An Uneasy Team Up Between Leo and Saber
Leo started opening his eyes and saw the cave of the ceiling. He sits up slowly and started to get a good look at his surroundings. The members of Twilight Titans were sitting around a campfire. He can see Scarlet and Isa cooking up some food in a couple pots and pans. Azel notice Leo was up and smiled.
She came over with a bowl of food. "I'm glad to see you're awake. Here." In the bowl was rice porridge and a roll. Leo didn't take the bowl. "Leo?"
"Hm?"
"You need to eat to regain to your strength."
"Tha-"
"Is it about what you did when we arrived to witness the birth of The Bloodthirsty Monster?" Scarlet looks over his shoulder.
Leo said nothing. He only glares at the man.
"We'll take that silence as a yes." Isa stands up and turns to Leo. "We all witnessed you engulfed in the flames and killed the rabbit."
"Did Abra tried to invade my mind with some drug?"
"It was an odorless psychotropic drug when you entered the cave." Isa concluded. "It made you hallucinate about the past. In reality from what we just witnessed, that rabbit was already injured before you killed it. Then once you snapped out of it after you witnessed the rabbit, we saved your ass before she can take you and Saber."
"We had to escape from the falling boulders and had to run until we all jumped into the abyss." Azel said.
"Why didn't you use a portal to escape?"
"Someone or something is blocking us to summon a portal. And we believe this is dark magic." Azel replied.
"I see." Leo lowers his head and looks up at the two Titans. "Well then, thanks for your help, Titans."
"We're not the only ones to receive your thanks, Leo." Scarlet smirks over his shoulder.
"What do you mean?" Leo asked him.
"Saber saved you as well." Isa replied. "You should thank her for saving of all us to avoid getting crushed to death."
"You want me to do what now? I'm not going to thank her for saving my ass." Leo growled.
"And why not?"
"She's been trying to kill me and I'm trying to kill this clone before she kills anyone else. I don't trust her one bit." Leo sneered.
"Well you, her and everyone else here is going to have trust and work together to get out of here." Isa folded his arms across his chest.
"Look, I'll work with you, but Saber and I will not help each other." Leo said.
"Too bad. She's down here with us." Scarlet started snickering a bit.
"And where the hell is the damn clone then, Scarlet?" Leo stands up. He doesn't see the clone around with them. "Because that clone doesn't listen to reason and only wants to-" Leo was saying until he heard a heavy footstep. "That fucking clone is standing right behind me, isn't she?"
No one answered as Scarlet continues snickering at him. Leo turns around to come face to face at Saber's red eyes as the white feline's face was lowered to him.
"Gr." the clone growls at him.
"Would you care to thank her now?" Isa asked as the tone in his voice has remained calm.
"Never." Leo looks over his shoulder.
"Very well then." Isa lets out an annoyed sigh.
Leo grabs his bowl from Azel and walks over to a flat rock next to Kaito. He notices him eating steak, mashed potatoes and broccoli.
Kaito stops eating his steak and saw Leo staring at his food. "Do you need something, Leo?"
"Yes. First of all, where did you get this food? And did the steak come from here or our world? We literally have rats as food bandits stealing food from the village."
"You don't have to concern yourself about the village." Scarlet spoke up from swallowing his rice. "I'm sure your friends are fine."
"Hm. And the food that we're eating now? Where did you get this from?"
"From me." A voice said from his right.
Leo turns to his right to see a young teenage a boy around about seventeen teen years old by the looks of it. He has spiky light green hair and hazel eyes. He was also wearing a white ninja suit. There where was also a brown cloak right behind him too.
"It's nice to meet you, Leo." The teenager said, offering his hand out to Leo. He pulls his hand back after Leo didn't shake his hand.
"And you are?"
"Logan Gage."
"Hm. You're a member of Twilight Titans, I believe?"
"For a few years now." Logan smiled.
"Thanks for preparing for the food from the cloak, Isa." Kaito thanks him.
"We should thank Logan. That magic cloak of his has been very helpful." Isa said. "Logan, would you mind showing Leo?"
"I don't mind." Logan picks up the cloak and tosses it above him and Leo's heads.
It was dark underneath the cloak and the next thing Leo knew, he was standing in a kitchen. Leo looks around the room. There was a brown round table with several chairs. A sink was located the wall. On the other wall was a smooth countertop with drawers. The black stove was next to the countertop and the black and silver fridge was next to the countertop as well.
"Not bad, right?" Logan watches him inspects the kitchen. "This house exists in a separate plane. Unfortunately, it doesn't have a bathroom here yet. Would you like to have a look around?"
"I'll manage." Leo said, walking into another room.
After an hour inspecting the house, Leo and Logan came out from underneath the cloak. They both saw Saber eating meat that was being given by Azel and Kaito.
"Should those two really be giving that clone some meat to eat? There won't be enough food to eat if they keep giving her meat." Leo watched as he started eating his rice porridge.
"Don't worry about it. We have an endless supply of food in the fridge and pantries that exists all over the world and they're completely fresh." Scarlet said.
"Is that all the cloak can do?" Leo questions him.
"Well, you just witnessed that the cloak could make itself camouflage from your enemies when traveling and it has a house with all your needs except for a bathroom." Scarlet replied.
"Hm." Leo continues eating his rice porridge, not sounding surprised. "That's useful to know."
"You don't sound surprised about it at all." Isa looks at him.
"I've met different people with their abilities since I met Master Lee. I had to get used that our world is far beyond normal." Leo replied. "But there are things can surprise me."
"True."
Leo finished his porridge and roll. Then he can hear his stomach growling again. "Seems like I'm still hungry."
"Scarlet made you a small plate of lunch that we were having before you woke up."
"How long have we been down here?" Leo asks, turning around with Isa and walks over to Scarlet where he hands Leo a small plate of food. He wonders how long they were down here.
"A day and a half. I've sent Azel and Scarlet ahead to see if there's a way out and the tunnel leads somewhere while Kaito, Logan and myself setup camp as Saber kept an eye on you." Isa answered.
Leo frowns at his answer. "I'm not thanking her for that too." He started eating his lunch.
"You heard what Isa said, Leo. All of us will have to work together to get out of this cave. That means you and Saber will have to put aside your differences for now. Be a team. Got it memorized?" Scarlet taps a couple times on the side of his head.
Leo looks over his shoulder as the clone finished eating. He hung his head and shook while letting out an annoyed sigh. "I'm not looking forward to this at all."
The clone snarls in agreement to her enemy's comment. She lays down and watches the humans. Leo rolls his eyes and resumes eating. He was finished eating his meal.
"So, what did you two find?" Isa asked Scarlet and Azel.
"There's a lake about a couple miles from here and another tunnel." Azel replied. "We didn't go inside the tunnel and figured it could be covered with dark magic from Abra or something else."
"Good. We'll rest at the lake tonight and go through that tunnel tomorrow morning but be on your guard. There could be something else down here from our world." Isa said.
"Like a bioweapon?" Leo folded his arms.
"We won't know until tomorrow."
"Hm." Leo watches Scarlet put out the fire.
"Leo, if you be so kind to give us a light." Scarlet stands up. "We need to see in the dark."
Leo spreads his fiery wings. Scarlet and Azel led them all down the tunnel to a big open space where they could see a big lake. The clone walks by them and started drinking from the lake.
"Should she really be drinking from the lake?" Kaito grew puzzled.
"The clone has been hiding from the eyes of the public since her and I crossed paths for months now, so she knows these caves well than we do. And since we're away from the caves she used to know, this is all new territory for the clone."
"Perhaps we should check if there's anything or anyone inside the lake before we get comfortable." Kaito suggested.
"Not a bad idea, Kaito." Azel said.
"Which is why I'm sending Leo and Saber right now to check if there is something in the water." Isa replied.
Leo turns around to him just to glare at him. "I'd rather check the lake alone without her."
Before Isa can speak, Kaito beats him to it. "Then how about you both take a half of the lake and you can both meet down in the middle? That way you don't need to be in each other's way."
Leo nods his head in agreement and flew close, growling softly at the clone before flying off to the other side.
"Gr." Saber snarls at him as she walks into the water.
Leo and the clone spent a half hour looking around in the water to find anything suspicious in the lake. It was quiet. He saw the water rise and saw the clone walking deeply in the lake. Leo shook his head and continued his investigation. There was a place where he can land on the other side.
Leo landed in a good open area of the cave. Looking around the open area, he came across a large tunnel and enters a little bit. He notices that the tunnel was going uphill. It might be the way out or not. Leo turns and exits the tunnel to head back to the others on the other side of the lake.
Leo landed near the water and walks over to a good spot away from the clone and began making a small fire pit before he started meditating.
Several hours later, he joins the Titans for dinner. They were all having rice, chicken and broccoli around the fire. He notices the clone was waiting patiently for her meal from Azel and Logan. There was a big pile of meat on the cave floor for her to enjoy her meal. Leo didn't trust her.
So he turns his attention to the pictures that he took on his phone. How the hell did those corpses get here? And why did Abra want him and Saber for? He doesn't even care about the clone. Once he's out of this cave, Leo is planning to call Panther about this.
A couple hours later, Leo took a look at the time, and it was almost nine o'clock. They decided to take shifts if someone does come. He and Saber were the only ones up as the rest of the Titans were sleeping. Leo stands up from the ground and walks over to the lake to wash up his face. The water felt nice and refreshing as he washes his face and his head.
Leo spreads his wings and starts taking a walk around the lake with the diamond sword tied to his waist. It was silent minus the heavy breathing of the clone, the sounds of water dripping from somewhere and the smell of the wood burning in the fire. He walks halfway around the lake. Leo turns his head to the wall to look at his shadow. Looking at his shadow had reminded him about what he did five years ago. The night he became "The Bloodthirsty Monster". He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, remembering the voices crying out into the night. No one, not even him, can forget what he did Ellie Collins five years ago.
"Is it alright if I join you?" Azel asks behind him.
Leo opens his eyes and turns to look at her over his shoulder. "Shouldn't you be sleeping? You and Kaito will be up to stand guard in a few hours."
"True, but seeing how you're over here, I figured if you saw anything over here."
"I would've woken you all up if I found anything suspicious over here. And Saber would just growl and roar that will be enough to wake all of you up at once if the clone caught an unknown scent."
"Yeah."
"But I don't need to stand guard with that bitch there. She knows how to fight."
"I know, but Abra was able to knock her out. If the two of you can just work together, Abra wouldn't stand a chance."
"There's no way that her and I will work together. We don't even trust each other."
"How come?" Azel wondered. "Can you tell me the reason why?"
The two of them saw the clone walking up to them. Saber stares at Azel and growled when she glares at Leo. They watch her walk a couple feet away from them and starts drinking the water.
"One of these days, that clone will die by my hand." Leo clenches his fist.
Azel looks back and forth to them. Letting out a little annoyed sigh, she walks a few feet away and stops to look over her shoulder. She saw Leo turning his head back to the wall and Saber sitting a few away from them. Azel turns her head forward and went back to the others who are still sleeping.
Leo felt some water splash on him and looks up to see Saber splash some water on him with her paw. "Is this your way of saying cool off?" He asked annoyed as his fiery wings disappeared.
Saber responded by splashing some water on him.
"Fuck you." Leo sneers at her and walks away into the tunnel. He spreads his fiery wings again to get some light. The path was going uphill. He began to follow the path.
The path had led him to a large area where he can see a view of the lake. There was another large tunnel behind him and he saw it was going uphill. Leo started wondering where this tunnel leads to. The exit out of this cave? There was only one thing Leo can do. Leo enters the large tunnel.
He stops as he heard some heavy footsteps behind him and turns around to look at the clone. The clone only glares at him.
"If this leads to the way out, then you and I won't have to deal with each other. Because the next time we meet, I won't let you live." Leo growls at her before leaving Saber.
Leo kept following the path for a couple of hours now. There was a lot of twists and turns along with an upward spiral. Leo had to make a mark to know that he's been here. He came into another large room. There was a light shining down from a hole that was above in the ceiling. Floating in the center of the room was a large human wielding a black staff as he wore a dark indigo cloak and a armored mask that covers everything except his mouth. The black armored mask has a strange design that Leo has never seen before. Leo drew his sword.
"Seeing how long you've been here, looks like you're standing guard to prevent anyone leaving this cave." Leo said as he got into his fighting stance.
The large human removes the mask and it was revealed to be a man. He was bald and has black eyes.
"Who are you?"
"I am Aken The Sorcerer." Aken said with a sneer. "And I shall prevent you to escape from the order of my mistress, Abra."
"I have no intention of losing to the likes of you, Sorcerer. I will escape this cave."
"We shall see." the sorcerer replied and puts his mask back on. His staff began glowing and several portals appeared a few feet in front of Leo.
Several skeletons appears from the portals and began rushing at him with swords. Leo was quick to fire several beams at the skeletons to destroy them. He deflects a couple of arrows that was fired at him. Leo jumps over a skeleton that tried to stab him and slice the skull from the body. But no matter how many times he slices the skeletons, they keep coming back.
Leo jumps into the air to do a fast spin while firing his orange beam. The beam destroys the skeletons and the staff.
Aken snarls at his smirking foe. He snaps his fingers.
Leo became stuck in midair and being able to move. He looks and saw a magic rune on his chest that was preventing his body to move.
It was Aken's turn to smirk, and he quickly attack Leo in midair with quick speed. Leo couldn't do anything as he was attacked. He received a roundhouse kick to the face that sent him flying into the wall and Aken used another incantation to repair his broken staff.
"Ha!" Leo shouted from above and attempts to slice the sorcerer, but his attack was blocked from the staff. "Why don't you give up and surrender?"
"That will not happen. I've already sent reinforcements to deal with the clone and the Titans. They will be dead by the time I defeat you."
"We'll see." Leo sneers at him. He resumes attacking him and broke through his defenses.
Aken didn't let his opponent to burn him with his wings and grabs him by the throat and slams him into a stone column repeatedly before throwing him into the ceiling. He took out several vials red liquid and threw them to cause an explosion.
Leo looks up to see several boulders falling above his head. He quickly dodges out of the way. He fires several beams at the sorcerer. Aken quickly deflects the beams until the staff was knocked out of his hand. Leo didn't waste time by rushing towards him to grab Aken and slams the sorcerer into the wall.
Aken quickly pulls out a dagger and lands several cuts across the chest and finishes with a stab to the abdomen.
"Grah!" Leo yells in pain.
Aken performs a headbutt to his head before grabbing his staff and whack Leo across the face while grabbing his dagger. His opponent fell onto one knee to refuse to lose this fight. Leo's blood ran down his body. The sorcerer walks up to him.
"Now, time for you to sleep." Aken readied himself.
Saber came rushing out of the opposite tunnel and slams her paw to knock the sorcerer several feet away and Leo was quick to avoid getting stepped on from the clone.
"Gr!" Saber growls at the sorcerer.
"Oh. I see that my reinforcements weren't enough to bring you down. No matter." Aken said as he picked himself up from the ground. "You won't win this fight."
Saber lets out a roar and dove towards him.
"Hmph!" Aken quickly raised his hand and staff together to stop the tiger in midair by using a magic rune on her head to hold her in midair. The sorcerer quickly started to slice her with his dagger all over the place.
"Ha!" Leo shouted from above as he did a axe kick, but Aken dodges the attack and blocks Leo's sword with his staff as the white tiger yelled in pain from the axe kick.
The Sorcerer quickly summons a magic seal on Leo's chest to stop him from moving. He waves his arm and Leo was sent flying into the wall and a boulder and slams into him, causing a dust cloud. "Now then." Aken turns his attention to the clone.
Leo slowly got up on all fours from the rubble. He shook his head as he groans painfully. The warrior lifts his head and looks across to see Aken was getting ready to attack Saber. Leo turns his head to the left to the opposite tunnel where Saber came from. He got onto his feet and looks back and forth. Leo growls in annoyance and spreads his fiery wings and flew towards Aken. Leo tackles him into the ground and started delivering strong fast punches to the Sorcerer's face.
The clone lands on the ground and got back on her feet.
"Saber!" Leo shouted over his shoulder before throwing Aken into the air.
Letting out a roar, Saber jumps into the air and grabs Aken with her jaws and began slamming him into the ground hard.
"ARGH!" The Sorcerer screams in pain as he was hitting the ground repeatedly.
Saber threw him in the air and slashes his entire body before Leo threw his staff and fires a beam at the same time. The two attacks went through his body, killing him. Leo and Saber both watch their fallen foe hit the ground and not moving at all. They both walks up to the body laying in a pool of blood. The staff broke in half again.
"Gr." Saber growls softly at the dead man.
Leo and Saber turns around and left the cave that Saber came out of earlier. Leo was covered in blood as the clone. They were a few feet away from each other's side. Saber saw Leo was fighting against the pain he received. So Saber came in front of the human and lowers her body.
Leo looks at her. He glares at her. The clone snarls, gesturing her head to her body to get on. Leo spreads his fiery wings and jumps onto her. Saber stands up and resumes walking through the tunnel.
Leo could see the exit was coming up. They were greeted by the night sky. It was calm and silent. The exit lead them to an open field of grass. The Twilight Titans were already sitting down around the campfire. Isa looks up from the fire and sees Leo and Saber walking to them. Leo slides down and was caught by Logan and Azel.
"Good to see you are both alive." Scarlet said.
"I should say the same to you." Leo took his shirt off and took a seat next to Kaito as Kaito stood up and walks over to Saber to help clean the cuts. "All of you got here by a portal, correct?"
"That is correct. Who was blocking our abilities to summon portals?"
"A sorcerer named Aken." Leo answered Isa's question. "He must've been the bastard who was blocking all of you to summon the portals."
"Aken, huh? That man is a strong sorcerer." Kaito said.
"So how did you beat him?" Azel wonders as she started applying bandages on Leo.
Leo remained silent. He looks over his shoulder to see the clone cleaning up her wounds with her tongue. Isa looks at the clone and back to Leo.
"Oh." Scarlet snickered, causing both men to look at Scarlet. "Seeing that you're silent means you didn't just fight Aken on your own. You and Saber teamed up together to kill him."
Leo winces a little as Azel continues to clean his cut. "So how did you guys do with those reinforcements that Aken sent?" He asked, deciding to change to the subject as he turned me his head back to Isa.
"It wasn't a problem for us. We met them an hour later after Azel discovered you and Saber left. Luckily, she alerted us before the enemy can attack us. I believe you owe us an explanation why you left." Isa folded his arms.
"Very well. I wasn't planning on staying with Saber for the whole night in a cave. I would've been glad that I didn't have to deal with her again until the next time we cross paths. I would've been glad if she did die by Aken, but..." Leo lowers his head.
"You didn't abandon her. You went back for her and the two of you worked together. Am I right?" Scarlet smiled.
Leo ignores him.
"There's nothing wrong with the two of you working together as a team." Isa replied. "If you didn't help each other tonight, you two would be on your way to Abra right now or worse."
"There." Azel said as she finished wrapping the last bandage on his abdomen.
"Thank you, Azel." Leo nodded to her.
"You're welcome." Azel smiles at him in a friendly way.
"So what will do you tomorrow?" Scarlet asks him.
"I'll have to call Panther tomorrow about this and head to Gongmen City and discuss more about it when I arrive." Leo said.
"If you need to head to Gongmen City, I can take you directly there." Azel said.
"I'd say that's fine." Kaito said, taking his seat next to Leo.
Isa nodded his head as all eyes were on him. "Fine, but after you bring Leo to Gongmen City, Pepper needs you and Risa at the hospital tomorrow for James. You'll both explain everything to his friends."
"That's fine with me." Azel said.
"Good. See you all in the morning." Logan said to them.
Leo watched Scarlet, Isa and Kaito walking to different spots to sleep a few feet away. He notice that the ninja and Azel wasn't going to sleep. "Are you two not going to rest?"
"No. We're just going to stay up for a few minutes." Logan looks at him.
"Hm. You mention that the fridge has an endless supply of food?"
"Yeah. Let me show you." Logan said. He tosses the brown cloak over their heads and they were standing in the kitchen. "So the fridge over here has an endless supply of food that is fresh."
"How does it work if you want something else, like yogurt or a cold cut?"
"You don't have to worry about that. The fridge will sense what you want and when you open it, it'll be right there." Logan smiled. Leo watched him open the fridge door and Logan pulls out a couple of yogurts. "Do you want to try?"
"Hm."
Logan took a couple steps back and watched Leo grabs the handle. He opens the door to see the fridge was full of different kinds of meat. "Not bad. Pretty helpful for missions like this."
"Thanks. I 'll see you later." Logan said to him and walks out the door.
Saber was sleeping peacefully until a delicious scent caught her nose. She opens her red eyes and lifts her head up. Leo was standing there with a few big pieces of meat in his arms. He walks over to her cautiously and sets the meat down in front of her. Their eyes met. Leo didn't say anything as he walks away from her.
The white tiger sniffs at the meat and looks him. She growls softly in a friendly way before eating her meat. Scarlet and Isa watched Leo walks back underneath the cloak and Scarlet walks over to kneel besides Isa.
"Is that his of saying thanks to her?"
"I think so."
Scarlet walks back over to his spot and resumes sleeping.
The clone finished eating her meat and watches Leo comes out from the cloak and sits down a few feet away from the fire.
"That was nice what you did, Leo." Kaira said inside Leo's mind.
Leo lets out a low sigh as he place his hands behind his head and drifts off to sleep.
Author's Note: I think this chapter turned out great. I'll admit it was a little tough to what I put in this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed this great chapter, everyone! Don't forget to Follow, Favorite, PM and leave a review! See you all in the next chapter of this story, everyone!