Last time found our heroes facing another of DiDe's torture games, forcing Kairi to endure agonizing electrical burns to save one of the Rapture survivors from being electrocuted. But the real shocker came when DiDe delivered a message from one of her creators; a message from Kirito and Asuna's past that left them horrified. 'Nuff said, on with the show!
Chapter 8: Double Dilemma
"So this Sugō guy, he used to work for your dad," said Mercedes to Asuna, "until he went psycho and trapped you in a sick, sadistic Shakespearian fantasy."
"He was insane to begin with," said Asuna, "I never liked him, there was something that put me off every time I saw him; either at an office party or a social event. Oh, he was always kind and charming, but he always tried too hard, like he was compensating or covering for something, though I didn't realize it at the time."
"I knew he was rotten the moment your father walked out of your room at the hospital," said Kirito, "one minute he was okay, a little unnerving, but okay. But the second your father was out of earshot, he turned into an evil overlord-wannabe. And it wasn't his superior snobness or the fact that he boasted how he was gonna have you marry him that pissed me off, well, that pissed me off, but what really got me started was the way he kept touching you."
"What?" Asuna asked in a startled tone.
"He touched her?" Kairi asked.
"He molested her while she was unconscious!?" exclaimed Trillian.
"You never told me he molested me!" exclaimed Asuna at Kirito.
"He didn't molest you!" said Kirito.
"I'll bet he raped her ever chance he got, the unscrupulous prick," muttered Rachael.
"HE DID WHAT?!" screamed a horrified and outraged Asuna.
"He didn't do that!" said Kirito, "at least he didn't while I was there that one time."
"What did the bastard do?" Felix asked.
"And you don't need to hear any of this, Silica," said Lisbeth, "you too, Yui-chan."
"I'm not a child, Lisbeth!" said Silica, "I can handle any disgusting details Kirito has to say."
"And I want to know what that evil, evil, evil man did to Mama!" said Yui as she sat on Pina's neck, while Pina gave a grunt of agreement.
"He sniffed Asuna's hair a lot," said Kirito, "and he licked her face."
"That low down, filthy beast!" snapped Mercedes, "I should rip his tongue out and make him choke on it! And then I'll go to work on him!"
"How can you work on him if he's dead?" Trillian asked.
"I don't know," said Mercedes, "but I'm sure it'll involve a lot of torture items. Then I'll cut him in half with The Scythe."
"What scythe?" Xenophon asked, "Death's scythe?"
"Oh, not that scythe, The Scythe," said Mercedes, "the one Buffy received at the end of Season 7."
"Oh, that Scythe," sayd Xenophon, "the one she used to cut Nathan Fillion in half with, right?"
"Yep," said Mercedes as she smiled at a very happy memory, "and that's the only time in the whole show Buffy ever laughed at one of her own puns."
"I think we're forgetting one very important fact," said Beatrice, "assuming that DiDe was telling the truth about him, there's nothing any of us can do about Sugō Nobuyuki while we're online. Therefore, we should focus on what's in front of us; namely how we're going to beat DiDe and escape from Hell House."
"You're right," said Kirito, "I shouldn't let that bastard get to me."
"Then let's do something constructive," said Xenophon, "Joshua, Rachael, is there anything you can remember from before you woke up inside Hell House?"
"What good will that do?" Albion asked.
"It'll give us a better understanding of what our enemies are capable of," said Xenophon, "and pass that information along to Dr. Armitage and The Night Scholars."
"How?" Mercedes asked, "how can we call them from in here? It's not like we can send them a text from inside the game."
"Maybe not, or maybe we can," said Xenophon, "it couldn't hurt to know."
"Well, do you remember anything?" Kairi asked Rachael and Joshua.
"All I remember was us getting sucked into that vortex thing that bitch Darklight caused," said Rachael as she irately crossed her arms, "if I ever see that evil woman again, I'll sink my teeth into her cheek and rip her face off!"
"Not until I keelhaul her fucking carcus under a ship with so many barnacles, there'll be nothing left but bits of bone and skin," said Joshua.
"Hey! That evil woman used to be a friend of mine!" said Kairi.
"Well, that friend of yours wiped our asses halfway across time and space!" snapped Rachael.
"She's not herself!" said Kairi, "whatever Columbina did to her, I have to believe that Bethany can be saved. I…I have to."
"Yeah, good luck with that," said Joshua, "and no, I don't remember anything either."
"Don't be so sure," said Xenophon, "close your eyes and think. Relax first and focus on what happened."
"Well…alright," said Joshua as he sat down, closed his eyes and breathed deeply a few times.
"This is pointless," said Rachael, "we need to find Chrissie and the others."
"We will, but first things first," said Xenophon, "alright, Joshua, you and your friends were separated by Darklight. What happened after that?"
"We…I…I was laying on some kind of table," said Joshua as he tried to focus his thoughts, "there was a bright light overhead and I couldn't see much. I heard people talking, I could barely understand half what they were saying. I think I saw one of them. He wore white, like a lab coat, or a business suit."
"Foundation X," said Kairi, "what happened then?"
"They…they took blood samples from all of us," said Joshua, "and then put us each in a room to be examined further. I don't know what they did, everything so fuzzy. Then we were all put onto these weird beds and had I.V. tubes put into our arms. Then this helmet was put on me."
He then opened his eyes and stood up, "next thing I knew, I was here in this horrible place."
"I don't remember any of that," said Rachael.
"I think you were unconscious the whole time," said Joshua, "so was Calvin and Lisa. Chrissie tried to fight our captors, while Travis…" he closed his eyes again, "Travis…he was in a different lab for a long time. "
"What do you think they did to him?" Asuna asked.
"Considering that this is Foundation X, anything," said Xenophon.
"I think we're about to find out," said Felix as another hallway appeared in the wall, from which our heroes could hear two different people screaming for help.
"Come on!" shouted Rachael as she ran into the hallway, with Joshua right behind her.
"Wait! It could be a trap!" shouted Silica as she, Kairi, Kirito, Asuna and the others ran after Rachael and Joshua.
Several twists and turns in the hallway later found them outside another door that lead to a third room of pitch blackness. Once everyone was in the room, the door slammed shut and a spotlight revealed DiDe.
"Welcome to Round 3 of the game, everyone," said DiDe, "this time, I've decided to raise the stakes a bit, kicking things up a notch if you will."
"Cut the crap, DiDe!" snapped Kirito.
"Just start the game already," said an impatient Asuna.
"Well, look who's eager to get the ball rolling," said DiDe, "very well."
At that the lights came on, revealing Calvin and Liza, both manacled to different torture devices, while connected to the torture machines was a large set of scales with plastic containers on either end.
"Get us the fuck out of here!" shouted Liza as she struggled to break free of a set of flexible iron bars that forced her into a sitting fetal position, while Calvin's wrists and ankles were chained to a set of rollers on either end of his machine.
"As you can see, dear humans," said DiDe as she walked around the torture machines, "young Calvin is on a Rack, while little Liza is on a Scavenger's Daughter. This round of the game is one I'd like to call 'Double Extreme.'"
"One stretches, the other compresses," said Beatrice.
"Right in one!" said an impressed DiDe, "you just earned a gold star," with that she tossed Beatrice a gold piece in the shape of a five-pointed star.
"Okay, I get what you're going to do to them," said Kairi, "so what do you want me to do?"
"Who cares what she want's you to do!" exclaimed Liza, "just do it so we can get out of here!"
"No, you idiot!" snapped Calvin, "that's what that bitch wants! She wants Kairi to suffer in our place!"
"And she will suffer to keep you from being ripped apart," said DiDe, "and to keep your dear little sister from being crushed like a grapefruit."
"I'll crush you like a grapefruit!" shouted Liza as she struggled harder to break free, "just wait till I'm out of this pile of scrap! I'll drown you in a bathtub!"
"Oh, there might just be a drowning here today," said DiDe, "a drowning in one's own blood, that is. That's the beauty of The Scavenger's Daughter; it breaks the ribs and crushes the internal organs. Pretty soon you'll be bleeding out of your mouth, nose, eyes, ears, until you can't breathe. I wonder, considering how small you are, how will you die? Will you suffocate when your lungs can't take in any air? Will you drown in your own blood? Or will your heart be crushed like an eggshell?"
She then looked at Calvin, "whereas you, you'll simply be torn to pieces and bleed to death."
"Gee, I'm so lucky," said Calvin with venomous sarcasm. He then looked at Kairi, "whatever this psycho bitch wants, don't do it!"
"I haven't even told her what her penalty game is yet," said DiDe in an admonishing manner, "you're so impatient. Everyone is so impatient these days. That's the thing about you humans, you never stop and smell the roses."
"Like you've ever smelled a rose," said Kairi, "alright, how do you want me to torture myself?" she walked up to the plastic containers on the scales, "I'm guessing this has something to do with it."
"Bingo," said DiDe, "there's a simple way to save your friends here, or at least one of them. At the start of the game, Calvin will be stretched and Liza will be compressed. To stop one torture device, simply tilt one of the scales. Calvin's machine is connected to the left scale while Liza's is connected to the right. When the scales are balanced, the machines will stop, but…as soon as one of the scales are out of balance…"
She then summoned a slug of led, no bigger than a pearl, and dropped it into the left scale, causing the rollers to pull on the chains, while the iron bars began to press down, leading to both siblings to shout in pain as Calvin was stretched and Liza crushed.
At the same time a digital timer appeared above the scales and began counting down from 10:00.
"It doesn't take much to throw the scales out of balance," said DiDe, "while not much more to correct the balance. It's just a question of finding that balance." She then handed a scalpel to Kairi.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" Kairi asked as she looked at the scalpel in her hands.
"Cut her throat!" shouted Mercedes, "it's what I'd do!"
"Then it's a good thing you're not Kairi," said DiDe, "for only she can correct the balance."
"With what? Blood?" Kairi asked. She then blinked in surprised as she answered her own question, "oh, I get it. You want me to bleed to death to save Calvin and Liza."
"Bingo," said DiDe, "but don't spend yourself too much on this round, you've still got two more friends to save. But considering how badly your hands are mangled from the previous two rounds, I suggest you get someone to help you with the actual cutting."
Just then two leg slugs dropped onto the right scale, tipping the balance in favor of Liza's machine, while the rollers pulled a little more on Calvin and the iron bars pressed a little more on Liza.
"It doesn't actually matter whose scales have more weight, they'll both suffer until the scales are balanced. But more slugs will be added ever thirty seconds, so I suggest you start spilling blood in Calvin's favor."
"You monster!" shouted Kairi, yet with great reluctance, she managed to grip the scalpel and cut her right arm below the wrist without damaging any veins. She then dripped the blood into the container on the left scale, tipping the balance towards Calvin.
Kairi rushed over and dripped some blood onto the right container, then back to the left to try and regain the balance.
"How long does she have to do this?!" exclaimed Trillian.
"Until the clock runs out," said DiDe, "or if she can keep the balance for a full minute."
"But you keep adding slugs every thirty seconds!" said Asuna, "and more slugs each time!"
"Ah, but she can keep the balance for thirty seconds if she bleeds enough," said DiDe, "and she will bleed, if only to keep her friends safe."
"Don't worry about me!" said Kairi as she cut herself again to produce more blood, "I'll be fine!"
"You'll run out of blood at this rate!" snapped Asuna.
"End this, DiDe!" snapped Kirito.
"You want it to end?" DiDe asked, "okay, I'll end it!"
At that a small shower of slugs began to fall into the left container, tipping the balance all the way down on that scale. More and more slugs fell into the container, until there was several kilograms at least.
"Now she'll have to kill herself to save her friends," said DiDe, "she'll have to give up so much blood to correct the balance, she'll pass out from the drop in blood pressure. Oh, and if anyone interferes by spilling their own blood into the container, or even so far as to manually balance the scales, the siblings die instantly.
"Don't…do it!" shouted Calvin as he gritted his teeth against the agony of the strain on his arms and legs, "we're…not…worth…it!"
"You…I…FUUUUUCK!" shouted Liza against the pressure on her ribs and arms.
"Oh, quit your bellyaching," said DiDe, "you're not in that much pain, yet."
Just then everyone heard the sound of a muffled explosion off in another part of the dungeon.
"Now what?" Klien asked.
Everyone then heard another explosion, followed by another and another.
"What are you up to now, DiDe!?" exclaimed Asuna.
"I could ask the same thing of you!" snapped DiDe.
Just then the door to the hallway blew off its hinges, at which Leafa flew into the room. "Everyone!" she shouted, "sorry I'm late!"
"YOU!" shouted DiDe, "how the hell did you get back here?! There's a no teleport rule in effect!"
"I know," said Leafa as she smiled mischievously, "and so do the others."
"What others?" DiDe asked suspiciously.
"The three-hundred Sylphs, Salamanders and Cait Siths whom came to Hell House with me," said Leafa, "as well as a few Leprechauns, Spriggans, Undines, Gnomes, Pookas and Imps. They're outside the dungeon right now."
"You brought three-hundred?" an impressed Asuna asked.
"I would have brought more if there was time," said Leafa, "I called everyone on my contact list and they called their contacts, and so on and so forth."
"Really," said a disbelieving DiDe, "and just where are these reinforcements of yours? I don't see them."
"They're outside," said Leafa, "networking."
"Networking?" Kairi asked.
"It's really amazing, come to think of it," said Leafa, "turns out a lot of ALO players either go to or are graduates of Miskatonic University, and more than a few of them are Night Scholars."
"Dr. Armitage! She's pulling through for us!" said Mercedes gleefully.
"Lucky us," muttered Beatrice.
"So, they're here, outside the dungeon," said DiDe contemptuously, "and yet not one of them decided to come in with you to help save your friends."
"Oh, they've been a great help," she then pulled up her menu and equipped a metal and crystal wand about the length of a yardstick, the wand was topped with a glowing ruby.
"I had to pull about a million favors to get a few of these," said Leafa, "a one-quest use wand capable of blasting through just about any barrier, either physical or magical, or in this case, that of a hacked dungeon."
"WHAT?! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" shouted DiDe, "THIS IS MY HOUSE! MY HOUSE! MY RULES!"
"You can take your rules and shove them up your ass!" shouted Kirito as he successfully picked the lock on the Rack, freeing Calvin, while Xenophon cast an unlocking spell on the Scavenger's Daughter, freeing Liza.
"You! HOW DARE YOU!" bellowed DiDe, "I ought to…" she then blinked and stood still, "just a moment…just a moment…just a moment…" she then went completely still and remained silence.
"I…do you think we broke her?" Silica asked as she cautiously walked up to DiDe and waved a hand in front of the creature's unresponsive face.
"Maybe her buffer's full and needs time to catch up," said Asuna as she healed and bandaged Kairi's cut arms.
"Who cares? Let's just delete her already!" said Mercedes as she readied a wooden steak, then jabbed it towards DiDe's heart. Yet the steak bounced off a barrier with enough force to knock Mercedes onto her backside.
"You alright?" Albion asked as he and Trillian helped Mercedes up.
"This never happened to Buffy," said Mercedes sheepishly.
"Well, we'll worry about deleting DiDe later," said Kirito. He then looked at Leafa, "what about those outside? Can they still help us?"
"They're helping us right now, Onisan," said Leafa, she then looked at Xenophon, "them and your hacker friends. There's a lot I don't get but the players, hackers and Night Scholars are working together to 'break the curse of Hell House.'"
"What does that mean?" Klien asked.
"It means they're going to hack the hacked dungeon," said Xenophon, "while also tracking the source of the hack; the lab of Foundation X. We find them, we can shut them down."
"And find your bodies," said Kairi to Calvin, Liza, Rachael and Joshua.
"This place isn't exactly real," said Joshua to Calvin and Liza, "well, it is but it isn't."
"It sure as hell feels real to me," said an irate Liza as she felt her cracked ribs.
…The Real World…
"Inconceivable!" exclaimed Dr. Remington, "again, those…those…those children have outwitted us again!"
"These are no ordinary children," said Dr. Winchester, "not by far."
"We should destroy them now!" said Dr. Weatherby, "now before their friends in the real world do indeed trace the hack back to us!"
"No, we proceed," said Sugō as he continued to type.
"Did you not just see and hear what happened?!" exclaimed Dr. Winchester, "the brats are on the verge of discovering not only our location, but also sending a group of people capable of who knows what to our location!"
"We should begin preparations to evacuate, just to be on the safe side," said Dr. Remington.
"We're not going anywhere," said Sugō. He then finished typing and hit ENTER, "at least until DiDe's completed her mission."
"You finished her combat software," said Dr. Winchester as he and the others looked at a data readout on one of the screens, "and added more."
"Just what are you up to?" asked Dr. Weatherby.
"Something that will satisfy all," said Sugō as he straightened his glasses, "all of us that is, while Kairi, Kirito, Asuna and their friends, the only satisfaction they'll find is the peace and quiet of the grave."
Just then Dr. Winchester looked at the screens displaying the unconscious Chrissie, Joshua, Calvin, Liza, Rachael and Travis, each of them receiving an injection into their I.V. tubes.
"What is this now?" Dr. Winchester asked.
"A little something to make the game more interesting," said Sugō, "nothing more, nothing less."
"With you, nothing is ever simple," said Dr. Remington.
"All too true, my friend," said Sugō, "all too true."
…Hell House…
"Upgrade Complete!" said DiDe.
"So, you can fight us now?" Kirito asked as he and the others backed away cautiously while readying their weapons.
"That and so much more," said DiDe, "but I'm not going to fight you, not just yet, not while I've got two more of Kairi's friends to play with."
"Chrissie and Travis!" said Liza, "what did you do to them?!"
"The same thing I've done to you and your fellow Splicers," said DiDe, "yes, I know all about Splicers. I know about ADAM, Rapture and that special EVE you so desperately need."
At that Liza and Calvin hastily searched their pockets.
"You don't have your syringes," said DiDe, "they're back in the real world. My creators have analyzed the substance and found it quite fascinating, as well as your augmented biochemistry. Then again, they could have learned all they needed to know from the Foundation X team that actually went to Rapture, but then again, the Foundation has always been compartmentalized when it comes to different projects. Anyway, what's also fascinating is the other EVE that one of you had with you when you fell into the world."
"What other EVE?" Liza asked.
"Normal EVE," said Rachael in a frightened tone, "the kind the rest of Rapture used to keep their Plasmid abilities charged, the kind of EVE that drove an entire city mad."
"You mean one of us had normal EVE on him?" Calvin asked.
"Or her," said Joshua in a suspicious tone as he glared accusingly at Liza and Rachael, "or him," he then glared at Calvin.
"I didn't have any normal EVE on me when we left Rapture!" exclaimed Calvin, "none of us did! We haven't touched that garbage since Dr. Tenenbaum gave us the special EVE."
"Well, one of you had it," said DiDe, "over a dozen syringes in fact. My creators were so fascinated by the stuff, they just gave you all a dose of it to your bodies back in the real world."
"What?!" exclaimed Joshua, Calvin, Liza and Rachael.
"Oh yes, you should be feeling it right now," said DiDe, "and what's more, according to the testimony one of you gave my creators, the normal EVE is far more addictive than the special EVE. In fact, now that you've been exposed to normal EVE again, your addiction has been amplified, at least two fold.
"What's more, now that you're hopped up on normal EVE again, you're well on your way to becoming full blown Splicers, or so the information my creators have says. Then again, I wouldn't know, I'm no scientist."
"Why would they inject us with normal EVE?" Rachael asked, "and why while we're hooked into this…this game?"
"I told you, I'm no scientist," said DiDe, "but one thing they told me is that they're monitoring your brain activity. They're keenly interested in learning how long you lot will last until you go hopelessly insane!" With that she laughed like the demonic creature she was and vanished.
"That fucking, evil bitch! I'll crush her like a Big Daddy!" shouted Calvin.
Just then DiDe reappeared and slapped Calvin across the face, "that's for swearing in my house!" she snapped, "oh, I almost forgot. One of the two humans I've still to play with, they had some of the normal EVE syringes on them when they were introduced into the game."
"What difference does that make?" Kairi asked, "It's not like they could bring the EVE with them into the game."
"Are you so sure about that?" DiDe asked.
"Your clothes," said Asuna to Rachael, Joshua, Calvin and Liza, "are those the clothes you had on while you were still awake?"
"Yeah, so?" asked Liza.
Joshua then reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a small piece of polished wood , "my mom brought this with her when she came to Rapture and gave it to me. It's sort of a good luck charm."
"Wish it helped us now," said Calvin.
"Wait, if you had that on you when we had those helmets put on us," said Liza, "then…"
"Then whatever we had on us is with us in the game," said Joshua.
"They must have figured out how to scan not only clothes, but also other objects into a character's avatar," said Beatrice.
"The EVE syringes!" said Liza, "Chrissie or Travis might have some!"
"What the fuck are we waiting for!?" exclaimed Calvin, "let's go get them!"
DiDe then slapped Calvin again, "no swearing! Honestly! Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"
"My mother's dead, thank you fucking much!" snapped Calvin, "now where are Chrissie and Travis?"
"You'll find them soon enough," said DiDe as another corridor appeared, "just follow the screams." With that she vanished, followed by two muffled cries for help.
"Come on!" shouted Rachael urgently as she, Calvin, Liza and Joshua ran into the corridor.
"Wait!" shouted Kirito as he, Asuna, Kairi and the others ran after them.
"Fools! They're running right into DiDe's trap!" said Beatrice irately. "They're going to get themselves and the other two killed trying to save them!"
"I'm not so sure they're going to save Chrissie and Travis just for the sake of friendship," said Asuna.
"I think you're right," said Kairi, "and that's what scares me."
They caught up with Rachael, Joshua, Calvin and Liza as they ran into a fourth pitch black room.
The door slammed shut behind our heroes and allies, followed by a spotlight revealing DiDe, "welcome to the fourth and final round, brave players! It's a little early than I thought, but this is the end, one way or another."
Just then the lights came on in the room, revealing Chrissie and Travis, both strapped to metal chairs with reverse bear traps on their heads.
"You know how this game works, Kairi," said DiDe, "when the timer starts, you've got to find the keys to unlock the reverse bear traps, or else their jaws will be permanently forced open. However, unlike the game so brilliantly created by John Kramer, this game has my own twist."
She then summoned a silver key and levitated it in front of Kairi, "instead of having to cut the key out of someone's digestive track, I'm giving it to you. Go oh, Kairi, take it."
"What?" Kairi asked.
"It's yours, take it!" said DiDe, "I'm not trying to trick you this time."
"And you seriously want me to have the key?" Kairi asked.
"It's part of the game," said DiDe, "it won't start until you take it."
"I've got a bad feeling about this," said Asuna.
"Me too," said Kirito, "don't take it, Kairi! It's got to be a trap!"
"Oh, it is a trap," said DiDe, "but not one where Kairi has to physically hurt herself. No, this is something else."
"If I don't take the key, you can't start the timers on the reverse bear traps," said Kairi.
"True," said DiDe. She then pulled out a remote, "but I can trigger the traps with this if you refuse to play."
"Then I guess I have no choice," said Kairi as she plucked the key out of the air.
"Now the real game begins," said DiDe as she smiled insidiously, "for that key, while it does fit both locks, it will only work once. Whichever lock you use it on first, the key will then break. You can save one friend this time, only one. Any attempt to pick the locks or remove the traps otherwise will result in the victim's immediate deaths. So, which will it be? The boy or girl?
"Oh, I almost forgot. One of them has the EVE syringes on him or her. If that one dies, then they die like anyone else in ALO. Whatever they have on them disappears as well.
"So, which one will it be, Kairi? The moment of truth has come. Which friend will you save and which one will you allow to die? You've got five minutes to make your choice, five minutes until your soul is forever crushed! Tick tock, Kairi! Tick tock!"
DiDe then vanished, laughing like the vile creature she was as a digital clock appeared and began counting down from 5:00.
…Castle Oblivion…
"What are you doing, child!" exclaimed Columbina as she found Darklight lounging on a couch in one of the rooms of the dark castle, "you've smashed four Keyholes and there are eight to go! Why are you laying about like a three-toed sloth doing nothing?"
"I am not doing nothing," said Darklight in a matter of fact tone, "I am in fact recovering from that bullet wound I received in Wonderland, while enjoying this delightfully delicious dish full of pecan pie," she then held up the plate full of said desert, "while also enjoying the latest Stephen King novel," she then held up said book, "would you like to borrow it when I'm done?"
"You don't have time for this!" snapped Columbina, "you are the Princess of Dark! A minor flesh wound is something you can shrug off in your sleep! Now get back to your mission: Smash open the twelve Keyholes I need smashing! Not sitting around stuffing your face and reading nonsense!"
"Stephen King isn't nonsense!" said Darklight irately, "it's genius. There was so much I never got to do in my old life because I was too young. Now that I'm all grown up, I intend to live a little before you use me to get your revenge on your native universe."
"All things in their proper time," said Columbina, "and now is not the time for idle recreation! Now get off your behind and get back to work, young lady!"
"I've smashed four Keyholes already, I think I've earned a little downtime," said Darklight as she marked her place in her book and stood up, glaring at Columbina, "especially after fighting that mouse with the gold Keyblade. He certainly put up more of a challenge than Sora and his lot, that and getting shot."
"And you'll no doubt face King Mickey again, but not if you spoil yourself on pie and reading!" snapped Columbina, "and you've already healed from getting shot! Now do as you're told or…"
"Or what, you'll find another Princess of Dark?" Darklight asked, "good luck with that." she then sat down and resumed her reading, "Now leave me alone, I'll pick the next world when I'm good and ready."
"Why you…you…ungrateful brat!" snapped Columbina. She then stormed out of the room.
"Dear me, what an outburst," said Darklight to herself.
Downstairs, Columbina stomped her way through the villain's common room, muttering to herself and nearly stepping on several pieces of the new Interocitor.
"Hey! Watch where you're going, lady!" said Insano irately, "you break one piece and we'll have to start over with another new Interocitor."
"And I doubt Leslie would be able to acquire another," said Lady Tremaine.
"Burn in hell!" shouted Columbina as she exited out the other side of the room.
"No thanks, I've been there!" called Dio Brando. "Now where were we?"
"'Insert circuit G-44 into slot Q-19,'" said Sephiroth as he read the instructions, "'then connect wire H-25 to circuit P-07.''"
"Are you sure you're reading those right?" Gaston asked.
"You want to try?" Sephiroth asked, "here, be my guest," he then shoved the instructions towards Gaston, "it's even got pictures and everything."
"Got her!" said Regina from one side of the room.
"Got who?" Young Xehanort asked.
"Kairi!" said Regina as she stepped away from her magic mirror, "I know where she is and what she's doing."
"So your magic mirror found her before we could put the Interocitor together," said Insano, "big deal. The Interocitor is still superior to any magic mirror, superior with SCIENCE!" he then raised his finger triumphantly.
"Well, your science is lagging behind," said a wickedly grinning Regina, "right now Kairi is trapped in an artificial world where she has to make a decision that could rip her soul apart, or so I've been able to tell."
"How can you tell if you just found her?" Young Xehanort asked.
"I've been replaying Kairi's past actions," said Regina as she stepped away from her mirror, revealing a smaller mirror that showed highlights of Kairi ever since she appeared in New Aincrad, while another smaller mirror was filled with gray fog.
"Ah, a clip mirror," said Sephiroth, "brilliant. But I believe the other mirror is broken."
"It's not," said Regina, "it's searching for Sora and the other Keyblade Wielders."
"You're still obsessed with them, aren't you," said Lady Tremaine in an accusing manner, "Columbina said they're lost forever."
"She said no such thing," said Regina, "I trust her world as far as I can throw her with my bare hands. I won't be satisfied until I know for sure that Sora and his companions are dead, no matter how long it takes."
"Well, good luck with that," said Dio Brando, "have fun playing with your mirrors. Now where were we? Oh yeah, connect wire H-25 to circuit P-77."
"Wait! Don't!" shouted Sephiroth as Dio Brando connected the wrong wire to the wrong circuit, earning him a small but painful shock.
"Circuit P-77 leads to a capacitor," said Insano, "one that apparently is already charged.
"Now he tells me," said a singed and hair-raised Dio Brando.
…Radiant Garden…
"It's been too long since we heard anything," said King Mickey as he paced back and forth, "why hasn't the enemy made a move yet?"
"It's not like we can do anything to stop them," said Yuffie in a depressed tone as she sat with her head down, while Leon, Quistis, Queen Minnie, Tidus, Wakka and Selphie, also sat or leaned against the wall with depressed looks on their faces.
"Let's face it, we're done for," said Wakka, "it's the Apocalypse, man."
"There's got to be a way to stop Darklight from smashing any more Keyholes," said King Mickey as he kept pacing, "there's just got to be."
"We're open to suggestions," said Selphie, "and you're gonna wear out the carpet doing that."
"What difference does it make? We're all gonna die soon," said Tidus.
"You're right, what's the difference?" asked Selphie.
Just then they all heard the sound of Donald blabbering nonsense at the top of his lungs, followed by said duck and Goofy running into the room.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" shouted Donald as he ran circles around The King.
"Donald! What is it!?" asked King Mickey.
"Whatever it is, keep it down, will you?" moaned Yuffie as she grabbed a nearby pillow and held it against her ear as she lay down, "can't you see we're all feeling sorry for ourselves?"
"Don't feel sorry for yourselves!" said Goofy, "this is big news!"
"Another world had its Keyhole smashed?" Leon asked in a miserable tone.
"It's about Sora and the others, you emo palooka!" exclaimed Donald.
"What about Sora and the others!?" King Mickey asked.
"I can answer that," said Ansem the Wise as he walked in, carrying a large metal briefcase, "just now Tron alerted me to an incoming transmission from one of the alternate Earths, specifically the one where Sora and his friends went to Hogwarts."
"Who could be calling us from there?" QUeen Minnie asked as Ansem placed the briefcase onto a table and opened it up, revealing a sophisticated laptop. Ansem booted up the laptop.
"I'd prefer to let them make their introductions," said Ansem. He then spoke into the laptop's microphone, "are you ready, Tron?"
"Ready to process, Ansem," said Tron, "communication channel open now!"
A video chat window opened, revealing through some static and distortions, Max Kildare, "Hello?" asked the Indestructible Man, "hello? Are you there?"
"Is that you, Max?" King Mickey asked. He then looked at Ansem, "can't you clear it up?"
"I'm sorry, my friend," said Ansem. "Tron says that there's a lot of subspace disturbance, he's trying to compensate for it."
Just then Andrew and Jill Carpenter appeared on the screen, "hey, you guys!" called Andrew, "how's it going?"
"Oh, we've been better," said Yuffie, "Sora and the gang are off on another big adventure and we're stuck here facing the end of the universe, same old same old Is that your wife, Andrew?"
"I have a name, you know," said Jill irately, "and yes, I am Mrs. Carpenter. Now, are we all going to waste this conference with small talk? Or are we going to talk about Sora and the others?"
"Are they on your world?" King Mickey asked, "We lost contact with them some time ago."
"Haven't heard from them directly for a while either," said Max, "but we think we have an idea what happened to them."
"You know that our BPRD is in contact with alternate versions of The Bureau on multiple Earths, right?" asked Andrew, "Well, we heard from one of our alternates that they heard from one of their alternates about Kairi."
"Kairi?" Quistis asked, "just her? Nothing about Sora and the others?"
"No, just Kairi," said Max, "as far as we can tell, she's alive and well, so to speak."
"What we do know is that Sora and the other Keyblade Wielders were separated from Kairi and are lost somewhere in time and space," said Max, "We've got all our dimensional affiliates looking for them, but considering the infinite possibilities of worlds they could be on…"
"Like looking for a needle in a haystack," said Leon.
"More like a needle in a stack of needles in a haystack," said Jill, "in a field of haystacks that goes on forever."
"But we do have a lead on Kairi," said Max, "we're working on establishing contact with the world she's on. As soon we know more we'll get to work on bringing her home."
"Thank goodness," said King Mickey in a relieved tone, while Queen Minnie and the others looked equally reassured.
"By the way," said Andrew, "any of you know anything about digitizing living matter and vise versa?"
"What's that now?" Ansem asked.
"Well, when we said we knew where Kairi was," said Max hesitantly, "there's a bit of a complication."
"That's putting it mildly," said Jill.
The end of Chapter 8
Next chapter finds our heroes racing towards an explosive climax. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you then!