(So now we've got Vexen and Lexeaus back in the game to join Zexion. We also have Robotnik's Heartless making a Heartless raid on Knothole; how will the FF survive? How will Riku survive? What's Vexen planning? Let us read and find out.)
CHAPTER 8
With the "who's friend and who's foe" matter finally put to rest, the Freedom Fighters decided on where Riku was going to stay during his time in Knothole; by a unanimous decision, he would be sharing Bunnie's hut. Riku was a little unsure at first, considering he was going to be sharing a hut with someone of the opposite sex, but he remembered that Bunnie was…well…a bunny; the only real piece of clothing she wore was that purple leotard, and even without it Bunnie was covered in fur. While Bunnie was outside tending to her carrot garden, Riku was making himself at home inside. Sitting on the couch, he noticed that Bunnie had a lot of potted plants around; from flowers, to herbs to vegetables. 'She must REALLY enjoy gardening,' he thought to himself, before turning to the bookcase, 'I wonder what she's got to read.' Riku started to sort through the bookcase, wondering if there was anything worth reading in her selection. 'Gone with the Wind,' he thought as he read one title with some amusement, 'Why, am I not surprised?' He stopped upon another selection and shuddered as he recognized the title. 'Ugh…Deliverance…' he thought, remembering the novel's infamous "squeal piggy" rape scene, before he moved on. 'Let's see…To Kill a Mockingbird…The Outer Dark…The Orchard Keeper…cook books…some gardening magazines…Kama Sutra…!' Riku froze and did a double take at the last book. 'K-Kama Sutra!?' His eyes widened as he re-read the title, his face turning a deep shade of red. One part of his mind told Riku to move on, but another part was telling him it wouldn't hurt to take a look. Eventually, Riku caved in and submitted to the later part of his mind, pulling the Kama Sutra out and opening the "book of love" to a random page; that particular page just so happened to be the chapter of part 2 regarding sexual positions, causing his face to go even redder as he read on but a perverted grin also curled his lips. Riku became so engrossed in the Kama Sutra that he failed to hear the footsteps coming up behind him; that was until he heard the freaked out yell that was to come next…
Bunnie Rabbot had just crept inside of her hut; a full basket of carrots in one arm and a box of gardening tools in the other, the latter of which was carried under her metallic arm. Setting her gardening tool inside of the open closet near her door, Bunnie carried her basket of carrots into the kitchen with a proud smile. "Ah must say, that new fangled fertilizer Rotor concocted has been doin' wonder fo' muh little ole' garden," Bunnie commented as she took out and examined the carrots she harvested, admiring at how large and ripe looking these particular carrots looked. Out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly noticed Riku near the bookshelf, intensely engrossed in one of her books. Setting her carrots down, Bunnie crept over to Riku, curious as to what he was reading. 'Now whut could Sugah-Riku be readin'? Ah don't think he's the type to be interested in gardenin' or cookin,' personally. Maybe one of muh novels sparked his interest?' With a curious smile, Bunnie snuck over behind the couch and looked over Riku's shoulder, only to find him reading pages involving male and female rabbits engaged in many sexual positions. Bunnie's cheeks went as red as beetroots as she realized just which book Riku was reading. Feeling embarrassment well up inside of her, she shouted at the silver haired key bearer of twilight.
"RIKU!! JUST WHUT IN HIGH HELL ARE YOU READIN'!?"
Riku shrieked in surprise and shot up fro the couch, throwing the Kama Sutra in the air, almost hitting the roof with it, before it came right down on his head and ricocheted onto the floor at Bunnie's feet. Holding his sore head, Riku turned around to find a madly blushing Bunnie staring at him questioningly. Riku looked down at the Kama Sutra, which was open to yet another page of sexual positions; that just seemed to add to the already present tension in the room. "Bunnie…!" Riku sweated and fumbled for words, "I was…I was just…"
"Readin' Bunnie's little ole' sex book, yeah ah know," Bunnie said in an embarrassed and slightly miffed tone, blushing hotly as she picked up the book and stuck it back in the book case.
"Well…I wouldn't really call it a "sex book," exactly," Riku said with a nervous smile, "maybe if I was an immature little kid, I would. But I'm a mature adult…well actually a teenager more than an "adult," but still…" Riku cleared his throat and just cut to the chase. "What I mean is, I…er…well…" He fumbled for words, "I know full well what the Kama Sutra is and heard about what it contained," he explained, still blushing, "I just wanted to see for myself."
"It's ok, Riku," Bunnie sighed in a forgiving tone, though still blushing, "It's only natural you'd be curious and want to take a look; especially at the "positions" you had your little ole' eyes glued too," she giggled a little.
"Yeah…" Riku chuckled nervously, "Hey I'm a guy, after all," he shrugged.
"Oh?" Bunnie turned with an amused smile, "Does that mean you boys really do think about sex most of yer lives?" She joked
"What!?" Riku's blush disappeared and his embarrassment was suddenly replaced with shock and irritation at Bunnie's (joking) claim, not knowing it was a joke, "H-Hey, c'mon! You don't actually think every guy is a possible sex-starved pervert, do you!?" He snapped, visibly flustered.
Bunnie just giggled; amused at how upset Riku seemed to get. "Aw calm down, sugah; Ah'm just playin' with ya'll."
"Hmph," Riku calmed himself and sat down, realizing it was just a joke, but he was still a little miffed, "Whatever."
Bunnie giggled again as she walked up to Riku, gently running her flesh and fur hand against Riku's chin. "Ya know," she said quietly with a grin, "you're actually pretty cute when ya get all flustered and upset like that."
Riku's blush returned and he loosened up as he felt the silky soft fur of Bunny's hand against his chin, feeling Bunnie's smooth and delicate fingers rub against his bare flesh.
Bunnie could help but smile at Riku's goofy grin. 'Sugah-Riku's actually a pretty swell guy once ya get to know 'im,' Bunnie mused, as she stroked around his face.
"Oh, Bunnie?" A small voiced piped up; a young two-tailed fox with sneakers color inversed to Sonic's stepped in.
"Oh, howdy Tails," Bunnie greeted the youngest of the Freedom Fighters, "What brings ya'll up here?"
"Rotor told me to come and get you; he needs your help with the construction of some new machine he's building," Tails explained, "He said something about it hopefully being able to jam any signals Robotnik sends to his bots."
"Oh mah, I'd bettah get ovah there and help Rotor out," Bunnie removed her hand and started to walk away from Riku, who realized Bunnie's hand was no longer there as he fell to the floor face first.
"He-he-he-he-he-he… You're funny, Mr. Riku," Tails giggled at Riku's face plant.
Riku grunted as he pulled himself up and got back on his feet, a little embarrassed by what he just did, "Yeah, just like in the cartoons," he laughed sarcastically, before facing Tails. "By the way, there's no need to call me MISTER Riku," he told Tails, "It makes me sound like an old man," he followed with a chuckle as he sat back down.
Tails wandered over to the couch Riku was sitting on and sat right beside him. "Hey Riku…can you show me that cool key/sword thingy again?"
"Oh, you mean this?" Riku ask rhetorically as he opened one hand and the Way to the Dawn Keyblade matearliazed in a swirling flash of light.
"Yeah!" Tails bounced in his seat excitedly. "What is that again?"
"Well, Tails," Riku began, "This weapon's called a Keyblade; a key/sword fused weapon for fighting against Heartless, seeing as how this weapon is not only what they're drawn too, but the very weapon they fear most. Also, it can help unlock or seal the "Keyholes" of the world, so the Heartless can't sneak into the world anymore."
"So it's literally both a sword AND key?" Tails summarized.
"You got it," Riku confirmed as he ruffled Tails' head, making the young fox giggle. "Hey Tails, how old are you?"
"I'm 7 years old, why?" Tails looked at Riku curiously.
Riku looked shocked when he heard Tails' age, amazed that someone so young lived with the Freedom Fighters. "Wow…only 7? How did you become one of the Freedom Fighters at such a young age?"
"Well, I'm not a Freedom Fighter yet," Tails said looking a little annoyed, "Aunt Sally and Sonic say I'm too young to go on missions yet."
"What about your parents?" Riku asked.
Tails' annoyed look turned to one of sorrow at the mention of his parents. "Robotnik captured them when I was just a baby," he said with tears in his eyes, "I don't remember much about them because I wasn't even 1 year old when Robotnik captured them. If…if it wasn't for Sonic and Aunt Sally, I'd be a robot too…" Tails started to whimper softly. "I don't even know if they're still there or if Robotnik took them apart…"
Riku mentally slapped himself as he saw how sad and helpless Tails looked. 'Smooth move, Riku!' He yelled at himself in his mind. 'You just had to pry in and open up some old wounds for the poor kid!' With a worried and regretful look, Riku gently took Tails into his arms and hugged him tightly. "Tails…I'm sorry…I shouldn't have pried in like that…"
"N-No it's ok…" Tails said with a slight sob as he snuggled Riku, "Y-You didn't know… It j-just still hurts…"
Riku nodded in sympathy. "I bet…" He hugged Tails, petting him as he would a puppy.
Outside, Sonic was busy talking with Sally over their new guest. "So, Sal, whaddya think of Riku, so far?"
"I'm not really sure what to think, Sonic," Sally admitted, "He's not from this world, his power seems uncanny and unique, and while he doesn't know anything about Mobius he seems to know about what's out there…beyond our little planet."
"Well, all I know is, it's better off that he's with us instead of Buttnik," Sonic said, "Who knows what blubber bolts could've used him for or done to him."
"I'm personally curious as to what or who brought him here," Sally told Sonic, "Robotnik couldn't have done it, that's for sure. Plucking someone out of another dimension and placing them in ours would take great power and magic…"
Sonic nodded in understanding, realizing just what Sally was getting at. "And we only know of one person with that kind of power…"
"Naugus," they said in unison, as they looked at each other and nodded.
"He's the only one who could do it, Sal."
"His power over the void must be growing stronger, enough to reach out to other worlds even; that would explain how he brought Riku to this world."
Unbeknownst to Sonic and Sally, they were being watched from the Void, within the icy crystal lair of the very being they spoke of.
"Ah, you are correct, Princess," Naugus said to Sally's image, "But what you and the Quickster don't know is that I also took the liberty of bringing some old acquaintances of Riku to Mobius as well. Don't worry," he cackled, "You'll be meeting them sooner than you think." Waving his hand over the image bubble he was viewing, the scene changed to that of inside Robotropolis, showing Lexeaus and Zexion talking with each other as Snively listened.
"Zexion," Lexeaus suddenly thought of something, "Do you really think it's alright to let Vexen purposely get in Robotnik's way for his "research?" Won't he be putting himself in danger?"
"Vexen can take care of himself," Zexion informed, "he knows what he's doing and he's not stupid. Besides, Riku and those "Freedom Fighters" haven't fulfilled their purpose yet. If the Doctor were to take their hearts now, it would spoil our plans."
"Wh-What plans?" The squeaky voice of Snively suddenly piped up with suspicion.
"Nothing you should concern yourself with, Snively," Zexion replied seriously.
"Nothing to concern myself with?!" Snively repeated, sounding agitated, "Now listen, you! As much as I despise working for that fat fool, this is Dr Robotnik's city! You can't just waltz on in and take it over!"
"Oh, but I already have," Zexion stared long and hard at Snively, "I don't see what you're so uptight about. I believe that I gave Robotnik the perfect way to hunt down his target."
"By turning him into one of those…those "things;" you call THAT, perfect?" Snively questioned
Zexion simply shrugged, "He seems to show no animosity towards his new form. I'd say he's rather pleased." He studied Snively for a moment. "Perhaps you would think differently if you were transformed…"
"N-No!" Snively panicked, "Anything but that!" Snively turned and bolted for the door, only for Scar's Nobody to block his path with an evil grin.
"Going so soon?" Scar's Nobody purred. "How rude…"
"Indeed," Zexion agreed as he stood up and walked toward Snively, conjuring up his lexicon, "there's nothing to be afraid of Snively. Perhaps you just need some time to think; I know the perfect place!" Zexion opened up the lexicon with a high pitch laugh.
Snively shrieked as he was enveloped in an all too familiar ray of light, before winding up in the dark and stormy vortex from before. "No!! Not here!! Not gain!" Snively screamed as he floated around helplessly surrounded by a swirling mass of debris.
Zexion slammed his lexicon shut, with a chuckle.
"So, how long do you plan on keeping him inside your pocket dimension?" Lexeaus asked.
"Oh not long," Zexion smiled, "He won't last long before he succumbs."
Meanwhile, in the Great Forest, Vexen materialized out of darkness, checking out his surroundings. "So…this is the Great Forest…I wonder where Robotnik and the Heartless are," He wondered to himself. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw six Heartless shadows milling about near a great hollow tree. "Aha…it looks like they found their prey," he mused, "the party's about to begin, so I'd best not miss it." He vanished again in a flash of darkness.
TO BE CONTINUED