. Hack//Shadows of Rebirth
For those who are with me, I really don't know because not many review but I don't mind, enjoy the chapter. Thanks to Genaroge1 for reviewing on a past chapter, looks like I'm not doing a bad job after all. Here's the next chap, Enjoy!
(Deceive)
( Mac Anu: Raven's)
Just then Fluegel receive an instant message. The group look at him, waiting for him to tell them who it was. Cello decided to ask him " Who is it Fluegel?"
He look serous at his partner " Cellos. Its..........our client".
Cellos was taken back by this " Now of all times?! Well put him on the screen then and lest see what he wants to say."
Fluegel nodded and did so. In the screen a figure appear but no one could tell how he looked like because he was shrouded by the shadows. " Greetings everyone." he said in a slow yet polite form " I have heard that you have collected three more treasures. Congratulations. Now what do you plan to do with them. The others will surely come to get them."
The group knew this and all had face of concern and worry. Pi spoke breaking the silence " We, actually, were thinking to leave them here in our headquarters, but seeing their abilities thats not an option."
Kite got frustrated " Then what the hell are we supposed to do! After all our hard work we can let those fuckers get them! Dammit all what are we supposed to do now!"
" We could always find some place to hide them. Maybe we could leave them in a town or hand them to Aura to watch over them." Tsukasa offered.
" No, neither of the choices are acceptable. If we were to hide the treasures in a town he be putting the people in danger. If we gave them to Aura then she would be in danger. In all the ways I see it its a loose/loose situation." Ovan said.
" Dammit! What are we going to do! Even with our victory they still have the advantage over us! Dammit it's not fair! FUCK!" Kite punch the wall to try and get rid of some frustration.
"Kite....please calm down we'll think of something." BlackRose try to calm him down.
" Yes, we must not loose hope. Not after all the thing we have done to accomplish what we already have." Subaru added.
" If I may.." the client of Shicksal interrupted " You can give them to me after this ordeal is over. I can hold them for you. I have a system that allows me to move from place to place with out being detected, why do you think Fluegel and his team haven't find me yet. I will have to reveal myself to you, but it is for a good cause. Do you agree?"
The group were deep in thought, everyone was considering the option and found nothing wrong with it.
Kite was the first to speak " Alright then, I guess we don't have a choice." everyone agreed to his decision, everyone but Zelkova that is but he remains in silence.
" Then its agree then. Meet me at (delta) Hidden Forbidden Holy Grounds in exactly one hour for the exchange. Till then a bid thee adieu." with that the client vanish from the screen.
" Well I guess that now all we have to do is wait." Atoli said.
" AWWW.....but it so boring!" Shugo whined.
Rena smack him behind the head " Stop being so immature you block head!" everyone laughed while he pouted and blush with embarrassment.
( New Moon Castle)
" So Shadow Kite when do you plan on retrieving the treasures. We are so close to our goal I can almost feel it with my hands." Morganna said to Shadow, who was in front of the group.
" Soon my lady, very soon. In fact we were all headed to retrieve them right now." he said. The group behind him looked at him with curiosity and insecurity. How are they going to retrieve the treasures from them, they would surely put up a fight and it wouldn't be pretty.
" Very well then. You are all dismiss. Go and get me the treasures." The group bowed and headed out of the chamber.
Elk was curious as to Shadow's motives so he decided to ask " S-Shadow....um.....how are we supposed to get the treasures from them? I mean its not that I don't trust you or anything but....they will put a fight, you know?"
Shadow stop on his track and looked at Elk smiling " Maybe. Just be ready for anything. Ok?"
" So are we going to fight them on Mac Anu then?" Cubia asked.
" No" he simply said.
"What?! No? We are not attacking them? Then what are we supposed to do?" Dark asked.
" Lets just get to Mac Anu." he said as he lead the group to Mac Anu.
(Mac Anu )
It has been half an hour now and The Twilight Knight and Shicksal were talking to each other to pass the time. Meanwhile at the top of the dome six figures appeared looking at the city. Shadow was looking at the city with interest and his gaze landed on the mercenary district where he knew that Kite and his group were hiding.
" So.....What are going to do now? You said we were not going to fight them, how are we going to get their attention and get the treasures." A. Kite asked.
Shadow looked at him and smirk " Yeah, I did. But there is going to be a battle."
Mia looked at him " Oh?! What do you have in mind?"
" Well I did say that we were not going to fight them, but I didn't say anything about summoning monsters to battle for us." he shrugged as he said this like it was the simplest thing to do. " I'll summon the monsters while you guys go to this area". He walked toward Dark and whisper the area's name.
" Understood" Dark replied.
The group, minus Shadow, left the area immediately. Shadow looked at the unsuspecting town with a superior smirk. " Alright, this is where the fun begins" he said as he snap is fingers once. Suddenly Mac Anu blue clear skies were gone and were replace by a crimson red one.
Meanwhile the group were busy discussing different matters. Everyone had come to help the cause from Kite and all his group, Tsukasa and all his groups to Shugo and the gang, and Haseo and his team. Even Piros and Natsume were present and Kite really wish that Piros would go away simply because he was annoying . Tsukasa was trap between BlackRose and Mimiru's heated discution, they were discussing which one was the best of the two. ' Typical' Tsukasa thought annoyed, he then spoted Kite sitting alone and away from the group ' Might as well accompany him, thou I don't like him that much its better than to be here listening to the bickering of these two'. Without the other two noticing him moving away from them he slowly made his way toward Kite. When he was within reach he was startle to see that Kite talk to him.
" What do you possibly want?" he said in an annoyed tone.
Tsukasa's eye twitch but he manage to control himself " Do you think this is possibly the best time and place for us to rip each other apart?" he replied.
Kite sighted " I guess not. Sorry. I just got a lot in my mind recently."
" Want to talk about it. I mean, you and I maybe aren't in the best friend list but we are teammates after all." Tsukasa said.
Kite frowned at the word 'teammate'. It made him think of Elk and how close he has gotten to Shadow to such point that Shadow himself came and protected him. Kite's blood boiled at the thought ' That bastard! I'm the one who is suppose to save Elk not him! Dam him!'. Tsukasa saw him frown and asked " Hey! Are you ok?" Kite snapped back to reality " Yeah I was just thinking...." but he was cut off by Tsukasa " about that incident with A. Kite and Shadow?". Kite was stunned but composed himself quickly " Yeah" he said in a sad tone.
" Kite" Tsukasa said seriously " I know that its hard and that you like the guy, heck! Even I like him but.....he's one of them." he said with a sad tone " and it appears that he's really close to..."
At this point Kite interrupted " Don't you dare say his name!" Kite snarled. Tsukasa was stunned. Kite quickly apologize " I know. But he only clings to him because he look like me. Thats all, he seeks comfort in that faker." he said getting mad.
" I don't know Kite" Tsukasa said with doubt in his voice.
" What do you know?" he said getting angry at him for saying such a thing.
" By the way he talked about him he seem pretty fond of him. Anyways what I want to know is that if a time comes when we have to fight him, will you do it?" Tsukasa asked eying Kite closely.
" I...." he started to say, however he was interrupted when he heard screams coming from outside of the guild.
Everyone quickly made their way to Mac Anu's streets to see what the commotion was about. Once outside the saw players looking frighten and pointing the skies. The group look up to see what had startle the players and quickly had their answer. Flying Mac Anu's skies was a horde of black dragons circling the center of the city. The dragon looked vicious and had huge frontal claws, their legs where the as long as the arms making it clear they walk on four legs, their wings in the back look wicked with red markings on them, and their eyes were crimson red and the pupils sleeted. They were many dragons but none of them were attacking, it seemed as if they were waiting for something. They were many dragons circles in the skies, it almost looked as a bulls eye. The group were scared, Bo looked like he was about to faint. Atoli and Subaru had to comfort him to not loose him.
" It appears they are pointing at the center of the city." Ovan said.
" Alright gang lets head toward the center and see what causing all this." ' I have a hunch, I just hope I'm wrong' Kite thought.
The group made their way to the market but notice that the dragon were circling the dome. They approach the dome carefully and eying the dragons above them. A voice caught their attention a few seconds later.
" Well, it's about time you showed up. I was getting bored waiting for you."
Kites eyes went wide and he was filled with rage toward the voice's owner " You!" he hissed venomously.
" Hey now why so much venom in your voice? I just came here to talk." Shadow said and pouted playfully. He was not threaten what so ever by Kite.
" Why did you took Elk away from us?! Is this some kind of sick joke?! Because I'm not laughing!" Kite shouted with anger.
Shadow drop the playful pout and looked at him seriously " This is no joke my friend. And by the way I didn't take him away from you. You just push him away like he was some kind of used tool. I don't have memories of you in the real world but I do in this world, and Elk deserve better than what you did to him. I just gave him something you refuse to give him." he said now with Kite's smirk.
" What might that be?!" Kite snap at his lookalike.
Shadow grinned at Kite this time " I became his friend, his stepping stone, and a family that cares. Face it Elk is my friend now. You have no idea what you lost."
Zelkova was deep in though ' He acts like Kite from years back. I wonder....' his thoughts were interrupted by Kites outburts " SHUT UP!" he roared at Shadow. Said A.I raised an eye brow at his outburst " Your just using him and taking advantage that you look like me! Face it, he doesn't see you, he sees me! So quit acting like you care you fucker!"
Shadow was now enraged. In a blink of an eye he stood face to face with Kite. The others tried to approach but a bunch of dragons descended right in front of them secluding Shadow and Kite. Shadow punch Kite in the face, hard! Kite was sent flying into the wall slamming into it with much force. He whimpered from the force of the impact. The group were worried because if Shadow decide to battle Kite he was on is own. Kite rose from his position painfully slow, he was not expecting that. When he looked up Shadow was standing only a few feet's away from him, glaring daggers at him. Kite notice that Shadow was a few inches shorter than him ' well he was born from that battle with Cubia a few years ago. But dam for a short guy he hits hard!' he compose himself and glared as well.
" You dick head! Just because I'm your true anti-existence and an vagrant A.I. doesn't mean I can't feel. You have no idea the pain I had to go through! The things I went through! You know nothing of me!" Kite was startle by this " and I would never treat Elk the way you did, you trash!". Shadow then took a deep breath to calm himself, he then looked at Kite and grinned once more " Lost my cool there for a second there, haven't I. Well you must know why I am here, give me the treasures so I can be on my way."
Kite compose himself once more " You have to be out of your mind! We are not giving you the treasures. Where is Elk?!" he asked.
" I won't tell you. But you know I was hoping you would say that you wouldn't surrender the treasures. That way I can take them by force." Shadow smirked and snap his fingers. The dragons in the skies gave a mighty roar and came rushing from the skies to attack the town. Shadow disappeared in black flames and pretty soon the whole town was burning in flames. All the players were battling hard according to their class. Kite and his group fought and killed many of the dragons but there were still many more in the skies and on the ground, attacking anything that stood in their path.
The group was not alone thou for all of the other players have join in the fight to stop the destruction of their town. Pretty soon the numbers of dragons lessen but the fewer they were the harder it became to kill them. All of a sudden a new horde of black dragons appeared from the skies and attack with the same ferocity. The group was running low on items and energy. Zelkova then saw a huge dragon flying over their heads. It looked like the rest of the dragons except bigger and his face had red markings differing him from the rest. The dragon roared loudly, black portals appeared releasing more dragons into the city.
" Guys forget the small fries and target the huge dragon with the red markings on his face!" Zelkova shouted alerting the other groups. Everyone looked at what Zelkova was pointing at an saw the oversize dragon flying close by.
" Of course! One dragon creates many underlings to do his bidding. Shadow is very cunning." Fluegel said.
" Yes, he knew we would eliminate the monsters one by one eliminating them in a matter of time. So he created one monster that makes other monster to make matters worst. But of course if we defeat the big one the others will follow." Yata hypothesize.
" I don't know. Shadow doesn't seem to be the kind that thinks small." Zelkova said.
" Will you stop praising him and kill the damn thing!" Kite replied angrily.
The group gather closely. The beast was still in the air so the chances of hitting it were small. But the ones who could attack at long range fix that by attacking his large wings, making him land. The group stood a few feet away from the gigantic dragon, the beast turned around facing them and looked angry. He let out a loud roar and charge at the group. The gang did the exact same thing they did when they faced the guardian, only one problem when the beast have fallen he summoned an anti-spells and projectile shield to avoid being hit from afar. The Steam-gunners and Shadow Warlocks were powerless against it and only physical attacks could damage him. The ones who could affect him and damage him gave it all they got. Rena, BlackRose, and Subaru tried to slam their weapons against him seeing that they could do more damage than the rest, but the dragon teleported behind them and swung its tail against their backs dealing a lot of damage and sending them flying away from him. The TwinBlades use their speed and agility to evade the fireballs it threw at them and slash at it with their blades. It did little damage and caused them many status alinement's, but the others who couldn't attack the thing cure them.
The battle was long and hard and many dragons came to aid their leader and make their battle a heck of a lot worse. But it has lost a lot of HP during the battle and he was already weakened. Kite ran at top speed and slash deeply at the dragon neck making him bleed. The beast gave a final roar before falling to the ground defeated.
" Yeah!"
"Way to go, Kite!"
" Awesome!"
" Show off." Tsukasa mutter.
The group look around awaiting for the dragons to vanish. But they didn't. The town and players were still being attack by the horde of dragons.
" Dammit all!" Kite curse.
" I knew Shadow wasn't going to put it easily." Zelkova sighted. Just then a group of players arrived at the city to help fight off the dragons. "Guys! Lets head to ( Delta) Hidden Forbidden Holy Grounds. The players here will take care of the dragons." with that said the group headed to the gate and said to words to their destination and gated off.
((Delta) Hidden Forbidden Holy Grounds)
The group arrived shortly after the battle with the dragons and made their way to the mysterious cathedral were Shicksal's client awaited them.
" Hey Fluegel. What does your client looks like?" Shugo asked the leader of the other group.
" To be honest with you kid, we have never seen his face. He was always surrounded by the shadows and never reveal his appearance. This will be the first time we actually see him face to face." he replied.
" So, let me get this strait. You been working for a guy you never even seen and now you are going to see what he looks like? That's stupid." Haseo said .
" Yes, but the pay he promise was to good to let it pass." Metronome said in their defense.
" Lets just get this over with." Kite sighted.
The group enter the cathedral with caution and look for any sign o ambush. Inside was a figure in front of where the statue of Aura use to be, his appearance couldn't been seen because the sun's light made him look like a shadow from were he was standing.
" Welcome. I've been expecting you. Now hurry, there is not much time left! Put the remaining Treasures of the Wave inside the circle so I can safely stored them away." Shicksal client said.
The group did as they were told and place the treasures in the circle with weird marking on the floor. After that the circle began to glow and sealed the treasures in a transparent looking crystal, which floated in the clients direction until he caught it.
" So are the treasures going to be save?" Atoli asked.
Shicksal's client chuckle " Oh, their save alright." as he said this five figures appeared behind him. The group was in shock, the client took a few step forward and revealed his identity.
"What?! No! It can't be!" Kite said stepping a few steps back.
" Oh but it can." the figure was none other than Shadow Kite standing in front of them. The reason they didn't recognize him was because we wasn't wearing the cape nor his hat thus revealing is hair and making him hard to recognize. All the girls were staring at Kite lookalike intently which made him raise a brown and uncomfortable "What?"
" Your Hot!" all the girls and Shugo said. Shadow Kite and company sweat drop.
Rena turn to his brother with an incredulous look " Did you just say he's hot?".
Shugo panic and denied it " No! I said He's.....ummm.. fat?"
Shadow sweat drop again 'What is wrong with that kid?.....did he just called me fat?!' " Anyways, I like to thank you for personally delivering the final treasures of the wave to us." he smirk.
Kite looked at the group behind Shadow, his teammates, and took a good look at them and so did everyone else. Kite eyes recognize Cubia, Dark, and A. Kite. His eyes landed on the WaveMaster and his companion. His eyes widen in realization.
"M-Mia?" he said clearly not believing his eyes.
" Hey their Kite! Long time no see." she said cheerly.
" But how?" it was Yata's turn to be confused.
" Oh! That! I found her while I was exploring the dark realm and took her to Elk. Surprising, yes I know."Shadow shrugged.
" Elk has told me everything that has happened recently. And I must say I'm very disappointed in you. The way you treated Elk........just horrible." she said. Kite looked away in shame.
" A. Kite?! What are you doing?! Your an Azure Knight for crying out loud! Your suppose to be with Aura not side with the enemy!" Haseo went ballistic.
" She doesn't need me anymore and she doesn't care. She even said that she wish I was never created. So I figure, why not be with them? " he replied.
" For Revenge?!" Haseo said in a disbelieving tone.
" For acceptances, moron!" Dark told the adept rouge. Tsukasa was glaring at him while he simply smirk in his direction.
Shadow was inspecting the treasures when something got his eye. " Hm....?"
Dark temporary stop his staring competition with Tsukasa and looked at his teammate " What is it Shadow?"
"There appears to be only four treasures here instead of five." the group was stunned.
'Only four? But wheres.....?' Kite thoughts were interrupted.
Shadow looked at Zelkova and smirked " You clever little sneak. You kept one of the treasures for safe keeping didn't you?"
Zelkova giggle at this " Guilty as charged! I had feeling something like this could happen. So, I took one of the treasures and safely hide it in a place none of these guys know!" he beamed, proud of his achievement " But tell me Shadow, how you did it? I'm curious of how you assemble all this. And where is Shicksal's client?"
Shadow smirk once more " Well Hel....I mean, Zelkova, I am Shicksal's client! You see I was the one who hired them in the first place. I dragged them into this whole plot to help us gather the treasures faster and to keep you guys busy while we retrieved them. I was quite simple really, I just needed the right words to say to them and the fell into my plot. I manipulated them easily into doing my bidding. You humans are so easy to fool."
Fluegel sighted " So it was all for not, huh? Well at least we are taking you down with us for what you did."
Just then Shugo interrupted the whole thing " Um....excuse, Shadow? Do yo remember me?" ' Time to see if I'm right or if I'm wrong.'
The two parties paid close attention to the conversation. Shadow eyed him confusedly " No, not really. Thou your voice is kinda familiar.'
Shugo laughed sheepishly and scratch the back of his head " Oh, right. Hehehe. Back then I had orange cloths and teal hair."
" Oh. You must be the teal headed twinblaid, the chibi version of Kite if I'm right, I met in earlier times. Yeah I remember you." Shadow said casually.
The group, minus Dark, were stunned beyond belief. Kite spoke to break their trance " Wait a minute! Shugo, you met this creep before?"
Shugo nodded eying Shadow with admiration the whole time " He's the guy that helped me save Rena some time ago!"
Both parties were in a shock state before ....."WHAT?!" everyone shouted.
" Nice to see you again kid." Dark said casually " To bad it's on opposite sides"
' That's right.' Shugo thought sadden " Why are you doing this?! Why do you want to destroy 'The World'! Your a hero!"
Shadow looked at him without any emotions present " Sorry kid. I'm no hero."
Kite decide to speak at this point " I have to agree with him on that Shugo. The guy is clearly far from being a hero. The creep hates players with a passion."
" Then why did he help me back then?!" Shugo said in desperation. He wanted to prove the other wrong.
Shadow looked at the floor with a frown " I.....I don't know."
" Probably to get your trust so you could betray us later." Tsukasa said glaring at the others.
" Or to help him when you guys betray him like Elk." Dark said glaring at Tsukasa. Said wavemaster did the same " So, Shadow want us to get the final treasure by force?" as Dark said this both group, minus Kite, Shadow, and Shugo prepared for a fight.
Shadow, who was looking at Kite and Shugo at the moment , said " No. Let them keep it for now. We got what we wanted."
"Awww.....I really wanted to crush Tsukasa or at least beat him to the ground." Dark pouted. But later smirked looking at Tsukasa with superiority.
" Believe me, the feeling is mutual." Tsukasa glared at him.
Shadow chuckle at them as he put on his hat and black cloak back " Dark, we'll have all the time in the world once we finish our goal. Right now lets leave and start the search for the keys that will open the temple were the sphere lies.". He turned to the group and smirked at them, the smirk was also directed to Kite. Later the smirk fell when his eyes landed on Shugo, who had an disappointed look. Shugo looked at Shadow and saw something in his eyes briefly " Farewell. For now." he and the others vanish instantly before Kite and his group could do something about it.
"Dammit all!" Kite shouted " Now we will loose for sure! Not only have we lost four of the treasures we gather but also we don't know where that damn temple with the sphere is!"
Zelkova put his hand on Kite's shoulder getting his attention, he was smiling " Don't worry Kite. The treasure I saved will lead us to it!"
The group was baffle " What?!" Haseo asked " Which treasure is it anyways?"
Zelkova smiled " Fidhell's Talisman. I've been listening to the riddle it gave. You see the talisman reveals the location of the sphere to those who can decipher its riddles. I already have two of the area words, give me time and I will get the last word to our destination."
" Alright Zelkova! We still have a chance to beat them at their own game." Kite said ' And we will bring Elk and Mia back with us. This time we won't fail.'
Shugo looked sadden ' I.........I don't get it. He help me save Rena.' then a look of determination passed through his face ' I won't give up on him! I'll make him see that not everyone is bad! Then we can hang out and do.......heroe stuff!!' he thought cheerfully.
( New Moon Castle)
" Well Shadow I never knew you were that sneaky. Hiring Shicksal to do your every command and giving the Twilight Knights hope only to crush them at the end. You are terrible." Dark smirked at his friend.
" Indeed. Now we move to the next phase witch is to find the keys that will open the temple where the sphere lies." Shadow said.
" N-Not to question y-you or anything b-but were can w-we find the items t-to open the temple." Elk asked.
" Who said anything about items?" Shadow said.
" Huh? If we are not looking for items then what?" Cubia asked.
" Well the legend says that Alvatros gave the sphere to two humans that resemble the characteristics of Sora and Ash. Maybe we need to find the persons that fits those characteristics and used them as keys, maybe?" Azure said unsured.
Shadow beamed at the young knight " Very good A. Kite! The keys are two players with the characteristics of the gods Ash and Sora." A. Kite beamed himself for his deductions.
" But there are millions of players in "The World". How are we going to find them?" Mia asked.
" Don't worry Mia" Shadow replied looking at the mirror revealing a figure. The others soon follow his gaze to look at their target. " for you see I already found the player with Sora's characteristics. All we have to do is capture him."
In the mirror the figure that was being display was none other than the ex-Terror of Death, Haseo.
Thou the antagonist have most of the treasure, the story is far from over. I hope, for those who read this, enjoy the fic. Well on to the next chapter!!!!...........When it's Ready!!!!! See ya!.