The Last Avenger and the World of Omni: Homecoming

[Kuzuru]

Well now this was turning into quite the production now wasn’t it? Kuzuru smiled as he sat cross-legged in the center of Sasuke’s slaughter. It had been a long time since the demon had intentionally manipulated the latent powers of the Ouroboros Blade. Those that wielded that cursed blade blurred the thin line that seperated the living from the dead, and being bound to the weapon imparted this trait upon the demon. Kuzuru exhaled and the world melted away, replaced by nebulous sensations. Sasuke’s scent disappeared and in its stead was the acrid stench of corpses baked in the Nippurian sun.

Hundreds of dead souls washed over the demon, drowning him in a sea of death. There was no filter for the blade of lost souls, all were welcome in its binding embrace. Blood had been spilled in this city almost since its inception and it was all coming to a horrifying crescendo. Kuzuru’s body shivered and his breath became visible as if he was in the middle of a snowstorm. To someone with any sort of empathy this tempest of slaughtered beings would have torn them to shreds, but Kuzuru was a demon of violence and this was nothing more than a wonderful production for him. He was born in a world of death and bloodshed and the massacre at Nippur was nothing he hadn’t seen before. Instinctively he guided his mind away from the masses and narrowed his search down to those that had expired more recently. A spirit that wore the same face as the corpse next to Kuzuru came into vision, seemingly dragged into existence from thin air. Kuzuru smiled.

“There we go,” Kuzuru said, “for a moment there I thought we weren’t going to get a chance to chat.”

As the spirit became manifest so too did their immediate surroundings. Kuzuru stood several feet ahead of his own body, which was frozen in meditation. Everything had seemed to freeze in place, even specks of wind-blown sand perpetually hung in the air. The spirit, now with a fully realized body glanced around. As his eyes fell upon his bloated corpse and those of his kin he let out a yelp and fell backwards.

“What is this?” he cried, “what the hell is going on here?”

Kuzuru chuckled and said, “sorry to break it to ya bucko but you’re dead.”

“What?”

Kuzuru raised his voice and said, “sorry to break it to ya buck but you’re dead!”

The spirit’s luminous eyes flicked from Kuzuru to his own corpse and then back to Kuzuru.

“I… I can’t be dead” he whimpered, “this is some kind of trick, where is everyone?”

“No trick, just a good ol’ fashion seance,” the demon answered, “though I suppose you’ve never been on this end of one have you?”

The spirit stood and screamed, “help! Help! Someone get me outta here!”

“No one can hear you,” Kuzuru said, “so you might as well calm down and listen, ‘cause I’m your only ticket back to the land of the living.”
“What do you mean?” The spirit asked, trying hard to avert his eyes from his own corpse.

Kuzuru smiled and placed a hand on the man’s shoulder and said, “I’m a prime dipshit, it’d be child’s play for me to summon you once I’m back in my body.”

“You can do that?”

The demon nodded and answered, “and all I need from you is a teeny tiny favor.”

“What would that be?”

“Glad you asked,” Kuzuru said and slung an arm around the apparition’s shoulder, “you just gotta tell me where Deathchew’s lair is, you tell me that and you get a second chance at life, hell I could even take you out for ice cream afterwards if you’re a good boy.”

There was a pause as the spirit seemed to take in everything that he was just told. Kuzuru scowled and glanced around. The threads that kept him firmly rooted in the spirit world were beginning to fray.

“Come on,” Kuzuru prodded, “you really can’t beat that deal, and don’t worry about Chewtoy coming back on you for revenge, I’m planning on killing him real good.”

“You’re gonna kill the boss?” the spirit asked, “I don’t know man, this whole thing seems like a trap.”

Kuzuru sighed and turned his back on the apparition. For a moment, and only a moment, he let the silence hang in the air.

“Look, we’ve got two, maybe three minutes to wrap this whole thing up,” Kuzuru said, “if you’re going to keep pussyfooting around I’ll just talk to one of your buds here, hopefully they’ll be more interested in not being a fucking ghost.”

“Okay, okay,” the spirit answered, “fine, but you gotta promise me you’ll bring me back if I do this.”

The demon grunted, “that’s the deal ain’t it? I may be a bastard, but I ain’t a liar.”

“You better not be.”

--

While the demon’s journey into the spirit realm had been a slow affair his return was a violent and sudden shock. In one swift moment the curtain was drawn upon his consultation and his consciousness was launched back into the world of the living. He inhaled sharply and opened his eyes. Blood rushed to his cheeks, flushing his face with an uncomfortable warmth. Kuzuru took a few moments to steady his shaking hands and rapid heartbeat. When he was good and ready he stood and dusted off the thin layer of sand that still clung to him. He smiled, the bandit had spilled the beans and he was one step closer to his end goal.

“Alright boy wonder,” Kuzuru called out, “I’ve got the location of dude’s hideout, you ready to go crack some heads?”

Sasuke thought for a moment and asked, “how did you convince him to give you the information?”

There was a subtle switch in Kuzuru’s jovial expression. His jowls twitched and his eyes drifted over the corpse of the man he had promised to resurrect. Mathaziel had always been a better liar than him, but damned if he didn’t feel proud about deceiving the spirit. Kuzuru thought for a moment, letting the Uchiha’s eyes wash over him. He couldn’t read the boy, but he had no interest in getting pressured into actually following through with his promise to the bandit. With a flourish the demon turned around and began to walk away.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” he said while wagging a finger, “a good magician doesn’t reveal his tricks now does he? Besides, does it really matter how I got it?”

“I suppose not,” the shinobi answered.

“That’s the spirit,” Kuzuru said, “come on, let’s get going, these guys are starting to stick and I’m getting bored.”