Chapter 9: Encounter! The Villain's True Identity is…
One Week has passed since Date allied himself with Lloyd. As of yet, there have been no new leads regarding Marina's whereabouts. In a search for new leads, Lloyd and Date return to the site where Marina went missing late at night. It had been some time since the attacks took place, so the police security was little, if any at all.
"So what you're saying is that your Lieutenant was either dragged away to the forest where I found you, or they extracted some of her reiatsu and made a trail to lead you into that trap with the Arrancars" said Date
"Either way, it doesn't matter" said Lloyd "This was her last known location, so if there are any leads on her, they should be here" said Lloyd. He continued to inspect the area, until he found a second trace of Marina's reiatsu. It was mixed with one of the unknown traces in the area, implying that she was carried off by the enemy.
"I think I've found a trace" said Lloyd "It's faint, but it's there. Her reiatsu is mixed with one of the others. It looks like she was dragged off by the enemy"
"I see…So what now? Do we follow it?" asked Date
"Yeah…We'll go and take out whoever attacked her if we can too" said Lloyd
"And if this is another trap?" asked Date
"Then we'll blast right through it, are you ready?" asked Lloyd as he stood up and prepared to move out.
"*sigh* One of these days, this optimistic attitude of yours may well get you killed" sighed Date, but smiled anyway "Very well, let's be off" he said as the two men followed Marina's trace to a rundown warehouse in a derelict area of the city
"…This is it?" asked ate "I'm getting bad vibes from this place…It's certain that this is a trap"
"I'm going in" said Lloyd, ignoring what Date said, then turned to him "You can stay out here if you want to be a scardey-cat!" he teased.
"Tch…I feel like I'm your babysitter, not your partner" sighed the Quincy as he followed Lloyd into the warehouse. Despite being in the most rundown area of the city, a surprising amount of items were being stored in the warehouse.
"Welcome, my guests" said a deep voice from high up on the rafters. Both men instincitivally reached for their weapons. Lloyd grabbed the hilt of his Zanpakutou while Date threw his cape aside and placed his left hand on his gauntlet, ready to create his Bow. Suddenly, Lloyd recognised the voice. It was the unknown voice that he heard on the Hell Butterfly recording.
The Masked Man stood above the two on the rafters along the roof of the Warehouse. Sure enough, it looked as though the mask was hiding his real voice and changing it, as not only did it sound too deep for a man of his size, but it also sounded as though it was being altered.
Suddenly, the other two Masked Men emerged from behind large containers, with their Zanpakutou already drawn
"…They're Shinigami" said Date "Do you know them?"
"I don't think so…No ones deserted Soul Society in the time that I've been a Captain" muttered Lloyd
"Now now you two, let's not get ahead of ourselves " Said the Masked man on the rafters. He seemed to be talking to his own men rather than to Lloyd and Date.
"…Do you think you can handle those two?" asked Lloyd
"With ease" replied Date. After a moment, both Warriors drew their weapons.
"Break Free! Waramekonpaku!" called Lloyd as his sword's blade split into two with different colours
"Raikoukami!" he roared as he fired a blast of lightning at the two small fry, causing them to dodge and giving Lloyd an opening to break through
The two other masked Shinigami tried to follow him, but were cut off by Date, who blocked their path in an instant
"That's…Hirenkyaku?" said the larger of the two Shinigami
"Damn it…A Quincy then?" asked the smaller
"Correct" said Date as his massive Chihou bow formed on his right arm "Let's dance"
"Reap all Life! Karite!" said the smaller Shinigami as his Sword transformed into a Scythe, and several ghostly snakelike creatures appeared on his back
"Silence! Nokogiri!" said the larger of the two Shinigami as his sword transformed into a larger serrated blade
Lloyd continued ahead until he reached the rafters where the leader stood. Without a second thought, Lloyd rushed in, aiming to strike on of the Masked Man's vital spots. However, He was dodged easily each time. The Masked man eventually jumped over Lloyd and landed behind him. He noticed the sign on Lloyd's haori and laughed
"What's so funny!" asked Lloyd, quickly turning to meet him
"Hahaha, So you're the Captain of Squad 7?" asked the Man "This is just too good to be true" he laughed
"What! How…How do you know something like that!" asked Lloyd
"Because it's written on your back, duh" said the Masked Man "So if you're the New Captain, Marina didn't make the cut then, huh? I guess that's why she was still wearing that Lieutenant's Badge. Are you her Captain now?"
"What! How do you know Marina's name! Speaking of which, where is she! Give her back!" asked Lloyd angrily. This whole thing was becoming way too weird.
"How do I know Marina's name?" asked the Masked Man "That's a stupid question" her said as he raised his hand to his mask and unclipped it "I wonder…did she tell you about me?"
Meanwhile, Date seemed to be handling himself well, despite being outnumbered. He fired a single arrow at the larger Shinigami.
"Pfft, Piece of trash!" he said as he tried to block the arrow. However, the arrow proved to be stronger than expected and broke his defence. Another volley of arrows continued towards the defenceless Shinigami, until one of the other Shinigami's ghostly snakes ate the arrows
"What! It ate them?" said Date in disbelief
"Of course, these little pretties can devour any reiatsu they come into contact with" laughed the Shinigami "I'm the worst opponent for someone like you!"
"Tch…Who are you two really?" asked Date
"You really wanna know?" said The smaller Shinigami
"Alright, we'll show you" said the larger Shinigami as they raised their hands to their masks and unclipped them.
Meanwhile, In Soul Society, Kaze Darwin was reviewing the recording taken by the Hell Butterfly
"Hmm…Something doesn't seem right…" he muttered
"Is something wrong, Captain Darwin?" asked Elizabeth in her robotic voice
"Yeah…" he said as he continuously played the last few seconds of the recording
"…C-Captain…BZZT…C-Captain…BZZT…C-Captain…"
"…What if, theoretically…Lieutenant Lockheart wasn't asking for her current Captain and…she in fact, saw her old one?" asked Kaze
Back in the warehouse, as the Man removed his mask, Lloyd's eyes widened in horror. He finally realised what he was fighting, and everything was beginning to tie together. The face behind the mask he had seen once before in a painting in the 7th Squad Barracks. The picture of a man with Blazing red hair and a scar down one eye who supposedly died on a mission. That man stood infront of him, alive and well.
"You're…Captain Akuma!" said Lloyd, beginning to forget that he was in a fight
"Oh! So you do know about me! I'm flattered" said Damon Akuma, the former Captain of 7th Squad "So…Does this answer your question?" he said, pointing at his face
"I see…So…on that recording…She wasn't talking about me…but you?" said Lloyd
"Eh? What're you talking about?" asked Damon, confused at everything Lloyd was saying "Reagardless, as for Marina's whereabouts, she's closer than you think, but she'll soon be out of your reach…Here's a hint, to where she'll be; Think a little closer to home"
Meanwhile, the other two Shinigami also dropped their masks
"Former 2nd Squad Lieutenant, Neil Hitogoroshi" said the smaller Shinigami wielding the Scythe. He worse thick framed glasses and ha stunning blonde hair and blue eyes
"Former 8th Squad Lieutenant, 'Madness'" said the Larger Shinigami. He had gelled back brown hair and green eyes. He looked nothing like his former Captain, who wore outrageous attire.
"Madness?" asked Date "What kind of name is that?"
"It wasn't my choice…That damned Ganseki gave me this nickname" said Madness "I'm only keeping it to remind me of how much I hate him!"
"Hmm…Well, I can see that you have issues. But it doesn't matter, I don't know either of you guys, so this doesn't change a thing!" he said as he pointed his Bow at the two Shinigami, eager to fight on.
"Anyway, this is all we have time for today. We have plans you now, gotta get going" said Damon "Ciao!" he said as he tossed down a smoke bomb, as did his two subordinates as they fled. By the time the smoke was clear, they had disappeared.
"Hey! Did you know them?" asked Date as Lloyd returned to ground level.
"No…well…Not personally…" he said "Anyway, I want to check and see if Marina's here somewhere!" he said. Regardless, they searched every container at least twice, and didn't find her
"She doesn't seem to be here…perhaps she never was?" suggested Date
"No…She was definitely here" said Lloyd as he mulled over Damon's words
"She's closer than you think, but she'll soon be out of your reach…Here's a hint, to where she'll be; Think a little closer to home"
"Closer to home…Does he mean…Soul Society!" asked Lloyd "That's it! We have to head back to Soul Society!" he said. He bean to walk before Date stopped him
"We can't…or rather, I can't" he said "Humans can't enter Soul Society without becoming Spiritual Beings…" he explained "Don't you already have another duty…gathering these five warriors together?" asked Date "If they go to Soul Society, the Gotei 13 will stop them, I'm sure"
Reluctantly, Lloyd agreed. He wanted to follow the three to Soul Society, but decided that it would be better in the long run if he continued to fulfil the Prophecy. There would be another chance to fight.
Several Days later, in the skies of Soul Society…
"…You're here already?" said Damon as the Three Arrancars who encountered Lloyd before appeared behind him
"Of Course, M'Lord" said Harrison "However, we were late because Shelly is still depressed after not capturing the Shinigami from several weeks go"
"He was so cute. I wanted to torture him so much!" she cried
"Well, forget about that for now. You can have any man you want here…But leave the Head-Captain for me" said Damon "…It's time to start the show!" he chuckled as he took off a necklace from around his neck which held a small purple stone
To Be Continued
Technique Translations:
Raikoukami – Lightning God