Disclaimer: I do not own KH or Kid Icarus: Uprising. They belong to their respective owners, which is still not me. Unfortunately.
Chapter 15
Coming Migraines
In all honesty, Tempest has the weirdest and most random knee jerk reactions. Watch a kid fight a big scary Heartless that was clearly over his level? Check. Stay because of curiosity instead of actual concern for them? Double check. Question why the hell he decided to stay until they walk up? Well, that one was because Chris told him it was fun to do but also a jerk move. Still, check.
At this point, Tempest wondered when he took too many painkillers at some random point in time or if he should start worrying about his mental stability. Being alone for so long couldn't be good for anyone's mental health, right?
Feeling extremely frustrated with himself, Tempest sat down on a slanted roof and massaged his eyelids. This day wasn't getting any easier and it was starting to piss him off. Maybe it was time to finally leave and hope his wound didn't act up on him.
He could wait another day if need be.
_|-w-|_
Nope. Screw it. He was leaving now! The stubborn kid somehow keeps finding him and it was getting on his already fried nerves. It's like he's leaving a trail of magical bread crumbs for the kid to follow.
After the third accidental meeting, Tempest simply took off into the night. Being the tired prick he is, he didn't bother sleeping, which is why he is now in this predicament.
They say flying in your sleep is impossible. So what about sleeping in flight? Because that's what Tempest's sleep-drugged mind did. Stupid, fatigued mind that hammered away with its migraine.
You have to wonder what the hell someone needs to do to screw up that much. Falling asleep in space, get caught in a portal, stay asleep during the entrance and wake up a minute after because of a breeze. Okay, less the breeze and more a flipping boulder.
'The inconsistency of my life is going to kill me,' was his thought when he had awoken and dodged the falling rock.
Getting up to his feet from his previous spread eagle position, the immediate fact was there was fire nearby. The smell of ash was quite predominant like something was burning nearby.
Shedding most of his armour but leaving his wings, he looked up and saw smoke billowing up from someplace beyond the forest he was currently in.
'Better take a look before anything else,' He decided, taking off towards the smoke.
After flying over heavily wooded areas, it became apparent that the smoke was from a burning city, already run into the ground with an assortment of Heartless and what he could only assume was native monsters. After the Half-Blood world incident, it was a perfectly normal assumption.
Soaring closer to the ground to avoid conflict, Tempest looked for a good place to land. The coliseum-like building seemed like a good place, only that it was overflowing with darkness.
Landing on the edge of the wall, Tempest noticed that whatever was in there was already gone, the darkness being a residue of what was the late enemy. Heartless were abundant however, Large Bodies and Soldiers roamed around along with a new type. The bull Heartless from way back then was there too.
Growling, Tempest impaled an Air Soldier that came a little to close with a fire charged bronze katana. He wasn't dealing with such a big horde of Heartless; he would rather take on their boss or seal the world's keyhole and be done with them.
So, going after the pillar of darkness in the distance was a good move, right? All ominous and stuff.
Tempest leaped off the edge and continued on his way. He plucked a white feather from the air as he passed by.
_|-w-|_
When the greenery gave way to tan wastelands then to blackish purple ravines and mountains, he knew something was up. The air was now stiflingly humid and cold at the same time, the weight of darkness crushing down on him. Whatever was emitting this couldn't be just one person, that simply wasn't possible with how many signatures flashed in his peripheral. Well, at least there was a speck of light in all that black. The human army didn't count. Yes, he was spitting them.
Tempest dodged another projectile before grinding his feet into a Darkball. Then he launched himself off of the Heartless to dodge another projectile, the spear of light striking the Darkball instead. Unfortunately for him, it still burned his foot somewhat.
'Hot!' Tempest yelped, grabbing his foot and lamenting the fact he didn't wear shoes.
He yelped again when a native disgustingly pink, one-eyed monster tried to ram him. Tempest, in a panic, drew the katana and slashed it into halves. It exploded into...white things, not the best description, but it was good enough.
With that dealt with, Tempest continued on his way whilst trying not to think too hard about recent events. Recent events as in the Sora kerfuffle. Or burning his foot.
After he flew over the huge mountain that acted as a wall, something else became apparent.
"Now that's what you would call an army... huh, I didn't know they could be so big," Swatches of land were covered by humans, feebly defending against hordes upon hordes of horror monster rejects. "Woah!"
Something was flying faster than those floating monsters, zipping past Tempest and towards a far off castle. What caught his eye, however, was the beacon of bloody darkness that it was spewing out.
"Damn," He grunted, "Looks like I found my target."
A wall of Heartless immediately formed, plated arms forming a Heartless emblem shield in front. Irritating.
"Azure Fira!" The blue fire shot bounced off harmlessly, falling to the ground. He cringed inwardly.
"Well, crap."
The whole wall of Heartless charged, either not smart enough to know that they were in the air or their commander got a little too prideful. Either way, Tempest folded his wings in and dove down, the Heartless missing him completely.
"Nope, not dealing with lackeys," Tempest huffed, flying forward towards the beacon darkness.
The castle itself was intimidating, if not a little camouflaged in all that black and purple. The most distinctive part was the ring-like trench around it and the most interesting thing about it. Typical things for a dark castle was present, spikes, weirdly coloured fires and looking a little run down. That, or it was cobbled together in a matter of days.
Weaving through the cloud of monsters, native and Heartless alike, Tempest kicked through a stained glass (opaque) window. Landing in a pile of glass shards, a bolt of light shot at him. Tempest, being extremely tense at this point, ducked of reflex.
"Woah! Talk about friendly fire."
"I wouldn't call it that, angel face. We have other problems to deal with; he's not worth our time."
Tempest got out of his hunched position in time to dodge a charging knight, rolling forward to do so. Some guy ran in, lugging a slab of iron around. Farther away, there was some kid shooting bolts. Bringing a kid to a battlefield...well, who was he to judge? He was eleven with the mental age of an adult...how does that even work?
Tempest held out his hand and reconstructed his wings back into a keyblade, darting towards the distracted knight and striking its helmet.
"Hey, I guess he is helping us!" The kid said somewhere behind Tempest. The drake flipped over to the back side of the knight to avoid a huge beam that it fired.
"The more the merrier, as they say," The club dragging human grunted, swinging his disgusting excuse for a sword.
Finding a chink in the armour, Tempest shoved his keyblade into it. What can he say? He likes exploiting weaknesses.
"Azure Fira!" The knight let out a strangled growl, teleporting away.
"Damn," Tempest hissed, kicking away a lone Shadow.
"Did you see that, Lady Palutena? Blue fire! Man, that's so cool!"
'And the kid's lost some marbles,' Tempest thought.
Charging his blade, Tempest flung it at the knight, completing a Strike Raid as it sheared off a piece of armour, looking weirdly organic and it rotted into nothing on the ground. The knight, with the pulsating green under armour, returned it gaze to Tempest. It grumbled something unintelligible before holding out its hand, summoning a wave of Heartless. Specifically, emblem Heartless.
A Mino, what Tempest had decided to name the bull Heartless, pinned him to the wall. A Red Nocturne blasted fire spells while a less bulky Defender sat atop the Mino's back, covering its weak point with the dog-headed shield.
He shoved his keyblade into the shield's mouth, pushing it away to keep it from reaching him. A shoddy Reflect spell was used, haphazardly weaved together to combat against the rapid fire Fire spell.
He lost his concentration somewhere, the Reflect shield withering away after a single fire spell.
'Shit.' A yellow Heartless darted in and unleashed a direct Thundara attack, setting his bones on fire.
Feeling his conscious get drained and his strength fading from the repeated spells, he pushed for a last ditch effort to push away the Mino, pulling his legs up and putting them against the horns. That didn't get him anywhere, and the adrenaline was starting to wear off.
"Need a little help?" A bolt of white grabbed the Heartless mount's attention, exposing its backside. The shield dropped his keyblade; the worst idea ever.
With his feet firmly planted on the horns, Tempest drew back his blade and stabbed it into the back. After the menace let out a strained cry, he pumped the remaining mana into the blade. The energy blade that it formed pierced through the body.
Tempest brought it up then right down, slicing the Mino and Defender in half. The other Heartless seemed to retreat, leaving the exhausted drake alone.
With a feeble attempt to stay awake, Tempest crashed to the ground. Not a good time for a power nap. Heck, he even failed to notice the pillar of light shining down on him.
_|-w-|_
"Look, Miss," Tempest said, rubbing his eyes. "I'm no hero. I'm just some guy lugging around a promise."
After waking up, things had been a mess. His torso had been wrapped, his face and snout bandaged. His jacket and t-shirt had been taken off to do so.
Now he was sitting before Palutena, goddess of light and stuff. After the previous kerfuffle, he wasn't too keen on talking to anyone. Doesn't really matter at this point because of how insistent she is.
"A promise?" She questioned, the grip on her staff tightening.
"Yes," Tempest answered lamely, face still in his hands. Was he on pain meds again?
"So that means you won't be staying long." he was definitely on pain meds.
"No, not really," She had already shown a fair amount of knowledge about the multiple worlds, even referencing the fact that she knew what a keyblade master was. There wasn't a point to be subtle with this woman. "I'd leave on a better note usually. Sealing this world's keyhole is that better note. I might stay until then when all's said and done." 'Me and my bleeding heart…'
"Really?" She exclaimed a little too loudly, "The Heartless problem we've been facing alongside the Underworld threat is becoming too big to deal with alone. A keyblade wielder accompanying Pit might make the mission easier to accomplish, plus the fact you can fly," She noted off.
''Flying'' Tempest mentally scoffed.
"I guess," He said, shrugging, "Nothing else to do anyway."
"Great!" She turned to leave. "We'll be leaving soon, so stay sharp!"
"Can I have my jacket back now?" Tempest called after her. When she didn't reply, he groaned. "Guess not…"
Then her words sank in.
"Now? Already? Come on...whatever, it's not like she can hear me..." He started, before just giving up. Nothing would change her mind at this point. It was like she took her goddess status a little too far.
Getting up from the medical cot, Tempest wandered out of the Greek styled building and into a corridor. Gold and off coloured white decorated the walls and floor. Nothing special to be honest as there were no statues or cravings worth noting.
'Where am I supposed to even meet this Pit character? She never specified a location…'
He opened another door and walked into another corridor, this one a little more decorated. Just a few trees and stuff, nothing too exotic.
Doors lined the sides of this hallway. Armoury, forge, and some other stuff Tempest didn't take the time to read.
At the end of the hallway was some elegantly carved wooden double doors. They looked pretty out of place in a place full of white and gold. Too European in a greek architecture building, with all it's pillars and jazz.
He pushed it open and entered into a dimly lit room. Another double door was at the right wall, pulsing with odd magic. Sort of like it was made to be a teleporter.
OK, you guys. Time's been moved up.
Tempest yelped at the voice whilst the kid back at the castle burst through the doors.
"Oh, hi mister keyblade master," he chirped, skidding to a stop.
No time for chit chat, Pit. You've got to hussle. You too, Tempest.
'Maybe the kid isn't as insane as I thought…'
The kid, Pit as Tempest has to remind himself, ran right for the double doors.
Just follow Pit. He'll be leading.
"Fine," Tempest huffed, equipping his wings and going after the kid. The doors flung themselves open, crashing into the walls with a resounding bang. Light spilled in but the angel kid (as Tempest just found out but still tries to remain calm) just jumped out.
Tempest followed suit.
"Me and my bleeding heart…" He groaned, getting used to the light.
"So, what's the matter?" Pit asked to what Tempest assumed was Palutena.
Medusa, Leader of the Underworld troops, has brought the fight to us. Her forces are invading Skyworld as we speak!
"That doesn't sound good," Tempest muttered, whipping out his katana and shearing a weird mouth monster in half.
That, and she appears to be controlling Heartless as well. There's been several reports about seeing an anthropomorphic cat in the ranks as well.
"A what?" Pit asked.
"She means, in layman's terms, there's a human looking cat with the Heartless," Tempest translated, kicking away an Air Soldier before striking it with a Thunder spell. "Which isn't a good thing…"
"Oh, right, I knew that," Tempest rolled his eyes at the comment whilst Palutena just chuckled.
Back to the fight at hand.
"Right. Medusa's probably getting back at us for taking Dark Lord Gaol out of the picture," Pit hypothesized. "Or she's aiming to take out the keyblade master."
"How many people know of our existence?" Tempest hissed. He was starting to miss his jacket, but now wasn't the time to ask.
"Pretty much everyone. It's not a very well kept secret," Pit admitted.
"Okay, new topic. I want some info about this world since you seem to not care about world equilibrium," Tempest demanded.
Sure. There are several gods and goddesses in our world. Some of them good, some side with evil and some stay relatively neutral. The bigger gods, like me, have their own realms. The underworld for Medusa, Skyworld for me and Poseidon gets the seas.
We can also raise armies too. Before Medusa turned all the angels to stone, they were my main force. The Underworld relies on their monsters and the Sea...doesn't really have anything if I remember correctly.
"Hey! I still exist, remember?" Pit shouted.
Of course. I didn't forget you.
"Great, is there any limitations I should know of before crap hits the fan?" Tempest asked, wanting to change the topic.
Pit can't actually fly on his own. I granted him the power of flight, which is only safe to use for five minutes. Past then, which is soon...
"If my flight is going to run out soon, we should get the commander. To speed things up," Pit suggested.
"Greatest idea I've heard all day," Tempest grinned. "After you."
"Right!" Pit said.
One word of advice. Their commander is Hewdraw.
"Hewdraw?" The angel questioned. "Like this guy?"
'Ahahaha, nope, still loose marbles…' Tempest blanched, looking ahead and clearing out waves of enemies. At this point, he didn't care what he was hitting. He had Sun's Fate out and he wasn't messing around anymore.
Speak of the devil and he shall appear-there he is right now!
Right in front of the two was a flying hydra with three heads and no wings. Tempest started to question his own stability now.
"He can fly!?" Pit cried, looking a little jealous.
I think the only one who can't fly by himself is you.
"But Tempest-"
"These aren't on autopilot if you're going to ask," Tempest refuted, following the angel closely.
At that statement, Pit just winced. There wasn't a better reaction for that type of comment.
"Ouch. That's harsh," He said.
Don't sulk, Pit. It's undignified. But you're right; attacking the leader is a good plan.
They charged up to the huge serpent, approaching from the tail to the head. The scales were different shades of dark purple with spikes jutting out. The underbelly of the beast was creamy white, also lined with spikes. How this thing flew with fins made to be used in water was a mystery Tempest didn't really want to tackle.
"Hello there."
"Oh, it's snack time."
"Mm, what a tender little morsel."
"I AM NOT A SNACK," Pit shouted, sounding extremely offended. A deeper meaning was there, but Tempest wasn't sure he wanted to know.
"I'm tired of this already. I'm going to-" Tempest was interrupted by a torrent of shouting by the Hewdraw heads.
"Crush you!"
"Grind you into mush!"
"Destroy you!"
"It was my turn!"
"No, it was mine, you just-"
"It was MINE, you imbeciles!"
"Uh, that's some dysfunctional brotherhood," Tempest remarked.
"Tell me about it," Pit agreed.
This is never going to end. Just end it already.
As if the Hewdraw heard Palutena's telepathic messages, all of them shouted at the same time, "EVERYBODY, SHUT UP AND FOCUS!"
Tempest, as his first move, got up onto the rightmost Hewdraw's neck and clung to its scales. One head twisted back and shot a blast of energy at him, only for him to move and the bolt to hit its back.
"Hey, watch it!
"The little bugger's on our back!"
"Then make sure to hit him!"
The scales were too thick to pierce, so Tempest just dodged and let it hit itself. Quite boring, needless to say.
'Why did I agree to this? I just woke up from sleeping a day and now I'm FIGHTING OF ALL THINGS,' a pause 'WITHOUT FOOD,' Tempest pulled out his katana from its sheath and stabbed it at the scales, not expecting it to go through. Which it did.
'Right. Celestial bronze. Heavenly metal. Right, I keep forgetting…'
Activating the recently found Blade Charge, the katana cleanly sheared off the head. It screamed at it went, something Tempest didn't think was possible.
"BROTHER!"
"YOU'LL PAY!"
They then started another screaming contest, shouting insults among other things at Tempest. At least Pit was having the time of his life taking pot shots at the heads with his bow.
Soon, the leftmost head snapped off with a squelch sound, falling down through the cloud layer.
"I would like my jacket back after this!" Tempest shouted at the winds. "And maybe another meeting after the painkillers wear off!"
He didn't get an answer. Tempest had the sick feeling that Palutena was eating popcorn right this second for some reason…
Soon, Pit had handed out enough damage for whatever kept the Hewdraw afloat to short circuit. Well, everything, as they say, was history.
The body and last head tumbled out of the sky and disintegrated in mid-air, white flakes swirling like an angry white tornado. Heartless immediately filled in the space where the Hewdraw was, a winged Assault Rider at its center.
The power of flight is running out. I'll leave you to take care of the Heartless. We'll go after the Hewdraw Heads.
"Wait, there's still alive!?" Pit exclaimed.
Hewdraw heads can live without a body, so we better go after them.
Pit's wings flared up with energy, forcing him to dive down below the clouds.
"But-" Tempest mentally facepalmed, "Fine!"
"So you're the lackey with the Keyblade Maleficent keeps talking about!" A fat, onesie wearing cat boomed. Tempest, realizing that he was sitting on the Winged Rider (Yes, he is aware that he isn't creative). "Well, old Pete is gonna teach you a lesson!"
Pete looked at all the Rapid Thrusters, Green Requiems, and Blue Rhapsodies that floated around him. Then back at Tempest with a grin plastered on his face.
"ATTACK!" The cat commanded, the horde of assorted music tastes and engines swarmed the skies.
Lighting the tip of Chris' blade with blue fire, Tempest swung it with a wide arc, launching a wave of fire at the cloud of Heartless.
"Azure Arc!" Half of the Heartless got lit on fire, but that didn't hinder the number of spells being flung his way.
"Hnn," Tempest grimaced, dodging the Blizzard spells like his life depended on it. Which it did. One hit and he would drop out of the sky.
The Requiems had started healing the Heartless and the Rapid Thrusters grazed his skin.
"Aero!" A small tornado formed in front of him. "Fira!"
Fire mixed with the tornado and launched it forward, consuming multiple attacks and enemies as it went.
Tempest executed a thundara charged Strike Raid, flinging the keyblade at the horde and watching it zap the surrounding Heartless out of the sky. The bronze katana was in his hand before any Heartless could take a chance and attack him now.
"Oh, you're getting on my nerves!" Pete steamed, pulling back on the Winged Rider's reins, "You're gonna get a great big serving of Me!"
Despite the weight of its cargo, the Rider shot towards Tempest with its lance held forward. The drake barely dodged it, the tip grazing his bandages and cutting them loose.
Tempest rolled away from Pete and his mount, trying to get some distance between them. They were fast, but not fast enough to catch him.
Tempest slipped behind them and lit the Rider's tail of fire. Then he tackled the fat cat, tossing him off his mount and into the great unknown.
"Try again, cat!" He taunted, feeling a wave of darkness swallow up Pete and disappear. A portal, if he wasn't wrong.
Pit is still dealing with the Hewdraw heads. He'll be fine so I'll appreciate it if you clean up the mess this 'Pete' left behind.
"Alright, but I better get my clothes back!" He grumbled.
Well, aren't you a morning person.
Tempest just gave up and started clearing the disorientated Heartless. There really wasn't room to argue with that goddess.
_|-w-|_
"So you did give me painkillers," Tempest growled. They had returned to home base, as the goddess called it.
So that was why he was so lenient (and extremely grouchy) with helping them...Well, it seemed like he was already wrapped knee deep in this conflict. Better find that damnable keyhole before his sanity starts slipping.
"Yep, sure did," Palutena confirmed whilst Pit ran around in the background, doing things. "You sure didn't have a good reaction to it, so I don't think I'll be using it more."
"I hope you don't. My head doesn't hurt this way…" Tempest said, slipping his t-shirt on.
"As for living conditions… you'll just have to take the couch. All the other spots are taken," Palutena shrugged apologetically. Tempest had a feeling she was just messing with him again.
"...Okay," Tempest conceded. He placed his hand on his sheath, noticing something missing. "What did Pit do to my sword?"
"Oh, he said he was going to give it an upgrade," She said, "Not sure what he was going to do with it though."
"For a hole in the ground, he sure is stuck up about weapons," Tempest deadpanned.
Said angel stuck his head out from one of the many doorways with a pout on his face.
"I can hear you, Tempest!" He shouted.
"Your goddess here can do worse, so cool it!" Tempest snapped back.
"Don't talk about Lady Palutena like that!" Pit fully stepped out of the doorway.
"Make me!"
"Well isn't this entertaining."
"NOT HELPING."
It thus devolved into meaningless shouting. He's never had this much fun in days.
A/N: I had fun writing this chapter...That's it. Have fun. Also, would you people like the non-existent fourth wall thing? I honestly don't care, but if no one says anything about it, I'll do whatever.
Also, as clarifacation, no, Tempest wasn't actually on Painkillers for the most part. Palutena did give him some, but Tempest is just a paranoid little prick.
R&R, I guess. These things are new to me.
~Storm