Xargnio: ... Hello? Anyone? We're doing the disclaimer now, right?

Cast: HAPPY-

Axiern: Belated-

Cast: BIRTHDAY!

Xernuht: Wish you all the best, man! Wanna do the honours?

Xar: Duh! Xernuht owns the plot and the OC's. Square Enix and Disney own all the rest!

Xernuht: Okay, now, all together, guys!

Cast: LET'S ROCK!

Riding the Path to Twilight

Chapter 9

Race to Jenova Pt. 4: The Genesis Army vs. The Neo-Organization

Morning's light finally shone on the canyon systems of Radiant Garden, stirring the army of invading soldiers from their sleep. As they quickly rose, they immediately went to check their gear, clean their rifles, and chat before the coming battle. Even if they were all copies of the warrior Genesis Rhapsodos, they were all individually different, and they never let that go. Some off the soldiers were different, some being heavy weapons wielders, others being heavy-armoured CQC soldiers, and other faster mid-range shotgun-and-baton users, but they were all people.

After they all finished their checks and the battalion leaders gave the 'All Clear', the commander gave the order to march, and the three battalions began their march up through the canyons, each eventually shifting down a different path.

The commander, a mid-range veteran known as Copy 501, call-sign 'Enkidu', felt uneasy. The march remaining unhindered was nice, but it screamed "Hi, I'm a trap, and you fell for me!"

As the soldiers marched into a larger, very open part of the canyon, his worries subsided. As the battalions spilled out into the valley, one of the front-line scouts reported a single possible hostile: a man in a black robe.

"All units halt. Wait for my order to move ahead. Battalion leaders, if something happens to me, you're in control of your units only.", Enkidu said, and advanced to the potential hostile, hoping for a peaceful negotiation.

As he closed the distance, the robed man pulled his hood down, revealing a kind face and curly brown hair. As they finally met face to face, his hand extended to shake the commander's. Enkidu did just that.

"My name is Xernuht. I'd like you and your soldiers to go home, if you wouldn't mind."

"You may call me Enkidu, and I'd request that you and whatever forces the Restoration Committee may have return home until we retrieve what we seek."

"Let me guess: Force will be used if necessary?"

"Indeed."

"That's a shame. I'd hoped the commander to me more reasonable than his creator."

Enkidu chuckled a little. "Sorry to disappoint."

"Would you like to return to your units?" As the robed man asked this, he summoned a sword to his hand.

Enkidu merely shook his head.

Battle Theme: Get Over The Barrier ~Roaring Version~ from Legend of Heroes VII: Zero no Kiseki

The commander flipped his right hand up, swinging the baton in it at the man's head. As Xernuht backstepped, Enkidu raised the shotgun in his left hand and fired two shots.

The army that had stood back heard the twin reports of the shotgun, and the battalion leaders ordered a charge on the unknown enemy. The soldiers formed their lines and rushed forth.

As the thundering of boots filled the canyon, dark portals began appearing in a line in front of the rushing army, thirteen to be precise. Out of each stepped another black-robed person, each with their own weapon. A voice erupted through the valley as one of the new combatants spoke.

"I am Xonel, the Arcane Desperado, rank 2 in Neo-Organization XIV. Turn back, or this will be your declaration of war." Needless to say, they didn't stop. In a quieter voice, she said to her allies, "Pair up, divide and conquer. I'll wait for the Superior."

Vrilgix and Xancel immediately responded, firing off salutes, then ran into battle, causing the others to fall in behind.

"Knellax, with me!" Vrilgix called out, then leaped over the mainlines, followed by the redhead.

"Pheonix, we're pushing right through the frontlines! Follow up my attack!", Xancel said.

"Roger, and I'd like you to keep calling me Phen.", the girl beside him said. Her long brown hair fluttered out behind her as free as flowing water, contrasting Xancel's rigid hair perfectly, as she herself went airborne. Xancel skidded to a halt short of the advancing enemy, and slammed the edge of his icy sword into the ground. Immediately, giant icy spikes erupted from the ground, slamming soldiers left and right. The swordsman spun around, sweeping the burning falchion in his other hand in a wide arc, unleashing a spiralling lance of flames through the ice, ripping apart numerous Genesis copies as it evaporated the ice.

Above the swordsman, Phen took her bow and pulled it apart at the center, forming her twin swords. She then focused, summoning as much water as she could from the air, while still creating more with her own mana. The vapour from Xancel's first attacks pooled together with the moisture she'd created and collected elsewhere, and formed a giant falcon. As she dove down into the army, the falcon sped past her, slamming down on the soldiers with the force of a full cement truck as full speed. As she landed, she leaped into a group of soldiers and cut them down with a few simplistic slashes, then dashed back to Xancel, who had just left four warriors encased in ice.

Much further away, a heavy-weapons team attempted to fire at Xonel. There was no mistaking the whine of the RPG's as their deadly payloads rushed at the second-in-command's location.

If only a large stone wall hadn't appeared to take the hits. As the smoke cleared, the soldiers saw some words written on the wall: Look Up.

As if on cue, they looked up, and before any could respond, two 14-year-olds dropped into the middle of the group. One, male, wielding a halberd (Xargnio) cut down one of the soldiers, and the other, female, grabbed onto the other two's weapons and shoved them back. As they steadied themselves, they aimed their launchers at the two, and pulled the triggers. Xargnio pulled the girl close and summoned his shield as the launchers exploded, protecting them both from the shrapnel and gooey people bits.

"You sealed their bazookas?", he yelled. "Come on, Axiern, that's low."

"Oh, come on, we gotta win this, right?" she said to the boy. "Anyways, I'm leading with two now."

Xargnio smiled, memories of their past running through his brain. "Not for long."

Giant boulders flew through the enemy lines, courtesy of a hammer-wielding nobody named Nyndax. "Come on, this is no fun...", he said in a rather cold voice.

"I DUNNO 'BOUT THAT!", the battle-crazed Xela yelled. "THE NUMBERS GAME IS FUN!". Upon finishing that, his scythe splattered the blood of another two enemies, leaving more bodies lying on the ground around him.

"I'd rather duel a stronger enemy than an army." the earthshaker grumbled, slamming a poor copy through a few of his brethren.

"COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS, KIDDO! YAHOOOOOOOO!"

"Wander in frigid mist forever! Slumber in a frozen river! Rest in a glacial bed as you calmly cuddle your demise! Embrace End!", came the voice of Xamtt, as a large number of soldiers were encased or crushed by the sudden onslaught of falling ice. He immediately began spinning his discs, preparing his next spell.

"O merciless conflagration, burn the very souls of my enemies!"

Before his casting was going to finish, one of the CQC units aimed his shotgun at the caster, level with his head. If the copy hadn't waited to see the fear in Xamtt, he would have won their battle.

The axe in his back, however, took all chances he had of pulling the trigger away.

"Crimson Flare!", Xamtt cried, causing more soldiers to be engulfed in a torrent of fire from above.

"Watch your back, kid.", his partner told him. "You can't let the enemy get the drop on you."

"Fine, old man, geez.". Xamtt's silver disc knocked down another soldier.

"I have a name, kid.", he said as his axe flew into another soldier.

"I don't want lectures, Jeibux, I just wanna get this over with."

"Fine, kid. Let's get it done, then.

Vrilgix was a blur amongst the enemy combatants, his black sword flickering through soldiers left and right. Can't drag this out too long...

He turned to the side for a moment, checking on his teammate, Knellax. Sure enough, she was keeping up, ripping the foes apart with her twin claws. His eyes lingered a little too long on the contours of her body as she moved through the waves of Genesis copies. When he snapped back to reality, he almost ran into a CQC soldier. He quickly leaped up to the copy's head, snapping his head back violently with a backwards flip kick, and kept running and slashing. Some days, I wonder if we really don't have hearts...

He never really noticed her doing the same thing.

A pile of bodies was surrounding two of the robed warriors. One was holding a claymore, cutting down enemies with wide sweeps. The other smacked them down with his black-as-night staff.

"Does it worry you that we all wield such usual weaponry, Huntrex?", the staff-wielding warrior asked casually.

"Not really, Ryxed.", the sword user said, equally casual.

"It's just, it makes us seem predictable. Our abilities are too easy to judge."

"Slow your brain down, genius. Not everything's calculable."

Ryxed sighed. "True. A shame, that."

The bodies kept piling up.

"Done?", Xonel asked.

"Yeah... a shame, though. He seemed nice.". Xernuht swung his sword in a wide arc, and the blood that coated it slid off effortlessly.

"I'm sure a lot of these guys are, but they're still doing something wrong. They're planning to kill civilians if necessary, remember?"

"I know. Grrr... some days, a black-and-white situation would be nice. I hate these shades of grey."

Xonel patted the Superior on the back. "Come on. We've gotta rally our troops."

Xernuht smiled, feeling better. That's right. I've gotta protect my new family. " Okay then, Xonel...", he said, energy filling his voice as he summoned a shortsword with his left hand.

"LET'S ROCK!", they yelled as they charged into battle.

The three Remnants drove along a flat plateau, far away from the ensuing war. Vanitas and Genesis were riding with Loz and Yazoo, while Kadaj was at the front.

"Do you suppose our plan worked?", Yazoo asked no one in particular.

"Well-", Genesis was cut off as the ground and air around them erupted with magical bursts. All five of the men were forced off their mounts as they took many hits, and proceeded to detonate. Looking around, Vanitas quickly saw the source of the damage.

Seven keyblade masters, with weapons drawn, five in full armour, one in a suit like his own, and one in her new uniform, her pink hair blowing in the light breeze. The keyblade wielder in black and silver armour pointed his blade at them.

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that.", Sora said. He then charged at the confused dark warriors.

Xer: Of course, I leave my story here. I'm planning this to end in the next two chapters, give or take one.

Sora: WHAT? How could the story end in two chapters!

Lightning:*punches Sora in the head* This arc, moron.

Sora: Oh... oops. Owwwww...

Xer: My Blazblue story has also started, so check that out too! And do be kind enough to review!