It Has Been Too Long

[Gilgamesh]

Gilgamesh’s hand tentatively reached out for the blue portal, it had been quite some time since he had used one of these. The blue filling of the portal ebbed and flowed like the ocean, mesmerizing him. Firmly inserting his hand into the portal, everything went black. Gil was lost in a timeless and spaceless void for a second before having his feet gently touch the ground.

A great smile cracked on his face and his heart felt as light as a feather. Everything around him was unbelievably and blindingly white. Oh god he was never so happy to see such barren and monochromatic surroundings. His breaths no longer filled his lungs with searing ash and his feet weren’t constantly being scalded by the burning floor. He began to take a few steps forward, enjoying his renewed life as a free man.

His happy reunion with the Nexus was short lived as cold steel pressed against the fleshy part of his neck. The blade’s tip danced around the King’s neck, slightly pricking him. A droplet of the King’s blood slowly dripped and collected onto the blade. An all to familiar voice spoke with a coy smugness that infuriated Gilgamesh.

“So that is an interesting body you have got there, where did you steal it from ?”

Gil let out a deep, frustrated sigh before condemning his attacker, “You have some gall to call me an impersonator, mongrel.”

[Victor Wolfe]

The assassin had spotted a familiar shape on the horizon, it had the appearance of his former king, but that was impossible, he had seen the banishment of Gilgamesh. This had to be some sort of cruel joke by Omni, or perhaps one of Nippur's many enemies decided to try and destabilise the city more. After all, if he could turn invisible, then perhaps there are people who could disguise themselves as others, 

Sneaking up on the imposter was easy, one push of the button on his belt and the suppression of his killing intent was all it took to one of his blades comfortably around the neck of the golden faker. Digging his dagger into the neck a little he noticed blood. So it appears the disguise doesn't break when damaged like my stealth does Victor thought to himself. 

Pressing the button on his belt the hand and blade at the imposter's neck revealed themselves. Whilst the rest of his body revealed itself Victor fired a coyly smug remark at the kings double, causing the king to fire back a very familiar sounding line. Hearing the word mongrel again gave the assassin pause. Could it be? No must just be someone who did their research, still, they do play the part very well. What should I do? Just spill his blood here now, if he is a spy then that would probably be what is best for Nippur... On the other hand, if he is the real thing then that would be a very bad idea, and I really need this job. 

Victor took a few seconds to decide his plan of action, waring on the already thin patience of the king "listen you insolent cur!" his hostage started to proclaim causing the assassin to almost by reflex squeeze down with the knife a little more "hush now, no more talking, just listening. Now I could slice your throat open and paint the Nexus with your blood. But I did just let out a lot of my anger and stress, so I am willing to give you a chance. All you have to do is prove to me that you are the real deal and not just an imposter." He said smugly, knowing, for now, he was in full control of the situation.

"For you see my lord, I have put in far too much effort, dying multiple times and then organising the situation of Nippur, and trying to help slow the rate at which everything turns to hell, for some imposter to walk into the city and ruin everything I and my comrades have been trying to do." His voice turned more serious as he continued, the very idea of someone destroying all of his work angering him to the core. "So my lord, answer me this, when we first met in Nippur, what did I offer you?" He said with a grin. It was perfect, Gilgamesh had sent away his servants, and it was only Victor, Gilgamesh and his lion in that room at the time, a question only the two of them would know the answer to.

[Yu Kanda]

Hours have passed since the exorcist emerged once again in the vaste white emptiness that is the Nexus. Kanda had been sitting there for quite some time, pondering about what happened, how his life ended so easily. By something as simple as toxic gas. The general just sat there after receiving an old message from his commander. It seemed the Black order had been overrun by their enemies and have now scattered throughout the Omniverse, awaiting their next move. Things have gone to shit real fast. Question remained, what’s next?

The riddle kept the young general occupied as the calm surroundings soothed his senses. Even though he once lost his life right here, fighting the harbringer all those months ago, he could still appreciate the almost non-existent scenery. Waves of calm washed ashore the exorcist mind. Right up until he could hear a ruckus on the other side of the fountain. At first he tried -very- hard to ignore it. However, there was one voice, one particular voice that was annoying the living hell out of him.

With a grunt the swordsman got up on his feet and started moving towards the commotion. It wasn’t long until he stumbled across a, what he observed to be, an ongoing mugging. One punk had his knife on another punk’s throat. It seemed today was taking a turn for the better. Omni had presented him with a fresh new punching bag to help him ‘relieve some stress’.

With a sadistic grin on his face the exorcist snuck up on the mugger, his blade Mugen at the ready. The two of them were talking but Kanda had no interest in conversing with low-life nor interested in what they were discussing. The general interrupted the assailant’s sentence midway by laying his Katana upon the shoulder of his soon to be victim. The sharp edge of the traditional weapon could clearly be felt on Victor’s neck.

“Interesting situation we got going on here, wouldn’t you say?” With a slight press against the skin Kanda made his position clear. “Release the boy and you might walk away,” the swordsman quickly finished his thread with a more serious tone of voice “Or perhaps crawl away, depending on my mood within the next three seconds.”

“You’re making a mistake.” The low life spoke. The soldier responded with a more firm press of the blade against Victor’s skin, “We’ll see.” A simple grunt and a very slow but clear gesture of his blade being removed from the victims throat was all Kanda needed to see. The gold haired boy was released and took a few steps forward. As if he was the emperor himself he took his time adjusting his attire, before turning around. Instantly this got on Kanda’s single and highly explosive nerve.

It was in this brief moment Victor reacted. A sleight of hand, which would be invisible for the untrained eye, placed a second dagger in his left hand. An impressive feat for a mugger. Within the next blink of an eye the exorcist had to make a call, barely avoiding getting stabbed by the soon to be dead man the swordsman stepped back. Immediately activating his second illusionary blade, taking a stance.

Weapons were drawn, threats were made, it was a traditional standoff.

[Drake Oneir]

Wow, what a moment for an absolute idiot to walk into.

...

Good thing there weren't any around. Drake had been lurking around the Fountain of Infinity for just a few minutes before coming face to face with some of the Omniverse's veteran all-stars. Well. Face to face is an exaggeration. He was creeping on them from next to the fountatin using the magnification feature on his UNI phone. Regardless, the smuggler was smelling an opportunity as swords were drawn and hasty oathes were sworn. Drake patted the hilt of his own shitty katana and smiled. This was going to go so very poorly.

...

Kanda, Gilgamesh and Victor stood arrayed in a circle, carefully eyeing the others. Tension was high, and it was quickly snipped by a sudden cry of "PROTECT DA KIINNNG!"

Drake screamed, Katana held above his head, and made a clumsy beeline straight for this universe's most notorious assassin. Wolfe smirked an evil grin and met Drake's scrawny torso with a swift flipping kick, rolling over sending the one-armed man tumbling ass over elbows into the center of the deadly standoff. The shitty katana skidded to a halt next to the crimson-eyed killer's feet.

Drake was flawless. He sprung to his feet in and instant and flung his arms arm wide, trying to shield the golden king.

"Worry not my King! I shall stand with you against these...uh...these dudes." Drake stammered, already regretting this slightly. A cursory scan of this strange Prime's faculties revealed to Gilgamesh what he had initially suspected: this fool was almost worthless.

"How dare you presume to be able to vouchsafe my-" Gilgamesh boomed before being cut off by the chatty mongrel.

"TRAITOR! USURPER! I knew it all along Victor Wolfe! How dare you try and send our King back to hell when he has clearly just clawed his way free?!" Drake screeched, fumbling in his bag for his plasma gun. As the tiny weapon was produced, Kanda swiftly slapped it out of the smuggler's hand with a smack from his divine blade. Drake was pretty genuinely insane though, so this didn't phase him.

"How are we to know that this indeed the King Gilgamesh, after so long...and who are you who counts yourself among New Babylon's ranks?!" Wolfe snapped back, bransishing a rubied dagger in Drake's scarred face. Drake decided to skip the second question; he'd always been a fan of fake it til you make it.

"Miss me with that Beggin' Strips® shit, Wolfe! There's only one Gilgamesh and that's GILGAME-" Drake began before getting the wind knocked out of him from behind. He suddenly found himself face down on the Nexus floor with a golden boot grinding into his spine.

"DARE to speak my name again, nameless mongrel, and you shall know in the most painful of ways that I am indeed your rightful KING." Gilgamesh spat, adding more weight into the smuggler's back. Wolfe and Kanda faltered a little bit. If this wasn't the Golden King, then he was an extremely good actor.






...


"He's...touching...me..." Drake croaked.

[Gilgamesh]

This obnoxious rat spoke more than Gilgamesh would have permitted, his nasally voice grating upon his ears. Gil was slightly surprised at his instant notoriety, his apparent two year disappearance did not dampen his fame. As it should be. His golden boot stood firm on Drake’s back. The new prime’s comment brought a slight smile to the King’s face. This man may have use as a fool after all.

“Just answer the question so I know who to stab…” Gilgamesh finally recognized the voice to be that of his young assassin Victor Wolfe. Originally, Gilgamesh would have Victor’s head for daring to draw his blood, but seeing as Nippur had lacked a leader for two years, the assassin’s doubts were well founded.

Gilgamesh brought up his face to look into Victor’s eyes, “Ah yes. You had decided to make yourself useful by fetching me a fruit.” The Golden King paused in thought, bringing his finger to his lip, pretending to be lost in thought. “An apple if I recall correctly?” His smug, silky voice sweetly caressed Victor’s ears. Stepping over Drake, putting all of his weight onto the foot that was on his back, Gilgamesh walked over to the surprised assassin.

Victor’s eyes went wide in realization of his folly before kneeling before Gilgamesh. His arm was crossed against his chest, proclaiming loyalty. How cute. “My King, I apologize for my blunder. You must understand your throne is a very popular seat of power.” Gilgamesh put his hand on Victor’s chin, forcing his head up to meet his eyes. Victor stumbled through his next sentence, “I was...trying to save it for you my liege.”

The Golden King let go of young Victor’s face and continued to physically impose on the kneeling assassin. “I have been gone for some time. Yet you continue to serve and protect the throne.” Giving Victor a reassuring smile, he continued, “You shall be rewarded promptly upon my return. Whatever you desire shall be fulfilled.”

“My liege what about me?” The foreign prime spoke as he continued to lay prone. With as much ease as cutting butter with a warm knife, a shimmering portal flickered into existence next to Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh couldn’t help but give a sigh of pleasure, the Underverse had made it quite difficult to do anything. The hilt of a sword emerged from the portal, allowing its owner to unsheathe it. He turned and pointed the sword at the prostrate prime.

“What about you?” The King spoke with a sneer in his voice, this man irritated him but he couldn’t understand why.

“I was hoping my, most honorable and generous King, that-” Gilgamesh cut him off with a threatening slash of his sword.

“On your knees.” Drake gave him a smile as he moved from his position. The one-armed prime was about to speak, but Gilgamesh did not want to hear it.
“What is your name?” Gil cut him off as he brought the sword up to the prime’s chest, eying the man up and down.

“Drake Oneir, at your service.” The man continued to embellish his sentences and punctuate them with too much flattery aimed at Gilgamesh. While Gil wasn’t one to denounce praise, this man’s words felt like there was something hidden beneath it.

“So Drake,” Gilgamesh spat out the prime’s name with disdain, “I will be heading back to reclaim my throne. If you do wish to serve me, you serve me by ridding my streets of pretenders and bandits. Not just by worshiping me, although rightfully so.”

Gilgamesh turned around and walked to the final prime, ignoring the man’s response of, “Anything for you my lord.”

Raising an eyebrow of his trusty assassin, Gilgamesh swung three quick strikes against the prime. With ease the stranger  parried each of the blows and responded by placing his sword next to the King’s neck. Giving the primea smug smile, Gilgamesh opened an array of portals surrounding the swordsman. Earning a soft smile from the skilled swordsman, Gil laughed withdrawing his portals.

“I could use a soldier like you back in my city. My people have been exposed to many evils while I was away and I think you could help me alleviate that problem.”

[Yu Kanda]

After their exchange of steel, Kanda sheeted his black sword back into its hilt. It would seem it wasn't a mugging after all. Apparently  this blonde man was of royal blood, seeing as these other two idiots were basically melting at his feet and calling him 'my liege'. The swordsman took a moment to observe this so called king. The sharp eyes of the General carefully investigated the man. At first glance he didn't have anything special, he appeared to be an ordinary man. An ordinary man with some sort of god complex. Even though the royal man didn't look like much he still had a strong presence, Kanda was unable to put his finger on what it was. In the end his intuition was telling him this was a trustworthy man, a man of honor. This peaked the right interest within the exorcist and finally allowed him to answer the King's question: " Dealing with evil is what we exorcists do best. The name is Kanda, general of the black order. On their behalf I accept your request to accompany you to your city and vanquish whatever lurks there." Kanda, who now spoke on behalf of the Black Order, had to abide to certain unspoken civil rules, therefore he extended his hand towards the royal man after introducing himself.

Gilgamesh looked down at the swordsman’s hand for a moment, it almost seemed as he was considering not to touch a lesser man’s flesh. Kanda was left hanging for longer than he would’ve liked. Deep underneath the uniform he could feel his nerve twitch. Eventually the extended hand was greeted with a tightly firm grip, “I am the one true king Gilgamesh, ruler of nippur.” Kanda’s grip tightened up slightly to match the king’s, “A king eh? The pleasure is all mine.” Underneath Kanda’s presented smile it was rather difficult for the swordsman not to scoff or ask whether or not this king was self proclaimed. Seeing as these other two were apparently his followers there might be some truth to the man’s story. A short struggle of power during the handshake the grip got released on both ends. The general’s hand was throbbing from the pressure though his face was kept straight. It would seem the king was doing the same. From the corner of his eyes Kanda could feel Victor’s eyes burning deep within his skill, the presence was almost hostile, either this man was overly protective or he was actually in love with goldy locks. It didn’t matter, he returned his focus towards the man in charge.

“So this place Nippur you referred to, this is the city that needed our aid?”

Gilgamesh nodded,“Tis indeed. Located within the dunes of the Omniverse i build my great kingdom for all that wish to seek shelter and protection of the King. For too long have the people of Nippur been without their rightful ruler, i need to return to them promptly.”

“The dunes you say?” Kanda looked around, his eyes scanning the surroundings until finally stopping in the right direction, “If it’s the dunes you want we best get moving.” He nodded towards the gate that was located a few miles out.

“Shall i summon a vehicle befitting a king?” Drake offered.

The King shook his head, “Now that i have finally returned i would like to stretch my legs and enjoy my new found freedom. Follow me men, it’s time to return home.”

The party of four started their journey through the nexus, travelling through the blank spaces. During their travel not many words were said, the King was leading the party, closely followed by what would seem his biggest one armed fan. Even the way Drake walked behind the gold haired king appeared as if he was groveling. Worst part was, he barely kept his mouth shut. It impressed Kanda greatly how Gilgamesh was able to tune out the prime entirely.

With his hand resting on his weapon Kanda followed behind, Victor a few feet next to him. The assassin didn’t speak much, actually, he didn’t say a word so far. A quality the general could appreciate.

After a long walk they finally reached the gate. The exorcist noticed a nostalgic look upon Gilgamesh’s face, it was clear he was genuinely happy to have returned to this place. Not that Kanda could understand anyone enjoying living in the omniverse sandbox, but to each their own.

“Rejoice, for your King has returned.” He uttered before going through the gate, quickly followed by the others.