A Horrifying Reveal.
After their encounter with the creepy stranger, the group was left puzzled about what had happened. He told them that the docks were closed and no boats would leave any time soon. But they had little to go on. So the best option might be to investigate things themselves.
"You believe what that guy said about the port being closed?" Prompto asked.
"I'm skeptical, though I won't discount the possibility" Ignis answered.
"I mean it kind of makes sense, with everything going on" Asuka said.
"I say we go check it out for ourselves" Gladio suggested.
And so they did. They headed of to the docks, overhearing some people talking about it being closed. So far it seemed like that strange man was telling the truth. They examined a sign at the docks that read: Today's Ferry Schedule. Out of Service.
"Out of service indeed" Ignis said.
"Aw, man. Not a ship in sight. What gives?" Prompto asked.
A young man in a fine suit sits on a bench nearby and addresses them "According to my sources, the empire, giving strict orders not to let any vessels leave the docks of Altissia. Real shame if you were late to your own wedding right, Prince Noctis? Name's Dino, by the way. Pleasure. The crown prince of Lucis, bounty hunting in his fancy car… Surely you didn't think it'd go unnoticed at least not by this reporter? Lucky for you, this reporter has integrity. If you wanna remain incognito, I'll respect your wish…in exchange for a favor".
Seeing no other options, Noctis agreed "What do you want?".
"Hey, I knew you'd come around! Lemme see your map" Noctis hands the map to him, Dino returns it a moment later "Marked where you need to go on your map. All you gotta do is find me some rough gemstones like this one. Do this, and your ship'll come in. Don't, and the papers'll run you outta town. Capisce?".
The group walked away with Prompto speaking "He's really got your number, Noct".
"Not like we made much effort to keep it secret" Gladio added.
"Even if we had, the press always finds a way. We needn't befriend him, but we'd best not make him our enemy" Ignis said.
"Yeah, reporters thrives of anything they can make news of. Including destroying people's reputations. So smug, I wanted to punch him so badly" Asuka said.
"Tempting as that may be, if he upholds his end of the agreement, then we need his help" Ignis said.
Asuka said nothing as they reached Regalia and entered their trusty car. With their location marked, Ignis began driving towards the destination of the gem stones that Dino needed. An annoying errand, but if it helped them reach the wedding in time, then they had little choice at the moment.
"Maybe Cid was right about your lack of dignity" Gladio said to Noctis.
"You're one step above delivery boy" Prompto added.
"Royal rank carries little weight outside the Crown City" Ignis explained.
"Glad it's not weighing me down" Noctis said.
"Welcome to the outside world gentlemen. Out here you need to take care of yourself, regardless of who you are" Asuka said before they arrived in the vicinity of the mineral deposit.
"You sure we're in the right spot?" Noctis asked.
"According to the map. Let's check it out" Gladio said.
The group scale some rock formations along the side of the road, which they follow across a small rock bridge to an outcrop where they find the enormous bird that swooped at them near Hammerhead; it's asleep.
"Oh em gee. We're supposed to get near that thing?" Prompto asked nervously.
"Pipe down before you wake it up" Gladio hushed him.
"Wait" Asuka said in a silent tone as she removed her boots and socks "Let me go get it, a group is easier to hear, better if only one of us goes".
"Why are you going barefoot?" Prompto asked.
"To quiet my footsteps of course. Now hush, let me go get it, but please be ready to help just in case" Asuka said.
"A logical plan, be careful" Ignis ordered.
Asuka nods and began sneaking around the sleeping bird. Boy did it look a lot bigger up close. Asuka would've wanted to test her might against it, but this wasn't the time or place to fight a living storm. She carefully made her way around it until she reached the garnet stone Dino sent them to find; on her way back out, however, the bird suddenly wakes up.
Asuka laughed nervously "Good morning" The bird just spreads it's wings and flies away, not paying Asuka any attention "Uhhh, bye then!".
"Off it goes…" Ignis said relief.
"Great that you made it out alive Asuka. Not that I was worried" Noctis said with a good natured smile.
"Speak for yourself!" Prompto said as he took Asuka's hands "I was super scared! I thought for sure that bird would eat you!".
Gladio chuckled "No sister of mine would've let a bird be the end of her".
Asuka giggled "Than you guys. Well let's get this fancy stone to the reporter jerk".
"Indeed, but please get your socks and boots back on" Ignis instructed.
"I'll do it once I've washed my feet in the sea. I just recently changed socks, no point in dirtying them up" Asuka said as she grabbed her boots which had her socks stuffed in to them and hey headed back to their car.
They drove back to Galdin Quay, and Asuka let the guys deliver the stone to Dino while she headed over to the water to clean the dirty of her feet. She hummed to herself as she kept her feet in the nice sea water. Suddenly she yelped as she felt something bite her toe. She pulled her foot up and noticed a respectable sized fish on her toe. She pulled it of and looked at it.
"Noct may brag about his fishing skills. But can he ever claim to have caught one with his toe?" Asuka said to herself before deciding to keep the fish just in case Ignis could whip up some sushi for them.
She went to regroup with the rest but then she suddenly noticed a white cat. It didn't have a collar and didn't look like it had a owner.
Asuka knelt in front of it "Hey there little one, what are you doing here?" The cat meows a few times "Poor thing, you must be hungry. Will this do?" Asuka asked as she held up the fish she caught, but the cat didn't want it "You don't like fish? What kind of cat don't like fish?" But the cat turned towards the resturant "Oh, you want cooked fish. Well, alright wait here and I will take care of it".
She headed over to the restaurant where the guys waited for her. Ignis was the first to speak "Alright, Dino kept his word. The boat to Altissia will leave tomorrow. We managed to secure a room, we should get some rest before the trip".
"You guys can head to the room, I will be right there once I'm done feeding a cat" Asuka said.
"Didn't know you were a cat person" Noctis said.
"Well, even I have a soft spot. See you soon" Asuka said as she headed up to the the chef at Mother of Pearl, Galdin Quay's signature restaurant and held up a fish "Excuse me, but could you prepare this fish for me please? There is a hungry cat over there".
The chef smiles "I have a feeling I know the feline you've got in mind. Let me whip something up. Y'know, this is really thoughtful of you, but be warned: cats are clingy, and they're notoriously picky eaters, too".
"Trust me I know" Asuka said, she had taken care of cats before, she really did like them.
"When it comes to food, felines are quite finicky—so you were wise to entrust the cooking to me. Here" The chef said as she handed over the cooked fish.
"Thank you" Asuka said as she brings the fish to the cat and puts it down in front of it "Here you go little one".
The cat meows and began to eat. At the speed it was eating, the poor thing must've been starving. Asuka smiled at the little cat and reached out to pet it. The cat didn't mind, and just kept eating as Asuka rubbed it's back.
"You sure are a cute little cat" Asuka said, and once the cat finished eating, it walked up to her and rubbed itself against her leg purring, Asuka petted it's head "Now I wish I could bring you with me. But I am afraid that bringing pets along might not be the best for a journey like this" The cat meows "Well I could at least give you a name... Hmmm... how about, Snowball? Yeah, that works".
Snowball meows again and Asuka decided to stay with him. As she did, she decided to see if she could call her father. She took out her phone and called him... however no one picked up, which confused her a litte. Then again, her father must be really busy with the treaty. With everything going on, the king will need his shield.
"Alright, I'll just call and see how Iris is doing" Asuka said to herself and called Iris... but once again no one picked up "Like hell Iris, you are never to busy... come on pick up...".
Asuka was starting to get a little worried, but decided that maybe Iris was sleeping or something. Asuka sighed and put her phone away. She bought some more food for Snowball and headed to the room where the others where waiting for her. Once she got there everyone were already asleep. Noctis and Ignis seemed to have been forced to share a bed, while Gladio was sleeping on the couch.
Asuka noticed Prompto sleeping in the other bed and smiled as she removed her boots and laid down with him. She had a feeling they planed this on purpouse, and she is glad that Gladio allowed it. With her head resting on Prompto's chest, Asuka fell asleep... though she was still concerned about what was going on in Insomnia.
If only she knew.
The next morning Asuka woke up and noticed Ignis was gone. She also noticed she was sleeping on a pillow rather than Prompto's chest. She yawns as she sat up and noticed Gladio and Prompto were already up.
"Sorry for leaving you like that. Wanted to let you sleep a little longer" Prompto said.
"How sweet of you" Asuka said with a smile.
Prompto noticed Noctis waking up "Heya, morning".
"Where's Specs?" Noctis asked.
"Should be back any minute now" Gladio answered.
Soon enough, Ignis returns holding a newspaper a moment later, he was silent... more silent than normal as he stares at Noct with a dejected expression.
"What's that look for?" Noctis asked.
Ignis hands the newspaper to Gladio "It's in all the papers".
"What is?" Noctis demanded.
Gladio read the newspaper and as he did his expression changed, something that worried Asuka "Bro, what is it?".
Prompto leans in to read from the paper "Insomnia…falls?".
Noctis's jaw drops "This your idea of a joke?".
"I need you to calm down so I can explain" Ignis said.
Noctis stormed up to him "I'm as calm as I'm gonna get!".
"There was an attack. The imperial army has taken the Crown City" Ignis explained.
"As treaty room tempers flared, blasts lit the night sky. When the smoke about the Citadel had cleared, the king was found…dead" Gladio read out loud.
"No, wait, hold on…" Noctis said as he closed his eyes, struggling with coming to grips with what he had just heard.
"We had no way of knowing" Ignis said.
Noctis looked at him "What? Knowing what?".
"That the signing was last night, that Insomnia-" Ignis began.
"But the wedding! Altissia!" Noctis reminded.
"I know, that was the plan. Yet the reports of the invasion are all the same. How could every headline in the kingdom be wrong?" Ignis asked.
Noctis looked down "…Lies".
"Noct is right. This dosen't make any sense! Sure we were going to lose the outside territories but the crown city was safe! It was meant to bring peace! That's why we even headed out on this damn trip!" Asuka said, struggling with keeping her composure.
"Calm down Asuka. Don't get worked up until we learn the details" Gladio said before he looks at Ignis "What else do we know?" Ignis shakes his head "Then we can't be sure until we see it with our own eyes".
"And that means we go back to Insomnia" Prompto added.
Ignis clearly didn't like the idea "Might not be safe for us there".
"Might not be safe for us here" Prompto argued.
"He's right. Until we know what happened, we're not safe anywhere" Asuka said.
Gladio looks at Noctis "Turn back?".
Noctis casts his eyes downward "Yeah".
With no other choice, they began their trip back to Insomnia.
The group make their way back toward Insomnia under rainy skies in the Regalia.
"I hope everyone's okay…" Prompto said silently.
"Lotta good hoping's gonna do" Noctis said bitterly.
"You mustn't lose faith" Ignis said.
Noctis looked up "Really? Can faith stop a fleet of imperial dreadnoughts?".
"Give it a rest" Gladio said.
Noctis did't listen "My old man had plenty of faith-".
"Enough" Gladio warned.
"The empire lied. They betrayed us" Prompto said.
"Is anyone really surprised? Of course they wouldn't keep their word. It was stupid to believe the empire had any good in their rotten hearts" Asuka said coldly.
"Conjecture gets us nowhere. We're searching for truth" Ignis reminded.
"All you'll find are lies, like that ceasefire" Noctis said in anger. As they nears Insomnia, imperial ships fly overhead.
"Look at the size of those things" Gladio said.
"Imperial dreadnoughts, they transport soldiers, namely, the magitek infantry" Ignis explained.
"The robots?" Gladio asked.
"Mass-produced humanoid weapons of warfare, to be more precise" Ignis answered "Though I also heard they are working on a new model, said to be even stronger than any normal magitek".
"Doesn't look like they'll be signing that peace treaty" Prompto said as they approach the bridge leading into Insomnia "Up ahead!".
Ignis brings the Regalia to a halt; down the highway before them is a blockade of imperial troops preventing numerous civilians from entering the city] "They've set up an inspection point".
"If the road ahead's blocked, then we find a way around" Gladio said.
Ignis takes the Regalia past the blockade down a dirt road that ends at a set of cement stairs leading to some ruined buildings "Let's make a detour. There ought to be a decent vantage point up ahead".
Everyone gets out of the car and ascend the steps; at the top, they find several imperial troops patrolling the area. Asuka glared at them, never in her whole life has she hated the sight of imperial trash more than she does now.
"There they are. Wanna take 'em out?" Gladio asked.
Noctis glares at the machines "Oh, yeah. Those scrapheaps are gonna wish they had a treaty to protect them".
"Head for the high ground, Noct. It'll help you get the jump on them" Ignis instructed.
Noctis point-warps to a nearby pillar, then warp-strikes the closest magitek trooper from there. The attack worked as he rammed his sword through the robot's chest. The rest jumped out with Prompto delivering a precise shot to another MT's head, blowing it clean of. Ignis quickly stabs an MT several times with his daggers before kicking down as Gladio cleaves one in two with a powerful swing from his blade. Asuka takes down the last one with several quick strikes before punching it in to a wall with enough wall to destroy it.
Gladio looks at the scrap piles they created "So these are MTs".
"Empty humanoid soldiers, soulless and merciless" Ignis explained.
"To bad, I would love to crush some sentient garbage" Asuka said in a low tone
As they fight through the troops inside the valley, an imperial dropship descends and releases something... it wasn't like the MTs they faced before. This machine was different, it was bigger, wearing a black exoskeleton with large shoulder pads and matching collar and large metallic boots, but the most eye catching part of it was it's human looking face and Mohawk on it's head.
"Wow, big guy!" Prompto said.
Ignis eyed it carefully and notice a name written on it's chest "Jack. So this is the empire's new robotic soldiers. This one will be harder to take down, get ready".
The robot called Jack studied them for a moment before it suddenly held it's arms to the side before leaping high in to the air. It remained air born by seemingly jumping in mid air before coming down with crushing force. The croup scattered as it laded, creating a small shock wave. Noctis rushes in, swinging his blade. But Jack raised it's arm and blocked the strike before grabbing the prince's head and threw him towards Gladio who quickly caught him.
Asuka charged in and delivered several punches and kicks. But Jack managed to block most of them, while the few hits that did manage to land didn't do much. Jack blocked one of her punches before delivering a hard punch to her gut, making her bend over a little, allowing Jack to kick her in the face, sending her in to a nearby crate. Asuka spat out some blood and was completely shocked. This Jack thing was different from the MTs. Not only was it bigger and stronger, it actually knew how to fight.
Prompto growled at the machine that dared to harm his girlfriend and quickly began firing at it. But Jack looked at him before charging at him like a raging bull. Gladio quickly got in front of Prompto and managed to block Jack's blow. The force was enough to make Gladio slide back a little, but otherwise he stood strong and he delivered a kick to Jack's chest, which successfully staggered the machine.
"I got it!" Ignis called out as he used lightning magic which hit Jack dead on.
The robot's body began twitch and falter. Noctis delivered a strike across it's chest, Prompto shot it in the eye, and Gladio delivered an overhead strike to it's should. Despite being badly damaged, Jack refused to go down and punched Gladio in the face. Asuka ran in and began laying in to the damaged machine, before one last upper cut sent the robot's head clean of. The body fell to the ground, and the moment the head came back down, Asuka crushed it under her boot.
"Alright. Let's head to that hill" Ignis instructed.
They reached the hill overlooking Insomnia. The is visible in the distance, across the inlet, smoke rising from many places within the Crown City's walls; a news feed comes through Prompto's phone "As to ceasefire discussions between the two nations, all provisional terms have been suspended in light of recent developments. Moreover, in the wake of the news of King Regis's death, we've now received word that Crown Prince Noctis and the Oracle Lunafreya have also been pronounced dead".
Prompto starts to turn the news-feed off but Gladio stops him "Keep it on!"
Prompto fumbles and drops his phone; he reaches to pick it up only for Noctis shout "Don't bother!".
Ignis bends down, picks up Prompto's phone, and hands it back to him; Noctis answers a call on his own phone "H-Hello? Cor?".
"So, you made it" Cor said on the other side of the line.
"The hell's going on?" Noctis demanded.
"Where are you?" Cor asked.
"Outside the city, with no way back in" Noctis answered.
"Makes sense" Cor said.
"Makes sense? Are you serious? What about any of this makes sense!? The news just told me I'm dead, along with my father and Luna" Noctis all but shouted in to the phone.
"Listen. I'm heading out to Hammerhead. About the king…it's true" Cor said. Noctis eye's widens as he looks at Insomnia, his father was dead "If you're looking for the whole truth, you know where to find me. Get moving".
Noct is silent for a moment "Right".
"Wait!" Asuka grabbed Noctis arm and pulled it so she could talk in to the phone "Cor, this is Asuka Amicitia, my father is King Regis shield, the enemy would've never made it past him. Were was he during the attack?".
Cor was silent for a moment "I'm sorry Asuka... he died protecting the king".
Asuka's eyes grew wide as she let go of Noctis' arm. Gladio managed to hear what Cor said about their father and quickly closed his eyes and clenched his fists. Asuka was silent for a moment before she let out a scream and began punching the ground in rage.
"Those back stabbing piece of garbage BASTARDS!" She screamed and she beat the ground until her fists bled.
Gladio quickly stepped in and grabbed her arm "Asuka stop!".
Asuka stood up and struggled against his grip as he grabbed her other arm "It's not true! I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT!".
"ASUKA!" Gladio shouted, finally making Asuka snap back to her senses.
"It can't be true... I can't... I don't want to go through that again... I can't go through that again!" Asuka cried out as tears began streaming down her face.
Gladio said nothing as he gently pulled his sister in to a hug. Asuka finally broke down and cried in to hist chest. There was nothing Gladio could say that would make her feel better. All he could do right now was to simply be her older brother. Prompto wanted to join in, but knew this was a family matter, and he didn't want to intrude.
All the others could do was wait... as Asuka let her emotions out. Just like that, their lives changed forever.
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And there we go. The first new Tekken character of the story.
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Please tell me what you think, every review helps.
