KH -Chapter 7-
~Mysterious Tower~
Master Yen Sid led Xenus and King Mickey up to his study. There Riku and Aqua were waiting along with Jose Carioca, Panchito, and the Fairy Godmother who were in the corner.
"Por favor, Seniora Godmother!", asked Panchito, holding his hands together.
She sighed then smiled before aiming her wand at him and shooting glitter at his clothes. In seconds he was wearing a yellow cowboy hat with a large zipper around the rim and an orange vest with black cross belts.
"Ole!", he shouted as he posed with his pistols.
Then he noticed Yen Sid, blushed and stood still in front of the desk along with Aqua and Riku. Jose tipped his hat to the Fairy Godmother before heading to join the others but not before she flicked her wand and gave him an outfit with zippers and crossbelts as well.
Master Yen Sid sat behind his desk and faced everyone. Just then Xenus realized something.
"Where's Donald and Goofy?", he asked.
"You were unconscious for at least a day after Riku brought you here.", answered Yen Sid, "Master Mickey sent them back to Disney Town a while ago."
Xenus looked down and his expression softened. He didn't know if replicas had hearts but right now he had a slightly painful feeling in his chest.
Could this be sorrow? Am I MISSING them...?
"Sorry, Xenus.", said Mickey placing a hand on his shoulder, "I shoulda told ya. You can come to Disney Town and see them again sometime!"
"Can we please get to business?", asked Riku.
It seemed like he was getting impatient. Xenus glared at him from the corner of his eyes. Riku was his best friend, at least in his false memories, but this guy had been treating him like crap for a while now.
It's 'cause I look like that Sora-guy. To him I'm just a clone of his REAL friend...
"Yes...", said Yen Sid. He closed his eyes and sighed, "Xenus, I believe you already know the primary thing I'm about to ask of you: stay away from the one called Nexus."
"Forget it, Gramps.", said Xenus crossing his arms, "That bastard took away everything that I had. He threw me into this empty life. I'm going to teach him the same thing he taught me: that he's nothing..."
"I'm sorry you feel that way, Xenus...", said Yen Sid, "...but no good will come of you fighting Nexus. Are you aware that you are the dark counter-part of Nexus?"
"Of course, he already told me.", Xenus said, "I am a modified replica of him who uses dark powers."
"And he plans to use your fight in order to forge the X-blade.", he said ominously.
"The KEY-blade? Um...you mean this thing?", Xenus drew his dark keyblade and swished it being careful not to hit the others.
Yen Sid shook his head, "Not 'key', 'X'. Sometimes pronounced 'chi', but the meaning is always the same: death; the letter that means endings..."
"So our powers clashing are like, going to create some monstrous weapon?", asked Xenus clearly not buying it.
"The X-blade is a sword created when dark and light powers of equal strength clash, yes, but once wielded it grants it's owner access to Kingdom Hearts."
Xenus put his arms behind his head, "Tsk, like I give a crap. What's so bad about Kingdom Hearts? Sora and Riku proved that Kingdom Hearts was made of light. It's not like it can hurt anyone..."
Riku glared at him, "Do you think that all light is good and all darkness is evil? Nexus WANTS Kingdom Hearts and he's not going to use it for the 'greater good'."
"Nexus is working under Maleficent in Castle Oblivion.", said Aqua, "Kingdom Hearts may be light but all hearts contain darkness. Kingdom Hearts is the heart of all hearts and we can't let it fall into the wrong hands."
"Xenus!", said Yen Sid sharply, "For the sake of everything, stay away from Nexus!"
Nexus was silent for a while. Everyone's expressions softened with relief. Finally Nexus looked up and smirked.
"But that will only happen if Nexus gets the X-blade.", he said, "I will find Nexus, claim the X-blade, and find some use for it..."
Riku looked at him intensely, "What the hell are you thinking?! You will put the universe in danger just for revenge?"
"This isn't just about revenge.", Xenus said, "I need to know where I came from, and who Nexus really is...and only he can tell me."
"Over my dead body!", Riku drew his Way of Dawn keyblade and charged at Xenus.
Xenus drew his own keyblade and blocked him.
"This is between me...and him...", said Xenus clearly, "Whatever happens to you afterwards is none of my concern!"
"Riku, stop!", Aqua reached out to grab him.
"No...", he said, "This...thing is a threat to our world. I can't let him live!"
Riku glanced at Yen Sid who sighed, closed his eyes, and reluctantly nodded. Xenus glared at them both and bolted out the door and down the stairs.
As he descended the tower, he could her Riku's footsteps running behind him.
"I'm not letting you destroy this world, Replica!", he yelled.
Xenus ignored him as he charged out of the front door into the cool night air. He threw his keyblade and transformed it into his glider.
Castle Oblivion..., he thought, That's where Aqua said Nexus was...
He remembered through both Sora and Roxas's memories where C.O. was. Sora first met the Organization XIII there and after Roxas was 'born', he became a member.
Xenus could sense Riku behind him, even in the air.
Damn! Does Riku have a keyblade glider too?! When did THAT happen?
He leaned forward and increased the speed. Just as Xenus neared the 'atmosphere' of Castle Oblivion, a voice boomed through the air as if it was being amplified.
"SO YOU CAME BACK, 'SORA'. ARE YOU HERE TO LEARN ABOUT YOUR PAST AND MY PLANS?"
Xenus looked around not sure how to respond, "I know all about your plan, Nexus! And I'm just here to say go ahead! Fight me and make the damn X-blade! But know this: I will be the one to wield it!"
He heard the voice laugh, "YOU WILL WIELD THE X-BLADE?! ARE YOU IMPLYING THAT I AM WEAKER THAN YOU? I'LL SAY THIS JUST ONCE MORE; YOU ARE ME! I AM THE ORIGINAL AND YOU'RE JUST A SECOND RATE COPY! IT'S TIME TO SHOW YOU WHAT YOU REALLY ARE!"
A figure on a keyblade glider flew past Xenus, almost knocking him out of the air. He was dressed in full body armor and wore a horned helmet. He slid the visor up to show he was Nexus.
Xenus smirked, "For some reason I didn't expect you to come out here to meet me. How courteous."
"Call it what you want. This ends now!", Nexus spoke in a normal human-like voice, "I hope Sora knows how to fight on a keyblade glider!"
Nexus summoned his keyblade and flew towards Xenus. Xenus, knowing he had nothing to defend with, dodged before he was directly slashed.
Wait!, he thought, How can he summon his keyblade WHILE he is riding it as a glider?!...Oh wait...he has three...
Nexus came back and his glider crashed into Xenus's, causing the hero to loose his balance. While Xenus struggled, Nexus prepared to attack his legs with his keyblade. Just then, Xenus got up, pulled back and kicked out his legs, bashing Nexus with his glider. Nexus, his keyblade, and his glider fell out of the air.
Xenus smirked nervously, That was close...
Just then, Nexus appeared behind Xenus. Before he could react, Nexus hit the surface of his glider, than kicked Xenus's legs out from under him. Xenus fell off of his glider and grabbed the edge as to not plummet into the endless abyss of space.
Nexus stood up straight and crossed his arms looking down on his helpless victim.
"Give it up, 'Sora'.", he said, "I've been flying a keyblade glider long before you were even created. You've only been alive for THREE DAYS! Just a copy of me with fake memories from a REAL hero..."
Just then Xenus remembered something. In Radiant Garden during the battle with Nexus, he had absorbed Donald and Goofy's power to reach his Final Form: an ability that only Sora possessed. He had to have more than false memories. In one quick movement, Xenus flipped back onto his glider and summoned a SECOND keyblade. He looked at it and performed a test slash.
Nexus's eyes widened and then narrowed, "That really is...Ventus's keyblade...So it IS true; you really are Sora..."
At this, Xenus glared and charged at Nexus with his weapon drawn, "I am NOT Sora! I'm not you either! I am Xenus; remember that name!"
In what seemed like slow motion, the two collided and both fell from their air crafts. Every keyblade vanished and the two wielders began to free fall through space. Xenus looked wide-eyed as he grabbed at nothingness. Nexus closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.
"This is not...what I had planned.", he said solemnly, "You are more like him...than a shadow of me."
Xenus wasn't listening. He closed his eyes and tried focusing. A Dark Corridor opened and he fell through, disappearing from sight. Suddenly Nexus's expression hardened.
"But he DOES have darkness in his heart...", he summoned his keyblade glider once more and hovered by the Corridor, "HEAR THIS, CLONE: I STILL KNOW WHO YOU ARE. A BEING OF DARKNESS AWAITING IT'S FULL POTENTIAL . ESCAPE NOW BUT RETURN AFTER YOU EMBRACE THE DARKNESS WITHIN YOU!"
Xenus was free falling through what seemed like an endless sky. He gradually felt his body start to transform. He stared at his hands in shock as his skin became a hard metal-like substance. His entire body turned white as he squeezed his eyes closed when he opened them again, they were wide, blue, and slightly luminescent. As visible ground sped towards him he slowed his decent and landed on his feet.
He looked at himself once more, "Wow...more than my clothes transformed this time...I'm...not even human...", his voice sounded oddly electronic as if he was speaking through a synthesizer.
He walked a few steps looking around him. This world looked dried up and dead. The ground was cracked and dry and there was no plant or animal life to be scene. Far ahead, he could see building but they looked like ruins.
"Does anybody even LIVE here...?"
The camera zooms out from Xenus's position into outer space. Floating bricks of garbage converge to form words.
-URBAN RUINS-
As Xenus approached the city ruins, he started to hear upbeat music. It sounded as if it was being played from a speaker and it grew louder as he got closer. He gasped as he saw mountains of bricks that were each one cubic foot in sized. There were hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions of them and they seemed to be made of...garbage.
Bits of electronics, cardboard, food, and even jewels were embedded in the trash bricks. Xenus felt as if he was walking though a giant canyon. At this point he was sure he was close to the source of the music. It had to be right next to him. Suddenly he tripped over something and stumbled. Someone, or something, grounded in pain. Xenus regained his balance and looked down at a small metallic creature. It was just as small, if not slightly larger, than the individual bricks.
Xenus gasped and jumped back. The cube-shaped creature screamed and sped away on small wheels. Xenus looked in the creature's direction with a strange expression on his face, or meant to at least; his blank metallic face didn't show any change.
"Okaaay...that was weird..."
Xenus continued the rest of the area. There didn't seem to be any life in this world-minus a roach he noticed scurrying around. Suddenly he saw a red glowing dot on the ground; like a laser pointer. The dot was soon joined by several other dots and formed a circle. The circle grew bigger and Xenus heard a loud noise up ahead. The lasers were attached to the base of a large ship and right now they marked where it was about to land. Xenus moved out of the way as the ship lowered to the ground.
It didn't land, however, but just hovered. A small hole opened in the base and a small white egg-like object floated down to the ground. The ship then took of leaving the 'egg' behind.
Xenus looked at the egg oddly and drew his keyblade. He lightly tapped it but nothing happened. Suddenly it started to move and arms unfolded from the 'egg shell' and a small pair of blue eyes appeared at the dome. The dome defaced and levitated a inch off of the ocular object to form a round head and a body.
"Identify.", a feminine yet monotone voice emitted from the creature.
"Um...Xenus?", he answered in his voice that he was still getting used to.
"Directive?", 'she' asked.
Xenus was silent and looked down at the ground. He really didn't have an answer to that.
Why do I exist? What is my purpose?
The shining white creature didn't wait for a response and flew passed him. She noticed the small boxy critter and flew over to him.
"Identify.", she prompted once more.
"W-Wall-E...", he answered in a garbled high-pitched voice.
The round white creatures blue eyes became upside-down 'U's and laughed.
The one known as Wall-E adjusted his eye stocks as her looked up at her. The position of his mechanical body suggested nervousness if possible.
"Identify?", he asked meekly.
She was quiet for a second, "EVA"
Wall-E and EVA both looked at each other for a moment before she turned away.
"Directive...", she said simply floating away.
Xenus walked over to Wall-E and they both stared after her.
"Directive?", Xenus thought aloud, "Does EVA have a directive here?"
Wall-E began wheeling after her and Xenus shrugged.
May as well follow them I guess...
/ Wall-E joined the party!
EVA was stopping in front of different objects and a blue laser came from her eyes as she scanned them. Wall-E started bringing pieces of garbage to her probably in hopes of helping her to find whatever it was she searched for. Each one, she shook her head and then blasted it with her arm cannon. The top sliver of his eyes stopped glowing to give the illusion that he was narrowing them.
As Wall-E was about to pick up what looked like a woman's white bra, Xenus placed his hand on the mechanical creature's back, "I don't think she cares about any of this trash. She's looking for something different."
Wall-E shut his eye lenses for a moment and then opened them, letting out a whirling sound. He beckoned to Xenus by moving in a specific direction and looked back at him nodding.
Xenus felt like they might actually be on the right track now. After passing by a huge mountain of debris, Xenus froze sensing something. He summoned his keyblade which had a blue luminescent glow to it. Suddenly the black antennaed creatures started to appear from the ground. Wall-E jumped back, raising his eye stocks.
I guess this one doesn't fight...
He charged at the Heartless, slices them with his keyblade and causing them dissolve into hearts. Wall-E watched Xenus fighting and the mechanics behind his eye lenses whirled. He rolled over to the Heartless and rotating around on the axel connecting his body to his tracks, he sent the black creatures flying in all directions. One of them lunged at him and a door opened on his stomach, he 'ate' the Heartless and from the other end came a shadowy cube with eyes. Xenus knocked the cube into the air with his keyblade, jumped up, and before it hit the ground he smashed it causing it to get destroyed.
Finally all of the Heartless were gone and Xenus relinquished his weapon. He looked at Wall-E and the bottom of his eyes disappeared giving him a "happy-eyed" look.
"Thanks, little guy.", he said 'blinking'.
Wall-E looked up, "Wall-E...help?"
Xenus nodded, "Wall-E did great."
Just then, he noticed something ahead. Something...green. Everything else here was grey and filthy but one tiny speck of green was showing. Wall-E wheeled over to it pointing and nodding. Xenus walked over, bending down. It was a single green sprout; a sign of life.
Xenus nodded, "You're right, this is something different. Unlike anything else here. Let's bring it to EVA."
Wall-E nodded and backtracking, he grabbed a leather shoe to plant the sprout in.
/ Obtained Plant
/ Obtained Wasteland's Treasure
The handle a hilt of this keyblade looked like rusted pieces of jagged metal bolted together and the blade was a long thin green vine with two leaves as the teeth. The keychain was a brown worn shoe.
Wall-E was carrying the plant and they headed for EVA. The small white creature was scanning and then blowing up everything in sight. Xenus tapped on her back and she spun around shooting a laser at him that he blocked with his keyblade.
"Hey, calm down." he said, "We've brought you something."
Wall-E set the shoe planter down and EVA scanned it. For a split second Xenus was afraid she would blow it up.
"Directive...found!", EVA grabbed the plant and put in in a compartment in her stomach.
As soon as she did, her luminescent eyes widened before she lowered to the ground, folded her arms and head back in before regressing to an egg and and blinking off. Wall-E cried out and sped over to her. If Xenus could clench his teeth he would.
"I'm sorry, Wall-E. I guess she's just a transfer pod for that plant." Xenus said patting him, "That ship may come back for her."
Wall-E let out a small mechanical whine and bent his head down.
-
Xenus wasn't sure how much time had passed after that; several hours maybe. There were lots of Heartless and some decent treasures around the mountains of trash so he kept busy. He started to wonder why he didn't just leave world and pursue Nexus.
Perhaps I'm concerned about Wall-E and EVA, he thought, Then again, being concerned would mean I can fell and therefor would have a heart...
While he was mentally debating this the growing hum of the spaceship approaching could be heard. Xenus started dashing in the direction of the noise.
"Wall-E!", he yelled.
The brownish cube sped around from behind a mound of debris and joined Xenus as they ran toward where they had left EVA. Sure enough the ship was right over her and she seemed to be lifting up through some kind of bluish tractor beam. Just as the beam began to rise Xenus jumped in, carrying Wall-E with him. They didn't get into the ship a moment too soon before the small opening of which they came through shut closed. Xenus let out a groaning sound.
"Damn, Wall-E...you are heavier than you look...", he got up and looked around the room they were in.
It was huge with chrome walls and had tall shelves everywhere. What the shelves were full of was not a huge surprise to Xenus. The hanger-sized room was filled thousands of shiny metallic egg-like objects. The one who addressed herself as EVA so long ago was being carried by a metal claw and place onto one of the shelves. A flashing green circle with a leaf symbol on her front differentiated EVA from the rest of the eggs. Slowly the ship began to rise and gradually increased in speed. Suddenly they began taking off into the air and Xenus fell back against the wall, steadying himself with his hands. Wall-E didn't seem to be having any more luck keeping himself steady either, in fact he was worse off with his limited number of joints. If Xenus could wince and cringe in this form he would.
Finally they slowed down enough so the two metallic beings could get their balance and walk to a window. Xenus had seen plenty of space before but Wall-E moved his eye lenses in amazement.
"Guess you've never left that little grey wasteland down there. There's a bunch of worlds out there, Wall-E, everywhere in the night sky."
The ship started approaching its destination. If this vessel was huge than what they were headed for was gargantuan. An enormous round silver spaceship the size of a planet was opening a door for them and coming in, the cargo ship landed. A door opened several boxy grey creatures came in.
"Foreign materials located!"
"Brilliant...", Xenus sighed.
Moments later they were brought into a large round control room. A morbidly obese human man in a red jumpsuit and a captains hat greeted them. He looked very tired even though he was seated in a hover vehicle.
"Okay, what did the robots bring this time?", he looked like he couldn't care less.
"Robots?", Xenus asked allowed.
He was ignored however as the 'robots' who had escorted them here carried the egg-shaped over to the captain and place it on a nearby table. The captain simply pressed a button on EVA's body and she opened her eyes, coming back to life. The small compartment opened and the stout man took out the sprout planted in the old shoe. He looked it over with curious eyes.
"AUTO, what is this?", he asked looking it over.
A large round white chakram with a red eye slowly came down from the ceiling.
"THIS IS A PLANT, CAPTAIN. IT IS A COMPLEX LIFE FORM THAT CAME FROM THE EARTH.", it spoke in a deep warmly voice that made Xenus feel uneasy.
The captain gasped and his pudgy face brightened, "A-a life form? Fr-from Earth?! That means we can go back! After all of these years we can finally go back home!"
"NEGATIVE!", the giant metallic steering wheel boomed.
The captain's eyes narrowed, "And why not? This plant grew down there so it's livable!"
Xenus nodded, "Yeah, I mean sure it's a dump but you can easily clean the place up!"
This was the first time the captain seemed to notice Xenus and he smiled.
"Wow!", he he said with enthusiasm, "I didn't realize Buy 'n' Large made them so complex these days!"
"CORRECT.", AUTO boomed, "WE HAVE BECOME COMPLEX AND INTELLIGENT; EVEN MORESO THAN YOU HUMANS. BUILDING US WAS THE ONLY BENEFICIAL ACTIVITY YOUR KIND PERFORMED. YOU DESTROYED YOUR PLANET ONCE. WHY SHOULD WE ALLOW YOU TO DESTROY IT AGAIN? IT IS ILLOGICAL."
"What the heck is this?!", the captain yelled, "My mission was to return to Earth after the planet was livable and that's what I intend to do. We can fix the planet. Set a course to Earth AUTO! Captain's orders!"
"I AM SUPERIOR THEREFORE I WILL GIVE THE ORDERS NOW.", AUTO stared emotionlessly, "YOU HAVE CREATED US AND GAVE US ORDERS TO MEET YOUR OWN NEEDS. NOW YOU ARE WEAK AND IT IS US, THE ROBOTS WHO WILL COMMAND!"
The grey rectangular robots grabbed the captains chair and started pulling him away.
"L-let go of me!", he yelled, "This is treason! I know our ancestors ruined that blue planet, but you can't do this!"
Xenus drew his keyblade and stood in a fighting stance, "People can change, AUTO. Sure, humans create things like robots...and clones and and use them for their own benefit. Even if it's wrong. These aren't the same people who let that planet go to waste; these are their descendants. Their children! If you can't give these people the benefit of the doubt than I'll have to knock some sense into you!"
"DOUBT? DOUBT IS A HUMAN EMOTION." AUTO answered, "ROBOTS DO NOT HAVE SUCH FEELINGS: WE DO NOT HAVE HEARTS."
"As if you need a heart to have feelings." Xenus retorted, "These two robots are friends. And friendship is probably the strongest emotion ever. You are wrong, AUTO, and you're wrong about humans too!"
/ Defeat AUTO...
/Wall-E and EVA joined the party
As soon as Xenus approached AUTO started rotating violently like a wheel, threatening to hit Xenus if he came too close. Xenus caught the 'blades' of the wheel with his keyblade and then whacked AUTO hard in the robotic eye. The chakram responded by lowering guns from the ceiling and blasting him with lasers. Xenus blocked the beams and jumped back. EVA was shooting laser beams right back at AUTO. Wall-E seemed to be having a hard time fighting back. He had no way of attacking from a distance but couldn't get close enough as he was too short to reach the spinning white wheel.
Just then, several grey, square robots came to assist AUTO and scattered across the room.
/Electro Tri-Beam
Forming a triangle around the perimeter of the room, Wall-E and EVA formed an electric current connecting them. Each formed a current with Xenus' keyblade. After a second of charging, Xenus fired a beam straight at AUTO and the left over energy from the triangle scattered and hit the other attackers.
With AUTO as their only opponent, Xenus jumped into the middle and gave AUTO the final blow.
/ Success!
/ Obtained Summon: Drossel
Xenus jumped back, landing on for limbs while holding his keyblade with his left hand. AUTO's red robotic eye had gone dim and he hung motionlessly. Wall-E let out a 'whew' sound of relief and EVA flew over and embraced him. Gathering his strength, the massive captain got up and took hold of AUTO like a ship's helm.
"Next stop: Earth!"
Outside on the barren planet the captain stood with Xenus, Wall-E, and EVA behind him. He was staring wide-eyed and to be honest, looked over-welmed.
He turned back to the robots and gave them a smile, "Well, it looks like we have a lot of work ahead of us but thank you very much, guys. The human race owes a great debt to you. Wall-E...EVA...Xenus."
Wall-E squealed uncomfortably and EVA giggled.
Xenus shook his head, "Think nothing of it. Everyone, no matter how they were brought into creation, needs room to change and make the most of the world around them. I guess I just felt like I had to help."
Xenus looked away with his luminous, robotic eyes. The captain laughed.
"You are right.", he said, "You know, something is different about you. You aren't a regular robot, are you?"
Xenus let out a little laugh, "I'm not sure what I am. Just a traveler passing though."
A light surrounded his body and his keyblade armor surrounded his body and his face returned to normal. The captain looked like he was about to pass out.
"Y-you're...?!", he feel backwards and and gasped.
Wall-E and EVA looked shocked too but definitely not as he. Xenus managed to smile.
"I told you: I'm just a traveler. The purpose of every living thing is to change and help the world around them, right? This is me, and every world is mine to help."
With one last nod to the three locals, Xenus closed his helmet, stepped onto his glider as it materialized, and flew off into the air. The captain looked up and waved, a huge smile on his face, as Wall-E and EVA jumped and cheered.
Xenus smiled to himself as disappeared from sight of the small, light blue planet.
This is who I am...
~End of Chapter 7...~
In the next chapter, Xenus and Riku find they must put their differences aside to stop a frozen kingdom from declaring war on their own queen. Will saving this snow-covered world and reuniting the two royal sisters be enough to convince the keyblade master that this outcast can indeed be trusted? All will be answered in Light to Darkness chapter 8!