Mickan (Dwielle) – a demon who resides in the volcano

Bleach Fan Fiction ~ The Glass Portal To Another World

Segment 6: City

"Ah!" Kon exclaimed, flopping down on the hard cement in relief. "The great smell or air pollution from factories is so great!" He lifted his arms as if he were embracing the air.

Ichigo looked through the huge pocket on his jeans where he stored the rabbit ear headset. Grandma had told him to keep the box and take it almost with him. She said that it would be of some use to them in the future. Because of that, the box was also now stored in his pocket.

"Why is everything so old-fashioned in this world?" Keigo complained.

"Maybe the people here aren't as intelligent as the ones in our world," Uryuu stated.

"So…" Ryuu started, turning around and showing the fire of anger burning in his eyes, "you're calling us Isoulings stupid?"

"Yes," Uryuu replied honestly.

As Ryuuji and Uryuu held their quarrel, Ichigo turned to Chad and asked, "So this world is called Isou?"

Chad grunted as a 'yes.'

"Oh look it's a vending machine!" Keigo shouted, stopping everyone in their conversations. For some reason, he had an uncontrollable urge to run up to it and embrace it, so he did.

"You're molesting the machine," Ichigo stated bluntly.

"What an unpleasant sight…" Uryuu said disapprovingly.

***

They sat in a café, sipping coffee downtown an hour later. Keigo was somehow clumsy with his hands at that time so he repeatedly spilled his drink.

"Everyday, I worry about Grandma being eaten by a horrible animal in the jungle place," Ryuuji said, gripping his cup and sighing. "I don't even know why she stays there. Whenever I ask her to come back to the city with me, she refuses and never tell me the reason. It's like she doesn't trust me, sometimes."

"I'm sure that's not the reason, Ryuuji," Inoue said. "Maybe she just wants to stay there because it is her home."

"Maybe," Ryuuji replied, stirring the coffee in thought.

The ground shook and rumbled, interrupting his pondering. The people surrounding them had a worried look on their aces and some left the café. The manager of the store told his employees that they could leave for the day and they scurried outside right away. When Ichigo and his teammates looked out of the window overlooking the town, they saw the townspeople running about. The townspeople's reactions bore similarity to those of scattering ants looking for shelter from a thunderstorm.

"What's happening?" Ichigo asked.

Ryuuji looked calm. "It's a volcano," he responded. "But it never really erupts. The people just scatter when they hear it rumbling just in case."

"What if it really erupts?" Uryuu asked, standing up, preparing to leave the town.

"It won't," Ryuuji replied confidently. "Grandma told me." He paused in thought. Then he continued, "The volcano started doing this a year ago. Some people went up there to examine it… but they never came back. Now there's a rumor around saying that there's a demon living inside the volcano, threatening us." He pointed out the window to a large trail of smoke rising up into the sky. "That's coming from the volcano."

"I guess it would be interesting to check it out," Ichigo said, after a moment of observing the smoke.

"Yes, we have to," Ryuuji said. "The truth is, in this area, if you enter it, you cannot leave." He saw the surprised look on their faces and explained, "You were already in this area in the first place, back when you fell out of the sky, so it's not like I led you into a trap or anything."

"Then how do we get out?" Ichigo asked.

"Well, people say that the demon is the cause of this curse," Ryuuji replied. "So to leave, I'm assuming that we have to get rid of it. Maybe it's worth a try… I've got nothing to lose, so… I'll come with you and support you."

Ichigo had set his mind on going to the volcano. "If we don't come back," he started, "Uryuu, Inoue, and Kon, you will stay back to find clues of Rukia for us, okay?"

"What-" Uryuu started but paused. "Fine. But you better come back here."

Ichigo grinned. "Yeah, I will, it's a promise. Thanks, Uryuu." He turned towards the others. "Ryuuji, Chad, Keigo, let's go."

"No, I don't wanna go!" Keigo whined, so Ichigo had to grab him by the collar and drag him out the door.

Once they left the café, Inoue stated, "Waiting… is a painful thing."

Uryuu hesitated in surprise. "I know," he finally responded, "but we can wait."

"Yeah!" Kon exclaimed. "I'm here with Inoue! But why did Uryuu have to stay too?" He pouted. "Ichigo things too badly of me."

"I can't wait to see Rukia again," Inoue commented. "I miss her."

***

Ichigo, Chad, and Ryuuji ran up the side of the volcano while Keigo was dragged. They wore masks to prevent then from smelling the toxic gas emitting from the volcano.

"Where does the demon live?" Ichigo asked, muffled.

"I don't know," Ryuuji responded. "But because no one returned from her, I'm guessing it should attack us very soon."

It did. The rock from underneath Ichigo broke and he jumped away, losing his grip on Keigo, who ran behind a few rocks a distance away.

The demon emerged. It seemed Arrancar-like, with half of its mask ripped off. It had a beak and some feathers on its arms.

"Who are you?" Ichigo asked, holding out the sword that appeared in his grasp when he simply thought of it.

"Mickan Dwielle, the demon of this volcano," it announced.

Ryuuji held a long stick he prepared before they ran to the volcano.

Keigo, who was trembling behind some rocks, whimpered. But then he took a few deep breaths and calmed down. He pulled out a notepad and wrote down the demon's name. "Mickan… Dwielle," he muttered as he wrote the characters down.

The page in front of him brightened and blinded him.

The demon headed towards the light, but Ichigo blocked its way, defending Keigo, who he knew had no fighting experience. "Your opponent is the three of us, not that one," Ichigo said.

He hoped that Keigo was watching the battle. That was the sole reason he brought him along. He wanted Keigo to learn what to do if an enemy confronted him.

"Fine," the demon replied. "Once I finish the three of you weaklings, I'll go for that one. I must no allow anyone to go back!" It lunged at Ichigo.

Ichigo struggled resisting the attack with his sword but managed to throw Mickan back. "Why not?" asked Ichigo. "Why won't you let people go back form here? Why must you kill them all?"

"You do not understand the pain I HAVE GONE THROUGH!!!!" the demon exclaimed, sending a destructive sound wave towards Ichigo.

Ichigo's ear sensed it coming before it was too late and he barely sidestepped the attack. "I've also gone through a lot of hardships!" he exclaimed. "Maybe I would understand if you explain it to me."

"It's a waste of time," Mickan growled.

Keigo stared blankly at the empty sheet of paper in front of him. "What happened?" he asked himself. "I was just writing information down in case it would connect together and let me find something… but it disappeared off the page!" He closed the notepad. If it was going to disappear off the page like that, what was the use of writing it? He'll just store this information in his head instead.

He looked around. There was a crevice in between the rocks he hid behind. He glanced into it and spotted round, shiny, white ovals. "Food?" he asked. He reached inside the gap and gained three small eggs. "FOOD!" he exclaimed happily. He paused.

On one of the eggs were the words "Mickan Dwielle" in his own handwriting. "Maybe not food…" he said disappointedly.

Chad finally attacked from behind the demon. He landed it on the demon's arm which crumbled off, but instantly regenerated.

Ryuuji closed in and whacked Mickan's mask with his stick.

It did nothing, so he ran a safe distance away, shocked that it didn't do any damage.

There must be some kind of secret behind this to defeat this monster! Ichigo, Chad, and Ryuuji thought simultaneously.

Maybe there's a secret behind this egg, Keigo wondered.