Chapter 59: Stalling for Proof

Berserkers were a pain, Riku decided very quickly. He wasn't having much trouble getting rid of them, but their attacks hurt. A lot. He was going to have bruises tomorrow, he was sure of that.

However, as he killed the last one and glanced around, he realized it hadn't gone too bad. 37 had only brought three other Replicas with him, instead of the usual five. One of them had been killed, another was currently incapacitated, and the other was nowhere to be found. It was rumored that they had run away.

All that was left was 37.

And, surprisingly, he hadn't even made it to the computer room yet. Alpha was distracting him, currently. Riku let out a long sigh and headed over.

"What's with all the Berserkers?" he asked, causing 37 to turn towards him.

"Saix no longer has the numbers to send five or so of us at once," 37 replied. "And since he has thousands of Berserkers at his disposal, and they are decent fighters, they made a good alternative."

"I'm surprised he didn't think of it sooner," Alpha laughed.

Riku smirked. "So then, 37, you seem to be putting up less than your usual amount of effort," he said. "What's the deal?"

37 scowled. "Well since the area around your computer room has become corridor-proof…" he muttered, trailing off into something that might have been a string of insults.

Alpha grinned. "Well, why don't you just call off the raid?" he taunted. "You've lost this round. Especially considering I'm blocking the only easy way to computer room."

"You do realize I could just corridor past you," 37 replied.

"So why haven't you?" Riku laughed.

"Riku!" came a sudden shout. A dark corridor opened not five feet from them and Namine stumbled forward from it, before running to Riku and throwing her arms around him. She buried her face in his chest, trembling slightly.

He glanced down at her, slightly confused and very worried.

"What's wrong?" he asked. After a moment, though, he couldn't help but add: "You do realize 37's here, right? They know you're here n-"

"They already knew!" Namine said before he could finish.

Riku swallowed, shocked by that. "They… did?" he whispered.

"Of course we did!" came another voice. And to Riku's anger (and horror) a Larxene Replica emerged from the dark corridor. She was grinning.

Riku scowled, protectively wrapping an arm around Namine. His free hand gripped his blade tightly.

"We've known for a while now that she's been here," the Larxene Replica continued with a sneer. "But Saix refused to do anything until we had actual proof. And since none of us had actually seen her." She then laughed. "Of course, that all changes now!"

Namine whimpered slightly.

"Aww!" the Larxene Replica exclaimed. "Is little Namine scared of-"

"Shut up!" Riku shouted, and then glanced down at Namine. "What is it?" he whispered. "What's wrong?"

"Meltdowns have the most ridiculous timing," she mumbled. Her voice was small, scared, and hurt.

"Another one?" he replied, rather annoyed. "Really?"

"Yeah."

Riku glanced up at the Larxene Replica and 37 with a glare in his eyes. Though, the glare was directed more towards the Larxene Replica, despite his disgust that 37 had been stalling just for this.

"Do you want me to do anything?" Alpha asked.

Riku ignored him. "Get behind me," he whispered to Namine. He helped her sit down, as she seemed to be in too much pain to move properly. "Just hang in there, alright? This'll only take a sec." He stood up, shielding her from the Larxene Replica and 37, blade bared.

The Larxene Replica summoned her knives.

Without warning, though, Riku jumped at 37, bringing his blade crashing down. However, 37 simply formed a dark corridor around himself and was gone before the blade ever hit. Riku groaned in annoyance and then turned to slash at the Larxene Replica.

She jumped out of the way, but his blade still managed to do some damage. Not nearly enough damage, though, much to his dismay. She returned this by stabbing him with a knife. It got him in the chest, though it probably didn't do as much damage as she would have liked. The wound was bleeding, but definitely wasn't deep enough to be fatal.

Realizing this, she charged up a bolt of lightning. Riku quickly grabbed her by the wrist and twisted her arm, canceling out the lightning before it got far in forming. He kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying.

Alpha formed a dark corridor for her to fall through.

Riku didn't care to ask where it lead. The moment she was gone, he was at Namine's side.

"Are you alright?" he whispered.

She slowly nodded. "My head hurts…" she replied. "But not in the usual way. It's like the first time, in Twilight Town. It's all just slow… and blurry… and it hurts…" She slowly opened her eyes and attempted to smile at him. "It could be worse, though."

"Don't say that," he laughed, but the laugh was bitter. "Then it will get worse."

"Of course…" she muttered, starting to close her eyes again. She paused though, and frowned. "Riku… you're bleeding!" She seemed as shocked as she usually was, though the statement did have less enthusiasm.

He glanced down at the knife wound in his chest. "Don't worry about it," he laughed. "It's nothing. I've been through worse."

"But, Riku-"

"Hardly a scratch," he assured her. "Nothing worse than the bullet wound."

That got her attention. She pushed herself into a more proper sitting position and glared at him. "What bullet wound?" she demanded, voice frantic.

Riku groaned at his stupidity, realizing he shouldn't have mentioned that, especially not now. He laughed, nervously. "I'll tell you later, promise," he told her. "But right now you don't need to worry about it, okay?"

"Fine," she muttered, and then winced, clutching her head. "But I'm only not arguing cause… I'm having trouble thinking…"

He smiled slightly. "I'll take that," he laughed.

"Shut up," she sighed.

"Sorry," he muttered, and then swallowed. "Are you doing okay?"

"More or less."

"Do you think you can-" he began, and then stopped. "Nevermind." He carefully picked her up. "Come on, let's go to your room." He ignored the look that Alpha was giving them, which looked very similar to the one that the Vexen Replicas got when they wanted to take notes.

"Wait, sir," Alpha called before Riku had formed the dark corridor.

Riku paused. It wasn't often that Alpha actually called him 'sir'.

"Yeah?" he asked, in a tone of voice that clearly said he was not in the mood for this at the moment.

"Well, sir," Alpha began. Riku raised his eyebrows, wondering if Alpha was just calling him sir to put him in a better mood. "I was hoping I could gather some information on the meltdowns-"

Riku's eyes narrowed at that. "No," he replied curtly. "She's already dealing with enough." He formed a dark corridor and was about to step through when-

"Riku…" Namine's small voice said. "This may not be a bad idea. I'm still coherent. It just… it hurts, that's all…" She paused for a second, and then continued. "This may be our only chance."

"Are you sure?" he asked slowly.

She nodded.

Riku sighed and turned back to Alpha. "Alright," he muttered.

Alpha nodded. "Meet me in my office, then," he said, and then formed a dark corridor around himself and was gone.

"Are you positive about this?" Riku asked Namine again.

"Yes," she replied. "If they have to study my meltdowns to figure out what's up and how we can stop them, then I'm all for it. I'm sick of this."

"Are you sure now is the best time, though?"

"What better time than while one's happening?" she laughed. "And as I've said, I'm pretty coherent right now. I'll be able to explain what they feel like, exactly, I guess." She paused again, as if trying to catch her breath. "I can't really remember afterwards. Nothing more than that it hurts."

"Alright," Riku sighed. "If you're sure. But I'm going to carry you."

She didn't bother to come up with an argument for that.