BLEACH 681': Corrupted Purity, Cleansed Evil
Below the sky bathing in darkness, the ultimate embodiment of all that is impossible, Gerard Valkyrie, remained in a position of unnatural stillness, facing Gotei Thirteen's two youngest captains. His eyes, now covered beneath a recently shaped reishi helmet fused to his armor, were fixed on the duo with a lifeless gaze.
—At least we are no longer subject to his verbosity —Byakuya mocked the new shape taken by his adversary with a tone as gelid as usual, yet that still transmitted a warmth unusual to his persona.
—That I could consider a miracle —answered the grown version of Toshiro Hitsugaya between gasping noises, visibly drained as a result of a prolonged use of his bankai in a so extended fight—. Any further plans under that sleeve, Kuchiki?
Before Byakuya could even articulate an answer, a dim turbulence came from the rubble below Sternritter M and, with a thunderous noise, Zaraki Kenpachi rose as a meteor, wielding Nozarashi with his only arm left, seeking the colossus' head in a bloody outburst.
—Fucking die already!
—Zaraki, stop! —but the words pronounced by Toshiro Hitsugaya didn't reach their destination. Gerard reacted with supernatural reflexes and hit Zaraki with the back of his hand, banishing him from the devastated section of the Wahrwelt with a single strike and condemning him to a guaranteed death preceded by the free fall of the indescribable distance between the abyss separating the Royal Palace and Soul Society.
—Well, I wouldn't say that we are at our very best… Not at all —In front of the surprised eyes of both captains, Hirako Shinji reemerged from beneath the rubble, still disoriented—. And that black thingy in the sky is surely not good for us either.
—Hirako! You're awake!
—Yes, yes. No need to remind me. It hurts enough already. Momo-chan is also fine. Don't worry, boy —Shinji contemplated with curiosity the new appearance of his fellow captain, as if hallucinating due to the bruise on his forehead—. I left her back there before I came here, resting with your lieutenant. But this is not the time to worry about that. On the other hand, our gargantuous friend may require a little bit more of attention.
—We have tried everything, but nothing seems to work against that thing —uttered Hitsugaya before Byakuya's silence, who had already dissipated his bankai in order to save some strength for the never-ending battle.
—Tch, tch. This is not the time to despair, Captain Hitsugaya. I may have thought of something while I rested my eyes back there. That thing is a Quincy, right? —asked Shinji with a confident smile, watching Toshiro nodding with subtlety—. But I need you to bring him to my level. Unless we manage that, I'm not s…
Without any warning, a humongous explosion blasted the Sternritter's face, brutally engulfing it in blazing flames and stunning him enough to cause the monster to fall on his back onto the battered ground and originating a small earthquake that forced the Shinigamis to retreat and look for cover due to the immense shockwave. Suddenly, the sunlight was visible again through a hole in the sky, and in the distance one could discern the recognizable figures of lieutenants Marechiyo Omaeda and Shuhei Hisagi barely holding the body of Soi Fon from Jakuhō Raikōben's recoil.
Together with the trio, or better said, surrounding them, a white-colored cloud mumbled muffled words whose echo reflected a warmth yet spiritless voice:
—I'm so sorry. I wasn't able to fully heal… —mumbled the voice of Isane Kotetsu right before her already subdued tone were abruptly interrupted by Soi Fon's strident orders:
—What are you waiting for?! Finish him already!
—Well, that was convenient. Unexpected… but convenient. Thank you, Captain Soi Fon —added Shinji before traversing the battlefield via Shunpo so as to reach the giant's head, placing his feet over the upper segment of the monster's chest plate. Once the heavy cloud of smoke dissipated, the damage caused by Jakuhō Raikōben was rendered visible. With a grimace, Shinji observed how the helmet that previously covered Gerard's features had been peeled like a rotten banana around his head, while the place that beforehand presented his face had been substituted by charred bone partially enveloped by scorched, blackened flesh that was already trying to reorganize itself into a new face. Luckily, the lack of such vital organs as a couple of functioning eyes prevented the Quincy from using his senses so as to react to the insignificant presence that, in front of him, released his shikai and introduced it within the orifice that within a few seconds would be replaced by a throat, then by a mouth. Finally, with a crooked smile, Shinji spoke:
—Now, do me a favor and take a deep breath. Bankai. Ōfuku Undō Sakanade.
After an explosion of golden gas, Shinji quickly stepped back with his zanpakuto now fully released, similar to its previous shikai state, but with a duplicated blade added to a second steel ring twin to the one following Sakanade's pommel. Already from a safe distance, the Vizard Captain started to spin both blades in opposed circles while Gerard fought against the viscous cloud adhered to his face.
—After its rite, Ōfuku Undō Sakanade connects, reverts and exchanges every element defining those individuals who breathe its gas, including me in this case, although it is not something that I'd usually do. However, the occasion deserves it, don't ya think? —Gerard continued struggling against an intangible enemy, to Shinji's disappointment—. Hey, you dumb, idiotic giant! Are you listening to me? We're connected now!
Finally reacting to his enemy's voice thanks to a fresh set of eardrums, Gerard launched himself towards the source of noise, failing miserably and further devastating the area with his enormous size right after Shinji used his Shunpo to leave the area without ceasing the hypnotic spinning of both blades.
—I don't even know if you understand my words, you ugly bastard, but I guess I don't care about it that much either. We have a few seconds to kill and I've got nothing better to do.
Receiving new stimulus, Gerard reacted once more and threw a kick from the distance that quickly travelled through the ground surface to hit the terrain with an incredible strength. This time, however, Shinji limited himself to sigh and jump with an evident disinterest on Gerard's aimless rage. Pieces of different buildings were flying around him in all directions while the other two captains attentively observed the pathetic yet frightening scene from a safe distance.
—Thank you for confirming the existence of a pair of ears in that big head of yours —Shinji, still ascending, mocked his enemy with disdain—. I imagine that both you and your peers already know that, for a Shinigami to become a captain, one must… you know, become proficient in the use of a bankai, for example. What you may not know —he said right before he started descending from his jump, his bankai still spinning —is that after that bastard Aizen gave us the Hollow treatment, most of us Vizards lost the capability of releasing our blades as our inner Hollows became one with our zanpakuto spirits. In a way, we were… tainted. Yes, that'd be the word. We lost part of ourselves and, as a result, we also lost our right to stand as captains of the Gotei Thirteen.
When he stepped into the giant's left shin, he instantly reacted with violence and threw his leg against a nearby building, which disappeared in a thunderous pandemonium of dust and rubble right after Shinji vanished from the scene. Once the giant was completely swallowed by the cloud of resulting dust, the captain resumed his speech:
—After the battle at Karakura, which I imagine you were already aware of, Kisuke Urahara ensured that Rose, Kensei and I could retake our previous ranks, more so after considering the lack of captains left by Aizen and co. Hence, he reversed the process that deprived us of our respective bankais. Basically, he suppressed any kind of Hollow reiatsu production from within our bodies.
Gerard tackled the new source of that annoying voice to silence it, but instead he smashed his fist against a different building once again. Little by little, and exasperated by reiterated failures, the Schutzstaffel began to erect himself to focus.
—Nevertheless, that was never intended to be a permanent solution. Despite being separate from Sakanade, the Hollow was still present within me, chained, waiting. So, after your first incursion I decided to pay him a visit. To make a deal with the devil, you know, for reconciliation's sake, but perhaps also for our recently acquired info confirming that Hollow reiatsu was, somehow, poisonous to you, Quincies. Do you see where I'm going with this?
Already standing over his feet, exhibiting his unnatural height, Valkyrie had already got rid of Ōfuku Undō Sakanade's cloud of gas, and a new reishi helmet was about to conceal the renewed face of the giant. Without altering his stance at all, he spread his gargantuous Vollstandig wings anew, ready to throw himself one last time against that elusive ant at a speed that he would never be able to react to. As a reply, Ōfuku Undō Sakanade's blades superposed one another once they adopted the same vertical position in front of his master, who then proceeded to close his fist between the rings connected to both blades while with his other hand, he prepared himself to recreate his mask one last time.
—Unfortunately for you, Quincies, he's back. Gyaku!
When silence finally reigned over the area, the two blades became one, marking the end of the bankai's ceremony, and Shinji's face became completely covered by his Hollow mask. Both figures, as differentiated in size as they could ever be, remained impassible one in front of the other for a few eternity-lasting seconds. All of a sudden, a heartrending howl shook the ground when opposed reiatsus clashed within their hosts' bodies. With both Quincy and Hollow reiatsu flowing within his anatomy, Gerard bent, shaken by an unbearable pain, clawing his own hands on his head as he flapped his wings and shook the nearby Wahrwelt buildings with their movements. Shortly, Gerard's helmet cracked once more when an enormous Hollow mask began to violently take shape from beneath it, covering his desperate face. In the opposite direction, Shinji made a grimace caused by the pain of a couple of reishi wings springing from his back, just before both beings fell on their knees with the exact same movement, with blood dropping from their mouths as a result of the internal struggle storming their insides. With his last ounces of strength, the Vizard muttered a few last words before falling unconscious to the pain:
—It's done… Now it's up to you…
The next scream that came from Gerard's throat, distorted by his own hollowfication, shook the entire Wahrwelt, throwing away Shinji's body as a leaf tore from its tree by the wind. The other two captains, quickly reacting to that daunting vision, jumped swiftly to aid their partner and friend, ignoring their own exhaustion while they advanced against the sonic tide caused by a now tainted Sternritter. However, when they found themselves a few feet away from their target, one last shockwave preceded an abrupt silence after Gerard's mask cracked right before his body collapsed in an implosion of compressed reiatsu that swept the entire grounds of the Royal Palace, pushing the three captains hundreds of feet away.
At a safe distance, the vaporous cluster covering both the captain and lieutenant of the Second Division as well as the Squad 8 lieutenant condensed itself into its sealed state. With Itegumo sheathed, Isane Kotetsu, along with the remaining Shinigamis, began her march towards the smoking crater that previously had harbored such an intense battle against The Miracle.
The miracle reverts itself, crushed between a reiatsu clash…
