Chapter 226: for over

Vexen sat with his back to the door of his room—maybe it wasn't the best place to be, but he wasn't sure where else to go. He couldn't leave the room, obviously, and he wasn't sure if he'd be able to hear what was going on outside if he moved.

There was a battle going on outside. Obviously, one of the fighters was Xigbar—or his Replica… Vexen could hardly tell which.

It was the other fighter that he was having trouble figuring out. He had to close his eyes, sit here and listen to how they attacked—how they moved. Unfortunately, it'd been quite some time since he'd had to rely so desperately on his ears, and he hadn't heard anything like this style for a long time.

Vexen was in luck, however, because that's when Xigbar—or his Replica—spoke up.

"Not so bad, tiger!" he laughed.

His opponent growled. "How many times do I have to tell you? Don't call me tiger!"

And then Vexen knew who it was. It was Roxas. There was no mistaking that voice, nor that tone. Plus, now that he knew it was Roxas, he registered the sound of Keyblades slicing through air. It was a very distinct sound—one unlike that made by any other weapon. How he'd not managed to recognize it immediately was a mystery, and, admittedly, a little embarrassing.

Why Roxas was here, and fighting Xigbar—or his Replica. Whichever—was an even bigger mystery. Last he'd checked, Roxas was a pawn of Xemnas. So why was he taking the big Number 2 down?

Vexen was left to ponder this until the battle was over—and it was over much quicker than he'd anticipated.

He waited for a tentative moment, then got to his feet and pressed an ear against the door. "Are you going to let me out?" he asked. He decided he didn't care why Roxas was here, as long as it meant getting out.

"Yeah, yeah I'm coming," Roxas sighed.

"It's locked," Vexen said. "One of the Xigbar's has—or, had—the key, but I'm honestly not sure which one."

"Uhm, I have a Keyblade."

"Oh!" Vexen blinked, cleared his throat, feeling quite silly for not having remembered that fact. "Yes that- that'll do nicely."

Vexen took a sensible step away from the door. He could feel the energy in the air, making the hairs on his skin rise just slightly. He didn't hear the click of any lock… but he did hear a door swinging open—

—and it wasn't his door.

"What the hell?" Roxas asked. Judging by his voice, he was in the room over.

Vexen nodded, realizing what had happened. He went over to the wall, rapped on it. "Ah, I'm in the next room over," he called.

"Are you kidding me?"

"No…" Vexen said, though, in hindsight, it'd likely been a rhetorical question.

"Geeze, I was doing much better earlier…" Roxas grumbled. With a quicker and sharper rush of energy, the lock on Vexen's door clicked. Roxas shoved the door open, a frustrated scowl on his face.

"In your defense, I got moved here fairly recently," Vexen assured him.

Roxas raised his eyebrows. "What for?" he asked. However, he did look pleased to know it wasn't a bad sense of direction that had made him open the wrong door.

"They didn't want me near the computer," explained Vexen.

Roxas considered it, nodded. "Yeah that makes sense."

"Is, uh, Riku here?" Vexen asked, wringing his hands nervously. Here was relative, of course, but phrasing it to be any clearer would be embarrassing.

"Last I checked, I think he was fighting Xigbar," Roxas said, but shrugged. "But since the time it took me to return Joseph to C.O. and then fight this Xigbar, well…. no tellin'."

"Joseph was h—nevermind of course he was." Vexen sighed and shook his head, largely out of exasperation. That boy…

Regardless.

Vexen looked up at Roxas, studied his face, squinting a little. "Tell me, Roxas, how'd it come to be that you were on our side?"

"Got my memories back, and that's about it," Roxas explained, smirking. "Nuttin' special." The smirk came easier to him than Vexen ever remembered it coming—then again, he hadn't interacted much with Roxas. Especially not recently.

"Oh…" Roxas's face fell. "Though I suppose Axel died in there, too…"

Good riddance, Vexen couldn't help but think, but he didn't voice the thought.

"What of the failsafe?" Vexen asked, warily.

Roxas shrugged. "Shorted out or something."

"You should go to C.O. so you can get that fix—"

"No way!" Roxas interrupted. The suggestion seemed to bother him greatly, given the glare he sent at Vexen. Then he stumbled and clutched his head, Keyblade falling from his head.

Vexen pursed his lips. He'd expected something like that.

"Unng… damn timing…" Roxas moaned.

"Roxas, please, I looked at your file before Xemnas made me move rooms," Vexen said. "I know what state your data's in right now, and it's not pretty. If you don't come back to C.O. soon—"

"THE WORST THAT CAN HAPPEN IS I TRY AND MURDER RIKU AGAIN, THAT'S ALL!" Roxas shouted, straightening. He straightened slowly, as if it pained him, but he straightened, grumbling: "Trust me, I can feel that… but I'm not going anywhere. Not yet. There isn't time, and unless you managed to delay them rewriting Namine…"

Vexen hung his head. "I tried to send Xigbar after Sora, but… clearly…"

"Then I need to get going," Roxas said. "I trust you can get back to C.O. by yourself?"

"Well, yes, but—"

"Sweet."

And Roxas was off.

Or, he started off. Vexen quickly grabbed him by the sleeve of his coat. Roxas paused, for which Vexen was grateful. His grip on Roxas's cloak wasn't very strong and he was sure Roxas could pull away at any second if he wanted to.

"Where are you going?" Vexen demanded.

"To help Riku, duh," Roxas laughed.

"But your data—"

"Will last twenty minutes!"

"And the failsafe—"

"Hasn't caused any trouble yet." Roxas pulled his arm away, then, scowling. "You can't stop me."

And then he was gone.

And he was right.

Vexen couldn't stop him.

xxx

A dark corridor opened in front of him. Riku skidded to a halt, his blood pounding.

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" he shouted, as Xemnas stepped out.

He didn't have time. Time. He was running out of time!

And yet here Xemnas was, looking all smug. Why was he even here? Did they really still need to stall? Sure, them needing to stall was technically a good thing, but having to face Xemnas certainly wasn't. Riku still remembered the last time… that hadn't gone well…

"Are you really-? I—" Riku broke off, anger fading rapidly to desperation. "Just let her go," he pleaded. "Don't let them do it what's the point?" He tried to put on a smirk, but it probably came out like a grimace. "All your members are dead—or near dead. There's no point in doing it no point in having her kill me please just let her go!"

Xemnas said nothing, right away. He just listened to Riku plea, clearly amused.

"Show me how much it means to you," he said, after a moment.

Riku gritted his teeth, not liking the smile on Xemnas's face. It wasn't cocky, it wasn't knowing, it wasn't anything but a simple smile and that fact alone was horrible.

But…

As much as he didn't want to…

Namine's safety came long before his pride.

So Riku sunk to the ground. Got on his hands and knees. Closed his eyes.

"Please," he begged. "Kill me now, if you really must… just let her go. Unharmed. Unchanged. That's all I ask."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" a new voice—Roxas's voice—shouted.

Before Riku could look up, a foot connected with his side, and the force of the kick sent him rolling. Roxas grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to his feet, then smacked him across the face.

"You came this far and you're giving up!?" Roxas demanded.

Riku snorted angrily through his nose, straightening to his full height so he was taller than—and thus looking down on—Roxas. His cheek stung, but it only sharpened his anger, and determination.

"I'm not giving up," he hissed. "I'm being sensible."

"Really?" Roxas asked. "Because I'm pretty sure Xemnas isn't actually going to listen to a request like that and I'm also pretty sure you knew that. Not to mention Namine's probably already been Rewritten and it's pointless to—!"

"No!" Riku interrupted, his voice cracking. He wouldn't hear it. But the thought made him deflate, his determination falling back into desperation.

"Look!" Roxas grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. Trying to ground him. "We're so close and together, he's no match for us." The words left Roxas's lips in an excited whisper, and he let go of Riku to summon his blades.

"I suppose you're right," Xemnas called. He was calm, completely unbothered by Roxas's claim that they could take him. He just smiled. It made Riku's blood boil. "But, Roxas!" Xemnas continued. "I thought you wanted to kill Riku."

Roxas went rigid.

"…n-no," he stammered, but it seemed like he had to force the words from his mouth.

There was a twitch to his neck, a tightness in how he held his blades.

Riku took a few steps back from him, sending a look over his shoulder to see where the exit to the area was. Maybe he could slip out while Roxas distracted Xemnas…

"Roxas," Xemnas said, simply.

Roxas dropped his blades and clutched his head, doubling over. "QUIT IT!" he cried.

"But what about Xion?" Xemnas asked, still smiling that stupid smile. Riku took another three steps backwards. "Wouldn't she want this?"

Roxas was screaming "no, no, NO!" from his knees when Riku turned his back on them and ran towards the next area. Straightforward and then a sharp left and he'd be in the hallway where they had Namine—

Except he hit a barrier, head on, before even getting a foot out of the area. He cursed and turned back around, glaring in Xemnas's direction. Xemnas's attention wasn't even on him, but Riku thought he saw Xemnas's smile widen.

"Who killed Xion?" he asked. His voice rang through space around them, echoing against the walls more than should've been possible. It filled the room with the very sound and demand, so much so that he might as well have just ordered Roxas to attack Riku with the weight it carried.

"S-Saix!" Roxas still managed to choke, his voice just barely breaking past Xemnas's echos.

"But why was Saix in charge?" Xemnas's voice rose even higher, and Roxas trembled, his fingers curling against the ground.

Riku bit his tongue, Xemnas's voice and a memory of Roxas ringing in his ears. Why was Saix in charge? Your fault your fault your fault. His vision seemed to blur, and just when he thought the world was going to fall out from under him, Roxas's voice broke through the haze.

"Because of you!" he screeched.

Riku brought up his blade to block, fully anticipating Roxas to come running at him. Instead, Roxas ran at Xemnas. His Keyblades were in his hands again, scraping against the ground as he ran, sending up sparks and a screeching sound that made Riku twitch with discomfort. Roxas reached Xemnas and jumped into the air, bringing his blades down.

Riku reached a hand out to touch the barrier—just to make sure it was still there and he really couldn't go forward—it was—and grunted in annoyance. "Fine then," he growled, and swept a hand down the length of his blade, darkness flowing with the motion.

If it was a fight they really wanted, then maybe he had no choice…

Namine'd be upset if I sacrificed myself for her, anyway… not that it doesn't make the option tempting. It'd be quicker. But Roxas is probably right. I can't trust Xemnas…..

He ran forward to attack.

xxx

It ended up being a long and gruesome fight.

Riku was fairing okay, but Xemnas seemed more keen on tossing him back than attacking him. Over time, Riku stopped hitting the ground and started catching himself, landing on his feet and using the momentum to launch another attack.

Roxas, however, was getting the worst of it. His face was bruised, and his cloak was torn in various places thanks to Xemnas's ethereal blades. But he kept getting back up, tossing up Cure after Cure for himself and pressing on. Despite the Cures, his blood still soaked his cloak and splattered the ground.

I can't look after you AND worry about Namine, idiot, Riku thought, but couldn't find the energy to say it aloud. Nor could he find the time. Either he was avoiding, attacking, or trying to keep an eye on Xemnas.

Xemnas quite often cloaked himself in darkness and basically floated from one area of the room to the other—it was quite annoying. Xemnas was completely untouchable while he was moving, and it also felt incredibly strange when it grazed right past you, Riku discovered, as Xemnas missed him by inches.

Riku rounded on Xemnas. Before he could attack, a set of barriers went up around him. Riku checked to see if the barriers were on all sides—they were—and found that Roxas had been caught between the barriers, too. Roxas was studying the barriers, curiously, then sent a look at Riku.

"How high can you jump?" Roxas asked. There was blood trailing from his lips, and the sight made Riku hesitate in answering the question to consider telling Roxas to Cure again. Roxas growled in annoyance, and then cupped his hands together—his Keyblades quite suddenly gone.

"Boost," he said. "Now."

Riku didn't waste any more time arguing. He stepped into Roxas's hands and let Roxas boost him over the barrier. Xemnas shot a burst of lasers at him once he hit the air. It took a lot of effort to maneuver out of their way, but at least Riku's dark suit took most of the damage.

Roxas cried out. Riku looked up to see what was wrong—Roxas had jumped over the barrier with ease, but Xemnas had come up behind him and started attacking before he'd even landed. Roxas was caught off guard, and Xemnas's blows were too quick to deflect.

Riku clucked his tongue in annoyance, and prepared a Dark Firaga.

I already said I can't worry about you, too, idiot! he thought as he let the Dark Firaga loose.

It hit Xemnas in the stomach, and Riku followed up with a strike at Xemnas's head. Xemnas dodged that, but not the following flurry of strikes from Roxas.

Riku rushed forward to attack, too, with his own flurry of attacks. He and Roxas worked in tandem, striking Xemnas but never bumping each other or getting in each other's way.

In desperation, Xemnas threw up a barrier in front of himself. Both Riku and Roxas didn't have time to correct or pull back, and both hit the barrier head on.

Riku shook his head as he stumbled back—the barrier stung a little like electricity, though it wasn't nearly as painful. Roxas groaned and threw up a Cure for each of them, followed by a Cura for himself. His cloak was torn in various places, to the point where it was nearly falling off his shoulders. The Cures were keeping him from bleeding too horribly, but he still looked pretty scratched up.

Riku sent a glance down at his dark suit, which was about glowing with darkness as it worked furiously to repair itself.

Roxas launched himself over Xemnas's barrier and attacked Xemnas from above. Riku turned and shot a Dark Firaga to the side—it honed in on Xemnas and turned mid-flight to hit him. Riku took off running as soon as the Dark Firaga left his fingertips, then leapt into the air for a Dark Aura. The attack hit Xemnas in full, though Riku may have hit Roxas once or twice in the process.

The Dark Aura finished and Xemnas momentarily stunned, Roxas jumped back and clasped his Keyblades together. They glowed with light, he aimed them. A burst of light, as thin as one of Xemnas's lasers, erupted from them and pierced Xemnas clean through.

Xemnas fell to his knees.

"Hm. Too bad…" he chuckled, as he faded.

"Too bad?" Roxas slumped forward, now that he didn't have to be on guard. He looked exhausted. "That's all he has to say? Seems pretty fish—ahg!" He dropped his Keyblades and clutched at his chest, doubling over and sinking to the ground.

"Go back to Castle Oblivion," Riku told him.

"I'm fine I—crud! Out of Cures…"

Riku rolled his eyes. "Like I said, go to Castle Oblivion—they can fix you up there."

Roxas just straightened as well as he could, looking up at Riku with pleading eyes. "But what if there's someone else—"

"Be honest!" Riku cut him off with a laugh. "Who's left?"

"Okay, but, what if Namine's been—"

"She won't be. I won't let it—"

"BE HONEST!" Roxas shouted, stumbling a step towards Riku. "Be logical!" Roxas gritted his teeth. Whether in anger or in pain, Riku did not know. "They've had so much time… nhhgg."

Riku just shook his head. He wouldn't believe she'd already been— wouldn't believe he'd been too slow. "You aren't going to be any help in that state, anyway," he told Roxas, firmly. "Go to Castle Oblivion."

He walked away before Roxas could protest further.