Did anybody catch the 1984 reference last chapter? Gives a hint as to the Legion's MO when it comes to eliminating witnesses. ;)
Chapter 25: Trapped:
New York City – The Longs' Apartment:
For a few minutes, the two young men simply ate their meal in tense, awkward silence. Both were burning with questions but too nervous and shaken by recent events to work up the courage to actually say anything.
"So," Jake began nervously, hoping to break the ice. "Where exactly is Knowhere?"
"In relation to home, it was a few hours at warp speed past the edge of Coalition space," Sora answered, cheering up a bit as he did. "In relation to this world… I have no idea." He slumped back in his chair. "The cube thing was supposed to be some kind of powerful artifact called an Infinity Stone, but I have no idea where home is in relation to Earth." Jake's eyebrow quirked up in confusion. He was skeptical of the idea of humans living out in space, but he'd heard enough Huntsclan secrets from his wife to have a few theories as to how that was possible. Then something Sora said popped out in his mind.
"Wait," the former American Dragon interjected. "Did you just say Infinity Stone?"
"Yeah," the Keyblade Master answered. "They're supposed to be immensely powerful magical artifacts…"
"That together with the other five grant the use god-like power," Jake finished. "I've heard of them. Myths and legends about them are scarce even here on Earth, but my wife has a few secret sources for information that the general public has forgotten about. Even the magical community doesn't remember the Stones." While the supernatural forces of Earth strictly enforced their secrecy, Jake felt that since Sora a) wasn't from Earth, and b) knew about magic if his comments about the Infinity Stones were any indication, it was safe to discuss Earth's magical population with his guest as long as Sora agreed to keep the secret.
"Magical community?" Sora inquired with a puzzled look on his face. Jake went on to explain how the supernatural creatures of Earth like centaurs, fairies, etc., had gone into hiding to avoid persecution. He explained how the magical community relied on shapeshifting, misdirection, and memory potions to maintain their secrecy. He even shapeshifted into his dragon form to demonstrate that he was being serious. Not that he really needed to. As his guest later explained, Sora had already seen several different varieties of magic and already believed his host. In retrospect, Jake felt that he just wanted a chance to show off. The moment was ruined, however, when Sora said that Jake's draconic form reminded him of a dragon he knew named Mushu who was about the size of a small serpent.
That broke the tension and kicked off a round of teasing banter that went on for several more minutes. Both young men laughed uproariously as they traded verbal jabs about magic and combat experience. As the laughter died down, the conversation turned to more serious matters. Sora proposed the idea that Rose may have been sucked up into the Tesseract's portal and ended up back on Knowhere. If that was the case, then there were three possibilities as to her fate. She could escape the mining colony alongside the rest of the Coalition army, in which case she had nothing to worry about. She might be captured by the Hellfire Club and either forced to serve them or held hostage to see if they could ransom her. Or she may have ended up in the clutches of the Legion, and nobody knew what could happen to her.
Sora had no idea how to get home, and he was basically stranded on Earth for the forseeable future. Jake sympathized with the younger man's separation from his fiancé, and promised to check with his contacts in the magical community to see if he could get any leads. He refrained from mentioning Asgard for the time being because he was unsure of how to explain the whole "Nine realms" deal to someone who was already used to space travel. So he decided to table that discussion for a later date and see if he could discreetly pop by the Avengers compound upstate to visit Thor and ask for his help in finding Rose and getting Sora home. Their conversation was derailed when the phone began to ring at 1:00 in the morning. Jake looked at the caller ID, and, realizing that the caller in question would only call at this hour if it was an emergency, hesitantly answered the phone.
"You need to get out of there, now!" a woman's voice snapped as the call connected. "They're coming for you, Jake. If you want to find Rose you need to stay alive. Now go!" Jake didn't bother to ask how the woman calling him knew about Rose's abduction. She had her sources and doubtlessly would have known within minutes of the event occurring. He hung up the phone and told Sora that they had to go before running into the bedroom to grab the travel bag Rose had left in the closet. He promised to explain what was happening on the way before ushering his house guest over to the window. The duo quickly clambered out onto the fire escape, where Jake shifted into dragon form and took off into the sky with Sora on his back.
Five minutes later:
"Damn dragons," Lerena spat with disgust as she surveyed the empty apartment. "That animal got away." The Legion had been close allies with the Huntsclan since the latter's inception, and most Legionnaires shared the hunters' views towards magical creatures. If only the clan hadn't been wiped out by the Aztec Skulls back in 2007. It would have been good to have more soldiers on their side. Fuming, she stormed out of the apartment while the rest of her strike team searched the place for any indication of where their prey had gone. In anger, she slammed the door behind her as she stepped out into the hallway to think about her next course of action. Unfortunately, the act of slamming the door shut attracted the attention of the Longs' neighbor across the hall.
"No need to be knock so violently, young lady," the middle-aged man commented. Mr. Roberts had served in the air force for years before retiring, and had made firm friends with the young couple when they moved in across the hall. He was also one of the few people outside Jake and Rose's immediate family and friends to know about the supernatural world, having encountered several griffins and dragons while flying during his years of service. "Mr. and Mrs. Long don't have a consistent time frame for their shifts at work, so they may not be getting home for at least another hour. I can tell them you stopped by if you like." Lerena's eyes narrowed as she readjusted her calculations to account for the fact that the man had seen her face.
Before the old pilot could do or say anything, the former Number twelve of Organization XIII charged across the hall and drove her hand into his chest. She yanked back holding a small glowing pink heart in her gloved hands. It wasn't the physical organ that pumped his blood, but the source of his emotions, his memories, his life force. One of the things the Legion had discovered since its inception was that there was more than one way for someone to lose their heart. This was how she and Aurilam had become Larxene and Marluxia after all. But she wasn't interested in creating more Nobodies.
With a sadistic grin she squeezed the man's heart, chuckling softly as he doubled over in pain, clutching his chest. But no amount of mortal medicine could save him now. Her smile widened as the pressure of her hands ground the small pink heart down into fine, charred powder, and the old man tumbled to the floor while the light faded form his eyes. He was dead. Acting quickly, Lerena marched back into the other apartment and informed the rest of her unit of the change in plans. The Longs' place would be left untouched, making it look like they'd simply gone out on a long break. Meanwhile, they'd ransack the old geezer's apartment and put a few bullet holes in him to make it look like a robbery gone wrong. It was simple really. All they had to do now was plant the evidence.
Earth – Albany, New York:
Jake couldn't help but chuckle as Sora looked around the restaurant examining his first interaction with Earth society with all the energy of a curious puppy. While an IHOP just outside of Albany wouldn't have been his first choice for showing a Keyblade Wielder the sights of Earth, but Sora appeared to enjoy just taking it all in. Legends of the Keyblade were rare in the magical community, but Jake knew enough to believe his guest when the brunette claimed he was a Keyblade Master. The fact that he summoned his blade as proof had simply been a formality to prove it. They'd spent the night at a safe house Rose had set up in Albany for emergencies, and IHOPwas the only breakfast joint in walking distance of the safe house.
"So," Sora began as he looked over the menu. "What do you think is good here?"
"This place is pure corn syrup and combo heaven," Jake commented. "I've never left the place without feeling disgusted with myself."
"Gee," Sora retorted jokingly. "Well with that ringing endorsement I'm not sure if I've lost my appetite or not."
"Well I haven't," Jake fired back with a laugh. "I'm hungry, I'm tried, I'm worried about my wife, you look like crap, and it's a fifteen minute drive to the nearest car rental agency. I want to stop real quick and eat my emotions."
"Fair enough," Sora replied with a laugh of his own. So the dragon and the Keyblade Master both discussed the menu items that were least likely to leave them feeling like fat sloths afterwards before placing their order. While Sora would have offered to pay for the meal, Earth didn't operate on the same currency as the Daybreak Coalition, so all his Munny was worthless here. He might as well have been broke as far as his situation was concerned. Fortunately, Jake had some ideas for how to get him home. The first plan was to visit this "Avengers" group that had a base nearby. Apparently their scientists were good at figuring out things like this. The other option was Asgard. Apparently, Earth wasn't entirely cut off from other worlds.
Sora still didn't quite grasp what made the Nine Realms different from any other world in the universe, but he at least understood that they had a method of travel that could get him wherever he wanted to go in a matter of minutes. The only drawback was that there was a possibility that Heimdall, the gatekeeper of Asgard who could supposedly see everywhere, might be limited to just the nine realms. Sora was skeptical either solution would work, but it wouldn't hurt to try. While Asgard was designated as Plan B, the young Keyblade Master was excited to meet the Avengers. He was hesitant to reveal the fact that he was from another world to complete strangers, but he was thrilled to be meeting an actual superhero team!
Sure, the Coalition had Big Hero 6 in San Fransokyo, but they still mostly focused on crises on their home world. They still went out and helped people whenever they could, but the transit times between worlds in Coalition space meant that travelling to help out on other worlds was more time-consuming and as a result happened less often than in San Fransokyo, especially since the advent of the Coalition Army lead to increased patrols to stamp out crime in other worlds and protect people from the Heartless. The Avengers, though, operated on a truly international level, flying all over the planet in pursuit of the forces of evil. As the waitress delivered their pancakes, Sora couldn't help but feel a rush of anticipation. Whether they could actually help him get home or not, meeting the Avengers was going to be awesome.
The Lanes Between – U.W.S. Vulpeus:
As she was lead back to her prison cell, Rose Long was making plans. The Legion had never seen fit to prevent her from knowing the ship's layout as they lead her to her interrogation and "court martial," and as a consequence of their overconfidence, she had a detailed map of the spaceship locked in the back of her mind. The Legion had been the Huntsclan's primary financial backer and technology supplier, so she knew the basic layout of every one of their interstellar craft. All she had to do now was wait for the right opportunity to escape. And when they reached the elevators, she did exactly that. She waited until the doors had fully closed but before her guards could press the button for the ship's brig. Then she struck.
In the blink of an eye she lashed out and kicked the man on her left in the knee. As he slammed against the wall of the elevator car crying out in pain, she jumped up and contorted her legs through the handcuffs so that her arms were in front of her instead of pinned behind her back. From there, she quickly wrapped the other guard in a choke hold until they slipped into unconsciousness. With one guard out, she incapacitated the injured one with a swift double-handed punch to the face before leaning over and pressing the button for the ship's top deck. It was a risky gamble, she reminded herself as she pick-pocketed the guards for the keys to her handcuffs. But everything worth doing was.
When the elevator doors slid open on the ship's highest level, she sprinted forward with a Reflega barrier in front of her to deflect the spells being fired at her from the platoon of Legionnaires summoned to block her escape the minute she dispatched her escort. She did a flying somersault over the heads of the blockade of soldiers before taking off at a run towards the ship's bridge. As more guards came pouring out of the entrance to the warship's command center, she took a hard left and veered towards the escape pods. She dove into the nearest open pod and slammed on the "Launch" button before any of her pursuers could climb in after her.
The escape pod shuddered violently as it raced way from the ship. Rose quickly strapped herself into the pilot's seat while the pod rocked with the impact of cannon fire from the ship behind her. She poured on the accelerator to get her craft moving faster until she was well out of the larger ship's firing range. When she noticed the radar beeping in alarm to warn of incoming Starfighters, she checked the pod's star charts for the nearest space-faring civilization and plotted a course for Montressor before engaging the escape pod's warp drive with the push of a button. Rose slumped back in her chair with relief as the stars stretched out into streaks of red, orange, blue, white, and yellow outside. She did it. Now she just needed to find a way to get back to Earth.
Jake's comments about IHOP are a reference to a hilarious running gag between Loki and Coulson from The SHIELD Codex. I even quoted the original conversation between the two in some parts.
The plot thickens. What does the Legion want with Jake and Rose? Who was the woman at the other end of the phone? How does she know about the Legion? All these questions and more will be answered over the course of the Acolytes of Chaos saga. So yeah, the Legion has a similar ideology to the Huntsclan from American Dragon: Jake Long, and that connection will be a major plot point. Some of you may have recognized that Human!Larxene's heart removal trick was taken straight out of the ABC fantasy series Once Upon A Time. Expect that to happen multiple times over the course of the series, always at the most dramatic moments (and I can tell you that there will be tears some of those times).
The reason I'm going to be cutting down on the side scenes from here on out is because now that the overarching plot threads have been established, I want to keep the story more streamlined, the way I feel any Kingdom Hearts games after the Xehanort saga should be. A sort of back to basics approach, like in Kingdom Hearts 1. We focus on the heroes, and then every few worlds/chapters, we get a glimpse into the bad guys' plots. Anyway, coming up next, Sora finally gets to meet the Avengers for the first time.
For those wondering why Rose can use magic despite being an ordinary human in American Dragon: Jake Long, if you've read my other Acolytes of Chaos story, "Ripple Effects", then you already know the answer to that question. If you haven't read them yet, what are you waiting for? The mystery of the Hunstclan's knowledge of space travel and their ties to the Legion are part of the ongoing mystery of the saga, so I'm not going to answer a question like that in the Author's Notes before we've even halfway through the saga. This chapter and the next one are a bit of a complete the quote chapter title, using the "Avengers assemble" tag line. So next chapter will naturally be called Assemble.