Nexus HWR 15.0 The New Boss:

In the farthest reaches to the south in Aebrith, a large four-wheel vehicle trudged across the Dead Wastes. The truck's wheels were over fifty feet tall and had spikes coming out of them that left a long upturned trail in the already desolate landscape. The black truck the wheels were carrying was four times as tall as the wheels were. It looked like a truck from the outside, but inside it was a three story house where the inhabitants could barely tell they were inside a vehicle.

The front of the truck had a huge tinted windshield across it. A cockpit stood in place of the normal front seats. The captain's chair, along with the rest of the seats in the cockpit, was empty at the moment. The vehicle Cartman returned to them had a few more upgrades than they initially thought, (which Usopp and Franky took credit for considering they made the wish). The higher-tech, magically-created vehicle Cartman gave them was equipped with enhanced auto-pilot which kept it moving and navigating despite the absence of a crew.

The usual driver, along with the rest of the truck's inhabitants, were gathered inside on the first floor right above the spinning wheels. The bedrooms were scattered around all three floors, but the first also had a luxury living room with a nice fireplace, fancy couches and chairs, soft fur rugs, and a chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

Dinner had finished and everyone met in the living room after. Unlike the normal party-atmosphere they had during their feasts, dinner was pretty quiet. They still ate a lot, of course, but the sound of chewing was all to be heard in the dining room during the meal. Now they were sitting in a circle around in the living room with a similar silence.

Most of the original crew who got off the Thousand Sunny onto Aebrith were there. Ben sat on a recliner chair in the corner of the room near the fireplace. Leaning against the wall to Ben's left side was Riku, then Sora, and Luffy leaning next to him. Then there was a couch crossing a different corner with Juvia, Nami, and Robin on it. Sanji stood next to it, tapping his foot anxiously on the ground since he couldn't smoke in there without pissing everyone off. The chef stood in front of the door leading into the hallway, and past him the circle curved around the other half of the living room. Usopp and Franky were sitting on chairs in the opposite corner of the room as Ben. There was another couch next to them that Dash, Timmy, and Stan were on. Kirito, Natsu, and Gray leaned on the wall opposite Luffy, Sora, and Riku, while Rin nervously shifted his weight from one foot to the other next to the fireplace on the side opposite Ben, thinking about how he'd rather be resting in his room like Kuro.

"Where's Goku?" Nami whispered to her left.

Robin leaned in a little and whispered, "I believe he is training."

Nami frowned a little. They all agreed to have this meeting after dinner, though now that she thought back she realized that Goku never spoke up. Something happened after he left us. He, has a purpose now.

"So," Kirito started up since everyone was being quiet. "What do we do now?"

No one spoke up right away. They each thought on their own what they thought they wanted to do. For many of them, they did not know what it was. "We found Zoro," Nami started. "Now that we know where he is, we could go get him."

"He's on the opposite side of the continent," Usopp countered with a deep frown. "It would take weeks at the speed we're going-"

"We could go faster," Timmy mentioned. The twelve year old lifted his head a little, "I could fly the truck where we need to go."

"How long would that take you?" Nami asked.

"Without breaks," Timmy began. He thought about his max speed, the weight of the truck, and most importantly: the distance. "Maybe two days," he offered. "I could go without sleep or food and..."

"You don't need to do that," Nami assured the boy. "But if you are feeling all better, then flying could be good."

"Cartman's a bastard," Stan muttered loudly. He glanced to the other twelve year old next to him. "I'm sorry about him."

"Don't be," Timmy replied. "His actions were his own. I just hope what we said gets through to him."

"Does everyone think we should go get Zoro?" Kirito asked, bringing the conversation back on task.

"No," Gray stated. He frowned deeply and continued, "I also found out where my friends are. We never made it past Pyraxas, but our original intention for heading north was to reach the Capital of the Cooperative. I heard that except for Cloud who escaped, my squad was enslaved and sent to the Colosseum."

"You said Cloud?" Sora asked. Gray turned towards Sora who started smiling as he saw Gray nod. "So he's here too huh? I'm glad he's okay." The spiky haired teen mentioned with a nostalgic smile on his face. "We're talking about the same Cloud right? Spiky blond hair. Giant sword-"

"Yea, that's him," Gray responded, still staring at Sora in semi-shock that the other teen recognized his comrade.

"Juvia would like to save Gray-sama's friends and find Zoro-san," the blue haired girl brought up out of nowhere. A lot of the others looked at Juvia and she added at the end, "If Zoro-san really wants to be found."

"He should," Sanji stated, putting his foot down hard. "That bastard's dedicated to this crew. To Luffy," he looked over at the rubberman, "more than anyone."

The others in the Straw Hat crew were stunned to hear Sanji hear that, other than Robin. She recalled Thriller Bark when she heard that Zoro tried to take Luffy's place when Kuma came to kill him. She knew that Sanji tried as well, but Zoro knocked him out and took all of Luffy's pain, an action that almost cost him his life. Sanji was thinking on that moment himself when he spoke up.

"Zoro still thinks I'm dead, I think," Gray stated. Everyone looked to the ice mage who was frowning deeply still. "He's putting the team in danger if he's fighting based off that. Zabuza, Yamamoto, Mystogan..." Gray shook his head and grimaced. "If they get hurt on a vengeance mission for me, I wouldn't be able to live with it."

"Didn't you say yourself," Timmy began. "Zoro is one of the strongest people you know? Can't he handle it?"

Gray shook his head and whispered, "I don't know. I just, don't know."

"What about Goku?" Natsu started. The pink haired Dragon Slayer leaned forward and kept going, "What does he want to do?"

"Goku," Sora began strongly, but faded off as he didn't really know what to say. He continued in a softer voice, "Goku's father was killed by the King. It happened right in front of us." Everyone gasped and stared at Sora in shock. Sora glanced over at Dash but the younger kid shook his head fast at him. Sora nodded his head, understanding Dash's head shake. The teen continued in a whisper, "Bardock was easily one of the strongest people in this world, and Meruem defeated him."

"Bardock," Gray whispered. He thought he may have heard the name before, but other than an off-handed mention by the Wizard King, it didn't ring any bells.

"Both of them were much stronger than Goku," Sora added as this was why he brought it up in the first place. "So Goku is training so that he can fight Meruem."

"Training doesn't seem like such a bad idea," Natsu muttered, agreeing with the Mayor's style. His pink bangs shadowed his eyes for a moment and the usually proud Dragon Slayer admitted straight out, "We need to get stronger."

"Yeah, we do," Ben agreed, thinking back to when they all got slaughtered before his eyes. Everyone on this continent is too much. The Underworld were weaklings in comparison.

"There's no time to get stronger," Rin mumbled while staring down at his feet. He looked up a little and stated, "I need to find my brother, Yukio, before it's too late."

"Do you know where he is?" Sora asked the younger teenager. Half of the group looked to Rin with knowing gazes, some of them nervous and scared as they wondered what he was going to suggest.

Okumura Rin looked at the brown-haired teen and said, "I already know where he is. He's in the lowest layer of Hell. I questioned Astaroth about it, and I know how to get there now." He looked over at Gray who nodded at the teen he told a little about the Hell gates. Rin had tried to avoid this altogether when Cartman offered him a wish, but he was back to his original plan now. Most people were wondering what Rin was planning, and a few did not like the way he was speaking only in the singular.

Dash nodded his head aimlessly while looking at Rin. "And what about you Dash?" Timmy asked the kid next to him. Dash turned towards Timmy and looked confused. Timmy specified, "Aren't you going to look for your brother? JackJack?"

Dash stared at Timmy for a few seconds and he forced a smile to his face. "Yeah, but I still don't-" he faded off and looked back at Rin. "I'll help Rin find his, since we at least know, where his brother is."

Timmy felt like Dash was acting strange, but most people around him were acting a lot different from when he left them outside of Dressrosa. "And with your speed," Stan started to the blond kid next to him. "Searching all of Hell shouldn't be too hard," he joked.

"And what are you doing Stan?" Robin asked the young boy who was the newest addition to their group. "I believe you too have a purpose for being here?"

Stan Marsh looked around at the group of people whose powers he had gotten a close look at over the past few days. "If it's alright, I'll stay with you, for now." He gazed down at his hands, "I need to be stronger if I am to face Ichimaru Gin."

Robin's eyebrows lifted and she questioned, "The former New Earth Government leader?"

The rest of them looked at Robin in surprise, then Usopp's eyes popped wide. "Wait a second! That's one of the guys that Ansem said was in league with the Underworld!"

"How did you meet him?" Nami asked the kid in surprise, and also some hesitation in her voice as she remembered how intense Stan was when he mentioned his revenge to the Wizard King.

Stan grimaced as he had not mentioned much about himself to these people yet. He took a deep breath, then looked up and around at everyone. "You were all amazing in Metropolis." They looked at him in shock, and Stan continued, "I was there with my Master, and we helped the rebels inside the city."

A few of the others in the living room looked around at each other with even larger eyes than the rest of them. "It looked like we had succeeded, until the Underworld attacked. Half of the team were killed, including my Master."

"Why does this sound super familiar?" Franky asked. The cyborg scratched the side of his metallic head confusedly.

"Baka," Nami scolded over at him. She looked back at Stan and asked, "Do you, happen to know Killua?"

Now it was Stan's turn to go wide-eyed. When Goku had brought up Killua before, Stan had not been listening as Goku's friends had been arguing with him for leaving them, and he did not care much about that conversation. He had been more focused on getting Timmy back from Cartman with Sora and Nami which had happened at the same time. "Y-Yeah," the boy said in surprise, before regaining his composure and lowering his voice. "How do you know him?"

"He's our nakama," Luffy stated, not hesitating for a second before saying it.

Natsu continued, "He got badly injured a week back. We left him at that Resistance base where you joined us."

"He'll be alright," Gray assured.

Stan nodded his head and let out a breath of relief. "I thought he had died like the others when I didn't see him after the battle."

Usopp and Franky glanced at each other nervously. The two of them were thinking about how Killua told them why he wasn't there. They remembered how he admitted to being Luthor's spy. Neither of them really felt like sharing Killua's secret with Stan at the moment though.

"So what are we doing?" Kirito asked again, bringing the conversation in full circle. "We need a destination."

"Well, we should go get Killua first," Nami began. "Hopefully he'll be awake already."

"Then what?" Kirito asked. He looked around and saw a bunch of indecisive faces. He frowned and ground his teeth together, visibly angry. "Alright, enough is enough."

The group looked up at Kirito and watched him walk into the middle of the room. "I'm tired," he called out, looking around at his friends. "I am tired of wandering around this continent. We've been here barely a month, and already I'm tired."

"What? You want to go home?" Natsu asked him snidely.

"Maybe," Kirito replied. He turned and looked at Natsu, "Don't you?" The pink haired mage did not respond as Kirito stared at him. "You have a girlfriend right? And family and friends? Why wouldn't you want to go back home?"

"Because," Natsu finally replied, looking Kirito straight in the eyes. "We still haven't completed our mission."

"We haven't accomplished anything!" Kirito yelled. "Completed it? We haven't even started! We're farther from our goal than ever."

"But we know where everyone is now," Nami offered, trying to calm down the angered teen. "See, that's more than we've had-"

"So who are we going to go to first?" Kirito asked. He spun to Luffy and continued, "And please don't suggest splitting up. It didn't go well last time."

Luffy frowned at the teen, but didn't say anything. He glanced to his left where Juvia was sitting on the couch. Juvia, he thought, remembering how he was told she had died not long ago.

"Anyone?" Kirito asked. No one was saying anything. None of them said it as bluntly as Kirito, but they were exhausted as well. Traveling north, south, and all around while fighting nonstop was becoming tiresome. "Alright," Kirito calmed down a little and spoke in his normal voice. "Then I'm going to make a suggestion." He paused and took a deep breath, then said, "We should choose a leader."

The group looked at Kirito strangely, then looked around the room they were in. The pirates looked at Luffy, their captain, then looked across the room at Gray who led the other group away. Nami and some of the others glanced over at Timmy, but the boy himself was looking back over at Nami.

"Why do we need a leader?" Natsu asked. He was a little annoyed, but was at least willing to listen to what Kirito had to say.

Kirito turned back to the fire mage, and stated, "Because we need to come to decisions together. If one person makes the final decision, we won't be split arguing about what to do for hours on end."

"What if we don't like the decision?" Luffy asked, his arms crossed in front of his body.

"You'll just have to live with it," Kirito told the pirate in a pleading voice. Luffy frowned at him while Kirito continued, "This isn't the ocean Luffy. This isn't your world. Sometimes you have to try things different ways when the old ones aren't working."

Luffy continued to frown at him but didn't speak up again so that Kirito could continue. Kirito was mainly finished making his point however. "I don't expect it to be unanimous, but someone needs to take charge."

"And you want to be it?" Gray asked the teenager. The two of them made eye contact for a second, then Gray looked away shamefully.

"A former Underworld member," Ben began, though regretted it as soon as he did. Kirito looked his way with a hurt look on his face, and Ben looked down while he continued. "Just saying you haven't made the best decisions in the past."

Kirito would argue with him, except that the boy was a hundred percent right. "That's true. I worked for the same people who killed Naruto, who enslaved my friend Angel. I shouldn't lead." He walked back and leaned against the wall, the shame of what he'd done coming back to him as he closed his eyes.

Ben shook his head while looking at his feet. "I want to be in charge," he said loudly. "But, but I wouldn't make the right decision either. Right there, I spoke without thinking. Sorry Kirito," he mumbled at the end, leaning back in his recliner with an upset look on his face.

"Shouldn't Timmy Turner be the leader?" Stan mentioned in a semi-confused voice. "I mean, he is the strongest one here right?"

Timmy opened his mouth, but Nami spoke up first. "Timmy's still a kid." The boy looked at her in surprise, but she shook her head at him. "He already has enough responsibility without taking charge of our lives."

"It's okay Nami," Timmy assured. "If everyone wants me to, I could-"

"No," Ben stated. Timmy looked over at Ben and Ben glared over at him. "You ditched us as soon as we left Dressrosa."

Timmy's eyes saddened as it really looked like Ben looked up to him less now. The older boy didn't even apologize after like he did with Kirito. "Also," Sanji began, "I don't know if I'm fine with following a twelve year old."

"Aww," Dash groaned in a fake disappointed tone to try and lighten the mood. It actually wound up working and some others started throwing out suggestions. Dash himself just leaned back on the couch and put a calm smile on his face. Just deal with it Dash. Don't think about it for now. If you go with Rin to Hell, maybe Satan can bring him back. Juvia died, and she came back. Just don't think about JackJack for now.

"Well, I pick Luffy as my captain," Usopp started loudly. "He always will be."

"He'll be mine too," Nami started while looking at the sniper. "But, maybe," she started getting quieter and looked over at Luffy. "Maybe someone else could, just... I don't know," she faded out. She owed Luffy her life, and cared for her captain a lot, so she didn't really know what to say here.

Luffy was looking back at her, but he didn't have a hurt look on his face from what she was suggesting. Instead, he was thinking about Kirito's suggestion much deeper than anyone else. If I don't like the decision, I won't want to stay. I always like my decisions. Who else's decisions would I trust?

"I know who should be in charge," Kirito started again, raising his voice to quiet everyone else down. "It's pretty simple in my opinion."

The others all looked at each other confusedly, since this had been the biggest problem with their group since back on the Thousand Sunny. "Who?" Ben asked, lifting up his eyebrows at the teen.

Kirito turned to the left side of the room. He stared the person straight in the eyes and said, "Sora."

The rest of them looked over at Sora who also looked a little surprised. Sora tilted his head while looking at his friend, "Thanks Kirito, but-"

"We split apart in under a day without Sora there," Kirito argued his choice. "He found all of us again though, even Goku. And when we went after Timmy, who convinced the Wizard King to give him back?"

Sora closed his mouth after getting an elbow from his right. He turned and saw Riku look at him seriously, then flash him a small grin.

"So if we're really doing this," Kirito continued, "and each of us get one vote." The black haired ninja pointed a finger at Sora, "Then my vote is for Sora."

The eighteen year old ninja leaned back against the wall again. It stayed quiet for a few seconds, then a mature woman's voice spoke up. "So that is one vote for Sora," Robin began. She crossed her arms in front of her and stated, "Quattro Fleur." Out from the floor in between them all, four hands rose up and a finger lifted on one of the hands.

Dash looked at Kirito for a second, then over at Sora. "Remember in Port Royal?" Dash began, making Sora look his way. The little blond boy continued, "My whole family got taken right in front of me. I lost all hope." Dash smiled softly and shook his head, "But when I lifted my head, you were standing there holding out your hand. You said you were going to get them back, and you did. I'll vote for Sora too."

Another finger lifted up on Robin's hand that was closest to Sora. "Dash," Sora whispered, staring at the boy while hiding his own confusion that Dash's smile appeared to be genuine.

"Well I vote for Luffy!" Usopp exclaimed, seeing how this trend was going.

"And a vote for Luffy," Robin said calmly. A finger popped up on the hand closest to the rubberman.

"Luffy," Sanji agreed. He really wanted to light up a cigarette now, and he turned to go do that somewhere else while the rest of them continued.

"You're my captain," Franky admitted with a shrug of his huge metal shoulders. "I've gotta pick Luffy," he said.

"Juvia picks Gray-sama!" Juvia shouted.

Robin kept up with everyone. "That's two votes for Sora, three for Luffy, and one for Gray-san."

Nami looked from her captain, over to Timmy who looked a little dejected after they rejected his offer to be leader. She turned back to the couch she was on and at Robin. "What about you?" She questioned her black haired best friend.

Robin kept a straight face for a few moments. Then, in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear her, she stated, "I will follow my captain's decision."

Though she said it, a few of them noticed that her hand with three fingers did not go up another one. Luffy saw this too and looked at Robin. She stared back at him and he thought, Whoever I choose, she'll choose too. I could pick myself, Luffy thought. The pirate captain looked to his right. He looked at the teen on his side with spiky brown hair.

"I want to be in charge," Luffy stated out loud. The others all looked at Luffy and saw him staring right at Sora. "Sora would be good too," he added, surprising Usopp, Franky, and pretty much everyone in the room.

"Are you serious Luffy?" Usopp asked in shock.

"You really think so Luffy?" Sora asked the older man next to him.

"Wouldn't say it if I didn't," Luffy stated plainly. The rubberman thought back and added, "Sora always helped me out. When Usopp got taken, Sora helped me, and when Brook died," he quieted down a little and the rest of his crew looked saddened. He continued, "Sora helped me again. And he could always find the best meat! And he found my crew! Oh, and he saved them from Castle Octavion!"

"Oblivion," Nami corrected her captain with a roll of her eyes. "And I guess I do owe him for that too," she admitted. She looked over at Timmy and Ben, "Not that he was alone."

"No," Timmy started. "You're right. It was Sora who ended the battle. He stopped Ansem."

"And just in time too," Ben added with a small chuckle. "You were about to tear Riku in half, Timmy."

Riku chuckled a little at that but had a sweat drop rolling down the side of his face.

"Are you really fine with this though Luffy?" Sora whispered at his close friend next to him. "Zoro-"

"We'll find Zoro," Luffy said confidently. "And you're planning on getting to Zoro right?" He asked.

"I mean, yeah," Sora replied. "If that's what you want to do."

"And that's why I'm fine with following you, for now," Luffy stated while crossing his arms again and leaning back.

"First time I met you Sora, you convinced Maleficent to tell you where Ansem was hiding. It was amazing, especially after all the trouble it took me to take her down," Natsu stated. "But I want to be in charge!" He shouted.

"God you're immature," Gray muttered at the other mage next to him. Before he and Natsu could butt heads, he continued loudly, "I'll vote for Sora then. I don't need any more reason than what we saw on the Thousand Sunny."

Everyone thought back to that moment, while Robin called out, "With that vote, Sora wins a majority. Now we have a leader. So Sora, what are we to do now?" Now that they were all thinking about the memory they saw on the ship, many of them felt ashamed that it wasn't brought up once in their plans.

Sora stepped away from the wall and walked over in front of the fireplace so he could look at them all at the same time. "Xemnas has Kairi, and he's going to try and merge her with her Nobody Naminé." Sora continued in a firm voice, "If that were to happen, Kairi would be gone."

"So we're going to save Kairi-chan!" Sanji shouted, as he had just arrived back in the room when Robin came to the final conclusion of the vote.

Sora took a deep breath in, then answered, "No." The entire room stared at him in confusion. Even Riku looked at his best friend with a look that showed he thought Sora was going to say 'Yes.' The brown haired teen continued softly, "I would like nothing more than to run off to save Kairi right now, but I saw Meruem defeat Bardock. I saw a monster like none I've never seen before. And, I don't think Goku can win on his own."

"What about Kairi?" Riku asked angrily, turning in towards Sora. "What are we doing about her?!"

"Riku, it's being handled," Sora replied.

The room of people looked around at each other in confusion. "What do you mean, 'it's being handled?' Who could be..." Riku's eyes widened and he stopped talking. "You mean it? You're leaving it to him?"

"Them," Sora replied with a smile. "Roxas alone might not be able to save Kairi and Naminé. But with Axel's help, the two of them should be able to come up with a plan."

A few of the others: Ben, Kirito, Juvia, Natsu, Dash, all looked over towards Gray upon hearing Sora speak. Gray was blinking over and over and he shook his head a few times. "Hey Sora," Gray began, making Sora look over towards him. "Did you say Axel?"

"Yep," Sora replied with a smile on his face. "Wow! Do you know him too? You really get around Gray."

"Me?" Gray asked in shock. "Two of my squad members who didn't know each other, who have told me about their different universes before... How did you know them?!"

Sora chuckled and scratched the back of his head. He saw Ben, Riku, Dash, Luffy, Kirito, many of his friends looking at him knowingly. He frowned a little as he looked back at Gray, then smiled again. "I've got a lot of friends," he said simply. This time though, his vague answer didn't get him off so easily.

"Like those pirates off the coast?" Natsu asked.

"And that lion, Simba?" Gray asked skeptically.

"And Genie," Timmy added.

"And the gorgeous mermaid princess Ariel, and the Pirate Queen," Sanji muttered, jealousy lacing his voice.

"Heh heh, yeah," Sora said, sounding a little sheepish. A few of the others opened their mouths to speak, but Sora cut them off by saying, "I want to tell you guys, but-"

"Tell us what?"

"You're our leader now, no lying to us."

"It's just," Sora began. He thought about what Donald would say, what the King would think. He opened his mouth, but felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Riku staring at him.

The older teen was still frowning deeply that Sora would trust Roxas and Axel to save Kairi. It was his fault that she got taken in the first place, and now Sora wasn't even giving him the chance to save her. With this anger, he turned and glared around at everyone, "Enough with the questions. Sora made a promise, just leave it at that."

Sora looked at Riku in surprise. He remembered no such promise, but because of Riku's statement, most people in the room silenced themselves. Thanks Riku, Sora thought at his friend. The spiky haired teen turned from Riku and back to the rest of his new team. "Alright, so first we'll go and get Killua. Then, we get much stronger in as short a time as we can. Finally, we'll head back north, and re-find Zoro, we'll save Yukio, Gray's friends, and Kairi. And we'll defeat Zeref, Ichimaru Gin, Xemnas, and Satan, and Meruem and all his High Lords. And we will do all of this, together."

A/N Chapter 15 begins with our heroes planning out their missions onward. A lot has happened since they arrived on Aebrith, and despite being closer to their goals, they've acknowledged their enemies' strengths as well. Sora gets voted as their leader, but what will this entail? He listed a lot of goals at the end of the chapter, and we'll see how much of that our heroes will be able to accomplish... if any of it at all. XD Thanks for reading everyone! Let me know what you think in a review below. No review responses today, just 'cause it's two in the morning here in Tokyo and I've got a test in 7 hours. :P So, til' next time!