Author's Note: An alternative look at what the year between KH and KHII could have been like…if Naminé had abused the crap out of her powers and Sora had never gone to Castle Oblivion, lost his memories, and gone to sleep. Because who really wants to lose a whole year of their life? Oh, and some off-color humor thrown in for flavor, because that's how I roll. Buckle up kids, it's gonna be a wild ride.
A Year Reclaimed.
Chapter 1: A Detour at the Crossroads of Chance.
(In which Naminé breaks the timestream and looks fabulous doing it. Just not as fabulous as Marluxia. But then, who is, really?)
Most people find it pretty distressing, being someplace where they have no idea where they are. Sora, on the other hand, didn't mind too much. After all there were worse places to be than strolling down a dirt road through rolling green hills under a mildly cloudy blue sky with the sun on your face and a gentle breeze at your back, with a couple of true-blue ride-or-die homies by your side. Especially considering where he'd been just before he'd gotten here…where/whatever that place had been, exactly. No, Sora wasn't the type to angst uselessly about strange situations. After you watched your home world get swallowed up by darkness and wake up in a strange town home to, among other things, Moogles and talking ducks, you find it takes a lot to disturb you. And that was nothing compared to what he had seen afterwards.
As Sora ambled down the road, Donald and Goofy on either side of him, he watched the clouds crawl along the skyways with his arms folded behind his head. He thought of the friends he had made on this long, strange journey; the worlds he had seen and left behind. He hoped Leon was wrong, and that there was some way he'd be able to see them all again. He thought of Riku and the King, and hoped they'd be alright in the Realm of Darkness until he could find a way to them. Then he chuckled to himself and shook his head; the King probably knew more than he did, and Sora was sure he and Riku would find their way back to the Light. With a pang in his heart, he thought of Kairi, and home, and how close he had come to making it back to them both. With Ansem defeated he was certain that the Islands were back where they belonged, and somehow he knew that Kairi was already there waiting for him and Riku to come back.
"Hey, Sora," spoke up Goofy, turning his head towards him, "You've been awful quiet for a while now."
"Yeah, what're you thinking about?" asked Donald as he stood in Sora's path, sounding slightly suspicious.
"Hey, we just saved all the worlds. Doesn't that buy a guy a little time to think?" asked Sora, sounding cross. He folded his arms in front of his chest and glared Donald down.
"Not when he's a troublemaker, like you," replied Donald, narrowing his eyes at Sora. The two glared at each other for a moment, with Goofy looking between them. Then they both started laughing, and after a beat Goofy joined them.
When the laughter died down, Sora shook his head and said, "I was just thinking about where we've been, what we've done, who we've seen, that sort of thing. You know, just your normal 'hero-reflecting-on-his-adventures' stuff."
"You mean junior hero, don't-cha?" corrected Goofy.
"Nah, we're definitely full heroes now," said Sora with a grin, "Like I said, we just saved all the worlds. Short of actually sacrificing yourself in the process, how can you get anymore heroic than that?" Goofy nodded in agreement.
"Except you did sacrifice yourself, and it wasn't heroic. It was stupid!" squawked Donald, coming as close as he ever would to admitting that his heart had skipped a beat when Sora Heartless'd himself back at Hollow Bastion. Goofy nodded his agreement to that as well; and he considered himself something of an expert on stupid.
"Aw, it all worked out just fine," Sora said, dismissively waving a hand. Goofy shrugged and nodded to show that Sora had something of a point.
"But you had no way of knowing Kairi would bring you back!" Donald insisted, jumping up and down. Goofy nodded some more.
"Which is why it was so heroic of me to do it anyways," Sora said with one of his trademark dopey grins. Goofy didn't nod this time; instead he rubbed the back of his neck, as it was feeling sore.
Donald threw his hands up and quaked out some indistinct noises of frustration and let the subject go, but only reluctantly. Cynical as he was, even he supposed there was really no point belaboring his point when Kingdom Hearts itself had proven that Sora was right in his infinite idealism. The trio set off down the road once more, but they had only been walking a few minutes when Sora stopped and frowned. Once again, Goofy was the first to notice and stopped as well. "Hey, Sora, what's up?" he asked, sounding a little worried at his friend's expression.
"Ah, now what?" added Donald, sounding worried and impatient at the same time like only he could.
"I don't know, I just…I just remembered something weird," he replied.
"Weird how?" asked Donald, more curious than impatient now.
"Weird in that I'm pretty sure it's something I didn't know about before I remembered it," said Sora, his frown deepening.
"Huh?" said Donald.
"That…uh…doesn't make sense," observed Goofy.
"Yeah. Like I said, weird," repeated Sora.
"Well, what'd you 'remember'?" asked Donald.
"That we need to go to Twilight Town."
"Where's that?" asked Goofy.
"No idea. I've never heard of it before now," said Sora.
"That makes even less sense!" yelled Donald, jumping up and down and shaking his fists.
"Tell me about it…but that's what I remembered just now," said Sora with a helpless shrug.
"HEY GUYS!" shouted a girl's voice. Sora looked up the road and Donald and Goofy both turned around.
"Say, didn't that sound kind-a like–" Goofy started.
"Yeah, it definitely did," cut in Donald.
"It's Yuffie!" the three of them chorused, pointing down the road. Up ahead they saw their friend, the Great Ninja Yuffie, riding on what looked like a huge yellow bird…thingy. Four more yellow bird-things were running behind her, and the last one was also mounted by another familiar face. "And it looks like Leon's with her!" added Sora. At once the trio started running down the road towards their unexpected friends.
"Sora! Donald! Goofy!" Yuffie called out as they drew near. "It's so great to see you guys! How'd saving the worlds go?"
"Eh, not bad. We kicked butt," Sora replied casually, "What are you guys doing here?"
Yuffie, Leon, and their bird-things came to a stop as the trio reached them, and Leon gave a small smile and a sharp nod in their direction. "Well," Yuffie began, "You might not believe this, but not long after you guys left for your final showdown with…you know…me, Leon, and Aerith suddenly…well, the only way I can describe it is that we all suddenly 'remembered' that we had to come here to meet you guys. So Cid threw together a Gummi Ship with blocks we found lying around Hollow Bastion, and the three of us hightailed it here. Aerith even managed to find us some Chocobos when we got here."
"Cho-what's-its?" asked Sora, question marks popping up around his head (or so it felt like).
"Chocobos," stated Leon, ruffling the head-feathers on his avian steed. "Like Moogles, they tend to show up on many different worlds."
"Well, what are you guys waiting for?" asked Yuffie, "Mount up! The Gummi Ship awaits!"
"Alright!" chorused Sora, Donald, and Goofy. They jumped up onto the vacant Chocobos in short order–though it took Goofy a few tries and ultimately some help from an exasperated Donald–and soon the trio-cum-quintet turned around and rode back down the road, to where Aerith and their ride was waiting for them.
Far away, on another world, Naminé opened her eyes. She smiled and gave a strained sigh; that had been more taxing than she'd expected. "Well? Is it done?" asked the beanie-and-trenchcoat-wearing young man who had saved her from capture. One of his eyes were swollen shut and he had an angry bruise on his exposed stomach, and his clothes had rips and tears and was paradoxically scorched in some places and soaked in others, and his tone and posture were stiff and brusque…but he was still helping them, so Naminé didn't begrudge him his impatience. He and his friends were in way over their heads, after all.
"Yes, that should have just about done it," she replied, getting back up to her feet and dusting her dress off, "Help is on the way. But we should move; we've tarried too long."
"How long will it take for them to get here and get you two out of my town?" Seifer asked. He didn't argue, but gestured to his followers to form up. Fuu and Rai had been keeping look-out at either end of the tunnel they were in, and Vivi had been keeping an eye on Naminé's unconscious friend, the boy with spiky blonde hair. They all had their Struggle bats in hand and jumped at the smallest noises.
"It will still take a while," Naminé answered sadly. Rai picked up the unconscious boy and slung him over his shoulders, Vivi and Fuu assumed rear guard behind him, and Seifer took point with Naminé just behind him, and they set out down the unfinished tunnels that they had broken into during their mad-dash escape. "It would probably be better for the two of us to hide somewhere while you guys get clear of us," she gently suggested for what must have been the dozenth time.
"Forget it," said Seifer bluntly, "You've been nothing but a thorn in my side for the last couple of hours, and frankly your boyfriend here gives me a bad vibe I can't quite shake off…but I'm not going to let you two out of my sight while those loonies are after you."
"Yeah! When Seifer picks a fight, he doesn't quit early, y'know?" piped up Rai.
"We're committed," added Fuu with a firm nod. 'To the funny farm, that is,' she thought to herself.
Vivi couldn't think of anything pithy to say, so he just focused on listening for any warning sign of the bad guys sneaking up on them.
"Thank you," Naminé said humbly, wishing she could think of better words to express her gratitude.
"Think nothing of it," said Seifer, tightening his grip on his bat, "It has nothing to do with you two. When a man sees a couple of hoodlums harassing a young lady, he doesn't just ignore it. Especially when he's head of the town's disciplinary committee."
"Man, Seifer's so cool, y'know?" Rai stage-whispered to Vivi, wanting to make sure his leader heard the praise. Or maybe he just didn't know how to whisper properly?
"Yeah, sure," replied Vivi distractedly, his full attention focused on not getting ambushed. His clothes were still wet from the last fight.
"Your boyfriend put up a pretty good fight, though," commented Seifer as they rounded another corner. "But those two were way too much for him, the redhead in particular," he added.
"Not too much for you though, Seifer, y'know?" said Rai excitedly, "One good hit and bam! On the ground like a sack of potatoes, y'know?!"
"That was a lucky shot," Seifer snapped, "If I had missed, or if that hit hadn't knocked him out, he'd have burned us all to a crisp. Be serious, Rai; these guys aren't Strugglers or normal troublemakers. They're dangerous." As Rai was stunned into silence at Seifer's unexpected and uncharacteristic admission, Seifer turned back to Naminé and pressed on, "And you said there were ten more where they came from. How did you two ever get away from them?"
"I wasn't easy," said Naminé, who had decided not to mention how she'd had to convince Roxas to leave with her. There was no need for them to know that he had, however briefly, been the Organization's No. 13, and she didn't want Seifer to be any more suspicious of him than he already was. "I had to open a pathway through the darkness. But having never done so before, and not being particularly well-versed with the darkness to begin with, it didn't quite work out the way I had hoped. I had been aiming for Hollow Bastion, but wound up here instead, in one of the in-between worlds."
"Whatever that means," Seifer said gruffly. He decided he'd rather not have his world shaken up too much today. He'd rather just believe that Naminé was crazy too, and that he was doing this for chivalry's sake alone.
Behind them, Fuu gasped and whirled around, raising her bat. "Trouble," she said breathlessly. 'Oh damn, we're so deep in it that it's not even funny anymore,' she thought.
Echoing from the tunnel behind them was the sound of strings being plucked, and Vivi tried to subtly position himself behind Rai. It was someone else's turn to get soaked. Seifer ran up and stood beside Fuu, pointing his bat down the tunnel. "Rai, Vivi, get them out of here!" he barked.
"On it! C'mon Rai, let's get out of here!" squawked Vivi, clutching his bat tightly in one hand and grabbing Naminé's hand with the other, running down the tunnel in the other direction…only for a man in a hooded black coat to step around the corner. At the same time another figure in similar garb, plucking the strings of a blue sitar, appeared at the other end.
"Uh, Seifer? This way's no good, y'know?" reported Rai. He and Vivi started backing up, shielding Naminé as they went.
"Damn! Naminé, you and your boyfriend are way more trouble than you're worth," grumbled Seifer.
"Sorry," said Naminé, who started trying to shake Roxas awake.
"Aint they, though?" commented the sitar player as he drew his hood back. "Tell ya what; throw down you're weapons, stand aside, and beg for forgiveness. Maybe Axel an' I'll give ya a break, what-a-ya say?"
"Demyx, you moron," growled the other one, Axel, as he drew back his hood, "It's not cool to mess with people like that. You know the Superior doesn't like witnesses. They…complicate things."
"Well, yeah, but it might have been funny to watch them grovel," countered Demyx petulantly.
Axel sighed and shook his head. "Dude, just because you've got no heart doesn't mean you have to be an ass. Not cool."
"Pfft, killjoy," retorted Demyx.
"Whatever, let's just get this over with and get them back to the castle, alright?" said Axel, fire swirling around his hands before materializing as a pair of chakrams.
"Now you're speakin' my language, man!" crowed Demyx, riffing a note that conjured a squad of water figures.
"Oh, this aint good, y'know?" said Rai, lowering a still-inert Roxas to the floor so he could take a ready stance.
"Yeah, no kidding," agreed Seifer, pointing his bat straight at Demyx.
"Mommy!" wailed Vivi, clutching his bat with both hands and shivering like a leave in a typhoon.
"Crap," stated Fuu flatly. 'Should I tell Seifer I love him now, or wait to do it with my dying breath? Decisions, decisions. The latter would probably be more in-character for me, but what better time than the very last minute to break your own image?'
Naminé sighed and said, "I really didn't want to do this…but I guess it's our only way out of this mess."
"What? Girl, do you have an ace in the hole you've been holding on to?" demanded Seifer.
"You could say that," replied Naminé. She drew back her hand and slapped Roxas full-on across the face, and then followed through with a firm backhand just for good measure. Roxas jerked awake, but before he could do or say anything Naminé pressed the palm of her hand firmly to his forehead and said, "Remember, Roxas. Remember the battles of those who came before you, and remember how to fight." Her hand glowed, and that light was echoed in Roxas's eyes; memories of Ventus's and Sora's battles flashed through his mind, and without conscious thought he called Oathkeeper to his hand and stood up.
"Don't be afraid, Naminé," he said as he turned to face the closer threat, Axel. "I'll protect you…no matter what," he said decisively.
"Oh-ho, scary talk," Axel sneered, "Look, you've only had days to practice fighting. There's no way–"
His speech was cut off when Roxas appeared right in front of him, Oathkeeper's edge inches from his throat. It was only by pure reflex that Axel stepped back and blocked the swing in time, but it was just the first strike in a vicious barrage. Roxas pressed his offensive, his face expressionless as he strung together swing after slash after strike, a fluidly brutal volley of what could only be called cold fury. Axel jumped back and blurred around to Roxas's flank, lashing out with one of his weapons, only for Roxas to block it off-handedly with a new Keyblade, Oblivion. Roxas retaliated with Oathkeeper, but Axel jumped back and raised a wall of fire to ward him off…but Roxas was having none of that, jumping right through the flames and rushing his opponent. Axel's eyes widened in shock and he started backpedaling quickly, only to find himself with his back to the wall of the cramped tunnel. Snarling, he brought up Eternal Flames to block Roxas's assault, and as soon as their weapons were locked he unleashed a massive explosion right in Roxas's face. Roxas slammed back into the opposite wall, his clothes and hair smoking and singed, his arms and face covered in first-degree burns, but he almost immediately bounced back swinging, a mildly pained expression being the only sign of his discomfort. "So now you're a dual-wielder, too, huh?" remarked Axel, skipping and side-stepping around Roxas's offensive, "And you're suddenly tenacious as all hell. What's gotten into you, man? You look like you came down with a sudden case of the Heroics…bummer."
Roxas rushed at Axel swinging both Keyblades overhead, and when Axel blocked with his Eternal Flames Roxas levered his weapons and vaulted over him. As he landed he crouched and spun around, sweep-kicking Axel's legs out from under him. "You talk too much," he taunted as he raised Oblivion for a finishing strike.
"Demyx! Support!" screamed Axel.
"Right!" said Demyx, who had been watching Roxas and Axel's duel in awe. "Uh…well, between you and me, I think you have the best hair in the Organization. I'm actually kind of jealous," replied the ditsy sitar-player.
The stupidity of this outburst completely distracted Roxas and made him turn to Demyx with a confused look on his face, presenting Axel a perfect opportunity to strike. Unfortunately, the redhead was equally distracted as well as annoyed. "What?!" exclaimed Axel.
"You asked for support, right?" asked Demyx innocently.
"Combat support, you nerd!" Axel seethed.
"Oh…let's see…well, you definitely put the style in fighting style, if you know what I mean. Don't tell Marluxia I said that, though. Or the hair thing, either. He might get jeal–"
"Attack Roxas, you stupid hippie!" Axel yelled.
"Oh! Why didn't you say so in the first place?" said Demyx with a grin, strumming Arpeggio. His water figures surged forward, but they were intercepted by Seifer and his crew, who batted them into puddles. "Hey! Not cool, dudes…and chick…and the short one with the hat, I'm not sure what you are. Those were supposed to fight Roxas," said Demyx before playing Arpeggio again. More water figures sprang up and rushed into battle, only to be smacked down again by the four furious Strugglers. "Grrr, stop that!" yelled Demyx, summoning more water figures only to see his ineffectual elemental mooks get slaughtered once more. "That's it! No More Mr. Nice Guy!" he declared before belting out the Alice Cooper song of the same name on his sitar. The pipes running through the unfinished walls of the tunnel exploded, and water surged out and coalesced into a semi-solid sphere around Seifer, Rai, Fuu, and Vivi, effectively immobilizing them. More water formed into the figure of an armored knight mounted on a war-charger, armed with a lance tucked under one arm and swinging a flail in its other hand. The Water Knight charged Roxas, who confidently countercharged and slammed both weapons into the horse.
To his shock, however, his strikes only glanced off of the super-dense water. The Water Knight swung its flail up into Roxas's chin, knocking him up into the air, and then it struck with its lance, sending him flying down the corridor. Axel got up slowly and stared at Demyx in open shock. "Hot damn, man. I think that's the first time I've ever seen you get serious."
Demyx shrugged and said, "Yeah. I used to be such a sweet, sweet thing, 'til the Organization got a hold of me. I opened doors for little old ladies, I helped–"
"God damn it, Demyx, no quoting lyrics on missions!" Axel screamed, "I've told you a thousand times! Get it memorized, already!" he said, Gibbs-smacking Demyx. "Now, be a good tool and take Naminé back to headquarters, okay? Got it memorized?" he sneered.
"Didn't the boss say not to use your catchphrase more than once in a conversation?" asked Demyx.
Axel gave Demyx his most withering glare, and Demyx grinned sheepishly. "Right, one retrieval, coming right…oh. Oops."
"What now?" asked Axel as he began stalking back towards Roxas. He turned around, and his jaw dropped when he saw what was 'oops'. Seifer, Rai, Fuu, Vivi, and Naminé were all gone; all that remained of Demyx's water prison was a huge puddle. "Oh…flaming pants," he groaned.
"Guess I shouldn't have stopped playing," said Demyx with a shrug. The only thing that saved him from being slaughtered by Axel in a blind, murderous rage was the fact that Axel had no intention of screwing up this mission, because then his seat in Where Nothing Gathers would be shorter than Larxene's, and to hell with that noise.
"Just get after them," Axel ordered, "I'll handle Roxas."
"I can't believe he just let us go!" exclaimed Vivi as he and his friends beat feet down the tunnel.
"Yeah, he must've known not playing his instrument would make his prison collapse, y'know?" observed Rai. He carried a bound-and-gagged Naminé over his shoulder, despite her struggling. She was bound and gagged because she had initially resisted the idea of leaving Roxas behind. Seifer had addressed this reluctance by pointing out that Roxas had said quite clearly that he would 'protect her no matter what', which logically meant he wouldn't mind being left behind if it meant she would be safe. But since Naminé wasn't in the mood to logic, the binding and gagging had been deemed necessary.
"Idiot," Fuu agreed.
"Less chatting, more retreating," said Seifer, "And keep it down, or he'll find us." As if on cue, the sound of a power chord ripped down the tunnel after them. Despite already running flat-out, they all managed to pour on a little more speed as water pipes behind them started exploding. Seifer led his crew around a right corner through one of the tunnel exits…but unlike the one that they had entered through, this one had its gate lowered and locked. "Son of a–" Seifer began, but the offensive part of his sentence was drowned out by another power chord as Demyx did the electric slide into view right behind Naminé and her rescuers.
"Back in black! Demyx is baaaaaack!" he wailed, playing a well-known tune by a certain band that is awesomely unafraid to bring bagpipes into the mix. Seriously, the world of rock needs more bagpipes like radio needs more cowbell. That is to say, a lot. "And now you're doomed!" he exclaimed, delivering the last word in a bass tone worthy of a Norwegian Black Metal vocalist.
"No!" wailed Vivi, running up to the exit gate and ineffectually bashing on it with his bat.
"Screwed," sighed Fuu.
"Well if I'm going down, I'm going down swinging, y'know!" Rai proclaimed fiercely. He tossed Naminé to Seifer, who was gallant enough to catch her, and snatched Vivi's bat before charging at Demyx.
"Gutsy," said Demyx, lazily blocking Rai's dual-overhead swing with Arpeggio, "But just because dual-wielding makes you look cool doesn't mean you'll win." Demyx pushed Rai back and ripped another power chord on his sitar. Instead of pipes exploding or water constructs forming, however, a corridor of darkness appeared behind Demyx and a pair of Dancers and a squad of Dusks poured out.
"Rai, pull back!" Seifer ordered, "It's no good!"
"What use is backing down when your back's already to the wall, y'know?" retorted Rai.
"Well, he's got you there," Vivi pointed out, sounding oddly serene all of a sudden. Clearly he had become so hysterical with terror he had gone full circle and entered a state of 'tranquil panic', if you will.
Naminé squeezed her eyes tightly shut and started thinking franticly. 'I can't just let these people die for me! I have to do something to save them, and we have to be able to save Roxas, or else Sora will be in danger, and so will the rest of the worlds. But what can I do? I can't fight Demyx off myself, and I don't have time to make him forget what he's doing…I wish I were a Keyblade wielder, or something. But wait…what if I…oh my. It's crazy, absurd really…but it just might be our only hope. Well, here goes nothing.'
Naminé still wasn't sure exactly how or why she could access other peoples' memories, though she had theories, and she had noted that her power worked faster and more effectively on people who were more directly and strongly connected to Sora. She had theories about that too. She had a lot of theories for someone who was only a few days old. But now she reached out to Sora's heart–which she noted was much easier than the last time, which was very encouraging because it meant he was a lot closer than before–and sifted through his memories. She picked through his most vivid memories of fighting, and those memories that represented what he fought for. She took those memories and distilled them into pure combat instinct, then willed them out into the world with a desperate plea: 'Please, protect us!'
Naminé opened her eyes. She was surprised to find she was sitting on the floor; Seifer must have set her down. Rai had evidently returned Vivi's bat, and the four Strugglers had formed a defensive circle around her. They were trying to fight back the Dusks while the Dancers hung back with Demyx, who was watching the fight with an amused expression. That expression changed when the air in front of Naminé started rippling and darkening, twisting and contorting, until finally the darkness coalesced into a petite figure obscured by a very familiar-looking hooded black coat. Naminé, not realizing herself what she had just wrought, initially panicked, thinking another member of the Organization had arrived. Then she realized the figure in question was too small of frame to be any of the longcoat-wearing Nobodies she was familiar with. The stranger's frame seemed distinctly feminine, but she (if it was a she) was way too short to be Larxene, the Organization's resident Smurfette. Then the figure turned around and looked at Naminé with its visage still concealed, and spoke in an unmistakably feminine voice, "Did you call me here?"
Naminé blinked. Demyx also looked confused. So did the Dusks, and after realizing their enemies were distracted, so were Seifer and Co. "Yes, I did," Naminé replied.
"Why?" asked the hooded figure.
"To protect us."
"From what?"
"Him," Naminé pointed at Demyx. The stranger looked over her shoulder and regarded him with eyes no one could see, and then turned back to Naminé. All she did was nod before holding out her right hand. Brilliant white light engulfed and then extended from her hand, and when it faded she was wielding the Kingdom Key. Naminé and Demyx both dropped their jaws, and Seifer just groaned. 'Great, just great, there's another one!' he thought disdainfully, 'there ought to be a law against these things. They're nothing but trouble.'
"Hey, who are you?" Demyx demanded of the newcomer as she slowly turned to face him, though her own face remained hidden.
"Your enemy, evidently," she replied, crouching and holding her Keyblade in a ready stance.
"Oh…well that sucks. You sound like a cutie. Say, why don't you draw back that hood so I can see the face I'm going to beat in?" Demyx requested, snapping his fingers and pointing two fingers at her. His Dancers immediately broke left and right to flank her, somersaulting and pirouetting gratuitously as they moved.
"That's…not gonna happen," the Hooded Girl replied simply. The Dancer on the left surged forward and reached out to grab her so it could do that [BLEEP] cheap-ass grapple it was renowned for, but surprisingly the hooded girl jumped towards it at the last second, kicking off of its head. This sent the Dancer reeling backwards while also springing the hooded girl at the other Dancer, who had hung back with the plan to strike the target after the other Dancer had thrown her. Instead, the Dancer was dispatched with two swift strokes of Kingdom Key; the Hooded Girl landed in a three point crouch and threw her Keyblade at the other Dancer, which easily dodged the strike…raid.
"Watch out, dummy!" Demyx shouted at his underling, but it was too late. In a rapid burst of phantom speed, the Hooded Girl had dashed forward and dropped into a slide kick, knocking the Dancer's feet from under it. Before the phenomenally graceful Nobody could recover, the Hooded Girl negated her momentum with a breakdancing spin and kicked the Dancer up into the air. The Dancer recovered in midair, but it was too late; the Hooded Girl had already recalled her Keyblade and jumped up. She slashed the Dancer twice before kicking it back to the ground where it exploded into shards of nothingness. The Hooded Girl landed on her feet and threw her weapon again; this time it traveled in a wide arc that cut through the Dusks before it magically returned to its wielder's hand. Only one Dusk remained, but not for long as Seifer and Co. ganged up on it and Struggled it to a literal pulp. You can't say you've seen everything until you've seen Dusk-pulp on the ground.
This just left the Hooded Girl and Demyx facing each other. They stared each other in the eye (or at least, Demyx assumed they were) and then the Melodious Nocturne shook his head and said, "Nope. Axel can field this one." He tucked Arpeggio under his arm, pantomimed tipping a hat to the Hooded Girl, and turned around and ran back the way he came.
Rai and Vivi stared in open awe at their enigmatic savior, Seifer grunted ambiguously, and Fuu simply stated, "Lucky." It was anyone's guess whether she was speaking of the Hooded Girl…or themselves.
Naminé beamed at her and curtsied. "Thank you, so much. You saved us…um, do you have a name?"
The Hooded Girl shook her head. "Do you?"
"Of course. I'm Naminé," said Naminé.
"My name's Vivi; we owe you one, huge time!"
"I'm Rai, y'know?"
"Fuu."
"And I'm Seifer, the leader."
The Hooded Girl turned to each of the Strugglers as they introduced themselves, and then back to Naminé. To her surprise the Hooded Girl adopted a formal position of prostration, putting the tip of the Keyblade on the ground with both hands clasped atop the butt of its hilt, kneeling on one knee and bowing her head. "Is there anything else I can do for you, my lady?" Seifer and Co. all stared at the Hooded Girl, then at Naminé, and then looked to each other to share their raised-eyebrow looks of confusion and shrugs of resignation.
"Um…well, assuming that Keyblade of yours is as real as it looks, would you mind…?" Naminé trailed off as she stepped aside and gestured at the locked gate that had impeded their flight.
"My pleasure," said the Hooded Girl as she stood up, pointing Kingdom Key at the gate. Then she dashed forward and destroyed the gate with three heavy swings.
Naminé sweatdropped and said, "Uh…that works too, I guess…thank you, um…we really need to give you a name."
(She was right, too. No way am I going to keep writing 'the Hooded Girl'. That requires me to press the Shift key twice as many times as for any other character's name, plus it's just unnecessarily long and sounds awkward in conversation.)
"Any suggestions?" Naminé asked of the Strugglers.
They looked to one another and scratched their heads in thought.
"Well, it should describe her somehow, y'know?" said Rai.
"Ninja," Fuu quipped, making Rai and Vivi chuckle.
"Maybe Shinobi? That sounds like a name, at least," said Seifer.
'Shinobi? I like it…but it's a little too long,' the Hooded Girl thought. Before she could say so, Vivi spoke up. "She no be? Mo' like she owns! Huge time! I mean, the way she–"
"I like that one," the Hooded Girl interrupted. Vivi looked at her quizzically. The Hooded Girl nodded, "I like the sound of that. 'She owns'. Xion. I'll be Xion," she decided.
Naminé smiled and nodded, reaching out her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you…Xion." Xion (presumably) stared at Naminé's hand for a moment, then down at her own, and then accepted the proffered handshake.
"Great, now all you need is a face," Seifer snarked.
Xion whipped her head at him and glared from under her hood, but she didn't move to lower it. Instead she turned back to Naminé and asked, "Will that be all, Lady Naminé?"
Naminé was about to say yes, when she suddenly remembered, and her eyes widened. "Roxas! We have to go back for Roxas!" she exclaimed, already running back down the tunnel.
Seifer and Co. collectively groaned, and Seifer shouldered his bat before starting after her, but Xion stuck out her arm, blocking his way with her Keyblade. "I'll take it from here. You should get to safety."
Seifer sneered and said, "Hey, I committed myself to this fight, and I'll see it through to the end."
"What Seifer starts, he finishes! Y'know?" added Rai, raising his bat as well.
"And we stand behind him because he stands behind us!" chimed in Vivi, also raising his bat.
"True companions," said Fuu, joining in on the Strugglers' salute.
"And anyways, a disaster magnet like Naminé needs all the badass backup she can get," concluded Seifer, putting his hand on Kingdom Key and gently lowering it. The moment he touched it, he felt a tingle in his palm, but he paid it no mind. He had a fight to finish! He started down the tunnel, Xion, Rai, Fuu, and Vivi close behind him.
They hadn't gone far when Naminé came peeling back around the corner and bolted past them. "Get back!" she shouted back to them. Just then, the tunnels shook from the force of an explosion. They all heard the rapid-fire clanging of a high-speed duel, saw an orange glow on the wall, and felt the ground under their feet shake from another explosion. Roxas, his clothes and hair smoking and singed, skipped off the floor like a skimming stone into their view, clearly having been thrown back during his off-screen battle. He got back up to his feet a lot quicker than his audience expected, considering his apparent condition, but not fast enough for his liking. He raised Oblivion and Oathkeeper in a defensive stance. He stared down the tunnel, presumably at the out-of-sight and approaching Axel. The others were impressed by the look of total focus and fierce determination on his features.
"Roxas, we need to go," urged Seifer, "That guy's fire attacks are too dangerous down here in this cramped space. We should pull out into the open, then we can all attack him at once."
"Uh…I hate to be that guy, y'know, but that, uh, sounds kind-a cowardly, don't ya think, Seifer? Y'know?" Rai spoke up.
"Pragmatic," Fuu corrected.
"She's right," agreed Vivi, "No shame ganging up on the big-an'-scary ones.
Roxas didn't seem to register what they were saying at first, but he nodded and twirled both Keyblades before tucking them under his arms and running past the others towards the exit and Naminé.
"Where ya going, little fella?" said Axel's voice somewhere (not far away enough) off-screen.
"Run," Fuu and Seifer both hissed before about-facing and doing just that, Rai and Vivi close behind them.
Using her ninja-like speed, Xion outstripped them all and easily caught up to Roxas. He glanced at her before looking forward again, and then he did a double-take with a stunned look. He dashed ahead and stood in her way, raising both weapons. "Who are you?" he barked, "Another of the Organization's cronies?"
"No time! She's on our side, man!" shouted Seifer as he and the other Strugglers caught up and continued on ahead. Xion said nothing, only raising her own Keyblade with the blade pointing downwards. Roxas, who at this point only had memories of using a Keyblade and didn't really know much about them beyond that, wasn't sure what to think of this. Ultimately, he decided that there was no time to waste with Axel closing in on them, and he just nodded to her before turning and heading for the exit once more.
Roxas and Xion were quick to close the distance with Seifer and his crew, and soon enough the six of them emerged from the tunnel exit and into the district of Twilight Town called the Tram Common. There was no sign of Naminé, however. "Ah, hell. Now what?" grumbled Seifer, shouldering his bat.
"This way," said Roxas, pointing with Oathkeeper before running in that direction.
The others followed him and Seifer asked, "How do you know?"
"Can't you see it?" asked Roxas.
"See what?" Seifer asked, irritated.
"The flying, flashing, neon arrow!" Roxas shouted as he pointed at the arrow, which he didn't realize was merely a phantasm. It led them to a hole in a wall, and on the other side was a densely wooded area. Beyond that was the gate to an old, somewhat rundown mansion. Past that gate was a courtyard decorated with crumbling pillars, and that was where they found Naminé, bound and gagged once again, only this time at the feet of a black-coat wearing man with silvery hair that was swept over one side of his face. "Zexion," growled Roxas, "Let her go! You can't hold us against our will like this!"
"Why not?" replied Zexion, his tone genial and his manner unconcerned. He almost sounded genuinely curious. "You aren't people any more than I am. And more to the point," he continued as he snapped his fingers. Four corridors of darkness sprang up, two on either side of him. To Zexion's left, Vexen and Lexaeus appeared. To Zexion's right, Marluxia and Larxene. "You're not exactly in a position to make demands of us, Roxas. The Organization has great plans for the future, but we need a Keyblade Wielder like you to realize them. Not to mention, the true Keybearer is a threat to the entire thing. He needs to be dealt with, and for that we need both you and Naminé in our corner."
"Actually," said Marluxia as he stepped forward, "We don't really need Roxas. Once we have Sora, we can just make him turn into a Heartless again and produce a new Keyblade-wielding Nobody. Perhaps the next one will actually remember how to wield a Keyblade?" he added, throwing a caustic smirk in Roxas's direction.
"Or we could try making a Replica of Sora," Vexen threw out there, "Beings with hearts are a lot easier to manipulate than Nobodies like us." He didn't notice the way Larxene's fists tightened when he said that.
"You and your Replicas" she sneered, "You're pathetically obsessed. You think Replicas are the answer to any problem. 'Hey, Vexen, you know where the remote is?' 'No, but give me a minute and I'll make a Replica of the remote!' 'Hey, Vexen, someone stole the cookie jar!' 'Oh, sorry, that was me. I'm making Replicas of it so I can have more cookies!' 'Hey, Vexen–"
"Yes, Larxene, we get it," interrupted Zexion, "In any event, we don't know why Roxas retained Sora's ability to wield the Keyblade. It's possible that any Replicas we created or any new Nobodies we engineered from him might lack this most crucial ability. Making a new Nobody from him would be especially risky, since we could only do it once because we have no idea how he managed to change back. And though beings with hearts are easier to manipulate, their sentimental reasoning also makes them unpredictable and paradoxically difficult to control. It's safer just to reclaim Roxas."
"Fine," said Vexen. After a beat, "Could we Replicate him anyways? You know, backups? Just in case?" Larxene rolled her eyes. Zexion pinched the bridge of his nose.
"If it's okay with the Superior, then fine," said the Cloaked Schemer.
"Are you ladies still bickering about what to do?" drawled a familiar voice. Axel, hands in his pockets, strolled into the courtyard behind the team of would-be rescuers, dividing their attention for a moment. "In that case, I'll tell you the answer. It's easy. Just act, and let the consequences sort themselves out. Got it memorized?" he asked as he pointed to his temple.
"You took your time. Where's Demyx?" asked Lexaeus.
"Oh, c'mon, Lex! I was just doing a little sightseeing. As for the dumb hippie, he legged it. Somethin' must've scared him. He must've emptied his bladder before we left HQ, cuz I didn't find a trail to follow. Not that I really looked," Axel added with a shrug. He withdrew his hands and summoned Eternal Flames. "Well, shouldn't we get started, then?"
Zexion nodded. "Last chance, Thirteen. Come back with us in peace, or in pain."
Roxas looked straight into Zexion's cold, calculating eyes. Then his eyes flicked about, sizing up the other four Organization members in front of him. 'Upside, there are six of them and six of us,' he thought, 'Downside, I'm the only one who can fight near their level–except maybe the girl in the coat, but frankly scaring off Demyx isn't exactly a big deal–and I'm pretty worn down. I can't fight them all off, and Seifer's guys will only be in my way. Still…'
"Shove it, Zexion," Roxas snarled, "We're going to thrash you and take Naminé back."
"You're spirited," Lexaeus acknowledged, "But still weak. We'll roll over you."
Xion took a step forward and pointed Kingdom Key at him. "Come and try," she challenged. Larxene laughed mockingly. Marluxia looked intrigued.
"So smug…but for how long?" asked the Graceful Assassin, "Who's your little friend, Roxas?"
"Enough!" snapped Zexion, "She has a Keyblade, so we'll bring her in too. We've wasted enough time here." With that, he reached behind his back and produced the Book of Retribution and flipped it open. Vexen, Lexaeus, Marluxia, and Larxene armed themselves with Frozen Pride, Skysplitter, Graceful Dahlia, and Foudre, respectively.
"Seifer, I wore Axel down a lot more than he's letting on," Roxas muttered almost inaudibly to the other boy, "If you and your friends rush him all at once, you might be able to beat him. Leave the others to me and her."
Seifer grunted, "Don't underestimate me."
The members of Organization XIII fanned out, forming a wide circle around their opponents. Likewise, Roxas and his allies put their backs together to form an outward-facing circle. The wind picked up, rustling the leaves on the ground and making the grass sigh. The wind pushed aside the clouds obscuring the Sun, making the courtyard much brighter. The tension between the two sides was thick as everyone tried to decide whether it would serve them better to strike first or hold back to counter the other side's initiative. Just as Roxas was about to rush Lexaeus, because he was the toughest-looking one, something unexpected happened. There was a bizarre sound, like a popping and a slurping and a squishing all at the same time.
"What the hell was that?" wondered Larxene, saying what everyone else was thinking.
"It sounded like a Gummi Ship exiting Warpspace," commented Vexen, looking skyward. Everyone else looked to the heavens as well. And Naminé positively beamed around the gag in her mouth.
Because high in the sky was a beautiful black and yellow Gummi Ship.
To Be Continued…
Author's Note: Some of you will love this and some of you will hate this. Well, I'm not apologizing to anyone because haters gonna hate and lovers gonna love. I know I'm taking liberties with canon and junk, but it's all in the name of writing the most interesting story I can so let's just call it artistic license and try not to dwell and nitpick, shall we? Keep in mind that this story runs on the Rule of Cool and the Rule of Funny and was written strictly for funsies, and we'll all get along just fine. And I know that the way Xion got her name is a bit of a stretch, but it was the best I could come up with. Thank you for reading, and I hope the rest of your day is as fabulous as Marluxia.