A/N Hey guys! Back from Italy this morning, so I'm back at it again! Hope you enjoy the chapter...
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Star Wars, Sword Art Online, Fairy Tail, Ben 10, The Incredibles, DC Comics, Arrow, Avatar the Last Airbender, One Piece, DBZ, Naruto, or any other show/movie/manga/book/etc. you may recognize characters, places, or other proper nouns in this story from.
Nexus HWR 9.7 The Dark Side:
Terra Base
Kirito and Gray lay flat on the side of a steep hill. The hill was gray with no grass on it, the material beneath them soft but coarse, little pieces crumbling off every time they moved. The top of the hill was only a few feet above the tops of their heads. Both of them lay on their stomachs without making a sound.
They got there before the suns went down on the third day of their journey. Even on their speeders, one-man vehicles somewhat like motorcycles only they hovered off the ground, the trip still took several days. In that three day time, the two young men spoke very little. They would talk when it came to seeing if the other wanted a break, or if they were at a good place to rest for the night. Most of the time Kirito had to convince Gray they needed to rest as the ice mage wanted to keep moving nonstop to reach Terra Base. Gray would argue there was no telling if the League was still going to be there when they arrived. Still, Kirito managed to make him take breaks by saying there was no way they were going to be able to defeat an army of assassins while tired and hungry.
On the third afternoon of their journey, they finally reached the gray landscape that Black Canary mentioned surrounded all of Terra Base. They had a map drawn out by the former members of Terra Base as well, and using it they figured out the best place to do some reconnaissance on their enemies. They waited until dark to even look upon the base, not wanting to reveal themselves in the daylight.
The two boys laying flat were thinking to themselves. Both had just peeked their heads over the hill. Both immediately pulled back and tried to calm their nerves. Kirito pressed his face into the floor and thought hard about everything he saw in those few seconds. On one hill to our left was a figure. I could barely make him out, but hills surround the entire base. There's a huge field before the base's walls, just like Canary said. Any frontal assault on it would be seen long before we reach the outer walls. I want to see if there are other guards on these surrounding hills, but even the one I saw was barely visible. They're all wearing black, just like us.
The black haired ninja glanced to his right where Gray was lying on his stomach too, but with his head tilted up so he was looking at the top of the hill. They were both wearing tight black battle suits that Sokka provided them. His guards said he was wasting their best, and only remaining super-suits, but Sokka said he would have faith that they would return them. He also said that if he was going to have faith, then he needed to give himself some assurance that he wasn't just sending them to their deaths.
Gray also had a black beanie over the top of his head, and they both had on black combat boots, though only Kirito had a black cloak going from his neck all the way down to those boots. Gray looked to be moving back up to get a better look over the hill, so Kirito reached up and tugged on his left arm. Gray snapped his head to the left at the younger boy, but Kirito was shaking his head. The ninja released Gray's arm and then shimmied down the hill instead.
The Fairy Tail wizard glanced up, but frowned and scooted back down the hill after Kirito. "What?" Gray seethed in an annoyed whisper.
Kirito put a finger up to his mouth. Talking in the middle of a stealth operation? Is he stupid?! He did not even shush the older man, just held his finger there for a second to shut Gray up. He then pointed that finger at the ground and drew a circle with it. Around the edge of the circle he started making little curved marks to symbolize hills. On the other side of one of those curved marks he drew two X's, then pointed at the X's and then up at himself and Gray.
Gray frowned at the teenager who for a second he thought was just being annoying by going through all this instead of just talking. Unless he's really taking what they told us at Pon-Gatso seriously. None of them think we're going to survive. He's just being cautious, and I should too. The older man only frowned deeper at his carelessness and started watching closer as Kirito marked more X's on every other hill he drew.
The mage decided to step in and he put his finger in the middle, drawing a smaller circle inside the one Kirito made to symbolize the base. Then, on that smaller circle he started making little marks that made Kirito look up at him confusedly. Gray humphed and opened his mouth to explain, but Kirito put his finger up to his mouth again. Gray growled, then put his hands up and made it look like he was aiming into the sky. He pulled back a few times with both hands making it look like an anti-aircraft turret.
Kirito frowned deeply as he was thinking about using his wings to fly in over everything. He looked up in the sky, but frowned deeper seeing two bright moons and hundreds of stars. No clouds, they'll probably spot us. Damn, if only we had Ben, he could go Clear Body and this would be ten times easier. He felt a tap on his shoulder while he was thinking and turned to see Gray looking down at the diagram closely.
Kirito looked down as well, and he became confused as Gray started drawing X's all around their side of the hill. Kirito's eyes widened as Gray pointed at him again, then pointed at the new X's. There were ten of them, and Gray started pointing around at the different X's they had drawn on the tops of every hill Kirito put one on.
That's right, there was no way we could bring Ben with us, Kirito thought as he nodded at Gray. He crossed his fingers and around them poofed a dozen Kirito shadow clones. They looked in at the original and all thirteen Kiritos nodded at each other. Eleven of them dropped into the solid ground leaving holes behind and Gray was surprised they could do that so easily.
The mage was confused why the twelfth did not sneak into the ground with the others. Instead, that twelfth clone snuck back up the hill he and Kirito were on, and they watched as he poked his head over the hilltop. Gray started following him up there after a few seconds of that clone not getting discovered. The real Kirito opened his mouth to tell Gray to stop, then sighed and just followed him up the hill.
They crawled up to the top and the Kirito clone who was already there was looking around at the other hills. Gray looked at him in confusion, then around and looked closely at every hill surrounding Terra Base. Kirito was right in assuming there were guards on every other hill, though there were actually a few less than that. There were more guards just patrolling the inner field, like these hills were the farthest defenses. All of a sudden, the Kirito clone between the two puffed out of existence.
Gray's eyes widened, but he saw the real Kirito still just staring out over everything with careful eyes. When one of his clones vanished, the rest of them received the information that one had obtained. Eleven shadow clones around the landscape who snuck to the hills with these guards on them nodded their heads as the data flooded into their minds. Gray was looking carefully at a hill directly on their left, and he watched as the man suddenly dropped a few feet down into the ground.
All over the place, Kiritos reached up through the ground and grabbed men by their ankles. He dragged them down a few feet, then jumped out of the ground in front of them and unsheathed a sword from his back. He swung the sword in front of him without hesitation, and removed eight heads from their bodies simultaneously. After the eight outer guards were dead, the Kirito clones pushed the dead bodies under the ground, hiding them and clearing the top of the hill before it became completely covered in red. Then, they just stood there calmly as if they were the guards supposed to be there in the first place.
Keeping those eight won't take up too much chakra, and if I ever need it back I can make one or two vanish. The other three should be on their ways back- a cracking sound was made behind them and the boys turned to see three shadow clones crawling back out of the ground. They snuck up the hill and stopped behind the real Kirito and a surprised Gray.
He just killed them all without a second thought, Gray thought. He turned back and looked in at the former Resistance base two miles in the distance. There were some lights inside the walls making it more visible, but Gray was not thinking about the base for now. Ra's al Ghul killed Juvia. I will murder him... but anyone else, I would have at least tried to knock them out, maybe take them hostage. No, this is a war zone, I've been in enough to know that thinking like that is naive... but isn't that why I'm traveling with such a naive group? These friends of mine are supposed to be hopeful, be merciful, though I guess Kirito wouldn't understand that.
He turned left and stared at the younger man by a couple of years. Kirito was looking around at the rest of the base's defenses, and Gray could tell that those men Kirito just killed were the farthest thing from his mind right now. What should I have expected from an Underworld member? Gray thought, and turned to look out as well. His comrades killed the Master, and just because Goku thought he was an okay guy, he got to get off scot-free. The rest of his comrades were arrested, or killed, but he got to walk, and now he's lying next to me. I have to trust such a guy to watch my back.
Gray glared harshly over the landscape on the other side of the hill. His thoughts shifted to the enemies in front of him. Juvia, he thought with an intense look of hatred splayed on his face. I swore I would find a way to bring you back, but right now you're still dead. And it's their fault. They killed you. I need to be ready to kill them! He lifted up his right fist and open left palm, pressed them together, and ice started spreading out over his arms. It surrounded his back and torso in armor, made a spiked helmet around his head, gave him extra protection on top of the battle suits that Sokka said were already nigh-indestructible.
"Gray," Kirito whispered. The older boy turned to him annoyed, almost as if asking 'Oh, now's an okay time to talk?' The younger teen had been looking out over the landscape long enough though that he realized it was safe to speak as long as they did it quietly. "There are guards all over the place, and who knows how many inside the base. The turrets on the walls won't let us get the drop on them. We need a plan of attack."
"I have a plan," Gray growled, standing up as he did. "Attack." He kicked his left foot on the hill beneath him and shot off down the other side.
Twelve Kiritos smacked themselves in the faces in annoyance. The four Kiritos on the original hill got up, looked at the other hills for miles around Terra Base. Every single Kirito saw Gray start rushing down, and they all knew what they had to do. All of them started running forward, but it was only the individual Kiritos on the other hills who started crossing their fingers.
The eight who took out guards suddenly created more shadow clones to run with them. These ones also shouted, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" However, the one on the exact opposite side of Terra Base as the real Kirito shouted loudest, "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" While five or six clones formed with every other group, forty clones surrounded this one.
Gray was running full speed forward, but even in the darkness, he saw dozens of figures start popping up all over the field. He was charging straight at a group of three walking towards the base, but they saw something far to their right and started running that way. Two of them jumped up in the air and turned into black pillars of smoke, while one of them jumped up and then jumped even higher than that. Force Jump, Kirito thought as he continued running after Gray, glad none of them saw him yet.
CH-CH-CH-CH-CH! The sound of machine gun fire rang out over the field. Gray looked up towards Terra Base and saw the sky on the other side of it illuminating with every shot. Then, other turrets turned on on other sides, and finally the one on his side turned on. Let's see if these suits are all they're cracked up to be. He rose up his arms in front of his face and continued sprinting straight ahead. I will avenge you Juvia. I haven't given up trying to save you, but I will kill the man who took you from me... for now. Gray's mouth twisted into a horrible snarl and as the first bullets collided with him, he did not even falter in his sprint. Ice shards went flying out around his body as his outer armor got torn through, but once the bullets started hitting his black under armor, he realized Sokka was not kidding about its strength. He could barely feel the hits inside his suit, even when his forearms got hit in front of his face. He just charged forward haphazardly, ignoring the sounds of gunfire and screams coming from all around him.
Meanwhile, the enormous circular field around Terra Base was in chaos. Clouds of black smoke flew everywhere and became people just long enough for the men and women inside to swing their wands. Green beams shot off their wands and slammed into shadow clones instantly destroying them. Others shot red beams of light that made Kiritos drop to the ground and start screaming in excruciating pain from the torturous magic.
The Kirito clones quickly learned to avoid any beam of green or red light. However, the assassins who were witches and wizards were not the only ones to look out for. A few dark cloaked figures leapt off the wall of the western side and charged at the largest group of Kiritos. Two of them slammed their hands down into the ground after making some hand signs and a wall of water shot up that splashed forward and made half the field into an ocean. All the Kiritos jumped up and started running across the water surprising the ninja assassins. Two assassins jumped up on the water and charged at the clone army, and when a Kirito was about to hit one, another three assassins flew up out from beneath the water, slicing knives coated in poison across three clones.
"Fireball Jutsu!" Kirito yelled, aiming at three enemies charging at him. A fireball flew out of his mouth towards the enemies, but one enemy in particular leapt forward. He put his hands out in front of him and stopped the fireball right as it reached him. A Force Wall pressed against the attack, but while the Sith Lord was holding it there, a figure flew past the side of the fireball. The person moved so fast the Sith barely had time to start turning. The old man's head was partially turned and he gawked at the sight of a black haired teenager in an all black cloak, with four black fairy wings sprouting out of his back.
Kirito swung his two swords down at the Sith Lord holding his other clone's attack, but someone Force Pushed him from out of nowhere and he went flying. He righted himself in midair, looked around for who did it, and froze as his Observational Haki kicked in. The teenager started swerving around and just in time too. He dodged a hail of gunfire coming from the base's walls, and then leaned backwards and a ball of fire flew right over his head.
Ten Kiritos flew up high in the air and had to constantly dodge bullets from the turrets down below. They got close to each other and had to shout over the sounds of attacks down below. "We're already down thirty clones!"
An explosion ripped apart a huge section of field on the northern side of the base. "Thirty-four now!" Another Kirito clone shouted. After he shouted, a bullet ripped through his wing and he winced. He couldn't fly as fast anymore and was barely dodging the bullets now. "I'll test our chances of aerial entry," the injured shadow clone shouted, and he started dive-bombing Terra Base.
Lots of assassins and Siths shouted and pointed up at the lone figure dropping out of the sky like a missile. A white aura surrounded him he was moving so fast, wind pushing against him and around his body as he put both of his swords in front of him with their tips together to make himself more aerodynamic.
"Take him down!"
"Keep him out of the fort!"
The other nine Kiritos in the air realized they had their chances as they looked at how much attention that clone had. "I'll go," one of them accepted, and he poofed away. Instantly, fifty other shadow clones understood what they needed to do. They stopped focusing on their enemies and all at the same time charged at the base.
The one in the sky had almost reached the top of the walls, but two figures leapt up in the air and slammed their open palms forward. A huge amount of Force slammed into the already injured clone and it exploded.
Meanwhile, every other clone still on the ground leapt up in the air at the same times. Their wings stayed at their backs however, as they were not trying to fly. They each came down and slammed a foot down on the ground, creating fissures all over the field. The fissures went from their feet all the way out to the walls around Terra Base, and then straight up the walls as well. So many cracks created by Kirito's Devil Fruit lined the wall that only five seconds after the cracks formed, huge chunks of Terra Base's wall started collapsing.
The Kiritos who ignored their enemies in order to make that attack were suddenly swarmed. "Avada Kedavra!"
"Crucio!"
"Summoning Jutsu!"
"Water Dragon Jutsu!"
It was a slaughter. The Kirito army got devastated in a matter of seconds. However, over the sounds of the screams of attacks from the enemies, and of pain from Kirito clones, there was no longer the background noise of gunfire ringing out around the landscape. The turrets that were firing fell silent as the stone walls came out from beneath them.
The eight Kiritos in the air had their opportunity. They dropped for the main building in the center of Terra Base's crumbling walls. The original Kirito looked to the outside as he dropped and felt bad for his Shadow Clones, but he needed them to keep the enemies' attentions for just one more minute. Don't use any Jutsu, though I'm sure you all know that. I'll need as much chakra as possible for this next part. Now, he looked around like his other clones already were as they were about to land. Where is Gray?
Inside the very building beneath Kirito, Gray stood panting with two ice swords in his hands. Two men lay still on the ground in front of him, and five others stood behind them holding red or white lightsabers in their hands. Blood dripped off the usually blue ice blades and Gray glanced down at his enemies' bodies for a second, before looking up at the still living ones in front of him. "If the rest of you don't want to die, you will get out of my way."
He took a step forward, and then froze and felt his mind blank. The wizard did not even feel the hand on the top of his head, his whole body just lost feeling. Standing behind him was an eight foot tall dark-skinned figure with black tattoos around his eyes that darkened his eye sockets. He had curved horns sticking up on either side of his forehead and two others pointing down from his cheeks. His head was hairless and his face was lined with wrinkles though he did not look all that old.
The frowning Sith Lord with a hand on Gray's skull looked over the young man at the other Sith in the room. "Leave us," he commanded. The other men retracted their lightsabers and backed away, one of them picking up the dead bodies of their comrades and carrying them with him out the door behind them. That door closed, and finally the Sith released his hand from Gray's head. He used Force Push to throw Gray across the room where the boy hit the floor and skid on his stomach and face a few yards before flipping himself over and landing on his feet.
Gray spun around in panic as for some reason he felt like he just spaced out. It looked like he did too as most of his enemies were gone. The only one remaining, was exactly where he was just standing. His eyes widened, He could have shoved a lightsaber through my chest! Why? What- "Who are you?!" Gray shouted at the scary-looking man in a brown cloak that went from his neck down to his feet.
"I am the one who goes by the name Darth Bane," the figure before Gray said in a deep tone that seemed to echo around the room. The man started walking to his left and Gray did the same, keeping equal distance to the man as they circled the center of the room. The dark man continued, "Third in command in the Order of the Sith. In my universe, I created the system of having only one Sith Lord, and one Apprentice at any time. However, here there is no need for such a rule. The Sith do not have internal conflict here, for the Emperor is the most powerful Sith to have ever lived."
"I didn't ask for your life story," Gray snapped at the Sith. The man did not look agitated by Gray's growl though, he was too level-headed for that. "Why?" Gray questioned. The ice mage clenched his hands around the cold blades in his grasp. "Why did you not kill me?" I was stupid. I rushed in here. I need to steady-
"Would you like to bring back the one you have lost?" Bane questioned. He did not break stride, but he lifted up his deep frown just a little seeing Gray stumble and almost fall over. Gray stopped circling and Bane did as well, though he was closer to the mage now. Bane took a slow step towards Gray, "What do you know, of the Dark Side?"
"I know it's evil," Gray growled, trying to stop himself from listening to the man.
"Evil, good, such childish ideas," Darth Bane stated, taking another step forward. "You do not truly believe in them. I can see what you really want. What if I were to tell you, there is a way to bring back, Juvia?" Bane asked. Gray lowered his bottom lip and the man took another step closing their distance to ten feet apart. "It is very possible, with the power of the Dark Side."
Gray stood there in shock. Not only did this man know exactly what he wanted most, but he said there was a way to make it a reality. It, can't be, he thought. His body covered in sweat. I've known it. Even though I kept telling myself I would bring her back, I never really believed it. I just, didn't want to grieve. I didn't want to accept it.
"I can bring her back for you," Bane began. His words seeped into Gray's head and he looked into the enemy's eyes in awe. Bane started circling again, but Gray was standing still now and just followed the taller, bigger man with his eyes. Bane walked to Gray's left side and kept speaking even as he got out of Gray's peripheral vision. "You want her back don't you? More than anything?"
Gray's eyes darkened and he looked down. "Yes," he muttered. He could feel the scabs on his palms from where his nails dug so far into them just thinking about Juvia's killer. The wounds had opened back up a few minutes ago since he was gripping his ice blades so furiously.
"You would do anything to bring her back?" Bane asked, his voice sounding closer than ten feet away now. He sounded like he was only a foot behind Gray's nodding head.
The ice mage was literally shaking where he stood. He thought he might be able to spin around and cut the man behind him before the Sith Lord could react. His body tensed as he thought about it, and then he heard the whisper in his ear, "I could bring her back for you." His grip on his swords weakened and his eyes blinked a few times, reminding him that this was actually real. Bane continued speaking in his dangerous tone, "I am a man of my word. What do you care more about? Her life? Or this petty Resistance, squirming around futilely in the face of imminent destruction?"
Bane continued waking around Gray and the mage was right in guessing that Bane had gotten closer to him since he left his eyesight. The man was only a few feet away when he moved back in Gray's vision, and he spoke calmly as he got back directly to Gray's front, "Who would you choose? The people who have already forgotten about the woman you love? Or her?"
Gray's mind suddenly flashed with memories of Juvia. Fighting her for the first time. Watching her follow him around with hearts in her eyes. Battling against the army of dragon-spawn with her. Remembering that moment in time long forgotten when he pushed her out of the way and sacrificed himself. He thought about finding her on this world after being teleported to Port Royal. Fighting by her side in Metropolis against Cooler. He thought about the ship ride to Aebrith, the day they went crazy, what he and her did then, and again that night, and so many times since. He thought about how she cried when Luffy and the others left her, but said that she could not go with them as long as Gray was going south. And he remembered her dying. He thought about her crying and dying in his arms.
"I choose her," Gray muttered. He looked into Darth Bane's eyes and the grip he had on his swords disappeared. The blades dropped from his grasp and he looked at the dark man's even darker eyes, "I would do anything, to get her back."
"Good," Bane responded. He walked towards Gray and then walked only inches past the young man's left side. He opened his mouth and whispered, "Then, there is only one condition." He kept walking and grabbed the handle to the door Gray left open when he barged in, the same door he calmly walked through to grab Gray's skull and read his mind. Bane walked through the door and started closing it behind him, while saying in a quiet voice, "All you need to do, is kill the man you came in with."
Gray's eyes opened wide and he spun around in shock. There was no one else in the room though. The door was closed behind and in front of him. He was in an empty room, one that he noticed for the first time looked way, way too empty. There were no windows, no support pillars, no furniture, not a single thing in the room. Even the blood from those men I killed, who I think I killed... And my ice blades, where are they? It's only been a few seconds, there's no way they melted already. And if they melted, where are the wet spots?
The cement floor was dry, gray, untouched. Even the pieces of his own ice armor that broke off left no wet splotches on the floor. Did he clean them up somehow? That Darth Bane? All his thoughts about how strange the room looked were meant to distract him from one thing. It was the one thing in the back of his mind creeping through the rest of the thoughts like a virus. I should chase after him. He could not have gotten too far.
Gray took a step towards the door Bane walked out of, but as he did, he heard the sound of a door opening up behind him. His heart started racing and both sides of his face covered in sweat. "Gray!" The all-too familiar voice of the person behind him shouted right as he started turning around. He froze mid-turn and the thought creeping through his mind shot to the surface, Kirito.
The wizard of Fairy Tail finished turning and stared blankly at the cloaked figure in the doorway behind him. "Kirito?" He whispered, wondering if he was seeing things or if the boy really was right in front of him. "Or, are you just a clone?" Gray muttered, looking closer with a panicked expression, still wondering if this was even real or not.
"I lost my clones," Kirito replied, walking into the room and closing the door behind him. "Now," he began, walking across the room to Gray. He had a bloody blue sword in his right hand and another up in the sheath. He walked towards Gray looking seriously pissed, and Gray took a step back. It was not far enough, as Kirito marched straight up to him and socked him in the face with the fist not curled around his blade's hilt.
Gray lifted off the ground and flew three feet back, but he kept his legs down and landed on his feet. He slid backwards into the doorway he was walking to a minute ago, and his eyes snapped open wide. "What are you doing?!" Gray yelled at the younger boy.
"Me?" Kirito asked, doing so in a quiet whisper though as he was seething through his teeth. "Oh I'm sorry, did I miss the part of the plan that involved throwing stealth out the window and sprinting straight at the enemy?" Kirito asked, throwing his hands up in frustration. He sighed at Gray's at-a-loss expression and just slid his other sword up into his sheath.
"Hahhh," Kirito released a deep breath while looking down and he looked back up into Gray's eyes. "Alright, there's no point focusing on the past now. We're inside, they probably know where we are. It took losing all of my clones to get me this far, but I can make some more for our escape."
Kirito knelt down on the floor and he reached into his coat pocket. "I got this off of one of the guys I was fighting upstairs. He seemed a little stronger than..."
Gray watched as Kirito pulled out a white piece of paper and unfolded it on the floor below him. He was talking about his fights, the enemies' tactics and strengths, the information he received. The other man in the room stopped listening though. It was not that he meant to stop listening, Kirito just started becoming more and more muffled until his voice was just a quiet humming in the back of Gray's mind.
The ice mage took a step towards Kirito, looking down at the boy on one knee who was pointing at different things on what looked to be a map he spread out. He took another step, staring at the back of Kirito's neck as the teenager stared down at the floor. Gray froze. What am I doing? What am I thinking?! He's my comrade... But, is he really? I may have traveled with him, but, I never really knew him. I made that pact. If anyone in that group was in danger, I swore to come help. I thought of them all as my nakama. That was BEFORE! Before she died, before you knew that one of their lives, could be traded for hers...
He took another step forward and froze again. No! This is crazy. You don't even know if you can trust him. But, Bane said- why would I trust what he said? Why not? His angered expression fell and he looked down at his hands. As he did, he noticed something sticking out of the waistband of his pants, and his right hand slowly lifted up to it. He pulled the hard, black thing out of his waistband and looked at it, recognizing the shape as that of a knife sheath, with a knife in it. What, do I have, to lose? He thought, his eyes focusing down on the knife. His eyes lifted and he stared at Kirito who was looking at him as if awaiting an answer. "What?" Gray asked, and Kirito sweatdropped at him.
"It doesn't really matter," Kirito muttered. He just asked 'Okay?' to see if Gray was staying with his explanation, so that answer was not what he was looking for. He didn't plan on going back and explaining the whole thing again though, so he just continued on to the important parts. "Anyway, the men I captured, one of them was more willing to talk than the other, but he did not know as much. Apparently Ra's al Ghul isn't here, and he did not know where..."
His Observational Haki would kick in before I have the chance. No! He won't be expecting it from me. He's off guard. I could distract him too, make him even more unsteady. Make him lose balance! What am I thinking? He's... A member of the Underworld. My enemies. They killed the Master. He could help bring back Juvia. This is how it has to happen!
"...So I had the loose-lipped man help me out. He knew one of those curses that kept making my clones die painfully. The Cruciatus Curse. It looked horribly painful as I made him use it on the tight-lipped guy. Not five seconds in and the assassin was screaming for me to stop..." Kirito did not notice Gray taking another step towards him, but now the older man was just a foot in front of Kirito, making it look like he was staring down at the map below him.
Even as he talks about torturing people he shows no remorse. Gray put his right hand behind his back, and he started bending down to supposedly get a closer look at the map. His heart rate was speeding up every second. Thump-thump, Thump-Thump, THUMP-THUMP... He's open for an attack. Just need a clear shot of his neck. No need to make it painful...
Kirito continued talking, glancing up occasionally but just seeing Gray staring at the map he laid out. Kirito pointed down at the map, his finger right on Terra Base, and he started sliding his finger down the map. His eyes focused down on it and he continued speaking, "He said that the League's secret headquarters where Ra's al Ghul is hiding is about a thousand miles south. And then, I made him tell me more. I asked him if the League knew how to bring people back to life."
Gray's hand froze at his side, midway through bringing it around. The blade no longer in its sheath glistened and dripped a drop of purple liquid next to him. "Wh-What?" He muttered, his eyes slowly growing wide.
"They were using some powerful magic so I thought they might have a way. Turns out, the League has this pool, called the Lazarus Pit. The man gave me some cryptic warnings about it, but he said it could definitely bring someone back to life. Especially if it's within the month." Kirito looked up and saw a shocked look on Gray's face that exceeded his expectations. His serious expression curved up into a smile and he rose his right hand, putting it on Gray's shoulder. "We can bring her back, Gray. We can save Juvia."
Gray's whole body started shaking. The man crouching down in front of Kirito lost his support and fell to his knees. His right hand lost all grip and a knife fell from his grasp, clanking on the floor loudly and echoing through the empty room. Kirito's eyes turned slowly from Gray's horrified face down to the source of the clanking and he saw a knife still bouncing back up on the floor. It hit down a second time and came to a stop, covered in purple liquid that seeped off the steel and onto the concrete floor. "Gray?" Kirito questioned, looking from the knife back to the man in front of him. "What are-"
Gray lifted up his hands and slammed them against his face. Tears were streaming out of his eyes and he could not hold them back. "I'm sorry," he rasped out from behind his hands. "Oh God," he mumbled, tilting his head back and dragging his palms down his face. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," he just kept repeating it even as tears streamed down his face. I almost- I can't believe I- Juvia wouldn't have- she wouldn't have wanted- and he! He never forgot.
Gray hunched over and continued sobbing into his hands. Kirito on the other hand, got up to his feet and took a step backwards. "You," he muttered, his voice low and angry. He reached down and snatched the map from underneath Gray's sobbing face. "What were you-" he stopped midway as he already knew the answer.
"I," Gray began. He dropped his hands and looked up at Kirito's shocked, angry, and above all else-confused face. "I was going, to kill you," Gray whispered out loud. He couldn't hide it. He could barely look at Kirito he felt so ashamed. "I'm sorry," he gasped out again.
"Why?!" Kirito yelled. Now he was the one who didn't care about others hearing them. He reached down and grabbed Gray by the top of the hair, pulling his head back and looking into his eyes from a few inches away. "Why would you do that?!" Kirito yelled at him, his mouth twisting into all different frowns in anger and confusion.
"He said," Gray rasped out. "Darth Bane, he, he said I needed to kill you. If I ever wanted to see Juvia again, he said," Gray clenched his eyes shut and started shaking his head.
Kirito released Gray's hair and pushed the ice mage down. "You're kidding me," Kirito muttered. He rubbed the side of his head and looked up for a second. The teenager sighed, then glared back down at Gray, "Haven't you ever heard of a Jedi mind trick? He was playing you. He took control of your mind. So stop crying, it isn't-"
"It wasn't a Jedi mind trick," Gray whispered, looking down at he floor and allowing tears to flow out unobstructed. Kirito stared at him in confusion for a second and Gray just kept whispering, "He said, he would bring her back, if I, killed you." Gray shook his head even as Kirito dropped his bottom lip and stared at Gray in absolute shock. Before, Kirito thought a million things could have taken control of Gray to make him try to do that, but now, he was starting to realize that nothing made him do it at all. "I'm sorry Kirito," Gray whispered. He looked up at the teenager, "I shouldn't have trusted him. I just, wanted to see Juvia. I know that doesn't excuse-"
"Doesn't excuse?" Kirito mumbled aloud, wondering if he just heard correctly. The teenager shook his head and took another step back away from Gray. I can't believe I trusted these people, Kirito thought, taking another step back. I let my guard down. I finally found a group of people I thought were good. I thought I could be the darkness necessary to help them all through this dark world. Turns out there was enough darkness here without me. His teeth clenched and his fists balled up. He took a step forward angrily and Gray looked straight at him, looking willing to take whatever Kirito was about to throw at him.
His fists unclenched though. "I trusted you," Kirito seethed, finding it hard to open up his clenched teeth. "I, I trusted you with my life! Does that mean nothing to you?!"
Kirito was screaming now, his face looking nothing like his usual composed self. Gray felt his heart getting stabbed every time Kirito spoke. "It does mean something to me," Gray began, but he had to look away even as he did. "Look, I'm sorry," Gray whispered. He looked up at Kirito's enraged face and called out louder, "You're right! I messed up. And I'll do whatever it takes to make up for it. Even if it takes my entire life! But right now, we need to get to that Lazarus Pit!"
Kirito kept glaring angrily down at Gray, but he stayed silent for several moments after Gray yelled up at him. "You want me..." Kirito began repeating slowly, blinking a few times as he did, as he could not believe what he was hearing. Then, Kirito's enraged look wiped from his face just like that. Gray became panicked as the emotionless expression Kirito adopted was a hundred times worse than the furious one. "Screw you," Kirito muttered in a monotone voice.
The teenager turned his back to Gray and started walking away. "Kirito!" Gray shouted.
"No!" Kirito yelled, turning back and looking enraged again for a second. He tried calming himself down, but could not return to the same completely emotionless look he had a second ago. "Screw you Gray! I was in Konoha when Naruto, my best friend, turned on us and killed everyone I cared about!" Gray closed his mouth and stared in shock at the teenager in front of him who continued his rant while glaring down at his "friend." "I was trapped in a Virtual Reality world where thousands of people, my entire guild, my closest friends got slaughtered, and the man who trapped us in there in the first place, he turned out to be our greatest hero! He was the man us players looked up to the most, he was our comrade, we trusted him! And he betrayed us! And when I joined the Underworld, I thought I found a place where there were other people who felt betrayed, who society pushed away, who were in the darkness just like me! I thought maybe they could be my comrades, and after months of training together with them, living together with them, they tried to blow me up! After I had just saved their lives," he added, shaking his head at how similar it was to the situation he was in right now. He looked down at Gray who leaned back seeing the water in the bottom of Kirito's eyelids. "There is no forgiving someone like you. I, I can't," he whispered, closing his eyes and shaking his head once. "You betrayed me, Gray. So screw you."
"Kirito, please," Gray begged, still on his knees looking up at the teenager. "I'm sorry. But please, I'm sorry, I need your help. We need to save her."
Kirito reached into his pocket and balled a fist around the piece of paper he hastily shoved in there a minute ago. He pulled out the crumpled up map and threw it down at Gray. "Do it yourself," Kirito muttered, returning to his emotionless tone. He turned and walked back to the door he came in from, "I'm done with you."
"Kirito! Wait!" Gray called out, scrambling up to his feet and snatching up the piece of paper on the floor. He took a step after Kirito, "What are you doing?" He asked.
"Don't follow me," Kirito muttered, opening up the door in front of him. He walked into it and glared back into the room for a second, his eyes looking dark under his black bangs. "Find your own way out." Kirito walked outside and the door closed behind him.
Gray stood still for a second, then the weight of what just happened set in and he ran towards the door. He threw it open, but there was no one there. He stood there silently staring out into the empty hallway for a few seconds, and then his gaze lowered down to the hand not on the door handle. Gray opened up his hand and heard a crinkling noise as he did. He stared at the crumpled up sheet of paper and he clenched his fist around it hard. He looked back out the door with less of a desperate look and one with more determination. Juvia, he thought, walking out the door and pulling it closed behind him. I'm coming.
A/N ... ;( The Dark Side indeed. The Sith corrupt, and Kirito almost gets a knife in the back from a comrade, again. The League of Assassins section of this chapter really is dark, first with Juvia's death, now with this, what's next? I do hope you enjoyed the battle, infiltration, and betrayal, and are looking forward to the next chapter: Nexus HWR 9.8 Ra's al Ghul. Leave me a review telling me what you think and predictions for the upcoming chapters. And finally, gotta admit I do not currently have 9.8 completely finished (or even a quarter of the way done :P) so, sorry if you thought I was going to get back in the 1 post per 1 day grind, but I don't have another set of completed chapters ready until chapter 11, so it's gonna slow down a bit. Anyway, review responses:
Espada-001 chapter 54 . May 22
Well I definitely enjoyed all the battle scenes and I definitely thought it was hilarious that Grif still can't remember to bring extra amo. Although Natsu's dragon physiology should have given him a stronger resistance to the poison attack, and probably would have been more injured from being stabbed rather than poisoned. Well that's all I have for now so until next time have a good day and I look forward to the next chapter!
Thanks for the review! Glad you liked the chapter! Grif never brings the ammo when he needs it, (though that laziness has saved him before XD). As for Natsu, he did get poisoned during his battle against Cobra, so I don't know if he's less likely to get poisoned than others, though maybe it's his dragon side that kept him alive long enough for Dash to give him medicine, or that he was still able to kick so much ass while recovering from it. Thanks again!
Darugus chapter 54 . May 22
Nice chapter
Also suprised you put in the vinsmokes
Also I don't think any of sanjis family have haki or the ability to develop it since his brothers are emotionless and don't have a will of there own
Also look on forward for next chaptee
Thanks! I was glad the anime finally caught up before I posted this chapter in case non-manga readers didn't wanna be spoiled (not that it hasn't been happening a lot in this story). And I'd have to disagree with the brothers being emotionless and not having wills, 'cause despite that latest manga chapter where they get guns put to their heads and don't really react, they are shown with personalities and emotions through the beginning of the arc. They laugh at Sanji and get annoyed at stuff, and I checked the wiki 'cause I wasn't too sure after reading your review, but the wiki on them seems to think they have strong wills as well because they managed to withstand a blast from Big Mom's Conqueror's Haki. Anyway, my thoughts on them having Haki, but we'll see in upcoming manga chapters whether they bring it up or not!
7lights13darknes chapter 52 . May 23
That was an awesome and hilarious chapter. My two favourite parts are the beginning with grif and superboy were making fun of the first rvb episode. It is one of the few rvb references i get. ( u am only 15 turn 16 in june so i have not seen much of the series but i am getting there) "ever wonder why were here". I read that part and literally put the phone down. And started laughing before i even read the rest of it. My second favorite part is of course ... SOKKA! I did not see that coming but now we know how they have survived for so long against the fire nation. Hey do you think you could have experiments from lilo and stitch as characters. Again keep up the good work
FINALLY CAUGHT UP! That fight scene against the fire nation was awesome. You can tell i am getting faster at reading these. Like i said before thus just gets better. Forgot to mention this earlier but king Mickey has been helping the resistance. At least we know he is actually doing something right? Also noooooooo zuko iroh i was hoping at least one of them would live. Are any of the characters going to put two and two together and realize that sokka is friends with aang. Since I'm talking about avatar do you think you could have legend of korra characters? And just saying i have read nexus it was finished when i started it. By the time i finished it you already had chapter 16 or something like that when i started this story and so you can imagine i don't remember everything. That is also why i never left a review in the first story or early in this one. Like i said i usually like to catch up. One last thing in the list of characters you forgot to mention the Grimm. RWBY is my favorite animai so i had to point that out. Keep up the good work( and yes i consider it sn aniame deal with it)
Glad you've liked the recent chapters! "Ever wonder why we're here?" Is the symbolic quote of the entire show, so I figured anyone who had seen it would get the reference. Sad to see Zuko and Iroh gone, but we hear something else about the King, even if it is vague... A few of the residents of Pao seem like they recognize Sokka's name, but unfortunately none of them have put together who he is yet. Also, probably a no to the Legend of Korra characters, since there are timelines where I took the characters out of and put them in Nexus, and telling from Aang, Katara, Toph, and Sokka's ages, and the fact that none of them mentioned dying on their own world, we can figure that Korra characters did not exist yet before Nexus was created. Anyway, it's awesome that you've read all of Nexus and Heroes Will Rise up to this, and yeah I guess forgetting Happy is pretty easy since I never gave a flashback of when he died. Lucy kicked it in the Metropolis flashback when Natsu was fighting reanimated Kamishiro just as a reminder. And finally, I 3 RWBY too, though not sure whether I would call it anime or cartoon (but to each their own) :) Thanks for reviewing and thanks again to everyone who read, favorited, followed, and reviewed to this story! 'Till next time!