Chapter 3
“The seeds for perseverance and crafty strategies have finally borne fruit. Hard work, but in the end I’m free.” A man looked over the vast lands beneath him. The breeze was a gale at a height of his stance; describing his stature as a hovering man. Yeah, he was indeed flying without wings. Rain began to pour down along with the wind. The clouds seemed to drive past by with its black cover. Nothing seemed to faze that man with the yellow hair.
“The others, they must’ve gone their own paths. And Seiryu, that fool is nowhere to be seen. The gate must’ve caused heavy disruptions.”
The man decided to lower down his altitude and get a gaze upon his further agendas.
“Well then, there seems a city in the horizon.” the man made a sharp look across the distance, “I’m yet furious with the failure. Damn that Yusuke Urameshi, I’ll get you to shut up once and for all. But first.” The man dashed through the air, “I need to release my steam.”
[P. S. – The following recount is the 3rd Chapter of the FICTION REALM fanfiction series. If this is your first time in this story, please do check out the given links at the bottom of the page, related to the story chapters and other references.]
The commotion had calmed down, the riverside was left alone. But the instigators were far from being in the vicinity. It seemed a Sunday; the citizens enjoyed the cool rainy day with their eyes shut. So sparse were the streets, the instigators took their path through the routes which were busiest during the weekdays.
“I can’t believe that the streets are deserted.” I was indeed surprised.
“Is this a city or a ghost town?” Lucy asked blatantly.
“The latter.” Slab made an unnecessary statement, “In fact, we are the last survivors of an apocalypse. You can guess the situation around? Everything’s haunted.”
“Seriously!” Natsu was shocked with the news.
“Uh… shut up, Slab.” I retorted, “We can’t run exposed in the area.”
And the devil struck our luck. A police siren was heard beyond the corner of the road.
“Damn! Come on, we need to hide.” I was cautious. The others decided to follow my advice. Indeed, a police vehicle had crossed by, and glad that we were not noticed.
“The rain is getting bad. Not to say, we are drenched. I hope you know where we are going?” Slab asked.
“We are going to Ramsay’s house.” I replied.
“A friend of yours?” Gray asked.
Before I could answer Gray’s enquiry, Erza looked back and asked, “And who the heck are you?” The weird guy with the white hair had followed us since we met him. It seemed that he was lost, just as Erza and her comrades.
“Huh, me?” the guy asked. At the same instant, he began to lax off and forgot Erza’s enquiry. Instead, he said, “The ‘Kamui’ has led me to trouble, it seems.”
“Didn’t he say the same thing before?” Gray asked.
“He is absentminded.” Lucy said.
“Absentminded? No, that’s not me.” the weird guy replied to Lucy’s statement.
“I’ll ask you again. Who are you?” Erza was beginning to lose her patience. She drew her sword to get answers.
“There is no need to get qualms, lady. Just calm down.” the guy said with a calm tone. He sighed as he spoke again, “I’m Kakashi Hatake and uh, I’m lost.”
“Seems pretty obvious.” I replied, “You were following us the whole time. Where are you from?”
“The last I remember was a battlefield, settling score with an old friend.” The guy seemed lax as he spoke, “Uh, yeah, I come from the village hidden in the leaves.”
“Village hidden in the leaves?” Happy asked.
“He is an elf, alright. He has white hair to top it all.” Slab made his point.
“Look at him, Slab. He doesn’t have pointy ears.” I clarified my comrade’s assumption.
“What is an elf?” asked Natsu.
“Elf?” Kakashi replied, “No, I’m a ninja.”
The rain continued to pour upon us. Glad were we, when we were able to reach Ramsay’s home, before we got sick.
“Whoa! What’s going on here?” Ramsay was surprised to see us piled up, and drenched.
“Before you explain anything, get yourselves inside first.” Ramsay invited us inside his residence. Incidentally, his parents were away from home based on some family agendas. Ramsay’s sister Rosaline met us in the living room. All of us sat down, whilst the house-maid brought in cups full of warm refreshing tea. Ah, the aroma and relief.
Ramsay was a good friend of mine, and at that moment I knew none other to take aid from. Slab, Ramsay and I had studied together in the same institute till our highschool.
“You’ve brought along quite the squad, eh Walt?” Rosaline asked.
“That was my question, Rose. Don’t take my line.” Ramsay argued, “Anyway, good to see you Slab and uh, greetings to you all folks.” Ramsay was confused with all the uncanny guests.
“Yeah, Ramsay. Long time no see.” Slab replied.
All of the members became acquainted with each other.
The television in the room was being kept switched on before our arrival. Rosaline took the remote controller and enhanced the volume. Apparent, as it was, the regional news channel was kept for the show.
“…and now you all can see that this boat was sent overboard by a tidal wave, which is unreasonable in river waters…” A scene of the river embankment was showed with a boat turned upside down. The crewmen were in agony as the reporters took reports.
“Whoa!” Everyone exclaimed, excluding the residents. We all knew what the news was about.
“Haha!” Slab chuckled with excitement.
“…there were some crazy folks! They seemed to be drowning…”
“We had salvaged them, but the worst came the next moment. A weird looking woman with blue hair had popped out from the water, and raised a tidal wave…”
“They were all insane…”
The crewmen gave report over their miserable ride.
“Where are they, now?” asked the reporter.
“They fled in the blink of an eye…”
“It’s good that we are alive… Leave them be! They are dangerous…”
The camera turned away towards the river, where the viewers were able to see a chunk of frozen ice within the flow.
“Woah!” Gray exclaimed.
“And you can see people, today is odd indeed. The river had frozen up, a tidal wave and a boat upside down.” The reporter was restless, “As for further investigations, the police have showed up to take the matter into hand.”
“Investigations!” I exclaimed, “We are being targeted.”
“…and here’s constable Baruah, who’s enquiring the victims…”
The microphone was transferred to the constable.
“The crewmen seem traumatized with the events that followed them, stupendous the recount. They mentioned of some people who were responsible for the incidents.” the constable said, “Scouts are sent over the market ahead, as the crew folks mentioned the direction of their flee. Today is a Sunday and assurance can be made to find weird folks in less-crowded streets.”
“Appreciations, constable Baruah. And now we head back…”
The news continued, us being flabbergasted.
“Some weird things going on in the city. Hmm.” Ramsay said calmly, as he listened, “So what’s your story?” He asked us.
“That.” I pointed my finger at the television screen without hesitation.
“What?” Ramsay was confused. The same perplexity was seen on Rosaline’s face.
“We are responsible.” Slab helped clarify with simple words.
Both the eyes widened for the two siblings as they returned their gaze back onto the television.
“What the hell’s going on?” Ramsay asked calmly, wide eyed.
“Uncanny place! It’s time to rule, Motherglare.”
A mute roar echoed through the scarce street as a bass travelled far. It wasn’t sound check for a rock concert, yet an uncanny sound.
“Did you hear that?” said one of the patrol officers.
“Yeah, looks like some rock concert.” replied his colleague.
“Alright, guys. We need to figure out something.” I said upon our situation.
“Yes, we might bring unwanted troubles for you people if we stay here too long.” Erza said considerately.
“You folks are fine.” Slab said, “It’s those cops, not minding their business.”
“Either way, you all said that you had arrived through some portal. I don’t have a clue of the details but I could say that the same would be true to revert the process.” I made a speculation.
“What do you mean?” Slab asked me curious.
“I agree. Considering our situation, a portal should be the quickest way to solve things.” Gray said.
“I must wonder the possibilities, and in the present circumstance it would be difficult to make such attempts.” Kakashi explained, “It requires a lot of energy to create a doorway between dimensions.”
“You are right there.” Erza agreed.
“And with us being pursued, I guess we won’t find time to create a portal before being discovered. It would cause a lot of attention.” Lucy said.
“I don’t know what you guys are talking about, but it looks like some big deal.” Slab said.
“Precisely.” Natsu said, “It’s a big mess.”
“Aye sir.” Happy agreed.
“Kakashi, you did mention that you had come here through a portal. The one you had created on your own?” Gray asked.
“True. I can create portals between dimensions but there are some limitations here.”
“Anomalies?” Ramsay asked.
“Highly.” Kakashi nodded, “First of all it requires a lot of energy to perform the technique, as I had said, and secondly, I don’t think it would be possible to create routes back to our realms. As you said, anomaly is the word that suites best with the instances. I felt some uneven distortions whilst performing my ‘Kamui’. The whole thing seems as an accident.”
“Kamui, the portal technique?” Lucy asked.
“Yeah, that’s the name.” Kakashi replied.
“We would need high spiritual energy to pull off a portal gate.” Erza said.
“Yeah, do you guys know of any places with high spiritual energy?” Kakashi asked.
“Spiritual energy? You mean those mysterious powers mentioned in myths?” Slab asked.
“Yeah, it seems that way.” Ramsay nodded.
“It would be hard to find what you ask. We need to research for clues.” I said, “Ramsay, any idea?”
Ramsay seemed to have something in his mind.
“Yeah, I think I might have some idea.” he said, raising the hopes.
“…the rain seems not the only things falling today. As you can see, fires have caught up in the city in various localities…”
Rosaline was watching the news at the same time.
“Rosaline, pipe the TV volume down.” Ramsay turned around in annoyance. Instead, he found some interesting telecast, “What the hell is going on?”
Houses and structures were burning down throughout the city.
“Whoa! Now that’s my kind of town!” Natsu exclaimed upon the same sight.
“Shut up, Natsu! Something is wrong here.” Gray retorted back.
“This is unseen. It’s raining thunder.” Slab said.
“Where is it telecasted, Rosaline?” I asked, “The locality?”
“East side, near Veteran Field.” Rosaline replied.
“Come on, guys. I have a hunch that we would find something over there.” I said.
“Yeah. Walt, I suggest that we pack up for the ride.” Ramsay said, “I might know of a place that you ask of. And for that, we would need to go beyond the city. That applies for you too, Slab.”
“Okay, agreed.” Slab said without hesitation.
I had to agree with the same and put my faith upon my comrades.
Slab and I needed to get our stuff on the way through our residences. Ramsay and our new uncanny friends were ready.
“Rosaline, I can leave the house to you. After all mom and pops are returning tonight.” Slab said.
“Yeah, sure thing. Do be careful out there.” Rosaline replied.
Veteran Field; a large ground for everything to happen. The regional highway ran by the contours and an often truck would tumble, gate crashing in the night. Helicopters would show up and land in the ground. Government folks took this place as an airport in hasty circumstances.
Sports people and health freaks would show up in the evenings but, that wasn’t the point in our situation. Residences in the vicinity to Veteran Field were seen on fire; fire-fighters trying hard to undo the same. The rain helped little, as it rained of lightning.
“Whoa!” Ramsay exclaimed. A lightning had jolted down to the earth. Fate, it fell on the other side of the field but I assure you, it was terrifying.
“Laxus!” Natsu exclaimed.
“Are you sure?” Gray exclaimed as well.
“No, it’s not him.” Erza clarified.
“It doesn’t seem like a real lightning.” Kakashi said as he scrutinized the event.
“It seemed real to me. Pretty real!” Ramsay blurted, as he heaved from the shock.
“I assure you. A real jolt would have paralysed us in this distance.” Kakashi explained, “Look, the soil and the grass are wet.”
“Yeah.” I noticed his point. A lightning at such close range would have knocked us out, but it did not.
“There is someone else in the area. He seems to possess the ability to control lightning.” Kakashi said.
Another lightning bolt shook our guts.
“There he is. I see him.” Kakashi had caught a glimpse of that certain someone. He aimed his index at the sky.
“Whoa! The guy is flying!” I exclaimed.
Indeed, we were surprised to find a man floating on air.
“Looks like he’s the one plummeting those thunder bolts.” Gray said.
“And he’s not stopping.” Lucy freaked out as she sensed the man, preparing for another attack.
“We must stop him.” Erza said hastily.
“Come on, Happy. We need to teach this guy a lesson.” Natsu said.
“Aye, sir. A full throttle!” Happy replied in zeal.
“You said it, buddy. Let’s roll!” And with that, both Natsu and his blue cat, Happy leaped through the air and gained steep altitude.
“How on earth does a cat have wings?” Ramsay exclaimed.
“I told you accept it, Ramsay. Things are beyond the commons now.” I replied back.
“Fire Dragon’s Iron Fist!” Natsu had developed an aura over one of his fists. It was engulfed into fire and blazed like a meteor.
“Huh?” The assailant looked below, and was smacked with heavy duty fire power. Natsu had punched the guy back to the earth.
“He’s coming this way!” Gray shouted. Natsu had sent the trajectory towards us and we had to force our way out of our stance. A large crash had made a crater into the soil. The assailant laid flat on his face; Natsu and Happy had landed back.
“What the hell is wrong with you, you numbskull!” Gray blurted on Natsu’s face, “You could’ve killed us with that.”
“Shut up, Ice-head. It would need more to kill you guys than that.” Natsu retorted.
“Looks like he’s not dead.” Slab was found to be gazing at the crater.
“I wasn’t expecting that.” Erza replied.
“Get away from there, Slab! That guy is dangerous!” I shouted.
But Slab paid no heed. Kakashi and Erza went for the crater to check on the unknown assailant.
“Who is that guy? I heard no humanly discoveries of such abilities.” Ramsay said.
“Wait, something’s wrong.” I had felt ominous for a second.
“Everything awry.” Ramsay said.
I tried to pay attention to the surroundings, and suddenly, I had recognised the sensation. A low bass was heard. I felt that of a muffed up siren, ready to scream hell.
“Do you hear that?” I asked Ramsay.
“Hear what?”
Erza and Kakashi had stepped down into the crater. At the same time, Natsu had felt something up his sleeve.
“I smell a dragon nearby.” He said.
“Yeah.” Gray began to hear the same humming bass.
“I’ve felt that scent before.” Natsu had a keen sense of smell, and in that situation, he seemed to recognise his game.
Unexpected, as it was, the voice began to grow bigger every second.
“It’s coming.” Gray said tensed.
A huge creature had leaped into the air and flew high.
“A dragon!” Kakashi exclaimed upon the sight.
“Oh no! It’s the same dragon.” Lucy said.
“The one Rogue was riding on.” Gray said, “This is bad, man. If that guy is here, it would be bad news.”
“He is there, alright. I need to give him some serious beating for all he had done.” Natsu said grasping his fist, “He’s going to pay.”
“You ready to go?” Happy asked.
“Yeah, I’m fired up. Let’s go.” Both Natsu and Happy took off to start a fight.
“I’m going with him.” Erza leaped out, and ran ahead, “Heaven’s Wheel!”
A sudden change began to morph into Erza; her attire changed into plates of armour covering all her body. It gave her metal wings on her backs and it seemed to give her the ability to fly.
Erza flew off the next moment her transformation was complete.
“What should we do Gray?” Lucy asked, “We can’t aid them with flight.”
“The best we could do now is to provide ranged support.” Gray was prepared with his idea, “Ice Make – Super Freeze Arrow!”
He was able to morph out an iced bow and arrows with his ability.
“Lucy you should keep a watch behind. That lightning guy is not out of commission yet.” Gray said.
Lucy nodded.
“Hmm… quite interesting.” Kakashi said, as he saw his newfound comrades with unique abilities.
He turned his head back and found the lightning assailant to be wide awake and on his two feet.
“I never saw you get awake.” Kakashi said calmly.
The assailant became furious and let his rage out. Kakashi had to leap out of the crater. The former had created a burst of lightning from his body.
“That was close.” Kakashi told himself.
“You are right, Gray.” Lucy said, “I should better help.”
“Go on. I’ll aid Natsu and Erza.” Gray said.
“I don’t know who had bashed my face but you seem no different.” the assailant told Kakashi.
“Precisely, yes.” Kakashi replied, “I’m Kakashi Hatake and who might you be?”
“You ask of me, eh?” the assailant said, “I’m Suzaku, the ‘Crimson Sparrow’.”
“Quite a fancy title and I don’t believe that it isn’t simply for show.”
“You have a good sense for my powers. I assure you, it’s worth it.” The assailant aimed his arm at Kakashi, and shot a bolt of lightning. The latter managed to see the move and dodged sideways.
This guy is no joke. He could’ve done big damage with that move of his. Kakashi had to brainstorm to make strategies. Before he could plan his next move, the assailant had shot his second bolt of lightning.
“He’s quick, damn it.” Kakashi heaved as he dodged again, “I guess I have no choice but to use the Sharingan. The lightning’s becoming a problem.”
“Go on Scorpio!” Lucy shouted.
“Hell yeah! Sand Buster!” Lucy had summoned one of her spirits with her gate keys. Scorpio, the Scorpion spirit had shot a beam of sand, which was able to push back the assailant from making a third move.
“Alright, good work.” Kakashi said. He moved his headband upwards and revealed his left eye.
“Whoa! What’s wrong with your eye?” Slab asked from the vicinity. He had disappeared for a moment since the dragon showed up. Kakashi did not reply, but concentrated on his enemy.
I won’t be able to retreat after a frontal attack with this guy’s speed. Need to come up with a diversion.
Lucy had summoned Virgo, another one of her spirits.
“Alright, Virgo. We need to suppress that freak.” the former said.
“Yes, princess.” Virgo replied.
“Let him make the first move.” Lucy said.
Kakashi began to make signs with his hands. Signs with references to animals. In Kakashi’s case, he was performing a technique.
“Alright. It’s done.” He said. At the same time, the assailant sent down a jolt of lightning. It was too fast for Lucy to detect the strike. Kakashi was hit with a heavy blow.
“Oh damn! That was nasty!” Ramsay exclaimed.
“Oh no, Kakashi!” Lucy exclaimed.
Once the steam cleared off, Kakashi’s body went up in smoke.
“What the…?” the assailant was surprised.
“Lucy! Hold this guy for a second!” Someone shouted from behind the assailant, “The Shadow Clone Jutsu worked well.”
“Whoa, Kakashi!” I was relieved to find the guy unscathed.
“Neat move.” Slab appreciated the action.
“Alright.” Lucy approved, “Virgo, your move.”
“Yes, princess.” Virgo drew her hands to her front and released her spell, “Spica Lock!”
Two huge boulders from the earth were unearthed and slammed on the assailant.
“Here it goes.” Kakashi said as he released his move, “Water Style – Great Waterfall Jutsu!”
A heavy gush of water drew towards the boulders at great speed. Virgo released her Spica Lock for Kakashi’s move to act with full strength. The assailant was slammed with heavy gushes of water, taking toll on his strength. At the same time, a heavy blast was heard above the ground. Apparently, Natsu had punched some damage through the armoured dragon.
“Damn you, Natsu!” shouted the villain, who was riding the dragon.
The rider was sent off his balance and at the same time, Erza prepared her attack.
“Blumenblatt!” she shouted. A surge of summoned swords were shot at the rider. The latter was able to dodge the initial blows, but wasn’t left without scathes. The dragon became furious and shot a fireball towards the ground.
“Oh no!” Ramsay shouted.
“Super Freeze Arrow Release!” Gray had released his arrow towards the fireball. Both the projectiles crashed hard and spilt splashes of energy all around.
The rider planned to retort on Erza and drew his arm. A surge of energy began to cover it. The rider threw his move but it went the wrong direction. Natsu had slammed his face, whilst the rider was busy planning for payback. The rider’s energy hit the dragon’s back and caused it to moan.
“What is going on up there?” Lucy asked.
“Looks like Natsu’s having his fun.” Gray said with a grin, “The dragon is taking its beating.”
“Calm yourself down, Motherglare. We are losing balance.” the rider shouted.
The dragon began to lose altitude.
“It’s falling down” I said.
“Natsu, I need to return back down. My flight is at the limits.” Erza said.
“Same here. Happy needs to rest before he could regain flight, ain’t it little buddy?” Natsu replied.
“Aye sir.” said the blue cat, “It’s hard to keep hovering in high altitudes.”
And so, Natsu and Erza needed to return for a refitting. The lightning assailant was swooned and the dragon crashing down. Everyone was safe and it seemed that it was a successful day.
“Looks the party’s over.” a man looked at the Veteran Field from the highway. He looked around and began to move forward.
“No, it’s not.” he corrected himself.
The dragon was able to regain his balance and thus its flight. The rider decided to call it a retreat as he and his ride took severe damage.
“That Natsu’s really tenacious, I’ll give him that.” The rider said as he and the dragon disappeared into the horizon.
Everyone was exhausted. But, we had no time for rest. Unfortunate as it was, the lightning assailant was yet around and awake to his feet. Virgo and Kakashi’s attack had the damages on him but it was not enough to put him down.
“It’s time to get serious.” the assailant told himself, as he drew his fist and surrounded it with intense lightning energy. It had much more strength than any of his previous attacks.
“Storm of Torme…” He was suddenly stopped for making his move.
A guy had showed up from the blue, and grasped the assailant’s arm. He was able to neutralise his power.
“Now, you are going overboard, aren’t you?” the guy asked.
“It’s you.” The assailant was surprised to see the newcomer.
“Whoa!” Even Kakashi was surprised to see this guy.
“I don’t have the strength to take you down, right now.” the assailant told newcomer. He escaped the guy’s clutches and reappeared in the vicinity.
“You all will be dead by the next time we meet.” The assailant gave his warning and disappeared from sight.
The newcomer turned around and looked at the crowd. He found one of us to be acquainted.
“Long time no see, eh Kakashi?” he said.
“I can’t believe that you are alive, Itachi.” Kakashi was serious.
“If you want to kill me now, you have the chance.” the guy replied.
It seemed as if both of them had some serious issues in the past.
“I guess, I should not.” Kakashi said, “I had heard the whole thing from Naruto. So I have no interest with that.”
“And besides, you were dead.” Kakashi gave emphasis in those words.
The city battle was over for the good. We began our journey beyond the metropolis. The newcomer was yet to give his answer, and for which I think, he had decided to tag along with us.
Ramsay had mentioned of a village, which was our destination. We had found some strong evidences of its past, and magic, which gave us the idea to head for the place.
“It isn’t far. We should reach there by tomorrow or the day after.” Ramsay said.
Who was the lightning assailant, what was a dragon doing in our city, who was this newcomer? Questions began to cloud my mind as we walked on.
TO BE CONTINUED…
DISCLAIMER: The following recount is completely fictional and unrelated of any incident in the past. All the characters and locations are fictitious. Any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental.
For the information, this is a recount partly based on the genre of fan-fiction. The characters are borrowed from the Anime shows, named, Fairy Tail, Naruto and, Yu Yu Hakusho. The character sources solely belong to the work of manga artists, Hiro Mashima, Masashi Kishimoto and Yoshihiro Togashi, and not used for any profit or commercialisation. Also credited, the companies of Studio Pierrot and A-1 Pictures/Satellite. Characters excluding that of the above shows are self-fictional, with a few factual elements.
Thank you for reading!!
SANZENSKYLINE 