Whoo-hoo! Happy late holidays everyone, hoped you had a good one, and hope this chapter is worth the ridiculously long college-driven wait! (scrambles off to play Re: Chain of Memories)
Xantha's obscene language is brought to today you by the high school friend that I based his personality on and may not be appropriate for all audiences. Please make sure that your obscenity filters are securely in place if that kind of thing bothers you.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Digimon or Kingdom Hearts. Nothing at all.
Kingdom of the Elemental Hearts
Chapter 28: Confrontation
"Kouji…Riku…kun…"
The words were so soft that they were practically hidden in the heavy, pained breaths that forced their way from the boy's lungs in his last moments of consciousness. His navy blue eyes fogged over and turned the same cloudy, sickly gray of water that had been used to clean paint brushes, but this was only visible for a few fleeting seconds before hiding behind dark bangs as the boy's head dropped limply to his chest.
Xantha smirked broadly as he pulled away from the limp form, his fingers clutching at the swirling darkness he had drawn from the younger boy's chest. The Heart that was hidden within squirmed and twisted in his grasp, trying in desperation to wrench itself free, but it was futile. The rings that Xantha wore on the second finger of each hand made sure of that – the ring on his left hand used Naraku's demonic powers to draw the Heart from its body, while the one on his right channeled the magic of Anubis's 'Shadow Realm' to trap it in his grasp. These rings would be useless after this, and their powers were already starting to wane, but Xantha found that he could care less. They had already served their purpose.
As Myotismon lay the unmoving, unfeeling body of Kouichi Kimura to one side, Xantha turned to face him, holding their prize out to him at arm's length. "Well? This is what you wanted, right?"
Myotismon smiled, as though enjoying the thought of someone he hated being disemboweled. He reached out and took the swirling darkness from the Nobody's hands, cradling it in his hands as though it were a bird that would fly if given half a chance. "More than you could ever imagine."
"Glad to be of service," Xantha bowed low with much dramatic swinging of the arms. The smirk disappeared from his face a moment later and he glared up at Myotismon with a serious expression. "Now…as you promised."
"Of course," Myotismon said icily, slipping the captured Heart into the dark folds of his cloak to hide it from sight. He pulled the cape around his body and adjusted it regally, wearing an expression to match, his dark eyes glinting behind his blood red mask. "I do have to remind you: this will be painful."
Xantha grit his teeth and clenched his fists, wincing a bit as he felt another layer of dying flesh crumble from his knuckles. "I can deal with it."
"As you wish," Myotismon smirked for a bare moment, his fangs glinting even in the dark not-light of the shadowed Realm, before he suddenly threw his arms back and tossed his cape wide open. "Grisly Wing!"
From the never-ending darkness that the cloak had hidden away, thousands of bats suddenly took flight. They streamed through the air and descended on Xantha en masse, setting their hundreds of thousands of sharp fangs to work tearing his body into millions of tiny little shreds.
The Nobody's head jerked back and he bit down on his tongue sharply to muffle the shout of pain that would have otherwise sprung from him. The force of this brought a spurt of coppery blood into his mouth, but it didn't much matter because, within seconds, his entire body had been covered in demonic bats from head to toe.
The little creatures of the night did their dirty work with unnatural speed, dispersing a moment later to leave behind nothing but three black rings sitting atop a pile of black ash, framed by a mass of swirling, silver ectoplasm.
Myotismon smirked to himself, brushing the last of his pets away as he stepped forward. He ran a hand through the silvery-white smoke, scooping it into his grasp. It wriggled in his hand and up one arm as though to protest being manhandled in such away, but there was little that it could do as the vampire bore it over to the limp body that waited against the wall of rock.
The boy's body remained exactly the way that he had been when Myotismon had discarded him, his unfocused eyes staring blankly at the dark earth underneath him. Myotismon took his free hand and slipped the first two fingers under the boy's chin, guiding his face up to look to the sky. Gloved fingers slipped over the soft skin, keeping the face aloft and judging the skin of his throat for its taunt.
Once he was satisfied, the vampire brought the smoky white ectoplasm to his lips and sucked it in. The white smoke disappeared into his mouth, small tendrils escaping from the corner of his lips, and Myotismon held his breath to prevent it from escaping any further. In the next motion, he ducked down and sank his fangs into the unconscious boy's neck, forcing the white smoke into the hole that he made there.
The deed done, Myotismon stepped back and dabbed at his mouth with a small black handkerchief. He licked at the drop of blood that had escaped to settle on his lips, sighing in a way that was almost wistful, and turned his gaze to the dark form. "There. It's done."
The dark haired boy's head jerked up so suddenly that he almost bashed it against the rock wall behind him. He sucked in a deep breath that was almost violent and broke almost instantly into a flurry of painted coughs. A series of vile obscenities poured from the previously quiet lips, followed quickly by a disgusted wretch and a glare. "That was freaky as hell, man, You are a freak of fucking nature just for that trick, you know that?"
Myotismon's smirk widened, just slightly. "So I've been told. All settled in, then?"
"Am I?" Xantha frowned, the expression feeling downright bizarre on the strange new face, and flexed his hands experimentally. "Hm…something's missing."
Shakily, like a child uncertain of his first steps, he climbed to his feet and stumbled over to the remains of his former body. Without a second thought, he dug his hand into the dust, rescuing the one ring that still had any hint of useful power in it along with a small, black seed from the depths of the soot.
Holding the seed between the first two fingers of his right hand, he extended his arm slowly and just stared it.
A second later, the seed burst to life, violently green vines exploding to their full length in a matter of moments. They extended outward in all directions, wrapped around his arms and torso in one way and shooting out the other to snatch the black Staff from the ground and drag it, fighting the entire way, into his hand.
With the vines in place and the Staff of Darkness in his hands, Xantha let his old smirk – which practically hurt, in this stupid new body, he would have to fix that soon enough – crawl back over his face. "All right then. Now, I'm ready."
( - )
"Bastard!"
Riku lunged, leaping over the vines and knocking Xantha backwards. He pressed the Soul Stealer against the parasite's throat, hissing in rage, but was met with nothing but a laugh.
"Careful," Xantha warned, his voice dripping with the saccharine sweetness of one who knows exactly what he wants and exactly how to get it. "If you hurt me, you'll only be hurting him. And you wouldn't want to do something like that to someone that you love, now would you?"
To emphasize his point, he lifted both hands and ran them down Riku's outstretched arm, trailing each finger through the well-muscled grooves between biceps and wrist as suggestively as possible. Riku recoiled from the tough instantly and leapt back, leaving Kouichi's body to drop back into the silent at-rest state it had been in before.
Izumi was the next to react, pushing through the door and stumbling to a stop on the plush carpet, careful to keep her distance but still close enough to reach out for her friend desperately. "Kouichi, please," she implored. "I know you can fight this. You can't just let him use you like this, you're stronger than that!"
Xantha chuckled at that, flicking his wrist toward the girl in a flippant, off-hand manner. A pair of emerald-green vines snapped up from the carpet like a whip. It cracked out from under Izumi's feet, throwing her backwards several feet. Kairi darted forward to catch her friend from behind, a blast of water bursting from the pipes in the nearby wall to blast away the vines that had reached out for Izumi's ring.
"That was a nice try," Xantha smirked, rolling his shoulder in a lazy manner. "But the fact of the matter is, your little friend isn't home right now. No Heart, no reaction, no luck for your little plan. So sorry, Princess."
Kouji growled low in his throat, ripping away the remaining vines that were still trying to hold him to the bed. Xantha's act, the only way he'd been able to fool them all for so long, had been completely dropped, and Kouji was suddenly struck by the pure wrongness that radiated from his brother's form. Kouichi had never slunk like that when moved, and he'd never leered in such a way or stretched his mouth into that horrible smirk. Seeing that familiar face, the same face he saw when he looked in the mirror, twisted into such a disgusting expression made Kouji feel sick, right in the depths of his stomach.
More than the sickness, it filled him with something more potent and infuriating: hatred. Nothing but pure, unadulterated hatred, all directed at the fiend that currently infested his brother's body.
He finally tore away the last of the vines and leapt out of bed, ignoring the jarring sensation that ran up both legs and spine. Before anyone could blink or even begin to comprehend what was happening, he had launched himself across the floor and struck his mirror image across the face with all the force he could muster.
Xantha slid back several feet on the force of the boy's blow, the vines wrapped around his body the only thing that kept him upright. The Items rattled around him like a broken wind chime, clattering together with a few dancing orange sparks and a half-hearted howl.
The Nobody hissed in pain, staring at Kouji with his brother's confused eyes. "You…You actually hit him. Your own brother."
"Damn straight," Kouji growled, rolling his spine back into a battle-ready, though unarmed, stance. "Kouichi would sooner die than let a bastard like you use him like this."
Xantha laughed, forcing the sound out with a few pained puffs of air. "So. You're really going to kill him?"
"Hell no," Kouji sniffed, cracking his knuckles purposefully. "I'll beat you out of him myself."
With that, he leapt at Xantha again, throwing rapid-fire punches and kicks with the slight awkwardness of one who has been trained in hand-to-hand, but hasn't actually had a chance to put it into practice for quite a while. Xantha tried to slide back and dodge, but his own vines kept him in place, forcing him to whether the volley of blows and only rising up to catch about half of them before they actually connected with his flesh.
Xantha grunted under the attacks and pulled at his vines, yanking them up under Kouji's feet. They didn't send him flying the way that the Izumi had, but it disrupted just enough of his stance to make Kouji lose his balance, opening him up to a surprise attack from behind.
However, this offensive was stopped dead in its tracks by Riku's timely intervention, slicing the vines short with the Soul Stealer as he grabbed Kouji by the back of the shirt. The silver-haired warrior hoisted the smaller boy back to his feet, sliding them both away from their opponent with one swift motion. "Watch it."
"I don't need your help," Kouji growled, feeling an entirely too familiar jab at his ego at the thought of being 'rescued' by the same boy again.
"Bullshit," Riku retorted, and tossed Kouji to the side with a flick of his wrist before turning on Xantha again. "Nobody's going to like it if you get hurt again. Especially not him."
From the way that the silver-haired boy said the word, Kouji knew that it had nothing to do with Xantha. A light spark of annoyance flickered across his mind, but it was quickly suppressed by the same hatred that had bubbled up from in him. As Sora leapt into the fray, riding a powerful wind summoned by Izumi's Ring, and Riku shot across the carpet to attack with the dull side of his blade, Kouji scanned the room for something, anything that he could use as a weapon.
Finally, he found it.
Xantha twisted around gracefully, swiping upward with his arms to block Riku and Sora's attacks with his vines, knocking the boys back. Next, Takuya took a running leap into the fight, swinging his leg towards the captured Ball in the most powerful soccer kick he could summon up, but a vine caught him by the ankle and tossed him away before he could actually reach it. Goofy took a running leap and caught the fallen Warrior of Fire before he could hit the ground, which, unfortunately, wound up with both of them sliding into the room's closet and disappearing under a small avalanche of fallen clothes.
A wide, crazy grin spread over Kouichi's face, his navy eyes flashing with the dark reflection of the Nobody behind the expression. He opened his mouth to crow another denouncement of their struggle when, suddenly, something bushy and solid struck him in the back of the head.
Kouji had seized one of the castle's living brooms and was now wielding it like a bo staff in spite of the way that it was frantically waving its thin little arms in protest.
"Round 2, bastard," Kouji snarled just before he attacked again.
Sora bounded back to his feet and launched into an attack of his own just seconds later, bringing the blunt Keyblade down on Xantha's shoulder. It was difficult for him, but he controlled the swing just enough that he was fairly certain he hadn't broke any of Kouichi's bones. He did, however, knock Xantha to the ground and probably left a rather nasty bruise, to boot.
Xantha winced as he hit the ground, tangling in a mess of his own vines, and shot out a hand to grab for Sora's ankle. "Damn you!"
"Watch it, Sora!" Riku warned, yanking the Keyblade Master back and kicking the Nobody's injured shoulder to knock him away. In the same thought, Kouji twisted around and brought the broom down on Xantha's back, using the leverage to pin him, stomach-down, to the floor.
"Got you," Kouji muttered as Riku slipped the Soul Stealer under the pinned Nobody's chin. Xantha glared up at them with Kouichi's eyes – which should never have looked that cold, not in a million years - and snarled like a captured animal. Neither Riku nor Kouji backed down for a moment, but they did start to let their muscles relax the slightest bit, thinking the battle over…
And then Xantha smirked again.
"Kouji!" Electric sparks from Junpei's gauntlets flew over Kouji's head, making all the hair on the back of his neck stand on end and forcing his attention to Takuya's frantic warning. "The vines!"
In the same instant, Riku and Kouji leapt back from the floor, just seconds before three more sets of powerful vines blasted through the stone like cannonballs. Riku leapt up onto the vanity table and cut his attackers short; while Kouji grabbed onto a bedpost, spun around once and came back to knock the vines back with the broom, which made a disgruntled noise and crossed its arms sullenly.
Xantha took a deep, steadying breath and withdrew his attack, but more and more vines began to poke through the broken floor as he climbed slowly but surely to his feet.
"I don't think you folks understand your position here," he said slowly, keeping his voice in level in a sense of total control. "See, I haven't just been sitting around all this time. Even as we speak, my plants have been eating their way down, up and out of this room in every direction. At this point, they're the only things keeping this wing of the castle standing. Knock me around too much and I might lose my grip. And if that happens…"
He released one of the vines that was curled around his hand, which snapped away like a bungee cord that had been pulled to its limit. Down the hall, there was a mighty crash, and the entire hall shook like an earthquake had hit it. A few of the gathered crowd shrieked and twisted around to defend themselves from an attack that didn't come, bracing against the rattling and trembling.
"I think you get the drift. I could destroy this entire castle with just one little twitch. I'll be safe, of course, I mean, my plants would never abandon their master, but I'm afraid you folks would be out of luck. Oh, and also? If your little friend there - " he pointed an accusatory finger at Taichi and Agumon, " – even thinks of gaining any more weight than he has now, he'll completely destabilize everything, and it'll all come down whether I want it to or not."
Agumon growled, bearing his teeth and claws, and Taichi gripped his Digivice tightly in his fist.
"So consider this your only warning," Xantha grinned, showing off almost all of the straight, white teeth in Kouichi's mouth. "Either you hand the rest of those shiny tools over to me and let me walk out of here with all of my plants intact, or I bring this entire castle down around your ears.
"So c'mon, folks – hand 'em over."
Kairi curled her fingers around the Water Pendant, holding the blue gem close to her chest. Her fingers gently traced the silver chain, feeling the pulse of the waves within the gem. The sound relaxed her and she sighed, looking up to meet Xantha's eye with an unwavering gaze. "All right, then. If we give you the Items…"
"Kairi, no!" Sora exclaimed, twisting the Keyblade in his grip.
"If we give them to you," Kairi repeated, raising her voice to silence the Keyblade bearer. "Will you let Kouichi go?"
Xantha raised an eyebrow, as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing. When he figured out that Kairi was actually being series, he laughed out loud.
"What's so funny?" Junpei demanded, slamming one foot against the ground angrily. A flurry of sparks flew from the gauntlets on his hands, but it only seemed to make the Nobody laugh louder. "What the hell are you laughing at, you creep?"
"I just can't believe how stupidly naïve you idiots are," Xantha snickered, his laughter calming slowly but surely. "It's like you really don't get it. Listen, princess, the kid is gone. He doesn't exist anymore! There's nothing to 'let go' of 'cause there's nobody home! Nothing, nobody and no way!"
Kouji growled, his muscles curling in preparation to pounce, but before he could react, Junpei did instead. The large boy let out the sort of roar that he might have shouted as a full-fledged legendary warrior, slamming his gauntlets together and summoning a bubble of pure electric energy. He moved faster than most people would believe that a boy his size could move, slamming his fists into Xantha's chest at the same time. The electric bubble exploded on contact, the energy pulsing through the entire body and spreading out into the vines.
Xantha howled in pain, the vines twisting and writing around him in a halo of sporadic jerks. He yanked both of his arms into his chest, then snapped them out from the center like a whip, bringing the crazed vines back under control for a single group attack.
The mass of vines shot out together, crashing into Junpei as one and sending him flying. Junpei yelped as he was suddenly shot through the air, crashing into the far wall hard enough to crack the wooden paneling on the wall. He fell to the ground, groaning in pain, as the vines wrapped around his hands and began to pull at the gauntlets forcefully.
"Junpei!" Izumi exclaimed, and darted across the room to her friend's side.
"Not so fast!" Xantha snapped, aiming at her, but in the next moment, his vines stopped cold – literally.
Tomoki had leapt into the air, kicking off the back wall to arch over Xantha's head. The Board strapped to his feet showered the writhing green vines with a heavy frost, stopping the sensitive green plants in withering masses of brown death. An extra blast of pure cold and ice directly over Xantha's head froze the vine instantly and sent the smaller boy shooting through the air again, landing on the ground several feet away.
Tomoki sniffed as he landed, glaring at Xantha with slightly red-rimmed eyes, as though he couldn't stand the thought of losing a friend the way that the Nobody had claimed. "There's more where that came from, you jerk. And don't even think of hurting my friends again."
"Y-You'll p-pay for that," Xantha shivered, his teeth chattering together, fighting against the ice as best he could, reaching for another attack. "Y-You little b-brat…!"
Riku and Sora shared a glance, and a second later, Sora and Kouji did the same. The same thought seemed to pass through all of their heads, and, without saying a word, they leapt – Sora bearing the Keyblade, Riku attacking with the Soul Stealer and Kouji raising the very disgruntled-looking broom as threateningly as he could.
Three resounding cracks echoed through the air as the three weapons connected with their intended target – not Xantha's body, but the now-frozen vines that were holding the Items hostage. The fragile plants shattered under the blow, sending shard of ice in all directions, and the Items, as though waiting for just this chance, leapt into action.
By the time they'd made it over the mass of vines and back to solid ground, the Steel Shield was once again attached to Riku's left arm, and the Sager was back in Kouji's hand, howling softly in joy. The Ball shot across the room and slammed into Takuya's chest like an overly-excited dog, sparking to life the moment it struck his hands and knocking the air from his lungs. The only two Items that didn't escape were the Staff, which clattered to the ground and rolled away as though trying to escape, and the strange Whip of Wood, which remained firmly wrapped around Xantha's arm.
Even though he himself had not been struck by the attack or even the resulting shrapnel of ice blades, Xantha howled in pain. "You…You murderers! Do you know how long it takes those vines to grow naturally, huh?! They're worth more than this entire wretched planet!"
"Yeah," Kouji spat off to one side in disgust, gripping the Sager with both hands. "We'll send Mother Nature a fruit basket to make it up to her."
Xantha snarled, glaring at Kouji with an intense, burning hatred. "I warned you assholes," he hissed, parting his legs slightly to give himself a more solid stance as he drew the vines in close to himself. "Guess the castle's coming down."
"Somebody stop him!" Donald squawked, and fired a Fira blast from his staff. Without a second's pause, a thick wall of vines shot up and blocked Xantha from the attack, barely noticing the black scorched circle that was left behind.
Riku moved next, his fast reflexes giving him a head start over Sora and Kouji. He used the returned Shield to throw the plants out of his way and slashed at Xantha's midsection with the Soul Stealer.
The Nobody shifted his weight and ducked down, pulling the vines even tighter than before as he swept his leg under Riku's feet. The entire castle trembled as Riku hit the floor, and the ground shook so badly that he couldn't get back to his feet.
As Xantha straightened, Kouji and Sora leapt into the air from either side, their respective weapons of Light blazing into their attack. The Nobody twisted, blocking an attack with each armful of vines and holding the two at bay. He grinned at the pair as they lost their momentum, twisting Kouichi's face into something almost unrecognizable, and released a vine from each hand. They snapped away, striking Sora in the knee and Kouji across the face before they disappeared, sending the Keyblade Master to the ground and knocking the dark-haired boy back several steps.
The Willow Whip reacted before Kouji could get his feet back under him, striking out at Kouji. The Sager howled in protest, the force of its sound tearing through the weaker vines and knocking the Whip away more than once, but the Item of Wood kept coming. It struck Kouji twice more – once on the shoulder and once directly in the chest – before it finally succeeded in knocking him to the floor.
"Give it up!" Xantha chortled as his Item retracted, curling back around his shoulder and flipping its leafy tip as though making fun of the Sager. "I already warned you once!"
Agumon charged from the side, slicing at the defending vines with his claws before puffing up into his classic fireball technique, "Baby Flame!"
At the same time, Takuya tossed the Ball into the air, twisting around in mid-air to kick it as hard as he could. It shot towards the Nobody like a flaming cannon ball, propelled ever faster by the sudden stream of wind that Izumi pushed behind it. On Xantha's other side, Tomoki and Junpei took up the charge again, firing bolts of lightning and huge shards of ice into the thrall.
Unfortunately, all of this was for naught, as the sudden release of destruction into the heart of the castle had freed up hundreds of vines to act as protectors. Walls of them sprung up in front of their master, more than willing to face fire and ice and death for his sake, and whatever did make it past was blocked by the Whip, which moved wildly on its own like the commander of a half-crazed army.
"It's over!" Xantha roared triumphantly, giving the vines one final, gargantuan tug before he released all the vines at one. The castle jerked violently, knocking most everyone off their feet and sending heavy decorations crashing to the ground. Everything trembled and shook like the mother of all earthquakes, completely with the cracking and crumbling noises that filled the air. The castle's inhabitants scrambled for cover and held on to one another for dear life for a few long, horrifying moments before…
Nothing happened.
The rumbling stopped as suddenly as it had begun, and the shock of that was enough to knock those who had been left standing – Junpei and Goofy, to everyone's surprise – to the ground. Within seconds, the entire castle went entirely still, with only broken decorations and the occasional crack in the walls and ceiling left as testament to the destruction the attack had almost wrought.
"…The HELL?!" Xantha shouted, twisting his head this way and that in utter confusion. "This…this is impossible! This can't happen!"
"Of course it can."
The recovering group of attackers, who were still coming to terms with the fact that they were not, in fact, dead and buried under several hundred tons of heavy rubble, looked up at the door as one at the calm announcement. King Mickey, looking more serious than either Sora or Riku had ever seen him look before, stepped through the door with his Keyblade in hand, his beady black eyes narrowed in Xantha's direction.
"This is no ordinary castle," he said simply, as though it were the most normal announcement in the world. "It's been fortified by the magic of the Cornerstone, deep in the dungeons underground were your planets never even though to look. As long as that stone isn't touched, there isn't anything from any world that could bring this castle down, no matter what you do to it."
Sora stared at the little mouse kind in disbelief for a few long moments before he burst out laughing. He planted his feet in the soft carpet and pushed back into a full upright position, laughing the whole time, and planted his hands on his hips. "Well, jeez, Your Majesty. You could've told us that sooner!"
Mickey grinned. "You never asked."
Xantha, meanwhile, was trembling with rage and – though he would never had admitted it – fear. Coiling up his arm, the Wood Whip brushed its leaves against his head and its grip against the palm of his hand, asking to be used. Xantha snatched it at its center point and threw it away, snapping, "Get off of me, you useless thing! I don't need your bloody help! I don't need anyone's help!"
Junpei scoffed, rubbing the dust off his face with his elbow. "You know, man, that's the problem with you."
The Nobody twisted around, glaring daggers. "What was that?"
"Junpei's right," Tomoki chimed in. "You thought you could handle everything all on your own, did'ja? But there's no way that anybody can be completely alone."
"Everything's connected," Kairi chimed in, meeting Izumi's eye with a smile. "Everyone is connected. If people don't reach out to help each other, they're bound to fall sooner or later."
"And now it's too late for you to find anybody," Takuya grinned a very particular grin that he saved exclusively for beating bad guys, and gave Xantha a definite 'thumbs-down.' "Game over, buddy."
"Shut up! Shut up!" Xantha roared, and suddenly darted across the room. Taking a running leap, he snatched the Darkness Staff from the corner where it had rolled, somersaulting back onto his feet to turn on the first person he came to – Kairi. "I'll show you! I'll show all of you!"
Kairi took a step back, the Pendant around her neck glowing like the sea at sunset. A stream of water shot from the same pipe she had broke through before, striking Xantha with all the force of a fire hose and knocking him off-course.
Sora stepped into the parasite's stumbling path, bringing the Keyblade up to strike from below and knock him backwards. The Keyblade Master smirked as Xantha stumbled back several haphazard steps. "Looks like you're going to have to rethink your plan."
"We've got you out-numbered and out-gunned," Junpei added, gripping his fists until sparks flew from the Gauntlets. "Just give it up, and get the hell out of our friend's body."
Xantha hissed, dropping into a kneeling position just long enough to catch his breath, glaring at the group that was slowly surrounding him. "There's no way I'm giving up now…" he muttered, before he realized that there was something very wrong with his hands. "What the hell…?"
Tendrils of darkness had blossomed from the decorative carvings on the Staff, wrapping around his wrists to pull his palms flat against the Item itself. When Xantha tried to pull his hands away, the darkness pulled more strongly, holding him as tightly as iron chains.
"And that," Sora smirked, "should teach you not to use something that doesn't belong to you!"
Xantha stumbled back, still fighting with the Staff, and looked wildly for an exit. Before he could even think about making a run for it, Kouji and Riku advanced at the same time from opposite ends of the room. On instinct, they grabbed opposite ends of the staff and lifted at the same time, forcing Xantha's hands above his head.
"Hang 'em high, boys!" Mickey shouted, branching his Keyblade purposefully.
Kouji leapt onto the desk as Riku mounted the window seat, hoisting the Staff up until the still-struggling Xantha was dangling inches off the ground by his hands. The Nobody in their friend's body kicked and squirmed and shouted, desperate to get free, but neither of the boys lost their grip – or their determination – for even a second.
Mickey crossed the room with a few long bounds, using the desk chair as a final leverage to leap into the air. He swung the Keyblade around, pointing directly at Kouichi's chest, and seemed to stop in midair.
A burst of cold blue light shot from the tip of his blade, connecting with the boy's chest as solidly as any of Sora's actions had connected with the heart of a Keyhole. Xantha screamed in rage and pain, the sound slowly drifting away into nothing as a swirling silver mass was pushed by the light out Kouichi's back.
When the light had faded and Mickey dropped back to the floor, the churning silver smoke remained for a few long moments before it finally dissipated, evaporating into the air around them. With a noise that sounded distinctly like a high-pitched sob, the Willow Whip curled up on itself and disappeared into an orb of forest-green light, which passed through the closed window and disappeared up into the starry night sky.
A second later, the Darkness Staff released its hold on the now-limp body dangling from it. Both Kouji and Riku reacted to this, but the silver-haired boy had a longer reach and managed to catch the smaller boy before he hit the ground.
As the group gathered around, Riku slowly guided the body to the floor and Kouji moved to kneel beside him. Slowly, the younger twin reached out and touched the familiar face before him, keeping his touches as gentle as a feather's. "Kouichi…"
Dark, unreceptive eyes stared at them from under dark blue bangs, and, for a long while, Disney Castle was completely and utterly still.
( - )
He was alive. That was better than the alternative.
Kouji had to keep reminding himself of that, because it was so hard to remember that it could have been so much worse. It was especially difficult when he looked into his brother's blank, lifeless, half-lidded eyes and knew that there was nothing behind them. No warm and loving heart, no strong and forgiving spirit, no devoted courage.
No Kouichi.
"Nii-san…" Kouji whispered, his voice breaking slightly as he leaned down to lay his forehead against his brother's. "Kouichi…"
On the other side of the bed, Queen Minnie sighed and gently set the hand she had been holding back on top of the soft covers. She turned away and faced her apprehensive audience – made up of everyone except for Donald and Goofy, who were helping to clean up the last of Xantha's mess – with a heavy heart.
"I'm afraid that there's nothing I can do," she admitted, shaking her head regretfully. "There's nothing to heal. Physically, he's perfectly healthy, but without his heart…"
She trailed off, letting them fill in the silence with their own knowledge. Izumi clasped one hand over her mouth, using the other to pull Tomoki into a half-hug, one that gave her more comfort than it did the smaller boy. "Kouichi…"
Junpei clenched his fists and his teeth, careful that the Gauntlet's sparks didn't hurt any of his gathered friends, and averted his eyes. "So then there's…there's no way for us to help him…"
Sora clenched his hands into fists remembering how it had been when Kairi had been in the same state, and felt positively sickened. "There has to be something we can do!"
"There is," said Riku seriously from his place leaning against the wall. "We find Myotismon, hunt him down and take back Kouichi's Heart. Once we bring that back, he'll wake up."
"And everything will be okay again," Kairi chimed in, clenching her hands over the Pendant. "Like it was with me."
Mickey nodded, his eyes narrowing with the stubborn determination of a parent whose child has come under attack. "The space around Crystal Tokyo is still warped from Beryl's spell. If we use both of our Keyblades, Sora, we should be able to create a warp that will take us straight to Myotismon. But it won't be strong enough to handle more than one Gummi ship, so we won't be able to take everyone."
"So then," Sora frowned, trying to think of a way they could best use what resources they had. "It'll be you, me, Kouji and…"
"I'm going," Riku insisted, in a way that left absolutely no room for debate.
"Me too!" chimed in Takuya, his eyes blazing as fiercely as the Ball in his hands. "There's no way I'm letting that creep get away with this!"
There was no objection from the rest of the group, though Tomoki, Izumi and Junpei exchanged looks that indicated they wished there was room for them, too.
Tai made a thoughtful noise in the back of his throat, placing one hand on Takuya's shoulder. "Listen, pal. Nobody knows Myotismon better than me and Agumon. So, before you guys go running off all half-cocked, let me give you some advice…"
Takuya's attention, along with that of King Mickey and most of the rest of the group, turned to the elder DigiDestined expectantly. In fact, the only ones who didn't seem to feel any need to listen in were Kouji, who remained at his brother's side devotedly, and Riku, who was gazing at the twins from across the room with a distant expression.
Kouji held onto Kouichi's limp hand with both of his own, resting it against his cheek. His face was warm, but the hand itself was cold and clammy, sending a sick chill down his spine. He suppressed a shudder and held on more tightly, whispering to his brother now that no one else was listening in.
"Don't worry, Nii-san," he breathed gently, stroking the skin on his brother's palm with feather-like touches. "I'll bring your Heart back to you as soon as I can. I'm going to save you for real this time. I promise."
He gave the hand another tight squeeze and looked to his brother's still face. For a split second, he almost believed that he saw a flicker of light in the depths of the dark eyes, but it had vanished in the next moment. Kouji sighed, setting his brother's hand down, and took just a moment to close those haunting, lifeless eyes before returning to his friends and beginning the plans for their rescue mission's first steps…
TBC…
