Pete was having a bad day.
"Oof!" he grunted as the blonde woman delivered a kick to his chest that sent him straight into one of the columns of the castle.
A very bad day.
The woman giggled playfully, doing a few cartwheels as she approached him. Her bright green eyes were alight with pleasure as she delivered another stern kick to his ribs with her pointed boots, and then another huge one that sent him tumbling around the floor.
Pete struggled to his feet. Oh, why'd I pick this week to start that chili dog diet? He asked himself, cursing his rotund body. This woman was picking him apart with her agility. Still, it was his duty to protect the castle, and he balled one of his hands into a burly fist and swung hard at her. Giggling, she leapt over him and delivered a few shots to his kidneys. Roaring, Pete swung his arm around trying to clothesline her, but she simply stepped ahead of it and kicked him in the spine, sending him rolling forward.
"It's been fun, buddy, really," she said with sincere affection. Not sincere enough she wasn't beating the cat up, but it certainly sounded that way. She drew several daggers, her body charging with lightning like a rod, "But I'm gonna have to end this here," she grinned. It was a terrifying smile to Pete. Not that he hadn't taken pleasure doing some nasty things in his lifetime. But the way she looked so innocent about it, like it was a stroll along the beach or eating some ice cream, was what unnerved him most.
But I've still got a trick or two left, Pete grumbled in his mind, and with a wave of his hand summoned some Shadows to protect him. Before even a couple of them leapt at the blonde woman, she had vaporized them with her powerful lightning charge. Pete tried again, but she just threw her kunai at them, a perfect shot directly in the heart with a single dart per Heartless. Pete gulped visibly, Okay, maybe not as many tricks as I thought.
That's when a dark portal opened behind her, a hooded figure coming out, "Larxene, why are you wasting your energy destroying Heartless? You could take command of them away from this peon."
Pete narrowed his eyes, thinking. The voice…he's the one who fought Maleficient…what was his name…
"Oh calm down," Larxene said, placating him, "You're gonna spoil all my fun."
Pete might have been a pushover, but taking the distraction he reached into a pouch at his side, pulling out a few smoke bombs, and tossed them between him and the Nobodies. They didn't even have time to react as the flashbang caught them both off guard, coughing and choking on the smoke. Pete made an easy decision, He who fights and runs away doesn't have to die today.
When the smoke cleared he was nowhere to be seen. Larxene growled, glaring at the uninvited guest, "Look what you made me do!" she said, sparks of electricity dancing around her body in rage.
"Calm down," the figure said, removing his hood and revealing a cross shaped scar and pointed ears hidden in his blue hair, "There's just one of him. We'll run into him sooner or later."
"Yeah but what if someone else does him in? What fun is that?" she pouted.
"You're pathetic," he answered quite matter-of-factly, turning and walking up the corridor. He narrowly dodged a stream of lightning fired from Larxene's hand, flipping around just in time to see her kunai flying straight at him, one managing to fly right through his hair, cutting some it. He simply glared at her and went on his way.
Larxene for her part huffed, dashing at top speed in the opposite direction, hoping to find Pete for herself.
Pete was running as fast as his tubby body could carry him, I think I just used eight of my nine lives, he panicked in his mind, trying to remember the quickest route to Maleficent's chamber. The World That Never Was was the last stop in the Realm Between: just one foot closer to the Realm of Darkness and you'd be caught forever. Metaphorically speaking of course. Magic wasn't Pete's strong suit, even though he had some talent in it. But he didn't trust himself to use the dark corridors navigate the castle. He'd have to do it on foot.
Gotta find Maleficent, gotta warn her about the Nobodies, he dutifully told himself. As he turned a corner, he skidded to a stop, seeing an Organization member in his way, and tried to hide behind the wall.
"I know you're there," came the cocky voice, "Come on out and I can make it painless."
Pete gulped, and stepped into the open. He didn't recognize this one, either. She was tall. Really tall, in fact! Pete watched as a pink petal floated down into her hand, and an enormous pink and green scythe appeared, which she brandished readily, "Good boy."
"Jee, miss, are ya feelin sick? I wouldn't wanna fight you when you're not at your best, you don't sound so great," he said, trying his best to sound confident.
The Nobody got red in the face, dropping her weapon to her side and screaming, "I'm a man, you idiot!"
Pete narrowed his eyes, leaning in close, then waved his hands dismissively, "Naaaawwww." Then, catching a glimpse maybe he was wrong, he leaned forward again, peering closely at the Nobody, "Naaaawwww."
The Nobody clenched…it's….fists, "That's it. No mercy."
A flurry of petals and a huge gust of wind caused Pete to stumble back a bit. Before he knew it three quick slashes of the scythe left him on the ground in a heap of agony, "Aaaagh!"
Just before the fourth, and Pete assumed killing blow, could land, however, a wall of green flame cut him off from the battle, as Maleficent appeared. "Pete! Get up!"
Pete struggled to his feet, clenching his fists in determination and pain, "Ma..Maleficent? How-?"
"Fool, you think I didn't notice my own castle being invaded?"
The Nobody leveled his scythe at Maleficent, "You're just squatters. We're reclaiming our rightful kingdom."
As he spoke, Pete cringed at the sound of giggling, as a huge bolt of lightning shot out from the side corridor and struck Maleficent. It was the one from before, Larxene.
Another Nobody appeared behind them, this one wielding a huge tomahawk. Pete turned to face him, and ran at him, his reflexes managing to catch the weapon between his hands. Pete snickered to himself, Ha! Finally! I really can take these guys on, after all! Yeah, I just needed a level playing field, brute force on brute… Pete lost his train of thought when he realized the Nobody was using only one hand to wield to his weapon, while he needed both to keep it deadlocked. The Nobody's free hand balled into a fist and slugged Pete in the face, sending him flying back.
Maleficent finally seemed to think she was outclassed, looking worriedly between her three opponents. Placing a hand on the fallen Pete's shoulder, she glowered at them, "Don't think you've won this castle so easily." And with a wave of her staff, she and Pete shimmered and vanished.
"You honestly couldn't destroy her?" a voice asked. The three turned to see Xigbar, only he wasn't Xigbar anymore, he was Braig. A Braig with dark skin, and white hair. On the outside, he was like Braig, but on the inside, he was already Xehanort. A Vessel.
Larxene waved her hand dismissively, "Oh what harm can she do, she's-ah!" Larxene dropped to her knees, body writhing in pain. Marluxia tried to hide his distaste. Her twisting form was leaking Dark energy, as if she was being ripped open by it, the gaping holes into the void opening across her body like maws of death. Xehanort's hand was raised, his fingers slowly closing like a claw into a fist. Larxene tried to fight back any more undignified sounds, but eventually her voice cracked as she started screaming, her body giving in to throws of agony, slamming her head against the floor with sickening thuds in an attempt to deaden her senses.
Deciding his point was made, Xehanort released her, "Maleficent has had full run of this castle for nearly a year. There's no telling what she knows. What if she joins forces with Yen Sid's army again?" Larxene only panted, hand over her chest as the "wounds" sealed up, gritting her teeth and glaring at him through watery eyes. Xehanort turned to Lexaeus, "See to it that there aren't any more surprise visitors."
Lexaeus nodded, heading up a nearby stairway.
"Marluxia," the Braig form of Xehanort said, "I need you to head to Wonderland. Take this one with you," he nodded his head at the still panting Larxene, her body aching so badly she dared not move from the undignified position he left her in.
"Of course," Marluxia answered curtly.
After he had left, Larxene gritted her teeth, "I'm going to kill him, one day." A fresh flow of tears dropped down her cheeks from the effort of moving her jaw.
Marluxia sighed, "It's our fate to become like him. You remember what he told us about Xion. We either absorb our true selves, or wither into nothing."
Larxene's eyes said she wanted to snap at him, but she said nothing, probably not assuming the pain would be worth it.
"When you're better, come find me," Marluxia said, continuing in the direction he had been headed before the interruption.
Riku and Ventus stepped out onto the Radiant Garden. Ventus looked around as Riku sat down for a bit, looking a bit tired, "Wow, it looks…injured, from the last time I was here."
"A lot's happened since you've been asleep," Riku said absent-mindedly, stretching his shoulder. "This place was the domain of the Heartless for nine years."
"The Heartless," Ventus murmured as he looked for familiar landmarks, "Aqua told me about those." Ventus looked unsure for a moment, then turned to Riku, "Riku, I've been wondering…"
"Yeah?"
Ventus wet his lips, "That blindfold…and your hair…I recognize it. I recognize you. Why do I recognize you?"
Riku tilted his head, "I'm…not sure. Well, I have a guess, but," Riku put his hand to his chin in thought, "I was under the impression Roxas would remain in Sora. So you shouldn't possess his memories."
"That was Sora's…what's it…his Nobody?" Ventus asked sheepishly.
"That's right."
Ventus scratched his head, "Yeah, kind of hard to get caught up on 13 years of bad guys and keyblade users."
Riku smiled, "You're doing remarkably well."
"Thanks," Ventus blushed, "So, about Roxas?"
Riku paused, laying back against the wall he was up against, averting his gaze, even though Ventus couldn't see his eyes through the blindfold anyway, "It's…difficult to talk about. I'm rather…ashamed of what I did back then."
Ventus kneeled down, "You guys fought, didn't you?"
"That's right." Riku didn't speak for almost a minute. A soft breeze blew through the alleyway, as if turning the scene back on, "But it was more than that. It was my job…to be Ansem's enforcer. Namine was the one who convinced him to let us…" Riku ground his teeth a few times, before settling on the right words, "to let us destroy him. But I was the one who had to make sure it happened."
Ventus sat silently, unsure of how to answer.
Riku continued, "I remember, Roxas leaving the Organization. I bargained with Ansem that as long as he wasn't around Xemnas, he wasn't a threat. He agreed. When that ceased being the case…"
"The video tower," Ventus said automatically, staring off into space past Riku.
Riku turned to face him now, "Yes, and-"
"And the rain," Ventus continued, "And the Oblivion, and the Oathkeeper. And the crushing Darkness…" Ventus' mouth moved a few more silent words as his voice trailed off.
"You really do remember," Riku sat amazed. He reached out a hand to Ventus' shoulder, but the blonde boy instinctively pulled away, a look of horror and anger on his face. Riku held his hand up, "Ventus…I am sorry. I really didn't want to. It was necessary. I tried to find ways out…" he bit his lip, hanging his head.
Ventus got up, pacing around. Riku wanted to say something but didn't feel anything he could say would be worth it. Eventually, Ventus put his hands on his hips, shaking his head, "That's why you gave me the box, isn't it? With the picture, and the…no," Ventus closed his eyes as a headache overtook him, cradling his forehead in his palm.
Riku now became truly suspicious, "I…Yes, that's why I preserved Roxas' memory. But…I gave those to Sora."
Ventus looked up, but still refused to face Riku, "I –know- that that's wrong."
Riku removed his blindfold, his eyes an orange color again after the trip. He couldn't sense Ventus with his Darkness senses. Ventus didn't emit a single spec of it. But something was wrong, "How much of Sora did you take with you?" he whispered to no one in particular.
Before the pair could continue their conversation, several creatures materialized around them, enormous, emblazoned with the symbol Lea had described, the heart with two axes.
"Unversed!" Ventus cried, summoning forth a keyblade. Riku drew forth Road to Dawn, eyeing down the creatures. Several of them were winged, and swooped down at the pair. Ventus leaped on the wall, using it to vault upward and slash at two of the creatures, destroying them. Riku watched with amazement as Ventus seemed to anticipate everything about the Unversed's attacks. Not wanting to feel useless, Riku charged one of the giant ones, some fist brawler who swung so hard the ground shook when it missed him. Focusing on his keyblade, Riku manifested an orb of Light at the tip, and swinging down, it exploded in a flash when it impacted the Unversed, destroying it completely. Angling Road to Dawn upward, a stream of mixed Light and Darkness projected from the tip, piercing one of the flying ones and destroying it also.
"Over here!" a light feminine voice called from the walkway above them. Riku looked up but his gaze was caught halfway up by the spinning form of Yuffie, who landed directly in front of him, springing to her feet and saluting cutely, "Yo!"
"Yuffie!" Riku blurted out.
"Yup, and…who's this?" she said, spinning around, looking Ventus in the face. "Did Sora dye his hair?"
"No, I'm Ven!" he said, pointing to himself conclusively.
"Huh, another keyblade?" she asked examining his weapon.
"Oh! Wayward Wind, yeah!" Ven said, holding up his blade.
Yuffie wiggled her eyebrows, "Looks kinda dumpy."
"Hey!"
Riku chuckled as the two argued over what a proper weapon should look like.
"So, what are you guys doing here?"
Riku placed his bindfold back on his eyes, "We're here about the Unversed."
"Ah so you know about them!"
"Did Lea tell you?" Ven asked.
Yuffie shook her head, "No, some guy in a black coat. He was awfully helpful. Told us all about them. I thought they were nothing but trouble," she shrugged helplessly, "Guess they aren't all bad."
Riku looked concerned, Lea's friend, maybe?
Yuffie seemed to be oblivious to it, "Well, either way, I'm glad you two are here!"
Some patrollers finally caught up with Yuffie, lacking her agility and having to run around the cobblestone roads. She turned to them, "Riku! Ven! I'm officially deputizing you!" she nodded with complete sincerity.
"Yeah!" Ven held his fist up with enthusiasm.
"Right! Off to the command center! Squall will want to know you're both here!"
Ven nodded and ran off, of course as soon as he reached a fork in the road he looked around confused, then finally to Yuffie, "Uh, which way?"
Riku shook his head, suppressing a smile and following Yuffie to Squall's headquarters.
