Breakout and Betrayal

Nexumair sat in his chair, sorting crime reports from his patrols on lookout in the city. Crime in Radiant Garden was at an all time low. Since the elimination of Xavier's Flyers, he had not even needed to post night guards on the streets. There was still the occasional robbery, and the odd murder…but it seemed that people were too afraid of the mysterious boy captain with his emotionless behavior and his master swordsman skills to commit any kind of wrongdoing. Good. That made the Organization's job that much easier. With Saix overseeing the executions of Sora's friends, then it would be easy for him to assume command of Radiant Garden. Saix. What a fool. He was so devoted to Xemnas that he didn't see the Superior plotting to kill them all eventually. He, Nexumair the Confident Fencer was the one who would serve Xemnas as second in command in the new empire of the soulless. The Superior had assured the young Nobody of this. He was still thinking these things, when the solid wooden door to his office was thrown off its hinges. Tifa Lockhart, his second in command, his assistant captain stood there. Her face was red, and her hair was wild looking.

"Hello, Tifa" said Nexumair, not even looking up from his folders. "Is there anything new to report? When will the execution take place?"

To Nexumair's mild surprise, Tifa ripped the folder out of the Nobody's hand and threw it into a far corner of the room. "Why?!" she demanded, tears streaming down her face. "Why did you do it? You lied to me, Nexumair!"

"What do you mean?" Nexumair asked. "What did I do to---?"

"You're executing Cloud too!" she screamed at him. "You told me that if I went along with the Organization's plans, then only the others would die, and not him! Why did you trick me?" she yelled.

Nexumair smiled at her. He felt nothing, but it felt good to post a symbol of that emotion on his face. "Because we needed you, or course" he said. "Actually it was Larxene's idea to trick you. I imagine she wanted to be here when it all tumbled down onto your head. Her ideas are full of sadistic twists like that."

"Release him now!" Tifa said. "If you don't release him, then I'll tell everyone about what you and your Organization are planning!"

Nexumair's gaze traveled from Tifa's angry eyes to her chest. Thinking that he was being a pervert, she quickly covered it with her hands. But his next statement made her see how wrong she was. "Such a strong heart" said the Captain of the Bastion Knights. "You would make an excellent Nobody. Atfix would be your name."

Tifa made a small sound of disgust and backed away from his desk.

"Once upon a time, a boy named Ramenui burned with such rage as yours" said Nexumair. "That is also another benefit of this that I did not see. We may very well have a new member of Organization XIII when this is finished."

"I'll never join you!" Tifa said. "I'll make you let Cloud go if I have to. We were childhood friends! Doesn't that mean anything to you?!"

"Ramenui and Nell were childhood friends as well" said Nexumair.

Tifa's fist flew at his face. Nexumair dodged and drew a sword. He was only wearing one at the moment, and he was thankful that he had brought it with him. He leapt off the desk and swung down. Tifa blocked the saber blade on her wrist and kicked at his chest. Her boot slammed into the wall, cracking it. Nexumair was abruptly behind her. He slashed Tifa twice in the back, and she fell forward with a cry of pain.

"My power" said Nexumair. "Is barriers, Tifa. Barriers that I can break any time I choose. I can cross the sound and light barriers at will, moving faster than the human eye can follow." He ran several circles around the confused martial artist.

"Seventh Heaven!" Tifa cried. Blue energy slammed out of her fists and hit Nexumair---but it was only an afterimage left behind by his incredible speed. He kicked Tifa through the wall and into one of the conference rooms.

"I dislike betrayal just as much as you do" he said coldly. "Thus, betrayal is punishable by death."

"What…are you going to…do to me?" Tifa asked. She struggled to sit up. Nexumair placed a boot on her chest, forcing her back to the floor.

"You will be executed along with Cloud and the others. Why should I care? I can always find myself a new assistant captain. One with enough brains not to attack a superior, in rank and in skills."

Tifa's answer was a muttered curse.

"What is going on, number thirteen?" asked a voice behind him. Zexion and Saix appeared in a flash of dark energy. Saix was carrying a moaning girl in his arms. Zexion was carrying a strange object…and a familiar object. There was something about it that Nexumair didn't like. Something that made him feel unwell.

"What are you carrying?" Nexumair asked his superiors.

"This is Morgan le Fay" said Saix. "She is to be imprisoned with the Guild Leaders. Superior Xemnas has also entrusted you with the Dawn Shard" he said, pointing to the object in Zexion's hand. "It is a powerful object that nullifies magical energy." He nodded at the sorceress in his arms, who was obviously in great pain. "Morgan's curse."

Zexion extended the Dawn Shard to Nexumair. As the boy's fingers closed around it, he was suddenly assaulted by a flood of memories.

Lady Ashe had this object on her, she was using it as a prop in the play, yes it was magical however, it was magical…

"No…" Ramenui gasped as his heart fled his body. "Don't…go…" the Dawn Shard, still on Lady Ashe's dead body began to glow, as if in answer to his heart's light…

Nexumair abruptly put it back into Zexion's gloved hand. "Please" he said. "You take it to the dungeons with you." He shuddered. "I will see that it is properly attended to, but you just take it there. Please."

The Cloaked Schemer looked startled, but he tucked the Dawn Shard back into his sleeve without comment. "Very well" he said and teleported away with Saix.

Nexumair gave a sigh of relief as he called Knights to carry away Tifa's unconscious body. It was that Dawn Shard. It made him feel weak and shaky. He had barely managed to keep from collapsing. There was something inside of that thing…something that reminded him of Ramenui.

"No! We can't do it!" Leon said angrily. He and Cid were face to face, their lips pulled back from their teeth. "That would be betrayal of Sora and the others!"

"I don't give a flying fuck about Sora and the others!" Cid snarled. "I'm choosing living over dying!"

"Stop it, both of you!" Aerith said. "We've already wasted all of our 24 hours and we've done nothing but argue!"

It had been a nightmare. From the time that Saix left, the former Guild Leaders had argued and fought over whether to tell the Organization where Tine was, and start a new life on another world, or to stand their ground and die in Radiant Garden. Cid wanted to tell the secret to Saix and live. Leon wanted to keep their mouths shut and die. They had separated into factions. Cloud had joined Leon. Yuffie had joined Cid. Aerith remained neutral. She was against the arguing and told them to just decide quickly. She was more on the side of Leon, they all knew, but she wouldn't say it out loud.

"Why can't we live?!" Yuffie demanded. "What do we owe Sora?!"

"If we live, it will be a short lived peace!" said Leon. "Xemnas will use Tine to turn everyone into Nobodies! Or have you forgotten what Maleficent said?!"

"Maybe the hag was lying!" Cid said. "Did you ever think of that? No! I guess you didn't!"

"Why you stupid old man" Leon said. "I don't need my gunblade to take you down."

Cid raised his fists. "I was hoping you'd say that" he said, and spit out his toothpick. "Let's go." They were about to rush each other, when two Organization members teleported in front of the cells.

"What is going on here?" asked one with a lock of hair that fell in front of one eye. His other eye glared at them. "Have you reached your decision?"

Saix stepped forward. "Well, have you?"

"More time" Cid said. "More time to make this fool see it the right way."

"That will not be necessary" said the one eyed Nobody. "We have already traced Tine's location to the Destiny Islands. In other words, you are now useless to us."

Cid hurled himself against the bars. "You don't mean---"

"I do" said Zexion. "You are going to be executed in two hours. Currently the time is 9:17 A.M. Your time will be at 11:17." Yuffie burst into tears the same time Zexion said this. He glared at her for interrupting him.

Saix walked past them to another cell. It was then that they noticed he was carrying someone in his arms. A girl who looked very familiar. The Luna Diviner threw her into the cell next to Leon and Cid's. She hit the floor with a small scream and hit the far wall where she lay shaking.

"Morgan le Fay!" Aerith gasped as she recognized the girl. "Wh…what's going on? I thought she was on your side?"

Zexion regarded the healer with a look of cool scorn. "The affairs of Organization XIII are none of your business. Perhaps you can ask the Fates when you arrive in the Underworld." He chuckled slightly and walked over to the cell. He took out a small round and white object and wedged it between the bars of the cell, high up so that the Morgan could not reach it, except with magic. It began to glow and the girl on the floor began to moan again.

"We will see you at the gallows" said Saix and the two of them teleported.

"Morgan le Fay" said Leon. "The great and terrible witch in a cold and empty cell. How does it feel?" he cried out in pain as he was hit by a stone from the other cell. "Who hit me!"

"I did" Aerith said. "That girl is obviously suffering. How can you be so cruel?"

"Cruel?" Leon roared. "The Organization is cruel! Woman, do you realize that we are living in the last two hours of our lives?! How can you be concerned by something so…so…stupid! Are you an idiot?!"

Cloud stood up and walked to the edge of the cell. "Don't talk to Aerith that way" he said harshly.

"I'll talk to her however I want, SOLDIER boy!" Leon snarled. "I can do whatever I want before I die! That includes taking my pants down and---"

Morgan lay shivering and shuddering on the floor of her cell. She had never been in this much pain in her entire centuries long existence. She had felt pain before, yes, the magical enhancements on her body had hurt terribly, but she had forced herself to ignore the pain and chant the words anyway. But this…this was awful. It felt as if the life was being drained from her by inches. She raised herself up on one elbow and tried to sit up. No use. She fell back on her side. Oh, when she got out of this, they were all going to suffer. She would banish Xemnas and his followers to a dimension where even the emotionless could feel fear. And pain! Oh yes, her pain would be nothing compared to his when she dealt with him. If only she could use magic. Morgan tried to chant a fire spell to knock the accursed Dawn Shard from between the bars. That was a mistake. As soon as she reached for her power, the agony intensified from an eight to a ten. She bit her lips to avoid screaming in front of the fools who were imprisoned on either side of her. Wait! That was it. They were only physically constrained. They could help her by removing the Dawn Shard. The scar faced man, and the man with the toothpick could easily knock it down.

"Hey" she called. They continued to argue. "Hey!" she cried. The fighting stopped. All of them were looking at the disempowered sorceress. "T-thank you" Morgan said, fighting back another pained sound. "You're all going to b-be executed. Right?"

"And what's it to you?" Yuffie growled. "You're one of the people who is behind this, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not" Morgan explained. "I was betrayed by that snake Xemnas and his pets. They imprisoned me in this place. With that thing to keep me contained." She pointed at the softly glowing Dawn Shard.

"It's beautiful" said Aerith. "It looks like something a queen would wear."

"It may look beautiful to you, but it's causing me terrible pain" Morgan said. She dragged herself up to sit on the bench in the cell and look at them. "I can barely move" she sighed. "If you help me by knocking the Dawn Shard a reasonable distance away, I will release you all from your prisons."

"Release us from…" Leon said. "What do you say everyone?" he asked.

Cid folded his arms. "You're asking us?" he said. "That's pretty kind of you…considering that you were going to let us all die without giving us a choice!"

Leon glared at the Gummi maker. "Look, you" he said. "If I have to---"

"Shut up!" said Yuffie. "I say we let her out and she'll help us!"

"How do we know that we can trust you?" Aerith asked Morgan. "The last time you appeared to us, you tried to kill us all. You played with our lives and feelings like they were your toys."

Morgan shifted uncomfortably on the bench. "I don't know" she said. Her red eyes gleamed. "You'll just have to trust me."

"Alright" said Cloud. "We'll do it. Just don't make us regret our decision."

Cid reached out of bars of the cell to hit the Dawn Shard and bring it down. His rough and calloused hands reached closer…closer…

Morgan's red eyes widened in anticipation of her freedom and her hands clenched and unclenched so hard that she drew magic laced blood from her palms. Then---

"Wait!" said a voice from the dungeon doorway. "I can free you!"

"Who in hell…" Cid trailed off to see Tifa Lockheart standing in the doorway. Her fists were bloody and so was the back of her shirt.

"You" said Yuffie. "What do you want, traitor? Did you know about Nexumair? Did you?"

"I did" said Tifa, her head down. "But I thought…I thought that he wouldn't kill Cloud if I went along with his plans…"

Aerith sighed. She walked over to the bars. "Thank you Tifa for coming down here. But it is impossible for you to free us without endangering your position in the---"

"Aerith, shut up" said Tifa. "First of all, you're my fucking friends. Second of all, I just lost my standing with Captain No Heart up there a few hours earlier. Since then, I've been fighting my way down here to you all." She held up her bloody hands. "That's Knight blood, not mine."

"Thank you, Tifa" said Cloud. "Do you have the keys to the cells?"

Tifa held up a set of silver keys. "Here they are."

"What about me?" Morgan asked, anger tingeing her voice. "What about our deal?" Her red eyes flared in barely chained rage.

"Sorry" said Leon, as Tifa opened the locks of the cells that kept them prisoner. "I just realized what a terrible mistake we almost made. See you in a few years."

Morgan gave a terrible shriek of rage and hatred and threw herself at the bars of the cell, screaming when she was repelled by the energy of the Dawn Shard. She fell to the floor. "I will kill you all, Squall Leonhart!" she raged. "I will remember all of your names! You will suffer the same fate as Xemnas and his minions, when I have been freed from this prison!"

Leon shut the doors of the dungeon, drowning out the ranting of Morgan. "Worse than Edea" he muttered under his breath. "So what do we do now?" he asked his group.

"Beats me" said Cid. "I say we head toward the Postern. It's the only way we can get off this world and talk to Sora."

"No" said Leon. "I won't leave Radiant Garden again!"

"We have no choice!" Yuffie yelled. "If we don't leave, we'll hang!" the purple sky had become gray, and as Yuffie yelled, rain began to fall, spattering the windows.

"Yuffie's right" said Aerith. "Let's go Leon. I hate to say this, but if you continue to resist, we'll knock you out and take you with us." The gunblade master sighed and ran past them down the hallway.

"Come on, let's go!" Yuffie cried.

"Shhh!" said Cid. "Want to get us caught?!" they ran outside of the dungeons through the service doors and into the Castle Garden. The rain instantly soaked everyone. It was really coming down.

"Over here!" Tifa cried. "I got your weapons out of the Weapons Locker that they use for prisoner's weapons. Cid, I got your lance from your office." She smiled at Cloud. "And…I got Fenrir."

Cloud's face actually broke into a smile and he hugged his childhood friend. "I love you, Tifa." Seeing Aerith frown, he blushed.

"If you're finished having your love moment, can we get out of here?!" Cid said, looking around. "I'm expecting Knights to pop up any minute." They ran toward the black motorcycle.

"Get on---" Cloud was about to say, when he tackled Tifa out of the way. A hail of razor sharp book pages flew into the air where they used to be.

"Escaping so soon?" Zexion asked. Though the rain was pouring down, he was amazingly dry, his large book in his hands.

It's because they don't really exist Aerith thought, and shivered.

"Run!" Cloud roared, gripping the Buster Sword. "I'll take on this piece of shit!"

"You think that you can win a second time against the Cloaked Schemer?" Zexion said. "After you lost so easily the first time. Have you been training?"

"No, I haven't" said Cloud. "But I've been thinking about how much I'd like to see your smug face change into a grimace of pain. Right now, that's enough."

Cid, Leon, Yuffie, Aerith and Tifa took off. Zexion smiled. "My ally, Saix will tend to them. We can't have vile murderer escaping in fair Radiant Garden, can we?"

Cloud's answer was a slash with the sword. Zexion leaped over him, sending a whirl of pages at Cloud's head. The warrior rolled to the side. "Damn my large swordness" he said to himself. He couldn't raise the sword for anything but blocking. More pages slammed into the metal of the Buster Sword and Cloud jumped up, swinging down on the Schemer. Zexion teleported again, and send a barrage of paper at Cloud.

"Damn it!" Cloud swore as the razor sharp edges sheared his leg. He had tried to time his jumps, but he guessed wrong. A little more off time and the paper would have cut off his leg. He landed awkwardly.

"Clipped you a little, I think" Zexion said. "Shall we go around again? This has happened before, Cloud. Just give up."

"And die being hung from a gallows in front of a crowd?" Cloud said. "No, I'd rather die in battle, fighting a one on one war." He leaped over another barrage of paper and swung at Zexion. The Nobody tried to teleport, but Cloud had timed his swing. "Cut!" Cloud yelled as he swung horizontally.

Zexion reappeared by one of the trees. He gasped as he felt a small cut bleed its dark particles from his cheek. "You…hit me…" he said in total shock.

"Want to try it again?" Cloud taunted. The rain plastered his blond hair to his head.

"Indeed I do!" Zexion roared. A wave of book pages flew out at Cloud from Zexion's book.

"Son of a bitch" Cloud muttered as he flipped up in the air. The pages whistled past his head, clipping branches from nearby trees. Then, in the corner of his eye, Cloud saw the group of pages reform themselves and fly at his back. He fell to the ground and ducked before they could cut his head from his shoulders. "What the hell?!" he gasped as they flew at him again.

"I have all sorts of control over paper" said Zexion. "And powers you cannot even imagine. Care to give in now?"

"Never" Cloud said, dodging another pass at him. Blood began to soak through the black fabric on his chest. He looked down and saw that there were several deep cuts across his chest. Near his heart. He gasped in pain as a group of pages flayed the clothes and skin from his back. He fell facedown in the mud.

"Busy examining yourself?" Zexion called. "Too bad" the groups flew at him again. Cloud swung the Buster Sword and dispelled the groups of pages. They scattered in the air---and formed into their separate groups again.

"Oh, shit" Cloud said, using the Buster Sword to pull himself up. I might really be in trouble here he thought. But he had to buy the others enough time to get to the Postern before he could even think of escaping himself. The pages flew at him again. Cloud caught three of them in his covered arm. He cried out in pain, but at least they hadn't gotten anywhere near his head.

"Pass again!" Zexion called and they flew again at him. "It is endless! You cannot defeat me!"

"You talk too much" Cloud said. The pages cut a section out of the Garden wall and he gulped. Aerith had told him it was made from reinforced concrete. Cloud rushed the Cloaked Schemer head on. "Let's see you protect yourself from a head on attack!"

Cloud blew his breath out in a puff of horror as he felt eight pages bury themselves deep in his chest. "Oh…fuck…" he said and fell to his knees. Damn it he thought. This is pathetic. Sephiroth was harder than this to defeat! And yet we still took the bastard down! I took down a Jenova powered freak and I can't even beat something that doesn't exist! He raised himself up again and rushed at Zexion. The Organization member dodged him and kicked him in the back, sending Cloud stumbling forward to be caught by another barrage of pages. What can I do against this thing? Cloud thought through a haze of pain. He watched his own blood make interesting patterns in the rain soaked grass. It was like flame, the way the blood spread out…Flame! That was it!

Cloud began to run toward Fenrir was fast as he could.

"Where do you think you're going?" Zexion asked.

I have to time it right Cloud said. I have to make him think he's won. The pages were getting very close now. If he stood here, he would be cut to ribbons. Cloud found that his legs wouldn't move. They could only shake with weakness. Damn it, noooo! Cloud thought. Then another thought occurred completely out of the blue. Please, Kingdom Hearts…grant me your power temporarily. He had a sudden image of Tine and Riku sitting somewhere underneath a tree in the rain. They were huddling to keep warm. Then Tine's head snapped up. Her green eyes glowed with the fires of a billion hearts. Will she give it to me?! Cloud thought. Then it happened. The vision faded, but with it came power. He jumped high into the air. The pages ripped into Fenrir, shredding the black metal into metal ribbons. Gas from the ruptured tank spouted everywhere.

Now I have him! Cloud landed next to Fenrir. The pages flew at him again. Cloud moved with unnatural speed and flew across the Garden out of the way.

What is this? Zexion thought. It's as if he somehow got some kind of energy boost! He threw a group of pages at Cloud.

Now! Cloud ran to Fenrir, drawing Zexion's paper missiles. He swung the Buster Sword against Fenrir's remains causing sparks to erupt from the contact point. The sparks leaped onto the gasoline and spread to Zexion's pages. The fire, fueled by the gas, sped along the point of contact down the line of pages.

"Wha…what have you done?!" Zexion gasped.

"Yes" said Cloud. "I just sealed your doom." He grinned. "For someone with no emotions, you seem to act out the emotion of fear very well, my friend. Goodbye." The fire raced along the pages back to the book. It and Zexion were immediately engulfed in a fireball.

"UWAAAHHHHHHH!!!" The Cloaked Schemer fell out of the explosion, his robes burned almost all the way off, his hair singed and blasted off his head. "Th…thi…this can't be…happening…I am invincible…I am…" said Zexion as he vanished into a million particles.

As soon as the last particle vanished from the rainy air, Cloud fell to his knees, the power that had invested his body gone. He looked up into the sky, rain falling into his eyes. He thought of the screams that Tine had made as her tortured body writhed under the influence of the Heart Redemption Spell. A clap of thunder alerted him from his thinking. "Forgive me, Kingdom Hearts" he said to himself before running off to find the others. It was time to get off this world.

Sorry about that. I decided to split the fights with Zexion and Saix into chapters. I promise, the next one will be the fight with Saix. Wow, Cloud finally got his revenge. Wasn't that awesome how Tifa came around in the end?