Chapter 7: Compliments (double-ux3. youtube . com/watch?v=i1VkceQdxqo)
Memo: Muahaha, very long chapters aren't they? It's a total pain in the rear to type it! I went and found the game script so I just highlight/copy/paste most of it. ^_- Notice that I'm leaving out a few worlds: Atlantica, Pridelands, Halloween Town--well, sort of...and I think that's it...lemme think...Beast's Castle, Land of Dragons, Hollow Bastion all HAVE to be in it, Space Paranoids will be mentioned, but you'll see, Olympus Coliseum I WANT/HAVE to put in, Disney Castle and Timeless River-you'll see, POTC has to be, Agrabah! That's the one I'm also leaving out. I mean, those'll be mentioned, but, well, you'll see. Enough of that! ^_-
*~*~*
"Wow, who are these guys?" Nexus asked, holding two little chipmunks in her cupped hands.
"They're Chip and Dale," Donald replied. Nexus grinned at the two little creatures and set them back down on the dashboard of the ship.
"Howdy, Sora! How ya doin'?" Dale asked as Sora entered the front room.
"It's your favorite Gummi engineers here, ready for duty: Chip..."
"...And Dale!"
"HAPPY FLYING!" Chip and Dale shouted. Nexus raised an eyebrow.
"I wish I had that type of energy," she muttered, walking over to the windowseat of the ship.
"Yeah, you're so angsty," Sora said, grinning. Nexus shot him a warning look, and he meekly sat down in his pilot seat in between Donald and Goofy. Nexus' stomach tightened. Sora was going to be in charge of flying!?! Underaged, much?
Sora peered over at the map in front of him. "Only one?" he complained, seeing only one world open for traveling to.
"That's no good!" Donald added.
"Neither are you, but we keep you anyway," Nexus mumbled, slumping in the seat.
"Wait! I think it's a world we know!" Goofy exclaimed.
"Whatever you say! Let's go!" Sora shouted. Nexus felt the ship lurch.
"Good gravy, Sora! Are you seriously qualified to fly this thing?!" she shouted over her shoulder.
"Why would you need qualifications to fly a ship?" he asked.
Nexus growled under her breath and braced herself for the worst.
"Why don't YOU try it, then?" Sora boasted.
"Okay, then I will!" Nexus jumped up and ran over to the controls. She had seen these before somewhere, probably as a child. "If I'm better than you, I get to drive when I want, got it...memorized?" She had to say it, damn it all!
"Okay, fine," Sora said doubtfully. Nexus smirked to herself and started the ship up, flying out of sight of the tower. She continued to control the ship with poise and great skill while kicking the butts of other threatening ships in the area. Sora, Donald, and Goofy watched, dumbfounded. "How...?"
"When they teach you young, you don't forget, right, Sune?" she said to herself. In her mind she heard the reply, "Right."
Nexus parked the ship as Sora and the others walked toward the door. Sora felt a familiarity about this place they had just landed in. Maybe Goofy was right for once. They might know this world.
When they opened the door, Sora realized Goofy was, in fact, right. The familiar town was bustling with activity. Moogles were flying through the air selling items, and people were at work trying to rebuild the town. Sora knew why; so did Nexus.
"It's Hollow Bastion!" Sora exclaimed. Nexus nodded.
"This is my former home," she said, smiling reminiscently. "Wonder if..."
Goofy interrupted her. "Gawrsh, it looks kinda different now."
"This is the way it looked before the Heartless. Or...at least...it's getting there," Nexus explained, taking a few steps into her old hometown.
"I hope Leon and the gang are doing okay," Donald said, following her.
"...!!"
At the exact same time, Goofy and Nexus looked up to see a small group of Soldier Heartless on the roof of a nearby building.
"Uh-oh. Looks like we're gonna have to do some fightin'," Goofy said, chuckling nervously.
"Let's go find your friends, Sora," Nexus said, walking away.
"Okay," Sora replied, following her with Goofy. "So, Nexus, do you remember living here?"
"Yep," she replied, not looking at him.
"What was it like?"
"Hell."
Sora stopped in his tracks. "Wait. Whoa, why do you say that?"
"It's nothing," she said, disappearing down a staircase.
"..."
Nexus' PoV
I hated it when people asked me about living in Hollow Bastion. So I answered each question like that. I felt a little bad for being so blunt but...Sora wouldn't understand. Nobody could, I thought. Nobody ever could.
Suddenly a white beam of light flashed down in front of me. I yelped in surprise, stepping back. Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked around as the beam flashed around the small area. It looked like a scanner or something.
"What's going on?" Donald asked, stomping his foot.
"You DO ask questions a lot, Donald," I said, grinning.
"That's the town's defense mechanism," a voice shouted.
We all looked up to see a girl around seventeen standing on a rooftop. She had short black hair and even shorter shorts. She looked like a ninja.
"Yuffie!" Sora shouted, waving. Ahhh, so this was Yuffie.
Yuffie waved back, then her eyes widened a little.
"Look out!" she cried. I turned around to see a Dusk about to strike at Sora. Pulling out my fully-loaded gun--well, duh, the gun is still my precious after all these years so it's almost ALWAYS loaded--I shot it and it retreated into darkness. Soon we were surrounded. Like that was any big deal. We had five people, if you count the defense mechanism. The Nobodies were gone in no time.
"Hey, you guys!" Yuffie did a flip-jump down to our level. "I see you're still in top form."
"What'd you expect?" Sora asked, thumping his chest. I raised an eyebrow.
"Sora, you were asleep for a year," I pointed out, then realized Yuffie had no clue who I was. "Hey, I'm Nexus."
"Hey there! Any friend of Sora's is a friend of ours," she said happily. I smiled weakly. She was really, really peppy...
"Looks like you're doing okay," Sora said, smiling.
"Well, what did YOU expect?" Yuffie said mockingly.
"Nice!" I shouted. She grinned at me and we hi-fived. Peppy, but witty.
"How are the others?" Donald asked.
"Great!"
"Hey, Yuffie! Have you seen the King and Riku?" Sora asked. I felt my heart flutter uncomfortably. Guilt. It was like...every time he asked that question, somebody was writing "GUILTY" in huge letters all over my forehead. I knew. I was a guilty person. It was a good thing he didn't know yet, I'll say that much.
"Nope." Yuffie started to walk away, toward where the assumed hangout for their friends was. "But I had a feeling I'd be seeing you guys again!"
Sora cleared his throat and straightened himself up, becoming serious. "We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other."
"Is that supposed to be Leon?" Yuffie asked, a huge grin on her face. Sora casually scratched his nose (wtf?) while Donald and Goofy laughed. I just stood there, not knowing what else to do or say. I wasn't there for that...
"Everybody's working on stuff over at Merlin's house." Yuffie waved us on as she ran off. "C'mon!"
She disappeared around a corner. Sora nodded at us and we followed. Not surprisingly, we were stopped by Heartless multiple times. It was weird, though. They were such weak forms...
"This is it?" I asked, pointing to a door slightly ajar. Sora shrugged.
"Worth a shot," he replied, walking in.
Luckily, we were right. Yuffie was inside waiting for us. A middle-aged, blonde haired, way muscular man was sitting at a computer, typing away. A girl around my age was standing there watching him. She had a pink dress on and a long, brown braid of hair. Another man was standing there, too. I assumed he was probably Leon. He had brown hair and wore mostly black.
"Meet the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee!" Yuffie shouted, suddenly jumping out from behind the door. I jumped a little. The three people turned around quickly.
"We missed you!" the girl with brown hair said, placing her hands together. I raised an eyebrow, holding back laughter. She sounded...like she was high or something!!
"Well, if you ain't in top shape," the older man said in a country accent. What a hick! I thought. He even was chewing on something like a piece of straw or something...heh, it might've been a pencil.
"I knew it," the assumed Leon said, crossing his arms. His voice was so NASAL. Poor guy! It sounded like he was suffering from the eternal cold.
"Knew what?" Sora asked.
"A while back, everyone suddenly remembered you guys, all at the same time."
"You...remembered? Wait! Does that mean you forgot about us!?"
"All except you," Leon said, nodding at me. "I'm Leon. She's Aerith, he's Cid, and I'm assuming you've already met Yuffie."
"I'm Nexus. You've never seen me before, so don't worry about memories and stuff," I explained.
"Thanks!" Donald said sarcastically in reply to Leon's answer.
"So where've you guys been all this time?" Yuffie asked.
"We were sleepin'," Goofy replied.
"Where? In cold storage?" Cid asked. I glanced at the three of them, expecting a comeback. But all they did was glance at me and each other nervously. Way to go.
"It doesn't matter. This is great. Everyone's together again!" Aerith exclaimed, clapping her hands a little.
"So, um...we're trying to find Riku and the King," Sora said, interrupting the song in my head. "Have you seen 'em?"
Leon, Aerith, and Cid shook their heads.
"Right." Talk about never giving up!
"Sorry. But let us know if there's anything we can do to help. Okay?" Yup, she has to be high. She speaks in short sentences.
"Okay. Thanks."
"Don't go thankin' us just yet," Cid grunted, getting up in Sora's face. Sora backed away slowly.
"Hollow Bastion's got a problem. A big problem." Leon walked forward a little.
"You mean, like Nobodies? And Heartless?" Sora attempted to look over the Cid towering above him.
"And other stuff that's easy to handle?" I added, grinning.
"That's right!" Yuffie exclaimed.
"Sounds like you could use our help," Sora said, finally pushing Cid aside.
"Then let's cut to the chase. Sora, Donald, Goofy. We were hoping the three of you might give us a hand around here."
"What about me?" I asked angrily.
"Can you fight?" Leon asked me.
"Yeah," Sora answered before I could. Did I really intimidate him? Awesome.
"So?"
Sora patted his chest proudly. "Like we're gonna say, no?"
Leon chuckled quietly. "...I forgot who I'm dealing with."
"Hey...what do you mean by that?" Donald asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Just think of it as a sort of 'Leon compliment,'" Aerith replied, smiling. Leon walked over to the door and thrust it open.
"Follow me to the bailey--there's something you need to see," he said, running off.
Before we could follow him, a man with a long, grey beard appeared out of thin air. He was dressed in a simple purplish robe and matching hat. ...Maybe more periwinkle...whatever.
"Oh! I thought it was you. Right on time!" he exclaimed, dusting himself off with his free hand.
"It's Merlin!" Donald exclaimed.
"Sora and the gang said they're gonna help out!" Yuffie shouted, grinning broadly.
"Splendid! We'll count on you!" Merlin said happily.
"Right!" we all exclaimed.
"Ah, yes. Did you give them the cards, dear?" Merlin asked Aerith.
"Oh!" Yeah, she probably forgot because she's HIGH! Anyway, Aerith took three cards from her dress. "Here...they're presents for you. Leon thought you might like to have them." She looked at me, frowning a little. "Sorry, Nexus. We don't have one for you. Next time you come, though-"
"No worries," I said, dismissing the thought with a wave of my hand. Sora took his and flipped it over.
"Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee Honorary Member!" he read, grinning. What a mouthful...
"Membership cards!" Donald quacked.
"Kinda cool, huh?" Goofy added. Donald and Sora nodded; I rolled my eyes. Stupid, if you ask me.
"Hey, thanks, Leahhh...huh?" Sora looked over his shoulder to see the door still wide open. "Oh no! We're supposed to be at the bailey!"
"Way to go," I said, smirking.
"Oh shut up."
*~*~*
"Just a moment, Sora," Merlin said, stepping forward into focus. "What about your magic? And Nexus, do you know any?"
Nexus shook her head sadly.
"Huh? Oh, that's right..." Sora said, crossing his arms.
"Maybe you forgot it while you were asleep!" Yuffie suggested.
"Now, what am I to do with you? I suppose I'll have to lend you a few spells. But be careful with them!"
Sora felt his hands tingle with a freezing sensation. Well, now he at least had blizzard. He looked to his companions to see their hands glowly slightly...except Nexus.
"Merlin, did you give me the spell?" she asked, knitting her brow.
"Why, yes," he replied.
"Try it again."
Sora could tell by the strange look on Nexus' face that nothing was happening.
"Here, let me try Cure," Merlin suggested.
Nexus nodded, frowning. Nothing green glowed about her.
"Thunder..."
Nothing.
"Reflect..."
Nothing.
"Magnet...?"
Nothing.
"What on earth am I leaving out?" Merlin snapped.
"Fire," Sora said quietly.
As soon as Merlin gave Nexus the spell, not only did her hands glow brighter than any of theirs, but her eyes lit up with something weird in them.
"That one worked," she said, grinning.
*~*~*
"You know, Nexus..." Sora said, walking out of Merlin's house.
"Hm?" she mumbled, looking at him.
"When Aerith said 'Leon compliments,' I thought of how you give your own little 'Nexus compliments.'"
"No I don't. I give insults," Nexus insisted.
"Not always," Donald pointed out.
"Name once."
Sora cleared his throat, and, perfectly imitating Nexus, quoted, "OH MY GOSH!! Your voice is mature!! NO WAY! It seems like just yesterday that you were short and had a castrato voice."
"That's an insult," Nexus muttered.
"No, you were sayin' his voice is more mature, ahyuck!" Goofy said.
"I concur," Sora mocked. Nexus immediately reared back and punched him in the gut as hard as she could.
"My phrase, you eunich."