Ultrabross's Vision
CHP47: Successful Missions
It was unlike anything he'd been accustomed to; the once blue sky filled with clouds replaced by one of cherry red. The buildings that had stood tall were engulfed in flames falling apart! Black smoky clouds filled the sky and seemed to grow in size by the second. It had to be a dream, there was no way any of it was real. Each time he called to Zangetsu got nothing. If things didn't already seem bad enough a pool of lava surfaced down below the base of the buildings. At random the once tall structures began crumbling one after another. If it was a dream, was unlike any other and couldn't have felt more awake.
If only it was just a dream, but was evident that wasn't it at all. He had visited the inner world of Zangetsu more than enough times to know that's exactly where he was. But there was something different about the dimension and wasn't just the visuals, but had an overall heavy feel to it. In ways felt as though the atmosphere pulled him down, but even so stood his ground. Again tried shouting to Zangetsu multiple times getting nothing except the sounds of the surrounding buildings collapsing.
It was only a couple seconds later that a whisper seemed to resonate from the distance but couldn't make out what it said. With each moment that passed the whisper became louder and clearer but not in a way Ichigo could understand. It might have been a foreign language, however gave off sounds similar to that of a beast. The whole circumstance was uncanny and had no explanations! And if things weren't already strange enough dozens of dark circles formed in the sky similar to what one would associate with black holes. Ichigo held a tight grip over his blade preparing for a possible confrontation. At that point just about anything wouldn't surprise him.
No matter which direction he looked, more and more of the black holes took shape in the sky. The scene didn't last long; everything slowly fading away. Ichigo regained consciousness lied out over grass surrounded by trees. It took but only a second for him to recollect and grab hold of his zanpakto recalling the situation. But as he looked around there was no sign of Ulquiorra. The last thing he remembered was blacking out during the battle, but couldn't imagine why the arrancar would have left him without dealing a finishing blow. He ran a single hand over his head whilst taking a deep breath. Ulquiorra's reiryoku didn't appear anywhere nearby and nor did Morrigan's.
Still he picked up a number of reiryoku's in the vicinity of where he left Kurumu and the others, positive it was them. He set his blade into its sheath taking off in that direction. While airborne a strike of electricity zipped through his spine realizing he was unable to sense Moka's reiryoku either. He immediately picked up his pace and what remained of the group came into view in no time. Ichigo slowed touching down to Yukari's left and was immediately approached by Ruby, Mizore and Ichi/Kon.
"What the hell happened here," Ichigo spotted members to their group lied out unconscious, "And where's Moka?"
"They took her…Moka-chan is who they wanted from the start. It's unfortunate that bleach colored guy got the best of you. That left the rest of us in a no win situation, but I'm so happy you're alive I thought for sure he killed." Yukari said with her hands together holding back tears of joy.
"Dammit…" Ichigo whispered with clinched fists.
"Aside from all the bad, the situation hasn't changed all that much. The only difference is they have Moka and must rescue her along with Gin-senpai and Tsukune. We're still pretty much where we started but should hurry and get a move on." Ruby said.
"Yes, Ruby-san is right but we can't assume they will be left unharmed for long. I thought it was you they were after, and if that is true then don't see why they went through all the trouble of taking Tsukune or Moka-chan. That was until Morrigan's partner mentioned they were after one of us." Mizore added.
Ichigo himself wasn't sure what to make of it either. If Moka was who they wanted from the get go than why not do so back in the Yokai realm? Instead the succubi attacked him and was still questioning why. Whatever they planned was unknown and the sooner he could figure out, the better. The more time that passed led to a lot of bad and if they didn't hurry and locate where their friends were taken might end badly. Such situations Ichigo was accustomed to, but more concerning was his well being. Not that he had weakened, but something just wasn't right and the combination of what he experienced inside Zangetsu's world only added to his suspicion.
"Before making a move let's first wait for everyone to wake, we're already split up as it is." Ichigo implied.
The surrounding group agreed; Ichigo using the words to buy time, trying to figure what he wanted to do next. In most cases would leave them behind especially with the strength the enemy in question possessed but the situation was different. He had Ulquiorra on the ropes and victory appeared in reach and then blacked out! With all the uncertainties surrounding himself wouldn't be such a bad idea letting them tag along. Each as an individual showed enough ability to take care of themselves in dangerous situations. Ichigo re inserted into his body shoving the mod soul down the stuffed lions throat.
"Ok, now that we've got some time under our belt how about an explanation? What exactly are you anyway?" Yukari questioned.
Ichigo leaned against a nearby rock, "Irrelevant, besides we have enough to worry about distractions won't help a thing."
"How is telling us your true nature a distraction? Now I really want to know, if there's a distraction it would be the not knowing." Yukari complained.
"At a time like this uhh, forget about it." Ichigo closed his eyes placing both hands behind his head.
The instant she made her move toward Ichigo the plush lion popped out of nowhere using her head as leverage ending up face first in the mid section of Ruby's chest!
"It's been quite awhile since an opportunity like this presented itself and I will take full advantage." Kon buried his face into her cleavage smirking the whole time with joy. Ruby shouted and grabbed Kon by the back of the neck slamming him to the ground following with a kick that sent him several yards the opposite way. He came to an eventual stop at the feet of Ichigo visibly dazed. For the next couple moments Ruby, Yukari and Mizore stared at Ichigo.
"Don't mind him he's just an idiotic perv." Ichigo leaned over.
Ichigo shoved the stuffed lion into his side pocket, "Now stay in there, keep your mouth shut and try not to cause trouble." Ichigo made clear.
Nearby movement captured everyone's attention and quickly realized it was Akua. She pushed up wiping away a trail of blood from her nose. Vision was somewhat fuzzy but cleared by the seconds. The vampire was wobbly but didn't stop her from walking and as she looked around had a bad feeling. Something was missing, or more accurately someone.
"Nee-chan…what happened to her?" Akua asked looking in the direction of Ruby.
No one gave an immediate reply and knew the worst had happened.
"Than what the hell are you all standing around for?! And you people call yourselves friends of hers, pathetic!"
"Calm down," Ichigo took two steps her way, "For starters we don't know where they took her and secondly I doubt they would harm her. If that was their objective they wouldn't have went through all the trouble to capture her. Once everyone else is up and ready to go we'll continue our pursuit of Moka and the others."
"Uhm excuse me I don't remember anyone electing you captain, stay here and wait if you like but I won't stand here another moment." Akua snapped looking Ichigo off.
"As I said before we haven't a clue as to where their hideout is and if we make a move for it now would further separate ourselves which would lead to even more problems. But hey if you're really feeling up to it than by all means go ahead and go. All I have to say is good luck with that." Ichigo crossed his arms.
Akua glared at the shinigami before taking off opposite of him. Taking only ten steps she appeared hesitant before stopping completely and facing back the other way.
"Fine we'll wait for your little friends to wake, but no longer than that."
She found a spot to sit near a bush.
XXX
Morrigan and Ulquiorra returned to the hidden fortress with Moka at their side. She showed no signs of fight or any attempt to try and make a run for it. Ultrabross was more than pleased with the result of their mission.
"Great work you two and finished with promptness, very good. Now if you don't mind return to your posts, I'd like to speak with the vampire in private."
Both exited without question leaving the two. If that was in fact the leader to their organization didn't appear as physically imposing as Moka initially thought he might be. He was actually quite the opposite; still none of that mattered and only one thing on her mind.
"Who are you and where's Tsukune?"
Ultrabross laughed turning to the monitors just behind him. With the press of a button one view occupied the entire screen, "As you can see Aono is alive and well, if you must know he's being held in one of the many holding cells throughout this fortress." He turned facing her.
"I want to see him."
"I'd say you can see him clearly over the monitor." Ultrabross pointed.
"You know what I meant!" Moka snapped.
"Haha look at you trying to make demands; that isn't the way it works. You are a prisoner here and depending on your cooperation and willingness will depend for how long. I'd rather not hurt your friends, but that's really up to you."
"Up to me? Until a little while ago I had no idea any of this had anything to do with me. Wasn't it Ichigo you people were after…that's why you had Morrigan attack him at the academy right? If I was the target from the beginning than why go after him and go through the trouble of turning us against him?"
Ultrabross again laughed running a hand through his hair.
"Kurosaki is as important to my plans as you, but very different roles. I need not tell you about that, especially since you will have the luxury of experiencing it firsthand. It will be a glorious day and is upon us, oh I can barely wait!"
Moka rolled her eyes and could care less about what he had planned. Somehow she needed to find where they were holding Tsukune, and Gin if captured as well. After that the rest was self explanatory; escape at all costs.
"You still didn't answer my first question." Moka inquired.
"Yes you're correct, how rude of me," Ultrabross grinned taking a step forward, "I am ruler and king of this land. Depending who you ask many will have different names for me but above all am the almighty Ultrabross."
Moka fell back with a hand to her mouth! The man standing before her was the same man she and the others heard about. Before either could say another word there was a knock at the door, "Come in." Ultrabross said.
"Sorry to bother you sir. Qisk and Feyaglia have returned and are on their way here." His assistant notified.
"Excellent. In that case could you be a dear and escort Akashiya Moka to one of the nearby holding cells," Ultrabross looked the vampire in the face, "We'll get around to finishing this conversation in due time. There is a lot you must know."
Moka was forced through the doorway by her left arm. It had been a while since he felt so much satisfaction and couldn't stop grinning. In minutes two of his most trusted assassins entered, Qisk holding an unconscious Gin over his shoulder. He tossed the werewolf to the ground falling short of the king's feet. Batman on the other hand stood off to the side of Feyaglia with steel constraints around his wrists.
"Just as Morrigan and Ulquiorra; you both have done a fine job. This day really couldn't have gone better."
"Yes it was a bit of a struggle at first but turned out fine in the end. This one didn't put up much of a fight like the wolf boy. Guess he possessed enough common knowledge to know he couldn't over power us." Feyaglia said.
Ultrabross's eyes fell upon the masked man and silent for various moments.
"I knew we'd eventually meet face to face Batman. Honestly though you were an unseen, random occurrence in this whole roller coaster of a plan. You weren't even on our radar…well at least before you managed to destroy one of the many beasts I dispensed to Gotham. Even as I stand before you now I sense nothing special about your spiritual aura, yet you were able to spot hollows with your own two eyes. Not only that but even devised a way of eliminating them; quite impressive for a human any way you look at it."
"Kind of hard to believe he accomplished all that, especially with the lack of fight and killer instinct he showed against us." Feyaglia added.
"Would you like us to take him and the bat to the main cell block?" Qisk asked, looking down at the unconscious werewolf.
"Yes that would be perfect, I have a few things to finish up but questioning him is atop my to do list afterward." Ultrabross said.
"So you're the one in charge, and behind the hollows in Gotham; why?" Batman inquired.
"If you mean why I chose Gotham in particular the answer is, random. That dimension and world were not methodically selected . None of that is of importance, what's done is done and the future looks bright."
"What future, what exactly are you planning?" Batman asked.
"Feyaglia, Qisk take them away and make sure they're in separate cells. Also be sure to confiscate that belt or whatever it is around his waist." Ultrabross spoke.
"Yes sir." Feyaglia nodded.
She forced the caped crusader out the door with Qisk not far behind dragging Gin who had steel constraints around his ankles and arms. Even far away as Ichigo was Ultrabross could feel the absolute change in his spiritual presence. The time for complete dominance was drawing near and knew it wouldn't be long. Ichigo was good as defeated; out of the picture.
To Be Continued