Guardians' Tales
Chapter III: Test Time
Era: Tranquil-Mystic Calendar
Cycle: June 21, 2548
Time: 15:33 Galactic Standard Time, 06:50 Resident Time
Star Cluster: HUB
Planet: Resident
Location: Simulation Seven
Terra's POV
As we fell towards the base of the waterfall I grabbed hold of Xion, pulling her towards me so I could try and maneuver us towards the pond. I raised my hand towards the pond and cast bubble. The clear orb went forward and popped on the water's surface right before we hit. If it hadn't we would have had some cracked bones from hitting the surface head on.
We resurfaced and I saw that Xion was unconscious. "Xion?! Xion, wake up!" It didn't work. I figured as much, but it was worth a try. We floated down the river quickly, the rapids were unbelievably strong. I looked for a place we could get out quickly and safely. "I'll get you somewhere safe, Xion. Just hold on a little longer." I said it more for my nerves than to reassure Xion.
I started swimming towards the west shore, since it was closest and I didn't have to use too much strength, when I heard someone call to us. "HEY! BRANFORD, HIKARI! OVER HERE!" I looked toward the source of the voice on the shore I was heading to when I saw our spiky blonde teammate, Roxas. He was with Naminé and I'm glad he was because Naminé had a bow staff we could grab on to.
Roxas' POV
Naminé reached her bow staff out into the water for Branford to take hold of. She had Hikari's little sister in her arm and she was unconscious. I kneeled next to the water and took hold of Hikari and dragged her out of the water. I saw that her jeans were ripped and she was...bleeding? Whatever did this was big and well-armed. That's a comforting notion.
Naminé had pulled Branford out of the water and was busy trying to help dry her off by ringing some of the water out of her hair while Branford wrung her shirt out.
"What happened to you guys?" I asked. "Hikari is bleeding from her leg."
Terra shot up and hurried over to Hikari. Looks like Terra didn't get hit as hard as Hikari did, just a trickle of blood down her forehead. "We ran into a King Behemoth and got tossed off of a waterfall." She said as she kneeled next to Xion and held her hands out. "Cura." She chanted the healing spell. It was a second stage version of the spell and it proved to be enough since it closed the wound, even the cut on her forehead. "She should be fine. She just needs to rest for a while." She placed her finger under Hikari's nose. "Thank the Goddess. She's still breathing."
"That's good." Naminé said as she came next to us. "We should start a fire and get your cloths dried quickly so you don't get hypothermia."
"I'll get the wood. I saw some branches lying on the ground behind those bushes." I stood and went to get the wood.
"Good idea. It will make a good beacon for the others if they are following the river like we did." I heard Naminé say.
"It could also alert other monsters so we should be on our guard." Terra replied.
Shin's POV
'Okay, so let's recap for a moment Shin. We were dropped into a simulation, in separate locations form the looks of things. That was thirty-five minutes ago.' I got dropped in the middle of the forest and have been walking eastward ever since. Hopefully I can link up with the others. I don't like the prospect of having to move through the forest by myself with these creatures prowling around. First it was the puppets and then I had to avoid a hunting group of six Behemoths, one of them a King Behemoth and it looked like it was wounded. If I had to guess it would have to be that Hikari girl since she was the only one I noticed with a ranged weapon.
The Kokoro sisters should be fine by themselves and that Gospel guy looks more than capable of defending himself. Despite that laid back attitude of his, he carries himself like he knows he can handle anything. Though confidence doesn't equal victory, it just makes one ignorant to their own mortality.
I suddenly heard a shifting of the leaves behind me and quickly gripped my Claíomh Solais, whirling around to face the source of the sound to see…nothing. Again. Something is definitely following me, sizing up its prey before it strikes. It's definitely not one of those puppets, they just came at me like, well, puppets on a string. Whatever this was is obviously intelligent.
I continued towards the east. My hand still on my Claíomh Solais just in case. I kept moving and looked down at my left hand to see the numbers imprinted on them. A hellish red glow outlining curvy black numbers that slowly ticked away on my palm. The current time read 01:32:45 and ticking away slowly. 'We still have time to find each other and come up with a plan.' I heard the sound of a river nearby, thank goodness. At least I can get a drink and rehydrate myself.
The bushes started to shake again, this time much closer. I whirled around, drawing my hilt and swinging it at the sound, the silver light that formed the blade of my weapon glowed brightly in the moonlit night. I saw a black veil that vanished into the tree tops. I replaced the blade back into its sheath, my hand still on the hilt and ready to strike again. 'That should let it know what I can do. Just need to wait for a moment.' The black shade dropped to the ground again and showed me its purple eyes and opened mouth that radiated the same violet light. It was cloaked in a tattered black hood with skin as gray as stone. In his hands was a scythe, the kind you would traditionally see the Grim Reaper holding in paintings and religious depictions.
I bent my knees and readied for it to make its move. It meandered towards me, dragging its chipped scythe along the ground. I tightened my grip in anticipation. 'This thing is slow.' It took long deliberate steps toward me. I thought it would never reach me until it explode in a puff of black mist. 'Huh?' I heard something behind me and instantly whirled around, bringing my Solais up towards whatever it was that was sneaking up on me.
I came face to face with not one, not two, but three smaller Reapers with the same pale skin, they just lacked the purple lights. My sword collided with the wooden pole of the scythe in front of me. I cleaved through the pole and the Reaper holding it with ease, both of them falling in half. The Reaper turned to ash upon its death, all remnants vanishing from sight. I turned my attention to the next two Reapers and prepared to strike them. The bigger Reaper was hanging back watching the scene before him. Not an ideal situation since it let him see what I could do before it even fought me.
I swung at another Reaper skulking towards me and took its head off in one swing. The remaining Reaper had leapt into the air and was bringing its scythe down on my head. I swung my blade and met its scythe head on, grinding our blades together and sending it flying back away from me.
"Huaagh!" I heard the larger Reaper howl behind me and more Reapers materialized out of gray smoke. I was quickly surrounded by eight of the Reapers. The larger one leering at me. I held my sword out in front of me, the silver glow highlighting my face, and readied myself for one helluva fight.
Isaac's POV
"Why should I worry?" The Lizards came leaping at me through the forest with their axes trying to cut my head off, but I countered with a kick to their chin and promptly flipping another over my shoulder.
"Why Should I care~?" There were about seven left and I had yet to draw my Star Killer.
"I may not have a dime." Another Lizard came barreling at me and attempted a back hand with its buckler.
"But I've got street savoire Faire!" I drew one of my Star Killer blades, black as night, slanted to a point like the hilt, and split down the middle. I brought it up on the Lizard's arm, severing it from its body.
"Why should I worry?" I quickly spun on my heel, tripping the de-limbed Lizard and brought my sword up in a reverse grip, severing its head from its body.
"Why should I care~?" I looked to the remaining six Lizards and dropped into my fighting stance with my split blade held in a reverse grip behind me. Two of the Lizards dove into the ground and darted towards me.
"It's just a bebopulation." I drew my second split blade with my left hand and stabbed it into the ground, held in a reverse grip like the previous blade. I saw blood seep up through the dirt and no sign of movement.
"I got street savoire faire." The other subterranean Lizard man leapt through the dirt towards me using the side of its shield as a weapon to try and cut me. I back flipped and avoided the uppercut, kicking the Lizard in the face as I did a handstand and landed on my feet, ready for the next wave.
"I think that's enough singing for now." I said to the Lizards, though I don't think they can understand me. "How about we end this?" I lunged towards the remaining five Lizards. Using my speed to close the twenty meter distance instantly and decapitate another Lizard on my right. I used my left blade to cut through another lizard's reverse knees causing it to fall onto its back before impaling it with my right blade.
I prepared to lunge towards the remaining three Lizards when I was suddenly assailed by a flurry of ice from behind me. I dodged out of the way and looked back to see three more Lizards, these Lizards were covered in ice. Ice body armor, ice helmet, and ice covering their forearms and hands.
"…How are you not dead?" I asked the Lizards only to have one fire a hail of ice at my head. I dodged it easily, not too many creatures can land an attack on me unless they can match my speed and reflexes. I turned around to find a giant block of ice in front of me that suddenly burst to reveal one of the Lizards. "Oh boy…"
It lashed out at me with the large icicle it had for an arm just as quickly as the ice shattered. I dodged back and avoided the blow, but I was blindsided by one of the remaining three Lizards' shields. I was disoriented for a moment and it was long enough to get hit by a flurry of Ice shards that pinned me to a tree. My blades separated from me and my cloak full of holes.
"This is not going to end well, is it?" I jokingly asked. The Lizards moved towards me slowly, taking in their victory very prematurely. Remember when I said my blades were separated from me? I lied. The winged chain on the bottom of the hilts aren't just for show. The chains were wrapped around my hands and forearms.
I flicked my wrist and yanked the split blades towards me. They tilted slowly and cleaved two of the regular Lizards in half and de-limbed one of the Ice Lizards' right arm. When the blades were in my hands I spun them like propeller blades and destroyed the icicles holding me up.
"The one thing about my Star Killer. They are full of surprises." I taunted before I was blindsided by bolts of yellow electricity. It bounded through the forest wildly, before it struck the side of a tree and materialized into yet another Lizard, just as large as the ice variant and much more armored. I could barely make out the red of its muscle structure under its neck and joints where the thick, pointy, copper colored armor did not protect.
It leered and hissed at me. "Hey! Your friends started it!" I pointed to the de-limbed Ice Lizard. "If they had left me alone, they wouldn't be dead or missing an arm." As if to spite me, the Ice Lizard suddenly regrew its missing arm in a burst of ice. "…Now that's just not fair." They began to move closer towards me and frankly I'm not liking my odds right now. I could handle the one remaining ax wielding Lizard. The Lightning Lizard shouldn't be too much trouble. Those Ice Lizards are going to prove to be very dangerous if they can regenerate. I'm gonna need to find someone and fast.
I blinked and felt my pupils form to a slit, my iris darkening. My powers surging through me as my markings began to glow, the electricity flowing through my body as black lightning, outlined in a dark blue glow, began to ark wildly, the energy repairing the holes in my cloak. My Aura Gaze now active, I peered through the forest and took note of the life within. Everything did look the same due to it being a simulation and all. The trees, grass, rocks, and water held a fuzzy blue aura with various strands of code running along their surface, obscuring my sight somewhat. The things trying to kill us held a red aura, how simple, and lines of coding for all the various ways they act and react and how their bodies tear and bleed.
I looked around slowly in an attempt to get a glance, even if it was out the corner of my eye, of one of my squad mates. To my great delight I found someone, a male from the looks of it. His aura glowed with a silver light. I didn't bother trying to gauge what his disposition was since I was more concerned with the fact that I had to get past the Lizards to link up with him. From what I could tell, he had something about him that seemed…off? Like he wasn't one with his weapon, or at peace with himself. I noted a small golden flame flickering where his heart would be. Could that be it?
'What's the matter Moses? Can't handle a few reptiles.' The twin toned voice in my head taunted me.
'I'm kind of preoccupied with passing a test, rather than showing off, old man.' I jokingly replied.
'Smart kid. You'll do just fine so long as you keep that cool head. Though I do question trusting that boy. I sensed an odd power within him when you two were together.'
'Doesn't matter. I just need to reach him.' I mentally argued. I wonder if anyone else has to worry about dealing with their alter egos.
'Pray that doesn't come back to bite you, Moses.'
'Noted.'
The Lizards twitched their heads, the lone ax Lizard was jumping from side to side in preparation for a fight. I hunched forward, putting my left blade away and preparing to dart towards him. 'I hope this works.' I turned off my Aura Gaze and went back to my Mortal Sight to see the environment around me clearly and without blur or code.
My body arced with lightning, charging my still drawn Star Killer blades, and readied myself to move. 'Here goes nothing.'
Shin's POV
I had already killed five of the eight Reapers only to have three of them replaced with tall purple skinned Reapers that were covered in white cloth and strips hanging off their arms, head, and legs. To make matters worse, they can actively teleport like the lead Reaper.
Another purple Reaper teleported and appeared in front of me. It brought its scythe down diagonally at my head, I brought my Solais up and parried it. I followed up with a stab, but the thing teleported away from me and I stabbed one of the remaining black cloaked Reapers in the chest where its heart would be. It dissolved into ash and I was left in the center of the horde of Reapers. The lead Reaper was standing tall with its scythe placed next to him. The three purple Reapers were on either side of him with one in the middle and the two smaller Reapers flanking me.
'Eight dead Reapers and four of them can teleport. Even if I can kill the other two weaker ones, I still have to deal with the other four.' I eyed the leader wearily. 'Then there is the big one.'
One of the purple Reapers disappeared. 'Here we go again.' I prepared Solais for another parry when the two Reapers behind moved in as well. 'Damn!' I whirled around to try and deal with the two smaller ones first. Unfortunately a shadow covered me and I instantly regretted that decision. I brought my Solais up and blocked the scythe that was coming down on my head. The move left me open to the ones in front of me. 'This is gonna hurt.'
"Verus! DUCK!" I didn't bother questioning the voice. I just dropped to the ground and the next thing I knew I heard a loud crackling noise and felt ash fall on my head. I looked up to see a very fast moving figure in a black cloak. I jumped to my feet and swung my blade at it, thinking it was another Reaper when I was parried by a…black split blade sword? "Now is that anyway to treat the guy that just saved your life." Standing in front of me, holding his blade in a reverse grip was the African Islander from the orientation.
"Gospel? What are you-?" "Whoops, no time to explain." He quickly grabbed my head and moved me out of the way. I heard a loud clang followed by ash being thrown to the side. I looked up and saw that he had killed one of the purple Reapers with ease.
"Sorry about that. Your friend was getting a little antsy." He said nonchalantly. "Also, behind you." I turned around and blocked a massive chunk of ice being thrown my way.
I saw four Lizards come skulking out of the forest where Gospel had come from, three covered in ice and one covered in arcing yellow electricity. "You brought some friends as well." We stood back to back, he drew his second split blade and placed it in a reverse grip as well. His left hand was out in front of him, the slant at the tip of the blade was pointed diagonally at the ground while his right hand was positioned behind him with the blade pointed towards the sky.
"The more the merrier." He replied simply. "I thought two heads could think of a way to deal with these guys rather than one."
"I can't tell much, I may be able to handle the Ice Lizards." From the looks of them they are entirely made of ice, which should make them susceptible to fire. I'm not very good at casting spells, but I can use a certain trick to beat them. I just hope I don't lose control again.
"The Ice Lizards regenerate. Unless you plan on setting them on fire, you're gonna have a tough time dealing with them." He jokingly advised.
"That's good to know." I replied with a smirk.
I heard him chuckle in amusement. "And don't worry about, sparky. I can handle him no problem once you handle the ice ones."
I turned over my shoulder and asked him. "Should I ask why you haven't dealt with him yet?"
"I had to kill about twelve smaller ones with axes and shields. Not to mention the ice ones and Sparky can teleport. Sparky also likes to hide behind his icy subordinates." That explains the bisected Lizard sprawled over the bushes.
"You think you can handle the Reapers? They can teleport like the Lizards." I replied. The Lizards and remaining Reapers encircling us.
"They move slower than the Lizards and they only teleport if they can see your movements. With the exception of sparky over there, the Lizards turn into giant slabs of ice, still making them vulnerable, but they coordinate their attacks."
"Well if you're sure you can handle the Reapers, go for it. Don't blame me if you get hurt." I charged towards the Lizards and brought my blade down low and whispered my enchantment. "Spell Blade. Fire Blade." I sliced at one of the Lizards, melting its chest armor. My blade now a raging red and orange flame, slightly cooler than most flames, but still hot enough to do some damage. Which is all I need. I don't want to lose control right now.
Isaac's POV
"…Friendly guy." 'That Verus kid sure knows how to encourage a guy.'
'Make this quick since he will probably get his ass handed to him.' Talk about a blunt personality.
I turned to face the three remaining Reapers, as Verus called them. I used my Aura Gaze again to see the coding of the enemies. The algorithms showed that the purple Reapers will teleport within point three seconds of an incoming attack if it can be seen and takes fifteen seconds to charge again for the next teleport. The big guy is a little more unpredictable. His algorithms are all over the place and the blur from the coding is making it hard to fight properly.
I switched back to my Mortal Sight, feeling confident in my ability to predict their patterns. "Here goes nothing." I breathed out as I charged forward, throwing the sword in my right hand at the closest of the two purple Reapers. It teleported away and dodged my attack, leaving my blade to embed itself in the tree behind it.
The Reaper teleported in front of me with its scythe already coming down on my head. I smirked in amusement and brought my remaining blade up across its torso faster than anyone could see, leaving a black after trail in its wake. The Reaper wailed in pain briefly before turning to ash and vanishing.
The remaining purple Reaper teleported behind me and began to swing its scythe as well, but I yanked my right hand, the winged chain wrapped tightly around it and pulled my blade towards me. I ducked under the scythe blow and let my black blade pierce its unsuspecting heart.
"Are people ever not going to fall for that?" I looked to Verus to see him handling himself quite well with that flaming sword of light...there's a redundant statement. He had managed to de-limb one of the Ice Lizards, the wound burning closed in the process. From the looks of things, it needs an open wound to properly regenerate as it simply leered angrily at Verus. The other two were shooting ice shards at him and he simply blocked the shots with his blade.
I moved to help him when a large shadow over took me. I brought my blades up and blocked a downward strike at my head. "I was wondering when you would get involved." I replied looking at the towering Reaper behind me. Its purple light show outlining my scars.
I pushed him away from me and readied for a fight when a bolt of yellow electricity arced past me and Sparky appeared in a flash next to the Grim Reaper. This could prove very difficult.
Riku's POV
Okay, someone mind telling how I ended up in this situation? For reference I am running northeast along the river bank with Sora and we are being chased by a Behemoth. For those of you that don't know, a Behemoth is a large, green, hulking, beast with very sharp teeth and a vicious snarl.
"If we don't survive this Sora. I blame you." I told the brunette who was running next to me.
"How was I supposed to know a Behemoth is territorial?! I've never seen one before in my life."
"The giant teeth didn't tip you off? Or the common sense that you check for tracks before you whizz on a tree?" I replied with a 'matter fact' scowl.
"And you didn't think to warn me?!" He shot back with an annoyed look.
"I didn't think I would need too!"
"Just shut up and run."
We continued running along the river bank until we heard another roar come from our left and a red blur run up next to us.
"I see you two are doing fine." It was the Kokoro girl, the red head one. "Mind if I join you?"
"Sure, we could use the company." Sora jokingly replied.
"Good, I also brought a friend with me. I hope you don't mind."
"It can't be worse than a Behemoth." "Hurragh!"
"How about a King Behemoth?" She replied with a 'sorry to disappoint you' look.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" I looked behind us to see a black and white Behemoth running alongside the green one. It looked like it was already injured as it was still regenerating some of the tissue on the left side of its body.
"I'm assuming a King Behemoth is bad." Sora chimed in. We simply nodded in response. "Oh. No worries then." The sarcasm evident in his voice.
"Well, while we're running side-by-side might as well reintroduce ourselves. I'm Kairi Kokoro, but call me Kairi."
"Sora Hikari. Just call me, Sora."
"Riku Fair. I'm nothing like my brother so just call me Riku."
"Nice to meet you two." She replied and we kept running down the river bank.
Shin's POV
'These things are tougher than they look and much faster than the Reapers.' I had been fighting the Lizards that Gospel brought with him for the last five minutes. I had managed to cut the arm off of one Ice Lizard, but now I had to figure a way to kill it and avoid the flurry of ice shards the other two were firing at me. I noticed that Gospel had already dealt with the Purple Reapers and was now fending off the lead Reaper and the Lightning Lizard. How he could kill the Purple Reapers with that much ease is impressive, but he seems to have met his match with the two leaders. The Reaper kept him at a distance with its scythe, using the reach to its advantage. Whenever he would attempt to close the gap, the Lightning Lizard would warp in between them and attack Gospel. The electricity coming off the Lizard seemed to have no effect on Gospel, something to look into later.
Right now. Clang! I have to deal with a one armed Lizard. My Fire Blade was melting through its Ice covered arm and thanks to the intensity of the heat from Solais, its wounds were sealed up, preventing the regeneration factor that Gospel warned me about.
I ducked under another barrage of ice shards that came whizzing by me and then another. The one armed Lizard then leapt at me in an attempt to cut me again. 'That may work to my advantage.' I backed myself up a little further positioning myself between the two Lizards that were trying to shoot at me and waited for the one armed Lizard to position itself for another attack. 'I hope this works.' I saw the two Lizards flanking me raise their arms and fired a hail storm of ice at me, thankfully they didn't notice what I was planning.
I ducked instantly and the ice shards flew through the air and struck the Lizards themselves. The one to my right was struck in the head multiple times and died instantly, the other was impaled by two shards, but could still move, albeit somewhat hindered. The lone Lizard leapt at me like I was hoping he would and I gripped my Solais hilt tighter, increasing the size of the blade to the length of a broadsword. I shot forward and side stepped the swipe at my head and stabbed my blade through its cold armored chest, burning a hole towards its insides.
A puddle of water began to collect on the ground and vapor steamed off the heat of the blade. "Erupt!" I chanted and the blade blazed inside the Lizard, flames spewing out of its mouth and making its icy helmet glow with an orange hue before fire burst forth, the hole where its arm used to be spewed flame forth as well. Soon enough the whole of the beast's body was engulfed in a raging inferno and it toppled over, dead.
I looked towards the impaled Lizard and walked over to it cautiously. It squirmed on the ground in pain from the ice shards in its body. I knelt down and jammed my blade through its heart. "Requiescat in pace." I whispered as its body tensed and fell limp.
I withdrew my beam sword, it had returned to its natural silver glow, and looked towards Gospel who was still fending off the leaders of our respective groups. I noticed that the chains on the hilts of his swords could extend and retract whenever he needed to, but they seemed to add links as there would only be seven links to start and then extend into upwards of thirty, each spaced out in ten centimeter increments. This allowed him to cover a wide area when he spun around or swung his arms in an attempt to keep the leaders at a distance.
I ran at the Reaper, its back to me and stabbed at it in hopes of catching it by surprise. When the tip of my silver blade touched its cloak, it disappeared in a cloud of black mist. I turned and felt mine and Gospel's backs collide.
"You take care of the Lizards?" He asked, I could tell he was getting exhausted. Frankly, I was too.
"Just a moment ago. I noticed you dealt with the Reapers already." I replied holding my sword in front of me. The lead Reaper materialized in front of me, the Lightning Lizard trained on Gospel.
"The moment you took off. I'm just having a problem dealing with these two."
I looked at the two leaders. Gospel did manage to land a few attacks on them. The lead Reaper had various cuts on its chest and legs and the Lizard's armor was compromised, some electricity leaking through the opening.
"I can think of a plan if you haven't already." I replied.
"I'm just gonna wing it. I just need you to play decoy for a moment." He replied, his body suddenly arcing with black-blue lightning.
'That explains why the Lizard wasn't giving him much trouble.' "What do you have in mind?"
"Just follow my lead." He replied and I heard a loud crash of thunder after seeing his blade disappear from my peripheral vision. It was accompanied by the wail of the Lizard and the splintering of wood. "Now!" He spun around and bolted for the lead Reaper with lightning speed and swung at it.
The Reaper disappeared and he spun around again. "Behind you!" I did as he said and stabbed as the lead Reaper materialized behind me. It wailed in pain upon feeling the glowing blade inside of it. Isaac leapt over me and jabbed both of his split blades through the Reapers torso. "Can you enchant that blade with lightning?"
I complied and chanted. "Spell Blade. Thunder Blade!" My silver blade arcing with silver lightning. I saw the Reaper glow with a mix of black and silver sparks, Gospel must have added his power to the mix. The Reaper coursed with our combined energy to the point that its skeletal frame was visible and flashing. The Reaper continued to spasm from the shocks and whipped its body wildly until, Crack! I heard its neck snap and its body go limp until it vanished into ash.
We stood there for a moment, our powers fading, the sparks disappearing from our respective weapons and bodies. "That's one down." Gospel was suddenly struck by a red bolt of electricity and staggered forward unfazed. "And one to go. You take a breather Verus. I can handle this one."
I tried to argue, but before I could, his body arced with black-blue electricity again. He raised his hands and fired a wild string of black bolts at the Lizard. The Lizard fired off a bolt of red lightning in response, I guess it's down to its last legs if the color has changed. The Lizard didn't last long as Gospel's lightning overpowered and struck the Lizard, overloading it and causing it to explode.
Gospel fell to a knee, exhausted. "Let's hope...that's the last of them...for now." He panted. "You alright...Verus?"
I replaced my hilt back into its sheath, the prongs keeping it still. "Just a little tired."
"I know that feeling." He looked at his left hand momentarily. "One hour and twenty-five minutes left." He stated.
I looked at my hand as well and sure enough it read 01:25:19. "We need to find the others and fast if we are going to pass this exam."
"As much as I would like to take a break." He rose to his feet and moved towards the sound of water I heard earlier. "We should get moving." We passed through the bushes and ended up on the east side of a fifty meter wide river. "Thank Muumba." 'Muumba?' He knelt down and drank from the river, I did as well since I was thirsty myself. "I needed a good drink."
"You have any ideas on where we should start looking?" The ground started to rumble suddenly and we both looked in the direction of the shaking.
"Just one." He said as he rose to his feet to see three of our teammates, Kokoro, Fair, and Hikari, running from two Behemoths, one of which was a King Behemoth, and heading straight for us. "You up for a jog?" He asked sarcastically.
"Like we have a choice?" We took off running in the opposite direction. Our team mates catching up to us.
Isaac's POV
First a burly brawl, then a chase sequence. Talk about a physical examination. The five of us were running for our lives from two hulking beast, one of which looked like it had been put through a shredder. Verus and Fair were on either side of me and Kokoro was on Hikari's left.
"I'm guessing these things are part of the exam?" I replied sarcastically.
"Looks that way." Fair replied. "Sora, here, needed to use the bathroom and went a tree in the middle of their territory."
"Riku didn't tell me to check for tracks first." Sora responded.
"To be fair, I wasn't expecting monsters in a get to the goal scenario." Kairi added. "I bumped into the King Behemoth a little while after fighting some demon puppets."
"He still should've checked first, Kairi." Riku rebuked.
"Oh calm down, Riku. Right now we need to figure out a plan and find the others." Sora replied.
"You two have any ideas?" Kairi asked us.
"We just got done fighting off a squad of Grim Reapers and Lizard Men. I have no idea how to handle one of these things." I replied.
"Not to mention we're too tired to handle a regular Behemoth, let alone a King Behemoth." Verus replied, he looked to the opposite side of the river. "If we could get to the other side of the river then we should be fine."
I looked towards the other side of the rushing river, the rapids are not something anyone should attempt to traverse without a raft. "I think I can make that jump if I can get up to my max speed and build my energy up." I replied.
"I can make it too if I can use Aero." Kairi replied.
"Where does that leave us?" I heard Fair reply. "I can't use magic without Materia to aid me and I don't think Verus and Sora can use magic affectively either.
"Nope." Sora replied simply.
"I'm too tired to use another Spell Blade."
"Hmmm… Kairi, you think you can make it if you carry Sora?" She looked at me confused for a second, but I think she understood what I was getting at.
"Yes. If use Aero I should be able to maintain a high speed and make the jump with Sora on my back."
"Good. Riku, Verus…" I grabbed their wrists and they looked at me skeptically. "You better hold on." I took off at Mach one down the river bank.
"Aero!" I heard Kairi shout before I heard. "WHOA!" From Sora soon after. We were moving further away from the Behemoths and soon I saw a light further up the river bank on the west coast. There were four shadows around it, probably a camp fire.
"Can you slow down?!" I heard Verus Shout.
"What's the matter? You don't like running." I replied as I veered over to the left a bit to get some distance to jump.
"Running I can handle. What you're doing is suicide!" Verus shot back, visibly shaken from the speed.
"It won't be for long. It looks like the rest of our squad is up ahead." I replied.
"Hopefully everyone is alright." I heard Sora reply.
"Are you ready?" I asked.
"No!" I heard Verus yell.
"On three." Kairi said.
"One… Two… Three!" I charge my Spirit power into my feet, the black-blue flashes of lightning engulfing my legs, and jumped high into the air, sailing over the raging rapids.
"WHOA!" I heard Verus, Sora, and Riku exclaim as we cleared the river. The others looked back up at us upon hearing them.
Naminé's POV
"WHOA!" We heard the sound, we looked up and saw them, and then they crashed into the ground.
Kairi and Gospel had landed feet first on the gravel. Gospel was holding Fair and Verus by their wrists and they crashed into the ground stomach first, though it looked like he slowed their descent by using a thunder spell to reverse the magnetic polarity of the ground and his sandals. Kairi used the amateur aero spell that Aqua taught us to slow her descent with Hikari on her back.
"Nam!" She ran over and hugged me before pulling away and giving me an approving look. "I knew you'd be alright."
"Thanks, Sis." I replied with a giggle.
"Xion!" I heard Sora yell at his unconscious sister. He was kneeling beside her, trying to shake her awake.
Terra walked over to him let him know that Xion was okay. "I used a healing spell and she is still breathing. She should wake up soon so let her rest." She has a very nurturing tone to her. Kind of reminds me of Aqua, without the hidden temper.
He seemed to relax a bit and laid Xion back down. "Thank you, Branford."
"Don't mention it, Hikari, and please call me, Terra."
"Then call me, Sora."
"Well." Gospel said in a relieved voice as he laid on his back with his hands behind his head. "At least everyone is okay." His slight accent causing me to relax as well. "We can take it easy for a moment before we look for the ship."
"We only have an hour and twenty minutes before we fail." I heard Verus reply. "Once Sora's sister wakes up, we need to get moving."
"Oh relax for a moment, Verus. We have two hours left and a constant read out on our palms. The ship can't be that far from here." Gospel replied. I didn't know that. I don't think anyone else noticed since we each glanced at our palms, well everyone except Gospel and Verus. The clocks were black numbers with a red outline, the numbers 01:19:35 was imprinted on our palms.
"And how do you know that Gospel? You have a device on you that can tell us where it is?"
"We do." Sora replied. "When Riku and I met up, we found this lying on the ground." He pulled out a gray disk from his pocket. "From what we can gather there is a destination to the northeast of here. The locater says that we are about five kilometers away from whatever it was that this thing points to."
"I saw a flickering light northeast of here when Xion and I fell into the forest when the simulation started." Terra added.
"There ya go." Gospel replied.
"Hurragh!" A loud booming roar sounded from the other side of the river and we saw a pair of Behemoths growling at us.
"Look who finally caught up." Gospel replied tauntingly.
Verus sat down next to Terra as he eyed the beasts. "We should be fine as long as we are on this side of the river." He analyzed. The Behemoths turned back into the forest and walked off as if to acknowledge his argument.
"Let's hope the pack doesn't show up." Kairi replied. If there are more of those things then we are going to need to move soon. Hopefully Xion wakes up before then.
"Well, while we sit and wait for Sora's sister to wake up. How about we trade info." Verus suggested.
"So far I've bumped into demon puppets and Behemoth's and I know for certain that there is at least two Behemoths running around in this forest." Kairi started.
"Make that six Behemoths. I saw them earlier before I got ambushed by a bunch of Reapers. That King Behemoth was with them, though it looks like most of the damage done to it has healed by now." Verus added. I noticed that the King Behemoth walked like it was still in pain. Whatever did that to it must be a monster in its own right.
"I wonder how that thing got so much damage in the first place." Riku added.
"That would be me." Terra replied meekly, earning a surprised look from all of us. "It was when Xion and I were walking together. The Behemoth burst out of the forest and chased us. I fired off a Flare shot to stop it, but it just brushed it off. Next thing I know we're falling down a waterfall."
"You can cast Flare?" I heard Verus actually get surprised.
Terra shifted uncomfortably. "...Yes…"
"...Well we know our mage is certainly capable." Terra just smiled at the comment, I could see a little pink in her cheeks. She's probably embarrassed.
"Anyway, we should watch out for the Lizard men and Reapers." Gospel replied putting us back on subject. "The Reapers have three variations and can teleport except for the grunts, and the Lizard have three variations. One carries an ax and can burrow, they are pretty simple to take down."
"Then there are ice variations that can shoot ice shards, teleport in big chunks of ice, and regenerate wounds." Verus added.
"A fire spell should take care of them." Kairi added.
"Then there is the electrical variety. I can handle those no problem." Gospel emphasized his point with a spark of black-blue lightning running up his arm.
"Other than that we should make a game plan. Simply heading northeast isn't going to be simple with those Behemoths around." Verus added.
"That's gonna be tough considering that three of us don't have any weapons or skills to fight with." Roxas added. He came back from the woods, holding a bundle of sticks for the fire. He placed them next to the fire and sat beside me.
"Good point." I added. "Kairi can use her fists and we already known that Terra can use magic. Sora, Riku, and Roxas are going to be in a tough spot if we get into a fight."
"Then we just make sure they don't get hurt." Gospel said simply. Talk about laid back. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't think when he fights.
"You make it sound easy, Gospel." Verus replied sarcastically.
"It is, and call me Isaac. Makes things simpler." He replied.
"…Then call me, Shin." Shin just sat back on his hands and let the argument go. Either he didn't feel he could win, or he probably didn't feel like dragging it out.
"Ugh…" Xion finally began to stir.
"Xion! Are you okay? Don't move too fast." Talk about your over protective brother, but it is nice to see that Sora isn't a complete goof.
"Yes, Sora, I'm fine. Geez, you're like my brother or something." Xion replied smacking Sora's hands away in a playful manner.
Sora ruffled her hair in mock annoyance, putting her in a head lock. "That's because I am, you spaz."
"You two are certainly close." I heard Kairi comment.
"Well yeah. Aren't you close to your sisters?" Sora asked still ruffling Xion's hair.
Kairi looked at me and I simply smiled. "Of course we are. Just not that way." I replied for her.
"We usually don't ruffle our hair." Kairi added. We all laughed at the comment. Everyone except Isaac, who seemed to tense ever so slightly at the topic. Terra seemed to pick up on it sense she glanced at him out the corner of her eye.
"So what did I miss?" Xion asked.
"You just missed your brother almost getting mauled by Behemoths and you almost drowning. Not to mention Isaac and Shin barely escaped a near death situation." Roxas replied.
"And we have an hour and seven minutes to find the ship." Shin replied. "Luckily we have a clue as to where to go." He pointed to disk that Sora had placed on the ground. The blue grid and flashing red light showing the location of the ship, hopefully.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get a move on." She rose to her feet, but staggered all of a sudden. Sora quickly rose and caught her before she hit the ground. "Looks like my leg still hasn't healed yet." Xion replied jokingly. The giant hole in her jeans was a pretty good indicator of what had happened. Thanks to Terra she didn't have a scar, but I'm sure she still needs to stay off it for a while.
Terra made her way towards Xion and looked at her leg. "Your leg still hasn't healed fully. It's best if one of us carries you." Without even a suggestion, Sora got on a knee in front of her and motioned for her to get on his back.
"No time to argue, Xion, the sooner we get moving the better." He added a goofy grin. Is that like his thing or something? If so, it is really funny.
Xion released a mock irritated sigh and said. "Fine~." She hopped on Sora's back and soon everyone rose to their feet as well. Isaac scooped the disk up into his hands.
"Hey, Riku. Catch." He tossed the disk to Riku. "You seem to be quick on your feet, so you handle the map."
"Okay then, let's go." Riku replied.
Roxas' POV
We walked along the river bank for a while, everyone seeming to carry on a conversation along the way. Naminé was talking to Kairi about what school life would be like. Sora, Riku, and Xion were comparing their family situations. More specifically Riku and Xion were complaining about their older brothers' personality quirks. Shin was by himself in the center of the group, not really talking to anyone. He looked like he was lost deep in thought about something. Maybe he was thinking about what would happen once we reached the ship? From the argument he and Isaac had earlier, I wouldn't put it past him to be thinking ahead a little.
Speaking of Isaac, I was walking next to him at the back of the group with Terra. He was oddly quiet for what his personality lead on. Despite how he acted before his hood came off, he was completely different now. I wonder what's up.
Isaac turned his head towards me and raised a brow. "There something on my face, Roxas?"
"Huh?"
"You've been staring at me for a good minute now, so I'm guessing I have something on my face… Besides my scars."
Awkward. I didn't even know I was staring. "Sorry, you just seem a little out of it."
"Oh?" He scratched his head absentmindedly, his dreads jostling and swaying from the motion, the hair clips clunking together as they moved. He looked forward and had a nostalgic smile when he answered. "I hadn't noticed."
"Were you thinking about something?" I continued to press the issue since we were the only ones, besides Shin, who weren't having a casual conversation. Terra leaned forward too, letting us know she was interested.
Isaac looked towards Sora and Xion, that nostalgic smile shifting to an amused grin. "Those two…"
"Yes?" Terra replied.
"They remind me of these two kids I used to know. A little hard headed boy and a naïve optimistic girl. They were very close and always living in the moment." That nostalgic smile came back again.
"They sound like good people. Do you still talk to them?" Terra instantly regretted asking that question since Isaac grimaced ever so slightly.
"The little boy died five years ago. The girl got hurt something bad. We aren't sure she will ever recover." He replied in a somber tone.
"I'm sorry." Terra said. "I didn't mean to make you remember."
Isaac placed a reassuring hand on her head. "Don't let it bug ya. I would've remembered it sooner or later. Memories like those have a habit of resurfacing." Terra relaxed a little from his words. Not so much what he said, but how he said it. Sort of reminds you of a sage or an older brother that looks out for you without holding your hand all the time. Kind of like Cloud.
"From the sounds of it you have a fair share of those." We looked forward to see Shin looking over his shoulder at us. "I doubt one bad memory is enough to teach you that lesson."
Isaac just smirked again. "I could ask you the same thing."
"I'll take that as a yes."
"Believe what you will Shin. I not admitting nor denying anything." Isaac moved further up and joined the others at the front.
"He really likes dodging questions." I stated.
"It's in his personality and every aspect of his life from what I gather." Shin added.
"What do you mean Shin?" Terra asked our analytical teammate.
"I noticed when we were fending off the Reapers and the Lizards. He never actively blocked, just parries and redirects anything that is thrown at him. I only saw him block once and that was when a Reaper brought its scythe down on his head."
"Maybe he just doesn't like to talk about himself?" That's understandable. A lot of people don't like to talk about themselves.
"Terra, I don't like to talk about myself. Isaac doesn't want to talk about himself." What? "Why would someone as laid back as Isaac not want to talk about himself? I find it more than a little strange." Terra just giggled at Shin's reply earning a confused "What?"
"You're very observant, Shin." Terra commented. "You'll make a great biologist one day." I saw Shin look away slightly, but I caught a hint of red in his face.
"I just like to have my bases covered is all."
Terra giggled at his response. "Especially considering we have to work together if we are going to pass this exam."
"Speaking of which, how close are we to the point on the locater?" I asked. I suddenly bumped it the back of Kairi, who had stopped along with the others. "Sorry."
"Well would you look at that." Riku said in an amused voice. I looked past him to see the ship.
"Yes! We found the ship!" Sora exclaimed.
I looked at my palm, the read out read 00:35:02. "Looks like we'll pass with flying colors guys." I replied.
"With thirty minutes left on the toughest exam. How could we not?" Kairi replied puffing out her chest.
"Only one problem." Riku stated. "How do we get to it?"
Everyone fell silent, finally noticing something that we initially overlooked, a gorge. There was a giant gorge over half a kilometer wide and a kilometer deep. Needless to say, we don't know how we are going to get across it. The ship was teetering on the edge of the far cliff, it was long, grey, and rectangular with four engines, two large ones over top two smaller, the nose of the ship curved down on to a point, a piece of the underside pointed outwards. I'm not sure where the entrance is, but we'll have time to sort that out when we actually get to the thing. I'm glad we don't have to pilot it since the ship's engines were sputtering. Various panels were missing on the outside that exposed sparking wires and smoke.
"Any ideas guys?" Riku asked.
"We may be able to fly across the gorge." Xion suggested. "Terra can fly and Isaac and Kairi can leap long distances."
"I can only carry two people at a time." Terra replied.
"I can't leap that far without vaporizing anyone that touches me." Isaac added.
"And I can't get the aero spell to carry even myself that far and I can only carry one person." Kairi added.
"Not to mention it would be unwise to separate while those Behemoths are hunting us down." Shin added. I wish he hadn't.
I looked around and saw no way to actually cross the gorge. "Well, unless we can build a bridge in under an hour, we are pretty much stuck with the flying people across option." I said absent mindedly.
"That can be done." We all looked to Isaac who was taking off his cloak, exposing his platinum colored drape with black stitching that outlined a wolf howling at a moon that was outlined in sapphire blue stitching, outlining that detailed craters and cracks that looked like perfectly engraved glass, the wolf was over top a tree line on a jutting cliff with a forest behind it. I noticed that the tribal markings on his arms actually swirled all the way up his arms and disappeared into his black sleeveless shirt. He walked over and placed it on Xion before heading to the ledge. "The residual energy in that cloak should help heal that leg of yours faster." He then drew his split blades and approached the edge. "This is going to be a pain."
"What are you planning?" Shin asked, walking up next to Isaac.
"Well…" Isaac's body began to spark with black-blue lightning that eventually focused into his arms. "I plan to make an energy bridge for all of us to traverse."
Shin looked at the gap. "Do you think you can support a bridge wide enough for all of us to walk on and keep it stable?"
"Nope." That's reassuring. "Figured I'd wing it a bit. Just to be safe, get that fancy blade of yours out Shin, and would you mind keeping a lightning spell on tap Terra?"
Shin pulled out a…a…a silver energy sword? What the hell? "Sure, but why?" Terra asked.
"You'll see." Isaac jammed the hilts of his swords together, the slanted hilts connecting perfectly so the blades faced opposite directions and separated them into two separate dual ended blades. If he can actually fight with those, then I'm glad he's on my team. He walked over to the edge of the cliff and stabbed one of the dual sided blades into the cliff face and did the same thing eight meters away. "Okay, Shin. Come here for a sec, would ya."
Shin walked over to Isaac with his silver blade still drawn. Isaac placed his hands on the silver glowing blade. "What are you planning to do?" Shin asked.
Isaac's black-blue sparks arced and flashed across his arms and enveloped Shin's blade and changing it from silver to sapphire blue. "I'm winging it right now." Isaac replied simply. "Terra, when I reach the other side, I want you to cast a lightning spell on my blades." He took a few steps back from the ledge and the sparks grew in intensity.
"Wait a second…" Riku called, but Isaac had already taken off at an incredible speed. All I saw was a blur and then the next thing we knew he was half way across the gorge.
"What..." Sora started.
"The…" Riku continued.
"Heck…" Kairi finished.
Isaac landed on the other side of the gorge and skidded to a halt. He turned around and signaled for Terra to use her thunder magic.
Terra stepped up to the ledge and held out her hands. "Thundara!" She chanted and pink-purple bolts shot out of her hands and struck Isaac's blades.
Isaac's POV
"Okay…" I said to myself with uncertainty. I have never connected spirit energy with magic before, but this should work. My platinum markings glowing and pulsing as the lightning sparked and arced around my arms. "Let's hope this works ." I put my hands out in front of me, my fingertips pointed directly at my Star Killer, the space in between each finger arcing with lightning before they suddenly discharged the electricity with a loud thunderous clap.
Terra's POV
"Eep!" What was? Oh yeah I forgot Xion didn't like thunder.
We looked at Isaac's glowing form as his power connected with the pink sparks that I had charged his blades with earlier. His blades disconnected and moved across the gorge, the winged chains separating and adding additional links from the seven I had initially noticed. They eventually reached across the gorge and embedded themselves in the opposite rock face.
The black chains began to glow blue, the glow was like a misty aura that rose and fumed ever so slightly before the light bridge began to form, a wide iridescent blue light spanning the length of the gorge appeared before us.
Isaac's POV
"Looks like it works." I breathed out in a strained voice.
'Better test it out just to make sure.' A far point. Wouldn't want to fail because I couldn't maintain a bridge.
I took a step on the bridge, still discharging electricity to it as I tested its stability. Looking good so far. I quickly made it to the other side of the gorge where the others waited for me. "One of you mind testing this thing for me? I'm not sure you guys can stand on this yet."
Shin stepped forward and placed one foot on the beam bridge. He applied pressure to the wide beam of light. "We look good, Isaac."
"Great! Let's hurry and get across before Murphy's Law kicks in."
Roxas' POV
We stepped foot on the light bridge, it felt weird. Walking on the bridge was like stepping on sand, every step we took felt like we were displacing the light on the bridge before we felt it solidify and let us keep walking. "Isaac! How does this bridge work?!"
Isaac looked like he was really straining to maintain the bridge as he called over his shoulder. "Electro Magnetism, Roxas!"
"You mean, we're walking on a giant magnet?" That's a little hard to believe, humans don't give off a strong a magnetic signal.
"An Electro Magnet. Every creature to ever exist beats to the rhythm of its own electrical signal. I'm just making the opposite charge of all eight of your signals and letting you walk on the ionized air."
"Seems difficult." Riku commented.
"It be easier if you guys shared the same energy signal. But with Sora carrying Xion, I only have to deal with seven instead of eight, I'm used to using my own signal so it's practically second nature for me. Not to mention I charged Shin's blade with a little energy to help me maintain the bridge. I probably wouldn't be able to maintain it with how much energy I spent earlier in this crazy test." Looking at Shin's blade it was discharging energy into the bridge along with Isaac's energy.
"Here…" Terra said as she lifted into the air. "That should make it easier."
"Thanks." Isaac's discharging Lightning suddenly flashed brighter, our footing becoming more solid. "As long as nothing else steps on the bridge, we should be fine."
"That guy is full of surprises." I commented. "Swords that can combine and split at will and a proficiency with electrical powers."
Shin eyed Isaac as we made it half way across the bridge. "Yeah. I wonder what world he comes from."
"Hmmm, maybe one of the worlds out near Gemini. Not all the worlds have been properly explored yet." Naminé suggested.
"I suppose it doesn't really matter." Shin commented.
Isaac's POV
This is much more difficult than I thought. At least we're almost to the other side. Though Sora seems to be lagging behind. Probably from having Xion on his back. I'm glad Terra decided to fly. I'm not sure how much longer I can support six electrical signals not to mention the weight.
'Would you like a hand Moses?' The voice in my head asked.
'No thanks, old man.' I mentally replied.
'I can maintain the bridge for you.'
'I got it covered.'
'You sure? You look like you're having a tough go at it.'
'If I rely on you to solve all my problems, then what does that say about me?'
'That you know your limits and are willing to accept a helping hand?'
'Yeah, and that would be way too easy. I need to know that I can do my duty. I'll ask for help if I absolutely need it.'
'Suit yourself. Just know I'm willing to help if you need it.'
'Thanks.' I replied with relief. I'm glad that he's willing to let me test myself.
"Isaac?" I looked to my right to see Terra floating next to me. "Would you like a little help?"
I looked down at the bridge, bits and pieces fluctuating in front and behind the group. I'm not sure how much longer I can keep going. "Hurragh!" Figures.
Everyone stopped and turned towards the source of the roar to see six Behemoths charging at us, the King Behemoth looked like he finally recovered from that Flare that Terra had hit him with.
"I think I'm gonna need some help. Now would be a good time to use that lightning spell!"
"Right!" She moved to the other side of the bridge and chanted "Thundara!" And a fiery pink-purple bolt shot out of her hands, the same as here personal Aura, and added it to the energy supply.
"You guys better get a move on. Once those Behemoths reach the bridge, I won't be able to maintain it for long." The rest of the squad took off running towards the opposite side of the bridge, the Behemoths closing in. Riku, Naminé, Shin, and I made it across right as the King Behemoth hit the bridge and made for the ship, I stayed behind to make sure Sora, Xion, and Kairi made it across okay. "Ugh!" I felt my energy spike ever so slightly to maintain the bridge. I wish I knew how to deactivate one side of the bridge, but it's taking all I got just to keep the bridge active.
Sora was having trouble maintaining his footing, Kairi making her way back towards the siblings as the last of the Behemoths reached the bridge. "Hurry guys!" Terra exclaimed. "We can't keep this up much longer!"
Kairi's POV
"Come on Sora!" I grabbed Sora by the wrist and pulled him across the bridge, our footing becoming more unstable as Terra and Isaac struggled to maintain the bridge for us.
"Hold on Xion." I heard Sora call to his sister.
"I'll see if I can slow them down." Xion pulled out one of her Gunblades and aimed it at the Behemoths. She fired off a few shots, each one bouncing off the Behemoth's armored skin.
"I think you made them angry." Sora stated as we hauled it to the other end of the gorge.
Isaac's POV
Those Behemoths are closing fast. Sora, Kairi, and Xion are close to the other side now, a few more seconds and I can drop those beasts into the gorge.
I looked to Terra, who was floating next to me. "Terra, on three we stop powering the bridge."
"Okay, Isaac." She replied anxiously as she saw the Behemoths close in.
"One..." The Behemoths quickly got closer to the other side. "Two…" Kairi had reached the other end of the bridge with Sora and Xion in tow and ran for the Ship. "Three!" We stopped powering the bridge, the light dissipating under the Behemoths' feet. Four of the Behemoths fell into the gorge, the King Behemoth and one of the remaining subordinates clinging to the edge.
"C'mon, Terra, they are going to need some time to get to the ship." It was at least a fifty meter sprint. Unfortunately the others were just sitting outside the ship. I'm guessing the door was locked.
"Okay, you get your blades. I'll make sure the others are safe." She flew towards the ship and I went to retrieve my Star Killer.
Shin's POV
'Damn it! Why did the doors have to be locked?!' We are right here and the door's locked. I don't mean code locked, that would be simple. It was code locked AND warped shut from the impact. I was crouched down trying to rewire the door so the hydraulics would overload and pry the door loose.
"Better hurry with the hydraulics Shin-" "Huarrgh!" "Those Behemoths are closing fast." Riku said. He was next to me trying to hack the panel on the side of the door.
"This isn't easy, Riku. It doesn't help that I only have my hands." I replied.
"What's the hold up?" Sora asked as he and Kairi finally caught up.
"The door is locked." Naminé replied.
"Have you tried hacking it?" Kairi asked.
"Nah, of course not." I replied pointing to Riku, who was hacking the door.
"No need to get smart Shin." She replied with a simple hmph.
"What's the problem guys?" I heard Terra ask as she floated above us.
"We need a lock smith and these two aren't exactly cut out for the job." Kairi responded.
"Sorry for being a Biologist." I half-joked.
"It doesn't help that the doors jammed." Riku added. "If it wasn't for that then maybe we could get somewhere."
"Hurragh!" We looked at the King Behemoth and Behemoth that was attacking Isaac. From the looks of things, he still had an electrical connection to his blades from the black bolts that were radiating off of him and striking his blades, probably an attempt to pull them towards him.
"Make it quick. We'll hold them off." Terra replied and flew off.
"Sora, lay me against the ship. I'll shoot them from here." Xion asked.
"Okay." He laid her down next to Riku, she took one of her blades and aimed them at the two Behemoths.
Terra had erected a wall of fire between us and the Behemoths. Isaac had retrieved his blades at this point and stood his ground by standing in front of the fire wall and swinging his blades by the chain on the hilt, the blades now a pair of split blade swords again. I assume it's easier to fight like that when dealing with Behemoths.
"I'll help too. You two keep working on the-" "Hurragh!" I was interrupted by a very none encouraging roar. We looked to our left at the cliff edge to see one of the Behemoths that we thought were dead had clawed up the side of the gorge.
"Damn it!" Sora exclaimed punching the wall. "Why now of all times?!"
"And three of us don't even have weapons." Roxas exclaimed. As if on cue, the wall that Sora punched fell open and revealed a rack of swords. It was too much to give us guns, huh?
"Well? What are you waiting for an invitation?" I said. "Pick a sword and get ready. That thing isn't going to wait all day." Riku, Sora, and Roxas each grabbed a sword and prepared to fight. Riku returned to panel and continued to hack it while the others, except for Xion, formed a line between us and the Behemoth.
"This is going to be a pain." I heard Sora comment.
"Just focus on slowing it down." Kairi replied and jumped towards the hulking beast. I returned to wiring the hydraulics, I'd rather get this done soon.
Terra's POV
"Flare!" I chanted at the regular Behemoth, a ball of flame hurdling towards the beast, only to have it dodge the attack. Isaac already had the King Behemoth on its second wind since it was standing on its two hind legs and had its circular saw drawn.
I glanced to the far side of the fire wall I created to keep the others safe while they worked on the door. To my horror, I saw that Kairi, Naminé, Sora and Roxas were fending off another Behemoth on the other side of the wall. How did one get by? They were supposed to have perished in the fall.
"Don't let it distract you, Terra!" I heard Isaac call to me. I turned to see him redirect the buzz saw into the ground, jump on the King Behemoth's back, and stab one of his split blades into its back before quickly jumping off of it and pulling the sword free. "They can handle themselves."
"But-" "Just focus on the enemy in front of you. Beat him and you can help them." I looked back to the others. Kairi had jumped on the Behemoth's back and Naminé was hitting the beast in the head repeatedly with Roxas and Sora on either side, hacking away at its legs, the Behemoth had a hard time just picking a target to attack with all of them keeping it off balance and disoriented.
"Okay..." I reluctantly replied.
"Don't worry about them. They wouldn't be here if they couldn't handle themselves." Isaac replied, dodging another swing from the Behemoth and pushing off the ground to kick it in the chin.
The Behemoth I was fighting leapt up at me and opened its mouth in an attempt to bite my leg. I pulled back and threw my hands up. "Fira!" I chanted and a barrage of fire balls flew towards the Behemoth's maw. I don't think it likes spicy food since it flinched and swiped at its mouth.
'I need to finish this fast. I'm not sure how much longer the others can hold out without magic.'
'Let me out and you can clean this thing up in an instant.' That taunting voice again. Why now of all times.
'Not you again. I don't have time to deal with you right now.'
'Aw, you're breaking my heart. Fine. If you aren't going to let me out, then at least put a little more force behind it, you already admitted you can use Flare. You're holding back so much a Flan could take you out.' She taunted me again. That's all she ever does is taunt me. 'Or at least use Apocalypse to cleave this pathetic spec in two.'
'FINE just shut up already.' I'd rather not use too much power and risk an episode, but using Apocalypse is more than okay, if only to help the others sooner.
'Just remember, you're no different than me.' The voice taunted me again.
'I'm very different than you.' I shot back, dodging another swipe from the Behemoth.
'Oh really?'
'Yes.' I mentally growled.
'At least I'm willing to try and help Isaac with the tougher of the two Behemoths. You just think of helping the others with a weaker opponent that even those flies could handle.' I brought my hands together and prepared to summon Apocalypse, ignoring the other voice. 'What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? Or did little goody, goody realize that she is nothing more a cold hearted bitch?'
'Which would you rather choose? Helping the many who can barely handle a simple opponent for you, or the one that handle a tougher opponent without breaking so much as a sweat?'
'…'
'What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? Or did the bitch realize how stupid she really is?'
'…This isn't over little girl.'
'If it were, this would be so much simpler.' I felt the power of Apocalypse collect in my grip. The damaged and chipped hilt forming in my hands, the tattered and abused red cloth that circled the black hilt, a lone amethyst stone in the center being the only thing of beauty to the handle. The blade itself was even more decrepit, the dark grey overlaid by a blood crimson edge. The blade itself held multiple holes in the center of varying sizes. Yet despite its looks, I have yet to find anything it could not cut.
I eyed the Behemoth in front of me and readied to strike it down. Isaac was moving at breakneck speeds again, firing bolts of lightning at the King Behemoth. 'I'll make this quick and help the others.' The Behemoth clawed at me again. I brought Apocalypse down on its claw and cleaved it off. Before the Behemoth could react, I followed up with the body length blade held down as I flew towards it and let the blade connect with its head. The blade cut through the armored hide with ease and I continued to fly forward with the blade cutting into the rest of the Behemoth, cleaving all the way through the hulking beast.
I looked back at the Behemoth to see it fall in two with its muscles and sinus pouring forth blood. I looked at my blade, stained in blood and various tissues clinging to the chips and divots in Apocalypse's blade. I fought back the urge to throw up, I knew that using this weapon risked letting her out, but I needed to make this quick. I set my sights on the King Behemoth to see Isaac had combined his split blades into a double-edged sword, cleaving off one of the King Behemoth's legs before separating back into two separate swords.
'He should be fine.' I looked to the others to see Roxas get clawed at by the Behemoth, his shirt tearing and blood flowing freely from the wound. Naminé struggled to get him away from the fight while simultaneously defending herself. 'They need my help more than he does.'
I flew towards them and readied to give them a hand.
Naminé's POV
This is not going well. Roxas is bleeding profusely and Kairi and Sora are the only ones still fighting that Behemoth off. Xion had been shooting it all the while and Shin and Riku still had yet to get the ship door open.
"Agh!" Roxas choked out.
I laid him on the opposite side of the door, next to Shin. "Try not to move too much." I tried to calm him down. "Shin, how is the door coming?!"
"Not good. The hydraulics are completely shot from the impact. Even if I could get power routing to them, they wouldn't even function." He rose to his feet and drew his winged hilt, the silver beam sword glowing as it exited the sheath. "I have no idea how we are going to get into the ship."
I looked to the left to see Riku heading towards the fight. His blade drawn back and his left hand extended out in front of him in a taunting fashion.
"You guys alright?" We looked up to see Terra floating above us with a massive, chipped, blood stained claymore in her right hand. How in Comos' name can she hold that thing with one hand?
"Agh!" Roxas shouted again, reminding me that now is not the time to question minor details.
"Roxas is bleeding and the door won't open!" I explained quickly.
"I'll take care of Roxas. Shin, can you use a thunder spell your sword?"
"Yes." Shin replied.
"Do you think you could cut through the door if you enchanted your sword?"
Shin looked at his blade and grimaced slightly. "I can try."
"Naminé, go help the others with the Behemoth. I'll join you guys when Roxas is stable." I nodded in response and took off towards the Behemoth.
Isaac's POV
No wonder they call it a King Behemoth, this thing is tough. Even after losing a leg it is still gunning for me. It swings that buzz saw like it was twig, I'm sure that I've chipped off a couple of the blades on the thing with how often I've connected with that thing. Terra has already dispensed with the Behemoth she was dealing with. The corpse was laying in two large pieces with a massive pool of blood around it making it painfully apparent that she had killed it.
The King Behemoth was starting to slow down. Even with its regenerative abilities, it doesn't seem able to regrow limbs and as a result, it was losing a lot of blood. 'A little longer and I can help the others.'
The King Behemoth brought its buzz saw down on my head again, using all the strength it could muster to lift the massive weapon. The buzz saw came down and I dodged the spinning blade, leaping towards its head and swung at its neck with my reverse gripped sword. I nicked its neck and caused the Behemoth to spin around in shock, letting go of the buzz saw and have it grind into the nearby ground. I bounded off a tree and lunged back at the Behemoth, flipping my grip so I held it more traditionally, and cut the opposite side its neck. I landed on the ground and spun on my left foot, bringing the slanted hilt of my sword up and stabbing it into the Behemoth's head as it spun around again and impaled its brain. The Behemoth snarled and went limp, collapsing to the ground.
I turned to see Terra healing Roxas, the firewall dissipating, and the others were handling the other Behemoth. Kairi had delivered a number of blows to the Behemoth, Sora and Riku had managed to cut through its hide and it was bleeding through the open wounds. Shin was cutting through the ship's door. I'm guessing they couldn't hack the panel. His silver blade now raging with electricity. He was cutting the left side of the door, where the locking mechanisms were located, and was working his way up the side slowly.
I took off towards the remaining Behemoth, closing the hundred meter gap in less than ten seconds. I'm a very fast person, that's about the only hing I have to brag about. "Sora! Move!" Sora looked at me and side stepped. I brought my left blade back and leapt into the air. I came down and stabbed the blade through the Behemoth's neck. The creature roared and shook violently from the pain of having a large chunk of sharp crystal run through its neck. Yes, I said crystal, but now is not the time for a lengthy explanation.
"I could use some help here!" I shouted at the others.
Sora and Riku joined in and stabbed the beast in various points on the Behemoth's head. Sora stabbing clumsily into the Behemoth's eye and Riku stabbing it through its brain. The beast still roared and snapped its teeth at Riku's legs in an attempt to maul him. I brought my free sword up and stabbed it down on into the Behemoth's head. The creature roared again and manage to tear Riku's jeans before finally going limp.
Kairi jumped down from the Behemoth's back and Sora and Riku left their blades in the Behemoth's skull. I withdrew my blades and replaced them on my hips. We went back towards the others, Terra had put away that massive blade she had summoned. That dainty girl is much stronger than she looks. Looks like she was casting another Cura spell on Roxas, his wounds closing up from the green glow.
Shin was half-way up the door with his beam sword. "How we looking?" I asked.
"We're close, in another minute or two we should be in."
I looked at my palm and saw 00:15:12. Just in the nick of time. "Good…" I breathed out as I laid against the wall and slid down to a sitting position next to Xion. "That was one helluva work out."
I felt something heavy and soft hit my lap. I opened my eyes to see my cloak draped over me. "Thank you for the cloak. My leg feels a little better." Xion smiled while she rubbed her leg. "I should be fine once we get out of this simulation."
"Got it!" Shin said. "Can someone give me a hand with this thing?"
"I got it." Kairi walked over to the door and placed her hands on the handle and pulled, the door barely moved as it screeched along the metallic frame. I put my cloak back on and prepared to finish this crazy test.
"Hurragh!" Oh you have got to be kidding me. Nine more Behemoths came barreling out of the forest, three of which were King Behemoths.
"Oh, come on!" Xion exclaimed.
"We don't have time for this." Riku stated placing a hand on his forehead.
"Uh guys…" Naminé called to us, we looked to her to see her looking above the ship, various low hissing and moaning sounds emanating from that direction.
There is no way our luck was that bad. I looked at the source of the sound to see multiple Lizards and Reapers crawling all over the top of the ship. "To the guy named Murphy. SCREW YOU!" I shouted.
"Kairi~!" Riku said with a sense of urgency.
"Working on it!" She replied quickly.
"Get the injured inside the moment that door is wide enough!" I shouted.
"What are you going to do?" Shin asked me.
"You, Kairi, Terra, and I are going to hold them off." I charged my legs with lightning and charged towards the Behemoths.
Shin's POV
00:10:15, the read out on my palm is not making this any less stressful. Isaac was flying towards the group of Behemoths, which has to be the dumbest move he can make right now. If he gets surrounded, there will be no way to get him back to the ship in time.
"Thundara!" I heard Terra chant next to me, a flash of pink-purple lightning struck the top of the ship, some of the Reapers and the Lightning Lizards teleported away the ones that couldn't were electrocuted and draped over the side with ash dripping to the ground. "We have to hold them off Shin."
"How?!" I brought my blade up to block a purple Reaper's scythe that had teleported next to me. "Fire Blade!" I enchanted. I pushed the Reaper back and swung at it, I managed to cut it slightly before it teleported away. It appeared back on top of the ship still on fire from the heat of my enchantment and spread it to a few other Reapers, causing the group to disperse from the top of the ship, onto the ground in front of us, putting the Reapers and Lizards between us and Isaac.
"The door's open!" Kairi called as she took a spot next to us. Naminé and Sora rushed Xion and Roxas into the ship, Riku stood by the door and ushered us to come in.
"We need to get Isaac." I replied as I backed up towards the door with Kairi and Terra, slashing at the Ice Lizards that tried to attack us.
"I'll get him. I'm the only one that can fly." Terra replied and flew off towards the group of circling Behemoths.
"Come on, Shin. We need to look after the others." Kairi led me to the door, I got hit in the chest by a Reaper's scythe as we ducked into the ship where we found a series of seats where Roxas was laying down. Xion was by the door shooting her Gunblades at the Lizards and Reapers that tried to get close, she managed to take down some of the smaller Reapers while holding off the tougher enemies.
I looked at my palm 00:05:01. "Come on you two." I breathed out, keeping my flaming sword at the ready.
Terra's POV
Isaac wasn't looking good. His arms and cheeks were bleeding, his cloak had gashes in the back. "Isaac! The door is open and we only have five minutes."
"Got it!" Isaac combined his blades into a single double-edged sword and split that into two separate blades. He spun around, twirling the blades in his hands and nicking some of the Behemoths that got too close. A Behemoth suddenly lunged at him and he flung one of his blades at the beast in response, the blade cut through the Behemoth's stomach and split it in two, the blade circled around and cut off the head of another and removed that of the King Behemoth's.
His legs course with black-blue lightning and he jumped high into the air, grabbing me by the hand. I looked at my palm and saw the readout say 00:02:01. "We only have two minutes Isaac!" I exclaimed as Isaac moved at an amazing speed towards the door of the ship.
He moved towards the ship door and past the group of Reapers and Lizards before jumping head long towards the threshold. He pulled me close as we sailed through the air on his momentum. "Better hold on, Terra." He replied. Before I knew it, we were slamming against the wall of the interior of the ship. "Close the door!" He shouted. I went to check up on Shin. Kairi, Riku, and Sora went and shut the door. A loud audible click resounding through the ship.
We waited for a long time for the sound of claws and scythes against the hull of the ship.
For anyone wondering, Muumba is Swahili for creator, as far as I have been able find.
Also, guess what movie the song that Isaac is singing is from.