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Early Update! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Chapter Nineteen - The Akuma Attack

The next morning the group of Exorcists found themselves standing on a dock in front of a rather large ship. A group of men, assumed to be the crew, were also standing there and the two groups eyed one another in a cautious manner. Hitsugaya was standing off to himself, appearing to be lost in thought, and Allen desperately hoped that they could get underway without any trouble.

"I have a bad feeling," Lavi commented, his gaze shifting over to the spot where Hitsugaya was standing. He kept his voice low so that the boy wouldn't hear as he spoke to Allen and Lenalee. "He's been acting funny ever since our fight with that Noah woman."

"I've noticed it as well," Allen said in a quiet voice.

"But every time we bring up the subject he just snaps out that he's fine," Lenalee said in a low voice, her gaze momentarily shifting toward the young Shinigami Exorcist before returning to Allen. "It's so obvious that he's not fine and yet he still won't admit to the fact that something is wrong."

Allen nodded. "I think it's a defensive mechanism. He's been hurt before and wants to make sure that it doesn't happen again so he built a wall against people and he does everything in his power to maintain that wall. He's afraid to let people see that he has a weakness."

"Allen," Lenalee whispered, thinking back to the small bits that she knew about Allen's childhood. It sounded as though he were describing something that he was intimately familiar with and yet the Allen that she knew was friendly toward everyone. This had to be related to the past that he barely spoke of.

"If you guys don't stop staring at me I'm going to use Hyourinmaru on all three of you," a voice warned, breaking into their thoughts. "I don't care if we are supposed to be on the same side."

"He doesn't miss anything does he?" Lavi asked, casting a wary gaze in the boy's direction. He didn't doubt for a second that Hitsugaya would go through with that threat if he were pushed and he actually shuddered involuntarily.

"No, not really," Allen said.

"So," a feminine voice called out, calling the attention of the Exorcists over to the spot where Anita and Mahoja were standing. "Are you ready to travel to Edo?"

"Yes," the four youths answered. Even Hitsugaya had moved over to stand beside his comrades at this point and there was a determined expression in his teal eyes as he answered this question in the affirmative. He desperately wanted to track down General Cross but now it had nothing to do with ending this mission or beating the man to a bloody pulp.

Now all he wanted was to know everything that it was possible to know about everyone who was involved with the Millennium Earl and the Clan of Noah. Perhaps that way he would learn something about himself in the process. That was his new goal.

"Come on guys," Anita said, offering the group of Exorcists a smile. "Let's go to Edo!"

Lulubell had been summoned to the headquarters of the Millennium Earl and for once the Noah chose not to resume her feline form. She shifted into her Noah persona and then entered the room where the Earl was sitting in a rocking chair, surrounded by telephones and glowing jack-o-lanterns. "You wished to speak to me Lord Millennium?"

"Yes," the Millennium Earl said, his gaze shifting to the Noah of Lust. "Your mission was to delay the Exorcists so that they failed to meet up with Cross, which you did. Now I'm going to send a group of Akuma to take care of the problem once and for all."

For the first time Lulubell's gaze shifted from the Earl and she saw a tremendous number of Akuma assembled in the room. She'd had tunnel vision before and hadn't noticed that the Earl was surrounded by his minions. "There are so many."

The Earl nodded. "With so many Akuma they don't stand a chance."

"Shall I go with them Lord Millennium?"

"That shouldn't be necessary," the Millennium Earl said, the perpetual smile that was plastered across his face growing even larger. "There's no way that they can fight off this many Akuma. This will be the end of those troublesome little children."

"This is going to take forever," Hitsugaya muttered darkly to himself as he watched Allen and Lavi helping the crew to load the ship for the journey to Edo. They were probably expecting for him to lend them a hand but of course he had no intentions of doing that. That might lead them to the mistaken conclusion that he was a nice guy and he simply couldn't have that.

"You're not as bad as you make yourself out to be," a strange and yet at the same time familiar voice echoed through his mind.

"Where have I heard that before?" the young Shinigami Exorcist asked himself, a frown on his face. It seemed as though someone had once spoken these words to him but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't summon up an image of the person.

He drew a blank and eventually gave up, shrugging his shoulders and pretending that he wasn't bothered by this. It was an act, of course, but so far it had been working so the young boy decided to keep it up. Perhaps he would even eventually be able to fool himself.

"You know Toushirou," Lavi called out as he hauled a large crate onto the ship. "It wouldn't kill you to help us out a little."

"It might," Hitsugaya said, his voice devoid of emotion.

Lavi opened his mouth to say something, most likely something rude, however he never got the chance. Allen had came to stand beside him and the group noticed that his cursed eye was glowing a bright red. Instantly on the alert the group of Exorcists began to scan the horizon, unfortunately nothing was immediately visible. Growling low in his throat Hitsugaya drew Hyourinmaru from the sheath that he wore secured across his back and prepared for the attack that he knew was coming.

"They're coming," the white haired boy muttered.

"And there are a lot of them," Allen added as he came to stand beside Hitsugaya.

The two white haired youths gazed off into the distance, awaiting the approaching storm. There was no way for them to know exactly how many Akuma were approaching but it was obvious that their numbers were significant. And there were only four of them who could fight.

"This isn't good," Lavi commented, propping his hammer on his shoulder.

"Oh come on," a childish voice called out, effectively causing the Exorcists' attention to shift away from the approaching Akuma. There, perched on the rail of the ship, was Road Kamelot. "I think this is going to turn out to be marvelous fun."

"You have got to be kidding me!" Hitsugaya exclaimed as he caught sight of yet another unwelcome guest. The Noah who went by the name of Tyki Mikk was standing a few feet away from Road, casually leaning up against the ship's cabin.

"Hello boy," the Noah said in a calm voice, waving a hand at the Shinigami Exorcist.

"Damn it!" Lavi exclaimed as he eyed the Noah warily. "How the hell are we going to fight them and the Akuma at the same time."

"We aren't," Hitsugaya muttered, his jaw set. He shifted his teal eyed gaze back to the Noah. "You want Allen and myself am I correct in that assumption?"

"Well," Tyki said slowly, his gaze shifting around to the other two Exorcists as well as the crew. "It would probably be a good idea to kill everyone but our orders were to make sure that the two white haired boys ceased breathing so yes, for all intents and purposes, we are only after you."

"Good," Hitsugaya said, casually walking toward the spot where the Noah was standing. "Then we'll adjourn somewhere else."

Allen's gaze shifted frantically back and forth between Hitsugaya, and his other two friends. He didn't want to leave them alone to fight the approaching Akuma but on the other hand he didn't want them to get drawn into the fight with the Noah. In the end he decided that he would have to do as Hitsugaya said and hope that Lavi and Lenalee could hold their own against the Akuma. After all they stood a better chance against the Akuma.

Lavi could see the indecision that was playing across Allen's face and he offered the younger boy a smile. "We'll be just fine. Lenalee and I can take care of a few measly Akuma."

Allen returned Lavi's smile but his was shaky.

"Let us retire then," Tyki said, walking over to the spot where Road was seated on the rail.

Both Hitsugaya and Allen nodded and together the two Noah and the two white haired Exorcists departed, leaving the battleground via one of Road's enchanted doors. Lavi and Lenalee could only watch as their friends disappeared, thinking to themselves that it was a bad idea.

But they didn't have long to dwell on these thoughts since the sky was soon filled with Akuma. Holding up his hammer Lavi turned to Lenalee. "Are you ready?"

Lenalee nodded. "Innocence Activate!"

Anita watched as the two Exorcists leapt into the air and began to attack the Akuma. They were both impressive fighters but the woman couldn't help but feel that the odds were stacked decidedly against them. Perhaps the two Noah had intended for this to happen when they had taken the two white haired boys.

"This doesn't look good," she murmured.

"Madam," Mahoja said, coming to stand by her mistress' side. "We should help them in the fight."

Anita nodded, snapping back to the present. They were by no means on the same level as the Exorcists but they had weapons and they could fight. It may not be much but they had to offer whatever help that they could to these youths who were searching for General Cross.

"Everyone to your stations," Anita called out in her most commanding voice. "If we're going to die then we're going down fighting."

"Aye!" the crew called out, raising their hands into the air.

Having made the decision to fight the crew members all scrambled to their battle stations. Arming the guns and catapults the crew began to fire at the Akuma, at the same time being careful not to strike the two Exorcists who were battling the Akuma in the sky.

Using the power of the Dark Boots Lenalee bounced from one Akuma to the next, leaving a path of destruction in her wake. She wanted to defeat the enemy quickly so that she and Lavi could search for Allen and Hitsugaya. She didn't like the fact that the two white haired boys had gone off with a couple of Noah and she couldn't keep herself from worrying about them even though she knew that her mind should be focused one hundred percent on the battle.

"Please be safe you guys," she thought to herself as she laid waste to another group of Akuma.

"Do you see that?" Bookman asked, pointing his finger toward the horizon.

Miranda and Krory both nodded, having seen the fires that were blazing just over the tree line. It seemed as though a fierce battle was raging near the shore and countless Akuma were visible. Their guns were firing and the three Exorcists began running toward the scene of the battle.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Bookman muttered as he and the two new Exorcists made their way to the battle ground. It was likely that the Cross Group was somehow involved since there were so many Akuma. There wasn't really anything else that would cause so many to gather.

A/N - and there's chapter nineteen. Hope that you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review and tell me what you thought.

Lavi: This looks like trouble.
Allen: You think you've got it bad...
Lenalee: No one told you to go with the Noah
Hitsugaya: Um, yea they kinda did.