Silver Linings
Chapter 24: "The Organization Will Destroy You."
A/N: I missed the self-imposed monthly deadline...but here it is! Let's get ready for Xigbar and the Absent Silhouettes! Hey, that sounds like a rock band...
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Twilight Town: The Old Mansion...
Riku and Lambda appeared in the front garden of the old mansion, as planned, but Sora wasn't there. Riku groaned. "Lambda, can you figure out where Sora is?"
"Scanning...good, he's still on this world, but he showed up at the Station Plaza instead. Let's get over there."
Riku held out an arm. "Right. Hold on tight."
Lambda grabbed on to the offered limb. "Acknowle-"
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Twilight Town: Station Plaza...
"-Gkk!" Riku's Darkness-enhanced speed covered the distance in less time than it took Lambda to bite her tongue. "Ow..."
Riku yanked his arm out of Lambda's grip in a hurry. "Sorry about that!"
Lambda calmed down and set her auto-repair to fix her tongue. "At least we made it here on time." Sora, Donald, and Goofy were all here, and thankfully they were still in a group.
Sora asked, "Riku, where'd you run off to?"
Riku rolled his eyes. "I should be asking you that. Dark Corridors are dangerous! You all could have gotten separated, lost on the wrong world, or worse!"
"Oh, right. So why do you use them, then?"
"Necessity, mostly." Riku leaned in and whispered to Sora, "And it's a good excuse to hold hands with Lambda."
"You thought so, too?" Lambda called over. "Amplified hearing, remember?"
Riku facepalmed. "Oh, right. Well, the less secrets between us, the better, I guess."
"Then you'll love this!" Xigbar again?!
A Dark Corridor opened near the ramp down to Market Street, admitting Xigbar through. The first thing the sniper did was yell in no particular direction, "Xemnas! Anytime you're ready!"
Seven clouds of grayish...something...formed in a half-circle behind Xigbar. Each anomaly was about twice as large as a Grandstander ball, and each one had a silhouette of a familiar weapon floating inside it.
Xigbar indicated them all with a sweeping gesture. "I'd like you to meet the Absent Silhouettes! See, even 'Nothing' is something, and that's the exotic matter Nobodies are made of. When any of you punks beats a Nobody, their willpower goes who-knows-where, while their Nothing poofs all over the place, leaving it in Xemnas' power.
"He lucked out with getting Nothing as his element - he can gather up the Nothing from a defeated Organization member, stick it back together, and send it out again! Too bad they're mostly mindless shells now, but they actually pack more power than they used to! And the Superior let us break out the big guns by equipping 'Pandora's Gear' weapon Panels! Have fun, kids!"
Xigbar vanished into a space pocket as the Absent Silhouettes morphed into familiar enemies wearing Black Coats. "I'll be watching, so don't die too quickly! Now, everyone take your positions!"
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Twilight Town: Sandlot...
Lambda reappeared in the Sandlot, having been forcibly teleported by Xigbar's space powers. Two of the Absent Silhouettes were there, too. Lambda scanned them. "Target designations: A.S. Number III and A.S. Number XII. No combat data from previous encounters found. Threat levels: both S-tier."
"Whoa, when did you punks get here?" Seifer called from the side of the Sandlot - he and the rest of the Disciplinary Committee were in the middle of training to defend the town when the newcomers arrived.
Lambda looked over and nodded appreciatively at Seifer's much-improved stance and real katana. "Hey, Seifer! Remember me? I fought off the Powered Armor with Riku. Looks like you've been keeping up with your training!"
Fuu picked up a blue chakram which was studded with curled blades designed to look like gusts of wind. "Ready."
Rai smashed his fists together, releasing sparks of Thunder magic. "We've been waiting for something like this, y'know?"
Seifer grinned over his shoulder at his fellow Committee members. "Darn right we have! Fuu, Rai, you take the lady with the weird hair. I'll join Lambda against Dreadlocks over here."
Rai jumped all the way to the other side of the Sandlot and got into a boxing stance. "I got this, y'know?"
Fuu merely nodded, then vanished in a swirl of wind, reappearing slightly behind Rai.
Xigbar's harsh chuckle was heard from somewhere above them. "Okay, have it your way! But no switching up later!" Dark Barriers formed, splitting the Sandlot down the middle and sealing all exits.
Lambda took all this in, then glared at A.S. Number III, the Absent Silhouette of Xaldin. "Summoning Lux Sanctus! IDEA Engine linked! Murakumo, activate!"
Seifer laughed and settled into a ready position on Lambda's right side. "Right on! There's the sword-slinging Lambda I remember! This'll be fun!"
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Fight a battle royale alongside the defenders of Twilight Town!
Defeat all of the Absent Silhouettes!
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Seifer and Lambda: Defeat A.S. Number III (Xaldin)! Find a way to breach his defenses!
"Where's the fun in this?!" A.S. Number III growled, summoning not one, not two, but SIX identical lances. Each one had a red, black, and gold color scheme. Number III grasped two lances in his right hand, one in his left, and set the remaining three lances dancing on wind currents around him. "Wind, guard me!" A swirl of green-glowing wind formed a shield around him, and he floated into the air.
"So they can say phrases that are strongly associated with them...of course, that just means we can read what he's about to do." Lambda smirked under her Cyclopean visor and locked on. "I'll try to smash through his shield. Calamity Sword!" The massive, green sword fell from above Number III, but did no damage. However, it did knock the Absent Silhouette down to ground level.
Seifer dashed forward, katana drawn back for a horizontal swing. "Eh, good enough. Time for me to show off! Zantetsuken!" Seifer suddenly went through a burst of speed, seeming to vanish and reappear behind Number III. "...Gotcha!" The Aero shield around Number III shattered and vanished.
"..." Number III, who was still unharmed, turned to face Seifer. All six of his lances enlarged to twice their original size and circled up around him, pointing straight at Seifer.
"Watch out, Seifer! Act Parcer!" Lambda used her teleport dash, ending up between Seifer and Number III. Her Petal blades came up as a wall to block the incoming lances just in time. The lances and the ex-Nobody all staggered back and hung in midair for an extended moment. Meanwhile, the wind that had been swirling around Number III blew away...reforming around Fuu in the next battlefield over.
"Thanks! One more time - ZANTETSUKEN!" This time, the lunging slice cut Number III clean in half. Both halves dissolved into Nothing and blew away on the wind. Seifer struck a pose. "Nice, huh? I've been training to perfect that move ever since Riku used it last time we saw him! Speaking of Riku, where is he?"
"He's in town, fighting more of those things. Sora's here, too. I wish we could help Fuu and Rai with their fight, so we could get out of here and find them."
Seifer waved off Lambda's concerns and turned to watch the fight on the other side of the Sandlot. "No worries. The Committee is a bit overspecialized, but this particular match-up makes it pay off!"
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Rai and Fuu: Defeat A.S. Number XII (Larxene)! Outsmart and overpower her!
Fuu and Rai quickly learned that A.S. Number XII's elaborately-decorated kunai knives were charged with lightning, making it dangerous to block them. On the other hand, that same lightning made all of the A.S.'s attacks nearly useless against Rai. The big guy had taken to Thunder magic like a bird to the sky, even though other magic types still didn't make any sense to him. Number XII's electricity only charged him up.
The Disciplinary Committee's brains and brawn quickly established a pattern: Fuu baited Number XII into attacking, then ducked behind Rai, who smacked the A.S. aside. Then Fuu would move in for a quick hit with her chakram and duck back out of the way of Number XII's retaliation. Lather, rinse, repeat. A mindless target like this couldn't avoid having her pattern exploited!
This pattern was working fine until Number XII growled, "You're getting on my nerves!" She then split into two clones and switched up her attack pattern. Rai punched one, but it simply vanished; three more clones appeared around him, then lunged in unison to deliver some nasty cuts. The lightning charging those kunai allowed Rai to buffer most of the damage, but Fuu wasn't so lucky; standing behind Rai didn't help much when he was surrounded. Fuu wasn't the type to respond to pain (or anything else), though - she took the blow like a champ and kept a red eye out for the real Number XII.
One of the clones was simply standing off to the side, watching the fight; Fuu lunged toward it, only for all the clones to simultaneously disappear. Five clones reappeared in a line for another lunge. Fuu jumped over the surging clones, and Rai swept two of them aside with his beefy arm, but there seemed to be no end to this.
"These clones keep coming, y'know? We need a plan, y'know?"
"Tornado." Fuu tapped into her magic (which was as aligned with Aero as Rai's was with Thunder) and threw her chakram, surrounding it with a massive tornado. Fuu jumped up and perched on Rai's shoulders, where she concentrated on controlling the gale. Sand, bits of wood, and all the clones of Number XII were sucked into the vortex and pulled together, fusing the clones back together and leaving only the original, who started being battered by the swirling debris. At that moment, wind from Number III began to swirl around Fuu's feet, obscuring Rai's vision.
Rai whipped his head left and right, nearly dislodging Fuu from her perch. "What's goin' on, Fuu? I can't see anything, y'know?"
Fuu jumped off Rai's shoulders, looked over at the other battlefield, and made eye contact with Seifer and Lambda. "Thanks." Fuu channeled the wind swirling around her to speed up, then leaped straight at her own tornado, which she could maintain while moving for now. She caught the chakram inside and spun with it, assailing Number XII with kicks and slices.
"Don't leave me behind, y'know? Time for some good, old-fashioned punching, y'know?" Rai punched the ground with a Thunder-charged fist, launching himself forward. Then he slammed the other, uncharged fist into Number XII's face. The Absent Silhouette was slammed into the wall of the Sandlot, where she slumped to the ground and faded away into Nothing.
Rai punched the air. "Yeah, we got one, y'know?"
Fuu nodded and gave Rai a rare smile. "Teamwork."
The Dark Barriers around the Sandlot fell. Seifer pointed toward Tram Common. "C'mon! There are more of those things out there, and all of them need a stern reprimand from the Disciplinary Committee! Lambda, you can be an honorary member."
Lambda giggled. "I'll pass, but thanks for the offer. Scanning...it looks like there are fights going on in Tram Common and in the woods. We'll have to go through Tram Common first."
Rai ran off ahead. "Then let's go, y'know? I wonder if Vivi got caught up in it, y'know?" The rest of the Committee (and Lambda) followed.
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The battle royale continues in Tram Common - keep going!
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Vivi: Defeat Lexaeus! Magic over muscle!
Indeed, Vivi was caught in a battle against A.S. Number V, the remnant of Lexaeus. The young Black Mage was alone, which seemed like a positively unfair fight. Or it would have been, if Number V could ever come close to landing a hit on Vivi.
The kid was all over the place with nimble dodges. He cartwheeled out of the way of an overhead slice and responded with Gravity magic. This had no real effect on Number V, who swung his oddly-shaped, giant tomahawk, "Cardinal Virtue", diagonally upward as he turned. Vivi enlarged his Mage's Staff (of the same generic make as Donald's favored weapon) and blocked, staggering the Absent Silhouette.
While the A.S. pulled its existence back together, Vivi charged a massive Fire spell. In a squeaky voice that didn't see much use, he called out, "Mega Flare!"
Lambda took note of the way the other Disciplinarians ducked and covered their heads as a large, round fireball floated toward Number V. "Is this spell THAT powerful?"
A second later, Lambda's question was answered. Yes. Yes it was. Only the Dark Barrier around Vivi's battle contained the blast, and the barrier shattered under the power of the spell. Every inch of the enclosed space was bathed in intense flames; Lambda's analysis showed a uniform temperature of 9,999 Kelvins. Needless to say, A.S. Number V did not survive the attack.
Vivi turned toward Seifer, and despite the Black Mage's face being totally obscured in shadow, he clearly wore the cutest little grin of pride Lambda had ever seen. "Did you see that, Seifer? I beat him!" Vivi waddled over to the other Disciplinarians, but stumbled as he got close; that spell had drained all his mana, and he was left very tired.
Seifer bent down to catch the little mage as he tripped over his big shoes. "Great work, Vivi. Get some rest; you've earned it."
Rai clapped the mage on the back as he passed. "How did little Vivi get so tough, y'know?"
"Practice." Fuu had seen the boy practicing spells in the tunnels before, growing more powerful every time she saw him. Since no one had asked her where Vivi went sometimes, she certainly hadn't volunteered to talk about it.
Looking ahead, Lambda noticed Zexion's book floating in midair all by itself inside another Dark Barrier. Her scans couldn't find Riku; he had to be in Zexion's illusory world. But there was another battle between Lambda and the book.
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Pence and Lambda: Defeat A.S. Number IV (Vexen)! Turn the tables with new tricks!
Pence, the short, stocky member of the Usual Suspects, was caught in a battle against A.S. Number IV, the remnant of Vexen. Lambda noticed the Absent Silhouette had set a familiar targeting circle under Pence's feet. Lambda called out a warning. "Watch out! He's gathering data on how to beat you! Come to think of it, how do you even fight?"
Pence merely grinned back at her. "I dunno who you are, but watch and learn! This just means I have time to make the final adjustments..." He picked up one end of a cylindrical device at his feet and started messing with it with a screwdriver.
Lambda was justifiably more worried than Pence. "If this goes like when I fought Vexen, the data isn't what that kid needs to worry about yet. I wish I could punch through this barrier to help..."
Rai barked out a laugh. "Ha! If you need something punched, I'm your man, y'know? THUNDER PUNCH, Y'KNOW?" Rai slugged the Dark Barrier at full force with a right straight punch charged with lightning, granting him incredible strength (and dealing Thunder damage, of course). The barrier bent inward and broke in a jagged patch.
"Act Parcer! Thanks, Rai!" Lambda teleport dashed through the hole before Xigbar could seal it back up.
"Don't mention it, y'know?" Rai waved Lambda off.
Seifer rallied his crew together. "We'll see to the safety of the people. You can handle it from here, right?"
Lambda couldn't respond - she'd gotten between Number IV and his target, broken Number IV's line of sight, and had been frozen in the Usual Suspect's stead by Vexen's reincarnated ice powers. Lambda was left encased in a block of ice twice her size, just like the time she'd fought Vexen in Castle Oblivion.
Brr...it's cold, and I can't move! But I won't let this jerk stop me so easily a second time! Defining custom targeting algorithm...Calamity Sword!
Without moving or speaking (at least, she couldn't be heard through the ice), Lambda created a wormhole over her own head, dropping a large sword on the iceberg surrounding her. The attack didn't fall all the way to the ground this time, so it didn't hurt Lambda, but it did free her head and torso.
"Editing attack path...Sickle Storm!" A wave of Lambda's hand created a spinning saw that sheared the outermost parts of the iceberg away as it traced a tight circle around her, leaving the ice thin enough for her to shatter it completely with Murakumo's enhanced strength.
Number IV had switched his data-collection target to Lambda during the interesting display of her powers. "Data collection successful! Come forth, Anti-Lambda!" Number IV's new shield, "Aegis" (which would have had far too many holes to be practical as a defense if not for its magic), glowed blue for a moment, and a black orb formed in front of the shield. In the space of two seconds, the orb took the shape of Lambda, creating a pitch-black copy of the 11th Prime Field Device with a single yellow eye where Murakumo's visor would be.
Pence spoke up from behind Lambda. "There, the modifications are done! Thanks for the distraction! Now let's see how this 'Anti-Lambda' likes my StreetSweeper 3000!"
Lambda face-faulted. "You named it 'StreetSweeper 3000?' Seriously, what kind of name is - ack! Attack evaded." Number IV merely stood there, grating on everyone's ears with an infuriating cackle, but Anti-Lambda dashed forward with a perfect mimic of Lambda's Act Parcer Zwei: Blade move. The real Lambda was forced to jump sideways to dodge the attack.
"Hey - don't hate, innovate! Aaand click!" Pence hefted his cylinder, pointing a hole at the end at Anti-Lambda. An intense vortex took hold of the dark copy, sucking it into the cylinder and swallowing the fake Lambda whole. On the side of the device, three yellow lights blinked on.
"Okay, let's see what we've got here... Legacy Edge!" Pence pulled a trigger. One of the three indicator lights turned off, and a green wormhole formed in front of the StreetSweeper's barrel. Forty small daggers launched toward Number IV, but any blade that would have hit him merely pinged off of Aegis as it hovered in front of the Absent Silhouette. Even the daggers that should have gone through the holes in the shield's design were deflected.
"Darn. Well, let's try this one. Calamity Sword!" Pence aimed above Number IV's head and pulled the trigger again. Another indicator light turned off. This time, a wormhole formed over Number IV's head and dropped a large green sword right onto his entirely unprotected noggin.
As he was shoved to the ground, Number IV made a vocalization that sounded like a cross between a little girl squealing and a turkey squawking. Lambda couldn't help but laugh out loud at the hilarious sound of ex-Vexen in pain. "Nice work! I guess the StreetSweeper 3000 isn't such a dumb device after all!"
Pence grinned. "Yep, I designed it to suck up a Heartless and use up the Darkness that formed the monster to launch up to three of its attacks. The attacks are voice-activated, of course, because it's cooler that way!"
Lambda nodded sagely. "I agree, calling your attacks is cool...well, unless the enemy can predict your attacks by their names."
Pence leveled the StreetSweeper at Number IV's shield. "Don't worry, this guy's just a mindless shell. Now I'll put those last-minute adjustments into effect and suck up objects made of Nothing! First, I'll get rid of the old ammo..." The StreetSweeper's final indicator light blinked off as the last bit of Darkness from Anti-Lambda was expelled through a side vent.
"Aaand click!" Aegis was sucked into the StreetSweeper's barrel, leaving Number IV defenseless. "I doubt his own attacks will do anything but heal him. Can you finish him off...um, I guess your name is Lambda? I'm Pence, by the way." Icy mist blew out of the StreetSweeper's vents as Pence discarded the Nothing that used to make up Aegis.
Lambda laid a hand on the ground. "Nice to meet you, Pence! Spike Chaser!" A row of summoned swords burst from wormholes along the pavement, knocking Number IV into the air. "Eins...Zwei...Drei...Vier...Funf...Sechs...Sieben...Acht...Crescent Saber!" After counting off eight hits from Sword Summoner EX (in German!), Lambda leapt into the air and delivered a heavy downward slash with a curved blade.
Number IV hit the ground in front of Pence, who casually laid the end of the StreetSweeper 3000 on the empty shell's face. "Time to finish this! Aaand CLICK!" Number IV was sucked into the device headfirst. All that was left of the Absent Silhouette was a few wisps of smoke and icy vapor ejected from Pence's marvel of science. The Dark Barrier fell. "I think I'm all set for the school Science Fair this year, don't you, Lambda?"
Lambda "No kidding! Hey, do all scientists say that 'Aaand click!' phrase? I know another lady who does that."
Pence rubbed his neck bashfully. "Well, you have to admit it's fun to say. And what language was that, anyway? Nah, it doesn't matter. I'll clear the next barrier for you - you wanted to help the guy who got sucked into that book, right, Lambda?"
Lambda was impressed; she'd thought she was being subtle about her motives for going through all these fights in a straight line. "Yep, you figured me out. I can't let the shell that illusionist keep my boyfriend!"
"You're into the tall, dark, and angsty type, huh, Lambda? Whatever floats your boat... Aaand CLICK!" Pence pressed the StreetSweeper 3000 against the next Dark Barrier and pulled it in, hexagon by hexagon.
"I would be offended, but there's no time for that right now. I'm coming, Riku!" Lambda jumped over a row of flying hexagons and brought the blade attached to her right wrist down onto A.S. Number VI's fancy new lexicon, titled "Radical Treatise".
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Riku: Defeat A.S. Number VI (Zexion)! Track down the boss' real location!
While Lambda was tearing through other Absent Silhouettes, Riku was kept busy with just A.S. Number VI. Riku knew how to sniff through Zexion's illusions, but it still took a moment to pin down the enemy's location, and Number VI liked to teleport.
Meanwhile, huge swarms of books kept forming around Riku, growing sharp jaws from their pages, and biting at the dark warrior. The flesh-eating books were just illusions, and Riku definitely knew it, but they still hurt like the real deal inside this illusory pocket realm. Riku couldn't afford to get bogged down in taking the books out one by one. He needed a better tactic...
Wait, of course! "Dark Barrage! Um...gotta come up with a better way to say it... Dark Barrage PLUS!" Riku summoned as many Soul Eater copies as he could in the space above his head, fanned out in all directions. Then he summoned even more swords, expanding a tightly-packed ball of sharp edges further and further. "More...more...more! And now... Tear apart!" All the swords sped in the directions they were facing, filling the entire illusion-world with sharp, stabby death, except for a very small radius around Riku.
Number VI grunted in pain; his invisibility was dispelled after he was pinned to the cloud-like floor of the area beneath no less than five Soul Eaters. Riku flash-stepped to the downed A.S. and delivered the coup de grace.
"R-Riku...why?" A female voice? The illusion of Zexion morphed into Lambda, then went still as death.
Riku just growled and lunged in the direction of another invisible target, standing right where Riku had been when he launched Dark Barrage Plus. He cut through a solid object, and the illusory Lambda vanished behind him. "Nice try, bastard. You won't make me doubt myself ever again!"
The A.S. became visible and fell to his knees, clutching a fatal wound in his side. "How did you find me? It's NOT POSSIBLE!" His scream poured out along with his fading existence. But the illusory world didn't shatter.
Riku looked around. "That's that. But how do I get out of here?"
"I'm coming, Riku!" Riku heard a tearing sound, and then everything went white.
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Tram Common...
Riku pushed himself off the ground back in Twilight Town. Lambda was standing over him, unarmored. She asked in a concerned tone, "Are you okay, dear? Did you beat the Absent Silhouette? Also, do you need some rest? I dismissed Murakumo to take a breather for a moment. There are only two Absent Silhouettes left; both of them are in the woods outside town."
Riku gave Lambda a confident thumbs-up. "Yes, yes, and no. Sora's got to be fighting the other two shells. We need to catch up to him."
Lambda realized what Riku meant by catch up. "...Please don't yank my arm so hard again."
Riku chuckled. "Just brace yourself; I'll do the rest." Lambda linked her arms tightly around Riku's waist...
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The Woods...
...One flash-step later, Riku and Lambda reappeared in the woods, but they were left sprawled on the ground after running headlong into another Dark Barrier while traveling at the speed of Darkness.
Riku rubbed his sore head. "Ow. Sorry, Lambda. I tried."
Lambda rubbed her sore everything. "It wasn't your fault this time, dear. Still, this barrier seems tougher than the others..."
"That's 'cause I don't need to split my attention as much! I only have one eye to keep on you, after all. Well, 'see' ya soon! If the last two Absent Silhouettes are anything like the others, I'll need to be ready for my next trick." Xigbar again.
"Your 'next trick?'" Riku called.
"What, you expect me to tell you before I do it, so you can 'do something about it'? As if! You might as well just watch the show for now..." Xigbar was silent again, save for an echoing chuckle.
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Donald and Goofy: Defeat A.S. Number IX (Demyx)! Can you still win without Sora?
Behind the Dark Barrier, Donald and Goofy were trapped with A.S. Number IX, the remnant of Demyx. Sora was trapped in another barrier and another battle further ahead, and no amount of pounding on the clear wall would let Donald and Goofy reach him.
Goofy kept pounding. "Gawrsh, what do we do, Donald?"
Donald turned around and glared at the Absent Silhouette. "We just need to beat him, that's all!"
"Can we do that without Sora...?" Goofy hesitantly raised his shield against the blond musician, who was strumming his new sitar, "Sanctuary", preparing for an attack of some sort.
"C'mon, Goofy! We're the King's strongest and most loyal subjects! My magic can beat this jerk, and he can't beat your shield!" Donald raised his staff. "THUNDER!"
A bolt of lightning crashed down on Number IX, dealing heavy damage and messing up his hair even more than usual. But just like the original Demyx, he proved surprisingly tough - he hadn't stopped playing his sitar, and the next attack was ready. "Dance, water, dance!" A crowd of water clones split off from Number IX, surrounding Donald and Goofy. Meanwhile, a countdown timer appeared above Number IX's head: 60 seconds to Doom, and 60 forms to defeat.
Goofy spun around with his signature Goofy Tornado, but it only took out a few of the clones. "I don't think I can beat 'em all in time!"
Donald ran at Goofy and jumped on his shoulders. "I've got a plan! Lemme on!"
"You got it, Donald!" Goofy stopped spinning and blocked an attack from a water clone.
Donald linked his mana to Goofy's. Goofy had a lot of innate mana, but no training in magic, leaving him with a surplus of energy that he couldn't fully tap into on his own. Thus, he made the perfect partner for Donald's partner-requiring spell, Duck Flare.
"DUCK FLARE!" Donald pulled from Goofy's mana and summoned hundreds of little fireworks, easily enough to destroy all the clones at once and then some. The remaining rockets all exploded against Number IX, pushing him into the air bit by bit with each little blast. When all the clones were destroyed, Donald retargeted all the rockets that were still flying and all the ones he was still in the process of creating. "MEGADUCK FLARE!" Number IX was covered in a colorful burst of fire.
"And just for good measure... GIGADUCK FLARE!" Donald put a new finishing touch on the move - he poured all of his own mana into a single, massive rocket, which was sent right into the smoke cloud left behind by Megaduck Flare. Number IX was still in there, and took a direct hit. After the spectacular grand finale, the smokescreen faded away to Nothing, followed by a short rainfall. The battle was over.
"We did it!" Goofy bounced up and down and waved his arms, with Donald still on his shoulders and doing the same.
The Dark Barrier went down, allowing Riku and Lambda to join the group, but Sora was still behind the other barrier, fighting A.S. Number XI. The remnant of Marluxia was arguably the toughest one.
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Sora: Defeat A.S. Number XI (Marluxia)! Don't ever forget where your power comes from!
Sora had been caught in this battle since Xigbar teleported everyone. Number XI had appeared just behind him, and he whispered some profane spell in Sora's ear. By the time Sora got over his shock (and the revolting violation of his personal space), a number 55 had appeared over the Keyblade hero's head. Marluxia was now in front of him, twirling a massive, black-and-gold scythe with a pink handle inscribed with the name "Hallowed Lotus".
"Do you want to scream?" Number XI summoned flying drones that looked like closed-up roses. The drones circled Sora and prepared to fire lasers, but Sora destroyed them all at once with a flashy spin attack he liked to call Vicinity Break.
"Which beaten Organization member are you, anyway? I don't remember fighting you!"
Xigbar's infuriating laugh resounded in the arena. "Aw, don't tell me you forgot! Of course; what am I saying? You threw away those memories. That time must not have meant very much to you."
Sora's eyes widened as Number XI's scythe came down on him in an overhand slice. Sora caught it on the Kingdom Key, but struggled to overcome the strength of Castle Oblivion's lord. "No...no, I don't believe you. All of my memories are precious! If I had to give some of them up, there must have been a good reason. And I'll remember that reason someday, just you wait!"
"As if! You might as well thank me for reminding you, though. I'll get in line...right after her."
"Her? Who are you...?"
"It doesn't matter who she was. You can't remember her, so she might as well never have existed to you. Besides, don't you have a fight you should be losing right now?"
"Your heart shall be judged!" Number XI overpowered Sora's defense, pushing the boy back enough to bring his scythe down on the ground. The blow sent out a shockwave in a straight line that exploded into a wall of pink energy.
Sora did a Dodge Roll to get out of the way of the blast, mentally kicking himself for forgetting this eminently useful technique until he had unlocked Limit Form during his previous visit to Twilight Town. How many other important things had he forgotten? Was Xigbar right?
"Sora, are you okay?" That was Riku's voice! Sora chanced a look backward to see Riku, Lambda, Donald, and Goofy. They were all safe and sound, and they were all rooting for him from the other side of the barrier. He had been worried when Donald and Goofy were trapped with another Absent Silhouette, but from the water dripping off of Donald's zipper-covered hat, they had defeated the Demyx copy themselves.
"I'm fine!" Sora lunged at Number XI, only for the A.S. to dissolve into a bunch of petals and reform behind him. A cut from the scythe hit Sora in the back, knocking him into the air, where Number XI appeared behind him again. The attacks didn't hurt, but each hit made the number over Sora's head count down. And Marluxia showed no signs of stopping. 50...45...40...
Donald yelped, "You gotta break out of that combo, Sora!"
Sora tried to recover his balance and strike back, but he was too slow, and took another hit. "I...can't!"
Goofy covered his eyes. "This isn't good!"
Lambda worriedly remarked, "I don't want to find out what happens when that counter hits zero..."
Riku furrowed his brow in silence, but then put on a confident smirk. "Giving up already? C'mon, Sora! I thought you were stronger than that!"
Lambda picked up the morale-raising speech. "Yeah! I know you are! Look around; all your friends won their fights already! And we're counting on you to win yours!"
Sora heard all this while taking more hits. 35...30...25...10... "You're right!" He finally recovered in time to flip around the next attack, causing Number XI to stop his combo.
"My friends are stronger than these guys! All of you are! And I'll never forget what that means to me. After all, my friends...ARE MY POWER!" A burst of Light heralded Sora's activation of Limit Form, returning him to the red, white, and blue colors he wore during his first adventure.
"With all your strength behind me, I can win for sure! Ragnarok!" A swarm of orange magic bolts swirled from the tip of Sora's Keyblade, tracking Number XI with their strong homing ability when the Absent Silhouette tried to teleport again.
"You think you can get away with trying to hurt my friends? They won't let you - and I won't, either! Sonic Blade!" While Number XI was being battered by Ragnarok, Sora blurred past him with six lunging strikes.
"They're all cheering me on! We all want the same thing! Strike Raid!" Sora's Sonic Blade finished with him a short distance away from Number XI, but he kept up the assault by throwing his Keyblade and re-summoning it, only to throw it again and again. "If you want to judge my heart, you'll need a heart and mind of your own first! Judgment!" Sora leaped into the air and threw his Keyblade one more time; it split into three disks of Light and cut through Number XI from three directions.
"When our hearts are as one, we're unbeatable! Ars Arcanum!" Sora flew into a series of blindingly-fast combos. "This is for messing with my memories back then! This is for messing with my head with your stupid speeches! This is for attacking my friends! This is for kidnapping Kairi! And THIS is for getting in my way when I'm trying to rescue her!" Number XI had already taken lethal damage several hits ago, but Sora's last blow certainly made the Absent Silhouette's destruction look impressive. A pair of slashes glowed in an X shape across Number XI's chest as Sora made a three-point landing behind him, holding the Keyblade out to his side, and then the enemy exploded into a shower of rose petals and thorns of Nothing.
Sora's outfit returned to its normal color with a brief white glow, and the hero of the Keyblade got back to his feet as the last Dark Barrier vanished.
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Twilight Town: The Woods...
Riku stared in awe at what Sora was capable of when he got serious. "Well, I'm impressed. Sora, the score's 1 to 0 for today - your favor! Oh, and Lambda, give yourself a point for getting me out of that book. And another for the speech; that was pretty inspiring!"
"Acknowledged. Scores updated. Our scores just tied again at 9 to 9!"
Sora put his arms behind his head and grinned. "Cool, I'm finally winning for the first time in more than a year! But we do need to keep moving. Um...why did we come here again, Riku?"
Oh, right. They did return to Twilight Town for a reason. "There's something we need to find in the old mansion. It'll help us get into Organization XIII's stronghold."
Xigbar growled from his hidden vantage point. "Not so fast, punks! But how to...Aha! I'll just call in a favor!"
A Time break formed in the middle of the old mansion's front courtyard, and a man with green hair and black clothes fell out.
Hazama stood up and dusted off his formal slacks. "Who dumped me here? You got my suit dirty! ...Oh, if it isn't a huge group of wannabe heroes, including that big-talking punk from before! You just want me to mess with a bunch of dumb heroes? Never mind what I just said; this is like my birthday, Doomsday, and Ragna's head on a spike all rolled into one!"
"You can say that again!" The same voice called out as a second man stepped out of the Time Break. This one had identical features to Hazama, but wore a yellow cloak with a hood that obscured the upper half of his face. Only one yellow eye was visible under the shadow of the hood. Both versions of Yuuki Terumi pulled out pairs of butterfly knives and twirled them around.
"Yep, you got the right idea. Consider it payment for the notes I passed you on the Power of Darkness. I gotta go for now; it looks like bringing over such strong beings by force opened a bunch of other Time Breaks all around town, so this party is about to get exciting again! Hope you're not ready for round two, punks!"
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A/N: [Quote from Pokemon: The Movie 2000]: "I...have failed." I missed the deadline. Hopefully, this chapter is cool enough to make up for it. The "round two" Xigbar mentioned will have a lot of BlazBlue guest fighters, but that's next chapter. Don't worry, I'm too hyped to slow down too much yet. Like the fight with Xion back in Chapter 9, I think the next chapter will reach you really quickly.