Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. I do own this story, as well as McCallister, Corbin Franks, and the leader of the Fractured Circle. Just two more chapters after this one. We are nearing the end. Enjoy!
..:-X-:..
Chapter Ten: Wish
"You look beautiful, honey."
Kairi fidgeted with her earrings, turning to her mother, who looked on the verge of tears…again.
"Mom, please…" Kairi swallowed the ball of emotion in her own throat. "The wedding starts in an hour. We won't have time to fix your make up if you start crying again."
Her mother just lifted a tissue to her lips. "I can't help it." She hiccupped. "I'm allowed to be emotional at my only daughter's wedding."
Kairi smiled and faced the three angled mirrors again. Her dress was strapless and silvery white. A rich purple ribbon was tied around the waist. It was a simple gown, for a simple beach wedding. She was surprised Selphie wasn't bawling her eyes out about the lack of fountains and swans and whatever else the girl had had her in head for the past four months.
Now the big day was finally here.
"Tanner is a lucky man." Her mother was saying, adjusting the flowers on the bridal bouquet for the umpteenth time.
"Oh I think I'm the lucky one." Kairi grinned.
The dressing room door opened and Selphie entered with a flourish, her purple bridesmaid gown swishing around her knees. She clapped her hands and gasped.
"Kairi! You look so beautiful!" She sounded like she could burst into tears too.
"Thank you." Kairi said, amused by their typical behavior.
Selphie looked around. "People are coming in. Music is playing. Everybody is here and accounted for, and you are a goddess." She gestured to Kairi and winked. "Whaddaya say we get you hitched, huh?"
Her mother handed Kairi the bouquet and Kairi took them. The flowers were lush and loudly colored. The yellows and reds and blues strangely matched the purple and silver scheme of the wedding. She turned the bunch of them slightly in the early afternoon light of Destiny Islands. In a matter of an hour or two, she would be Mrs. Tanner Marcus.
The dressing table directly under the flowers caught her eye and she looked down. The bright yellowish orange of the star-shaped paopu fruit sat smiling up at her from the table. Kairi paused, reaching for the fruit and picking it up. Sharing the fruit with someone you really cared for, intertwining your destinies forever and eternity. A rueful smirk tugged at her lips.
It was a silly, child's story.
"Oh…what is that doing in here?" Selphie snatched it away. "Sorry. I know this isn't—I mean—" She threw the fruit out the window and smiled apologetically.
Kairi's mother blinked in confusion for a moment and then softened, stepping up beside her daughter and putting her hands on her shoulders.
"I know you thought So…you thought he'd be the one—"
"Mother." Kairi interrupted her. "I'm fine. I'm happy. I'm in love with Tanner. I'm finally happy, so please…just…not today, okay?"
Her mother sighed, "Of course, sweetie." She smiled and looked at the bouquet. "Happiest day of your life, right?"
"Exactly!" Selphie chirped.
Kairi smiled and inhaled deeply to calm her nerves. "I'm about to get married."
"And live happily ever after!" Selphie filled in dreamily.
Sometimes Kairi wondered how Selphie hadn't been one of the Princesses of Heart.
As her mother and Selphie concerned themselves over hair touch-ups and emergency make up blemishes, Kairi looked at the mirrors one last time and exhaled, glancing out the windows and onto the decorated beach.
The impassable walls had stayed true during the whole process. No Gummis or transmissions had arrived at the one Allied tower in the Destiny Islands mountains. No communications. No contact. No nothing. All that had come in was one text message, roughly a month after Kairi called Tabaeus McCallister to invite her to the wedding.
It was a picture message, with an icon of a paper crane and the simple words: "Congratulations. I'm sorry. My place is here. I wish you two the best. – TM".
Selphie and her mother were summarily distracted by some stray eyelash on her mother's right eye. Kairi glanced at them and reached into the drawer on the dresser, withdrawing a small, creased swath of paper. She opened it up and eyed it for a moment. It was one of Tabaeus's cranes. She had taken it from the office not long after the Massacre. It was the only one that didn't have a number.
With a hopeful sigh, she placed the paper crane in the mess of flower blossoms and petals. The music was growing louder on the beach. A warm bubble of joy and anticipation spread through her and she felt her palms start to sweat. Breathing deeply, she lifted her eyes from the bouquet and nodded to Selphie and her mother.
"I'm ready." She smiled.
Maybe Tabaeus could help Sora in a way that Kairi had failed.
She could only wish her friend the best.
The trio walked out into the main hallway and Kairi's father stood there, dressed up in a suit for once, and beaming at her widely. His smile spread impossibly wider as he looked his daughter up and down.
"You look like a princess, pumpkin." He said, offering his arm.
"You don't look so bad yourself." She giggled, taking his arm.
The party walked together toward the ceremony on the beach.
Happier days began now.
..:-X-:..
Roughly a dozen Gummi ships with the Allied seal emblazoned on their hulls were being prepared for launching from the hangar in Radiant Garden. Soldiers in uniform were arming up and climbing into the ships. Captains punched in coordinates and pilots took their stations.
The call had come in and the Council couldn't override it.
From Brigadier General Lockhart herself, seconded soon after by Major General Leonhart and King Mickey of Disney Castle. No matter how bizarre it sounded, the soldiers obediently prepared to be dispatched to Twilight Town, where apparently the General of the Alliance had gone rogue. The order was to arrest him and bring him in.
The skies were clear as the first three ships launched, and the remaining pilots exchanged uncertain looks. Shit had been stewing for a while, now it was out of the frying pan and into the fire, most of it hitting the fan along the way.
..:-X-:..
The black portal opened a block away from the entrance to the Twilight Town tunnels. The passersby yelped and jumped in surprise as the purple and black tendrils melted into existence. They were still reeling from this surprise when the General of the Alliance walked out of the black smoke.
"What is this?" The man who ran the nearby restaurant called out.
"Is that Sora?" A woman started.
The leader of the Fractured Circle was here. Sora could practically smell his evil scent. The black portal moaned openly behind him and Sora lifted his left hand. The Keyblade Oblivion flashed obediently into his fingers and he pressed the fingers of his right hand together.
"What is the meaning of all this?" Another man was yelling.
"Stopraga." Sora hissed, snapping his fingers.
The shockwave of the spell boomed outward in a rapid circle, overtaking most of downtown Twilight Town. The civilians froze in their footsteps. Lights flickered, and for the briefest of moments, the stars beyond the gloaming were visible.
Sora walked on, gait long as he stalked toward the tunnel ways. The paralyzed bodies around him could only watch as he passed, Keyblade in one hand, eyes leaking poison like a predator closing in on that ever elusive prey.
Elusive no longer.
..:-X-:..
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"Hm." He mused, watching the second hand on his wrist watch.
The tunnels were quiet enough to make the ears ring, and it was making him antsy. Now the clock had stopped. That was interesting…and more than a little unnerving.
Something echoed softly in the darkness of the tunnels ahead of him and he stood from his leaning position on the wall. Ah, it sounded like the little fly had come to face the arachnid without coercion. He turned in a slow circle, scoping out the other walkways that fed to his current location. Roughly 300 degrees into his swivel, his eyes landed on the lone figure standing in the middle of the corridor.
"General Keybearer." He smiled at the younger man's slightly startled face. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Sora's eyes took a full minute of silence to take in the disguise that the leader of the Fractured Circle was wearing. The blond hair, the unnaturally blue eyes, the physique: it was like a perfect clone of Cloud Strife. He eyed the Keybearer with that wry grin, lifting his hands and looking down at himself.
"Quite a piece, isn't it?" He said lightly.
Sora narrowed his eyes, Keyblade hanging from one hand.
"Not much of a conversationalist, are we?" The leader took a step sideways, clasping his hands behind his back. "Well, I guess it must be a bit of a shock."
The way Sora's face had paled at his visage and appearance: that was the reaction he had been hoping for from everyone else.
"Now, I know it would have been smarter to take on a new disguise, not linger so long on one image, but…" He held his arms out. "It doesn't get any better than this."
Sora scowled. "Why?"
"Ha." He chuckled at the anger and the aggression in the other's voice. "Why not? I couldn't very well keep using Corbin Franks. Although, he did serve his part wisely."
"As a scapegoat." Sora hissed.
"You say potato…" He lifted his shoulders and took a few more steps sideways, not any farther nor any closer to the Keybearer. "Anyway, there's something poetic about wearing a dead man's face." He lifted one fist and admired the swordsman's fingers. He cast a sideways smile to Sora. "It tends to get a lovely shock value around his friends."
Sora lifted the dark colored Keyblade in both hands, lips pursed. "Shut up."
"I wonder…" He went on, walking with slow strides to the open cargo box against the wall. "…what would happen if I—" He gestured to his appearance, "—went for a stroll through Radiant Garden? I can think of a few people whose heads I'd turn."
Sora's grip tightened on the Keyblade. He was getting to him.
"So you are a shapeshifter." Sora snarled.
"You don't sound impressed." He tilted his head, "For someone so compellingly anal about details, I would think you would have more appreciation for this. It is not a matter of just looking at a photo, snapping your fingers, and turning into someone else. It takes skill and practice to pull off something so…complex."
"I don't care what you are or who you really are." Sora glared hard at him. "I just want to kill you."
"Temper, temper." He took that final step closer, lowering his hand into the cargo box. "I'm starting to think those imbeciles in your Alliance are right: there really is something wrong with you."
His fingers closed around the handle of the sword in the box. He smiled.
"Let's open you up and see if we can find the problem."
Sora's eyes slid down to his hand in the box. A split second before the leader was able to draw his sword, the Keyblade was flying at his head. He lifted the sword out of the box and rolled sideways, away from the enemy weapon.
Shoulders hunched, Sora gripped the handle of the Keyblade as he rolled through the failed blow, spinning one heel to face the enemy. The muscle and the appearance were all artificial. Holding his own weapon aloft, the leader felt out of his element. He had never claimed to be a warrior, but this borrowed body had been built for battle. He didn't have the compact, trained moves or powers that the real Cloud Strife had possessed, but he could damn well mimic them enough to trick even his closest friends.
Unfortunately, Sora didn't have to mimic anything.
The Keybearer swung his own sword around in a quick circle. He back stepped to avoid the blow and lifted his sword to block the Keyblade. The impact was hard and solid, forcing him to take an off-balanced step backward. As he staggered from the contact, Sora drew back and lifted his leg. He planted one boot into the leader's chest, kicking him back against the wall.
The leader slammed into the brick and the wind was forced from his lungs. He could taste blood from where he'd bitten his lip. Lifting his sword, he feigned right and then swung the blade around to the left. Sora ducked and rolled to the side, coming up behind him. As he turned, Sora's fist smashed across his jaw, sending him reeling.
"Fire." He lifted a hand.
A blast of red flames shot out toward Sora. The spell ballooned in a wave of fire and heat. Sora blocked the magic with the Keyblade, deflecting the blast into one of the other tunnels. The wall exploded and several chunks of rubble and concrete collapsed to the floor. Steam hissed out of the Keyblade and Sora advanced on him.
"You're going to have to do better than that, you spineless mother fucker." He snarled.
This was not exactly going according to plan.
He regained his balance and assessed the situation.
"Come without your little whore?" He taunted. "That's a little independent of you."
Sora didn't respond, just brandished the blade and took a menacing step forward.
He slunk back in response and sneered. "You have a funny way of protecting the people you love: pushing them away, emotionally and physically. It's a wonder they haven't done away with you before now."
"Blizzaga." Sora yelled.
Ice curled out of his fist, spiraling across the floor and wrapping around the shapeshifter's legs, pinning him in place. He dropped his sword and wavered slightly. He chuckled as Sora advanced.
"Haven't done your homework, either." He chided. "Tsk, tsk. What kind of fighter are you? Going into battle half-cocked, with hardly any information about your enemy."
"You killed all those people. Cloud, Riku, the others. You tried to kill me, and you tried to kill Kairi." Sora snapped. "That's all the information I need."
He cackled loudly. "And that's why you've come to end me, eh?" He winced as the cold seeped through his pants and skin painfully. "A master of bullshit, you are."
Sora swung the Keyblade at his head and he leaned back instinctively. His center of gravity shifted backwards, putting pressure on his frozen legs. As Sora carried through with the blow and began to withdraw the Keyblade for another swing, the leader rolled forward, palm slapping against Sora's stomach.
"Thunder." He muttered.
Lightning branched out of his fingers and crawled across Sora's chest. The electricity lanced through his shoulders and down his arms. The spell found the artificial fingers of Sora's right hand and the electronic parts enhanced the electric current, burning the flesh around his knuckles. Sora snarled in pain and was pushed away from the leader with the spell.
Steam and the smell of burnt flesh rose off of the Keybearer and the two faced off again.
"Fire." The shapeshifter placed both hands on the ice around his knees, beginning to melt it.
Sora climbed back to his feet and summoned a Keyblade to each hand. Hate burned in his eyes and he lifted the two weapons. Some slack gave in the ice locking in the leader's legs and he wrenched free.
"Aeroga!" Sora called out.
A gust of cyclonic wind lashed away from his person, sweeping across the room and lifting the leader of the Fractured Circle off his feet, slinging him against the ceiling and letting him drop in a free fall to the floor 15 feet below. He landed with a crash and he spied his sword just a few feet away. Reaching out, he grasped the handle of it and drew a short dagger from his belt.
He looked up in time to see Sora summon Master Form in a flash of yellow light. He rolled to his feet agilely and raised the dagger first. The Keybearer swung Keyblade Oblivion at lightning speed, smashing the knife out of his hand and clattering to the floor. The second Keyblade, Fenrir, slashed across the air.
He managed to duck that, feeling the wind of it across his spiked hair, and drove his own sword forward. He felt the tip pierce flesh and knew he'd struck gold. Sora gasped and staggered, the blade sinking into the flesh of his left side, just above his hip. The shapeshifter leaned his weight into it and the sword continued forward, cutting out the back of Sora's torso.
Sora cursed and let himself fall backward, sword still thrust through his body. Before he could let go of the handle, the leader was pulled forward as well. Sora seemed to have planned this, and as soon as his back hit the ground, his knees came up, catching the shapeshifter in the stomach and throwing him over his head.
He flipped over the Keybearer, slamming into the floor head first. Stars danced through his vision and he couldn't stifle a cry of pain at the impact. They both rolled to their feet, but Sora rolled faster, a blur of yellow as he launched forward in a fresh attack, pure adrenaline blocking out the pain and the blood blossoming through his shirt.
The leader shrank back, trying to get closer to his sword before Sora reached him. He spat out a mouthful of blood, narrowing his eyes at the Keybearer.
"I've taken good care to maintain this fine packaging, and now you've gone and ruined it."
Sora didn't take his bait and physically hurtled the Keyblade at him. The blade spiraled though the air, directly aimed at his heart. He threw himself sideways toward his sword and rolled up to one knee beside the fallen blade. The Keyblade clattered across the concrete and disappeared in a flash. It reappeared a second later to its master's hand.
"For all your finger-pointing at me for being this big, bad, sinister villain, you are not the orange to my apple." He continued anyway. "Revenge, obsession, aggression: not exactly the traits of a pure soul the Keyblade of light would choose on its own."
Sora's jaw flexed furiously and static electricity crackled down the dual blades in his hands.
The leader snatched up his sword and felt at his belt with the other hand, feeling his fingers curl around the shaft of the light flare by his hip.
Sirens began to wail in the distance, outside their isolated battle in the tunnels.
"You're able to attack one of your past allies with such gusto." He pulled out the flare. "We're not that different, you and I."
"I'm nothing like you." Sora swung the Keyblade again.
He parried with his sword and pushed the General of the Alliance off of him.
"I'm not a murderer." Sora growled.
The leader tilted his head and smirked, snapping the flare open.
"Then why are you here?" He taunted softly.
Light engulfed the tunnels, blinding Sora and forcing him to lift an arm to shield his eyes. The shapeshifter's Mako-enhanced eyes just narrowed, however, and he charged forward, taking advantage of his opponent's misfortune.
..:-X-:..
Corbin Franks eyed the door to his interrogation chamber. It stood still and ajar, revealing part of the corridor beyond the room. The handcuff around his wrist clinked as he wriggled his arm. That giant mouse king had cast a quick Cura spell on him before dashing after the General and the crazy bitch Lockhart.
No one was guarding the door.
Gritting his teeth, he looked down at his hand, the broken and mangled bones hissing up at him. It hadn't started swelling yet. The cuff around that hand wasn't that tight. Grimacing, he coiled his elbow toward himself and began to pull the abused hand against the handcuff. Pain shot in ramrods up his arm and into his shoulder, but he bit down hard on his tongue to keep from making any noise. There might not be any guards immediately outside that door, but they would very well be around and within earshot.
This might be the only chance he got, and he was determined not to fuck it up.
It took an excruciating two minutes, but Franks managed to maneuver his wounded hand through the restrictive metal. With a sharp gasp, he stood out of the chair and staggered away from it. No alarms went up and no sirens sounded, so his escape attempt was still unnoticed. Taking some heart from the continuing silence, he limped across the room and slid through the open door.
The corridor outside the chamber was empty, but he could hear a loud commotion just outside the main room. Something big was happening in downtown Radiant Garden, and if all the authorities were there, then Corbin Franks was pointing his feet in the opposite direction.
Slinking across the room, he reached the emergency exit and gingerly pushed it open with his shoulder. The alleyway just outside was vacant and shadowed. He slipped out into the darkness and disappeared.
Several blocks away, the rest of the team assigned to arresting the General launched out of Radiant Garden.