Welcome back to another polished chapter of "When Worlds Collide"! After this, I'll be polishing chapter four and finishing it so YAY!
Massive changes with the dialogue, mainly Melody's. I made her more in-character and added some other dialogue tweaks. I didn't tamper with the dark section and I pretty much left the Kaito and Azure scene alone, save for one line of dialogue.
Azure: YAY, KID-SAMA!
Kaito Kid: T_T
Ehe . . . Anyways . . . GO BACKSTORY FILLER CHAPTER THINGY!
Axel wandered through his castle, ignoring the guards and servants that were - for the most part - slacking off. If he had the time, he would be blowing up at them; submerging them in acid as punishment. But fortunately for them, he was expecting someone. Someone who could help with his plan.
Maybe.
He stood in front of the large black wooden front door that led outside. Unfortunately, he was early so he began counting down from eighty to predict when the guest would arrive . . .
"Hey, Axel!" a familiar male voice rang out in his head, irritating him immensely, "You still haven't told me what you're planning."
"Weren't you listening the other day?" Axel mentally replied, beginning to count out loud quietly so he wouldn't lose count.
"You blocked me from your head, remember? I have no idea what has been going on for the past three days! Do you know how lonely and boring it gets, sitting in the mind of MY OWN BODY unable to do anything?"
"Xavier, my good friend," Axel replied, his tone softening, "We are going to awaken the creator of our dear planet. The one the gods selfishly sealed away eons ago."
"So it was evil then?" Xavier groaned, his tone annoying Axel, who was having trouble keeping calm.
"Think of it this way. It created this planet and everything on it. Humans, demons, reapers . . . It intended darkness to rule and light to suffer. In other words, think of light as evil and dark as the hero in this tale. The gods he created turned on him and controlled Xalcus to their own will; letting light prevail. Wouldn't that make them the evil ones?"
"Um . . ."
Axel sighed, wishing his host would just agree to make his plan run much smoother than it did. "What's that phrase you're always muttering? "Darkness doesn't always adequate to evil just as light doesn't always bring good"? Think of it like that. Our current gods think they did the right thing but they are just prolonging the inevitable."
"Yeah but-"
Xavier stopped as Axel swung the door open, revealing a boy who appeared to be in his late teens. He wore all white, accompanied by a cape, a magician-like hat, and a monocle. His arm was raised as if he was going to knock but he lowered it when he saw Axel.
Xavier was dumbstruck. "Isn't that-"
"Welcome!" Axel boomed, interrupting his host, hoping he'd shut up, "Your timing is incredible. Please, come in. Don't get too attached, however. You'll probably regret it."
Hesitating, the boy walked in, taking in his surroundings as Axel began to show him around his castle. The high ceilings, the large rooms, the number of bumbling guards, and the overuse of black and other dark colours were just a few things he noticed. He also had this horrible feeling of negativity surrounding him wherever he went . . .
Eventually; Axel brought the boy into the room with all the bookshelves. Most of the villains were gathered in the room, their conversations fading away after noticing Axel and the newcomer. As Axel walked to the back of the room, he spoke, his voice seeming to have a large affect on the listeners.
"I assume you are all enjoying your time here?" he began with, not bothering to look at the others to see their replies, "Anyways, I've just come to say our enemies have started making their move. Unfortunately, where they shall move first is a mystery to me and even if I did know . . ." he paused, turning to face the crowd, "Not all of you are here so there's no point in sending you out to try and defeat them."
"But what about the Elemental Orbs?" the man with the tattoo and blue hair asked, "Why don't we all go find them and take out the heroes with ease?"
The boy looked at Axel, having never heard about these orbs before. The man didn't seem to notice. "Please don't call them heroes," Axel mumbled before answering the question, "Unfortunately, when I said my host scattered the orbs, I also meant he hid them, fusing them with other powerful objects. I believe I mentioned this, no?"
A large penguin-like villain looked over to the boy, who had seemed interested in the whole situation. "And this is . . ?"
"Ah, he's a new recruit," Axel replied, glaring at the boy, who shifted slightly, feeling uneasy. "Aren't you?"
The boy nodded and straightened, putting on a perfect poker face. "Please," he began, snapping his fingers, a white dove appearing on his finger, "Call me Kaito Kid."
~xxx~
A number of people- err . . . mammals were gathered within a mansion, owned by Melody. The floors were made of marble and clean enough to see reflections in the entrance hall and kitchen. The television room was filled with electronics from plasma screen TVs to gaming consoles with wooden flooring. Each bedroom was made according to the occupier's interests while the kitchen was filled with delicious meals and numerous sweets. The mansion seemed to be at least six stories high.
Everyone was gathered within the kitchen, seated around the large table, eating to their heart's content. The people there were Aqua, Alec, Melody, Azure, the ten fighters (excluding Kaito Kid), and seven other people the fighters had just met. Four of them were kids at varying ages, all less than nine, however. There was the blue hair blue eyed Angel (age eight), sea blue-green haired green eyed Sarah (age six), and the blond haired green eyed dizygotic twins Winter and Cody (both age two). The other three were two teenage boys and one teenage girl. One had short brown hair and blue eyes while the other had short spiked snow white hair and green eyes. They were named Brady and Nikki respectively. The last was a fragile looking girl with silvery hair and soft blue eyes. She was a mute and was named Kassandra. While most of the males pigged out on their food, Aqua pushed the food around with her fork, not seeming very satisfied with her meal.
"Hey, why don't you have something more satisfying to eat?" Brady asked with a smirk, reaching out to get thirds on his plate, "Y'know, something better for a vampyre?"
Aqua smiled and stood up. "You are absolutely right. Fresh blood would be much more appetizing. Thanks for the idea."
She walked over to the garbage with her plate and dropped it in the bin. She walked towards Alec, dragged him out of his seat, and began to leave the room. Melody sighed and warped in front of her.
"Please, Aqua, not now. This is important."
"But I'm hungry~!" Aqua whined, pouting. The blue haired teenager hugged her from behind, smiling warmly.
Melody didn't reply and gave Aqua a calm "just-sit-and-shut-up" look. The blond teenager rolled her eyes, mumbled a small "fiiine" and dragged Alec back to the table, forcing him to sit in her chair so she could sit on his lap, getting a jealous glare from Brady. Melody closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, breathing slowly for a moment before walking over to her seat at the table. She remained standing, sending out a telepathic message to everyone's mind, asking for their attention. It took a moment to realize where the words were coming from but they all hushed down eventually.
"I'll assume- no, I know you're all curious to as your reason of being on this planet. In short, all of our universes are being fused together by an evil Godly force. The only way to stop this is to collect the eight Elemental Orbs and use their power to lock this deity away once more. No matter how strong you were in your old world, you won't fare well here if you try to save the world yourself."
"Oh really?" Natsu burst, suddenly standing up and glaring at Melody from the other side of the table. "I bet I can take this loser on!"
Melody stepped to the side where there were no obstacles crowding up the floor space. "Okay then," she said dully, "Try to land a hit on me. If you can, you can go ahead and try to save the day yourself."
Natsu grinned and skillfully jumped over the table. He ran at Melody, who seemed to make no attempt at defending. At the last second, Natsu flung up into the air, crashing through the ceiling and multiple ceilings above that, his cries slowly dying out as he flew higher. Melody hadn't even twitched.
"Would anyone else like to object? No? Good. Now, as I was saying . . ."
Melody paused before continuing, waiting for Natsu to fall through the ceiling and land in his seat in a daze. She continued as if it never happened.
"A number of you have required an "element" upon arriving on this planet. This element is usually based upon your personality or the type of magick you are most skilled with. Some are obvious, while others must be discovered on your own. Now, these Elemental Orbs could increase your powers immensely. If it is an element you could use, of course. For example, our hotheaded friend here could use the Fire Orb but probably couldn't use the Water Orb."
Most of the Xalcians that already knew this were distracted and didn't bother to pay attention. Melody sighed and a hologram of the planet appeared in the centre of the table, causing everyone to direct their attention there.
"Eons ago, the planet you are currently on, Xalcus, was formed by a monster so powerful and feared, its creations obeyed it without hesitation. It had a twisted sense of humour and enjoyed watching the helpless get ripped to shreds gruesomely by whatever felt like feasting. You'll eventually notice that human populations here are incredibly low. In the worlds you came from, humans were most likely on the top of the food chain. Now, however, we are close to the bottom.
"Anyways, this creature created a number of the gods and goddesses that now rule this planet. They eventually stood up to it and sealed it away. A few centuries later, a young king and queen enslaved the humans on this planet. After asking for help from the Gods, they found a way to seal their spirits away. Today, their spirits reside within two of the Elemental Orbs, occasionally possessing their bearers to wreak havoc again. And now, they've found a away to free the monstrous soul locked in this planet's core."
The hologram suddenly disappeared, making everyone jump slightly. "Well, that's all you need to know for now. I assume you all want to continue eating. Aqua, Azure, mind if I speak to you two for a moment?"
The two twin-like figures stood up and left the room with Melody, both extremely confused.
"So, what's up?" Azure asked.
"One of them is missing," Melody said flatly, getting straight to the point, "Kuroba Kaito. Or, Kaito Kid, as you call him. Aqua would like to know where he is and you have the answer."
Azure let out a small "meep" as Aqua glared at her. She laughed nervously.
"Well, you see . . ."
~X~
It was about a half hour before dinner and Kaito was wandering through the mansion, looking for someone to aid him. He walked up to the third floor and bumped into Azure, who didn't seem very happy about seeing him.
"Geez, watch where you're going!" Azure whined, starting to walk around him. Kid grabbed her hand and gave it a light kiss.
"I apologize, madam. I must've been too stunned by your beauty to see where I was going."
Azure's face turned pink as she looked for her voice. She was obviously a virgin when it came to receiving compliments.
"What do you want?" she mumbled, slowly pulling her hand away.
With a poof of pink smoke, a rose appeared in Kid's hand. He handed it to Azure, who silently took it. "I just need you to answer a question. Or at least direct me to someone who will answer my question."
"Melody is good for that . . ."
"I know but she kinda scares me. So, I would like to ask you, if you wouldn't mind."
Azure hesitated then said: "Okay, ask away then . . ."
"I need someone who can inform me on the situation and help me find something. This something is extremely precious to me and would be disastrous if it fell in the wrong hands. It doesn't matter if their heart is evil. I'm good as long as they will co-operate with me."
Azure glanced at the rose and finally said, "Xavier-kun can help you. His castle is in the forest just north-east from here . . ."
Kid smimed and kissed Azure on the cheek, who couldn't stop her face from turning red. "Thank you for your help. That is exactly where I'll go."
The magician of the moonlight went back downstairs and out the front door, running in the direction he was directed. Meanwhile, Azure smiled and skipped through the mansion happily while plucking at the rose petals stuck on the flower.
~X~
". . . No, really, what's the real story?"
Aqua gave Azure a sour look, not believing a bit of her story. Melody cut in before she could protest.
"I'm afraid she's right. Her memory is fresh in her mind and sticks out like a thorn. So I assume he has already spoken with my brother or his counterpart."
"The Pandora," Aqua sighed, "that's what he's looking for. The whole "worlds colliding" thing must've worried him a bit so he wanted to find it quick . . ."
"The what?" Azure asked with a curious face.
"Nevermind," Aqua sighed, "And what happened to him being a "fake magician" and I have horrible taste in guys?"
Azure blushed and Melody cut in before she could say something rude and whiny. "We'll worry about him later," she said, not seeming to care about the topic at hand at all, "I say we start searching for the orbs before it gets late. Aqua, where would you like to venture first?"
"Uhm . . ." Aqua mumbled, not really knowing of a specific place, "Well, seeing the guests we have, there must be at least seven other worlds around here. And since Kaito-kun is gone, that leaves six to choose from. Mario's, Sonic's, Link's, Kirby's, Natsu's, or Sora and Roxas's."
Melody hesitated before speaking. "We should stick to single groups leaving at a time. The Xalcian elements may have ruined the flow of their universes when they merged together. Being the protector of Xalcus, you should accompany the groups to each world. Then the rest of the Xalcians may choose where to venture to."
Aqua smiled. "That's a good idea! I get to explore a bunch of new and interesting worlds~! So, where are we going first?"
Azure spoke up. "Well, we could always go and look for Kid-sama . . ."
The blond teenager grimaced. "Or, we could leave him for a little bit. I'm sure he'll be fine. Melody? Where do you wanna go?"
The red brunette waited a moment before answering, seeming slightly paler than usual. "I, personally, would like to see where that boy Natsu came from. From what I've seen in his memories; the "mages" in his world are extremely skilled and powerful. I ask that you wait until tomorrow for that, however. I'm not in the best condition at the moment . . ."
Melody? Not feeling well? Did I hear that right? "Um . . . Are you okay?" Aqua asked, growing worried.
"Of course. It's nothing a night of meditation can't cure. It might just be an incoming vision or overwhelming of new energy . . ."
"If you say so . . ." Aqua looked at Azure, who seemed to be smiling dreamily over something. "So, Azure, where would you like to go that doesn't involve Kid-kun?"
She rolled her eyes. "Pfft . . . I'll go check out the blue hedgehog's world with you. I wanna see what other talking animals there are . . ."
Melody spoke again. "There are no Elemental Orbs there but I sense plenty of unknown energy there. The same unknown energy is also scattered across the lands. If I'm right, and I usually am, these sources are emitting from powerful artifacts called the "Chaos Emeralds"."
"Fine by me," Aqua replied, returning to the noisy kitchen. The sight of everyone getting along made her smile. Most people seemed to be done eating and were now conversing.
Melody walked in and moved to an empty seat, waiting for a moment of quiet to speak. Brady was the first to notice and elbowed Nikki - who was sitting beside him - in the arm. He noticed her expression and shut up. Eventually everyone got the message and quieted down.
"Through a short talk, we've decided to travel to your worlds one by one to search for the Elemental Orbs and other power sources we must keep away from the enemy. Before you ask, the groups are going one by one because the elements of our world often don't fare well with others in other universes. Multiple creatures on our beloved planet can also only be killed by magick or other means that only we know of.
"The first place is just north-west of here, past the city. The world belongs to Sonic and Knuckles so they as well as Aqua and Azure shall head off to search there. The rest may do whatever you like until they return and the next group is sent out."
Sonic and Knuckles got up and headed for the door, followed by Aqua and Azure. The group left the mansion and headed towards the city in the north-west, oblivious to what waited them.
Sonic: Damn you and your filler.
Aqua: Why didn't Kirby or Natsu eat this?
Natsu: It tastes bad.
Kirby: Puyo puyo. (Yoshichao gave me cake.)
L: Did someone perhaps mention cake?
GET OUT OF HERE L, YOU'RE DEAD.
L: *cute thoughtful face*
Okay you can stay. :) Cake is over thar.
Alex: So much for being dead.
OMG ALEX~!
Alex: Hello Aqua. How are you today?
Aqua: Pleasant. And you?
*unloved* ;_;
Alex: I'm rather upset I'm not "God" yet in this story. If I'm even in this story.
I'M TRYING BUT I CAN'T FIND A WAY TO ADD YOU! DX
Cody: Good. I didn't like the bastard anyways.
Alex: Hello demon. You're just jealous I'm God.
Cody: And you're just jealous I'm in this story.
Aqua: Actually, baby Cody-kun is in this story. Teenage Cody-kun is in the sequel.
Cody: I'm still in the story so HA, IN YOUR FACE ALEX!
(Insert epic demon vs. God fight with lots of blood and stuff)
Err . . . SEE YOU NEXT CHAPTER! KBAI. *goes to stop the fight*