Title:Hunters versus Rebellion

Author:superhackaninja5

Rating:T

Summary:see chapter one

Disclaimer:I do not own GX or any of the anime characters or animes themselves. I own any characters you don't recognize and most of the settings and the idea of the four worlds.


Chapter 2:Deadly Secrets

I just want to end it all

Dead and alone When did things get this bad?
Was it when I plummeted off that cliff?
Was it when I started failing at my only skill?
Or was it when I became too dependent on winning?

There's nothing left for me here Fighting for the universe just doesn't seem right When I can't even fight for myself

I just want to end it all

Feel my life end Be free from the pain I've fallen so hard I can't get up Now I just want to end it all

I just want to end it all

My world has been slowly falling apart I'm falling to pieces I've been shattered by the person I used to be I used to not care But then, Fate gave me something to care about

I've always had to be strong Always had to be the one who knew it all Always had to be the tough one But life isn't always that way and now

I just want to end it all

Feel this pain vanish Know I'm free from my mistakes I've started my own judgement I won't get up again I just want to end it all

I just want to end it all

Life or death

Hate or love

Strength or weakness

What choices have I made?

I just want to end it all

I want to feel it all end

There's nothing left for me here

No love, no approval, no friendship, no sympathy

If I end my life, I'll end the pain

End the tears, end the need for lies

Pick up the knife

And watch it fall As the last thing I'll ever see

Feel my life end

Be free from the pain

I've never fallen so hard before I can't get up now

I just want to end it all

I just want to end it all

Breathing hard, his emerald fire eyes were focused on the heart beat all the faster, as if it knew its possessor was going to halt its beating very soon.

It didn't matter to him, he had nothing left to live for.

His confidence, his security and above all,his friends and brother had abandoned him.

From behind his curtains of dark blue hair, Zane shut his eyes to endure the oncoming pain and then...the phone rang."Zane?"his brother's voice cried,"Zane, are you there?"

Zane lifted the receiver to his ear.

"I'm here, Syrus,"he said, sounding tired beyond his years.

"We heard about the underground duel. Come back to the Academy, please,"Syrus pleaded, though there was definitely a suspicious undertone to his plea.

Though Syrus couldn't see him, Zane nodded in agreement slowly. "I'll come on the first ferry tomorrow, Sy, promise,"he conceded and he put the phone down and sighed heavily.

Something would have to change now.

He looked down at his pale, scarred wrists. He had gotten himself into this mess, now he'd have to rely on himself to get out of it.

Turning away from the phone, he began to pack his things. Last was to retrieve his dark knee-coat from the surface of his hotel bed.
He replaced it over his black skintight turtleneck and let out another sigh.

It was going to be another long night.

Without another sound, Zane collapsed on top of the bed, fully dressed and fell asleep.

The first thing that met his eyes when he woke up was the blinding sunlight, streaming in through the curtains of his windows, forcing him to squint as he rose from under the covers. Today was the day he would have to face his brother.

Zane could just imagine his reaction when he told him he'd tried to take his own life.


"So you're here again,"Draco said simply, folding his arms across his chest.

Tara didn't flinch.

"You need to make your decision, Draco,"she intoned and then she added, as if on a whim,"Come with me."She walked over to a window at the far end of the kitchen.

Draco looked unperturbed.

"You can't Apparate or Disapparate while on the Hogwarts grounds,""Who said anything about Apparating?"Tara countered slyly, her brown eyes showing some emotion for once.

He joined her in front of the window and allowed her to grip his arm like a vice. Then before his eyes, Tara morphed into a cloud of smoke and in a matter of seconds, they were travelling through the air at rocket speed.

When they finally stopped, it was in front of a large, fortress-like castle, shrouded in complete darkness.

"Whoa, what is this place?"Draco questioned, awestruck. "This is our temporary station within the wizarding world. Once you make your decision, we're relocating to the Duel Monsters world to recruit some from there,"Tara answered nonchalantly. "Damn,"Draco muttered expressively.

Tara suppressed a chuckle and led him wordlessly inside.

"Tara,"a smooth voice greeted them the instant they crossed through the stone doors. "I've brought the first Wizarding Hunter," Tara replied, not bothering to greet the person in return.

A man stepped into the light.

His light brown hair fell into curtains over his stormy blue eyes, giving the accurate impression of anti-socialization. The way his black collared shirt stretched over the front of his torso gave the impression of total, dominant strength over peers.

"I think I see that,"he commented dryly, his eyes performing the merest of flickers towards Draco's pale did his best not to flinch away from this man's piercing gaze.

"I need you to take him on a small trip to coerce him into making his decision to join or not, Sian,"Tara explained calmly, staring into his eyes.

Sian was about to answer when another, colder, unfamiliar voice replied instead. "I'll take him,"

This voice was very different from Sian's. While his was calm and reassuring, this man's voice was harsh and cold.

Tara stared oddly at the doorway and Draco found she was staring at the source of this inhumanly cold voice.

He was standing, no, leaning against the door frame, hands deep in the pockets of his pitch black cloak, eyelids closed so it was impossible to tell what colour his eyes were behind them. The red cloud patterns across his cloak stood out against the midnight black that dominated the rest of his outfit. His black hair was tied back and tucked into his collar, but Draco could tell it was probably unnaturally long. Pastel purple strapped sandals were attached to his black cutoffs, showing his toes, the nails painted blood-red like his fingernails.

"Itachi,"Tara warned, glaring at him disapprovingly.

Itachi opened his eyes, revealing insipid blood-red irises somewhat dominated by black comma-like marks arranged in circular formation at the center and said abruptly, ignoring Tara, "Let's go, Malfoy."

Draco was much too nervous to ask how this frosty stranger knew his name and simply walked in uncomfortable silence to his place in the doorway.

"Tell Sasuke where I am, if he asks,"Itachi told Tara firmly and he grabbed Draco's arm and they were off.

What met Draco's line of sight when they stopped was a scene of utter devastation. A mass of bodies lay before his feet, all bearing the signs of a rather violent death.

With a jolt, Draco recognized one of the faces of the mangled bodies and rushed over to the body in terror. "Hey, I know her!"he exclaimed in shock, "She disappeared from Hogwarts not two weeks ago!"

Itachi nodded grimly, "These are the casualties of the Rebellion's latest slaughter. They were innocent people who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time,"

"How can they stand this?"Draco wondered in a low, fierce voice.

Itachi snapped at his clear ignorance and spat,"You want to know why I joined the Hunters, Malfoy?It was because of one thing and one thing only:my family. I couldn't stand to have the people I love die, knowing I could've done something about it, knowing I could've prevented it from happening. But I let it happen anyways. The question now is could you?"

With those ominous words, Itachi sent him spiralling back to Hogwarts alone, too angry to look at his face anymore.


Zane stepped carefully off of the ferry, bag in hand and spotted Syrus, Bastion, Alexis, Atticus and Jaden all queued up on the dock, waiting for him.

Atticus saw him first and they all came running over instantly.

Zane didn't move; he simply stared blankly at them until Syrus came barreling towards him, out of breath.

"How are you, Zane?"he asked, scrutinizing Zane suspiciously the moment he laid eyes on him. "I'm not too sure, to be quite honest, Sy,"Zane confessed, looking down almost in shame.

"Get some rest," Jaden suggested," you look like you haven't slept in years." Zane gave an ironic chuckle,"You'd be surprised just how accurate that theory may be,"

Luckily, Jaden didn't appear to have heard this remark and Zane followed him and the others back to the Slifer Red dormitory in thoughtful silence.

When they were all settled in the conversation pit in Chazz's dorm, Syrus broached the question that everyone was dying to ask.

"What happened?"he said simply with genuine concern.

Zane hesitated slightly,"I don't really know. Something just...went wrong, I guess,"

"Like what?What went wrong to make you go down like that?"Chazz, a tall man with with midnight eyes and black hair that defied gravity, demanded harshly.

There was a loud thump and a groan because Jaden punched Chazz in the arm.

"Shut up, Chazz,"Jaden advised sharply, glaring at him. Chazz rubbed his arm, rolling his eyes at Jaden. "Go on, Zane,"Syrus prompted, ignoring Jaden and Chazz.

Zane cleared his throat and continued.

"I just didn't know what to do,"he confessed, "I'd never had experience battling things like what Aster threw at me in our duel(Aster looked pointedly away) and I guess I was too desperate to win. I fell to pieces. Those ten losses I endured after only prolonged the downward spiral I was doomed to head for. I was severely diminished when Shroud came along. The things he said to get me into the underground arena were all too tempting. I reneged on my promise to myself. I let my desperation get the better of me. I agreed to an underground duel. But when it came down to giving into my anger or losing the duel, I gave up."

He deliberately left out the part about him attempting to commit suicide. That wouldnt've gone over very well at the moment. The situation was already much too fragile as it was.

"Damn,"Jaden exclaimed aloud, no doubt voicing what everyone else was thinking of Zane's story.

Syrus frowned. He had the feeling that the story was incomplete. There was definitely something Zane was still not telling them.

"So what do you plan to do while you're here?"Atticus asked. Zane shrugged his shoulders noncommittally,"Take a break, I guess," That break would be very short-lived.

"You can stay with me, Zane,"Syrus offered, though it wasn't out of generosity. He wanted to find out what Zane was keeping from them. It seemed important, crucial, even.

"Thanks, Sy," Zane thanked him gratefully, too tired to suspect Syrus of any ulterior motives other than simply being kind.

He got up and followed Syrus to his dormitory, lost in his thoughts.

Chazz made a thoughtful noise, "Is it just me or does anyone else think that Zane's not being himself?"

"He isn't himself, Chazz. This is what comes from rising to the top;a devastating tumble,"Jaden said grimly. "Well, getting all depressed is hardly going to help anything,"Chazz observed, "I mean, it was just a couple duels."

Both Jaden and Aster shook their heads.

"It was much more than just losing a couple of duels,"Jaden declared raised an eyebrow."What do you mean by that?"he wondered, confused.

Jaden looked at Aster, who nodded for him to continue. "What you have to understand, Chazz, is that dueling and winning was Zane's life. I don't think he ever lost before Aster,"he began and Aster had the inclination to look guilty,"And after that, well, he just couldn't keep his mind off of the fear of further failures. That's what he viewed losing as;nothing short of failure,"

Chazz scoffed,"Well, that's ridiculous,"

Aster pierced him with an icy stare.

"Is it?Is it really?Tell me, Chazz, don't you do the same thing everytime you've lost in the past?"he questioned fiercely, his blue eyes like chips of ice now.

"That's just it,I haven't lost any duels that I haven't permanently blocked out of my mind,"Chazz replied cockily, though with a faint grimace.

Aster rolled his eyes exasperatedly. "Well, try to remember, then,"he drawled sarcastically.

Chazz threw him a scathing look before answering,"The only duel I've lost recently that I haven't completely forgotten is my latest duel against you and that wasn't technically a loss, it was a draw."

Again, Aster rolled his eyes. "Don't be stubborn, Chazz, you lost and you know it,"

Chazz looked scandalized. "But I didn't!"he exclaimed,"you're rewriting history!It was a bloody draw!" "It was not a draw,"Aster said fiercely, enunciating every word as though it were a complete sentence.

Chazz huffed. "Fine, I surrender. I lost one duel three weeks ago,"he surrendered, defeated. "And I heard you berating yourself afterwards, so don't try and deny that, either,"Aster said strongly. "Whatever,"Chazz retorted disdainfully."That's what I thought," Aster said, satisfied.

"But what I still don't get is why he got coerced into underground dueling at all. I mean, sure he had basically hit rock bottom, but underground dueling is about as low as you can get. All the duelists down there are crazy sadists,"Chazz stated, "he should know that." Aster sighed. "He does know that, he just got desperate, didn't you listen?" Chazz rolled his eyes. "I did listen, for your information, Phoenix and it still strikes me as odd that-" "OKAY!"Atticus interrupted loudly, "ENOUGH ALREADY!" Both Aster and Chazz looked at him in amazement. They'd never heard Atticus yell at anyone like that before.

"Just shut up a minute so I can think, you imbeciles," the last two words were muttered and Atticus shook his head disapprovingly. "How about we wait for Zane to clear this up when he's ready?"he suggested huffily and he got up and left.

Chazz's eyebrows went so far up, they were in danger of disappearing into his hair.


Draco landed with a loud slam in his bedroom, where Naomi was waiting for him with her arms crossed.

"Where have you been?"she asked, trying hard to keep her voice even.

"I was out with...someone,"Draco answered evasively, taking a deep breath to shake off the shock he'd experienced from seeing Anna's decomposing figure outside of Hogwarts. "Who?" Naomi quipped curiously.

Draco had to refrain from rolling his eyes. "It's nothing important, Naomi,"he assured her, "can't you just drop it?" "If it's so unimportant, you should be able to tell me,"Naomi reasoned. "It isn't necessary,"Draco tried again unconvincingly.

"Goddamn it, Draco, just tell me before I hex you into next year," Naomi threatened warningly, drawing her wand on him.

Draco eyed her wand apprehensively for a moment, then drew his own with some pretension. "I didn't want to have to resort to this," he admitted, "but desperate times call for desperate measures;Naomi, if you can wait until tomorrow, I'll explain everything, but right now, I need a little time to make a decision that affects much more than just me."

Naomi stowed her wand back in her pocket.

"All right, fine, but you'd better have a good explanation for all this,"she conceded grudgingly, turning on her heel and leaving his room.

Draco put his wand away as well and let out a heavily exaggerated sigh before turning a minute out of his own room and venturing over to Hermione's door, which was currently closed. He balled his hand into a fist and rapped on the door with his knuckles. "Hermione?"he called tentatively.

The door swung open to reveal Hermione's curious face.

"What's up?"she questioned, sounding a little too friendly. "Can I talk to you a moment?It's really important to...quite a few people,"he said seriously, then added under his breath, he added,"One of which I wouldn't put it past him to kill me," Luckily, Hermione didn't catch this. "Absolutely," she agreed, stepping aside to let him in.

He swept past her and settled himself in the chair in front of her writing desk. Hermione sat down, facing him on her bed. "What's going on?"she wondered, curious to know what was making her friend act in such a peculiar manner.

"You can keep a secret, can't you, Hermione?"Draco asked cautiously, choosing his words very, very carefully. "Of course,"Hermione said, sounding a little hurt,
"Why?"

Draco took a deep breath and started to explain as much as he could,"There's a lot going on in our world that we don't know about. I've heard the gist of it, but now I have to decide whether or not I want to be a part of it because people are dying and I have the chance to try and help stop it."

Hermione looked stunned.

"Draco,"Hermione began after a very long pause, "I think that if you truly think you can help stop these people dying, then you should definitely become part of it."

Draco nodded. He had just had his decision made for him. "Thanks, Hermione. You don't know the half of what your advice is going to do," he thanked her sincerely and he stood and exited her room to return to his.

He stood by his window, watching the sun slowly dip down into a nearby hill and back into the sky.~When midnight comes,~He thought,~My decision will be known completely.~With that thought in his head, he prepared for the coming night. What exactly would he need to expect once Tara, Sian and that harsh guy, Itachi, knew all he didn't know of their conflict?

Probably a crapload of scorn, but he could handle that just fine.

Something that would haunt his dreams now until the day he died was the daunting prospect of whether or not Itachi was thinking about killing him. He just seemed that kind of person to Draco.

The embodiment of ambivalence in the flesh, with the skills and precision of an undertaker. Could he be anymore terrifying?

Draco shuddered involuntarily, not sure he would want to find out.

During the evening, he saw Tara snake her way into the building very near Hogwarts, followed closely by Sian and Itachi, both of their faces hidden behind lengths of black cloth.

Tara spotted him looking and was at his window in a matter of seconds.

"Come,"she said without preamble and grabbed his arm, yanking him through the window. Upon arriving, Draco found that Sian and Itachi were both already back at the hideout.

"You have brought him back again," Sian observed," why is this? Twice in one day."

Tara ushered him forward to speak to them.

"I was waiting for midnight to fall,"Draco told them completely honestly," But Tara took me here now. It is past sunset and this day, I have some very pressing news to deliver," "And what, pray tell young Malfoy, is that?" Sian asked with an air of intrigue.

Draco cleared his throat and announced," I have made my decision and I want to fight for the Hunters."