Nexus HWR 10.2 The Women's Kingdom:
Amazonia
Luffy's jaw dropped to the floor as he stared at the long rectangular tables lining the center of the room before him. He and his friends just entered the largest building in the women's kingdom, which was still only a one-story tall hall made of stone. The decorations here were much nicer than around the rest of the stone city however, with furs from animals killed inside the wide Cataclysm lining the walls and being used as rugs for the floor. The utensils on the table were crafted out of bones and it looked like the entire country got their supplies from the ravine they were located in. Despite this however, the table was covered in tons of delicious-smelling plates with steam coming off of them. There were hogs with apples in their mouths and piles of balls of meat covered in yummy-looking sauces.
The drooling pirate captain finally snapped his rubber jaw shut and ran towards the table, devouring as much food as he could while his comrades walked over behind him. "Luffy," Sanji growled, "be polite in front of…" he faded off as the woman on the other side of the table sitting on a stone chair got up to her feet and walked into the light. Sanji's eyes turned to hearts and popped out of his head and the other men around him looked at her in similar ways, although Luffy just kept digging in to his food.
The woman behind the table had long flowing blonde hair down to her waist and a golden tiara on top of her head. She wore a tight red one-piece with golden breastplates over the chest area and a golden whip attached to a belt on her right side. Her arms stuck out of her sleeveless red outfit and showed off her toned muscles. She had a serious expression on her face but lowered it as she walked closer and smiled instead. "Welcome to Amazonia travelers. I was told you were hungry and had this meal whipped up for you. I hope it is to your liking."
"Wow! Thank you," Nami exclaimed. She was not expecting such a friendly welcome from the Queen of a kingdom that seemed to despise men, but it looked like Luffy's name really carried a lot of weight around here.
The crew walked up to the nine seats on their side of the long tables and it looked like the Queen was waiting for them to sit down. They did so and Luffy wound up sitting too as he piled food onto a plate in front of him. Across the table from the captain, the Queen sat down on a chair herself and was the only one to sit down as there were not even any other chairs for the other women around the room. Robin glanced around as she put some food on her plate and she examined the women watching them. None of them are the women who Luffy recognized earlier. Sweet Pea mentioned that Marguerite was the Captain of the Queen's Royal Guard, so it would make sense for her to be here.
Robin put food on her plate but she did not start eating. She made it look like she was though as to not arise suspicion, however she was becoming slightly nervous as she spotted a few of the armed women whispering to each other on the sides of the hall. "Thwis wis wreallry gwood!" Luffy shouted through a mouthful of food.
The Queen grinned at the pirate before wiping that smirk from her face and shaking her head. She returned to having a calm smile on her face and replied, "Thank you. It is good to hear it." She took a deep breath while putting some food on her own plate and continued, "I am Queen Cassandra Sandsmark of the Amazons. The country you are currently in is Amazonia, the Women's Kingdom."
"A country full of only women," Nami said with a relaxed sigh. "It sounds too good to be true."
Sanji had his chin in his hands with his elbows resting on the table's edge. He sighed just like Nami and just kept oogling the Queen with his eyes. She was a young ruler, looking like she was still in her late teens actually. She had a mature aura around her though, and that only intensified as Luffy asked a question after swallowing a mouthful of food. "You're a Queen? Does that mean you know the King?"
The rest of Luffy's friends all looked over at him like he was an idiot, all of the guards around the room tensed up, and Cassandra frowned at the man across the table from her. "Yes, I heard from my people that you mentioned something about the King," she said in a mutter. The blonde girl closed her eyes and started, "You do not seem to understand, so I will explain it to you as simply as I can. I may know the King, but that does not mean he knows me. The King owns all of Aebrith from the Vast Mountains of the Northern Continent to the Demon Forests in the east, to the Shadowlands in the south."
"I thought the Resistance ruled in the south?" Usopp brought up confusedly.
Cassandra frowned deeper and spoke harshly, "The Resistance rules nothing. All they are, are terrorists." Her voice right there seemed to get even lower and Riku lowered down his soup spoon. He narrowed his gaze at the Queen and then his eyes darted around the room so that he could see that twice as many guards were in there as what there originally were. "For the good of my people, I accepted the King's rule. His laws are my laws…"
"What are you doing?" Killua asked, still holding the steak knife in his left hand though now he had a dangerous-looking expression on his face.
Luffy was mid-chew of a huge drumstick and he looked around confusedly as everyone was getting really tense all of a sudden. He looked back forward and with a huge smile on his face he said, "Thanks for all this great food!"
"I am afraid I cannot let you leave the Women's Kingdom," Cassandra said. Luffy's smile faded and the rest of the group tensed up more as all of the guards around the room stepped inwards.
"What? Why not?!" Nami exclaimed.
"Some of my subjects heard your Captain talking about fighting the King. We are currently inside Fire Nation territory. If I were to let you go, and the King or his Lords heard of this, then my kingdom would be crushed beneath their feet," she explained, some pity in her voice.
"Invite us in for food and then betray us?" Killua asked, his voice as sharp as the knife in his hands. His hand clenched around the hilt and he flipped the knife around in his fingers, pulling his arm back and aiming at the Queen as he did.
"Killua hold on," Riku started.
The kid did not listen. The knife flew off Killua's fingers and shot towards Cassandra in a split second. The Queen did not flinch, and an arrow intercepted the knife in mid-flight, shattering the blade as the arrow fired at it was full of Haki. Luffy's eyes shot open wide as he just realized what was going on. Killua was already halfway across the table though, having leapt right after his knife to try and get the Queen as his hostage as he already knew they were surrounded. His fingernails sharpened and his eyes turned into vertical slits, making the boy look like a snake as he shot towards the Queen of the Amazons.
Queen Cassandra jumped backwards off her seat and pulled out her golden whip at the same time. She cracked it towards Killua while the rest of her soldiers charged at the table. Sweet Pea, Marguerite, Cassandra thought, I am sorry. I know he is your friend, but I can not risk the lives of everyone in the kingdom for this man. Killua dodged her whip but two of her fastest soldiers charged at the spot he was dodging to. In the meantime, she pointed a finger at Luffy and yelled, "Take down the pirate!"
"Why are you fighting us?" Luffy called out in confusion as he dodged arrows and then swords as a few of the soldiers charged straight towards him.
"Move Sanji!" Usopp yelled at the chef who was backing away but not raising his legs at the women in front of him. The sniper fired explosives and Pop Greens around his friend to protect the helpless chef surrounded by his weakness, women.
Okumura Rin slammed the sheathed sword in his hands into the sword of a woman in golden armored underwear who slashed down at him. He struggled to push her away as she actually turned out to be very strong. He skid back across the floor after pushing her off with his sword, then spun to his right as he saw someone charging at him from that direction. Rin lifted his sword and got ready to pull it out of his sheath as he was getting serious, while the teenage girl charging at him summoned two fox familiars with white fur to her sides in a flash of light. Rin froze with his sword up in the air and the girl pointing her arm at him to yell commands at her foxes froze as the two of them made eye contact.
Izumo Kamiki had short purple hair going down only to the back of her neck and bangs down to the tops of her eyes. She stared in shock with her dark red eyes right into Rin's blue ones. "Okumura," she whispered. The girl had been outside waiting for a signal like many others and only a few seconds before charged through the door, which was why she did not know Rin was there until they locked eyes.
"Kamiki," Rin mumbled back at her, lowering his sword as he did.
Izumo spotted something in the left side of her vision and she shouted, "No!" One of her two foxes, Uke, sprinted forward and dove to Rin's right side. The boy just started turning as he spotted someone on that side and watched as Izumo's familiar tackled one of the Amazon warriors away, knocking the sword right out of her hands.
Queen Cassandra looked to the back of the room in surprise, but Izumo clenched her teeth together and spun to the Queen as well. "Please, stop this! Okumura, is my friend," she shouted, and the half-demon in front of her opened his eyes wide. He had not seen Izumo in two years, more, but the girl just risked her position in this Women's Kingdom to stand up for him.
The Queen tssked and clenched her hand around her whip tighter. If I had known, I would have locked her up with the Kuja who knew Luffy was here before this. There is no stopping it now. "Izumo, leave if you wish, but do not get in our way." She cracked her whip forward as she spotted Killua lunging at one of her soldiers, and the golden whip wrapped around the boy's right wrist as he shot his arm forward. Killua was not expecting the strength of the whip, and it tugged him up into the air while his friends called out his name.
Izumo looked back and forth between the Queen and her old friend, and finally she mumbled a curse under her breath and ran up to Rin's side, spinning around and glaring back at the other female soldiers behind her who had risen bows nocked with arrows but stopped firing into the center of the room as readily. "What?" Izumo asked and narrowed her dark red eyes. "You're not going to shoot now that I'm here?" Izumo glared at the others and then turned her head towards the front of the room where the Queen was frowning hesitantly at her, "I'll fight with my friend. It's better than fighting for someone who's too afraid to fight for herself anyway."
Everyone else in the room stopped fighting and Cassandra narrowed her eyes back at Kamiki. "You know what kind of monster the King is," Izumo growled, though she had sweat coming down both sides of her face as she seemed to realize all of the soldiers in the room were glaring at her now for insulting the Queen. "Yet you have us fighting good people because they dislike him too. That's what I call cowardice."
"Watch your tongue girl," an older Amazon warrior growled over in a deep voice to the teenage girl.
"Izumo," Rin whispered, shaking his head. "It's alright. We'll be okay. You shouldn't have-"
"Don't say that now that I've already done it," Izumo grumbled back at him, though her voice was shaky as she did.
Cassandra marched forward and though she had a pained expression on her face, she stated firmly, "There is no other way. Speaking against the King is treason."
"I'm going to kick the King's ass though," Luffy said, a confident look appearing on his face.
A woman holding a bow on the left side of the room scoffed at him and said, "You have no idea how weak you are compared to the King."
"It's not just him though," Nami called out. Some of the women looked her way skeptically wondering if she was talking about herself. Nami shook her head and continued loudly, "Timmy Turner is also going to fight the King." Nami realized that no one around her had recognizing looks on their faces, so she added, "He's incredibly strong, powerful enough to destroy planets even!"
"Goku too!" Usopp shouted, the sniper holding his left bicep where he was slashed by an arrow a minute ago. The females all around the room looked at him in surprise and Usopp smiled hopefully, "Yeah! That Goku! He's planning on fighting the King and we're all going to help him!"
"You're telling me you know Son Goku?" Cassandra asked. She closed her eyes and imagined the face of the spiky haired Saiyan, then snapped them open and narrowed them at the figures in front of her. "Where are these heroes you speak of? Why are they not here with you?"
"They're preparing for the fight with the King other places around Aebrith," Killua growled over at the woman who he was still annoyed at. He chose his words carefully though, "Goku would be sure to protect you if you chose not to follow the King anymore. Meruem can't stop him."
"Meruem," Queen Cassandra repeated in a whisper. A few others in the room looked at the Queen in shock that she would refer to the King by his actual name instead of using a respectful term instead, while most were confused having never even heard the King's name out loud before. After a few seconds, Cassandra rose her arm and said softly, "Lower your weapons." Her soldiers stared at her in shock and she looked closely at the silver haired teenager who was looking her straight in the eyes. "You there," she said, and Riku nodded back at her. "Explain yourselves. What is this plan you have?"
Most of the soldiers in the room lowered their weapons and many of the pirate crew relaxed too, though they were still on guard as it seemed they could be attacked at any time. Riku started explaining to Cassandra a plan that did not really exist but could very well come to pass with the help of Goku and Timmy. Most of it was lies, but they were lies to get them out of a very dangerous situation. He could tell that the Queen of the Amazons did not want to be a part of the Cooperative though, and he hoped that even the small hope he was giving them with their fake plan to stop the King would be enough for her to let them go.
While they discussed however, a single figure in the shadows towards the front of the room opposite Cassandra stepped out into the night. She walked down the dark rocky path outside of the largest building in their small country, and ducked behind a smaller hut that had no lights on as the warriors who lived there were currently at the main hall. She had on a white mask that had red triangles painted near the top and sides of it, a smile of white teeth on the bottom, and cat ears sticking out of the top. She wore a tight black outfit that accentuated her curves and had long black hair falling in front of her shirt. "Cheshire," a voice said on her right as she walked through the shadows.
The woman tensed up and spun to the right where she did not see anyone. After looking into the darkness for a few seconds though, a silhouette emerged and walked towards her. It was a man with a black cloak and a zipper going straight down it from the bottom of the hood down to his feet. He reached up and grabbed the top of his hood though, taking it off so he could look the woman in the eyes through her mask. "The Queen backed down," Cheshire said in a hushed whisper. "The Amazons will likely switch sides if they are given the opportunity."
"Hmm," the man with short blond hair and diamond earrings hummed to himself. He looked past the girl reporting to him and then back at her and nodded. "Good work," Luxord stated. The Organization member chuckled to himself and continued, "That bit of information just saved your life. The coming destruction of the Women's Kingdom does not necessarily mean the loss of everyone inside its borders." Luxord chuckled again and a black portal opened up beneath his feet. "Finish up your work here and return to Twilight Town. You do not wish to be here when Amazonia is Scorched." His voice faded away as the portal closed behind him and Cheshire nodded her head, her mask hiding the bead of sweat rolling down the side of her face.
Back inside the Queen's dining hall, Riku, Nami, Robin, and Killua were creating a story that they hoped would come to pass. "We really can beat the King," Nami said, confident in what she herself was saying. "These guys can beat him, but Goku will do it if they can't."
"Goku can stop him," Riku agreed. "There's nothing that man can't do."
Luffy wanted to mention that he would beat the King first, but he was lost in a different train of thought. I brought my crew to this dangerous place and let down my guard when they gave us food. Riku and the others are doing their best to get us out of it, but I messed up. I said we could trust them, because Sweet Pea and Marguerite liked them, but, I led my crew right into a trap. Luffy's eyes shifted to his left side where he saw Usopp grabbing his muscular bicep tightly, while blood dripped between his fingers. He frowned deeply and glared back at the Queen of the Amazons, but he could not even feel that angry at her at the moment. I knew we were in Fire Nation territory, I should have known not to talk about that. I put her in a hard spot.
"Luffy?" Nami questioned quietly, and the pirate captain turned right in surprise. He looked into his navigator's eyes, while Robin was continuing to explain how great their chances were of defeating Meruem. "It's okay if we don't spend the night here," she whispered. Luffy glanced around the room and he frowned at many of the women still glaring their way, hands clenched around their swords and bows as if ready to resume attacking at any moment.
"We're leaving." Everyone in the room spun to the rubberman. Robin and Cassandra stopped their conversation and turned to Luffy as well. He reached behind his back and grabbed his straw hat, then lifted it up and put it down over his unkempt black hair, pressing some thick strands down and partially shadowing his face. "Right now," he finished, and turned right to one of the doorways that was blocked by women.
Queen Cassandra opened her mouth to tell the pirate to wait, but before a word could come out of her mouth, Luffy took a step and the pupils of his eyes dilated. Small white circles appeared in the centers of his eyes, an aura surrounded his body and expanded to cover the entire room in an instant before anyone could dodge, and fifty women with wide eyes suddenly collapsed when those big eyes rolled back into their heads. The crowded doorway was suddenly open, and Luffy turned his head and glared at Cassandra who still had her mouth open, waiting to see if she had anything to say about what he just did.
Cassandra closed her mouth and looked back at Luffy wondering what to say to the man. Every one of her soldiers were collapsed on the ground, all except for Izumo Kamiki who was looking around in shock as she had no idea what had just happened. All but one of her subordinates were on the ground, no longer able to hear what she had to say. Cassandra turned back to Luffy, and a smirk spread across her face. She cracked her neck to either side, then said, "I hope you all succeed on this mission of yours. Just to let you know, I was a superhero on my world- Wonder Girl!" She posed with a fist held up above her, and the pirates in front of her, even Luffy, stared blankly at the girl whose personality suddenly shifted a hundred eighty degrees.
"Name's Cassie," she said, as if introducing herself for the first time. Izumo looked at the Queen with wide eyes, and Cassie turned to Izumo, "Don't tell the others about this, but I'm actually really glad you stopped the fight like that. My advisors were very insistent that we attack these pirates," Cassie glanced down to her sides at very muscular and much older women who she was surprised Luffy's will was powerful enough to overwhelm. "And don't worry, I'll make sure you don't get punished for that, so you can stay if you want." Izumo nodded slowly at the Queen who until now she thought was a lot more serious of a person.
The Queen looked back at the pirates who were all looking at her with varying looks of unease and confusion. "I really am sorry, and there is something else I wanted to say before but couldn't because of the consequences it would mean for my people." Cassie smirked and continued, "I hope you defeat the King. And I'll make a promise right now, a secret promise," she added in a whisper. The young woman stood up straight and she looked very serious as she finished, "When the time comes, I will rise up with my people to help you. You have my word."
Luffy did not respond. He turned to the door and walked out. Robin started walking after him, and Usopp clenched his arm tight for a second, before lowering his blood-soaked hand and nodding towards the Queen. Riku began while the other Straw Hats left, including Sanji who Nami had to drag away as he was hoping to stay forever, "Thanks Cassie. We'll remember this, and I look forward to the day we're fighting together, on the same side." Riku lifted his right hand, and a flash of light created a Keyblade that he gripped and swung in front of him.
Cassie stared at the weapon with eyes as wide as saucers. "Is that-" A flash of green light surrounded the muscular pirate sniper walking out of the door, and Usopp turned his head and muttered a quick thanks to the silver haired teen behind him. The Keyblade vanished as fast as it appeared, but when Riku turned to follow Killua to the door, the second to last person as Rin and Izumo had walked out together a few seconds before, the Queen of the Women's Kingdom stopped him. "Keybearer," she whispered. Riku paused near the door, and Killua tensed up but did not stop his strides. He walked out then stepped to the side of the doorway so he was out of sight of the two inside, while keeping close enough that he could hear what was being said inside. Riku looked out the corners of his eyes towards the blonde girl, and Cassie whispered, "Where have you been? The world is in disarray, full of darkness, despair… where have you been?"
Riku's eyes darkened and he bowed his head a bit. Contributing to that darkness. He hardened his expression though and kept walking to the door, "It's none of your concern."
"I am the daughter of Zeus!" Cassandra yelled to the doorway. Riku froze, and she continued, "The most eminent God on my world. I know things-"
"Where is the Keyhole?" Riku questioned. No response. I tried, Sora. Riku did not turn around, he just said quietly to the woman behind him, "If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you really can't help me." Cassie looked at the floor and her expression became downcast. "But Cassie," he began again, and the girl lifted her gaze back up. "That promise to help when the time comes, I hope you don't just mean against the King. There will be a greater battle. I don't know where or when, but it will come…"
"And I will fight with you, Guardian," Cassandra replied, sounding as serious as she did when she pledged her help a minute ago. Riku turned to the side and watched as Cassie bowed her head to him. Guardian, he thought as he stared at her, bowed in clear respect for him despite not knowing who he was, or what he had done. I don't deserve that title. I have not yet proven myself to be, a Guardian of Light.
2,200 Miles North and 17,000 Miles East of The Women's Kingdom
"Go for it Yamamoto!" Tohsaka Lin shouted. Lin pumped a fist in the air, then the girl leaned back where she was sitting and rested against the pack behind her. She was sitting on a blanket with two other girls, one of whom had a much larger bag than her own open, and was pulling out drumsticks of juicy meat to chow into.
The former pirate woman wore a white tank top pressing tightly against her large breasts, and had on a long pair of brown leather pants. She wore a green hat over her pink hair that fell behind her back all the way to the blanket below it was so long. Jewelry Bonney lifted the thickest chunk of meat she had stuffed in her bag, and she took a massive chomp out of it for her first bite. "You aren't taking part?" the third girl on the blanket asked the woman next to her who was chewing very loudly. Asuka Kudou received a grunt in response and she sighed but looked back herself where the other two women were looking.
Yamamoto Takeshi had a single sword drawn clenched by the hilt with both of his hands. He held the hilt right in front of the center of his waist with the blade pointing out and up a little towards the opponent facing him. The man facing him also had one sword drawn, but held it in his left hand and kept the other curled into a fist at his right side. He wore a black muscle shirt with long sleeves, a pair of black pants and dark shoes, and he had a green haramaki around his stomach with two extra swords strapped to it near his right fist. Roronoa Zoro stared seriously over at his opponent, both of his eyes focused, his mouth in a straight line, his un-scarred face showing little emotion.
Time to break in this new gigai. Urahara-san said it should be stronger than that last one. Zoro cracked his neck to either side, then rose up his Shuusui and blocked the blade that came down towards him. The swipe was aimed at a spot that would kill a human, even though Takeshi would never strike to kill, which Zoro knew from fighting at his side for two years. Seeing the blow coming for that spot then did not make Zoro wonder why Takeshi would strike there, he instantly figured it was meant to be blocked, and Zoro parried away the first strike then turned his blade the other way and blocked the second blade that Takeshi unsheathed. Even if he knows he won't kill me, there would have been no point in practicing a move that would kill a person, which means he intended to practice the second slash. However he knew I would block that too. Zoro was already turning his blade and blocking the next strike, and the one after, all while standing in the same spot.
Takeshi was circling Zoro as he swung over and over, until he swung down both swords at the same time. Zoro rose Shuusui and blocked, but as Takeshi put all of his force into his two weapons, Zoro felt the presence coming from his blind spot, and it was coming fast. The blonde woman in a suit of armor leapt up in the air, her body spinning around as she did so her round combat dress lifted out to the sides. She had blue steel spaulders on and cloth beneath the rest of her silver armor, and she wore a blue bow that kept all of her gorgeous blonde hair in a ponytail as she rose with her broadsword extended and glowing. Saber dropped and yelled, "Haa!"
CLANK! Saber's long steel sword slammed into Sandai Kitetsu, a blade lighter-colored than the dark Shuusui. Zoro unsheathed it and rose it behind his back while still holding off Takeshi with his other hand. Saber dropped to the ground as even after her full-force swing from the air, she could not break Zoro's defenses and get to him. Zoro suddenly pushed back, and Takeshi and Saber skid away on the grass. They were stopped on a grassy field still a hundred miles away from their intended destination, but they had been traveling so much on foot over the last few weeks that they had finally agreed to come to a stop for a rest day. Not all of them were as into resting as others.
The two who skid away pushed their feet down hard to stop their momentum away from the green haired swordsman. Saber bent down her knees and lowered her sword down to her right side where it glowed blue. Her eyebrows narrowed and her eyes glared at Zoro's feet that still had not moved once. The woman shot forward like a missile, and Lin called out her best friend's name as she did. Lin called out Takeshi's last name too when he ran forward with one sword down to his right side and the other to his left. "Shigure Souen Fourteenth Offensive Form: Rising Rain!" the twenty year old with spiky black hair shouted. He brought both swords at his sides up in a single strange swipe, one that skimmed the top of the ground as Takeshi ran over it.
Those watching the fight lifted their eyebrows or opened their eyes wider in surprise as the grass around him lost its green color. Out from the dirt ahead of Yamamoto, rose a ten foot wall of water that moved forward towards Zoro. It already rose only ten feet away from him, and Saber was only six away when he caught a glimpse of it rising from the earth. Zoro slashed Shuusui down towards Takeshi and split the incoming wave in half, while swinging his Kitetsu across the other side of his body and also making a flying slash come out towards Saber. She swung her glowing blade up though and parried his flying attack, though it did slow her down. He focused back on his other side though, as once the wave started splitting in the middle, Zoro saw Takeshi falling through the wave towards him with one sword risen high. The other sword Takeshi had to his side was the one Zoro had to focus on, as he knew the one more theatrically risen would be a feint.
Zoro smirked though, and he slashed his Shuusui to the left towards part of the falling wave, instead of towards the younger man falling towards him. The falling figure's eyes opened wide, then the illusion vanished and Takeshi was gone, stunning half the people there who did not know what Takeshi did with the reflection off the water. The half of the wave that Zoro slashed at split and the man diving through it at that moment had a split second to raise his sword when he heard Zoro's attack coming with his Observational Haki. The slash still knocked him back over fifty meters, and he hit the ground on his back before flipping up and landing on his feet to continue skidding away.
Zoro refocused on Saber who had only slowed for a second, giving him enough time to knock Takeshi back and turn back to her before she reached him. When she swung the glowing blue sword though, Zoro's eyes darted to the left, and he shot his right hand down to his side and flicked the white sheath resting there. A weapon flew out of the sheath and right in between Zoro's teeth where he clenched hard, then spun his head to the side and rose two swords together, while blocking Saber with only his Kitetsu. The wooden sword that swung down at him got blocked by the crossing point of Zoro's other two blades, while Saber pushed her entire body into the swing she made against Zoro's third blade, so that all three of his blades were shaking. Zoro's knees bent, and the ground below him dropped into a five foot wide radius crater full of dead grass. His feet skid back an inch, then he uncrossed all his swords and the two opponents flew backwards.
Gintoki Sakata landed on his feet and stumbled back a few steps. He scratched the side of his head and mumbled, "Yeah, didn't really think that was going to work." He picked the moment Zoro had been under the most pressure to move fast for the entire fight, but all the green haired swordsman had to do was pick up his speed even more to stop him too. Gin checked the wooden sword in his hand and he examined the point on it where he slammed it into Zoro's. Next time, use Haki. Gin covered the wooden sword in a black coating from the hilt his hand was gripping tightly, all the way to the tip. He slashed it down with one hand, then glared back over at Zoro who started walking forward until he was out of the hole.
Saber looked angry after that last parry, and Lin got a little nervous seeing that look in her friend's eyes. "Hey Saber, why don't you come eat with us?" Lin called over. She was having a nice picnic with the other two girls in their group, but Saber ignored Lin and rose up her sword by its golden hilt so the weapon was pointed straight up in front of her chest. The hilt was not the only thing that was gold in a second however, as Saber's entire weapon started to glow the same color. Takeshi came jogging back over, and seeing the way the other two fighting Zoro with him looked, he thought there was only one course of action. Both of the swords in his hands flashed dark purple and then black like his hands around their hilts.
Zoro tilted his head to the side, lifted up his left hand, and tapped a button on his neck that was invisible to the human eye. It blended in with his skin, but he pushed it in and there was a loud click, before Zoro was gone. At least, the gigai he was wearing vanished, and Zoro stood in its place in a black kimono, holding a tiny capsule in his hand. He slid the swords he had been holding back in their sheaths, tossed them to the side, then said, "Lin." The black haired girl with long pigtails watching from the side looked over, then rose her hands in surprise as the capsule his gigai was in was already flying her way. She caught it, but when she opened her mouth to complain, the four swordsmen in front of her vanished and reappeared in the air above the crater they made a minute ago, swords clashing and gusts of wind flying everywhere.
"Stupid shinigami," Lin muttered, pocketing the capsule as she said it though. She continued cheering her friends on, while Asuka questioned if she would like a glass of wine. Lin nodded at her, and the other girl who had long brown hair with two red bows in it unlike Lin's black ones at the tops of her black pigtails poured them a few glasses. Normally they did not drink this early in the day, but it was supposed to be their break day and they figured that meant from their normal healthy routines too. The two teenage girls clinked their wine glasses together once they were full of red wine, then the ground shook and they each spilled some of their drinks on themselves.
"Rrrggh," Asuka growled, snapping out of her good mood instantly. She jumped to her feet and turned, ready to join in, only for a man who was standing twenty feet to the right of her to step forward and draw her gaze.
Asuka looked over in surprise, while the ninja wearing a white mask over the bottom half of his face reached up and grabbed the wide sword off of his back. Kubikiribouchou looked like it weight easily a hundred pounds, but Zabuza held it in his right hand outstretched straight in front of him without his arm shaking at all. He slashed the weapon once and thought, Going into shinigami state so soon. You're gonna make them think they made you do it, but you just wanted the rest of us to stop standing by already. Zabuza could see across the field, a man who was half machine was moving around carefully with a katana sparking lightning in his right hand. Raiden was not the only other person about to hop into this fight, as a cluster of eight shuriken flew up in the air from some tall grass eighty meters to Zabuza's right.
Zoro leaned his head to the sides to dodge most of the shuriken, but he swung his Zanpakuto before the final three reached him. The wind strength from his slash redirected all three shuriken so they flew back into the tall grass, and a ninja leapt out from hiding and into the air. Hattori yelped in panic as his weapons came flying back twice as fast, and now he had three cuts in his clothes as the shurikens had pinned down his legs and right arm without so much as nicking him. He ground his teeth at how easy that was for his opponent, but when he dropped to the ground he leapt backwards with a sheepish look on his face, deciding not to pull out the katana sheathed on his back.
Zabuza saw one other figure waiting to get into the fight, but the ninja swordsman from the Hidden Mist Village decided he was going in first. He took a step and lifted his free hand to make a hand sign, but something caught his eye and he froze. Zabuza's head snapped left and he looked past the girl looking his way in slight surprise that he was about to enter the fray. Zabuza looked over Asuka's head and the other two girls', making Bonney lift her gaze and turn around as soon as she noticed it. They both watched as the black dot in the distant sky got closer, but then Bonney sighed and turned back to the girl next to her and kept talking to Lin.
The ninja swordsman lost some interest as well, but seeing as no one else was focusing on it anymore, and Bonney never raised her hand, he grumbled in annoyance and did it instead. Zabuza rose his left hand with his index finger pointed straight up. He curled it in towards himself while looking out at the shape in the sky, and the bird that had white feathers, a yellow beak, and a white hat on, turned his direction and started flying over. The News Coo dipped out of the sky and flew to Zabuza, carrying a stack of rolled-up newspapers in a pack around its left shoulder. There was a small red bag around its neck, and the bird that landed in front of Zabuza kept one of its wings held over the paper bag while eyeing the scary-looking ninja suspiciously.
"Stupid bird," Zabuza muttered, while reaching into his pockets. He pulled out a couple of coins, and the bird looked at him skeptically as if asking, 'Really, that's it?' Zabuza growled at the creature, but the News Coo did not like that and it flapped its wings down. "Oi!"
"Here," Asuka walked over towards him and she pulled out a ten dollar bill. Zabuza took it and held it towards the bird that flapped its wings slower and lowered back towards him. He slid the money into the red pouch, then reached into the bird's bag and took out a newspaper before the bird could do it itself. Zabuza held up the paper and waved it around, showing the bird that he could have taken it at any time faster than the bird would have noticed. The man had a pissed-off look in his eyes and the News Coo gulped before lifting off and flying away twice as fast as it flew towards them. "No need to be cruel to the poor thing," Asuka scolded the older man. "It's just a bird."
Zabuza did not respond to her. He looked at the newspaper's front page and hummed to himself at the news of the Battle Royale. He opened the paper up to the second page where there was more information, but there was a loose piece of paper inside the Aebrith Daily. This was not unusual, as there were often notices and posters shoved into the newspapers, so Zabuza ignored it for a moment as he continued reading about the Battle Royale. Mainly, he looked down the list of contestants and some information about their fights, and the scoreboard on the bottom of the second page. The swordsman growled deeply as he saw a couple of names he recognized. Those Resistance guys we asked said that these guys, 'Kuwabara' and 'Black Star,' were with Gray. Why isn't he there? Are you really dead?
The loose paper sticking between the next pages started to slide out of the paper. Zabuza grabbed it before it fell and decided to glance at the page before he would crumple it up. He glanced, then the glance became a stare, a stare with widening eyes as he examined the paper from top to bottom. "Huh," he muttered. "Oi Zoro!" He shouted towards everyone fighting. Takeshi had just hit the ground and was ready to jump back up and join the fight, while Saber was in the middle of clashing her sword with Zoro's. Mystogan had thought he finally had a moment to jump in, and Raiden was going to sprint forward as well from the other side, but everyone turned towards Zabuza as there were few reasons he would interrupt a fight like this.
Zoro looked down with his Zanpakuto in hand, somewhat annoyed like the rest of them were at the ninja for interrupting. Zabuza had a newspaper in his hand though and Zoro grimaced as he wondered if this was going to be bad news. He dropped out of the air so he was a few feet in front of Zabuza, and he walked towards the man who out of everyone in the group, he had been traveling with for the longest. "What is it?" He questioned the Hidden Mist ninja.
Zabuza turned the wanted poster in his right hand. Zoro's eyes opened wide in shock, then he looked to the bottom of the picture and his shock was replaced by a smirk. He chuckled, an audible laugh came out of his mouth. Twenty million dollars for a first bounty. Taking down the Lord of the Dread Fort. Luffy, Zoro looked at the smiling face of the pirate in a straw hat on the poster in front of him. As he looked at the poster, his smirk lowered. His thoughts got darker and he turned his head to look into the distance.
"What's going on?" Lin asked as she walked over.
Mystogan floated over as well and landed down on Zabuza and Zoro's left side. Zabuza turned the poster and showed the others near them, and while Mystogan and Takeshi who was already walking over looked at it in surprise, most of the others did not know what was going on. Jewelry Bonney was still sitting over on the blanket, but when she looked over and saw the poster, she called out, "Wasn't that Straw Hat your Cap'n, Zoro?"
You won't be satisfied just taking down a Lord. Damn it Luffy, Zoro sheathed his Zanpakuto he was still holding to show the fight would still continue in a second, and the other fighters all catching their breaths looked confusedly at him. After taking down one of his Lords, Sozin's not just going to accept this. "We're heading back south," Zoro said. He was loud enough to be heard by all of his friends around him, and even those who knew who the man on the poster was before Bonney mentioned it looked towards Zoro in surprise.
"We are?" Zabuza questioned with lifted eyebrows.
"What about Rakushou?" Lin questioned. She looked annoyed and pointed a hand to the east, "We're not even two days away."
"After we spent all that time coming up here," Asuka groaned.
Raiden slowed down as he neared the group that he was farthest from in the first place. "What happened to looking for that friend of yours?" He asked. Zoro, Mystogan, and Takeshi all looked back thoughtfully and Raiden continued, "The Ren Empire has the most slaves of any region of the Cooperative. There's also the largest slave market in the world in Rakushou, even bigger than the Captial's. We make it there, we can find where practically any slave on the continent is."
"It, could be worth it," Takeshi began, turning towards Zoro to look him in the eyes. "Just to head there real quick?" He offered, hoping Zoro would agree.
Zoro shook his head, and he turned to face the southwest. "We need to get to Pyraxas as soon as possible," he began, his tone dark. If I don't find that idiot first, he's going to get himself killed here. Luffy, do you have any idea what you're doing?
A/N Hope you enjoyed! Queen Cassandra (Wonder Girl from Young Justice) turns on the Straw Hats after Luffy is heard talking about kicking the King's ass, but luckily before things could get too out of hand, Izumo Kamiki causes a break in the fight by standing up for her old friend Rin. The Straw Hats leave, and Cassie gives them a promise to rise up when the time comes, however, there are dark forces at work inside her kingdom... The second half of the chapter saw Zoro's group on their search for Gray, but now it seems they have a new destination. Does Zoro know something Luffy doesn't? Or is he worried for nothing? Everyone's heading to the same destination! Thanks for reading!
Young Justice: Cassie (Wonder Girl), Cheshire
Kingdom Hearts: Riku, Kairi, Luxord, Organization, Keyhole, Guardians of Light, Saix
Blue Exorcist: Okumura Rin, Izumo Kamiki, Uke
One Piece: Zoro, Luffy, Nami, Robin, Franky, Usopp, Sanji, Sweet Pea, Marguerite, Jewelry Bonney
Fate Stay/Night: Saber, Tohsaka Lin
Problem Children Are Coming From Another World: Asuka Kudo
Hitman Reborn: Takeshi
Naruto: Zabuza
Fairy Tail: Gray, Mystogan
Magi: Rakushou, Ren Empire
Metal Gear Rising: Raiden
Gintama: Gintoki, Hattori
Avatar the Last Airbender: Fire Nation, Sozin
Fairly Oddparents: Timmy Turner
DBZ: Son Goku
Hunter x Hunter: Killua, Meruem
Guest chapter 59 . Aug 15
Great chapter with the battle royale, Xemnas is now a high lord, not to mention Donald and Goofy as slaves, I wonder where mickey will be, and I also want to wonder where pete and maleficant are, I last saw maleficant saving pete from being crush during the collapsion Castle Oblivion.
And one more question, nexus 7-1 HWR were all going to die, natsu attacked this car shifting robot, was that wheelie, poor wheelie, speaking of wheelie, did Optimus and the autobots make it to nexus?
Glad you liked the chapter! Glad you still remember Pete and Maleficent, as they were some of the only characters in early Nexus who did not return to the fray during the Battle of Metropolis. No spoilers as to where they, or Mickey are, or the autobots for that matter XD! But if one Decepticon could make it to Nexus, then there's no reason to think that others from their universe couldn't have come too. (Could have been Wheelie, I'm pretty sure he was the one I was thinking of when I wrote it, even if I never mentioned his name). Thanks for the review!
Joebob323 chapter 59 . Aug 17
Hmmm... This chapter has soooo much to consider, in terms of character interactions. The way the King acted around Krillin makes me want to say that he really won't fight Goku due to the debt that he owes him, but the other part of me knows that Goku will probably hear all these horrible things the King has done and try and defeat him. However, this fight will probably be weird and not a clear black and white fight, such as "you are the villain and I am the hero". Lastly, Timmy seems to be in quite a pinch, I wonder where he is exactly, as well as whether or not Gon is dead...
Thanks for the review! Lots of mysteries still surrounding the King, Gon, Timmy, etc... but I like what you said about the "black and white fight" 'cause that's really what I was going for making the bad guys in charge of this continent. On Awul, the criminals were clearly the criminals, terrorists, and monsters messing with a pretty good world, and Luthor was shown always being manipulative and evil. The NEG were more split in how to view them as heroes or villains, or neither in some instances, which we might be seeing more of here on Aebrith. Meruem didn't kill Krillin, and who knows if he'll try to kill Goku or not when they meet? But what we do know is that Goku came to Aebrith planning on fighting the King, so there's going to be conflict between the two of them... at some point ;). Hope you liked the chapter, and thanks again to you and everyone who read, reviewed, faved, and followed this story! 'Till next time!