WOTNOPOLIS: 7

Chapter 7



“Q, you are so stupid,” Bano groaned.
“Psh, it was your idea,” Q smiled as he waved over to his comrade in the other corner across the room.
“No, it definitely wasn't my idea to pretend the teacher's desk was a pirate ship. I'm not even sure why I'm in this corner.”
“Because corners are fun!” Q answered excitedly, waving at his friend again.
“Hush you two! This is not how third graders are supposed to behave. My word, Mr. Quater, I have more phone calls to your mom then I've ever had with any of my students at Crunchyroll Elementary,” Mrs. Marise snapped.
Q pointed at Bano and Bano just pressed his forehead to the corner. The warm cement radiated against Bano's hair and he yawned.
“Mrs. Mariseeeeeeee,” Q cried.
“Yes, Mr. Quater?” Mrs. Marise asked. She didn’t look up from the papers she was grading.
Q turned around with his dark eyes large and glazed with hope. “How about, we'll be e-e-e-extra good and you go let me play in the jungle gym?” Q pleaded. Mrs. Marise laid her head down on her desk and shook her head into her forearm.
“Fine, go on then,” Mrs. Marise breathed tiredly. She motioned to the door with her hand. She was tired of dealing with them for the day.
“Bye bye!” Q yelled as he raced towards the door, waving quickly to his tired teacher. Bano just followed behind his friend slowly and yawned, ready for nap time. Q pulled the door knob open and a rush of hot, dry, dusty air hit him in the face.

“Q, where are you going?” Bano asked Q as he headed towards the playground.
“Shiny ball!” Q smiled and rushed into a game with older kids.
“Well you could of waited for me at least,” Bano thought, frowning. He walked slowly through the playground and past the jungle gym of kids playing games. The sand in the air was dryer than normal, but no one really noticed. Bano brushed some sand out of his hair and noticed the pink haired little boy. He was picked on a lot, and Bano felt a bit bad for him for that.
“Hey, Shugo! What are you doing?” Bano waved to the kid.
The pale, pink haired kid looked up at Bano slowly. He pushed his glasses to his face and waved back. “Hello, Banouin. I'm making friends.”
Bano stared at Shugo. The kid always acted like he didn't hear Bano then said something. Bano never liked that about him. But, he felt bad that he was playing with clumps of dirt in the sand and calling them friends; like he did every recess. “Oh, okay! Bye.” Bano said and quickly walked away. Yes, guilt crossed his mind, but, just as any other day, he pushed it away mindlessly.
Shugo merely stared back at his clumped-dirt friends and talked to them quietly. Bano was halfway across the field and watching Q run around with a ball when he heard a kid laughing.
“Oh, boo hoo! Did someone mess up your stupid dirt?” Bano turned back around and saw Shugo, now surrounded by a group of older kids.
“Hah, hah, hah.” The tall, green haired accomplice laughed.
Shugo picked up his glasses and stared at the sand that was once his friends. He looked between the two boys and his friends again. “Why?”
“Because you're weird, right Fuzzmaster?” the big kid said as he pushed him again, making his glasses fall to the ground again.
“Sounds like a reason to me, Basoukazuma,” the green haired kid said as he threw some sand at Shugo.
Basoukazuma picked Shugo up and reached his hand back. “No weirdoes chatting on our playground.”
Shugo braced for the punch by putting his arms up. Fuzzmaster pointed and fell down laughing. Basoukazuma smirked as he reached back but a force held him there. Basoukazuma turned his neck to see what was holding him there but felt only the power of a car in his stomach.
“What di-?” Basoukazuma asked as the air rushed around his body. He felt weightless but the pain in his stomach was still there. He looked over to Fuzzmaster but he wasn't there. Instead he was way across the playground. And someone had just made a loud noise. Basoukazuma tried to run from the noise but his legs felt like they had snapped. Was it a car accident? Had someone crashed into the school?
Basoukazuma tried to run away but he only fell onto the ground. There was glass and bricks smashed everywhere next to him. He realized he was also screaming at this point, but he didn't feel like screaming anymore. He was just going to close his eyes gently now.
Fuzzmaster looked back and forth between the spot Basoukazuma had been at and where he was. “How on earth did you?” he asked as fear swallowed his eyes and he screamed. “Monsters! Monsters!”
Bano and Q looked at each other. Bano had grabbed Basoukazuma's arm when he had reached back, but he wasn't sure how he had gotten there so fast. Q was even more confused as how he had punched Basoukazuma so far. “What?” Q asked Bano.
Teachers were rushing over. Two for Basoukazuma but even Bano and Q could tell that wouldn't help him. Another was headed for them, and the look on her face said more than enough. They were in huge, huge trouble. “I knew it!” she cried softly. Bano and Q cringed, waiting for their punishment. “You guys are like me.”
The rest of her reaction took moments for the two to comprehend. “What?” Bano asked once he realized what she said. Q was already jumping the chain link fence that surrounded the dusty playground.
“Bano, I gotta go. He's—” Q looked over at the lifeless body hanging outside of the classroom window across the playground. “There's no way—!”
“I know, let's go,” Bano hurried as he pushed Q over the fence.

Teachers yelled for Bano and Q to stop while kids across the playground screamed and shouted. But Q and Bano continued to run away as fast as they could. Their footsteps echoed across the empty streets as they put distance behind them. “We can't ever go back to school, ya know?” Q yelled over his shoulder.
“I know,” Bano nodded.
“Well, aren't you two guys the dramatic ones?” a voice appeared behind them. Q and Bano both fell down from shock and looked to see who had startled them. There were several suburban houses and a dog or two behind them. Tall trees blocked the sun here and there while cars sat in their spots but no one was there. “Over here,” the voice spoke.
The voice had come from their other side this time and Q and Bano once again spun around. There before them was a middle schooler.
“Who, who are you?” Q said shakily.
Middle schoolers were tough and scary to any of the younger kids. And this kid was especially tall. His bright blond hair hung over his eyes but the piecing green eyes shot through the air. His hands were covered by a dark blue jacket that he wore close to himself and the symbol of a penguin was on his jacket arm. With the letters GP.
“Hey there younguns,” he said smiling. Despite his tough stature he didn't seem menacing.
“Hi,” Q said cautiously, still too shocked to get up just yet. He was still thinking about the pain etched onto Basoukazuma's face when he had hit him.
“I'm Shinji,” he said pointing to himself. “What's your guys' names?”
Bano looked at Q but he was just confused. “Um, I'm Bano, and that's Q?” Bano replied, questioning his friend's name as he jutted a thumb out at him.
“You guys seem nervous. Relax. I don't want to hurt you,” Shinji said to them, putting his hands up with a small smile. “I felt that power you gave off back there. For your age it was tremendous.”
“They called us monsters,” Bano looked at Shinji. Suddenly, the oddly quiet Q jumped and pointed accusingly at Shinji.
“Shinji! I know that name! My dad says I can't talk to you,” Q cried.
“Did he say why?” Shinji smiled and pushed some of his hair back.
“Because 'you're a menace to society and you're up to no good.'” Q smiled, proud that he remembered and answered the question right.
“And as your friend pointed out, that's what they said about you. And we monsters can talk to each other. It’s allowed,” Shinji winked, as if it were a secret. “Besides, you seemed like you did a good thing. Even though I don't really trust that kid you helped,” Shinji's voice lowered and his eyes seemed to look elsewhere.
Bano and Q watched the middle schooler that had appeared before them. He was thinking about something. The sun was beating down on them and neither had had lunch. “Still, you did a good thing. Follow me back to my hideout and we'll get you two some food.”
Q and Bano followed Shinji, who lead them across some yards. “But mister, I don't like being a monster. Isn't that a bad thing? What did we do?” Bano asked. Q nodded and stared at Shinji pleadingly.
“You protected that kid from bullies,” Shinji said.
“No, no, I mean, how did…?” Bano trailed off, hoping Shinji would catch what he was talking about.
Shinji stopped in the middle of the road. “Oh, you're asking about how come you were so powerful? That…is a really good question. One I don't really know the answer to, fully.”
“That's not cool,” Bano pouted.
“Hey, look, I'm the coolest thing since Jello, okay?” Shinji grumbled. “It works like, well. Sciencey. Um, well. Everyone gives off certain electric or magnetic pull of some kind. Everyone's brain creates electric currents that run through them. And because each person is different, each pull is different. Usually this pull is tiny as anything and no one notices it at all. It can be measured on a tiny scale from 0 to 1 and almost everyone is below 1. But just like everyone's DNA is different, some DNA strands change that. Whatever it is in you and I that causes this change, people call ‘em ‘amps’. That's actually wrong, though, because it’s not electricity itself, but what can you do to change that mistake? Anyway. Something else happens and something. Anyway, once you get over that uncross-able 1, you begin to naturally channel nature. I don't even know.”
“Wow, so basically I have Jello super powers?” Q asked, his eyes bright.
“No, that'd be stupid. Everyone has a couple kind of powers. Instinct and Natural are the most common. Instinct is where you naturally know what to do, and this allows you to fight fantastically with weapons. Natural is where your surroundings aid a specialty of yours in a fight. For example, I’m Natural based.” Shinji pointed his fist in the air and a green glow formed. A pop noise was heard and a green ring shot out of his hand. Q and Bano fell to the ground.
“What was that?” Bano asked.
“Haha, you guys are funny. Falling all the time. That was my power. Anything hits that green ring and it wraps itself around them. Once that's around them they can be floated up and down anyway I want.”
“Really? Wow, what's my power?” Q asked and punched his fist in the air. “Aw, man. Not green circles.”
“Of course not. No two people have the same powers, naturally. Though instinctively, two people might use the same weapons. But they won't in the same way.” Shinji sighed. “This is boring. Look, our hideout is just ahead.” Shinji smiled and pointed at a shack under a tree. “By the way, you're in my gang now. You'll be with Waffles, Wetto, Stratify, Log, and the other guys. That's that.”

***

“Hey guys,” Q smiled as he hopped underneath the stone blocks. The abandoned stone bridge they used as a hideout was cold during the winter and an oven during summer, but it was something to use. And it was fall.
“What's new, Q?” asked a large man with spiked hair and snake tattoos sitting in a corner.
“Not a lot, never is, Menchi,” Q smiled to his long trusted friend. “How are you guys?”
A shorter man hanging off a wooden tress support just yawned and brushed back his pony tail. “Nothing new. Seems the town is tired of chasing us. Which is good news. We still have no leads on what happened, and Bano's group is not interested in coming after us for the incident,” the man explained.
“All good news, Destroyer Of Souls,” Q smiled. “It all worked out after all. I didn't think we'd pull it off.”
“No, certainly not. Someone's coming,” Menchi snapped up and picked up the large club he carried. The group tensed for a moment but relaxed when they saw who had arrived.
“Hello, guys, how are you?” spoke the sickly voice of Shugo.
“Oh, Shugo, frightened us,” Destroyer of Souls laughed and slid his hands back behind his head. The claws that had extended from them quickly receded. Menchi stared at Shugo but quietly placed the club against the wall, shaking his head.
“Well, I'm out to do some business,” Q smiled and patted Shugo on the back. Shugo wordlessly pushed his glasses back up to his face and brushed back his pink hair. “Take care of the boys while I'm out, won't you Shugo?” Q smiled and stuck his tongue out at Destroyer of Souls.
“So cool, captain,” Destroyer replied and laid back down.
“Of course, they'll be safe with me,” Shugo said gently while brushing his bright hair over his ear. His golden eyes shone through the glasses and Q felt a shudder as he left them.
“Kid is still weird as ever,” Q thought. He still remembered meeting Shugo and the life he took protecting him.

***
“Are you sure this is true, Charm?” Bano asked the hooded girl. His own hoodie covered most of his face in the dim alley that they hid in.
“There's no denying it,” Charm whispered. “That's photographic evidence. Q was the last one who entered the store the night...”
“I hardly believe it,” Bano said solemnly. “But, the evidence is hard to argue with.”
“I don't really understand,” a brunette with short hair spoke. “Does this mean Q?”
“It’s hard to believe, Sasori,” Charm blinked and pushed her fiery red hair back. “But what else can it be?”
“I'll go,” Bano stood up and moved to the edge of the alley. “I'll confront Q with this information and see what he says. If it’s true that he's the one that killed…well, that killed Shinji, then he'll pay for it in his own blood.”
“Bano, are you sure you want to go alone? We can help you, or, you know, go with you?” Sasori offered but Bano shook his head.
“This is something I have to do.” Bano was dismayed. He walked out of the alley and into the waning sunlight. Bano stared at the sky. Usually it was an array of pinks, blues, and oranges at this time of night. Maybe it was just his hoodie in the dry air of Crunchyroll, but he was sure that sky was crimson red. He started to run.

“Pretty day.” Q murmured. Q pursed his lips and blew air out of them. “I can't whistle,” he frowned.
Q wandered down the street. People dodged out of his way. Fond memories of the street being home to pranks, games, and chases overcame the memories of being called a monster by the citizens of Crunchyroll or being haggled about being a criminal. Shinji always had the best understanding of why they were called monsters anyway. “They call us monsters, because we are. We are fearsome and we have done fierce things. If you don't like it, then fix it. Don't whine about it.”
Q was happy, though. His favorite times were in that gang. The split he and Bano had was not fun, though it was somewhat necessary. Without Shinji the two groups couldn't stay cohesive. Well, Shinji, Waffles, Wetto, Log, and all the others. They all had slowly faded. Some had left mysteriously, some had died horrifically by the monsters of the wilderness. Some were murdered. It was the murders that ruined everything. People's grief lead them to paranoia. The two groups couldn't stay together anymore because everyone was accusing everyone of murder.
“Still, they were fun times, us Penguin gangsters,” Q smiled, shaking his head solemnly to himself. Shinji's death had been untimely, but Q knew it was going to come. It just seemed to make sense that he'd die when he did. Q felt bad that Shinji had never reached his dream, though. He had always wanted to go to WOTNopolis. To see how far he could go, and be somewhere where he wasn't out of place. To reach paradise. Oh well.
Q awoke from his reverie in time to stop the foot coming from his right. “Geez,” Q yelled as he dodged the blow.
“Been a while, Q,” the figure appeared on a sign post next to where Q was standing.
“Oh, hey brosky,” Q smiled up. “Whatcha want, Dark Raptor?”
Dark Raptor jumped down and looked up at Q. “I don't want anything. Just to be a part of your gang.”
Q sighed. “But you already are, sorta.”
“Official. I'm not officially a part of the gang,” Dark Raptor moaned.
“Well, that's cause we're not an official gang yet. So nobody is. Plus you haven't proven your strength. That's the rule,” Q groaned, but smiled.
“Lame,” Dark Raptor grumbled. Q poked his head.
“You are. What’re you doing?” Q asked.
“Nothing,” Dark Raptor shrugged. Q walked on but could feel his brother following a footstep away.
“So?”
“So,” Dark Raptor said and kept following right behind Q. Q thought for a moment.
“Dark Raptor, I have a really good idea,” Q smiled. “We'll give you a set of challenges, and if you complete them you'll be a member of the gang.”
“Oh, challenges!” Dark Raptor jumped in the air.
“Yeah, the first challenge is go back to the gang and stay there a while,” Q smiled.
“Lame, these aren't challenges, those are errands. How about I wrestle a dragon?” Dark Raptor asked.
“Ugh, fine, do that?” Q asked unsure.
“Good, where's a dragon?”
“Back at the hideout. Stay there and wait for it and it'll show up.” Q smiled.
“Okay. That sounds legit,” Dark Raptor agreed and walked off. Q continued walking towards the convenience store at the heart of Crunchyroll. He had business to take care of. A doughnut that he wanted to eat was calling to him. However, a presence other than the rumble in his stomach was being felt now that Dark Raptor's amps weren't obscuring it.
“Well, it’s been a while, Bano,” Q smiled and looked over at the man wearing the hoodie across the street.
“Q, I heard all about it,” Bano glared. “You. It was you that killed Shinji.”
Q looked at Bano puzzled and bewildered. “Me? That doesn't make any sense.”
Q's arms sprung up and he deflected the thrust of Bano's blades “Whatever, man. We're settling this.”

***

Dark Raptor wondered across the road towards the stone bridge. “Ugh, boring,” he thought. “We need zombies or something like that to make this trip more exciting.”
His attacks were getting better. His raptor claw would launch out and woosh! The perfect strike. He continued to walk down the road. “So tired, today. Maybe I'll slay the dragon tomorrow and just nap when I get to the hideout.”
He suddenly noticed something. It was quiet. “…Strange, it’s not usually quiet at the hideout.” He paused in thought, and suddenly jumped. “Oh snap, the dragon got them!”
Dark Raptor carefully tip toed to the hideout. The sky was dark and the wind blew steadily across the grassy area they rested by. The water pumped steadily below the bridge. Dark Raptor jumped down below the bridge but the smile on his face withered away.
Red pools of crimson blood dripped into the river below. Dark Raptor couldn't speak as the stench of death choked him. He couldn't even tell where Destroyer Of Soul's body began and Menchi's or Shugo's body was. It was just three dark spots and mangled bones. Dark Raptor fell to his knees and breathed loudly. He couldn't stop the shout of terror that welled up from the deepest part of his lungs. His eyes blinked hard and before he knew it tears were streaming down his face.
This was just like what happened to Shinji, and others he'd seen die over the years. Nothing but a mess of blood afterward. It always ended like this. “Who would do this to them?” Dark Raptor sobbed. He could see Destroyer's remains in his favorite spot. And in the other corner where big ole Menchi would read was nothing but a skeleton. And, well, even the strange Shugo was gone. Dark Raptor picked up a smashed dark object and laughed a little. In all his years knowing Shugo he'd never gotten anything on his glasses. And even now his glasses were clean.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw something. A person. And they were heading back to the city. Dark Raptor followed but stopped cold. He could tell by their shape and footwork exactly who that was.
“Charm.”

***
Q wheezed from that last hit to his chest. Bano had sliced him through pretty hard. In all their years of fighting for fun Q thought he knew all his moves. “What the heck was that?” Q asked through the blood dripping out of his mouth.
“You're not being serious, Q. But I am,” Bano declared. “Just because you weren't holding back in all our fights together doesn't mean I wasn't.”
Q caught Bano's arm as he slashed for Q's shoulder. Bano swung both his legs up and shoved them into Q's chest. Bano's body glided away and he easily slid back. Q fell against the sidewalk and coughed. Q looked around the nearly deserted street they were fighting on.
“You're right, you're very serious. It'd be stupid if I thought I could hold back just because I didn't want to hurt a friend.”
Bano pointed his kama at Q. “You know better than that. When we fight, it’s to the death.”
Q stood up slowly and stretched his arms. “Yes. I remember the rules. From way back in the day when we used to fight it out. To see who's powers stronger. Back in the days when we'd play hide and go seek and you'd cheat and find us right away by sensing us by touching things.”
Bano looked hard at Q, but found it hard not to smile a little. “Hey, you cheated those days, too. You would always use your darned echo location whatever, or play with sounds to create an illusion and fool us all.”
Q smiled, and couldn’t hold back the small laugh confined in the back of his throat. He looked at Bano, though, and breathed deeply. “Fine, Bano. Let's do this.”
Q darted across the street and threw a kick to Bano's shoulder. “I don't know why you want to kill me, but you better make sure you do.”
Bano blocked the kick and slashed towards Q's side. Bano then twisted his shoulders and let loose a front kick and then a side kick at Q's side. Q swung to his side and punched the ground. Bano retreated and watched the street snap into pieces.

***
“You've got some nerve coming back here after what you did to her,” Charm said from under her hood.
Dark Raptor glared at Charm. He had finally caught sight of her again in an empty street. “Are you crazy?” Dark Raptor shouted. “How could you do that? You guys were all friends!”
“I could say the same to you! You killed her for no good reason. What, was your brother killing Shinji not good enough for you? So you had to take Sasori's life while Bano fought Q? And now you're here for me, huh?” Charm screamed back at him.
Dark Raptor just glared. “Are you stupid? I didn't kill Sasori. But I saw you leaving the scene from the other's death. You killed them all, didn't you? Or you know who did!”
“Whatever, I'll just kill you now and finish this. No way you can land a hand on me,” Charm smiled. She felt a searing pain reach her face and she jumped back. She patted her face softly, and she could feel warm, sticky blood. “You? How did?”
Dark Raptor pulled his arm back from where he had attacked. The blade attached to his right hand receded. “It’s the talon,” Dark Raptor pointed. His left arm swung but Charm caught him. Dark Raptor felt a shock from his arm and pulled it back. Charm's own five claws extended from her hand.
“Well, let's see. You have your talon. And I have my ten claws. I wonder how this will end,” Charm smiled. She reached back and swung her hands down. Dark Raptor's right arm quickly snapped forward and back.
“That's one to nine,” Dark Raptor smiled. Charm gasped as she heard the clink of metal. One of her metal claws had been snapped in half. She reached back and swung again. The metal clink followed. “Two down, eight left,” Dark Raptor grinned. Charm's claws began to scratch at Dark Raptor viciously. Dark Raptor weaved between each strike, meticulously avoiding her claws. He smiled. She was very inexperienced. He struck her left hand fast and she yelped. “There's two more broken.”
Charm stared down at her hands. Only the thumb claw remained on her left hand. “I don't need both my hands to defeat you. After what you did to Sasori!” She screamed as she swung her arm towards Dark Raptor.
Charm felt the pain before she saw it happen. Dark Raptor stepped over her body. Charm couldn't speak. “I won’t kill you, though, I should. Destroyer Of Souls was your brother, afterall,” Dark Raptor growled. Five metal clinks landed against the ground.
Charm couldn't move. The slashes had been instantaneous. He had used an attack forceful enough to cut straight through all her claws on her right hand and then slit open her stomach like scissors to paper. “You're strong,” Charm whispered. “You're definitely Q's brother.”
Dark Raptor just walked away. Hurting Charm really hadn't made any of it better. In fact, none of it really made any sense. He suddenly felt a stab through his chest. “But, you have Q's weaknesses, too. Turning your back on me, while I still had my thumb, was your mistake,” Charm coughed. Blood dripped out of her mouth as she fell forward. She had got him. He should die. She could rest.
Dark Raptor was having trouble looking straight. She had only got him once, but that one stab had hit a vital point. Dark Raptor stumbled but kept his gait. He was going to keep walking and not turn back. He was going to live and tell Q what happened. And someday, he'd even overcome Q. That was his goal.
“My my, that was just underhanded,” a chilling voice whipped the air. Dark Raptor spun around.
“You?”

Bano's fist hit Q's cheek. Q spun and slammed into the ground. “This is getting us nowhere,” Q sighed.
“Yeah, you're right. I'm not even that angry anymore, just confused,” Bano said.
“I'm more confused. You threaten me with death, blame me for killing Shinji. Bano, we were Penguin gangsters! GP. What on earth would make me kill Shinji?” Q asked.
“I don't know either, but there's pictures,” Bano threw them at Q. Both of them froze in their spot. Even the pictures remained completely still on Q’s leg. “Woah, do you feel that?”
“What is it?” Q choked out. The power was coming from somewhere and he couldn't breathe.
“It’s someone very powerful who's got an amazing amount of amps. I've never felt anything like it. But, it feels like…” Bano faded off.
“Yeah, I know what you're thinking,” Q said. “Forget about this. Whatever's going on...”
“Mhm, we got to get over there,” Bano finished.

***

Dark Raptor could barely stand next to such a powerful presence. It had literally shocked him off his feet. He pushed off the ground with his hands but couldn't get his eyes to reach the eyes of the person before him. He knew who was before him. And sadly, his power seemed to end Charm's life.
“You, were behind this? But how, you're dead?” Dark Raptor asked.
“Well, I don't feel very dead, no no,” Shugo laughed. “Oh, Dark Raptor, brother of Q. You could never get out of Q's shadow, your power was never more than his, no matter how hard you tried. You were always under him. Taking orders from him. You're eleven, but you knew that if Q weren't your brother you'd be recognized for how powerful you are. Oh well, it’s a shame.”
Dark Raptor looked away. A part of him couldn't believe it, but he was right. “But, what happened, to the others?”
“Dead. I killed them. And Charm was right, you killed Sasori. Or an exact duplicate of you did. You guys never did pay much attention to my powers. No, I killed all of them. And I also killed Shinji. And for years I've been killing off our friends,” Shugo cackled.
Dark Raptor felt the tears coming back. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. “But, how?” Dark Raptor asked.
“You guys never did get good at registering amp power. So I have secretly hid my powers for years. And I waited for my chance. I tasted my first blood, boy, before your brother even knew he had powers. I liked your brother and Bano, but nothing compared to the thrill of killing. I loved it. But killing regular people, well, where's the fun in that? Killing people with amps? Oh, now that is just so tasty, so delicious, I thought I'd die to try some!
“And I got quite skilled at killing people. But it wasn't just enough to kill them! I had to crush them! Leave them indiscernible so they were just awash of blood. And I had to betray them! Kill them when they were at their most vulnerable! That was the best way to do it! And if I could convince another to kill them out of confusion, it was just as tasty!” Shugo screamed in delight. “As long as they died, as long as I could feel their warm blood turning cold in my hands. Then I was happy.”
Shugo threw his hands up laughing. “Oh the day has finally arrived! Bano's killing Q, or Q's killing Bano, I don't even care which! The day is great,” Shugo bent his hands low to touch Charm's body. “And now I'll enjoy this little—”
Dark Raptor's fist plowed through Shugo's face. Shugo could feel his jaw snapping out of place as his body's momentum pulled him feet away from the spot. He landed some distance away. “Don't you lay a hand on her,” Dark Raptor growled darkly.
“Hehehe, so tough,” Shugo smiled. He sat up and pushed his glasses back onto his face. “So tough, a hero. Big guy. Just like your brother. In fact, this position here, yeah. It brings back a lot of memories. It’s a shame, but I'm going to have to kill you. You had so much potential to be strong, but it’s over.”
Dark Raptor threw another blow at Shugo. Shugo fell down hard again. “Quit talking about me and my brother. You know nothing about us.”
“Actually, I know everything, about all of you,” Shugo smiled. Dark Raptor jumped away from the spot. He had just hit Shugo with everything he had. Yet he was back where he was a second ago. “You seem confused?”
“What, how, what's going on?” Dark Raptor asked in bewilderment. “How come…?”
“Hehe, you're special. Oh yes. But I'm on another playing field. You see,” Shugo said standing up smiling. “All of us are monsters. But, monsters aren't friends. In what story, in what universe were monsters ever friends? Never. And yet, we all pretended. But, I could see through it all. And the thing is, monsters can't be friends. Especially weak monsters, like you and your brother. No, one monster has to become the most powerful. And kill them. And crush them. And that monster, that monster shall survive. And that monster was definitely going to be me.”
“You're insane,” Dark Raptor packed his punch and shoved it into Shugo's gut. Shugo flew against a wall. But he stood back up and came back after Dark Raptor. “What? How? No!”
“How is the key. You see. You did see Charm running away. But not the real Charm. An exact duplicate,” he smiled.
“But I've seen your power, you create mirrors, or something, that float in the air, not duplicates, or clones, or whatever this is!” Dark Raptor shouted. The tears were back. “I don't understand! You killed our friends! We were all so kind to you! I don't understand...”
“No, I don't suppose this is something in your grasp. Too bad. If you did, well, you'd still not defeat me.” He stepped close to Dark Raptor and lifted a knife out of his pocket. “If it makes you feel better, I'll enjoy your death greatly.”
Dark Raptor released his talon and slashed through Shugo with all his power. The wall behind Shugo fell in on itself with the force. Shugo's face was completely stunned as blood fell out of his mouth. Dark Raptor fell on his knees. The force was too much. He wasted too much power. Plus, he was still in severe condition from that blow by Charm.
“Very good, my, my. I didn't expect you to put up such a fight, even to the end. You really are something, but this is over. I shall unveil my true powers,” Shugo smiled. Dark Raptor turned around and saw not one, but dozens of Shugos standing behind him.
“What, what is this?” Dark Raptor screamed.
“There's no need for you to know,” the lead Shugo said.
“You could never fully appreciate what you're seeing,” another Shugo laughed.
“Even now, you have no idea how powerful I am compared to you,” another cackled.
Dark Raptor's eyes widened as the group encircled him. He swung and knocked some over, but others circled around. “No! I don't, what's going on!” screamed Dark Raptor, covering his head.
The lead Shugo reached out with a knife and swung it towards Dark Raptor's neck. At the same time, this same Shugo's body was sent flying with several others. Bano landed next to Dark Raptor and cut through the Shugos around him. “Wow, when I came to help you, I can honestly say this is not what I was expecting to see,” Bano smiled.
“You okay, Dark?” Q asked as he sent several Shugos flying. “There sure are a lot of these guys.”
“Yeah, but I've kind of been wanting to do this for a long time,” Bano laughed as he slashed through several Shugos next to him. He then picked up Charm's body and set her down safely away from the fight. He looked at her face with narrowed eyes and a deep frown. “I'm sorry,” he muttered. The body didn’t respond.
“Oh, so you guys saw through my little ruse, eh? No matter. My escape from this wretched town is imminent. You guys are merely clearing the way for me,” several Shugos smiled. Q punched through them then slammed his fist into the ground sending others flying.
“What are you talking about, escape? When we find the real one of you in this bunch, you're as good as dead,” Bano said as he sliced through another ring of Shugos. The group was now down to twenty or so.
Dark Raptor collapsed. He was done. This was too much. The energy it took just being near Shugo in this state was more than enough to wear him out.
Q dodged a knife that had nearly taken his ear off. “Woah, careful Bano. These guys aren't as harmless as they are stupid looking.”
“Seriously, one of these guys cut my shoulder a bit. And some of them are fighting like rabid dogs. This is so strange,” Bano said. A smaller Shugo jumped on Q's neck and pulled him to the ground. Q punched through the Shugo's stomach and left him there.
“Bano, something doesn't feel right about this,” Q said. There was a very uneasy feeling developing in his stomach.
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Bano said as a crazed screaming Shugo fell before him. “For clones, they come in all shapes, all sizes. They all act strange after the initial attack.”
Q leveled another group of Shugos before him. They all had the same face as Shugo, glasses, pink hair, golden eyes. But they all had different looks. Bano ran alongside several with his kama just barely out. It was a gruesome attack cutting all their throats halfway, so that they spasmed on the ground. But the speed from the attack was immense. “Are they all dead?” Q asked, uneasily. “But, this doesn't make any sense.”
“Hehe, you guys are monsters,” Shugo cackled. He stood between them and Dark Raptor. A blade outstretched in his hand waiting to cut Dark Raptor to pieces.
“You lay one hand on him!” Q screamed, his eyes widening and narrowing.
“Wait a second, I have something exciting to tell you. You must be dying to know what's going on. You see, Dark Raptor was right. My power wasn't cloning. But it’s not mirrors, either. I can do both of these, though. My powers lie in manipulation, and illusion. More specifically, I can reflect light off the water in the air. After years and years of trying to perfect this technique, I've done it. Why else stay in this stupid town of Crunchyroll my 16 years of life? To reach my strength. I practiced it by killing you guys off. The first time I killed to see if I could clone. The second time I killed to see how many I could clone. After that it was to disguise myself as others. Not easy, for you have to learn their mannerisms, and learn everything about them to make it legitimate.”
“I don't get it,” Q said uneasily.
“Listen, dear boy, listen!” Shugo howled. “That was just part of it! I finally perfected it when I killed Shinji that night! Yes, Shinji had almost figured out what was going on, but he was too slow to realize just how powerful this technique was. I never even intended to kill him. He challenged me. But I planned this night ever since. And I planned constantly. Had to get it all right. I killed Destroyer Of Souls and Menchi and I disguised myself as Charm reflecting off the light. Dark Raptor fought with Charm, and defeated her so easily. It was all so fantastic! I even used Sasori's dead body to look like mine! So amazing. Sasori died thinking she was killed by Dark Raptor! And you guys were fighting because I gave Charm pictures showing Q enter that shopping center that night behind Shinji! It was all so perfect! And no one even realized that I was just reflecting water in the air around you idiots changing light. Light changes what you see completely!”
Bano and Q were both disoriented. “You k-k-killed them?” Q stuttered. He couldn't believe he'd just lost more friends.
“Oh please, you guys are monsters. Especially after what you just did. But I'm, I'm not a monster. I'm a God,” Shugo smiled.
Bano's rage held back no longer and he sliced through Shugo. Shugo's body fell to dozens of pieces. Another Shugo was sitting on a roof of a building overlooking the incident. “Hehe, you guys still haven't gotten it, have you? I can reflect light to mold an object to look like whatever I want, but I can't yet make an illusion where the object can be felt when it’s not there. So I use substitute objects in its place. Anything can look like something else. That trash bin I can transform into an elephant, but that's not going to change what it really is. Still a trash bin. If it makes you feel better, they were all in a very painful illusion themselves. So you saved them, in a way. Truthfully, I wanted to kill you all here, but that doesn't seem to be the case. But I'm turning you guys into the monsters you really are. I'm forcing you to become what you've never wanted to realize yourselves as. You'll be stronger for it. And someday I'll become a God by defeating you. See you around. I'm going to WOTNopolis.”
Bano and Q watched as the body fell to the ground, but its face changed. It was no longer Shugo's face haunted there but someone else's. It was a townsperson. He hit the ground neck first with a crack. Q and Bano looked around, then at each other, and back at the townsperson.
“Oh dear,” Q breathed. He turned around and took a few steps before keeling over and vomiting.
Bano couldn't stand any longer and crashed to his knees. None of the Shugo clones that had been before them were Shugo clones any longer. They were all the slaughtered bodies of Crunchyroll citizens.

***

“Alright Dark Raptor, we're entrusting the Crunchyroll gang to you,” Q smiled as he saluted him.
“Yeah, it'll be great. Without you around they'll do so much better with me,” Dark Raptor smiled.
“Yeah, I'm sure. Later. Come meet us in WOTNopolis when you're strong enough,” Q laughed and hopped on the train. Bano bonked Dark Raptor on the head and hopped on the train behind Q.
“Well, after all our training together and fighting, we're off, Q” Bano said.
“Mhm, it’s good for us. We can leave the past behind us, once and for all. It’s been two years, and I've never killed since, but…” Q trailed off. “Monsters, Bano. We can't become bad monsters. We have to take over WOTNopolis, and set our kind straight.”
“I know, Q, I know. You remember what Shinji always said about being us being monsters. We have to remember that,” Bano smiled. “From now on, let's never mention the incident.”
“What incident?” Q winked badly and Bano just rolled his eyes. Q poked his finger to his chair and felt it vibrate. “Oh man! That's awesome. By the way, Bano, I hear WOTNopolis is huge! Like, bam! If it was a fruit, it'd be a watermelon and Crunchyroll would be like a strawberry.”
“Q, you will not talk this entire trip. You're not going to bug me or so help me I will jump off this train head first,” Bano growled.
Q vibrated his chair some more. “This is so fun! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!”
“I swear, I can't take much more of this.”
“Psh, Bano the Great gets mad when he doesn't have a story before bed.”
“I'm leaving.”

Holy cow~ YAY~

Long, long @.@

It was, but it was pretty cool. ^_^
Shoot, more characters to draw.
How many do I draw? There are a ton in here! :O

There's DR, Charm, Sori, DoS, Menchi, Shugo.
Have fun :D

Yeah, I liked it. Whoo. Let's get the next chapter!

I've also got CR people to draw... Shinji and the other two....

And Marise. Well, she's technically not CR but she hasn't been on WOTN in eons and eons.

I loved reading it and the fight scenes ^_^
But so many people died TT__TT

Q -- Good to know..

Amazing chapter. I actually kind of like it when you kill off alot of people in a short time frame in some stories, especially when you make it a mystery, or if it just has a good plot in general.


Great job and thanks to both of you for this outstanding chapter.

wow. that was something. awesome! :D

>:D finally finished it! >:D Actually didnt take as long as i thought it would :O :D
AWESOME! X3

Endless Nothing wrote:Amazing chapter. I actually kind of like it when you kill off alot of people in a short time frame in some stories, especially when you make it a mystery, or if it just has a good plot in general.


Great job and thanks to both of you for this outstanding chapter.

I like that too

Another awesome chapter guys.

Everyone go bug Bano and Q for the next chapter. ;D

Love Air

CLAIRVOYANTdisease wrote:

Endless Nothing wrote:Amazing chapter. I actually kind of like it when you kill off alot of people in a short time frame in some stories, especially when you make it a mystery, or if it just has a good plot in general.


Great job and thanks to both of you for this outstanding chapter.

I like that too

Another awesome chapter guys.

Everyone go bug Bano and Q for the next chapter. ;D

Love Air

can do! :D

Re-edited it. But, don't bother looking through the chapter looking for the edits, they're really small :P
-Abby