Disclaimer: I don't own Duo Maxwell or Gundam Wing :(
A/N: Sorry this took so long to get out! I hope you will forgive me DX
It was monstrous, the aura taking on the form of a four legged creature, similar to a wolf and a dragon. Its face was smooth and flat, with large straight teeth like a skull, but it extended tall, like an African mask. Duo wouldn't be surprised if Africans modeled their art after a creature like this.
It didn't have a solid form, but it was visible enough to see bone and decaying skin. It didn't have a smell, but was replaced with a thick and dense aura, making everything around it feel heavier. Its tail was long and lizard-like, and its claws were longer and thicker than it's paws. It was a creature of nightmares.
Was this what a real Shinigami looked like?
"The fact that you can see my true form proves you are a Reaper." The silhouette spoke, his voice suddenly darker and rough. He even sounded like a monster.
Duo forced himself up, but he couldn't stop the shaking. He had faced threatening odds and near death experiences more than most soldiers in their lifetimes. He had killed and been tortured, he had every reason to fear and want death; but he had never been scared.
Not until he was faced with something other worldly. Something not human.
How exactly was he going to make it out of this one?
Fight or flight should have kicked in. He would have either charged or fled as soon as he saw the form of the creature. It was natural instinct. He had normally fluctuated between both, depending on the situation and how sure he was against the odds. He would flee when he knew he couldn't win, but if he was backed into a corner, he would fight. But he had never been scared enough to know which was his natural reaction.
It was neither. He was frozen. He couldn't move or think. He wasn't even breathing. He was just staring at the form, completely still.
His thoughts didn't return to him until the creature lifted an arm, mimicking the silhouette and bringing it down in one fell swoop. Duo only had enough time to shift a little and bring his arms up to protect himself, and felt the searing pain as claws sliced through the skin and trailed a heavy amount of blood in its wake, throwing him against a tall headstone with enough force to break one of his ribs on impact.
The pain brought him back to reality, and the fear started to subside as his thoughts ran through scenarios a mile a minute, trying to think of the best way to either attack or flee. He didn't know how to fight something non-corporeal, and he doubt he could get close enough to the silhouette since it was now equipped with long range reach. His only option was to flee, so he started looking for an escape route.
The creature cut the distance between them in seconds, already upon him with another raised claw to slice him in half. The wounds were taking longer to heal, though still rapid by normal standards. He was bleeding everywhere, having hit an artery along his arm. Death was obviously not going to be the outcome of this. But Duo knew by the cold and hungry glare both the silhouette and the transparent creature was giving him, he was going to be eaten.
What would result from that, he really didn't want to find out.
He didn't know how he had managed it, but he dodged the attack quick enough as the incorporeal claw tore the headstone like paper. Duo looked back at the spot he was only inches away from, paling. He would have been shredded cheese if he was hit.
"Aren't you going to fight back?" Billowed the voice of the silhouette, his and the corporeal form's eyes training on him at once. It was clear the two were the same spirit; the same soul. When one moved, so did the other. Seeing the spirit extend from the body like that was surreal, and Duo had seen some pretty weird stuff up till now.
"Exactly how am I supposed to do that?" Seethed Duo between gritted teeth. He tried sitting himself up, but the pain was starting to become unbearable. He looked down at the slices on his arm and sides; they looked like they were boiling. Was he infected?
"You are a Reaper, aren't you?"
"As of yesterday…"
The form chuckled. "Noob." He whipped his tail around, smacking Duo in the stomach and sending him crashing into another headstone, breaking it with the force of impact.
Duo sat up, spit out blood, and looked up at the silhouette, fear subsiding and determination now replacing it. He was at a disadvantage, but he couldn't die, so he had time to think of some form of attack. "What the hell do you want from me?"
"I want to see what you can do."
"Well obviously nothing, so throwing me around like a rag doll is pointless, because I can't die."
"I wasn't trying to kill you." The figure said calmly, almost emotionless except with a bit of humor. "Think of this as good training."
Duo spit out more blood. "You're sick."
The creature's tail smacked him in the head, sending him flying again. His blood was everywhere. At this rate, the graveyard would be covered with more blood than was in a natural human body.
On the other side of the graveyard where the Shinigami was tossing Duo around and leaving trails of blood everywhere, a small set of eyes peeked out from the door in the mausoleum. Tiny hands pushed the door wider, a small child with coal black hair stepping out, his eyes widening at the sight.
"Duo?!"
Duo looked up from his tangled spot on an obscure grave smeared with his blood, seeing the small child he had been looking for the past 24 hours. He pushed himself up, shakily, and stuttered in pain his name. "A-Azrin…?"
Golden amber eyes turned to the child in the mausoleum, making the child shiver in fear. "So you know him?" Growled the Shinigami. "Maybe you can be sufficient motivation." He whipped his body around to face the boy, Azrin frozen in fear as he approached him. His aura was so large; it took him only a few steps to close the gap as he lifted a claw to strike the small Reaper.
Duo panicked. "Stop! He's just a child!"
"You're an idiot if you think that's a child."
Duo watched everything in slow motion, as the claw came down on Azrin, and the multitude of hands sprouted from the ground and grabbed onto the Shinigami's human form.
Duo sat there in amazement and fear as the dead clawed out of their graves and swarmed the Shinigami and Azrin, pinning the former down and taking the force of the claw that was supposed to hit the child.
The Shinigami batted at the zombies, his attention completely off his target as he tried to get them off. His aura subsided, the Shinigami form dissipating as he punched and ducked and fought with the undead trying to pin him down. "Get them off me!"
Duo was mortified, watching as the undead creatures escaped their not-final-anymore-resting place and swarmed on the Shinigami and Azrin. He was less worried about his former attacker, and more for the little boy who screamed in fright. Duo made a move to get up and run after them, but the pain of the boiling wounds were enough to make a normal person pass out. "Don't touch him!"
And they stopped, hovering over the boy as if frozen by the command. Duo's mouth worked, but nothing came out, did they just listen?
The actual Shinigami batted away the remains of the bony creatures, finally reversed to human form and looking more agitated than amused. None of the zombies moved, and the scene would have been comical if not for the morbid sense that the dead were standing before them.
"Interesting." The blonde looked between the child and Duo.
"Duo?" The little voice called uncertain, knocking Duo back to reality. Duo forced himself up and towards the child, slowly making his way from one end of the graveyard to the other.
The Shinigami watched with interest, observing instead of attacking as Duo passed right by him. Duo moved passed the frozen zombies, which looked more like statues, and finally wrapped himself around the boy in relief.
"I was so worried…" Duo breathed out, all the pent up anxiety of not knowing where the boy was finally escaping in a relieved sigh.
"Duo, are you okay?" Azrin looked at the wounds covering Duo, trying not to freak out from the living corpses surrounding him.
"I think the pain's subsiding." He mustered out, grunting. He didn't move from his position, crouched on the ground and encompassing the child in an embrace.
"That looks bad, you need to get help."
Duo chuckled. "Oh, right, you weren't there for the raising from the dead part."
"What?"
Duo finally pushed away, looking into the deep blue orbs of the child. "So, apparently I went to the Reaper World."
"What?!"
"Some guy named Merrick is looking for you. He wants to take you home."
Azrin had the most confused look on his face, making Duo chuckle, until turning oddly serious and concerned. "The last time I saw you, you didn't believe me…"
"The last time I saw you I was shot." The boy flinched, remembering the angry cries of the Chinese man. "But it's okay, apparently I can't die."
"You're half Reaper, it's probably why." He looked around him, like he was trying to find something. "Your barrier is gone. And I can sense your aura. It feels… familiar…"
"It's a long story."
"I can't tell what the other part is, though…" Said the boy, looking concerned. Duo gave him a questionable look.
"I doubt you would know, kid." Came the voice of the other occupant in the graveyard. The living one.
The two glared at him through the wall of frozen zombies. "And you would?" Growled Duo.
The young man gave him a bored look. "I think it's pretty obvious." He snorted, his smirk cynical. "Though how you would have happened is beyond me."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Reapers don't like mixing with those who mess with Death. In fact, they either despise them or treat them like second class. Hence why I don't get along with them."
"Reapers and Shinigami get along." Said Azrin, cutting in. "They usually fight together."
"Reapers treat Shinigami like pets. They don't see them as equals."
"I don't think they do…" Azrin mumbled to himself, though Duo doubted the other man could hear him.
Duo cut in, tired of being left out. "Either way, you don't seem to want to hurt us anymore."
The young blonde scoffed. "That's because the situation is more amusing than I originally thought. Once Reapers find out what you are, you're as screwed as me."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"What do you mean? Why would you and Duo be screwed?" Asked Azrin innocently.
"You really are a dunce, Reaper. Haven't you figured it out by now? Your friend there is a Necromancer."
Duo was familiar with the term, and it made sense. He had come across it in his early years when researching the God of Death. They were humans who could master control over the dead. It explained the zombies. And whatever aura Merrick sensed from him he couldn't figure out.
Azrin, on the other hand, looked mortified and stepped back from Duo, giving him a disbelieving look. "What?"
"But there aren't any more Necromancers…"
"Then explain the zombies." Said the Shinigami.
Azrin looked like he was in turmoil, and Duo turned back to his previous attacker. "So I'm guessing Reapers and Necromancers don't get along either."
"They hate each other. More than Shinigami do." There was a wicked smirk on the young blonde's face, almost as threatening as his aura had been. It made a shiver go down Duo's spine. "I would keep your mouth shut too, if anyone finds out, you'll be facing a fate worse than death."
"What exactly would that be?" Duo asked Skeptically.
"Solitude." Azrin's voice caught him. "There are no Necromancers on Earth or in the Colonies. There's a reason."
Now Duo was worried. "Why?"
"Because we sealed their souls away. Into the void." Azrin explained. Duo went cold, feeling dread enter his entire body the more he spoke. "If they find out what you are Duo, they'll seal you away… for eternity…"
To be continued
I know this was shorter than the others, but it felt like the best place to leave off. Please please tell me what you think! I want to know if this chapter makes sense. Please review! It helps inspire me to write, or I might wait four months to update again XD
