The Fateful XIII
Chapter 26
Coming Together
Disclaimer: NAAAAAAAAH
Ahhh, sorry about the uber long wait guys, I've had a lot of crap going on this week and couldn't find a lot of spare time. I trudged on though and I'm finally done.
Now, good/bad news. This chapter is special, special because it marks the beginning of the end of this story. If I had to estimate, we are a mere six or so chapters away from being completely done. The final battle is coming, and it will kick your ass so hard that you underwear will be lodged in you asshole.
I actually can't wait for the ending because it will be such a surprise...oh, I have to stop talking or I'll just end up ruining it!
Go, read before I spill the beans!
It had been another day and Hikari and Kairi were safely aboard the Boeotia and were given quarters to rest in while they sped through hyperspace. Hikari had been aboard the ship dozens of times now and knew a good deal about it, and how to use its systems. She was no stranger to the communications systems, and had no problems accessing the one she needed to contact the Fateful base. She was luck enough to catch Xelskyr between missions and was now in a heated discussion, mostly because he had given her a particularly interesting piece of information.
"You really know where Kysrel's base is!?" she shouted.
The Nobody nodded. "I do; I fought him there once, back before all this started. His base resides in the Realm of Darkness, near the core, and come to think of it, it looked a lot like Destiny Island. Anyway, I would assume he's using the same base as before. I don't see why this is important though."
She gave him a dumb look, like he'd just said the stupidest thing in the universe. "Don't you get it; we can mount a rescue mission! We can grab a bunch of the Fateful and storm his base and rescue Namine and Roxas!" she said with an excited exclamation.
Xelskyr sighed and shook his head. "No, not happening."
"Why not!? If we know where he is we should at least try!"
"Hikari, I don't think you get it. Do you remember six months ago when you met up with Kysrel in Karakura town? You got demolished; there were seven of you against one of him and you still lost a man, and he didn't even have back-up. His base is defended by the last remnants of the heartless army, that's still hundreds of thousands, if not millions of heartless."
Hikari, despite his indisputable argument, was still mad at him. How could he abandon Roxas so easily? Oh, easy, he's a Nobody, he couldn't care less! She made the mistake of voicing that particular opinion.
"Look, it might be easy for you to abandon a friend in need, but I have an actual heart, and it's not as smooth a transition for me! I'm going to find a way to get him out of there, with or without your help or consent!" she shouted angrily.
Xelskyr sat back in his chair. "Look Hikari, I know you miss him, he was your best friend and it's understandable. But I'm trying to save your life here; going there, even with back-up, is nothing short of a suicide mission. Now calm down and be patient, we will save him, I promise. Look, I have to head out on another mission; can I trust you not to do anything stupid?"
She crossed her arms and huffed angrily. "I promise nothing."
The Nobody sighed and cut the link. Hikari sat up, furious, trying to figure out the best way to get Roxas back. Now that she knew he was alive, she wouldn't stop until he was back where he belonged. If that meant disobeying even Xelskyr, she'd do it, he didn't scare her.
She couldn't stay in her room and stomped out into the corridors of the frigate, scowling heavily all the way. Everything seemed to be going wrong! First she finally figures out that her best friend likes her and that she actually likes him back, but he just has to be working for the evil guy when that particular episode took place! Now she know where he is and no one is even considering a rescue mission!
She was so pissed that she didn't even know where she was going, and when she finally came back to reality, she somehow found herself in the hanger-bay. She sighed and sat down on a crate and buried her face in her hands, hoping the last almost seven months now had been one huge dream and she'd wake up to her dad shaking her like a doll and telling her she'd be late for school.
She had no such luck however, as she raised her head and still saw the same bleak metal encased room. She looked around; the room was all but deserted, and the only sound was the clacking of some footsteps coming from the upper levels that reverberated through the air of the hanger. She looked over to her left and saw the Cipher, Rhys custom dropship/fighter.
She stood and put her hand onto the cold hull, admiring its sleek design, but also its worn and torn décor. She had never really seen much of the ship except for the one time she'd ridden in it, and was curious, not to mention bored.
She opened the entrance hatch with a quick button press and hopped in, inspecting the interior. There really wasn't much but a few crates and seats in the rear compartment, so she decided to check out the cockpit.
She plopped down in the seat and lazily looked at the controls. She was shocked though, at the familiarity of the consoles. She remembered back to her thirteenth birthday, her dad decided it would be fun to giver her Gummi ship flying lessons. Gummi ships had always fascinated her, and Sora, who had one, gladly lent it to them for a while. She caught on quickly and loved every second of the lessons, memorizing what all the buttons and switches did, and learned some pretty fancy tricks.
Looking at the Cipher's control system, it was shockingly similar to a Gummi ship's interface, almost frighteningly so. She sat there, thinking things through, and slowly, a particularly devious and drastic plan formed in her head, but if it worked, she might be able to save Roxas.
Rhys sat in his captains chair, and as usual, was bored out of his mind. His merc service was pretty much at a halt while he was helping Xelskyr with what he was calling, the "war effort". Some war, six months of service and only a few battles, and out of them, only one posed an actual threat to his metallic behemoth of a ship.
He was just about to fall asleep when an alarm suddenly started beeping like crazy over on the internal sensors. He jumped out of his seat and leaned over the control console.
"What's up?" he asked the operator.
"Sir, I'm reading a hull breach!" he said in a surprised tone, "The damage came from weapons fire...inside the ship."
"Inside the ship, what the hell does that mean!?" he shouted.
"Sir, now I'm reading a vessel outside the Boeotia, it's the Cipher."
He growled loudly and rushed over to the communications, litterally pushing the operator out of his seat and took up the headset himself. He angrily opened a channel to the Cipher and began spouting insults at whoever dared take his property.
"Alright, whoever you are, get my ship back in my hanger bay or so help me God I will blow your ass straight out of hyperspace!" he shouted.
"Uh...sir?" called the sensor operator.
"WHAT!"
"Uh...the Cipher just dropped out of hyperspace."
Rhys sat there for a moment, slowly took of the headset, then promptly threw it to the floor and stomped on it in anger.
"Son-of-a-bitch!"
Hikari actually laughed a bit at Rhys angry demeanor. He got flustered so easily when any of his property was in danger, it was almost comical. She sighed, step one was finished. Now she had to complete step two: gather her own personal fighting force. She couldn't rely on the Fateful for support anymore, and there was no way Rhys would be on board after that little stunt. Still, she had a few people she knew would help out, and the best part was that they were all just as good as any Fateful member, if not better.
First guy on her list; Naruto. The blond ninja and Roxas hung out a lot after their first mission, and she knew he'd come along in a heartbeat it he knew Roxas was in a jam. She looked through the navicomputer and found his world in the log, then imput the proper coordinates. She knew for a fact from Rhys that the Cipher was without hyperdrive capabilities, but lucky for her, Naruto's world wasn't too far off, and hyperdrives were more for convenience than actual necessity.
Even with only the ion drives, she could still gather everyone up in about a day. Once she'd done that, it was time for step three: finding her dad. Her dad had not only been to the dark realm, but had been immersed in the darkness completely for a while; if anyone knew of a way to get there other than a corridor, it was him. Plus, they would of course support her rescue operation, which would make a huge difference.
With her mission set and her objectives clear, she punched the autopilot in, and sat back. It was going to be a long ride.
Two hours and more than a few parasecs later...
Naruto happily marched down the dirt paths of the Fire country. It was the best day on recent record so far, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the smell of summer was strong in the air. This only added to the glee he felt at returning home; two in a half years of training with that pervy sage had paid off and now he was finally heading back to Konoha. He could already taste Ichiraku's ramen in his mouth, which only made him go faster.
Jiraiya on the other hand, was never a morning person and was at least twenty feet behind him. Lazily slouching and yawning ever few minutes, he reminded Naruto of Shikimaru.
Everything was calm and quiet until the blond heard a odd hum, like the hum of an engine. He looked up in time to see a grayish ship landing on the path they were walking on. He instantly jumped back and drew two kunai, Jiraiya stayed back, but made no hostile movements as of yet. They both eyed the vehicle suspiciously until the rear hatch opened up and they saw the familiar silver locks of Hikari's hair. Naruto smiled and put his weapons away so to go and greet his friend.
"Hey Hikari, what are you doing here, and where's Roxas?" he said, peeking into the ship.
She looked at him sadly. "That's sort of why I'm here. Naruto...there's something you should know."
He put on a confused look, which transformed to worried and enraged as Hikari's explanation went on. By the time she was done explaining the situation, he looked like he was about to stab the next person who pissed him off.
"I was hoping you'd help me," she finished.
"You bet I will," he turned to face Jiraiya, "And don't even think about telling me no, because I'm going whether you want me to or not!"
The silver haired sage shrugged. "He's your friend, who am I to say no. Besides, Tsunade isn't expecting us back for another week anyway."
Naruto turned back to Hikari and nodded. He jumped right into the ship, and Hikari was about to head in as well when she heard Jiraiya call to her.
"Hikari, I was hoping you'd be back soon, I have a present for you," he said, pulling out a scroll from one of his pouches.
He placed it in her hand, and she looked up at him.
"Is this...?"
He nodded. "Yup, the complete up to date series, all signed by yours truly. The scroll is designed to release the books when it comes in contact with the keyblade, so just tap it when you want to read them."
Hikari grinned and stuck the scroll in a pouch on her waist.
"Well, here's another thing I've gotta keep secret from my parents," she mused to herself. (HAHAHAHAHA, Hikari is a perv!)
"Thanks Jiraiya, I can't wait to read them," she said as she boarded the Cipher.
Jiraiya smiled and watched as the ship lifted into the air. With his student gone, he was free to do what he wanted. He thought about heading back to the town they'd just passed through, it looked like they had some nice bars.
Kysrel meanwhile, was smirking as he stood on the shores of the dark Destiny Island. He always did have a fondness for this place, even with all its sand, maybe it was all the memories the real place held. He would be sure to destroy that world first when he re-opened Kingdom Hearts. After all, he wouldn't be breaching his and Roxas' agreement; he promised him he wouldn't harm Namine, he said nothing about the islands or the rest of its inhabitants.
He was beginning his preparations for summoning Kingdom Hearts and closing the Door to Light. He already had two of the three pieces to the puzzle, and if what he had just observed was any indication, the final one was on rush delivery. He could hardly wait, only a day more and he would have his prize, and another pawn for him to manipulate.
His self-gratification was interrupted as he heard foot steps from behind him. He turned away from his work to see Roxas in his Organization coar, his hood drawn over his head, staring at him.
"Can I help you my friend?" he asked in his usual sly and superior tone.
"We're not friends," he shot back flatly, "I'm curious though, what are you doing?"
He she grinned and turned back to the shore.
"Just watch."
Roxas did just that, he sat back and he watched, only to be amazed at what he saw before him. In a huge flash of light, a giant set of white doors with stained glass windows and elegant engravements materialize in the water, just a bit off shore. The most jawdropping thing was, the doors themselves had two huge chains wrapped around them in a "X" fashion, with two keyholes, one on each side.
Kysrel slowly stepped into the water and waded there until he was directly in front of the doors, running his fingers across its smooth surface.
"Look at it Roxas," he said suddenly, "this used to be the symbol of power in the universe, it was the destroyer of armies, maker of kings, the driving force of all greed, the source of all strength."
His arms dropped to his sides, almost like he was mourning.
"But now, because of your family..."
He suddenly disappeared and then re-appeared behind Roxas.
In one swift motion, he gripped the back of the younger brunettes head and threw him against the white doors, then soon joined him, forcing the boys face against the cold surface.
"Look at what it's become! Nothing but a monument to days long passed, the ages where you survived because you were worthy, you were strong! Now look at the worlds, the heartless are in retreat and darkness is no longer a threat; people are getting content and fat! It disgusts me to the very core, but I'll change all that. Yes, once Hikari gets here, I aim to set everything right. The universe will once again be a place for the strong and the worthy, people will survive because they deaden themselves and do what must be done to stay alive, no matter how horrendous or immoral they may believe it to be! I will drag this existence kicking and screaming but in the end they will thank me!" (1)
While he was on another one of his rants, Roxas was struggling to not have his head splattered on the doors of Kingdom Hearts.
"You're one twisted fuck, you know that?" he growled.
For that he was rewarded by having his head pulled back and slammed into the doors once again.
"Sticks and stones Roxas, sticks and stones," he mused.
He finally released his grip and calmly walked back to the shore, leaving Roxas leaning against Kingdom Hearts, holding his now bleeding forehead. Kysrel looked over his shoulder at him and snickered.
"Roxas, you may want to clean yourself up a bit. We are expecting company."
Another three hours later...
"This thing is awesome Hikari, is it yours?" asked Naruto, who had just joined her in the cockpit.
She shook her head. "Nah, I kind of stole it."
He snickered. "Wow, I never knew you had such a wild streak."
She was about to say something when the autopilot began beeping at her and she promptly shut it off and began taking them in for a landing. They were entering the atmosphere of Karakura town, on their way to recruit Ichigo and who else wanted to come along. She activated the stealth systems, it was a heavily populated area, and they didn't want to attract too much attention.
They broke through the clouds and were now flying over the buildings of Karakura town, heading for Urahara's shop. Even if Ichigo wasn't there, he'd probably show up, or Urahara might have a way to contact him. She used the scanners to map the city and finally found the shop after about two full sweeps. She piloted the craft down and landed in the back-alley.
As they exited the craft and headed towards the shop, they could already hear the arguments erupting from the room. They pushed the door open and waltzed into the back room to see, what was for them, a normal sight.
Ichigo and Matt were on the ground in a life or death struggle...over a sandwich. Ichigo was on his back and Matt was hovering over him, both of them clutching onto the small food like it was a diamond. It looked like a draw until Matt did something unexpected, he clambed down on Ichigo's hand with his teeth, causing the elder of the two to yelp and pull his hands back, leaving the raven haired boy victorious.
"Ah, damn it! Why do you always get the sandwiches!"
He smirked with his mouthful. "Cuz I'm just awesome like that."
Hikari broke the conversation with a quick clearing of her throat, gaining both boys attention.
"Oh, hey Hikari, what brings you here?" asked Ichigo.
She sighed and took a seat at the table, upset that she had to explain all this again. Their reactions were the same as Naruto's when he first heard about it, though Ichigo's was even more violent, as it seemed like he was about to rip everyone's head off and drink their blood.
He slammed his fist down on the table.
"That's it, I'm not sitting around and waiting for him to kill everyone, I'm coming with you!"
"That's kind of why I was here. I wanted to know if you could join a team I'm putting together to rescue him and hopefully even take out Kysrel, but that's secondary."
The orange haired soul reaper nodded. "I'm in."
Matt nodded as well. "Sure, I'm game for some action."
"Great, I've got a ship outside, we should get going as soon as possible."
"Then she just dropped out of hyperspace and left!" shouted Rhys.
Xelskyr pinched the bridge between his eyes and sighed. He had just gotten back from a mission and now he had to deal with this. Rhys had just recounted everything up until Hikari's hijacking of the Cipher, and he was pissed.
"Alright Rhys, just run through your database and check out all the worlds you visited in the last six months, she's bound to be at one of them. Other than that, the only thing I can do is have my people keep their eyes open. We have ships to, but I've only got two people capable of flying them, and I need them both here to keep up base defenses."
"Fine, Rhys out," he growled before shutting down the channel.
Xleksyr leaned back in his hair and sighed again. Great, now they had both gone rouge, just peachy. Not only did he have to find both of them now, but he had to explain this to Kairi. Ever since Roxas and Namine had gone missing, Hikari seemed to be the only thing keeping the woman sane. Now that she had struck out on her own, he was...worried? Well, something along those lines.
Anyway, he didn't really want to see her reaction to the fact that the girl who she saw as a second daughter had gone missing as well. He just couldn't get a break; who'd have thought not existing could be so hard.
Finally, another two in a half hours later...
Hikari had finally reached her last destination, the world Iroh, Aang, and Katara lived on. This world, like Naruto's and Ichigo's was particularly large, and she had to use the ships bio scanners just to find them. Luckily, they were in the same area as the last time she was here.
Once again she activated the stealth systems and flew downward towards the city of Ba Sing Se. She had to admit, without the stormy skies and rain, it was a beautiful city at night. According to the scanners, Aang was at Irohs tea shop, and she was relatively sure she could find it without much trouble.
She was proven correct as she was easily able to spot it with her birds eye view. She slowly and lightly set the ship down in a nearby alley so not to attract any attention with the noise and kicked up dirt. She exited through the rear compartment, observing what the rest of the group was doing as she passed.
Naruto, Ichigo, and Matt, along with two of Naruto's clones were in a heated poker game. Apparently Naruto -well, one of them- was winning because as she passed, Ichigo groaned and Matt threw his hand against the wall and crossed his arms angrily.
She shook her head as and exited the ship and out into the world. She rounded two corners and climbed the steps to the shop. It was pretty late at night, so she doubted anyone would be here except Aang and Iroh.
Again, she was proven right as the tea shop was completely empty except for the kind old man and the bald teen. She walked in with a smile as she approached the counter. Aang turned in his seat and Iroh looked up, both smiled and waved.
"Hi Hikari, back already?" asked Aang cheerfully.
"Yes, not that it's not a pleasure, but I would like to know why you are back so soon."
Hikari sighed, 'here we go again.'
This time the explanation was shorter, seeing as they were a bit more up to date on the current events, and basically just told them about her plan to save Roxas.
"Look, I know it seems crazy, but I can't just leave him."
Iroh leaned on the counter. "I do believe he made you promise to not try and save him, that it was safer if you stayed away," he pointed out.
"I know he did, but...I just can't. I know where he is and there are already people with me to help, we can do this! Please Aang, it would mean a lot," she pleaded.
Aang gave her a skeptic look at first, but then just shrugged and hopped off his chair.
"Well, it wouldn't be the first time I went on a dangerous and supposedly impossible mission. Could you explain this to Katara Iroh, I think she'll understand."
The old man nodded. "Just don't do anything reckless, both of you."
They both nodded, then headed out of the shop and back to the Cipher.
Kysrel stood atop his spire-like base, still with his confident and cocky grin smeared across his face. He could tell that Hikari was amassing her own little team to assault his world. It was almost cute, she thought she could fight him all by herself. Too bad she was doing exactly what he wanted her to, otherwise he might have actually thought her a minimal threat.
He didn't want to reveal his hand just yet, after all, she was planning on gathering up the two prized keyblade bearers. Sora and Riku would make supurb opponents, their skill matched and probably even exceeded his own. He was giddy at the thought. After all, once the power of Kingdom Herts was his, it wouldn't matter who rose against him, he would be all but invincible, a god.
No force, no army, no warrior could stop him. He smiled even wider, it was almost showtime, he might as well roll out the red carpet.
Okay, I hope you guys liked it, especially since you had to wait a week for it. Once again, sorry about that.
Once announcement I'd like to make is that I'm on my schools bowling team now (I know, I'm such a super-stud right?), and with practice and all, I might not be able to write all the time, so updates may get a little more stainous. I'm not sure, we'll see what happens.
(1) Does anyone here know where I got the last line in that paragraph from. I'll give you a hint, it was a book, then became a movie.
Review please.
