The Resolve of All
A/N- You guys enjoy this slightly extra-long chapter.
Chapter 14: Within the Shadows
Play the 13th Dilemma Battle Theme on a second tab.
"No..." Kairi cried.
"Oh... looks like the little girl has lost her way..."
Those sweet sky-blue eyes had faded and evil golden orbs took their place...
"I'd be more than happy to take you away from here..." And then Vanitas just laughed...
"Let go of me!" Kairi hissed.
Kairi then re-summoned Destiny's Embrace and she swung it and slashed into Vanitas's arm. The raven-haired boy let out a yelp of pain as he released his hostage. Kairi then jumped back and got ready to face down her opponent, while Lea on the opposite side of the barrier had to contend with another foe.
"Vanitas, looks like she's grown some claws," Fate took a stance against Lea with her own Keyblade, the Two Become One... "I'll deal with Flamsilocks here."
"Vanitas...? Why do you look like Sora?!" Kairi demanded.
"Does it really matter?" Vanitas smirked.
"Yes it does!" She fumed.
"Not my fault I did what the wimp wouldn't dare to do..." He licked his lips sensually.
"You freak!" Kairi yelled. "What did you do to Sora?!"
"I'm right here."
"What?!"
"You think a bump on the head is going to keep me down?" Sora smirked.
"I guess I'll have to hit harder next time." Vanitas growled.
"Whoa... it's like looking in a mirror... an evil mirror." Sora noted.
"How little you know... it's almost sickening..." Vanitas responded as he summoned Void Gear. "Why don't you two show me what you got? ...Let's have some fun..."
Vanitas dashed towards the girl first, but Sora intercepted and blocked his dark double. Holding him in place now, Kairi took the opportunity to get around them and strike at Vanitas's back. The raven-haired boy jumped up high into the air to avoid her attack and then he launched a ball of darkness down on the two!
Sora immediately responded with a reflecting spell to null the energy bomb, and he grabbed Kairi to put some distance between them and Vanitas.
"What's wrong?" Vanitas taunted. "Giving up already?"
"Not a chance!" Sora growled back.
Sora then dashed and locked Keyblades with Vanitas. It was so weird for Sora to fight someone with the same face as him... it was like fighting an evil twin. What's this guy's deal?
The two of them clashed with nearly equal power, blocking and deflecting each other, giving it everything they got it. Shockwaves of power had permeated throughout the area they were in...
But somehow, Vanitas got the upper hand and countered Sora with a powerful combo which left him weakened and on the ground.
"You leave Sora alone!" Kairi bellowed as she fired a blizzard spell at Vanitas.
The dark double of Sora saw the ice magic coming and merely slashed through the weakly formed magic like it was nothing. He smirked, seeing that his mission was near success.
"Kairi... run!" Sora pleaded.
"I won't! You never abandoned me Sora... so now it's my turn!"
Vanitas laughed. "Please... look where you are... Who's going to help you now?"
"I am."
"What...? You again?!"
Kairi turned her head and all she saw a blur of blue...
Meanwhile, on the other side of the barrier which divided the fight, we see Lea in his own predicament.
"So you're another one of Drex's friends..." Lea assumed.
"Fate's the name... And if I'm right... you beat Mark... so you must be real strong..."
"You think I'm strong now... you haven't seen anything yet." Lea stated.
"Then feel free to start the show, Lea."
She charged at the pyro, Keyblade in hand. She slashed at his left, but Lea dodged it with ease and spun around and hit Fate in the back of her neck. Fate jumped back and fired a thunder spell from the tip of her Keyblade and actually shocked Lea pretty good.
Lea quickly recovered from the stunning effects and responded with a fireball aimed at Fate. She smirked as she batted away the fire spell like it was nothing, but using the spell as a cover Lea was behind the fire and caught Fate with her guard down.
Lea made a horizontal slash at Fate, but she dodged it at the last second with only a small scratch on her cheek as a result. She gritted her teeth as she resumed her battle stance.
"Why don't you tell me where my friends are? What did you do to them?!" Lea demanded.
"...I didn't do anything." Fate replied. "But let's just say they were removed from the equation."
"You know... I made a promise... that I'll always be there to bring them back!" Lea declared.
"-!" Fate had a memory flash back... back from her home world... She and her friends were always together... what had happened to them? "...I'm jealous..."
"What are you talking about?" Lea surprisingly inquired.
"I wish it was like before... but... that's not going to happen, I'm just going have to make the best of what I have now!" Fate proclaimed.
"...You seem like a decent person, more so than some of the others I've met. From what I've already seen... the path you're going down... is not the right one." Lea stated.
"And what makes you think what I'm doing is wrong?" Fate questioned.
"Because... Xehanort is just using you. You're noting but an empty vessel he can use to his own ends." Lea reasoned. "Listen to me; it doesn't have to be this way!"
"...Maybe-!"
But Fate had been cut off because another familiar Keyblade came out from nowhere and struck her in the head, effectively knocking her out.
"Who's there?!" Lea defended himself.
"It's you... Axel."
A boy in a black coat with his hood up stepped forward from the dark shadows beyond and confronted the pyro.
"That voice... is it... you?" Lea's eyes widened at the realization. "Roxas?!"
"...Roxas. I've been told my name was Ventus..."
The boy let down his hood to reveal his gravity-defying spiky blonde hair and those blue eyes. No doubt about it in Lea's mind, this was Roxas.
"...How do I know you...?" Roxas rubbed his head struggling to remember.
"Come on buddy. How could you forget me?" Lea responded jokingly. "I'm Lea now. Got it memorized?"
"...Got it memorized...?" Roxas repeated. "...My head hurts..."
And without further warning, Roxas lost consciousness and dropped to the ground like a rock. Lea went to his side and took note that Roxas didn't exactly remember him... maybe he'll recover with time...
Suddenly, Lea noticed the barrier between him and the others had disappeared, and he saw Vanitas get back off the ground then he went to Fate's still unconscious body.
"You better watch your backs. Next time... you won't be so lucky." Vanitas warned as he disappeared via dark corridor with Fate...
And without further ado, Sora, Kairi, and Aqua had made their way over to Lea and Roxas with victorious grins on their faces.
"The Dark Realm seems a lot brighter now." Aqua welcomed the new company and motioned towards Sora and Kairi. "They grow up so fast..."
"Oh! Wait a minute, isn't that Roxas?" Sora pointed out.
"No, that's Ventus." Aqua corrected.
"Umm, do you mind we just get out of here?" Kairi asked.
"Yeah, someplace we can rest for a moment." Lea pressed as he slung Roxas over his shoulder.
"Alright, let's head back to the beach for now." Aqua motioned to follow her as she led the way back to the Dark Margin...
"Hey you! Joshua!" Riku waved to the weird kid who was sitting on the Lady and the Tramp Display again in the sleeping world version of Traverse Town.
"Oh... Hello there Riku." Joshua nonchalantly waved to. "Anything I can do for you today?"
"Have you seen King Mickey around here?" Riku inquired.
"The little mouse king? How could I forget him?" Joshua replied.
"Where is he?!" Donald angrily quacked.
"Don't get your feathers all ruffled. His Majesty was quite in a hurry though, but he did ask me if I saw a guy in a black coat around here." Joshua answered.
"Well, which way did he go?" Riku questioned.
"Towards the Fountain Plaza, I'm sure you'll find him there." Joshua informed them.
"Thanks a bunch." Goofy nodded.
"Yeah thanks." Riku stated.
"I'd be careful if I were you." Joshua added.
"Wak! How come?" Donald questioned.
"From what I see ahead, you three are going have to do something you're not going to like." Joshua ominously responded as he flew away with his angel wings...
"Let's keep going guys." Riku motioned them towards the Fountain Plaza.
"Right." They both agreed.
Mona was staring at the wall in her room. She was scared stiff from what Saix had done to her, and to what he said to her...
"Your betrayal will not go unpunished. Everything that makes you who you are will be eviscerated by the Master, make no mistake of that!"
"But why are you still hurting Drex?!"
"He needs to be made an example of for you and your so-called friends. ...His suffering will be slow and painful... Know that all of his despair is because of you...
"No!" She snapped out of it. "I can't just... let this happen..."
Mona had gotten off of her bed and looked in the mirror that adorned her wall. Her eyes... these golden eyes... she hated them! The only time where she actually felt happy was with-!
There was a knock on her door followed by a hello.
Mona complied. "Come in."
Skyler let himself in and closed the door behind him. Mona was suspicious at first but then she sensed that this was the Skyler she fondly remembered from before, not his heartless Nobody who threatened her.
"Mona... I... I'm sorry for anything hurtful I might have said." Skyler apologized.
"Thank you Skyler." Mona smiled.
"I've been thinking for a little while and... I need to talk to you... about all of this."
"...Okay." She nodded.
"Why did you leave the Organization?" Skyler questioned.
"...I didn't want anything to do with Xehanort or hurting other people... especially Drex." Mona confessed.
"I see..." Skyler comforted. "Well if you ask me... I think that makes you a good person."
Mona's grin had faltered. "It didn't matter though. Xemnas brought me back and Drex is locked up..."
"...Maybe not for long." Skyler winked.
"What?"
"The X-Blade needs 13 darknesses, so they won't be able to destroy us. The Master needs us as strong and able vessels. But we're going to bust him out and hopefully at least delay the Keyblade War." Skyler explained his plan.
Mona agreed. "Let's do it. But what about the others? Should we get them in on it?"
"I don't know. For now... let's keep this between us, okay?" Skyler responded.
"Okay. So how are we executing this prison break?" Mona inquired.
"Well, here's what I thought we could do..."
And as Skyler explained the specifics of his plan to his friend, outside Mona's door... Xigbar casually leaned on the wall with his arms crossed wearing his usual smirk on his scarred face...
What is this thing?" Goofy asked.
"It looks like some sort of machine..." Riku guessed.
Indeed, it looked like a marvel of modern machinery. The contraption was placed in front of the giant fountain and had the structure of the scales of justice, but instead it had occupied cages on each end...
In one cage, it looked like there was some sort of large monster in it. But in the other cage, seemingly unconscious, was...
"Your Majesty!" Donald quaked.
"Gee, I guess he was taking a nap." Goofy said.
"We gotta get him out of that thing." Riku stated.
"...But why would you want to do that?"
Riku, Donald, and Goofy watched as a dark corridor appeared next to the control console of the machine to see none other than Alliana and Young Xehanort, both of them looking like their trap had been sprung.
"You again!" Riku hissed as he summoned Way to the Dawn.
"How fortunate for you Alliana, now our own plan may be tested." Young Xehanort calmly addressed.
"Yeah, I think we should introduce them to our friend Julius." Alliana smirked.
"Julius?" Riku assumed it was the monster sleeping in the other cage.
"Use him... and put them in their place..." Young Xehanort ordered.
"As you wish..." Alliana nodded.
Young Xehanort teleported away back into the darkness as Alliana began to push some buttons and placed her hand on a lever.
"Do you know what's like to fight a friend?" Alliana asked.
"Yeah I do." Riku answered.
"Well this is nothing like it..." She retorted as she pulled the lever.
Play An Encounter Battle Theme on a second tab.
The machine was brought to life! Electricity flowed through the coils and springs and soon both participants of the machine had woken up from the electrocution and were screaming in pain!
"Mickey!"
"Your Majesty!"
As soon as the machine had started up it seemed to have ended. Then only Mickey's cage had opened up, and the mouse had hopped down and landed beside Alliana.
"What...?" Riku was at a loss of words. "Mickey...?"
"Go!" Alliana pointed towards them. "Finish them!"
Mickey had barred his teeth gave a feral growl as he summoned his Keyblade and charged at his friends!
Apparently, the machine's purpose was to switch the King's mind with that of a controllable pet. With the meddlesome King under their control as a guardian of light, the Organization could tip the odds in their favor!
"No!" Riku blocked Mickey's attack. "There is no way this is you!"
"Riku! What are you doing?" Donald exclaimed.
"Keep him occupied while I deal with her!" Riku stated as he pushed the mouse off and he dashed at Alliana.
Mickey was no longer who he was but had the mind of another, unfortunately Goofy and Donald hesitated and were both slashed by their former King.
"Your Majesty!" Donald begged. "Please, snap outta it!"
"Donald... the King needs our help..." Goofy stated as he brandished his shield. "Let's do it for him..."
Donald reluctantly nodded in agreement as he pulled out his staff as the three musketeers clashed again, but this time at one another...
Riku's Keyblade met Alliana's swords, but then Riku threw a ball of dark fire from his free hand and Alliana took the full force of it. Flying back into the console, she nearly destroyed it on impact. Riku wasted no time to interrogate her on what had happened and how to resolve it.
"Change him back!" He demanded as he slashed his weapon at her head.
She gave a slight smirk and dodged rolled out of the way and fired a jet of aero magic into the Keyblade Master. The resulting wind blew Riku back a few feet, but he stood firm intent on victory.
"Change him back!" Riku repeated.
"I can't... if I fail here... I lose all rights..." Alliana confessed.
"Like I care. Mickey is not a puppet for you to control!" Riku retorted.
Alliana sighed. "...So be it. Julius!"
Donald and Goofy had put up a valiant effort, but they were defeated by the corrupted mouse and fell into unconsciousness. The mouse then heard the call of Alliana and rushed to her aid.
As the mouse was making his way towards Riku, the Keyblade Master had an idea and he destroyed the cage holding the monster with whom Mickey switched minds with. The real Mickey had to be in there!
"Mickey, wake up!" Riku nudged Julius's body.
The monster woke up and met Riku with kind eyes, but then he quickly panicked with the realization that something was very wrong and the fact that he wasn't in his own body!
In a rage, Mickey, who was using Julius's size and strength, grabbed the mouse in one giant hand and a weakened Alliana in the other. With all of the strength he could muster, he threw Alliana like a baseball as far as he could... and she was just gone...
Mickey, still in Julius's body, put the feral mouse in the opposite cage so that they could reverse this Frankenstein Freak Show. He then motioned to Riku to pull the lever and he got into place himself.
Riku complied and pulled the lever. In an instant, the same electrifying process occurred and it seemed successful with Mickey and Julius returning to their original bodies...
"Mickey, are you okay?" Riku nervously asked as he opened Mickey's cage.
"Gosh... that was..." Mickey trailed off clutching his head from dizziness.
"Weird." Riku finished relieved.
Julius had woken up himself and seemed confused and befuddled. He took one look at the machine, Riku, and the King, and he ran away in a panic, taking refuge back in the sewers beneath them.
"...Looks like you were there to help me out this time Riku, thank you." The King smiled.
"Don't mention it Mickey... I think we should get out of here though, and take care of them." He motioned towards Donald and Goofy.
"Oh no!" He rushed towards his friends.
Riku followed suit and suggested. "Let's take them back to the Castle to rest up then we should get to Yen Sid's."
"...Okay." Mickey complied slightly saddened.
And then the four of them departed from the Realm of Sleep...
Xion felt familiar and almost at home in this empty white Castle... She just wanted to forget... with what she had done... and she thought it was working...
"So... you found asylum in here too?"
Xion turned to meet her unexpected visitor, and she was surprised to say the least as to who it was...
"I don't belong anywhere else..." Xion responded.
"We have something in common then."
A/N- Allow me to explain... Julius is the secret boss in Dream Drop Distance and if you look up his history he's in a cartoon where he actually switches minds with Mickey and takes control of his body. I really think something similar to this is going in to happen in KH3. Let me hear your thoughts.
Anyway, will Roxas learn his true identity? How will Aqua react to this? How do you think Mona and Skyler's plan will work out...? Was Alliana a home-run? And lastly, who is Xion's mysterious visitor? Find out next time! :)