The Will to Fight

By MrTyeFox

Although he had relaxed a little when he thought he had done it—when he thought they had done it—his fists clenched when again the beast put itself back together. It was the Sternritter Gerard Valkyrie, or so it was on introduction. At this stage, the titan stood not as a human but rather as a glowing mass of pure spiritual pressure, barely worth a name, centralized in a form that might have been humanoid. It might have been the sun or God itself that Byakuya gazed upon now, and indeed, it might have been an eternal task for him to slay it.

If there ever was any time where Byakuya sinned, he felt that now he was in Hell, and this was his punishment.

"Will he ever go down…?" He didn't glance at his ally. He had warned Tōshirō of his impending exhaustion already. The boy was smart enough to realize it was coming, so he was grateful that Tōshirō would go this far to assist him. After witnessing the rest of his entourage be taken down by this one foe, it spoke volumes of the boy's prodigal talent.

With a flick of his wrist, the petals that made up his sword Senbonzakura diverted the giant's punch. The tiny blades at this point were no match by themselves, but the million together were capable of doing damage. The two began another barrage of attacks. Tōshirō utilized his power to freeze sections of their foe while Byakuya obliterated the brittle ice with his blades. Each time, the spiritual power surged forth stronger.

With each swing of his blade, Tōshirō felt himself losing his will to fight. On the surface he gave a cool façade, but he was well aware that Byakuya sensed his exhaustion. He had already pushed his body beyond its limits. His powers were great, but against a foe that could come back from any injury, Tōshirō's willpower was collapsing.

The giant swung a fist at him. It was silent. It had been silent this whole time, ever since it regenerated before. Their largest combination attack had destroyed its body down to its feet. The white-haired young man knew it was different now. The titan was just a glowing ball of energy, lacking the enthusiastic vigor that Gerard once possessed.

Perhaps…?

"Kuchiki, let's regroup." Tōshirō remarked, his strangely deep voice coming out rather hoarse. With a nod, the two flash-stepped backward, hiding behind rubble. Peeking over the edge, Tōshirō watched the giant slowly pan its gaze. As it searched, it didn't speak.

"There's something wrong with him." He stated the obvious as Byakuya nodded.

"I concur. It is different this time." The sixth-division captain agreed. The two watched it from their safe cover for more time. It swiped at the surrounding rubble, intent on finding the two. Still, it didn't speak.

"Perhaps he's dead." Tōshirō said. At Byakuya's look, he continued. "I mean, he was happy to talk his head off before, and now we have this dead serious, stone cold giant. Something about that last attack changed him."

"That last attack was the only attack which affected its chest and abdomen." Byakuya noted. "Aside from Zaraki's attack which severed it cleanly in two."

The memory sprung into Tōshirō's mind, the demon-possessed captain of the eleventh division, newly wielding his bankai, seemed to be an impressive contender for the fight until his streak was cut short as his body gave into his own might. The most impressive move that Kenpachi had performed was severing the giant in two, directly down the center, with naught but a wave of spiritual pressure emerging from his sword.

Gerard had regenerated from that, of course, but Tōshirō recalled him being about twice as tall at that point. There was something about the middle of its body that made it respond drastically when it was threatened. At the time, they were all facing away from it, so perhaps there was a point of vulnerability they missed.

And so, a plan worked its way into his head. Or at least, something worth trying in this battle turned wild goose chase.

"When I give the signal, you must sever it in half. Horizontally, where its heart would be." Tōshirō instructed. "I've got an idea, and we need to time it just right."

"Do you suspect something is in its heart?" Byakuya asked.

"It's a cliché, but yeah, I do."

"Then I will assist as well as I am able."

The giant turned as footsteps echoed on the battlefield. The two warriors stood side by side. The wind picked up, the Shinigami's attire fluttered in the wind. Byakuya gazed at it with the cold expression he was renowned for, but Tōshirō smirked.

"Ready to go, big guy?"

The giant brought its fist down, demolishing the area the two were standing on as they dashed to either side. It attacked like an animal, tearing apart the rubble even more, reducing areas they were standing on to dust. Tōshirō tried to keep his allies, hiding somewhere in the ruins, out of his mind as he danced around its assaults. It switched its attention to Byakuya in an attempt to smash him with one of its hundreds of blows.

Then it dropped, intent on smashing Byakuya with its elbow. It landed on the ground as an earthquake would, and both captains knew that the time had come. Tōshirō pointed his left palm toward the giant.

One… Two… Three…

"Kuchiki! Now!"

The million petals coalesced, the pink cloud taking shape as it forged itself into the largest sword Tōshirō had laid eyes upon. The full power of Senbonzakura lay in this blade, hovering to the side of the giant. With surgical precision it cleaved through the giant.

Four. "Shikai Hyouketsu!"

As the giant's body became two, it froze. In the middle, in the partition between its ribs, a single column rose from the bottom half to the top in the exact center. The structure didn't move, so the captains both leapt into the void.

"This is it." Tōshirō said. He gripped the ice column, tearing out a chunk from the middle. In the ice Byakuya saw a small metal trinket, a five-pointed star made of metal. "As long as it's frozen, my power prevents it from regenerating him." Tōshirō gripped it tightly as it crumbled into powder. Then, the ice sculpture they stood in collapsed, the reiatsu that made their enemy so fierce dissipating into nothing. A large skeleton was the only thing that remained.

"The man known as Gerard Valkyrie died before that last attack, before he became just pure energy, but whatever that pendant was kept him going regardless. At some point, he must have lost the will to fight."

"I doubt it." Byakuya remarked, gazing at the tower ahead of them. He sensed the spiritual power of something far greater beyond. For now, it would be prudent for them to rest, at least for a moment, before continuing in the war.