AN/ magik wrote Vexen's research, as always.

Chapter 95: A Weapon

"I just kept getting sidetracked, that's all!" Joseph said, frantically, still trying to squirm away from 29. "I mean, nothing bad happened! I might have gotten a bruise, but nothing worse! Two very nice people showed up and helped me out! And then I bought them ice cream! It was a fair deal! Besides, I wouldn't have even gotten into that mess if you would just let me learn how to fight!"

"It's too dangerous," 29 told him, firmly, letting go of his ear. He winced and rubbed it.

"Well, I have a nasty habit of attracting trouble," he pointed out rather plainly. "And if I don't know how to fight, then I can't protect myself, and then I'm going to eventually get hurt! And it's not like I have to learn a lot of fighting stuff! Just enough so I can defend myself when I've got five Berserkers after me!"

29 frowned, thinking about it. Joseph stared at him expectantly, excitement growing within him. 29 was making the face he did when he was about to agree to something.

"Maybe Riku could teach you something…" he muttered.

Joseph snorted. "Like Riku's going to want to teach me how to fight!"

"I'm not sure if he'd be able to, anyway," Vexen said, glancing over at them from a nearby couch. "I programmed him to know how to fight using the original Riku's battle data. I'm not sure if he'd understand how to teach someone else since he wasn't actually taught how to fight, himself."

"Besides," Joseph added. "Even if he could and was willing to teach me, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be able to help Toby. And if I'm gonna learn how to fight, then Toby should learn how to fight, too. Or, at least how to better control whatever the heck it is he does…" Joseph paused, and then frantically turned around. "Where is he, anyway! Wasn't he right behind-" He stopped when he saw Toby talking to, of all people, Namine, and then let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, good, he's not being completely anti-social, and he can't really get into trouble talking to Namine."

Vexen sat up straighter and then adjusted his glasses, almost as if he were trying to get a better look at Toby.

"Is that another experiment?" he asked.

Joseph nodded.

"I thought you were the only one!"

Joseph threw his hands into the air. "I thought so too! Then I found him!"

"And where exactly did you find him?" 29 asked.

"In a closet." He sighed and shook his head. "Boy I'm lucky my star shard dropped me off where it did. Otherwise I would never have found him! That would've been-"

"Alpha!" 2 gasped, as Amaryllis came through the corridor with Alpha slung over his shoulder.

The room slowly went silent.

"He's not…" 2 began, slowly, staring. "He wasn't-"

Amaryllis quickly shook his head. "He's just unconscious. Got interrupted in the middle of a rather large illusion."

2 winced sympathetically.

"Don't even know why he was bothering with it in the first place…" Amaryllis muttered, and then laid Alpha down on an empty couch.

Joseph quickly ducked past him and hurried over to where Namine and Toby were, knowing that Riku would step through the dark corridor any second now, and, well…

"Whatcha talking about?" he asked, leaning casually against the couch.

"You," Toby replied.

Namine laughed.

Joseph raised his eyebrows.

"Seriously?"

"Well, not specifically you," Toby admitted, saying "specifically" a bit weird, like he wasn't quite used to saying the word. "But we were talking about-"

"What are you guys talking about?" Riku asked, walking over.

Toby swallowed his sentence and hesitantly took a step away from Riku. Joseph raised his eyebrows upon noticing this, then rolled his eyes. Toby smiled apologetically.

Namine beamed up at Riku. "I was just asking Toby-" she paused, then glanced over at Toby. "It is Toby, right?"

He nodded.

She smiled and turned back to Riku, the grin on her face widening. "I was just asking Toby if he knew how things went. That's about as far as we got, though, because he wasn't there for most of it."

Riku shook his head. "Not anywhere around me, anyway," he said. "He did save me from an icicle, though."

"Really?" Namine asked, and then turned to Toby again. "How brave of you!" She ruffled his hair. He grimaced and shoved her hand away.

Joseph snorted and turned to Riku, who was regarding Toby with something that was almost a glare. He chuckled to himself, and then elbowed Riku in the ribs.

"Hey, jealous-boy!" he laughed. "She's a girl! Give her about ten minutes and she'll be over it!"

"Hmm?" Riku asked, turning to Joseph, looking rather confused.

Joseph didn't have the chance to explain.

"Toby!" someone exclaimed.

Everyone turned to find, of all Vexen Replicas, 23. He was regarding Toby with a rather curious expression; something between shock and disgust. Joseph frowned, not really liking the look. It reminded him too much of Saix.

Toby frowned, too.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"What-"

"Actually," 29 interrupted, rather loudly. "I think we'd all like an explanation about why Toby's here. No offense, 23, I'm sure whatever you had to say was important, but I also think it can wait a bit until we get an explanation. Joseph?"

Joseph made a face at 29.

"What do you want me to explain?" he asked, laughing slightly.

"Where you found me, probably," Toby muttered. Joseph cast a glance at him, a tad surprised. He was now standing next to him, a bit nervously. Obviously, Toby didn't seem to be fond of being in the spotlight.

"Shouldn't you explain the deal with-"

Toby quickly shook his head.

Joseph sighed.

"Well, I was trying to take down the chandelier in the Grey Area, but it was held up by some really elaborate fixtures, so I figured I'd see if I could find a screwdriver or something so I could undo the fixtures, and while I was looking for a screwdriver I found Toby. He was in some closet because Saix didn't kill him and had shoved him there to keep him out of the way, yeah?"

Toby nodded.

"Then we went and crashed the chandelier, Saix yelled at us, and we ran to find you," Joseph said, and then shook his head, confused. "How does this explain anything?"

"Every bit of information helps," 29 assured him.

"What was that fire blast thing that you shot at 37?" Riku asked, turning to Toby. He had sat down next to Namine sometime while Joseph was explaining. "And, more importantly, why didn't you shoot L?"

"It's got lightning in it," Toby explained quietly. "It wouldn't have hurt her. Y'see, I can't do fire alone for some reason. I can do lightning alone, and fire and lightning together, but not fire alone. It's annoying. 'Specially 'cause lightning's really feisty and unpredictable."

"So the boy was found in a closet and can control fire and lightning…" Amaryllis said, slowly. "What does that tell us?"

"He's a Weapon," 23 muttered.

Everyone turned to him again, confused.

"That's what I was going to say before 29 so rudely interrupted me…" 23 continued, and shook his head. "I don't know why he's still around, though. He's dangerous. Saix should've killed him the moment he first saw him, unless he really doesn't understand just how unstable Weapons-"

"I'm not a Weapon!" Toby snapped, his voice shaking with anger. "I'm a boy! And I don't get how I'm unstable, either! I just can't really control my lightning all the time, that's all!"

"What's a Weapon?" Joseph asked. He had never heard of such a thing before, and he'd even been through most of Master Vexen's computer files. Plus, he was having trouble understanding how in the Worlds Toby would be one of them.

"A special brand of experiments that Master Vexen tried to create," 23 explained, still glaring at Toby. "They would be able to control the abilities of more than one Organization member, making them much more powerful than your typical Replica. Don't know why he wanted to make them all kids, though…" He shook his head in disgust.

"23…" 19 said, warningly.

"Toby is one of the two that succeeded," 23 continued, ignoring 19. "Jill was the other one."

"I remember Jill!" Joseph exclaimed, and then grimaced. "She wasn't very nice, though. Saix killed her first, I think. She was throwing a fit the entire time." He shuddered at the memory.

19 turned to 23, confused.

"How do you know all of this?"

"Because I almost got stuck with Jill!" 23 replied, bitterly. "I managed to shove the responsibility onto 38, though."

"What was so bad about her?" Namine asked.

"Think about what you just asked for a second," 23 said. "Her. She had to have had enough data from a female to even be a girl, and who was the only female member of the Organization?"

"Lar- oh…"

"Yup. She was a nasty little brat. It's no wonder Saix killed her, even if she wasn't a Weapon."

"What's so bad about being a Weapon!" Toby demanded. Joseph turned to him, surprised by the anger in his voice. He hadn't seen Toby angry yet, and he was starting to think that that was a good thing. Toby was downright shaking with his anger, his hands clenched tightly into fists, his eyes forming a terrible glare. Electricity was sparking at his fingertips, like he was about to lash out.

"That!" 23 said, firmly. "Look at you! You can't even keep your lightning under control!"

"It's because he's angry!" Joseph found himself shouting. He was slightly surprised at his outburst, but not much. 23 was starting to become annoying.

"And why do want to keep a kid who can't control himself when he's upset! I'd rather not have to-"

"Shut up!" Riku shouted, rising to his feet and positioning himself between 23 and Toby, drawing his blade as he did so. Joseph noticed he kept a good distance away from Toby, though, probably due to the lightning. "You're antagonizing him! Of course he's upset!"

23 took a step back.

"Do you think I'm completely crazy about having a little boy who can't control his lightning staying around here!" Riku continued, voice angry. "I'm not! But it's probably much better than him staying with the Organization, and it's not like-"

19 stepped between Riku and 23.

"Banish your blade."

His eyes were forming a glare, but there was patience in his voice.

Riku blinked a few times, looking rather shocked.

"19," 23 sighed. "I don't need-"

"23, I think you've said enough. Riku, I understand that you're trying to make a point, but you do not need to be so threatening while doing so. Banish your blade."

Riku stared a moment more, and then banished his blade.

"Sorry…" he muttered. "Habit."

19 nodded, and then took a few steps away from 23.

"You were saying?"

Riku cleared his throat.

"I was saying that- that it's not like it's really Toby's fault," he said, slowly, sounding like he was having trouble getting back into the rant he had started. "He didn't choose to be a Weapon. Getting mad at him just because he is one is kind of pointless! So far, in the ten minutes I've known him, he's proven to be a nice kid. Give him a chance."

23 stared for a moment, muttered something unintelligible, and then turned and walked off.

"Thank you," Toby whispered.

Riku turned to him, confused. He blinked a few times, and then nodded.

"Yeah, sure," he said, and then sat back down next to Namine.

"Don't worry about Riku," Joseph laughed, noticing the strange look on Toby's face. "He's like this sometimes." He grinned then, wickedly. "You should see him when he's around Namine," he added, quietly.

Toby smiled.

"Do I want to?"

Joseph burst out laughing.

"Hey, 29?" he said, turning. "Can I take Toby to get some ice cream? I think he needs some."

29 frowned.

"What about the Berserkers…?"

"I think I should be able to handle them, sir," Toby said, smiling slightly. "Or, at least long enough so that we could get away."

"Please?" Joseph added.

29 sighed.

"Go on."

Joseph grinned, opened a dark corridor, and then dragged Toby through.

xxx

Vexen Report

I really need to be able to see the reports of the Original Master Vexen here. I might be able to decipher some of the stuff that even his Replicas don't know. Because I know I didn't tell mine everything. Nothing against them or anything, but there are certain things that only some know, and certain things that none know. This new boy, Toby, I want to be able to study him-just a bit. Maybe I can see if there's anything I can do about the fact that he can't completely separate his lightning and his fire.

I probably should talk to 23 to see what he knows. He was the only one in the room who knew the boy was a weapon at all. Unless anyone else in Castle Oblivion knows. But asking around leaves too many variables for the method to be even the slightest bit effective. Of course, it won't help me either if 23 refuses to say anything. Lately, he's been keeping to himself for whatever reason. He probably won't talk to me at all.

Then, of course, there's the pesky little problem that even if 23 knows every single little detail about Toby-I can't do anything without access to the Program. None of us can. If Alpha would let me start hacking...

I think we've moved beyond him thinking I'll break his computer. I think it's a matter of pride now. Or principle. Which is understandable, but annoying.

On a different note, someone needs to be able to teach Joseph how to fight. I was right when I said Riku wouldn't be able to teach him. Riku was Programmed with the ability to fight, not the ability to teach others to fight. He's my own little weapon, if you will. IF he was able to teach anyone how to fight, it would probably be Namine. One, because of the way he feels about her, and two because they have similar enough data.

Which reminds me, I need to continue my observations of the two of them. If I could just manage to get Riku back to the other universe and observe his reactions with the other Namine. (For I know 42 has got them separated by now... what with the difference in time flow and everything.) So, provided Xehanort didn't kill them (doubtful)... I just need to get Riku there, or her here. Difficulties, difficulties...

On the subject of Riku still, I must feel a little bit proud that he defended Toby like he did. It was quite honorable.

Back on the subject of Toby, at least Toby will keep Joseph safe from Berserkers and other trouble. But that's not to say the two boys won't get into egregious amounts of trouble on their own. I'd suggest Toby teach Joseph how to fight, given the closeness in age-but it would appear that Toby can barely control his own powers. Plus, it would also seem that he doesn't have a weapon outside of fire and lightning. Joseph wields neither, so the point is moot.

Hmm, it would appear that Alpha's waking up. I should ask him about the computer again.