Nexus HWR 11.5 Sith, Slaves, and Spies:
Order of the Sith
In the southwest of Aebrith, over a thousand miles south of the border with the Organization, yet still considered in the north of the Emperor's territory, the Order of the Sith resided. In between two natural rock formations that would be mountains if they were not so misshapen, the Sith Lords plotted and practiced their ancient arts under the rule of the Emperor. The temple of the Sith Order itself was built using the Force, utilizing the Dark Side to rearrange mountains and carve their buildings. One Sith alone could do no such feat, but hundreds of them could rearrange the entire landscape near their Order, and they did.
Inside one of the many temples, the largest of them all, a dozen of the most powerful Siths throughout all history in their universe were gathered. Three of those Siths were Force Ghosts, including the Sith Lord who stood, or floated, in the center of the chamber at that moment. The Emperor had his hood up as always, but not far on his right there was an old man whose skin was wrinkled and whose voice came out raspy when he spoke. Darth Sidious hissed, "And was it the same boy?"
Darth Bane's ghost gazed towards Sidious and it frowned. The recently-killed Sith Lord was in the middle of speaking to the Emperor, not to Sidious, but he did have to mind his tongue. There was only one Sith in the entire Order who none dare challenge, but even if he never accepted when he was alive that Sidious was stronger than him, he respected the Sith from his future. Everyone knew what Sidious had done; they all knew who it was who destroyed the Jedi Order, on their world at least.
"It was not," Bane responded. "The one who killed me, went by the name Gray Fullbuster."
Behind the Emperor, a small boy standing silently with his eyes pointed at the floor, did not move a muscle. This was Romeo Conbolt's first time seeing Darth Bane as a Force Ghost, and until a few seconds ago he had heard nothing about the Sith Lord's demise. GRAY! Outwardly, Romeo made no movements. His feelings stayed hidden deep inside him, and he would not let them rise to the surface. "I saw him there," Bane continued, turning back to the Emperor as he continued, "but he was not the one to defeat Fire Lord Sozin. It was a comrade of his whom I believe is even more powerful."
Romeo's heart rate was speeding up, but he desperately tried slowing it down. He would not start breathing deeply to calm down, as that would draw attention, so instead he thought, Deep. Breath… Deep. Breath…
"News of Sozin's death by his hands is spreading all over the world. Natsu Dragneel," Bane said. He then paused, before adding, "Like Gray, he is a mage of Fairy Tail."
"Fairy Tail," the Emperor said. His head turned a little and he looked through the shadow of it at the boy behind him. Romeo's gaze slowly lifted up and he looked into the shadowed area surrounding the Emperor's face. All Romeo could see were the dark yellow eyes of the Sith Lord, and they bored into his own soul as he stared back. "Just like you," the Emperor said.
The others in the room gazed towards the silent boy behind the Emperor. He wore rags and had chains on his ankles. The kid kept glaring into the Emperor's eyes and said nothing in response. What the Emperor said was not a question though, he already knew that Romeo used to be in Fairy Tail. After all, the boy had told him on the day they met.
FD + 254
On a main street in the poorer section of a large city in northeast Aebrith, a small stage was set up in an empty lot on the side of the road. Someone had initially cleared the area to build a house, but the surrounding neighborhood was so bad that they got robbed before even setting down a solid foundation. The ground was flat though, and it was as good a place as any for a slave auction.
Three slaves sat on the stage, their legs hanging off the front of it as they sat still and depressed. The auction for the day had not yet started, and the men selling them were just standing around and talking. There were four men on the right of the stage, two on the left, all of them with dark skin, pirate-y clothes, and jewelry. Unlike the slaves, most of them were in high spirits.
In front of the stage a lot more men were gathered. Many of these men had light skin, though two had red skin and horns, and one figure was a shorter man whose head was bald and whose skin looked as tough as a rhino's. Malko stood in a circle of these men, glaring forward in annoyance despite the good mood of his subordinates. "It's been three days," he began and gained the attention of his suddenly silent men. "I'm ready to get back to the ship."
"We still have three slaves left to sell," one of his men muttered.
"I know that," Malko growled at the man. "I can fucking see them," he nodded his head past the man he was growling at towards the stage where the slaves averted their gazes upon his nod.
One of the slaves, the boy in the center of the three, pointed his gaze right at his feet and the floor beneath them. Mine, Lily, he thought, and he sniffled once to hold back any emotions. There had been enough zappings and beatings from Malko the last few days to know not to start crying again.
Malko frowned as he kept glaring at the three on stage. There was a middle-aged woman he did not find attractive, a scrawny teenage boy, and the even younger kid who was the youngest of their slaves in the first place. Nobody wants a brat like that as a slave, Malko thought to himself. His eyes shifted between the three slaves, then he muttered under his breath, "I think it's time to return to Leol-sama."
His men looked around at each other with hesitant gazes. The short bald alien man spoke up, "Is it wise to return without selling all the product? He may be angry."
Malko frowned deeply again, then he smirked and whispered, "Unless we did sell them all." He gazed around and his men appeared confused, but a few nodded along as they started understanding. "That reindeer sold for five times as much as we thought he would the first day we auctioned here. Sold for even more than Hancock," he added that as extra since they all knew how much Hancock was worth.
"What's your point?" One of the more brutish men asked.
"My point," Malko grumbled, annoyed that some of his stupid men did not understand what he was implying. "Is that we already have enough to give Leol and play it off like we sold them all."
"You want to sell the other three and split the money between us?" One of the red-skinned men questioned.
"No," Malko said, glaring at the man for asking. "If Leol ever found out he's massacre us all." The others nodded in agreement with that. "But," Malko continued, "if it's between going back to Leol with product we failed to sell, or nothing at all, and the same amount of money," the others started nodding along with him, and he finished, "then I'd rather ditch the worthless goods and return looking successful."
Romeo's eyes were huge as he stared at the floor beneath his feet. "Ditch the worthless goods?" Could he be letting us go? Is he merciful enough? ...No, he's going to kill us.
"We doing it right now?" One of the men asked Malko. Another whistled to the other slavers around the area and everyone started heading Malko's way.
Romeo held his breath at the question. His eyes were aimed straight down, but through his peripheral vision he could see the slaves on either side of him were not eavesdropping into their slavers' conversation like he was. If they were, they'd be a lot more panicked right now.
Malko thought for a second, then responded, "Well we already have everything set up for today's auction. We'll make this the last one then head back. Now get out there and spread the word! Minimum biddings will be half today what they were yesterday." Malko frowned after he said it while his men all ran off. If the buyers we found didn't want these three yesterday, they're probably not going to want them today, even for cheaper. We need a more constant supply of new slaves. Leol-sama should start hiring new ships at every port we hit. This is a rising business on Nexus, and we're going to be the Kings of it!
Romeo watched as Malko had disgusting thoughts to himself. As he glared at the man through the tops of his eyes, Romeo felt so much anger towards him. This bastard cares nothing for others' lives. How can a person live like that? How can a human be that much of a monster?! Romeo tried calming his breathing, and he focused on something else, I need to be sold today. Whatever it takes. I need to get away from them.
"Not a single offer!" a slaver to the right of the stage shouted. "Is there something just wrong with those three?"
Romeo kept standing strong on the stage, flexing as hard as he could for everyone walking by. Most people walking on the street were not there for an auction though. Most of them just walked in small packs right past the stage. Some people walked by themselves, but they were always clearly armed and dangerous. Romeo could tell that the people walking around this area were afraid themselves, and many of them hurried by the slavers even if they were in groups of three people or more.
A couple people Romeo saw two days before at an auction came close to the stage, but one look at the only three slaves on display made them frown and turn away. Malko grimaced from his spot in front of the stage right on the side of the road. He glared at a few people walking by who did not stop for his auction, and those two people stopped and turned fully to him. They frowned and their eyes flashed black at the human who had snarled at them.
Malko gulped and took a step back, looking away from the creepy people who did not seem to care that he had a whole crew of heavily armed men behind him. His bad mood continued after they left though, and he spun to glare at the figures on the stage. "You worthless fucks," he snapped at them, then marched his way to the side of the stage and behind it out of their sights.
No! I can't not be sold! Romeo looked around the street, his eyes pleading with people to take him. Most of them thought he wanted them to free him, but he would have been fine with them buying him to be their slave. Anything was better than staying there at this point.
Time flew by faster than it ever had. The more that Romeo wanted the day to last, for the auction to keep going until someone arrived who wanted him, the faster the day progressed. The suns hit the tops of their arcs and dropped into the west so fast that Romeo found himself staring at them in shock for how fast the day was moving. This is it, he thought, as the first sun dropped below the top of a thirty story building in the nicer part of the city a few miles away.
Romeo's eyes closed. The kid stopped flexing, his body tired from doing it constantly for hours. His arms fell limply at his sides, but after a few seconds, his fists clenched tightly. Even though his eyes were closed, he could see Mine in front of him. He saw himself giving up as she was taken, and the promise she made to find him someday. I can't give up here. Mine will free herself someday, and she and Lily will come for me. They might get captured by Leol again, or worse, if I don't get free myself and go find them first.
Romeo's teeth bared and his fingernails cut into his palms as his fists clenched tighter. If they're going to kill us, then I need to fight. I need to get the remote key to my cuffs, and I'll free myself and the other two to help me. I'll steal their weapons for the others, and I'll use my magic to bust us out of there. All I have to do is get that remote from Malko. I can't overpower him though, not with these cuffs draining my strength. I don't need strength or magic though... if I get my hands on his gun.
Romeo's breathing hiked, and all the sound around him fell away. I'll shoot Malko with his own weapon and take the remote. He deserves it. He deserves to die. I pretended like I didn't know why Hancock was taken away those nights, but I know you had them bring her to you. You're a monster! I'll kill you and escape from here!
Romeo's eyes snapped open, a look of pure determination on his face. As soon as his eyes opened though, his look changed to one of surprise at the sight of a man standing in front of him. The man stood on the street ten feet in front of the stage, but he was perfectly lined up with Romeo, and facing him as well. People walked on either side of him, in front and behind, ignoring the man in a gray hooded-cloak who just kept staring through the shadows of it at Romeo.
Romeo tried to make out what the man looked like, and he found himself staring straight into the darkness under the man's hood. The slaves on his sides darted their eyes in at him a few times wondering what he was doing. One of the slavers spotted the eye contact the two were making, and he ran off to let Malko know that there was a potential buyer.
Don't go with him! The thought was more subconscious then conscious, and Romeo felt his body cover in sweat as the cloaked figure started walking forward. As the man walked towards the stage on feet Romeo could not see under his cloak, darkness fell over the street and Romeo gulped. If I don't get him to buy me though, they'll kill me. It's dark already, the auction is... It's dark? The suns were- Romeo lifted his gaze to the sky, and he started panting heavily at the sight of the gray clouds filling the sky. It was sunny all day. Where did this come from?
"Hello there!" A voice shouted from the side of the stage. Malko smirked a gold-toothed smile at the man examining his goods. He marched towards the figure who was around his height, only a few inches taller, and whose choice of clothes Malko tried not to let get to him. "Like what you see? This boy is only-"
"I will take him," the cloaked figure said in a deep voice.
Malko frowned at first that he was rudely interrupted, then he smirked. Cut me off huh? He kept grinning while speaking up again with Romeo's low price, though it was back up to what it was on previous days, not the half price he was about to mention to the man before being interrupted.
Romeo continued to stare into the shadows of this man's hood, getting more nervous by the second as he could now see the figure's dark yellow eyes. "You will give him to me for free," the figure said in a deep voice.
Romeo's eyes bugged at what this man was saying. Is he trying to fight Malko? What's going-
"I will give him to you for free," Malko agreed with a nod of his head. He turned towards Romeo who spun his way with a shocked look on his face. "Get down from there, you're going with, what's your name?" Malko turned back to the cloaked figure.
"You don't need to know my name," the figure said.
"I don't need to know your name," Malko agreed with a nod of his head. He turned back to the stage, and his forehead wrinkled up in anger at the sight of Romeo just standing there gawking like the other two slaves. Malko reached for his remote to control the slaves with, and he lifted it up while snapping, "Off the stage boy! He's taking you!"
Another of the dark-skinned slavers walked up to Malko. He was one of the few who sailed around with Malko back on their own universe, so the two were at least closer than many of the others in their group. He questioned Malko, "How much did you sell him for?"
Romeo heard the question, and his reaction was to hop forward off the stage. He acted like it was because Malko held up his remote, but really he just wanted to get out as fast as possible. He could see what was coming, and he did not know if this strange man would be able to convince all of the slavers to let him go free, for free. Romeo looked up at the taller man after he landed in front of him. The man looked through the darkness of his hood into Romeo's eyes from only two foot away. The kid wanted to say 'Thanks,' but he did not know what this man wanted. He did not know if he was going to be freed, or if the man would help him find his own comrades. All he knew was that the man scared the crap out of him.
"Wait a second!" Malko shouted, spinning around and glaring towards the cloaked man and his new slave. Others on the road who heard this shout looked their way, and Malko's two slaves along with the one he just gave away got very nervous at Malko's furious expression. "Where are you going?!"
The figure looking down at Romeo turned his head towards Malko. Malko's entire crew was gathered up behind and around him though. They were holding weapons and though looked confused, they also kept threatening auras around them. "I don't know what you just did to me," Malko snapped. Enough of his men convinced him that letting Romeo get taken for free did not make any sense that Malko himself realized he had nothing to back up his decision with in the first place. "But you don't just get to take our product for free!"
Malko lifted the remote and held his finger over a button. "You'll return that kid right now, or I'll kill him myself."
Romeo's breath hitched and his entire body tensed up. He looked down at his cuffs, wishing they were off so he could hold up fists to stop Malko. Then again, if the cuffs were off he would not need to stop him anyway. Romeo's eyes darted to the man with him, wondering what the figure was going to do about this predicament. As he looked up at the cloaked man's hood, he gulped because he could see the sky above them. The gray clouds before were so much darker now, almost black in color.
After Malko's demand, a rumbling sound of thunder filled the air, and Romeo spotted some sparking lightning up in the clouds. Some of the slavers around Malko were getting nervous as they looked up in the sky, then back at the strange cloaked man who never looked up once. "Last chance," Malko growled, ignoring the strange shift in weather around them.
The cloaked figure lifted his right hand and his long cloak sleeve moved with it to cover up what it looked like. Malko's finger pressed, and then he screamed, "AHHH!" Malko's shout of agony made everyone nearby look towards him in confusion. Their eyes opened huge in shock at the sight of Malko grabbing his right wrist with his left hand, blood spurting out of that wrist that his right hand was no longer connected to.
Romeo stared in as much shock as everyone else for a few seconds, then his body filled with dread as he saw blood dripping on the floor on his left. He turned his head slowly and lifted his gaze to his "savior"'s hand, which was holding another, darker hand covered in blood. The figure wrapped his hand around the remote in Malko's removed right hand, and he let Malko's hand drop to the floor.
The others in Malko's group who were trying to help him spun their heads back to look at the man facing them. Some of them rose weapons while others backed away, but everyone was afraid of him. The man crushed the remote in his right hand, an action Romeo figured he could have done easily without first removing Malko's hand. Not that I feel bad for him though, Romeo thought, while looking down at his cuffs and trying to pull his hands apart. He felt twinges of pain in his wrists and grunted from it. Damn, he crushed the remote before turning the cuffs off. Did he know what he was doing, or...
Chssshh
All the men pointing weapons their direction, the two slaves sneaking off while no one was watching them, and all the bystanders brave enough to stay and watch this confrontation, stared in anxious fear at the red blade of light that extended from the left hand of the cloaked figure. As the lightsaber extended, two bolts of lightning sparked across the sky high above and behind him. The cloaked man lifted his lightsaber in his left hand, and the slavers unloaded their firearms at him.
Romeo winced and pulled his head back in fear. After a second though, none of those attacks had hit him. The man next to Romeo had his right hand lifted, and in front of his open palm were a dozen yellow beams and a multitude of bullets. Romeo gawked at the power, and then he leaned back and let out a yelp as the man slashed his lightsaber down at him. Romeo clenched his eyes shut, Clank. Clank.
Romeo's eyes snapped back open and darted to the ground at his feet. Sitting at his feet were his cuffs, slashed apart and smoking. His eyes lifted back to the man next to him full of hope and excitement, but the cloaked man was no longer there.
Romeo saw it through his peripheral vision a second before he heard the screams. He turned and looked towards Malko and his slavers, yelling in agony as all the bullets and beams they shot were redirected into them. The ones who the attacks did not kill were being cut to pieces by the man with the red lightsaber. Who, is this guy? Romeo thought in fear. He took a step back, then froze in terror. He watched as one of the slavers, the short bald alien one, tried running away only to freeze in place.
The alien slaver lifted off the ground while screaming, and then his screams stopped. Even though he continued to writhe around in midair, he could no longer make any sound. He grabbed frantically at his throat like someone else was choking him, even though there were no hands on his neck besides his own.
Rain started to pour down on the city below, washing blood down the main road of the slums. The cloaked figure who freed Romeo stabbed his lightsaber down into Malko as the one-handed man tried crawling away through the bloody mess of bodies and limbs around him. Malko let out a gasp, then his head dropped limply to the road and the lightsaber was removed from his body.
The cloaked man turned around and looked towards the boy who did not dare try to run away. Romeo felt like lifting his hands to create flames to protect himself, but he had no idea how he could guard from attacks he could not even see. The man started walking towards the boy in the pouring rain.
Where did the others go?! I would have stayed and helped them! Romeo clenched his teeth from the cold rain covering his body, but also in fear and regret for not running earlier. What do I do?! Run? Fight?! Or, I mean he did save me!
"Come," the cloaked figure said as he reached Romeo. He did not break stride, and just kept walking past where the kid was standing. Romeo turned his head and watched the man confusedly. "You will follow me," the man said.
I should follow- NO! What if these aren't your thoughts?! He's doing that thing to trick my mind like he did Malko! "Where are, we going?" Romeo questioned.
The cloaked man stopped walking only a few feet past Romeo, but his lips curled up at the question. "I did not think that would work, or I had at least hoped." He turned his head more and looked back at the boy behind him, "As for where, I will decide as we go. No further questions," he finished as Romeo opened his mouth to ask something else. The kid froze with his mouth open, and the man in front of him spoke while gazing at him through the darkness of his hood, "I took you for free, but you are still mine."
Romeo's heart rate sped up along with his breathing. His fists clenched at his sides, but the man in front of him continued, "I am an emissary of darkness. I am a Sith Lord." His right hand rose and Romeo felt a loose grip of something around his neck. "You may think that you are free right now, but the restraints I have put on you are stronger than those cuffs you used to wear."
Romeo's heart ached. I was free! For a minute there, I really felt, free!
"Freedom is an overrated concept," the Sith said to the boy whose face covered in sweat at what he thought was mind-reading. The Sith turned away from the boy and started walking towards the part of the city with the tallest buildings. "What is the purpose of freedom without a cause? Such power inside you, yet you allow yourself to be traded from one owner to another. Like a weakling."
"I'm not weak," Romeo snapped. He lifted his hands and focused, and two balls of purple flames emerged over his palms. The kid grinned that even after months in captivity, he still had the strength to produce flames. In a confident tone he said, "I'm a mage of Fairy Tail." He turned his body sideways and stood in a fighting stance.
The Sith walking away from him did not turn around. He held his right hand to the side and clenched it into a fist, and the purple flames on Romeo's hands vanished. He then opened up that fist and flicked two fingers forward, pulling Romeo across the ground so fast that the kid fell to the floor. The Force Pull did not stop though, dragging Romeo down the street after the Sith who continued to walk at a casual pace.
Romeo bounced and slid across the wet street for five seconds before the mysterious pull on his body vanished. He coughed a few times in pain with his face pointed at the floor, then stopped coughing as he heard the cloaked man speak, "Get up or get dragged." Romeo got to his feet quickly. He was used to such threats from Malko and the others, but all those times he had his cuffs on and could use not having his powers as an excuse for why he was being submissive. This was a hundred times more frustrating.
"Raaa!" Romeo ran towards the man's back, raising his hands again to form more fire on them. Flames sputtered to life even in the rain, then they went out all at once. "RaaAAA!" Romeo created more, but he realized as they appeared on his hands that he was no closer to the Sith than when he started running. His right foot came down again, then it slid a foot back on the floor while he looked down at it.
"Follow from that distance," Romeo's new owner commanded.
Rage filled Romeo. He was free. There was nothing stopping him from running away, except for this single man. I can beat him! Romeo yelled at himself. He threw both of his hands up above his head and started yelling aloud, "I don't know what you want with me, but I'm going home!" Flames appeared on both of his hands, and they grew larger and larger until they connected above his head in one large purple fireball.
"Let me go now, or I'll-ah!" Romeo yelped as he was yanked off his feet. He fell to the ground again and got dragged towards the Sith who had ignored his speech. Romeo tumbled head over heels, and his large attack exploded on the street and surrounded him. He screamed in pain but did not stop getting dragged forward until he was out of the explosion and stopped face-first on the wet street.
"I am a patient man," the cloaked Sith said while Romeo stared at the ground beneath his face. The water running all over his face made it easier for him, because he could pretend like he was not silently sobbing. "But I will show you the real power of the Dark Side if you do not stand up right now and follow me."
Why?! Romeo pressed his palms on the floor beneath him. His head rose with a blank expression on his wet face. Why is this happening to me?! Why am I at the mercy of this man?! Why can't I do anything?!
"It is because you are weak," the Sith said and continued to walk away from the boy. Romeo stood up and stared at the cloaked man's back as he walked away. The kid did not know if he really heard it aloud, or if his mind was playing tricks on him, but he swore he heard the Sith whisper, "for now." A loud crack of thunder happened right after the whisper though, and Romeo shook his head before walking forward himself.
This "Sith Lord" is too strong. I can't beat him. There is nothing I can do but follow... For now.
Present
"Do you think they will come for you?"
Romeo's teeth clenched but his lips pressed tighter together so no one would be able to see how hard he was baring his teeth at them. The Emperor stared straight at the boy, both of them ignoring all the other Sith in the room. "You thought it before haven't you? None will come though. They never do." Romeo's fingers shook but he urged himself not to clench his hands into fists. Don't, give him, the satisfaction! Romeo thought, trying harder every second to prevent himself from shaking in rage.
"They don't even know you're here," the Emperor said while turning away from the child. "Not that it would matter if they did."
"If Natsu knew where I was," Romeo growled. All the Sith looked back towards the boy whose eyes were pointed at the floor. Romeo's eyes lifted up slowly, his irises shaking as his lips curled up, "He would smash through everything you put against him. You wouldn't stand a cha-ack, ack-ag!" Romeo reached his hands up for his neck and grabbed it tightly. The skin around his throat tightened and air became impossible to pass through his trachea. Romeo's shaking eyes bulged and got bloodshot as the soles of his feet lifted off the ground.
"Believe that if you will," the Emperor said to the boy. "But what does it matter when he does not know where you are?" Romeo clenched his eyes in pain and anger. "No one knows you are here. No one even knows you are alive." The Emperor let go of his Force Choke and dropped Romeo to the ground. The kid fell to his hands and knees, coughing up bloody spit on the floor beneath him.
Romeo's bloodshot eyes snapped open, and his dirty palms that were pressed flat to the floor curled up. His fingernails scraped on the floor towards the center of his hands, and he bit down on his bottom lip in fury. How long has it been? How many days? Weeks?! YEARS?!
The Emperor re-faced Darth Bane's Force Ghost in front of him, then spoke while addressing everyone in the room. "The Fire Lord's demise has been a catalyst. Powerful forces are gathering in the Capital. The Ant King makes his move, but he is not the only one. Strong winds are moving in from the east, as High Lord Spriggan expands his territory on the back of that ancient evil. And below the surface dark machinations stir as Satan prepares once again to rise."
"Then is it time, my Lord?" Darth Sidious questioned.
"If the gears are in already motion," Bane continued, "then we must move quickly."
"Heh heh heh," the Emperor chuckled. Romeo's head lifted with fear all over his face. He had been in the service of the Emperor for a long time, but never had he heard the man laugh like that. "Not yet. The pieces are in place, but not everyone is playing yet. "We will watch from a distance and witness the outcome of this war. Whatever it may be."
The Organization
"We will merge them tonight," Xemnas announced. "Jixsan," he lowered his gaze from the highest chair in their round room to one of the lowest ones.
"Sir?" The Nobody that looked a lot like Sanji replied.
"You were Vexen's assistant, you understand the process," the High Lord stated, not really a question as much as an order.
"I'll prepare the machines," Jixsan replied. He was about to form a dark portal to vanish into, but someone spoke up first.
"If I may," everyone turned to the voice and looked to one of the chairs close to the top of the tower, within the top ten tallest seats. "Is it really wise to merge Kairi and Naminé so soon?"
"What are you getting at?" Xigbar asked, leaning forward in his chair. The Nobody on the left side of Xemnas, his chair only a few yards down in height, looked down with his single yellow eye at their newest member. Xigbar had on the same black cloak as everyone else in the room, but he was also wore an eyepatch to cover up the lost eye from a fight years before.
"Kairi," Axel said and lifted his hands up in front of him. "We should use her instead of just letting Naminé have her. Do you really think giving her a heart will change her mind?"
"Axel!" Roxas shouted across the chamber at his best friend. Roxas stood up on his seat only a few meters lower than Axel's, directly across the room from his spiky-red-haired friend.
"Hey, it's the truth," Axel said, not sounding too apologetic.
"I do not see why you think this way," Xemnas began. "As you yourself claimed getting your heart was what changed your mind about our Organization."
Axel frowned and everyone looked back towards him. They had skeptical looks and Axel grumbled under his breath before calling out, "Sure, we could give Kairi's heart to Naminé, make her whole, and get another member. Maybe she'll be cooperative. But if she's not, then we just wasted the best chance we have, of getting Roxas his heart."
This confused most people in the room and Xemnas nodded his head, "Continue," he told Axel who grinned.
"Sora's gonna come for Kairi," Axel stated. "And I'm sure most people here remember what happened last time we fought him." More than half of the room's occupants looked around confusedly, only to be surprised as the majority of their veteran members had pained expressions on their faces. "Oh yeah, he destroyed all of us. I hear he's even stronger now."
"Axel, what are you-" Roxas started shouting at the man with spiky red hair, but Axel cut him off before he could finish.
"Let's use Kairi as a hostage," Axel suggested. "Bring Sora here, make him merge with Roxas, and then we could merge Kairi and Naminé anyway, no matter what promises we make with him beforehand."
"Oi bastard," Jixsan growled up at their newest member. "What is it exactly you're planning on doing to a woman?"
"Cool it," Axel said. "I'm just thinking logically how to get my friend his heart back."
"Damn it Axel! I told you I don't-"
"Roxas," Xemnas said, his voice malevolent and silencing the young man lashing out at Axel at once. They all looked up to their silver haired leader who had his eyes narrowed down to Axel, Rank VIII of the Organization. His eyes then shifted to Roxas, "You have been uncooperative from the start. Perhaps upon acquiring a heart, you will understand."
"You're considering this?" Xigbar asked the man above him.
"I have already decided," Xemnas replied. "Axel's plan is sound. Noxagh," he continued, and looked only a little farther down from Xigbar to where the teenager was sitting. Son Gohan's Nobody looked up at the man speaking to him. "As you have the most power of our members, you will be the one to search out young Sora. Avoid confrontation if possible, but if you do wind up fighting him and win, bring him back here alive."
Noxagh nodded at their leader. "Understood." He paused, and looked uncertain about whether or not he should continue. Noxagh's curiosity won over in the end though and he started, "I saw your Heartless in Pyraxas." Instantly, everyone in the room tensed up and looked towards Noxagh in surprise, then to the top of the room where Xemnas was staring back down into the boy's eyes. Xigbar sat on the second highest chair in the chamber, and the man with an eyepatch chuckled darkly which made Noxagh turn his attention from the boss to the second in command.
Xigbar looked up at Xemnas and muttered something quietly with a smirk on his face. Xemnas nodded, while the boy who brought up the topic in the first place was looking increasingly irritated.
"What?" Noxagh asked. Xemnas looked down into the boy's eyes, and Noxagh frowned at the gaze. He closed his mouth, hesitated, then snapped it back open, "Why do you not want us searching for your Somebody like the others?"
Almost everyone in the room lifted their gazes to their leader, intrigue in their eyes. Manix leaned back in her seat, surprised that the kid would speak out like that to their leader. Larxene bared her teeth at the short boy who sat a seat above her even though she had been in the Organization for much longer. Bronxi leaned forward in her tall white chair and put her elbows on her knees and hands together above them to rest her chin on thoughtfully. A few seats higher than Noxagh, and even higher than Axel, a figure with his hood up shadowing his face stayed silent and did not look away from Noxagh to their leader. Jixsan was looking up at Xemnas's face, but he caught a glimpse of Xoupps' shadowed over face and the dark frown on it that gave him chills. Jixsan then looked back to Xemnas, though in the corners of his eyes, like in the corners of Manix and Bronxi's, he kept Noxagh in sight.
"My Somebody," Xemnas began. His deep voice echoed around the chamber and everyone looked towards him. "Is not on this world," he continued. "His Heartless, who goes by the moniker Ansem, does not share the Organization's values. That is all you need to know."
Noxagh frowned as Xemnas's response only rose more questions. He nodded at the leader of the Organization though and became quiet. The room started to clear out with Organization members disappearing into black portals one by one. Noxagh stayed where he was sitting for a little longer than most however. That girl, Kairi, she said she recognized me. The others too, they all looked at me with recognition in their eyes. I knew some of them too, at least I know them from their Nobodies. Could they, know, who I am? "Gohan"… Who, was I?
A spiky-haired man not much farther up in the room than Noxagh stood up and stretched his arms above his head. His eyes focused down on the black haired Nobody kid for a minute, but as Noxagh lifted his gaze Axel looked away pretending like he was never watching at all. Axel yawned, then snapped his fingers and created a portal from right beneath his feet that rose up above his head and enveloped him in darkness. Axel vanished and appeared in a dark void, a passageway to wherever he wished. At the moment though, all he wanted was to stay there.
Axel kept smirking just like he had when he suggested keeping Kairi as a bargaining chip to Xemnas. He had a menacing look on his face, and he chuckled darkly as a black portal rose out of the floor of his dark realm a few feet behind him. "Sold it pretty well didn't I?"
"Sold it?" Roxas muttered in a dark voice. "It sounded like you were serious again. Like back at the Dread Fort," Roxas sighed after speaking, then shook his head with a small smile growing on his face. "I don't know how you make it so believable."
"What are you talking about?" Axel said, spinning and grinning down at his slightly shorter best friend. "Your acting wasn't so bad yourself. Heh, could be better though," Axel added at the end, making an annoyed look come to Roxas's face.
Roxas opened his mouth to yell, 'What's that supposed to mean?!' but he stopped himself short. He froze, and his mouth closed as a dark expression came to his face. "I can't believe he let her get captured," Roxas said in a low growl. Axel looked at his friends eyes that were pointed straight at the black floor of this realm. "After I told him what they were making me do, after I told him how they were doing it! What is Sora doing?"
Axel sighed to himself, then hummed loudly before saying, "I didn't see Kairi with him back at the Dread Fort. My guess is Sora wasn't even with her when she got taken." Axel shrugged his shoulders, but Roxas just frowned deeper at that explanation.
"In that case, it's all the more important we stall for as long as possible," Roxas whispered. "Sora promised to help me. He promised to save Naminé. I can't let him down."
"Not to mention just saving her 'cause it's Kairi," Axel mentioned. "I did some pretty bad stuff to her back in the day, so I want to make up for that to her. Hope she forgives me." Axel chuckled darkly a few times, before muttering, "It's not going to be easy. Most of the members don't know Sora, they won't get why we're keeping Kairi alive instead of merging her. If they try anything-"
"We'll stop them," Roxas growled. He twisted his mouth into a menacing smirk like Axel had inside the chamber, and he continued, "Kairi's my chance to get Sora, and I'll make sure no one puts a hand on my chance, to become…" Axel crossed his arms and looked skeptically down at the boy with golden blond hair whose attempt at a menacing smirk dropped into an annoyed scowl.
"How about you leave the bad guy act up to me?" Axel suggested. "Just use the angle that you're protecting Kairi because you're a good guy, since that would be a lot more believable- Ey!" Axel jumped back as Roxas took a swing at him. The taller man started laughing and Roxas chased after him in the dark voice. Roxas lifted his right hand and a flash of light illuminated the darkness, and Axel who was facing away as he ran smirked at that flash of light. He felt the swing coming from his best friend, and he squatted fast to allow the blade to swipe right over his body. As he dropped, he slammed his own left arm out to the side so that it surrounded in light too, and then once Roxas's blade was fully past the top of his body, he twisted his feet and spun his body in a one-eighty degree turn to slam his fiery red Keyblade into his friend's stomach.
As Axel swiped though, a second flash of light illuminated in front of Roxas's free hand, and the spikier-haired taller man's attack was blocked. The two pressed against each other for a second, leaning in with competitive smirks on their faces. The Nobody Keybearers then pushed hard into each other and flew back ten feet each from where their weapons were just pressed together. They skid across the black floor, and when they stopped, their smirks disappeared. As competitive as the two were, they were not fighting for the fun of it. This was training. They were two men in an Organization of powerful fighters, some who were more powerful than the two of them combined. If they wanted to succeed, if they wanted to save anyone, they had to get stronger. So that is exactly what they planned to do.
A/N Hope you enjoyed! This chapter we jump around a little to see Romeo and a flashback of how he came to be a slave of the Emperor. We also get a look at Roxas and Axel saving Kairi at the Organization HQ. A lot is going on all over the world! What will happen next? Quick list then reviews:
Star Wars: Sith, Jedi, The Emperor, Sidious, Bane, Dark Side, Force
Kingdom Hearts: Roxas, Sora, Kairi, Riku, Axel, Naminé, Xigbar, Xemnas, Ansem, Heartless, Nobody, Vexen
Fairy Tail: Romeo, Natsu, Lily, Gray, Spriggan (Zeref)
Hunter x Hunter: Leol, Meruem
Game of Thrones: Malko
Akame ga Kill: Mine
One Piece: Chopper, Hancock
Avatar the Last Airbender: Sozin
Limit-Breaking chapter 71 . Nov 20
I have to say this was a pretty enjoy chapter and i wonder how it will go with them declaring war. Also the way everybody was just talking about who gets the best seats was pretty enjoyable. And poor yamcha no matter what fanfic he is in he is always consider weak. When he actually can destroy a planet and is pretty powerful. If anything at the end of the cell games that is his strongest. Besides that poor tien i still find it hard to believe that he is dead. I mean if he is controlled by pitou than he is dead for sure, But still if anthing he was the stongest human in dbz. The guy train everyday mostly like goku and piccolo instead of getting softer over the years even akira toriyama said thats all he does so it's sad to see him become that. Hopefully something can be done to save him. Also please never bring the dragon balls into this story it will all go down hill if they existed in this world. If you bring them than make sure to have gohan or vegeta keeping watch over them. Also fuuny thing you did with laxus and najenda about looking down on others. The way you portrayed him was funny to be honest and interesting to see. Last but not least i look forward to the next chapter and heres to hoping for war and ssj4 or ultra instinct nahh to OP, just ssj4 XD
Mustang really wanted a seat at that table XD. Glad you liked the chapter! Yamcha is weak compared to the other DBZ characters, but most of the people at the Summit at least think he's a badass. Mustang thought he had some epic plans while really he was just thinking about baseball. Only the Pao people who know all of Yamcha's more impressive friends, and Daenerys who does not seem to like him, don't think he's amazing. TIEN! ;(, sure we'll see what happened to him later on. No mention of Dragon Balls yet, and no Namekians either, so I think you're safe... for now! (Who knows? No spoilers). Well, thanks for reviewing and I hope you enjoyed the latest chapters!
joebob323 chapter 72 . Nov 20
Okay, You just HAD to leave it off on a cliffhanger, huh? All I can say is that I am anxiously waiting for the next chapter, for the Saiyan King's intro, the fight between Merum and Goku, and much more!
Left you on a cliffhanger, then derailed the plot with this chapter! Mwahaha! Those things you're waiting for are coming up fast, so thanks for reading and hope you're ready!
cyber chapter 72 . 21h ago
Me again(you can call me cyber), and you where on fire these days, I see we have mine who was there during the first day on nexus, a prison break(which failed and cause the death a some main characters), I see zeref's first appreance along with spriggan 12, sora and goku heading to mount vegeta. We also get to see whats with the rng, I here that they have two wars with the underlords and the cooperative. I also see that dash discovered were jack jack is, finally meruem is ready to challenge the saiyan king, cant wait to see more, have a good day.
Thanks cyber! So much important stuff happening this chapter around the world, it's gotta be leading up to something big! Glad you're enjoying, and thanks for the reviews! Thanks again everyone for reading, faving, following, and reviewing this story! 'Till next time!