Chapter 12
Omega continued surging up the air, breaking through floors in its way. Eventually it soured into the open night sky. Beneath it, the skyscraper began to break apart.
"We made it!" exclaimed Sora. He took a deep breath of fresh air. It smelt much better than the musty air inside the skyscraper.
"I made it," corrected Riku in a weak whisper.
"What's the difference?" Roxas said with a smirk, not hiding it on purpose. Riku was too exhausted to shot back the comment.
"Just why do we always have to fight something huge and flying at the end?" grumbled Sora.
"Who knows," Roxas shrugged. "They're not very creative, are they? The bad guys I mean."
Worried about the friends they left behind, Sora looked down from Omega. The deserted city had grown as small as a model. A large object flew over them. It was the King's gummi ship, the Royal Library. The patch at the bottom of the ship opened, dispatching the Magus Hat. The smaller gummi ship dived down towards the collapsing skyscraper.
With his friends entrusted to the Queen, Daisy, Moogly and the squirrels, Sora's eyes scanned around for signs of Namine. He found her hanging onto Omega's neck. The last page of the Omega project was stuck on the joint between the giant machine's neck and head. Kurix was fighting a group of Nobody. It appeared like he was stopped by them before he was able to catch up to her. Namine was clinging onto Omega's metallic neck with her life.
Sora looked over to Roxas. When their gaze met, Roxas nodded. Sora was amazed at how Roxas seemed to be able to tell a lot of what he was thinking without him needing to say anything. They were similar in so many ways. Was it only because he was his Nobody and he was his somebody? Sora still hadn't figured out. Together they ran up Omega's back, blocking Kurix's path. He had just eliminated the last Nobody.
Kurix gave them a smirk before spun around to block a hit from Riku from behind.
"Is that all you can do, Riku?" asked a smirking Kurix as he swung his red keyblade at Riku.
Riku called forth his shield to block it. "If you're my Nobody, you know I won't give up," he said with a small smile. It was soon replaced by a determined expression. "It wouldn't have come to this if it wasn't me. You're not supposed to exist, Kurix. I'll clean up this mess myself."
Kurix casually moved to the side to evade a hit from Oblivion. His black keyblade returned a hit to Roxas, who blocked it with the white Oathkeeper. Sora joined in with his Ultima Weapon. The raven hair youth didn't seem to care how many people he was against. "Have you ever wondered why I'm so much stronger than you, Riku? This is the power you've been denying – the power of darkness. However much you may hate it, it is part of you. And, that isn't just your heart, Riku. It is my heart too." Kurix's voice and expression turned icy cold. "Why can you live and I can't? What makes you more worthy than I?"
Riku ignored him and continued striking with Way to the Dawn. Kurix's words stabbed Sora like a knife in the heart. Jumping out of the tangle of keyblades, he glanced over to Roxas, wondering if Roxas felt the same. His Nobody was busy attacking Kurix with Riku.
"Stop getting in the way, Riku!" Roxas snapped, halting his keyblades in mid way to avoid hitting the silver hair ally.
"What did you-"
"Riku, Roxas is right!" Sora said to Riku, who glared in return. "I'm saying, Roxas didn't mean that. Let us take care of Kurix here, you go save Namine."
Riku looked at Sora and then at Roxas. "I'll be back as soon as I can," he said before running off.
Looking ahead, Riku could see the last page was still at where he saw it last time. Namine had climbed a fair way. She was extending an arm, trying to reach the piece of paper while using the another arm for keeping herself from slipping down. She had slipped her feet into the thin gaps between the neck section joints. Riku looked around him, thinking what he could do to help. Somehow, Namine always surprise him by doing something he never thought she would.
Flashback
"You've done well, Riku," said DiZ, after Riku brought Roxas back to the laboratory.
Without a word, Riku left. He didn't even look back at DiZ.
It had only been a while and it was already sickening him. In exchange of the power of darkness, Riku's entire body changed. The battle with Roxas kept him from thinking about it at first. But he couldn't ignore it for very long. Perhaps it was just as Ansem said - that he could never escape from him. No matter how much Riku tried, the smell of darkness continued lingering around him – almost like a curse.
Not caring where he was heading, Riku slipped out the haunted mansion. He thought perhaps he could find a place in the woods where he could see no one and no one could see him for a good while.
Before he had gone far, he heard the sound of the haunted mansion's front door swinging open behind him.
"Riku!" Namine's voice followed.
Riku didn't slow down. Instead, he quickened his pace. He wanted to be left alone, but he didn't want to speak. He didn't want to hear Ansem's revolting voice coming out of his own throat.
"Riku?" She sounded a little uncertain. He had grown significantly taller after the transformation. "Wait, Riku!"
Namine ran to catch up to him. Riku was forced to stop as she was standing in his way. He turned away so she couldn't see his face. It was a useless effort. She was going to see it anyway. He thought he had snuck out of the mansion quiet enough not to be noticed. Riku braced himself, ready for her startled reaction. There was no way she would recognise him, not when he had changed so much. She would probably be terrified enough to run away screaming. He did have Ansem's face, after all.
Namine was now seeing his new look. Riku waited for her calm expression to contort into sheer terror.
She blinked. Before Riku could say anything, Namine was holding his hand with both of hers. She closed her eyes.
After a few seconds, Namine reopened her azure eyes. "Riku," she said, smiling warmly.
After the incident, Riku spent months in Ansem's form. At the beginning, it was a freakish experience to find the face of the person he hated most every time he saw himself in a reflective surface. He couldn't get used to it completely, but he gradually grew to accepting his new face and body. Watching over Roxas in the virtual world kept him occupied and that helped too. Most of all, Namine and DiZ treated him the same as they always did. Namine in particular, who never looked at him in a different way.
Flashback ends
Riku reached the part where Omega's neck and body joined. He had been walking around in circles for while, trying to decide how to help Namine. The long metal neck of Omega was smooth, making it difficult to hold onto. Whoever wanted to climb up could only place their hands and footing in the thin gaps between the neck sections. However the neck sections were considerably far apart, which meant whoever climbed it would need to get from gap to gap pretty quickly. The girl managed to climb up a little more. The last page was still out of her reach. But it was very close. She could almost touch it. The piece of paper couldn't be reached unless she left the secure footing that held her safe.
Though he was worried, Riku could do little other than to watch as she removed her bare feet from the gap, pushing herself higher. He saw Namine snatched the last page with her right hand. The moment she had it, she slipped. Namine held it tightly as she plummeted down in the air. Fortunately, Omega happened to have tilted its head slightly backwards, so Namine wouldn't fall down to the direction of the collapsing skyscraper. With only a couple of seconds to spare, Riku made a rough guess on where she would land. Just as he was about to look up again to make sure he had the position right, Namine fell right into his arms.
"From where did you learnt to be so reckless, Namine?" asked Riku, raising an eyebrow at her.
Namine smiled. "From you, of course." She wrapped her slender arms around his neck. "I knew you would come, just like the time you came for Kairi and me back at The Castle That Never Was. I miss you. I really, really wanted to see you."
Riku held her close to him and closed his eyes. Knowing that there could never be anything between them, he couldn't deny he missed her too. Riku missed seeing her smile. He missed listening to her voice. Namine was Kairi's Nobody, but to him, they were two totally different person.
They broke part from the embrace. Riku put Namine down so she could stand on her own. She handed him the last page. It was half scrunched up but still in one piece. "We have to stop Omega," said Namine with a determined expression.
Riku took the last page from her and nodded. They hurried towards the control panel. Nearly all of the monitors were broken. The screens were flickering but barely functioning. From the main menu, Riku quickly narrowed down the categories and found the section ont activating self-destruction of the NeoNodody. He made the selection and was prompted by the computer, asking for a password.
Standing on both sides of Kurix, Sora and Roxas placed their opponent in the middle.
A keyblade materialised in each of Kurix's hands. In his right hand was the red keyblade Sora saw him use earlier. In his left hand was a new keyblade. It was ebony black in colour. Embroidered on its metallic end was the identical pattern to his other keyblade.
"Are you surprised, Sora? That you and Roxas aren't the only ones who can dual wield," said Kurix. "This," he held up the black keyblade. "Is Deathbreaker." Lowering it down, he held up the red one. "And this, is Redemption."
"Let's go, Sora," Roxas said to him, looking uninterested. At the same time, Sora and Roxas attacked.
For the first few minutes, Sora and Roxas used every single move they knew of against Kurix. He blocked and evaded their attacks with ease. His speed amazed Sora, not even Riku was able to take him one on one without being hit a few of times. So far, Kurix hadn't attacked them once. It was as though he was playing with them. It was starting to frustrate Sora. He was worried too. Roxas told him to listen to Kurix's battle rhythm. It was easier said than done. How could he do it, when not even Roxas could? Roxas admitted he wasn't able listen to with the Mirrors' fighting rhythm. He could only respond to the sounds. He wasn't able to hear the rhythm they were after. If they could, it meant they could predict the next move of their enemy.
Distracted by his own thought during battle had proved to be deadly. Sora was hit solidly on the groin by Redemption. Sora skidded on Omega's back clutching Utlima weapon in his hand. The throbbing pain made his eyes watered. The moment he tried to get back up, an invisible force prevented him from doing so. Sora felt like a tonne had been placed on his back.
Sprawled out on the ground, Sora silently cheered as Roxas hit Kurix twice in an opening. Sora could feel a distant feeling of concern. He realised it wasn't his feeling. It was coming from Roxas. While Kurix was busy with Roxas, the pressure on Sora's back was taken away. Sora thought perhaps with Riku and Roxas' help, he could use his strongest form. He searched for his final form for a boost of power. But it wasn't there.
Then it came to Sora. He couldn't use the final form when he wasn't a complete being. He needed Roxas. At that moment, Sora strongly felt he was lacking. Changing his mind, Sora drew out the Firaga magic, aiming it at Kurix. The flames were inches away from the target before they were stopped abruptly. Sora was shocked to see the magic reflected back. He wanted to brace himself, but it was too fast and unexpected.
"Sora!" he heard Roxas called out desperately as the heat burnt through his entire body.
Sora didn't feel the impact as he hit the ground. His whole body was aching from the burn. There wasn't enough magic left for him to use Curaga. Sora looked up just in time to see Kurix's keyblades pierce through Roxas's chest. Roxas face twisted in pain. Kurix pulled his keyblades out. Roxas collapsed on Omega's back.
Sora felt sharp pain tearing through the same places Roxas was stabbed. It wasn't him who was hurt, but the pain was so real it almost seemed like Kurix stabbed him too.
Kurix grabbed Roxas by the collar and held him in the air with an arm. Desperation filled Sora he saw dark cracks spreading through Roxas' body from his wounds.
"Ro…xas," Sora choked out, crawled towards them. Roxas didn't seem to have heard him. Sora had to stop Kurix. He couldn't let him kill Roxas. It was his fault that Roxas was losing. If he weren't distracted, this wouldn't be happening. Sora could almost hear Roxas say to his heart that he was sorry he couldn't help more.
Kurix smirked ignoring Sora. Roxas couldn't move with the injury he sustained. His consciousness was slipping away. He was near his end and he knew it. The blond hair teenager glowered at Kurix with hatred in his eyes. "Guess it's goodbye, Roxas," said Kurix. In his free hand, Redemption was ready to give Roxas the final finishing blow.
"NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sora screamed.
Author's rambling: Sorry that updates had been less frequent lately. I haven't been getting very realiable internet connection lately. On top of that, distractions due to the holiday season leave me little quiet time to work on the story.
I hope you guys are not lost in the story. It's a bit confusing to change character perspectives all the time. Most of the time it is told in Sora and Roxas' persectives. Namine, Riku and Kairi comes in once in a while. It just seems better to tell the story from different views. Fanfiction is flexible like this, there are no rules, you can do almost anything (I'm so irresponsible...)
Riku and Namine's flashbacks had been taking up quite a bit of the story. It's not the main arc so I try to keep them short, but I grew to like RikuNami. May be I'll write a proper story on the pairing in the future. The flashback of this chapter should be the last one.
Lastly, please review!