Kingdom Hearts: Before the After

Chapter 21: A Small Resistance

While Aphelion was going through space, Ratchet received a transmission from Quark, "Hey gang! Thought I'd check up on my No. 1 sidekick and the cute couple. So what's up?" Ratchet replies, "Quark...(sigh), Sora...he's not here." Quark was confused, "What? Well where is he? (gasp) Don't tell me he went for another-!" Kairi bursts out loud, "HE'S DEAD, YOU INCONSIDERATE BASTARD, DEAD! (sobbing)"

Ratchet stops the ship, "Alright, that does it! I can't take this crying anymore!" Ratchet starts to turn Aphelion around, Kairi wipes her tears away, "Ratchet, what are you-?" Ratchet turns toward her, "It's not in me to let a friend suffer, including Clank! Like him, Sora needs our help!"

Kairi smiles, "Ratchet...thank you." Ratchet makes a command, "Aphelion, scan the area for escape pods, vapor trails, anything that could connect us to Sora!" Aphelion confirms his order, "Affirmative. Now scanning."

Again, Quark tries to reach Ratchet, "Well, while you two are looking for a corpse-I mean, your friend, the Fongoids told me something interesting, something that you might want to know about Azimuth." Ratchet asks, "That's good to know, Vorcelon had a thing for Azimuth, and if Azimuth is an enemy of Nefarious, then he may be a friend." Suddenly, the scanners picked up on a vapor trail, Kairi prays, "Please Sora, please..."

Elsewhere, Sora felt dizzy, lost, there was nothing around him for miles, suddenly, a small voice was heard, "You're not dead you know." Sora shakes his head and tries to get up, "Ugh, who's...who's there?" The voice replied, "Just be a good little beast, and someday, if you're good, we'll meet again."

Sora stood up and calls out, "Wait! Who are you? Where am I?" The voice replied, "(sigh) This place shouldn't matter to you. After all, your asleep, and you can escape from here anytime." Sora was shocked, "I'm...asleep?" The voice replied, "Duh, retard. So quit stalling, wake up already, or would you prefer the role of 'Sleeping Beauty' and get kissed by your boy friend Riku?"

Sora snaps, "HEY, SHUTTUP! WHY DO YOU PEOPLE KEEP MAKING THAT CRAP UP?" The voice giggles, "You are amusing, I think we'll have a wonderful time together, don't you?" Sora then realizes something, "Wait, how do you know about Riku?" The voice replied, "Oh I knew about him the minute you and your buddies made it into Neither. Speaking of which, how's that sexy lady friend of yours?"

Sora tries to wake up, "OK, I've had enough of the 'All Knowing Voice'! LET ME OUT!" The voice laughed at him, "Oh, but don't you remember? This is a world of dreams, and it's easy to leave. Just say 'please', and I'll boot you out of here." Sora looks around, "...Come into the light...please?" The voice replied, "Show myself to you, so soon? Hmm, well, OK!"

Suddenly, Sora felt weaker, he drops onto the ground, getting sleepy, then out of nowhere, in front of Sora, came a small creature, it was a strange looking imp with a young female structure, light green skin with black fur, she wore a large stone helmet, a part of it covered her right while the left was exposed, it was a yellow eye, with a red pupil, and across her face, was a sinister grin.

"I found you!"

Sora finally awoke, he looked around and saw himself inside a car, lying on the lap of a young woman, while a huge, muscular long haired man was driving, "Hey Eddie, I think he's awake." Eddie looked over at Sora, "Hey kid, I'd give anything to be where you are right now." Sora blinks in confusion and looks up and sees the woman's face looking down at him.

"Eddie, stop! This is where the resistance's base is." Eddie pulls over near a fortress with swords on top of every wall, and a gigantic sword in the ground in the middle of the base. Suddenly, a woman approaches the car, "Vile beast, DIE-! Ophelia?" Ophelia jumps out of the Deuce, "Hey Lita, how's it going?"

Lita approaches the Deuce and starts poking at the wheels with her spear, "What monstrosity is this?" Eddie and Sora exit the Deuce, then Eddie tries to stop Lita, "Hey, hey, hey! Don't do that!" Lita turns toward him, "Hello." Then she goes back to poking the Deuce.

Sora scratches his head, "Uh, where am I, and who are you guys?" Eddie walks over to Sora, "I'm a stranger to this place just like you kid." Sora gives him a frustrated face, "Don't call me kid! The name's Sora." Eddie replies, "Sorry, didn't mean to piss you off dude. Nice to meet you, uh, Sora, I'm Eddie Riggs."

Sora shakes his hand, "Nice to meet you. So, where are we?" Eddie answers, "Well, y' got me, but right now, we're in some place called Bladehenge, we're currently parked near a rebel base with a few people who are PO'd about the demons trying to kill'em." Ophelia walks toward the two, "We can explain the rest, Sora, right? I'm Ophelia, I specialize in gathering members and weapons."

Lita walks toward the group and turns to Ophelia, "Pfff, Great job so far." Sora was about to ask who the blond woman was, but Ophelia quickly answered, "It's OK Sora. This is Lita, she's Lars's little sister. She can be a bit...rough, but she's one of the best warriors in the resistance."

Lita turns away embarrassed, "Quit acting all goody-goody. Anyway, Lars has been waiting for you to return Ophelia." Ophelia replied, "Got it! Come on you two!" Sora and Eddie followed Ophelia and Lita inside the rebel fortress, Sora asks, "So, who is this 'Lars'?" Eddie was next to ask, "And where is he?" Ophelia looked around and then, she spotted someone on top of the giant sword.

Ophelia gave a good look at the person, and then smiled, "Lars, come down from there!" After Ophelia called out to him, Sora and Eddie saw Lars, the leader of the resistance. His very appearance almost seemed god-like, a hairless chest, long blond hair, blue honest eyes, and a courageous smile, Sora has seen people like him only in comics, to Sora, this was what a true hero looked like.

Meanwhile, back in Ormagoden's Temple, a sinister figure approaches a dagger, a demon aproaches the figure, "Lord Doviculus, they say that it was the fire beast Ormagoden himself." Doviculus picked up the dagger, "...No, far worse than that, Warfather." Doviculus takes a sniff of the blade, "It was Succoria! I could smell her blood...the Season of Pain is upon us."

Warfather was startled, "But...why has she returned now? What does she want?" Doviculus smiled, "War, finally."

End of Chapter 21