Timeless

Chapter 7-A: Trapped in a Memory

(Dec. 22nd, 2011 - ATL)

Sora mulled around the festival square despondently, feeling distinctly detached from the merry people around him. This was a time of celebration, even if many had nothing to celebrate. There were plenty of drinks to go around, to toast to fallen allies, to forget their worries and pain, to pretend for just one night that a war wasn't raging on around them. It was King Mickey's idea to hold this celebration to boost morale, since many people were feeling hopeless and there had been a string of recent mass suicides among the soldiers and refugees. While the festival may have been lifting people's spirits, it did nothing for Sora, who felt he was already too jaded to be brought back to a happy state with a mere party.

He broke away from the group, wanting to be alone for a little while. The only reason he chose to show up was to make sure things didn't get out of hand, but their revelry was proving to be too bothersome. He had been opposed to the idea in the first place, seeing it as a resource-draining vain effort to cheer up a castle of miserable people. He felt their time could have better gone to use planning strategies to break through Heartless blockades and counter world invasions. He, of course, had been outvoted by everyone.

As he wandered down an alley attached to the festival pavilion, he couldn't help but think how much of a fool King Mickey had become. His decisions were turning more and more absurd by the day and he seemed distracted all the time. Sora scoffed. He wasn't much of a leader, but he knew he could do a better job than the King.

"Excuse me, mister," said a timid voice. Sora turned to see a young girl, probably about 7 or 8-years-old, holding her hand out. "I lost my mommy. Could you help me find her?" His heart broke just a little for her. She was dressed in rags, her green hair, probably once a vibrant colour, was matted and tangled, and her face was streaked with dirt. She looked like she had been living on the streets for a long time and in all likelihood, her mother was probably dead. She continued to hold her outstretched hand, waiting for Sora to take it.

"When did you last see her?" he asked, leaning forward to talk to the girl. She looked like she was about to cry.

"I don't remember," she whimpered. Unable to stand the thought of her living on the streets, Sora took her hand, already digging through his brain for an idea of where to take her. But as soon as his hand connected with hers, she shouted, "Bind!" With his defences down, Sora's body seized up. He was paralyzed from the neck down.

"You…!" he growled, realising he had been tricked. The girl backed away a safe distance, her eyes full of fear.

"I'm sorry, mister Sora," she whispered. "They said they'd kill my mommy if I didn't do as they said…"

"Who?" Sora's eyes were wild with rage. The very thought that someone was threatening this child filled him with such intense anger. Before the girl could answer, a dark-clad figure wearing a mask appeared next to her, grabbing her around the waist and covering her mouth when she tried to scream. "Hey! Let her go!" He struggled to overcome the effects of the Bind spell but was unable to do so. And then, a black bag was pulled over his head and a strange scent was forced into his nostrils, the potent smell of chloroform. His brain went fuzzy as he lost consciousness.

oOoOo

Sora awoke many hours later, feeling groggy and sore. His head was pounding and he felt faint, almost nauseous. The room was spinning, but from what he could tell, he was in a large medical examination room. It was poorly lit by a single florescent bulb hanging from the ceiling.

"Good to see you awake," said a voice nearby. Sora turned his eyes to the direction of the sound and saw a man in a white lab coat approaching. "It's a pleasure to finally meet the famed Sora, Keyblade Master and leader of the free resistance. But where are my manners? Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dr. Hojo and I am the head behind the Righteous Hearts." He held out his hand, as if actually expecting Sora to shake it, but that's when Sora realised he was strapped in place to a laboratory table. His first instinct was to fight back against his bonds, trying valiantly to lift his arms and sit up, but to no avail.

"Ah, I wouldn't bother to struggle if I were you. It's really pointless. Those are magic-reducing, light-suppressant cuffs around your wrists and ankles. We took every precaution to be sure you wouldn't escape, otherwise where would our research data come from?" Dr. Hojo smiled cruelly.

Sora eyes darted around the room, looking for some kind of way to escape. "What happened to that little girl?"

"Oh, Rydia? She was of no further use, so she was terminated." Sora froze upon hearing that. He knew the Righteous Hearts were ruthless, but this was first time seeing it up close.

"You killed her? She was just a child, for god's sake!" He renewed his efforts to break through the bonds holding him down. He wanted nothing more than to rip Hojo apart for his crimes against humanity. The doctor merely smirked at Sora's vain efforts, clearly taking pleasure in watching the useless attempts. Sora growled, narrowing his eyes and baring his teeth. "What do you want with me?"

"Well, I'm so glad you asked," Dr. Hojo said, delighted. "According to our reports, lifted from Disney HQ, you are the only human to have become a Heartless…" He consulted a notepad from his desk next to the table and pretended to skim the report that he had no doubt already taken the liberty of memorizing prior to their meeting. "…and reverted back to your human self." He let the document fall carelessly back to the desk and turned his full attention back on Sora. "What I'd like to know is what makes you so special? Why, out of all the people whose hearts have been consumed by the darkness, are you the only one to have come back from that?"

Sora forced a cocky grin on his face to cover up the tension and anxiety he was feeling. "You got me. I have no idea." He needed to stall for time, just long enough to figure out a way out of this. There was no way the bonds holding him down could keep him there indefinitely. He focused inward, trying to draw out the light in his heart to free himself or summon his Keyblade, but the light evaded his grasp. He couldn't do anything, no Keyblade, no magic, not even a spark of light. His anxiety grew more intense.

"I figured you wouldn't be giving up that information so easily," Dr. Hojo said as he stepped closer, reminding Sora that he wasn't alone and he was still trapped. "But luckily, we have many different methods of obtaining the information we want, with or without your help. And quite frankly, if you choose not to assist us, that only makes things a little more…shall we say… fun." He retrieved a small notepad from inside his lab coat containing a checklist. "We'll begin with a pain tolerance test. We'll be pushing you to your absolute limits so we know just how much pain we can inflict on you before it becomes lethal. The last thing we want is for you to drop dead in the middle of an experiment." The doctor laughed hollowly at his own brand of humour, causing shivers to run down Sora's spine. "We shall start with flesh wounds and move on to magic damage and internal injuries, and then wrap things up with psychological tolerance." He advanced on Sora with a scalpel drawn. "Are you ready?"

oOoOo

There was a faint stench in the air, the coppery scent of blood, accompanied by the trickling noise of dripping fluid. Sora's finger twitched. There were streaks of blood running down the table top from gashes on his wrists and all along his upper torso.

"I think that's enough for now, Lucrecia," said Dr. Hojo as he wrote something on his notepad. "His tolerance to severe blood-loss is incredible." His assistant Lucrecia lifted Sora's limp arm from the table and wrapped a bandage around the open wound. She murmured a quick healing spell to stop the bleeding and seal the wounds on his chest and stomach. Sora blinked slowly, feeling light-headed and sick. He could barely see straight and he was losing the feeling in all his extremities. It had only been a few hours since he had awoken, but it already felt like a lifetime.

"You have an amazingly strong heart, Sora." Dr. Hojo folded his arms over his notepad, grinning proudly, as though looking upon a star pupil. "You didn't even cry out when I made all those incisions. I'm impressed." His malicious grin widened. "I can't tell you what an honour it is to have this opportunity. It's only been five hours, but I've already collected a great deal of data from the couple of experiments we've run so far. I'm actually rather giddy right now." His voice sounded deranged, as though sanity had long since abandoned him. "I almost want to jump ahead of myself and cut straight to the chase. But a good scientist never goes ahead of schedule. We have plenty of time." He consulted his checklist. "The next on the list is oxygen deprivation."

He nodded to Lucrecia, who disappeared into a room adjacent to their current room and retrieved a bucket of water, a damp towel, and a ladle. Her movements were robotic, almost as if she were under a trance. But that was the least of Sora's concerns at the moment. She placed the towel over his mouth and nose, cutting off his air supply, and proceeded to pour a large scoop of water over the towel. Sora was suddenly alert as water flooded his nostrils and invaded his lungs. He tried to scream and shout, but the towel over his mouth prevented that. His arms strained against the straps as he slowly drowned, tears of pain streaking down his face. His lungs were burning as they filled with liquid and his head thrashed back and forth as much as the straps would allow. Dr. Hojo was recording everything on his notebook, taking notes on the readings his equipment was giving off.

Just when Sora thought he would pass out and die, Dr. Hojo waved his hand leisurely, indicating to Lucrecia to stop. The downpour of water stopped at once and the towel was removed. Sora gasped for air, turning his head to couch and sputter out the water in his throat. Each quick breath he took felt like a million sharp knives in his chest and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get a big gulp of air in his water-filled lungs. Dr. Hojo watched him struggle to breathe for a few seconds before signalling Lucrecia to heal him. One heal-spell later, and Sora was breathing normally again.

"Excellent…" Dr. Hojo murmured, taking more notes. "You're doing very well, Sora." Once the scratch of pen to paper stopped, he nodded at Lucrecia. The towel was put in place again and the flood began once more. Sora made a suppressed shout as his oxygen was cut off.

oOoOo

Sora was dumped haphazardly into a dank cell many hours later. His wrists were bound with magic cuffs to prevent any mana usage. As soon as the cell door shut behind him, the cuffs dropped off and the room was spelled with the same anti-magic enchantment. Sora groaned, rolling from his stomach onto his back and rubbing his wrists out. He took a look around his cell, getting his bearings. There was a small dirty mattress in the corner, its fibres long since worn to the point that all that remained was the outer shell, a few loose springs, and the occasional bit of fluff remnants of the inside stuffing. In the other corner was a dilapidated rusty sink and toilet. There were no windows and the only source of light was streaming in through the bar door from somewhere down the hallway.

Sora took his time hauling himself onto the rundown mattress, still feeling quite light-headed and sick. If he was to escape, he needed to get some rest and regain his strength. Not even the musty smell in the fabric of the mattress or the damp mildew would prevent that at this point. Somehow, he knew he wouldn't have long. The scientists would return and the torture would begin again if he couldn't find a way out of this.

Based on what he could see when they had dragged him from the laboratory into the dungeon, he was in a large complex of maze-like hallways and other lab rooms. Judging by the humid atmosphere, he could only assume he was close to a body of water, like a swamp or a lake. There was even a good chance that the complex was built under the lake. But without visual evidence, he couldn't be sure. The number of scientists didn't seem high, but then again, he had only seen a few. The men who had dragged him to his cell were definitely not scientists. They were likely mercenaries for hire, working for the highest bidder.

As he drifted off into a fitful sleep, Sora was already formulating a plan of escape. He'd have a narrow window of opportunity when they came to retrieve him for the next series of experiments. It would be his only shot of knocking out the guards and escaping, but he'd have to time it right. He only prayed that they would underestimate him and send maybe only two or three guards. He could handle that many in his current state, magic or no magic. He just needed to get some sleep.

It felt as though only a few minutes had passed when he was jolted awake a few hours later by the sound of the cell door opening. His heart rate increased as he became alert, keenly aware of his situation and looking out of a chance to get the upper hand. As luck would have it, only two guards had arrived to carry him out. One was approaching with the cuffs while the other was readying a baton in case Sora resisted. Sora pretended to be dazed for a moment, waiting for the guard with the cuffs to get closer.

As soon as he was in range, Sora sprang into action, landing a well-aimed punch straight into the guard's stomach. The guard doubled over in pain, dropping the cuffs on the ground while the other guard lashed out with his baton. Sora blocked the blow with his forearm, reaching inside the guard's defences and grabbing him by his shirt, pulling him off his feet and slamming him into the ground. Sora kicked the second guard in the head and elbowed the other in the back. Without waiting to see if they were recovering, he made a dash for the open door.

No sooner had his feet touched the outside of the cell, he felt an incredibly strong jolt of pain in the base of his skull. He screamed out in pain, dropping to his knees and grabbing the back of his neck.

"I wouldn't try that again, if I were you," said a crackled voice. Almost blinded by the pain, Sora struggled to lift his head to see who was coming down the hall. He heard the squeak of old wheels rolling towards him and saw a figure in a wheelchair, his bald head gleaming in the somewhat dim florescent lights. Recognition dawned on Sora.

"You…" he hissed, swaying as he tried to get back on his feet. "Finkelstein…?" Before the man answered, he pressed a red button on a remote in his hand and Sora was suddenly filled with intense pain once again.

"Yes, boy. It's been a while since Halloween Town, hasn't it?" the wheelchair-bound scientist laughed as he released the button. Sora dropped to his knees as the pain lifted. "I can still recall the screams of pure true horror as my world burned. As you let it burn, Keyblade Master." There was such a strong tone of hatred and bitterness in Finkelstein's voice that it almost made Sora flinch. He remembered all too well. He had arrived too late to save the world of Halloween Town when the Heartless armies had arrived to either convert or wipe out the inhabitants. All he could do was rescue a handful of residents.

"Just so you're aware, before you try anything stupid again," Finkelstein called as he got closer, waving the remote menacingly. "We took the liberty of inserting a chip in your neck to prevent you from getting out of control. Anytime you misbehave…" He demonstrated his point by pressing the button again and Sora cried out when he felt volts of electricity course through his body. "You get the point." Dr. Finkelstein let up on the controller. "You have a choice here and this will be your only time to choose. Either you do as we say and things go relatively smoothly, or you don't cooperate and we still get what we want, only it will be ten times more… uncomfortable for you."

Sora was breathing heavily, rage filling his entire being. He was completely at their mercy, unable to do anything now. He could've chosen to resist, to make it more difficult for them to get what they wanted, to stall for time in the hopes that someone outside would notice his absence and find him, but somehow he knew it wouldn't make a difference. So saving himself the tiniest bit of grief, he grit his teeth and nodded. The guards in his cell had recovered and were now slapping the cuffs on his wrists, pulling him roughly to his feet. Dr. Finkelstein smirked.

"Good boy. I knew you'd see things my way." He turned his chair around and wheeled back in the direction he came. "Guards, take him to Lab E. Dr. Hojo will be with him shortly."

A new plan was already forming Sora's mind. He had to find a way to steal that controller from Finkelstein if he hoped for the chance to escape. Then it occurred to him that the chances of there only being one remote control were pretty slim. He would have to determine if there were others, how many, and where they were. As he was hauled down the corridor, he looked up at the ceiling, noting where each of the security cameras were. It would come in handy, he figured, if he needed to take out some guards in a camera's blind spot, but as near as he could tell, all the corners were covered. There was literally no chance of escape. They arrived in Lab E and he was shoved towards the examination table.

"Lie down," one guard coldly ordered. Sora didn't comply, staring at the table with indifference. The guard took out his baton and smacked Sora's shoulder with it. "I said lie down!" Sora turned his rebellious look on the man.

"Don't think you've house-broken me yet, asshole," he growled. A second later, there was a painful jolt from the chip in his neck and he crumbled at the knees. The guards used the opportunity to cease him around the arms and force him on the table, strapping him in place. At least it proved one thing to Sora. He was being watched at all times by someone who had a remote control besides Finkelstein. His hope was slowly diminishing.

oOoOo

"Good morning, Sora," said the bright and perky voice of Dr. Hojo as he bustled into the room, clipboard at the ready. "And how are we today?" Sora grimaced, refusing to play along with the doctor's sick game. It had been days of the same routine and torture. "That good, hmm? Well you'll be happy to know, we have a guest assistant today. Allow me to introduce Zemus, our resident Lunarium and a powerful mage." In behind Dr. Hojo walked a bald, aging old man with skin a distinct shade of purple, donning a long decorative black cloak. He had cold white eyes that regarded Sora as though he were vermin. "He'll be assisting in a very important experiment today. Would you like to know what it is?"

"Go to hell."

"I'll take that as a yes. We want to know how your Keyblade works in conjunction with your heart. But we know you won't willingly show it to us, so that's where Zemus comes in. Would you like to know what his specialty is?" Sora turned his head away, trying valiantly to block out the doctor's voice. "He can control minds. Remember all those puppets of Maleficent's? He's the reason we have a cure for that spell of hers, but the only way we found the cure was from doing these kinds of experiments. Maybe now you'll have a fonder appreciation for the work we do." Sora made a sceptical noise.

"Unlikely."

"Think of it this way. What we learn from you and your heart can be applied to all the soldiers in the field. Imagine a legion of Keyblade-wielding warriors! People with a resistance to the darkness and unable to be turned into Heartless! Maleficent's resources would dry up as we cut her numbers down! We could win this war if only you'd cooperate!"

"You're sick…" Sora muttered. "You're fucking twisted. This isn't the way…"

"Hmph." Dr. Hojo seemed annoyed by Sora's words for the first time. "You say that now, but I don't see you complaining when you and your allies use our research to reclaim mind-controlled people from Maleficent's clutches." He turned to Zemus. "You have the floor, Master Zemus. Let's start slow today and get him to move his arms." The mage nodded and stood above Sora's head. He wore a look of heavy concentration as he placed his hands on either side of Sora's head. For the most part, Sora didn't know what to expect and didn't know how to defend himself accordingly.

For a moment, there was nothing but silence and Sora clung desperately to the hope that this Zemus character was a fraud and he wasn't capable of doing any magic at all. But then there was a foreboding presence in Sora's mind, like a heavy hand squeezing his heart, blurring his vision, making him hear things that weren't there.

Move your left hand.

Sora clenched his eyes shut, trying to block out the voice in his head. There was a strong and sudden urge to actually move his left hand, but he suppressed the urge. His breathing became ragged as the voice grew louder and more insistent.

Move your left hand.

It was proving difficult to ignore the request. Something about it was overpowering his normal train of thought, making him believe that it was his idea to move his left hand, but his rational mind kept trying to tell him otherwise. Sora jerked his head to the side, trying his best to break free from the hold that the invisible hand had on him.

Move your left hand!

"No!" Sora cried out loud. Zemus seemed surprised at the outburst, taking a step back. He turned to look at Hojo.

"He has a strong mind," he said quietly. "This may take longer than anticipated."

"Take as much time as you need," Hojo replied, grinning his regular grin. "We have all the time in the world down here." Zemus nodded and resumed breaking down Sora's mental defences. Gritting his teeth, Sora let out a quiet groan as his left hand twitched, aching to obey the order to move. Minutes passed by and evolved into nearly an hour, nothing but Zemus making the same demand over and over again within Sora's mind. And each time, it brought Sora closer and closer to the edge of submission.

Move your left hand.

"No…" he croaked. "No, no, no…" He could feel the last of his mental strength leaving him, nothing to hold back the invasion.

Move your left hand!

Something snapped. "N…" Before he could finish that word, he felt his left hand move on its own, rising up as much as the restraints would allow, and he flexed his fingers. Zemus smiled cruelly.

"Good," he murmured.

Move your right hand.

This time, there was little to no resistance on Sora's part. He could feel his consciousness slipping away, being pushed to the further corners of his mind where he had no control over what his body did. His right hand rose up and flexed his fingers.

"He is subdued," Zemus announced.

"Good…" Hojo said as he joined Zemus' side. "We'll have to put him to the test. Guards, undo one strap if you please." Two guards stepped forward with just a hint of hesitation from the one who had been struck by Sora earlier in the week. Doing as they were told, they undid the strap on Sora's left arm, allowing him free movement. The first thing he would have done at that point was grab a hold of one guard and slam him into the other, then use the momentary distraction to undo the other strap, at which point he'd regain his light and mana-usage and he'd bust himself out of this mess. But his brain seemed incapable of giving out orders anymore. It was like he could think and observe from an objective point of view, but at the same time, he was a blank puppet just following orders without a single thought going through his brain.

"Bend your arm at the elbow," Zemus commanded out loud, as if to demonstrate to Hojo his awesome power. Sora complied, lifting his arm up and bending it at the elbow. "Wave your arm from left to right." He did exactly as he was told, left to right, left and right, back and forth. This isn't good at all, he thought to himself. If they had control over him, it meant they had control over his Keyblades as well and that was not a good thing to lose control of.

"Excellent work!" Dr. Hojo exclaimed. "You shall be commended accordingly! I see I made no mistake recruiting you." Thinking himself brave, he approached Sora and poked the young man's cheek. "There, Keyblade Master. Was that so hard? All you needed to do was let go and allow us to do the thinking." Without warning, Sora let out a sharp bark-like noise and struck Dr. Hojo with his free left hand. The guards quickly latched onto the offending arm and restrained it back in the straps while Dr. Hojo dashed backwards, holding his injured face. Blood trickled down his split lip, and it was clear from his facial expression that he was terrified. The surprise and fear ebbed away until all that remained was fury. His eyes flashed dangerously at Zemus' face. "You said he was subdued!"

Zemus sputtered incoherently for a moment. "He was! I don't know what happened!"

"Perhaps it was premature of me to commend you. Fix it so he doesn't do that again!" With that, Dr. Hojo stormed from the room to seek medical attention. Sora would have smirked proudly if he could, but his mind had receded once more into submission. His momentary burst of action was a fleeting last chance for freedom that he doubted would come again, so long as Zemus still breathed.

oOoOo

"Today, we'd like to experiment with your Drive ability," Dr. Hojo announced as he bustled into the room with Zemus and two guards trailing close behind. "According to some sporadic reports, you have a habit of transforming into some kind of grotesque Anti form that you aren't able to control very well and can't return to normal until your Drive energy is consumed. I'd like to see that Anti form, if I may."

Sora's first instinct was to forcefully object and point out the dangers that his Anti form possessed, but then it occurred to him that it may be his only chance to escape, even if his feral mind wouldn't be able to figure it out once he lost control. If he could cause enough damage and chaos to throw everyone off, then he stood a chance, even if it meant sacrificing a small slice of his light to do it.

With that in mind, he made no attempt to block out Zemus' magic when the old mage attempted to suppress his conscious mind into obedience. After a few tests to ensure they had complete control, Dr. Hojo called for the experiment to begin.

"Drive into your Valor form," Zemus commanded. There was a sudden bright burst of light as Sora did as he was told, his enhanced uniform allowing him to transform into a stronger and faster soldier. But beyond the transformation, he still lacked control. Unsatisfied with a successful Drive, Zemus ordered, "Revert." There was another flash of light, smaller this time as Sora reverted back to his normal self. As he recalled, his Anti form was a random encounter and one could never predict when it would occur when he used his Drive ability. The only way he had managed to keep it at bay was by transforming into his Final Form, a form that never failed to work and never allowed the dark remnants in his heart to spawn his Heartless echo.

"Drive again into Valor." Again, another flash of light and Sora was enhanced by his uniform's magical properties. And again, Zemus was disappointed with the results, commanding Sora to change back. Three more times, this routine was carried out and each time, Sora's Drive ability did not fail. He was beginning to get nervous that perhaps his Anti form would never resurface, since he had used his Final Form far too many times to avoid the darkness.

But then on the sixth try, instead of luminosity upon using Drive, there was a sudden burst of dark mist around his body as his mind slipped away completely, leaving behind only a sinister craving for the light in a human's heart and savage need to rip it from that human's body, to shred flesh and consume purity in its raw essence. Without a mind to control, Zemus no longer held sway over Sora's actions and he realised this in a quiet panic. There, instead of a Keyblade Master, lay a beast eternally shrouded in darkness and shadow, eyes glowing an eerie gold, hands mutated into claws, wisps of black smoke trailing from its ebony skin. It regarded the people around it with a hungry gaze, letting a low, long snarl emit from its mouth where sharpened teeth awaited its first victim.

Dr. Hojo, unaware of the dangers, approached the Heartless-like beast slowly, scribbling notes down in his notebook faster than the average person could move their hands, murmuring over and over again, "Fascinating…" Meanwhile, Zemus was silently and desperately trying to regain control over Sora's mind, unwilling to admit that he had just put everyone's lives at risk by forcing Sora to become a mindless creature. And Sora merely waited. A good hunter waited until its prey was within striking distance.

When Hojo was close enough that Sora could smell the faint traces of light in his heart, the beast struck, breaking out of its restraints with ease, clawed hands latching onto Hojo's head. Hojo cried out in alarm, dropping his notebook and flailing his arms, trying to detach the creature attacking him. The guards withdrew their batons and moved to strike Sora, but they were knocked down as Sora leapt at them, Hojo forgotten. There was far more light in these guards than the twisted doctor and the Anti creature was determined to devour it all. Its claws ripped at one of the guards' chest. The guard screamed in anguish as blood splattered across the wall behind him. Sora raised one arm, seconds away from killing the man, when suddenly, a poorly-aimed fireball impacted on the wall next to the guard.

Zemus cast another strong fire spell at the monstrosity, hoping to quell it, but the fire collided harmlessly on Sora's backside. Glowing eyes turned on Zemus, its body hunched over, almost on all fours, ready to pounce. The mage backed away, fearful for his life. Just when the beast raised its claws to attack, there was a jolt of electricity deep in the base of its skull. It howled in pain, arching backwards as its claws tried to tear away whatever was causing the agony, but within seconds, the beast collapsed, eyes falling half closed as energy drained. A spark of light flickered over its body and the dark smoke cleared away as its skin returned to its natural tone, claws receding back into hands. Sora had reverted back to his human self.

"Thank goodness…" Zemus gasped, still shaking from the fear coursing through his veins.

Sora's head was spinning and he was just barely able to stay awake. He needed to escape, but his arms and legs felt like dead weights. And the last jolt from the chip in his neck left him with a horrible migraine. He hadn't been anticipating the shock treatment actually being enough to subdue his Anti form, but now he knew. Now he realised just how screwed his situation was. There was no escape.

Zemus dropped down beside Hojo, checking to see if the doctor was still alive. There were five deep gashes around the crown of his head, but he was still breathing. Next, Zemus checked on the injured guard while the other unharmed guard was busy on the radio, calling for back-up and medical support. Within minutes, the room was full of other Righteous Hearts personnel, one group working on restraining Sora to the table once again while the medical teams patched up the guard and Dr. Hojo.

"What happened…?" Dr. Hojo groaned as he came to. Then the memories returned and he was full of rage. "Master Zemus, that's the second time you've lost control over the subject!"

"I-I'm sorry! I-"

"I don't want to hear excuses! I'm this close to putting you before a firing squad, you hear me? I will not accept failure!" Dr. Hojo winced when a nurse attempted to apply some ointment to his head wounds. "You're lucky that I still need you for the final phase of experiments, otherwise I would not hesitate in executing you myself!" With that, the doctor batted away the nurse's efforts and stood, stomping from the lab.

The last thing Sora heard before he passed out was the purple mage muttering to him, "You knew this would happen… didn't you?"

oOoOo

"We'll be injecting dark cells into your system bit by bit to see how your heart reacts," Dr. Hojo announced on another day of experiments. "I predict one of two outcomes. Either your body will adapt over time and you'll become a humanoid Heartless like Xehanort before you, or your body will decay as if poisoned and you'll die a slow painful death. Either way, this will provide extensive research date!" He could barely contain his glee.

"Don't do this!" Sora warned weakly. "You have no idea what you're messing with!" Dr. Hojo's lips curled into a sick smile.

"Precisely. That's the point of the experiment, dear Keyblade Master. To learn." He flipped the switch on his device.

Sora hissed in pain when he felt the dark material from the IV bag hanging next to him flood into his veins and into his heart. His nerves were on fire and although it was only a small dosage, he felt his heart sear with darkness clouding it. The pain faded after a time and he relaxed his tense muscles. The monitor next to his bed began beeping erratically and the machine next to it printed off a sheet of data recording the percentage of light and dark in his heart as well as other information he couldn't read from his vantage point. Dr. Hojo took the print-off and read it carefully.

"Interesting…" he murmured as he wandered from the room. Sora craned his neck to see where Hojo was going and if he'd be back soon. As soon as he felt it was safe, he began working on cutting the straps around his left wrist using the scalpel he stole from Lucrecia. The blade barely made a dent in the strap before Hojo returned.

"If this information is accurate," he began explaining as if Sora were his student. "Then I can safely administer 15 more doses of darkness into your system before you have a violent reaction. As in, turning into a Heartless shadow, which we're not ready to experiment with just yet. Clearly from the last time you bordered on turning Heartless." He smirked as left the room again. But before Sora could work on breaking out of his restraints again, two burly guards appeared and knocked him out cold so they could return him to his room with no resistance.

oOoOo

It had been two weeks since Sora's imprisonment had begun. At least, he could only assume it had been roughly two weeks. He had lost track of time days ago. Today, in Lab E, he was strapped to the operating table, all kinds of strange and foreign machinery set up next to him and hanging above him. There were more scientists in the room than he had ever seen before. Any idiot could tell that something special was going to happen today, but Sora was certain it wasn't the good kind of special.

"And now we have arrived at the most important experiment of all," Hojo announced to everyone present as he bustled into the room. "This can make or break all the research we've been doing for the past 6 years!" He raised both arms up as a maniacal glint stole into his eyes. He embodied the very meaning of the term 'mad scientist' at that very moment. He focused the deranged glint on Sora, giving a very toothy grin. "We need to study your heart, Keyblade Master. We'll finally be able to unravel the truths and mysteries surrounding your legendary weapon and the brief experience you had as a Heartless. We can finally unlock the secret behind converting a Heartless back into a human being! Imagine the impact this will have on the war! We could win!"

"No…" Sora croaked, turned his head slightly to the side. "It doesn't work like that…" For a moment, it looked as though Dr. Hojo were actually going to listen to what Sora had to say, but he quickly turned his back and headed for the small room attached to the lab. "You can't recreate what happened to me… It's impossible!"

"Science makes miracles possible," Hojo muttered as he arranged some equipment and tools on a small waist-high table on wheels.

"Not this one," Sora urged. He had been holding back for so long on this tidbit of truth, for fear of what Dr. Hojo would do with the information, but now he had no choice. His very soul was on the line. "The only reason I came back from being a Heartless was because I share a connection with a Princess of Heart. I'm the only one who has this connection."

"Nonsense," Hojo said, returning to the main lab. Zemus was already prepared at the head of the table.

"It's true! The Princess used the connection to restore my heart! You can't recreate something like that! I'm a unique case! You're wasting your time!" There must have been something in Sora's voice, perhaps the urgency or the fear that caused Hojo to still for a moment and truly consider what was being said. Was it possible that the last 6 years of research he had been doing was for nothing? His eye twitched. No, it was a ruse, a deception on the Keyblade Master's part. He was stalling for time, that had to be it.

"Stop filling my head with your drivel!" Hojo ordered. He finished setting up all the equipment, placing several tabs on Sora's forehead and across his freshly scarred chest. Those tabs would electronically transmit every bit of data they collected, everything from heart rate to brain wave activity to adrenaline levels. "Zemus, you may proceed."

"No!" Sora cried. He truly had no idea what they had planned but if it involved studying his heart up close and it really was part of the last series of experiments they planned to do, he could only assume it would conclude with either the death of his physical body or the death of his soul. He prayed that if it were the latter, then Roxas would emerge from the process and wreak havoc on his captors.

Zemus went through the motions of seeping into Sora's consciousness, stealing away what little control he had over his own actions. After taking all the necessary precautions, he nodded to Hojo to indicate that he was ready to begin.

"Summon your Keyblade," Zemus ordered. There was brief pause as Sora struggled valiantly to cling to whatever self-control he had but ultimately failed in his pursuit. He fingers flexed as he felt the familiar warmth pool in the palm of his hand, and in a pillar of white light, the Way to Dawn appeared in his grasp. Very carefully, the guards removed the restraint on Sora's weapon-wielding hand and backed away a safe distance, should the Keyblade Master suddenly lash out. There was a dramatic pause before Zemus issued his next command. "Plunge the Keyblade into your heart and unlock it."

For a moment, it looked as though Sora would not comply. Up until now, all the orders he had been given were not self-life-threatening, but the last request went against his natural instincts. The human brain would not submit. But then Zemus pressed in deeper into Sora's subconscious, stripping away his self-preservation. Without delay, his arm rose against his will and turned the Keyblade on his own chest. Internally, he screamed for dominance. His dead lover's instrument would be his undoing.

The arm holding the Keyblade sank downward and Way to Dawn plunged into Sora's chest, piercing his heart in a blinding flash of light. Despite the mind-control, he cried out in pain as the darkness seeped into his unlocked heart and began consuming him. The monitors around the room began beeping erratically at different pitches and frequencies.

"His dark readings are going off the chart!" one scientist shouted.

"Heart rate had dramatically increased," another scientist confirmed.

"We're losing brain activity."

"Ten seconds until his heart is completely consumed by the darkness."

"Extracting the heart." A red pulse emitted from the machine above Sora's bed, aimed directly at his heart. Sora's arm dropped beside him and the Keyblade landed on the floor next to the lab table in a loud clatter. Instead of vanishing like last time, Sora remained where he was. "Initiating dampening field." A gentle humming noise filled the room. And then, the red pulsing machine fired a brighter pulse at Sora. He let out a blood-curdling scream. The room filled with intense red light before dying down, revealing a crystallized heart floating about Sora's body. Perhaps most terrifying of all was that Sora remained conscious for the entire process, watching in horror as his own heart bobbed above him. But if it was there, then how was he still alive or not a Heartless?

"Report!" Hojo called.

"Dampening field is stable," the first scientist announced proudly. "The darkness will not touch this heart. The rest of his vitals look good. Brain activity is normal, if not accelerated. Darkness levels are nominal. Heart rate is stable." Stable? Sora's thoughts raced. How could any of this be happening? How could he stay alive when his heart was floating outside his body? They did something to him, something about this dampening field was making it possible.

"Excellent work, everyone! We made history today! Guards, best restrain Sora lest he overcome Zemus' influence." The guards moved cautiously to put Sora's limp arm back in the binds, but he somehow doubted he would have had the strength to fight his captors at the present moment, with or without the mind-control. This was too unreal for him to comprehend. He had never known fear or panic like this before, unable to tear his eyes away from the red crystal heart of his.

And then, Sora squinted as another burst of light nearly blinded his retinas. But the people around him didn't seem to notice the last flash. They were too busy congratulating each other on a job well done. Sora chanced opening his eyes, and rather than focus on his heart, his eyes landed on a new figure standing in the room.

"Hey, Other. Looks like we got ourselves a situation." Sora blinked repeatedly, trying to figure out if he was hallucinating or not. "You're not hallucinating. I'm really here. Or… at least as much 'here' as I can get without having an actual body." There, standing beside Sora's beside, was the spiky-haired blonde Nobody that Sora hadn't really thought about in years. It was impossible for them to coexist at the same time, and yet here he was.

"R…Roxas…" he whispered.

"Shh…" Roxas looked around at the people around him. No one could see him in his current state. Aside from the fact that his body was mostly transparent, ghost-like, it would seem he only existed for Sora's eyes. "Don't say my name out loud. You don't want them to know I'm here."

"How do I know you're really here…?" Sora's panic grew ten fold. What if this was it? He had snapped, gone off the deep end, completely lost it. That final experiment had been the straw that broke his sanity's back and now he was hallucinating about his Nobody.

"Trust me, I'm here and I'm pissed." Roxas reached out to place a comforting hand on Sora's shoulder but his hand passed right through. "I'm gonna bust you out of here, I swear!"

"…How…?" Sora wanted to add 'You don't even have a body' but his strength was fading fast and his throat was incredibly dry.

"I'll figure something out. Please don't lose hope! Everything's going to be fine!"

"No…" Sora wanted to believe that he hadn't just gone insane, but it was proving difficult.

"It will! I promise! Sora, listen to me! I don't know what they did or how they did it, but I'm here because of that." Roxas pointed to the crystal heart. "They screwed up your light and dark balance and now they've screwed with the order of things. Whatever their machinery is doing to keep you alive and un-Heartless is what's keeping me here outside your heart. But now that I'm here, I can help you! So don't give up yet!"

"No…" The last of his strength vanished and Sora slipped into unconsciousness.

oOoOo

A/N: Sorry to cut things short here, but I got to about 11,000 words in this chapter before I realised that it was too goddamn long, so I decided to split it up into two separate chapters, for the sake of your sanity. The next portion of flashback is on its way. R&R in the meantime!