Draco: Last chapter may have seemed a bit rushed. Sorry about that. I got some big drama coming up and I want to get through all the fight scenes.
Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.
Chapter 51: The Seeker of Darkness
"So we're not at Yokai Academy."
Naminé shook her head. The group was waiting at the school building for the Starlet's Seven members to show up. Slasher and his gang had been notified (via magic spark from Naminé) of the meet-up and gone to check on the cave, which left the witch and her friends with nothing to do but wait. They had taken their seats leaning against the wall of the school - in case anyone should get at them from the roof - and with the sun having set, they waited in the darkness.
"This place isn't even technically real," she mused. "It's pure arcana, shaped to resemble Yokai Academy like we know it, and given physical form. The buildings are all in the right place, the scenery is identical, but it's not real. It's just a... an apparition. A magical creation. It'll fall when that robe falls."
"The robe," Sora mused. "The brown robe full of shadows. He's the one responsible for this?"
Xion drummed her fingers against her leg in thought.
Roxas noticed; leaning in close, he asked with a whisper, "Does he have something to do with Organization XIII?"
The snow fairy shook her head. "Not that I know of," she whispered back. "I want to say he's a new figure, but with that much power..." She scoffed quietly. "Maybe he's been working things behind the scenes?"
"We didn't get anything on the higher-ups?" Roxas murmured. He was still adapting to this 'missing memories' scenario.
"Orders always came on written sheets handed to us by someone else," Xion answered.
"Hey, you two!" Sora's call prompted yoko and snow fairy to turn towards him. "You know something about this?"
Xion shook her head. "That's what we were trying to figure out," she replied. "We got nothing."
It was then that a scream of magic caused the group to turn, and the sight of a massive sphere of fire approaching prompted all six of them to leap out of the way.
The flames blazed through the window, connected with something inside, and exploded, blowing the entire wall out. Pieces flew everywhere, but Naminé and Xion were able to stop the shrapnel from striking any of them. The others followed the debris with their eyes, seeing Terra, Celes, Setzer, Slasher, Keru, Hito, Shijin, and Saiai waiting there. Slasher was still in his Sage robes, but the others looked different - Keru was in long black robes,and a hat bearing a crescent moon, with a gold-and-crimson mace in one hand; Shijin was in a leather jacket the colour of forest, with his fingers hooked on a bow; Saiai was in red robes with a quarterstaff in one hand and a casting rod in the other; and Hito...
Sora burst out laughing. "Nekomimi ears?" he chuckled.
"Oh, shut up," Hito snapped from under the hood of his white-and-blue robes. He had a casting staff in his right hand, and he looked like he was ready to use it for bludgeoning if anyone laughed at him. "It's standard Devout robe design. It heals faster than Shijin's music."
Terra took that moment to draw Ragnarok, and that shut Kairi up so fast it shut Sora up as well. The sight of Terra with a sword was more than slightly horrifying; Dances With Swords looked like she was ready to kick ass and not laugh about it this time. Celes was standing next to her with only a shield - and still looked at least as dangerous as Terra did.
"Damn you weren't kidding, were you," Roxas murmured.
Celes shook her head. "You guys shouldn't have been so close to the building," she mused.
Riku called his sword to hand. "What did you see?"
"Gold hair," Terra stated. "Antenna design. Knives between her fingers."
Several overlapping curses emerged as the group shot to their feet and raced towards Terra before turning to the blown-out wall. "Larxene," Kairi snapped.
Van's Keyblade appeared in Sora's hand. "This doesn't sound good."
Roxas glanced at Terra. "Are you recovered, yet?" he asked.
Terra held a hand before her. "Not yet," she murmured.
"Then she's not done yet," Roxas stated, turning back to the wall. "Better get ready!" he shouted.
A sadistic chuckle from the wreckage cued the monstrel herself stepping out through the dust.
"Please," she roared. "I'm just getting started."
Riku shot forward, Soul Eater in his hand, but Larxene took the strike without flinching; then she lashed her knives into his sword hand before he could draw it back for another blow. Snarling, she hurled him to the ground as the sword fell before her, and she kicked it away, causing it to skid towards Kairi's legs. Acting quickly, she managed to kick it up before it could strike her, grabbing it by the handle.
Larxene raised an eyebrow.
That was enough time for Xion to rush forward, her shining Keyblade in her left hand, claws of ice on her right. The nymph lashed out towards her, but Xion caught the knives on her claws before swinging the Key towards her head. Larxene only retaliated with a roundhouse kick, but Xion ducked under it and arced into a flip, landing multiple blows with her Key before the nymph had the chance to strike back. The chance came before too long, however; Larxene managed to drive her claws into Xion's leg, tearing a scream from the snow fairy's leg as she was thrown into the ground.
A lash of wind across her face caused the sadist to turn; Naminé was rushing towards her, her chain glowing. Larxene leapt off Xion's arm, aiming her knives at the witch's head, but Naminé dropped to a slide, her body sliding just off the ground on a cushion of air as she hurled a burst of flame at Larxene's stomach. The nymph tumbled to the ground as Naminé righted herself, her feet skidding on the wreckage as she launched a sphere of solid magic towards Larxene.
The sadist swung her claws against it.
And the magic exploded, wrapping around Larxene.
Her claws were forced back into her hands, causing her to shout as dust began to whirl around her. She tried to strike out against the particles, but the storm began to close in on her as the dust became damp. It clung to her body, trapping her in place, and as she tried to move, it lifted slightly, air flowing through it to dry the substance and give it form.
Then the spiderweb tightened around Larxene, trapping her in place, and she fell to the ground, twitching faintly in her best attempts to move.
Naminé raised her hand before her, blowing on it like the barrel of a gun. "That should keep her occupied," she mused.
Kairi burst out laughing as Riku and Xion started to get back on their feet.
+x+x+x+
The robe of shadows was waiting in the highest room of the school - no lights, no windows, no ventilation. From the inside, it did not even appear to have a door - the light was sealed off in that direction, and there was no doorknob on the inside. Within the darkness, his magic could work at its fullest; so he was not entirely surprised when the entry behind him flew open, and Marluxia Scythe stepped inside, both arms in ordinary form.
The false teacher didn't waste time with formalities. "Larxene Kaminari and Axel Kasai have both fallen," he said quickly. "The ghoul Chikai and her allies approach as we speak."
"You have been given your orders."
Marluxia grit his teeth, his arm rippling. "Very well," he snapped. "What do you want me to do when I defeat her?"
"Bring her to me. Leave her allies where they land."
Scythe nodded. "Understood."
He turned and left, closing the door behind him as the robe started forward, not a sound emerging.
"You have brought me more trouble than I anticipated... Kairi Chikai..."
+x+x+x+
Naminé was leading the way through the halls of the mimicry Yokai, directing the team to where they were most likely to find the robe full of shadows. Slasher, Keru, Hito, Saiai, and Shijin had opted to wait at the doors, where they intended to intercept whoever might try to get in - Axel Kasai and the Jenovas being the potential threats. This left Naminé leading a party of nine - herself, Kairi, Sora, Xion, Roxas, Riku, Terra, Celes, and Setzer.
They were halfway to the room when a figure in black stopped them.
Sora rolled his eyes. "Wrong robe," he mused.
"Yeah," Naminé murmured, "we're not there yet..."
Marluxia Scythe was standing in the middle of the hallway with his arms crossed, about six paces away - the ideal distance for him to swing his scythe. The narrow area meant that there would be little room to evade, and there was the ominous sensation of there not being much chance of running away.
"I'm out of Flare," Terra whispered to Celes. "That meteor-head's fire bullet stemmed most of Ragnarok's magic. I was lucky to get out the cast I did."
Celes sighed, glancing at Marluxia. "I was afraid that burst had done something," she admitted.
"Naminé," Marluxia sighed, his voice menacing.
The witch raised her chained arm before her. "Marluxia," she snapped.
A sigh as the professor raised a hand over his head.
"You were always were so..."
His flesh rippled, expanding above him.
"...troublesome!"
He lashed it down, the massive scythe that his arm became surging towards Naminé. She had time to step back, avoiding the brunt of the blow, but the strike snapped one of the links on her chain, and she gave a shout of pain as an explosion of magic sent her flying back.
"Naminé!" Xion glanced towards Marluxia, drawing her Key again. "Rokusasu, fix that thing!"
She rushed forward, but with the smallest of movements of his arm, Marluxia managed to sweep the scythe's head towards her. She had time only to angle the teeth of her Key at it before it forced her against the wall, opening a huge cut over her side; moving quickly, she managed to call Roxas' dark Key to hand, crossing them to force the scythe-head away from her. The fresh blood on the edge was enough for her to wrap it in ice, trapping it against the wall as she slid out from under it, hurling both Keys towards Marluxia.
They bounced off each other halfway there; the light Key got hooked on the shaft of Marluxia's arm, while the dark one landed on his foot.
"Wow," Marluxia mused, "you really can't Synch Blade."
"No," Xion admitted, "I really can't."
Ice claws began to wrap her hands, but Marluxia moved faster, angling his scythe-arm and pulling it back so that the inner edge slammed into her back. A scream tore through her lips as Marluxia raised his foot, landing a straight kick that sent her flying, and he quickly moved his blade out of the way so that she slammed into Riku, knocking him back with her.
Kairi used that moment to move in. She still had Soul Eater in her hands from when Riku had been disarmed during Larxene's fight; she couldn't take him hand-to-hand without a proper weapon, but with the dragonwing edge in her hand, she stood a chance. She ducked under his first swing, lashing the sword against it to distract him; as Marluxia's blade stuck into the wall, she used the opportunity to swing at that of his arm which was still arm, landing a cut across his robe.
A howl emerged from Marluxia's arm as Kairi skidded to a stop, finding it a touch harder than she had expected, and he glared at her over his shoulder.
His scythe writhed, pulling itself out of the wall and returning to his arm.
Then he lashed it towards Kairi, and his arm writhed as it became his scythe again.
Kairi screamed as the strike landed on her side, slamming her into the wall. That wall began to tear, the construct ripping open at Marluxia forced his weaponized arm through. The edge continued to dig into her until she was dragged right up to Marluxia's side, and he quickly closed his hands around Kairi's throat as she tried to get away.
"This is what you get, Kairi Chikai," she murmured. "To think you could remain here alive. The only human - in a world of monsters."
"Except she's not."
Marluxia glanced over his shoulder to find Roxas' hand in front of his face, with two fingers extended - and a haous sphere of raw, white flame blazing at the tips.
A crack, like a shattering chain.
The miniature nova slammed into Marluxia's face and exploded, sending him flying. His grasp on Kairi faded, letting her fall to the ground as he was sent flying, his arm tearing through the wall and providing enough friction to keep him in the range of a thrown Keyblade.
Then Roxas spun, the momentum drawing his right sleeve back - and revealing a wrap of familiar-looking chains bound across his arm as he slammed a fist into the ground.
Kairi swore. "You-!?"
Another crack.
This time Roxas exploded, flame spiralling around him and spurring Kairi to scramble away. His robe began to burn away around him, torn fabric flying into the pyrous twister and vanishing as his flesh turned into a menacing golden inferno. From his waist emerged three whips of flame - yoko tails - and as he started to rise, the blaze enveloped his helm, blinding him to the world.
Then the spiral of fire vanished, taking his helm-wrap with it, and he raised his head as a pair of fox ears appeared upon it, clashing against his hairstyle of windswept spikes.
On his right arm... was a binding of holy chains.
Marluxia tried to rise, using his scythe in the wall as leverage; but no sooner had he tried to move than Roxas stepped forward, grabbing him by the front of his robe. His fire-forged hand blazed through the robe in the time it took Roxas to lift him to his feet, and as soon as his grip was closed on nothing, he slammed his left hand into the shoulder of Marluxia's scythe arm, forcing him to the wall.
Where's that robe of shadows? he snapped.
The professor shouted weakly as he tried to move. "Agh! I'm... not going to tell you!" he protested.
Roxas raised his right hand towards the fallen Keys that Xion had thrown; a burst of fire emerged from under the dark Key, and it flew towards Roxas, who grabbed it by the teeth and managed to flip it to the grip in the time it took him to raise it to Marluxia's neck.
Where is the robe of shadows? he demanded again.
"He's at the top of the school," Marluxia forced out. "In the Dark Depths!"
What the hell is the Dark Depths?
"This recreation of Yokai is the basis of the real school's magical sustenance," Scythe explained, speaking as fast as he could so Roxas would release him sooner. "The Dark Depths is an added room at the top of the recreator as the core of that base. That's where you'll find him!"
Roxas pulled his hand away.
Marluxia tried to swing his scythe at him.
He found it stopped on another Keyblade.
Sora was standing there, with Van's dark Key pinning the shaft of Marluxia's scythe to the wall - leaving the blade horizontal within the wall.. He was struggling to keep it there, but he was able to demand of Marluxia; "Where's Rufus Shinra?"
"He's our prisoner," Marluxia snapped. "His location is not of your concern."
Roxas started to raise his Keyblade, but Sora stopped him with a call of "Ah, ah, ah." Turning to the others, he called out, "Kairi?"
Kairi managed to step forward and grabbed Sora's rosario, pulling the crown and loop off.
A surge of energy ripped up around Sora, and he started walking forward as the dark changes wrapped around him. His hair went pitch-black for a moment before an orange glow rose halfway up from the base. His skin paled, and his nails turned into menacing claws resembling pin tumbler keys as he took the Keyblade from both hands to one.
Van opened his gold-ringed bloodred eyes a few inches from Marluxia, keeping his scythe in place, with the head of his Keyblade, with his left hand, outstretched behind him as he raised the claws of his right to the professor's face.
"Where's Rufus Shinra?"
"He's at the real school," Marluxia said quickly. "Awaiting interrogation from the Superior."
Roxas angled his head. Who's the Superior?
"Your 'robe full of shadows'," Marluxia explained.
Van drew his hand back... then slammed it into Marluxia's forehead, knocking him out with a single strike and leaving him with his scythe in the wall. A smirk rose on the vampire's face; then his expression became an idle, turning back to Kairi.
"Do me a favour," he mused. "Tell Sora that he should never let me out for something so trivial. It's gonna damage the seal, and you can't have him sleeping at a time like this."
"What about that study night?" Kairi countered.
Van rolled his eyes. "Just give me the crown," he insisted, reaching for it.
Kairi drew it back. "Hold on," she insisted. "First, give Sora his Keyblade back."
The vampire narrowed his gaze as though in confusion; then realization lit up with a smile on his face. "Oh, that's easy."
He lifted the geared Key away from Marluxia's scythe and drove it into the wall; then he tapped the chain that hung from the ring at the pommel. At the tip of the chain was a gear that had been split in half, positioned so that it formed and S. Kairi narrowed her gaze as she looked at it - she could have sworn she'd seen it before.
"See this here?" he mused, turning to Kairi. "This is what gives it form. You take this off..."
He unclipped the chain, pulling it off the ring; and a swirl of blood-tinged darkness wrapped around the Keyblade. Only had the swirl encompassed it than it became an all-encompassing white glow; then it faded, and Sora's silver-shaft, gold-guarded, crown-tipped Key was back, with a triple-circle emblem at the end of the chain that had appeared there.
"...and that's it."
Then the Keyblade vanished in a flare of white, and Van tossed the chain to Kairi. "Tell you what," he mused. "You hold onto that for me. Call it a trade off."
Kairi smirked at him, tossing the crown back at him. Van caught it without hesitating, clipping it back on to the single chain around his neck; then, as the changes started to recede, he spun to Roxas, aiming one finger at him.
"You," he snapped, "are going to have a lot of shit to explain when we get out of here."
Roxas rolled his eyes. I wanted to shut Marluxia up. Sue me.
Then the changes had finished fading, and Sora lowered his finger, a smirk rising under that glare.
"You know," he mused, "I might just take you up on that offer."
+x+x+x+
They found the room Marluxia had been talking about - the access to the roof instead led to an additional floor that led them. Terra, Celes, and Setzer had waited at the bottom of the stairs as a backup guard, in case anyone should get past Slasher's team. The room was wide enough to provide a fight, with a lone door at the far end of the room. Riku rushed up to it ahead of them, Soul Eater back in his hands, and grabbed the doorknob, giving it a fierce twist.
It wouldn't turn.
Roxas - still in his 'ultimate battle form', as Xion had named it - stepped forward. He had kept his Keyblade in hand while they had made their way up, for fear of being unable to recall it, and now he stepped forward and tapped the doorknob with the kanji teeth.
No click.
Riku tried to turn it again.
It wouldn't turn.
Xion stepped forward, brushing Roxas' tails aside. "Let me try," she insisted, approaching the door. Thinking that Roxas being unable to call the Keyblade himself might have affected its abilities, she tapped the doorknob with the kanji teeth of her own light Key.
No click.
Riku tried to turn it again.
It still wouldn't turn.
Sora shook his head. "Here," he insisted, "I'll deal with this."
Roxas turned to him. Honestly, Sora, he prompted, if neither of us can do it, what makes you think-
The vampire shut him up by hooking the teeth of his silver Keyblade on the hilt of Riku's Soul Eater, pulling it out of his hands. He caught it in his left hand and forced it into the crack between door and frame before dragging it down, slicing the doorknob's bolt.
With a smirk, he handed the dragonwing back to Riku and kicked the door open, revealing a room so wide that they could not see any walls, and so tall that the roof was out of sight.
Kairi stepped in ahead of the others, taking a hand-to-hand combat stance.
Sora entered and came up on her right side, hooking his Keyblade over his shoulder.
Xion approached on the left, her Key straight to earth as ice claws formed on her right hand.
Riku came up next to Sora, bracing Soul Eater next to his eyes.
Naminé stepped up next to Xion, her newly-repaired chain raised before her.
Roxas stood behind the others, his tails lashing around behind them as he held his Keyblade before him in both hands.
The robe of shadows was standing there, facing away from the door.
"I don't know why I'm surprised."
Slowly, the empty cloth turned towards the gathered students, the shadows impermeable within the robe.
"The moment that group became monstrels for hire, I should have ceased to trust them to carry anything out."
Kairi narrowed her gaze. "Who the hell are you?" she demanded.
"Allow me a moment, before I answer that question, to take a form you are more comfortable conversing with."
The robe began to waver, darkness misting around it, and Kairi narrowed her gaze, not wavering her combative stance. The shadows enveloped the robe completely, blotting it out from the world; it was then that Roxas' flaming tails began to extend, circling the group as a sort of guard.
Then the obscuring mist vanished.
The figure that stood there now was positively necrous. The robe had been filled with a solid body - a man that stood a head over the Yokai students. With the hood having fallen back, his eyes were a black-heart blend of amber and gold, and his skin was tanned the colour of fire. His hair was shadowy silver, and flowed halfway down his back. His hands were obscured by silver gauntlets that disappeared within the robe, leaving the implication there was something more beneath.
All six of the group took defensive stances as the robed figure looked over himself.
"How long has it been since I have taken this form...?"
Kairi reached for a weapon and grabbed the teeth of Sora's Keyblade. The vampire released the handle, catching both hands behind his head; Kairi pulled the Keyblade before her, taking the handle in both hands and aiming it at the robe. "Who are you?"
"I am the overseer of the arcana that guards Yokai Academy from human access. Not too well, it would seem - for you have managed to not only enter the grounds of Yokai Academy, but enroll in its classes as a student like any other."
The ghoul shook her head. "You give me too much credit," she insisted. "I did not come to these grounds knowing what went on behind the classes. More than once, I tried to leave."
"And what stopped you?"
Here, Kairi lowered Sora's Keyblade, her gaze falling to the floor.
"I ask myself that, too often," she admitted. "Why not just leave? That bus driver won't stop me. He'll take me out the tunnel. But then I realized... there's too many good memories here. I have friends - friends willing to protect me, who accept me for who I am." She shook her head. "And this school... this is a safe haven for monsters. Here, they are protected from the kind of humans who would hunt them down. Here... they don't need to be afraid."
Sora lowered his hands, exchanging surprised looks with Riku.
Xion and Naminé traded soft smiles before glancing back to Roxas, who only grinned.
And all of them turned to Kairi as she raised her gaze back to the silver-haired robe, raising the Keyblade in her hands.
"So, if they don't have to be afraid... then I'll swallow my own fear. To be with them."
The robe sighed, closing his eyes as he set one hand on his chest.
"That actually touched my heart. Of all the humans who have ever found this place in the past, none of them carried any fondness for monsters. The goal of Yokai Academy is peaceful coexistence between us and them - so that we no longer need to hide.
Kairi smiled softly, and was about to speak when the robe opened his eyes.
The gold wrapped in silver with a powerful arcana - and darkness began to mist at his boots.
"But where's the fun in that!?"
He lashed his hands to the sky, and a dark flare ripped up around him, sending a shockwave that pushed the group back. Kairi swore, holding the Keyblade before her as her friends took defensive stances. The door slammed shut behind them, trapping the room in darkness lit only by Roxas' blazing figure - and as he turned to open it, he found no doorknob to grasp.
"Humans and monsters are born enemies. Throughout the human world, there are hundreds - thousands - of monsters that accept this difference between us and mankind. They kill. They are killed. They keep the blood flowing. And the only thing keeping them from showing the world what they are... is care for their own kind."
Then the flare faded.
"Monsters."
The figure now hovered six feet off the ground, his arms raised skyward in a menacing V.
"And you, human who would make friends of monsters..."
His robe had burned away - now he wore a black leather coat with silver-and-black pauldrons that faded to a necrous silver at his feet, and long black leggings that vanished into black boots with silver trim.
"You, human who would take the guise of a monster..."
Behind him was a writhing, necrous figure - it was vaguely humanoid, but muscled beyond what any human could hope to achieve. From its helm emerged four horns that twisted into antennae, and in its chest was a gap, shaped like a heart.
"You, monsters who would protect these humans..."
Now he lowered his gaze to Kairi and her friends, his gaze narrowed in menace and threat.
"...you shall fall as one."
He crossed his arms as the necrous figure behind him gave a twisted, writhing screech.
"And your union in death shall be the only coexistence between mankind and monsterdom."
Kairi grit her teeth and angled the Keyblade in her hands. "Who the hell are you!?"
"It is I... Ansem..."
He lashed his hands to the sides as spheres of darkness gathered in his hands.
"...the Seeker of Darkness!"
One surge flew towards Sora.
One surge flew towards Xion.
Roxas beat both of them to the sides with his tails as Kairi raised the Keyblade in her hands, aiming it at the seeker that floated there.
"Screw you!"
She hurled the Keyblade towards him.
He beat it to the side with one hand.
He wasn't expecting her to be flying after it on Sora's throw, swinging a punch towards his face with her bound arm; but he simply flew out of the way, letting the strike pass. She tried to use the momentum to land an overhead kick on his helm, but the strike passed through air as she tumbled to the ground.
She landed one one foot.
Then the other.
Then her fist hit the floor, and a wicked crack emerged around it.
Kairi's eyes widened, and she stepped back in shock. "What the-!?"
"Ah, yes, the holy lock..."
She spun around to see Ansem floating there, between her and her friends - none of them had seen him descend.
"It suppresses the power of monster's blood, but it doesn't stop it from being called upon."
He raised a hand sparking with darkness.
"With the right provocation, that blood will still run wild!"
His hand surged towards Kairi's heart.
It connected with a clink.
Ansem blinked. "What...?"
Kairi's expression lit up. "Oh, right, I almost forgot."
She lifted the bottom corner of her shirt slightly - revealing that she had yet to remove the χ of chains across her torso.
"Tough luck, seeker."
The flare of a Keyblade prompted Ansem to turn as Sora's weapon appeared in his hand. He lashed it out towards Ansem's face, but he quickly flew out of the way, leaving Kairi to step aside as the silver Key struck the ground. Xion hurled a burst of icefire at Ansem, but the necrous figure behind him reached ahead to beat it away. Roxas hurled a projectile nova at them, but they only swept aside, letting it vanish into the room's darkness. Naminé raised her chain, calling bolts of lightning down from above Ansem, but the shadowy ally only lifted itself over him to stop the connection.
Riku tossed Soul Eater like a crossbow bolt.
"Come, Guardian!"
The necrous figure dove under Ansem, grabbing the weapon in the brief moment before it faded and returned to Riku's hand.
Sora glanced at Kairi with a grin as the others prepared to fight. "We're gonna need a hand."
Kairi looked at Ansem nervously. "I'm gonna need a minute!"
"I'll cover you!" Riku shouted. "You do whatever it takes to get that ghoul out!"
As he rushed towards Kairi, the human girl closed her eyes.
+x+x+x+
She hit the geared station on another three-point landing.
The second her was already waiting across from her, the same distance the center.
"Wait, seriously?" Kairi demanded, getting to her feet. "After that fight with Terra, you're still skyclad?"
"Hey," her darkness reprimanded, crossing her dragon-ringed arms as she glared at Kairi through the bloody wrap around her face. "Compared to that swordstress when she was dancing mad, we're positively haous."
The shine glanced down, looking at the station curiously. "There," she realized. "That's where I'd seen it! That's the chain on Van's Keyblade!"
The shadow looked at the central gear of the station, shocked. "Holy crap," she muttered. "I'm gonna have to talk with him about that."
Then they raised their gazes to each other, realizing they were wasting time.
"Forget it," Kairi insisted. "Where the hell is that door?"
As though on cue, a flare of white energy emerged between them, forming the ornate door through which she could take control, and Kairi's darkness stepped forward, pushing the door open.
+x+x+x+
The crack of chain, like that which had sounded before Roxas' transformation.
Riku skidded to a stop in front of Kairi as the ghoul changes shifted over her - her hair darkening to the colour of obsidian, her skin paling just a shade, her fingers sharpening into claws, her teeth sharpening into fangs. As her eyes snapped open, revealing the irises had been flooded with bloodred, Riku's expression shifted to what was nearly a pout.
"Hey," he mused, "you didn't even give me a chance to cover you."
Kairi only rolled her eyes at him before turning to the floating Seeker of Darkness above them.
"Ansem!" she roared. "Stop flying away and fight, coward!"
That call was all it took for Ansem to drop. He hit the ground with enough force to race cracks across it as his guardian took a fighting stance behind him.
"If you think it is wise to call me as an opponent..."
Now the seeker rose, crossing his arms before him.
"...then you are sorely mistaken, human."
Roxas shot forward, dark Key in hand as his tails lashed towards Ansem. The dark guardian moved before him, catching two of the tails in his hand and pinning the third on his helm; that provided an opening for Xion to arc around him on a blaze of icefire, her Key swinging towards his helm. Ansem caught the blow against his arm as he hurled a pulse of darkness towards Xion, but she only caught that on her claws as Roxas pulled his tails away from the guardian. He swung his dark Key at the necrous muscle, prompting it to catch it on its arm and leave it open for a burst of flame.
The inferno barely singed it as Xion attempted to swing her claws at the seeker. Ansem only caught them in his empty hand as he pulled the first away form her Key, landing an open-palm blow that forced her back, given her lack of friction. Sora used the opportunity to swing his own Key towards Ansem, but the seeker grabbed the silver shaft in the crook between his thumb and his palm as his guardian caught another strike from Roxas on its arm.
Riku rushed in, attacking Ansem from the side opposite Sora, but Ansem managed to grab the unsharpened edge of Soul Eater, keeping it away from his helm. Xion now rushed forward again along her icefire, swinging her Key towards him, but Ansem lashed his foot against the teeth. Roxas managed to distract the guardian with his tails again, allowing Naminé to rush in under him on a cushion of air and hurl a bolt of lightning through the heart-shaped gap in the guardian's chest.
This hit Ansem square in the back, and the shock caused him to lose his defenses. Sora and Riku pulled their weapons away and lashed out in a wicked cross-strike, throwing Ansem and his guardian to where Kairi waited, ready to fight.
She lashed one arm straight forward with an open palm, slamming it into the guardian.
The guardian phased through Ansem, leaving him open to an uppercut from Kairi that sent him reeling.
Then she leapt into the air, dropping a falling kick into his helm and sending him falling to the floor.
Ansem hit the ground weakly, his body sparking with darkness; but his guardian was still active, and it didn't take long for him to rush Kairi menacingly. The ghoul tried to fight him off, but it didn't take long for her to realize she was outmatched; she quickly leapt up, kicked off its shoulder, and landed next to her friends as the guardian lifted Ansem to her feet.
"Good," she mused. "Now we have our target."
Sora turned to her. "What?" he demanded. "What are you-?"
Kairi didn't let him finish before she grabbed his rosario and pulled.
"Less jaw," she reprimanded, "more claw."
The surge of energy spurred Ansem and his guardian to rush forward; but Roxas only lashed his tails forward like a trio of whips, keeping him back. Xion moved in with a swing of her claws, occupying Ansem as Naminé blasted him guardian with another shot of lightning; then Riku hurled Soul Eater again, driving it into the guardian's head.
The vampire opened his eyes,
"Sorry to wake you up again so soon," Kairi mused, a grin on her face.
"Just point me in the right direction and get the hell out of my way," Van snapped, even as he grinned back.
Kairi took a hand-to-hand pose. "I'll deal with him. You get the guardian!"
Van lashed his hands down, taking the 'clawslinger' fighting pose that Kairi had missed so much. "That sounds like a plan!"
The two rushed forward, prompting everyone else to leap aside.
Ansem and his guardian surged forward, both of them wrapped in darkness.
Kairi steeled herself against the ground as she raised her hands to catch Ansem's, and she heard a chain crack as the attack connected.
Van leapt up towards the guardian as it lashed towards him, and he drove his claws into its arms, pinning them together as he arced his body into a vertical roundhouse kick.
"Move it!"
His blow connected, and the guardian screamed as it was surrounded by a necrous purple haze.
With a flip, Van landed behind it, turning to Roxas and Xion. "Blast that thing!" he shouted.
Roxas raised his left hand, and Xion raised her right; and bursts of flame in gold and cobalt flew from their palms, meeting in a hellious crimson inferno that consumed the guardian as Ansem continued to struggle against Kairi.
The more his guardian faded, the less strength he had to fight; as the hellious figure vanished, Kairi lashed out with a straight kick that sent him flying, slamming into the wall.
Kairi now whirled to face Naminé and Riku. "Stick him!" she screamed.
Riku hurled Soul Eater once more, the blade tearing through Ansem's coat and pinning him to the wall as Naminé called a raw gale force to keep it there.
"This isn't what happens...!"
Ansem struggled to fight it, darkness still sparking around him.
"How... what do you have that I don't?!"
Van stepped forward.
"Trust."
Xion approached him from the right, and Kairi approached him from the right; and the vampire smirked, throwing an arm around either of them.
"Attraction."
Riku rolled his eyes, turning away, yet walking in reverse until his back met Kairi's.
"Egos that keep clashing."
Roxas stepped up behind Xion, his ultimate battle form fading as his cloak materialized around him.
"Secrets we're willing to let each other keep."
Naminé slid back next to Roxas, holding out her hands - and light began to gather upon it, until she was holding a sketchbook between them.
"A little ingenuity - to help us through the hardest times."
Kairi reached up, clicking the loop of the rosario back onto the single chain; and as the changes started to recede, her fingers lingered on the crown.
"Friends to be our power."
The changes receded from Xion's side of his face first; so that it seemed that Sora had an arm around Xion, and Van had an arm around Kairi.
"Friendship to make us theirs."
Then the howl of a familiar motor emerged from the wall behind Ansem, and everyone turned as Ansem glanced back at the noise.
"And... the element of surprise."
Sora's grin fell as he realized exactly what that noise was going to be.
"Scatter!"
Everyone leapt away, and Ansem was about to shout when the door flew open, throwing the Seeker forward with enough spin and momentum that him hitting the ground kept Soul Eater impaled through his cloak and driven into the floor.
Locke brought Fenrir into a skid, drawing his knife and hurling it towards the door as it bounced back to close. The knife got pinned between door and frame, and Locke managed to stop the bike before it went too far - by virtue of the back tire skidding into Ansem's side as the vehicle faced the door.
Kairi found herself squashed between Sora and Riku on the landing. Irritated, she pushed Sora off of her and pulled herself off of Riku as she turned towards the bike and its rider. "Stock Barrel!"
"Hey, Oblivion Oath!" Locke called. "Kingdom Key, Moonlight Black, Memory Witch, Blizzard Burn, Fire Chill. Everyone's here!"
Roxas had managed to land with Naminé on one side and Xion on the other. With a grin, he pulled himself to his feet, holding out his hands to help the girls to theirs. "You need something, treasure hunter?" he called.
Locke raised his hand towards Roxas. "Finally, someone who gets it right," he prompted. "Yeah, there's an old man in red with a couple of belts on his head, outside the school."
Xion turned to him. "Belts?"
"Said he was looking for you..."
Draco: Yeah, all those curb stomps were just to make Ansem look awesome when he actually put up something resembling a fight.
That pose is right off of Guggi's cover for K+C. The full one, not the cropped Mulch I got up there. Link's at the top of chapter 1. Check it out if you haven't already.
Alright, I'm gonna finish up here, post this at midnight, and see who's awake to review. Then I'm gonna go kick Braev's ass.
