Welcome back! This is one of my favorite chapters in a while, as you'll probably see. Hope that you enjoy it!
Yuffie: "Thanks for ruining my world again, by the way."
Hey, you're used to it.
Yuffie: "But that's like saying 'I'm used to getting into car crashes.' I'm not reading the disclaimer!"
Fine, fine. I'm sorry. I don't own anything, yadda, yadda, yadda.
!
Chapter 129: The Unexpected
Zell, Cid, and Luxord rolled to a screeching halt at the base of the castle. The three of them leapt out of the armored car, and took off at a run to the castle postern, rushing up the well-worn path, through the entryway, and down into the lower levels of the magnificent castle.
They rushed through the winding corridors for several minutes, passing up civilian staff and Tron 2.0s as they went. After several minutes, they arrived at Chancellor Squall Leonheart's office, which had once served as the study of Ansem the Wise.
The layout of the circular room was much the same, though with a few glaring differences. The bookshelves lining the walls were filled with several different volumes, many of which Ansem had never possessed. The throne sitting behind the semi-circular desk had been removed, and replaced by a high-backed, mahogany chair. The containers of research hearts had been removed. Lining the walls were maps and charts, as well as the framed Constitution of Radiant Garden. The portrait of Xehanort (which was now being used as a dart board on the Unity) had been replaced by one of Ansem himself. Resting on the desk were photographs of the Restoration Committee (plus the honorary members of Sora, Donald, and Goofy), and one of Leon and Rinoa together.
The three barely paid these things any attention, and strode to the wall to the left side of the room. Cid pressed his hand to it, and a large section of it vanished completely. Beyond, was revealed a metal walkway, in the massive manufacturing chamber.
Xehanort and his cohorts had once used the massive array of machinery below to create Emblem Heartless. Since then, Tron had been using it to create the Tron 2.0s. These machines were currently offline, though Tron could bring them back online in an instant.
They walked into a nearby control room. The massive central control computer sat on one side of the room. On the other end was the huge transmitter array that could send one into the Dataspace if desired.
"Tron!" Cid barked.
The screen on the computer flickered to life instantly. Cid pulled up a rolling chair, and sat down in front of it. Tron's face appeared.
"User interface is ready whenever you are, Cid."
"Alright. Show me the locations of all active 2.0s in and around the village."
A second screen appeared. The layout of the village and its surrounding terrain was displayed. Small flashing white lights indicated the position of the Tron 2.0s that were online at the moment.
"While we're at it, show me our boys, and the hostiles."
More lights appeared. Blue indicated police officers, green indicated non-police allied warriors, such as the off-worlders, and violet indicated the position of Chancellor Leonheart. Thousands of red dots indicated groups of Heartless.
Cid looked at the screen with a grimace. "Get the 2.0s to the city gates, and bring their offensive programs online. Get every one we have up and running."
"As you command." Tron said.
"Set the claymores to maximum energy output, and activate the castle defense systems."
"The entire system?"
"Turrets and all." Cid confirmed.
There was a loud crash from below in the manufacturing area. Cid stood from his seat, and clutched his spear in his hand. He looked out through the viewport in the room, down to the general direction the noise had come from. Nothing was visible.
"Go check that out." Cid ordered Zell and Luxord.
"I'm waiting for the magic wo-ords..." Zell replied in a sing-song voice.
Cid growled. "Please go check the freaking noise!"
"That's better than nothing." Zell said, smirking. He and the chuckling Luxord left the control room, and made their way down to the manufacturing area.
Cid grumbled. "Tron, security cams."
Yet another screen appeared. It was split into sections, with each one showing a different view of the plant, control center, the Chancellor's office, and the corridors leading to them. Minutes later, he saw Luxord and Zell through one of the feeds.
He waited, occasionally giving Tron commands to implement on the town defenses.
Something moved past the control room camera.
Cid twisted his head around, looking at the camera mounted on the wall. He saw nothing there. He cautiously lowered his hand to his spear.
Suddenly, there was a mass of purple hurtling through the air directly at him. It collided with his chest, throwing him from his seat, and knocking the breath out of him.
He lay there on the floor for a moment. Before he could do anything a fist connected with his chin, knocking him unconscious instantly.
Randall stood over him, smiling in satisfaction. "Sweet dreams, old man." He bent down, and picked his chair back up, contemptuously kicking the unconscious Cid out of the way. He sat down, and rolled back over to the computer. In one of his four hands, he held a small computer disk.
He searched for only a second, and found the place to insert it. He slipped it inside, and the result was instantaneous.
First: Every one of the dots on the computer screen that had indicated a Tron 2.0 turned from friendly white, to hostile red. Second: The screen depicting the original Tron in the Dataspace flickered, and then went out. And third: The manufacturing equipment hummed back to life. The principle matter generators went online first. There was a brief flash of coursing energy, and there were a handful of digital Heartless: Strafers, Magnum Loaders, and Devastators.
Randall smiled to himself. Through the computer screens, he watched as Zell and Luxord were ambushed by the digital Heartless, and forced into unexpected combat with them. On another feed, he saw turrets emerging from the outer walls of the castle. And on still more feeds, he saw the circuitry lines on the Tron 2.0s turn from gold to red.
Those that were near any Radiant Garden police officers opened fire on them, while the rest buzzed back toward the castle.
"This oughta be distraction enough." He said to himself. "That or we need to blow up an orphanage." He activated his concealed earpiece. "Shego, Syndrome. I've loaded the virus, and the robots are returning here."
"Defenses?" Came Shego's voice.
"Looks like they're online. Any cops or so-called-heroes try to get in here, we can make things very uncomfortable for them."
"Just to be safe, hang around there for a while, and make sure nobody gets into the Dataspace."
"I copy." Randall agreed. "Syndrome, now would be a good time to move in."
"I'm approaching Cetra Hospital. Its security is up, but it shouldn't take too long to get inside."
"Excellent." One could practically hear Shego smiling. "It looks like an early Christmas for us this year."
"And what exactly are you going to do, Shego?" Randall asked.
"Oh, you didn't think I'd sit this one out, did you? I'm going to Villain's Vale. On the off-chance that anybody breaks through the Heartless, I'll buy that lummox a bit of time."
"Like we'll need it." Syndrome said. "Anyway, I'm moving in. Out."
"Out." Randall copied.
!
"Squall! Major problem here!" Zell's voice blared into Leon's earpiece.
"What's wrong?" Leon asked over the sounds of battle. He snapped off a few quick shots with the Gunblade before ducking behind the cover of a large boulder.
"The computers are all jacked up! The Tron 2.0s have turned against us, digital Heartless are shooting out of the machines here, and the castle's defense systems are firing at random buildings nearby!" There was a pause, and it sounded as though Zell had just narrowly avoided an attack from something. "We need help here!"
"Where's Cid?"
"Out like a light. This weird lizard-thing locked us out of the control room. I guess he's messing with our systems. We're stuck fighting robots and Heartless here! We need backup!"
"Lizard-thing?"
"That's as best as I can describe it. Why, do you know him?"
"Let me check." King Mickey was battling the Heartless not far from Leon, who beckoned for him to come over. The King rushed through the fighting, turning aside any attack that came his way. "Do you know any lizard-things?"
"Sounds like Randall." Mickey said.
Leon grimaced. "Zell, it's one of the mercenaries that intercepted our off-world friends."
"Think they were the ones who released Pete?"
"Possibly. Whatever the case, help is on the way. I'm sending one of our extra teams over. Donald and Goofy are there, so they might be able to help if you need to go into the Dataspace..."
A horrified expression came to his face. "Hold that thought... If the mercenaries are here..."
"They'll be after Sora and Kairi!" Mickey exclaimed, finishing his disturbing thought.
"Zell, I'm going to have to send them to the hospital first, how long can you hold out?"
"Meh, half an hour?"
"That'll have to work. Just hang in there. Leon out."
"Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad luck." Mickey muttered.
!
"You know how to drive this thing, right?" Selphie asked Rikku.
"Not really."
The team of nine was crammed into an armored car, and streaking across the rocky landscape, back toward the village. In the front seat with Rikku (the driver) were Wakka and Paine. In the back seat sat Donald, Goofy, Tidus, Selphie, Yuna, and Kimahri. It was crowded.
"Why are they sending us again?" Selphie asked.
"Because we're closest to the town, and Donald and Goofy have been in the computer world before." Yuna answered. She was on one end of the seat, and had two pistols in her hands. Some of the other occupants were surprised to note that they were semi-automatic. She was unloading into the Heartless that attempted to follow their car. Her staff was strapped to her back, just in case.
Her aim was very precise, but ruined slightly by Rikku's erratic driving. She was worse than Yuffie when it came to making crazy or unnecessary turns. At one point, she hit a boulder, and launched the car into the air. Were it not for their seat belts, they all would have gone flying. As it was, the car merely hit the ground on all four wheels, bounced, jostled them a bit, and rolled on.
"When we get to the hospital," Wakka groaned, "Let's get someone else to drive, huh?"
"Hey, I'm a great driver!" Rikku shouted. "Who else could get us there this fast?"
"Are we there, yet?" Donald asked, looking rather green.
"Almost." Tidus had a blue broadsword in his hand. He was white-knuckling it, and looked just as nervous as any of them did at the time. "Let's just be ready to fight our way past the robots."
It was good advice. They soon came into sight of the city gates, which were wide open. The command to close them had been remotely over-ridden. The police officers who had been there to defend the gates were ducking for cover behind their trashed vehicles. A few of them were no longer standing.
They were firing at the Tron 2.0s from behind the vehicles, and the animatronic beings seemed very eager to fight back.
Rikku throttled the car forward, and Yuna opened fire on the robots. At the same moment, Donald sent vicious bolts of lightning at them from the end of his staff, Goofy threw his shield, and Wakka threw his spiked blue blitzball into the horde.
Over half of them fell due to the surprise attacks, and pieces of them flew like shrapnel through the air.
Rikku brought the car to a stop, and Paine, Selphie, Kimahri, and Tidus leapt out first. Paine brandished a vicious-looking scimitar, and rushed headlong into the robots, slashing them to pieces with fast, powerful strikes. Sparks flew from their severed body parts as they fell, dismantled, to the ground.
Tidus's blade was a blue blur in the air, as he struck them down using slightly heavier attacks. He turned the red blaster bolts aside with the flat end of the blade, even as he cut the shooters to shreds.
Selphie spun a pair of nunchaku through the air. Despite her very un-warrior-like appearance, she was very adept at using them. The ends of the handles were slightly pointed, which made them a suitable melee weapon if necessary. The ends flew all over, smashing into the Tron 2.0s, and punching holes into their hardened carapaces.
Kimahri wielded a massive lance-like weapon. It was about as tall as he was, with a sharp silver blade at the end. On the sides of the main tip were two crescent-shaped pieces of metal. He slashed the weapon in long, vicious arcs. He moved surprisingly fast for somebody of his size, tearing apart many of the robots before they could fire at him.
Rikku was the last one out of the car. On her knuckles were a pair of claw-like weapons. They were basically a pair of short, red and black blades, which she wore on her hands, and could be used to cut and slash with at short distances. She agilely wove around the attacks of their former allies, and struck them down with blindingly fast attacks.
The fight barely lasted five minutes, and the result was minimal injury on the part of the organic warriors, and a large pile of smoking, sparking scrap metal.
Tidus walked over to the cops who were still crouched cautiously down behind their vehicles. "Are you all okay?"
"We have men down." The nearest man said. Tidus could recognize him as Captain Andrei, whom Leon had spoken to before the battle. His uniform was tattered and covered in dust and dirt. "Acceptable losses. And if we win this day, then at least it wasn't for nothing. What happened to the robots?"
"Somebody uploaded a virus into the central computer system." Yuna said. "We're making a stop at Cetra Hospital, and then take we're taking care of the problem."
"Need an escort?"
"No." Paine said. "Stay here, and continue protecting the gates in case the Heartless break through. We'll handle the computer ourselves."
"Yes ma'am." The captain saluted her. He turned to his men. "You heard the lady, take up your positions again as best you can."
As Andrei and the other cops took up their defensive positions, the team got back into their car. This time, Paine took the driver's seat before Rikku could reclaim the steering wheel. It was a much smoother ride afterward, through the streets of Radiant Garden, and toward Cetra Hospital.
Tidus uttered a silent prayer that Sora and Kairi would be safe by the time they got there.
!
"It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood..." Syndrome hummed to himself, aiming his pointer finger at the front doorway of Cetra Hospital. At the start of Pete's Heartless attack, heavy metal slats had slid over every last door and window. Several civilians were taking refuge in the basement, as well as a handful of the walking patients. The major operating rooms were also sealed.
A blinding blast of energy knocked the front doors from their hinges, and flying into the administration area. Nobody was inside, so the only damage caused was to the floor and back wall.
"Knock knock." Syndrome said to nobody in particular, strolling inside. He checked a device on his gauntlet. This particular device was set to detect the exact arrangement of ions that existed in the energy that had last hit Sora and Kairi. Traces of the energy still remained on their bodies.
He followed the devices directions down several hallways. Minutes into his search, he was ambushed.
Two police officers rushed from the end of the hallway before him. Both held the assault rifles that most of the officers carried during incidents such as a Heartless siege. They stopped, and took aim at Syndrome's head.
"Freeze! Hands in the air!"
Playing along, Syndrome lifted his arms above his head. The two cops approached slowly, their weapons never pointing away from him.
When they were about five feet from him, Syndrome pointed his index fingers at their weapons. He encased the rifles in fields of energy, and they flew from the cops' grips into his awaiting hands.
He immediately dropped the weapons, and pointed his fingers at the two officers. "Freeze."
He trapped them in similar energy fields, and tossed them far back down the hall to smash against the wall. They fell to the ground, unconscious and bleeding.
Syndrome barely paid them any more attention, and continued his search. He followed his scanner up two floors, and down several more hallways. Along the way, he knocked out a total of eight more police officers.
He knew he had finally found the correct room when the scanner on his wrist started beeping furiously. He smiled to himself, and looked at the door. The metal in the doorway was even thicker than that that had been on the front doors. His targets were definitely inside.
Not wanting to injure them further by blowing the door to pieces, he made a few adjustments to his gauntlet weapon. It only took him a moment, and then he touched his finger to the door. The metal started smoking, and quickly started to burn beneath his fingertip.
Slowly, he moved his finger around the edges of the door, severing it from the rest of the doorframe. It barely took him two minutes, before the metal was eaten completely through.
With one strong kick, he knocked a rectangular, human-sized chunk of the metal free. It clattered to the floor of the operating room, doing no harm beyond scuffing the floor.
Syndrome walked inside, and immediately found his targets in the center of the room. Sora and Kairi were lying on their rolling cots, garbed in hospital gowns, and completely unconscious.
He smiled to himself. This was going to be extremely simple.
He took a few steps toward them.
Suddenly, the transparent figures of Roxas and Namine appeared at the foot of their respective others' beds. "Don't touch them!" Roxas shouted, taking a step toward Syndrome with Namine right next to him.
The events that followed this were substantial evidence toward the theory that complete foolishness can change the face of history.
Due to the fact that Syndrome was –deep down- a great coward, he promptly screamed like a girl, and hopped backwards into the doorway. His hand shot out, and a beam of bright blue energy shot at Roxas' chest.
Naturally, it didn't harm him. But what did happen, was that the beam appeared to stop inside his chest, at about the spot where his heart was. It then changed course completely, and bounced toward the same position in Namine's transparent body.
There was a bright flash of light, and a burst of energy so great that the walls of the operating room buckled. The floor tiles cracked, the windows to the observation room shattered, Sora and Kairi's cots flew backwards, and the bank of machinery on the far wall exploded into bright sparks, sending pieces of metal scattering across the room.
Syndrome was hit full-on by the blast of energy. With another effeminate shriek, he was thrown from the room, and smashed into the back wall just as the remains of the armored plates in the doorway were shattered.
When the thick smoke began to clear, two figures stood tall amidst the wreckage of the operating room. Syndrome began to crawl to his feet. He reached out to the doorframe, and tried to pull himself up.
He was far, far too weak and injured, however. He groaned, and looked up when a shadow fell over him.
There stood a fully opaque Roxas, returned to human form by the combination of technology and Darkness experimentation.
The last thing Syndrome saw before losing conciousness for the next several hours was the bottom of Roxas' shoe as it collided with his face.
!
After knocking Syndrome out, Roxas looked at himself in shock. He held his hands up in front of his eyes, double-checking to make sure that he couldn't see through them. He touched them to his face, and discovered that it was also completely solid.
He turned at the sound of a cough behind him.
Namine was there as well, also solid. She waved the smoke away from her face, and met his eyes. She approached him slowly.
"Are we...?" He began. "Are we... real?"
Namine stopped in front of him, and reached out her hand. Roxas jumped slightly when she placed her palm to his chest. She was silent for a moment, and Roxas wondered what she was doing.
"It's beating." She whispered.
They had hearts.
And they were full, outside of Sora and Kairi.
"We are real." Namine breathed in awe.
There was movement behind them, and Roxas and Namine jumped.
"If you're 'real' now, then what were you before?"
"Sora!?" Roxas exclaimed in surprise.
The Keyblade Master stumbled out of the smoke, garbed in his now-dusty, blue-green hospital gown. He waved the smoke away from his face, and looked carefully around the wreckage that was the operating room. "Kairi? Are you alright?"
There was a clattering sound which may have been the remains of the hospital cot hitting the floor. "Yeah."
The smoke finally cleared away completely, seeping out of the ruined door, or into the observation room. Sora and Kairi showed absolutely no sign that they had been in critical condition just a few short minutes before. They still looked a little bit pale, but color was already returning to their faces.
"What just happened?" Roxas asked.
"I don't know." Sora said, looking at Roxas. He reached out a hand, and touched him on the shoulder. "But... You're solid."
"Really?" Roxas asked, arching an eyebrow.
"I guess that whatever Syndrome did triggered something." Namine said with a shrug.
"Maybe we should ask Yen Sid about it, when we get the chance." Kairi suggested.
"Yeah." Roxas agreed. "But for now... Where are your clothes?"
It was at that moment that Sora and Kairi really looked at each other. They immediately blushed, and looked away, eliciting chuckles from their not-quite-Nobodies.
After a few minutes of searching, they found their usual clothing beneath the wreckage of the computer consoles. Due to their magical properties, they had been mostly undamaged in the explosion of energy, and what little damage they had sustained was immediately mended by the same magic.
Sora and Kairi quickly changed –looking pointedly away from each other, and blushing like crazy- while Roxas and Namine stood outside the room.
During that time, Roxas experimentally summoned his Keyblades. He discovered that he still had two: His own original one... And poor Xion's.
His original one (which he held in his right hand) had a brand new design, but it felt right in his hand. It had a hexagonal guard, with the black Nobody emblem on its pommel. The shaft was slightly crooked, forming a wide angle in the very middle. It was silver, with spiky, black marks along its length. It had three spiked 'teeth' which were hooked slightly at the end. Each tooth had a black line in its center. Its keychain matched the emblem on his jacket zipper.
Its name came to him immediately: Other Side.
The one in his left hand was also new to him. It had a rectangular-shaped guard, with a multi-pronged white star on the pommel. The long shaft had a dark blue center, which gradually darkened into black toward the edges of the blade. At the top, just before the teeth, was a heart shape that went through to the other side. Its teeth resembled Sora's crown emblem, though slightly stretched horizontally. There were dark blue arrow shapes inside of the teeth. In sharp contrast to this somewhat dark appearance, the keychain was a single pink and gold thalassa shell.
As his memories of Xion came slowly back to him, he also caught its name: Event Horizon.
He gazed into the heart on its shaft, with a sad face. "Xion..."
"She still lives in us." Namine reminded gently, placing her hand over his on the handle of the blade. She drew it back suddenly when her hand started to glow. No sooner had she withdrawn it, than it let off a flash of light.
Namine gaped at the Keyblade she now held in her hand, which matched the one on her mosaic platform where she had spent much of the past several weeks. It had an oval-shaped guard, with a small, white, egg-shaped object on the pommel that resembled the pod Sora had slept in. The shaft split into a ring-like shape just above the pommel, with a pure white jewel in the middle. The pale blue shaft thinned slightly as it neared the top. The six teeth resembled the sharp points of a star. Three were silver, and three were gold. The keychain was a bright yellow, five-pronged star.
Its name: Reminiscence.
"Congratulations, Namine." Sora said, emerging from the operating room with Kairi, fully clothed. "Welcome to the Keyblade club."
"Oh joy of joys." Namine rolled her eyes. "I think I can use this… I am Kairi, right?"
"So you're not a complete noob!" Sora patted her on the shoulder. "It's a great time to get some experience under your belt!"
"Swell."
"Come on." Roxas beckoned. "Let's get going."
Sora and Kairi took off ahead of them down the hallway. Namine began to follow them, when Roxas grabbed her wrist gently. She turned to face him.
"Just in case the worst happens..." Roxas leaned down to her, and pressed his lips softly to hers, sending a shiver down her spine. "I love you, Namine."
"I love you, too, Roxas." She replied, smiling.
They followed their Others down the hallway, ready to take on the world.
!
The four emerged from the hospital minutes later, their Keyblades in hand.
"So, does anybody know where the guys are?" Kairi asked.
"I'm guessing the battle's still on." Roxas said. "They'll be outside the village, trying to defend it from the Heartless."
Sora spied a small group of Tron 2.0s on a street near them. He noted that they had what appeared to be weapons on their arms, and also that they were blazing down the street in the direction of the castle, which could be seen from nearly anywhere in the city.
"Maybe we can ask directions." Sora suggested, pointing at the robots.
The four Keybearers rushed toward them, sprinting hard to keep up with them. Sora counted nine of them in all.
"Excuse us!" He called.
The robots abruptly stopped at his shout, and their upper bodies rotated to face them. The four teenagers stopped dead in their tracks when their supposed allies raised their weapons, and targeted them.
"Reflega!" Sora shouted an instant before they opened fire.
He raised his blade, and brought up a magic barrier around them all. The blaster bolts bounced off of the shield, and ricocheted into the walls of the nearest buildings. One bolt struck one of the robots between the twin glowing lights that served it for eyes. This robot slunk to the ground, its electronic life cut short.
Roxas twirled his Keyblades around his head, and leapt forward the moment Sora's shield went down. Though he was a few months out of practice, he was still amazingly proficient with the blades… He loved being ambidextrous.
He landed in the midst of the Tron 2.0s. He lashed out with his blades, instantly severing the heads of two of them. He then thrust them both forward at once, piercing the torso of another one completely.
Before either Sora or Kairi could join him, Namine had moved. She sprinted at a robot which was placing Roxas in its sights. Her newly acquired Keyblade sliced through its midsection, just above the treads it used for locomotion. The top half of the robot fell forward, sparking uselessly.
Namine leapt over the remains, chopping down into the center of another robot's head, even as Roxas cut one into three pieces with his twin blades.
With only one Tron 2.0 left, the outcome of the fight was never in doubt. The final robot fired at Roxas, only to have its bolts splatter against the shafts of his blades. Namine lifted her free hand, a look of intense concentration on her face.
A narrow beam of Light similar to the type Kairi frequently used burst from her palm, shredding the robot into scrap metal in a blinding instant.
Namine smiled, clearly proud of herself.
"Hey, that was my move!" Kairi mock-pouted.
"And since I'm you..." Namine returned, grinning.
Before Kairi could respond, there came the sound of a roaring engine. The four of them turned, and looked back down the street toward the front Cetra Hospital. An armored car rolled up to the blown open front doors, and skidded to a stop, leaving a nice, long, faintly smoking skid mark.
They recognized the driver and passengers right away as they leapt out of their seats, and approached the hospital.
"Hello!" Sora called, waving.
He caught the attention of the others, and they turned around. Once their eyes fell upon the four teenagers, their mouths fell open.
The Keybearers grinned, and walked casually toward them, as if there wasn't a war on. "Tidus, close your mouth, you'll attract flies."
Tidus shut his mouth, but still looked shocked.
"You're alright?" Wakka finally gasped.
"Yep." Kairi answered.
"Roxas?" Donald quacked.
"Hey Donald."
"Namine?" Goofy added.
"Hi."
Things were silent for another few moments, until Rikku finally burst out, "What the heck happened!?"
"We could ask you the same question." Roxas said, hiking a thumb over his shoulder at the wreckage of the Tron 2.0s. "I thought those things were on our side?"
"Your mercenary friends are here." Paine said. "One of them hacked into the defense systems and turned everything against us."
"Syndrome was in there." Kairi said, pointing at the hospital. "He's out cold right now."
"What about Tron?" Sora asked.
"No contact." Yuna answered grimly. "And Cid, Zell, and Luxord are stuck in the manufacturing center in the castle fighting off digital Heartless. We were sent to collect you, and then go assist them."
"Alright." Sora started thinking. "We'll make our way into the castle, and Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and I will go into the Dataspace to find Tron. He's probably been forced onto the Game Grid again."
"Game Grid?" Kairi asked.
"You'll see." Sora grinned.
"Uh, if it's alright with everyone..." Roxas interrupted. "Could I go out into the valleys? I want to make sure Axel doesn't kill himself again."
Sora smiled at his Nobody, admiring his loyalty to his old friend. It was an easy quality to respect. "Sure. Just don't you kill yourself."
"I'll make sure he doesn't." Namine said.
Sora and Kairi quickly gave their Nobodies -in a way, now siblings- hugs goodbye. With a look of concentration, Namine lifted herself off the ground using Light in the same manner Kairi would have.
Kairi sighed theatrically. "Well, if she can use Light, then there goes my originality."
"Not true." Sora offered.
After a brief moment, Roxas had figured out how to transform Event Horizon into a Keyboard. He stepped onto it, and hovered next to Namine. He shot those below a quick salute, and took off to the west. Namine followed right behind him.
Everybody else but Sora and Kairi piled into the car. "Come on, guys!" Selphie beckoned.
"Actually, I had another idea." Sora said. He reached into his jacket pocket, and discovered that the Summon charms from El Dorado were still there. They were still locked together by their chains.
He clutched one of them in his hand, and held the other charm out to Kairi. Curiously, she took it in her hand.
"Spirit!"
As though on a sudden compulsion, Kairi shouted, "Rain!"
The hilly, grassy, green plains stretched on for miles and miles, almost as far as the eye could see. In the distance could be seen a series of majestic purple mountain peaks. The bright blue sky had barely a cloud in it.
Over one of the higher hills, there came the sound of rapidly approaching hooves thudding against the ground. Soon, two magnificent horses galloped into view.
The first of these was male, with golden hair. He had a long, wild mane of black hair. His eyes were dark and fierce, with a steady determination in them. The female at his side had auburn hair, with patches of white on her face and back. She had a long, straw-colored mane, and a feather tucked into her ear.
A bald eagle soared over them, and let loose a loud, screeching cry.
Spirit and Rain burst into existence on the streets of Radiant Garden, and galloped toward Sora and Kairi, stopping in between them. Sora patted the male horse on the back. He got a slightly friendly snort in response.
"Ready for some action, big fella'?" He asked.
Always.
Sora vaulted onto Spirit's back, managing to keep his balance despite the fact that he had next to no experience riding animals. There had been Aladdar and Dumbo, and that was it. But even so, he felt fairly comfortable on the stallion's back, and grabbed a fistful of his mane carefully, to steady himself.
A few feet away, Kairi went through the same process with Rain, looking only a little apprehensive. He caught her eye, and smiled.
"This'll be fun." He said. He then leaned forward to speak into Spirit's ear. "Think you can beat them to the castle?" He asked, inclining his head toward the occupied car, and pointing to the massive castle in the distance.
Spirit looked at the castle, and then toward the occupants of the car. He snorted, and smiled. Easily.
"That's the spirit." Sora grimaced inwardly at his own bad pun. "Ready...setgo!"
In a flash of black and gold hair, Spirit was tearing down the street. His whinnying and Sora's laughter echoed back to those still waiting by the hospital doors.
Kairi and Rain took off after them immediately, smiling fiercely.
It took a moment for Paine and the others to snap out of their shock at the pure speed of the horses. She throttled the car forward, pursuing them down the streets of Radiant Garden, and just barely managing to keep up.
!
So did I surprise anyone? I'll explain the whole Roxas and Namine thing later. I hope you liked it!
Please review!