Chapter 45
Something was wrong. Very wrong.
Sora and Axel immediately noticed that as they saw the place torn down to shreds. The guards were unconscious, breathing on the ground. The structures within the hideout were breaking down. As Sora approached a guard, a heartless lunged at him. At the same time, the captain woke up, hitting the thing with his shikai.
"Whoa!" Sora looked behind him, seeing that the captain was not controlled anymore.
"Who...are you people?" asked the captain.
"I am Axel, and this is Sora. We can fully introduce ourselves later!"
"I agree. I am Kommamura. Let's go right now!"
The three entered the hideout, with Sora leading the other two deeper into it. Heartless were scattered around the area, lunging themselves at Sora. Axel and Kommamura took them down, paving the way into the area Sora and the others met Blue before he went on his mission.
Sora saw Donald and Goofy fighting for their lives against the darkness. "Guys, over here!" shouted Sora.
"We need help Sora!" Goofy was holding an unconscious Cloud on his back. Sora and Axel entered the fray, burning the heartless around them.
Cloud snapped back into consciousness, worn out from fighting the heartless. "Is it...over?"
"For now." Axel looked around him to make sure that they were not being surrounded with heartless. "What happened here?"
"Gwarsh," said Goofy, "We were just getting ready to fight that king when he just...came in here. He took Blue and sent in a bunch of heartless."
"So...the resistance is basically screwed."
"Not yet!" Sora started to exit out of the hideout. "C'mon, you guys!"
"Wait, are we just going to enter without a plan?!" asked Axel.
"Perhaps I can help," said Kommamura. "We can enter the place where that man Xeno-"
"XENO?!" cried Axel.
"You know him?" asked Cloud.
"Long story," said Axel, "but we cannot beat him, no matter what."
Sora took out the book they retrieved. "Really...? I'm not so sure of that."
"Is that the book Blue was after?" said Donald.
"Yes." Axel realized that the book has given them the advantage. "Alright, here is what we are going to do..."
Xeno was happy today. Not only did he capture that Blue, but he finally secured the destruction of the resistance against him. It was going to be a good day for him.
Blue, trapped in a cage, cried out to him. "Stop hurting my people, you monster!"
"She is cute when she does that, huh?" A homonculus has entered the room. Xeno looked at one of his allies, Envy, with delight.
"She is now unable to disrupt the plan now." He pressed a button, teleporting her to the dungeons of this place. "Very soon, I shall test out my powers on that infernal planet up there. On another note, how come Wrath is still alive?"
"Sora did defeat him," said Envy. "He separated into a heartless and nobody. We found both, and now, Wrath will join you as that."
"I am surprised in that the keyblade wielder was not able to figure that out."
"Trust me, none of us knew about that either until we noticed the energy coming off of Wrath's...descendants."
Xeno looked outside of the window. His city was in ruins, but repairs have begun. In his image, of course.
"So, what do you think of the neithermen?" said Xeno.
"I think they are...weird?" said Envy.
"Very much so. We are derived as an anti-existence to the existence of our original selves. There is one other requirement that created us, you know."
"One more?" asked Envy.
"I started off as a mass of energy. As time went on, my existence began to accelerate. Then, the energy around me materialized into physical components from by nobody and heartless. Then, feelings rushed back into me, and I sought to keep them, absorbing energy from around me and forming the soul of a neithermen. We are not just formed like Xheanort. We regain our hearts, and we obtain much more than that."
"I can ask more later," said Envy, "but right now, we need to make sure that everything is ready for tomorrow."
"Alright then." Xeno left, heading down the stairs with Envy. As he reached the end of the stairs, however, one of the servants came to meet them, worried.
"Sir, one of our bases has gone dark!" she reported.
"Is it the time patrollers?" said Envy.
"No. We have picked up no activity from there. However, there was something said about a book..."
"So he's found it." Xenos grinned in surprise.
"How is it good news?" said Envy, realizing what the book was.
"Well, for starters, the book I send to them has a one-time use. Also, we need the keyblader at his full potential, just like what we want with Riku."
"What?!" Envy looked at the messenger, who was not as confused.
"Did you not get that information from your father?" asked Xeno. "I cannot believe what I am hearing. Then again, he has become secretive."
"That is not what is bothering me," said Envy. "I am asking why you need Sora and Riku at full strength."
"Ask Pride about that," said Xeno. "For now, there are a few things that we have to do..."
"Okay, we are here!" announced Cloud.
The group stood in front of a small base. They were very surprised to see that the main headquarters would consist of a mansion, armed barrack, and small huts.
"So, were they just hiding out here for fun?" asked Sora.
"Not hiding. This is their main base of operations. There would be no reason for them to hide if they were that powerful." Axel said this while staring at the mansion. "I think they are joking with us, though."
"I hope so." Donald looked around. "So, how do we do this?"
"I think we should fight our way to the mansion," said Kommamura. "They must have heard about that base that was taken over-"
"And they know we have the BOOK!" shouted Axel. He glared at Donald and Sora.
"Axel, I am sure that they would have predicted us having the book," said Kommamura. "Anyways, we have to either sneak in or-"
"Let's go with your first idea." Sora stabbed the sword into the ground, creating a earthquake that tears apart the place. Heartless and soldiers all collapse to the ground, either unconscious or, in the case of the heartless, disappearing.
"Alright, Sora!" said Donald. "Let's go!"
The group advanced towards the mansion. No one resisted their advancement, minus the heartless, as they lunged at the group. They were dealt with swiftly by Kommamura. They reached the mansion doors, opening it up. What they saw next made no sense to anyone.
The hall was elegant and clean. Couches and tables filled both sides of the hall, as if there was a party. A man clapped his hands from the top of the stairways.
"Welcome, heroes. It is good to see you again, Axel."
"Xeno!" Axel stepped forward, wary of the man. "What are you doing here?"
"Do you want to know some history? This planet used to be one of the many hubs for keyblade wielders. Years later, as the world's civilization began to fall into the darkness, the heartless kill most of them. By the end of last month, only a few people were left. I just decided to let the resistance die."
"I thought you ruled this planet!" said Sora.
"Good observation. That is not what happened. I just simply made them think that I was the king all along when really..." He pulled up a chair, where a man in the armor of a keyblade master was sitting down. "Their king was just taking a nap. Also, that mist you blew away still affected their minds."
"How could you?!" cried Sora. "Why would you do that to people?"
"Defeat the king, and I will grant you an answer to that question."
"You little-!" Kommamura took his sword out.
"Very well then. A fight it is!"
The man in the armor got up slowly. He definitely was up for some time. Xeno pressed a button on top of the chair, and a keyblade rose up. He then spoke.
"All of you shall perish...like my people. Into the void."
He then pulled the keyblade out of the ground.