WolfGear Presents: Negima? The mage and the Gunslinger
Pairings: Negi X ku-Fei Kaede X OC
Chapter 60: The children of no man's land
I don't own Negima
On earth Evangeline was playing cards with the Dean, Thomas and Takahata. It was dreadfully boring for her, but she didn't have anything else to do. She was about ready to walk out, when something very interesting happened. Chachazero walked in. Now this wasn't the interesting part, trailing behind her were the five original Chacha Dolls she had brought with her. The fact of the matter was none of them could move freely outside the villa without assistance and clearly she wasn't the one helping them which meant only one thing; he was back! If she needs any more evidence Chachazero held up a very special card, a card she thought had long ago disappeared.
"Lookie, lookie master! He's back!" The little Doll shouted excited. Yes now the mayhem can begin!
A single tear falls from the vampire's eye as she takes hold of the card. She looked at the picture of her holding a pair of swords in her hand. It was hers, her Pactio card; on the bottom read Magister Jace McCoy.
Evangeline smiled a true smile. He was back. She could feel it, not just emotionally, but she could once again physically feel Jake's heart beat through their bond. From the feel of things he was about to lay the hurt down on some one. God help the poor soul.
Back in the magic world
Dracula quirked an eyebrow at the young man before him, the boy's name was Jack McCoy and he had just proclaimed that he is the legendary Jake McCoy, the only human to ever be declared more dangerous than him; the king of vampires. Perhaps he had taken to many blows to the head in his fight with the Springfield kid, because he must be crazy, no insane, if he thinks he's Jake.
He couldn't help it, he started to laugh, a deep gloating laugh that echoed through the area. The ones who remained conscious wondered what was wrong with the vampire, maybe he finally went insane. It almost sacred them to think about what he might to them. The only not scared was the man standing directly in front of the said vampire.
"You done trying to piss you pants yet?" Jake asked the laughing vampire. He would be laughing after he was done with him.
Dracula wiped a tear from his eye. "You really must have hit your head hard kid. You've gone completely insane. Really how hard did that kid have to hit you to make you think that?"
"Hard enough to break this," Jake smirked holding up the remains of the Soul Flask. That seemed to sober him up, he thought at the look from Dracula's face went pale, that is paler at the sight of it. "If you need any further proof, I can prove a little insight to your evil plan. It's not really all that different from Cosmo whatever the fuck they call themselves. The main difference is to use Jesse in the place of the twilight princess, and use both the souls of the imaginary and real people on this plant for you own gain. Is that about right?"
Dracula staggered back almost tripping over his own feet. "You… you…"
"That's right me. Let me introduce you to a favorite of mine. First gore technique Disemboweler." A quick thrust of the hand Jake tore into the vampire's stomach and revealed him of its contents. "You look at little thin; here let me give you something to eat!" Jack thrust Dracula's own stomach into his mouth and stuffed them right down his throat! It really grossed any of the on lookers out, and any that were not used to seeing this sort of thing threw up on the spot.
"Hmmm, still too thin… I know you need more meat!" Grabbing hold of Dracula's arms Jake began to pull. Bone popped and cracked till finally the vampire's arms were torn clean off! Jake waved the arms in the air pretending to shake them, before proceeding to beat Dracula in the face with the dismembered limbs.
Jake grinned like a madman as he repeatedly said "Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself."
Negi who had finally regained consciousness limbed over to Ray and inquired him about what in the bloody hell was going on!
"What's gotten into Jack?" He asked the Reverend. The sight of Jack savagely beating someone with a pair of dismembered arms use quite nerve rattling.
"That ain't Jack, boy. That's Jake, my father, inside Jack's body."
"Oh," Negi frowned. "Is he always like this?"
"Most of time, only when he fights," Ray said watching the display. Only the hands remained of once was a full set of arms. Both continued to stare, till Negi broke the silence.
"It does explain a lot though." He said. He had a feeling Jack would do the same if ever given the chance.
Ray nods in agreement. There was no denying it his father was a bit crazy, but he had his moments, when those moments happen are few and far between, but they happen.
Tired of being this maniacs punching bag, Dracula trips Jake with is leg and jumps to his feet. Quickly regenerating his arms he summons a sphere of shadow to each hand and throws them at the gunslinger, who skillfully dodges each act with surprising grace and flexibility.
"Tch, I expected more." Suddenly blood exploded from Jake's arm! Then his other arm, and then his legs! Blood seeped through the sweat pours covering the gunslinger in a coat of red. Jake scowled; his power was literary tearing Jack's body apart. Jack's healing powers were struggling to adept the flex of power, tearing and ripping his muscles apart and healing them, and then repeat. If he didn't suppress his power soon, there wouldn't be a body to give back.
Dracula laughed at the sight of the gunslinger. "It must be a shame, not having a body that can hold your power." He mocked.
Jake smile solemnly. "True, it is a bit of a bother. But it's better than having a body that won't allow you to use your full power, right Dracula? I see it. That bond between you and Shihime, and as well as the bond that connects to the Mage of the beginning. That old relic is sucking you two dry isn't he? That's why you need the Slayer's claws to sever that bond."
The smile faded from the vampires face. He hated how this man seemed to know everything!
"Take them and go."
"What?" Did he hear that right? He was going to let him go?
"You heard me. I don't want to fight a man you can't use his full power, and next time we met I'll most likely have my body back so we can finally see which one of us is stronger once and for all. Now shoo."
"What of the girl?" There was no way that Jake or Ray was going to let him take Jesse.
"Take her for now. You'll hand her over to Cosmo-what's their name and we'll get her back then, but you must swear not to turn her. I know your master has no real interest in the well-being of this planet, so after you hand her over. You stay out of my way, and when those pieces of trash are out of the way we will finish this feud, pass that on to Asta for me. Oh and one more thing, I'll be taking this back." He said holding Gaia's shield.
Dracula was bewildered. How did he know the mistress true name? Could he be? Yes that had to be it that was the only thing that made sense. Summoning a portal, Dracula bowed deeply to Jake, and then left taking Jesse with him.
"I look forward to our next confrontation Child of the western front." Dracula said earnestly.
Jake frowned. This confirmed what he had known all along, but this was neither the time nor place to discuss about that. In the distance he could hear the humming of battleships approaching. They need to get out of here. With a sharp whistle, several dozen women jumped from the remains of the arena stands and landed in front of him.
"Chacha-45 Hellion at your service." The lead Doll soldier saluted.
"Collect all of them and open a portal to home." Jake ordered. Immediately the Dolls obeyed and rushed to complete their objective. In no time flat they had very one nicely bundled to gather and through the portal back to the McCoy ranch. Jake was the last one to go through, but not before leaving a nice little present for the incoming government troops.
"Void Crush" A large sphere of pure energy appeared in the air above the battleships, the poor basterds didn't even have time to scream before they were sucked into the dark hole and crushed to nothing.
For the first time in years Jake set foot on the front porch of his house. It's been so long, since he had left on his campaign of revenge and then imprisoned with in the Soul Flask and separated from his body as well as the oracle.
"Hellion put them to bed." He ordered. He stopped the one carrying Kaede. "Put her in my room."
"At once master," The purple haired chacha bowed. Jake thought her name was Ilia, but he couldn't remember. Sitting on the bench swing, he waited for the Chacha Dolls to finish their task. Minutes later they marched out the door and stood single file one the front lawn, waiting for their next orders.
"Do you wish to rest master? We can keep watch for you." Hellion offered, but Jake turned her down. He knew there most likely wouldn't be any threats tonight, but still he personally wanted watch over his family, like he should have done instead of going to war.
"No, I have another assessment for you girls. Tell me what the progress of our little scheme is."
"Everything is going just as expected. Our sisters have infiltrated all of the high ranking official homes and work places. They can move at any time." Hellion reported.
Jake nods. "Good, very good, now go and spread the word to your sisters in hiding. Tell them that the time to attack will be when the north and south shines with the leaves of life. Also if any do not wish to participate that is fine." The Dolls bowed again and then took off into the night.
Staring at the night sky Jake began to mull over what Dracula had said, Child of the western front, the child of no man. The very mention of that name pissed him off, and at the same time filled him with deep sorrow. He would have to tell them. Ray, John, Thomas, Jack, and Jesse, he would have to tell them truth about him, and about them.
"Accuse me?" A voice said making Jake jump out of his seat! He really must have been out of it if the metal girl could sneak up on him. The boards on the floor weren't that sturdy.
"Ah yes, what do you want girlie?" He asked embarrassed. Maybe he wasn't the best one for guard duty after all.
It was now Chachamaru's turn to embarrassed. She had eavesdropped on the old gunslinger, and heard what he had told her elder sisters to do. That though wasn't what she wanted to talk about.
"I have a question for you. It may seem silly, but do I have soul? Do any of us Dolls have souls? I… I have to know." She bagged.
Jake sighed. How in the hell was he supposed to know that? From what he could discern from Jack's knowledge of the girl, she was created by a girl named Chao Lingshin McCoy, Jack's granddaughter. Wow these kids sure did have some interesting adventures. Anyways the point was he had no hand in her creation. The original Chacha Dolls were bonded with the souls of fallen warriors, (Surprisingly all of them were women) and fused into the iron wood bodies. After that they were left to evolve on their own. Some had developed into something close to human, while other such as Hellion and her group had stayed the same, only taking orders from him without question.
Gently he lifted the robot girl's chin and wiped away the tears flowing from her face. "I not have an answer for you. However I believe that it is possible that you have developed your own soul though your memories and experiences, and most importantly the emotion that you feel, when I disappeared computers were just starting to make their mark on the world. They were cold emotionless machines, you are none of that. You cry when you sad, you laugh when you happy, and you blush when you in love, that child is human emotion. That is what makes you, you. Do you understand?"
Chachamaru nods, trying desperately to swipe away the tears of joy that flowed down her cheeks.
"Yes thank you." She said sitting on the bench. Jake sat next to her and wrapped his arm around her in a fatherly way. They sat there all night till the first rays of the sun began to peek out over the horizon.
"Alright," Jake stretched. "I'll get breakfast started, you go wake the others, but leave Kaede for now. She needs the rest."
"Ok," Chachamaru complied.
Ray hurt all over. The beating he took yesterday felt a thousand times worse today. That however was not what he was thinking about. No his thoughts were on something more important, his father. He was back, trapped in the body of his nephew, but back none the less. He wasn't happy as he should have been. He detested the fact that his father had let the monster take Jesse again!
"Wait, just calm down," Ray growls to himself. He couldn't blame his father for what was originally was his mistake. Plus nobody was able to continue fighting, so settling on a truce was the best option for them all to get out alive. Plus his father promised to take Jesse back, and a promise from Jake McCoy was unbreakable.
With his angry gone Ray walks into the kitchen were everyone was gathering for breakfast, prepared, by none other than his father, with assistance from Ku-Fei. He watched in fascination as the two worked in a frenzy of blade work and talent, throwing potatoes, spices, strips of bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes, and assorted fruits together into a the largest breakfast he's seen in years.
"Ah Ray finally out of bed I see." His father stated handing him a plate of everything. "That's good, we have much too prepare for."
"Really, and what would that be?" Ray asks digging into his plate. His father held up a letter with the governor's seal printed on it. Oh great this can't be good.
"We are invited to the governor's ball tonight. Well Negi boy is, but it says he can bring as many friends as he wants so will all be going." Jake stated as fact. Ray could tell that Negi wanted to protest against this, but what his father says go, so they might as well just accept it and go along with whatever he had planned.
"Oh and one more thing, you and the kid here will be taking these girls shopping for some fancy dress, seeing how we are in short supply." Jake continued throwing a large amount of money on the table. "Don't worry about the price; just make sure they look nice."
"What about Kaede? She's still a sleep." Negi stated noticing the ninja's absence.
"Don't worry," Jake said assumingly, "She'll be fine with me here. So the rest of you go and have fun." He told them taking a tray of food with him to his room where the ninja slept.
Kaede groans as she awakens from her slumber, which was hard, because the bed she was in was so comfortable that when she had woke up earlier, she feel back a sleep. Now she had to get up she told herself throwing her body of the bed and on to the floor. She needs to know where she is.
Picking herself off the floor she began to inspect the contents of the room. The bed was in the center against the back wall, a shelf filled with old black and white photos of a man and woman, and some newer colored ones of the same man with a different woman. Looking closer she saw that the man look very similar to Jack. The woman was very beautiful standing at the man's shoulder with a small child cradled in her arms. In the colored picture she noticed the man was much older. The blonde woman beside him held two children with black hair in her arms. One the bottom the words Jake and Eva were printed.
Wait a second Eva? Suddenly it clicked she had seen that woman before, when Evangeline showed then her adult form, the two where an exact match, and man's name Jake, she remembers the story the vampire told them so many weeks ago. Granted she felt a sleep towards the end, but he also matched the deception of the man from the story.
"So I'm in Eva's boyfriend's house? Weird." Kaede said moving to the left side of the room. There she found a lot of weapons, guns, knives, and a silver brief case? That was a little out of place. Then again you never know with magic items. For all she knew that could be a nuclear warhead.
Looking at the right wall, she found a collection of old newspaper clips dating back to 1914 a few mouth after the start of the first world war framed in glass. The words on the paper were very hard to read, and the picture was blurry and faded over time, but she was able to make out a man most likely a soldier with something in his arms. Below the picture she made out the words, Captain K McCoy finds ch in No man's. There was a second newspaper written in what she thought was Russian, so she had no way of reading what it said. Suddenly Kaede hears footsteps and quickly climbs into the bed and pretends to sleep.
The door creeks open revealing a man carrying a tray of food; it was not any man though it was Jack! She would have leapt out bed right there and then if she didn't notice something was off about him. There was no doubt it was Jack, but his aura was way off, plus the bond between them was hardly there. Like it was telling her that this was Jack, but yet it wasn't.
"You can stop pretending. I know you're awake." The man said sitting on the side of the bed. "Judging by you lack of excitement I guess you know I am not Jack."
Kaede nods. For some reason she couldn't meet his eyes and her words seemed to be caught in her throat. Then she fells a firm grip tight on her wrists. The man held them close to his face and inspects the strange red/brown rash that she knew wasn't there before.
"Yup, this is definitely iron blood poison." The man whistled. "Well only one way to get it out. Here bit down on this, this is going to hurt." He said handing her a stick. His hand started glow red hot and then he gently placed his hands on top of the infected area melting the infection.
Kaede screamed as hot magma pour from her hands, but the burning pain was soon replaced with icily pain as the man's hands where now covered in it. She watches as the man pulled back his hands and revealed a chunk of metal the size of golf ball.
"This here is how much rusted iron was in your blood. Had it continued to grow it would have cogged your blood stream and kill you." The man said throwing the chunk to the side.
"Thank you," she muttered.
"Don't worry about it. Now you may ask your questions."
"Oh ah, yes questions." How did he know she had questions? Course than again anyone would have questions if they found themselves in a strange room. "Ok first question where am I, and who are who?"
"Well you're in my room at the McCoy ranch, so I assure you are safe as are you friends." He said. Kaede looked out the door he had entered and saw the familiar hallway of the McCoy's ranch house, so that was true. "As for me I am Jake McCoy, better known as Jack's grandpa. Currently I am controlling his body till the end of this day."
"Why?" She asked.
"For reasons I cannot speak off at this time. Don't worry by tonight you will have Jack back. Now please ask another question." Jake encouraged.
"Ok, did you now Evangeline A.k McDowell?" She wanted to know if the woman in the picture was really who she thought she was, and about the two kids.
"She is my second wife." Jake said bluntly, making Kaede stagger from the news. "And the two kids in that picture there are our sons John and Thomas. In the other picture is me and my first wife Ester and or son Ray."
"Wait, wait, Jack is a vampire?" Kaede stuttered.
Jake smiles. "No, one fourth vampire, all that means is he's stronger than the average man, and is immune to the curse. I guess he also doesn't age as fast. It's the same for John and Thomas too, and Jack's Sister Jesse."
"Jack has a sister?" Kaede blurted out. She felt like she needs to lie down again. All these answers were really over whelming her simple mind.
"Twin sister actually," Jake corrected. "But there is still one more question you want to ask isn't there? Ask it and then eat."
"Alright the newspapers on the wall, what do they say?" She didn't know why this was such an important thing to know, but her ninja information gathering instincts were screaming at her to ask.
"Yes those, I was hoping you would ask, because honesty it's about time I tell someone about those." Jake said walking to the wall. Gently he swiped his hand over the glass. "This one on the left tells of an Irish soldier and the one on the right of a Russian soldier, both of them captains, both brave, and both found something in No man's land. The Irish named Kurt McCoy heard a cry well on the battle field, he ran towards it ignoring his comrades protest to return. He fell into a crater one not made by numerous bombs that shelled the land. This one ran much deeper as if something fell from the sky. Inside he found a small form of a baby boy. He did not know how it had gotten there or how it had survived, but he was determined to bring to safely. So he ran, ran has fast he could dodging bullets, artillery fire, barbwire, the elements, till he finally made it back to base. That child was me. They called me the child of no man's land, because they could never find my parents. So Kurt looked after me taught me wrong from write and all that jazz, till he died. There I was given over Winston Churchill, surprisingly was actually a wizard. Anyways he took me to the queen and she sent me to the magic academy there, because of my in extraordinary magic potential. After that I roamed around traveling America and the world till I finally ended up here."
Kaede had swirls in her eyes. She got the gist of the long story, but she didn't know why he was telling her all this, perhaps he just needed someone to tell. She wondered though why not tell Ray his own son? Then she remembered, there was more, he said there were two.
"What about the Russian?"
Jake smirks. "Your cleverer than people give you credit for you now that? Yes there was a second child a girl found by Captain Vald Resnov in the eastern front. That girl is Shihime or Asta my sister. We are two of the fallen reborn."
Authors note
Ok this chapter finally done, and man it's confusing, question finally answered and even more bringing asked.