Thank you Thista, and signrain for your reviews, and thank you to every one who's read the prologue already! It was a great surprise when I woke up this morning and found those in the ASDFers' inbox! Thank you!
In any case, here's the next chapter. Aleviene insisted it was posted today, and since she's the author, her wish is my command. =____=
Arrival
Written by Aleviene
Beta by Shyion
"What the heck is wrong with this place!?"
Somewhere in England – 16.00 PM
A brown-haired boy exclaimed sharply as he got off his small rowboat and started climbing the perilous mountains in front of him.
Beneath his feet were the great waves of the English Channel, ready to swallow anyone so unlucky as to fall into them.
"Why did Master force me to come here? It's not like they're going to accept me or anything…" Saving his breath, he continued climbing the perilous obstacle like a mad man.
After a few tiring hours, the boy collapsed on the rocky mountain top and cried; out of relief, that is.
"At…last…" He urged himself to stand up, and slowly, with the help of pawing at the ground below him, he managed to. Despite the clearness of the blue morning sky, he couldn't even raise up his head to marvel the sight. Instead, he dragged his feet to whatever place lied ahead.
What he didn't know, was that someone (more accurately, something) was watching him…
"Komui, what's that on the golem screen?"
"Hmm…?"
Sighing, an Australian man wearing a white coat edged near his sleeping comrade and whispered three fatal words.
"Lenalee's getting married."
"WHAT!? I'LL KILL THE GUY WHO DARES TO TAKE MY DARLING LENALEE AWAY FROM ME!"
Yep, it was an average day in the average Black Order HQ. Since the incident with a Level Four at the old HQ, the Black Order moved to a new place, somewhere near London.
"Supervisor…look at the golem screen." Reever Wenham pointed at a clear screen in front of Komui's angered face. "It looks like someone's coming here."
"Hmm? Oh, you're right."
"Do you, by any chance, know this person?"
Komui stared at the screen long and hard before shaking his head and grinning cheekily.
"Nope, never seen him before."
Reever sighed again, this time heavier than before, and reminded Komui of the past events that happened when one of the exorcists was wrongly accused of being an Akuma.
That was a long time ago, when Allen Walker came to the Order with a message from his Master. And Reever was worried that this time, the person coming would have the same predicament as Allen.
"Did you get a message from any of the Generals about the arrival of a new Exorcist?" Reever started.
Komui paused for a moment, and then exclaimed at the nearest scientist he could find. "You! Go and search my desk for any letters from the Generals!"
The poor man looked at Komui's desk and sweated heavily. "Ehh? But it's too messy!"
Komui picked on yet another handful of scientists. "You three! Help him find it!"
And so, the four unlucky men searched frantically for a single piece of evidence. Which unfortunately for them, did not exist.
Meanwhile, the boy from before stood in front of the large gates of the Order. A face was plastered onto the gate, making it intimidating, and at the same time, weird.
"What do I do now…?" He muttered to himself while toying with a small dagger from inside of his pocket. Suddenly, a small golem fluttered around him, examining him from every point of view.
Mustering all of his strength, he exclaimed towards the flying object in front of him.
"Excuse me…I was for…uh, sent here by General Cross Marian. My name is Robin. I'd like to, uh, train as an Exorcist, please."
"Robin? Never heard of him."
Subtle knocks on the door could be heard from outside. A white-haired boy stepped in, exhausted and weary.
"Komui, we've secured the Innocence from France." His name is Allen Walker, the youngest General that the Black Order has ever encountered.
"Good work, Allen. Look at this!" The caffeine addict pointed once again at the screen in front of him. "His name is Robin."
"What the hell!?" A voice came from Allen's side. It was Lavi the Bookman's voice: not believing what he was seeing. "That guy looks just like you!"
"Really?" Allen peered closer to the screen until his eyes hurt from the bright light it was emanating. "You're right! He's like my twin!"
"And he says he knows Cross!" Silence loomed within the room.
"A-anyway…" Lavi was the first one to talk. "Shouldn't we test to see if he's an Akuma or not?"
"Right! Gatekeeper! Examine the boy!"
"X-Ray Examination!"
"Wha!" Robin tensed himself. Two very large eyes were staring at him; worse, they were the eyes of the gate itself.
"Determining whether subject is Akuma or human…AAAAAAHHH!"
What's with the X's on its eyes? Robin thought quickly, stepping back one foot at a time.
"AKUMA! THIS GUY IS A REAL AKUMA! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!"
"W-wait, no! W-what are you saying!?" By now, Robin was ready to run away before anyone killed him on the spot.
"WHAT!?" Everyone present in front of the screen exclaimed. Komui blurted out his coffee in surprise. "That guy's an…AKUMA!?"
"Damn it! Not another one of those…" Allen and Lavi practically flew out of the room through a nearby window, a worried expression on their face. They were determined not to let another Akuma destroy their head quarters.
"INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!"
Kanda Yuu cut his meditation short, opening his eyes quickly. He stood up and unsheathed his most-prized possession: a katana by the name of Mugen. Smirking evilly, he ran past dozens of scientists and Finders towards the entrance of the head quarters.
"No mercy."
"Please! I know that your, uh, tests say that I'm an Akuma, but-!" Robin was panicking, trying hard to convince the gatekeeper that he was no enemy, however, his efforts were in vain.
"Akuma, prepare to die!" From afar, Allen and Lavi activated their Innocence and attacked the unprepared Robin.
"WAIT! NO!" Robin dodged their attacks and dropped down on the ground, bowing low. "Please don't kill me!"
"Why are you here, Akuma!?" The usually calm Allen shouted from behind a white mask; his Innocence, Crowned Clown was still activated. His left eye was activated, spiraling around wildly like cogs from a watch.
"I was sent here by General Cross!" Robin continued to bow down.
Both Allen and Lavi were silent. Afterwards, they grabbed the small golem spy and shouted inside its receiver.
"KOMUI! We thought he was an Akuma!"
"HE IS AN AKUMA!" the gatekeeper cried out, frightened tears streaming out of his red eyes.
"So, he's not like Allen here?" Lavi pointed towards Allen's cursed eye. The gatekeeper shook his head wildly.
"No! He IS a real-live Akuma!" Allen answered instead.
"WHAT!?" Lavi shouted in unison with the scientists somewhere inside the Order. "Is it a Level Four!?"
And to make matters worse, Kanda Yuu landed perfectly in front of Robin, Mugen activated.
"Prepare to die, Akuma!" He slashed his Mugen, seemingly hundreds of times, almost wounding the poor Robin. Both Allen and Lavi sighed, and then grabbed Kanda's arms, taking care not to let him kill them instead.
"What the fuck are you doing!?" Kanda struggled to gain his freJapanm to no avail. "Why aren't you killing this Akuma!?"
"Kanda, calm down!" Allen was trying his best to hold on to Kanda's left arm. Lavi was enduring the kicks he got while trying to clutch Kanda's right arm tighter. "He's not our enemy! Master…I mean, General Cross sent him here!"
"He's an Akuma, baka* Moyashi!" Kanda kicked Allen and Lavi in their guts, hoping that they'd release him, but they just groaned and knocked him out afterwards with Lavi's hammer.
"Sorry, Kanda," Lavi grinned mischievously and turned his attention back to Robin. "So, you're an Akuma?"
Robin stood up straight and nodded. "Yes, I am."
"How come my eye couldn't sense his presence?" Allen asked.
"WHAT!?" The scientists who overheard the conversation exclaimed yet again the same word from within their room.
"Are you kidding me!?" Reever shouted out from the golem receiver. "There's never been a case like this!"
"Maybe…this is an exception…NO MATTER!" Komui's glasses shone brightly. "Gatekeeper! Let the boy in!"
"But, Supervisor! He's an Akuma!"
"Let him in!" Komui stated from the other end of the receiver. The gatekeeper trembled before opening the gates. 'Oh God…an Akuma in the Order!' He thought with a terrified look.
"You may pass, Robin."
Lavi hoisted Kanda's limp body on his shoulders and entered through the gateway. Robin followed nervously, until a hand held his right shoulder tightly. It was Allen's.
"Who are you?"
Robin looked at Allen and gaped. "Why do you look like me!?"
Robin was the exact copy of Allen: the only difference was that he looked more feminine and had long, light brown hair, tied in a low ponytail. His hand bore a different marking than Allen's, and his left eye was fastened to his face with numerous stitches.
"That's why I'm asking yo-"
BONK-
"Ouch! Ah, Lenalee…"
A green-haired girl hit both Allen and Robin's head with her clipboard. She pouted slightly and pointed towards the open gateway. "If you don't come in, I'll close the gate!"
"Lenalee…? But I thought you were in Japan…"
"Eh? Japan?" She looked questioningly at Robin and shook her head. "I've only been to Japan once…"
"Oh…" Robin smiled sadly. "I must be mistaking you with my other friend…her name is also Lenalee…"
"I see…" Lenalee wanted to ask more about the other 'Lenalee'. But she wasn't a pushy person, so she let the subject drop. She went inside and urged the other two to follow her.
The two marched inside, both looking like twins. Lenalee herself had to admit, she almost couldn't tell the difference between the two. But her womanly intuition told her that the new person was something more than he seemed.
A few minutes and a coffee break later
"Ah, so you're the Akuma who Cross sent?" Komui looked up from his cup of coffee. "Are you one of his customized Akuma?"
Robin shook his head. "No, I'm his apprentice."
"WHAT!? That man has another apprentice!?" Somewhere from the left, Allen exclaimed. Everybody stared as he jumped around the room happily, muttering that he had a friend with the same fate as he did. Typical Allen…
"So you're an Akuma who is also his apprentice?" Lavi was sitting on a couch, playing around with Allen's golem, Timcanpy. "Do you have an Innocence?"
"Yes…my left arm…" Robin activated his Innocence, similar to Allen's old form, only smaller in size and less complicated. It was a bit disheveled, since it was already used for a long time without anyone fixing its condition. Everyone in the room stared at Robin, then at Allen.
"Are you sure you're both not related?" Lenalee started speaking. "You look very similar, just like brothers."
"I have never…"
"Seen this person." Both Allen and Robin pointed at each other with their right hands.
Silence.
"Yeah, both of you have the same attitude as well."
"I told you, I've never seen him before!" Allen and Robin shouted out in unison and stopped abruptly.
"You're like twins! It's so cute!" Lenalee squealed and hugged them both. Komui prepared his weapon and aimed at the two. Luckily, Reever and the other scientists managed to restrain him before he killed anyone.
"You're both dead!" Kanda woke up and started attacking Allen, Lavi, and strangely, Robin. "Why the fuck did you knock me out!?"
"We had to!" Allen shouted in-between one of his daring leaps.
"NOOOOOO!!! MY OFFICE!!!" Komui dropped down, crying bitterly. The battle between the three Exorcists plus one newcomer destroyed almost all of the contents of the room into pieces. Papers and files flew everywhere as Kanda slashed all over the place in a frenzy.
BONK-
Lenalee's clipboard saved the day again. Kanda looked up and saw Lenalee's angry face. "Stop it! You'll ruin the whole place!"
"Tch…" Kanda sheathed his Mugen and stormed out of Komui's office angrily.
"That guy is scary…" Lavi muttered, and everyone agreed.
"Now, explain to us why you're here," Komui spoke, already unrestrained and calm.
Robin explained his story of why he came to the Order in the first place. All the Exorcists and scientists listened intently, curious of the boy. After he finished talking, Allen spoke.
"You're just as unfortunate as I am…" He cried and hugged Robin, who was confused by his actions.
"Allen, we know that you're happy, but don't scare little Robin…" Lavi stated behind his trademark grin.
"Shut up, Lavi!" Allen shouted while crying. "You don't know how evil that Cross is…but now…" he glanced towards Robin with an evil expression. "I don't have to face the burden alone…"
"I know how you feel…" Robin had the same expression on his face as well. Both of them cried and hugged each other happily.
'Stupid non-related twins…'everyone in the room thought instantly.
11/02/09
That's it for this chapter. I'm assuming it's one to get started, so its rather dull-ish. Anyway, please review, and we hoped you enjoyed this chapter. Next one will be up rather soon I believe.
On a side note:
* Baka = Stupid
One more thing, if you do review, and don't quite understand your reply, please take a look at our profile page, and you should understand that the ASDFers is not one single person making these stories, but three different people.