NSX Chapter 16: In a Dark Crevasse, a game x-overs fanfic

(I know I'm not permitted to do author notes but as a precaution I'm asking that no one report me for this, so I'll keep this short: I've left a brief writeup on my profile regarding the state of KH canon in this story, as I've gotten some mixed feedback regarding that, especially in regard to last chapter. Also from hereon I will answer any questions/concerns via an added forum, also to be linked to in my profile.)

"Ederick."

"Ungh..."

"Ederick!"

"Wh.. what? Where-"

"EDERICK!"

"Huh?!" Troy suddenly sprang up. He found himself sitting in bed. No, he was in A bed... one that was very much not his. He gazed about in a stunned stupor, soaking in the environment as it came into focus. He was in a small room that tortured his eyes further, its surfaces held together by panels of gleaming white metal. A simple desk of a similar shade had a bizarre, hovering chair at it, while its tops were covered with papers and decorative stones. The spartan bed he lied on suddenly became a lot less comfortable as he raised his hand.

It was Ederick's. He looked at his other, and in a fit of panic turned towards a the desk mirror. There was no denying it - he was Ederick.

"Where am I? What's going on?!" Troy shouted to no one in particular. He was suddenly spun at the waist as hands grappled onto his shoulders and pulled him in their direction. The figure in front of him faded into view slower than the rest of the room. It was a young woman, slightly above Ederick's height, draped in a simple, loose black gown. What was visible of her stockings was a tinged grey, with a single red ring below each knee. Her heavy boots were adorned with metal spikes in seemingly random locations, and were obviously steel-toed. Finally Troy managed to gaze into her hollow black eyes, suddenly becoming enchanted more by the red hair that billowed out behind her, even after being tied back. "Who-"

"Ederick. Wake up. We have to go."

"But wh-"

"It's me, Ameile."

nsx

in a dark crevasse

"Listen, we have to get out of here. Something incredibly bad has happened..."

"Ameile?!" Troy-Ederick snapped. "You're the Ameile? Listen, Ederick-" He was suddenly interrupted by a vicious slap to the face.

"Ederick, get a hold of yourself! It's a good thing you were napping in your clothes, because we have to leave, NOW!"

Troy-Ederick let out a yelp as Ameile latched onto his wrist, dragging him spinning off the bed. The door to the chamber phased out of existence as Ameile drug him through it, Troy-Ederick stumbling behind her as she ran. "Um, er, Amiele, what's happening? Everyone is in a panic..." he looked around the expansive hall as the two jaunted through it, similar to the chamber he had just exited - asides from the random blasts of siren sound and red light, along with the mortally wounded people left and right. Troy-Ederick's face twisted as he began to notice what was happening - many were still writing in agony as they were being consumed by small blobs of thick, black paste. "...Heartless?!"

"Heartless?" Ameile scowled. "I WISH it were the Heartless! It's found us, Ederick, we have to get out of here before it's too late! We have to reach Valgrind!"

"What do you mean, 'it?'" Troy-Ederick finally broke free of her grip, causing the two to lurch to a stop.

"It's found us. The Great Dark. It's not the Heartless, or Nobodies, or the Heart-creators... it's the absence of all three."

Troy-Ederick's stomach shifted. "...that's what's causing all this?"

"If you want to sit around here and blab that's fine by me," Ameile shouted. "But... you heard what we've been told. To be consumed by non-existence... to have never existed... it's a fate much, much worse than death." The emphasis on the final words made Troy-Ederick's blood flow hiccup. "Now will you just shut up and-" both her and Troy-Ederick lost balance as the ground shifted from an explosion. The ceiling caved in a short distance away, and a beast plunged down from above with a roaring crash. As Troy gazed on he felt his limbs contract again. It was no mere symbiote that marched out of the debris, but a winged, demonic figure, unsettling far beyond any Primal hive he'd set eyes upon. "LET'S GO!!"

Troy-Ederick was now fully in step with Ameile as they both fled in the opposite direction. A deathly shriek followed them down the corridor as the monster opened its cavernous maw and let loose near-constant blasts of its gelatinous projectiles at the two. Ameile suddenly found herself falling behind Troy-Ederick, letting out a yelp as one of the ooze bolts struck her ankle. Troy-Ederick screeched to a halt as he spun around, tearing Ameile off the floor again as another barrage struck down where she was.

"Ederick-"

"I don't care if you're the girlfriend of my jerkass alter-ego, I'm not leaving you to die!"

"What?"

The two rushed into a larger circular room. Translucent rings around the antechamber suddenly lit up as the ground dropped out from underneath them, causing them to fly by at a dizzying pace. An elevator was taking them down. "What do we do now? Ameile?" Troy winced in shock as he heard the faint burning sizzle - the patch that the Dark struck was now beginning to erode her ankle into nonexistence. "Oh, no!"

"Hack it off!" Ameile barked.

"What?!"

"Amputate! Slash it down before it spreads to both of us!"

Troy-Ederick dropped her to the ground with a thud, backing up as she shifted into position. "Now!!"

"With what? And you just want me to-"

"YES! U-use my keyblade! Please!"

Troy-Ederick found his hand stirring as the Chronicle formed in it, wincing as the keyblade's teeth began to vibrate back and forth violently. "U-uh, okay, I just..." he raised it above his head.

"Stop hesitating!" Ameile scowled, reeling back and letting out a cry of pain. "I can manage!!"

Troy-Ederick took a deep breath and swung the edge down, severing Ameile's leg just above the ankle. He felt his stomach churn as a sizable amount of blood exploded onto, and then started leaking to, the floor.

"GRRRNNGGHHGH-AAAHHHH!!" Ameile clasped onto the stump as hard as she could. With a burst of light, the dreaded burning was overtaken by a slightly more benevolent variety, and her wound was replaced by a rounded cauterization of flesh. "O-okay-y! That's been prevented... now, go!"

"...white magic...?" Troy-Ederick sighed to himself as the elevator continued plummeting. "...no, you're not implying that-"

"Go without m..." she trailed off as she found herself being hoisted up by Troy-Ederick. "...I guess I c-couldn'tve expected much else... let's... go. I'm going to be a drag, I hope you realize."

"Not while I keep pestering you for directions," Troy-Ederick grumbled. "What's our objective and how do we get there?"

"Down more... ahhh!... levels, to Valgrind... 32. Sora will be likely waiting for us there."

"...Sora? Who's Sora?"

Ameile stared dumbly at Troy-Ederick. "I'm sorry, have you caught the stupids since I left you last night? You've been asking a lot of weird questions lately. Sora? There aren't a lot of Soras around. That straggler that's training you how to use your keyblade so I don't have to share access with mine all the bloody time? THAT Sora? That's pretty well buddy-buddy with the keypers around here and helps in every little thing they do and every little place they go? That squash the Dark? Well, not squashing it well enough if our current scenario is any indication, but you get the picture."

TE and Ameile turned their gaze to the wall as the elevator slammed down. The wall tore open, and a door was opened to a great hall that lied beyond. Both were horrified at what they saw - every entryway into the vestibule was barricaded with broken crates, ruined pillars, and whatever remained of the local furniture, but still, the walls around them were in a state of constant decay. The invading substance continued to eat its way through the infrastructure, beginning to lap across the floor to where several dozen armored guards were furiously trying to sweep away what they could with keyblades of their own, or more dominantly, varying energy rifles. That wasn't what truly got TE's attention however.

"What in the hell..." TE's head slowly began to tilt backwards.

As gigantic as the hall was in area, it was nothing compared to its height. Viewpoints and passages from the higher levels seemed to stretch into the heavens, all seeming to aim at the far end of the hall. There lied a colossal double-door, at the very least several hundred meters high, and wide enough to take a convoy through. It was painted from top to bottom with bizarre runes that glowed with an eerie blue light, that alone being a feat with the ambient luminescence of the room. All along the center division were locking mechanisms from the medieval to the mechanical, to the modern to the futuristic, all dismantling themselves in sequence as another enormous group of escapees fought over top of each other to reach it. TE was snapped out of his splendor as an energy blast struck the wall behind him.

"Watch where you point that frickin' thing!" TE yelled.

"S-sorry!" one of the shivering guards spat. "Quickly, get to the back, we'll have it open quickly! If you don't get through then, then there's nothing we can do for you!"

"Great," Ameile grunted as Troy bounded over top of the wall of debris. "Everything's taken care of, then. Once we get inside we should be safe."

"Inside?"

"There's no time to discuss it, we have to get through before Valgrind is resealed. Damn it all, I wish it hadn't come down to this... Sora isn't even here as far as I can tell, who knows what happened to him? He's not the kind of person that would get left behi-"

TE bumbled to a stop as the sound of a buzzsaw shot through his human ears. He peered over his shoulder, fully pivoting in shock as he examined what was happening. Darkness was already pouring through the elevator shaft they had just come out of, but it was uprooted briefly as a spinning projectile ripped along the ground and spun around the area in several wide arcs before soaring back to its caster's hand. It was the simplest of keyblades, even less decorated than the Chronicle, but with the distinct shape of a pronged crown inlaid to create the key's teeth. What was more important, however, was the aura it exuded, splitting the very fear in the room with its radiance. All at once, it seemed that everyone behind the shielding was working exponentially faster.

"Ederick? What are you waiting for?" Ameile cried.

Sora's head turned and TE got his first full examination free of flying slime. The man was easily into his late twenties if not early thirties, but still carried with him a head of jagged, rebellious chestnut hair and soft blue eyes that bobbed along even as he shook the living daylights out of TE. Sora was draped in a faded orange vest, white flame embroidered along its bottom, that covered a white undershirt. A long, oversized belt held up a pair of baggy shorts of the same design, with flames riding up the left leg sleeve. "Ederick? EDERICK? What's going on here, it's only been, what, 10 minutes since I got word that the base was under attack and this is what I walk into? Are you alright? Ameile?!"

"D-don't worry about me," Ameile winced. "Only a flesh wound. I can get a prothesis nerve-buckled easily enough, right now we... well, have a bit of an emergency. The Dark... it just, just... burst! One of our bulkheads just up and blew, no one even knew any ounce of pressure was there. After that... it was a chain reaction, people were buried in the crap left and right. Most of the station is getting immolated by the Dark at this point; we got as many people as we could to Valgrind as possible. It's a disaster here! We have to get the survivors inside and seal the main prison dimension gate before we lose any more!"

"Unbelievable..." Sora snarled, turning to face the advancing sludge. Even TE winced hearing the sudden hit to Sora's valor in his voice. "...unbelievable! Listen, you two have to get through before that gate closes, I'll take up the rear and try to give the evacuees as much time as possible! Meanwhile I-" Sora suddenly froze. "Riku. Where's Riku?"

"Riku is with one of the escort craft just on the other side!" the guard from earlier shouted back. "He and the remainder of the officers are running finalizing logistics and launch diagnostics on the transport machinery! He's out of harm's way for now, but we're going to have to give up our foothold here eventually!"

"Which waypoint is Valgrind aimed at?"

"NSX, sir!"

TE was suddenly jolted out of step. "Eh?"

Sora prepared a response to the other soldier, but instead glared back at TE and Ameile, shooing them off. "What are you waiting for? GO!!"

"Ungh..." Troy ground his teeth as he hunched down and took off towards the foreboding doors ahead, feeling his heart race as the sounds of combat rose back to a thundering crescendo behind him. Meanwhile the gate's failsafes finally came crashing down with noises industrial and electronic, and the rift began to swing open. As Troy plowed through the crowd and towards the growing sliver of light, he looked over his shoulder one last time. Sora continued to stand his ground as the other armed guards around him began to succumb to the Dark's pressuring advance. With one last burst of energy, TE leapt through the opening into mystery.

Troy stood in the middle of his Shambhala chamber, bedsheets thrown all over the floor. He continued wheezing to himself, shaking the clamminess out of his limbs as he slowly readjusted to the waking world. Finally managing to regain his breath, he expanded his chest and yelled at the top of his lungs.

"EDERICK!!"

Troy hacked for another moment, having suddenly deprived himself of air again. He keeled over grunting as he pushed forward through the door to the brightly-lit lobby. He ran by Knuckles and Siegfried, who sat hunched on the sofas as they played cards over a folding table. "EDERIIIIICK!!"

"Now what's wrong with that damned idiot..." Siegfried rumbled.

"Troy? What the hell... TROY! What's wrong?" Knuckles leapt after him, but moments too late - the door to Outer Shambhala crashed shut again, somewhere where his individual perceived entrance to Shambhala wouldn't let him pursue. Knuckles slammed his clenched fist against the door, austere enough in its appearance but still impenetrable. "Grrr!!"

Troy stumbled and tripped down his crude hallway, finally bursting out into the lonely white space. He took a deep breath and yelled into the void again with all his might. "EDERICK!! Come out damn it, I know you're there somewhere!"

Ederick phased into step behind him. "It's about time you figured it out. Idiot."

Troy twisted around to face him. "Figured out? You mean-"

"That you can't summon me within the enclosed confines of this... Shambhala. It's as your friends say, the mental composition of each room is controlled either by the facility's mechanisms or by their owners' minds. As long as anyone or anything is still subconsciously believing in your own existence and not mine, Shambhala will enforce that. As such, I carry no control and therefore can't manifest in any form. In regular or unregulated space however-"

"Screw that!" Troy's face suddenly thrust into Ederick's. "The dreams... the dream! About the dream..."

"...the what?" Ederick said flatly.

Troy's palm slammed into Ederick's chest, his wrist suddenly twisting and yanking the two closer to each other. "Ameile. I saw Ameile."

For the first time as far as Troy knew, Ederick's stance faltered and his face turned pallid. "Ehhh?? Why the hell am I supposed to believe things you say when I can't remember anything about MYSELF?"

"The Sword of the Timeless Eye. Dark eyes, red hair, black gothic lolita clothing. Seems to be a bit of a bitch but otherwise cares greatly about your wellbeing."

"AAANNghhh!!" Ederick fell backwards out of Troy's grasp, his body contorting as he clutched his head. "How are you... these images are grinding their way into my head! It's excruciating but at the same time, things are falling into place! Have you as my Nobody form developed enough to begin to decipher these things?!"

"I... you were running from symbiotes on crack. The Dark everyone called it. We only one step ahead of it the whole time. It wasn't attacking people... it was outright devouring them. Ameile guided me, uh, us through the whole place we were in, I still can't figure out where we even WERE, but it was a gigantic compound of some kind. The Dark just kept coming and coming, I can't even know if it was the air around it or the sound it made, it outright curdled my blood to witness. Ameile kept hassling me along, but I drug her with me. She guided me to this huge-ass door in the basement, or was it the basement?... I dunno. That's how big the place was. We-"

"Get on with it!!" Ederick growled.

"...Valgrind." Troy finished. "Valgrind, that big door to nowhere as far as I knew... but we were pressured by the Dark. Ameile told me that we had to get 'inside'. What we were outside of... we were outside of, I, I don't know what to really make of it, or how it could be true, but... they mentioned that behind that door was NSX."

"PPPGHHHH-" Ederick collapsed to the ground, writhing in anguish. "E-everything... I don't know why, but it's pouring into me, clear as day. That span of time, that escape! If everything that happened then is true, then... Sora! I have to know what happened to Sora! Even Riku!" Ederick was back on one knee, focusing a scowling stare at Troy. "You have to keep reexamining this, if I can learn more about everyone's whereabouts, then Ameile-"

"Hang on, I took Ameile THROUGH that door, she could be anywhere on that side, what would Sora-"

"Please, Troy..." Ederick shuddered as he tried to push himself back to his feet. "I understand that we haven't been on the most amicable of terms since I first contacted you, but if working together we could figure out what put me in this condition, WHY I'm in this condition, what happened that day... I would be eternally grateful."

"I'll do it."

"Whah?" Ederick coughed.

Troy crouched down to Ederick, now staring his own brand of daggers into the wounded soldier. "Oh, don't mistake me. I'm not doing it for you, it's just that I realize I'm about to do is going to benefit you in one way or another. What that lucid dream DID accomplish was the revival of a lot of questions I already had. Now tell me what you know about this memory process of yours, what did you mean by 'reexamining'?"

"I didn't do anything to invoke that dream, Troy. Now that they've started, however, they're going to return. Bit by bit, piece by piece, you'll be replaying my memories, and apparently I can piece them together as you bring them up... the process of rebuilding is a painful and inefficient one by far though, and you might even run into the same event multiple times. Sort of a reverse deja vu."

"One thing I don't get about that though," Troy interjected. "I said it was a lucid dream. I had full control over myself, but that was YOUR memory."

"Undoubtedly conflict between your psyche and mine. Conceivably you could manipulate the dream, but not to an extent that fully undermines its presence as a memory."

"So technically speaking I could do whatever I want but the final outcome would be the same."

"You're not as dumb as you look." Ederick scoffed.

Troy folded his arms, turning his annoyed gaze away from Ederick. "I guess I'd better get some sleep on this... well, going to sleep is only going to complicate matters for myself if this is any indication, but I can't rest until I... heh, the irony, sleeping only makes me more tired. Who would've thought?"

"Ederick."

TE's eyes flashed open as he sat up. "Ameile!" He put all his strength into his abs, lifting his legs up and using the momentum to propel himself off the bed. "What's happening? It's the Dark, isn't it?"

"Ede-AHH!" Ameile ducked out of the way to avoid getting smashed by TE's stray arm. "Y-yes! Ederick, get a hold of yourself! It's a good thing you were napping in your clothes, because we have to leave, NOW!"

"I gotcha," TE was already across the room, rummaging through the desk's contents. He scanned the covers and initial pages of books, individual documents and pamphlets that laid heaped in the desk drawers.

"What are you doing?!" Ameile screeched. "We have to get out of here!"

"On it!" TE dumped the scriptures back into the drawer, slamming it shut. I don't even need to digest the contents of these as long as I've glanced over them, if Ederick's reaction to what I explained earlier was any indication, then as long as I have the cliffs notes he can fill in the blanks! "Let's move!" TE clamped his hand down on Ameile's wrist, dragging her out of the room as he began to pick up speed. The two carried on into the hallway, it and its summoned guards already corroded with Dark residue.

"It's found us, Ederick, we have to get out of here before it's too late! We have to reach Valgrind!"

"What does the Dark want from us?"

"...what?"

"Answer me!!"

"It... you want me to give you a goddamn history lesson while getting chased by reality-eating aliens?! We don't know, we're just the Sanctum branch of this galaxy! This crap has been bearing down on us for a while now and we've had no way of exterminating it and it just kept-"

"Sanctum?"

"Symbiote police! We're trying to cleanse more worlds, to return to Kingdom Hearts, find the World Terminus so we don't have to scramble people every few minutes to fend off Heartless or Nobodies and figure out what those crazy Heart-creators want with us and-"

"Vast?! What is th- WATCH OUT!" TE suddenly surged forward, trying to evade one of the flying globules. He winced as it struck Ameile's ankle, causing her to shriek in pain. TE growled as he pushed himself the last few yards to the elevator, nearly crashing into the opening doors. TE dropped Ameile to the ground as the elevator platform picked up speed and the Chronicle flashed into his hand. "...hold still."

"Wait, wh-YAAAUUGHH!!" Ameile screamed out the last cry as the keyblade lopped her foot off with frightening accuracy. She followed the same procedure as before, if a little unprepared, and quickly sealed the otherwise crippling wound. "WHAT THE... hpphh- HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

"You knew it was going to happen." TE grunted.

"Well I... I, but... how did you know I was going to ask-"

"We're going to Valgrind. What the hell is Valgrind?"

"You've only been through Valgrind a few times... it's the giant phasegate transit system at the heart of our Vanaheim station, the one we use to travel to the prison dimension waypoints. They're where research is conducted on Heartless and Nobody specimens. We have to find how to stop them, and the dark, by whatever means... new keyblades are not being created fast enough!"

Creating keyblades? TE was jerked out of thought as the elevator crashed down to its final floor. As he helped Ameile off the ground, the two pivoted to face the looming doors of Valgrind once more, and the zone in front of it was very much the same as his first visit. TE quickly strode into the midst, shielding himself and Ameile behind debris as he moved. He shifted behind one of the guards as they continued to blast away at the Dark from afar.

"Sora is on his way, hold the line!" TE shouted.

"Wha?"

No sooner did the confused words escape the man's lips, the advancing wave of the Dark was ripped asunder by the mysterious regal keyblade hurtling thorugh the air. It returned to Sora's hand as he began his predicted advance upon Valgrind. TE, however, forgot about his shoulder-shaking. "Ederick? EDERICK? What's going on here, it's only been, what, 10 minutes since I got word that the base was under attack and this is what I walk into? Are you alright? Ameile?!"

"Unbelievable..." Sora snarled, turning to face the advancing sludge. Even after having heard the entire conversation word for word before, TE couldn't quite help but shudder as the three gazed upon the advancing creepage. "...unbelievable! Listen, you two have to get through before that gate closes, I'll take up the rear and try to give the evacuees as much time as possible! Meanwhile I-" Sora suddenly froze. "Riku. Where's Riku?"

Alright, time for plan A.

TE stepped forward, fist clenched and head held high. "Please, I need one of the men to get Ameile to safety! I'll work with Sora to buy all of you some more time! Let me go so that others survive!"

"Ederick," Sora grumbled. "Are you crazy? You're barely an adept with a keyblade and you haven't even been able to synthesize your own yet, what do you expect to do?"

"I'll use the Chronicle!" TE summoned the weapon to his grasp, unwittingly clenching it tighter than he could remember. "As long as people believe in me... no, as long as Ameile believes in me, and realizes that I'll do everything in my power to come back safely to her... she will grant me permission to carry this!"

One of the men took Ameile's weight onto his shoulder, moving her to the Valgrind door as TE fell in line with Sora.

"Ederick..." Sora mumbled. "You... what you're doing is pretty stupid, but at the same time, your bravery is commendable..."

TE took a deep breath, preparing to bluff his way through the next statement as stealthily as possible. "I will fight for Sanctum to the bitter end, Sora. For people to no longer live in fear of the civil war between the Heartless... the Vast... and the Va.. Heart-creators, I'll never surrender for anything. I hope you're thinking the same?"

"So many people have tried to abuse or take advantage of that for their own gain..." Sora said softly. The two met back to back, their respective weapons drawn, as Dark began to rapidly seep through the barricade. "The Sanctum is not the Organization. They have dedicated themselves to ending this stalemate, and people like myself have done everything in their power to ensure that they never regress into power-thirst. To hear those words coming out of someone's mouth besides mine or Riku's, that pumps me up!"

A crushing blast tore out from the elevator door, a wall of dust roaring along with it. The wall of the shaft crumbled as the Dark creature burst through, the same abyssal figure that he had encountered in the first iteration of the dream. Its face bisected horizontally as it let loose a hellish scream that assaulted TE's senses. Still, he stood his ground, seeming to flinch as little as Sora. I can't explain this feeling... it's just like, standing around this guy, my fear's completely dulled out... TE, while ruminating, noticed little as his movements began to mirror Sora's. He pivoted his left leg to the back, sweeping his keyblade over and behind his shoulder while he kept his eyes focused on the monster. The hideous construct began to lumber at them.

Sora swatted stray bolts of Dark away from him with mere gestures of his weapon, but otherwise kept his stance intact. "Ederick, we can't possibly keep something like that at bay in melee... we have to make a single, swift strike in order to disable it. Follow my movements, I need you to back me up if I miss the shot."

"The shot? What are you-" TE froze as he watched Sora's entire body flash forward, his arms snapping in front of him and hurling his keyblade through the air. It ignited in a bright white light, adjusting its trajectory in midair in an effort to lop at the beast's thick neck. Sora's face twisted as the beast's gigantic claws flashed up, shattering the projectile and forcing its physical incarnation to fly to a clatter at his feet. "N-No way, ED! TAKE THE SHOT, IT'S UNDEFENDED WHERE-"

"I-I got it!" TE stared in confusion at the Chronicle, which was beginning to take on the same appearance. His eyes fluttered to the exposed section of the monster's throat, and he found himself leaping forward to let the weapon fly. "STRRRRIKE... RAIDDD!!"

The blade of light flew at an even greater velocity, not striking dead on but still lancing deep through the stumpy protrusion. What happened then, however, was just as disorienting as its advance. Troy choked as he gazed upon the exit wound, jetting not more darkness... but instead, thick, gooey blood. TE's legs began to shake, the grip of Sora's morale on him beginning to waver.

"Quit giving it attention!" Sora shouted, punching TE hard in the shoulder. "What you're seeing isn't its true form... it's trying to play off your emotions, your humanity! We're out of time, you have to get through Valgrind before those doors shut for good! I'll keep this thing off all your backs while the evac finishes!"

"Wheh?! But you-"

"GO!!" Sora shoved TE away, causing him to stumble backwards into the crowd. The human cushioning gave away from under him, and he found himself getting drug along with the chaos as it finally began to seep at a consistent rate through the ominous crevice between the two doors. TE constantly tried to fight his way back through the doors, but found himself losing ground from the guards and the rapidly-constricting horde.

"SORA!!"

TE wasn't able to gather as much as a glance at the rear of the keyper as Valgrind cut them off. TE, with all his strength, rammed his way out of the gigantic cluster of people with one shoulder, stammering and stumbling to regain his balance as he finally reclaimed a modicum of personal real estate. The room he stood in was virtually identical to the one he had just come out of, albeit with an irritating electricity in the air that seemed to poke at his sinuses. That was merely the beginning of his problems though. It seemed that every light in the room was at lease doubly as bright as the pre-Valgrind chamber, but that was just meant to distract him long enough for what was to follow.

He could only see a few dozen feet in front of him. From thereon, the environment tapered away almost artificially and collapsed to a dark beyond black. TE could only stand staring directly into the void for so long, feeling an aural dread begin to surround him. There was only the most recent people ahead and behind him visible. Any others that would have traveled through the welcoming doors were absent, having been swallowed up by some other force that TE couldn't place a bead on.

He was being watched. From all directions.

What was terrifying about that more than anything else was that it wasn't a swarm of anything. It was a continuous entity, and its presence began to constrict TE's breath in a pure, unadulterated anxiety attack. Just when he thought he could no longer force another gasp of stale air into his chest... it was over.

The door to Outer Shambhala opened once more, and Troy struck out into the whiteness once more, very visibly shaken. He shrugged off the shivering as he continued his march out into nothingness. Troy crouched down, eventually losing cohesion and sitting entirely on his behind. Ederick already advanced from his flank.

"I was just about thinking you'd never come back." Ederick chuckled. "What's it been.. a week?"

"...Ederick."

"Yes?"

"This keyper sect thing isn't new, is it? Every time I've ran around wherever the hell you were, talked with Sanctum, been thrown back into that mad escape now and then... all this yakking about finding some end to what the Heartless and Nobodies, and what I figure is the Vast, are doing. I'm always seeing people with keyblades. Not all of them mind you, a lot are still carrying guns and other such big sticks, but there's a lot of effort going into supplying people with keyblades. Actually, no. I vaguely remember Ameile and this Sora person talking about CREATING keyblades. So let's summarize..."

"Shoot." Ederick droned.

"These people... you were once in the same situation we are now, screwing around with the symbiotes and having to fight them off while trying to figure out a way to stop them in the long term. Sanctum rounded up a bunch of keypers and worked towards that. But, all you guys are way more advanced than any of us, even moreso than the Covenant... obviously you had a bunch of influential keypers on your side, this Sora being one of them, and I imagine... Riku? I only heard the name a couple of times. Anyways, YOU were one of Sora's disciples, or proteges, or whatever. You fought and fought, but I don't know if you actually got anywhere or not because of this dark stuff rising on the scene. Apparently it's volatile beyond all measurement and corrodes its way through energy and matter itself. Everyone implied it was a process of total annihilation..."

"And what exactly are you getting at?"

"I'm not getting at anything to be honest, I'm just trying to piece together crap and only getting more questions as a result. Then again, that's how this whole adventure's been up to this point so I'm hardly surprised anymore. Eventually I rummaged through your paperwork on the way out to Valgrind one time, knowing that I didn't actually have to understand any of it." Troy tapped an index finger to his skull, passing a smirk to Ederick. "We only use a fraction of our noggins, so while I could never possibly have a proper recognition of it myself in the future given the amount of time I spent reading it, everything would be stored there for the current you to brush up on and fill in the blanks."

"Nnnngh..." Ederick clutched his forehead, now throbbing with pain. He was growing to withstand the sudden infusions of information. "...this entity, they refer to it as Abyss. The Great Dark. From preliminary examination, it's only supposed to exist in spatial regions where there is a vacuum of the other three symbiotic lifeforms."

Troy paced by him. "Of course, there's nothing I can gather beyond that; when and where it was first created or discovered, how long they've known about it, its strengths and weaknesses, crap like such. What you had stored away was just an informational package as far as what to do if it was sighted in a crowded place. I think figuring more out about it is beyond the scope of what you've witnessed... all I know is that whatever it is, it's SERIOUS. While I can kind of bend the memory a bit so I can squeeze information out of people or do things I didn't, the end results are always the same. The Abyss itself though, whenever I got close to it, it... felt like my heart was getting squeezed right out of my chest. There's something about it that is utterly horrifying, excruciating and chilling to the bone. That keyblades seem to be the only things that can cut through it doesn't offer much comfort."

"Mmmhm..." Ederick watched as Troy continued to fidget about.

"But the keyblades!" Troy suddenly whipped around. "What Sora said about you not being able to properly synthesize a keyblade... don't tell me these people MANUFACTURED keyblades!"

"I can tell you right now that it's not that simple. Otherwise you would have both seen more people with them."

"That's a good point... from what information I gave you, do you have any recollection of anything Sora told you about them? Any journals, notes, anything? I have to figure out more about this-"

"Not that I've been able to rebuild from what you told me."

"Grrr..." Troy turned away again, massaging his temples with his palms. "NSX. What about NSX? I keep hearing that people are getting to NSX through Valgrind. It's a prison dimension where research was carried out on the three symbiotes, but that in mind, why do I keep hearing it in the present? Something is totally messed up here. What do the Nepenthes know about it? WHY do they know about it? Did something that happened then lead to the foundation of the Nepenthes in some roundabout way?"

"...there's something that's bothering me."

"That's bothering YOU? Walk a mile in my shoes."

"No, I mean..." Ederick turned a worried gaze to Troy. "...you were able to utilize a keyblade technique that you had no earlier knowledge of. From what I've been able to gather, it was something that Sora would have passed on to me."

"What are you suggesting?" Troy sputtered.

"That and how your recollections have been causing me less and less pain... our collective memories might be bleeding together. In that case, it'll become easier as time goes on for you to transfer them to me and vice versa. At the same time though-"

"What?"

"...you'll be affected by my experiences much more harshly. Emotions will become more intensified, pain will greatly increase. We may be reaching a shift in risk versus reward."

"Any step towards solving all these mysteries is worth the risk."

Ederick flinched. "I know this goes against my earlier threats, but I can work to seal myself off from you for the time being such that you won't have these recurring dreams-"

"No. Let them ride." Troy commanded.

"Riku. Where's Riku?"

TE had followed the typical chain of events and now found himself back in the Valgrind chamber, a panicking Sora clamping down onto his shoulders with vice-like force. The battle continued all around him, Ameile having been taken through the massive doors by soldiers as their companions fought to the death to hold the line.

"H-He's inside," TE suddenly spat. "Riku's taking care of one of the transport craft inside, he and, uh, other dudes are running preparations and logamamithrics on the... vehicles."

Sora stared dully at TE.

"...don't worry about him, he's fine, right now we have to get as many people through these doors as we can, people are being taken to NSX as we speak!"

"Then what are you waiting for? GO!"

TE fought back against Sora's shove. "Sora... I know I've learned a lot from you about handling keyblades, but one of these days I'll have to stop relying on Ameile and her keyblade so much. One of these days, I'll eventually have to complete mine... as one of your disciples, I have one last thing to ask of you before I potentially leave you to your devices one last time. When, how, why, will I be entrusted with a keyblade of my own?"

Sora turned his back to his student. "There's nothing more I can teach you actually."

"Wha?!"

"Ederick, your heart has to stay strong. No matter what life throws at you and what hardships you endure, you gotta remain true to yourself and your friends, always. It's only when you fully embrace yourself and others, and you work selflessly towards promoting true hope, courage and companionship that you'll really your heart's power. You have confidence in those around you, and they express faith in you in return. I think the day that you'll finally achieve your goals and become a true keyper isn't far off."

"...thank you, Sora."

"Now get moving," Sora grumbled. "I'll cover you!"

TE turned to the door and started his run, mumbling under his breath. "Well, that was a bust."

"This is all meaningless, what does he expect me to... no. Wait, where did I hear something like this before?" Troy mused briefly before brightening up with a snap of his finger. "...right! When I spoke with Bob back on Plit he was telling me about how he was watching over Peach, saying that she was close to the boundary of experiencing true emotion and becoming a candidate for a successful heart infusion. There has to be some connections here, something tying together the Vast encasing the discovered keyblades, what Bob said and Sora's words."

"Don't you think you're stretching this a bit far?" Ederick scoffed.

"That's another thing I've been meaning to ask you," Troy gyrated back to Ederick, hands on his hips. "You outright jumped out of the woodwork when I was about to open the door to Peach's bedroom that time. You knew there was Vast behind that door, but its aura was totally different than any Vast I'd encountered."

"I don't know of its intent any more than you do... idiot. I was trying to save both our hides."

"So why have you never saved my ass in any other case since I left Plit? Either there's another hidden memorial trigger that made you fly off the handle and attempt to overpower me or you're still hiding things from me. Try to defend yourself all you want but that's an assumption I've learned to have at the ready." Troy slowly slumped down into a crouch, eventually collapsing onto his rear, and finally his back.

"Are you alright?"

"This is all meaningless," Troy wheezed. "What are we doing, trying to make sense of this all by ourselves... all we have is this tiny little fragment of your memory to work on and we can't do anything while everyone is freaking out and running away from us to Valgrind, if only there were some way I could access some other moment of time that's stuck in your head... or, better yet, if we knew anyone that escaped into NSX that we..."

A dead silence filled the void again.

"THAT'S IT!" Troy suddenly catapaulted back onto his feet. "We find someone that escaped into NSX!"

"I'm not following."

"I just have to force myself to stay in the dream after I'm through Valgrind and it closes! Every time I've been down at Valgrind, someone always talks about how this Riku dude, some friend of Sora's, is on the other side helping people get set up for heading deeper into NSX! I just have to find out who he is and where he's situated and hopefully I can squeeze some more info out of him! I just hope that what happened last time doesn't occur again..."

"Did I miss something?" Ederick sighed quizically.

"I got through that door and there was nothing there. Well, a few people, but the path just emptied out into darkness and it felt like there was a zillion needles stabbing into me and that something out there was just staring at me from every possible angle. To be honest... I was having a little difficulty breathing when I suddenly woke up. Was probably just lying in a funky position at some point that night."

Ederick continued his annoyed stare. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Troy was already on his way back to the Shambhala door, shaking his head weakly. "Nope."

"Now get moving," Sora grumbled. "I'll cover you!"

TE nodded solemnly to Sora, turning to gaze upwards at the towering gate. Taking a deep breath, he began his jaunt to the crevice in the wall where the remaining evacuees finished filtering through. Stopping himself from taking one last glance at Sora, TE slipped through the gap in the architecture with the armwaving of the anxious guards there. He turned towards the unknown, leapt forward - and again stumbled to a halt. He found himself clutching his chest as he moved along, finding himself in the same world of darkness as his last passage through Valgrind. As he reached the end of the lit pathway, he squinted to gaze out into the void.

"Ameile? You out here somewhere?... Riku? ARGH!" TE took a deep breath. "IS ANYONE OUT THE-GHCGHCGH-" TE dropped to one knee as he found himself again short of breath. His vision blurred slightly, the ambient buzzing beginning to vanish. "Where am I? Is this NSX?!"

SUCH A VAIN CREATURE.

"Wha?" Troy spun around, losing his footing and falling back on his rear. He quickly spun about to face back into the night. "Who's there?!"

AM I NOT WHO YOU SEEK?

"Riku? Buddy? That you?" TE laughed nervously.

AM I NOT WHAT YOU HAVE SOUGHT FOR SO LONG? WHAT YOU DESIRED TO REACH BEYOND THE VEIL FOR?

"Dude, totally not funny. I mean, this is a dude, isn't-" TE erupted into another coughing fit.

TO INTERFERE IN MATTERS BEYOND YOUR UNDERSTANDING? TO TREAD UPON SANCTIFIED GROUND? TO PIERCE THE SOUL?

TO PEER INTO THE DARK CREVASSE?

TO HAVE IT GAZE BACK UPON YOU?

KINGDOM HEARTS...

Troy was on all fours, wheezing violently. "I-huh-please, I-huh-"

TROY...

"How... d-do you know..."

IT IS HERE THAT EDERICK... AMEILE... MANY SUPPOSEDLY BRAVE SOULS WERE STRUCK DOWN... EVERYONE EDERICK EVER CARED FOR, BOTH IN AND OUT OF THE MIGHTY DIMENSIONAL GATE VALGRIND, HAVE NOW BEEN SMOTE TO FRAGMENTS OF THEIR MIGHTY SELVES AND REDUCED TO THE VERY FORMS THAT THEY TREATED AS HINDERANCES, PARASITES, SUBSENTIENCE. SHOULD YOU RAISE YOURSELF UP ON A PEDESTAL, IT IS THE FATE YOU SHALL SHARE, TROY.

I WILL HUMOR YOU THIS: THE ONES YOU KNOW AS SORA AND RIKU STILL EXIST IN YOUR TIMEFRAME AND HAVE SHOWN INCREDIBLE RESILIENCE TO MY PUNISHMENT. WHETHER THEY ARE UP TO YOUR STANDARDS OF EXISTENCE, HOWEVER... THAT IS FOR YOU TO DECIDE.

YOUR DAMNED VALGRIND HAS PREVENTED MY PHYSICAL ENTRY INTO THE DOMAIN YOU REFER TO AS NSX, BUT KNOW THIS... ABYSS HAS SEEPED IN. IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE YOUR LAST BASTION COLLAPSES AND JUDGEMENT IS NIGH.

I AM NIL... AND MY JUSTICE IS SWIFT.

Troy collapsed fully to the ground, unable to move his limbs beyond twitching. He was rapidly running out of energy to as much as breathe. Bit by bit his vision began to muddy, and a morbid realization began to set in - his heartbeat was rapidly accelerating at the same time. With a deathly croak, he finally found himself in the darkness once again. One last pulse of light, off in the distance, took a faint humanoid form - a person, hanging limply in space, and the albino hair that draped down around his soft blue eyes...

"Troy?"

A clatter to the ground. A clipboard?

"TROY! OHMIGOD TROY! TROY!"

Troy opened his mouth to speak, a motion that incurred a dull agony all over his face. "Uhn... Uhngie?"

"It's me, Angie! Oh wow, wow wow, er, don't move too much, we kind of have you tied down..."

Troy was, again, lying in a padded hospital bed, and as he began to squint and filter away the bright ceiling light, he found himself back in his room. The bed had been drug in haphazardly, himself now wired/tubed to a mobile heart-monitoring machine. "...what... what day is it..."

"Troy..." Angie shook her head. "I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but... well, you don't seem to take anything in a negative manner so I'll just say this - you picked the right place to have a nap several days ago. Fires came out of her room while you were passed out on one of the lobby sofas when you made this bone-chilling shriek and started thrashing. You were having a seizure."

"How... long... has..."

"Two days and seven hours."

Troy's limbs went limp again with dull thuds.

Angie secured her clipboard from the floor, already weakly flipping through its attached pages. "...it's not often that something like this would happen in your sleep, but there is reasonable justification for it. I'm no psychologist, but do you have a history of sleep or bed-affiliated physical disorders? Constant nightmares? Bedwetting? Sleepwalking?..."

"...I had a... bad dream..."

"Knuckles said you've been kind of restless lately. He and Siegfried told me that you just charged out of your room back then yelling some person's name. Edic or something? You've also been sleeping a lot lately from what I understand. Derek and I are going to be running a few tests on you later today... what you have likely isn't long-term, but we have to make sure."

"Th-thank you..." Troy shifted his pelvis, feeling his whole lower body ache as he did so.

"It's not a problem, Troy. We all care about you, somewhat regardless of how outright dumb you are sometimes. Auron will still be returning you to active duty when you're able, but he's going to try to keep you out of combat situations for a bit. You know, small stuff, diplomatic checkups, resource runs, stuff like that. But really, you're wasting time directing thanks and small talk to me. You should be speaking with Fires right now, I don't know what kind of relationship you two have but she's been worried sick since you went down."

"F-Fires?... where's... she now?"

"She knows you're awake... she just too embarrassed to come out," Angie giggled. "Don't worry about anything, I'm sure you'll be up and about long before any time estimates we make."

Angie turned to adjust some of the dials on the machine. Troy let himself go slack again. "...Auron."

"..mm?"

"Can you bring... Auron to me? I need to talk... with him. In private."

"Troy, I know you want to get out and do your own thing, but right now-"

"Please. It's important."

It took a decent portion of Troy's remaining strength to recall everything to a patient Auron. Of his first encounter with the Chronicle, his Vast infection, the constant presence of Ederick and his firm if subtle grip over himself, Troy's own off-hours research since entering the Covenant, the incident between the sentient Vast and Peach, Ederick's memories. Auron sat upon a simple office chair a short distance away, his posture turning from one of attention, to concern, and back to attention as Troy rambled from one subject to the next.

"...I'm sorry I didn't tell you about any of this earlier," Troy sighed, trying to avert his eyes from his audience. "I didn't know what I was supposed to say to anyone in the Covenant about where my abilities really came from, or everything that not even the Covenant or Organization knew about the state of the symbiotes that I managed to dig up throughout all these adventures... especially about Ederick, I didn't want people thinking that I was some kind of, of... schizo."

Auron, however, provided his usual dull reassurance. "I knew."

"And then when I... wait, what?"

"About your potential alter-ego. I wasn't aware it had a name, but I suppose it's good to know that for future reference. You of all people should know that I'm a little more observant than most," Auron chuckled, turning his gaze away to the floor. "When we dealt with Giygas on Plit, a sufficiently trained eye could tell that it was you that dealt such significant damage, even within the hundredth of a second that such a move took. At times you are helplessly aloof, others frighteningly logical and strategic. You've processed symbiote documentation and developed your fighting skills with unparalleled swiftness. I've been talked to more than once about your erratic behavior, both by other Covenant members as well as our contacts, but both of your sides seem to be working for the greater good so perhaps it's not something I should intrude on."

"No, you don't understand, this Ederick, he's... well, he WAS a person, he said himself that I'm the most current iteration of his Nobody, which is why I'm able to use his friend Ameile's keyblade, and that the personality I have in my, uh, slacker form is..."

"Is what?"

"I, I... I don't know," Troy groaned. "I'm carrying enough of his residual spirit through trace amounts of untouched Heartless and Nobody matter that he was able to manifest in my mind bit by bit... that's how I got tied to the Chronicle."

"And you aren't the least bit concerned about your own identity?"

"Of course I'm con... cerned, but I have to figure out more about the symbiotes so I can serve the Covenant better, and protect people I... like, and..." Troy began to taper off as his gaze drifted to the far wall, where a leaning Ederick had already materialized. "...I know this sounds incredibly psychotic, but can I have a moment to speak with him?"

"Take as long as you need." Auron responded solemnly.

"What the hell are you doing here? I thought you said you couldn't mainfest in Shambhala?"

"Well," Ederick folded his arms, perodically tapping one foot as he grumbled at Troy. "Now that someone actually realizes my existence, they're forced to think about us both in tandem. Therefore, presto, no obstructing thoughts."

"You mean Auron is actually going along with any of this? Well, that's a relief in one way or another... I know I can't communicate your plight to the others as well as I can, and I imagine some more proof of your existence is actually needed in this case. Can you take over explaining?"

"You'll have to elaborate."

"Possess me again, like you did at Giygas. Pick up the conversation."

Ederick stared at Troy as if he'd sprouted another limb midsentence. "...and you're totally okay with that?"

"Just shut up and do it."

Troy suddenly spasmed, making Auron plant a hand down on his chair's handle to rise if necessary. Instead, Troy's head suddenly snapped up again, his eyes boasting a renewed glean. "Alright, listen up. This is Ederick speaking. I haven't been able to dredge my exact origins out of my dormant memories, but a few things are clear as day. One, this galaxy, universe, whatever we're in... both the keyper organization I belonged to in the past, Sanctum, and these Nepenthe clowns that you've encountered refer to it as NSX. If we find the root of the Nepenthes, we might be able to get more information about what truly happened. Two, there are potential survivors from whatever shattered the Sanctum force currently in NSX. If we can locate them then we'd be getting more R&D and some powerful allies under our belts. Three... whatever happened at Valgrind, there is at least SOME Abyss in NSX, and we cannot allow ANYONE or ANYTHING to come into contact with it. That shit is NASTY."

"This Abyss," Auron mused. "Are you sure it's not some off-ratio symbiote combination?"

"Certain. Whatever it is, it's not following any natural preprogramming, it's outright malicious."

"Everything you've said here is indeed troubling, if it is true..." Auron seemed lost in thought. "...unfortunately, we are in no position to offer you extra assistance. We are constantly buried in red tape as far as helping besieged worlds formulate keyper-endorsing and peacekeeping operations to diffuse their current symbiote incursions. You have seen many of them through Troy's eyes I would assume. Please understand what all of these people are going through... even if a darker threat does loom on the horizon, abandoning these worlds would achieve little..."

Troy winced. "...I hate to say things like these, but... I suppose you're right. I've seen what the symbiotes do to people and places, of one kind or another... but then, what am I supposed to do? What will happen if an opportunity to rediscover Sanctum exists, or, worse, the Abyss makes itself known?..."

"...but I CAN permit Troy to make these pursuits if he deems fit. I would still like him to serve with the Covenant, and I would continue holding him to service, but when not on active duty I will allow him to perform his own reconnaissance. Hopefully the transportation, analysis and manufacturing abilities of Shambhala will aid you both to that end."

"I greatly appreciate it, Auron. To be entirely honest I'd hoped to abuse the Covenant's facilities and staff to seek out my loved ones, but in retrospect I realize how vain and selfish that was. Please forgive me."

"I entirely understand. Shambhala's powers are to be feared and respected, it is only logical that people would covet it for personal gain. So, Ederick, if I may ask... will I be hearing more of you?"

"Not for a while, no," Troy shrugged sadly. "As you can see, trying to pierce deeper into my memory knocked Troy for a loop. Our memories are becoming more interwined and realistic. I don't know what he - or I, past-tense - saw on his last foray through Valgrind, but as you can see, the results weren't pretty. I should probably lie low for a bit. I may be forced to manifest in an emergency but I'm hoping for that not to be the case."

"I doubt that will be the case," Auron nodded. "You may not think entirely highly of him, but I believe Troy is of sufficient willpower and ability. He'll fight for what's right."

Troy huffed. "Well, in that case... I hope you're right."

With a dull thud, Troy fell back against the bed, already beginning to pump out an obnoxiously loud snore. Knowing his interrogation to be done, Auron slowly picked himself up and departed from the Warrior Paragon's chamber.

The lights of thousands of stars lit up the glass floors of a familiar dark void, where a humanoid figure floated lifelessly within a cylinder of brightly-glowing blue fluid. Its legs hung limply as its arms stretched out in front of it, almost reaching out to grab the celestial bodies in meditation. Its eyelids lazily rose, baring their blue pupils to the city of lights. The countless tubes and cords that bound his enclosure to the floor made weak squeaks as the ones that hosted chemicals were beginning to run dry. Seeing this, he raised his gaze back into the dark. "Tetron."

"Yes, sir." Tetron waddled out of the shadows, draped in a simple black gown that trailed behind her.

"How goes Lantz's... punishment?"

"The enhancements are coming along nicely. The screams started getting a little bothersome after the fifth day, although explaining the process of nerve-stapling his destroyed arm to the new fixture did paltry to dull the pain I suppose."

"Very well," the man rasped. "And what of Belphegor?"

"Still in confinement."

"...I've been doing some thinking lately. Could you humor me for just a bit?"

"Certainly."

"...I still seek the Chronicle with such zeal, knowing that it could have the power to undo all that has transpired over these countless years, decades, centuries... I'm still left with confusion as to why it would be active now of all times. All links to its previous owner, as well as the keyper itself, have been lost to the ages... what kind of person does it take to truly harness such a device, to fully interlock with it?"

"Are you saying you might not be?"

"That itself is no matter, I shall keep it within my grasp until such a truly benevolent champion makes themselves known. The simple organisms of NSX that get in the way... will be crushed underfoot. But I'm making mountains out of molehills here in the present term, I have called you here for another task. I will need to change my genefluid soon. Please follow the documented procedure."

"Yes, sir." Tetron made her way over to one of the consoles, beginning to punch in a series of commands. With the grinding of glass, a ring of drainage grates appeared around the tube's foundation. Tetron moved about to a fire-extinguisher-sized canister of stale-looking aqua liquid that plugged into the machine, giving it a firm twist. A buzzer sounded and she backed away as the liquid within the glass tube drained down through its center and out of sight. The glass slid down quickly and silently, exposing the man's nude body to the sanitized air. His sopping-wet form stepped down to the floor, shaking the wetness out of his silver hair and loosening his muscles as he stared out into the same infinite reach he always did. As Tetron detached the cylinder of used liquid and plugged in a new one, the host continued to shift his jaw in thought.

"Either way..." Riku brooded. "...I will have my revenge."