Hello and welcome back to FFW! It's nice to see this fic someone of a success, the reviews are low but that is because it is not that well known. I just hope all of you keep reviewing and are also spreading the word. I'm nervous of this fic because of so many ways this chapter could go but I'll leave how good this chapter is to you all.
Announcements:
The next chapter of this fic probably won't be up for a while. I may just spend some time updating my other fics as they have been seriously neglected. I'm going to update each one once before I get the next chapter up that's a promise.
I also hope everyone saw the new character profile that was posted on Chapter 2. To everyone who PM me thank you and to all the others just ask for the profile anytime.
Reviews:
Ilusionist Owl: Hope you're ready for this chapter!
DrummerBoy4Life:
Hakuryuken: Great advice and as for everything else if I didn't PM you then you can ask for the profile sheet and you can use video game powers, one of my powers are from a certain video game series.
MeteorThunder3: Every character given to me will be used at least once. I made that promise when I mad the fic and I'm not breaking that promise.
Generalhyna: Brilliant ideas but as you read you can see the reason why I choose neither.
Now that all of that is taken care of ON WITH THE SHOW!
"aaaa"-Speech
'bbbb'-Thought
'cccc'-Flashback
"dddd"-Attacks
Disclaimer: I own the plot, the locations, and some of the characters. What I don't own are things taken from anime, shows, movies, games, books, online RPGS, etc. I also don't own any character I didn't create. Put your lawyers away!
"A power everyone has is the power of CHOICE; choices can shape the future and even the whole world."-Shadowlight0982
"Creation is only extended by ones imagination"-Generalhyna
Ch.3 A Player's Choices
(Abandoned Building, Night)
Ruins. That was the only thing that can describe the once standing building as it was now a burning patch of rubble. Through the flames an animal tried to fly into the sky only to be shot down by a blast of light. As the bird fell to the ground a girl's voice can be heard over the burning blaze.
"Muku-Chan!" The girl yelled in tears as her pet and friend was blasted out of the sky. The bird, now named Muku-Chan, fell into the hands of a large opposing figure as it stood in the middle of the inferno.
"Thought you could run away from us did you?" The man said and formed a cage of energy around the injured animal. The girl tried to back away only to be trapped in a larger cage of energy. The man moved closer as a large group of figures appeared around the two.
"I still have use for you" The man finished.
(Tokyo City a week later)
A large group of players were watching as a large group of fighters were sent flying into the streets of Tokyo City. As more jumped in they too were all blown away by the same force of power.
"Rotation!"
A large cyclone swirled and blew all those who closed in on it. The cyclone faded to show a dome of pure energy (or in this case chakra). The dome vanished Shadow allowed his spin to stop to face all those in the square.
"If you came here thinking you are going to get an easy victory then leave now." Shadow sent a glare that frightened most of the players around him. "I'm not going to lose too a bunch of amateurs looking for a chance at power and fortune." Shadow walked away leaving the frightened crowd.
"You know you just encouraged them to try again." Key said as he saw the show called Shadow pwns all was over.
"Doesn't matter to me; let them try more experience and munny to us." Shadow said as the two continued towards the guild base.
"Have you even thought about what you wanted to do?" Key asked.
As he walked Shadow began to think about the discussion Kurotsubasa had after the news was left out.
(Flashback)
Shadow lifted his head up after the sigh and looked at the alert that was now posted all over FFW. "Great, just when I thought things couldn't get worse this has to hit the fan."
"So what's the game plan?" Key asked getting to the point.
"I have the perfect strategy!" Bella exclaimed.
"This 'out to be good, by all means Bella what is your idea?" Shadow asked with a sarcastic tone.
Bella snapped her fingers and a chalkboard with what seems to be a military plan written on it. The group watched as Bella tried to get into the professional mode.
"She flashed the board this time, this has to be serious!" DB said to joke around, a tick mark formed on Key's head and Shadow continued with his uncaring look.
"I've said this before and I'll say it again! We need to move underground! From there we can create new names and begin a new life…" Bella said.
"If we really need to go off the grid we can probably start as a travelling band! All we need to do is get the travel base out of storage." DB offered.
As the two continued on with offers and ideas Key asked his the question again. "So what do we do now?"
"I'll tell you what we're not going to do, run and hide." Shadow said. "I'm not giving Speed the satisfaction of seeing me run from his challenge. I don't care who comes after me, I will take them all down with my blade held high." Shadow summoned his scythe and placed it in the middle of the group.
"This crisis only affects me, I can't ask you guys to fight for me. But will you help me in showing the world Kurotsubasa is not to be trifled with!" Shadow said.
A keyblade landed on top of the deathscythe. "You already know my answer to that." Key said with his left eye burning with anticipation.
A claymore joined the clash of weapons. "I still owe you Shadow, fighting against the world may just as well repay my debt." DB said with glowing red eyes.
A ninjato completed the circle of weapons. "Like I can let you handle a world-class crisis without me Shads." Bella said.
"Alright then" Over the weapons a shadowed image of Kurotsubasa's logo appeared, a large black raven's wing sprouting from a silver crescent moon in a blue background. "Let's show the world Kurotsubasa's power."
(Flashback end)
"I'm going to do what I said before; I'll accept any challenge offered to me, that will never change." Shadow said.
Key nodded his head. "You think we'll get any missions today?"
"More like challenges." Shadow said. Shadow then stopped his walk. "I suggest you come out before I make you my 300th victory."
From a shadowed ally a girl appeared in front of the two. The girl appeared to be Shadow's age if not a little younger with long purple hair that partially covered her eyes. The girl was wearing a lavender coat with white trim, a red scarf around her neck, ruby earrings, a dark blue skirt that stopped at her knees, leggings and brown boots.
"Sorry I just needed to be sure if you are Shadowlight0982." The girl apologized with a small bow.
"I am, now who are you and why are you searching for me?" Shadow said hoping it wasn't the obvious answer.
"I need help; I have a mission for you and the rest of your guild." The girl said.
"And you are?" Key joined the conversation.
The girl's bangs parted to show her red eyes. "Illusionist Owl, but most call me Illu."
(Kurotsubasa base)
"Why did I end up the one that had to be here alone?" Bella said as she lay bored on a random couch downstairs. "Maybe if I summon some toons I can cause enough chaos too…"
"Don't even think about it!"
Bella looked up from the couch and saw Shadow and Key were in the building along with a new person she has never seen before. Bella looked from the girl to the guys and said what came to mind. "Don't tell me we have a job to do."
"That's right Bella, so no chaos inside the Guild building." Shadow scolded her.
"Bella…isn't that a girl's name?" Illu asked curiously.
"What was that about me not being a girl?" The Bella morphed Clayface yelled in Illu's face with a mace formed from his right arm.
"She didn't say anything about your gender so settle down." Key said as so Bella wouldn't kill their client (again).
"Bella" Shadow held a box labeled Bella Snax, Bella morphed into Wildmutt and panted happily in front of Shadow. "You want the treat girl don't ya?" A chibi Shadow taunted a chibi Wildmutt and then threw the box a fair distance away. "Go get it girl!" Wildmutt then ran after the box.
"Sorry about her, she's a handful but we put up with her anyway." Shadow then took a seat. "Now what is the mission?"
Illu pulled out a picture from her bag and showed a picture of a tiny owl. "This is Mukurowl, he's my best friend in the whole world, and he was taken from me from a very evil group of players in the outskirts of the city." Illu explained.
"Who took your owl?" A human Bella asked as she walked back into the room while eating from the box.
Illu's eyes were filled with a mixture of fear and seriousness. "The Red Savages."
"Did you say the Red Savages?" Shadow asked in surprised.
"Damn, of all the gangs in the server it had to be the Red Savages." Key said.
"The Red Savages?" Bella asked in confusion.
"You were with the Hyna Squad so you weren't here when the Admin Guards made the big announcement. Red Savages is the name of a very huge group from New York, They set up shop in FFW months ago and Admin had been searching for them as to find their identities in the real world." Shadow explained.
"Doesn't Admin have the information of all players registered in FFW?" Bella asked.
"All gangs these days have some kind of tech support. They use either a secure location or hack the system and erases personal information." Key said. "The disciplinary squadron has been hunting for them for a while."
"Please!" Illu shouted out and grabbed Kurotsubasa's attention. "Please I don't know what they could be doing to Muku-Chan! I'll pay any amount but please help me!"
Bella looked at Shadow with a serious look and Key's one hazel eye closed. "What do we do Shadow? Red Savages are a really vicious group and this is about A-rank at the least."
Shadow looked to Illu and saw her expression. Illu had a look of anticipation and fear and another emotion Shadow could sense. Shadow then stood from his seat.
"We've been through worse." Shadow looked to Illu. "Illu, we accept your request."
Illu's eyes then filled with tears. "Thank you, thank you so much!" Illu then wiped her tears away. "When will we leave?"
"Give us five minutes to prepare ourselves and then we'll head out." Shadow then walked upstairs with Key which left Bella to gather some supplies from downstairs.
"Why did you accept her request? You know as well as I she's hiding something." Key asked.
"I know, but there may be more to this than meets the eye. I want you to stay here." Shadow said.
"Why do you want me to stay?" Key asked.
"To follow us when we head out, if Illu does anything suspicious…" Shadow summoned a pile of cards and gave one to Key. "I want you to contact Cast and at least tell them Red Savages' location."
Key looked at the pactio card in front of him and accepted it. "I won't let you down."
(Time skip Tokyo City Forest)
"How comes Key isn't coming with us?" Bella asked as She Illu and Shadow walked through the woods.
"Someone has to watch the shop, besides we can handle this by ourselves." Shadow answered.
"Are you sure the three of us are enough for this?" Illu asked.
"Don't worry about us, worry about the Red Savages when they meet Bella." Shadow said which earned a devious look from Bella and a small smile from Illu. "Now are you sure Mukurowl is in this area?"
"We have a strong connection; I can sense him through our bond." Illu stopped and walked a new path through the trees. "We're close by."
The three looked past the foliage and saw a large cabin with three bandit dressed thugs walking around the entrance. The three looked to each other seeing the entrance was guarded.
"So what now Shads?" Bella asked.
"Well it's obvious we can't attack the front without alerting everyone in the building." Shadow then poured chakra into his left eye. "So we're just going to have to find another way in."
"Byakugan!"
The veins near Shadow's left eye became visible as he searched around the perimeter. Shadow saw that there was an entrance around the back that was unguarded. Shadow then looked inside and saw…
"Alright there's a back way that is unguarded. We can sneak around and grab Illu's owl and get out." Shadow said.
Bella nodded as did Illu but with a bit of hesitation. The group stood up from their position and began to walk around however halfway Shadow decided to confront Illu.
"Illu, before I continue any further, are you hiding anything from us?" Shadow bluntly asked.
"What? What do you mean?" Illu asked.
"First you have been a little quite since we started this mission; you're also a bit too nervous if it's the gang that has you worried. Also…" Shadow placed a hand on Illu's shoulder which caused her to flinch. "There are the wounds that you are hiding under your coat." Shadow finished.
"I r-really don't know what you're talking about; these wounds were from a monster that was in the area." Illu explained.
Shadow remained silent but he didn't buy her story. "Let me just say something before we go into that bunker."
"Everyone has choices, sometimes the choices are good and others are bad. However, everyone has to live with the choices they make. Just make sure your choice is something you can live with." Shadow continued walking which left Illu to bring up the rear as she was silent in thought.
'I wish I didn't have to do this. I'm sorry Shadow, but you're wrong. I have no choice.' A guilty look appeared on Illu's face until she forced it away and continued to follow. The group then stopped to look at the unguarded entrance. "Muku-Chan is inside, I can sense him."
"Bella can you check out the inside?" Shadow said.
"On it!" Bella slammed down the omnitrix and morphed into a living green puddle of liquid. Goop then slid across the ground and inside the bunker, when the living blob saw no one Bella transformed back and signaled Shadow and Illu.
"Coast is clear, alright let's go." Shadow walked inside with Illu behind him. When the two joined Bella they saw literally an empty room.
"Funny thing is I never expected thugs to be this neat." Bella thought out loud. "Or for this place to be empty?"
"Strange room, no windows, no entrance but the one we walked into. It almost feels like a…what is that smell?" Shadow said as a purple vapor filled the room.
"I don't know but the room's all swirly." Bella said as she fainted from the effects of the vapors in the air.
"Bella! Illu…?" Shadow used the last of his strength to look at Illu who had miasma emitting from her hands and a guilty look on her face.
"I'm sorry, but this is the only way. I'm sorry." Illu bangs covered her eyes and gave her a demonic appearance as Shadow's vision started to fade.
"Damn...it" Shadow then joined his teammate into unconsciousness.
Illu stopped generating the miasma and let the room filter out; Illu looked at the two members of Kurotsubasa with guilt before knocking on a certain wall. A large man appeared from a hidden door and smiled as his sees the plan had worked.
"Wonderful, I guess all your "motivation" finally sunk in huh?" Illu held her arms as she felt a phantom pain course through them. The man began to examine the bodies. "Are they dead?"
"No, it's a mild poison that only knocks them out for a few minutes." Illu said in a silent voice. Illu then stiffened when she felt fingers on her chin as the man forced her to look at him.
"Good. They have no use to me if they're dead. Don't worry girl…" the thug dropped his hand from Illu and then picked up the sleeping members of Kurotsubasa. "In a few minutes you'll be able to leave with your little bird intact."
As the man walked away Illu felt guilty being the cause of what was about to happen. 'I never wanted any of this, but they still have Muku-Chan. What do I do?'
(Flashback)
"Everyone has choices, sometimes the choices are good and others are bad. However, everyone has to live with the choices they make. Just make sure your choice is something you can live with."
(Flashback end)
"Everyone has a choice, is this choice the one I want to live with?" Illu silently asked herself.
(Tokyo City Outskirts)
Key then opened his eyes as he felt Shadow and Bella's signature just now dimmed. Key knew either they were dying or were unconscious. Key then pulled out the pactio Shadow had given him.
"Let's hope this works" Key held the card to his head and tried to contact Cast.
"This connection is secured and reserved only to the Admin, who are you?" A gruff voice asked.
"My name is Key; I'm a friend of Shadow. Please I need to speak to Cast, this is an emergency!" Key spoke in his mind.
"What is the nature of this emergency?"
"The Red Savages" Key spoke both in his head and out loud. The connection was silent for a while before the voice returned.
"This is an emergency, Cast is not online at this moment but I can connect you to the next available Administrator."
'I hope I can get help just in time.' Key thought. "Alright patch me through!"
The connection once again remained silent until a new and familiar voice answered. "Office of the Disciplinary Squadron, Speedgain speaking."
'Dammit' Key thought to himself.
"So the Red Savages care to explain this more thoroughly please Keybladedude." Speed said sarcastically.
"I don't need your crappy sarcasms, I need for the A.G. to head into the forest and help Shadow and Bella!" Key yelled.
Key could hear laughing from the other line. "Yes you do need help but what's in it for me?"
"Why you…!" Key yelled.
"Listen I'll compromise, I'll head to Shadow's location and deliver discipline if you beg for my help." Speed reasoned.
"What?"
"Beg, like you mean it. Tick, tock Key you of all people know how valuable time is."
Key's grip on the card tightened after that last statement. Key wanted no more than to rush into Admin Tower and kick Speed's ass or try and help Shadow himself but he knew what he had to do.
(Red Savages Hideout)
"All right you little brats wake up!" A sharp voice cuts through the darkness. Shadow slowly opened his eyes and found out his movements were restrained. Shadow saw that he and a still asleep Bella were tied up and surrounded in all directions.
"So…you guys are the Red Savages. Funny I always thought there'd be more of you." Shadow said.
"You know what they say kid less is more." A deep voiced answered Shadow's retort. The man was large and almost inhumanly muscular. The man was shirtless with a small red vest with the Savages' logo on the back, brown pants, and boots. His bald head shown and the light and his chest was covered in scars.
"My name is Ripper or in here it is. I'm the head of the Red Savages." Ripper introduced himself.
"Ripper that's original. I would applaud you for your unique name but as you can see I'm a little tied up." Shadow continued to joke with his captors.
"Funny one aren't ya kid?" Ripper smiled and slammed a surprised punch that left Shadow breathless. "I like funny guys like you, keeps things entertaining!"
"Hurrah I'm a steroid abuser's favorite punch line." Shadow said after regaining breath.
"Shads, stop tormenting the bad guys for once unless you have a plan." Bella said in her sleep.
"Best listen to ya girlfriend there kid." A thug said and gained a laugh from many others.
"Girlfriend you serious? No way she's too high maintenance plus several people would kill me if I even try anything." Shadow said.
"You won't have to worry about dying for a while, but first!" Ripper moved to show a nervous and guilty Illu in the middle of the crowd. "A big hand for the witch that made this all possible!"
"Illu you don't have to do this. Everyone has a choice! You can choose to do what you think is right." Shadow said.
Illu was about to say something but was kept silent as Ripper placed a hand on her. "She had a choice alright! It was HER choice to help us, it was HER choice to capture you here, and it was HER choice to lead you to us!"
"Because you gave her NO choice right?" Shadow shouted back. "You took away not just her friend but also her free will just to get a shot at me!"
"What do you expect? Us to just parade into Tokyo City while we're on the most wanted list?" Ripper asked. "I don't think so, when we first caught this wench her powers were exactly what I needed to capture you!"
"Who said you captured me?" Shadow said and silent drew power from the Azure.
"What did you say?" Ripper asked.
"Who said you actually captured me?" Shadow's form began to pulsate with power. "I have the Byakugan; I saw ALL of you before we even went the back way." A dark power began to fill the air with pressure.
"Say what?" Ripper asked as he saw several of his men pass out from the pressure coming from Shadow.
"You heard me." Shadow said silently as an evil aura cloaked his body and began to burn away at the ropes. "You haven't trapped me…I just simply had you talk enough for me to make my move."
"Wait you wouldn't risk…?" Ripper and the others then notice Bella was nowhere to be found.
"Looking for me?" Most of the Savages turned around and saw Clayface was standing tall over twenty fallen thugs with his hands as twin blades. Ripper look as Shadow began to stand and blew away the ropes with just pure power.
"Blood Kain!"
Shadow glared at the Red Savages with his now red right eye and blazing Byakugan. "Let's start this party." Shadow opened his dimensional pocket and drew his scythe, after a few spins and twirls he assumed a fighting stance.
"Why you!" Ripper then held Illu by her neck and began to drag her to a secret exit. "Forget the reward, kill them KILL THEM! I don't want any trace of them left here!" The remaining thugs seem to surround Bella and Shadow to allow their leader to escape.
When the thugs tried to rush Shadow he quickly dashed through them and hit several pressure points. As the men lay paralyzed on the ground Shadow saw Bella was easily knocking thugs around in her clay form.
"Bella I'm going after Ripper!" Shadow ran for the exit only to see ten guards block it.
"Get out of my way!" Shadow suddenly appeared in front of them. Shadow's scythe was now cloaked in dark power.
"Carnage Scissors!"
A large ethereal tail sliced through all of the men in its path. As they dissolved into flakes of data Shadow then ran after the escaping Savage.
(Forest)
"Let go of me!" Illu struggled to get out of Ripper's grip.
"I don't think so, no one double crosses Ripper! I'm going to make sure no one finds you or your pet chicken again!" Ripper yelled out.
"That's far enough!"
Ripper looked and saw Shadow had found them. Shadow form was still covered in the dark and evil aura. The jewel on Shadow's right hand, the azure grimoire, was active. Shadow glared Ripper down.
"Running from a fight and taking a hostage. That's about as low as I expect of you Ripper!" Shadow said.
"My men should have taken care of you." Ripper growled.
"Like your band of weaklings could stop me, speaking of them Bella should be finishing them all off right about…" An explosion came from the direction of the hideout. "Now" Shadow then got in a fighting stance.
"It's all over Ripper."
"I'm still in control! I hold all the cards here!" Ripper slammed his free hand into the ground and sparks of energy flew out. Shadow then saw from out the ground formed a cage around him.
"What now little boy! You're trapped like a rat in front of a LION!" Ripper then lifted Illu by her throat. "I should kill you Shadow but first…"
Ripper's form then began to change; his body seemed to grow more inhuman. His muscles continued to bulk up, his skin gained an unnatural red hue. Rippers' small dog like pupils we're now replaced with white voids. Ripper had become a red ogre.
"First you bitch! I'm going to teach you a lesson, about betraying the Red Savages!" Ripper began to choke her. "I'm going to beat you to an inch of your life and then I might just kill your little hero and pet in front of ya!"
Tears fell from Illu's eyes as she felt the beast's large hands continue to squeeze her neck.
"I never betrayed you, because I was never one of you." Illu managed to squeeze out. "If you have not taken Muku-Chan from me and captured me I would never have helped you!"
Just before Illu's vision could go black a flash of light cut cleanly through Rippers' arm, causing him to howl in pain. Illu fell and was soon landed in Shadow's arms. Illu coughed violently but was relieve she could breathe.
"Made it just in time." Shadow then jumped back with Illu in his arms as the injured Ripper thrashed around with his bleeding stump. "You ok?"
Illu took a moment to catch her breath and then looked back to Shadow. "I'm...I'm ok."
Shadow then placed Illu on the ground and looks back to the wailing beast. "If he wasn't mad before he is now."
"What are we going to do?" Illu asked.
"For now can you stall him?" Shadow raised his scythe across his head and assumed his stance. "I'm going to try something but I need a little time."
"How much time?" Illu asked.
"About five minutes give or take." Shadow answered. "You sense Mukurowl?"
Illu closed her eyes and a light shone on her forehead. Illu looked and saw Mukurowl was held in a sphere in Rippers' pocket. Illu opened her eyes.
"He's still got him; can you land your attack without hitting Muku-Chan?" Illu asked.
"I can't guarantee that" Witch Hunter then appeared on top of the scythe blade. "That's why I'm giving you the time to get him and get out of the way!" Shadow then focused the power of the azure into the scythe.
Ripper finally got over the pain of his bleeding stump and growled bestially at the two. "Now you both are going to die!"
Illu got in front of Shadow and pulled out two hidden knives. "Ripper, this time it's you who doesn't has a choice! Accept defeat!"
Ripper answered Illu by charging in with power surging through his remaining arm. Illu jumped just in time to dodge a punch that left a crater in the ground. Illu landed and slashed at Ripper, twice she pierced skin but that only enraged the Savage more. Ripper tried another punch that got him a cut on the cheek that drew blood.
While Ripper was backing away Illu quickly reached for his pocket only for Ripper to grab her.
"You little bitch!" Ripper slammed his now massive skull against Illu.
Illu's forehead began to bleed but she still was able to reach and grab a red and white sphere from Rippers' pocket. Illu slammed both daggers into Ripper's back which got him to let go in pain. When Illu landed on the ground she pressed the button in the center and a ball of light was released.
Mukurowl was a small owl, about as big as Illu's palm. Mukurowl then landed next to his weakened and tired friend.
"Muku-Chan, you're safe…" Illu said with all the strength she could.
Shadow watched this scene in anger. 'Dammit, just a bit longer…Illu you have to get out of there!' The Witch Hunter soon gained a crimson hue, the large circular eye became slightly curved and the smile became demonic. Shadow was about the let loose his technique before he felt a flash of power.
"What is that? That surge of power?"
"Damn bitch!" Ripper lifted up his massive foot. "I'm going to crush under my foot like the insect you are!"
Illu's bangs began to rise and the symbol on her forehead began to glow, Mukurowl let out a hoot as he too begins to glow. Before Ripper could even put his foot down he was blown back by a dome of light.
"What the hell?" Ripper said in surprise.
"Is that…demonic transformation?" Shadow asked himself as the move was almost complete.
The sphere of light burst open and a figure flew high into the sky. The figure then stepped on thin air and glared at Ripper. The figure was Illu but with plenty of changes, her wounds were healed, she now had large owl wings that grew from her arms. Illu's feet and boots were replaced by large razor sharp talons.
Illu looked down at Ripper with her new avian eyes. "Now Ripper it's time I showed you what this insect can do!" Illu then began a dive bomb charge.
Ripper tried to move but found that he couldn't. Ripper then took many slashes from Illu's attack as her talons ripped through his hard skin.
"What the hell, I can't move!" Ripper manages to get out after the barrage of slashes.
"I know" Illu lifted up her talon to show her cleans gleaned a purple color. "My blades, my talons are all coated with a special poison. Those two knives in your back still have paralysis poison on the blades."
"Shadow now!" Illu called out.
Ripper focused back and looked in fear as Shadow now held a demonic witch hunter.
"Red Savages leader Ripper, this is THE END!" Shadow lifted his weapon and slashed forward.
"Lunar Destroyer!"
A wave of energy began to slice through the air and ground as it made its way towards Ripper. Ripper could only watch as the attack neared as he could not move. In a small breath Ripper called out a name he thought he'd never call again.
"Mother…"
Shadow turned away and placed the scythe on his shoulder. The blast connected and wave of light burst from behind him. As Ripper's now human body fell to the ground Shadow opened his eyes and Blood Kain's aura faded.
"Like I said the end."
Illu landed on the ground and began to glow red. Illu now changed back to normal. Mukurowl also appeared from the light and perched itself on top of Illu's head. Illu turned from Shadow to the smoking crater.
"Is he dead?" Illu asked.
"No" Shadow walked them to the crater to show Ripper unconscious with a large scar on his chest. "But he won't be causing trouble anytime soon."
Illu took the chance and nailed Ripper in the family jewels. "That's for all the days in that cage!"
While Illu vents her frustration Shadow looked around and saw the destruction around them. Shadow then took a chance and pulled down his sleeve and the Wings of Creation began to glow.
"Let's hope this works." Shadow hoped silently.
World Restoration
Illu stopped her righteous punishment to see the whole area begin to glow. Illu saw the crater around Ripper, the fallen trees, and the scarred ground begin to vanish and the forest seem to return to its original state. Illu turned and saw Shadow now stop the item and returned it under his sleeve.
"So that's the Wings of Creation?" Illu asked.
"Yes it is" Shadow said. "So now what do we do with him?"
"You don't have to worry about that Shadow."
Shadow and Illu turned and saw Speed, four discipline Admin Guards and Key. "Speedgain, what are you doing here?" Shadow asked.
"Just doing my job," Speed answered back.
"Key what happened? Where's Cast?" Key had his eyes closed but Shadow guessed what had happened.
"Cast is off duty today, she's busy looking into repairing another area. I however am in charge of the disciplinary squadron of the Admin Guards, so it's my job to see to it criminals in FFW are captured." Speed explained. "You're friend was useful in telling me about the Red Savages' hideout here."
The two began a glare contest until Bella walked into the scene and saw the tension. Key was silent but inside he was cursing himself for being so careless. Speed was the first to break eye contact as he passed out grimoires to his men.
"Got and capture the rest of the live ones at the bunker." The guards took the grimoires and proceed to walk towards the bunker Bella had come from.
"New toys?" Shadow rhetorically asked.
"Not new but yes special, these are capturing Grimoire! They're useful for holding many things, especially people." Speed then walked to Ripper's body and pulled out a small card. Ripper's body turned into a trail of light that was swallowed by the card and ripper's symbol appeared. "These cards also come from the grimoire."
Speed then grasp Illu's arm suddenly. "I also have to take YOU into custody."
"What! Why?" Illu asked while trying to remove her arm from speed's grasp.
"You were working for them were you not? I believe that is called guilty by association." Speed then started to drag her away." Now just cooperate or else…"
A hand soon landed on Speed's arm and threw him away from Illu; Speed skids a few inches on the ground and looks to see it was Shadow that intervened. Illu was surprised at what happened as shadow now blocked Speed's path to Illu.
"So you're protecting criminals now Shadow? And here I thought you had at least some honor." Speed said.
"More than you Speed. Illu is the reason we were able to defeat the Red Savages before you guys came into the picture." Shadow defended.
"That girl chose to do what the Savages asked of her, so she is as guilty as they are." Speed explained.
"Illu may have chosen that but she had NO CHOICE in the situation. Even after all that happened I still trusted Illu and she made the right choice in the end." Shadow argued.
"Shadow" Illu said in a low tone.
"Everyone has a choice in this world; it is the choices we make that define us. Illu defined herself as a person who even after all the evil things she had to do she is still a good person." Shadow said. "What about YOU Speed, what choices will you make? How will you define yourself?"
Speed sent his best glare in Shadow's direction as if to destroy them both with only his eyes, the Guards returned and then gathered behind Speed sensing the dispute but Speed raised a hand to dismiss them.
"Fine then have it your way. Since Illusionist Owl was not involved of her own free will I'm willing to let this slide." Speed then turned around. "You will however be placed on a weeklong probationary period to see if you are telling the truth." Speed began to walk away with the Disciplinary squad.
Illu let out a long breath and landed on the ground, Bella sighed as the tension was finally over. Key suddenly punched the bark of a tree.
"Sorry but after all this work Speed's probably going to get a reward for bringing them in and we won't get shit." Key said in a rare display of anger.
"Not exactly" Shadow said holding up his PDA. "I had the whole thing recorded and sent it to the Administration Tower directly."
"When did you start recording?" Illu asked as she got back to her feet.
"Since when you tricked us to go into the back way." Shadow then held up his hand to stop Illu from apologizing. "No apologies, you did what you had to do but it all worked out, we're all alive, the Red Savages may very well already be in custody, and Speed's probably going to be embarrassed when the video reaches. Everyone wins"
"Theirs is still one thing thought" Key said and got everyone's attention. "Ripper or whatever didn't seem like the type to have expert hacking experience, did anyone in his group?"
"No, they were a bunch of dumb thugs; a chair has a higher I.Q. than all of them put together." Bella answered.
"So who gave Ripper the tools he needed to stay under radar for so long?" Shadow asked. The question lingers in the air before shadow lets out a sigh.
"Whatever it is I'm sure we won't have to worry about it, come on let's get back." Kurotsubasa began to walk before Illu stopped them.
"Wait! I can't just accept this! All that happened today and you are all willing to just let me walk away?" Illu asked.
"You paid for the mission and the mission's over, sure you had that one bad event but you made up for it in the end." Shadow stated.
"While I don't like anyone who puts my friends in danger I'm sure under the same circumstances I may have done the same. Like Shadow said no harm done." Key said.
"Besides getting to know you for a while was fun, just talking with a couple of guys get's old after a long time." Bella said.
Kurotsubasa then turned to walk away. Illu let a fear tears fly before looking back up. "Thank you! For everything!" Mukurowl let out a hoot in thanks.
Bella turned around and waved back, Key turned for a second and then turned back to walk. Shadow didn't turn but he put a hand in the air to show he had heard her. The sun began to set as Kurotsubasa made their way back to the guild building.
"Say Shadow you're not going soft on us are you?" Key asked.
"What do you mean?" Shadow asked.
"Saving the damsel in distress, beating the bad guy, leaving without asking for the smallest reward. Key listed out and smiled. "You're turning into a hero man."
"Yep, a genuine hero, a knight in shining black armor, the stereotypical savior." Bella played along.
"Shut up, I'm no hero. I'm just not that bad a guy." Shadow said after a blush of embarrassment. "Besides we were paid and we are about to collect a reward."
(FFW Penitentiary 1)
It was nighttime or at least it was in the game. Ripper was now in a cell in the solitary section of the prison. The Admin had placed him in a cell that prevented him from logging out. Ripper now stared out the bared window into the night sky.
"Damn it, forget the Admin, at least HE doesn't know I failed." Ripper then heard some footsteps. When he walked to the bars to check it out he received a blade to the heart.
"Mr. Ripper, let us talk about your unsatisfying performance." A gentleman's voice spoke.
"It's not my fault! That bitch…!" Jack tried to argue as his form started to become pixilated.
"Your plan failed, you failed to achieve your end of our deal and my Mistress does not enjoy failure." The voice spoke back, Ripper was about to vanished but somehow he stayed solid. Ripper stared into the man's cold violet eyes. "You will become an example for what is to come…"
A large void appeared behind Ripper, zeros and ones flowed out of it showing that it was leaking through the program and the system itself. The sword was then yanked out of Jack's torso and a hand held him by his hair.
"Please just give me anoth…"
"I'm sure I can find someone else to complete the job, you humans…always making mistakes." The stranger interrupted. "That is why you all must die"
Jack was thrown into the void. Jack's screams could be heard until the void closed itself, silencing the screams as if Jack/Ripper never existed. The man pulled out a PDA and activated the phone feature.
"It's me; I just took care of another failure. Maybe we should try a different approach to these humans." The man nodded his head. "Yes…understood." A portal opened up next to the man and he began to walk into it.
"The era of Humans is over." The portal closed.
Soon two Admin Guards came over to check the noise, they found Ripper's cell empty and they began to signal for alarms. The Admin were now searching for something that has vanished from FFW. Ripper's data.
(Earth-Warehouse)
"Boss!" A teenage boy with the Red Savages logo ran into the warehouse. "Boss, the Admin tracked us down, I managed to get away but…"
The teen stopped because on the floor was an unconscious Ripper. The grunt tried to check for a pulse only to find none. The whole room was silent and dark. The only light came from the laptop screen which had two words written on a now blood red screen.
GAME OVER
(FFW-The next day)
A knock was heard on Kurotsubasa's front door. The group was lounging in the lounge while Shadow walked to get the door.
"Sure no one hears the door but me." Shadow opened the door and saw a familiar face. "Illu?"
Right on Kurotsubasa's doorstep was Illu, wearing the same thing but it was now cleaner and her wounds had healed. Mukurowl was perched on her head giving the owl version of a happy smile. Illu nodded her head.
"The one and only." Illu said.
"When I said comeback anytime you had a problem I didn't think you would get in trouble again literally." Shadow said.
"Oh I'm not here because I'm in trouble." Illu stated.
The rest of Kurotsubasa (chibi forms) gathered behind Shadow. "Then why are you here?"
"Two things, one to give you this." Illu held up a pactio card for all to see. Shadow took then card and it showed holding two knives that gleamed a poison light and Mukurowl flying beside her, them both with a symbol on their forehead. On the back was Illu's symbol, an owl.
"A pactio pal request, what's the other thing." Shadow asked as the card flashed a green light showing he accepted it.
"I wanted to ask if I could join Kurotsubasa." Illu said with a small blush.
"You want to join our crazy group?" Shadow asked rhetorically. "By all means…"
"It would be good to see a new face in the guild now." Key said.
"Finally another girl in the group!" Bella shrieked with happiness.
"You're the girl these guys were talking about right? Well after all I heard you're more than welcome to join!" DB said.
"BUT FIRST…!" Shadow, DB, and Key all yelled at the same time.
"You have to complete initiation." Shadow said.
"What initiation?" Illu asked.
"I JUST HAD TO ASK!" Illu screamed as a rabid Hyna-Wolf chased after her. The rest of Kurotsubasa watched in enjoyment.
"How much time does she have left?" Db asked.
"About ten more minute" Key answered.
"Well Bella is always complaining about adding more members, Illu will have her hands full "playing" with Bella." Shadow said.
Illu was now running from a team of Jackbots. Bella or Jack Spicer as she was now was laughing manically as Illu ran.
"That's right dance puppet dance!"
"Key I know this is wrong to ask but can you slow this down about so we can watch in slow motion?" DB asked.
"You are one SICK dude…but yeah." Key slowed time down around the two females.
The day ended with one happy Bella, a traumatized Illu and three boys who almost died of laughter.
TBC…
Now that this is over I hope that this turned out a good chapter. If not then I know what I'm doing wrong and I'll only get better. Now this story will not update unless you…
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But I'll probably update for a while anyways, this story is just now starting to get popular.
-Shadowlight0982 out.
Author debut
Illusionist Owl
Next time, many disappearances have been happening all over Tokyo City, mainly in the secret underground routes Cheshire's Path. While walking one day Shadow stumbles upon a small animal fleeing from the A.G. The cat contains a clue about not only its owner but maybe what may be happening underneath the very streets of Tokyo City. Next time on FANFICTION World!
A special cat crosses your path!-Punnyao!