Chapter 24: Facing the Past Part 1

Jula, Angela, Thorn, and Aquapad were just waking up from their nap.

"Yawn..." Thorn was the first to yawn. "Talk about a beautiful nap."

Angela was stretching out her body. "True, the last two days were nuts,"

Jula had one thought on her mind. "I wonder if Rena is safe."

"Look over there." The other Fishman islanders looked in the direction of the horizon.

Jula couldn't help but feel a bit intimidated. "That must be the army that we're about to face,"

"It's quite bigger than we thought," Thorn commented. "Compared to Hordy Jone's pirate crew, this makes his crew look small."

Jula and Angela couldn't help but agree to that detail, however, Aquapad just smirked. "So, what, even so, we still have our friends and since this is probably the final moment to finish off those Alvarez bastards, I say, we take the battle to them!"

Hearing the declaration inspired others.

"Yaay!" Luffy abruptly shouted startling the others except for Aquapad. "I...slept...so...great!"

"Moron, did you have to shout like that!?" Jula, Angela, and Thorn snapped with shark teeth.

Aquapad just laughed. "Good morning, so, what do you want to do Luffy?"

Luffy observed the army. "I need to find my crew..." The others almost forgot that Luffy's crew was probably still out in the twisted landscape, as they were about to say a word until the famous Strawhat captain grinned. "But, my crew is sure to show on the battlefield, once they do, we'll kick these Albert jerks away."

"It's Alvarez idiot!" Jula, Angela, and Thorn corrected comically.

Aquapad couldn't resist laughing once again. "That's Luffy for ya, anyway, let's get this fight on!"

Zoro and Leone arrived out of the forest. "Looks like we made it first."

"Gee, you mean I helped you, with my guidance, you would've gotten lost easily," Leone boasted with a chuckle.

Zoro groaned with annoyance for a second but ignored the comment. "Anyway, I'm ready for some action, I'll cut any of those jerks down."

Leone grinned. "Man, you're quite the crazy swordsman, but, you're inching for a fight, I like that."

Zoro had a question. "Do you need to find your friends from Night Raid?"

Before she could answer, they heard a voice coming from the sky. "Zoro, Leone!" To their surprise yet relief, Robin was flying towards them with Chelsea in her arms.

Leone smirked teasingly. "Well, what do we have here?" Robin was puzzled though Chelsea realized what the blonde girl was referring to. "Huh, wait, this wasn't my idea, I swear!"

Robin was still puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Before Leone could let out a word, she felt a single punch land on her head. "Now's not the time!" Zoro barked with shark teeth before he looked at the two women. "Anyway, looks like you arrived in the nick of time. Just in time for the battle of our lives."

Robin saw the massive army. "I see, I wonder if I can use my powers to crush their bodies into pancakes."

"Too morbid!" Chelsea cried with her eyes popping out.

Robin had an idea. "Leone, Chelsea, you go ahead, we'll look around for a while, to search for any of our crew members, unlike them, Nami, Usopp, or Franky can't find us with Haki unless they have Chopper to smell us out, so, we'll search for a half-hour, once we find them, we'll meet up with you guys on the battlefield."

Zoro huffed. "Robin, do what you want, but, I'll-" Sanji appeared out of nowhere. "Hold it, moss head, you wander off and you'll get lost." Despite Sanji's meditation, Zoro wasn't falling for the act. "C'mon, I know that's you, Chelsea." He was right, the moment, smoke slowly appeared around the imposter Sanji and there was Chelsea. "Gee, you're no fun."

Robin cleared her throat. "C'mon, Zoro, let's find our crew, we'll probably meet with the Demons, if that happens, there will surely be blood for you to spill."

"Enough with the morbid comments!" Chelsea barked with shark teeth.

After agreeing on each other's departure, Robin went with Zoro to look for their crew members while Leone was running toward the direction where the battlefield while carrying a freaking out Chelsea.

Across from where the guild was, Natsu and the others saw the army Zeref had, and Lucy couldn't help but feel intimidated. "Are these all our enemies?"

Even Natsu felt a little uneasy seeing many enemies gathered in one place. "I can see our home over there, but...those jerks are in the way..."

"We have to do this," Gray spoke with confidence in his voice.

Juvia nodded in agreement. "Yes, but still..."

Erza already knew what the water mage was going to say. "We're outnumbered, this won't be easy without a plan."

Brook nodded. "Yes, this army is probably twice as much as Hordy's crew."

Sanji narrowed his eyes at the massive army. "Agreed, these bastards could overpower Hordy and his commanders too."

Usagi felt a little uneasy as he stared at the massive blackened army. "So many enemies, yet, we're just a group."

Akame had a sliver of doubt in her as she kept staring at the massive pillar the guild was on. "They're all there, at least most of them."

Juvia and the others looked at Akame. "Do you mean the Spriggan Twelve?"

Akame nodded at Juvia's question. "Yes, however, I can sense nine of the Twelve's aura, though there are two I'm not familiar with."

Gray was impressed Akame could sense their auras from so far away. "I'm surprised you can sense their aura from where we are."

That wasn't much of a surprise given how strong the Twelve was. "If you wish to know more, I can sense three aura that reaches here and beyond," Lucy gulped at the description. "I can sense August's aura and it feels stronger than we encountered him before. Second, to that is an aura I couldn't believe that's just as powerful as August. It's the same I sensed back when we were where Kardia Cathedral and the capital were."

Lucy remembered how Akame acted back when they were there. "So, that's why you acted strange back then, but, is there someone just as strong as August."

Suddenly she remembered what Brandish mentioned before she offered her negation. "There's no one on this earth that's stronger than August, however, the only one that is equal to his is the Scarlet Despair."

Akame continued. "There's more..." She looked a little tense. "A third one, it's..." She found it a little difficult to explain to the others.

"It's what?" Juvia asked.

Akame had no other choice but to give it to them straight. "It's the same as Natsu's."

Everyone else became confused by what Akame told them, especially Lucy. "The same aura as Natsu's, are you sure?"

"Without a doubt, but, it's impossible for two people to have the same aura" She was trying to figure out how something like this was possible.

Despite the news, Natsu slammed his fist into his other hand. "So what if this guy has the same aura as me? If I ever run into this guy, I'll kick his butt!"

Akame couldn't help but chuckle at Natsu's declaration. She stared at the army laid out before her and seemed hesitant. Gray quickly picked this up. "You're not used to this, though, I take it it's because it's nothing compared to the army we faced in your world." The former assassin looked at the ice wizard.

"Yeah, but, this time I don't have that luxury." Akame looked back at the army. "An army far larger than I've seen before, nine of the Spriggan Twelve gathered together that are far stronger than Esdeath, the one person the Revolutionary Army feared the most, and all we have is us. Not to mention, there's still demons of Tartaros lurking somewhere and they'll probably show up on the battlefield sooner than later." They saw Akame clench her hand tightly. "But, it's not just us fighting them. Our allies heard the message and I'm sure they're heading here as well. As far as I can see it, we're not the main attacking force. What we are is just the start."

Everyone smiled at Akame's inspiring words, and Natsu couldn't help but agree.

Sanji was swan by Akame's words. "Akame, my dear, such inspiring-" Before he could lunge at the girl, Lucy delivered a karate chop on the cook's head knocking him down. "Continue what you were saying, Akame."

Akame nodded. "Yes, I admit head-on attacks aren't my thing and the rest of my previous team didn't have that kind of specialty, but, once we start, we have to push onward. For each enemy we fell, it's one step toward the guild and to Mavis."

"I'm sure the first master is waiting for us at the guild," Lucy spoke with confidence.

"Zeref's probably with her," Juvia added.

Sanji let out a small growl. "if that bastard thinks he can do anything to such a sweet young girl, then he's got another thing coming."

Brook nodded. "Yes, I intend to show him what happens to those that mistreat a lady."

Usagi had a small smile on his face. "I shall assist the first master and succeed in saving her and no doubt, our allies will meet up there."

Erza smiled after hearing such inspiring words. "Yes, I agree."

This time, Gray slammed his fist into his hand and grinned at Natsu. "So, who's going to be the one to finish off Zeref, are you up for a race?"

Natsu chuckled and smiled back at Gray. "Yeah, fire is in the belly!" This proud moment was quickly interrupted by the loud grumbling of Natsu's stomach.

Gray couldn't help but groan at Natsu. "Doesn't sound like there's much in there to me."

As soon as Gray mentioned taking down Zeref, Happy remembered what Zeref said if he were to be killed. "You're a demon from the book Zeref, you'll die too."

Happy shook his head to dispel and was determined to not let that happen. "There's gotta be another way, I swear I won't stop until I find it."

Brook picked up the blue cat's face, he could tell something was wrong. "Happy, is something wrong?" He asked in a whispering tone.

Happy quietly gulped and looked at the skeleton. "Uhh...nothing, I'm just a little nervous, but, don't worry, I'll be okay." That was a lie, however, Brook didn't pry any further.

Not a second after, both of the heard a louder grumbling sound and this time it was from Akame. They can see her being slightly embarrassed by what happened as she placed her hand on her stomach. "I just realized I haven't eaten anything since we left the guild." With everything that's happened in such a short amount of time, it was no wonder she was hungry now.

Lucy gave Akame a promising smile. "Tell you what; when this war is over, you can eat as much as you want once we get the guild back, deal?"

Akame smiled back at Lucy and nodded. "Deal." Now she had something to look forward to when the war ends.

Sanji had another idea. "I have a better idea, when this war is over, I can the biggest meal for everyone especially for a young lady like you, Akame!"

Despite the straight declaration, Akame nodded at the pirate cook. "Sounds good to me."

With everyone mentally ready, Natsu took a step forward. "LET'S DO THIS!" Natsu led the charge down the cliff and everyone else followed suit. "BACK TO OUR GUILD!"

"YEAH!"

Natsu and the others charged toward the front line of the Alvarez army and as soon as they saw them running towards them, they charged in return. As they neared each other, Natsu pulled back his arm and strong flames surrounded his fist and increased in size drastically. "DRAGON KING'S..." He threw his fist forward and a massive explosion of fire scattered many of the enemy soldiers. "DEMOLITION FIST!"

Following up on Natsu's attack, Lucy brought out one of her Golden Gate Keys. "Open, Gate of the Golden Bull: Tarus!" Taurus appeared beside Lucy and shouted out his signature battle cry. Lucy waves her key in front of her. "Star Dress: Taurus!"

Sanji and Brook were taken aback by her revealing attire. "Lucy, you look so hot!"

"Wow, could you probably take off your-"

Erza interrupted them by bonking the two on their heads. "Focus you two!"

Lucy and Taurus attacked a group of enemy soldiers together, Taurus swung his axe at them and Lucy did one of her signature moves. "Tension Max!"

"Lucy Kick!" As Lucy kicked one of the enemy soldiers, she jumped into the air and pulled out her whip, and slammed it into the ground. The impact resulted in the ground below and it shattered along with striking any enemy laid before its path. "Earth Wave!"

Juvia waved her arm across and sent blades of water at the enemy. "Water Slicer!"

Gray had summoned multiple ice lances to attack his group of enemies. "Ice-Make: Lance!"

"Solid Scratches Blizzard Slice!" Brook passed through several soldiers as they were sent flying followed by a blizzard-like wind slash.

"I won't let you bastards get in our way!" Sanji began to walk in the air, surprising the enemy soldiers. "Sky Walk!"

"Holy crap, that guy is flying!"

"No fool, he's walking on the air, like it's solid!"

Sanji was above a group of enemy soldiers. "Take this!" He began to kick repeatedly downward with his flaming leg. "Poele A Friere: Spectre!" The kicks launched fireballs that hit the soldiers thus knocking them out.

He landed on the ground. "Is all you got?" He suddenly felt a familiar presence. "You guys!" Natsu's team looked in the direction of the cook. "I sense my crew's presence, I'll go and find them, then I'll escort them here, but don't worry, I'll return!"

Erza nodded. "Alright, return as quickly as you can."

Brook offered to assist. "I'll come with you, you'll need backup!"

Usagi took out one of his swords. "I need to save my magic, so..." He gathered electricity around his sword's blade. "Electro Sword Style: Lightning Wave!" A wave of lightning was swung as the electro-attack send many soldiers flying away.

Akame slashed through enemies with blinding speed while passing them by. Before they knew it, she appeared behind them. She flicked her katana sword and one second later, they all fell to the ground without making a sound. "Shadow Magic: Silent Shadow Slash!" She never considered herself a swordsman, but, it seems perhaps she had some swordsman skills. She saw the next group running toward her and she quickly sheathed her sword and slammed her fist into her hand. "Shadow-Make..." Akame slammed her hands to the ground and a large row of shadow-like roses appeared from the ground. "Shadow Roses!" The shadow roses send the soldiers flying away and some had a few scratches from the roses' thorns.

The soldiers in the back saw that many of them were being sent flying into the air by their enemy's attacks and by the dozen as well. They still couldn't believe what they were doing. "Are these guys with a head full of people?"

"They must be insane!"

"Get it together, there's more of us than them, don't let them scare you!"

From above, Neinhard saw what was happening and smiled at what he'd discovered. "How interesting."

Budo had his arms crossed as he observed the battle. "It seems they've arrived."

Syura couldn't help but laugh at the sight he saw. "Are they freaking serious, a frontal assault against an army that big?"

"Such dumbasses that they're doing that," Enshin commented.

Idiots or not, it did warrant enough for Esdeath to be curious. "Seryu, can you see how many are attacking the army?"

Seryu quickly looked at her general and saluted her. "Yes, General Esdeath!" She extended her right arm to the side. "Koro!" Her imperial arms saluted her and barked before stretching out its neck and opening its mouth wide for everyone to see its pointy sharp teeth.

Koro clamped its mouth around Seryu's arm which freaked Jacob out a little. "What the bloody hell?!"

August couldn't' help but be transfixed by what Koro had done. "What an interesting creature, that is."

Saziou, Taron, and Jester were a little uneasy which was unlike them.

Koro pulled itself off Seryu's arm and was replaced with a new one that had a radar built into it. "Justice of Ten Kings, Justice City Detector!" She looked at her radar and the black dots it showed were the Alvarez army. She gasped at what she saw and was bewildered. "That...can't be right."

The run was curious about what Seryu was seeing. "What is it, Seryu?"

Seryy had to do a double-take of what she was seeing was correct. "According to the radar, only eight people are attacking."

Dorothea raised an eyebrow at that. "Eight people, against what, a million soldiers?"

Poison Ivy was sitting on a leaf-like chair. "Those must be dumb to do such a suicide thing."

"Or like I said, they're complete dumbasses!" Enshin reminded the whole group.

Despite that, Esdeath thought of a fun idea of introducing themselves. "Seryu, why don't you give them a proper Empire greeting?"

Seryu looked at her General and knew what she was talking about, but had some concerns. "Of course, General Esdeath, but our allies are still among the enemy."

She brought up a good point, Seryu wasn't the person that would endanger her allies, especially new ones. She turned to Invel who was looking after them. "Can you relay a message to your soldiers? Seryu here would like to avoid harming them."

Invel leered at the other ice General. "If you wish."

Back down below, little by little, Natsu and the others were pushing back the massive army. They were going to continue their assault until they heard one of the soldiers shouting. FALL! FALL BACK!" Team Natsu saw the army retreating which confused Natsu himself. "What the, get your butts back here, we ain't done with you yet!"

Lucy found them retreating strange since they had the advantage in numbers. "Why would they fall back?"

Gray couldn't help but have a bad feeling. "They must be planning something."

Usagi was thinking the same thing so he decided to put his ears up to hear anything that enemies might try.

At the top of the pillar, Esdeath and Seryu saw the front line of soldiers retreating. Seryu was more than happy with what Invel had done. She turned to the other ice General and smiled at him. "Thank you for pulling your soldiers back. Truly, you are a benevolent General."

Dimaria couldn't help but scoff at that. Despite the praise, Invel didn't say a word. Seryu turned back to the cliff. "Now, Koro!" Koro barked at Seryu while saluting her and stretched out its neck and hovered over his wielder. It enlarged its head and opened its mouth only to bite down on the upper half of Seryu's body.

Jacob was still not used to seeing it change and morph like that. "No, seriously, what the hell is that bloody dog!?"

Brandish was disgusted at what she was seeing. "That thing is so not cute at all.

Koro retreated its mouth and head as Seryu emerged from Koro's mouth, she mounted several large missile launchers and turrets. She had a devious expression on her face. "FEEL THE WRATH OF ABSOLUTE JUSTICE!" She aimed at her targets. "JUSTICE VOLLEY!" She fired a barrage of missiles at Natsu and the others.

While the others were pondering why the enemy retreated, Natsu and Usagi heard something peculiar and looked at the front. Their eyes widened and gasped in shock before turning to the others. "GET BACK, NOW!" Before they could respond, the barrage of missiles struck them and multiple explosions occurred where they were standing.

Seryu continued to fire her missile barrage while laughing manically. Wall cackled at her behavior. "I never met a human like her, I think I'm starting to like her."

Poison Ivy wasn't too surprised about Seryu's psycho behavior. "She's psycho as ever."

Fang scoffed. "Damn, she shouldn't get to have all the fun."

It was amusing to Esdeath to see Seryu enjoying herself like this. While seeing Seryu blasting her enemies to her heart's content, she saw something from the corner of her eye and looked over in Neinhart's direction with Irene with him. It was not often she was surprised, but what she saw certainly caught her off guard.

Back down below, Natsu and the others were barely surviving the missile bombardment. The only one who seemed unaffected was Juvia. Under this constant barrage, Gray and the others couldn't do anything at all. "We're not going to last much longer!"

They had to come up with an idea and fast, in the nick of time, Lucy came up with one. "Juvia, can you shield us with your magic?"

Juvia looked over at the other girl. "I can, but, it won't hold long."

"That's fine, a few seconds is all I need."

Trusting Lucy's words, she spread her arms out. A large sphere of water covered the group, but the missiles did not let up. Lucy brought out another of her gate keys. "Open Gate of the Golden Ram!" A bright light glowed and Aries appeared within the group. "Aries!" Aries tried to say her usual apology, but couldn't since they were in the water. She also quickly noticed they were being under attack. "Star Dress: Aries!" Lucy transformed into her Aries form and pointed her hand in front.

Aries saw was Lucy was going to do and did the same. "Wool Wall!" A massive wall of pink wool appeared in front of Natsu and the others and it took the brunt of the barrage. As Lucy expected, they didn't hear any explosions from the other side of the wall. One by one, the missiles were caught in the wool and became stuck. Since the wool was unbelievably soft, they didn't explode on impact.

Seryu quickly noticed this and stopped firing. "Now what is going on?"

Shizuka walked to the edge of the cliff and saw the large pink wool wall down below. "It seems they're blocking your attack with...a big pink wall."

Seryu growled in frustration and knew how to handle that. "Then let's see them survive this! Koro!" Koro barked and stretched out its neck and mouth to bit Seryu's right arm. It retracted and her arm was replaced by an enormous missile. "Judgement of the Ten Kings, Number Six, fire!" Flames erupted from the back of the missile and launched from her Seryu, targeting Natsu and the rest.

In bad timing, Lucy and Aries dispelled the giant wool wall as Juvia released them from her water sphere. Lucy smiled and laughed sincerely at Aries. "Great job, Aries, we owe you for saving us."

Aries smiled back at Lucy sweetly. "You're welcome and I'll do better next time."

Usagi bowed before the ramp girl. "Aries, you're doing great, we're in your debt." This caused Aries to be flustered at the straightforwardness. "Oh, no need to be so formal."

Lucy giggled and closed her gate.

"Something else is headed our way!" Akame warned everyone.

They looked ahead and saw the huge missile coming right toward them. Lucy thought of summoning Aries again to create another Wool Wall, but, Natsu had an idea of his own. However, Usagi stepped forward and took out his second sword. "Natsu, I'll cut the missile down into two separate parts, however, no doubt, it'll still explode, so, devour the fire as soon as you see the explosion."

Natsu was already ahead of him. "You got it!"

Usagi gathered his magic power around his two swords. "Sword Magic: Two Sword Style: Lightning Pillar Double Slash!" He leaped into the air with lightning speed and slashed through the missile cutting into two large long parts.

As Usagi said, the last remaining parts of the missile exploded and that was Natsu's cue, he leaped into the explosion and opened his mouth. Within seconds, Natsu devoured the explosion and landed on the ground. He burned and rubbed his stomach in satisfaction. "That was a good appetizer." It was at that point Akame made a note of learning some Slayer Magic so she could devour elements and quell her hunger as well."

At above, Seryu growled in anger this time as this was the second time her attack was intercepted. "How were they able to stop my strongest attack!?"

Izou took a step forward and had his hand around his sword's handle. "Shall we go now? Kousetsu has not been fed for a long time." That wasn't the only thing on his mind, after witnessing the attack that destroyed the missile, he could tell that a strong swordsman could've done that and the enemy must've used two swords to cut down the missile too. "It seems there's a swordsman among the enemy." He smirked slightly. "This should be fun."

Esdeath had other ideas. "We should wait a little longer." Everyone looked at the other ice General who was smiling for some reason. "I never would've imagined you'd be here."

Below, Natsu burned and let out a refreshed sigh. "Oh, yeah! Now I got a fire in my belly!"

Gray had to admit he was impressed with Usagi. "Usagi, that was quite impressive, combining sword magic with your electro powers and with your sword techniques was incredible."

Usagi chuckled at the praise. "Just doing what I do."

"It was a smart idea to eat the explosion, but I think that was cutting it a little too close," Lucy commented. After being assaulted with missiles, she wasn't ready to tank an explosion from a missile of that size.

Gray couldn't help but be somewhat familiar with the missiles that were launched at them. "Strange, why do those missiles remind me of something?"

"We should keep going," Akame spoke. "We now know the enemy has a long-range attack; we don't know when they'll do it again." Everyone nodded in agreement. They were lucky to survive the last attack, but they didn't want to push their luck.

Erza approached the ground. "Hey, is everyone okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine, I don't know what kind of magic power that was, but, it was powerful," Lucy answered.

Erza had to agree. "Yes, we must be on guard, let's go!" She went on ahead requiring into Flame Express Armor slashing her way through while her blade burst a flame slash attack.

They were about to move forward when Natsu and Usagi heard a distinct sound and knew what it was. "GET DOWN NOW!" He grabbed Lucy and pulled her to the ground. Gray, Juvia, Akame, and Happy did the same and they all heard a single gunshot ring out throughout the air. They waited for a few seconds before standing up again. "Is everyone alright?"

Lucy was but a little annoyed at how Natsu was unintentionally groping her when they were on the ground.

"We're alright, but, just what was that-" Juvia's sentence was cut short as something went through her head and crashed into the ground in front of them.

"Out of all them, Gray was the most horrified at what happened. "Juvia, are you okay!?"

It took Juvia a few seconds to register what happened to her. "I...believe so, what just happened?" Gray let out a sigh of relief, no thought, he would be this glad that her body is made of water.

Happy looked at what struck the ground and saw what it was. "It's...a bullet?"

That much was obvious since they heard the gunshot beforehand, but something didn't make sense to Lucy. "Did someone fire a second shot?"

"I didn't hear a second shot," Natsu informed.

"Neither did I," Usagi added.

Gray had a thought, but it was impossible to consider. "Well, it's not like a bullet can change direction, there has to be a second shooter."

As soon as Gray spoke those words, something deep shook within Akame's mind. "A bullet changing direction..." There was only one weapon Akame knew too well that could pull off such a feat, but like Gray, she thought it was impossible because the weapon and the wielder are no longer around.

"Aw, what happened? I was sure I shot the girl in the head."

Akame's face became pale as she and everyone else heard a voice. A voice that Akame thought she'd never hear again. "Perhaps you should've taken a better aim."

"Maybe she missed."

"No, the bullet went through her head, but she's still alive, it's surprising."

"Whatever the case, the girl is hot. Same with the blonde."

"Honestly, is that all you think about, you haven't changed."

Natsu and the others looked ahead and saw six people standing across from them, Instantly, Natsu knew that whoever they were, they weren't friendly. "And who the hell are these guys?"

A loud gasp was heard, which was coming from Akame. Natsu and the others saw Akame taking a few steps forward to the new group and Lucy saw that Akame looked like she was seeing ghosts. "It...can't...be..." She stopped walking but continued to stare in disbelief at the group standing before her. "Guy, Pony, Green, Tsukushi, Najasho, Cora..."

The fact Akame knew their names caught Gray's and everyone else's attention. "You know these guys, Akame?"

"I believe the better question is how?" Juvia added and was just as curious.

Usagi could see the look of disbelief in Akame's eyes. "I don't know, but, it seems like she knows them quite well." He recalled Akame working for the Empire in her world and started to put two-two together.

Pony blinked a few times to make sure who she was seeing who she thought it was. "Is that you, Akame?" She laughed and jumped a few times while waving her arms. "Hey, Akame!"

Green pushed his glasses up slightly. "Akame..." Even as battle-damaged as she is, Green still thought she was beautiful as ever, and small blush was appearing on his face.

Guy smiled brightly at Akame and chuckled. "Akame, looking good as always."

Cornelia smiled as well, but more sweetly. "It's been so long, I'm so happy to see you again."

Tsukushi smiled the same as Cornelia. "How have you been, Akame? I hope you weren't too lonely."

The fact they all knew Akame brought about more confusion from Lucy and the others. "Do you know them, Akame?"

Akame was silent as she was still trying to make sense of who she was seeing. Never in her wildest dreams, this wasn't like the illusion she felt when Zanku used this on her. "Back in my Empire days, I was part of a group whose purpose was to kill anyone who'd rebel against the Empire." Usagi realized he was right as Akame continued. "That group...was called the Elite Seven. They were...once my former allies and friends." She clenched her hands tightly. "But it doesn't make sense, all of them shouldn't be here." She gritted her teeth and had a look of frustration in her eyes. "Because all of you are dead!"

Something about that reminded Lucy of something Jacob said to Akame back at the guild. "So, you lost eight of your pals, that must've been hard on you."

Lucy now pieced together who the other six Akame had lost. "So, these are the six people that Akame lost."

Najasho's expression remained neutral but understood Akame's reaction. "I do find it strange how we're alive again, but that doesn't matter now. We were given orders to stop you and your little group."

Natsu took that as a challenge and flames covered his hands. "Is that a fact, well, old friends or not, we'll kick your butts!"

Usagi stepped beside Natsu. "Yes, we must make a path towards enemies even if some are old friends." His appearance stunned Akame's former team.

"What the hell is that?" Corelina exclaimed in comical disbelief.

Guy wasn't understanding what he was seeing. "Is that a danger beast?"

Tsukushi highly doubted that. "I don't think so, there's no danger beast that talks." She was of course right. "It's likely, a male from the tone of the voice."

Najasho wasn't unfazed despite he was a little surprised to see a talking rabbit. "Talking danger beast or not, he's siding with Akame and her group."

Natsu, Gray, Usagi, Lucy, Juvia, and Happy prepared to make a move, until Akame spoke; "Wait, I'll fight them."

Everyone couldn't believe what she said, especially Lucy. "What, Akame, you can't fight them alone!"

"This is my past," Akame argued back. "And I have to face them myself."

Gray thought that kind of thinking was asinine. "You don't have to fight them on your own, remember, you're not alone and whatever happened in your past, isn't something you have to face alone."

"He's right, did you forget that we're in this battle together?" Lucy reminded.

Akame was thankful for the words, but she had already made up her mind. "You tell me what's more important. Getting to the guild and saving the First Master, or getting caught up in my past. I know I have you guys and that you'll be by my side no matter what, but there are some things I have to do on my own. This is non-negotiable." Most likely, Akame was going to use this chance to face her failures. "To answer your question, Lucy, I didn't forget, but, I made my mind."

Usagi could tell that Akame wasn't going to change her mind, but he still had concerns. "Are you sure about this, Akame?"

Akame nodded at the rabbit mink. "Yes."

Everyone else wanted to stay behind and help Akame, they could see she wasn't going to budge from her decision and Natsu had to no choice but to accept it. "If that's how you feel, we'll leave it to you, but, promise us that you'll make it back to us."

Akame wasn't too keen on promises despite the one that Tatsumi made to her and lived to the end, but she probably knew Tatsumi would have asked her to make the same promise too. "I will."

Najasho had other plans for the group and grabbed the handle of his Shingu, the Water Dragon Sword. "You're not going anywhere!"

Akame quickly slammed her hands together and then slammed them into the ground. "Shadow-Make; Black Fortress!" A giant shadow dome emerged from the ground and encased the former members of the Elite Seven. "Go, now!"

The others took this opportunity to run past the dome. Lucy looked back one more time at Akame. "Be careful, Akame."

As soon as they were far away enough, Akame dispelled her magic and the dome vanished. Now, it was only her against her former team. Najasho seemed to be the only one who was unfazed by what Akame had done. "So, it seems you've learned a few tricks since then. "Do you think it'll be enough for you to fight all of us by yourself?" He scoffed at Akame. "Don't get too cocky, small fry."

Akame remained unflinching and drew out her katana sword which surprised a few of her teammates. "You're forgetting something, Najasho. A long time has passed between now and what happened back then. "She pointed her katana sword at her former team. "I'll show you what this small fry can do now." She remembered her Observation Haki she had learned, though she had to learn to improve it, but right, now, facing her previous team is on her list.

Something was bothering her, she couldn't sense their aura but she could sense something else coming from them; magic power and it was strong. She didn't know what happened to them, but she knew that the fight would prove to be more difficult than she originally thought. Regardless, Akame was determined to see this through to the end. "Shall we begin?"

M

Brook was with Sanji, who sensed his crew's presence. They eventually found them at the end of the forest. "Nami, my love!"

Nami delivered a punch to the cook thus knocking him down.

"Nami!" Chopper and Brook exclaimed with pleading expressions.

"I am the Ketchup Star," Usopp spoke quietly with ketchup underneath his body.

"Anyway, what's going on, did you meet up with others?" Franky asked.

Sanji got up and explained the situation.

Robin and Zoro then arrived. "Hey!"

Sanji was quickly swoon by the female voice. "Robin, you're alright my dear!"

Zoro groaned in annoyance. "You're pathetic." Hearing that made Sanji grunt annoyingly. "Hey moss head, nice to see you too!"

"I bet you are!" Zoro growled glaring at the cook.

"Enough!" Nami bonked the two male morons on their heads. "Anyway, Sanji, did you meet up with the others?"

Brook decided to answer that. "Yeah, we met up with Fairy Tail, they're on the battlefield now, but we decided to look for you guys, and...well, here we are."

Robin looked at the racket that was happening on the battlefied. "I hope everyone else will arrive soon."

"Hey guys!" Everyone of the Straw Hats looked in the direction of the voice and saw Luffy with Aquapad, Jula, Thorn, Angela, and Rena running toward them. Each of them was delighted and relieved at the same time.

B

As the wind blew softly through, Akame, she stared at the group of people across from her who she once called her allies.

Former Elite Seven Member: Rank Third, Cornelia

Former Elite Seven Member: Rank Second, Guy

Former Elite Seven Member: Rank Fifth, Green

Former Elite Seven Member: Rank One, Najasho

Former Elite Seven Member: Rank Fourth, Poney

Former Elite Seven Member: Rank Sixth: Tsukushi

Not even in her wildest imagination did Akame think she be reunited with her old team. She knew what they are capable of considering they did train together since childhood. What she was cautious about was the magic power she was sensing from them. Not sensing their aura was understanding, but sensing magic power made her curious. However, she highly doubted she would get any answers from them concerning this. All she could do was prepare for the upcoming fight.

Najasho huffed at Akame's declaration of fighting them. "So, you truly want to fight us all at once. I never thought you of all people would be this stupid."

"Najasho..."

Najasho glanced at Tsukushi and it seemed like she wanted to talk to Akame next. He nodded and granted his teammate's request. Tsukushi took a few steps forward and looked at Akame with hurtful eyes. "Before we fight, I have to know." She closed her eyes and shook her head. Once she stopped, she opened her eyes again. "Was it worth it betraying us, our father, the empire, and what about your sister!?"

Akame felt a slight pain in her heart when Tsukushi mentioned that. Of the night when Akame confessed everything to her about what she felt about what they were doing and what the Empire truly was. She also remembered that Gozuki was already onto her. The others, Cornelia, Guy, Green, and Najasho were surprised to hear this.

Akame looked directly into Tsukushi's eyes. "I truly did want you to come with me, Tsukushi. I am sorry things turned out the way they did. But, I will tell you once more and you guys need to hear this too." She referring to her other teammates. "What the Empire has been doing, it wasn't for the good of the people. It never was, we all were nothing but puppets to them even others that were once part of the Empire saw that too. I wanted to fight for peace and the Revolutionary Arm was the one who could make it happen. As for Gozuki, he severed that family bond with me on that night. It was fine by me since I no longer thought of him as my father and it was that very night, we fought to the death, and I won thus I took Murasame myself."

"YOU KILLED PAPA!?" Cornelia shouted. "How could you do such a thing!? He raised us all like we were his children!"

Akame understood Cornelia's outburst as she was the closest to Gozuki. "It was either me or him, and I had no intention of dying. My only regret was leaving Tsukushi, Poney, and the rest to your deaths. As for Kurome, it took a long time, but she eventually left the Empire as well and is being looked at by someone I can trust." She couldn't help but chuckle at the funny thought of Wave. "I wouldn't be surprised if he became my brother-in-law." Everyone was quite surprised to hear that, as far as they knew Akame was very protective of her sister and wouldn't let anyone near her. Whoever this person was she was speaking of, he must've been one hell of a guy to earn her blessing.

"Does that mean you and Kurome are..." Tsukushi began to ask, and to her surprise, she saw Akame smiling. "Yes, we reconciled and became sisters again, though, I do miss her, but, I'm sure she's fine and she got new friends too."

Green was astonished. "Whoa...her smile..." He felt his face flushed. To him, he hasn't seen Akame smile like that in quite some time.

Akame was getting off track. "In the end, the Empire fell to the Revolutionary Army and I knew for certain the Captial and its people are enjoying our hard-fought peace. Two others for the new group I joined, Night Raid, left and we arrived in this world, Earthland. Also, I went to another world where the ocean is spread out, though, I only got to see two islands, but, it was a grand adventure."

Guy had to admit he was a little intrigued.

Akame wasn't done. "However, now this world is being threatened by another Empire. The Alvarez Empire to be exact and we will fight once more for that peace. If you stand in my way, it doesn't matter who it is..." She swung her sword to the side and gave her old team a threatening expression. "I will bury them all."

Cornelia could tell Akame had changed since last she saw her and the others could see that well. They could also tell she was serious and that was just fine. "Very well," Najasho spoke. "The time for talking is over, Akame, we will be the ones to put you down." The rest of the Elite Seven readied themselves for the battle shortly ahead. "Any last words?"

"Yes, just a message to pass along I heard from Gozuki before he died," Akame responded. "Before Gozuki died, he confessed that he did love us as if we were his children. I can tell by the look in his eyes and the words he spoke of "not deserving to see those among us who died because of what he did"." Cornelia and Tsukushi felt rather touched hearing that while Guy grinned.

As grateful as they probably were towards Akame for telling them, the moment between them was over the moment that Akame took up her usual fighting stance. "I believe the time for sentimentality is over." Najasho agreed and he along with the rest of the Elite Seven readied themselves for the fight against Akame.

Najasho drew out his Water Dragon Sword and rushed toward Akame. Akame did the same and they neared each other. Both swung their swords and clashed against one another. The impact of the two swords hitting each other reverberated throughout the air and cracks appeared underneath them. Immediately, Akame sensed something was off.

"Najasho shouldn't be this strong." Akame has grown leagues stronger while being in Earthland, so her strength should be far above Najasho's. And yet, he matched her in strength and hadn't even used his weapon's true power yet. They remained deadlocked for several seconds before Najasho pushed his sword forward to disengage from Akame. In the next second, he swung his sword again at Akame. "Shave!" She quickly vanished taking the Dragon Sword user by surprise for the first time.

Even the others weren't expecting Akame to vanish so quickly. "How did she do that?" Green asked.

Akame reappeared behind Najasho and swung her sword, however, her former teammate quickly turned around and blocked her sword. Akame turned her sword's blade around against Najasho's blade which slightly pushed him away. "What the hell..." Akame flipped over and she delivered an uptick right close to Najasho's chin, barely missed but part of her boot seemingly scarred his chin leaving a small mark.

Using this chance, Akame was about to take out Murasame, however, she saw that Najasho vanished, and in his place was Cornelia was charging at her. "Shave!" She quickly vanished again.

Akame reappeared behind Cornelia. "Shadow-Make: Pistol!" She created a shadow-like pistol and fired several bullets at her female teammate and the bullets drew near. Cornelia mumbled a word and vanished which stunned Akame, but before she could react a rope-like weapon reached her and wrapped around her tightly. It was Green's doing, his Shingu, Sidewinder. "I'm sorry, Akame."

As soon as Akame was tied up, Pony appeared above her and smiled smugly at her. She spun around and delivered a powerful kick right toward Akame's midsection. Her kick felt more powerful than usual, and Akame knew it wasn't because of Poney's Shingu, the Yocto-Bottoms. The kick sent Akame flying high in the air releasing her from Green's Shingu.

Cornelia jumped into the air and swung her arm upward, which had the Shingu, Pulverization King, her arm hit Akame in her side sending her crashing onto the ground and leaving a small crater

Akame still tied up was in pain as it coursed through her body. She always didn't want to be the receiving end of Poney's kicks and Corenlia's combats either. To think her old teammates were more powerful than ever. She didn't have time to recover as she felt two strong grips wrapped around her legs. Akame looked to see what it was and saw Guy appear out of the ground with his Shingu, the Rare Suit. "Sorry, Akame. Can't let you escape that easy." He looked up. "Cora, go for it!"

Akame looked up and saw Corelnia high above her and coming straight at her with her Shingu ready and aimed directly at her. "Pulverization King!" Akame's eyes widened and seconds later, Cornelia crashed on top of where Akame was. A large column of dust shot up into the air and more cracks spread throughout the ground. Though the attack was powerful, something felt off to Cornelia.

Green shared the same feeling as Sidewinder felt looser than it did a few seconds ago. It wasn't until the dust settled that he and everyone else saw there was no trace of Akame. "Guy, where did Akame go?"

Guy emerged from the ground and was just as confused. "Beats me, I know I had her but it felt like she slipped through my hands."

Everyone was on guard and looking for where Akame could attack. Try as they might, they couldn't see a place where they could sense her aura.

"Shadow-Make: Shadow Pike Impalement!" They looked down briefly and saw countless shadow pikes shooting from the ground where they stood. They all managed to jump away from the attack in time and the pikes vanished.

From afar, one spot in the ground exploded and Akame shot up into the air. Najasho should've thought as much and was puzzled. "She was underground? How did Akame manage to pull that off and how did she escape from Guy's grasp?"

Akame put her hands together and made her usual stance. "Shadow-Make: Shadow Gatlings!" Akame wielded two shadow-like Gatling guns and fired countless shadow-like bullets. "Cornelia!" Reading his mind, she punched each of the shadow-like bullets. Guy created an armor of earth covering his entire body and punched down the bullets. Pony kicked the bullets down with her kicks and Tsukushi deflected the bullets using her guns. Like her, Najasho used his sword to deflect the attack.

Once the attacks were taken down, Green looked up at Akame and threw his Shingu at him once again. Sidewinder managed to wrap around her once more. "I got you!"

Najasho narrowed his eyes as he had a feeling capturing Akame felt a little too easy. Plus, he remembered Akame managed to escape Green's grasp before. How she did it in the first place is what he was still wondering about.

"Tsukushi, shoot Akame now!" Tsukushi followed Green's orders and aimed at Akame. She fired a round at her and it seemed like checkmate, or at least she thought. Akame transformed into a shadow and easily escaped Green's Sidewinder and avoided Tsukushi's bullet.

Najasho and the others were surprised Akame could do such a thing and he finally understood how Akame escaped from before. "So, that's how she was able to avoid our attacks." Though, he was wondering if she was able to escape Cornelia's attack, the first time.

Akame descended Sidewinder by circling it at a fast speed. Before Green knew it, the shadow went past him and went into the ground. She then materialized out of the ground behind him and she quickly did her Make-Stance. "Shadow-Make: Shadow Axe!" A large shadow-axe was created by Akame's hands and prepared to swing it as fast as she could with all her strength.

Green couldn't avoid the attack in time with Akame being so close to him now. All he could do was brace the attack. Akame's blade of her axe drew closer to Green's head which a slight look of fear in his eyes. Suddenly she felt punched, kicked, stabbed, kneed, and shot at all at once by the other Elite Seven members. The bullet Tsukushi fired before returning and penetrated her head through. After dealing with Akame thoroughly, the members of the Elite Seven took a few steps back. As they did, they all saw Akame turn black and sink back into the ground. Najasho and the others were bewildered by this. "A shadow double?" He should've known better than Akame would never leave herself wide open when enemies were surrounding her, that's one thing about being an assassin. "Where's the real Akame?" He took a quick look at the remaining shadow seeping into the ground. Then he remembered how she came out of the ground after they thought they had before. That was when he realized something important. All of them were close together. His eyes widened and looked at his teammates. "Everyone, move back now!"

The other members heard his warning and Akame's voice from below. "Death Twister!" As every Elite Seven member jumped back from where they stood, a massive shadow tornado erupted from the ground. While the attack did barely miss them, the force behind it managed to blow all of them away. The twister subsided after a few moments and Akame was revealed to be in the center of the holding Murasame now. She planned to kill her former teammates while they were gathered in the same place with both her magic and Murasame. Her plan didn't work out as she planned but she managed to separate them for the time being and her attack might've done some damage. She looked around and saw that the closest target was Cornelia still laying on the ground and dashed at her. Cornelia groaned as she tried to recover and opened her eyes to see Akame coming at her with Murasame ready to cut her down. Despite saying her trigger word, Akame couldn't help but remember all the memories she had with Cornelia. The most memorable and saddest is when she held her corpse in her arms after finding out that Taeko of the Oarburgh Clan killed her. She had to shake those thoughts away and focused on her target.

Once Akame was close enough, Cornelia closed her eyes and waited for Akame to cut him down. Akame swung her sword and a loud clang rang throughout the air. Cornelia expected the worst to happen, but it never came. She opened her eyes and gasped as she saw someone standing in front of her and Akame. Someone familiar to both her and Akame. Akame herself was surprised to see who was blocking Murasame with her sword. Another face she had not seen in a long time. "How long has it been since I've last seen you, Akame." She pushed Akame back with a tremendous amount of strength.

Cornelia laughed happily as she stood up. "You're here, Takeo!"

Former Oarburgh Clan Member: Takeo Oarburgh

"Taeko..." Taeko was the first serious opponent Akame faced and did think of her as a friend especially when they hung out at a hot spring. Then later, she found out that Taeko was the enemy and the one that killed Cornelia and in the end, she killed Taeko.

Taeko's last words echoed through Akame's mind. "In the next life, I hope we can be on the same side until the end." Taeko studied Akame for a few seconds. "You seem different, Akame. You don't seem like the same person I've fought before. It's a shame that we're on the opposite side once again. However..." She pointed her sword at Akame. "This time will be different." Akame narrowed her eyes at Taeko. Like Cornelia and the others, she could sense magic power coming from her. "Taeko took her stance and intensely focused on Akame. "Mountain Gale!" She vanished instantly and it caught Akame off guard for a second. She immediately turned around while swinging her sword in tandem. As Akame thought, she saw Taeko was already behind her and swung her sword. Both their swords crossed each other and a strong gust of wind blew out from both. Neither of them was giving an inch and Akame was about to break off the draw when she sensed something else coming from behind her. She used the Shave Technique to speed away before two powerful attacks struck the spot she was previously standing at.

Akame reappeared away from Takeo and was far enough too. If it wasn't for her training in the mountains with the other Elite Seven members to sense danger, Akame would've received the brunt of that surprise attack. She could sense two other magic powers within the cloud alongside Taeko's. "You've gotten a lot better since the last time we've been on the same team, huh Akame?"

Akame gasped quietly as she heard another familiar voice. "Akame, it's really good to see you again, that new technique you used, it's nothing like I've ever seen before."

The dust cloud began to disappear and Akame saw three shadow figures, one was Taeko no doubt. As it completely cleared up, her eyes widened at the two new and familiar people. "Gin...Natala..."

Former Group of Terror and Elite Seven Member: Gin

Former Group of Terror and Elite Seven Member: Natala

Gin smirked at Akame as she was happy to see her old teammate again. "What's wrong, cat got your tongue? Then again, it is a bit weird seeing your dead teammates."

Natala gave Akame a gentle smile. "You look like you're doing well, Akame."

Akame focused on Natala and was reminded of the times she had to fight him as Kurome's puppet. "Natala..." She gritted her teeth. "Just how many..." Her mind flashed back to when she first Natala back to Romani Road where they first encountered Kurome. "How many..." She remembered how she fought against him in her confrontation, only to be interrupted by Snapjaw and the demon piranha killed him and Doya. "JUST HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO FIGHT YOU!"

The outburst surprised Natala and was confused as to why Akame yelled at him. "Fight you?" He quickly figured how what she meant by that and laughed sheepishly. "Oh, you must've found out I was one of Kurome's puppets at one point. I'm sorry you had to find that out the hard way." He remembered he and the empire soldiers were surrounded by enemy rebel soldiers, he was able to kill as many as he could only to be shot in the back.

Gin glanced over at Natala. "Wait, when you were Kurome's puppet, what does that even mean, what the hell happened after I died?"

Natala laughed at the response." It's a long story." He then had a question for Akame. "Tell me, how is Kurome doing?"

Despite that she had to fight Natala again, she figured the least she could was tell him about Kurome. "She's fine...in fact, she's got a boyfriend now and she's cured of the drugs she was taking for so long." Natala was surprised and happy at the same time.

Gin shared the same reaction. "No way, Kurome has a boyfriend, that's good to know."

Akame couldn't help but smile back but the moment was over as Natala's easygoing expression quickly changed to a serious one. "As much as I'm grateful that you told me and Gin about Kurome, I'm afraid we're in not a position to catch up on old times. Sorry, Akame..." He pointed his Shingu, Trisula at Akame. "But we have to do this." Gin readied her large butcher-knife-like sword. Akame prepared herself for the incoming attack and waited for them to make their move.

Akame saw Gin and Natala disappear and they reappeared next to her, one on each side. "Shave!" She disappeared herself as her former teammate swung their weapons.

Akame reappeared a few inches away from the spot she was originally at. Just then Taeko was right in front of her and unsheathed her sword in an upward direction and bright light appeared. The light cut through Akame and slashed the ground deeply behind her.

The light died down and Taeko stood to see Akame now split apart. Until she transformed into a shadow. Taeko, Gin, and Natala were surprised to see that. "A fake?"

All the shadows move up and they looked in the same direction to see Akame high in the air them. She put her hands together and was preparing for her counterattack. "Shadow-Make-"

Her attack was interrupted when Akame felt a strong grip on her ankle. She looked down and saw a hand with an elongated arm coming out of the ground. A spot from the ground where her arm came from broke apart and another figure appeared. The figure whipped its arm upward and the motion traveled to where Akame was. She was lifted higher into the air before being hurled into the ground with a hard slam. She coughed loudly while she was in the newly formed crater with a hand still keeping a tight grip on her ankle. She saw the figure above her and sent out some sort of elongated projectile attack at her. She sank into her shadow and was able to avoid the attack. She moved away from where the projectile attacks would've struck her and emerged from her shadow. Akame saw a figure land near her and she instantly recognized him. "So, it was you, Ibara."

Former Rakshasa Demon Member: Ibara

Ibara laughed evilly and gave Akame a sinister grin. "What's the matter, ain't you glad to see me, Akame?" He laughed again. "I was hoping to see that demon girl with the white hair, no matter, someone I know who will be happy to see you."

Akame raised an eyebrow trying to figure out what Ibara meant by that when noticed a large fire attack coming from inside. She quickly used the 'Shave' technique to avoid the fire attack and was far away from it. The fire attack ceased and she heard an eerie laugh. "It's wonderful to see you again, the one who's the sister of my lost bride-to-be."

Akame gasped quietly as she recognized the voice and saw the person standing before her. He was a tall and muscular middle-aged man with tanned skin wearing pharaoh-like clothing and long canine ears. Akame immediately remembered who this person was. "You're...the leader of the Gravekeepers." The Gravekeeper leader laughed at her.

Former Gravekeeper Leader: Weneg

"I'm elated that you remember me after all this time, not since our fight in the tomb. Tell me, what has happened to my bride-to-be, I believe you two were sisters, weren't you?" The leader of the Gravekeepers was the first serious opponent Akame fought back when she was still a member of the Elite Seven. He and the others kidnapped Kurome, Tsukushi, and Gin. There was also a mention of the leader wanting to make Kurome his bride and he was the one that killed Guy. Rescuing Kurome and the others was part of the reason why she and the other Elite Seven members were sent to the Gravekeeper's Tomb. The other was to take the treasure they stole, only to learn from the leader himself that the Empire was stealing from him.

Akame narrowed her eyes at Weneg. "She's with someone far better than you."

Weneg huffed at that. "I suppose it was inevitable after my death. The man is indeed very lucky, but now..." He pointed his scepter at her. "Care to show me that strength of yours again?"

Akame was happy to oblige to that request. Like others, she was able to sense magic coming from him. Suddenly everything went dark and as it did, who she saw next wasn't Weneg, it was her sister, Kurome, only this time, she was giving her a sweet smile. Akame was distracted momentarily before realizing something important. "No, I recognize this technique." She remember the one person that tried to fool her using the technique. "Shadow-Make: Knife!" She summoned out a small shadow-like knife and stabbed her hand with it. The darkness around her faded away as did the illusion of Kurome. What replaced her was a large man with a demented grin coming at her. As Akame thought, it was his work, and swung Murasame to block his attack.

Akame successfully blocked the attack, and the force behind it pushed back a little. She heard the man laugh manically. "Hello there, Akame. "It's delightful to see you again!"

Former Empire Executioner: Zanku

What Akame saw before was Zanku's work. It was the same trick he used in their first fight with his Imperial Arms, Spectator. However, the last time first time was Kurome and Akame was determined to kill her younger sister out of love, however, since now they have reconciled, that effect won't work again.

She took out Katana Sword in her other hand which intrigued Zanku. "Using two swords, though, one is Murasame, I suppose you must've learned to use a sword, either way, this should be delightful fun."

Before Akame could continue her fight against Zanku, she sensed something dangerous that was quickly approaching her. She dodged to the side and a few seconds after, Akame managed to avoid the attack that shot up a massive column of dust into the air. Out of the gust column, several daggers were thrown out of it and all were headed toward Akame. She easily deflected them with her swords and focused on the gust column again.

"Yo, Akame! You're looking good as always.

"So we meet again. This time, I'll make you play."

The dust cloud began to clear up and within it revealed two young girls wearing maid outfits. One of them had long blonde hair while the other had purple hair put up in pigtails and strangely had four arms. Akame recognized them very well. "Gilberda, Cassandra."

Former Oarburgh Clan Member: Gilberda

Former Oarburgh Clan Member: Cassandra

Seeing those two brought up memories Akame didn't want to remember again despite that they along with the rest of the Oarburgh Clan knew of the Empire's darkness. Suddenly she noticed a swirling black mass surrounding her. Upon closer inspection, they were tiny insects that crawled quickly around her. She saw a small opening that was shrinking quickly. "Shave!" She used the Shave technique to quickly sped through the opening before the insects trapped her.

"Shadow-Make: Cannon!" Akame placed her hands together and slammed her fists into the ground creating a few shadow-like cannons. "Fire!" The shadow-like cannons fired shadow-like cannonballs and exploded in contact with the large tower of bugs. Leaving all the bugs in pieces and the cannons subsided into the ground.

Akame then heard clapping from across. "Impressive, very impressive." She gasped and a cold dark chill ran down her spine. "She looked ahead to see Gilberda and Cassandra standing on each side and saw an older woman walking towards them. A woman in her twenties with long black hair wore a purple free-flowing dress with a black and white plaid belt and held an umbrella. Akame's breathing became shaky as she knew the woman in front of her all too well. "I see you've become stronger since the last time I've seen you, my dear Akame. I believe you've become much more rapturing."

Former Oarburgh Clan Leader: Merraid Oarburgh

"Merraid..." Merraid Oarburgh served as a sort of catalyst in Akame's life. It was through her that Akame was told what the Empire was truly like and attempted to get her to join her side including Kurome. After she'd killed her, it turned out Merraid was right about the Empire especially what happened to a village where she befriended a young boy and girl that were burned to death along with the people. That made Akame defect for good.

"Lady Merraid!" A small girl with cyan hair which kept tied in two pigtails and on the left side of her forehead, was a star-shaped ornament. She wore a white shirt and a black dress. The small girl was hugging Mermaid. "I missed you so much!"

Former Oarburgh Clan/Retribution Group Member: Loris

Akame was stunned for a moment until she recognized the girl. "Wait...she's from-"

"Sister, Lady Merraid is here!" Another girl that looked identical to the other small girl arrived with the same hairstyle and color with the same star-shaped ornament, only that it was on the right side of her forehead.

Former Oarburgh Clan/Retribution Group Member: Meela

Merraid was also delighted to see the twins. "Oh, I missed you two cuties."

Akame never met the other twin, and only saw a brief sight of her when she and her group arrived to assist Kurome's group.

"You girls haven't changed a bit,' A young, curvaceous woman with long, silver, neck-length hair and golden eyes. She wore a dark headband and allowed her bangs to hang out beneath it.

Former Member of the Revolutionary Army/Retribution Group: Mashiro

"She was the girl that shot Tsukushi, though, it wasn't fatal to kill her." Akame thought as she also recalled her pulled Green's Shingu and putting him in a headlock and breaking his neck thus killing him.

"Quite the reunion, wouldn't you say?" Akame saw someone else appear before and it was someone that she could never forget. "What's it like seeing everyone you once knew here and now?" As soon as he said that, everyone Akame had encountered thus through this entire ordeal appeared in front of her. Her former teammates, are Green, Poney, Cornelia, Natala, Gin, Guy, and Tsukushi.

The Oarburgh Clan, Cassandra, Gilberda, Merraid. The former members of the Retribution Group, Mashiro, Loris, and Meela.

Zanku the executioner of the Empire and Weneg, leader of the Gravekeepers.

Ibara member of the Rakshasa Demons and lastly, her adopted father.

Former Rakshasa Demon Member: Gozuki

Akame took a good long look at the group in front of her. She lost count of how many times it happened, but, once again, she felt overwhelmed. "These are all the people I either once knew or fought, a few I saw for a brief moment, but, all of them have magic power." The situation was grim for Akame and the odds were heavily stacked against her.

Over the top of the rocky structure where the guild was. Neinhart was both impressed and confused by Historia he summoned. "I must say, it's not often I summon this many Historia, but perhaps that is due they don't have any magic power whatsoever. Unlike Bloodman, God Serena, and Wall, it was difficult to revive them. I must ask thought," He turned his attention to Esdeath. "Why have all of them focused on one person?"

Esdeath continued to look at the battle and saw little instances of fire, ice, water, multiple lights, and lightning. "For three reasons. One, I thought it would be it'd be nice for her to have a little reunion. Two, you have more than one million soldiers handling four mere individuals. And three, she is the most dangerous one of all with her Imperial Arms. The One-Hit Kill Sword: Murasame. As the name says, if it cuts you just once, even the slightest scratch will deliver a non-curable poison that quickly spreads, and once it reaches your heart, you're dead."

Dimaria scoffed at that. "Just for a person that has a measly sword should give us chills."

Jacob thought back to his fight against Akame and remembered she didn't use her sword the entire time. "The woman's got a point."

Dimaria looked back at him looking bewildered. "Seriously, Jacob?"

"The girl did have a sword she didn't use the entire time, I admit I was wondering why, but Esdeath's details on the sword she describes make sense. If I didn't hold all her guild friends hostage, no doubt, she would've used it and the fight would've been a little more challenging. If she used that sword to kill me, her guildmates would be lost forever." He looked over in Esdeath's direction. "After all, the one thing you don't want to do is underestimate an enemy especially one that can kill with one cut."

"Precisely." Esdeath agreed. "Something most of you have done," Most of the Spriggan Twelve members shot a dirty look at her, but, she paid no mind as she kept looking in the direction she was previously looking at where she assumed Akame was. "Well, Akame, what will you do even with your current strength and Murasame in hand, the odds are stacked against you, can you defeat all those opponents on your own?"

Over Akame, she was left with very limited options. "Fighting them all was insane...no it was suicidal. Even with Murasame, the Shave Technique, and my magic, I can't measure up to them the way I am now..." He looked at her hand. "If only I had more time to improve my Observation Haki, this fight might've been in my favor." She glanced over at Murasame and tightened her grip on the handle. She sighed as she closed her eyes. She suddenly remembered a private talk she had with Leone back at Lamia Scale, they were having a break while Chelsea was doing some training with her newly required Mimic Magic.

F

In the Lamia Scale, they sat at a table and were having a snack. "Leone, have I told about you, Murasame's Trump Card?

Leone was a bit surprised. "No, why do you ask?"

Akame glanced at Murasame's handle. "I was supposed to use it against Esdeath, but, since the demons of Tartaros killed her, that didn't happen, which I'm glad honestly because I enjoyed my time with everyone else including you and Night Raid."

Leone was a bit confused though, she was curious about what she meant by that. "That's nice, but, are you saying you know what Murasame's Trump Card is."

"I do and to use it..." Akame stood up from her seat and unsheathed Murasame. "I would have discarded my humanity. That is what I was taught." Leone was practically speechless when she heard that. "Slaying, carnage, and bloodshed...only when your heart embraces the demon inside, can this technique be wielded. At least, that's how I always interpreted it." She sheathed Mursame back in. "Leone, I have a request, if I have to use this technique against a stronger opponent and that if my heart embraces the demons within and more importantly if I should become possessed by this cursed blade and become a danger to everyone else, I want you to kill me." Leone could only stare in disbelief at what Akame had asked her to do. "I wouldn't mind dying if it were by your hands, I would consider it an honor..."

F

Akame opened her eyes and remembered what Leone said to her last. "Well, you can forget that request, I wouldn't kill you if you became a demon! I won't kill my best friend, I know Night Raid wouldn't stand for it and neither would Fairy Tail and Lamia Scale!" A small smile formed on Akame's face for a brief moment. "I'm sorry, it seems my hand is forced considering the odds..."

Cornelia and the others saw Akame lift her sword and pointed the blade near her neck. "She was confused as to what Akame would accomplish such a thing. "Why is Akame turning her sword on her?"

Zanku just grinned widely. "If she's going to kill herself, then let her do it, it would be delightful to see her blood spill on the ground."

Gozuki narrowed his eyes as he knew exactly what Akame was planning to do. "Akame...you're going to use Murasame's Trump Card?" Not even he would do such a thing when he was the wielder. Nevertheless, if she used Murasame's Trump Card, there was no telling what she could do, if she was able to use the technique she could turn the tables around them. Gozuki wasted no time and went after Akame. "I won't give you the chance to activate Murasame's Trump Card, Akame!" He was already halfway with his own Murasame in hand ready to cut her down.

As Gozuki approached, time moved to a crawl and Akame felt her heartbeat. With each heartbeat. an image of her friends from Fairy Tail, Lamia Scale, and course, the Straw Hat Pirates. "I'm sorry, everyone." Gozuki began to swing his sword at Akame while she began to press the blade against her neck.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!"

Gozuki stopped and jumped back before something crashed in between him and Akame. The crash interrupted Akame and stopped from what she was going to do.

Guy and the others are as confounded as Gozuki. "Now what the hell is going on?"

It didn't take long for Akame to recognize who was standing before her. She removed Murasame from her neck and sheathed it back. "it's you..."

The dust cleared to reveal Leone smiling while still carrying a post-traumatic Chelsea on her back. "Yo, Akame. Glad we made it in time." She looked around for anyone else. "Akame, did you meet up with anyone else?"

Akame nodded. "Yes, I was with Natsu's group, then later, we met with one of the Straw Hats. However, things got complicated and I told them to go on and get to the guild while I handle these guys." She was looking in her enemies' direction which Leone looked. "I see..."

Chelsea let out a weak groan. "Oh, god, I'm going to be sick, I think I know how Natsu and the other dragon slayers feel." Leone looked back at Chelsea. "Let me get you down before you throw up." Chelsea was more happy to get off. Leone lowered herself and Chelsea removed herself from the other girl and was on all fours trying to recover from Leone's crazy speed. Leone turned to Akame and smiled. "Jeez, it feels like a long time since we last saw each other, though it's been a couple of days, but, it feels like a helluva a lot longer." She then turned to see a group standing before them. "Who the hell are we dealing with, I recognize Headhunter Zanku, the guy that used to be one of Kurome's corpses and one of the Rakshasa Demons, but, I don't know the rest."

Weneg studied Leone closely and noticed her Imperial Arms. "That item the woman is wearing, I remember one of my own wearing it, how did she come in possession of it?"

Akame looked at the other group as well and explained to the blonde assassin about her history with the Empire. Leone was surprised to hear this. "So, the blonde-haired guy was your adoptive father?"

Akame nodded. "Yes, they are people that I once knew and fought. According to Erza and Gray, they experienced the same thing and informed us of a Spriggan Twelve member that bring the dead back to life, ones that we knew."

Leone narrowed her eyes at the group before her and was all too familiar with that ability. "Someone who can bring back the dead, that explains it, I got a taste of that back at Hargeon, speaking of which, Sheele and Bulat say hi." Akame was surprised to hear that from Leone.

Chelsea groaned again as she recovered somewhat. "Ugh, I'm really lucky I didn't have lunch." She raised her head and saw the group in front of her. Her eyes widened when she saw who was in it. "Wait a minute, I recognize some of those people. I know the blonde guy with the sword and the glasses-wearing guy." She looked at the rest of the group and silently gasped. "T-Taeko?"

Akame's eyes widened as she looked over at Chelsea. She knew she didn't hear her wrong. "Chelsea said Taeko's name, how is it that she knows her?"

Chelsea stood up not breaking eye contact with Taeko. "That's you, right Taeko? But how I heard you and Granny were killed...and..." She looked at certain other people within the other group. "Lady Merraid, Gilberda, Cassandra, Loris, Meela?"

Akame felt her heart pound harder when she heard Chelsea say those names. "How does Chelsea know the names of the Oarburgh Clan members?"

Gilberda laughed hysterically as she looked at Chelsea. "Holy shit, it's Chelsea! I never thought I'd see you again!"

Loris and Meela were delighted to see her. "Lady Chelsea is here, sis!"

"It's been so long since we went away for a while! We're happy to see you again!

Cassandra didn't seem as excited as the three members. "So, you're still alive."

Merraid giggled playfully at Chelsea. "My, my, this is certain the little reunion, isn't it, Chelsea?" Akame's breathing became slightly heavier the more she heard the conversation. Little by little, Akame pieced together a very important puzzle as to why they knew each other and came to one conclusion.

"Chelsea..." Taeko spoke. I see you're doing well, I'm sure you have a lot of questions and I must say..." She looked at Akame who had a frightened expression. "You have quite the ironic twist of fate." She focused on Chelsea again. "You want to know who killed me, correct? I can assure you she's near. She's standing right behind you." Chelsea held her breath and slowly turned around to see Akame who had an equally shocked expression.

She'd never spoken of her previous team not even to Akame or the rest of Night Raid even with the Fairy Tail wizards, not since the camping at the south.

"The person responsible for killing me..." Taeko spoke. "Is none other than Akame and it was her and her group that killed all of the Oarburgh Clan." There was silence in the air as Chelsea continued to stare at Akame in shock still. Akame's frightened expression didn't leave her face.

Those that remember Loris and Meela, the twins from chapter 45 of Akame Ga Kill Zero, also had affections for girls and Mashiro is a woman member of the Revolutionary Army but left when her lover was killed. Most of this goes credit to the writer that wrote Assassins of Fairy Tail. Anyway, not to spoil much, but, there will be unexpected help for the three assassins, that's all for now. I know Loris and Meela didn't appear until chapter 45 of Akame Ga Kill Zero, but, how they're in Earthland, that's be revealed in the next chapter. Have a good day.

End of chapter.