Erich grunted and levered himself free of the rubble he’d been hurled into, staggering to his feet and giving himself a shake, wings flapping to dislodge dust and debris from his feathers. He tried not to breath it in, tried to keep his nose covered, but…

A cough ripped through his body, muscles tightening and pain lancing across his right side. His eyes prickled with tears that he tried to force back, unwilling to let Fox see how badly off he was.

(The medics had been right.)

(Damn it.)

His mouth was parched, his throat was raw, and his whole body ached from the abuse he’d put it through. He just wanted the battle to be over, but… he couldn’t back down. Not now. Not when he was the only hero in the city would could face Crimson Fox and have a hope of driving the villain off.

They were usually evenly matched, reliant on tiny mistakes to gain the upper hand, but this time… this time he was barely hanging on.

(Damn it, he should have never agreed to face that Hollow earlier!)

Erich pressed a hand to his side and forced himself straight, relieved when he didn’t feel his ribs moving; they were still only cracked, not broken.

(Yet.)

(The medics were going to kill him.)

“Had enough?” Crimson Fox asked as he sauntered closer, fox-ears perked forward and tails swaying in a way that meant he was pleased. “We could call it quits here and you could let me go finish what I meant to do, you know.”

“What you meant to do?” Erich scoffed and mantled his wings, forcing himself to ignore the pain in favor of making himself look dangerous. He stalked forward, weight carefully balanced on his toes as he paced a circle around Fox and gathered the dregs of his power. “As if this wasn’t chaos enough?”

(He… might be able to surprise the man.)

(One powerful, unexpected strike to level the playing field and he might be able to chase Fox off.)

(He’d done it before…)

Fox pouted at him as if the man had no shame at all. “Maa, Griffin-san’s so mean, always standing between me and my true rival~”

“Your self-proclaimed ‘true rival’ is a regular army official!” Erich snapped, unable to censor himself as his powers rang truth in his mind. To be overlooked so thoroughly, so consistently… to be nothing more than an obstacle between this man and a damn minor mage…!

“Oooh? Is Griffn-san jealous?” Crimson Fox smirked, head cocked and tails twitching and everything about him smug-smug-smug—

Erich snarled. Lunged with a leap and a wingbeat and a gleam of controlled power—

Crimson Fox swayed to the side. Caught his wrist and twisted—

They struggled. Vied for control. Yanked and twisted and pried at hands and fingers until his body betrayed him; a flash of pain, a missed hold, and Crimson Fox flung him back into a building.

Erich coughed. Suppressed a cry of pain. Staggered to his feet and glared as Fox rose effortlessly from the ground, dusty but unmarred by their tussle.

“My, my, my. You sure are a persistent one today,” Crimson Fox murmured as he brushed off his pants, pale gaze fixed on Erich. “If you won’t back down, then I’ll have to teach you a lesson.”

He raised his chin. Mantled his wings despite the pain. Tried to look as powerful as he could. “If you want me, come and get me.”

Crimson Fox paused and cocked his head, ears twitching as he rubbed at his chin. “Want you in which way, darling?” he asked, voice deepening and gaze intent in a way that made a shiver run up Erich’s spine. “Don’t get me wrong, both ways involve rope, but it’s an important distinction to make, don’t you think?”

Erich froze, trying to process the man’s words and hoping the pain had caused him to mishear.

(Ropes?)

(Ways?)

(What?!)

“Do you want me to tie you up? Strip away all that stiff pride and let you relax for once?” Crimson Fox murmured as he stepped closer, one ear swiveling back but his gaze never leaving Erich. “You’d look so pretty like that, giving in and enjoying yourself…”

He swallowed and stepped back, wings colliding with the building behind him and—

Agony!

His vision swam. Went grey around the edges. Made him light-headed and unbalanced and he just wanted to rest—

Crimson Fox caught him by the elbow. Held him up with a firm, steady grip. Slipped wisps of strength into Erich’s body, shoring him up for some unknown reason. “It can’t be easy, being a hero at the beck and call of anyone. Come back with me. Let me take care of you,” Fox said, voice low and heavy with promise.

“Take care of me? Get me out of the way, you mean!” Erich spat, wrenching himself free and stumbling to the side, body already protesting the severed connection.

(He hurt.)

(Everything hurt…!)

“I mean I want to take care of you,” Fox repeated, tone serious even as his gaze briefly darted away. “I want to see you lose those circles under your eyes and that exhaustion in your powers. I want to see you relaxed and strong and whole—”

“Then maybe stop attacking at all goddamn hours!” Erich snarled as he edged away, ignoring the ring of truth that Fox’s words carried. He couldn’t afford to be distracted by more of Fox’s false truths, not when he needed all his focus in order to not pass out. He shook his head and used the motion to angle his body away, giving him a good look at what kept capturing Fox’s attention, which was…

Aizen?

(What in the world was Sosuke Aizen doing out in the open?)

(Why would the man invite an attack like that?!)

(And why today of all days?!)

“Maa, but how would I be me if I was predictable?” Fox teased with a cheerful grin. But then his attention darted back to Aizen and his grin became fixed, something dark in his gaze that Erich had never seen before.

(Always, always, Crimson Fox was nothing but teasing and jokes and good cheer, light-hearted no matter how dangerous their fights became.)

(Combat with him was always serious, but… they’d never aimed to kill.)

(That look… it was easy to believe Fox wanted Aizen dead.)

(He couldn’t let that happen.)

Erich swallowed his pain and struck. Drove himself forward with wings and force, final dregs of power held poised.

(His purpose was protection.)

Crimson Fox started. Reared back, eyes wide and hand lashing out—

(Even if he had to drive himself beyond his limits…!)

He blocked the first blow. Drove a fist into Fox’s stomach. Slid around the second strike. Buffeted Fox with his wings and ignored the way the breath burned in his lungs and the way his right wing screamed and the grey on the edge of his vision—

(His purpose…!)

(His purpose—)

His last sight was Fox’s panicked gaze as he tried to pull his punch.

Pain exploded through his head.

The world went dark.