so, Szayel," Aizen said to him. "However, this time I will allow Ben to decide which Espada he wants to serve under."
Szayel had a brief look of disappointment on his face as he sat back down. Ben on the other hand was just so confused.
"Ben," Aizen said. "I know this is something new for you, but you have my guarantee that whoever you chose will teach you all there is to know here."
Ben looked at Aizen. Then back at the Espada.
"Now, Ben Tennyson," Aizen said. "Who will you choose?"
"Uh…" was all that left his mouth, but it wasn't hesitation. It was calculation.
He wasn't going to pick blindly.
Aizen nodded his head. "I understand, Ben. You need some time to make your decision. You don't need your answer right away. I will give you time to think it over. Tosen, may you take Ben to one of the spare rooms, please?"
"Of course, Aizen-sama," Tosen said with a bow. He walked toward the hallway at the end of the room. "Come with me, Ben."
Blinking in confusion for a moment, Ben followed Tosen. They were in a pure white hallway. It reminded Ben of the hallway that he was in when he first reached Las Noches.
"You are unique, Benjamin Tennyson. And Harribel is right. You are resourceful. Tell me, Benjamin. How old are you?"
"Uh," Ben thought. "18."
"Hmm," Tosen said. "Interesting."
Tosen went over to one of the doors and opened it. "Here you are, Benjamin. These shall be your quarters now. I will be back shortly to see if you need anything." With that, Tosen walked away.
Meanwhile, Ben looked around his room. It was rather plain. It had a bed and couches to sit on but that was about it. Nothing else. But as Ben thought about it, this place didn't seem very high tech. He had witnessed enough of those Espada and Privaron Espada to know that they were anything but primitive. And now Ben had to choose which of those Espada he had to be a Fraccion.
Now, he had to think which one he wanted to work with. It was like picking your science partner in class. Only these people were a lot more difficult to handle than Ben's regular classmates.
"Ugh," Ben groaned. "What to do?"
At that moment, Ben's stomach grumbled. He realized that he hadn't eaten in a while. "I wonder if Las Noches has chili fries."