Chapter 11
"Are you comfortable doing this?"
"To be honest, I'm not."
"I'll take him alone, then. You don't have to go in there if you don't want to."
Aerith shook her head. She sat along the steps leading up to the Accessory Shop while Zack leaned against a nearby signpost. Both waited for Axel to emerge from the shop so they could get their battle strategy against the Noventa Cannon underway. "No, that's alright," Aerith said. "I've been avoiding it for too long now. Besides, if you're there with me, we can endure the pain together."
Zack paused to cross his arms and shift his weight. "Yeah, okay." He looked out into the deserted streets and scanned the emptied tables within the nearby open-area café, wondering if the chef finished stewing the night's specialty soup before he ran for his life. After the fight, Zack planned to go grab a bowl. For the main course, he thought about treating himself to a juicy steak fresh off the grill; no one served filet mignon like the guys in Traverse Town. The chef did remember to close the fridge before evacuating, didn't he? If not, all the ice cream would melt and that'd ruin any plans for dessert.
"Are you okay, Zack?"
"Huh?"
"Your tone…it's so detached—almost emotionless."
Zack blinked his disinterested eyes, and then, as if struck by lightning, he jolted away from the signpost and sprang back to life with an exaggerated chuckle. "Me, emotionless? That's ridiculous! It's just the stress," he assured her with a quick grin. "It's not every day we're staring down the barrel of the Noventa Cannon. Hard to cope, you know?"
Aerith took a moment to consider his words, knowing instinctively that something troubled him. She studied him for a moment, taking the time to really look at him now that they were alone together. It had been a long time since she last saw Zack; months passed since his last delivery of gummi blocks and supplies to the Traverse Town base, yet his outward appearance didn't much change. He seemed as energetic and gung-ho as always, though whenever he stood idle without conversation or activity to occupy his attention, his face went blank—a trait she noticed in him only in recent years when he first established his strict dress code.
Ever since he donned that dark indigo uniform, he never seemed to part with it. She remembered the day she first saw him wearing it: he had returned from an unannounced journey to the edge of the Core Cluster after disappearing without a word for many months and leaving Aerith and the others to fear for the worst. That was the day she knew something had changed within him. He returned to Traverse Town with shaggier hair, a scarred face, and with as many blades as he could strap to his new uniform. When Aerith first saw him again, she noticed his pale, worn complexion and it brought her to tears when she looked into his hollow eyes.
Something terrible happened to Zack, she knew, but no matter how many times she pressed him for answers, he would only offer her an empty smile and assure her that there was nothing to worry about. But his blatant lies only served to drive a wedge between the two friends. Every time he smiled or laughed, Aerith felt an awful sadness puncture her heart as though she had lost her closest friend. None of that outward joy he presented came close to matching the memories she held of his earlier smiles and laughter, which used to swell up inside of him and flow out with such ease. Now, it seemed as though he was trying too hard.
Whatever happened to Zack on that journey either hardened his heart or warped it beyond recognition, because he ceased being the Zack she grew so fond of in the past.
"You know you can always talk to me, Zack," Aerith said in a gentle voice. "I don't get to see you much anymore since you've taken that job for Cid, but you're still a dear friend and I'm here for you. So please…don't keep everything inside anymore."
"Thanks, Aerith. But really—I'm fine." He smiled again using that same smile that fooled everyone except her.
Aerith opened her mouth to reply, but she gasped instead when a puddle of darkness flooded in and swelled along the ground. Within seconds, dozens of Heartless sprang from out of the shadows. Sensing the Keyblade nearby, they hobbled towards the shop with their claws at the ready to break into the place. But instead of meeting the wooden door, their claws clanked against metal as Zack parried the shadows with his two backswords. He twirled the blades in his hands and sliced clean through the first wave of Heartless.
When the next wave jumped to ambush him from behind, he spun on heel and swung his swords to knock back the airborne terrors. Without missing a beat, he tossed his swords high into the air and quickly drew the two daggers from his belt to flick at the remaining shadows still at a distance. They dispersed into wisps of darkness while the backswords twirled in midair and nosedived back into their scabbards without a hitch.
The Heartless forces fell thin, but reinforcements soon arrived in the form of the tougher Neoshadows and pirates. Unsheathing the two broadswords at his sides, Zack charged into action and met the pirate cutlasses head-on. Sparks went flying as metal met metal. Zack's expert form kept the Heartless on their toes as he pushed them farther from Aerith and the shop. A Neoshadow came up to claw him from behind, but he jerked around and slashed it in midair with one sword while the other sword skewered two pirates.
More Neoshadows pooled in and lunged at Zack. They fell upon him like a pack of wild animals with their frenzied claws tearing into the tough fabric of his uniform. He could do little to strike at the creatures as they batted his swords out of his grip. When the pile of feral shadows forced him to the ground, he struggled to maneuver his tangled arms towards one of the four hunting knives strapped to either side of his survival vest. The Heartless dug their claws deep into his shoulder blades, but regardless of the pain surging down his arms, he worked his hands closer to his chest until his twitching fingers wrapped around the handle of a knife. In one fell motion, he clenched the handle and tugged the knife out to cut the nearest Neoshadow. But the Heartless weighed down his arms and prevented the jagged blade from causing damage.
As Zack struggled to free himself from the mob, Aerith stood her ground dead in front of the door to bar any shadows from getting too close to the shop. She had paused for a long while with her hands clapped together and her head tilted down in prayer. While chanting an incantation in her mind, a spark of light emanated from her clasped hands until it forced them apart to give way to a long, metal rod. With rod in hand, Aerith twirled it above her head to conjure a helpful spell. Golden streaks of light shot out of the rod and homed in on Zack as Aerith cast Protect to buff the soldier's defenses and minimize damage.
The shadowy claws bounced off the new, hard-as-rock aura surrounding Zack. Taking advantage of his stunned foes, Zack bounced to his feet and yanked a second knife from his vest before charging in to disperse the shadows with his skilled tactics in close quarters combat. Another beam of light hit the soldier, this time granting him the spell Haste. Glowing with a red aura, Zack's movements sped up enough to leave an afterimage. He ran circles around the remaining Heartless, sheathing his knives and pulling out his backswords to finish the job.
When the field was purged of the menacing shadows, Zack collapsed to one knee while clutching at his injured shoulders. His swords clanged to the ground as he hugged his aching frame with gritted teeth. But the pain tapered off until it disappeared altogether when Aerith cast her final spell. She conjured Curaga to fully heal his injures before rushing to his side.
"Are you alright?" she asked, helping Zack to his feet.
"Sure am," he said with a victorious grin. "Thanks for the support."
"It was nothing." Aerith watched as Zack sheathed his swords and turned to walk towards his wayward daggers and broadswords lying near the steps. "Your technique has changed so much over the years…"
Zack bent over to retrieve his weapons. "Yeah."
"Zack…what's happened to you? I know this isn't the right time or place for such a conversation, but I worry about you."
With his back to her, Zack gripped his blades without a response.
"At least tell me why you stopped wielding the Buster Sword!" Aerith pressed in frustration. "It was always attached to you like a spare limb!"
There was a pause. "I've told you before: it's gone now. That's all there is to it." He sheathed his weapons.
"Zack…"
When Zack turned around, he did so with a smile. "Aerith, just relax," he chuckled. "Forget about that; we've got more important things to deal with. But you know what? Now that I think about it, there's no reason for me to be stressed. Sora'll pull through for us and then we'll throw a nice, big victory party! Maybe I can convince the chef at the café to give us some free steak and ice cream, and I'm sure the duck brothers have some fireworks to spare. It'll be fun!" He let out another hearty laugh, this time clutching at his gut like Santa Claus. Aerith wrinkled her forehead at the sight. There was no way to get through to him; as in the past, he didn't want to discuss it with her.
Even if Aerith wanted to pursue the matter, Axel's arrival prevented any further conversation. He paced out of the shop with a rigid expression tightening across his face and two tightly clenched fists concealed within his pockets.
"You sure took your time," Zack noted. "Finished coaching Sora?"
"Zip it and let's go," Axel snapped as he continued walking.
With a nod, Zack signaled to Aerith and the two led the way to the hotel via the back alley. They arrived at their destination without alerting the Heartless, though when they approached the target door, Aerith froze in place. In light of Zack's awkward behavior, Leon's frustration, and Cid's nervous breakdown, visiting the Blue Room was like taking on the emotional turmoil of a friend who couldn't make it to share his pain with her in person. Holding the keycard in her hand, Aerith hesitated not sure anymore if her heart could handle the pressure.
"What's the hold up?" Axel growled.
"Why don't you go back now?" Zack suggested to Aerith. "I can handle it from here." He gave his hand to her for the keycard, but instead of placing it in his hands, Aerith slipped it into the lock and opened the door herself.
"Like I said: it's been too long. What's a little more emotional strife in my day?" Zack wanted to reply, but he never got the chance as Aerith stepped to the side to allow Axel entry. "I think you'll find what you need in the closet," Aerith said before following him inside.
"No kidding," Axel remarked as he pulled out a few dark blue costumes and robes fitted with tattered capes. "Even the Lord of the Dead doesn't have duds like these! You're telling me one of you guys actually wears this stuff?"
No one answered. Aerith's attention was too distracted by the untouched bed and various knickknacks on the shelves to hear Axel while Zack chose not to comment.
"Heh, I bet this is Leon's closet."
"What makes you say that?" Zack asked.
"Only someone with a serious mood problem like his would ever be caught dead in this getup," Axel said, holding up a black leather one-piece costume adorned with various belts and buckles.
"Actually, they belong to a friend of ours who left them behind."
"I can't blame him." Axel hung the costume back into the closet, wrestling with the belts all the way. "He went out in public dressed in this straightjacket? Look at all these belts and buckles! Zippers are the way to go—didn't you people get the memo?"
Aerith put down a picture frame she had taken from the nearby shelf and let out a shaky sigh.
"Aerith, are you…?" Zack stepped closer to her.
"I'll be fine," she assured him. But she was lying; he could tell.
"Why don't you go check on Sora?" Zack suggested. "He'll need some last-minute first aid tips from the best medic on the team."
"Maybe you're right…" Without looking at Zack, she walked to the door. "Please excuse me." The door closed softly behind her.
"What's her deal?" Axel asked while unzipping his red vest and tossing off his white t-shirt. After scouring through the whole closet, he was fortunate enough to find something that resembled his old wardrobe—even if he had to take bits and pieces from various costumes to complete the look.
Zack rubbed the back of his head. "Well, we haven't seen our friend in a long time and it's not the easiest thing for her to be in his old room."
"The gothic guy whose clothes I'm wearing?"
"His name is Cloud and he didn't always cater his dress towards the darkness."
"Is that right?" Axel grunted as he toiled away to strap on all those accursed belts.
"Yeah." Zack leaned against the wall with his arms folded across his chest as he eyed the picture on he shelf. "We were all such good friends back then—all of us so full of light and hope." He stared at the picture for just a while longer and then turned his attention to Axel. "But Cloud's light was taken from him. He was never the same after that, and one night, he snuck out of the hotel and disappeared without a word. We haven't seen him since."
"Tough." With a flick of his wrists, Axel flipped on a leather hood to conceal his red hair. But unlike his old cloak, it didn't reach far enough to hide his face, so he improvised by using a black bandana to mask his mouth and fastening a couple of black belts to cover most of the remaining exposed skin. "I look like DiZ if he were part of the Organization," he muttered while giving himself the once-over in the mirror. "Oh well; it should do the trick. Let's go." He started for the door but caught sight of Zack staring at him. "What? Am I so menacing that you're stunned and speechless?"
"No…it's not that," Zack replied with a shake of his head. He unfolded his arms and approached Axel. "There's one more thing you need." Grabbing one of Axel's arms, Zack strapped a small watch onto his wrist. "Cid asked me to give this to you. When it beeps, that's the signal to let Sora escape into the ship."
"Escape, huh…?"
"Yup. We're running on a tight schedule here, so every second counts." Zack slapped his pal amiably on the back. "Good luck out there, huh?" He gave Axel an encouraging thumbs-up and then moseyed out of the room. All the while, Axel did nothing except stare at the ticking watch with a sense of loathing.
Back in the Accessory Shop's underground meeting room, Sora sat drumming his anxious fingers against the table when Aerith opened the door. "Hello, again."
"Oh, it's you…umm…"
"That's right; we weren't properly introduced. My name is Aerith."
"Ah, okay. I'm Sora."
"So I've gathered," Aerith said as she approached the table while carrying a small parcel. She set it down in front of Sora and opened it. "I've brought you some potions that may come in handy during the upcoming battle."
"Wow, thanks! I would've bought some from the ducks next door, but I don't have any munny." He picked up two potions and a mega-potion, and slipped them into his pockets.
"Use them wisely, Sora. Now go; you must hurry before it's too late."
"Right. I've got a job to do." Sora summoned the Keyblade while Aerith watched in awe as the legendary blade materialized in its wielder's grasp within a burst of white light. "Is Axel ready?"
"He should be."
"The fight's taking place near the belfry, right?"
"Yes; in the Second District. Just walk past the large doors behind the shop. The entrance is right next to the bank, so you can't miss it."
"Okay then." Resting his Keyblade onto his shoulder, Sora made his way to the door. "Here I go."
"Good luck, Sora."
The Keybearer let out a deep breath before bolting out the door and dashing towards the battleground for the face-off against one of his most powerful friends. As he ran up the steps and past the district's double doors, his mouth went dry as he thought more about fighting Axel. "It's okay; it's just a pretend fight," he assured himself. "Axel and I won't get too hurt, and I'm sure he'll go easy on me. There's no need to worry; I can do this!"
After psyching himself up, Sora jumped off the upper level of the Second District and landed smack in front of Smee with his Keyblade at the ready.
"Well if it isn't the cowardly Keybearer!" chortled the portly pirate. "Back to take your lumps like a man, are you?" He stuck two sausage-shaped fingers into his mouth and whistled to signal his troops. A mob of pirates appeared with their Jolly Roger Heartless captain at the lead, and Smee took up his anchor once more to finish the fight. Another battle broke out between Sora and the pirates while the field awaited Axel's debut.
Meanwhile, Donald and Goofy wandered along the rooftops of the Second District on a quest to find Leon and the others. They had departed from the garage just moments before Cid led the charge to start the Gummi Ship preparations, and hence missed them by mere minutes. After backtracking to the Third District base only to find it empty, they drifted into the Second to continue their search and thought it best to climb to the highest point in order to get a bird's eye view of the place.
"Gawrsh, Donald! You don't think they up and ran for their lives without us, do you?" Goofy fretted.
"Of course not!" Donald exclaimed. "They've gotta be around here somewhere. Keep looking!"
They walked across roof after roof oblivious of the fighting in the plaza until a stray bullet fired by Smee seared past Donald as he prepared to leap onto the next building. The magician yelped and jerked back to look up at his buddy with fearful uncertainty. "What the heck was that?"
Goofy eased his way towards the edge of the roof and looked down at the plaza to see Sora and the pirates fighting. But when a glint of silver and gold caught his attention, he squinted his eyes and gasped. "Donald, look! Look there!"
"Huh?" Donald leaned forward to see what all the hullabaloo was about, and almost jumped out of his feathers.
"It's the Key!" the King's men exclaimed in unison as their awestruck eyes trailed Sora's every move. They found their mission objective.
"Hurry up and ignite those thrusters!" Cid ordered while he hauled his toolbox over to Zack's ship.
"I'm going as fast as I can!" Yuffie said while frantically typing at a command monitor. "We're talking about two thousand ships here!"
"Don't whine unless it makes you type faster. Now what of the shields?"
"Taken care of," Leon called from his post. "I'm now working on the automated weapons system."
"Good, good. You kids keep that up while I program the main bird." Cid tucked a computer pad into the tan belly warmer around his abdomen and boarded the ship.
Upon the moment of their arrival into the central garage, the freedom fighters wasted no time in rushing to the appropriate stations in order to ready their fleet of decoys. The whole complex was divided into a control room; a main garage for working on big projects; ten smaller garages for maintenance purposes; and four hangars which housed five hundred ships each. By luck, Cid had ordered his moogle engineers to move Zack's ship into the main garage for maintenance instead of doing it by the book and sticking it in one of the smaller ones; therefore he and the others could operate within close proximity of each other.
The central garage allowed for instant access to all of the hangars via four control centers that were linked up with the central hub operating within the control room. Cid designed them in order to allow for easy access to other ships while tinkering around with his latest project; it gave him a way to access blueprints, schematics, and real-time controls within walking distance of his workspace. Yuffie and Leon armed and prepared all their ships for launch using the control centers while Cid worked to configure the warp-equipped ship's autopilot.
"I don't like this," Cid muttered as sweat dripped from the side of his head. "If only I had more time…dagnabbit!" He attached his computer pad to the ship's main hub and ran his fingers fluidly across the touchscreen. After inputting all the necessary commands, his eyes drifted around the cockpit as he waited for the new program to upload into the onboard system. The leather captain's seat was discolored from wear and time; the markings along the various buttons and keypads indicating their functions were grated and illegible from constant use; paint and silicone peeled from the cabin's frame, while some patches were stuck back in place with tape and glue; the outdated GPS monitor flickered in hummed betraying its age. The ship was a relic compared to Cid's newest designs, but Zack cherished it all the same. He never piloted another ship; even when Cid offered to build him a better, more advanced one, Zack declined the offer and instead asked for upgrades to the same model.
One last look around the cockpit and Cid caught a glimpse of a worn, ragged corner of paper peeking discreetly from between a crack in the overhead panel. He tugged at the paper with his thumb and finger to reveal an old, faded photograph of a man and boy posing for the camera. The boy—Zack at a young age—sat atop the man's shoulders, sporting a broad, toothy smile while hugging the man's head; the smirking man had his eyes rolled up to glance at Zack as he secured the boy's legs in place. At the edge of the picture, a large, unblemished sword leaned against the nearby building.
"If only I had more time," Cid muttered again as he pocketed the photograph and checked the status of his computer pad. With all systems green, he unplugged the pad and stuck it back into his belly warmer. Grabbing his toolbox, he made his way to the rear where he opened the maintenance hatch. After using an assortment of tools to reconfigure the internal structure, he wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand and headed out the ramp. "Hey! Get your pompoms in here!" he hollered at the moogles waiting on standby. With a chorus of "kupos", they flapped their wings and flew up the ramp while carrying a large disk-shaped platform.
"Where do you want it, kupo?" asked the lead moogle.
Cid tossed his thumb towards the open panel. "The rear."
With another round of "kupos", the moogles set the disk near the panel and then grabbed their own tools to help Cid install it into the ship's mainframe. After soldering several wires into place and fitting in a couple of microchips, Cid dismissed the moogles. He attached his computer pad to the disk, and once he ran several diagnostic checks, he installed new software and programmed it with his personal settings. His work done, Cid disconnected the pad and exited the vessel.
"What's the status, kids?" he asked. "We ready to roll or what?"
"All systems are a go on my end!" Yuffie called. "Thrusters are ignited and AIs are set to fly! Heheh, I even programmed squad delta with a special maneuver that's sure to catch the Heartless off guard."
"All defensive and offensive systems have been optimized," said Leon. "These ships won't go down without a fight."
"Let me just double-check the work you've done." Cid logged into his own post and scanned through the various settings applied by the others; he typed in several commands and made some adjustments as he went along. "Heh, I'm impressed. You rookies know how to pull through when it counts."
Yuffie grinned. "Of course! Nothing helps performance like the threat of total annihilation."
"Here, here!" Zack said from the entrance as he walked into the garage. "That'd motivate just about anyone to give it their best."
"Are they fighting?" Leon asked.
"They've got to be well into it by now. It takes a while for me to jog out here, you know?"
Leon crossed his arms. "They'd better be."
"Hey, relax! Everything's running smoothly so far," Yuffie noted. "We've got all the ships ready and raring to go! The plan's gonna work; you'll see!"
"Whatever."
Zack looked around the garage until his eyes landed on his ship. "Oh, hey! You buffered the dents out of the hull! Thanks, Cid."
"Err…yeah…" Cid flicked his injured noise hard enough to reopen the wound.
Zack's eyes narrowed; he could read Cid like a book. "What's the problem?"
There was a pause while Cid sighed. "Listen, Zack: there's no easy way for me to say this, but I'm using your ship as the main decoy."
"I thought you were going to install the warp gummi into a different ship?"
"Don't got the time for that, boy. In just two more minutes, it's got to launch. I could barely install the teleport pad within the limit; the warp gummi would take another twenty minutes tops since I'd need to remold it to fit one of the newer models."
Zack fell silent.
"I'm sorry, Zack—so very sorry, boy…" Cid said in the softest voice he could muster.
"It's Angeal's ship," Zack stated, his eyes fixed dead on Cid's with such intensity that it made the older man's stomach churn. He'd never seen that boy's face so dark.
"I know that. I know." Cid swallowed hard. "If there was anything else I could do, don't you think I'd go on and do it? But you've got to understand, Zack—this whole world's about to blow and we're plum out of time and options!"
Zack took another moment to hold his fierce stare before breaking eye contact with Cid and turning his back to everyone. "Do what you have to do."
"Zack…"
Cid and Yuffie watched as Zack stood motionless before his Gummi Ship. Even Leon observed the man in wonder of what his next actions would entail.
A loud beeping sounded off from the central control post causing Cid to grit his teeth. "This is it—we have to go now! Zack, I've got to get that ship to Sora!"
"Do what you have to do," Zack repeated while walking towards the ramp, "but I'll be the one to pick up the Keybearer."
"Wait a minute, boy—"
"Let him go, Cid," Leon said. "Let him say goodbye in his own way."
"…Fine." Cid didn't like the idea of leaving the most crucial part of the operation to Zack in his current state. If his emotions took control, he would jeopardize the mission. "Just make sure you two step on the teleporter after you've got him. It'll transport you back here and then the ship will automatically blast off into space."
Zack answered in the form of a wave. The ramp recoiled once he entered the ship and started the thruster. He sat in the captain's seat for the final time, donning the blank face that pained Aerith and looking out past the windshield with hollow eyes. Grabbing the joystick, he jerked it forward and blasted out of the garage while his comrades looked on with the good faith that he would make the right decision.