24 The Captain and Starrk

"Hey Starrk !" exclaimed Gerard as he caught up with the Espada "Wouldn't you be summoned with your friend ? "

"When I was summoned, I didn't hear Lillynette voice anymore," he started to explain as they continued to walk toward the center of the town "I thought that her voice would come from my sword but nothing, I was alone once again"

"But I soon found companionship in the form of a strange girl with green hair and lion ears" he continued as a little smile etched on his lips "She is just like a wild beast, her instinct were extremely sharp, when we met, she was wary of me, it was kinda sad to see someone have so much fear of me, I just wanted to talk to her"

"Your enormous reatsu just made her fear you ? " said Gerard with a with a smile "You truly were always unlucky "

A smile small graced the lips of Starrk as he looked back at the group that was following them"You surround yourself with an interesting group, Quincy" said Starrk as he locked eyes with Mordred "This girl, she reminds me of Lilynette a bit"

"Indeed, the report concerning you two painted her just like Mordred," he replied, looking at the knight that was giving them a death glare "My name's Gerard Valkyrie by the way calling me Quincy is a bit strange for me"

"Then Gerard, you seem to have a lot of friends that…" started Starrk before his sentence was cut short,

"He is not our friend ! " exclaimed Mordred "This bastard made us fall on the sea despite being able to conjure wings for us, just for giggles"

"Exactly like Lilynette " said Starrk with a little laugh that caused Mordred to stare at him

"Well, despite her harsh attitude, I think she quite likes me, look she didn't stop to look at the both of us !" declared Gerard, pointing at Mordred

But before the knight could respond, a woman with green hair and animal ears came from a nearby alley and looked at Starrk

"What are you doing, Coyote ?" she asked the espada while eyeing the rest of the group

"Well, Atalanta, I am guiding my friends here to the captain, they want to talk to him" he replied, explaining what he was doing to the greek woman

As she eyes the group she spotted Medea, Chiron and the symbol on the cloak of Gerard, the first one gave her disgust for a bit, Chiron reminded her of her times with the Argonauts

and Gerard gave her a sense of déjà vu.

"Hello teacher " Atalanta greeted Chiron as she eyed the Witch carefully "Hello Medea, nice to see you again" 

"The feeling isn't mutual don't worry Atalanta" replied the Witch as she broke eye contact with the archer

"Hey ! you were the archer of red, right ? "asked Mordred as she looked at Atalanta,

"Indeed, Saber of red, we were on the same 'team'" she replied eyeing Mordred

"Our last encounter was not joyous Atalanta but I am happy to see you again " said Chiron 

as he remembered the great Grail war back, when he was forced to fight two of his pupils.

"Indeed, this war was just a trap from the beginning" she replied to her teacher as she looked at Starrk and Gerard

"This symbol on your cloak, I've seen it back when this man liberated me from the Witch's control, are you from the same faction ?" she asked curious "His names was Friedrich, I heard it from your Master's mouth back then"

"Of course I know Friedrich, he is a fellow Stern Ritter, so tell me how he saved you ?" replied Gerard, happy to hear about one of his brother

"He killed me" she said, deadpanning at Gerard

"Ah ! This is so much like Friedrich !" exclaimed the man, knowing the antics of the soldier back then.

"Even if he killed me, he stopped the Witch from letting me kill innocent children" she added, looking at his cross with a trace of gratitude on her face. "So I don't resent him at all"

"That's good, ahah!" he exclaimed with a little smile on his face "Don't resent Friedrich, he is a good guy, even when he was a Soldat he was exceptional, he would have been designated as a Stern Ritter if not for the war"

The ears of everyone perked at what he said, but some of them couldn't stop but ask the question

"What war ?" asked Ritsuka

"Oops !" said Gerard comically "But i'll respond to ya, the war between the Humans and the Gods"

Medea, Chiron and Atalanta looked at him weirdly

"Humans against the Gods ? " started Atalanta "Humanity cannot defeat the Gods they are too far apart" she stated

"Don't underestimate humanity young girl, there are no other specie that has the potential that we have" Gerard admonished Atalanta, as he didn't "Perhaps, alone we are weak compared to the Gods, but together we outmatch them easily "

"Ah ! " scoffed Atalanta "As if any human could defeat goddess Artemis"

"I assure you that you take a large majority of the Stern Ritter, no even one of them is enough to kill your Goddess" replied Gerard as he looked at Atalanta smuggly

"I hope that if you encounter my Goddess, you'll flee before it's too late" she advised the Quincy 

"HAHAHA !" laughed Gerard "Thanks for the laugh girl, as if one of your flimsy gods could defeat me ! You have talent to be a Jester " 

Atalanta spared one last look at Gerard before looking at Coyote

"Is this one of your friends ? "she asked him, sounding a bit disappointed in him

"Hmm" he started to think "He can't be considered a friend, more of a mortal enemy, as our factions didn't quite match through history" he spoke without looking back as he started to depart the alley.

"But I am not someone that discriminate between Hollow and Quincy, I think that perhaps one day we could stop these senseless wars between us " he added as his form started to go out of the alley, Atalanta and Gerard watching him

"He is indeed right, the only true enemies are the Shinigamis" added Gerard as he swiftly departed leaving the group behind

Atalanta looked at the ground, pondering what Starrk said before she departed as well, letting what remained of the flabbergasted Chaldeans behind 

"What just happened ? asked Mash, looking lost 

"I don't know Mash" replied Ritsuka, 

"Let's keep up with them Master ! " pressed Mordred as she ran out of the alley to follow the trio

"It seems that we would have an interesting team for this Singularity" declared Chiron as the group left the alley to follow behind them with a smile on his face

The rest of the route was passed in silence, until they reached the center of the town, looking at the bodies of drunken man on the ground, Gerard smiled

"Well, it seems to be an interesting place ! " he declared as he opened the door, only to be met by a flying body coming from inside of the building.

Gerard ducked the body, letting the one behind him be it, this person was Mordred but she was a servant not a human, so she just parried the flying drunk man to the side of the building

"A bunch of scum, exactly what I said back in the forest !" she declared angrily 

"Calm yourself Mordred," said Chiron "This is normal in a bar to have some people that have drunk a bit more than they could " he said as he dodge another body that came flying his way

All the group could hear a woman's voice from the inside of the building

"You can't even hold this much booze ? You are part of my crew, so you must know how to drink" declared the woman's voice

"What a drag" sighed Starrk as he followed Gerard inside

"Why did you have to come here, Starrk ?" the beast woman sighed at her turn before entering

"Well, it seems that what is inside seems quite interesting" said Chiron as he entered with the rest of the group

Inside, we could see a group of pirates partying, but on an elevated table was a woman that had a scar coursing through her face, she had purple hair, she had excellent curves.

"Hey ! " the woman shouted "Starrk, my gunner has come to party with us everyone !" 

"YAY!" the crowd exploded in cheers for the newest arrival

"And he seems to coe with some friends, even someone that refused my invitation to board !" he continued to shout as she locked eyes with Atalanta

"BOOO! " exploded the crowd, this time booing the beast woman

"It seems that the general intelligence of the room is still the same as the room's temperature" sneered the woman

"AAHHAHA! " laughed the woman "Indeed, my men are not the most educated one but they are enough for what I ask of them"

"For the new faces, my name is Francis Drake ! " the woman presented herself

"AHAHHA! " laughed Gerard "Again with these genders shenanigan, but it's a pleasure to meet you, my name's Gerard Valkyrie ! "

"You seem to be an interesting guy, do you want to sail with me, big guy ?" the woman asked while drinking her booze

"I am sorry, but I am here on a mission, so I'll just ask one thing from you " replied Gerard

Drake squinted her eyes, looking at the man "What is that you want to ask of me ?"

"Give up the Grail that you have in your possession ! " he exclaimed 

"Or what ?" asked the woman

"Or I'll take it from your corpse of course" he replied, as if what he said was a certainty

Starrk looked at Gerard before using Sonido to appear in front of him, blocking his way to Drake

"I am sorry Gerard, but i'll never let you hurt one of my comrades " apologized the man before drawing his Zanpakuto

"Do you think you can match me, espada ?" questioned Gerard, as he drawed Hoffnung from his scarbard 

"Stop !" exclaimed Drake "We'll do better than slaughter each other, we'll do a competition, a one versus one friendly combat, without death or anything like that, Starrk vs Big man, the one who wins will get my Grail, as I know that you want it Starrk !"

Starrk looked back at his new captain, before smiling

"You truly discerned me this easily ? " he asked the pirate 

"Of course, having good eyes and knowing your own men prevent betrayal" she exclaimed as the group started to go out of the building

"They'll fight in the streets ? " asked Fujimaru, looking anxious at the prospect

"Yes boy !" exclaimed Drake as she appeared behind Fujimaru "Don't worry, all destruction will be repaired with the Grail"

Atalanta came near the group, looking at Starrk with a tinge of worry in her eyes

"I hope that your servant knows how to defend himself, Fujimaru Ritsuka" she declared as the fighters started to take places

"Don't worry Archer," said Mordred "Gerard is strong enough to crush your friend" 

Atalanta looked back at her previous teammate "We'll see, Starrk is extremely strong " she asserted before an overbearing pressure came crashing down on everyone 

"See ? " said Atalanta "This is his strength "

"As if a pressure like that could influence Gerard" declared Medea as the fight begun

"Your strength is commendable Espada" complimented Gerard "But you'll need more than just your reatsu to challenge me !" 

In a blink of an eye, Gerard appeared behind Starrk, his sword coming down on him like a club but as the sword would have cut him, Coyote disappeared before appearing behind Gerard, in a moment, the sword of Starrk slashed the back of Gerard.

"You are durable" complimented Starrk as it appeared that his sword did no damage to this man

"Of course ! My Blut is far stronger than your Hierro !" exclaimed Gerard as he tried to use his shield to hit Starrk, but he used Sonido to dodge and appear again behind Gerard

"We'll see how durable you are then," started Starrk as a blue energy started to gather above his Hollow hole, "Cero" when the energy reached a peak, he released the blue beam of pure energy, engulfing Gerard and the buildings behind him, transforming them into dust

"Quite good !" Starrk heard the voice of Gerard inside of the beam as a hand came from inside it, catching Starrk by his shirt "I hold you now !" 

As the beam disappeared, Starrk saw Gerard using his shield to hit him square in the head, the shield bashed his head violently, but the head of Starrk didn't move as the sound of the collision between the two sounded like two pieces of metal hitting each other.

Starrk used this distraction to generate two blue balls on his hands "Bala ! " the two blasts of pure energy were launched from his hands at a speed far eclipsing that of a Cero. The two blasts impacted Gerard square on the torso, sending him blasting through entire houses.

Starrk widened his eyes as he saw an arrow of reishi coming right for him, as he used his zanpakuto to cut the arrow, the body of Gerard appeared behind him, surprising him with his speed

A fist appeared in the view of Starrk, impacting him violently on the cheek, despite his Hierro, the hit still hurted him

'I can't beat him with just my base form, I don't know if without Lilynette I can go into Resurrección, but I have to try anyway If I want to see her again !' 

The reatsu of Starrk exploded, pulverizing the ground below him and destroying the entire part of the city where the fight was having place

"You are strong, Gerard, but I must win ! " For one of the first in his life, Starrk wanted to win a fight.

"Los Lobos !" shouted Starrk as his enormous reatsu grew even bigger before exploding, with a 'gentle' application of spiritual pressure, Starrk blew out the dust cloud, revealing his new outfit. He was holding two identical pistols.

"I am grateful to see the fabled resurrección of the strongest Espada, now let me see how strong you are " shouted Gerard excitedly

"I suggest you to dodge," said Coyote as he pointed his pistol at Gerard "Cero", an enormous blast of energy was shouted out of the pistol toward Gerard," Hmmpf " he smiled before using his shield to tank the blast

"That's all ?" he taunted the espada before the other gun was aimed at him

"Cero Metralleta" Starrk said, blasting around twenty cero simultaneously, making it appear as one big Cero

Gerard seeing the attack, used Hirenkyaku to dodge the blast but Starrk used his dodge to appear in front of him, his right gun aimed at him, "Cero", this time the Cero was far more powerful that the one that were fired from his left gun

"I can tank it ! " affirmed Gerard as the cero engulfed him

One second later, the voice of Gerard could be heard inside the Cero, surprising Starrk

"If you want to use a transformation, I'll use mine then !" exclaimed Gerard as an enormous red pillar appeared at the area where Gerard should be. Soon his voice could be heard

"Vollständig, Aschetonig (Authority of God)" Gerard appeared with a red Quincy Zeichen above his head with red reishi wing on his back

"Prepare yourself, Starrk" warned Gerard, as he took hold of Hoffnung

Starrk didn't know what happened but he sensed his body being propelled like a cannonball through the sky, he looked down as Gerard was coming for him, flying with his wings toward him, Starrk aimed his two guns down, 'Cero solitario del Rey Lobo', as he focused all of his strength in his guns, he used a technique that he didn't use against Shunsui back then

The cero was so strong that it created two ghostly blue guns, their barrels glowing blue as the two beams were released. Around the beams, space crumbled like a sand castle, creating small cracks.

"This was not in the data, but I'll overcome it !" Gerard declared as he used his shield with Blut to withstands this Cero

The impact between the forces was devastating, creating a blinding blue light in the sky as a deafening explosion rang out.

"Mash use your Noble Phantasm to protect the city ! " ordered Ritsuka

"Yes Master ! " said Mash as her shield started to glow "Lord Chaldea" her defensive noble Phantasm activated, but as soon as the explosion came in contact with it, her Noble Phantasm started to crack.

"UGHHH!" Mash groaned as she put everything in her power to augment the power of Lord Chaldea

"Mash, you must hold on ! " cried Ritsuka when he saw that the Noble Phantasm would not hold off the power of the blast.

Then a booming voice was heard above them, "This Noble Phantasm will hold on ! "

At this declaration, the Noble Phantasm of Mash started to glow golden, reinforcing the shield and restoring the once cracked Noble Phantasm.

High above them, Starrk looked at the silhouette of Gerard that was unscathed by his attack, he sighed as a blue flame engulfed his body and soon he was back at his base form.

He used Sonido to appear near Drake and put his hands in his pockets "I surrender ! " he declared, Atalanta sighed seeing this 

Silence reigned in the area before, cheers started to erupt everywhere as the fight ended

"We have a winner !" declared Drake "Then the Grail that I owned is yours Gerard Valkyrie as promised" she threw a golden cup at him, as he caught it he looked at the cup and blue lines started to appear on his arms, they soon started to appear on the Grail too, but as fast as they appeared, they disappeared 

"Well it seems this Singularity was easy Master !" boasted Gerard as he neared the Chaldeans.