Nexus HWR 9.3: League of Assassins:
"What did they say?" Kirito asked as Gray walked over to their small group. The ice mage was walking away from a huge Scarab Tank that had bent knees and all their lights off. There wasn't enough space in the tank for the tank's original crew, all the battle's survivors, and the group that came with Gray. Because of this, and needing to repair a few of the semi-damaged transports, they couldn't keep moving through the night and had to make camp for all the tired soldiers.
Gray stopped as he reached the circle consisting only of his friends from Awul. Ben, Natsu, Kairi, Dash, Juvia, and Kirito looked at him awaiting some news. The man with wavy black hair sighed and put his hands in his pockets. "Superboy and the others are joining up with these guys. They're going straight east, maybe a little north, towards a nearby Resistance city. Apparently it's about to fall like most of the others in this region." Gray looked downcast as he spoke and he continued in a lower voice, "How did things get so much worse than they were?" He already thought they were in deep trouble, but only talking to his comrades in the Resistance did he realize just how bad things had become since he left.
"What's the plan?" Kirito asked, looking at the man three years older than him.
Gray grimaced. He looked around and saw all of them looking at him, waiting for him to make a decision. Even Natsu, who seemed the least interested out of the group, wasn't saying anything to show that Gray was leading this little mission. "My team is to the east still, but much farther south. If we want to find them, we should avoid this conflict entirely. But," he continued, looking into Kirito's eyes as he did, "I know you said back at the Boar's Head that you came here to help the Resistance."
The others all looked to Kirito and the teen himself looked conflicted. He looked past Gray and over to the Scarab, but then looked at the ice mage again. "Whatever you decide, I'll go with."
Gray looked a little confused and Natsu questioned the teen, "Why's that?"
Kirito glanced back over Gray's head again, "I don't trust these people."
"Huh?" Ben questioned in surprise, looking back over himself. "They all seem like great people." He'd been being praised all afternoon, and anyone who thought he was great, he thought were probably pretty good people themselves.
"I don't know them," Kirito corrected himself. "They could be great guys and girls, but I don't even know the group we've been with the last few days well enough to trust them."
Dash didn't like Kirito's distrustful attitude, but his frown suddenly flipped as he realized something. "Does that mean you trust us?" He asked the black haired teen who was always the most quiet on the Thousand Sunny during their journey.
Kirito glanced down at the short kid with blond hair who was looking up at him excitedly. He chuckled and nodded, "I guess," he admitted.
Dash and Ben smiled up at the taller teen, and Kairi giggled a little at him. The three Fairy Tail wizards smiled a little too, but Juvia turned to Gray and brought back up the question at hand, "So, what will we do Gray-sama?"
"Hmm," Gray hummed, glancing back over at the other Resistance members a little behind them. "I want to help them," he admitted, though they could all hear the 'but' coming. "But," he continued, turning the other way and looking south through the darkness. "I need to find out what happened to my team after I vanished. Depending on what I find, we may be heading back north anyway."
The others saw him grimace at the the notion of his friends being turned into slaves. Juvia was going to say something but Kairi stepped next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her and she tilted her head with a bright smile on her face. "We'll find them. I know we will."
He stared at her strangely for a second and then smiled. "Yeah, you're right." Neither of them noticed Juvia's furious look on the other side of Gray, more angry at herself than anyone that she didn't touch Gray's shoulder and comfort him first. Kairi nodded and put her hand back down, then Gray looked back around at the group. "Tomorrow we'll let Black Canary know we're splitting up," Gray announced to his friends. "For now, let's get some sleep."
"Finally!" Natsu exclaimed, falling backwards on the spot and closing his eyes. The ground in this grassy area was softer than most places they'd had to camp since starting their travels and Natsu didn't really mind not taking out his sleeping bag first.
"I'm exhausted," Ben agreed. He turned and started walking back towards the fire they made over here just for themselves.
"Hey Ben," Natsu said, not opening his eyes as he did. Ben turned back and Natsu kept talking while facing straight up. "Good work today."
A wide smile spread on Ben's face. All the praise from the others he saved was great, but hearing it from Natsu was so much better. Living in the same town as the stronger boy for so long, he'd looked up to him almost like an older brother. Sure, Gohan was a great friend, and Ben wanted to be as strong as him, but the two of them were too close in age that Gohan was more of a friend than a role model of his. "Thanks Natsu," Ben said happily. Everyone else smiled over at Ben too, and a few of them said things along the same line while they all set up their sleeping bags.
Kirito sat up after setting up his sleeping bag and getting in it. He looked over the smoldering embers of their fire while the rest of their group got settled. His gaze wandered to the large shadow of the nearby Scarab Tank, and he didn't see the light over there of the other fire going on anymore. Sleeping out in the open so close to strangers seems dangerous.
He looked around him and noticed no one else seemed to think anything of it. Juvia lay next to Gray snuggled up with him, and the two of them were talking. Kirito thought they were about to kiss goodnight so he looked away and saw Dash wriggling around in his sleeping bag near Ben's, trying to get into a good sleeping position. Kairi looked like she was staring up at the sky, holding her hands in front of her chest and whispering something. After a few seconds she turned on her side and fell asleep fast.
Maybe I'm overthinking it, Kirito thought, glancing back at the Scarab once more and then laying back and sliding farther into his own sleeping bag. Wonder if Goku is heading back anytime soon. Probably not, he sighed and turned on his side. The teen closed his eyes and before long he was fast asleep.
"Gray-sama," Juvia whispered. The boy lying inside his sleeping bag next to hers turned in a little and looked at her. "Juvia thinks we will find your friends soon."
"Thanks," he muttered in response. He nuzzled up his sleeping bag to hers and put an arm over her. "I don't know though. My friends are strong, but there are enemies I know they couldn't beat. I just hope they didn't run into them."
"Please do not worry," Juvia whispered back at the man snuggling with her. She felt so warm and happy with him there, but his negative tone was making her sad too. "Juvia will help Gray-sama save his nakama. Juvia promises."
"Hah, thanks," he whispered back, a small smile actually coming to his face because of that. Out of all of them, I can rely on you the most. Natsu too I guess, but I know you'll stay with me, no matter what. He hugged a little tighter and Juvia's face filled with glee. The two of them closed their eyes too, and finally the whole group was asleep.
On a hillside two miles away from a parked Scarab Tank, two people leaned over the top of the hill. "Are they all asleep?" A voice whispered, coming from behind the two figures.
The short siblings leaning over the hilltop looked closer through their long-range night vision goggles, then turned back around. Alecto Carrow faced the man behind him and replied, "Looks like it."
His sister, another stout figure with disgusting greasy hair and wearing black clothes like him, looked back at their comrade. "They didn't even leave a guard," Amycus laughed tauntingly. "We should go kill them now!"
"Quiet you idiot," the taller man behind the two siblings growled at them. The brother and sister cowered back at the guy's scary look. He had long, curly black hair and his eyes were as dark as the black cloaks they were all wearing. Yaxley glared at the Carrow siblings for a second longer, then turned and walked down the hill towards the rest of the group waiting there.
One man stood in the center of a group of twelve, and Yaxley walked straight up to him. The curly haired man knelt down in front of the leader and whispered, "Those seven are asleep."
"Good," the figure in front of Yaxley's knelt form stated. He stepped forward, the only one of the group of twelve who did not have his hood up. Yaxley stood after the leader walked past him and he put on his own black hood. He stared at the back of their leader's head, his short black hair, the beard and mustache that stretched to the sides of his face. He had large muscles but they were hidden well under the black cloak.
"Remember," the man walking forward started. "Do not let them make a sound. We do not want to alert the main camp's guard to our presence."
"Understood, Ra's al Ghul," the twelve behind him, Yaxley, and the two siblings above him on the hill replied in unison. The two on the hilltop lifted up their hoods and then turned back around as their leader walked between them.
"Move," Ra's stated. He took a step over the top of the hill and his body turned into black smoke. The Death Eaters behind him and the rest of the group in black clothes lifted off the ground as well. They flew forward as plumes of black smoke, racing through the air over the grassy landscape as silent as the wind.
Gray Fullbuster awoke with a start. Something's wrong, he realized. There was no strange power telling him something was off, he just had a feeling deep in his gut. His gut was right.
As the ice mage made to sit up, he felt cold steel against his neck. "Do not move," a woman's voice said to him. She sounded horrifying, creepier than any voice he had heard in a long time. The fact that she wasn't whispering very quietly unnerved Gray, but he quickly learned why that was.
Gray got yanked up to his feet by the woman holding a blade to his throat. Once up, he could see around him at the others already on their feet. Kirito and Kairi were up already, with blades to their necks just like his. Juvia got pulled up at the same time as him and looked Gray in the eyes with a terrified expression on her face. The male mage gave her a reassuring look then turned a little and watched as two figures in black cloaks got on either side of Natsu's sleeping bag. He wanted to shout something to warn his friend, but he had a feeling that the woman holding a blade to his throat was not playing around.
Worse than the woman threatening him, was the man next to her, holding his saber to Juvia's jugular. He was not wearing a hood like the others, and had the face of a man who had killed so many times before. Could she break out of there? There's a good chance she could turn to water and escape the slash. While Gray thought about it, a pair of Death Eater siblings yanked Natsu up to his feet. They whispered threats at him and held the points of their blades to his throat.
"Huh?" Natsu muttered, darting his eyes to either side. "Who are you freaks?"
"I said shut up!" Amycus whisper-yelled at him.
"You be quiet too!" Her brother Alecto scolded her.
"Get the final two," the tall man with black curly hair, Yaxley, commanded back at a couple of other figures in black cloaks. "Be careful or-"
"What are you doing?"
All of the figures in black looked over and watched as a lump in a sleeping bag got up to his feet. Ben Tennyson stood up and looked around him, and instantly his heart fell. No, he thought in disbelief. "Dash," he said sternly.
"Be quiet or they die," Yaxley growled over at the boy.
He was too late though. Dash got to his feet and instantly became aware of the situation. He stood next to Ben with a nervous, but angry expression on his face. "Who are these guys? What's happening?" Dash questioned his best friend.
"I don't know," Ben whispered back to the younger boy. "But we have to save everyone fast or-"
"We know how fast you are," a man spoke who made both Ben and Dash start sweating badly. His voice had the hostages sweating and they all looked at him, afraid for their lives. Ra's al Ghul wiggled the blade off of Juvia's neck for a second, "Our blades have enough poisons on them that one little nick, and it's all over. How many of them do you think you can save?" Ra's asked while lifting up his bushy eyebrows. "You can not hope to save them all."
Ben and Dash looked at each other. Neither of them knew what to do, but they were trying to figure it out quickly. "You bastards," Natsu growled. The pink haired mage wanted to try and break free, but the blades were already touching his neck. If he moved there was a good chance he would get cut. Still, he lifted up his arms and the two who dragged him to his feet could not hold his arms down with only one hand each.
"Stop moving," Alecto snapped at his prisoner.
"We will kill you," Amycus snarled in the young man's ear.
Natsu had his arms halfway raised and he hesitated. One quick move and I could knock their other hands away before they cut me. His body tensed up.
"Natsu!"
The Dragon Slayer froze and turned his head a little to his left. Kirito was staring back at him and the teenager stated calmly, "Even if you were to knock their blades away, the rest of us would be killed on the spot." Natsu's eyes widened and his body un-tensed.
"That isn't true," the man leading the dark figures said, still with his eyes straight on the two youngest boys. "We would only kill one of the hostages if he escaped. That would show him how serious we are. If you need, we could kill one of you now," Ra's offered the group.
"No!" Ben yelled at the bearded man. He took a few deep breaths as the figure looked at him with dark eyes. "Just tell us what you want," the thirteen year old said.
A few of the cloaked figures made their ways toward Ben and Dash, but their leader held up a hand for them to stop. "I am Ra's al Ghul," the man said, and instantly Gray tensed up with wide eyes. "We are the League of Assassins."
No wonder we got caught, Gray thought. He glanced over at Kirito who was captured too, Even with our Haki we wouldn't be able to sense the League coming. "What does the League want with us?" Gray asked the scary leader of the League who he had heard much about.
Bellatrix Lestrange leaned over her captive's shoulder so her long curly black hair draped over him. She looked in with a wicked expression and cackled, "We don't want you." Gray looked confusedly at the crazy woman holding a blade to his neck.
"We only came for you two," Ra's said. Everyone followed his gaze and looked over at Ben and Dash who Ra's had kept facing the entire time.
"Us?" Dash asked in surprise. He pointed at himself, then looked at Ben skeptically. "Why?" He questioned.
Ra's walked forward and pushed Juvia with him as he did. The blue haired girl moved with her captor and tried not to struggle. Gray-sama is thinking up a plan. Juvia will escape!
The leader of the League of Assassins only stepped a few feet before feeling stopping. "You two," he continued while directly facing the short boys, "are faster than any of my assassins. You are faster than the soldiers of the High Lord who hired us. And, you are quite strong."
"But why does that matter for you?" Ben asked, getting a bad feeling about all this.
He was feeling nervous from the cold, icy gaze of this Ra's al Ghul person. The words that came out of his mouth were like daggers, and the next sentence that he said pierced Ben's heart. "You two will assassinate the Resistance leader in the city to our northeast. If you decline, we will kill all of your friends in front of you."
Dash dropped his jaw. "What?!" The kid exclaimed.
"Also," Ra's continued. "If you awaken or alert any soldiers from the nearby group, we will kill them, not capture them."
The blond boy who pretty much just shouted slammed his mouth shut. His body covered in sweat and he looked over to the Scarab tank, hoping everyone near it was asleep. Weren't there guards watching the valley? Why didn't they see these guys?!
"We won't do it," Ben stated.
Dash snapped his head to the taller kid next to him. His eyes were wide and he turned back to Ra's then to Ben again. Most people just saw a blur as Dash looked back and forth really fast. "But Ben, he's going to-"
"We won't kill anyone," Ben said, looking down at Dash now. "You couldn't kill anyone."
The blond kid opened his mouth to argue with his older friend. He paused though and thought for a second. He imagined some random guy standing in front of him, who he had to kill to save his friends. He tried to think he would be able to do it, but even in his imagination he watched himself lower his arm instead of using it to stab through the guy. Ben's right. I couldn't do it.
"I'll do it," a voice said and everyone looked over to Kirito. The person holding a blade to his neck was a little surprised to hear his prisoner speaking again, but didn't try to shut the teen up at all. The black haired teenager continued, "I'll go."
"Brave of you to try and spare your younger friends from the horror of murder," Ra's said, still without looking away from the two youngest kids. "However, you will not make it past the city's defenses."
"You don't know that," Kirito started. "I am a ninja," he stated, though for a second he thought about how stupid that sounded out loud.
"A slow ninja," Ra's continued. "If you speak out of turn again," he said, stopping Kirito who opened his mouth to say he was fast. "Yaxley will kill you," Ra's finished. Kirito's mouth slowly closed and he continued to glare at the leader of the League even as his own captor pressed the knife harder into his throat.
Ra's al Ghul stared straight into Ben's eyes, as he was the one who denied his request. "Though he may die anyway. All of them will die," Ra's stated, "unless you agree to our terms."
"You want us to kill someone," Ben said harshly. "We won't-"
"If you don't, you are killing your friends," Ra's told the boy. He narrowed his eyes a little, "Is this stranger's life worth more than theirs?"
This question made Ben's eyes widen. He looked around at all his friends. Gray was staring at Ra's al Ghul with nervous ferocity, hating how the man had Juvia in his grip right now. The Rain Woman herself looked nervous, almost like she wanted to test if her neck could phase right through the blade, but was too afraid to do it because of the man who was holding her.
"Ben," Dash whispered. The older boy looked in at his younger friend and he and Dash made eye contact. The two of them stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds before both turned ahead at the same time and harshly glared back at R'as al Ghul.
"We'll do it," Ben stated.
The sudden reversal surprised some of his friends who thought he was dead-set on not killing anyone a minute ago. Ra's himself lifted up his eyebrows and stared straight back into Ben Tennyson's eyes. "He will be at the very top of the city. He has four highly trained guards. Do you wish to know your target's name?" He asked in a cold voice.
"No need," Dash replied snidely. "And we don't need to know where he is, or how many guards he has so you can keep all that to yourself." The kid's cocky voice did not match his pissed off expression.
A flash of green light surrounded Ben for a second and when it was gone there was a lizard creature standing on two feet in its place. The alien had black plating and blue skin with a pointy head. XLR8 glared forward at Ra's and growled, "Don't hurt them while we're gone." He turned around and his black mask shot up over his face.
"Ben no!" Kairi shouted at the boy.
"Think about this Ben," Natsu said in a deeper voice than usual. "Do you really-"
"Not one more word," the assassin on Natsu's right whispered, his words sending chills down Natsu's spine as the blade on his neck pushed in a little, almost breaking the skin.
"We won't let you die," Dash stated, turning around as well. He looked in at Ben and the taller alien creature looked back down at him. The little blond boy continued, "We've made our choice."
Ben just had one last thing to say before he ran off. "We'll be right back." With that, he and Dash sped away as two blurs across the landscape.
They were heading towards the east, but Alecto Carrow noticed they weren't going north at all. "How are those brats even going to find the place? Stupid kids-"
"Idiot, you saw how fast they are," Yaxley growled, putting less pressure on the knife he had against Kirito's throat as he got ready to wait for them to come back. "They could search every inch for a hundred miles in an hour."
"True," Ra's stated, his voice still giving the hostages chills. "If they are not back within the next two hours, we will kill these five and leave."
Kirito cast a dark glance over at Ra's, then looked back into the distance where he could no longer even see the dust clouds that were knocked up when Dash and Ben ran that fast. "How long have you been trying to kill that Resistance leader?" Kirito asked, surprising Yaxley by the sudden daring question and making most of the others look his way as well.
"What's it to you?" The man behind him snarled.
"It just seems strange that a group of assassins needed two children to do their job for them," Kirito replied.
What the Hell is he doing?! Gray thought in panic. He knows they'll kill him without a second thought, right?
"What was that?" Yaxley asked, wondering if he heard the teen he was threatening correctly.
Ra's stared over at Kirito with piqued interest. "You said that you would kill the Resistance leader," the leader of the League began, making most people there surprised that he was talking to the boy instead of ordering Yaxley to kill him. "You would not have hesitated?"
"No," Kirito replied darkly.
"Hmm," Ra's responded to the young boy. "I do not believe you."
"Why not?" Kirito asked, looking the scary figure directly in his eyes.
"Because-" Ra's al Ghul stopped talking and his eyes started to widen.
"AHHH!"
22.3 Seconds Earlier'
Ben and Dash were sprinting to the east at the same speed as each other. Neither of them had talked since they started running away, and the two of them looked in at each other once they knew they were far enough away that their friends and enemies could no longer see them. The boys stopped running and stared into each other's eyes for a few moments.
"Are you ready?" Ben asked the twelve year old at his side.
"What if we're not fast enough?" Dash whispered.
Ben reached one of his scaly black arms forward and placed a hand on the younger kid's shoulder. "You are the fastest kid in the world. You can do this."
"Alright," Dash said, regaining a confident look on his face. "Let's go." He started running in place, getting faster and faster and faster so that dust picked up around him and rose up in the air.
"I'll get Gray and Juvia," Ben said. "Can you get the others?" He started running in place just like Dash was doing to get himself ready. Normally he wouldn't make a statement that so easily labeled himself as slower than Dash, but their comrades' lives were on the line, this was no time to be prideful.
"I can," Dash said with such confidence in his tone of voice that Ben did not doubt him.
"On three," Ben said. He kept sprinting in place and ground his teeth together underneath his alien's mask. "One, two, three."
"AHHH!" an assassin yelled as he felt his knife get ripped from his hand. It felt like his fingers were broken and the girl with long auburn hair in his grip was suddenly missing.
Amycus and Alecto barely started turning towards the source of the scream when the blurry face of a blond child flew in front of them. He grabbed their hands that were holding blades against Natsu's throat and yanked those hands backwards so hard that he threw the two Death Eaters up in the air. He had to jump himself to grab their hands, as he was still a pretty short kid, and as he landed he spun and charged the creepy guy with long curly black hair who had Kirito hostage.
Yaxley read the situation pretty fast as his comrade screamed. He couldn't see what was happening, but once Amycus and Alecto got lifted off the ground in the next moment, he knew it was time for action. He brought the knife that he'd loosened his grip on back towards Kirito's throat and pressed it against him hard, just for the knife to bounce off harmlessly.
Kirito focused his Armament Haki on his neck the instant trouble started. He felt the blade hit him and started turning to attack the man who tried killing him, but by the time he was only mid-turn, the man was flying backwards with a fist to the face. Dash saw the guy press his weapon into Kirito's throat and was happy he decided to save Kirito last considering the teen was able to save himself.
Dash arrived at the group not much before Ben, but when the lizard-creature arrived Dash was already on his way to Amycus and Alecto. Ben ignored the dark figures on the outside of the group and ran straight to the closer of his two friends being held hostage. He hopped up in the air behind the crazy woman with dark black curly hair, and slammed a kick into the side of her head.
As Bellatrix Lestrange went flying, Ben landed and shot off towards the final member of the League of Assassins who still had one of their friends hostage. He could see the man who had Kirito in his grasp go flying away on his right, so all he needed to do was stop this final man and... Ben skidded to a stop as Ra's al Ghul spun around so fast that he almost matched XLR8's speed.
He moved a little slower than Ben, but still at a speed where he could look right into the visor of Ben's alien's black mask. Their movements happened at speeds the other people around them couldn't follow. Only Dash was able to look over and see what was happening, and he started running over just like Ben. The two speedy children ran forward at what would be amazing running speeds for the others, and for them was still insanely fast, but for them time seemed to slow down so it felt like they were running normally.
Ra's al Ghul stared straight into Ben's eyes, and he dragged the knife in his hand across Juvia's throat. His eyes widened as the second he pressed the blade into her neck with the intention to kill her, her neck turned into water and the blade passed right through. Still, the intent alone made Ben furious and he charged at the man, leaping up and extending both legs at his head.
Ra's was slower that his opponent, but he leaned his head to the left and both of Ben's legs went right over his shoulder, barely grazing the hairs on the side of his head. He slammed an elbow up and hit Ben in the back as the boy continued to fly over him faster than the speed of sound. The thud from his elbow colliding with Ben's armored back didn't sound out until Dash Parr was already directly beneath his face, punching up at him in an uppercut.
The child's fist hit Ra's so fast that the man's neck slammed backwards and his face pointed towards the sky. While his head lifted up though, he ignored all pain and brought back the sword that he had lodged inside Juvia's neck. He pulled back through the water and slammed in towards Dash's arm. The kid brought back his extended fist underneath the incoming blade, then grabbed Ra's by the hand holding the weapon. He bent backwards with a look of anger on his face and he heard a crack in the older man's wrist. Still, Ra's al Ghul showed no pain and was already bringing a foot forward that did not flinch at all when his wrist was snapped.
Dash got kicked in the gut and thrown backwards while Ra's started turning to the alien who landed and charged back at him. Ben went for a punch to the man's face, but it was a fake and he came up on the guy's left side, then went back to his original plan as it looked like Ra's expected the feint with the way he was lifting his left arm for a block. Ben kicked him five times in the stomach, then leapt backwards as a beam of green light flew towards him. The beam passed in between him and Ra's, and Ben turned his head a little to see a half dozen figures pointing wands at him with green bursts flying out of them. The men and women in the League were told not to worry about Ra's and just attack any enemies without worrying about his well being. That is why they were firing bursts of magic that would cause instant death if they collided, and Ben and Dash could feel how evil those bursts were as they swerved in and out of them.
The magic is slower than he is, Dash thought as his feet touched the ground. He dodged a blast right as another wizard was yelling "Avada Kadavra!" and swinging a wand at him. The man was only midway through the first word when Dash vanished from the spot the man was aiming at. Ignore them all until the leader is down. Dash charged back in and lifted up his right hand, yelling out as he did. A ball of white light formed on his hand in that instant and he jumped up as Ra's turned to him. "Take this!" Dash yelled, throwing his hand forward right into Ra's' face.
The little boy was much faster than his older friend and the leader of the assassins, so Ra's was only midway through turning when Dash attacked him, and Ben was not ready for it at all either. The thirteen year old felt how much strength was going into that attack by the amount of heat pressing against his face even from a distance, and he jumped backwards. There was no need however, as when the beam of light was about to hit Ra's, the man shot up in the air as a pillar of black smoke, letting the beam go right underneath him and out into the distance where it exploded in a huge dome of light.
Ben glanced over towards the Scarab Tank as the explosion went off. Someone had to have heard that!
Ra's al Ghul was thinking the same thing and he announced loudly, "Move out." His pillar of black smoke shot through the sky and a dozen others turned into smoke as well. A pair of siblings barely back up on their feet were looking around in confusion but heard the order and shot away with the rest of them. Two pillars of smoke dropped down and the people inside them reached down and grabbed two unconscious members of their group who were not retreating with the rest.
"They're getting away!" Natsu yelled out as he saw the darker patches of black shooting through the sky. As he yelled it, the lights came on on the Scarab and they heard yelling from over there as the group of Resistance members became alerted to the danger.
Natsu looked at Dash and Ben to see why they weren't charging after their enemies. The Fire Dragon Slayer did not have a great grasp on what just happened. One second Kirito was having a discussion with the leader of the League of Assassins, and the next moment he, Gray, Kairi, and Kirito were all freed from their captors. He had glanced over towards Ra's and saw a bunch of speeding blurs for a few seconds, then almost charged over at the other members who he saw fire green blasts of magic at the blurs. Before he had a chance though, an explosion blew up in a huge dome a hundred meters away from him, a pillar of black smoke yelled out to retreat, and all the enemies ran away.
Now that he looked at the two boys, he saw that they had looked around to see if everyone was alright. Dash and Ben had noticed something which is what kept them from going after Ra's. In front of them, Juvia was standing in shock from the displays of speed that happened all around her yet she was not able to witness. The blurs raced around her body that whole time while she staggered backwards, her neck reforming with skin after turning into water when Ra's tried cutting her. The reason why Ben and Dash were staring at her though, was because she kept swaying back and forth in place.
Natsu noticed what the two kids were staring at as the light from the Scarab actually lit up their area a little too. He looked at his nakama and said, "Oi, Juvia are you-"
The girl with long blue hair that was curled at the bottom dropped down to her left knee. Gray was looking off into the distance where the League was retreating, but he heard a few people call out the same name and he spun around with huge eyes. "Juvia!" He called out, running towards her and slamming down on his knees as he reached her. "Hey, hey! What's wrong?" He grabbed her hand and clenched it while the girl dropped down to her other knee with her head bowed, facing the floor.
"No," Ben whispered on the left of Gray where he was looking down at them. "Our blades have enough poisons on them that one little nick, and it's all over." But, but she didn't get nicked. She turned into water! Ben thought it, but staring at the girl on her knees he was finding it hard to convince himself. "What's, wrong?" he managed to say to the female mage who started crying while facing the floor.
The others all ran up to Gray and Juvia who were on their knees with their heads close to each other. Gray was staring at the top of Juvia's head and holding her hands tightly with a look of shock on his face. This can't be happening.
"J-Juvia is sad," the girl whispered. She lifted up her head a little and Gray felt hopeful all of a sudden as he thought maybe she had just fallen because she was scared or something. When she looked up into his eyes though, his look of relief turned into one of horror at the sight of the lines of blood coming down from her eyes and mouth. "J-Juvia will not be able to be with Gray any-more."
"What are you talking about?!" Natsu snapped from Gray's right side. "Stop sounding so pathetic and get up!"
"Natsu-san," Juvia whispered, a small smile coming to her face at the sound of his encouraging words.
Kirito stared at the girl with sweat coming down both sides of his face. He thought of something as he heard loud shouting coming from the direction of the other Resistance fighters. He turned and sprinted over there, moving huge leaps in seconds with his ninja steps. He arrived at the front of the group in moments and shouted, "We need antidotes! Any cures to poison you might have!"
Back over with his friends, Kairi lifted her hands and a pink Keyblade appeared. "Cure, Cure!" She called out, trying to cure her friend.
Dash was shaking where he stood as each time Kairi shouted, a green light would appear but Juvia did not look any better. He suddenly stopped shaking as a great idea came to mind, "Kairi! What about that magic Sora used on the ship? Esuna right?"
Kairi's expression fell and she whispered, "I don't know that magic." She looked down at her friend, "I'm sorry Juvia."
Juvia started speaking quietly, her voice only heard by the few right around her. The poison was working through her body fast, and she remembered what that scary man who cut her said before. "Juvia is sorry everyone. Gray-sama," she whispered, looking straight at him, "I love you."
"Juvia," Gray said firmly, interlocking his fingers with hers as the girl stared back into his eyes. "I won't let you-" Her hands suddenly stopped holding his back and his mouth froze open midway. "Juvia?" he whispered. His eyes opened wide and his mind blanked. His plate-sized eyes started to tear up and he clenched them shut. "I love you too," he whispered, tears coming out from between his eyelids and sliding down his cheeks.
"Come on, you six with me," Kirito yelled at the half dozen people in front of him. "I bet the assassins have an antidote on them. If we can catch up-"
"NO!" Natsu roared, turning around and bursting into flames. Kirito looked over and saw the pink haired mage storming across the ground and illuminating half the field they were on with the huge flames coming off his body.
A few of the people Kirito just explained the situation to lost their determined looks. They looked down and away with pitying looks on their faces. Kirito spun back to them though and he yelled, "Let's go." The rest of them looked at him confusedly and he continued, "We are not letting those bastards get away." He turned and jumped off the ground, before flying away in the direction the League of Assassins went.
Superboy looked over towards the collapsed woman with dark blue hair and the others around her. His fists clenched and he turned the direction Kirito went, "He's right." The muscular Kryptonian pushed his feet down hard and then jumped off the ground after Kirito.
Gray lifted up off his knees. He still had streams of water coming out of his eyes, but he focused those eyes out into the distance to the east. "I, am going, to MURDER YOU!" The temperature around him dropped fifty degrees and his friends shivered and saw their breath turn to fog in front of their faces. Gray sprinted across the field faster than they had ever see him run, and Natsu was right with him charging after Kirito and Superboy.
Dash looked in the direction everyone started running. He felt obligated to charge after them all himself, but the kid had no urge to. All he felt at the moment was sadness. He took a step after them, then felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see Kairi standing right behind him. The girl looked down into Dash's eyes, then reached down with both arms and pulled him in for a hug.
Ben stood still while his friends ran off. He heard muffled sobs on his right but didn't turn to see Dash with his face buried in Kairi's stomach. All he did was stare at Juvia's body, lying on her back facing the sky. Her face was covered in blood but she did have a small smile on her face despite the tears. "It's my fault," Ben whispered. Kairi and Dash looked in a little to see Ben standing there over Juvia's body. "I thought I could save everyone. I didn't, want to kill-"
"Ben, what you did was right," Kairi started telling the boy.
"Was it?" He whispered, not looking away from the body on the ground in front of him. "How could it have been? Juvia's dead."
"It's on me too," Dash told his friend, trying to share his friend's guilt.
Ben shook his head. "I said I would save Gray and Juvia, and told you to get the others. You saved all three of them, but I, I couldn't do it. I wasn't fast enough." Dash opened his mouth to retort but Ben continued first, "I let her down. I-I let her die again." He lifted up his hands and put them into his brown hair, raking them over his scalp over and over. "Damn it," he cried out, his voice cracking as he did. "Damn it!"
Kairi and Dash lowered their gazes back down to the floor. They thought about how Ben told them about their deaths, how none of them took it too seriously. Thinking about it now though, this was two times in a matter of a few weeks that Ben had to witness his friend die in front of him.
I should have stopped him. I should have told Dash to get Juvia. The leader had her hostage and I didn't even take into account that he might be faster than the rest of them. Why didn't I suggest guard shifts?! Kirito didn't trust the other group and I shouldn't have either. I, I messed up... Ben suddenly felt a warmth in his right pocket and his eyes opened back up wide. He could feel it pressing against his leg and slowly he reached his hand down and placed it in his pocket next to what was making him feel this way. There's still a way... but I promised myself I wouldn't use it if someone died. I wanted to save it for the end of the world, or, or Gwen. But that's unfair! Why should Juvia stay dead if I was going to bring back my cousin?! I'm being selfish! His ground his teeth in anger and continued staring down at Juvia's lifeless body.
But if I do go back, he thought his mind suddenly flashing to show him the terrifying green monster that showed up after his fight with Nox. The King will show up and kill me. Or, maybe he'll just take the Eliacube...
The first sun started rising in the east and the sky was already lighting up. In a circle not far from the main group of Resistance fighters gathering their things to get ready to leave, six young people stood with dejected looks on their faces. A capsulizeable coffin-tube with a glass cover was in front of them occupied by one Juvia Lockser.
None of them were speaking. They all just stared at the body in front of them. "Gray," Ben spoke up, making everyone look up from the body in front of them at the thirteen year old who spoke up. Ben stared into Gray's eyes as the older man looked his way. "I," he started, then froze with his mouth open. His head bowed, I'm sorry Gray. I don't even know if the Eliacube still works, Nox said he needed a lot of energy to get him back in time. Even if I did know, I just can't risk our only chance at a redo button. "I-I'm sorry. I should have just killed that leader like they asked."
"It's not your fault Ben," Gray muttered in a low voice. "You didn't kill her, Ra's did."
"That bastard is going to pay," Natsu snarled, looking back down at the body of one of his closest friends.
Gray nodded his head, then stated in a loud voice, "I've changed my mind." The other five looked up at him. "We won't be going south anymore." A few of them lifted up their eyebrows in surprise, while Natsu just growled in agreement. Gray continued, "The city these fighters are going to is the same one Ra's wanted Ben and Dash to kill the Resistance leader at. We're going to go to this city, help them defeat their enemies, and hunt down the League before they kill anyone else."
"Sounds like a plan," Kirito said darkly, finding it hard to wait to hunt down Juvia's killers any longer. Natsu clenched his fists tight and Dash nodded his head with a serious look in his eyes. Ben just stood there staring at Juvia's body, showing no sign that he heard what Gray said.
Gray leaned down and pressed a button on the side of the yellow coffin Juvia was lying in. The coffin shrank down into a small capsule that Gray could hold in his hand and he slid it down into his pocket. The ice wizard stood back up straight and closed his eyes, I'll find a way Juvia. I swear, I'm going to bring you back.
The Fairy Tail wizards' depressed expressions, Kirito's enraged one, and the sad looks on Dash and Ben's faces were a huge turn around from the day before. The one remaining female member of the group was staring sadly down at the ground, but she rose her arms and wiped below her eyes and down her wet cheeks. When she lifted back up her head she had a small smile on her face.
Kairi looked around at all her friends and she clapped her hands together in front of her. They all turned and widened their eyes in surprise at the curved up corners of Kairi's lips. "Well we've got a new destination, let's try to make the best of-"
"Why are you smiling?" Gray asked. His voice was very low-pitched and he glared at Kairi harshly. The others would say something about how mean he looked at the moment, if they weren't all so confused as to why Kairi would be smiling at such a depressing moment.
Each of Kairi's friends looked at her and she saw none of them had even the faintest trace of a smile on their faces. She closed her eyes for a moment with that small smile still on her face. The teenage girl opened them back up and stared into Gray's eyes, "When I was a girl, my grandma used to tell me a story. She told me it over and over, it was a story that I loved, and one of the only things I remember from my childhood."
"What are you getting at?" Gray snapped.
"I don't think a children's story is really appropriate right now," Kirito muttered in a low voice. He thought about the type of place he was in back when Asuna died in front of him, and he doubted he would be very happy if someone started telling him a kid's story. He glanced at Gray and saw the older guy was in the same emotional state he was in then.
"Trust me, it is," Kairi said. She looked to her left at Dash, then to Ben, Gray, Kirito, and Natsu. She saw that no one was going to interrupt her and she took a deep breath in. The red head started, "Long ago, people lived in peace, bathed in the warmth of light. Everyone loved the light. But then, people began to fight over it."
Dash looked next to him at Ben and the other boy looked right back, both with totally confused looks on their faces. They turned again to Kairi and kept listening as she continued, "They wanted to keep it for themselves. And darkness was born in their hearts. The darkness spread, swallowing the light and many people's hearts. It covered everything, and the world disappeared. But small fragments of light survived..." She looked at the two youngest boys and finished, "in the hearts of children."
"I still don't understand why-" Kirito started, but he noticed each of the others around him all staring at Kairi closely. How is this going to help? He thought in annoyance.
Kairi looked at Kirito and gave him a smile. "Just listen," she said. The girl took another deep breath and continued her story, "With these fragments of light, children rebuilt the lost world. It's the world we live in now. But the true light sleeps deep within the darkness. That's why the worlds are still scattered, divided from each other."
Her words sent shivers down Ben's spine and he thought about some of the things Riku told him about other worlds. Doesn't seem the worlds are scattered anymore. Kirito thought about Sora's stories that he told him back on the Thousand Sunny, and he too started to take Kairi's story with a little more than a grain of salt. Kairi saw some of them looking at her more thoughtfully and she continued, "But someday, a door to the innermost darkness will open. And the true light will return. So listen," she looked back at Gray and recited softly, "Even in the deepest darkness, there will always be a light to guide you."
Her friends all lifted up their heads a little. "Believe in the light, and the darkness will never defeat you. Your heart will shine with its power and push the darkness away." Kairi fell silent for a few seconds and then said, "I know things seem pretty dark right now, but we will get through this. I don't think Juvia would want us to be sad on our adventure. We need to keep believing in the light." She smiled wider than before and looked at her friends expectantly.
Smile? Gray thought as he saw what Kairi was waiting for. She wants me to smile? Juvia's body is not even cold... No, I'm not going to let her stay dead. I'll- I'll bring her back, and take down the League of Assassins while I'm at it! Then, I'm going to find every one of my friends, and if they need saving, I'll do that too.
"Alright." Every one of the guys spun to the source of the voice and stared in shock at the black haired man in the middle of them. Gray closed his eyes for a few seconds, then took a deep breath and opened them back up. "I could be all depressed and pissed off for a while," he began, then reached down and grabbed the hem of his shirt. The ice mage lifted his hands up and threw his shirt to the side, his signature strip. "But Kairi's right, Juvia hated it when we were sad." And when she comes back, I don't want her to think she made us depressed. At that thought, the muscular young man managed to lift up the corners of his lips a little, and Natsu dropped his jaw at his close friend's attitude.
Something isn't right here. What is he thinking? Natsu's eyes narrowed at his comrade.
"You know Kairi," Dash started, looking at the beautiful girl in front of him. She looked down at the short blond boy who chuckled under his breath and looked up at her with a sad smile. "You sounded a lot like Sora there for a second."
"Hehe, he tends to rub off on you," she told the little boy. Kairi looked down at the ring on her hand and smiled a little more, though in truth it hurt thinking about Sora now. I'll have to tell him about Juvia. I know he'll beat himself up over not being here. She sighed out loud a little, but shook her head and tried to keep a small smile on her face.
"Hey kids," a voice called over to the young adults and kids in a little circle. They turned and saw a woman in shiny black leather clothes looking their way. Black Canary stood in front of the giant Scarab Tank while it rose up behind her. "We're leaving."
The fighters from Awul nodded their heads. They had planned to tell their new friends they would be leaving this morning to head their separate ways, but they had a new goal. Ben looked off to the east where the first sun was rising and the second one was visible on the horizon. Ra's al Ghul. You wanted us to take down the leader of the Resistance in this region, but by killing our friend you have done the exact opposite. We are going to help them, we are going to find you, and we are going to destroy you.
A/N ;( Sad times. This chapter might seem like it's now at it's darkest... yeah, we'll see about that... Anyway, I hope you enjoyed/cried-over the chapter, and wonder what's going to happen in the upcoming ones. Ra's al Ghul appears with the League of Assassins behind him, including many Death Eaters from the Harry Potter franchise. They could not get the speedsters to do their dirty work for them, but they followed through on one of their threats, as Juvia falls to Ra's' blade. Let me know what you think in a review...
joebob323 chapter 50 . 18h ago
Eaayyyy! It's Grif! I loved that guy, it is a shame the rest of the Spartans aren't here... and where is Master Chief? Will he show up in later chapters? League of assassins, huh. Is that in any way related to Mortal Combat or Assassin's Creed? or maybe League of Legends...
Glad you recognized Red vs Blue, as that's one of my favorite shows. Who knows about Master Chief... I do, and he will XD! As for the League, this is the League of Assassins from DC Comics, mainly as they're portrayed in the tv show Arrow. Thanks for the review!
-Well, for the first time since Heroes Will Rise began, one of the main characters we started with loses her life. Thanks everyone for reading, leave a review, and as always, 'till next time.