A/N: Hey, sorry I stopped working on this for the past two months, but after literally working nonstop in March, I felt I deserved a break. And some time away from this. Haha, anyway, thank you to ultima-owner, Cotovatre, Silvermoontwentyseven, Yuki Walker-The Kitsune, GOTTA WRK, bougainvillea blossom, AnimeWarrioress 359, patrick the almighty observer, Ennael, Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet, Firehedgehog, 9foxgrl, RaNDoem, Shad0wReaper133, nerd101, YullenSunsetKitsune, vampireharry the 2, KK, Latias426, Yuuki GB, LDK, OtakuDrag0n, Strife666, DemonxHalphas,The 10th Wand (x2), 534667lc, Ranglar, and Im a guest for all reviewing!(: As always, I loved hearing from all of you guys!^-^
Enjoy~!
Disclaimer: Sorry guys, still don't own it! Don't worry though, I'll be sure not to disappoint when I take over the world!(;
Chapter 16
Time Frame — Morning of March 27th, 1896
—3rd Person POV—
~Allen~
"Hey, uh, Allen?" Timothy warily tugged on his coat, eyes distractedly flitting across the sheets of paper held in his other hand, brow furrowed in puzzlement.
"What is it, Timothy?" Allen glanced down, casually munching on his stick of Mitarashi Dango. They were currently strolling down the cobblestone walkways of Spain, where they were taking a short rest after almost a month of constant travelling and fighting Akuma. With the help of Komui, Allen had found some Level 1 Akuma hotspots, and in addition to teaching Timothy hand-to-hand combat, was carefully introducing him to the Level 1s, which wasn't too difficult for the seven-year-old, seeing as all he had to do was posses and depart for them to detonate. Unfortunately, it was only for so long that Timothy could do this, so Allen was slowly trying to increase his stamina before moving on to Level 2s and so forth.
"Look at this!" the cobalt-haired boy urged, demonstrating the images that had been distributed among the forces of the Black Order. After multiple spotting of the Noah—in addition to the added deaths of Kazaana Reed and Sol Galen, much to Allen's ire—depictions of said Noah had been drawn and spread out. So far, only five of these Noah (with the addition of the Millenium Earl), had been made, among which included Road Kamelot, Tyki Mikk, Wisely (Kamelot), Jasdero, and Devitto (though the last two technically counted as one, in Noah terms).
More specifically, Timothy was referring to the images of Tyki and Wisely. "They look scarily similar to those two," Timothy whisper conspicuously, wildly gesturing to the pair of young men sitting at an outdoor café further down the street. Allen rolled his eyes at the boy's dramatic actions, but indulged him anyway, nearly doing a double take when he realized that it was, in fact, Tyki and Wisely sitting there, currently in their "white form".
Allen narrowed his moonlit eyes, wondering what kind of havoc they were planning on creating this time around. "Come along, Timothy, I think it's time to make some new friends," he said sardonically, briskly making his way over to the pair, who were sitting casually around, drinking tea as if slaughtering human kind wasn't their goal.
"E-eh?!" Timothy stuttered, before hurrying after the young General and demanding, "Allen! What are you thinking?! We can't engage them!"
Despite the situation, an amused smile tugged at his lips as Allen glanced towards the younger boy, and asked teasingly, "Huh? What was that Timothy? Are you scared?"
"What'd you say to me?!" Timothy demanded, stubbornly crossing his arms. "I am not scared, ya old geezer!"
Allen could feel his eye beginning to twitch. "What was that?"
"I, uh—sorry! Won'tcallyouthatagain! Promise!" Timothy spluttered, nervously scratching the back of his head and pointedly avoiding Allen's accusing glare.
"Yes," Allen stressed, "Wouldn't want to run more drills with Kanda, now would we?"
"Hmph," Timothy huffed, still avoiding eye contact, but following after the older teen nonetheless.
One can only hope that he'll continue to keep his mouth shut, Allen thought irately, finally nearing the pair of Noah. Each of the round tables spread out held four chairs each, so Allen and Timothy slipped into seats across from Tyki and Wisely, immediately gaining their attention.
"Well, well, if it isn't the boy," Tyki smirked, though it hardly seemed sinister when he made a grab for his teacup.
"I do have a name, you know. It's Allen," the white-haired boy vehemently corrected, beyond irritated with the fact that no one ever seem to get his name right. It was a five-letter name for crying out loud! With a measly two syllables! As an afterthought, he added with a pleasant smile, "Say, Tyki, how have those poker lesson been treating you?"
The Portuguese man narrowed his eyes. "What poker lessons?"
"Oh, you haven't taken any?" Allen's mercury eyes widened in mock surprise, before his innocent smile turned snarky. "After your pathetic loss, I guess I just assumed…"
"Boy!" Tyki growled, but any further threats were interrupted by Wisely's raucous guffaws.
"He's got you there, Tyki!" Wisely snickered, wiping stray tears from the corners of his eyes. "It was pretty pathetic!"
"You're one to talk!" Tyki scoffed, "Might I remind you of the other brat that easily bested you, even while you read his thoughts?!"
Wisely grimaced, as if he'd just tasted something awful. "Please don't."
"What is going on?!" Timothy suddenly exploded, and Allen was genuinely surprised that the young boy had been able to withhold his confusion for as long as he had. Swiveling to Allen with narrowed, toffee colored eyes, Timothy declared, "I thought they were the enemy," he jabbed a thumb in the direction of said enemy, "So why the heck are we sitting around drinking tea and talking about poker?! Are you friends with these bozos?!"
"What a rude child," Tyki muttered.
With a heavy exhale, Allen turned back to the Noah and deadpanned, "Tyki, Wisely, meet my lovely apprentice, Timothy."
"Hmm, your thoughts are very cluttered, Timothy," Wisely pointed out with wicked grin, "You might want to calm down. I'll get clearer read then."
Allen stiffened. "I would appreciate it," Allen began slowly, glowering at the other white-haired teen, "If you'd keep your nose out of my apprentice's thoughts."
"H-he can read minds?" Timothy realized, topaz eyes widening in horror.
"Unfortunately," Allen hummed with distaste, still glaring at said Noah. "Just focus your thoughts on your Innocence. It gives him a headache, so he won't bother delving in too deep."
"You just had to ruin my fun…" Wisely grumbled.
"Anyway," Allen went on to redirect the subject, "If you would be so kind as to let me in on why you're here? And don't give me any rubbish on just being human and wanting to go out. I'm sure you sensed my Innocence sometime back, and you could have simply left and avoided trouble. So what's the deal, because don't think for a second that I'll allow you to harm anyone here."
"My, no need to be so serious, boy," Tyki chuckled, setting down his cup of tea and leaning back in a relaxed manner. "Do really believe we're always looking for trouble?" At Allen's deadpan expression, Tyki waved his hand, as if to brush off his concern and said, "Lighten up, boy. Yes, we sensed your Innocence. We can't actually differentiate between Exorcists based on the feeling of their Innocence, so we didn't think it to be anybody that would recognize us."
So they don't know about the pictures we made to warn the rest, Allen thought, finding it weird. To him, it had always seemed that the Earl was always on top of whatever it was that the Order was doing, always a couple steps ahead. But what could have him so distracted that he wouldn't notice something as big as that? It did seem odd, considering every Exorcist and Finder out there had their own copy. There's something bigger going with the Noah Clan than we thought, Allen concluded.
"So, ah, how is your little friend doing in there?" Tyki asked, tapping his head in an obvious gesture, curiosity coloring his voice.
"My friend…?" Allen blinked owlishly, before the motion registered with him. Neah. "Well I haven't talked to him, if that's what you mean. And I might as well make it clear now that I have nointention of allowing him to come to surface. And from what Road told me, you should probably be grateful."
"Yeah, no kidding," Wisely scoffed, "Accidentally got to see a bit of that from Road's memories, and let me tell you now, it was not pretty! Honestly, I'm kind of glad we don't remember. Though I can't imagine how traumatizing those death must have been, that it got to the point of our Noah repressing those memories."
Allen nodded, about to respond, but before he could, someone called out, "Allen?!" He was given no chance to respond, for he soon felt someone clinging to him, and it was with that action, that he didn't even need to turn around.
"Road. Why am I not surprised?" Allen asked dryly.
"A-another one?!" Timothy spluttered, though he thankfully didn't take out the pictures in order to double check, too busy gaping at the affectionate way Road clung to Allen. "W-what the heck is wrong with all of you?!" demanded the seven-year-old.
"Huh? Who's this?" Road turned towards the cerulean haired boy.
Allen sighed. "Road, this is my apprentice, Timothy."
"You have an apprentice?!" Road practically squealed, moving over to said boy. "He's adorable!"
"Gah! Lady, quit that!" Timothy groused rubbing at his aching cheeks, which Road had pinched.
"Huh… He spoke. I take that back. He's not cute anymore!" Road decided, turning her back towards the astounded boy. "Anyway, look what I got us!" Road exclaimed, setting a bright pink box down; presumably the reason why she hadn't been with the other two Noah to begin with. Lifting the cover up, she revealed a glorious and pristine looking cake. Allen could already feel his mouth salivating. It looked delicious! "Would you like some, Allen~?" Road giggled.
"Yes! Is that even a question?!" Allen demanded, starry-eyed at the sight of the delicious treat.
"Ah, told you this would be worth it," Road jabbed her finger at Tyki and Wisely.
They tossed Allen a dubious glance, and Tyki said, "It's like you knew he was going to be here."
"Maybe~," Road grinned cheekily.
"Come on, Road!" Allen urged her, pleading puppy dog eyes directed at her. Unfortunately, they were interrupted once again.
"What the hell is going on here?!" a very angry voice demanded. Simultaneously, the group swiveled their heads in the direction from which the shout originated. Allen blinked, surprised. It was an Exorcist. Chaoji? Allen wondered, and though he might've been a year or two younger, it was most certainly the Chinese man. I guess General Tiedoll found him sooner than I thought, but I don't see the General anywhere… In fact, is that…? Allen leaned over, and sure enough, it was Daisya jogging after the fuming newbie.
"Hey Daisya!" Allen greeted, momentarily forgetting the position they all found themselves in.
"Allen?" Daisya finally caught up, grinning at the sight of the younger boy. "Ah, hey squirt, what are you doing here?"
"Daisya!" Chaoji called back his attention, "Haven't you seen who he's hanging around?!" The furious brunette tossed a glare in Allen's direction, who belatedly realized that he was technically surrounded by Noah. Oopsies…
"That's what I've been saying…" Timothy grumbled, though nobody paid him much mind.
"Huh?" Daisya observed the others more closely, but seeing as how he neglected taking any of the distributed Noah member depictions, he only recognized Road. "Hey! You're the crazy Noah chick that stabbed out Allen's eye! What the heck Allen?!" Daisya turned indignantly over to the young General, "You don't return with a girl after that! It's common sense, squirt!"
They all sweatdropped.
And Chaoji smacked the other teen over the head. "Ouch! Chaoji, what the hell?!"
"Daisya, they're all Noah," Chaoji stressed, disgust lacing his voice. "And you!" he pointed towards Allen, "You call yourself a General? How dare you congregate with them? They're the enemy!"
Wow, this guy is seriously livid, Allen thought, Blast it, I probably shouldn't have been as friendly as I was. But the cake…
"Whoa, Chaoji, calm down," Daisya attempted to placate him, "Allen's cool. He wouldn't betray us."
"Yes!" Allen tried to reassure him, "Starting a fight right now would only put the civilians in danger. They're not causing trouble, so I'm just keeping an eye on them."
Chaoji scoffed, "Likely story. That still doesn't answer the question as to why they're being friendly towards you."
Allen winced. That was a good point, but he couldn't exactly tell him it was complicated, because there shouldn't have been anything complicated about it. They were the Noah, he was the Exorcist, and that was that. What more could there be? But in my case, it's a lot more.
"That's what I thought," Chaoji nodded with a grimace. "As far as I can see, these are traitorous actions. The sensible thing would be to report you, but it's clear you'd simply escape with them," he spat.
"Chaoji," Daisya spoke in a warning tone, "I think you're reading too much into this."
The Chinese male whirled to face him, his resolve set in stone. "Don't you remember what Master told us, Daisya?! What they're capable of; what they did to General Yeegar?! I saw the pictures, and I doubt anything any of you say could convince me otherwise."
Up until now, the trio of Noah had stayed silent, simply observing (along with Timothy being forgotten to the side), but at this, Tyki found it appropriate to say with a wicked smirk, "Is that so? Can nothing really change your mind?"
Chaoji scowled fiercely. "No one asked you anything, Noah!"
"Ah, quit trying to act so tough," Wisely snickered, "I can read your thoughts, human, and they're practically quivering with fright. You are nothing, compared to us." Wisely tilted his head back, gold flashing across his eyes as they made contact with Chaoji's own slanted ones, lips spreading into a fiendish leer. "Stop. You don't stand a chance against us."
"You're right," Chaoji bit out, "But it doesn't mean I can't try."
It happened in the blink of an eye.
Allen gulped, astonished at how swiftly he had managed to activate his Innocence. But… why had he stopped?
Hesitantly glancing away from the fist that had halted right before his face, Allen observed Chaoji's struggling features. His muscles were taut and sweat dripped down his face. The only thing moving were his eyes, which flickered frantically back and forth. "W-why can't I move?" he choked out. At this, Allen quickly looked to the others, but they seemed just as surprised as him.
"T-there's something in me…" Chaoji gasped.
BOOM!
It was chaos, and all Allen could do was grab a hold of Timothy and shield him, unable to do anything about the shrieks erupting around him, as civilians were mercilessly slaughtered. They tumbled across the street, and when they finally came to halt, they were swiftly hauled up. "Come on," Daisya said frantically, bruises and scrapes forming along his face, "We need to do something before the whole town is slaughtered!"
It was then that Allen finally got a good look at what had once been Chaoji, and he could feel the dread and horror sweep through him, numbing his body as it coldly gripped his heart. Before them was an enormous and grotesque torso, a halo raised above it, but ending in hideous and malformed tentacles, beams of light shooting out through its empty sockets and neck, eradicating the town. A scene all too familiar to Allen.
A Fallen One.
"But… how?" Allen swallowed, hardly able to speak past his dry throat.
"Damn it, we don't have time for this, Allen!" Daisya shouted, activating his Innocence, "We have to dispose of it!"
"What?!" Allen blocked his path. "He's not dead! Chaoji's still in there! We have to save him!"
"Honestly, you're too selfless sometimes," Road suddenly appeared beside them with a scoff, and then began to tug a dazed Timothy out of his arms, "Here, let me take him, otherwise you'll get the kid hurt! This isn't my Dream World, so I can't be of much help—"
"That's it!" Allen abruptly shouted, taking a hold of her by her shoulders, "You're Dream World! Do you think we could trap him in it?!"
Road stared at him in astonishment. "I… think so…" Road furrowed her eyebrows in thought, and called back, "Tyki! Wisely! Hurry!"
The older Noah soon appeared through the frenzied crowds, easily jumping over the rubble and dodging any stray attacks. Once they reached them, Road wasted no time, and the world around them fell apart.
It became easier, once they had no distractions of dying civilians, and it went similar to how it had gone with Suman. Rather, this time, Chaoji wasn't as forthcoming; he didn't want to repent, but Allen was just as stubborn, and so this was how it ended. Chaoji kneeling before him, the loss of his hands hardly bothering him. Because it seemed his soul had also been lost in the process.
"A soulless puppet," Daisya finally decided with a grim tone, rising from his crouched position beside Allen. "I'm sorry squirt, but there's nothing much we can do for him at this point."
"How can you say that?" Allen eventually replied, eyes trained on Chaoji's hallow and sightless eyes. "Wasn't he your teammate?"
"Yes, he was," Daisya nodded, "But we need to learn when to quit; when we'll only end up doing more harm than good. At this point, I say we can only leave it up to medics and scientist at the Order; see if they can get some sort of response from him."
"Alright," Allen finally relented, standing up, Timothy close to his side. Despite the fact that the boy wouldn't admit it, Allen knew he was highly disturbed by Chaoji's desolate and mindless body. Allen himself could hardly stand to look at him without feeling depressed. Eventually, he wrenched his eyes from the sight, turning towards the Noah. "Thank you for your help," Allen sighed tiredly.
"Why did you help us?" Daisya finally received the chance ask, staring curiously at the trio, on guard. Allen was glad he asked, as it had been sitting on the back of his mind as well.
They exchanged glances, before Road finally said in a careful tone, "We're trying… to keep our options open."
Allen narrowed his eyes, warily asking, "What happened?"
"To say the least… the Earl hasn't exactly been in the right state of mind as of late," Tyki winced, rubbing his face in an exhausted manner.
"More like he's going beyond psychotic," Wisely scoffed under his breath.
"And what?" Daisya demanded, "What do you expect to get out of this? Allen may be too nice for his own good, but what do you expect him to do if you suddenly decide that you want to defect from the clan? It's not like he can exactly offer you a place in the Order."
"That may be so," Tyki replied, "But making more enemies at this point wouldn't be beneficial for us. If we can at least get a couple of Exorcist off our backs, all the better. Don't get me wrong though; we're still with the Earl, so don't think this makes us friends."
Daisya sneered, "Wouldn't dream of it."
"Right," Allen decided to interrupt, "In any case, we should probably return to the Order as soon as possible."
Road took this as her cue, and her Dream World shook and trembled, shattering to pieces around them. For a moment, Allen could feel himself tumbling and falling, before abruptly finding himself in the same position he'd been in previously, standing before Road on the now deserted street, rubble and debris surrounding them.
"Well, that was interesting! Sorry you didn't get any cake, Allen," Road returned to her normal self with an impish grin.
Smiling tiredly, Allen said, "It's alright. Thank you for your help." Turning to his disheveled apprentice, Allen said, "Come on Timothy, we're returning to the Order, so you can get some rest there."
Timothy sighed, "Finally!"
"I've got him, Allen!" Daisya called, and the younger teen turned to see him carefully making his way over the wreckage, cautiously holding onto Chaoji's form.
At this, Allen made quick work of opening up the Ark, and with a final goodbye, they made their way in.
Time Frame — Night of March 27th, 1896
"Allen! Daisya! Wait up!" they heard the distinctive voice of Lavi call from further down the corridor. The normally boisterous redhead seemed slightly more somber than usual, and once he neared them he asked, "Do you guys know what the heck is going on? There's this huge commotion going on in the Hospital Wing, and for some reason scientists are flooding the area. Komui had to go in to diffuse the situation, but they refused to tell me what was going on!"
Rubbing the back of his head in a weary manner, Allen explained with a slump of his shoulders, "It's Chaoji—"
"Who?" Lavi scrunched his face in confusion.
Allen blinked owlishly. "You don't know him?"
"Ah, he never actually got to meet many of the Exorcists," Daisya intervened with a shrug, "General Tiedoll found him a little over a month ago and had just started training him. They came by the Order recently, so that they could get Chaoji properly registered in, as well as getting him a proper uniform. Of course, the General insisted on getting all his students together, so he met Kanda and Marie, but that's about it. I don't even think Chaoji was supposed to go on a mission, but he convinced Komui, and I got lumped with him."
"Well, that's good and all, but why is everyone making such a fuss over the guy?" Lavi asked, his one, visible eyebrow lifted in surprise.
Heaving a sigh, the young General shortly explained, "Chaoji; he became a Fallen One…"
"Damn," Lavi whispered in shock, and then began ushering them down a different corridor, "Come on. As much as I'd love to hear an explanation now, we can't keep Yuu waiting, otherwise he'll blow a gasket."
"Huh? Why are we meeting up with Kanda?"
Lavi shrugged and replied, "More like Alma dragged him along, to be quite frank. And Lenalee's there too. We heard from a Finder that you returned so we're supposed to be meeting up in the Library."
It wasn't long before they reached the library, where the rest of his comrades greeted him and welcomed him back.
"Where's little, ol' Tim?" Alma asked with his usual, jovial grin.
"Ah, He's still a little shaken up from what happened earlier," Allen began, attempting to relax on one of the couches, "So I sent him to his room. Hopefully, he'll get some rest."
Lenalee leaned forward with frown, putting her novel aside, concern touching her features. "Did he get hurt?"
"Oh no, thank God," Allen shook his head, and then went on to give them a more detailed explanation than the one he'd given Lavi. When he finished, they all leaned back in shock, though Lenalee seemed to be taking it the worst, her expression dazed and eyes glazed over as she thought of memories long past.
"I remember that," she finally spoke up, her voice shaking slightly, "Before Komui came, they would try forcing synchronization on those who were related to Accommodators, and they always turned into the Fallen Ones… But I don't understand. If Chaoji was able to properly synchronize with his Innocence, why would he Fall?"
Tentatively, Daisya spoke to the distraught girl, "We spoke with Komui. He said…" he sighed, "He said that when one betrays God, they are also capable of Falling."
"He… He betrayed God?" Alma asked, eyes widening in shock.
"When said like that, it does seem a little extreme," Allen frowned, "I don't understand much myself how Innocence works, but Kanda attacks Lavi all the time. Why would he Fall for the sole reason of attacking me?"
"… The hell? He attacked you, beansprout?" Kanda finally asked what everyone was wondering.
"Um… Well…" Allen fidgeted, unsure of how to explain what occurred.
"Yep!" Fortunately, Daisya didn't have the same problem. "He was absolutely livid when he saw Road trying to hook back up with Allen."
"… WHAT?!"
"Shortstack! How could you?!" Lavi practically wailed, "She stabbed your eye out! Your eye! You may have gotten it back, but I know exactly how that feels! She's not worth it, man!"
"Chick's fucking psychotic!"
"Don't fall for her traps, Big Brother! She may seem all nice as human, but she's totally out to get you!" Alma warned him frantically.
"Alright, listen up!" Allen was forced to shout above the commotion, and once it died down, said, "That is not at all what happened. And I was never even dating her in the first place, for your information!"
Daisya snickered, "Sorry, but that's what it looked like to me. She even brought the cake out! Had Allen going all starry-eyed!"
They all groaned in unison, with shouts, "Of course, she's bribing him!" and "Beansprout, do you ever quit thinking about food?!"
Allen sweatdropped.
"Alright, alright," Daisya began again, "I probably shouldn't have been joking around anyway." He ignored Allen's grumbling of, "You think?!" and continued, "In all seriousness, Chaoji was absolutely furious. I don't know what the hell General Tiedoll told him about the Noah Clan, but he practically blew up when he saw Allen and Timothy hanging around those Noah."
"What hell were you doing with them anyway, beansprout?" Kanda demanded with a glower.
"It wasn't just Road?" Lenalee realized.
"Ah no, the ones known as Tyki and Wisely were also there," Allen admitted quite sheepishly, "They were hanging around in their human forms, and they didn't even bother attacking me. I wasn't sure if they were planning an attack on the civilians, so I was keeping an eye on them."
"… And the cake?" Lenalee brought up with a deadpan expression.
Allen chuckled nervously, "Hehe, it was Road's idea?"
"They said, and I quote, "they're keeping their options open"," Daisya grimaced, "They're still with the Earl, but apparently the Earl is losing what little sanity he has left, so they're trying to decrease the number of enemies they have just in case they decide to go rogue."
"That is interesting," Lavi murmured to himself.
Lenalee's brow furrowed as she pointed out, "But it's not like we can consider them allies even then. Can't exactly look past the whole "we enjoy killing humans" thing, can we?"
Allen shook his head. "I never said we had to. It'd nice if our number of enemies could decrease, but I say that we shouldn't count on it. They've been loyal to the Earl for so long, I'm wary of getting my hopes up."
"But back to the subject at hand," Lavi spoke up, "Why is it that everyone was causing such a commotion about Chaoji earlier?"
Lenalee gasped, "Is that what that was about?"
"Allen attempted to save him, and didn't completely fail," Daisya nodded over the younger, white-haired teen.
"B-but I thought that was impossible," Lenalee stammered.
Allen grimaced. "It wasn't pretty, I can tell you that. I managed to pull him out by cutting off his Innocence, meaning he lost his hands, but it seems his mind is no longer there. We're not sure if they'll be able to do anything for him, but apparently this is the first time anything like this has occurred, which is why everyone was so shocked."
"I—" Lenalee never got to finish her thought.
"Attention!" came the blaring voice from one of the golems flapping above, "All available Exorcists! Report to Lab 5, immediately! There is probable chance of an attack! All Generals and the following Exorcists report to Lab 5: Lenalee Lee. Miranda Lotto. Alma Karma. Kanda Yuu. Bookman. Lavi. Daisya Barry. And Timothy Hearst."
They group immediately jumped up without hesitation, running at full speed. Allen's mind raced, wondering if their Headquarters would be invaded once again, and shouted to his nearest comrade, "Where are the rest?"
It was Alma who called back, "I think Suman and Marie are off on a mission, as well as Tina and Gwen, and I know Klaud and Mei-Ling left a couple days ago, soon followed by General Socaro, but I don't know about Krory."
Allen simply nodded, and once they reached Lab 5, they hurried in, but to their surprise, no one was attacking. At least, not yet. The Science Division was certainly in a frenzy though; scrambling around and shouting to each other from across the room.
"Good. You made it," Komui walked briskly up to them, and a moment later, they were joined by the rest of the Exorcists that had been called, along with General Cross—Allen was surprised to find he'd actually stuck around—and General Tiedoll. "Though I am doubtful, I'd like to double check; Allen, I am guessing that this wasn't of your doing?" At this, Komui glanced up, and following his gaze, Allen could feel his mercury eyes widening in shock. Above them, spread out in a mishmash of chaotic shapes was a black Gateway, glowing a sickly, vivid purple.
Allen could feel his mouth drying as he replied, "No. Definitely not."
"I thought not," Komui nodded with frown, turning to the rest of them and said as he adjusted his glasses, "It appears that the Millenium Earl is making another attempt at creating an Ark. We don't know how stable it is, or if it is even as powerful as Allen's Ark. But it suddenly materialized not too long ago—"
"The hell, Komui?!" Kanda demanded from the back. "Why are you all here, then?! We can't protect all of you, damn it!"
"Aww, I knew you cared, Kanda!" Komui called back jovially, ignoring his grumblings. "In all seriousness, this will be our only chance to test this out. Everyone is ready to evacuate at a moment's notice, but there's no telling when or if something will come out, but we need all the Exorcists here, and when the 24 hour mark hits, one of you will be sent in to investigate."
Worried glances and mutterings were exchanged, until the slapping thump of someone landing on the pavement echoed throughout. "I believe that won't be necessary, Supervisor," a sneering voice called.
All eyes immediately locked onto the Noah, crouching where he'd landed and watching as he straightened up, a dangerous smirk darkening his features. And before they could react, a swift flash of yellow had yet another Noah landing right beside as he giggled insanely, "Hihihih! Yeah, stupid human!"
Devitto and Jasdero! Allen realized.
"Heh, and we brought a couple of friends," Devitto chuckled, just as a horde of Level 3s descended behind them, and among them, one distinct figure stood out.
"A Level 4," Allen choked out, much to the rest of their shock, as he stumbled onto his knees, clutching the scorching of his cursed eye, vomit rising in the back of his throat.
"And the Earl wanted us to tell you this," Devitto called, casually cocking his golden revolver against Jasdero's head, "This little game you've been playing; it's over. This will be the first among many tragedies for the Black Order to come. You're as good as dead!"
A/N: So, I'm just going to assume nobody cares that I turned Chaoji into a vegetable… If any of you are actually wanting a solid explanation as to why he Fell, it's because he deliberately attacked a fellow Exorcist (with actual killing intent; we all know Kanda's just a big softy underneath!(x lol). And it was Allen; child most beloved by God. So there… :p
On to other news! For those who actually read these notes, you might remember me previously mentioning that this fic was meant to be 24 chapters long (plus an epilogue). Well, there's been a change of plans! You see, I was reviewing all the planning I'd made for this fic (and let me tell you, all those notes and ideas accumulated up to like 4K words long!) and realized there were too many gaps in between some of the chapters, and some of the chapter plans didn't even have enough content, so I went through and downsized it to 20 chapters (plus the epilogue). That means I've only got four more chapters to go! :D This gives me hope that I might complete this before summer ends, but knowing me, don't count on it!xD Haha, but I'll try my best!
By the way, I've dredged up yet more projects from the dump that is my documents, and went and published more stories for D. Gray-Man! They're called Forgotten Dreams and Awakening; so for anyone that wants go check that out, make sure to leave a review!(;
Speaking of reviews! Sorry I'm such a butt about answering them! I know I never got to everyone, but I always seem to lose track of who I have and haven't responded to. I won't go back and respond to anything old, because I know people find it weird when I do, so I'll definitely be sure to respond to these next reviews as soon as I can!(:
So review please! :D