Disclaimer - I own neither Bleach nor DGM
Chapter Twenty-Four - Distant
Once the group of Exorcists were reunited they continued to make their way through Edo. It was a silent trip, with each member of the group pretty much lost in their own thoughts. Lavi had made a couple of attempts to lighten the mood but soon gave it up as a lost cause. The others were too involved in their brooding to even pay any attention to his attempts at playful banter. Which was somewhat depressing for the junior Bookman.
He wasn't used to people ignoring his jokes and attempts at fun.
As he walked along with the rest of the group, the red haired Exorcist looked slightly crest fallen. Normally he could at least get an angry outburst from one if not both of the white haired boys but both appeared to be resolutely ignoring him.
Hitsugaya had been doing everything in his power to ignore the red head's attempts at getting the group to quote 'lighten up'. He was to preoccupied with the circumstances surrounding his destruction of the group of Akuma. The young Shinigami/Exorcist wasn't sure exactly what had happened but what he did know for a fact was that he had destroyed the souls that were trapped within the Akuma's bodies.
Which was unacceptable.
"And the worst part is I don't even know HOW I did it," the boy thought to himself as he followed along behind the others. He knew that Allen was still angry with him over what had happened and wanted nothing more than to be at the back of the group. Because he was just as angry with himself over what had happened. He had lost control and due to this fact innocent souls had been destroyed.
"You've proven yourselves to be quite the nuisance Exorcists," a voice suddenly called out from the skies above them.
The gazes of each member of the group simultaneously shifted toward the owner of the voice and both Allen and Hitsugaya were enraged to see the Millennium Earl floating above them. The fat man was hanging from his flying umbrella, surveying their group with a look of utter loathing. The perpetual grin that he wore had taken on a somewhat sinister look, making the man look even more demented than normal.
"EARL!"
Hitsugaya drew Hyourinmaru at the same time that Allen activated his newly acquired Innocence and together the two white haired youths leapt toward the man. Each intent upon destroying the man and ending the war once and for all. A gleam appeared in the eyes of the Millennium Earl as the two boys attacked him, as though they had played right into his plans. The moment that they launched themselves through the air a black portal appeared in front of them, in the shape of a pentacle.
"Now you shall both be destroyed along with the Ark," the Earl said, the grin on his face growing, if possible, even wider.
"Allen! Toushirou!"
The two boys heard Lenalee's cries but it was too late for them to do anything about their situation. The momentum from their leaps propelled them forward and the portal seemed to be drawing them in. Even though they realized what was happening it was far too late for either of them to do anything about the sitation.
"Hurry!" Pulling out his hammer Lavi quickly activated his Innocence and leapt onto the enlarged hammer. Lenalee and Krory managed to jump on before the red haired Exorcist called out, "Extend."
Using the hammer Lavi propelled them through the portal just before it closed. The group of Exorcists seemed to fall through an abyss before landing, with an audible thump, on the ground.
"Ow…" Lenalee moaned, grateful for the fact that she'd landed at the top of the heap. She couldn't imagine how much more it must have hurt for those at the bottom of the pile. Gazing down she saw that she was lying on Lavi, who was on top of Krory, who was lying on Allen. And, at the very bottom of the pile, was a very disgruntled looking Hitsugaya. Lenalee winced in sympathy, finding it unfair that the smallest member of their group had ended up in that position.
"Get the hell off me," a voice growled from the bottom of the human pyramid.
"Sorry about that Toushirou," Lavi said as he and the others slowly got to their feet. It took a moment for the two white haired youths to get to their feet, having been at the bottom of the pile. This resulted in both youths having the wind knocked out of them but both Allen and Hitsugaya recovered quickly. Soon the entire group were standing in a semi-circle, surveying their surroundings.
"Where are we?" Krory asked.
They were surrounded by white buildings and it appeared to the group that they had landed in some kind of town. But why had the Earl chosen to send them here? What exactly was he planning to do?
"Looks like some kind of town," Lavi observed, gazing around. A keen light shone in his one visible green eye and it was obvious that the junior Bookman was recording his surroundings meticulously. "But what I really want to know is why exactly we were sent here? I mean the Earl must have something planned… and why was his target merely Allen and Toushirou?"
"Damn it!" Hitsugaya snarled, his teal eyes narrowing in anger. "I swear I'm going to kill that bastard."
"That would indeed be something," a calm voice called out, startling the group. "Seeing as you're all trapped here."
All eyes focused on a very familiar man walking down the street toward them. His hair was slightly messier than usual but there could be no mistaking who it was. The Noah of Pleasure was striding toward them, looking for all the world as though he was without a care. This could have been a picnic or some other kind of friendly meeting for all the concern he showed as he approached the group of Exorcists.
"Tyki!" Allen exclaimed at the same time that Hitsugaya's hand reflexively went to the hilt of his sword.
"Lord Millennium wasn't at all happy that Road and I failed to kill the two of you," Tyki said, casually reaching into the pocket of his jacket and pulling out a cigarette. "So he's decided to let you be destroyed along with this Ark."
A strange light appeared in Hitsugaya's eyes as he heard this explanation. It seemed vaguely familiar to him for some reason but he couldn't place where he had heard it.
"Yes," Tyki continued. "The download is nearly complete…" At this point, he gestured toward his surroundings. "and soon this will all be destroyed."
"Destroyed?" the Exorcists all exclaimed.
"You have roughly two hours before everything is destroyed," Tyki said, casually taking a drag from his cigarette and blowing the smoke into the air. His gaze shifted to Toushirou. "And Lord Millennium wanted me to tell you that the 'Heart' has already been moved to the new Ark so your powers won't work."
"What is he talking about Toushirou?" Lenalee asked, posing the question that was on everyone's mind at this point. "What kind of powers?"
"I don't know what the hell this guy is talking about," Hitsugaya snarled, pulling Hyourinmaru from the sheath that he wore secured across his back. "But I guarantee that I'm going to finish our fight once and for all."
"Not something I would recommend," Tyki said, curious as to whether the boy really didn't know what he was talking about or if it was all just a ploy to throw him off. Either way it wouldn't matter in two hours. Once again reaching into his pocket Tyki pulled out a small key, holding it up so that the group of Exorcists could see it. "The only way out of here is through Road's door. Now it wouldn't be very much fun to just kill you so I've decided to give you a fair chance." Turning the Noah pointed toward a tower that was located at the top of a hill in the center of the town. "See that tower? Road's door will be located at the very top. If you can get there before the Ark is destroyed then you win and can keep your lives." A smirk spread across his face as he turned his attention to Allen. "And no cheating this time boy."
And, having laid out the rules of the game, Tyki absently tossed the key to Allen. The white haired youth caught it and then returned his glaring gaze to the Noah.
"Try not to make this boring," the Noah said, his voice calm as he walked away from the group.
Both Allen and Toushirou made a move to pursue the Noah but this was brought to a halt as he stepped through a nearby wall.
"Damn it!" Hitsugaya swore, sheathing Hyourinmaru and turning to the rest of the group. He really wanted to know what Tyki had been talking about when the Noah had said that his powers wouldn't work but there were more important things to focus on at the moment. "So what's the plan of action?"
"I guess we have no choice but to take Tyki at his word," Allen said, gazing down at the key that he held in his hand. He didn't like the thoughts of idly following the instructions of the Noah but at this point there didn't really seem to be much choice in the matter. "And hope that there really is a way out at the top of that tower."
"I swear I'm going to beat that smug look off his face," Hitsugaya growled before turning his attention back to their current dilemma. "Let's go. The sooner we get to the top of that tower, the sooner we can get the hell out of here."
"I can't help but think that this is all too easy," Krory said, his voice quivering slightly as he gazed around. The look in his eyes said as plain as words would have that he expected something to jump out at them at any given moment.
"I'm sure they'll have some surprises in store for us," Allen said, taking his place at the head of the group and leading the way.
"Don't get us lost now Allen," Lavi said, once again trying to lighten the mood by joking around.
"I think it's a little late for that," Allen commented drying. "Since none of us know where we are."
Lavi was completely unphased. "Okay, don't get us even more lost than we already are."
Hitsugaya shook his head, inwardly wondering how he'd managed to get trapped with these people. "When I get back to Soul Society I'm definitely going to complain about this mission," the young Shinigami/Exorcist muttered darkly to himself.
"What was that Toushirou?" Lavi queried, glancing at the white haired boy over his shoulder.
"Nothing," the boy said, before snapping, "And it's Hitsugaya to you!"
"Yea, yea," the red haired boy said, waving off the angry words as though they were nothing.
A/N - end of another chapter and they're trapped in the Ark! Oh no! This series of events is going to differ from the anime and manga slightly, due to my storyline. Hope that you enjoyed.