Nexus HWR 7.6 Too Far Gone:
"No," Ben stated adamantly again. The boy had bags under his eyes and looked like he had woken up many times during the night. A few of the lighter sleepers could confirm this as they were woken up by the screams when Ben woke from his nightmares.
"We have to keep moving sometime," Gray argued and looked back towards the south of the mountain they had spent the better part of a day and a whole night on. He spread his arms out, "Do you see any way around the forest?"
"We could burn it down," Natsu suggested as even looking tired as could be, Ben's look of distraught was still getting through to him. "I'll burn a path right through the forest!"
"And draw the attention of every living thing for a hundred miles?" Killua asked the Dragon Slayer across the discussion circle from him. "Not a good idea," the assassin stated. Ever since the day before, Killua had been reluctant to do any idea anyone came up with if it turned out to have any dangerous aspect to it. He was spooked by Ben's time travel reactions, scared shitless by the Chimera Ant King appearing out of nowhere stronger than ever, he was plain out scared.
They'd been arguing ever since Gray woke them up and tried to get them going at the first sun's rise. It was an hour later now and all three suns had finally risen over the eastern horizon. "I still say we go straight ahead," Luffy complained, crossing his arms. "No idea what's awaiting us; a great adventure! This is boring," he muttered and looked away from the group and down towards the forest.
"EEK Eek eek eek..." A loud screeching echoed through the woods and faded off. It was followed immediately by a noise that went, "OoooOOOOO!" Like a ghost wailing.
"No forest!" Usopp shouted, crossing his arms in front of him.
"Juvia agrees with Usopp-san," the girl whispered, however her boyfriend heard it and turned towards her in surprise. Juvia's face went red and she looked away a little, "The forest is scary... But if Gray-sama is with me I am sure I will be fine!" She yelled, getting over her fear with solely her faith in Gray.
Ben continued to frown and remembered Juvia lying with her head on Gray's unmoving chest. He can't protect you forever, the thirteen year old thought.
"Well we're getting nowhere doing nothing like this," Sanji stated, taking the cigarette he was smoking out of his mouth and blowing out a puff of smoke. "We need to decide and get moving," he paused and looked towards the forest, "and in the forest I could find some ingredients to cook with considering Timmy stole most of our food in his bottomless pack that I stored it in."
"We know," Sora told the chef who mentioned it again. "Don't worry; my inventory is as large as his... almost. Whatever the next town we hit is, I'll try to restock on food from them."
"Yeah, Nami still has the money the people in Dressrosa thanked us with," Dash brought up, and then cowered as the money-loving pirate woman glared at him with glowing red eyes.
"That is my spending cash for emergencies," she stated and humped as she turned around.
"Coming from someone who got turned into a toy," Kirito mumbled from behind her.
She spun towards him, "What was that?" She growled.
"I said we did the fighting and you took the reward," Kirito replied, not backing down at all from her menacing look, which made her lean back a little. "You may have handled the money on your crew, but next time we get paid, don't rob me before I even accept my reward," he growled at her.
Nami took a step back with wide eyes. Sanji appeared in front of her with a foot raised and he narrowed his swirly eyebrow at Kirito. "What did you just say to Nami-san?" The three of them had fought Blackbeard together in Metropolis, but no one spoke to Nami like that and got away with it.
"This is getting us nowhere!" Usopp exclaimed in exasperation, throwing his hands up in the air.
"I have an idea," Ben mumbled loudly. Everyone looked at the kid, and Ben looked up around at them with scared eyes that looked so tired. Not just physically, he looked like he was done with the adventure, like he had given up. Still he continued speaking in a monotone voice, "We're going to fly. Me and Kirito will carry one person each over the entire forest, while Sora and Riku guard us in the air. Sound good?"
He had been figuring out a solution all night, and though this still put them in danger, there was nothing they could do to keep them out of a potentially dangerous situation. He saw a few of them opening their mouths to argue, especially Luffy who moaned loudly first before opening his mouth to complain. "Please," he begged before any of them could interrupt him. "Just this once. Just, do this my way until we reach the other side of this jungle, then I'll be quiet." He looked around and put his hands together in front of him, in a begging position that unnerved a few of the people who knew Ben to be much prouder than that. "Please," he begged again, and even the ones who looked to be about to argue with him lowered their arms.
"Sounds good," Gray stated.
Natsu hesitated for a few seconds as he tried to understand Ben's strange behavior. "Yeah," he muttered, "sure, fine with me."
"Luffy?" Nami asked her captain who was frowning and looking at the awesome forest that they could have so many adventures in.
The pirate captain lifted up the hat dangling on his back and placed it on his head. "Humph, alright," he muttered, and it was settled.
"Next trip," Ben stated as he and Kirito landed back on the ground on the mountain's southern slope.
"Hold on," Kirito muttered. "I'm not as good as this yet, and the forest is a lot larger than I thought it would be." He saw Ben frowning at him and frowned right back, "Sixty seconds, you can wait." He couldn't use his wings and carry someone on his back, so he was using ki-controlled flight which he kept getting better at.
Riku and Sora continued to hover up in the air above Ha'gar's Peak. Sora was asking his silver haired friend questions about his younger friend who Sora thought of as his friend too, but was nowhere near as close to him as Riku was. "So he's never acted like this before?" Sora asked again.
"Not to my knowledge," Riku replied. "I heard from Gwen that even when their Grandpa died, he stayed strong and went out fighting while she was sulking." He frowned and looked down at the boy, "He loved his Grandpa so much, I don't know what could have been so much worse that he's acting like this."
"Time travel," Sora whispered with a small smile coming to his face. "Ever since Vegeta talked about how simple it was to believe, I realized it sounds pretty cool. Imagine what would happen if we traveled back three years on this world!"
"Three years?" Riku asked his friend. "We haven't been here over two and a half years."
"I know," Sora replied with an adventurous grin. "But who was? Who set the world up with a mountain here and a forest there? Or two years ago was this all flat and since then all of this was formed? What if the planet wasn't even here?"
"Then I guess you would have your answer," Riku replied in a far away voice, still looking down with a concerned gaze at Ben. "Anyway," he looked back up at Sora, "I wouldn't try looking for a way. That King guy was powerful, and he didn't seem to like the idea of time travel."
"Eh, I think he was more concerned that everything got sent back," Sora argued. "If just one or two people," he chuckled and looked down at the group down below, "Or even seventeen wanted to travel back in time, then that shouldn't be a problem for anyone."
"Whatever Sora," Riku mumbled as he saw Kirito getting back up. "Let's head out," the nineteen year old stated as he watched Kirito lift Luffy up and put the pirate on his back. Luffy still had a pout on his face as he was disappointed with this safe means of transportation they decided on.
While Kirito picked up Luffy, Ben picked up Nami and put her on his back. He did not even blush feeling the older woman's large chest pushing into his back. Ben lifted up in the air slowly, keeping a pace that Kirito, a new flyer using just his ki, could handle. "Alright, third trip is all set!" Sora called out and raced forward. "I've got lead this time!"
"You got it," Riku told his friend while Sora was already flying away.
The six of them traveled through the air for another fifteen minute journey to the other side of the forest, which would be followed by one back to get another couple of people. At about five minutes in, Luffy pointed down and went wide-eyed. "We could have explored that thing!" He yelled, pointing down at a large rock between a bunch of trees that had a large stone doorway in the front with some writing on it. The rubber pirate spun around his head and saw no one else looked too interested. "I'm coming back here later to check out the cave-thingy," he looked back behind him but the cave was already gone, hidden in the fog of the dense jungle.
"We really should stay out of the forest," Kirito said out loud for the pirate on his back to hear. "Even you can't fight poison."
"I have before!" Luffy shouted. He frowned and looked down at the place supposed to be so dangerous. "I spent two years on an island covered in giant monsters, this jungle looks easy compared to that one!"
"Idiot," Ben mumbled as he could hear Luffy shouting.
Nami looked down at the top of the kid's head, at his unkempt brown hair and the top of his face. She could see his eyebrows furrowed down, a troubled look on his face mixed with anger.
"Still, you don't know what could be in there," Kirito argued with the pirate. "There's no point in recklessly risking your life in you don't have to."
"Where's the fun in that?!" Luffy shouted. "That sounds like a boring adventure if there're no risks! Besides," he shouted, "I won't die from a jungle like this!" Kirito sighed at the pirate's baseless statement, but did chuckle a little at his unwavering confidence.
"You did," Ben stated coldly as he looked to his right over at his other flying companion.
"What?!" Nami gasped loudly, loosening her grip around Ben's front and almost falling off.
Ben rose his arms and reached behind him, catching Nami by the butt before she completely slid off. He was flustered as he realized Nami had heard him, and now his face got redder as he felt the soft flesh he was squeezing in his hands. "Sorry," he exclaimed and pushed Nami up once before lowering his arms to her legs as she had regained her grip.
Normally, Nami would blackmail someone who did that to her, demanding a large sum of money for it. Now though, she just stared down at the top of Ben's head and saw the kid looking pretty nervous. "What did you mean?" Nami asked, leaning her head down on Ben's left shoulder and whispering into his ear.
Riku was watching from behind and saw Nami start whispering to Ben. I'll have to ask her later if she figures anything out.
Nami whispered again into the silent kid's ear. "You said, 'you did,' when Luffy said he wouldn't die in this jungle. Was that true?" She asked, and Ben clenched his eyes. With her head turned towards his, leaning it on his shoulder, she could see how much pain went through his eyes. "That's why you're so afraid of the jungle? Because Luffy would-"
"Yes," Ben replied, not elaborating any further on the issue.
She hesitated, but decided to press on anyway. "In five hours after we left the mountain. I can't believe he could die so quickly. He's Luffy!" She yell-whispered, then they both darted their eyes around but luckily none of their flying companions looked at them. "It seems hard to believe-"
"Then don't believe me," Ben whispered as he continued to fly forward. "And forget about what that King guy said, and forget all those injuries I got, and forget everything." He stared straight ahead with wide-eyes, "That's what I'm trying to do. I just want to forget now, but I can't, I have to remember, only I remember. Nox is dead so I'm the only one-"
"Nox? That's the guy you told the King about," Nami whispered.
"He was the one who," Ben turned his head towards Nami a little and his eyes trembled along with his entire face. Just looking at her face reminded him of the man they were talking about, with his spear straight through her chest. He winced and tried to hold in the yelp that he almost made when he imagined it.
Nami saw his reaction and watched how quickly he looked back forward. "It, wasn't just Luffy was it?" She asked. Ben hesitated, then shook his head 'no' slowly and sadly. "Did I-"
"Nami," he begged quietly. "I don't want to think about-"
"I want to know if I died Ben," she stated, demanding it from him. "Please! This is really important to me. I need to know what I did wrong so I-"
"It wasn't your fault," Ben whispered. "You don't need to do anything better, there was nothing we could do." He just shook his head again.
"So I did?" Nami asked. "Give me a straight answer Ben," she was raising her voice and getting more scared as she did. "I want to know if I died too-"
"Of course you died," Ben replied in a whisper-cry. His voice cracked as he said it, and he just stared ahead with watering eyes. "You didn't have your Clima Tact, I think you dropped it when Usopp died..."
"Usopp too?!" She asked in a loud whisper.
"Yes, yes Usopp, and yes you, and yes Luffy," he stated. "Of course you all died. Why would any of you have lived? Why would anyone," he whispered, tears streaming out of his eyes. "First Gray, and Usopp looking for medicine for him. Nox showed up and we fell one by one. Everyone," his voice cracked again and he turned in towards her.
Nami could not make a sound as the boy stared into her eyes. "You all died. All I see right now is your body with a spear through it. Luffy holding you while you bled out. Both of you exploding in a huge explosion." He was staying quiet but his voice was reaching Nami's heart and she could feel it breaking as she stared at this boy. "And no one remembers it," he whispered, "why can't you all just remember? I hate being the only one who knows what happened in those five hours. I hate it, I hate it!" He really sounded like a child now, his eyes full of tears once again. "When it was happening I tried to keep fighting, I tried to stop him from killing everyone else. Every time someone died, I would promise that no one else would. And every, single, time, I broke that promise."
Nami stared in silence at the left side of Ben's face that was getting streaked by tears going sideways. The wind pushing against his face pushed the tears over towards her and a few splashed on her cheeks, which allowed her to trick herself into believing the only tears on her face were Ben's. "I couldn't save, a single one of my friends," he gasped out, saying it out loud for the first time. "No one. If, if Gwen were here. God if I had to imagine her dead every time I saw her for the rest of my life, I couldn't handle it. I already can't look my best friends in the eyes. How can I tell them?" He whispered, turning to her, "How do I tell the people I love that I let them die? I was Right, There!" He yelled, then quieted again as he sobbed silently. "Tell me Nami, how do I tell them? Tell me, tell eh me, tell, sn-me, sniff," he couldn't speak anymore as his words were coming out more muffled, coughing on his words as he tried breathing in and out at the same time as he was panting too hard. "I didn't..." he whispered, "I didn't want to be the only one, but I still remember it. I wish I could forget," he just clenched his eyes hard and looked over to his right at Luffy and Kirito. He looked ahead of them at Sora, and then back at Riku who pretended not to have been watching him from twenty feet back. "I can't stand this," he whispered, as every time he looked at one of his friends his mind shifted to the versions of them he remembered, the dead versions. "It hurts so much," he whispered, reaching up and grabbing the left side of his chest where his heart was thumping hard, feeling like it was going to break right through his chest.
Nami opened her mouth to say something. She thought about saying something about her mother dying in front of her, but then closed her eyes as she did not then have to see her dead mother every day, picturing her with blood splattering out of her back. She tried to just comfort him, but even hugging him just a little harder seemed wrong, not enough for the weight of what he just dropped on her. Her mouth just stayed open while Ben looked back forward. The end of the forest was in sight, and Nami didn't know what to do. "I'm sorry," Ben whispered sadly, his tears gone as he had wiped them quickly the last time he ducked his head down. "I didn't mean to burden you with this, it was my weight to carry," he sounded on the verge of tears again. "I just, couldn't keep it in anymore. That's pathetic isn't it? Not even a whole day and I can't carry my burden by myself? It isn't your fault. I stood completely still when Nox ran you through," Nami flinched on his back. "I'm sorry for telling you," he whispered, feeling her little terrified flinch. "Though, I'm more sorry to the you who I couldn't save."
"Me and her are the same person," Nami whispered, hoping to help. "By having us fly over the jungle now you are saving her, because you're saving me."
He stayed quiet, and then whispered, "To you you're the same person, because you don't remember what happened. But if you could remember dying, would you feel the same way?" She did not say a word, trying to comprehend what he was saying. "I can't just throw away my guilt just because you are all alive again, because you still died. How could I? What kind of person would I be if, if I just forgot about letting everyone die?"
"It wasn't your-"
"My fault?" Ben asked, trying to keep his voice from cracking again as he descended towards the field of black dirt with small burnt up trees that went for another long stretch into the horizon. He continued while lowering, "Maybe not all of them were on me," he whispered. "I didn't even see Usopp die or Juvia. Gray got bit by a mosquito, so how could that be my fault?" He sounded like he was reasoning with himself, but then continued sadly, "But then why do I still feel guilty for being the only survivor? Why was it me? When I grabbed that cube, I did it in anger, not to bring back time. I had no idea what Nox was trying to do. I didn't even mean to bring back time! I was just so angry at him, and at myself, and sad," his anger was replaced with sadness as he mentioned how sad he was. Trying to stay angry took so much effort when Nox was already dead. The entire experience just made him sad now, as there was nothing about the entire ordeal, not even a single moment he wanted to remember. "I don't think I can handle the guilt much longer," he whispered as he neared the area of black dirt where a few of their comrades were already gathered. "Five hours that no one else will ever remember. If I disappear, there would not be a single thing left from those five hours. No one would know what happened," he whispered. He clenched his teeth hard and made himself angry to stop from looking sad when he reached the others. "Don't tell anyone," he growled in a low voice, "please," he added.
Ben pulled Nami's hands from his front before he even touched down, and she fell a foot to her feet, then looked back up fast. "Wai- Be-" she tried calling out, but she stopped both times.
"Hey Ben! Kirito needs a break, hold on!" Riku yelled up in the air, but Ben did not slow down.
"I'll go after him," Sora said, "just to make sure nothing attacks him while he's distracted." Riku nodded at him and then Sora soared off.
"Nami-san!" Sanji's voice called in worry from the ground. He had come with the first group using his Sky Walk as he did not need to be carried and now came running her way.
Riku looked down where next to Kirito who had his hands on his knees and was panting pretty roughly, Nami had fallen to her knees, with her feet pointed in different directions as she slouched there. Her eyes were red and tears seeped out of them. She'd always had a soft spot for children, and every single word Ben said was like a knife in her heart.
"Nami, are you okay?" Luffy asked the woman on the ground next to him. He lost the pout that he'd had on his face for a while now and actually looked concerned for her as she stared out into the sky at the dot getting smaller and smaller. "Nami!" The captain exclaimed as the woman started crying. "Who made you cry? Who was it?"
The rubber man looked around with a fist risen, while clenching that arm's bicep with his other hand. Everyone there just ignored him to ask Nami what was wrong themselves. She sniffled a few times and then straitened her quivering lip, and wiped her eyes of her tears. She got up to her feet and stared back to the north where Ben was flying. "We have work to do," Nami stated, and everyone looked around at each other in confusion.
Rin rose his hand and mumbled, "Uhh, what?"
"At least we found somewhere quiet," Ben mumbled as he walked around gathering dead sticks and twigs. The whole landscape was almost barren, but he managed to get a good handful of firewood after thirty minutes of wandering about. "Natsu can't make all the fires especially if he's hungry, we need one that'll last," he tried smiling, but wound up just having a mostly flat mouth with only the corners of his lips curved up ever so slightly.
Ben looked back across the black wasteland towards the flickering light of their dim fire. He walked back towards it and could hear everyone talking to each other, seemed like he was the only one not there. "Guess I'm doing, all the, work," he tried to finish as strongly as he started the sentence, but by the end of it, it just sounded strange complimenting himself and he faded off.
The boy sighed and kept walking towards the fire at the base of a large swirly rock that had an overhang over their sleeping area, which would give them some shade and let them sleep in late tomorrow. After twelve straight hours of marching across the black desert with close to zero signs of life other than the occasional monster, they were all exhausted.
Ben got close to the shadows near the firelight and heard a few of them murmuring at the others to quiet down. He started walking slower as they all became quiet, and he walked over into the area that got more illuminated with every step. "Umm," he began.
The shadows closest to him were faced towards the fire closer to the rock. Telling from the size of the man directly in his way it was obviously Franky, and he took a step to the left to get past the large cyborg. He frowned as the robot took a step that way too, blocking him off. "Not having any of this," Ben mumbled, imagining himself going the other way and Franky blocking again or something. Instead, he bent his knees and did one large hop up and over the cyborg's head.
Ben landed in front of Franky and put a fist down on the ground. He lifted up his head a little, "What's going on?"
Suddenly Franky's nipples opened outwards and bright lights shone out over the campfire area, illuminating all the people who were shadowed by the darkness. "Surprise!" They yelled. The whole pack of them cheered it at once and Ben just stood there slack-jawed staring at them all.
"Yeah!"
"Ben!"
"Umm," he mumbled, then said loudly, "It's not my birthday."
He looked directly across the fire and saw Riku walking up towards it with a smile on his face. Sora and Kairi were illuminated behind him, both smiling over as well. "It's not for your birthday," Riku explained.
"But then why?" He asked in utter confusion.
Riku smiled at him, "Because you saved all our lives."
Ben snapped his head over towards Nami who he saw on his left side, and she shied away for a second, but then gulped and walked forward. "I know you said not to tell anyone, but I wanted everyone to know you saved us."
"Not like you to keep from taking credit like that!" Natsu teased from the right side of the circle where he was sitting back on a blue bean bag chair. "Surprised you weren't boasting all day!"
"I-" Ben began.
"To even get the King to bow his head to you," Gray muttered in amazement from Ben's right side. "Gotta say that may be the most impressive thing I've seen for a long time."
"You're SUPER!" A loud voice yelled from right behind him and made him stumble a little forward into the circle more. Franky laughed hard from where he stood behind the kid.
"Yeah, without you, Nami said we would all be goners," Rin called over, the teen with a sword on his back smiling a toothy grin at the younger kid.
"You were goners," Ben whispered.
It was too loud around the fire for anyone to really pay attention to that whisper though. "Great job Ben," Kairi called over.
"Ben-san, Juvia thinks you did great," Juvia said from right next to him in his right side.
"Thanks," Kirito said and gave the kid a nod with a small grin on his face.
"But I," he whispered. They don't get it. Why are they all thanking me? Why are they saying I did a good job? I don't, I don't get it!
"I didn't need any help, but thanks anyway," Luffy said from behind him on his left, next to Franky.
That was it. Ben's confused look turned furious and he spun around and glared straight at Luffy. "You were dead! All of you were dead!" He screamed. He spun around panting and everyone had stopped talking, an odd silence falling over the campfire. "Raaa," he reached his hands up in his messy brown hair and ran them through it. "All of you died!"
"But, we aren't dead anymore," Kairi said loud enough for everyone to hear her. They looked over at the girl in shock, and she just had a small smile on her face as she shrugged. "So that makes it okay."
"What? No it doesn't," Ben mumbled loudly in confused response.
"Died?" Kirito muttered to himself, looking down at his hands in confusion.
"What do you mean?" Sanji asked the kid as he looked away from Kairi and back to Ben. Kairi was accepting it much quicker than everyone else.
Nami went a little pale in the face as she was really hoping this would cheer Ben up, but had resulted in him snapping at everyone instead.
"What do I mean?" Ben screamed over at the chef. "You were dead Sanji! Dead! All that was left was your suit jacket!"
"What are you-" Rin began, losing his smile and getting pretty nervous.
"Damn, we died?" Sora asked, putting his arms behind his head and leaning backwards. "Well thanks for bringing us back Ben."
"Yeah," Rin started, a smile returning to the teenager's face. He shrugged, "Thanks!"
"Why are you thanking me?!" Ben yelled over at Rin, then back at Sora.
Sora looked confused at that question, and he replied like it was obvious. "Well, you saved us."
"But I didn't," Ben yelled, throwing his hands up exasperatedly. "All of you died!"
"I don't know about dying, or any of that," Franky said from behind the thirteen year old. "But whatever happened in that five hours, you saved us from it. I can accept that."
"Even if I let you die?" Ben asked, his eyes widening a little.
"No one died," Luffy stated, crossing his arms. "Everyone is here, see?" He motioned around him.
"Idiot," Nami scolded the pirate Captain on her right side. "He turned back time, somehow, and we all went back to before the battle where we died."
"Nope," Luffy stated, turning and looking away.
"Fine, don't believe it!" Ben yelled at him. "You were the last one too you know! The last of your Straw Hat crew," he yelled at Luffy, making the pirate turn back to the shorter kid who looked so conflicted right now. "The rest of your friends died first, and they lay around you right before you blew up!"
And immediately the fire circle fell back to the dark tone it had picked up before. "As long as everyone is fine now," Riku emphasized. "Then it really is all okay. No matter what happened Ben, not one of us would be alive right now if it were not for you. Am I wrong in saying that?"
Ben turned to his silver haired friend and opened his mouth to yell at him, but thought about what Riku said for a second. If he had just let Nox grab the cube, maybe instead of being dead, none of them would have existed anyway. It could have been a fate worse than death even. And if he hadn't turned back time to the point he did, if he had just defeated Nox and not touched the Eliacube, everyone would still be dead. "I guess," he mumbled, feeling a small hint of pride deep down inside him. It was quickly overwhelmed by the waves of guilt that washed back over it though. "I still, wish I could have saved you," he muttered, his mind flashing to Riku's death in front of him now.
"How did I fare against the Nox guy?" Sora asked. Ben looked over towards him and the kid gulped, thinking back on the evil dark form that Sora transformed into. Sora saw his look and frowned, "Oh, never mind. Forget I said anything."
"You did well, compared to most of us," Ben admitted quietly. "You were the first one to break through his, Nox's, powerful armor. I think he mixed some of his energy with it..."
Nami was watching Ben and she went wide-eyed as others started asking questions about the time over there. The more everyone is talking to him, the more he's seeing us as the real versions, and not the ones he lost.
"Hahaha! Usopp died first? Not surprising," Dash called over to the long nosed guy.
"What?! I didn't even make it to the fight with the main guy?!" Usopp exclaimed. Everyone was almost treating this like one of his stories, where he was the only one with any knowledge of it. Only this time, about half of the people there were readily accepting everything Ben said as fact.
"And how long did I last?" Dash asked his friend. Ben's eyes darkened but Dash ran right up in front of him. "Come onnnnn! I gotta know! I did good right?" He asked, lifting up his blond eyebrows a few times and getting a laugh out of Ben.
Ben had instantly thought about Dash dying painfully in his arms, but it was hard to think of that as anything but a dream when the real Dash was right in front of him, as lively as ever. "You were third to last," he admitted, "me being the last. And this is not including Nox."
"Third to last?!" Dash exclaimed, then punched a fist up in the air, "Whooppee!"
"I wouldn't get too excited though, you barely got to fight," Ben grinned at his friend who had lost his smile. "Nox knocked you out so he could steal your energy, he called it Wakfu, for his time-traveling-cu..." Ben faded out and remembered the tiny cube in his pocket. He smiled a little and put his right hand in his pocket, just leaving it there and getting a warm feeling in his hand that echoed through his body.
"So, I didn't get to fight?" Dash mumbled in annoyance. "Probably lucky for him then," the kid said, punching his fists together. "If he didn't catch me off guard I would have gave him one of these," he punched out his right fist, "and a few of these!" His left fist flew forwards in a flurry of punches as he bounced on his feet.
"Hahaha!" The group was laughing together now, and Sanji announced he was going to make a late night snack since it seemed like they were going to be up for a while. While he and Sora went to make a meal together, Ben sat down near the campfire and told his story.
The longer he told it, the more interactions he had with the characters he was talking about, the less real it became for him. Imagining their deaths started to become just a part of the plot he was retelling, and everyone ooed and ahhed, some even clapped or shed a tear occasionally.
"This is unbelievable," Robin whispered as she watched from behind the large cluster of people now crowded directly in front of Ben, sitting or standing in a semi-circle in front of him. She looked down at her hands then lifted her gaze back to Ben and smiled at the boy, Thank you Ben.
"Haha! So I was second to last?! I was wondering what happened. There was no way I was going down with one hit," Natsu boasted and grinned madly. He turned his head and smirked over at Luffy who hmphed and turned away.
"It's just a story," the rubber pirate stated, still in denial after hearing that his whole crew died before him.
"A mosquito bite," Gray mumbled over and over again with his head facing down into his lap.
"It's okay Gray-sama," Juvia assured him. "Juvia is just saying though, Juvia was sixth to last," he turned to her jaw dropped and she was sticking her tongue out at him, before laughing and making Gray join in with her.
"You did so much damage!" Ben exclaimed as he looked at Natsu. "I've never seen you so strong. Just being in the same room as you was burning my skin, you burned off my clothes, even the steel walls, ceiling, and floor were melting." Natsu was lowering his bottom jaw more and more and his shocked smile just could not get any larger at one point, even if he wanted it to, and he wanted to smile more as Ben kept going. "Even with his time magic you still managed to land a skull-crushing blow that made the entire clock machine start falling apart."
"I got him!" Natsu shouted happily.
Ben chuckled and everyone looked at the story teller who shook his head. "Sorry Natsu, but while the fortress was collapsing Nox got you off guard with his time-freezing magic. Stabbed you right through, the heart..." saying it out loud with a grin on his face suddenly felt very very strange to Ben. Especially since the part directly after this, one hundred percent happened, even if he was treating everything else like a dream here.
Everyone noticed Ben start having a distant look on his face, but if he could go into detail about all their deaths, they didn't really see what was holding him back now. "And that's when you went back in time right?" Nami asked, wanting him to continue and not dwell in sadness for too long. "What was that like?" She asked.
"Scary," Ben replied. "I kicked a badly beaten Nox off the... time machine device," he kept from mentioning the cube this time for some reason. Ben continued, "When he let go of the device though, he started to age. He got older, then turned into a child, then aged again. Around us, the whole world was moving backwards, and the entire time everything was moving faster and faster. I was alone. Nox was gone. All of you were dead. I thought..." He stared up at the sky, or more precisely the large rock overhang above them. "I thought I was going to keep going back. I thought it was going to take me two hundred years in the past, where Nox wanted to go. That was scary, I wouldn't have known anyone... And then I thought..." he faded out and shook his head.
"Oh come on, tell us!" Dash exclaimed excitedly.
Kirito stared at the boy from where he was standing behind Juvia and Gray's seated forms. Riku was on his right side, and even Sanji and Sora looked over from the makeshift kitchen they had set up.
Everyone stared at Ben as he looked back up. "I considered, if only for a few seconds," he didn't want to hide anything now that he had already said so much. Just one day of keeping a secret from his friends tore at him too much, and he felt so relieved to have gotten most of it off his chest, and it felt even better considering they thanked him for it instead of the reactions he was expecting them to have. He continued while looking at his friends, "I thought about, going all the way back. Back to before we left Awul, and before Metropolis. I thought about going before the War with the Underworld, and back to before my Grandpa died in the attack on Pao."
Everyone stayed silent as the boy sat there pausing for a moment to gather his thoughts. He spoke as if to himself, his eyes just looking down at the floor in front of his feet. "I would have warned everyone about the attack, and saved my Grandpa, ChiChi, Master Makarov, everyone," he whispered, glancing towards Natsu, Gray, and Juvia who were all staring at him wide-eyed. "I had the power, in the palm of my hands. When I decided to go back only five hours, that's kind of what happened. I slowed down once I decided I did not want to go too far back..."
"And why didn't you?!" Natsu asked, jumping up out of his seat.
"The Master," Gray whispered where he sat on the floor.
Nami gulped and tried not to say anything, but she couldn't help but whisper, "If not for Metropolis, Timmy would still have Wanda."
Ben looked around and was seeing most of them looking at him disappointedly or in annoyance. "How could I do that?" He asked them. "How could I knowingly, send Usopp and Rin back to Castle Oblivion? How could I bring back the power nullifiers? Or the Underworld bases we destroyed that helped so many people?" His voice was getting all choked up as he spoke. "You don't think I didn't want to go back to Pao do you? Because I wanted that, so much," he shook his head and closed his eyes tight to hold back some tears. "To see my Grandpa again, just to, to run away. You know, after making all these friends, just to lose them all in one day? I wanted to go back soooo much!" He yelled, his eyes watering up. "Gray never would have come to Awul though without Natsu and Juvia being in Port Royal. And they wouldn't have been there if we weren't looking for information on the Underworld which we wouldn't need if no one in Pao got killed by the attack! Castle Oblivion would have failed and Riku would still be trapped by Ansem who might have taken Timmy and the others without the help we brought from Pao! I tried to think of all the pros and cons of the choices I could make! What if I went back and things went worse than before though? And they could be so much worse," he gasped out, as he hadn't taken a breath in so long he was just getting louder and speaking faster. "None of you had to make that decision, I did! I might have done things better a second time around, if I had another chance at the last five months, but if any of you were to have died during that fixed timeline, God it would all be my fault. I couldn't handle, I didn't want, I thought it was the right choice-"
"Ben stop," Natsu told the kid in front of him. The pink haired Mage stared into Ben's watery eyes, and he whispered, "I'm sorry, you're right. I just... hearing that there was a chance to save the Master, I didn't really think before I spoke."
Ben looked wide-eyed up as his friend who never apologized like that. He sniffled a little and looked around to see everyone else nodding. "That, sounded like a hard choice," Kirito said calmly. "I'm glad you chose right. I don't think I would have. I would have gone back so far, erased everything, just to save her." He shook his head and tried pushing Asuna out of his thoughts. "But I'm glad you chose to bring us back only a few hours. I would still be a member of the Underworld if it weren't for all that had happened."
"And I would be a slave to Ansem," Rin muttered, and Usopp nodded as well with a dark look in his eyes.
"But," Luffy started up, tilting his head to the side. "If you went back to before Ansem took Riku, then you wouldn't have had to worry about the Castle Oblivion people right?" The rubber pirate asked.
Ben had to admit, he had never thought of that option. The risk of messing everything up was still there, but it could have been a good backup option.
"Yeah but Luffy," a sweet voice said from the right side of the sitting pirate. Luffy looked past Natsu and to the girl with dark red hair who leaned forward and smiled at him. "If it weren't for that happening, you, Sora, and I never would have had all those adventures. I know there were some rough times," they each thought about Brook for a few seconds, "but I'm glad I got to meet you and travel with you for so long."
"Me too Luffy!" Sora called over from the stove they had set up with a large pot on top of it made from pieces of the giant stone sticking out of the black soil desert. "Even though we lost Riku and Usopp that day, if you guys had never showed up in town, along with that short old guy who could turn into a giant, me and Kairi would have been killed by all those Ganmen!"
"Short..." Gray whispered.
"Old guy..." Juvia mumbled.
"Who could turn INTO A GIANT?!" Natsu exclaimed in shock.
Usopp, Luffy, Riku, Kairi, and Sora all looked over to see the Fairy Tail wizards staring at Sora with wide eyes. "That person you just described, did he glow white when-"
"Yep, that's him," Sora replied with a chuckle.
"That was Master Makarov!" Natsu shouted with a wide smile appearing on his face.
"Haha," Riku laughed, "I remember Ansem getting his butt kicked by that old man." "Be quiet brat," Aww come on, it's far in the past. Besides, I know you had their master killed with the attack on Pao, they deserve to get a laugh at you after what you did. "Do not lecture me boy!" Sheesh, calm down and shut up. Either Ansem listened to him, or he just wasn't bothering with a response. Both were fine with Riku who chuckled and looked back forward to see everyone trading stories about Makarov.
"And Ben went and ran off," Usopp called over at the thirteen year old who had lost the focus of the discussion.
"That's not fair," Ben argued. "I tried to stay, my Grandpa knocked me out and dragged me out of there. It wasn't my fault!"
"Sounds like he was a good Grandfather," Robin stated with a grin over at Ben. "He was just protecting you."
"Yeah I know," the boy mumbled, "I wouldn't forgive him for it though." Everyone looked his way and saw him looking down again. "For months I was furious at him. I ran away a dozen times to go look for Riku, and Luffy and Usopp. I just, I let Riku get taken by the darkness."
"Jeez Ben lighten up," Riku said, plopping down next to the boy from out of nowhere and patting him on the back. "You've got this big problem where you take the weight of the world and put it on your shoulders. Sometimes bad things happen, and they're not always your fault."
"Hey what's that supposed to mean?!" Ben yelled as Riku was certainly implying something with the way he said "always." Riku started laughing and patted his smaller friend on the back who oofed, then started laughing along.
Hard to imagine that yesterday everyone here died, Ben thought, his laughter dying down. It doesn't seem real anymore. Nothing I told them will really stick, because they don't really remember it happening like I do. They don't remember their friends dying, their last words, their corpses, their blood... Man, maybe I am just putting way too much guilt on my shoulders like Riku said. If anything, I did really save everyone by sending us back in time. Maybe if I could figure out how to work this cube, I could reverse anything else that... In Ben's mind flashed an image of the King floating in front of him, looking deadly serious about the use of time devices. "Worst case scenario," he muttered under his breath, "only use it once, it will be the only chance I ever get."
"What was that?" Riku asked the younger boy.
Ben opened his mouth to tell his friend, but froze. This, has to be my responsibility. If I tell the others about the Eliacube, they may try to use it selfishly. I hate distrusting my friends, but this is one secret I have to keep to myself. As soon as someone dies they'll try to get me to use it, but this is too powerful. It needs to be used on a city-wide destruction, or the apocalypse, or, or... for Gwen... His own selfish reasons snuck into his mind and he reached down into his pocket again as everyone kept talking. He felt the warmth of the cube and it filled him with courage, strength, a strange sense of calm that made him want to keep holding the cube tight.
Riku saw his friend put his hand in his pocket and a weird smile appear on his face. Before he could try to figure what was up though, Sanji and Sora called out something about food and everyone ran up to get some. Ben was one of those people, taking his hand out of his pocket as he did and making Riku chuckle that he even thought something was wrong.
Sora and Sanji whipped up a great stew to have before bed, and some people continued telling crazy stories about their times on Nexus. "I ever tell you guys about the time I first saw Goku do a Kamehameha Wave?" Natsu asked the small circle of people near him.
They shook their heads and Natsu went into the crazy battle he bore witness to over a year ago. For being such a long time, Natsu had pretty great memory. That, or he was just making a lot of stuff up, it was hard to tell.
"You know," Nami interrupted Natsu from nearby where she was planning to sleep soon. "Speaking of Goku," her teeth turned sharp and she tilted her head up in the air, shouting, "Where is he?!"
"They aren't coming back," Ben grumbled and stood up from the circle where Natsu was telling his story. "If they didn't come back to save any of us from Nox, then I don't see them even being alive anymore."
"What?!" Natsu yelled over at the younger kid.
"I'm sure you thought it too," Ben growled back at him. He lost his growl and looked a little sheepish, "I mean, the you who died. When me and you were the only ones left I bet you thought Goku abandoned us too!"
Everyone looked over at Ben a little sadly, still not really understanding what he had to go through even after his description of the ordeal. "And Timmy," Ben began, his face twisting around as he tried to smile, but couldn't. "Timmy Turner has been my hero for more than half the time I've been on this planet, but he left us to die. I know he didn't mean to. And I know he would have been torn up if everyone was still dead, but he isn't the type of hero I thought he was," Ben grumbled, annoyed at his fallen hero who only a day before he was praising, wanting to go fight monsters around the world with him.
"You, really don't think they're coming back?" Dash asked his older friend.
The thirteen year old looked to the south, and then the north of the rock outcrop from where he was standing. He sighed loudly and frowned. "Hell," Ben mumbled, "How would they even find us. Take off these wrist bracelets and we get hunted down. Leave them on and Goku and Timmy won't find us even if they're looking."
"Did anyone take their PB's off during the time gap?" Nami asked.
Ben thought back, but he couldn't remember what everyone's wrists looked like during the whole thing. "I don't know, maybe?" He shrugged. "Maybe they were on their way," he accepted the possibility, "maybe I'm giving up on Timmy and the Mayor- Goku too soon. I don't want to keep my hopes up that they will swoop in and save the day if there's danger though," he started walking away, continuing, "because they won't. I know that for sure now."
Ben walked away to go set up his mattress. The fire was dying down and conversations kind of wound down to people just talking to their neighbors. Everyone quickly decided it was time for bed as they had another long day of travel tomorrow.
Sora and Kairi lay in a large two person mattress in an indent in the rock outcrop. Kairi nestled her back up against Sora's chest and his arms wrapped around her. She turned her head and whispered to him, "Poor Ben."
"Yeah," Sora nodded in agreement. "He's a little too serious sometimes," he said, making Kairi giggle and raise her arms to cover her mouth. When she lifted up her arms her armpits were unguarded and Sora smirked devilishly, before tickling her pink. She had to hold her mouth shut even harder to prevent herself from cracking up out loud and waking up anyone who had fallen asleep already in the camp.
Finally Sora stopped to the sweet relief of Kairi who elbowed back into Sora's side. He made an 'oof' noise and then chuckled, "Guess I deserved that."
"Yeah you did," she whispered back at him. She closed her eyes and nestled into him to make herself more comfortable. However, ten minutes later and she was still laying there awake. She knew why too. "What's keeping you up?" Kairi asked the boy curled up around her body who she could feel something wrong radiating from.
The boy with spiky brown hair chuckled a little. "You got me," he whispered. He heard only silence and knew she was waiting for him to continue. "Well," Sora whispered, "when I asked Ben what I did during everything that happened, I saw a look in his eyes."
"You think you-" Kairi began.
"Transformed? Yeah," Sora finished her question and responded just as softly. "Ben looked afraid of me in that moment," he whispered, sounding sad to the girl was talking to.
"Well, black never has been a complimentary color on you Sora, hehe," she heard him laughing before she even finished and she barely made it to the end of her joke before joining in.
Sora stopped laughing before long and he just curled up tighter around Kairi, holding her close in his arms. "I know why I turned too," Sora whispered, putting his face into Kairi's hair so his voice was muffled. "I can't, imagine, life without you Kairi," he whispered to her, and brought his hand over her heart. "Thinking about what I did in those five hours we lost, when I lost you..." He clenched his eyes shut in Kairi's red hair, some tears getting on her. "I love you so much," he whispered to her, a smile back on his face as he said it.
"Hehe," she giggled, reaching up and holding his hand, this time not fearing any tickling from him. She held onto his hands wrapped around her and shifted so she could roll around, facing him inside their sleeping bag. "Don't worry about life without me silly, we're getting married remember?" She nuzzled her nose up to his and wiggled it around against his. The two of them looked into each other's blue eyes, and Kairi whispered, "I love you too Sora. Even if we get separated, even by death," she continued, smiling at him the whole time, "we'll find each other again, okay?"
Sora smiled wide and nodded a few times. "It's a promise," he told her. "Who knows, it could be a whole other adventure! But... Let's not rush to it okay?" He asked her sheepishly, making her start giggling and he joined in with her.
"Come here," she whispered, and the two of them closed the tiny distance between their smiling faces and kissed. The kiss lasted long because neither of them wanted to pull away. "Ah hah ah haha," Kairi panted at a loss for breath as she finally pulled back from Sora's lips.
When she reopened her eyes, he was smiling back at her again. "I'll always find you. No matter what," he whispered.
She smiled back at him and repeated, "No matter what."
A/N Hope you enjoyed. Ben was pretty distraught this chapter, but it seems like by the end he's calmed down at least a little. I admit I get a little teary-eyed every time I reread this chapter when Ben's talking to Nami. It's tough to see him so sad and unlike himself. Anyway though, the next and final part of chapter 7 of Heroes Will Rise will be called No Matter What. Looking for predictions on what that could mean, and I bet I'm going to catch you off guard again!
joebob323 chapter 35 . 21h ago
... I thought you were actually killing everyone off, at least the part where Gray and Usopp died. Then, when the others started to die as well, I started to suspect that it was a dream, or it was a parallel world, or a hallucination. Never did I think it would be time travel! Also, what the heck did Merum eat to become so strong?! Does this mean that he is stronger, or weaker than Goku? Because there are not alot of people stronger than Goku, and the last time we saw Merum, he was rather weak. Not strong enough to even think about eating anyone close to Goku's level. Even if it was a steady growth, it would take forever to find someone as strong or stronger than Goku, kill them, and eat them. I just want to know, who the heck was that creepy guy that zombified Juvia? Good chapter, you really kept me on my toes.
Haha, glad I caught you off guard! It's not as much a matter of "what" Meruem ate, as "who" Meruem has been eating that he's gained so much power. Whether he is stronger than Goku or not has yet to be seen, but as the King of the Cooperative you can be sure he's a whole lot stronger than on day 3 when Boros tried killing him. And for the creepy green guy, that was just one of Nox's lieutenants, in Wakfu he turns one of the heroes into a zombie for a little before getting destroyed and making her turn back to normal! Thanks for the review!
Espada-001 chapter 35 . 21h ago
Just a heads up I was the guest that made the review about Timmy following Kings energy two chapters ago, but for some reason I wasn't logged in when I made it. Well you could have convinced me that you were killing some of them off but then you had a time manipulating enemy show up to battle them and then while he was getting his ass kicked he kept asking for more power to increase his strength to keep up. (I actually thought he was just going to overload and cause a time lapse.) But in all honesty I figured something was going to happen to save them or reverse the events since you were killing all of them off at a rediculus rate, and that only ever happenes during major arcs or turning points in the series. And I'll admit while I except that it's possible to happen at some point in this story, if it had actually happened like this after no major events had occurred, I might've disappeared for a bit to cool down. Anyway moving on to the actual fight, was Nox using something with his attacks while he was attacking Luffy because blunt strikes can't do anything other than stun him at best. That's honestly the only question I actually had about the fight since other than that it wasn't to hard to follow, and that was the only thing I didn't quite understand. Anyway it was awesome to see Meruem, also while I did know he was going to be in this half of the story I didn't fully expect him to be the King. I had thought about it but I wasn't certain. Well that's about all I have for today so thanks for the great/(slightly nerve racking) chapter and I look forward to the next chapter! So until next time have a good day!
Yeah I thought when I put in Nox's time powers some people would begin to see what was going on. Glad you kept up with the fight scene, and as for Luffy getting hurt during it, remember how Nox hit Luffy and Natsu at the same time, and Natsu was gone for 40 mins after? Luffy came right back after that, showing the blunt attack really did not do much. However, Nox's attacks were mostly using energy weapons, so even if they were just slamming into Luffy, it's possible the Wakfu could hurt him similar to Haki or ki. I saw a few predictions about the King in this arc and Meruem was one of them, don't remember if that was you mentioning it, but yep, King confirmed as Meruem! Thanks for the review, and have a Great day!
Darugus chapter 35 . 9h ago
Well that was a thing I realized that they weren't really dying when gray died because there really wasn't any space between his and ussop's death also ben is going to be traumatised for a while hopefully the others find out and confront him about it because now he is really broken also I was going to ask if you've watched the fate stay night series
Looks like you caught on quicker than most if you didn't think Gray was gone. Ben was def traumatized this time but thanks to all his friends being lively as ever, he seems to have calmed down a little, but that does not mean he is forgetting what happened, or that it won't continue to affect him through the story. And yes! I have watched Fate/Stay Night, though I do not even need to answer this question considering a couple chapters from now... nevermind XD. You'll just have to wait and see! Thanks for the review!
KCSupido chapter 35 . 1h ago
Dear god this chapter made me extremely worried, but I'm glad that everything worked out in the end. I almost expected Clockwork from Danny Phantom to step in and fix it. But now I have to wonder if Ben will give in to the temptation of the cube's power. Also, do you think he's gonna get the Ultimatrix at some point?
Nice to see you back with another review! Fwew, I'm glad I got everybody worried there, but it's relieving to know I'm not That brutal as to kill off all the main characters at once out of nowhere. Ben holding onto the cube is going to be a major plot point, whether or not he can handle it, the King somehow knowing when time travel occurs... as for the Ultimatrix... I might have to watch more of the Ben 10 shows. Only really binged the first show, though I have seen some of the others. But, time will tell! Thanks again everyone for reviewing! 'Till next time!