A/N:
Welcome, readers all, to the fourth and final (for sure this time, honest!) part in The Dark series.
As usual with this series, if you have no idea what an Arcology is, or you just totally forgot, real quick like grab the first chapter of Master of the Dark and read the first note I left, because I explain it there and I'm not going to repeat myself.
Also as usual, I don't own Kingdom Hearts. The world of the Necropolis I do, however, and the two other worlds that will show up in this story (Which will also have the -polis in their name) are also my own creations.
Finally, this story will not be following our usual cast within the Arcology. While Sora, his friends and his Arcology do show up, the story is centered mainly around a group of OC's, all but one of which met in this first chapter. The missing one is mentioned here too. Who and what are they, and what are they up to? As the story progresses, it will become clear and also provide explanations for some loose ends left lying around, both in the games and a few from previous stories.
Twilight Town
Sunset Hill
The hill was deserted, even by the animal kingdom. Birds had been seen flocking away from it earlier that day, and anyone trying to walk their pets there found them strangely resistant to the idea, eager to get away from the place. The plant life, being rooted to the spot and unable to leave, was just as determined to keep away, seeming to sway away from the top of the hill.
Once all other life had left the area, a single dark corridor opened at the peak. One figure emerged from it, wearing a black coat with the hood raised. It was reminiscent of those worn by the Organization but without any adornments. It would be called severely plain if not for the white skull emblazoned on the back.
In one hand, it held a skateboard with the Heartless emblem etched in red on one end, and the Organization's Nobody sign in white on the other. Just visible underneath the coat were a pair of white skate shoes, each with its own collection of marks that showed the wearer had been in their fair share of near-misses while on the board, if not a few actual accidents.
It banished the corridor behind it with an absent wave of the free hand, then turned it upward. Before him, a multitude of spheres appeared. Ten of them were purest black, and almost as soon as they had appeared the figure dismissed them by tapping on them. Now only six remained. Five of them appeared to display a person and the surroundings, but one showed a place.
The hood turned to each sphere in turn, examining them. As attention turned to each, they enlarged to show the subject better. The people were investigated first.
In the first orb, he saw an ornate office, bedecked in blues, reds and bands of gold separating the two colours. Seated at a desk was the subject, examining a pad as he took a drink. It was the Keyblade Master and Grandmaster of Artefact Arcology, Sora. His orb was dismissed as he turned to the next.
Second was a figure wearing a true Organization XIII coat, deep in conversation with an unknown person. The blond hair framing his face left little doubt that it was the Chilly Academic, Vexen.
The third and fourth spheres were examined together, as the subjects were in the same place, apparently arguing. It appeared that the Cloaked Schemer had foregone his name and returned to his true name of Ienzo. The other figure had put all but his name aside, returning to his own previous persona. Though the Flurry of Dancing Flames had put everything else behind him, Axel was still distinctly recognisable.
The last sphere centred on a person was eating ice cream on the top of a tower. The hood turned upward to Twilight Town's clock tower, seeing the same person in the distance. The Key of Destiny, Roxas, somehow separate from Sora except by the original ties that had created him. One hand reached up into the hood as if scratching at the chin curiously for a moment then this sphere was also dismissed, leaving only the lone sphere that had displayed a place.
It was clearly obvious that The Castle that Never Was lay in ruins. Only a few stray chunks remained intact, hovering over Dark City. Despite the wide perspective showing The World that Never Was in its entirety, it was clearly obvious that neither Nobody or Heartless was there any longer. The entire world was abandoned.
The figure dismissed this sphere too, leaving the space around him devoid of spheres once more. There was an indeterminate 'hmm' as it thought, fingers idly fidgeting with the skateboard, tapping on it without clear pattern or rhythm.
At last the hood was pulled back, revealing slicked back hair in a bleached white, a pierced ear with a thin golden ring hanging from it, and the weather beaten but confident green-eyed face of the young man wearing the coat. There was a thin scar above one eye, heading up diagonally to vanish in the hair. Though his expression was more of a confident smirk, his eyes were hard, harsh and aware, flicking around his surroundings as he took them in.
He spun the board around with the other hand, then let it drop to the ground. As one foot followed it to hold it down, a finger on the free hand flicked toward the coat. The zip rapidly undid itself. While it did so, the black gloves were removed and pocketed, then once the zip was fully undone the coat was discarded entirely. It vanished almost as soon as it no longer held any contact with him.
Underneath the coat, he'd been wearing baggy jeans sporting many small tears and a black studded belt holding it up. Not up enough to fully hide the white boxers peeking into view between the jeans and the black hoodie he wore that had the same skull on the back as the coat had. On the front in gold, there was lettering that read, 'Nil' on the first line, then below, 'Oblivion' and finally underneath that 'The Forceful Fighter'.
"JJ's back," he murmured, running one hand through his hair. "And I'm not here for a vacation."
One hand was flung back behind him as he stepped fully onto the board. A brief pulse of air seemed to shoot from the hand, propelling him forward and down the hill. He flipped over a fence, landing for a moment on the top of a grassy ledge, then continued on.
As he left, the plant life slowly and cautiously started to swing back again, closely followed by a few wary birds. They all perched silently wherever they could, watching the self-identified JJ head down the hill and out of sight. They looked to each other, conversing silently. If their expressions had been readable, they would have been afraid.
Some few of them looked down to the ledge he'd been on momentarily. The grass was dying out, radiating from where he had landed in a kind of unseen wave. The small bushes and shrubs on it shrivelled up and died out as it reached them, until the entire ledge was nothing but dead plants. The effect did not continue any further from there.
On the still living lawn opposite, a small boy extricated him from a bush. He had black hair and wore a red shirt under a silver jacket, but was otherwise identical to the new arrival that had passed by. He was almost like a smaller, younger version.
"JJ's back," he whispered excitedly, looking down into Twilight Town after him. "Boss man's back..."
He ran down into the town, weaving through the various people around until he came to the garage, where he sneaked past everyone to a small stack of wooden crates in one corner. There was just enough of a gap between them for him to squeeze through and out behind them, then down some steep stairs to a hidden underground room.
It looked like it had once been a part of the tunnels, but except for a small waterway bubbling quietly through a trough on the far side through two grills, it had been sealed off from them.
There was a filing cabinet in one corner, and centred in the room was a squat table. Chunks of tree logs were placed around it to serve as rudimentary chairs.
At one of them was sat Fuu. Once Seifer's crony, since his mysterious disappearance some time ago she had struck out on her own. At least, to the town that was what had happened. Down here, she returned to activities she'd been involved in before encountering Seifer.
Fuu glanced up as the young boy hurried in, looking curiously at him.
"JJ's back," he told her breathlessly. "I saw it happen with my own eyes. Up on Sunset Hill."
"Certain?" she asked shortly.
"No doubt at all," he answered.
She considered this for a moment, then said "Alert the old crowd, Little Lee."
Little Lee nodded, dashing out again.
It was much later. They had gathered at the site Little Lee reported to be the place where JJ had returned.
Rai stood watching over the route leading up to here for anyone who wasn't invited, keeping guard. Fuu meanwhile counted heads, then began to call out names.
"Dualshock Aaron?"
"Right here," he replied absently, rummaging through a box.
"Jack Board?"
"Surf's up!" Jack answered cheerily.
"Triple G?"
"Wotcher, Fuu," a neatly dressed guy replied with a toss of his hair.
"Quarter Tom?"
"Is in the shop," the answer came.
"Big Rue?"
"Right here."
"Speedfreak Sam?"
"That's Speeder Sam."
"King Kyra?"
"Off world in Radiant Garden," Little Lee answered. "Got hold of her, said she'd never make it back in time, so I gotta speak on her behalf."
"Sure you can do it?" Dualshock Aaron asked.
"She's my big sis, I know what she'd say," he shrugged.
"I'd feel better if she were here."
"You would," Big Rue rumbled. "Don't worry about it. Now what are we doing here, Fuu?"
"He's back," she replied shortly. "Right here."
"Sure it was him?"
Fuu pointed to Little Lee.
"Saw it with my own two eyes," he answered. "There's no way I could mistake anyone for the boss man. It was him alright."
"Where is he then?" Quarter Tom inquired.
"Right here," JJ's voice answered. His signature skateboard was held in one hand, giving dull thumps every time he set it down on the ground. He walked into the middle of their circle gathering, examining each of them in turn. "How long has it been here?" he asked.
"Fourteen years, JJ," Little Lee answered. "We been worried about ya."
"No need. There was no trouble. Perhaps bored out of my head, but the world I was in at least allowed me to become lost in the crowd. Have the updates reached you yet?"
"Network hasn't functioned since just after you left," Triple G replied.
"I told you how to fix it, Triple G."
"Yeah, I know. It didn't work."
"Inconvenient. Then allow me to bring you up to date. The Organization is finished. Some few members exist, but the original goal is gone. There is little cohesion between them."
"The World that Never Was?" Fuu asked him.
"Intact. Damaged, but intact. It will remain so for as long as I will it to. Fuu, I presume you already know the Collective is no more?"
"Naturally."
"She had me put word out almost as soon as it happened," Little Lee continued. "Said it was under attack from someone called Naminé."
"Naminé?" JJ mused. "Intriguing. Did she learn of your identity?" he asked.
"Severed," Fuu answered, shaking her head. JJ gave her a curious look.
"She means she severed her connection to the Collective when Naminé attacked so she couldn't be discovered," Little Lee explained.
"How convenient. Obviously, our allies are no more. The time has come for us to take action personally. I understand Sora has restored Artefact Arcology to its accustomed place." Faces turned away to the vast white tower in the distance and the Kingdom Hearts anchored just above it. "Then you are up to date on what I know. Now it is your turn... tell me all that has happened in my absence."