Chapter 1
Black Rock Shooter stood at the edge of a crater, staring at the bottom of the hole. Chariot rolled up on her wheels, the curiosity evident in her face.
"What is it?" she asked Black Rock, who just shrugged. The two of them descended into the gigantic hole, Rock sliding down the slope, Chariot simply wheeling down it. They stopped at the bottom, where the smoke was still coming from the object. They walked closer, and recoiled as a blast of blue energy shot out of the smoke, creating a small hole. Rock pushed Chariot to the side, and let the blast fly by her face, taking a few hairs with it. The smoke cleared and the two of them were amazed by what they saw. A boy stood there, a black motorcycle jacket on his upper half and no undershirt, showing off his various battle scars. His pants were equally devoid of color, as black as the midnight. He faced them, his eyes closed and his black hair blowing slowly in the wind.
"Who are you?" Rock said, speaking slowly, her hand on her cannon. The boy opened his eyes, showing them to be a deep purple. Rock's eyes widened. She had obtained that kind of power once and had gone berserk. Chariot noticed it too, and rolled over, her sword and shield at the ready. The purple eyed boy moved his head slightly at Chariots weapons, but didn't say anything. He simply raised his hand to the heavens, and a sword flew into his hands. It looked like a sword made out of a cross, and he held it at his side, his eyes closed.
"Black… Sword… Cross…" he said, saying each word with difficulty, "I… must… fight… you…"
"Like hell," Chariot muttered. The sounds of falling rock caught her ears as she turned around. Black Gold Saw, Dead Master, and Strength were descending the crater. Black Sword Cross stared at them lazily, and raised his sword, ready to slice at them. He swung his blade almost without effort, but even still a wave of purple energy burst from the sword, smashing into the wall of earth above the three girls, sending them falling into the center.
"You're… in… my… way…" he said, raising his sword with the point in the air.
"Rock, Chariot, MOVE!" Dead Master shouted, drawing her scythe and summoning her familiars. The two jumped back as a horizontal wave of energy passed between them. Black Gold Saw took the opportunity to strike, rushing in close, and taking a slash with her blade. The clang of metal on metal was heard, and all the girls turned towards the sound. Cross hadn't moved, but the blade had been stopped by a small force field of his energy.
"Not… going… to… work…" he said monotonously, raising his hand, and Saw watched it fill with his purple energy. She braced herself for the blast, and was thrown back. Rock rushed in, her cannon pointed at Cross and firing. His sword was a blur, deflecting all the projectiles, and his face maintained the same blank look.
"What are you?" Rock demanded, drawing her katana from the cannon and slashing at him. He caught the blade with two of his fingers, and leaned in close.
"I… don't… know…" he said softly. His eyes flashed and Rock was thrown back, landing on her back.
"Cross!" a new voice called. The girls minus Rock looked up and saw another guy plummet into the crater. This guy had the same clothes as Cross, but he had a shirt under his jacket with a strange gray symbol on it, and green eyes.
"Black… Dust… Angel…" Cross said, almost like an incantation. Angel drew a spear from seemingly nowhere, and a green flame enveloped his right eye. The girls turned their heads to Rock who was just as confused as they were. Angel stabbed downward with his spear, which Cross evaded easily.
"Cross, snap out of it!" he shouted at the attacker, "Fight it!"
"Do… not… interfere…" Cross said, backhanding Angel across the crater. A bolt of purple lightning flew out of the sky, making all present avert their eyes. When they looked again, Cross was gone.
"No!" Angel roared at the sky, "So close!" he stabbed his spear into the dirt, and stared angrily at the sky.
"Um, hello?" Dead Master said cautiously, "Who're you?" Angel turned towards her, almost like he was confused by the question.
"What do you mean?" he demanded, "I'm Black Dust Angel, everyone knows me,"
"Well, apparently not everyone," Saw muttered, crossing her arms and refusing to meet his eyes.
"Whatever, look I don't have time for this," he said, pulling his spear out of the ground, "I gotta find Cross before he hurts someone.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Strength said, holding her giant mechanical hands up, "You know that guy? He just took out our best fighters like he was nothing!"
"Yep, that's Cross for you," Angel said, cracking a smile, "The best at everything,"
"Mind explaining the purple?" Rock demanded, getting in his face, "I used that power, and that made me go berserk. How can he use it and not go on a… rampage…" she knew she answered her own question and backed out of his face, trying to keep the blush out of her face.
"Look, you all seem alright, but if I don't find Cross soon, that power will shatter his mind," Angel said, a pair of wings previously unseen unfolding from his back.
"Hold it," Saw ordered, "I'm going with you. I have a score to settle with this guy," she grabbed his leg as he hovered slightly off the ground.
"Fine," he said, "But if you get killed, not my fault,"
"I can accept that," Saw said, holding on as he flew higher and higher. The rest watched as he flew higher and higher.
"Well," Chariot said, "He seemed… nice?"
-\\\/-
Cross staggered under the onslaught he was taking. The power had manifested itself in his mind and he was trying to defeat it. His red eye flame was flickering. He couldn't fight much longer.
"Just give up," the purple him droned on for the ump-teenth time, "You have no hope of defeating me,"
"We'll see about that!" Cross panted. He raised his sword and charged the manifestation, his sword clashing with its copy.
"You will never defeat me," the power sighed, "You are alone here,"
"I'm never alone," Cross said confidently. A series of auras swirled around him, one green, and one blue, one yellow. "My friends are always by my side!" The auras fused with his sword, giving him extra strength. The hollow him flew back, his face shielded. It looked with disdain as his arm began to dissolve.
"It seems you win for now," it said sadly, "I will continue to let you use my power. But now," he handed Cross a mask bleached white, with three black slashes going down the mask, "You must use this," the copy dissolved completely, and Cross let out a breath and fell to his knees, exhausted physically and mentally. He opened his eyes, back in control of his real body. He collapsed from exhaustion, and felt his eyes closing. Before he did, he heard a small voice.
"Are you… alright?"
-\\\/-
He slowly opened his eyes, and found himself staring at a ceiling. He sat up, and then lay right back down because of his pounding head.
"Oh! You're up!" a girl said, over to his right. He turned to see a girl that looked no older than his friend Black Gun Sniper, who was his old groups youngest by a few years. "That's good. I was starting to think you were dead,"
"Where am I?" Cross asked, the pain in his head flaring as he sat up, "And who're you?"
"I'm Cecil," the small girl replied sticking out her hand, "Nice ta metcha!" Cross took the outstretched hand and shook.
"I'm Black Sword Cross," he said, and Cecil got a pouty look on her face.
"So you're one of those Black Stars?" she moaned.
"Black what?" Cross said, "I don't…"
"Hey, Cecil!" a more feminine voice rang through the door, "He up?"
"Yeah, he's up!" she shouted back, "Just wait until you meet Rock, she's the coolest!"
"Rock…?" Cross said, slightly confused. The door opened and a girl walked in, dress in a black poncho and a short white dress, with two uneven ponytails, and knee-high boots and blue fingernails. She smiled at him and thrust out her hand, like Cecil had done.
"Hello!" she said, "I'm Rock, Black Star Number 01451. Who're you?" Cross was severely confused. He had just been in Otherworld before he had passed out. Was it possible that he wasn't on Otherworld?
"Where am I, exactly?" he asked, gaining weird looks from the two girls.
"You don't know?" Rock asked, an eyebrow rising over blue eye, "You're in the Threshold, just like the rest of us. What hit you over the head?"
