The Thirteenth Order

Chapter X: Alicia's Lessons

One Day Later: Disney Castle…

Alicia and the others stepped out of the hedge-gate…only to find the castle in shambles. Again. Sora took off towards the throne room, leaving the others to helplessly follow. When he opened the smaller door inside the oversized large doors, he gave a cry of shock.

"Leon!"

Once again, running at full tilt, Sora slid to a stop next to the brunette warrior.

"Holy crap, Cloud too?"

Alicia hung back, seeing as she had no connection to the figures groaning on the floor.

Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Cloud and Tifa were slowly getting back to their feet. Mickey and Minnie appeared as well. Alicia, taking the opportunity, asked the question on her group's minds.

"Excuse me but…what happened here?"

Leon pat Sora's hand, signaling to the young Keybearer that he was alright.

"Some guy…came from under the throne…Said something about a chaser and a keyblade…The King seemed to recognize him, calling him the one who put him in that cast he's in now. Well, we didn't take too kindly to that."

Alicia just shook her head. "You fought him and lost. And from the looks of things, pretty badly I might add." She sighed. "At least this proves that he's still alive…"

Kairi frowned. "You didn't believe me?"

"It's not that, I just couldn't be too certain. It could have just been residual psychic energy lying around in your head for all we knew. But this proves it. Zero is alive, and he's wandering…for some reason."

Yuffie rubbed the back of her head. "Hits like a truck…" Aerith nodded while casting a few healing spells on the group. "And he was so fast…not even Yuffie could keep up."

"Hey…Aerith…your voice sounds a bit…different…"

She blushed. "Yeah…sorry…I had a bit of a throat problem when we last met. It's why I sounded all raspy and stuff. But I'm better now."

Sora just nodded, accepting the explanation. Alicia surveyed the damage on the throne room. "You must have really ticked him off…" Everyone turned to her as she pointed to the walls and certain points on the floor. At the edge of their sight were long gashes in the ground and walls.

"He was using Stage 2 of the Shukuchi. He only goes that far when he's really serious, or really annoyed."

"Carved up the place real well."

She shook her head. "No…look closer. If you look carefully enough, you can see it." She motioned for everyone to get a good look at one of the 'scars' on the ground. She kneeled and pointed. "See? Right here, individual footsteps. Stage 2 of the Shukuchi requires the user to move their legs at an incalculable pace. The visual effect produced makes it look like they vanish, and a stream of dust trails around. And the after effect looks like one big ditch, when really it's a series of footprints practically carved into the earth from repeated use."

"Wait…if that was stage 2…then what's stage one like?"

"Still extremely fast movement…but a tad more visible. The legwork is a bit less intense, and the effect looks like a series of dust pillars appearing every second or so. Umm…" She looked around. "Ahh, there! Here, come look." Even the Royalty took a look this time. "An example of stage one." A small but firm footprint inside a very tiny crater. "Stage 1, the user tends to hop more. It's not as fast as stage 2, but it's harder to track because the user is jumping around, rather than flat out running. It's still pretty confined though, because if the user focuses too much on the lunge, then when they land, rather than just a cloud of dust, their body will become visible, and someone with quick instincts can pinpoint the direction they're going to go next."

"Sounds pretty effective." Leon noted.

"It is. The drawback, as I said before, is that it's slower than stage two, but a bit less predictable. The user is still confined to a small path, and basically a straight line, but it's a series of lines…and the important part is knowing how to turn in an instant, to readjust your trajectory, in case you get blocked. The thing is though, Shukuchi…the true power of Shukuchi, is light steps. He must not have been focusing properly if such obvious marks were left behind."

Cloud hefted his sword onto his back. "What do you mean?"

"These marks are similar to the ones I make when I use stage one…well, Stage 1 is the only part I can use right now…he said, and it's embarrassing but I quote: 'You've got really nice legs, and they're pretty strong, which is probably why you can get so much air for your more elaborate attacks, but they aren't yet strong enough for Stage 2.' I swear he's a damn pervert…"

Kairi just laughed and agreed. "You have no idea…"

Alicia just flushed and continued. "In order to even begin to learn Stage 2, you have to be able to perform stage one, without making such obvious a mark. I'm getting there, but I just can't get the hang of it yet."

Yuffie, always eager to see a new move couldn't keep it in. "Can you show us?" Alicia blushed but slowly nodded. She motioned to Kairi.

"I can't do it without a target yet…so just…stand there and get ready to move…ok?"

Kairi nodded, standing in position. Mickey sat up straight, wanting to learn more about the enigmatic young man who had not once, but twice lay waste to him and his castle.

Alicia sighed closed her eyes and began hopping from foot to foot. "Ugh, I don't know why I have to do this every single time…dammit. 'It's to prepare you for the sudden shift in movement.' He says." Her skirt bounced up and down slowly, revealing well toned legs. Alicia shook her head and counted. "One-two, one-two, one…" In her mind everything seemed to slow as her eyes snapped open in mid step, just as both feet were at an equal distance from the ground. "Two!" Her right foot touched the ground…and she vanished.

"Wow!"

Pillars of dust appeared. The first, a few meters away from where she vanished from, and slightly to the right. Another, further ahead, and to the left. Another even further to the left, but slightly back. Unknown to the others, Kairi was easily tracking Alicia's movements. Sensing danger, the second sight, the power of Zero's eyes activated themselves, and she saw mass of black bounding its way to her. While the others could only see where she was, Kairi was able to see where Alicia was going to be. As Alicia closed in, just before impact, Kairi raised her left arm in a block, completely nullifying Alicia's punch.

"Holy crap!"

"But…dammit that's what he does!"

Kairi smiled brightly. "It's because he can see you move. Maybe he can do it because he was training you, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's because of his eyes."

"His…eyes…wait…you could see it too?"

"I've got that power from him…I could see every move you made. Barely, but it was enough to get an idea of where you were going to go."

"Damn…I'm still not fast enough…"

"Don't be so hard on yourself. I don't know a thing about Suku..whatever, but I can tell you're pretty good at it. I just had an unfair advantage is all."

Alicia sighed anyway. Cloud asked something that was weighing on his mind.

"You said Stage 2…but…that's not it is it?"

"No…there are Four main stages, and then the true Shukuchi. The third stage is like the first, only with the intense speed of the second thrown in, and it's a LOT harder to track. Once you master the second stage, you can move fast enough to temporarily defy gravity, which is why you can see those scars on the walls as well. The third stage takes the speed of the second stage, and combines it with an enhanced version of the unpredictability of the first. With the ability to defy gravity added in, the randomness now has a new dimension it can use, which means the user can literally jump all over the place, bouncing from wall to ceiling to floor to ceiling to wall to wall…"

Tifa had a bright smile on her face. "Sounds like it's perfect for a martial artist…"

"It was originally designed for Swordplay, Zero said…but I saw him use it for other things, so hand to hand combat is an option."

Riku cut in. "Tell us about the fourth stage."

"Pure, blinding speed. Take the first stage, reduce the amount of steps you take, and triple the speed. Most only get up to the fourth stage, as it requires the least amount of steps, and is the most efficient form of movement outside of battle."

"And the True Shukuchi?"

"I've only seen it once…and that was only so Zero could show me what it looked like…" She blushed heavily this time. Come on Alicia…you can do this. If it was me doing it to him he'd laugh his ass off when he retold the tale. "I blinked…I didn't even feel a thing…and to this day I swear up and down there was some sort of temporal manipulation involved…"

Aerith leaned forward, ever the gossip. "What happened?"

"I blinked…and in the span of a second…before I could even turn around…before I noticed anything had happened…" She blushed again, her face becoming almost beet red. "You have to understand, we were in a VERY big room, like maybe half the length of this one. I didn't even realize it…but when I turned around, not even a second later…after just one blink…he was all the way at the doorway, standing there, leaning against the wall…the most smug looking smile on his face."

Yuffie gave a very girlish squeal, her inner gossip taking over. "What did he do?"

"It…took me a minute to understand. But…in his hands…" It looked like even her neck was blushing now. "In his hands…in a split second…he'd somehow managed…"

The guys had to hold back a chuckle at how flustered she was.

"He'd gotten a hold of the undergarments I was wearing."

The girls eyes widened in shock. Sora, Riku, Donald and Goofy, who had shown up while Alicia was demonstrating, fell to the ground roaring with laughter.

Kairi was stunned. "You didn't feel a thing?!" Alicia shook her head, still blushing. "At the very least all I felt was a very light breeze."

Tifa was completely taken aback. "Let me get this straight. He pulled down and around your legs, your panties, and at the same time unhooked AND gotten your bra off, all in the same second, and you only felt a slight breeze at best?!"

Alicia nodded. "And your clothes weren't disturbed at all?!" Alicia shook her head. Tifa fell flat on her ass in shock. "But…that's impossible…"

Leon just shook his head and smirked. "Kicked my ass or not…that guy's got balls…gotta remember to buy him a drink some day."

All the girls yelled. "LEON!"

A voice rang out. "Ouch man. That's totally the worst thing to say around so many girls."

Everyone stopped. Moments later a dome of black appeared…and from within…

"ROXAS?!"

"So…that's where he got to…I was wondering why I felt a bit…lighter."

"Indeed. The darkness of the Keybearer is now with its Light. And you are one step closer to completing this phase of your mission."

"Yeah…just gotta pick up a couple more things…I'm glad Ammy let me have that scroll. Can't believe my luck finding those rings though."

"Floating in space…where they were left."

"I think there's one…on Alicia's world."

"There is. There are many now. You have been gone for quite some time."

"I guess it's almost time to head back. Hopefully this will work…"

"Only time…will tell."

Alright, crappy chapter, I know. But it's something, and lets me move the fuck on finally. I hope you enjoyed Alicia's embarrassment. Roxas fans rejoice, the blond is back. Speaking of Blondes, I've got an interesting role for another one…

RCRS: There will be a return to Wonderland, in which you'll see more of non whiny Alice. It'll probably happen next chapter actually. I'm glad I could make it bearable. Also…I need to find a site with images of Ansem in multiple forms, and a sound clip of his SUBMIT! Line. Then, I'm going to fuse them into a ymtd thingie, and post it somewhere…hopefully make someone have nightmares about it.

D&S Master: The voice…well, even I'm not too sure who it is. And honestly, Zero had the idea to fix Wonderland himself, the Voice just agreed with his thoughts. The Voice is Female, by the way, just to clarify. And…now that I think about it, I DO know who it is…

Taeniaea: Thanks, glad you enjoy it.

Shitty chapter, but explanation of one of Zero's and now Alicia's many abilities! Who is Ammy? Well, a gamer should know. What rings was he talking about that were in space? Again, gamer should know, but it's a bit vague, no hints though. Why did he go BACK to Disney Castle? Well, to quote Lewis Black: "Pay more attention next time, FUCKERS!"

Also, GET PERSONA 3 FES! YOUR GOD COMMANDS IT!