Author's Note: (from forevermagik13): For those of you who were wondering what Joseph got himself into last chapter, let me just tell you this: 29 walked into the room to find Joseph dangling from the ceiling with a lamp, a giant squid, and a Shadow Heartless that Joseph affectionately named Fred the Second. (For those wondering where Fred the First is, see Nothing's Fair on rarmaster's profile.) If you would like to come up with your own story of what Joseph got into, kindly PM either of us or leave it in a review.
Author's Note: (from your dear rarmaster) I had to explain 14, which is why this chapter even exists. Though, I have to say, Riku made me laugh in this chapter.
Sometime previously
"Here."
14 looked up. That young boy, Joseph, was standing in front of him, holding an ice cream out to him. 14 raised his eyebrows, but slowly reached out to take it anyways.
"I get one for all the new guys!" Joseph explained happily. "Can I sit next to you?"
"Go ahead," 14 shrugged.
"Thanks!" Joseph laughed, sitting down and taking a bite of his own ice cream. "So, what brings you here, huh? If you don't mind me asking, of course. If you don't want to talk about it, then that is perfectly okay."
"Same as the rest of you, I suppose," 14 replied. "I'm tired of Saix and whatnot."
"Me too!" Joseph said with a grin. "Well, sorta, 29 was the one who insisted- anyways, that's not important. Are you good with computers or anything? Well, by 'good' I mean better than most other Replicas, because we all seem to be good with computers and-"
"I believe so, yes," 14 replied quickly, before Joseph could talk any more.
"Cool!" Joseph laughed. "I'll have to tell… someone… about that! Oh! I'll tell Alpha. He's the one in charge of the computers. Which is actually really strange, because he's not a Vexen Replica, and I thought Master Vexen only trusted the Replicas of himself with computers, however Alpha's really good with computers, and kind of in charge of the computers here. Well, as in charge as he can be, I mean."
"Right, I'll be sure to remember that…"
xx
Roughly present time
"Not another attack!" some Vexen Replica groaned. Riku was too tired to catch which one. The sound of quite a few dark corridors opening accompanied this, as well as the sound of many people summoning their weapons. That, and Joseph arguing with 29. Again.
"Are there any Larxene Replicas with them?" Riku called, refusing to sit up. He was determined to stay asleep, or at least comfortable, for as long as he could.
"Doesn't look like it, sir," someone replied.
"Good," Riku said. "Then I'm not moving."
"But sir!"
Riku groaned. "I'm tired and I'm irritable," he said. "I'd be useless in battle, so why don't you just leave me alone, and maybe I'll be in a better mood in five minutes."
Two Sora sightings, both of which were false, that giant Heartless, Joseph almost getting himself killed, and now this? I am SO done for today. They can deal with this on their own,Riku thought with a groan.
He wasn't having any luck at falling asleep, but he'd rather be laying here than nearly getting killed in battle.
Maybe I'm selfish, maybe I'm lazy, but I don't really care at the moment. I'm TIRED.
His plans to be lazy were quickly thwarted however when he noticed something. Frowning, he sat up, watching two Vexen Replicas walk out of the room.
That looked like 37… he thought suspiciously.
Shwumph!
Riku turned, eyeing the scythe that had just landed where his head had been previously.
"Would you have used the Repair Program if that had hit you, sir?" a Vexen Replica (he still wasn't sure which one) asked.
"Shut up!" Riku said, hopping to his feet and running after the two Vexen Replicas he had seen leave the room.
Thankfully, he didn't have to spend a while searching for them. As soon as he realized what door they had gone through, he had a pretty good idea where they were going.
Alpha's computer.
xx
"14! What are you doing!" Alpha shouted, glaring at 14. 14 happened to be guarding the door to Alpha's computer.
14 remained silent.
Riku rolled his eyes and drew his blade, taking a step forward. "14, I would move if I were you."
14, still remaining silent, shook his head.
Riku turned to Alpha. "What did he do?"
"He let 37 into my computer room, and won't let me in!" Alpha replied.
Riku frowned, turning back to 14. "When did you turn traitor?" he asked.
"Theoretically, 'sir', I was always a traitor," 14 replied simply, saying the 'sir' with much spite. "Though, I was also never a traitor. Youare the traitor."
Riku's eyes narrowed to a glare. "I never expected you, of all people to be-" he trailed off into something that sounded like cursing. "Never mind, just move."
14 shook his head, again silent.
"Fine then," Riku muttered, tossing his blade at 14. 14 jumped out of the way, and out of the way of the door, allowing Alpha to get in. Riku grabbed his blade and turned to 14 with disgust.
"I am incredibly sorry, honestly," 14 said, though sarcasm was dripping off his voice. "However, traitors must be dealt with accordingly."
"I agree," Riku muttered, charging forward. He unleashed a flurry of strikes at 14, who nimbly ducked and dodged out of the way.
"Why don't you fight back?" Riku shouted, pulling his blade out of the wall (where it had gotten stuck after missing 14).
"I have no intention of killing you," 14 replied simply, dodging out of the way of another attack.
"And why is that?" Riku asked, stabbing at 14. The stab actually grazed past 14's side, but did no more damage than that. "Does Saix want to kill me himself or something?"
14 said nothing, though he did not manage to dodge Riku's next blow, which hit his shoulder. He let out a gasp of pain. Riku took this moment of opportunity to shove him against the wall. 14 then sunk to the ground.
"Hmph," Riku muttered, stabbing his blade through 14's knee, pinning him there. "I would say that I trusted you," he sneered. "But I never really did."
With that, he walked away, going to go see if Alpha had gotten rid of 37 yet.
xx
"14, of all people," 19 sighed. "I can't believe it."
"Neither can I!" Joseph whined.
Riku grimaced, still trying to get the blood off of his blade. It probably hadn't been his smartest idea to stab 14 like that, however, it had been effective. A bit cruel, but effective.
"Won't he just use the Repair Program?" Joseph asked, turning to Riku.
Riku frowned, unsure how Joseph had known that he had been thinking about that. But he shook his head. "He's like me. He'll refuse to use it," he muttered.
"Okay then!" Joseph laughed.
"Now what do we do?" 19 asked.
"I'm going to get some sleep," Riku said, rising to his feet. "You guys can figure out what you want to do about 14. I'm too tired to care."
Yawning, Riku headed to his room.