Here we go.
Somehow, every time she found herself in the city by herself, Aqua always found herself here. That quiet park just beyond the edge of the commercial district, hemmed in on all but one side by buildings. The quiet slice of nature was just large enough that she could convince herself she was back in the wilds, yet at the same time was close enough to the main roads that if anything happened she would be able to quickly respond.
She let out a content sigh, curling an arm under her head as she rolled onto her side. Truthfully, she didn't have any real reason to be in the city today. Wanjohi, Fred, and Robin were on duty today, and between the three of them anything that happened could be easily handled. It was on a whim that she had laced up a pair of black hiking boots that Ethel had gotten her the week before and started the idle trek into the commercial areas. Now that she was actually here... At least it was a nice change of pace. Some proper sun and wind to caress her face instead of the pale light of the moon and stars.
Aqua slowly woke back up, her entire front warmed by the sun. For a moment there, she had thought herself back in the Land of Departure, the events that had fractured her family having never occurred. It was a fantastical dream, one that had both her and Terra as Keyblade Masters with Ven slowly trailing behind them. There was even Sora and a naturally white haired boy she knew should have been older talking with them. Yet despite how wonderful a dream it was, some part of her whispered the entire time that it was just that.
A dream.
She hugged her legs as she worked her way back to 'fully conscious', idly focusing on the conversations around her with every breath. Some were talking about inane things: of idols and content creators; others were talking of school and work and plans for the future. All things that meant nothing to her, but must have been so incredibly important to the natives of this world. After several moments, Aqua realized that a group of people had gathered around a bench, all huddled around someone's phone.
As she ambled over, she realized that the video they were watching was a live news report talking about the appearance of the Heartless within the commercial district, as well as the black cubes from the day before. It took her only a few seconds to make up her mind. Brushing her pants clear of any dirt or grass blades, Aqua made her way back towards the street. Robin and the others were likely already on the case, but having another person to take care of things wouldn't hurt.
/ - /
Beneath her helmet, Aqua frowned as a Dark Blizzara dispelled the remaining grouping of white themed enemies supplementing the Heartless. While the majority of them were nowhere near anything remotely resembling a threat, the rare creatures themed in blackish grays posed actual trouble if she didn't eliminate them first.
Aqua let her blade sag in her hand. Four blocks cleared and she was no nearer to finding the others. She'd saved a few people who had the misfortune to garner the attention of the Heartless and their companions, but otherwise all she came across were the monsters. The worst part was that they weren't even giving her any sort of challenge; they were just moving targets for spells she already practiced against Robin. At least if they were doing more than what was essentially a cardio exercise, she might find some pleasure.
Her expression tightened. 'Find some pleasure'? From dispelling Heartless and their white companions? When lives were on the line? Aqua shook her head. While such thoughts were certainly deserving of introspection, the battlefield was no such place. Steeling her mind against such self-centered notions, Aqua set off once more, a chunk of ice leading the way forward.
Two more groupings down, and she was no closer to finding any of her companions, nor the one who had to have been directing the monsters. Coming at her in groups of fours or more, the white themed creatures worked to restrict her movements for either the Heartless or those black themed newcomers to assault her. She tsked in frustration, a Barrier blossoming in response to the barrage of yellowed blades thrown by a writhing creature in black she had yet to touch.
As with the Heartless back in the Realm of Darkness, firing out a Light spell (with her armor very intently pulled back into its protective casing) had drawn everything towards her, turning her game of hide and seek into a one against many version of tag. It had the side effect of tying her down to a single block, but with how many of the monsters had been showing up, acting as bait was well worth it (though she would never admit that to Robin).
The instant her barrier dropped, Aqua fired out a quick, radiating blast of Aerora, sending all her enemies skidding away. Nothing but endless onslaught after endless onslaught— if she wanted to experience an unending battle, she'd either ask Robin to open up another portal or step into the Realm of Darkness herself. She dismissed Prelude to Fate, raising both hands into the air and crossing them.
"Just give me a break, already!" With a scream of exasperation, she brought her hands to her side, stomping the ground with the same motion. Jagged, opaque shards of ice jutted out the ground, impaling the still prone and supine monsters and turning them into monochromatic motes of energy. Aqua slowly recovered her composure with each heaving breath, focusing on the way the almost massaging movements of her Dark Suit seemed to send whispers of Cure dancing along her skin.
"Whew, feel better?" Ethel skidded to a stop in front of her, a somewhat concerned brow raised.
"A little better," she answered, tapping the side of her helmet to retract her face plate.
Ethel let out a pained sigh. "Mage Knight, what's the point of having that headset if you're never going to activate it?"
Aqua flushed. "Sorry, I just— it's still a new thing."
She laughed. "You know how to somewhat navigate a phone and the importance of wearing a seatbelt, but you just can't remember to turn on your headset comms, huh?"
Headset now active, she quickly brought her face plate back down, thankful her blush could no longer be seen.
"About time you joined us, Mage Knight," Robin chided, sounding vaguely like he was in the middle of throwing out a handful of spells. "Though you could have done so before activating that homing beacon of yours. Completely stole all the attention away from Keybearer. We've had to work around that little stunt of yours."
"Lay off her, Tactician, I already tore her a new one," Ethel shot back, a hint of amusement in her tone. "Anyway, orders?"
"We're pulling over to the Eastern portion. You two move up to the Northwest. Pull off another beacon and enjoy yourselves. And Mage Knight?"
"Yes?" she answered sheepishly.
"Be sure to cast a handful of third tier spells. We both know you're more than ready for that." Robin's avatar fell dark, the embarrassment of having forgotten to activate her headset returning in full force the moment it did.
Ethel snorted a second later. "Come on then, Mage Knight. We've got Heartless and Nobodies to destroy."
"...nobodies?"
/ - /
Aqua had long since submerged herself into the mind of a warrior. Not a few minutes after releasing a modified and overpowered Faith spell to draw attention, she and Ethel had become completely swarmed by enemies. Those winged beasts from the last time this happened were nowhere to be found, but in their place, yellow colored creatures vaguely resembling hourglasses peppered the two of them with Thunder magic. Alongside them, those beam-winged Heartless that could morph to and from a tri-wheeled grounded state as well as those watery balls of shadows from the Realm of Darkness added to the disturbances. She felt like she was actually back in the Realm of Darkness, surrounded on all sides by creatures of Darkness and nowhere to run.
...disturbingly enough, it was highly relaxing. She didn't have to bother herself about social cues or whether or not any given phrase she heard was something to be interpreted literally or if there was some connotations she was unaware about; didn't need to worry about having to maintain some semblance of being a Keyblade Master and all the decorum it required; underneath the helm of her Dark Suit and with foes everywhere she looked, all she need bother herself with was—
Aqua brought her blade up to deflect a thrust from the giant sized armored Heartless that had been harassing her ever since Ethel had been forced to leave her side. The creature innately knew how to defend itself against magic, and its armor was far too strong to deal any meaningful damage. The one time she had managed to open it for an attack, the white themed creatures she had learned were properly called 'Nobodies' had all rushed in to keep her distracted.
"Really starting to get irritated here," she grumbled, turning away from the deflection in order to create space. "Go Go!" A modified Fira shot out of her hand, the ensuing explosion creating a wall of smoke between her and the dual bladed Heartless. Ethel's voice broke through the crackle of a salvo of electric projectiles, only an isolated handful of panels for a Barrier snapping out to block them.
"Doing alright there, Mage Knight?"
"Get clear! Going to be throwing some powerful magics!" Aqua cartwheeled to the side, evading another lunging thrust from the bladed Heartless. She may have only been a human, but she was still a Keyblade Master. Still the premier expert of magic among recent keybearers. Still Eraqus' pupil who had made so many of her own custom magics.
Anger. Aggravation. A disdainful disgust forged from years of persecution.
Fire engulfed her whole form, a single band of blackened flame so very consciously allowed to billow outward and knock her foes back if not outright immediately disintegrating them. Firestorm was what the records stated this combat style was called. Personally, with the emotions currently flowing through her, she felt it more appropriate to call it Infernal Overdrive. On a whim, Aqua slashed out a single time, letting the viscid glop of fire burn a path forward. The air danced in its wake, the haze bringing a malevolent smile to her face.
With an almost ceremonial grace, she raised her left hand into the air, staring down the dual bladed Heartless that had been giving her so much trouble. "Burn." With that single word, an orb of fire that she knew without looking was the size of her torso shot into the air, turning the entire area alite with its luminance. The projectiles rained down unendingly as she stalked forward, every explosion of so tightly compressed fireballs creating an aria of beauteous catharsis.
Her foe was kept in a never ending loop of flinching as explosions wracked its body, every attempt to move even a single limb bringing its massive frame under attack. All it could do was watch balefully as she moved ever closer, darkened flames rising from her body like tendrils. "Burst." An almost innocuous seeming ball of fire no bigger than her head slowly moved its way forward. The moment it made contact with the monster, the world turned white. Mega Flare, further enhanced by Darkness. The ensuing heatwave was enough to seep through the inherent protections afforded by both her armor and Inferno Overdrive. Yet still, she kept the spells going.
"You're all tiring me." Prelude to Fate wasn't meant to handle it— in fact, when all was said and done, it wouldn't surprise her if she had to see Mogrii for repairs if the weapon wasn't outright destroyed, but right now, she didn't care. Heartless and Nobodies alike were bothering her, and she had free reign to release her frustrations. Rings of Magnera pulsed into existence around her, pulling the wave of enemies ever closer. Only when she was sure that all but the dregs were on her did she unleash the final part of the spell.
Aqua let the heat emanating from her body raise in intensity, a countering wall of Magnet forcing everything repelled by her own localised inversion of the spell right back towards her; an endless loop of disorientation and heat, maintained purely by her own hatred. Only when the last dregs were gone did she finally end the magics.
Silence. Transient, ephemeral silence. That's all the moment was. A brief moment where both mind and world were one and the same. Aqua looked up at the sky, basking in the bright, vibrant blue stretching out before her. An escapee from the Realm of Darkness, once more in the Realm of Light. And yet... She looked down at her hand, clenching it. Tiny wisps of Darkness floated out from between her fingers. Whether she always had it in her, or whether it was a result from her time in the land of the Heartless, the result was the same. She was no longer the same person she once was. She was—
"Everyone!" Aqua flicked her gazed towards Hiro's icon. "The Darkubes are starting to converge! I'm setting a waypoint for you all!"
Ethel slid to a stop in front of her, what passed for a concerned look on her face. A moment of silence passed before she nodded her head towards the waypoint. "Let's go.
/ - /
It was as they crested the building that yet another undulated mass of Darkubes floated past them, joining the conglomeration of pulsating nanobots vaguely gathered in the silhouette of a heart. Aqua watched as the mass seamlessly joined the rest of their brethren, disappearing into the beating tendrils.
"They've been like this ever since we arrived," Robin murmured as she neared. "As if they're waiting for something." After a moment he frowned. "Does this feel familiar to you?"
"Whatever's going to happen, it should be happening soon." Hiro interrupted, looking up from his wrist. The holographic display emitted from his glove disappeared as he moved his arm down, the boy moving his head to scan the skies. "There aren't any more Darkubes showing up on any of the cameras around the city."
Robin turned towards Hiro and raised a brow. "Isn't that illegal?"
Hiro flushed. "Well— I—"
"That was a joke, Hiro." Ethel stepped up beside Robin, giving him a disapproving stare. "Robin's fully aware that what we do, we do in protection of the city."
"Though I do think that certain lines should not be—" The moment Robin cut himself off and tensed up, Aqua did the same. "Ready yourselves. Something's here."
Sora was the first to react to the falling figure in black, rushing up into a defensive position. "Riku!"
The boy that had been harassing them for so many weeks rose out of his crouch, grinning at whatever he had slashed out of the now motionless pile of cubes. Whatever he muttered went unheard to her, though Sora had clearly heard whatever he was referring to. Riku turned around and kicked at a handful of the barely glowing cubes, sending the pieces clinking dully across the floor. "This pile of junk collected the data we needed. The despair of being attacked without warning. The despair of having no place to run. The longing for vengeance."
Aqua tensed. Was he talking about something else? Or herself?
"A heart's more than that!" Sora shouted back. "It's working together! Smiling at something funny!"
"It's trusting friends," Hiro added, gesturing at his companions.
"You're right," Riku snarked. "That's why we made sure our creation specifically fought you." He shot her a baleful look.
"A heart made from conflict?" Sora loosened his stance for a moment in disbelief, adjusting it a moment later. "That can't be real!"
"What was it you said?" He turned around, raising his free hand into the air. "I only have to see it for it to become real?" A gently whirling cloud of Darkness unfurled into existence high above them, at first slowly pulling the cubes into them but rapidly increasing. "But to see that, first, we'll need a vessel."
Robin's hand shot out, blocking her from taking more than a step. "His companion from the other day is watching us," he warned. The two of them watched in solemn silence as another undulated mass of cubes came out, angry red lightning arcing from block to block. "Aqua, whatever's coming out of that is made of powerful Darkness, like those giant creatures we fought back on those floating islands. I have no doubt Sora can handle it, but if that boy or his companion tries to do something..."
She nodded, summoning Prelude to Fate as the cubes started receding, revealing what lay underneath. "Is that—!?"
"Baymax!" Hiro ran up, stopped short by Sora moving in front of him.
"Call out to him all you want," Riku said, turning to look at them. "This puppet's lost his Heart. He won't wake up."
"Baymax isn't a puppet!" he shouted back, a quiver in his voice. "Please! Baymax is like my family! Give me back my friend!"
Riku chuckled. "Of course. I did promise to put the chip back where I found it. If you're to have your family back, he should have his Heart, shouldn't he?" As Riku moved the Darkness soaked chip towards the one circle of gold on the other Baymax's otherwise blackened chest. a slot opened up to reveal a handful of receptacles the perfect size of the cip. "But this heart's still missing something." With a whirr, the holder slid back into place, clicking with an ominous finality. "Sora, you're the one who's going to complete this heart." He grinned toothily. "You can't have a Heart without sadness. Without loss. You see, Sora, you're going to destroy Hiro's friend, right in front of him."
Two thoughts ran through Aqua's mind the instant she noticed the build up of energy. The first was to throw up a Barrier and protect herself (and likely Robin) from the massive wave of Darkness. The second was to fling out Warp magic and strike at Riku, knocking him away from the portal he was opening up.
The cold, clammy grasp of Darkness licked at her back as she knocked Riku away. "Try again," she warned, the clammy grasp of terror seizing her chest as she realized all of Big Hero 6 except for Hiro and Baymax had been flung off the roof.
"Mage Knight! Deal with the kid! I'll take care of the others!"
She snapped into a ready stance, wordlessly nodding as Robin dove over the edge.
"'Deal with the kid'?" Riku parroted, a frown on his face as he stood back up. "You really think I'm that simple to take care of?"
A loud whooshing noise made itself known. A moment later, Sora shouted out, the noise repeating itself once again. "Go Go and the others told me what you are," she responded once the roar of rockets faded. "You're the memories of the past brought here to the future. Nothing more than a replica of what truly is." Aqua pressed her lips together. If Xehanort had ever managed to possess her while she was in the Realm of Darkness... would she be fighting her Dark possessed self right now?
"'A replica of what is'? Don't make me laugh!" A red and blue bat winged sword appeared in his hand. "I'm better than the original! I embraced the Darkness within us, instead of cowering and running away from it!"
"Embraced the Darkness, huh?" She narrowed her eyes. "You think giving in to Darkness makes you a better person?"
"Better or not, it's still enough to take care of you." The false Riku entered a battle stance, both the tip of his blade and fingers of his free hand pointed towards her. "And I'm going to take my time with that." He grinned. "Your protector's going to be busy taking care of your friends, and both the Heartless and the Nobodies are after him as well. Which means I have all the time in the world."
The silence stretched out between them for several seconds, neither of them making a move. It ended a moment later when Riku let out an impatient yell, a rotating disk of Darkness flying out from a downward slice before disappearing in a haze of black and purple particles. Aqua stepped to the side, letting the surprisingly quick projectile fly harmless past. At the same time, she glanced towards her right, tracking the build up of energy behind her.
As expected, Riku reappeared, whirling around into a horizontal slash. She tilted her blade so it would deflect his strike into an open position, following up with a close range shrapnel blast of Dark Firaga to his body. He screamed in equal parts surprise and pain, hopping back several steps. "You can use Darkness?!"
"Surprised?" She Warped behind him, an overcharged Elthunder sparking from her hand and into his back. "Did you think you were the only one who could use Darkness?" She spun on a foot, Prelude to Fate slashing across his torso. Whether because of the pain or the lingering energies of her Elthunder, Riku didn't respond to her strike, leaving her free to unleash another point blank Dark Firaga that sent him flying back once more.
'Every battle must have a set win condition,' Robin had once told her. 'Otherwise, any effort you spend will just be wasted.'
So then what was her win condition?
Riku rose shakily, snarling. "This body isn't strong enough," he spat.
Was it destroying this fake? Her lips pursed. Could she even go through with the act of killing someone? Stormfall and Master Keeper were both lost to her for so long; after an eternity in the Realm of Darkness, would such an extreme act really cause that much a change in whether or not she could still use her keyblades?
"Hey! Pay attention!"
She instinctively blocked the falling strike with her blade, frowning when the flow of magic she instinctively fed through Prelude to Fate became that much harder to use. Even as tendrils of energy crackled around them at the point of contact, all she could focus on was the ever growing fragility of her weapon. Win condition. Win condition. Just what was her win condition?
Riku grunted as he brought both hands to bear, forcing her to deflect him away for another opening, this one resulting in a window too small to take advantage of. Riku took a few measured steps to the side, circling her. "How do you know me?" he asked, still in a ready stance.
"We were once stuck in an endless sea of Darkness," she responded, turning to keep him in sight. "At the ends where Light and Dark connected, that's where we met."
"'Where Light and Dark connected'?" he scoffed. "Liar!" Riku reached down, shooting out a glob of Darkness into the ground that quickly shot towards her. The next moment, he spun forward and slashed at the air, a wave of Dark pillars shooting out in a straight line. For both, she simply cartwheeled out of the way, a Barrier flashing into existence as soon as she noticed his follow-up Warp strike. That same spell was met in kind as he back stepped away, his frustrations plain as day.
"Funny," she whispered, more to herself than to him. "I didn't spend more than a minute in your presence and yet here you are, mimicking me."
"Mimicking you?! Don't make me laugh!" Riku thrust forward, Dark magic allowing him to cover a surprising amount of ground. When the attack failed to connect, he whirled around into another spinning slash, this one sending out a trio of advancing waves.
Barrier once again flashed into existence, the strain of keeping the spell up briefly heightening exponentially as the waves of energy connected. This Riku was strong and had a commendable command of Darkness, but he was still just a kid. He didn't have the speed that Larxene did, or the unbearable strength that Terra— in either state— did.
He was just a kid, and every time she thought about striking him down, her thoughts flashed back to that moment however long ago: of her and Mickey passing through a door and seeing this white haired boy rush towards a massive door. She couldn't see the boy cloaked in black before her. She could only see a terrified boy, terror written on his face and a resolute lie in his voice.
It was as he attempted to drive the tip of his blade into her once again that she spoke up, ice magic constantly flowing out of her hand and keeping his weapon in place. "You're not my Riku, are you?"
He leapt back, snarling. "I don't even know you! And if you ask me," the stench of Darkness, true Darkness that made her nose twitch and heart beat race in agitation and paranoia, blossomed around him, "I'm all the better for it."
A Barrier instinctively shot out of her fingertips, an act she was immediately grateful for when a heavy weight strong enough to shove her aside Barrier and all slammed into the protections. Eight times she was shoved aside. Eight times her Barrier cracked just the slightest at each impact. The moment she noticed a delay from the next strike, Aqua dispelled her Barrier and leapt into the air, a pulse of Aero at her feet sending her even further. It gave her the perfect view of Riku diving towards the ground, six columns of Darkness travelling out from the impact point.
If she had a keyblade...— no. Thoughts like that would bring her nowhere. Like it or not, all she had on hand was a damaged blade and a focus that only moderately helped. Prelude to Fate disappeared to her weapons space, a keyblade borne of ice appearing in its place. Aqua flung the construct out, imbuing the core with darkened lightning; hit or otherwise, the resulting explosion of both expanding ice and crackling electricity would buy her the time she needed. She arrived at Riku's feet an instant after her modified Blizzard Raid activated, slashing out with Prelude to Fate as soon as she could. Motes of Light and Darkness wafted into the air from her strike, Riku hopping back several times with a curse.
He snarled, gathering energy in his hand. "I don't have time for you!"
Block or dodge? Strike? Aqua grasped onto that final thought, letting Warp magic pull her to Riku's side. "Pity." She lashed out, blade and magic juggling him through the air several steps before another Dark Firaga sent rolling to the edge of the roof. "Because I have all the time in the world to deal with you."
He caught himself mid-tumble, rolling into a crouch. "Tsk." A flare of Darkness dispelled the lingering flames on his coat, a hint of noxious green spiraling around his body in the same motion. "Larxene!"
Aqua brought Barrier magic to her fingertips, ready to activate the spell the moment she noticed an attack.
"Aww, does the little toy need help already? I thought you were a real boy." Larxene's voice echoed around them, a Dark Portal opening up beside Riku. "Hey there, Aqua." From the woman's lips, her name sounded like a curse. "Have fun playing with this puppet while your friends play with his?"
She said nothing, merely tightening her stance.
Larxene scoffed. "Ugh, why are you Somebodies always such a stick in the mud? Whatever." She turned and grabbed Riku up his upper arm, dragging him uncaringly despite his protests towards the portal. "Have fun with the leftovers, Mage Knight!"
Aqua waited until she was sure that the two were properly gone. Only then did she run off the edge and dive down towards the others, frowning at the writhing mass of Heartless and Nobodies clearly spaced out around Robin. "The fighting just never ends..."
Next chapter should be out April 25th.