Winged Lion
The end of Wild Hunt is here, but at what cost?
This chapter was without a doubt the hardest to write; how to make it so that both the Jeagers and Night Raid get a piece of the action while at the same time not straight out copying the manga, whose Wild Hunt arc actually have not read after hearing about what happened to Bols' family. At the same time, I wanted to focus on the long awaited fight between Run and Champ. Also, whether or not to spilt the aftermath into the next chapter or do it all in one, getting the dark aspects of this fic out of the way to then focus on the relationships and comedy.
Please let me know if you have any suggestions for how the story should unfold. Next chapter will be a beach/ hot springs one and I have ideas for at least one wedding and two birth chapters are planned (in no particular order).
For those of you who have missed Run/Leone lemons, myself included, I promise this will be the final lemon-less chapter, despite it practically demanding one. Please, if you have any ideas for lemons, PM me or if you want to chat ideas.
Anyways, read and review!
Circus Calamity
Leone paced back and forth in the hospital waiting room, her eyes following her feet and the floor. Her normally bright eyes and smile were nowhere to be seen; instead her eyes were dulled, bloodshot with bags under them and her face was stained by tears.
"Kitten, please sit down and take a breather." Neko begged, offering his daughter a cup of coffee she took without really acknowledging it. "You're making me dizzy."
Leone sighed and took a sip of coffee, only to cringe at the bitter taste.
"I know you're worried kitten." Neko said. "You got every right, but you need to have faith in the docs and relax…"
"Relax?" Leone almost hissed. "You want me to relax? Now? Daddy, the man I love, yes I said the l-word, is practically knocking on heaven's door and has been stuck in surgery for three hours! No one's told me anything…"
"Leone…" Nala interrupted her daughter's rambling. "Breathe."
Leone did as her mother asked and rubbed her eyes, letting her be taken into a warm, loving embrace. She tightly held onto her mother, like she used to do when she was scared.
"Run is a strong man." Nala assured her daughter. "And he loves very much. I'm sure he'll be fine."
Leone smiled weakly and returned to her seat.
"Sorry dad." Leone apologized to her father.
"Is alright." Neko waved it off, sharing his daughter's worry for Run; he'd known his daughter would be incredibly beautiful the second she was born, and was happy she'd found someone who loved her as much as the flying teacher did, and not just for her body.
"Anything?"
The family looked over to see Esdeath walking in, a worried look on her face.
"Dr. Stylish has been performing surgery for hours…." Leone explained. "That's all I know."
Esdeath sighed and joined the family, only to look up when the door opened again.
It was all of Night Raid.
"Anything?" Sheele and Chelsea asked.
Leone and Esdeath shook their heads, and the others joined in sitting. The Jeagers joined shortly.
Chelsea remained quiet, remembering how this all started.
THREE DAYS AGO
"Thanks again, Chelsea." Run smiled at his girlfriend's lollipop chewing friend as she helped him sort through the papers of intel they'd gathered in the backroom of Night Raid.
"Really, I got no problem with helping ya, teach." She smirked as she started a new lollipop, this one mint-flavored. "Nice to hang out with a fellow Intel gatherer. But, won't Esedeath get pissed if she finds out you've been sharing confidential information with a civilian?"
"A civilian who already knows most of these affairs?" Run asked. "No, I think she'd understand. Besides, we're dealing with a common enemy here, and you may look in a place I don't."
"True that, true that. Sucker?" She smiled, offering him a lime flavored one. The teacher accepted before looking over the information he'd been able to get on Syura's little posse:
The one with the long tongue and misogynist attitude was known as Enshin, a cruel and sadistic pirate from the East. He was best known for raping any woman he came across and wielding a sword that unleashed blades of wind. Run wasn't sure if he wanted to know how Syura had been able to 'tame' such a man.
Cosmina, the playboy bunny wearing one, was the muscle of the group. Aside from her outfit and a Teigu that enabled her to turn screams into a weapon, that was pretty much it.
Dorthea…was a Dr. Stylish fangirl in the worst way; she came from a little, semi-backward town and was an accomplished Alchemist. The problem was that her alchemy was blood based, and anything blood based needed human to provide it. There was also the fact that despite looking like she was around Seyru's age, maybe a little younger, she was actually in her 70's.
That just opened up so many questions Run knew he didn't want to know the answers to.
When he'd brought to Dr. Stylish's attention, the 'good' doctor had been hard to read; he was glad someone admired his genius, but to use alchemy instead of the science he'd dedicated himself to was an insult: Stylish did consider alchemy stylish to base some of his work on, but it was the science of a myth buster wannabe or troll of Wikipedia. That, and even before his time with Bulat, the doctor had developed some standards in his test subjects; they were unstylishly condemned criminals or stylishly strong enough to endure his experiments. Dorthea used everyone around her, regardless of that fact.
Izou was the closest to a decent person in the whole group; Run had been right on that note during the encounter. But he was no less a threat; his profile showed he was a travelling ronnin with a love of fighting against strong schools and fighters. He had already decimated 40 kendo schools and killed ten high-brow swordsmen when Syura recruited him. He was also the one Honest had mentioned who didn't use/need a Teigu. His skills with a blade made him a formidable threat.
If Run had to be honest, he was sure Izou could probably give Akame and Kurome a run for their money.
"Quite a crew, indeed." Run sighed. "And still, nothing on that last member they mentioned."
"What was his name again?" Chelsea asked as she scanned through paperwork. "Chump? Camp?"
"Champ." Run said.
"Oh geez," Chelsea laughed weakly. "With a name like that…."
"To be honest, I'm worried about him the most." Run confessed. "From what the others mentioned of him….it's a very strong possibility that he may be a…a…."
"What?" Chelsea asked.
Run steeled himself and said the one word he hated more than any other in the world:
"Pedophile."
Chlesea's blood run cold and she suddenly remembered some of the first bits of info she'd given Najenda before Run met Night Raid. And with the last bit of information that had been given, worry filled her being.
Leone had mentioned what happened when one of the loan sharks made a move for the feather pen in Run's hair; how he'd gone from polite and gentlemanly to cold and ruthless. If Seyru hadn't arrived, Leone was pretty sure that Run would've killed the man and anyone who got in his way. For good reason; Run was one of those teachers who cared deeply for his students, almost becoming like a parent to them.
Run's phone suddenly rang, and he checked the caller ID with a smile on his face; Leone's smiling 'come hether' picture was plain as day.
"Yes Leone?" He smiled. "Is everything alright?"
"Birdy, where are you?" The feline-like female grinned as she set the table at her apartment. "Dinner's getting cold and kitty wants her ears scratched….Please hurry home?"
Run glanced up at the clock and realized it was almost 7 in the evening; almost past dinnertime.
"Sorry, I'll be there as soon as Chelsea and I finish up."
"Don't take too long…." Leone cooed over the phone. "Your lioness has a surprise for you."
"I'll be back in half an hour, I promise." The teacher smiled as he and his girlfriend ended the call. His face had lit up when Leone mentioned a surprise; a look Chelsea knew very well, despite Run composing himself better than most men; the look of a man in love and about to get some alone time with his lover.
The lollipop lover suddenly got a sneaky grin on her face as an idea filled her head. An idea that would enable her to locate the info she was sure she'd stashed somewhere and get another of Leone's sexscapade stories at the same time, as well get rid of Run so that we could said information.
"You can go on and head home, ya know." Chelsea playfully bellowed. "You got a lady waiting for you, I can take care of the rest."
"You sure about that?" Run asked. "I'd hate to impose…."
"It's fine, don't worry about it." The receptionist outfit wearer beamed, playfully pushing her fellow intelligence gatherer out of the room. "You just fly on back to that big ol puddy tat of yours, don't tell her I called her that, and have a nice, romantic anniversary dinner while I sort out all this paperwork for our respective employers. Now go on, get!"
She finished the playful act by literally kicking him out the door, where he landed on his bike without a hitch. Deciding not to question how this was done, Run simply put on his helmet and revved his bike to life
"Say hi to Leone for me, Birdy!" Chelsea grinned.
"It's Run!" The teacher hollered over his bike's engine.
XXXX
"I'm home…." Run announced when he arrived at his apartment a few minutes later, a tired but happy smile on his face when he caught the aroma of melted cheese, pasta and salad with garlic. His smile grew when he saw a very familiar blonde racing towards him.
Leone leapt into her boyfriend's arms, a big grin on her face. She had dressed up for tonight; an open legged black dress that left her arms uncovered. She changed her arm guards into dress gloves she borrowed from her Sheele
"Welcome home, Runnie. Happy anniversary." She then planted a big kiss on his lips, which he returned as he took her into his arms.
Surprisingly, Leone was the one to break their kiss, as much as her eyes betrayed the want in her.
"Down boy. Dinner first, then I'm all yours."
"Yes, my kitten." Run smiled, carrying her into the kitchen before setting down to serve dinner.
"How'd it go at work today?" She asked as she served him some piping hot lasagna and broccoli salad.
"School or Jeagers?" Run asked jokingly, placing a bottle of wine on the table.
"Both I guess." Leone smiled.
"The kids are excited for the festival day after tomorrow and did excellent on their pop quiz."
"Which subject was the quiz?" Leone asked. "Because I don't know a single person who likes those."
"Novel study." Run answered. "And don't worry, I avoid the pop quizzes anyway I can."
"And the Jeagers?"
"….I'd rather not talk about it." Run answered, taking some food into his mouth.
"Syura and them?" Leone asked. "It's cool, I'll drop it."
"This is delicious." Run smiled after swallowing some lasagna. "Thank you Leone."
The cat-like woman grinned and sampled some of her work; it was pretty good.
"Well let me tell you this much, it wasn't easy: You wouldn't believe how tricky it is to make an equal lasagna. Besides, we can't exactly afford a fancy dinner, but this stuff never gets old." She took a sip of her wine.
"This is true." Run smiled, taking Leone's hand into his own. "Is this one of Nala's recipes?"
"Yeah, and you can call her mom, you know." Leone smiled as she munched some salad.
Run took a quick from his meal, going over that notion.
Leone looked over at her boyfriend deep in thought and sighed.
"I just said that so that you could if you want to." She cooed. "Mom and daddy really like you….I know its…"
She tried to choose her words carefully, which was trickier than she'd already thought it would be: she'd slaved in a kitchen all day to make this dinner perfect, she wasn't going to let the fact the man she….
Had she ever told him she felt that way?
"Runnie…." Leone smiled sweetly. "Listen carefully, because I'm about to say something I only say to the people most important to me…"
She took a deep breath and whispered into his ear.
"I love you."
The world went silent and tears filled Run's eyes. They'd said that the first time they made love, but hadn't said them since.
There was no doubt of the affection between the two of them, but Run had tried to be respectful and arm himself for the possibility of the relationship not working out; Leone was an incredibly beautiful woman; who was to say some rich and handsome man might woo her? Besides, what could a mere teacher like him ever do for her? An orphan one, no less!
But as time had passed and thing had happened, he realized that possibility was more on an illusion than a possibility; they'd met each other's friends, she'd introduced him to her parents and had expressed interest in his history and Jeager activities, while at the same time understanding when he couldn't give details. There was the fact they'd been each other's first, and the way her eyes lit up whenever he was in her field of vision….not to mention how he practically glowed whenever he heard her name, if Wave and Kurome's teasing was true.
With tears still in his eyes, Run reached over the table and planted a gentle but passionate kiss onto Leone's lips. She was shocked by his gentle action, but closed her eyes and returned.
"I love you too." Run smiled, wiping tears from his eyes.
"Hey don't do that." Leone cooed with a smile, helping him in clearing the tears. "Tears don't belong on that handsome face of yours."
"Nor on yours." Run smiled.
Leone felt hot and reached over to take Run's mostly empty plate from him, placing it on the counter with her own. She never broke eye contact with him while doing this.
"Dinner is over handsome." Leone grinned. "You've said one too many things."
The teacher smirked in a way not unlike his lover and took her into his room. Even now, Leone could never get over how easily Run carried her.
The next day….
"See you tomorrow for the field trip, kids." Run smiled as the bell rang and the kids dashed for the doors.
"Bye, Run-sensei!" They all beamed happily.
The teacher gathered up his paperwork and prepared to head home and change before going to Night Raid.
Today had been a wonderful day; he and Leone had had breakfast together, she'd made him a nice lunch of chicken and rice with veggies, his students were exceptionally well behaved and in a few hours, he'd be hanging out with Wave at Night Raid while enjoying a Chicken Ceaser Salad and watching the love of his life dance.
Just then, his cellphone rang. He saw Chelsea's name and answered, expecting her to tease him for details on what he and Leone had gotten up to the night before.
"Uh…Run?" Chelsea said over the phone, worry obvious in her tone.
This was not what Run was expecting.
"Yes, what is it?"
"I…may have found something about the last Wild Hunt member. Something you're probably going to hate, but have been looking for a while….Just promise you won't kill me."
"…why would I do that?" The teacher asked.
"Just check your email in two minutes." Chelsea said, ending the call with that.
Run was in traffic when he finally got the emails.
….
….
What he saw filled him with rage.
Turning around and foregoing going home to change, Run raced over to the Jeagers HQ, forwarding his email to the printer. He picked out the printout and ran to the gym, where he found a punching bag. He attached the printout to it and started raining blows onto it, years of pent of rage and disgust leaving and filling him with every blow.
Four years later, he'd finally found the bastard.
Circus grounds, the next day…
Run sipped at a crappy cup of coffee as he surveyed the area, looking for any members of Wild Hunt he recongized. If he found one of them, they'd lead him to this Champ fellow. And when he did….
Run had tried to keep himself calm and appear normal last night; he'd arrived at Night Raid later, but Wave hadn't thought much of it and bought him his drinks. Run had also still enjoyed watching Leone dance and remained civil and courteous with everyone he interacted with. When it had been time to go home, he'd told Leone he'd told Leone a very long, tiring day and she had tucked him into bed, where he'd pretended to fall right asleep.
He hadn't slept a wink; thoughts of revenge filling him. While on his way to the circus grounds, he'd forwards Esdeath a summary of the intel gathered and let her know of his intentions. Now he just had to find Wild Hunt.
Unfortunately, he'd had no such luck and his class was due to arrive soon, so he went over to greet them and the various volunteers.
Had Run stayed a minute longer, he would've had all of Wild Hunt right in front of him.
"So, what's the plan boss?" Enshin asked, giddy to get started.
"Kill them all." Syura smirked. "There all against dad, and threats to dad have to be eliminated."
Izou sighed, exasperated that he'd have no one strong to fight.
"And the witnesses or civilians?" Dorthea asked. "Can I keep a few for test subjects?"
"I don't see why we can't leave a few for fun." Syura and Enshin grinned evilly. "But kill the rest."
XXXX
"Okay kids, stay in groups and behave." Run announced to his students. "We meet back here at 2:30, that's the big hand at 6 and the little hand at 2. Have fun."
The kids were just about to disperse and started to explore, their volunteer leaders following them. Run let out a sigh of relief this was a very public and populated event; the chances of the bastard striking here, unless he was a complete idiot or killed everyone who saw, would be slim to nil.
Then again, if this guy was hanging out with Syura….
"Hey Runnie!"
Run turned around in shock to see his girlfriend hopping over, planting a kiss on his lips.
"Ooooo!" Some of his female students cheekily awed, the boys disgusted by the display of affection.
"Gross, cooties!" Ueki gagged.
"Hello, Miss Leone!" Tommy waved.
"Oh hi there, Tommy was it?" Leone grinned
"Leone, what're you…?"
"I'm volunteering!" She grinned happily. "Come on, a circus is in town and you think I'm going to miss out on it? Though seeing you makes it better."
Run smiled, honestly happy for this coincide….wasn't it?
"Go ahead and explore, kids." Run playfully shooed them away. "I'll catch up in a minute."
The kids did as their teacher asked, but luckily stayed within his vision.
'I'm not using my students as bait.' Run told himself as he and Leone enjoyed the sights and games of the circus. He'd lost one class to this bastard…
A glint of light grabbed Run's attention and he froze at where it came from:
A golden feather pen. A golden feather pen he was very familiar with…..
"Leone, could you wait a minute?" Run asked, not staying round to listen to her response.
The user was a large, dark skinned man in clown get up…who was getting too close to some of the kids and ignoring their requests to give them some space.
A volunteer was on the ground next to the clown, his nose broken and unconscious. Leone noticed this and vanished out of sight for a second, pulling out a cellphone.
Anticipation filled Run, but he kept his cool and walked over to the scene, putting a finger to his lips to ask his students to be quiet. He tapped on the clown's shoulder.
"Excuse me, Mr…?"
"Champ." The clown groaned in irritation of his duty being stopped, only to see an almost angel like man in front of him. "What can I do for you?"
"May I inquire as to where you got that feather pen?" Run asked.
"Oh, this old thing?" Champ mused. "It was a present from this cute little girl at a school I visited a couple years back. So many cute, rowdy angels…"
Run forced a smile.
"I see, do you remember her name? She seems very special to you."
"Sadly, no." The clown said, seemingly genuine in his sadness. "But I could never forget that spunky attitude."
"Her name was Anne." Run announced, getting the clown's attention. "Her favorite subject was Language arts, her least favorite was math. She had pigtails and Scarlett hair, wore a carrot embroiled dress and wanted to be a nun when she grew up."
"Oh yeah!" Champ smiled. "Hey, how'd you know that? It was supposed to be mine and little Anne's secret…."
"It's no secret." Run explained. "You see, I have the other pen."
Run pulled the pen out and placed it in his hair.
Champ's face began to sweat a little, not in fear, but in irritation this guy was keeping him from having love time with the cute kids before him. Not to mention, an angel he'd met had already been taken?
"Tell me one last thing." Run demanded, pulled out his wallet and taking out a picture. "Do you recognize anybody in this picture?"
The clown took a good look, nostalgia filling his being
"Yep, I had fun with all of those cuties." He announced proudly, not noticing Run's demeanour change. "Made angels of them all. Say feller, how'd you know them?"
The calm and gentle Run vanished.
"I…WAS THEIR TEACHER!"
Ran slammed the clown into the ground. Not missing a beat, he then kicked the fat bastard into the nearest wall.
"Four years…" He growled. "How many children have you killed in that time? Before that?"
"Duh…." Champ thought. "I dunno….How many, uh, papers have you graded?"
Ran punched him so hard his nose broke.
"S-sensei?" Heather asked, her teacher not really hearing her.
"Children…." He growled. "Go to Miss Leone. Sensei's about to do something none of you should see."
Champ growled at the sight of the kids leaving and reached behind his back, only to be blinded in one eye by a feather.
"I've waited years for this moment." Run grinned evilly, revealing several feather daggers in his hand. "Please, do try and stay alive long enough for me to enjoy it…It's the least you could do for the kids."
"Champ, what the hell did you do now?"
Run turned to see Cosmina walking over to the scene, only to hear his quarry break away into a run. He chased after him, only for Cosmina to block his
"Sorry mister, but Champ's one of us and as much as I hate the guy, he's…"
Run punched Cosmina out of the way, ignoring his councious lecturing him for hitting a lady.
"THE CLOWN IS MINE!" Run roared as he charged through the crowd like a man possessed, his target never leaving his sight. "MASTEMA!"
Two wings then burst from Run's back as he took to the air.
"GET BACK HERE YOU FAT BASTARD!"
Run then grabbed the clown by the rim of his shirt and sped off in another direction. Unfortunately, he didn't go unnoticed.
"The runt has a Teigu? Slice him down!" Syura ordered Enshin, who tried but missed. The spoiled brat then hollered at the top of his lungs. "Call in the reserves and round em all up!"
The citizens and circus staff, including those who hadn't paid the Teigu battle any thought, where then herded together into the center of the space
"Good people of Empire City." Syura announced. "I'm Syura, head of the secret police Wild Hunt. Perhaps you've heard of me or us? In case you somehow haven't, I'm Mayor Honest's one and only flesh and blood, heir of everything he owns…including your worthless lives. And as of this morning, I get to keep the peace in any way I see fit, and you have all misbehaved."
The adults began to shake in fear at the realization of who was in charge of this whole thing.
"This circus may seem innocent, but in actuality it speaks lies about Mayor Honest's time in office, criticizing him and all the good he's done for you ungrateful bitches and bastards. For the sake of maintaining the peace, you are all going to have to die."
Children began to cry and cling onto their parents. The elderly started talking against this.
A single woman, beautiful by anybody's standards stepped forward, getting Syura' s attention, ignoring the orders to get back from either her fellow prisoners or the soliders Wild Hunt commanded.
"Where are the Jeagers?" She asked bravely. "They're the real secret police."
"Ooh, hot and smart." Syura grinned. "Well, newsflash; the Jeagers are no longer operating. My dad put me and my pals in charge."
He then walked over to her and sniffed her.
"I think I'll let you live…" He grinned, licking his lips. "As my new toy."
"Leave my mommy alone!" The little girl who'd hidden behind the woman hollered and kicked Syura in the shins.
"Ember!"
Syura grabbed and threw the woman to the floor after kicking the little girl into Dorthea's grip.
"What you morons waiting for?" He hissed to his subordinates as he reached for the woman's dress. "Go for it!"
"Ahem."
Syura turned in anger of his fun being interrupted and slammed his leg into…pure muscle, breaking his leg.
"That's MY wife." A hulk of a man wearing a gasmask growled, his anger clear.
And he wasn't alone.
"Naughty Syura…" A cold female voiced smirked. "Trying to force yourself a married woman, and a friend of mine no less."
The Jeagers and Night Raid stood united, ready to fight and glaring at their shared enemy.
"How did you all…?" Dorthea asked, some worry in her tone. Izou merely grinned at the prospect of fighting strong enemies.
"It's a circus, how would we NOT be here?" Mine smirked, readying her gun.
"I thought boss planned for us to be here because they knew the circus was anti-Honest." Sheele inquired, making her friend face palm.
"Well, there goes the cool." Tatsumi and Wave sighed together.
"Doesn't matter." Akame said, drawing Murasame.
"Oh, by the way, Syura…" Wave smirked, getting immense pleasure out of telling this to Syura. "Your dear old daddy? Died this morning, eating breakfast. Too much meat and cake in his diet….or something."
In reality, Honest was still alive, but had eaten himself into a near death coma. But Syura didn't know that. The members of Wild Hunt cringed at the news that was broken to them, but kept their cool…until the Chief of police started talking,
"And he never signed the document that gives the power you claim to have." Esdeath smirked, showing the very same document and pointing to the empty signature line. "So, the Jeagers are still around. And before you start rambling, remember this…Wild Hunt may be the secret police…but the Jeagers?"
She then froze area into a barrier or ice, trapping Wild Hunt in with the Jeagers and Night Raid.
"We're the ELITE." Esedeath and Najenda ordered, their voices deadly serious before turning to their subordinates. "Crush them."
The Jeagers and Wild Hunt then leapt down, weapons drawn.
"DON'T STAND THERE!" Syura hissed, still stuck in Bols' grip. "KILL THEM! KILL EVERYBODY! I DON'T CARE, JUST GET RID OF THEM!"
The soliders that had rounded up the civilians rushed forward.
"Kuro." Seyru commanded, stretching her arms out. Her dog leap and bit down onto them, but the girl merely grinned and turned to the Wild Hunt members. Her arms turned into machine guns and she let loose.
"DIE VILLIAINS, DIE!"
Several of the mooks fell to the ground, and any who tried to escape were fried by a single blast from Mine's gun. The core members leapt away, Dorthea dropping Ember, who was grabbed by Bulat just before the bullets nicked her.
"Oi, Ogre!" Syura roared. "Take care of that bitch with the guns and you can have Champ's place!"
Seyru's eyes widened.
"Orge? As in….Captain Ogre?"
A massive man wielding a sword appeared behind the shocked Jeager, who turned to see a sight she'd hoped she'd never see: Her old trainer was a member of Wild Hunt.
No, this couldn't be Ogre, Seyru told herself. This must be someone who's taken his appearance.
"If you really are Captain Ogre," Seyru grinned, confident she could handle this imposter. "Why have you strayed from the path of justice and fallen into evil?"
"You're forgetting what I taught you a long time ago; the weak can gripe, but the strong alone decide how things go!" Orge smirked. "And Syura's paying me in all the wenches and mead I can eat and drink just for doing what I want. That is true justice! Esedeath made you soft Seyru, so go and join your father!"
Those words…only Ogre said them. Seyru realized. Ogre swung his sword onto the girl's mechanical ones, the force sending her flying into a tent, which collapsed onto her. Koro yipped at raced to his mistress' side, only to be swarmed by rabbits made of glue answering Dorthea's command.
"Capture him." She commanded. "One can never stop learning about biological teigu."
The rabbits did as she beckoned, only to be swallowed; but they sealed Kuro's mouth shut for a while.
Ogre rushed to finish his old apprentice, only to be kicked away by a blonde blur. He growled before hooting at the sight before him;
Leone, her teigu activated and growling.
"You want to touch that cutie, you go through me."
She was pushed away by an unseen force and sent skyward. Landing on her feet, she then saw who it was.
"Barry the Butcher." She smirked. "Still sore over that time on the playground? You had it coming to ya, actually taking candy from babies."
"Things are different this time, Leone." The minotaur in front of her smirked, not noticing she was mouthing his words. "I trained at Imperial Fist temple for years! I'm a second degree…"
"…When they kicked you out." Leone pointed out. "Been there, heard that."
They swung their fists at each other, shockwave knocking some of the weaker fighters away. Barry, angry Leone was still better than him, then grabbed and swung a piece sharp shrapnel towards his foe, removing an arm before slicing her down the middle.
"Citizen Leone!" Seyru shouted in worry, unable to fight back against her mentor aside from blocking his attacks.
Barry let out a triumphant laugh and starting singing
"Ding dong, the bitch is dea..!"
"Did you really think it'd be that easy?" a familiar voice asked.
Barry looked on in shock as Leone put her head back together and reattached her severed arm. The slice gradually vanished into her skin
"That all you got?" She smirked at the Minotaur, who then she rushed at and landed a series of brutal punches, turning his head to mulch. "Cause for a Second degree, you're weak as hell. I bet Tatsumi could beat you without breaking a sweat, and he's a total noob."
"HEY!" Tatsumi hollered as he used his sword to cut down more mooks, not noticing a woman with scars and a white kimono walk towards him.
"Oh come on, you love it!" Leone beamed.
Orge roared towards the blonde woman, who didn't seem to notice…only to leap over him and race to another area of the brawl.
"Seyru!"
The young lady looked over to see Esdeath blocking Izou's blade while shouting at her.
"He is no longer your teacher, nor a hero!" The Jeager captain shouted. "He has fallen into evil and threatens the empire. Unless you take him down, he'll try to hurt Run and Leone…"
That was as far as she got; the baby Jeager let out an enraged roar and raced towards the one eyed man, her dog leaping and biting onto her left arm, which suddenly changed.
"JUDGEMENT OF THE 10 KINGS, PHASE 7: CANNON OF JUSTICE!"
Ogre didn't stand a chance.
"Kuro!" She ordered as she swung her canon into several rushing mooks. "Get the bunny-girl!"
The dog yipped and leapt towards Cosmina, who let out a shout that made the puppy whimper before it suddenly transformed into a muscular beast. Cosmina didn't even have time to realize this before a fist reduced her to bloody mulch.
"Thank you, citizen Leone!" Seyru saluted when they reunited amidst dealing with mooks, only to be brought into a hug.
"You're still so freaking cute!"
Seriously! Some thought. What is it going to take? Seyru isn't THAT cute!
Half the thinkers were all jealous of Seyru's postion, then jealous that Run got that area all to himself.
"Tatsumi/Wave!" Najenda and Esdeath suddenly roared over the battle. "Use them!"
The two smiled and stabbed their swords into the ground before shouting at the top of their lungs:
"INCURSIO!"
"GRAND CHAIROT!"
Two monstrous auras appeared behind the two, who were then bathed in light. Any remaing soliders who saw the armor realized how sucidial this whole thing had been.
We're expected to fight those monsters? To hell with that!
They didn't get too far though, several suddenly just fell to pieces while others found themselves unable to move.
"Sorry boys." Lubbock grinned, his barrier now more visible than ever. "But if there's one thing I hate, its deserters."
Tatsumi was now covered in the armor whose name he shouted and began duelling with Suzuka, matching her blows with his own. He then realized she was asking for more pain and when he punched her in the ribs, she….
"Of course I get the masochist…" Tatsumi groaned.
Wave was garbed in similar armor, minus the cape and in a black tone. He charged towards the crowd of corrupt officers, breaking their weapons and kicking them away.
Throughout all of this, Syura was raining blow after blow onto Bols, who hadn't budged or flinched. All he did was glare at the younger man with nothing short of loathing.
"Ember." Bols commanded. "Close your eyes and cover your ears, daddy doesn't want you to see this."
The little girl, who by this time was back in her mother's arms, obeyed her father.
"Y-you're…Bols?" Syura whimpered, finally realizing how stupid he had been. The giant nodded before landing a punch that made the spoiled brat cough out and gag on his own blood.
"I kill Danger Beasts with my bare hands." Bols growled. "A punk like you is a walk in the park compared to that."
Syura reached for his Teigu, only for his arm to be sliced off by a pair of giant scissors wielded by a woman with long purple hair and glowing glasses.
"And I'm not going to let you use your Teigu." Sheele glared.
Bols then snapped Syura's back and squished his head between his palms.
"Hey Bols?" Lubbock hollered, not yet realizing what had happened. "Can you give me a hand?"
The otherwise reluctant-pyro turned to see several thugs managing to avoid Lubbock's wires. Thugs who could've tried to hurt Ursa and Ember…
Rage filled Bols, who gabbed and activated his weapon.
"RUBICANT: MAGMA DRIVE!"
As the name implied, magma spewed from the nozzle, drowning the would-be-deserters in boiling hot death.
"Usually I say nothing personal." Bols growled. "But this time, it is VERY personal."
The other Jeagers were shocked at their comrade's uncharacteristically brutal method.
"I think we've all learnt a valuable safety tip here." Akame said as she traded sword strikes with Eshin, whose sword seemed to release blades of wind that hadn't managed to nick her.
"Yeah…" Dr. Stylish said in shock. "Those muscles are NOT for show."
Kurome suddenly leapt into the fray and kicked Enshin away from her sister.
"You're the scumbag who tried to hurt Mine." The pregnant sword wielder growled, entering a stance. "And who stole my chocolate chip cookie."
"Oh, you wanna play chicken, bitch?" Enshin smirked. "Fine, I love making a woman submit to me."
Wave screamed in rage and raced to defend the mother of his child before being blocked by a bearded giant of a man with armored gloves. He leapt unpwards and stretched out a leg, shouting:
"GRAND FALL!"
The man's skull was crushed on impact with Wave's armored foot, and he fell to the ground, dead as a mackerel.
Kurome's demeanour didn't change, she simply began to slowly unsheathe her blade as the rapist grew closer.
Wait….
Enshin was cackling mad and salivating.
Wait…
She could smell the steel of his blade…
Wait…
"I'll rip that brat out and make you watch as it gasps for air!" The pirate cackled.
Kurome's eyes opened, wrath she'd never felt before filling her.
SWING!
The two passed, and the pirate smirked before he glanced down at his sword.
"I….feel like this was longer…" Eshin started, only for his arms to fall off and his head spilt down the middle, as well as a smoking hole appear in his forehead. His body joined as soon as Kurome sheathed her sword back in before marching over and stepping on the two halves of the man's head.
"On second thought, he's not worth saving." Kurome said. "Can I let him rot, nee-chan?"
"As he deserves." Akame said, having finished a man who had weapons sprouting from where he was cut.
"Oh come on!" Mine, suddenly appearing with the kids behind her. "I don't get a single kill? I have to share with Kurome?"
"If you want, that guys still available." Kurome pointed to a blonde man in dirty hobo clothes who was racing towards the pink-haired girl, a mad grin and dagger drawn.
Mine simply turned around and shot him without looking, evaporating him.
"Happy?" Akame asked, only for her friend to humph.
"it's Mine, she's never happy." Chelsea smiled as she appeared, having slit the throat of someone who had tried to next up on the sniper.
"AND JUST WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?" Mine growled.
"Eating cotton candy and staying alive." Chelsea grinned cheekily. "I'm a strict non-combatant."
"Where's Susanoo?" Najenda asked her intel gatherer.
"Handling reinforcements."
Wave finally made it over to Kurome and lightly hugged her, relief filling him. She normally would've reminded her boyfriend she was already stromger than him, but instead, placed her hand on her belly.
"Don't worry baby." She smiled sweetly. "Mommy will never let anybody hurt you."
Stylish and Bulat easily dealt with Izou while Lubbock wrapped up the alchemist and severed her veins.
"The swordsman who lives just to kill can be stylish…" The doctor said. "But he's too ugly for my tastes. What about you, Bulat?"
The swordsman just dug his spear into the samurai's face.
"Two words: Scum. Bag."
Leone then pulled the Dorthea away from Lubbock and lifted a steel beam
"Die."
The Alchemist was impaled and began bleeding out.
"Oh and by the way?" Dr. Stylish added to is fangirl. "Eternal youth and blood sucking? Gross. Reminds me of Twilight."
Throughout all of this, Tatsumi and Suzuka traded punches with no clear winner in sight. Esdeath then appeared and froze Suzka, shattered the ice and the smiling sweetly at the object of her affections.
"Are you alright, Tatsumi?" She asked. "Does it hurt anywhere?"
The boy babbled unintelligently at the beautiful woman showing him concern.
"Oi!" Mine shouted, running over to the scene. "He's mine, back off hag!"
The Jeagers all cringed at this.
"Wait, where's Run?" Leone asked, unknowingly preventing a full out battle over Tatsumi's affection.
For now….
XXXX
Meanwhile, miles away at a train station, the two fighters rolled on the floor, landing brutal punches onto each other. Champ still blind in one eye, tried to body slam Run, who grabbed and suplexed him into a train track before raining a barrage of feather knives into the man's back.
The clown roared as he suddenly began juggling several orbs with various kanji. Run, not wanting to give Champ a chance to use his Tiegu unleashed as many feather daggers as he could, intending to impale the pedophile to death.
"ACE SOLUTION: DIE LEAGUER!"
The orbs suddenly floated in front of their user and deflected all the feather daggers, saving the smirking clown. Run had already leapt skywards, intending to repeat the
"Nice try!"
One orb slammed into Run and electrocuted him violently, sending him falling to the ground, where he landed on his side. The teacher gagged on blood and screamed in pain.
Champ then threw another orb, which hit the struggling Run in the legs. Run glanced down to see his lower body was now entirely encased in ice.
"Aww, did the birdy forgot to fly?" Champ smirked as he threw another orb, this one hitting Run in the right arm, which suddenly became dry and shrivelled up. "Well, with that rotten arm, no wonder."
Run's world was getting blurry, but he could still hear the sick laughter of his mortal enemy
"All you can do is fly, but if you can't move you can't even do that." Champ sneered and he played with the remaining orb; the kanji of Explosion on it. "And those kids thought you'd be able to help them. The world is cruel. Oh well, I saved them from it."
Run's eyes snapped open, rage obvious.
"Well, this was fun, but all fun comes to an end." Champ smirked. "And don't you worry, I'll take REAL good care of them kids of yours."
Run's entire world turned red.
"Say bye-bye bird-boy!" Champ smiled as he threw the final orb.
With everything left in his being, Run shouted at the top of his lungs:
"GOD'S WINGS!"
The wings suddenly straight and turned into energy, catching the orb like it was a mere baseball and they were a glove.
"What the fu…"
The orb was then repelled and hit Champ, exploding into a whirlwind, sending the clown flying through three train cart filled with coal and breaking most of the bones in his bones before he slammed into a wall.
However, in the midst of his being thrown back, Champ let go of the orb with the kanji of orb and unknowningly sent it flying towards Run, who parted his wings.
"This is going to hurt…."
The orb made contact with Run's frozen legs and melted the ice before the wings shielded their owner, cancelling out most of the fire.
In pain and vision fading, Run leapt to his feet and drew feather-knives, dragging himself to Champ. Seeing the pedo twitch on the wall he was now stuck in, he flung a knife into the hand, waking the clown up long enough for a kick to the jaw.
"Beg." Run growled. "Beg the pig that you are."
Champ's jaw, now dislocated, gurgled something that Run was sure wasn't begging. He swung one feather dagger across the clown's lower body, removing what made him a man and delighting in his scream.
Run then used all the remaining strength in his arm to pry Champ off the wall and slammed the last three blades into his palms and both feet, crucifying the clown to train tracks.
A horn suddenly rang, making Champ look up. His eyes widened in fear; it was a train.
"What'd you know?" Run smiled as he stepped back. "The 8:00 is on time….for once."
Champ screamed as the train ran over him, his blood splattering all over Run. The teacher struggled, but eventually found the picture of his class and looked to the sky
Anne. Kesha. Pipi. Bran. Arnold. Phoebe. Carols. Tim. Ralph. Wanda. It's done.
The picture then slipped out of his grip and was taken away by the night wings.
Leone ran over to him, ignoring Esedeath and the other's pleas. She stopped just short of embracing him, delicately cupping his face with her hand.
"I…got…revenge."
His world then went black and he collapsed
Several days later, present day
Run stirred from his slumber and cringed at the bright lights
At his side was Leone, sleeping deeply. He sighed and ran his fingers through her hair before glancing around.
Wave and Kurome were sleeping on his right side. Stylish and Bols also took the seats of visitors, as did Shelle. Akame, Tatsumi and Mine were sleeping on the floor
Esedeath then entered the room, carrying a tray of coffees
"Run…" Leone teared.
Run's eyes teared
"Don't cry Leone, please." He begged. "Tears don't belong on your face."
Leone burst into a wail as she hugged her boyfriend, waking up the others
"I can't help it!" She cried. "Stylish and Sheele said you were practically dead when you got here, I was worried sick!"
"Choking!" Run gasped
"Don't care!" Leone bawled
"You scare us like that and I'll…" Esdeath started, before she broke down and hugged her best friend.
Run smiled and saluted.
"Yes mam."
Najenda smiled at the scene.
"What about Honest?" Mine asked. "As much as I doubt he'll really care about Syura's death, if he wakes up…"
Esedeath tossed a bag of cash.
"Kill him." She ordered. "He broke our contract by letting his brat's friends threaten my subordinate. Budo would be a better boss than him anyways."
The Night Raid members, minus Leone, excused themselves and headed out the door to plan this hit. Before leaving, Najenda turned back to her old rival and smiled knowingly.
"What?" Esedeath asked.
"Having subordinates closer to your level's changed you." Najenda simply stated. "I kind of like you moe this way."
Her rival returned the smile, glancing at her friends and Leone fussing over Run.
"The Jeagers are all I have." Esdeath smiled. "Anything hurts them, it goes."
Leone kissed Run once more before letting the children rush in and thank their teacher, loading him with thank you/ get well cards
"Wait, whose teaching you all while I'm out?" Run asked.
Wave giggled and remembered…
"Alright kiddies!" Mine announced. "Since your teacher is out of commission, I, Mine the genius sniper…."
"And Dr. Stylish, Phd and MD in all areas of science…"
"Shall be teaching you!" They said together.
The kids burst into laughter at Stylish's funny behavior and Mine's determination to prove she was a genius.
Tatsumi, dragged into this once again, started handing work for the kids to do, only to be swarmed and pulled down as the boys tried to beat him up for reason.
Hearing that, Run's color vanished and he promptly fainted. Kurome whacked her boyfriend across the back
Leone then tucked herself in next to her boyfriend.
"I love you, my Runnie-wing." She cooed as she nestled her head under his head.
Whew! This one took forever! Hope it was worth the wait, read, review and suggest where things should go from here