I'm on vacation, YAY! And E3 happened, Double YAAAAAAY! Life is looking up again!
Nehrut: "We like video games here. Can you tell? Anyway, here's more Midgar, and once again DK doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Square Enix, or anything else."
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Chapter 122: Brothers of Sephiroth
Looking at 7th Heaven, Sora thought it looked a little more like a small fortress than a bar. It was a two-story building with thick-looking metal walls. The door was the only thing made of wood, and it too, looked very thick. There were two relatively small windows on the first floor, and another three (smaller ones) on the second. The sign with the bar's name on it was in the middle of the second story.
Tifa unlocked the door, and led the group of sixteen inside.
"Hold it!" A voice with a heavy Scottish accent cried out when Tifa turned the lights on. "Oh, it's just you lot."
Stepping inside, Sora saw that the bar was empty, save for them, and two others. One was Marlene, who was sitting on a chair at the bar. The other was sitting on the bar itself.
The one who had spoken was a cat. This cat was mostly grey, with a white stomach and lower face. It was wearing a small red cape, white gloves, and a tiny crown.
"A cat..." Riku began.
"Technically a robot, but for all intents and purposes yeah, a cat." Barret confirmed.
"Aye, I be Cait Sith." The cat said, springing from the bar, and onto Rude's shoulder. "And you must be the Keyblade Master and his friends, would I be right?"
"You'd be right." Sora said.
Tifa waited until everybody was inside and then locked the door back up again, tucking the key securely into a pouch in her skirt. She then walked across the room, and stepped behind the bar. "Can I get anybody a drink? For the record, I have non-alcoholic stuff back here."
Axel was at the bar in about two seconds. "Whatever ale you've got back there, I want it."
Tifa laughed, and reached below the counter, reappearing with a glass, and a bottle of the ale. Sora took a moment to examine the interior of the bar. It was a roomy enough setting. There were several tables, and a few booths lining the walls. Two doorways were set in the back wall. There were several framed pictures surrounding them. Many of them displayed the reconstruction of the city, as well as the warriors all around them.
Moments later, everybody was seated comfortably at the bar. "So, Tifa." Sora finally asked. "You find Cloud yet?"
"Not yet." She replied with a hint of sadness. "But I'm starting to think that he might be back here, on the Planet."
"Why do you think that?" Nehrut asked, taking a sip of some cola Tifa had given him.
"Like I told Sora before, Light is easy to find." She replied with a small smile. "I just feel that he's here somewhere. I'm waiting until he shows himself. He always does, eventually."
"No kidding." Sora chuckled, remembering how unexpectedly Cloud had come to his aid during the battle for Radiant Garden. A Morning Star had been about to crush him, and suddenly he had rushed in to save him.
"So what's been happening in the old neighborhood lately, guys?" Axel asked, after taking a big swig of his ale. "You trying to rebuild after what Sephiroth did?"
"AVALANCHE and the local authorities have been working on repairs to the city." Rude answered.
"It's been slow going lately, since the Heartless have been acting up a little." Zack said. "But, we're making definite progress."
"Could somebody please explain what AVALANCHE is?" Kairi asked.
"It was an underground anti-ShinRa operation." Barret replied. "We acted against the old ShinRa corporation, which tore the planet apart."
"Along with Sephiroth and the Heartless, when they showed themselves." Red XIII added.
"The Planet was dying from their influence." Vincent said. "The company corrupted the Lifestream, and slaved it to their own will. People's lives were better, but the Planet was being destroyed."
"What does AVALANCHE stand for?" Kairi asked.
"And what's the Lifestream?" Riku added.
"AVALANCHE is the Alliance to Vindicate All Life And Neutralize Communal Home Endangerment." Zack answered. "And before you say anything, we know the 'communal home' part sounds a little weird, but otherwise it doesn't spell anything."(1)
"And the Lifestream is the life-blood of the Planet, laddie." Cait Sith said. "It keeps the Planet alive, and allows it to give life to everything on the surface. It's also where we who live here go when we die."
"ShinRa was harnessing the Lifestream to power cities like Midgar." Axel finished with a grimace. "Rude and I used to be two of their grunts."
"But let me guess, you betrayed them?" Riku said.
"Uh, yeah."
"Shocker." Riku smirked.
"Ha ha ha." Axel rolled his eyes. "See if I ever open up to you guys again."
"Do you think this ShinRa corporation is responsible for the Heartless activity?" Sora asked.
"Not likely." Vincent said. "Sephiroth and his Heartless did away with most of ShinRa's forces during the attack that destroyed the Planet the first time. Whatever was left, we took care of when the world was restored."
"But you said that Sephiroth was in the Brotherhood now, didn't you?" Barret said to Bariss.
"I'm afraid so. Serndask seemed to hold him in pretty high regard. More so than Ruxik, which is troubling."
"There's a reason for that." Sora murmured. "That guy's in a league all his own. I barely beat him last time, and even then, he hardly seemed to have been hurt."
He looked at his feet. "I think that he might have actually let me win."
"I hear you." Zack agreed. "The guy stabbed me in the chest once. I don't need to tell you that that blade really hurts."
"So do we look for him, or what?" Kairi asked.
"If Sephiroth doesn't want to be found, you won't find him." Vincent said.
"We have to wait for him to come to us." Tifa agreed reluctantly.
"I really, really don't like the sound of that." Yuffie grimaced.
"We don't have a choice." Rude replied.
"We'll stay here in the bar. Three of us'll stay on watch duty at any given time, and we'll take turns for shifts." Zack said. Sora was beginning to see him as something of the leader of the group. "Any volunteers for the first hour?"
"I'll do it." Vincent offered.
"Me, too." Yuffie said.
"I'm in." Riku agreed.
Riku and Yuffie followed Vincent upstairs, and up onto the roof after the others bid them goodnight.
Tifa led the rest of them to the bedrooms up on the second floor of the bar. There were only four small rooms, so the ones that weren't staying in the crowded bedrooms were on the chairs or tables below in the bar.
Sora and Kairi were in the smallest of the rooms. They were sharing it with Nehrut and Bariss, who had already fallen asleep on the pile of blankets on the carpeted floor. Bariss was leaning on Nehrut's shoulder, and he had one of his hands on hers.
Sora chuckled at the sight. "Any day now." he said.
He looked down at Kairi, who wore a thoughtful expression. "This Sephiroth... Is he really that strong?"
Reluctantly, he answered, "Yeah."
She sighed, and laid her head on Sora's chest. "We'd better be well-rested then."
!
The night passed without incident. The following morning was grey, the bleak clouds above threatening rain.
7th Heaven didn't open until nine o'clock, which meant that the team still had about an hour until any patrons arrived. Tifa had already had a modest breakfast of ham and eggs ready for everybody as they came down to the bar area.
When Zack, Axel, and Rude (who had comprised the last watch of the night) walked down into the bar after the rest of them, Sora emerged from his plate of eggs. "Did you guys see anything last night?"
"Nothing at all." Rude answered.
"I don't like this." Mickey said, sitting at a table with Vincent and Cait Sith. "If Sephiroth is as ruthless as you guys said, then why hasn't he made his move yet?"
"Sephiroth is as smart as he is strong." Vincent answered. "If he had planned on attacking last night, he may have seen the sentries, and decided to buy his time."
"Aye, he's a clever man." Cait Sith admitted. "But he migh' just want to see us sweat for a wee bit before moving."
"I hate enemies like that." Riku muttered.
Having to wait for an enemy to attack was never an easy thing to do. For several minutes, they all sat there, chewing absently away at their breakfast.
Nehrut looked up suddenly, as though he had heard an unusual noise from far-off.
Sora knew him well enough to recognize the gesture for what it was by now. Cautiously, he asked, "What is it?"
"Everybody down!" Riku shouted quickly, having smelled what Nehrut had sensed at the same instant.
A telepathic shove brought everybody in the bar flying out of their chairs, and crashing ungracefully to the ground. Less than one second later, the windows were shattered by a hail of bullets.
Dozens of bullets sped into the room, sending the window glass flying, and smacking into the walls. Several picture frames were cracked or dislodged, and glasses and containers on shelves behind the bar were shattered. Their contents spilled to the ground.
None of them were injured, though Marlene was whimpering a little. Sora placed a comforting hand on her head. "It's going to be alright. Don't worry."
Three separate voices were heard laughing when the gunfire stopped a few seconds later. A slightly high-pitched voice called out, "Can the Keybearers come out to play?"
"That's not Sephiroth." Tifa said quietly.
Slowly, Sora crawled toward the door, and the others followed suit. As they did, whoever was outside continued speaking. "This doesn't have to be difficult. Just stand down, and we'll take you to our master. He's really eager to see you all, and we'd really hate to disappoint him."
"We won't disappoint him."
"He'll disappoint him." Riku muttered. He and Sora were crouched on either side of the door. Each of them held a Keyblade in his right hand. Sora nodded to Riku, and the Guardian appeared. It immediately smashed through the door, with Riku following right behind it.
As expected, the shooting started again, but the bullets bounced harmlessly off of the Guardian. Everyone else poured out after it, weapons ready.
The shooting abruptly stopped, and Sora finally saw their attackers standing in the middle of the otherwise abandoned street.
They could best be described as looking like Sephiroth's brothers. Each one had silver hair, and green eyes. They all wore identical black coats and body suits. The muscled one to the right had an unusual weapon fastened to his left arm. The one on the right held a strange gun (he was the only one who hadn't dropped his). And the middle one held a double-bladed katana.
This middle one held his weapon in his left hand. He stepped forward with a cool smile, and glinting eyes. His gaze settled on Sora. Sora recognized his voice as the one that had spoken while they were still inside. "You're the one he wants most." He extended his gloved hand. "Come on. We don't want to keep him waiting too long, or he'll get upset."
"And nobody's happy when that happens." The big man added. "Come on. Let's go."
"You're joking..." Sora began. "Who are you guys?"
"I'm Kadaj." The middle one said. "These are my brothers, Loz," He gestured toward the big one. "And Yazoo." A nod toward the other one. "We exist only to please our master, and we're here for you. Now come with us, we won't ask again."
"Who is your 'master?'" Zack asked, though everyone had already guessed at the correct answer.
"The one we serve is our elder brother, Sephiroth." Yazoo answered in a slightly dreamy voice. His weapon was aimed directly at Zack's chest. Sora had an uneasy feeling that he was very, very accurate with it. "If we can't do that, then nothing else matters."
"Boy, you guys have some serious hero worship issues, don't you?" Nehrut commented.
"Shut up!" Kadaj barked.
"I will not allow you to talk about brother like that!" Yazoo added.
"You meanie!" Loz agreed.
Nehrut snickered at the word 'meanie'.
Kadaj scowled. "You'll be the first to go." His sights settled back on Sora. "Now come with us. We're taking you to Sephiroth."
"No. You're not."
Sora shot toward Kadaj, Keyblade aimed at his neck. The silver-haired man smirked, having already expected resistance. He raised his blade, and blocked the powerful strike. Sora all but flew over his head, landing on his other side.
Kadaj adopted a reverse-handled grip on his unusual weapon, and dashed toward Sora.
He soon discovered that Kadaj was a dangerously fast individual. He was always in motion, and made every one of his movements into an offensive action. He didn't just walk toward Sora, he tried to trip him. He didn't just dodge an attack, but he also slashed at his head while moving.
Oh, this is going to be hard.
Predictably, Heartless arrived at the front of the bar. Most of AVALANCHE (and its new honorary members) got too caught up with their attack to concentrate on Sephiroth's other two 'brothers.'
Kairi, Tifa, and Nehrut had somehow gotten mixed up with the giant Loz. He was much faster than his bulky frame suggested, and he was able to keep each of them on their toes. The function of his strange weapon was soon understood. The two short spikes at the end of it shot forward about eight inches on his command.
Kairi noted on the occasions when Loz's attacks missed them, and instead impacted with the ground or the side of a building, that they had a massive amount of force behind them. A small crater had been left in the side of 7th Heaven after he drove his fist into it in an attempt to hit her.
She drove her blade up toward his still outstretched arm, only for him to pull it away at the last second. Loz drove his weapon toward her face with enough force to split it open. Luckily, Tifa intercepted his fist, pressing it toward the ground. With her free hand, she punched him in the chest, sending him flying several feet backwards.
Nehrut flew after him with his blade raised over his head. Before he could strike, Loz kicked his feet up, striking him in the chest, and knocking him away into a nearby building.
Loz sprang to his feet with surprising speed, and ducked under a flying kick Tifa sent to his head. While she was still in the air, he grabbed hold of her ankle. He spun her around his head once to get a feel for her added weight, and then threw her at Nehrut, who had yet to get back to his feet.
Nehrut caught her in midair, and sent her shooting right back at Loz. She oriented herself in mid flight, and drove both of her fists into his stomach. He let out a loud gasp as the breath was knocked from him, and he flew backwards, down another street.
"Thanks for the save." Tifa said to Nehrut as they and Kairi rushed after him.
"Anytime. Just make sure I don't have to do it again."
Yuffie and Riku joined them in their fight against Loz. The older Keybearer reached him first, and slashed at his neck with his blade. Loz brought his pilebunker weapon up to catch the attack. He threw the blade off of it, and aimed a hard punch at his face with his free hand.
He ducked under the blow, and Yuffie appeared. She seemed for a moment to run up Loz's fist, and delivered a kick to the point of his chin.
This should have floored the man. He looked for a moment as if he would hit the pavement, but instead, he moved his arms backwards, and pressed his hands to the ground. He shoved himself up, and threw himself at Yuffie in an attempt to crush her in his massive arms.
He held her for a moment, before she vanished in a cloud of smoke. Kairi ran forward, and sliced repeatedly at Loz with her Keyblade. He rapidly gave ground, choosing to avoid her attacks rather than try to go up against them. He hadn't expected her to suddenly stop.
She brought her hands together, and brought a staggering amount of Light to them. It gathered between her hands, and formed into a ball shape.
"Shining Assault!" She shouted, thrusting her hands forward, and releasing the ball of Light at him.
It hit Loz's chest and exploded. He howled as he flew backwards, to land on the roof of a nearby building.
They followed him up there, in time to see him emerging from the crater he had formed upon his landing. He only bore a grimace of pain, and adopted a fighting stance. He smirked at their expressions.
"This guy is really getting on my nerves." Riku muttered.
"In the immortal words of Captain Jack Sparrow," Nehrut said, "'Close your eyes and pretend it's all a bad dream, and you'll get by.'"
Loz charged them, reminding him unnervingly of an angry bull.
"Then again, Jack's not that great in a fight." Riku murmured.
Meanwhile, Mickey, Vincent, Axel, and Rude were going up against Yazoo. Early on in the fight, Yazoo had adopted a run-and-gun sort of strategy; firing rapidly upon them from afar, and retreating to a safe distance when they got close enough to attack him themselves.
The King finally got close enough, and leapt high into the air. He brought his blade down toward Yazoo's head, nearly slicing through it. The man parried the strike with the sharpened edge of his gun, knocking his Keyblade to the side.
He nearly sliced Mickey in half when he touched down, and only a quick leap backwards saved him. Vincent appeared behind him, and opened fire with his three-barreled revolver (appropriately named 'Cerberus'). But Yazoo was very quick, and weaved around the bullets as they neared him.
He leapt backwards, and fired upon Vincent. He transformed into the unnatural-cowl form he had taken the previous night, and avoided the attack completely. Axel and Rude rushed forward at Yazoo while his attention was on Vincent.
Gloved fists barely missed him as he dodged out of their way. Rude tried not to give him room to breath, and continued towards him with fast, powerful blows. However, Yazoo soon got away from him, stepping nimbly backwards, and then surging forward with a kick to Rude's chest.
Axel and Mickey attacked from either side of him, both of them leaping with their weapons held high.
Yazoo almost casually fired off a round of bullets at the King, forcing him to change course to deflect the projectiles. He landed several feet short of him. But Axel, he met head-on. He parried both of his burning chakrams, and sent him spinning completely over him. Yazoo then kicked him to the ground.
He stood over him, smiling smugly. "Are we having fun yet?"
"The time of my life!" Axel snarled, leaping to his feet, and swinging at his head, narrowly missing.
Zack Fair had joined Sora in his battle against Kadaj, and for this, the Keyblade Master was enormously grateful. Kadaj –while certainly not as powerful as Sephiroth- was a very, very dangerous man.
"All we want is to please brother!" Kadaj barked.
The three of them were battling far down the street from where they had started. They were well separated from the main fighting, which was just as well, because at the speed they were moving, they might not have even had time to distinguish between friend or foe before attacking.
Kadaj leapt over Sora's head, parrying the Keybearer's strike in midair, even as he flew toward Zack. He brought his blade down onto him, only to be blocked at the last instant by his broadsword.
Sora ran toward him almost before he had touched the ground, stabbing his blade forward at Kadaj's chest. The silver-haired swordsman took a nimble step back, and slashed quickly at Sora's face. He parried the attack, and several others like it, which barely missed him.
Zack aimed a hard slash at Kadaj's exposed back. The man turned suddenly, and moved his blade. Zack's massive sword got caught between the two blades of Kadaj's katana. Kadaj twisted it to the side, wrenching the sword from his grasp, and sending it skidding across the ground.
He lunged at the now unarmed Zack, intending to finish him with one fatal strike. He apparently hadn't counted on Sora's Blizzard spell to the back, which sent him sprawling to the ground.
He was back on his feet almost instantly, but it had been long enough for Zack to get out of his way, and reclaim his weapon. Together with Sora, they rushed at Kadaj, who blocked their matching overhead strikes, and slipped away from them yet again.
Sora and Zack started alternating their attacks. One would move in and attack Kadaj, then pull back, and allow the other to move in while he caught his bearings, and then attack again. This strategy kept Kadaj on his toes, but they had yet to pierce his guard.
!
Marlene –still hiding in the relative safety of 7th Heaven- peeked cautiously out through the shattered window. She almost regretted it.
A flailing Morning Star flew past her window, thrown by Rude. It crashed into the front of a Large Body. The thrown Heartless vanished, but the one who was hit stayed right where it was. It began to walk forward, until Red XIII (who carried Cait Sith on his back) leapt up at its head.
Crackling greenish energy burst from his mouth, incinerating half of the Heartless instantly. Bariss rushed by them, her whip flying in all direction, taking down Heartless with every move. One of Donald's Thunder spells crackled past her, taking out an Armored Knight.
She ducked back down immediately, praying that nobody would misfire a similar spell toward her window. She quickly decided that she'd probably be much safer in one of the back rooms of the bar.
Staying as low to the ground as possible, Marlene crept toward the direction of the bar, trying to ignore the battle noise behind her.
She barely made it halfway across the room before she was stopped. She let out a scream.
!
Kadaj was a hair's breadth away from death, when his 'big brother' saved him.
Before Sora could plunge Oblivion into his chest, a dark shape moved in to cover him. Sora drew back reflexively, and saw clearly what the thing was.
It was a black angel wing. But before Sora could get a decent look at it, it had vanished, along with Kadaj.
The Heartless vanished around them all, and Loz and Yazoo stopped what they were doing, as well. Before any of them could process these events, they too, were covered by the black wing, and disappeared.
Everybody cast their eyes around, trying to find their enemies.
Vincent saw him first.
Standing on the roof of 7th Heaven was a horribly familiar figure with a very long blade. Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo stood to either side of him, looking like a trio of body guards. The man in the center smiled cooly down at those assembled.
"Sephiroth!" Tifa exclaimed, falling into a fighting stance along with everyone else on the street.
Sora gazed at Sephiroth, watching for any sign that he was going to attack. He still bore a few scars from his last battle with the man, and was immensely glad that there were sixteen other people here to back him up if a fight broke out.
"Nice to see you, too, Tifa." Sephiroth replied casually. "And you as well, Sora."
"What do you want?" Sora shot back.
"Impatient, aren't we?" Sephiroth smirked. "As much as I would love to fight you –as you have so clearly intended- I'm afraid it just wouldn't be fair. After all, there are four of us, and only seventeen of you."
"Har har." Riku rolled his eyes. "I'm good for about five people, probably."
"In any case..." Sephiroth continued, completely ignoring Riku's comment, "Work has to come before pleasure, and I have a job to do."
He gestured to Loz, who smirked. He walked a little farther back onto the roof, and came back, holding the squirming Marlene by the wrist.
"Let her go you son of a-" Barret began angrily. He stopped short when the big man adjusted his grip on her wrist enough to make her squeal.
"You should be careful about what sort of language you use in front of your little girl, Barret." Sephiroth taunted. "Now, here's the situation: If you want precious Marlene to live to see puberty, you'll come to what's left of ShinRa headquarters at seven this evening. By then, hopefully our missing player will have arrived. When you arrive, Sora is to surrender to me without a fight, and I'll release Marlene unharmed. If I see any indication that you're amassing greater forces to attack us, I'll go ahead and kill Marlene on the spot, and then proceed to tear apart what's left of this pathetic city."
Sora growled, and white-knuckled the hilt of the Keyblade. This only served to make Sephiroth and his brothers smile more. "Remember, seven."
His wing flashed, and the five of them were gone.
!
Well, that took off quickly, didn't it? More to follow!
Am I bad person for putting that cute little kid in mortal peril at the hands of the most dangerous villain in the franchise? Probably, but I'd rather not think about it.
1) So, I couldn't find what this stood for... So, I made it up. Would you buy this?
Review, please!