Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible, or Chaos
Okay, I'm just going to skip this thing and go right to the chapter, if anyone has any problems with that, tell me and put it back in. That's all, now to the chapter.
*~* flashback
*~*~* dreamscape
The Assassin: Nemesis
Chapter 6
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*
A whole week passed since the last chapter ended, and Ron had changed his mind about fighting, much to Tara's dismay. He knew he may die, but he also knew that it would be an honorable sacrifice. At the moment he was going under some of the training that Bonnie had been doing, except it was a little hurried. He and Nate were in the backyard, practicing with a broadsword; Nate told him to choose one, and he chose a large German sword, one of the largest Nate had.
"No, not like that," Nate said grabbing the sword from him. "It's a smooth motion. You look like you're chopping wood. I've explained to you that these people are not amateurs."
"Yeah, you've told me that ten times," Ron almost shouted.
"Actually, it's twelve times," the green-haired assassin said calmly. "I told you to pick something light, and quick. Instead, you grabbed a , one of the heaviest. Do you know what that sword was for?"
"Uh...no."
"It was for cutting down men on horseback, and required considerable strength for just that. Men trained their entire lives for just one moment to use it."
"And I suppose you trained some of them."
"Yes, actually. I wouldn't have it if I hadn't."
"But, you told me some of those swords were over ten-thousand years old."
"I have an old soul," he shrugged and reached around behind him, grasping the handle of a cutlass (a pirate sword), and unhooked it from his belt. "Try this one."
He handed the hilt to Ron, who gave it a small squeeze, as was instructed, and from the six inch handle extended a 24" curved blade. It shone brightly in the afternoon sun, and almost blinded Ron when he tilted it too far.
"Where'd you get this one, Black Beard?" Ron asked as a joke.
"No, that I salvaged from a sunken privateer. Give it a try."
Ron swung the sword in the motion Nate told him, in a figure eight, and he seemed to be much better off with the cutlass than with the massive . It was a classic scene of moving from large and bulky to small and graceful. He deftly cut, stabbed and sliced at the air with the sword as if he'd used it his whole life. Nate stood by giving him tips and pointers on the fighting style used with that kind of sword.
"Now, since it is shorter than the kind of sword you were expecting to use, you can't be afraid to get in close. Don't just use the blade, use your body too; throw a punch, kick 'em, duck under their weapon and ram into them. Do anything, and everything to win," he said while grabbing another cutlass. "Alright, let's see how far along you've come in the past hour."
"Right," Ron smirked and held his sword.
'He's getting cocky,' Nate thought as his face remained straight.
He yelled and charged at Ron, swinging his sword in recklessly wide arcs, smashing it harder and harder against Ron's blade. Ron kept having to step back every time Nate swung at him, never getting a chance to fight back. Finally, after backing up for a few minutes, he noticed Nate ease up and decided to go for it. Swinging the cutlass in a short, weak, arc, he tried the catch Nate in the side. But the half-god was prepared, and ducked under Ron's assault, ramming his shoulder into Ron's chest, sending him sprawling onto his back. Nate sheathed his sword and sighed, taking off the vest he had been wearing; it fell heavily to the ground.
"That vest weighs five hundred pounds, my boots weigh six hundred each, and this cutlass weighs three times as much as yours," he said calmly. "How did I beat you?"
"You have years of experience?" Ron panted.
"Good answer, not exactly the answer I was looking for, but good nonetheless," it was Nate's turn to smirk this time. "I beat you because I am stronger, faster, and much more skilled. For you to stand a chance in this fight, all you have to do is become strong enough to lift that weight."
He pointed to the vest.
"Are you serious?" the blonde boy asked. "Five hundred pounds?"
"Yes," he lifted it up and tossed it to him. "Now keep practicing, I need to be somewhere."
"Where?"
"A meeting, to set the time and place."
He whipped out the pike and traced a quick circle around himself in the ground. The ground began to glow green, and he promptly disappeared. When he was gone, Ron got up and grabbed the vest; it felt like regular fabric, but he couldn't get even one corner off the ground. After five minutes of trying, he let go and sat back on the ground. He was starting to think that this could all be a bad dream, a really bad, really long, dream. Even he knew that some dreams, even if they just last one night, could go for days in the dream.
"I might even be in a coma, and not know it," he looked down at his hands.
"But how would that explain this sudden onrush of knowledge you didn't have?" asked a feminine voice behind him.
Kim.
"Good point," he closed his eyes and thought back, back to when saving the world was simple.
Back to when he had been the humble distraction, Wade was the gadget guy, and Rufus was always there for additional support. He would have given almost anything for those carefree days, when the worst that could happen was a bad math grade. It wasn't bad at all, he would have had Tara, and Kim would still be saving the world from idiot supervillians. All that had changed the moment he had stepped onto Duff Killigan's island.
"Think about it Ron, if this was a dream, then I would have my Sammy, you wouldn't have Tara, and Bonnie would still be a spiteful bitch," she said sitting down next to him. "If this was a dream, would you ever want to wake up?"
Ron thought about it, really thought about it. Both sides of his brain stopped thinking of anything else, and concentrated entirely on his answer. It was a fair question for her to ask.
"No, I wouldn't," he said looking over at the house. "If it was you, would you want to wake up?"
"Are you kidding me, of course not. If I woke up and found that Shego didn't love me, I don't know what I'd do," she hugged her knees to her chest at the thought. "Where did Nate go?"
"I don't know, he said something about setting a place and time."
*****
On the top level of a parking garage in an undisclosed city (not Middleton), Nate appeared. At the other end of the garage, standing atop the concrete rail was Nox, her long hair fanning out in the wind, making it look like a cape. Held diagonally across her chest was the lance; the darkness of her left was gone, revealing a blue eye, a normal eye. A small smile graced her fair lips when he turned towards her.
"Well, didn't expect to see you," he said as he advanced across the rooftop parking area, "Natsu-chan."
Nox blushed and turned her eye away from him; it had been long time since she'd been called that. Like Chaos, she'd been turned to the "dark side", but in a different way. She had been killed, and brought back to life as a half-demon, which explains the "demon's eye".
"It's been two years and you haven't forgotten?" she asked looking back at him. Feeling somewhat foolish, she retracted her staff and tucked it into her hair.
"Two years isn't that long," he sat on the hood of a car, what kind of car is up to you, "though, to tell the truth, it was hard to recognize you without your school uniform."
"You liked that, huh?"
"So, how did you come to be under Chaos' command?" Nate asked quickly changing the subject.
"Ha, like I could possibly follow such a narrow-minded person. The council members just put me there to keep an eye on him," she closed one eye, and opened the other, then switched back.
Nate laughed a little at the pun, while watching her walk to the car opposite his. She slowly sat on it and jumped slightly when she sat on the hood ornament, the car was a Jaguar, 'nuff said. Nate chuckled lightly as he watched her adjust herself to a comfortable position. Just being in this situation had brought back some memories he had kept very dear to him. Nox, aka Natsumi Arika, aka Natsu-Chan, had been one of Nate's friends when he had been in Japan, well, maybe a little more than a friend.
"Why do you allow them to control you like this?" he asked calmly looking a little to the left of her, as she was trying to catch his eye.
"Yes, but because they resurrected me, and placed this damn demon's eye in my head, I have to do what they say, or else..."
"Pain?"
"Exactly."
He sighed seeing a similar bond to that of his brother's, except that for her it was permanent. There were ways to save her soul, to drive out the demon that had possessed her. Course, she would die, again. But he couldn't tell her here, not with that eye of hers transmitting everything that was going on back to the council.
"Alright, where are we making the exchange?"
"You never answered my question," she said as her hair shortened to be mid- back length, and her clothes changed to the usual Japanese schoolgirl uniform. "You like this look?"
"Well," he started, still not looking directly at her mind you, and then mumbled, "there's nothing not to like."
She heard him and smiled a little wider, he had always been like this around her.
"You really care for her, don't you?" she said getting up and turning around. "Like you used to care for me?"
"Yes," he kept his eyes averted while he thought.
"Well then don't worry, Aeris already told you that she hasn't been harmed."
"I have to know where and when," he stood up and stepped over to her. "So where does Quetzalcoatl have in mind?"
"A week from now, where exchanges are usually made," she said getting ready to leave. "Whatever that means."
"I know what it means," he sighed when he thought of that place, having not been there in centuries, he was weary of revisiting it (where is it? You'll just have to wait and see...or read, I'm not sure out that works exacltly).
*****
Quetzalcoatl stood on a cliff, looking out over a mountain range (not telling which one). Behind him stood Bonnie, wrapped in a blanket, against the cold wind that whipped around them. He smiled slightly at the thought of his plan finally coming to its focal point. He would take the pike, kill his brother's vessel, and send Kukulkan's soul to the abyss. Then he would use that pet of his brother's and kill the council, taking the planet for himself.
"I love it when I win," he chuckled. "And I have you to thank."
He had said that to Bonnie, who wince ever so slightly, revealing that part of her was left behind. Quetzalcoatl had not seen it; since he had his back to her, but the feel of guilt from her made shivers of pleasure go down his spine.
"Did you know he was once in love with Aeris?" he asked in a nonchalant tone. Her silent reaction told him more than he needed, but it was enough. "Oh yes, Nox too, and that wasn't too long ago. I wouldn't be surprised if he still was."
"If who's what?" came Aeris' voice from above them. Quetzalcoatl was silent, which was just fine for her. "Well, I've taken care of that little errand you asked me to do."
"Good, now take her inside," he nodded to the shivering girl.
"Cold?" she asked with a questioning look to accompany the tone.
"Not entirely."
Without another word Aeris placed her hand on Bonnie's shoulder and led her back inside the cave. Once inside, away from the wind and snow, it was substantially warmer. Bonnie's shivers lessened a little, but the guilt remained, and that kept the slight tremors running through her. Aeris wasn't sure exactly what the god she'd left out in the cold meant, so she just attributed the shivers to the cold.
"Come on, how's about a soak in the hot springs?" she suggested and led her down a side tunnel. "That ought to warm you up."
When they reached the room, Nox was there, and, having just appeared, was still in her uniform. Aeris raised an eyebrow at her, then cast a sidelong glance at Bonnie, who didn't seem to notice the slight blush on Nox's cheeks. Before they disrobed, the jet-black demoness stopped them, looking around. After a few minutes she nodded.
"Okay, Shadow's not here," she said.
*****
Days passed, and Ron's training had been coming along faster than Nate had speculated. Perhaps what he said about Tara being in danger spurred the boy to do better. Already he had lifted the weighted vest, and was training while wearing it. It slowed down his movements quite a bit, but he just continued to improve. The cutlass had become his favorite weapon, but Nate still insisted on marksman training.
"No, you're too far forward, don't square your shoulders as much," he said casually as he walked around Ron. "That's it, now one eye open, line up the sight, and fire."
The bullet missed the mark completely, but still hit the target. Nate took the Beretta from Ron and held it in front of him with one hand, as opposed to Ron's two.
"Like this."
The three shots he fired were off so fast that the almost sounded like one shot. Looking at the target, Ron saw that all three shots had hit dead center, in exactly the same spot. The first bullet made the initial hole, then the other two went right through the same hole.
"See."
"How could I, you moved too fast."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Hm, well, I guess it'll give you something to shoot for," he suggested and handed the gun back. "Now, try again."
"Right."
Nate sat on the grass with his legs crossed, watching Ron's efforts slowly improve. He knew this boy only going to get better. He also knew that his plan to overcharge the pike was useless; after testing it out, the pike simply took the power right in without any trouble. Now his only weapon against the pike was Molotoch, and that was really more than he needed. The Ancients had really outdone themselves when they forged it.
He mentally sighed, 'I've got to stop playing around; sure it's fun, but I'm letting things go too far.'
The plan needed to be revamped a little. Nate had realized something about the weapons that were held by the gods. One god could challenge another for his/her weapon, and to the winner went said weapon. His had been ordained to him since his birth, but not granted to him till it was needed. Quetzalcoatl was given no such weapon, and thus had coveted his brother's.
Reaching to the side he grasped the handle of the sheathed Molotoch, gripping it tightly. Though it was steel, it was warm to the touch, and that warmth spread from the handle up his arm; it was quite soothing, really. He yawned a little as the warmth relaxed his tense muscles, eyelids began drooping little by little. Ten seconds later he was asleep.
"Nate?"
"Huh, what?" he opened his eyes and saw Ron over by the door with Tara.
"I'm headin' home now, I think I've practiced enough."
"Yeah...yeah, sure, go ahead," he still felt groggy. 'How long was I out?'
Sighing, he stood, walking slowly towards the door, Molotoch resting on his shoulder. It was strange to him that he didn't dream, he always had dreams about something or other. Usually what he dreamt came to pass, but this time it was just blank.
"Could it mean the Earth has no future?" he wondered aloud as he entered.
"Quite the collection you got here."
He looked up and saw Monique stepping through the door, looking at the weaponry.
"What are you, preparing for war?"
"Something like that," he said placing Molotoch on its stand. "Kim's upstairs."
"That's not why I'm here."
"Then why?" he sat on the couch.
"I was wondering where Bonnie's been."
He turned away from her for a moment, wondering how to explain something like that. Monique didn't know what the others knew, she didn't even know he was an assassin. At the moment he had two choices, kill her and get over with, or lie to her. He chose the second one.
"She's been out of town."
"Oh, visiting?"
"Yeah."
She looked around during the prolonged silence that enveloped them, an awkward silence.
"Well...I guess I will go see Kim."
"Like I said, she's upstairs."
*****
Finally the day had arrived. Nate stood in the backyard, waiting for the others to arrive. He wasn't wearing his usual black pants and green tank, this time he was wearing something like what Darth Maul wore in Star Wars: Episode one (I'm not exactly sure how to describe it). Leave it to Shego and Kim to choose this morning to sleep in. Ron, at least, had an excuse, he lived across town. His arms crossed over his chest and he sighed for the fourth time.
"Why do I even bother?" he asked himself while his eyes closed, getting ready to leave.
"WAIT!" his eyes opened and he saw Kim and Shego come through the door, the latter with the two shotels strapped to her back.
"Took you two long enough."
"Long night," Kim said.
"I'm sure."
"Where's Ron, not here yet?"
"See him anywhere?" Nate asked, irritated that she would ask such a stupid question.
Ron chose to arrive at that moment, with Tara following him. Nate cocked an eyebrow, why would he bring her, he thought. The time for the exchange was fast approaching, so there was no time to think about it. But he still felt compelled to ask.
"Ron, why did you bring her?" he asked.
"Well, I figured she could look after Bonnie," he said.
"Bonnie can look after herself," he growled then consented. "There's no time."
His wings didn't spread this time; all that happened was a blinding flash of light and the feeling of being ripped apart limb by limb. This feeling wasn't all that far from the truth as molecule by molecule their bodies were dispersing. When the light faded, the backyard was empty, just five pairs of footprints were burnt into the ground.
*****
Quetzalcoatl leaned against a withered and dying tree, the branches reaching to the sky like spindly hands trying to tear it down. Across from him was Chaos, who, instead of leaning against the tree, was taking time to hack away at the trunk. He was getting frustrated, usually he could slice a tree in two with ease, but these trunks were harder than stone, and they were dead.
"I do hope you won't waste too much energy doing that," the god said with a yawn but the assassin didn't listen. "Pathetic."
"What was that?" Chaos asked through gritted teeth, turning feral eyes on him.
"Watch and learn," his forearm became long and thing, hand become three- fingered as white scales and gold claws formed. With one mighty slash the tree disintegrated, becoming little more than dust in the wind. "See?"
"From what I've seen of Nate, either of us could easily kill him."
"You didn't read the information Aeris gave you, did you?"
"No, what's the point of reading something that big."
Quetzalcoatl sighed, he knew Chaos wouldn't have read it, even though it could have helped him. It didn't matter anyway, this one would never die, no matter what happened to him. This vexed the god to no end, how could anyone but a god be immortal. But he had come to the conclusion that Chaos was not truly immortal. Immortal people do not spend time in limbo to get their strength back, immortal people do not die at all; immortal people could be sliced into a thousand different pieces and still not die, if it was not for the healing ability.
"Chaos, how is it that you can die, and come back to life?"
"Like I would tell you."
"I see, you don't know either."
"Of course I know, I just choose not to tell anyone."
"No, you don't, I've looked into your thoughts, the information is not there," Quetzalcoatl turned to look up the path when he heard footsteps. Sure enough, there were the three girls, all of them looking especially clean. "What took you?"
"We wanted to get her extra clean," Nox said flipping her long mane of hair over her shoulder.
"I doubt he would care how clean she is."
"I'll bet you wouldn't say that about the pike," Aeris scoffed.
"Because the pike is a weapon, not a woman."
They would have argued more, but a blinding light had just appeared at the top of a large Mayan style pyramid at the end of the path. Four people seemed to materialize out of nothing, all of them screaming and flailing in pain, a fifth appeared, but he didn't seem to be affected as the others (I got this form of teleporting from the movie "The One" with Jet Li, sweet movie).
"Ah, their here," Quetzalcoatl grinned and spread his wings.
"Finally, time for some payback," Chaos sheathed his sword and proceeded up the path.
'Aeris, we're going to have to be careful here,' Nox thought to her jet black companion.
'I know, if we're to keep our promises, we've got to do everything perfectly,' she thought back. "Come along young one."
Bonnie's bleak expression seemed to brighten a little when she saw Nate, but only slightly. As she was told she followed Aeris and Nox to the pyramid.
TBC
There, it's finally done, next chapter just might be the last one, unless you want me to continue. I know that I haven't been updating much, it's just that 1) I don't have the time to type 2) I hate clichés, even if it's my story 3) I could use more reviews and 4) I need more ideas. I know you people have great ideas for how my story can end, you just don't want to insult me by voicing them. Well you should care less about my feelings, if you have an idea, tell me. If you're afraid of me rejecting your idea, I'm prepared to write several alternate endings to accommodate you. Well, this is me telling you to send your ideas, late.
Okay, I'm just going to skip this thing and go right to the chapter, if anyone has any problems with that, tell me and put it back in. That's all, now to the chapter.
*~* flashback
*~*~* dreamscape
The Assassin: Nemesis
Chapter 6
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*
A whole week passed since the last chapter ended, and Ron had changed his mind about fighting, much to Tara's dismay. He knew he may die, but he also knew that it would be an honorable sacrifice. At the moment he was going under some of the training that Bonnie had been doing, except it was a little hurried. He and Nate were in the backyard, practicing with a broadsword; Nate told him to choose one, and he chose a large German sword, one of the largest Nate had.
"No, not like that," Nate said grabbing the sword from him. "It's a smooth motion. You look like you're chopping wood. I've explained to you that these people are not amateurs."
"Yeah, you've told me that ten times," Ron almost shouted.
"Actually, it's twelve times," the green-haired assassin said calmly. "I told you to pick something light, and quick. Instead, you grabbed a , one of the heaviest. Do you know what that sword was for?"
"Uh...no."
"It was for cutting down men on horseback, and required considerable strength for just that. Men trained their entire lives for just one moment to use it."
"And I suppose you trained some of them."
"Yes, actually. I wouldn't have it if I hadn't."
"But, you told me some of those swords were over ten-thousand years old."
"I have an old soul," he shrugged and reached around behind him, grasping the handle of a cutlass (a pirate sword), and unhooked it from his belt. "Try this one."
He handed the hilt to Ron, who gave it a small squeeze, as was instructed, and from the six inch handle extended a 24" curved blade. It shone brightly in the afternoon sun, and almost blinded Ron when he tilted it too far.
"Where'd you get this one, Black Beard?" Ron asked as a joke.
"No, that I salvaged from a sunken privateer. Give it a try."
Ron swung the sword in the motion Nate told him, in a figure eight, and he seemed to be much better off with the cutlass than with the massive . It was a classic scene of moving from large and bulky to small and graceful. He deftly cut, stabbed and sliced at the air with the sword as if he'd used it his whole life. Nate stood by giving him tips and pointers on the fighting style used with that kind of sword.
"Now, since it is shorter than the kind of sword you were expecting to use, you can't be afraid to get in close. Don't just use the blade, use your body too; throw a punch, kick 'em, duck under their weapon and ram into them. Do anything, and everything to win," he said while grabbing another cutlass. "Alright, let's see how far along you've come in the past hour."
"Right," Ron smirked and held his sword.
'He's getting cocky,' Nate thought as his face remained straight.
He yelled and charged at Ron, swinging his sword in recklessly wide arcs, smashing it harder and harder against Ron's blade. Ron kept having to step back every time Nate swung at him, never getting a chance to fight back. Finally, after backing up for a few minutes, he noticed Nate ease up and decided to go for it. Swinging the cutlass in a short, weak, arc, he tried the catch Nate in the side. But the half-god was prepared, and ducked under Ron's assault, ramming his shoulder into Ron's chest, sending him sprawling onto his back. Nate sheathed his sword and sighed, taking off the vest he had been wearing; it fell heavily to the ground.
"That vest weighs five hundred pounds, my boots weigh six hundred each, and this cutlass weighs three times as much as yours," he said calmly. "How did I beat you?"
"You have years of experience?" Ron panted.
"Good answer, not exactly the answer I was looking for, but good nonetheless," it was Nate's turn to smirk this time. "I beat you because I am stronger, faster, and much more skilled. For you to stand a chance in this fight, all you have to do is become strong enough to lift that weight."
He pointed to the vest.
"Are you serious?" the blonde boy asked. "Five hundred pounds?"
"Yes," he lifted it up and tossed it to him. "Now keep practicing, I need to be somewhere."
"Where?"
"A meeting, to set the time and place."
He whipped out the pike and traced a quick circle around himself in the ground. The ground began to glow green, and he promptly disappeared. When he was gone, Ron got up and grabbed the vest; it felt like regular fabric, but he couldn't get even one corner off the ground. After five minutes of trying, he let go and sat back on the ground. He was starting to think that this could all be a bad dream, a really bad, really long, dream. Even he knew that some dreams, even if they just last one night, could go for days in the dream.
"I might even be in a coma, and not know it," he looked down at his hands.
"But how would that explain this sudden onrush of knowledge you didn't have?" asked a feminine voice behind him.
Kim.
"Good point," he closed his eyes and thought back, back to when saving the world was simple.
Back to when he had been the humble distraction, Wade was the gadget guy, and Rufus was always there for additional support. He would have given almost anything for those carefree days, when the worst that could happen was a bad math grade. It wasn't bad at all, he would have had Tara, and Kim would still be saving the world from idiot supervillians. All that had changed the moment he had stepped onto Duff Killigan's island.
"Think about it Ron, if this was a dream, then I would have my Sammy, you wouldn't have Tara, and Bonnie would still be a spiteful bitch," she said sitting down next to him. "If this was a dream, would you ever want to wake up?"
Ron thought about it, really thought about it. Both sides of his brain stopped thinking of anything else, and concentrated entirely on his answer. It was a fair question for her to ask.
"No, I wouldn't," he said looking over at the house. "If it was you, would you want to wake up?"
"Are you kidding me, of course not. If I woke up and found that Shego didn't love me, I don't know what I'd do," she hugged her knees to her chest at the thought. "Where did Nate go?"
"I don't know, he said something about setting a place and time."
*****
On the top level of a parking garage in an undisclosed city (not Middleton), Nate appeared. At the other end of the garage, standing atop the concrete rail was Nox, her long hair fanning out in the wind, making it look like a cape. Held diagonally across her chest was the lance; the darkness of her left was gone, revealing a blue eye, a normal eye. A small smile graced her fair lips when he turned towards her.
"Well, didn't expect to see you," he said as he advanced across the rooftop parking area, "Natsu-chan."
Nox blushed and turned her eye away from him; it had been long time since she'd been called that. Like Chaos, she'd been turned to the "dark side", but in a different way. She had been killed, and brought back to life as a half-demon, which explains the "demon's eye".
"It's been two years and you haven't forgotten?" she asked looking back at him. Feeling somewhat foolish, she retracted her staff and tucked it into her hair.
"Two years isn't that long," he sat on the hood of a car, what kind of car is up to you, "though, to tell the truth, it was hard to recognize you without your school uniform."
"You liked that, huh?"
"So, how did you come to be under Chaos' command?" Nate asked quickly changing the subject.
"Ha, like I could possibly follow such a narrow-minded person. The council members just put me there to keep an eye on him," she closed one eye, and opened the other, then switched back.
Nate laughed a little at the pun, while watching her walk to the car opposite his. She slowly sat on it and jumped slightly when she sat on the hood ornament, the car was a Jaguar, 'nuff said. Nate chuckled lightly as he watched her adjust herself to a comfortable position. Just being in this situation had brought back some memories he had kept very dear to him. Nox, aka Natsumi Arika, aka Natsu-Chan, had been one of Nate's friends when he had been in Japan, well, maybe a little more than a friend.
"Why do you allow them to control you like this?" he asked calmly looking a little to the left of her, as she was trying to catch his eye.
"Yes, but because they resurrected me, and placed this damn demon's eye in my head, I have to do what they say, or else..."
"Pain?"
"Exactly."
He sighed seeing a similar bond to that of his brother's, except that for her it was permanent. There were ways to save her soul, to drive out the demon that had possessed her. Course, she would die, again. But he couldn't tell her here, not with that eye of hers transmitting everything that was going on back to the council.
"Alright, where are we making the exchange?"
"You never answered my question," she said as her hair shortened to be mid- back length, and her clothes changed to the usual Japanese schoolgirl uniform. "You like this look?"
"Well," he started, still not looking directly at her mind you, and then mumbled, "there's nothing not to like."
She heard him and smiled a little wider, he had always been like this around her.
"You really care for her, don't you?" she said getting up and turning around. "Like you used to care for me?"
"Yes," he kept his eyes averted while he thought.
"Well then don't worry, Aeris already told you that she hasn't been harmed."
"I have to know where and when," he stood up and stepped over to her. "So where does Quetzalcoatl have in mind?"
"A week from now, where exchanges are usually made," she said getting ready to leave. "Whatever that means."
"I know what it means," he sighed when he thought of that place, having not been there in centuries, he was weary of revisiting it (where is it? You'll just have to wait and see...or read, I'm not sure out that works exacltly).
*****
Quetzalcoatl stood on a cliff, looking out over a mountain range (not telling which one). Behind him stood Bonnie, wrapped in a blanket, against the cold wind that whipped around them. He smiled slightly at the thought of his plan finally coming to its focal point. He would take the pike, kill his brother's vessel, and send Kukulkan's soul to the abyss. Then he would use that pet of his brother's and kill the council, taking the planet for himself.
"I love it when I win," he chuckled. "And I have you to thank."
He had said that to Bonnie, who wince ever so slightly, revealing that part of her was left behind. Quetzalcoatl had not seen it; since he had his back to her, but the feel of guilt from her made shivers of pleasure go down his spine.
"Did you know he was once in love with Aeris?" he asked in a nonchalant tone. Her silent reaction told him more than he needed, but it was enough. "Oh yes, Nox too, and that wasn't too long ago. I wouldn't be surprised if he still was."
"If who's what?" came Aeris' voice from above them. Quetzalcoatl was silent, which was just fine for her. "Well, I've taken care of that little errand you asked me to do."
"Good, now take her inside," he nodded to the shivering girl.
"Cold?" she asked with a questioning look to accompany the tone.
"Not entirely."
Without another word Aeris placed her hand on Bonnie's shoulder and led her back inside the cave. Once inside, away from the wind and snow, it was substantially warmer. Bonnie's shivers lessened a little, but the guilt remained, and that kept the slight tremors running through her. Aeris wasn't sure exactly what the god she'd left out in the cold meant, so she just attributed the shivers to the cold.
"Come on, how's about a soak in the hot springs?" she suggested and led her down a side tunnel. "That ought to warm you up."
When they reached the room, Nox was there, and, having just appeared, was still in her uniform. Aeris raised an eyebrow at her, then cast a sidelong glance at Bonnie, who didn't seem to notice the slight blush on Nox's cheeks. Before they disrobed, the jet-black demoness stopped them, looking around. After a few minutes she nodded.
"Okay, Shadow's not here," she said.
*****
Days passed, and Ron's training had been coming along faster than Nate had speculated. Perhaps what he said about Tara being in danger spurred the boy to do better. Already he had lifted the weighted vest, and was training while wearing it. It slowed down his movements quite a bit, but he just continued to improve. The cutlass had become his favorite weapon, but Nate still insisted on marksman training.
"No, you're too far forward, don't square your shoulders as much," he said casually as he walked around Ron. "That's it, now one eye open, line up the sight, and fire."
The bullet missed the mark completely, but still hit the target. Nate took the Beretta from Ron and held it in front of him with one hand, as opposed to Ron's two.
"Like this."
The three shots he fired were off so fast that the almost sounded like one shot. Looking at the target, Ron saw that all three shots had hit dead center, in exactly the same spot. The first bullet made the initial hole, then the other two went right through the same hole.
"See."
"How could I, you moved too fast."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Hm, well, I guess it'll give you something to shoot for," he suggested and handed the gun back. "Now, try again."
"Right."
Nate sat on the grass with his legs crossed, watching Ron's efforts slowly improve. He knew this boy only going to get better. He also knew that his plan to overcharge the pike was useless; after testing it out, the pike simply took the power right in without any trouble. Now his only weapon against the pike was Molotoch, and that was really more than he needed. The Ancients had really outdone themselves when they forged it.
He mentally sighed, 'I've got to stop playing around; sure it's fun, but I'm letting things go too far.'
The plan needed to be revamped a little. Nate had realized something about the weapons that were held by the gods. One god could challenge another for his/her weapon, and to the winner went said weapon. His had been ordained to him since his birth, but not granted to him till it was needed. Quetzalcoatl was given no such weapon, and thus had coveted his brother's.
Reaching to the side he grasped the handle of the sheathed Molotoch, gripping it tightly. Though it was steel, it was warm to the touch, and that warmth spread from the handle up his arm; it was quite soothing, really. He yawned a little as the warmth relaxed his tense muscles, eyelids began drooping little by little. Ten seconds later he was asleep.
"Nate?"
"Huh, what?" he opened his eyes and saw Ron over by the door with Tara.
"I'm headin' home now, I think I've practiced enough."
"Yeah...yeah, sure, go ahead," he still felt groggy. 'How long was I out?'
Sighing, he stood, walking slowly towards the door, Molotoch resting on his shoulder. It was strange to him that he didn't dream, he always had dreams about something or other. Usually what he dreamt came to pass, but this time it was just blank.
"Could it mean the Earth has no future?" he wondered aloud as he entered.
"Quite the collection you got here."
He looked up and saw Monique stepping through the door, looking at the weaponry.
"What are you, preparing for war?"
"Something like that," he said placing Molotoch on its stand. "Kim's upstairs."
"That's not why I'm here."
"Then why?" he sat on the couch.
"I was wondering where Bonnie's been."
He turned away from her for a moment, wondering how to explain something like that. Monique didn't know what the others knew, she didn't even know he was an assassin. At the moment he had two choices, kill her and get over with, or lie to her. He chose the second one.
"She's been out of town."
"Oh, visiting?"
"Yeah."
She looked around during the prolonged silence that enveloped them, an awkward silence.
"Well...I guess I will go see Kim."
"Like I said, she's upstairs."
*****
Finally the day had arrived. Nate stood in the backyard, waiting for the others to arrive. He wasn't wearing his usual black pants and green tank, this time he was wearing something like what Darth Maul wore in Star Wars: Episode one (I'm not exactly sure how to describe it). Leave it to Shego and Kim to choose this morning to sleep in. Ron, at least, had an excuse, he lived across town. His arms crossed over his chest and he sighed for the fourth time.
"Why do I even bother?" he asked himself while his eyes closed, getting ready to leave.
"WAIT!" his eyes opened and he saw Kim and Shego come through the door, the latter with the two shotels strapped to her back.
"Took you two long enough."
"Long night," Kim said.
"I'm sure."
"Where's Ron, not here yet?"
"See him anywhere?" Nate asked, irritated that she would ask such a stupid question.
Ron chose to arrive at that moment, with Tara following him. Nate cocked an eyebrow, why would he bring her, he thought. The time for the exchange was fast approaching, so there was no time to think about it. But he still felt compelled to ask.
"Ron, why did you bring her?" he asked.
"Well, I figured she could look after Bonnie," he said.
"Bonnie can look after herself," he growled then consented. "There's no time."
His wings didn't spread this time; all that happened was a blinding flash of light and the feeling of being ripped apart limb by limb. This feeling wasn't all that far from the truth as molecule by molecule their bodies were dispersing. When the light faded, the backyard was empty, just five pairs of footprints were burnt into the ground.
*****
Quetzalcoatl leaned against a withered and dying tree, the branches reaching to the sky like spindly hands trying to tear it down. Across from him was Chaos, who, instead of leaning against the tree, was taking time to hack away at the trunk. He was getting frustrated, usually he could slice a tree in two with ease, but these trunks were harder than stone, and they were dead.
"I do hope you won't waste too much energy doing that," the god said with a yawn but the assassin didn't listen. "Pathetic."
"What was that?" Chaos asked through gritted teeth, turning feral eyes on him.
"Watch and learn," his forearm became long and thing, hand become three- fingered as white scales and gold claws formed. With one mighty slash the tree disintegrated, becoming little more than dust in the wind. "See?"
"From what I've seen of Nate, either of us could easily kill him."
"You didn't read the information Aeris gave you, did you?"
"No, what's the point of reading something that big."
Quetzalcoatl sighed, he knew Chaos wouldn't have read it, even though it could have helped him. It didn't matter anyway, this one would never die, no matter what happened to him. This vexed the god to no end, how could anyone but a god be immortal. But he had come to the conclusion that Chaos was not truly immortal. Immortal people do not spend time in limbo to get their strength back, immortal people do not die at all; immortal people could be sliced into a thousand different pieces and still not die, if it was not for the healing ability.
"Chaos, how is it that you can die, and come back to life?"
"Like I would tell you."
"I see, you don't know either."
"Of course I know, I just choose not to tell anyone."
"No, you don't, I've looked into your thoughts, the information is not there," Quetzalcoatl turned to look up the path when he heard footsteps. Sure enough, there were the three girls, all of them looking especially clean. "What took you?"
"We wanted to get her extra clean," Nox said flipping her long mane of hair over her shoulder.
"I doubt he would care how clean she is."
"I'll bet you wouldn't say that about the pike," Aeris scoffed.
"Because the pike is a weapon, not a woman."
They would have argued more, but a blinding light had just appeared at the top of a large Mayan style pyramid at the end of the path. Four people seemed to materialize out of nothing, all of them screaming and flailing in pain, a fifth appeared, but he didn't seem to be affected as the others (I got this form of teleporting from the movie "The One" with Jet Li, sweet movie).
"Ah, their here," Quetzalcoatl grinned and spread his wings.
"Finally, time for some payback," Chaos sheathed his sword and proceeded up the path.
'Aeris, we're going to have to be careful here,' Nox thought to her jet black companion.
'I know, if we're to keep our promises, we've got to do everything perfectly,' she thought back. "Come along young one."
Bonnie's bleak expression seemed to brighten a little when she saw Nate, but only slightly. As she was told she followed Aeris and Nox to the pyramid.
TBC
There, it's finally done, next chapter just might be the last one, unless you want me to continue. I know that I haven't been updating much, it's just that 1) I don't have the time to type 2) I hate clichés, even if it's my story 3) I could use more reviews and 4) I need more ideas. I know you people have great ideas for how my story can end, you just don't want to insult me by voicing them. Well you should care less about my feelings, if you have an idea, tell me. If you're afraid of me rejecting your idea, I'm prepared to write several alternate endings to accommodate you. Well, this is me telling you to send your ideas, late.