GDW AU Chapter 25-Final Showdown
"Chutora! Bill, Kurotora! Gin's calling us all for a meeting!" yelled James as he quickly ran past the three, only pausing for a second to inform them before he left and ran on ahead, not pausing to even listen to the confused mumbling of the three he just talked to. He didn't have time to waste standing around doing nothing-lives were on the line here.
A few minutes later, everyone had arrived and was awaiting Gin's orders. The leader waited for everyone to settle down before he took a head count of the whole pack. It took him a few moments to count the massive army, but he finished in a few minutes without becoming out of breath.
Gin paused as he checked the large crowd before he started to speak in the very voice that he had used during the first war, confident now as he was back then. What little fear he had felt this morning was gone the moment he laid eyes on his comrades. Today was the day peace would be brought back to Ohu and Gajou for good.
And he would make sure it would stay that way.
"You all know why I called you here today. The time has finally come for us to take back our home Gajou! Sniper's tyranny shall end-TONIGHT! We WILL have peace after the war is over! Now, I want you all in four separate groups for this battle!" he began to yell, even over the rising volume of the crowd in front of him.
He could feel their anger over losing their loved ones and their home emanating from their souls. They had already lost those close to them a mere year and a half ago in the war against Akakabuto.
"Group 1 shall head in the back of Gajou and take out Lucy's pack and rescue any prisoners of war! Bring them to safety as fast as possible!" barked John as he walked back and forth in front of his mate Gin, his gaze fierce and piercing.
"Group 2 shall be the distracting force to lure away and destroy the strongest of Sniper's soldiers! Show no mercy to them!
Group 3 shall move in from the left side and take out the traitors who have abandoned Ohu and will be lead by Cross, Ben, and their children! Show those who betray us that we will not show mercy towards them!
And Group 4 shall move in for the kill! John and me shall lead Group 4 along with our sons! We will go forth and take down Sniper and his top soldiers!
Akame and Hakuro shall lead Group 1! Show no mercy to our foes! Show them our anger!
Kurotora and Chutora shall lead Group 2 along with Moss and Hakuro's son! Now, charge! Move out!" he yelled as loud as he could at the very top of his lungs.
And just as soon as he yelled, the Ohu army began charging at Gajou, separating into four groups like they had a year ago during the war against Akakabuto and his demon bears.
The ground shook from the weight of the army like thunder did during a nasty fall storm. Dust flew up in big clouds and filled the air, making it a little harder to see clearly and to breathe.
"Let's do this, Gin! Sniper's going down! For good!" yelled John as he ran next to his mate Gin, their sons right behind them along with the rest of Group 4, mostly filled with Gin's brothers, the former platoon leaders, and the strongest soldiers they could muster.
The air around Group 4 was soon feeling the weight of what they had to do to reclaim their home. Nothing was going to stop them from winning now.
However, one young soldier didn't feel the overwhelming courage that everyone else was feeling right now. What little confidence he had was being overshadowed by fear.
Axel felt a knot in his stomach; he knew Sniper was a very dangerous dog that ruled with an iron paw, but he couldn't help but feel that Sniper looked just like him. It creeped him out to the core.
But that was surely impossible; John was his father for sure, no doubt about it! He just had an odd pattern that he most likely inherited from the German shepherd side of his family-that must be the logical reason! It just had to be that!
He just couldn't be more wrong about who his father truly was…
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As the battle for Gajou was going on into the hours of the night, John, Gin, their four children and Axel hurried to Gajou to find Weed, Joe and Yukimura, who went to fight Sniper.
They chased him towards the edge of Gajou's left side, near where the graveyard was. It was dark and foreboding with a suffocating atmosphere.
Most of the fallen soldiers of Ohu were laid to rest after the war was over to give their souls peace.
Thankfully much to everyone's relief, Sniper and his goons had not destroyed the tombstones and left them alone.
"Sniper! Where are you, you yellow coloured pervert!? Come on out! And give back our sister Belle too!" yelled John, spit flying out of his jaw, looking around in anger as he kicked down some rocks and wooden structures.
Mike noticed someone appearing from the hole in Gajou. It was Belle, looking rather tired and worn out from her ordeal.
"Belle! It's you!" cried Gin in pure elated joy, along with John. They ran over to their long-lost daughter and gave her the biggest hug of her life. She did not return the hug.
"Thank god you're alright! We've been looking for you for so long now!" cried John as he hugged her. Belle didn't say anything, staring blankly at the wall with an eerie and distant look in her eyes.
Axel seemed to sense something was wrong;
Belle's empty stare was fixated on him for some reason and it creeped him out even further.
"Come in. I want to show you all something." She said calmly without emotion. "Weed, Joe and Yukimura are waiting for you both, mother, father."
Belle headed into the hole, disappearing from sight. Axel felt worried and clung onto Gin, scared of what they might see inside.
"It's okay, my dear." said Gin with a smile, unaware of what his daughter's face looked like with her empty stare, which had gotten darker. "Show us. Please. We trust you, dear."
As they walked down the corridor, Mike got ahead of Belle and started to ask questions. Belle said nothing as he tried to get her attention.
"Belle, what happened to you? Did Sniper and his goons torture you? Did they force you to clean up after them?" asked Mike. Belle said nothing as she stopped, pointing to a large rock.
"Huh? What's that, sis, you wanna show us something?" asked Mike as he tilted his head in confusion.
"In here. They're in here, everyone." She said as she pushed the rock. Gin, John and the pups entered to see three coffins fit for a dog.
"What's all this?" asked John.
"Father...Weed, Joe and Yukimura are dead." Said belle lowering her head. Everyone stared, open-mouthed and in shock.
"No...not my children!" thought Gin.
"What!? You're lying!" cried John. "Sniper must have planned this as some sort of twisted joke!"
"I'm sorry, father. Sniper killed them in his last breath. Now we will never be together again." said Belle.
Mike broke down. "Dammit!" He hit the coffin. Suddenly, the coffin lid slid off revealing no body of Weed. John looked at the other two.
"They're all empty! Belle! What is this trickery you're pulling!?" yelled John turning around, only to find Belle has disappeared.
"What the?!" Said Mike looking around everywhere in a panic. "She's gone." Said Tin Tin as he looked around him.
Suddenly, Gin let out a scream. John and the pups turned to see Sniper holding Gin by the neck with Belle, also holding Axel by the neck too.
"Well done, my girl!" grinned Sniper. John was horrified. Belle had joined Sniper! He felt like he was in a nightmare!
"Belle! Let go of Axel!" cried John. Jr. "Please, sister! He's our mother! Please!"
"Never, brother!" grinned Belle in such a way that it frightened them all. "Never…"
"Mother!" cried a familiar voice. "Where are you?! Yell if you can hear us!" Weed, Joe and Yukimura rushed around the bend.
"Sniper! You dirty bastard!" yelled Yukimura as they saw Sniper with Gin. His neck was firmly in Sniper's powerful jaws and it didn't look like Sniper was going to let go anytime soon.
Joe looked at Belle. "Belle, what the fuck are you doing!? Let your half-brother go now! Stop with this bullshit!"
"No, I will fucking not! Axel ruined my life, and so did you! Father abandoned Gin when he needed him the most!" screamed Belle. John stared in horror at Belle.
"Belle... Why?!" he thought as a tear streamed down his face. Belle noticed this.
"Crying your tears out are we, father?" taunted Belle with an evil grin. "Why are you doing this, Belle?!" demanded Weed as he looked on in horror. He couldn't move an inch.
"Revenge, my dear brother! Revenge!" she cried. "You never cared about me from the start!"
Weed was horrified. "You traitor!" snarled Yukimura as he stepped forward.
"Don't fucking move!" yelled Belle. "Or else, Sniper and I will break their necks!" she chuckled in a creepy manner. Sniper grinned as best he could at his adopted daughter.
Gin felt tears streaming down his cheeks as he watched Belle's betrayal unfold right before his eyes.
"Belle...you were our only daughter. Why can't you understand I was raped...?" he thought. "What happened to you? Were…you angry with me? Why…Why this?"
"Not to worry. Sniper can mate with Gin again, like he did with Axel." Axel's eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat. The thought of something like that happening again scared him.
"What do you mean?" asked Axel, who was gasping for air. "Belle, no!" cried Gin. "Please stop!"
"In case you want to know, mutant." said Belle. "Sniper raped your beloved mother here in order to make an heir, but that plan fell through. Gin wanted to get rid of you when you were born, but he held you close instead thanks to grandma Fuji. She told mum to keep you instead of doing the right thing: getting rid of you. That's why I left. AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" screamed Belle. "I was worried about you, mother, and yet, you choose to keep that bastard male!? You ignored me entirely! You didn't even bother to-!"
She stopped as she saw Axel's eyes. A shadow was cast over his eyes. Belle felt terrified. She let go as Axel got up, shaking and muttering something she couldn't understand.
"Leave..." murmured Axel as he finally said something understandable to Belle and everyone else. Sniper let go of Gin and looked at him, puzzled and confused. Axel raised his head and looked at Sniper. He had anger in his eyes, like it wasn't Axel anymore, but someone far more deranged and dark. Just like his cruel father who stood right before him.
"Leave...my...mom..." growled Axel before he screamed one word:
"ALONE!" He charged at Sniper full of rage and hatred. His fangs were fully bared and they shined in the moonlight above him through the hole in the celling.
"Very well then. Come at me! My son!" grinned Sniper, licking his lips. Sniper charged at Axel, but Axel was too fast. Sniper felt fear in him and skidded to a halt and attempted to dodge to the left.
"TOO SLOW!" yelled Axel, "THIS IS THE END FOR YOU!"
Axel went right into his stomach, which penetrated him and came out through his back, leaving a large hole where his stomach was. Everyone could hear flesh and bone rip apart and fall to the floor.
Axel landed on the floor covered in blood, panting raggedly and stumbling and shaking with adrenaline. John, Gin and the pups stared in horror.
Belle was also horrified. "FATHER! NO!" she cried, finally showing some emotion other than apathy or anger. John felt his heart break at his daughter's words: she no longer considered him her father. He wished he could have done more to find her.
From the entrance Lucy, Ren, Blight, Aku, Lector and Thunder watched horrified. Axel got up and looked at Gin and John who had shocked looks on their faces. He felt a brief moment of fear.
"Mom?" asked Axel, and then he saw Sniper standing on two legs. Sniper lifted his front paw and looked at it through clenched teeth.
"Shit…" he said. Blood oozed out of his mouth. The top of Sniper fell off, and the lower half collapsed onto the floor. Lucy screamed in horror along with everyone else as she ran to her mate's dead body.
"RETREAT! FALL BACK! NOW!" Belle fled in fear, quickly turing around and running away. Lucy and the others followed her. They ran as fast as their legs could carry them.
Outside, the battle was still going on. Suddenly, Belle emerged and screamed at the top of her lungs, her face full of panic and horror. Her legs began to shake. She ran so fast she constantly kept tripping every few seconds. The soldier even knocked enemy and her own soldiers to the ground in her fear.
"Sniper is dead! Retreat!" Sniper's army retreated in terror. Sara and Minazuki watched Sniper's army fled into the woods. A few of the dogs tripped and ran the other way, away from their commander and Ohu.
"Was that…Belle?!" asked Sara in shock as she took a few steps forward. "She's still alive somehow? What's going on here?!"
John, Gin, Weed, Joe, Yukimura, Axel and their pups emerged from Gajou in a few seconds. They all looked sad; they had found Belle at last, but her pure heart had been tainted beyond repair. She was beyond saving now; they all knew it now.
And it broke their hearts to know that…
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
Sakura overheard and felt really guilty about the events that transpired earlier in the day. She wished she didn't slapped Belle on that day. Maybe then she wouldn't have left her family and those who loved her that day.
Meanwhile…
"What went wrong?! We had everything planned perfectly! They must have cheated to have been able to defeat us so easily! They must have cheated! Damnit!" cried Belle as she stomped in circles, frustrated by their defeat. She also began hitting others who had gotten stuck in her path.
Victor was nearby with Hougen and Shane in a house that belonged to a woodcutter who used to be Smoke's owner.
His other three children: Miki, Aki, and Shin had deserted them and left to go be with that runt Weed and his two mates, Jerome and Kyoushiro. Shane was considering leaving for the safety of the Ohu army as well, but was conflicted about leaving his mother and father behind, knowing that they weren't in good favor with them. So he stayed with them for now.
"Damn, even Sniper knew better not to mess with his bastard child. Now he's gone and paid the price with his life. Not that I care. He had it coming; I was getting sick of him really." thought Victor as he sighed, adjusting himself to get more comfortable. He felt a bit tired after running so he laid his head on Hougen's back. Hougen smiled at Victor and kissed his forehead.
Victor was glad that Hougen had survived Sniper's attempt to get him killed by the Ohu army and he had barely managed to get out of that alive, but he never came back to the Ohu army for fear that Sniper would kill him. He had fled the final battle without Sniper even knowing he had survived the suicide mission Sniper had sent him on. Victor managed to rescue his lover from the Ohu army in exchange for leaving Futago Pass for good.
"Belle, maybe if you had listened to my advice, we wouldn't have lost so badly. But I guess you don't care about anything other than power and Ren…then again, I was never good at giving advice to other dogs." he thought bitterly.
Back at Gajou…
Tivana sighed as she lay down on the grass nearby Gajou. The weather was cloudy without any rain, so it was a little chilly.
The place was being cleaned up and the youngsters and pups were put in a secluded area of Gajou that was usually reserved for the dead.
Tivana was with her friends and the rest of the young dogs:
Her sisters, the new arrivals Miki, Aki and Shin, who she learned were her half-siblings, James and his friend Smoke, Akatora and Minazuki's daughters and lone son, John and Gin's kids, Ben and Cross' kids, Tesshin, and Sakura, who was there to watch over them.
Tivana watched as her big brother Ken go over to play with Miki, who had retreated to the shade of a tree. She could faintly hear her complaints and the subsequent smack to Ken's face. She couldn't hold back a snicker as she watched him walk over to her, grumbling and bitching with his ears dropped in anger. He kicked a few rocks and some dust and walked off, still grumbling and complaining about something she wasn't able to decipher.
"Hey Tivana…can I ask you something?" he asked his little sister in such a way that it caught her off guard, so much so that she jumped a bit. She got up on her feet and stared him in the eyes, waiting for his question to pop up. He eventually asked her this question,
"Hey…about the Leader and John…do you think that they…know about Axel and Sniper being…you know…father and son?" he asked with hesitation and uncertainty. Ken hated looking weak in front of his family, especially his sisters and mother, so he put in a lot of effort in making himself stronger so he could protect those dear to him. More often than not, trying to act tougher only got him teased.
Tivana titled her head in confusion and looked at her big brother like he had grown a second head; Sniper was Axel's father? She thought John was his daddy, not that bastard as her father called him so. Axel wasn't like Sniper at all! He took after his grandma in terms of personality and took after his father John in the looks department.
"Nah, never mind, you'd be too young to know the answer anyway. I'll tell you when you're older, Tivana." he said running away behind her, leaving Tivana very confused as she went to join her sisters in playtime.
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
Fuji smiled as her grandchildren came over to her owner's place to play for a while. It had been a while since her son had visited her along with John, since the war had started that made it too dangerous to come visit willy-nilly. But seeing them all grown up made her feel sentimental and nostalgic for the past. She even thought of her dead mate Riki and his sons from a prior relationship.
"Hey mother, missed you so much. Nice to see you again." was the first thing her son said when they met again, tearful and overjoyed that the war was all over now and for good this time. The next thing he did was hug his brothers so tightly they'd thought that they would run out of air.
"Hey bro, been a while, huh? How's that little guy Axel doin'? We've missed him so much! It's great to see him again!" asked Hiyan with a grin as he waited for an answer, searching his brother's eyes for an answer. Gin smiled and said that he was doing great and that he had grown up a lot since the last visit.
Hiyan laughed for a few moments, "Oh, so that's what my nephew has been doing! Hah, he's such a playful kid, huh Giyan?" the brown dog said as he poked his white brother in his shoulder a few times while he was still laughing. Giyan glared at him.
"Heh, nice to be back here after so long." Gin said as he walked up the porch to sit down next to his mother. The two started a conversation and the pair talked for a long time.
Gin missed talking with his mother about anything. He spoke about so many things he had seen in his time as leader so far. All the while, Fuji had a look of pride in her eyes as her son kept talking for what seemed like forever.
She looked up to the sky with a smile on her face and thought of Riki, "You see our son from up there, my love? He's done so much already and he isn't even five years old yet. I get the feeling he's not done yet."
A shooting star fell from the sky…