Chapter 29:
By the time noon had come and gone, Ichigo and the rest of the group had made it back to the sewer without confrontation after their last battle. It had gotten darker but only because of the cloud passing slowly over the sun. It was still afternoon. They had a few hours before nightfall, which Ichigo wanted to use searching for the real Veneno. However, none of them in their weakened state could handle much more without rest. They needed more people to help them with their battles against the Arrancar clones and the Hollow Reapers. They needed more manpower and a location. Without knowing the whereabouts of the true Veneno their hopes of ending this would go unfulfilled. Everything relied on them finding the real one. Only after that could they accomplish something.
Cedric lifted up the cover to the sewer and allowed Ichigo and Rukia to go down first. Then he carried Linnette down on his shoulders, closing the opening. Once Ichigo's eyes adjusted to the darkness, he started to lead the group back to where the others were surely waiting.
As they stepped into the torchlight, Ichigo and the others became aware that something was amiss. They could feel the uneasiness in the air mixed with something that felt like despondence. Something must have happened while they were gone.
Victor was pacing the ground near the water looking perturbed. His face lit up once he saw that Linnette had returned safely. He stepped over the Soul Reapers on the ground without a word, blindly moving towards her and reached out with open arms. "Sweetie, there you are. Are you alright? Were you frightened? Were you hurt?"
"No, I'm fine."
He kissed her forehead and brushed her long dark hair behind her ear. Looking her over, he found that she had no scratches on her body at all. She seemed undamaged. Smiling, he patted her head and stood back up from his crouched position. He looked at Ichigo and Rukia, nodding to them in a thankful way.
"Ichigo's injured."
He looked up at his name and noticed some of Squad 4 looking at him. Then he looked down at his own injuries. He was still bleeding.
"Please come here, let us treat you."
He nodded and went over to where Unohana had set up a small healing area for him.
"Rukia, are you..?"
"I'm fine. See to him, please." She wasn't hurt aside from a few scrapes.
The tension in the sewer only seemed to grow worse. It wasn't long after Ichigo was healed that the questions came. The others seemed to be holding their tongues until after Unohana was finished seeing to Ichigo.
"Well? Did you find him?"
Ichigo returned the sword to his back once Unohana was finished. "You mean the original Veneno? No, not yet."
The calm was shattered at his response. No one was pleased about his answer. The rage and fear came pouring out like a broken dam.
"Why the hell not? What's taking you so long?"
"We're not going to last much longer at this rate!"
"What are you doing up there? Stop fooling around and find him!"
Ichigo immediately got defensive. "Hey, we're doing our best here! Calm down!"
"How can we calm down?" snapped one of the men. "While you were gone doing God knows what, Hollow Reapers came down here and attacked us!"
Those words were like a slap in the face. "Wha..?"
"Are you serious?" Rukia gasped, cutting him off. "Hollow Reapers were down here? They attacked? How? When? What happened?"
"They were down here and attack! Just like I said."
"But how? How did they get down here?"
"They found a way somehow."
"We're not safe here anymore!" cried a woman. "If that man wasn't here, we would all be dead by now!"
"That man..?" Rukia and Ichigo looked at Victor who remained by Linnette's side, his expression unchanging. "You mean him? Victor?"
"Yes. He stopped them before they attacked anyone."
Rukia turned to him, smiling and breathing unsteadily. She was so grateful that he had prevented more people she cared about from turning into Hollow Reapers. She was shocked as well as relieved. Victor only turned his attention back at the girl holding his hand and praising him for a job well done. It was fortunate that Linnette had asked him to remain below with the rest of the survivors.
"So what do you plan to do to fix this?" asked a man.
Ichigo turned around, confused that the question was directed at him. "Me?"
"Yeah, you! This is your damn fault!"
"Huh? How is this my-"
"It was your bright idea to go searching for a man that might not even exist. You said you would find him and fix all this! Well?"
Ichigo tired to keep his temper in check but he had an overwhelming urge to clock this guy in the face. "Look! I already said I'm working on it!"
"Get a move on it! Speed it up! We're running out of time here!"
"Feel free to help!" Ichigo snapped back. "Complain after you help us search!"
"What are we supposed to do?" cried another woman. "If they made it down here, they can do it again! We're finished!"
"Isn't there anything else we can do? Do we have to find that Arrancar guy? Isn't there another way?"
"I doubt it."
"What are we supposed to do?"
The Soul Reapers started shouting and arguing. Unohana and Shunsui tried to calm the others down, but their voices were drowned out by the panicked Soul Reapers.
"Those guys are strong! Send them!"
"We've been over that! You stupid?"
"Get the girl to do something and stop the Hollow Reapers!"
"Why don't we just kill them? They're Hollows now."
"They're still our friends and can be saved! Don't say such things!"
"Just fix it already!"
"This is their fault!"
"How do we know..?"
"It could be…"
"What if..?"
"There's no..!"
Arguments started to blend together as everyone's voice began to mold into one. The noise was deafening, ringing off the sewer walls, causing ripples to appear in the murky water. Linnette covered her ears and hid herself in Cedric's back, trying to muffle the sound. This was torture for her. Unable to see Linnette suffering like this for another moment, Cedric stomped his foot on the ground hard, shattering the stone and causing a tremor to ripple through the ground like an earthquake. Everyone stopped and turned around to look at him, faces frozen in terror.
"Enough!" he shouted at them. He lowered his tone. "No more yelling. It won't make it better."
Ichigo looked at Linnette, hiding in Cedric's back, looking around fearfully. She hated to hear everyone yelling like this. It was scary.
Though the Soul Reapers were no longer yelling, nothing had changed. Another heated argument was about to ensue if the line was crossed again. But in this situation, that could be anything.
"Hollow Reapers came down here," said a man. "They attacked. That man prevented it. What if it happens again when he's not here? There were only two. What if more come next time? What are we going to do?"
"We need to establish a goal first," said Nanao. "We need to have our priorities straight. We need to establish what needs to be done first. We've already accomplished that we need to find the original Arrancar first and go from there."
"Only because he said it," muttered another, referring to Ichigo.
"The point is, we're just going around in circles, talking about what needs to be done. However, we've been doing a lot more fighting than coming up with a plan."
"What are you suggesting?"
"That's what we need to talk about. Calmly."
Soul Reapers muttered and groaned.
"Ok. You wanna talk? Fine." A man stood up. "Hollow Reapers came down here and attacked. What are we going to do about that?"
"They were different from before," said Isane. "I mean, it was a long time since we were up there last… but they're changing. They're becoming more Hollow-like. And the transformations are getting faster. What does this mean?"
"The Arrancar is getting stronger," said Rukia. "We've established this. I've witnessed it. The last few times we've been up there, we were nearly overpowered. He is developing. I've realized this."
"So what are we going to do about this?"
Ichigo looked around at the Soul Reapers. There were so few. There was little food and water. Everyone was tired and hungry and agitated. This couldn't go on. The more they waited, the stronger Veneno became. If they could barely handle him now, what was it going to be like once he became a full-fledged Arrancar? Ichigo saw what it was like out there. What Veneno was like. Linnette thought he was scared and lonely, which he was. She felt that they were similar, which Ichigo also found to be true. However, Veneno was crueler than she was, even attacking his own 'family' just to get to Ichigo. He wasn't going to stop. Things would only escalate.
With that, his decision was made.
"No more."
Everyone stopped talking at looked at him. "What was that?"
Ichigo lifted his head. His fists clenched. "No more. Enough is enough. We're not doing this anymore."
Rukia gave him a confused look.
A Soul Reaper in the crowd scoffed. "So you're giving up then?"
He swallowed. "No. I'm saying enough is enough. We've been going around in circles, saying what needs to be done and nothing's happened. Face it. We can't live down here the rest of our lives. What happened a little while ago with the Hollow Reapers proves it. We're not staying down here another night."
"Then where are we supposed to go?"
"Up there." Ichigo pointed to the ceiling. "No more hiding. We're Soul Reapers, right? It's time to fight back! If you want things done, then help us do it! It'll get done a lot faster with more people helping us. We can attack as a group. I say we go up there and fight back. What's hiding going to solve? I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I'm going up there and this time I'm not coming back until it's done."
No one spoke a word while Ichigo stood in front of them talking. Aside from a few glances to the people around them, no one moved.
"Veneno is getting stronger all the time. What are we going to do when he achieves complete evolution? What happens when he becomes a real, full-fledged Arrancar? If he's strong now, just imagine what he's going to be like after that when he gets to full power? I say we attack him and end it before he gets to that level. We need to stop him now before he gets anymore powerful. We need to do this now. The longer we wait, the worse it's going to get."
Ichigo's eyes scanned the crowd, waiting. Hiding was easier but everything they wanted to achieve would never happen if no one made a move.
Kira stood up and moved to the front of the crowd. "I agree with him. I'm with Ichigo." He turned around, facing them. "He's right. I've been up there. I've seen it. And it's true what he says. That Arrancar is getting stronger. If we don't do something fast, he'll be unstoppable."
"But Lieutenant Kira…"
"They can be saved!" he cried out. "I was there! I saw Hisagi change. He was in so much pain. He…" Kira gulped. "He resisted. He tried to attack me, but he didn't. He put everything he had into stopping himself from doing it. I know he's still in there somewhere. He wants to be saved. We can save him. We have to."
"But if we go up there, we'll end up being attacked by them. It would all be for nothing if that happens."
"I went up there and came back fine! So did Ichigo and Rukia! It took Hisagi a while before it happened to him." Kira sighed looking defeated. Then his eyes became firm. "I don't know about you guys, but when everyone is cured and all this is over, and when my friends ask me what I was doing and where I was, I don't want to say that I was hiding. I would be ashamed if I did nothing to help out my comrades but instead chose to stay hidden where it was safe. I would rather go into battle and get infected trying to help them than survive by hiding and hoping for the best. I would never be able to forgive myself."
The listening Soul Reapers cast their eyes down. Each one of them were doing their own bit of soul-searching. What Kira said went beyond fame and pride. There was honor. If your friend was in trouble and you did nothing to help them was worse than trying and failing. At least then you made an attempt verses running away and being so selfish.
"Kira's right," said Rangiku. "My captain went out there to bring back one of our own. His actions where selfless and honorable. If we do nothing to try to fix this than his actions would have been in vain. There were many people who got infected who were innocent and there were those who sacrificed themselves to save others. We can't just sit around here and do nothing. And Ichigo's right, too. If this guy's getting stronger, it's best to defeat him now before he gets to full power. It makes sense. I'm with these guys. We can't live in a sewer forever. Let's do something about it. We need to solve the problem, not whine about it. All this waiting hasn't done anything but make Veneno stronger and us losing more people. We have to end this."
Other Soul Reapers began to agree. Soon there was an additional team who wanted to help fight back. There were others who remained stationary and didn't make a move. They were still fearful and unwilling to leave the one place they could call relatively safe.
Unohana stood up to speak. "Everyone please, quiet down." She had the floor now. "Lieutenant Kira… your brave words and pure intentions are very moving. However… It isn't a well thought-out plan. If everyone goes above ground in an attack and it goes horribly wrong, then we'll have no back up and all is lost. We need to think this out before we go charging in. We have to disgust this."
"But we're wasting time!" said Ichigo. People were finally getting in gear and now the captain was making them all have second thoughts. "Please. We-"
She put up her hand to silence him. "Ichigo, I understand where you're coming from and it makes sense. I want to end this as well and cure everyone. But this isn't thought-out. If everyone goes up there right now without a plan and with the majority of people having little to no swordsman skills to fight an Arrancar who is not only growing in power but able to clone himself is suicide. We cannot do that."
He could fell the dread inside him well up and a feeling of hopelessness all but consumed him. Was no one going to help him fight?
"Tell me," she went on. "This Arrancar… Do you know the whereabouts of his true self's location?"
"Well… No."
"Then where will we be going if we do plan to attack? Where is our enemy? We need a target."
"I plan on finding him, but-"
"But you haven't yet, have you?"
He swallowed.
"Ichigo, I know how you feel, but we need to be practical. We can't go in blindly with so many dangers and no real target. This is why we need to plan this out and think. Once we find the original's location, then we can act."
"But it may be too late by then. If he's getting stronger…"
"I know. I know." She looked worried. "I realize that. But whether or not we wait will change anything. The out come may be the same. If he his overwhelmingly powerful, we'll be crushed. If we go out there as we are with no target, we may lose people to Hollow Reapers or his clones."
She was right.
"Think. We need to talk this out."
He couldn't wait anymore. Veneno was up there getting stronger and they were down here talking. Their meeting may become heated again and another fight would break out and they would achieve nothing. He couldn't let Veneno win. They must have been close to finding Veneno. They needed time and more people. Right now, it seemed that neither one was in their favor. They had no time and no one was making a move.
"I can't do it alone," he confessed. "I need help." He lifted his head and clenched his fists tightly. "But I can't wait anymore. I'm going up there and I'm finding him. I'm sorry but I can't wait any longer. Veneno needs to be stopped and I'm going to do it with or without your help."
"Ichi-" Rukia was cut off by Ichigo brushing past her and moving towards the ladder leading to the surface.
Halfway to it, he stopped, turned and bowed to Unohana. "Thank you for healing me." He straightened up and climbed the ladder. Alone.
Everyone watched him go without a word. Rukia's body was shaking. She wanted so much to follow him. He needed help. But without a plan, what he was doing was nothing short of foolish.
She bit her lip and bent her knees. "That idiot..!" As soon as she said that, she found herself at the ladder and started climbing. She started to lift the metal cover only to find someone else's hand on it, lifting it up.
Like a gentleman opening a door for a woman, Victor was at her side, helping her out. The look he was giving her told her that she was not alone. Smiling, Victor lifted the cover. "Not without us."
Looking down, she saw that Cedric and Linnette were already set and waiting to climb up behind her.
"Wait a minute, they're going? Both of them? Even the kid?" asked a Soul Reaper.
Holding onto the ladder with one hand, Victor leaned down to look at the Soul Reaper who said that. "Of course. Even monsters know how to slay." He pushed the lid open and showed Rukia out.
Linnette looked back at the Soul Reaper with a hurt look on her face. "Monsters?"
"Not you," the man defended himself. "Just, you know… them."
She glared at him as if he had just insulted everything she believed in. "They may be different, but they're my family." She hugged Cedric tight as he jumped straight up and out of the sewer.
The Soul Reaper turned around to see the majority of the people around him giving him dirty looks. "What?"
"After everything they've done, even after they saved you back there, you still feel that way about them?"
He turned away defiantly. "Not everyone's mind can be easily changed."
The next thing everyone heard out of his mouth was a yelp as he tripped over Rangiku's foot and fell face-first into the sewer water, mouth still wide open.
Ichigo had only been walking a few paces when he heard his name being called. He turned and saw Rukia along with Linnette and her two protectors coming up behind him. Stopping where he stood, Ichigo gave them a chance to catch up.
"We're coming with you," said Rukia. "You're not doing this alone."
Linnette nodded, holding Cedric tightly.
"You don't stand a chance against Veneno and all his clones yourself and you can't search for the real one alone. Like it or not, you need us."
Ichigo sighed with a slight smile he couldn't hide. "Yeah. Thanks." He looked down at Rukia. "So where should we start searching this time?"
"We've been running into him a lot in that direction." She pointed east. "It may just be a coincidence… Although, no matter the case, we always run into a lot of trouble in that direction. I don't know if we should go that way or not. Not without more help."
"Yeah, I guess so."
"We could go that way." Linnette pointed straight ahead. "There doesn't seem to be anyone that way yet."
"Ok. But if we do run into trouble we should try to escape. You know, conserve our strength for the real fight."
"I agree."
"Ok."
"Fore!" Veneno knocked another ball into the sky and down into the street. To entertain himself, he had gotten a hold of a few wooden swords used for practice and used them as golf clubs, hitting pieces of fruit and stones off the roof. He had picked one of the taller ones, liking the view. He could see for miles up here. He put an orange up next. "Five!"
The orange exploded, soaking his pant legs with juice and the remains of the fruit fell to the ground.
"Huh. That one didn't work as well. Rocks are so much better…" As he bent down to grab another, he noticed something. "Hm?" He could have sworn he saw a tuft of orange hair disappear behind a building.
No matter. He had a clone positioned there to take care of it. It was no business of his. Now was ample time to work on his game.
"Six!" He smacked a stone off the roof and into another building, shattering the window. "Six, six, six, add it to the mix…" he sang to himself, getting another stone to hit.
Down below, Ichigo and the others were trying to map out where to look next. As usual, their main goal was to find the original. Nothing could be solved until after that. Ichigo led the way, stopping only to let a few wandering Hollow Reapers pass. Several of them had mask fragments growing on their faces. Some had it covering an eye or half their face. They were getting worse. More and more people were getting masks. A few people hardly looked human at all anymore. They had to hurry.
Ichigo started moving forward again when someone grabbed him from behind, holding him back. "What are..?" Cedric had a solid hold on his sleeve, keeping him from going any further. A growl came to his ears and he looked forward. Something had dropped down in front of them.
"Is that..?"
It was. It was Hisagi. He snapped at them, growling. He limped forward like a zombie. His body seemed too heavy to move. Blood stained his clothes and skin from old wounds. The Hollow Reapers that got to him really hit him hard. He gave a raspy growl and snapped his jaws. He had become so animalistic.
"Wait." Linnette climbed off Cedric's back before they could react to him. "I want to try something. Please."
They nodded and backed off, giving her space. Ichigo took a step back, covering his ears, though it wouldn't do much good. Her voice always reached him.
She stood in front of Hisagi. He growled and reached out for her, missing. The tips of his fingers lightly touched the hem of her skirt. He raised his hand to try again. That's when her song began and his hand dropped. He lowered his body until it looked like he was kneeling before her like a loyal servant. His eyes focused only on her.
Ichigo fought hard to remain in control. It was hard. His Hollow was laughing, loving it. He was going to take over any second.
Linnette's song stopped.
He opened an eye, looking at her back, ears still covered with both hands.
She addressed Hisagi calmly. "Do you understand me?"
He nodded.
"I want you to do something for me, ok?"
He nodded again.
"See these people here? They're my friends. I don't want you to attack them. Please don't attack any of them. Ok?"
Hisagi frowned, looking distressed. It was his instinct to attack Soul Reapers. He wanted to tear into them and rip them apart. But obeying this girl was also his instinct. She didn't want him to attack those people behind her. He didn't want to upset her. It went against everything inside him. It was like asking someone to stop their own heart at will and never let it beat again while keeping alive. It was impossible. It was something that couldn't be done. The same was true for Linnette. He couldn't bring himself to upset her. To do that would be a travesty.
"Do you understand? I want you to do this for me."
Hisagi blinked, his face relaxing. "Y… Ye…s. Yes." His voice was working again.
"You will do this?"
"Yes."
Linnette smiled. "Thank you." She stepped back and went back to the others, climbing onto Cedric's back again.
Hisagi sat there unmoving. Then he got up and stepped aside, letting them pass. He continued on his way, growling softly. He had no reason to be here anymore.
Ichigo watched in awe. Could Hollow Reapers be brought to ignore their basic instincts if Linnette wished it? It was possible that Linnette's desires took precedence to their own. Their instincts to follow Linnette's orders were more important than the instincts given to them by Veneno. It must have been like breathing and eating. Both were important to survival, but you would need to breathe more than you needed to eat. You could survive longer without food than you could air. Weeks without food or minutes without air. Anyone would choose the latter. Therefore to them, listening to Linnette took priority over their other instincts. Besides, he was only told to not harm them. Linnette said nothing about other Soul Reapers.
This was the conclusion Ichigo came to. He had no way of knowing whether or not he was right without seeing it happen. He looked at the others. "Let's go."
Cedric took two steps before stopping. Victor did the same.
"What's wrong?"
Victor looked at one of the windows over his head. The building was quiet, but he could sense something stirring inside. "One moment." He sprang up and climbed inside the building through the window.
There was silence. Then crashing and cursing, follow by Victor falling out of the next window with a man in his arms. Victor slammed Veneno's face into the ground and pinned him down.
"Get the hell off me, man!"
"Spying, are we?" Victor pressed his face into the dirt. "I don't know which is worse: the obnoxious falling out of the sky or this."
Veneno couldn't move. "Hey, I didn't attack you yet, dude! Come off it!"
"Are there more of you?"
"Ha! What do you think? Of course there are. I'm a clone, you know." He tried to turn his head to bite Victor's hand, unable to do much else. "Now would you get off me, you bast-"
Victor reached inside Veneno's skull with his hand, silencing him forever. "As you wish." Victor stood up, brushing off his pants. "Sorry about that. At least we managed to prevent a massive fight just now."
"Just the one?" Rukia asked cautiously.
"In that building, yes. I didn't see any others. I'll be on lookout, however." He looked at Linnette. "Sorry about that. Did you see?"
She shook her head. "Closed my eyes at the last bit."
He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. "Sorry, princess. I didn't mean to."
Above them, another Veneno clone was watching quietly from a rooftop. He had seen what transpired but didn't care. A clone was a clone. No matter. He was watching for another reason this time. It wasn't for planning a counter attack. He was observing.
It was that girl again. She wasn't a Soul Reaper. Only a human. Yet she fought with Soul Reapers in order to defeat him. Were Hollows like himself destined to be hated by all and killed? It seemed that way to him.
But there was something else. He was watching Linnette interact with those people. Those fake humans. She had created her own family, same as him. But why were they so different? They had feelings and emotions and personalities all their own. They interacted with Linnette differently than the Hollow Reapers did Veneno. These people, though they did not bleed or eat or sleep, all felt things and had desires. They appeared human.
There was something else. It was the way they responded to Linnette and interacted with her. He flattened himself against the rooftop, leaning closer to look. The man in white was holding her hand and smiling at her. He kissed her cheek and patted her head. She clung to the larger man, hugging his broad shoulders.
Hugs. Kisses. Strange.
Veneno knew what they were, but didn't understand such things. Though he knew the definition of those displays of affection, he had a hard time grasping it. He couldn't understand the concept. He had never experienced such things before. No one had ever hugged him before and he certainly never received a kiss. The Hollow Reapers never did such things. It would probably hold no meaning without emotion behind it. He wondered what it would be like. Yet he found the whole this repulsive. Perhaps he felt that way because he was jealous. Or maybe it was because he didn't understand.
Was that what he was missing? Displays of love and affection? The family he created was different from hers, though they both created their own. Was there something wrong with his family? What was it missing?
Linnette seemed so happy. Even amidst all this chaos and despair she somehow managed a smile. He had a family, but he wasn't happy. He felt like he was missing something.
"How could such things make a person happy?" he wondered aloud. "A hug? All they're doing is squeezing you tightly. That's pleasant? And a kiss… Just someone slobbering their saliva all over your face. How is any of that love? Why does that make people happy? I don't understand it…"
Veneno rolled onto his back and looked up at the clouds. He was torn over what to do next. He wanted to let out his frustration somehow but didn't want to unleash too much power on them. At the same time, he knew he would have to eventually. They had to be stopped. They were a threat to him. He sighed.
"I guess I can toy with them a little bit."
Victor's eyes flashed and he spun around. The Arrancar had chosen to make his appearance once more. "You're getting sloppy. It's like you don't even care anymore."
Everyone looked up at the clone standing on the wall beside them looking bored. He seemed very lax for an enemy. He sighed and stuffed his hands into his pockets.
"I'm just trying to entertain myself somehow. I'm really bored. So I thought I'd fight you a little."
"Your last clone didn't put up much of a fight," Victor said.
"I know that." Veneno chewed on his lip a little, still looking bored and uninterested. "We all feel the same, you know. Or have you forgotten?" He tilted his head upward. "I don't really feel like fighting you guys. I mean, what's the point?"
"What's that mean?" Victor asked. "I find it hard to believe that after all this you'll simply surrender."
"No, it's not that at all. I just don't see the point in going all out yet. I mean, the whole reason you're here is to find the real me, which you won't. And fighting you is the one thing I find entertaining so why would I kill you so quickly? I want to play with you a little more. Besides, once you're gone, what do I have? Fighting you is the only fun thing to do since most of the Soul Reapers have gone the way of the Hollow by now. I suppose I could always hunt any remaining ones, but there's a challenge and there's a challenge, you know?"
"If you didn't want to fight, then why are you here?" asked Rukia. "Just to annoy us?"
He shrugged. "I figured why not? I have nothing better to do. If I fight at my all, I'll just end up killing you and that's the end of it. I want to draw this out as much as possible. You'll never find the real me, you won't join me… Am I the only one who sees this ending in my favor no matter what?"
Just as Ichigo was about to draw his sword, Victor reacted and tried to behead Veneno with his hand. Veneno flashed away and reappeared on the roof on the other side of the street. Victor spun around, keeping an eye on his movements.
"But if it's a fight you want, then ok." Veneno smiled and bent his knees. "Come and get me!" He leapt onto another roof and waited for Victor to follow.
He knew he was being baited but he didn't care. As long as this clone was around, Linnette was in danger. He had to get rid of him. So he followed. Veneno laughed and led Victor toward the west, jumping from building to building. Until he was cut off and got a hand through his chest.
Rukia watched closely. Closer than she had been before. Every detail. Every action. "West…" Veneno's clone fled west. Away from…
Victor returned and landed beside them, his job done. "I hate to admit it, but he may be right. We don't stand a chance against him and his growing power. His strength and speed match ours right now and he's not even at full power yet. Without any knowledge of where the original is located, I'm afraid this may end in his favor no matter what we do."
"We can't give up!" said Ichigo. "There's got to be a way to stop him and cure everybody. I'm not going to give up. We'll find a way. There's got to be something we're not seeing. Maybe when everyone's done with the meeting then we'll have more people to help us search."
"Or turn into Hollow Reapers and have less on our side."
"Would it kill you to be positive for once, Cedric?" Ichigo turned around. It may be searching blindly, but what else could they do? "Come on. We have a ways to go before nightfall and little time left before he's complete. Maybe we can search this way. We haven't been down there yet so it's a start."
As they started to walk to the left following Ichigo, there was a cry from behind.
"Wait!"
Everyone turned. Rukia was standing in the middle of the street, her eyes suddenly wide and full of realization.
"I know where he is."
Ichigo walked back, stepping around Cedric to see her face. "What's that?"
"I know where the real Veneno is," she breathed.
"You do? Where?"
She let out a huge sigh as if she had realized something obvious after coming to the wrong conclusion. "It's so simple. Why didn't I see it before?" She looked up at Ichigo. "He's been leaving us clues all this time."
"Clues?"
"Yeah. Don't you see, Ichigo? Haven't you noticed that he's been consistent in the things he does?"
"Like..?"
"For example, when he shows up. Haven't you noticed that he always finds us first? We never catch him off guard."
"So? He's got a lot of clones. He could be spying on us and knows where we are."
"Yeah. But even so, if that's the case, then why doesn't he try a sneak attack? He always has the jump on us but never takes it. He always shows himself to us first then attacks. It's like he wants us to see him."
"Why would he do that?" Veneno was cocky, but that just seemed stupid from Ichigo's standpoint.
"There's something else. Whenever he does that, he always tries to lead us away in a different direction. He always seems to flee west before he attacks. He's baiting us. He's trying to lure us away."
"Away from what? The real him?"
"Exactly. Haven't you noticed that we seem to run into more of him in the east? And that he always fights his hardest in that direction? He doesn't want us to head east."
"Because that's where the real him is, right? He's somewhere east."
"Not just anywhere east, Ichigo," Rukia grinned. "You've spoken with him. He told you that he was in that lab. That's where it all started for him. But what if he never left?"
"Huh?"
"We've been over this. Veneno would be somewhere no one can touch him. Somewhere safe and secure. Squad 12's lab has been sealed off. The entire Department of Research and Development has been under lock-down since this thing began. Nothing can get in or out. And the laboratory is located in the east."
Suddenly it all made perfect sense.
"The real Veneno's in Squad 12's laboratory!"
Who figured it out? Did anyone see this coming?
Rukia's so smart. You go, girl!
Please review! ^-^
