Night sky greeted Naruki as Ichigo soared through the sky, his eyes were heavy as he had been on patrol almost all night at this point. As he landed on the side of a rather large building his claws jut out, digging through the cement as he hung on it he spied the street below in order to find anything out of the ordinary. Sure, at this point in time with how little activity there would be that meant a lot of mobs or gangs would be free to act.
That meant he'd have to look in less conspicuous areas.
With that thought in mind he took off from the wall as a silk line shot from his wrist to a lower building as he swung by the city block.
Night wasn't going to be as simple as it seems.
Close to a pier on the port a group stood idly as they seemed to be conversing with each one. Either about the coming winter or how late it was.
Some even talked about how annoying and merciless college was. They were young yet they carried a plethora of different handguns. From M1911A1 to an Intratec Tec-9.
"Sayo, are you sure everyone is clear? That guy we heard about that's been taking out criminals lately, you sure he isn't going after our group?" A combed to the side brown haired young man said as he adjusted his shirt. Sweat poured from his arm as it slid down to the firearm he held. "Look. Are you all sure you guys weren't followed?" He said as he looked over to the group. All men ranged from 20 to 30, some even seemed as low 16.
His friend simply laughed at his discomfort and took his hand up to pat the man on his back. "Don't worry, dude. Job was as subtle as that assault we did at the commercial district three weeks ago." He said with a grin that it sent a sense of comfort to the memory in question.
Another grunt walked forward to them, getting their attention. In doing so, he lifted his arm up in a casual motion to assign familiarity. "Yeah, I still remember that day, can't believe we actually got that cart…"
A goon that sat back on a chair close to a rather large wooden crate. It was big enough to be used as a bed if anything. Which the goon in question would have done so if not for a friend of his that leaned back on the wall close to the wall.
"No, remember the last time you lazed around at work?" The crook in question wore a red jacket and with a cream colored shirt underneath it, he wore a dark blue mask to cover his mouth and nose.
The crook on the crate wore a purple button up shirt with a dark green hoodie. "I know, man but...It's just so late and I've been doing it all day long. I gotta rest at some point don't I?" The green hoodie wearing one asked the one in red who simply shrugs off.
"Maybe...But still, you shouldn't sleep on the crate. There's some deadly weaponry inside it." To emphasize his point the guy even pulled out his Tec-9. "The rounds from my Tec-9 don't even reach a third of this thing's speed inside that crate."
"That does sound fast."
"And it does sound like something I don't plan on letting people like you use it…" The interceding voice came from a figure that was resting up on a shed's rooftop beside the pier they were in.
The group of crooks turned on their lights to see who it was and dread filled them instantly as soon as the figure in darkness had been cast light upon. The figure was revealed to be the vigilante that wore a black and red trench coat with a white scarf.
Sayo was the first to react. "SHOOT HIM!" Almost immediately they all pointed their guns at him to which the vigilante only glared and Sayo could have sworn it seemed like the guy's eyes were glowing yellow.
They pulled the triggers but it was all over even before the bullets could have hit the tiles of the roof.
"Has the cargo arrived, Hammerhead?" The massive figure behind the table questioned a short, square-headed man that wore a blue business suit with brass knuckles in hand. "Pulling the strings necessary to get the armament needed for the invasion of Oscorp is not an easy task that I particularly enjoy having to sit through."
Hammerhead sighed as he scratched the back of his head. He seemed hesitant. "We… ran into a setback." Hammerhead answered.
"What kind of setback...?" Kingpin wasn't pleased with this information. After all, what kind of setback could have possibly happened that delayed the cargo from arriving?
"Well, we were waiting for the ship to arrive, but when I got there to check if everything was alright, it was a complete mess." Hammerhead answered. "I arrived about half an hour later after that incident. Most of the men we placed were knocked out, except Sayo. When I asked him what happened, he told me that they were attacked by some kind of a black and red figure, bullets couldn't do anything to him." Hammerhead gave him all the info he knew. "That's all he told me before he passed out."
Kingpin gave an icy glare from the vague information. Even so, the boss already knew who he was. "So it's that figure again…"
Hammerhead nodded without hesitation. "Whoever it was, they made sure to get all of them, but he didn't kill anyone, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten any info to begin with."
Kingpin clenched his fist as he felt his annoyance slowly rise within him as one of his operations got disrupted. He got up from his chair and went to the window overlooking the city.
"What do we do with Sayo and the others, boss?" Hammerhead asked.
Kingpin took a deep breath and then said. "Get Sayo and the others, and bring them back to base, we'll regroup and try again, but we need a distraction so we won't have any spotlight on us."
"Consider it done." Hammerhead said.
Hammerhead then left the room, leaving Kingpin to be alone with his thoughts, and when he was alone he turned around and slammed his fist on his desk with anger.
'So it's that figure again…' Kingpin thought, eyes twitching in annoyance. 'And he decided to interfere in my base of operations.' He began to think back on his decision to move to this place. 'He's become your enemy for sure, but it's not always wise to go with what first comes to mind. Though it's rotten luck that some new punk decided to show himself… first I need a little info on what his motive is.' Kingpin released a heavy breath. 'He could prove to be useful if he joined my side' The mention of black and red made the crime lord shake his head. 'After all, making an enemy into an ally is more powerful than killing an unknown when it could be useful.'
To ordinary people, the warehouse where the Vizard's were living seems abandoned and acts as a place for gangs or other criminal activities, but to those who have spirit powers can see there's more to the place than what it seems.
Underneath the warehouse was the Vizard's underground training chamber, where the Vizards come to train and hone their skills and right now they are training Ichigo to master his Hollow powers.
Right now he's was being trained to maintain his mask control and increase his time limit for maintaining it.
After he hollowfied, Hiyori with her mask on moved in for an attack and Ichigo blocked it with his arm.
"Tch. Good block Ichigo, but try this." Hiyori said, moving in for another attack.
Ichigo then moved in to block but Hiyori vanished and reappeared behind Ichigo and moved in for another kick, but Ichigo turned to swing Zangetsu in order to intercept the block, only for Ichigo to get kicked in the face by Hiyori's second foot.
"You can do better than that!" Hiyori exclaimed in an irritating tone, as she pursued a falling Ichigo.
"Rargh!" Ichigo swung his massive blade towards the Vizard girl, only for her to use the Reishi around her to flip over him before kicking him at the back of his head, launching him towards the ground before crashing.
"Oh, come on!" Ichigo heard Hiyori speaking in a normal voice. ''Are you even trying here?! You sure got better before you fought your Hollow! Cause I'm starting to regret training you under my wing!"
He had little to no time left. And he was getting annoyed with her attitude. The Hollowfied Ichigo then proceeded to get up with the following attack. "Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo shouted as he threw a black crescent moon of energy. Despite being in his Shikai, his Getsuga was black instead of its blue color. This might be due to his Hollow powers mixing with his Soul Reaper ones, despite not being in Bankai.
Hiyori seemed surprised, as she swung her sword in an attempt to cut the Getsuga in half, only for her to end up getting overpowered by the Getsuga as she got pushed back. She ended up seemingly getting crushed against the surface of the ceiling. The collision ended up in debris and chunks of rocks falling down.
Ichigo ended up panting, feeling his limit as his mask dissolved into pieces. Somehow, he felt more tired than he'd usually be in his own battles. Suddenly, the Substitute widened his eyes as he felt Hiyori hovering behind him. "Gurgh!" Ichigo grunted as he felt Hiyori kicking him at the side of his head, launching the teenager through several chunks of boulders before he ended up lying flat on his stomach.
Ichigo groaned, feeling blood coming from his forehead. He heard the sound of footsteps coming towards him, right before Hiyori grabbed his Shihakusho. "What are you, stupid or something?!" She shook him violently. "Who said you could have permission to use whatever you just used when you're supposed to stick to basics! Basics! Is that such a hard concept for you to follow, retard?!"
"Shut the fuck up!" Ichigo rebuked the midget. "What's even the point of me using basic swordplay with my mask on when I could be doing something else!"
"Who gives a damn what you think?! You wanna learn to use your Hollow power or not?!" Hiyori then picked him up and threw him like a ball, making the strawberry teen crash through a small mountain. "Now listen to what the experts tell you to do! If you don't listen then you'll get your sorry butt out of this place for good!"
"Why does she have to be a trainer for me..." Ichigo grumbled to himself as he could be seen landing upside down on the mountain he got thrown through.
"Aaaaaargh!" On the other side of the training, Chad unleashed a strong burst of energy from his right arm as he fired it at Kensei, who proceeded to move out of the way.
The Vizard in question ran towards Chad at an astounding speed. Chad fired another energy beam, this time aiming for the older man's legs, which in response, Kensei leaped from the ground and went ahead to charge at the large young man. Chad fired another blast aiming for Kensei, and to his shock he responded by hitting it with his bare first, deflecting it in the process. Kensei charged at him with a punch, and Chad responded by putting his right arm above his head.
Chad felt the fist connect with his arm. The ground trembled beneath them as Chad tried to put up as much resistance as he could, but the lad found himself to be overwhelmed as he hit the ground, making a crater in doing so.
Chad felt a headache. This guy hit harder than the Arrancar from the park, but his arm hadn't been mangled this time. That was good at least. But it still felt as though he got hit by a freight train. As he laid on the ground, head still fuzzing, he heard the Vizard starting to talk. "Is there more to you than this?" Kensei asked.
Chad started to get up, albeit he struggled to do so. "I-I can still keep going…" He murmured.
"That's not what I mean, though it's good to hear that you're not such a wimp. What I mean, you got something a little more to ya than that?"
"What… do you mean?" Chad asked.
"What I mean is do you have any other techniques other than what you showed me? So far all you did is just throw energy blasts and that's that."
"Uh… that's about all I know." Chad answered, finding himself to be almost standing.
"I see then. Well let me tell ya something, kiddo, if you're gonna stick to being a one trick pony…" Chad widened his eyes when he saw Kensei dawn his Hollow mask. He gave a menacing glare as his Spiritual Pressure rose. "Then at least be good with it! Here's how you're supposed to do it!"
Kensei charged towards Chad. The young man didn't have any more time to register Kensei's movements before he felt something hit his stomach. Chad coughed up blood, and the large man got sent flying through the small mountains, making a devastating effect on the environment.
A door cracked open as it swung gently, and through came a gorgeous, young lady in her early 20's carrying a supply of shopping bags. The first thing that was noticeable about her was that she didn't bear the resemblance of a typical Japanese, rather looked to be American. She had long, wavy, white hair, and bright, green eyes. She stood at 5'10, wearing a purple shirt with a punk rock skull logo, heavy green pants. Along with a humongous H cup, perfectly sized breasts.
"Man, Japan really can be fun when you have time for yourself." The young woman giggled, looking around her room before setting the bags down. ''And who said you had to be all business when getting here." She had an alluring voice as she headed for her bed. "I'll try them out later… right now…"
She pulled out her phone from her pocket, and set out a timer. "Right now I'll just take a small nap… and then go out doing patrol…" The young woman set out the time for 30 minutes. "All that shopping got me a little tired…" she murmured, and she glanced her eyes to make sure the door was locked. "Right… just 30 minutes…"
The young lady set the timer before she laid on her bed and set herself to be very comfortable. "Mmhm…" She hummed, adjusting her body in a comfortable position as she closed her eyes.
"Gagh!"
"Again, Ichigo!" Yoruichi shouted from a distance as Ichigo found himself lying on the ground from Yoruichi's attack from the umptenth time. Ichigo growled as he struggled to get up, as the force of Yoruichi's attacks felt like he was taking hits from Kenpachi. "Get up! You're not gonna make it anywhere if you keep going like this!"
"What do you think I'm trying to do…" Ichigo was starting to get up, clothes tattered, before he started sprinting towards the dark skinned woman. ''Grah!" Ichigo launched a horizontal kick towards, to which Yoruichi smirked as she casually jumped back, making Ichigo split the earth beneath him.
"Oh come on, there's gotta be more to it than that." Yoruichi made a smirk as she teased him. "I mean, really, you only have the strength of a Hollow."
Ichigo growled as he shot a webline from his wrist, aiming it straight for the former Captain of Squad 2. She responded as she moved her head out of the way. "Is that all?" She teased, right before she felt something sticky hit her forearm. "Hm?" Ichigo had fried another webline from his other wrist when she teased him.
"Hraaaah!" Ichigo went ahead to pull the web on the side in an attempt to make her crash. In their previous sparring matches, he was told not to hold anything back, even when she was in Gigai. So everything was fair game.
To his surprise, Yoruichi used the webs to her advantage by twisting her body in a diagonal position, all the while grabbing the webs and pulling Ichigo with them. Taken aback by this, Ichigo couldn't stop himself as he was being dragged in mid air. Yoruichi used acrobatics to launch a deadly kick at his skull, making Ichigo hit the ground with a hard thud.
"So, had enough yet?" Yoruichi taunted him. "We've been at this for more than an hour, Ichigo. You don't wanna go overboard, do you?"
"Like hell…" Ichigo clenched his hand on the ground, his head feeling as though he got hit by Kukaku all over. And that was a painful experience he never wanted to go through again.
"I say that's about enough." Yoruichi remarked, clapping her hands as a signal to stop the training. "You don't want every bone in your body broken now, do you?"
"What gives, Yoruichi?" Ichigo grunted, as he prompted to glare at the purple haired woman. "You pushed me like hell when we did our last training, so what gives this time?"
"Because there's no point in pushing you beyond your limits like when you're a Soul Reaper." Yoruichi caressed her hair. "Your whole goal is to find somebody who shot Orihime and beat the crap out of them, right? You're not afraid of a little gun, are you?" she teased him. "Otherwise you'd see Hollows getting damaged all the time with bullets."
"But then why put yourself through this?" Ichigo asked, now confused with the older woman's reasoning.
"You kept begging me like a lost puppy, for one." Yoruichi bluntly told him, making Ichigo swear under his breath. "And two, I am a little interested to see how your powers work. At first I thought it'd be that rare power I heard about, but I'm a little disappointed."
"Rare power?" Ichigo questioned, raising his eyebrows at what she meant.
"Forget about it. It doesn't matter anyways. But look, I'm only trying to help you figure out what these powers of yours are. So far, it's rather… generic." Yoruichi said, bending down to pick a rock, throwing it lightly in the air. "You're stronger, faster, stick to walls, shoot webs, I mean really, is that all?"
"I… got claws…?"
"Aww, that's cute." Yoruichi teased, bending forward in a mocking manner. "What're you gonna do, carve pumpkins?"
"Why you…!" Ichigo was having enough, and was ready to get back up for more.
"But really, I don't need to bring any full potential in those powers. Frankly I'm not that interested. And frankly, if you can't even match me then what good are they when you fight Aizen and his Arrancar henchmen."
"That's not the point." Ichigo grumbled under his breath. "Of course these powers won't be useful when I'm up against Arrancars. I barely took down just one, and frankly I was lucky I didn't use Bankai. I'm trying to get the hang of these new powers so I can deal with more street level stuff." Ichigo brushed his torn clothes. "Those bastards aren't gonna do a thing in my city…"
"Well if you say so. Have you found the guy who shot Orihime?" Yoruichi asked.
"Not a clue. But I did find something worse."
"Oh yeah? And what's that?" Yoruichi asked, folding her arms.
"A gang war might occur in this place. The whole city. Some mafias are butting heads and it'll cause this city to go to hell if I don't do anything to stop it." Ichigo clenched his fists, his eyes changing to that of anger. "And I don't even know why. Or where to start."
"You could just be on lookouts."
"What do you think I've been trying to do?!" Ichigo rebuked the older woman.
"Then just be patient. Nothing can get solved with the snap of a finger." To prove her point, Yoruichi snapped her fingers with a loud "snap" being heard. "Otherwise, we'd have caught Aizen a long time ago."
The sudden mention of the name made Ichigo feel weary. "Right…"
"Another thing. I recommend you don't overdo it. Training with the Vizards, your school work, your patrol, and your training with me is gonna do more harm to your mind and body." Yoruichi made a small grin, and for a brief moment Ichigo felt allured by her looks. "Trust me, as someone who used to work in the Punishment Force, I know what I'm talking about."
"Right…" Ichigo murmured, his mind having gone numb as he stared at Yoruichi. Why was he finding it hard to speak right now? "But uh… about Aizen…"
"Yes? What is it?"
"How… strong is this guy exactly?" Remembering the humiliating moment at the Sokyoku Hill of getting chopped in half, it made Ichigo shiver at the power the man possessed. The gap in power was as vast as the universe itself. "When I fought him at the Sokyoku Hill, the guy was supposed to be a Captain, but he made everyone look like a joke… just what—"
"I'll stop you right there." Yoruichi put her hand in front of his face. "You're worried about if you'll be strong enough to face up against Aizen. Don't let it get to your head that you're the only player in this game, we have the whole 13 Court Guard Squads on our side, plus, we have Kisuke's intellect to match against Aizen's, so I'd say it evens out."
Ichigo thought for a moment, and she was right. He'll have to get stronger, and quickly. That bastard Grimmjow already showed up out of the blue, and who knows if they'll have another surprise attack like that again. "You're right. Sorry for asking."
"By the way... I heard you fought somebody the other day. Care to explain what that was all about?" Yoruichi asked, her eyes growing in curiosity.
"Wait, how do you know about that?" Ichigo was puzzled by the revelation.
"What are you, stupid or dense? You really think a good chunk of the population didn't see your showdown with that flying creature?" Yoruichi criticized his lack of thinking.
"Oh…" Ichigo now felt embarrassed. Of course they'd know, and his Spiritual Pressure would have been felt as well. "Well to be honest… I'm not sure either. Some guy in a metal bird suit tried to kill his former boss. Supposedly it's because he's been abused for a pretty long time, and the business there is nasty." He lowered his head at the mention of the Oscorp Industries.
"So, what happened?"
"Not sure either. I'm still trying to figure that out…"
"Well, at any rate, since we're done for the day, I'll give you back the clothes. They're all cleaned up and good to go." Yoruichi informed him.
"Oh, thank you. I really needed that."
Thwip.
Was that a right way of describing it? He wasn't sure, but the sound effect was pleasant to hear, and it was silent as well. Now garbed in his vigilante costume, Ichigo swung around the city, trying to find any gangs or sorts. He swung faster, making sure to keep all his senses sharp. He swung in an aggressive manner, either due to inexperience or that's just his way of doing things.
'Everything seems calm now. No fights or anything that seem out of place.' The young teenager thought, noticing he received odd looks, some being in awe of him. He flipped his body as he stuck onto a large pole. His scarf moved from the wind, unknowingly making him look more imposing.
'This is gonna be such a big mess. I really hope I can solve this gang problem before the Arrancars come again.' The vigilante thought in worry. One way or another, he'll find the one who shot Orihime. He'll make him pay.
He leaped from his spot and spun a web, sticking on to a building as he started swinging again. 'A Western mafia… and those of the East butting heads… Harry's father… how does this all connect? Just what is going on?' He forgot just how complicated the real world is, and he was just now beginning to grasp it.
There were so many questions and so little answers. Something big was gonna go down, and it's nothing from the Spiritual World.
A notification rang on his phone. He pulled out the pager that Yoruichi gave him as he spun around in the air before landing on a rooftop. What he saw made the young man's eyes widen in shock
It was live footage of a large bank being surrounded by the police, helicopters and all. Ichigo had a wireless connection, so he didn't need to have WiFi to have a connection as to what was happening. Multiple articles popped in his recommendation. He checked through the first one to see just what was happening.
There was a bank heist going on. A huge one at the Karakura Bank. The article said that an unknown assailant was a woman who had plenty of men working for her that secured the entire bank from the inside, and now the police surrounded the whole area. It was a very tricky situation, one that instinctively prompted Ichigo to get into action.
'No way…' Ichigo thought to himself, as he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Crouching on a rooftop, he saw dozens of police cars and helicopters alike surrounding the enormous sized bank. 'This is more serious than it looked…' From the way he positioned himself, sneaking around would be next to impossible unless he moved at max speed where he'd pass by as a blur.
But even then, how was he going to get past the helicopters? He didn't see any openings without being noticed. 'How am I gonna get there without being noticed? I don't think I'll have much of a choice without using my Combat Pass…' That would be the safest option, and this way nobody would notice him as a spirit. He kept the Pass with him in case a Hollow were to show up. 'Guess I don't have a—'
Ringing vibrated in his skull, signaling danger. The vigilante leaped away from a grappling hook before firing a webline to snatch whatever attacked him. He saw a woman dodging his web in an acrobatic manner before landing on the same platform he stood on.
"Who are you?!" Ichigo demanded to know, forming a stance at whoever just attacked him.
"I could ask you the same thing, handsome." The mysterious white haired woman in a suit answered him, pointing a weapon at him. "I heard about the bank heist, and I suddenly found you all the way out of here just crouching like an evil mastermind. You a henchman that's working from the outside or what?"
"Bite me!" Ichigo ferociously replied. "I was trying to figure out how to save people—"
"Hey, hang on…" The mystery woman dropped her weapon. "You're that guy who fought that metal bird the other day, aren't you?"
"Yeah, and what of it?" Ichigo made a snark as he glared at her. "You see me and now you just decide to attack me?!"
"Because it's a little hard to tell who was suspiciously dressed in black and red, sitting like that as if he wasn't manipulating everything from the outside like a henchman." The woman waved her hair in a fabulous manner as she answered, her eyes analyzing his body language. "But since you're one of the good guys, I figured we would team up."
"Team up?" Ichigo was now confused. "Hang on, we just met. Why would you—"
"Because it's better working with someone than doing something by yourself when lives are on the line." The woman answered in a serious tone, putting her hand on her hip. "Besides, this is a big deal. Better to ask what's going on than trying to sneak in. Now come with me!"
"Hey, wait—" Before Ichigo could finish what he was about to say, the woman had already leaped straight towards the police. "Great, what did I get myself into now?" Against his better judgment, Ichigo followed her. What was her deal here?
With his incredible strength combined with the height and velocity in his position, a loud "crash" echoed as he formed a small crater with his body. He looked over to see the police were startled by his sudden landing.
Feeling embarrassed, Ichigo began to mutter, "Sorry, still trying to get used to this." he told them.
"At any rate…" The woman in black clothing spoke to a police officer, ignoring what just occurred. "Is there any opening that we can get in? Cause it looks like you guys could use a hand."
"I heard about you…" The police officer, presumably in his 40's with brown hair and blue eyes. "You're Black Cat. What are you doing all the way out here?" He then glanced at the teenager. "The vigilante…? What's going on here—"
"He's with me." Black Cat answered. "But forget about all that. What's the situation right now?"
The officer held silent, seemingly hesitant. He didn't appear to trust them. "Not good at all. They got hostages from all sides, and they're threatening to shoot if we cause action. The good news at least is that they're trapped as well, but that leaves us at a stalemate. Neither side can do anything." The police officer explained, and judging from the badge he seemed to be the captain.
"Leave it to us then." Black Cat pointed to herself and Ichigo, who still seemed perplexed.
The officer stood still for a moment before answering. "Well not like we have much of a choice. Go ahead, but be very careful."
"Hold on a second, sir!" A female cop interjected. "Why are you just putting your faith in these two! Especially that one!" She pointed to Ichigo. "We don't anything about—"
"We can't take any risks, but they weren't part of any agreement. They move in, take out the enemy from within—"
"And I'll give a signal when you guys can step in. This isn't anything new for me." The gorgeous young woman said. She then fired a grappling hook towards the rooftop. "Wish me luck!"
"I'll uh… follow her." Ichigo said in a lame manner, firing a web as he went after the woman.
After about a minute or so, both black garbed heroes made their way to an entrance, and that's through an air duct. "Alright, we don't really have much time, so what are your powers?" Black Cat asked as she unscrewed the main cover before setting the entrance to the side.
"Could you slow down for a minute here?" Ichigo rebuked in a comedic fashion. "I don't even get what's going on."
Black Cat leaped through the empty hole, and Ichigo followed her. "Wait… you're really a newbie?" Black Cat questioned as she turned her head to look at the figure behind her as they crawled through the vent. Ichigo tried to think of something to say, but failed to respond. "I should have figured as much... but at least tell me you have powers that can help us take hostages."
"Well I…" Ichigo now realized the view he was getting from Black Cat's butt… it was enormous… "Well I got spider powers… can shoot webs and stuff, stick to walls…"
"How good are you at hiding?"
"Well I can… move faster than anyone can see me?"
"I probably should have done this solo." Black Cat bluntly admitted. "But at any rate… just hope everything will be fine."
They kept crawling through different pathways until they found another vent that led them to the inside of the bank. It was then they saw a sight of a hostage kneeling down on the ground, as a woman in a technological suit pointed a gun behind his head.
"The codes! I need them now!" The woman demanded with malice in her tone. "Or are you that eager to have your life end?"
"Alright, alright! I'll tell you! I'll lead you to the code!" The hostage pleaded, easily succumbing to the pressure.
"See, was that so hard?" The woman spoke mockingly before lifting the hostage, letting him lead her the way to the code.
"Boss!" One of the henchmen came up to her. "The police have this whole place surrounded! There's no way for us to get out!"
"Don't worry about it. I'll find an escape route." The woman replied with confidence in her voice before she continued walking with the hostage.
They waited until the boss left the room, leaving only the hostages and the henchmen. "Ok, this is gonna be a little rough." Black Cat said, looking back at the vigilante. "Hostages are being kept at different sides with the goons keeping an eye out at all times. There's two right in front of us, and the other three right in the center of the bank."
"So how do we deal with that?" Ichigo grew worried. He wasn't exactly the most proficient when it came to stealth. He was terrible at hiding his Spirit Energy, and while nobody here was spiritually aware, he was never good at stealth. It worried him that he'd put lives at stake if he screwed up.
"There aren't too many goons in here, so that makes it better. We gotta time this just right. We take out the goons at the same time, and then we take care of the ones in the middle." Black Cat instructed in a professional tone of command.
"So how do we do that?" Ichigo asked yet again.
"Just watch." Black Cat began to unscrew the buttons with a device in hand. About half a minute passed by before the vent became loose, allowing the feline to gently pull it out. Ichigo waited anxiously before the feline dived through the open space, landing without a sound to be heard.
Ichigo's heart skipped a beat when he saw how close the Black Cat was. Any wrong movement would startle the goons, and might even kill the hostages. But to his surprise and relief, Black Cat caught both goons by surprise by karate chopping their necks, knocking them unconscious. But in order not to arouse suspicion, she caught both men under her arms and silently put them on the ground.
"Come out before they see you." Ichigo snapped, his eyes now shifting to the older woman as she ushered him to get out of the vent. He did so as ordered, using his adhesive ability and spider mobility to get through the vents. "Good thing they didn't notice you." She said, untying the ropes from both hostages, freeing them.
"Ok so…" Ichigo drifted his attention to the main center of the bank where more goons held more hostages. "How do we deal with them?" he pointed to the main problem, making sure to crouch behind so he couldn't be seen.
The mysterious woman chuckled silently. "This is an easy one. Watch this." She drew something from her pouch. A metal-like ball with a circle on top. She clicked the button before she got up and threw it towards the goons. When it hit the ground, a thick, black smoke emerged.
"What the hell?!"
"What's going on?!"
Those were the words uttered by the frightened henchmen. Coughs were heard. Black Cat dived straight towards the smoke, and Ichigo followed suit. It didn't take very long, a matter of seconds in fact, to take down the goons, knocking then unconscious.
"Are there any more of those men in here?" Black Cat asked as she used her claws to snap the ropes.
"Y-Yes…" Uttered the frightened woman, who seemed to work for this bank. "That woman… you have to stop her. She took the director to the vault."
"Can you tell us where she is? And where is that located at?" Ichigo asked.
"It's on the last floor. Usually you'd have to get past security and enter codes so you can get there but—"
"The woman might have already gotten there when she took the director." The other hostage interjected. "Please tell us you're here to stop her…"
"Why else would we stick our necks out for you just now." Black Cat spoke bluntly. "But are there more hostages?"
"Y-Yes, but how are you going to just—"
"Leave that to us ma'am." Black Cat reassured her with a smile. "I'm an expert on this hero stuff. And we got my partner here as well." She gestured to Ichigo, who seemed surprised to refer to him such as that. "But can you point us to the directions where the vault is?"
After having been told everything, both heroes left, getting to the upper level to find the vault and rescue more hostages. They used the vents as a means to stay silent, at least going with what the woman said was a better option. If it were up to him, he'd have used his Combat Pass to stop such a complicated mess. But now it was too late.
Everything was going pretty smoothly. There were another pair of hostages they had to rescue, similar to the previous encounter, and they got more directions.
"Hey so…" Ichigo began to talk as they crawled through the vent.
"Be quiet." Black Cat shushed him with a silent snarl. "Or at the very least just whisper. You don't know if there's anyone that can hear us and start shooting."
"Well excuse me…" Ichigo merely rolled his eyes.
"Uh oh…"
"What's up?" Ichigo stopped when the mystery woman stopped as well. Though it didn't help that he was still getting a view of her… rear… really big rear…
"This area of the vents below us is way too revealing. There's thugs and a hostage down there as well from what I could tell. If we crawl up like this, we might get noticed." Black Car informed him.
Ichigo grew worried. What were they supposed to do about that? "If there's a hostage down there then we gotta save them. You got any of those devices of yours?"
"I might have just the thing." Black Cat replied as she went to reach for her belt, taking a pair of… balls? Pills? He couldn't tell. "Though we have to be quick."
"That shouldn't be a problem. So we just burst in?"
"That's the plan." Black Cat replied in a charming manner, agreeing with him.
Black Cat threw the miniature devices through the open vents, and sprouted a bright stream of light. Once the thugs started yelling, it was then that Black Cat tore through the open vents, charging in to take out the bad guys. Ichigo followed suit, using his strength and webs to take down the remaining goons in the room, at least as much as he could see.
It was then the flash of light died down, and the room was filled with unconscious goons, some were the ground, and some were webbed. Black Cat freed the hostage that had been trapped.
"Thank you so much!" The hostage exclaimed in gratitude, his face filled with relief. "You don't know how much it—"
"Yeah, we saved your life, I know." Black Cat interjected, as though she already predicted what the hostage would have said. "But can you give us directions to the vault?"
"Huh? Oh, sure, just keep heading to the North, you turn right, and well, since you're using vents, go a little down below, you'll find the vault. Are you here to stop that woman?" The hostage asked.
"Yeah. We just need to know are there any more goons from what you saw?"
"There were so many… I'm not sure if—"
"Are there any ones you saw that were ahead of where you were?"
"Don't think so. In fact, the last thing I saw was that woman leading the director to the vault."
"I say we leave the rest to the police then. We got a lot of them outnumbered. That should be just about everybody." Black Cat then brought a walkie talkie that she borrowed from earlier, and began to speak. "Alright, boys in blue! We got them all secure! They're all yours!"
Once that had been said, Ichigo took the opportunity to quickly climb back through the vents, heading to the director where the hostage told them. He was going by himself. She could help, but he needed to finish this quickly. There was no time to waste.
It took Ichigo a short time to find the vault as he busted through the vents, now standing in a large hallway, surrounded by pictures of painted art. Very old fashioned as well. Regardless, Ichigo ran through the open vault, and inside stood… nothing.
Well, to be more precise, he stood in an enormous hallway, but there wasn't any cash from what he saw. Where was the money located then?
Just then, at that moment, the vault seemingly closed itself, locking itself tight. This action took Ichigo by surprise. "The hell?!" the teenage vigilante exclaimed in surprise, turning his body around to look at the now closed vault.
He sensed something. Danger. But this time, it was too late for him to react as he felt a strong force of electricity tear its way through his skin, now aching in agony. "Gaaaah!" Ichigo yelled in pain, as he saw a small field of electricity running by. And below him was what looked like a grenade.
"Buh-bye little man…" He heard a charming, feminine voice from a direction up above. A sharp needle was shot, heading his way. Using every ounce of strength and survival instincts within himself, Ichigo leaped away, evading a terrible fate that'd have happened had he not gotten away. Only consequence was a small scorch mark on where the electric field hit dead on.
Heat was running all over his face, and he wanted to take off the ski mask, but he couldn't afford that. So he bore through the pain. "I'm surprised you made it!" Said the ominous, female voice. ''I put more than 50,000 volts in that little grenade."
Ichigo looked up above, and he saw a dark skinned woman covered in a technological suit and gear that covered her face. "Attacking me like that… out of nowhere… " He felt agitated. He wanted to lunge at the woman and make her pay. ''Who the hell are you?!"
"Oh boy, I can't tell you exactly who I am." The woman said, as she hung from the ceiling, using what seemed to be magnetic devices. "But I can tell you what I'm here for. You."
Ichigo snarled. "Is that right? Then it's a good thing I'm after you!" He lunged at her at blinding speed, one which the woman evaded. Without realizing it, he thrust his claws at her, to which the woman dodged out of the way. His claws tore through a chunk of the wall.
"I'm surprised you can still move after all that!" The woman exclaimed as she made a backflip before landing on the floor, and more flips to split the distance between them.
"Trust me…whoever you are," Ichigo glared at her. He tried to say her name, but he remembered nothing of the sort. "It's gonna take more than that to take me down. And besides, where's the director?!" he demanded to know the hostage's location.
"The name is Talon. And for the record, he's fine, sweetheart. I did no harm to that. He was free to go after getting what I wanted." The woman said, making a posture as she put her hand on her hip as she smirked. "And that's you."
"Huh?" Ichigo became confused. "What do you mean by that?"
"Can't tell you any more than that. Also, you might wanna get a better getup. Cause really," She pointed to his clothing. "That outfit?" She made a tsk sound. "Not gonna cut it."
"Oh like you care!" Ichigo lunged at her yet again, feeling insulted.
Talon flipped backwards as she dodged a flipping kick from Ichigo, shattering the ground instead. The vigilante launched a horizontal kick, to which Talon made an acrobatic leap to evade the move, and countered by a counter clockwise kick to the face. Ichigo growled as he launched a web, and it landed on the woman. Ichigo pulled the web, along with the woman before kicking her in the gut, sending the woman flying against the wall.
"Ugh!" Talon yelped as she struggled to get up. "Didn't anyone tell you it's not nice to hit a lady." She said, using the walls to support herself.
She was weaker than him. That was made clear to him. "What, and you get to electrocute me to death? A little late for that, lady." Ichigo said before he lunged at her. Talon leapt from her spot, briefly plunging her feet on the walls before flipping away from Ichigo's attack. Ichigo turned around, only to be met with a kick to the face.
Ichigo fought back by swinging his fists, to which the woman dodged each blow. He threw a backhand, but Talon ducked and swung a punch, hitting Ichigo's gut. The blow made the weakened vigilante stumble back, and Talon used this as an opening for an attack by putting her hand on the ground and launched a barrage of kicks against the vigilante, making Ichigo grunt as he felt the blows coming one after the other. He made an attempt to grab her legs, but Talon evaded by backflipping away in time.
Ichigo attempted to use his webs in order to capture her in his vicinity, but it failed as Talon made a cartwheel to get out of the way. "What's the matter, sweetie?! You thought it'd be that easy to catch me?!" She split distance, evading him further and further away. "Well think again!"
'She's fast…' Ichigo thought as he brushed his burnt chest. 'But she seems to be weaker than me. Hope the Pass didn't get damaged in that electric blast.' The last thing he needed was for his Combat Pass to get damaged.
A bomb was thrown in his way, and Ichigo ducked just in time as a bright explosion burst forth, destroying the wall. 'If I have the strength of a Hollow…' Ichigo thought as he started running towards his female opponent. 'Then where the hell do these guys get stuff like this?' Ichigo shot a web from his wrist, to which Talon ducked and threw another bomb at him.
Without thinking, Ichigo shot a web ball at the bomb, deflecting the device back towards the crime mistress before she moved out of the way in time. "Wha…" Ichigo was stunned. That was definitely a new one. "How did I just do that…" he murmured.
"You shouldn't be in such a daze!" The vigilante widened his eyes when he felt a sharp blow connect with his head, making him stumble backwards as he hissed from the powerful sting he felt.
More tension grew in his body. Ichigo suppressed his aggression as he tried focusing on his opponent, putting both of his arms above his head to block an incoming bicycle kick from Talon, to which she grabbed both of his wrists, spun her body to a lower angle before kneeing him in the gut. Ichigo grunted from the blow as he stumbled backwards.
"Is that all you got?" Talon taunted him as she took a stance, her lips curving upwards. "Because so far, I haven't been impressed."
Ichigo took a moment to glare at his opponent before he made a grin of his own. "Oh really? I could say the same for you. Your blows feel like a fly is hitting me." he made a witty comeback.
"Well if you want more firepower…" Talon began to dig more of her gear. "Then how about this!" Ichigo widened his eyes when he saw her throwing more bombs.
Ichigo dodged the first one by leaping out of the way. The third bomb he shot a web ball to get it away from him. The last bomb he couldn't dodge as he put his arms upfront to block in an X shape pattern, only to end up being tricked as the bomb released a thick gas instead. 'A smoke bomb?!' He accidentally inhaled some of the gas before getting out of it as much as he could.
Inhaling gas would leave a normal human dreary, and having this in your lungs was bad in general. But for someone like Ichigo, it irritated him. Danger rang in his head as he saw another bomb being thrown in his direction, this time being the same one that was used to electrocute him. 'Crap!' He thought as he leaped out of the way, but the bomb detonated, and as such, he wasn't fully able to get out of the way as the blast radius caught his leg. "Ahh!" He yelled out. 'She doesn't let up!'
His feet were starting to feel numb. But that shouldn't be a problem. He's taken worse punishment than this. "Gotta say… you're more persistent than I thought." Talon said, casually tossing another tool in the air.
"Ngh…" Ichigo struggled to stand on his own. It was a good thing he wasn't caught completely by the blast, but still in a small room like this it was bound to collapse if she kept throwing those bombs. 'I can't lead her to somewhere in a more open space. And she attacks non-stop with those damn bombs of hers.'
A sudden thought came to his head. More of an idea, really. 'Hang on just a minute…' No. It was a realization. He thought back to when he fought that Doll he fought from that Bount chick. He needed to find the heart of the weakness his enemy possessed. And he may have just found it.
A bang was heard. It was towards the vault. Rather, behind it. This distracted the boy, as sounds of struggle were heard. "Who in the…" Ichigo muttered.
"Too late, sweetheart!" Ichigo quickly got his attention, now suddenly springing with energy as he threw a web at the bomb she threw at him right back at her as twice as fast.
This threw Talon by surprise as she put her arms at front, jumping back to avoid the explosion. The end result being that she got caught by a fraction of the explosion, sending her against the wall. Two webs spun between where she stood before feeling a powerful blow against her body.
Ichigo stood still as he saw his opponent struggling to breathe for air. For a moment he was worried if he put too much force behind that last blow.
Clearly not as the danger rang again, this time with Talon getting up as she threw a backhand, to which Ichigo caught it with ease. He began to squeeze her wrist, enough so that the gauntlet was creaking from pressure. "You're already beaten. So just stand down."
"Y'know what…" Talon muttered. "I think I've seen enough. So I might as well."
"Eh?" Ichigo was surprised, but pleased to hear this. Someone actually giving up to fight him? Well this was a first. Usually his enemies don't stand down till the bitter end. But this was a nice change of pace. "Oh… well…"
He hadn't noticed it, but the vault finally broke, and bursting through the now empty space was none other than Black Cat, who looked at the scene with a furious look on her face. She was strong, able to tear through that metal vault, with a bunch of police officers following behind as well, all pointing guns.
"It's alright, boys, this man already beat me. Might as well surrender." Talon said with a simple smile as she put her hands upfront. "Besides... I already got what I wanted."
"Now just tell us where you put the money." One of the police officers demanded.
"Never took any." Talon replied nonchalantly. This made everyone stunned. "You can check it yourselves if you don't believe me… though it was tempting of me to take it as a cherry on top."
"What are you talking about?" Black Cat asked in confusion. "If you popped this whole operation and didn't steal anything, what were you here for?"
"Can't tell you that. But just be glad your precious money is safe and sound." Talon said before getting cuffed and led away by the cops.
"Well isn't that something…" Ichigo scratched the back of his head. "If she wasn't here for the money then what the hell did she do this whole thing for?"
Suddenly, he sensed a sinister aura surrounding Black Cat. She had her arms folded, her eyes narrowing as she leaned down. "What the hell were you thinking charging in on your own and ditching me like that?" She spoke in a voice full of frustration.
"I, uh," Ichigo stammered. "Well since the hostages were all fine I figured it'd just be quicker if I went after the boss."
"And what if the said boss held the director himself hostage when you got in here? Ever thought about that?"
Ichigo widened his eyes. That thought hadn't even occurred to him. "I…" He wasn't sure what to say.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. It looks like luck was on your side this time around." Black Cat, now standing completely as she gave a glare. "You could have risked someone's life. It looks like I was right that you are a newbie at this… what are you accomplishing exactly? Being a hero?"
"If you wanna put it like that, then sure I guess." Ichigo shrugged, not knowing what to say on the hero stuff. "Look, I'm sorry I rushed in and left you behind like that. I'm just… more used to fighting by myself." He replied, scratching the back of his head as he thought back to his previous battles as a Soul Reaper.
Black Cat sighted in frustration. "If that's your way of doing things then I dunno how you're gonna survive on your own being a hero. This is a very serious job that involves not just your life, but the lives of others as well."
"I'm just doing what I can to stop a gang war from happening in my town." Ichigo pointed his thumb to himself. "Call me an amateur, and maybe I am, but I'm doing all I can to stop this mess. There's people that I know might be in danger if this gets out of hand. And I wanna use my powers to stop this."
"So does that mean you don't want my help?"
"If you wanna help me take care of this, then I don't mind. I don't wanna throw you under the bus."
"Alright, so if we meet each other and do something like this again, you'll follow my lead. I've been doing this a lot longer than you have." Black Cat pointed her sharp finger at his chest. "Got that?"
"Sure I guess." Ichigo shrugged his shoulders, not really sure as to what degree he'll follow the woman's lead.
"Look, I came to this town for one purpose, and whatever is happening in your place, I think I can help you. You seem pretty strong and capable of handling yourself in a fight, so I figured it'd be best if we work together." Black Cat offered.
"Wait… are you saying this is somehow connected?"
"I'm not positively sure, but it's a possibility. By the way... I never did hear your name. So what do you call yourself?" Black Cat asked.
"Uh," Ichigo blinked his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb with me. Like what's your hero name? Code name? You're not dumb enough to use your real name now, are you?"
"Oh." Ichigo blinked again and thought to himself. "Well…" He never thought to give himself a name. Either he was too busy or he didn't care to come up with anything.
"Well you have arachnid attributes… So what is it? Are you The Spider?"
"The Spider?" Ichigo seemed baffled.
"You don't have your code name do you…" Black Cat sulked in a comical manner. "Geez… look how about I just call you Spider, for simplicity sake."
"Hey, whatever fits. Doesn't sound horrible either."
The Kingpin crossed his fingers as he stared intently at the laptop screen that had been presented before him. Behind this seemingly modest building, one would never guess that the ruler of the underworld would be here.
He had studied and watched the entire battle that unfolded. Next to him stood his right hand man. "Well?" Hammerhead wanted to know. "How would you call that stunt?"
"I'd say it was quite successful. We found more than enough at what our enemy is capable of." Kingpin said in a calm manner.
"I'm a little surprised how well this turned out." Kingpin sensed hesitation in his lieutenant's voice, and he didn't like that. "Not that your plan was gonna fail or anything of that nature. But was it necessary to drag such a long plan just to find out what this one man is capable of?"
That's right. The Kingpin of Crime had organized and manipulated the entire bank heist by hiring an employee who was more than willing to commit the deed. The goggles she had had an interval camera imprinted to analyze and record the entire event of everything that had happened. Now that she had served her purpose, she no longer had further use unless she was needed another time. The laptop was connected to the camera in a way so even when so out of range, it would work like a CV camera.
"This was nothing more than child's play. A small test to see what our foe is capable of. And he's stronger than we anticipated. The next time my plan is set in motion, the Kingpin will not fail." Kingpin said as he blew his pipe. "Though from what I've seen, he seems to be quite inexperienced, and that gives us the advantage." Kingpin got up from his chair, having seen more than enough.
"Where you goin'?"
"To exercise, what else would I be doing?" Kingpin replied as he exited his private office. "Though the next time we send someone to attack that vigilante, it must be someone stronger than Talon."
Alright, Chapter 10 got edited at last. Don't like how long this took me, as I originally left the chapter to do this by a friend of mine, but he was taking far too long with the process despite me being busy with other stuff, so I took it upon myself to write the chapter at last. And I gotta say, it feels more coherent than the original one.
Now for Black Cat being a hero, so I thought it'd be more interesting to tackle this instead of the usual crime schtick that Felicia does and takes her a while to go into a more anti hero role. So I used Talon from the Spider-Man The New Animated Series to be a suitable replacement for this kind of thing. For those who are reading this story, I hope it's been more enjoyable than it originally was.