Hey everyone. Here's another chapter. Enjoy
Nukid woke up to the smell of smoke. He slowly got up, feeling aches across his body, like he'd just been in some recent battle, a battle he couldn't seem to remember
When Nukid regained his senses, he realised that he was lying outside; on the muddy ground, and to his left a huge blaze engulfed his sight. Nukid turned to the blaze, a massive blaze it was, towering over the assassin in a giant, burning pile of rubble of some destroyed building
It took Nukid a few seconds to realise the familiarity of the area, and the scene in front of him which…. for some odd reason had happened frequently ever since Nukid had joined
"Author Fighter HQ?" Nukid whispered to himself, surprised to find himself in front of building. Nukid couldn't help but wonder why the building had been destroyed like this. But then, it hit Nukid with a sense of dreaded familiarity
"The Pacifista.…." Nukid whispered with a slight growl. He now remembered exactly what had happened. The World Government, the new CP9, the Pacifista, Oldkid…..he remembered what had happened
And now, he couldn't help by feel afraid for himself….or his friends
"This isn't right…" Nukid whispered suspiciously "…I remember, I was running through the forest…with Ranger, X Prodigy, DW and Warlord….what the heck am I doing here?!"
"I have found you, former Assassin Nukid"
Words couldn't describe the jolt of fear that coursed through Nukids whole body, fear from the mere loud, emotionless voice that boomed across the whole area. Nukid knew this voice well. The same voice that had scared him once before, when he was a child on the battlefield
Slowly, Nukid turned to the figure, further confirming he suspicion, his worse fear "Bartholomew…..Kuma"
Bartholomew Kuma, the gigantic cyborg that looked like every other Pacifista, up to the same long black hair, black and white clothes and emotionless face, stood towering over Nukid like an unbreakable wall
"I see you remember me. It would be rather odd someone of your former position in the World Government not to know me by appearance alone" Kuma replied emotionless, making the ground shake as he walked forward "I have no time for simple talk. Sengoku wants this mission done quickly"
"No…" Nukid trembled, stumbling back as Kuma moved forward "my friends….where are my friends?"
"You mean your fellow Author Fighter members?" Kuma asked, his voice showing no sign of emotion, no hint towards his previous actions
"I killed them all"
For Nukid….everything seemed to stop, the wind, and the fire from the destroyed Author Fighter HQ, everything seemed to halt when he was told that they were dead. Nukid felt his body shiver, despite it not being cold. His breathing became much heavier, tears welled up in his eyes as small groaning sounds escaped his mouth
They were dead….everyone he'd grown to care about in his team….dead
"I can tell what you want to do" Kuma stated "you want to say things like "no, that isn't possible" or "I'm lying. My friends would never die so easily"…..but you know deep down what I'm implying is not only possible, but almost certain….You know deep down your friends are dead"
Nukid wanted to say something, anything to shut him up! But Kuma, was dead correct in everything he said, it was almost as if he could read his mind
Deep down, Nukid knew. Author Fighters vs. Bartholomew Kuma? The Author Fighters stood no chance of winning
"You….you bastard…." Nukid growled, which quickly turned into a sob. Nukid held his left hand over his eyes to cover his crying eyes, sobbing as Kuma moved closer
"I had nothing against your team-mates Nukid. I harboured no hatred, no ill will towards them…" Kuma began speaking
"…Shut up…"
"I know the World Governments tendency to act mercilessly. I did not see your friends as villains or enemies to the World Government like it was made to believe"
"Shut up"
"But Nukid, I sold my life and everything I am to the World Government. I may sometimes show mercy to some, but to someone like you, who murdered a hundred soldiers in cold blood, I can give no mercy to"
"I said shut up"
"And the Author Fighters, who despite their good intentions, willingly harboured a criminal like you. If they had not know of your previous sins, I may have spared their lives…" Kuma ranted, raising his hand to show his hand, which had a strange paw like shape across it
"…But, they let you into their team, knowing full well you were a murderer and a traitor. I could give them no mercy either"
"SHUT UP!! JUST SHUT UP!! YOU FUCKING TOOL!!" Nukid shouted, unable to hear anymore of his talking. Despite all common sense, all knowledge Nukid had of Kuma, he ran at they cyborg, intent on killing the Warlord for his dead friends
Casually, Kuma tapped the back of his right leg, and disappeared
A split second later, he reappeared and was standing right behind Nukid…..
Nukid was about to express his disbelief, with some comment such as "no way!" "how?!"…but Nukid had no disbelief. He knew full well what Kuma could do, only his anger had caused him to forget about his invincible power
Bartholomew Kuma, who had eaten the Nikyu Nikyu no Mi Fruit, had the power to push anything, whether it be his opponent, air, even himself to any location, at the speed of light
Emotionlessly, Kuma held up his paw above Nukid, ready to swing it down like a Vulture ready to attack its prey
"This is goodbye"
"Aah!!" Nukid gasped, violently jolting upright. His body was sweating and his breathing was heavy. He felt like he'd just stared death right in the face.
After a moment of panting, Nukid realised he was no longer at HQ, nor was there any sign of Bartholomew Kuma around. Nukid actually found himself lying on a brown sofa in a flat, with a blanket covering his body
With his senses back, he realised where he really was. This was Sofia Scotts home. Sofia, the sister of deceased CP9 assassin Maria, and one who was very dear to Nukid when he was working for the World Government
And she died, because of Nukids ignorance….
After coming to this Earth, the two kept close to each other, especially when they were being hunted by the Zodiacs for the second stone tablet. After that fiasco was over, Sofia moved in this flat and studied Archeology, being one herself
And Nukid, being the gentlemen he was, kindly asked that him and his friends hide in her flat while they wait for contact from the others. Nukid rubbed his left eye, which for some reason black. Though why this was Nukid did not remember
Then he remembered. For causing her all this trouble, she punched him in the eye
Shrugging it off, Nukid stepped off the couch, standing besides his fellow Authors, all sleeping on the floor. Nukid was careful to step over them as he made his way to the kitchen, not wanting to wake them up
"N..no Tifa….not there"
Nearly tripping, Nukid thought he'd woke one of them up. After a moment of quiet, no one woke up, so Nukid continued on to the kitchen
When he reached the kitchen door, he could hear a sizzling noise from the other side. Slowly, he turned the door and opened the door. He immediatley saw Sofia, holding a frying pan over a grill as she seemed to be making an Omelette
"Um…I don't like Omelettes" Nukid pointed out. Not the best way to start a conversation, but this was Nukid after
"………" Sofia said nothing, not even looking up from the grill. This made Nukid even more uncomfortable
"Listen….I'm sorry we asked you to put us up like this Sofia. I know this must be annoying for you" Nukid said, scratching the back of his head embarassingly "trust me though, as soon as we get a call from the others, we'll be out of your hair soon. I know it's all a pain, but we'll be gone so.."
"YOU IDIOT!!" Sofia shouted, swinging the omelette filled frying in Nukids direction, and therefore sending the boiling omelette…….straight into Nukids face
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!" Nukid screamed, falling to the ground and rolling around as the omelette burnt his face. Despite eventually getting it off, Nukid still rolled around on the ground in agony
"Y..you bitch!!" Nukid snarled as he rubbed his burnt face "what was that for?!!"
"You honestly think THAT'S why I'm angry?!" Sofia growled at him "Damn it Matt! I'm not even angry at you!"
"Th…then who are you angry at?…….is it X Prodigy? Because I'll totally kick his ass if you want me to" Nukid offered, resulting in a kick to the stomach by Sofia
"I'm not angry at any of you!" Sofia insisted "I'm angry….I'm angry at the World Government!…..Why Matt…why are they after you now…..w..why won't they leave us alone…"
Nukid looked at her, and felt unable to be angry anymore. He got up, and held her by the shoulders, before hugging her tight
"I don't know…" Nukid said sadly "….I thought when we left our own Earth and came here, they couldn't look for us…..But they can….and they'll hunt me down no matter where I go"
Nukid let go of her, but stared her in the eye "but they probably don't know you're here as well. You won't get hunted down like me, so I'm not getting you involved"
"You think that's gonna make me feel any better?" Sofia said sarcastically, but she said it with a smile. Nukid smiled back
"Not really" Nukid replied. Suddenly, a screeching noise ringed through his right ear, practically hurting the assassin as he clasped his ear. He found-to which he had forgotten- the earphone communicator Agent Liberi had given him before they left
"Calling Nukid. It's me Liberi. Are you there Nukid?"
"Liberi!" Nukid replied happily, relieved to hear his voice "where are you guys?"
"You're to the point Nukid. Aren't you gonna ask if everyone's okay?" Liberi asked from the other side
"Tch, like you guys are gonna die that easily" Nukid said "are you safe where you're hiding?"
"We are. We thought of an excellent place to hide, where your old friends may not be able to find anytime soon. We can send Ross to get you all over here, though……you may not be fond of it"
"Liberi, we're in the middle of a crisis here. My former government is hunting us down, and our current hideout won't be safe for long. Wherever you're hiding, I'll accept it and put any disdain for it behind me"
"That's good then. We're currently hiding in Castle Doran"
"…………………………………………………What?"
"We're hiding in Castle Doran. Since teleportation is our only way into Castle Doran, it is a perfect place for us to hide our team." Liberi explained
"You……of all places…..you choose…..to hide there? Especially……Where HE lives?!!" Nukid growled, breathing loudly, like he was trying to keep an eruption of anger inside
"Are you okay Matt?" Sofia asked concerned "you sound like you're hyperventilating!"
"………Who is "he" Nukid?" Liberi asked
"Don't play dumb! How can you send Dawn and everyone else to Castle Doran when Jiro lives there?! Jiro…..that bastard…who knows what horrible and slightly erotic things he might Dawn while he's there!!" Nukid snarled
"Oh god Nukid…not this again……" Liberi groaned. You could imagine his face looking annoyed right now "Nukid, Dawn and Jiro are dating. Why are you so against it?"
"Because I don't trust that fucking werewolf!" Nukid spat "the minute I first met him, I knew he was trouble, and when I heard he was dating Dawn, I knew he was up to no good"
"….Nukid, you're close to Dawn right?"
"She's like a sister to me"
"And you know how strong she is, right?"
"Sure. She's kicked my ass more than once"
"So, I'm sure she can look after herself. I think you're just being overprotective" Liberi theorised…. the rather obvious
"No I'm not!" Nukid denied "granted, I won't deny I'll go to…reasonable lengths to make sure she's okay"
"Nukid……when you found out they were dating, you tried to castrate Jiro"
"Does it…..hurt there?"
"Yea….more to the left though" Mantis instructed as Riki pressed down on his back with his heavy, rough fingers. Mantis laid on Castle Dorans huge table as Riki gave him a massage to help heal his aching back
Riki was the sole surviving member of the Franken Race, like how Ramen was the last of the Merman Race, and Jiro of the Wolfen race. He was a tall, black haired man who spoke in a slow, deep voice and served as the butler for Castle Doran
"How about…..there?" Riki asked
Mantis nodded "Okay, I think you're near where it hurts. Just a little more and…"
CRACK
Riki stopped at the crack, looking towards Mantis "Did I…..get it?"
"…..Yea…..you got it….."
As Riki did this, Ramon was kneeling down beside TLSoulDude, shining his shoes. Though, the Fictorian did not seem too happy about this
"Um….I said it was okay. My shoes are fine as they are! They don't need shining" TL insisted to the Merman, disguised as a young boy in a school outfit
"Oh I'm not doing this for your benefit" Ramon said cheerily "you're in my house, so you're not walking around with dirty shoes!"
"Oh……okay then" TL nodded, puzzled by the odd boy posing as a Merman
Besides Mantis and TL, the only other Authors in the main living room were MistressofDawn, Agent Liberi and Roscoso. Liberi had recently just came in, having spoken to Nukid through the communicator
"I spoke to Nukid, and everyone's fine. He's pissed he has to come here, but he'll come" Liberi explained, before sighing, "they're at Mrs Sofia Scotts home"
"Thanks Liberi" Dawn nodded, turning to Ross "you better go pick them up Ross"
"Allright. Be back in a minute" Ross said, holding a Life Aura in hand. He raised the Aura in the air "Chaos Control!"
With a blinding Flash, Ross teleported out of the room, leaving Dawn and Liberi alone "What are we gonna do about those two? This is hardly the time for those two to act like children"
"I know, I know. It's all hard on me you know" Dawn pointed out with frustration "one of them is my boyfriend, the others like a brother to me. I just wish Nukid wasn't so protective"
"I heard about what he nearly did to Jiro…" Liberi grumbled "….I heard he nearly tried to do that to Quill as well"
"He said it was for protection, so I let him off with just a punch to the face" Dawn sighed "that reminds me….we haven't explained what happened to Jiro yet"
"True. I'll go…..wait" Liberi stopped, pondering silently for a moment before smiling "Dawn, I don't think Nukid and Jiro will be any trouble this time"
"Oh really? What makes you think that?"
"If there's anything they'll agree on, it's that they want you safe" Liberi explained "if we explain the situation to Jiro-but DON'T say it was Nukids fault- Jiro will be grateful to Nukid for saving you and the rest of us"
Dawns eye lit up with hope "that's a good idea! We've just got to make sure Jiro doesn't find out it was Nukids fault!"
As they were talking, the living room door opened and in came Lunatic121, striding in as he walked over to Liberi and Dawn "hey guys! What're you talking about?"
"Oh, just how we're gonna explain this to Jiro" Dawn said
"Heh, you guys don't need to worry! I've already explained it all to him!" Loon boasted proudly
"I see" Liberi nodded "in that case we just have to wait for them to arri……….you've already told him?"
"Yea! He was walking in the corridors and asked me what happened, so I told him!" Loon said
"Oh no…." Dawn whispered, going pale in horror. She grabbed Loon by the shoulders and faced him eye to eye "Loon, you didn't tell him it was Nukids fault, did you?"
"Umm…."
Flashback, 4 minutes ago….
Jiro the Wolfen and Lunatic121 stood in the centre of Castle Dorans narrow corridors, as Jiro listened to Loons explanations
"WE GOT ATTACKED BY A GIANT ROBOT BECAUSE OF NUKID!!" Loon whaled
End flashback…..
"I may have hinted it" Loon replied, before fidgeting "Dawn….why are your eyes flashing Amber?"
"You…IDIOT!" Dawn screamed at the fictorian, almost as if she was about to become a werewolf, despite no full moon "do you have ANY idea what you've done?! Oh god…..where's Jiro?!"
BANG
Everyone jumped as the door to the living room slammed open. Standing beside the door, was the Werewolf in human form, with short spiky black hair and an angry grin. He smiled viciously as he showed his sharp, white teeth
"So…..when will Nukid arrive?"
"So, where is this Castle Doran Ross?" Warlord asked Roscoso, who had instantly teleported into the flat with Chaos Control (and waking everyone up in the process). Everyone had gathered around Ross and Nukid, who were explaining the situation
"Where it is doesn't matter for you guys. It's safe, the World Government won't find us anytime soon" Ross assured his team-mates
"Come to think of it, Dawns boyfriend Jiro lives there right?" DW asked
"He certainly does" Ross nodded
DW smiled "Cool! He was a pretty cool guy when I met him. Fun to talk to, pretty smart, looked pretty badass…"
"Darren, say another nice thing about Jiro and I'll post nude pictures of Tifa & Noel online" Nukid threatened
DW gasped "How do you have picture of that?!"
"How is not important!, it's what I'll do with them that matters!" Nukid grumbled, somewhat sulking. Ross sighed at the assassin
"Don't mind him. He just can't seem to get along with Jiro" Ross explained
"I'm willing to get along this time, for everyone sake" Nukid stated, sighing "anyway, we might as well get going"
"Before we go guys…" X suddenly said "…Ross, is it possible you can pick up someone else up after you've sent us to Castle Doran"
"Well…sure. Who do you want me to go get?" Ross asked
"Well, I figured with all the trouble we're having, we should get some other Authors to help out too. At least, those we can get in touch with" X Prodigy explained
"Sounds like a good idea, so long as they can fight" Ranger nodded in agreement "who do you have in mind?"
"Well, I think my bro, AdventChild101 can come help"
"OH GODAMMIT!!"
Everyone turned suddenly when Nukid screamed that. They looked at Nukid, who had his face in his hands in grief, almost crying in his hands, albeit in a somewhat comical way
"Why X…..why of all people do you want HIM?!!" Nukid cried "I can deal with Wilrook, I can deal with ShadowDJ, and I can somewhat deal with Loon, but I CAN'T deal with him!"
"Wow…didn't know he felt that way about Advent" Warlord said, surprised
X Prodigy side "I guess they didn't have the best of introductions. That might bewhy Nukid gets pissed off by Advent"
"Why, what happened"
"Advent snuck into Nukids room in the middle of the night, drew marking on his face with blood, and attempted to impale him in the chest with a rusty knife"
The room went silent after he explained this, except for Nukids silent sobering. X rubbed the back of his head embarrassingly
"He assures me that's how all Jashinist greet people"
AFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAF
When Nukid managed to stop sobering, Ross used Chaos Control to bring himself, Nukid, Ranger24, X Prodigy, DW64 and Warlord Xana to the corridor of Castle Doran, just outside the door to the living room
"Remember Nukid" Ross said to the assassin "get along with Jiro. Please man, do it for Dawn"
"I know, I know" Nukid grunted. He stepped up to the living room door, and opened it
Almost as soon as he stepped in, Nukid felt something lung at him, and wrap their arms around Nukids neck. Nukid nearly fell back, but managed to stay balanced as he was held in a tight hug
The person who was hugging Nukid was Dawn, who looked at Nukid and smiled, very relieved to see them all "you guys….I'm so thankful you're okay"
"Aye, barely though" Nukid nodded, smiling as well. They released their hug as Liberi, Mantis, Loon and TL walked over to see the new arrivals
"Man, didn't think you guys would all make it back in one piece!" Loon laughed, but still seemed happy to see them
"Don't lie Loon, we all had faith in you five coming back" TL reassured "we better go tell everyone else you're all back!"
"That can wait. Everyone needs their rest" Liberi said, before turning to Nukid "but, it's good you managed to get everyone here Nukid. You did good"
"Heh, who do you think you're talking to?" Nukid said smugly "no way in hell would mes…"
Nukid stopped when a certain person moved forward, pushing Mantis and Liberi aside to face Nukid eye to eye. That person was Jiro, who looked at Nukid with a neutral face, showing no happiness, no anger. Nothing
For what felt like several minutes, Nukid and Jiro stood staring at each other silently……
Deciding to break the silence, Nukid sighed "Hello Jiro. Look, I know we don't always see eye to eye, but I think in a situation like this, we can be grown up and…."
"YOU BASTARD!!" Jiro roared, grabbing Nukid with such speed not even Nukid could dodge. He held Nukid by the throat, and violently threw Nukid to his right
And with a smash, Nukid went right through the window…
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!" Nukid screamed as he fell down the side of the huge building Castle Doran was a part of, similar to something you'd seem in Looney Toons
Everyone present in the room, beside the Three Monster Arms, stared at the broken window in shock. In a matter of seconds, Jiro had just thrown Nukid out the window, sending him falling several hundred feet down
Jiro huffed, flexing his shoulders as he walked away from the site "Riki, I want this mess cleaned up soon"
Riki banged the table in frustration, but did not complain. Dawn looked between Jiro, and where Nukid had been thrown out of, and hid her face in her hands
"So much for a peaceful welcome"
I think the title fits the chapter well :p. Stay tuned, for the next chapter!