Chương 44: Ninjas?
A/N: Pat-reon: HelloDarkness07.
People are still confused about Mason's decision to take Victor's mutation, despite his healing being slower than James's. No, it isn't just because of his claws being subtler.
Victor's senses are better, and his potential for increasing his mutation is higher. Just take the movie version, in 10-20 years he went from losing to Adamantium-James to throwing him around easily. Then, Victor can smell mutations, smell mutants, which James cannot do.
Overall, the only thing James has over Victor, is a faster healing. It's enough to make it so Victor cannot safely inject his bones with Adamantium, but that's not an issue for Mason. If he ever wants to inject metal into his bones, he can just enchant it to not poison him, not stop the production of blood, not kill him, and not inhibit him anyway. Magic, baby.
Not saying James's mutation is any weaker, he's still the badass Wolverine we all know, but right now, Victor offers a better package. Mutation package, not the other one.
As for Mason being nerfed, he isn't. I admit, the first time he was captured by Hydra, with Grindelwald's help, I made it happen just because I wanted it to, not giving a good enough explanation.
But this time, Mason was actually very vigilant, he was ready to cast spells at a moment's notice. The Wizards ambushed him, threw a Magical bomb of his own design, and blew it in his face. He still tried to shield himself, but the Bomb broke the shield.
He didn't have time enough to cast tougher Sorcery spells, which definitely would have saved him. The short time he did have, only allowed him to cast Wizardry spells, that too wandlessly.
As for him not being able to read anyone's minds, it will be explained. Don't worry. Nosferatu and his killer being immune to Telepathy will be explained in this chapter, the wizards in the next or the one after it, I don't remember.
Now, Read on!
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Sound of footsteps? None.
Sound of his breathing? Nope.
Sound of his heart beating? Not there either.
Sound of his thoughts? Nope, also not there. I can barely tell that he has a mind capable of thinking, but that's it. Even with all this training under Rowena, this man is somehow so talented, that I can't even enter his mind.
I couldn't hear the man who had just killed Nosferatu as easily as I'd done many muggles during this war, at all, not even while using all of my enhanced senses. I couldn't smell anything from him either, which is really weird.
If it wasn't for me looking straight at him, I would have believed him to just not be there.
The man was wearing all black clothes, an armoured layer of what appeared to be leather covering his chest, and his back. He was wearing a thin, tight helmet around his head, which looked far too advanced to be from this era. It had a black visor, which stopped me from seeing his face, or even his eyes.
On his back were two swords, katanas, from the looks of it, one of which he had used to kill Nosferatu. And on his left shoulder, was the wooden box, that contained the Dark Sword which I had just witnessed summon a storm, and at least double the strength of Nosferatu.
And now, this.. Ninja, because he's certainly dressed like one, was running away, his running not even making a single sound.
I'm already pissed, having just lost my friend, having been attacked by Wizards, and then the Nosferatu himself. And now, the weapon I was here for, to protect it from any and all hands, even the SSR's, was being stolen.
I follow after him, running at speeds just a bit slower than the Ninja.
Hey, after getting the Feral mutation, and the micro-evolution I just went through after the trauma, I can definitely run at least 5 times faster than any known human. And this guy was still many steps ahead of me, and gaining distance.
And this man can run, he could definitely outrun any normal human, and even some cars of this time with the way he runs. But, I don't have time to just run after him.
Within one step and the next, I disappear from my position, and appear right behind the Ninja, still in motion. I see him turn, despite my Apparition being silent, as he swings his sword at my neck.
I didn't even fucking see him take the sword out!
Ducking down, I slam my left fist in his gut, punching with my full force, sending him flying into a tree.
SLAM!
He hits the tree, the Wooden box falling from his hands, and drops down on the ground. Fuck, that hurt.
I wave my hand a little, since I'd broken a bone while hitting him, and start walking towards him.
The man looks up from his position, surprising me with the fact that he's okay despite being thrown almost 50 feet away, slamming into the thick trunk of a tree, and dropping on the uneven ground.
I just feel him narrowing his eyes, despite not seeing through the visor, as he says, "Attack."
Attack? Why is he telling me to attack?
Suddenly, I duck, letting a sword pass by harmlessly, and then raise my hand, catching the arm as it tried to cut me with the sword again. My attacker, whom I also did not smell or hear coming, was wearing Red Ninja clothes, with a lot less protection on his body.
This one was also slower, and weaker than the Thief Ninja.
Raising my hand, I pull the Ninja up, and slam my knee into his stomach, stunning him breathless, and with a stab of my claws in his heart, kill him.
I frown, annoyed. For some reason, this guy also didn't have any thoughts playing out loud, and I couldn't even feel his mind. It's as if his mind isn't there, but the Thief Ninja definitely has a mind, even if I can't hear anything within it.
Turning my head towards the tree, where the Thief was supposed to be, I find him gone. But, I can still smell the wooden box, and the dirt still clinging to it, even if the man himself is odorless.
Spinning around my foot, I apparate once again, this time guessing the distance by the scent, and appear about 10 meters behind the Thief Ninja. He turns his head to look at me, as I start following him once again, and throws something at me.
I catch the object between my fingers, on reflex, and throw it back at him, finding it to be an honest to God, Ninja star.
Feelings goosebumps rise out of the back of my neck, I jump up, letting another Red Ninja pass. Still mid jump, I take a knife out of the Nowhere, and throw it at him, hitting him square on his head.
Dropping down on the ground, I use my arms to stabilize myself, and keep running behind the man.
Sniff, sniff.
My nose, and my ears, catch it at the same time. A Helicopter, which is already on, with a single Mind inside it. Considering that I can't sense any of the Minds of these Red Ninjas, I'm guessing this is not a Red Ninja, and that there are probably more Red Ninjas there.
The chopper was in the direction of our run itself, with the Black Ninja taking me right towards it. Thankfully, it was still about a kilometre away, but our running speeds mean that it's barely a minute away. Well, I can't let him leave.
Summoning a handgun out of the Nowhere, I empty the clip at the back of the Black Ninja.
Turning around with a sword in his hand, the Black Ninja does something that impresses, and scares me at the same time. He swipes his Katana, and deflects each and every one of those bullets with one swipe each.
Okay, bullets are useless, and so is Telepathy. What about spells, though? Pointing my hand at the man, I first cast an Accio, trying to summon the box. The box barely even twitches, my spell not even working. Which means the box itself is unsummonable.
And I don't have actually Telekinesis, so I can't do that either.
Taking aim, while still running, I fire a Stupefy at his back. The man turns around, having somehow sensed the spell coming, and swipes his sword at it.
And the spell dissipates.
"What the fuck?" I whisper, looking stupefied.. pardon my pun.
You can't just dissipate spells like that, not with plain steel. And it is steel, even if I can't smell it. I can see it is steel.
The man takes advantage of my shock, and speeds up even more, gaining more distance between us.
Apparating, I appear in front of him, and fire a few more spells. Stupefy(he swats away with his sword, dissipating it), Bombarda(he jumps away, using a piece of debris as a platform to jump over me), Expulso(which he ones again dissipates, using his sword.)
Now once more behind him, I growl, frustrated. He's either absorbing the Magic behind my spells, or unraveling the spells itself. The Expulso should have blown his sword up, taking his hand with it.
Waving my hand at the ground, I transfigure the land into a few snakes, that I banish at the Ninja, and send a few fireballs, lightning blasts, and even the Cruciatus curse at the man.
The man cuts the transfigured snakes cleanly, turning them to dust, and swipes his sword at all the other spells, dissipating them. This does, however, make me understand, that the Swords allowed him to turn any spell into pure magic, sending them unraveling into the Universe.
Conjuring a thick chain made of purely my own magical energy, I throw one tip at the man. The man once more swipes his sword, and diverts the chain away from himself. However, this time, the chain does not dissipate. So, his swords can only unravel projectile spells, and not those that I'm not touching.
"Delay him." The man says, not too loudly, but enough that I hear it even from about 20 meters away from him.
Four more Red Ninjas appear right near me from out of nowhere, all poised with their swords at me, leaving me no place to dodge.
"AAAAAAHHH!" I yell, enraged at the thief, and the situation over all, expelling magic from everywhere over my body.
The force of the expulsion throws the 4 Red Ninjas away from me, slamming them all into boulders and trees. Conjuring daggers out of thin air, I send them all flying with a depulso, hitting all their necks, cutting straight through.
Enough games.
Growling, I apparate near the helicopter, knowing that the Black Ninja is about to reach it.
The Helicopter was in a clearing, about as big as a football ground. Its propellers were already spinning, fast, and it was just ready to take off. There were 3 men already inside the Helicopter, only one of whom had a sensable mind, but even that was inaccessible to me.
Unfortunately, I had landed on the extreme end of the clearing, and on the opposite side from where the Black Ninja comes running.
Pointing my hand at the chopper, seeing the Black Ninja notice me, and I feel him startle, and raise his hand in panic. I smirk at him, relishing in finally feeling some emotion from him, and whisper, "Expulso!"
An orange beam of light zigzags out of the palm of my right hand, and flies towards the chopper. The pilot sees the spell, and tries to lift off, but unfortunately for him, the spell is too fast, and hits the fuel tank of the plane.
BOOOOOOMMMMMM!
The chopper explodes, sending parts of it flying all around. The propeller itself flies towards me, and I drop down, letting it pass right over my head.
In the place of the Helicopter, were now flames, and melting metal. Smelling blood, I turn slightly to my left, seeing the Blue Ninja clothes wearing Pilot laying there, on the ground. The Black Ninja, whereas, was nowhere to be seen, along with the box.
I apparate right beside the Pilot's unconscious form, and place my hand on his forehead, to try to enter the Pilot's mind.
Unconscious Minds are easier to enter, or so I've experienced in terms of normal humans, and even Wizards. This is also how I succeeded in entering Charlus's and Vinda's minds, when they were inaccessible before. I smile, once I succeed, and start going through the man's memories.
The man was named Han Shimura, a member of an organisation called The Hand, and the Black Ninja, named Kuronin, real name unknown, was his superior. He was a member of the faction of the Hand under Murakami.
The Hand wanted the weapon extracted, either to use it in their quest of World Domination, or to destroy it, Han didn't know which.
Unfortunately, Han also didn't know what the weapon actually was, and neither did he care. He was here just to fulfill his mission, extract the Kuronin and the Weapon, with the Weapon being the priority.
Before I can go deeper into Han's mind, or start copying his memories, I am forced to jump back, feeling danger approach. A Ninja star hits the Pilot in his head, killing him, and I sigh, thankful that I wasn't in his mind when it happened.
I've never experienced death, second hand, but I doubt it'll be pleasant.
Turning towards the trees, from where the star came, I am met with the Kuronin, wielding both his Katana, the Weapon Box right behind him.
"You are not the first Mind Mage we have encountered, Captain Aves." The Kuronin says, in Japanese, swinging his sword in the empty air once.
Summoning my Goblin Silver daggers, I ignore his statement, and ask, "What does the Hand want with the sword?"
I didn't find anything about the Sword in Han's mind, not even what it's called. This Kuronin killed him before I could find anything out, much to my annoyance.
The man looks at my daggers, and says, "Our goals are beyond your mortal understandings, Captain Aves."
And then, he runs at me, his sword poised to attack. With a downward swing, the Kuronin swipes at my head, and I raise my dagger, using the left one to parry the sword.
The right dagger, meanwhile, I stab at the Kuronin's stomach. He uses his own left sword to divert the swing, and raises his knee in an attack towards my chin.
Leaning back, I let the knee pass, and hold my empty hands up, the daggers thrown down, just in time to catch the spinning kick thrown by the Kuronin while still in the air. Using his foot as leverage, I raise him up, to slam him into the ground, but a stab in my hand makes me drop him before it happens.
I frown, looking at the wound healing very slowly, and then at the swords. They're definitely made of steel, but they're enchanted. Enchanted using Sorcery, I think. There are no Runes visible on the surface, but from what I have seen, the swords inhibit Healing factors, dissipate spells, and can easily divert bullets.
But, it seems they aren't perfect. My Basilisk Venom imbued Goblin's Silver daggers certainly can harm it, judging by the chips already there.
And it seems the Kuronin noticed it too. He runs towards me once again, and I towards him, both of our weapons drawn, and ready to be attacked.
He swipes his left sword at my neck, which I lean away from, and kicks at the side of my chest, which I block using my forearm. I punch at his head, the dagger held in my fist, pointing to my right, which he ducks away from, and blocks the knee I send at his face.
For a few seconds, we just keep on exchanging fists, and legs, none of us actually making a hit. He was faster than me, in movements too, but he was just a bit weaker than me, physically. But, he was skilled enough that the strength advantage I have is completely useless for me. My instincts were what are helping me balance things during the fight.
Finally, I block another swipe from his swords, using my dagger. Either the force with which he tried to attack me, or the sharpness of my daggers, or a combination of the two, cause the sword he had slammed into my dagger to break, one piece in his hand, one piece flying over my head, and more than a few tiny pieces flying in front of my.
The Kuronin jumps up, letting a thrown knife pass harmlessly, and kicks the broken piece of his own sword towards me, fast. I catch the makeshift dagger in my nails, and throw it at him, while at the same time using my newfound Magic Expelling talent to send the small broken pieces of steel, from the sword, flying at the Ninja.
The Ninja dodges the bigger piece by leaning back while still in mid air, but the cracks in the helmet prove to me that he didn't dodge the smaller metal pieces. He leans away from my hands, as I try and stab his head with my dagger, and throws a smoke bomb, momentarily disorienting me.
"Ventus!" I whisper, annoyed at the smell of the smoke, now once more losing the man to the trees.
Once the smoke clears, I stay low, looking around to see if I can find him.
"Hngh!" I grunt, feeling something stab in my back. Turning around, I use magic to expel the Ninja star stabbed in my back, and sniff, still not finding the man.
My wound heals, the stars not having been enchanted to inhibit Healing factors, and I snap my head to the right, hearing something soar through the air, towards my neck. Lifting my dagger, I catch the star using the hole in it, and throw it at the fast moving person I could see in the trees, using the Depulso charm to speed it up.
The shadow waves his sword, and I see a flash of sparks, as the star hits a sword. Now able to see the target, I throw my Goblin's Silver dagger at him, once again speeding it up using Depulso to make it instantly reach him.
The man had no time to dodge it, and the only way to not die, is to use his sword. He raises his sword to block it, but the sharpness of my dagger, and the speed which I threw it with causes the dagger to cleanly pass through the sword, and towards his face, barely a foot away now.
He still leans away, through some not so mundane methods, almost dodging the dagger, but the dagger still manages to cut through the visor of his helmet, cutting it clean off. And then, the Kuronin, while still in the trees, throws another smoke bomb, making me lose sight of him once again.
For a few seconds, I just look around, not finding him anywhere, but keeping all my senses open.
And then, I feel it, a mind moving towards my back, this time a lot more.. sensible. Spinning my body around, hands raised in front of me, to block a punch coming straight for my heart.
CRACK!
This time, the man's punch was far, far stronger than before, as if it has suddenly multiplied by 10.
Well.. fuck.
The force of the punch is far too much for my forearms to handle, and I feel the bones breaking, as I get thrown away from the man, dozens of meters away.
Oof!
I slam into a tree, passing through it, and then get stopped by another tree, thanks to the amazingly strong punch. As my hands start healing once again, I look up, to see that the man was standing in the place I had just been in, now wielding just a single sword. However, it wasn't the sword he had killed Nosferatu with, or even the other Katana he had in his possession.
It was the sword he had killed Nosferatu for.
The Dark Sword.
I summon my daggers hack to me, and stop, to look at the sword, and the now maskless man wielding it.
His body was definitely bulkier than before, and his muscles were almost doubled. His veins were dark green in colour, and his eyes had a bit of red in the whites, just like what had happened to Nosferatu when he'd pulled the sword out. Over our heads, storm had already begun gathering, with lightning flashing a few times.
"The Sword of the Accursed. You should feel lucky to die by the sword of my ancestors." The man whispers, both to himself, and to me.
I look at the definitely magical sword, feeling a bit of fear start creeping in, but still resolute to stop him, I ask, "What do you mean?"
He turns towards me, not seeming to be in any hurry to end the battle, and says, "Long ago, almost 7000 years ago in fact, the Gods and the Elves warred on earth. The War went on for 2000 years, before the Gods finally prevailed. This sword belonged to one of those Demons, called Arankit, the Accursed, who was an Elf Sorcerer of the highest calibre. When he died, the Gods hid the weapon away, until it was found by one of my ancestors, 1200 years ago. He used the Sword to rule all of Asia, until the Sorcerer Supreme of the time defeated him, and hid the sword away once more, using his magic to hide it. And now, I have found the sword, thanks to your foolish Wizard friends. Just like my ancestor did before me, I will rule over the world once again, the Hand right beside me."
So, it belonged to one of the Dark Elves? Damn, I really regret not going to Kamar Taj right now, I would have gotten the knowledge of the strengths, and the weaknesses of the sword if I had.
Snorting, I ask, "You think the Hand will allow someone that's not a Finger to rule the world? Please, I doubt even your master Nobu will be allowed the honour."
As I blink, the man disappears, and I feel a kick slam into my chest, sending me crashing through 3 trees, and stop at the fourth. Even before I begin healing, I open a portal behind me, and fall through it, closing it just in time to see the tree I was resting on get hit by lightning coming from the skies.
Fuck, the sword can call down lightning too? I mean, I expected it, thanks to the storms gathering, but still.
Besides, this wasn't normal lightning.. it's darker? Yeah it was definitely more on the grey side than white or blue.
Now back in the clearing, I look at Kuronin, who was staring straight at me, as he says, "Don't speak of matters you do not understand, Wizard."
I shake my head, not wanting to argue, and say, "Believe as you must. But, I can't allow you to take the sword away, Kuronin."
And then, I raise my hand towards him, and yell, "FULMEN!"
A thick bolt of lightning, this one white, travels towards him, at the speed of lightning, and hits Kuronin before he can even react. Unfortunately, when the lightning dissipates, I see him standing there, with not even a single burn on him.
He chuckles, seeing me dumbfounded, and says, "You think your tiny Wizarding spells will work on the user of the Sword of the Elves? The Sword makes me completely invincible, immortal!"
Throughout all this, he doesn't look overconfident. He looked as if he's just stating hard facts. He's not even saying it to taunt me, he's just saying things to make me understand the uselessness of my actions. And I don't like that.
Summoning my wand, I scowl at the man, summon all my anger at everything happening right now, and yell, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
This is the first time I've used the Killing Curse, and I already hate it. I have a sufficient anger, pain, want for Death, and sense for revenge against the Sword itself, allowing me to cast the Curse perfectly.
But.. I can feel a part of myself breaking, as if I had torn my finger off, with my own teeth. I can feel my own soul tear, while still staying connected.
Now.. I really don't understand how someone can cast this spell repeatedly. If every Killing curse tears your soul, then I don't ever want to use it.
Once more, the Killing curse slams into the chest of the man, but once more, nothing happens.
Now, if I was a normal Wizard, I would have panicked, wondering what this Man was. Killing Curses do just that, Kill. Without fail, without any way to shield from it magically. Even Sorcery shields cannot stop a Killing Curse, or even divert it, doesn't matter what manner of shield you use, if it's a Magical Shield spell, then the Killing Curse will break through, and hit the target, and Kill the target.
But, I'm not normal, I have more than Magic to fight my fights.
If the Killing Curse failed, it means his statement is actually correct. Which means, I need to defeat him physically, or make him drop the sword, to defeat him.
I raise my daggers up, just in time to block a hit by his sword. The force of the hit drops me on my knees, creating fissures in the ground. I move the daggers away, to make him slam the sword into the ground, and stab at his stomach, believing that Basilisk Venom might be enough to still kill him, and if not that, then delay his recovery.
Alas, before my dagger even reaches his stomach, it gets cut into two parts, from the Dark Sword cutting through it. I immediately summon my Enchanted shield out, to block the returning sword.
GONG!
The sword hits the shield, making me skid back, but it survives. Thank God I Enchanted this new shield to behave like the Vibranium alloy shield of Steve's.
My nose, however, gets hit by the foot of the Kuronin, sending me crashing on the ground, on my back.
Seeing the man jump at me, his sword poised to cut into my forehead, I slap my hand on the ground, creating a giant fist out of Earth, that sends him flying away from me with a hit.
Getting up, I drop the second Dagger, knowing that it's useless, and hold the Shield in my left hand. In my right hand, I conjure an orange bastard sword, made out of Universal Energy. And then, I see the Thief running back at me.
I lean away from a few thrown Ninja stars, these ones too fast for me to catch, and raise my shield, blocking a downward slash from the Kuronin's new sword. The force of the hit pushes the shield downwards, and the man spins around, to hit the sword at my neck.
I jump up, my legs moving into a kick, as I use my conjured energy sword to push the Dark Sword downwards, while at the same time kick both my legs at his chest. Landing down after flipping through the air, I see him just one step behind where he was, still standing, barely in any pain.
Fuck, his durability has increased too.
I look at the Sorcery Sword I had conjured, and frown. That's.. not normal.
The orange coloured sword had a dark red patch, exactly in the place where I'd hit the Dark Sword with it. The Dark Sword was corrupting the Sword spell. If I keep this up, It'll corrupt my magic too.
I don't get to think too much, however, when the man disappears from his place, and appears right above me, his sword raised. Taking a step back, I let the Dark Sword miss me by about a foot, and stab my Energy sword at his head.
The Kuronin raises his sword out of the crater it created, and slashes at my Energy sword. My Energy sword diverts from its path, but stays intact. However, the red part has now become brown, and it was spreading.
For a minute or so, we keep exchanging slashes, his Dark Sword corrupting my sword with every hit, until the entire blade was now brown, beginning to turn black. My shield, meanwhile, lay in pieces, not able to handle the multiple hits by the Dark Sword.
I wasn't unharmed, either, with my chest, arms, legs, and back having many cuts in it, that refused to heal. The Dark Magic in the Sword was not just inhibiting my Healing factor, it was corrupting my magic with every hit. Not even my Healing spells were of any help in healing me, and I've tried.
"You see how futile your efforts are? You're stronger than a normal human, Captain Aves, but the Chi Masters of The Hand are far stronger. And I, with the sword of my Ancestor in my hands, am even stronger." The man says, slowly walking towards me, as I sit on the ground, on my knees and hands, with cuts covering my body.
"Hngh!" I grunt, feeling something stab in my shoulder, as the man lifts me up, and fixes me to the tree right behind me.
Looking up, exhausted, I see the Kuronin holding the Dark Sword, with its tip stabbing in my shoulder, passing through it and into the tree behind me.
He says, "Rejoice, Captain Aves. You're the first person to die at the hands of the Sword of the Accursed in this Millenium. But.. you won't be the last."
I'm tired, I'm angry. I.. just want this battle, and this war, to be over.. so I can go home. Already do many things have happened, that I'm really regretting my decision to join the War now.
"AAAAARGHH!" I scream, feeling him pull the sword out of my shoulder, and immediately raise my hand to the wound to stop it from bleeding.
Looking up, I see the man raise his sword sideways, to cut my head off, and I reflexive raise my right hand, summoning a weak Praesidio shield, hoping to stop the sword.
"Now, it's over for you!" The man says, and swings his sword at me.
The Dark Sword moves through the air, towards the shield, and I feel the backlash once again, from the shield breaking easily, and snap my eyes shut, not wanting to see it happening.
Is this how it ends? By the hands of a bloody Ninja, right after losing my friend? Is this a punishment for not trying to save Bucky? For losing Tim? For not killing Tom Riddle? Or for torturing Morfin Gaunt?
CLINK!
Huh? That's not how the sword should sound after cutting through my neck.
I then feel something enter my body, and start healing it slowly. Some sort of Magic was helping my body heal, even through the Dark Magic coursing through it. It is so pure, that it immediately makes me smile, as I feel strength to my body returning.
"What?! That's not supposed to be possible!" I hear the Kuronin yell, still in Japanese, and it makes me smile more, even without knowing what's happening.
I open my eyes, and widen them immediately, seeing the hand that once held the shield spell, now holding a white sword, that had stopped the Dark Sword in its place.
If the Dark Sword was.. Dark, this one was its exact opposite. It was white, with a white blade, and a golden handle. It was a curved blade, not unlike the weapons that were used by the Elves in the Lord of the Rings movies.
About 5 feet in length, the blade was pure white, made of a metal I know not of. It's handle was about half a foot long, which told me that it's suited for just a single handed use.
I don't know how to fight with a sword, at least not at the level of the Ninja I'm fighting. I'm more practiced with the daggers I use.. used to use. But, I have instincts good enough that I can at least stop his attacks.
Besides, the sword was already helping me, negating the force behind his attacks. Or else, his attack from before would have still taken me flying away, so much was his strength.
And it had stopped the Dark Sword in it's spot, while also helping me cleanse my body of the Dark Magic. I wonder what else this Sword can do.
I also recognise this sword, since I had actually seen it before, albeit not in the same condition. This sword was kept on the Vault of Slytherin, last I remembered. And it was rusted beyond belief, causing me to just glance at it once, the last time.
I'll wonder how it came here later, probably with another visit to the Vault to find out about it. But first, I have an enemy to defeat.
Seeing the Kuronin startle at seeing his sword stopped, I raise my legs, and kick at his bare stomach, sending him flying away from me. Crashing through four trees, he stops at the fifth, over 20 meters above ground, and slids down it.
Getting up, I look at the sword, and flip it a few times. It was heavy, but not anything I couldn't handle. It also didn't give me any other strength benefits, like the Dark Sword gave Kuronin. It just helped me cleanse my body, and helped my body heal itself.
Now completely healed, I look up, just in time to see the Kuronin start getting up.
He looks at my sword, and says, "You surprised me when your sword stopped mine. It won't happen again."
He then raises his sword up into the air, and I look up, seeing a thunderbolt start dropping down. Raising my sword, somehow knowing I don't have a reason to be afraid, I catch the Lightning bolt with my sword, and spinning around my foot, stopping with the sword pointed at the Kuronin, and send the bolt flying out of my sword, towards him.
The Kuronin puts his own sword in between, absorbing the Lightning bolt I sent at him. I was counting on it, however.
With the sword held on my back, in a conjured scabbard, I hold a tree trunk in both hands, weighing about a ton, and slam it straight at the blinded Kuronin's side, throwing him into a giant boulder.
As he starts digging his way out of the boulder, I run towards him, my new Light Sword once more in my right hand. Seeing him get up, I apparate behind him, and stab at his back.
Even despite being completely silent when apparating, the man senses me coming, and turns around, catching my sword with his own. He kicks his left leg at me, while both our swords are locked, and I stop it with my right leg, raising it up.
Still in the same position, I kick the raised foot at his stomach, sending him skidding backwards. My strength still isn't enough to defeat him, it seems, even if the sword has given me relief from the Dark Magic poisoning.
Kicking on the ground, I summon a giant rock, and kick it towards him, sending him, and the rock flying backwards. I apparate in the direction he was flying in, and cut at his back, the rock stopping him from turning away to stop my attack.
My sword cuts into his back, all the way from his left shoulder to the right hip, and I see him bleed. His blood, however, isn't red. It is brown, probably a side effect of the sword.
Seeing him wince, I apparate away, just in time to see him destroy the rock with summoned lightning and stop in his position, in the air. He drops down on the ground, creating a tremor, and glares at me, now definitely showing emotions.
Taking my chance, I use my Telepathy to enter his mind. Maybe it is the fact that I'm holding the Light Sword, which can somehow negate the Dark Sword's magic, or the fact that he's not in control of his emotions any more.
But, when I try and enter his mind this time, I get no obstruction, and I enter his mind easily. As I start copying all his memories, I look at him, and ask, "You said Magic spells won't work on you as long as you're holding the Dark Sword, right? But are you sure about every type of magic?"
"You yourself saw your Killing Curse fail, Wizard. Are you so certain you know of a Magic worse than that?" The man says, slowly taking his steps forward, towards me.
Touching the blade of my sword with my left index finger, I raise it at him, and show him his own blood. Smiling, when he stops instantly, I say, "Your Sword just stops spells that are directly thrown at you, Hiiragi Kurosawa. Blood spells don't need to be thrown anywhere. You just need to cast them."
He glares at me, hatefully, giving me access to more of his private memories, and says, "That's only useful, when I allow you to cast the spell, isn't that right?"
I smile at him, making sure he sees how pissed I am at him, and say, "That's the problem, Hiiragi." I see him disappear from his place, the Sword increasing his speed immensely to help him do it. As he appears right in front of me, his sword poised to attack my heart, he suddenly stops, eyes widening.
"I've already cast the spell." I whisper, seeing his heart stop beating, thanks to my Curse.
SNIKT!
The Dark Sword slips out of his dead hands, and falls on the ground, the tip digging inside the Earth. His body follows soon after, not able to handle the lack of blood flow.
Looking at my left palm, I see a Runic circle, painted using his own blood. The Runic circle did one thing only, stop the blood owner's heart. Instantly. And there's no stopping it, other than making your blood obsolete when outside your body.
Even if someone does it using my own blood, I'll die instantly. Which is why, this is one of the few times I'm glad that the Ministry, or the DOM made this spell disappear from the face of the Earth. The only place this spell exists in right now, is the Library of Rowena Ravenclaw, the Room of Knowledge.
I should probably take care of securing my Blood completely, so that I don't get the same method used on me. Can't believe I didn't do this before.
Picking the Ninja's body, I throw it through a portal, taking it to the Forge, and do the same to the body of the Pilot. There's a lot that can be learned from studying the dead, and studying dead ninjas is something that'll teach me a lot more than normal.
Then, I wave my hand in the direction I could feel the Wooden Box in, that once held the Dark Sword. Within a few seconds, the box itself comes to me, riding on an Earthen wave, and drops down next to me.
So, what if I can't directly summon the Sword, or the Box, I can do it indirectly.
And then, I finally look at my prize, the Dark Sword. A Sword of Dark Elves, if my guess is right, from the time they were at War with Asgard, just before the last Convergence. From Hiiragi's small story, and the stories he heard in his childhood, which I got from his memories, the sword cannot be used by just anyone.
One needs a good enough control over your own self to use it, and even after that, the sword can only be perfectly used by a Dark Elf. But, since the Sword wants to be used, it begins turning whoever weilds it into a Dark Elf.
If you have complete control over your mind, then you keep your mind as you begin your transformation. But, if you aren't.. well, his ancestor knows that pretty well. The ancestor got his mind possessed by the Dark Elf whom this Sword belonged to, and got himself consumed by him.
The Sorcerer Supreme then came, deeming the newly reborn Dark Elf Sorcerer too dangerous for the planet, and defeated him. He then hid the sword away, in Norway, under heavy enchantments.
Until now, when Grindelwald somehow found out about it, pointed Hitler at it, and sent his own goons to steal it from the Nazis. Nosferatu, as well as The Hand had the same idea, it seemed. But, I have no idea how they found out about it. Well, Nosferatu is a Nazi scientist General, so Hitler probably asked him to do it, but I don't think Nosferatu planned to give the sword to Hitler.
Then I turn to look at the Light Sword in my own hand. Perfectly balanced, with enough whiteness to shine without any light. This Light Sword was the perfect opposite of the Dark Sword, which just makes me wonder if there's actually any relation between the two.
They don't look similar, nor do they look as if they're made of the same metals. The white sword is made out of Silver, I can smell it now, while the Dark Sword is made out of.. some sort of rock? I don't know, it's not anything I've ever smelled before, but it does smell like rock.
It can't be Uru, at least, I don't think so, but it is something similar. Maybe the Dark Elves had a Uru of their own, or something.
But, not my problem now.
Waving my hand down on the ground, I summon the mud from beneath my feet, which slowly rises out of the ground, and starts covering my left hand. Once it has formed a tight Earth glove around my hand, I pick the Dark Sword up with it, and place it neatly in the Box.
Closing the box, I cut into my palm, and write a few Sanskrit symbols on the box, and the latch with it, with my blood, locking the box up completely. The Sorcerer Supreme probably already had the Box enchanted, but more Enchantments can't hurt. Especially if the original Enchantments have gotten weaker.
With a wave, I open a portal to the Aves Manor, and send the box through. Keeping the portal open, I call out, "Blinky?"
Blinky, the faithful elf immediately appears near the portal, on the other side of it, and I say, "Can you keep the Box safe, please? Don't touch it if you can avoid it, and also don't try to open it."
Blinky nods, and says, "Of course, sir." Pausing, she asks, "When will you be back from war?"
Sighing, I say, "A year, at most. Trust me, Blinky, I'm tired of fighting too. But I need to do this, I need to see it through to the end, because I somehow know, that Grindelwald will be there, at the end, waiting for me."
As Blinky nods, and apparates away with the Box, I close the portal, and close my eyes.
The mission was over, the Weapon safe. But.. at what cost? I used two Unforgivables in this day, lost a friend, and had to depend on a Weapon appearing to save my own life.
"What are you going to do with the sword, may I ask?" A female voice asks from behind me, making me freeze.
Then there's this. Most of the people I've seen today didn't have any indication of their appearance. No sound, no smell, no thoughts.
Turning back, I look at the woman who asked the question, and immediately get annoyed. Snorting at her question, I ask, "Shouldn't you already know that? What with you keeping an eye on my life through that handy Eye of yours."
Hey, she's the Stonekeeper of the Time Stone. I'm sure I've told her about my knowledge in the future, or in some alternate timeline. If I didn't personally tell her, in any of the timelines, then I'm sure that she's known about my knowledge for years anyway. I could have made a mistake and revealed my knowledge, before present, or maybe after.
The Ancient One smiles, and says, "It isn't often that I have a conversation with someone who knows about me peering through time, so I am in the habit of asking questions I already know the answers to. Forgive me for that, but please, indulge my curiosity. What are you going to do with the Sword?"
"I'm not going to use it, ever. If that's what you were afraid of." I say, while keeping the Light Sword in the Scabbard I had conjured for it, and then placing it in my Nowhere.
I wonder why the Sorcerer Supreme is showing herself to me now, why not before? There were many other times she could have done so, especially when I and Darla fought Set.
Smiling, the Ancient One says, "You're wondering why I'm revealing my presence to you now, am I correct? There are several reasons for that."
I wait, and when after a few seconds, she does not continue, I ask, "What are they?" Making sure to sound as annoyed as I actually am.
The Ancient One says, "For starters, that Sword is actually a Weapon that I'm afraid of. In the right person's hands, this Sword can turn the entire planet into a battleground once again. The Sword multiplies the strength of the wielder 10 times, when it's used, and 100 times, when the Elf spirit starts merging with the weilder. So.."
"The stronger the initial user strength is, the stronger the final product becomes. And you're afraid that I might use the Sword, for some reason, giving the Dark Elf extra power to possess?" I finish for her, as I sit down on the ground, resting my back on a tree.
The Ancient One walks closer towards me, and sits down on the ground beside me. She says, "Am I wrong to be worried? You did face a terrible loss today, enough so that you might see the Sword as your path to revenge."
I scoff, and turn my head away from her sympathetic looks.
'Thank you… Mason..'
Remembering the moment of Tim's death, I close my eyes, to stop the resurfacing tears, and whisper, "As much as I want to, the Dark Sword isn't the way."
"And what is the way, Captain? Going back into Time and fixing Mr Roth's death? And how will you do that? Use a Golem to replace Mr Roth? Take his place? Please, even you know that there isn't a Golem spell in the entire World of Magic, or science, that can fool your past self." The Ancient One says, making me scowl.
I really need to do something to prevent Scrying. It might not outright prevent the Time Stone from looking at me, but it should do something to make my life not completely visible to her.
I feel her lay a hand on my hand, and give my hand a soft squeeze, as she softly says, "Believe me, Captain Aves, whatever future lays ahead of you now, is a paradise, compared to all the Timelines where you succeed in saving Mr Roth, or Mr Barnes."
"Give me an example, what happens if I succeed in saving Tim?" I ask, looking into the eyes of the current Sorcerer Supreme, ignoring Bucky for now.
I'm already conflicted enough as is, from all the moronic decisions I've taken. I know, I want to save Bucky, rescue him from the Russians, from Hydra, so that he doesn't become the Winter Soldier. But.. I cannot guarantee that he doesn't have a worse life that way.
But Tim? Tim is completely unknown, when it comes to the future of Marvel. I have no idea what fate awaited him if I do manage to save his life.
Smiling softly, the Ancient One waves her hand, and conjures an illusion in front of me. The illusion shows different worlds, as they start playing out, and I stare at them, dumbfounded.
In one, Dr Strange makes a deal with the Dread Lord Dormammu, and kills the Ancient One himself, and then kills me, along with someone else, a woman with her face obscured, when we try to stop him. Dormammu then swallows the Earth, and takes over the Entire Universe.
In another, Red Skull succeeds in summoning a Champion for Hydra, something I cannot see clearly, which kills us all, taking advantage of me being distracted by trying to save Tim's life, during the final battle. Again, the Earth is destroyed.
In the next one Tim inadvertently reveals the Wizarding World to the public, and it causes a war to happen between the two worlds. This time, the Earth burns completely, with no one staying alive.
In the next, Tim joins the MIS after the War, finds the Aether during a mission, and somehow destroys the Earth by not being able to control the power of the Aether while fighting Malekith.
One by one, many timelines go by, with either the Earth burning completely, the Wizarding World being destroyed by the muggles, or even the entire Universe being destroyed.
Frowning, I ask, "What even is the connection between me saving Tim, and the next Sorcerer Supreme being evil?"
Chuckling, the Ancient One says, "Time works in mysterious ways, and so does the Butterfly effect. It might not be directly related, but I assure you, those two situations are related. Do you still plan on trying to save Mr Roth?"
Snorting at her question, I stand up, waving my hand to wave her worries away. I say, "I have seen 45 of my close friends, and thousands of my Allies die during the War, Sorcerer Supreme. I remember each and every one of them, even if I might not know all their names. Tim was.. special, but I am not selfish enough to not let him have his rest. He's done his duty, he's lived his life, and he got his rest. Who am I to pluck him out of it?"
My Perfect Recall means that I do actually remember the names of all of my friends that I've made in this War. I didn't even know some of the names, but I remember everyone that I did know the names of.
What sort of person will I be, to save one person, and refuse saving the others? That's not something a Healer would do, or a Guardian.
"What are these two swords anyway? The Dark one one I know belonged to a Dark Elf, but what about this one?" I ask, and pat the sword on my back to signify the second sword.
The Ancient One turns her head forward, to look at empty air, and says, "Long ago, when Asgardians and the Dark Elves were in the middle of a War, one Sorcerer amongst the Dark Elves rose to fame. Arankit, the Accursed. He enchanted the Sword to control the very fabric of Nature, and to absorb any and all forms of Magic thrown at it, or its user. He died fighting against a group of 17 Asgardians, 5 amongst whom were Sorcerers themselves. They hid the Sword away, on Earth, and then, it was found once again. By a Novice Sorcerer of Kamar Taj, called Hiroshi. The rest.. you know."
I nod, having known about the rest of the story from Hiiragi's tale, and his memories.
Then, glancing at the sword on my back, the Ancient One says, "That, meanwhile, is a mystery to even me. I know it once belonged to your Ancestors, but that's it. I'm assuming your Vault must have something that can give you more details about it. The sword is.. older than I am."
I look at her, suspicious, and say, "You just don't want to tell me, do you? Fuck it, I'll find out myself."
And then, I create a portal to the Chamber of Secrets, and say, "Now, unless you're here to arrest me for practicing Sorcery outside Kamar Taj, or something, this conversation is over. Goodbye, Sorcerer Supreme."
"This conversation might be over, Captain Avalon, but there are going to be many more such conversations, I assure you of that." And then, she creates a portal, to Kamar Taj, I assume, and says, "You're welcome to Kamar Taj, whenever you want. The doors are always open, when it comes to learning, be it now, in the future, or…" as she walks in, and right before the portal closes, I hear her whisper, "... in the past."
And then, the portal snaps close, making me frown. Shaking my head, I go through my portal myself, and appear in the Chamber of Secrets, in front of Salazar's statue. Creating another portal, I go to Aves Manor, and in the guest room that housed the body of Timothy Roth, my friend.
Looking at his resting form, I sigh, and sit down for a minute, giving useless apologies.
And then, I pick his body up, and walk through a third portal, this time, back to Norway, in the cover of trees. Waving my hands, I cast a few Wards, that are geared towards keeping our sounds, smells, and sights unnoticed to all. This should prevent the Nazis from finding us when they inevitably come looking.
Giving one more glance at Tim's body, I create a portal, this time to the same Mirror Dimension which I had thrown a single body in. Time to deal with the Nosferatu.
-
Nosferatu POV (TPP):
With very slow movements, over a matter of hours, or minutes, he didn't know what, his head began to move towards his body. When it finally touched, it began healing immediately, his Healing factor not in any way inferior to those Ferals he had seen fight for Canada.
As he stands up, now completely healed, he looks around, trying to see if he recognises the place he's in. But, nothing rang a bell. It looked as if he was in Norway, but the view was wrong, the skies uneven.
"A Spell?" Nosferatu mumbles, looking around in awe. But then, his memories catch up with the past, and he scowls.
'How low have I fallen, to almost die at the hands of a simple Shinobi? His Sword was a pesky one too, ignoring my durable skin as if butter, and inhibiting my Healing factor making me take so long.. how long has it been anyway?'
"5 hours, 27 minutes, and 13 seconds." Someone answers, even when he hadn't said anything out loud.
Nosferatu turns around, and sees him, the Captain Avalon. A Wizard, a Soldier, and a Mutant. A perfectly prime specimen, and he was going to kidnap him for research, before the Ninja cut him down.
'I thought I had my Telepathy shields raised, how is he still able to hear my thoughts?' he thinks.
"Ah, Captain Aves!" Nosferatu says, greeting Captain Avalon with spreaded hands.
The good Captain just stares at him, however, and says, "You don't have to worry too much about the how's, Essex. You were unconscious for quite a long time, giving me ample opportunity to gain every piece of your memories from your head. Sure, defeating your Mind Shields was tough, you're a better Telepath than I expected, but well, I'm an actual Mutant, whereas you.. you're just a Science Experiment."
This angers Nosferatu, or as he's also known as, Nathaniel Essex, Mr Sinister. Pointing his palm at the offending man, Essex fires a concussive Telekinetic blast at him, which is ten times as strong as the one used by Charlus Potter just earlier this day, and thrice as fast.
Aves, however, just leans away from it, looking bored, as if it was too slow for him.
Essex frowns, seeing the man move so fast, and creates a Telekinetic shield around himself, to protect him from any unknown attacks. This, however, causes the Captain Aves to smile.
He says, "Thank you for your generous donation, Mr Sinister. I'll be sure to remember you."
And then, Essex opens his eyes, in another body, in another country, his previous body dying of something he doesn't know of.
Scowling, Essex stands up from the cot he was laying on, moves towards his computer, and pauses in his typing.
'Who was I going to search for? I was going to search for someone, but I don't know who! Someone messed with my memories!' Essex widens his eyes, immediately realising that his mind has been messed with. He uses his Telepathy, that he had injected within himself a few decades ago, and tries to gain the removed memories back.
The only thing he manages to retain, is that he had met with a few Wizards, other than that, nothing. He didn't even remember which Wizards he'd met. Which means, whoever messed with his head was at least 10 times better ar Mental manipulation than he was, which is the only way someone can completely erase his memories.
"AAAAARGHHH!" Essex yells, as he slams the highly advanced computer on the wall, angry at being messed with, and not even having a target to vent his anger at.
'I promise you, when I find you, I will make you wish you had killed me completely.' Essex says to himself, promising himself to find the culprit. And then, he begins fixing his Mental shields, as well as the computer, so he can continue with his research.
-
Mason POV(FPP):
Seeing the body of Nosferatu, the General of the Nazi Army responsible for the protection of the Norwegian town of Asgardstrand, I smile. Waving my hand, I watch as his body floats towards me, and move it around a few times.
Finally, I had access to actual Telekinesis, even if the cost for it was too high. Snapping my fingers, I summon Fiendfyre from my hands, and have it burn Nosferatu's body, leaving not even ash behind.
He might have survived, in whatever body he's now awake in, but I'm not leaving any chance of his blood creating an Essex of its own. His Healing factor is a combination of multiple healing factors, which means it's far superior to my own.
But, at least now I have all his memories, including his memories of his one time ally, and all time sworn enemy. En Sabah Nur, Apocalypse.
Well, he's asleep right now, so I probably don't have to worry too much.
What is important, though, is Essex's studies of the X-Gene, the Mutant Gene. I don't necessarily need more mutations, since my Magic is enough for that, but this does give me an advantage for when I do actually need something like this.
Besides, he's a genius in Medical sciences too, and has almost 200 years of experience in the field. His memories are sure to come handy.
Creating a portal, I reabsorb the Curses flames into myself, and walk out, just in time to see Stark's stealth plane land in front of us. Picking Tim's body, once again, I walk towards it.
"Let's go home, buddy." I whisper, holding Tim in both arms, sardonically remembering one single line from a Series I enjoyed in my last life, which isn't even a book yet.
'And so his Watch has ended.' they said, when one of their own died. I think this is a suitable enough time to say it.
---
A/N: Whoa, that's a big chapter. I only noticed when I finished writing.
The Dark Sword, and the Light Sword, both in the possession of a single Wizard. What will he do with them I wonder?
Tim is still dead, and Mason did plan on going to the past, and trying to save his life. His plan was to create a life size Golem, that is a perfect replica of Tim, to replace Tim at the time of his Death.
But, TAO's talk made him realise that his idea is stupid, and that the Past Him will never believe a Golem to be the true Tim. Which means his plan will ultimately fail, creating a worse Timeline, erasing his own timeline, and him.
PS: I probably won't be including the Time Variance Authority (TVA) in this fic, since whatever is happening, is actually meant to happen in this Universe. This Universe is already in the Sacred Timeline, so the TVA has no reason to interfere in Mason's life.
And, if they do, he won't know about it anyway.
PS: MC hasn't seen any of the Disney+ TV series, so no Loki, WandaVision, Falcon and the Winter Soldier references. He doesn't even know something like the TVA exists.
Thank you for your support! Tata!
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