Hello everyone. Now, before we get onto the the chapter...I want to address somethings. First of all, I want to thank all of you reviewers for helping us get over 700 reviews. What a milestone! I hope for us to surpass 900 by the end of the arc, perhaps even 1000! With your support, I know we can make it happen! We've also just pushed passed the 400,000 word threshold. An amazing feat, and one we're going to surpass by far by the end of this adventure of ours.
But enough of that, we're not here to talk about that. No, your hear for something else. Your here for-
ERZA
VS
KENPACHI
Me and Greatkingrat88 but as much effort as we could to make sure that this fight would not only deliver, but also heal the wounds that death battle has given to her fans. Consider this your therapy, my fellow Erza fans.
Speaking of which, here are some words from Greatkingrat88 himself.
"Well, here we are- the longest fight scene I've ever written, and one I took seriously enough that I had it beta-read by multiple people to make sure it was good enough. This is it- Kenpachi, the living embodiment of heavy metal, vs Erza, the baddest badass ever to ass badly. For this chapter, I recommend you put Dvorak's New World Symphony on as background music. Or Duel of Fates. Anyhow... let the battle commence."
Well said.
MAY THE DUEL OF THE FATES BEGIN!
Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo and Shounen jump. Fairy tail is owned by Hiro Mashima and weekly shounen magazine. I own NOTHING. This is all just for fun.
The sun was setting and the dust was settling, and Kenpachi looked at the new arrival, seeming pleased as punch. Sword lazily leaned against his shoulder, still red with Ichigo's blood, he looked her in the eye.
"Ain't this my lucky day?" he said, and took a step forward. "Here I thought I was gettin' let down, twice over no less, but it turns out to be a decent warm-up for a proper fight."
Erza shot him a hateful glare, and walked toward him.
"Ya've grown, haven't ya?" he continued. "I can feel ya, and I ain't what you'd call a genius at sensin'. Yer angry. Use it."
Erza balled her fists. Instead of giving in to his goading, however, she promptly walked up to Ichigo and gently picked him up in a bridal carry, turning her back to Kenpachi. Ignoring him, she walked away from him, toward Rangiku.
"Oi, don't you ignore me!" Kenpachi said. "I ain't gonna be cheated-"
For a moment Erza stopped, and turned to look at him, her face turned into a twisted visage of hateful anger.
"You won't be cheated, Zaraki Kenpachi."
She all but hissed the words out, her voice trembling.
"Good," the giant said with a grin.
Erza ignored him again. It was a difficult thing to do. He was one of the few people she had genuinely come to hate, trumped only by Mayuri and Aizen himself. He was a murderer who cared nothing for life, friendship, loyalty, solidarity or camaraderie. He was a mad dog who lived only for the madness of fighting. He was the living antithesis, more than Aizen himself, of what she stood for. That was reason enough to hurt him, beat him, but what made her blood boil was the picture of Ichigo lying broken on the ground, bleeding and cut down like meat for the butcher's cleaver. To protect her own was Erza's reason for living, and that was the reason she hadn't lunged at Kenpachi screaming her lungs out.
Because Ichigo was still alive. There was Renji and Rangiku, too, but she had been part of Ichigo's life since before he could walk, and without thinking she knew who mattered more. Right now, she had to make sure he lived. His reiatsu was stable, although odd- she had sensed hollow energy on her way here, but that was a question for later. He was injured and unconscious, but thankfully far from dead. If that had happened... the image flashed across her mind of a dead boy, his corpse growing cold because she wasn't there to save him; of his mother looking at her, wondering why she hadn't saved him, of having lost somebody again...
It took remarkable self-control to remain calm outwardly, but Erza managed. Stopping by Rangiku, she said, "Can you heal him?"
"I..." Rangiku said, gesturing helplessly to her gut injury.
"That's a flesh wound. It hurts, but you'll function. Can you heal him?" Erza said bluntly.
Normally she would have thought it heartless to be this demanding of somebody hurt this badly, a friend no less, but this was too important.
"Smooth as usual..." Rangiku muttered. She let out a pained groan, and forced herself into a sitting position.
"Can you heal him?" Erza repeated a third time, mercilessly direct.
"I... could apply basic medical kido," Rangiku said, her voice filled with disbelief. "Stop the bleeding. Dull the pain. I'm not a medic."
Erza nodded. "It'll do." Gently, she set Ichigo down on the ground next to Rangiku, and she had to force herself not to retch as she got a closer look at the boy's injuries. "Get... get him well. Do what you can. Renji, too, if possible," she said, her voice trembling, with horror and fear as much as rage.
"I'll try," Rangiku muttered, clutching her bleeding gut. All things considered, she had gotten off better than either Renji or Ichigo, although it wasn't much. "What about him, though?" she added, and gestured toward Kenpachi as she leaned over Ichigo, slowly starting to summon the energies necessary to perform kido.
"Oh, don't you worry," Erza said firmly. She felt an overwhelming fury rise in her chest, now that Ichigo was taken care of. Her body practically trembling with anticipation, with a boiling fury and a simple desire to hurt him, she took her first steps toward the man.
Kenpachi, for his part, looked almost giddy.
"Bring it, girl! Show me what runnin' away did for ya!" he cried out happily.
In an instant, Erza had moved forward with one swift shunpo, sword drawn. She cut at him in a wide arc, up and down, and Kenpachi parried it just barely, laughing like a madman. However, his mirth was cut short as Erza pushed forward, slamming a punch into his face. It was a blow fuelled by absolute rage, every ounce of muscle she could muster behind it, and it connected with a satisfying crunch. Surprised by the attack, Kenpachi lost his footing, and was sent flying through a nearby building, landing some forty yards away.
Erza shot a quick glance behind her, and saw Rangiku working a basic medical kido with one hand, the other still clutched over her gut. She looked back toward where Kenpachi had gone. This would be sufficient distance, enough to keep the wounded three safe, or so she hoped at least. Without another moment's hesitation, she jumped forward with the speed of the wind, running right at Kenpachi.
The demon himself seemed unaffected, naturally. His nose had turned crooked, a red mark forming where Erza's armoured fist had impacted, but as he stood up he grinned as wide as ever.
"Don't let me down," he said.
Erza stared him down, standing some ten yards away, sword drawn. She remembered the first time she had seen him, when he had slain a decent man to become captain, all under the Gotei's laws. She remembered the last and only time she had battled him. She had been much weaker then, afraid and outfought. He had towered over her like an evil spirit, and she had only lived because of the intervention of her zanpakutou.
He still towered over her, but she was not afraid. Anger burned inside her, still raging like a wildfire. He had hurt Ichigo. He had hurt Renji and Rangiku. He had cut her down and nearly killed her for fun. He had slain Kiganjo. Decades of contempt, of repressed fury and hatred welled up in her chest, overwhelming her common sense.
Her logic cried out against it. The smart thing, she knew somewhere, was to take Ichigo and run, to accomplish their objective and be done with it. Her heart, the one that burned with the pride of Fairy Tail, the one that remembered the mage she once was, cried out for revenge. The die was cast, and she would reap the consequences no matter what.
"Ready yourself, Zaraki Kenpachi," she said, her voice nearly shaking, "because I'll be giving you all you deserve."
"Just what I wanted to hear," Kenpachi said cheerily.
"Will those injuries slow you down?" Erza said, as the two slowly took their first steps toward each other. "Will you cry foul when you are beaten, because you were hurt before?"
Kenpachi let out a loud laugh. "These little scratches?" he said, and gestured toward the flesh wound on his chest, bleeding and raw, yet seeming to not even slow him down. "It's just the way I like it. Makes it more even."
"You really are a demon," Erza said, and raised her sword.
Kenpachi raised his sword for a hard downward swing, and took the first step of a run.
Then, the world went grey, and Erza saw the world around her change to the familiar shape of the marble palace. In the distance she could still see Kenpachi, sword raised, still moving but at an incredibly slow pace.
"Worry not," said Tetsu no Tama, stepping up to her side. "A second of your world's time will be plenty of time for me."
"What is it you want?" Erza said anxiously. She was not glad to have been pulled out of the fight just as it began. "This is not the time to lecture me about how you are to be used."
"Lecture?" Tetsu no Tama said with a smile. Erza looked at him, and saw that he seemed... different. He still wore golden armour, but it looked much more practical, much more warlike, like something one might actually see on a battlefield. Tucked under his right arm was a helmet, meant to accompany his suit of full plate armour, and he looked pleased in an honest way, like Erza could scarcely remember seeing before.
"Today, we avenge ourselves," he said, satisfaction permeating his voice. "Today, we stand up against the rabid dog who humiliated us, and show him the true power of master and servant. I am come not to lecture you, but to give you my word of encouragement. Hold nothing back, my master. Today, we kill the demon of Zaraki."
"Kill?" Erza said, staring at the slow image of Zaraki. "You know that is not what I do."
"You know the necessities," Tetsu no Tama said, his smile turning into a smirk. "You are not so naïve as to think this fight can be fought with the preservation of life in mind. You know he is a dishonourable cur, a murderer and a cut-throat. You know there is no reason to stay your blade. The Gotei is corrupt, and he is one of its most noxious cancers."
Erza balled her fists. "That is my decision to make."
Tetsu no Tama looked at her with affection. "You would be naïve to think he will give you that choice."
"Begone," Erza said firmly. "Begone, and we will cry havoc, and let loose the tools of war."
"Yes, my master," Tetsu no Tama said, his voice becoming almost a shout.
The marble palace disappeared, and Erza had all but a second to react as Kenpachi slammed into her, bringing his sword down with tremendous force. Erza roared out, screaming her fury to the heavens, and deflected his blow- powerful, but simple- and launched into a series of furious cuts, her arms moving more quickly and hitting harder than she could even follow, her fighting becoming a messy mesh of instinct, anger, and muscle-memory sword form. Her sword held in both hands, she hit quickly enough that she seemed to move in a blur, too fast to be followed by the naked eye. Each strike carried the weight that only anger could lend a body, all mental restraints entirely lifted, and she screamed with rage all the while. The sheer force was enough to push even Kenpachi back, and though the captain tried to counter-attack, Erza's defenses had no holes. In a matter of seconds she had drawn blood, her Tetsu no Tama cutting into his flesh in a dozen places. Yet as he was pushed back, as he took one cut after another, only barely keeping up with her pace, Kenpachi simply laughed.
For several minutes they simply clashed, exchanging blow after blow. Kenpachi: wild, raw, powerful, unrefined. Erza, even in her rage: formal, elegant, and well practiced. Technique almost always wins over raw power. That's what she had taught Ichigo. If not for Zaraki Kenpachi, she might just have said 'always'. But now, the two of them struggling against each other, their power was if not equal, then at least close enough.
Finally Kenpachi caught her blade, pushing back and breaking her stride. Letting out a loud, spirited cry, he shoved her back, and immediately followed up with a furious attack, his strength more than matching her own. Hopping back from a wide horizontal slash, she braced herself as Kenpachi charged forward with the force of a speeding locomotive.
"Come on, come on!" he hollered, swinging his sword in wide, quick, harsh slashes, pushing Erza back. "You ain't even started yet! Don't leave me hangin'!"
Dodging under another horizontal cut, Erza roared again, stabbing forward, the tip of her sword piercing through Kenpachi's chest, coming just short of slicing through his throat. Kenpachi roared with laughter, and the same moment, he counter-attacked, not even considering blocking or parrying. His huge sword rammed through the plate of her armour, although the armour slowed its impact some, and Erza felt a burning pain as it cut deeply into her midsection. As one, the two pulled their swords free, and Erza took a step back. The pain was like a shower of cold water, the worst of her rage now washing off her.
"Master, you are being foolish!" snapped the voice of Tetsu no Tama. "You are letting your anger cloud your senses! In a brawl, in a contest of strength, you will never win against him. Use your strengths, my master, that which makes you better than him! Use ME!"
Erza nodded. He was right. She held her sword out, and a gust of wind sailed around her feet as her reiatsu started to adjust to the power she was building up.
"Finally gettin' ready to let loose?" Kenpachi said. "Take yer time."
"Strike," Erza all but bellowed, "Tetsu no Tama!"
The transformation was almost instantaneous. Her sword glowed briefly, like so many times before, and changed. Seconds later, she stood with a longsword in her hand, double-edged, broad and straight, with a cross-guard. On her left arm was a triangular kite shield, sturdy and thick, emblazoned with the red emblem of Fairy Tail on a white background.
"Shields?" Kenpachi said with a chuckle. "Well, ain't you the little knight in shinin' armour."
"My shikai takes many forms. This one, I learned in my absence. Face Justice, Zaraki."
"Let's see how tough that defense really is, eh?" Kenpachi cheered, and surged forward. Holding her shield high and assuming a stance, her head and chest well covered, Erza blocked his strike. It shook her with its thunderous force, but at the same time as it had come in, Erza had thrust her sword forward. Buried almost to the hilt, her sword had slid into his chest quite easily.
"Well, son of a bitch..." Kenpachi muttered, pushing against her shield, Erza still not budging.
"You will not win against me like this, Zaraki Kenpachi," Erza cried furiously. "You will not win, and you will not break this shield!"
Twisting the sword, she pulled it out, and felt almost guilty at how much she enjoyed the pained grunt he let out. Almost.
Quickly, she launched into a series of attacks, pushing the giant back, always keeping her guard up. Not the champion fighter of the Gotei for nothing, Kenpachi guarded and counter-attacked, each blow tremendously powerful, but Erza was fully covered, her shield absorbing every strike without fail. Slowly and carefully she pushed back, refusing to let a single hit land.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Kenpachi roared, banging his sword against her ruthlessly and recklessly, ignoring every little hit he took. "That's it, just like that! Hit me harder, woman!"
Her shield soon became dented and chipped, but it refused to yield. Finally Kenpachi stopped her advance, batting her blade aside with a deceivingly clever twist, but Erza held her shield high, and blocked the following attack easily. The two locked in a vicious, stubborn push, Kenpachi raining down a furious set of strikes with his seemingly unlimited energy, testing Erza's defences to their furthest. Erza, for her part, simply refused to take any damage, her shield and sword proving too effective for his wild berserker style.
It is becoming a deadlock, Tetsu no Tama spoke in her mind. You must start to do real damage, or you will tire out.
Erza nodded, and anticipating one of his wild strikes, she sidestepped, his swing going wild. Quickly she hopped forward, slamming her shield into his face. The force of the blow broke the giant's stride, and before he could recover, Erza had cut him one, two, three times, and as he brought his sword to bear again, Erza parried with her shield and stabbed him in the gut, before cutting at his thigh.
The struggle was becoming brutal, Kenpachi's endurance seeming limitless, but Erza was winning. She had not been cut once, not since that one time before she released her shikai, and her style was superior to the wild and untempered brutality of her opponent. Slowly but surely, she got one hit in here, another there. Like chipping away at a mountain it was, but she had a hammer to do it with.
She knew it was only the beginning, though. Bankai was a strong weapon, but it would barely be enough when...
Kenpachi took a step back and laughed, holding his sword out to the side.
"I ain't sure if I'm pissed that you keep hidin' behind a shield, or havin' a blast 'cause you're makin' me work for it," he said, raw, rough joy permeating his voice. "One thing's for sure, though, woman- ya're worth goin' all out for."
Erza braced herself as he reached for his eyepatch. She remembered it all too well, the terrifying, raw power he emitted when fully unleashed...
In one swift, harsh move, Kenpachi pulled off the eyepatch, and immediately his power exploded like a bomb, a shockwave emitting from his frame as the fabric of the afterlife's reality groaned and strained to adjust to his power. The earth trembled, turning everything in his immediate vicinity to dust, and Erza could see his reiatsu, normally invisible to the naked eye, blazing a bright yellow, and for a second she could see the image of a skull above him, grinning at her grimly...
"Tonight, I'm gonna have myself a real good time..." Kenpachi said with a grin, and stepped forward. "So, don't stop me now."
Demonstratively he held out his sword, and made a cut to his right into thin air. A massive blast of energy discharged, and every building within a hundred yards of him was reduced to rubble instantly. Erza did not envy whoever had been caught in that. It looked as if he had wrecked an entire division. The houses on the edges of the blast looked bizarre, cut in half.
She swallowed. For a moment, that old fear resurfaced, that fear of death, the horror he stood for... but then she remembered her anger, her fury, and she stood resolute. She was not who she once had been. She was strong now.
"You are powerful, Zaraki Kenpachi," she said firmly, taking a stance. "But we are none of us invincible. Let's see what you have in the face of my bankai."
"Bring it on," Kenpachi said, nodding approvingly.
Quickly, Erza thumbed a rune on her regular armour, which Urahara thoughtfully had added for just such an occasion, and the straps magically came undone, the plated mail falling to the ground. Kenpachi curiously raised an eyebrow, but didn't question it. Erza flung her armour away and to the side, and held her sword out, her reiatsu surging.
"Bankai!" She roared the words out, and stared into the giant's eyes. "Tetsuken Yoseitama!"
Dust was blown up generously from the ground, rushed up by the sheer discharge of raw power, rivalling even that of her demonic opponent. As it settled, her fully released form could be seen, glorious and resplendent. She wore armour, not unlike the one that she had worn just a second before, but more majestic, with a silver gleam, the same emblem of her old guild clearly visible on her chest. Little crosses were visible to the eye on its chest and shoulder plates. Her shield, which had been chipped and dented, was whole again, gleaming with splendour.
"Ya lose armour, so ya can put on more armour?" Kenpachi said with a chuckle. "Don't matter to me. Here I go!"
Like two titans, the two of them charged at each other, and they clashed with a sound like that of a thunderclap.
Standing on a rooftop, mercifully spared from the devastation below, the one known to the Gotei Thirteen as Kusajishi Yachiru surveyed the scene. Her beloved Ken-chan was letting loose, and it filled her with joy to see him have this much fun, more than he'd had for centuries. It was sure to look like a war zone from down below, but from afar, one really got a sense of the destruction, entire blocks of buildings having been leveled, and more buildings continuing to crumble as the fight moved around. She smiled; it was a good sign.
"A grand sight, is it not?"
Yachiru blinked, and looked to her left. A tall man stood next to her, seemingly having appeared out of thin air, and it was obvious he was no shinigami. He wore strange armour, covering him from tip to toe, and it gleamed with gold. Only his face could be seen, the visor on his helmet turned up.
"Who are you, mister?" Yachiru said innocently.
"Don't play dumb with me," the new arrival sneered. He smiled triumphantly, fixing his eyes on the fighting two. "Your cries are obvious to all, except the one who should hear them the most."
Yachiru's innocent look disappeared, and she looked at the man. "Shouldn't your attention be elsewhere, mister?"
"Oh, it is," he said confidently. "However, master can manage for a minute or two without my full attention. I so rarely get the chance to see a different perspective."
"If you say so," Yachiru said, and shrugged.
"You are pathetic, Nozarashi," Tetsu no Tama said, his gleeful smile never leaving his face. "What great and unimaginable misfortune it must be to be in your position."
"You're not very nice," Yachiru said, and there was a hint of warning in her voice.
"Worry not," Tetsu no Tama said, his voice sounding as if reverent before the situation, nearly trembling, "your pain will soon be at an end. He will die, as he well deserves, and you may welcome oblivion with him."
"Don't underestimate him," Yachiru said firmly. "He's the strongest there is."
"She won't," Tetsu no Tama said, a tremor of excitement breaking through his voice, so hardly strained to keep its composure. "That's why she will win, and he will lose."
Yachiru shook her head. "Nobody can beat him. Nobody ever did, except that one lady..."
Tetsu no Tama sneered at her. "I'll see you on the other side, tormented spirit. When he lies dead and broken, we shall all be satisfied."
Erza felt the collision shake every bone in her body, and felt in a moment as if she would shatter. Her sword cut deeply into his shoulder, and in the same instant his sword slammed against her shield. Immediately, it shattered under the sheer force of his strike. Roaring out his pleasure, he brought his sword up for another blow, sweeping at her down and up from the side. Erza barely caught his blade, parrying the blow, but as he pulled the sword upward, the force was too much, and she was flung off her feet, sent flying back and spinning around a full three-hundred and sixty degrees, before she desperately twisted her body and managed to land on her feet. Her knees cried out in protest, and the ground under her feet cracked as she still slid back. Kenpachi wasted no time, charging forward again with his sword raised, and Erza quickly grabbed her longsword in both hands, parrying his attacks. They came in quickly, much more quickly than a mere brute like him should be capable of- it was as if his excitement had allowed him to tap into skills he did not even use before.
She had chosen to start off her bankai in its base armour, which was fairly general- it made her a little tougher and a little stronger, but offered little besides that. Now, under the weight of Kenpachi's raw force, it was only barely enough. One strike glanced against her shoulder, and to her dismay, the blade not only nicked or dented the armour, but cut through it as well. Her armour, powerful as it was, would do little to stop a direct attack.
But armour was far from the true strength of her bankai. Just barely she caught one of the demon's attacks head-on, straining under the force of his strength, and rolled to the side. He stumbled forward, and it took him a second to change direction. Erza got to her feet, and the second was all she needed.
"Requip: Heaven's Wheel!" she roared. In an instant, her resplendent base armour was gone, replaced by a lighter plate covered by a mesh of armoured scales. Great metal wings took shape behind her back, formed from the same kind of scales. She was covered from top to bottom, leaving only her head free. With a thought, she dismissed her longsword, exchanging it for her twin katanas.
Looking as battle-mad as ever, Kenpachi sped toward her again, but he was surprised to find her dodging under his guard, leaving a quick cut to his side as she ran past him. He turned around to pursue her, but Erza was already dashing back at him, moving her blades with ferocious speed. He cut at her with a sideways sweep, but she caught the blade with one of her own, redirected the force of his blow into the ground, and ran him through with her free blade. Undeterred, Kenpachi cut at her again, but Erza was fast now, her movements by far outdoing his own, and it seemed most strikes wouldn't even hit. She would simply dodge, evade, move out of the way, while leaving one cut after another at no expense to herself. Kenpachi stubbornly continued his assault, and Erza grunted with frustration.
She was winning, in this form. Heaven's Wheel sacrificed protection for added speed, and it was exactly what she had needed. But the mad captain was still unbelievably powerful, and it seemed like to him, defeat was something that happened to other people. It was time to up her game.
Quickly moving back, covering twenty yards in a single second, Erza let her wings move. Kenpachi was hot on her heels, and she only barely had the time to let herself be lifted up into the air, out of reach of his sword. This had to be done quickly; Heaven's Wheel only allowed her to fly for so long- she still had not fully mastered her bankai, not by a long shot.
"HEY!" Kenpachi snarled. "You get back down here! Don't shit on this with that bullshit!"
"Be patient!" Erza cried back, and circled around him. "This won't take a minute!"
As she made her second circle around the man, soaring a good thirty feet above him, there was a glow in the air, and row upon row of swords manifested in the air, well above two dozen. Tenrin Circle Swords, a technique of old reborn in her bankai, never before used in true combat.
"Dance, my swords!" she cried, and the swords began to spin, each one taking aim for Kenpachi.
The blades rained down, each one fixed on the demon captain. Kenpachi didn't even bother to dodge or block, simply keeping his eyes fixed on Erza up in the sky. A cloud of dust was kicked up as the swords impacted, and Erza swooped across the battlefield, trying to get a view. She could sense him, still there, still strong and blazing wildly...
"Stop kiddin' around!" Kenpachi cried. The dust was settling, and the man casually pulled a sword out from just beside his neck, seeming unaffected by the foot or so of steel. He looked a little like a pin cushion, most blades having hit, but few having done much damage.
She had expected this, though. She made one last swoop, and while still in the air, both her arms and armour changed. The light scale plate exchanged for the fiery red Flame Empress, enveloping Erza in blazing hot fire, and her swords for Breaker, the two-handed axe. Her weapon burning almost white-hot, propelled forward by the momentum of flight, she cut hard at him, timing her strike perfectly. Rather than blocking, Kenpachi counter-attacked, but Erza had anticipated this. She could feel his blade rip into her side as she twisted to the side, just as her axe connected in a wide sideways swing. It lodged firmly in the side of his chest, its fiery edge searing and burning his flesh.
"That-that's better!" Kenpachi snarled, his face twisting a little, into a grimace. He was not entirely immune to pain, it seemed, although it did little to slow him down. Erza pulled free her axe just in time to dodge under a vicious horizontal cut, and hopped back. She wasn't done yet. She hopped back quickly, letting out a large gout of flame, creating a smoke screen between her and the mad captain. Quickly, she let her armour change once more.
"Giant armour!" she cried out, and around her the plate reshaped once more, bright yellow with a black cross on the chest and huge pauldrons covering her shoulders. In her hand, a lance had formed. This was a powerful weapon, one that could possibly end the fight... possibly.
"De-Malevo Lance!" Erza cried, and charged, thrusting the weapon forward, spearing Kenpachi squarely in the gut. The weapon was still difficult to use, one she could use only once per battle, but against a vicious brute like Kenpachi it was all she needed. Fast and furious, the lance propelled forward like a jet engine, leaving her hand, and Kenpachi immediately went flying in the direction of Erza's thrust. He slammed through several buildings on his way like they were made of papier-maché, before finally colliding with a particularly thick storage building. As the spear at last ran out of momentum and stopped, it exploded, showering blood and gore from Kenpachi's gut.
Erza raced after it, having switched to the Heaven's Wheel to reach him quickly, and noticed that she was already starting to tire- these quick switches were necessary, but each one drained her power. She had not yet mastered her bankai, after all.
Kenpachi stood up again, looking a bit like a sluggish boxer. The wound in his gut looked grievous, sure enough, but it seemed mostly to just seep a bit of blood. That lance, Erza knew, could have killed a Vasto Lorde. Kenpachi was still there, still fit to fight.
"Now ya really got me goin'!" he roared, and surged forward. Erza, shocked, brought up a sword to try to parry, but he batted it aside, and with one quick cut he slashed right through the armour like it were made of cloth, cutting Erza diagonally. Taken aback and in pain, Erza jumped back, her armour changing just in time to face the captain again. Thick, dark blue plate, stronger than anything else in her arsenal, it was her Adamantine armour, aided and boosted by two triangular halves of a shield floating in front of her. This was the best defence she had, but it came at the cost of having no offence whatsoever.
Kenpachi cut into her with wild abandon, seemingly redoubling his efforts, and Erza grit her teeth, her shield shaking under his blows. She had hoped- foolishly- that her lance attack would have finished him, or broken his back, or at least sent him reeling hard enough that she could continue to lay into him, hit him hard and fast. Instead, he was fighting back like a man possessed, and Erza couldn't even strike back. But, this bought her some time. Kenpachi batted away at her stubbornly, and her bones ached and rattled, but she had an idea. Slowly, she let her power surge...
"Can't hide forever!" Kenpachi shouted, making Erza's defence tremble with each hit.
"I'm not planning to!" Erza shouted back. Just for one second, her shields opened, and holding up her arm, two fingers pointed at her opponent, her entire form crackled with blue energy.
"Hado forty-four: Byakurai Ken Chaji!" she roared. The energy surged forward, electric and powerful, hitting Kenpachi point blank. It was one of the highest level offensive spells she was able to muster, having muttered the incantation as quickly as she dared. His body twisting under the energies, Kenpachi nevertheless remained standing. It had not been enough.
"Ya gotta... do... better..." Kenpachi said through gritted teeth. The lightning dissipated, and he surged forward, headbutting her. She staggered, and with surprising agility, he swept her feet out from under her with one leg, landing on her back.
"That's a hella strong armour!" Kenpachi hollered happily. "Let's see how hard it is!"
Grabbing his sword with both arms, he stabbed down, pushing against her chest-plate. The armour held firm, but creaked under the pressure, badly strained. Kenpachi grunted, pushing harder, and to her horror, Erza felt the tip of his sword against her skin. The first part done, the armour pierced, he started to push it firmly through, agonizingly slowly. Erza screamed, feeling his sword pierce her almost halfway through its length.
"Now that's hard work," Kenpachi said approvingly, and yanked out the sword. Erza gasped at the pain as it exited, and stumbled to her feet. He made no move to attack her; after all, what he wanted most was not to kill her, but to fight for as long as they both were able.
"It'll be harder still!" Erza sneered, taking a couple of deep breaths. She was running low on energy, and she would soon be exhausted- she had used a lot of her bankai's power in a very short time, and it took its toll, as did the grievous injuries Kenpachi had given her. Still, she would not give up. Even if victory was on the far end of a googol, you still tried...
"Requip: Morning Star!" she roared defiantly, and her armour changed once more. A resplendent white plate covered her, two short cloaks in orange draped over her shoulders and round her waist, lined with yellow. It was her energy armour, one that would let her use kido more naturally. It was not her strong suit, but at this point, she was willing to try anything. Surging into the air, twin katanas equipped, she swung her blades valiantly, and wave after wave of raw, destructive energies showered over Kenpachi.
"Just DIE!" Erza screamed furiously, and realized that a small part of her actually wanted that.
"Ya gotta do better!" Kenpachi cheerily cried back.
Erza let out a frustrated groan. Mustering what energy she had left, she let her reiatsu surge, almost to a dangerous level, blue energies coursing through her blades. It was about time she tried this; it should do the trick. Flying right at Kenpachi, she halted at the last second. Surprised, his guard was in the wrong place- but Erza wasn't looking to pierce his guard. She was looking to destroy him.
"DRAGON STRIKE!" she cried out with all her strength, releasing the energies as she cut forward with her swords. It had been so hot and so hard that it had nearly burned her, had nearly spiraled out of control. The blast had obliterated several nearby buildings, the excess force bouncing off Kenpachi alone having been enough to wreak havoc on them. The discharge, she would learn later, had been seen all across the Seireitei. Surely... surely this had to...
Singed from the attack, and clearly not unhurt, Kenpachi stood tall as the dust settled. His shihakusho, already torn, was slashed to pieces, leaving his chest exposed, only parts of his pants remaining.
"Good hit," he said simply. "My turn."
Batting one of her swords aside, he came down with a quick vertical cut, slamming into Erza's shoulder. She saw it, tried to dodge, but it was too late. It cut deeply into her right shoulder. Erza staggered back, fresh blood soiling her white armour. Kenpachi gave her no respite, charging forward again, and Erza was hard pressed to hold him back. Her wound slowed her arm, making it difficult to move her swords as quickly as she wanted. It was only a matter of time before he'd hit, and unlike Kenpachi, she couldn't afford to be hit like that more than a few times.
Her steps quickened by lightning, she used a shunpo to move back, putting some distance between them.
There was nothing for it. She had been foolish to not use it from the start. Taking a deep breath, she let the armour change once more, along with her weapon. As Kenpachi came at her once more, she stood tall in pitch-black plate mail, a massive, thick sword hefted in both hands, so large that it resembled more a slab of iron than an actual sword. A dark helmet covered her entire head. Purgatory armour. Render. Her two strongest, but most disliked pieces.
They were both born from her darker side. Her anger, her fear, her despair... Tetsu no Tama was a reflection of herself, and like her, he too had felt these things. From them, he had forged arms and armour that fed on the chaos and fury of war, that fed on the adrenaline-fueled emotional instability of a true, genuine fight. She could feel him singing in her soul, eager to lock blades once more with the demon. Kenpachi came. She was ready.
Catching his sword, she roared out angrily and pushed back, and to her surprise, she even overpowered him, forcing him to take a step back. Purgatory was strong in itself, but one of its greatest assets was how it made the pain become... reduced. She barely felt her wounds anymore. This was as much a benefit as it was a danger, as she could bleed out, or overexert herself easily if it went on too long. She pushed those thoughts aside. She had to win.
She cried out again, her voice sounding like an inhuman shriek, and she shoved the giant back, following up with a massive horizontal swing. Kenpachi brought up his sword as if to guard, as if he sensed the danger, but the sheer power of it was too much, and he only softened the blow. She drew blood as it slammed into him, and the raw power of her attack knocked him over. She was overcome by a desire to hit him when he was down, cut his head off...
No. That was not who she was, even now.
"Damn," Kenpachi muttered, getting to his feet. He looked even more sluggish now, and spat out a healthy amount of blood. "I ain't lost my footing... long as I can recall, really."
Erza cried out again, charging forward. As if distant, she could feel her body protest, cry out in pain, but it was... like it was somebody else's hurt, somebody else's problem. Launching into a set of slow, heavy swings, she forced Kenpachi to stay defensive. Just a few more good hits like those...
"Damn, woman!" Kenpachi said, something profound in his voice. He deflected one of her attacks, and like Erza had done so many times, skipped a few steps back to gain some space. She could feel Tetsu no Tama inside her, crying kill him kill him kill him, but Erza restrained herself. A berserker, she was not.
"If it keeps goin' like this... I'm actually gonna die," Kenpachi said simply, sounding like a drunk sobering up. "Never saw that 'un coming."
"Scared?" Erza spat, her voice distorted through her helmet.
"No," Kenpachi said. He held out his sword. "Just means I gotta put my back into it. Let's see..."
He then grabbed his sword with both hands, taking a stance Erza recognized. Kendo. He... actually knew that?
She had used every bit she had in her arsenal. He had grabbed his sword by both hands. It was so absurd, she could have laughed, or cried, or roared with anger. But she did none of these things, instead resolutely charging forward. She was tired. So, apparently, was he. Render's raw power, and Purgatory's strength and offence would have to be enough.
They both launched into heavy two-handed swings, slow only by the standards of elite fighters such as themselves. It was sobering to fight him like this. His sword held in both hands, his swings were equally as powerful as the slow, destructive swings of Render. Although his form was poor, no doubt seldom practiced, it was enough for him to keep up, tired and encumbered as Erza was. It was a shocking, even obnoxious realization that his style of wild berserkagang was by choice, not by nature. If only Render had been faster...
It was her single most powerful individual sword. A few more solid hits would win her the fight, she was sure. But, this power came at the cost of speed. Normally, a shinigami's weapon was light, made of spiritual particles rather than actual hard steel, but Render's power lay in raw force, and gathering it in sufficient amounts made the blade just as heavy as it looked.
Kenpachi looked different, too. He was focused, his mouth a straight line, that overjoyed grin having given way to concentration. He was slower and weaker than before, and it became obvious that he, too, had his limits, that her attacks had done real damage. Then again, Erza, too, was slower, weaker. She considered changing armours again; a burst of speed would serve her well... but she didn't dare to. Expending more energy might burn her out entirely, and if she took off Purgatory, she would feel the full weight of her injuries and exhaustion. Even if she could possibly adjust to that, it was a risk she dared not take. So, she slugged away, ignoring the burning in her arms as she forced herself to lift her heavy blade again and again.
Then, slowed by her armour and blade, she failed to guard herself. Kenpachi dodged under one of her heavy swings, stabbing forward with his sword. It caught her not far beneath her neck, running halfway through, and Erza let out a gurgle, her eyes widening. She spat blood, her grip on Render loosening.
"Fuckin'... finally..." Kenpachi grunted, out of breath himself.
But, he had forgotten one thing. Where he had one sword, Erza had an armoury. Grabbing hold of his wrist firmly with one hand, she let Render change into a spear, and thrusting forward, she returned the favour, her spear cutting right to the top and centre of his chest. Tiredly, he tried to evade, but Erza's grip held firm, powered by desperation and sheer stubborn unwillingness to yield. For a few seconds they stood like so, both having pierced the other, both at the end of their ropes. Then, they shot each other a look of mutual understanding, and Erza let go of his wrist. In one motion, the two ripped their weapons free, and both would have yelped with pain if they'd had the strength left to do so. They both staggered, struggling to stay on their feet, both dazzled and dizzy by their many injuries, the blood they had lost, the hits they had taken.
Stand tall, my master! Tetsu no Tama roared in her mind. He is alone, but we are two. Victory is within our grasp. Stand tall just a little longer. You and I are Fairy Tail!
Her sword had never referred to itself like that before, and something in the phrase, in that familiar name, stirred Erza to action. Half-unconscious, she felt Render form in her hand again. Her arms, her entire body groaning in protest, she grasped the hilt, and lifted the sword again. It was held low, and when she struck it wasn't half as powerful as it should be, but it was enough. Kenpachi, still trying hard to stand up, brought his sword up by instinct to block, but it was too late. Like a club, the huge sword swung into his side, snapping his arm and slicing into his ribcage. The force knocked him over, and Erza knew she was finished. Render disappeared, its master too weak to maintain it, and her bankai began to dissolve. She simply had no energy left with which to hold it. She felt her sword sealing itself, returning to its normal state, and her knees gave in. She sunk down, planting the sword in the ground simply to keep herself upright. For a couple of minutes she stood like so, trying simply to not fall unconscious. After a while, she managed to raise her head, open her eyes and see...
They had wrecked most of everything around them. Everything she could see from where she stood looked like a war zone. Soon enough, when the dust settled and they could be sure the fight was over, there would be high-ranking officers-
Kenpachi let out a groan, and Erza couldn't believe her eyes. He was awake, just like her. Gradually moving his one good hand, he propped himself up, slowly as if the weight of the world were on his shoulders. Struggling every step of the way he forced himself up to a kneeling position, then started to stand.
"Fuck... me..." he groaned. "Yer somethin', all right..."
Using her sword as a crutch, ignoring the screams of protest running through her body, Erza forced herself to stand. He was still alive. No less, he was still holding his sword, as if ready to fight. It really was utterly unbelievable. He looked like he had gone through a meat grinder, his body covered in massive cuts, bruises, blood and gore, and there was barely any skin showing on his body through all the red. Erza suspected she didn't look much better, herself.
"Ain't over... till it's over..." Kenpachi said, stumbling forward and making ready for a vertical cut, slow, clumsy, and thrown off by exhaustion.
Erza forced herself to react, but could barely move. Her sword had broken in half, she noticed- when had that happened? Had she expended that much power?
As the cut came toward her, she took a deep breath, and realized she probably had multiple broken ribs. Still, she summoned whatever fighting spirit she had left, and dodged under his slow, clumsy swing. All out of finesse, she stabbed her broken sword forward, running it into his wound-ridden gut. Roaring out, with strength she didn't knew she had, she pushed it in to the hilt. Kenpachi grunted with pain. Fury rose in her chest again. She had done everything she could. She had given it all she had. She had taken pain and injury galore. How dared he still stand?
She roared, out of her mind, and holding onto the hilt of her sword, she pushed forward and up. Kenpachi lost his balance, falling over her, but rather than collapse under his weight she hoisted him up over her head, speared on her broken sword like a pig on a sticker. Once she had lifted him as far as she could, she quickly pulled out her sword, took a step to the side, and as he fell down she caught his neck in a lariat, flipping him around entirely. He landed with a loud slam, the ground beneath him shaking, and Erza stood over him, victorious. He was not getting up this time.
She breathed heavily, looking at her opponent's mauled, broken form. He was still breathing, still alive despite all this, and she realized this had been the single hardest fight of her entire life. She had narrowly beaten Kenpachi, demon of Zaraki, champion of the Gotei and wanton murderer. He lay before her feet, helpless.
End it, Tetsu no Tama said excitedly.
As if sensing her thoughts, Kenpachi looked up at her, somehow not yet entirely unconscious.
"Gonna... finish it?"
Erza stared at him blankly. Part of her wanted to. Part of her wanted this destructive murderer gone. He didn't deserve mercy. He was one of the worst things about the Gotei.
But another part of her looked at a broken, beaten opponent, helpless to defend himself, and knew that to murder a murderer still made one a murderer.
"Why?" she snarled, struggling to stay upright. That little surge of power had left her dizzy, weaker than before. "Why all this? Why... why do you kill people? And why didn't you kill Ichigo or Renji?"
"Killin'...?" Kenpachi muttered. "Ain't about killin'. Never was."
"So, what, then?" Erza snarled. "Coming at people with a sword isn't about killing?"
"Fun," Kenpachi said quietly. "'S all about... fun. Ain't nothing in the world I live for more'n... havin' a good time. Nothin's a good time... except fightin'."
Erza balled her fist. What a sick and mad mind that made for!
"You're a killer."
"Sometimes," Kenpachi admitted. "If yer gonna kill me... get on with it. I die like this, I die a happy man. But talkin', that ain't my strong suit. Go... ahead."
He closed his eyes, and Erza sensed the shift in his reiatsu as he fell truly unconscious. She could, even in this state, cut into his neck and take his head off. Not even he could survive that. Tetsu no Tama would love and respect her more than ever. Her friends would understand. Nobody would know it was murder.
Nobody would know except Erza. That was the crux of it. She would know.
Letting out a frustrated noise, she turned her back on Kenpachi and started waddling back in the general direction she knew she had left Ichigo. She had priorities, after all. To hell with Kenpachi. To hell with everything else. She had to... look out for... her own.
Rangiku bit back the urge to groan. Being skewered was not a pleasant sensation; it was easily the fourth worst thing that had ever happened to her. But, although she carried herself more like a cheery socialite than a warrior, and although she preferred the shopping lanes to the practice yard, she was a soldier. When it mattered, as it did now, she knew how to bite her tongue and do what had to be done.
So, she had done what she could for Ichigo, and then for Renji. The two of them were stable, although still unconscious. Which was for the best, given the state they were in. Her first aid had been pretty basic, as she was only as capable with medical kido as could be expected for the typical vice-captain. She had stopped the blood flow, muttered a few spells to reduce the pain, and dared to add a little something to boost their natural healing factor. It had been all she could do, and after that had been finished, then and only then had she tried healing herself.
Walking was a pain, literally so. She had considered moving the two of them as the fight ensued, but decided against it- being moved now could make things worse, and she could just about walk normally with some effort. Carrying a grown man, that was another thing altogether.
So she had sat huddled by a wall, watching over Ichigo and Renji, feeling, seeing the battle. There had been flashes of kido, huge tremors and explosions, and a flash of light that everyone across the Seireitei were sure to have seen. It had sent shivers of terror down her spine, thinking of the two of them fighting. Rangiku had known Erza back in the day, and she had been monstrously powerful. Driven, strong, determined to be better...
But Zaraki Kenpachi had always been in a class of his own. It was rumoured only the eldest of the captains would be able to handle him if he ever turned against them. Now Erza was fighting him, and judging by the way the fight went on- it had to have been an hour, at least- she wasn't going down easily. Ironically, but not unexpectedly, Kenpachi had done far more damage to the Seireitei than any ryoka could dream of.
Then the reiatsu signatures, which had blazed so strongly, began to weaken over time. Then, they went quiet entirely, returning to levels low enough that they couldn't easily be sensed, and Rangiku knew that Erza had died.
"You poor soul..." she muttered to herself, feeling oddly moved. A traitor dying, albeit an old friend, shouldn't mean that much.
Sitting back, waiting for the reinforcements that would surely come in as the dust settled, she simply continued watching over her charges. Slowly, she closed her eyes. What a day...
It was no small surprise to her when she first felt it. Weak, worn but not beaten, pulsating like a heartbeat, like any reiatsu would...
It couldn't be.
She opened her eyes, and looked down the street. Looking more like a mangled corpse than a healthy soul, there was Erza Scarlet, limping down what was left of the street, taking each step like it was her last. Gaping, Rangiku just stared. What on Earth? How... had Kenpachi lost?
"How are they?" Erza rasped as she came within speaking range, against all reason still walking and talking.
"Uh..." Rangiku mumbled, still gaping. Snapping herself out of her shock, she managed, "I, um, fixed them up. Best I can. They'll live, but they need healing. So do I..."
Erza nodded, looking exhausted. She seemed even worse up close; she had been stabbed and cut all across her body, and had her clothes been white, they would surely have been dyed a messy red by now.
"...how are you still alive?" Rangiku said, too taken aback to think of anything else.
"I'm not sure about that myself," Erza muttered. "He's okay, though?" She pointed at Ichigo.
"-Ish." Rangiku nodded. To her further surprise, Erza bent over with a groan, and picked up Ichigo in a bridal carry, like before.
"Are you crazy?!" Rangiku exclaimed. "You look half-dead! You should be lying down, not walking, much less carrying somebody else!"
"Nothing... for it," Erza groaned. "Renji and you, you'll get medical attention from Fourth. Ichigo and I, we still have work to do."
"You're insane!" Rangiku nearly shouted, forgetting about her own pain. "You're almost out of reishi entirely, you're looking like a walking corpse, and the least you should do is sit back and let yourself be taken in! Unohana will see you back in shape, even if you're an enemy."
"Can't," Erza said, shaking her head. "not finished yet."
"You're impossible!" Rangiku scoffed. "Good luck getting out of here without being caught, in that state!"
Erza smiled, which looked terrifying more than reassuring in her current state, and said,
"Thank you, Rangiku."
"I... don't mention it," Rangiku muttered.
Erza turned around, and started walking away, with Ichigo in her arms, limping all the way.
"Damned fool!" Rangiku cried out, but her heart wasn't in it. To think... to think Kenpachi was beaten. By Erza Scarlet. There was no other possible conclusion, and the very thought scared her. Erza Scarlet... just what kind of enemy had she become?
First of all, some words from our writer, Greatkingrat88:
"And she stands victorious! This was an intense thing to write, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Now, it may seem odd to put something so climactic in the middle of the arc- but we just had to. Rest assured, there will be more to come that is just as epic."
I sure hope that we meet, or even surpassed all of your expectations for this battle. We've spent alot of time and put in alot of effort to make this battle as epic as possible. I wanted to make sure that this battle gave both fighters justice, and give a battle appropriate enough for the fight. Thats why it took so long to come out, there was A LOT of fine tuning put into this battle.
Now before we end this chapter, we have something that need to be addressed.
The first thing id like to talk about is the recent fairy tail chapter This will contain spoilers for it, so if your not caught up, I suggest going to the actual chapters...Well, we all saw one of the twists coming a mile away, that Irene is Erza's mother... but none of us saw the other ones coming! Erza's mother...is the Queen of the Dragons! Not just that, but she also invented dragon slaying magic!
That...is awesome! Will I be able to do something with it? Only time will tell. More information is needed. I know I will WANT to for sure. I feel like i need to do SOMETHING with it, I really do, but things like this need to be handled carefully. I don't want to force it and I don't want to make her into a overpowered Mary sue.
We cant wait to hear what you all have to say about it! Really, we cant. Any and ALL feedback is needed and VERY much appreciated.