Hello everybody! Here's a new chapter of this great story for you all to read. Just let me say one thing before I say anything else. When I said that I was going to try and get this story out before Chirstmas, I admit that I was being a bit overzealous with that declaration. As a result, I'm afraid that I can't follow up on that. There's just too much to be written down for it to be done by then in such a short amount of time. Oh well, at least the chapters will be written at certain time intervals so as to not leave you all on a loop as to what's going to happen next.
Anyway, this chapter is going to start introducing to you all the plan that I purposefully did not put as a discussion at the end of the last chapter. It's also going to show how everybody that knows Roxas is going to band together in order to try and get him back home safe and sound before its too late.
And just one more note before I leave you all to read this new chapter. I'm currently working on a new story that also revolves around the Kingdom Hearts characters. I've named it, "The Curse of Destati Communion Elementary". It's my first attempt at trying to write a horror and tragedy genre, but it was inspired by another horror game that I recently played and finished. It was called, "Corpse Party: Blood Covered", and it was real creepy in how the dialogue was read by the actors. That then inspired me to try making it out with the Kingdom Hearts series.
However, the only way I could make a horror story truly horrific is by implementing certain details that aren't meant for the standard T rating I've been writing in. As such, that will be my very first M rated story I'll be writing that fits it's genre. Because of that, I might need your help to spread word about the story since most are probably used to me only writing T rated stories.
Then again, whether you read that new story of mine or not is up to you. I'm just trying to spread the word on to you all about the new story I'm working on being that it might not be easy to find because of its rating. Either way, I hope that you enjoyed this new chapter for this story as much as I had writing it. And if you do go and read my new story, I hope that you all end up enjoying that as well.
On that note, I'll let you all go and start reading it. Don't forget to leave me a review before you leave telling me how you liked this chapter. Until the next update on this or any of my stories, particularly my new one, everybody!
Chapter 11: Operation Infiltrate Twilight Town Consulate
"This is why I hate having to wear formal clothes like tuxedos," Sora grumbled as he was riding in the passenger seat of a fancy red Ferrari that was smoothly cruising through the evening streets. He was busy fiddling around with the clothed stiffness of his shoulders and the tightness of his fancy black bowtie. "It's just too damn stuffy and uncomfortable all the way around. Why the heck did this independence party have to be a black tie event?"
"Because Twilight Town takes occasions such as this with great pride because of the history behind it," a flaming red haired man simply stated as he was behind the wheel of the Ferrari and dodging in-between cars that he deemed to have been too slow for his liking. Apparently, this person driving was most likely the person named Axel the teenager had talked to yesterday morning. "I'm sure you learned about the space war against Hollow Bastion who was occupying Twilight Town at the time."
Earlier that evening, Sora had spent only a couple of minutes telling Roxas that he was going to go through with the plan on infiltrating the Twilight Town Consulate tonight. He then gave Axel a quick call seeing if he was still at home. To his luck, the man had not left yet and had given him instructions to a secondary apartment he owned for rendezvous that held the risk of either party being followed. It was a bit out of the way, but it was more than necessary if they wanted to ensure that the trapped spy made it back home safely.
Once they had both arrived at their rendezvous destination, the spiky haired teen began to explain what he and the trapped spy had planned on doing. After hearing the severely condensed version of the plan, Axel promised to do whatever it is he could do in order to help. This also included driving the teen down to the nearest tuxedo rental store in near law-breaking speeds and finding one that would fit the teen so he would easily blend in with the crowd in the consulate. After spending less than ten minutes trying on just two rentals, they quickly paid and were now on their way to the Twilight Independence Day party.
"But why do they have to dress this formal for an Independence Day anniversary party?" Sora continued to whine as he gave up trying to make his shoulders feel more comfortable and concentrated his time on messing with his black bowtie. "How can people stand wearing these things for long periods of time?"
"You learn to get used to it," Axel explained with a chuckle of amusement as they turned a corner that allowed them to see the consulate just a couple of blocks in front of them. "And besides, us spies have to sometimes wear these when we go to certain high profile events where our marks sometimes attend. You can't show discomfort unless you want to be figured out the moment you reach their sights."
"Whatever; I just keep telling myself that I'm doing all this for Roxas in order to get through this," the teen said with a pout as they entered the front gates of the consulate where other cars were currently in a short line leading to the front doors. "I sure hope he appreciates everything that I'm doing for him."
"You better stop complaining and start looking like someone who isn't griping about what he's wearing," the red haired man quickly said as some people passed by the open roofed car. "The fact that you keep messing with your bowtie is a dead giveaway to everybody you're probably not supposed to be here. That would definitely defeat the purpose of why I'm even helping you to sneak into the building in the first place. Just follow my lead and everything should go smoothly."
And before they could say anything else, their car reached the front doors where a valet dressed in fancy black pants and a white dress shirt underneath a red vest immediately greeted them with a friendly bow.
"Think you can handle parking my little baby, buddy?" Axel asked as he got out of the car followed shortly by Sora with the keys still in the ignition and keeping the engine running. He then added in a teasing but serious tone, "She's not meant to be bumped around or anything like that, so you better not let me catch her with some scratches that weren't there before or a suddenly increased mileage."
"I'll see to it that she arrives to her intended parking destination without any problems, sir," the valet responded in a professional manner before entering the car and proceeding to park it wherever it was he was designated to park it at.
"Well, time to get the show on the road," the red haired man said after taking a deep breath and walking through the open doors where more fancily dressed people were waiting in a line to enter the party. "You better not blow it, Sora. I'm not about to be publicly embarrassed because of you trying something so obvious and stupid. And I'm not going to help you out if you get caught by the guards, so you better be damn careful!"
"Just stop worrying and give me an opening to the upper floors," the spiky brown haired teen whispered through clenched teeth as he tried to smile a bit around the fancy people around him. He stopped talking, however, as the line began to slowly move forward.
After a couple of minutes waiting patiently for the line to reach the front, the two finally made it to the secretary's desk that the teen remembered approaching when he first came here. However, the woman behind it was different, so he did not have to worry about being figured out right at the doorway.
"May I see your invitation please?" she asked with a smile just as Axel produced a carefully folded piece of paper that held some kind of symbol on the front. After opening it up and reading the contents, she placed the invitation on top of another pile of used invitations and gestured for the two to enter the doors behind her. "Enjoy the Twilight Town Independence Party, you two."
"Thank you, miss," they both thanked her as they entered a part of the consulate that was totally new to Sora. Then again, the entire building itself was new to him, so he should not have been thinking like he was expecting to see something somewhat familiar.
Once through the open double doors, they were greeted with the sound of music being played by a small orchestra seen playing towards the back of the rather large room. Many lights adorned the room with a huge crystal chandelier in the center of the room giving off and reflecting most of the present light. Along with these lights, the room itself was created with such attention to detail that one would think they were entering a part of a mansion that was meant solely to entertain any guests attending a party. Overall, it was a grand room that totally took the spiky haired teen by surprise.
"You enjoying what you're seeing, kid?" Axel asked in a small whisper as he nodded in greeting at the people that they passed by. "Just do me a favor and try not to look too surprised while you're busy gawking. These guys seem to have some kind of sixth sense in telling who's new to this place, and they'd probably get security down your neck in a heartbeat in an attempt to get you kicked out of here."
"G-Got it!" Sora said as he quickly restructured his face to look like he was simply just returning to a place he knew well while allowing his awe to continue in full force within him. He even greeted some of the party goers that he did not know with a small nod of his head so as to further blend in with the crowd.
"Hey, Axel!" a familiar voice greeted the red haired man, causing both he and the teen to turn towards the source of the sound. "It's great to see you after a while."
"Hey, Hayner!" Axel greeted the familiar blond haired teenage spy with a smile as both her and the teenage banker walked towards him while maneuvering through the great mass of party goers idly talking with one another. He had his right arm in a blue cast elevated by a white sling that was most likely because of the bullet that had been removed from his shoulder. "Glad to hear that you made it out of that problem in one piece."
"Well, I do kind of owe it to Sora here for saving my life even if it really was only an accident," Hayner admitted as he immediately noticed the spiky haired teen and tried to suppress a chuckle upon seeing him wearing the tuxedo with a face of suffering. "Although I never thought I'd see him again wearing a tuxedo like some kind of spiffy businessman and attending a consulate party he has no business being in."
"Trust me; I never intended on coming back here after my first trip," the brown spiky haired teen responded with a sour face while starting to tug at his neck tie again. He then said in a whisper low enough to be heard only by the other, "I'm only back here because I have something to do for Roxas."
"Mind letting me in on what this plan of his is?" the blond haired teen asked as he nodded his head over to a spot in the large room that was fairly unoccupied and making his way there. "I'd like to know what my best buddy is planning this time. That and I'd like to know whether or not I'll be able to help out here."
"Well, I'll just give you the short version like I did with Axel since I don't know how much time I'll need and how long this party will last," the teen began to explain once the three with in a slightly secluded corner and talking amongst themselves. Once comfortable that nobody was eavesdropping on them, the explanation period began. "You see, Roxas said that there's some kind of machine in here on the upper floors that's like a super computer of sorts for you spies. It has information on all spies, both alive and dead, that were once in employment of Twilight Town. Along with this information is the list of people who act as contacts for each individual spy in each world."
"But in order for the plan to work, Sora needs my help to cause a minor distraction so that he can go up those guarded stairs," Axel continued on as this was most likely the point where he came into the plan. "That and he also needed a security bypass box so that the data stream moving out of the consulate computers won't be detected. I just happened to know where to get one without garnering too much suspicion, and I set it up to a certain time for tomorrow evening. If nobody ends up catching this kid up in the upper floors, then the plan to get Roxas back here should take off without a hitch."
"Gee, that sounds pretty complicated and daring," Hayner responded with a bewildered sigh after hearing the explanation in a nutshell. He then asked Sora in a concerned tone, "Do you really think that you'd be able to pull all of that off on your own without making any mistakes? There are so many things that you have to get right as well as so many ways that you could get caught in the process. There's no window for mistakes whatsoever here. Why don't you let one of us handle it?"
"Because we might end up getting called upon by one of the partygoers here who know we're around here somewhere," the red haired teen explained as he turned his head around in a casual fashion to make sure they were still in their own private circle. "We can't use the bathroom excuse since we have no idea how long we'll be gone. That and our boss might be wanting to ask us of something important and wandering around the whole party looking for us. Sora's the only one who nobody around here knows about, so he's the safest bet to do anything. We can only hope that he gets extremely stupid lucky."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence in me, Axel," Sora responded sarcastically with a roll of his eyes. However, he was really worried inside and wondering just how was he going to pull something as crazy as this off without getting caught by security or even killed in the process. "At least you managed to give me a rough map of what you remember of the third floor I have to go to so I can avoid trouble and secretly get to that super computer thing."
"Mind if I took a quick look at it?" Hayner asked as he held out his good arm towards the brown spiky haired teen. "Maybe I'll be able to add something more or better to whatever plan you have set up already."
Wordlessly obliging, the brown spiky haired teen brought one of his hands into his tuxedo's inner coat pocket and pulled out a neatly folded white piece of paper. He then unwrapped it and gave it to the spy to look over. He then added, "Just make sure you don't do anything to ruin it or anything. That's the only map I have of the third floor, and I don't have time to be making another copy."
"…It looks pretty much what I remember, but you're forgetting about the window that's situated in the back of that computer room," the blond haired teen spy stated as he studied the crude map carefully. "I remember going to the roof of this place with Roxas once, and there's a ledge more than big enough for a person to walk on around the third floor windows. If you slowly slide down the roof just over it and don't make too much noise, then you shouldn't be detected by the guards. And from what I remember passing by that particular room and looking in a couple of times, the guards just stay in the front room while the computer is left all by itself in the back."
"That's something he didn't put in his description," the teen stated as he looked at Axel with an accusatory look as if he purposefully left out that crucial detail before taking the paper and folding back up. "You should've heard what he suggested I do before I talked to you about it. He said that he wanted me to cause a big distraction just outside the office door and then sneak in once they came out."
"And what if they had decided to scope out both sides of the hallway at the same time?" the blond spy asked with an annoyed look at his fellow partner. "There'd be no way he could get in, and he'd only get caught in the process."
"Hey, it's not like I knew about that window like you did, so don't go blaming me for bad ideas," the older spy defended himself from being marked as the bearer of potentially deadly misinformation. "I'm just trying to make sure that my buddy gets home safely while making sure his messenger boy here doesn't get into too much trouble."
"Well, at least the two of you together ended up creating a plan that I should be able to pull off so long as I don't start fooling around," the only non-spy of the group said with a shrug of his shoulders while tucking the paper back into his inner tuxedo pocket. "If it ends up not working with your combined effort, though, then I'll personally come to kill you if and when I get out of jail."
"Then let's hope that ship doesn't come around and bite us in the butt," Hayner said as he started to push Sora away and towards the direction of where the stairs were on the other side of the room. "Now hurry up and get yourself ready while we try to find some way to distract the guards."
And before he could say anything in argument, the spiky haired teen felt another pair of arms pushing him away just as a lock of flaming red hair blurred past his vision. He then saw Axel quickly yet gracefully maneuvering his way through the crowd over to the guards keeping watch over the stairs.
I guess spies always have to be rushing like this when time really matters, the teen thought as he tried to make his way through the crowd that did not seem to disperse as it did for the red haired spy. Just another reason why I really don't want to consider being a spy anywhere in the near future.
As he continued to muse within the inner workings of his mind, he continued to sometimes lightly shove through the crowd in a forceful manner because they refused to move. All the while, the small orchestra continued to play its soothing music that some couples were dancing to in the middle of the dance floor.
"Well, I thought it was you I saw in the distance," an old man's voice suddenly said as the teen felt a hand on his arm and stopping him in his tracks. "I never thought that I'd see you again during a party as important as this."
That better not be who I think I'm hearing right now, Sora thought as the back of his mind began ringing with that sense of familiarity as he processed the old voice in his head. Turning around, he was greeted with the familiar old frail body of the man he had talked to when he first came to the consulate for the first time, Mr. Xehanort Hakujou.
"Why, it's a pleasure to meet you again, Mr Hakujou!" the teen greeted the old man in as happy of a tone he could muster after being both startled and scared at the same time. He then added in an attempt to come up with a quick excuse, "To be perfectly honest, I was invited here by one of my friends who got an invitation since he worked as…an unspeakable job description for Twilight Town. He bought me into coming here by saying that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I just couldn't pass up the chance of being in such a grand building once more celebrating one of its great holidays."
"I'm glad to hear it, Mr. Hikari," Xehanort said with a smile that seemed to hold some kind of hidden meaning behind it. "It's not every day that somebody as young as you would care about the history of another world enough to participate in their customs. If you don't mind, however, do you think you can tell me who this friend of yours who invited you over is? Perhaps I know this person."
"I believe you do, Mr. Hakujou," Hayner's voice suddenly stated, this time managing to startle the old man a bit from the suddenness. Turning around, he saw the blond teen and thus let his grip on Sora go. "You see, I'm Sora's friend who ended up bugging him to the point that he'd want to come. He's a history buff kind of guy, so I figured this would be an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him. And yes, I trusted him enough to tell him about my current occupation with Twilight Town."
"Ah, it's a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Ryoshou," the old man greeted the young spy before casting his gaze back to the brown spiky haired teen. "So Mr. Hikari is your friend? I wouldn't have guessed it."
"Well, he said that he was going to the bathroom, so I found it funny that he was spending time talking to you," Hayner responded coolly without any hesitation whatsoever. All Sora could do was quietly listen in on the excuse the spy was expertly executing for him. "But yeah, don't forget that the bathroom is just on the other side of the room, Sora. Hope your stomach ache doesn't turn out to be something serious."
"Uh, y-yeah," he responded dumbly with a nod of his head before turning around towards the direction of the stairs with the distraction the blond had provided him with.
God, where the hell did that old man come from? he thought while continuing his way towards the stairs without looking back so as to not garner any suspicions. It was like he was waiting in the shadows for me to make a wrong move or something.
At that moment, he was felt well-covered by the crowd enough to chance a look back at where he left Hayner and Xehanort. Sure enough, the blond spy was keeping the old man engaged in conversation and his attention away from where he was right now headed. He then quickly whipped his head towards the stairs upon hearing a commotion that was relatively quiet in noise when compared to the boisterous atmosphere of the party.
"Are you alright, sir?" one of the guards asked as he was seen moving away from his post by the stairs, leaving only one left to watch it all.
"Damn, can't believe I managed to trip over the stupid stair step!" the voice of Axel was heard saying in what was most likely a feign injured tone while probably performing his distraction. He was then seen getting up and saying, "I'm fine, though. I was just being stupid clumsy, is all."
And before anybody could react, the red haired man fell towards the second guard still standing watch in a way that made it look like he tripped over his own feet. At this time, one guard was now being crushed by Axel and trying to get up while the other one was trying to help both of them get up. This was the small window of time where the stairs were unguarded and ripe for sneaking by.
That's his idea of causing a distraction? Sora thought with a small shake of his head before quickly yet casually walking up the now unguarded stairs without stopping. Either way, he managed to get me up here, so I better not waste this chance. I just hope that I'll be able to get everything right on my own from here on out.
And with that last worried thought running through his head, he made it to the second floor landing that was well-protected from view from any of the partygoers on the first floor. He then breathed out a sigh of relief before heading down the thankfully barren hallway where he remembered his rough map telling him would soon lead to another set of stairs that would lead to the third floor and ultimately to his destination.
Well, I hope that you all liked this new chapter. Isn't it strange that Xehanort just suddenly decided to show up and want to strike up a conversation with Sora? It seems a little bit too convenient if you ask me. Yes, I'm writing the story, but even I don't know where it's going. Thank god for the new friends he's made while on this improvised spy mission helping him out. Now all he has to do is sneak around the upper floors to his goal and not get caught. Just how hard can that be?
Please don't forget to leave a review before you leave as to how you thought this chapter was and any kind of suggestions or improvements you think are needed. While I do write my story how I like it, I always take the comments to consideration since they do sometimes end up helping me come up with future ideas for the story or help me locate errors that I did not know I made.
Here's a short character bio that's meant to update the characters in this story more than anything else.
Hayner Ryoshou: 19 (A young spy who suffered from a gunshot wound to the shoulder during a meeting at the harbor with Sora. He has since got a cast and sling on his arm and is now attending the Twilight Town Independence Day party."
Axel Karyuu: 25 (A spy with flaming red hair who helped Roxas earn a job as a spy himself. He has agreed to help Sora sneak into the upper floors of the Twilight Town Consulate in order to help Roxas hack into the super computer in there and figure out the name of his contact in Twilight Town.)
Xehanort Hakujou: 65 (An old man who works at the Twilight Town Consulate. He's currently attending the Twilight Town Independence party, but he seemed to have some kind of suspicions about Sora that he cleverly hid behind a warm and friendly smile.)
And that's it with the character updates. Again, it's really just telling you all a recap of what's going on with all of them, so it's nothing really important unless you got confused on how each of them are supposed to be right now.
Anyway, don't forget to try and read my other new horror genre story if you're interested. It's called, "The Curse of Destati Communion Elementary", and it's an M rated story because of the kind of gory and graphic details I have to put into it in order for it to be horror and tragedy. And please spread the word of it to your friends if you like it since everybody is most likely used to me just writing T rated stories and don't know that this one exists.
Well, I'll go ahead and leave you all to whatever it is that you're planning on doing next. Until the next update on this or any of my other stories, especially for my new one, everybody!