Chapter 4: Chris Talonflight: Fake World

I had been in the fake Traverse Town long enough to be bored. There were far more heartless here. I had made it through several 'rooms', and had found several pieces to the card that would let me go up a floor. I needed two more.

"Fighting without Nudge is hard after so long a partnership."I thought out loud.

"It will be harder after you die because of the Heartless, if you aren't careful." Leon said.

LEON?!

"Nice to see you again, Leon." I said, not bothering to look at him.

"I've never seen you before." He said, looking at me darkly. "Who are you?"

"A friend, Leon. A friend." I looked at my friend. This wasn't the real Leon, it was merely a fake replica created by the fake world in this castle. I dreaded to think of what the others were like.

"You aren't my friend." He readied his gunblade. "You walk with a Shadow Heartless."

"Leon, I really don't want to fight you." I said impatiently.

"I don't care what you want, Chris." He said, about to attack.

"If I wasn't a friend, how come you know my name?" I countered. Leon hesitated.

"Hold up… What's going on here?" another voice interrupted. My heart leapt at the voice, and I turned to Yuffie with a smile, but then I remembered: this wasn't the real thing, only a fake. However, she was still as stunningly beautiful as the real one.

"Are you new to this world?" Yuffie asked. I nodded painfully. This copy didn't even know me.

"Yeah, just passing through. And it seems that your friend has a desire to chop me apart: not that I'm going to let him." Yuffie laughed at that.

"He has a Shadow Heartless with him!" Leon protested. "And how do you know me?"

"Never mind." I waved him off. "I have an appointment with a friend. I was to meet them tomorrow." I looked around. "As for the Shadow Heartless, I can explain. He used to be my brother, but I found him right as he was turning. Because I was able to use my power, I managed to suppress the gene that makes Heartless go after hearts, and bury his heartless nature entirely. Now, he is my bodyguard, and a good friend." I reached down to pet him. My story was not true at all. In fact, I had no idea whatsoever who Nudge had been before he turned, and I had no idea why he didn't go after hearts. I merely knew that he did as he did and accepted it: he had, after all, saved my life. And besides, I couldn't control how Heartless were really made.

"Awe, he's cute!" he was poking Yuffie, who had bent down to pet him. The familiar sight nearly brought tears to my eyes, but I pushed them back. They would do no good now. Then Yuffie looked up at me. "Do you have a place to stay until tomorrow?" she asked.

"No, I don't." I answered honestly. I had had no idea that I was going to sleep here. But then, I would have to: this castle was so huge that I couldn't finish my journey to the top in one night. And whatever the black cloaked men were after, they wouldn't kill me until I got to the top.

The black cloaked men… didn't I know who they were? They were a group… and they wanted me for something… Then I realized that it was a memory that had already faded away. Darn… this is harder then I thought… Wait… oh yeah! Their called Organization XIII

"You can stay at my place!" Yuffie exclaimed. "The world famous ninja Yuffie Kisaragi will protect you from heartless!"

"Yuffie-" Leon tried to interject, but Yuffie and I were already moving away.

Yuffie KISARAGI! This is who Yuffie used to be BEFORE the Cataclysm! When I had met Yuffie, she had been trying to change who she was. After losing two close friends, she had realized how conceited and rude (and other things that she hadn't even told me) she was, and she had tried to be a nicer person. She had changed her last name to Stromwind. The difference in last names gave it away. Still, she was a cute here as she was before. However, she was wearing even more revealing of an outfit then she was when I met her, which was slightly distracting. While general image of the Yuffie I knew was still sleeveless shirts that revealed the midriff and short shorts, THIS Yuffie had on a shirt that was practically not there, and her shorts could have been underwear for all I knew.

Hmm… no wonder she ran away that first time we kissed… she pictured herself as a slut. Things made a bit more sense now.

"Come on, it's this way!" the fake Yuffie grabbed my arm and started pulling me towards a building near the accessory shop.

Why is she so insistent about taking me to her house? She doesn't know me… Oh no, if this is what I think it is…

Yuffie shut the door behind us, and pulled me towards the living room. "You can sleep on the couch. Sorry I don't have anything more comfortable… unless, that is, if you want to sleep in MY room." She winked suggestively. "I have a fold-out bed in there beside the one I use."

"I believe the couch will be satisfactory." I said nervously. So… she did used to do this… I felt a stab of pain at the thought of Yuffie taking random men into her house.

After a while talking with Yuffie, She went to get undressed and go to sleep. I merely lay down on my couch, light off, but still in full outfit: my black leather shirt, with black, spiked armor running down my left arm and hand. I had a pair of nice-fitting black pants made of a material that I couldn't identify. I even kept my black combat boots on, as well as wearing the dark grey headband that the real Yuffie had given me when we had last parted. I also had three Materia in a series of slots in my armored arm: a cure Materia, a red summonstone, and a dark green Materia containing a legendary healing spell that could heal any injury except death: I made sure only to use this when I really, really needed it. I also had one last potion in a small slot in my shoulder, with an automatic injection device there that automatically injected me with the potion if I needed it. The Materia would only activate if I told them to.

I lay there in the blackness, feigning sleep. Then I heard the slight creak as the door opened, and I felt instead of saw a figure enter the room. They fiddled around a bit with my armored hand, and in the end they left, leaving three empty slots in my hand. I knew she had taken my Materia, but it wouldn't do me any good to go after her now. Instead, I sent Nudge after her to watch her silently. When he came back, he nodded: she had gone to sleep. I turned over, and slept hard.

When I awoke it was nearly light. I leaped up. I walked to Yuffie's room, and pounded on the door.

"Yeah?" she asked, seemingly confused. She was in a white bathrobe, evidently having just risen before me.

"Where is it?" I demanded.

"Where's what?" she asked.

I got my dark look on. "I saw you last night. I wasn't asleep, ninja."

"Wait, what-" I ignored her. I pushed past her, and walked into her room. Nudge ran up to a group of boards on the floor. I walked up to them, and used my dark powers to reveal the catch. I pulled up, and the boards lifted. Inside was a large pile of Materia. There was only one dark green one. I reached down, and took it.

"Which ones of these are mine?" I asked, sliding the dark green Curagala Materia into its slot on my hand piece.

Yuffie pouted. "Come on, give a girl a break! Materia is valuable!"

"Precisely why I didn't go to sleep last night, Yuffie." I said in a slightly patronizing voice. "Now where are my cure Materia and my summonstone?" I looked again. "Of course, I could take a random summonstone, but that could mean you get to keep mine. Heck, I don't even know what my stone summoned!"

"You didn't!?" She screeched. Then she laughed again. "I had a feeling that you were more then you appeared to be! Now I know!" she clapped, before sidling up to me. I could feel her breath on my neck.

"Yuffie, please." I tried a new tactic. "Those Materia were given to me by a very special person, and I would die if I lost them!"

"I don't give up Materia for free." She frowned. "You gotta pay me somehow."

"What exactly?" I asked warily.

"There are a few things that I would like to happen. First, you gotta take Leon down a peg or two."

"Ok, no problem." I summoned Soul Eater. I had beaten Leon once in reality, and I had no doubt that he would succumb to the same strategy as before. I walked out of the house, leaving Yuffie scampering to get dressed.

"Hey Leon!" I called. Leon was practicing his sword skill in a makeshift arena in the middle of the first district. "Care for a little spar? I need to practice."

Leon hesitated, and then nodded. "All right. Have it your way."

I summoned Soul Eater. "Give me all you've got, Leon!"

We clashed; his gunblade against my Soul Eater. Leon pushed me back a few feet, before I did a back flip behind me. I landed, and fired a weak bolt of dark energy at him. He dodged it, and began firing blasts at me from his gunblade. I used the darkness to propel me through midair in a gliding move. Then I called on Nudge to throw me towards Leon. My ally did as required, as well as conjuring a dark shield around me when I landed behind Leon. Leon was distracted with fending off Nudge, and I took the opportunity to kick him down. However, Leon then summoned a circle of explosions around him, knocking Nudge into a wall. I then engaged him in a slashing duel for a few moments. Then, when I again locked blades with him, I summoned a storm of black electricity. The storm slammed into Leon, sending him flying.

"Not hurt, I hope?" I asked.

"Not a scratch!" Leon had deflected the brunt of the attack with more explosions. I growled. Nudge ran up to me and hopped on my shoulders. He swayed for a moment, and then seemed to fuse with me. As a result from the excess darkness, I went darkness-form: The name I had dubbed the form of me when I had the black fighting outfit with the Heartless symbol, as well as the blindfold. I summoned the second Soul-Eater, and faced off with Leon again. Leon charged me. I deflected his gunblade with my two Soul Eaters. I launched myself into a karate kick, which missed, but I used my momentum to rebound off the wall and slam into the ground, creating a dark shockwave. The shockwave slammed into Leon, who recovered quickly, and fired a blast at me with his gunblade, knocking me from my feet. I rolled, and came up on Leon's left. I then sank into the ground, like a shadow heartless, and dashed around Leon. The wall of darkness I inscribed around him stayed there after I surfaced. Then I made the trap close in on him. However, when the wall exploded, Leon stood there, having used a Reflect spell at the last second. In anger, I slammed my swords together, and called on the power of Last Chaos, the dark keyblade. I flew at him. He tried to block my strike, but my animal strength broke his block, and pushed him back. He dodged and ran. I started spinning in a sawing motion, overcome with a peculiar bloodlust. But I couldn't kill Leon. He was my friend. I grabbed his blade with my darkness covered hand, and wrenched it away. It fell on the other side of the makeshift arena.

"Good game, Squall." I pointed my weapon away from him. Leon stood, gasping for breath.

"How did you do that?" he asked. I was about to answer when a great weight struck me from behind, and I saw Yuffie's giant shuriken fly over my head. I fell over, my dark form falling away from me.

"You idiot!" Yuffie yelled. "You could have killed him!"

"I wasn't going to kill him." I shook the ninja off. This Yuffie Kisaragi was different in many ways from the Yuffie I loved. She was louder, ruder, brasher, and more obsessed with Materia.

"Hey, did she try anything last night?" Leon whispered in my ear. I shook my head.

"I managed to defend myself." I responded quietly. "And I'm still getting my Materia back.

"Hmph." Yuffie pouted, and dragged me away. Nudge returned quietly from wherever he had quietly been in the last sixty seconds. He winked at me. I nodded. What was that wink for?

"Sorry to run off, but I must be going." I said, as I started walking away.

"Wait!" she cried, jumping on my back. I disentangled her from me.

"Look, I really must be going." I explained. Yuffie thought for a moment. Then she brightened.

"Take me with you!" she asked piteously, looking quite adorable for a moment.

Actually, that's not a half bad idea. The replica would get along with this Yuffie, plus he has memories of being in love with someone named Yuffie. Plus, it would be useful having an assistant on my way up the castle. I couldn't believe I was thinking this, but I was. Maybe I had lost my memory of common sense, but this seemed like common sense.

"Tell you what…" I said, "You give me back those two Materia you owe me, and I will."

"Yay!" she squealed, and for an instant, it was the Yuffie I knew who squealed.

She disappeared in a puff of smoke. Then she re-appeared in another puff of smoke.

"Their gone!" she said, fuming.

Nudge nudged me. Then I realized. "Nudge..." I said in reproof. Although if I had known I would have never taken her along, I didn't want Nudge to get into the habit of stealing.

Nudge held out his hands, guiltily. He held a red summonstone, and a light green cure Materia. I slid them into my slots. Then I nodded to Yuffie. I then noticed a pair of strange things tucked into her belt.

"Yuffie, I need those pieces you have in your belt." I said.

"What for?" she asked. I simply held out my hand, knowing she would give them to me. She did, and I completed the card.

"What do you need cards for?" she asked.

"There's this castle that I am working my way through." I explained, thinking of an alternate story that wouldn't tell her that she was merely a replica: the knowledge that you were a fake probably would never sit well. "And it is comprised of portals. Each portal leads you to another world, and between worlds there are parts of the castle. In order to get through each portal or door, you need the correct card. In order to move up a floor in the castle, you need all the pieces of a correct card. Those pieces are scattered around through the rooms and worlds. Unfortunately, I started with no cards, so it's actually necessary for me to go through each and every door and world to get to the top."

"And once you reach the top?" she asked.

"This castle is a castle that works on memories. The higher I go, the more memories I will lose. Once I get to the top I will be put into a pod where I will sleep for about one year while my memories are being put back together." I answered honestly. I had to, or if she got hurt I would never forgive myself.

"If you're gonna lose your memories, why will you go to the top?" Good question.

"Because I need to do this to ensure that the evil people running this castle die." I said. I admit, I sounded rather bloodthirsty. "And I must get to the top in order to free the one who will put my memories back together. And also, unless I get to the top, no one in the worlds will remember me. I already have no choice: I went up a level to reach this world. Now I have lost some of my memory, so I have no choice if I want to get it back." Yuffie stared at me in admiration. This is the kind of girl I might have dated in school. How different I am now. Now I can't think of anyone but the real Yuffie with that kind of affection.

"Sounds like fun!" she exclaimed. "Now I'm definitely going!"

Sigh… this is gonna be a long trip… I thought, as I held up the completed card, and went up a level, losing one of my memories like cheap jewelry.