Chapter 3
(I added a bit of background in this chapter to show why he will act how he acts while fighting Defender and the other OC I will introduce.
I do not own Black Rock Shooter, Innocent Souls, or any part of BRS. I do, however, own Black Sword Cross, Black Dust Angel, Black Requiem Defender, and my next OC.)
(Three years ago…)
Cross fell on his ass, his sword clattering next to him. Defender stood over him, a playful smile on his face.
"Looks like I win again," he said, placing his thorn-sword's point in the ground.
"That's because you cheat, Defender!" Cross whined, "I can't win if you fight dirty!" Defender smirked and held out his hand.
"You've gotta learn to do whatever it takes to win, pal," he said as Cross grabbed his hand and pulled himself up, "Otherwise you won't win,"
(Present Day)
Cross charged his old friend, his eyes flaming with the purple energy.
"You still in there, Defender?!" he shouted, his sword clashing with Defenders, "You remember how we trained together?!" His friend pushed him back, hissing in distaste.
"We are starting to sound like a broken record," the Never hissed, "Black Requiem Defender is dead! We devoured him and simply use his body as a vessel! Get that through your thick head!"
"No!" Cross shouted, causing the Never to take a step back, "His spirit couldn't have been killed so easily! Defender, get off your ass and fight it!" he charged again, his sword almost cutting the Nevers' head off.
"Cross, stop!" Rock yelled, grabbing the boys' arms and holding him back, "At this rate you'll kill him!"
"Let go!" Cross shouted in anger, "I need to bring that jerk to his senses! I need to get him back!"
"Why must we repeat ourselves as such?" the Never growled in annoyance, "Defenders' soul crossed to the other side years ago when we devoured your world and your stupid little friends!"
"That's not true!" Cross shouted breaking free of Rocks grip and charging the one who used to be his friend, "They made it out! WE made it out!" His sword was block and the Never grabbed him by his mask and threw him across the room, his mask coming off his face. It dissolved as soon as Cross hit the wall.
"You and your pathetic friend Black Diamond Shadow couldn't kill us the first time, why are you so stubborn?" the Never said, its voice changing and becoming higher as it turned into pure shadow. Cross froze. The Never took shape again, this time as a girl with a streak of yellow hair in her black hair, black combat boots, jeans and blouse. A cannon not too different from Rocks appeared in her hand. "You never did know when to quit,"
"Shadow…" Cross said, his voice wavering. Rock charged in, unaffected by the girls' appearance.
"Will you stop playing with his mind already?!" she demanded, bringing her sword down. The new girl blocked it with her cannon and brought the guards on the back into Rocks' gut, sending her flying. Cross charged again, though almost half-heartedly.
"Oh, poor Black Sword Cross," the girl mocked, a cruel smile on her face, "Forced to fight his dead girlfriend. How touching,"
(Three years ago…)
"Diamond, come on!" Cross shouted, reaching out his hand, "You can reach! The Never will be here any second!" Diamond looked from Cross, to the blackness that was growing ever-so closer, then back to Cross. She pulled him down and kissed him one last time.
"Goodbye," she said softly, and let go of his hand. Cross let lose a cry of pure sadness and agony as his girlfriend was swallowed by the Never, her hand still reaching for him.
"Cross, come on!" Angel shouted, reaching out his hand. Cross swatted it away.
"We can't let her death be worth nothing!" he shouted, tears still streaming down his face.
"She wanted us to live!" Angel said, reaching out his hand again, "Now let's go!" Cross stared back at the dark Never again, then took his friends hand.
(Present day…)
"Oh, is the wittle baby crying?" the Never mocked, Cross trying to contain his tears, "How very pathetic,"
"Stop," Cross said weakly, trying to stand, "Just stop," Shadow closed the distance between the two of them in a heartbeat.
"We knew this would make you weak," she snickered and grabbed him by the jacket. He didn't resist as he was lifted into the air. Shadow frowned. "It's no fun if you don't fight back," she whined, raising the cannon, "Oh well," Cross just hung there as the cannon charged with yellow energy. Rock struggled to get up, but her leg was broken.
"What are you doing?!" she shouted at Cross, "Get out of there!" A feather floated in front of her eyes and she stopped, following its path to the floor. A flash of green flew between Cross and Shadow and a burst of black blood erupted from Shadow. She hissed in disdain, and dropped Cross.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, old friend!" a new voice shouted, "It took me a while to find you,"
"Angel!" Cross shouted in surprise. The fake Shadow clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"One of them was enough, but two?" she said, "We're not going to risk our hosts over this," She turned into a column of pure shadow and melted into the ground. The last thing Rock saw before she fell unconscious was a pair of people going over to Cross, one with wings, and one with a sword strapped to her back.
-\\\/-
Rock opened her eyes to a pure white desert. She turned around, but the white sand stretched as far as she could see.
"How are you here?" a voice said from behind her. She turned to see Cross sitting in a tree that hadn't been there before. "This is my dreamscape. Not yours,"
"I don't know," she said, walking up to the tree, trying to decide whether to kick the dumb jerk out of the tree, "I just found myself here,"
"Well, regardless, get out," Cross demanded, jumping out of the tree. It dissolved into sand as he got off of it. As he hit the ground, a sand outline of a tree crashed down behind him, "I come here to be alone. I don't invite company,"
"It's because of that girl, wasn't it?" Rock asked. She instantly regretted it, as his shoulders tensed and he drew a sharp breath, "Look, if you need to talk about it-,"
"I can tell you?" Cross asked sarcastically, "Please. The only one who gets remotely what I've gone through is Angel, and he isn't allowed inside my head either," He waved his hand and Rock felt a tugging sensation, and blacked out.
-\\\/-
Cross opened his eyes to see a pair of green eyes staring back at him.
"Thank God!" Angel cried out, "You didn't wake up for a while, so I thought that Diamond actually got you!" A red, skeletal hand shoved his face out of the way, replaced by Black Gold Saw.
"Alright, buddy, start talking!" she snarled, holding a giant sword to his throat, "What the hell is going on? Why did that girl dissolve into shadow?" Cross simply put two fingers on the blade and pushed it away. He stood up, and grabbed his sword. Saw charged him, and he easily blocked behind his back.
"Hey, Saw!" Angel shouted, running up, "I thought we agreed no killing?" Saw took her sword away, but the hatred on her face was still evident.
"Angel, where's the next doorway?" Cross asked, "I want to put as much distance between here and myself as possible,"
"It's just down the hall," Angel said, as Rock stood shakily, "I should be able to accurately detect where it'll go, but this time, the previews are fuzzy. I can't make out any details,"
"It'll do," Cross said, turning to Rock, "As for you, forget we were ever here,"
"Oh no," Rock said with determination, getting in his face, "You are NOT leaving me behind after that! I need answers, and you seem like the right person to give them. Besides, you need all the help you can get, right?" She wiggled her eyebrows at him, and he tried not to strangle the girl.
"Fine, but if you die, it's on you," Cross said, turning away.
"Alright!" Ron cheered, slithering up his masters' arm, "Adventure ho!"
"Hey, what even is that thing?" Angel asked, poking Ron's head, "Some kind of familiar?"
"Hey, hey!" Ron protested as he was being prodded by the skinny, winged guy, "Stop that! It hurts, you ass!"
"Whoa, sorry!" Angel said, withdrawing his hand. He turned to the doorway, and repeated the motion he had done in Otherworld. The door appeared with three words along the top: Welcome to Lookout.
"Lookout?" Angel asked, "Maybe… a school name?"
"Regardless, check the glass below it," Cross said, pointing. A girl wearing all black with two uneven pigtails was standing there, cannon behind her back, and a sword in her hand.
"Man, you weren't kidding," Saw said, a giant sweat-drop falling down the back of her head.
-\\\/-
Defender and Diamond stood in a room with only one light, each staring at each other's wounds.
"Man, they really messed you up," Diamond mocked, summoning a dark bandage to her hand, "I barely have a scratch on me,"
That's because you appeared after I weakened them," Defender snarled, tearing off part of his own bandage with his teeth, "And I didn't make the real threat totally shut down,"
"Well, this host does have its advantages," Diamond admitted, "Your host was his best friend, and mine was his girlfriend. It's fine that he had that kind of reactions," Defender growled, and dug his sword into the ground.
"Regardless, we must advance with our plan," he hissed, "Cross receiving that mask has posed a new threat,"
"We are in agreement," Diamond said, looking down, a map of all the universes on the floor, "Soon, these worlds will be devoured by the master. All of them,"