I do not own any ideas taken from One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, Dragon Ball, HunterXHunter, Yu Yu Hakusho or Rustage's One Piece D&D. Eiichiro Oda, Masashi Kishimoto, Tite Kubo, Akira Toriyama, Yoshihiro Togashi and Rustage are the brilliant minds behind those stories and I'm simply using them to set the stage for my story! It's all for fun so please enjoy!
Chapter 40: Grievance
"Nearly five hundred hired bodyguards, twenty three guests and the Shadow Beasts were all murdered last night. Another forty-six guests were injured on top of that." Don Araki said aloud as he read from a stack of papers in front of him.
"How did we let this happen?" Don Kubo asked angrily.
"A simple matter of pride, gentlemen." Wakaba said to the Ten Dons through a Transponder Snail.
The Ten Dons had relocated to a secret bunker somewhere in Yorknew City after the events of last night. Wakaba remained at her auction hall and was regularly checking in with the Ten Dons.
"Pride?" Don Watanabe asked.
"Ours or theirs?"
"Both." Wakaba sighed and said, "The thieves and us overestimated ourselves and chaos erupted in my beautiful city…" Wakaba chugged a glass of wine and said, "The Akatsuki. Don Toriyama, you had a tip on them?"
"One of the men I had hired seemed convinced that the Akatsuki were going to attack the auction hall." Don Toriyama explained.
"Who was this man?" Don Takeuchi asked.
Don Toriyama shuffled through his papers and said, "Kurta Renji. Him and two others, Zoldyk Shuhei and 'Vagabond' Mugen."
"The little bounties?" Wakaba asked.
"Yes ma'am."
"Were they killed last night?" Don Obata asked.
Don Toriyama shrugged and said, "I can try and get in contact with them."
"Put that on the back burner, we need to deal with the Akatsuki quickly." Wakaba said and sighed.
"Wait a minute, you hired one of the Zoldyk family as a bodyguard?" Don Kishimoto asked suddenly. "Let's hire the Zoldyk family to kill the Akatsuki!"
There was silence in the air for a few moments and Wakaba said, "Get it done. No matter the cost."
"Yes ma'am."
"What about the auction, Madam Wakaba?" Don Oda asked.
"It will be postponed today. We'll be back on schedule tomorrow, I'll spread the word." Wakaba said and chuckled.
"Then we'll lure the Akatsuki into a trap with the Zoldyk's?" Don Takehashi asked.
"Sounds like a plan." Don Togashi said and nodded his head.
"I'll talk to you gentlemen later." Wakaba said and ended the call.
Asuka, Bulma, Yasui, Mugen, Zika and Hama sat in the living area of their suites. Renji was bedridden and recuperating in he and Shuhei's suite after his battle with Raizen.
"The auction isn't happening today but will be in session tomorrow." Bulma said as she read a newspaper.
"Renji needs as much rest as he can get for now. I'm sure the Akatsuki will try and hit the auction again." Mugen said and nodded.
"His fight last night…" Bulma trailed off and remained silent.
"It was fucking brutal." Mugen said simply.
"And nine more to go." Zika said and sighed.
"Was it a good idea to let Shuhei go alone?" Yasui asked.
"Renji said it would be better if only one person went." Asuka said and yawned.
"But it's still dangerous." Yasui said quietly.
"Honestly, it's extremely dangerous. And very stupid. We're provoking the Akatsuki." Bulma said grimly.
"We're just setting up the battles to come." Mugen said and shrugged.
"And as long as we lay low, we should be fine." Asuka added.
The door opened suddenly and Shuhei came walking into the living area. He shut the door behind him and waved, "Yo."
"How did it go?" Zika asked.
"Hisoka's fuckin creepy." Shuhei said flatly.
"Nothing new."
"He said that he hopes to fight me sometime soon." Shuhei said and rolled his eyes.
"I wanna fight Hisoka." Asuka said and chuckled.
"You can take my place in his murderous fantasies." Shuhei said and grinned.
Hisoka walked slowly toward the abandoned church and pulled the large double doors open as he entered the tattered building. He closed the doors slowly and looked around the church at the other eight phantoms.
"Finally, you're back." Jinpachi groaned.
"Were you waiting for me?" Hisoka asked and smiled slyly.
"Raizen is still missing, we thought maybe something happened to you." Haku said and nodded his head.
Hisoka approached the others and said, "I was attacked when I was out in the city."
"Hm?"
"Who by?" Franklin asked.
"A strange boy in a purple gi with an orange scarf and a staff on his back. He wore a blindfold and could create chains from his body." Hisoka explained in a white lie.
"This kid?" Machi asked and showed Hisoka Renji's wanted poster.
Hisoka nodded and said, "That's the one."
"He's the one that snatched Raizen." Kitana pouted.
"What did he want with you?" Jinpachi asked and raised an eyebrow.
Hisoka pulled something from his pocket and tossed it at Volcier. Volcier caught it and looked at it glumly, "I see."
"What is it?" Gabriel asked.
"It's Raizen's ring." Faye answered, staring at Volcier's hands.
"The chain user killed him?" Volcier asked.
Hisoka nodded and said, "He wants revenge. He told me that only eight of the current Akatsuki members were involved with the massacre of his clan. Well, only seven now."
"How can you be so relaxed and casual about the death of our comrade?!" Jinpachi exclaimed and clenched his fists.
"Death is the final stage of the Human experience. Death is inevitable and it's pointless to despair at its happening." Hisoka smiled slyly.
"Well, Kitana and Hisoka are the most recent members." Franklin said.
"So then, the chain user won't attack them?" Gabriel questioned.
Hisoka shook his head and said, "He told me to be a messenger for today. If Kitana and I get in his way, he said he'd kill us all the same."
"Franklin, what did the swamp guy say?" Volcier asked.
"He said that the merchandise is still in the auction hall somewhere." Franklin answered.
"Security will likely be heightened significantly." Faye stated.
"And I heard that the auction will continue tomorrow." Haku said and smiled.
"Machi also identified two other people from bounty posters that she saw last night, like associates of the chain user." Franklin said.
"The chain user, what is his name?" Volcier asked.
"It says Kurta Renji."
"Kurta. Kurta? Why does that sound familiar?" Volcier asked and thought hard for a few moments.
"They were a clan we attacked about nine years ago. Their eyes crystalised when they died." Franklin answered.
"Ah, so there was a survivor?" Volcier nodded slowly.
"What's the plan?" Faye asked.
"We'll play a requiem for Raizen." Volcier said as a single tear rolled down his face.
Renji laid in bed, recovering from his intense battle with Raizen. Paine ebbed throughout his entire body as thoughts of guilt and emptiness flooded through his mind.
The Akatsuki are murderers, thieves. Killers without conscience, no remorse or emotions. That's what Renji had thought at least. When Hisoka had first told him that Raizen cared for his comrades like a big brother, he truly couldn't believe it. In fact, he was angered by the thought.
How could a killer who ripped families apart have such strong feelings for his own loved ones. How could a monster even have loved ones? How was it possible for the phantoms that killed his family to be a loving family of their own?
Renji's entire perception of the Akatsuki had been shattered and Renji felt dirty. He was a murderer. Raizen had been killed in the name of vengeance but that only conflicted Renji's feelings further.
"The path of vengeance is a tough and woeful one. I will help lead you down this path but you will risk losing yourself. Can you live with that?" Orochimaru's words echoed in Renji's mind.
Raizen, in his last moments, refused to sell out his family. It was admirable and Renji was disgusted by the feeling. Could he do this seven more times? Eight more times? The dominoes were falling, as Hisoka had put it.
That same day, at four o'clock in the afternoon, three members of the Zoldyk family of assassins arrived in Yorknew City. They landed on the eastern side of the island and slowly made their way into town. One of them split off from the group and the other two proceeded to the auction hall.
The two Zoldyk's walked into the lobby of the auction hall where dozens of armed guards stared at them. Both of the Zoldyk men had white hair and stern looks on their faces.
The shorter of the two was a well built small old man with a thin white mustache. He wore a white and purple robe and black slippers. The taller man was muscular and very broad shouldered. He wore a black gi with a white belt around his waist.
"Who are you?" One of the guards asked.
"I am Zoldyk Zeru, we were hired by your boss to exterminate some pests." The old man said and nodded his head slowly.
"Z-Zoldyk?!"
"The famous family of assassins?!"
"Please, come with me. I'll take you to Madam Wakaba." One of the guards said and motioned for the assassins to follow.
The guard led the duo to the elevator and they rode it silently up to the top floor. The doors opened and the guard stepped aside and let the assassins move on ahead. They walked into a large office where the Warlord, Inoue Wakaba stood with a glass of wine in her hand. Wakaba stood just below six feet tall, she had pale white skin and long golden blonde hair. She wore knee high black leather boots and a low cut purple dress that revealed her cleavage.
"Welcome, gentlemen." Wakaba said and smiled.
"Good evening. I am Zoldyk Zeru, this is Ishiin."
"Good evening." Ishiin said and nodded.
"It's the Akatsuki, right? That's what the Ten Dons detailed in the job." Zeru said slowly.
"Yes, they attacked my auction hall and caused chaos in my city. I know you gentlemen are the best of the best so of course I sought out your help." Wakaba said and smiled.
"I typically don't deal with the Akatsuki." Ishiin said.
"Yes, so you've said." Zeru muttered.
"We expect they'll attack the auction hall again in an attempt to steal the merchandise. They'll arrive and we'll split them up with my fodder and you can pick them off one by one." Wakaba suggested.
"We'll stay here at the auction hall at the ready." Zeru said and nodded slowly.
Wakaba smiled and said, "Wonderful."
"Let's go."
The nine Akatsuki members walked slowly from the abandoned church and into the streets of Yorknew City. Haku, Kitana and Gabriel set off together through the northern part of the city. Machi and Hisoka set off together to the western part of the city. Jinpachi and Faye set off together to the southern part of the city.
Volcier and Franklin moved through the Air Dimension together as they made their way to the auction hall. Unseen in the Air Dimension, the duo moved through the lobby of the building and up to the second floor.
"This should be fine." Volcier said.
"Are you sure?" Franklin asked.
Volcier nodded and said, "I'm gonna take my time as I make my way through the building."
"Should I scope out the merchandise?"
Volcier shook his head and said, "It's almost time for the requiem. Raizen's sendoff. You should be out there with the others." Volcier smiled.
Franklin nodded and said, "I'll see you later then."
Franklin opened an Air Door and Volcier stepped out into the second floor of the auction hall, "See ya later." The door shut and Volcier set off down a hallway.
Volcier opened a door and found four armed guards patrolling the hallway. They turned to face him and he Shaved quickly behind them and pierced their skulls with swift Finger Pistols. The guards hit the ground and Volcier continued down the hallway and reached the stairwell.
He walked slowly up the stairs as he wiped the blood from his finger on a kerchief in his pocket. Shouts echoed out from the second floor as Volcier reached the third floor and he smiled.
"Let the fun begin."
To Be Continued