Sahxyel: Whoa, after a long hiatus your goddess of crossover is BACK!
Danny: Heh, 'Goddess of Crossover'? Presumptuous are we?
Random Moogle: We'd like to apologize for Sahxyel's big head...she's a little too proud of her work apparently.
Me: Ahem! Anyway, here is the next chapter!
Disclaimer Guy: No own. But we can twist with words! Hooray for twist-age!
Chapter 26: Reunion of the Groups
"Okay, tell me again, he ISN'T here?!"
"Look, it's not MY job to watch him okay?! MY job is to carry this THING!"
"AND make sure Danny and Nexaild recombine! And we won't find THAT out if both of them are GONE!"
A heated debate between Sam and Axel grew more in power, making Tucker sigh in exasperation. They were in a less-then crowded area, where no one was, so hopefully there were no eavesdroppers. And by misfortune everyone didn't notice Nexaild's disappearance until they were halfway in the city of Radiant Garden. So where the Nobody went off to was a complete mystery.
That and they also had the task of relocating Danny and Jazz, but finding them was almost as difficult as figuring out where a single Nobody would be.
"Can I say something?" Tucker asked meekly. The two rounded on him, both shouting simultaneously. "NO!"
"What's going on over here?" A kind voice questioned. All three looked down the only street in the area, seeing a woman who gazed at the three curiously. She wore an excessive amount of pink and had brown hair that was pulled back. Something about her demeanor was...calming in a sense, making Sam and Axel stop their bickering for at least a moment.
"Nothing." Sam replied, seemingly wary of the newcomer. Axel stared thoughtfully at her but said nothing. Tucker only shrugged, not really knowing what to say. The woman tilted her head slightly, studying the three.
"You're new to Radiant Garden." She stated, making Tucker and Sam give a take. Axel showed nothing suggesting he was surprised, more or less he was expecting the woman to say it.
"Yeah, but how do you know that?" Tucker asked. The woman only chuckled, a soft smile on her face. "Not many people in Radiant Garden dress as you do...or look lost in the common districts."
Tucker smiled sheepishly, but Sam stayed on her guarded attitude, still wary and distrustful. Axel stayed silent, now leaning against the dream catcher, which was still on and glowing in dual colors. The woman looked at the dream catcher curiously but didn't ask about it. "Do you three need help?"
"Uh-" Tucker started, but Sam was quick to respond. "No, we're just fine, just looking around."
The woman nodded, eyeing the three once more before walking away. She turned down the street, and eventually out of sight.
Tucker shot a hot glare at Sam, "Why'd you say that?! She could have HELPED us!"
"Yeah, RIGHT. Like she would have helped us!"
This time, another heated debate started up leaving Axel to stand by the dream catcher and watch in some extremely small look of amusement.
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In the Bailey, Danny and Jazz continued to follow the blonde haired man, who incidentally hadn't spoken a word since leaving the crystal fissure. But, he DID seem to know where he was going, so they didn't complain. Instead, they looked around hoping to see a glimpse of Tucker or Sam, possibly even looking for Axel too, and definitely for Nexaild.
After a little longer, Jazz sighed, "No good, I can't see them anywhere." A small zephyr went through the Bailey, making the blonde haired man stop suddenly. A frown was apparent on his face, but still, he said not a single word.
"Is something wrong?" Danny asked, perplexed at the man's behavior. He only shook his head back in response.
"CLOUD!"
Immediately, something rammed into the blonde haired man, surprising everyone in turn. The person who had launched the surprising event smiled brightly, "Nice to see ya again Cloud!"
"Yuffie, off." The blonde haired man, or apparently Cloud, growled. The woman reluctantly let go of him, but was still apparently very giddy.
"I can't believe you're back! Tifa said that you left again-" She gasped loudly, "Did you finally beat Sephiroth?!"
"..." Cloud didn't reply, making Yuffie sigh animatedly. "Got away again huh?"
Danny leaned over to Jazz, whispering, "Do you know what they're talking about?" Jazz only shook her head, also wondering what exactly the two were saying. The woman, Yuffie, continued talking, but Cloud only gave very brief answers, keeping his quiet disposition.
Soon, Yuffie noticed the two teenagers who stood a few feet away. "Who're you?" She asked in a slightly rude manner.
"Uh..." Danny started, a little caught off-guard that Yuffie changed subjects so fast. "I'm Danny, and this is my sister Jazz." He gestured to Jazz, who only waved with a sheepish smile. Yuffie shrugged before looking back to Cloud, "Good thing you came back, apparently Organization XIII showed up again. Leon found one of them roaming the halls of the castle."
Danny and Jazz both exchanged surprised glances. THAT wasn't good.
"What?" Cloud seemed to be pulled from his stupor, "The Organization's back?"
"Duh! Were you listening?!" Yuffie snapped, apparently irked. Cloud only glared back, making Yuffie look away first. "Anyway, I've been looking around to see if there were any more of them around here. Have any of you seem any dudes in big black cloaks or anything like that?"
Realization flashed through Cloud's eyes, but he said nothing. Instead, he shot a curious glance towards Danny and Jazz.
"Umm..." Danny's mind raced, trying to figure out a way to explain that the people they were looking for ALSO wore large black cloaks. Nothing immediately came to him, leaving an uncomfortable silence.
"You said that this guy found someone who wore a black cloak right?" Jazz questioned, looking hypercritical again. Yuffie nodded, prompting Jazz to continue, "I can't believe it! YOU thought he was part of Organization XIII?! Heh, that's a laugh." She smirked, making Danny wonder what exactly she was playing at.
"Why would that be funny?" Yuffie asked in an impatient tone. Jazz only rolled her eyes, "The people we're looking for like how the cloaks looked, so they duplicated the style. I TOLD them it'd get them in trouble, but noooo..." She drifted off, winking at Danny. Luckily, Yuffie and Cloud didn't notice.
Yuffie scratched her head, looking quite puzzled. "Wait, you know who the person wearing the black cloak is?"
Jazz crossed her arms, "Was the person somehow, oh I don't know, around fourteen, maybe fifteen?"
"That's what Leon said, AND he said that he didn't look like anyone that was IN the Organization-"
Danny sighed wearily, catching on to what Jazz was trying to do. "My cousin." He explained, glad that Nexaild looked alot like him, in human form that is. "He liked how the cloaks look, and his buddy kinda egged him on to wear it."
"There's another guy wearing a cloak around here then?" Yuffie looked even more confused, but to Danny and Jazz's relief, Cloud answered before they did.
"There is, he's with their friends that they're trying to find right now." He said in his slightly quiet tone of voice. Yuffie nodded, before looking back to Danny and Jazz. "Okay, I guess I could help you look for your friends, then we can go tell Leon that your cousin isn't in Organization XIII." She snorted, "I knew that those losers were dead."
"Right Yuffie." Cloud rolled his eyes, walking away again and making a motion for the teenagers to follow.
When both Cloud and Yuffie were out of earshot, Danny turned to Jazz. "Great, after we find Sam, Tucker, and Axel we're heading right to someone that probably will recognize Axel from the Organization. What then?"
"I'll try and think of something." Jazz replied. "Let's just worry about FINDING them first."
Both walked off again, minds pondering on how exactly the situation could be turned for the better.
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"Come on Gullwings, we're on a mission!" Yuna declared to her two associates, pointing up into the air. "We can't just loaf around while dangerous beings walk around!"
Rikku pouted, "But Yuna," she started with a whining voice, "We've been looking all over town and haven't seen ANYONE wearing a black cloak. Can't we rest for a minute?"
Paine looked surprised, "For once, I actually agree." She sighed, "I mean, how much of a chance is there that we'll find another Organization member?"
"WILL YOU SHUT UP?!" Suddenly, a loud yell broke the three's concentration, making them look down from the building they were resting on. Standing in the middle of the cobbled street were three people, all squabbling over something, each shouting at one another and making a loud racket. Two of the people were in their teens, but the third was an adult by the look of it.
"..." The Gullwings all blinked in disbelief, all eyes on the man with shocking red hair and the long black cloak.
"I thought he was dead!" Rikku whispered in a frantic voice, seriously freaked out from seeing a supposedly dead being standing on the street. "How'd he-I mean how can that be-?!"
Yuna immediately put a hand over Rikku's mouth, pulling away from the edge of the building. Paine followed, also incredibly shocked but nonetheless wiser on her outbursts.
Finally out of sight, Yuna started the conversation first. "How can we get that Nobody to the castle as quickly as possible?"
"Just use the same technique that we used to get that other Nobody to Leon." Rikku suggested, but Paine shook her head. "This one's smarter than the other one, he'd SMELL the trap miles before he gets there. Plus, we'd need a good reason to even lead him to the castle."
"Duh! We have the other one captive!" Rikku exclaimed, but this time, Yuna interrupted, "Nobodies fend for themselves, I doubt he'd want to save the other one if it means risking his own existence. Especially that one." She frowned, seriously perplexed.
Although the loud argument continued below, above on the rooftop the Gullwings hovered in thoughtful silence. How could they get that Nobody to Leon, or find a way to get him there at least?
"DANNY!"
"GUYS!"
Two voices echoed through the district, making the Gullwings glance downward again. The teenage girl had ditched her argument, in favor of meeting up with a new group of people that had entered the street. The three didn't recognize the red-haired girl, or the white haired boy (Although he DID strike them as familiar) but they DID recognize the two adults that accompanied the teenagers, one man with incredibly spiky blonde hair and donning all black, and a woman who wore another excess of black, but managed to let her skin see daylight at least.
Rikku piped up excitedly, "Cloud's back?!"
Paine rolled her eyes, "What does it look like?"
"Alright! This is perfect!" Yuna chirruped, looking incredibly gleeful. The two other fairy-like beings threw a questioning look. "Okay, hear me out..."
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Danny rushed to his friends, glad that they had gotten through the heartless swarm with no incident. Sam was smiling genuinely, also relieved that Danny and Jazz (but mostly Danny) made it back safe when the swarm worsened. Tucker was grinning, ignoring the vibration in his pocket from the mini-communicator. In the shadows by the 'dream catcher' the clear glass pod sat motionless as the heartless inside apparently snoozed. Being a completely black creature with yellow eyes, that were closed, it seemed like there was just a black plush bag tucked inside the confines of the pod.
Axel only yawned, looking away and apparently disinterested again.
"We finally caught up to you guys, do you know how fast you've been going? It's hard to keep up!" Danny said in a joking manner. Sam only scowled at Axel, who only returned the obvious expression of resentment with a cocky smile. Yuffie stared at Axel thoughtfully for a second, before turning and talking with Cloud. While the two were in their conversation, Jazz looked to the rest of the group urgently.
"They have Nexaild."
Sam raised an eyebrow, "Jazz, WHAT are you talking about?"
Danny, looked back to Cloud and Yuffie before continuing. "Some people that they know have Nexaild, and they THINK he's in the Organization. We were going to get him after finding you guys."
Axel frowned, "And what if, when we go and collect Nexaild, just WHAT if one of their 'friends' recognizes me?" He asked sharply, his calculating green eyes currently locked on the two adults, that currently had their backs turned.
Tucker looked thoughtful for a moment, "Has anyone here ever seen you...directly at least?"
"No." Axel replied, still watching Cloud and Yuffie with an unwavering stare.
Jazz smiled, "Then it's perfect! There's no way that they can pin you if nobody's ever seen you before!" Axel gave a small nod, acknowledging Jazz's revelation, but his attention still seemed to be focused somewhere else. Rolling her eyes out of annoyance, Jazz turned to her brother and his friends.
"Um, not to sound like the pessimist, but...what if Axel IS right and someone DOES recognize him?" Sam queried, frowning slightly. "We'd need to all get out pretty fast-"
"I can just phase all of us out, and if worse comes to worse..." Danny allowed his eyes to give a neon green flash before it died back down, leaving him with a small smirk.
Tucker also had a smirk on his face, "That'd work."
Sam shook her head, "Yeah, EXACTLY what we want to do. Annoy these people and get on bad terms with the Keyblader...-what's his name again? Zola?"
"Torra?"
"Sola?"
Jazz sighed, already feeling a headache coming on, "It's Sora. Seriously, did any of you listen when Axel told us his name?"
The three teenagers looked to one another before all shaking their heads in unison. "Nope!"
"Hey, what's going on?" The four looked to Axel, who had finally uttered something from his long silence. His eyes were still locked on Cloud and Yuffie, but apparently, the two had gotten company. Three fairy-like beings hovered in the air next to Yuffie, all who were whispering to one another.
"Umm-" Yuffie started, but Cloud cut the ninja off. "The Gullwings have told us where your friend is in the castle. It'll make the trip easier."
The three fairies looked to one another before looking to the group of out-of-worlders with some interest. Axel frowned suddenly, making the fairies frown in turn. With three flashes of light, the fairies disappeared into apparent thin air.
Needless to say, Danny, Tucker, Sam, and Jazz were stunned. "How did they do that?" Tucker asked weakly, eyes wide.
"Magic. What? You've never seen magic before?" Yuffie smirked playfully, the four only shook their heads in shock. "Well, guess you've seen it now!"
"Come on." Cloud's voice cut into the air like a rather sharp knife. "I don't have time to stand around here all day. If you want to get your cousin," He locked eyes with Danny before starting to walk away, "follow me."
Yuffie gave another animated sigh when the blonde haired man slipped out of sight, "Sorry about him. He's always been a little on the edge-"
"A little?" Danny interrupted, looking skeptical. "He looks like he never cracked a smile before."
"That's not true, one time-" Yuffie started, then stopped. "Huh. It's weird. I DON'T think I've ever seen him smile before."
"Wouldn't surprise me." Axel stated coolly, walking back over to the dream catcher and picking it up. It still looked like it was really heavy, but Axel didn't complain. Instead, he followed the direction Cloud went. "Come on you four!" He called, before also slipping out of sight.
Sam retrieved the pod where Danny's heartless still slept, before also heading off. Danny trailed behind her, with Tucker following. Jazz stood sentient for a moment, before also following everyone out of the plaza.
Yuffie stood by herself in the empty street, her smile dissolving into a frown. "Cloud better pull this off. If that dude REALLY is in the Organization, this might get tricky..."
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"Down here." Cloud called out, leading the group down yet another hallway. Danny looked around, hoping to see something more eye-catching then just the occasional rubble or pipe-clogged doors. Sam looked like she was in the worst place in the universe since the walls were in a shade of pink-ish coloration. Tucker seemed to be the most bored, almost tempted to start fiddling with the communication device again.
They exited another one of the narrow halls, dispersing evenly into another conjoining room. Unlike the first one, this room only had one door that had no obstructions in the way. Danny gave an exhausted sigh, "Are we there yet?"
Cloud nodded, looking to the only hall left to go down. "They're right down there."
"Good." Axel grumbled, apparently starting to get tired of carrying the dream catcher. "Any longer and I probably would have ditched this stupid thing."
Jazz glared at Axel, "You can't handle a little labor? All you have to do is carry it!" Axel only rolled his eyes, shifting the dream catcher's weight from one shoulder to the other.
"Will all of you just hurry up?! We don't have TIME to stand around!" Danny shouted, already aware of how much time passed since they had entered the strange worlds. Cloud shot Danny another curious look, to which he smiled back sheepishly, "We have to be somewhere after this."
"Hm." Cloud looked away, almost like he was in thought. Shrugging, Danny walked down the hall first while everyone else stayed in the conjoining room. At the end of the narrow hall was a door, and all around were signs of disarray. Rubble sat here and there, tiles were misplaced, and there was a scorch mark on the ground. Still, the hall was in much better shape than the rest of the castle.
Once reaching the door, Danny discovered a slight problem. It was locked.
"Go figure." He muttered, wondering what he was supposed to do. After a moment, he reached forward and rapped on the door hard three times.
Suddenly, the door swung open, an arm reached out and grabbed Danny's collar to his suit firmly. Before Danny could even yelp, the arm whipped him inside and shut the door.
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Sahxyel: And so, with that, I am back! God, I lost my inspiration for a couple weeks, with nothing to run on. Luckily, I got it back, so huzzah!
Danny: Uh-huh. And yet you leave off with another cliffhanger.
Me: Yeah, well, um, about that...
Random Moogle: Kupo, there IS no good excuse is there?
Me: ...No.
Random Moogle: Thought so. And now, here are Review Replies.
Replies to Reviews:
Pterodactyl: Thanks for the tip!
Cold-heart-Angel23: Yup, they'll be reunited all right...sorry for the incredibly late update.
Linda: Yeah, actually it's the next one that will REALLY rock out loud. Which should be up on its original day: Sunday.
Mike Industries: Okay.
GadgetCid: Heh, I liked it!
Nobody Famous: Yeah, he isn't very perceptive. Now they are all in the same building! And Danny's in the same room as Nex, so it all works out doesn't it? Eh, not quite.
Silvia: Thanks. And yes, the thermos is rather enticing isn't it? But as for Cujo's reaction to Danny...you'll see soon enough.
Firehedgehog: Ah.
kittylover1890: Ehehe, I can't believe how long I took to update. Ah well, glad you like it all the same.
Jlargent: As I've said before: I won't make anyone from Danny's world a Keybearer. It's just too cliche and used so many times. X.X Honestly, I stick to trying to make this as original as possible.
i AM the Random Idiot: Yeah. I think you'll really like the next chapter. I'll like writing it too, so it'll be up. And I'm glad you liked Riku's part (albeit small) in the last chapter.
Wingg-ed Wolf: Thank you! And it seems that has been everyone's favorite chapter so far! Just look at these reviews for crying out loud! Thanks for waiting!
Writing Ninja: Suspense sucks. I hate myself for making this cliffhanger-happy. But, it increases dramatic tension and is a good place to leave off. (sighs)
watashi wa jeru desu: I'm sorry about that. And I hope you get your computer fixed too, for it is a lifeline that should be revered! ...Okay, maybe not, but then again that's just me. And about the worlds...I MAY have to dump that idea, since this is very crucial in plottage now. I dunno, maybe in my deleted scenes segments at the end of the fic I can do that...
Lightning Timberwolf: Yo LT! What's up?! Ehehe, I'm a little too happy right now...and thanks for the five out of five! I always assumed this deserved a four or something but thanks! I feel happier!
Corner Girl: Wow. An all-nighter? My story's that long? Neat. Thanks for the review!
Mysterious Prophetess: Thank you, and here is an update finally!
Yuleen75: I'm sorry! I've been so busy and loaded with SAT work from school! Urgh, I HATE a combo of writer's block and homework. It makes me a VERY dull teen. All work and no writing make Sahxyel a bored teen...
Dragon of Dispair: Yeah, it is a bit fuzzy, so I guess I'll need to enforce exactly what happened. Thank you for your review and I hope you didn't strangle the poor teddy while I was on a hiatus. 0.0 Also, I read that fic and I admit, I like it!
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Sahxyel: Holy crud! That was 19 reviews! Oh man, I'm happy AND tired now! But oddly fulfilled. The next update will be (hopefully) posted on Sunday if I don't get another case of writer's block and homework slump. Till then, be seeing ya!