Yep, it's me again with yet another story. I guess by now I don't really have to tell you Kingdom Hearts isn't mine, but someone might forget about it.
Anyway. If you've read 'Nobodies Divided' you'll recognise a number of old faces from that story here, which is hardly surprising really since this takes place on the same world Roxas visited in that story. Except this time it's not Roxas coming to visit.
Also, there's a second story that'll show up from time to time within this story, exploring the details of a certain boy mentioned in Nobodies Divided who went by the name of Ven, and his relation to Ventus. More on that will be told within the story.
And now, read on!
Retracing the steps his Nobody had taken hadn't been an easy task to begin with, but Sora had persisted and with the aid of the King and his old friends in Donald and Goofy, the path taken had finally unveiled itself. There were still the odd gaps, some worlds that didn't need returning to, and naturally frequent trips to and from the World that Never Was, but Sora didn't mind – it gave him something to do for a change, rather than sit around waiting for another adventure to come along.
That being said, he privately conceded that there hadn't been all that much of interest so far. The occasionally dumb Heartless showing up, sometimes a little idea into what Roxas had done in a world, but nothing big.
Nothing big... yet.
The route they were following now took them to a world none of them had ever visited, far out of the way compared to most of the other worlds they'd been to. All they could tell was that Roxas had, for some reason, spent an entire week there – beyond that, none of them had any idea what to expect, the only people who could have told them no longer around. All except Roxas himself, who hadn't said a single word to Sora since he'd been awakened in Twilight Town, with the sole exception of their short battle at a station of awakening – and even that may not have happened.
Their target world started to grow larger in the distance he noted, casually observing that this region was devoid of life, Heartless, and generally anything. No wonder this world had been overlooked.
Sora glanced behind him at his dozing friends, envying them their rest. Someone had to fly the Gummi Ship though, and since they'd entrusted that task to him...
He let the ship continue on course, leaning forward to examine the world ahead of them as if it would give him a better view. It seemed to be a rarity among worlds, its influence not just limited to the world itself but a small region into the Lanes Between too, as proven by the twinkling lights over several small satellites, their purpose unknown.
Beneath them the world itself was clearly in a night-time period. What could be seen of the surface through the scant cloud cover was either the deep blue of a darkened ocean, or a glittering mass of lights that were mute evidence of a city, sprawling over vast regions. They were always distant from each other, what lay between masked by the night.
Sora nudged the ship to one side so he could see more of the world. The terminator between night and day came into view, revealing a bleak, mountainous landscape. Sandy yellows for immense deserts, scorched blacks and browns dotted about, even several large craters appeared. There seemed to be only tiny portions of greenery here, never anywhere close to the uninviting greys of another city.
Another ocean came into view on the daytime side of the world, presenting what he guessed must have been a city built on an entire island. How else would it be in the middle of the ocean? He continued to orbit the world, keeping just outside the influence it held around it so he wouldn't enter just yet, continuing to look over the world.
Eventually the oceans and ravaged landscapes gave way to a great green region of forests and fields. In amongst them were the occasional ruins of a city, partly green where nature had reclaimed the land and adapted to the high-rise buildings left behind. What had Roxas come here for?
"Hey guys," he called over his shoulder, still watching the landscape unfold below. "Wake up – we're here."
"About time," Donald grumbled. "Where is it, anyway?"
"Beats me," Sora shrugged. "Doesn't look inviting though. Massive cities, ruined landscapes, nature in the remains of old cities... and a few things above the world."
"Above the world?" Goofy asked curiously. "Like what?"
"Like that there," Sora said, pointing to one nearby satellite. "I've kept us just out of the influence of the world so far so they don't notice us, whatever they're for."
"What about that?" Donald exclaimed, pointing ahead. "What's that meant to be?"
What appeared to be a massive space station was not only above the world, but seemed to have fire belching out of certain ports over it as if to provide thrust. Whole sections of it had somehow been turned a partly transparent cyan colour, showing parts of the inside to be inhabited – not by people floating around either, it was as if the station had its own gravity
"Whatever it is, it's massive," Sora answered. "It's even crossing the world border into the Lanes!"
"Is that even possible? And can they see us?"
"Maybe it's just like that 'cause it'd look weird if we only saw part of it," Goofy suggested. "It's really all in that world, but because it's so big it just looks like-" he broke off as a voice emanated from the console in front of them.
"This is Commander Tamayana of the Crystal Palace orbital space station," it boomed. "You have one minute to identify yourselves and your affiliations before we open fire."
"Charming reception," Sora muttered. "I think that means they can see us."
"Better let them know who we are," Goofy said, but Sora shook his head.
"Mickey said not to get involved if we could avoid it. We'll just turn around and head around the other side of the world. That thing is huge, it won't be able to keep up with us. Sooner or later we'll find a safe place."
The station's thrusters didn't falter, continuing to take it on the course around the world away from them. The station's inhabitants had other ideas though. As Sora turned the ship around, he saw part of the station's side open to allow numerous small craft to exit.
"They're heading right for us!" Donald warned.
"Leave them be," Sora insisted. "If we don't attack them, maybe they'll leave us-" now he broke off as the ship shook.
"Alone?" Donald suggested. "Can we fight back before they blow us out of the air?"
"So much for not getting involved," Sora muttered as the sound of weapons fire being exchanged reached him. He concentrated on piloting the ship without running into the satellites or their attackers, letting Donald and Goofy worry about returning fire.
"They're too fast for us," Goofy exclaimed. "They're evading anything we've got!"
"We're taking too much damage, Sora," Donald added. "We've gotta get somewhere safe."
"Like where?" Sora asked. "They're running circles around us!"
"Then we'll have to land!"
"Down there? Are you crazy?"
"Better than getting shot up while up here," the little duck retorted.
Sora muttered a few half-formed oaths under his breath then angled the Gummi Ship sharply downwards. They were still above the desert region now, but he could see a coastal metropolis in the distance.
Fire seemed to flare around the ship as they descended at speed, rapidly heating up the insides. Donald tried to keep them cool with a round of blizzard magic, only having marginal success before he gave up.
"Hold on," Sora warned. The ship was still shaking almost as if tumbling down a rocky hill as he fought to keep control.
"They've broken off pursuit," Goofy told him, having to yell to be heard of the noise.
"We came in too fast," Sora replied, "I can't pull it back up enough!"
"You mean we're going to crash again?" Donald demanded. Sora didn't reply, focusing his attention.
They were thrown from their various seats when the ship impacted a peak along the way, then jolted around again as it felt like it was bouncing. A roar of noise accompanied more violent shaking of the ship, leaving no opportunity to retake the controls, then it stopped abruptly, throwing all three of them to the front of the ship hard enough to leave them all unconscious.
Four short figures stood on the roof of an old abandoned shop, watching the streaking comet come in low. They were an oddly assorted group, three of them looking similar in a jacket, shirt and camo-printed pants. One all in white, one in red, and one with a grey jacket, red shirt and green pants. Each of them had a lion's head on the front of their shirts.
Just in front of them, the fourth figure also wearing white but without any marks on him, looked thoughtful.
"You're sure about this?" the young boy who had different colours asked the thoughtful boy.
"Someone has to do something, Tommy," he replied. "The zombies will be all over them within minutes of it stopping."
"There's only three of us, boss," the one in white murmured to Tommy. "We won't be able to take many."
"Whisper's right," the boy in red agreed. "We'd barely have enough time to grab one person from it, even two would be pushing it."
"I don't want you to take more than one, Sparky," The unidentified boy told him. "There'll be three of them," he went on. "Take the human boy somewhere safe, don't worry about the others. Give him two days, then bring him to me. Don't be late though, because I'll be out of town after then."
"When will you be getting back?" Tommy asked.
"About a week later. Assault will be here though, if you really need me he'll know how to reach me. Good luck, Tommy – this won't be as easy as the time Roxas was with you."
"I thought we agreed not to talk about that, Oracle," Tommy said in a pained voice.
"The boy you'll be taking with you is... related to him. Keep watch now," The Oracle said. "As soon as that ship of theirs stops, get on the scene and get him out of there."
"You're not staying?" Whisper asked the Oracle as he turned to leave.
"I've stayed in one place too long already," he answered. "Much as I'd love for them to actually try harder to get me, I'd just as rather they didn't catch me in the open. See you all in two days," he added, then left.
Tommy didn't watch him leave, his eyes on the ship the Oracle had pointed out to him. It collided with the remains of an old building on the way in, crashed into the ground and continued into the city, ripping up the ground beneath it as it's momentum carried it far into the city.
"Strange looking craft," Sparky observed, looking over the yellow and red blocks that made it up, hands twitching.
"Keep your mind on the objective," Tommy warned him. "I'm sure you'd love to find out what makes it tick, but not right now."
"The Oracle made a good guess on where to leave us," Whisper told them. "My guess is it'll stop on the intersection just outside this old shop."
"Bet?" Tommy asked with a faint grin.
"Not with you," Whisper replied.
The odd ship was slowing down as it continued in, starting to lean forward as friction overtook momentum until it stopped entirely, the front jerking forward a ways before it tilted back again.
"Told you so," Whisper said smugly. "I count three bodies inside that clear dome. One human. The others..." he trailed off.
"Never mind them," Tommy told him. "Lets move quickly and get the boy out of here before the zombies start to swarm. I'll keep watch, you two grab him."
It took the trio only moments to make their way into the shop and out onto the streets, quickly scaling the ship's sides to the dome Whisper had spotted. It had shifted partially open on impact, allowing him and Sparky to give it a good shove to open a large enough gap to get in.
"Don't forget what the boss said," Whisper whispered to Sparky. "Stop getting distracted and give me a hand with him," he pointed to the spiky haired boy wearing black and blue.
"Wonder where his friends are from?" Sparky whispered back, climbing out to haul the boy from under his shoulders.
"As Roxas woulda said, dunno, don't care. Hold him there while I get out of this contraption so I can help you."
"Hurry up!" Tommy hissed insistently. "We've only got minutes to spare here!"
The two of them hauled the boy out at last, then Whisper lifted him by his feet while Sparky took the shoulders, hurrying after Tommy.
"We'll need a safehouse nearby," Whisper told Tommy when they caught up at another intersection.
"And we'll have to get off this street or we'll be noticed."
"The Tea Shack is still nearby," Tommy said. "They should have broken off their watch on it by now, we'll chance that."