Nexus: Heroes Will Rise

by tmb1112

Universal borders have been erased and beings from thousands of universes now live on the same world: Nexus. In the first Saga of Nexus, Awul was saved, but the mysteries of Nexus remain. Now our heroes sail across the sea to Aebrith to search for lost loved ones and save the world. MCs from DBZ, KH, Soul Eater, FT, Blue Exorcist, Bleach, 7DS, OP, Ben 10, SAO, HxH, and many more!

59. Nexus HWR 10-1 Cataclysm

Nexus HWR 10.1 Cataclysm:

100 Miles North of Pon-Gatso

Nine people sat on the back of a flying bison heading north away from the biggest tree in the world. Behind them they could still see it, sticking up into the clouds in the distance. None of them were looking back at the tree now though, as they were either staring straight ahead towards their next destination, or off the sides at the landscape below them.

"You guys really did some work down there," Black Canary said. She whistled in an impressed way and more of the others looked down as well. There were long trenches through the Scorched landscape that Natsu and Ben smirked about wondering if it was one of their Dragon Slayer Roars or Kamehamehas that dug each trench through the ground.

As they were getting farther north, Dash spotted something up ahead of them and his eyes widened. "Uh oh," he said. The others followed his gaze to the front of the bison and down towards the land where a camp was set up. There were buildings in it, a few of them billowing black smoke like the Fire Nation's camp earlier that week. "They're back so soon!"

"Don't worry," Nagisa said in a calm voice.

The others looked back at him like he was crazy, but the teen was still sitting down, not looking like he cared. He smiled at the group in front of him and said, "Look for the Fire Nation emblem."

They looked back towards the camp and at some buildings, and even some of the soldiers as they were almost above it now. "Wait a second," Kirito muttered. He turned his head to the woman on his right, "Those are Resistance fighters?"

"I told you," Black Canary began. "You guys really gave us some hope. Hiei's preparing a counterattack, and more higher-level troops are being called to Pon-Gatso from the top as they think they may actually be able to hold it."

"From the top?" Gray mumbled in surprise. "Good. I didn't think we would get this much attention before taking down a High Lord, but the better known we are the easier it will be for us to succeed with our goal."

"But why are they setting up camp up here?" Dash wondered. The kid looked back at the older woman who smiled at him and walked over to his side to point down at the camp they were passing over. She explained how they would rather the fight not be on their own doorstep, especially if evacuating Pon was no longer absolutely necessary and some civilians might consider staying there.

Dash nodded his head in agreement and after watching them pass over the front of the Resistance camp he went to sit back down with Ben. Dinah stayed at the edge of the flying bison's saddle though, and her smile faded as she saw she was standing only with Gray, Natsu, and Kirito now. "The Fire Nation will retaliate." Her voice was quiet and the three men at her sides did not turn, knowing she was keeping quiet so only they would hear. "This entire region is going to turn into a bloody warzone fast. If other elite soldiers like Hiei arrive up here, the Co-op will send down soldiers to match them. No civs are going to be left in Pon-Gatso. They're all evacuating."

The other three realized that what she said to Dash was solely to make the twelve year old feel better. They grimaced and looked to the north again, wondering just how much time their friends back at the big tree had left to run. "They won't be able to send any troops down here though," Natsu said, his voice loud and assured. The others looked ahead at him and the ones on his sides looked in. "Because we're going past the Fire Nation, and all the way north to crush the damn King ourselves!"

Dash and Ben grinned, and Kairi giggled to herself. They all ignored that mental image of the King in their minds and reminded themselves that they would be stronger by the time they faced him again. Juvia gave Natsu a small smile, and even Kirito grinned a little, but neither Dinah nor Gray said anything or looked excited by that in the least. It was the blue haired teen sitting behind Natsu who spoke up first. "That would be impossible," Nagisa said calmly.

"Hey, you wouldn't know until-" Natsu began.

"How fast can you move?" Nagisa questioned. The question caught Natsu off guard, so the teen stood up and took a step towards the mage, putting him even more off guard as he was not expecting this sudden movement. Nagisa now stood a couple of feet in front of him and the teen with creepy eyes looked into Natsu's, "Let me repeat, how fast are you?"

"Pretty damn fast," Natsu replied with a growl. "Besides, Dash is faster than anyone," he added. Dash grinned at the praise and bragged about stealing Ben's left shoe that he then held up in the air and made Ben realize his shoe was missing. The two of them wrestled over the shoe and Natsu grinned at the teen who looked semi-impressed at the boy's speed.

"So he may be able to run, but the rest of you," Nagisa said, looking straight into Natsu's eyes, "will die if you try to fight the King."

"You don't know-"

"The last time I faced the King," Nagisa began, shutting Natsu up immediately and making everyone else lose whatever expressions they had to turn to Nagisa in shock. The teen assassin continued, "It was the Third War of the Gods. The teacher of Class 3-E, Korosensei, he was the strongest person I have ever known. He could regenerate, it seemed like he was invulnerable to almost every type of weapon, and he could move at speeds up to Mach 20, that is twenty times the speed of sound." The others stayed quiet and Nagisa looked deeper into Natsu's eyes, "The King killed him, and devoured his brains, absorbing his power. Meruem could already move faster than Mach 20 half a year ago, and he is a constantly evolving being. Can you imagine how strong he is now?"

Natsu ground his teeth and clenched his fists at his sides. Nagisa shook his head, "Do not joke about taking on the King. Very little in this world can kill him now, and it would be wise to stay away from him at all costs." The assassin turned and walked back towards his seat, I will not let you throw your lives away, but for Korosensei, I will risk everything.

---

Sin City

"That, that's not good, is it?" Dash whispered. The little boy crouching down behind the tail of a five ton flying bison poked his head up over the bison's tail and into the distance over the city beyond. It was early morning and they finally reached their destination, but the city directly to the north of Pon Gatso looked on the brink of war. The sky above the city was packed- dozens, hundreds even, of zeppelins floating there, still in the morning light.

Each one of the long blimps had the same symbols on the sides of it. The Fire Nation emblem. "This is…" Black Canary began. She shook her head a few times and looked around at the group with her hesitantly. "We need to go back," she said after a few moments' deliberation. They all spun to her in surprise, and the blonde haired woman continued, "This is not just a force to reinforce their southern border, or to regain lost ground. They plan on pushing-"

"We're not going back," Gray said. Dinah turned and the mage looked her right back in the eyes. He thought about telling her how they have been on the defensive for too long, or how going to the Fire Nation's capital and taking down the Fire Lord might actually stop an invasion from coming. He discarded these thoughts though, and he said what he thought would actually work the best. "We have our orders."

Dinah's eyes widened and her fists clenched in her black gloves. Gray reached a hand out and put it on Dinah's right shoulder, snapping the woman's attention back to him from the floor. "But you're right, this is big." She became confused as did the others, and he continued to explain himself, "Go. Take the flying bison. They need proper warning about that fleet. Warn them quick, and hopefully you can prepare a defensive for Pon Gatso."

"But, what about all of-" Canary began.

"We're losing our ride?" Natsu groaned.

"It's fine," Gray told his pink haired friend. "We never would have made it over the Cataclysm on it anyway." He gave the furry creature a few pets himself and then looked back into Dinah Drake's eyes. "Listen to me. This is our mission. I don't know why you decided to come along, but I can see you already want to head back. So do it Dinah. Go warn the others. We can handle this."

"Damn right we can," Ben said and lifted his right fist.

Kairi frowned at the boy behind her and he leaned back a little in surprise. "No cursing Ben," she scolded. Dash tried putting his face in his hands but he could not stop himself from snickering. That stopped though as Kairi turned to him and added, "That goes double for you Dashiell."

Dash dropped his jaw and Ben turned to his friend confusedly. Dash's face was starting to go red and Ben's eyes opened wide. "Wait, Dash isn't your real-"

"What matters," Gray continued in a loud, but hushed voice considering the increased presence of Fire Nation soldiers in the city not far from them. "Is that our comrades know what is coming. We don't all need to go back to give that warning."

Dinah looked Gray in the eyes and she could see he was serious about not giving up the mission this easily. She glanced at Nagisa to see if the blue haired boy would consider going back in her stead, but the teen shook his head and turned back to the north. Dinah finally sighed and she nodded her head a few times. "You're right. I'll head out right away. We have no idea when they'll be moving on us."

The others agreed and they all got to work on unloading the saddle. They gathered up their supplies while Gray and Nagisa went over the plan again with the others to make sure they all knew what they were doing. They would all need identifications upon entering the city, and none of them had any at the moment. None of them, except for the two Resistance boys who had their own fakes ready for them back at Pon Gatso. They said they would have made fakes for the others too, but it was better if the ones who had never had ones before could just get real ones now and they would make fakes later if they tarnished their reputations in too many Co-op cities like Gray and Nagisa apparently had.

When they were almost done preparing, Natsu hopped off the flying bison with a couple of packs in his hands. He turned and saw Black Canary standing there, looking right at him with a serious expression on her face. He looked around to see if anyone else saw this, but Gray was still busy explaining to the others and he did not see that weird blue haired teen around so he was probably on the other side of the fat bison. "Natsu," Dinah began, her voice barely a whisper. She stepped towards him and he inched his head back, but she then leaned her head in so her face was close to his.

He felt uncomfortable and was about to say it, when Dinah started whispering into his right ear. His eyes turned to saucers and darted to his side where Gray and the others were, and his heart sped up faster than it had the entire time he fought the Fire Nation earlier that week. "The reason I came on this mission was to watch your friend Juvia. The way her boyfriend brought her back was taboo. Hiei knew of this and told me. Bringing someone back with the Lazarus Pit burdens their soul with a bloodlust that grows stronger every day. She will start to thirst for blood, and then she will start to kill, and she will never stop. When the time comes that she can no longer distinguish between friend and foe, you will have to be the one to kill her. At that time, do not blame yourself. You will only be saving her from becoming even more of a monster."

Dinah stepped past Natsu and she climbed up the bison. She grabbed the remaining pack on it and tossed it down without caring if anyone caught it. Gray looked at her wondering why she did that and she gave him a half smile, "Got to get back, right?" She picked up the reins as the younger man nodded at her in understanding.

Black Canary looked down at Juvia while everyone else was looking her way, then she turned back to face Natsu. The pink haired mage still had not said anything, but he looked over and saw Juvia standing next to Gray, appearing completely normal. As he looked over though, he noticed that Dinah was not the only one stealing nervous glances at her, as Nagisa and Kirito both saw Dinah's look and followed it to the Rain Woman. Natsu snapped his head back to Dinah and his mind was racing. She cracked the reins but Natsu was not letting this go, "Why me?!" he shouted. His friends all looked at him confused, no idea what he and the woman in black leather were just discussing. "Why would I- I wouldn't!"

"You would," Canary replied. Her bison kicked its legs and smacked its tail and it lifted off the ground. "You'll have to," she said, her voice fading at the end as she got carried away.

---

"I keep telling you, it was nothing," Natsu muttered to the blond and brown haired boys on either side of him.

"It wasn't nothing," Ben said, certain of that much at least. "If she said it had to be a secret, you could just tell us that and we'll leave you alone," he told his older friend.

"Well then, it's a secret," Natsu replied.

"Doesn't sound like she said that," Dash said, scratching his chin mock-thoughtfully. "It sounds like you're just using that as an excuse to-"

"I'm done with this conversation," Natsu picked up his pace to get away from the boys who frowned at his secret-keeping back. He walked towards Gray and Juvia and tried to ignore what that older woman told him as he stepped right next to his female friend. "Where's the entrance?" Natsu questioned, looking straight ahead at the city.

The other two mages looked in at him. Both also wanted to know what Dinah told him before she left, but he was acting really weird about it so they left it alone for now. "Over there," Gray pointed towards an entrance gate to their left a little and still about a mile ahead. Sin City did not have very high walls, or very well-kept ones. There were people scattered around on the hills to the south of the city, and a few sparsely dotted monsters too, but the people around the outside of the city were all able to handle them easily.

"Looks like a rough crowd," Ben said as he looked to his left and spotted a few people standing behind a hill they just walked around. It looked like some sort of deal was going down, and the four creatures there all looked humanoid, but far from human. Two had faces of insects, one was more of a red blob, and another was a two foot tall creature that had the most human-like face, and using that face it glared over at Ben and then slammed the black crate it had open closed. The other three followed his gaze back to Ben and they all glared at the boy who turned away fast, realizing that whatever they were doing, it was a private affair.

Gray noticed the group with him getting subconsciously closer together, and he spoke in a normal voice that all eight of them could hear. "Sin City may be under Cooperative control, but the rules in the city are simple. There are no rules." As Natsu started to smirk, Gray continued so none of them would get the wrong idea, "That does not mean you can do whatever you want without consequences. Gangs get protection money from businesses and homes. Any damage to any building in this city would likely put a target on your back. Mob bosses, hitmen, bounty hunters, and monster slayers all gather here. It's the biggest gathering place for scum in all of southern Aebrith. Hence the name," he finished with a scoff.

"Why are we even going in then?" Kirito questioned the man on his right. He looked at Gray and his eyes lingered on Gray's left side for a second before lifting to the man's eyes. He was glad Gray only looked his way after his eyes had risen from the man's empty shoulder, but as Gray answered him his own face grew angered and Gray looked away to finish responding.

"There are only a few trains that cross over the Cataclysm line. Train systems are used all over the Cooperative, but southern holdings used to be- there didn't used to be so many of them." He shook his head to get the bad thoughts out and continued with a more positive grin, "Anyway, Sin City is the farthest city west with a train that crosses that great canyon."

"The Cataclysm?" Kairi asked, wondering if that was what he was referring to. He nodded and she smiled brightly, "I can't wait to see it."

Gray sighed and muttered, "Over a hundred miles wide, and thousands long." The others looked impressed by the stats, but became confused as he finished softly, "I remember the day it was made."

"The day," Kirito began.

"It was made?" Ben questioned.

Gray nodded and the top half of his face shadowed over. "The day, of the Cataclysm."

FD + 11

Gray stumbled backwards and he fell down on his butt. He was staring to the north in so much shock that he could not make out words. He could barely even breathe.

"We need to move," Zabuza shouted over the rumbling of the earth around them. He looked down at Gray and shouted, "Get up!"

Gray shook his head and scrambled to his feet fast. He turned and started running the other way, but in the left corner of his eye he saw a flash of light that made him freeze in place. He stopped and turned, and watched as the flash of white went away, and in its place was a mushroom cloud that painted the sky red around it. The force from the explosion shook the ground and only then did he hear the deafening boom from a hundred miles away.

Gray turned to start running again, but when he looked left he saw someone behind him that made his heart start racing. "Zoro!" Gray spun and shouted back to the man who was staring towards the even scarier sight than the mushroom cloud. "Let's get out of here!"

Zoro's right hand was clenched tightly around the white hilt at his right side. The three blades there were shaking, and he could feel that they wanted to enter the battle as much as he did. "Are you insane?!" Zabuza roared at him. Zoro glared back but the Demon of the Hidden Mist looked, afraid, and that glare lessened as he had not seen such a look on the ninja's face before. "Those are Gods fighting over there! The entire planet shakes with every attack! What the Hell do you plan to do?!"

"You're just going to get yourself killed," Gray yelled. He turned and started running the other way, "Come on! There's nothing we can do against forces of nature!" Right as he finished shouting, the ground stopped shaking altogether. Zabuza and Gray froze in place and even Zoro's hair stuck up on end. Their warning sensors went off and the three of them did not want to look back towards the north.

Zoro lifted his head though and his jaw dropped, his face turned blue, and sweat covered his body. His right foot lifted up and inched backwards, and then his left, and Gray and Zabuza standing side by side saw Zoro step backwards in between them. The look on his face made the other two even more determined not to turn around, but they could not help themselves. Gray started to turn, and while he turned he could see blurs of gold and white flying in every direction above him, as long as the direction was far, far away from the sight to the north. Gray turned fully around and looked up in the glowing sky. His heart skipped a beat and his legs turned into jello, losing all ability to hold him up and making him collapse down to the ground.

Present

As Gray mentioned the day of the Cataclysm, his face paled and he gulped thinking about it. Nagisa looked back at the older man and he opened his eyes in somewhat surprise. "You were there that day? I arrived on the northern continent on the First Day, too far to see anything. The rumors-"

"Don't do it justice," Gray muttered with a small shake of his head.

"Hmm," Nagisa shook his head and hummed. "I can imagine. I had to cross the Cataclysm on foot, twice," the boy scratched the back of his head. "I can't imagine what could have created that."

"Guys, we're getting close to the gate," Kirito warned, wanting the two Resistance members to get quiet.

Gray looked at Kirito again and muttered, "Sin City does not actually care whether the I.D.'s they check are of known Resistance supporters. They-"

"Whether or not this city itself does, does not matter right now," Kirito said without pause. Gray looked at him confused and Kirito nodded up at the sky where the others looked back up to. "I doubt that fleet of Zeppelins is the only Fire Nation force in the city right now, especially considering they are not moving. There's most likely an entire army in this city. We need to stay quiet."

"Good thinking," Nagisa told Kirito. "In fact," Nagisa continued, and he turned his attention to one of the taller skyscrapers in the city. The edges of the city were surrounded in gates, low walls, and fences. Right inside the edges were warehouses, streets covered in small, ratty apartments, and lines of shops that each looked like the shopkeeper would more likely rob them than sell them something. Towards the center of the city though, there were many huge skyscrapers, flashing lights, beautiful sights that did not match the outer area at all. Nagisa kept going, "The Fire Nation leaders in charge of the attack on Pon-Gatso are probably at one of the mobsters' hotels right now. Nicest buildings in the city, best security," the boy was smirking and as they neared fifty feet from the gate they were going to enter from, and he finished, "I'm going to try and go kill them."

The other seven walking with Nagisa looked at him surprisedly. Gray turned to the boy who slowed down so that they were side by side. "Are you sure? What about Pyraxas? What about the King?"

"Like Black Canary said," Nagisa started. "We owe it to our comrades to help out. Taking out the leaders of whatever advance is being planned is the best way to stall it, maybe even stop it altogether."

"You want us to help you?" Kairi questioned the boy.

He shook his head no though. "It's an assassination. Others would only get me caught." They were about to walk through the gate and Nagisa turned back to Gray, "Alright John, get on the next train north. Don't wait. Don't spend time in Sin City. Get to the station, and leave. If I am not there by the next train, go without me. I've either been caught, or I'll catch the next one and try to catch up with you guys."

Gray opened his mouth to respond, but they were in the gateway now. Nagisa stepped into the gate, then immediately darted right and behind a small shack on the inside of the wall. The others snapped their heads to follow him but it was dark behind the shack, and they lost sight of him in under a second.

"Wait," Natsu reached out a hand. "Damn it," he clenched it into a fist and stepped towards the shack, "I'm going after him."

"Natsu's right. He's going to get killed," Ben said worriedly.

Kirito shook his head, "It's no use." The others looked back at him, "We would never find him. I can't even sense him with my Haki."

"We have to trust him," Gray said, turning back forward and picking up his pace. He sped up into the city and added, "We need to get to that train. If something happens, transportation is going to be cut off."

"If something happens?" Dash whispered. He sped up a little and looked up at the older man, "What do you think's going to happen Gray?"

Gray glared down at him. He stopped and darted his gaze back and forth. He looked down at the boy and put his right hand on Dash's right shoulder. "What did we talk about?" He squeezed the kid's shoulder tightly and Dash realized his mistake. Gray whispered harshly, "John Smith. We're family. Going to Pyraxas to do what?"

"Catch a connecting train to Shelbyville," Dash whispered his rehearsed response, embarrassed by his mistake so soon after entering the city.

Gray let go of the kid's shoulder and looked around at the others, a few of whom were looking at him skeptically as if he was overreacting. "We are already inside," he whispered in a harsh tone to his friends. "Kirito's right, look around." The others glanced around and Natsu saw two men standing in front of a shop, both of them with the same black rifles on their backs, and the same red sweatpants and black shirts, almost like casual uniforms. Gray continued in that harsh whisper, "We're already surrounded. No more mistakes from here on."

He turned after that and kept walking, muttering loudly under his breath, "I didn't give you allowance to throw it away on the cheap thrift shops on the inside of the gate. Wait until we're downtown."

Three men sitting on the side of the road were throwing dice on the ground and slamming money down, shouting loudly. One of the men just threw down the rest of his money only to roll the wrong number and the pile was taken from him. He was fuming and his hands were shaking in rage, when he looked up. The group following behind Gray consisted of two children, two teenagers, and two who were barely out of their teens. Natsu was the most muscular of them, but still, not one of the group had weapons except for that teen with sword hilts sticking up over his back.

The teen with swords was also the first to notice this man motion to his buddies and all three of them stand up right as their group walked past. Kirito started raising his right hand for his swords, but the man behind him pulled his gun out first. He spun around and the man behind him fired. Lawless really means- Kirito stopped thinking as he realized the shot went straight up in the air.

The man who fired at him was falling backwards and his shooting arm was still lifting up in the air. Blood splashed out of the hole above his elbow, and the guy's friends lowered their own hands from their weapons. One of them even looked down at his "friend" and started laughing, before walking away from the screaming man, while the man with the ice sword in his hand lowered it down and glared at the other to see what he would do. The other man had an eyepatch and two golden replacements instead of front teeth. He glared back into Gray's eyes for a second, glanced at the younger man's left side where he was missing an arm, guessing his odds. He stopped though and backed up as another man stepped up next to Gray, his right hand touching the blue hilt of the sword sticking over his right shoulder.

Kirito and Gray glared at the man, and finally he turned and walked away from his still-screaming gambling buddy. Gray dropped his ice blade, turned, and jogged back up in front of the group he was originally leading. Ben and Dash found themselves staring over at the screaming man until Kairi put hands on their shoulders and pulled them along as Gray did not slow down after jogging back to where he was before. "I saw that bastard getting ready a mile away," Gray muttered under his breath before his friends could ask any questions. "But if we had just avoided him, the other vultures aiming to rob newcomers would have bore down on us."

Only at that moment did Natsu notice the three men sitting on the roof of a building across the street on the left and down three buildings. Two of them had rifles in their hands, and he noticed the unarmed one in the middle had a hand on the top of one of the men's rifles, as if holding the gun down to keep them from confrontation. "If these bastards all want to fight, then I'll give them one." Natsu's fists burst into flames and he glared right at those three men on the roof. The three of them got up, but they did not engage him in a fight. Instead, they turned and bailed as fast as they could.

Two people did head their way though as Natsu's fists covered in flames. "You," someone shouted, and Natsu spun with an aggravated look on his face. His look faded a little and he hesitated, not knowing what to do as the two men in casual Fire Nation uniforms approached him. Their red sweats and black muscle shirts that had Fire Nation emblems on the right side of their chests made them look like they were not ready for a fight, but they did have assault rifles on their backs. The two men had long black hair, though one of them had his hair in a bun and the other's was in a ponytail, and the one with a bun also had a scruffy goatee. The one with the goatee walked closer to Natsu and he looked the young man up and down, "Fire powers huh? Ever consider joining the Fire Nation?"

Kirito sweatdropped. Is he being recruited right now? He saw Gray tense up and for a second thought this was bad, until he had a different realization. If this was any other Resistance fighter, he would say yes. Get into the organization, destroy it from the inside. It would be smart… if we weren't already going to destroy it with a head-on assault.

"Get lost," Natsu growled at the man.

"What was that?" the younger of the two men, the one with a ponytail, growled back at Natsu. He reached for his gun, but the bearded man stopped him with a lift of his open left palm.

"This is Sin City son," the man said. The others were surprised these men were father and son, and the father continued, "Strength is respected here above all. You will watch your own mouth when speaking to superior fighters." The older soldier bowed his head a little in apology, then turned and started walking away. His son snarled at Natsu for another second and then turned and followed the older man off.

"Well that, was weird," Natsu mumbled after a few seconds.

"Were you born an idiot, or did Igneel drop you on your head when you were a baby?" Gray asked the idiotic Dragon Slayer in front of him. Natsu spun angrily to him and Gray added, "Actually, don't answer that. We're wasting time," he turned and broke into a fast jog. "Let's get to the train. We don't want to miss it. There's no telling what Phil is doing right now." A few of others were confused for a second, until they remembered that Nagisa's fake name was Phil and that he was about to assassinate some high ranking Fire Nation official in the city.

They started running after Gray, and Natsu sped up so he was on Gray's side. "Do you even know where you're going? Where is this train station? What if we go past it?"

"How could we go past it?" Gray muttered in disbelief. "Past the train station is a canyon that stretches for a hundred miles. Really, how could we-"

"No need to be such an ass," Natsu growled at him. Gray turned in surprise and Natsu was staring straight forward, "Remember who we're traveling with Gray." He did not call the other man John, but Gray could tell that was on purpose that time. "Next time you decide to do something like intimidate some people, do it without chopping off a guy's arm in front of Dash and Ben."

The two of them were in front of the others by a little so they could not hear him, and Gray glanced back to see both kids with unsettled expressions on their faces. "They aren't soldiers," Natsu whispered and Gray turned back forward. "At least make some effort not to turn them into ones."

"Before this is over," Gray whispered, his voice deep and harsh. "They may have to-"

"They don't have to do anything," Natsu growled. Gray spun his head to see Natsu was dead serious as he spoke. "Don't put Ben, or Dash, in pain. I won't forgive you for that."

After a couple seconds Gray nodded his head. "Alright. You know that means you will have to take up their shares of the burden?" Gray said, and Natsu nodded his head, already planning on it. "It's a long road to the Capital," Gray stated. "Be prepared for anything."

Natsu nodded and was going to respond but Gray sped up and spoke louder to their friends. "Over here. Let's get you guys I.D.'s."

They all followed where Gray was turning to and spotted what looked like a train station up ahead. There was a small building before the stairs up to the platform that Gray was walking towards. The other six looked at each other and then followed him up to the window at the front of the booth where it looked like they were supposed to buy tickets.

"You don't have I.D.'s?" The teller was asking Gray ask the others showed up.

Gray slid his identification on the counter and continued, "These six don't. I have mine, but they arrived here from far away-"

"I don't need to hear your excuses," the ticket seller said in a bored tone. The old woman took Gray's I.D., looked at it closely, then handed it back with a chuckle. "That's a nice fake John Smith. It looks just like a real I.D."

"That's because it is," Gray said and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Yeah yeah, whatever," she said. She walked to the side so that she was behind the wall next to the window, then the group heard a jingling around the side of the building. They walked over and a door opened up for them. "Come on in. I'll take your pictures and get you out of here within the hour."

"When's the next train?" Gray asked as he walked into the building in front of his friends.

The woman looked down at her watch, then up at a board behind her. "Fifteen minutes."

"That's great," Natsu said smugly. "That gives us some time to check out the city-"

"Get our I.D.'s done in ten," Gray said, and he pulled out a wad of cash tied in a roll with a rubber band. Thanks to Hiei's priority one designation for their mission, Gray had a large amount of spending cash to use for their trip. The woman's eyes widened and Gray tossed her the wad of bills without another word.

She took off the rubber band and flipped through it while Natsu looked at his friend in annoyance. "Aw, I wanted to check out this city some more," Ben complained from behind them.

"Like I said," Gray started in a low voice. "We need to get out on the first train."

The way he said it had the ticket seller lady stop counting her money. She lifted her gaze and saw Gray looking straight into her purple eyes. She nodded her head and pointed at a back wall that was painted green. "Go over there one by one and I'll take your pictures. If you don't have time for power rankings, just let me know what color-"

"Make everyone green except for him," Gray said and motioned at Natsu. "Have his I.D. marked orange."

"Orange?" the older woman asked in surprise. "Seriously, or-"

"No questions," Gray said, and the woman looked down at the money in her hand and shrugged. She slid the cash in her pocket and motioned for the first person to walk in front of the blank wall to get their picture taken.

Kairi, Kirito, Juvia, and Natsu all went quickly. As Ben went up, Dash asked the purple-eyed woman, "Do we really need I.D.'s too? I mean, I'm twelve."

Gray shot the boy an annoyed look, but the older woman looked down at him and smiled. "Age don't matter here honey. Do what you want, where you want, when you want. It's the Sin City way. So just 'cause you look young, don't mean people won't be checking your I.D."

She took a picture of Ben and then of Dash when he walked up in front of the wall. After she was finished, she turned to her computer and plugged the camera in. Pictures started appearing and there were blank spaces next to them for her to fill in. She started asking each of their names as the pictures appeared, affiliations to which they all responded with 'None,' and a couple of others like age and species before filling in their power rankings herself. As she was writing Juvia's name down, she asked a new question other than the usual ones she had been asking everyone. "So, should I get out of this city after you board the train?"

No one spoke, and she turned her head to look at Gray who was frowning deeply at the woman and not looking as nervous as the others around him. I should quiet her. Knock her out long enough for Nagisa to… unless, maybe she won't tell the Fire Nation. No, can't take that risk-

"You'll be fine," Kairi told the woman in front of them. The older lady turned towards her and Kairi leaned in a little, to whisper, "Might be a few explosions downtown, but nothing you need to worry about."

Gray gawked at Kairi and was about to yell at her when the old woman sighed in relief. "That's fine," she said. "Running away just because of a few explosions?" She questioned and laughed at them as she finished up Juvia's I.D. "Guess this is your first time in Sin City huh?"

Ben and Dash grinned and started laughing. "Yeah, you got us," Ben admitted.

"We'd rather not be here when the explosions go off," Kirito added with a shrug.

"What was your name again sweetie?" the woman asked the blond boy behind her. Gray stared at the others in confusion and then awe as they started chatting it up with this woman who did not seem to care at all about them. They were in Sin City after all, but he thought she may have been a little more nervous. If anything, she actually lightened up once the others started talking with her.

Sin City- no. All of Aebrith is too dark. I came in here thinking I may need to hurt an old woman just to keep her quiet, but that's just adding more darkness on an already bleak world. We need more light in it. His lips started to curl up as he saw everyone asking the woman about her job now and what kinds of crazy things happen in Sin City on a daily basis. As he watched though, he spotted something that formed a pit deep in his heart.

Juvia stood away from her friends, fists clenched at her sides as she stared at the old woman. "Gray-sama," she began in a low whisper. Only he heard her and without turning his way, she whispered, "Should we take care of this woman so she does not alert the authorities?"

Gray turned to the blue haired girl and he shook his head no. She looked at him confused, and became even more so at the scared look Gray was giving her. "Gray-sama, what is wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing," Gray replied and turned away fast. "Let's just get on the train," he said. Right as he said it, they heard the loud rattling of the tracks near them and the toot of a train's engine coming towards them. The others all looked at the back wall and Gray spun to the older woman in the booth. "Are they-" he stopped as the woman lifted up a half dozen I.D.'s in her hand. She smirked but Gray just ran over and snatched the identifications fast. "Everyone to the train," Gray said in a hurry, not wanting to miss it.

The others saw how rushed he was and all ran out of the booth, some of them saying goodbye to the nice woman they met first. Gray waited for them all to go, nodded at the woman himself, then turned to the door to head after his friends. As he started turning though, the woman closed the window on her computer showing the I.D. process on it. Behind the window was a different one that the woman went back to looking at, a window that had Gray's eyes turning huge. They popped open because the window was a picture with the word 'WANTED' at the top of it, a very large price tag at the bottom, and the face of Monkey D. Luffy in the middle of it.

You have to be kidding me, Gray thought, then watched as the woman scrolled down a little on the picture and he read what was beneath it. Luffy took down the Lord of the Dread Fort? What the- Why would- the mage shook his head and then heard his name get shouted from outside the booth and up a little. He remembered the train was already there and turned, sprinting out of the booth and then leaping up instead of taking the stairs, jumping onto the platform where Natsu was standing in the doorway of the train to keep it open and the others were all waiting just inside.

"What took you so long?" Natsu asked in annoyance.

"Nothing," Gray muttered, walking towards the door and shaking his head again. "I'll tell you on the train," he said as Natsu was still looking at him oddly. The other Fairy Tail mage shrugged as Gray walked by him and he followed after to look for an empty booth for them and their friends. The door closed behind them and some woman's voice came over the speakers telling them about their destination and the route to it. The train clanked a few times, then started up and started moving again although those inside it could barely feel the movement beneath them.

A couple of miles away, a blue haired teenager standing on the inside of the sixty-forth floor of a fancy hotel watched as the train pulled out of the station. It drove east for a quarter of a mile before curving and leaving this side of the continent. It turned onto a wide bridge with several tracks on it and went right past a train heading south that continued to go straight past the city before curving more east itself. He watched the northbound train get a full mile away from Sin City, then turned around in the dark room he was in. Nagisa reached down to his side and pulled out the curved dagger at his waist, sliding it slowly out of his sheath and then twirling it in front of his body. He held it sideways across the front of his chest, a silver blade with a red highlight on the back of it and two separate barbs on the sharp side. Good luck you guys, Nagisa thought.

The boy opened up the door in front of him with his left hand, making it creak open. Nagisa took one step forward- BANG!

---

The Cataclysm

"The other side looks so far away," Usopp moaned sadly as he climbed up a rock face in front of him. He reached one hand up over the other and hoisted himself higher on the pillar. He leaned left and looked around the side of the pillar again. The giant canyon they were in stretched so far in front of him that the opposite wall was a blur of brown in the distance. "How much further?" He groaned as he lifted another arm and hoisted himself up further.

"Ah you're almost here," Rin called down to the older man who had not yet made it to the top.

Usopp grumbled to himself but after a few more seconds finally made it to the top of the rock pillar. The sharpshooter took a few deep breaths as he stood at the top with the others. He turned right and looked up at the much taller rock pillars to his side. The others with him looked that way as well as they heard rumbling.

"What is that?" Sanji mumbled. He had a cigarette in his mouth and he looked higher up the rocks. The pillars were separated, but mainly in a straight line towards the other side of the Cataclysm. Sanji followed the pillars across the giant canyon with his eyes. There are train tracks across the pillars. Somehow the pillars are set up to make a straight line. Did they just knock down all the others on purpose? No, no it's probably more like Toph's ability.

"Is that, what I think it is?" Nami wondered aloud.

TOOO- TOOOOOT!

They all watched as a train as fast as the one they took east shot over the edge of the cliff behind them. This one was heading north, same direction as them, only it did not have as many natural barriers slowing it down. The bullet train flew by them a few hundred meters overhead and to their right. "I still say we should have taken the train," Nami groaned.

"Oh come on Nami," Killua said. The boy standing furthest forward on the rock glanced back at her. "We've barely checked the place out yet. Let's give it a shot." While still facing Nami he took a step forward and dropped from the cliff. Nami's eyes opened wide for a second before she reminded herself that the kid would be fine.

"Yeah, let's go!" Luffy shouted. He hopped off the other ledge and skid down the slope. Franky, Robin, Usopp, and Sanji dropped off behind him. Riku walked forward next. He stepped off the ledge casually and grinned back at Nami who looked nervous to step onto the steep slope. It was not as straight up as the opposite side they just climbed, but she still thought she had a good chance of falling if she stepped down. "Too scared?" Riku asked with a smirk as he slid away.

Nami lowered her bottom lip and she stormed forward angrily. She was going to punch him on top of the head but he slid away from her reach before she could. She almost gave chase but she stopped with her feet on the edge again. Nami looked down and watched her friends skidding and then dropping the last twenty feet to the rocky ground below the bottom of the slant. Nami gulped but she saw Riku smirk up at her again and she calmed herself down.

She got ready to step forward too when she saw the only other person still up there with her tense up. His body shook and he turned right, gazing to the east with a look of dread on his face. Nami started to get nervous at his appearance and she whispered, "Rin? Is everything-"

"No," Rin said, his voice dark all of a sudden. Nami did not like the sudden look on his face and when he turned back straight ahead he looked serious. "Let's get moving," Rin said. He jumped forward, not sliding at all, he just flew fifty feet forward and landed at the front of the group already down below.

Nami slid down behind them calling for them to wait up. Sanji and Usopp stopped to wait for her while the others jogged after Rin not wanting to let him get too far ahead. "You see Rin's face?" Riku said and the two pirate men behind him looked forward to see Riku had stopped walking too. The teen was facing east and he frowned at the feeling he was getting. The pirates asked him what was up but Riku turned ahead to Rin instead. There is some deep darkness in that direction, and he can feel it. I just hope they can't feel us.

---

Forty Minutes Later

"So you know when I said we should give this place a shot?" Killua called out. His was spinning around three hundred sixty degrees and looking at every angle around him. There were stone pillars blocking off his sight on every side and taller ones just a little farther on the corners. He was back-to-back with Franky's legs and he called out, "Scratch that! I want to be on the train now."

Everything around them was dark, but the suns shouldn't have set for at least another hour. The walls on either side of the Catalysm were not visible because of the same darkness blocking off the sky. That darkness was moving, clouds of black swirling around the air and zipping about as if they had minds of their own. The insides of the black smoke clouds sparked with electricity and they all made loud noises like trains clanking down their tracks while a few of them even screamed.

"What are these things?" Nami shouted.

"Things?" A voice asked on Nami's left, a voice she did not recognize. She turned and watched as the smoke dispersed leaving a black man inside with short dark hair and a set of nice clothes on. He looked respectable, but as he stared at Nami she felt chills down her spine. "You know, that isn't very nice." His eyes closed and when he blinked them back open they were pitch black. Just orbs of black where his eyes should be.

More of the black clouds flying around came to stops around the group. They separated and people got out of them on top of rock pillars or just standing below with the group. "You kids have stepped in some shit this time," a woman began as she walked forward. She had short blonde hair down just above her shoulders, and a smug look on her face that did not match the frowns and hungry looks of her comrades.

"Who are you?" Killua asked the woman.

She turned to the kid and her eyes opened wide. His irises were thin slits and he had a purple aura around him. The aura seemed to get even more intense as she stared into his eyes and she could see a gigantic snake around him. The others who came out of black smoke clouds all looked at the kid too, and then the woman up front started laughing. Killua flinched and the woman laughed even harder. "Well kid, my name is Meg, and these are my friends." She motioned around at her comrades.

"What do you wa-" Luffy began, but he got cut off by the black man on his left.

"To eat." He said. The guy smirked and the others did as well. "Most people know to stay out of Lilith's territory, but I guess some people like to be demon food."

Another man on the other side of the circle smacked his lips together loudly. "Which one of them should we bring back for her?" The spiky haired ginger questioned

"You aren't taking us anywhere," Luffy growled. He turned and punched a fist at the ginger. The light-skinned man was confused at first since Luffy was not close to him, but Luffy's fist extended and slammed into his face. The guy went flying back where he slammed into a rock pillar and the thing shook so hard it collapsed.

Meg spun that way and her eyes turned huge. "Alright, I'll admit, was not expecting that," she said. She turned back to the group in front of her and kept smirking, "But it doesn't matter how strong you are." Walking out of the dust and rubble was the man Luffy just punched away, looking perfectly fine. "We're demons," Meg said, emphasizing the word 'demons.' "You can't just-"

"Omnus potentus spiritus!"

The demons screamed. The humans looked towards the middle of their group where one black haired teen was stepping forward. "Omnus destatem crucifux! Sanctus sortium omnipitus!"

"Ahh! Stop! Stop it!" Meg grabbed the sides of her head and screamed as did the other enemies around them. One of them sprinted forward with a horrified expression on her pained face. Luffy slammed a fist into her though and knocked her back away into the other demons shouting at Rin to stop.

Rin just got louder though, so he was screaming now and his voice echoed around the area. "Spiritus Sanctus!" He rose up his right hand towards the demoness in front of him. "As a member of the True Cross Order, I exorcise thee! The power of Christ compels you!"

"AHHHHH!" Meg screamed. She tilted her head back and out from her mouth shot the cloud of black smoke. All of the demons started to lose their bodies as their souls were ripped out of them.

The group looked around once their enemies were all down. "What, just happened?" Sanji muttered.

"That was Super!" Franky shouted. Rin turned to the cyborg next to him and Franky went on about being super impressed.

"How'd you even know how to do that?" Usopp asked the younger teen. "And what's that Order thing?"

"The school I went to taught future exorcists," Rin explained. "I didn't usually do the reciting lines stuff, but..."

"Yeah wait a second," Nami was still freaked out but she just realized something. "On the ship, when that demon possessed Ben you used those blue flames to get it out of him."

Rin nodded his head while frowning. "If I used those blue flames though, and one of them escaped, the demons would figure out who I am."

No one said anything for a few seconds until finally Killua bit. "Well who are you?"

"Huh?" Rin questioned, then realized he kind of set up that question. He scratched the side of his head, "I guess, because I'm the one who's going to kill Satan..."

"Kill Satan?" Half of them repeated dumbly.

"Yea," Rin said, looking more serious. "Their boss. I don't want him to know I'm coming." The half-demon clenched his teeth behind his closed lips, hating how he had to lie to his friends. His eyes darkened more and he finished, "When I find a way to get to Hell, that's when we'll be going our separate ways."

Franky's grin wiped from his face. The excited cyborg was no longer congratulating Rin, instead looking at him in a much more nervous light.

"And why do you want to go to Hell?" Riku asked.

Rin grimaced deeply. Sanji turned to Luffy and then looked back at Rin. "Hey Rin," the chef began. "That Mephisto demon from the Dread Fort, he mentioned he-"

"Mephisto was the headmaster at my school for demon exorcising," Rin stated. "But he's also one of the strongest demons alive. The King of Time."

Sanji gulped as he remembered the intimidating look Mephisto gave him back at the fort before they became acquainted. He thought about how Mephisto disposed of Vexen and announced his name, "The King of Time, Samael!" Sanji regained a look of composure and said, "And also, the guy was one of the NEG's High Council members."

The others who had yet to hear this opened their eyes wide. "Did he know about the Underworld alliance?" Usopp questioned the blond chef.

Sanji nodded his head and kept frowning. "Apparently he showed up to watch the battle and left for a 'family emergency.' Didn't know how crazy his family was though."

You have no idea, Rin thought while shadowing his face over with his bangs.

"Why, is Satan, real?" Nami whispered fearfully. She had heard talk of him before but this was the first time she truly realized that he was their enemy too. Nami turned to Rin, "And why are you antagonizing him? He's Satan! The Devil!"

"I agree with Nami," Usopp shouted and threw his arm up in the air. "Nothing good can come from messing with demons. They're seriously creepy." Rin frowned and a second later Nami slammed a fist down on Usopp's head, hitting him to the floor. He looked up and saw her glare and turned back to Rin to see his dejected expression. He hopped up fast, "Not you though of course. Haha, ha, half-demons are great! You're even trying to kill Satan, you've got nothing to do with him!"

"Yeah, thanks," Rin said with a small shake of his head. Nothing to do with him huh?

"Let's keep going!" Luffy exclaimed.

The others all looked at the pirate captain who started walking forward again. They started to follow, but Luffy stopped suddenly and turned his head to the right. He looked at one of the bodies the demons flew out of, and it was moving.

"Holy crap!" Nami exclaimed as she saw the man's arm move, reaching at them. The look on his face was horrified and he looked to be in so much pain.

"He's alive," Usopp whispered. "Wait, are these all, people?"

"Demons possess them," Rin said. After the first man moved he looked around but his face kept its grim expression. The rest of them were already dead. He continued, "But since the demons can't feel pain, they aren't concerned with what happens to their hosts."

The others looked around and Luffy started going wide-eyed at the man in front of him, groaning in agony. It was the same chubby red haired man he slammed a fist into before. The guy was gasping in pain and blood was gurgling in his throat. It sputtered out and splashed all over his face. It was disgusting, and sad, and making Luffy feel terrible.

"You didn't know there was a guy in there," Sanji said on his captain's left side. "There was no way you could have."

"Besides," Rin cut in. "The demon possessing him most likely already caused enough damage for this to happen."

Riku thought about pulling out his Keyblade, but the man in front of him was about to die, he knew his magic wasn't strong enough to stop that. Rin had an idea though, and he was stepping forward while reaching up and grabbing the sword off his back. He heard his cat whisper in his ear from the bag on his back, "Rin." Kuro could feel Rin's emotions and the cat got sad at what the teen was about to do.

Rin held the sword horizontally in front of him and he ripped it from its sheath, lighting his whole body on fire. His blue flames flickered as he rose up his sword, and when he swung it down flames flew out in every direction. The others got nervous, but his flames did not burn them. The flames did only one thing, incinerate every body around them, including the man coughing up his heart. A second later the wave of flames went away and all that was left of the bodies was ash.

"Whoa," Killua said after a few seconds of them all just standing there. "That was a pretty strong move. Even if you did show off your flames I'm pretty sure you would have wrecked all the demons before they could tell anyone."

"Didn't want to take that chance. One of them could have ended its own life before I had the chance." Killua looked a little confused, so Rin continued, "Where do you think demons go when they die?" Rin asked. Killua's grin faded from his face and the others went wide-eyed. "Right to Hell. Right to Satan's feet. But with my flames, it's different."

Luffy started walking again and the others figured it was time to get moving. The sun was on its descent but they still had some hours of sunlight. Shade quickly set in though as the sun was almost always blocked out by a wall or stone pillar around them. Only at midday when the sun was straight up was it really bright, and very hot too. As they walked, Riku asked Rin about ways to defeat demons.

Riku assumed he had the power to take them down with the Keyblade, but thought that the others should all know too. Rin explained there were different incantations for sealing different demons, capturing the lower classes to make them do work, as well as how there are more physical ways to defeat them. Silver, salt, holy water, devil traps, demons are not all that hard to kill as long as you know how apparently. The others started to feel better about facing off against demons with all this information, though Nami shouted at Rin when he admitted half the techniques he mentioned he knew nearly nothing about since he always got bad grades in those classes.

When they finally set up camp because it got dark, Killua and Franky started a fire and they all put their sleeping bags around it. Inside the Cataclysm it got really cold towards the middle of the night and they could already feel the chills coming on.

As they all curled up inside their bags, Killua turned to the teen on his right side. Rin was the closest to Killua's age in their group now that the younger boys were gone. "So, why are you going after Satan anyway? I thought you were looking for your brother, and didn't Mephisto have him?"

Rin nodded his head. He stared into the flames of the fire and then whispered, "Not anymore though. Satan has my brother."

Killua nodded his head slowly. "Sorry for your loss," he said.

Rin turned to the boy in surprise. "My brother is not dead." Now it was Killua's turn to look surprised.

"Isn't he in Hell?" The younger boy asked.

"Yeah, but not because he died. Satan captured him," Rin muttered. He looked straight up at the sky and lay back in his sleeping bag. Astaroth is in Pyraxas. Find him, beat a way to get into Hell out of him, and find Yukio. "I have to get my little brother back," he whispered to the boy next to him, his fists clenching inside his sleeping bag. "I have to save Yukio."

---

The Next Morning

"This thing just gets deeper and deeper," Nami complained as they were again sliding down a rocky wall to a lower elevated section of the Cataclysm.

"The rocks this far down are harder than steel," Killua remarked from a few yards to her right. He stood with his right foot forward and his left dragging behind him to keep him slowly descending, but he couldn't dig his foot into the ground like he could higher up.

"I remember Goku mentioned something about that once," Riku said up ahead of them. He glanced back and continued, "The deeper in Nexus you go, the harder the planet gets."

"I wonder why that is," Robin began and scratched her chin. The others looked up to where the black haired woman was descending above them with a set of long skin-colored wings sticking out of her back. Robin scratched her chin as she lowered and kept looking around. "I have discovered something, unsettling," she started, and lowered down in between Luffy and Franky who were sliding down the rocky slant together.

"What's up?" Franky asked her.

Robin turned right and nodded her head at a huge stone pillar sticking out of the slant. There were marks towards the bottom and higher up some uneven curves. "That pillar looks highly eroded, as if a hundred years of buffeting wind has wore it down."

"A hundred years?" Franky said in surprise.

"But, we only got here two years ago," Luffy started. He scratched the back of his head and asked, "So does that mean..." The others who could hear this conversation looked over at Luffy with shocked looks. Luffy thoughtfully turned to a nervous Robin, and he finished, "It's a mystery pillar?"

Everyone sighed in relief as Luffy had not been replaced by a fake. Robin smiled and she shook her head. "Obviously," Sanji snapped up at Luffy. "Robin-chan is saying that the planet was here before we arrived."

Robin looked back and she shook her head again, making Sanji drop his jaw that he was wrong. "For something to make it look that eroded," Killua began. He shook his head and muttered, "It must have been very strong."

"It is not just that pillar," Robin continued, and the whole group looked at her now. They reached the bottom of the slant and she turned fully around to look at what they just slid down.

Rin slid up next to her and he turned to stared at the rocky wall. "What is-" his eyes opened wide and he looked at little cuts in the slanted wall, tiny craters, and he realized it at the same time as most of the others. "The wall too?"

"I believe," Robin stated. She looked around her and although she kept a composed expression, what she said made herself and the others around her very nervous. "This entire canyon was not here originally. It looks to me like someone created it."

Killua had sweat coming down his face and he looked at the floor beneath him. He lifted up his right foot and stomped down, but did not make even the slightest dent in the floor this far down. "Well that's unnerving," he muttered.

"Who could make something like this?!" Usopp exclaimed. No way! I don't believe it! I don't want to believe it! The sniper crossed his arms and shook his head with a reassuring smile.

"Timmy probably could," Luffy said with a shrug.

"Goku too then," Sanji added, though he pulled out a cigarette and lit it anyway to sooth his nerves. But this deep? And it's thousands of miles long? The chef looked to his left and right imagining how far this place went on for.

Their group started walking north away from the slant. The ground at the bottom of the Cataclysm was as rocky as the rest except even harder to navigate through. There were boulders, knocked over pillars, and rock walls that came out of nowhere making the Cataclysm into one giant maze.

Luffy was jumping from rock to rock at the front of the group when he felt something with his Haki. He came to a quick stop and the short boy with spiky white hair jumping behind him immediately froze at Luffy's tensed form. Someone's here, he thought. Killua closed his eyes and a bubble of En surrounded him and then expanded in a dome with a twenty meter radius.

Sanji snapped his head to the left and he sped up to catch up to Nami and Robin on the rock in front of them. Nami was reaching out her leg to take another step but Robin held out an arm in front of her. Nami looked at the older woman confusedly and saw Robin staring away. Sanji appeared next to her and she spotted Killua and Luffy up ahead looking the same way as her friends next to her.

"What's up Luffy?" Franky shouted over. He, Rin, Riku, and Usopp came to a stop and looked around for the reason why they stopped.

Luffy's eyes examined the landscape in front of him. He heard Killua whisper behind him, "There are six of them. What do we do?"

"I-" Luffy stopped and he snapped his head left. He rose his hand and clenched it around an arrow's shaft, the arrowhead inches from his face. He did not flinch as the arrow was shot at him and Killua admired his reaction speed. The two of them darted their eyes from the arrow to the direction it came from. "Who's there?" Luffy called out. He clenched hard and the arrow in his hand snapped.

Usopp rose up his slingshot and his eyes searched the rocky area Luffy got shot at from. He pulled it back and steadied his breathing as his eyes examined everything. There! He released the back of his Black Kabuto and a small green ball flew out of it. "Midori Boshi! Devil!" The little green ball popped on the stone pillar he just saw a pebble roll down the top of. Out of the Pop Green appeared a giant plant monster with vines that wrapped around the pillar and grabbed onto three figures behind it who were shocked at its appearance.

Three others managed to jump out of the way of the attacking plant and they came out into the open from behind the pillar. Two of the three had bows and arrows, while the third had a long steel sword in her right hand and a shield in her left. The one with a sword and shield was also wearing heavier-looking golden armor with a steel breastplate and waist guard, while the other two, larger women only had on brown cloths around their breasts and midsections. All three of them were showing a lot of skin, which was not too surprising because of the blistering heat, but it was still a little odd.

"What do you want?" Killua called out to them as the women pulled their bows back again. The woman with the sword dove at Usopp's plant and slashed at its vines to release the other women while the two with bows fired their way.

"Looks like they want to fight," Luffy said and cracked his knuckles while leaning his head left and right to dodge the two arrows.

The women who fired at him opened their eyes wide in surprise as their attacks were dodged with ease, and one of them whispered, "That's Haki."

Killua darted forward on the rocks and Luffy was jumping right next to him. Sanji was staying back because he knew he would be no help here, though he was shouting at the others to be gentle with their female opponents. Five of the women ran away from the Pop Green Devil plant that Usopp made and charged at their male opponents. "Wait!" Someone shouted, and everyone looked back at one of the women in brown rags who was released by the vines last and did not start charging at the others in the ravine yet.

Sanji's amazed look at the sight of all these beautiful women turned sour as he looked back at the one who shouted. She was a hefty woman wearing rags that were striped yellow and brown, holding a staff that looked like a living snake in her right hand. She had brown hair tied in pigtails, fat lips, a huge nose, and was not nearly as attractive as the other women in the group, yet all five of the others stopped upon her orders. She stepped forward and her already huge eyes grew even wider, "It is you," she said in amazement. "Luffy-san!"

Luffy tilted his head and looked back at this girl confusedly, before his own eyes popped open in recognition and a huge smile came to his face. "Shishishi, Sweet Pea," he said.

"Ehh?" Usopp, Franky, Nami, and Rin all asked, turning to the pirate captain in surprise. Nami stormed towards her captain and yelled, "How do you know her?"

"Sweet Pea," one of the other women, the one in an armored breastplate and waist guard began. She had long beautiful blond hair and a stern expression on her face, "These men are trespassing in our territory. They are too close to Amazonia-"

"Hey Sweet Pea," Luffy said excitedly. He jumped over some of the other women's heads, making them gasp at his audacity. He landed much closer to the heavy woman and continued, "Is Hancock here? I really want to see her!"

"B-B-Boa Hancock?" Sanji stuttered, taking a few steps back in shock. He thought about the Pirate Empress who Luffy mentioned he knew right when the crew met up back on Sabaody Archipelago after two years of being separated. Just the thought of her gave the chef a violent nosebleed and made him collapse to the ground.

"So that must be one of the Kuja tribe," Robin said, a smile coming to her face as it was always nice to meet people from their own universe.

"The fabled kingdom of women?" Usopp asked, his own heart rate speeding up.

"Sweet Pea," another woman in brown rags close to where Sweet Pea and Luffy were talking began. Luffy was disappointed as Sweet Pea told him that she had not seen Boa Hancock since coming to Nexus, but there were others who Sweet Pea mentioned who Luffy also wanted to see. The woman's fellow warrior shook her head though and argued, "We all know the rules. Men are not allowed in the kingdom except under special circumstances."

"The Captain of the Royal Guard, Marguerite, would very much like to see Luffy," Sweet Pea argued back. "I am sure Queen Cassandra will admit them as guests."

The other women looked at each other hesitantly, but Sweet Pea happily turned back to Luffy who was exclaiming about his excitement over Marguerite being there too. Nami and the others were heading towards their captain, happy that he got them out of this confrontation but now wondering what they were doing as it seemed they now had a new destination. "Luffy sure seems to know a lot of the Kuja tribe," Nami muttered as Sweet Pea kept talking about others who Luffy remembered from his time spent with the women tribe.

Sanji bit down on the collar of his shirt and tugged on it furiously. Luffy got to know all these beautiful women, while I spent two years, with those, freaks! He shivered thinking about their hairy legs and lipstick-covered hairy faces. He shook his mind of the memory and spun on one foot towards one of the warriors in front of him. "Oh beautiful archer! Let me sweep you off your-" The woman lifted up her bow and pulled an arrow back in an instant. The arrow was pointed straight at Sanji's forehead at the chef got a bead of sweat on the side of his head as it looked like the woman was about to let go and he could feel it coming with his Haki, showing this was not an idle threat.

Two hands stuck out of the archer's arms though and pushed the bow upwards, making the arrow soar right above Sanji's face. Robin sighed a breath of relief that she caught sight of that a second before the woman could kill their chef. While Sweet Pea yelled at her subordinate for attacking Luffy's friend, Nami marched over and slammed a fist on top of Sanji's head before yelling at him for being an idiot. "We're heading into a kingdom of only women. You better not embarrass us in there!"

---

Amazonia

"Whoa," Franky gasped, looking straight up at the three giant women walking left down a road in front of them. The Amazonian giants glanced down at the men and started talking to each other in whispers that were still loud enough for the group that just arrived in the city to hear.

"What are stupid men doing here?"

"Men only good for snu-snu."

"Are they here to be snu-snu-ed to death?"

Sanji's heart practically leapt out of his chest and he spun towards the giant woman. He did not know what this "snu snu" was, but he definitely wanted to die from it. He opened his mouth, but a hand wrapped around his face and a dozen more wrapped around the rest of his body and dropped him to the ground. Robin sighed as this was getting tiresome, but she did not expect anything different from Sanji, though she had hoped he would make it farther than ten feet inside the gate.

"Sweet Pea, what is the meaning of this?" A higher-pitched voice than the heavyset woman's called out. Down the stone path on top of the elevated rocky pillar with a wide enough top for a large town on it marched twenty warriors holding bows and arrows and all wearing skimpy uniforms. Their rags left little to the imagination and Sanji started bumbling out nonsense and the only word they could make out was 'ladies' every few seconds. "Why are there men…" the person shouting quieted down as Sweet Pea moved out of the way and revealed the man in the straw hat behind her.

Marguerite came to a complete stop and her eyes opened wide while Luffy smiled down the road at her. "Luffy!" She exclaimed, a huge smile coming to her face. The young woman with long blonde hair down below her shoulder blades put her snake bow back over her shoulder and ran down the street to the rubberman who she hugged upon reaching him. Her soldiers back behind her watched confusedly though a couple of them also looked happy to see Luffy and mentioned to the other women in the squad where they knew him from.

"Is this your crew?" Marguerite asked and looked behind Luffy at the others behind him.

Luffy looked back at a few he wondered about responding for, but Riku nodded his head, as did Rin. He turned to Killua who he remembered back in Dressrosa told Doflamingo as soon as they got off the Thousand Sunny that he was not actually a member of the Straw Hats. At the moment though, Killua did not seem to want to introduce himself separately, just giving Luffy a small smile and nod of his head instead. Luffy turned back and nodded at Marguerite who smiled and then introduced herself to the people behind Luffy. "Please, stay the night here in Amazonia. I will request an audience with Queen Cassandra. I believe she will like you very much."

"That sounds great," Nami spoke up before Luffy could respond. She stepped towards the blonde in front of her and asked with a sly grin, "You wouldn't happen to have somewhere we could take showers around here, or just bathe?"

"Of course," Marguerite replied, and the navigator who had been traveling on foot for the last few days through a deep dark canyon practically jumped for joy.

Luffy was scratching his chin and after a moment he nodded his head and turned around to his friends. "Let's stay here tonight, but I want to leave tomorrow."

"Noo!" Sanji moaned loudly. He ran up to Luffy, "Let us stay for a week, no! A month!"

"Nope," Luffy said and shook his head with a grin. "We have to keep heading north. I doubt Zoro's in the land of women."

"Who cares about the shitty swordsman?! This country is full of women! Beautiful ladies!" The chef was drooling and Marguerite backed away from him, making Nami spin and yell at him again for being creepy.

"We should not impose on a country with laws against having men here," Riku mentioned, making the others near him glance his way. He looked towards Marguerite and nodded his head at her, "Thank you for letting us stay just for today at least."

She smiled at a man who seemed very polite and replied, "It is no problem. Luffy saved my life before."

"Great job Luffy!" Nami exclaimed happily. She patted him on the back so hard that he stumbled forward and she kept laughing as she did. Nami walked over to Marguerite and put an arm around her shoulder, "Now, where is that shower you mentioned?"

Robin and Usopp chuckled at Nami while Sanji continued to drool as now he got to thinking about Nami taking a shower. Luffy stretched his arms up in the air and yawned, then walked after Nami and Marguerite as Marguerite turned and told him to follow her as well as she would show them where they could rest while she went to ask the Queen for an audience for them. The rest of the group followed along but Riku froze as he started walking, darting his head to the left at the sudden feeling he received from that direction. Down a side road off the main one they were walking down, standing there in between two women who walked by without even noticing, was a figure in a black cloak with his hood up over his head. As soon as Riku saw him, the figure disappeared into a black portal that appeared under his feet and enveloped him. The Organization is here, Riku thought darkly, his fists clenching at his sides. He looked around at all the strong, armed women every direction around him and thought, we may not be safe after all.

---

13,000 Miles North of Amazonia

A swampy field in the far north of Aebrith had only one man on it. He was looking back and forth with a tired expression and he sighed and lay back on the soft grass between two muddy puddles. All of the ground around here was soft and squishy and green. It was hard to walk on and not a great place to live which is why there was no one around. He came over because he sensed some powers that felt like humans, but they were below the marsh and when he stuck his head in a puddle, the goop was too thick to see what was down there.

Why would Android 17 be under a swamp? Krillin thought to himself. He frowned and his forehead scrunched up in annoyance. Why is he back anyway? Couldn't whoever brought us all here have just left someone like him behind? He turned on his side and grumbled under his breath, "Still, if Seventeen is here, that's the best lead I have to find Eighteen yet." He rolled back on his back and stared up at the sky. Unless that Dalgrefxi guy was lying to me. Probably not, but then why did more people not know about him?

All of a sudden, Krillin snapped up. He sat on his butt and stared forward with wide eyes, ever so slowly turning his head around. He got halfway around when he saw them, three figures standing on the field not far behind him. Unlike himself, they were wearing Power Blockers on their wrists. The only reason he noticed their presence was because of the massive murderous intent he felt behind him. He saw them and his eyes opened wide while he scrambled up on his feet.

The three figures were not far away, but there was a hundred foot gap between them and the short man with very little hair on his head. Krillin looked at the figures and he no longer felt that intense murderous feeling from a minute ago. They saw him, and one of them pointed a hand his way. "That's him," the creature shouted. It was not a human, but a monster with a huge gray stomach, four wings sticking out of its back, and a human-like head only bald and gray like its stomach.

Krillin ignored Hippofly and he lifted off the ground in the swamp. He flew quickly across the marshy land and dropped down only ten feet in front of the figures. He ignored the one that took a step back and had pointed at him a second ago, instead looking at the other two who were looking at him in some surprise. The figure on the left had white hair down below her shoulders, a tail sticking out of her butt that was partly made of metal, sharp nails on her hands, and a blue button down jacket on above her red skirt. She had cat ears sticking out of her hair and at the sight of the man in front of her her eyes grew much larger. "Hey! How's it going?" Krillin greeted the two on his left, still ignoring the Chimera Ant on his right who he also recognized.

"You," Neferpitou whispered. The Chimera Ant woman glanced at the King who was still staring directly at this human's face.

"I can't tell because of the Power Blocker," Krillin started. He had a bead of sweat on the side of his face and he chuckled. "But uh, you definitely look a lot stronger than the last time we met," Krillin told the green and purple figure in front of him.

The Chimera Ant with a green and black striped tail swung it behind him casually to rest pointing the other direction. He did not smile, but he did start to speak to the short human man before him. "Krillin," the Ant King, Meruem, stated. Krillin smiled and looked genuinely surprised that the creature in front of him remembered his name.

Krillin scratched the back of his head though and he said, "Yeah. But um, I don't actually remember if I got your name back then-"

Hippofly's eyes popped open wide and he was spinning his head from the King to Krillin and back again. The Ant King ignored him just like everyone else, and he gave Krillin his name, "Meruem."

Pitou cut in after as Krillin nodded his head, "You may refer to him as, King."

Krillin spun from Pitou back to Meruem in surprise. That King everyone mentioned, is this him? Just how much stronger did he get-

"I must thank you Krillin," Meruem began. Krillin tilted his head and had some more sweat on his face now as he realized that he might not be the strongest figure on that field. He calmed down though as he recalled what the King just said, and Meruem continued, "On that third day, you saved not only my Royal Guard, but myself as well from Boros. I was not yet at the level I am now, and your strength saved us. You have my gratitude."

"Ha, ha, it was nothing," Krillin said, settling down a little. He was still a little nervous though, so to make himself feel better he added, "I've gotten even stronger in the last two years." He did not forget about that other figure in the group with the two he was reminiscing with, and if this King was that monster's leader, then he still did not know if he would have to fight. He would rather avoid it, so he did not want them to think they could beat him.

Meruem grinned for the first time since he arrived though. He saw exactly what Krillin was doing, and he stated, "I have become much stronger than two years ago as well." To prove it, he let out a little power and Krillin could not feel it, but he could see the purple aura that touched him because he was too close to the King. He felt fear flood through him and his smile wavered.

Hippofly grinned at Krillin's nervous look that even he could see and he pointed his hand back at the human. "King! This is the man who beat my men and freed our-" Before the creature finished shouting, his head vanished. The rest of his body was still in the same place, but there was now dark reddish-purple blood spurting up from Hippofly's neck. Krillin's eyes were huge as he had no idea what just happened, but his gaze snapped down to the King's tail that was waving behind him, and he saw purple blood dripping off the tip of it.

Pitou bowed her head a little to Krillin after the King's action and he just stared at them in confusion. She began, "I am sorry for that Ant's insolence." Neferpitou knew she needed to do this to make sure that the King would not do something so un-kingly as to lower his head to a human. She lifted back up and continued, "And I thank you as well for saving our lives that day." Hippofly's body finally dropped to the ground and Krillin still did not know what to say.

"Oh, yeah, like I said," Krillin said, his voice confused but not shaking as much anymore. "It was nothing," he mumbled.

Pitou smirked at him and her eyes gave him the creeps. The King's eyes were calm at the moment, but he was the much more terrifying out of the two. Meruem looked at Krillin after Pitou apologized, and the King said, "You are searching for Android 17." Krillin's eyes widened more as he had no idea how the King knew this information. He only found out about 17 after he freed the slaves that Hippofly was transporting, so the fact that Meruem heard who he was looking for unnerved him. "I will give you his location," Meruem continued.

"Really?" Krillin asked in surprise. He calmed himself down some and nodded his head, "Thank you."

He stood there and listened as the Ant King explained to him how to get to Android 17's land from where they were now. Krillin nodded his head at everything the King said and when the creature was done he thanked him again and said he had it memorized. "Pitou, let us head back," the King said after Krillin thanked him. He turned around and Pitou did the same, but behind them, Krillin lost his grateful expression and his fists clenched at his sides.

He was scared. This figure in front of him was a terrifying beast, that he could tell from the interaction they just had and the body on the floor near him. Krillin could not hold his tongue though. He stepped forward before the Ants took off and he called out, "Why slavery?" Pitou froze in place and turned her head slightly to the right. Out of the corner of her right eye she glared back at Krillin and he tensed up at the animalistic look in the glowing red orb. He gulped but called out to the Ant King who also froze, "Why do you do it? Why, do you let everyone here…"

Krillin faded off because Meruem started turning around again. Unlike Pitou though, he still had a calm look on his face, and he nodded back at Krillin as he believed it was a justified question. Then, he started and stunned Krillin with his words. "There is a misconception in this world that I 'encourage' slavery in Cooperative lands. This is not the case. I have never once made an edict on slavery. I do not have any slaves myself. Slavery, is a human construct. Chimera Ants do possess human traits because of the DNA we share, which is why many of my kind partake in the cruel practice. But it was not I, nor any of my Ants, who were the first to have slaves on this world. It was humans." The way the Ant said the last word in that sentence made Krillin have a very unsettling feeling deep in his gut. Meruem continued, "Humans enslaved others of their own race. They enslaved Pokemon, and animals, and all the creatures of this world. I have seen a human with Chimera Ants as slaves. You ask me, 'why slavery?' The truth is, you know 'why slavery.' You know it because it is in your very DNA, the DNA of humans across the multiverse share this. You do not wish to do work yourself, or to bathe yourself, to feed yourself, to do many things- on your own. Instead of asking for them though, if you have the power, why not demand it? It is simple, yet for some, your urge to feel superior to others around you transcends the boundaries of slave and master. You wish to feel superior over even the masters, so you called them immoral. You say it is wrong. I do not give heed to such frivolous things."

Meruem turned his back to Krillin who stood there thinking about the deep philosophy lecture the King just dropped on him. Meruem kept talking when he turned around, "I do not dictate everything my High Lords can and cannot do. I never instituted the practice myself, I simply did not outlaw it, and the humans themselves savaged each other in the most brutal ways. It is not us Ants who have the most slaves." He said this and lifted off the ground, and Pitou followed him into the air with a white aura around herself unlike the King who had no aura as he flew. They flew away leaving Krillin behind to think deeply on what he was just told. His mind was boggled and he could not come up with a quick enough answer for the King before he was gone. He stood there and frowned now that he was no longer able to have an argument, making him feel like he failed his entire species by not convincing the King differently. He considered chasing after them, but gulped and shook his head of that idea as he had a feeling he was no longer a match for this King.

So Krillin turned away from the direction Meruem flew, looking instead to the northeast. Seventeen. Do you know where your sister is? If I ask you, are you going to kill me? The short man had sweaty palms, but he kept them clenched into fists and flew up in the air. As he shot off in the direction the Ant King told him to go, one thought rushed into his mind. I have to get a Power Blocker.

---

A/N Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading the chapter and let me know what you think in a review below! One of our groups of heroes gets on a train to cross the Cataclysm, while the others are facing some trouble trekking the dangerous bottom of the ravine. Luffy meets up with Sweet Pea, a Kuja warrior he met years before who invites him and his friends to the women's kingdom. We hear some more stories about the King from Nagisa, get a peak of the day of the Cataclysm that there will be a much bigger chapter for later on, and see some more of the King as he and Krillin meet again since the third day on Nexus when Goku saved the Ants from Lord Boros. Lots going on, and I hope you're excited for this chapter, the next part of which is called: Amazonia. Anyway, time for review responses.

Joebob323

Well... Jiraiya's dead. I really liked him too... Oh well, the main focus of mine for this chapter was Kara. Is she planning anything huge, since she was a hero on her last planet? Also, when will we get more Goku action, I really want to know how close him and Timmy are to the King's base!

;( Jiraiya! He was one of my fav Naruto characters too, but with his dying breath he was going to try and take a swing at the King, which is cool of him, but not very successful. Kara made her first appearance and we'll definitely be seeing more of her, since Ichigo left Rhodar on a zeppelin for Leam, so that he could look for her (thanks to some directions from Alibaba). Don't want to spoil what her part might be, but I will mention that Goku and Timmy have huge parts in upcoming chapters, I get that they've been put to the side for a while, but that's gonna end soon...ish XD Thanks for the review!

Guest chapter 58 . 3h ago

I wonder if General Zod will reappear? I last saw him leaving after the defeat of darkseid telling superman that him and the remaining kryptonians were going to be kings and queens.

Great question, I was really wondering if anyone would remember that. Last we saw of Zodd he was heading to Aebrith, wonder how long it will be until we see/hear about him? Don't want to spoil it! Anyway thanks for the review, and thanks everyone who read, reviewed, faved, and followed! Well, 'till next time!