Kingdom Hearts Second Act: Judgment
* The plot thickens as we delve into the beginning of the war. Introduced in today's chapter are:
*Xittan - A character from the mind of Blaze the Flareon
* Xavier Goodwright - A character thought up by Katana001
*Salem Cross & Elena Geist-Kind - A duo created by Yours Truly
*Lucian Lamperouge - Another character by Yours Truly.
And now, on with the show...
Traverse Town is entirely overrun with Heartless. Shadows flood the streets, and Gargoyles take wing in pursuit of fleeing civilians. Valla stands atop the Gizmo Shop's roof and shakes his head despairingly. This had been going on for a good few hours, and he was making very little progress in finding recruits for the faction because of all the Heartless attacks. So far, he'd only been through the first and second districts, and already he was sure that there wasn't a single heroic force left on the planet. Suddenly, an explosion rattles the nearby area, and a great pillar of thick smoke begins to rise above the center of the sea of ground-based Heartless. Valla raises a curious eyebrow and slinks across the town rooftops right to the source.
Valla lands at the upper crease of the fountain and watches as a duo attacks the invading Heartless relentlessly; one with an elegantly-crafted pistol, and the other with a slew of strange projectiles (which he could've sworn looked like playing cards). The gunslinger carries a somewhat scholarly appearance, with an old well-kept English uniform, a rough blonde ponytail and a researcher's satchel hanging at his side, a slightly worn notebook protruding from it. He turns about after reloading his weapon with astonishing grace and fires a single round, piercing through four Heartless at once. He then leaps backward and fires another lone shot at the ground, allowing himself an amused chuckle while he watches the round ricochet around the district, putting down any Heartless in its path. The scholar then takes cover with a sly grin as a hail of playing cards comes raining down at an angle from the opposite rooftop. Valla turns his attention to the other combatant on the rooftop. This one is a more rugged character with shoulder-length red hair, a long black noble coat with no shirt underneath, black dress pants and formal shoes. He gives a bored roll of the eyes as he snaps his fingers and the recently-fallen playing cards explode in a brilliant torrent of fire.
The flames induced by the explosion emit a dull roar. Other than this droning sound, all is silent. The two companions regroup in the middle of the street and talk incomprehensibly. Valla ultimately decides that these newcomers would be just what Kingdom Hearts needed, and descends gently down into the street and approaches them. "Well now-", he says. "That was quite something. What would you say to putting those skills to use for a good cause?" The scholar is the first to acknowledge him. "Hey, Salem...", he says, tapping his friend on the shoulder, holstering his weapon. "I Think he's talking to us..." The red-haired figure turns to Valla with his hands in his pockets and nods. "Well, 'afternoon, friend...", he says through the hair looming over his face. "The name's Salem Cross, and this is my good friend and unofficial advisor, Xavier Goodwright." Xavier bows at his introduction, then adjusts the strap of the satchel at his waist. "You said something about a good cause...", he repeats. "What cause did you have in mind exactly?"
Before Valla can explain, a small orb of pale blue light appears above Salem, and it soon takes the form of a ghostly child with gray skin, white hair, red eyes and a black formal dress. She takes a seat on Salem's shoulder. "You got into another fight, didn't you?", she asks her carrier earnestly. Salem simply nods and changes the subject. "So, what's the word, Elena?", he asks. "Anyone in town know about this Keyblade Xehanort's looking for?" Upon hearing Salem utter Xehanort's name, his hopes of recruiting the duo sinks hopelessly. Elena shakes her head, then answers. "Not a thing.", she says. "Not that there were many left in town anyway..." Xavier quickly draws his notebook and begins writing furiously with a pen he'd kept hidden behind his ear. "Excuse me...", Valla interjects. "But might you be working for Xehanort?" Salem nods again. "Let's get this straight, friend-", he says, his playful expression becoming a deathly serious one. "I don't work for the likes of him by choice. Once I recover my heart, I can kiss Castle Oblivion goodbye... That's my motive."
Valla raises a curious eyebrow, but remains politely silent. A sudden burst of violent flame erupts from the next street. The group looks toward the towering blaze and ultimately moves as one unit to the source. They arrive in time to witness a massive creature claw its way to the surface of the street. The creature is black as night, with stars visible within the darkness. Its eyes-all six of them- are a shining white, and its four gargantuan arms convulse in unison. The entire beast twitches with what seems to be anticipation as two figures stand on a rooftop, prepared to attack it. Valla diverts his attention to the rooftop and tries to get a good look at the beast's assailants, but they are simply too far away. "Come on...", he says to his new companions. "We'll have to get a closer look."
Upon seeing the gargantuan visitor at close range, Valla becomes pensive, Xavier and Elena become weary, and Salem becomes excited. The pair of figures watching the creature from the rooftop can be seen clearly now. The first is a feminine figure, clad in what Valla instantly recognizes as the hooded cloak of a Nobody. She wields a long chain, one end of it wrapped tightly around her wrist, and the other end tipped by four edges, forming a circular blade. The chain itself is a series of linking metal hearts. The second figure is dressed in a noble jacket, black with fur surrounding the collar and sleeves. A silver pocketwatch hangs from his neck. Hoisted over his shoulder is a sword with a long handle and a massive blade. The weapon's hilt is wrapped in a deep red gauze, and leads into the guard: a pair of metallic black wings. The blade itself is also black. Xavier's voice returns Valla to the matter at hand.
"Look at that thing...", Xavier calls to the group, finally putting away his notebook and pen. "Its build isn't like anything we've come across before, and the fact that space is visible on in its skin suggests that it doesn't even exist on a structural scale!" Salem simply rolls his eyes and taps his foot impatiently. "In English, please!", he retorts loudly. "It's not a Heartless...", Xavier begins after a long sigh. "...and if you can look into it and see things like stars, then technically, it shouldn't exist..." Elena tilts her head in obvious confusion. "So, it's... Nothing?", she asked. Xavier nods and bites his lip. "And if it really is Nothing-", he says, not even bothering to reach for his weapon. "Then nothing we could ever hit it with would have any effect..."
The duo on the rooftop, who'd until now been staring the beast down, finally make their move. They charge in unison, and before the group at street-level has time to blink, the creature drops dead and fades into mist before completely vanishing from sight. The attackers then approach Valla and company, who draw their weapons instinctively. The Swordsman with the pocketwatch is the first to speak. "Hey, easy there...", hea says, sheathing his weapon on his back, his companion following suit. "We're only hunting down those things. You've got nothing to worry about." Valla extends a hand to the Swordsman. "My name is Valla.", he says as Salem and Xavier put away their weapons. The Swordsman maintains eye-contact with his greeter and shakes hands with enthusiasm. "I'm Lucian.", he replies. "Lucian Lamperouge." The woman in the Nobodies cloak speaks next. "My name's Xittan.", she says, with an energetic wave. "Who are you guys?" Xavier introduces himself, followed by Salem, then Elena. The amalgamation of the two groups starts toward the center of the district as they share information.
"Wait a minute...", Xavier says, halting the group. "That...thing that Lucian and Xittan brought down should've been pure, absolute Nothing, right? How were they even able to touch it?" Lucian and Xittan turn to face the rest of the group and give their responses in turn. Lucian closes his eyes and concentrates. Suddenly, the roaring of the flames engulfing the district stops. In fact, the flames themselves stop, frozen in place, as if someone had paused the world. "I can manipulate the flow of time...", Lucian says as he breaks his own concentration and time returns to normal. "Conveniently, that allows me to step outside of time and temporarily become Nothing." Xittan holds a hand out to her side and a torrent of dark energy encircles her arm and forms a small orb in the palm of her hand. "Being a Nobody-", she says as she dispels the energy. "-I have a command over the same kind of energy that brought that thing to life. Any more questions?" Valla opens his mouth to speak, but a cloud of black energy suddenly tears through a row of buildings, felling them all and forcing the group to take cover in an alleyway. Valla raises a barrier of light to seal off the alley entrance and shield them from debris. As Valla concentrates on strengthening the barrier, Lucian unsheathes his blade and looks about to provide cover.
Buildings fall as stormclouds, countless in number, begin to form and circle the area. Lightning flashes giving an ominously pale tint to the immediate area. Fires spontaneously ignite. Blistering winds twist the atmosphere. Dishearteningly dark coils of energy split the ground. Any light being let off by the setting sun was now completely swallowed by the dismal maw of the storm. The violent tremors and successive explosions were telltale signs that this world, like the others that went before it, was revolving on borrowed time...
"What's happening?", Elena shouts over the cacophony of madness surrounding them. "The world is reacting to the presence of those creatures we've been chasing!", Lucian says, focusing hard to slow time around them, but failing. "Traverse Town is literally tearing itself apart!" There seem to be holes in the sky itself; winged creatures spilling from them, bearing the same kind of night-sky skin as the creature of Nothing that Lucian and Xittan defeated. other creatures of the same ilk rise from the ground and emerge from the sides of the few buildings still standing. They destroy aimlessly, ripping remorselessly through anything that the storms and atmospheric chaos might have missed. Lucian watches helplessly with a tortured frown as these creatures lay eyes upon the district's clocktower. "If we're going to do something we should do it now...", he says, his voice seeming drained of any and all hope. "Otherwise, we'll just up and die with the planet." Salem folds his arms and scoffs in defeat. "We'd better head back to Castle Oblivion, then...", he says. "I can't very well enjoy freedom if I'm dead..." With that, Salem, Xavier and Elena all nod their goodbyes to Valla, Lucian and Xittan, then simultaneously vanish as Salem tosses a glowing card into the air.
Xittan stares out at the destruction through Valla's barrier. Valla turns slightly, somewhat amazed to see she hasn't left. "Aren't you going back to Castle Oblivion as well...?", he asks in as polite a voice as he could manage. "You did say you were a Nobody, right?" Xittan takes a while to respond, and even when she does, she keeps her focus on the chaos outside of their alleyway sanctuary. "That much is true.", she says, looking more curious than afraid. "But I value freedom too much to stay at Castle Oblivion. And I'll never get my heart back if I stay there, so wherever you and Lucian decide to go, I 'll gladly tag along." Valla cracks a hopeful grin at these words. "I'm glad to hear that...", he replies. "Because I was wondering if the two of you would be willing to join the ranks of Kingdom Hearts. Lucian raises an eyebrow. "Kingdom Hearts?", he inquires. "If Kingdom Hearts was somehow pushed back into play, then there must be something going on involving them and Castle Oblivion, right...?" Valla nods with a grim narrowing of the eyes. "Exactly.", he says. "I fear that 'something' could, in fact, be a war..." Lucian examines the pocketwatch hanging around his neck and then clutches it in a shaking fist. "War against Castle Oblivion?", he asks coldly, not at all looking for an answer. "Well then, count us in..." Valla releases the light barrier and whisks them all off the planet in a blinding flash. An endless rain of fire and debris crushes their former sanctuary, and the Nothing creatures swarm the area, sweeping for any signs of life. High above the chaos, standing atop the ruins of the clocktower stands the very figure who'd attacked Kingdom Hearts and sent the king to the void. He touches his mask gingerly and idly twirls his keystaff. "The hub has become nothing...", he says to himself, the faintest tones of amusement present in his voice.
"Judgment has been passed... And it seems not a single one of you deserved our pardon..."