Silver Linings
Chapter 9: "It's the Fate of a Nobody."
A/N: Sorry this took so long. I was swamped by a bunch of plotbunnies that aren't related to this, and they got in the way of writing what I promised to write. What's the collective term for plotbunnies? A litter of puppies, a murder of crows, an epic of plotbunnies? Anyway, to recap, Roxas has been defeated at the cost of Riku's true appearance. Time to shove him in a virtual playpen to hold him still while Sora's memory pieces together. This will only take half as long as it did in the game, thanks to Xion getting roped in early, so let's see how virtual Twilight Town changes with only three days to live instead of six.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Kokonoe's Secret Backup Lab, two miles from the Ibukido Ruins...
Kokonoe had settled into her emergency backup lab. It was actually better-stocked than her usual lab under Sector Seven, since she didn't have to send requests to the bigwigs to get materials if she was basically stealing them and stashing them in a place they didn't know about. No big deal; the bigwigs couldn't get any real science done with the computers and raw materials anyway, and all the stuff in here was her own design in the first place.
Time to get down to business. Tager appeared from the teleport Kokonoe had set up in advance to bring him here in an emergency. Mechanical teleportation with the current technology had a specific upper limit on how much mass could be sent at once, and Tager was way over that limit all by himself, so the device in question sparked and died as he appeared. Kokonoe got right down to the briefing, trusting her subordinate to check his audio logs for anything he was too disoriented to catch.
"Okay, I've run the Time Break through every scan I can think of, and closing it isn't an option for us alone. It would take way too much energy to even hold it steady if you just reversed the Time Breaker's current. But it's not hopeless."
"What can we do, then?"
"I've determined that the Time Break can only be affected if we hit it simultaneously from both sides. Your Time Breaker is what we need from our side, but we'll also need something from the Heart Timeline to use over there."
Tager was skeptical. It wasn't like Kokonoe to come up with only half a mad plot on her own. "Do you know what that 'something' is?"
"Yep, I sent some scrying magic through to watch Lambda, and she got a real good look at what we need."
Tager commented on Kokonoe's least favorite part of that statement. "Scrying magic? You?"
Kokonoe growled. As much as she hated any sort of magic... "I don't think you grasp how serious this issue is. The Time Break is expanding in all directions. Any space it takes up isn't in either world, and it shows no signs of stopping. In fact, you sped it up by going through it twice. Then it sped up again from the magic. If it gets too big, or intersects another rip, a Collision Zone will form. Like two electromagnetic waves interfering with each other, the two timelines will cancel each other out, leaving nothing. No Heart Timeline, no Azure Timeline, no life. I didn't have enough time to come up with a gadget to use instead. Two universes are on the line right now. So I was forced to use Mother's abominable power instead."
"That is serious. So, what do we need Lambda to obtain?"
"It's a weapon called a Keyblade. It uses the Power of Light, which is a Heart Timeline thing, to unlock or lock anything that can be locked, like doors, boxes, or even people's emotions. Lambda met a kid named Roxas who had two of them, but I got some scans, and they can't be stolen or taken by force; they'll just pop right back into his hands. So we need to get Roxas to use the Keyblade voluntarily. Luckily, Lambda already captured the kid, so I'm going to call up Lambda and iron out a plan. Hopefully the radio waves won't affect the expansion as much as mass or magic would. Stand by and listen in. You'll need to be ready to act exactly when Roxas does. Top off your battery while I'm at it."
"Roger. Standing by." Tager lumbered over to a wide cable, which was clearly labeled "CHARGE TAGER WITH THIS", and plugged the end into the matching port at the base of his skull. The meter showing his remaining energy crept upward while Kokonoe established a connection.
"Lambda, come in. You there?"
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Twilight Town: Mansion: Computer Room...
Lambda watched as DiZ placed Roxas' unconscious body on the floor under a strange device. "What does this thing do?"
DiZ moved over to a large computer console and started typing before he replied. "It will remove Roxas' consciousness from his body, and place it in a virtual simulation of Twilight Town I've constructed. That should keep him occupied until Namine finishes her work."
Riku was nearby, still hooded and still using Ansem's voice. "He has two Keyblades. What kind of prison could contain him?"
"None, if he sees it as such. Therefore, his personal memories will be suppressed in his virtual avatar. He won't even remember he has the Keyblade, much less how to use it. If all goes well, he won't even realize he's in a simulation." DiZ replied evenly.
Lambda didn't like the way he worded that. "If all goes well? What if it doesn't?"
"If need be, the entire simulation can be paused at the push of a button. If the Nobodies somehow break into my system, the virtual Twilight Town will stop, preventing any of the townspeople from noticing or interfering. Roxas still has the Keyblade as well, and he will view Sora's memories in dreams. I have little doubt he can handle himself. Of course, ideally none of that will be necessary, as it would be much harder to fool Roxas if we pause the simulation." DiZ pressed a final key, and a column of energy covered Roxas momentarily. When it faded, his body was still there. His mind, however, was in the machine.
"RESTORATION AT 5%." The synthesized voice came over the computer's speakers.
DiZ smiled at the news. "Good. Sora's recovery has already begun. At this rate, we should be done in three days. Get some rest, children. You've earned it." He waved his hand over his shoulder, shooing them off.
As Lambda and Riku climbed the stairs out of the hidden basement, Lambda received a call on her radio. "Lambda, come in. You there?"
"Kokonoe? What do you need?" Lambda put up a finger to silence Riku, then put Kokonoe on a speaker he could hear. Her voice came from somewhere in Lambda's neck.
"I need to talk to you about that Time Break. I've been following your progress since shortly after you met Tager, and I need your help keeping the Time Break from expanding enough to wipe out both continuums."
"Oh, so that's what that scrying sensor is for. I noticed it around the time when Riku jumped off the building, which is why I didn't follow right away. Still, that sounds...serious."
"Deadly serious. I need you to find some way to get Roxas to use his Keyblade on the Time Break."
"Well, you probably saw us stuff Roxas in a simulation just now. I don't think the Time Break would be reflected in the virtual world, and we can't pull him before we merge him back into Sora three days from now. Sora would probably be easier to convince to help, anyway. How long do we have?"
Lambda could practically hear Kokonoe's scowl. "We have a week, at best. If Relius sends things back and forth too much in the Time Break he created, a Collision Zone could form by tomorrow. It wouldn't be the end of the world right away, but we couldn't use it to travel after that, and the expansion will constantly accelerate. It'll keep spreading until it eclipses both universes. Are there any other Keyblades you know of that we could get to work for us more easily?"
Riku spoke up. "King Mickey has one. Problem is, I have no clue where he ended up. He's not in this house anymore. I'll look around for him."
"Who are you, kid? I only connected to Lambda."
"Kokonoe, that's Riku. I put the call on external speaker so he could hear. He's the boyfriend I mentioned, remember?"
"Okay, good to know. Hurry and find this King Mickey person. Lambda, when you find him, direct him to the Time Break you saw earlier, and we'll close it from both sides."
"So it's like the Door to Darkness, then? We needed to lock it on both sides with two Keyblades to fix Ansem's first plot, when he tried to combine all the worlds into Kingdom Hearts."
"Sort of like that, except you'll need a power that only exists in the Azure Timeline to close our side. I've got that covered, so you'd better pull through on your end. We stand to lose everything if you fail."
Riku nodded, although he wasn't sure if Kokonoe could see him. "I won't fail. I have promises to keep, and people to protect."
"I've never figured out how having faith like that increases the odds of success so much, but the data supports it. Make it happen. Kokonoe, out." Lambda's speaker clicked as the connection cut.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Virtual Twilight Town: The Usual Spot...
Roxas blinked awake, trying to remember how he'd gotten here. He was in a sitting position on an old crate. Around him, kids who looked about his age were chatting, or maybe arguing. Who were they again?
Memories slowly faded into focus. Yeah, these were Hayner, Pence, and Olette, his friends in a neighborhood gang called the "Usual Suspects," whom he'd known over the last few years since he moved to Twilight Town. They always met up here at the Usual Spot under the train tracks to hang out after school, and contrary to their name, they mostly just hung out and ate ice cream. Of course, right now they were three months into summer vacation, so school wouldn't start again for four days, and they got to spend a lot of time together...
"Have you ever been this ticked off before in your life? Because I haven't. Nuh uh, never!" Hayner was probably exaggerating at least a bit. What were they talking about again? Oh, wait, Hayner was about to loop over it again for the third time. "I mean, it's true that stuff has been stolen around town. And we've got that score to settle with Seifer and everything." Roxas winced for a second, remembering the utter beating he'd received from Seifer's "Disciplinary Committee." They'd even taken pictures afterward, and showed them off to whoever would listen. Hayner continued ranting. "So, if he wants to think we did it, I can't really blame him. No, what really gets me is that he's going around telling everyone we're the thieves!"
Roxas spoke up. "Are you sure he's been telling people that?"
"Well, it's not like I heard him. But how else can you explain the way everyone and their mother has started treating us like the Klepto Club?"
"Yeah, I thought we had a good rep!" Said Pence.
"Why don't we figure out who really did it and set the record straight?" Olette always did have the best common sense in the group. It was why she would likely rail on the rest of the group for putting off their homework so long, at least after this thievery business was over.
"What should we do about Seifer?" Hayner, as usual, wanted to solve the problem by liberally applying violence. Roxas had spent a lot of time training on his own to get back at Seifer, but he couldn't be so sure about Hayner's Struggle Sword skills. Roxas tried to talk Hayner down for now.
"First, we gotta clear our names. Once everyone's off our backs, they'll be rooting for us when we rub Seifer's nose in it later. Besides, we can always get him at the Struggle." Roxas reasoned. It seemed to work.
"Okay, do we know anything about what was stolen?" Olette asked. Everyone was really getting into this. It was like a mystery!
Hayner scratched his head. "Not really. It's probably personal stuff, to get everyone so worked up."
"Let's start by asking around town! I'll bring the camera, so we can catch the thief red handed!" Pence ran over to the broken radiator on which he'd left the camera. He picked it up, but the giddy "We're going on an adventure!" grin fell off his face when he examined it. "They're gone! Our _ are gone!"
There was a conspicuous pause in his sentence, like one of the words had been left out...or deleted. He grabbed his throat, trying to force the word out.
"All our_, gone?" Hayner tried to say the missing word, but he didn't have any more success.
"You can't say _? Why not?" Olette also failed to say the word.
"I don't know! But you do know what I'm saying, right? Our _ are gone!"
"Stolen..." Roxas rephrased. "And not just the _. The word _! They stole it, too!" Roxas couldn't say the word, either. The word seemed to have been stolen from everyone.
"What kind of thief can steal a word? Seifer could never have pulled that off." Hayner's tendency to blame Seifer for everything looked pretty ridiculous right about now. Almost as ridiculous as a certain word vanishing from people's vocal chords.
"Well, at least we can probably prove we aren't the thieves now. Why would we steal our own vocabulary?" Olette reasoned.
"Let's go to Market Street and ask around! Bring the camera, Pence! If the thief is looking for _, maybe we can use some as bait!" Hayner charged out past the curtain that separated the Usual Spot from the rest of Twilight Town. Pence and Olette made to follow, but when Roxas tailed them, he got really dizzy all of a sudden.
For a moment, everything was black. There was a voice he didn't recognize: "His heart is returning. Doubtless he'll awaken very soon."
"RESTORATION AT 20%."
Roxas held his head and tried to steady himself. When he felt ready to continue, Olette had already dropped back to check on him. "You okay? C'mon, Roxas!"
"Yeah, I'm fine, I think. Let's go!"
Asking around town was pretty fruitless. No one knew any more than the Usual Suspects did, although they confirmed that the same things-and the same word-had been stolen from everyone. Most of them still treated Roxas suspiciously, more so than the rest of the gang, though he managed to convince the old lady at the candy shop of his good character by climbing up and getting her cat down from the shop awning. Still, that really only left Seifer's gang to ask. Hopefully they'd been conducting their own investigation.
When the group reached Seifer's turf, the Sandlot that would be repurposed tomorrow for the Struggle, it quickly became clear that the Disciplinary Committee was just waiting for their suspects to show up. Fujin, a girl with one visible red eye and usually only one word to spare in any sentence, spotted Hayner's group first. "Thieves!" This was just one example of classic Fuu-speak.
"That was low, y'know?" Raijin, a bronzed giant of a boy who preferred to go by "Rai" and ended every exchange of words with that particular slang, shook a fist at the group. Vivi, a little boy who was never seen out of his unique many-layered outfit, just shook his head. Roxas couldn't remember ever seeing Vivi's face clearly; he probably always hid it under that wide-brimmed, pointy hat because he was so shy. Still, he was pretty much the least threatening member of the Disciplinary Committee.
Hayner bristled. "Oh yeah?"
"Nice comeback, there, blondie. " The title of the most confident and skilled member of the Committee went to its leader. Seifer wore his trademark white jacket as he swaggered in. Ironically, under his black knit cap, Seifer was a "blondie" himself. "You can give us back the _ now."
Rai piped up. "Yeah! You're the only ones who would take it, y'know?"
"That was undeniable proof that we totally owned you lamers! So what did you do? Burn it?" Seifer chuckled. "Heh, not that we need some _ to prove that you're losers."
"Replay!" Fuu said. Sort of.
"Ha! Now you're talking!" No, she wasn't, but everyone knew what she meant. Seifer motioned to Vivi, who tossed out three different foam weapons; a wand-like mace with a star on the end, a bat like those used in the Struggle, and a thinner club with a hand guard. "Take your pick and we'll duke it out. Of course, if you get on your knees and beg, maybe I'll let it slide."
Hayner looked angry enough to fry an egg in his messy hair, so the job of dealing with this the smart way fell to Roxas. He stepped forward and knelt before Seifer. The Committee was so busy laughing at him that they didn't see him eyeing the weapons. Roxas made his choice, and in a blink, he was armed with the regulation Struggle Sword and bopped Seifer in the chest. "You're on, Seifer! I'm no thief, but I've gotten better since last time!"
Seifer growled and straightened up, having skidded back a pace from Roxas' strength. When did that space case get so strong? Seifer pointed his own club at his opponent. "Cheap shot, Roxas. You can't beat me in a fair fight!"
"Yeah! Seifer won't even have to pull out his special move-the one he only uses in a tight spot, y'know?"
"I never had to use it last time, because these losers weren't worth it. Come on!" Seifer swung diagonally, but his footing was bad. Roxas met his swing and knocked him off balance. Seifer took three hits before he could jump sideways and get away from Roxas' combo. Actually, calling it a "jump" would give Seifer too much credit-he merely landed on his feet after Roxas knocked him away. "Okay, I'm impressed, really. It looks like you have gotten better! But are you good enough to dodge this?" Seifer jumped high into the air, and sort of hung there for a second, paying no heed to things like gravity. "Isn't this romantic?!" Seifer rocketed downward in a stab that he was sure Roxas couldn't block, but he met empty air and skidded to a halt on the ground. Roxas had simply hopped out of the way.
"That's your 'special move?' Maybe next time you should telegraph your attacks a bit more," Roxas finally taunted back, having been unnervingly silent for most of the fight (which had lasted only thirty seconds up to this point).
"Whoa." Even Fuu was impressed, apparently.
"Rrgh!" Seifer, having lost any semblance of control over the fight, started swinging his club wildly and running at Roxas. But Roxas merely slipped behind him, leaving a trail of Sandlot dust with his sliding sneakers, and knocked Seifer over from behind.
"And that's my special move. I call it a Reversal. Does your floaty stab have a cool name, so we can put it in the record that mine's cooler?"
Rai and Fuu rushed to Seifer's defense. "Seifer's...not feeling so hot, y'know?"
"Tournament decides!" Fuu was flustered enough to use a rare "two-worder."
"Maybe so, but this is still going in the record! Roxas, gimme a smile!" Pence lined up a shot and snapped off a photo of a grinning Roxas in front of a downed Seifer. He tried to give Roxas a thumbs-up to let him know it was a good shot, but then some thing zipped out of nowhere, slithered around Pence's torso, and snatched the whole camera! Whatever the white thing was, it snaked out of the Sandlot, floating through the air in a directionless manner as though blown about on a non-existent wind.
"What was that thing?" Hayner asked, voicing what they were all wondering.
"The thief?" Olette guessed.
"After him!" Roxas charged in the direction the thief had gone, not waiting to see if the Usual Suspects followed.
Roxas was led on a swift chase through Tram Common, past the big hole, and into the woods, where he nearly lost the strange creature in the trees. But now, the thief was finally cornered, swaying back and forth while it stood in the clearing in front of the old mansion. At least, Roxas hoped the thing was cornered. It might still be able to slip through the bars of the locked gate and escape.
Escape apparently wasn't the plan, though. As Roxas watched, a tab on the right side of the things "head" traveled across where its face should have been, making a sound like a zipper. The hole it previously covered blew open, though Roxas couldn't see what was inside.
We have come for you, my liege.
"What?" Roxas had understood the creature. It had spoken very clearly in a way that didn't involve any audible words, like a note was stuck to Roxas' mind with the sentence written on it. But why did it call Roxas its "liege?"
We have been ordered to bring you back at any cost.
"I have no clue what you mean, who you are, or what you want with me. But you need to give back what you stole, or I'll beat it out of you!" Roxas readied his Struggle Sword.
So be it. The creature slid around Roxas' legs, and Roxas barely jumped free before it tightened the coil to trip him. Roxas smacked it while it tried to sort out its body after the miss, but the Struggle Sword just passed through the creature like it wasn't there. That didn't make any sort of sense, especially when the camera was still in its grip. A few more attacks and dodges didn't make any more progress in wounding the creature.
"It's no use..." What could Roxas use to hurt this thing? As he cast his gaze around for any weapon that might be more effective, he almost missed his club getting surrounded in an aura of white Light (when did he start spelling that word with a capital letter?) and rings of swirling data. All of a sudden, the light show was over, and Roxas wasn't holding the Struggle Sword anymore. Instead, there was a new weapon, shaped like an over-sized key, but heavy and metal and right. The weapon suddenly yanked forward to point straight at Roxas' enemy. Another word floated into Roxas' mind, its source echoing and very different from the enemy's "speech." Keyblade... Keyblade...
"Keyblade? Is that what this is?" The Keyblade continued to point at the enemy for another second, then Roxas was able to relax his stance. As he continued to look over the weapon, it flashed once and made a slight ding sound, as though to reassure him that he had what he needed now. "Okay, let's try it!"
The white creature had frozen up when the Keyblade pointed at it, apparently struggling against invisible restraints, but now it launched at him with long, curved claws extended. Roxas did a Reversal to avoid the charge, and swung again while the creature twisted its body to search for him. This time, he scored a solid hit, knocking the creature away slightly and releasing a burst of yellow stars and Light. With his confidence restored, Roxas made quick work of the creature, who was really sort of a pushover now that Roxas had a weapon that could hurt it. It finally burst into blue sparks, and scattered little sheets of paper all over the ground: the stolen photos. Roxas gathered them up and returned to the others, wondering a bit at how they hadn't shown up for that whole exchange.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Twilight Town: Mansion Computer Room...
DiZ pounded his fist next to his keyboard. "Organization miscreants... They've found us."
"But why would the Nobodies steal photographs?" Riku wondered aloud.
"It is all nothing but data to them. The fools could never tell the difference." DiZ scoffed.
Lambda pictured how that might go. "So you mean they showed that Dusk a photo of Roxas and said, 'Go get this from the virtual Twilight Town,' and the Nobodies went off and stole more photos of Roxas rather than the real deal?"
Riku almost cracked up, and had to double over and cover his mouth to not give away the "Ansem" ruse (which he still had going) by letting out his real laugh. "I doubt we'll have too much trouble from the...Dusks, then. Lambda, how did you know what they're called?"
"I can scan things on the monitor. There seems to be a whole database of information about monsters in the Realm of Darkness that I can access through my dark-sense, but it only responds if I ask the right questions. I've figured out that 'What sort of monster is this?' is one of those questions."
"Very useful indeed," DiZ remarked, "but I doubt the Organization will send only pawns against us much longer. It also seems they have another way into the system; they certainly haven't used my device to get in. Look into it, you two."
"RESTORATION AT 30%." Progress reports sounded after every five percent of progress, and the frequency of them was reassuring.
"We'll see what we can do. There's another major crisis going on now, and we need a Keyblade to resolve it. If we can get Sora back, that'll be solved, but we may need to find Mickey before the end of both timelines gets here," Lambda reported.
"Another complication? What a time for the King to go missing..."
Riku spoke up. "I'll handle things in the simulation. Lambda, can you look for Mickey?"
"Sure. Just be sure to be here when I get back." Getting separated again was not high on Lambda's list of things she'd like to try again. Specifically, it was 15th, right above dying (did it count as "again" if it was another Lambda that died?), right below brain freeze, and 14 places below going on a second date with Riku. The list was fairly short, since she hadn't had much time to experience new things.
"...I understand." Riku responded, still feeling guilty about rushing the Dark Corridor and getting Lambda stuck with Phil's True-Hero Torture Training. "I'll be here when you return, and no power Roxas or the Organization can muster will keep me away. I promise."
Lambda gave Riku a quick hug, since he was taller now and wearing that hood, so kissing was out of the question...at least where DiZ could see. "See you soon. I promise." Lambda turned and dashed up the stairs to the outside, and Riku entered the blue beam of DiZ's Virtual Twilight Town Transfer Device (VT3D for short, as Riku could tell looking at the specification sticker above the portal, written in jargon acronyms that Sora could never understand). A column of data sucked him into the virtual world to prepare for Organization XIII's next move.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
The World That Never Was: Grey Area...
"Are you kidding me? That's how they interpreted my order?" Axel only managed to avoid tearing his hair out by reminding himself that he spent a long time getting his hair just right. "Ugh... 'Do it right, do it myself,' but I was hoping to avoid getting this particular icky job..."
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Virtual Twilight Town...
Roxas got the photos back to the Usual Suspects, who seemed surprised that he'd gotten them back so fast. Odd... From Roxas' perspective, the rest of them were just slow. Pence noticed something about the pictures.
"...Right? Every single one. All of them are of Roxas, or at least have Roxas in them."
"So that's why everyone thought it was us! But why would the thief want to steal photos of Roxas?" Olette wondered, then realized what she'd said.
"Hey! You just said 'photo!'" Pence exclaimed.
"I guess that means everything that was stolen can be returned, but how do we prove we weren't the ones who took 'em?" Hayner griped. "Roxas, you sure you couldn't catch the guy?"
"The pictures were just lying there." Not lying quite as hard as Roxas was lying right now, but if he told the gang what really happened, they'd ask to have his head examined. The Keyblade had vanished for now, and Roxas couldn't quite remember how to summon it. Maybe there had to be danger involved, or did he need to already be using a weapon? Snapping back to reality, Roxas reassured everyone. "Don't worry about clearing our names. Seifer told me on the way back that he'll tell everyone about the weird guy...if I never tell anyone how bad I kicked his butt. Not in those exact words, but that was the gist of it." Everyone laughed.
"I guess I was wrong about him," Hayner mused. "Maybe he's not always an insufferable jerk."
"Yeah, just most of the time," Pence laughed. "We'll get him at the Struggle tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'll get the photos back to everyone. Olette, can you take half?"
So the whole mess was sorted out before the Station Tower struck 10 o' clock, which was the agreed-on curfew time for everyone in this world with no concept of "night." Roxas got in bed, and finally let go of the day's weirdness long enough to fall asleep...and experience the weirdness of the dreams again.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
A/N: Sorry, this one's pretty late. It's also really long to make up for it. I seem to have picked up new fans in the interim, so I hope the people who favorited or followed and didn't review still find the rest of the story to their liking!