The Uprising
I'm back guys! I'm sorry I took another break, but it was Christmas time, you know? Well getting back to the Traitors, the fourteenth chapter has arrived. In case you need refreshing, Larxene has recently whisked Roxas and Xion away from Axel, who she pushed off of the Twilight Town clock tower, decided she would like to keep him around as a future plaything, opened up a corridor of darkness that enveloped the eighth member, disappeared with her captives in an energy surge, and destroyed the clock tower itself! I hope that was sufficient. Oh and let's not forget about Delta (formerly known as Repliku) and DiZ at the Old Mansion, Kairi recovering memories on Destiny Islands, and Namine coping with guilt somewhere in the World That Never Was. Whew! That's a lot of character stories I have going! Anyway, enjoy!
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Marluxia and Larxene stood in waiting atop the Altar of Naught. The merging of Sora's other forms was to take place here, as every other part of the Castle was in the process of remodeling. The original plan was that each area would contain a statue, bust, or painting of Marluxia, but his charmingly sadistic cohort had quickly put a stop to that. Nobody thorns now covered every wall and quite a few rooms were either being demolished, expanded, or converted into research stations, although who would occupy them was yet to be seen. Effigies were also constructed, depicting the image of each Traitor. Their egos satiated at last, it was now time to move on with part two of the master plan. The contraption had been completed and the fragments of their puppet recovered.
Larxene peered at the glass encasing of Xemnas, careful not to touch the black spined vines that surrounded the prison of their former leader. The Savage Nymph softly exhaled over his face, creating a circle of fog. She then proceeded to draw a crude grin and beady eyes on it with her nimble finger. "Smile, Xemmy!" She cried, tapping on the glass with her knives. "It's almost show time, and we even decided to give you the luxury of watching!" Marluxia glanced in her direction, obviously not amused. "Be silent, Larxene. I do not want your antics ruining this vital step."
At that moment, a commotion was heard down the steps. A now very conscious Xion had just been blasted onto the altar by a discharge of water, heralded by a power chord being struck, and was immediately knocked out again. Roxas's indignant cries then rose into the air, followed by a loud noise made by the contact of metal and flesh, which was accompanied by a yelp that could only have risen from the mouth of the ninth member of the Organization. After a few moments of resistance, the Key of Destiny was escorted up the steps by many dozen Dancer Nobodies and a sore Demyx.
"Took you long enough, Bubbles… How hard could it possibly be to prep them for our little experiment?" Larxene's insulting drones sent uncomfortable shifting among the Dancers' ranks. They were unaccustomed to seeing their master affronted, and couldn't decide whether or not to attack the blonde woman or continue swaying to a rhythm no other being could hear. "Hey!" Demyx yelled in outrage; however his voice quickly wavered and returned to its timid nature. "I mean, um… They weren't very cooperative… and apparently Moogle sedatives don't work as well on… Our kind…" Marluxia ignored his meager excuses and proceeded to use his plant-based powers. Long Nobody vines wrapped themselves around the teenaged hostages and secured them to the machine, but not before a blossom opened next to Roxas's face and expelled poisonous fumes, knocking out the young boy.
The device Larxene and Marluxia had created was quite functional, although they both mentally admitted to themselves that Zexion would have done a much better job, or even Xemnas if Vexen was still around to help. It was constructed for the sole purpose of merging Sora and his alter beings into one supreme servant. With the powerful keybearer's power reunited, nothing could stop the Traitors from harnessing the power of Kingdom Hearts and gaining control over all of the worlds. In its center was a long, green-tinted tube, topped with a power mediator that would contain this entity. Surrounding it are three large circular disks, each adorned with a black Nobody sigil, that the three test subjects would be strapped into. The merging process was complex, but luckily Vexen had left behind enough notes on similar processes which, combined with what documents they could salvage from Zexion's quarters before the schemer had returned for them, had gotten the revolutionists through the assembly of their machine.
While Marluxia was making the final adjustments and Demyx was fleeing the scene with his army, a whirring sound interrupted their thought processes. One of the twin elevators attached to the altar rose to the top, opening to release Sora. Marluxia scoffed at his arrival. "You have more than enough power now to use the Corridors of Darkness, yet you insist on us exhausting our resources on your medial travel methods." Sora strode up to his new master, wearily rubbing his eyes. "You know why I don't want to. Those Corridors make me feel… Dirty. Besides Namine says they make me smell like you…" The boy's exhaustion had apparently negated what filtering power he had left. Sora paused, and then foolishly continued. "Except without the flowers, of course." Larxene exploded into a fit of giggles; however the Graceful Assassin did not share her merriment and growled in irritation. After a brief silence, Sora noticed the young people bearing a resemblance to himself strapped to the strange machine.
"Who are they?" He asked, stepping closer. "The girl looks like… Like…" As Sora struggled to remember the name of his past friend, Larxene and her cohort shared a knowing smile. "Namine…? No, it's someone else…" His thoughts were interrupted when he spotted the blonde boy. "Is that… Me?" Larxene turned on her charm and approached the boy from behind, resting her hand on his shoulder. "Not quite, my strong little hero, but soon it will be. These two are a part of you, and it's time for the three of you to become one again, if you catch my drift." Sora's eyes widened as he noticed the empty slot on the machine. "No way. There is no way I'm getting in that thing." Larxene made a tsk tsk noise and shook her head disapprovingly. "Come on, Pinocchio, be a good puppet and let us cut your strings. You won't be held back by them any longer. Don't be such a spoil sport and get in the damn machine." The Savage Nymph pushed him forward with malice. "I won't do it!" The Keybearer cried, his voice reverberating off of the depths of nothingness. It was the first time their puppet had shown any sign of disobedience and the former lord of Castle Oblivion hated being defied.
As ironic as it sounds, there was no place for a rebel in the new Organization.
"Perhaps a lesson in respect is in order, child, so that you fully understand who holds the cards in our arrangement." Marluxia's words became more and more heated and filled with malevolence as he continued. With a snap of his fingers, a Corridor opened before the comatose Xemnas, which produced a frightened and confused Namine, who was immediately tied to the glass enclosure with the pink-haired man's signature binds. Larxene's smiley face loomed above her, now distorted with condensation.
"Another false move, keybearer, and the witch will be no more."
"You… You're a monster!" Sora cried, his fists balled. "Perhaps so," Marluxia continued with a wry smile. "However as I don't have a heart, your words do not wound me as they would others. If you're finished, with your pathetic feelings, I would like it if you would be a little more accommodating." Barbed creepers entangled Sora and fixed him to the empty slab.
"Let us begin."