Prototype
By FlikFreak
Chapter Five: Shattered Reality
Sure enough, the train had reappeared like Sora said it would. The ride home was as surreal as the ride to the tower, and at times Roxas felt like he wanted to just go back and look at the beautiful sky forever. He ended up leaning against one of the windows to stare outside, and Sora took a seat right across from him. Eventually, the silence was too much, and Roxas decided to speak. "So that guy was a family friend?"
I think so, Sora replied. In my memory, there was a man talking about him. I think that man was my dad, so...
"So you assumed that he was a family friend?"
Yeah. Turns out I was wrong, but I was still pretty close. He helped me, so that's what matters.
Roxas rolled his eyes. "He didn't help you, Sora. He told you that you just had to sit and wait for it to come back to you."
I know, Sora replied, shaking his head. But he still told me some important stuff. I'm kinda worried, though...what about this power that I have? And how does it put you in danger if I protect you? How am I supposed to protect anyone from myself, anyway?
The question caused Roxas to bite his lip. Maybe that very power was why Sora was locked away in Nevras Mansion. But Yen Sid had also stated (although indirectly) that if Sora could control this power, then he wouldn't have to worry about that. Maybe he could help Sora learn about whatever abilities he might have, and perhaps learn more about the mansion along the way...
The hissing sound of the door opening popped Roxas's thoughts like a soap bubble, and he warily stepped out onto the platform, followed closely by Sora. Roxas blinked a few times. "It's still morning?" He muttered. "How long were we gone?"
"Roxas! Sora!"
Olette's voice caught both boys off guard. She ran toward them, not bothering to close the door behind her, her face ridden with confusion and fright. Roxas rubbed his head. "Um, Sora, didn't you say you left them a note-"
"You have to hide!" Olette cried, interrupting Roxas. "There are monsters!"
What?!
Almost on cue, the glass entranceway to the station shattered, spilling glass fragments across the entire entrance. Olette screamed and shielded herself, while Roxas spun on his heels and ducked down. Sora, on the other hand, grabbed both of them and pulled them back. They managed to avoid the blast for the most part, but the fear didn't ebb until every last shard finally hit the ground. Roxas pushed himself to his feet a bit after Olette and Sora did, his eyes wide. "What was that?"
I dunno, Sora replied, But I'm going to find out. With that, he took off running.
Olette reached out with one hand, but Sora was too fast. "Sora! Wait! They're still-"
Her words didn't reach Sora. Worried, Roxas took off after his friend. "Get in the ticket stand, Olette!" He shouted over his shoulder. "No one will find you there as long as you're quiet!" He didn't bother looking back to see if she complied as he ran.
Prototype Location confirmed. Station Heights district. Assimilation resumed.
Current Assimilation Level: Twelve percent. Assimilation level rising.
Roxas barely managed to keep up with Sora as he took off down Market Street. He found the boy coming to a halt in Tram common, near the entrance to the mansion. There were no "monsters" to be seen, but Sora was still standing his guard. Roxas hesitated several yards away, noticing how poised Sora was, ready to strike at any given moment. It was unlike him, almost, but he seemed as though he had done it for years. When Roxas began to approach, he was met with a sharp stiffness in his legs all of a sudden...something preventing hm from moving.
Don't. Stay put.
The seriousness in Sora's tone alarmed Roxas. For one, Sora hadn't even seen Roxas. Maybe his telepathy stretched that far? Secondly, how was Roxas suddenly unable to move? Was Sora doing that?
Roxas never got his answer. There was a dark, whirring noise, and he felt himself stepping back in alarm. Sora, however, didn't budge. Not even when black puddles began forming on the ground, rising up and forming crudely humanoid monsters with wavering antennae. Roxas gasped, his legs still locked in place. "What are-"
Run!
The warning came too late. One of the beasts noticed Roxas and lunged at him at top speed. The feeling came back to his legs, but he felt the claws of the beast slash across his face. Somehow the pain was not in his skin, but it threatened to crush something within him. He screamed a blood-curdling cry before the sound of steel meeting the flesh of the monster resounded in his ears.
I said run! Hurry, before more of them show up!
He didn't argue. Roxas scrambled to his feet and took off toward the sandlot. Though the footsteps of more of the beasts were silent, he could still hear them catching up. He had just made it to the ramp down to the sandlot when one caught up and leapt into the air, catching his shoulders and pinning him to the ground. There was another slash, this time directly across the chest. It didn't rip his shirt or jacket, but this time the pain was even stronger...so strong that Roxas couldn't even scream.
The beast's eyes narrowed and he spread his claws, plunging them into Roxas's chest. This time, he did scream, but his voice failed to escape his throat. Voices began to scream in his mind in broken sentences.
"--don't get out of here soon, then he'll--"
"--are a danger to those around you, whether you intend to be or--"
"--not my real brother, but that doesn't mean you're not--"
"--can't close it! They just—"
"If you do in there--"
"--can't let anyone else suffer because of--"
"You could die!"
"I can't--"
"Why is--"
"Why can't I--"
Darkness. It was everywhere. Roxas saw flashes of images. The mansion, flickering between its previous state and its current state of disrepair. The pod where Sora was, flickering to a view from within the pod. A stained glass platform. Colorful and vibrant, yet fragile. The image of Sora sleeping drawn in it. Then, the image of a dark room. A swirling, black light within its depths. A blurry figure standing in front of it, kneeling on the ground, gasping for breath. He began to make out details. Sweat rolling down his face, chest heaving. A voice cried out to the blurry figure. Roxas knew that voice. It was--
"Roxas! Wake up!"
Slowly, Roxas opened his eyes and came back to his senses. The light blurred his vision. Sound was dampened from his ears, and seemed far away. His energy seemed to have left him, leaving him dazed and fatigued.
As his vision cleared, he could make out the familiar form of Sora hovering over him. Come on, Roxas. Hang in there!
"Is he alright?"
It was Olette. She was here, too?
There was movement. Finally, Roxas could see a bit more clearly. Sora was indeed hovering over him, and Olette indeed stood nearby with Pence and Hayner. There were posters of the clocktower, he was beginning to feel the soft green sofa under him...when had he arrived in the usual spot? Had someone taken him there? His eyes slid shut again, fatigue threatening to throw him into darkness again, but his ears barely clung to consciousness.
"He's barely moving. What happened to him, Sora?"
"Pence, Sora can't speak to us. He doesn't have a voice, remember?"
"Wait...what is it, Sora? Do yo—hey! Don't grab my arm like that!"
"Don't pull away like that, Hayner. It's rude."
"Yeah, well, I could have gotten an advance warning or something."
Roxas felt something warm press against his chest. His nerves still tingled a little from his attempt to awaken, and he couldn't quite make out what the object was, but it was comforting somehow. When nothing happened, the object pressed a bit harder.
"What are you...ah...whoa, what the..."
"Hayner? What's going on?"
A burst of warmth entered his chest, and Roxas felt his eyes opening again. The flow of warmth ceased after a moment, and Roxas felt his senses return fully. As his vision cleared, Roxas could see Sora above him, releasing a tight grip on Hayner's arm and sighing in relief. You're awake.
"What happened?" Roxas muttered, forcing himself to sit up.
"That's what we wanna know," Pence replied, looking thoroughly confused. "Sora ran in here carrying you about ten minutes ago."
Roxas blinked, rubbing his eyes. Ten minutes? But he hadn't been out for that long. It was only a moment or two, when all of those voices and images raced past him...
"Sora's been hovering over you ever since he got here," Hayner added, still looking dazed. "He couldn't tell us anything so you'd probably be better off asking him."
Sighing, Roxas turned to Sora. "Um, Sora...I know we're not supposed to involve too many people, but we can trust them, right?"
Sora nodded eagerly. Of course we can.
"Then could you tell me what happened back there?"
Those were monsters called Heartless. They're not supposed to be here.
"Heartless?" Roxas echoed.
"What's he saying?" Pence asked.
Roxas shifted uncomfortably. "He said that those things attacking town were called Heartless. They're monsters that don't belong here."
Ignoring the group's shocked reactions, Sora continued, with Roxas hesitantly repeating his statements for his friends to hear. I thought they didn't exist. I read about them a lot, I was even taught about them. When they attack people, they don't break bones or anything. They attack your heart. If I hadn't made it to you on time, well...you wouldn't be here right now. I'm just glad you're okay.
So that was why Roxas had felt no pain on his skin. His heart was being clawed at instead. He bit his lip as he remembered the familiar-yet-unfamiliar things that were in his mind in the short ten minutes that he had passed out. He had felt so drained when he came to. Did the monster do that? Or was it something else?
Those monsters sapped your energy, too, Sora added. I had to borrow some of Hayner's to wake you up.
"You did what?!"
Sora waved his hands defensively. D-Don't worry, it's totally harmless! Energy naturally regenerates, but you were moving really slow and I got worried. Hayner seems to regenerate it really fast so I picked him.
Roxas glanced at Hayner in concern. Sure enough, he no longer looked off like he had earlier, and returned the stare. "What?"
"Nothing," Roxas lied.
Olette rubbed her arms as though a chill had come over her. "What if those monsters come back?" she said. "I saw Seifer fighting some when I ran to the train station, but..."
I don't know, Sora replied, even though Olette couldn't hear him, and he hung his head. I really don't know... If they come back, they might hurt Roxas.
The incertainty that Sora felt was almost tangible. Roxas felt a weight on his shoulders pushing him down. "I"m going home," he muttered, walking away and dragging his feet as he went. The weight only became more intense.
Complete Assimilation imminent. Prototype control node failure.
Analomy detected in Station Heights district. Threat level: High. Chance to spread to Sunset District: High.
"Figures I'd come back to a mess like this. What chance do we have of cleaning this up?"
Resistance Level to Beta: Ninety-Six Percent.
Resistance Level to Prototype: Twenty-Seven Percent. Level subject to change with assimilation.
Combined Resistance Level: Fifteen Percent. Level subject to change with assimilation.
"Guess I'd better get to work. Where's the highest concentration of threat?"
User Identified.
"...what?"
Renouncing all authorization. Launching security protocol. Preparing control nodes.
"Oh, no you don't!"
Beta Control Node launched. Initiating se—KKKRRRSSSHHH.
Beta Control Node cannot be found.
Prototype Control Node cannot be found.
Error 6472.
Warning.
Warning.
Warning.
"You found what in the basement?"
Once again, Roxas was peeking out from behind the doorway. Two blurry figures stood speaking...the same as before.
"There was a portal. I think it leads to that place that he read about in the book."
The man in the chair sat back. "If that is true, then we indeed have a situation on our hands. That was not a portal that you saw. It was a gate."
The younger of the two perked up. "A gate?"
"Yes. It leads to a world close to our own...a world that should not exist. This mansion was named after the world beyond that gate."
"Nevras Mansion was named after an entire different world? But wait, that means..."
"Correct. You are from another world entirely...just like your friend."
"He's not just my friend now, Ansem, he's-"
"I know," Ansem interrupted. "He's like a brother to you. That is why we need to close that gate before anyone in the city is harmed."
"But how are we going to do--"
There was a crashing sound, and Roxas found himself racing into the room, diving at the younger of the two strangers and shoving him out of the way of a stream of black. One of the beasts appeared on the table before them before leaping into the air lunching forward again, its claws reaching for Roxas's heart. There was no time to dodge. They sliced across his chest, causing Roxas to scream in pain and fall back. In a swirl of black, a long object appeared in the younger stranger's hand and swatted the monster away. Another appeared at the side, and another, and another. Soon the room was full of them. Voices began to whisper in Roxas's mind, louder and louder, hissing remarks about some sort of light and a world and being locked away and starving and how angry they were. He sunk downward, clutching his skull with his hands as the voices reached a level so loud that he thought he wouldn't be able to handle any more...
Roxas woke up with a scream half-way out his throat, his body shooting bolt upright in bed. The scream caught in his throat and never escaped, thankfully enough, keeping his parents from hearing him. Slightly thankful that he wasn't heard, he checked the clock. Ten in the morning...he should have been up an hour ago. The struggle tournament was supposed to be today. He yawned, still tired, and immediately rubbed his neck. Strange. Why did his throat hurt?
Brushing it off as something he could deal with later, Roxas pushed himself out of bed. After getting dressed in record time and nabbing a packet of poptarts on his way out, he headed straight for the Usual Spot, hoping to find Hayner and the others there. When he arrived, however, only Sora was there, lying in the most awkward position on the couch. Roxas opened his mouth to greet him, but for some reason no words came out. He blinked, rubbing his throat a few times before stepping forward.
Sora must have heard him, because he yelped and fell right off the bed. Roxas would have laughed, but the laugh wouldn't come either. Instead, he just watched as the spiky-haired brunette sat up, rubbing the back of his head. "Geez, you didn't have to sneak up on me Rox--"
It took both of them all of two seconds to realize what had just happened. Sora l;eapt to his feet, a bright smile on his face and his eyes wide with excitement. "Roxas!" He cried. "I can talk now! Isn't that great? You won't have to translate for me anymore, and..."
But Roxas could only stare back, dumbfounded. He wanted to congratulate his friend, but he couldn't get the words to come out of his mouth. His throat ached, feeling abnormally empty. Roxas rubbed his throat, eyebrows furrowed, wondering what could possibly be wrong.
Sora pulled back, worried. "Roxas…? Roxas, what's wrong?"
He didn't know; he couldn't answer the question even if he wanted to. He just shook his head, baffled. Then, somehow, it struck him like a lightning bolt.
Roxas had lost his voice.