Just a head's up, this chapter's going to be a bit suggestive at the end. Not in a "change the rating to M because it's graphic" kind of way, just in the "this is why it's rated T" way.
Chapter 14: St. Canard:
The Lanes Between – G.S. Highwind:
Just who are those guys? Sora wondered to himself as he looked down at the wisps of Darkness curling around his hand. He'd known that some people were uneasy about the dark powers he'd unintentionally acquired during the final battle against Xehanort, but that was more to do with the powers than with him as a person. These people, this "Legion" were convinced that anyone who used darkness was evil. Kind of reminds me of some people's attitudes before the Xehanort War, he thought with a soft chuckle. For thousands of years, people had always seen darkness as a force of evil and destruction. Now though, people were beginning to realize that it was just a natural part of the universe, and it was those who used it for their own insidious ends that were evil, not the darkness itself.
But evidently, the Legion hadn't gotten the memo. Were circumstances a little different, he'd have assumed that they were from a world that hadn't been discovered by the Coalition yet. But the fact that they had the resources to sneak into a heavily guarded crime scene undetected and steal weapons previously used by the Hellfire Club told a different story. These people were organized, they clearly had some kind of goal beyond blindly lashing out at those they considered impure, and those two factors marked them as a serious threat. He, Donald, and Goofy had already mentioned as much in their report to Coalition Intelligence after the battle. Now all that needed to be done was to wait and see what they came up with.
Not to say that Sora didn't enjoy flying around the worlds fighting bad guys, but with the advent of the Coalition and the rescue of Terra, Aqua, and Ven, he was relieved to not have the burden of being one of the only Keyblade Wielders on his shoulder. He didn't have to do everything himself anymore. Which meant plenty of time for sightseeing trips with Kairi when they both had time for a vacation. And now he'd been spending his nights texting his fiancé and discussing wedding plans. They'd unanimously decided to have their wedding back home on the Destiny Islands. They weren't sure about the date yet, but they both already picked out bridesmaids and groomsmen. Unfortunately, they hadn't been able to talk about picking a date yet because of the threat of the Hellfire Club, and now the Legion.
But while they were a serious threat, Sora couldn't figure out for the life of him what their objective was. They kept talking about "salvation" and "saving the lost" but none of the now famous trio could figure out what any of it meant. The "cast into the dark realm where you belong" part was easy to decipher, if predictable. But what cycle they were talking about he could only guess. The only cycle any of them knew of was the cycle of the Keyblade War they knew from a report written by Braig that they'd discovered hidden in the Land of Departure's library. How every ten thousand years, the scattered fragments of the original world would put themselves back together again before breaking apart in another Keyblade War.
The pattern had been repeating itself for so long that nobody knew how long ago it had started. Perhaps the Legion wanted to find a way to stop. He shook his head to tear himself away from fruitless speculation and returned his focus to the task at hand. They had to figure out how far the Hellfire Club's infiltration had spread without the Intelligence Network noticing. And as Donald just announced that they'd arrived at Saint Canard, where they'd been directed to investigate for signs of a base, he hoped that this visit would put them one step closer.
"Alright," Donald called out as he set the ship on autopilot for landing at the local spaceport before joining Goofy in climbing down from the cockpit to stuff their pockets with Potions and Ethers for the battles they were sure to encounter. "Let's get going."
"Maybe we can get that fella Darkwing to help out," Goofy commented as they finished packing.
"Oh yeah," Sora added as he recalled the local superhero they'd encountered when they'd made first contact with this world. "I liked that guy. He's hilarious!"
"NO HE'S NOT!" Donald snapped indignantly as Sora and Goofy burst out laughing. Oh right, Sora remembered. Donald always gets worked up whenever he and DW are in the same room together. This'll probably be fun.
St. Canard – The Docks:
An hour later, the three heroes were gathered around a small warehouse on the docks at the edge of the city of St. Canard. They were accompanied by a combination of local police officers, UCA troops, and Intelligence operatives as they prepared to raid another Hellfire base. Warriors of varying species and gender armed themselves in the shadows of the seemingly abandoned structure. The clatter of rain on the metal rooftop of the target building was just loud enough to mask the sound of swords being sharpened and projectile weapons of miscellaneous make and model were being loaded up.
"Is everyone ready?" called out C.I.N. Agent Derek Blunt as the St. Canard chapter of the Intelligence Network (locally known by the pseudonym S.H.U.S.H.) finished readying their weapons.
"All set," Sora replied once he, Donald, and Goofy had finished double-checking their items and equipment to make sure they were prepared for battle. "We're good to go." But before Blunt could give everyone the order to move out, the strike teams were interrupted by the sound of a motorcycle engine roaring towards their base camp. Oh no, Donald groaned mentally. Not this guy. But to Donald's frustration (but Sora and Goofy's entertainment), the drone of the motorcycle was soon followed by loud shouting from a familiar duck.
"I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the neurosis that requires a 500 an hour shrink! I AM DARKWING DUCK!" Sora's laughter and Donald's angry ranting were drowned out by the revving engine as Darkwing himself appeared out of thin air in a puff of smoke, motorcycle and all.
Twilight Town – Roxas, Namine, Xion, and Lea's house:
"Do you think we'll have to come out of retirement?" Xion asked as she gazed out the window at the morning sky of Twilight Town. While she wanted the conflict with the Hellfire Club to be over as quickly as possible, she (and the rest of her house mates) were uneasy at the thought of having to pick up their Keyblades again. They would do whatever they needed to help their friends of course, but after how crazy their lives had been because of the Keyblades they wielded, they'd wanted to live out the rest of their lives without being on the front lines of whatever conflicts were going on.
"I don't know," Roxas replied from beside her as he put his arm around her shoulder. "I guess it really depends on how serious it is. If it's just a couple of holdouts who've managed to stay hidden for the last half a decade, then we shouldn't have anything to worry about. But if it's something bigger, something on the same scale as Xehanort, then they're probably going to need all hands on deck." Xion nodded her reluctant agreement as they laid there in Roxas's bed before she reached up and wrapped her fingers around a thin strap as she pulled her bra down from the windowsill.
"Last night was great though," she remarked as she pulled up the covers and turned to admire her boyfriend from behind as he got dressed. While Sora and Kairi were the type to wait until after getting married to sleep together, Roxas and Xion had taken to sharing a bed since a few weeks after Xehanort's demise. Recurring nightmares woke them in the middle of the night and drove them to seek comfort from each other. They'd falls asleep in one of their beds and comfort each other when they woke up in the middle of the night after reliving their deaths in their dreams. When they admitted their romantic feelings for each other and upgraded to being a couple, their nights together became more… intimate.
"Definitely," he added as he finished pulling up his pants and turned around to pass Xion her shirt. "I just hope we can do this one more time before we get called up to the front lines. If we do get dragged out of retirement, that is." He leaned in and gave his girlfriend a kiss before heading out to the bathroom to wash up for the morning. After their graduation from high school, they'd both decided that they wanted to stay in Twilight Town, having felt that they'd done enough world hopping back in their days as members of Organization XIII. So Xion go a job working at the local Weapon Shop on Station Heights while Roxas was working at the Moogles' Synthesis Shop in the Tram Common.
It wasn't glamorous, but with Lea spending most of his time in Arendelle with Queen Elsa while Namine had moved in with Pence, they only had to pay for utilities and groceries for the two of them. Between the two of them, their paychecks were enough for them to live comfortably together. While they could have downgraded to a smaller apartment if they chose to, they had too many memories attached to this place for them to just sell it. This was the first place they'd really been able to call home, and they were rather attached to the house. While Roxas got himself cleaned up for work, Xion made pancakes for the two of them. They ate breakfast together, and Roxas cleaned up the dishes and took out the trash so Xion could get cleaned up herself.
Once they were both ready, they headed off to work, hopeful for the future but ready to help their friends if they were needed. And speaking of friends, Roxas was getting ready to take a leaf from Sora's book and finally propose to Xion. Wielding a Keyblade wasn't the only thing he'd inherited form his "Somebody" after all.
Wanted to start off with this chapter having Sora reflect on what they've learned about the Legion so far. He's not going through any angst over his use of darkness or anything. Everyone knocked sense into his head about that at the end of TXW and during the time-skip. He's just concerned about the fact that after six years nobody has ever discovered these people before, and he's concerned about what they mean by "salvation."
And yeah, I thought it'd be hilarious if Donald couldn't stand Darkwing Duck, so I threw that in there. Expect Donald to throw lots and lots of temper tantrums at DW in the next 2 chapters. Let the comedy begin. In regards to Darkwing Duck easter eggs, fans of that show will recognize S.H.U.S.H. as the DWD world's version of S.H.I.E.L.D. the same way Global Justice fulfills a similar role in Kim Possible.
As for the whole bit at the end with Roxas and Xion sleeping together, while Sora and Kairi are I think the type to save it for after their wedding, I thought it would be interesting to have Roxas and Xion contrast with them on that subject.
Anyway, a lot of the end-of-chapter scenes before and from here are meant to show different characters' perspectives on the return of the Hellfire Club, the Legion, HYDRA, etc. Just a little bit of fluff to show how the side characters are reacting to what's going on around them. The rest such scenes will be "villains plotting" scenes that will give insight into the bad guys' plans and motivations.