A/N: Sorry for the wait, guys! Shaera had a whole bunch of studying and final tests to do for her schooling, so we took a bit of a break from this ^^; But what's DGM without hiatuses? *shot*
Anyway, we're back now! Prepare yourselves cuz we're in da home streeeeeeetch! :D
White Demon, Red Scribe, Black Nightmare
A D Gray-Man and Assassin's Creed Revelations Crossover
The redhead was more glad for the cooperation than he could voice, though he was sure it partially had to do with Allen's surprise and uncertainty. That, though, had been somewhat of the point. The cloud of smoke was thick, he could barely make out Allen's form through it, and was going more by brail now than sight, but he had to move fast, because it wouldn't last long.
He swiped a vial out of one of his pouches and uncorked it, figuring out where Allen's chest and neck were by touch, where he poured out the liquid contents.
"This is chicken blood. No matter what happens in the next few minutes, stay down," he ordered, getting out the Apple lookalike bomb from one of Allen's pouches. "As soon as I get the replica into that bastard's hands and it goes off, you can move again, but not a second before that. Understood?"
Allen nodded mutely, fighting the urge to gag and squirm as he felt the blood tickle down his neck. He heard Kanda's mildly confused shout in the distance which made him think about just how this is going to work out for them but not Lavi in particular. Kanda will see the exact same thing as Apollo and that would not quite work in the bookman's favour.
His eyes widened as he stared at Lavi, choking out Kanda's name and hoping that the man would understand what he meant.
Lavi stepped back out as the smoke was clearing, Allen still laying on the ground with blood now coating the front of him. He held the Apple in one hand, loosely gripping his spear in the other, since that was all he could manage with how it panged from his and Allen's earlier clashing weapons.
He made straight towards Apollo, but, not unexpectedly, Kanda had no intentions of letting him get past. Even less so after he sighted Allen's condition and roared in outrage, turning his sights from Apollo to the redhead instead.
Lavi was lament to say he was a little less prepared for the swordsman than originally planned, with his arm messed up, and he danced away to the side of Kanda's swing after his weapon was parried off to the side to leave him open.
He spared a glance towards Apollo, briefly calculating, and chucked the artifact towards the man. He heard Kanda's angry curse, but the swordsman didn't waver in his attack to go after it.
That one second of distraction was all that was needed. Lavi saw the movement in his peripheral vision and quickly turned back to his fight, but he was a second slower and that was all it took as he inhaled sharply in reflexive preparation. The pain wasn't the first to hit, it was more like a punch of cold steel to - through - him, a startling contrast to the heat of his body.
With his free hand he gripped Kanda's shoulder tightly to steady himself and keep the man from immediately pulling away as his nerves started to register the cut of the blade, grimacing. Even with only just now beginning to feel the pain, it was enough to steal his breath.
"There's… no doubt, Yuu… you're definitely… not someone to be messed with… with those sword skills of yours," he wheezed. Kanda breathed out, and twisted the sword ever so slightly, watching in morbid satisfaction as Lavi´s face twisted in pain. The redhead grunted as he felt the weapon shift in the wound to his abdomen, nearly causing him to double over while a dark spot of crimson started to spread through the fabric of his shirt. "But… I can't help but wonder… how good your aim with a gun is…"
The redhead flashed a pained smile at the swordsman as he heard Apollo bark out surprise and dismay when the Apple refused to light up and work for him.
"As I re-… -call… you're still owed p-payback… for that nasty explosion back… at the warehouse…"
"What is this?!" Apollo cried out, clawing at the artifact. "This is not the-" His words were drowned out by the sound of gunshot that was immediately followed by an explosion, leaving the fake Templar priest lying on the ground veiled by black smoke.
"You-!" Kanda didn't have the chance to finish his sentence as he heard Allen call his and the rabbit's names, saw him scramble to his feet and jog towards them, immediately catching Lavi as the man's knees buckled. The swordsman stared at his bloodied face and clothes, stunned into speechlessness. "What...?"
"Oh my God! Lavi! Are you alright? Help me with him!" Allen scolded when Kanda didn't move. They eased the redhead on the ground and on his side, careful enough not to move the sword.
The slight, pained chuckle Lavi gave died into a grimace, not refusing Allen's care to lower him down. "Yeah... 'm fine, it's not as bad as it could be," he tried to reassure. He smirked slightly at the baffled face Kanda was giving him, offering up hoarsely, "It's jus' chicken blood on 'im, Yuu. Not that there's a way to tell, at a distance..."
"Oh my," Allen sighed in panic, his hands hovering over Kanda's sword, "I-I... am really pleasantly surprised that you are still in one piece - Kanda, just why would you! How do we treat this now?!"
"Just don't-... hell, I don't know!" the swordsman argued, throwing his arms in the air. His voice was also slightly on the edge, but he did everything to stay as calm as possible. "I don't treat the people I stab!"
"You are not helpful at all!"
"The... large bag... on my belt," Lavi wheezed, skipping past his usual joking, saving his energy for telling them what they needed to do. "There're rags. If you wrap 'em 'round the blade... and put pressure on the wound when you draw it out... it should stem... some of the bleeding. Normally I'd advise against removing it 'til there's a doctor, but..." He paused, gaze sliding to Kanda. "Yuu might need his sword... for the next few minutes, t' finally end that bastard."
"Finish wh-" and just as Allen was about to voice the question, Lavi shoved him to the side just in time as a dagger flew by. The whitehead grabbed his sword and was back on his feet, facing the staggering and really pissed off Templar with a frown on his face.
"I'll be right there," Kanda said as he hastily rummaged through Lavi's bag and started wrapping the blade.
"You'll regret this!" Apollo yelled as he unsheathed his own sword.
"Just don't let him get away again," Lavi told the other man with as much mirth as he could muster, given the circumstance, clenching his teeth against the pain when Kanda started to pull the blade out. " 'gonna be sorely pissed if you do."
"Worry about staying alive, I will deal with this," Allen said as he grabbed his sword, dragging it menacingly behind him as he stalked towards the traitor, "time to pay for your crimes."
Kanda was rooted on the spot by Lavi, and it was probably the first time the redhead saw him so... unsure. He looked rather torn between staying and joining Allen's side but after a silent curse under his breath, he went back to treating the wound. "You had it coming," he commented silently.
Lavi huffed slight laughter. "That's harsh, Yuu. Y'know I could've really turned traitor on ya if I wanted."
"Oh, really," Kanda paused and his eyes flickered towards Allen, "and why is that?"
"Because Bookmen only take whatever side benefits them at the time. Y'should already know that much," he tossed, grimacing. "Anyway, you should probably go and help Allen. Wounded or not, Apollo is still dangerous. You might not get another chance like this one. You can worry 'bout me once you're certain he's good and dead."
Kanda smirked as he patted his shoulder. "Good answer, ginger. Don't die!" he said and finally pulled the sword free, sprinting off just in time to see Apollo block Allen's first slash. The ground beneath their feet was freckled with blood and the smell of burnt flesh was hanging in the air like a plague.
They fought only to kill, hacking and slashing to inflict as much damage as possible. They were all tired and wounded, barely keeping up, but how Apollo could still fight like this - with his side charred and bleeding - Kanda had no idea. He was like a demon - fighting almost tirelessly, as if the fire had set his madness free.
But he was not the only demon on the field.
Kanda noticed it the moment Neah's name fell from the templar's mouth - Allen was filled with rage, and that was never a good sign. He fought recklessly then, ignoring defense to maximize offence, taking hits in order to gain a split of a second of advantage.
It was as if the rage made their bodies numb to the pain.
"He whined like a dog before he died!" Apollo taunted, his voice hoarse.
He only saw Allen in the battle and Kanda tried to use that. He edged towards his flank and attacked from there, but the bastard saw him and a second later, Kanda traded a dagger in his thigh for a shallow slash on that madman's side. He fell on his knee, trying to wiggle the blade out as he narrowly dodged Apollo's other blade. Allen was in front of him in a second and pushed the man away, giving Kanda a few seconds to collect himself.
"Cried your name as I skinned his body!" Apollo yelled, laughing maniacally.
Allen was losing his mind with every taunt the bastard spat out. The battle had to end quickly, Kanda thought as he threw the dagger out of reach.
He charged again only to have his attacked parried again. He cursed when he was forced to sidestep and his leg screamed in protest. They needed a distraction. Another one, no matter how little. Allen couldn't keep up anymore, he could see it - his movements were slower and the dusty ground under him was black from dried blood.
Kanda frantically looked around. Their assassins were too busy keeping Apollo's henchmen away in the streets, the graveyard was empty and-
He grinned when he spotted him, struggling to keep himself straight as he held his hand on the wound to his abdomen. He would have laughed if the situation wasn't so dire. Can't do anything on your own? It was painted all over his face.
They both waited for Allen to force Apollo to make an opening - preferably one that would leave the whitehead standing somewhere where he wouldn't be hit if something went wrong. Kanda tried to maneuver the two into the right position.
The fight dragged on for few more minutes. Kanda stumbled to the side after a well-aimed kick from the templar and found himself unable to stand up again. His thigh was cramped and refused to budge. Apollo managed to beat Allen to his knees and in the drunkness of the vision of his victory, he finally turned his back.
"I am going to skin you, too, you little whore!"
"Fuck you!" the whitehead cursed and struggled to get back on his feet. Apollo didn't give him the chance.
"Or I can do that t- aargh!" He didn't get to finish the sentence thanks to the dagger-end of Lavi's spear that was now stuck in his burnt shoulder.
Kanda didn't waste any more time and sprung forward with a pained cry, thrusting his slender blade roughly between the bastard's fourth and fifth rib, cruelly twisting it to keep the man in place.
Allen spat on the ground and clumsily got to his feet, almost falling over if it wasn't for his sword. He watched Apollo twitch and gasp for air with morbid satisfaction as he readjusted his grip on his greatsword. He waited for a little bit longer, letting the templar suffer as much as possible before beheading the man with a strangled cry.
He dropped the sword and let out a deep sigh.
Four bodies fell on the ground then. One twitching with post-mortem spasms, and three with relieved, pained laughter.
"About damn time," Lavi wheezed, being the first to melt from laughter into coughing, resisting the acute urge to curl in on himself. His head was swimming from the blood loss, but a glance at the other two with his half-lidded eye told him they weren't much better off, if only in different ways. " 'hate to be the one to ruin the atmosphere, but y'know... one of us is gonna... have to find a doctor..."
Allen managed a choked laugh before turning on his side to inspect the battlefield. He looked for Apollo's head, finding it a few meters to his left, it's eyes blankly staring back at him. He couldn't help but smile. It was finally over.
Lavi was crumpled further away but Allen could not make himself stand up no matter how hard he tried. Kanda was the closest. He was on his back with his arms stretched out, letting out deep relieved breaths. It seemed as if he was murmuring something silently to himself, and Allen could almost swear he heard a meek little "amen" in the end.
He crawled towards him and laid his head on the man's bicep, curling along his body like a cat. "I didn't know you knew how to pray," he teased.
"Shut up, I wasn't praying," Kanda grunted half-heartedly, and Allen could see a small smile trying to overtake the scowl on his face.
The whitehead wanted to continue but a very familiar, and not to mention frightening, scoff interrupted him, making him shudder.
"That took you a while! Though I didn't think you would end it like this."
"You!" Allen growled, attempting to get to his feet, only in vain. "What the hell?!"
"That is not how you greet your favorite and most beloved godfather, brat!"
Allen bristled but Kanda's hand on his shoulder made him stay in place. "You're my only godfather, Cross!"
"Are you alright, Yuu?" Tiedoll interrupted before any further verbal attacks could have been made.
"Oh no!" Kanda groaned, slapping his forehead.
"Let's get you kids to the den now," Cross said as he went past them to see to Lavi, gently kicking Allen's behind. "So sloppy."
The whitehead growled in reply and let himself get inspected by Tiedoll.
"You've made quite a mess," the veteran assassin commented when he kneeled next to Lavi and started to poke around his wound, "but I have to admit - impressive act you have put on there, kid. You had me pointing my gun at your head for a while," he smirked.
Lavi blinked, for a moment wondering if he was seeing what he was seeing or if the blood loss was getting to him that badly. He settled on reality rather than delusion.
" 'guess its a good thing for me you didn't shoot then," he huffed, cracking the faintest smirk. "Because my plan only really accounted for Yuu over there possibly tryin' to kill me."
"He got you good," Cross shook his head theatrically, lighting a cigarette as he sat down and squinted at the cut, "but not good enough. One might think he didn't really want to kill you, Junior," he added, wiping the blood off the bookman's side.
"I always knew Yuu had a soft side somewhere past all that tough exterior," Lavi managed to tease with a hoarse laugh, just loud enough to be absolutely sure Kanda could hear it and casting a glance to the side at the black-haired man. "And I ain't no Junior anymore, old man."
Cross barked a short laugh before sighing, "ah, Junior, I wouldn't call it a soft side. I would say he wanted to make you suffer before you bleed to death," he said before forcing a horribly fake laugh.
Well, he certainly knew how to cheer a man up.
"You're gonna live, right? He wouldn't be happy if you kicked the bucket now," the tall redhead said before shouting to someone behind him to get something to carry the injured. "Oh, and I met your old man," he said, smirking, "he is very displeased with you."
Well wasn't that just wonderful news?
Cross walked off then, shouting at his charge how stupid and careless he was, but everyone could hear the pleased and relieved tone that was hiding underneath the harsh scolding.
The last thing Lavi remembered were Cross´ disgusted noises - probably because Allen and Kanda decided that it was a perfect time to make out.