In the endless abyss of Hueco Mundo lies the fortress known as Las Noches, currently taken over by Sosuke Aizen. A fortress of unimaginable height, it's military power rivaling that of the Soul Society's, where the Arrancar soldiers prepare for the inevitable showdown they'll have against the Soul Reapers. It'll be a ruthless slaughter, viewed as a competition by some on who lives and who dies, a gruesome feast of blood will be spilled. These warriors are to be prepared…
Or at least, most of them are supposed to.
"Hahahahaha!" The green haired child known as Lilynette laughs out loud, standing on a corridor next to Tier Harribel, slapping her knee. ''And then he just walks like this!" The girlie Arrancar imitates a grumpy figure, throwing her elbows to the side as she purposefully stomps on the floor. "Serves him right! That's what he gets for interrupting my Halloween last time!"
"I can imagine…" Harribel just humors the child, being not so different from her Fracciones when they bicker with one another. But since she was smaller, she didn't bother restraining her much. That's Starrk's problem. "But I'm confused, isn't Halloween supposed to be out next year?"
"Ah, who cares! The last one was fun! But unfortunately some assholes had to ruin it!" Lilynette huffs as she crosses her arms. ''Oh, right, what was it you wanted to ask me?"
"I asked you where you last saw Grimmjow. I want to speak with him." Halibel tells the Arrancar child.
"Huh?" Lilynette becomes confused. "Why would you wanna talk with that bastard? He's not an Espada anymore."
"I'm quite aware, Lilynette." Harribel speaks impassively. "But there's something he knows that I want to ask him of. So where have you last seen him?"
"Eh, said something about training when I was annoying him. Dunno what part though." Lilynette shrugs her shoulders.
"Thank you." Harribel thanks the child before using Sonido to approach her destination faster.
The palaces between all the Espadas are many miles away, so it takes Harribel at least a minute before she finds Ulquiorra walking in the hallways, who immediately spots her.
"Ulquiorra."
"Harribel." This was a way for the two, level headed Arrancars to greet one another. ''What is it that you want?" Ulquiorra asks, his analytical eye knowing that an Espada wouldn't just be dazzling through Las Noches canopy for no reason.
"I was looking for Grimmjow, but since you're here, I suppose you're the next best thing for what I'm looking for." Harribel replies.
"And just what would that be?" Ulquiorra asks, trying to think of what she could possibly ask him for. The two of them rarely talk with one another, let alone exchanging information.
"The Substitute Soul Reaper." Harribel answers without skipping a beat, crossing her arms. "Ever since I met him myself, there's something about him that's been puzzling me."
"And just what would that be?" Ulquiorra questions, unsure what more she could ask. After all, she saw everything from his perspective during Ichigo Kurosaki's battle with one of their teammates, Yammy.
"Lord Aizen gave me a mission to deliver the Substitute some kind of device that gives some intel about us, due to Yammy's stupidity in accepting a challenge he had no hopes of winning." Harribel gives the information to her teammate. "But in doing so, he assigned me to wear a bracelet that can only be seen by Arrancars and no-one else. Yet, when I met the Substitute… he was able to see me just fine, and even sense me."
"Peculiar…" Is all what Ulquiorra musters, taking a moment to process what the blonde woman told him just now. "That… shouldn't be possible from what you're telling me. I can see why you'd want to know more."
"Do you have any clue as to how this could happen?" Harribel wants to hear the opinion from Ulquiorra. ''Was the bracelet a dud?"
"No. Lord Aizen has never once failed in anything that came in his way, including inventions. This is only a theory… but perhaps the boy may have the power of a Hollow like we do." Ulquiorra theorizes.
Harrbel raises her eyes, surprised to hear such a thing. "But that can't be… how can a mere Soul Reaper have the powers of a Hollow?" she asks, seeing the impossibility.
"I can't be certain, but it's the only explanation as to how could see you, could he not?" Ulquiorra points out. ''As I said, this is only a theory. But if that is the case, then perhaps he's searching for greater power after realizing he wasn't a match for Grimmjow."
"I still find that hard to believe." Harrbel scoffs. "Arrancars such as us were only capable of given the powers of a Soul Reaper through Lord Aizen's Hogyoku. What could the Soul Reapers have that'd be the equivalent to that?"
"That is what I was thinking… but I also would find it hard to believe… with how foolish it is." Ulquiorra adds.
"Foolish?" Harrbel quivers her eyebrows, not understanding what the pale Arrancar meant.
"Ichigo Kurosaki may have the powers of a Soul Reaper, but he is still only a human. Though it's logical that he would want to require more power in order to combat us, becoming a Hollow pays a price for a soul's mind." Ulquiorra explains deliberately. "Even if by some miracle he were to achieve this, he would at best only imitate a Hollow. You can't become something your nature doesn't function in having."
"I see…" Is all what Harribel could say, numbly nodding her head. "I suppose you're right on that aspect." She begins to walk away from the green eyed Espada.
"Anywhere in particular you're going?" Ulquiorra asks, his eyes darting back to his fellow Espada.
"Heading towards wherever Grimmjow is. Since he also fought the Substitute, I want to hear what he has to say." Harribel replies.
"If I remember, he went out for training from outside Las Noches."
"Outside Las Noches?" Harribel turns back to look at Ulquiorra, being somewhat confused. ''Why would he train there?"
"Grimmjow isn't particularly fond of any of the Espada in here, and now that his home has been taken by Luppi, there's nowhere for him to go but outside." Ulquiorra bluntly tells her.
"I see. I'll see to this right away." Harribel says before using Sonido to head to her destination.
Ulquiorra watches his teammate disappear, one thought now pondering him as he goes back to walk. 'Why would she search for more information when I already gave her enough? Knowing how Grimmjow operates, it's likely he'll give less info. So why go through that trouble?' While it makes sense to go through your enemy's profile, it seems unusual for Harribel to probe for more like this.
But he casts it aside, deeming it as unworth his time.
"Grah!" Grimmjow unleashes a powerful Cero blast with just one hand, and makes an attempt to bend the energy beam as it travels upwards the sky, drifting off to the empty abyss.
The former Espada growls as he remembers his humiliations. From losing his Fracciones, to getting an earful from Tousen, to kissing up to Aizen, only to lose his arm, which in turn dropped his power so much that it got him kicked out of the Espada, only to be replaced by Luppi of all people.
All this serves to fuel his anger, getting ready to unleash a more powerful Cero, before he hears a feminine voice tell him ''You should learn to control that temper of yours. It's what got you in this mess to begin with." In annoyance, he responds to turning around to see the blonde haired Espada.
"Harribel…" Grimmjow mutters. ''What the hell are you doing out here?"
"It's quite simple, so no need to throw an attitude around me like that." Halibel takes a couple of steps forward, narrowing her eyes. ''Unless you prefer me to kill you here for your insubordination? You know that since you're not an Espada anymore, I can drop you like a fly and Lord Aizen wouldn't even be displeased."
"Oh, is that why you're here?" Despite the threat, Grimmjow either ignores or doesn't pay heed to it. "What's with the change of attitude, Harribel? It's not like you to gloat. Did you hate me that much?" He makes a maniacal smile. ''Was your rank over me that into your head?"
"Don't be naive. I'm simply using my authority for a simple order, and giving you solid advice. But it seems impossible considering you already screwed up the whole ordeal all by yourself. So if you want to live, 'Numero', I suggest you start telling me what you know."
"Tch, fine." Grimmjow spits. "What do you wanna know?"
"The Substitute Soul Reaper you fought." Halibel answers. "What did you make of him in your battle?"
"Eh?" Grimmjow becomes confused by this. ''That kid? What the hell makes you wanna know about him?"
"I'm just curious…" Harribel shrugs. ''Ulquiorra and Yammy were sent to observe the Soul Reaper and proved himself to be strong. Then, out of your volition, you simply acted on your own and fought him yourself. So tell me… how was this Ichigo like?"
"That guy…" Grimmjow silently snarls, remembering his last battle he had with the orange haired Bankai user. "I'll give him this, he was tougher than I thought he'd be. I managed to draw him out to use his full power, but his Bankai was… disappointing."
"Disappointing? In what way?" Harribel wants to know.
"For all his weird praise, that Bankai of his only increased his power. And from all that I heard, I thought it'd be something more flashy, but no, all he did was put up a decent fight in my normal form. What a total waste." The panther Arrancar kicks the sand beneath his feet. "Although… there was something particular that caught my attention."
"And what would that be?"
"He has some sort trick up his sleeve that allows him to unleash a powerful burst of energy, similar to that of a Cero, at least in terms of property." Grimmjow looks to the side. ''That's when I decided to use my Resurección, but that bastard Tousen interfered. I was serious about finishing him off, and I aimed to keep that." he growls, remembering his interruption.
"Your Fracciones—"
"—Were all killed, yeah yeah." Grimmjow rolls his eyes, not caring at all that his previous comrades died. ''So fucking what? I would have finished all those Soul Reapers by myself if I had to. I sensed that they were weak, yet for all that exists, Tousen just fucking interfered!" he exclaims his frustration. "Though I suspect he might have some more tricks up his sleeve than I don't know about. But the next time we meet…" he grins viciously. "He'll be a dead man."
"I see… well, if you have nothing more to say, I'll be on my way." Harribel speaks as she turns around to walk away, the crunches of the sand making this evidently clear.
"Whatever, you were in the middle of my training anyways. So get lost!" Grimmjow yells, raising his tone.
"Hmph." Harribel grunts. ''You should be grateful that I won't chop off your leg, it'd serve your image well with the missing limbs." She bluntly tells him without skipping a beat, before disappearing using Sonido in a burst of static, leaving behind an infuriated Grimmjow.
As she goes back to the fortress, Harribel is left to ponder her thoughts as the wind blows due to her accelerating speed. 'Ichigo Kurosaki… you're a Soul Reaper, yet from what I've been told you possess some properties of a Hollow. But how could that be?' She gets back inside the halls in mere microseconds. 'Just what kind of training could he be doing to achieve such a feat? What exactly is he doing all this for? And what is he doing now?'
"Achoo!" Ichigo quickly puts his forearm to cover his nose as he sneezes.
"What was that about?" His lady partner, Black Cat, asks him as she whirls her head to look at the teenager. ''You're not catching a cold all of a sudden, are you?"
"No, it's just something that came out of nowhere." Ichigo rubs his masked nose. "Anyway, you managed to find these Dragon gangs?"
"Took a while, but I managed to get a lead on the Dragon Tail while you were off doing your own thing. I got a tip to meet up with an old man by the name of Chen." Black Cat gives him the information. "Best to meet up with him right now. Follow me." She makes a backflip with her hands, falling from the building, letting her body feel the wind before she grabs a grappling hook and fires it.
Ichigo follows her not long after, easily keeping pace with her with his web swinging. "So, I gotta ask, what happened to your other suit?" Black Cat asks him, twisting her body in mid air before firing her grappling hook again.
"Oh, that…" That's right. Ichigo's previous costume was destroyed yesterday from his battle with the White Dragon. Not wanting to go through the effort of remaking things from scratch, Yoruichi asked Kisuke to quickly make a batch of clothes, though under her supervision, knowing the teenager would complain about silly adjustments that Kisuke would have undoubtedly added.
As of now, he wears a full red bodysuit, and over the top he wears a blue, sleeveless shirt with a hoodie that Ichigo is wearing over his head, with a large, black spider logo turned 75 degrees angle. He also wears a pair of white, triangular plastic lenses of the two-way mirror type that allows Ichigo to see in, but people can't see out, such as the color of his eyes. It was a definite improvement over his old suit… though his one complaint was the color blue. "It got destroyed yesterday, so I had to make a new one." He finishes.
"By yourself?" Black Cat grabs onto a flagpole, making several flips, and then lets loose as she gains further momentum.
"No comment!" Ichigo spins his body as he still holds on to his web, firing another one from his left hand before letting go of his right.
The two say nothing after that, rather they swing together throughout the early morning until they make it to their location. From the outside, it is a large building, but it is the rooftop that catches Ichigo's attention. The field is surrounded with grass and bushes alike standing at the edge of each side of the rooftop, with a Chinese-like shrine build that looks as though one could live there, as there is a small house beneath the metal structure. Within stands an old man, wearing gray pants and a blue shirt, who seems to be in his 60's with the gray hair he has and the wrinkles on his face.
The hero and the vigilante land on the rooftop, and the old man doesn't seem phased, as though he expected their meeting. ''Welcome, Ms. Black Cat and…" The old man looks at Ichigo, his wrinkled expression puzzled at the other man.
"His name is The Spider," Black Cat points her thumb at Ichigo before putting her hands on her hips. "He looks mean but he's not that bad."
This prompts a glare from the young man, and was about to speak until the old man speaks first. "My name is Chen," he says. ''Thank you for your help. I truly appreciate you doing this."
"I got a little info from one of the crooks that The Spider and I caught the other day. Apparently one of them squealed, saying that the Dragon Tail are after some ancient artifacts, some statues to be more precise. That's about all we got." Black Cat informs.
"I see…" Chen murmurs under his breath. "Then it is as I feared…"
"What is it? What do these guys want from these statues?" Black Cat asks, putting her hand on her hip.
It is then Ichigo widens his eyes as his precognitive danger system rings in his head. Though his lenses didn't express any reaction, Ichigo instinctively turns his head, looking at whatever danger there seems to be lying ahead. "Uh, guys…" He starts to alert them. ''Don't panic, but, I think we got an unwelcoming company."
"Huh?" Black Cat speaks in confusion, and Chen only shares the same puzzled expression as the woman. ''Wait, what do you—"
Ichigo widens his eyes in shock, his body moving instinctually as he moves the old man before an arrow misses him, landing on the grassy field.
"What the—?!" Black Cat hurls her body in surprise to the direction where the arrow came from. She sees two men standing not far from where they are at, holding bows and arrows. ''Assassins?!"
The danger tingles in his head again, but this time it isn't coming from the men who just fired at them. "Get down!" Is all what Ichigo could say before he tackles Black Cat on the ground, rolling them both over as two more arrows shot at the cat-like heroine, missing in the process. Ichigo looks at the shocked man. "Go! Get inside!" He ushers him, and the man nods without responding, heading inside his sanctuary for protection.
"You get two on the right! I'll take the ones on the left!" Black Cat ushers, and without argument she springs towards action as she leaps out of the massive garden, the arrows missing her as she twists her body thanks to her superhuman reflexes. She fires a grappling hook at the edge of the roof all while dodging arrows that fire at 90 miles per hour, twisting her body in doing so. As she gets close, she fires a square, metal object that activates a bio electric shock that shoots electricity, firing enough volts to knock them out unconscious.
Ichigo makes several positions as he twists his body, holding to his web, as he too, dodges the arrows. He fires a web on one of their faces, blinding the archer. He sticks to the building and begins to run on the side. He makes a flip, putting his legs between the first archer's neck, and hurls him against a brick wall, making cracks in the process. He runs to the second man, who clumsily aims his arrow based on the sounds being made, but it is too late as Ichigo makes a spin kick, landing on the side of the head which knocks out the assassin.
The hero and the vigilante return to the same spot in the garden. ''Those were actually assassins… we must have been followed here by the Dragon Tail." Black Cat says, putting her fingers on her chin. "Either that or they were going after the old man… but that's way too much of a coincidence to show up at the same time."
"You think they wanted to get rid of the old man?" Ichigo asks.
"Well it's most likely. Do you think there's any more of them out there?" Black Cat questions, a part of her being curious as to how he knew they'd be struck at that moment.
Ichigo waits for a moment as he looks around, using his spiritual senses to see if anybody is around, nor does he feel a feeling of danger anymore. "Doesn't seem like it. They're gone for now."
"You're gonna have to tell me how you knew we were about to get attacked…" The cat-like heroine walks over to where Chen had hidden himself. "But right now, we need that info from the old man, more than ever."
Ichigo looks around, seeing if there are any more assassins. Black Cat is reassuring that they took care of the nuisances. But something is making the young man frown. 'What exactly are these guys after that they'd hire these guys to kill the old man so badly?' He thinks to himself.
It is then that Chen comes out, looking frightened before he slowly opens the doors, coming from the view once more. "They… they're gone?" Chen asks out of fear.
"Yeah, you don't have to worry about them anymore." Black Cat reassures the troubled old man, knowing he must have been scared to death with those assassins that came out of blue. "But really, we can stop these guys permanently if you just tell us what they're after."
"Yes, very well then." Chen nearly stutters, still trying to shake off his near death experience just now. "You see… for many years, I have been the protector of the Bell and Hammer. It is said that when the Bell is struck with the Hammer in the presence of the stone statues, it will bestow treasures beyond the imagination. So much so… that it's enough to own the world."
"Say what?!" Both the Spider and the Black Cat exclaim at the same time in shock. Surely having enough wealth to own the world is an exaggeration, but even then, a fraction of that amount of money could not be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. "Do you know where they've been taken?!" Black Cat demands to know.
"It is in one of the neighboring towns, there you will see a skyscraper, with a bit more… fancy structure put into it." Chen gives the information.
"I think I might know where that is." The Spider says before he starts running towards the edge and jumps, starting to swing, with Black Cat following suit.
"The amount of money to even own the world… what could anyone possibly want with that?!" Ichigo exclaims with worry, using one arm after the other to web swing.
"I'm not completely sure!" Black Cat replies, falling a bit behind The Spider, but she could still keep up. ''But from what I could guess, they probably might start with owning your entire country, which is really going to jeopardize things from here on out if they succeed!"
"Like I'll let them!" Ichigo begins to speed up, his silent anger looming in his mind. Too much is happening to the town he grew up in, no way is he letting any more getting involved in a mess like this.
"Hey, hold on a second!" Black Cat yells for her partner to slow down. She honestly didn't expect him to move so fast. If he were to keep this up, she'd lose sight of him for sure. "Calm down! We don't know if they've even begun to ring the Bell yet!"
"And that's a chance I can't afford to take!" Ichigo argues, not looking back. "I'm not letting these people do whatever they want in my city!"
"I get that, but if they've just recently obtained these things, there's a good chance they're still assembling them! If you just rush in there, there's a good chance you might lose with the people that are involved behind this! Who knows how many of them there are!" Black Cat tries to reason with the hot headed youth.
For a moment, The Spider doesn't say anything, as he recalls what Yoruichi commented on his temper. "Right…" Ichigo says, nodding his head. "Sorry. I got carried away. Still, it's better to get there as quickly as possible! We're about a couple miles left!"
Seeing as the buildings won't do much to boost his momentum, Ichigo settles for making acrobatic leaps, letting his spider instincts guide him on what to do as he makes summersaults, backflips, twists, spins and so on.
It takes them over 10 minutes before the two heroes find the building they are looking for. There is a skyscraper with 4 corridors that surrounds the middle of the large building. "I think we finally found it." Ichigo comments as he swings with one arm.
"Looks like it. Even a foreigner like me wouldn't miss something like that." Black Cat adds as she swings with her grappling hook. "And with the amount of windows there are, we should launch our attacks all the way from above."
"Sounds good to me." Ichigo says, launching his webbing from his wrists as he spins his body, as both he and Cat swing higher and higher until they make it to the rooftop of the skyscraper. "Alright… how do we enter through here?"
"Pretty sure that vent gives us all the entrance we need." Black Cat says as she walks towards the vent, carefully opening it so she doesn't make too much noise. She then opens it. "Come on, let's go." She jumps to the ceiling landing wherever it leads them.
"If the lady insists." Ichigo comments before following suit.
In a large hall, there are over dozens upon dozens of men guarding the higher floor of the same room, and on the lower level stand many ancient statues that are assembled together. A man, garbed in a red, armored samurai outfit with a helmet covering his face walks over to the bell, with The Hammer in his hands.
"At last!" The man in the samurai garment exclaims. "The power of the artifacts is ours! Soon, the world will tremble in might of the Dragon Tail!" He clasps his gloved hands together. "Of course, the Kingpin will need to have a fair share…"
Unbeknownst to them, The Spider and The Cat are hiding above the vent after having gotten past the security systems built for this place, where they are eavesdropping on the conversation.
"Kingpin…" Black Cat whispers. "Looks like he called it. He is behind these whole shenanigans."
"Kingpin…?" Ichigo looks at the older woman in confusion. "Wait, who exactly is this guy?"
"I'll fill you in, later, right now we gotta focus on this." She ushers him.
They hear the Bell being struck by the Hammer, and soon enough a couple of statues start to crack, though they couldn't see very well just what exactly is happening down below.
"Ah, excellent! Jade and gold!" the Samurai exclaims with glee in his tone. ''These alone are worth millions!"
Both heroes widen their eyes in shock. "Hey… you wouldn't by any chance know how much that's converted into US dollars… would you?" Black Cat asks the Japanese vigilante.
"No clue, but that's a lot of money for some lousy statues. What the hell are we supposed to do?" Ichigo questions with worry in his tone. They can't possibly just stay here and do nothing. Operating on stealth seems next to impossible at this point.
"I don't know…" Black Cat shakes her head. ''But we gotta move forward, take out the leader by surprise and maybe then—"
"Forget it. I'm going in." Ichigo prepares for himself for an attack against the small army.
"Are you crazy…?!" Black Cat whispers harshly. "Attacking head-on is practically never a good idea!"
"Watch me." They hear more statues cracking, and that's when Ichigo's patience reaches its end, as he delivers a swift blow to the vent, making a loud, creaking noise as he dives down, making his presence wide and known. "I've had all I can take with you assholes!" He angrily yells as he jumps down, webbing the statues to fall one after the other like dominos.
"An intruder!" The samurai points his index finger at the young vigilante. ''Get rid of him! At once!"
"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Black Cat is frustrated by Ichigo's actions, so having no choice, she leaps down to help him, believing him to be in danger.
"Another intruder?! Get rid of them at once!" The red samurai orders.
Many men charge at them all at once. Ichigo focuses on his spider-like instincts and leaps right at the men that jump at him from above. He already takes out a couple of them as he is far faster. He can hear daggers being drawn, and Ichigo fires webs at the roof, making an acrobatic flip as he avoids multiple daggers being thrown at him.
He lets go of his webbing and lands on the platform, but not before he performs an ax kick on one of their men, completely knocking them unconscious. He grabs the other two men, spinning them around till he throws them across the room, knocking them against the statues. Ichigo takes a couple of steps back as a sword starts being swung at him by one of the members, but his spider reflexes alone are too much for those who move in slow motions, as though time is slowing down. He ducks a diagonal slash to his head, only for Ichigo to counter by hitting the member on his stomach, dropping him to the ground.
Two more men dash at him with a kunai and a short sword, both perfectly timing their attacks as they swing at him, only for Ichigo to correspond by grabbing their wrists, flipping over as he displays his amazing agility by kicking both of them at the same time, knocking them out as well.
On the other side, Black Cat seems to be faring just as well. She elbows one of the assailants against his shoulder, making him grovel in pain. She performs a spin kick from behind, and ducks her head when a sword is horizontally swung at her dead, countering with a uppercut to the jaw. Black Cat leaps out of the way, bouncing on the walls to boost her momentum whilst simultaneously dodging every inconceivable blow there is, ones that should not be possible despite her mastery of martial arts.
Another sword swings at her, and Black Cat ducks, putting her hand on the floor before kicking the assailant's jaw. She leaps, twisting her body as she makes a spin kick against one of the men's backs, grabbing him before she throws him hard enough against another man that was after her, knocking them both out as they hit their heads against the statues. She leaps backwards when a dagger is thrown in her way, only to catch and throw it back at the man's knee, making him bleed.
Ichigo makes a roundhouse kick at another man's hip, before his danger tingle warns him of an incoming attack from behind, and the teenager quickly turns around to put his hand against a man's forearm to prevent his sword from reaching him before delivering a kick to the stomach. As he delivers that blow, another man swoops in to deliver a devastating blow by throwing his dark blade, aiming at Ichigo's throat. The masked vigilante twists his body in unnatural degrees to dodge the blow before leaping in the air and putting his knee against the man's abdomen, and then places a web net that hurls the unconscious man back against a wall.
More of them keep coming, but that's no problem for the vigilante. He fires a multitude of web balls to hit all the men from his sight, each ball having the impact of mercy bullets for the likes of them. As he lands on the floor, the last of the men come at him from different sides, and Ichigo responds by performing a backhanded spin kick to one, a swift, solid punch to the other one from behind. He spins his body to make an aerial spin kick. And the last man who comes from his side, Ichigo simply responds with an elbow to the chin, knocking all the men unconscious.
Ichigo looks around, and sees that every single one of them is knocked out, or those who aren't knocked out are too injured to move properly. They'll call the ambulance after this. Black Cat is looking around as well, also wanting to confirm whether there are more of them or not. His danger tingle has nearly subsided as well… aside from one enemy left.
Ichigo looks up, and sees the samurai standing on a high ground, wielding two deadly blades as he spins their handles with his fingers. "So, you have defeated all my men. Quite impressive, and with such very little numbers on your side as well." He commends their fighting skills.
"Well, next time you might wanna hire a bunch of guys who have some powers, instead of just some nobodies." Ichigo smirks behind his mask.
"You dare insult my men?! The Red Samurai does not take kindly to your insults!" He declares as he makes a battle stance.
"Wait… you actually call yourself The Red Samurai?" Black Cat questions with an eyebrow raised. "I mean… isn't that rather… redundant?"
"You dare—"
"I mean she's kinda right." Ichigo cuts off the Red Samurai. "It's a little obvious. I mean, you're a samurai, and you're primarily wearing red colors—"
"Wait, come to think of it," Black Cat interjects. "Isn't there another samurai in Japan that's going along with samurai themed crap? Like Silver Samurai or something?"
"That's so going in for a copyright lawsuit." Ichigo adds.
"Enough!" The Red Samurai yells. "You have mocked me and my ways long enough! It is time you pay for your insolence!" Suddenly, green puffs of smoke appear on all sides where the Red Samurai is standing. There, from the clouds of smoke emerge heavily armed men, battering with sais, swords, staffs and nunchucks. "Behold! My students! They are my best men, and have mastered the art of weaponry and hand to hand combat! Together with all 4 of them, their strength and skill are nearly equal to my own!"
"... Might have spoken too soon." Ichigo murmurs as he's ready to be on guard.
"Now… we attack!" The Red Samurai announces.
Both heroes are ready for the fight of their lives. Black Cat makes a backflip to get away when one of the sai weapons get thrown at her, and Ichigo goes for the offense by webbing up one of the henchmen, who tries to cut the webbing by using the sharp sword, only for it to fail. Ichigo yanks the one with the swords down to his level and hits him in the gut, sending him flying across the room. Ichigo figures that going by the Red Samurai's claim, these guys can take a beating.
The man with the nunchucks gets in front of him and begins to swing at him with complex movesets, one that Ichigo makes a backflip to get away from. "I don't get it, are you guys Ninjas or Samurais?!" Suddenly, a green puff of smoke appears behind Ichigo, and he reacts to his danger by jumping out of the way.
"Impossible!" The Red Samurai yells. ''How could you have dodged that?!"
The Spider proceeds to fire strands of webbing at both men, to which both of them get out of the way by leaping backwards.
Black Cat avoids several sais being swung at her, using her cat-like claws to counter the blows in an offensive manner. Black Cat vertically swings her leg to go for offense on the man's head, but he blocks it with his wrist. The second man with the staff flips over in between and the spiky blade from the tip of the staff lunges at her, to which Black Cat responds by bending her back till her head nearly hits the floor, dodging the lethal attack. She pulls her right leg back and ducks as she scratches the man with the sais with her claws on his left leg, making him yell in pain as blood gushes from him.
The heroine then grabs a hold of her grappling gun, standing on one hand as she fires the hook, wrapping it around the man's leg, however it's countered by the man cutting the line by the blade of the staff. 'Shit!' Black Cat thinks as she scoffs.
Ichigo twists his body to get away from the Red Samurai's sword swings, who expertly uses his weaponry, swinging from vertical, horizontal, and diagonal all at once, yet somehow Ichigo keeps dodging most of the fatal blows that are being aimed at him. 'How can this be?!' The Red Samurai thinks in frustration. 'I aim with swift precision, yet he dodges nearly every blow as if he can see it happening! How can this be?!'
Ichigo couldn't describe it, but he feels more comfortable fighting against weapon wielders rather than hand to hand combat fighters, this is what feels more comfortable to him. "You guys are pretty good…" The Spider comments as he backflips away from the one who wielded two swords, having somewhat recovered before Ichigo kicks him at the back of his head, knocking him unconscious as Ichigo lands on the floor. "But I've seen better." Memories of his grueling training with Kisuke and his fight with Ikkaku spring to his mind, as the young rookie constantly analyzes his opponent's movements.
The man with the nunchucks lunges from the air, but Ichigo turns around to fire strands of webbing and roughly throws him against the Red Samurai, making them both roll over the ground.
Black Cat throws several, miniscule pills that land on the ground, closing her eyes as a flash grenade of sorts lights up the room, blinding at least two of the henchmen she is fighting against. She nimbly grabs the man with the bo staff and throws him against the man with the sais. She acrobatically leaps in the air and elbows one of them, whilst also pressing her body weight by the added momentum she built up to knock them unconscious. The light then fades away.
'Alright, that's two down, now to help Spider.' Black Cat thinks as she jumps in to help her teammate, who's being surrounded by the Red Samurai and his goons. ''Mind if I drop in?!" She rhetorically asks as she lands directly behind The Spider's back.
"I was handling this just fine, but if you insist on joining…" Ichigo replies as he eyes his enemies.
"Can't leave you to have all the fun." Black Cat answers back wittingly as she makes a fighting stance.
The trio of enemies make way as they all tackle the heroic duo, covering them with different angles as they leap towards them simultaneously. Black Cat tackles the one with nunchucks, being the least deadliest in terms of weaponry, and at the last instant she extends her cat claws and puts a stop as she tears through the metal chains with uneery precision, completely surprising the man. Ichigo jumps backwards from both swordsmen wielders, and they run side by side to get the upper hand on Ichigo.
Black Cat punches the man with former nunchucks, launching him back as he hits the pillar, knocking him unconscious. She lands on the floor, and leaps over to The Spider's side as she engages in a 2 vs 2 battle. Black Cat clashes blow for blow against the samurai student with her claws, whilst Ichigo keeps evading blows from the Red Samurai.
'I may not have a weapon of my own…' Ichigo extends his own claws out, ripping through the fabric and starts engaging with the Red Samurai's own katanas. 'But at least these make it easier to fight back with!' To his confusion, the Red Samurai backs away before he disappears with green smoke surrounding him in a heartbeat. At that same instant, his danger tingle warns him of incoming danger from behind, to which Ichigo gets out of the way, but he was late to react as Ichigo gets slashed from behind. "Gah!" He yelps in pain.
The material Kisuke made was at least thrice as durable as regular clothing, giving Ichigo only a superficial wound at his back. ''Damn!" He curses.
"Spider!?" Black Cat briefly turns around in concern for her partner, before she leaps out of the way when an incoming, horizontal slash comes at her throat, only to miss.
Black Cat throws her right hand at the man, only for him to parry it with one of his swords. The feline goes to launch a kick, only for the man to raise his knee to block the kick. She twists her body to launch her left claw at the man's chest, but the swordsman diagonally twists his other sword in a 75 degree angle, blocking it as well. The man goes for a counter attack as he spins his body, launching a 180 degree spin sword at the woman's nape, but she dodges the lethal blow by ducking and makes a sweep kick on the man's legs, making him fall down on the floor. Black Cat makes a small leap as she uses her elbow to completely immobilize the man, hitting him straight in the gut, making him gasp for air as he clenches his stomach in great pain.
'That should keep him down for a while.' Black Cat thinks as she turns over to the corner and sees that The Spider is having some trouble with the Red Samurai. 'Now to help The Spider.'
"Hahaha!" The Red Samurai laughs at Ichigo's demise, having cut through a few more pieces of his suit, having drawn more blood. ''Your reflexes are quite impressive! It usually only takes one slash from this move to decapitate the body parts of my opponents!" He continues to poof and puff between his smokes, surrounding Ichigo.
"And you're one twisted motherfucker…" Ichigo mutters as he holds his gut, as he smirks behind his mask. 'Alright, gotta think here. Can't go around punching him carelessly, those swords might just cleave me in two. Got to remember what happened against the Bounts, find the heart of his weakness… but what's his damn angle here?!' He widens his eyes as his danger tingle warns him yet again. This time, Ichigo is able to dodge it completely without any repercussions. 'I dodged it! Without a scratch for that matter! I must be getting the hang of his patterns now!' Is at least what Ichigo deduces, or so he thinks.
'Is he getting faster?' Red Samurai thinks as he watches Ichigo twist his body in mid air. 'Or is he figuring out my patterns? No, even the most experienced fighters couldn't have figured it out in time.' He then sees Black Cat coming after him. 'The woman! I must get rid of her!' He then disappears again, only to reappear in front of the woman, slashing her stomach vertically with his blade.
"Guh!" Black Cat stumbles awkwardly, blood leaks from her mouth, getting down to one knee. Her cut is deep, as blood pours down on the ground. 'Shit! What the hell did he just do to me?!'
"You put up a valiant fight. There are not many who'd survive against me and my men as long as you have." The Red Samurai raises his blade above his head. "The Kingpin has given me a worthy challenge indeed…"
'No...!' Ichigo raises his eyes wide as he sees what the Red Samurai is about to do.
Black Cat starts to get up. 'Keep up the talk…' She thinks, forming a plan in her head.
Before the Red Samurai could chop off her head, Ichigo moves as a blur as he kicks the Red Samurai's helmet, cracking it in the process, sending him flying back through a pillar. "You're not killing her or anyone else!" Ichigo yells in outrage, clenching his clawed fists. 'I'm not letting anyone get hurt like Orihime! Never again!'
"Ungh…" The Red Samurai gets up, despite his armor he feels pain inflicting on his head. "What… just—?" Before he can finish his sentence, Ichigo bashes his armor with his kneecap. He picks him up and tosses him away like a chew toy. "F-Fool! Don't think you can get away with this—" He widens his eyes as he sees Ichigo jumping at him in the air, and the Red Samurai disappears again in a cloud of green smoke.
Ichigo fiercely lands on the ground, as all his senses are now hyper focused like never before, increasing at a razor sharp edge. His anger boils at how wounded Black Cat is. His danger tingle is working double-time as he senses an intruder from behind. He ducks as a sword is swung horizontally, and Ichigo responds just as quickly by kicking the man in his chin, launching him back. "What?!" The Red Samurai is taken aback by this.
That distraction will cost him as Ichigo lunges like a living bullet, hitting his target square in the face at full force, as fiercely as a tiger as he launches the Red Samurai like a rocket, hurling him through a large statue and coming out of it. The man roughly rolls against the ground until his body can no longer move. ''Uuuugh…" He groans in great pain.
Ichigo pants for a bit from the exquisite anger he just felt. Remembering his partner, The Spider tends to the Cat. "Are you alright?" Ichigo asks.
"I'm fine, just a scratch." Black Cat wipes off the blood on her mouth. "You went a bit wild back there… what was that all about? It's not like I'm dying." She says, noticing the change in his behavior.
"Huh…?" Ichigo snaps back, having realized what she means and what he was doing. "Oh… it's just… with the way the Red Samurai was raising his sword, I thought you were gonna…"
"Die?" Black Cat finishes the sentence. "Well that's sweet of you, but I took worse stuff than this. Besides, with your behavior, I'm likely older than you are."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ichigo asks, behind the mask his eyebrow twitches in annoyance.
"Anyway, I'll be fine. The more important thing is, we took all of the Dragon Tail down," Black Cat takes out some first aid kit on her pouch and puts bandages over her wound. "And the most important thing… we know that the Kingpin is behind this."
"Kingpin?" Ichigo questions. ''Oh yeah, I heard the Samurai mentioning him earlier. Is that his boss or something?"
"That's one way to look at it." Black Cat finishes wrapping up the bandages, now fully covering her wound. "To be more precise, he's more so the Kingpin's mercenary, or an assassin if you will."
"An assassin?" Ichigo raises his eyebrows. "Who would he hire to kill?"
"Me, most likely, since we've teamed up he's probably aware that I'm after him. You told me before you stopped some operations, right?" Black Cat asks to make sure.
"Well, yeah." Ichigo nods, not seeing what the problem is. "What's the big deal?"
"You're clueless," Black Cat sighs. "Haven't you noticed the reason why your precious city's crime rate has suddenly gone up?" Ichigo widens his eyes, now realizing what she means.
"Wait… so you mean—?!"
"He's called the Kingpin of Crime for a reason," Black Cat says. "But as I was saying, he probably knows about you too since those gangs you took out are probably connected to him, and whatever happens there, he knows about it, sooner or later."
"So you're telling me this bastard is the reason my hometown is going to ruin?" Ichigo clenches his fist, thinking of the guy who shot Orihime.
"Pretty much…" Black Cat slowly nods her head. "And it's also why he hired the Red Samurai to get those statues. If we didn't step in on time, the amount of money he'd have would make the world economy collapse, and be the most powerful man on Earth."
"Hold on a second!" Ichigo rebukes. ''Everything, before all this, was going fine in my life! Who even is this guy?! Why didn't you tell me about him before?! How do you know about this guy?!"
"Calm down, will ya?" Black Cat sighs. "The Kingpin, you could say, is like the king of the underworld. From the smallest of things to the biggest scandals, they're connected in a way that everything is known to him. You see, a year ago I became a part of the group known as The Defenders in the West, and we've been cornering the son of a bitch bit by bit… gathering evidence for all his wrongdoings. It was going well… until…"
Ichigo notices that Black Cat is frowning, "Until what?" He asks. ''What happened?"
"He just… up and disappeared," Black Cat moves her hand, making a "poof" sound. "We were so close as well… all the evidence we were gathering is just useless. We couldn't hand something half assed to the police, so he wouldn't get in court. He must have known he was getting cornered, so he just left the country entirely, leaving no trace tied back to his illegal activities. It's not until recently we discovered he moved halfway across the world."
"And how did you find him?" Ichigo asks.
"Our leader did, he's extremely good at tracking just about anyone if you give him enough time. I'm not sure on this part, since it's just a theory, but maybe he's starting to pull his strings again because he wants to start small, and then work his way up until he has enough control over your country." Black Cat explains, taking a breath.
"So how do we track him? And how strong is this guy?" Ichigo asks urgently.
"It's not that simple." Black Cat scoffs at the naivety of such an idea, ''The Kingpin isn't someone you can easily track down like what we did with The Dragon Tail. And even if we somehow did, his defenses are nearly impenetrable to bypass through, even for me. And I used to be a cat burglar." She rolls her eyes.
"You were a burglar?!"
"Relax, that was when I was younger and had some family issues." Black Cat rolls her eyes, "I've changed a lot since then." she says.
"Right…" Ichigo slowly nods his head.
"As for how strong he is… well... I never faced him myself, but one of our guys did, and he says his strength is beyond human. The guy can compete with a lot of us super types." Black Cat answers.
"So he has powers like we do?" The Spider asks.
"That's the scary part. From what our leader told us… he doesn't have any powers. He's just a human who trained himself beyond physical limits and broke through it."
"What…?" Ichigo can't believe what he is hearing.
"And he's a cunning fox on top of that. So trust me, even if you're stronger than him, it's his smarts you should be afraid of. Once he gets a hold of you, he won't stop until you're gone for good." Black Cat informs him in a serious tone. "So whatever you do, don't ever engage this guy on your own."
Ichigo doesn't say anything for a moment, taking Black Cat's words into consideration, "Right…" He sighs. "What a pain. It sounds easier to take him head-on."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night."
A metal door slides itself open, and Harry walks through it to see his father standing on top of a ceiling roof, and down below are other scientists that seem to be keeping themselves busy working on what seems to be another experiment.
"Dad?" Harry speaks, making his father turn around to face him, hands behind his back.
"Ah, Harry, glad you made it on time." Norman says with a smile.
"What exactly did you call me here for?" Harry asks as he walks to the edge of the ceiling, seeing the sight of the scientists working on some machinery, and… a chemical of some sorts. "Another one of your toys being worked on?"
"I wouldn't really call this one a toy. I wanted you to show that Oscorp decided to take matters into their own hands." Norman vaguely gives his son an answer.
"What do you mean?" Harry asks in confusion.
"Son..." Norman puts his hands on Harry's shoulders. "Do you remember when… The Vulture captured me?"
"Yeah…" Harry shudders to remember when his father has been captured, left at the hands of mercy from that maniac. "And that vigilante or whatever saved you, didn't he?"
"That, he did." Norman answers, and Harry could swear he hears a form of bitterness in his tone. "But I'm making sure something like this never happens again."
"Wait… what do you mean by that?" Harry asks in confusion.
Normal nearly rolls over his eyes. Sometimes he wishes he inherited at least more of his intellect. "What I'm saying… is that I will not make myself, or you for that matter, to be made helpless the way I was when that bird took me hostage." He gives a narrow glare. "I should have thought of this years ago. Just like that unknown vigilante, The Vulture, and those back home, I too, will have power like they do."
"Wait, for real?!" Harry exclaims in excitement. "You mean, you're getting superpowers?!"
"Erm… something like that. And please, no shouting, you're disturbing the men at work."
"Oh, sorry." Harry clasps his mouth shut before moving them away. "So… what do you plan on doing with this?"
"That, I'm not fully sure of yet." Norman answers. "What I do know, however, is that I plan on no-one making a fool out of me ever again. I swear to you that as both the CEO of this company and as your father, I will defend my people from whoever dares to even trespass in this place."
"That's… really awesome." Harry smiles, but something in his mind nags at him, "But… how do you plan on doing this?" he asks with curiosity.
"By making myself the test subject of having these so-called powers." Norman answers.
"Wait… you plan on testing all of this… and use yourself as a guinea pig…?" Harry connects as to what his father is saying, and he does not approve. Norman looks at him, and his eyes alone confirm Harry's suspicion. "Hold on, you can't be serious. Why do you have to be the first? Can't you let someone else take care of this before you decide to give yourself powers?"
"Absolutely not." Norman strictly answers. ''Because if anybody else were to have this and carelessly expose themselves, it would lead back to me, and it's something my rivals would want for themselves, and I cannot allow that to happen."
"I... I guess." Harry, having not much of an argument to make over this, just sighs in defeat.
"Listen to me, son," Norman makes Harry look at him, firmly grasping his shoulders. "Everything is going to be alright. I hired the best men to make sure they get everything down precisely as it should. That's why I called you here."
"Well… if you say so, dad." Harry says, ''If you don't mind, I kinda have to leave now…"
"Of course. If there's anything you need, just call me." Norman says. "And remember, you must not tell anybody about this."
"Yeah, I got it." Harry almost rolls his eyes at how many times his father has said to take care of himself as he exits the laboratory room.
Norman turns his attention back to his secret project. He puts his hands on the rail. 'What I told Harry is most of the truth… however…' He begins to think, 'There's one other primary reason I'm doing this. I must get rid of my biggest adversary known to man. I don't really trust this spider person either, he's too unknown, but he's the least of my concerns. As of now... I'm going to get rid of the Kingpin of Crime.' His eyes harden with resolve.
Phew, finally done rewriting this chapter. Half of this was mostly action packed, at least. Don't think I ever had to write so many takedowns with so many people all at once. So with the beginning portion, my Co-Author suggested to write in a portion of what the bad guys are doing since we hardly ever see what they got to do instead of just the good guys training, unless you wanna count the Anime like the shitty filler episodes of Ulquiorra's fake death by those 3 Arrancar stooges. Besides that, we don't get anything in the Manga.
But yeah, this chapter is more of a build up for later on with Ichigo finally knowing about the Kingpin and the tease for Norman working on what everybody is pretty familiar with. Since the Dragon Tail from Spider-Man 3 game has already been established from last chapter, we basically decided to use the samurai from the boss battle you get twice in the Black Suit (who's surprisingly easy to take down), and despite my recent playthrough, we still haven't gotten his name, so my Co-Author and I just decided for a joke to name him Red Samurai, since I'm reading Spider-Man Comics and currently in the 80's era by the time I'm writing this, the joke being that Silver Samurai is a thing and fought Spider-Man multiple times.
Anyway, I'll see you all next time when I upload more on the rewrite or releasing the new chapters