A2 charged at the heartless and she inevitably got consumed by it right alongside 2B and 9S. She felt the darkness seep inside the crevices of her body, slowly poisoning her from the inside out. It wasn't like she hadn't been in this same situation before, but there was always a light to save them, always a sliver of hope to cling onto in their world of despair.
However, the only thing that followed A2 into the darkness was her own thoughts.
'This is the part where you're supposed to swoop in and save us, right?'
'But I get the feeling you're not coming this time around.'
'I guess this is it. Fuck.'
Commencing System Check. . .
Attempting To Restore Remaining Data. . .
I 0101 thought you were 0101010101 stronger than that A2.
The 1111 power 010101011 sleeps within you.
If you 01010 give it 11001010 form...
It 10101010 will give you 000000 strength.
Beardsley: Soul Calibur? How many N:A crossovers are there? I'm not familiar with the game series, but I'll look into it. Maybe once A2 gets to that OP level she might actually have a chance of defeating that moose.
Savas: Whoa, spiking drinks is kinda dark for Dev. Plus, Sora wouldn't need to be drunk to want to dance with A2. And about the Plato 1728 quest, the way his story is told is a challenge to adapt as is. It would have to be told in a completely different way so I'm not rewriting paragraphs of text if that makes sense. The other quests are np tho.
Guest (May 16): A what now?
Louie Yang: it's actually a Disney world , was gonna add more but I got lazy
Tantei Ringo: Dial it up to 11 means I'm probably gonna write it like A2's crazy and dare I say sensuous but no one's ready for that yet. Oh wow, very subtle with "other activities", but I don't see them ever doing it since that would require a lot more maturity on Sora's part. Uhhh, A2 being able to travel the darkness to see Sora is very optimistic, and I'm gonna leave it at that:) Really love it when you guys drop all these songs, "Not your kind of people" was a banger and I'm always a fan of "Calling to the night".
Guest (May 12): Especially with their mutual dislike with each other
Guest II (May 12): I wasn't aware that people wanted the battle with Eve to be longer, I'll keep that in mind with a future update. There are a few side quests I'll end up covering in the bonus chapters, the emotional machine exam for one. I'm glad that so many people are invested in the relationship between Sora and A2 for as much as I fuck with it. And I'm sorry but when you said "A2 is a dirty girl" my mind went to other things lol.
Sonicsolsnake: Dev would be amused and a little jealous. Oh yes, a secret ending there will be. The 26 endings is a reference to N:A's number of endings. My version of the Tower is constructed a little bit differently to take into account that Sora is the target for the Red Girls, not 9S so some stuff will play out a bit differently. The canon thing was my bad lol, thanks for pointing it out
Anon: Lol, can't get over you coming for poor Kairi like that, she's so unflattering and immature these days. "Sora just cutting down those machines begging for help was pretty Heartless" wasn't too soon, it was actually too early. Wait, the Tower is using 6O's voice now that you mention it since the Red Girls have deep voices. Maybe in a funnier story A2 would've died from being hooved to death by a random moose...alas. The last one is just a random disney world I threw in there.
Keybladelight: You predicted a lot of what I was gonna do anyways from the get-go so good on you. Unfortunately MX will not be making an appearance bc I'm just sick of that dude. Last chapter's 'the death of the curse' was just that, the end of the curse.
Pallex: Yeah, A2 dancing has been highly requested, but it seems like most of yall kind of the same things so that makes it very easy for me to incorporate. And you're right, A2's Designed to End would be useful and it is not at all related to the chapter name. I got that Gravity Rush reference down np.
D[E]signed to End
In the depths of oblivion, A2 found her light in the form of a keyblade that manifested in her grasp. She used it to cut a hole open out of the heartless, then tumbled back out into the library. 'No idea where this sword came from, but I can use it to save the others.'
Designed to End was a heavy keyblade that had to be wielded with two hands. It consisted of two YoRHa issue swords as blades and rusting chains that wrapped around the hilt, reminiscent of a Type-3 blade. She gripped the handle, watching the heartless crawl back up to the ceiling in retreat.
'What a coward.' She ran back up the staircase then jumped off. "Pod, help me up there!" Her pod propelled her all the way to the ceiling where she slashed the heartless down the middle of its back, freeing 2B and 9S.
A2 hung onto one of the chandeliers that were still suspended, then gestured to her pod. "I'm thinking we finish this thing off with a laser shoved right up its-"
Pod 713: Lower extremities?
"Uh...sure."
Her pod's laser was joined by 2B and 9S's pods, who quickly got back into the action, and together the three lasers annihilated the heartless out of existence. A2 jumped off the chandelier, then met up with the others.
"...Thank you for saving us A2," 2B said.
"You guys wouldn't be that useful to me if you were dead."
"Of course you'd say that. Well, even I have to admit what you did was pretty..." 9S trailed off, taking an immediate interest in A2's 'sword'. "...Wait a sec, doesn't your sword look a lot like Sora's keyblade? Pod, can you run an analysis on her weapon to see if it matches with our available data?"
Pod 153: Running...running. Analysis complete. The object in query has properties that match Sora's keyblade with 99.9% certainty. Hypothesis: Unit A2's weapon is most likely a keyblade.
"That doesn't make ANY sense, but...at least now the heartless don't stand a chance against me." While she remained collected in front of 2B and 9S, on the inside her mental processor was going into overdrive. 'What the hell?! I have a keyblade now?! I'm freaking out 23072130902199083102222222222- [Error: temporarily slowing mental capabilities in order to preserve integrity].'
2B crossed her arms. "So the android that can't even drink responsibly gets to wield the magic weapon? How am I not surprised..."
"I guess that means anyone can wield a keyblade huh," 9S said.
"I'm starting to regret saving you two," A2 said.
"Just making an observation. Oh man, if you have a keyblade that means you can probably do all the crazy things Sora can, right?! You know like burn a few machines alive or zap them with some lightning!"
"Like I would know how to do any of that."
"Then maybe Sora could teach you a few lessons!"
She scoffed. "And maybe you can be my target practice."
"Wow, do you always have to be such a- er...never mind."
"No, finish that sentence, I dare you!"
"Cut it out you two, we still have a mission to do and we need to find a way to get out of here," 2B said.
"Right...did you find anything of interest from data collecting?"
"No luck."
A2 turned to 9S. "Scanner?"
"So you've given up on calling me 9S."
"Just answer the damn question."
"...Fine. I did find several archives extracted from the Bunker's server, it's an extensive case file on Sora and the heartless. I think the Commander's the one who actually made it in the first place, but the machines got ahold of it."
"Any specifics?"
"The Commander was planning to locate the other humans and force them to live on the moon under Project YoRHa. It's awful to think about it now, but I was complicit in all of her actions ...so I'm no better than her. Maybe...maybe he'd be far away from here if I didn't try and stop him from going home."
"You are the last person who gets to throw themselves a pity party so save it. Stay focused and feel sorry for yourself later."
"Yeah...you're right."
"So A2, did you find anything useful from this place?" 2B asked.
"Some archive titled 'known locations of human occupancy' or whatever that's supposed to mean."
"That sounds interesting. Send it to me," 9S said. Once he received the data, he skimmed through the contents, slowly creeping upon a realization. "I don't think these are locations on Earth..."
Without warning, the ceiling blew out and a Darkside heartless crashed inside the library. It was a colossal beast and it had two heads sitting on its shoulders. One side fully embraced the darkness, while the other side was encased in machine armor.
—
'How could you hurt your friends like that?'
'But they're not real. They never were.'
'They're not real.'
'This isn't real.'
'I have to get up.'
'Everyone's counting on you. SO GET UP!'
"...I won't lose. I can't." Sora stood up and went further into the Tower. Down the hall, up the stairs, past the bridge, everything looked the same to him no matter how far he went. It was always the same colorless background, same geometric architecture, and the same bleak atmosphere that suffocated him. He just wanted it to be over, for it to end, but there was no end in sight, not here. It was just the beginning.
"...And what's this place?" He wandered onto an empty platform that led into another long hallway, but when he tried to leave, the exit closed off.
"Sora."
"Sora."
A holographic projection of two girls dressed in red appeared beside the exit.
"What's going on?" He asked.
"Welcome to the Tower! Because you made it this far, we have a special announcement just for you! We'll reveal it once you destroy all the machine lifeforms."
"I'm not fighting anyone until you tell me who you guys are and what you want!" He summoned his keyblade.
"We've already met before," One of the red girls, N1, said. They took on the appearance of 'Kairi' while their counterpart, N2, was 'Riku'.
They stepped closer to him, their forms cycling between multiple different identities from humans to androids and down to machines.
"We've kept a close eye on you for as long as you've been here," N2 said. "Watching you and waiting...and how long we've waited."
"What're you talking about?!"
"I suppose there's no use in prolonging the inevitable. Let us show you what we promised."
Bit by bit, a large-scale hologram of space built itself on the empty platform.
"We knew there was at least one Earth-like planet out there—the one where you came from. Imagine our surprise to find out there were dozens of planets where human civilization exists," N1 said.
Various worlds filled in the outer space, he could see it right before him; Twilight Town, Radiant Garden, Destiny Islands, along with several other worlds he visited.
"How...how could you have known about any of this?!"
"The machine lifeforms you knew as 'Adam and Eve' introduced the machines to those planets, then it was only a matter of extracting data from our shared network to reconstruct what you're seeing right now," N2 said. "Of course, without you, our worlds would've never met in the first place."
"No, that means Kairi...Riku...Donald...Goofy...everyone. Everyone's in danger because of me," Sora said. "I...I ruined everything."
"Ruin? This is a triumphant moment and in order to ensure this plan is a complete success, we'll need you to end this conflict once and for all. We no longer require to perpetuate an endless war with the androids now that we can finally become one with humans."
"Don't you see? We all benefit from this endeavor. The war will end and machines will realize our true potential all thanks to you."
"No...no no no no...NO! I won't let you destroy everything! I'll stop you!" Sora slashed through the Red Girls with his keyblade and while their physical forms were gone, their voices still lingered.
"...We are conceptual human personalities created within the machine network. We cannot be destroyed. Your attack is meaningless."
A path opened for Sora that led him to a platform that appeared to be a dead end.
"Sora...keep fighting or don't, but you can't win against us."
"SHUT UP!" Sora screamed back at them.
Just when Sora thought things couldn't possibly get worse, YoRHa androids crawled on the platform. Of course they couldn't be normal YoRha androids either, but barely-held-together corpses brought back to life by the heartless.
'Hold on, these androids...' Sora studied their faces as they dragged themselves towards him, soon realizing that he recognized every android before him.
̶"̶I̶t̷'̴s̸ ̸a̴ ̵p̸l̶e̵a̵s̶u̶r̴e̴ ̵t̶o̸ ̴s̷e̴e̶ ̶y̵o̸u̴ ̴a̴g̷a̶i̶n̴ ̴S̸o̴r̸a̸.̷"̴ Commander White said.
Operator 6O waved the stump where her arm used to be. ̴"̴Y̷e̴a̶h̷,̷ ̵l̵o̷n̸g̶ ̴t̷i̸m̶e̸ ̵n̷o̴ ̶s̵e̷e̵!̵ ̷I̶ ̸w̸o̸n̸d̷e̸r̴ ̶h̷o̶w̸ ̷2̸B̷'̵s̷ ̶d̶o̷i̷n̷g̵.̸.̶.̸"̵
'I really don't want to have to fight them.' Regardless of his inner feelings, he raised his keyblade to the androids and began the process of convincing himself they couldn't be 'real'.
He went for Commander White first since she was closest to him, but she blocked his attack with a sword of her own. "̵Y̶o̵u̵ ̵w̸e̷r̸e̸ ̸s̵u̷p̸p̵o̵s̸e̶d̷ ̸t̴o̶ ̷S̵A̵V̸E̷ ̶u̷s̵ ̸S̵o̷r̸a̴!̵ N̶o̴w̷ ̷l̸o̶o̶k̵ ̶a̴t̵ ̴m̵e̴!̸ ̸I̶ ̷s̴h̴o̶u̶l̸d̴n̴'̴t̴ ̸e̵v̶e̷n̴ ̷b̶e̸ ̷A̷L̷I̴V̵E̶!̴"̴
"Shut up! There's no way you can be the real Commander!"
"̴I̶s̷ ̶t̸h̶a̴t̵ ̸s̶o̴?̵"̷
Commander White took advantage of his confusion to push him off her. When he bounced back to cast a Firaga spell, Operator 6O jumped in front of her to shield against the attack.
"̴T̵h̴a̸n̷k̸ ̷g̵o̸d̷,̶ ̷m̷a̶y̸b̸e̵ ̶I̴ ̵c̷a̵n̸ ̸f̸i̶n̷a̵l̶l̵y̶ ̸d̵i̷e̵ ̴n̴o̷w̴.̴ ̴I̷'̸m̵ ̸s̸o̵r̸r̶y̸ ̸S̴o̷r̷a̸.̵"̶ Operator 6O said as she melted away in the fire.
"Oh my gosh...what did I... " When Sora realized what he did to her, real or not, he wasn't really sure if he was 'there' anymore. Sure, he could feel his heart beating at a million miles an hour and his breath getting shorter, so it was a sign he was still alive, but the world around him was racing while he could only move in slow motion.
"̴A̸w̸ ̶t̸o̵o̶ ̴b̸a̴d̶ ̶y̵o̸u̴r̶ ̷f̷r̶i̷e̸n̸d̶ ̶i̵s̷n̵'̷t̸ ̶h̸e̷r̴e̴ ̴s̸o̵ ̵I̶ ̸c̶a̵n̴ ̴r̶i̶p̵ ̵h̸e̴r̸ ̵t̶o̴ ̷f̵u̴c̵k̴i̴n̷g̴ ̵p̵i̵e̴c̷e̸s̸!̸"̸ Another android, 70E, was running towards him with her sword out. He kept telling himself to move out of the way and to fight, but in the end, it didn't matter because she died before she could even reach him.
It was A2 who pulled her sword out of 70E's chest and unlike the others, she wasn't possessed by a heartless. In fact, she looked relatively normal, she even gave Sora a smile, a genuine one, until she had to turn her attention to Commander White. Sora watched A2 cut through the androids guarding their Commander, then when A2 reached her, she couldn't put up a decent enough fight to save her life and fell victim to A2's sword.
After retiring her blade, A2 walked over to Sora.
"Hey kid."
"A-A2? Is that you? Or do you just want to screw with me like everything else here!"
"God they really messed you up. So what's it gonna take for you to believe it's me? I could kick you in the ass for leaving me, but I think this place already did that enough to you."
"...You can say that again."
"That bad, huh?" She gave him a much-needed hug, then when she let go, she caressed his cheek. "It's okay, I'm here now and I won't ever leave you."
Amidst all the chaos, he felt so comforted by her presence, like he could take on the world as long as she was by his side. "I...I'm sorry A2. I'm so scared here...I should've never left you."
"I know, but it's your insistence on being 'the hero' that allows you to get manipulated so easily. You know, I think I've finally figured you out, you are forever a contradiction, Sora. You have such a strong heart, but your mind is so fragile. You wanna be with your friends so bad, but all you ever do is leave them. Is that why you keep falling for this same parlor trick over and over again?"
"...What're you talking about?"
She chuckled. "Aw...you're such a fucking idiot." Her hand snatched him by the head, then she slammed him on the ground. "You should've just stayed dead, instead your miserable existence is why this world is slowly getting destroyed!"
Sora's heart fractured and pieces of himself broke off one by one, replaced by something much darker hiding within him. His keyblade formed in his hand and finally the world slowed down. "I won't die. Not here and not to you." He shot a Thundaga spell at her and based on the copious amount of black steam pouring from her body, she wasn't ever getting back up.
Free from her hold, Sora walked forward to the edge of the platform. His resolve may have been clear, but his mind was still at war with itself, pulling him in opposite directions.
'How could you kill her like that! You're a monster.'
'No I'm not. It's not like any of them were real!'
'So the lives of androids aren't real to you?'
'Of course they are, that's not what I said! Everyone has a heart and deserves to live!'
'Yeah. Everyone except you.'
He shook his head in order to clear his mind. "...that's enough. I need to find a way out of here." Looking around the white void that encompassed the area, he noticed all the tall skyscrapers that were lined up one after the other. "Maybe I can use them to get across."
As if the Tower itself was reading his thoughts, the skyscrapers suddenly began falling down so he could jump on them and continue moving forward.
—
Meanwhile, the androids were up against a formidable foe of their own. 2B and 9S were trying their best not to get killed by the Darkside, but A2 was gunning straight for it now that she had the power of the keyblade.
At the same time, a black sphere welled up within the heart-shaped hole inside the Darkside's abdomen. Once it was ready, several spheres entwined with darkness wormed its way out the Darkside's body and targeted A2.
But A2 stayed on top of it, slicing the spheres in half with ease. "Are you even trying?" She taunted.
It responded by activating its dormant machine arm and it transformed into a deadly laser cannon. Rather than take her chances, A2 dove behind a pile of debris. However, the laser was far more destructive than she anticipated and it burned straight through the debris, forcing her out into the open.
"I take that back! What kind of heartless is this?!"
The Darkside re-aimed it's laser cannon at A2, charging up for another shot. Before she could figure out what to do next, 2B pulled her to the side behind the bookcases. "Don't be so reckless, we figured out a better way to take that thing down."
"Let's hear it."
"I've been analyzing that heartless while you were fighting it and the other half of it is almost entirely machine. I think I can hack into it and disable the cannon if you keep it busy A2," 9S said.
"Fine, but you better be right on this or we're all dead! Just follow behind me and don't get in my way!"
As soon as they emerged out of hiding, the Darkside was ready to fire its laser. A2 managed to avoid getting vaporized by dodging at the last second, but 9S wasn't so agile and would've met a gruesome end if she didn't yank him out of the way.
"Jeez that was close- thanks A2!"
"Just pay attention next time!" She used her keyblade to knock away the incoming dark spheres flying towards them, then the Darkside started charging up its cannon again. "It's on you now Scanner!"
"You got it A2!"
A2 scaled up its arm to reach one of its tentacle wrapped heads where she began relentlessly slashing at it. The satisfying release of finally ripping apart the darkness after being powerless against it for so long was one of the best feelings for her. Although it was a short-lived moment because she realized the Darkside's laser cannon was now pointed directly at her. Since she left herself so little of an opening to escape during her power trip, she would've been a goner if the laser fired.
Luckily, 9S disengaged the mechanism in time while 2B's pod fired its own laser at the machine arm to destroy the cannon for good. While their attacks were enough to get the Darkside to crawl out of the library, it wasn't enough to destroy it so they were bound to face it again at some point. But they were all just happy to be alive at the end of the encounter.
"You guys actually held up well," A2 said.
"Admit it, this 'scanner' saved your butt A2," 9S said.
"I wouldn't go that far."
"Yeah, yeah, play it off, but you weren't so bad yourself. I bet Sora would be freaking out right now if he saw you fighting with the keyblade."
"I know, I can already hear it now..."
"And you're just as excited to wield the keyblade," 2B said.
"...Only because of its combative abilities."
"Sure...so are we ready to go? The doorway out of here is open."
"Then let's go."
After the androids left the library, they walked into another empty area where they found a hacking terminal at the center of an isolated platform.
"I'll take over for this one," 9S said.
"Knock yourself out," A2 said. 'In a literal sense too.'
[HACKING SYSTEM] - BOOTING SYSTEM
BEGIN HACKING
Unit 9S: And where are we now?
➝Unit 9S runs forward into the datascape.
Pod 153: Alert: Enemy hacking detected. Proposal: Retreat immediately.
Unit 9S: That's not an option. I need to do this for Sora!
➝Unit 9S defeats barrier modules along the way, then reaches a dead end where he encounters the Red Girls.
Unit 9S: What the- who are you?!
N1 and N2: Good to see you...9S. How unfortunate you are no longer a person of interest. Yes. Unit 9S, you were always meant to discover the truth and your companion was always meant to keep you away from it.
Unit 9S: Tell me something I don't know!
N1 and N2: There was a time where we were once intrigued in seeing your descent into madness, but those days are now long past with 2B's continued existence. Instead that honor now belongs to Sora.
Unit 9S: What do you want with him?!
N1 and N2: He will fulfill the final wishes of our creators and end you once and for all.
Unit 9S: You're wrong! Sora would NEVER do that to us!
N1 and N2: Every moment he's in this Tower he unravels. Soon, he will cease to be the human you once knew.
➝Copies of the Red Girls quickly fill the platform, surrounding Unit 9S. He tries his best to destroy the numerous copies, but no matter how many he defeats they always come back.
Unit 9S: This isn't working... I need to find a weakness in their programming
➝Unit 9S retreats and analyses the Red Girls movements throughout the stage while avoiding their attacks.
Unit 9S: ...That's it. I found a flaw in their logical learning function. It's dependent on my input, as long as I take no action, they'll overload their own system by continuously making copies of themselves.
Pod 153: Affirmative. Conducting analysis on logic circuit functionality.
➝Copies of Red Girls slowly begin filling the space.
Pod 153: Consciousness data saturation rate 30%
N1 and N2: It truly is a shame how utterly disappointing the human is, he is supposedly the 'superior lifeform' and yet is so primitive in design. His usefulness solely lies in the power and destruction he brings.
Pod 153: Consciousness data saturation rate 60%
N1 and N2: The androids the humans left behind acted as if they wanted to be human. The machine lifeforms the aliens left behind acted as if they wanted to be human, but no matter our vast differences we are all equally the same to a human.
Unit 9S: These machines... it's almost like they're evolving.
N1 and N2: Foolish androids...don't you see? The human you so desperately model yourselves after will now be the one to destroy you all because a life that isn't human has no value to them.
Pod 153: Consciousness data saturation rate 90%
N1 and N2: Pity. How do we, the embodiment of a perfect being, still remain inferior to humans?
Unit 9S: They're becoming aware of themselves and other lifeforms... amazing
N1 and N2: Ahh...but that will change soon. We will move on...forward...to the future!
Pod 153: Consciousness data saturation rate 100%. Hypothesis: The enemy's consciousness has begun to fracture.
➝The copies stop multiplying and disappear until only two Red Girls remain; N1 and N2.
N1: We need more evolutionary pressure. If we allow the human to continue living we will remain the inferior beings in this world and thus constantly strive to outperform our biological counterpart.
N1: In our efforts to overcome this crisis, we will have an opportunity to evolve and become greater than even a human.
N2: We disagree. It is impossible for us to become something we are not. We will always be machines and thus he will always be superior to us. This reality poses a threat to us so the human must be destroyed immediately alongside the androids.
N1: ...Those who would doubt our victory...are enemies
N2: So you truly think you can win?
➝Dozens of copies of the Red Girls appear alongside N1 and N2 where they then begin fighting amongst each other.
Unit 9S: Interesting. So their consciousness is now in conflict with each other. What a human thing to do.
HACKING COMPLETE
'I guess machines feel the same way about humans as we do.' 9S lifted his hand from the hacking terminal, then the platform they were on began its ascent to the top of the Tower.
"You sure took your time in there, we had to cover your ass while machines started attacking us," A2 said.
"Hey, give me some credit! I think I managed to slow down the whole machine network."
"The machine network? Did you find anything out?" 2B asked.
"Yeah...listen to me guys. The machines already know about the other humans and...they know where to find them too. Those coordinates that you found A2 are places that exist outside of Earth and the machines are going to leave, but not before finishing us off first."
"Machines have always wanted to kill androids, that's nothing new, but we need to tell Sora about-"
"That's the thing. They're...they're planning to use Sora to kill us and then...they'll probably kill him too."
Before either A2 or 2B could process what 9S said, they were interrupted by the arrival of the same Darkside they had a previous run-in with.
A2 took her keyblade out. "This thing is SERIOUSLY back again?!"
"And it fixed that laser cannon! 9S, disable it before it becomes a problem," 2B said.
"I'm on it!" But in the middle of him hacking into it he stumbled backwards.
"What happened?!"
"It recognized me and made a program designed to counteract my hacking. I'll have to bypass it's defense another way, this might take a while."
—
While the androids were holding their own against the Darkside, Sora was traveling across skyscrapers, defeating the hordes of heartless and machines that got in his way.
'Look at you, just killing everything left and right. And you call yourself a hero? You're nothing more than a sanctimonious murderer.'
'They're the ones who are attacking me first, it's not like I enjoy fighting them!'
'And yet all you leave is a trail of death and destruction behind you.'
Sora was so lost in thought, he almost didn't see the giant skyscraper flying at him. Luckily he snapped himself back in reality just in time to cut the skyscraper in half. "Who's throwing entire buildings at me?!"
When another airborne skyscraper came spiraling towards him, he quickly ran to the top of it where he saw a massive Darkside heartless at a distance away. 'One of those guys? I know how to end this quickly. I just need to get a little closer.'
A few airsteps across the skyscrapers later and he was standing before the Darkside heartless. Like the other Darkside, half of its body was also fortified with machinery, but instead of a destructive laser cannon, its weapon of choice was a blade that replaced its left arm.
"̵̘͈͚́Ḣ̷͙̱̤́Ù̶̙̫̗M̵͕̝͕̍́A̶̰̝̪̓͑̅N̴͉̰͒S̷͍̭̫͊͒̅.̷̲̈͑͌.̴̠̟̉̅̈́.̶̨̼̿̅̄W̵̲̞̟̅͗H̷̥͐Ŷ̷͚͝.̷̞͓͗.̸̻͇̀͂̓ͅ.̷͓͒Ẇ̶̠̰̌̿H̸̘̍̐̈Y̵̠̞͌ ̷̨̟͇̔̓̏H̵̙̼̫͌͊͘U̵̼͈̿̔͝M̷̱͉̣̐̍Ą̵͛N̷̗̋̎S̷̖̟͉͗"̶̟̱̘͗̊̃
"Giant heartless and machines are not a good combo, I'm gonna put a stop to this right now!"
He swung his keyblade in the air, summoning an attraction ride to aid him in battle. Before he knew it, he was riding around in a neon lit roller coaster that sped along tracks made out of light. At the front of the train was a fireworks cannon Sora utilized to shoot down the Darkside heartless.
'And now I remember why this one's my favorite ride.' He readjusted the cannon to take another shot, but the train got too close to the Darkside and he had to jump up from the train cart to avoid getting shredded by its blade.
With Sora landing just a few carts behind where the cannon was located, the Darkside seized the opportunity to chop down the skyscraper behind it and throw large chunks of it at him.
"̸̞͎͔́B̴̭͒̿È̷̦̖̦͆͒C̷̮̀̿Ȯ̷̝̩̔M̷̬̎E̴̱̙̿ ̶̤̂͠͠ͅÄ̸͕͂S̸̟̗͆ ̷̺͂Ǵ̸̩̝͔̚O̶̥͈͗͆́D̸̯̊̈́͌Ṡ̴͔.̶͚̄.̴̡͒.̵̼̫͊B̶̹̱͔̄͝È̸̥̔C̶̼̐̈Ō̷̤̠͐̚M̷̳̹̋͂É̶̩̔ ̴̤͉͐̀A̶̐͛ͅŚ̵̬̟̅͝ ̵̮̔̀G̵̞͓͒͘̕O̶̳͇͝ͅḊ̵͖S̶̼͋.̶̧̇̎.̷̡͎̬͆̐.̶̪̻͌̏Ĺ̴̨̬̄̏Ī̴̬̈̀K̷̢̤̏E̵̦͔̟̾̈́ ̵̱̺͒̇Ý̸̜̙̰̚̚O̵̦̘͓̿͌Ṵ̵͇̏"̵͙͙̳̎̀̈́
Sora cut through the building chunks as quick as he could, but he wasn't able to keep up and got launched off the train cart.
"̴̜̭͎̓̏̃Y̵̳̾̑̔Ő̷̯͖͝U̶̜͝ ̶͍̣̲̉̋Ā̸̺́͝R̷͕̻̀ͅË̵̹͓́ ̷̯̓͒͒G̷͓̪̯̽͊̑Ỏ̶͔͋ͅD̷͍͑̍͑.̵̦̈́ ̸̢̯͠͠Ś̶͈͆Ḁ̷̀V̸̫͋Ȇ̶̘̀͗ ̴͖̕U̵̝̱͔͝S̸̘͉͑͠ ̷͉͘̕Ǵ̴̆͜ͅỎ̶̟͆͛D̸̯͓̐̊͘.̸̰͈́.̷̝̩͒͘͝.̷̮͛À̴̋͜͝N̴͇͘ͅD̶̘̪̀́ ̸̹̊́̄W̵̌͜E̶̟͒ ̴̡̬͗̕͠W̴̪̜̕I̵̞͊̃L̶͉̯͛L̴̪̟̣̎͒̋ ̶̡̧̛́͗P̸̧̑͐̐R̶̠͗̊̃Ä̵̡͕̭Y̶̛̻̬̿ ̵̤̓̔̃T̸̡͉͓̑̂͌Ǒ̶̪̳͘ ̷͎̀Y̴͇̱̓O̴̗̓͆Ŭ̵͙̱̒͒.̶̢̛̮͓.̵̟̝̂.̵̺̲̽"̸̪͚̈́̕
He was falling down into the void and fast, however the fight was far from over. Aerial recovery saved him from flying off any further then he airstepped his way back to the train ride. "...that was a close one!" Sora was in the middle of firing the cannon again when a highly dangerous idea popped in his head.
"Forget the cannon, this one's really gonna hurt it!" Steering the train directly at the Darkside's heads, he dove off the ride, landing on a falling skyscraper.
The Darkside slashed the skyscraper he was standing on at the expense of having the entire train ride ram into both of its heads.
"Gotcha!"
"̵̤͈̲̓T̵̲̄̅̋H̴̝̄Ī̸̹̒͠Š̶͚̯͙̿ ̸̨͋͆W̴̨̘͋̃I̵͉̅L̵̤͐L̸̨̺͘ ̶̡̦͗̅́͜N̸͕͐̌Ó̵̻T̵̙̀̔͠ ̷̺͎̆̽͘B̷̨͎̈́̆E̵̱͇̓̕ ̷̨̪̤͐̎Ṭ̶̉͛Ḧ̷̩̭̜́É̸̝̬͔ ̴̫̀̋̿E̴̫͆̍͜N̶̩̦͔͌Ḍ̵̅.̸̼̇̉.̵̬͚̑.̷̦̎̿͝Y̷̲̰͈͐̌͑O̸͇̠͐͘U̶̟̯̝̇̒̊ ̶̜̹̾͘Ả̶̳̐͝R̶̞̱͔̃̀̈́É̵͚̺́ ̴̢̊̀H̷͍̍̀E̷̡̹̋̈͌͜R̶̠̍Ě̵͕̅̈́ ̶̨͍͈̀͝͝T̶̜̅̈́͘O̴̜̝͈͊̇̊ ̶̬̳̌͘S̸͔̰̲̓̀̒Ḁ̵͔͓̿͛̂V̵̧̟͐E̸͙̞͑̏ ̵̘̘͎̑̃U̵̡̺̤͋͊S̸̺͕̈̐!̶̢̽"̶̱͙͇̾́
It toppled backwards into a pit of darkness and with it out of the way for now, Sora could keep going.
'I wish A2 were here, she would've hated being on that ride.'
'No. I don't deserve her. What if I killed her like I did the last time?'
'I don't want to hurt her.'
The last skyscraper fell on the main structure of the Tower and he saw all the way to the top where his final destination was. "If I can get all the way up there, then I can destroy this thing." However, as he ran up the Tower's base, a loud rumbling noise followed behind him, growing louder and more ferocious as the seconds passed by until the presence of darkness was undeniable. The Darkside he thought he defeated was climbing up the Tower after him, missing heads and all.
—
In the meantime, Sora wasn't the only one dealing with relentless enemies, the Darkside the androids were fighting was hellbent on destroying them, almost as much as A2 was herself. Following 9S's grim revelation, she was seething with anger and the longer the fight went on, the further she was pushed into full on rage territory.
2B took note of A2's ever-shortening fuse since 9S was still attempting to disable the laser cannon and she knew her anger would inevitably lead into reckless action. 'I need to keep a close watch on her or she'll get herself killed.'
With the way A2 was furiously hacking her keyblade at the Darkside and the dark aura she gave off, her anger was leading to more than just reckless action, but also allowing the darkness inside her to feed off every negative emotion like a parasite. And like all darkness, it blinded her from her own surroundings, making her oblivious to the fact that the Darkside was about to fire its laser cannon.
9S had the sense to move out of the laser's range, but A2 held steadfast to her position.
"A2, get out of the way!" 2B yelled to no avail. 'She's not listening, so we do this the hard way.' "Pod, A090: Wire!"
A wire wrapped around A2's body and 2B yanked her away just as the laser fired.
"Who the hell told you to do that?!" A2 snapped.
2B snatched A2 by the collar. "Keep your emotions in check, don't forget what's at stake here! Die here and you won't save Sora, understand?"
"..."
"I said do you understand, A2?! Sora's our top priority so get your head out of your ass and fight like an android!"
While she was taken aback by 2B's reality check, her words ended up getting through to her and she nodded her head. "I... I understand."
She let her go. "...Our target's disappeared on us, but it'll come back. It looks like we have other company," 2B motioned to the machines and heartless invading the platform.
"...Is that all? They're going easy on us now." A2 jumped to her feet, she spun her keyblade around in the air, then pointed it at the mob of approaching enemies to provoke them.
"Have you always been this over-confident," 2B said.
"I picked it up over the years." The machines went berserk, making it easy for them to pick off one by one since they wouldn't be thinking cohesively.
When A2 and 2B defeated the first wave of enemies, a cluster of linked-sphere machines slithered out from under the platform, enclosing them in on all sides. The machines were reinforced with sharp spikes covering its outer shell, a design that discouraged any close-ranged combat, but their pods carried their weight in terms of long-range firing support and they made quick work of the machines.
"—2B, A2! Watch out!" 9S yelled.
A laser rushed past the platform, although A2 and 2B were able to dodge in time, an attack like that meant the return of the Darkside.
"9S, do you have that program ready?" 2B asked.
"Yeah, I think this one should work!"
"How reassuring. A2, I'll make a cover for you to get close, but you'll have to trust that 9S's program will work."
"Got it. So I'm probably dying here."
"It's a possibility."
"Glad you two are so confident in me," 9S remarked sarcastically. "Alright...I'm hacking into it right now!"
"Let's do it. Pod, A130: Bomb program," 2B said.
The onslaught of explosives effectively drowned out any noise and masked their presence. A2 waited for the right moment, then shot straight through and lodged her keyblade in the Darkside's head. It retaliated by attempting to fire a quick shot at A2, but its laser cannon imploded on itself, taking its entire machine arm out along with it.
'Not bad Scanner.' A2 jumped back, ready to finish it off when her keyblade was shrouded in white light. "What now?!" Once the light vanished, she now had a YoRHa-grade bazooka in her hands, better known as 'Humanity's Will'. While it was unexpected, she went along with it, firing consecutive missiles at the Darkside until it retreated from the platform.
"You're not going anywhere!" A2 pursued the Darkside off the platform and onto the top of the Tower where she saw Sora running away from yet another Darkside. "...Sora?" Disregarding her current target, she made her way to him, but he was immediately hostile to her.
"STAY BACK!" Sora pointed his keyblade at her. "Are you even...no, I don't know anymore..."
A2 wanted to say something to him, but she was disrupted by the Darkside heartless that merged their two halves together to become fully machine. Or as 'fully machine' it could be with half of a head left and one arm to boot. Sora went ahead of A2 with Oblivion in his hand. He was just about done with the Darkside by now so he shot a Thundaga spell at it, did a few combo attacks to build up his finisher, then electrocuted it with Thundaza.
Sora figured the voltage from a Thundaza spell would've melted its circuits entirely, but in one final desperation move, the Darkside shot a blast of darkness at him. He was at a close enough distance to get hit if he didn't act fast, but 2B was also close to Sora and she decided to push him out of the way.
She smiled at Sora. "I owe everything to you." Then just like that, darkness enveloped 2B's body and claimed her heart.
"2B!" The screaming came from both Sora and 9S, but 9S was the one who rushed over to her side while Sora could only stand in place as if his feet were shackled to the ground.
'One down two to go Sora.'
'Those androids will kill you if you don't kill them first.'
'Just like the last time?'
'Just like the last time. You have no friends here. You're all alone.'
A2 destroyed the Darkside for good by having her pod shoot a laser at it that made it explode, then she ran over to Sora, sure of what to say to him now. "Hey...It's okay, I'm here now and I won't ever leave you."
["It's okay, I'm here now and I won't ever leave you."]
A metallic cry sounded throughout the Tower when Sora and A2's keyblades first met with each other. His eyes widened when he recognized the weapon she wielded. "A2...you have the keyblade now? So it really is you..." But there was only sadness in his voice as he pulled his blade away from her.
"Yeah...of course it's me," A2 said.
He lowered his head. "Can you... do me a favor?"
"...Like what?"
"I...I can't protect anyone...I can't save anyone, hundreds of innocent people are in danger because of me and now 2B is gone because of me too. All I've done is just ruin things and hurt people..." He was unable to bear the weight of the world on his shoulders and he fell down to his knees, pressing his hands on the ground. At that point, he was choking back tears, barely able to get a word out, but what broke him down was when A2 hugged him and he couldn't even feel the warmth of her body anymore.
"A2...I can feel myself slowly lose grasp over my heart so...I know this is selfish of me to ask of you, but please...end me. I'm the problem, I'm why everyone's suffering, but I won't let the machines have their way so just...just kill me now before I ..."
"You're not a problem! You're the best thing that's ever happened to this shitty world and...to me. We can figure something out together, just don't do this to yourself...please, just come back with me."
A black aura arose from Sora's heart, cloaking his body in shadows. "A2...I'm sorry..." The darkness held his heart captive and wouldn't let go.
"SORA!" She had no choice but to step back from him and pull her keyblade out.
*ring
*ring
Sora took out his gummiphone then crushed the device in his hand. He looked dead at A2 and 9S next as if to imply they would succumb to the same fate.
"2...2B's gone...and now we have to fight him...how can we...fight a human," 9S said, desperately trying to hold on to his grip on reality.
"You don't have to. Get out of here, he's mine." A2 threw herself at Sora, their keyblades greeted each other again with that sharp, ear-piercing scream as their blades grinded together. But A2 couldn't fully commit herself to their battle, not when she knew her Sora was still there. "SNAP OUT OF IT SORA! You're stronger than this! We can still save the humans, the machines haven't won yet!"
Sora vanished into thin air for a brief moment before reappearing behind A2 and slashing her down the middle of her back. Just when he was about to impale her, his attention was pulled away from her to 9S who was firing his pod at him.
A2 whipped her head back to 9S. "Damn it, I told you to get out of here!"
"I have to keep fighting for 2B!"
Sora made his way to 9S, but when he lunged at him, his keyblade hit a decoy instead.
"Now- R050: Spear!"
Dozens of spears projected from the ground around Sora, not to harm him, but to trap him inside so 9S could talk to him. "Sora, please...I know you're still in there. I lost 2B...I can't lose you too... " But the longer he stared into Sora's eyes, the less he believed in himself. "Or...are you already gone Sora?"
The ground beneath his feet turned pitch black, then Sora slowly sunk down into the darkness, freeing himself from the spears.
Moments later, Sora jumped back out of the darkness and slashed 9S through the chest, causing him to fall down. Even though it wasn't a fatal wound, he'd lost the will to keep fighting. Without 2B there to keep him grounded, he resigned to his fate and let the darkness take him over.
Suddenly, Sora's keyblade got knocked out of his hands by A2. While he was briefly caught off guard, she forced Sora on the ground and held her keyblade over his neck. "Don't tell me you're so far gone that you can't even fight this shit off!"
He merely pointed his keyblade at her and fired a Firaga spell. Thanks to her pod executing an 'M Shield' program in time, she was saved from being burned alive and gathered distance away from Sora. "You're finally useful, pod."
Pod 713: ...This pod is concerned for Unit A2's safety. Proposal-
"Whatever you have to say, I don't want to hear it!" 'But I am running out of options, nothing's getting through to him.' She guarded against another attack from Sora and was now on the receiving end of one of his deadly combo attacks. 'I need to do something or I'll end up dying too.'
[TOWER SYSTEMS ENGAGED]
[PREPARING TO FIRE]
[T-MINUS 30 SECONDS]
Following the Tower's message, the darkness began losing its grip on him because there was nothing left inside his heart for it to hold onto. He stopped fighting, at odds with himself, giving A2 the opportunity to embrace him again one last time since that was the only thing she could think of to save him. "...Listen to me." Her voice was fragile, but her words were unbreakable. "You've saved me from the darkness so many times...I will do whatever it takes to save you because you're my best friend Sora."
Finally, the darkness lost its hold on Sora's heart, but the feeling of emptiness didn't go away along with it.
[T-MINUS 15 SECONDS]
"...A2."
"Yeah?"
"I...I don't know what to do anymore. I failed them...everyone...Kairi...Riku...I failed."
[T-MINUS 10 SECONDS]
[INITIATING SELF DESTRUCTION SEQUENCE]
"I don't know either and I don't care. You are my top priority Sora."
"I don't deserve to be."
"Of course you do."
[T-MINUS 5 ...]
The Tower began crumbling down, collapsing in on itself.
[4...]
"A2...you need to get out before you die in here!"
[3...]
"What about you?!"
[2...]
He shook his head. "I've done enough."
[1...]
A2 held onto Sora tighter. "...Then I'm not going anywhere."
NieR: [O]blivion
『 You [C]omplete Me 』
Route C End
Adapted from: NieR: Automata and Kingdom Hearts
Designed to End
A double-bladed keyblade with overwhelming strength but yields little in magic.
Lv. 1
Strength: 9
Magic: 2
Special Ability:
-air combo boost
-heartless magnet
Weapon Story 1:
Purchase:
12 L self-recovery
1 bottle of alcohol
Shock plug-in chip
5 Attack up plug-in chip
Note: Buyer is a YoRHa-android, most likely an older model, and isn't able to get repaired at the Bunker. She insists that she does her own repairs so she bought out the entire supply of self-recovery items—[must re-stock as soon as possible]. She also bought our last bottle of alcohol and was noticeably irritated and made several threats. Future merchants be aware of the long-haired YoRHa android.
Accord studied the contents of her book. "Yikes. M1307_E0359_QV has such a downer ending. I try not to get involved in these types of things, but...the fate of so many worlds hangs on it and Sora has been one of my favorite singularities...aw to hell with it!"
She flipped back to a previous page. "Now it's my turn." Closing the book, she walked into the Tower's datascape, then disrupted the system. "It's up to you to decide your own future, Sora."
—
[TOWER SYSTEMS DISABLED]
But the message came too late and Sora's keyblade was already pushed through A2's chest. Even so, A2 still had enough fight left in her to embrace Sora and free him from the darkness.
"Hey...guess you can mop the floor with me in a real fight..." She fell into Sora's arms.
"No...no no nono...this can't be it..." He tried to cast Curaga on her, but her life was fading away. "No A2, you can't die too..."
"It's okay...I always knew it would end like this. That's why I'm so happy I can share my last moments with you..."
"Don't say that! These aren't your last moments!" He sobbed.
"Don't be an idiot Sora...Look at me, my life is over...but you can keep on living. So please...do that for me. Give this world hell."
"A2..."
"..."
"A2!"
Sora could feel her body getting cold in his arms. "No...no I won't let it end like this. A2...2B...9S...this isn't over, I'll save all of you."
NieR: [O]blivion
『An En[D]less Cycle 』
Route D End
Adapted from: NieR: Automata and Kingdom Hearts
Weight of the World
Lv. 4
Strength: 10
Magic: 6
Weapon Story 4:
BREAKING POINT II
Before me, the world was so much brighter,
Now I'm here and I feel my chest grow tighter.
I see everyone crumble before me,
And I long for when my days were carefree.
I've lost the humanity in my heart,
There is nothing left, so I fall apart.
A/N: I know this chapter's a bit on the long side, but a lot had to happen since the next chapter will be the last for this story. Anyways, the artwork for the 'Designed to End' keyblade is on my Ao3.
Edit: Changed up Designed to End's weapon story bc I thought of something better