Chapter Thirty Six: Temporal Anomaly

I sighed. Everything had been so boring as of late... I had gotten a visit from Roy's brother, but he didn't bother to stick around and say anything important. This was SOOO boring...

"So, what are you up to?" Serenity asked me, walking in through the doorway. It had been one boring thing after another... get up, fiddle around on Ansem's computer, go to sleep. I got to eat stuff, but I was seriously tired of all the food they had here.

"Hey, babe," I said to my girlfriend. "I'm not doing anything... just pushing this button, then that button, then this button, then that button..."

I carried on for a few more minutes.

"Now... what's next?" I asked myself. "Go make a little sammich, eat it, then get back to pushing buttons for no reason."

"It's for a reason, Jason," Serenity snapped. "It's so we're aware of anything that's wrong or up. Thanks to your computer skills, everyone trusts you to do this, and you might even find something new on that computer."

"Ah, who cares?" I asked, putting my left arm back into my sling within my coat.

That wound's never fully healed... wonder why?

I got up from the chair, then went to the upper levels of the castle to make a sammich. I overloaded it with meats and cheeses (especially cheddar), but put no greenery on it. I hated the greens.

"Now... where's the microwave?" I absentmindedly asked myself.

I've been here four years and I can't find the damn microwave?

"Oh, wait. There is no microwave," I muttered, then began to bite into the sandwich. I had polished it off along the way back down to the computer room.

Serenity, clad in her skimpy black dress, was still seated at the chair.

"Hey, I gotta get back to work," I said. "No more pinball for you."

"Yeah, yeah..." she muttered, slowly getting out of the chair. I Xed off the pinball program, then got back to work restoring Ansem's computer files. It was seriously boring... I hoped something interesting would happen today, and not just Roy and Riku popping up to use it for a couple minutes.

After a couple of hours, something interesting did happen...

ALERT! Temporal Anomaly detected in the Marketplace! ALERT! Temporal Amonaly detected in the Marketplace! ALERT! Temporal Anomaly...

"Shut up, you damn machine!" I shouted, banging it with my fist. "I'll go see what the hell yer babblin' on about, just can it!"

I got out of my chair, calling for Serenity to follow me. She got her quarterstaff and came with me. After a couple minutes, and a few Heartless, we made it to the Marketplace. There a black-coated man was waiting.

"Hey, who are you?" I asked.

He turned around and took his hood off. Luxord of Organization XIII.

"Get outta here," I commanded, summoning my Keyblade. "This is no place for you to be messin' around in."

"Why not?" Luxord asked.

"There's a temporal anomaly around here... someone's been messin' with time..." I muttered.

Both Luxord and Serenity looked at me as if I were stupid.

"HE'S the temporal anomaly!" Serenity shouted, jabbing a finger at Luxord. "He controls time, remember?!"

"Oh, yeah..." I muttered, scratching my head. "Well, amscray!"

I pointed my Keyblade at Luxord.

"I have no intention of going anywhere," Luxord answered. "If Riku can best me, and just barely, then I have a proposition for you."

"What's that?" I asked.

"Defeat me, and I'll leave," he said. "Fail, you die."

I laughed.

"Is that it?" I asked. "Whatever. I'll play along."

He threw several die at me, which I easily blocked.

"You see... I have control over time. And so..." he muttered. Before I realized what happened, I was hit with several razor sharp cards.

"Come on, is that the best you can do?" I asked, pulling my left arm out of its sling. I dashed forward, attacking him in a flurry, then put my arm back into its sling.

"That's the best you've got..." I muttered, dismissing my Keyblade. "Sorry, but yer no match for me. Now get outta here. Go on!"

"Never... I won't be insulted like this..." Luxord muttered. I sighed, then began walking away. Before I could make it out of the Markeplace with Serenity, though, I felt snagged on something...

"Hey! What the hell?!" I shouted. I looked down to see myself falling into some sort of yellow portal...

"Jason! What the..." Serenity muttered, turning around. She grabbed me by the arm, trying to pull me out of the vortex, but to no avail. After about a minute, she was only hanging onto my wrist; soon, in a moment of despair, she let go and I was plunged into the vortex...