Disclaimer - I do not own D Gray Man nor Bleach

Chapter Twenty-One - Crown Clown

"You're better than I thought you would be boy," Tyki was forced to admit as Hitsugaya dodged yet another one of the man's attacks. The two of them had been fighting for a little while and yet Hitsugaya had yet to sustain even a single scratch.

Tyki was somewhat impressed by that.

For his part Hitsugaya was also amazed that he continued to be able to dodge the attacks. This Noah was more intense than any enemy that he had fought thus far and he considered himself lucky to have escaped this battle virtually unscathed.

Unfortunately he didn't know how much longer he could pull it off.

And it wouldn't matter if he couldn't manage to land a blow to the man. Dodging was all well and good but it wasn't going to help him win the battle. Hitsugaya knew that he needed to find Tyki's weak point and make use of it if he were to have any hope of winning this fight.

And then there was his companion, whose life he was supposed to be protecting. Allen was engaged in a battle with the Noah of Dreams, Road Kamelot, and although he was holding his own at the moment Hitsugaya didn't know how much longer that would last.

"I need to finish this so that I can help him," Hitsugaya thought to himself as he raised the blade of his sword and squared off against Tyki Mikk.

"You seem distracted boy," Tyki said, a taunting tone evident in his voice. He gazed at the young Exorcist through cold golden eyes and he could easily tell that Hitsugaya's thoughts were only partially focused on the fight. "You should pay attention or... Wait, I shouldn't say that. You're going to die no matter what you do so you can focus on whatever you like. It won't affect the outcome."

"That's what you think," Hitsugaya said through gritted teeth.

He knew that the Noah had a point; he was distracted. His thoughts seemed to be divided between the current fight, the fact that Allen was currently in danger, and the visions that still haunted him. They became stronger whenever he happened to be in the presence of anyone from the Clan of Noah and at the moment Hitsugaya was being overwhelmed by them.

The boy shook his head, in an effort to rid himself of the visions. They weren't helping him at the moment and he definitely didn't need any more distractions. Allen was enough of a distraction on his own since his safety was the sole purpose for Hitsugaya being in the world of the living.

"Damn it!" the boy exclaimed, a blue aura growing around him. This had to end and it had to end now.

As Allen dodged yet another round of candles fired at him by the Noah of Dreams, Road Kamelot, his thoughts briefly flashed back to the friends that he and Hitsugaya had left behind when they had accompanied the two Noah into this realm. He hoped that Lenalee and Lavi were okay but at this point he didn't really have the time to dwell on their well being.

This fact was driven home as the sharp tip of one of Road's candles grazed the flesh of his right arm.

Allen bit back the scream of pain that threatened to burst forth and focused all of his attention on the battle that he was currently engaged in. Thoughts of his friends would have to wait until he had dealt with this situation. Holding up his sword once more he dashed toward the spot where Road was standing, a sadistic grin spread across her face.

Her golden eyes were practically glowing as Road raised her arm and directed yet another group of candles toward the white haired Exorcist. She thoroughly enjoyed playing with this Exorcist named Allen and had every intention of making the most of this fight.

After all she had to have all the fun that she could before she ended the young man's life.

It was painfully obvious that Road was enjoying this battle and Allen fully intended to put an end to that enjoyment. Swinging the blade of his sword he sliced a group of the candles in half before turning his blade to Road.

"Yay!" Road exclaimed, enjoying the new light that had appeared in Allen's gray eyes. There was new determination and this almost ensured that she would be able to have more fun with the young Exorcist before she eventually ended his life. "This is going to be so much fun!"

Allen hated the fact that this young girl, a human no less, thought of this battle as an infinite game but he was determined that the game would end this time. He had dedicated his life to freeing the souls of the Akuma and was loathe to fight against a human but it had became clear that the Noah weren't going to stop.

Something had to be done.

The white haired youth could hear the sounds of the battle that was going on between Hitsugaya and the Noah that went by the name of Tyki Mikk but he forced himself to ignore it. There wasn't anything that he could do for his friend at this point since he was occupied by his own life and death battle.

"I'm sorry Toushirou..."

Swinging his sword Allen launched himself forward. Road smiled as she dodged the blows aimed at her by the boy, taking a couple of minutes to test his skills. He had improved since the last time that the two of them had fought against one another and despite herself she found that she was somewhat impressed.

"You've gotten better," she said, her tone somewhat taunting as she raised her hand. A line of sharpened candles appeared behind the Noah, ready for the attack. "But it isn't enough. After all, we of the Clan of Noah are superhuman."

Talk ceased at this point as the Noah and the Exorcist engaged in a intense battle. Allen dodged the candles that were being launched at him by Road, at the same time swinging the blade of his sword. At the same time Road was dodging the attacks aimed at her by Allen, the smile still resolutely on her face. The two jumped around, each dodging the attacks of the other, until Road became tired of the pointless dance.

"Enough."

Now irritated the Noah intensified the severity of her attacks and Allen gasped as one of the sharpened candles pierced the flesh of his right shoulder. His arm immediately went numb, as though the attack had struck the nerves in his shoulder, and the boy's eyes widened in horror. "Well," he thought wryly. "At least it wasn't my left arm."

He was in pain but Allen knew that he couldn't let up with the intensity of his attacks so he leapt forward, still intent on winning the battle. "I have to do this," he thought to himself as he struck out at the Noah. This time the blade of the sword grazed the flesh of Road's arm, causing the smile to fade away.

Glaring daggers at the Exorcist who had dared to strike her Road launched a furious attack. Unable to block all of the candles Allen found himself pinned to the wall, surrounded by yet more candles. His gaze briefly went to his companion but Hitsugaya was still engaged in his fight with Tyki Mikk and didn't appear to be in any position to help him.

Allen's head fell as he gazed about; it didn't look like there was any way to escape this situation and he was almost ready to resign himself to death again. Vaguely he found himself wondering what would happen when a soul was killed but this thought was interrupted when an image of his friends flashed through his mind.

Lenalee...

Lavi...

Even BaKanda...

"No," the young Exorcist thought, a new determination resounding through his soul. "There's no way that I'm going to let all of them down. I won't do it!"

After he had turned Mana into an Akuma and subsequently destroyed him the boy had decided to devote his soul to freeing the trapped Akuma. Now, after thinking of the friends that he would leave behind Allen made a new decision. Gazing down at his hands he decided that his left hand would be devoted to the Akuma while his right hand would be devoted to the humans.

As this thought went through his mind Allen was suddenly surrounded by a strange, glowing light. The candles shot from the wall, releasing Allen from the trap. As though in a daze Allen got to his feet and Road watched in shocked amazement as the strange young Exorcist changed.

A white cowl was wrapped around the boy's shoulders and a strange silver mask was covering his eyes and nose. His left hand was red while his right hand was white. Seeming to be in a trance Allen leapt into the air, his white cloak wrapping around him as though to form a shield.

"Tyki!" Road called out, turning her attention to the Noah of Pleasure.

Tyki glanced over at his 'sister' and his eyes widened as he noticed the change in the Exorcist named Allen Walker. He could sense that the boy was more powerful now than before and, turning his back on his own opponent, he leapt over to the spot where Road was standing.

Slightly irritated that his opponent had fled Hitsugaya used his flash-step to come to stand beside Allen. He could also tell that his companion was more powerful now and a smirk spread across his face. The young prodigy had always suspected that the boy's powers evolved faster when he was facing death and this had proven his point.

"Let's fight them together," Tyki proposed, his cold gaze locked on the two white haired Exorcists. "Shall we Road?"

"Oh yes!" Road said, clapping her hands together.

"Well," Hitsugaya said, wiping away a trail of blood from his mouth. "Since they're going to work together I suppose it's only logical that we do the same. What do you say Allen?"

Allen nodded, his gaze remaining locked on the two members of the Clan of Noah.

Hitsugaya held up his zanpaktou, while Allen held up his newly acquired claws, and together the two white haired youths leapt toward their enemies. Both were determined to end this fight once and for all and this determination served to free them from any feelings of fear.

"Tease!"

Tyki held up his hands and summoned the black and purple cannibal golems. The creatures hovered around the Noah for a moment before flying toward the two Exorcists. Shaking his head Hitsugaya swung the blade of Hyourinmaru, effectively freezing the golems in mid air. The creatures fell to the ground, where they all shattered. Hitsugaya couldn't believe that the Noah was still attempting to use those things and he turned back to the man, a smirk on his face.

Tyki's face twisted until he resembled a monster more than a man and he glared at the Shinigami/Exorcist. The brat would pay for the destructions of his pets and Tyki had every intention of making him suffer before finally allowing him to die.

Now irritated at the two white haired Exorcists the two members of the Clan of Noah decided to combine their attacks. This would make it much harder for the two boys to dodge or counter and, although they were loathe to resort to such measures, it seemed to be the only way to make sure that the Exorcists fell.

The Millennium Earl had ordered their deaths and that would be the outcome of this encounter. Failure was not an option.

"So much for self restraint," Tyki muttered, holding a gloved hand in front of his face.

Exorcists faced off against Noah, each glaring at the other. Neither group was willing to lose the fight but both were powerful. All that remained was to find out which one was more powerful. The energy swirling around the group collided sending sparks up into the air.

Soon the battle would truly begin.

A/N - and there's chapter twenty-one! Yay, Allen has his upgraded Innocence now. I had to do it a different way since he's dead and his Innocence has already combined with him so I chose to make the Noah bring it out. Poetic justice I'd say. Hope that you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review and tell me what you thought.