DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kingdom Hearts in any way shape or form.
Chapter 1
Commence Training
Eleven Years and Two Months Later…
(Twelve Years after Twisted Souls)
The night suits me well, thought the black robed figure standing in the hollow and barren reaches of the Vanishing Planet. He had the hood covering his face. His robe was made of a light material and a light weave comparative to what the former Organization XIII had worn, and ironically, what the last man who had made on this planet had worn. It was more like a simple cloak anyway, used merely to cover his distinctive feature. Underneath, he still wore all black clothing, with decently baggy pants and a tunic that showed, only slightly, his toned muscles. He thought black was the best, like his deeds, like his name, with nothing but twisted souls for comfort with him for the most part.
The man, usually patient, was beginning to become quite nervous that the man who he had been waiting here to meet had yet to show himself. It wasn't like his informants to be late. He scowled underneath his hood and leaned against an old stone monolith, one of the only distinctive features of the landscape on the Vanishing Planet. Still, he had to be merited on his decision of a base. This place was practically a place of endless pain for Riku, the head of that blasted Order of the Crown. He had watched his best friend die here thirteen years ago, that was why he would never stand where he was standing; why Riku would never set foot on this planet or dare to even look for him here.
It was easy for the man to make a base here after he had been spurned by the Order and after he had gained power unlike any other. Zexion's base was easy to modify to his own specifications and make a fortress that was nigh impenetrable. He chuckled to himself as he thought of that place's previous inhabitant. Why had the Organization worn those silly cloaks to protect themselves from the darkness? The darkness couldn't harm them any more than the light could. They were weak. That was the only conclusion that the man could come to. Of course, in these days, there was no need to fear the darkness…well, not yet in any case. But if his own plan succeeded, there would be a need to fear the darkness indeed.
But first, the planning and positioning needed to be finished. After all, the darkness was all but vanquished, dwelling only in the smallest amounts of those who had aligned themselves with evil. People like…Maleficent. Yes, the witch had been missing for eleven years. When he had first been rejected, he had sought the old sorceress, but clearly her power was broken and she could be of absolutely no use to him anymore. The Heartless and Nobodies were gone, and with them, Maleficent's former strength. To believe that the witch who had once had the power of Kingdom Hearts nearly in her grasp, who had incinerated the world of Agradar, and who had killed off Edge, Edge of all people who was the strongest in the Order next to himself, would now be reduced to just a stooping old hag, hiding somewhere with Pete. They were cowards. He, however, was not.
That was the reason he sought the power of the Unbirths. They were power that barely any who lived in this generation had ever seen. He knew very little about them when he had started out, what was it, ten years ago. He barely knew they existed, having never fought any of them himself. But during his searches for Maleficent, during his encounters with them, what had started out as a struggle slowly turned into a sick admiration for the creatures that bred through death, by sucking on the souls of those who had died. And he could give them just that. He could let them revel in it. He sought that power for years and at last…two years ago, he acquired it as he sank further into the realm close to darkness but not exactly there as it did not exist. And thus everything began.
The night was deepening and the man scowled. It was getting closer to dawn and still his informant had not come. He didn't like this. If the person he was looking for was not here by dawn he could only fear that the worst had happened and he was exposed. And with the sky reaching its darkest moment he knew that nigh would soon begin to arch its way towards dawn. There was a soft padding of footsteps behind him and the monument. Fleeting…but still there. The man smirked and whipped around summoning his Keyblade into his hand in an instant. There was the resounding clash of metal on metal for a moment before the two Keyblades that had connected drew off of each other. The man chanced a brief look at his Keyblade, Nightwatch, a pale blue and black color but whose features were indiscernible even in the moonlight save for the Keychain hanging from it in the shape of a moon. He looked to the younger man across from him.
Much younger…but that's what I need right now: youth. He found himself thinking. He took a glance at the other man's, no boy's Keyblade. It was green and showed up clearly in the moonlight. It's blade on the end was a rather large leaf that was attached to what looked like a wooden stick that spread downward to a hand guard made of wood. The handle of the Keyblade itself was made of bamboo and was the strongest there could be. The man snorted as he saw the blade. Nature's Wrath. That was the name of a Keyblade…last he remembered, unless it had since changed
"You're late." the man grumbled out, obviously displeased. The boy across from him shrugged, his face still hidden in the shadows of the moonlight.
"It's hard for me to get Riku to loosen the leash lately!" the boy grumbled out in a rather deep voice. "He's becoming more paranoid by the minute, I swear." There was a deep sighing noise from the boy and the man in black chuckled.
"He has every right to be after all." the man countered, glad to hear of the turmoil still engulfing the Order. Even under Riku's rule, it was still a dying breed…always had been, always would be. And he was going to prove it. "I trust that everything is in place?"
"It took a little finagling within the generals and the taskmasters but we got it sorted. Two loyal Keyblade wielders on the worlds of Agrabah, Wonderland, Enchanted Dominion, Beast's Castle, Castle of Dreams, and Fabled Countryside. All of them await your orders there, sir, down to the last rank and file." the boy answered proudly, clearly consumed with happiness that he had completed the task handed down to him. The black robed man let out a small chuckle.
"That's a new one isn't it?" The younger boy cocked his head at the man in confusion. "I've never really led before. Oh, I've come close, certainly…but never led. This will be an interesting show to put on."
"But, sir, why did you not order to place a pair on Radiant Garden? I mean, even if the Keyblade Master resides there, we could still take the princess." the boy said. He then picked up a tone of amusement. "I mean…she is just an amateur Keyblade wielder."
"Oh ho, you think so? Clearly you need to break the impression that women are weak. Face my sister in battle and we'll see how you fare." the man said in a snicker before he quickly waved the matter aside. "But no, I'd rather just have those six worlds occupied, thank you. Why massacre yourselves going after seven when we can capture the six and bring them to the seventh. That's even easier, and more skillful. None of them will see it coming, you understand?"
"I understand sir, but, I must ask why we don't launch an attack now?! With the Unbirths the worlds will easily crumble within a day!" the boy protested and he instantly perceived that the man, despite being hidden in the shadows of the moonlight, adopted a severe look of displeasure.
"Without the powers of Kingdom Hearts at my disposal…everything we have worked for will be useless!" the man snapped. "And besides…recent events must be examined. I felt a breach in the wall between light and darkness."
"The Realm of Nothingness?" the boy asked, his brown hair extending into the moonlight slightly. "I'm afraid I don't understand. Nothing escapes that realm, even with coexistence and co-assistance." The man shrugged his shoulders a bit.
"Does it really matter? All of you are to do your jobs as commanded." the man snapped authoritatively. "I will examine these two disturbances that I've sensed in the wall and see if we can perhaps use them to our advantage. One of darkness…and one of light. Perhaps both of them may help us in some way to bring back the darkness." He then rounded on the boy and glared at him, his deep black eyes dissolving into the night. "In the meantime…you will wait for my command. You know the plan. Stick to it! We have no time for mess-ups. I'll contact our forces when I have more information."
"But sir, what of the Order?" the boy asked and the man smirked, giving a rather evil chuckle.
"They will be dealt with in due time…but not right now. I'll send them a warning shot tomorrow, but relax. For now…be content with this: the Keyblade wielders are obsolete. Their stains will soon be washed away from the worlds. They have no place in my universe." the man answered. The boy bowed to him and a portal of light opened up behind the boy, and yet in this dampened place, it revealed nothing. And soon the boy was gone. The man summoned Nightwatch back to his hand and opened up his fortress below. He began to stride in.
It would soon be the end of the worlds as they all knew it.
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The nineteen year old, silver-haired boy crouched low. He was waiting on edge for the signal to come, the signal to start the operation. It went off like a flare in his head despite the fact it was just the simple command of Commence that was fed into the earpiece placed into his ear. He smirked and ran forward. In a flash of light, he summoned his Keyblade to his hand, the Keyblade he had received five years ago. He ran forward, dashing through the Sunset Terrace of Twilight Town. He kept his eyes and his ears pealed for any sign of danger, or of the Unbirths. He was also keen to remain undetected by the citizens and pedestrians in the streets.
This would be so much easier if I could just cut through the Underground Concourse and cut out to Station Plaza…then I wouldn't have to hop a ride on a freaking train speeding towards Central Station, the boy thought to himself and he scowled. He hated these assignments. It was almost as if they wanted them to take the long way around. The boy almost paid for his momentary lapse of attention when an Unbirth hurtled out of nowhere, it's armor clanking viciously. The Unbirth leapt on top of him. The boy whipped his Keyblade around to the back of the creature and struck it in the back.
This gave him some small amount of time to make sure that the creature was at last able to get off of him. He quickly used his hands to flip himself up before backing up with yet another flip. He held his Keyblade again as the Unbirth flew at him. The boy smiled and did a little dance with the Unbirth before moving in quickly for the kill. Too easy…
"Five minutes until departure from Sunset Station." said a cool female voice over the intercom from Sunset Station.
"Damn!" the boy cursed and he knew there was no time. He started running quickly. The rooftops would have been faster, but this was stealth mission which required the utmost secrecy. Running on the roofs would attract far too much attention and would no doubt cause him to fail the mission. The boy quickly leapt up to the steps near Sunset Station and he instantly remembered one sentence These steps count differently going up and down… The boy snorted in denial. He remembered his master telling him those words from what he had seen in a simulation of this same town. He would have loved to count these steps on his own but he knew that there was very little time left. He at last reached the top step when the train began to move. Oh well, he didn't need to catch the train anyway…well, at least, not in the way most normal people caught the train. The train began to pull out of the station and the boy, making sure no one was looking, jumped up quickly. He grabbed the edge of the ledge and flipped himself up on top of the awning over the station. He ran to the edge and saw the train pulling ahead.
All right, let's see just how good I am, the boy thought cockily. He dismissed his Keyblade for a moment and shook out his limbs. He backed up on the awning quietly and then ran forward at full speed. He leapt off the edge of the awning and towards the train that was speeding away towards Sunset Station. He was going to be just short of missing the train. He flailed his arms wildly and managed to catch onto the back of the train with one hand. Well, that didn't go nearly as well as I thought it would. He hopped up onto the train and summoned his Keyblade. He chuckled to himself. It was ironic that he was using this particular Keyblade in this particular world.
Pale Twilight. That was the name of his Keyblade. The wonderful and pristine white and black marble surface with the symbol of the old Round of the Crown being its Keychain. The blade itself was that of a crown. The boy had only heard once from his master the story of the Keyblade's previous owner: Gentai Tanaka. The boy who was known as the Key of the Future in his time. Some title that turned out to be since he nearly condemned the worlds by blowing about five or six of them to kingdom come. Yeah, so what if he destroyed the Heartless and the Nobodies for good…it didn't really matter did it? The Keyblade chose him as its new master…and that was the way it was going to stay.
Suddenly a flock of flying Unbirths came flying around them. Great, the bird brigade is here…the boy savagely thought. They quickly came at him and he whipped Pale Twilight around, swiping through them. Some of them, many of them, actually, evaded the blow. The boy decided to take a new and slightly different approach to the situation.
"The birdies want to play? All right, just CHILL!" He let ice fly from the tip of his Keyblade and freeze the birds before they could escape. He saluted them all as the chunks of ice fell to the railroad tracks and scattered into a million pieces. Piece of cake. The boy's eyes narrowed and zeroed in on the building that the train was fast approaching. He needed to get off the train soon and get out to Station Plaza before anyone saw him. The doors to Central Station opened before him and as the train started slowing down and pulling in, the boy lowered himself so as to not be hit by the wall. He suddenly sprang out of his crouch and landed with a roll onto the tiles floors of Central Station.
Without another look at the station he dashed towards the exit. He went to push the doors open but found them…locked? Doors like this were never locked. Unless…it didn't matter. The boy held Pale Twilight in front of him and unlocked the door easily. He dashed out quickly. Hopefully no one saw him. At last he once more reached the sunset bathed streets of Twilight Town only to see a number of those generic Unbirths swarming around him with the "Giant" Unbirths as he liked to refer to them scattered in the crowd.
"Ooh…so this is it huh? Let's play." the boy said with a smirk and the Unbirths leapt at him. He quickly ducked down and kicked at them, his Keyblade sweeping along with his leg. They cut through the Unbirths. They were pieces of cake now…and if they were easy it almost made the boy want to fight these Heartless or Nobodies to see if he could fight off a thousand of them without getting hurt or tired. He brought his sweeping leg up and spun his Keyblade around his body in a large twirling fashion, cutting away those few Unbirths foolish enough to try and jump at him. One of the Giants approached him. He angled his Keyblade before him and spat out some fire to eliminate the Unbirths there before jumping back and tossing Pale Twilight at the Unbirth. It managed to connect and the Unbirth disappeared. But then the boy suddenly felt his legs and arms constrict as he was suddenly held against his will. He cocked his head behind him and saw that he was being held by another Giant. "Ugh…not again…Riku's gonna kill me."
Suddenly his hands were free and he dropped to the ground. He spun around to his back and saw Riku standing there, Way to Dawn extended and impaling the Giant Unbirth. He had a stern look on his face that nevertheless showed his disappointment. Riku was still wearing his yellow jacket and purple shirt underneath along with his purple pants and his hair was still yet longer than it had been before…but only by a little. And he wasn't happy…at all.
"Hey…Master Riku!" the boy said sheepishly and Riku's eyes narrowed towards him. He withdrew his Keyblade from the Unbirth and it disappeared. He took a small remote out of his pocket and clicked it. Suddenly the room digitized away and the other Unbirths along with it. He extended a hand to the boy and he took it. The boy quickly summoned his Keyblade back to his hand to make sure that he still had it, and he did.
"Sikaru Giraffi." Riku said in his usual tone he had when dealing with his young apprentice. Not that he was Riku's first apprentice, Sikaru knew that. There had been Juthias before him for a few years. "Sikaru, I had to save your butt in the training simulation again! You know what I've told you."
"Always say please and thank you." Sikaru offered with a smile that indicated a joke. Riku didn't bit at the bait and he didn't laugh.
"You know, sometimes I think you don't listen to a single word I say. I am never gonna promote you to lieutenant or anything if you don't shape up. I mean, I never had any of these kinds of problems with Juthias." Riku said, shaking his head as he dismissed his Keyblade from his hand. Sikaru just groaned and began to move out of the gray holo-room where all the trainees had practice.
"Not another story about the oh, so great Juthias! No stories about him, Gentai, or Sora, master, please?" Sikaru said in absolute exasperation. Riku looked at him sternly.
"Get back here and face me like the man you claim to be." Sikaru froze at those words. There was Riku, poking fun at him for saying he was a man at the age of nineteen. Riku didn't believe it…no one did. He turned around and faced his master with a look of defiance. He liked Riku, he really did…he just took things a little too hard to heart lately. "Now say it. What have I always told you?"
"Never let your pride get the better of you." Sikaru stated in a rather dull voice. "I know…but, come on, I'm lightyears ahead of the other five year trainees here!"
"First thing, no you're not. Second thing, there's no such thing as light years. We travel at warp speed in our Gummi Ships, not light speed." Riku said with a smile on his own face now. Sikaru groaned at his master's jokes. He didn't mind them really…he was just hungry and itching for action. "Third, let's go have lunch and we can talk about this when we're there."
"Finally! Something you've said that actually makes sense!" Sikaru cried and he punched the button to exit the simulation chamber. They entered into the white and blue decorated halls of Crown Fortress that had become Sikaru's home for the past five years. Riku exited behind him and Sikaru began to lead his master to the cafeteria. After five minutes of traversing the complex and labyrinthine hallways of Crown Fortress they were at last at the cafeteria. Sikaru ordered the "special of the day" meal which turned out to be a simple bonzabeast stew with Sea Salt Ice Cream for dessert. Naturally. Riku just got his usual of Destiny Island Burger so he had at least something to remind him of his old home. The two found a place to sit that was slightly far away from the main crowd. Riku allowed him to eat for a moment before he started speaking.
"Sikaru…look. You're my best apprentice, and you know that. It's just, I think you let that go to your head." Riku said, gesturing with his hands while his mouth was filled with burger. He knew Kairi would have chastised him for it…but Kairi was still at Radiant Garden with Sora. The thought made his turn away from Sikaru for a moment as he though about how he hadn't seen his godson in two years…since the war had technically started.
"But, Master Riku," Sikaru stated with a simpering look on his face. "You've always said that our feelings give us strength and so we should use them." Riku looked at his apprentice's face and laughed.
"Not arrogance. The last time I saw somebody use arrogance…, well, let's just say it didn't turn out very well for them." Riku told him simply. In reality his thought had been: he got possessed by Xehanort's Heartless and nearly lost all his friends. But he was only going to pull that out if Sikaru was really straying far.
"All right…" Sikaru caved in with depressed tone, no longer keeping up the funny guy facade. "I'm sorry for all my arrogance, Master Riku."
"Look, I don't mind the arrogance that much….but seriously, you'll let it consume your heart if you carry on." Riku said and he sat back a little, taking another bite of his burger. "Your arrogance is making you even lazier than Sora. I just hope that when you're promoted, whatever partner you're with doesn't have to do all the work that I did."
"Now Master Riku, why would you ever think that?!" Sikaru said with sarcasm and Riku laughed. Sikaru dipped his spoon into his stew and took a sip. Then an alarm blurted out over the intercom and the voice of one of the taskmasters spoke out.
"FLEET OF UNBIRTH SHIPS APPROACHING CROWN FORTRESS ORBIT IN BETA SECTOR. ALL GUMMI SHIP PILOTS AND PERSONNEL TO SPACE BAY!!!" the voice said over the intercom and many of the Keyblade wielders who were eating lunch looked at the intercom. But only ten select Keyblade wielders themselves, stood up to leave, Riku and Sikaru were two of them.
"I think it's safe to say this conversation is over for now. But you fail in training like that again and I won't you recommend you for field work on our next assignment." Riku said sternly and Sikaru just waved it off. Riku would have driven the point in further but he knew that Crown Fortress needed protecting. As they ran down the hallways in order to reach space bay, Riku had thoughts filling his head. For the most part, he just didn't want Sikaru turning out like he had, what was it now? Oh yeah, twenty years ago…He didn't want Sikaru consumed by his arrogance and possible jealousy at not having advanced to lieutenant. After a few minutes, the duo had at last reached space bay. About sixty pilots were preparing for flight. This was pretty insignificant comparative to the size of nearly six hundred that the Order had reached in the past eleven years.
Of course, they always knew it would build. Maleficent, the sole threat to the entire universe at the time (other than Gentai of course), had been vanquished, her power broken. So, more and more of those who wielded the Keyblade, those who had survived the old Round massacre and hid, and those who were new but didn't know what to do, slowly came out of hiding and joined the Order. At first it almost made Riku angry that there were so many that had never helped but he soon realized why…not all of them could fight instantly. That was why they had to train people. Riku quickly strode up to Franz Piretti, one of the space bay attendants.
"Sir!" Franz saluted and Riku returned the salute, even though he wasn't very fond of formalities himself. Franz had a fairly wiry build but he made up for what he lacked in strength with the dexterity in his hands, making him the Orders very own Chip and Dale. Riku quickly asked for a report on the situation. "We have a fleet of about two hundred Unbirth Ship gathering in Beta Quadrant. I don't know what they're doing there but…what can you do?" Riku nodded, accepting this information.
"All right, I'll lead a unit. Send out Falcon Unit and Paopu Unit out in front of me. The other two will fall behind my unit." Riku commanded and Franz nodded. Riku began to walk away but Franz quickly called him back.
"Should I send for more pilots?" Franz asked, slightly concerned that it was merely sixty up against two hundred.
"Oh…I think we can handle 'em. It's just a skirmish really." Riku said with a smile. He patted Franz on the back. That guy was always fidgety and nervous…I guess if you spent most of your time in the most open space in the fortress you would be a little on edge. Riku quickly climbed over to his Falcon model Gummi Ship appropriately named the H.R.M.S. Dawn. He quickly strapped into the cockpit and started firing the engines. He attached the earpiece to his ear and adjusted frequencies so that he could hear the other units and their communications. "Franz, do you read me?"
"Loud and clear, sir." Came Franz's slightly warbled voice over the earpiece due to the sound distortion, always due to his ship's proximity. "Ships are approaching quickly now and there are many and more for the taking."
"Good, it'll give us something to talk about later." Riku said with a smirk and he opened the channel to all the ships. "All units report in with status."
"Falcon Unit reporting in, sir." Came a male voice over the intercom.
"Paopu Unit reporting in, sir." Came a female voice as well. "Front units moving forward."
"All right, save some for the rest of us though." He waited for a moment as both Falcon and Paopu units moved off into space to engage the approaching ships. "This Dawn Unit, Light and Crown Units report in." Both of the units did, saying they were good to go. Riku fired his thrusters and the ship hovered above the ground. "All right, Light and Crown, cover us with rear fire. Let's go have some fun."
"Oh yeah!" Riku heard Sikaru's voice come from over the intercom. When it came to battles, Sikaru was far too excited some time. With a slight lean on the thrusters, the remaining three units blasted out of the portal. It wasn't long before they saw both Falcon Unit and Paopu Unit engaging the fleet ahead.
"All right, Light Unit, circle off around and go behind the fleet. Make sure they don't see you or this could be a very short offensive." Riku said with a grimace and heard a sort of acknowledgement. He then saw the unit detach from them and fly off to their new position. "Ready your ammunition, guys…" He himself brought the Thundaga-G to full power and even put the Comet-G on standby in case he would need it. "Fire at will." He squeezed on the trigger and fired into the oncoming thicket of Unbirth ships. The smaller ones began to explode instantly upon impact. The bigger ones were, however, much more formidable.
One of them let off a cannon shot and Riku ordered his unit to quickly break off their attack and break ranks. For the most part, everyone was quick enough but one of the ships in his unit caught the edge of the blast and it ignited one of the engines. He started spiraling out of control. Riku knew they couldn't lose any real pilots so he ordered another ship to be a convoy and bring the spiraling one back to base. Great, he thought, now we're down to 58. He quickly barrel rolled back into position. He ordered his men to load fire onto the larger cruiser coming at them and Dawn Unit and Crown Unit opened an intense amount of fire. After moments the ship was broken into pieces. He ordered the ships to pull out and asked for all the unit's statuses. Both Falcon and Paopu had lost one apiece but Light had lost none and the same was with Crown. Riku himself reported that Dawn had lost two, but not to any injury.
That was when the bigger cruisers began moving in, roughly two or three unless Riku's eyes were playing tricks on him. It looked like this was going to be harder than he thought. More ships detached from the larger ships and flew at them. Riku quickly ordered all of the units to separate and open fire at will upon the incoming ships. Riku swerved the ship around and his unit followed him. He saw a stream of laser barrages come in from behind him and he opened fire as well. He smirked. Guess it's time to take a leaf out of Sora's book. He quickly flicked the fire on full-auto rather than semi-automatic and held down the trigger.
"Fire lasers, guys." Riku ordered and he saw the nine Comet-Gs fire off behind him and into the crowd. Riku fired his off and the Unbirth ships in front of them were destroyed. "All right, let's take down the first of those cruisers. Light Unit, Falcon Unit do you read me? Concentrate your fire on the other two cruisers. We bring them down, they go down. Do you copy?"
"Falcon Unit copies, Dawn Leader. Engaging combat with cruiser 2." The leader of Falcon Unit said and his squad reformed and went to attack the second cruiser. However, Riku had yet to get a response from Light Unit.
"Light Unit, do you copy?" Riku said, a small bit of impatience as well as worry in his voice. At last he heard garbled static over the communications wave.
"Sir, our unit just got thrashed pretty bad by Cruiser 3. We're down to five men." Riku cursed silently in his head and shook it.
"All right, head back to the fortress, Crown Unit, take care of Cruiser 3." He received an acknowledgement.
"I'll help them out, and get them back to base, master." Sikaru said over the intercom and Riku scowled. Sikaru was being impetuous as always.
"Don't you dare! They tried doing their job, and we need to do ours." Riku commanded over. "I need you to take down that cruiser, they can get back to base on their own."
"Too late for that, they need help, and I'm going." Sikaru said and Riku knew it was hopeless to try and get him back.
"Sikaru! In the name of-" Riku groaned loudly in the intercom and soon after he addressed his unit. "Dawn Unit, engage combat; take it down. I have to go take care of a certain troublemaker." Riku wheeled his ship around. He knew that his unit could handle it; they had never failed him once. He made a beeline for the din of battle where he saw Sikaru engaging the ships that were antagonizing Light Unit. Sikaru himself wasn't faring too well either. "Sikaru, you give me more of a headache than Sora does…" he sighed out and opened fire onto the ships that were hemming in around Sikaru.
"Crap!" Sikaru's voice screamed over the intercom. "My wing just got hit, I'm losing mobility." Riku shook his head again and fired at the remaining cluster of Unbirth ships.
"Sikaru, this is why you should listen to me." The Unbirth ships disappeared at his last words as his laser fire connected. "Light Unit you're free to proceed to base. Sikaru, rejoin Dawn Unit. That's an order."
"Yes master…" came Sikaru's dull voice over the intercom and Riku once more scowled. Then three more communications came through the intercom in quick succession. The three cruisers had at last fallen and the fleet, which had now been crippled to the size of ten was in full retreat.
"Paopu Unit, clean up the mess that's left and then all Units return to base." Riku said cheerily and there was some whooping over the intercom. Riku quickly piloted back down to Crown Fortress and landed in the space bay. Riku made sure that Paopu Unit had destroyed the fleeing ships before switching the intercom off and taking out his earpiece. He opened the cockpit of his ship and stepped out. He saw Sikaru getting out of his ship and he quickly strode over to him. "Sikaru, never disobey my orders again!"
"I was just trying to help!" Sikaru said with a scowl and Riku glared at him.
"Making yourself an open target for people who can do their job without your help is not defined as 'help'. If you want to be a martyr, go talk to Sora. He'd be able to at least teach you the difference between selflessness and sheer stupidity." Riku raged at his apprentice and Sikaru just stared back at him with a glare. "Disobey my orders again and I swear, I will NOT recommend you to be promoted and furthermore-" Riku cut himself off there. He was letting his anger grow…something he didn't want. He sighed and regained his composure.
"Yes, Master Riku?" Sikaru said with an expectant look. Riku waved his hand through the air.
"Never mind…just…go." Sikaru nodded his head at his master and left with the other pilots leaving the room. Riku sighed again as Franz came hurrying up to him.
"Most splendid, sir." Franz said with a smile. "I'd say you just about rival Master Sora as a pilot." Riku chuckled at that thought.
"Somehow I doubt that. You'd think I could be better than him at something but no…he just had to show me up by landing a near exploding ship under heavy enemy fire on another moving ship." Riku said, thinking to himself about the time twelve years ago when they had landed on the R.L.S. Legacy. Well, not that it existed anymore after the crash-land into Disney Castle.
"Well, your piloting skills are still remarkable." Franz said with a smile and a nod of his head. Riku smiled back and gave another chuckle.
"All right, enough with the low flattery Franz. I'm tired so…" Riku said but Franz raised his eyebrows and Riku instantly knew there was more that the technician had to say.
"The generals are calling for a meeting sir. I just got the report as you came back in." Franz said and Riku hit himself on the head.
"Never give me a moment's peace do they. No doubt they want to hear how the battle went." Riku sighed again. "I lead a battle and they don't even give me five minutes to rest before calling another meeting."
"Well, maybe you should stop going in to so many space battles. I'm sure there are many more pilots out there who would love to helm Dawn Unit." Franz said with a chuckle because he knew it would not only jab at Riku but also jab at his pride. Riku laughed sourly.
"And maybe you should clean up space bay, Franz." Riku said with a laugh and Franz quickly saluted at him. Riku lazily returned the salute and began to walk away. "Nine casualties, right Franz?" Franz sounded out an agreement and Riku walked through the door and into the hallway. He knew he had to get to the main hallway so he approached the wall, knowing it would open and pushed through it, emerging onto a hidden staircase. He started going down the staircase. There were passages like these all over Crown Fortress that would lead them to the main hallway. It would be highly useful in an invasion, but Riku promised himself that it would never come to that. He made sure no one was in the hallway beyond, despite being the main hallway, and he exited. He then turned and walked to the very end of the hallway to the large double doors that lead into the General's Round. He strode through the doors.
"What could be so important that I can't even finish my lunch you guys?" Riku said sarcastically as he entered the hall. His throne lowered before him and he sat down in it. It them quickly rose to bring him above the other generals, but only by a little. None of the other nine generals said a word. "Generals of the Order of the Crown, present your Keyblades and form the Crown for your right to be heard." There was a large flash of light as all then generals, including Riku himself, summoned their Keyblades. He looked around quickly at all of the generals to make sure that they Keyblades were in accordance.
To his left was Cristophe, replacement to Matthias who had died in the war. He wielded a Keyblade known as the Hellbiter. Not a name Riku fancied but for the flaming depiction of the Keyblade it certainly worked. Cothius had been against his appointment, but Riku knew that the twenty seven year old man was loyal to him and all of his goals. Then there was Lucas, who was, perhaps, not as loyal but was strong willed and had led several very successful campaigns against the Unbirths, wielding his Keyblade of Greased Lightning…which was appropriate enough as he moved super fast nowadays and his Keyblade depicted that of lightning. Then there was Melissa "Ruby" Ardintous who was often called by the family name of Ruby, though Riku refused to call her that. She had joined the generals about a year before but Riku had known she was skilled, especially since she used the powerful Keyblade of Rising Sun; the Keyblade having the Keychain of a sun with a seeming African sun as its hand guard but with a hole in the middle for its handle, it was red, white, and orange and the blade itself was a half sun with the solidified, flaming heat waves as it's teeth.
Next, Riku moved onto Miriam who, after fighting the war, had slowly (but most certainly) given her allegiance and loyalty to Riku. She herself wielded a Keyblade shaped like the samurai blades of old, and sure enough, it was named Muramasa. Cothius sat directly across from Riku, almost in a counter position, which was interesting enough since he was always opposing Riku in the first place. Even his Keyblades name was a practical opposition: Eclipsing Dusk. Seated next to him was Elizabeth who wielded the blue and icy blade of Diamond Dust, one of the few Keyblades that Sora had picked up on his travels. It certainly reflected her demeanor as well for she was icy and treated the entire group of generals with indifference. She had fought in the war, but was, by no means, fond of it.
Seated next to her in the circle was Donato who wielded the interesting Earthen Hammer Keyblade whose blade was shaped like a hammer with only a sharp edge and a hand guard to tell the two apart. Donato had unconditional loyalty. Next was Marcus, another loyalist to the Order who wielded Shining Day which was a fit comparison against Melissa who he was romantically involved with. The two were roughly the same age of twenty eight which made Marcus the official youngest member to first join the generals when he was only sixteen. And at Riku's right hand, and biggest advocate, wielding the destructive power of the Caladbolg, was Antonio who gave all allegiance to Riku and his aims.
The other nine generals lifted their Keyblades and beams of light shot from them, forming the borders of the crown that Riku had seen Sora wear for so many years. Riku then raised his own Way to Dawn and the crown lit up. The meeting of the generals was now in session.
"I'm sure you all want to know how the battle went." Riku said calmly. "It went well on the whole, Light Unit was crippled however and we lost a few others…but we destroyed the entire fleet. That please you." Some of the generals shifted uneasily in their seats.
"He's becoming more aggressive, this is a bold move for him." Miriam stated, looking in Riku's direction. "How can we ever hope to stop a full out assault by the Unbirths if he's still on the loose?"
"I'm forced to agree with Miriam here," Christophe said with a look to his right and up. "I worry what will become of the Order if we do not manage to find him."
"If Riku had permitted me to go and look for my brother while we had the chance then this wouldn't be an issue." Melissa stated heatedly and Riku raised his eyebrows. "Riku, let me deal with him. If I can't bring him back then I can at least defeat him." Riku sighed.
"Look, I know you want to take care of your brother and all but I think he's become more dangerous than we realize. More dangerous than Maleficent ever was, and she's been missing for about twelve years now. Look, he's been gone for, what was it, eleven-"
"Ten." Donato stated. Riku rolled his eyes. Donato rarely spoke up in meetings save for corrections.
"Forgive me, ten years now. He's gained the control of the Unbirths and the Order is being stretched as it is. Do you really think that's a good idea?" Riku snapped out and Melissa glared at him for a moment. She knew Riku was right, but never wanted to admit it.
"Don't you see…this is causing squabbles amongst us?" Cothius said and Riku rolled his eyes again. This is where it always started: Cothius' dissent against the war. "Can we afford any more than we've already lost? We are spoiling our departed leader Edge by continuing in this pointless fight."
"Shut up Cothius. We would have never been in this fight if people like you and Onyx had never contested his rule and allowed him to go out in to the worlds." Marcus said loudly. Those two were always at constant daggers with each other. "If we had been allowed to fight, then the Unbirths would have never come into existence and I don't think we'd have such a difficult war on our hands."
"If you're calling for a vote of no confidence in Riku's leadership, don't." Christophe warned. "He's taken this Order to where it should have been twelve years ago: out in the worlds fighting."
"Nevertheless, we must realize on thing." Lucas said, leaning forward in his seat. "We are losing momentum. We cannot last this storm much longer. We're spread out amongst the worlds of the galaxy enough as it is. Any more and we will be stretched too thin. Not to mention that we are losing members of the Order in the attack here."
"He's right. We lost Matthias just a year ago, that's why Christophe is here…and that was because Matthias failed against my brother. I was only appointed to the generals because the general you picked also died." Melissa said heatedly and Riku was glaring daggers at her.
"Look, I understand how you're all feeling, but what do you want me to do?" Riku said, throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation. At last, Elizabeth had leaned forward, her icy demeanor shining like it always did.
"This war represents a failure of union." Elizabeth began and all of Riku and those who supported him, leaned back into their chairs to listen. "We are losing lives and losing Keyblade Masters. We cannot deny life is much easier without Maleficent breathing down our neck as she had been twelve years ago."
"A twelve years when you did nothing…" Riku sighed out under his breath but it seemed that Elizabeth had not heard him.
"But the Unbirths will consume us. We need to stop and negotiate; only there can peace lie. In other words, we need a Keyblade wielder who he will listen to. One who holds enough sway over the worlds to give a proper negotiation."
"You mean Sora? Absolutely not!" Riku said, defending his friend's right to not be entangled with the Order like he himself was.
"Why should he not fight in the war? He is a Keyblade Master!" Cothius said, a smug smile on his face. "He sits at home in Radiant Garden raising little brats and does nothing required in his title!"
"No one calls my godson a little brat!" Riku yelled and silence pervaded the room. Cothius merely looked at Riku with a smile. Riku got himself under control. "Sora has enough on his plate. He had to restore Radiant Garden from what it was twelve years ago after the explosion, an explosion that most of you did nothing to prevent! He undergoes monthly skirmishes with the Unbirths to protect his home and you say he does nothing? You shame the Order and Edge's memory. This war is being fought in an attempt to restore order…something that Edge gave his life for. If you want to dispute him and his wishes then leave the Order now!" There was more silence and nobody answered. "I thought so…"
"There is an issue far more troublesome." Antonio said, speaking up for the first time at the meeting. "If he gains control of Kingdom Hearts that may cause a problem."
"Let him try." Riku said; this time it was his turn to be smug. "I know something of Kingdom Hearts. Even were he to gain light…and the power of Kingdom Hearts, we'll stop him. I will not allow this Order to fall while I am here to defend it." Riku stood up and the crown before them all faded away. "If that is all, generals dismissed." The generals saluted and their chairs began to lower until they were all at ground level. Riku then gave room for the other nine generals to file out. Cothius shot him a look of disdain, which Riku returned before he left. When all nine generals were out, Marcus and Melissa leaving last, hand in hand, Riku left. He had to speak to Melissa quickly but gave her some space. However, he quickly caught up to her in the hall. "Melissa!"
Melissa turned to look at Riku and he beckoned her over. Marcus looked at him confusedly before nodding. Riku thought he heard a quick whisper of "I'll see you later" and a peck on the cheek before Marcus went off and Melissa ran up to Riku.
"So, what's up Riku?" Melissa asked, rolling up and down on the balls of her feet.
"Walk with me." Riku said and she followed him. "I've noticed that you and Marcus are closer…much closer."
"Yeah…" Melissa said dreamily. But she had enough intelligence in this state to realize Riku was not here to talk about what she thought of Marcus. "But what does that matter?" Riku stopped in the middle of an off-shooting and abandoned hallway.
"Look, I don't want to see you get hurt." Riku said. "You've faced enough pain dealing with your brother, no matter how much older he is than you. I care about you as a friend Melissa. You've supported my work this whole time. And…it's just…the last time I saw someone get that close to someone that early, he went a little nuts."
"What? Gentai? Yeah, but I haven't lost anything." Melissa said, shrugging her shoulders, her red hair shimmering a bit. It was so different from her brothers which had been black like obsidian. "Besides, my brother is the nut in the family that went crazy."
"I just think we've lost enough." Riku said solemnly. Melissa looked at him concernedly for a moment.
"I'm a big girl…I can take care of myself." Melissa said gently. "And besides, since when do you care? I thought you didn't know what love was like…or is it that you may be developing feelings for me?" Riku laughed sourly and denied any such aspects. Melissa just smiled him before bidding him a farewell and striding away. Riku shook his head and sighed, deciding to return to his quarters.
He wound his way through the corridors, making it a keen point to avoid people. He didn't care for anyone's company. When he at last reached his quarters however it was to find Antonio waiting outside. Riku nodded his head; he should have figured this would happen. He smiled and quickly strode up to him.
"So, what's the topic today?" Riku asked. "And can we make it short…I'm really tired."
"Cothius. I don't trust him." Antonio said simply.
"Well neither do I, but we don't have a choice. I can't boot him out. You know the rules." Riku said stoically. Antonio shrugged. "What's really bothering you, anyway?"
"I'm worried about the Order." he said quietly. "I feel like it's falling apart. Some have already gone mercenary…how many more must follow the path of darkness before they see the light?" Riku winced at Antonio's words. He put a hand on Antonio's shoulder.
"Look, what I said in there, I meant it, every word of it. So don't worry." Riku said and Antonio brushed the hand off. Riku scowled. yeah, he would keep the Order alive, but he was beginning to worry that this was no longer a war worth fighting.
"I'm not worried about your defense…but everyone else's. Keep a watchful eye Riku, we're at war." With that ominous and foreboding message, Antonio strode off. Riku shook his head and entered into his simple room. A few moments later he had lied down in his bed and had drifted to sleep.
"Gentai…" Sora breathed out. "Come back with us. I know your soul is twisted but there's still time to turn from this path. You can still fight with us."
"No I CAN'T!!!" Gentai yelled loudly and Sora recoiled a bit. "How much blood do I have on my hands?! How many people have I killed?!" Gentai's body was shaking and Sora finally understood why Gentai had seemed so conflicted before. "Don't you get it, Sora?! We all thought we could be decent men, in an indecent time! A time where there is darkness to plague our lives! A time where we still have to fear the darkness!"
"But if you fight with us, then we don't have to fear the darkness!" Sora yelled, trying to reason with this boy. "Come back, Gentai!"
"How can you ask that of me?! After everything, I was the only one who had everything taken from me! I was the one who caused a reign of chaos the likes of which these worlds have never seen and you ask me to come back." A tear slid down Gentai's cheek and his body started shaking harder. He began to sob. "No…I wanted to be a hero, I really did, but now I know that for me, there's no such thing."
"There is if you strive for it." Riku answered, his voice having gained the strength to speak to him. Gentai shook his head.
"No…not for me…not anymore. All that's left for me and my legacy is to make sure I can end the darkness…" There was silence that pervaded the halls after he spoke those words. "WITH ME!!!" Suddenly, before anyone in the room could stop him he shifted his Keyblade around and stabbed himself in the heart, like Sora had done with the dark Keyblade eight years ago.
"NO!!!" The other three that were standing in the room yelled as Gentai's heart began to be enveloped in shimmering light. When the light receded, Gentai was gone, vanished from the worlds and all the wielders there knew that the Unbirths, too, had fled from the castle, sensing their master's defeat.
Riku screamed loudly as he sat up quickly. His upper torso was drenched in sweat as was his forehead. He put his face into his hands. That was the second time he had seen Gentai's death in his dreams. He had never had them until the night before. And yet here it was, happening again. Riku couldn't place what it meant. He got up off of his bed and took his shirt off. He grabbed a towel from the bathroom in his room and wiped down his torso before grabbing another clean shirt and putting it on. He poured himself a glass of water from the pitcher on his bedside table before walking over to balcony and opening the screen that separated him from it.
He stepped out onto the balcony and felt the cool air on his face. Oh, how much he had missed the island winds. How much he had wished for them to grace him and his face. Oh, how he had wished to see Sora, and Kairi again, to be with his godson. But fate had been the cruelest to him of them all and Riku's thoughts kept turning back towards his dream. A million thoughts filled his head, but there was one above all:
What did it mean?
Author's Note: There it is, the very long complete first chapter of the final installment. I put a lot of work into this and I hope you like it, that's why I posted much earlier than intended because it was too good to NOT share with the world. I've noticed I always start the story with a character other than Sora but…meh. This finale will DEFINITELY come slower, if not because of the forthcoming Spring Break with no access to internet then because I want it to be awesome. After all, I feel an appropriate subtitle for this story is "I'm Shattering the Glass from Beneath You". Now, I hope you were able to figure out who the bad guy is. Hint: We've met him twice in the series before. On two more notes: 1) I know people think that fan fiction shouldn't be all that deep but this is a very political and symbolic story. Everything I do has a purpose in my story and so does this. In fact, if you can find all the symbols in this first chapter then congrats cause it'll cue you in on the future and make an interesting commentary from me, the author. If you want to know what the symbols are that you missed, just let me know and I'll tell you…some of them. 2) In the future we will have four teams that go to four different worlds, one of these worlds has already been decided and it is Kim Possible. What I need from you is three worlds (from well known Disney movies ONLY) that I could use for those three characters. It cannot include: Prydain, Agrabah, Pride Lands, Port Royal, Olympus Coliseum, Land of Dragons, Any Princess of Heart World, Atlantis, Monstropolis, Neverland, Halloween Town, or the Hawaiian Islands. I know, it's a lot of worlds but still. Thanks for that, I'm taking my poll down next chapter so vote, let me know what you think, guess the symbols, spread the word, review (on all parts of the chapter, not just "it's good"), and Dare to Be Silly. (And yes, I know this was a ridiculously long Author's Note.) P.S. I updated my Profile Page with all new OC descriptions as well as a possible new idea for a story.
