Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This story is mine, as are Corbin Franks, the Fractured Circle, and Tabaeus McCallister. We're almost to the end, people! Chapter Twelve will be the last! (crickets) I know deep down you're all upset. I'm starting to work on the second installment now, but school is a buttface, so we'll see…As always, constructive feedback is always welcome and appreciated!

..:--X--:..

Chapter Eleven: Veritas

6:00 P.M.

The second in command of the Fractured Circle watched with sweating hands as the Alliance's armored trucks assaulted their makeshift base in front of the castle ruins. The fire and smoke drifted to the higher ledge where he and a few other men were watching the exchange.

"Sir?" One of the men questioned.

"Don't look at me like some idiot." He snarled back. "Attack. Those were the orders from the boss. The Alliance reneges, we attack. They reneged, so we attack. Go." He gestured.

The soldiers nodded and moved down to join the rest of the army that had survived the truck attack. The vehicles were full of nothing but poison gas and small explosives. A trick. Those scumbags. He narrowed his eyes and looked out into the Great Maw. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. The boss must have known, that was why he split and disappeared into Radiant Garden traffic. That miserable low life. He was gonna let them take the fall for this.

The black swell of Allied soldiers lined the rim of the Great Maw, shouldering bazookas that launched mortars into the fray of Ally versus Circle melee down in the canyon. He had to do something, and he had to do it fast, because even though they outnumbered the Alliance's army by 1000 soldiers, they were like fumbling idiots against these assassins.

He didn't know what to do.

In a matter of minutes, the front lines of the Fractured Circle's defense were cracking and gunfire reverberated around the canyon walls. He ducked as a bullet slammed into the rock facing a few feet from his head.

"Franks, sir, what should we do?" One of the men asked.

He stood soundless for a moment, too wrapped up in the slaughter going on in front of him to form a response. He shook his head and addressed the man. "Uh, call in the rest of our men. Bring out the heavy artillery and try to break their defensive line. Take out those ass-hats on the rim." He gestured toward the bazooka-wielding soldiers on the high ground.

Biting his knuckle, he squinted toward the other end of the Great Maw, where that bastard Keybearer was no doubt watching, leading from afar. Alliance: 1, Fractured Circle: 0.

..:--X--:..

The crisp autumn leaves had long been brown and curled, falling in clumps all around the wood paneled walls of the Fractured Circle base in Enchanted Castle. It would have been nice to sit and watch the leaves fall, carried on some wistful breeze of early fall. But no, instead, Lieutenant Truman Williams was parked on some forsaken hillside, waiting for some kid one third his age to tell him to lob a missile at the bastards who blew up the Headquarters in Radiant Garden.

Oh, he'd oblige, fine, the more bloody the better, but—he looked sideways at the enraptured new recruits, all nearly wetting themselves in anticipation—enabling mass death was never as power-instilling as those rookies tended to glorify it to be.

..:--X--:..

Leon stepped toward the doorway. "You would have been smarter to get out while you could, Kairi. Things are going to get messy fast."

He made to shoulder past her, but the girl didn't move from the doorway, blocking him.

"What's the rush?"

"Didn't you see the plans?" Tabaeus cut in behind Leon. "The General is launching the missiles simultaneously on all the worlds. Yellow tacks, remember?"

Kairi's eyes momentarily widened. "Oh, yes, I remember that." Her eyes flitted over Leon's shoulder toward the maps on the adjacent wall.

Leon gripped her shoulder, easing her aside. "You two stay here. It'll be safer, but I need to go—"

Kairi's palm, flat against his chest, made him pause. He looked at her, at the alien glint in her eye.

"Sorry, Squally, I can't let you do that."

"Colonel, that's not Kairi!" Tabaeus yelped behind him.

As the person in front of Leon swung around, sending her heel into his chest and forcing him back into the room, he thought, 'no shit, McCallister.'

He staggered once but quickly regained his balance, charging toward the door where bizarro Kairi stood lax, soft smile curling her lips nastily. Damn him for not having his Gunblade. He went for old school, drawing back a fist and swinging around to punch the girl in the neck.

The one wearing Kairi's face ducked but tripped on the rug behind her. Her loss of balance was his advantage, and Leon grabbed her ankle, twisting hard. She cried out and fell. As her body dropped, she twisted the rest of her body, bringing her free leg around to crash against his ribs. He took one step back and his heel met nothing, dropping several inches to the first step of the back room.

Bizarro Kairi wrested free of his grip and got to her feet quickly, shoving him back.

"My apologies for the rain check, but I have other matters to attend to," She said breathlessly, "And I just can't shirk them all to match muscle against a guy like you."

The door slammed shut, stealing the light from the back room. Leon pushed against the door, but it felt like he was throwing his weight against a brick wall.

"Sealing Spell, Colonel. You aren't busting this baby down." Her voice giggled from the other side. "My regards for the missile information. You should know by now how much I hate ignorance."

"Open the door, you coward!" Leon threw his shoulder against the door again, with the same results as previous.

Footsteps clacked across the floor and a door swung closed, leaving them trapped. There were no windows and now the door was magically sealed. Great. Fan-fucking-tastic.

Leon grunted as his shoulder connected with the immovable door, feeling his bones shift. Knob twisting, shoving, kicking, and pushing against it yielded all the same results: nothing. He finally turned, took up a chair from the only desk in the door, and smashed it seat first against the door. The chair shattered, splinters and bits of wood scattering to the floor as the shockwaves ran up his arms. Private McCallister cried out at the crash, holding her arms to herself and backing away from him.

Dropping the chair legs, he forced himself to take a breath to clear his head. Exhaling heavily, he folded his arms and faced Tabaeus. She had one hand over her mouth, the other arm looped around her torso, eyes impossibly wide and naïve-looking.

"You aren't going to cry, are you?" He asked blandly.

She shook her head, swallowing convulsively.

"Get a hold of yourself, then." He said, "Any bright ideas?" He looked over to the door again.

"I-I don't know, but I don't think that door is going to open, sir."

Leon offered her a flat look before pulling his phone out and dialing the King.

"He isn't going to believe this." He muttered.

"Who—"

"Shut up, McCallister."

..:--X--:..

Private Andy Borrow spat at the ground and kicked the sand over it. Summer in Agrabah was no joke and having to wear all this damn desert gear that was supposed to be lighter was no such thing. He threw a look back at the missile station hugging the wall of the rock cropping outside the city walls. If it was up to him, they would have bombed those suckers and be on an air-conditioned Gummi back to Radiant Garden now, or to Traverse Town, where he'd initially been stationed.

His lieutenant was chewing tobacco and standing staunch at the edge of the city wall: like a bull staring down a windstorm. Borrow cleared the gathering sand out of his protective goggles and glared across the blinding desert sand at the tiny smudge in the distance, their X marks the spot, their target.

..:--X--:..

It was a thing of beauty.

The Alliance's soldiers were like smoke, untouchable and deadly as venom. They were dropping the Fractured Circle's pitiful excuse for soldiers before the poor bastards knew they were dead. The Allied battalion was suffering their losses, but five Circle men fell before an Allied man hit his knees.

Sora leaned forward, knuckles pressing flat against the stone railing of the battlements. Tifa stood lock kneed and indignant on his left, overlooking the melee with her remaining eye, her person emanating discontent.

She would see reason soon.

Sora did not touch the radio at his belt. He didn't reach for it. He narrowed his eyes at the battlefield below, the floor quickly staining red and fire wrapping around the base columns of the foundation of the old ruins. His jaw flexed and he breathed in full, deep pulls, the smell of smoke and spent gun powder assailing his senses.

His battalion had successfully encircled the Fractured Circle's pathetic little army. No quarter had been given. This was going to be a bloodbath, and the blood that was spilt would be the enemy's. Sora's right hand itched for the Keyblade, but he kept his knuckles pressed to the stone. The surrounding soldiers dropped from the ledges to the battle ground, taking up their arms and firing into the mass: trained military men picking off the ducks on the pond.

The clock in the town behind him chimed six o'clock in the afternoon. The scuffle had been going on for half an hour now. That was long enough.

He reached down and took up the radio. Tifa's eyes followed his exact move, and he glanced at her.

"Questions? Comments? Concerns?" He asked, holding the radio in front of his mouth.

"I just hope you know what you're doing." She said vaguely.

He paused. "And what is it that I'm doing?"

"You're sealing your own fate."

His finger hesitated over the transmitter button on the radio. "Fate is powerless here."

She faced him. "You do this, and you will be in prison faster than you can watch their bodies burn. I promise you that."

"I am the head General in the Alliance. I have total power over the Council and the Allied Forces. What are YOU going to do?" He said lackadaisically.

"King Mickey woke up. He's here. Now." She said casually.

He hesitated. "It doesn't matter." He depressed the button on the radio. "Ready the missiles and stand by for my orders."

"Yes, sir." came from every lieutenant he'd stationed on the worlds, a chorus of obedience.

In one swift motion, Tifa snatched the radio from his hand and threw it over the edge of the battlement. Sora blinked at his open hand and heard the crash as the radio made impact a hundred feet below.

"Now why would you do that?" He looked to Tifa.

"They won't launch the missiles without your orders." She pointed. "How are you going to give those orders now, Mr. The Shit?" She snarled.

He exhaled, "You think I'm so stupid that I only have one way to contact them?" He shook his head, "Tifa, give me some credit."

She bristled. "All you're doing is killing people. Murderers and filth of the earth, but still human beings. If you launch those missiles, you will be endangering all of Radiant Garden and the other worlds, civilians and helpless common people. Authority or not, you're breaking the law, this is…" She waved one arm wordlessly. "I'll make sure you're put in prison for a very long time, stripped of all Allied rights and possibly exiled."

"If I just blow away some bad guys?"

"There's no more 'if' in this situation, Sora. You're dangerous." She clenched her fist and bent her knees, assuming a fighting stance. "And I'm not letting you hurt anyone else."

Sora watched her mildly, "Pick your poison, then."

He summoned Keyblade Oblivion to his left hand, where it balanced against the heel of his wrist, angled toward the concrete. Tifa narrowed her eyes and launched forward, swinging a bone-crushing fist toward his shoulder. Sora side stepped and slammed Oblivion against the small of her back. With a grunt, Tifa stumbled forward, spinning around and countering with a full roundhouse aimed at his gut.

Sora drove the handle of the Keyblade into her calf, feeling the bone quiver. She cried out and balanced on one leg, her fist successfully connecting with his ribs. His lungs emptied and ribs cracked. He coughed and drove Oblivion into her forearm, driving her fist away. At the same time, he flung out his right hand. Keyblade Bond of Flame flashed into existence, hovering a few inches away from his spread open palm. Tifa's eyes widened as he slung his arm around, Bond of Flame following his mental orders.

The jagged teeth caught the material hanging behind her legs, but missed her body. She withdrew and delivered another kick at his ankles. Sora jumped and rolled out of the way, blue electricity crackling out of both Keyblades, wrapping around his forearms. Tifa moved into a fresh attacking stance and Sora crossed the swords in front of him.

"Thundaga!" He drew the swords apart, their teeth screeching against each other.

White blue lightning roared down his arms, carried by the swords, and rushed toward her. Tifa screamed as the spell entered her body, flinging her back against the wall of the battlements. Concrete buckled under the impact and Tifa slumped down to the floor, shaking but still conscious, smoke rising from her shoulders.

When she didn't make any motion to rise, Sora diminished his Keyblades and cast an eye over her.

"If you want something done right…" He let the statement linger, turning back toward the scuffle down in the Great Maw.

"You. Crazy. Dick." Tifa snarled, struggling to her feet and barely standing on wobbling knees.

"You'll thank me when they're all dead." He answered softly, not turning to acknowledge her.

6:10 P.M.

He inhaled deeply and glanced over to the edge where he knew the launch stations to be armed and ready. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, calling the soldier who'd stood with him on the battlements, surveying the army with his binoculars.

"Bring me another radio." He ordered.

..:--X--:..

Lieutenant Lisa Whitney peered over the missile expert's shoulder at the diagnostics on the missile armed behind them. All the magical properties of the isle of Neverland were messing with their coordinate readings. She frowned and looked at the grid map spread over the console. Static blared over her radio, connecting her to the General, but it was just feedback, no orders.

Swearing, she squinted at the blip on the grip map indicating where the Fractured Circle base was. Come on, Keybearer, she tapped her finger on the panel, send me the order to launch this puppy and blow those scumbags off this rock.

..:--X--:..

For a few minutes, Kairi just stared up at the pipe-lined ceiling and wondered where she was, how she had gotten there, and why she had gone to sleep.

Sora.

Missiles.

Tacks.

Ansem's Study.

A plan.

Tabaeus.

Blue light.

Blackness.

She sat up in time to hear her own voice. "Sorry, Squally, I can't let you do that."

A disheveled noise of movement followed, and Kairi swung her legs off the bed, standing and crossing the catwalk to the old study…just in time to see herself slam a door on Leon, blocking the Colonel into the back room where her worst nightmare had been realized. She lifted a hand to stifle the cry of surprise and horror. Who was that wearing her face?!

The bizarro Kairi did some sort of weird arm gesture and slapped the door. "Sealing Spell, Colonel. You aren't busting this baby down." Her voice giggled. "My regards for the missile information. You should know by now how much I hate ignorance."

Something about that voice, overlooking the fact that it was an icy version of her own, Kairi felt a pang of familiarity about it. The creature that could have passed as her twin turned and Kairi ducked out of view onto the catwalk.

"Open the door, you coward!" Leon yelled on the other side of the door, followed by a loud thud.

The creature wordlessly crossed the study and left, closing the door behind her. Kairi moved around the corner and stepped off the catwalk into the study, hands still over her mouth in shock. There was an awful racket going on the other side of the door as Leon and Tabaeus wrought havoc on it, trying to escape. The Sealing Spell that her doppelganger had used was true to its name: that door wasn't budging.

A particularly loud smash made the door quiver, but it did not give, and was immediately followed by a yelp from Tabaeus. Kairi crept out into the study, eyes darting between the back room door and the door leading out of the study. What had that creature been? Some sort of weird shapeshifter thing!? Why was it disguised as her? What were Leon and Tabaeus doing down here anyway? She looked at the clock. It was nearing 6:30. The battle at the Great Maw would be well underway…

What if Sora had already launched the missiles?

Her knees wobbled and she gripped the desk, hearing Leon and Tabaeus speaking in low voices on the other side. Tabaeus sounded scared. Leon sounded furious, but controlled. Their words were unintelligible through the door, and Kairi stumbled over to it.

"No damn signal? Fuck…" Leon was discernible as she reached the door.

"Leon?" She offered.

"What do you want, you crazy bitch?!" Leon barked.

Kairi flinched and backed away from the door. "No, it's me. That…that thing is gone."

"Where were you?" Tabaeus asked.

"Shut up. It could be a trick." Leon snapped at her.

"No, it's really me. My name is Kairi. I'm a Princess of Heart. Um…Tabaeus folds paper cranes as a hobby!" She rattled, trying to sound legitimate.

"You still do that?" Leon groaned.

"Sir, big picture?" Tabaeus grumbled.

"All right," Leon cut in. "Kairi, I can't get a hold of King Mickey—"

"He's awake?" Hope surged through her. If anybody could talk sense into Sora or stop him, Mickey could.

"Yeah, now listen. He's supposed to meet me at the battlements. Tifa went ahead to stop Sora, but she's going to need back-up. Can you still summon a Keyblade?"

Kairi shook her head, caught herself, and spoke. "No, I never could."

"Shit." Leon hissed. "All right. The spell binding this door is too strong to just break down. Go find the king, tell him to go ahead. Can you hold a Keyblade?"

"Yes, I can use it." I just can't summon the thing, she inwardly cursed.

"All right, bring his Keyblade down here to unlock this door. Between him and Tifa, they can take Sora down before he gives the order to launch those missiles."

"Okay." She stammered.

"Now go!" He ordered.

Kairi turned on her heel and headed out the door of the study, sprinting down the hall and out into the open air. There were no missile streams in the sky, and that was a small relief. Aiming her feet toward the old defensive lines of Radiant Garden, she ran as hard as she could toward the battlements to meet the king.

..:--X--:..

Sergeant Harrison McCallister blew a large blue bubble with his bubble gum, overlooking the foggy, bleak view of the Isla de Muerta from the Alliance's underwater station off the coast. There had been no guards posted outside the enemy's base in the last ten minutes. Whoever had been supposed to replace the last guards…they were so fired.

He smirked and chewed his gum. Not that it would matter: that base would be a crater within the hour. He glanced over at his commanding officer, Lieutenant George Carter, as the older man rubbed his beard and studied the sonar with narrowed eyes. He wondered how things were going in Radiant Garden, and wondered why they hadn't been giving orders to launch yet.