Chapter Fourteen: Chris Talonflight: Beginning of the End
"Chris, you can't go yet!" Aerith pleaded. I ignored her, strapping on my left side armor. I clicked the gauntlet into place, and flexed, feeling the metal move like a second skin.
"You cannot possibly be recovered already!" Merlin protested. I ignored him too. I pulled on the leather glove that covered most of my right arm. It had white and red lines snaking up its length. I looked at it curiously. Those weren't there before…
"Chris please!" Tifa begged. "You can't just leave!"
"Watch me." I said calmly. "I have to go save Yuffie."
"You nearly killed the poor girl, not to mention the rest of us." Leon said, striding into the room. "There is no guarantee that you won't relapse and become that heartless again."
I slammed my gauntleted hand against the wall. "And what would you have me do then, Leon? I am the only one who can save her! You know what we're up against; Xemnas could have her killed at any time. I can't take that risk."
"And if you kill her instead?" Cloud said softly, leaning on the doorframe.
"Cloud… I thought that you, at least, would understand." I looked at the warrior. His huge sword was in its sheath on his back. "What would you do if Tifa was captured?"
Cloud started, began to say something, then smiled slightly, shaking his head. I nodded, and started putting Materia into their slots on my armor.
"Tifa wouldn't get captured in the first place: she'd kill whoever tried to get her." Leon smirked. "And if she somehow did get captured, she'd find a way out within a week."
"And what would you do, Leon, if Aerith got captured?" I hissed. Leon froze, started to say something, then scratched the back of his head.
"Okay, just because I'd do the same thing that you're doing doesn't make it the right thing to do." He protested. I shook my head, and grabbed the headband that Yuffie had given me.
"Chris, you're still not well enough." Tifa blocked the door.
"Out of my way." I growled. My eyes felt weird.
"No." Tifa looked me in the eye.
I grabbed her arm, trying to force her out of the way. Her other hand immediately came down on the back of my neck. I fell with a grunt.
"He shouldn't be getting up for a few days." Tifa said coldly. I lay there, still.
"That was pretty hard, Tifa." Leon said, eyes wide. "You might just have worsened his condition."
"No, its just a paralyzing bruise to the spinal cord. Not even Sephiroth can shrug off one of those." Tifa shook her head. "He won't be able to move for a few days, and by then, he'll be well enough to travel…" She trailed off as her eyes landed on me. I was on one knee, slowly rising, grabbing the doorframe for support. My eyes were locked on her.
"Open. The. Door. Now." I growled. I stood.
"My god…" Aerith gasped. I turned to look at her. Her eyes were stunned.
"Your eyes…" Leon said. "Your hand…"
I looked at my hand. The white lines on the glove were glowing. I looked in the mirror that Leon had tacked to the wall. My eyes were glowing with white light.
Tifa moved.
I dodged.
Tifa slammed into the book shelf behind me, her paralyzing blow missing my neck by inches.
"Why did I bother using the door?" I asked, muttering. I merely made a dark portal right below me. I fell into it, to the surprised gasps of my friends. Then I noticed something.
Intertwining with the darkness was a few tendrils of light.
I emerged in Twilight Town.
I walked down the street, looking for the Usual Place, Hayner, Pence, and Olette's hang out area, the place where Yuffie would appear in if Namine had indeed tried to help her escape Axel by giving her a dark portal.
Suddenly, I arrived at Tram Plaza. There, Seifer and his two friends were being thrashed by Dusk's.
It was laughable, really. I had not even had that much contact with the Organization during this whole confounded trip. Okay, maybe killing Xaldin had got me on their bad side…
Anyway, I was itching for a way to let out my anger. I summoned my keyblade and started running at the Dusks.
Well, I guess its too much to hope for that I would get that keyblade of light again...I sighed as I looked at my dark keyblade, Last Chaos. The red lines on my glove were glowing, as was the pentagram that was the end of the keychain on the hilt of my keyblade.
I sliced a dusk in half, ducking under the slowly fading body and uppercut slashing the next one. I really had no particular desire to battle on Seifer's behalf, but I would take what I could get.
The third Dusk slashed at me with its sharpened arms. I grabbed its arm, the black metal on my arm and hand protecting me, and swung him in a circle, making him collide with the remaining Dusk. I fired a Dark Firaga out of my keyblade. However, what I had originally intended as a dark Firaga ended up as…
…an ordinary Firaga.
I thought I couldn't do Light-based magic! I thought. Could it be… when I was at the station of awakening… That keyblade… I used light…
"Hey!" Olette called, running from an alleyway. I groaned. Oh god, not the underage girl with the crush on me… "Chris! Come quick! It's terrible!"
"What happened?" I demanded. "Where's Yuffie?"
"How did you know it was about her?" Pence asked, arriving an instant later.
"NEVER MIND HOW I KNOW IT'S ABOUT HER! WHERE IS SHE?" I demanded.
"She's gone." Hayner said grimly. "Some guy in a black coat with red spiky hair came and kidnapped her!"
I cursed, slamming my weapon into the ground.
"What have I told you guys about annoying me?" Seifer arrived, his bat held high.
I whirled.
I slammed my fist into his stomach. Seifer fell with an "oomph."
"Obviously, when someone puts you in your place with Struggle, it doesn't work." I growled. "I guess I'll have to be a bit more violent…"
Seifer blanched as I summoned Last Chaos, then fled, calling for his mommy.
"Come on." I beckoned Hayner, Pence, and Olette to follow. "There's something I think you should see." We strode out of the town, and soon we were at the Old Mansion's gates.
"Stay back." I cautioned. I entered the clearing. There, battling a group of Nobodies, was the King.
"Having trouble?" I asked, as I entered the fray. In minutes, the nobodies were all dead.
"You know what I'm here to do, your Majesty." I said. I wasn't about to let him try and take me back to Hollow Bastion.
"Oh course!" he exclaimed. "And I brought you some help!"
Standing next to him were two heartless and Xanju.
Nudge was ecstatic. He leaped on my shoulders and wouldn't stop hugging my head. Xanju merely smirked, and clapped my on the back.
The other one was a Neoshadow.
"Are you…" I asked. "… Trufflehunter?"
Back when I had been battling Johnson, Johnson had created a replica of me to aid him. However, the replica had turned on him, joining my side. My replica had a Neoshadow tame heartless, just as I had Nudge as my tame heartless. His Neoshadow was named Trufflehunter.
Trufflehunter nodded. He patted my shoulder.
"Lets get going." The king said. We started walking to the mansion.
"Wait!" Hayner, Pence and Olette were running got catch up with us.
"We think that there's an alternate Twilight Town that's mimicking the real one!" Pence piped up. "Maybe they kidnapped Yuffie to make a copy of her!"
"You're more right then you know." I smirked. "Come on."
We entered the old mansion. I recognized the White Room, Namine's drawing room. I eventually found the Library. However, The holographic covering that obscured DiZ's secret retreat was gone. We could clearly see the stairwell. I also saw two footprints in the dust. Both sets lead in, although one set was plainly newer then the other.
"Who was this?" I wondered. Shaking my head, we continued. Eventually, we found ourselves at a bank of computers.
"Anyone know how to operate these?" I asked, looking pointedly at Pence. Pence sighed, and sat down at the computers.
"Well…" He said, his fingers dancing across the keys. "It's a portal system."
"So lets go." I sighed. "We have to get through it."
"I already have." Pence said, and he pressed a final key. A beam of light shot up from the floor, in a vortex about one foot wide. "If you touch that beam, you should get through."
"Right." I nodded. "Listen, Pence, Hayner, Olette, I want to thank you. You guys have helped me in more ways then you know. I certainly hope that I succeed in what I am setting out to do. If I succeed, then promise that I will come back and visit you guys." I looked at the three friends. "You take care of yourself, Hayner." I chuckled. "Make Seifer lose."
"You betcha!" He said, smirking.
"Keep up the good work, Pence." I clapped him on the shoulder. He smiled and waved.
"Be good, Olette." I waved.
"Wait!" Olette cried. "You can't just leave! Not yet! Wait!" She tried to grab me, but I pulled away.
"There are people who care for you here, Olette, far more then I ever could. I'm sorry." I nodded at Hayner. He nodded back. He grabbed Olette, keeping her from running after me.
God, of all the idiot kids…
I touched the beam of light, and stepped through. I emerged into the room in which I had awoken from the white pod. It seemed like a lifetime ago…
"Welcome, apprentice!"
I stared. Ansem stood there, arms folded.
"What are you doing here?" I demanded.
"You told me yourself to meet you one year from when we finished our battle in Castle Oblivion." Ansem seemed surprised. "I have come at a great personal risk to meet you. Why are you so ungrateful?"
"Oh… I did?" I asked. "I'm sorry, but after I left Castle Oblivion something happened with my memory. I can't remember any of the events of Castle Oblivion, or anything from that time period, actually."
"I see." Ansem said softly. "Perhaps, with the trauma you underwent there, it is for the best." Emerging from a doorway behind him was Nhoxj. Ansem evidently didn't know that the Nobody was behind him. Nhoxj seemed equally surprised to see me and Ansem.
"Maybe." I shrugged. "Marluxia must have been tough. Even so, though- Hey! Nudge! Stop!"
Nudge and Trufflehunter were charging Ansem. Nhoxj, thinking that he was under attack, deflected them with a PSI attack. Ansem's eyes widened, and he summoned his heartless guardian. Then Xanju, thinking we were under attack, charged in with his scythes, and I could only stand by helplessly. Nhoxj and Nudge clashed hand-for-claw in a battle that seemed to go on for quite a long time. Nhoxj's PSI abilities kept making most things go his way, but even then he still wasn't winning. Nor was Nudge. Nudge's sheer dark power, along with his wit, speed and agility, were high; However Nhoxj's abilities, along with his stamina, evened the fight quite easy. Nudge barely broke through Nhoxj's defenses, but when he did Nhoxj got one crap-load of a beating. Of course, Nhoxj would be able to push back Nudge quickly, making it a battle that seemed to go on forever. The deciding factor of who would win would be how many cure spells and potions would be consumed before someone ran out. Nudge jumped into the air, charging a large dark energy ball that shot miniature energy balls that slammed Nhoxj with as much force as a baseball being thrown at him from a power cannon. Nudge jumped down and tried to slash at Nhoxj, but Nhoxj threw Nudge back into another wall. Nudge got up and charged again at Nhoxj.
Trufflehunter and the Xanju were fighting against Ansem and his shadowy Heartless guardian. Xanju fired a blast of bloody nothing at Ansem, but Ansem easily deflected it into Xanju's face. Xanju was hurled backwards, and Trufflehunter took charge, jumping into the air and throwing many dark tendril beams at Ansem. Ansem was injured by this onslaught of beams, but his Heartless guardian slashed at Trufflehunter, effectively cutting off the beam barrage and throwing Trufflehunter into the unused pod. The force from this was so great the pod instantly shattered, with the metallic skeleton of the pod collapsing and falling onto Trufflehunter, crushing him badly. Nudge (having been thrown into ANOTHER wall from Nhoxj) saw this and got even more enraged. Nudge growled, then charged directly at Ansem, in a homing fashion that made Nudge look like a cobra about to strike. Nudge jumped into the air and mercilessly slashed at Ansem and his Heartless guardian, knocking them back and dealing a good damage amount. Nudge landed right next to the Xanju, who was getting up. Both of them turned and saw Trufflehunter trying to break free from the wreckage, but he wasn't doing so well. Nhoxj charged towards the distracted Nudge and Xanju, effectively sending them both into the air and smashing them against the ceiling, which caused the ceiling to crack. Nudge and Xanju landed behind Nhoxj, but Xanju managed to kick Nhoxj in the back. Nhoxj flopped over and landed on his face. Getting up, Nhoxj saw Ansem, still dazed from Nudge's assault.
"I assume we should team up for the time being?" Nhoxj sarcastically asked, already knowing the answer. Ansem looked down at Nhoxj, before returning eye contact to Nudge and Xanju, who were just getting up. Nhoxj jumped back up and stood side-by-side with Ansem.
"Teaming up… how unfortunate... for them!" Ansem mutually agreed, before they all charged at one another, ready to end their brawl.
Nhoxj was thrown back into me. I tried to stop him, but he ignored my yells. He was battling heartless, and he was in his element.
Ansem tried to slice at Nudge and Xanju, but not even he could pierce their excellent defense and counter strategy. Xanju would block Ansem's attacks, and then Nudge would take the split second opportunity to slice up Ansem with his dark claws. No matter which direction they attacked from, the results was the same; nothing could help them win. Nudge growled as I yelled, trying to stop the melee. Ansem backed up a bit, before firing a large dark fireball at Xanju and Nudge. Grinning, Nudge jumped over the fireball and slashed at Ansem, sending him back. Nhoxj got up and tried to use his powers to blast Xanju and Nudge back, but to no avail, as Xanju hit Nhoxj into a wall with his scythe.
"This is honestly sad," Xanju laughed, before being hit in the face with a dark blast from me.
"STOP!" I yelled.
Everyone froze.
Around us, in a swarm, was nearly an army of Dusk Nobodies.
"What-" nearly everyone said.
"Back to back!" I yelled. Everyone who had been trying to kill each other a moment ago suddenly went back to back in a huge circle.
"See what happens when you guys ignore me?" I raged. "You guys could have killed each other! Why did you all attack without listening to me?"
"Chris, you may be the keyblade wielder, but in all of the video games, Ansem is the bad guy." Xanju protested. "It was instinct. And as for that PSI guy, well, he's a Nobody."
"So are you!" I yelled. That shut Xanju up. Nudge cowered guiltily.
"Sorry about that, Ansem, Nhoxj." I grimaced. "Their used to killing heartless and nobodies. They-"
"It's all right, no need to apologize." Nhoxj waved it off. Ansem merely smirked, before blasting away a group of Dusk's. I unleashed a barrage of black lightning, and many Dusk's fell, twitching before fading away. Nhoxj merely blinked. For an instant, his eyes glowed red, and everything seemed to change color for a split second. Then Nobodies were flying as if they were inside a ping-pong machine.
We heard the sound of soft clapping. Xigbar stepped out from behind a pillar.
"Sorry folks, but this is the end of the line for you." He grinned.
"You!" I said, summoning my keyblade.
"Yes, I know, I'm amazing, aren't I?" Xigbar said in his conceited voice.
"Are you done rambling?" I growled.
"Rambling? As if!" He snorted. "All I'm going to tell you, traitor, is that your time is up!" he summoned his arrowguns.
"You know, you really shouldn't have betrayed us," Xigbar noted, chuckling sarcastically. I ran as fast as I could towards Xigbar, but Xigbar used his power over space to warp out of the way. I looked around for Xigbar, before turning around and meeting the barrel of Xigbar's arrowguns right in my face. Then something pushed Xigbar away, and Nhoxj stepped up.
"I see you." He said, making Xigbar stumble with a PSI blast. Xigbar growled, before shooting Nhoxj point-blank. Nhoxj fell over onto the floor, an energy arrow embedded in his face. Xigbar just began a rainstorm of energy arrows down upon Nhoxj, grinning.
"I guess this is what happens when you let anger take control of you. Sad," Xigbar noted, as he continued his assault. Pretty soon, Xigbar ran out of arrows.
"R...for Reload!" Xigbar announced in his trademark quote. Nhoxj, against his body's pain, tried to blast another PSI wave at Xigbar, but Xigbar teleported out of the way. Nhoxj fell over, seemingly defeated. Xigbar reappeared in front of Nhoxj, grinned and pointing one of his arrowguns at him.
"Say hi to Xaldin for me," Xigbar laughed, before firing his arrowguns.
My keyblade sliced the arrows in half in midair. Nhoxj took the opportunity to use his PSI limit break. Xigbar slammed into a wall, into the ground, was flung into the air, and then started being smacked around at such high speeds from nothing that he was already knocked out before it was over. Xigbar then plummeted to the ground, landing a couple feet away.
"… Nhoxj…" I stammered. "How… just how powerful are you?"
I, Ansem, Nudge, Trufflehunter, King, Nhoxj, and Xanju stood at the arena where my nobody, Xsirch, had battled Axel. The ground still bore burn marks and scratches from Axel's flame powers and Xsirch's keyblade strikes. At the opposite end of the arena was an oscillating dark portal.
"You guys ready for this?" I asked. My companions nodded. Nudge and Trufflehunter were here because they were my two tame heartless. Nhoxj and the King were here to fight against the Organization. Ansem was here to try and retrieve his true body from Xemnas. Xanju was here to stop the prejudice against Nobodies. And I was here to save Yuffie.
We entered the dark portal, and emerged in a strange area. It seemed to have no walls, and was made up of blue and red moving walls that were so far away that you couldn't reach them. The floor was non-specified. There, battling the army of nobodies, was Rodney, C, the King, and Ashley! With them was a man with red spiky hair, wielding a pair of Chakrams. When his eyes set on me, his expression lifted. Axel.
"Hey!" I yelled, slicing a swathe through to them.
"Glad you made it." Rodney's eyes flicked to my companions. A shadow Heartless, a Neoshadow heartless, Xehanort's Heartless, and two deadly nobodies, one of whom once tried to kill us.
"They're with you?" he asked. I nodded.
"Good." He said. We formed a ring. We battled the nobodies for a long time, with no avail.
I dodged through a throng of them, and clamped onto the back of a samurai nobody. He thrashed wildly, and he accidentally tore into two other Dusks. I leaped off of the dying nobody and whirled through a group of dusks, decapitating with my Soul Eaters, and occasionally changing to my keyblade to fend off a group of Samurai Nobodies. However, the sheer number of nobodies in the immediate area was far too great for me to continue my rampage alone. I ended up retreating back to my friends.
After a long while, the Nobodies retreated. They still numbered in the hundreds, but they must have been ordered back. I lowered my swords, and I saw Xanju and Nhoxj kneeling on the floor of the area, a glow surrounding them.
"What is it?" I asked, alarmed.
"We've… taken control… of the nobodies…" Xanju gasped. "It's hard… we're interfering with Xemnas's willpower… We can't hold it for long… Get us out of here!"
I nodded. Axel, the man with the spiky hair, looked as if he would much rather keep fighting, but he reluctantly followed out little army.
We emerged from the area. We now stood in an alleyway in a world that I kind of liked:
The World That Never Was.