"MOTHER FUCKER!" Nick smashed his fist into the ground, the hull of the ship bended as his fist cracked the metal. "WHERE'S SAMANTHA?" Nick yelled as he looked to the side and realized that she wasn't next to him.
"I decided to put her in her room," Alpha said calmly. Nick started to walk off, but Alpha gripped his shoulder. "But I think you should clear your head first, and that you should let me break the news to her."
"She'd be better off dead," Nick's eyes turned a deep, bottomless black and his clothes started to ripple as air started to create itself around him.
"Sir, get out of the ship… now." Alpha commanded. Nick gripped Alpha's hand and dug his nails into the skin. He felt a metal bar in his hand and realized that fighting Alpha would take a lot more than he had right now.
"Fine, where's the nearest town?"
---
Nick walked in a bar, he couldn't help but think that the bar looked more like something he'd see in a movie set in Mexico. The inside was barren and had sand all over the inside, there were a few people in at the moment, and those that were in were staring at him with their eyes. The people looked human, so he decided that he was slightly welcome.
"What'll ya' have?" The bartender asked.
"Ya' got anything called a Yutan special?" Nick asked. The bartender chuckled and pulled out a dusty wine bottle from the cabinet.
"Ya' know, most wines get better with age, but this one always sucks." The bartender laughed. He chuckled nervously as Nick snatched the bottle from his hand and gulped the whole thing down in a few minutes. "Woah buddy… take it easy, that stuff can be potent in large doses."
Nick gave an agonizing fake smile. "I really need to kill somebody…"
The bartender pulled out a gun and pointed to it. "Well I suggest you leave the bar if you're going to do that."
"Now why would I do that?" A gunshot was heard and the bartender crumpled as Nick pulled Gabriel out from under the table and pointed it to the man at the end of the bar. He fired and a bullet splattered the man's brains on the wall behind him. Two men from behind him bolted for the door, but two well aimed shots pinned them to the wall before they slid down and fell over.
One man got up from the booth at the end of the bar and gave an odd grin. The man was wearing a cowboy like hat that covered his eyes, but Nick could feel evil oozing form the man's body. The man was wearing a leather jacket and some blue jeans that were obviously made of some kind of silky material that didn't belong in Nick's world.
"Well aren't you just peachy today?" The man said sarcastically. Nick rolled his eyes as he put the gun down.
"Okay, get out. I want the booze to myself right now," Nick commanded. The man tiled his hat up to reveal brown hair in a fashion like Nick's and hazel eyes. The man had a strong face and handsome features, but Nick couldn't shake the evil he felt from him.
"If you wanted booze, you could have just stolen it. From what I hear you're fast enough." The man leaned against a pole and looked at Nick with wild bemusement.
Nick looked at the man skeptically. "And what else do you hear about me?"
"What wouldn't I hear about Skyler the Pirate of the Cosmos," The man walked forward and Nick raised his gun out of instinct. "Or was it Pirate King? Or was it the Devil of the Universe? I don't know. It's been too long since I've heard those names."
"Why do I get the feeling that you're somebody I shouldn't be pointing my gun at?" Nick asked plainly.
"In all honesty, you probably should have shot me already," The man replied in the same tone. "So…" The man sat down two benches down. "How's the Crain doing?"
"You saw the landing I presume?"
"Haha! You bet! Who ever was piloting that thing must have passed out after toning the engines down!" The man started laughing hysterically. "I hope you're not the idiot who piloted it." He said, returning to his original tone.
Nick paused. "No, it was a friend of mine…" Nick's blood started to boil as he thought of Catherine and Samantha.
"So… who died?" The man asked. Nick was taken off guard by the statement. He lowered Gabriel and sighed.
"The pilot's little sister…" Nick sighed. "And in a sense… my adopted daughter…"
"Ouch, tough luck there buddy boy…"
"Ya' know, I might as well shoot you for that." Nick said harshly.
"But you won't," The man said in a teasing tone.
"Why do I get the feeling you know me?" Nick expressed another one of those feelings.
"Why shouldn't I know you?" The man turned to him with an evil smile that put Phantom's to shame and made Nick's blood run cold. "After all, why shouldn't I know myself?"
Nick bolted from the bench and ran out the bar. He picked a road and ran down the opposite way from where the ship landed.
"Oh c'mon, don't tell me I scared you off already?" The man appeared to his side. Nick jumped up and launched a kick at the cowboy's head, the kick connected and a loud metal smash was heard as the man flew back. Nick's leg suddenly gave in and he fell to the ground.
A long pause ensued as both the man and Nick lay down a few yards away from each other.
"Ouuuuchhh…" The cowboy moaned. "God damn, that was one hell of a kick you have there."
Nick cursed his luck, he tried to move his leg, but it was unresponsive. "Crap, I broke it…"
"You broke you're leg? That's fairly obvious considering you just smashed in pure Cicalian rock." The man removed his hat to show the large dent in his forehead. "Honestly I'm surprised the impact didn't tear the limb off."
"Well I didn't know the real Skyler was made of fucking metal!" Nick cursed. Skyler was shaking his head at the teenager.
"You've got a filthy mouth for someone your age…"
"Yeah well, I think after all the accidents I've been through I have a right to curse." Nick said with a scowl.
"I think after the accident I'll put you through…" Skyler said with a horrible voice. He slowly got up and dusted himself off. "You'll never curse like that again."
"Trust me buddy boy, you and many other's have tried to clean up my language." Nick raised his hand and his ring glowed. "Dimension ÄRM: Air Cycle!" The Air Cycle flew out of nowhere and landed right next to Nick, the redhead rolled over and used his momentum to kick himself up and land on the seat. He reached forward and pulled on the handlebars, the machine instantly flew away.
"Now why did he have to go and do that?" Skyler frowned.
---
Back in MÄR, Nanashi was looking at the crystal ball again. It was daytime, and as much as he hated to admit it, flirting with girls wasn't as fun without his apprentice in perverseness.
"Two years since I've seen him, then this thing shows up…" Nanashi saw a hazy image of a canyon. He looked closely, and he thought he saw Nick riding on a machine in the rock crevice. "What the-?" Nanashi got shivers as he realized that he finally got an image! "No way!"
---
Nick looked behind him to see Skyler running about as fast as he was flying above the ground. He pressed a button on his HUD and thrusters popped out the side, he flew up onto the side of the canyon and pushed himself over to the top.
"Unless the bastard can fly, I'm free." Nick crossed his fingers and watch Skyler intently. The man stopped running and suddenly jumped the length of two football fields to get a few yards behind him. "WHAT THE HELL?"
"Nice to see you too," Skyler rushed up to the side of the Air Cycle. Nick looked at his legs and realized that he could have been mistaken for jogging, his legs were pushing him incredible lengths with every step. "So as long as we're meeting for the first time, what's your real name?"
Nick chuckled. "It's Nick," Nick pulled out his pistol and pointed the silenced barrel in his cheek. "And this is Gabriel."
"Naming a gun? That's interesting…"
"You're obviously not familiar with it's namesake." Nick sighed. "To be expected of a universe where the Bible is probably a smoothie of some sort."
"Different universe?" Skyler nodded his head. "Interesting, so what did you drop out of the sky a few weeks ago and highjack my crew before I found them?"
Nick laughed out loud. "Basically!" Skyler sighed and jumped up. He kicked the Air Cycle and suddenly Nick went flying off his seat. He raised his hand and the ÄRM returned to it's original form. Skyler jumped at him with incredible speed and cocked his arm back. Nick looked up and braced himself for the attack, the metal fist smashed into his wrists and he heard a sickening crack. He flew down into the rock and left a huge crater as he plowed through the canyon.
---
"Everyone!" Nanashi yelled. The group converged on the crystal ball and Nanashi started yelling. "I wanna know where this is, who that guy is whose fighting him, and where Nick's been all this time. NOW!" The entire building started bustling and people started contacting others with ÄRM's and leaving the building to talk with others.
---
Nick tried to get up, nearly forcing his body to move. He managed to use the rock on his sides to support himself as he stood up. He was going to die, his left wrist and possible his whole arm took the brunt of a killer attack, his right leg was broken. His Air Cycle possibly needed repairs, and he was sure that Gabriel wouldn't so much as pierce him. But as Skyler landed twenty feet away from him. Instinct took over and he summoned his pistol, unloading the extended clip into the cyborg, metal shrapnel started flying as bullets pierced his fake skin. Skyler started running around, hoping to dodge attack, but Nick's eyes were focused on him intently as he fired at him. Skyler finally got shot in the neck and his motor functions went wild, as he continued to get shot, his head started to twitch and his arms started flinching. Skyler took a second and he charged Nick head on. Ignoring his sensors saying that he would fall apart soon, he drew a fist back and got within arms length of Nick's face. Nick in turn put his pistol into Skyler's face and readied himself to pull the trigger for the last time. He took a deep breath and pulled.
He was out of ammo.
---
"Nanashi-san!" One of the men called out. "There is a desert with a similar canyon only a good fifteen minutes away. Nanashi looked to his crystal ball in a panic, to see Nick on the ground, and the robot walking away slowly, sparking and parts falling from his busted up chest.
"Let's go!"
---
Nick felt a huge pain in his chest. Skyler had punched him in the ribs, successfully shattering four of them, and probably cracking a few more. Nick wheezed as he attempted to fill his lungs with air. A rib pierced his left lung. He started to suffocate as he started going in and out of his consciousness. Before he finally was drawn into a deep and dark sleep. He saw a face he hadn't seen in a long, long time.
"Ya' know…" The face of Kaldea's previous elder sat next to him and frowned. "If you hadn't gotten rid of me so long ago, I might have given you my strength." Nick looked up helplessly. "But noooooo… you just had to be the good guy; and now look at you! If you tried the mask would only serve to make you self-confident." The boy sat down to reveal that he had gotten older and now looked to be about Nick's age. "Do you feel happy now?"
Nick raised his hand slowly. It trembled as he made a cross on his chest and closed his eyes.
"Oh nice move smart ass…" The elder spat at him.
Nick wheezed a little as he opened his mouth. "Go… fuck yourself."
---
Nanashi looked in disbelief. He walked down the canyon and saw that at the end, there was a large stone structure. It was three pillars arranged to be in a doorway-like structure, and in the gap between the stone. Nanashi saw a passage into another canyon, with a light coming from a large crater.
"Nick…" Nanashi gritted his teeth. He rushed after his friend and ignored the protests from his followers as he dived into the image. The blonde looked up as he felt the new gravity weigh down on him. He looked up and saw a new sky, he could smell a new stench, and he felt a new magical power that felt oddly familiar to him. "Nick!"
---
A/N: Hehehe! I feel just so evil now, killing off characters and leaving you with a cliffhanger. Well, the good news is that you guys that missed Nanashi and the MÄR universe, you'll get enough of both!
But before you start coming up with your own ideas, let me put one more idea in your head. How do you think I'm going to deal with the time-skip to the second War Games? Hmm… I wonder, could I possibly… keep the whole Black Crain crew captainless? Or maybe the real Skyler would take over the ship again… but then what would happen to everyone else?
Who knows? Certainly not me…
