Crossover Together ~クロスオーバ 一緒に~

A good fly around through the countryside, and away from their encounter in Amestris, Aladdin's group had grown yet again, now with Morgiana. It was a bit of a surprise choice, but given the fact she did save them from Wrath's blades, Heine was willing to give her a chance to stick around their group. not like they had much choice anyway, considering she ran miles on end just to do so.
For the moment, the group had just got themselves a good spot to rest up after some good flying around, and it turned out to be in another part of the eastern forest. With spare time to have, Aladdin took it to get his magi skills to better use, and got himself back into some self-training close by. It had been a while since he had done this, and his skills were starting to get a little rusty on him, so this was a must. As Aladdin was doing that, Grell, Morgiana, and Hoopa were resting over by the fire, the Fanalis keeping a close eye on her prior master. Heine wasn't around for the moment, as he was getting some food from the nearby brush. Eventually Heine came back with some sitrus berries in hand, about as many as would grow in this part of the world.

"Welcome back," Morgiana simply said. Heine nodded, and took a seat, passing the berries around to the others.

"More berries? I swear, I can't wait to get back to the others, I can have a proper meal," Grell griped, as he ate one of the berries. For once, Hoopa had to agree, there was only so much berries one could take before it starts to get annoying.

"You're more than capable of hunting for us, you know," Heine stated coldly.

"What? And waste a perfectly good scythe? This scythe's not going to spent its time cutting up bunnies and birds," Grell insisted, though that just bugged Heine more than anything. However, Morgiana was a little more compassionate.

"I'll go hunting," she decided.

"Very well then. Good luck," Heine said. with a nod, Morgiana went off on her way through the night. Perhaps they'll get their meat fix yet. Once she left, Hoopa couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Bout time she left," Hoopa sighed.

"You would say that," Heine commented, unamused as ever. As they were taking their dinner on berries, they began to hear a good amount of magical energy off nearby, and it turned out just to be Aladdin trying to get his magic peaked again.

"See someone's training."

"He mentioned getting a bit rusty in his magic tricks. Not surprised," Hoopa said, shrugging. Heine took a moment to look at his student, before he got up and began to walk over to him. Aladdin was practicing some similar magic to what Twilight would use, not as strong but still evident in his staff. Heine took this into consideration, especially with how easily he got this started.

"Rather talented since I last met him. ... I wonder ..." Heine decided to go on and ask.

"Aladdin. May I have a word with you?" Heine asked, as he walked near. Aladdin paused his magic once he saw Heine.

"Oh, hi sir! Did you see me just then?" Aladdin asked, wondering about what he thought on his magic.

"Yes, I can assure you. ... Though I do have to ask just how much improvement have you've done over the last year," Heine questioned. Aladdin began to sense some other motive or lecture coming up, which dulled his mood a little bit more.

"Oh no, I know that tone of voice. D-Did I do something wrong? No, no, just calm down, maybe it's not as bad as you think," Aladdin thought. He stopped his training altogether, and faced his teacher.

"My improvement sir? ... Well, I've did a lot better than I used to be: I've been practicing a whole lot for months," Aladdin reassured. Heine paused for a moment.

"For months you say. and did you develop anything new since we last met?" Aladdin tried to think up of something, but in exact terms, he drew a blank.

"Uh ... well, I did try some water techniques, but they didn't turn out so well," Aladdin admitted, fiddling with his fingers as he said. Heine didn't say much of anything at first, leaving Aladdin a bit shaken up before he actually answered.

"Aladdin. Over these few months, I've began to notice something with you. In particular, your contribution towards your team. Off of what I've been told, while you have been helpful with your magi shield and flying turban on more than one occasion, that was all you've contributed from what I understand."

Aladdin felt his heart sink.

"B-But I've been trying," Aladdin admitted meekly. Heine didn't want to put as much pressure on Aladdin as he used to be, so he improvised.

"Now, Aladdin, don't put it all on yourself: Blair, Ciel, and Pinkie have their own contributions, yet I've understood that they don't really handle that much in the exact battle itself. Your friend Twilight's working on it, but she's still rather low," Heine noted.

"Now wait, they don't have to fight to help out!" retorted Aladdin.

"It's not just about fighting Aladdin, it's about protection."

Aladdin grew quiet as Heine continued.

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to avoid a fight. But it is a problem if you can't handle one altogether. If the others end up captured, or even crippled, then you and the others won't be able to protect yourselves ... and your fallen friends. You see where I'm going with this?" Heine explained. Aladdin took a moment to consider it and he realized that he was getting a point. The magi looked down to his feet, and what came next just came out.

"But the others are so much stronger than we are."

"... I see. So you hold yourself back because the others are capable of handling it without you."

"W-Well, it's not exactly lying. How many times did they fight a demon and got out of it alright? Even Pinkie helped in a jam once or twice."

"You make a decent point. All the same, you can't put your reliance entirely on a few of your team. We both know not every situation they can handle. Or did you forget Karasu?" Aladdin grew shocked at that statement, but Heine was correct as always. Karma barely survived his fight with Karasu, and only survived because Alphonse intervened. Karma did get a warning by Nagisa, but ...

"Wait a minute, how'd you know that anyway?"

"Korosensei likes to gossip, let's leave it at that," Heine simply stated. Didn't need more than two seconds to realize where the information and came from, Aladdin feeling silly not to think that sooner. His mood quickly changed though when he saw a pointer aimed at him.

"Aladdin. It's time for a new lesson," Heine decided, pointer in hand, and aimed at him.

"He said new. It must be important," Aladdin thought.

.......

Meanwhile, off into the eastern forests, Morgiana was still going around on her own hunting task for her group. With such a clearer night, hunting shouldn't be too difficult tonight for her, but that didn't mean it was a walk in the park. Morgiana kept moving around through the forest, keeping her eyes wide open and looking back and forth, side to side, taking in the entire area she was in. Each step she made, every movement of the head, every dart of the eye, it was all in search. Eventually, her nostrils flared up, as a scent went by her. Food.
Morgiana sniffed the air to pinpoint the location, and soon she began to move towards the item. It smelt fresh, and could be just the thing for the group to have. As Morgiana got closer, she started to shift from walking, to stalking, and got down onto her hands and feet to be sure she wouldn't be seen. Her senses told her something was there, and something she can hunt down. She made her post over within some foliage cover, and slowly took a look out from within a bush, expecting some prey to find there.

Well, she was half right.

Looking out, the object she does find was some meat in the form of a deer, yes, but it was already dead by the time she got there. There it lay, almost as if it died on the spot. Morgiana went over to investigate the creature, but no sign of any scratches, shots, or any of the sort shown on the head, yet she did notice some stray sand just around the mouth. It died gasping. Morgiana made a quick look to be sure she was alone, like any good scavenger would. Yet, something just felt off with this kill. Typically a cut in the neck, or some scratches would indicate a typical hunt, or if it was a human possibly a bullet wound somewhere. None of that was evident on this deer. She gave a few more sniffs before it confirmed her suspicions.

"... He's here. Brother."

~~

"Morgiana! Morgiana, we're gonna go! Come on back!"

It had been a long night for all of them, and for the next morning, it was up and search. Morgiana hadn't returned from her hunt since she last left, far as they knew, so for Aladdin, he was off and going around with the rest of his gang in order to find her. she wouldn't join their group and then just ditch them like that, would she?

"Seems as though your friend's decided to leave us after all, Aladdin. Perhaps we should continue on our way without her," Heine suggested.

"We can't do that, she just got to us!"

"Come on, you little magi. I may be the one for death, but this is such a bothersome way to go," griped Grell, not enjoying this at all.

"Stop that! Come on guys, Morgiana just saved us all from Wrath a few days ago, remember? Come on, just a little more," Aladdin reminded. As true as that was, that didn't mean they were too thrilled about it. But lucky for a number of them, the exact search around didn't last much longer. Sure enough, Morgiana had heard their calls, and got right back to them through the trees.

"Aladdin."

"There you are, Morgiana. You had a busy night," noted Heine. Morgiana wasn't focusing on him though, and her gaze locked onto Aladdin.

"Are you ok?" Aladdin asked.

"I need you."

"Huh?" before the others could do anything, Morgiana grabbed Aladdin by the arm, gentle but strong to keep her grip, and next thing he knew, Aladdin was pulled away through the forest, Morgiana dragging him behind her through the trees! The world moved by pretty fast for the magi, but lucky for him Morgiana only went about a good five minutes until they stopped moving, Morgiana landing on the ground and gently placing Aladdin down. Admittedly, not the best ride ever - at least the first time Mor knocked him out first.

"We're here."

"Eh? Where?" Aladdin said in a daze.

"Please return my student at once, you Fanalis you," Heine called. Aladdin got to his senses by the time they caught up with her, and as for where she brought them. Well, to put it bluntly, Aladdin was the only one who knew what this palce was, and considering they were in the eastern forest. ...

Gaara's eastern forest shrine!

It took Aladdin a minute to realize what they were looking at, and another to realize that Morgiana needed him here for whatever reason.

"Oh? So what's this old shack about?" Grell asked.

"It's a isolated shrine. And it looks rather well maintained too," Heine noted, adjusting his glasses and observing it a bit more closely.

"And you're trespassing."

Speak of the devil. The group turned around, and up in the tree in question, the very person who lived in the shrine was up in the tree, staring down daggers at everyone. Gaara only got a good view of Grell and Heine, the others slightly obscured, so he saw nothing more than some trespassing band. With little provocation, or time for the group to get ready, Gaara jumped down and rained his ninja blades on all of them! Most of the group leaped out of the way, Grell freaking out a little bit as he did, but Morgiana stood there and took it, three blades digging into her arm! She cringed, but they didn't hurt her as bad as it looked. As for Gaara, he landed not too far from his tree, and now got a better look at his quarry.

"Brother. Wait, I don't want to fight you," Morgiana said.

"That makes one of us. Now get out of here," Gaara warned, readying a few sand blades. Before a fight could start, Aladdin jumped in the way.

"GAARA, HOLD ON! Don't hurt them!"

"... Aladdin? ... What're you doing back here? Someone else get lost?" Gaara asked, but he didn't sound like he cared much for it. None of the others knew what he was talking about, but the delay did give Aladdin time to bring up his magi shield.

"Explanation, Aladdin?" Heine questioned.

"I-I'll tell you later, sir. Gaara, we didn't mean to bother you, we're just passing through."

"I did," Morgiana suddenly said. no, that didn't make it any better, and Gaara was more willing to believe her over Aladdin. Gaara stepped forward, more sand turning into blades around him. Before Aladdin could do much, the shield was suddenly moved down when Morgiana made him lose focus in a quick grab.

"Aladdin. You helped me when I needed it. You can help him," Morgiana said, just before moving Aladdin so he was right in front of Gaara. A bit forward, but at least Aladdin knew what the concept was ... sorta.

"I let you off before, Aladdin. I'm not doing it again," Gaara warned. Aladdin glanced over back to the others for a moment, Morgiana seemingly in anticipation. Aladdin took a quick look around to be sure that they were alone, and none of Sombra's demons were coming in.

"You are alone, are you Gaara? I-I heard Sombra found you," Aladdin began, trying not to piss him off again. Gaara straightened up to a more casual stance. The blades still aimed at them though.

"I'd like to remain that way. I left Sombra," Gaara simply stated, getting it out of the way before the angels would get on his case too. Aladdin felt relieved somewhat on that answer, but that didn't mean he should keep his guard down completely. Gaara was still highly dangerous.

"Well, ok. Gaara, I really don't get it, but, Is something -" Aladdin was cut off when one of the blades touched his throat.

"The only thing wrong here is the fact that you won't leave me alone."

"Brother, they're with us," Morgiana said. Gaara though growled a little bit.

"Stop calling me that!" Gaara attacked again, and Aladdin quickly got the shield back up, Gaara's sand swords slamming into the shield time and time again. Normally that would be enough, but Gaara wasn't going to let this shield off so easily: the sand underneath the shield seeped in from under their feet! In a huge spike, the shield actually broke from the inside out, and everyone ended up scattered, some landing on their feet, others slamming into the ground. After that, Gaara focused his target on Morgiana, and charged forward at her. Pretty soon, it was a brother and sister scuffle. Morgiana though was stronger than Gaara in physical strength, and while he kept cutting into her, Morgiana threw him off of her.

"STOP!" Aladdin yelled, getting in the way again. This time though, a shield wasn't brought up in time, and Aladdin was slammed with sand, him sent flying over to the shrine, and landing into the shrine's pond. For once, Gaara didn't mean to attack him. Now Morgiana was getting upset with him, and Heine rushed off to get his student.

"I'm giving you all five seconds before I kill all of you," Gaara stated.

"WHAT'D I DO?!" Hoopa yelled, just for a sand sword to nearly skewer him! Gaara was in no mood for any games, if there was any to begin with, and Hoopa was clear to get the message.

"OK, OK, we're going, off we go!" Hoopa said, pulling out a ring, big enough to cover him, Mor, and Grell.

"Wait, but Aladdin."

"His funeral," Hoopa said, before the ring activated and dropped down over them. Like a stage act, the ring went down and the trio disappeared from within it, in a single scan, before the ring disappeared itself. Gaara had three out of five handled apparently, but Heine and Aladdin were still in his property.
speaking of, Heine got Aladdin out of the pond, the magi a bit bruised from the launch.

"You ok?" Heine asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," Aladdin answered, getting up to his feet with Heine's help.

"Now do you see what I mean?" Heine questioned. Aladdin found it a bad time to get reminded of Heine's lecture, but the message was painfully clear.

"Yeah," Aladdin sighed. Heine took a glance over, noticing the lack of action suddenly overcoming the area. Gaara jumped over the boundary wall of the shrine to confront Heine and Aladdin. But once he did get to the right spot, he found that both of them had already been and gone, running off before Gaara could catch up to them.

.......

Miles off, the teleporting ring had gotten Morgiana, Grell, and Hoopa off a good mile or two before they all were dropped off in a different part of the forest. They found themselves a bit closer to the eastern coast, just a good yard away from touching sand, but apart from that they didn't have a clue how far they went, or where they ended up exactly. Hoopa was relieved from that.

"That's a close one." Hoopa said. ... Just to have Morgiana grab him by his body, and crushing him in her grip!

"How dare you."

"WHAT?! WHAT?! It's not my fault, I was gonna die!" Hoopa choked out, but that just made Morgiana slam him into the nearest tree. The young boy who helped her so much, and now he's at the mercy of Gaara and his sand attacks. Hoopa fell down to the ground in a daze, Grell picking him up like some loose trash.

"You sure are quick to comply, aren't you?" Grell commented.

"Shut it, reaper, you'd do the same thing," Hoopa groaned, arms crossed.

"He's in danger," Morgiana stated. Hoopa and Grell quickly got the idea, but Hoopa was not standing for any of it.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, don't you start that. Look, why don't you just relax a little bit over here, and -" Hoopa was actually pushing her along to the coast as he was talking, but before he could finish, Morgiana put her foot down, which cracked the ground under it. She turned back to Hoopa and Grell, both looking shell-shocked, and was actually puffing her cheeks a bit in her anger.

"We're going back for them."

"... Yes mam," Hoopa and Grell said. Why argue with a girl that can crush their bones?

~~

Day turned to night again, and now the group had split in two: Heine and Aladdin managed to get good distance from Gaara's part of the world, and just managed to make up a fire. It surely turned quiet with Hoopa, Grell, and Morgiana not with them, but at least they can say they weren't going to get hurt. With the warm fire going, Aladdin and Heine sat across from eachother, Aladdin keeping the flames going and poking the fire with a stick.

"It seems the others are taking their time," Heine noted, glancing up to the sky. Wherever they were must be pretty far away wherever it was.

"Where do you think they are?" Aladdin asked, feeling worried.

"Hard to say. They couldn't have gone too far though," Heine figured. Aladdin wasn't sure if he should go and look around or just wait around for them to show up. Then again, if Morgiana could track them over miles on their travel, then perhaps she would make it back to them in no time at all. But that wasn't the only thing on his mind, and Heine could tell by looking at his face.

"Gaara bothering you?"

"Well, not him exactly. ... He never said he had a sister. I mean, Morgiana kept calling him brother -"

"Not biologically speaking," Heine cut in, finger pointed upward to the idea. Aladdin paused, confused.

"Huh?"

"Fanalis are their own people, Aladdin. And it's common to hear them refer to eachother as brothers or sisters, more in a racial sense. Morgiana may be referring to Gaara in that kind of sense," Heine explained. Well that did explain why Gaara didn't refer to Morgiana as a sister, but that did reveal Gaara's race, which was equally as interesting.

"I guess, but. Gaara doesn't want to admit he's apart of her race. ... Do you think the Fanalis drove him out, maybe?" Aladdin asked. Heine adjusted his glasses, starting to think more carefully about Gaara. Considering the idea, and rehearing Gaara's words, his denial especially.

"... It is a possibility. But what reason would be the question, Fanalis won't drive their own kind out of their group to this kind of degree, nor would they even have the magical power to do so."

"What do you mean?"

"It's like this: you and me have a more prominent connection to the Overworld, and various humans too. That means what magic spreading off of the Overworld can be better spread to the human race underneath, even in small pockets. Nagisa with his demon sense, for example. The Underworld, however, doesn't have that similar of a spread of magic, and so those amongst the Fanalis tribe have to rely on physical strength and enhanced natural senses rather than magical abilities like us."
Aladdin had to think about that one, but as usual, he saw how right Heine was. Morgiana, despite all her strength, hadn't used one single spell to help her. no healing, no enhancement or anything, just pure power.

"So wait a minute. Is Gaara a Fanalis, or ..."

"To tell you the truth, I'm not too sure. Speaking of which, that's something I want to ask you about: your explanation?"

Aladdin got his thinking cap on, rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh. That. It was kind of a short visit: Twi - er, Yugure, and I lost Nagisa after that whole Pluton attack, so she and I went out to look for him, and turned out Gaara was training him. We found him at his shrine back there, but he nearly killed us ... which is weird, since he saved us from a Homunculus the night before." Now that he thought about it, it sure did sound a bit backwards out loud. Heine quietly pondered about that, getting the pieces together for this little puzzle that was Gaara.

"Understood. ..."

"You're ok."

Good timing: Aladdin and Heine looked away, and there was Morgiana, Grell, and Hoopa finally catching up to the group. Grell was completely winded from his dash, and Hoopa was in Morgiana's grip to be sure he didn't go away.

"Morgiana! You all okay?" Aladdin asked, jumping to his feet.

"Aside from a bloody marathon, I'm fine," Grell panted, hands on his knees as he tried to get his breath. Morgiana released Hoopa once she stopped, Hoopa falling to the ground in his own daze from the run around.

"Just grab me and abuse me," Hoopa said in a daze, his eyes spinning. Aladdin can't help but relate to the djinn, picking him up as he shook his head.

"Where'd you guys go?" Aladdin asked.

"Your Hoopa teleported us off to the coast, that's what. Bloody Fanalis made us march through the forest all day!" Grell griped. As they were talking to one another about that, it was Heine who was starting to think over Gaara's situation. ...

"Everyone? It's time to give Gaara another visit."

~~

Night turned to morning, and back at the shrine, Gaara was left up on his feet and going around back and forth on the upper level, feeling rather antsy with himself. As far as many of the humans would go, Gaara had a mixed feeling to it all: he got involved with both heaven and hell and both of them didn't seem to fancy him. He had his involvement with Team Harmony, and his revenge target was already taken care of, not by his hands, and as for Tartarus. ...

"You sure you'll want to?"

In Tartarus, Gaara and Lust had a moment to themselves not too long after Nagisa's crazy involvement, and off just outside the main palace, Gaara was about ready to head off on his way.

"Don't try to stop me, homunculus. This is taking too long," Gaara firmly stated. Lust was a bit mixed about the situation too, but not to this extent.

"Sombra's not the kind to lie, Gaara, and if you do this -"

"What? He'll hunt me down? What difference does that make?" Gaara cut in, Lust silenced just from that. Gaara could care less at this point, and if Sombra was taking this much time, he wasn't having any of it. Without another word, he turned and began to go.

*knock**knock*

Gaara's thoughts were cut off when he heard that noise, it not making Gaara feel any better. As if he had enough company today. He took a moment to glance on outside to be sure, and sure enough, the same company had come back, though one of them appeared to be missing. Morgiana and Aladdin were hoping that this talk could clear things up for Gaara. Knives at the ready, he began to head down to see who was there. He kept himself in the shadows to be sure he wasn't spotted straight away, just in case, but the person was a bit of an odd one for him.
Heine.

"You again?" Gaara growled, both knives in hand and aiming right at him. Heine remained calm in spite of the lack of weaponry he had on him, and how willing Gaara looked ready to kill him. In fact, that seemed to confirm his suspicions.

"Now, that's enough of that. I want to talk to you," Heine stated, hand raised.

"Do you?" Gaara questioned. However, Gaara was not willing for any of it, and went over charging at him instead! Heine however wasn't going to make it that easy for him, and he made a quick side-step and avoided Gaara's lunge forward, and his hand actually grabbed his second blade, yanking it out of his hand. Gaara readied to swing his first blade around, but Heine ducked and avoided the hit again.

"You need a lesson, Gaara. This one's going to be a little rough," Heine stated, just before he took to offense. Gaara tried to attack, but Heine took the second blade off the ground, and got it just in Gaara's palm, forcing the first blade out of his hand to disarm him, and before Gaara could even do anything, Heine shoved him back off his feet, and to the wall, pinning him to the wall. For someone so short, Heine had a good amount of muscle on him, and his hands were on Gaara's neck! Heine didn't want to go this far, but he had no choice here.

"Drop me!" Gaara demanded.

"Do know that I'm not here to hurt you. All you're doing is jumping to conclusions," Heine coldly stated. No, that didn't make him feel any better, and that just made Gaara kick Heine in the stomach. It was just enough to make him let go, and Gaara got his blades back after bolting past. Heine had to figure this out.

"I didn't ask you to come back here."

"Is that you talking? Gaara? Or is it that the demon inside you telling you what to do?"

Gaara froze.

"They told you."

"No, you did. Just now."

Heine was on point, but Gaara was more upset with himself over Heine being there.

"GET OUT!" Gaara had enough of him, and so had Heine.

.......

It lasted only a few more seconds. One moment, Gaara was on his feet with weapons in hand, and the next minute, he was on the ground, stunned, and on his back. Heine did make an attack on him, but it wasn't an ordinary one - much too potent. Heine just stood there with his hands together, aimed like it was a blade itself. Whatever attack Heine had done onto him left Gaara limp and stuck on the ground. Once that was done, Heine walked over to him, looking down at Gaara.

"The hell? ... How the hell did you do that?" Gaara asked, now straining in his voice.

"That, I've sworn to secrecy," Heine firmly stated. Gaara felt frustrated, but what could he do with his limp body? Heine sighed, and went over to him, soon standing over him and leaning in.

"Gaara. I want to ask you something, and I need you to be honest with me. How did you come to be here?"

"Why should you care about that? I have my own problems, no one needs to be in them," Gaara growled, not looking at him.

"... Is that what you tell yourself? You truly think no one in any world can help you?" Heine questioned. Gaara gritted his teeth and stared at him, showing his eyes.

"Your eyes. Usually a Fanalis would have red eyes. I can assume something happened to you that involved this demon, am I correct?"

"Who cares what a Fanalis is supposed to look like? I'm not a Fanalis, so stop calling me that."

"How come?" Heine questioned. Gaara tried moving, but he was still sore from Heine's attack so he couldn't do anything to him.

"It's Aladdin, he sent you out here didn't he? Or was it Morgiana?" Gaara asked in a glare. Heine found this interesting.

"Neither of them sent me out here, I came here myself. And anyway, clearly you have a connection with her: I never did mention who she was, nor did anyone call her by name." Well that was strike two, and Gaara was getting more ticked off. In the end though, Gaara just wasn't going to get anywhere here with getting Heine lost.

"Alright you caught me: I am a Fanalis, and I do know Morgiana, but why should you even care? None of them did," Gaara stated.

"Pardon?"

"This damn demon, Shukaku. I'm the only seal that's keeping him inside me, and my own people didn't even want me with them," Gaara said. Heine's eyes widened.

"Shukaku. I assume he's one of the tailed beasts."

"Smartass. Yeah, that's right."

"That still doesn't explain why your own kind would have you come here," Heine noted. Gaara scoffed.

"Have me come here? They drove me out, forced me away, wanted nothing to do with me! All because some bastard of the sands made me his personal vessel," Gaara growled. Heine found this a little hard to swallow, but not because it was a shocking idea itself that Shukaku would make him a vessel for him. It took Heine only a short while to figure everything out, and he gave Gaara a knowing stare.

"I get it now. ... You ran away."

"What? You deaf, I said they -" Heine cut him off with a raise of his hand.

"I know what you said. But if that's so, why is Morgiana trying to bring you back?" Heine questioned. Gaara didn't even bother to answer. He could sense Heine staring him down.

"Gaara. I see what's going on here: Shukaku possessed you. And worried for your people, you isolated yourself, and drove yourself to the surface world. you kept out of contact with everyone so Shukaku won't hurt anyone, and you plan to keep it that way by making yourself cold-hearted as a cover-up so no one would bother to come back for you."

Gaara just stayed wide-eyed for a moment or two before he answered again.

"... You don't know a damn thing about me."

"... You've stayed alone for a long time, Gaara. But has it made your heart feel any lighter?"

Gaara wasn't sure how to answer that. He never really considered anything like that in his life, or at least ever since he left the Underworld. Gaara turned to say something, but only to be met by Heine's pointer aimed at his face.

"You can run a thousand miles from the world. But no matter how far, it will always follow no matter what you do. Eventually, you're going to have to turn around and face it. ... Running away is what Shukaku wants. He wants you to come here, he wants you to put yourself away from the world. ... Isn't that right, Shukaku?"

oooOOOooo.~ How interesting~

All of a sudden, Gaara felt a sharp pain run through him. Gaara tried to fight back, but thanks to Heine, his body just wasn't strong enough to keep himself in. Heine stepped back a bit, and soon, somehow, Gaara was on his feet. A bit groggy, but on his feet nonetheless. One look in Gaara's eyes though, and Heine knew that this wasn't exactly Gaara who got up, the eyes black with yellow irises, which almost seemed to glow.

Of course you'll be the one to figure me out.

Before Heine could do anything, sand began to gathered around his feet, and next thing he knew, he felt himself launched off from the shrine, and landed outside.

"Heine!" gasped Aladdin, rushing over to him as he got up off the ground. The whole group heard the thundering laughs from inside, as the being moved outside with sand all over him.

"What a dumbass! You just made my job a lot easier, you know that don't you?" Gaara hissed, but his voice wasn't the best sounding, nor the exact same voice. A sort of hiss to his words, per say. Now with this mixture of appearances beginning to take hold on Gaara, the true identity of this demon was more than known at this point. Speaking of mixture, his face showed one half of a devilish smiling demon on the right, and on the left a terrified Gaara.

"S-Shukaku," Morgiana murmured.

"Gaara, fight him!" Aladdin yelled, trying to bring Gaara around. Gaara was surely trying, but now Shukaku wasn't going to give him much of a chance, as his full body began to overwhelm him. They could tell that Gaara was struggling, and Aladdin raced in, grabbing his free arm, and tried to pull him out of Shukaku's grip! Morgiana got in and tried to help too, each one pulling as hard as they could, but Shukaku proved just stronger, and quickly engulfed Gaara, and forcing them back.

"OH ISN'T THAT JUST PEACHY! Let me give you a thank you after I push up daisies!" Hoopa yelled.

"Not now, Hoopa. Move, we have to make distance between him and us," Heine said. Morgiana and Aladdin didn't want to at all, but with Shukaku forming right in front of them, they didn't have a choice. More and more sand added to Shukaku's growing body, restoring him to his original glory, and the bigger he grew, all they could do was turn and make a run for it. And it didn't take long until he had fully regained himself. The roar echoing around him made that apparent.

"YOU'RE MINE, ANGELS!"

The situation has turned critical. The group managed to get some cover just out of sight of Shukaku, but the giant monster was still roaming around looking for them, Gaara trapped inside. Shukaku gave another roar, as if signaling the world that he was king, and to send shiver down those who're under him.

"Well, 'heroes', any more bright ideas?" Hoopa asked. Aladdin tried to keep himself a bit more focused here.

"It's time to deal with the real problem. If we can separate Gaara from Shukaku, then maybe we'll get back the Gaara we all know and love," Aladdin concluded.

"I DO NOT LOVE HIM!" Grell snapped.

"Ok, not the point. It's all about getting Gaara out. We got to find a way in there," Aladdin said.

"COME OUT, COME OUT, WHEREVER YOU ARE!~" Shukaku bellowed. It was painfully clear that this wasn't gonna be an easy task, especially with this monstrous beast wanting their blood. His body shook the ground with each step made, and to Aladdin it was a little too familiar to his own experience. Heine and Aladdin was seeing the whole situation, and if they were going to get Gaara freed of this beast, then they had to work fast.

"Hoopa, how far did you mention the coast was?" Aladdin asked.

"I don't know, about a good mile east. ... Wait, you're not thinking."

"Grell, feel up for a challenge?"

~~

It was now or never, and the group wasn't wasting any time here. Shukaku continued looking down onto the forest, trying to find his targets hidden somewhere in the forest.

"Where're those insects? I know they're here somewhere. They wouldn't leave their poor friend behind to suffer, would they?" Shukaku thought, snickering to himself. He figured it was rather typical for the hero to try and get their own friend, and it would only be a matter of time until they will show up to meet their maker.

"Hey big boy!~"

About time they showed up. Shukaku turned himself around, looking up in the air, and seeing Grell and Aladdin flying up in the air, not too far above his head.

"THERE YOU ARE!" And in little time at all, Shukaku was rushing at them, his long arm almost whacking them right out of the sky! Grell yelped on the attack, but it did get the creature's attention.

"Fly, magi, fly!" Grell yelped.

"Hang on tight!" Aladdin said, getting the flying turban moving off eastward. Shukaku watched them fly off like insects, and soon he took note of a few more: Heine and Hoopa being carried along by Morgiana at the same speed. Shukaku just laughed when he saw this, and with nothing to keep him down, he could do whatever the hell he wanted. Soon, he was charging off after them, and even with his stubby feet, he still kept up close behind them. Each step he made shook the ground, but it didn't make the others slow down. After a while, Shukaku was starting to get more furious with these speedy movers.

"HOLD IT, HUSSY!" Shukaku began to force more sand to rise off in front of them. Suddenly they had a gigantic wall of sand to deal with. They couldn't slow down, not yet: and Morgiana and Aladdin knew it.

"Hoopa, ring, now!" Heine ordered. Considering they were being chased by Shukaku, Hoopa was in no mood to argue, and threw the ring in front of them, which in turn made a little tunnel through the wall. Pretty straightforward, but not so much for Grell and Aladdin up in the air. With Shukaku behind them, they had little time to change course, and that was what Shukaku wanted to happen. Aladdin quickly shot upward, Grell barely able to hold on, and just managed to get over the wall. and just in time, any slower and Shukaku would've got a hold of them!

"BASTARD!" Shukaku roared, slamming through his own sand wall in a mighty charge. His mighty jaws were wide open, sand blasting at them, and Shukaku even used the spreading sand to gain speed.

"Hold on Gaara, we'll get you out," Aladdin thought, looking back to Shukaku rushing towards them as fast as the giant could go. After a good half an hour, Shukaku was getting tired from this crazy chase.

"DIE!!!"

He had enough, he wasn't leaving without one life taken! And he aimed his eyes up to the sky. His jaws opened wide in a roar, and jumped out in a mighty leap! Heine, Morgiana, and Hoopa turned back, just in time to see Shukaku go airborne, aiming right at the magi and reaper. And this time, there was no time to escape, and Shukaku's jaws slammed down over them both!

"ALADDIN!"

.......

Aladdin and Grell were trapped in darkness inside Shukaku, but the demon's insides weren't the same as any normal animal. No organs in here, and the only thing remaining was a black void. Aladdin kept his magi shield up as they went in, and kept it up until they hit ground, which was a complete expanse of sand. Like a twilight desert.

"BLOODY HELL, SHUKAKU! YOU GOBBLE ME UP LIKE IT'S NO ONE'S BUSINESS!" Grell yelled, jumping to his feet. However, the two could say that they were still alive, but how could they get out was a different matter. They saw no walls, no ceiling, nothing but sand dunes. Aladdin took more time to look around than yell, and eventually he saw someone on top of one of the dunes.

"Gaara!"

Aladdin immediately made a run for him, and both he and Grell quickly saw Gaara's predicament: his entire body was wrapped up in tentacles of sand, keeping him completely still and unable to do anything anymore.

"Gaara, wake up! Gaara!" Aladdin tried to bring him back around, but he looked rather weak from the takeover Shukaku did on him, but he did have enough energy to at least see who was there with him.

"Aladdin? But ... but how?"

"Don't worry about it, we'll get you out of here," Aladdin started to grab and try to get the sand tentacles off of him, but no matter how much he tried, the tentacles weren't budging from his strength.

"Oh, you're never gonna get him out that way," Grell said.

"What else can we do?" Aladdin asked, still trying to pull the things off. Grell simply pushed him aside, and soon brought out his chainsaw.

"THIS IS HOW YOU SLICE AND DICE!" Grell said in glee, turning on the chainsaw. Aladdin though began to freak out.

"Grell, no, you'll cut up Gaara too!"

MEDDLING PARASITES! YOU'RE ALREADY TOO LATE.

Grell and Aladdin suddenly found themselves surrounded: one by one, something shot out of the sand and revealed to be serpent-like tendrils, each one with Shukaku's face on it, hissing like snakes.

That creature's already torn down, no way will he get back now! And who's gonna be helping you two?~

Shukaku's voice echoed throughout the room they were in, and none of the words missed any of their ears. One of the snake heads launched forward at them, only for Grell to slice the sand snake in two. It was quick, but they had a lot more of them to deal with.

"Permission?"

"Go ahead, I'll get Gaara free," Aladdin instructed. They didn't need much more time to agree, and Grell charged into the fight with his chainsaw roaring, and Aladdin went straight back to Gaara and continued trying to get him free.

"Get out of here. Shukaku will kill you both if you stay here," Gaara said weakly, but Aladdin wasn't listening to that.

"Who's going to get you out of here if we leave?" Aladdin asked, actually just getting a tendril off of Gaara with his staff. Gaara paused.

"What's the point? Shukaku's free, and -"

"AND we can defeat him! Gaara, you can't give up that fast, you think we're going to give up on you?" Aladdin asked. Gaara glanced behind Aladdin, seeing Grell having a ball with slicing and dicing Shukaku's tendril snakes, one of which he killed as he spun like a top, the chainsaw making mincemeat of the creature.

"... Even after everything ..."

*hisssss!*

At this point, one snake actually slipped by Grell, and focused on the main problem, rising up right next to Aladdin and Gaara! Aladdin turned around, and only had seconds to react. What did he do: bring his staff forward, and the snake slammed down on it! The staff was just strong enough to keep the jaws from slamming shut, but the snake quickly bolted back, swinging Aladdin away from Gaara, and throwing the staff aside. It had the target in sight, but Aladdin wasn't going to stand still for it. As it lunged forward, the magi bolted aside and went straight back to Gaara. Aladdin was putting his life on the line for him ...

You've stayed alone for a long time, Gaara. But has it made your heart feel any lighter?

Running away was a mistake.

"... Stand back."

"But Gaara, you -" Gaara looked down to Aladdin, but it wasn't his usual look of cold, or anger, but instead a similar look Heine would give. Aladdin didn't have much time to react, as the snake hissed again. The sand around Gaara began to shift and alter slightly, the tendrils keeping Gaara down beginning to shiver violently.
Next thing they knew, the tendrils suddenly burst open, and Gaara was out! First thing he did: destroy the snake after Aladdin with his own sand spikes.

"I'm taking control, starting now!"

.......

"ACK!"

Outside, Shukaku suddenly began to feel himself start to cringe. Even if Aladdin and Grell had been eaten, Morgiana, Heine, and Hoopa still managed to get Shukaku closer to the coastline, yet they still weren't close enough when Shukaku actually stopped himself.

Gaara, stop this shit!" Shukaku thought, though inside of him Gaara heard him loud and clear.

You made me suffer enough!

Shukaku focused his power to try and keep Gaara down, but something seemed to be happening inside the demonic beast that not even Shukaku could handle. The trio outside were left stunned on this, and Shukaku actually gripped his head, trying to keep himself together. Loud groans and roars escaped his mighty maw.

"Eh, something tells me we should move, like, now!" Hoopa said, and without Heine or Morgiana's permission, got out of Morgiana's grip, and bolted for the bushes. Shukaku then went silent.

"MOVE."

Then came the ultimate realization: Heine and Morgiana looked up to Shukaku, and only needed one look at the eyes to see what had happened: The eyes had altered, from black and yellow, to white and green. Gaara was now in control. First, something began to happen on the beast's stomach, swirling like some sort of cyclone for just a little bit. Heine and Morgiana thought it was going to be some sort of attack, but instead, something was launched out of it, and out into the sky: Aladdin and Grell! In a line of sand, both figures along with the flying carpet were flung high and out of the way, Aladdin managed to straighten himself out, and get onto his carpet. Grell panicked for a bit before Aladdin caught him, saving him from a long fall. Gaara looked from one side to the others, and then looked out over to the coast, which now was easily in sight.
Gaara knew exactly what they were going to do.
Focusing all his energy to control the body, the gigantic tanuki began to run straight for the sea, charging through the forest, and narrowly missing the team down below. Gaara was struggling to keep Shukaku under his control as it was, but with a role reversal like this, it was extremely straining. The Shukaku side of him kept trying to stop Gaara, evidence by the roars that continued to echo out of Shukaku. In little time, the mighty beast was right at the shore. The group raced up to catch up with it, just as the monstrous sand demon made a mighty leap off land, and right over the ocean, out fifty feet in one jump. It was more than Gaara could take, and Shukaku got control back.

Too little too late.

Next thing Shukaku knew, he found himself submerged in water! Roars and screams echoed from him as he tried to keep himself together, let alone get back to shore, but it was no use. Like actual sand on the beach, Shukaku's body began to dissolve and misshapen, to the point when he could barely move. Even a giant demon like this couldn't get out of this, and all the water soaked into his body, and dispersed him in mere minutes. Shukaku's markings started to disappear, and this demon wasn't getting out of this alive. Watching the demon drown, There was one more important step they had to do.

"Gaara!" gasped Aladdin. Aladdin got up onto his feet, and without a second of hesitation, he dove right on down! The others gasped, and the mag darted right into the water. Thanks to Shukaku's sand however, the water turned very murky, Aladdin not able to see properly as he tried to swim and find Gaara amongst the muck.

A lone figure he could just make out in the sand.

.......

~~

.......

"Gaara? Gaara, can you hear me?"

It took nearly the rest of the day before Gaara began to come to again. He could barely grasp what had happened to him, but he was no longer inside Shukaku, nor in the ocean. Instead, he was laying down, just twenty feet away from the beach, with the group keeping an eye on him throughout the hours. Gaara felt exhausted, but oddly, a bit lighter somehow. He sat up, and rubbed his head.

"How long was I out?" Gaara asked.

"For a few hours, luckily," Heine answered. Gaara took a look out over by the coast, the last bit he could remember before passing out.

"... Is Shukaku gone?..."

"It would seem," Heine stated.

"How're you feeling Gaara? Feeling any better?" Aladdin asked. Gaara needed a minute before he answered, looking at his own hands.

"I ... I'm fine. ... I think ..."

"Y-You feel good?"

"... No?"

"You feel bad?!"

"No? Can you just give me a minute?" Gaara asked, now getting annoyed a little bit. Aladdin did keep quiet as Gaara slowly got to his feet, aided by Morgiana. His knees were slightly weak, and it took a bit for him to get his balance together, but he was soon on his feet.

"Well, we all nearly died to save him, I hope you're happy now. Next time, don't drag me along into it, eh?" Hoopa groaned, his heart still pounding from the crazy chase earlier. Heine gave him a whack with his pointer to keep him quiet.

"Don't you start," Heine simply stated. It was not a good time for Hoopa's comments, especially after everything, but Gaara was too tired to really care much for that, negatively at least.

"Answer me one thing before we do anything else," Gaara began, catching their attention. "... Heine, you're right. I did act cold, and it was to keep everyone out of the situation. I nearly killed all of you earlier today ... and you're still willing to try and save me? Even after all that? ... Especially you, Aladdin."

Aladdin couldn't help but rub the back of his head.

"Well, we already have a friend like that, actually, so ... you're not the first one," Aladdin admitted. Gaara paused and suddenly found his acts a little bit more sensible in a way.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Morgiana then said.

"Yeah, that's great, and in the end that's really all that matters," added Aladdin.

"You think so?" Gaara asked. Aladdin nodded.

"Gaara, it was Shukaku who made you end up doing all those things, not you you. ... That, and you didn't want anyone else hurt by him," Aladdin brought up, rather humbly. Gaara started to see a similar connection between Aladdin and Heine with that statement. Gaara took a few steps before he sat back down, the overall fact still a big shock for him. Shukaku was gone, dead, and the plan of this team was what truly did it. Sombra wasn't going to go that far, Gaara was sure of that.

"And you're willing to risk it all for me," Gaara restated. Morgiana and Aladdin simply nodded, and Gaara ... didn't know what to say. I mean, sure, Nagisa did save his life only once before, but compared to his personal problem he had kept under wraps this long, his involvement with Tirek was a mere fluke - something that just so happened to involve him. Shukaku was something he'd dealt with for years, and he didn't think anyone would bother to help him with this, nor would he have wanted anyone else involved. ... Yet, here they were.

"... I ... I uh -"

"Now, you don't have to say anything if you can't find the words, Gaara. just be glad it's all over, and Shukaku's dead in the water. Literally," said Grell, playfully fluffing his hair. Gaara wouldn't be so fond of that, but he had a point.

Shukaku was finally gone from his life, and in the end, that's all that mattered now.