Well, I apologize about the delay in getting this chapter out. I can blame a number of different factors for it, but I'd rather just dive right into things. I want to thank soraroxas123 and Kristen Verne for reviewing. When last we left our tale, our group had reached a chink in their breakout plans, as Kyan got captured and found out by the prison guards. Now, we have the final chapter in the Prison Break arc, and the last chapter in the Building the Team section of the story as well. Read on and I'll see you at the end!
Chapter 20: Breakout
(Strange Whispers, Kingdom Hearts)
The halls of Heroes' Forge were eerily quiet and empty. The proud fortress of the Keyblade Wielders that had stood since the Ancient War had now begun to fall into a state of decay. The once pristine marble floors were marred and stained with lack of maintenance, and the banners erected by the Founder Generation had been removed from their places on the walls.
The new regime had been making good on its promise of looking away from the past, and toward an uncertain future. The Keyblade Wielders knew well that their Grandmaster placed no stock in the legends of the past, viewing Sora, Jack, and the rest as mere names from an obsolete time. The principles and values that they instilled within the Agency, such as working in harmony with the Council of Sovereigns, were no longer enforced or even encouraged. Caleb had turned his back on the words of past heroes in his pursuit of retaking the lost strength of ages long gone.
Those within Caleb's inner circle knew that there was another side to his ambitions, however. Publicly, Caleb decried the beliefs of the Founders and refused to live in the past. But privately, he had been obsessing over the Founder Relics in his possession and searching desperately for the lost worlds deemed sacred to all Keyblade Wielders.
The ruins of Yen Sid's Tower, the Land of Departure, Kamirran, the Crossroads, and the Keyblade Graveyard had all been written out of the records before the Founders had disappeared. Sora's Generation had wanted to keep all seekers away from those places of antiquity, but he could not fathom why.
The footsteps of his boots echoed loudly through the empty halls as he walked down the stairs toward the lowest level of the sprawling castle. He had dispersed every Agent at his disposal out among the worlds, searching for answers to his questions. For weeks they had been searching without rest, but Caleb had found no answers thus far. The lost worlds, the rest of the Founder Relics, and even Raelyn's team had continued to elude him. He was running out of patience, and time.
"The Council suspects what you are doing and they are already moving against you. You can ill afford to sit idle, or you shall find yourself surrounded by enemies before you can claim the power you seek," a voice spoke in his head, so clear that there might have been someone walking beside him. Caleb shivered, trying to calm his nerves.
"I know. I have had little progress since retracing the dark Rikkison's steps to that forgotten castle and finding your fragment. But I am doing all that I can. I will not let the Keyblade Wielders fall before our growing enemies. We need the strength of our forebears. We must reclaim the power that toppled the Ancients, or we shall be swept aside in the storms of change that are to come," he muttered quietly.
Within moments, he reached the bottom of the stairs and pushed open the stone doors leading into the Hall of Memory. The most sacred room in the castle to any Wielders who still viewed the Founders with any favorable rapport, Caleb was one of the few who dared to plot his schemes beneath the stone gazes of the Founder statues.
He strode calmly past the statues of Yen Sid, Eraqus, and Jason Rikkison without even glancing at them. Likewise, the likenesses of Alix Crescent, Mist Rikkison, and most of the other Founders were not worth even a turn of his head. However, he was unable to help himself as he reached the statues of Sora and Jack Rikkison. The legendary Champion and Wanderer both stared down at him with their unmoving eyes, and Caleb returned their look for a brief moment. Despite knowing they were only statues, he sensed a deep pang of disapproval as he stood facing them and quickly cowed. He turned away from them and hurried past, inwardly cursing himself that the images of dead men were enough to make him hesitate.
At the very back of the room, behind all of the statues he found a small group of people. Two senior Masters who were loyal to him held a third man bound and chained between them, and all three looked to Caleb as he approached. The Grandmaster glanced to the side and saw Lorne leaning against the back of Marek's statue with his arms crossed. His right eye was glowing red and his metal arm humming with electrical current, so Caleb knew he was accessing the internet while focusing on their current task.
Lorne stared evenly at Caleb with his normal eye until the other man turned away from him, at which point a flicker of disapproval washed over his face. He was disgusted with what was occurring, but knew better than to voice his concerns aloud.
"Master Keran, I certainly hope that you have some information for me," Caleb addressed the bound man. The man was of great age, sporting white hair and an equally white goatee, and his arms were that of a senior member of the Agency's Circle of Masters.
"I have…nothing for you, Grandmaster. The records do not possess the answers you seek," Keran wheezed, breathing heavily through his bruised face. Caleb smiled coldly and narrowed his good eye.
"I beg you not to treat me as a fool, old man. You are the oldest living Keyblade Master, and you have served the Agency for almost seventy years. You are old enough to remember when the Rikkisons served among our ranks, before they foolishly split off to live in solitude. As the Agency's scribe under three previous Grandmasters, you alone could have the knowledge that I need," he insisted. Keran shook his head, causing one of the other Masters flanking him to punch him hard in the stomach. He groaned and lurched forward, but was forced to stand back up straight.
"The location of the Keyblade Graveyard was erased from the records over a hundred years ago! Pierce Rikkison himself saw it done during his tenure as Grandmaster! You know the tale as well as I! Pierce, Griffin, and Ava purged the records of those sacred sites and then left in search of the vanished Founders, and they never returned. Andrix and Tahara were left to lead the Circle in their place, but they had no more knowledge than we possess now. That is all that I know, my lord!" he exclaimed pleadingly. Caleb sneered.
"And the Founder Relics still unaccounted for? Most were easy enough to find. Lea's Chakram was hidden inside of the Twilight Town clock tower, Kairi's Charm and Sora's Necklace were found within the hidden cave on Destiny Islands, and the Rikkison Relics were reclaimed from the family's settlement after they were wiped out. Where is the Sword of Darian Voltare? Where is the Buster Sword of Zack Fair and the Lance of Kain Highwind? Where is the Eternity Fang?!" he yelled angrily.
Keran cowed before him, raising his hands in fear. "My lord, I do not know! I swear to you! I have dedicated my life to serving the Agency, and its Grandmaster. I am a loyal servant!" he insisted.
"And yet you refuse me the knowledge I need to save the Keyblade Wielders from the extinction that is about to engulf us. I need no servant as disobedient as that," Caleb replied coldly. In a swift motion, he called his Keyblade and thrust it through Keran's stomach with a horrible slicing noise. The old man gasped in shock and fell to his knees once the blade was removed. He looked up at Caleb with a shake of his head.
"The Founders knew….that men would follow them who would try to be tyrants. They forged plans to stop you…..long before you were born," he whispered. With a last gasp, he fell onto his face and was still.
Sparing no further glances at his disloyal servant, Caleb turned away from the body and looked over at Lorne. The younger man was angry at what had been done, but dared not say anything. "Let that be a warning to you and anyone else who fails in their mission. I can afford to show no leniency. If we fail, the Keyblade Wielders shall go the way of the Rikkisons…extinct," Caleb said firmly. Lorne stared at him with an unreadable expression for several moments of silence, and finally changed the subject.
"I've prepared the defenses on the Ark. If Raelyn is going to target the fortress, we'll be ready. I'll be there, as well. You should prepare yourself, sir, in the event that he and his team are able to get what they're looking for. We both know that the Council is looking for any opportunity to pounce on you," he advised. Caleb grunted in an apparent lack of interest.
"Let the Council do as they wish. They will not hinder us, let alone stop what is to come. They can bleat about me ignoring laws and breaking agreements as much as they want. There are no lines I will not cross in securing the survival of our Order. The Realm of Light would have been destroyed many times in years past had the Keyblade Wielders not risen to save the day. It is upon my shoulders to ensure that we are not destroyed utterly," he replied. Lorne raised his eyebrows.
"And the Founder Relics will give us the power to overtake the Hidden Legion and the Sovereign Armies? The moment the Council realizes exactly what you are planning to do, the debate on the Freedom's Fall Protocol will be over. They will pass it, and we'll be looking at civil war across the Realm of Light," he asked with an air of skepticism. Caleb nodded.
"We need the power that helped Jack Rikkison defeat Maechil Omnivion. With it, we can withstand all the foes this Realm can throw at us. The secrets lie in the Keyblade Graveyard, I am sure of it. The Founders wanted to make sure no one could find it for a reason. There is something in that barren land that holds the key to the future beyond our sight. I must have that knowledge…," he muttered and turned to walk away.
As Lorne watched the older man walk out of sight, he shook his head in distaste. "You sound like another old Keyblade Master from long ago, whose thirst for knowledge almost blanketed the Realm of Light in a second darkness. You're up to something, Caleb, and I will find out what it is," he whispered to himself. (end Strange Whispers)
MEANWHILE, TRAVERSE CITY PENITENTIARY…
"So, you just left him there to get caught," Raelyn muttered in an accusatory tone. Taelor rolled her eyes, having just finished explaining what had happened to Kyan.
"He blew his cover to buy me time! How would it have helped for him and I to both get caught?" she asked with an exasperated sigh. Mitchell looked between the two of them, waiting for a break in the arguing. Raelyn shook his head angrily and looked at the tattooed man.
"How far back does this set us?" he asked, eliciting a tired shrug from Mitchell.
"Not much, considering he passed us the rest of your things before the riot. We're still only missing two things: a rope to get us up into the infirmary, and a way to get the bars off of the window to the yard," he explained. Taelor nodded with a thoughtful look in her eye.
"They keep rope in the storage shed out in the yard. It shouldn't be too hard to grab a bundle while you're working out there," she proposed, but Mitchell shook his head.
"I get searched every time I come in from the yard. I can't exactly smuggle it back with me," he explained. Raelyn grunted and glanced outside of the open cell door. None of the other prisoners were worrying about them. Craiven had been killed during the riot and Truck had been confined in Solitary for inciting it. For the moment, their backs were clear.
"The rope's still gonna be the easy part compared to getting those bars off of the infirmary window in time. We still have a lot of ground to cover between that drop onto the yard and the outside walls. It would be so simple if I could just melt them with Fire magic….," he muttered, at which point Taelor scoffed.
"Good luck with that. The Anti-Magic Field surrounds this entire place. Even the guards can't use it, unless they have one of those generator things," she replied, her eyes going wide as she spoke. Raelyn turned his gaze to Mitchell.
"The personal field disruptors. How would we get our hands on one?" he asked. Again, Mitchell shook his head.
"Not happening, now that your friend has been found out. They keep them in the armory, right next to where he's being interrogated," he replied. Raelyn raised his eyebrows suddenly, causing the tattooed man to stop. "What?" he asked.
"Kyan's being interrogated right beside the armory?"
"Yeah, and there's at least four guards in there. Besides, the vault stays locked at all times," Mitchell muttered. Raelyn smiled and tapped the cell door with his knuckles. Once more, he stuck his head out onto the landing to make sure no one was eavesdropping.
"Four guards, I can handle even without magic. What are the odds that one of those guards has the key to armory?" he asked. Mitchell crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall, peering up at him from the bottom of the bunk bed. Taelor glanced between them and then down at the sink, which hid the hole in the wall leading to their escape plans.
"A hundred percent. They would keep the keys nearby in case another riot happens. They've gotta be able to get in there at a moment's notice," he answered, and already a twinkle was appearing in his eyes. Raelyn smiled, knowing the other man was catching on. "You'll have to move fast," he said quietly.
"I'll need another path to the sewers from the main level," Raelyn told him. Mitchell nodded and stood up, pulling off his shirt. For only the second time, Raelyn looked with wonder at the comprehensive tattoo that covered the man's upper body. Hidden beneath the artwork were the blueprints for the prison, blueprints that Raelyn had only briefly glossed over prior to the mission. Mitchell pointed at a point on his left shoulder, where a magnificent eagle was perched on a branch. He traced the feathers on the right wing with his index finger.
"See your path? Twenty yards down from the armory doors are the boiler rooms. Once in there, you'll find another sewer hatch. Take that route, and we'll wait for you down below it. From there, the four of us will get up into the infirmary. We go out the window and across the yard, together," he said, gazing at the two of them with a triumphant smirk. Raelyn smiled back, confident in their plans.
He knew the role he would have to play: get into such trouble that he would be brought to the officers' wing, close to Kyan. From there, the two of them could overwhelm the guards and get the key to the armory. With a personal disruptor, he would be able to melt the bars on the infirmary window. Then, they would have to make it across the yard, over the outer walls, and to where Drea would be waiting with the Highwind.
"It'll be up to the two of you to find some rope. If you can't steal it from the guards, barter for something strong enough from the other prisoners. Use the Munny I brought in. It's not much, but it might get you something," he told them. Mitchell and Taelor nodded, the latter shaking her blonde hair behind her shoulder.
"Between that, and the secrets I have to trade, we'll get it done. The right secret to the right inmate, and I can get us a lot more than rope," she said confidently. Raelyn rolled his eyes at her words, still distrusting her, and nodded confidently to Mitchell.
"This time tomorrow, we're outside those walls and on to the next stage of our lives. Do you have extraction once we get there?" Scofeld asked him, to which he nodded.
"I have someone standing by, with a three-seat ship. Kyan and I will be able to fly ourselves, and I'll send the two of you with my contact," he assured him. Mitchell smiled and glanced over at the sink.
"The seeds from Wonderland and the Potion will get us over the wall, and I'll have them with me. I couldn't save my brother in here, but I promise to repay you for making this possible," he said sincerely. Raelyn was slightly taken aback, having never suspected such honor from an inmate in the most secure prison in the Realm of Light. But Mitchell Scofeld seemed a man wholly inadequate for such a place.
"Alright. Taelor's made sure that the minimum number of guards were assigned to the outer patrol tonight. In exactly two hours, right at the start of Pit time, the two of you lock this cell door and get through the hole. Meet me and Kyan in the sewers with the rope to get up into the infirmary. I don't know how much juice that disruptor is gonna have, so I need to save it for the window. In three hours, we're out of here," he said with a smile. The other two nodded back to him, and with that he walked out of the cell.
Now how was he going to get himself placed close enough to Kyan to explain the plan? He thought over his options: start another lockdown or riot, pick a fight in the Pit, or assault a guard. But every one of those options only ended in him going to Solitary, not to Interrogation.
Taelor's words lingered in his mind, even as he tried to forget them. However, he sighed and realized that she had been right. Secrets were the real currency in this place. Secrets held power, even the presumed possession of them. He didn't have to actually hold any information. He only had to make the guards believe he knew something worth knowing.
He cursed under his breath, not wanting to admit that Taelor was right about something. Left with no alternative, he descended the stairs to the main level and began walking up to the nearest guard in nonchalant fashion. He strode up beside the man, who was standing against the wall with his arms crossed. He didn't even look at Raelyn as he approached. "Step back, con; your only warning," he growled.
"I have information," Raelyn said quietly, without moving his lips as much as possible. The guard scoffed.
"Nothing I care about hearing. Beat it," he muttered back. Raelyn smiled slightly.
"Alright, lose your job tomorrow. Not like I care," he replied. Before he could move, the guard turned and stepped in front of him, their faces now inches apart.
"You've got five seconds before I throw you in Solitary. You'd better speak fast," he said with calm anger. Raelyn looked up into the man's eyes and smiled, feeling the fake scar on the side of his face tighten.
"There are some inmates planning a breakout. But in exchange for this information, I want certain…privileges," he said. The guard's eyes narrowed, and in a quick movement he grasped Raelyn by the collar of his shirt and dragged him through the nearby doors.
"Privileges, my ass. How about you give up what you know and you keep breathing?" he said in an angry fashion as they walked awkwardly down the hallway.
Raelyn tried to hide his smile. Breakout plans were taken so seriously that there wasn't even hesitation. They were going to take him right where he wanted to be.
In a matter of minutes, the guard shoved him through the doors leading to the Officers' wing. As he stumbled forward, he saw a large room in front of him. A table had been pushed against the opposing wall, and currently Kyan was tied to a chair in the center. Four other guards were standing around him angrily. The older man was sporting a fair number of bruises on his face, but he was still wearing a tired smile. "Keep it coming, ladies. You're not getting shit from me," he groaned with a quiet laugh and spat blood at the floor, making sure it got on one of the guards' shoes.
"Why is he in here?!" another guard yelled, turning to the man holding Raelyn.
"Inmate Castus here says he has information," the man said, forcefully throwing him toward the center of the room. "About a breakout plan."
The rest of the guards went silent and turned fully toward Raelyn, their attention now solely on him. Raelyn looked briefly through all of them at Kyan, their eyes meeting. He gave his teammate the smallest of nods, and Kyan narrowed his eyes to confirm he understood. As the guards continued to face Raelyn, he began struggling against the restraints on his arms and legs.
"Who's planning a breakout, boy?" the nearest guard said in a menacing tone. Raelyn tried to stand his ground.
"I want more time out in the yard, and double portions of dessert," he insisted. The guard laughed loudly for a moment and looked at his fellows, who all chuckled coldly. Then, without warning, he punched Raelyn hard in the stomach. He let out a groan and fell to his knees with a wheeze. He curled his fist on the floor, fighting the urge to do anything yet.
"You come in here to make demands of me? To haggle with me like a fruit merchant at market? You have no rights inside these walls, convict," the guard growled and grasped the front of his shirt, pulling him back to his feet. Raelyn found himself so close to the guard's face that he could smell his breath. The man pulled a knife from his waist and pointed the end at Raelyn's throat. "Now, I swear by light itself: tell me who is planning to break out, or I'll cut you down right here and go find out myself," he said menacingly.
Raelyn sighed, feeling the tip of the knife at his neck. "Mitchell Scofeld. He got thrown in here on purpose to break out Taelor Eryen, the girl everyone in the Pit calls the Truth Seeker," he replied and dropped his gaze to the floor.
"Scofeld…," the guard muttered and looked at his fellows. "Always knew something was off about that one," he said and he slackened his grip on his knife. Raelyn watched him intently for a moment, until the sound of loose chains behind the guards caused them to turn around.
Raelyn immediately seized the opportunity and grasped the knife handle, spinning it around and plunging it into its owner's neck. The man gasped in surprise and fell, at which point the other guards noticed what had happened and prepared to pounce on him. Before they could move, a chain flung itself across another guard's neck and Kyan used it to pull the man to the ground. With a swift pull of the metal and a crack, a second guard was down.
The remaining three guards raced forward to try and contain the situation, but Raelyn retrieved the knife and easily avoided the nearest man's incoming blow. He impaled him between the shoulder blades and then slammed his face onto the nearby table.
A hard blow to the back of his head sent him staggering to the floor, and he groaned as he looked up at one of the remaining guards. The man raised his baton to club Raelyn again, but Kyan wrapped his arms around the guard's waist and flung him backwards onto the floor. The older man unhesitatingly stomped on the man's face and kicked his head violently to the side. As the last guard charged him, Kyan wrapped the chain around his fist and slammed it into the man's face. Again and again, he punched five separate times and then gripped the back of the man's neck to force his face downward. He then brought his knee up with precision and enough force to knock him out.
As he fell with a groan, the two Keybearers were the only ones still conscious. Kyan stepped over the fallen men and offered his hand, which Raelyn took gratefully. He got up, still rubbing the back of his head. "So what's the new plan?" Kyan asked.
Raelyn dug through the guard's pockets, finding the keys on the man who had held the knife. He then walked past Kyan to the large armor door, sliding the key in the slot. He heard a loud click, and the door eased open. He smiled and pulled it the rest of the way. "I need one of those field disruptors, and then we're meeting up with Taelor and Scofeld," he explained. He looked inside the vault and raised his eyebrows, seeing only one disruptor on the shelf.
"They cleaned a lot of stuff out after the riot. The Legionnaires confiscated the heavy artillery until they could complete an investigation into how I snuck in here," Kyan explained, seeing the dismay on his face. Raelyn sighed and grabbed it, placing it in his pocket. Nothing else in the vault appeared useful, so he and Kyan dragged the guards inside the room. "The ones still alive will have enough air until the morning shift tomorrow," he muttered. Once Kyan shoved the last man inside, he closed and locked the door.
"We should hurry. The others will probably be waiting for us," Kyan said, and he nodded in agreement. Remembering Mitchell's instructions, he led the way out of the room and they started running down the hallway toward the boiler rooms.
"Have you made contact with Drea lately?" he asked as he pushed open the door and stepped inside. Kyan shook his head as he closed it behind them.
"The last message I sent her was last night before the riot, but I told her to expect us anytime. Hopefully, she's still out there waiting," he replied. Raelyn nodded as he started looking through the steamy room for a sewer cover.
"We have to get far enough into the city to be past the anti-magic field. Drea's only got room for two in the Highwind, and Taelor and Scofeld can't fly," he added. Kyan grunted in response as they located the cover. The two quickly pulled it open and glanced down into the dark tunnels. At that moment, Raelyn heard guard voices in the hallway and looked up. "Let's go," he muttered urgently and dropped down inside. Kyan placed the cover over his head and followed suit, putting it back in place as he fell.
He landed beside Raelyn in the darkness, a very faint light echoing through the tunnel. "Mitchell!" the younger of the two whispered harshly. There was silence for several moments, causing him to start worrying.
About thirty seconds later, he heard footsteps coming in their direction. In the next moment, Mitchell appeared around the nearest corner with Taelor in tow. "What kept you?" Raelyn asked him, worried about how much time they had.
"They delayed Pit time by fifteen minutes, and she couldn't get to my cell until then. We're already behind by twenty! We only have twenty more to get up the tunnel, through the window, across the yard, and over the outer walls!" the tattooed man replied. Raelyn nodded and motioned for Kyan to move over. Mitchell hurried past them to lead the way, as he had the path memorized.
Taelor followed suit, then Kyan, and Raelyn brought up the rear. As they crawled through the tunnel, he grew more and more worried about their timing and whether anyone had noticed the five missing guards yet. The plan already seemed to be going awry. "Please tell me you guys found a way up this shaft," he muttered.
Up ahead, Mitchell reached the vertical shaft and they came to a stop around him. He smiled and reached into his pocket, pulling out a coat hanger with a curved top. He then held out his hand to Taelor, who withdrew a small line of cord from beneath her shirt. "What secrets did you have to give out for that, personal ones or professional ones?" Raelyn asked distastefully. She gave him a scathing look and handed the cord to Mitchell.
"We've gotta catch this on that beam hanging just below the grate into the infirmary," Mitchell explained, pointing up the twenty foot shaft above them at a tiny piece of wood strewn high above them.
"And how are you gonna do that?" Raelyn asked him. Mitchell paused, looking up as if forming a plan. Kyan shook his head.
"We don't have time for this. Raelyn, get on my shoulders," he said urgently and stood up to his full height in the shaft. Raelyn, not understanding the man's plan, reluctantly did so and clambered up until he was perched on Kyan's firm shoulders. "Taelor, take this and get up there. Wrap it around and then pull yourself up through the grate. The rest of us will use the cord to climb up," Kyan told her firmly, ignoring the pain already coming from his shoulders.
Taelor grasped the cord and started climbing up their backs. Raelyn hissed as she clambered up his back, making sure to cause him discomfort as she went. Standing on top of Raelyn, she was high enough to tie the cord off in a solid knot. She then pushed the grate up out of the hole and hoisted herself up into the infirmary.
After a moment of silence, they heard her call down. "It's clear, let's go!"
Raelyn hurriedly grasped the cord and kicked off from Kyan's shoulders, pulling himself up the seven feet until he got to the top. Taelor offered him her hand, but he slapped it away and pulled himself up. Glancing around the empty infirmary for a moment, he turned to look back down the hole and saw Mitchell now climbing up. "We're fine, work on the window!" the tattooed man hissed. Raelyn nodded and stood up, turning toward the window.
He reached out a hand and felt the metal bars blocking their way to freedom. Nodding with determination, he reached inside his pocket and activated the personal disruptor. Immediately, he felt a resurgence of power akin to breaking the surface of water. As he heard Kyan pulling himself up, he channeled fire energy into his palm and waved across the bars.
Within seconds, they turned orange and began to melt. "What's our time on the outer patrols?" he asked urgently. Mitchell shook his head.
"Four minutes," he muttered. Knowing that there was no time to waste, Raelyn flipped the latch and pushed the glass open.
"Don't stop, slow down, or look back. We sprint for the outer walls, no matter what happens," he said. Without waiting to hear the others agree, he dropped out of the window and landed on the grass below with a forward roll. He stayed low, looking before him to make sure that there were no guards in sight. Seeing nothing, he waved up at Mitchell, who followed. He landed beside Raelyn with a soft thud and a groan, and Taelor and Kyan followed moments later.
Without further words, they began sprinting forward. Such was the size of the compound that the outer walls were over a hundred yards away, and time was not on their side. Searchlights were dancing back and forth across the yard, forcing them to zigzag rather than run straight. They clung to the shadows and did their best to stay low, knowing full well that any moment now the outer patrol would walk into sight.
They were a little over halfway across the yard when they heard the alarms start blaring behind them.
"Prisoners escaped, guards down!" a voice yelled over the intercom system. The lights in the yard flared to life, painting them fully in their sights.
"In the yard, fleeing to the outer walls!" the intercom yelled.
"Don't stop, keep moving! Mitchell, you know what to do once you reach the wall!" Raelyn ordered them as a sense of panic washed through the group. Taelor's eyes were wide with terror as their escape seemed on the verge of failure, and Kyan's expression was etched with fury as he no doubt felt helpless without his weapons. Mitchell alone remained calm and focused, pulling the Potion and bag of Wonderland seeds out of his pocket as he continued running forward.
Raelyn looked behind them to see the first patrol coming their way. He heard the clicks of Legion firearms and knew they were about to open fire. He angrily stopped running and stood his ground, hoping that the Disruptor had a full battery. He raised his hands in preparation for the impending bullet storm. "Reflega!"
A hail of bullets flew forward, the muzzle flashes nearly blinding him as the tiny projectiles hit his barrier. Knowing that the disruptor would only last for so long, and that the Anti-Magic Field rendered him powerless once the battery died, he had to move. Still maintaining his barrier, he began to walk backwards.
The rest of the group raced toward the outer wall, with Mitchell reaching it first. He immediately knelt down and started digging his hands through the earth making a small hole. He then fumbled his fingers over the bag holding the Wonderland seeds, hurriedly dumping them into the freshly-turned soil.
"Hurry!" Kyan muttered, watching Raelyn inch toward them with his barrier starting to weaken. Taelor looked between them as Mitchell pulled the cork off of the Potion and dumped it down into the hole. He then covered the hole back up and stepped back. Nothing happened for several moments.
Raelyn groaned under the effort of maintaining his barrier, and could feel the Field starting to overwhelm him again. The disruptor was almost drained. He looked forward and watched as the patrol of guards reloaded their guns and prepared to unleash another hail. Grunting with effort, he stepped forward and threw his arms out with all of the remaining magical energy he had. The barrier exploded around him and the remnants flew forward, crashing into the patrol and knocking them all to the ground. He looked down at his disruptor, seeing it as dead as a bone and throwing it to the side. He then sprinted up to the rest of the group and found them standing by the outer wall.
"What are you doing?!" he exclaimed as he raced up.
"Nothing happened!" Taelor yelled back. Raelyn opened his mouth to shout at her, but the ground started shaking.
"Get out of the way!" Kyan warned them and pulled Taelor back. Mitchell and Raelyn hurried to follow suit. In another instant, a massive flower shot out of the ground at breakneck speeds, growing taller than the wall. Raelyn looked closely and saw little thorns adoring the stem like ladder rungs.
"Let's go!" he exclaimed and hurried forward, stepping onto the flower and climbing upward. He didn't want to see if the others were following, such was the urgency. Higher and higher he climbed, until the top of the barbed wire was level with his feet. Not knowing what to do then, he looked up and watched as one of the flower petals seemed to be gesturing to him. Raising his eyebrows in interest, he climbed up onto the petal and stepped into the center of the flower. Mitchell followed him, then Taelor and Kyan.
"What now?" Taelor asked as they all huddled inside of the flower's center. As if answering her question, the flower petals rose up around them and enclosed them in a soft cocoon. In the next moment, they could feel their cocoon leaning heavily toward the wall.
"It's not gonna…," Kyan muttered, but a moment later they felt their pod break off of the stem and tumble downward. They braced for impact, and hit the ground with a surprisingly soft landing. The petals fell apart and they rolled haphazardly out onto the concrete ground of the Third District. The group struggled to their feet and looked around.
"We've gotta get out of the range of the Anti-Magic Field! Drea will be waiting for us there!" Raelyn told them. Taelor and Mitchell were panting for breath by this point, but they knew there was no time to stop. As the three of them hurried forward, Kyan glanced back at the flower that had granted their escape.
"Still don't know how Wonderland works, but I love it!" he muttered, patting the fallen petals affectionately before following.
The Field only extended a short ways past the prison walls, and Raelyn could see the clear path ahead like a division of night and day. However, he could also see the city's security divisions mobilizing ahead to stop them. "We can't move forward, we're running right into their arms!" Taelor exclaimed. However, Raelyn smiled in that moment.
"We're not moving forward…," he said, pointing above them. "We're moving up!"
The Highwind was flying in toward them, and Drea pulled into a hurried landing between them and the security forces. She opened the ship's canopy with a worried expression. "They're moving to lock the Keyhole! If we're not gone in the next five minutes, the Lanes Between will be locked to us!" she told them. Raelyn nodded and hurried them onward.
"Go, go! Kyan and I just have to get past the Field! You two get in!" he ordered. Drea ducked low as a bullet whizzed past her, barely missing. Narrowing her eyes from her seat, she pulled out her bow and fitted an arrow to its string.
"Thundaga…," she muttered, lighting the arrowhead with electricity. She let it fly, watching it zoom toward the Legionnaires and explode once it got there, catching them in an arch of lightning. Taelor and Mitchell climbed in to the other seats, and Drea gave Raelyn and Kyan a nod before closing the canopy and taking off from the ground.
"Mad dash!" Raelyn yelled as he and Kyan hurried forward. The Field's border was only yards away from them now, but the security forces were back on their feet. One of the lead men launched a ball of fire in their direction. Raelyn watched it coming and raced even faster. If he could just pass the field, he could summon his Keyblade…
Kyan was a few steps ahead of him and rolled forward to meet it. There was an explosion of flame and smoke as the spell hit him, but as it faded Raelyn could see him standing there with his Keyblade in hand. "Oh yeah…," he heard him mutter triumphantly.
He retaliated by striking the ground and sending a line of icicles forward. They snaked along the ground and caused the Legionnaires to scatter. By now, Raelyn had passed the field and could feel his own powers returning. "We have to go, now!" he urged. Kyan nodded and gave him a brief glance, before they simultaneously summoned their armor and Riders. They kicked off from the ground, narrowly avoiding more fireballs from the Legionnaires who were growing smaller and smaller below them.
The city grew distant and remote, and they could feel the colder more empty air of the Lanes Between approaching. As they flew, they felt a ripple pass just below them, and looked down to see what looked like a cage masking the city.
The Keyhole had been sealed, and they had missed it by less than ten feet.
Kyan let out a loud whoop from his Rider and raised his fist in victory. Raelyn smiled and echoed his comrade's sentiments as Drea pulled the Highwind up beside them.
Another successful mission. Taelor had been rescued and recruited. The team was now complete. The time had finally come to turn his attention back to Caleb.
And that, as they say is that! Thank you so much for being patient with me on getting this chapter finished! I really did my best to get it done, but I kept hitting roadblocks. So at least, the team has been united! Some of you probably caught the teases I have been dropping over the last few chapters. Now with the team together, our next adventure will be tackling what Caleb has referred to as "the Ark"! Stay tuned for that, and thanks for reading! I'll see you next time!