"So I guess that we'll never know where that freak came from." N-Sora said as he, N-Roxas, and N-Xion walked the halls of the Virtual Castle Oblivion.
"Whatever he was, it's a good thing he's gone." N-Roxas said.
"I heard rumor that Ansem created him." N-Xion said as N-Sora gave a snort of contempt.
"Trying to be sneaky was he?" N-Sora asked as they entered through a door that led onto a long bridge that overlooked a room full of Manikins, all standing idle like statues, awaiting their orders.
"At least we don't have to worry about him anymore. The weirdo I mean. I don't think I want to lose an arm…or worse." N-Xion said as both of her fellow Neo-Beings nodded in agreement.
"So what do you suppose Ansem will try next? Ya think he'll try and revive number eleven?" N-Roxas asked.
"After Braig obliterated him? I doubt it. He might try and finish number twelve but since Braig's gotten wise to him, I don't think it'll be that easy." N-Sora replied as they crossed over onto the other side of the bridge, entering into a smaller room with twelve individual pods that lined the edges of the room. Each pod was marked N1 through N12. N11 held the remains of the aforementioned Neo-Being. The three stopped and looked up at the pod quietly.
"He shouldn't have tried to resist." N-Xion said as they looked up at the Neo-Being version of Mickey, a hole blown clear through its chest.
"And since we've encountered N12's progenitor, I'm glad we don't have him lingering around. I mean Kairi's already annoying as it is. He'd just make it even worse." N-Roxas said as they passed N12s pod which was greyed out from the outside, concealing its contents inside. The three then passed through another door, entering into what appeared to be the main hall.
"You know, this place is kinda like a maze. How the heck did anyone ever find their way around the original without getting lost?" N-Xion asked.
"Sora did. I only wish I knew how." N-Sora said.
"Well maybe we can answer that for ya!" Suddenly a large orb of red energy came screaming in from near the entrance to the floor, resulting in a massive explosion, sending the three flying. (Battle music cue: Dismiss - BBS) Shortly after landing, N-Sora snarled as he looked up and saw Terra, Riku, Kairi, and Ven all armored up and with their Keyblades summoned.
"You?!" N-Sora asked in disbelief and anger.
"How did you find us?!" N-Xion asked as the trio regrouped.
"We just followed the stench!" Ven retorted.
"You made a big mistake coming here! We were gonna come for you guys eventually but it looks like you're about to save us the trouble!" N-Sora said as they summoned their weapons.
"We're here for our friends!" Terra yelled.
"And we're not leaving without them!" Kairi yelled as well.
"Who said anything about letting you leave?" another voice said as N-Eraqus appeared behind them. All around the room, the Neo-Beings started to appear until the only one missing was N-Namine. At this N-Roxas and N-Xion backed away and disappeared.
"Where are those two going?" Ven asked his friends via D-Link.
"I have a bad feeling I know where." Riku replied as the four launched in separate directions, each heading to take on the Neo-Beings.
…
Down in the basement levels of the castle, Axel ran as fast as he could.
"Do they know how hard it is to run in this thing?" Axel grumbled as he made for the dungeons. He finally entered into a large chamber that had three exits branching off in different directions.
"Oh great, which one?" he asked in frustration. Before he could make another move, he suddenly heard the fast rattling of chains and he quickly leapt back just as a length of chain flew across in front of him.
"Well look what we have here! It's a good thing I was on guard duty today!" N-Namine said with a smirk as her chain retracted and she stepped towards the center of the room. Axel grinned and summoned his chakrams.
"I was wondering if I'd get the chance at a rematch! Guess it's time to turn up the heat!" Axel grinned.
"Again with the heat puns?" another voice asked as Axel's grin quickly vanished. He glanced over his shoulders to see N-Roxas and N-Xion teleporting in with their weapons summoned.
"It's kinda my thing Roxas. You'd know that if you were the real thing." Axel said, his grin reappearing.
"Interesting plan you guys had. Send four up top to distract us while you come down here and attempt to free our VIPs…or very important prisoners." N-Xion said.
"Interesting but ultimately stupid." N-Roxas added as Axel started to glow with a fiery red aura.
"I've actually been looking forward to rematches with all three of you. Glad I've got the opportunity!" Axel exclaimed as the ground suddenly turned to what appeared to be a floor covered in burning cinders and ashes with a ring of fire trapping them all inside.
"Can you take the heat?!" Axel asked as the three suddenly charged towards him. He quickly ducked a swing from N-Roxas's swords while blocking N-Namine and N-Xion's attacks. N-Namine attempted to rip his chakrams from his hands but he had the greater arm strength of the two and instead he gave the chakrams a strong tug, pulling N-Namine towards him where he delivered a fierce kick to the stomach, knocking her away while quickly blocking another attack from the other two Neo-Beings.
Upstairs the four Keyblade wielders clashed with their Neo-Being counterparts. Terra flew in with a vicious swing at N-Aqua and N-Terra, both blocking the blows before Terra reared back his fist and hit them with a Blizzaga, stunning them long enough for him to turn and block an attack from N-Sora and launch him away, sending him flying past Riku as he grappled with N-Riku. Riku then noticed a flash of light appear overhead and quickly shoved N-Riku away in time to leap back just as N-Ven came dropping to the ground in front of him with his lance. Riku promptly launched him away with a Dark Firaga then ducking just in time as N-Kairi was thrown across the room as Kairi jumped straight into her Rising Sun Command Style and ran towards Ven as he battled N-Eraqus singlehandedly. She quickly launched a wave of Holy bolts which stuck to him while disorienting him long enough for Ven to leap back towards Kairi who then detonated the Holy spell in one single explosion. The two then suddenly turned in time to see N-Terra and N-Sora coming towards them. The two Keyblade wielders raised their weapons in time to block, but Ven leapt over N-Terra and slashed him in the back, causing him to let out a frustrated grunt before he turned and made a vicious swing, releasing a flurry of lightning fast attacks and sending Ven flying away. Ven suddenly found himself caught by Riku in midair.
"Gotcha!" he exclaimed as he brought Ven safely back down to the ground. They both stood back to back as N-Eraqus came charging towards Riku and N-Kairi came towards Ven. N-Eraqus was suddenly bowled over by an airborne N-Sora as Kairi chased after the two only to be intercepted by N-Aqua. Riku suddenly found himself facing N-Riku again, the two exchanging blows.
"You're outnumbered! Give up already!" N-Riku exclaimed but Riku was undeterred.
"Not while there's still a chance of beating you!" Riku replied before casting a Magnega behind N-Riku, pulling the Neo-Being backwards into the spell. Riku then leapt into the spell after him, unleashing a flurry of vicious attacks that the Neo-Being was helpless to defend against. Nearby, Terra had entered the Thunder Bolt Command Style and was nimbly holding off both N-Sora and N-Ven. He was suddenly hit in the face by a Neo-Firaga missile but that only served to knock him back slightly as he dropped down with his Keyblade held across down at his left side, pink petals of energy flowing around him before he suddenly vanished in a flash of light, reappearing behind them with his Keyblade held out to the side while knocking both Neo-Beings onto their backs. He had just used his Zantetsuken attack. He stood up to turn and stare at his opponents where he saw a line of crystals forming across both their stomachs. The crystals then began to retract into them as they stood up.
"It's gonna take more than that to take us down!" N-Sora hissed as they returned to their fighting stances. Terra said nothing before launching two Firaga blasts their way but they both blocked. When they recovered, they were suddenly knocked to the back wall by a long glowing sword of purple-blue energy. Terra had entered the Blade Charge Command Style.
"Now let's see if this hurts ya!" Terra exclaimed as he charged after the two.
…
Down in the basement, Axel was holding his own against the three Neo-Beings but he was beginning to get overwhelmed. He turned to fling both his chakrams at N-Roxas and N-Namine who were coming at him from the left and right respectively, the chakrams flying into them and knocking the two onto their backs before returning to his hands in time for him to turn and block N-Xion's shuriken.
"You know this is starting to look like the last time we had this dance!" Axel said, before noticing that N-Xion was keeping her shuriken pressed against his chakrams. Worse was that both N-Roxas and N-Namine had recovered and were back on their feet. Axel knew he couldn't block them both at the same time while still defending himself from Xion. He turned to defend himself from N-Roxas when he saw something through the wall of fire that made him grin. He followed through with his defense, bringing one of his chakrams around to block N-Roxas's attack just as something flew up and over the flames from the outside, landing directly in N-Namine's path and blocking her attack.
"Hope I'm not too late to help, Axel!" Mickey said as he stood prepared with his Keyblade in hand.
"Heh, never thought I'd be so glad to see a mouse around here!" Axel replied as he and Mickey stood back to back.
"Great, it's the mouse!" N-Roxas groaned.
"They're still outnumbered and outgunned! Either way we're winning this!" N-Namine said before cracking her chains at Mickey who rolled to the side before leaping up and launching a Holy spell at her. Mickey then launched himself at lightning fast speed towards N-Roxas, catching him off guard with his speed and agility while Axel turned to deal with the other two Neo-Beings.
…
Back upstairs the fight was still just as vicious but the Neo-Beings showed no sign of tiring while their flesh-and-blood counterparts on the other hand were beginning to grow weary from the constant fighting.
"This is getting intense!" Ven exclaimed as he ducked an attack from N-Riku before blocking a second.
"What do you mean 'getting'?!" Terra asked as he held the Neo-Beings at bay with his Blade Charge Command Style. Riku then dive kicked N-Sora as he attempted to attack Terra from behind.
"Augh! This is getting ridiculous!" Riku groaned as N-Sora came back around and attacked which Riku blocked.
"No, this is getting annoying!" N-Sora argued as Riku ducked, causing the Neo-Being to roll forward over him. No sooner had Riku kicked him away than he had to deflect a Neo-Blizzaga from N-Aqua who peppered him with magic spells. Kairi then landed next to Riku and cast one of her Holy Reflega spells, creating an omnidirectional burst of white holy bolts which quickly zeroed in on N-Aqua, causing her to block with a Neo-Reflega.
"Thanks!" Riku replied before shoving Kairi away just before N-Ven dropped down from overhead again with his lance, but both Keyblade wielders turned and smacked him onto the ground. Meanwhile Terra's command style had worn off and now he was facing an attack from N-Eraqus, N-Terra, and N-Kairi all at once.
"Guard!" He yelled, raising his off hand and conjuring a Guard wall, causing all three to collide with the wall. He grimaced again as he realized he had cast it using Xemnas's voice.
"Terra! I know you may not want to hear this but right now we could use some of what you've got locked away in there!" Riku exclaimed as Terra furrowed his brow in concentration while reaching into his pocket.
"You're right about that!" Terra replied as he pulled out the keychain to Xehanort's Keyblade and quickly switched it out with Ends of the Earth, converting the Keyblade to Darkness Seeker. Terra then glanced up to see the three Neo-Beings coming at him again. At this he allowed a snarl to cross his face as he slammed the Keyblade into the ground, sending a shockwave of darkness towards them, which they were forced to block using a Neo-Reflega.
"Begone!" Terra yelled in Xemnas's voice before launching forward, leaving a trail of darkness behind him as he attacked with new ferocity, singlehandedly fighting the three Neo-Beings while Riku, Ven, and Kairi faced down N-Sora, N-Riku, N-Aqua, and N-Ven on their own.
…
"I think we're getting the hang of this!" Axel chuckled as he and Mickey swiftly repelled the three Neo-Beings in the basement.
"We have to keep this up! We can't let them win!" Mickey yelled as he nimbly evaded and blocked the Neo-Beings' attacks. He then leapt up and over N-Roxas from behind, pulling the hood up over his head in the process before quickly reaching for the strings and closing the front of it, disorienting N-Roxas.
"Ha! That ol' gag! Works every time!" Axel laughed as Mickey smacked N-Roxas hard in the stomach, launching him into and through the firewall.
"They're making fools of us!" N-Namine hissed to N-Xion.
"I say it's time to end this party!" N-Xion said as the two Neo-women gave each other a nod.
"For once we agree." N-Namine replied before they launched forward towards Axel and Mickey but the two subsequently dodged and launched them into and through the flames on the other side.
"Ha! I'd say that's one way to warm up!" Axel said with a grin. Suddenly the entire firewall was extinguished by a single mass Neo-Blizzaga fired from all around the outside of the ring. What stunned the two even more is that the Neo-Blizzaga had been fired by a circle of Manikins lined up facing towards the center.
"Oh come on!" Axel yelled in annoyance.
"This party's over!" N-Roxas yelled in anger as he, the recovered N-Xion and N-Namine, and the Manikins all dropped into fighting stances.
"Got any ideas Mic?" Axel asked as he and the king stood back to back.
"Only one and I hope you can swim!" Mickey said as he quickly leapt into the air with a spin, keeping his Keyblade held pointed out in front of him as he spun. He then landed on his feet before thrusting his Keyblade straight up into the air as it let off a bright blue glow.
"Fantasia!" he exclaimed, causing a blue ring to appear around him and Axel. Suddenly the entire ring started to erupt with geysers of water, quickly flooding the entire room and sweeping the Manikins and Neo-Beings off their feet. Mickey and Axel quickly took advantage of the chaos to start swimming for the exit but as they swam, they felt something coil around their legs. They turned back around to see N-Namine with her chains wrapped around them and a smirk on her face. Suddenly her chains electrified, electrocuting the two. The water quickly drained away, leaving a few scattered and disoriented Manikins, three unscathed Neo-Beings and two unconscious warriors.
"That was unpleasant." N-Roxas grumbled as he and N-Xion sloshed towards N-Namine.
"But if those losers upstairs think that their little rescue attempt was successful, they've got another thing coming." N-Xion said as they gathered around the unconscious warriors.
…
Back upstairs the fight was still raging, the Neo-Beings unwavering in strength as the four warriors attempted to defeat them but the four were beginning to show clear signs of exhaustion.
"I don't know how much longer we can last!" Ven exclaimed as he narrowly dodged an attack from N-Terra. Behind him, Terra blocked a blow from N-Sora only for N-Aqua to sweep her staff across at his feet, knocking him to the ground and onto his side.
"Terra!" Riku exclaimed as he blocked an attack from N-Riku, kicking him away before turning and running to help the defeated Keyblade warrior only to suddenly find N-Kairi in his path, swinging her scepter at him like a mace, knocking his Keyblade from his hand when he attempted to block. He quickly started dodging her swings before suddenly catching a blow to the jaw, knocking him onto his back.
"Uh oh!" Kairi yelped as she saw her friends go down. She attempted to try and cast her Great Gospel Shot Lock but N-Ven suddenly leapt at her from behind, throwing his lance over her head before pulling it in around her throat, choking her and quickly rendering her unconscious.
"Kairi!" Ven yelped as he attempted to escape N-Eraqus but he quickly found himself surrounded by the other Neo-Beings.
"Going somewhere?" N-Riku asked as N-Kairi summoned a Neo-Stopza cube in her hand and then crushed it, causing Ven to become frozen in time. (End Battle music) N-Sora calmly walked up to the time frozen Ven and tapped him on the forehead, unfreezing him but causing him to fall unconscious to the floor.
"No challenge at all." N-Sora said with a smug smirk as he and his fellow Neo-Beings dragged their unconscious counterparts towards the center of the room.
"They should've known better than to try and take us head on." N-Kairi said before snapping her fingers, causing the same cylindrical casings that appeared on Sora and Aqua in the dungeon to appear over each of their arms.
"At least it saves us the trouble of us having to go after them." N-Terra commented.
"Make sure they're secured. Namine, Roxas, and Xion will be along any minute with the other two. Braig will want to see all of them." N-Eraqus said before turning and heading towards the door leading further upstairs.
Meanwhile…
"Did you guys hear that?" Sora asked from inside the cell.
"Yeah, it sounded like some kind of ruckus going on upstairs." Aqua commented.
"You don't suppose-…" Sora said, turning towards Aqua with a worried look but Aqua had the same look on her face.
"It may very well have been them." Aqua replied.
"It's gotten quiet." Aeleus said as Ansem entered a few commands on the computer, bringing up a display of the castle layout. He then sighed and lowered his head.
"It's over. Your friends are here but they have fallen." Ansem said in defeat.
"No. There has to be another way!" Sora said as Ansem approached the center of the room.
"There is no other way. With your friends defeated, there's no stopping Braig from doing whatever he wants to try and find the source of the Keyblades. It's all my fault. I should never have carried out that plan." Ansem said as he looked down in despair.
"With all due respect sir, Braig would've found another way to betray us." Dilan said but Ansem shook his head.
"I wasn't referring to this experiment. I meant my using Sora." Ansem replied, confusing Sora.
"Using me? What are you talking about?" Sora asked.
"Ever since Xehanort cast me into Darkness, I've hungered for revenge. In my anger I involved you in it. I believed you were the key to my getting revenge on Xehanort. Instead, my lust for vengeance nearly cost me my life. Ever since I made you a part of my revenge plan, I've felt guilty about my using you as a weapon. You were never meant to be a weapon of revenge, but a Champion of Light. Now all I want to do is rewind the clock so that I'm just an ordinary King." Ansem said, sitting down at a smaller desk nearby. His choice of words startled Sora.
"King?" he asked.
"Lord Ansem is the rightful ruler of Radiant Garden. His proper title is King Ansem the Wise. However given recent events, he may very well have lost the title." Ienzo explained. This caused Sora and Aqua's eyes to widen in realization.
"The Lost King." Sora said as he approached the bars.
"Hey, Zexion, come here a second!" Sora called, the former Cloaked Schemer complying with Sora's request. Sora then turned slightly to one side, pressing his left hip against the bars.
"In my pocket, there's a folded up piece of paper. Could you get it for me?" Sora asked as Ienzo quietly reached into Sora's pocket and pulled out the folded paper. He unfolded it and held it out for Sora to read.
"Give it to Ansem." Sora said as Ienzo carried it over to Ansem who had buried his head into his hands. Ienzo placed the paper in front of him before backing away slightly. Ansem quietly looked at the paper for a moment before picking it up curiously.
"What is this?" he asked.
"It's a list of people I'm connected to, and I think you're one of them." Sora said as Ansem looked towards him curiously.
"What?" he asked, standing up.
"You said you felt guilt for having used me as a weapon in your revenge scheme. That you were suffering from it. Plus you were willing to do anything to restore me just so you could use me as such. Your motivation might've been for the wrong thing but it was still an act of goodness." Sora said as Ansem seemed thoughtful, almost touched by Sora's words.
"But I used you. I used you like Marluxia and Larxene wanted to but for my own purpose. I deserve no forgiveness for my actions." Ansem said but Sora was unfazed.
"But I'm giving it to you anyway because, to me, you've done nothing wrong." Sora said as Ansem looked startled. Ansem's apprentices all watched in silence. Even however was suddenly distracted by a soft beeping from the computer, causing him to turn towards the monitor.
"You mean even after all I've done to you, to your friends? Even with my implanting data into you, you will still forgive me?" Ansem asked as Sora nodded.
"Of course." Sora replied as Ansem let a small smile of relief appear on his face for a brief moment before frowning in sadness again.
"If only I had some way to make this disaster right." Ansem said, none of them noticing as the door into the lab started to crack with an orange hued hairline crack appearing on it.
End Chapter 29.
Good news folks, as of this chapter's posting, I have finished writing the final chapter of this story so the end is just around the corner. You need only be patient.
