I guess it's pretty obvious by now that I hadn't watched the first episode of the new season until up to this point since I've kept saying how much of a jerk Tom was for cheating against Kaz. So I'm formally apologizing for my behavior. On the other hand, it doesn't change the fact that I still don't like him; he's got an ego the size of Crystal Range, he seems to be quite good at psychological abuse, and he's so freaking whiny!
I think he needs to get some sense knocked into him…
16: The Parting of Thomas Majors
"No human is ever a one-man show. Every decision that you make will effect the countless people who care about you." –Genkai from Yu Yu Hakusho
"I'm an idiot! I'm such an idiot!" Tom cried, barreling around a corner at top speed, bouncing off the opposite wall, and rocketing down the hallway, "I'm such an idiot! I shouldn't have gone out here by myself!"
A series of Heartless that looked like coconuts on legs were chasing after him. Each one had a little coil of fabric sticking out of the top of its head and hungry looking yellow eyes. And they were relentless. He'd been running from them for ten minutes. His gym teacher would have been proud.
"No way!" Tom swore loudly, skidding to a halt as four of the coconut shaped Heartless popped out of thin air in front of him, "Crap, crap, crap, crap—AAAAHHHHHHGG!"
One of the Heartless who'd been chasing him suddenly rammed into his back and exploded, sending a wave of searing pain across his back, arms, and neck. Tom fell to the floor, struggling to get back up despite the agony thrumming through him. Another Heartless exploded against his leg and he screamed, feeling hot blood soak his jeans.
What a stupid way to go. His mind offered unhelpfully as another Heartless threw itself at him. He rolled against the wall panting, head spinning, Blown up by coconuts. Peyton would never let it down.
Tom looked up to see the avid yellow gaze of a coconut-Heartless staring him down. The strand atop its head was sparking as it wound down. Tom squeezed his eyes shut and threw his arms over his head, preparing for the explosion.
A painful screech made his ears pop and he stuffed his fingers in them, cringing at the power of it. When it died down, he cracked an eye open and found that Heartless had vanished.
"Tom!?" Xilvin's husky voice sounded just behind him and the boy rolled over painfully, gasping as he saw his damaged leg smear crimson across the tile, "What are you doing out here!?"
"Looking…for you!" Tom hissed between clenched teeth, letting the Howling Storm aid him in getting to his feet, "I'm sorry for saying…those things to you. It was really, really…insensitive…and stuff…"
"Forget about that! We have to get you back inside the Cafete—!"
Thorny vines shot out of the floor and grabbed Xilvin and Tom around their waists, dragging Xilvin to one wall and Tom to the other. Xilvin struggled against their hold, yanking with all his might and snapping his whip at them but they only tightened and he gasped as his air was cut off.
Tom winced as his injured back was slammed against the wall. He pulled against the vines as well but it was to no avail. Creepy, flower-like Heartless popped out of the floor, obviously the source of the vines. Tom panicked. He was deep in over his head this time and no one could get him out.
"Sing for me!" Xilvin shouted from across the hall, "Resonate, Souls of the Fated!" The whip in his immobile fist thrashed as though it had a life of its own and lashed out across the hall to slice through the vines holding Tom, "Run, you moron!" Xilvin screamed as Tom stumbled away from the wall, "Get back to the Cafeteria! Forget about me! This is nothing! Go! NOW!"
Tom bolted as fast as he could with an injured leg. Which was pretty fast due to the adrenaline muting the pain. But if he hadn't been injured, things might have turned out for the better.
Shapes detached themselves from the shadows of the walls and wove across the floor towards Tom who was too pained and exhausted to notice. As he staggered forward, a Neoshadow leapt from the floor in front of him and, in a single fluid motion, plunged its clawed hand into the boy's chest.
Tom's eyes widened slowly.
He felt the cold, dark fingers close around his heart.
Pain fired into every shred of his being.
I wonder… He thought vaguely, If this is what it feels like…to die…
Then he collapsed into darkness.
Xilvin saw the Neoshadows heading towards Tom and tried even harder to get away from the Creeper Plants holding him back.
He was too late.
He watched, helpless, as Tom lost his heart to the darkness and vanished in a sparkled of gold, blue, and white lights.
The vines slid away and the Heartless disappeared. Xilvin looked about, stunned.
It had been a trap…!
When Xilvin stumbled into the OverWorld Cafeteria, exhausted, covered in bloody gashes, his black cloak torn, and a distraught air coming from him, the Organization went on high alert.
Their barrier had already been compromised by Tom's shenanigans and it had put everyone with heart at risk. Luckily, no Heartless had entered the Cafeterias while they had remained unguarded for almost ten minutes. But when Xilvin described the assault that had been launched on himself and Tom and the resulting scenario, cold, grim expressions etched themselves onto every face. Even Axel looked serious.
"This is worse than we first anticipated." Luxord murmured, stroking his pale blonde goatee, "We realized that the Heartless weren't acting as they normally would have but we contributed that to the fact that they were locked inside this building." His eyes narrowed, "That, it seems, is not the case."
"They were thinking," Demyx fidgeted uneasily, "Well, not the Heartless directly but—."
"What Demyx is trying to say," Roxas interrupted, "Is that someone is controlling the Heartless. And the only way to do that is to be a Nobody with no fear of losing our hearts, master the powers of darkness—something your heart has to be pretty strong to do—, or actually become a sentient Heartless."
"But the chances of a sentient Heartless being spawned are slim to none." Luxord picked up the explanation again, "The will of your heart to survive the darkness must be exceptionally strong. But where there's one…"
"…More can be made." Axel finished, "A sentient Heartless can forcibly create another sentient Heartless if that heart has the will and strength."
"So a sentient Heartless came through and decided to steal Tom's heart and make more!?" Xilvin shouted.
"No," Luxord responded coldly, "No sentient Heartless exist on the other side of that opening; there is no one whose heart is strong enough." He shot a point-second glance at Roxas but the Key of Destiny didn't notice, "The sentient Heartless was created from one of the hearts of someone here and our best guess is…it's your Heartless."
Xilvin's head spun with the words and that, combined with his injuries and fatigue, caused the Howling Storm to lose his fragile hold on reality. His slipped sideways out of his chair and fell to the floor, completely unconscious.
Tobias peered into the Danian Cafeteria and saw Scotty and Conner with their ears to the closed doors to the OverWorld Cafeteria, "Scotty! Conner! What do you think you're—!"
"Shhhhhhhh!" The twins shushed him and left the door, leading their older brother back into the UnderWorld Cafeteria.
"We saw Tom run off real quick after talking to you," Scotty said, "And wondered what was up."
"So waited in the Danian Cafeteria for him to come back but he never did." Conner continued, looking upset, "Then there was a bunch of noise coming from the OverWorld Cafeteria and peeked inside. The Organization members were running all over the place inside, yelling and doing something to the wall on the other side."
"That one called Demyx saw us and slammed the door in our faces but we kept listening to them." Scotty picked up the story again, "It sounded like someone busted through the doors into the hallway and left them wide open for those Heartless-monsters to get in! And then it sounded like Xilvin came back and—!"
"TOM LOST HIS HEART!" The twins shouted together, panic edging their voices.
Tobias let out a string of swear words that came out so fast they almost sounded like a single word, "What else did you hear!?" The twins stared at him, "What else did you hear!?"
"Th-they said that Xilvin's Heartless was p-probably controlling the Heartless and that…that…" Conner glanced at his brother but Scotty wasn't looking at either of his brothers, "That he might have taken Tom's heart to turn it into another Heartless like him."
Tobias tensed, turned on his heel, and marched out of the Danian Cafeteria. He slammed open the doors to the Mipedian Cafeteria and glared around at everyone inside, "Listen up!" Every face in the room turned towards him, "No one is to go anywhere without permission! You're all to stay in sight of me or one of my brothers! Is that understood!?"
There were several murmurs of "yes" and Tobias nodded sullenly and walked out again, falling into a chair in the UnderWorld Cafeteria. There, he set his elbows on the tabletop, took his glasses off and set them aside, buried his face in his hands, and started crying.
"Toby…?" Scotty murmured tentatively, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder, "What's…wrong?"
"We're ruined, Scotty." Tobias moaned, "I've failed at everything. I've failed this company, I've failed my employees, I've failed my honored guests, and I've failed you. I've failed my own family!"
"That's not true!" Conner grabbed the front of his older brother's jacket, "You can't fall apart now, big bro'! You're the oldest! You're our friggen' leader! If you fall apart this whole thing falls apart! We can fix this!" Tears blossomed in Conner's eyes, "We can fix it! We can…fix it…!"
"I'm sorry to break up this family talk," Axel's voice interrupted and the three brother's turned to face the Flurry of the Dancing Flames, "But I think you're gonna like what I've got to say." A grin split his face, "We found a new Nobody."
The name slipped out before Tobias could stop it, "Thomas…?"
To Courtney911…oh my gosh, can I hug you!? I've never gotten so many reviews before! Thank you for every single one of them! They have given me inspiration to finish this chapter! Hoo-rah! The conquering author makes her triumphant return!
Kaz: What do you mean "author?" You said yourself that you're a wanna-be novelist.
EmptyHeart Death Glare of Doom!
As you can see, I'm going off the deep end here. You people are AMAZING! Thank you for all the reviews and the favorites and everything else you've done! I hug you all! (hugs)
An uncountable number of thank you's to those of you who stick around and wait forever for my updates, even when I'm struggling to get over Writer's Block and it all ends up as the dreaded filler. XD Anyway, I'm going to finish this chapter up and then take a break to complete my Chaotic Christmas shot (to all SarahxTom fans, I'd steer clear) and my Danny Phantom shot. Look for them! Coming soon to a web page near you!
Thank you all so much for reading, please keep review, and have a very Happy Holiday!