Chapter 52: Amethyst

Blader took his shield out at the presence of the Crystalli. Emerald was a downright wimp, but this guy looked like he could be quite dangerous. "Aw man! Not another one of these crazed jewelry guys again!" he cursed.

Sora was confused. Sakuzy knew this guy? "How do YOU guys know each other?" he asked.

Sakuzy slowly nodded, though he kept his eyes on Amethyst the whole time. "We were old friends. Until he took that shell." Sakuzy pointed at the crystal lodged in Amethyst's leg, directing everyone's attention to it.

Kairi noticed the crystal and remembered almost immediately what it meant. "Wait...What's with that crystal?" she asked, "I know Emerald had one, too, but what does it mean?"

Sakuzy spoke, not bothering to turn to face Kairi. "It means that they are Crystalli hosts. Sora has seen Crystalli Soldiers and knows that they fire crystal shards. But that ammo is actually a species of Crystalli known as a Crystalli Shell." he informed, "If a Crystalli Shell hits you, you'll turn into something like Amethyst…"

NOW, things made sense as Sora asked, "So the same thing happened with that Emerald guy?"

"Exactly. The shells give you a need to serve this "living crystal" thing and will warp your desires into evil." he explained.

Amethyst had apparently heard Sakuzy's every word, for he pointed a finger at Sakuzy. "Wrong. The shells opened our eyes to the truth and now we know that ALL who disobey the living crystal MUST BE DESTROYED!" Amethyst lowered his finger, then smiled a wicked grin as he said, "Now, Chrysallis has sent me here to do what Emerald could not—destroy you."

Keyblades sparkled to life with Sakuzy's Eagle Feather, Sora's Ultima Weapon, Kairi's Flowering Strength, and Riku's Way to Dawn. "You want me?! Come and get me!" Sakuzy challenged.

Amethyst could only stifle a laugh. "Very well then." he accepted, "But only YOU and the Keyblade Master. The rest will deal with THESE."

Amethyst snapped his fingers and several crystals smashed into the ground between them. These were slightly…different from the ones that Sakuzy and Joyex faced at Camp Greenlake and Port Royal.

Sora didn't think too highly of these things, though. "A couple more mindless Crystalli Soldiers?" Sora asked, having only seen the Soldiers, "This shouldn't be much of a problem."

Amethyst smirked. "You obviously haven't fought MY Crystalli. Now If you don't want to fight, I'd suggest sheathing your weapons."

The crystal meteorites then shifted into their true forms with crystal parts shifting and replacing each other. The Crystalli turned out to be of a kind that Sora hadn't seen before. They were taller than soldiers by a good foot or two, had a more humanoid shape than the Crystalli Soldiers, and had two fully developed hands. They also had visible heads with a red visor where their eyes should have been, builds similar to professional martial artists, and heavily-built shoulder armor. They could have been humans; humans that were two meters tall and made of pure crystal.

"Okay…" Sora corrected himself, "These things look pretty dangerous."

One of the Crystalli reached up to its shoulder, then produced a staff from its shoulder and took it in its three-fingered hand. It spun the weapon around, then stopped and aimed its tip at Riku. The staff's ends sparked with bright purple electricity, but the real surprise was that the Crystalli spoke. The Soldiers that Sora faced in Narnia didn't even talk. "He said "Sheath your weapons", organics!" it ordered.

While everyone else was slightly shocked that the Crystalli spoke, Joyex took that moment to quickly identify them. "Oh, GREAT! Crystalli Neo Soldiers!"

As Sakuzy returned his focus, Amethyst smiled as he addressed his troops. "Neo Soldiers!" The Crystalli Host pointed to the Restoration Committee and the rest of the group, then continued. "Destroy them! And capture them if you can!"

The Neo Soldiers advanced towards the others, staffs crackling like open power lines. Kairi and Riku readied their Keyblades, Donald got out his staff, Goofy and Blader their shields, Crescent his sword, and Petross started popping his knuckles. Sora and Sakuzy summoned their Keyblades and the fight began.

(This fight will have two different points of view-one of Sora and Sakuzy, the other of the rest of the group. We'll start with the rest of the group.)

The other Crystalli Neo Soldiers pulled long staffs out of their shoulders and the weapons instantly started sparking with electricity. Donald obviously didn't like this. "I already had enough electricity directed at me out of Igor!" he groaned to himself.

Crescent was the first to go into combat. He leapt into the air and landed right in front of a Neo Soldier. He slashed with his sword only to meet its staff in a sharp parry. It jabbed at Crescent with its staff and it sparked on contact with the ninja's shoulder. "OW! Can't we just talk this out?" he asked. There was a pause as the Neo Soldier advanced on him again. "WHAT THE HECK AM I SAYING?!"

The bruise Crescent got from the Neo Soldier's staff healed up and he continued the battle. He hacked and slashed, either missing or getting blocked. These Crystalli were TOUGH, both strong and skilled. Finally, Crescent saw an open spot and chopped off the Neo Soldier's left arm with his sword, which he expected to end the fight. He was quite surprised to see that the Neo Soldier still seemed perfectly able to fight. It simply picked up the staff single-handedly and began to wield it at Crescent like it had lost nothing.

"How annoying to fight a foe who just won't die." Crescent pointed out, parrying a sharp thrust from the Neo Soldier.

Behind him, Blader had just blocked a Neo Soldier's strike with his circular shield, the impact sparks littering the ground. "You're tellin' me." he said, blocking another strike.

Goofy and Blader were barely able to block blows from the new Crystalli. The Neo Soldiers were so fast that their staffs were no more than sparking, purple blurs. One Neo Soldier almost caught Blader right in the chest if he hadn't ducked and rolled under the Crystalli's legs in a very military-esque technique.

Goofy stared after Blader. "Whoa!" he said in surprise, "Say, Blader, could you teach ME that?"

Blader continued to talk, all the while fighting his Neo Soldier. "Don't get your hopes high, Mutt-man."

Blader then jumped over it with surprising agility and threw his shield low to the ground just as he landed. The Neo Soldier fell to the ground, its legs severed just below the knee. Blader went to help Goofy with his, but was quite surprised when the Neo Soldier, which he thought he defeated, twirled nimbly on its staff and used the remains of its legs to thump him in the back, sending him skidding.

"GAH! Man! What does it take to beat these piles of pebbles?!" he asked in disbelief.

Blader simply got up and continued his battle with the physically challenged Neo Soldier, which was currently using its staff as a crutch of sorts and cursing at him.

Kairi and Riku had to work against one Neo Soldier: the one that told them to sheath their weapons. Kairi was a skilled Keyblader, but not as good as Sora. And her elegant fighting style was starting to prove more of a handicap against the Neo Soldier's sheer speed. Riku saw several opportune moments to try and get a blow in, but the Neo Soldier was still a skilled fighter, blocking any attempts Riku tried. The Neo Soldier made to jab at Kairi with its staff, but she brought her Keyblade down on the staff, pinning the weapon to the ground. Riku seized his chance and sliced off the attacker's left arm and right leg with the Way to Dawn. But like the previous attempts, the Neo Soldier continued battling, hopping after Riku on its remaining leg and wielding its staff with its remaining arm, all the while screeching some improbable threat regarding its staff and Riku's body cavities.

Joyex had somewhat vanished from the fight until he suddenly leaped in between two Crystalli Neo Soldiers. He tapped them on the shoulders and asked, "Excuse me, but can I make a reservation to Twilight Town here?"

The Neo Soldiers acted on instinct and turned to stab him only for Joyex to jump out of the way. The result was that they planted their staffs into the other's chest. The pair sparked, then flew apart from each other and started going after Joyex again, burn marks on their chest.

Meanwhile, Petross was doing quite well with his Crystalli. He was actually a lot faster than he looked, because just as one made to jab him, he whirled on the spot and seized it by the arm before throwing it away. He then turned on the same spot and brought the back of his massive fist smashing into one's head, sending it skidding to the floor. Throughout his fighting, the medical officer's feet barely left the ground and his fists were as fast as the Neo Soldiers' staffs. He was basically a living bulldozer, for no one stood in his way unless he was standing still.

Petross finished the ones that came after him by grabbing two by the head and slammed them together so hard that they shattered like glass. He dusted off his hands after the process. "Yup. I still got it!" he said to himself, then raised his fists as a few more came for him, staffs crackling.

One of the Neo Soldiers had Donald backed into a corner, because Donald's spells did little or no damage to them at all. It raised its staff to strike, but a crocodile skin boot quickly smashed into its back. When it turned to see what hit it, someone seized it by the arm and tossed it with a good heave behind him. Scott Highflier and Ryan Syrus had decided to join the fight as well.

Scott turned to Petross and waved. "G'day, me old Prof.!" he greeted quickly.

Petross seemed bewildered at the sight of his old student. However, a fight was still going on. "I'd like to say 'hello', Scott. But would you mind giving us a hand?"

Ryan scoffed as he cocked his head in a playful manner. "'Nuff said, 'nuff done! Let's thrash them!"

As Ryan shot off through the Crystalli, Petross stared at the spot where he was standing. "Who the heck was that?" he asked.

Scott shook his head. "I wish I could tell yeh, mate."

The battle continued until all that was left of Blader and Goofy's Neo Soldier was a twitching hand. Riku had severed his Neo Soldier's right arm, but it still kept hopping after him on its remaining foot and managed a glancing kick before Riku casually severed the limb. The Neo Soldier went down cursing, thrashing its useless stumps.

Crescent was still having to deal with his opponent, though it only had one hand. He had to admit that it had skill for being left handed. He pushed the staff aside, then jumped into the air and stuck his sword right through the Neo Soldier's head. He pulled his weapon out and almost walked away when he heard the hum of a sparking staff, spinning. When he turned, he saw the Neo Soldier continue after him with a huge crack in its face. "CRUD!" he cursed.

Crescent put up his sword to block the staff only having to quickly move to parry a side attack from the staff's other end. He ducked and slashed from another blow only to meet the staff again. Apparently, this soldier could still fight, though it didn't appear able to see. Finally, Crescent stabbed it in the chest and hacked off its head, cutting off its brain functions. The truly dead Neo Soldier's knees buckled and it fell to the floor with a thud.

Kairi turned from her old Crystalli enemy and saw Sora and Sakuzy, who had Amethyst all to themselves. The Crystalli Host smirked as he snapped his fingers and a dark barrier separated them from the outside world. Sora had seen this experience before and raised his Keyblade with one word.

"Fire!"

A fireball shot out from Sora's Ultima Weapon and fired at Amethyst, who did a backflip when it was close. Soon, it became apparent that the flip wasn't to dodge the attack. The amethyst chunk on his thigh caught the fireball and the flame was absorbed into it.

"HUH?!" Sora asked in surprise.

"Don't think it's over yet! Move!" Sakuzy warned. He quickly moved to the left as the shard on Amethyst's ankle suddenly glowed like a neon lamp. The same fireball Sora tried to hit Amethyst with shot back at him as a laser bolt of pure energy. Sora dodged it, but felt the heat of the blast as it passed and it ruffled his hair.

Sakuzy jumped at Amethyst and was about to bring his Keyblade across Amethyst's face, but the Crystalli Host simply smiled. In a burst of purple light, a jagged-looking scepter appeared in his hand and he parried the Eagle Feather Keyblade. "Hmph. Too slow!" he said, unimpressed at Sakuzy's efforts.

Amethyst suddenly brought his scepter sideways and smacked Sakuzy with the other end. Apparently, this was just like the Neo Soldiers' staffs minus the electrical ends. He performed a tight backflip backward as Sora rushed after him and upon landing, he swept the ground with his staff. Sora jumped over this and brought his Keyblade down only to meet the scepter as Amethyst used his spin to get back to his feet. With a sudden twist of the Keyblade, he forced Sora to the ground. He didn't bother with a finishing move, because he quickly whacked away Sakuzy's oncoming blade. The sudden impact forced Sakuzy sideways, but he landed on his feet and turned to face his enemy. Sora also got back up and he and Sakuzy both charged with their weapons raised. Amethyst smiled as he simply sidestepped both of them, forcing them to stop. Had their attack gone through, both would have attacked each other.

"Huh. You call THIS fighting?" he asked, "I've seen better skills from a Heartless."

THAT tore it. Sora suddenly did the only thing he could think of…

"Sakuzy!"

"For the future!" Sakuzy and Sora both leapt into the air and began to hammer down on Amethyst's scepter, creating a shower of impact sparks. Suddenly, the Crystalli Host gave way and was pummeled by the two Keyblades' strikes. When the two saw this, they both spun their Keyblades in their hand and struck him again.

"Guess that's that." Sakuzy spun his Keyblade like some kind of gun and fixed it in his hand. That is…until Amethyst got back up, his wounds completely healed.

Amethyst almost laughed, then said, "What a waste of effort."

The Crystalli snapped his fingers and the scepter, which was on the ground several feet away, vanished in purple light. Sakuzy seemed to realize what happened and charged without a second to lose. The minute he swung, his attack was blocked. When he opened his eyes, he saw Amethyst blocking the attack and smiling. Then, with a spin of his scepter, he spun the Keyblade away and had Sakuzy pinned to the ground, the tip of his scepter aimed directly at his throat.

However, before Amethyst could even make a move, a man with a blue robe suddenly appeared in a flash of blue light. The man spoke in a crafty, growling voice in a clipped English accent. "Amethyst!"

Amethyst turned to see the man in blue and looked a bit infuriated that he had been interrupted. "What now?" he asked, grouchily.

"Change of plans." the blue-clad Crystalli answered.

The blue robe removed his blue cloak to reveal a much older man, probably in his sixties. He had short-cut, black hair, ocean-blue eyes, and a sapphire lodged in his left forearm. He also had a mustache-beard combo the color of salt and pepper.

Sakuzy got to his feet and took in this man's presence, his eyes wide. "Master!" he said in surprise.

Amethyst dispelled his weapon and looked just about ready to explode as he walked up so close to this man that their noses virtually touched. "You had no right to interfere, Sapphire!" he spat, "Chrysallis gave ME this mission and it was mine ALONE!"

The man known as Sapphire put up a finger, like a know-it-all scholar scolding a child. "Correct, Amethyst. But you let your head get in the way." he corrected, "Chrysallis' orders were to defeat Sakuzy and convert him, NOT to kill him!"

Amethyst huffed at his superior, then walked past him. He didn't even bother looking back. "If you think you can do any better, go on!" he said, shrewdly.

Sapphire took a casual look at Amethyst, then disabled the shields with a snap of his fingers. "I don't need shields. I'm more than strong enough to fight off more than two people at once."

Sakuzy seemed to be VERY angry now, but then, he finally exploded. "Out of all the people I knew, Master, I never expected YOU to switch sides!"

Sapphire seemed immune to this outburst as he gave him a fixed glare. "Chrysallis opened my eyes to the truth, Sakuzy. The Living Crystal's wishes WILL be appeased."

"Imposter." Sakuzy growled, "MY Master would NEVER try and extinguish innocent! You low…" Sapphire inhaled through gritted teeth, as though mocking pain. "Cowardly, traitor!" Sakuzy finished.

"Oh no… Now there's no need for such language." Sapphire mocked, "And to think you were one of my best students." Suddenly, the mocking disappeared as Sapphire's blue eyes turned the color of a raging ocean, "Well, as your 'teacher' let me just tell you that YOU FLUNK!"

In a burst of blue light Sapphire summoned a pair of blue rods. But with one movement of his hands, the "rods" extended into what looked like fans made of blue, steel-esque blades rather than paper. He made a complex combat move that only a master martial artist could perfect and readied himself for battle. With a sparkle of magic, Sakuzy's Eagle Feather Keyblade appeared in his hands. If it had come to killing his master, he would do it without question.

Amethyst

Another Crystalli. He and Sakuzy seem to know each other well and Sakuzy calls him 'Adrian'. Amethyst seems to be somewhat bitter to Sakuzy, possibly due to things that happened between them in the past. He wields a staff and the powers of darkness, not to mention he controls the Neo Soldiers.

Crystalli Neo Soldiers

One of the more advanced Crystalli warriors. They're more intelligent, more humanoid, and more battle-ready than the more common Soldiers. They can also take staffs from their shoulder that can spark electricity. Even if they lose a limb or wind up blind, they will continue to fight until permanently disposed of.

Sapphire

An old man from the future. Sakuzy refers to him as 'Master' and he has a pair of blade fans. He appears to be one of the best fighters the Crystalli have ever known from what he says. He is serious, dutiful, and has a very strict attitude, yet he mocked Sakuzy, who was once his own student.

That would be Sakuzy's Justice Force.