Nexus HWR 4 Across the Sea:
After a month of travel on the Great Ocean, our heroes have finally landed on the largest landmass on Nexus, Aebrith. What awaits them in the terrifying expanse of a whole other continent? Soon they will find things are very different there than back home. Speaking of home, what has been happening on Awul since the nineteen heroes left it behind?
Other than one day of sheer panic when the crazy-sickness hit Pao Town once again, things have been moving quite smoothly. After Gohan re-administered his antidote to the population that he had to subdue, he learned from some friends from Metropolis that they had a permanent cure to the disease better than his own antidote. They vaccinated everyone who did not have the cure already, and things became calm once more.
Vegeta had to fly off to find Laxus that day who was on a job and subdue the Master of Fairy Tail himself. Leaving Laxus out there to do as he pleased with insane thoughts in his mind was not an option, and luckily the Saiyan Prince caught him before Laxus completely destroyed the town he was in.
Things went back to normal for a while after the incident. Over a month had passed since Goku and everyone left on their journey, and Pao Town was once again a peaceful, tranquil place.
Gohan was at the house of a good friend of his, who lived there on her own now. He had been tutoring her ever since the war with the Underworld and NEG had ended. Her grandfather used to teach her and her cousin, but he had died a while ago, leaving Gwen to learn on her own, or go to a school to be taught. She had decided to try and teach herself, but it was harder said than done, and she was finding great difficulty in most subjects.
"I don't get it," Gwendolyn Tennyson mumbled in frustration, dropping her pencil on the page in front of her. She lifted her hands and rubbed her temples in annoyance while keeping her elbows on the table.
"It's alright," Gohan told her from the chair on her right. "Look," he pointed at the diagram of a squiggly line on the page. "You have everything you need to find the curve, check the equation of the slope again." She lowered her hands and reread the question, but just shook her head again, moaning as she didn't get it. "Here," he picked up her pencil and started writing a similar equation on the top of the page, only with simpler numbers. "You can do this one, right?"
Gwen nodded her head, "Yeah, if I loop through the numbers and multiply the base by the square, I get the derivative," she muttered quickly, "so, the answer is 7x squared."
"Good," Gohan said, and then pointed his hand back at the problem below it with a higher exponent, larger numbers, but the same general equation nonetheless. Gwen's eyes opened wide and she grabbed the pencil from his hand, doing some quick math on the page and then writing the equation for the curve on the bottom of the page. She started drawing more lines on the paper that she got from a textbook in a broken high school in Metropolis while she was there for reconstruction.
Son Gohan smiled and nodded his head as she got the answers right one after the other. "There you go, good job," he congratulated her.
Gwen grinned at the praise from the extremely powerful boy next to her who also happened to be a genius. "Man, how do you know all this?" she turned in her chair and looked at the boy next to her with spiky black hair. "I mean, you are like, really smart."
"Well," Gohan started with a chuckle, "my mom always wanted me to be a scholar, not a fighter," the teen laughed as he remembered trying to train for huge upcoming life and death battles, but always being scolded and told to do homework instead.
Gwen nodded, but then saw Gohan's eyes start looking a little distant after mentioning his mom. She tried changing the subject fast, and smirked as she remembered something, "You know," she started, making him look at her and the devious smirk on her face. "I'm about to be the same age as you." His coal black eyes widened a little and she continued in a smug tone, "I turn fourteen in two weeks. That means the two of us will be the same age."
Gohan's open mouth lowered a little, and then he started chuckling, and then full on laughing with his eyes closed and his head tilted back. She frowned at him, but he opened his eyes and looked at her, laughing a little between his words. "Sorry to disappoint, haha, but, I turn fifteen tomorrow. Guess you'll never be the same age as me," he started laughing some more at the dumbstruck expression on her face.
"Ehh?" she said, losing her excitement from a minute before. Then, her green eyes opened wide, "Your birthday is tomorrow?!"
Gohan stopped laughing and closed his mouth, suddenly realizing what he just did. "Umm," he muttered, looking back at the math questions in front of them.
Gwen slammed the book shut though and stared right at Gohan's face, forcing him to re-make eye contact with her. "Why haven't you told anyone?" she asked, not having heard about this until just now.
The older boy stared at her for a few seconds, then lowered his head a little. Well, I guess only Mom and Dad knew. Mom's gone now, and I don't think Dad is going to come back for it, if he even remembers. I just, wanted to let it go by... He looked back up at Gwen, and shrugged his shoulders.
"Don't you want people to wish you happy birthday?" Gwen asked, tilting her head as she couldn't figure out why he would not want people to know.
"It's just," he started. The boy sighed and spoke quieter as he looked away. "I always celebrated my birthday with my family. Mom would make me a cake, and, she'd tell me she loved me. Mr. Piccolo used to come by too, and Bulma would throw me a party sometimes." He closed his eyes for a second, "I guess, my birthday reminds me of them too much."
The orange haired girl sitting in front of him stared at the sad look on Gohan's face, and she could not take seeing him like this. Gwen stood up fast, and Gohan looked up at her as she stared back at him with a serious look. "I just remembered," she exclaimed, looking a little frantic, "I have to be somewhere!"
"Huh?" Gohan asked.
"It's nothing really," she said a little too quickly, already making for the door. "You can let yourself out whenever. I'll see you later."
Gohan rose his arm to call out to her, but she opened the door and left before he could say anything. His arm dropped back down to his side and he closed his mouth, "Well, that was weird."
The Next Day
"Goten, Goten!" Gohan looked around his house for the kid but didn't see him anywhere. He sensed around for a few seconds, but Goten wasn't here. Right as he was extending his ki sense, he heard his front door open and got distracted.
The black haired boy ran over to his front door and saw Gwen with a foot inside his house. She jumped in surprise as he appeared right in front of her. "Gohan!" she shouted. He looked at her with a confused look as she was dressed... nice? She had on a bright purple dress, and he could see she was actually wearing some makeup. The girl got a panicked look on her face a few seconds after calling his name out though, as if she remembered why she was here in the first place. "Gohan!" she shouted, making the boy stop looking at her dress and back up at her face. "There's something going on. You need to come to Fairy Tail quickly."
"Is this about Goten?" Gohan asked, looking to his side wall and trying to sense out. Gwen saw him doing that and reached in, grabbing him by the arm and snapping his head back to her.
"Just come on," she told him, pulling them outside the house and running down the dirt road with him getting dragged behind her. "I'll tell you when we get there."
"Gwen, what's going on?" Gohan asked, and then noticed something else as they were running down the street. "Where is everyone?" He asked. Pao Town wasn't huge, but the sun was up and not a single person was outside. "Gwen!" he snapped, pulling his arm free as they were almost at the Fairy Tail guild building. She spun to him but he had a serious look on his face, almost like he was about to get into a fight. "What's happening? Are we under attack?"
A bead of sweat rolled down the right side of Gwen's face. Gohan started sensing around, and then he snapped his head over to the Fairy Tail building. "What-" he started.
"I'll explain when we get inside," she said. "Everyone's already waiting on you." She grabbed him by the arm again and rushed towards the building. Gohan put on a serious expression as well as he jogged towards the guild hall's doors.
Gohan slammed both hands against the double doors and stepped inside the guild hall. "What's going on?" he called out as soon as he got inside. It was daylight outside, but in here it was pretty dark. Light wasn't even coming in from the windows, but he could sense people all around him. "Umm," he began, then the lights in the guild hall turned on and the fourteen-turning-fifteen year old's eyes opened wide.
"SURPRISE!" a hundred-plus people all shouted at the same time.
A large banner hung across the balcony of the second floor up above him. The ceiling was covered in streamers that dipped all around the room. Balloons were inflated around him and people jumped out from behind all of the tables. There were large black sheets covering up the windows to keep out light, but with the lights on Gohan could see everyone now.
He stared blankly up at the banner hanging off the second floor where only the best Fairy Tail wizards were allowed to get jobs from. 'Happy 15th Birthday Gohan!' was written in big letters varying in color and handwriting across the banner. There were little pictures drawn on the corners of the banner too, and a couple of little boys who jumped out from behind a table on Gohan's right ran right up to him.
"Do you see the lion?" Goten asked his older brother with a big smile on his face. "I drew that one!" the little kid with spiky hair like their father's pointed up at the banner.
"Happy birthday Gohan," Trunks said, the five year old with lavender hair smiling up at the teen who was like an older brother to him.
Gohan looked around the room and saw pretty much everyone he knew from Pao, along with a few other people. To his left, all five of the Teen Titans were there, smiling over at him after shouting surprise. "Happy Birthday dude!" Beast Boy called over to him, the green shapeshifter sporting a nasty-looking black and blue bruise on his left cheek. It looked like the Titans were thrilled to have this break from their intense training with Laxus, who Gohan also saw standing over near the bar, grinning in his direction.
Sitting on some stools at the bar, Cana and Lisanna smiled over to the door at the fifteen year old gawking at the guild hall in front of him. "You aren't going to order a drink?" Lisanna's older sister who was behind the bar asked as Cana sat there without a barrel of ale in her hands.
"It's only ten o'clock," Cana replied to Mirajane. "Besides, I have a job today."
Both of the white haired mages next to her went wide-eyed. Then, Cana started bursting out laughing and spun around on the stool to face the bartender behind her. "Got you," she said with a smirk. "Get me the usual Mira, can't believe you two fell for that. What's a party if you're not drunk?" Cana started laughing and the two girls there laughed along as well.
The three Incredibles smiled over at Gohan from a table near him on his right, one of their members noticeably missing. Dash being gone from his family for over a month marked the longest amount of time he'd been away from them. Even when he first arrived on the planet, it only took around three weeks for their family to get reunited. Still, the three members of the Parr family who were at the surprise party looked happy and wished Gohan a Happy Birthday with the rest of the boy's friends.
Gohan turned around slowly and faced the girl standing behind him who had a sheepish look on her face. "Sorry about this Gohan," she whispered while looking down. "After you talked about how much you didn't like your birthday yesterday, well I, didn't want you to keep thinking of it that way. I just wanted you to have some fun today, but after I told a few people about throwing you a party, the news spread around that today was your birthday and everyone started showing up and-"
"Gwen," Gohan started, making the girl shut her mouth fast. "It's okay," he continued, and Gwen lifted her eyes to look into his. He was smiling. "Thanks. This was really nice of you. You're a great friend."
Gwen's face flushed red for a second and she shifted her weight onto one foot. "Yeah," she mumbled. "Stupid Ben didn't come back though. I didn't know how to get in touch with them, and Laxus said he didn't feel them anymore. I know you wanted your dad to be here but..."
"It's fine," Gohan said, still smiling at her. He looked back at the room full of people starting up the party early in the day. "Let's have a good time," he said, "and not worry about who's missing out on all this fun." Though he was saying it implying the group with his dad and Ben, Gwen could tell he was also talking about his mom, Piccolo, and Bulma who he mentioned the day before. He smiled back at her again while walking into the guild hall, and whispered, "That dress looks nice on you."
Gwen's eyes widened and she flushed red. She opened her mouth to yell at him, but Gohan was gone from the spot he was previously and lost in the crowd. She fumed silently for a few seconds, and then her lips curved up on her red face. So he did notice...
Gohan had a great time at his party, and midway through it someone yelled to 'Bring out the cake!' Everyone looked over towards a door in the back of the bar that opened up and Gohan tried to hold in his laughter at the sight of Erza walking in wearing a white apron and a tall white chef's hat. The second most powerful mage in Fairy Tail was holding a ten foot tall cake in her hands, covered in strawberries.
The strawberries looked like they were put on as decoration, with a nice pattern in a few areas, but as Erza put it down she frowned at the cake on the bar's counter. She lifted up a bag full of strawberries and dumped it on top of the cake, the berries sticking to different layers of frosting and covering the thing top to bottom in strawberries. Erza nodded at the delicious-looking concoction she made and then started to drool while staring at it.
"How about we let the birthday boy take the first bite Erza?" Mirajane suggested to the girl next to her who looked like she was about to ravenously tear the cake apart.
Erza regained some composure and brushed down her smock, "Oh, yes yes, of course," she said. She watched as Gohan walked over, then her eyes narrowed and sweat covered the boy's face as she said innocently, "How many strawberries do you plan on taking with your slice?" Though it was asked innocently, the air around her seemed to darken and her mouth was full of sharp teeth while her eyes glowed red.
"Umm, t-two?" Gohan said, his voice questioning if that was okay. Erza looked down and seemed to count the number of strawberries in an instant, before calming down and nodding her head.
"That is acceptable," she stated. The whole room let out a collective sigh of relief and started laughing as they continued the party, only now with cake. Someone brought out a ton of waffles, and with the cake it was quite a feast. Still, food ran low fast with Gohan, Goten, Trunks, and eventually Vegeta who came in covered in cuts and bruises, hearing there was a lot of food here, not coming to wish the boy a happy birthday. Three demi-Saiyans and a full-blooded one devoured the food like animals, making many people there lose their appetites.
After a couple of hours, Nightwing walked over to his group of Teen Titans. "You guys ready to get back to training?"
Beast Boy opened his mouth to moan a complaint, but then his mouth slowly closed and he sighed, nodding his head. He was surprisingly the first one up to his feet out of the other four Titans sitting down. "Alright, just don't tell Laxus yet. Let's get some training done on our own before he comes to beat us up again."
"You can go train by yourselves if you want," Laxus growled, making all the Titans jump up and snap their heads up to face the man who happened to be floating right above them. "No one is stopping you."
"Uhh, haha," Beast Boy scratched the back of his head and ran his hand through his dark green hair for a few seconds.
"No," Nightwing stated. "That's how we used to train," he looked at Beast Boy sternly and then the rest of the Titans who got back to their feet. They all nodded back at him with serious looks, and the leader of the Teen Titans looked back up at Laxus. "Let's get going," he said.
Laxus nodded his head, then looked back around at the rest of the guild hall. "Alright," he stated. "I will meet you on the training field in ten minutes. If you are not there by then," he snapped his head back down and looked like a demon for a second, "it will be all of your heads."
The five Titans gawked at him, and then charged towards the door as fast as they could, trampling some confused party-goers as they did.
Gohan and Gwen laughed as the group of them ran away Cyborg turned back as he reached the door and called out, "Happy Birthday Gohan! We gotta go," he turned back around and ran out the door.
This big exit by the Titans was seen as a kind of sign that the rest of them should be on their ways soon. Other Fairy Tail wizards had come back for the party, but needed to get back to work on the various jobs they were given from clients around Awul. Others wanted to get back to training, and some to school even.
Violet gave Gohan a small wave as her and her family walked out the door. The girl was about to head off towards the high school recently built on the outskirts of Pao that only had a few teachers, but that her parents enrolled her in.
"Looks like the party's over," Gohan said as he leaned back in his seat and patted his stomach.
"Yep," Gwen replied from next to him. "Hey," she started quietly, staring ahead while Gohan turned a little to look at the side of her face. She turned towards him with a concerned look and whispered, "Do you think they're okay?" Gohan made eye contact with her and saw the troubled look in her eyes. "I mean, I know there are a lot of strong people there with them, but what if..."
"They're okay," Gohan replied, looking back up at the ceiling above him. Gwen tilted her head at him with an unconvinced look on his face, but he continued, "My Dad will protect them. If you want, I could go there too and watch over Ben. I could leave later today even-"
"No!" Gwen exclaimed, sitting up fast. Gohan turned to her with a confused and surprised look on his face, but Gwen looked away from him. "Don't, leave," she said softly. She realized what she just said and quickly spun back to him with red cheeks, "How else am I going to learn Calculus? Without you I can't figure it out, and the advanced biology lectures. Just, don't leave," she said, shaking her head at him.
"Alright," Gohan replied, only offering to go because he thought she wanted him to anyway. If she really wanted him to stay though, then that's what he would do. He smiled at her and nodded his head, "I'll stay."
Metropolis
Far away from Pao, but still on the continent of Awul, the rebuilt city of Metropolis was running smoothly. There was no longer a giant island above the city, in hindsight a huge safety risk now that people thought about it. Timmy destroyed the island, and their Government had been overturned.
The leaders of the new Government were situated in the largest building in the city, standing where the tube leading up to the upper city used to be. At the top of the tallest building was a round section that was wider than the rest of the thin structure, and inside the round top floor was where the RNG had their daily meetings.
The Renewed Nexus Government was full of new faces, and a few from the old New Earth Government Council. Only two members from the High Council remained in charge, though there was a widely spread sentiment of wanting to have them removed. Many citizens were upset that the Arbiter and Fuhrer Mustang were still powerful in the Government, as they had been ignorant of the evil forces taking hold of the old one. Some people even suggested that they knew of the alliance with the Underworld the whole time, while most just assumed they didn't know but were oblivious to the evil in their ranks, making them partly to blame.
Still, the Covenant and the Fuhrer's forces were a huge force in the RNG, and they helped big-time with the reconstruction of the city. Also, the building of new Covenant ships to replace the corvettes destroyed by Arceus was a good public works project for citizens whose homes and workplaces had been destroyed.
Inside the council room, there was a single round table. Instead of the hierarchy of the old government, full of chairs that rose to different elevations to show different levels of authority, here was a democracy. Not one spot at the table was clearly more important than any other, and all decisions were made by majority vote, not a single person's decision. Tetsuo used to have occasional votes, but despite the outcomes, it really only came down to a few important members at the top most of the time.
Sitting around the table were twelve people. Many were from the lower sections of the council, some just members of the old Government's forces who weren't in the council at all before. The two High Council members in the room sat on opposite sides of the table. Roy Mustang and the Covenant leader Arbiter each had two advisors standing behind their chairs. A few seats to Roy's left sat a man in full red armor with long brown hair, who had survived being punched by Tetsuo, an act that alone showed how powerful he was. In fact, Dreyfus was possibly the strongest person in the room.
The only person who came close, was a young man sitting on his left side. The boy had spiky brown hair, and looked pretty nervous as he sat in the room full of important people for another meeting. Tsunayoshi Sawada, or Tsuna, was the representative of the people who was elected into the council. He did not really want to do it, but someone had gotten a recording of what he shouted at the Marines during his fight in Metropolis, changing their minds on what they were doing attacking the intruders. There were also the videos of him facing off against Luthor and standing up for his fellow citizens of Metropolis which millions of people saw in real time. Roy Mustang respected the young man who he watched try to fight Luthor with the rest of their allies, despite the boy's, and his own, failures.
The elevator door in the back of the council tower opened back up again, and someone walked over to the one last empty chair in the room. Fleet Admiral Aokiji, formerly Kuzan, and even formerly before that Admiral Aokiji, turned his head and watched the small girl with blonde hair walk his way. She hopped up on the empty chair on his right and crossed her hands, interlocking them over the table. "Let's get this meeting started," Mandy stated in a cold voice, her usual frown on her face.
A few people looked at the girl in disdain, not liking the girl's attitude, her harsh nature, or the suggestions she brought to the table. She always spoke logically, but with lack of compassion for the common people, and she never censored what she wanted to say. She didn't have to though, as her spot was one she did not have to convince people she deserved. As the new government formed, she was brought in by Timmy Turner who named her his representative in the RNG.
Mandy looked around at the room of people, and the tall Marine leader next to her spoke up. He was the one who respected her the most out of them all, as even without being Timmy's representative, she had fought alongside him in Port Royal, Castle Oblivion, and in Underworld bases for over a month to follow. She earned his respect more so than the rest of the members at the table, even if she was only twelve years old.
Aokiji started, "Yesterday's battle with the Neo-Underworld did not go well." A lot of the others looked towards the Ice Man, not having heard about the battle yet. Aokiji continued, looking down at the report in front of him, "Our teams went in with the prisoners who were demanded for the trade. When their members came out with their prisoner, the rest of our forces moved in and ambushed them. Vice Admiral Bastille was in charge of the mission, but he along with half of his men… were killed when after ambushing the enemy, they were ambushed themselves."
"Damn it," Dreyfus growled, clenching his armored fists over the table.
"Did they return with Vegapunk at least?" Roy Mustang asked from his section of the round table.
"They did," Aokiji replied, and then lifted up a picture from the folder in front of him. A few people gagged at the sight and others looked away from the picture. The scars on Vegapunk's face were gross, and it was clear who had delivered the slashes. The corners of his mouth were cut up his cheeks towards his ears, making a permanent smile on his face.
"Joker," Mandy grumbled in annoyance, recognizing the crazy clown's work anywhere.
Dreyfus shook his head as he stared at the photo. "Why would they kill him? He was the smartest man on the continent."
"Maybe they got everything they needed out of him," Mandy suggested in a cold voice, no sympathy in it as she spoke. "If they tortured him, I'm sure Vegapunk would have given up all his secrets."
Kuzan frowned at the girl's suggestion, but he nodded his head as it made sense. "The remaining Marines got Vegapunk's body back, but they saw some of their own get captured as they were escaping." Aokiji looked furious as he said this, and the others all knew he was thinking about what kind of horrors befell his men after being captured. "They lost the prisoners they brought to trade too."
"That is upsetting," Mandy said, interlocking her hands in front of his face and leaning forwards. "Not only did they kill Vegapunk, but they bolstered their own forces at the same time. We have underestimated these 'Underlords.'" As she said this though, she was thinking about something else, something no one else in the room knew. Those Marines who were captured, I should tell Najenda to get Lubba to kill them before they give up any information. The Underlords need to trust him, and he needs to rise in their ranks. Make it look like some escaped, kill a few Underlords so there are no witnesses, and then "avenge" them by killing the prisoners. It will raise his position in their ranks.
Aokiji calmed down a little while Mandy talked, and he spoke in a more serious voice following. "We have also confirmed where the missing weapons went." Everyone went wide-eyed at him, but Aokiji nodded, "Yes, the weapons stolen during the battle of Metropolis were definitely in the Underlords' possession. Not only that, but the other half of the escaped prisoners who weren't recaptured after the jail break..."
"Are now members of this New Underworld?" Mandy asked, and the tall man next to her nodded at the girl. She hummed to herself and thought about the Joker for a moment. He must have seen the battle coming to plan his attack on the same day. He is a worthy first enemy for my new Government.
"This Neo-Underworld, these Underlords," Roy Mustang began. "We must eliminate them swiftly. More than just to stop their acts of terrorism, but also to instill a feeling of security in our people that they still lack since Metropolis fell."
Aokiji grimaced that he was making these terrorists into a political play to regain the citizens' trust, but he also knew the necessity of having the citizens' support in their fight against the Underlords. Mandy on the other hand, nodded at what Mustang said and continued herself, "I will reassure the citizens myself." The others around the room looked over at the blonde girl who had a serious expression on her face like always. "I will tell them the Underlords are close to being defeated, and do not pose them an existential threat."
A ding sounded behind her as she finished speaking and she turned her head with a sharp glare at the doors. Whoever dared enter a meeting late, after she finished speaking, was not on her good side. A few of the others looked at her nervously at the way she was glaring at the doors, but that glare shifted a little as it was a tall figure in a black cloak who stepped in the room. The Grim Reaper walked in and several government leaders shivered at the sight of his scythe.
Grim walked right up to Mandy and looked down at her hesitantly. He leaned down a little and whispered, but she snapped, "Just show me." Grim leaned back in surprise, but he nodded and reached into his cloak. The Reaper pulled out a round object that made many of the people in the room go wide-eyed, while others just looked at the fruit confusedly.
"Is that-" Mustang began.
"Yes," Fleet Admiral Aokiji responded. He watched as Grim reached out and Mandy held out her hand for him to put the fruit down on. Aokiji looked at her and began, "You do know the consequences? You will never-"
Mandy stared at the purple fruit in her hand and she drowned out the noise of the others around her. Without hesitation, she curled her hand around the object and shoved it into her mouth. It looked hard to swallow, but she managed to do it in one bite. The girl downed it and frowned at the lingering bitter aftertaste. Power. True power in the palm of my hand. Along with my scythe, this fruit makes me the most powerful person in Metropolis.
"Was that a Devil Fruit?" Tsuna questioned. Grim nodded as he saw the boy was looking at him. He added, "Where did you find it? Which one was it?"
"It was in a forest to the east of the city a hundred miles," Grim replied. "I did not know which fruit it was."
Aokiji hummed and began, "It was most likely one of those reborn after the Battle of Metropolis. Many Devil Fruit eaters were killed during the battle. Several Marines, including the former Fleet Admiral, had powerful Devil Fruits in their possessions when they were killed."
"Could also be that damn Blackbeard," Dreyfus mentioned. "He had two of his own."
"Well?" Tsuna asked, turning his attention to Mandy. "Do you feel any different?"
Mandy lifted her hands over the table and she clenched and unclenched them a few times. She watched as her hands started to shift color and she grinned at their appearance. The girl who always looked so serious, who most of them had never seen with anything other than a frown on her face, she grinned. That was just about as scary as the changes that started with her hands but made their way up her arms until her entire body was changing.
"What the Hell is that?" Dreyfus asked, getting out of his seat fast so that his chair fell over.
Mandy looked down at Grim who was sweating while he looked up at her. "Thank you Grim," she said. He looked shocked that he heard her say those two words next to each other. Her smiled finally faded and she lowered back down to her seat. She calmed down and took a deep breath, and her skin shifted back to its normal color. "Now then, I wish to try out my new powers A-S-A-P." She got out of her chair and walked towards the elevators. "I will reassure the people. When I am done, I expect there to be more information on these Underlords. Aokiji, Mustang, Arbiter," she looked back at the men in charge of the largest forces in the government. The girl nodded once at them, then stepped into the elevator and Grim walked in behind her.
The doors closed and half the room let out a collective sigh of relief. Dreyfus slammed a fist down on the table, "I still refuse to believe that Timmy Turner left such a child to represent him-"
"You know Timmy Turner is a kid himself?" Tsuna reminded the man next to him. "Makes sense to me that he chose another kid... though I- I don't know if Mandy's really..." He did not want to finish in case she was listening in somehow.
Mustang opened his mouth to agree with their concerns and push the issue further, but Aokiji spoke up first, "That girl has some very powerful allies. Timmy Turner is not her only friend, I would suggest not speaking of this any longer." He himself respected the girl and had fought with her many times before, but he knew what the girl was doing. She did not hide her desire for power at all, and because she was only twelve, he knew he might be the only one who really understood how much of a threat she could be if they decided to make her an enemy. "She is our ally, and the people trust her much more than many in this room," he said it and a few heads of ashamed former NEG members bowed. "For now, let us get on to figuring out our next step against these Underlords."
"I have your next step," a voice said behind Aokiji. The Fleet Admiral smirked at the shocked looks all around him as he was the only one who felt the man enter the room. He would have done something if he did not recognize the man's presence as an ally.
Dreyfus shot out of his chair again, but he was not the only one. Arbiter glared over towards the shadows behind Kuzan, where a figure in all black stepped forward wearing a mask. "Grr, who are you?"
"He is an ally," Aokiji said as he saw the Arbiter's hand reaching for the energy sword on his waist. The dark figure walked farther in and a smaller boy stepped in behind him. The child who walked in had on a purple cape with a hood that cast a shadow over his face, and there was a green question mark sticking out of the top of his hood. The man in all black who walked forward in front of Mysterion had on a tight bulletproof costume and a mask with pointed ears on the top. Aokiji stood up and looked back at him.
Another member of the council stood up and looked across the room. "Batman," Commissioner Gordon began. "What are you doing here?"
"I have news on the Underlords," Batman said, his voice deep and scratchy as he masked it on purpose. He looked around at the dozen people in the room and lowered his voice, "A spy has infiltrated their organization."
"A spy?" Mustang wondered. "Who?"
"He said to keep his identity hidden from the Government," Batman replied. "He said that they had a history of not being trustworthy. And he was not wrong."
Those open mouths closed, but Tsuna started smiling. "This is a good thing, right?"
"Yes," Aokiji replied, also finding it in him to grin. "That is very good. This spy who has infiltrated, how good is he?" He questioned the man in a bat costume.
Bruce Wayne nodded his head and said, "He is the best."
New Tokyo
Inside an abandoned warehouse in downtown New Tokyo, 400 Miles Southeast of Metropolis, a couple of men stood near an old freight elevator in the back of the building. They were smoking illicit substances, each of them their own fix, and it looked like they were just using the building as a place for their extra-legal activities. The two were in the middle of a conversation but when they heard clanking and the rattling of chains they stopped. The men stepped away from the elevator and looked around some machines boxed-in by chain link fences. They looked towards the large garage door of the warehouse that slowly lifted up as the gears on the top of the wall spun. "They're here, Mr. Wink," a man wearing glasses who was balding and only had brown hair on the sides of his ovular head said in a raspy voice.
"I can see that, Mr. Fibb," the man next to him said. Mr. Wink was a little taller than his companion and had a head covered completely in brown hair except for on the bottom of his face and around the two horns sticking out of his forehead. Mr. Wink looked like he was part buffalo while the man beside him had long arms that split like flippers and two tusks sticking out of his mouth like a walrus. Mr. Wink and Mr. Fibb reached down for the green pistols at their sides, but they stopped reaching as they became sure of who was at the door when they opened up.
"Come with me," the man in the doorway said. He was leading a group of six people who mostly looked like hardened criminals. There were a couple behind the four hundred pound black man who did not look the part though, and they both looked nervous because of the people around them. Huell Babineaux walked into the dark warehouse and he glared over at the lighter skinned, and much smaller men who had their hands at the pistols on their waistbands. Mr. Wink and Mr. Fibb put their arms back at their sides as the large man walked towards them. "Open the elevator," Huell ordered the other two.
"Understood Mr. Babineaux," Mr. Wink said. He walked to an old steel grate on his left and opened it up before pulling on a handle inside it. Mr. Fibb in the meantime walked over to the elevator doors himself and he opened the lock on the chain connecting the fence in front of it. He pulled the fences to either side and then lifted a steel bar behind it right as loud clunking sounds rang out from behind the door. Mr. Fibb moved to the side as the door was not big enough for Huell to get in while he was in the way.
Huell looked back and nodded his head at the elevator as it opened. The group of criminals behind him walked forward, darting menacing looks at the grunts who opened up the elevator doors, trying to show superiority to them. One of the men marching forward bumped a shorter, skinnier figure on his right and then glared down at the boy for getting in his way. "Watch it," Bakuzan growled. He had black hair in a small afro above his head with the sides cut off, his sideburns were as furry and spiked out like the goatee on the bottom of his chin, and he had a thick unibrow across his forehead that dipped in towards the middle as he glared at the boy next to him.
"Sorry," the younger man said, pulling down on his purple beanie to hide his face from the much larger, and scarier man.
Another boy on the other side of the group looked over and gulped at the sight of the interaction between the two. He was even smaller than the young man in a beanie, as he was not even in his teens yet, only twelve years old. The yellow skinned boy with spiky hair steadied his expression though and walked confidently past a few of the others so he was the second one in the elevator after Huell. Bart Simpson turned around once he was inside and he crossed his arms over his chest. Instantly he noticed eight sets of eyes on him, and to keep himself from sweating he groaned, "Sheesh, this is taking too long."
"Don't want to end up like the Underworld," Huell said to the small boy standing in front of him. Bart looked back at the man ten times his size and Huell continued, "Gotta be cautious."
Bakuzan marched into the elevator and he glared into Huell's eyes, making the fatter man uncomfortable at how close they were. The younger man who he bumped into a second ago followed him into the elevator and said in a low mutter, "Throw caution to the wind, I hear Son Goku is off continent."
"Where did you hear that?" Bart asked, turning to the man in his early twenties who looked down at him. The blond haired man with light skin looked at the strange boy and for some reason felt like he had seen him somewhere before. He had on a black hoodie but the hood was not up considering he already had a purple beanie on to cover his messy hair. The older boy shrugged, but now the rest of the elevator's occupants were curious as to where he learned that information.
The elevator doors started closing and the skinny man said, "I'll say it when we're in front of the bosses."
"They aren't your bosses yet," Huell said. The other six in the elevator looked at him funny and the large dark-skinned man continued, "You've been recruited, but that doesn't mean you're in yet. Final test, you know," he said and frowned as he looked back down at the short man and kid in the elevator with him. Huell looked out the doors as they closed and called out, "Send us down." Mr. Fibb nodded at him then the walrus-man smoking some crack pulled a lever. The elevator clanked and the box started descending below the warehouse.
"Whoa, I didn't hear anything about a final test man," Bart complained.
"What is the last requirement?" Bakuzan asked in a dark, annoyed voice. "I will complete it in a second."
"It's not something you can do on your own," Huell explained. The others became confused and he finished, "Gotta present yourselves before one of the Underlords, he'll decide if you can join us."
"And if he doesn't want us?" the man in a beanie asked.
"Then they'll kill you of course," a tall, dark-skinned man with short hair muttered. "You already know where the base is after all."
"Where a base is," Huell corrected. The elevator slowed down and the fat man looked at the other dark-skinned man in the elevator, "This is only one of our stations, not a very big one at that. I'm pretty sure there's only one of the bosses here right now."
"Are you saying we do not even get to meet the Joker today?" Bakuzan growled in an infuriated voice.
"Don't look disappointed when you go out there," Huell warned. "He might not take it well."
The elevator clanked to a stop and the doors started opening. As they opened up, they somewhat expected a busy high-tech facility full of bright lights that would flood into their elevator. The doors opened though and outside the box there were little to no lights in front of them. "Uses minimal power from the city," Huell stated. "Keeps anybody from realizing we're here."
"Is this a joke?" Bakuzan snarled, his face scrunching up angrily.
"This is not what I was expecting," another of the men muttered.
"Are you not impressed?" a voice asked from farther in the room, past the small lit-up area where there was a single wooden table. Bakuzan stepped out of the elevator and walked towards the table, and the others got out and followed behind him. Huell watched them all go and then he knocked twice loudly on the back wall of the elevator box behind him. The people he just let out, save for Bakuzan, looked back and watched as the doors closed and Huell began returning to the warehouse.
Bart gulped and then turned back around. He gazed around the dark room and saw old machines on the walls, walls that were crumbling themselves like whoever built this place did not stay for long or make sure it was built correctly. He looked back towards the table that Bakuzan marched straight to that was lit up by a single hanging ceiling light above him with a dim lightbulb in it. The voice that came from behind the table got closer as it said, "The rest of you approach the table as well."
The other recruited members besides Bakuzan stepped forward with Bart taking up the rear. The kid was getting more nervous every second he was in there. He walked towards the table but slowed down like the others when they saw the silhouettes approaching from the other side. There were three of them in total, with the two behind the center one being the much burlier figures. Fat Tony and Fit Fat Tony, his cousin, were each smoking cigars and their lit smokes illuminated their faces before the shorter man in front of them. They each opened their eyes in surprise at the sight of one figure in front of them but said nothing about it.
"You're in charge here?" Bakuzan asked as a teenager stepped into the light. The young man stopped and glared into Bakuzan's eyes with his light green ones that matched his hair color, but although the larger man did not flinch, he continued to give him an uncaring gaze. The teenager's green hair went straight down to his shoulders and he had on a black leather jacket over a green undershirt, as well as a pair of navy blue pants and black shoes.
The teen turned and as he did his eyes examined each of the other muscular, criminal-looking types behind Bakuzan who were stepping up to the table at his sides. A tall black man moved to Bakuzan's left, and when he moved he revealed a young man walking behind him with his purple beanie pulled down over the top of his face and his eyes aimed at the floor. The blond man had a similar body type to him, but was a few years older. When the man lifted his head though, his eyes opened wide, but he instantly made them normal sized again as the teen looking at him did not react in the same shocked way. Lubba?! Why is he here? Maybe, he's doing the same thing as me. If that's so, then he'll pretend like he doesn't know-
"Takao," Lubbock started, his green eyes narrowing at the older man who stopped in his tracks. The other five who entered with him turned and looked at the man in the beanie confusedly, wondering how he knew the Underlord. "What are you doing here?" Lubba asked, a lot of distaste in his voice.
What's he doing?! Is Lubba, really an Underlord? No! If he is, he must be playing the part or something right now. That's it, they must know that we would know each other, which means I have to go along with it. "Hey Lubba," Takao began, trying to keep his voice sounding cool. He put his hands down into his sweatshirt's pocket and muttered, "I'm here to join the Underlords."
Lubba narrowed his eyes harder at the older man who started to sweat at the hateful gaze Lubba was giving him.
Fit Fat Tony looked at the teen on his left, "What do you want us to do with him?"
"Should we take him out?" Fat Tony asked, pulling a pistol from his side and cocking it back.
Lubba looked to be thinking about it and Takao's eyes bugged out as he had no idea what was going on. "Wait! Lubba, I came because I have information-"
"What information do you have that you don't think I know already?" Lubba asked, shaking his head at the blond man who realized what Lubba was telling him. "In fact, you definitely know less than me, considering no one trusts you anymore. They wouldn't tell you secrets."
"What did you do?" the tall black man in front of Takao scoffed back at him.
Lubba smirked and he started walking around the table. "This son of a bitch," Lubba began, and Takao took a step back nervously, "was a spy for the previous Underworld."
The other five he came in with looked at Takao in surprise, even Bakuzan who thought the runt was in way over his head. The two Tony's behind Lubba glanced at each other and then looked at the green haired teen's back wondering what he was so pissed about. "Isn't that a good thing?" Fat Tony asked. "Guy must have some skills, probably knows how to get information."
"It is not a good thing," Lubba growled. He stepped closer to Takao who stepped back again as he realized the hate in Lubba's eyes was not faked. "He gave Luthor information that almost got the woman I love killed," Lubba snarled, and Takao looked down ashamedly as what Lubba said was not false. Lubba lifted up his right hand and thin golden wires shot out of his Cross Tail. They wrapped around Takao's neck and the older man grabbed at his neck, choking and gasping for air.
Bart went wide-eyed as he did not see the golden wires because they were so thin. It looked like Lubba just reached up and started choking him, Just like Stan, Bart thought. Lubba yanked his arm to the right, and his strings tugged so hard on Takao's neck that they broke through skin as they tugged the blond man to the ground. Lubba kept strangling him for a few seconds and Bart spun around to see if anyone was going to stop this, but they all just stood by and watched. Takao's choking sounds became more and more strained, until finally Lubba lowered his arm and the strings wrapped around Takao's neck loosened up. "If I were to let my emotions get in the way of this process, I would not be setting a very good example for the other recruits."
He sounded annoyed as he said it, but he left Takao lying on the ground grabbing at his red neck that had blood coming down it on the sides and on front. The cuts were not deep but Takao was in mild panic at how much blood he was getting on his hands as he grasped at his throat. Lubba continued as he walked back towards the table, right on the side that the other recruits were on. "Takao here did manage to keep the fact that he was a spy a secret from me, which I will admit is impressive. He also hid it from the Super Saiyans and Timmy Turner, and played a part in killing the Master of Fairy Tail, and Son Goku's own wife."
Everything Lubba said made the man lying on the ground clench his eyes and grit his teeth as his chest hurt as much as his neck. The others in the room were all shocked by what he said though and looked at the spy on the floor in a new light. "So he's in," Lubba said, and he walked right up to the table so he was within a foot of two other men. "What about you two?" Lubba asked. He looked at the tall black man with short black hair in four lines over the top of his head. "Ebon Evans, let's start with you."
The dark-skinned man grinned and his arms and legs started to get darker. His body shadowed over and Bakuzan glanced to his left at the pitch black man who stepped back and became larger farther from the light so he towered over the teen in front of him who was sizing him up. "I'm a shadow," Ebon claimed, and then he sank down into the floor so that no one could see him anymore. He reappeared back behind the two Tony's and Lubba spun around to see him standing there with his arms crossed and a smug look on his mostly deep purple and black face.
"Your past crimes speak for themselves," Lubba admitted and he nodded at the meta-human who his large associates jumped when they noticed him between them. "Calm down Tony," Lubba said and the men lowered their pistols, not that Lubba thought the weapons would work against the shadow man anyway. "And you?" Lubba asked, looking right at the man next to him. "Why should I let you in Bakuzan?"
"You say you know our past crimes," Bakuzan began, narrowing his dark eyes at the boy in front of him. "Then you know how many people I have killed-"
"That's nice and all," Lubba said in a mocking tone. He stepped closer to the muscular, scary man, and he asked, "But can you follow orders? You don't seem to like the fact that I'm younger than you."
"Don't worry," Bakuzan growled. "I won't be taking orders for long."
"Ahh," Lubba said and crossed his arms. "An ambitious one. That's not what I'm looking for, or what I asked you." Lubba's eyes opened wide and looked a lot scarier than Bakuzan's in the next second. He closed the distance between them to only a couple of inches and looked up into the man's eyes. "I asked if you can follow my orders? Or orders from someone even younger than me, as I am not the Underlord here right now."
The other new recruits and Bakuzan all became confused as they thought this man was the one in charge. "No," Lubba said and shook his head. "Our leader is younger than me, is that going to be a problem?" Lubba asked, and he searched Bakuzan's face, checking to see what the man would do.
The guy's forehead had veins popping on it and his muscles were all tensing up. He looked like he wanted to kill Lubba, but finally Bakuzan seethed out, "If you tell me to kill someone, I will do it."
Lubba thought about asking the man that if he asked him to get him a coffee, would do that, but he knew for a fact that that would set Bakuzan off so he held off on it. "Alright," Lubba accepted. "Show me then," Lubba looked to his left at two other figures he had yet to question. "Kill those two."
The two who were waiting to be questioned opened their eyes wide. "Wait a second."
"Hold on-"
Bakuzan sprinted forward and he grabbed the first man by the front of his face and crushed with his open hand. The second man lifted his right leg and took off his shoe, and sock, and pulled out five small knives he had hidden between his toes while the other target's face got crushed and blood splashed between Bakuzan's fingers. Bakuzan turned to the man who slid the knives between each of his fingers. When Bakuzan charged him, the man punched forward with the hand covered in knives, but Bakuzan stepped to the side and pushed on the side of the knife man's fist to make his trajectory go far off.
"A martial artist and a killer," Lubba said, slightly impressed. He watched as Bakuzan broke the man's arms, then his legs, then a few of his fingers before finally stomping on his throat and killing him. Takao had gotten back up to his feet and the older man looked at Lubba in horror at what the teen just ordered. "And proficient in torture," Lubba said with a nod of his head. "That will be useful," he admitted.
Lubba's insane! He's really a member of these Underlords. If I can't rely on his help, then, then I'll have to destroy him with this entire organization. Takao gulped and winced as gulping hurt his bloody neck.
"Alright," Lubba said as Bakuzan turned to face him with some blood splashed on his face. "Good, I can see you take orders well enough. You four have made it in."
"Hold on," Bakuzan growled. "'Four?' You're including him?" He asked, and glared back at the child who was shaking in fear after watching such a brutal murder. Bart clenched his teeth and glared up into Bakuzan's eyes bravely which surprised the muscular killer but only a little.
"Once the Underlord here saw he was looking to join us, he went out of his way to make sure Bart got in," Lubba stated. His statement shocked Bart though who opened his eyes wide wondering who would possibly do that for him.
It has to be someone I know, and Lubba did say the Underlord here was even younger than him. Who?! The four new Underlord recruits heard footsteps coming from back in the darkness Lubba and the Tony's came from originally. A light turned on in that direction and they saw that at the end of this room there was a narrow tunnel leading underground and some flickering lightbulbs on the top of the dirt tunnel illuminated it partially. The lights flickered one by one so only a certain portion of the tunnel was lit at any time.
They saw two figures coming down the tunnel towards them, but rarely got a good glimpse of them before the lights went out above them. The Tony's stepped to the sides of the dark room, and they bowed back at the tunnel entrance where the first of the figures entered the room. It was walking on four legs, but it stood up on two and kept walking forward with a frown under its nose that stuck far out of its face. The creature with white fur had a black eyepatch over his right eye, and a belt around his waist with a ray pistol on it. The dog's left ear was ripped and scarred, and under his eyepatch there was a patch of fur missing and a long scar from his nose to the side of his right cheek.
Bart saw this dog and his jaw dropped. He slowly looked behind it as he walked around the table and he said in disbelief, "No, fucking, way, dude."
"Yes way," the high-pitched voice from the tunnel said. The other three men who came in with Bart looked at this figure in shock and disbelief. Bakuzan looked at Lubba furiously, wondering if the teenager was messing with him, but Lubba shook his head as a warning to him before looking back at their leader.
"Stewie?!" Bart exclaimed.
The four year old with a head the shape of a football stepped into the room with a matching eyepatch to his dog also on his right eye. He wore a red pair of overalls over a yellow shirt and he had on a pair of yellow sneakers too. Stewie Griffin and his dog Brian looked at the boy with yellow skin in front of them and Bart shook his head at them, still in disbelief. "Hello Bart," Stewie said and walked up to the older boy. "I can see that you are impressed," the child said in a smug voice. "Yes, I am an Underlord! Hahaha! Hahahahaha!"
"It's good to see you again," Brian said, not sounding at all like the evil persona Stewie was using.
"Stay in character Brian," Stewie scolded the dog next to him.
"You can't be serious?" Bakuzan snarled.
Ebon was thinking along the same lines, but the meta-human did not want to say anything about it. He knew Bakuzan would do that for him, and now he watched as the toddler's eyes darted to the muscular man over near Lubba.
"I warned you," Lubba said and took a step back.
Stewie glared at the man, "Why do you say that good sir?" Bakuzan opened his mouth and Stewie spoke first, "Because as you put it, 'I am a fucking baby'?" The others did not hear Bakuzan say that, but the man who was about to say it looked at the child wondering how he knew that. "I knew what you were going to say, the same way I know what's about to happen to you."
"Stewie don't," Brian started to the kid next to him. "It's not a ridiculous reaction to seeing you."
"Quiet Brian," Stewie demanded. "I am concentrating."
"See ya," Lubba said and smirked at the martial artist in front of him.
Takao looked over nervously and Bakuzan himself lifted up a hand to the side of his head in pain. "I don't know what you're doing," Bakuzan snarled. He shot his eyes open and they were blood red and getting redder, "But I'm going to, to kill-" Bakuzan started running forward but he came to a stop and brought both hands to the sides of his head. "AHHH!" He screamed, right as his head started to widen, and then… POP!
Bart spun away as he heard the pop, but he glanced back and scrunched up his face at the sight of the guy's headless body with blood spurting out of it. The yellow skinned kid calmed himself down fast as he watched Bakuzan's body collapse to the floor. This is great! I know Stewie, he can help me climb the ranks of this thing. He still seems a little nuts, but that guy was an asshole anyway.
"I assure you I am not 'nuts,' my old friend," Stewie told the boy in front of him who went wide-eyed as he spun back to Stewie, remembering how the kid was reading that man's mind a second ago. "But I am happy to see you here, we used to be such good friends."
"Y-Yeah," Bart said. He calmed himself down a little and said, "Not often I see people from my own universe." He looked behind the kid and mentioned, "Good to see you again too Fat Tony. Don't think I forgot about you pinning all those crimes on me."
"Ba-aart, my boy," Fat Tony said, holding up his hands. He was sweating and kind of hoped the kid forgot about him considering the Underlord he worked for said he was friends with him before Bart even arrived. "That was a long time ago. I died, things change."
Bart was feeling more confident now and the other two he came in with were getting more impressed by the kid by the second. "Alright, I guess," Bart said, but the way he said it made it sound like he was speaking down to a veteran member of the Underlords who was there longer than him, and by the way Stewie did not reprimand him for it, it seemed like it worked in his favor.
"So Bart, why should I let you into the Underlords?" Stewie asked. Bart turned and looked at the younger boy in surprise, thinking he was already let in. Stewie put a hand up to the side of his mouth, and whispered, "I just need something to tell the other bosses, they'll wonder why I let you in."
"Oh," Bart said. He furrowed his brow and thought for a second, but then shrugged his shoulders and decided to go with what he planned on telling them originally before he knew Stewie would be here. Bart put his arms behind his head and he said confidently, "I orchestrated the Battle of Metropolis." The others in the room all looked at Bart like he was being stupid, or in awe if they believed him.
Stewie read Bart's mind for a second and then took a step back, "You don't think you're lying."
"That's 'cause I'm not," Bart said, and this time Lubba's eyes narrowed and the rest of the people in the room looked at Bart in shock.
"You can't be serious," Brian said. The dog who had not seen Bart in two years thought the kid was in way over his head but was now just as shocked as Bart was originally when he saw them.
"Oh yeah," Bart told the dog who was looking at him wide-eyed. This is a criminal organization, Bart thought smugly. More I hype myself, better rep I'll get. Bart looked into Stewie's eyes and with his arms still behind his head he started, "I joined with this group of people in the city, and we planned out how to turn off all the power nullifiers…"
Lubba and Takao glanced at each other as they both had the same thought. Bart smirked and he looked back at the other people behind him, "I climbed up the Metropolis Control Tower, fought the Marines, and the Covenant, and we shut off the nullifiers around the city." He got louder as he spoke and he continued, "We called in a bunch of allies from around the continent, and we broke into the armory and robbed the NEG of their weapons. Then, I went to prison and fought the Warden, broke out some prisoners, and rode a dragon out of there with my buddy, a Sith Lord."
Bart crossed his arms in front of his chest and he grinned down at Stewie who kept staring at Bart in surprise this whole time. "Hmm," the boy with a football-shaped head hummed. "That is quite impressive. In fact, what you did was a great help to us." Bart started looking at Stewie confusedly, as did Takao and Lubba and the others in the room who had no idea what the toddler was talking about. Stewie continued with a grin, "It's thanks to you then, that the Underlords exist at all."
"I don't get it," Bart muttered.
Stewie smirked and he started pacing to his left, "When you broke into the armory, were all of the weapons there?" Bart's eyes opened wide as he remembered what Levi said during the battle about the armory already being ransacked before they got there. Stewie got a smug look on his face and started pacing the other way, "And when you broke your friend out of prison, you did a great job at incapacitating the Warden and the other guards. It made it much easier to kill them and release the rest of the prisoners." Bart's eyes got even bigger and Stewie nodded his head, "That's right. We released the prisoners, and most of them are now members of the Underlords. And it is all thanks, to you and your band of rebels."
Bart did not know what to say and Stewie started laughing. The younger boy turned back towards the tunnel behind him, "It's almost like you were part of the Underlords already! What fun!" Brian kept looking at Bart for a second longer than the toddler with him and he felt bad for the older kid who clenched his teeth angrily at what he was just told. Stewie called out louder as he kept walking into the tunnel, "Follow me! I will show you to your rooms that you will spend the remainder of your time in our New Tokyo branch living in."
Everyone started following Stewie down the hall and they were led into individual rooms around a tunnel system that went farther than they originally imagined. Bart was asking Stewie where he got his telepathic powers from and Stewie told him to come to his room where he'd explain. Takao was brought into a different room with a single cot on the back wall, a dusty desk on the side with a wooden chair at it, and a lamp that was so dim when he turned it on that his room still seemed dark.
Takao was just glad to be done with all of that and to be able to lay down. He only got his wish for a few minutes though before he heard his door open. He sat up and looked towards it, but the door was closed. For a split second he thought he imagined it, before a set of hands grabbed him by the front of his black sweatshirt and yanked him off the floor. Takao's eyes opened wide as he was spun around and slammed back-first into the wall. "What the Hell, are you doing here?" Lubba snarled at Takao.
"Wh-What?" Takao asked, completely confused again as to what was going on. "Wait, Lubba," Takao looked at him cautiously in the dark and he whispered, "are you really… what are you doing here?"
Lubba was proud of his own acting that he was able to fool Takao, but he did not care much about it at the moment. "I don't have to answer anything you ask, traitor," Lubba snarled, and Takao realized that at least some of what he said back in that room were his real thoughts. "I'll ask you again, why are you here?" Lubba seethed, pushing his face forward so his forehead was pressed against the older man's. "Answer wrong, and I'll kill you," Lubba said, no hesitation in his voice.
Takao gulped and took a deep breath. He thought he had a fifty fifty chance of living if he told the truth, but a zero chance of survival if he tried lying to the assassin in front of him. "I, want to make up for what I did," Takao whispered. His voice was pained and he continued, "You strangling me, was nothing." The blond young man shook his head, "Dawn won't even look at me anymore. Yuri's the only one who says she understands, but even she looks at me differently. None of the kids, Yumma, Tean, none of them want to see me. That's why I didn't make a portal and run when you were, when I thought you were going to kill me." Takao looked into Lubba's green eyes. "I want to make things right."
"You can't," Lubba said, lowering Takao down but keeping his hands on the man's sweatshirt for now. "Nothing you do can bring back the ones we lost because of you."
"I know that," Takao mumbled. "But, but I figured if maybe I stopped this Underworld, before something like the Battle of Metropolis happens again, maybe she'll forgive me. I just wanted to, redeem myself."
Lubba shook his head and he lowered his arms from the older man. He kept glaring at Takao, "You think when this is all over you'll be able to go back to Dawn? You think you're going to survive that long?" Takao looked at him confusedly and Lubba whispered in a lower, scarier voice that had no sympathy in it. "You're a spy and you expect a peaceful death? You should know that you can not be with Dawn anymore. She may have forgiven you someday, but now you're in a dangerous game, and dangerous people know you're name. You don't get to get out now. You gave up everything for a painful death drowning in your own blood."
With that, Lubba turned around and walked to Takao's door. He opened it and walked out, shutting it behind him without looking back. It's your own damn fault Takao. It was your fault Najenda got ill, your fault she almost died. He started walking down the hallway and his face shadowed over, Saying you want to make things right means nothing. Show me with actions, not words. If you want to make things right, then do it. Help me take down the Underlords. But keep your true thoughts hidden, Stewie's not the only mind reader in this organization.
A/N Hope you enjoyed! Leave me a review telling me what you think below. We've got most of the main characters from the first Saga of Nexus mentioned in this chapter to show what they have been doing since our heroes left Awul. A lot of new characters too, along with some new developments. Stewie and Brian were only mentioned once in this story, at the end of chapter 11 I think when Tetsuo had his flashback about creating the island above Metropolis and they were running away with Bart's family to escape Titans, giants, Jason Vorghees, and Mike Myers. I'll list out where the characters are from below for reference!
Family Guy: Stewie, Brian
The Simpsons: Bart, Fit Fat Tony, Fat Tony
One Punch Man: Bakuzan
Static Shock: Ebon Evans
Towa no Quon: Takao, Yuri, Tean, Yumma
Pokemon: Dawn
DBZ: Chichi, Vegeta, Gohan, Trunks, Goten, Goku, Super Saiyans, Pao, Bulma, Piccolo
DC Comics: Batman, Commissioner Gordon, Metropolis, Joker, Luthor
South Park: Stan, Kenny (Mysterion)
Halo: Arbiter, Covenant
One Piece: Bastille, Vegapunk, Aokiji, Akainu, Blackbeard
Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood): Mustang
Seven Deadly Sins: Dreyfus
Hitman Reborn: Tsuna
Ben 10: Gwen, Grandpa Max, Ben
Incredibles: Dash, Violet, Helen, Bob
Attack on Titan: Levi
Akame ga Kill: Lubba, Najenda
Fairy Tail: Mirajane, Lisanna, Cana, Erza, Makarov, Laxus
Teen Titans: Nightwing, Starfire, Beast Boy, Raven, Cyborg
Breaking Bad: Huell Babineaux
Codename Kids Next Door: Mr. Wink, Mr Fibb
Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy: Grim, Mandy
Fairly Oddparents: Mandy
-Hope I got them all, if not, ask me where the person I missed was from and I'll let you know. Anyway, review responses:
joebob323 chapter 23 . 19h ago
I commend you for another chapter well done! The ending was satisfying to see, and I enjoyed particularly the part where you added in the new girl. I wonder if that is someone of relevance...I also want to know, will they be going straight to another city, or will you detail the journey and the encounters on the journey? I also liked the part where Usopp realizes that he is weaker than Kairi!
Thanks for the review! There will be some journey ahead of them on the dangerous terrain, so the next city our heroes get to will be a destination to reach. I'm sure the journey before the next city is going to shock a lot of you... but no spoilers 'till you read it. XD
Guest chapter 23 . 18h ago
Well it's nice that Kyros was able to get his full family back after so long, and good luck to them with maintaining their territory. Also I'm curious as to who put the king of dragons into such a damaged state. I can't say that I recognize the girl from your description so I'm looking forward to the reveal. Well I'm looking forward to the journey to the resistance and I can't wait to see all the new characters coming up. Well till next time have a wonderful evening and I can't wait for next time!
P.S. Out of curiosity I was wondering if you ever saw those videos I recommend.
Yeah it was definitely nice to have a happy ending for some of the people of Dressrosa (even if their city is in ruins). Acnologia's state will be revealed sometime later on, but I'll remind everyone that Fairy Tail characters arrived on Nexus after the Grand Magic Games arcs, before Tartaros and Igneel's fight with Acnologia. Anyway, glad you're looking forward to the journey to the Resistance, but as for that PS... I don't remember what videos you mentioned. I tried looking back in reviews, but were you signed in when you mentioned, or were you 'Guest'? Because there could be a few Guests. I'd suggest changing your name when you review, you don't even have to sign in for it, then I could look back and see which was yours. Anyway, thanks for another review! Thanks again to everyone who reviewed, faved, and followed this story. Well, 'till next time!