Written in honor of Stark's/ Lilynette's release form. I hope that you enjoy!
...
It was silent now. And it was not some sort of metaphorical calm either; due to the absence of Stark's fraccion/ right hand, their field of play had very literally become quiet.
He stood up straight and immediately noticed the difference in his stance. The bones in his hips had shifted slightly, causing his legs to be closer together while standing. His posture was also a bit straighter.
I had forgotten. Lilynette is part of me, including the physical.
Although Stark's male form was the dominant, Lilynette still remained in his subconscious, a presence but not quite a voice. Having not experienced this previous to their separation, Stark attributed these fuzzy remnants to the fact that the original was always perfect, and once separated, two things put back together left the new scared.
His released form, despite the imperfections, felt as good as new, the energy and raw instinct in his veins now pulsing full force. Now gone was his lackadaisical approach to life and his light approach to fighting in general.
He had seen countless Arrancar, including the other Espada, become this way; the furious eating and fighting machines that was akin to that of an un-evolved Hollow. But now he realized, it wasn't instinct returning, and far from it. Instead, the ecstatic battling and the cruel pursuit of bloodshed simply came from the happiness that returned with being in ones original, "unstoppable" form (although that was shown to be untrue, with over half of the Espada now deceased.)
He looked up at his opponent. The man had been changing slowly throughout the battle as well, obviously to only Stark, and maybe the white haired man too. His muscles had slowly tensed, the bones in his hands become more apparent. The muscles in his face had also tightened, showing thin signs of his actual age.
"Heh, so what, do you have tits now?" the man said, trying to make light of the dire situation. Even he could tell that it wasn't working though. Not that it mattered to Stark; he was indifferent to insults at this point.
"You do know that without a bankai, you will loose quickly, correct? You saw your bald friend fall, and I doubt that you want to same happening to you," Stark said matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, dying would be pretty bad, but so would be releasing my bankai too early in battle. Death is easy compared to Old Man Yama's wrath," Shunsui said, again feigning a sense of humor in the serious atmosphere.
"Very well then," Stark said with a straight face. He raised the gun and fired.