Alright, this would have been up way earlier if not for the Type 2 error making everybody go stir crazy. Let's get with the program, fanfiction! Please don't fail us now! Fortunately, somebody found a way to update with the error still in effect. Kudos to that guy!
But enough of my complaints. Max?
Max: "Alright, sure why not? DarthKingdom doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Square Enix, Cossex, Xyran, or any characters introduced in this chapter."
!
Chapter 93: Escape from the Brotherhood
"I knew she wouldn't last." Crucion said.
It had been one day since Morgana's crushing defeat at the end of the magic trident she had so craved. Nobody in the Brotherhood was particularly surprised about her fate. Ursula's reputation had already reached their ears, so they'd have surely heard of Morgana if she had been anything special.
The entire Brotherhood was assembled in the meeting chamber, and Serndask was at the head of the room as usual, covered in his black clouds. He surveyed the gathered members of his Brotherhood, noting their behavior.
Those he now knew as the traitors were hanging near the back of the room on their own. He couldn't help but notice that they seemed a bit defensive, and guarded. He also noticed that Saix had changed his garb slightly. His black coat was ornamented with dark blue patterns slightly reminiscent of Xemnas's final coat.
Xyran and Cossex were sitting half-way down the table, and Liasa wasn't far from them. The young Xyran was shooting harsh looks at Sephiroth from across the table, and occasionally gave Larxene a glare. The swordsman appeared not to notice him, but Serndask noted Larxene grinning devilishly back at him whenever their eyes met. He suspected the reason for their obvious dislike of each other, but he didn't particularly care, so long as it didn't cause trouble for the rest of them.
Andmox and Klaxam stood in front of him, both looking ready for orders at a moment's notice. The Horned King was standing to their right, arms crossed over his chest, and looking contemplatively at Crucion, who was sitting by Sephiroth at the table, Zira lying on the ground a few feet away.
Crucion was about to state for what must have been the eighth time how he'd had no doubt of Morgana's eminent failure, when Andmox stopped him. "Old man!" He barked, pulling the room back into complete silence. "We understand already. Now shut it."
"Thank you." Serndask muttered, to Crucion's irritation. "I've called you all here for an important joint assignment."
"Joint assignment?" Xyran repeated.
"He means we'll be working together." Sephiroth replied dryly.
"Can it, pretty-boy."
"Enough." Serndask ordered immediately. "The 'Resistance' is planning to enter this very castle. Likely to access the hanger and steal a ship or two. They'll also likely be after a dark matter engine attachment to bring to their allies on other worlds. And so, the garage must be guarded just as heavily as the hanger."
"My lord," Klaxam interrupted, "Forgive my interruption-"
Larxene coughed, and it sounded suspiciously like, 'Kiss-up.'
Klaxam ignored her, and continued, "But it seems extremely unlikely that a handful of people could make it past our defenses."
"I'd have to agree with this kiss-up on this one." Liasa agreed. "We've got two freaking Darksides in front of the doors."
But Serndask almost seemed to enjoy breaking the next bit of news to them. "They entered the castle about three minutes ago, and I believe that they're making their way to the garage, while others are going to the hanger."
This news was greeted by a split second of total silence, before everyone who wasn't standing leapt to their feet. Those who had weapons on them immediately summoned them.
"Orders, sir?"
Serndask was silent for just a moment, before he said quietly, "I'm not interested in prisoners."
!
A single Cauldron Born walked along the halls of the Pax Pacis palace. Bound in handcuffs in front of it, being held at spear-point were Essej and Liz. They walked forward, heads down, and hands behind their backs. They looked like the picture of utter defeat.
None of them spoke, but simply continued the forced march down one of the side halls of the massive building, this particular one leading into the lower underground levels. The ceiling was fairly high, and every twenty feet or so, there was a sort of crystal chandelier, casting pale, almost eerie blue or green light across the hall.
The three soon came to the heavy stone door leading into the palace dungeons. There was only the narrowest possible slit in it a few feet off the ground that served as a window for the occupants. Essej cast a quick glance inside as it came into view.
They stopped there.
The Cauldron Born pulled away from its prisoners, and found a small object by the side of the dungeon door. It appeared to be nothing more than a round, cylindrical piece of stone jutting out from the wall. But on it, the shape of a dagger was engraved in dark green.
The Cauldron Born pressed the dagger shape with one bony finger. The dagger seemed to glow for one second, before returning to normal.
Nothing happened for several seconds. Then finally, a corridor of Darkness appeared in front of Essej and Liz. Crucion stepped through it immediately, followed after a moment by Liasa.
The two of them seemed extremely surprised to discover that their mission was already completed, and that a lowly minion such as the Cauldron Born had apparently finished it all on its own.
But Crucion did his best to hide it. "Well! It seems that the Resistance has been dealt with already! Master Serndask will be very pleased with my success."
"Excuse me?" Liasa asked, cocking an eyebrow and crossing her arms in front of her. "You had nothing to do with it."
"The master doesn't need to know that though, does he?" Crucion replied. "I hardly think that this thing will try to take the credit."
He summoned his gleaming black dagger to his hand. He walked around the prisoners and their captor, and plunged it into the stone jutting out from the wall. The dungeon door swung open immediately.
"Now if you'll just-"
Crucion was cut off. A white feather had just appeared, floating gently down from the ceiling. He and Liasa's eyes followed its progress to the floor.
They were still for several seconds of puzzled silence, looking at the feather.
At last, Liasa asked, "What the heck is this?"
"That, sweetheart, is a feather."
This voice came from the Cauldron Born, which was completely unexpected by the two of them. "And by standing there like idiots just looking at it, I think you just signed your own death cirtificates."
The two Brotherhood members looked up at the creature suddenly, mouths wide open. But they were caught unawares when a form covered in white robes suddenly dropped down from the ceiling onto Crucion, knocking him to the floor.
The stream of dark blood that was suddenly pouring from Crucion's neck was all the incentive that Liasa needed to bring her fiery swords to bear against this new deadly threat.
But suddenly the Cauldron Born's head split open, and the blue-grey form of Cryptosporidium 137 shot from it, already readying his weapon for action, and firing burning yellow projectiles at her. Only years of finely tuned reflexes enabled her to bring her weapons up to catch the shots in time.
The alien advanced toward her, firing away. Altair got up from Crucion's body, and pulled his saber from its sheath. To make matters worse for the woman, Essej and Liz's shackles fell lightly to the floor, and they rushed toward her, too.
When Essej summoned his staff to him in a flash of light, she realized that she was completely outmatched. Still blocking Crypto's shots, she began to back away from them. The instant that Crypto let up a little, she joined her swords into a large ball of fire, and shot it not at them, but the ground between them.
It was only a temporary distraction, but it worked. By the time that they looked back up, she had vanished.
"Coward." Altair muttered.
"She'll be back." Essej said. "With reinforcements." He turned around, and ran to the now open dungeon door. "The Heartless will be here very soon, let's do this."
Knowing what he had to do, Altair nodded, and ran as quickly as he could back down the hall from which they had come. Within seconds, he was out of sight.
"You know, that guy's starting to grow on me." Crypto said, stepping over the Cauldron Born who's body he had 'borrowed.' He fired a single shot into its chest without even looking. He then turned his attention to Crucion's unmoving body. "I thought this guy was going to vanish into Darkness like those Heartless freaks."
"He's still a human." Liz corrected. "Well, he was. Otherwise he and Liasa would have probably sensed Altair."
"Lucky break for us, huh?" He stretched out his hand. Crucion's body lifted into the air, and he shook it around a little. "Look, it's the world's ugliest hand-puppet!"
"Put it down." Liz ordered, looking slightly sick.
"Buzz-kill." Crypto muttered, but dropped Crucion anyway. When he did, something fell out of his pocket and onto the floor. Liz noticed it, and walked over. She bent down, and picked up a card with the number 'X' on the back.
"What's that?"
Liz was about to respond to Crypto's question, when Essej called them from the dungeon door. "Hello!"
Liz tucked the card into her pocket, and walked to the door.
Inside were a handful of people, each one of them bound in chains of Darkness, and bearing the same mysterious marks on their foreheads that blocked any special powers they had. Most of them had been sitting on the floor, but looked up at their entrance.
Surprisingly, one of the prisoners was a toddler. He was barely one foot tall, and had a strangely football-shaped head with a few dark hairs. He was wearing red overalls over a yellow shirt. Also surprisingly, he was the first one to speak, in a British accent "Well it's about bloody time! I've been sitting here in my own stew for three agonizing weeks! Now get me out of here and then change me!"
"Shut up!" Almost all of the remaining prisoners shouted, as if tired of enduring similar outbursts already.
"But in all seriousness, we'd appreciate it if ya broke us out of here." said a large, heavily-muscled red-skinned man with black hair on the sides of his head, and a beard. He wore a long, dark trench coat, and black jeans. His right forearm was larger than his left, and almost looked like it was covered by a rocky, red glove. He had two round, flat horns sprouting from his forehead, and a fluked tail.
Essej gripped his staff in both hands, and slammed the end into the ground. "Erumpo!"
Multiple, tiny balls of light shot from the head of the staff. They each flew to the spot where their chains were connecting to the wall. With a great flash of light, the chains vanished.
"Now that your hands are free, you can wipe the marks from your heads." Essej explained, "Trust me, you'll feel a lot better."
They followed his advice, and wiped the marks from their foreheads. As they did so, Essej clacked his staff more gently on the floor. This time, a large box about half his height appeared from midair in front of him, and settled on the floor. It was filled to the brim with weapons and equipment of many varieties.
"We managed to smuggle as many of your captured weapons as we could find over the course of several weeks." He said, as the prisoners stepped toward the box. "You'll probably need them soon."
"Thanks for springing us, dude." said one of the prisoners. From the sound of his voice, he couldn't have been out of his twenties. He was covered head to toe in a costume of red and blue. On his chest was a symbol that resembled a black spider, and his chest was streaked with a web pattern originating from it. His mask covered his entire head, and the only distinguishing features on it were two large, triangular white eyes. "If you're ever in Manhattan, look me up. I'll be the one swinging from buildings."
"Not that we're ungrateful, but just who are you guys?" This time, the speaker was a short, bare-chested creature about four feet high. He had a thin layer of gold fur, striped in some places with light brown. He had large, feline ears, a brown cat-like nose and tail, and green eyes.
Before Essej answered him, he found something of his in the box. "Clank!" He exclaimed, pulling out what appeared to be a small silver box with a head. He rapped it a few times on this head, and it suddenly sprang to life.
The head extended slightly, and a small antenna extended from the top. Scrawny arms with three-fingered hands emerged from its sides, and short metal legs extended from its underside. There was suddenly an eighteen inch tall robot sitting in his hand.
"So that's what that was..." Crypto said to Liz. "I'd been using it as a waste basket."
As if to confirm this, the robot Clank coughed up a paper ball.
Before anything else unexpected could happen, Essej decided to answer the last question directed at him. "My name is Essej. I used to rule this place. This is my fiance, Liz. And my... friend... Crypto."
After giving them an extremely brief history on the Brotherhood and their intentions, the others introduced themselves. The toddler was Stewie Griffin, of Quohog. The large red creature was Hellboy, of Tarmagant. The costumed man was Spider-Man, of Manhattan. The short, furred creature was Ratchet, of Veldin. His highly intelligent robotic friend was Clank.
But these five weren't the only prisoners. There were a few more being held in this particular dungeon. There was a tall, lanky teenager of about seventeen. He had unruly jet black hair, striking green eyes, glasses, and a lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead. He wore a set of black and scarlet robes. He introduced himself as Harry Potter of Godric's Hollow, and for some reason seemed extremely relieved to discover that they'd never heard of him.
There was another costumed man in the room. He was tall, with a dark grey shirt and pants. He had reached into the box and put on a belt with at least a dozen pouches on it, which contained various instruments. He was wearing a long black cape that was spiked at the ends. A black mask covered the top half of his face. It had two pointed 'ears' on the top, and white eyeholes. On his chest was a bat shape. He introduced himself as Batman of Gotham City, and left it at that.
There was a tall, anthropomorphic raccoon. He was wearing a tight, dark blue sweater, gloves, shoes, and cap. His eyes were covered by an actual black mask, displaying only amber eyes. He had a belt on with a buckle that resembled a raccoon's face. He was holding a cane in one hand that was topped with a gold 'C' shape. His name was Sly Cooper, and he said he was a Master Thief.
The cell's final occupant was perhaps the strangest. He was barely taller than Stewie, but shorter than Crypto. He had wrinkled, deep green skin, with a small amount of grey hair on his head. He had pointed ears, and wise, knowing green eyes that seemed as old as time itself. He had three-fingered hands, and three-toed bare feet. He was wearing a raggedy old home-spun robe of dull brown.
He introduced himself last. He hobbled forward, and gazed up into Essej's face. Then he said, in strange broken English, "Yoda, I am. And my gratitude, you have earned." He gave them a low bow. Then, with a small gesture, he summoned a small cylindrical device from the box to his hand. He clipped it to the tiny belt around his waist.
"Uh, nice to meet you, Yoda." Essej replied, casting a sidelong glance at Liz. He hadn't seen anything like that little trick since Nehrut and his family.
As if picking up on his train of thought, Yoda smiled, revealing slightly pointed teeth, and chuckled. It was a surprisingly comforting gesture. "Wondering are you, of the power I command?"
"We're wasting time standing around like this." Batman interrupted, getting down to the matter at hand. "If you have a plan, I think it's time we heard it."
"Right." Essej agreed. "Well, long story short, we need a certain Gummi ship engine part to get on and off this world, and we need to get one from the garage, and get it out of here. We'll bring it to our allies on the outside and wait for them to reverse engineer it and send reinforcements."
"Why don't we just all escape with one right now?" Harry asked, spotting a serious complication in the plan that Essej had already noticed.
"Because there aren't enough ships to get all of us out. So only one of us will leave with the part and a hijacked ship to the outside. The rest of us will stand a better chance together, but we have a protected area on world where we'll be safe until help gets here to finish the Brotherhood for good."
"Makes some sense, I guess." Sly conceded. "But who's the lucky pilot?"
"He and three of our other friends are creating a distraction in the hanger itself. They're destroying most of the ships so we can't be followed into space." Liz explained.
"So let's stop hanging around here and go get the freaking part!" Crypto practically shouted, sick of the waiting. "Every second we waste here is one more second that the others are closer to dying."
"Yeah. Let's get a move on! I'm sick of this place." Ratchet exclaimed, hefting a large projectile weapon that he had pulled from the box. Clank had turned into some kind of backpack/jetpack device on his back, though he still maintained control of his head, and kept trying to get a better view.
"Well, this feels familiar." He said, as Ratchet strapped him onto his back.
As they walked out of the room, Hellboy stopped, and looked down from his great height at the diminutive Yoda. "You need a lift, pops?"
"Welcome, assistance is." Yoda agreed, hobbling toward him. "My thanks, you have."
With his normal hand, Hellboy lifted Yoda onto his shoulder. He was even lighter than he looked.
Essej was the first one out of the room. He almost wished that he hadn't been, because Heartless were charging down the hall toward the dungeon.
Facing them, Essej banged his staff against the ground. "Ventus!"
A large gust of air flew from him, scattering the Heartless and tossing them back down the hall.
"Liz, where's the garage again?"
"Below the hanger, down this hall."
"Right through the Heartless." Crypto muttered. "Of course."
Essej led the way down the hall, with Liz and Crypto flanking him on either side. The escapees followed close behind them, also watching their flank. As Crypto blasted holes through a Large Body, Ratchet came up next to him. "Save a few targets for the rest of us, huh?"
"You snooze, you loose, kitty."
But Ratchet took some added incentive. He had drawn three weapons from the box. The one he was holding right now was a small, hand-held pistol-like weapon. The metallic casing covered a glowing orange power pack. When Ratchet pulled the trigger, a tennis-ball sized blast of energy flew from the end at the Heartless, taking them out very quickly.
Soon, Crypto and Ratchet got into a contest on who could destroy the most Heartless, while Clank kept score.
"You guys mind?" Hellboy interrupted them. "You're throwing off my own count."
He was shooting into the Heartless using the single largest gun that Essej had ever seen. It was an oversized revolver, which was firing off several shots per second. They tore into the Heartless ranks, throwing them into confusion as the group of twelve advanced down the hallway.
Fairly soon, the narrow hallway opened up into a large room. Like the entrance hall of the castle, this one was lined with crystal structures on the walls, and on the top was a large crystal chandelier similar to the one in the meeting room. Heartless and Nobodies were waiting there for them.
With more space, Spider-Man leapt completely over everyone's heads, and shot out his arm toward the ceiling. A long stream of an unknown sticky substance shot from the inside of his wrist, and stuck to the ceiling. He swung on this very firm strand of web, over the throng of creatures, and stuck to the opposite wall.
He stretched out his hand, and shot the same substance at the enemies in the form of bullet-like projectiles.
Liz rushed into them with Sly Cooper. The raccoon had said that he was a thief, but that apparently didn't mean that he was a slouch in combat. Essej watched as he ducked and weaved around any attacks from his opponents with a kind of fluid grace, and then struck with the head of his cane whenever he saw an opening in their defenses.
Harry Potter hung back near the prince. He wondered why for a moment, before he saw that Harry was holding what appeared to be a magic wand. He was firing spells into the creatures with flourishes, jabs, and other wand movements that had a kind of elegance to them.
Bursts of light of varying colors shot from his wand into the Heartless and Nobodies. He couldn't exactly understand his kind of magic, but he picked out the phrase, 'Stupify' more than a few times.
The caped man called Batman also hung back for a moment. He reached into one of the pouches on his utility belt, and pulled out a handful of small projectile weapons, throwing them one by one at the Heartless and Nobodies. They whistled through the air, cutting through the creatures, and came back to him if they never became imbedded in the walls.
When they turned their attention directly to him, he met their assault with one of his own, demonstrating remarkable martial arts skills.
A shocking memory he knew he'd remember for the rest of his life was when Stewie Griffin pulled two blasters from the pockets of his little overalls. He rushed into the mob, firing blue bolts of energy into the creatures that dared come near him. His little legs were a blur.
They were all in the thick of the fighting now, all except for Yoda, who was still sitting on Hellboy's shoulder. His eyes were closed, but not out of fear. He actually looked very serene.
Suddenly, the small creature's eyes snapped open, and Essej was shocked at the pure, blazing determination in them. He leapt from Hellboy's shoulder, and high into the air. When he reached the peak of his ascent, the small, cylindrical device from before appeared in his hand. With a 'snap-hiss' noise, a bright green blade made of pure concentrated energy appeared.
When Yoda descended, he landed on the shoulder of a Large Body. Before Essej could even blink, Yoda had taken its head off with one clean strike of the blade. Then, before the Heartless even realized that it was dead, Yoda had leapt off of it, cutting through a Dragoon, and landing in a circle of Neoshadows.
They lashed out at him at the same time, easily allowing Yoda to behead them all with one quick flourish of his blade. Before any others could even come close to him, he had leapt into the air again. When he landed, he impaled a Berserker Nobody that had been causing Batman trouble, and rushed through the combat, taking down Heartless or Nobodies with every swing of his blade.
It was a truly amazing spectacle from all involved, but Essej knew it wouldn't matter if they couldn't reach the garage soon.
Guys, just give us a few more minutes, alright?
!
The fighting in the hanger was almost more intense than that on the lower floor. Takuya, Mina, Max, and Altair were battling among a long row of Gummi ships, most of which were now in states of varying disrepair. Only one was still untouched.
Takuya leapt over the smoking hull of a small red and black ship. As he landed on its other side, he beheaded an Invisible, and ducked under a Darkball that shot at his head.
An arrow whizzed over his head, directly into the Heartless that had missed, and Takuya flashed a smile over at Mina, who smiled back before returning to action.
They'd been doing this for several minutes, and he thought it very odd that none of the Brotherhood's senior members had actually come to face them yet.
He cursed himself when three of them rushed into the room. He only recognized the one in the lead: A man with long silver hair and a black angel wing. He drew his very long sword as he entered the carnage calmly.
He didn't know the two behind him, but he guessed that they were the two new members that Altair had reported during his recons. One was a lightly armored woman with blue hair, carrying a pair of gleaming battle axes. The other was a teenager with spiked blonde hair, carrying a strange spear.
The three walked calmly into the combat, the Heartless and Nobodies scattering to clear paths for them. The boy -Xyran- rushed toward Max, spinning his spear over his head with one hand, as one of Xaldin's lances appeared in his free one. The woman -Cossex- ran toward the place where Altair and Mina were fending off a pair of Invisibles.
Sephiroth took up a fighting stance, gripping his blade primarily in his left hand, and shot above the ground toward Takuya.
He covered the distance so quickly that he was barely able to bring his own blade up in time to block the strike. As it was, when Musamune collided with Ryuumaru, Takuya was only forced back a small distance.
Takuya had been eagerly looking forward to this fight ever since he'd heard of Sephiroth's reputation. So naturally, he had a smart-aleck remark already prepared. "That's a really long sword... Compensating for something?"
He saw just a brief flicker of anger in the older man's face, before it was snuffed out and replaced by his usual cold, arrogant demeanor. Sephiroth threw his blade off of his with a single movement, and immediately followed up with a rapid flurry of attacks.
With the blade's long reach, Sephiroth had a small advantage over Takuya. He was able to hang back several more feet than he could, and still lash out at his opponent. But Takuya had other advantages.
Whether he actually wanted to use them or not.
"Takuya." Came the deep, mesmerizing voice, unbidden from the very back of his subconscious, nearly unnoticed.
Takuya gritted his teeth, and focused on the fight he had on his hands, ignoring the voice of the spirit in his mind.
Xyran's two weapons spun in complex patterns through the air. One blade would always compensate for the other. While one blocked one of Max's fairly predictable strikes, the other would fly forward to attack.
The dog-person teenager was forced to give ground under the impressive display of skill, rapidly backing away across the floor and going on the defensive. This new recruit was attacking extremely quickly.
Just as he thought this, Xyran landed a hit on his leg, leaving a narrow gash on his calf. With a cry of pain, Max fell backwards onto the hard floor, his sword falling from his grasp and landing two feet out of his reach.
But for a moment, Xyran hesitated. His opponent was down, unarmed, and injured. And now he was expected to finish the job that he'd started.
He regretted his split second of uncertainty when Max's uninjured leg shot up, catching him in the jaw, and sending him stumbling backwards. The determined, still undefeated teenager rushed to his sword, and got back to his feet, striking at Xyran's head.
The Nobody was just in time to block the attack with Lexaeus's tomahawk. He stabbed forward with the spear, narrowly missing Max a second time.
Mina was backing quickly away from the advancing Cossex, firing her arrows in pairs. Each one of them was cut in half in midair before they could get within a foot of her skin. The pieces fell uselessly to the ground, and she simply ran over them, continuing toward her with axes raised.
After Mina had unsuccessfully fired eight arrows out of the dozens in her quiver, Cossex was upon her, bringing both axes down toward her head. Mina lifted her bow, its magically reinforced handle meeting the axes without causing any damage.
She was just able to throw the older woman's weapons off of hers, and leap backwards to avoid her follow up strike. She fired another arrow, which Cossex almost casually ducked under.
She ran toward her again, but was almost immediately blocked by Altair. The assassin had come out of nowhere as he often tended to do, and struck at her face with his saber. The Nobody wove to the side of the attack, losing only a lock of her hair in the process.
The assassin pointed his blade at her, inviting her to attack him. She accepted readily enough, rushing toward him with axe blades spinning.
Altair met her blades with his own, displaying superb swordsmanship. He never showed a trace of fear as the axes came within inches of taking his life. In fact, neither one of the combatants showed any emotion at all as their deadly weapons flew all over the place.
Altair was the first to disengage, leaping backwards. The second his feet touched the ground, he drew a throwing knife from his belt, and threw it at the woman. One of the broad axe blades intercepted the weapon, sending it flying into the wall, where it stuck.
Cossex closed the distance between them again quickly, but not before Altair drew a foot-long blade from a sheath on his back, and held it in his off hand. Now with two weapons on each side, the fighting was fiercer than even before.
Theoretically, the odds would have tilted against Cossex's favor when Mina started firing arrows at her, but this wasn't quite so. The two were moving so quickly that she had often come as close to hitting Altair as she did Cossex.
Deciding that Altair would probably stand a better chance without her interference, she turned her sights to Sephiroth. The hanger had emptied of Heartless and Nobodies, as they kept getting in the Brotherhood's way.
She had rarely seen Takuya really strain himself in combat (she had sparred against him plenty of times, herself) but it was clear that Sephiroth was pushing him to his very limits and then some. His hair was dripping with sweat. But what was more disturbing was that Sephiroth wasn't so much as breathing heavily.
Taking very, very careful aim from behind the shredded remains of a sub-light engine from a green Gummi ship, she fired at Sephiroth.
She gasped loudly when Sephiroth casually altered the path of his blade, smacking the arrow aside even as he blocked Takuya's overhead blow. The older swordsman's eyes flickered over to the direction the arrow had come from, and spotted Mina immediately as she readied another pair of arrows.
Takuya showed a tiny bit of fear, at which Sephiroth smiled. "So... Is she important to you? Because she's also an easy target."
Without further warning, Sephiroth leapt away from Takuya, and sped toward Mina, gliding a few feet over the ground.
Time seemed to slow down for the next several seconds as Sephiroth closed the distance between himself and Mina. She fired a pair of her arrows, both of which narrowly missed his head. Max and Altair were able to take advantage of a brief pause in the fighting to gape, horrified at what would be certain death.
As Takuya rushed after Sephiroth (but not nearly fast enough to catch him, as he knew) the voice he had heard in his head from before spoke to him again.
"You need my help!"
I can do this without you!
"No you cannot, and you know it." It shot back. "Do you want to save her or not!"
...Yes.
"Then let me in!"
Reluctantly, the young man closed his eyes, and several things happened at once with a flash of green light. Emerald green, reptilian wings sprouted from his back, near his shoulder blades. A thick green tail with bony black spikes at the tip emerged from his lower back. His hands bulged slightly, turning a deep green color, and growing black claws. When he opened his eyes, they were both green, with slitted black pupils.
Takuya's speed suddenly quadrupled, and he dashed completely past Sephiroth. He came to a stop right in front of Mina. Using his newly acquired tail, he pushed her gently backwards, farther away from Sephiroth.
Ryuumaru came up to intercept the blade originally intended for his girlfriend, and Sephiroth looked surprised for once.
"Don't you dare touch her!" Takuya shouted into Sephiroth's face. There was an odd undercurrent to the voice that almost sounded like another, deeper voice was speaking with him. But it was barely noticeable, and only Sephiroth seemed to hear it.
With a single move, Takuya pinned Sephiroth's long blade to the ground. His spiked tail shot forward, hitting Sephiroth in the chest, and sending him flying backwards.
The swordsman was able to regain his footing, but Takuya wasn't about to give him any time or room to breathe. He rushed forward, new wings flapping, and struck at his neck. He was barely able to turn the attack to the side, and then found the blade clipping his shoulder.
Takuya disengaged his blade from Sephiroth's, and delivered a very powerful kick into his stomach, sending him flying backwards. He skidded across the ground several feet, losing his sword in the process.
Seeing their partner in mortal danger, Cossex and Xyran leapt away from their opponents as quickly as they could, and rushed to intercept Takuya as he flew at Sephiroth again.
Xyran summoned Vexen's shield, and blocked Ryuumaru as it fell toward Sephiroth's neck. At the same moment, Cossex leapt at Takuya's back, bringing both axes to bear.
Takuya beat his wings once, hard, shooting into the air, and leaving an empty space between the two Nobodies. In midair, he flourished his hand, covering it in emerald fire. He thrust his hand downward, throwing a fireball into the space he had just occupied.
It exploded upon striking the floor, throwing the three Brotherhood members across the room.
Xyran and Cossex landed on their feet, and gazed up at Takuya, impressed.
"This is going to be fun, I know it." Xyran commented, grinning.
"Try to take this seriously, would you?" Cossex muttered.
As had become habit over the past few days of their partnership, he ignored her warning. He shot into the air, holding Edge of the Storm in his right hand, and Marluxia's scythe in the left. Cossex sighed in irritation, and followed him.
Xyran reached the human-dragon hybrid first, striking horizontally at his head. Takuya blocked it with astonishing speed, and stabbed at his stomach. Xyran was just barely able to weave to the side in time to avoid getting a hole cut through his chest.
Cossex reached his side, striking simultaneously with her axes, aiming at Takuya's neck and waist. He made a quick motion with his own blade, parrying her attack, and then striking at Xyran's head, once again missing by mere centimeters.
The younger Nobody blocked another attack with his spear, and replaced the scythe in his other hand with Lexaeus's tomahawk again. He imbibed it with electricity, and delivered a vicious overhand chop with it, while striking upward with his spear. Takuya shot backwards to avoid it, causing him to almost hit Cossex with his attack.
The female Nobody chased after Takuya in midair, advancing with her blades spinning all around her, forming a moving wall of deadly metal. But Takuya blocked every blow, refusing to give ground.
Seeing she was getting nowhere, she was forced to fall back onto a tactic that she'd hoped to avoid using. She moved away from him, and thrust her hands out. "Mind Crush!"
The effect was instantaneous. Takuya clutched at his skull, dropping his blade, and falling to the ground. He was doing all he could to keep a scream from escaping his lips.
Immediately, Max, Altair, and Mina rushed toward him, hoping to help him escape whatever hold Cossex had on him. Unfortunately, by the time they all got within three feet of him, they had all fallen under the same spell. They collapsed onto the ground, holding their heads. Max and Mina couldn't help but scream.
Cossex and Xyran landed, looking pitifully down on their other side. That was when Sephiroth walked toward the incapacitated beings, bruised and battered. He gripped Musamune in his left hand, and raised it high over his head. Xyran realized what was happening, and reacted right away, without really thinking about it.
He rushed forward, clutching the tomahawk in one hand. He swung, catching Sephiroth in the side of the head with its flat end.
He flew sideways, never knowing what had hit him.
Xyran's jaw dropped. Had he really just done that? Had he just attacked a superior officer, and defied an implied order from Serndask? One look at Cossex, and he understood that he had.
"Ah, crap." He muttered.
He half expected Cossex to turn on him and attack him for aiding their targets. But she shocked him (as much as a Nobody could be shocked) when she merely glanced at Sephiroth's inert form. She prodded it with her boot tip, and got no response.
Then, what (sort-of) shocked him even more was when she released her hold on Takuya, Mina, Max, and Altair. They stopped their agonized noises and motions. Takuya's wings, claws, and tail had receded back into his body, and he crouched where he was, panting heavily.
He looked up, and the others did the same, meeting the eyes of the apparent enemies who had actually saved their lives. Xyran traded a brief look with Cossex, who nodded.
He looked Takuya in the eye, and raised a finger to his lips. He winked, and fell over backwards, not moving again. Cossex rolled her eyes, and laid down on the ground, spread-eagle, but not before gouging the wall behind her a few times with her axe blades.
Takuya gaped, open mouthed at the two 'unconscious' Nobodies, wondering what in the worlds had just happened.
"I didn't know that Nobodies had consciences." Mina said.
Xyran 'regained consciousness' just long enough to reply, "If it weren't for the handful of us who did, nothing would exist right now."
Takuya was going to demand more information, when the sounds of fighting very close by interrupted his train of thought. The heavily reinforced metal doors leading from the hallway into the hanger burst open, and flew into the room.
Liz rushed in, cradling a flat, square-shaped mechanical part to her chest carefully, as though it could break at any moment. She was quickly followed by Stewie Griffin, Harry Potter, and Sly Cooper, like a guard of honor. The four of them ran over to meet the newcomers.
"Get it in the ship!" Max exclaimed, leading Liz over to the only undamaged ship in the room. It was a fairly small, one-man crew Gummi ship. It was dark blue, with four thick black stripes running down its hull. It was sleek, and triangular in shape, with a slightly black-tinted cockpit window.
Max leapt onto it, and manually opened the cockpit. He carefully took the engine part from Liz, and set it in one of the empty seats, fastening it in place with one of the safety belts.
"Crap!" came Crypto's voice from the doorway, just barely discernable over the sounds of a massive fight in the hall behind him. "My saucer's not here! These punks must have moved it!"
"You can worry about it later Greeny!" Hellboy reprimanded, backing into the hanger, as well.
Crypto's jaw dropped, and he glared. "You did not just call me green!"
"We'll discuss this later, alright!" Spider-Man shouted at them from the hallway. He, Essej, Ratchet, Batman, and Yoda were still holding off numerous attackers. Takuya could pick out the somewhat-familiar voices of Ruxik and Xaynew among them.
They entered the hanger, still fighting. The second they were all inside, Essej tapped his staff on the ground, and shouted, "Defendo!"
A semi-transparent barrier now covered the doorway. For a brief instant, those inside could see Ruxik, Larxene, Zira, and Andmox attempting to follow them. Then, Yoda slammed the emergency blast doors down over it with a thought.
"That won't hold them too long." Essej said quickly, running toward the ship. Max was now sitting in the cockpit, preparing all of its systems for a quick takeoff. He clacked his staff onto the ground again, and a black duffel bag appeared. He tossed it to Max, who caught it.
"What's in here? It's kind of heavy."
"Just give that to Nehrut the first chance you get. It's really important, but please don't look in it." He explained. "It's for his eyes only."
"This too." Liz said, as if just remembering. She reached into her pocket, and pulled out a card. She handed it to him.
"Ooooh, mysterious." Stewie said, his eyes rolling, and his voice dripping with sarcasm. "You know, maybe instead of playing 'James Bond' you could work out a way to get through the freaking hanger door!"
"Please God, not another psycho midget..." Mina muttered. Crypto looked at her, scowling.
Max grabbed the control vein of his new ship, and pressed two conveniently located buttons on the top. Large packets of dark green energy burst from the cannons mounted in the underbelly, ripping through the huge metal doors that prevented it from leaving the hanger without permission. The result was a large, smoking hole that was just large enough for the small ship to fit through.
He looked back down on them all. "Please be careful while I'm gone..."
"Aren't we always?" Takuya replied with a grin.
"You just worry about getting that stuff to Nehrut and the Keybearers," Essej said,"and getting past any Heartless ships up there."
"Yeah, kid." Crypto agreed. "It'd be a shame for you to get yourself blown up after all this crap we've gone through."
"Yeah, I'll miss you, too, Crypto." Max said, rolling his eyes. But he smiled at them all, anyway. "Salus Pax Pacis."
"Safety and Peace." The original Resistance members (even Crypto) responded.
Max closed the cockpit up, and and ship lifted a few feet into the air five seconds later. He gave them one last wave as he took off through the hole in the hanger door, just barely scraping against the side on the way out.
The fifteen he had left behind watched him go for a moment, before the blast door leading to the hall buckled behind them.
"Let's move." Takuya said quickly.
"Move where?" Harry asked.
"This is probably the most risky part..." Essej admitted. "But you'll just have to trust me on this."
"We just bloody met you!" Stewie protested.
"The young prince, you must listen to." Yoda interjected, silencing Stewie immediately. Apparently, the old alien had become something of an authority figure to the prisoners during their incarceration together, because nobody looked about to argue with him.
Essej ran toward the hole that Max had just used, and leapt through it. This astonished everybody, because the hanger was on the eighth floor.
But, without question, Liz, Takuya, Mina, Altair, and Crypto went after him immediately. Yoda was right behind them. Reluctantly, the other escapees followed his example. Hellboy was the last one out, and he heard the door blow open behind him.
They plummeted toward the ground from at least three-hundred feet in the air. Essej pointed the head of his staff at the ground. He shouted over the rushing air, "Macero!"
His staff flashed very briefly, but that was apparently all that happened. They continued hurtling toward the ground at high speed, and most of them were starting to believe they had made a mistake.
But, when Essej hit the ground, he found himself completely unharmed. As did the people who landed seconds later.
Ratchet got to his feet, Clank trying to adjust his view on his back. "What was that?"
"I cushioned the ground before we landed." Essej explained. "Now let's get out of here before they follow us! We'll be safe back at our base."
They all took off at a run down the hill on which the palace stood, breaking toward Salusis. But Yoda stayed behind for a moment. He looked up into the sky, at the tiny fading star that must have been Max's ship. Then, he looked at the still-smoking hole in the hanger door.
"May the Force be with us all..."
!
Max took off through the sky in his new ship. It handled better than he could have ever hoped. Altair had stolen a set of blueprints for all the Brotherhood's ships so that they could identify the best one for their escape, and they had chosen this beauty.
Max had spent hours poring over its schematics, and it was paying off now. He had cleared the world's atmosphere in two short minutes.
The blackness of space, dotted with thousands of bright stars greeted him immediately. He smiled to himself, loving that familiar view. As soon as he could, he activated the communications equipment, calling a familiar frequency.
"PJ?" He called. "You there, man?"
Only crackling static answered his call.
"Repeat: PJ? Are you there?"
He tried this over and over again for the next few minutes, greeted only by static each time. He was about to give up, when he finally got an answer.
"Max? Is that you, man!"
Max sighed in relief, grinning. "Yeah, it's me, dude."
"Alright! I've been waiting for weeks!"
"I know, dude. Sorry to keep you waiting, but I have what we came for."
"Excellent! Same rendezvous point as last time, man?"
"Yeah. I'll see you in a few hours. Max out."
"Alright man." The connection went silent.
!
"Status."
Serndask had just entered the destroyed hanger, obscured by his Darkness as always. He casually blasted aside a piece of a Gummi ship wing that was in his way. Andmox was standing by a large hole that had been blown in the blast door, which was only now beginning to cool.
Andmox bowed his head at his master's approach. He grimaced. "They got away. It looks like one of them stole a ship and used it to escape. Our fighters went in pursuit, but he's already jumped out of the system."
"What of the others?"
"They ran out through here." He inclined his head toward the massive hole. "Ruxik and his gang went after them, but I don't think they'll catch them."
Serndask turned around, and saw Sephiroth, Xyran, and Cossex sitting on the ground, all of them nursing injuries. The Horned King stood over them, apparently working some form of healing magic on them. Zira was examining them more closely, perhaps using her own animal instinct to understand their health problems more intimately.
"What happened to them?"
"They said they fought a group of the Resistance members." Andmox reported. "Sephiroth looks like he took a heck of a beating, and was out cold when we found him. But Cossex and the kid looked a lot better, and were just coming out of it when we got here."
Liasa and Klaxam walked in, looking a bit worried. "Status."
"One of the dark matter warp engine attatchments is missing from the garage." Klaxam said.
"And Crucion is dead." Liasa added. "That assassin got him. But, at least it was quick."
"Is there anything left of him?" Serndask asked.
The question caught Liasa off-guard, but she answered, "Yeah. It was his throat. I left him down in the dungeon."
Serndask looked back at Andmox, though on the outside, nobody would have been able to tell. "Take his body to the labs."
It was an unexpected order, but one that Andmox followed without question, just like the good soldier he was.
"Everyone get out." Serndask ordered his Brotherhood. Hearing the barely surppressed anger in his voice, all of them left the hanger immediately.
Serndask waited a full minute after they left. Then, he screamed at the top of his lungs, and blasted the entire hanger door open with pure Darkness.
!
So, count this as a win for the good guys!
And, I can already hear people asking why I included all of those particular characters in the dungeon. Well, we need more fighters for good, first off. But the selection process consisted of little more than a hat and a few slips of paper…
Review, please!