A/N Short chapter right here. It was originally supposed to be a part of the last one, but it took me a little longer to write this one than the last one even though the last was longer. Either way, I have 14.4 finished already and I'm going to post that later today, but I just got back from the Club at 6am in Tokyo, (the trains don't run from midnight to 6 so if you're at the club after midnight you kinda gotta stay all night), but I had this chapter ready and figured I'd post it before I finally went to bed. When I get up I'll start editing the next chapter, and I'll try to get that up within the next 12 hours. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
-Disclaimer: I still don't own any of the media I received my characters and occasionally settings from. None are mine, so don't sue me. 3
Nexus HWR 14.3 Fear:
3rd Level of Hell
In the Third Level of Hell, that is the third layer down from the surface, a young man with black hair and a face full of freckles walked down a bumpy rocky path splitting some lava fields. Yukio Okumura has his arms at his sides and kept his expression straight as he walked, though his eyes were not covered by glasses and were burning bright blue.
Stay calm, Yukio thought as he continued to move straight forward. He saw the pentagram he was walking towards just ahead, and he spotted a group of five demons standing in the area flash white for a second before vanishing to another level of Hell. Two more layers. I have to take the paths farther from center, so only one at a time, but there would be too many eyes on me over there. Even here, Yukio's bright blue eyes darted to the sides to check for prying demons' eyes. All the demon robots he glared at though spun back around and lifted up their pitchforks to keep stabbing evil robots in the lava fields, acting like they were not just watching the son of Satan walking by them.
The Third Level of Hell was also known as Robot Hell, packed with sentient robots that had to go somewhere when they died. Yukio kept marching forward without looking distressed, though he was getting more worried with every demon that looked his way. How long do I have? Do I start running? What if they already know but are letting me keep this up because I'm not acting suspicious? I couldn't make it through the next two levels by sprinting, then out through the exact gate I need to escape into to have a chance on the surface. Not with demons chasing me the entire time.
Yukio reached a longer and wider section of red rocky ground covered in bumps and spiky stalagmites. He looked to his left and stopped walking for a second, staring at a large robot man whose arms and legs were chained out to the sides attached to rock pillars. Its head was bowed, while demons on its sides stabbed at it with pitchforks that ripped through its steel body, as the chains pulled apart and started ripping the robot at the joints. Weird, I didn't think the Pacifista would be down here. Did they start creating some that had sentience? Yukio stared at the tortured form of Bartholomew Kuma in mild confusion but refocused when he spotted two figures walking towards him, directly in his path between him and the portal-elevator.
"Pleeaaaseee! Please please please please!"
"Shut up!" The Robot Devil yelled, flames rising around him. The red-steel demonic robot with horns sticking off the top of his head darted a glare at the silver robot next to him. "You are here to be punished Bender, not to punish others!"
"But I know I would be a great robot demon," Bender argued in a pleading voice. "Pleeaseee? Please please please pleaaassseee!"
The Robot Devil snarled, then had a thought, He's already torturing me. The Robot Devil! How good of a demon could he become… The red robot froze in place while staring forward with widening eyes. The gears in his head skipped a notch at the sight of the blue-eyed boy only ten yards in front of them and closing.
Yukio kept a straight expression as he thought, Move move move! The son of Satan wouldn't go around other beings. It would look too strange to move aside for them! He kept walking and the Robot Devil stepped aside, bowing its head a bit. Yukio felt a little relieved, then he bit down hard in frustration as the silver robot just turned and looked at him funny. "And who are you supposed to be?" Bender asked.
"Bender!" Robot Devil shouted. "Move aside for the Prince of Hell!"
"This guy's a prince?" Bender asked while Yukio stopped in front of him. "That means you've got some valuables right? I mean, you want to be friends?" Bender ran up on Yukio's side and stretched an arm around his back to rest on the opposite shoulder. "You should bring me back to your palace to hang out best buddy."
"Get your hand off me," Yukio said in a dark voice. He turned his head and glared into Bender's white eyes with his own the flared brighter blue than ever. "You piece of scrap metal," Yukio spat at him, his teeth sharpened when his lips pulled apart to speak.
"Ooh scary," Bender let go and eased back but his voice sounded sarcastic.
Bender moved to the side after saying it, but Yukio froze where he was instead of moving past him. He moved! Go! Yukio's head turned towards the robot who moved to the opposite side as the Robot Devil. Yukio's lips curled down and his teeth bared harder at that sarcastic tone he heard in Bender's voice. What am I doing?! Yukio screamed at himself, his eyes opening wide and his head snapping back straight forward. He started taking quick steps, turning into a jog while the robots behind him looked after him in confusion.
"What's up his butt?" Bender asked.
The Robot Devil hummed and then called out, "Wait!" Yukio froze where he was in mid-jog. "If I may inquire," the Robot Devil began as he walked towards Yukio's frozen form. "What you are doing up here, Demon King of Nexus, Okumura Yukio? Don't you have duties torturing tormented souls right now?"
I shouldn't have moved any faster. I should have left earlier! Yukio bit down hard and closed his eyes. They stopped guarding me weeks ago. I figured they were still watching me at all times, but no matter how far I went they still never said anything. Yet I didn't run, Yukio started turning back and glared at the robots behind him with shaky eyes, eyes that opened much wider as he stared right between the two of them. Yukio took a step backwards, his mouth opening and sweat forming on the sides of his face. He spun back to the pentagrams behind him and stared closely at them, How long would it take to run there? He'd be right behind me! Damn it! I need to leave. I need to get out of this place.
"Brother," a voice said behind him, and the two robots turned their heads to see a figure standing right behind them. He walked in between the two, and this time Bender did not make a remark as he saw and recognized who this figure was. All of the other demons nearby got to torturing as hard as they could, and even the tortured robots started screaming in worse agony to prove that they were being tortured in the worst ways imaginable and could not get it any worse.
"Lord Lucifer," the Robot Devil said with a bow of his head. "You grace me with your presence here in Robot Hell."
Lucifer ignored the red robot with horns and kept walking for a few more steps before stopping and speaking to Yukio's back. "What are you doing?" Lucifer asked.
"No one was guarding me," Yukio said. The two robots nearest to him who were within earshot looked at the young man in surprise, and their eyes widened more as Yukio continued, "Of course I would try to escape."
"He was fleeing?" The Robot Devil asked. "It is a good thing I stopped him then-"
"I was watching him," Lucifer said, "do not give yourself any credit." The Robot Devil closed his mouth fast and eased away from the Demon King of Light, the strongest of the Demon Kings, second in command of all of Hell, and the High Lord on the surface of Nexus.
Bender looked over at the guy he had gotten in the way of and thought about what the teen said to him. He didn't seem very demonic to me, Bender thought, realizing why that was as the teen started turning back with shaking blue eyes.
"I thought you were watching me," Yukio said.
"Did you?" Lucifer asked. "But you fled because no one was guarding you, did you not?"
"It was worth a shot," Yukio said, still without turning anything other than his head like at any second he might start sprinting for the portal. His knees started to bend, but then Lucifer asked something that made his breath catch in his throat and his body tense up.
"We have not been guarding you for twenty days now," Lucifer said. "At any time, you could have attempted to run. But for twenty days, you continued your duties as a Demon King."
Yukio's face twitched, and his knees unbent as he thought of what he did for those twenty days straight. "I," Yukio whispered. "I caught myself, smiling," Yukio said, turning his body now to face Lucifer while glaring furiously at him. "As I tortured another soul, I was smirking. That's why I decided I needed to get out. It's this place! It's doing things to me!"
"Is it?" Lucifer asked, and Yukio took a step back at the innocent question from the other demon. "You've been running for a long time, brother," Lucifer said. "But what are you running from? Myself? Father? Look deep within yourself and tell me your answer."
FD + 178
I have to keep going. It's not far enough, Yukio flew across the sky in a jet for one with the thrusters on full. He flew as fast as the sleek plane would allow, and he was breathing so fast that his breath even started fogging up the glass of the jet's cockpit. He reached up and wiped away the foggy glass quickly, then he checked his navigation and saw the dot he had plugged in getting closer to him. This is the other side of the world. Not even Aebrith, it's not even like it's on the same planet considering how big this place is. I've traveled the circumference of the Earth three times already, and I'm almost there.
Yukio Okumura spotted something that made his eyes go wide under his glasses, and he tapped the fuel gauge above his instruments. It had just started flashing red, and the arrow was shaking over the bottom line with an 'E' for empty next to it. Damn, I can't make it to the other side of the world on this remaining fuel. I'll have to fill up again, but I'm all out of extra. Need a city or something. Check the radar. Yukio started searching out large energy signatures which would give him a notion as to where nearby settlements would be. He did this because of the necessity for more fuel, but also because he needed anything to distract him from his thoughts.
They keep finding me. They find me no matter where I go. I can't hide, I can't run like this anymore! Yukio panicked and he was not seeing any large energy signatures within a few hundred miles of his plane on his map. He grimaced and looked around outside the glass, then he spun to the right and his eyes opened wide at something he had almost flown right past. What the… He looked back at his instruments but he did not see any energy signature coming from over there. He turned his plane towards it anyway though and slowed down as he decreased altitude. Yukio flew down to a leveled field for over fifty miles leading towards the outskirts of that city in the distance. My tech is advanced, very advanced, but it can't detect that city at all. Is there a barrier? Is the person who made that barrier smart enough to block out my instruments? If so, then could he keep out demons as well… but if he can, would I, even be able to…
Yukio landed his plane outside of the city still a good dozen miles outside of it. He looked around and spotted two roads coming out from the west side where he had approached from, as well as the southern side where there was also a line of vehicles and people trying to go in. As Yukio came to a stop, he noticed between those two roads there was a rounded wall that was so translucent it was almost transparent. From a distance he thought he could see straight through, but there was a thin barrier that he could see with the naked eye. In there. It might not be the opposite side of the world exactly, but maybe they would have expected that anyway and are waiting for me there already. I won't walk into another trap of the Illuminati. I won't let Lucifer catch me. "There is nowhere to run, little brother. You, and Rin, will join us sooner or later." "Father won the War of the Satans, and now all of Hell follows his command. If he wants you to join him, there is nowhere in the physical realm you can hide…"
Yukio opened the cockpit of his jet and climbed up on the front of it. He lifted a pair of binoculars and looked into the distance at the city, checking out the inside of it with interest. He rose the binoculars and focused on the giant floating island above all the buildings. As he looked beneath the island, he spotted people hanging from it by ropes. At first he imagined the worst, then he peered closer and saw those people were hanging there around the waists, using chisels and hammers to carve beautiful designs into the rocky bottom. What a city. There are more buildings above it too, but that looked more like a government area than a normal city. There were barracks, old-fashioned ancient-type buildings with marble pillars, nothing like the modern skyscrapers they've got down here. Yukio let out an amazed whistle as he refocused on the city below. Not even half a year, and this place looks amazing!
Five Hours Later
"Welcome new citizens, to the safest haven in the world, Metropolis." Yukio sat in a huge theater that was packed to the brim of all the people who were allowed into the city as new residents today. There was a powerpoint presentation going on at the bottom of the theater that had several thousand seats in it, and there was a woman in a Marine uniform on stage with an earpiece and microphone on her face. She spoke into the mic and her voice came out through the room silencing all the talking new residents, and making a teenage boy who recently turned sixteen years old focus intently on her. "Here in Metropolis there are a variety of jobs open for new residents to apply for. Although this is a place you can come to be safe from the monsters and horrors of the outside world of Nexus, it is still the capital city of an advanced nation, the New Earth Government, or NEG for short."
NEG? I've never heard of it over on Aebrith, but this world is huge. Maybe it will spread there one day. Depends on how strong they are. Yukio hummed as the slide changed and he spotted a huge list of jobs that went down the screen in two columns. The Marine woman in an officer's coat pointed a red laser-pointer at the screen and started listing off some of the jobs and how to apply for them. Demon-hunter. Makes sense that they'd need people in that field. Not everyone can see many of the supernatural things of this world. There's an asterisk next to it, so I'll have to figure out what that means, but there are also three of those symbols for Credits next to it instead of one or two like most of the others.
"As residents here, most of you will have your own choice of whether you would like to live in apartments or in your own houses. You may think that of course you'd rather live in your own house, but I've heard many people enjoy living closer to the center of the city where the tallest apartment high-rises are. A shorter commute to work doesn't hurt anyone, and if you do apply for your own house, there will be a waiting period where you'll have to stay in an apartment anyway while the new houses are built." The Marine woman flipped the slide and a lot of people started laughing, and she chuckled as well. The middle-aged woman with long blonde hair tied into a ponytail said while the room read the screen, "Of course, it won't take long for your houses to be built with the combined construction technology of thousands of worlds, giving us equipment that can have your house built in hours, and an entire neighborhood finished in only a couple of days."
Yukio started thinking to himself whether he wanted to go with an apartment or a house, and he listened in to the conversations of a few families around him who were having quiet discussions with each other. This place sounds amazing, Yukio thought, then he frowned as the next screen popped up and many people in the room started murmuring. "Now, I now this may upset some of you, but this is not the outside world anymore. You don't need your weapons, and you don't need powers. Those of you who were marked at the gate as enhanced-powered have already been told this, but you will not have access to your powers while inside Metropolis unless you enlist in one of the armed forces of the NEG."
"What do you mean by that?" Someone called out.
"How can you restrict my powers?" Another man yelled out.
"After this information session, those of you who were marked at the gate must make your decision. If you do not believe you can handle not having your powers, but you also do not wish to join our military, then you will be required to leave Metropolis tonight." The Marine woman had no room in her voice for argument, saying that firmly and then glaring over at the man who called that second question to her. "If you accept the loss of your powers however, the NEG's great scientist, Dr. Vegapunk, has created a device that will be a limiter on your abilities. You will have all the rights of your fellow citizens, but you must wear this limiter in order for us to keep control of our city and to make those without powers feel safe in a city where they are surrounded by their peers."
Most of the room started calling out in agreement with this, and Yukio looked around in surprise at their calls and shouts. He spotted some other people glancing around in amazement as well, and he spotted a group of ninjas get out of their seats over on his right and start making for the exit. The female Marine watched them leave without saying a word, then she continued to everyone who remained in the theater. Yukio hummed to himself as the room settled down again. Everyone in here is alright with this? Most of them don't care because it doesn't affect them, but though I was not marked, I do not like the idea that only the government will have power while the citizens remain defenseless below. On this world though, perhaps that is unavoidable. Hmm, but if I show my abilities while working as a demon-hunter, will they require me to wear one as well if I don't join their military? I don't like it, but perhaps that asterisk next to the job means that I won't have to wear whatever that limiter thing is.
The next screen popped up while Yukio was deep in thought, and he had only half-heard what the Marine giving the presentation had just said. The slide had a title at the top though for people who had not been listening closely, and Yukio's entire body tensed up as he stared at it. "The High Council of the NEG. The leaders of this nation live on the Upper City on the island above us right now. They are the ones who built this city and who will protect you all from the dangers of the outside world."
"Superman!"
"Tetsuo!"
Yukio heard a bunch of cheers as people called out heroes who had saved them before on Nexus. He had had experiences just like many of them, where a powerful figure would fly in out of nowhere and save them from the monsters rampaging over Nexus. Yukio even recognized the one who had 'Superman' written beneath his picture, but he did not smile at the sight of a hero who had saved him once before. Instead, Yukio stared at a picture lower down than many of the others. While the Marine started talking about Tetsuo and how he created the island above as well as his reasons for starting the city of Metropolis, Yukio could not stop staring at the picture of a figure with green hair that was darker on the outsides and got brighter green and spiked up in the middle. I need to get out of here, Yukio thought in panic.
He did not shoot out of his seat after having the thought. If I get up after seeing those faces, I'll raise suspicion about me. What if the Marines think I'm getting up because of that Fleet Admiral Akainu guy? They might want to question why I wouldn't want to stay after seeing their leaders, and they could report what I tell them to Amaimon. Amaimon must be looking for me, as well… No, no no, wait, Yukio stared at the screen closer and started thinking harder about what he was looking at. How would he have risen that far through the government in such a short time? A High Council member, he must have been here for a while. Before the end of the War of the Satans? Maybe, but maybe not. Maybe Satan sent him out here after his victory… or maybe Amaimon never took part in the war at all.
It's too much of a coincidence, Yukio thought with a shake of his head. Unless, unless! His eyes opened huge behind his glasses. Unless Amaimon's thinking the same thing I am. Unless, he thinks that behind this barrier Satan will never find him! Is that it? Is he hiding here from Satan, just like me? Just like… Yukio's eyes returned to their normal size and he stared at the screen ahead of him with a blank stare. Am I going to stay in this place? Hiding from Satan? Yukio's lips curled down at the corners. If Amaimon can hide here, if that's really what he's doing, then they probably won't find me. Yukio's lips dipped even farther down. Lucifer won't come after me any longer? And I, won't learn anything else, about why my eyes… why they burn blue? I don't need to know! I don't. I don't want to. I'm not a demon. Rin was always, Father Fujimoto knew it too, that's why he made me into an exorcist, because unlike Rin I'm not! But, but my eyes… If I really am a demon, if I am really becoming Satan's son, maybe Hell is- Yukio's eyes opened huge and he started shaking in his seat. What am I thinking? Wh-what- This is the place to hide! He shouted it firmly in his head and then grabbed his thighs tightly with his hands, his nails digging into his skin as he stared forward at the screen in fear. I need a different job though. Being a demon-hunter might get Amaimon to find me, and what if he really is working with Satan and not hiding? I should just lay low. Pick a new job. I was already a teacher, so I don't need school anymore. I should help people even if I'm not a demon-hunter, but I doubt the cops will give a fifteen year old a job. Lawyer? Who's going to want to hire me? Well, I guess if I start my own firm and win a few cases, word of mouth will spread. Besides, I look older than I am. I can do this. I can, hide here. I can avoid the Illuminati, and Lucifer, and Satan. I have to! If Lucifer finds me again… I'm afraid, I won't know what…
Present
"What am I running from?" Yukio asked the Demon King of Light in front of him. Yukio could feel the heat in his eyes, and the blue flames in his eyes got brighter as he asked the question which made his entire vision tint blue. "I'm, running," Yukio breathed out the words, then he took in a deep breath and released, "from myself."
"Why?" Lucifer questioned.
"Because I like it," Yukio whispered, then his eyes bugged out and he took a step backwards. Lucifer did not look at him in a horrified way though like the expression that just formed on Yukio's face. Instead, Lucifer nodded at him in an understanding way. Yukio started shivering and he took another step backwards from Lucifer.
"Why are you afraid?" Lucifer asked.
"'Afraid?' No, no I'm terrified. I'm terrified of myself," Yukio whispered, but his voice started getting louder as his eyes that had darted to the floor started raising back up and burning bright. "Because the truth is, I'm starting to like it..." The corners of Yukio's lips curled up even as he shook there in fear. "I was torturing a soul, and I realized I was smiling! But, I didn't just start smiling with that soul and realized it as soon as I was doing it. I had been smiling for hours! I had been laughing, chuckling to myself as they screamed!" Yukio started taking hard, panting breaths, but Lucifer did not say anything against what he just said. "If I had told anyone else that, they would call me a psychopath. They'd call me crazy, and they'd call me crazier because I don't feel bad about it. I'm terrified that I don't feel bad about it, but no one scolds me or tells me what I'm doing is wrong."
"That's because what you're doing is not wrong," Lucifer said. "You are a demon. You have always been, a demon." Yukio stared into Lucifer's eyes as the demon took a step towards his younger brother who was the same height as him, and they had similar body sizes. Lucifer's face was pretty bland-looking, light-skinned and normal with a few freckles just like Yukio. He had longer hair, but his was blond instead of dark brown like Yukio's. "Torturing the souls of the damned is a task that Father gave you because he knew it would help you to realize your true nature."
"I'm not a demon," Yukio snapped. "I'm a human!" The robots behind Lucifer looked surprised at that shout, and Yukio just bit down harder as their reactions meant that he did not even look human anymore. He did not notice the two flaming blue horns sticking out of his hair, or the fact that his lips had curled farther out than normal humans' mouths could, so the corners of them were close to his ears when he had been smirking. "And I shouldn't be torturing anyone! I can't do it!" Yukio yelled, but the tone of his shout told everyone that he was screaming that solely at himself.
"You're the son of Satan, brother," Lucifer said. "You can do whatever you like."
Yukio's eyes opened wide again and he stood there frozen still for a few moments. Whatever, I like? Yukio thought. He turned his head to Lucifer's left and a smirk spread from ear to ear. The silver robot who mocked him sarcastically earlier gulped, while Yukio lifted a finger and pointed at his chest. "I want to torture that robot next. Have it brought to my castle."
The Robot Devil turned to Bender then back to the Princes of Hell. "Bender, is a robot," he began. "And in the Third Level where he-"
"That one too," Yukio said with a nod towards the red robot that stopped speaking mid-sentence.
"Huh?" Robot Devil asked, leaning back and wondering if he heard correctly.
"Whatever you desire," Lucifer replied when Yukio looked at him expectantly as if asking if what he just said was not possible. Yukio looked surprised by that response, then he grinned even more as the Demon King of Light turned around. Lucifer turned to the Robot Devil and Bender who were both backing up now, and he lifted his left hand. His palm flashed white and the robots screamed, then as the flash went away Yukio could not see either of them anymore. "They are in your castle. Please return there at once, brother."
Yukio looked over his shoulder towards the portal he could use to go farther up in Hell. Then he looked at Lucifer who just teleported some souls down more than half of Hell without using any of the conventional methods. "Alright," Yukio replied, accepting the inevitability that he had to go back. Once he had accepted that though, he thought of what he was going to do next, and that made him grin wide again. His sharp teeth bared and his fists clenched at his sides while the corners of his lips pulled farther up. His body covered fully in blue flames, as he thought, I've got some robots to torture.
A/N Hope you enjoyed. Short chapter this time, with some more Yukio in it who we've only seen a few times so far in Heroes Will Rise. We saw him waking up in Hell as the new Demon King of Nexus, and we saw him during the point when the entire planet was shaking and Satan had him watch the turning point, and probably watched as Satan tried taking over Meruem's body too... But now we see that Yukio is not as much the prisoner Rin thinks he is, as Yukio's time in Hell has been affecting him. We'll see if he's able to shake the demonic hold on him, or if he gets even worse... later on Nexus! As for now, review responses: (Also, the Robot Devil and Bender are both from Futurama. I don't own any of those other characters either too).
Limit-Breaking chapter 98 . Apr 29
Wow poor cloud he has gone through some shit, i never really played his game but i do plan on playing the remastered version of it when it comes out. Also the entire time i was wondering who the hell is rambo and after reading the chapter and searching him up i died of laughter thinking of a person like that working together with mario, gon and the others. I guess that's because they all look so different so i can't really tell if they all look realistic in the world of nexus or their normal selves.
Also just curious but when can we see android 17 cause you kinda made it weird saying he is a high lord, so does he work for the king, does he own a certain land. Show us a chapter about android 17 already, i want to know what exactly he is doing especially if he is helping the resistance or is against them.
Cloud's got it rough, as a lot of characters here on Aebrith do. I'm surprised you had never heard of Rambo before, as I feel like that's just such a classic movie. I loved all of the Rambo movies, and I feel like he's such a badass that even without powers, on a team with those others he still kicked some major ass! Still no sign of Android 17, but we know he's here somewhere. Won't spoil when he'll show up or what he's up too, but I will tell you that he's showing up within the next (3) Full chapters (15-17). Thanks for the review!
flo463 chapter 98 . May 1
Kamina and Yoko are back! It remains to be seen whether they will succeed in changing Simon's state of mind, given the memorable defeat they have suffered and unless there is a miracle to reverse the situation, I doubt it.
this battle was truly epic ! the rebels being totally outclassed by the power of the organization
Danmachi ! I love this universe (I'm French and I buy all the novels of their release )
I hope that we shall see Bell, Hestia and the others even if I think that their capacities are not very useful during the battles, the gods even less!
Deeply that we return to the main group, to see if my theories on Kirito are confirmed
No clues yet as to how Yoko and Kamina are connected to Lagann Island and Simon's crew, though there's def going to be a connection there. Glad you enjoyed the battle and could see that it was outmatched despite how strong Delta Squad was. Danmachi is awesome, though I'm surprised you've read it as not many people have. Cool that you caught it though, as Lili had shown up once before with Gajeel's second appearance in Heroes Will Rise, but she's the only one so far. Then again, in regular Nexus I had some Danmachi characters show up in Metropolis like Bete Loga and Tiona, as well as Finn and Tione. We'll see if any others show up in the next chapters of Nexus, Heroes Will Rise! The main group will become the focus once again as chapter 15 starts, so still a few more parts before we get to see what Kirito's plans for training will be. Thanks for reviewing, thanks everyone for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed! 'Till next time!