(Sora and Riku sit at a small card table, playing a game of GO FISH)
Sora: "Hey, Riku. Where are the others?"
Riku: "Well, as you'll recall, Kairi is busy beating up the author in the other room."
Sora: "I don't recall that! What'd he do to deserve that? (Riku simply stares at him) This is about that nightmare Kairi had, isn't it?" (Riku nods his head)
Riku: "And what he has planned involving said nightmare."
Sora: "I'm so confused."
Riku: "Good. I wish Kairi'd hurry up already. Shadow called us here for some big announcement."
Sora: "Really, I thought we were just here to give the disclaimer in honor of Looming Darkness reaching over a hundred reviews."
Riku: That too. (He turns to face the audience) "Shadow Horizons would like the following disclaimer put out there: If you are under the impression that he owns Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix, Disney, or Black Cat, you need to stop living under a rock and learn to use Google."
Sora: "He would also like it to be known that he does own his own plot, characters and ideas. Like Xanthos here." (Sora and Riku turn to look at Xanthos who no one seemed to have been paying attention to)
Xanthos: "While you two were giving the disclaimer I won." (Sora and Riku both look down at the cards in surprise)
Sora and Riku: "NO!"
Xanthos: (As he turns to the audience) "Enjoy!"
Edit: Timeline corrected.
Chapter Eighteen: Exodus
Saturday, June 5th 4794 P.C.
Onboard the Reflection, Twilight Town Airspace
King Mickey gave the order to fire at the first stroke of midnight. Bright beams of bluish-white energy lit up space around the Reflection as its weapons unleashed their full power upon the Heartless fleet. The first wave of enemy ships was unable to maneuver themselves out of the way of the coming attacks and was obliterated within seconds. The ships behind them however managed to break their tightly grouped formation and scattered themselves. Their small, but more aerodynamic shapes allowed them to easily swerve past the energy beams blasting at them from the Reflection.
"They're too fast!" One of the weapons engineers on the bridge shouted. "We can't track them all.
"Speak for yourself," Axel and Xanthos said in unison. The pair of them had formed a friendly competition with each other to see who could gun down the most ships.
"Seventeen," Axel said proudly as his screen flared orange with an explosion.
"Twenty-four," Xanthos said proudly. "And I just took down two in one shot. Top that!" Axel growled at him. Olette couldn't help but wonder how those two managed to keep their heads cool in this sort of situation. She glanced at her two best friends, both of whom were having an almost fanboy-ish reaction to the battle.
"Donald, are you and the other pilots ready to launch?" The King said loudly as another explosion rocked the Reflection.
"Of course, your Majesty!" A quacking male voice said. Olette immediately recognized it from the anthropomorphic duck magician that had been travelling with Sora when the Keyblade Wielder was in Twilight Town. "We're just waiting for your signal!" A trio of explosions rocked the ship as the Heartless ships flew past. One had its engines clipped by an energy blast and was sent spiraling into one of its companions, destroying both in a beautiful conflagration.
"You're cleared for launch then," the King said. "Good luck, Donald."
"Thank you, your Majesty," the duck's voice replied. Fifty Falcon class Gummi ships all accelerated from the Reflection's hangar, breaking off into pairs as they emerged and began to hunt down the Heartless ships one by one. A trio of Falcons was gunned down by Heartless ship as it attempted to kamikaze itself into the Reflection's hangar, only to be blasted into oblivion by the last pair of Falcons to take off.
Flashes of orange and blue filled the air in front of the viewport and for several long minutes nobody made a sound until Donald's voice, even more difficult to understand with heavy static on top of his heavy accent spoke up.
"The Heartless are retreating!" He exclaimed. The crewman in the bridge all let out cheers of joy. Hayner and Pence were both grinning like madmen.
"That was awesome!" Hayner exclaimed, turning to grin at Olette, who couldn't help but smile warmly back at him. The only ones that didn't seem happy were the King, Xanthos and Axel. They all had the same, hardened expression. Heartless never retreated for any reason. Outside of the Reflection, the Falcons turned back and made their way towards the hangar. There was a flash of red light that lit up the inside of the bridge like a small sun as a Heartless ship three times the size of the Reflection appeared out of nowhere, all of its weapons that were visible rotating to get a lock on the Falcons and the Reflection.
"Jones, get us out of here!" The King shouted. Jones was already two steps ahead of him. The second he had seen the Heartless ship materialize. He had begun to angle the ship away from it while powering up the Reflection's Hyper-Gummis in preparation to get the hell out of Dodge. "Donald! You and the surviving pilots need to get back to the Reflection. Now!"
"What do ya think we're trying to do?" Donald retorted. "We can't fight that thing!" The Falcons within view of the Bridge were all beginning to accelerate towards the hangar.
"Their weapons are charging," one technician said nervously. "Almost hot!"
"They're firing!" Another one shouted as streams of purple energy raced towards the Reflection. "Brace for impact!" The attacks never reached the Reflection. Bright bolts of ruby-red laser fire streaked across space, each one larger and more powerful than the blasts fired by the Heartless ship, to intercept the purple energy blasts.
"What the hell was that?" Axel shouted as the Reflection was buffeted by shockwaves from the resulting explosions of colliding energy. Another large ship appeared from nowhere. Painted in various shades of red and gold, the new arrival began firing streaks of red energy shots into the side of the Heartless ship, which was slowly turning in an attempt to fall back and regroup.
"Your Majesty, that new ship is hailing us," a technician announced. "What should I do?"
"Put them through," the King responded. A holo-projector came to life overhead and the small image of a man in his early thirties, garbed in a gray, military style uniform appeared. The man saluted the King, who returned the gesture. "This is King Mickey of the Reflection. Who am I speaking to?"
"Commander Jackson Dunn of the Radiant Garden Destroyer Tip of the Spear," the man replied. "Sorry for getting you involved in this firefight, your Majesty. We just chased this dirtbag out from our airspace to here. I hope it didn't give you too much trouble."
"You showed up just in time, Commander," the King replied gratefully. "Thank you." The Commander nodded.
"My pleasure, sir," he said. "Do you need assistance of any sort sir? Or are you fine on your own?"
"We've actually got a bit of a situation down on the world's surface, Commander," the King said in a dreadfully serious tone. "There's a lot of Heartless, more than I've ever seen on just one world and it's only a matter of time before they find their way to the heart of this world and it's lost. Is there any way you can assist with an evacuation?" The Commander looked startled by the information he had received. He gestured for someone off screen and spoke quietly to a young woman dressed in a light gray uniform for a few moments before she darted out of view of the projector again.
"My Lieutenant is on her way to contact Radiant Garden," the Commander explained. "She'll find out how many transports we can get out here within the next four hours and report back to me. I'll prepare my troops ready to warp down to the surface to protect the civilians from the Heartless while we get the evacuations underway. If I may, your Majesty, I suggest you get in touch with the President of Twilight Town and inform him of the current situation and verify that it is okay for us to land our troops down there." The King nodded in agreement.
"It sounds like a plan, Commander," he said with a salute. "Let me know when we can be expecting those transports by." The Commander nodded in acknowledgment before returning the salute and ending the transmission. The King got to his feet and turned to find Goofy, Axel and Xanthos all ready to go.
"Your Majesty," Xanthos said, taking a step towards the King. "While you go to meet with the President, I will search for the Keyhole. If I can find it and seal it, then hopefully the majority of the Heartless will leave." The King nodded.
"Sounds good to me," he glanced over at Olette. "But what do you plan to do about her?" Xanthos stared over the King's head at the brunette and sighed.
"I can't exactly take her with me, since she doesn't know how to summon her Keyblade yet, she'd be at too great of a risk," he said thoughtfully before lowering his voice to barely a whisper. "And it's probably best that she and her friends remain here in any case. With her inexperience she'd only slow down my search because I'd have to keep looking out for her." The King nodded slowly.
"Alright then Master Xanthos, I hope you find the Keyhole quickly," the King held out his hand to Xanthos, who graciously shook it with a grim grin plastered on his face.
"I can only hope," he said. A flash of bright blue light illuminated the bridge as Xanthos vanished.
"Your Majesty!" One of the technicians exclaimed. "There's another Gummi ship entering this system, and I don't think it's one of the Radiant Garden transports."The King glanced around at the technician and strode over to look at his workstation. A small red and gold blip had appeared on the radar. "They're transmitting a signal, here." The technician flipped a switch on his control panel and a woman's voice filled the bridge.
"- Construct Unit Zero Four Zero One Four Two One Five of the Dawn's First Light, requesting immediate assistance. Does anyone read me? Our engines were damaged in a dogfight with some Heartless ships and now we're derelict. This is the AI Construct Unit Zero Four Zero One Four Two One Five of the Dawn's First Light, requesting immediate assistance." The technician flipped the switch again, cutting off the transmission.
"That's all it says, your Majesty," he said. "What do you want us to do?" The King immediately leaned past the technician and opened a COMM link to the Dawn's First Light.
"This is King Mickey of the Reflection," he said into the headset the technician passed him. "We read you loud and clear."
"About time someone answered," the woman's voice said. "I am the Artificial Intelligence Construct Unit Zero Four Zero One Four Two One Five. Our ship has sustained heavy damage from a sudden Heartless attack, we need immediate assistance."
"How many crewmen do you have onboard?" The King asked. He gestured with his hands to the other crewmen on bridge to move the Reflection closer to the derelict ship.
"Just one," the AI replied. "The Dawn's First Light is Master Riku Hearne's personal ship. There's no one else onboard." The King let out a small gasp of surprise. It had barely been a week since he last saw Riku. "He was injured when our engines were taken out and has since passed out from his injuries. He needs immediate medical attention."
"Just sit tight," the King said. "We'll come get you."
"Please hurry," the AI said. There was a loud click as the line went dead. The King looked up at his crewmen.
"You heard the lady," he said. "My friend's in trouble so let's go help him out."
"Aye, sir!" The crewman all shouted, giving their King a salute before leaping into a frenzy of activity to bring the Reflection up alongside the Dawn's First Light as quickly as possible.
"Um, what do you want us to do, your Majesty?" Olette asked. The King looked over at her. She, Hayner and Pence all seemed to be at a loss for what to do.
"Why don't you three go down to the galley and get yourselves something to eat?" The King suggested. "You've already been through a lot in just barely an hour. I'm sure a little food and maybe a cup or two of coffee could do you three wonders."
"I'll take 'em your Majesty!" Goofy said, striding up to them. "I could really use some food myself." His stomach growled loudly as if to solidify his point. The King chuckled.
"Okay, Goofy," he said. "I'll just be sure to give ya a holler when we need ya." Goofy saluted the King, knocking his shield into the side of his head once more. He grinned at the three teens as he massaged his newest head wound.
"C'mon fellahs," he said happily. "I'll show you the way!" The three teens all chuckled as they followed Goofy out of the bridge and back into the labyrinth of halls that filled the Reflection's interior. The King watched them go with a bemused expression before looking out of the viewport to watch as they neared the Dawn's First Light.
Hang in there, pal. He said to himself. Help is on the way.
LD
"Now the gate has been unlatched, headstones pushed aside. Corpses shift and offer room, a fate you must abide."
Riku struggled as he descended through the Darkness. It felt like he was drowning in an ocean, slowly sinking through the murky depths to his doom.
"This heart belongs again to Darkness."
Voices echoed all around him, overlapping each other as each tried to make itself heard. One voice however, struck a chord in Riku's memory, sending a shiver down his spine.
"Did you think me gone?"Riku's eyes snapped open as his feet touched solid ground. Beneath him was what appeared to be a stained-glass platform, mostly dark blue in color and depicting the image of him gazing fixatedly on the oceans of Destiny Islands. In small circles above the Paopu tree where the image of Riku rested where the images of Sora, Kairi and Mickey.
Four other circles were visible below the tree's image, two of them showing shadowy silhouettes. Another depicted the image of a sleeping young man with brown hair styled into messy, vertical spikes and bangs that framed his face. Inside of the fourth, to Riku's amazement, was the image of the girl that looked like Sora's clone, smiling warmly up at him rather than fixating the glare she had when he had met her on Nomanisan Island.
Riku spun around and found himself face to face with Xehanort's Heartless. The humanoid creature of Darkness smirked down at Riku as the Way to the Dawn appeared in his hand. Riku leapt several feet backwards, placing a dozen feet between the two of them. The Heartless' amber-orange eyes bore into Riku's aquamarine ones. His ghostly white hair shifted as if it were blowing in a breeze.
"Did you really think you could be rid of me so easily?" The Heartless said. "You cannot defeat the Darkness that easily, boy." Riku glared at him and hefted the Way to the Dawn.
"Where there is Light, there will be Darkness," Riku admitted. "Darkness can never really be beaten, just subdued. But that doesn't make you invincible!" He leapt at the Heartless, the Way to the Dawn gleaming eerily in the dim lighting cast by the platform beneath him. Xehanort's Heartless smirked.
"It would seem that you need to be taught a lesson," he said. Darkness flowed from his fingertips and took shape, a double bladed Soul Eater appearing in his hand in time to parry Riku's fist blow.
LD
Monday, June 7th 4794 P.C.
Mt. Kathleines Gummi Station, Radiant Garden
Olette felt her anxiety levels rising as she, Hayner, and Pence watched the newest refugees from Twilight Town begin to arrive. It had been almost a full two days since the Reflection had taken them to Radiant Garden with the first group of nearly five hundred people. They had arrived and been pulled aside by a man named Leon. King Mickey had explained the situation to him before rushing off to have the person they had rescued from the derelict Gummi ship transported to the medical station Angel on my Shoulder that was in orbit around Radiant Garden. Leon had immediately begun to contact people to come and help attend to the refugees as well as giving orders to send all available transports to Twilight Town to assist with the evacuation.
So far, only a little more than four thousand people had been successfully evacuated from their world due to heavy amounts of Heartless ships attacking the transports and the resulting battles were slowing down movement. Dread settled in the pit of Olette's stomach like a dead weight. Twilight Town had a population of nearly twenty-five thousand and not even a fifth of them had been rescued yet.
Olette carefully scanned the crowd, looking for any signs of her father, but so far, there was no sign of him. She only recognized a few people; Seifer and his gang, her algebra instructor, the owner of her favorite ice cream parlor, the guy who was in charge of the Struggle each summer, and her father.
"Dad?" Olette said in mild surprise. Hayner and Pence both looked around and spotted Olette's father, still dressed in the suit he had worn to the museum on the night the Heartless had attacked. Despite his age, Eric Fairchild usually looked like a distinguished man in his mid-twenties. But as his emerald-green eyes desperately scanned the crowd, he looked more his age than ever.
"Dad!" Olette cried out, breaking away from her friends to run towards her father. Eric turned and spotted his daughter shouldering her way through the crowd towards him. He let out a cry of relief and began moving as quickly as he could towards her. They met in a near-bone-crushing embrace, both of them clinging to one another for support.
"Thank god, you're alright," Eric said, kissing his only child on her forehead. "After those things attacked the museum, I couldn't find you or your mother anywhere. I was so worried they had gotten you two." He glanced around expectantly for his wife, his hopeful expression slipping slightly when he couldn't spot her through the thinning crowd. "Olette, where's your mother at?" He stared down at his daughter, and struggled to fight back tears as he watched her tears begin to flow down her cheeks. His wife wouldn't be joining them. He tightened his embrace on his daughter as she wept into his chest, silent tears breaking his composure as the two of them grieved their loss.
"Olette Fairchild?" A strong, deep voice said behind them. The teary eyed pair turned to see a tall, heavily muscled man. He had steel-gray eyes and prominent frown lines etched into his face. His long blonde hair seemed oddly out of place on him. He was dressed in a dark blue suit with a deep purple shirt underneath the jacket. A vibrant yellow tie decorated with seemingly random black lines stood out. Over the suit, he wore a long, jet-black coat decorated with gold trim and a pair of golden shoulder pads accented with long tassels that fell down to the middle of his biceps. He held out his hand towards Eric, who shook it slightly nervously.
"My name is Belze Rochefort," the man said. He stared down at Olette and offered her his hand. Olette shook it, unable to avoid noticing the numeral II tattooed on the back of Belze's hand. "The Governor of Radiant Garden would like to meet with you as soon as possible, but he says he can wait until you find a place to stay. He says it's very important." He pulled his hand away from Olette's, leaving a card with an address written on it in its place. Belze bowed to the pair and walked off. Olette stared at the card in her hand before turning back to embrace her father again, thankful that she still had him.
LD
Twilight Town
Xanthos wiped the sweat off of his scarred face. He glanced at his reflection in one of the many polarized windows that lined the outside of Twilight Town's Central Station. He had been searching for the Keyhole non-stop since he had warped back down to the surface from the Reflection. He glanced down up at the skyline, the normal orange, pink and yellow sky had turned a sickly green color from the seven warp beams currently positioned in the Tram Common as the citizens slowly filled up the transport ships.
One of the beams slowly faded, followed shortly by the distant report of Gummi engines flaring to life. Overhead, a squadron of Scimitar class fighters roared past where Xanthos stood to escort the departing transport back to Radiant Garden.
Half a dozen Neoshadows suddenly emerged from the ground and attempted to surround the Chaser, only to be greeted by the sting of his blade as he made short work of them. For two and a half days, he had been searching non-stop and fighting a seemingly endless horde of Heartless. He took minimal comfort in the fact that he was making evacuation easier by drawing the Heartless to him.
He glanced up at the clock tower on the station's roof as the clock struck noon. Deep, booming chimes echoed throughout the city, announcing the time. Xanthos' eyes narrowed. Storm clouds were forming directly behind the clock tower. But something didn't seem right. The clouds were forming too quickly to be natural and they were only forming directly around the clock tower. Purple flashes of lightning lit up the inside of the clouds, creating small rumbles of thunder. Xanthos' shoulders sagged and his mouth dropped open as realization dawned on him.
No…
All around him, Heartless of varying shapes, sizes and power began to appear but they all ignored him, each of them intent on rushing the clock tower. In the center of the clock face, a tiny light shone. Xanthos stared at the light in disbelief. Two and a half days of running around the city searching for the Keyhole and here it was, in what should've been the most obvious place.
Xanthos snapped out of his state of disbelief and waded into the sea of Heartless, his Keyblade slashing left and right, cutting down Heartless after Heartless. He quickly realized that his efforts were in vain. For every Heartless he cut down, seven more appeared to replace it. Xanthos changed tactics. He raised his Keyblade and aimed it at the Keyhole. Bright, white lights circled around the Oblivion's tip before becoming a beam of blue energy that shot towards the Keyhole. High above him, the storm clouds began to fan out, quickly blanketing out the sun and casting the world into shadow.
The beam of light that had burst from the Oblivion's tip stopped halfway to the Keyhole and faded away. Xanthos stared in shock. He couldn't seal the Keyhole. That meant…
"Son of a bitch," Xanthos said under his breath. He spun on his heel and ran from the station, determined to get as many people onto the ships as quickly as possible. Behind him, deep purple cracks began to form around the clock face that held the Keyhole before a wave of Darkness erupted from the heart of the world and consumed it.
There were no people lining Market Street as Xanthos ran through it, but he found himself facing an almost literal wall of people as he entered the Tram Common. Silently cursing himself, he leapt up the side of a nearby home and turned to look back towards where Central Station once was. In its place was a massive orb of purple, black and blue energy that slowly drew debris from the world around it in. The storm above seemed to draw its power from the orb of energy. The clouds became as black as night, rather than a dull gray. Thunder rumbled constantly as bolts of purple lightning danced through the storm as the wind began to howl.
"Everyone into the portals!" Xanthos shouted above the roaring wind. "We're out of time!" The people that had managed to hear him turned to look at him in confusion, only to see the wall of Darkness advancing on the Tram Common, threatening to swallow them all. It didn't take long for panic to ensue after that. People shoved one another out of their way in a mad attempt to reach the glowing green portals. People who fell were trampled underfoot. Three of the beams of light turned from green to red, informing those on the ground that they were at full capacity. The red lights slowly faded and the ships could be heard leaving.
"Xanthos, what the hell's going on?" Axel shouted as Xanthos leapt down from the rooftops to stand next to him.
"I didn't get to the Keyhole in time," the Chaser panted. "This world is doomed." Axel stared hopelessly up at the wave of Darkness as it began to consume Market Street.
"Are you sure there isn't anything we can do?" He asked, his tone shaking slightly in defeat. Xanthos shook his head.
"Just one," he reached out into the crowd that shouldered their way past him and grabbed hold of a pregnant woman that had nearly been knocked over and began guiding her towards the nearest portal. "Help as many people as we can onto the ships before that Darkness reaches us. We've got two minutes at most." There were screams from the other end of the Commons. Xanthos and Axel both spun to take a look. A second wave of Darkness had swallowed what used to be the great forest outside of the city walls and was moving twice as fast as its counterpart.
"I take that back," Xanthos said grimly. "We've got twenty seconds. Tops." Moving like a black blur, he scooped the pregnant woman up in his arms and leapt high above the crowd before landing next to one of the portals and quickly placing the woman on her feet. Axel landed next to him, a pair of children in his arms. The screams of the crowd were intensifying as the Darkness drew closer. All of the beams except for the one Xanthos and Axel stood by turned red and faded away. Xanthos and Axel shared a nervous glance.
"In you go," Axel said, quickly pushing the children he had saved into the portal. Xanthos nodded curtly to Axel, who grinned in an attempt to hide his fear in face of certain doom for the third time in his life.
"You too," Xanthos said to the red-haired former Nobody. Axel looked incredulously at him before his eyes widened in shock. Xanthos kicked the pyro as hard as he could in his chest, sending him stumbling back into the portal a split second before it turned red. Xanthos closed his eyes as the waves drew nearer at an alarming rate and concentrated. The Darkness was less than a centimeter from consuming his hand when he vanished from the doomed world and appeared on the bridge of the Reflection, which had just returned to assist in evacuation.
The crewmen on the bridge didn't pay him any attention. They all simply stared in shocked silence as Twilight Town flared brightly with white light for a brief second before vanishing, leaving only empty space where it had once been.
Xanthos refused to stare. He hung his head, his heart filled with shame. Thousands lost to the Darkness. An entire world gone. He had failed.
LD
Tuesday, June 8th 4794 P.C.
Medical StationAngel on my Shoulder, Radiant Garden Airspace
Riku opened his eyes, feeling somewhat groggy, and found himself staring up at an off-white, paneled ceiling. He tried to sit up and found that he couldn't move his arms or legs. He lifted his head up; silently sending his thanks to whatever all-powerful deities might be listening, and glanced around the room. He was in a hospital room, judging by the dreary, off-white paint on the walls and the smell of bleach. There was a steady beeping from a heart monitor that was set up next to his bed. He spotted an IV tube leading to a spot under his sheets, where he hoped that it was connected to his arm. A TV built into the wall displayed a Radiant Garden news channel that was busy covering the highlights from the previous night's Blitzball game.
He let out a groan and leaned back into the slightly less than comfortable hospital-grade pillows. Feeling was slowly returning to him. His body was covered with bandages and his side hurt like hell. His brow furrowed in concentration as he struggled to remember why he was in a hospital. He remembered being thrown from his bed and into a wall as the Dawn's First Light was struck by Heartless ships and he remembered running up to bridge to see what was happening only to be impaled by a twisted metal rod as something inside the ship exploded. And then nothing. He assumed the impalement had missed everything important, otherwise he would've been dead by now.
His head was beginning to throb. He remembered dreaming about fighting with Xehanort's Heartless and beating him, and how the Heartless had taunted him, calling him weak and pathetic and an unsuitable host.
"You look like shit, you know that?" Riku opened his eyes. The girl that looked just like Sora, Keila (if Riku's memory was telling him right), stood at the foot of his bed, smirking down at him.
"Well, it's good to know that I at least I look the way I feel," Riku said weakly. Keila rolled her eyes. "So did you come to kill me or what?"
"Originally, yes," she said thoughtfully. "Especially since I still have a massive lump on the back of my head from where you whacked me. Do you realize how much it hurts me to wash my hair now?" Her cerulean eyes looking everywhere now except at him. "As I was saying, after they removed that pipe from your gut and patched you up, I was going to sneak in here to cut your throat before you had healed enough to wake up. But I changed my mind." She walked over to the bedside table and set down a vase of red and yellow flowers and a 'Get Well Soon' card. Riku raised an eyebrow at her, a motion that didn't go unnoticed by Keila.
"What?" She demanded. Crossing her arms.
"I thought you were trying to kill me," Riku stated. "So why are you bringing me flowers and a card. Change of heart?" Keila's cheeks flushed red in embarrassment for a fraction of a second before she regained her composure.
"Don't question my methods," she snapped angrily. "I'm not going to kill you now when you can't defend yourself. That wouldn't be very fair, now would it? I've decided I'm going to kill you after you get released here in the next couple of days or so. So don't get too used to the idea." She stuck her nose up in the air with a holier-than-thou air about her before exiting the room. Riku fought back the urge to laugh.
He glanced warily at the card and flowers. He had never known any enemy to send a 'Get Well Soon' card to their enemies and he couldn't help but wonder if it was explosive. Painfully and stiffly, he reached out to the card and tenderly took hold of it. Inside, written in elegant, flowing script was the message;
Here's to hoping you get well soon so I can kill you in a fair fight, cockbite.
Hugs and Kisses of Death,
Keila
P.S. Get a haircut.
Riku chortled and set the card back on the bedside table. Despite the death threats, he found the card to be somewhat sentimental.
"And just how is sleeping beauty today?" Riku looked around as a woman in her mid-twenties, dressed in a brilliantly white lab coat, stepped into the room. Her raven hair (accented with a dark purple stripe) was tied neatly into a ponytail that swayed gently from side to side as she moved into Riku's room. Her pale blue eyes carefully scanned the paperwork on the clipboard in her hand.
"I'm a little on the sore side and pretty thirsty," Riku said. The doctor gave a start and nearly dropped her clipboard in shock. Clearly she hadn't been expecting Riku to be awake.
"Jesus, you scared me," she chuckled nervously, clutching her chest as her heart rate settled back into its usual rhythm. "I honestly didn't expect you to be awake so soon." Riku shrugged to the best of his ability.
"I'm a quick healer," he said. "It always amazed the doctors back home."
"I see," the doctor said. She made a few notes on her clipboard, muttering to herself under her breath about Riku's general behavior. "I'm Doctor Stinson by the way."
"Nice to meet you, Doc," Riku said with a courteous smile as Doctor Stinson checked his blood pressure, and temperature. "Where am I?"
"You are onboard the medical station Angel on my Shoulder," Doctor Stinson replied. "We are in orbit over Radiant Garden. The entire station was designed for two purposes. One, zero-g surgery. And two, to isolate any virulent outbreaks if necessary." Riku couldn't help but wonder how zero-g surgery was performed. Doctor Stinson changed the subject and spent the next couple of minutes asking him routine questions about how he was feeling, what he could remember, if he had any allergies and so on. She made numerous notes on her clipboard before tucking it under her arm and giving Riku a half-bow.
"If there's anything you need at all, there's a call button on the side of your bed. I'm sure you know how it works," the doctor said. Riku nodded with a half-smile. "Volume and channel controls for the TV are also there. I'll see you tomorrow, Master Riku." Riku looked up in surprise as Doctor Stinson acknowledged his formal title as the door slid shut behind her. Riku sighed and turned his attention to the TV.
A young reporter, no older than twenty by Riku's guess, was giving a report. Riku was considering allowing himself to fall back in unconsciousness when an image of Twilight Town under siege from an army of Heartless appeared on the screen. Riku's eyes widened and his fingers scrambled quickly across the multitude of buttons on the side of his bed, searching for the volume controls.
"- with a force of more than fifty times the size of the swarm that attacked us just a few months ago," The reporter was saying. "And unlike us, the citizens of Twilight Town had no warning and no time to prepare their defenses when the Heartless army swarmed into their world last Friday evening. Governor Leonhart, King Mickey Mouse of Disney Castle, and President Westerlund of Twilight Town coordinated a mass evacuation of Twilight Town upon determining the size of the Heartless army.
"Sadly, the evacuation was met with tragedy. The transport Gummi, Ring the Bell, was boarded by Heartless. There were no survivors and the Ring the Bell had to be gunned down to prevent the countless Heartless on board from reentering Radiant Garden airspace. Even more devastating than the loss of the Ring the Bell was the complete destruction of Twilight Town." Riku let out a gasp of surprise. "We take you now to President Westerlund, who is about to speak at Mt. Kathleines to the eight thousand survivors of the Twilight Town disaster."
Footage was displayed onscreen of a man in his early fifties by the looks of him speaking to a crowd. On-screen text said that he was the President of Twilight Town speaking from the Mt. Kathleines Gummi Station here on Radiant Garden. Behind him stood King Mickey, a man with spiky brown hair and a scar across his face that Riku assumed was Leon, and (much to Riku's surprise) Master Xanthos.
"It is with great sadness that I tell you all today that our home was lost to the Darkness," President Westerlund was saying. "All that remains of our world is us, the survivors. But in your mourning over loved ones lost, take hope. I am told by King Mickey and Master Xanthos of the Kingdom of Keys that those who were lost to the Darkness yesterday afternoon have a chance to come back to us." A murmur went through the crowd.
"They tell me of a young man," the President continued, "a young man who braves the darkest forces any world has ever seen. A young man who has saved the worlds from total destruction not only once, but twice. They tell me of how, even now, he and his friends travel from world to world, Keyblades in hand, as they fight off the forces of Darkness that destroyed our world and threaten so many others. They have the power to restore our world and the hearts of our loved ones who were lost to the Darkness.
"I humbly ask you to put your faith in these young men and women. Put your faith in the Light they fight to protect. For by their blades, the Heartless shall be vanquished, and not only will they help bring an end to our suffering, but he will end the suffering of countless others as well." The crowd was growing excited, hopeful. Several of the younger generations cheered wildly. Riku couldn't help but feel the weight of an entire world on his shoulders. The survivors of Twilight Town were finding a reason to be hopeful. And he was part of that reason. These people were counting on him, Sora, Kairi and Naminé, the newest generation of Keyblade Wielders to help them, to give them a light to follow. And here he was, stuck in a hospital while Sora, Kairi and Naminé all were out traveling the worlds.
"The slogan, 'Remember Twilight Town', has become extremely popular overnight," the news reporter said as the image of the President's speech was replaced by the generic shot of a news room. "The survivors have begun using it as a rally point and it has become a call to arms for many of them, even amongst our native residents of Radiant Garden, against the Queen of Darkness, Maleficent, and her army of Heartless." A small image of the green-skinned, devil-horned witch appeared in the upper corner of the screen. "Governor Leonhart stated in a press conference last night that President Westerlund would be entitled to a seat in the senate as long as his citizens took up residence here in Radiant Garden. As for the citizens of Twilight Town, they are being given homes in the recently finished North District. From all of us here at Channel Thirteen News, we welcome the citizens of Radiant Garden to our city and we offer our condolences for their loss.
"In other news, the newly re-established Shinra Electric Power Company has offered to supply-" Riku let out a yawn, having lost interest in the news program, and began flipping through channels in an attempt to find something interesting, skipping over a Chocobo race and a program entitled 'Grifball Pre-Season Talk Show' before settling on the Food Network and relaxing back into his pillows for a long night of cooking shows.
LD
Eternity Hotel and Day Spa
Radiant Garden
Keila groaned as she stepped into her rented room. Her jet black pumps went sailing across the single bed to land with a dull thump on the opposite. Dragging her feet across the god-awful beige carpeting, she made her way to the plush, queen sized mattress and collapsed face down on it, her caramel-colored hair landing in all directions around her head.
"What do you want, Charden?" She mumbled into the cool comforter. Charden Flamberg stepped out from his hiding spot behind the closing door and removed his top hat, allowing his golden hair to enjoy a rare bout of fresh air. Even indoors, he kept his white silk gloves and sunglasses on.
"Maleficent wants a report," he said simply. "No one's heard from you for days." Keila groaned and sat up to face the Apostle.
"I took care of it," she said with a glare. "Granted, it took me longer than expected."
"So you killed him?"
"No, I left him brain dead and basically a vegetable," Keila said with a sinister grin. "He's no longer a threat, to us or anyone else." Charden nodded.
"She will be pleased to hear that," Charden said with a humorless chuckle. "I will report back to headquarters immediately." He spared a quick glance around the room. "I suggest you do the same." He placed his top hat back on his head and exited the room with a polite grin, the door behind him closing with a snap. Keila breathed a sigh of relief and laid back down on her bed. Staring up at the ceiling, she couldn't help but wonder why she lied about killing Riku.
She sat up and stared at her hands, trying to come up with a reason. He had been there, beneath her blade, unconscious and vulnerable. Yet, she hadn't been able to do it.
Why couldn't I kill him?
Slowly, she got to her feet and began undressing herself. Kicking her clothes aside, she made her way into the bathroom to sink to her nose in a nice, warm bath. She paused as she passed the large mirror that dominated more than half of one of the bathroom walls to stare sadly at the large, pale scar that ran down her body from her left shoulder, past the swell of her breast and almost to her waistline. She shivered from the memory of the cold sting of her Master's Keyblade as it dug into her side, a punishment for disobeying her mother.
"Some mother you are," Keila muttered under her breath, her fingers gently tracing the scar. It was days like today when she would often wonder why she never tried to leave her Master. But she always came to the same conclusion. It was because her brothers and sisters who worshipped their Mother like she was a goddess would hunt her down if she left. Especially Kiram and Etos, the two that seemed to be completely obsessed with pleasing their mother; they'd probably lead the hunt against her if she left. Above all else, she knew she was hopelessly outnumbered by her siblings. She sighed as she sat on the edge of the tub as hot water, and scented bubbles poured from the pair of faucets.
After a few minutes, she tenderly tested the temperature of the water with her toes. Finding it perfect for relaxing, she gently slid her aching body into the water with a groan of relief. As she lay in the bathtub, her thoughts slowly drifted away from her mother and siblings, instead focusing once again on the silver-haired Keyblade Master. A tiny blush crept onto her cheeks as she imagined him sharing the bath with her, helping her wash her back, his hands slowly moving lower along her body until-
Keila smacked herself as hard as she could to pull herself away from the fantasy before she lost herself in it. Her cheeks were flushed red from embarrassment.
"What's wrong with me?" She muttered, staring at the tiny pink bubbles floating on the water around her. "He's the enemy. I'm supposed to kill him."
So why can't I stop thinking about him?
LD
Hallways outside of Governor Leon's Personal Office,
Formerly Ansem the Wise's Study, Radiant Garden
Olette slowly made her way through the slightly intimidating corridors of the castle that dominated the center of the city. From what she understood, the castle wasn't occupied by anyone since there were currently no heirs to the throne and was being used as a secondary headquarters for the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee. After receiving vague directions from one of the gray-suited guards stationed outside of the castle, she had made her way deep into its bowels towards where she hoped was Governor Leon's office. Somewhere in the distance, she could hear the sounds of two male voices, both agitated and loud enough to create an echo.
"Absolutely not!" The deeper of the two voices shouted. Olette paused in mild surprise as she recognized the voice. "She is my daughter and I refuse to let her get involved with this stupid war of yours!"
Why is my dad here? Olette wondered. She began to move quickly towards the source of the shouting.
"Mister Fairchild, please calm down," a calm, female voice said.
"I will not calm down!" Her father snapped. "Our world was destroyed. I lost my wife and Olette lost her mother and now you're telling me that you're going to be taking her away to train her to fight? You go too far!"
"So you would rather leave her to the mercy of the Heartless?" Olette recognized the harsh voice as that of Master Xanthos'. "Because guess what, they have none! The Heartless are relentless creatures. And now that your daughter is a Wielder, they will come after her. And you're telling me that you would leave your daughter unprotected against them? What kind of father are you?"
"Don't you dare lecture me on how to be a father!" Eric Fairchild roared. "Who are you to talk to me like that? Hmm? You don't have nearly the same amount of life experience as I do, boy!" Xanthos' cold laughter cut him off.
"I don't have the same amount of experience as you? That's a laugh," Xanthos chortled. Olette heard a loud thump and a grunt of surprise from her father as she neared an oak paneled door. "For starters, 'boy'? I'm more than four and a half thousand years your senior. Don't let my appearance fool you. Secondly, I fought in the most tragic war in the history of the worlds and I have the blood of hundreds on my hands. Don't even try to act like you're superior to me."
"That still doesn't give you the right to take my daughter away!"
"She needs to be trained so she can fight off the Heartless! Without the proper training she won't be safe! Are you telling me that's what you want; to have your daughter in constant danger because of your selfishness?" Olette peered through the crack in the doorway. She could only make out her father's angry expression as he shouted up at Xanthos, who towered a good foot and a half over him.
"The safest place for her is with me, her father!"
"Oh, so you can fight off a Heartless swarm all by yourself? I seriously doubt it. They'd take your heart and then who would be left to protect your daughter? Who?"
"If you take her I'll probably never see her again! I just lost my wife and Olette is all I have left. You can't take her from me. You don't know what it's like!"
"I don't know what it's like?" Xanthos growled. He grabbed Eric by the front of his shirt and hoisted him into the air so they were face to face. "I was married one year. One single year. Then my wife was killed in front of me and I was powerless to save her. I held my wife in my arms as she bled out. I lost my family that day. Both my wife and my unborn child she carried." Olette gasped and placed a hand to cover her mouth as she saw tears streaming down Xanthos' face.
"Don't you dare tell me I don't know what its like. At least your wife only lost her heart, she can still come back. My wife's gone forever. No magic can bring her back. Nothing I do will ever change that." Xanthos set Eric back down on the ground. "Try living over a four and a half thousand years in suspended animation, being aware of the passage of time around you. Try living that long, while reliving your wife's death, over and over again. Just try going through what I did." Xanthos turned towards the doorway, his silver, tear-soaked eyes locking onto Olette's emerald green ones.
"But I suppose the only person who can really decide whether or not she gets the training is her," he continued as he opened the door. "Right, Olette?" Olette quickly straightened up. In the small, circular study stood her father, Xanthos, King Mickey, Governor Leon and a woman with layered black hair, beautifully deep brown eyes and a kind expression. All of them turned to look at her.
"Olette Fairchild," Xanthos said, as he wiped away the tears from his face on the back of his gloved hand. "You have become my inheritor by accident. As such, I am offering you a choice. While I cannot take away your ability to summon the Keyblade, I can teach you how to wield it so that the servants of Darkness cannot defeat you. So choose. You can remain here, with your father, and not learn how to be a Wielder. Or you can come with me and become my Apprentice. The choice is yours. What will it be?"
Olette was quiet for a few minutes as she considered everything that had happened. She occasionally glanced from her father's pleading expression to the look of immense emotional pain still etched into Xanthos' features.
"I'm sorry," Olette said quietly before looking up at her father. "But I'm going to go with Master Xanthos." Xanthos smiled as Eric's face fell slightly. "It's not that I don't love you, but I want to help fight. The Heartless are the reason Mom's gone and our home is destroyed. I want to fight back so no one else has to suffer like we do. You understand, right?" Eric sighed and he pulled his daughter into a bone-crushing hug.
"Of course I do, sweetheart," he said. "I'm so very proud of you. I just wish you didn't have to go." Olette hugged her father back.
"Don't worry, Dad," she said. "I'm not leaving forever. I'll still be able to visit and I'll always write you each week I'm gone." She turned her head to look at Xanthos. "I can, right?" Xanthos nodded.
"I won't stop you," he said. "And there's one thing we need to take care of before I go attend to a few things." Olette pulled away from her father and looked up at her new Master. There was a flash of light in Xanthos' left hand and the Oblivion Keyblade appeared. Xanthos tossed the Keyblade into the air and caught it by the shaft. He extended it towards Olette, offering her the handle.
"I need to do this properly," he said with a slight grin. "In your hand, take this Key. So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking, its wielder you shall one day be. And you will find me, friend. No ocean will contain you then. No more borders around, or below, or above, so long as you champion the ones you love." Olette smiled back at her father before reaching out and grasping the Oblivion by the handle.
There was a blinding flash of light and the Oblivion seemed to heat up to the point it was unbearable for Olette to keep holding on, yet she found herself unable to let go. There were twin pricks of pain that shot through her ears. She let out a small cry. She heard her father call out to her and heard Xanthos shout for everyone to remain put. The light and heat vanished and Olette collapsed to her knees, panting for breath as she released her grip on the Oblivion.
"It would seem I did more than make it easier for her to summon her Keyblade," Xanthos commented, his silver-eyes fixated on Olette's ears. Olette slowly opened her eyes and immediately caught sight of her reflection in a highly polished, silver shield that hung on the wall. Her mouth dropped open. Both of her ears now had piercings shaped like a pair of Kingdom Key Keyblades crossed into an x-shape.
"What are those?" Eric asked, staring at his daughter's new earrings.
"That is the Mark of the Chasers," Xanthos said. "Your daughter is the first new Chaser to appear to the worlds in well over a thousand years."
"What's a Chaser?" Eric and Leon asked in unison.
"A creator of Keyblades," Xanthos said simply as he knelt down next to his Apprentice. "Olette, can you hear me?" Olette nodded. Her gaze was still fixed on her reflection.
"So I can make Keyblades now?" She asked. The idea of being able to create such mysterious weapons filled her with excitement. She suddenly felt overeager for her training to begin. Xanthos nodded.
"Once I've taught you how, yes, you will be able to," he answered. He gripped her by her upper arms and helped her back onto her feet. "Now listen to me, Olette. In three days, we will be leaving Radiant Garden from Gummi Hangar Eighty-seven aboard my personal ship, the Equus. Take these next three days to spend time with your father and your friends because it will be awhile before we will be returning."
"Where will we be going?" Olette asked.
"The place where Chasers were trained back before the War," Xanthos answered as he turned to leave. He paused halfway out of the door. "You might want to go buy some warm clothes. It's very cold there. And the blizzards are absolutely dreadful. You're going to love it." Olette's mouth dropped in disbelief as her eagerness to get started with her training vanished with her Master's words.
"Great," she muttered as Xanthos closed the door behind him. She turned to face the Governor and gave him a courteous bow. "You wanted to see me, sir?" Leon nodded.
"Well, it actually was to discuss whether or not you wanted to be trained to be a Wielder but that's been cleared up, obviously," he said with a smirk. "So I'll simply wish you the best of luck with your training. How about that?" Olette bowed to him.
"Thank you, Sir," she said.
"Just call me Leon," the scarred governor said. "Calling me 'Sir' makes me feel old."
"But you're a governor. You're already old," the woman standing next to him teased. The entire room all let out a chuckle at Leon's expense. Leon scowled up at the woman who stuck her tongue out at him, successfully breaking Leon's scowl as the childish gesture made him smile.
"I'm sure you don't want to stay here any longer," the King said to Olette and her father. "Leon and I are just going to be discussing politics and what not. So we won't mind if you take off." Olette and her father glanced at one another before they nodded and made their way to the door.
"Thank you, your Majesty," Eric said as he and Olette bowed out of the room to enjoy each other's company for the next three days.
LD
Thursday, June 10th, 4794 P.C.
Medical Station Angel on my Shoulder, Radiant Garden Airspace
Room G 14
"And that's basically what happened after we were attacked. The Reflection picked us up about forty minutes later and brought you back here for recovery."
Riku glanced over at Dawn's miniaturized projection on his bedside table as he slid back into his regular clothes. According to Doctor Stinson, he was free to go on the grounds he didn't do any jumping off of tall buildings to attack fifty foot tall robots that were designed to kill superheroes. Riku had to admit, the fact that Doctor Stinson had become somewhat of a fan of his, especially after the speech given by President Westerlund on Tuesday, had made the past two days of bed rest bearable. It was nice having someone to tell about his adventures to. Although he was secretly glad to have Dawn back. The AI in question paced back and forth across the table, clearly impatient.
"Could you possibly take any longer to get dressed?" she asked. "I'm not getting any younger and I'm bored. This portable projector is a weak model. It doesn't even have Wi-Fi, can you believe it? Do you realize what boredom is to an AI like me? Each second is like ten years. Seriously! You try it sometime!" Riku chuckled softly to himself.
"I take it you're ready to go see our new ship?" He asked the AI as he grabbed the portable unit and clipped it to his belt. Dawn's holographic avatar vanished.
"I've already seen our ship," her voice continued over the built in speaker. "And technically it's not new. It's still the Dawn's First Light, only now it's received an all around upgrade; everything from weapons to shields and to all the bells and whistles in between."
"Well, I hope it can live up to your description, because you make it sound like it's a golden chariot," Riku said with a laugh.
LD
Docking Bay Four, Angel on my Shoulder, Radiant Garden Airspace
The newly refurbished Dawn's First Light Mk. II did more than live up to Dawn's description. The Mk. II was a long, sleek, polished ebony machine. Rather than the domed bridge favored by most Kingdom Model Gummis, the Mk. II had a single viewport, elegantly crafted to enhance the ship's sleek appearance. The Mk. II boasted a trio of high-powered Firaga class engines as well as a fully functional warp drive, enhanced radar, and a plethora of concealed weaponry. The ship's name was beautifully painted onto the side of the nose next to the rising sun crest of Radiant Garden. Riku couldn't help but stare at his ship.
"She's a beauty, isn't she?" The ship's designer, Cid, said as he stepped out from underneath her hull. "Definitely some of my finest work. She's a lot faster than that old Kingdom Model you were flying around. And she's got better shields than any Kingdom Model so you don't have to worry about a random explosion impaling you with a water pipe." Cid clapped Riku on his back, causing the newly released hospital patient to stumble forward slightly. "You take good care of her or I'll have your hide, you hear me?" Riku nodded slowly, still in awe of his new ship. Cid grinned and tossed his toothpick aside. "She's all yours. I had Tron make up some security codes for you and now your AI has them, so don't lose her." Cid clapped him on the back once more before heading off.
"And if you run into Sora, tell him to swing back on by sometime so I can give the Kingdom an upgrade," he called back to Riku as the silver-haired teen made his way towards the Mk. II's boarding ramp. Riku gave him the thumbs up and eagerly climbed into his new ship. Aside from a few layout changes, the Mk. II's interior didn't differ too much from the Mk. I's. The biggest change was definitely the bridge. The removal of the dome and all around general shape change left it big enough to fit about three or so people comfortably, at the most. Dawn quickly guided Riku through the steps of linking the portable AI storage up to the Mk. II and was uploaded to the ship's mainframe in a matter of seconds.
"Ah, so much roomier than that stuffy old storage unit," Dawn sighed contentedly over the intercom. "An initial scan shows we have the necessary equipment installed onboard to investigate that anomaly you and I discovered last Friday. Would you like me to chart a course for those coordinates?" Riku nodded.
"But don't hesitate to stop at any worlds we might pass," Riku said. "Just because we're investigating the mysteries of the cosmos doesn't mean we can't have other adventures along the way, right?" Dawn's avatar on one of the console screens nodded in agreement.
"Preparing for takeoff," she said. "This is the Dawn's First Light to Flight Control Deck. Do you read me?"
"Loud and clear, DFL, this is Flight Control," a deep male voice said over the COMM. "You are clear for takeoff as soon as Bay Four is clear of all personnel and the barrier is deactivated. Have a safe flight." Riku glanced out of the view port as he saw the last of the few flight personnel in the bay exiting the massive room. Ahead of the Mk. II was a bright orange energy field maintaining the atmosphere inside the bay. As Riku watched, the barrier deactivated and the Mk. II shook as its three engines roared to life and blasted them out into space.
LD
Dawn's First Light Cargo Bay
Keila adjusted herself to make squeezing between the two crates labeled Spare Water more comfortable. She had a feeling stowing away was going to make her trip on the Dawn's First Light a lot longer than she would've preferred, but at least she'd have a better shot at killing Riku on another world.
Leaning back against a barrel of fuel, she produced the novel Storm Fall by Richard Castle and proceeded to pick up from where she had left off, softly humming to herself as the Dawn's First Light Mk. II made its maiden voyage.
LD
(Kairi and Shadow Horizons, who is dressed in a fine, all black, three piece suit which is torn in several places and stained with blood from his nose, enter the room where Sora, and Riku are eating some celebratory cake)
Riku: "Good God, Kairi! Did you have to go that far with him?"
Kairi: (As she shrugs) "I only pushed him down the stairs."
Shadow: (Mumbling) "Yeah, all forty-seven flights of them."
Sora: (As Kairi walks over and steals a bite of his cake) "So what was the big announcement you had for us?"
Shadow: "Ah, yes. (Clearing his throat) Good news, everyone."
Riku: "I just watched three hours of Futurama last night. Every time Professor Farnsworth said those three words it was usually followed by bad news."
Shadow: (Completely ignoring Riku, continues on with his announcement) "As you all know, I recently closed the poll which asked our readers if there should be a Halo world. And I just so happen to have the results. Sixteen percent of voters said 'Nay'. Twenty-six percent of voters chose 'Maybe'. And the remaining fifty-eight percent said 'Yes'! So congratulations you three. One of you will get to travel to the world of Halo to not only fight Heartless and Nobodies. But the Covenant and the Flood as well."
Riku: "Ah, hell."
Kairi: (Giving Shadow a confused look) "Why only one of us?"
Shadow: "I have my reasons. Reasons that will become clear to you and the readers in due time. Mwahahahaha!"
Sora: (Waving around a copy of the Looming Darkness script) "But we already have the script! We can see what you have planned?"
Shadow: (Grins evilly at Sora) "Can you?" (Sora flips through the script and to his horror finds it completely blank after the end of Chapter Eighteen) I haven't written the rest yet you fool! (Sora hangs his head in defeat as Shadow passes out assault rifles to the three of them)
Kairi: "What are these for?"
Riku: "Oh, god. Please no."
Shadow: "An excellent question. In order for me to decide who goes to the Halo world, I've decided to have you three fight against wave after endless wave of Covenant forces until you're killed. Just like a firefight match from ODST or Reach."
Riku: "Why, God? Why us?"
Shadow: "Quit your whining."
Sora: "Do we have to fight?"
Shadow: "Yes, but only to kill time while my beta decides which one of you actually gets to go on since she won the contest."
Kairi: "What contest?"
Shadow: "A contest of who had the best endurance."
Riku: "So she drunk you under the table?"
Shadow: "Pretty much."
Jeff Steitzer's Voice: "Firefight!"
Kairi: "What the hell was that?"
Shadow: "That was Jeff Steitzer, he does the multiplayer announcer voice in Halo. Have fun! (Shadow vanishes in a puff of green smoke as a horde of Covenant forces begin to pour into the room)
Sora: "Shadow! How do you work this thing?" (He shakes the assault rifle in his hands angrily as half a dozen Elites rush him)
Shadow: (Now safely in his private office several worlds away) "Ah. Well, I hope all of the you enjoyed that chapter. I would like to thank my guests, Sora, Kairi, Riku, Xanthos, the voice of Jeff Steitzer, and the Covenant for joining me today. As always, reviews are greatly welcomed and appreciated. And if any of you are artists who want to do Looming Darkness artwork, I would very much like to see it. Until next time!"
Aspicio, diluculo Infinitas Noctis.
Shadow Horizons