Tim Fortune
Presents
COGNITO
Act I Scene II: Freeshooters and Schemers
Morning, or at least the equalivent of it had, dawned on the Castle that Never Was. Kingdom Hearts shown brightly through the window of Number II of the Organization, Xigbar.
He rolled over in his blankets as his alarm blared away with classic rock. Turning on his side, he reached over and shut it off.
Xemnas can wait another hour he thought as he attempted to drift back to sweet oblivion. But, as great as his urge to sleep, there was another even more powerful one.
Oh great he mentally sighed The eternal dilemma. Get up or stay. Get up or stay. Yeah. I'm getting up.
Climbing out of his bed, he went over to his bathroom and closed the door.
Some time later, he stepped out. Heading over to his closet, he opened it. In it, hung 7 identical outfits, consisting of a black shirt, black pants, a pair of knee high boots, and a long black leather robe. To the side, 5 eye patches hung on a hook with a makeshift shelf holding an additional 3 pairs of gloves.
Taking one of the patches off the hook, Xigbar adjusted it to his head in the mirror.
"The things I do for decency." He mused with a smile. If it were up to him, he'd walk down to the meeting area without it; let them see the immensely disturbing image he has hidden under there! Oh well. Zexy would appreciate it.
His eye lit up with amusement. He checked the clock. 10:30, Zex shouldn't be up yet. An evil smile crossed his face.
Grabbing a shirt and a pair of pants out of the closet, he quickly threw them on. Sure, his hair was a mess and all over the place. Eh, I'll shower later.
Reaching under his bed, he grabbed one of his guns and walked out of his room. He got a good distance before he came face to face with the new guy, who was hanging upside down.
"Hey Lux." Said Xigbar with a smile.
"Salutations and greetings to you sir." Was his reply.
"You know, the numbers are meaningless. I don't outrank you just because I'm Number II. We're equals here!"
"Then we could stand on equal footing?" Luxord responded "Perhaps you could stop walking around on the ceiling?"
"Tell you what." He did a back flip off the ceiling and landed right next to Luxord "We'll flip for it."
Luxord raised his right eyebrow in an intrigued fashioned.
Xigbar pulled a coin out of his pocket. "Heads, I can float around on the ceiling for as long as I want, only coming down when either Mansex or Saïx orders me down and you have to join me up there for as long as I think it's funny. And tails, I stay down…"
"And have to remain frozen in an incredibly awkward position for as long as I see fit." The Gambler of Fate said coolly.
"Deal." Xigbar flipped the coin and palmed it. Laying it down on his arm, he raised his hand.
"Heads. Let's go!" The both of them floated back up to the ceiling and hung there for a while.
"God!" Luxord said putting his hands on his head "How do you deal with the head rush?"
"You get used to it." The Freeshooter turned and as he walked away, he said "Be sure to use it to freak Dem out. He's a jumpy little fellow."
He walked away smiling towards Zexion's room, flipping his coin as he went.
Sucker he thought as he caught the coin Double sided coin gets 'im every time. This was probably the 3rd or 4th time he was able to trick Luxord into taking that stupid bet. The guy must have a real problem with gambling.
After walking a while and making sure to high five Xaldin upside down, much to his displeasure, Xigbar finally made it to Zexion's room.
Doing another back flip to land on the floor, he slowly crept towards the door, waiting to bust it down. Getting himself right next to it, he slowly counted to himself "1…2…3!" And used the full force of his weight to open it. Jumping into the room, he waved his gun in the air and began to shout "LAPD, Down of the…" but stopped when he got a good look at the surroundings.
Zexion's bed was empty and tightly made and in a corner of the room, near all the bookshelves, Zexion himself sat in an easy chair with one of his many, many books in his lap. When Xigbar burst in the room, he just looked up.
"Yes?" he inquired.
"You see, uh, well…um…I was…" The Freeshooter stammered "Well…okay, what the hell man? Since when are you up before noon? Did Saïx threaten to beat your scrawny little ass if you're late for another meeting?"
"No." replied Zexion; a little more coldly than usual "I just awoke. That is all."
"Okay, that's a little out of character, but all right."
The two just stared at each other for a while.
"Is that all?" said Zexion breaking the silence.
"Yeah. Yeah it is." Xigbar turned and began to leave "See you later Zex."
"Same here Braig." And back his nose went into the book. Xigbar reversed his position to just stare at the Schemer.
There were three things that weren't exactly right about him this morning. While he was looking at a book, he wasn't exactly reading it, as his eyes weren't moving like they should. Also, he called him "Braig". No one in the castle does that. Only Xemnas does when he gets really pissed.
And third and most damning of all…Zexion was up before noon.
Xigbar left the room and closed the door behind him.
"This may inquire further study." He said as he drifted back onto the ceiling.
XIIIXIIIXIIIXIIIXIIIXIIIXIIIXIIIXIIIXIIIXIIIXIIIXIIIXIIIXIIIXIIIXIIIXIIIXIIIXIII
In his prison cell, Zexion looked up at the monitor on the wall as he watched the events that unfolded in his bedroom.
"What is going on?" He shouted "I know who you are! Just show yourself Rutonfex!"
"As you wish." A droll voice said from behind him.
Zexion turned around and found himself face to face with his captor. He was as he remembered. An average height, somewhat lanky, with long black hair that was swept behind his ears and a goatee that made the smile on his face more severe, with eyes that sparkled with eerie intelligence.
"Why, hello Ienzo." Rutonfex said with a smile "How's life?"
Zexion rushed forward and pinned Rutonfex to the wall of the cell with his arms against his neck, no easy feat as the enigmatic stranger had about 5 inches on him.
"What is going on?" Zexion said as he applied more pressure on Rutonfex "Explain!"
Throughout the entire thing, Rutonfex never stopped smiling.
"Why revenge my dear Ienzo." He replied "Just plain simple revenge."
"And I factor in to this how? I was the only one who defended you!"
"That has been noted and logged." He answered "You're here simply because you're the only one who could blow the cover on my scheme."
Zexion let him loose from the wall.
"You're still the only person in this whole goddamn group who could keep up with me." The smile still remained on his face, except it got a tad darker "Why would I punish the closest and practically only friend I have in all the worlds out there?"
"Anyone else you have captured here?"
Rutonfex let out a laugh.
"What's so funny?"
"You think you're in an actual prison?"
"What else could it be? And what's with that duplicate acting like me out there?"
"Duplicate? Duplicate?" the stranger let out a longer, louder laugh "Boy, that ain't no duplicate. That's you!"
Zexion raised his eyebrows in confusion.
"Explain." He said, and adding more coldness to his voice, he added "Now."
"Considering that you're not going anywhere, anytime soon. I'll explain."
Waving his hand in the air, they disappeared from the cell into a study of some kind. Shelves of books occupied every single wall of it, while two armchairs sat next to a roaring fire.
"Please," said Rutonfex motioning to one of the chairs "Sit."
Zexion eyed him with caution and without taking a single glance off him, he sat down. Rutonfex soon joined him.
"Now considering this is a lot of exposition, would you care for a drink of sorts?"
"No." said Zexion coldly. That goddamn smile still had yet to leave his face.
Rutonfex shrugged.
"Suit yourself." And a glass of orange liquid appeared in his hand.
Zexion grew even more impatient. He's doing it again. That's his one flaw, whenever he's in a position of power, he's too complacent.
Yes I agree. That really is a problem of mine. A familiar voice in his head said.
Zexion shot up in his chair. Rutonfex smiled and raised his glass to him.
"So you're in my head now?" Zexion replied "Just wonderful."
"Now? Now?" Rutonfex laughed again "My dear friend, I've always been in your head. In fact, we're both there. Look around, does any of this look at all familiar?"
Zexion looked around the room. It actually was familiar. With the exception of a few minor details, it was a replica of his bedroom back at the Castle that Never Was.
"Alright Rutonfex," Zexion was still remembering feelings of anger and curiosity "Explain."
"Fine then Ienzo," Rutonfex said, as his glass disappeared "I'll explain. After all, that curious little brain of yours was always reaching for more information, and a better understanding of the universe, so why should I deny you of your fundamental nature?"
Zexion continued to eye him.
"We're in the most perfect prison ever devised by man, Heartless, or Nobody. I've imprisoned you within your very mind!"
He let out another laugh.
"I knew that a conventional prison wouldn't hold you or any other members of your little organization, what with the ability to teleport and all the weapons and different elements we all have control over. So I think to myself 'Rutie? What can you do to hold these people long so that they can't get out?' The answer of course was obvious. Trap them in a place where they really can't get out, their very minds. It also solves the problem of how to cover up your disappearance. Sure, I could have said you've gone on a mission, but for as long as I plan on holding you that would be impractical. So, while your fundamental being is trapped here with me, your body is running on basic autopilot, with me pulling the strings so you still behave somewhat normally."
Zexion just stared at him during the entirety of his little speech.
"Okay then. Fine." Said Zexion "That explains what you're doing. Now all I want is why."
"Why?" Rutonfex laughed "Why not?"
He seemed amused by his little joke, but Zexion was in no mood for laughter.
"But seriously. I have plans. Big ones. I've been working on achieving them ever since you people banished me to the Dimension of Nothingness. In a way, since you're here right now, I've out-schemed the Schemer. Impressive, no?"
"Yeah," Zexion said rolling his eyes "Real effing impressive."
"Meh. I wasn't doing it to impress you." Rutonfex responded "I've got plans of my own and since I hold all the power here there's nothing you can do."
He stood up in his chair.
"And since I'm just a nice guy, you don't have to return to your dank cell. You can stay here and watch the festivities."
Reaching into his coat, he pulled out a television remote and threw it to Zexion.
"Channels One, Seven, and Nine are the ones to watch. It's going to get real interesting."
And with that, he vanished, leaving Zexion alone in the study.
"Goddamn it!" Zexion shouted in a rare outburst "The sheer arrogance!"
But one question continued to plague him at the back of his mind. How exactly did he escape that dimension? It was thought to be inescapable, as it turns whoever is thrown in there to…well, nothing.
Seeing as he had nothing better to do, Zexion went over to the shelf and pulled out a book.
"Hopefully someone back at the castle will figure out we're not the same."
But deep down, he severely doubted it.
TO BE CONTINUED…
A/N: There, another chapter finished. We finally get to meet Rutonfex in person and he really is an enigmatic fellow, right?
A few notes before I leave you. Xigbar's plan to freak Zexion out early on is based on something I do at my house with my brothers. It just involves using a cap gun and bursting into their room when they least suspect it, while shouting "LAPD down on the ground!" to catch them off guard. It's actually quite amusing.
As for Rutonfex's orange drink, it's rum and orange soda, a truly fantastic concoction, particularly if it's Coconut rum that's being used.
Well, that's it for now. I need at least one review in order to continue. Thanks a bunch.
Acknowledgements:
To FaerieFighter009 for giving the inspiration to write this story. Gotta give credit where credit is due.
And to cursedchaos13 for leaving the review that got me off my ass to actually write this damn chapter.
Thank you both.
The Magnificent Tim Fortune
