User blog:Carol of the bells/Crossover story --- Zen vs Kuda

Crossover story --- Zen vs Kuda
Aight, here it is. This crossover is with Drago, and I worked reaallly hard on it. Quick note--this takes place after Character-chan defeats Abbadon and Juggernaut, but that hasn't happened yet in Days of Ruin.

Enjoy~



Kuda was proud of his reputation. He had made a name for himself by finishing everything he started. People knew he was good, and he advertised it through his skills. Of course, he'd do any job. For the right price.

That's why he was so surprised when Maxwell, one of the four fallen gods, brought him before her.

The assasain looked around warily, eyeing the goddess with suspicion. "You know," He spoke in a spiteful voice, "I perfer meeting my employers on my terms."

Maxwell chuckled. "Indeed. However, circumstances demands that I bring you here."

"And those circumstances are?"

Her gaze darkened. "Lucicus has been active of late."

Though he did not make it his buisness to know the actions of the gods, he knew what this meant to Maxwell. He remained silent, urging her to continue.

"He has recruited a summoner," She explained, "Someone he believes is strong enough to bring down the four fallen gods."

Kuda chuckled dryly. "And you fear this human?"

Maxwell smiled. "No. And under normal circumstances, I would not bother with such things. However, she has already defeat the Juggurnaut and Abbadon."

He was surprised by two things--one, that the summoner was female. Where he was from, women did not engage in combat. The second was the fact that a mere human could defeat both of theses mighty foes and still live. More importantly, she was apparantly strong enough to cause Maxwell to hire him.

"You know I don't do things for free," He said, "What do you have to offer me, goddess?"

She tilted her head. "How does power sound? The strength of the gods."

The assasain smirked. "Hmph. The payment is fair. What is the name of my target?"

"Zen Samui."



"It's not fair!" Zeln wailed, clinging to Zen's arm, "Why can't you come with us?! Are you trying to get rid of us?! Do we bother you that much?!"

Zen shifted away awkwardly from the bawling man. "N-no, that's not it. You know this dungeon if for units only, and I wish for you to grow stronger. Don't you want that too, Zeln?"

"It's only for three days," Aem reassured him, "Lady Zen will be in the nearby town. This is for our good, and hers. How do you expect us to protect her if we aren't strong?"

The lightning unit sniffled and reluctantly let go of his summoner.

"I've packed you some of my home made lunches," Lancia smiled, handing Zen a knap sack.

"And don't forget to bathe every day," Selena instructed, fixing some of Zen's stray hairs.

"Will you hurry it up, already?" Mifune grunted by the dungeon entrance.

Sergio glared at him before turning to Zen, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Be careful, Zen."

She nodded. "I will. You be careful as well, all of you."

She watched as the all entered the cave-like dungeon, and then turned to leave for the town. They had discovered these dungeons along their tavels. They all appeared in the form of caves, though they mysteriously changed contents every day. Each one proved to be a perfect training place, but Zen was not allowed to enter, as she was human. So, once a week, she would drop them off at a dungeon, and go to rest at a nearby town.

Since it was already late afternoon, she went to the tavern to have dinner. The villagers were merry people, and told her many stories. She decided not to reveal that she was hunting the goddess Maxwell--for some reason, she felt that might complicate things. Especially if they found out she was friends with Karl. Some people seemed to resent the Akra Smmoner's hall.

She left the tavern close to eleven o'clock, and the first thing she noticed was that the street was empty. Not a soul was walking under the dim street lamps. She also felt the unmistakble sensation of being watched. Normally, she wouldn't be able to feel such things, but running from Ko had heightened her senses. There was no mistake--someone was waiting for the kill.

Her sixth sense kicked in as a small breeze touched her skin and she jerked to her left, just as the tip of a chain sword burried itself into the ground where she once stood before retracted to it's owner. Zen's momentum backed her into a wall, and she quickly looked around for the attacker, soon spotting a dark-skinned purple-haired man standing on the roof of the tavern she had just exited.

"You dodged my attack," He observed, "You must have good senses."

"Who are you?!" Zen demanded, quickly checking for any other attackers. She could tell he was a unit, but she couldn't see a summoner.

The assasain ignored her question and continued thinking outloud. "It seems my employer wasn't wrong about you..."


 * His employer? * Did Ko send him? It didn't matter--this unit was out for blood, her blood.

Suddenly, he vanished from his position, appearing in front of Zen and attacking with his chain sword. For a split second, the summoner saw a purple venom dripping from the blade. * Poison! * She dodged, barrel- rolling to her left and coming up in time to counter with her crystals. Kuda yanked the sword and blocked, flicking the blade like a whip. Avoiding contact, Zen dodged his attacks. She finally found an opening. she fired a crystal barrage, and they lodged themselves into his arm.

Because the attack hit, she let her guard down, and Kuda sprang forward, swinging his blade. Zen recovered, but her cheek was cut by the sword. She grunted, leaping back and pressing her hand to her bleeding cut.

"It's already over, now," The assasain said, "The poison will finish you soon enough. I have no further buisness with you." He turned to leave.

Angry that he turned his back on her during a battle, Zen threw a barrage of crystals at him. "We're not done yet!"

Kuda's sword appeared to move on its own, blocking the attack. He turned to her. "Oh?"

The summoner glared at her attacker. "Did my brother send you?"

He raised his brow. "Brother? No, I don't know anything about that." Confident the poison was doing its work, he lowered his sword. "The fallen Goddess Maxwell sent me to kill you."

Her eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Maxwell..."

The assasain smirked. "You must already know why I'm telling you this. Soon, the poison will spread through your entire system, and you will die."

In response, Zen threw a red crystal needle at him. Because he had lowered his guard completely, he barely had time to dodge, but not enough time to avoid being scratched on the cheek.

"Now we're even," The summoner announced.

He chuckled. "Looks like you managed to land a scratch on me after all."

This time, Zen smiled confidently. "That's not just a scratch. That needle I threw at you was made from my blood--the blood from the poisoned wound you inflicted on me."

His eyes slowly widened in realization. Then he laughed. "Hah! I underestimated you, human. Very well." He brandished his weapon, the sword head weaving through the air like a snake. "We'll fight until we die."

Zen moved first, rushing forward and striking out with her crystal-covered fist. Kuda leapt around her, swinging his blade at the back of her neck. Crystal quickly grew and covered the exposed area, and the blade bounced off. She spun around and grabbed the chain-sword with her armored hand, jerking it forward, kicking out and catching Kuda in the gut.

He grunted, flying back into the wall of a building. He quickly recovered, pushing off and whipping his sword. Zen blocked the blade, ignoring the small cuts she sustained from the attack.

Occasionally, some of the towns people could be seen running away. They didn't dare get involved, and word of an assasain had already cleared out most of the town earlier. As the two continued to battle, the lack of civilians caused Zen to become more agressive, and she eventually drove Kuda back.

He grunted as he took another direct his from her crystals. Though he was possibly stronger than Zen, his one-hit one-kill attack style had shortened his stamina, giving the summoner the advantage. He struck out blindly, momentarily knocking her on her feet. He took the opportunity to catch his breath--the poison was beginning to wear on him.

Zen seemed to be equally worn by the poison, though the adrenaline coursing through her had a greater effect. She let out a yell as she attacked, vaulting a large crystal shaft at Kuda. He stumbled out of the way, countering with his blade. Zen blocked with her fore arm, ignoring the pain as it cut her arm. She pinned the sword to the ground with her crystals and threw spinning discs at him. Kuda released his weapon and dodged, rushing forward, hand outstretched to pierce her neck.

The poison finally took effect, and Zen stumbled as she tried to dodge, falling into the path of Kuda's attack.

Just before he could reach her, a flash of black and red rushed between them, impaling Kuda. He choked on blood, struggling for a moment before vanishing into a white light.

"Tch. Looks like I barely made it..." Mifune muttered, sheathing his blade and turning to Zen, catching her just as she began to fall forward.

"M-Mi...fune..." She tried to speak.

"Idiot," He chastised, "Don't try to talk. Lancia's on her way."

She couldn't help but smile at the disguised concern in his voice. "I...I don't think....she'll make it...in time..."

"What are you talking about?"

"P-poison..."

His eyes widened ever so slightly. "....."

She coughed, blood staining her clothes. "Sorry..."

"Don't talk nonsense," Mifune ignored her apology, shaking her slightly. He looked up to see Lancia approaching in the distance. "Just...just stay awake. She's almost here."

Her eyelids began to close slowly.

"Zen, you fool, if you can hear me, you'd better not die." He hoisted her up in his arms, running to meet Lancia half way.

The world around Zen faded to darkness.



Zen was rudely awakened by a sharp pain in her chest, and she opened her eyes with a startled cry. As she sat up, she was caught up in a hug by Sergio.

"Thank goodness, it worked," He sighed in relief.

After catching her breath, she managed to ask, "W-what happened?"

"I cut the poison out of you," Lancia explained brightly, "That and a couple of different medicines seemed to do the trick." She turned to Mifune, nudging him on the arm. "Of course, I couldn't have done it without tall, dark, and brooding here."

He shifted away. "I don't know what you're talking about," He muttered.

"Who was the man who attacked you?" Zeln asked.

"An assasain unit," Zen answered. "But he wasn't sent by a summoner."

The units glanced at each other. "Then...who sent him?" Aem asked.

Zen's brow furrowed. "Maxwell."

The room fell silent. "Then," Selena finally spoke, "We must be getting close."

"And Maxwell might think that the poison worked on Zen," Aem continued, "We should hurry and use this against her."

"Agreed," Sergio spoke, "Let's move forward and take Maxwell down while we have this advantage. Word will soon spread to her that Zen is..." He hesitated saying the next word.

"Dead."



Why is it I feel like I write better in crossovers than I do in my actual story?

Anyway, I thought I'd share with you how I envision the in-game dungeons.

Unconclusive ending is unconclusive and rushed.

Thanks for reading~