I am back and with the eighth chapter. I apologize for the delay again. I will do my best to make it a priority to post as frequently as possible. I try to keep it once a week still. I hope you enjoy the story so far. Again, I will be posting this fanfiction once a week. Please do not impose any negative comments, harsh criticism or thoughts. Constructive, positive and thoughtful criticisms are accepted.
Thank you and enjoy!
Icestar123
Chapter 8
"Dammit!" Bellowed Kairi.
The room was tense with the sudden change of tone. All the hooded figures squared their shoulders and none moved a single muscle. Those who recently joined shook in deep trembling fear. Aizen was only the few of the followers who remained unscathed or relaxed, as if this is a very normal procedure. Perhaps it was a normal procedure to him. After all, he was immortal and near impossible to be killed.
After what seemed to be a prolonged silence, finally one of the followers spoke up but with hesitation. "My lord if I may ask, what made you in such fury?"
"You know as well as anyone else what my fury is!" Snarled the dark man. His glow of red eyes blazed in the darkness, being the only thing seen from the darkness."My plans are foiled! Someone has betrayed me in this group."
"Do you have a Plan B?" The same follower questioned cautiously.
"I always have a Plan B. If I did not, I would have killed you all." Kairi snarled."But one must die today."
"Please spare us from your rage my lord." A unison of voices united, their voices trembling at the thought one of them was to die under his hands.
"Silence!" He commanded. The followers soon fell eerily still until no voice spoke. For a few heartbeats, the room was filled with silence until one of his trusted closer followers returned with a bow of his head.
"My lord, I have found the culprit." He announced.
"Good. Tell me who it is." Kairi purred in approval.
"His name is Ripper. He is amongst the crowd." The follower replied solemnly.
In the crowd, the follower named Ripper shook in complete fear. Kairi only grinned. Two followers pushed Ripper out towards the front of the other followers who gathered around, their eyes glaring accusingly towards the culprit. Ripper kept shaking his head, fearfully not wanting to die.
"P-Please my lord. Have mercy on me. I have done nothing to wrong you!" He pleaded. The two followers pushed him down on his knees, leaving him to be judged by his faith. Kairi smirked.
"Pleading till your last breath aren't you? Is that the last words you are to speak before you are killed?" Crooned the dark male."Clearly you have no pride in taking this for betraying me. Let the darkness judge you for what you have done."
At once, dark vines coiled around Ripper until he was constricted and his arms and legs disappeared, leaving only the torso of his body to see along with his neck and head. Ripper's eyes widen in fear. Struck immobile, he fervently tried to break the grip of the darkness. Kairi just cackled and lifted the hands up into the air.
"O Great Darkness! Let your judgement be made known towards this follower and let the sins he possessed be seen before your great eyes. See if he is worthy to live or die. May it be an offering to you should he be worthy to be condemned to death or empowered should he be condemned to live." He chanted.
At once, more of those deadly dark vines mingled with the surrounding darkness began to envelope around Ripper even more, slowly and gradually covering him until only his eyes and nostrils were left, allowing him the ability to breathe and see but he could not utter a single word. The darkness pulsated for a moment, seemingly in its way of judgement. It did so for a few times until the darkness was still.
Just as soon as it happened, Ripper was plunged into the darkness rather quickly, only living a shimmering of traces of what remained of Ripper. The followers were still, a mixture of tension, shock and fear aroused them. Aizen who had watched and observed the whole scene for once was tense himself.
Kairi chuckled as his voice now purred in delight."This is good. The evil has been gone. The betrayer is now with the rest of the darkness. The Great Darkness is pleased for the sacrifice that has been made." Purred the psycho."Now, we must move onto Plan B." He glanced at all of the followers."Do no fail me, any of you. Or the Great Darkness shall have you offered as sacrifices for his great cause."
In unison, all the followers bowed."Yes my lord." They answered together.
"Good. Dismissed now."
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Lunchtime had came around and Yuugi was ready to head to the rooftop to get a good view of the city and meet his new friends he made from the other world. They had agreed to work together to save both worlds and make sure that whoever was behind on this terrible destruction that they can be stopped. Yuugi went up with his friends. When they arrived however, he noticed to his surprise that only Yoruichi, Byakuya, Rukia, Uryu, Orihime and Chad were there. Renji and Ichigo were missing.
"Where did they go?" Yuugi asked curiously, moving to sit on the concrete floor.
"Yeah, where are they?" Joey piped up in worry while chewing on the sandwich.
"Have no fear. Ichigo Kurosaki and Lieutenant Abarai had set out to investigate on the figures. They have decided to be prepared through any means necessary. While that, we are to stand guard of this school should danger impose." Byakuya was the one who answered and in nobleness.
"I thought they agreed to guard the school." Yuugi, in a shocked voice stated.
"They got into a fight and they thought to head off on their own once they resolved their problems. It seems like Ichigo has gotten over a barrier of his own." Yoruichi replied with a slight grin."That's Ichigo for ya. He will protect everyone his own way no matter how much he will have to push for it."
"Sounds like he doesn't listen." Tea retorted.
"He does listen! He just does what he thinks is right! Ichigo needs us too when he's despairing." Orihime protested."To us, he's someone who will do anything to protect those he loves and cares for! Don't push away his attempts for trying his best in saving the world!"
"Sorry Orihime. I thought he is selfish." Tea murmured, shrinking back a little in shock from the strong defense she put up for Ichigo.
"I….I just want to protect him. He did so much. He saved my life. I owe it all to him. I gotta protect him back, Tea. He deserves that much." Orihime whispered, as if her voice treasured him with all her heart. At this, Tea's eyes softened.
"I know. Yuugi did the same thing for me. I wanted to help him as much as you wanted to help Ichigo. Trust me, I understand how you feel as much as you might think." Tea encouraged with a soft murmur."But we have to support them. The both of them."
"Yeah. I know." Orihime acknowledged with a nod. Yuugi smiled towards the two girls.
"I'm sure Ichigo would appreciate your concerns to him a lot." He promised."Come on. We gotta eat before class starts again." With agreement, the group went to finish eating the food to ready back to class.
They had just finished with their food when a scream, enough that Byakuya and those of the Soul Reapers could hear at a far away distance. Yoruichi shot up from her spot, alert while Byakuya's body tensed in anticipation. The rest were on their feet as well and positioned to crowd around the group. Yuugi was confused, glancing up at them.
"What's wrong?" Yuugi asked worriedly.
"There is a scream." Yoruichi answered tensely."I'm going to have a look. The rest will have to stay here."
"You can't go alone, Yoruichi. Let me come with you." Uryu offered.
"No. We need as much people to guard as possible and I'm only going to have a look."Yoruichi stated firmly. Her voice then soften a little."I won't be long, I promise." She added in reassurance. With that, she shunpoed off. Yuugi wasn't so sure about that. He had a feeling that something terrible is about to happen and he cannot do much about it.
"Be careful." Yuugi murmured softly in worry.
"Yoruichi will be fine." Byakuya tried to sound reassuring spite his flat tone. It was tough for him because he was a Captain and known to be a cold hearted Soul Reaper. To him to express emotion wasn't always the most ideal way to express openly. Yuugi glanced up towards the Soul Reaper before nodding.
"I know. I just hope it's nothing bad." Yuugi agreed in worry.
After what seemed like minutes, Yoruichi returned, leaping graciously on the fence and carefully balancing with her two strong feet. She landed later, but it was clear her expression was serious.
"The school is not safe. A hooded figure had killed a student by breaking her neck. We need to keep the students inside." Yoruichi warned."Yuugi, Joey, Tea and Tristan. I need you to call emergency lockdown. Tell them that a terrorist is outside in the school." Yuugi blinked.
"Did you find out what their intention is?" Yuugi asked in shock. Yoruichi shook her head.
"No but I'm certain that there is revenge in their presence." Yoruichi answered most honesty."But we cannot risk having other students killed because of them. We need to be as cautious as possible."
"Right. Come on, let's go the principal's office." Yuugi urged and ran with his friends towards the inside of the school Yuugi's heart raced with questions running through his mind. What is going on? Why are they going after the school and students? Are they after them or just Yuugi and Ichigo?
As he dashed, he noticed the spirit of the Pharaoh appear next to him also running alongside with him.
You must be careful Yuugi. The dark presence outside is very dark and is after all of our souls. It's just not after you and Ichigo. It's after the world. He warned.
Why? Why are they after us? Yuugi asked with bewilderment. He could not understand. What is this fight they are going towards? It sounded like a endangerment between his world and Ichigo's as well. There is no denying it. They need to stop whoever is behind this plot.
I do not know Yuugi. Until Byakuya, Yoruichi and the rest of Ichigo's friends confront them, we cannot confirm their intentions. The spirit of the Pharaoh replied. However, I do know that we must be extremely careful.
I will try to be careful, Other Me. Yuugi reassured with a small smile. All the other Pharaoh did was smile before disappearing back into the Millennium Puzzle. Yuugi, determined kept running until he was at the principal's office. He paused, panting with his friends beside him.
"Alright, let's go." Joey urged. Yuugi glanced at his blonde friend before nodding and knocking on the door.
"Yes who is it?" The principal in the office called.
"It's Yuugi Muto. There is something I must report." Yuugi replied.
"Yes come in Yuugi." The principal stated, what seemed like a calm voice. Nodding, Yuugi opened the door and stepped inside.
"There is a terrorist outside the school. We were asked to put the school on emergency lockdown." Yuugi reported."There are some people at the front of the school dealing with the terrorist as we speak."
"Who are these people?" The principal asked although it was evident there was panic in his voice.
"They protectors of the city. The terrorist is very dangerous, Mr. Moores. Please put the school on emergency lockdown." Yuugi requested with a bow. The principal looked hesitant but scared but he eventually grabbed his phone com and spoke into it.
"Attention all students. There is an emergency that I must speak. A terrorist is roaming outside of our school and we are in grave danger. I ask for all students to not panic and remain in their classrooms. We are currently on emergency lockdown. Thank you." The principal announced before closing the phone com. He then looked at Yuugi and the others."I hope you are not lying, Mr. Muto."
"Thank you, Mr. Moores!" Yuugi thanked his principal before leaving the school."Come on, we got to get to the rooftop and see how Ichigo's friends are doing. If we can, we can help them." He didn't know how, but he knew with his Duel Monsters, they can help in anyway.
"Do you think they can manage?" Tea asked with worry.
"We have to trust them." Yuugi replied firmly."They are strong, I can feel it so I have no doubt in my mind they can stand on their own." Once they are at the rooftop, they noticed the hooded figure and Byakuya standing in midair. Yuugi blinked in shock.
"How did they do that? Are they magicians are somethin'?" Joey exclaimed.
"They are using the spiritual power or we called them reiatsu to keep them afloat." It was Yoruichi who replied."They have not moved ever since you left. Byakuya must have been talking to the figure, trying to figure out their intention." Yoruichi had turned her head back towards them.
"We are outnumbered though, right? We can defeat 'em easily!" Joey beamed with his hands balled to fists to be thrusted right at his front.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Uryu cautioned."He may look frail, but his powers explain something that even I cannot imagine what it may be. It would be too soon to rejoice."
"Uryu's right. We have to be on guard." Yuugi agreed with a nod."Let's just watch and see for now." Just then, they disappeared and appeared, clashing at each other with blades. Yuugi blinked, trying to adjust only to see the same repeated motion over different areas of the sky.
So fast!
"Woah! I can't keep up with them!" Joey yelped in surprise, his eyes darting around to try and keep up.
"The speed of a Soul Reaper of that class. I'm impressed that the dark figure can even keep up that well." Uryu admitted reluctantly, already revealing his Quincy bow to ready himself.
"I don't think you are fit for this fight. Battling him would not do you any good." Yoruichi told the three of them."His speed is too fast for a human eye to catch."
"But—-" Joey began to protest.
"Joey, Yoruichi's right. We can't even see where he's moving. We better protect the students instead of staying here and being mauled by the dark figure." Tea piped in with a press of her fingers on his lips.
"Only Soul Reapers have the power to keep up with the speed of someone like that." Rukia had to pitch in to comment.
"Good luck. We are counting on you all." Yuugi, convicted nodded towards them. With that, he ran into the school with his other three friends behind him.
To be continued...